Author: rincon

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball:

The San Francisco Giants took a 6-3 lead over the Colorado Rockies into the bottom of the ninth inning. Then, disaster struck for the Giants.

Colorado opened the inning with back-to-back singles, with catcher Hunter Goodman blasting a game-tying, three-run home run two batters later. San Francisco got the second out in the inning on a Troy Johnston strikeout, but following a Willi Castro single, shortstop Ezequiel Tovar hit a walk-off, two-run homer to left field, giving the Rockies a dramatic, 8-6 win.

Tovar also hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth — with the Giants getting those two runs back in the top of the ninth — and stole home in the bottom of the second on a double steal (runners stole second and home). He entered Friday night with two home runs on the season and left with double that amount.

Tovar, Goodman, Castro and outfielders Jake McCarthy and Tyler Freeman each had two hits for Colorado. Meanwhile, San Francisco wasted a four-hit performance from right fielder Jung Hoo Lee.

Oh, and there was a bunny on the field in the eighth inning.

Trailing 6-5, Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Spencer Horwitz led off the bottom of the ninth with a single. Following a Brandon Lowe strikeout, right fielder Bryan Reynolds sent PNC Park into a frenzy.

In a 2-2 count with one out in the inning, Reynolds demolished a walk-off, two-run homer to left, giving the Pirates a 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Pittsburgh plated three runs in the first inning on RBI singles from third baseman Nick Gonzales and designated hitter Konnor Griffin and an RBI ground out from center fielder Oneil Cruz, who later hit a solo homer in the third, which was his 12th long ball of the year.

As for Minnesota, it got a solo homer from Kody Clemens in the first, a two-run single from shortstop Tristan Gray in the second and a two-run homer from left fielder Trevor Larnach in the third. Nevertheless, the Twins have now lost three consecutive games.

As for the ninth-inning hero, Reynolds boasts an .834 OPS and a 135 OPS+, while having driven in a team-high 37 runs.

By the way, this isn’t the last one of these.

The Detroit Tigers scored a run in the top half of the 10th against the Chicago White Sox, but it wouldn’t be enough. While Detroit reliever Drew Anderson got the first two batters out in the bottom half of the inning, Chicago infielder Miguel Vargas hit the second pitch he saw over the left-field wall for a walk-off, two-run homer and a 4-3 Chicago victory.

Moreover, Detroit led 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, but Chicago was able to tie the game on a sacrifice bunt from right fielder Rikuu Nishida to force extra innings.

As for Vargas, he also doubled home a run in the bottom of the third; Detroit’s other two runs came from catcher Dillon Dingler hitting a two-run home run — his 11th homer of the year — in the top of the third.

Through 56 games, Vargas has totaled 13 home runs, 34 RBIs, nine stolen bases, a 137 OPS+ and 2.2 wins above replacement, while sporting a .235/.365/.485 slash line. Chicago has won four of its last five games.

The New York Mets got a win — it was just more complicated than it probably had it be.

First, they got out to a 4-0 lead in the opening inning against the Miami Marlins with a pair of two-run singles from center fielder A.J. Ewing and third baseman Brett Baty. The two teams then traded runs in the third and fourth before a two-run fifth for the Marlins. And, after trading runs in the seventh, right fielder Owen Caissie evened up the score at 7-all for the Marlins with a two-run homer in the eighth, which would ultimately force extra innings.

But after the Marlins failed to score a run in the top half of the 10th, MJ Melendez hit a walk-off, two-run home run to right field in the bottom half of the inning for the Mets. The 9-7 win was New York’s first victory over Miami this season (the Mets lost their first three games to the National League East-rival Marlins).

On the homer front, the Mets also got a solo blast from first baseman Mark Vientos in the third, while the Marlins got three hits, including two doubles, from left fielder Kyle Stowers.

The Marlins have lost three consecutive games.

The Seattle Mariners got out to a sizable lead against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but it was challenged.

Seattle shortstop J.P. Crawford hit a pair of home runs (a solo homer in the first and a two-run homer in the fifth), while star center fielder Julio Rodríguez — who had a team-high three hits — launched a two-run homer in the bottom of the third, giving the Mariners a 5-1 lead going into the sixth. But Arizona fought back.

