The Month That Was in Baseball: May 2025

Thursday, May 1

Juan Soto belts his first two home runs at Citi Field as a member of the Mets, but they’re the only two runs scored by New York in a 4-2 loss to Arizona. It’s the second straight defeat for the Mets after beginning their home schedule at 13-1. Two late homers by the Diamondbacks—Geraldo Perdomo in the seventh, Tim Tawa in the ninth—are the first allowed by Mets pitching at the Citi this year.

The 15 home games to start a season without allowing a home run was the longest such run since the 1944 Washington Senators, who didn’t allow a round-tripper at Griffith Stadium until their 21st game that year. (They would allow 13 all season at the capacious ballpark.)

For the first time this season, the Colorado Rockies win successive ballgames—and happily avoid setting two franchise marks. In defeating the Giants at San Francisco with three late runs, 4-3, the Rockies end a franchise record-tying 13-game winless streak on the road, as well as a 12-game skid at Oracle Park—which had tied another team mark at a single ballpark. Ryan McMahon’s solo homer in the seventh off Giants starter Justin Verlander—who has still yet to win a game for San Francisco in seven tries—breaks a hitless string of 35 straight at-bats, the longest 0-fer in Rockies team history.

Friday, May 2

There have been many instances of major league players drilling two home runs in one inning, but none of them ever did it in the ninth inning—until tonight. Detroit’s Riley Greene leads the charge in an eight-run, tie-breaking final frame, first going solo against Los Angeles Angels closer Kenley Jansen to unlock the tie—then powering an additional three-run shot to cap the scoring in a 9-1 victory at Anaheim. It’s Greene’s fifth career multi-homer game—and just his second in a space of five days, having gone deep twice at Houston on April 28.

Greene joins Al Kaline (1955) and Magglio Ordonez (2007) as the only Detroit players to hit a pair of homers in the same inning.

On a day which begins with Baltimore’s pitching last in the American League with a 5.49 ERA—leading general manager Mike Elias to all but publicly apologize for it—the Orioles go out and pitch their first shutout of the year, defeating the visiting Kansas City Royals, 3-0. The win goes to Dean Kremer, who himself enters the game with a 7.04 ERA before throwing seven innings of three-hit, shutout ball. The Orioles’ win improves their record to 13-18, which is still bad enough for last place in the AL East.

In defeat, the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. goes hitless in four at-bats, ending a 22-game hitting streak that was tied for the fourth longest in Kansas City franchise history.

Saturday, May 3

The show must go on in Atlanta, where the Los Angeles Dodgers and Braves try to avoid a Sunday doubleheader and wait out a three-hour rain delay in advance of a first-pitch time of 10:21 p.m. Over three hours later, at 1:26 in the morning, the final pitch will be delivered as the Dodgers give Roki Sasaski his first MLB win in seven starts with a 10-3 win, the Dodgers’ seventh straight. Home runs by Shohei Ohtani and former Brave Freddie Freeman propel the Dodgers; both players have three hits overall.

Hyeseong Kim, the South Korean-born second baseman who signed with Los Angeles during the offseason and batting .252 at Triple-A Oklahoma City, is called up to replace the injured Tommy Edman on the roster. He comes in late in the game as a defensive replacement and does not bat.

Heading in the bottom of the ninth at Miami with a 6-4 lead, the Athletics call on supersonic reliever Mason Miller, who’s converted all 10 of his save opportunities so far this season. What follows is disaster. Miller hits his first batter, strikes out the next two, then allows a double and two walks (with a wild pitch thrown in) to bring up Kyle Stowers—who launches a game-winning grand slam off a 101.7-MPH pitch, the fastest any Marlins player has ever hit for a home run since velocities became officially tracked in 2008. It’s the second homer of the day for Stowers as the Marlins triumph, 9-6.

Statistical oddity: Miami starter Max Meyer, who in his last home start struck out 14 Cincinnati Reds over six innings, can’t get a single K in five innings of work against the A’s.

The 100th start in a Toronto uniform for Kevin Gausman is far better than his 99th. After getting frustrated by both the Yankees and umpires in his previous start—leading to harsh words and an ejection—Gausman is nearly flawless over six shutout innings, allowing just a hit and walk along with nine strikeouts, departing on much more harmonious terms with a 3-0 lead over the visiting Cleveland Guardians. Then the Blue Jays’ bullpen rears its ugly head; Chad Green gives the Guardians one run back in the eighth—and in the ninth, Yimi Garcia is an out away from wrapping it up when he allows a go-ahead grand slam to Daniel Schneemann, his second homer to ultimately giving Cleveland a 5-3 win.

Schneemann joins the Marlins’ Stowers as the first pair of MLB players to have multi-homer games including a go-ahead slam in the ninth inning or later on the same day.

Sunday, May 4

The Kansas City Royals, who hit an MLB-low 15 home runs through their first 33 games, have nearly doubled that total in just the last two days. After parking three homers over the fence on Saturday at Baltimore, the Royals return to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and smack a franchise-record seven in an 11-6 victory over the Orioles. Maikel Garcia launches two of the homers; Jonathan India, Bobby Wit Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, Luke Maile, and Michael Massey connect on the others—with Massey’s being the only one with a runner on base.

The Orioles add four homers to the proceedings—all of them solo. The 10 combined solo shots tie an MLB record; the 11 total homers between the two teams equals a mark at Camden Yards.

The Mets drop a pair of one-run decisions to the Cardinals in a weather-created doubleheader at St. Louis by scores of 6-5 and 5-4. In the first game, Blade Tidwell—making his major league debut—is the first Mets starting pitcher this year to allow more than four runs, as he gets drilled for six over 3.2 innings. The 33-game streak to start a season without a starter allowing more than four runs is cemented as an NL record; the 2022 Yankees hold the overall major league mark, at 41 games.

Houston starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. is finally back on a major league mound for the first time since giving up seven runs in Game Three of the 2022 World Series. At Chicago against the White Sox, McCullers—who missed the last two-plus seasons with major arm injuries—throws 3.2 shutout innings, allowing a trio of hits and walks each, before being removed at 87 pitches. The Astros’ bullpen can’t keep the lead, as the White Sox rally in the middle innings before rain intervenes and shortens the game to a seven-inning, 5-4 decision for Chicago.

Monday, May 5

In his first game back in Miami since last September 19 when he went 6-4-6-10 in the box score with both his 50th home run and 50th stolen base, Shohei Ohtani drills his ninth homer—at 117.9 MPH, the hardest hit so far this year in MLB—and swipes his 10th base of the 2025 season as the Dodgers defeat the Marlins, 7-4. Ohtani is currently on pace for 41 homers and 46 steals, which would make him the first player to accomplish 40-40 twice—and in consecutive seasons.

Productive Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, batting .315 with an MLB-leading 34 RBIs, leaves midway through the game with hamstring tightness. Though the injury is serious enough to warrant an MRI—leading Los Angeles skipper Dave Roberts to call the situation “a little concerning”—Hernandez will miss just two weeks.

Taking the loss for the Marlins is former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara, who’s struggling to regain his workhorse form since returning from Tommy John surgery nearly two years ago. Alcantara gives up five runs over five innings to the Dodgers; he’s 2-4 in seven starts this season with an 8.42 ERA.

