Milwaukee first baseman Andrew Vaughn is expected to rejoin the lineup when the Brewers begin a three-game series against the host St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, but left fielder Jackson Chourio’s return remains on hold.

Vaughn, out since March 27 after fracturing the hamate bone in his left hand on Opening Day, is set to return after playing three minor league rehab games over the weekend.

Chourio, like Vaughn, is recovering from a fractured left hand and has been on the injured list since Opening Day. Chourio’s expected return on Monday was delayed after he fouled a ball off his left ankle in Saturday’s rehab game for Triple-A Nashville.

“Fouled the ball off his left ankle and missed (his protective guard),” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “And you know, those things can be very painful. We got an X-ray on it right away and thank God it’s negative. We’ve got to see how he progresses.”

Milwaukee won two of three against the host Washington Nationals over the weekend, while St. Louis had its six-game winning streak snapped in a 4-1 home loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.

The Brewers could use a power boost from both Vaughn and Chourio after the team was held without a home run in the weekend series against Washington.

“I think (the power) is something we need,” said Milwaukee catcher William Contreras. “I think we’ve been able to do a good job without them, but their return to the lineup will bring some power. It will be up to them to come back and get in a rhythm again, but no doubt, it will be good to have those guys back.”

Monday’s pitching matchup features a pair of right-handers as Milwaukee’s Chad Patrick (2-1, 2.57 ERA) faces the Cardinals’ Kyle Leahy (3-3, 5.52).

Patrick, 27, allowed one hit and two runs over five innings in a 13-2 home win over the Arizona Diamondbacks last Tuesday.

The Brewers are 4-2 in Patrick’s starts this season, and he is 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in three career games (two starts) against the Cardinals.

St. Louis will counter with Leahy, who gave up three runs over 5 1/3 innings in an 11-7 road win over the Pittsburgh Pirates last Tuesday.

Leahy, 28, struck out a season-high seven batters while throwing 82 pitches.

“I mean, it’s progress,” Leahy said of pitching into the sixth inning. “A step in the right direction. But I still left the game not using my full pitch count. That’s not really how you want to end it.”

Leahy is 1-1 with a 3.65 ERA in eight career relief appearances versus Milwaukee. He is set to make his first start against the Brewers.

The Cardinals are looking to start a new win streak after falling to 20-14 with Sunday’s setback to Los Angeles. Despite the loss, St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol was encouraged by his team’s performance at the plate.

Masyn Winn and Nathan Church had two hits apiece for St. Louis, which struck out only twice in the series finale.

“I actually thought we swung the ball really well,” Marmol said. “We took really good swings. It’s one of those games where if we repeat what we did today offensively, I think we’re in a really good spot over 162 (games).”

–Field Level Media

The Cleveland Guardians have won enough to compete for the early lead in the middling American League Central. However, they’ve struggled to win with Tanner Bibee on the mound.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals are amid their most successful stretch of the season — just as veteran Michael Wacha has cooled off from his strong start on the hill.

Bibee again tries for his first winning decision of 2026, while the visiting Guardians look to keep Wacha and the Royals from a fourth straight victory in Monday’s opener of a four-game set.

The Guardians won their season opener with Bibee (0-4, 4.08 ERA) getting the ball, but managed just one run of support while he’s been on the mound in losing his next six starts. Though the right-hander, who has posted double-digit win totals in each of his previous three MLB campaigns, has failed to complete more than six innings in any 2026 start, he’s yielded more than two earned runs only twice this year.

Bibee surrendered a run, four hits and three walks while striking out six over five innings of a 1-0 home loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday — the second consecutive start the Guardians failed to score for him.

“Pitchers are playing a very different sport, inside a sport,” Bibee said. “I feel like for pitchers, especially starting pitchers, you just got to worry about what you’re doing.

“You can’t affect anything else other than what you’re doing on the mound.”

Bibee is 4-0 with a 3.06 ERA in nine career starts against Kansas City, and the Guardians had won six straight outings of his in the series before falling 4-2 at home on April 6. He allowed five hits and a walk through 4 2/3 innings, but just one run.

Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino combined for three hits versus Bibee in that contest. Those two Royals, together, are 17-for-37 against him.

