Category: Baseball

The Chicago White Sox are expanding their tribute to Pope Leo XIV, a Chicago native and longtime fan of the baseball team.

The White Sox announced on Friday that they will hand out pope-themed hats to all fans who attend their Aug. 11 game against Cincinnati. The promotional item was originally limited to fans who had purchased specialty theme night tickets.

“The fans have spoken, and unlike some of our more limited quantity promotions, the White Sox Pope Hat is one we believe all fans should have the opportunity to take home,” Brooks Boyer, the chief revenue and marketing officer for the team, said in a release. “We viewed the promotion as a creative way to celebrate one of the franchise’s most popular fans, and by the overwhelming response we received, White Sox fans certainly agreed.”

The hats are shaped like the Pope’s miter, with the team’s sock logo in the middle. The White Sox said fans who had already purchased the specialty tickets would receive the hat and an additional item.

The pope, the former Robert Prevost, attended Chicago’s 2005 World Series opener against Houston and watched as his beloved team beat the Astros 5-3 on the way to a four-game sweep and its first title since 1917.

In May, the White Sox unveiled a graphic installation near the seat paying tribute to Pope Leo and that moment. The pillar artwork features a waving Pope Leo XIV, along with a picture from the TV broadcast of the future pope sitting with good friend Ed Schmit and his grandson, Eddie.

In June, Rate Field hosted an event honoring his election as the first American pope. A month later, at a pregame ceremony honoring the 2005 team, White Sox great Paul Konerko was presented a jersey signed by the pope, a gift from one No. 14 to another.

Pope Leo broke Vatican protocol by donning a White Sox cap last year. In October, he shouted “they lost” to someone who screamed “go Cubs.” And a few weeks ago, he gave a thumbs up to someone who yelled “God bless the White Sox!”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Oh, snap.

As the Seattle Mariners unveiled their third statue in franchise history outside T-Mobile Park, one of Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki, there was a blip.

A bronze statue that depicted Suzuki in his famed batting stance appeared to be defective when it was displayed Friday morning. Suzuki’s bat snapped near the handle, and the barrel veered off to the right-hand side.

After the ceremony, Suzuki joked that New York Yankees Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera got the best of him.

“I didn’t think Mariano would come out here,” Suzuki said with a smile, “and break the bat.”

It did not take long for the Mariners to fix the statue; Suzuki’s bat was soon turned upright and reconnected at the handle. Suzuki, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last summer, became only the third Mariners player to have his number retired by the franchise last year as well, joining Ken Griffey Jr. (No. 24) and Edgar Martinez (No. 11).

Griffey and Martinez joined Suzuki outside T-Mobile Park on Friday, and all three pulled a tarp off the statue together. Suzuki made history last summer as the first Japanese-born player inducted into the Hall of Fame, earning a near-unanimous 99.7% of the vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

The way a jovial Suzuki saw it, his statue having an imperfection was only fitting.

“In the Hall of Fame, I was short one vote,” Suzuki said. “Today, the bat was broke. It kind of lets me know that I’m still not there, that I still need to keep going. So, this is a good example of that.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

The Colorado Rockies are bringing in Denver Broncos owners Greg and Carrie Walton Penner through a minority investment from the Penner Sports Group.

Rockies chairman & CEO Dick Monfort and owner/general partner Charlie Monfort announced the deal Friday. It’s been approved by Major League Baseball,

The Penner group is purchasing approximately a 40% share of the Rockies, a person with knowledge of the situation said. That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the figure hasn’t been released. The group becomes the largest minority partner for the Rockies, a team Forbes has valued at $1.68 billion.

Dick and Charlie Monfort will continue their roles, with Walker Monfort serving as the team’s president. The organization said the investment allows the club to “retire all outstanding debt” in addition to providing an enhanced experience at Coors Field.

“Greg and Carrie have proven that they share the same passion for our region and a strong commitment to compete at the highest level,” Dick Monfort said in a statement. “We are thrilled to add them to the Colorado Rockies’ ownership group as we best position this franchise for long-term sustained success.”

The Rockies are off to a 6-7 start this season. They made big changes in the offseason after a third straight year with 100 or more losses. The front office is now led by Paul DePodesta, the president of baseball operations, and general manager Josh Byrnes.

The Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group bought the Broncos from the Pat Bowlen Trust in August 2022 for a then-record $4.65 billion. Walmart heir Rob Walton also is an owner, while Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, Mellody Hobson and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice serve as limited partners.

Denver made it to the AFC championship game last season before losing 10-7 to the New England Patriots.

“While our focus remains firmly on the Broncos, we look forward to being supportive, long-term partners of the Rockies and Major League Baseball,” the Penners said in a joint statement. “We’ve enjoyed getting to know the Monforts and are grateful to join Dick and Charlie in the Rockies’ ownership group along with the other partners.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

We’re two weeks into the MLB season and while still very early, with just a handful of games to judge, teams and players are starting to give us clues as to who they might be going forward.

Despite losing three out of their last four games, the Yankees sit atop the American League East with an 8-6 record heading into the weekend. 

They will play a division opponent for the first time this season, as they travel to Tampa to take on the Rays for three games. Dominant starting pitching has been the story for the Bronx Bombers, as the 2.35 team ERA ranks second in baseball only behind the Braves. 

While the pitchers have carried the Yankees, a look at some advanced hitting stats makes me think the American League MVP could be given to a Yankee for the third consecutive year … but perhaps not to the guy you have in mind. 

