Sports
Behind Braxton Ashcraft, Pirates chase series win vs. Cubs
Apr 5, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft (35) delivers a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images The visiting Pittsburgh Pirates will search for a rare series victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday afternoon when the teams play the second contest of a three-game set.
Pittsburgh went 3-10 against the Cubs in 2025, dropping all four series against its National League Central rival. Through two weeks this season, though, this looks like a much different Pirates squad.
Despite being hitless through six innings, Pittsburgh earned a 2-0 win in the series opener on Friday thanks to Bryan Reynolds’ two-run homer in the seventh. After the midseason hire of manager Don Kelly helped galvanize last year’s team, the momentum has carried into 2026.
“We’ve talked about it a lot, just taking it one game and one series at a time,” Kelly said Friday. “We’re just looking to get after it tomorrow again. Any win you can get in Chicago against the Cubs at Wrigley is a special one.”
Pittsburgh’s Saturday starter, Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.25 ERA), is coming off consecutive stellar starts to open his second season in the majors. After allowing two runs in six innings in a 2-0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on March 30, the 26-year-old right-hander surrendered just one run with eight strikeouts across six frames in an 8-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
“As a starting pitcher, you’re trying to go six, seven innings every time you go out there,” Ashcraft said. “Being able to get the ball on the ground or get weak contact is the most important piece of that. Strikeouts come when they come, but if you’re searching for strikeouts, that’s when the pitch county can get up there a little bit.”
Ashcraft faced the Cubs three times (two starts) in his rookie season, going 0-1 with a 3.27 ERA.
The Cubs were blanked for the second time this season on Friday, going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position while leaving 11 men on base.
The top of the list of struggling Chicago batters is Dansby Swanson, who went 0-for-3 in the series opener to drop to .140 this season.
“We’ve got a couple guys that are not feeling it right now at the plate,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s the nature of offense today, and it gets a little magnified at the start of the season. Dansby is going to be streaky, and we’re going to need production there. He’ll get going.”
Offseason addition Edward Cabrera (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will get another opportunity to impress his new club on Saturday.
Cabrera, who was traded by the Miami Marlins in January, has thrown 11 2/3 scoreless innings in two appearances with Chicago. Last time out, the right-hander allowed just one hit in 5 2/3 frames, earning a no-decision in his team’s 1-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians.
In five years with Miami, Cabrera rarely made a start in a stadium with as much energy as Wrigley Field. The Marlins had losing seasons in all but one year that Cabrera played for them. Now as a key piece of a club with high expectations, he is enjoying the new-found responsibility.
“The emotions definitely are different,” Cabrera said of comparing Miami and Chicago. “Let’s be real: There is a big difference between the fan bases and the number of fans we had in Miami. I try not to focus too much on that, but there definitely are different emotions.”
In two career starts against Pittsburgh, Cabrera is 0-1 with a 2.35 ERA.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mariners overcoming obstacles heading into rematch vs. Orioles
May 29, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby (68) pitches to the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images The Seattle Mariners have made the best out of some unfortunate situations this week.
They will take the confidence that goes with that into Wednesday night’s game against the host Baltimore Orioles.
Seattle is 11-3 in its last 14 games. The Orioles, in turn, are mired in a four-game losing streak.
The Mariners won the second consecutive contest of the four-game series — 6-5 in 10 innings Tuesday night — despite squandering a ninth-inning lead.
Seattle has won twice against Baltimore with shortstop Colt Emerson sidelined because of an ailing back.
“He seems to be better (Tuesday) than he was (Monday),” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “So that’s a really positive thing, and we’ll just keep monitoring as we go.”
The Mariners have survived for both victories in the series despite some adventurous work from the bullpen.
The Orioles, who’ve cranked out late-inning offense, haven’t been able to totally make up for some of their lineup tweaks.
“We have to get better to win those margins, whatever that is,” Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz said. “It’s looking at how we can get better and make adjustments.”
Catcher Adley Rutschman has been out of Baltimore’s lineup for the first two games of the series because of hamstring tightness.
“We just want to make sure that we stay on top of that,” Albernaz said, not revealing a timetable for Rutschman’s return to action.
