Last Night in Baseball: Athletics Annihilate the Phillies

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves. Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: The Athletics let out their frustration by losing the first two games of a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies in explosive fashion. How’s that? They blasted four home runs, those coming from catcher Shea Langeliers, designated hitter Brent Rooker and infielders Jacob Wilson and Zack Gelof. Langeliers and Rooker each hit two-run homers in the top of the first inning, with the A’s then having a three-run third, a three-run fifth and a two-run seventh. All nine starters for the Athletics recorded a hit, with Langeliers, Rooker, Gelof and outfielder Carlos Cortes having multi-hit performances in a 12-1 win. Concurrently, A’s starter J.T. Ginn dominated the Phillies’ offense over eight innings, giving up just one run and five baserunners (four hits and one walk) and posting eight strikeouts. Philadelphia’s one run came off a solo home run from Kyle Schwarber, who’s second in the National League with 12 home runs, in the bottom of the fourth. The Athletics stand atop the American League West at 19-18 and are sixth in MLB with a .407 team slugging percentage. Meanwhile, this was the Phillies’ second loss of the season by 11 runs; they lost to the Washington Nationals on Mar. 30, 13-2. Like the A’s, the Colorado Rockies lost the first two games of a three-game series but salvaged the final game of the set with the long ball. Tied at 2-all with the New York Mets with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Rockies outfielder Jake McCarthy hammered a fastball on the inside of the plate into the upper level for a go-ahead, grand slam, which ultimately gave Colorado a 6-2 win. McCarthy had five RBIs on the day and was the only Colorado player to have multiple hits. Elsewhere, a fourth-inning RBI single from infielder Willi Castro accounted for the Rockies’ sixth run, while the Mets scored their two runs in the top of the second. Through 28 games, McCarthy, who has started extensively in both left and center field for the Rockies, has totaled two home runs, 14 RBIs and a 126 OPS+, while boasting a .275/.346/.507 slash line. The outfielder is in his first year with the Rockies after spending the first five seasons of his MLB career with the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2021-25. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Rockies. Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe hit a first-inning home run in the team’s Wednesday night win over the Diamondbacks and did the same in their Thursday night win over the D-backs, launching a Zac Gallen fastball over the right field wall. An Adrian Del Castillo RBI single in the bottom of the first and a Corbin Carroll solo home run in the third later gave the Diamondbacks the lead. That said, Pittsburgh took the lead for good in the top of the fifth on back-to-back RBI singles from right fielder Ryan O’Hearn and first baseman Spencer Horwitz. Then, in the sixth, catcher Joey Bart, who had two hits, gave the Pirates another run for good measure with a solo homer to center. Meanwhile, Lowe had three of Pittsburgh’s seven hits and right-hander Mitch Keller surrendered just two runs over six innings in a 4-2 win for the Pirates. Pittsburgh has won five of its last six games, improving to 21-17. After walking off the Cincinnati Reds in three straight games, the Chicago Cubs made matters easier for themselves in the Thursday matinée against their NL Central rival. First, Cubs outfielder Michael Conforto — who finished with a game-high three hits — produced the game’s first run on a solo homer to right field in the bottom of the second. Two innings later, the outpouring of offense commenced, as the Cubs scored seven runs in six consecutive at-bats in the fourth: a Conforto walk, a Dansby Swanson force-out, an RBI single from Pete Crow-Armstrong, a two-run single from Miguel Amaya, an RBI double from Nico Hoerner and a Moisés Ballesteros sacrifice fly. Cincinnati later got solo home runs from second baseman Sal Stewart and outfielder Blake Dunn and an RBI double from left fielder JJ Bleday, but it was to no avail, as Chicago held on to win, 8-3. The Cubs got six reputable innings from left-hander Shota Imanaga, who recorded 10 strikeouts and gave up just one run. Chicago’s four-game sweep gives it a nine-game winning streak and puts it in a tie with the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees for the best record in MLB at 26-12. The Cubs’ offense has collectively been among MLB’s elite, as they’re first in on-base percentage (.353), third in runs (208), fourth in hits (335) and batting average (.258), tied for fourth in home runs (50) and are fifth in slugging percentage (.429). Speaking of the Yankees, in the wake of defeating the Texas Rangers on Thursday and taking two out of three in the series, the Bronx Bombers have now won six consecutive series. New York outfielders Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham each had three-hit performances, with the former driving in two runs and the latter driving in three runs on a go-ahead, bases-clearing double as part of a six-run bottom of the sixth inning for the Yankees. Infielder Ryan McMahon — who entered the game after left fielder Jasson Domínguez was carted off due to a low-grade sprain of his left AC joint, per MLB.com — reached base four times (two hits and two walks in five plate appearances). New York used six pitchers in what was a 9-2 victory. As for how the offensive standouts have fared in 2026, Bellinger has racked up five home runs, 28 RBIs and an AL-high 2.5 wins above replacement, while possessing a .299/.394/.530 slash line; it was Grisham’s first three-hit game of the season. The Yankees have won 16 of their last 19 games and are 9-2-1 in their 12 series this season. It was all about the one behind the plate for the Washington Nationals in the rubber match of their three-game series with the Minnesota Twins. Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the third, catcher Keibert Ruiz got the Nationals on the board with an RBI double, which was followed by an RBI sacrifice fly from second baseman Nasim Nuñez. Two innings later, Ruiz drove in two more runs with another double. And, two innings later, Ruiz put Washington up for good with a solo home run to right, capping off a three-hit day (all extra-base hits) that saw him drive in four runs. First baseman Curtis Mead drove in another run for the Nationals, his second of the game, in the seventh. While the effort came in a 7-5 loss, Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers matched Ruiz, hitting a solo home run, logging two doubles and driving in four runs. Washington has won three of its last four series. After losing the first two games of a four-game series on the road to the Kansas City Royals and scoring no more than three runs in any of those contests, the Cleveland Guardians left Kauffman Stadium with a series split after an offensive breakthrough. Cleveland got out to a three-run lead in the top of the first with a two-run double from first baseman Kyle Manzardo and an RBI single from third baseman Daniel Schneemann. Later, leading 5-2 in the seventh, catcher Bo Naylor blasted a three-run homer to right, which would be a needed oomph, as the Guardians went on to win, 8-5. Naylor and shortstop Brayan Rocchio each had two hits for Cleveland, which got a hit from every member of its starting lineup and 5.1 innings from starter Slade Cecconi. Ironically, the Royals out-hit the Guardians, 12-11, but they wasted a four-hit game from star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. The Guardians are in first place in the AL Central at 20-19. Literally, they cannot be stopped. Coming off their second consecutive series sweep, the Tampa Bay Rays took the act to Fenway Park on Thursday and won their 13th game in 14 attempts, beating the Boston Red Sox, 8-4. Tampa Bay got three RBIs on two hits from Chandler Simpson and two-hit games from infielders Junior Caminero, Ben Williamson, designated hitter Yandy Diaz and outfielder Jonny DeLuca, as well, as part of a combined 13-hit performance. Caminero put the game out of reach with a laser, two-run home run to center in the top of the eighth. The homer was hit at 114.3 mph and traveled 449 feet, according to MLB Stats. Caminero has hit a team-high 10 home runs this season for the Rays, while boasting a .496 slugging percentage. Meanwhile, Simpson is batting .313, has stolen 12 bases and is tied for sixth in MLB with 45 hits. The Rays (25-12) are a half-game behind the Yankees, Braves and Cubs for the best record in the sport. It wasn’t pretty. In fact, the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres combined for just nine hits, but a win is a win for the Redbirds’ sake. The Padres drew first blood with an RBI single from shortstop Xander Bogaerts in the bottom of the first, which was actually a check-swing that traveled 264 feet. At the same time, first baseman Alec Burleson leveled the score for the Cardinals with a solo home run to right in the top of the fourth. And, in the seventh, the Cardinals took a 2-1 lead — which would be the final score — when shortstop Masyn Winn dropped a ball into right field that got past Nick Castellanos for a triple and brought home the go-ahead run. St. Louis got six plausible innings from left-hander Matthew Liberatore, who surrendered only one run through six innings, while its bullpen surrendered just one baserunner (one hit) over three innings to close out the game. Meanwhile, Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker, who scored the go-ahead run in the seventh, had two doubles. On the season, Burleson has totaled six home runs, a team-high 30 RBIs and a 132 OPS+, while owning a .270/.350/.461 slash line; Walker has totaled 10 home runs, 27 RBIs, seven stolen bases, a 176 OPS+ and 2.2 wins above replacement, while owning a .309/.383/.588 slash line; Winn is batting .264, while posting 1.3 wins above replacement, sporting a career-high 107 OPS+ and recording two defensive runs saved at shortstop. The Cardinals are in second place in the NL Central at 22-15 and in possession of the first NL wild-card seed. Fittingly, we close it out with the only walk off from Thursday’s 10-game slate. The Baltimore Orioles and Miami Marlins entered the bottom of the ninth tied at 3-all. Furthermore, Orioles’ reliever Andrew Kittredge got the first two batters of the inning out. Then, Miami pinch hit catcher Joe Mack, who doubled, putting the winning run in scoring position. The next at-bat, down 0-1 in the count, Marlins’ third baseman Javier Sanoja hit a ground ball to third base, which third baseman Coby Mayo bobbled. That said, Mayo gathered the ground ball, but his throw one-hopped to first baseman Pete Alonso, and the latter couldn’t retrieve it off the bounce with the ball getting away from him and Mack coming around third for the walk-off run; the Marlins won, 4-3. As for the rest of the game, Miami struck first in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run by Liam Hicks, giving him 34 RBIs on the year. Miami added another run in the third when first baseman Connor Norby drove in a run on a single, which came after Orioles’ shortstop Gunnar Henderson singled in a run in the top half of the inning. Baltimore got its other two runs on a fourth-inning RBI single from right fielder Tyler O’Neill and an eighth-inning RBI single from Alonso.