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Aaron Judge has won three MVPs and will be headed to Cooperstown five years after he retires. Teammate Giancarlo Stanton might be going to the Hall of Fame alongside him. But Ben Rice — at now 65-1 odds — is the guy I have my eye on as a sleeper to be in the MVP mix into the fall. 

Rice — an Ivy League grad from Dartmouth — grew up as a Yankees fan, even though he lived in Massachusetts. In 2025, Rice quietly hit 26 home runs, despite being in a platoon situation that limited him to fewer than 500 at-bats. 

This year, Rice is a full-time player and looks poised for a breakout season.

Through 11 games, Rice is hitting .324 with three home runs and has drawn a walk per game, putting his on-base percentage at .476. 

Yes, it’s early, but the advanced stats back up the opinion that Rice is an elite bat. 

Rice ranks in the 100th percentile in Baseball Savant’s hard-hit rate and near the top in several of their advanced stats. Last year, he was in the 97th percentile of hard-hit rate, while his expected batting average was .283. That was much better than the .255 he ended up with after hitting into some tough luck throughout the year. 

Rice is also playing in a favorable home venue, with the shallow right field dimensions of Yankee Stadium tailor-made for lefty sluggers. 

With all this in mind, yes, Judge is the favorite to win this award once again and for good reason. But Rice was 150-1 just a few days ago and is now 65-1. People are seemingly starting to realize the elite potential that his bat carries. 

At 65-1, this is worth a wager, even if it’s a smaller one. I expect Rice to have a monster season now that he is a full-time player and for his odds to win MVP to shrink as we head toward the summer.

PICK: Ben Rice (+6500) AL MVP

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:

Padres walk it off in extras with a grand slam

Sure, the subhed tells you the result, at least in vague terms, but it’s the details that truly make this an early classic of the 2026 season. There wasn’t all that much scoring early on in this Padres-Rockies tilt: Colorado center fielder Brenton Doyle hit a solo shot in the third inning off of San Diego starter Randy Vasquez, then Padres’ right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. answered back in the bottom of the frame with a sac fly. Neither team would score again through the first nine innings — San Diego closer Mason Miller made extra sure of that in the ninth, when he struck out the side to give the Padres one last chance at avoiding extras. 

Filthy. Once Miller was out of the game, though, Colorado’s bats woke back up. Right fielder Tyler Freeman, who had entered the game in the eighth as a pinch-hitter, singled in Willi Castro to put the Rockies ahead for the second time in the game.

The Padres would once again answer in the same inning, however, as they did in the third, and yet again on a sac fly, this time from the bat of third baseman Manny Machado. That’s all San Diego could muster, though, as shortstop Xander Bogaerts grounded out with two runners in scoring position, forcing the game to the 11th… where the Rockies once again scored. Third baseman Kyle Karros began the inning at second base, and catcher Brett Sullivan immediately doubled him home.

The Rockies sent lefty Brennan Bernardino to the mound in the bottom of the 11th, with Bogaerts starting out at second. First baseman Gavin Sheets singled him to third, but then DH Nick Castellanos lined out and pinch-hitter Ramon Laureano struck out, leaving the Padres with the game-tying run at third and their final out. Catcher Luis Campusano, who entered the game earlier after starting backstop Freddy Fermin was lifted for a pinch-hitter, would hit a double to drive in Bogaerts and tie the game in San Diego’s final chance.

Second baseman Jake Cronenworth would pop out to end the threat, giving the Rockies another shot — for the first time since the ninth, though, San Diego kept Colorado’s hitters in check, leaving the game tied in the bottom of the 12th. There, the Rockies replaced Bernardino with Valento Bellozo, and leadoff batter Tatis bunted Cronenworth to third. Then, Bellozo intentionally walked center fielder Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado to face Bogaerts, who isn’t the hitter he used to be but, even more importantly, isn’t Merrill nor Machado, either. The result? A walk-off grand slam, the ultimate form of the revenge dinger following an intentional walk.

Now, it’s tough to blame the Rockies for this, since they were attempting to both create a force at any base in a situation where the winning run was already at third, and two of the Padres’ best hitters were coming to the plate with one out. Bogaerts isn’t a pushover, but he’s not an up-and-coming star nor a future Hall of Famer who still hits like that’s the case. He can still get a hold of one, though, and he sure did here to win the game.

The Rockies were denied a chance at getting over .500 for the first time since the 2022 season, while the Padres pushed over that mark after a tough first week with a 1-4 start. It’s early for both teams, of course, but: what a game.

Nailed it

This isn’t a bunt, no, but spiritually? It is nothing but a bunt. And it’s a beautiful (not) bunt at that. Royals’ star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. hit the pin on the green with this one.

The Royals might not have won against the White Sox — Kansas City fell to Chicago, 2-0 — but Witt, at least, managed to involve himself in a couple of notable plays. This one with his bat, and then another with his glove.

What a play!

And oh, what a play with his glove it was. Check this grounder right up the middle from White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami, and the hop it takes right before it gets to Witt. He handles it no problem — his quick adjustment here would be a highlight on its own — but the play doesn’t end there.

Witt takes the ball himself to second from the deep infield, then manages to get a throw to first on the run, where first baseman Vinny Pasquantino makes quite the pick himself to get the double play. Whew.

Scoring from first is exhausting

Murakami gets the double-highlight treatment, too, as, for the first run of the game — which also ended up being the winning one in the end — he ran all the way from first to third on this double off the bat of shortstop Colson Montgomery.

