The Texas Rangers scored a run but the Orion Arm Athletics scored two runs.

No doubt about it, the Rangers made some mistakes today.

First of all, they played a baseball game while up only one game above .500. As we know, that’s a guaranteed loss. If you’re asking me, given the circumstances, they probably should have just skipped this one.

Secondly, they got a few runners in scoring position here and there, and even had some dreaded bases loaded opportunities. As we know, that only means those potential runs were guaranteed to not score as they did in all but one of nine attempts, with the one success coming on a bunt single that didn’t even score a run. When they loaded ‘em up with no outs in a one-score game, they went strikeout, strikeout, flyout.

Third of all, they had Josh Jung in the lineup which wasn’t great because when Josh Jung doubled twice Josh Jung couldn’t follow Josh Jung because Josh Jung was already on second base so without Josh Jung at the plate, as we know, the Rangers had no hope of doing damage.

Player of the Game: Ironically, the person who perhaps made the worst mistake of the game (outside of Chris Young for signing Danny Jansen) was also probably the team’s best performer today (outside of Jung but he’s been in this space pretty much exclusively over the last few weeks).

Kumar Rocker started the game with two quick outs on four pitches and then walked the next two batters on nine pitches to bring up Carlos “Barry Bonds” Cortes.

Despite me never having heard of this person just weeks ago, Cortes has torched right-handed pitching this season and has feasted on Texas pitching in the seven games they’ve played in the season’s first month so of course, after working the count full, Cortes hit a two-out, two-run triple laser over the head of Evan Carter to score Not-Oakland’s two runs.

From there, however, Rocker settled in nicely and gave the Rangers six innings of two-run ball for an otherwise quality start marred by a bit of wildness or pacificity allowing the wrong guy at the wrong time up to do damage in what would ultimately be the game’s fateful moment.

Up Next: The Rangers will next welcome the New York Yankees to town for the last leg of the current homestand. RHP Jack Leiter is expected to pitch for Texas in the opener opposite LHP Max Fried for New York.

The Monday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

HOUSTON – As good as the Yankees looked during their eight-game winning streak, they ended it on Sunday with an all-around stinker.

Deep in the heart of Texas, Luis Gil got deep-sixed while his previously red-hot offense did not come alive until the ninth inning, resulting in a 7-4 loss to the Astros at Daikin Park.

Gil, who only has a few more guaranteed starts in the big leagues before he is likely to be the odd man out when Carlos Rodón returns from the injured list, did not do much to help his case on Sunday.

The right-hander gave up six runs across four-plus innings with plenty of loud contact, including a pair of two-run homers that put the Yankees (18-10) in an early hole.

Equally as troubling as the hard contact was the lack of swing-and-miss. Gil did not record a single whiff on the 22 four-seam fastballs the Astros (11-18) swung at, and only generated three whiffs overall on the 34 swings they took. 

Gil’s clunker snapped a strong stretch of starting pitching that had fueled the Yankees’ winning streak. The six runs he allowed nearly matched the amount of earned runs (seven) the Yankees had allowed in their last eight starts combined.

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Aaron Judge, meanwhile, provided the only offense in seven innings against Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti, who allowed just three hits. On his 34th birthday, Judge crushed a solo home run, his 10th of the year, to get the Yankees on the board in the sixth inning, cutting the deficit to 7-1.

The Yankees mounted a two-out rally in the top of the ninth, with RBI doubles from Paul Goldschmidt and J.C. Escarra and an RBI single from Ryan McMahon. But it proved to be too little, too late.

Gil’s day got off to an inauspicious start, when he walked leadoff hitter Carlos Correa on four pitchers. Two outs later, he threw a 3-2 changeup down the middle to Christian Walker, who clobbered it for a two-run shot that came off the bat at 109.8 mph.

In the third inning, Gil got two quick outs before Yordan Alvarez smoked a single and Isaac Paredes followed by crushing a 95 mph sinker off the left-field foul pole for another two-run homer that made it 4-0.

Then in the fifth, Gil gave up a walk and a double to the first two batters, at which point Aaron Boone decided he had seen enough and went to the bullpen.

Paul Blackburn entered and immediately fell behind 3-0 to Paredes, who got the green light and roped an RBI single.

Walker followed with a double to the gap that drove in two more runs for the 7-0 lead.