The Milwaukee Brewers defeat the visiting Astros, 5-1, and Vinny Capra has nothing to do with it. In the eighth inning, the third baseman who comes to the plate with a lifetime .099 batting average and a streak of 36 straight hitless at-bats strokes a single just after the Brewers add their final two runs on the night. Capra’s drought was the third by a player with hitless skids of 35 straight at-bats or more this season, following Texas’ Joc Pederson and Colorado’s Ryan McMahon; Craig Counsell remains the Brewers’ record-holder with a 0-for-45 drought in 2011.

Tuesday, May 6

The Chicago Cubs get even at Wrigley Field—and the visiting San Francisco Giants get mad. After the Cubs rally from a 5-3 deficit to tie the game in the ninth—thus denying Justin Verlander his first Giants win in his eighth start of the year—San Francisco comes roaring back after a scoreless 10th with an extra-inning, team-record nine runs in the 11th to triumph, 14-5. It’s also the first time in the 112-year history of Wrigley that any team has scored that many runs in a single extra inning. The pitcher charged with giving up all nine runs is Ryan Pressly, who according to STATS goes down in misery as the first reliever ever to allow eight-plus earned runs without recording an out while taking the loss.

The nine-run explosion by the Giants is not the biggest of the night. In New York, the Yankees break out for 10 runs in the seventh off a San Diego bullpen crumbling apart after six fine innings from Michael King, in his first start against his former team. Yankee catcher Austin Wells opens the deluge with an RBI single—and ends it with a two-out grand slam, the first of his career, as the Yankees romp, 12-3. Wells’ five RBIs in an inning are the most since Alex Rodriguez brought home seven in the 2009 regular season finale at Tampa Bay.

Paul Skenes evidently pitches just good enough to get beat by St. Louis. But the Cardinals are not his Kryptonite; that’s the issue of his teammates’ bats. Skenes allows two runs on three hits and four walks over six innings, but the Pirates manage only a run on four hits off Matthew Liberatore and two relievers in a 2-1 loss, Pittsburgh’s sixth straight. While Skenes owns a career 14-7 record, he’s 0-4 in five starts against the Cardinals, despite a 2.76 ERA. In those five games, the Pirates have scored a measly total of seven runs and batted .156.

Wednesday, May 7

The Seattle Mariners come fighting back from a 5-0 deficit, scoring six unanswered runs to nip the A’s at Sacramento, 6-5, and secure their ninth straight series win. That’s the team’s longest such streak since taking 15 straight during their remarkable 116-46 season in 2001. Dylan Moore’s RBI double in the eighth caps a two-run rally and gives the Mariners the lead for keeps.

The Mariners’ 22-14 record is their best after the first 36 games of a season since 2003.

Detroit maintains its 1.5-game lead in the AL Central with an 8-6, 10-inning win at Colorado. Of statistical interest is a leadoff walk in the third inning by second-year Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler; it’s his first pass in 95 plate appearances on the year. He’ll end up scoring twice on the night without the benefit of a hit; besides scoring after the walk, he also plates in the fourth after getting hit by a pitch.

In 53 career games, Dingler has generated four walks—and struck out 59 times.

Thursday, May 8

It’s a day off for the Pirates—and manager Derek Shelton finds out he’ll have the rest of the year off as well. After a poor 12-26 start that includes an active seven-game losing streak, Shelton is relieved of his duties, making him the first manager fired this season; he’ll be replaced by bench coach Don Kelly. The Pirates make the move now, they say, in order to salvage the season, as Bob Nutting tells reporters that the Pirates need to “act with a sense of urgency and take the steps necessary to fix this now…”

It’s rather impressive that Shelton, hired by Pittsburgh before the 2020 season, lasted this long. Overall, he oversaw a team that won 306 games and lost 440; in the 144-year history of the Bucs, no other pilot managed as many games with a lower win percentage (.410).

The Tigers blitz past the Rockies in a weather-created doubleheader, easily winning both games by scores of 10-2 and 11-1. It’s the first time that Detroit has scored 10+ runs in both games of a twinbill since 1947, against the Browns in St. Louis. Casey Mize allows a run on three hits and no walks in the first game, becoming the majors’ second six-game winner on the year after the Yankees’ Max Fried; in the nightcap, Keider Montero throws eight frames in earning the win, allowing a run on five hits. The two losses drop the Rockies to an abysmal 6-31—tying the 1988 Orioles for the worst 37-game start to a season.

Chet Lemon, a solid center fielder who made three All-Star rosters and was a member of the Tigers’ 1984 championship team, passes away at the age of 70 in Florida. Relatives found Lemon, who had lost his ability to walk or talk through a recent series of strokes, unresponsive while lying on his couch. Over a 16-year career, Lemon put up sturdy numbers, finishing with a .273 batting average on 1,875 hits including 396 doubles and 215 home runs. His most productive season took place with the 1979 White Sox, batting .318 with 17 homers, 86 RBIs, and an AL-high 44 doubles.

Friday, May 9

The Martian is out of this world as the Yankees make their first-ever play date in California’s State Capitol. Before a packed Sutter Health Park crowd of 12,049—many of them rooting for the visitors—Jasson Dominguez crushes home runs from each side of the plate, then in the eighth launches a grand slam to cement the hat trick and give the Yankees a 10-2 triumph over the A’s in Sacramento.

At 22 years and 91 days old, Dominguez is the youngest Yankee ever to hit three homers. Only Lou Gehrig (at 22 years and 34 days) was younger among Yankees driving in seven or more runs.

It’s a roller coaster of a slugfest in Phoenix, where the Dodgers trail 3-1, then lead 8-3, then fall behind 11-8—then, at the end, triumph by a 14-11 count over the Diamondbacks. Shohei Ohtani’s 12th home run—and third extra-base hit of the night—is a three-run shot in the ninth that breaks an 11-11 tie and puts a cap on a six-run rally. The Dodgers prevail despite five Arizona home runs, including a fifth-inning grand slam from Lourdes Gurriel Jr.—the second in as many days for the Diamondbacks. It’s the second time in team history that the DBacks have hit slams in consecutive games, also having done it in 2011.

The majors’ fourth complete game of the year is accomplished by St. Louis’ Erick Fedde, who shuts down his former team in the Nationals on six hits and no walks through 109 pitches as the Cardinals coast to their sixth straight win, 10-0 at Washington. It’s Fedde’s first career shutout and complete game; in two starts against the Nationals, he’s yet to give up a run over 16 innings of work.

While Fedde is wrapping up a shutout, Minnesota’s Chris Paddock is aiming for perfection against the visiting Giants. After retiring the first 17 San Francisco batters, Paddock gives up a single to #9 hitter Christian Koss, ending the bid. Yet the 29-year-old Paddock—once a promising pitcher for the Padres—continues on, ultimately allowing a run on three hits and picking up his first win of the year in eight tries, a 3-1 decision for the Twins. Paddock’s 7.1 innings is his first outing of the year in which he’s gone more than five.

Rafael Devers’ season of discontent continues. The star Boston hitter, who took issue with being demoted from his longstanding spot at third base in favor of Gold Glove-worthy arrival Alex Bregman—then crashed out of the gate with a horrendous start as the Red Sox’ DH—is angry anew. He’s now upset that the Red Sox want to move him to first base after Triston Casas’s season-ending knee injury. “They told me that I was going to be playing (DH), and now they’re going back on that,” Devers told reporters a day earlier. “So I just don’t think they stayed true to their word.” The situation is so toxic that Red Sox owner John Henry flies out to Kansas City—where the Red Sox are taking on the Royals—to have a sit-down with Devers and convince him to make the switch for the betterment of the team. Boston manager Alex Cora joins the two and later tells the press, “(Devers) expressed his feelings. John did the same thing. I think the most important thing here is we’re trying to accomplish something big here. And obviously there’s changes on the roster, situations that happened, and you have to adjust.” Staying in the DH role, Devers is for 1-for-5 and knocks in the Red Sox’ only run in a 2-1, 12-inning loss to the Royals. 

