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The Houston Astros released the following statement on former player and manager Phil Garner, who passed away yesterday after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 76 years old: 

“Phil Garner had a tremendous impact on the Houston Astros as both a player and manager. On the field, he spent seven seasons with the Astros (1981-87) and was a part of two postseason teams (1981, 1986). As a manager, he led the Astros to their first World Series appearance in 2005, famously rallying that club from a 15-30 start to earn a postseason berth, and, ultimately, the National League pennant. In his four seasons as manager (2004-07), the Astros were 272-252 (.524) with two postseason berths (2004-05). In 2004, his Astros fell just one win shy of reaching the World Series. As a player, Phil earned the nickname “Scrap Iron” due to his hard-nosed style of play. Off the field, he was an extremely popular figure around baseball, known for his wit and engaging personality. Everyone loved “Garr.”

From Astros Owner and Chairman Jim Crane:

“On behalf of the Astros, Whitney and I send our heartfelt condolences to Phil’s wife, Carol, their children and to his many friends, fans and admirers. Phil Garner’s contributions to the Houston Astros, the city of Houston and to the game of baseball will not be forgotten.”

Prior to becoming a manager, Garner played 16 seasons (1973-88) as an infielder in the Major Leagues with Oakland (1973-76), Pittsburgh (1977-81), Houston (1981-87), Los Angeles (1987) and San Francisco (1988). A three-time All-Star, he played in 1,860 games in his career with 109 HR and 225 stolen bases. He was a key member of the 1979 World Champion Pirates team, hitting .500 (12×24) in the World Series and .417 (5×12) in the NLCS with a HR.

In addition to his tenure as Astros skipper, Garner also served as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers (1992-99) and Detroit Tigers (2000-02).

With an MLB logo emblazoned on his collar, Cameron Young sits at the top the Masters leaderboard on Sunday. But that’s not the only cross-sport connection between golf and baseball on this beautiful American afternoon. At Wrigley Field, the Pittsburgh Pirates broadcast kicked off their coverage of Sunday’s Pirates-Cubs game with a pitch-perfect tribute to golf’s most iconic event. Watch it and weep tears of joy.

RELATED: Bettor puts over $100,000 on Cameron Young to NOT win the Masters, is in for the sweat of their life

“It’s a tradition unlike any other,” Pirates play-by-play announcer Greg Brown croons as the camera pans across a patch of budding flowers. “Welcome the final found at the Wrigely.”

The SportsNet Pittsburgh crew even went as far as to create a mock Masters leaderboard highlighting the Pirates early-season lead at the top of the NL Central. It’s A+ stuff from stem to stern, and one of the few non-Paul-Skenes-related reasons to watch Pirates baseball over the last several seasons. That’s saying a lot, so join us as we tip our “ EGG SALAD” cap to the geniuses who brought this little taste of Augusta National to Wrigleyville on Masters Sunday.

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The Dodgers will look to get their second sweep at home as they wrap things up against the Texas Rangers on Sunday. Roki Sasaki makes his third start of the season against Jacob deGrom.

Both Alex Call and Dalton Rushing start Sunday, while Andy Pages gets bumped up to third in the lineup.

SUNDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Rangers
• Stadium: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 1:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

The Mariners have a chance for their first series victory tonight.

I was going to say “sweep” but then I remembered the Mariners and Astros actually wrap up this four-game set tomorrow at 1:10 p.m. Still, this would be as good a time as any to take their first series of 2026.

They have the right personnel to do so. Logan Gilbert is on the mound, looking to build off a solid outing in Texas earlier in the week where he went six innings with five strikeouts and no walks. It was a good sign for Gilbert, who’s shown elite stuff for well over a year now but has often struggled with efficiency, unable to make it through six innings.

Brendan Donovan is back in the lineup. Donovan has been out the last few days with an illness, but he was feeling well enough to draw a crucial walk in the ninth inning last night, keeping the ball rolling just long enough for J.P. Crawford to end the game. Speaking of which, Donovan slots right back into the leadoff spot, after Crawford took over Batter 1 duties in his absence. Rather than hitting ninth, however, Crawford is hitting seventh.

