The visiting Pittsburgh Pirates will turn to right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski on Sunday afternoon as they look to complete a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Mlodzinski (1-1, 3.28 ERA) will oppose Brewers left-hander Kyle Harrison (1-1, 3.06).

The Pirates scored three runs in the 10th inning en route to a 6-3 victory Saturday, fueled by RBI singles from Bryan Reynolds and Nick Gonzales. It was Reynolds’ 51st RBI in 102 career games against Milwaukee, which lost its fourth straight contest.

The Pirates have clinched their third straight series victory against a National League Central rival this season.

“In division, to be able to win series is really important,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said following Saturday’s game. “We need to continue to do that, and I think that continuing that gritty, dirtbag style of baseball is what we need to do.”

Milwaukee is in last place in the division despite its .500 record.

Mlodzinski lost his last start, allowing five runs in 4 1/3 innings in a 5-1 defeat Tuesday at Texas. In the two starts before that, he did not allow a run in 11 1/3 innings.

He has not given up a home run this season in 24 2/3 innings in five games, including four starts.

Mlodzinski will make his first career start against Milwaukee after 12 relief appearances. He is 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA against the Brewers, allowing 11 runs, but only six earned, in 15 1/3 innings.

Gonzales had three hits Saturday to extend his hitting streak to six games. He is batting .458 (11-for-24) over that span, with three RBIs.

“We need to keep earning it. It’s a daily thing,” Kelly said. “We still need to keep grinding it out and getting after it and continue to earn that respect every day.”

Without injured starters Jackson Chourio, Andrew Vaughn and Christian Yelich, the power-starved Brewers have just one home run in their last 10 games, including none in their last six — their longest streak since six games in July 2015.

“When you’re going through a spell where you feel like nothing’s going right, it seems like everything backfires,” manager Pat Murphy said Saturday. “But there’s a lot of great performances I can point out.”

Harrison lasted just three innings in his last start, allowing one run on four hits without a decision in a 12-4 win at Detroit on Tuesday. He struck out three but walked three, hit one batter and had a wild pitch in the 72-pitch outing.

Harrison has faced the Pirates once, when he was with the San Francisco Giants, tossing five scoreless innings without a decision in a 3-0 win in 2024.

“The Pirates are a couple games ahead of us, but you’d think they’re in first place,” Murphy said. “They’re playing with such great confidence. They’ve got a nice team.”

–Field Level Media

Josh Jung is having an April to remember for the Texas Rangers, who will face the Athletics in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.

Jung continued his hot streak with a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning of Saturday’s 4-3 victory. The win moved Texas one game over .500 and into a tie for first place in the American League West with the Athletics.

After going 0-for-17 in March, Jung is batting .371 with four homers and 14 RBIs in 20 April games. He said after Saturday’s contest that he remains focused on improving his approach at the plate.

“I think I could (improve) every night,” Jung said. “There’s a couple of at-bats I wish I could have back. But that (homer) was in a big spot. Over this little stretch I’ve been on, I’ve been able to execute. Every day is a battle to get in there and execute. You get four or five at-bats, and how many can you win.”

Sunday’s pitching matchup will feature a pair of right-handers as the Rangers’ Kumar Rocker (1-1, 3.48 ERA) faces J.T. Ginn (0-0, 3.74).

Rocker retired 13 consecutive hitters at one point and allowed one run across six innings in a 5-1 home win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.

“One of the best parts was, after the first inning, he put up five zeros,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “To keep us in the game and then provide the innings after that, and just kind of shut the momentum down on their side, was a huge step for him.”

Rocker owns a 19-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in four starts this season covering 20 2/3 innings.

Shea Langeliers is 3-for-6 against Rocker, who is 0-2 with an 8.18 ERA in three career starts vs. the Athletics.

Ginn allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Seattle Mariners on Monday. The A’s won 6-4.

“It was a solid outing for J.T.,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “Any time a young guy goes out and gives up some (early) contact, it’s easy for things to kind of unwind. But I was impressed by how he finished. His sinker had a lot of life.”

Jung has two homers in eight at-bats against Ginn, who is 1-1 with a 4.62 ERA in five career starts vs. Texas.

The Athletics are looking to bounce back after losing Saturday despite out-hitting the Rangers 7-5.

“We came out and took some great at-bats,” Kotsay said. “Sometimes you’ve got to tip your cap to the other starter, who gave them five good innings and kept us at three runs. Offensively, we just didn’t add onto the lead and give ourselves any margin for error.”

Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz tied a franchise record by drawing a walk in his 15th consecutive game.

Kotsay is monitoring the status of designated hitter Brent Rooker, who has not played since April 9 because of a right oblique strain and is nearing a return to the lineup. Kotsay said Rooker might not need a rehab assignment and could rejoin the team in the next few days.

–Field Level Media

The New York Yankees have yet to make a decision on the availability of designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, who departed in the sixth inning of the series opener in Houston on Friday with lower-leg tightness.

Stanton did not play in the Yankees’ 8-3 win over the Astros on Saturday, a victory that secured the three-game series for New York, which has an eight-game winning streak.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone was noncommittal on what direction the club would take with Stanton, who has an extensive injury history. A stint on the injured list is possible, but the club is awaiting additional information.

“We’re going to give it the day, kind of see how treatment is going,” Boone said Saturday. “I do think he got it in time to hopefully not do something serious to it. Whether that turns into a day-to-day situation or turns into a short IL, we’ll see.

“We also don’t want to just race to the IL 12 hours after, when hopefully something isn’t too serious. We’ll be smart about it; G knows that. We don’t want this to turn into a long-term situation, so we’ll proceed accordingly.”

Right-hander Luis Gil (1-1, 4.11 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale for the Yankees. He earned his first victory of the season in his start at the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday after tossing 6 1/3 scoreless innings with two hits, three walks and two strikeouts in a 4-0 win.

Gil is 1-0 with a 2.38 ERA in two career starts against the Astros.

Right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (2-0, 2.45 ERA) is the scheduled starter for the Astros on Sunday. He earned a 9-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Monday after surrendering two runs, five hits and four walks with three strikeouts across five innings. Arrighetti, who opened the season with Triple-A Sugar Land, has issued four walks in both of his starts this season.

Arrighetti has faced the Yankees once. He allowed five runs on eight hits, including three home runs and three walks with four strikeouts across five innings in a 9-4 road loss on May 8, 2024, to the Cardinals.

The Astros welcomed back one of their 10 pitchers on the injured list on Saturday, with left-hander Bennett Sousa (oblique) reinstated after missing the first 27 games of the season.

The Astros appear close to having ailing left-handed closer Josh Hader and right-hander Tatsuya Imai (arm fatigue) back after Hader threw 25 pitches in a live batting practice on Saturday. Hader (biceps) is scheduled for one additional session before a determination on his readiness is addressed. Imai, meanwhile, will throw a bullpen before departing for a rehab assignment.

Astros manager Joe Espada said he was happy to have Sousa back, but the player struggled in his season debut. He walked four batters, including three left-handed hitters, in the seventh inning.

“That lineup is going to force you to throw strikes,” Espada said. “They did it throughout the entire game.”

–Field Level Media