Cleveland won two of three versus Kansas City last month and just took two of three from the Athletics. However, the Royals are 8-3 since dropping eight straight and swept a three-game weekend series at Seattle.

“We don’t want to take that for granted. Just keep working,” Kansas City reliever Daniel Lynch IV told Royals.TV.

Wacha (2-2, 3.13 ERA) is 3-2 with a 2.32 ERA in nine career starts against the Guardians, and yielded a solo homer to Steven Kwan and two other hits over seven innings while opposing Bibee in that April matchup.

Wacha allowed three runs and 13 hits over 27 innings while going 2-0 in his first four 2026 starts. However, the right-hander, who turns 35 in July, has given up 10 runs and 15 hits over 10 1/3 in losing back-to-back outings.

He yielded eight hits, four walks and four runs, including a three-run homer, during Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Athletics.

“You have to keep going and make pitches in the zone, over the plate and get them out that way,” Wacha said. “It’s pitch after pitch that you got to execute and got to command.”

Kwan is 7-for-21 versus Wacha, and a career .310 hitter at Kansas City. His rookie teammate Chase DeLauter went 0-for-2 with a walk against Wacha in April but is 15-for-27 during an eight-game hitting streak.

Pasquantino is batting .188 in 2026, but he’s 5-for-14 in May.

–Field Level Media

The Houston Astros, desperate for production from a pitching staff ravaged by injuries, turned to an old postseason hero on Sunday, one whose struggles this season have come to represent the club’s as a whole.

Right-hander Bryan Abreu worked two scoreless innings of relief and notched his first win this season as the Astros claimed the rubber match of a three-game road series with the Boston Red Sox, 3-1 in 10 innings.

It marked just the second road series win this season for the Astros, who will host a three-game interleague series against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.

Abreu was on Houston’s World Series title team of 2022 and has played his entire major league career with the Astros since 2019.

“We can’t get to where we want to get to without Bryan Abreu,” Astros manager Joe Espada said after Abreu lowered his ERA to 10.32. “Hopefully, this is the trampoline that gets him going. I’m really happy for him, I’m really proud of him for those two innings.

“Momentum going into the Dodgers series at home, stuff like this matters,” Espada said. “These guys start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve still got a long season, but series like this get you going.”

Left-hander Steven Okert (0-0, 4.20 ERA) will serve as the opener for the Astros on Monday, while rookie right-hander Ryan Weiss (0-2, 6.65) is likely to work as the bulk pitcher. Okert tossed a scoreless inning of relief against the Red Sox on Sunday and allowed one hit with one strikeout.

It will mark the fifth career start for Okert and first since Aug. 5, 2025, against the Miami Marlins, when he allowed one run on one hit with two strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.

Okert is 1-0 with one save and a 2.18 ERA in 20 2/3 innings over 19 career relief appearances against the Dodgers. Should Weiss make an appearance, it will mark the first of his career against the Dodgers and his third against the National League. Weiss is 0-1 with an 11.37 ERA in two career interleague appearances — both against the Colorado Rockies.

Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-2, 2.87) has the starting assignment for the Dodgers. He did not factor into the decision of a 5-4 home win over the Marlins on April 27 after allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and four walks with four strikeouts in five innings.

Yamamoto is 0-1 with a 3.20 ERA in his last three starts with 18 strikeouts across 19 2/3 innings. The Dodgers scored one run in both of their losses with Yamamoto on the mound.

He will make his first career appearance against the Astros. He is 6-3 with a 2.82 ERA across 14 interleague starts since 2024.

The Dodgers snapped a four-game skid with a 4-1 road win in the finale of their three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. Justin Wrobleski twirled six shutout innings to pace the victory and deliver yet another strong pitching performance for the Dodgers, whose lineup scuffled during the skid but showed signs of improvement over the weekend.

Freddie Freeman delivered a two-out RBI single in the fifth, and he and Andy Pages produced runs while facing 0-2 counts. The Dodgers’ star-studded lineup is accustomed to more robust offensive displays, but given their recent struggles, all signs of progress are welcome.

“You’ve just got to bow your neck and find a way to win,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It doesn’t matter how good or how bad it looks, we needed a win so we can have a happy flight.

“Yeah, the two-strike hits, the two-out hits are a sign of what we’ve done in the past.”

–Field Level Media