What’s impressive here is that Murakami didn’t really get going until he rounded second, since at first he was hanging back to see if it was even safe to advance. Once he got going, though, he didn’t stop, and slid headfirst into home well ahead of any possible play.

Things were a little tougher on the first-to-home front for Diamondbacks’ center fielder Alek Thomas, when right fielder Jorge Barrosa hit what would end up being a triple in the seventh inning against the Mets and reliever Luke Weaker.

There are two outs, so Thomas is off at the crack of the bat, but he is digging to make this run happen. The steps don’t look like they are coming easy nor fast, but Thomas keeps at it, and beats the throw home by a mile despite not looking like he’s flying around the bases.

Mets needed more McLean, less everyone else

This will work well enough as a segue. But first, a flashback! Mets’ starter Nolan McLean was dealing against Arizona, with the righty rolling for six innings, maintaining New York’s 1-0 lead with seven strikeouts against a pair of walks and just two hits. 

McLean entered the seventh at 85 pitches, so he had been fairly efficient to that point, but he gave that all away against the first few Diamondbacks batters here. Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo walked to lead off the frame (six pitches), and while McLean then struck out DH Adrian Del Castillo (four), rookie third baseman Jose Fernandez would single Perdomo into scoring position (five). At 100 pitches and with two runners on, McLean was lifted for Luke Weaver. Things immediately went south, as pinch-hitter Gabriel Moreno doubled in Perdomo, and then Alek Thomas reached on a fielder’s choice that scored Fernandez when the tag at the plate didn’t connect.

Moreno then scored on a sac fly to put Arizona up 3-1, and the triple that drove in Thomas happened next, giving the Diamondbacks a four-run inning. Arizona would tack on another three runs in the eighth, with Moreno doubling in the seventh and final run of the day.

McLean was charged with two runs, but that’s also on Weaver for not doing his job and getting two outs without giving up his inherited runners — he allowed those and two more besides to score. Luis Garcia didn’t do much better in the eighth, and the game was just out of reach for New York. Of course, the lineup scored just one run, too, so it’s not all on the relievers — McLean was the only one who seemed to get the job done on Thursday for New York.

The Tigers are reeling

It’s probably not great when a team is 13 games into a season but has already managed to lose five in a row. That’s the situation the Tigers find themselves in after being swept by the Twins, with Detroit now just 4-9 on the season after sitting at .500 on Saturday following an 11-6 win over the Cardinals.

The Tigers nearly won this one, too, or at least had a great chance of it. The game was tied 1-1 in the eighth after Detroit finally scored in the prior inning with a sac fly from DH Gleyber Torres, but the Twins answered back with two in the very next frame. 

Shortstop Brooks Lee — who entered into the game as a defensive substitution in the top of the eighth after a pinch-hitter replaced starting shortstop Tristan Gray — ended up singling in two runs off of the Tigers’ new pitcher for the inning, Will Vest. Detroit didn’t have any more runs to score, and Minnesota swept.

Bad news for Detroit, sure, but the Twins have won four in a row and are in second in the AL Central. Well, okay, that is also bad news for Detroit.

An A’s-Yanks pitchers duel

Just one run scored when the Athletics and Yankees faced off on Thursday. And it didn’t score until the seventh inning. Lefty Jeffrey Springs got the start for the A’s and went seven scoreless with six strikeouts against a pair of walks while giving up just one hit – huge news for a team that needs its rotation to improve – and Yankees’ southpaw Ryan Weathers was nearly as good. He got through eight innings with seven strikeouts and no walks, but gave up far more hits: seven in total.

While Weathers mostly scattered those hits and avoided giving up any runs, two in a row doomed him and the Yankees in the seventh. Designated hitter Max Muncy led off the inning with a triple to right on a sinker he hit right out of the bottom of the zone, and then left fielder Tyler Soderstrom immediately followed up with a single to right to score him.

Weathers sat the A’s down the rest of the inning, and then came back out for the eighth for a 1-2-3 frame. New York’s offense couldn’t make it happen against the Athletics’ bullpen, either — Justin Sterner and Hogan Harris combined for two hitless innings of relief — and the Yankees would lose the series finale, 1-0, for their second loss in a row: their first back-to-back defeats of 2026.

That baseball is dead

It could be worse, though. The Yankees could be this baseball, never to thrive again. But no, they get to try again on Friday, against the Rays.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

NEW YORK – The Mets’ best hitter isn’t at his locker at Citi Field. He’s not in the batting cages. He’s not on the field, in his usual blue sweatshirt with his hoodie pulled up, in the still-freezing April temperatures in Queens. 

Juan Soto is nowhere to be found because his directive is, simply, to rest.

Soto strained his right calf while running the bases during the Mets’ series against the Giants at Oracle Park last weekend. He went on the injured list on April 4. The team expects the outfielder to miss anywhere from 2–3 weeks, at best. 

No one around the Mets is happy about this, but they also understand that life, the schedule, and the games must go on. New York has to find a way to win without their superstar slugger, who was off to a terrific .355/.412/.516 start at the plate before he hit the shelf.

“He’s irreplaceable,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor told me at his locker on Wednesday. “He’s a top-three player in the league. He’s that good. As a team, we’ve always said that it’s about sticking together at a time like this. Gather around him and be all together in this, and support him and play for each other. I hope this is a very short, very short IL for him.”

