DiamondCentric

In nearly three and a half decades as a franchise, the Florida/Miami Marlins have had six different pitchers throw a no-hitter. The first came on this day 30 years ago. Left-hander Al Leiter needed 103 pitches to accomplish the feat at Joe Robbie Stadium on May 11, 1996. Leiter allowed just three baserunners in the Florida Marlins’ 11-0 win over the Colorado Rockies. In the first, Leiter needed just 10 pitches to work a 1-2-3 inning. The next time he took the mound, he had a big lead. After Jeff Conine drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the first to get the scoring started, Terry Pendleton followed with a two-run single. Two pitches later, Charles Johnson’s three-run home run staked Florida to a 6-0 lead. The biggest threat for Colorado came in the top of the second. Leiter walked Andrés Galarraga to open the inning before hitting Ellis Burks. Leiter, however, bounced back by striking out Vinny Castilla and getting Trenidad Hubbard to hit into an inning-ending double play. Following a two-run double by Conine in the bottom of the second that pushed the lead to 8-0, the double-play ball was again Leiter’s friend in the third. Leiter walked Jayhawk Owens to open the frame, but got opposing pitcher John Habyan to bunt into a double play two pitches later. The Rockies never had another baserunner. The rest of the Florida offense came courtesy of Pendleton. The third baseman extended the lead to 9-0 with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth before plating two with a double in the sixth. As the game went on, Leiter appeared to be getting better. He struck out Galarraga and Dante Bichette on back-to-back 3-2 pitches in the seventh. As the contest went to the ninth, he was three outs away. Leiter got Owens and Quinton McCracken to each ground out on the first pitch of their at-bats in the ninth. After the count went full on Eric Young, Leiter got the speedy Colorado second baseman to swing through a fastball to complete the no-no and make Marlins history. While the Rockies were held without a hit, the Marlins had 11. Pendleton and Greg Colbrunn each had three knocks. Pendleton finished with five RBIs while Colbrunn scored three times. Conine and Johnson finished with three RBIs apiece. The night, however, would belong to Leiter. In what would be his first All-Star season, Leiter threw the first no-hitter in club history. It came on this day three decades ago. View the full article

While the Mets have upgraded their standard level of offensive play from consistently disastrous to weak and insubstantial, their league-worst 15-25 record is well reflected by Mets Roster Central, who saw a database crash reflect recent updates as the Mets scrambled to restock their system for the summer ahead. Transactions, 5/5/2026 COMING Signed away from SEA to Minor-League Contract, Not Yet Assigned Relief Pitchers Guillo Zuñiga R/R DoB: 36078 High Level: MLB (2024) Guillo (short for Guillermo) Zuñiga last saw MLB action as an Angel in 2024. A native of Colombia who recently appeared for his country of origin in the World Baseball Classic (his second WBC), G-Money spent the spring with the Mariners organization, released at the end of training camp. Zu Station originally signed with the Braves back in 2016, but his contract was one of over a dozen voided by the league a year later in the aftermath of a broad scandal and investigation involving player bundling, under-the-table benefits and predraft deals that would lead to a lifetime ban for former Braves GM John Coppolella. A pitcher on the Mets after originally being signed by the Braves, only to see that contract voided due to rules violations? We're not going to say that Guillo Zuñiga is the second coming of Tom Seaver, but ... yes, actually, that's exactly what we're saying. Transactions, 5/6/2026 COMING Signed as International Amateur Free Agent out of Venezuela, Not Yet Assigned Relief Pitchers Josbel Torrez R/R DoB: 39177 High Level: Academy (2026) Josbel Torrez, like most foreign amateur teenagers not signed in the mid-season or mid-winter periods, comes with little known about him, but an Instagram image of him signing his contract comes with the caption "Lo que repites cada dia, define tu resultado" — That which you repeat every day defines your result. But here at Mets Roster Central, we have our doubts. That which we repeat daily sometimes just defines what part of our back is going to hurt a lot tomorrow. blah Zvon. Transactions, 5/8/2026 GOING Signed Away to Minor League Contract by DET Relief Pitchers Carl Edwards, Jr. R/R DoB: 1991-09-03 High Level: MLB (2026) We can't say enough about Carl Edwards, Jr., but we've largely said it already. It's a mistake to keep shuffling off bullpen backenders to keep arms fresh. Yes, the talent in that role often fungible from player to player, but it keeps players from finding their groove and/or establishing themselves as capable of doing more than the role at hand, and it keep the bonds of teams from establishing themselves. All that said, we wish Carl the best, and knowing that guys who get DFA'd tend to get DFA'd, we hope to see him in a Mets uni again. Transactions, 5/9/2026 COMING Signed Away from Quintana Roo (Mexican Summer League) to Minor-League Contract, Assigned to Syracuse Signed away from Monclava (Mexican Summer League) to Minor-League Contract, Assigned to Brooklyn Signed away from WAS to Minor-League Contract, Assigned to Syracuse Signed as International Amateur Free Agent out of The Dominican Republic Starting Pitchers Relief Pitchers Infielder Xzavion Curry Brady Miller Cionel Pérez Jesus Minaya R/R DoB: 36003 High Level: MLB (2025) R/R DoB: 36452 High Level: American Association (2025) R/R DoB: 35176 High Level: MLB (2026) L/R DoB: 39870 High Level: Academy (2026) Clearly, somebody has come home from scouting the Mexican league and brought with them two US exiles. Xzavion Curry has beaucoups MLB experience as a starter and reliever, and more importantly, has a name that is worth 36 raw points in Scrabble, before factoring in any multiplier squares. We haven't checked to see if that would be a Mets record, but we're just going to go ahead and assume that's a Mets record. One thinks of Zebulon Vermillion, who got released back on April 1. Even had Zebulon and his paltry 33 Scrabble points reached Citi Field, he would now stand to be eclipsed by Xzavion Curry. The X-Man pitched in multiple roles for Cleveland's staff, and so could find himself being a Tobias Myers-type — possibly an opener — should he wend his way to Citi Field, and probably don a really high number. Brady Miller has only appeared in unaffiliated ball since graduating with a finance degree from Western Michigan U., so he will be deployed to Brooklyn. Cionel Perez has appeared in nine different big league seasons. His bad starts the last two seasons has set him adrift, but he represents the kind of redeemable-if-not-recently-effective talent floating around that probably makes the Mets think the Carl Edwardses are replaceable. Sometimes, they are right, but the process is an ugly game. Cionel's perfectly symmetrical well-scaped beard and un-marred face make him look like a videogame NPC. Look at his thumbnail pic and tell us we are wrong. Transactions, 5/10/2026 NEUTRAL COMING Ended Rehab Assignment, Activated from 15-Day Injured List, Demoted to Syracuse Cleared Waivers and Assigned to Syracuse Relief Pitchers Infielders Joey Gerber Eric Wagaman R/R DoB: 1997-05-03 High Level: MLB (2026) R/R DoB: 35656 High Level: MLB (2026) Joey Gerber is someone we fully expect to see again, providing no disasters befall him. Extending his Injured List status out with a long rehab assignment was clearly the Mets just playing roster games, trying to keep him in their back pocket if needed. Eric Wagaman is more likely someone we can imagine joining the list of ghost Mets, having been activated on the big league roster for a single game last week. Now being off the 40, and expecting perhaps the return to health of other Met infielders and the expected activation of top prospect A.J. Ewing, one would expect several dominoes would have to fall before we see a return of Eric, but William Butler Years will tell you — things do fall apart. Transactions, 5/6/2026 GOING Released Relief Pitchers Kevin Gowdy R/R DoB: 35750 High Level: AAA (2025) The Mets are (or more correctly, were) the fifth MLB organization for Kevin Gowdy. When he joined the team toward the end of spring training, we had guessed he might be a relation to Sports Broadcasting Hall-of-Famer Curt Gowdy, Jr., longtime executive vice president for SNY, as well as the even-more-famous Curt Gowdy, Sr., — and maybe he got a courtesy look from the Mets — but we have found no evidence to back that up. Kevin is just a journeyman reliever, and now he journeys on, his second-round-draft-pick (Phillies) status from back in 2016 is well in the past, but maybe somebody pulls their old 2016 scouting reports and decides to give him a tumble. Stranger things have come to pass in this game. And heck, maybe he is one of those Gowdys after all. Your 2026 New York Mets Starting Pitchers Clay Holmes Nolan McLean Freddy Peralta David Peterson Christian Scott R/R DoB: 1993-03-27 R/R DoB: 2001-07-24 R/R DoB: 2996-06-04 L/L DoB: 1995-09-03 R/R DoB: 1999-06-15 Relief Pitchers Huascar Brazobán Craig Kimbrel Sean Manaea Tobias Myers Brooks Raley Austin Warren Luke Weaver R/R DoB: 1989-10-15 R/R DoB: 32291 R/L DoB: 1992-02-01 R/R DoB: 1998-08-05 L/L DoB: 1988-06-29 R/R DoB: 1996-02-05 R/R DoB: 1993-08-21 Relief Pitchers Catchers Infielders Devin Williams Francisco Alvarez Luís Torrens Bo Bichette Vidal Brujan Andy Ibáñez MJ Melendez R/R DoB: 1994-09-21 R/R DoB: 2001-11-01 R/R DoB: 1996-05-02 R/R DoB: 1998-03-05 S/R DoB: 1998-02-09 R/R DoB: 1993-04-03 L/R DoB: 1993-11-29 Infielders Outfielders Marcus Semien Mark Vientos Brett Baty Carson Benge Austin Slater Juan Soto Tyrone Taylor R/R DoB: 1990-09-17 R/R DoB: 1993-12-11 L/R DoB: 1999-11-13 L/R DoB: 2003-01-20 R/R DoB: 33951 L/L DoB: 1998-10-25 R/R DoB: 34356 Also on 40-Player Roster Starting Pitchers Relief Pitchers Tylor Megill Kodai Senga Jonah Tong Alex Carrillo Reed Garrett Joey Gerber Justin Hagenman R/R DoB: 1995-07-28 L/R DoB: 1993-01-30 R/R DoB: 2003-06-19 R/R DoB: 1997-06-06 R/R DoB: 1993-01-02 R/R DoB: 1997-05-03 R/R DoB: 1996-10-07 On 60-Day Injured List with torn right UCL. On 15-Day Injured List with Lumbar Spine Inflammation With Syracuse With Syracuse On 60-Day Injured List — right UCL surgery and nerve relocation surgery. With St. Lucie on Rehab Assignment On 60 Day Injured List with fractured rib. Relief Pitchers Catchers Infielders A.J. Minter Dedniel Núñez Jonathan Pintaro Dylan Ross Hayden Senger Francisco Lindor Ronny Mauricio L/L DoB: 1993-09-02 R/R DoB: 1996-06-05 R/R DoB: 1997-11-07 R/R DoB: 2000-09-01 R/R DoB: 1997-04-03 S/R DoB: 1993-11-14 S/R DoB: 2001-04-04 With Syracuse on Rehab Assignment On 60-Day Injured List — right UCL surgery. With Syracuse With Syracuse With Syracuse On 10-Day Injured List with Strained Left Calf On 10-Day Injured List with fractured right thumb. Infielders Outfielders Jorge Polanco Nick Morabito Luis Robert, Jr. Jared Young S/R DoB: 1999-11-13 R/R DoB: 2003-05-07 R/R DoB: 1997-08-03 L/R DoB: 1995-07-09 On 10-Day Injured List with right wrist contusion. With Syracuse On 10-Day Injured List with Lumbar Spine Disc Hernitaion On 10-Day Injured List with torn left meniscus. Your Mets Coaching Staff Manager Bench Coach Pitching Coach Hitting Coordinator Third Base Coach First Base Coach Bullpen Coach Ass't Pitching Coach Carlos Mendoza Kai Correa Justin Willard Jeff Albert Tim Leiper Gilbert Gomez José Rosado Dan McKinney DoB: 1979-11-27 DoB: 1989-07-14 DoB: 1990-09-09 DoB: 1992-08-16 DoB: 1996-07-19 DoB: 1992-03-08 DoB: 1974-11-09 DoB: 1989-06-06 Hitting Coach Strategy Coach Catching Coach Coaching Assistant Bat'g Prac. Pitcher Equipment Manager Bullpen Catchers Bullpen Catchers Troy Snitker Danny Barnes J.P. Arencibia Rafael Fernandez Kevin Mahoney Kevin Kierst Eric Langill Dave Racaniello DoB: 1988-12-05 DoB: 1989-10021 DoB: 1986-01-05 DoB: 1988-08-03 DoB: 1987-05-11 DoB: 1964-07-09 DoB: 1979-04-09 DoB: 1978-06-03 Your Mets Training Staff Director of Player Health Head Athletic Trainer Assistant Athletic Trainer Reconditioning Coordinator Reconditioning Therapist Head Performance Coach Assistant Performance Coach Performance Coordinator Soft Tissue Specialist Brian Chicklo Joseph Golia Bryan Baca Sean Bardanett Josh Bickel Dustin Clarke Tanner Miracle Jeremy Chiang Hiroto Kawamura DoB: 1972-07-17 DoB: 1978-??-?? DoB: Circa 1980 DoB: 1988-06-23 DoB: 1996-??-?? DoB: 1987-??-?? DoB: 1991-??-?? DoB: ????-??-?? DoB: 22846 View the full article

The Toronto Blue Jays are ready to give Yariel Rodriguez another shot. The right-handed reliever will be called up from Triple-A Buffalo by the Blue Jays on Monday, according to MLB insider Francys Romero. The Jays have an open spot on their 40-man roster, so only a move involving the 26-man roster will be necessary. Rodriguez signed a five-year, $24 million contract with the Jays before the 2024 season, but has had issues with walks, causing him not to stick on the major-league roster. Rodriguez made 21 starts in 2024 with a 4.34 FIP (4.47 ERA), then 66 appearances in 2025, all but one out of the bullpen, posting a 4.40 FIP (3.08 ERA). While Rodriguez has had strikeout rates of 23.1% and 22.1% the last two years (22.4% is the MLB average), respectively, his walk rates have been below average at 10.9% and 11.9%. The MLB average is 8.3%. In 11 appearances, including one start, this year at Buffalo, Rodriguez has walked nine and struck out 25 in 13⅔ innings, giving up four runs for a 2.63 ERA. View the full article