Devers’ 10-year, $313 million contract gives him responsibility, not entitlement. In this situation, most players would think “we” before “me.” Devers wants to make this all about himself. And for the sake of the team, he needs to stop pouting and set the right example for his teammates.

Saturday, May 10

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse for the Rockies, it does. Before, for some reason, a near-sellout crowd at Coors Field, the visiting Padres trounce upon the majors’ most atrocious team, 21-0, for the worst shutout loss in Colorado history. Conversely, it’s not only the biggest shutout win in Padres annals, but easily the largest victory by margin. It’s also only the seventh MLB game since 1900 with a team scoring at least 20 while its opponent is shut out. The game’s starting pitchers are, not unexpectedly, a study in stark contrast. Stephen Kolek, making just his second-ever start, goes the distance—allowing five hits and two walks over 104 pitches; meanwhile, Colorado’s Bradley Blalock is hammered out of the gate and is subjected to punishment for 3.2 innings before being mercifully removed, conceding a team record-tying 12 runs on 13 hits.

The loss is the Rockies’ eighth straight; it’s already the team’s third eight-game skid in this still-young season. The 55 runs allowed over the last four games sets a franchise nadir.

As bad as Bradley Blalock’s night above is, at least he makes it through the first inning. Lance McCullers Jr. does not. In his second start since returning from a long injury-related absence, the Houston right-hander gets just one out while being charged seven runs on three hits, three walks and a hit batter as the visiting Cincinnati Reds pile on 10 total first-inning runs. The Astros will make a game of it by plating six runs themselves in the third, but will ultimately come up short in a 13-9 loss. More troubling, McCullers and the Astros reveal after the game that the pitcher and his kids are the target of death threats posted on social media. A shaken McCullers says that he gets that fans are “passionate,” but that threatening to “murder” his kids is “a little bit tough to deal with.” The Astros, of course, publicly back McCullers, and are in contact with law enforcement agencies to track down the out-of-bounds haters; McCullers will reveal at month’s end that he’s hired 24-hour security for his family.

One hopes that in the upcoming negotiations for a new labor contract, the players will bring up the rise in harassment upon them thanks in strong part to the spread of legal sports betting, particularly online. It’s possible that some of the jerks who spread vicious hatred upon McCullers lost money on him, and took it out on him in this verbally cruel—and potentially illegal—manner.

Rafael Devers is still refusing to play first base—even as the Red Sox are down to the third man on their depth chart at that position—but at least he’s raking it as a DH. In a 10-3 win at Kansas City—ending a seven-game win streak for the Royals—Devers reaches base all five times he appears at the plate, with a double, three singles, a walk and three RBIs. Meanwhile at first, Nick Sogard, who’s primarily played every infield position except first in his professional career and just called up by the Red Sox, is 1-for-4 with an error.

Sunday, May 11

A day after taking a 21-0 beating from the Padres for their eighth straight defeat, the Rockies end the skid with a 9-3 decision—and then they fire Bud Black. Colorado gets a huge day at the plate from Hunter Goodman, and seven strong innings from Rockies veteran German Marquez for his first win in over two years. The celebratory mood in the Colorado clubhouse is dimmed down by the dismissal of Black, the fall guy in an atrocious era of Rockies baseball plagued by front-office mismanagement and/or inertia. Over a tenure lasting eight-plus seasons, Black was the winningest manager in team history—and the losingest, posting a 544-690 record in Denver. Warren Schaffer will take over as interim manager; curiously, former Rockies pilot Clint Hurdle, who ran the team from 2002-09 and oversaw the team’s euphoric 2007 run to the NL pennant, will hang out as an interim bench coach.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mary Jung. The mom of two major league third basemen enjoys a day at the ballpark watching both of her kids—the Rangers’ Josh Jung and Tigers’ Jace Jung—face off against one another in Detroit. It’s Josh and the Rangers having the better day, as he collects a single and home run in a 6-1 victory; Jace is 0-for-3 with a strikeout and an error for the Tigers. Nathan Eovaldi throws seven shutout innings to improve to 4-2 with a 1.78 ERA on the year.

The Brewers win their 20th game of the year—and their first after conceding the game’s first run—with a 4-2 victory at Tampa over the Rays. Milwaukee is the last MLB team this season to allow the first run before coming from behind to triumph.

Rafael Devers stays hot—at the plate, at least—as his 440-foot home run to straightaway center breaks a tie in the sixth and will prove to be the winning blow as the Red Sox defeat the Royals at Kansas City, 3-1. The Boston star slugger, recently upset over a request to move to first base, is 9-for-15 over his last four games with two homers and eight RBIs. Securing the win for the Red Sox is Lucas Giolito, his first since September 2023. He missed all of last season with a major elbow injury and had been shaky in his first two starts of this year, prior to this effort.

Monday, May 12

It’s a thoroughly enjoyable night for the high-flying Tigers, who crush the visiting Red Sox, 14-2. Of particular delight for the Comerica Park crowd of 20,136 is the booing it savors for Boston third baseman Alex Bregman, who turned down a nice offer from the Tigers this past offseason for a slightly better one in Boston. Bregman is 0-for-1 with two walks before being replaced late in the rout. Boos aside, the guy having by far the most uncomfortable night is Boston starting pitcher Tanner Houck, who experiences a rough case of déjà slew. For the second time this year, Houck gives up 11 earned runs; like the first time on April 14 against Tampa Bay, Houck is removed after 2.1 innings. He’s the first pitcher since 2008—and the 10th pitcher since earned runs became an official thing in 1913—to allow 11-plus runs twice in a season.

Houck’s season ERA is at 8.04; take away the twin meltdowns, and that figure drops to 3.92.

Though he hasn’t played since 2023, three-time All-Star third baseman Evan Longoria signs a one-day ceremonial contract with the Rays and officially announces his retirement from the game. Longoria was an instant hit with Tampa Bay in 2008, winning AL Rookie of the Year honors and leading the Rays to their first winning record and AL pennant. He’s the franchise’s all-time leader in home runs (261), RBIs (892), runs scored (780), doubles (338), and walks (569). After leaving St. Petersburg to sign with San Francisco in 2018, Longoria struggled with injuries and advancing age; he finished his career with a one-year stint at Arizona last season.

Is Longoria a future Hall of Famer? He’ll get votes, but likely will get nowhere near the 75% needed for enshrinement.

Tuesday, May 13

In a stunning announcement, Commissioner Rob Manfred removes Pete Rose, the eight White Sox players banned for throwing the 1919 World Series including elite star Joe Jackson, seven other players and a former owner from baseball’s permanent ineligibility list. Manfred decided that an ineligible person’s ban ends at death, because such “a person no longer…cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game.” All of those removed from the list have passed, including Rose—who died last September at the age of 83. As a result, these 17 people now qualify for future inclusion into the Hall of Fame. Rose and Jackson, superstars of the highest order, will likely be placed on an upcoming veterans’ committee-style ballot. Eddie Cicotte, who won 209 career games, twice came edgingly close to winning 30 in a season—and was a key component of the Black Sox Scandal—is considered a borderline possibility for a future ballot. All others released from their ban, including Federal League standout Benny Kauff, are likely never to get a look. The one non-player on the ineligible list is William Cox, who owned the Phillies for one season before it was discovered that he was betting on his team.

