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Paul Skenes vs. Zack Wheeler headlines Pirates-Phillies finale

MLB: Colorado Rockies at Pittsburgh PiratesMay 12, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the Colorado Rockies during the second inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies have been riding high with a prolific offense, winning 14 of 18 games since making a managerial change.

That offense will be put to the test on Sunday afternoon, however, as the Phillies face reigning National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes (6-2, 1.98 ERA) in the finale of their three-game series against the host Pittsburgh Pirates.

Philadelphia will send fellow right-hander Zack Wheeler (2-0, 2.55) to the mound.

The Phillies are at .500 for the first time since April 13 after posting 11-9 and 6-0 wins in the first two games of this series. Kyle Schwarber hit a pair of homers to continue his power surge in Friday’s victory, and Bryce Harper added a mammoth three-run shot on Saturday.

“Managing is really easy when you have really good players and they play well,” Philadelphia bench coach Dusty Wathan said.

Wathan was filling in Saturday for interim manager Don Mattingly, who was away from the team while attending a son’s graduation from Purdue.

Harper is 5-for-8 with a homer, five RBIs and two runs in this series for the Phillies, who have 91 runs over their past 18 games.

“That’s the team we are,” Harper said after Saturday’s game. “Basically, we didn’t have a great month of April. So we try to put that behind us as quickly as possible. (It’s about winning) series and months. Hopefully, we’ll be where we want to be in the end.”

Skenes enters Sunday’s contest after allowing just two hits over eight scoreless innings in each of his last two starts, wins against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.

While crediting catcher Henry Davis for his success, the fireballing right-hander provided a self-deprecating remark during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”

“I don’t shake (off) a ton. I’m too stupid to call my own pitches, so I let him do it,” Skenes said of Davis, who has been behind the plate for all nine of Skenes’ starts this season. “He’s got my career in his hands every fifth day.”

Skenes, 23, is 0-1 with an 0.57 ERA in two career appearances (both starts) against Philadelphia. He has allowed just two runs (one earned) on five hits vs. the Phillies and has struck out 16 batters in 15 2/3 innings.

Skenes took a hard-luck loss on May 18, 2025, when the Pirates lost 1-0. He pitched a complete game and gave up just one run on three hits.

Wheeler, 35, picked up his second win of the season on Tuesday after permitting one run on six hits in 7 1/3 innings in a 2-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. The Phillies have won all four of his 2026 starts.

A three-time All-Star, Wheeler is 5-1 with a 2.38 ERA in nine career appearances (all starts) against Pittsburgh.

The Pirates will look to solve Wheeler in a bid to avoid being swept in a series for the second time this season. They were brushed aside in a four-game set by the St. Louis Cardinals from April 27-30.

Pittsburgh rookie Konnor Griffin is riding a four-game hitting streak after joining Nick Gonzales and Bryan Reynolds with two-hit performances on Saturday.

–Field Level Media

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Astros start fast, power past Jacob deGrom, Rangers

MLB: Texas Rangers at Houston AstrosMay 16, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) crosses home plate after hitting a home run to left field against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez slugged first-inning home runs to key a four-homer assault that propelled the Houston Astros to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Saturday.

The Astros secured the three-game series and will aim for a sweep on Sunday in the finale. Houston prevented Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom (3-3) from securing his 100th win by doing something only one other team has accomplished against deGrom in his illustrious career.

Altuve drilled a 2-0 fastball from deGrom 358 feet out to left field in the bottom of the first inning for his 42nd career leadoff home run. Altuve spotted the Astros a 1-0 lead with his fourth homer of the season and, two batters later, Alvarez doubled that margin by taking deGrom out to right.

Alvarez launched a 3-2 fastball 362 feet for his 15th home run this season. Suddenly trailing 2-0, deGrom rallied with strikeouts of Christian Walker and Braden Shewmake to begin a stretch where he retired eight of nine batters. Zach Dezenzo singled with two outs in the second inning.

But the Astros ambushed deGrom again in the fourth. Walker crushed the first pitch of that frame, a fastball, 422 feet to left-center field for his 11th home run and a 3-0 lead. After deGrom retired Shewmake and Brice Matthews, Zach Cole blasted his third homer 361 feet to right.

deGrom allowed four home runs for the second time in 257 career starts. On July 7, 2017, he surrendered four dingers in a 6-5 road win over the St. Louis Cardinals with the New York Mets. deGrom retired the final seven batters he faced following the Cole homer and surrendered four runs on five hits with four strikeouts in six innings. He matched his season high with 94 pitches.

