The Cincinnati Reds will look for their second series sweep of the season when they play the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.

Cincinnati’s scheduled starting pitcher, Brady Singer (1-1, 5.60 ERA), earned his first win of the season on Tuesday. The right-hander scattered six hits, gave up one run and struck out one in a 2-1 home victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Though Singer was struck with a comebacker to his right foot in the sixth inning, he finished the frame. X-rays came back negative.

“I’m glad the X-rays came back good,” Singer said. “It caught me square in the foot. But I’m good for the next (start).”

Both of the Reds’ wins over the Twins in this three-game series have been by one run — 2-1 in the opener on Friday and 5-4 after a comeback on Saturday.

Cincinnati swept three games at the Texas Rangers from April 3-5.

Singer said after his last start that the Reds’ bullpen was a difference maker. Cincinnati relievers have not allowed a run in a combined eight innings while posting 11 strikeouts against the Twins.

“They are incredible,” Singer said. “They’ve been huge for us all year long and are going to carry us the rest of the way, too. It’s great to see what they are doing.”

Singer has struggled over 13 career starts against the Twins. He’s 3-7 with a 5.63 ERA and 73 strikeouts.

Bailey Ober (2-0, 5.49 ERA) is set to take the mound for the Twins on Sunday. The right-hander picked up the win in his last start on Monday, when he allowed seven hits, four runs and one walk with seven strikeouts in six innings in a 13-6 decision over the visiting Boston Red Sox.

In four career starts against the Reds, Ober is 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA, 16 strikeouts and seven walks over 21 2/3 innings.

The Twins are 3-0 when Ober pitches at home this season.

After the Minnesota offense sputtered on Friday, the Twins shook up their lineup. Josh Bell moved into the No. 3 hole and Luke Keaschall slid down to the five spot. The move paid immediate dividends as Minnesota took a 2-0 first-inning lead.

Bell and Keaschall each collected two hits in the game, and Austin Martin scored two runs and secured a catch as he ran into the right-field wall. Martin is the right-handed-hitting complement in a right-field platoon with left-handed-hitting Trevor Larnach, who started in left on Saturday.

Martin has a .295 batting average, one home run and four RBIs this season while mostly hitting second when he is in the Twins’ lineup.

“He’s having really consistent at-bats,” manager Derek Shelton said. “It’s the rare opportunity for a guy in a platoon that we are seeing this many left-handers.

“Since spring training, he’s had a high quantity of at-bats and has been very impressive,” Shelton continued. “There’s no urgency in his at-bats, and I mean that in a really good way. He’s taking what’s coming to him, whether it’s taking a walk or being aggressive early in counts.”

Shelton said the team hopes to get Royce Lewis back from the 10-day injured list soon. The Twins’ third baseman has been sidelined by a left knee strain and started his rehab assignment on Saturday with Triple-A St. Paul.

“We thought all along that this (injury) was right at the minimum amount of time or close to it,” Shelton said. “His progression has gone extremely well. He’s done all on-field activities, hit on the field and took ground balls with the group. Now it’s on to the next step.”

–Field Level Media

A year ago, New York Mets left-hander David Peterson was in the midst of a first-half breakout that helped him earn a spot on the National League All-Star team.

Now, Peterson has been scratched from his latest start as skidding New York looks for a spark.

The Mets will aim to end their longest losing streak in more than 20 years on Sunday afternoon when they visit the Chicago Cubs in the finale of a three-game series.

The Mets announced late Saturday that right-hander Tobias Myers (0-1, 3.46 ERA) will start in place of Peterson, who reportedly is not injured. Right-hander Javier Assad (1-1, 8.10 ERA) will start for Chicago.

The Cubs handed the Mets their 10th straight loss Saturday afternoon, 4-2, after pinch-hitter Carson Kelly belted a go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning.

The skid is the longest for the Mets since they dropped 11 in a row from Aug. 28-Sept. 8, 2004. New York has been outscored 60-18 during the current streak and hasn’t led at the end of an inning since the first frame of an 11-6 loss to the Athletics on April 11 — a span of 62 innings.

The Mets, who have six new starters in their everyday lineup after parting ways with Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo over the winter, are 7-14 overall. It’s the worst 21-game start for the franchise since the 1983 team opened 6-15 on its way to finishing 68-94.

“Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us; you’ve got to keep going,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We haven’t been playing good baseball. That’s the bottom line.”

