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At times it wasn’t pretty, but the St. Louis Cardinals got it done again as they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday night 5-4 thanks to Andre Pallante, two doubles from JJ Wetherholt and a game-saving catch by Nathan Church.

Let’s start with the excellent start from Andre Pallante as he went deeper into Wednesday night’s game than any of his appearances this season. He tossed 6 strong innings giving up only 1 run before he turned the game over to the bullpen. More on that almost dumpster fire later.

The St. Louis Cardinals got on the board first when JJ Wetherholt continued his homecoming party doubling to the opposite field in the 3rd inning which scored Urias making it 1-0 Cardinals.

St. Louis would add to their lead in the top of the 5th inning when Alec Burleson hammered a 411 foot home run to left-center giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

The Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t roll over as they answered in the bottom of the 5th inning cutting into the Cardinals lead 3-1. Victor Scott’s speed would become a factor in the top of the 7th inning when he stole a base and scored on a single by Ivan Herrera increasing the Cardinals lead to 4-1.

Herrera would score on a single by Jordan Walker also in the top of the 7th inning making it 5-1 St. Louis and they would need that additional run because…the bullpen. Ryne Stanek would come in for the bottom of the 7th inning and he was ineffective and that’s being kind. He walked Konnor Griffin then gave up a single to Bart. Griffin would advance to third on a wild pitch by Stanek. Ryne followed that up with a walk to Cruz to load the bases. Manager Oli Marmol went to the bullpen for emergency help in the form of JoJo Romero. He would immediately give up a single to Yorke scoring 2 runs cutting the St. Louis lead in half 5-3. Reynolds was then walked, but JoJo was fortunately able to get O’Hearn on a strikeout followed by a groundout by Ozuna to end the bottom of the 7th.

George Soriano was brought in for the bottom of the 8th inning, but drama followed him, too, not all of his doing. Gonzalez singled followed by a walk to Horwitz. Mangum grounded into what should have been at least a force-out if not a double play to Masyn Winn, but he bobbled it for an error leaving everyone safe. Cruz would ground out on a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out to JJ Wetherholt, but a run scored on the play making it 5-4 Cardinals.

Riley O’Brien came in for the save in the bottom of the 9th and he succeeded – barely. After getting Reynolds to ground out to start the 9th, O’Hearn hit a bloop single to left. Riley struck out Ozuna for the second out, but the final out would be dramatic. Gonzalez hit a ball to deep left that looked like it would be a walk-off winner for the Pirates, but Nathan Church did a very Nathan Church thing.

St. Louis will go for the 4-game sweep against Pittsburgh on Thursday as Hunter Dobbins will take the mound for his first St. Louis start against a guy you’ve probably heard of named Paul Skenes. First pitch scheduled for 11:40am central time Thursday.

The Tigers needed their ace tonight, and they got him. 

Tarik Skubal was as advertised. Outside of one blemish to start the game, he did not allow a Braves runner in scoring position in his seven innings of work. It would’ve been a well-deserved, tip-your-cap type of win.

But the 2026 Braves simply won’t be denied. Pitching by Ritchie, Lee, and López kept them in it, and our patience was richly rewarded with a Matt Olson walk-off home run to clinch another series win for Atlanta.

JR Ritchie’s first inning set the tone for his home crowd debut: serviceable, but not as dominant as what we’d seen in the DC matinee. The Tigers worked deep counts and didn’t go down 1-2-3 in any inning he pitched. In the first inning, he worked around a Gleyber Torres walk and Colt Keith single, but got two K’s to strand them.

In the bottom half of the first, the Braves drew first blood against Skubal by way of a Drake Baldwin single and an Ozzie Albies home run that looked identical to the one he hit to left field last night. 

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However, Ritchie would give those runs back in the top of the second in a two-out rally by Detroit. Wenceel Pérez, who spoiled last night’s shutout with a homer off Aaron Bummer, doubled to left. Ritchie walked the recently-recalled nine hole hitter Jace Jung. Hitting machine Kevin McGonigle’s single made it 2-1. An ill-advised pickoff attempt would tie it up 2-2. 

Unfortunately, Skubal settled in to shut down the Braves, sending us to the third. Riley Greene’s leadoff homer would give the Tigers the lead, 3-2.