A four-run sixth inning that saw catcher Gabriel Moreno hit a two-run double, third baseman Jose Fernandez — who was one of three Diamondbacks players to tally three hits (Moreno and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo were the other two) — single home a run and first baseman Ildemaro Vargas bring in a run on a force-out tied the game at five apiece. Seattle got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning on a solo home run from right fielder Luke Raley, but Vargas tied the game at 6-all in the top of the ninth with an RBI force-out, which forced extra innings.

All that said, the D-backs went down one-two-three in the 10th, and left fielder Randy Arozarena walked it off for the Mariners with a double to right-center field in the bottom half of the inning for a 7-6 win.

Yes, this means there were four walk-off home runs and five walk-off hits altogether in the sport on Friday night.

As for the Friday night run-producers, Raley leads the Mariners this season with 12 home runs, 30 RBIs, a .569 slugging percentage and a 155 OPS+; Arozarena has totaled 26 RBIs, 15 stolen bases, a 146 OPS+ and a team-high 2.4 wins above replacement, while owning a .297/.382/.467 slash line; Rodriguez has driven in 29 runs; Crawford boasts a 115 OPS+.

Seattle has won four consecutive games and stands in first place in the AL West at 29-29. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers scored four runs in the loudest manner possible: on four solo home runs.

The first homer came in the bottom of the first by first baseman Freddie Freeman; third baseman Max Muncy, who’s tied with Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages with a team-high 13 home runs, hit the next one in the second inning; designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, who had a game-high three hits, smacked the third homer in the third inning; catcher Will Smith hit the fourth one in the fifth in what was a 4-2 win for the Dodgers over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Meanwhile, Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski held the Phillies to just one hit — a solo homer by Kyle Schwarber, who leads MLB with 22 long balls — over seven innings and posted nine strikeouts. In all, Philadelphia was held to just three baserunners (three hits) over the entire game.

Through nine starts/10 appearances, Wrobleski has recorded a 2.87 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, a 139 ERA+ and 1.5 wins above replacement over 62 ⅔ innings pitched. The southpaw has pitched through the seventh inning in four of his nine starts and pitched through eight innings in two of those four outings.

Los Angeles has won each of its last six games and 13 of the last 15.

Yandy Díaz is the Tampa Bay Rays.

En route to an 8-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels, Díaz hit two home runs, the first one being a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the first and the second being a go-ahead, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh in what would become a seven-run frame for Tampa Bay.

Following the Díaz homer in the seventh, first baseman Jonathan Aranda hit a solo homer, Oliver Dunn had an RBI single, second baseman Richie Palacios had a two-run triple and catcher Nick Fortes drove in a run on a sacrifice bunt.

Tampa Bay, which has the best record in the AL at 35-19 (64.8% winning percentage), snapped a four-game losing streak.

Díaz is having arguably the best season of his 10-year MLB career. Through 51 games, the veteran designated hitter/corner infielder has totaled 10 home runs, 36 RBIs, a 157 OPS+ and 1.8 wins above replacement, while boasting a .313/.392/.523 slash line. His .313 batting average leads the AL and is fifth in MLB as a whole.

Ben Rice is on a tear.

As part of an 8-2 win over the Athletics, the New York Yankees designated hitter logged four hits, including a solo home run in the top of the seventh and two doubles, one driving in a run. Rice is 9 for his last 14 with five extra-base hits and just one strikeout.

On the season, Rice has totaled 17 home runs, 39 RBIs, a 189 OPS+ and 2.2 wins above replacement, while having a .303/.393/.654 slash line. Rice’s .654 slugging percentage leads MLB, while his 39 RBIs, 57 hits, .303 batting average, 1.047 OPS and 189 OPS+ all lead the Yankees; his 17 home runs are tied with superstar Aaron Judge for first on the team.

As for the game, Rice was one of three New York players to leave the yard, as first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run home run in the first and third baseman Ryan McMahon hit a solo homer in the third. The Yankees got six innings from left-hander Carlos Rodon, who surrendered just one run. 

The Yankees have won five in a row.

This was a beatdown.

The Texas Rangers got the action started in the bottom of the first, with shortstop Ezequiel Durán hitting a two-run single and outfielder Alejandro Osuna driving in a run on an error and later stealing home on a double steal (runners stole second and home) to cap off a four-run frame.

