A pair of pitchers intent on continuing hot starts to the season will face off Sunday when the host Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves close out a three-game series.

While the Dodgers send left-hander Justin Wrobleski (5-0, 1.25 ERA) to the mound, the Braves will counter with right-hander Bryce Elder (3-1, 2.02).

After the Dodgers won the series opener Friday, the Braves rolled to a 7-2 victory Saturday and were two outs away from handing Los Angeles its second shutout of the season.

Wrobleski was the sixth starter in waiting for the Dodgers when the season began, and he did not make his debut in the rotation until April 6 in the 10th game of the season. Since then, he has led the charge by allowing just two total runs over his five starts (32 innings).

Wrobleski delivered six scoreless innings in a start last Sunday at St. Louis.

When left-hander Blake Snell returned to the Dodgers rotation this weekend, it was right-hander Roki Sasaki that had his schedule rearranged. Wrobleski remained locked into his planned outing Sunday.

“I think I’m doing a good job of understanding who I am, understanding the game and where we’re at, understanding the hitter and the situation,” said Wrobleski, who has yet to face the Braves since making his MLB debut in 2024.

Even with his new-found success, Wrobleski still sees areas for improvement after he did not record a strikeout in his most recent outing. He has 15 strikeouts in 36 total innings this season.

“Some days you’re not going to get strikeouts. Some months you’re not going to get strikeouts. Some days you’re going to get a lot,” Wrobleski said. “… Just keep moving forward and I’m sure the strikeouts will come.”

Elder, on the other hand, is coming off a season-high nine strikeouts during a no-decision Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners. He gave up two runs over six innings as Atlanta finished off a 3-2 victory.

In keeping with his overall plan, Elder kept the Braves in the game at Seattle long enough for Atlanta’s offense to finally push across the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.

“I’m trying to go six or seven (innings),” Elder said. “Obviously I’m not going to every time out, but I’m just trying to keep the game progressing. If I give up a homer or whatever, that’s fine. I’m just trying to keep us in the game.”

Elder is trying to avoid the same fate he realized in 2023, when he had a 1.92 ERA through the end of May only to post a 4.95 ERA the rest of the way.

In five career starts against the Dodgers, he is 1-1 with a 5.18 ERA, including a pair of starts last season when he was 1-0 with a 5.00 ERA.

In their relatively easy victory Saturday, the Braves received two-run singles from Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson in the second inning as Snell made his season debut after recovering from shoulder inflammation.

A victory Sunday would give the Braves the series win after they just lost two of three at Seattle to drop a series for the first time this season.

–Field Level Media

Craig Stammen saw something in the at-bats of Fernando Tatis Jr. Friday night that no one else did.

The first-year manager of the San Diego Padres liked Tatis’ approach, even as he was going 0-for-2 with a walk as his team was being one-hit by the St. Louis Cardinals in a 6-0 shutout. So Stammen moved Tatis back to the No. 2 spot and was rewarded with a two-run single that made the difference in a 4-2 win Saturday.

Perhaps ready to make his normal sizable offensive contributions again, Tatis will aim to help San Diego salvage a split of its four-game series with St. Louis when the teams meet on Sunday.

Tatis still is without a homer through the team’s first 39 games, a dry stretch that has some questioning if the team should think of ways to unload him on someone else. But Stammen isn’t ready to answer that $340 million question just yet.

“I feel like he’s making some good decisions at the plate,” Stammen said. “And he’s been working hard in the cage, making some adjustments. And I also think the pitchers fear him, even if he’s not hitting as many home runs as we expect.”

Tatis is batting just .248 with 15 RBIs and a team-high nine steals in 12 attempts. The National League’s 2021 home run champion with 42, Tatis averaged more than 25 homers in his first six MLB seasons.

While Tatis and the Padres’ offense, which has just 10 hits in the series, try to put more barrels on balls, right-hander Walker Buehler (2-2, 5.64) aims for his second straight win. He earned a 10-5 decision in San Francisco Tuesday night, yielding four runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings with no walks and five strikeouts.