The next few innings would be largely uneventful. Drake Baldwin notched a second hit off Skubal, Ritchie worked around runners on the corners in the fourth. In their respective innings, Matt Olson and Michael Harris II tried to set the table for a Braves offensive rally, only to be erased by double plays by Austin Riley and Jonah Heim, respectively. 

Ritchie came back out for the sixth and walked Kerry Carpenter, but got Spencer Torkelson to fly out before exiting to an appreciative ovation from the fans at home. Ritchie’s final line: five and a third innings pitched, five hits, three earned runs, four walks, and the homer to Greene. It wasn’t as efficient or commanding as his performance against the Nationals, but selfishly, I hope he is able to stick around to start in his hometown vs Seattle next week. 

Dylan Lee, back from his one-day stint on the paternity list, finished off the sixth and set them down in order in the seventh. 

Midway through Matt Olson’s at bat in the seventh, Tarik Skubal summoned his coaches and trainers and seemed to indicate that he was feeling something in his elbow or forearm. But after seemingly easily convincing him that he was fine enough to stay in, he looked more than fine as he struck out Olson, Riley, and Dubón in order.

Reynaldo López came trotting out of the bullpen to relieve Lee and only needed eight pitches to retire the Tigers in order. Efficient, but sideyeing that velo a little as he irons out his mechanics. Another thing to watch? Michael didn’t seem comfortable after gloving a sharp lineout. 

Former National Kyle Finnegan came in to face the Braves in the eighth. He struck out Mike before Walt Weiss went to his bench to pinch-hit for White and Heim. Mike Yastrzemski flew out, and Dominic Smith worked an ABS-assisted walk. Ronald walked and the table was set for our clutchest boy, Drake Baldwin. It was looking promising as he fouled off pitch after pitch and the speedy Jorge Mateo ready to rev the wheels and tie it up on a base knock. But it wasn’t to be as he grounded out to end the inning. Disappointed, but not in you, sweet Drake. Never in you.

Reynaldo went back out for the top of the ninth and threw another nine pitches to get three outs. 

Old friend Kenley Jansen took the mound for the Tigers looking for a save to add to his illustrious career. But he must still harbor some love for his ATL days, as he walked Ozzie on six pitches and getting the leadoff man aboard for Matt Olson. Matt had been hitting the ball pretty hard all night without much to show for it. Austin Riley lurked on the on deck circle. But all Riley had to do was watch it go off the bat of Matty O. 

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Bring out the Dubble Bubble bucket hat! This one feels especially good after Tarik Skubal did Tarik Skubal things for so much of the evening. That’s another series win, and an extension of the winning streak vs Detroit we mentioned earlier. 

The Braves will go for the sweep in some brunch baseball tomorrow. Elder and Valdez will face off starting at 12:15 pm ET. 

The Mets were routed by the Washington Nationals 14-2 on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

Here are some takeaways...

- David Peterson's return to the starting rotation didn't quite go as planned. Washington jumped on the left-hander for a pair of runs on three hits and a passed ball in the top of the first, continuing his season-long struggles in an inning he mastered all of last season. 

- Peterson appeared to have settle in nicely, retiring nine in a row, but the roof caved in on him in the fourth. Washington flipped the script on the Mets from Tuesday, putting together a seven-run inning of their own, with two of those coming against Peterson before they chased him from the ballgame. 

- Sean Manaea entered after a bases loaded walk and he didn't fare much better, forcing in another run with a HBP then giving up a grand slam to put this one out of reach. Peterson's ERA now sits at an ugly 6.53 after allowing seven runs on five hits and three walks over just 3.2 innings of work in his first start back in the rotation. 

- The Mets' offense did try to pick Peterson up after his rough start to the night, as they used a double and two walks to load the bases against Cade Cavalli with two outs in the first, but the righty struck out Tyrone Taylor with a 3-2 sinker up in the zone to dance his way out of danger. 

- Juan Soto had the double which started that first inning rally. The red-hot outfielder also got the Mets on the board in the third with an opposite-field homer for the second straight night, and then picked up his third hit to try to start a rally trailing by eight in the bottom of the fifth. 