So far, at least, the Mets have managed to stay afloat without Soto. Entering Thursday, they’re 4-1 since he landed on the IL. The schedule has been kind to them in this stretch, with the Mets winning the series against the Giants while going for another series win against the Diamondbacks on Thursday. They host a three-game set against the Athletics on Friday to wrap up the soft part of their April itinerary.

But things will get challenging on Monday, when the Dodgers welcome the Mets in Los Angeles for their first matchup since June 2025, when they split the series at Chavez Ravine. The Mets will continue asking for their younger stars to step in Soto’s absence. 

“As a group we know we have a lot of depth in here,” Mets second baseman Marcus Semien told me in the Citi Field clubhouse on Wednesday. “It’s an opportunity for guys to play a little bit more. The main thing is we all have his back. And we’ll just let him know, we’ll all hold it down until he comes back. It’s a little hiccup for him. But at the end of the day, we’ve been playing some good baseball.” 

It’s been uncanny to see part-time players and bench bats take charge without Soto. 

On Tuesday, infielder Ronny Mauricio was promoted from the minor leagues to the majors to replace Soto on the 26-man roster. Hours later, his first big-league hit of the year was a three-run walk-off home run in extra innings against Arizona. Earlier in that same game, outfielder Jared Young delivered a key sacrifice fly to tie the game in the eighth inning. Infielder Mark Vientos was a huge factor in the series finale against the Giants on Sunday, which was Soto’s first missed game, going 3-for-5 with an RBI two runs scored. 

It’s unclear if those role players performing has helped Soto ease any pressure of wanting to return to the lineup as fast as possible. As previously mentioned, the outfielder has vanished from the usual pregame preparation and day-to-day activities. But the Mets broadcasting the weeks-long timeline for Soto’s return on the very same day he went on the IL is an indication that the team is not messing around with his recovery.

As much as Soto may be itching to hit again, the silver lining is the timing of his injury on the baseball calendar. Right now, the Mets can afford to play it safe.

“You definitely want to be patient with injuries like that,” Semien said. “You’ve seen guys have nagging things and they try to come back too quick, and it ends up being a bigger deal. That’s going to be hard, because he’s a guy who’s played in 160-plus games in most seasons.”

J.D. Martinez Gets Comfortable Upstairs

J.D. Martinez received a text when news dropped last week that the retired slugger joined the Mets as a special assistant to baseball operations. The message was from his former 2024 Mets teammate, Jose Iglesias, with a screenshot of the news and three letters: “OMG.”

Those three letters are the name of a popular song by Iglesias, who moonlights as a singer-songwriter named Candelita. The 2024 Mets rallied behind the song and went all the way to the National League Championship Series that season, with Martinez and Iglesias revered at the time as the team’s two vital clubhouse leaders. After his lone season with the Mets, Martinez sat out the 2025 season before rejoining the organization as a member of the front office this month. On Wednesday, Martinez started settling into his new role upstairs.

“It’s interesting,” Martinez said of the front-office side of baseball, speaking in the Mets dugout on Wednesday. “Yesterday, they took me up there and it’s like an army up there. It’s kind of wild. I was like, ‘Wait. These are all the people that give us information and help us out?!’ And they were like, ‘Yeah. This is behind-the-scenes.’ I’ve never seen anything like this.

“I was a little intimidated by it, because they’re a lot smarter than us. But then I come down here and everything feels normal again. So it’s something that I definitely want to continue to learn from. I think it would be good for me to be in those meetings.”

Martinez has stayed in contact with the Mets, including president of baseball operations David Stearns, since that 2024 season. He envisions his role to involve mainly mentorship and strategy, while relaying to the front office what the players’ perspective can be throughout the season, acting as a liaison between the two sides. Martinez in ‘24 was known to go out of his way to help players out. Now, he’ll have the time in the world to do just that.

“This could be fun,” Martinez said of his thought process when deciding to join the organization. “I like what they’re doing here. I like the team they built here. I had a great experience here with the front office, with ownership, with the clubhouse, everything. It was just a really fun place to come. So I said, why not? Let’s do it.”

Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

The first two weeks of the MLB season have already given fans plenty to talk about. Some teams are showing they could be dominant, while others are surprising everyone with unexpected performances. 

Pitchers who struggled in past seasons are suddenly looking like Cy Young contenders and rotations that seemed shaky are starting to click. The big question now is which of these early trends will stick and which are just noise? 

FOX Sports MLB analyst Dontrelle Willis weighs in on the storylines already shaping the season.

The Yankees have a historically great rotation: Overreaction

Willis’ take: “It’s an overreaction, but they will be good. I love what I’ve seen from Max Fried being in a Yankees uniform. He’s been outstanding… 19 wins last year, 2-0 this year. Will Warren has a two ERA pitching today, and Cam Schittler is one of the best young arms in all of baseball. He’s truly fun to watch ever since he rolled over the Red Sox in that postseason start last year. You see the confidence bleed in. Also, they get [Carlos] Rodon and Gerrit Cole back into the fold. Watch out. Nobody is going to want to see that Yankee rotation.”

The Yankees are off to a strong 8–3 start, driven largely by how locked in the rotation has been to start the year. As a group, it holds a 2.47 ERA—tied for second-best in baseball as of Thursday. Fried and Schittler have led the way, combining for 36.2 innings while allowing just six total runs.