Then, in the fifth, right fielder Brandon Nimmo tattooed a cutter into the right-field seats for a two-run home run, with second baseman Nicky Lopez hitting a two-run homer of his own in the sixth and designated hitter Joc Pederson hitting a solo shot in the eighth.

On the mound, Rangers left-hander MacKenzie Gore pitched 6 ⅓ shutout innings and has given up just four runs and 11 hits over his last 21 ⅓ innings pitched.

As for the opposition, the Royals’ one run came on a ninth-inning single from first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino; they’ve lost their last four games.

We had five games end in walk-offs and four games end in extra innings. As for the latter scenario, the Milwaukee Brewers squeaked out a 5-4 win on the road in 10 innings over the Houston Astros.

The Astros drew first blood in the bottom of the second on a solo home run by Cam Smith, which was answered by a solo home run from Brewers shortstop David Hamilton in the top of the third. Smith and fellow outfielder Jake Meyers later had RBI doubles for Houston in the fourth, with second baseman Nick Allen driving in a run on a sacrifice fly in a three-run inning.

Left fielder Jackson Chourio got two of those runs back for the Brewers with a two-run homer in the fifth and an RBI ground out from first baseman Jake Bauers, who possesses a team-high .485 slugging percentage, in the eighth tied the game at four apiece. Both teams went scoreless in the ninth, and Milwaukee took the lead for good in the top half of the 10th with second baseman Brice Turang hitting a fly ball to right field and designated hitter Christian Yelich sliding under the throw to the plate for the go-ahead sacrifice fly; Trevor Megill had a one-two-three 10th inning to close out the game.

Milwaukee (34-20) has won 16 of its last 20 games and has a four-and-a-half-game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the National League Central.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball:

When May kicked off, the Astros were just 12-20. Things didn’t immediately get better when the calendar flipped, either, as Houston went 5-8 in the first half of the month. The ‘Stros are 9-4 since, however, and have won six of their last seven: they now sit 2.5 games back in the AL West, behind the 28-29 first-place Mariners. That division is… well, it’s a mess. But it’s a mess the Astros are right in the middle of now, in the positive sense.

Taking three of four from the Rangers helped matters, as it brought the two teams into a tie for third out west. Houston wasted no time going ahead in this one, with shortstop Jeremy Peña leading off the game with a homer off Nathan Eovaldi.

Designated hitter Yordan Alvarez would walk, leading to a second dinger in the first, this one by first baseman Isaac Paredes — three batters, three runs. That would be all the Astros needed to down the Rangers, 5-1, in no small part thanks to right fielder Cam Smith, who on top of having a pair of hits and an RBI on Thursday also went up up up to rob fellow right fielder Brandon Nimmo of a homer in the bottom of the first.

Smith is still struggling to find his bat in the majors, but the second-year player, acquired from the Cubs in 2024’s Kyle Tucker trade, has been an impact defender in right. It’s not just the flashy plays: Smith is making all of ‘em.

Now, Houston still has problems to fix, but one of their most pressing ones was and is health. As the Astros still have eight players on the IL, including some key pieces like ace Hunter Brown and closer Josh Hader. If they can keep close to the top of the AL West despite all the injuries they have suffered, though, and no one else in the division turns things around, it’s not difficult to see this recent stretch as the one that kept the optimism alive.

Paul Skenes wasn’t at his absolute best on Thursday, and the Pirates lost to the Cubs. Now, Skenes not being at “his absolute best” is still pretty great: he went 5 ⅓ innings with 10 strikeouts, but he also allowed three runs. 

The problem is that just one of those runs was earned; in the sixth inning, Cubs’ third baseman Alex Bregman reached on a throwing error from Pirates’ third baseman Tyler Callihan, and then the next play also involved a throwing error, this time by shortstop Jared Triolo. Skenes was lifted for reliever Mason Montgomery at this point, and was responsible for the remaining runners even if errors were involved; Montgomery allowed another to score, making it 3-0 Cubs.

The Pirates would finally score a couple of runs post-Skenes, but just two, so not enough to get either the team or even just Skenes off the hook for the L. Chicago, meanwhile, poured it on further, scoring another four against the Bucs’ bullpen to win 7-2. This allowed for a series split — a pretty great result for the Cubs, considering they lost the first two games of the series to extend their losing streak to 10 — and a terrible one for the Pirates, who are still over .500 at 29-28, but are also in last place in the most competitive division in the league this season. Losing Skenes starts is not the way to change that.

