The Pirates opened the month of May with a three-game sweep and could close it with another if they beat the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

A big reason the Pirates have kept themselves at or above .500 since April 1 has been an improved offense backing up their talented rotation.

In the first two games this weekend against the Twins, the Pirates scored 16 runs with 23 hits, including 15 in Saturday’s 10-9 win.

Pittsburgh will try to keep things rolling and back up one of its best starters so far in right-hander Braxton Ashcraft (4-2, 2.75 ERA), who will oppose Twins righty Zebby Matthews (1-2, 2.37) in the series finale.

“It’s just the work before the game (with) the coaches and trusting the guys. The results look pretty good right now,” Pirates’ first baseman Spencer Horwitz told Sportsnet Pittsburgh after Saturday’s game. ” … Everyone knows they don’t (always) have to be the guy and if they don’t come up that time, you can pass it on to the next guy and trust that they’re going to get it done behind you.”

Horwitz has been one of the Pirates’ hottest hitters this month.

Since May 2, Horwitz is hitting .346 with four home runs and 16 RBIs. Horwitz started Pittsburgh’s offensive surge on Saturday with a leadoff homer in the first inning. Bryan Reynolds is also hitting .323 with three home runs and 19 RBIs in May.

The Pirates might also welcome back one of their other big bats Sunday, as Ryan O’Hearn (right quad muscle strain) is expected to be activated from the 10-day injured list, according to multiple media reports. He has seven homers and 29 RBIs in 44 games this season.

Ashcraft, who has never faced the Twins, is 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA over five May starts. He gave up one run on seven hits and one walk while striking out five over 6 1/3 innings on Tuesday against the Cubs.

The Twins have had frustrating results this week as they look to snap a four-game losing streak. On Friday, Minnesota lost despite taking a 5-4 lead into the ninth inning when Reynolds hit a two-run walk-off home run off closer Taylor Rogers. It was the Pirates’ first win in 23 games when trailing after eight innings.

On Saturday, Kody Clemens came up a home run short of hitting for the cycle and helped the Twins tie the game after falling behind 7-1 in the second inning. But Minnesota pitching faltered and the Twins took another one-run loss.

Matthews has delivered three quality starts since joining Minnesota’s rotation on May 14. In his most recent outing, Matthews struck out six and walked one, but allowed three runs on five hits, including two home runs, over six innings in a 3-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Monday.

“I missed my spot pretty bad on both of those homers,” said Matthews, who will pitch against the Pirates for the first time. “…So I’ve just got to be better. Then we adjusted, second, third time through the lineup, (I) was able to kind of limit the hard contact there later on in the game. But I just need to be better early.”

The Twins designated right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson for assignment before Saturday’s game and recalled rookie righty John Klein from Triple-A St. Paul. Minnesota has seven days to either trade Woods Richardson, who was out of minor league options, or place him on outright or release waivers.

–Field Level Media

Washington right-hander Zack Littell looks to put a bow on a turnaround month of May when the Nationals host the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

Littell (4-4, 5.23 ERA) opposes right-hander Griffin Canning (0-3, 7.24) in the series finale after the teams split the first two games with Washington rallying for a 9-4 win on Saturday.

Littell was 0-4 with a 7.85 ERA at the end of April. In May he is 4-0 with a 2.19 ERA and 14 strikeouts and six walks in 24 2/3 innings. He has worked behind an opener in three of his five May appearances, including last time out when he entered in the third and tossed seven strong innings to beat the host Cleveland Guardians 10-2. He gave up a run on five hits while striking out seven and walking two.

With 94 pitches after eight innings, Littell lobbied manager Blake Butera to pitch the ninth.

“This was the perfect opportunity to give the guys in the bullpen a break, so I told Blake I wanted them to be able to take a break,” said Littell, who stayed in the game and totaled 106 pitches.

The 30-year-old Littell is 2-0 with a 4.55 ERA in 20 games (two starts) versus the Padres.

Canning has been undergoing a turnaround of his own. After allowing six earned runs in consecutive outings, Canning’s ERA ballooned to 10.64. In each of his past two starts, the 30-year-old has given up just three earned runs. Last time out, he went 6 2/3 innings in a 3-0 loss to the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. He gave up three hits, two of them home runs.