Even for Rose and Jackson, the path to Hall-of-Fame enshrinement will not be easy. Their first opportunity to get on a ballot won’t be until late 2027, when the Classic Baseball Era Committee focuses on players before 1980 convenes. Even if they make that ballot—which is not a certainty—they’ll need 12 of 16 votes from those participating in the election. The cardinal rule to never bet on baseball will certainly be top of mind when the committee votes, just as steroids were when the Contemporary Era refused to elect Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens in 2022.

We thoroughly disagree with Manfred’s decision. The sense is that he was feeling pressure from President Donald Trump, who earlier met with Manfred and pushed for Rose’s reinstatement. (Manfred, after making the announcement, phones Trump to give him the news.) More troubling, Manfred made the decision in a time when MLB—and most all other major sports leagues—have gotten into bed with legal betting entities, profiting through business partnerships. (We strongly disagree with that as well.) 

What Jackson and the Black Sox Eight did in 1919 was beyond inexcusable and nearly killed the sport on a major league level. The same shame should be cast upon the others taken off the ineligible list, regardless of the impact their actions had upon the game—or how absolved their defenders think they are for “betting on their team to win.” That they’re stripped of celebrating a possible entry into Cooperstown while still living is irrelevant. What is relevant is that the rest of us may still be alive to potentially see the day when they are posthumously elected. We’ll then know, counter to what Manfred believes, that they were indeed a threat to the integrity of the game—even after their deaths.

The Braves hand the visiting Nationals their seventh straight defeat with a 5-2 victory, coming after a span of seven games in which Atlanta had alternated one-run victories with one-run losses. That’s the longest ever streak of win-loss-win-loss-etc., each by a single run. Spencer Schwellenbach goes seven innings for the win, while back-up rookie catcher Drake Baldwin contributes at the plate with three hits including a home run and double.

Wednesday, May 14

In the first game of a rain-created doubleheader at Philadelphia, two streaks are ended. The Cardinals have their nine-game win streak snapped, breaking a scoreless tie in the seventh before the Phillies counter with a two-run rally a half-inning later to triumph, 2-1. Not featuring offensively for the Phillies is Kyle Schwarber, who fails to reach base in four plate appearances and thus ends his streak of 47 straight games with at least a hit, walk or HBP—just nine short of the all-time Phillies mark, set by Mike Schmidt in 1981-82. Schwarber’s 41 game-streak to start a season is penned as the longest in Phillies annals; he’ll go deep for the 15th time in the second game to tie Aaron Judge for the MLB lead, but it’s not enough as the Cardinals get back on the winning track with a 14-7 rout.

New manager, same ol’ Rockies. Colorado is swept in a three-game series at Arlington by the Rangers, 8-3, tagging interim pilot Warren Schaeffer with a 0-3 record thus far. Far more embarrassingly, the loss drops the Rockies to 7-36 on the year—the worst 43-game start in major league history. (Even the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who finished at 20-134, were 8-35 after 43 games.) Earning the win for Texas is Patrick Corbin, who after a miserable last five years in Washington (33-70 record, 5.62 ERA) looks to be recapturing the light with the Rangers. The 35-year-old southpaw improves to 3-2 with a 3.35 ERA, allowing three runs over six innings; he has yet to allow more than three runs in any of his seven starts this season.

The guy batting last comes to the rescue again in Detroit, as pinch-hitter Justyn-Henry Malloy’s pinch-hit single with two outs in the ninth brings home the winning run to give the Tigers a 6-5 home victory. It’s the first time since 1996 that an MLB team has won consecutive games thanks to a walkoff hit from the #9 batter. Detroit prevails despite an iffy outing for reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal—who strikes out 11 over six innings but also surrenders a season-high five runs.

The Angels’ Ben Joyce, whose rocket arm produced a 105.5-MPH pitch timed as the 2024 season’s fastest, will miss the rest of 2025 to undergo shoulder surgery. The 24-year-old right-hander appeared in five games early this year, striking out just one batter over 4.1 innings before being sidelined with inflammation.

Thursday, May 15

The Twins win their 11th straight game with a 4-0 decision at Baltimore over the Orioles, but the effort isn’t without pain. In the third inning, a pop-up to short-center by the Orioles’ Cedric Mullins sends shortstop Carlos Correa out, center fielder Byron Buxton in—and they both collide, banging their heads against one another. (Buxton makes the catch and someone holds on as both players fall to the ground.) Correa leaves the game immediately; Buxton will exit an inning later. Both will undergo concussion protocol; Correa will return in eight days, while Buxton will be sidelined for two weeks. Chris Paddack gets the win for Minnesota, throwing seven shutout innings. Buxton and Dashawn Kersey Jr. each homer in the top of the third, shortly before the collision.

The Twins’ first month-plus is eerily similar to last year, when the Twins were 7-13 before running off a 12-game winning streak. This year, their current run of 11 straight wins follows a 13-20 start.

An honest-to-goodness, old-time pitching duel takes place in Arlington where the Rangers’ Jacob deGrom throws eight shutout innings and outperforms emerging Houston ace Hunter Brown (who goes the distance) in a 1-0 Texas victory. The win is the 2,195th for Bruce Bochy, moving ahead of Sparky Anderson for sixth place on the all-time list among managers. Joe Torre, next on the list at #5, has 131 more wins.

2000 NL Rookie of the Year and three-time All-Star shortstop Rafael Furcal earned nearly $100 million over his 15-year career. He’s going to need a bit of that dough for some lawyers after turning himself to authorities in Broward County, Florida, where he’s charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and “throwing a missile” into a public or private dwelling or vehicle. It’s later revealed that Furcal was involved in an act of road rage when he confronted another driver with whom he nearly collided with in a back parking lot; Furcal threw several rocks at the man, who had his hand cut while shielding his head.

Rich Rollins, who primarily played with the Twins during a 10-year career, has passed away at the age of 87. The Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania native showed early promise; he was a rookie All-Star in 1962, batting .298 with 16 home runs and 96 RBIs, hit .307 the following year, then led the AL with 10 triples in another solid campaign in 1964. But Rollins seemed to fade as did many hitters during the late 1960s as pitching became more dominant; he never hit over .250 in any of his final six seasons, thus reducing himself to part-time play. When the Twins made it to the World Series in 1965, he only appeared three times at the plate, managing to reach base once with a walk.

Friday, May 16

Reunions take center stage as MLB’s “Rivalry Weekend” begins. The most prominent of these occurs at New York, where Juan Soto returns to Yankee Stadium for the first time since signing his record-breaking, $765 million deal with the Mets. Soto is greeted in right field by a chorus of cackles and boos from the Stadium’s bleacher fans, many of whom turn their backs on him in derisive protest. At the plate, Soto—who takes the less-than-warm welcome in cheerful stride—walks three times and scores a run, but is otherwise nonexistent as the Mets are defeated by Carlos Rodon (five innings, a run allowed on two hits) and five relievers in a 6-2 Yankee win.

The Athletics, returning to the Bay Area for the first time since their last game in Oakland eight months ago, are throttled by the Giants and a potent 1-2 punch of Wilmer Flores and Logan Webb, 9-1. Flores, having a massive bounceback season, belts three home runs—including a grand slam to open the scoring in the third. He’s only the second Giants player (after Joc Pederson in 2022), to go three-deep in Oracle Park’s 26-year history. Meanwhile, Webb clamps down on the A’s for eight solid innings, improving to 5-3 with a 2.42 ERA.