Sandy Alcántara is back to Cy Young form: Not an overreaction

Willis’ take: “Breaking all my records one start at a time. He is fun to watch. The 30-year-old is finally healthy. The efficiency and command is there, not only with that sinker but the secondary pitches as well. The only thing that’s going to be unfortunate is that the Fighting Fish are not in the race. He’s going to be a big trade piece once again.”

Alcántara has struggled to stay on the field in recent seasons due to multiple injuries, but he’s opened this year looking fully rejuvenated. Through 24.1 innings, he owns a 0.74 ERA. He’s also recorded 18 strikeouts, reestablishing himself as one of the most dominant arms in the league. 

Even with the Marlins not viewed as a serious contender this season, he remains firmly in the mix for a Cy Young-caliber season.

Alcántara is also closing in on a franchise milestone in complete games, sitting at 13 — just two behind Willis, who holds the record at 15. Willis even joked on the broadcast that Alcantara could surpass that mark within a few weeks and at this pace, it’s hard to argue otherwise.

The Angels are a playoff team: Overreaction

Willis’ take: “It’s early, but I do love how Mike Trout is playing every single day. Zach Neto is going to take that next step. We talked about (Jorge) Soler in the power department, but a little shaky in that rotation. [José]  Soriano has been outstanding, but [Yusei] Kikuchi and company have struggled. They need to play better, but also the AL’s kinda shaky, so maybe they could stumble in there.”

Not only have the Angels been one of the early surprises this season, but their rotation is off to a strong start and Trout looks as healthy as he has in recent memory. They may have been overlooked entering the year, but Soriano is quickly becoming impossible to ignore as a legitimate threat at the top of the rotation.

Soriano is 3–0 with a 0.45 ERA and 21 strikeouts through 20 innings this season. If the Angels are going to contend in a competitive AL West, they’ll need a true ace — and Soriano is making a strong case to be exactly that.

 

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:

ABS ends a rally

The Twins and Tigers faced off on Wednesday, with free-agent acquisition Framber Valdez on the mound for Detroit and Bailey Ober for Minnesota. It did not go well for the Tigers almost immediately: Valdez allowed six runs in the first, a stretch that began with a wild pitch to score center fielder Byron Buxton and was capped off by third baseman Royce Lewis driving in a pair on a single to center.

The Twins would add a couple of runs by the end of the sixth inning, bringing their lead to 8-2, but in the seventh, Detroit started to truly come back. Designated hitter Gleyber Torres hit a double to score shortstop Javier Baez and rookie third baseman Kevin McGonigle, then left fielder Riley Green singled in Torres.

Reliever Cole Sands would come in for Anthony Banda after this rally, but the righty would give up a single to catcher Dillon Dingler and then throw a wild pitch, allowing Greene to score — 8-6, Twins, with Dingler on second and two outs in the inning.

That’s where the rally would end, however. Center fielder Parker Meadows had a far too passive at-bat to close it out. He took the first two pitches for balls — including a fairly close second pitch under the zone — then watched a 92.5 mph fastball on the inside corner for a strike. Meadows would foul off an 86 mph cutter in the middle of the zone on the next pitch, and then for the fifth, despite having two strikes, watched a curveball hit the bottom of the zone.

The Tigers would get another chance in the eighth, though. The inning began with second baseman Zach McKinstry called out on strikes after catcher Ryan Jeffers challenged and won, but then Baez doubled and Spencer Torkelson was hit by a Cody Laweryson pitch. McGonigle popped out for the second, leaving Torres as Detroit’s last hope in this potential rally. Instead, in a 1-2 count, he didn’t protect the plate in the way that needs to happen in a world where ABS challenges exist.

The 93-mph four-seamer caught just enough of the zone for the initial call to be overturned, resulting in a strikeout to end the eighth. Detroit would attempt another rally in the ninth, and while ABS didn’t stop it, the Tigers faltered the old-fashioned way by grounding out with two runners on, then lining out to harmlessly end the game.

This game is a reminder that hitters need to be even more aware of the count than usual in 2026, and they already had to be real aware before ABS. Borderline pitches are not necessarily up to the ump’s discretion anymore: both McKinstry and Torres ended up striking out on fastballs that were in that outer part of the zone that is still very much a strike if it catches even a little bit of the interior. Those are pitches that, a year ago, would probably have been balls — borderline, but excusable. They are strikes now, though, and hitters are going to have to adjust as the season progresses.

Blue Jays avoid the sweep

It’s been a rough week for the Blue Jays, as Toronto had a World Series rematch with the Dodgers while scuffling out of the gate a bit to begin 2026. The result of that, before Wednesday, was a 14-2 beatdown and a 4-1 loss on Tuesday. The Blue Jays were able to avoid the sweep at the hands of Los Angeles, though, thanks to a late rally in the third and final game of the series.

Shohei Ohtani exited as the starter and Jack Dreyer entered in relief in the bottom of the seventh. That’s when Toronto got to work. Pinch-hitter Davis Schneider started things off with a walk, then catcher Tyler Heineman singled him over to second. DH George Springer would double Schneider home, then center fielder Daulton Varsho tied things up with a ball right up the middle.

Blake Treinen would come on in relief and, despite a steal of second by Varsho and walk to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., got out of the inning without the Blue Jays scoring again. Ben Casparius would not be so lucky in the eighth in relief of Treinen. Schneider walked to give Toronto its first baserunner of the inning with one out, then shortstop Andres Gimenez singled him over to third, and that’s when things went off the rails for the Dodgers.