Atlanta Braves manager Walt Weiss announced after today’s 6-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies that rookie starting pitcher JR Ritchie will get his second major league start on Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers.

Weiss also confirm that former right-handed starter Reynaldo López is heading to the bullpen to work out some mechanical issues that are framed as the culprit of his last two sub-optimal starts.

Ritchie made his MLB debut on April 23, picking up the victory after tossing seven innings of two-run ball. The righty struck out seven against the Washington Nationals.

López, pitched in only one game in 2025 after a sterling first season in Atlanta in 2024. The 32-year-old has made five starts this year for the Braves, logging 21.2 innings. However, he allowed a combined seven earned runs in his past two starts – including four in a single inning of work on April 21.

Rehabbing starting pitcher Spencer Strider pitched five strong innings for Triple-A Gwinnett today and could be activated off the IL within the next week. The Braves have not yet announced if Strider will make an additional minor league start.

Ritchie will make his home debut, weather permitting, as the Braves take on a Tigers squad looking to win the American League Central Division.

After a promising 10-8 win over the Minnesota Twins last Thursday, the Mets’ offense appeared to regress back to the doldrums of their 12-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Colorado Rockies 3-1 in the first game of a doubleheader.

The numbers weren’t pretty. The Mets had just four hits off of Jose Quintana and the Rockies bullpen, they went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, and they left six men on. 

In both the first and eighth innings, the Mets loaded the bases with one out. But both times, they came away with nothing.

“It’s frustrating, obviously,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “Not having good at-bats and then we had an opportunity with the bases loaded right away and couldn’t’ cash in. Every time you get an opportunity like that, we’ve got to be able to capitalize there, and we haven’t been able to do that. 

“We’ve got to get going.”

Mendoza was asked, point-blank, if the offense is fixable.

“Yes. We’ve got to do something,” he said. “That’s not a good showing. We’ve got to fix it.”

Nolan McLean, the Mets' rising star on the mound, was electric in the early going, facing the minimum through the first three innings. He ran into trouble in both the fifth and sixth innings, and ultimately was pulled with the bags full in the sixth. 

All in all, he allowed two runs (one earned run) on five hits, striking out seven and walking two. 

McLean took the tough-luck loss in Sunday’s first game, but said afterwards that he and the entire pitching staff believe in this Mets lineup.

"The way we see it in the clubhouse is, 'any minute now.' We look at the lineup going out there each day and we know how hard they're working,” McLean said. “It's just a matter of time. We know how good those players are who are in the lineup for us.”

Box Score

Kyle Harrison turned in a brilliant performance, and the Brewers capitalized on a five-run fourth inning to snap their four-game losing streak and avoid a sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The win puts Milwaukee back over .500 ahead of a Tuesday matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Neither team scored until the bottom of the fourth, when Milwaukee broke through against Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski. William Contreras led off with a single, and Jake Bauers followed with a ground-rule double that likely would’ve scored him had it stayed in play. Gary Sánchez then grounded out to second, but Contreras came home from third to give the Brewers their first lead of the series.

Garrett Mitchell then struck out for the second out, and Sal Frelick quickly fell behind 1-2. Frelick fouled off the next pitch, but Joey Bart was called for catcher’s interference, sending him to first. From there, Mlodzinski unraveled. Luis Rengifo singled to knock in Bauers, David Hamilton doubled off the right-field wall to score Frelick, and Brandon Lockridge singled to clear the bases.

When the dust settled, the Brewers were up five runs, and Mlodzinski was walking to the dugout. Evan Sisk came in to face Brice Turang, who hit a tailing line drive to left field that hung in the air just long enough for Pirates outfielder Jake Mangum to make the catch.

Mlodzinski couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning, but Harrison was nearly untouchable through six. He pitched like an ace today, and the results showed it. Harrison threw 101 pitches over six innings, striking out 12 while allowing just one hit (a ground-ball single off the bat of Marcell Ozuna) and one walk. The more he pitches, the more promising he looks.

Trevor Megill got into a little bit of a jam in the seventh inning after allowing a leadoff double and a walk, but he bore down to get back to the dugout without allowing a run. In the eighth, Aaron Ashby loaded the bases on two walks and an error by David Hamilton, but also escaped with a scoreless frame. Abner Uribe struck out two Pirates in a 1-2-3 ninth inning to give the Brewers their first shutout win of the season.

