5/22-5/23 MLB Newsletter

American League

East

• Yankees (35-17, v. SEA): With a shutout win on Thursday that split the four-game series, the Yankees starting pitchers have now gone 11 straight starts of at least 5 IP with two or fewer runs for the first time in franchise history. They have the best staff ERA across MLB at 2.86.

• Orioles (30-18, @ STL/@ CWS): After 106 straight regular season series without being swept, that streak was put to rest on Wednesday. This was the third-longest streak in MLB history, the longest of which belongs to the Cardinals, who ended Baltimore’s streak. Needless to say, this was their longest losing streak of the year, but snapped that on Thursday after a win against the White Sox.
  

• Red Sox (26-24, @ TB): A five-run fifth inning followed by a three-run sixth was more than enough for this team to get their first series sweep at The Trop since April ‘19. 🧹

• Rays (25-26, v. BOS): Falling to their worst losing streak of the season (4) after being swept at home, they’ll look to bounce back as they host Kansas City, which has a .700 winning percentage this month.

• Blue Jays (23-26, v. CWS/@ DET): They’ve scored nine runs in three of the last four games, winning each while allowing three or fewer runs. After winning the series opener, they moved to 8-10 this month. They’ll try to get back to .500 this weekend for the first time since April 29th.

Central

• Guardians (33-17, v. NYM): After being down by three runs through five innings on Wednesday, Andrés Giménez hit a three-run tater to tie it up where Cleveland eventually took the lead and extended their win streak to six, which is tied for the longest active streak with Kansas City and Philadelphia.
  

• Royals (32-19, v. DET): With their fourth consecutive game of scoring eight or more runs, they extended their win streak on Wednesday and will look to tie their longest win streak of the year (7) tonight against a slumping ballclub in the Rays. 🔥

• Twins (26-23, @ WSH): They managed to hang on to the win over Washington on Wednesday, where they moved to 7-4 in one-run ball games, and have now won two straight after losing seven consecutive.

• Tigers (23-27, @ KC/v. TOR): They extended their longest losing streak of the year (5) on Thursday, failing to score more than four runs in any of the games. In May, they are 6-14.
  

• White Sox (15-36, @ TOR/v. BAL): A four-run ninth-inning rally was cut short as Andrew Vaughn brushed up against Gunnar Henderson while an infield fly rule was in effect, resulting in a game-ending call which sealed the loss.

West

• Mariners (27-24, @ NYY): Julio Rodríguez was dropped in the lineup to the six spots on Thursday but was still held hitless as he went 1-for-16 through the four-game series, which Seattle ended up splitting after winning the first two games.

• Rangers (24-27, @ PHI): They were swept for the second time in the last four series and now have 10 losses in their last 12 games. They’ll need to figure out both pitching and offense, as they haven’t scored more than four runs in that span and have allowed four or more runs in all but three of the last 12. 😬
  

• Astros (22-28, v. LAA): Hunter Brown had his longest outing since April 16th, going six innings while allowing two runs, but the offense didn’t do him any favors as they put just one run on the board and went 0-for-6 with RISP.

• Athletics (21-31, v. COL): For the third straight time in this series, this game was decided by just one run, but this time, the A’s found themselves down four runs in the 11th and managed a five-run inning of their own to seal the series victory.

• Angels (20-30, @ HOU): Kyren Paris hit his first career homer, which put the only two runs of the day on the board for LA, but that was enough for them to finish off the series win thanks to eight innings of one-run ball from Tyler Anderson.

Source

National League

East

• Phillies (37-14, v. TEX): Completing their seventh sweep of the season, they’re now on a 29-6 stretch, their best since 1892. Zack Wheeler went seven innings while allowing two runs in yesterday’s win, their sixth straight.
  

• Braves (29-18, @ CHC): Stellar pitching performances led to two wins, leaving the series victorious. Max Fried threw a complete game, allowing two runs (one earned), and the pitching staff tossed a combined shutout yesterday. 😤

• Nationals (21-27, v. MIN): Jake Irvin was handed a loss in his first start against his hometown team in Wednesday’s series rubber match. He allowed two runs over 6.1 innings, but the offense fell short, going 0-for-8 with RISP as they fell to 4-8 in one-run games.
  

• Mets (21-28, @ CLE): They let the Guardians score all six runs in the last three frames on Wednesday, which capped off the third time they were swept this season. After going 15-11 in April, their May record fell to 6-14.
  

• Marlins (17-34, v. MIL): Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a lead-off homer on Wednesday, and that was enough offense because Jesús Luzardo threw eight scoreless innings in the shutout win. Miami will host the World Baseball Classic championship in 2026.

Central

• Brewers (28-20, @ MIA): Freddy Peralta went seven innings of one-run ball, but the offense managed only four hits and failed to score, losing the series rubber match.

• Cubs (27-22, v. ATL): Justin Steele allowed five earned runs in 6.1 innings in Wednesday’s loss, which was his third straight start of four plus earned runs allowed, and the offense was non-existent on Thursday as they failed to put a run on the board.

• Cardinals🔼(23-26, v. BAL): A little league home run that scored three runs was the difference in the final game of a series where the Red Birds got their first sweep of the year against a team that hadn’t been swept in 106 consecutive series.

• Pirates🔽(23-28, v. SF): Despite having their best two pitchers, Jared Jones and Paul Skenes, start on Wednesday and Thursday, the Pirates couldn’t hold on to a win in either matchup. They allowed two late comebacks, and the bullpen ERA fell to MLB’s fourth worst.
  

• Reds (20-30, v. SD): Frankie Montas allowed four runs in the first two innings, and the offense was eventually able to tie up the series rubber match and send it to extras, where the Reds failed to score to lose the game in the tenth. 😞

West

• Dodgers (33-19, v. AZ): Tyler Glasnow had his second consecutive start of five innings while allowing three or more runs, while the offense had just six hits, going 0-for-8 with RISP, and was held scoreless. This was the sixth game out of the last eight where they were held to four or fewer runs. 🫣
  

• Padres (27-26, @ CIN): Luis Arraez became the fifth Padre in history to have back-to-back four-hit games as the Padres won both games, sealing the series victory. After a seven-game road trip, they’ll head home to host six against the Yankees and Marlins.
  

• Giants🔼(25-26, @ PIT): Blake Snell struggled in his return on Wednesday, going 3.1 innings while allowing four runs, but the offense came back to take it to extras and win with a four-run tenth inning. They followed that up with five runs in the eighth inning yesterday to seal the series victory.

• Diamondbacks🔽(24-26, @ LAD): Ketel Marte extended his hitting streak to 21 while they used six pitchers in a combined shutout to get their first series win at Dodger Stadium since ‘18. Corbin Carroll hit his third triple in the last five games.
  

• Rockies (16-33, @ OAK): They found themselves in their second consecutive extra innings game, but even after going up four runs in the 11th, they couldn’t hold on as they allowed a five-run inning to lose the series.

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