Instead of just letting Gimenez have second, Dodgers’ catcher Will Smith tried to catch him stealing even with Schneider on third — when the throw wasn’t properly corralled, it gave Schneider a chance to score, and he did. The rest of the inning would go off without a hitch for Los Angeles, but the damage was already done, and Jeff Hoffman was able to close things out for Toronto in the ninth.

Ohtani vs. Okamoto

The Dodgers didn’t win the game, no, but they did take the series, and also came out ahead in the first matchup between two-way star Shohei Ohtani and Blue Jays’ offseason acquisition and third baseman, Kazuma Okamoto, who Toronto signed out of Nippon Professional Baseball this winter.

Hey, if the Blue Jays turn things around soon enough, maybe there will be more matchups between these two Japanese talents later on this season.

Things are rough for Philly

Phillies fans have been known to overreact a little, it’s true. But let them have it this time, since Philadelphia hasn’t scored a run in 20 innings and just lost a series to the Giants to drop to 6-6 on the season. It’s not the end of the world — or even the end of early April — but yeah. Twenty innings without scoring. Woof.

The Giants did not have trouble plating runs. First baseman Rafael Devers — he’s back to playing there now that his hamstring is feeling better — went yard in the bottom of the sixth, crushing a three-run shot 411 feet to center off of Aaron Nola to give San Francisco the only runs it would need.

The Giants would score more, though. First on a sacrifice bunt by designated hitter Luis Arraez in the eighth, then when Devers singled him in later in the inning, making it 5-0. Nola actually pitched well overall, as he gave up three over six innings while walking one, but with Philadelphia’s bats missing, even that seemed insurmountable before the Giants added on against the Philly pen.

The good news is that the Phillies won’t stay scoreless forever. The bad news is that Phillies’ fans have to wait until at least Friday to know if that’s true or not, since Thursday is an off day.

Walker is locked in

Jordan Walker has been on one in the early going. The Cardinals’ right fielder blasted his fourth home run in five games on Wednesday, taking Nationals’ hurler Brad Lord deep on a slider that didn’t slide so much as stay up in the zone. Walker hit it 108 mph back in the other direction, 405 feet to center, putting the Cardinals up 3-1.

Walker is currently leading the majors in dingers with five, which is wild since just last year he hit six all season in 111 games. That was an abysmal year unlike what he managed as a rookie in 2023, however, when he batted .276/.342/.445 with 16 homers and a 113 OPS+, so maybe he’s finally locked in again at 24 years old following an interminable intermission the past two seasons. He was always supposed to develop into a hitter with real pop, and it might finally be happening.

Four-hit day for Ward, O’s sweep

What a day for Orioles’ left fielder Taylor Ward. He went 4-for-5 against the White Sox, bringing his average for the season up to .383, and he also drove in two runs and scored another in a 5-3 victory for Baltimore over Chicago. The last of those came in the ninth, when Ward had his second double of the day to provide some insurance for the O’s in their quest to pick up the sweep on the road.

It ended up being insurance Baltimore didn’t need, but either way, they have to be pleased with how Ward has done in his first season in orange. Ward is batting .383/.464/.574 with an American League-leading 18 hits and MLB-best nine doubles in his first 12 games since coming over from the Angels in the Grayson Rodriguez trade. Rodriguez hasn’t taken the mound yet for Los Angeles, and it’s also April 9, but he might have some catching up to do, is all.

Carroll gets three XBH

Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll helped Arizona even the series with the Mets 1-1, heading into Thursday’s finale, thanks to picking up three extra-base hits in five trips to the plate. The right fielder got going early with a double in the first inning, and eventually came around to score Arizona’s first run of the day, as well. He then hit another double on a liner to center in the second, driving in two runs to put the Diamondbacks up 4-0 against a struggling David Peterson.

While Carroll was done driving in runs, he wasn’t finished with the extra-base knocks. In the seventh, he moved into a tie for fifth among active players with the 46th triple of his career, tying Amed Rosario. Arizona wasn’t able to drive him in, but it also didn’t matter in the long run: the Diamondbacks didn’t need the help, as they ended up winning 7-2 even without that additional run.

The Rockies are .500 for the first time in awhile

The Rockies want you to forget 2025, but right now they are also reminding you of just how poorly that season went. Luckily, that’s because this one is going so much better. Their winning streak is now up to four games, and after sweeping the Astros, they have a .500 record. Once again, a big inning did Houston in and made the day for Colorado: the Rockies were up 1-0 after the first inning, but then had a five-run second, capped off by shortstop Ezequiel Tovar’s RBI double.

Sure, the Rockies were .500 a year ago… literally days into the season, when they were 1-1 on March 29. But a non-losing record for the Rockies even this late into the early season, just 12 games in? You have to go back to 2022 for that. Which also happens to be the last time the Rockies didn’t lose at least 101 games. There is going to be a lot of remembering the Rockies’ terrible recent past throughout 2026, but maybe — maybe — it will be as a positive point of comparison instead of as part of the same endless sludge that the franchise has been stuck in throughout the decade.

Martinez goes 4-for-5, hits a grand slam

There was another big four-hit game on Wednesday, this one from Guardians’ left fielder Angel Martinez. Not only did he go 4-for-5, but he also hit a four-bagger, clearing the bases with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the eighth.