Astros right-hander Kai-Wei Teng (2-3) worked five scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and issued four walks while notching seven strikeouts.

Joc Pederson produced an RBI single against Houston reliever Enyel De Los Santos in the top of the seventh, but the Rangers finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 baserunners overall.

Altuve departed in the eighth, clutching his left side after grounding into a double play. He is set to undergo imaging Sunday morning.

–Field Level Media

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Sam Sarver's late goal lifts FC Dallas past Earthquakes

MLS: FC Dallas at San Jose EarthquakesMay 16, 2026; San Jose, California, USA; FC Dallas defender Nolan Norris (32) passes past San Jose Earthquakes forward Preston Judd (19) during the first half at PayPal Park. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images

Sam Sarver scored in the third minute of second-half stoppage time and FC Dallas continued its recent surge with a 3-2 victory over the host San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.

Petar Musa and Patrickson Delgado also scored goals for FC Dallas (6-4-4, 22 points), while Jonathan Sirois made six saves, including one from the penalty spot, in his club debut. The club is 3-1-0 this month while scoring 10 total goals in the stretch.

FC Dallas was without head coach Eric Quill, who received a straight red card in 3-2 loss Wednesday against the Whitecaps, while assistant coach Mark Briggs ran the club.

Reid Roberts and Beau Leroux scored goals for the Earthquakes (9-3-2, 29 points), while Daniel made seven saves. After a red-hot start to the season, San Jose is now 0-2-2 in May but remained even with the Vancouver Whitecaps for most points in MLS.

Delgado scored 54 seconds into the match after the Earthquakes were unable to clear a ball out of the penalty area. Delgado took possession near the penalty spot and scored on a deflection inside the left post. The goal was the fifth fastest in club history.

The Earthquakes tied it 1-1 in the 18th minute when Leroux swung his right leg from near the top of the penalty and delivered a perfect strike into the top right corner of the goal.

San Jose had a chance to take the lead in the 42nd minute, but Leroux’s shot from the penalty spot was saved on a dive from Sirois.

FC Dallas took a 2-1 lead in the 49th minute when Musa scored his 12th of the season to move him alone in second for most goals in the league behind the Chicago Fire’s Hugo Cuypers.

San Jose tied it in the 81st minute when Roberts scored off a corner kick when FC Dallas failed to clear the ball from the front of the goal.

Sarver’s game winner three minutes into second-half stoppage time came when FC Dallas took possession near midfield and sent the forward on a breakaway to beat Daniel.

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MLB roundup: Phillies' Cristopher Sanchez K's 13 Pirates in CG shutout

MLB: Philadelphia Phillies at Pittsburgh PiratesMay 16, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (61) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Cristopher Sanchez struck out a career-high 13 in his second career shutout to guide the visiting Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

Bryce Harper hit a mammoth three-run homer and Trea Turner went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for Philadelphia, which evened its record at 23-23 with its 14th win in 18 games since Don Mattingly took over for Rob Thomson as interim manager late last month.

Marcell Ozuna went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts for Pittsburgh, which managed only six hits and drew no walks against Sanchez (5-2). Pirates starter Bubba Chandler (1-5) allowed five runs (four earned) on three hits and four walks in three innings.

Sanchez struck out two in the eighth before surpassing his career high in punchouts with a strikeout of Ozuna in the ninth. His 108th and final pitch of the day resulted in Nick Yorke’s game-ending grounder.

Blue Jays 2, Tigers 1 (10 innings)

Daulton Varsho’s one-out single in the 10th drove in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to lift Toronto to victory over host Detroit.

Yohendrick Pinango poked his first career homer for the Blue Jays while Matt Vierling homered to account for the Tigers’ run. Riley Greene extended his hitting streak to 11 games – the longest active streak in the bigs – with a ninth-inning single.

Louis Varland (2-1) threw two scoreless innings, which included escaping from a first-and-third jam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Detroit starter Casey Mize gave up just two hits over six scoreless innings in his first start since April 28. Tyler Holton (0-2) allowed the unearned run in the 10th.