Sam Huff has been behind the plate for both games, marking his return to the big leagues for the first time since mid-April. Along with Samuel Basallo, the Orioles are carrying three catchers.
“Having the third catcher is a great safety valve for us,” Albernaz said. “So it’s something that for right now it makes the most sense, but also moving forward it could be or it could not be. So there’s a lot of factors that go into that. But right now, it’s definitely a benefit for us.”
Right-hander George Kirby (5-5, 4.04 ERA) will start for the Mariners on Wednesday, seeking his first victory in nearly a month. In his last four starts, he’s 0-3. He’s coming off a season-low four innings in last Wednesday’s 7-1 loss to the New York Mets. Kirby gave up five runs (four earned) and nine hits.
Matchups against the Orioles generally haven’t gone Kirby’s way, as he’s 2-5 with a 3.26 ERA in eight starts vs. Baltimore. That’s the most losses to any opponent in Kirby’s career.
The Mariners lost bullpen regular Cooper Criswell, who was placed on the 15-day injury list Tuesday because of a shoulder strain. In his place, Nick Davila was called up from Triple-A Tacoma and recorded his first career save Tuesday.
The Orioles’ starting pitcher on Wednesday will be right-hander Brandon Young (4-1, 3.47 ERA), who’ll face Seattle for the first time in his career.
Baltimore has won six consecutive outings with Young on the mound, though he’s 2-0 during that stretch. He picked up the victory Friday at Toronto, where the Blue Jays managed three runs in 6 1/3 innings off Young. The Orioles won 13-3.
In his last three starts, Young has gone 19 2/3 innings, issuing three walks and logging 15 strikeouts.
–Field Level Media
Sports
After homer-filled night, Tigers turn to Framber Valdez vs. Twins
Jun 5, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Framber Valdez (59) throws a pitch against the Seattle Mariners in the first inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images The first game of the Minnesota-Detroit series turned into Home Run Derby on Tuesday night.
The American League Central rivals combined for eight long balls — four by each team — but the host Tigers made better use of their homers in a 10-4 victory in the opener of a three-game series.
The teams will match up again on Wednesday night, with Minnesota looking to cool off a Detroit team that has won six of its last seven games.
Left-hander Framber Valdez (3-4, 4.21 ERA) will start for the Tigers in Game 2 of the series. He posted a win in his most recent start, but it didn’t come easily.
Valdez labored through five innings against Seattle on Friday, throwing 102 pitches in a 7-3 victory. He allowed five hits, two walks and also hit a batter, but the Mariners scored only once against him.
“I wasn’t putting my head down,” Valdez said through an interpreter. “I was trying to go as deep as I could, and it was in my mind, ‘I’m not going to let them score. I am not going to let them score.’ I am grateful for my teammates for scoring the runs and for making plays behind me to save runs.”
Familiarity between Valdez — who spent his career with Houston before signing with Detroit this past offseason — and the former American League West rival Mariners played a role in the long at-bats on Friday.
“He’s played them a lot through his whole career,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s got a lot of history with that lineup, especially at the top. He had to battle and he did.”
Valdez will face Minnesota for the 10th time in his career. He has a 4-2 record and a 3.61 ERA in his previous nine outings.
Valdez endured one of his worst outings of the season against the Twins on April 8. He was pounded for eight runs and 10 hits in five innings.
The Twins, who have lost five of their past six games, have not announced a starter for Wednesday’s game. Minnesota’s staff will look to cool off Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler, who homered twice during a four-hit outburst on Tuesday.
Hinch has played mix-and-match with his roster in recent seasons, utilizing the versatility of players such as Matt Vierling, Zach McKinstry and Colt Keith.
Minnesota manager Derek Shelton is doing the same with his players. He notes that only Byron Buxton, an outstanding center fielder, is locked into a certain spot on the field.
“We have the ability to be more matchup-based,” Shelton told MLB.com. “Very similar to where we were earlier in the year. We had the ability to do that, and there’s a chance that we could definitely see that.
“Now, some of that’s also going to come with performance. You still have to perform to be able to get that. But we could definitely be more matchup-based with the way our roster’s constructed right now.”
Buxton returned to the lineup with a bang on Tuesday. He hit Troy Melton’s first pitch of the contest for his 19th homer of the season.