- MJ Melendez followed Soto's knock with a single off the first baseman's glove. Francisco Alvarez immediately rolled into his sixth double play of the season, though, killing any hopes of a rally and allowing the Nats off the hook. The young backstop struck out looking in his other three AB's, bringing his average down to .123 over his last seven games. 

- Marcus Semien enjoyed himself a nice day at the plate, singling twice across his three at-bats. 

- Manaea ate the next two innings but fared just as poorly as Peterson. Washington tacked on five more runs against him, ripping seven hits, five of which went for extra-bases. Manaea has given up 15 runs over his last five appearances, raising his ERA to 6.14 for the season. 

- Carl Edwards Jr. gave up a run but threw well, striking out six over 2.2 innings of work. 

Game MVP(s): Curtis Mead 

Mead fattened up against the Mets' pitching, stringing together his first career four-hit game. 

Highlights

Juan Soto slices a double the other way pic.twitter.com/qjQ7PrTxMf

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 29, 2026

Bo Bichette with the backhand and the long throw on a hop to get the out pic.twitter.com/dobeEj0viH

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 29, 2026

Juan Soto homers to left for the second straight night! pic.twitter.com/y0fDn9NUOt

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 29, 2026

What's next

Freddy Peralta takes the mound as the Mets look to rebound in the rubber game with the Nats on Thursday at 1:10 p.m.

The Orioles will be without a key arm in the rotation for at least the next two weeks.

Baltimore placed lefty Trevor Rogers on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday with an undisclosed illness. The move is retroactive to Sunday.

 Pitcher Cameron Foster was summoned from Triple-A to fill the open roster spot.

In a start Saturday against the Red Sox, Rogers lasted a season-low 1 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on four hits and two walks in what turned into a 17-1 loss.

“I felt really good going into today. My body feels good. I think my stuff’s in a really good spot,” the 28-year-old told reporters after the loss, according to MLB.com. “I’m just going to keep working and keep staying disciplined and I know, in the long run, this will turn around. … I know if I continue to do what I need to do and keep throwing the pitches in good spots, eventually, it’s going to go my way. I pride myself on getting contact and getting guys to swing the bat. I’m doing that. It’s just falling and just some big innings right now.”

Even though he didn’t take the hill until May, Rogers was one of the bright spots on the Orioles last year when he carried a 1.81 ERA and 0.903 WHIP across 18 starts. He received down-ballot Cy Young Award votes and finished ninth in the American League voting.

It looked like a revival for a starter who came to the Marlins as a first-round pick in 2017 and earned a National League All-Star spot in 2021 before struggling in each of the next three seasons resulting in a midseason trade to Baltimore in ’24.

This year, so far, hasn’t been as promising with a 4.75 ERA through 30 1/3 innings. He’s now the 11th player on Baltimore’s current injured list.

The Orioles, who were rained out on Wednesday, have a 14-15 record and are third in the AL East. The starting pitching has not gotten the job done, as not a single one of their rotation members with at least 20 innings this season has an ERA under 4.00.

It looks like the Colorado Rockies offense just needed an extra day to arrive in the riverside city of Cincinnati. After last night’s two-run affair, the Rockies exploded on offense tonight while largely shutting down the Reds.

A spoonful of Tommy Sugar

Tomoyuki Sugano 菅野 智之 continued his run of strong pitching for the Rockies with 5.1 scoreless innings against what has been a fairly potent Cincinnati offense. Sugano wasn’t as sharp as usual, issuing three walks with two strikeouts, but he kept the Reds off the board despite those walks and four hits. He also had a little help from a sharp Rockies defense. In the bottom of the first inning, Ezequiel Tovar made a diving stop and threw out a Reds baserunner at home to end the inning.

After issuing a single and a walk to start the sixth inning, Sugano managed to get one final out before his pitch count and situation pulled him from the game. His ERA for the season now sits at just 2.84, the lowest of any member of the Rockies’ rotation. Only Chase Dollander—operating largely as bulk relief with an opener—has a lower ERA.

Believe in the bullpen

Lefty Brennan Bernardino entered the game with two runners on and only one out with the goal of keeping the Rockies’ shutout intact. Brett Sullivan and Ezequiel Tovar caught the lightning-quick Elly De La Cruz stealing before an easy flyout ended the inning. Bernardino would work another full inning with a strikeout before his night was done, though he did give up one hit.