Cardinals 4, Royals 2

Kyle Leahy’s strong start led host St. Louis past Kansas City. Leahy (5-3) got his third win in his last four starts, throwing six innings of one-run ball.

Alec Burleson knocked in two for the Cardinals, and Victor Scott II and Masyn Winn also added RBIs. Nathan Church went 2-for-3 with a run scored. George Soriano picked up his second save.

Royals starter Noah Cameron (2-3) pitched six innings and allowed five hits, no walks and fanned four. Jac Caglianone hit his fifth home run of the year and Vinnie Pasquantino went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 2

Mickey Moniak drove in two runs as Colorado evened its weekend series with Arizona in Denver.

Jake McCarthy, Brenton Doyle and Willi Castro added two hits apiece for the Rockies in just the third game this season at Coors Field without a home run. Tomoyuki Sugano (4-3) allowed two runs and seven hits in his five-inning stint while Antonio Senzatela picked up the save.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stole home for the Diamondbacks as he and Ketel Marte each went 2-for-4 with a run. Eduardo Rodriguez (4-1) gave up three runs and nine hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Marlins 10, Rays 5 (10 innings)

Liam Hicks ripped a two-run single and Javier Sanoja added a three-run double to highlight an eight-run 10th inning that fueled Miami to a victory over Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The late offensive eruption made a winner of former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks (1-2), who saw former Marlin Nick Fortes rip an RBI single off the glove of third baseman Sanoja with two outs in the ninth to tie the game at 2.

Hunter Bigge (1-1) was charged with eight runs (seven earned) on six hits and two walks in one inning. Tampa Bay’s Richie Palacios celebrated his 29th birthday by collecting two hits, and Chandler Simpson added an RBI single for the Rays, who saw their 11-game home win streak snapped.

Nationals 13, Orioles 3

Keibert Ruiz had three hits, including a homer, and drove in five runs, and Cade Cavalli pitched into the seventh inning as host Washington beat Baltimore.

Jacob Young and Brady House each had two hits with a homer and three RBIs, and CJ Abrams had three hits for Washington, which reached the .500 mark after losing their previous 15 games when they had a chance to do so going back to 2024. Cavalli (2-2) allowed three runs on eight hits and struck out eight without a walk in 6 1/3 innings.

Samuel Basallo and Tyler O’Neil hit back-to-back home runs for Baltimore, which has scored three runs or less in eight of its past nine games. Orioles starter Chris Bassitt (3-3) gave up four runs on six hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked one.

White Sox 8, Cubs 3

Munetaka Murakami hit two home runs to lead a five-homer barrage and right-hander Davis Martin allowed one run and five hits over six strong innings as the host White Sox defeated the Cubs.

Murakami, in his first major league season, highlighted the power display with his first career multi-homer game. Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery each went deep for the second straight night while Andrew Benintendi contributed his first round-tripper since April 23.

Miguel Amaya had two hits for the Cubs, including a solo homer. Pete Crow-Armstrong capped the scoring with a two-run blast in the ninth.

Astros 4, Rangers 1

Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez slugged first-inning home runs to key a four-homer assault that propelled Houston to a victory over visiting Texas.

Houston prevented Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom (3-3) from securing his 100th win by doing something only one other team has accomplished against deGrom in his illustrious career — hit four home runs off the two-time NL Cy Young winner. Christian Walker and Zach Cole took deGrom deep in the fourth. Altuve departed in the eighth, clutching his left side after grounding into a double play. He is set to undergo imaging Sunday morning.

Astros right-hander Kai-Wei Teng (2-3) worked five scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and issued four walks while notching seven strikeouts. Joc Pederson produced an RBI single in the seventh, but the Rangers finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 baserunners overall.

Guardians 7, Reds 4

Angel Martinez hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning off Pierce Johnson and scored three runs, lifting Cleveland Guardians to a comeback win over visiting Cincinnati.

Cleveland trailed 4-2 before scoring five times over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Erik Sabrowski (2-1) struck out Elly De La Cruz — the only batter he faced — in the seventh. Guardians starter Joey Cantillo pitched five innings, giving up four runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

Spencer Steer’s two-run double gave the Reds their initial advantage in the fifth inning. Chris Paddack, who was released by the Marlins on May 11, worked five innings in his Cincinnati debut, allowing six hits and striking out three with one walk.