Now there’s a stat. Cubs’ left fielder Ian Happ has been a nuisance to the Pirates for some time, especially when he’s playing on the road. He got on base at least once in every game of this series, and it turns out that streak started a long time ago. Thursday marked the 41st-straight game in which Happ has gotten on base at PNC Park, which, as MLB pointed out, is the longest such active streak for a player at any stadium.

Happ was born in and went to high school in Pittsburgh, and from these homecomings it seems as if this place gets him in the zone. In addition to the 41-game on-base streak at PNC, Happ is also a career .306/.387/.528 hitter there, with 26 doubles, a triple and nine homers in 67 games. Hey, Pittsburgh, he’s a free agent after this season, you might want to get in on that action.

This was a battle of the basement dwellers, but the Angels came out on top by a mile. The Tiger struck first with a homer off the bat of right fielder Wenceel Pérez, but that would be the lone run they would score: Los Angeles answered back in the fifth with three runs, then two more a piece in the eighth and ninth just to pile on.

Center fielder Mike Trout had a pair of hits, a run, two walks and two RBIs, bringing his line for the season up to .239/.405/.487; the batting average is once again low, but he’s drawing loads of walks and still hitting for power, as he has 23 extra-base hits on the season, two of which were doubles on Thursday. In 56 games, Trout has already produced more wins above replacement (2.1) than he managed during the entire 2025 season (1.7 in 130 games).

The other notable hitting performance of the game came from third baseman and No. 9 hitter Donovan Walton. He was 3-for-4 for the day and scored a pair of runs, the last of which was thanks to one of those Trout doubles. Walton hasn’t played much this season — or in any season in his big-league career that began back in 2019 — but he made life difficult for the Tigers, at least.

This was also an encouraging performance from starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, whom the Angels acquired from the Orioles this offseason in exchange for outfielder Taylor Ward. Rodriguez missed all of 2025 recovering from surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow, and was on the IL for the first 56 days of the 2026 season thanks to inflammation in his shoulder. Rodriguez debuted on May 17, and it went poorly with seven runs allowed in 3 ⅔ innings, but he’s been better in each of the last two starts: four runs in 5 ⅔ innings while striking out five and walking two, and on Thursday against Detroit, he went five innings allowing two hits and one run while whiffing five against two walks once again. 

The announced attendance at Thursday’s Blue Jays-Orioles game was 13,778. And yet, the same fan ended up catching two balls: the first on third baseman Coby Mayo’s home run in the fourth, and then a ground-rule double off the bat of left fielder Blaze Alexander one inning later.

Don’t worry, he shared the second one with another fan, who was thrilled to get it — you have to pay forward that kind of luck.

The Orioles didn’t have the same kind of luck as that fan on Thursday. Mayo’s homer ended up being their only run of the game, and all it did was tie things up. That’s because Andrés Giménez had hit a solo shot in the third for the Blue Jays…

…and then in the bottom half of the inning made an excellent play at shortstop to keep Taylor Ward from what very well could have been a double through the infield.

The Blue Jays would get another in the eighth following an ABS challenge that resulted in a bases-loaded walk, and Toronto would take the game, 2-1.

The Braves trounced the Red Sox 10-2 to close out and win that series, and while there was plenty of action — another Michael Harris II home run! — the big bop came from right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr., who used his time in Fenway well. With not just a home run over the 37-foot Green Monster in left, but a grand slam.

Acuña nearly hit it completely over the Monster and out of Fenway, but the back fence kept it in. In a world with laxer safety regulations, that ball hits Lansdowne.

The Braves are 38-19, both the most wins and fewest losses of any team, and one of just two to not yet lose 20 games. The Red Sox are… worse. They are 23-32, in last place in the AL East, 12 games back of the Rays, or, the other team with just 19 defeats. They are also running out of days in which you can say “well it’s just May” about their performance so far.

Did you know the White Sox are in second place in the American League Central? And that this isn’t an AL West situation, and that Chicago is even over .500? That’s right, the team that set the modern loss record and then lost “just” 102 games in an improved follow-up campaign is 29-27 after taking three of four from the Twins. Minnesota isn’t over .500, but that’s thanks to losing three of four to the White Sox.