El Paso walked off Tacoma 7-6 in 10 innings as Nick Solak went 4-for-5 with three runs scored. San Antonio rallied past Midland 3-2 on a Lucas Giolito quality start and a walk-off single by Carson Tucker. Fort Wayne fell 9-7 to Beloit in extras despite six strong innings from Jamie Hitt. Lake Elsinore dropped a 5-4 decision to Inland Empire after Carlos Medina worked four scoreless and Ryan Wideman went 4-for-4 with five stolen bases. Padres Minor-League Transactions No roster moves Mason McCoy, Chihuahuas Rally For Win In 10th Mason McCoy's opposite-field line-drive single to right scored Nick Solak from third base with no outs in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas overcame a three-run deficit to beat the Tacoma Rainiers 7-6. The walk-off win was the second of the series and fourth of the season for the Chihuahuas (19-20), who won the series 4-2. Solak, who went 4-for-5, led off the 10th by bouncing an RBI single up the middle past a diving shortstop to score zombie runner Nick Schnell from second. Solak went to third on Clay Dungan's bunt single and a throwing error by the pitcher, then scored when McCoy hit the first pitch for the game-winner. Solak also scored three times, while Dungan went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI and Samad Taylor had a pair of hits and has reached base seven times in the last two games. Pablo Reyes had a first-inning single to extend his on-base streak to all 27 games he has played this year. Chihuahuas right-handed starter Evan Fitterer bounced back from a subpar last outing to allow two runs 4⅔ innings, yielding seven hits and two runs with three strikeouts. Right-hander Logan Gillaspie pitched a perfect 2⅓ innings of relief, striking out two. Tacoma took a 4-1 lead with three runs in the top of the sixth, but the Chihuahuas got two back in the bottom half on back-to-back one-out doubles by Solak and Dungan and Marcos Castanon's two-out single to make it 4-3. El Paso tied it in the bottom of the eighth as Solak, Dungan and Jose Miranda getting one-out singles, with Miranda's plating Solak. In the 10th, Tacoma scored once in the top, before the Chihuahuas rallied for the win in the bottom half. El Paso's Jase Bowen had a first-inning triple, his fourth, which is tied for the Pacific Coast League lead. EP_0510.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Jase Bowen 5 1 1 0 0 1 Samad Taylor 4 0 2 0 1 1 Pablo Reyes 3 0 1 2 1 0 Nick Schnell 5 1 0 0 0 2 Nick Solak 5 3 4 1 0 0 Clay Dungan 4 1 3 1 1 0 Jose Miranda 4 0 1 1 0 1 Mason McCoy 1 0 1 1 0 0 Marcos Castañon 4 0 1 1 0 0 Colton Vincent 4 1 1 0 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Evan Fitterer 4 2/3 7 2 2 2 3 1 Triston McKenzie 1/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 David Morgan 2/3 4 3 3 0 0 0 Logan Gillaspie 2 1/3 0 0 0 0 2 0 Alek Jacob (W) 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 Lucas Giolito Shines, Missions Walk It Off For First Series Win Kai Murphy and Carson Tucker had back-to-back RBI singles with one out in the bottom of the ninth as the Double-A San Antonio Missions pulled out a 3-2 walk-off victory over the Midland RockHounds. With their second straight walk-off, the Missions (11-22) won their first series of the season 4-2. It is also their first series victory since July 8-13 last season against Wichita. San Diego Padres right-handed starter Lucas Giolito, in what is likely to be his final tuneup before joining the major-league rotation, allowed one run on three hits with no walks and three strikeouts in six innings. He threw 74 pitches, 52 for strikes. In four starts since signing a one-year contract April 22, Giolito has thrown 17 innings, allowing 11 runs (nine earned) on 18 hits with six walks and 15 strikeouts. He has a clause in his contract that requires him to be added to the MLB roster by Saturday. Midland had grabbed a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth before Braedon Karpathios led off the bottom with a walk, was bunted to second, pinch-hitter Leandro Cedeno intentionally walked and replaced by pinch-runner Luis Verdugo. Murphy lined the tying single to right, easily scoring Karpathios, and Tucker won it by going the other way with a single down to right, driving in Verdugo from second. After Giolito, right-hander Victor Lizarraga went the final three innings, giving up a run on three hits and a pair of walks with one strikeout. Ethan Salas had an RBI single in the third inning for the Missions. SA_0510.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Carson Tucker 5 0 1 1 0 3 Ethan Salas 3 0 1 1 1 1 Tirso Ornelas 3 0 1 0 1 0 Romeo Sanabria 4 0 1 0 0 0 Ryan Jackson 4 0 1 0 0 1 Braedon Karpathios 2 1 2 0 2 0 Francisco Acuna 3 0 0 0 0 2 Albert Fabian 3 1 2 0 0 0 Kai Roberts 0 0 0 0 0 0 Leandro Cedeño 0 0 0 0 1 0 Luis Verdugo 0 1 0 0 0 0 Kai Murphy 4 0 2 1 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Lucas Giolito 6 3 1 1 0 3 0 Victor Lizarraga (W) 3 3 1 1 2 1 0 TinCaps Squander Lead, Fall To Sky Carp In Extras The High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps gave up three runs in the top of the ninth and three more in the 10th to drop a 9-7 decision to the Beloit SkyCarp. The TinCaps (16-17), who lost for the first time in extra innings this year, won four of the six games in the series. The TinCaps scored once in the bottom of the 10th on Alex McCoy's sac fly, but couldn't get anyone else on base. Fort Wayne had a 6-2 lead after the sixth and 6-3 after the top of the seventh before the SkyCarp tied it up with three runs in the top of the ninth. Left-hander Jamie Hitt, the Padres' eighth-round pick in 2025 who is making his pro debut this year, turned in the TinCaps' first quality start of the season, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in a season-high six innings. The outing is the longest by a TinCaps pitcher this year. The TinCaps' bullpen had been instrumental in Fort Wayne winning nine of its last 10. Over that stretch, the relief corps led the entire minors in wins, saves, ERA and opponent batting average, but faltered in the ninth and 10th innings. Carlos E. Rodriguez had his first three-hit game in 25 games with the TinCaps, driving in two and scoring once. FW_0510.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Kasen Wells 4 1 1 0 1 1 Rosman Verdugo 4 3 1 1 1 0 Carlos Rodriguez 4 1 3 2 1 1 Alex McCoy 3 0 0 1 0 0 Jake Cunningham 5 0 1 0 0 3 Jack Costello 4 0 0 0 1 1 Zach Evans 4 1 1 0 0 0 Jonathan Vastine 4 0 0 0 0 1 Oswaldo Linares 4 1 2 1 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Jamie Hitt 6 5 2 2 2 5 0 Igor Gil 1 1 1 1 1 2 0 Kleiber Olmedo (H) 1 3 3 3 0 0 0 C.J. Widger (BS) 1 1 0 0 1 3 0 Isaiah Lowe (L) 1 2 3 2 0 1 1 Ryan Wideman Has 4 Hits, 5 Steals, But Storm Falter Late Ryan Wideman went 4-for-4 and stole a career-best five bases, but the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm let a late lead slip away, losing in walk-off fashion to the Inland Empire 66ers 5-4. The Storm (19-14) went 2-4 in the series. Wideman, Padres Mission's No. 9 prospect, has 27 steals in 33 attempts in the 32 games he has played. He had a four-steal game April 23 vs. Visalia and has eight games with multiple stolen bases. Nine of his steals came in this series. Lake Elsinore scored three times in the top of the eighth to take a 4-2 lead. But the 66ers tied it in the bottom of the eighth and won it in the ninth. Storm right-handed starter Carlos Medina matched his season high with four innings, not allowing a run while giving up three hits and a walk with five strikeouts, one shy of his season high. Luke Cantwell had a pair of hits and scored once for the Storm. Wideman got the Storm on the board in the fourth when he singled, then stole second and third. After Kerrington Cross was hit by a pitch and stole second, Jorge Quintana had an RBI groundout to bring in Wideman and put the Storm up 1-0. Inland Empire went up 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, but the Storm regained the lead in the eighth. Cantwell had a leadoff double and went to third on a Wideman single. Wideman stole his fifth base of the day and Truitt Madonna singled home Cantwell. Wideman, now on third, scored on Cross' squeeze bunt and, with two outs, Jose Verdugo singled home Madonna from second. LE_0510.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Qrey Lott 3 0 0 0 0 1 George Bilecki 2 0 0 0 0 0 Luke Cantwell 5 1 2 0 0 2 Ryan Wideman 4 2 4 0 0 0 Truitt Madonna 4 1 1 1 0 2 Kerrington Cross 2 0 0 1 0 0 Jorge Quintana 4 0 1 1 0 1 Jose Verdugo 3 0 1 1 0 0 Yoiber Ocopio 4 0 1 0 0 1 Conner Westenburg 3 0 1 0 1 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Carlos Medina 4 3 0 0 1 5 0 Cal Riehl 1 1/3 0 0 0 2 3 0 Carson Swilling (BS) 1 2/3 1 2 2 2 2 0 Joseph Herrera (L) 1 1/3 2 3 3 2 0 1 Top-20 Prospect Performance Ethan Salas: 1-for-3, RBI, BB, K Kash Mayfield: DNP Kruz Schoolcraft: DNP Bradgley Rodriguez: DNP Miguel Mendez: DNP Humberto Cruz: DNP Jagger Haynes: DNP Ty Harvey: DNP Ryan Wideman: 4-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 5 SB Kale Fountain: DNP Romeo Sanabria: 1-for-4 Jorge Quintana: 1-for-4, RBI, K Lamar King Jr.: DNP Garrett Hawkins: DNP Tirso Ornelas: 1-for-3, BB Kavares Tears: DNP Truitt Madonna: 1-for-4, R, RBI, 2 K Deivid Coronil: DNP Eric Yost: DNP Francis Pena: DNP View the full article

The Weekly Nutshell: It's becoming a weekly trend for the Minnesota Twins: they start and finish strong, with a whole lot of ugliness in between. This time around, they kicked off the week with an 11-3 win over Washington before dropping three in a row and then rebounding over the weekend with rare back-to-back one-run wins in Cleveland. The Twins are in last place but are hanging around in a closely grouped AL Central, currently led by Cleveland with a .500 record. Though they're far from out of the running, it's tough to feel much belief in this team's outlook as the bullpen continues to bleed and the hits keep coming from an injury standpoint. But Minnesota's star center fielder is doing all he can to single-handedly keep things interesting. Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 5/4 through Sun, 5/10 *** Record Last Week: 3-3 (Overall: 18-23) Run Differential Last Week: -7 (Overall: -12) Standing: 5th Place in AL Central (2.5 GB) Latest Game Results Game 36 | MIN 11, WAS 3: Twins Beat Up on Brutal Nats Pitching Staff in Rout Lee: 3-5, 3 RBI Game 37 | WAS 15, MIN 2: Ober Struggles, Bullpen Gets Nuked in Late Innings Topa, García: 1.1 IP, 8 ER, 3 HR allowed Game 38 | WAS 7, MIN 5: Mental Mistakes, Missed Chances Cost Twins Series Woods Richardson: 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K Game 39 | CLE 6, MIN 4: Four-Run First Carries Guardians to Win in Opener Buxton: 3-5, HR, 2 RBI Game 40 | MIN 2, CLE 1 (11): Buxton Provides All the Offense Epic Pitching Duel Buxton: 2-5, HR, 2 RBI Game 41 | MIN 5, CLE 4: Twins Scrape Out Another Rare One-Run Win at Cleveland Clemens: 2-4, 2 R NEWS & NOTES The week opened with some much-needed good news: Joe Ryan's MRI showed no structural damage in his elbow, eliciting a collective sigh of relief after his early exit last week set off major alarm bells. Not only was Ryan able to avoid a trip to the injured list, but he didn't even miss a start, returning to the mound for his scheduled turn in Cleveland on Saturday. It went very well. More on that below. But it wasn't all good news on the pitching health front. Mick Abel, who's trying to work his way back from elbow inflammation, experienced a setback and received a cortisone shot in his triceps. He's still probably multiple weeks away at least. This comes on the heels of David Festa being shut down on his own rehab journey due to renewed soreness in his shoulder, leaving his season somewhat in limbo. And on Saturday, the Twins placed Taj Bradley — who's been easily the biggest bright spot on the pitching staff — on the injured list with right pec muscle inflammation. Travis Adams was recalled to take his spot on the roster. Hopefully this is a minor issue for Bradley but it unfortunately should be noted that the same injury cost him two months in 2024. Word is that imaging came back clean, but Bradley was headed to see Dr. Keith Meister (famed pitching surgeon) for a second opinion, which suggests some level of concern. We'll see what comes next. While Adams replaced him immediately on the roster, it looks like it'll be Kendry Rojas — recalled on Sunday with Kody Funderburk heading down — counted on to fill the bulk innings lost from Bradley, who's been a workhorse for this staff. Rojas threw 3 ⅓ innings in relief of opener Andrew Morris in the series finale against Cleveland. Finally, Yoendrys Gómez was acquired from Tampa Bay for cash considerations. The Twins designated Christian Roa for assignment to make room on the 40-man and optioned John Klein to make room on the active roster. HIGHLIGHTS This was a fairly solid week for the offense, all in all, with some of the lineup's top performers contributing and building on their successful starts to the season. As usual, Byron Buxton was the driving force. At times it's felt like he IS the Twins offense, and that became literal on Saturday night when Buxton's leadoff homer in the first and RBI double in the 11th represented the entirety of Minnesota's production in a 2-1 victory. The home run was Buxton's third of the week, pushing his season total to 13. Entering play on Sunday he was tied for fourth in the majors behind Aaron Judge, Munetaka Murakami and Kyle Schwarber. Ryan Jeffers went 6-for-17 with a home run, four doubles and four runs scored. Austin Martin was 7-for-20 with a double and a stolen base. Buxton, Jeffers and Martin rank first, second and fourth among Twins position players in fWAR this season, respectively. Brooks Lee has risen to fifth on that list, ascending steadily in recent weeks after pulling clear of a season-opening lull. He tallied four multi-hit games and six RBIs, and on Saturday played perhaps his best defensive game of the season at shortstop. In extra innings, Lee made a couple of stellar, high-stakes plays, including a game-ending putout on a diving play to his left in the 11th, following an almost miraculous stab of a hot liner with the infield in. Luke Keaschall is also rising on the WAR leaderboard following his own slow start. He had four hits including a double, but also drew eight walks with no strikeouts. In his past 14 games, Keaschall is 13-for-43 (.317) with five doubles and three stolen bases, lifting his OPS by over 100 points. On the pitching side, Ryan looked to be in top form on Saturday, which was a huge relief. There were no signs of discomfort or hindrance from the elbow that forced him out of his previous start, and in fact Ryan's velocity was actually up a tick over his season norm. He held the Guardians to one over six innings and finished with 107 pitches, his highest total in an outing since June of 2023. Never a dull moment when it comes to the Joe Ryan Experience. LOWLIGHTS Another horrendous week for the bullpen. Wednesday's game was the clear low point, with four relievers combining to allow 10 earned runs in three innings after Bailey Ober's exit. That included six charged to Justin Topa, who now has a 7.88 ERA and has been one of the most-used relievers in baseball despite his lack of capability. Luis García followed Topa and gave up home runs to two of the four batters he faced; García has now surrendered eight earned runs in 4 ⅔ innings since being signed to a minor-league contract after the Mets jettisoned him. Anthony Banda continues to look erratic and unreliable. He issued two walks and hit two batters in his four appearances. His ERA sits at 7.64 on the season, making him one of four Twins pitchers seeing regular use despite an ERA over six. Joining Banda, Topa and García in that category is Simeon Woods Richardson, who is getting knocked around every fifth day with no end in sight. The Nationals jumped on him for five earned runs in 4 ⅓ innings on Thursday, marking the third straight start in which he's been unable to get through the fifth. The Twins are 1-7 in games started by Woods Richardson, whose 6.92 ERA is tied for the worst in baseball. There haven't been many redeeming aspects in the right-hander's performance so far. He has the lowest strikeout rate in the majors at 10.7%. Opponents are slashing .323/.390/.544 against him, and they have a .440 wOBA against the splitter that's supposed to be a neutralizing weapon. Yet the Twins have little choice but to keep trotting him out there as a member of their rotation. Injuries to Festa, Abel and now Bradley have decimated Minnesota's starting depth, so even if they wanted to make a move with Woods Richardson — tricky in and of itself since he's out of options and doesn't seem to offer much potential as a reliever — their hands are essentially tied. Honestly, I can live with it. In an increasingly lost season, letting a 25-year-old starter work through his struggles is acceptable. He's not giving the Twins much chance to win when he's on the mound but that doesn't really matter a whole lot. In the bigger picture there is still a purpose in running him out there. The bullpen situation is far more difficult to tolerate. Klein also wasn't pitching well either, allowing two earned runs over 2 ⅓ innings during his brief stint with the Twins, but at least he's a semi-legitimate prospect who could possibly be a factor for the bullpen going forward. Instead, he's back in Triple-A, while the Twins trot out veterans like Topa, García and now Gómez with no current or future value. This isn't a rebuilding bullpen, it's just a bad bullpen offering no compelling reason to tune in. Finally, we've got to talk about Royce Lewis. It's getting late early for the Twins third baseman. He sat consecutive games on Wednesday and Thursday as Derek Shelton sought to give Lewis — hitting .133 with a 15-to-1 K/BB ratio since coming off the injured list — a bit of a soft reset. The 26-year-old now routinely finds himself batting ninth in the order, with an OPS that has dropped well below .600. Despite efforts to reduce the pressure and get him right, Lewis just can't find his way out of a funk that essentially extends back to the middle of the 2024 season. Where to go from here? In some sense you can make a similar argument as the one above with Woods Richardson — as a hopeful building block, let him take the lumps and try to figure things out — but this slump has lasted far longer and unlike with SWR, Lewis has a minor-league option remaining, as well as credible options in the minors to replace him. TRENDING STORYLINE If you're looking for a vibe lift, you might turn your attention to the super-slugging St. Paul Saints. Yes, there's cause for dismay on this roster too, with top prospects Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez both landing on the injured list last week, but there's still plenty of juice in this lineup. The Saints tweeted last week that they lead all of professional baseball in home runs, outpacing even the New York Yankees who were leading the majors. Among the power bats fueling St. Paul's prolific long-ball prowess are Gabriel Gonzalez, Kyler Fedko, Orlando Arcia and Kaelen Culpepper with eight home runs apiece. The latter two stand out as potential promotion candidates, with the capability to displace Lewis at third base. Understandably, the Twins might want to keep playing it slow with Culpepper, prioritizing his development as he continues acclimating to the Triple-A level. But Arcia, who is slashing .316.372/.579 through 34 games with the Saints, sure looks like a candidate for a relatively imminent call-up. LOOKING AHEAD Following a 2-3 road trip [thru sat], the Twins are coming back to Target Field for a pair of interleague showdowns. First they'll be welcoming the Marlins, with Woodbury native Max Meyer slated to make his Target Field debut on Wednesday. Over the weekend it'll be the cross-border rival Brewers, with plenty of Wisconsinite fans surely in tow. Should be some nice weather as long as it stays dry. TUESDAY, MAY 12: MARLINS @ TWINS — RHP Eury Perez v. RHP Bailey Ober WEDNESDAY, MAY 13: MARLINS @ TWINS — RHP Max Meyer v. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson THURSDAY, MAY 14: MARLINS @ TWINS — LHP Robby Snelling v. LHP Connor Prielipp FRIDAY, MAY 15: BREWERS @ TWINS — LHP Kyle Harrison v. RHP Joe Ryan SATURDAY, MAY 16: BREWERS @ TWINS — RHP Logan Henderson v. TBD SUNDAY, MAY 17: BREWERS @ TWINS — RHO Chad Patrick v. RHP Bailey Ober View the full article

