Lucas Gioloto sat at home all winter, waiting for the phone to ring.

Nearly a month into the season, the call finally came — from the San Diego Padres.

The veteran right-hander is scheduled to make his season debut on Sunday in Seattle as the Padres will go for a season sweep of the Mariners in their Vedder Cup.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time. Pitching in the big leagues, being in a rotation, that’s normal for me,” Giolito said before San Diego’s 7-4 victory Saturday. “What I was going through the last few months was more abnormal. I’m glad to be through that and back where I feel I belong.”

With pitchers Nick Pivetta, Joe Musgrove, German Marquez and Matt Waldron all out with injuries, the Padres could use another arm.

Giolito went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA for Boston last season. He’s 2-1 with a 4.35 ERA in four career starts against Seattle.

“He’s been there, done that,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “He knows what it’s like going through a full season. Pitching well in the big leagues, that’s the biggest attribute he brings. He knows how to get outs, get outs in the big leagues.”

Giolito signed a one-year deal worth $3 million with the Padres on April 22. He made four minor-league starts in preparation for Sunday.

“I’m just excited to be back out there and help a really good team win baseball games,” he said. “It was kind of a surreal offseason, leaking into spring training and the season. But I’m really appreciative of the Padres giving me the opportunity.”

Walker Buehler pitched five innings for the victory Saturday. He was backed by homers from Nick Castellanos, Gavin Sheets and rookie Rodolfo Duran, whose two-run shot in the seventh inning was his first major-league hit after going 0-for-10.

“If you play baseball, if you want to be a major leaguer, you always think of that, you have dreams about it,” said Duran, a catcher who spent 11 years in the minors before being called up earlier this month. “Now that I was able to do it, it’s amazing.”

The Mariners have lost three of their past four games since getting within a game of the .500 mark. They’ve been above .500 for one day all season, when they were 3-2 on March 30.

“I think we know we’re not playing all the way to our capabilities, but it’s a long year,” said Logan Gilbert, who allowed a season-high seven runs Saturday. “Every single year I’ve been here, we’ve had that. The biggest thing is not to panic. Second thing is, how quickly can you turn it? Because things like this are going to happen to every team, every single year, it’s just how much can you shorten that window and get back to playing your best baseball.”

The Mariners are set to send right-hander George Kirby (5-2, 2.84 ERA) to the mound Sunday. He defeated host Houston 3-1 Monday when he allowed one run on seven hits over five innings, with two walks and seven strikeouts. Kirby is 0-2 with a 10.38 ERA in two previous starts against the Padres.

The Mariners hope to have third baseman Brendan Donovan and catcher Mitch Garver back after both were late scratches Saturday. Donovan needed a rest as he recovers from a groin strain and Garver had back tightness.

–Field Level Media

Casey Schmitt is carving out a role with the San Francisco Giants, and his big performance in the middle contest of a three-game series with the Athletics will only help.

Schmitt figures to be in the lineup somewhere for Sunday afternoon’s finale in West Sacramento, Calif., after he recorded his second career two-homer game and his fourth four-hit outing in Saturday’s 6-4 San Francisco victory.

The right-handed-hitting Schmitt hit a solo homer to left field in the first inning and a two-run shot off the right-field foul pole in the fifth.

“I wasn’t trying to hit home runs,” Schmitt told reporters. “I was just trying to hit line drives, and I got two in the air.”

Schmitt, 27, has eight homers in 140 at-bats over 38 appearances this season. His career-best output of 12 home runs came last season when he played 95 games under former manager Bob Melvin. This is Schmitt’s fourth big-league campaign.

Schmitt served as the designated hitter and batted third on Saturday, and his versatility has caught the attention of first-year manager Tony Vitello.

Schmitt can play all four infield positions and was in left field during Friday’s 5-2 loss to the A’s when Heliot Ramos exited after 5 1/2 innings with a quadriceps injury. Ramos was placed on the 10-day injured list on Saturday.

It was Schmitt’s first professional appearance in the outfield. He also never played in the outfield during his standout college career at San Diego State (2018-20).

Vitello informed Schmitt on Saturday that he will receive playing time in left while Ramos is sidelined.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Schmitt said. “I got in there (Friday) but didn’t get any balls. I feel like I can do a good job out there.”