The sellout crowd at San Francisco lacks the usual infiltration of green-and-gold seen in previous years when the Athletics visited from across the bay. Many local A’s fans, still seething over the team’s departure from Oakland, have either checked out or are protesting, in absentia, the franchise’s shift to Las Vegas via Sacramento.

In his first game back at Fenway Park after spending seven mostly injury-cursed seasons there as a Red Sock, Chris Sale gets the edge over current Boston ace Garrett Crochet, allowing a run on five hits with eight strikeouts through seven innings as the Braves take a 4-2 victory. In defeat, Crochet also lasts seven frames, conceding only a pair of solo homers in the second (to Matt Olson and Sean Murphy), while also striking out eight.

Bryce Harper joins seven other active major league ballplayers in surpassing the 1,000-RBI threshold, as he singles home the game’s first run on a fifth-inning single against visiting cross-state rival Pittsburgh. Harper will add insurance with another RBI single in the eighth as the Phillies triumph, 8-4. At 32 years, six months and change, Harper is the youngest of the eight active players with over 1,000 ribbies.

Saturday, May 17

The Orioles, undoubtedly MLB’s most disappointing team thus far in 2025, fire manager Brandon Hyde after a 15-28 start. Hyde experienced both the yin and the yang in his six-plus seasons in Baltimore, overseeing two 100-loss campaigns over his first three years before the team rebuilt from within and quickly grew strong, winning 101 games in 2023 and earning Hyde AL Manager of the Year honors. But visions of a dynasty have proven elusive; despite making the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, the Orioles failed to win a single postseason game, followed by the team’s startling bad start this year.

Hyde can’t be blamed for too much of the young roster’s surprising deterioration, especially a shellshocked pitching staff that has the AL’s worst team ERA (5.42). To that point, Hyde’s interim replacement—former third base coach Tony Mansolino—can only watch as the starting pitcher for his first game, Kyle Gibson, lasts just two-thirds of an inning, giving up six runs as the Orioles lose at home to Washington, 10-6.

The Twins make it 13 straight wins—and three straight shutouts—as they blank the Brewers at Milwaukee, 7-0. The win streak is tied for the third longest in franchise history, and the second longest since the team’s move to Minnesota in 1961. The 33 straight scoreless innings pitched is the longest in the Twin Cities Era; the 1913 Senators, anchored by Hall-of-Fame ace Walter Johnson, hold the franchise mark with 39 straight zeroes. Pablo Lopez throws six of the scoreless innings to earn the win; Ryan Jeffers features at the plate with four hits including his third home run of the season.

Clayton Kershaw makes his 2025 debut at Los Angeles against the Angels, but he’s far from sharp—conceding five runs on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts over four innings. Five Dodgers relievers don’t fare much better, as the Angels outlast their regional rivals, 11-9. Logan O’Hoppe’s three-run home run is the killer blow in a five-run seventh that gives the Halos the lead for keeps.

The Diamondbacks are scoring a bunch of runs this year—and they’re definitely giving up a bunch, too. What looks like an emerging rout of the visiting, woebegone Rockies turns into a shocking loss as Colorado notches eight runs over the final four innings to triumph, 14-12. The top five batters in the Rockies’ lineup combine for 15 of the team’s 19 hits, including five homers, two doubles and two triples. This is the fourth time the Diamondbacks have scored 11 or more runs this season; they have lost three of those games. In the previous 27 years, Arizona had plated 11+ runs 234 times—and lost just once.

Sunday, May 18

Philadelphia reliever Jose Alvarado is suspended for 80 games—and will be ineligible for 2025 postseason play—after testing positive for PEDs. It’s a big hit to the Phillies, as Alvarado’s 2.70 ERA (and 4-1 record) was a beacon of light within a bullpen otherwise languishing with a 4.86 figure. Speaking on behalf of Alvarado, Phillies front office head Dave Dombroski says that the offending drug, exogenous testosterone, was part of a weight-loss drug taken by Alvarado during the offseason—and that the pitcher did not realize it. The 29-year-old southpaw will forfeit $4.5 million of his 2025 salary as his suspension comes without pay.

On the field for the Phillies, it’s a sterling major league debut for Mick Abel. Brought up to replace the injured Aaron Nola, the 23-year-old Portland, Oregon right-hander—22-34 with a 4.53 ERA in 92 career minor league starts—outduels Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes for six innings, allowing five hits and no walks with nine strikeouts as the Phillies eke out a 1-0 victory on Brandon Marsh’s fifth-inning ground-ball RBI. Abel is only the third player in modern major league history to strike out at least nine batters with no walks and no runs allowed in his debut appearance. The other two are the Pirates’ Nick Kingham (2018) and Cubs’ Shota Imanaga (2024).

Abel will be sent back to the minors the next day.

Skenes, who goes eight innings and allows the game’s only tally on just three hits, is 3-5 despite a 2.44 ERA. Outside of 10 runs of support for Skenes on April 14, the Pirates have scored just 21 times in nine starts for last year’s Rookie of the Year.

The Twins’ winning streak is over. The opposing Brewers hand Minnesota a 5-2 defeat, the Twins’ first loss after 13 straight victories—this longest seen so far this year in MLB. The key moment occurs in the Twins’ eighth as Milwaukee center fielder Jackson Chourio robs Royce Lewis of a two-run homer that would have tied the game at 4-4. A half-inning later, Rhys Hoskins will bring home an insurance tally with a sac fly, capping the scoring on the day.

Miami’s Cal Quantrill performs the first immaculate inning (nine pitches, nine strikes, three outs) in the majors this season; it’s only the second in Marlins franchise history, after Jesus Sanchez in 1998. The rare event takes place in the fourth of five innings thrown by Quantrill, who overall allows a run on two hits with 6 K’s as the Marlins defeat the visiting Tampa Bay Rays, 5-1.

Long-time Dodgers Swiss Army knife Chris Taylor is released in the midst of his 10th season with the team. The 34-year-old Taylor, an All-Star in 2021, has seen scarce activity with just seven hits (five singles, two doubles) in 35 at-bats this season. He has played every position for the Dodgers except first base, catcher and pitcher; the Dodgers still owe him $13.4 million through 2026.

Taylor will be immediately picked up by the Angels.

Monday, May 19

Kyle Schwarber’s 466-foot bomb in the Phillies’ 9-3 win at Colorado is the 300th of his career, joining 10 other active major leaguers who have reached the milestone. Of historic note, Schwarber notched #300 with his 949th career hit; the latter number is the fewest anyone has needed to reach the former. The Rockies, who lead 3-2 before a bullpen collapse results in seven unanswered Phillies runs over the last two innings, drop to 8-39. They continue to set daily records for the worst-ever start by an MLB team.

For one night, the Miami Marlins—currently baseball’s most anonymous team—make noise as they take a wild 8-7 win over the visiting Cubs. Jesus Sanchez hits a leadoff homer in the first—then ends it with two outs in the ninth with a two-run triple. He’s the first player in MLB history to start his team’s first inning with a home run, then finish the game with a triple.

In defeat, Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya knocks in five runs for the third time since the start of 2024. In fact, of the nine occurrences in which a Chicago player has collected at least five RBIs since that time, six of them have been achieved by catchers batting eighth or ninth in the lineup—three by Amaya, two by Carson Kelly, and a 7-RBI performance by Christian Bethancourt last August.