Chicago never trailed. An RBI single from shortstop Colson Montgomery gave them a 1-0 lead in the first, and then center fielder Tristan Peters added another in the second. Designated hitter Randal Grichuk would put an exclamation point on the inning with a three-run double.

The White Sox would score just one more from that point forward, but righty starter Davis Martin continued his hot pitching and limited the Twins to a run over six innings, bringing his ERA to 2.00 for the season. The Chicago bullpen allowed just one more, so the White Sox would win, 6-2.

The 29-27 2026 Chicago White Sox. They were 18-40 at the end of May last season, and 15-43 at the same point in ‘24. They have three games left before June hits, all against the Tigers: just one more W means they put a bow on the month while over .500 for the season so far. Wild.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

“Bear Bets” are real wagers that Chris “The Bear” Fallica is actually making.

We are approaching one of the best stretches on the sports calendar, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to kick off and 104 matches to bet on, along with a full summer of MLB action ahead.

With that in mind, let’s dive into some of our favorite World Cup and MLB futures bets that I am backing.

This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.

Ivory Coast (+700) to win Group E 

Ivory Coast (+600) top African team

Germany hasn’t advanced past the quarterfinals of a major international tournament since the European Championship in 2016. Sure, it’s a new roster and a new coach, but even at Euro 2024 as hosts, it still went out in the quarterfinals.

I just don’t think Germany warrants being such a heavy favorite here, so I’m not only taking a shot on Ivory Coast to win the group, but also to be the African nation that advances the furthest.

I think the Elephants are low-key loaded. Maybe they ultimately prove to be too young, but the talent is there: Diallo, Diomande, Guessand, Kessie, to name a few.

The Germany match will be played in Toronto during the middle of the afternoon. Could the weather become a factor for some of the European nations?

Win the group, and you likely draw a third-place side in the Round of 32. Finish second, and you’d probably get Norway in the Round of 32, which is still very manageable.

And when you consider Morocco — the African side most people would pick to advance the furthest — would likely draw the Netherlands in the Round of 32, there’s a real chance they could go out immediately.

So we’re digging a little deeper than the obvious top choice here.

England (+375) Stage of Elimination: Quarterfinals

I can’t see England going any deeper than the quarterfinals.

A look at England’s projected path as likely group winners reveals a potential matchup with Mexico at Azteca Stadium in the Round of 16, followed by a possible quarterfinal against Brazil in Miami.

That’s a lot of heat, humidity, elevation and hostile environments for England to deal with.

I’ll take the +375 on England to be eliminated in the quarterfinals, and I’ll also monitor who the potential Round of 16 opponent ends up being. If it’s Mexico, we could grab El Tri as a hedge opportunity there.

Gerrit Cole (+10000) to win AL Cy Young

Even as someone holding a Cam Schlittler ticket at a great number, I still think there’s value in the American League Cy Young market.

Enter 2023 Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole, who, in his return from Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss all of 2025, has thrown 12.2 innings of shutout ball across two starts while allowing just six hits and striking out 12 batters.

Sure, one of those games was against the Royals — not exactly an elite lineup — but it’s still an extremely promising start for a Yankees team that desperately needs him given its other pitching injuries and suspect bullpen.

During his Cy Young campaign in 2023, Cole posted a 2.63 ERA, a 0.98 WHIP, and 222 strikeouts across 209 innings.

Some detractors might point to the time he missed, but because the absence came at the beginning of the season, it could easily be overlooked if Cole continues to perform at this level.

There’s also still plenty of runway left. The Yankees have 106 games remaining, which would likely give Cole around 21 more starts if everything goes according to plan.

At this number — and maybe there were even better prices available earlier — I’ll bite.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

With the 2026 MLB season now roughly a third of the way complete, both Cy Young races are beginning to take shape. 

Specifically, the National League is quickly emerging as the headlining race, with an absurd collection of superstar arms turning the race into one of the most fascinating pitching battles baseball has seen in years.

Just how loaded is the race right now? Shohei Ohtani currently owns a 0.82 ERA through nine starts and still only has the fourth-best odds to win the National League Cy Young Award.

With that being said, let’s check out the odds for this season’s winners at DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 28. 

This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.