Vitello said he has been highly impressed with Schmitt’s attitude.

“He’s been eager to learn,” Vitello said. “His attitude has just been awesome about it. Any set of adverse circumstances, you can see them as a detriment or you could say, ‘Why wouldn’t I have success? I’ve been active and moving around the field and it’s helping me learn the game.'”

San Francisco had 14 hits — eight for extra bases — on Saturday while sending the Athletics to their fourth setback in six games.

A’s slugger Nick Kurtz walked to stretch his streak of reaching base to 39 games, matching the longest by an A’s player during a single season since Jason Giambi reached in 39 straight in both the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Next up is Mark McGwire (48 in 1996).

Also Saturday, Brent Rooker smashed a three-run homer in the eighth to bring the Athletics within two.

“It was a good swing by ‘Rook,’ getting us back into the game and giving us a chance to hopefully get the tying run up to the plate,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “That’s what this offense can do — we can get back into the game with a home run like that.”

Left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-3, 4.22 ERA) will start for the Athletics in the series finale. Springs is 0-3 with a 7.03 ERA over his last five starts. He lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 on Tuesday when he gave up four runs and seven hits over five innings.

Springs is 0-0 with a 1.04 ERA in two career appearances (one start) against the Giants. Harrison Bader (1-for-6) has homered against Springs while Matt Chapman (2-for-17) and Willy Adames (0-for-7) have struggled.

Right-hander Adrian Houser (1-4, 5.79 ERA) will pitch for the Giants on Sunday.

He failed to win in his first seven outings before beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 on Tuesday. He allowed two runs and three hits over 5 2/3 innings.

Houser, 33, is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in two career starts against the A’s. Jeff McNeil is 2-for-9 with two doubles against him.

–Field Level Media

Grayson Rodriguez is scheduled to make his first start for the Los Angeles Angels as they hope to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers on Sunday in Anaheim, Calif.

The 26-year-old right-hander was considered the club’s top offseason acquisition, imported from the Baltimore Orioles at a heavy price — outfielder Taylor Ward — despite having missed the entire 2025 campaign because of an elbow injury that eventually required surgery.

Rodriguez has not pitched in a major league game since July 31, 2024.

He was deemed healthy enough to pitch for the Angels in spring training and threw 12 2/3 innings in four starts, but suffered from shoulder inflammation and was shelved indefinitely.

After two minor league rehab outings, including last Sunday for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, Rodriguez once again has been given the green light. He is slated to be reinstated from the injured list to face the Dodgers in the Freeway Series.

“I just thank God that I’m here,” Rodriguez told reporters on Saturday before the Dodgers’ 15-2 win. “It was a tough road for sure. My wife, my family, they helped me through it.

“Rehab, there’s a lot of dark days with that. And for a little bit just kind of wondering why certain things kept happening. Finally, obviously, getting to this organization and working with this medical staff, we got our thumb on it and got after what needed to be better, and here we are.”

Rodriguez made 43 starts for the Orioles in 2023 and 2024, going 20-8 with a 4.11 ERA. He has seen the Dodgers just once, pitching the first five innings of a 6-4 home loss for the Orioles on July 17, 2023. He did not get a decision after allowing four runs.

His Angels debut will come against a team that’s won four in a row, outscoring its opponents 30-4. The Dodgers opened this series with a 6-0 win before recording a season-high 15 runs in the rematch.

Hoping for that same offensive output will be right-hander Roki Sasaki (1-3, 5.88), who has gotten a total of six runs of support this season in his three losses.

The 24-year-old has never faced the Angels in his two-year career.

Once seen as a candidate for a role in the bullpen, where he pitched effectively last postseason, Sasaki is now being counted upon to help anchor the starting rotation with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow having gone on the injured list.

“It seems like every year we go through it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts lamented to reporters before the game Saturday about the health of his pitching staff. “What I have learned is we get through it. It doesn’t feel great when you’re in it, (but) in baseball, it happens all the time with pitching.”

The Dodgers have benefited this week from the return of shortstop Mookie Betts, who missed 33 games with a strained right oblique.

The eight-time All-Star and 2018 American League MVP has just four hits in five games since his return, but they’ve been impactful. He has homered in two of his past three starts.

– Field Level Media