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The 42-year-old Albernaz had also interviewed with the Nationals. Last year, he interviewed with the Marlins and White Sox before pulling himself out of contention and getting a title promotion from the Guardians. Albernaz, who served as a minor league catcher in the Rays system for several seasons, spent the last two years in Cleveland the first as bench coach and the second as associate manager. He’ll take over an Orioles team that should have high expectations after an extremely disappointing year. We’ll have to wait and see whether interim manager Tony Mansolino or bench coach Robinson Chirinos, who was bypassed in favor of the third base coach when Brandon Hyde was fired, are offered the chance to stick around.

Lawlar’s steal was the first of the season. The 23-year-old singled twice and also drew a walk to improve his young slash to .300/.364/.400. Lawlar isn’t long removed from being one of the upper-echelon prospects in baseball, and while there’s some significant risk in his profile, it just might lead to a substantial reward, too.

Keith got the Tigers back into the game with a two-run double in the seventh, turning a six-run deficit into an 8-4 game. The 24-year-old already has doubled three times in 2026, and he’s slashing .429/.500/.643 over the first four games of the season.

Messick walked none and gave up just two hard-hit balls, the harder of which turned into a double play off the bat of Miguel Rojas. It looked like the Guardians might send him down in favor of Logan Allen at the end of the spring, but they clearly made the right decision to keep him at the back of their rotation. He’s a perfectly solid mixed-league play, and he’ll next face the Cubs at home on Sunday.

The ninth opened with an infield single from Kyle Tucker and an RBI double from Mookie Betts. Smith retired three in a row from there, but he did give up the second run on a wild pitch. He threw 29 pitches tonight after throwing 28 in another shaky outing Saturday, so the Guardians might want to give him Tuesday off. That could put Shawn Armstrong in line for a save chance.

Maybe not quite the best-case scenario but definitely better than most expected. Just 41 percent of Sasaki’s pitches tonight were in the zone, but the Guardians chased after enough of the ones that weren’t to make it a solid showing. He wound up allowing four hits, walking two and striking out four. Sasaki still doesn’t come recommended in fantasy leagues, but this will keep him in the rotation for now. He’ll likely face the Nationals next on Sunday.

Kwan is still without a hard-hit ball in 22 at-bats this year, but he has mustered seven hits anyway. With his bat speed and his foot speed decreasing, he’s likely past his peak both for the Guardians and as a fantasy outfielder. Still, he should offer some mixed-league value anyway,

Carroll laced a triple off Justin Verlander in the first inning, and one frame later the 25-year-old whalloped his first homer of the season, also off Verlander. The hamata bone injury doesn’t appear to be bothering Carroll to begin the year, and fantasy managers who were able to procure his services later because of the scare have to be thrilled. When at his best, there are very few outfielders better than Carroll.

Sewald didn’t allow a hit while picking up a strikeout. The 35-year-old appears to have won the closing gig for Arizona, and while he’s had previous success in the role — with the Diamondbacks, as well — there’s some significant volatility based on his results the last few years.

Three of those strikeouts came in the fourth, when Soroka was able to complete an immaculate inning (nine strikes, no balls in play). The 28-year-old scattered four hits allowed with one walk in an impressive first outing with the Diamondbacks. Merrill Kelly is coming soon, so these kind of efforts — or at least a semblance of their quality — are going to be necessary to keep Soroka in the rotation. His next chance to impress comes against Atlanta on Saturday.

Verlander’s first start back with the Tigers was not a particularly impressive one. He gave up a pair of runs in the first — with one coming on a triple from Corbin Carroll — and Carroll got him again an inning later with a three-run bomb. That was it for runs allowed, but Verlander clearly wasn’t fooling hitters as seen in just six swings and misses generated over 80 pitches. The 43-year-old will look to regroup against the Cardinals on Sunday.