Granted, Cleveland was already up on the Royals and in position to win at this point, but with the way big innings turn things over in a hurry in MLB these days, you can never have enough runs. Martinez’s grand slam made sure the Guardians had a dominant lead instead of a tenuous one, and it pushed Cleveland to 8-5 on the season. As has been mentioned before in this space and will be brought up again, the American League Central is likely going to be a tight race this year — these early divisional wins are going to matter a lot down the road.

Mason Miller returns home, strikes it out

Padres’ closer Mason Miller is a Pittsburgh native, and he returned to his hometown for the first time as a professional on Wednesday to take on the Pirates. Of course, these moments can only be so friendly: Miller is there to do his job, and his job is getting Bucs’ batters out. Which he did with ease, sitting them down 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out.

Using Miller in an 8-2 game might seem like overkill, but he had not pitched since April 5 against the Red Sox, so the Padres were just trying to get their closer some work rather than letting him rust in the pen. 

San Diego now heads back home to host the surging Rockies, so maybe Miller will get a little more work in on Thursday as these two teams duke it out to see which can get over .500 on the season first.

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The City Connect uniforms are back in MLB for this season.

MLB unveiled City Connect uniforms for eight teams Thursday morning. Prior to the start of the regular season, the teams partnered closely with Nike and Fanatics, MLB’s uniform manufacturer, for the next batch of City Connect jerseys. The eight teams: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers.

The goal for these uniforms is to reflect “the energy and pride of each Club’s community, offering bold and expressive interpretations that celebrate both team history and what’s ahead for the game.”

The descriptions of each uniform below are courtesy of MLB.

“A brighter powder blue anchors the design as a modernized callback to the Club’s beloved 1980s uniforms. Red piping, an updated ‘Atlanta’ script and ‘ATL’ block letter sleeve patch marry vintage style with today’s team colors.”

Rooted in the soul of Baltimore, the design pays tribute to Camden Yards through motifs including the brass home run plaques, wrought-iron scoreboard clock and a Camden ‘B’ inspired by the 1890s Baltimore Baseball Club. An Oriole bird sits perched proudly atop the ‘BMORE’ wordmark.

“Embracing the color that defines the franchise, pinstripes make a modern comeback in a tone-on-tone style and a nod to the popular vest-style jersey last worn more than two decades ago. A sleeve graphic features the iconic Tyler Davidson Fountain, which begins flowing each year around Opening Day.”

“A bold fuchsia-to-blue gradient draws inspiration from Kansas City’s official City of Fountains logo, channeling the spirit of the city’s people and iconic waterways. The updated ‘R’ logo pays homage to the Club’s original 1969 mark, while a heart logo reflects Kansas City’s place as the nation’s heartland.”

“A water-toned base and cream accent evoke Wisconsin’s endless lakes, sandy shores and sandstone bluffs, while a gradient wordmark captures the state’s beautiful summer sunsets. A ‘Wisco’ wordmark on the chest, state motto on the collar, bobber jock tag detail and redesigned Barrelman sleeve patch round out a uniform that celebrates the team’s history and Wisconsin’s rich heritage.”

“Built around Pittsburgh’s unmistakable black and gold identity, the uniform features a rugged, pirate-style wordmark whose font draws inspiration from the city’s ‘Sister Bridges.’ Red accents and Jolly Roger elements add boldness without breaking the city’s iconic color palette.”

“Celebrating the Padres’ bi-national region and culture through honoring its traditions and families with a focus on Día de los Muertos, the design features a sunset-ombre ‘San Diego’ chest wordmark, La Catrina sleeve patch, marigold-patterned trim, bone colored hat and pants, and papel picado jock tag.”

“Cochineal red anchors a design steeped in Texas and Mexican heritage, highlighted by the ‘Tejas’ chest wordmark, a charro-embossed belt and mariachi-inspired fill patterns.”

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Edwin Díaz hasn’t been a starter since he was in Double-A a decade ago, so the three-time All-Star closer doesn’t know exactly how exhausting it must be for a starting pitcher to have to navigate the Dodgers’ daunting lineup multiple times on a single night. 

He can commiserate with opposing starters, though, as they attempt to deal with a Dodgers’ offense that is starting to look like the inexorable machine their fans envisioned and their foes feared. 

“You don’t have any place to breathe,” Diaz told me last week. “Good luck to the opposing team.”

The way the Dodgers’ offense is now firing, crossing fingers and hoping for the best might be an opponent’s only hope. 

After a slow start to the year for the Dodgers’ top sluggers, they’ve found their form away from home. The Dodgers were averaging more than nine runs per game in a 5-0 start to their road trip before dropping Wednesday’s series finale to Toronto in which two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani gave up just one run in six innings.

When the Dodgers’ offense is clicking the way it can at full strength, it can wear an opponent down with patience and strike with power. Even if a pitcher emerges unscathed against Ohtani and four-time All-Star Kyle Tucker atop the star-studded lineup, eight-time All-Star Mookie Betts, nine-time All-Star Freddie Freeman, three-time All-Star Will Smith, two-time All-Stars Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández and reigning National League Player of the Week Andy Pages are then waiting to pounce. 

“It certainly has to be taxing when you’re facing our guys, and when you feel like you have to be perfect,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Just to continue to keep executing and executing, it’s tough mentally, physically.”

It looked that way Friday for Miles Mikolas, who became the first pitcher in Nationals history to surrender 11 earned runs in a game. Betts went deep in that 13-6 win before hurting his oblique the following day, but the injury hasn’t stopped the Dodgers’ unrelenting attack. 