Some of the issues that have plagued the Brewers early in the season are still present. The bullpen hasn’t been as dominant as in years past, and Milwaukee managed just two hits after Mlodzinski exited the game.

Still, today’s win felt like a step in the right direction and a reminder of why the Brewers have won the NL Central in four of the past five years. Quality pitching and timely offense are a winning formula, and today, Milwaukee got both.

The Crew will get a much-deserved day off tomorrow before welcoming the Diamondbacks to American Family Field for a three-game series. First pitch for Tuesday’s opener is set for 6:40 p.m.

Right as I hit send on a tweet questioning the logic of Blake Butera pinch hitting Jose Tena for Jacob Young, Tena blasted a solo homer in the 10th, which proved to be the difference in the game. It was a pitchers duel, with no runners scoring for either team in the first nine, but the Nats managed to get two runs across in the 10th to win it.

This game felt very different from most of the 2026 Nationals games we have watched so far. Most Nats games this year have been very high scoring, and even when they are not, teams are threatening. However, both pitching staffs shut down dangerous offenses this afternoon.

It was a true pitchers duel between Foster Griffin and Sean Burke in this one. Despite the White Sox using an opener, Burke still managed to toss 7.1 scoreless innings. Burke befuddled Nats hitters with his rising fastball and big overhand curveball. He looks like a real nice arm that could slot into the middle of the White Sox rotation for years to come.

Foster Griffin was matching Burke pitch for pitch though. This was Griffin’s best outing as a Nat, which is saying something because he has been solid each and every start. The crafty lefty threw 7 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts and just two hits. He was masterfully wielding his seven pitch mix today, with the cutter and sweeper being the stars of the show.

Griffin’s deep bag of pitches makes him so unpredictable. It just felt like White Sox hitters were guessing wrong all afternoon. Griffin’s ERA is down to 2.67 on the season. He is also just so much fun to watch because of how smart he is as a pitcher.

With Burke and Griffin rolling, offense was tough to come by. There were hardly any rallies to speak of. For a while, it just felt like the Nats were speedrunning their at bats. The White Sox made Griffin work a little more, but that was mostly because of how much they were whiffing.

The 9th inning was the first time either team felt like they threatened. In the top of the inning, the Nats had a man on third with one out due to Nasim Nunez getting a single and working his magic on the bases. However, after James Wood was intentionally walked, both Curtis Mead and Daylen Lile popped up to end the inning.

In the bottom half, the White Sox threatened thanks to an Everson Pereira base hit and an error by Richard Lovelady on a pick off attempt. Lovelady got out of the jam by getting two huge strikeouts. He was fired up after getting out of the jam. Lovelady is a real character, and looks to have found a home with the Nats after bouncing around a ton over the past couple years.

It was the 10th inning that proved decisive though. The Nats manufactured the first run. On an 0-2 pitch, Jorbit Vivas did a nice job rolling one over to the first baseman and getting the runner to third. Then CJ Abrams got robbed of a hit, but still got the sac fly. That opened the scoring, but the Nats needed more to feel comfortable.

That was the moment where Blake Butera made the gutsy move to go to Jose Tena. On a 3-1 pitch, Tena unloaded on a fastball that caught the heart of the plate. He knew it was gone and watched his 100th career hit fly. It was an insurance run that was desperately needed.

After being recalled today, Paxton Schultz came on to close the door. While he allowed the Manfred runner to score, he got a pair of massive strikeouts to end the ball game and improve the Nats record to 13-16.

The Nats were playing baseball everyday for a while. They had 17 straight games without an off day. It was a run that the Nats navigated quite well, going 9-8 in that span. That is a great job from the boys, who have a much deserved off day tomorrow.

Now, the Nats will head to New York to try and extend the Mets misery. The Mets snapped their 12 game losing streak a few days ago, but now they just dropped a series to the Rockies. Hopefully the Nats can continue being road warriors and keep the momentum rolling.

A weird weekend of baseball ended in a frustratingly conventional way. Kyle Bradish had an uneven day on the mound, Grant Wolfram struggled out of the bullpen, and the Orioles bats lacked punch in a 5-3 loss on Sunday afternoon in Baltimore.

