5/20-5/21 MLB Newsletter

American League

East

• Yankees (33-17, v. SEA): After winning seven straight, they dropped the last two games. They allowed four runs in the top of the ninth on Monday to lose a game they led from the bottom of the first and allowed four homers in Tuesday’s loss. Nestor Cortes will take the mound today in hopes of avoiding their first time swept this year.

• Orioles (29-16, @ STL): Gunnar Henderson hit a home run for his fourth straight game in Monday’s loss as Dean Kremer allowed five runs through four innings. Yesterday’s game was postponed at one run each to this afternoon in the middle of the sixth inning after inclement weather. ⛈️
  

• Red Sox🔼(25-24, @ TB): Scoring five runs in back-to-back games, coupled with having the second-lowest ERA in baseball, has set up Boston to get a sweep in Tampa for the first time since April ‘19. Jarren Durran had a solo homer and stole home in Tuesday’s win. Rafael Devers set a Red Sox record on Monday with his sixth straight game with a homer.

• Rays🔽(25-25, v. BOS): For the first time since July ‘19, Tampa lost a series to Boston at home. They were held to three hits on Monday and went 1-for-7 with RISP on Tuesday.

• Blue Jays (21-26, v. CWS): The offense showed up on Monday, scoring nine runs on twelve hits to seal a win, but it might have used up all its juice, as it put just two hits on the board on Tuesday, failing to score in the loss.

Central

• Guardians (32-17, v. NYM): José Ramírez and David Fry, whom Steven Voght called the heart and soul of the team behind the scenes, both hit two-run homers on Tuesday to extend this team’s win streak to five, tied for their longest streak of the year. 📈
  

• Royals (31-19, v. DET): Kansas City has won their last five games while scoring 5+ runs in each. Two Bobby Witt Jr. homers on Tuesday helped seal the win as this team won the first two games of the series by 12 combined runs.

• Twins (25-23, @ WSH): Pablo López allowed more runs in Monday’s loss than he has in his three other starts combined this month, but this team came back on Tuesday with a combined shutout while the offense posted ten runs. Byron Buxton homered twice in the win to put a halt to the seven-game losing streak.

• Tigers (23-25, @ KC): They lost the first two games of the series to a hot Kansas City offense but will have their ace, Tarik Skubal, take the mound today in a pitchers duel against Cole Ragans in hopes of avoiding the sweep. Colt Keith is looking locked in after back-to-back three-hit games.
  

• White Sox (15-34, @ TOR): Erick Feddie took his first loss of the year on Monday as he allowed five runs through six innings, but this team was able to get the win on Tuesday on a combined shutout, thanks in part to Garret Crochet allowing just two hits through six.

West

• Mariners (27-22, @ NYY): After scoring all five of their runs in the eighth inning or later on Monday to take the series opener, Bryan Woo threw six scoreless innings on Tuesday while Dylan Moore hit two homers, tallying four RBIs, enough to win the game by itself.

• Rangers (24-25, @ PHI): Tuesday’s loss marked the first time under Bruce Bochy’s reign that this team went below .500, as they couldn’t get much run support, going 1-for-10 with RISP.
  

• Astros (22-27, v. LAA): Kyle Tucker homered twice on Tuesday to help this team advance to extra innings, where they eventually won. Hunter Brown, who has struggled this season with a 7.71 ERA, will take the mound today in the series rubber match.

• Athletics (20-30, v. COL): Able to spur up some last-minute offense, they scored four runs in the last three innings which set up Mason Miller to come in and strike out the side yet again, extending his scoreless streak to 19.1 innings and becoming the first deliver ever with a 15 game stretch of 40+ Ks, less than five walks and zero runs allowed. I love Mason Miller and I don’t care who knows it. 😍

• Angels (19-30, @ HOU): A seven-run fifth inning on Monday led them to a series-opening win, but they weren’t able to finish the win off on Tuesday as they were walked off in the tenth.