American League Cy Young

Cam Schlittler: +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total)
Dylan Cease: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Jacob deGrom: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Gavin Williams: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
Shane McClanahan: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Drew Rasmussen: +2700 (bet $10 to win $280 total)
Jose Soriano: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)

What to know: When the season began, Detroit’s Tarik Skubal was favored to win a third straight Cy Young. That’s how dominant he’s been. However, he was forced to have surgery to remove loose bodies in his throwing elbow, and is now sidelined for months, opening the door for a new winner. 

The Yankees’ young star, Cam Schlittler, who is 7-2 with a 1.50 ERA and 81 strikeouts through 12 starts, continues to rise up the oddsboard and is now the clear favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award at +100, after being at +220 two weeks ago. The 25-year-old owns the second-lowest ERA ever recorded by a Yankees pitcher through his first 12 starts of a season since ERA became an official statistic in 1913. 

Behind Schlittler, Toronto’s Dylan Cease (3-3, 3.05 ERA, 92 Ks) and Texas’ Jacob deGrom (3-4, 3.77 ERA, 70 Ks) remain in the mix as they look to make up significant ground over the summer.

National League Cy Young 

Cristopher Sanchez: +145 (bet $10 to win $24.50 total)
Jacob Misiorowski: +340 (bet $10 to win $44 total)
Paul Skenes: +450 (bet $10 to win $55 total)
Shohei Ohtani: +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)
Chris Sale: +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)
Chase Burns: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)

What to know: The NL Cy Young race is completely stacked right now. 

Five of the top six pitchers on the oddsboard currently have an ERA below 1.96. Cristopher Sánchez tops the list and is the current favorite at +145 after his brilliant outing on Wednesday against the Padres. Sánchez currently has a scoreless innings streak that now sits at 44 ⅔ innings, as he did not allow a single run during the entire month of May. 

With that performance, he officially surpassed Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander’s 115-year-old Philadelphia Phillies franchise record of 41 consecutive scoreless innings, which had stood since 1911.

Sánchez owns a league-best 1.46 ERA and is second in the MLB in strikeouts with 95. 

Behind him, is Brewers second-year phenom Jacob Misiorowski, who owns a 1.83 ERA and has a league-leading 100 strikeouts in 64 innings pitched. 

Next comes reigning 2025 NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes, who entered the season as the preseason favorite and somehow owns the highest ERA among the group despite still very solid numbers. Through 11 starts, Skenes is 6-4 with a 3.00 ERA, 65 strikeouts and a 0.82 WHIP.

Behind Skenes is Ohtani and Sale at +750 each. 

Ohtani has an absurd 0.82 ERA through nine starts, though the mark does not qualify for the official MLB leaderboard because he has not yet pitched enough innings. Ohtani’s dominance continued Wednesday night against the Rockies, as he tossed six hitless innings in the Dodgers win. 

Sale’s numbers also stand out, as he owns a 7-3 record with a 1.89 ERA, 72 strikeouts and an impressive 38% chase rate.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball:

Phillies’ ace Cristopher Sánchez made five starts in the month of May, and he didn’t allow a single run in any of them. Those five starts all went at least seven innings, with two of them coming in at seven, another two at eight and one a complete-game shutout. He struck out 36 batters in his 32 innings while walking just three, and scattering 19 hits. He had an impressive 2.90 ERA at the end of April; it dropped to a league-leading 1.42 after seven shutout innings against the Padres on Wednesday in a Phillies’ win that clinched a sweep over San Diego.

That’s all impressive enough on its own, but consider, too, that Sánchez’s scoreless streak is now 44 ⅔ innings, breaking the longstanding Phillies’ record set in 1911 by Hall of Fame hurler Grover Alexander. You can do the math of how long ago 1911 was and be suitably impressed, but consider that the oldest stadium in use in MLB, the Red Sox’ Fenway Park, wasn’t opened until 1912. Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton, Curt Schilling, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Zach Wheeler, none of them were able to break Alexander’s century-spanning mark. But Cristopher Sánchez did.

It goes beyond “just” toppling Alexander’s mark, as well. Per MLB’s Sarah Langs, Sánchez is the second-ever pitcher to get through an entire month with at least five starts made without allowing a run, joining Orel Hershisher’s 1988. Sánchez also now has the seventh-longest streak of the live-ball era — Hershisher is first, at 59 innings — and he’ll make it into the top five with two more outs. Also per Langs, Sánchez is now tied for the third-longest streak of scoreless outings of at least seven innings since “at least” 1900, with five in a row, putting him behind only Hershisher again and 1968 Don Drysdale — both had six. 