Lifetime, Buehler is 3-0 with a 3.90 ERA in five career starts against the Cardinals, striking out 35 batters in 30 innings.

St. Louis counters with right-hander Kyle Leahy (4-3, 4.93), who last pitched Monday night and beat Milwaukee 6-3. Leahy scattered six hits over 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run while walking two and striking out five.

Leahy, who’s fired 5 1/3 scoreless innings in three career appearances against San Diego, has had multiple outings this year in which he found trouble after five innings. Eight of the 10 batters he’s faced in the sixth inning have reached and five have scored.

“It still comes down to execution and then the physical piece of everything and just getting over that hurdle,” he said.

The Cardinals saw a six-game road winning streak end Saturday but put up a good fight, even when facing Mason Miller. They loaded the bases in the ninth on two walks and a wild pitch on strike three to Yohel Pozo before Miller slipped a 101 mph fastball by JJ Wetherholt for a called third strike.

The hottest bat lately has been Ivan Herrera, who followed up a four-hit game on Friday night with two more on Saturday. That included an RBI double in the eighth that got St. Louis within 3-2, upping his average to .270.

–Field Level Media

Last month, the Detroit Tigers continued their recent dominance of Kansas City by sweeping a three-game series.

On Sunday night, the host Royals can return the favor by handing the reeling Tigers a season-high sixth straight defeat.

From April 14-16, Detroit posted three straight one-run victories over the visiting Royals to record a sixth consecutive winning series between the two American League Central foes.

However, Kansas City rallied for a 4-3 walk-off win Friday. The Royals then used seven strong innings from Michael Wacha, a two-run, inside-the-park-homer from Bobby Witt Jr. and Michael Massey’s conventional three-run shot in a 5-1 victory on Saturday.

Kansas City, which secured its first winning series over the Tigers since August 2024, is 12-5 since losing eight in a row.

“We’ve got a special team,” Witt told Royals.TV. “This is a great series win, but we’re not satisfied. … We’re always trying to get better.”

Witt has recorded three of his five home runs over the last six games.

Massey, meanwhile, is 5-for-11 with two home runs and five RBIs in his last four contests.

Some low-back tightness forced Noah Cameron (2-2, 5.40 ERA) to miss his previous turn in Kansas City’s rotation, but he’s slated to be back on the mound for this Sunday start.

“If it were August or September, I would be very capable of pitching through it,” Cameron told the Royals’ official website of missing his previous scheduled start.

“Just trying to be smart and see where we are. … It’s feeling a lot better.”

Cameron allowed two runs over 10 2/3 innings of his first two starts this season. He since has yielded 20 runs — 17 earned — in 21 innings over his last four games.

Though the left-hander has made 30 career starts for the Royals since debuting last season, this will be his first appearance against the Tigers.

Detroit managed just four hits Saturday and has been outscored 28-11 during a five-game skid that matches the team’s longest losing streak of 2026.

“Just find a way to weather the storm,” said Tigers outfielder Matt Vierling, who went 0-for-4 Saturday.

“Get a couple wins. … Get some momentum.”

Already dealing with injuries to key offensive contributors in Gleyber Torres (oblique) and Javier Baez (ankle), the Tigers could be minus outfielder Kerry Carpenter. He exited Saturday’s contest with shoulder soreness from banging into the wall while misplaying Witt’s hit into that inside-the-park home run.

“It’s next man up,” Vierling said.

Though the Tigers continue searching for some potency at the plate, Riley Greene drove home Saturday’s lone run with a double in the eighth inning. He is batting .385 with eight RBIs in his last 18 contests and batting.458 with five doubles during his last six games at Kansas City.

With ace Tarik Skubal out at least six weeks following elbow surgery and Framber Valdez currently serving a suspension, the Tigers are slated for a bullpen game Sunday.

Right-hander Brenan Hanifee (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.2 IP) is scheduled to get the start in a potential opener role for Detroit, which has a 4.74 ERA over the last five games. He is 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA in 10 career appearances (one start) versus the Royals.

–Field Level Media