Buxton had been out of the lineup the previous two games. He sustained a right shoulder contusion while crashing into the wall against Kansas City on Friday.
Buxton remains hopeful the team can make a playoff run.
“We have to push each other day-in and day-out to make sure we get where we want to get to,” Buxton told The Minnesota Star Tribune.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kawhi Leonard Era Drifting Toward Uncertain End With Clippers
Like a sailboat on the water without any wind, the Los Angeles Clippers are afloat, although seemingly unable to go anywhere.
Kawhi Leonard had been paired with Paul George on the roster to no avail and another partnership between Leonard and James Harden proved fruitless. The 2019 George deal, in particular, is putting heavy stress on the franchise to this day.
George is long gone, having already played two seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers.
It’s easy to see now that trading four first round draft picks, as well as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, to the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire George was about as foolish as it can get. It didn’t seem all that bright at the time, either.
But the Clippers were desperate to get Kawhi Leonard a wing man and in theory, it actually should have come closer to bringing a title to their side of Los Angeles than it did.
The Clippers were the No. 2 seed in the 2020 Western Conference playoffs but the squad hardly looked comfortable in the sequestered setting of that year’s postseason, held exclusively in the Orlando, Fla., area because of the pandemic.
Among the betting favorites when the playoffs began, the Clippers failed to win the franchise’s first title when they couldn’t even get out of the second round. Making the collapse even worse was that the title did come back to Los Angeles, only with the LeBron James-led Lakers.
Signing Leonard in 2019 was supposed to be the Clippers’ counter move to the Lakers bringing aboard James in 2018. But injuries and disappointments have kept the Clippers adrift in the Leonard era, and issues continue to mount.
At 34, Leonard had the best offensive season of his career in 2025-26, was one of the highlights of the revamped All-Star Game in his own arena this past February, and yet not much of that production is being remembered now.
Leonard and the Clippers are embroiled in controversy, with the NBA about to decide soon if punishments will be handed out for possibly circumventing the salary cap through alleged payments Leonard received from a now shuttered banking company.
A $28 million endorsement deal Leonard had with the company Aspiration, is nearing the end of a league-wide investigation.
The harshest of punishments could see the league void Leonard’s Clippers’ contract that runs through next season and is set to pay the shooting forward just over $50 million.
It would be an awkward end to a rocky era, that so far has included Leonard playing 331 of a possible 574 regular-season games with the team. He missed the entire 2021-22 season with a chronic knee injury.
The Clippers have reached the playoffs a respectable five times since Leonard has joined the organization, but the two-time NBA champion has been limited in the postseason as well.
These were supposed to be better days for the Clippers and billionaire owner Steve Ballmer. Two seasons ago, the team moved into a new $2 billion arena south of L.A. in Inglewood. The state-of-the art venue makes the Lakers’ former arena, sitting nearby, look like a relic.
Yet, it figures to be a long time before the Clippers can even come close to replicating what the Lakers accomplished in the city during the 1980s when they won five titles in nine seasons.
The first four games the Clippers ever played in the building two seasons ago they lost. This past season, they opened with a 6-21 overall record as Leonard missed 10 of those games with yet another injury.
Once Leonard was shed of his minutes restriction upon his return, he leaned into the role as offensive leader as never before. He averaged 32.7 points over a 13-game stretch from Dec. 20- Jan. 14, including a career-best 55-point game. He finished the campaign scoring 27.9 points.
The team surged just enough to earn a spot in the play-in tournament but lost to the Golden State Warriors. Along the way, Harden and longtime big man Ivica Zubac were traded.
Is an influx of trade talent in Bennedict Mathurin and Darius Garland, not to mention 2006 and 2009 first-round draft picks, enough to put a winner around Leonard? The pick in the upcoming draft is No. 5 overall.
Those odds, as well as the chances that the NBA forces the Clippers to split from Leonard this offseason, seem slim. But maybe the parties eventually part in a trade.
At this point, setting sail on the partnership seems as if it would be in the best interest of all.
Mariners overcoming obstacles heading into rematch vs. Orioles
After homer-filled night, Tigers turn to Framber Valdez vs. Twins