Sánchez genuinely just had one of the greatest single months by a pitcher in MLB history, and it’s helped the Phillies rebound from a rough April. Philadelphia has gone 17-8 in May with a +28 run differential, with the team winning in four of Sánchez’s five starts. (The lone loss? A 1-0 defeat, when closer Jhoan Duran gave up the only run of the game in the ninth inning.) Philly is now 29-27, in second place in the NL East — they were 12-19 at the start of the month, and had been outscored by 45 runs on the season. Sánchez will eventually give up a run again, but for now, he’s helped bring balance back to a Phillies’ team that was toppling over.

How can Dodgers’ hurler Shohei Ohtani stand out on a night when Cristopher Sánchez threatens history? By doing your usual Shohei Ohtani things, naturally. The two-way star for the start for Los Angeles on Wednesday, and after a scoreless first inning, hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the frame.

That’s just the third time ever that a starting pitcher has led off a game with a home run. You get one guess at who did it the other two times. Ohtani didn’t stop there, however. He didn’t allow a hit in that first inning… or for his entire start. The right-hander twirled six no-hit innings before exiting, but alas, he did allow a run, as he walked four batters and allowed a run on a force out.

Still! Ohtani’s bat has recovered from his early slump, as he’s now hitting .269/.400/.482 with a 151 OPS+ despite those troubles, and his ERA for the season is 0.82 in 55 innings and nine starts. That’s not enough to qualify for the ERA title, but he’s very rarely deployed to chase that sort of thing, anyway. 

Plus, we got this lovely little moment where first baseman Freddie Freeman saved Ohtani from throwing the ball away on a pickoff. Look at Ohtani trying not to have a visible smile and mostly failing at it.

The Dodgers would win, 4-1, and in conjunction with the Phillies handling the Padres, now have a 4.5 game cushion in the NL West.

On Monday, Astros’ DH Yordan Alvarez hit a homer against the Astros. On Tuesday, Astros’ DH Yordan Alvarez hit two homers against the Rangers. On Wednesday, Astros’ DH Yordan Alvarez hit two homers against the Rangers. If you’re sensing a pattern here, well, maybe let the Rangers know about it, since they kept pitching to Alvarez for some reason.

Alvarez has six homers against the Rangers this season now, after blasting five in this three-game series alone. He’s been excellent in his return after an injury-filled 2025, and is now batting .312/.422/.663: his batting average leads the AL, as do his 20 dingers, and he’s tops in the majors in slugging percentage, OPS (1.085), OPS+ (202) and total bases (134).  

Houston has had far too many problems for Alvarez’s dominance to keep them competitive, but May has been markedly better for the Astros than April was — Houston is 13-12 this month and has a chance to take three of four from Texas on Thursday, following an 8-18 April. There’s still a whole lot of 2026 left, so if Alvarez keeps mashing and the Astros can get healthier… well, the AL West hasn’t exactly been dominant. Houston is 25-32 and just three games out of first.

The Rays have been thriving at the top of the AL East to this point, but all that was interrupted by the Orioles. Baltimore has now swept Tampa Bay, which has dropped four in a row. Sure, the Orioles are still 9.5 back right now, but that doesn’t make the Rays losing to Baltimore any easier to deal with if you’re pulling for Tampa Bay here.

The thorn in the Rays’ side on Wednesday was Blaze Alexander, who played some third base and some left field for the O’s. Alexander went 3-for-4 with a run and six RBIs, the first two of which came in the first inning on a two-run single to put Baltimore up 5-0. In the fifth, Alexander would drive in another two, this time on a double that scored Coby Mayo and Leody Taveras.

Alexander would strike one last time in the seventh to put the Orioles up 11-1, on a two-run homer that sent Colton Cowser home. That’s a pretty great day at the office for anyone, never mind a player who came into the game hitting .237/.293/.289 — yes, this homer was his first of the season, in his 47th game of the year.

While Alexander did the most damage, he didn’t have the only highlight of the night. Orioles’ first baseman Pete Alonso picked up career hit No. 1,000 in this game, on a first-inning single. 