After pulverizing Mikolas, the Dodgers proceeded to pummel Nationals starter Jake Irvin for six runs in four innings on Saturday before tagging Washington’s bullpen for seven runs in the final four innings Sunday to finish off a sweep. 

They then traveled north of the border for a highly-anticipated World Series rematch that figured to present more of a challenge. The first two games were a one-sided onslaught in favor of the back-to-back champs, who outscored the Blue Jays by 15 runs. In Wednesday’s game, it was a throwing error by Dodgers catcher Will Smith that allowed Davis Schneider to score the winning run in the bottom of the eighth.

The last time Miguel Rojas was in Toronto, the veteran infielder’s ninth-inning heroics at the plate made him a Game 7 World Series hero. Five months later, his next game against the Blue Jays ended with him on the mound in the ninth inning Monday night finishing off a 14-2 drubbing that included five Dodgers home runs. 

“We’re feeding off each other,” Freddie Freeman told reporters after Monday’s rout in Toronto. “Everyone’s just doing their part.”

A week into the season, it didn’t look that way. Ohtani, Betts, Tucker and Smith were all hitting .200 or worse to start the season. Freeman wasn’t much better at .208, and Hernandez had yet to record an extra-base hit. The slow starts were clearly the result of a small sample. 

And, perhaps the scariest part for the rest of the league: when the Dodgers weren’t hitting to their capabilities, they were still winning, a testament to the complete juggernaut they’ve built. 

Even with Blake Snell sidelined to start the year, Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow give the Dodgers as fearsome a top starting pitching trio as any in baseball. Diaz has helped transform the Dodgers’ shoddy 2025 bullpen into a strength, and 25-year-old outfielder Andy Pages has demonstrated after a forgettable October that he’s capable of lifting the Dodgers’ offense through rough spells when he’s going right. The Dodgers began the year 4-2 despite hitting below league average as a group at the time. 

The most obvious tell that Ohtani was searching for his form, beyond his 3-for-15 start, was his presence on the field at Dodger Stadium before the series finale against the Guardians. Ohtani rarely takes batting practice on the field, but he made an exception on April 1. 

It seems to have worked. 

Now, Pages is still rolling — he leads MLB in hits (19) and batting average (.452) — while the rest of the lineup is pulling its weight. 

Ohtani has reached base multiple times in every game on the Dodgers’ road trip and has three homers in his last six games. Freeman’s on a seven-game hitting streak with three home runs and three doubles over that stretch. Tucker has yet to consistently showcase his power, but his average is up to .268. Hernández has seven hits, including three extra-base hits, over his last four games. 

On Tuesday, Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland, who will get extra playing time in the middle infield while Betts is down, provided the team’s extra-base hits in the fifth straight win. 

Suddenly, a Dodgers offense that ranked 14th in OPS six games into the season now ranks first. They’re up three games up in the division, they look indomitable, and they should only get better as more reinforcements arrive (Betts, Snell, Tommy Edman, Kike Hernandez, Evan Phillips, Brock Stewart, Brusdar Graterol among them) over the coming weeks and months. 

The Two-way Ohtani Plan 

When Ohtani took the mound Wednesday afternoon in Toronto, it was on seven days of rest (as a pitcher) and had the longest active regular-season scoreless inning streak in MLB before the Blue Jays’ third-inning run.

This season, Ohtani plans on going wire-to-wire as a starting pitcher for the first time since undergoing his second career elbow procedure in September 2023, but the Dodgers are going to still be mindful about his rest between starts, considering his two-way duties. 

That will make it tough for Ohtani to win his first Cy Young Award this year — a goal many of his coaches and teammates believe he is striving for — but he could still find a way. If he continues to blank every opponent, it may be easier to overlook his lack of volume. 

“I think if anyone can manage the designated hitter role and be as productive as he’s been and still chase that elusive Cy Young for a Japanese pitcher,” Roberts said, “I think he can do it.” 

The two-way sensation didn’t pitch during the World Baseball Classic, but he returned to spring training still ready to handle a full workload from the jump. He threw 4.1 scoreless innings against the Giants in Glendale, Arizona, in his first official spring start on March 18, struck out 11 batters in his final spring tune-up against his former team on March 24, then fired six scoreless innings of one-hit ball against the Guardians in his first start of the regular season. 

“Last year I felt good,” Ohtani said after his 2026 debut, “but this year I do feel a lot more loose and easy pitching overall.”   

Ohtani featured more of his curveball than usual in his start against Cleveland, and Roberts said he believes Ohtani’s feel for his breaking ball this year is much better. Multiple members of the Dodgers’ staff have expressed a belief that Ohtani will only continue to get more comfortable using his full arsenal — and tweaking it depending on opponent — the more he settles into his full two-way duties again. 

He entered his start Wednesday with both the longest active scoreless innings streak as a pitcher (22.2) and the longest active on-base streak as a hitter (42 games). He failed to hit in Tuesday’s game, but reached on base via walk to keep his on-base streak to 43 games. For now, the Dodgers plan to keep him in the leadoff spot on days that he starts, though that could be subject to change at some point, depending on how he performs. 

So far, so good. 

“I think he’s already proven that he’s the best player, you can argue, that’s ever played the game — best baseball player in totality,” Roberts said. “I do think that he sees himself as a baseball player, yes, but when he’s pitching he sees himself solely as a pitcher, and he wants to be the best pitcher.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.
 

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