Juan Mejia took over for the eighth inning and did give up a leadoff base hit, only to quickly set down the next three batters swinging.

Jimmy Herget, newly reinstated from the paternity list, had a little rust to shake off in a ninth inning that was largely a formality. All three outs he recorded were strikeouts, but he did give up two earned runs on four hits. The earned runs were via a Will Benson home run, the first home run Herget has given up since July 29th of last season.

Pizza or taco’s?

The Rockies still struck out 11 times against Cincinnati pitching—which apparently earns Reds fans a free small, one-topping pizza courtesy of LaRosa’s Family Pizzeria—but that hardly seems to matter in an offensive effort that gave Rockies fans taco’s and more. The Rockies plated 13 runs on 15 hits and drew a strong six walks against Reds pitching staff.

The game had a promising start when Brenton Doyle doubled in his first at-bat of the day and was followed up walks issued to Willi Castro and Hunter Goodman. Backup catcher Brett Sullivan then slapped a bases-clearing double to right field to give the Rockies an early 3-0 lead.

A Willi Castro RBI double in the third inning and a Hunter Goodman solo home run in the fifth had the Rockies up 5-0, but the damage kept coming. In the top of the seventh inning Hunter Goodman demolished a second home run—his eighth of the season and the Rockies’ league-leading fifth multi-home run game of the season—to score another two runs. A Kyle Karros sacrifice fly scored yet another run.

With the Rockies up 8-0 in the top of the ninth inning, the Reds chose to wave the white flag and send in catcher Jose Trevino to pitch. The Rockies didn’t take it easy on Trevino, scoring another five runs on six hits. The inning saw Ezequiel Tovar, Kyle Karros, and Mickey Moniak get their first hits of the ballgame, with Moniak’s double extending his current hitting streak to 13 games. When all was said and done, the Rockies had gone 7-for-14 with runners in scoring position. It was a breath of fresh air after yesterday’s 1-for-11 mark.

Sadly, only Jordan Beck was left hitless after the festivities. Beck went 0-for-6 with two strikeouts and currently has a .440 OPS this season. Meanwhile, Brett Sullivan and Hunter Goodman were the heavy hitters of the evening, both going 3-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs.

Coming Up Next

The Rockies have an early start time tomorrow as they close out the series against the Reds and look for a series win on the road. Righty Michael Lorenzen will make the start for Colorado against Cincinnati lefty Andrew Abbott. First pitch is scheduled for 10:40 AM MDT.

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The Tigers were hoping to bounce back from their Tuesday evening loss to the Braves, and they were hoping Tarik Skubal would be the man on the mound to make that happen. Atlanta was leaning on J.R. Ritchie to get them the second win of the series.

The Tigers started out aggressively against Ritchie, with a one-out walk to Gleyber Torres followed by a single for Colt Keith. But two outs followed, despite Dillon Dingler’s attempt to challenge a third strike call that ended the inning. Skubal, meanwhile, had a rough start to the first. with Drake Baldwin getting a one-out single, followed by some unfortunate deja vu as Ozzie Albies homered into left to score two runs. Atlanta would have to settle for just those runs, but it was a tough way to get the game going.

With two outs in the second it seemed like the Tigers might already be fizzling, but then Wenceel Perez doubled, followed by a Jace Jung walk. Kevin McGonigle then singled on a liner into center, bringing Perez home. Then, Ritchie made an error attempting to pick off McGonigle, which allowed Jung to come home and tie up the game. It was all the Tigers would get, but they were two mighty important runs.

The Braves went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning because Skubal doesn’t like having bad innings and tries to make teams suffer for them.

The third showed that the Tigers weren’t going to let this game stay tied for long. With one out, Riley Greene hit a solo home run practically to dead center. Two outs followed but the Tigers sure did have the lead when it was all said and done. Now they just had to keep it.

With two outs in the bottom of the third, Drake Baldwin singled, but the Braves weren’t able to convert the baserunner.

