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The second hit was a bunt single, after which Lawlar stole second base. This won’t add to Lawlar’s spring stats, but he’s off to a superb start and is the clear favorite to be the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day center fielder at this point.

Sale allowed eight hits, but only Rhys Hoskins’ homer in the sixth mattered, and the Braves had a 9-0 lead before that happened. Sale was again right around 96 mph with his fastball tonight. He slipped to 92.5 mph while ill in his second start of the year, but he’s been right near 96 in his other three starts. He’ll likely make his next start in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Dodd, who was called up earlier in the day, was allowed to finish after entering a 9-1 game in the seventh, and the Guardians were kind enough to make things easy on him; he got nine outs on 33 pitches while working on just one day of rest after his last Triple-A outing. His previous 2026 highs for innings were two in spring training and 1 2/3 in the minors.

Bibee, who struck out four and walked one, wasn’t quite crushed in a game in which the Guardians decided to punt defense (David Fry caught for only the second time this season, and Steven Kwan sat against Chris Sale). He allowed 11 hits but eight hard-hit balls, only one of which topped 102 mph. It was the bottom half of the Braves order that did most of the damage tonight, as Ozzie Albies, Dominic Smith, Mauricio Dubón and Jorge Mateo combined for seven hits off Bibee, including the lone homer from Smith. Bibee’s ERA stands at 6.38, but his 18/6 K/BB in 18 innings is fine. He still figures to offer some mixed-league value in a nice situation in Cleveland, but his ceiling isn’t what it was. He’ll face the Orioles next.

With his .951 OPS, Mauricio Dubón has been great while filling in for Ha-Seong Kim this season, but Mateo has been even better in his limited chances, going 7-for-15 with a homer and a double. Once Kim and Sean Murphy return, the Braves are actually going to have a quality bench for the first time since their World Series season in 2021.

The Guardians preferred Gabriel Arias to Rocchio at short before he got hurt, and they have a second baseman of the future in Travis Bazzana. It makes one wonder how much longer Rocchio is going to be a part of the team’s plans. He’s out of options now, so they can’t send him down like they did last summer. Despite having struck out just six times, Rocchio is hitting .170/.316/.255 in 58 plate appearances. His defensive numbers have never lived up to his reputation, and he just hasn’t added any power production, even though his exit velocity numbers have improved some since he entered the league. He’s still just 25, but his future doesn’t seem very bright at this point.

This is pretty aggressive. Pham, signed to a minor league deal on Opening Day, didn’t play this spring. His only minor league action consists of him going 2-for-12 in five games in A ball. And he was basically a zero WAR guy the last two years. No word yet on who is going down. Ronny Mauricio would seem to be logical choice, even if it leaves the Mets a little short-handed in the infield.

Murray homered in his first at-bat but was removed for a pinch-hitter before his third, as the White Sox preferred having Andrew Benintendi up against a righty. The 26-year-old is 2-for-14 since being called up a week ago. He’s due to return to the minors when the White Sox get Everson Pereira and Austin Hays back.

Domínguez was the White Sox’s ninth pitcher today after they went with an opener and bulk guy Jonathan Cannon left with an injury before recorded an out in the third. Fortunately, the final five of those nine pitchers kept the Royals scoreless over a total of 5 2/3 innings. Domínguez blew his first save chance for the Whtie Sox on March 29, but he has three saves and a win in four appearances this month.

Cameron opened the sixth with a 5-4 lead and retired Chase Meidroth to start the inning, but he went walk, single, walk afterwards. Nick Mears replaced him with the bases loaded and got Colson Montgomery to pop out, but he then walked Andrew Benintendi to force in the tying run. Prior to the sixth, Cameron hadn’t walked anyone, but he had given up a pair of two-run homers. He averaged just 90.5 mph with his fastball today, down from 91.3 mph in his first two starts this season and 92.3 mph as a rookie last year. He excelled at generating soft contract last season, but since it’s not happening this year, he might not be a mixed-league guy.

The HBP off his left wrist probably should have been ruled a swinging strike, but the White Sox already had one humiliation there with Andrew Benintendi earlier this month and didn’t need another already. Montgomery is batting .200/.302/.418 with three homers in 16 games.