Betting

Ohtani was a little wild early in this one, but he worked through it in turning in his fifth scoreless start of the year. He’s allowed a total of five earned runs in 61 innings, which amounts to a 0.74 ERA, and he’s now won four starts in a row. It’s shaping up to be a fascinating Cy Young race in the NL this year. MVP, on the other hand, probably won’t be interesting at all as long as Ohtani remains healthy. Ohtani will probably pitch again next Wednesday against the Pirates.

Hader walked one and struck out one. He averaged 95.8 mph with his sinker, which is very encouraging. That’s actually a little better than his 95.5-mph average from last season and it’s nearly two mph better than in his four Triple-A starts. Of course, there’s no guarantee that he’ll remain healthy from here, but based on the way he was throwing tonight, he could go right back to performing as a top-notch closer.

Skenes exited with a 4-3 lead after allowing two singles, striking out two and then giving up an RBI single in the fifth. Yohan Ramírez took over and retired Jake Meyers to end the inning. Of course, that left Skenes ineligible for the win in a game in which he averaged about eight pitches per out. Skenes struck out seven and wasn’t hit very hard; the two-run rally in the third started out with a bunt single and a walk before Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes delivered RBI singles. This makes four straight mediocre starts for Skenes, but his strikeout rate is holding up fine and he’s allowed only two homers since the beginning of March. Things should turn around soon, though perhaps not against the Dodgers next time out.

Webb struck out four and lowered his ERA to 4.25 this season. He struggled in his first start back from a knee issue, but that outing came at Coors Field. The right-hander looked like his vintage self against the Brewers, which the Giants will need going forward as they battle the Rockies to escape the NL West cellar. Webb’s next matchup is scheduled to come at home against the Nationals, who entered Wednesday leading MLB in runs per game.

J-Ram is off to a hot start this week at Yankee Stadium, as he doubled three times in Tuesday’s series opener. His 21 stolen bases lead the American League, and he trails Nasim Nuñez by one for the MLB lead. Prior to 2024, Ramírez never had a stolen base attempt rate higher than 3.5%, per Statcast. He’s been at 4.5% or higher in each of the past three seasons. The power is down so far this season, but 40+ bags appear to be a given for a third consecutive campaign.

“We just want clarity on exactly what we’re dealing with,” said Boone. It’s challenging to speculate on Judge’s next steps until the club determines the severity of the bone bruise in his rib cage that has resulted in shoulder soreness for the last couple weeks. The 34-year-old generational talent has missed two straight games and was sent to see a specialist on Wednesday. The odds of a trip to the injured list feel exponentially higher than earlier this week. There should be some much-needed clarity on his status at some point ahead of Thursday’s series finale against the Guardians.

Sánchez extended his consecutive scoreless streak to 50 2/3 innings before Jackson Merrill delivered an opposite-field base hit in the seventh, one of just four he allowed on the evening. The streak finishes as the fifth-longest in baseball since 1920, including the longest by a lefty. He fell shy of matching Orel Hershiser’s 59-IP record, but he still holds a 1.46 ERA and sits at the center of this year’s National League Cy Young race. He’ll look to continue that bid in his next outing, a road game in Toronto.

Woods Richardson provides Toronto’s injury-ravaged pitching staff with some much-needed rotation depth after being jettisoned from Minnesota’s roster last weekend. The 25-year-old was shipped to the Twins as part of the José Berríos trade a half-decade ago. He’s struggled mightily this season with a bloated 7.74 ERA, 1.89 WHIP and 25/26 K/BB ratio across 47 2/3 innings. However, he makes sense as a temporary stopgap solution for the Blue Jays until Dylan Cease (hamstring), Max Scherzer (forearm) and Shane Bieber (elbow) are ready to return from the injured list.

Roberts added that Ohtani will be available off the bench, but won’t be in the lineup after a two-way outing during Wednesday’s contest at Chase Field. It makes sense that the Dodgers want to build in some extra rest to keep the 31-year-old unicorn fresh for the full season. He’s had a remarkable year with a 0.82 ERA across 55 innings on the mound.

Raleigh will head to Triple-A Tacoma next week before potentially making it back to Seattle at some point around mid-June. The 29-year-old slugging backstop has been on the shelf recovering from a right oblique strain since mid-May. It was his first-ever trip to the injured list during his six-year career. There’s stil plenty of time for him to turn things around in the second half following a slow start to the year at the dish.