In the fourth, Perez got on base for the second time in the game with a one-out walk. Another out later, McGoingle continued to McGonigle, singling to put two men on. Unfortunately, a Gleyber Torres groundout ended the inning with no additional runs scored. In the home half, Matt Olson singled to start things off, but don’t clutch your pearls just yet because he was quickly eliminated in a double play off the bat of Austin Riley. A groundout then ended the inning no harm done.

The fifth inning saw the Tigers going 1-2-3. Michael Harris II singled to start the home half, but a flyout and double play then safely ended the inning.

Kerry Carpenter got a leadoff walk in the sixth, and while Ritchie did collect the first out of the inning with a Spencer Torkelson flyout, his day was still done. Dylan Lee came out of Atlanta’s bullpen to get the final two outs of the inning. A nice little 1-2-3 outing for Skubal in the home half had to feel good for everyone involved, especially Colt Keith whose precision throw to first got the final out of the inning.

The seventh was another 1-2-3 inning, and I don’t know about everyone else watching but I do feel like some insurance runs might be a good idea here. There was a concerning pause at the start of the home half where Skubal had Dingler come out to the mound and it looked like he might be having some left forearm discomfort. A.J. Hinch and assistant athletic trainer Kelly Rhoades came out to look at him, but he waved everyone off and stayed in the game. Whatever was going on with him didn’t seem to lessen his skill, though, as he mowed through the side in order.

Reynaldo López was the new Atlanta pitcher out of the pen in the top of the eighth. He got the Tigers three-up, three-down. In the home half, Skubal’s day was done after seven, his final line for the game was 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR on 91 pitches. Kyle Finnegan came in out of the Tigers’ pen. While a missed call would have gone Detroit’s way with a called third strike, it was overturned by the ABS for ball four for Dominic Smith. Ronald Acuña Jr. then drew a walk. A groundout from Baldwin ended the inning, though, and Finnegan was no worse for the wear.

The Tigers once again went 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth, and had to hope they’d done enough to hold onto the lead. Helping them manage it would be Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the inning, trying to add to his all-time saves total. Jansen started out rough, with a leadoff walk to Ozzie Albies. Matt Olson then hit a home run right into the bullpen to walk off the game and make the Tigers regret not getting more insurance runs.

Final: Braves 4, Tigers 3

This year was supposed to be different for Kodai Senga.

He said he felt healthy during spring training, was throwing hard and expected to get back to the form he showed as a rookie with the Mets in 2023.

But just like pretty much everything else in Queens this season, it hasn’t gone as planned.

The right-hander is back on the IL with lumbar spine inflammation and won’t throw for a week to 10 days after he received an epidural Tuesday.

When the right-hander might return is anyone’s guess.

Senga said Wednesday he’d been dealing with at least some form of discomfort in the area as far back as spring training, but it wasn’t until his most recent outing against the Rockies on Sunday that it became clear he couldn’t pitch with it. 

“I was able to manage it, [but] it got to a point Sunday where it was definitely affecting my pitching and I had to bring it to their attention,’’ Senga said through an interpreter.

Sunday’s performance was Senga’s third straight ugly outing, as he’s allowed 16 earned runs over 8 ¹/₃ innings in the three starts.

He noted that at times “it became difficult to stand on one leg” because of the injury. 

This is just the latest in a growing list of health woes Senga has suffered after his standout 2023 rookie season.

In 2024, Senga pitched just once in the regular season thanks to a shoulder strain and then a strained left calf before he returned for the playoffs.

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Last season, he strained his hamstring when he jumped to catch a high throw from Pete Alonso while covering first base. He pitched poorly upon his return and wound up agreeing to go to Triple-A Syracuse.

Senga said Wednesday no such conversations took place about going back to the minors again in order to get right on the mound.

And he said there was no timeline yet for a potential return.

“The outlook is difficult,’’ Senga said. “We have to see how the body responds. I’m solely focused on getting back out there as soon as possible.”

As the Mets have seen in the past, though, it’s becoming hard to count on Senga’s availability. The Mets have reinserted David Peterson in the rotation after sending him to the bullpen and are set to start Christian Scott on Friday against the Angels in Anaheim.

“As a baseball player, my job is to be on the field and play for my team,’’ Senga said. “Not to be able to do that is frustrating.”