The rest of the Mariners’ lineup is as expected. They will face former Mariners’ reliever Cody Bolton, who has a 3.39 FIP in two appearances this year — one as a starter, the other as a reliever. The Mariners have Astros’ pitchers on the ropes, working into the depths of their bullpen in the first two games of the series with 17 walks and 16 hits. The Astros have hung in there with 25 hits and eight walks of their own. But if the Mariners can get to the Astros bullpen early, they may be forced to punt.

Lineups

Game Info

First Pitch: 1:10 p.m. PDT
TV: Mariners TV
Radio: Old Reliable

With Michael Harris Jr. on the paternity list and Eli White day-to-day with plantar fasciitis, Mauricio Dubon will make his second straight start in center field for Sunday night’s finale of the Braves-Guardians series in Atlanta.

Dubon will hit eighth in the lineup followed by Jorge Mateo, who will make his second straight start at shortstop. Mike Yastrzemski is also back in the lineup, hitting fifth against a righty starter following Ronald Acuña Jr, Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson and Austin Riley in the top four spots.

This will be Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee’s second career start against the Braves. He tossed seven shutout, no-hit innings, striking out nine and walking none but not factoring into the decision of Cleveland’s 4-2 11-inning victory in Atlanta on April 27, 2024.

The only Braves hitters who have faced Bibee more than three times are newcomers Jonah Heim (0-for-9 but not in the lineup after he caught Saturday’s game) and Dubon (0-for-4). The current Atlanta roster is a combined 1-for-29 (.034) against Bibee. Ozzie Albies has the only hit, a double.

Cleveland is giving starting center fielder Steven Kwan the night off even though he has had success against Braves starter Chris Sale in a small sample size (2-for-6 with a homer and a double).

Kyle Manzardo is back in Sunday’s lineup, DHing and hitting sixth, after he hit his first homer of the season Friday and did not play in Saturday’s game.

Sale, whose career began with seven seasons in thee AL Central with the Chicago White Sox, has faced the Guardians 33 times (22 starts), third-most of any major league team. He has a 7-8 record and 4.44 ERA against Cleveland, his worst ERA against any team he has faced more than five times.

Current members of the Guardians’ roster, though, don’t have a ton of experience against Sale. Of the team’s 52 at-bats against Sale, longtime Cleveland infielder Jose Ramirez has 30 of them with eight hits (.267), one double, one RBI and more walks (four) than strikeouts (three).

Kwan has the only homer by a current Cleveland player off Sale. Overall, the Guardians’ roster is 13-for-52 (.250) with two RBIs, 11 strikeouts and four walks against the Atlanta ace.

Baseball lifer Phil Garner, who won a World Series as a player with the Pirates and took the Astros to a World Series as a manager, died Saturday after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

He was 76.

“Phil Garner passed away peacefully last night, April 11, surrounded by family and love after a two-plus-year battle with pancreatic cancer,” his family said in a statement. “Phil never lost his signature spark of life, he was so well known for, or his love for baseball, which was with him until the end. Special thanks to the Houston Medical Center, MD Anderson, Baylor St. Lukes and all the Doctors and Nurses for their excellent care and support.”

Garner played from the Majors from 1973-88, spending notable stints with the Oakland A’s, Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros, most notably.

Garner, who starred with the Pirates from 1977-81, won a World Series with the team in 1979.

Two of his three All-Star appearances also came while representing the Pirates in 1980 and ’81, respectively.

His first All-Star appearance came in 1976, his last with the A’s.

Garner was also a longtime MLB manager after his playing career.

Garner led the dugout of the Milwaukee Brewers from 1992-99, the Detroit Tigers from 2000-02, and the Houston Astros from 2004-07.

“He was competitive. He was honest. He told you the truth. He made you accountable — all the great things that leaders do,” said Jeff Bagwell, who played for Garner while with the Astros. “I think Gar just did a tremendous job of that. You could see how much he cared about his players, cared about winning and our organization. It was just a pleasure to play for him and be his friend.”

As a manager, Garner’s best work came with the Astros, whom he led to a World Series appearance in 2005, losing to the Chicago White Sox led by Ozzie Guillen.