“If you talk to any starter, that’s what we’re trying to do every single time,” Canning said of pitching into the seventh. “I just was able to get some quick outs earlier in the game, so I was able to get a little bit deeper.”

Canning is 1-0 with a 4.03 ERA in four starts versus the Nationals.

Washington used an unusual six-run seventh inning to win on Saturday. With only walks, singles, fielders’ choices and a hit batter, the Nationals turned a 3-1 deficit into a 7-3 lead. The key hit was Luis Garcia Jr.’s two-run single. He notched his sixth multi-hit performance in his past 19 games.

Curtis Mead provided a two-run double in the eighth and finished with three RBIs after entering as a pinch hitter, and Drew Millas hit his second home run of the season.

“The guys are doing an awesome job,” Mead said. “Just high quality at-bats after one another. That was a fun one. (Padres starter Michael) King was kind of rolling early, so it was fun to be able to put a break to that and put up a few runs.”

The Nationals lead the majors with 311 runs scored.

Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. homered for the Padres, who have lost five of six. Tatis hit his first home run of the season after going 55 games without one, since Sept. 27, 2025. He hit 25 in 155 games last season.

“He’s been carrying that burden, the team has been carrying that burden,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “He finally got it. It was a good celebration in the dugout. It’s what baseball is all about, acting like little 10-year-olds.”

–Field Level Media

The Atlanta Braves have accomplished plenty through the first two months of the regular season. The first team to reach 40 victories will look to add a three-game sweep of the host Cincinnati Reds to the list on Sunday afternoon.

With its 5-2 series-clinching win on Saturday, Atlanta climbed to a season-high 21 games over .500.

The second-highest scoring offense in baseball (312 runs, behind only the Washington Nationals’ 320) has posted 23 runs across the last three games, with Ronald Acuna Jr. connecting on four homers in that span.

“When he gets going, he’s one of those guys who almost makes the game look easy,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said of Acuna. “We’ve all seen him when he’s going good, and he’s one of the best there is.”

Acuna had hit just two home runs through his first 42 games prior to the recent power stretch.

Spencer Strider (3-0, 3.46 ERA) will look to continue his unbeaten streak to open the season in his sixth start of the year for Atlanta. Strider earned his second consecutive victory on Tuesday, tossing five innings of three-run, three-hit ball, striking out five and walking three in a 7-6 road victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

“Spencer was good. He’s given us a chance to win virtually every time out,” Weiss said after Strider’s last start.. “He’s using his secondary stuff. I think he’s becoming more of a complete pitcher. He made those adjustments last year. He’s done a nice job for us.”

Since making his season debut on May 3 following a stint on the injured list with a left oblique strain, the 2023 All-Star has struck out 32 batters in 26 innings.

In three career appearances (two starts) against the Reds, Strider is 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA.

Cincinnati will be looking forward to turning the calendar to June. The Reds have dropped three straight and are 9-17 in May with one game remaining.

Nick Lodolo (1-1, 5.57) will make his fifth start for the Reds after spending the first six weeks of the season on the shelf with a blister on his left index finger.

After allowing 12 runs across his first three starts of the year, Lodolo produced his best performance last time out. The 28-year-old left-hander yielded just one run across six frames, striking out seven in a 7-2 win over the New York Mets on Monday.

“He worked ahead, he threw a lot of strikes, had good velocity, threw some changeups,” Cincinnati manager Terry Francona said of Lodolo’s stellar outing. “That was really welcome.”

For Lodolo, who sported a career-best 3.33 ERA in 29 appearances (28 starts) last season, he hopes that showing was a sign of things to come.

“It was definitely a lot better, for sure,” Lodolo said. “There’s definitely some things I’ve got to do a better job of, but overall, I’m happy with it.”

Lodolo has faced Atlanta once in his career, scattering two runs and five hits across six innings while striking out seven in a no-decision on May 8, 2025. The Reds lost 5-4 in 11 innings.

–Field Level Media