Red Sox 3, Braves 2

Willson Contreras crushed a go-ahead, two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning, lifting visiting Boston to a win over Atlanta.

Contreras’ big swing made a winner out of Peyton Tolle (2-2), who tossed a career-high eight innings in the victory. The Red Sox rookie left-hander allowed just two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out three. Aroldis Chapman stranded the bases loaded in Atlanta’s ninth to record his 10th save of the season

Drake Baldwin (home run) and Jose Azocar (two doubles) both went 2-for-3 for the Braves, combining for all four of the team’s hits. Bryce Elder (4-2) was a tough-luck loser, allowing three runs on seven hits through eight innings.

Mets 6, Yankees 3

Mark Vientos had three RBIs for the host Mets, who received gritty relief work from Luke Weaver in the victory over the Yankees in the second game of the Subway Series.

Weaver, who signed with the Mets last December after two-plus seasons with the Yankees, entered with the bases loaded in the seventh and struck out Amed Rosario and Trent Grisham before getting Anthony Volpe to hit into a forceout. Austin Wells singled off Weaver to open the eighth, but Weaver got Ben Rice to hit into a double play and retired Aaron Judge on a flyout to center.

Grisham and Paul Goldschmidt had RBIs for the Yankees, who have dropped seven of 10. The Yankees prevailed 5-2 in Friday’s series opener.

Giants 6, Athletics 4

Casey Schmitt hit two homers for the second time in his career and finished with four hits and three RBIs to lead San Francisco to a victory over the Athletics at West Sacramento, Calif.

The four-hit outing was the fourth of Schmitt’s career and it helped the Giants halt a three-game losing streak. Willy Adames had three hits and two RBI and Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert added two hits apiece for San Francisco, which had 14 overall, eight for extra bases. Trevor McDonald (2-0) allowed one run and five hits over 6 2/3 innings.

Brent Rooker hit a three-run homer and joined Darell Hernaiz in having two hits for the Athletics, who lost for the fourth time in their past six games. Luis Severino (2-5) gave up five runs and 10 hits over six innings.

Dodgers, 15, Angels 2

Shohei Ohtani drove in five runs with a late triple and double, Justin Wrobleski combined with three relievers on an eight-hitter and the Dodgers took advantage of Jose Soriano’s wildness to wallop the Angels 15-2 in the Freeway Series in Anaheim, Calif.

While the game was still competitive, Alex Call had the only hit of a five-run sixth, a two-run single, helping the Dodgers pull away and sending the Angels to their fifth straight loss. Soriano allowed just one hit in 5 1/3 innings but was charged with six runs. He walked six and struck out six.

Jo Adell’s two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning got the Angels on the scoreboard, but that’s all they got against Wrobleski in his six innings. The left-hander limited the Angels to two runs and seven hits, walking one and striking out five.

Brewers 2, Twins 1

Jackson Chourio doubled and hit a go-ahead solo shot for his first home run of the season, and Milwaukee edged Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Chourio had the only extra-base hits for the Brewers, but it was all they needed to win their third straight game and for eighth time in their last nine. Right-hander Logan Henderson (1-1) allowed one run on six hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out seven.

Trevor Larnach hit a solo home run for the Twins, Kody Clemens finished 2-for-4 with a double, and James Outman hit his first triple of the shander Connor Prielipp (1-2) took the hard-luck loss despite limiting Milwaukee to two runs (one earned) on three hits in six innings. The rookie from Tomah, Wis., walked two and fanned eight against the team from his home state.

Padres 7, Mariners 4

Gavin Sheets, Nick Castellanos and rookie Rodolfo Duran homered as San Diego defeated host Seattle to improve to 5-0 in the series this season.

Duran’s seventh-inning homer was his first career major league hit. He was robbed of a second two-run homer in the ninth by Julio Rodriguez. Right-hander Walker Buehler (3-2) worked five innings for the victory, allowing two runs on five hits.

J.P. Crawford homered and Cole Young knocked in two runs for the Mariners, who fell behind 5-0 in the fourth inning. Logan Gilbert (2-4) allowed seven runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

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