He retired with a 277-252 record as a manager, with a 13-13 display in the playoffs.

As a player, he put up a career .260 average with 1,594 hits, 299 doubles, 225 stolen bases, 109 homeruns and 738 RBIs.

The Houston Astros (6-9) look to stop a 6-game slide as they play their 3rd of 4 games in Seattle against the Mariners (6-9) at T-Mobile Park.

RHP Cody Bolton (0-0, 3.68 ERA) will be on the mound for the Astros opposite RHP Logan Gilbert (0-2, 5.40 ERA) and the Mariners.

ABOUT BOLTON: RHP Cody Bolton will make his second career start today against the Mariners.

In his first career start on Tuesday, April 6 at COL, he allowed two runs on three hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 4.1 innings.

AGAINST THE MARINERS: The Astros and Mariners face each other today for the third of 13 scheduled matchups in 2026.

The Astros went 5-8 against the Mariners in 2025, including 2-4 record at T-Mobile Park.

Houston owns a 132-99 all-time regular season record against Seattle.

The Mariners will travel to Daikin Park for the first of two road trips to Houston from May 11-14 for a four-game series.

PEÑA INJURY: Astros SS Jeremy Peña left last night’s game due to right knee posterior tightness. He will get further evaluation today.

ULLOLA INJURY: RHP Miguel Ullola left last night’s game for Triple A Sugar Land due to a left ankle sprain.

ON THE MEND: LHP Bennett Sousa (left oblique strain) began a rehab assignment with Triple A Sugar Land last night…in his outing, he walked one and struck out two in one scoreless inning.

DOWN ON THE FARM: Astros number two overall prospect IF Xavier Neyens went 2×4 with a solo home run, walk and a stolen base. It marked his first career home run as a professional.

AIRCRAFT CARRIER: RF Cam Smith went 4×5 with two doubles, two RBI and a run scored last night at SEA. It marked his second career four-hit game, also June 17, 2025 at ATH.

TOMORROW’S PITCHER: RHP Mike Burrows will draw the start in tomorrow’s series finale vs Seattle.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 2019 – The Astros outslug the Mariners in Seattle by a score of 10-6.

Houston smacks three home runs, including grand slams from 2B Jose Altuve (2×5) and 3B Yuli Gurriel (3×5). It marks just the third time in club history for the Astros to hit two grand slams in the same game.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Sunday, April 12, 3:10 p.m. CST

Location: T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA

TV: Space City Home Network

Streaming: SCHN+

Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

LOS ANGELES — With a three-run lead in the ninth inning on Saturday night, the Dodgers opted not to use closer Edwin Díaz, whom they signed to a record-setting contract in December. His velocity is down, but Díaz says he’s not hurt, and the Dodgers say they don’t think it’s a mechanical issue. Díaz may or may not be available on Sunday.

“Just talking to the pitching guys, looking at the velocity and some of the things he’s dealt with in the past, it’s a day-to-day thing,” manager Dave Roberts said Sunday. “I’m going to see how he feels in catch play and talk to the trainers and pitching guys, see where we go and make a decision from there.

“I’m confident right now, because everything I hear is he feels fine. For me, you hear it, you want to completely trust it, but you’re also looking at the [radar] gun and making sure. We’re treading lightly, and giving him the benefit of the doubt, and still watching.”

Díaz on Friday night blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning and threw 23 pitches.

On Saturday night, manager Roberts said Díaz was unavailable due to the previous night’s workload, which completely tracks with the team’s bullpen deployment in the first three weeks of the season. Thus far, there have been only eight instances of a pitcher throwing on back-to-back days, including Díaz on March 27-28. Only one of those outings on no days rest came the day after throwing more than 17 pitches — Edgardo Henríquez threw 25 pitches on April 3 in Washington D.C., then was used the next day in a very low-leverage situation, up by six runs to get the final three outs in the ninth inning.

Ten times this season a Dodgers reliever has thrown at least 20 pitches in an outing. Other than the Henriquez outing, all those pitchers have been given at least one day off before pitching next, and in most cases got two or more days off.