This was a laborious start for Bradish. He made it through five innings, but none of them were clean, and many of them required some serious help from his defense in order to survive them.

In the second inning, Ceddanne Rafaela led off with a double. He attempted to tag up and advance to third on the Marcelo Mayer fly ball that followed, but a strong throw from right fielder Tyler O’Neill and a slide that popped Rafaela up off of the base instead gave Bradish two outs.

In the Red Sox side of the third inning, Bradish issued two walks and uncorked a wild pitch to put two runners in scoring position with two outs. That’s as far as they would go, Bradish striking out Roman Anthony to escape the jam.

The fourth inning saw Bradish issue another walk, this one a lead-off base on balls to Wilyer Abreu. But the runner would be quickly eliminated when he got too eager to advance on a missed bunt attempt by Rafaela at the plate. Samuel Basallo fired over to first, behind Abreu, and got him scrambling back to the bag.

It was in the fifth inning where Bradish finally succumbed to his struggles. Caleb Durbin led off with a single and then stole second base. An Andrew Monasterio single brought Durbin in for the first run of the day. A few batters later, Willson Contreras launched a two-run bomb to left-center field for a 3-0 lead.

Bradish finished up the fifth inning, and that marked the end of his outing. The righty gave up the three runs on four hits, four walks, and three strikeouts. It wasn’t a disaster, but it was also far from what we normally expect from the 29-year-old. His stuff seemed to be lacking across the board. Spin rates were down. Velocities were down. And whiff rates were down. Maybe it was the colder temperatures. Or maybe it’s just part of the process that comes with building back up after missing most of the 2025 season.

It’s not as if the Orioles offense was doing much to support him. They struggled to handle Boston’s starter Connelly Early. The young lefty tossed four shutout innings to begin the game, scattering two singles and walk in that time.

The Orioles first run of the day came in the bottom of the fifth. Basallo led off the frame with a solo homer to right field, his fifth long ball of the season.

Boston answered right back in the top of the sixth inning. Grant Wolfram had come on in relief of Bradish, and immediately got smacked around. Abreu led off with a single, then came in to score on a Rafaela triple to center field. Mayer followed that with a base knock to bring Rafael home and make it 5-1.

That was all for Wolfram. He faced three hitters and failed to retire any of them. Yennier Cano came on and did an impressive job to get out of the inning without allowing any more runs. That was despite the first batter he faced, Durbin, reaching on an error by Jeremiah Jackson. Gunnar Henderson helped out with a nice snag to get the first out. Cano got the next out on his own, fielding a Monasterio ball back to the mound and then tagging out Mayer as he tried to get home. The final out of the inning came when Basallo nabbed Monasterio trying to steal second base.

Henderson followed his nice glove work with a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth inning. His ninth home run of the season came off the bat at 105.3 mph, but it counted for just one anyway. The Orioles trailed 5-2.

In the bottom of the eighth inning the Orioles would score again. Colton Cowser pinch hit for Blaze Alexander and reached base on a single up the middle. A dribbler in front of the mound advanced Cowser to second with two outs. And then it was Henderson that came through with an RBI single to make it a 5-3 game.

That is as close as it would get. Aroldis Chapman came on for the ninth inning and made quick work of the O’s lineup to secure the 5-3 win for the visitors.

What a bummer. This series had started off so well on Friday night. And given how poor the Red Sox had been playing coming in, paired with their Saturday evening/Sunday morning drama, it felt like a chance for the Orioles to get division play off on the right foot. Instead, they wilted today.

The 5-3 scoreline feels kind to the Orioles. The Red Sox went just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, Rafaela got thrown out at third base because he (just barely) popped off the base, and Abreu was picked off at first base because he didn’t wait for a bunt to get down. They could/should have scored more.

The Orioles bats had just two extra base hits (the two home runs) and worked one walk. It was a bad showing against a young pitcher.

At least the Orioles bullpen, minus Wolfram, was good. Cano, Anthony Nunez, Rico Garcia, and Andrew Kittredge combined for four scoreless, hitless innings. They each have ERAs under 2.00 on the year.

The Orioles are off on Monday. They will then wrap up the month of April with a three-game set at Camden Yards against the Astros. That’s another under-performing team that you would like to see the Orioles beat. It has to happen eventually, right? Right!?