Tuesday, May 20

In his first start in four weeks, Boston’s Walker Buehler is having a good outing going against the visiting Mets, but is infuriated by a series of bad calls from home plate umpire Mike Estabrook—who ends up ejecting the pitcher one out into the third inning after being excessively barked at. Red Sox manager Alex Cora goes out to argue the dismissal and quickly gets the thumb himself. Buehler will be followed by six relievers who keep New York’s bats silent the rest of the night, as the Red Sox take a 2-0 victory. Rafael Devers, continuing to look more than comfortable at the DH spot, goes solo for his 10th homer of the year. The Mets’ Juan Soto, meanwhile, has a single and walk in four trips to the plate a day after getting criticized for standing at home plate and admiring a deep drive that ended up hitting the top of the Green Monster at Fenway Park. (He ended up with a single.)

The Mets’ loss is their third straight; they are the last MLB team this season to suffer a three-game skid. They drop 1.5 games behind Philadelphia in the NL East, as the Phillies surge to their fifth straight win with a 7-4 decision at Colorado against the Rockies (8-40).

Milwaukee rookie right-hander Logan Henderson makes history by becoming the first major leaguer to win his first three career starts with at least seven strikeouts in each. The 23-year old allows two hits over five shutout innings as the Brewers topple the scuffling Orioles, 5-2; in 16 innings since being called up from the minors, Henderson has allowed three runs on nine hits and four walks, striking out 23.

It’s the eighth straight loss for Baltimore, its longest slide since losing 19 in a row in August 2021. 

After another positive start on May 25 against the Pirates (giving up a run over five innings), Henderson will be sent back to the minors to make room for reliever DL Hall from the 60-day Injured List.

Wednesday, May 21

The news for the Pirates is a mix of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Behind strong pitching fronted by starter Andrew Heaney, Pittsburgh takes a 3-1 victory over the visiting Reds—but for the 26th straight game, the Bucs fail to score more than four runs, tying a major league record set four previous times, most recently by the 1969 Angels. So, that’s the good and the ugly; the bad news comes in the announcement that Jared Jones, whose blossoming with the Bucs last season was overshadowed by the arrival of Paul Skenes but has yet to pitch this year, will have to wait until 2026 as he undergoes season-ending surgery on his pitching elbow.

Behind seven shutout innings from Kevin Gausman and a grand slam from Daulton Varsho, the Blue Jays swamp the visiting Padres, 14-0. It matches the Jays’ biggest home shutout victory in team history, matching a 2001 game against the Yankees highlighted by a 116-pitch shutout from Chris Carpenter and a pinch-hit grand slam from 39-year-old Tony Fernandez, the last homer of his 17-year career. The loss is the fifth straight for San Diego, scoring only three runs during the skid. Only once has a Padres team scored fewer runs in a five-game stretch, occurring in 1969 when the expansion edition notched only two during another five-game slide.

Thursday, May 22

The Phillies finish off a four-game sweep at Colorado with a 2-0 win, ending the season series against the Rockies with a perfect 7-0 record. It’s the first time in the Phillies’ 143-year history that they’ve swept another team in a season series consisting of at least seven games. Ranger Suarez improves to 3-0 on the year with 6.2 shutout innings, outdueling the Rockies’ German Marquez (seven innings, two runs—one earned—on four hits).

The Rockies (8-42) continue to have the worst start in modern MLB history.

The Pirates lose at home to Milwaukee, 8-5, dropping to 17-34 on the year—but the silver lining for the Bucs is that, for the first time in a month, they score more than four runs. While a two-run rally in the ninth is too little, too late to come from behind, it does end a record-tying streak of 26 games in which the Bucs had scored four or fewer runs. On the year, Pittsburgh’s 151 runs rank dead last in the majors; the team is on pace score 480 for the entire season, which would be the lowest figure achieved in the post-1972 designated hitter era.

Friday, May 23

The Red Sox hammer the visiting Orioles, 19-5, scoring 13 runs in the eighth inning—eight of those off “emergency pitcher” Emmanuel Rivera, a rookie third baseman pitching in relief of Baltimore relievers. Four of those runs come on one swing by Rafael Devers, who cranks out his second grand slam in six days and seventh of this career; with an RBI single earlier in the inning, Devers knocks in five during the frame—and a career-high eight for the game. The game is a Friday afternoon make-up for a rainout the previous night; the originally scheduled game, set for later in the evening, is also washed out.

This whole “position player pitching to give the staff a rest” thing has got to stop. It’s become embarrassing to MLB and a joke for those who enjoy the game. Laughs and awkward shrugs often accommodate these guys as their pitches are easier to hit than those thrown by batting practice pitchers. To wit: Devers’ slam comes on a 54-MPH eephus pitch from Rivera. It’s clearly understood that today’s pitchers don’t throw as many innings because of the increased speed, spin, and resulting stress they put on their arms, but these guys are paid to pitch and they shouldn’t have to sit in deference to an infielder or whoever turns the inning into a silly freak show. Chuckle if you want at the one-sided exhibition, but that’s not what baseball should be about. Make the pitchers pitch, regardless of the score; if you must, add an extra roster spot for another reliever. A lot of minor leaguers would be happy with that, and besides—what’s an extra minimum salary to major league front offices? 

A few years back, commissioner Rob Manfred seriously considered the Little League-like mercy rule to end games early if a team took a gigantic lead. If MLB is going to allow this continuing farce of teams waiving white flags and sending non-pitchers to take the mound, maybe mercy would be a more honorable option.

In his first game back in just under a year, 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. leads off for the Braves and sends the first pitch from San Diego’s Nick Pivetta’s 467 feet over the center-field fence. But that will end up being the evening’s only tally for the Braves as Pivetta and Chris Sale dig in for a pitcher’s duel that gets settled by the bullpen in the ninth on Manny Machado’s solo homer, giving San Diego a 2-1 victory. Acuna will add a single in three more at-bats, but the rest of the Atlanta lineup will combine for just four other hits—all singles—as the Braves drop to 24-26.

In the season’s first matchup between baseball’s two biggest spenders, the Dodgers and Mets take four hours, eight minutes and 13 innings—all MLB season highs—to settle a 7-5 victory in favor of Los Angeles. (Adding to the marathon: A one hour, 38-minute rain delay that discourages a good chunk of the 40,449 in attendance at Citi Field from sticking around.) The Dodgers look to have the game in hand in the ninth, but closer Tanner Scott suffers his second meltdown in four days, blowing a 5-2 lead as the Mets rally for three runs and send the game into extras. Over next three innings, each team will get their gift runner to third but no further as the game remains knotted at 5-5; in the 13th, the Dodgers finally break through with a pair of runs, the first scored on Teoscar Hernandez’s leadoff RBI double. 

The highly-anticipated mano a mano between the two teams’ near-billionaires—the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and Mets’ Juan Soto—is, on this night, a bust. Ohtani has a single and walk in six plate appearances, while Soto continues a late-month funk by going 0-for-5 with an intentional pass—dropping his season batting average to .236. 

The Dodgers have won 20 of their last 25 games at Citi Field, including postseason action.

Cleveland pitcher Ben Lively, who’s looked to have finally made his mark in the majors over the past year-plus, will undergo Tommy John surgery to end his 2025 campaign. After posting a 13-10 record and 3.81 ERA last season, the 33-year-old right-hander was off to another quality start this year, registering a 2-2 record in nine starts with a fine 3.22 ERA.

