In the offseason, the New York Yankees never sought Pete Alonso in free agency because they were confident in Ben Rice’s bat and development.

Through the first month of the season, Rice is among the best hitters in baseball, and the Yankees hope to see more productive at-bats from their first baseman when they host Alonso and the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday afternoon.

The Yankees are 11-2 in their past 13 games, and Rice’s production is in the middle of their surge. He hit a three-run homer in the second inning of Friday’s 7-2 win over Baltimore and has seven of his 11 homers this year in the past 14 games.

“I just think we’re continuing to see the evolution of one of the game’s really outstanding hitters, simple as that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about Rice, 27. “He’s really disciplined, and he’s got a good plan night in and night out for who he’s facing and what he wants to look for, and he does a good job of controlling the zone.

“So, this is kind of that trajectory he’s been on since he first debuted (2024). He’s just gotten better and better to the point of now he’s kind of been a wrecking ball.”

Rice is hitting .330 this season, and his latest big night was part of the Orioles surrendering 11 hits and six walks on Friday. Jose Caballero also homered, while Aaron Judge had an RBI single, scored twice and reached base four times.

Rice has a .317 average with eight homers and 18 RBIs in 16 career games against the Orioles, who are 6-10 in their past 16 games.

Alonso homered in his first at-bat at Yankee Stadium since joining the Orioles on a five-year, $155 million contract following seven seasons with the New York Mets. He drew a pair of walks and scored both runs as the Orioles were held to a season-low three hits on Friday.

The Orioles also were limited to three runs or less for the 13th time. Baltimore is 2-11 in those games.

“Obviously we want to go out there and score as many runs as possible,” Baltimore’s Blaze Alexander said. “We want to do better, and we’re going to do better.”

After the Yankees’ Will Warren struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings Friday, left-hander Ryan Weathers (1-2, 3.21 ERA) will take the mound on Saturday for his first career appearance against Baltimore. He allowed two runs on 11 hits in 12 2/3 innings in his two most recent games as the Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros.

Those starts followed his April 14 outing when he allowed four homers to the Los Angeles Angels. Weathers last pitched a week ago, when he took a no-decision in an 8-3 win against the Astros, allowing two runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Kyle Bradish (1-3, 4.20 ERA) is scheduled to start for Baltimore on Saturday. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA in seven career starts against the Yankees. He has held them to a .241 batting average and has limited Judge to one hit in nine at-bats.

–Field Level Media

Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas is the top hitter in baseball now that he has reached the qualifying threshold, but that might not mean the kidding will stop.

Vargas raised his batting average to a major-league-leading .404 with a four-hit game in the Diamondbacks’ 6-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Friday, extending his season-opening hitting streak to 24 games and his overall streak to 27.

As the streak built, D-Backs’ teammates jokingly told Vargas, “Hey, you haven’t done anything yet.”

Look at him now.

Vargas will look to extend both streaks when the D-backs send right-hander Ryne Nelson (1-2, 7.71 ERA) to oppose left-hander Shota Imanaga (2-2, 3.15) in the second game of a three-game series at Wrigley Field on Saturday afternoon.

Vargas’ 27-game hitting streak dating to last September is the longest active streak in the majors and three short of Luis Gonzalez’s team record set in 1999.

“I try not to think about it too much,” Vargas said through an interpreter. “The goal is to go through the day as routinely as I can, as if it isn’t happening. The priority is to help the team, and that takes pressure away from me.”

His streak is the longest in the majors since Trea Turner’s 27-gamer in 2021-22, and the longest season-opening streak since Ron LeFlore’s 30-gamer to open 1976.

“He’s a great piece for a manager to have,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said of Vargas. “He’s very versatile. He’s engaged. He’s shown a high baseball IQ. Right now he’s on a heater, and we’re going to enjoy that.”

The D-backs have scuffled recently despite Vargas’ contributions, having lost seven of their past 10 games. They have not had a starting pitcher throw seven innings since Michael Soroka went seven to beat Toronto 6-3 on April 17.

Zac Gallen gave up six runs and lasted only 3 2/3 innings in the loss Friday. A defensive misplay also cost the D-backs a run, and another scored on a wild pitch.

“We’ve got to be better,” said Lovullo, who spoke harshly to the group in the dugout early in the game. “We have to do things up to our standard. We should have probably given up three runs today, and we gave up six.”

The Cubs are streaking the other way. They have won nine straight at Wrigley Field and 13 of their last 16 overall.

Michael Busch had two hits and a two-run single to continue his upward trajectory after a slow start, and the bullpen limited Arizona to one hit after Geraldo Perdomo’s three-run homer brought the D-backs within 6-5 in the sixth.