Alexander was still involved, though: Alonso was one of the runners he drove in later in the same inning. Blaze was inescapable in this one.

The 10-game nightmare is over for Cubs’ fans, as Chicago finally won a game again. And with authority, too: the Cubs had 14 hits and scored 10 against the Pirates, while holding Pittsburgh to four runs.

The game was relatively close for much of it, as both starters — Jameson Taillon for the Cubs and Bubba Chandler for the Pirates — went five innings and allowed four runs each. While Chicago’s bullpen held things together post-Taillon, the Pirates had no such luck.

Left fielder Ian Happ drove in runs in the first inning against Chandler…

…and then untied the game in the seventh while facing right-hander Yohan Ramírez. His 11th homer of the year made it 7-4, Cubs, and Chicago did not look back from there.

Pinch-hitter Michael Conforto would hit a two-run homer in the same inning to make it 9-4, then first baseman Michael Busch — who led off the seventh by getting hit by a pitch — came to the plate again and got revenge in the form of an RBI single. Neither team would score again from this point, giving Chicago the 10-4 victory. On Thursday, the Cubs have a chance to go from a 10-game losing streak to splitting a four-game series: as they went from atop the NL Central to 4.5 back during this stretch, putting together even a short streak in the other direction would not be the worst outcome for them.

What’s that? Another Munetaka Murakami update? Sorry, it can’t be helped, the White Sox rookie just keeps on mashing taters. And this one was especially impressive, a real showcase of Murakami’s prodigious power.

Murakami took a 94 mph four-seam fastball low and away in the zone and drove it deep the other way to left-center field. He didn’t even look as if he swung all that hard at it, but those wrists did the work, and the result was a 432-foot blast that came off of his bat at 108.3 mph. Say what you will about the White Sox, but they seem to have fixed whatever issues with velocity Murakami was supposed to have, and now he’s tied for the AL lead in homers with 20, alongside Yordan Alvarez. 

And here’s Murakami’s first MLB steal, for good measure. A little awkward, but hey, he’s used to trotting past second.

It’s like he was never gone. Gerrit Cole has now made two starts for the Yankees since returning from Tommy John surgery, and he looks a whole lot like Gerrit Cole already. In the first start, there was a little rust to shake off — Cole struck out just two batters and walked three — but he also allowed just two hits and no runs in six innings. On Wednesday against the Royals, Cole found those missing strikeouts, punching out 10 in 6 ⅔ frames without allowing a walk nor a run.

This is welcome news for the Yankees on a smaller scale — Cole is one of the best pitchers in baseball and is already pitching like it, helping them to a 7-0 win against the Royals — but in the shadow of Max Fried’s IL stint for a bone bruise on his elbow, his return is helping the Yankees avoid missing one of their top arms. And at some point, the two might even be in the same rotation at the same time — no such luck on that one yet, but it’s still May and all.

Don’t let all the offense distract you from the fact that Elly De La Cruz is an impressive defensive shortstop. Look at the range and extension on this play!

De La Cruz isn’t a threat to win a Gold Glove, but he is one of those guys that can find a use for every inch of his 6-foot-6 frame when it comes to making defensive plays. A whole lot of shortstops wouldn’t have made this catch, in large part because a whole lot of shortstops aren’t roughly the height of your average NBA player. De La Cruz is, though, and it makes for some stunning highlights.

So that was the good news for the Reds on Wednesday. The bad news is that they had to pitch to Juan Soto, who has been on one of late. 

Even Elly De La Cruz isn’t tall enough to get a glove on that one. Soto took a 79 mph curveball low and in and shot it 366 feet away by skying it way, way up to right. It’s home run No. 12 of the season for Soto, who has been absolutely crushing it over his last 12 games. His season OPS was in danger of falling under .800 around two weeks back, but since, he’s hit .386/.471/.932 with eight of his 12 homers, bringing his season line up to .301/.392/.594 with a .986 OPS, comfortably ahead of his career OPS of .950.

The Mets would end up winning, 4-2, and while they are still in the NL East cellar, they need these wins against teams that are also going to be vying for wild-card spots. And also just wins in general — we can say “it’s still May” for a few more days, sure, but New York is also 23-33; there’s a lot of ground to make up over the rest of the season, and the Mets have to prove they can. If Soto keeps hitting like this, that task gets that much easier.

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