Saturday, May 24

One streak ends, another continues in Anaheim. The Angels see the end of their eight-game winning streak—the franchise’s longest in 11 years—with a 6-2 loss to the visiting Marlins. In defeat, however, Angels outfielder Taylor Ward drops in a ground-rule double in the ninth to extend his streak of consecutive games with an extra-base hit to 10, setting a team record previously held by Darin Erstad in 1998. Janson Junk pitches the final 5.1 innings for the Marlins to record the longest save by innings since Tampa Bay’s Austin Pruitt (5.2) in 2018.

In Sacramento, two teams continue to go in completely opposite directions. The Athletics are two outs away from snapping a 10-game skid, but the Phillies’ Max Kepler drills a solo home run off closer Mason Miller to tie the game at 6-6. With the game sent into extras, the A’s could win it in the bottom of the 10th as they have the bases loaded and no one out, but a Brent Rooker fly ball is caught by center fielder Brandon Marsh—who next guns down Logan Davidson attempting to score the winning run on a very close play at the plate. The rally extinguished, the Phillies respond with three runs—the first two scoring on a Kyle Schwarber double—in the top of the 11th to triumph, 9-6. The Phillies’ win is their ninth straight, matching their longest in three years. Meanwhile, the A’s 11-game drought is their longest since dropping 11 straight in 2023.

For the second time this season, the Yankees plate 10 runs in a single inning, rallying in the fifth to pull away from the Rockies in a 13-1 victory at Colorado. The big inning is hardly done with a bludgeon; while there are three doubles, there are also four singles (one an infield hit), three walks (one intentional), two sac flies and a big throwing error by Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland. The Yankees’ only homer on the day comes off the bat of Aaron Judge, belting his 18th in the first inning. It’s Judge’s second blast in as many games, the first two regular season contests he has ever played at Coors Field. (He did play a third game, the 2021 All-Star Game, at Coors, going hitless in two at-bats with a walk.)

Sunday, May 25

Tarik Skubal throws his first career complete game and shutout, limiting the visiting Guardians to just two hits while striking out 13 on 94 total pitches in a 5-0 victory. The reigning AL Cy Young champ had only once completed eight innings in 133 previous starts. Skubal’s final pitch of the game is clocked at 102.6 MPH—the fastest recorded such delivery in the ninth inning by a starting pitcher.

Since pitch counts became an official stat in 1988, no pitcher had ever thrown a shutout with 13 or more strikeouts in under 100 pitches.

In the Pirates’ 6-5 home loss to Milwaukee, Oneil Cruz drills a home run past the right-field foul pole at 122.9 MPH—the hardest hit ball since Statcast began keeping official track of such velocities in 2016. The Cruz missile ends up in the Allegheny River behind PNC Park.

Cruz held the old mark for the hardest hit Statcast-era ball, a 122.4-MPH home run in 2022.

The A’s finally get in the win column after 11 straight losses, rallying for two runs in the bottom of the eighth and overcoming the visiting Phillies in Sacramento, 6-5—ending Philadelphia’s nine-game win streak. An RBI single from Willie MacIver, making his major league debut at age 28, brings home Lawrence Butler, who had struck a game-tying triple.

Monday, May 26

The struggling Rangers drop a 2-1 decision against the visiting Blue Jays and Kevin Gausman, who pitches eight innings and allows a run on five hits and no walks. On the other side, Jacob deGrom loses for the first time in seven starts despite a decent outing, allowing a pair of runs over 5.1 innings. Interestingly, though, deGrom doesn’t strike out a single batter—the first time in 229 career starts that he’s failed to do so.

Surprise, surprise—the Orioles’ 5-2 win over the Cardinals not only breaks an eight-game skid at home, but it’s the first win of the year for Charlie Morton, who easily has his finest outing of 2025 as he allows two runs on four hits over six innings. Things had gotten so bad for the 41-year-old veteran that he had recently been demoted to the bullpen; he entered this start with a 0-7 record and 7.68 ERA. Dylan Carlson lifts the Orioles offensively with a home run and three RBIs.

Tuesday, May 27

The continuing futility that is the 2025 Rockies results in another unfortunate milestone, as Colorado sets an MLB record with its 21st straight series loss—falling in 11 innings to the Cubs at Chicago, 4-3. After taking a 3-2 lead in the top of the 11th, the Rockies fail to hold both the advantage and then the tie, as RBI singles from Michael Busch and rookie Matt Shaw tips the score in the Cubs’ favor.

The Rockies’ record drought includes all 18 series they’ve played this year, and the final three of 2024; their last series victory came when they took two of three home games against Arizona last September 16-18.

Shohei Ohtani becomes the first major leaguer this season to reach 20 homers on the year, going deep for the third straight day as the Dodgers upend the Guardians at Cleveland, 9-5. The reigning NL MVP is the third Dodger to hit at least 20 taters within the team’s first 55 games of a season, joining Gil Hodges (1951) and Cody Bellinger (2019).

Miami second baseman Ronny Simon has the kind of night where he just wants to crawl into a hole. After contributing an RBI single in a six-run first inning for the Marlins at San Diego, the Dominican rookie nearly gives it all back to the Padres via a series of defensive miscues; by the end of the fourth inning, the Padres tie it at 6-6 as Simon commits three errors—and initially has a fourth charged to him, before the official scorer later changes it to a hit for Xander Bogaerts. Simon, hiding tears with his glove, will be replaced in the fifth by Otto Lopez; the Padres will quickly take the lead on a Luis Arraez run-scoring single, then add insurance in the eighth on a Jackson Merrill homer to wrap up an 8-6, come-from-behind victory.

Two days later, Simon will be designated for assignment by the Marlins.

Wednesday, May 28

It’s just another day on the mound for Paul Skenes, who allows four hits over 6.2 shutout innings—and more impressively, finally gets abundant support from Pittsburgh teammates as he picks up his first win in five weeks with a 10-1 victory at Arizona. On the eve of his 23rd birthday, Skenes has a career 2.03 ERA; among pitchers who threw 200 or more innings before turning 23, only Dutch Leonard (1.80) has a better ERA.

The Pirates have scored 37 runs over their last seven games; that’s the same number of runs they tallied over their 18 games before that.

Do the Royals have their very own Skenes? In Kansas City’s 3-2 win over the visiting Reds, southpaw rookie Noah Cameron allows a run over 6.1 innings—his fourth straight outing to start a career with six-plus innings and one or none runs allowed. The only other lefty to achieve that: Fernando Valenzuela, in his historic breakout of 1981.

If the Dodgers truly are to be the juggernaut everyone expected back on Opening Day, they’d better get their pitching—and especially reliever Tanner Scott—in order. A couple of innings after Clayton Kershaw gives Los Angeles five solid frames in his third start of the year, Scott enters and commits his third blown save in his last five appearances—surrendering four runs, three of those on a tie-breaking home run from Cleveland’s Angel Martinez, that gives the Guardians a 7-4 win and avoid a three-game home sweep by the Dodgers.

In his last 4.2 innings, Scott has given up 10 runs (nine earned). His season ERA, which just nine days earlier was at 1.74, has ballooned to 4.62, while his five blown saves this year lead the majors.

The Tommy John epidemic continues to cause havoc with the Houston Astros. Ronel Blanco, a breakout pitcher last season with a 13-6 record, 2.80 ERA and no-hitter, will undergo the procedure to end his 2025 campaign—and likely a good chunk of the 2026 season as well. In nine starts this season, Blanco was 3-4 with a 4.10 ERA. He hasn’t pitched since May 17 as he dealt with inflammation in his right elbow. Blanco is the fifth Astros starting pitcher to undergo TJ surgery since the start of last season. The others are Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and, just last week, Hayden Wesneski.