Source

National League

East

• Phillies (35-14, v. TEX): Ranger Suárez advanced to 9-0 on Tuesday as he went seven innings of one-run ball while striking out ten. Suárez is the first pitcher since ‘66 to start 9-0 with a sub-1.50 ERA through ten starts. 🤩
  

• Braves (27-18, v. SD/@ CHC): In the second game of Monday’s doubleheader, they were able to avoid a series sweep against San Diego but slid back to .500 on the month after losing to the Cubs in the bottom of the tenth on Tuesday.

• Nationals🔼(21-26, v. MIN): This team can do it all, from a nine-run win on Monday to a shutout ten-run loss on Tuesday. Patrick Corbin went six innings on Tuesday, allowing eight runs, bringing his season ERA to 6.29.

• Mets🔽(21-27, @ CLE): Despite this pitching staff allowing the fewest home runs in MLB this season, they gave up two homers yesterday in their loss and will rely on José Quintana today to avoid the series sweep.
  

• Marlins (15-33, v. MIL): On the back of Ryan Weathers going seven innings of two-run ball, they were able to get this game into extras, where they walked it off in the tenth inning on Monday. That momentum didn’t roll into Tuesday as A.J. Puk took his fifth loss of the year on a blown save opportunity in the eighth inning.

Central

• Brewers (28-20, @ MIA): Trevor Megill recorded his first blown save of the year on Monday but came back Tuesday and finished the job on the back of a combined five RBIs from William Contreras and Christian Yelich.

• Cubs (27-22, v. PIT): Nico Hoerner, who made his return from the IL on Tuesday, hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth inning as the bullpen didn’t allow a run for 5.1 innings.

• Pirates (23-26, v. SF): In a walk-off win, Oneil Cruz became the first player in the Statcast Era with three hits over 115 mph in a game and the first with two hits over 120 mph. He also surpassed Giancarlo Stanton for the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast Era at 122.4 mph. Barry Bonds was named to the Pirates Hall of Fame.

• Cardinals (21-26, v. BAL): Michael Siani hit his first MLB homer and had a career-high four RBIs on Monday as the Red Birds took game one of the series. Tuesday’s matchup was tied at one a piece in the middle of the sixth inning when it was suspended until this afternoon due to inclement weather and will be finished this afternoon prior to the series finale.
  

• Reds (20-28, @ LAD): David Bell being ejected and breaking a chair in the first inning fired the boys up for a two-run second inning, which was all they needed as Andrew Abbott and company threw a combined shutout. 🪑

West

• Dodgers (33-18, v. AZ): A six-run third inning on Monday was enough to seal the victory, but they struggled to get the offense going as they tallied just six hits in Tuesday’s loss. Tyler Glasnow will take the ball for today’s series rubber match.
  

• Padres (25-26, @ ATL/@ CIN): After winning game one of a doubleheader against Atlanta on Monday, they couldn’t finish off the sweep as they were held to a shutout in the second game. They were also held to a shutout to start the series on Tuesday against the Reds.
  

• Diamondbacks🔼(23-26, @ LAD): Brandon Pfaadt gave this team his fifth straight quality start as he allowed two earned runs through six innings and was able to walk away with the win as Ketel Marte extended his MLB-leading hit streak to 20 games.

• Giants🔽(23-26, @ PIT): Going into the ninth inning on Tuesday with a four-run lead would seem like enough to win, but not yesterday, as they allowed the Pirates to rally for four runs to tie it up and then walk it off in the tenth.
  

• Rockies (15-32, @ OAK): Cal Quantrill gave this team six innings of two-run ball and left with the lead, but the bullpen blew the save opportunity, allowing three runs in their two innings pitched. 💣️

🥔 Tater’s Top Three

🗳️ Suggestion Box 

I love hearing directly from readers, so please reply or vote in the poll to let me know how I’m doing. I hope you have a great Wednesday! See you Friday. 👋