TRANSACTIONS LHP Kody Funderburk optioned to AAA St. Paul LHP Kendry Rojas recalled INF Quinn McDaniel signed* Another Indy Ball Star? On Sunday, news broke that the Twins plucked Quinn McDaniel from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. A 5th-round 2023 draftee, McDaniel spent two forgettable seasons in Eugene, Oregon, for the Giants' A+ ball squad before striking a path to indy ball. He obliterated the competition. McDaniel was hitting the days in the year, .365 in 14 games before the Twins handed him a minor-league contract. Saints Sentinel St. Paul 4, Las Vegas 2 Box Score Ryan Gallagher: 3 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K HR: David Bañuelos (1) Multi-hit games: Kaelen Culpepper (2-for-5, 3 RBI), Ryan Kreidler (2-for-3, 2B, BB), Ben Ross (2-for-4, 2B, R) “This is bat country.” Perhaps, Mr. Thompson, but the bats of this series aren’t from the hallucinations of a drug-fueled madman: rather, the Saints’ wooden cylinders were as real and potent as the mescaline favored by Raoul Duke and his associate. And no one made a beast of himself (except for maybe Aaron Sabato on Tuesday.) Ryan Gallagher earned the start for the Saints. Though the high-flying ways of the PCL clipped the wings of others before him, the UC Santa Barbara product proved to possess a steeled mettle: he overcame a minor kerfuffle in the first to give his team 3 ⅔ effective frames, punching out six. He threw 74 pitches. St. Paul supported their hurler early, scoring three in the second inning. Every run came off a rare bases-clearing single from Kaelen Culpepper. Credit goes to Harry Genth for busting it from first with a speed and vigor unseen outside a Mint 400 Motorcycle race. Because no Saints game can exist without a blast these days, David Bañuelos shot one over the left-center wall in the ninth off former Twin Who Got Away, Nick Anderson. It’s a mystery what Brian Schales is up to these days. The Aviators are an affiliate of the Team Formerly Known as the Oakland Athletics. Their fifth-ranked prospect, Henry Bolte, singled once in four at-bats, a notable outcome given he entered the day 12 for his last 12 with nine extra-base-hits, five of them homers. Wind Surge Wisdom Unending rain canceled the Wichita game on Sunday. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 10, Quad Cities 5 Box Score Dasan Hill: 3 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K HR: Rayne Doncon 2 (4, 5), Jay Thomason (4), Jaime Ferrer (9), Brandon Winokur (3) Multi-hit games: Brandon Winokur (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB), Miguel Briceno (2-for-4, R), Rayne Doncon (2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI) The Kernels bashed their way to victory on Sunday. Rayne Doncon started matters with a second-inning blast, soon followed by Jay Thomason, whose homer was so powerful it emitted an “outfielder stopper” 15 feet away from the track. A confused fisherman will find the ball in the coming days. Jaime Ferrer’s three-run blast in the third gave Cedar Rapids a 5-0 advantage. The Kernels allowed the River Bandits to tie the game—how generous of them—before unleashing a second barrage upon their pitchers. Brandon Winokur joined the fun with his third homer of the season, before Doncon gave the left-field children another souvenir. Christman-born starter Dasan Hill put forth his best start of the season. The talented lefty suffered a dreadful April, allowing 15 runs in 16 innings, but evidently remained sanguine. On Sunday, he earned seven of his 11 outs on whiffs in his first scoreless outing of the year, though control remained an issue, as he walked three. The start was nonetheless a positive outcome for the youngster from Grapevine. Catcher Blake Mitchell is ranked as the 58th-best prospect in MLB, according to the league’s website. He went 0-3, with three strikeouts, a sacrifice fly, and a walk. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 5, Tampa 3 Box Score Matthew Dalquist: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Dameury Pena (2-for-4, R, 2 RBI), Jayson Bass (2-for-3, R, RBI), Byron Chourio (2-for-4) The Mighty Mussels took an early lead and never looked back on Sunday. Has Matthew Dalquist turned a corner? The 18th-round righty found April cold, chilly, and unforgiving; his ERA in the month sat at 5.40, and his WHIP neared 2.00. Through two May starts, though, he has allowed just two runs across nine frames, pushing his ERA down to a serviceable 4.03 mark. That’ll do just fine. Fort Myers’ offense started immediately. Dameury Pena—after taking a strike on a pitch timer violation—chopped an infield single, and Bruin Agbayani walked. A Ramiro Dominguez flyout did nothing to stop the momentum: Hungry Kusiak shot a single into left field to draw Pena home. Agbayani then scored on a wild pitch. Pena proved to be a magnet for scoring runs, as he singled in another score the following frame. Spoiler: Pena earned a second RBI on a fielder’s choice in the fourth. Even Rickey Henderson would have been impressed by his leadoff production (he also stole a base!) A middle-innings Tampa skirmish brought the score within one, yet Fort Myers plated an insurance run in the eighth off a Jayson Bass sacrifice fly. The Tarpons never scored again. The Tarpons are a part of the Great Yankees Talent Machine, the development system that pumps out major leaguers with brutal efficiency. On Sunday, they sent forth lefty Henry Lalane, their 14th-ranked prospect. He surrendered four earned runs in 3 ⅓ innings. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Dasan Hill Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Rayne Doncon PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #2 – Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 2-5, 3 RBI #4 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 0-2, K #6 – Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - 3 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K #7 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-4 #8 – Kendry Rojas (Twins) - 3 ⅓ IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K #9 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, R, K #12 – Andrew Morris (Twins) - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K #13 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K #14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 0-4, 2 K #18 – C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K #19 – Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 0-0 #20 – James Ellwanger (Fort Myers) - IL MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS FCL Twins @ FCL Orioles (11:00 AM) - TBD View the full article

Box Score: Bulk Pitcher: Kendry Rojas: 3 1/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (60 Pitches, 34 Strikes, 56.6%) Home Runs: None Top 3 WPA: Kody Clemens (0.23), Brooks Lee (0.18), Anthony Banda (0.11) Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant): Well, the Twins won a close game in extra innings in Cleveland yesterday. That, alone, was a revelation, given the past four or five years of results. It also gave them a chance to take a series at Progressive Field for the first time since the 1990s (or so it's felt). The starter would be Andrew Morris, but the bulk assignment fell on rookie Kendry Rojas. Morris, for his part, pitched an easy six-pitch scoreless first, with Rojas coming in to face the lefty-heavy Guardians lineup to start the second. Rojas has trouble throwing strikes, and that trend continued today, but he did show some reasons for optimism, including a nice changeup to strike out Angel Martínez in the second. His slider was sliding, and his sinker has some pop to it, so he has the makings of an effective major-league pitcher, but can he deliver on that promise in his rookie year? The Twins lineup had to deal with big Gavin Williams, who has built upon his 2025 breakout. Hes always looked the part of a big-time prospect, but injuries and some poor luck delayed his takeoff for a couple of years. Last year', he was able to make 31 starts, and while he led the league in walks, he was extremely hard to hit, posting a 129 OPS+ with a .211 batting average against. His heavy sinker/four-seam combo kept the Twins off-balance early, but Kody Clemens dunked a ball down the third-base line in the second for a Guardians Double™ and scored on a wild pitch for the game's first run. Ryan Jeffers scalded a ball through the middle that ended up getting all the way to the warning track for a leadoff double. Unfortunately, the Twins now employ Cold Josh Bell™ (not to be confused with the legendary Cool Papa Bell), who struck out in his sixth straight plate appearance to derail that potential rally. Meanwhile, Rojas gave up three singles and a walk in the third, but managed to give up just a single run on a José Ramírez tapper up the middle. He was wobbly with his command, but showed some composure pitching in a tough environment, including striking out All-Star Steven Kwan with two men on to end the third. It was probably the worst swing I've seen Kwan take. The fifth inning was the pivot point. Clemens led off with a more legitimate double, to the gap in right-center field at 105 MPH. Brooks Lee singled to bring home Clemens, and Royce Lewis showed some life by roping a double down the left-field line. Byron Buxton legged out a tapper to third base, and Bell broke out of his slump with a single up the middle to make the score 4-1. Austin Martin then continued his hot streak by staying with a fastball and flipping it to the opposite field to make it a four-run lead. Travis Adams took over for Rojas with one out in the fifth and got the second out pretty quickly. But he walked Kyle Manzardo, fell behind hitters, and allowed two more hits and a walk before striking out new catcher acquisition Patrick Bailey (who looked rough in his Guardians debut) with the bases full. Those bad Giants vibes will follow you, I guess. Adams allowed another run in the sixth, but got Ramírez to pop out as the tying run before giving way to Anthony Banda, who was able to retire pinch-hitter Rhys Hoskins on a fly ball. There was some Guardians Ball in the eighth, with David Fry singling and Bryan Rocchio dumping a broken-bat single into center off of righty Luis García. Kwan then bunted them over (on a 3-1 count, ouch) before Chase DeLauter grounded out to trim the lead to one. García was able to get Hoskins to ground out to preserve the lead. Clemens led off the ninth inning with an opposite-field single, and was bunted to second by Lee (somewhat surprisingly). Clemens then stole third, but was left stranded with Lewis striking out and pinch-hitter Victor Caratini flying out to deep right field. Yoendrys Gómez got the ninth, which speaks to some level of concern for Justin Topa, who hasn't pitched since Wednesday. Gómez, who has not had any sustained major-league success, threw strikes and looked good, working a 1-2-3 inning to secure the victory. Things I'm Tracking: -Brooks Lee looks like he may truly be part of the solution, delivering a couple hits with runners in scoring position. He even stole a base, despite looking like he was pumping his legs through molasses. -Travis Adams made his debut and threw some good changeups, but was largely ineffective in allowing four hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings. -Jeffers is setting himself up for a big payday this offseason, with his OPS now over .900 and having built a reputation as an elite ABS challenger. -The Guardians may have found yet another demon in their relief corps, with Franco Aleman making his debut and pumping 99 MPH with deception. He allowed two singles but also went two scoreless in relief of Williams. -The Twins' bullpen hierarchy is a mess, with two recent waiver claims taking the eighth and ninth innings protecting a slim lead. The options Derek Shelton has late in games are pretty brutal right now. What’s Next: The Miami Marlins are in town, with electric young righty Eury Perez (2-4, 5.01 ERA) taking the mound against Bailey Ober (3-2, 4.19 ERA). It might be one of the tallest combined pitching matchups ever, with Perez standing 6'8", an inch shorter than Ober. The Marlins are league average on both sides of the ball in contrast to their recent past of being dependent on dominant pitching to sustain a nothing offense. They also are feisty, leading baseball in steals, so it will be an interesting test for the Twins at home. Postgame Interviews: Bullpen Usage Chart: WED THU FRI SAT SUN TOT Banda 0 20 22 0 19 61 Funderburk 17 0 22 10 0 49 Garcia 14 0 0 13 20 47 Rogers 0 26 0 17 0 43 Adams 0 0 0 0 43 43 Topa 32 0 0 0 0 32 Orze 0 0 16 15 0 31 Morris 14 0 0 11 6 31 Gómez 0 0 2 5 10 17 View the full article

MIAMI — The month of May had not been kind to the Marlins, early. Entering Sunday, 3-6 in a stretch that saw them play their tenth game in as many days, it would be up to Sandy Alcantara to be the tone-setter if they were to look to win this series against the Washington Nationals. Making his 90th career start at loanDepot park on this Mother's Day Sunday, Alcantara twirled six innings of two-run ball in Miami's 5-2 win over the Nationals, ultimately coming away with a no-decision. Upon completing a 1-2-3 top of the sixth, Alcantara, at 89 pitches, appeared as if a seventh inning wasn't out of the question. However, after throwing a season-high 106 pitches in his previous outing, manager Clayton McCullough deferred to his bullpen to slam the door. "I thought I was going back out there for the seventh," said Alcantara, whose workhorse mentality has garnered him league-wide respect. Through nine starts this season, only Max Fried (58.2) has thrown more innings than Alcantara's 57.2, with the latter's total pacing the senior circuit. "We felt like, at six and right at 90 pitches, a couple runs, he really did his job," noted McCullough, now just two wins shy of 100 in his young managerial career. In relief of Alcantara, the Marlins bullpen tandem of Calvin Faucher, Andrew Nardi, and Josh Ekness pitched in to throw three scoreless innings. Pitching in just his fourth career big league game, Ekness would be called on with two outs in the ninth in what would result in his first career save. Miami's offense would open the scoring in the bottom of the third, hanging a two-spot on Washington starter and former top prospect Cade Cavalli (5.2, 4 H, 2 R, 4 K), started by Joe Mack's first career walk. Liam Hicks would single Mack home before a routine ground ball hit by Otto Lopez went right through the legs of Nasim Nuñez, allowing Xavier Edwards to plate the Marlins' second run. Washington would begin to claw back, though, as they quickly turned a Luis Garcia Jr. leadoff triple into their first run in the top of the fourth. They would eventually tie the scoring at 2-2 when James Wood's fielder's choice plated second baseman Jorbit Vivas. Heading into the bottom of the eighth with the score unchanged, Kyle Stowers worked a walk after starting down 0-2. With Esteury Ruiz pinch-running, Jakob Marsee reached base via a walk before executing, with Ruiz, a double steal to get the pair into scoring position. It would be the unlikeliest of heroes to provide the deciding blow, as Christopher Morel, who entered that at-bat hitting just .148, scraped a single just in front of centerfielder Jacob Young to give the Marlins the lead. Immediately following Morel, Heriberto Hernandez, not in the starting lineup until some thirty minutes ahead of first pitch due to Owen Caissie experiencing right triceps soreness, laced a single down the third base line to give the Marlins some added insurance. Hernandez was previously with the club before being optioned to AAA following a start to the season that saw him hit .159 over his first 22 games. Miami improved to 19-22, concluding their 10-game homestand 4-6, sharing a three-way tie with Washington and Philadelphia for second place in the National League East. Looking Ahead Off Monday, the Marlins will resume play on Tuesday, beginning a six-game road trip against the Minnesota Twins. Eury Pérez (2-4, 5.01 ERA) will take the ball in the series opener. In his lone career start against them on July 3 last season, Pérez twirled six innings of one-hit ball. First pitch from Target Field is slated for 7:40 EST. View the full article