Thursday, May 29

In the second game of a weather-created doubleheader at Philadelphia, the Braves’ Chris Sale becomes the 40th player in MLB history to reach 2,500 career strikeouts—but he’s the fastest to get to the milestone in terms of innings pitched, reaching the mark within 2,026 frames—breaking the old mark set by Randy Johnson (2,107.2). Sale achieves the record in style, pitching six shutout innings while allowing just two hits in Atlanta’s 9-3 victory, giving the Braves a split on the day after losing the first game, 5-4.

The Nationals set a franchise record by scoring seven runs in an extra inning, breaking up a 2-2 tie in the 10th and prevailing at Seattle, 9-3. Josh Bell’s three-run homer caps the big inning for Washington.

The Dodgers, looking for potential closer help in the wake of Tanner Scott’s repeated meltdowns, trade for Cincinnati’s Alexis Diaz. The former Reds closer isn’t going to be an immediate panacea; after saving 65 games over the past two seasons, Diaz got off to an awful start with the Reds, with decreased effectiveness and velocity before being sent down to Triple-A Louisville—where he continued to struggle with a 4.61 ERA and 12 walks over 13.2 innings.

Friday, May 30

A week after taking on the Mets, the Dodgers face off for the first time this year against New York’s other team and its megastar as the Yankees and Aaron Judge come to Los Angeles in the first meeting between the two ballclubs since last year’s World Series. Things get off to a fun start; both Judge and Shohei Ohtani supply solo home runs in the first inning, before three additional Yankee bombs (from Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham and Austin Wells) make it a 5-2 New York lead after three innings. But that’s as much offense as the Yankees will generate on the night; the Dodgers score six unanswered runs, including four in the sixth off Max Fried (who suffers his first loss as a Yankee after seven wins), highlighted by another Ohtani solo shot as Los Angeles rolls to an 8-5 win.

Absent from the game is Dodgers infielder Mookie Betts, who is expected to miss the entire three-game series against the Yankees after fracturing his toe walking in the dark to his bathroom at home. “Just pain,” Betts shrugs when asked how bad it is.

For the second straight night, the Mariners get piled up on in extra innings. The visiting Minnesota Twins are down to their last out trailing by three against Seattle closer Andres Munoz—who has an AL-high 17 saves and a perfect 0.00 ERA on the season to date. But three batters later, the Twins will complete a three-run rally (including a two-run Willi Castro homer, his second of the night) to tie the game. The Twins don’t stop there; in the 10th, they amass six more runs for a 12-6 victory. In defeat, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh cranks out two home runs, giving him an AL-high 21 on the year; he’s the first catcher to reach 20 before the start of June.

The loss for the Mariners comes a night after surrendering seven runs in the 10th to Washington. According to stat whiz Jessica Brand, they’re the first team since 1912 to allow six or more runs in an extra inning in back-to-back games; the last team to do so twice within a season was the 2002 Royals. 

The Mariners will go extra innings again the next night against the Twins—and win, 5-4 in 10.

Houston ace Framber Valdez throws nine innings on just 83 pitches—and the Astros make him a 2-1 winner over the visiting Rays on Yainer Diaz’s two-out, walkoff homer in the ninth. Valdez’s lone run allowed occurs on a Jose Caballero leadoff homer in the first; he’ll concede just two more hits and a walk the rest of the way.

No pitcher has had a lower pitch count through nine innings since Kyle Hendricks, who had 81 in a 2019 game.

Mike Trout returns for the first time in a month, and the Angels snap a five-game skid with a 4-1 victory at Cleveland. In five at-bats, Trout collects a single and strikes out twice. Meanwhile, the Guardians’ Jose Ramirez has a career-high 21-game hitting streak snapped; it’s the longest run for a Cleveland player since Michael Brantley connected in 22 straight games in 2012.

Saturday, May 31

In seems rather astonishing that a team like the Rays, so loathe to ever let their starting pitchers go the distance, allow Zack Littell to keep going, and going, and going. In a 16-3 rout of the Astros at Houston, Littell—a full-time reliever just three years ago—is given no leash with a big lead and no apparent concern for a pitch count that eventually reaches an MLB season-high 117 in a complete-game effort. An already well-rested bullpen only begins to stir for a possible rescue of Littell with two outs in the ninth, but the 29-year-old right-hander holds firm and strikes out Brendan Rodgers to finish the job. Littell’s nine innings snaps a 647-game drought without a Rays pitcher throwing a complete game, the second longest such streak in major league history. What’s the longest? The 731 games before the Rays’ last complete game, with only Ryan Yarbrough (in 2021) going the distance for Tampa Bay over the past nine years.

The 10 hits allowed by Littell are the most by a pitcher going the distance since Jameson Taillon in a 2018 game for Pittsburgh at Colorado.

The Royals and Michael Wacha barely win the day over the streaking Tigers and Tarik Skubal, as Wacha takes a no-hitter into the seventh and settles for seven shutout innings in a 1-0 victory. Skubal, who in his previous start threw a two-hit shutout and publicly mused of wanting to go deeper into games, is pulled after seven shutout innings with just two hits and no walks allowed on 90 pitches. In comes reliever Beau Brieske, who promptly concedes the game’s only run on a Vinnie Pasquantino RBI single.

Maybe had former Tigers ace Justin Verlander, currently on injury rest with the Giants, was Skubal’s manager, he might have given him the chance to go the distance. Just a day before this game, Verlander tells The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen: “I’m the Tigers, I’ve got the best pitcher in baseball, I want that mother**ker out there as long as possible…Ride that horse.”

While Littell, Skubal and Wacha thrive, Jesus Luzardo has a near-historic awful day. At Philadelphia, the 27-year-old Peruvian—who comes into the day with a 5-0 record and 2.15 ERA—is pummeled for 12 runs over 3.1 innings, as the Brewers run away with a 17-7 decision. The dozen runs given up by Luzardo are the most allowed by a Phillies pitcher since Al Jurisich in a complete-game loss to the New York Giants in 1947.

Outside of Luzardo, the one guy looking more for a place to hide is Arizona’s Brandon Pfaadt, himself having a solid year with a 7-3 record and 3.90 ERA at the start of his home assignment against Washington. What follows is a horror show, as Pfaadt faces eight batters—all of whom reach and score on six hits and two HBPs—before his removal. The bloodletting will continue as reliever Scott McGough will surrender three more runs on three hits and another hit batsman, as the Nationals pile up 10 runs in the first and another in the second, all they will need in an 11-7 victory.

Pfaadt is the 11th pitcher ever—and the second this season, after the Cubs’ Ryan Pressly on May 6 against the Giants—to allow eight or more runs without recording an out. Pressly gave up nine runs, although one of those was an unearned gift runner during an 11th-inning meltdown. FYI: Paul Wilson did it twice while pitching for the Reds, in 2003 and 2005.

Overall, five Nationals are hit by Arizona pitchers, setting team marks for both. CJ Abrams is plunked three times himself—twice in the first inning—to set a Montreal/Washington franchise record.

The Dodgers and Yankees have played 95 games against one another—71 of those being World Series games—but until Saturday, no game between them had been decided by more than eight runs. But with the help of 10 runs over the first two innings, the Dodgers ultimately double that bar as they pound the Yankees by 16 in a dominant 18-2 rout at Los Angeles. Max Muncy has the Dodgers’ most impressive box score line, bashing two homers among three hits with a career high-tying seven RBIs; first-year Korean import Hyeseong Kim goes 4-for-4 from the #9 spot with a double and homer, raising his season average to .422 over 21 games.