With both starting pitchers seeking bounce-back outings for their new teams, the Boston Red Sox and visiting San Diego Padres face off to close a three-game weekend series on Sunday afternoon.

The Padres scored a 3-2 victory on Saturday after Ramon Laureano’s two-out RBI single in the ninth inning. San Diego now turns to a familiar sight on the Boston mound in Walker Buehler (0-1, 6.75 ERA) for his second start.

Buehler, who began last season with the Red Sox before he was released in September, will face Boston left-hander Ranger Suarez (0-1, 8.31). Both teams are searching for their first series victory of the season.

“Laureano has been doing that the last few years, so you’ve got to tip your cap to them,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Gotta regroup and get ready for (Sunday) to win the series.”

Though the Padres entered Saturday hitting a National League-worst .192, Laureano continued a strong early-season run with the big hit. He now boasts a .308 batting average and has reached base safely in six of his first seven games.

“I think Laureano has had the best results and best at-bats we’ve gotten so far, so we’ll probably see him more at the top of the lineup going forward,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said.

A two-time World Series champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed a free-agent contract in February, Buehler made his Padres debut Monday against the San Francisco Giants, allowing three runs on five hits across four innings.

“Our hope is that he kind of returns to who he’s been in the past,” Stammen said last week. “And that we have somebody that was a former All-Star pitcher, someone that was a thorn in our side as the Padres, and becomes a thorn in the side for other people.”

Buehler’s only career start against the Red Sox came in the 18-inning marathon Game 3 of the 2018 World Series. He started and went seven scoreless innings.

The Red Sox were in position to win the series on Saturday, holding a one-run lead with Aroldis Chapman taking the mound in the ninth looking for his second consecutive save. Andruw Monasterio’s pinch-hit RBI fielder’s choice had tied the game for the Red Sox in the eighth.

Instead, Boston fell to a major league-worst 2-6 for the first time since 2019 and has now lost all three of its one-run games this season.

Cora’s offense has also struggled, scoring two or fewer runs for the fourth time in eight games and going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

“We have to make sure when we are ahead in the count, get a pitch you can handle. If not, pass the baton,” Cora said.

The Red Sox had an 8-7 advantage in hits on Saturday, with Roman Anthony (triple) and Ceddanne Rafaela each recording a pair.

Suarez looks to deliver an improved start in his first Fenway Park outing for Boston. He allowed four runs, including a pair of home runs, in 4 1/3 innings Monday against the Houston Astros.

“I feel very good physically,” Suarez said. “I missed a couple (pitches), but I’ll just keep working for the next outing.”

Suarez, who is 3-1 with a 2.39 career ERA in eight appearances (five starts) against the Padres, is coming off back-to-back seasons with double-digit wins and recorded a career-high 151 strikeouts in 157 1/3 innings in 2025 with the Philadelphia Phillies.

–Field Level Media

Max Fried lived up to his billing as a frontline starter in the first season of an eight-year contract signed before the New York Yankees knew just how important he would be because of an injury to Gerrit Cole.

Fried is off to a stellar start to his second campaign in pinstripes and will be on the mound when the Yankees host the Miami Marlins in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon.

The Yankees are attempting to earn their fifth straight win and get off to an 8-1 start for the first time since 2020. New York followed up its 8-2 win on Friday by hanging on for a 9-7 win Saturday.

Giancarlo Stanton had his first regular-season stolen base since 2020 and hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth. Cody Bellinger drove in three runs and hit a two-run homer while the Yankees had 10 walks to give them 21 in the past two games.

“It’s a scoring competition, not a hit competition,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “So however it comes, it’s about putting runs on the board.”

Fried (2-0, 0.00) went 19-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 32 starts last season when he set career highs for wins, starts, innings (195 1/3) and strikeouts (189).

During New York’s season-opening six-game road trip, he gave up five hits and struck out 10 in 13 1/3 scoreless innings of wins at San Francisco and Seattle.

In the season opener against the Giants on March 25, the left-hander allowed two hits and registered four strikeouts. Against the Mariners, Fried allowed three hits in seven innings of a 5-0 win.