The Minnesota Twins needed a fresh arm after an exhausting day for the bullpen. The Twins on Sunday called up left-hander Kendry Rojas from Triple-A St. Paul and sent left-hander Kody Funderburk down to the Saints. The Twins used six relievers following Joe Ryan's six-inning start in Saturday's 2-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians in 11 innings. Rojas made his MLB debut April 22, pitching two shutout innings with two hits, three walks and no strikeouts. He was sent back to Triple-A a couple days later. At St. Paul this season, Rojas has made five appearances, including a start, allowing four runs and 14 hits with five walks and 15 strikeouts in 15 innings for a 2.40 ERA. Funderburk has been a key part of the Twins' bullpen. He has made 19 appearances covering 16 innings, with 13 walks and 10 strikeouts for a 2.81 ERA. Coincidentally, Rojas' debut came as Funderburk was on paternity leave for the birth of his child. View the full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 7-May 8) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies): 2-2 Season Record: 17-20 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox): 4-0 Season Record: 19-10 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 2-1 Season Record: 13-17 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates): 1-3 Season Record: 12-19 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 3-0 Season Record: 5-0 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 17-20 Series Opponent: Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) May 7: RJ Schreck followed up his monster game Wednesday with another big game on Thursday. He led the offensive barrage from the Buffalo bats, as they broke through against Lehigh Valley with 13 runs, eight of them coming in a crazy fifth inning. Schreck started the scoring off in the top of the first inning with a two-run home run to right field, his fourth of the season. The lead was short-lived, with Otto Kemp connecting for a three-run home run off of Grant Rogers in the bottom half of the inning. After adding a couple of runs to take the lead back, Buffalo began the fifth inning with a lead-off walk and a single. Schreck then roped a ball to right center that scored a run. Later in the inning, Rafael Lantigua drew a bases-loaded walk to get another run across home plate, and then Carlos Mendoza was hit by a pitch to get the third run of the inning home. Buffalo wasn't done though. Ryan McCarty, Ismael Munguia, and Charles McAdoo all drew bases-loaded walks as well. Schreck would come back up in the inning and get a two-RBI single to cap off the big, eight-run inning. On the day, Schreck was 3-for-4, with five RBI, and three runs scored. Pat Gallagher was the best pitcher for Buffalo, going 2.2 innings, giving up just one hit, one walk, and striking out four. He brought his ERA down to 1.42 for the season and could be someone the big league club looks to if there comes a need for a relief pitcher over the summer. Buffalo took the game 13-5 and could have potentially started a win streak. May 8: With Chad Dallas on the mound Friday night as the bulk pitcher, Buffalo had a real shot to have a three-game winning streak heading into the final two games of the series this weekend. Dallas proved up to the task, coming in following Hayden Juenger's poor start. He gave up two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Dallas was cooking through four innings, giving up one unearned run. Other than that one blemish, he was great, striking out six and surrendering a measly two hits. He sat around 93 with his fastball and sinker, looking better the further out he gets from his Tommy John surgery. With the pitching keeping the game within reach, it was ultimately the bats that fell woefully short, only managing five hits in the night, only one going for extra bases. Buffalo was shut out on the offensive side of things, taking the loss 4-0 and falling to three games under .500 for the season. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 19-10 Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) May 7, Game 1: Gage Stanifer was on the mound for the first game of the doubleheader against the Portland Sea Dogs on Thursday. He started out strong, getting six of the first seven batters out, three via the strikeout. In the third and fourth innings, he gave up four baserunners, but made it through without giving up a run. He got a couple of pop-ups, a couple weak fly outs, and a groundout. Stanifer would work his way around a single in the fifth inning to cap off his best Double-A start: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. He also battled a very small strike zone on the day. On the offensive side of things, Adrian Pinto doubled in two runs in the third inning, and a groundout and error gave New Hampshire two more. They would go on to win game one by a score of 4-2. May 7, Game 2: In the second game of the day, Portland took the quick lead on a home run and an RBI single from Richard Gallardo. Gallardo would power through, though, and make it five innings, striking out eight batters without allowing another run. The New Hampshire offense picked it up, with two RBI groundouts and then an RBI single from Arjun Nimmala to tie the game at three. The game went to extra innings, and in the eighth and ninth frames, both teams traded runs. In the 10th inning, Nick Goodwin put New Hampshire up one with a sacrifice fly, and Eddie Micheletti Jr. laced an RBI single to give the Fisher Cats a two-run lead. It was enough, as Irv Carter held the Sea Dogs to nothing and New Hampshire won 7-5. May 8: In the Friday night game, pitching was truly optional. New Hampshire took a seven-run lead over the first two innings. The big hits were a Jay Harry three-run triple and a Harry RBI double. In the fourth, Jace Bohrofen launched his ninth home run of the season to put New Hampshire up seven runs again. Things went south the next few innings as Portland crushed two home runs. Eddie Micheletti Jr. would put the Fisher Cats up six runs with a three-run blast in the seventh inning. An Arjun Nimmala RBI double gave the Fisher Cats a three-run lead in the ninth, but the pitching again faltered, and Portland tied it up at 13 to go to extra innings. Thankfully, Portland was out of pitchers and brought in a position player to pitch. Sean Keys teed off on a pitch and crushed his 10th home run of the season. New Hampshire would finish off the Sea Dogs and win this wild one, 15-13. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 13-17 Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants) May 7: The dual-headed monster of Johnny King and Holden Wilkerson shut down the Eugene Emeralds. King struggled with his command again, walking four batters, but was still able to keep the runners on base from scoring, allowing only a single run in three innings pitched. Dub Gleed excelled in the lead-off spot, as he got on base four times. He ended up being the first run, as Alexis Hernandez hit a sac fly to score him to put the Canadians up one. Manuel Beltre hit his second homer of the year to add on to the lead. Peyton Williams had his seventh RBI for the Canadians this season with a single in the fourth. Wilkerson once again dominated in relief, pitching five innings of one-hit baseball, striking out five and lowering his season ERA to 1.52. Jonathan Todd gave up a run in the ninth but still got the save as the Canadians got a close win. May 8: The Canadians had another great pitching performance, this time from the recently promoted Nolan Perry, who’s been excellent since returning from injury. Other than a solo homer given up to Lisbel Diaz in the bottom of the third inning, Perry was nearly untouchable. He gave up only three hits and one walk, while striking out eight batters and generating 18 swings and misses. Tucker Toman and Jacob Sharp led the way for the offense, as both hitters had two-RBI nights; they turned a tied game in the top of the eighth into a three-run lead with two clutch singles. Kelena Sauer got his second save of the season, allowing a run but guaranteeing the win with two innings of solid pitching. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 12-19 Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates) May 7: Brandon Barriera’s velocity was down a bit, sitting only 93 mph, but he relied heavily on his slider to strike out four batters in three innings, allowing one earned run. A big night from Yorman Licourt led the way for Dunedin’s offense, as the slugger hit his fifth homer of the season and drove in five of the Jays’ nine runs. Oakville kid Owen Gregg got his first hit as a Dunedin Blue Jay as well, as the Jays ran away with this one early. Mason Davenport allowed four runs in the seventh inning to make it a bit more interesting, but a Licourt double took the lead back to three, and Lluveres Severino got his first save of the season to get the Jays their first win of the series. May 8: The Jays had to face the talented Seth Hernandez for the second time this season, and the 2025 sixth-overall pick one-upped his last outing against the Jays by striking out nine batters in six innings. Troy Guthrie struggled to put hitters away, allowing nine hits and five runs while only striking out three. Noah Palmese had his longest appearance of the season, going 3.1 innings in relief, allowing a run on a solo homer to the “Password.” The Jays' only runs of the game came in the bottom of the ninth inning, with Juan Sanchez finally showing some of the power that he was known for in the Florida Complex League, hitting his first homer of the season. Yorman Licourt ended up scoring on a balk that same inning, but they couldn’t get any closer than that. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 5-0 May 7: Thursday's game for the Rookie ball Blue Jays featured Sann Omosako pitching in his first game of the season. Yimi García started the game on his rehab assignment and got two outs before allowing two singles. Omosako came in for him and gave up a single himself, which would score a run. After that, he was solid, going 4.1 innings, not allowing another run to score, walking just one, and striking out one. With the game still up for grabs, Renyel Campos knocked in a run in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single, and then Jake Cook did the same in the bottom of the fourth. Cook would give the Jays the win with another RBI single in the sixth, capping off his 2-4 game, with two RBI. The Jays won 3-2, but Tim Piasentin is still searching for a groove, as he went 0-3, with a walk and dropped his batting average down to .071 through the first week of the season. May 8: The FCL Jays started the game against the FCL Yankees hot. Tim Piasentin drew a walk and then scored on Franklin Rojas’ RBI double. Two batters later, Kennew Blanco doubled home Rojas and gave the FCL Jays a quick 2-0 lead. In the next inning, the Jays added two more runs with a double from Angel Guzman that scored Pascual Archila and Rafael Flores, who had reached via walks. The Jays didn't score any more runs the rest of the game, but Piasentin did collect a single on a line drive to right field in the top of the fourth inning. The FCL Jays won 4-3 and stayed perfect on the season with a 5-0 record. View the full article

Aaron Sanchez fired six scoreless, one-hit innings with eight strikeouts as Omaha split its doubleheader at Indianapolis. Jorge Alfaro homered twice and drove in four to lead Northwest Arkansas past Frisco 8-7 in 10 innings, with Dennis Colleran Jr. striking out four for the win. Max Martin recorded a hitless 2 1/3 frames for Columbia, while Yandel Ricardo and Stone Russell powered a 5-2 win. Ramon Ramirez tripled and homered in a Quad Cities loss. Royals Transactions No Roster Moves Storm Chasers Drop Walk-Off Despite Sanchez's Quality Start The Storm Chasers dropped the first game of the doubleheader 2-1 in nine innings on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Indianapolis. The contest was scoreless through seven innings, anchored by a Quality Start from Aaron Sanchez. Elih Marrero accounted for the only Omaha run with a 1-for-3 day that included a double and the team's lone RBI. The Storm Chasers managed just one hit on the day. Sanchez went six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out eight. The game stretched to extra innings, and the scoring opened in the top of the eighth with Drew Waters as the zombie runner. After a Josh Rojas sacrifice bunt advanced Waters to third, Marrero followed with an RBI double to right field that scored him for a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, Mason Black surrendered a one-out RBI double to right that allowed the Indianapolis zombie runner to come home and tie the game at 1-1. In the bottom of the ninth, with Beck Way on the mound and the Indians' zombie runner at second, a sacrifice bunt was mishandled on a Way throwing error to put runners at the corners. Two batters later, the winning run scored on a sacrifice fly to right fielder Drew Waters. Black allowed one earned run on two hits in 1 2/3 innings. Way was charged with the loss after an unearned winning run. Player AB R H RBI BB K John Rave 4 0 0 0 0 0 Tyler Tolbert 4 0 0 0 0 0 Kameron Misner 4 0 0 0 0 3 Drew Waters 3 1 0 0 0 3 Josh Rojas 1 0 0 0 1 0 Elih Marrero 3 0 1 1 0 1 Gavin Cross 2 0 0 0 0 2 Luca Tresh 1 0 0 0 0 1 Abraham Toro 0 0 0 0 0 0 Luke Maile 2 0 0 0 0 0 Kevin Newman 3 0 0 0 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Aaron Sanchez 6 1 0 0 1 8 0 Mason Black 1 2/3 2 1 1 1 1 0 Beck Way 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 Storm Chasers Take Game Two Behind Four-Run Third The Storm Chasers lost the second game of a doubleheader at Indianapolis with a 4-1 victory thanks to a four-run third inning. Tyler Tolbert paced the offense, going 2-for-4 with a two-RBI single, a stolen base, and a run scored. John Rave doubled and scored as part of a 2-for-4 day, and Kevin Newman added a hit, a walk, a double, and a run. Elih Marrero went 1-for-1 in his lone at-bat. Indianapolis grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when an Indians runner came home on a wild pitch from Shane Panzini. Omaha answered emphatically in the third. Newman drew a walk to start the inning, John Rave followed with his seventh double of the season, and Tolbert lined a single to left field that scored both to put Omaha ahead 2-1. After two strikeouts and a Luca Tresh hit-by-pitch, Colton Becker reached on a fielder's choice, and a throwing error by the Indians' shortstop on the play allowed Tolbert and Tresh to come around to push the lead to 4-1. Panzini went 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Ben Sears followed with 2 1/3 scoreless innings on two hits and a walk, fanning three to earn the win. Andrew Pérez and Eli Morgan combined for two scoreless frames to close it out, with Morgan striking out two for the save. Player AB R H RBI BB K John Rave 4 1 2 0 0 1 Tyler Tolbert 4 1 2 2 0 0 Kameron Misner 3 0 1 0 1 1 Drew Waters 4 0 0 0 0 1 Luca Tresh 3 1 0 0 0 2 Elih Marrero 1 0 1 0 0 0 Colton Becker 2 0 0 0 0 0 Abraham Toro 1 0 0 0 2 1 Dustin Dickerson 3 0 0 0 0 3 Kevin Newman 2 1 1 0 1 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Shane Panzini 2 2/3 2 1 1 1 3 0 Ben Sears 2 1/3 2 0 0 1 3 0 Andrew Pérez 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 Eli Morgan 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 Alfaro's Two Homers Lift Naturals Past Frisco In 10 Innings The Naturals topped the RoughRiders 8-7 in 10 innings on the strength of a two-homer, four-RBI day from Jorge Alfaro. Alfaro hit a solo shot in the sixth inning and a three-run blast in the 10th, his third and fourth home runs of the season. Spencer Nivens added a solo home run as part of a 3-for-5, two-RBI day. Sam Kulasingam went 3-for-4 with a double, Daniel Vazquez had two hits, including a double, and leadoff man Carson Roccaforte scored a run. Henry Williams started and went five innings, allowing three runs on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Trailing 2-0 in the top of the fourth, Northwest Arkansas tied the game when Spencer Nivens delivered an RBI single off the pitcher to score Sam Kulasingam, and Omar Hernandez followed with a sacrifice fly to score Brett Squires. After Frisco answered with a run in the bottom half, Roccaforte scored on a Brett Squires sacrifice fly in the fifth, and back-to-back solo homers from Alfaro and Nivens in the sixth pushed the lead to 5-3 before the RoughRiders tied it up. The Naturals broke through in the top of the 10th. With Brett Squires at second as the zombie runner, Daniel Vazquez singled to right field, and Alfaro followed with a three-run home run to left center for an 8-5 lead. Brandon Johnson surrendered two runs in the bottom half but recorded his third save. Player AB R H RBI BB K Carson Roccaforte 5 1 1 0 0 3 Jack Pineda 4 0 0 0 1 1 Sam Kulasingam 4 1 3 0 0 1 Brett Squires 4 2 0 1 0 1 Daniel Vazquez 5 1 2 0 0 2 Jorge Alfaro 4 2 2 4 1 1 Spencer Nivens 5 1 3 2 0 0 Omar Hernandez 3 0 0 1 0 1 Justin Johnson 5 0 1 0 0 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Henry Williams 5 6 3 3 0 3 2 Caden Monke 0 1 2 2 3 0 0 Augusto Mendieta 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 Dennis Colleran Jr. 2 1 0 0 0 4 0 Brandon Johnson 1 2 2 1 0 1 0 River Bandits Fall To Kernels Despite Ramirez's Power The River Bandits dropped a 6-3 decision to the Kernels at home. Ramon Ramirez and cleanup hitter Luke Pelzer accounted for the bulk of the offense, each leaving the yard. Ramirez went 2-for-3 with a triple, a solo home run, two runs, an RBI, and a walk. Pelzer added a 1-for-3 day with a two-run home run, two RBI, a walk, and a run scored. Tyriq Kemp and Erick Torres each added a single. Emmanuel Reyes took the loss, going six innings and giving up four runs on eight hits with three walks, four strikeouts, and one home run allowed. Quad Cities jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first when Pelzer drilled a two-run home run to right-center to score Ramirez. The Kernels grabbed the lead back with a four-run third, capped by a three-run home run, to lead 4-2. Ramirez closed the gap with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth, his fifth of the season, but Cedar Rapids tacked on two more in the eighth on a two-run shot. Cory Ronan allowed two runs on a hit in two innings of relief, and Hunter Alberini struck out one over a scoreless inning to close. Player AB R H RBI BB K Nolan Sailors 4 0 0 0 0 1 Asbel Gonzalez 4 0 0 0 0 1 Ramon Ramirez 3 2 2 1 1 1 Luke Pelzer 3 1 1 2 1 1 Jose Cerice 4 0 0 0 0 2 Tyriq Kemp 4 0 1 0 0 1 Erick Torres 3 0 1 0 0 1 Trevor Werner 2 0 0 0 1 1 Angel Acosta 3 0 0 0 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Emmanuel Reyes 6 8 4 4 3 4 1 Cory Ronan 2 1 2 2 1 0 1 Hunter Alberini 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 Fireflies Top Cannon Ballers Behind Bullpen And Russell The Fireflies took a 5-2 win at Kannapolis behind a strong bullpen effort and a deep offensive lineup. Stone Russell led the way with a 3-for-4 day that included a triple, two runs, and a stolen base. Daniel Lopez went 1-for-4 with a two-RBI double and a stolen base. Josh Hammond added a 1-for-3 day with a double, a walk, a run, and a stolen base. Yandel Ricardo went 1-for-5 with an RBI, and Hyungchan Um added an RBI single in a 1-for-4 effort. Kendry Chourio started and went four innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with a walk, three strikeouts, and a home run allowed. Columbia struck first in the top of the first when Hyungchan Um singled to right field to score Josh Hammond. After the Cannon Ballers tied it in the second, the Fireflies retook the lead 2-1 in the third on a Yandel Ricardo RBI groundout that scored Jhosmmel Zue. The visitors then broke the game open in the top of the fourth when Daniel Lopez doubled to right field with two on, scoring Stone Russell and JC Vanek for a 4-1 advantage. Columbia tacked on an insurance run in the eighth on a Roni Cabrera sacrifice fly that scored Russell. Brandon Herbold and Max Martin handled the middle innings without allowing a run, with Martin striking out two over a hitless 2 1/3 frames to earn the win. Yeri Perez worked a one-hit ninth to record his first save. Player AB R H RBI BB K Henry Ramos 4 0 1 0 1 1 Yandel Ricardo 5 0 1 1 0 2 Josh Hammond 3 1 1 0 1 1 Hyungchan Um 4 0 1 1 0 1 Stone Russell 4 2 3 0 0 0 JC Vanek 2 1 0 0 2 1 Roni Cabrera 3 0 0 1 0 1 Daniel Lopez 4 0 1 2 0 1 Jhosmmel Zue 4 1 1 0 0 2 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Kendry Chourio 4 3 2 1 1 3 1 Brandon Herbold 1 2/3 2 0 0 1 4 0 Max Martin 2 1/3 0 0 0 0 2 0 Yeri Perez 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 Top-20 Prospect Performance Carter Jensen: DNP Blake Mitchell: DNP David Shields: DNP Kendry Chourio: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, BB, 3 K, HR Ben Kudrna: DNP Sean Gamble: DNP Josh Hammond: 1-for-3, 2B, BB, R, SB, K Ramon Ramirez: 2-for-3, 3B, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB, K Drew Beam: DNP Asbel Gonzalez: 0-for-4, K Yandel Ricardo: 1-for-5, RBI, 2 K Felix Arronde: DNP Luinder Avila: DNP Daniel Vázquez: 2-for-5, 2B, R, 2 K Steven Zobac: DNP Carson Roccaforte: 1-for-5, R, 3 K Blake Wolters: DNP Michael Lombardi: DNP Warren Calcaño: DNP Frank Mozzicato: DNP View the full article

