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Close games everywhere on Thursday, as five contests were settled by one run. Two former Cy Young Award winners were seeking their first wins of the campaign, only to see their bullpens blow last-inning leads in dramatic fashion. Elsewhere, the Giants continued their winning ways and remain the early surprise team of the National League. The Mariners accomplished something in Boston for the first time in over a decade, while the struggling Orioles looked to get back on track and avoid being swept in Washington.
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Today’s Headlines
Giants Rally to Take Home Series Versus Brewers
The San Francisco Giants continued their winning ways on Thursday after trailing 5-2 at the end of four frames against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers. The rally began in the fifth when Matt Chapman cranked a two-run homer to center to cut the deficit to one run.
Milwaukee’s bullpen kept the Giants off the board until the eighth, when San Fran’s Mike Yastrzemski tied the game on a fielder’s choice to score Tyler Fitzgerald from third. With one out and runners on the corners, the next batter, Willy Adames, got the best of his former team with a go-ahead sac fly that led to an error by left fielder Christian Yelich after he botched the flyball. Christian Koss scored the go-ahead run from third.
Camilo Doval closed the door in the ninth for his third save of the series after he induced a Rhys Hoskins fly out to center with runners on first and second.
It was the fifth save of the campaign for Doval, who now appears to be the top option to close games due to recent struggles by Ryan Walker (8.2 IP, 7.27 ERA).
Worth noting. Tobias Myers made his first start for the Brew Crew after a left oblique strain kept him on the shelf to begin the year. Myers allowed two runs over four innings and did not factor in the decision.
San Fran’s Jung Hoo Lee continued his torrid April and reached base three times, including via an RBI double in the first to put the Giants on the board. Lee’s 11th two-bagger put him in a tie with New York’s Pete Alonso for the MLB lead.
Tough Day For Crochet
There’s no question what the Red Sox received in the offseason when they traded four prospects for one of the best southpaws in MLB, Garrett Crochet. He’s a workhorse, as he proved over a five-inning grind on Thursday. Crochet had a rough go of it early on. After a 29-pitch first inning led to a pair of Seattle runs, the new staff ace yielded two more runs in the second and trailed 4-1 after two frames. Crochet struggled with control throughout the day and surrendered five hits while tying a career-high with five walks. Unfortunately, despite striking out nine over 110 pitches and keeping his team within striking distance (trailed 4-2 after his fifth-inning exit), Boston managed only one more run and lost 4-3.
There were some great highlights in this contest beginning with Julio Rodriguez beating out a great throw by Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman for an infield knock and career hit No. 500.
You’ll rarely catch Rodriguez not hustling out of the box, which is why he’s a fan favorite in Seattle. It is worth mentioning, that it was only a few days ago that the Mariners’ franchise player also struck out for the 500th time in his young career. Rodriguez can be just as exciting as frustrating to watch early in the season. Since he debuted in 2022, Julio has been a .229 hitter in March and April combined. He’s a notoriously slow starter and hasn’t gotten any better out of the gate this year. Rodriguez’s slash line so far is .202/.313/.364.
Here’s a great basket catch by Mariners second baseman Leo Rivas to end the bottom of the eighth.
Leo Rivas with an UNBELIEVABLE basket catch! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/E6bpVf1OWS
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2025
Finally, let’s give closer Andrés Muñoz some credit for not only notching his AL-leading ninth save in as many tries to help SP Bryan Woo claim his third win of ’25 (6 IP, 2 ER, 8 K), but check out this swing by rookie Kristian Campbell to end the game. Watch where the bat goes.
Campbell claimed the first ‘Golden Sombrero’ of his career with that whiff after going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. His teammate Rafael Devers also struggled at the dish, going 0-for-4 with two more strikeouts, which made it an AL-leading 36 KOs this season for the DH.
The rubber-game victory for Seattle gave the franchise their first series win at Fenway Park since 2014. The Mariners improved to 14-11 and into a tie atop the AL West after what happened next to the Rangers…
Blown Games Out West Cost deGrom and Burnes First Wins
It looked like Texas was going to hold on for a 3-2 victory after a three-homer fourth inning appeared to be enough to take the rubber game versus the A’s. It began with back-to-back homers by Jonah Heim and Josh Jung, followed by a go-ahead solo jack by Leody Taveras two batters later.
The problem, however, was that Rangers closer Luke Jackson couldn’t hold the lead in the ninth after allowing a single to Luis Urías with a man on first. Everything went wrong from there, starting with the man who put Texas ahead in the fourth.
The error by Taveras allowed Max Schuemann to score the tying run before the next batter, Jacob Wilson, walked it off with a single to center, bringing home Urias from second.
Bad loss for Texas. Starting pitcher Jacob deGrom left with the lead after giving up two runs over 5.1 frames. He’ll have to wait at least one more start before claiming win No.1 on the year.
Speaking of bad losses, let’s head to Arizona, where Diamondbacks ace Corbin Burnes made his fifth start and sought his first W of the campaign. In a similar fashion as deGrom’s start, Burnes left with a lead only to see his reliever Ryne Nelson surrender a game-tying RBI single to Rays leadoff man Yandy Díaz with one out in the ninth. Diaz had three knocks in the contest.
The game went to extras, tied at four. In the tenth, Tampa went ahead on a Junior Caminero ground-rule double.
Two batters later, left fielder Christopher Morel added some insurance with a two-run shot over the left field wall, and that was all she wrote.
Final score: Tampa Bay-8, Arizona-5. The Rays won the series 2-1.
