When the Seattle Mariners were in West Sacramento, Calif., late last month, the Athletics started left-handers in two of the teams’ three matchups.

The Mariners swept the series to move past the A’s and into first place in the American League West, where they remain.

The Boston Red Sox are scheduled to start not two, but three, lefties this weekend in Seattle in a three-game series that will continue on Saturday night.

The situation worked well for the Red Sox on Friday night as Ranger Suarez allowed one hit over 6 2/3 scoreless innings in Boston’s 6-2 victory that snapped the Red Sox’s four-game losing streak. Teammate Caleb Durbin went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run.

The only runners Suarez (3-3) allowed through six-plus innings came on a pair of walks to Cal Raleigh before Josh Naylor doubled into the gap in right-center field with one out in the seventh.

“He was amazing. I could smell the no-hitter,” Red Sox catcher Carlos Narvaez said in a postgame interview on NESN. “He was controlling the zone and mixing everything.”

Suarez said he jinxed himself in trying to throw Boston’s first no-hitter since Jon Lester accomplished the feat in 2008.

“When I was going into the seventh inning, it was the first time I thought about it,” Suarez said through an interpreter. “Once I realized that I was thinking about it, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. The first (six) innings, I was pitching well and I wasn’t thinking about it. Once I started thinking about it, it didn’t go the way I wanted.”

The Mariners entered the game 27th out of 30 MLB teams with an 85 wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus) against left-handers; 100 is the league average.

To combat that, the Mariners called up right-handed-hitting utilityman Weston Wilson from Triple-A Tacoma and designated Miles Mastrobuoni for assignment.

“We have a pretty left-handed-heavy lineup and roster, so we’re looking to get someone right-handed in here, and that’s where Weston comes in,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.

Wilson, signed to a minor-league contract Sunday, a week after being DFA’ed by Baltimore, started at third base and went 0-for-3 while batting ninth.

The left-handed-hitting Mastrobuoni was a popular player in the clubhouse and a key reserve in Seattle’s playoff run last season.

“Always difficult to lose a player who’s part of the family,” manager Wilson said. “What ‘Stro’ did here … was outstanding. He filled a lot of holes and played in a lot of different spots for us.”

Julio Rodriguez returned to the lineup after sitting out Thursday with a hamstring spasm and hit a two-run homer to thwart Boston’s shutout bid.

The Red Sox are scheduled to send left-hander Connelly Early (5-5, 3.81 ERA) to the mound Saturday against Mariners right-hander Emerson Hancock (5-3, 3.28).

Early is 0-3 with a 7.36 ERA this month. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings Sunday in a 6-4 loss to visiting Texas as he gave up six runs on 11 hits, both season worsts. Early will face the Mariners for the first time in his career.

Like Early, Hancock is coming off his worst start of the season, a 10-1 loss Sunday in Washington in which he allowed six runs on nine hits over four innings.

Hancock is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in one previous start against the Red Sox.

–Field Level Media

Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani could be back in the Los Angeles lineup on Saturday after missing one game for the birth of his second child.

Ohtani was not present Friday night due to the baby’s impending birth when the Dodgers defeated the visiting Baltimore Orioles 6-5.

The Dodgers declined to place him on the paternity list — he could have missed up to three games — anticipating his quick return to the team. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters he expected Ohtani would play this weekend against the Orioles, and perhaps even Saturday.

Right around midnight local time, Ohtani posted to Instagram that his wife, Mamiko, had given birth.

Ohtani, who is notoriously private, posted no details about the baby’s gender or birth weight. His announcement included a photo of his beloved dog, Decoy, as well as a newborn’s feet sticking out from a blue blanket.

“We are again overjoyed to experience this wonderful day in our lives together,” read a note from Ohtani and his wife included with the announcement.

“Thank you for being born safely. We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported us throughout this journey.”

Roberts said he found out “only recently, very recently” about the pregnancy.

Ohtani announced the birth of their first child in April 2025 in the same way. At the time, he revealed they had a daughter. And while her photograph has not made it to social media, references to milestone events, such as Mother’s Day, have included a touch of pink.

The couple could have been signaling with the blue blanket that Baby No. 2 is a boy.

Just seven hours after the post went up on Instagram, it had 1.6 million “likes” and many congratulatory comments written in both English and Japanese.

–Field Level Media

Since making the Kansas City Royals’ roster out of spring training in 2022, Bobby Witt Jr. has not needed a trip to the injured list.

Though the two-time All-Star shortstop missed his first game of the season Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals due to a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his right knee, the Royals are optimistic Witt will maintain his streak of avoiding the IL.

The Royals and St. Louis Cardinals have the day off Saturday because Ecuador and Curacao are meeting at night at nearby Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. That means Witt gets an extra day to rehab before the Royals need to map out his immediate future.

“We’ll re-evaluate for a timeline on Sunday,” Royals manager Matt Quartaro said Friday. “We’re pretty optimistic. It’s not a surgical thing. I know they can put a brace on it. It will be a lot of, ‘Get the swelling out of there.'”

Witt injured the knee Thursday night when he went into the hole to backhand a hard-hit bouncer by the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker. Witt stopped the ball, but he couldn’t make a throw after landing on his right knee and injuring himself while trying to spin and get a forceout at second.

The Royals removed him from that game, then Witt sat out Friday’s 6-5 win over the Cardinals for his first time out of the lineup since Sept. 8, 2025. It marked just the 23rd game Witt missed since arriving in the bigs.

The 26-year-old has played an average of 156.5 (out of 162) games in each of his four full MLB seasons

Witt leads all American League players with a 4.3 Wins Above Replacement rate as he has racked up a .294/.368/.465 slash line with 10 homers and an MLB-high 28 stolen bases in 76 games. He comfortably leads all AL shortstops in early All-Star voting, making his third consecutive appearance in the game likely.

He also has won two Gold Gloves and a Platinum Glove. Though Witt leads the major leagues in defense with a 16.4 rating per Fangraphs, the Royals didn’t miss a beat Friday as Tyler Tolbert played a clean shortstop and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly from the No. 9 spot.

Tolbert also played a key role in MLB’s defensive play of the day in the eighth inning. Second baseman Michael Massey dove to the shortstop side of second to make a backhand grab of Ivan Herrera’s hard grounder. He flipped it with his glove to Tolbert, who spun and fired to first baseman Jac Caglianone for the out.

Tolbert figures to stay at shortstop for as long as the Royals need him. Quatraro hopes that need ends Sunday when the Royals host the Cardinals for their series finale.

“(An IL stint) is always a possibility, but I wouldn’t say ‘strong,’ ” Quatraro said. “There’s no reason to handicap it.”

–Field Level Media