During the offseason, there was constant discussion about the Twins having too much starting pitching depth. Minnesota looked like a team with eight legitimate rotation options before even mentioning some of the team's top starters in the upper minors, who were viewed more as a long-term development projects than an immediate contributors. At the time, it felt reasonable to wonder whether the Twins should trade from that depth. Injuries happen, but few teams carry that many realistic starting options into a season. A few months later, that conversation feels almost impossible to believe. What once looked like one of the deepest pitching staffs in baseball has quickly unraveled. One starter is out for the season following Tommy John surgery. Another recently landed on the injured list after pitching like the staff ace. Multiple depth options have battled significant arm injuries, while another has struggled badly enough that a move to the bullpen may be necessary. Suddenly, the Twins are no longer talking about a pitching surplus. They are simply trying to piece together enough healthy innings to survive. Looking back at the preseason expectations compared to the current reality shows just how quickly pitching depth can disappear. Pablo Lopez Preseason Expectation: Ace of the staff. Helping the Twins stay on the fringes of contention. Current Reality: Lopez is out for the season following Tommy John surgery. Losing the team’s most dependable starter completely changed the outlook of the rotation and forced everyone else into bigger roles. Joe Ryan Preseason Expectation: Build off his first All-Star season and continue establishing himself as one of the American League’s best pitchers. Current Reality: Ryan briefly terrified the organization after leaving last Sunday’s start following just nine pitches because of elbow soreness. Fortunately, he returned for last night's outing without needing an injured list stint. At this point, simply having Ryan healthy feels critical to keeping the rotation together. Bailey Ober Preseason Expectation: There was optimism that a healthy offseason could help Ober regain some of the velocity he lost last year. Current Reality: The velocity still has not returned, with his fastball averaging just 88.6 mph. However, Ober has adapted by leaning more heavily on his changeup and sequencing effectively enough to remain productive. Taj Bradley Preseason Expectation: The Twins spent the offseason trying to determine which version of Bradley they acquired from Tampa Bay at last year’s trade deadline. His inconsistency with the Rays made it difficult to project his role. Current Reality: Bradley looked like the team’s ace before landing on the injured list with right pectoral muscle inflammation. With the state of the rotation, the Twins desperately need him back and pitching well as quickly as possible. Simeon Woods Richardson Preseason Expectation: Woods Richardson had developed a reputation as one of the organization’s steadier pitching options and looked like a reliable back-end starter. Current Reality: He has been one of baseball’s least effective starters with a 64 ERA+ while allowing an MLB-leading 30 earned runs. Since he is out of minor league options, if the Twins want to reset him, it would need to be in the bullpen. Mick Abel Preseason Expectation: One of the key pieces acquired at last year’s trade deadline, Abel entered the spring with expectations that he could eventually force his way into the major league rotation. Current Reality: Abel impressed early before right elbow inflammation landed him on the injured list. A setback later required a cortisone shot, adding even more uncertainty to his timeline. David Festa Preseason Expectation: Festa was expected to fight for a rotation spot this spring. Even if he began the season at Triple-A, he remained one of the first starters called upon when the Twins needed reinforcements. Current Reality: Festa has spent the entire season on the injured list due to a shoulder injury that has resulted in multiple setbacks. At this point, if he returns this year, it may only be as a reliever. Zebby Matthews Preseason Expectation: Matthews gave the Twins another valuable layer of Triple-A depth. Current Reality: He struggled early in Triple-A but has shown recent improvement. Given Minnesota’s current situation, Matthews may soon become the next starter called upon. Connor Prielipp Preseason Expectation: Prielipp entered the year as the organization’s top pitching prospect; he wasn't supposed to be one of the eight major league-ready starters. There was speculation (both internally and externally) about whether his long-term future belonged in the bullpen. Current Reality: He arrived in the majors earlier than expected when Abel was injured and, with Bradley sidelined, will likely continue to receive every opportunity to establish himself in the rotation. The Twins entered the season believing they had enough starting pitching depth to withstand almost anything. Instead, they have learned the same lesson every organization eventually learns. There is never such a thing as too much pitching. What once looked like an organizational strength has quickly become one of the biggest reasons this season feels so fragile. Injuries, setbacks, and inconsistency have thinned out a group that once seemed overflowing with options. Now, every healthy start feels important, every injury update carries added weight, and young pitchers are being asked to contribute earlier than expected. Back in March, the conversation centered around whether the Twins could afford to trade from their pitching depth. By May, that depth is already gone. What stands out about the preseason projections and current reality? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

As of Sunday morning, we are approximately 25% of the way through this Miami Marlins season. Relative to expectations, the results have been underwhelming. They are on pace for a 73-89 record, which would be worse than anybody on the Fish On First staff predicted. If you're like me, you can find entertainment value in both victory and defeat when encountering extreme stats. Gotta give the Marlins some credit for overdelivering in that department. Here are five single-season franchise records that are currently on pace to be rewritten, ordered from least sustainable to actually plausible. Highest ERA in a single inning (team) Marlins record: 6.67 ERA in the seventh (1999) 2026 Marlins pace: 7.65 ERA in the first If it feels like these Marlins constantly find themselves playing from behind, it's because they are. Through 40 games, they have allowed 36 first-inning runs (34 of them earned). Every member of the club's starting rotation has contributed to the problem, even newcomer Robby Snelling, who immediately fell behind 3-0 in his major league debut. But overall, the Marlins have a solid pitching staff with an ERA no higher than 4.50 in any other inning. Let's chock up this extreme split to early-season randomness. Most hits in a single season (player) Marlins record: 221 (Juan Pierre, 2004) 2026 Otto Lopez pace: 222 Nobody has come particularly close to challenging Pierre's record over the last two-plus decades. The speedy center fielder played every inning of every game in 2004, starting in the leadoff spot the vast majority of the time—that allowed him to accrue 748 plate appearances, which is another franchise record. Otto Lopez is on pace to edge past JP by the slimmest of margins. Historically, Lopez has been inexplicably lousy against left-handed pitching, but that has completely flipped this season with a 21-for-47 start (.447 BA). The immense workload required to keep this up makes Lopez a longshot. He's also being buoyed by a record-worthy .411 batting average on balls in play. Even with great hustle out of the batter's box and frequent hard-hit contact, that mark is unsustainable. Regardless, Lopez is establishing himself as the most well-rounded shortstop that the Marlins have ever had. Lowest caught stealing rate (team) Marlins record: 11.2% (2025) MLB record: 9.6% (San Diego Padres, 2007) 2026 Marlins pace: 8.3% Controlling the running game has been a serious ongoing issue for the Fish dating back to early last season. Opponents are unafraid to challenge the arms of Liam Hicks and Agustín Ramírez, and they're able to get huge jumps against a heavily right-handed pitching staff that's generally slow to the plate. Recent prospect promotions should go a long way toward addressing this vulnerability. Joe Mack will deter thieves with his arm strength and accuracy. Robby Snelling adds a lefty to the rotation with a great minor league track record of limiting steals. Mack has started at catcher in five of his first seven games on the active roster. If he comes close to maintaining that workload moving forward, both the league and team CS% records should be out of reach. Most stolen bases (team) Marlins record: 177 (2003) 2026 Marlins pace: 178 Although not with the same efficiency, the Marlins have run the bases just as aggressively as their opponents have. This trend has more staying power. The addition of speed demon Esteury Ruiz is working exactly as intended—through only 12 games, he already ranks second on the Fish with six steals. Once Jakob Marsee (10 SB) reaches base with the regularity he's capable of, that will create more opportunities to pad the team's total. At the very least, the Marlins will probably eclipse last season's mark of 138 steals. Highest strikeout rate in a qualified season (player) Marlins record: 28.7% (Preston Wilson, 1999) 2026 Connor Norby pace: 31.4% Brian Anderson struck out 28.8% of the time in 2020, but I'm not counting that because the season was limited to 60 games due to COVID. This was supposed to be an opportunity to lament the struggles of Owen Caissie, who is striking out over forty percent of the time. However, the rookie's propensity to whiff has appropriately limited his playing time. It's difficult to envision him sticking in the big leagues for the entire season, and even if he does, reaching the 502 plate appearances needed to qualify is unlikely. I was not expecting to find Connor Norby here considering that his 2026 campaign has been an overall improvement from the year before. Quietly, though, his K rate has been Caissie-like over the last 30 days. In two-strike counts, changeups and splitters are especially problematic for him. Norby's newfound patience at the plate and solid transition to first base should keep him in the lineup frequently despite being strikeout-prone. View the full article

Transactions: Milwaukee Brewers recalled LF Blake Perkins from Nashville Sounds. RHP Jayden Dubanewicz assigned to Wilson Warbirds from ACL Brewers. Dubanewicz turned 20 in May. The 2024 16th round Florida high school pick split his debut 2025 season between Maryvale and Carolina and impressed as a Mudcat - 14 appearances (seven starts) with a 2.30 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Louisville (Reds) 10, Nashville 8 Box Score and Game Log Via the Sounds, game details, and we encourage readers to always review affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine: Sounds Fall in Late Frames Despite Two-Run Homer from Pratt - Pratt Earns Second Career Triple-A Homer; Wilken Extends On-Base Streak to 27 Games It's been an offensive showcase (or middling pitching) since Thursday: 9-6 Nashville win 9-6 Louisville win 10-8 Louisville win That linked game summary (you know the routine) contains video of the Cooper Pratt home run, Jeferson Quero's RBI double, Pratt and Jett Williams executing a double steal for a run, and Luis Lara's then-game-tying two-run opposite-field single. In the 4th inning, Pratt delivered an RBI single which can be seen here. About that single: Catcher Ramon Rodriguez (DH'ing in this game) singled twice (see one driving in a run here) and walked, lifting his line to .328/.430/.403 (.833 OPS in 20 games). It was in his 21st game last season that Rodriguez tore his Achilles tendon, ending his campaign with a .941 OPS at Biloxi. It would take a combination of a big-league injury and Quero being unavailable for Rodriguez to net an MLB debut in 2026, but the 27-year-old would be a reasonable emergency call-up and should prove to be an extremely popular target on the minor league free agent market this fall, as he would have been last October if not for the devastating injury. As for the Brewers' other AAA Rodriguez, this was not starter Carlos' night. His WHIP is up to 2.43 through six Nashville appearances (five starts). As his game log shows, Rodriguez is doing Manager Rick Sweet zero favors in terms of depth into his outings. In his final option season, the two-time Milwaukee Minor League Pitcher of the Year is only functioning as a break-glass-in-emergency bulk option for the big-league club where, to be fair, his two outings in 2026 have been effective. One does wonder how tenuous Rodriguez' hold on a 40-man spot is becoming. With rapidly decreasing trade value, he's looming as a non-tender this fall even if he holds his spot all season. The Junior Fernandez trade acquisition experiment (from AZ for cash) is not providing immediate results. Fernandez is scored upon in five consecutive outings after a scoreless frame in his first appearance (game log). Eddys Leonard, playing left field, reached three times via double, single and walk, lifting his OPS to 1.033. This isn't the Pacific Coast League, folks, so that figure is duly impressive, but at this point, keyboard strokes on Leonard are sailing against the wind. Perhaps Leonard's biggest beefs at this point should be with the Dodgers in 2023 and then (after a deadline deal that August 1st with Detroit) with the Tigers in 2024 for burning all his minor league options without a sniff of a big-league dugout. Columbus (Braves) at Biloxi, doubleheader postponed, rain As per the Shuckers, one of the two games will be made up as part of a doubleheader Sunday afternoon. The other game will be made up during the Clingstones next visit to Keesler Federal Park, between June 16-21. Those circumstances at least make for an enticing planned pitching tandem of starters today in Bishop Letson and Tyson Hardin. Weather forecast looks just fine. Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes (download link) Final: Wisconsin 7, Peoria (Cardinals) 5 Box Score and Game Log Via the Timber Rattlers, game details, and enjoy the three embedded video highlights within: Dinges Delivers a Wisconsin Win with Late Home Run - Rattler DH hits two-out, three-run, go-ahead homer in seventh It's been a bit since we did a standings check, and at 18-12 (and a very entertaining 18-12 at that), the T-Rats are indeed atop the division currently. Off the top of my head, not sure if the club has previously used the tag line associated with the Marco Dinges video tweet as seen in the summary, but if they hadn't broken it out yet, you know they've been itching to. As Chris Mehring rightfully pointed out in the recap, youngster Ethan Dorchies (just 19 all season) was cruising until a hit-by-pitch set the stage for a stat-wrecking three-run blast - by the way, get your "Dorchies" pronunciation lesson on the call. Not uncommon for a random plunking to rattle (pun intended I guess) a pitcher into a bigger inning. Still going to note this as a solid start for the 10th round find from the '24 draft. Other game video: Double steal includes a daring steal of 3rd by Eric Bitonti Luiyin Alastre adds to his two prior singles with a bases-loaded RBI on a walk for an insurance run Wisconsin posts seven runs with Andrew Fischer and Josiah Ragsdale getting the day off, all the more impressive. Second baseman Daniel Dickinson joined Alastre by reaching base three times (all by bases on balls). 23-year-old RHP Quinton Low missed all of 2024 and 2025 with Tommy John surgery, and after opening this season with two scoreless outings, had been scored upon in four consecutive appearances before shining here. The former two-way player must be so pleased to be healthy and contributing. Yay for effective Yerlin Rodriguez on this day, super-effective in this one to be sure. Wilson Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Wilson 8, Fayetteville (Astros) 6 Box Score and Game Log Warbirds Hold Off Fayetteville Rally for Second Straight Win Are you kidding, Pedro Ibarguen? 110.5 MPH?! Ibarguen, despite being only 19 years old until July 2nd, is in is 4th pro season. He dabbled at second and third base in his rookie 2023 Dominican season but has split time among the three outfield spots since. This was his 8th professional home run in 144 games. Outside of a 2024 introduction to stateside ball that did not go well at all (MiLB Player Page) after which the organization wisely stood by him despite having invested only a modest $60,000 bonus, the young man has posted respectable numbers. Not sure how much can be attributed to the play of the 12-20 Woodpeckers, but the Warbirds have made their way to a 15-17 record while showing some newfound pop. Second baseman Juan Ortuno and Jadyn Fielder (12 of Fielder's 20 games as the designated hitter, ironic given the last name) each doubled. Fielder's lack of positional value may be a concern for his future path. Both Fielder and Ortuno were on base three times. Wilson ran wild again, with seven stolen bases in nine attempts. Fayetteville pitchers walked 11, and outside of Jose Anderson's three strikeouts (43.7 K-rate), only one other K was registered by Woodpeckers pitchers. Southpaw starter Enderson Mercado has issued 26 free passes in as many innings (23 BB, 3 HBP), something that had not been an issue prior for the 19-year-old Venezuela native. Two non-drafted RHP's are making the most of their opportunities, as the Warbirds are likely losing this game without the work of Garrett Hodges and Peyton Niksch. More video fun: Ortuno just barely avoids a GIDP to open the scoring Shortstop Brady Ebel puts the ball in play, nets an RBI Ebel steals third base on the front end of a double steal First baseman Frederi Montero's looper finds the grass for an RBI Third baseman Luis Lameda lines an RBI single Warbirds, Shorebirds, Woodpeckers, it's the Aviary League. Final: ACL Guardians 9, ACL Brewers 2, seven innings as scheduled Box Score and Game Log On the bright side, the Crew won the final four innings by a 2-0 score, highlighted by the mound effort of 18-year-old Nicaraguan native Diustin Mayorquin dazzling out of the bullpen in just his second stateside appearance, as our Jake McKibbin revealed some statcast data analysis. Other arms struggled, and when they make their eventual MLB debuts, they will look back on this entry and chalk it up as part of the learning journey experience. The only two position players to see action in all six games are SS Cristopher Acosta and CF Brailyn Antunez, who have combined to go just 4-for-43 (six walks, 19 K's). C/1B Jonathan Rangel, a LH bat, has shown pop throughout his brief pro run, and his 100 MPH opposite field fly ball double was the only XBH for Maryvale in this game. Two early standouts played - CJ Hughes played second base and singled for one of the four A-Crew hits, though he was caught stealing for the first time in four tries. Catcher Rylan Mills singled and walked. Their early respective OPS marks are 1.365 and 1.758, as your box score perusal indicated. Only one of the seven Arizona Complex League games played Saturday was scheduled for nine innings, seven for all the rest. Boo to this trend, especially with the league having a full day off each and every Sunday. With Biloxi finally able to begin play again with a double dip, there are five games on tap for Mother's Day, staggered start times as the link below will show, in case you and Mom decide to tune in. Hope it's a wonderful day for all. Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View the full article