“A very, very good day for Michael,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.

Jacob Webb became the sixth Cub pitcher to record a save this season. He went two innings, struck out three and allowed a walk. He walked Vargas to open the ninth before getting two strikeouts and a weak grounder.

Imanaga gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings in a 6-0 loss Sunday at the Los Angeles Dodgers in his last time out, halting a streak of three quality starts and four starts in which he gave up one run or less. The Cubs have been shut out in two of his starts.

Imanaga is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two career starts against the D-backs, giving up only five hits in 14 innings. Ketel Marte is 0-for-6 against him, and Perdomo is 0-for-4.

Nelson gave up six runs, including two homers to Manny Machado, in five innings on Sunday in his last outing, a no-decision in which the D-backs rallied for a 12-7 victory over San Diego in the Mexico City Series.

Nelson is 2-0 with a 6.88 ERA in five appearances, three starts, against the Cubs. He was roughed in two relief appearances against them last season, giving up nine runs in 2 1/3 innings. Ian Happ is 3-for-7 with a homer against him.

–Field Level Media

Two decades ago, the young-teen version of Rhys Hoskins could be found on the right-field lawn at what is now called Sutter Health Park, hoping a home-run ball would come his way.

The Sacramento, Calif., native did himself one better on Friday night by sending a souvenir into the small set of seats in left field in his first major league game at his hometown ballpark.

Hoskins, a designated hitter and first baseman for the Cleveland Guardians, finished with three RBIs, also smacking a two-run double to deep right-center, in an 8-5 victory over the Athletics.

Hoskins will look to repeat his feats Saturday afternoon when the Guardians and Athletics play the middle contest of the three-game series in West Sacramento.

Hoskins, now 33, frequently attended games at the Triple-A ballpark and later was a college star at nearby Sacramento State.

At that point, nobody envisioned hitting big-league blasts at Sutter Health Park. But the Athletics vacated Oakland and are playing for the second straight season while waiting for their ballpark in Las Vegas to open in 2028.

“This is home,” Hoskins told reporters. “I have a lot of 12-, 13- and 14-year-old memories here. It was just a cool moment for me and my family. To get a win in that situation is even better.”

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt could see it was a special deal for Hoskins.

“It’s so cool when guys get to play in their hometown in front of their family, and obviously this is a unique one for Rhys,” said Vogt, who played in the park as a minor leaguer. “(He) never played in Sacramento before. So really fun for him to come through with some big hits, big at bats. Really happy, fun night for Rhys.”

Friday’s blast was his 188th since reaching the majors with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2017.

The Athletics were pleased to see Brent Rooker go 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs. The two-time All-Star went 0-for-13 with five strikeouts in his first three games since returning from an oblique injury he sustained on April 9.

But the two-run homer in the first inning of Friday’s game might get Rooker going.

“I thought ‘Rook’ had solid at-bats,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “Looked a lot better. That’s the ‘Rook’ we’re used to seeing, and we’ll continue to start seeing.”

A’s slugger Nick Kurtz was hitless in four at-bats but drew a walk in the seventh inning to reach base for the 26th straight game.

Kurtz has walked in 20 consecutive games, tying Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants for the second-longest streak in major league history. Bonds accomplished the feat spanning the 2002 and ’03 seasons. Roy Cullenbine of the 1947 Detroit Tigers holds the record with walks in 22 games in a row.

“You don’t really want to go up there looking for a walk,” Kurtz told reporters. “It’s kind of something that happens with being aggressive to the right pitches and laying off the other ones.

Facing Kurtz and the A’s will be Guardians right-hander Slade Cecconi (0-4, 6.23 ERA), who is looking for his first win in start No. 7. Cecconi fell to the Toronto Blue Jays last Sunday when he gave up four runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings of a 4-2 game.

Cecconi, 26, is 2-0 with a 4.19 ERA in three career starts against the Athletics. Shea Langeliers (4-for-6, one homer), Kurtz (3-for-7) and Rooker (4-for-9, one homer) have fared well against Cecconi.

The Athletics will turn to left-hander Jacob Lopez (2-1, 5.84 ERA), who has walked 21 batters in 24 2/3 innings. Lopez, 28, will start for the first time since beating the Seattle Mariners 5-2 on April 21. He gave up two runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Lopez pitched one inning of relief against Texas last Sunday and gave up one run in one inning in the 2-1 A’s win.

He has never faced the Guardians. Hoskins (0-for-2) is the only Cleveland player who has batted against him.

–Field Level Media