Fried has 10 scoreless starts since joining the Yankees and the only instance of consecutive shutout starts last season was April 27 and May 2 when he tossed 13 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays.

“It’s incredible,” Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra said. “I can’t go wrong with what I call when he has all these pitches going. It makes it easy for me, and easy for him.”

Fried did not face the Marlins last season when the Yankees were swept in Miami. He is 6-4 with a 4.23 ERA in 16 career starts against the Marlins.

The Marlins collected 15 hits Saturday but also struggled by not finding the strike zone and allowing two runs on passed balls from catcher Agustin Ramirez.

Miami’s Chris Paddack (0-1, 18.00) makes his second start after a rocky debut with the club. In Monday’s 9-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox, Paddack allowed eight runs in four innings.

Paddack’s struggled after going 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in five spring training starts for the Marlins, who signed him to a one-year deal Feb. 12 after the right-hander split last season with the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers.

“Not how I envisioned my Marlins debut by any means, but I’ve been here before,” Paddack said. “It’s not an ideal situation to be in to start the year. Especially coming off a really good spring, having some confidence going into the season.”

Said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough: “Results aside, we’ll get a lot better days out of Chris. He’s a pro. He’ll flip the page.”

Paddack is 0-3 with an 8.47 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the Yankees.

–Field Level Media

Close games have become a regular occurrence for the Pittsburgh Pirates early in the season.

As long as they win their fair share, they will not mind at all. After a pair of one-run victories, the Pirates go for a sweep of their home-opening three-game series when they face the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.

“These guys have bought into the team aspect,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “These guys are ready on the bench. Just the way they’re buying into the team concept and finding a way to win.”

Three of Pittsburgh’s five wins so far have been by one-run margins.

The Pirates 3-2 victory Saturday came after they scored the tying run in the eighth inning and getting the winning run on Nick Yorke’s game-ending double in the ninth.

“He hasn’t been consistent (at the plate),” Kelly said. “For him to be able to do that, it was an awesome at-bat.”

Highly-regarded Pirates rookie Konnor Griffin is 1-for-6 with an RBI and a walk over his first two games.

The Orioles take solace in the fact that they have been on the cusp of winning several times when things ultimately turned.

“I think we’re competing really well,” Baltimore reliever Ryan Helsley said. “Sometimes baseball doesn’t go your way. Both sides are trying to win. I thought we played a good game (Saturday), just obviously didn’t work out in our way. We got another chance (Sunday), and we got a lot of baseball left and we just have to go get ’em and turn the page.

“It’s obviously frustrating not winning games, and to lose a game like that when you lead the whole way just adds to it. Hopefully we can learn from it and move on.”

The Orioles have lost four of their last five games.

“I think we have a lot of really good players in here and they’re just trying to put it all together and hopefully (Sunday) everything aligns,” Baltimore outfielder Dylan Beavers said.

Right-hander Braxton Ashcraft (0-1, 3.00 ERA) is scheduled to start for Pittsburgh in the series finale. He worked six innings in his first outing of the season Monday at Cincinnati, but there was no offensive support in the 2-0 loss as he allowed both runs on four hits and four walks.

Ashcraft is in his second big-league season. Last September, he gave up one run in three innings of middle relief in a no-decision at Baltimore.

The Orioles will send right-hander Chris Bassitt (0-1, 8.31 ERA) to the mound. He didn’t complete the fifth inning in last Monday’s start vs. the Texas Rangers.

Bassitt is 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA in six career starts vs. the Pirates. Those outings included 46 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings.

It’s possible that Baltimore left-hander Cade Povich could be available for mound duty after he arrived at the ballpark Saturday as part of the taxi squad.

The Orioles have faced only right-handed starters, so that has meant plenty of opportunities for lefty-hitting Samuel Basallo. But his options are not limited.

“We feel comfortable with Basallo handling left-handed pitching, especially him being 21, and his ceiling that he could be,” Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz said.

–Field Level Media