Jose Chirinos delivered a quality start, and Ryan Dollar locked down the save as Branny De Oleo's go-ahead ninth-inning double lifted St. Lucie past Lakeland 3-2. Zach Thornton's six-inning outing was wasted in Syracuse's 7-4 loss to Rochester. Brooklyn dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Bowling Green, falling 7-6 in 10 innings despite John Bay's home run, then 6-5 as Yonatan Henriquez, Ronald Hernandez, and Trace Willhoite each homered. Binghamton's game was postponed. Mets Transactions New York Mets signed free agent RHP Xzavion Curry to a minor league contract. New York Mets signed free agent RHP Brady Miller to a minor league contract. Two Home Runs Not Enough As Syracuse Falls 7-4 To Rochester Syracuse fell 7-4 to the Rochester Red Wings despite home runs from Christian Arroyo and Jackson Cluff. Yonny Hernández led the offense with a pair of singles and two RBI, both driving in Cristian Pache, who reached three times and scored twice. Cluff added a hit and a run on his solo blast, and Arroyo finished 1-for-4 with his ninth-inning shot. Zach Thornton turned in a quality start, working six innings and allowing three runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Rochester scratched out a run in the first on a leadoff RBI double, then took a 3-0 lead in the third on a two-run home run. Syracuse responded in the bottom of the fifth. Pache reached on a hit by pitch, advanced on a single by Ben Rortvedt, and scored when Hernández singled to center to make it 3-1. Cluff cut the deficit further with a solo home run in the sixth. Rochester pulled away in the seventh with a pair of solo home runs off Ryan Lambert, who finished his lone inning with two earned runs allowed. Hernández brought home Pache once more in the bottom of the seventh. The visitors broke the game open in the top of the ninth when Jonathan Pintaro gave up a single and walked a batter, and a Cluff throwing error allowed two runs to score on a fielder's choice. Arroyo's solo home run in the bottom of the ninth capped the scoring. Syracuse stranded only two runners and committed one error. Player AB R H RBI BB K A.J. Ewing 4 0 0 0 0 1 Nick Morabito 4 0 0 0 0 0 Ryan Clifford 4 0 0 0 0 2 Christian Arroyo 4 1 1 1 0 0 Ji Hwan Bae 4 0 0 0 0 1 Cristian Pache 3 2 1 0 0 2 Yonny Hernández 3 0 2 2 0 0 Ben Rortvedt 3 0 1 0 0 1 Jackson Cluff 3 1 1 1 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Zach Thornton 6 5 3 3 2 4 1 Ryan Lambert 1 2 2 2 0 1 2 Nate Lavender 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jonathan Pintaro 1 1 2 0 2 2 0 Binghamton Game Postponed The Binghamton Rumble Ponies' scheduled game was postponed. Brooklyn Falls 7-6 To Bowling Green In Walk-Off 10th The Brooklyn Cyclones lost 7-6 to the Bowling Green Hot Rods in 10 innings on a walk-off single. John Bay finished 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI, and two runs scored, while Vincent Perozo went 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and a run. Colin Houck reached twice and scored twice, and Sam Biller and Yonatan Henriquez each added a hit. Noah Hall worked four innings as the starter, allowing four runs on four hits with four walks, six strikeouts, and two home runs. Bowling Green struck for a leadoff RBI double in the first, a solo shot in the third, and a three-run blast in the fourth. Hoss Brewer followed with two scoreless innings of relief, striking out three. The Cyclones rallied behind their bullpen. Bay's solo home run in the sixth cut the deficit to 4-2, and Perozo's two-run home run in the seventh tied it at four after Houck reached on a single. Brooklyn grabbed the lead in the eighth when Bay singled in Henriquez, and Perozo's RBI single in the ninth scored Houck for a 6-5 advantage. Hunter Hodges walked two and hit a batter in the bottom of the eighth, allowing the tying run to come around to score on the hit by pitch. Felix Cepeda surrendered an RBI double in the ninth that knotted the game at six, and the zombie runner came home in the bottom of the 10th on a leadoff single off Cepeda for the walk-off. Brooklyn stranded seven runners. Player AB R H RBI BB K Mitch Voit 5 0 0 0 0 3 Yonatan Henriquez 5 1 0 0 0 2 John Bay 5 2 3 2 0 0 Corey Collins 5 0 1 0 0 3 Ronald Hernandez 4 0 0 0 0 0 Colin Houck 4 2 1 0 0 2 Trace Willhoite 4 0 0 0 0 1 Vincent Perozo 4 1 3 3 0 1 Sam Biller 4 0 1 0 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Noah Hall 4 4 4 4 4 6 2 Hoss Brewer 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 Hunter Hodges 2 1 1 0 3 3 0 Felix Cepeda 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 Walk-Off Homer Sinks Brooklyn 6-5 In Game Two The Brooklyn Cyclones dropped game two of the doubleheader 6-5 to the Bowling Green Hot Rods on a leadoff walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh. Yonatan Henriquez, Ronald Hernandez, and Trace Willhoite each launched home runs for the visitors. Sam Biller went 3-for-3 with a double from the bottom of the order, and Daiverson Gutierrez added a double, scored a run, and reached on a single. Danis Correa worked a clean first inning with two strikeouts, but Parker Carlson took the brunt of the damage out of the bullpen. Carlson surrendered four runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings, including a three-run home run in the second that put Bowling Green up 3-0. The Hot Rods added another in the third on a wild pitch. Henriquez homered to right in the fourth to break the shutout. Tanner Witt followed Carlson and finished 2 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run on a fifth-inning double-play groundout while striking out three and issuing three walks. Hernandez ripped a two-run home run in the sixth that brought home Henriquez and trimmed the deficit to 5-3. Willhoite tied the contest 5-5 in the seventh with a two-run home run that scored Gutierrez. Juan Arnaud took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and yielded a leadoff solo home run on his first batter, ending the contest. Brooklyn collected eight hits and three home runs, stranded only three runners, and did not commit an error. Mitch Voit, Henriquez, Hernandez, Gutierrez, Willhoite, and Biller each contributed hits. Player AB R H RBI BB K Mitch Voit 4 0 1 0 0 2 Yonatan Henriquez 4 2 1 1 0 1 Ronald Hernandez 3 1 1 2 0 2 Corey Collins 3 0 0 0 0 3 Daiverson Gutierrez 3 1 1 0 0 1 Trace Willhoite 3 1 1 2 0 1 Colin Houck 3 0 0 0 0 2 Yohairo Cuevas 3 0 0 0 0 3 Sam Biller 3 0 3 0 0 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Danis Correa 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 Parker Carlson 1 2/3 5 4 4 0 2 1 Tanner Witt 2 1/3 2 1 1 3 3 0 Juan Arnaud 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 De Oleo's Ninth-Inning Double Lifts St. Lucie 3-2 Over Lakeland Branny De Oleo's go-ahead double in the top of the ninth gave the St. Lucie Mets a 3-2 win over the Lakeland Flying Tigers. JT Benson collected two hits, including a triple, and De Oleo finished 1-for-4 with the game-winning extra-base hit. Sam Robertson, Chase Meggers, Randy Guzman, and Simon Juan each contributed a hit. Leadoff man Elian Peña reached three times on a single and two walks. Jose Chirinos turned in a quality start, working six innings and allowing one run on four hits with no walks and two strikeouts. The Mets opened the scoring in the top of the fourth when Guzman doubled with one out and came around to score on Meggers's RBI single. They added another in the fifth as Jamari Baylor reached on a throwing error and scored from third on Juan's RBI single to center. Lakeland chipped one back in the sixth on a leadoff triple, and a sacrifice fly off Chirinos, then tied the contest in the eighth on a wild pitch by Emilio Obispo with the bases loaded. The decisive frame came in the top of the ninth. Robertson singled to right, and De Oleo doubled to center to bring him home for a 3-2 lead, though De Oleo was caught stealing home for the third out before Peña could come up. Ryan Dollar closed out a clean ninth for the save. Obispo earned the win with two innings of relief. St. Lucie left eight runners on base and committed one error. Player AB R H RBI BB K Elian Peña 3 0 1 0 2 0 Edward Lantigua 0 0 0 0 1 0 Simon Juan 4 0 1 1 0 1 Randy Guzman 4 1 1 0 0 2 Julio Zayas 4 0 0 0 0 1 JT Benson 4 0 2 0 0 1 Chase Meggers 4 0 1 1 0 1 Sam Robertson 4 1 1 0 0 1 Branny De Oleo 4 0 1 1 0 2 Jamari Baylor 4 1 0 0 0 2 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Jose Chirinos 6 4 1 1 0 2 0 Emilio Obispo 2 3 1 1 2 2 0 Ryan Dollar 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Top-20 Prospect Performance Nolan McLean: DNP Carson Benge: DNP A.J. Ewing: 0-for-4, K Jonah Tong: DNP Ryan Clifford: 0-for-4, 2 K Jacob Reimer: DNP Jack Wenninger: DNP Elian Peña: 1-for-3, 2 BB Mitch Voit: 1-for-9 in DH (0-for-5, 3 K and 1-for-4, 2 K) Nick Morabito: 0-for-4 Jonathan Santucci: DNP Chris Suero: DNP Zach Thornton: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K, HR Wandy Asigen: DNP Will Watson: DNP Eli Serrano III: DNP Ryan Lambert: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, K, 2 HR Dylan Ross: DNP Antonio Jimenez: DNP R.J. Gordon: DNP View the full article

Triple-A Worcester Red Sox Series vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (New York Yankees): 4-1 Season Record: 21-15 Worcester’s game was postponed due to rain. No make-up date has been provided yet. Double-A Portland Sea Dogs Series vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays): 0-4 Season Record: 13-18 Portland’s game was canceled due to rain and won’t be made up. High-A Greenville Drive Series @ Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pittsburgh Pirates): 1-5 Season Record: 14-18 The Drive fell for the second night in a row, 10-4, as they struggled on the mound. The start of Marcus Phillips’ professional career has been less than ideal. The righty has struggled through 17 and ⅔ innings so far this season, posting a 7.64 ERA through six appearances. This negative trend continued through Phillips' start on Saturday as he gave up five runs on six hits through two and ⅓ innings. He let up two home runs as he hasn’t quite found his footing in Greenville. Shea Sprague was back in Greenville after a one-game stint in Portland, pitching three and ⅓ innings. He let up four runs (two unearned) on five hits and two homers. Calvin Bickerstaff took the final two and ⅓ innings as he continued to build on his solid season. Across his outing, he let up one more run on a solo homer, and K’d two. Despite Bickerstaff’s solid outing, the Greenville pitching staff didn’t do enough to keep the Drive in the game. It was a poor offensive showing by Greenville on Saturday. Only four hitters recorded a hit, and the offense started late, with Antonio Anderson hitting his first homer of the season in the sixth to get the Drive on the board. Later in the inning, Mason White drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in Justin Gonzales. The Drive’s other two runs came on a two-run homer from Henry Godbout with Justin Gonzales on first. Gonzales drew three walks but was hitless at the plate. Isaiah Jackson and Mason White drew two walks apiece. The Drive struck out 13 times and were hitless with runners in scoring position. Low-A Salem RidgeYaks Series vs. Delmarva Shorebirds (Baltimore Orioles): 2-3 Season Record: 14-18 The RidgeYaks won 7-4 on a walk-off blast by Starlyn Nunez. Cole Tolbert made his first appearance of the season, and it was a strong one. The 23-year-old struck out four and didn’t allow a hit over one and ⅔ innings of work. It was Tolbert’s first appearance since 2024, as he missed the entirety of the 2025 season with injury. Jason Gilman took the next two and ⅓ innings. Of the 12 batters he faced, he sent seven back to the dugout on strikes. He allowed one run on four hits but put together an excellent outing. Wuilliams Rodriguez came in next, giving up two runs on four hits over three innings and getting the blown save. Harry Blum pitched the last two innings to close out the game, earning the win for his work. He allowed one run on one hit and a walk, punching out three as he gave the offense a chance to walk it off. And walk it off they did. After a back-and-forth contest, Starlyn Nunez crushed a three-run, walk-off homer to give the RidgeYaks the victory. Before the walk-off in the first inning, Luke Heyman drove a two-run homer to left field to give Salem an early lead. Then in the fourth inning, D’Angelo Ortiz drove in Avinson Pinto on a groundout to second base. With the game tied 3-3, Anderson Fermin stepped to the plate with Ortiz on third. He hit a short chop to the pitcher's mound as Ortiz raced home. The pitcher made an errant throw home, allowing Ortiz to score and letting Anderson advance to second. Then, tied 4-4 in the ninth, Nunez came up clutch, snagging the victory for Salem. View the full article

Marek Houston is off to a phenomenal start to the 2026 season and has made strides in every facet of his game. The Wake Forest product has the makings of a future star. View the full article

In agate font in newspapers across the country on August 1, 2025, the following transaction was whispered: The San Diego Padres acquired LHP Nestor Cortes, SS Jorge Quintana, and cash considerations from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for OF Brandon Lockridge. I'm not sure how anybody else felt about this, but my initial thought was 'meh.' Lockridge appeared in 20 games (13 starts) in the month of August, posting a below-average slash line of .261/.308/.370 across 53 plate appearances before getting demoted to Triple-A Nashville in September. He reappeared in the playoff run against Chicago and Los Angeles but only batted twice, going hitless in four games. During the offseason, Lockridge was considered to be in the outfield mix in Milwaukee, either as a possible starter or, most likely, the fourth or fifth OF. I was not a fan, but felt like he could get a couple of starts each week and enter contests as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement as needed. But as a full-time starter? No way. Way. Lockridge has played in three-quarters of the Brewers' games this season, starting 23 of the 28 games he has been involved in. His slash line (through May 8) reads like the line of a solid major league starter: .294/.368/.341. Lockridge will never be mistaken as a power hitter, but has been 'clutch' with two outs and runners in scoring position (RISP), slashing .533/.588/.667 in a small sample of 15 at-bats. To put it into perspective, those numbers are far better than the 'clutch' numbers this year of both Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, each widely considered as fearsome batters when the game is on the line. But all that success has been temporarily put on hold after Lockridge suffered a horrific injury in Friday night's game against the New York Yankees at Uecker Field. Playing full-bore as he always does, Lockridge, playing left field, ran full speed in an attempt to corral a foul drive off the bat of Cody Bellinger in the fourth inning. Realizing he was rapidly running out of real estate, Lockridge dropped into a slide, which resulted in his slamming his right knee into the unpadded section of wall, one made of concrete. Lockridge tossed off his glove and lay face down for a couple of moments before the training staff and manager Pat Murphy arrived to offer assistance. After being helped to his feet, Lockridge was carted off the field by medical personnel, disappearing through a gate in the left field fence. So what is known? Lockridge suffered a deep laceration down to the bone, as evidenced by blood on his sanitary sock. X-rays were negative for broken bones, but further tests will be performed as the swelling in his leg decreases. Saturday, the Brewers placed Lockridge on the 10-day injured list, recalling Blake Perkins from Triple-A Nashville to replace the fallen Brewer. This injury begs the question: when will the Milwaukee Brewers organization pad the wall from top to bottom? I seem to remember this type of injury happening to a Brewer outfielder (Sal Frelick, maybe?) in right field foul territory not that long ago. C'mon, Mark Attanasio, spend a couple of grand to protect your players! Brandon Lockridge, please forgive me for doubting you. I hope you can quickly return and keep up the great play that you have shown us for the first quarter of the season. I want to dedicate this column to my good friend Bob Garski, who passed away on April 30 at age 69. He was a bigger Brewer fan than I am. Rest In Peace, Bob, and keep cheering on the Crew in Heaven. View the full article

Affiliate Overview Triple-A Iowa Cubs Series vs. Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians): Tied, 2–2 Season Record: 17–19 Double-A Knoxville Smokies Series vs. Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox): Smokies lead, 3-0 Season Record: 16–15 High-A South Bend Cubs Series vs. Lansing Lugnuts (Athletics): Cubs lead, 4-0 Season Record: 16–12 Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans Series at Hickory Crawdads (Texas Rangers): Pelicans lead, 3-1 Season Record: 16–15 Affiliate Highlights Triple-A: Iowa Cubs Season Record: 17–19 Series Opponent: Columbus Clippers (19–18) Series Standing: Tied, 2-2 May 8: The Iowa Cubs evened their series against the Columbus Clippers with a 13-12 victory on Friday night at Principal Park. The Clippers took a 6-0 lead with two runs in the first and four in the second before the Cubs were able to plate two in the second. Iowa’s offense erupted with six runs in the fourth to take an 8-6 lead. Jonathon Long (3-for-4) drew a walk with the bases loaded, and James Triantos (2-for-5) then followed with a two-run single. Owen Miller’s (3-for-5) first home run of the season, a three-run blast, gave the I-Cubs the lead. Iowa added to their advantage with three more in the fifth, with Justin Dean (2-for-5) launching a two-run shot and Kevin Alcántara (1-for-5) and Long picking up RBI-singles. Eric Yang (1-for-5) made it 12-6 in the sixth with a solo home run, his third of the season. The two teams traded runs in the eighth, with Miller hitting his second home run of the campaign. Columbus scored five times in the ninth and would put the go-ahead run on first, but Iowa was able to hold on for the 13-12 win. Double-A: Knoxville Smokies Season Record: 16–15 Series Opponent: Birmingham Barons (14–17) Series Standing: Lead, 3-1 May 8: The Knoxville Smokies earned at least a series split by sweeping their doubleheader over the Birmingham Barons, winning the opener, 8-1, before escaping with a 3-2 victory in the nightcap. Game 1: Despite being held to just one hit in the ballgame, the Smokies were able to come away with an 8-1 victory to open the twinbill, benefitting from 10 walks at the plate. Knoxville took a 1-0 lead in the third when Jefferson Rojas (0-for-3) drew a walk with the bases loaded. The Smokies took a commanding 8-0 lead with a seven-run fourth, scoring once on a wild pitch, drawing four walks with the bases loaded, and Owen Ayers (1-for-2) clearing the bases with a three-run double. The Barons finally got on the board in the sixth, but the hosts would prevent them from rallying further and cruise to a 1-0 lead. Brooks Caple took no decision in his start, firing 3 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just two hits and striking out six. Marino Santy picked up the win in relief, tossing 2 1/3 frames of one-run ball, yielding two hits and whiffing four. Game 2: Knoxville rode their dominant pitching in game 1 into game 2, with the pitching staff allowing just two runs on three hits to help the squad to a 3-2 win and a doubleheader sweep. After the two teams traded zeroes through two, the Smokies took the lead in the third on Jordan Nwogu’s (2-for-3) RBI-single, with another run scoring on an error during the play. Nwogu would eventually collect his second RBI of the contest in the fifth, giving Knoxville a 3-0 lead. The Barons would score twice in the seventh and bring the go-ahead run to the plate, but Tyler Santana was eventually able to shut the door and convert his first save of the season in multi-inning fashion. Dawson Netz improved to 2-0 on the campaign by firing five scoreless innings in his start, allowing no hits and striking out eight. High-A: South Bend Cubs Season Record: 16–12 Series Opponent: Lansing Lugnuts (11–20) Series Standing: Lead, 4-0 May 8: The South Bend Cubs extended their winning streak to four games and clinched a series win over the Lansing Lugnuts with a 14-6 comeback victory on Friday night at Four Winds Field. The Lugnuts took a 2-0 lead after the first and added another run in the third. The Cubs got on the board in the bottom half of the frame when Christian Olivo (4-for-4) raced home on a passed ball. Olivo would pull South Bend within a run by drawing a walk with the bases in the fourth, and Kane Kepley (0-for-5) followed by getting hit by a pitch to tie the game at 3-3. The Cubs took control of the game by scoring five times in the fifth to take an 8-3 lead. Matt Halbach (1-for-2) and Leonel Espinoza (2-for-5) plated runs with RBI singles, and Olivo slugged a three-run blast, his third of the season. Six more runs from South Bend put the game well out of reach, with Alex Madera (3-for-5) and Justin Stransky (1-for-4) each having hits that drove in two runs and Olivo going yard again, this time a two-run shot. Lansing scored three in the ninth and was eventually handed the 14-6 defeat. Kenyi Perez picked up the win in relief to improve to 1-0 on the season. He allowed no runs and no hits over 1 2/3 innings of work, striking out five. Ethan Flanagan converted a four-inning save, his second of the year, allowing three runs on seven hits and whiffing five batters. Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans Season Record: 16–15 Series Opponent: Hickory Crawdads (17–14) Series Standing: Lead, 3-1 May 8: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans clinched at least a series split with a 6-2 victory, in 10 innings, over the Hickory Crawdads at L.P. Frans Stadium. Darlyn De Leon’s (1-for-3) first home run of the year in the second gave the Pelicans the lead, and Josiah Hartshorn (2-for-4) followed with a solo shot of his own in the third to put Myrtle Beach up 2-0. Dominick Reid, who did not factor in the decision, posted five scoreless innings in his start, allowing just one hit and striking out six without issuing a walk. The Crawdads evened up the contest in the eighth, and the ballgame would eventually head to extras. In the top of the 10th, Alexey Lumpuy (2-for-5) put the Pelicans in front with an RBI-single, and Michael Carico (0-for-4) added to the lead with an RBI-groundout. Jose Escobar (2-for-5) delivered the decisive blow with a two-run double to make it 6-2. Jordan Henriquez retired the side in order in the bottom half of the frame to improve to 2-1 on the season. Henriquez retired all six of the batters he faced, striking out four. View the full article