O’s End Losing Streak and Avoid Sweep
Tomoyuki Sugano, please make room for your Baltimore teammate, Cade Povich. You now have company after Povich joined you as the only other pitcher on the staff to go deeper than six innings in one start. Sugano did it for the second time on Wednesday in a loss versus the Nationals, and on Thursday Povich joined the 35-year-old rookie after earning his first W of 2025 behind 6.2 innings of one-run ball.
Baltimore needed only two runs on four hits to avoid the sweep and their fourth straight loss. Both scores came via RBI singles in the fifth inning by Ryan O’Hearn and Cedric Mullins. Closer Félix Bautista notched his third save to help the O’s claim their 10th win of the campaign by a final score of 2-1. The loss dropped Washington to 11-14 and 7.5 games back in the NL East.
That’s a dub. pic.twitter.com/Mh0MdWMg0Q
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 25, 2025
Best Moments From Yesterday
A True Crochet Fan at Fenway
Are there any better fans in sports than what we get with MLB? After watching the clip below of a Red Sox fan, or more accurately, a Garrett Crochet fan, crocheting a sweater while the lefty was on the bump, it seemed like a pretty cool homage to someone who just arrived in Beantown this season. Apparently, she only works on the sweater from the time Crochet takes the mound to when he’s removed from the contest. She works during each of his starts and appeared to have a better feel for the hook than Garrett had for the ball on Thursday.
Crocheting for Crochet! ❤️
This fan crochets a sweater when Garrett Crochet pitches 🧶 pic.twitter.com/71763eSAGW
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2025
A Touching Crews Story With His No.1 Fan
There’s very little I can add to the video below. If you haven’t seen it and wonder what guys like Nationals up-and-comer Dylan Crews do to help those with special needs, or in the case of his biggest fan, Aubrey, check it out. Great story, and hats off to all those involved.
From Baton Rouge to the Big Leagues ❤️
Dylan Crews and his No. 1 fan Aubrey, an 11-year old with autism, are using their special bond to bring opportunity and awareness to special-needs families in D.C. pic.twitter.com/92XyUB7Rs0
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2025
Full story here: https://t.co/QbCs3JmbdO
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2025
Marquez Joins the 1,000-K Club
The first Rockies player to reach 1,000 career strikeouts with the franchise is Germán Márquez, despite being smacked around by the Royals in Game 1 of their doubleheader on Thursday. Kansas City won 7-4, and Marquez was not good as he continues to struggle in 2025. After giving up six runs over four frames with three strikeouts, the right-hander fell to 0-4 on the year with a 9.30 ERA. However, today is also about reaching 1,000 career Ks (now tied for 562nd all-time), and in a bittersweet sort of way, I suppose it’s noteworthy and somewhat honorable whenever a Rockies pitcher reaches a milestone of any kind despite taking the loss.
The Royals won the second match 6-2 and completed the three-game sweep at home. Bobby Witt Jr. extended the current longest hitting streak in MLB to 16 games with a 1-for-4 effort in each contest.
Let’s go Germán Márquez!!! Marquee gets career strikeout #1000 with a K to Pasquantino in the 4ht inning! 13th Venezuelan born pitcher to hit that milestone!@Rockies_Now https://t.co/fdjYdMT2uh
— 5280 Media (@5280_media) April 24, 2025
Gorski Goes Deep in First MLB At-Bat
It’s always fun to see a rookie debut with a homer in his first at-bat. That was the case in Anaheim, where Pittsburgh’s Matt Gorski homered in the second inning. Gorski was hitting .300 with an .854 OPS at Triple-A before the call. Despite the round-tripper, the Pirates could not complete the road sweep and lost to the Angels 4-3.
Check out ‘Articles You Should Read’ below to learn more about Gorski and his road to the majors.
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ The Twins placed their versatile utility man, Willi Castro, on the 10-day IL with a strained right oblique muscle. The move is retroactive to April 21. Castro’s slash line this season is .227/.292/.364. Utility man Mickey Gasper was called up from Triple-A in his place.
⚾ Nationals SS CJ Abrams was activated from the 10-day IL and returned to the lineup on Thursday. Abrams was out with a hip flexor strain he suffered on April 11 and was 0-for-4 in his return.
⚾ The New York Yankees activated outfielder Trent Grisham from the paternity list. He missed the previous series versus the Guardians and will be ready to go against the Blue Jays this weekend. Grisham is off to a surprisingly nice start with a .320 batting average, six homers, and 13 RBIs. This is a guy who hasn’t hit over .200 in a season since 2021.
⚾ Royals SP Cole Ragans was removed from his start versus Colorado with left groin tightness. Ragans allowed four runs over three innings before exiting.
⚾ Rangers SP Kumar Rocker went on the 10-day IL with mild right shoulder impingement (whatever that really means). Rocker is coming off an outing in which he was rocked for five runs and seven hits over 1.2 frames against the Athletics on Wednesday. It seems to be a frequent excuse for pitchers to claim injury after a bad start. Who knows? Rocker’s been less than desirable this year after a 1-3 start and an ERA north of eight. 8.10, to be exact. So his timing for an IL-stint is probably doing the Rangers a huge favor.
Articles You Should Read
The rise of Steven Kwan: How a ‘mental edge’ has helped unlock an undersized MLB star— Zack Meisel, The Athletic
He once wrote ‘Yankees rule’ on the Pesky Pole. Now he’s mashing for them — Anthony Castrovince, MLB.com
Welcome to the Show: Gorski blasts homer in first career at-bat — Alex Stumpf, MLB.com
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