Peterson has been struggling since his first All-Star Game appearance. The southpaw is 0-3 with a 6.41 ERA in four starts this year and 3-5 with a 6.35 ERA in his last 16 starts dating to July 20.

Myers, who hasn’t started since Aug. 9, has pitched at least 1 1/3 innings in each of his six games this year. He has thrown at least 30 pitches four times — including in his most recent appearance Wednesday, when he allowed one run over two innings in the Mets’ 8-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Kelly’s second career pinch-hit homer continued an impressive week for the Cubs, who have won four straight games.

Chicago’s streak of consecutive games with least 10 runs scored was snapped at three Saturday, but the Cubs have scored 51 runs in the last six games after scoring 59 in the first 14 games of the season.

The Cubs also have pitched well during their winning streak despite the loss of closer Daniel Palencia, who was placed on the 15-day injured list Friday due to a strained left oblique.

Jameson Taillon gave up one run over six innings Saturday in the third straight quality start for the Cubs, whose relievers have a 3.17 ERA during the winning streak. The surge began Tuesday, when Colin Rea allowed three runs over six innings against Philadelphia as a bulk reliever.

Caleb Thielbar earned the first save of the streak Saturday when he struck out two in a perfect ninth. It was just the sixth career save for the 39-year-old Thielbar, who has made 422 big league appearances dating to 2013.

“This group, we’re always prepared,” Kelly said. “We’re always looking for that opportunity. Just as a group, we’re pulling for each other at all moments.”

Assad took the loss in his most recent start last Monday, when he gave up nine runs over 4 1/3 innings as the Cubs fell to the Phillies 13-7.

Myers is 0-2 with a 4.67 ERA in five career games (three starts) against the Cubs. Assad is 1-1 with a 3.45 ERA in four games (three starts) vs. the Mets.

–Field Level Media

Roki Sasaki’s spectacular performance as a reliever during the 2025 postseason is not translating to success as a starter this season.

Sasaki (0-2, 6.23 ERA), in his second MLB season after much success in Japan, will start for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday afternoon against the Colorado Rockies in the third game of a four-game series in Denver. The teams have split the first two contests.

This will be the first time Sasaki has faced the Rockies.

After earning three saves with an 0.84 ERA in nine games during the Dodgers’ run to their second consecutive World Series championship last year, the right-hander has made it through five innings in only one of his three starts in 2026 and has struggled with his control (10 walks in 13 innings).

The 24-year-old took a 5-2 loss in his most recent start last Sunday against the Texas Rangers. He threw 94 pitches in only four innings and gave up two runs on five hits and five walks, adding six strikeouts.

“So that’s something that I talked to him about, and challenging him to, when you take the baseball, we’re trying to go five innings or more,” manager Dave Roberts said after that game. “So I think that’s kind of the next progression for him, to be consistently able to do that.

“But I do feel the growth part of it is to hang in there, make pitches when he needs. That’s important. He spread the walks out, I guess, as well as you could, to kind of limit damage. That was something I was proud of in that sense.”

And Roberts can continue to be proud of Shohei Ohtani, who extended his on-base streak to 50 games. That ties “Wee” Willie Keeler for the third-longest such streak in Dodgers’ history since 1900. Next on the list is Shawn Green, whose 53-game streak came in 2000.

Ohtani had a single in the ninth inning but had reached base on Colorado errors twice before that.

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen (1-2, 8.10 ERA) will be Colorado’s starter on Sunday.

He will look to continue the momentum the Rockies gained Saturday night with their 4-3, come-from-behind win. Troy Johnston’s two-run double in the sixth inning turned a 3-2 deficit into the winning margin. Relievers Brennan Bernardino (who got the win), Jaden Hill and Victor Vodnik protected the lead.

Vodnik earned his third save of the season.

“They have some of the best stuff in the league,” Saturday’s starter, Ryan Feltner, said about the team’s bullpen. “I think their biggest thing is coming out and attacking.”

Lorenzen will look to turn around his fortunes this season.

He has given up 32 hits, tied for the most in the National League, in 16 2/3 innings over five games, four of them starts. Lorenzen’s latest outing was Tuesday, in which he took the loss at Houston, 7-6, by giving up seven runs (two earned) and six hits in 2 2/3 innings.

In nine career games against the Dodgers, Lorenzen is 1-0 with a 4.08 ERA over 17 2/3 innings. His sole win came as a member of the Texas Rangers on July 13, 2024, allowed an earned run in seven innings in the 3-1 Rangers’ victory.

— Field Level Media