Brooks Lee hit the ground running faster than Cole Thomas Allen down a Washington Hilton hallway over the first week of his major league career, hitting .458/.462/.625 with a 206 wRC+ over 26 plate appearances. The switch-hitting infielder quickly cooled off, however, hitting a far less impressive .182/.233/.270 in 159 plate appearances over the final three months of the season. The eighth overall pick in the 2022 MLB Amateur Draft sputtered last season, too, hitting a modest .236/.285/.370 over 527 plate appearances. Netting a well-below-league-average 75 wRC+ over his first season-and-a-half in the majors, Lee also struggled in the field, netting -6 Outs Above Average (OAA) during that stretch, causing those who follow the club to question if he was playing his way out of the Minnesota Twins' long-term plans. Through 36 games played this season, however, the 25-year-old has broken out at the plate, rekindling the flame of optimism surrounding the former top prospect. Over 136 plate appearances, Lee is hitting .278/.331/.437 with a 114 wRC+. The Cal Poly product has also hit five home runs, continuing the plus-power profile he flashed during his sophomore campaign last season, in which he hit 16 dingers. Some of the same weaknesses remain in Lee’s player profile, particularly defensively, despite last night's heroics. Minnesota’s shortstop has netted -4 OAA, making him the fifth-worst defender at the position this season. He also has one of the weaker arms of all middle infielders in baseball, continuing a career-long trend. Still, Lee performing like one of the best offensive shortstops in the sport has largely offset his defensive shortcomings, making him one of Minnesota’s steadiest presences early this season. The past two seasons, Lee struggled from the left side of the plate, posting a 68 wRC+ over 482 plate appearances. The switch-hitting shortstop has performed dramatically better while hitting left-handed in 2026, hitting .291/.333/.456 with a 119 wRC+ over 84 plate appearances against righties this season. Right-handed pitchers are throwing Lee more strikes this season. At the same time, Lee has been more aggressive on balls in the zone than in the past two seasons, often pulling the ball hard and in the air. Lee excelling as a left-handed hitter while holding his own from the right-handed batter’s box (106 wRC+ over 52 plate appearances) has resulted in the best month-and-a-half stretch of his young career, signaling he has finally blossomed into an above-average regular. The 2026 Twins are not a good baseball club. In fact, they might be one of sport’s worst. Still, there will be a time when the seeds of the next Good Twins Team poke their head out of the dirt, germinate, and blossom into a postseason-contending 26-player collective. It just won’t be this season—or next; and maybe not even the next after that. Yet, if the progress Lee has demonstrated at the plate this season proves sustainable, he could be a core member of that club. View the full article

Initially seen as a backup going into the 2026 MLB season, Carter Jensen has ended up receiving most of the catching duties recently due to minor injury issues to Salvador Perez. While Perez's issues haven't required a stint on the IL, Jensen has actually surpassed Salvy in catcher innings this season, as seen in the fielding data table below. It's interesting to see the kind of plays where Jensen has struggled. In addition to having a higher BAA/G this year (-0.41) compared to a season ago (-0.38), he has particularly struggled on easy and tough pitches. His BAA on easy and tough pitches is a combined -6. His BAA on medium pitches has been slightly better at -2, but that mark isn't good either. An interesting comparison is Melendez, who was poor as a blocker as well in 2022, when he played the most catcher at the MLB level. According to Savant, he posted a -26 BAA mark and a -0.35 BAA/G mark in 2,932 block opportunities. That lackluster blocking ability was a big reason why the Royals opted to move Melendez to the outfield full-time in 2023. The main difference between Jensen and Melendez is that Jensen was a much better framer. In 2022, Melendez produced -16 catcher framing runs and had a 41.7% shadow strike rate. That's a far cry from Jensen's framing numbers this year. Thus, it made more sense to move Melendez to the outfield based on his framing and blocking struggles, while Jensen really only struggles in blocking. What Does the Future Look Like for Jensen Behind the Plate? Jensen is getting all the opportunities to show he can be the Royals catcher long-term. While Salvy isn't a 100 percent, he's been showing his age this season. After another 0-for-3 performance, the Royals captain is hitting .191 with a .555 OPS, and the Statcast percentiles don't look encouraging either. As for Jensen, he's been on a bit of a cold streak, as he's hitting only .111 with a .374 OPS in 31 plate appearances in May. However, he's been trending up this weekend in the series against the Tigers, and his Statcast percentiles have been much better than Perez's this season, especially in terms of bat speed and exit-velocity ability. What will be key for Jensen going forward and succeeding Perez as the full-time catcher will rest on his blocking and how that develops. I know some have pointed out that pitchers have had a better ERA with Perez than Jensen, which some say points to his game-calling. However, catcher ERA is not a sticky metric and is often influenced more by pitcher quality than by a catcher's game-calling ability (this Reddit thread provides a good breakdown of the topic). In terms of blocking, I do believe part of that is due to form and just adjusting to being an MLB catcher. There are some blocks that seem more mental, resulting from losing concentration in key moments. We saw during the Tigers game on Friday that Jensen was unable to make an out because the ball popped out of his glove on a throw from Bobby Witt Jr. Below is a video example. I believe many of Jensen's passed balls and struggles with blocking stem from issues similar to those seen in the clip above. He can physically do it. It's just having the concentration and mental fortitude to do it night after night, which is easier said than done. That said, the only way for Jensen to get better at blocking is to get more experience and innings behind the plate. With Salvy out, that's happening. While that's causing some struggles now, it will help him blossom more as a player when he gets older. With his hitting, throwing, and framing ability, can Jensen be at least an average blocker in the next 2-3 years? If so, he could be an All-Star catcher sooner rather than later. View the full article

MIAMI, FL — Game two against the Washington Nationals began to look like a repeat of game one, as the visitors took an early 4-0 lead. The Miami Marlins climbed back to tie the game at 4-4 thanks to home runs from Kyle Stowers and Xavier Edwards. It was unlikely hero Jakob Marsee who hit the go-ahead homer in the bottom of the eighth inning. Despite some stress in the top of the ninth, the Marlins held on for an 8-7 win, marking their largest comeback win of the season. Stowers, the Marlins' 2025 All-Star, suffered a right hamstring strain during spring training that kept him out for the 20 games of the season. He entered Saturday slashing .206/.296/.254/.550 with one RBI and a 56 wRC+. Stowers went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the first game of the series, but Marlins manager Clayton McCullough felt like his final at-bat was "an encouraging one." Kyle Stowers hit his first home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning. He took Nationals pitcher Zack Littell deep to the second deck in right field. "He seemed like less in between," McCullough said after Friday's game. "He got some swings off and I think the Kyle that we know is someone who's incredibly convicted in his approach. Kyle is smart, and he goes into an at-bat generally knowing what he's looking for, where he's looking for it. Trust his eyes to lay off and just feeling for it a little bit to me. Looked like early on and then the last one, I think he got in there and got off some much more aggressive and convicted swings." He finished the game going 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. It was his second three-hit performance of the season. "I think just coming in with a plan was the difference for me," Stowers said. "When it comes to committing to a plan, there are areas in which you're still gonna give up, so once you get beat, it's making sure that there's a hill that you're willing to die on." In what looked like a replay of Edwards' third home run of the season from Friday night, he took Nationals reliever Mitchell Parker 422 feet deep to left field, tying the game at four apiece. It was his longest MLB homer in terms of distance and set a new career-high for most homers in a single season. It also marked the first time in his career that he has hit a homer in back-to-back games. Right-handed hitting was a weakness in 2025 for the switch-hitting Edwards. This year, he has an incredible .342/.405/.526 slash line from that side. "I like to treat both sides like two different hitters, so that's what I'm trying to do," Edwards said. "Got rid of my toe tap on the right-hand side, and kind of freed me up a little bit. My body moves different on the right-hand side, so let's try to treat it like that." With the game tied in the bottom of the eighth inning, Stowers knocked in his third hit and Connor Norby worked a walk. Jakob Marsee, who many have been calling for him to be sent back down to Triple-A as he entered Saturday's game with a 67 wRC+, hit a go-ahead three-run homer to give the Marlins a 7-4 lead. "Confidence is a weird thing," Clayton McCullough said postgame. "You're never quite sure where it's going to come from. Hopefully having some moments and coming through will certainly help spark that. I think also that is going to getting back to what we believe and what they think will lead to the opportunity to have success, and that's just getting there with some conviction in the box and being ready to go. If you get something that you like to get some swings off and not be so worried about it needing to be the perfect pitch, or what the pitch is—just having a plan and letting it go." For Marsee, his faith and his support system have helped him get through this slump to begin 2026. "Just trusting that everything happens for a reason," Marsee said. "It's all gonna work how it's supposed to, so that's been huge. These guys here every day have been huge for me. Then people back home that care and support me, so to have them is huge." Esteury Ruiz hit a double in the ensuing at-bat, stole third (sixth stolen base of the season) and Leo Jimenez drove him in on a sac fly to center field, extending he lead, 8-4. In six innings of work, Junk allowed four runs on seven hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Three of the four runs Junk allowed came in the top of the first inning when James Wood hit his 11th home run of the season and CJ Abrams knocked in his league-leading 36th RBI of the season. Four of Junk's sixth strikeouts came on his fastball, which he threw 37% of the time. All of those four strikeouts came looking. He also landed his fastball six out of 10 times for a first-pitch strike (60%). Where Junk struggled was surrendering a season-high 10 hard-hit balls. Of those 10, four of them came on the fastball. Michael Petersen, who entered into a pretty comfortable situation, leading 8-4, allowed three runs in the top of the ninth inning. After finally getting two outs, McCullough summoned lefty John King out of the bullpen to get the final out of the game. King earned his first career save in what was his 11th consecutive scoreless outing. With the win, the Marlins improve to 18-22 on the season while the Nationals drop to 19-21. Sandy Alcantara will get the nod for Miami in the rubber match on Mother's Day. First pitch is at 12:15 pm and the game will be aired exclusively on Peacock. It'll be the first of back-to-back Sunday games aired on that streaming service. View the full article