During that outing on Friday, Díaz averaged 95.5 mph on his nine four-seam fastballs, and on the season he’s averaged 95.8 mph. He’s averaged at least 97 mph on that pitch in every other season of his career, including 97.2 mph in 2025.

Starting slow has been the norm recently for Díaz, for whom April has seen his lowest velocity of the season dating back to 2022. He did not pitch at all in 2023 after suffering a torn patellar tendon in his knee.

Díaz has pitched only six games, and struck out 10 of his 29 batters faced while allowing four runs in six innings. But his current 95.8 mph would be the lowest velocity month of his career.

“We’re still trying to dig in a little bit,” Roberts said, calling the 2-mph drop from Díaz’s usual average “significant.”

“A couple days ago there were a lot of throws in there, too. Like we’ve done many times is to play the long view with our guys,” Roberts added. “We’re still going to do what’s best for him and the organization. This is a day-to-day thing, it really is. It’s not an IL thing we’re talking about, it’s more day-to-day.”

Texas Rangers @ Los Angeles Dodgers

Sunday, April 12, 2026, 3:10 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium

RHP Jacob deGrom vs. RHP Roki Sasaki

Go Rangers!

While it’s disappointing to once again be facing a sweep at the end of a series, one must remember the Colorado Rockies are who we thought they were. They are a team at the ground floor of a rebuild and by their own admission are “here for the climb.”

By that metric, the Rockies have one major takeaway from the series so far: They’re keeping the San Diego Padres on their toes. Through the first three games, they have kept things close and competitive. The Padres had to walk-off the Rockies in the first two games, and the Rockies had the tying run at the plate last night in the top of the ninth inning.

This is not a post-season team. This is a team where progress is all that matters.

That being said, it sure would be nice to avoid getting swept out of San Diego to end this series. The man leading the Rockies into battle for that cause will be left-handed pitcher Kyle Freeland.

Freeland—despite a truncated spring training—is off to a strong start. Over his first three starts of the season he has a 2.30 ERA over 15.2 innings with 13 strikeouts and four walks. His last time out against the Houston Astros he pitched a 6.1 inning Quality Start, giving up just one earned run on three hits and one walk while striking out five batters.

On the bump for the Swingin’ Friars is right-handed veteran Nick Pivetta. Pivetta has his strikeout stuff working well to start the season with a 13.8 K/9 through 13 innings. However, he’s also had opposing batters get to him. Over his first three starts he has an ERA of 5.54 on 12 hits and six walks, but he’s also yet to allow a home run.

Historically Pivetta hasn’t had the best of luck against the Rockies. He holds a 9.64 career ERA against the boys in Purple over eight appearances—seven of which were starts—with seven home runs allowed over 32.2 innings of work. This season Pivetta is working primarily with four pitches: a four-seam fastball averaging 94.1 MPH, a curveball, a sweeper, and a cutter. He can also throw a sinker and slider if needed.

First Pitch: 2:10pm MDT

TV: Rockies.tv

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Lineups:

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Colorado Rockies (6-9) at San Diego Padres (9-6), April 12, 2026, 1:10 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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One part of the Mets’ bullpen makeover is already gone, with Luis García designated for assignment prior to Sunday’s series-finale against the A’s.

After the 39-year-old right-hander was forced into Saturday’s loss, in part because of Luke Weaver’s ineffectiveness, Carlos Mendoza said the bullpen needed to be replenished for Sunday’s game at Citi Field.

So the Mets opted to recall right-hander Joey Gerber from Triple-A Syracuse and are set to lose García, who was signed to a one-year, $1.75 million deal in January.

“We needed an arm, especially with the way we used the bullpen the past couple of nights,’’ Mendoza said. “We feel like we needed some protection there in case something bad happens again.”

Of the decision to DFA Garcia , Mendoza said it was “not an easy one. Luis had to pitch [Saturday] on a day we were staying away from him. [Weaver] got in trouble and we needed a fresh arm here.”

Gerber last played in the majors with the Rays last year, making two appearances, while spending most of the season with Triple-A Durham.

His contract was purchased by the Mets in November and he struggled in four outings in the minors this season.