TRANSACTIONS The Twins placed RHP Taj Bradley on the Injured List with a sore right pectoralis muscle. Taking his place on the roster is RHP Travis Adams. In addition, Dan Hayes reports that LHP Kendry Rojas is with the team, on the taxi squad, and could be activated before Sunday’s game. The Twins have now signed their third player from Lew Ford’s Long Island Ducks. They have signed catcher Caleb Roberts. In 15 games this season for the Ducks, the 26-year-old is hitting .339 with an OPS of .948. He is expected to report to the Wichita Wind Surge. Roberts was the fifth-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2021 out of North Carolina. He ended the 2022 season with nine games in Double-A Amarillo. In 2023, he hit .278/.382/.523 (.906) with 23 doubles, eight triples and 17 homers. He played 42 games in left field, caught 30 games and made starts at first base (7) and right field (6). He went to the Arizona Fall League that season. He returned to Amarillo in 2024, and in 113 games, he hit .243/.339/.454 (.793) with 20 doubles, four triples, and 20 homers. In that season, he caught 62 games and played one game each at first base and left field. Then for some reason, he returned to Amarillo in 2025. In 104 games, he hit .237/.327/.388 (.715) with 21 doubles, three triples, and 10 homers. He only caught one game (and just two innings) that season. He started 64 games in left and a dozen in right field. RHP Yael Retituyo was released from the DSL Twins roster. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 13, Las Vegas 8 Box Score It was a bullpen game for the Saints on Saturday, but as they have been most games of late, the Saints offense continues to put up big numbers. In fact, the Saints scored at least two runs in five of the first six innings. In the first inning, Gabriel Gonzalez walked with one out. With two outs, Orlando Arcia remained hot, driving his ninth double of the season off the wall in left field to drive in Gonzalez with the game’s first run. Arcia scored when Kyler Fedko reached on an error. The first two batters in the third inning got out, but Ryan Kreidler and Orlando Arcia followed with singles. An errant pickoff throw allowed both runners to advance. Fedko lined a single to center to drive in both runners and make it 4-1. The top of the fourth inning began with an Aaron Sabato home run. It was his seventh home run of the season and fifth this week in Las Vegas. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper doubled and went to third on a fly out. Ryan Kreidler drilled his fifth home run of the season to give the team a 7-3 lead. Trent Baker started and went the first two innings. He gave up a solo home run to Michael Stefanic in the second inning. Raul Brito pitched the next two innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits (including a solo home run by Henry Bolte). The top of the fifth inning began with walks by Kyler Fedko and Hendry Mendez. Alex Jackson drove in Fedko with a single to center. With one out, Ben Ross drove a double off of the wall in the left center field gap to drive in two more runs and make it 10-3. Aaron Sabato came to the plate with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning. He muscled a soft liner into center field to drive in Fedko and Mendez. Marco Raya worked the fifth and sixth innings. He gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. He had three strikeouts. Grant Hartwig gave up four runs on five hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Jon Brebbia got the final five outs, though he gave up a run on three hits. He struck out three. The Saints added one run in the eighth inning on Alex Jackson’s sixth home run. Aaron Sabato went 2-for-5 with his seventh home run and three RBI. He has had 12 RBI in these five games in Vegas. He is 10-for-22 this week with two walks, two doubles, five home runs and 12 RBI. When the week began, he was hitting .229/.296/.458 (.754). Following Saturday night’s game, he is now hitting .300/.359/.700 (1.059). Ben Ross went 2-for-3 with two walks and his fifth double. Alex Jackson went 2-for-4 with a walk and his sixth homer. Ryan Kreidler went 2-for-5 with a walk and his fifth home run. Orlando Arcia went 2-for-4 with his ninth double. Hendry Mendez went 2-for-4 with a walk. Kyler Fedko went 1-for-4 with two walks and stole his fifth base. Gabriel Gonzalez also walked twice. Last night, I wrote about A’s prospect Henry Bolte. On Friday night, he went 5-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, and two home runs. On Saturday night, he went 5-for-5 with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI. He had singles in his final two at-bats on Thursday night. He set the franchise record with hits in 12 straight at-bats. WIND SURGE WISDOM Wichita 7, Amarillo 9 (10 innings) Box Score The Wind Surge jumped out to an early lead in this game. A five-run first inning is always helpful, but they also scored a sixth run in the top of the second for an early 6-0 lead. What could go wrong? With one out in the first, Kyle DeBarge walked and stole second base. He advanced to third base on a wild pitch, but there were two outs. Billy Amick came up and grounded to third base, but a fielding error allowed Amick to reach and DeBarge to score the first run. More importantly, the inning continued and the Wind Surge took advantage. Jake Rucker lined a single. Andrew Cossetti singled to center to drive in Amick with the second run. Murphy Stehly reached on a throwing error. Rucker scored on the play. Cossetti scored on a Jorel Ortega single. Then Maddux Houghton singled in Stehly and the Surge had a 5-0 lead. The second inning began with a DeBarge walk. Ricardo Olivar singled. They each advanced on a double steal. DeBarge scored the sixth run on a sacrifice fly by Jake Rucker. The Sod Poodles fought their way back with two runs in their half of the second and single runs in the third and fourth innings. The Wind Surge added a run in the top of the fifth frame. Rucker singled and stole second. Cossetti walked. After a pitching change, the runners advanced on a wild pitch. Rucker scored on a Jorel Ortega sacrifice fly to bump the lead to 7-4. Ricky Castro started and gave up three runs on five hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings. He struck out four. Jacob Wosinski came on and gave up just one run on two hits over 2 2/3 innings. Alejandro Hidalgo pitched a scoreless sixth inning, but he gave up three runs (2 earned) in the seventh inning. He gave up five hits and walked two over his two innings. Jaylen Nowlin struck out two batters over two perfect innings. Tied at seven, the game went to the 10th inning. The Wind Surge were unable to even move the Manfred Man to third base. In the bottom of the 10th, Kyle Bischoff came on and gave up a leadoff, two-run homer to end the game. The Wind Surge had nine hits in the game. Ricardo Olivar, Jake Rucker, Andrew Cossetti, and Maddux Houghton each had two hits. DeBarge walked twice and stole his 10th and 11th bases. KERNELS CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids 6, Quad Cities 3 Box Score There was a lot of good pitching in this game. Of the 18 half-innings, 14 of them resulted in zero runs. The River Bandits started the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Kernels got on the board with four runs in the top of the third inning. Brandon Winokur was in the leadoff spot for the Kernels for the first time. He led off the first inning with a single and then led off the third inning with a single. Eduardo Tait singled, and Khadim Diaw walked to load the bases. Jaime Ferrer grounded out but Winokur scored the first run. Danny De Andrade followed with the game’s biggest hit. He launched his third home run of the season to the berm beyond the fence in left field. Quad Cities cut the lead to 4-3 with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Young Ramon Ramirez hit his fifth home run. The 20-year-old backstop was 2-for-3 with a walk, a triple, and a home run. He is the #7 prospect at Royals Keep. In the top of the eighth, Khadim Diaw led off with a walk. Jaime Ferrer stayed hot, hitting his eighth home run of the season. Eli Jones tossed the first five innings. He gave up two runs on four hits. He walked one and had six strikeouts. Nolan Santos went three innings and gave up just one run on one hit, a solo home run. He walked one and struck out three batters. Eston Stull came on and had one walk and one strikeout to earn his second save. Winokur led the way by going 4-for-5. De Andrade had a single to go with his huge home run. Tait went 2-for-4 with a walk. Khadim Diaw went 1-for-3 with two walks. MIGHTY MATTERS Ft. Myers 11, Tampa 9 Box Score For the second time this week, the Mussels used a big inning late to claim a lead and secure a win. Tampa scored a run in the top of the first inning, but the Mussels responded with three runs in the bottom of the first. Dameury Pena led off with a single and went to second on a passed ball. Ramiro Dominguez walked. After a successful double steal, Yasser Mercedes walked to load the bases. After a strikeout, Ryan Sprock walked to tie the game at 1-1. Quentin Young followed with a single to left field to drive in two runs and make it 3-1. Justin Mitrovich started and gave up just an unearned run on one hit and one walk. He had four strikeouts. Brian Zeldin came on and gave up four runs on four hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Jake Murray came on and got five outs. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk. He had three strikeouts. Michael Hilker was next. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. He had three strikeouts. The Mussels scored a run in the seventh inning on a balk. Going to the bottom of the eighth inning, the team was down 8-5. The bottom of the eighth inning started with singles by Dameury Pena and Ramiro Dominguez. Yasser Mercedes drove in both runners with his second triple. Henry Kusiak walked. Then Ryan Sprock singled to left to drive in Mercedes with the game-tying run. With two outs and after a pitching change, Jayson Bass came to the plate and untied the game with a two-run triple. Byron Chourio singled to drive in Bass and give the Mussels an 11-8 lead. Mitch Mueller came in for the ninth. He gave up one run on one hit and a walk. He struck out two and earned his second save. Quentin Young went 2-for-5 with three RBI. Jayson Bass went 3-for-5 with his fifth double, first triple, and two RBI. Ryan Sprock went 2-for-4 with a walk. Dameury Pena went 2-for-6. Yasser Mercedes went 1-for-3 with two walks, a triple, and two RBI. The team also has seven stolen bases. Chourio and Dominguez each had two steals. COMPLEX CHRONICLE FCL Twins 2, FCL Red Sox 9 Box Score The Twins fell behind early on Saturday. Miguelangel Boadas made the rehab start. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits over two innings. He had three strikeouts. Rainer Marin came on and gave up three runs on five hits over 1 1/3 innings. He left the game with two runners on, and Nick McAuliffe allowed both to score. He allowed two more unearned runs to score on two hits before getting out of that fourth inning. Yoel Roque came in and had three strikeouts over two scoreless innings. The Twins avoided being shutout with two runs in the seventh inning. With one out, Ricardo Pena reached on an error. Daiber De Los Santos walked, and Pena advanced to third on a wild pitch. Pena scored on another wild pitch. With two outs, De Los Santos went to third on a wild pitch. Miguel Caraballo walked. After a pitching change, De Los Santos scored on a balk for the second run. But that was it. The Twins had just two hits, and five walks is a pretty solid number. They struck out 13 times in seven innings. PLAYERS OF THE DAY Hitter of the Day Jayson Bass (Fort Myers): 3-for-5, 2B(5), 3B(1), R, 2 RBI, K Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids): 4-for-5, R Pitcher of the Day Marco Raya (St. Paul): 2 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 21 pitches, 15 strikes (71.4%) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. #1 - OF Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (left shoulder) #2 - IF Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) - 1-for-6, 2B(7), R, 4 K (batted first, played 2B) #3 - OF Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - 7 Day Injured List (thumb) #4 - C Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 2-for-4, BB (batted second, played catcher). #5 - LHP Connor Prielipp (Minnesota) - Did Not Pitch #6 - LHP Dasan Hill (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #7 - OF Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-for-4, 2 BB, R (batted second, played DH) #8 - LHP Kendry Rojas (St. Paul) - On Twins taxi squad. Could be activated Sunday. #9 - SS Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play. Missed fourth straight game. #10 - RHP Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List #11 - RHP Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #12 - RHP Andrew Morris (Minnesota) - 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K, 11 pitches, 7 strikes (63.6%) - Will also start for the Twins on Sunday. #13 - 3B/CF Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 4-for-5, R, (batted first, played CF) #14 - 3B/SS Quentin Young (Ft. Myers) - 2-for-5, 3 RBI, K (batted sixth, played SS). #15 - RHP Marco Raya (St. Paul) - 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 21 pitches, 15 strikes (71.4%) #16 - OF Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 2-for-4, BB, 2 R, K (batted sixth, played LF) #17 - 2B/SS/CF Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) - 0-for-4, BB, 2 R, 2 K, 2 SB(11), (batted second, played SS) #18 - RHP C.J. Culpepper (St. Paul) - Did Not Pitch. #19 - C/OF Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R (batted third, played DH) #20 - RHP James Ellwanger (Ft. Myers) - 60 Day Injured List (right elbow sprain) UPCOMING PROBABLES Sunday, May 10: St. Paul @ Las Vegas (2:05 pm CT) - RHP Ryan Gallagher (0-0, 6.14 ERA) Wichita @ Amarillo (1:05 pm CT) - RHP Ty Langenberg (0-2, 4.08 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (1:00 pm CT) - LHP Dasan Hill (0-3, 8.44 ERA) Tampa @ Ft. Myers (11:05 am CT) - RHP Matthew Dalquist (0-1, 5.40 ERA) FCL Twins - No Game Scheduled. CURRENT W-L Records Minnesota Twins: 17-23 St. Paul Saints: 19-18 Wichita Wind Surge: 16-16 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 17-15 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 18-14 FCL Twins: 3-3 DSL Twins: 0-0 (season begins Monday, June 1) Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related! View the full article

Braedon Karpathios hit a walk-off homer to lift the San Antonio Missions to a 3-2 win over Midland. Clay Dungan hit a three-run homer as the El Paso Chihuahuas lost 6-3 to Tacoma. Five Fort Wayne pitchers allowed just five hits in a 3-1 TinCaps win over Beloit. Tyler Schmitt allowed one hit over six innings as the Lake Elsinore Storm hung on for an 8-6 victory over Inland Empire. Clay Dungan's 3-Run Homer Not Enough As Chihuahuas Fall Box score Clay Dungan's three-run homer in the fourth inning was the lone offense for the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas, who dropped a 6-3 decision to the Tacoma Rainiers. Samad Taylor went 3-for-4 to raise his batting average to .325, but the rest of the Chihuahuas combined for five hits. One of those came from Dungan, drove his three-run shot out to center for his fourth homer of the season. Nick Solak had singled and Carlos Rodriguez drew a one-out walk before Dungan drilled a 2-2 pitch over the fence. Chihuahuas left-handed starter Jackson Wolf struck out nine over five innings, but he also gave up five runs on seven hits and a walk. His nine strikeouts were the most by an El Paso pitcher this year and two shy of his career high of 11, done twice. Wolf's previous high this year was five on April 15. Right-hander Garrett Hawkins, left-hander Kyle Hart and right-hander Ethan Routzahn combined to allow just one run over the final four innings. For Hart, it was his first game with the Chihuahuas after his demotion from the San Diego Padres this week. Patrick Wisdom hit a pair of home runs for the Rainiers, his 10th and 11th for the Rainiers, and drove in three while on a rehab assignment from the Seattle Mariners. EP_0509.mp4 Braedon Karpathios Drills Walk-off Homer In Ninth For Missions Box score Braedon Karpathios crushed a two-out walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Double-A San Antonio Missions pulled out a 3-2 victory over the Midland RockHounds. Karpathios took a center-cut 2-1 pitch and drilled it over the wall in left-center field for a no-doubter, his first homer of the season. He has been off to a slow start this season after hitting three homers in 21 games with the Missions last year. His homer leaves him with a slash line of .206/.283/.318 in 30 games. Leadoff hitter Carson Tucker had three of the Missions' six hits and scored once. Missions right-handed Eric Yost yielded two runs on four hits with a pair of walks and two strikeouts over a season-high six innings. Left-hander Harry Gustin and right-hander Sadrac Franco combined to allow two hits and a walk with three strikeouts over the final three innings. Both teams scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning, with Midland getting a two-run homer in the top half. Tucker and Ethan Salas led off the inning with singles and Leandro Cedeno's walk loaded the bases. Tirso Ornelas then tied the game when he laced a double to the gap in left-center that rolled to the wall, easily scoring both runs. Both pitching staffs controlled things from there until the bottom of the ninth. Ornelas grounded out and Luis Verdugo struck out before Karpathios' heroics, his second walk-off of the season. SA_0509.mp4 TinCaps Pitchers Shine, Zach Evans Drives In Go-Ahead Run In Victory Box score Lamar King Jr. went 3-for-4 and five pitchers combined on a five-hitter as the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps edged the Beloit SkyCarp 3-1, their ninth win in 10 games. Zach Evans continued his big series with the go-ahead single in a two-run fifth inning. Right-handed starter Abraham Parra, right-hander Luis German, right-hander Will Varmette, left-hander Braian Salazar and right-handed closer Clay Edmondson shut the SkyCarp down. Parra allowed the only run on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 3⅔ innings. From there, the TinCaps bullpen was virtually unhittable as German, Vermette, Salazar and Edmondson allowed just one hit and three walks while striking out five. Four of those strikeouts came from Edmondson, who got the final four out for his seventh save in as many chances. He leads all of Minor League Baseball with seven saves. He threw 18 pitches, 15 for strikes. After Beloit grabbed a 1-0 advantage in the second inning, Fort Wayne came back to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Jonathan Vastine had a leadoff single and Kasen Wells doubled him home with one out to tie the game. Evans then grounded a single past the shortstop and into center to drive in Wells with the go-ahead run. In the sixth, Jack Costello had a one-out double and Oswaldo Linares looped a single to shallow center that bounded away from the fielders, allowing Costello to beat the throw home for a 3-1 lead. King had his fourth game this season of three or more hits and also stole a pair of bases to give him eight this year. He also extended his on-base streak to 22 games, surpassing the longest by a TinCap this season set by Alex McCoy. Wells had two hits and a steal out of the leadoff spot. FW_0509.mp4 Tyler Schmitt Allows 1 Hit In 6 Innings As Storm Prevail Box score Right-hander Tyler Schmitt turned in his second straight standout start, allowing just one hit over a season-high six innings as the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm jumped out to a huge lead and had to withstand a furious ninth-inning rally to beat the Inland Empire 66ers 8-6. Conner Westenberg hit a three-run homer and Jose Verdugo a two-run shot in a five-run fifth inning for the Storm. A 17th-round draft choice out of Illinois last year, Schmitt is making his pro debut this season and has turned in his best starts in his last two outings. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder walked three and struck out five—tying his third-best K total—while throwing 73 pitches, including 47 strikes. Last week, he struck out six over five shutout innings, giving up a pair of hits, giving him 11 consecutive shutout innings. Ryan Wideman got the Storm offense going when he tripled with two outs in the top of the first inning, scoring on Justin DeCriscio's single. DeCriscio stole second and scored on Luke Cantwell's RBI single for a 2-0 lead. Then came the big five-run fifth featuring the first homers of the season for Westenberg and Verdugo to make it 7-0. In the sixth, Cantwell singled, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Kerrington Cross' two-out single to left for an 8-0 cushion. Behind Schmitt, the Storm had the 66ers baffled. Right-handed reliever Daichi Moriki pitched a hitless seventh, with a walk and two strikeouts, and right-hander Nick Falter a hitless eighth with a strikeout. The Storm took a one-hit shutout into the bottom of the ninth, but the 66ers struck for six runs, four credited to right-hander Sean Barnett, who didn't record an out, giving up a pair of hits and two walks. Right-hander Brandon Langley eventually got the final three outs, giving up two runs. LE_0509.mp4 View the full article

Box Score SP: Joe Ryan 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (107 pitches, 66 strikes (62%)) Home Runs: Byron Buxton (13) Top 3 WPA (via FanGraphs): Eric Orze (0,48), Ryan (0.22), Luis Garcia (0.20) Win Probability Chart (via BaseballSavant) On the day that Taj Bradley found his way onto the IL, the Twins hoped that Joe Ryan's return to the rotation and avoidance of the IL wasn't just a mirage. After losing three in a row and finding themselves once again in the basement of the AL Central, Minnesota could not afford to lose another winnable game to the Guardians on Saturday night against a winless Tanner Bibee. The chance of thunderstorms delayed the inevitable by two hours, but baseball was played, and a result that no Twins fans expected transpired in Rock and Roll City. Buxton Rocks Byron Buxton waited and waited to get his chance to lead off against Bibee, but it only took three pitches before Byron and the Twins were out in front 1-0. Lead off homerun number 22, and homerun number 13 on the season, for number 25! Ryan Also Rocks, Even on the Rocks With the Twins' offense silenced after Buxton's homer, the pressure fell on the ace shoulders of Ryan to keep Cleveland off the board. Joe delivered consistently and efficiently in the early innings, allowing just a walk over the first three frames on only 41 pitches. The fourth inning was less efficient and definitely not as clean, as Jose Ramirez golfed a one-out single into center, stole second base, and scampered home to tie the game on a Kyle Manzardo single. A walk and a beanball created a bases loaded situation, but Ryan was able to deliver two straight strike outs to escape the inning with minimal damage. The elevated pitch count of the fourth ended up limiting Ryan to six innings on a whopping 107 pitches, but he kept the score knotted at one, which was necessary due to the fact that the Twins didn't muster any more hits after Buxton's blast. The Twins bullepn held serve through the seventh and eighth innings, with a couple of mammoth fly balls causing small panic attacks, but without any actual injury. Rocking and Rolling Into the Ninth After eight innings, the two squads had combined for three hits, two runs, and 21 strikeouts. To say the action was limited would be an understatement. The Twins hoped that red-hot Brooks Lee would be their key to the top of the ninth, but Brooks watched a 3-2 fastball go down the heart of the plate, and pinch-hitting Austin Martin and Josh Bell couldn't do anything to break the tie. Kody Funderburk started off the bottom of the ninth with two walks, and almost disasterously missed a chance to get the first out on a bunt. The Twins successfully challenged the call, and found themselves facing runners at second and third with only one out. Derek Shelton pulled Funderburk for Eric Orze, brought in Martin as a fifth infielder, and intentionally walked David Fry to load the bases. Orze induced a grounder to Luke Keaschall, and he nabbed the lead runner at the plate. Steven Kwan was next man up, and Orze was miraculously up to the challenge! Kody Clemens secured yet another three unassisted on the night to send us to bonus baseball! Extra Innings, Twins In the top of the tenth, the Twins were still looking for their second hit of the ballgame. They headed to the bottom of the tenth without finding it. Orze stayed in, and got the first out on a liner to Clemens. After intentionally and wisely walking Ramirez, Orze unintentionally walked Rhys Hoskins to load the bases. Again, Shelton brought in the fifth infielder, and this time it was Lee's turn to save the game. Orze still had to get rookie phenom Travis Bazzana to keep the Twins alive, and he did just that by inducing a fly out to a left-field-playing-again Martin to send us to the eleventh. Buxton still had the only hit of the night for the visiting team. Matt Wallner started out the eleventh as the ghost runner, and advanced to third on a "get him over" grounder by Royce Lewis. This brought up the aforementioned Buxton in a big spot. By the end of the at-bat, Buxton was still the only Twin with a hit on the night...but now it was "two." 2-1 Twins on a booming Buxton double off the left-field wall! Buxton was stranded in scoring position, and Twins fans hoped that this wouldn't come back to bite them as the much-maligned Luis Garcia got "last man standing" duty in the bottom of the eleventh with the speedy Bazzana on second as the ghost runner. Garcia got the first man with a shallow fly ball, but Bazzana stole third anyways. Fry flew out to an even shallower left field for the second out, and Garcia got Rocchio to two strikes. But Rocchio hit the kind of back-breaking seeing-eye grounder up the middle that Twins fans have seen year, after year, after year, after...oh wait! Brooks Lee equals Ballgame now! Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet TUE WED THU FRI SAT TOT Banda 19 0 20 22 0 61 Funderburk 0 17 0 22 10 49 Orze 16 0 0 16 15 47 Rogers 0 0 26 0 17 43 Garcia 13 14 0 0 13 40 Topa 0 32 0 0 0 32 Morris 0 14 0 0 11 25 Gómez 0 0 0 2 5 2 Adams 0 0 0 0 0 0 View the full article