Last Night In Baseball: Brewers Take Game 1 Of 3-Game Series Against Dodgers

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 Milwaukee Brewers, who were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in last season’s National League Championship Series, won their first game against the defending, back-to-back champions. The damage came in the opening inning, as Brewers catcher William Contreras — who had a game-high three hits — launched a three-run home run to left field off Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski. Later in the inning, right fielder Sal Frelick drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. Milwaukee got a fifth run in the bottom of the second on a double from first baseman Andrew Vaughn in what was a 5-1 win. Contreras leads the Brewers in hits (56), RBIs (30) and batting average (.304); through 39 at-bats, Vaughn has driven in seven runs and sports a .333/.447/.513 slash line. On the mound, the Brewers got five scoreless innings from Logan Henderson, with Shane Drohan, Aaron Ashby and Chad Patrick each pitching 1 ⅓ innings of relief and combining to give up just one hit. In all, the Dodgers had three hits. Granted, they drew six walks. Milwaukee (30-18) has won 12 of its last 14 games and has a 2.5-game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central. New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole was spectacular in his first start since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series (Tommy John surgery), pitching six scoreless innings on just 72 pitches. The problem? New York supported him with just one run (a solo home run from catcher Austin Wells in the bottom of the fifth), and Tampa Bay broke through in the top of the eighth. In said inning, the first five batters reached base, with a double from Jonathan Aranda tying the game at 1-all and giving the first baseman his American League-high 38th RBI and a two-run single by second baseman Richie Palacios giving Tampa Bay the lead. The Rays would score a fourth run in the inning on a sacrifice fly from pinch hitter Ryan Vilade. New York scored a run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI triple from second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., but Tampa Bay would win, 4-2, improving to 4-0 over its division rival this season. The Rays (34-15) now have a 5.5-game lead on the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Despite giving up 10 baserunners (nine hits and one walk), Rays starter Nick Martinez — who owns a remarkable 1.51 ERA and 277 ERA+ — surrendered just one run through six innings. Zach Neto — who hit a walk-off, two-run home run against the Athletics on Monday — was a menace on Friday night. The Los Angeles Angels shortstop sent the first pitch he saw from Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom into the Angels’ bullpen to lead off the bottom half of the first. Later in the inning, left fielder Wade Meckler hit a three-run homer, with a two-run single from catcher Logan O’Hoppe giving the Angels a 6-0 lead in the third. Texas gradually got back in the game, though, as it got three runs in the top of the fourth on a solo home run from right fielder Brandon Nimmo and a two-run triple from center fielder Evan Carter. Then, second baseman Justin Foscue singled in a run in the sixth and Nimmo doubled home a run in the seventh, pulling the Rangers within one run. That said, second baseman Oswald Peraza — who had a game-high three hits — blasted a solo home run in the bottom half of the seventh for the Angels and Neto struck again in the eighth with a solo homer, which was followed by an RBI single from first baseman Nolan Schanuel later in the inning. Los Angeles won, 9-6. Neto is batting a career-low .221 and leads the AL with 73 strikeouts, but he has also hit 10 home runs and sports a 115 OPS+; Peraza has totaled six home runs and 12 RBIs, while boasting a .477 slugging percentage. No runs were put on the board through eight innings between the Cleveland Guardians and Philadelphia Phillies, but Kyle Manzardo grabbed a bat and changed that. Pinch hitting for the Guardians with one out in the top of the ninth, Manzardo hit the first pitch he saw from Phillies star reliever Jhoan Duran over the left-center field wall, which would help the Guardians get a 1-0 road victory. Both teams’ starters were spectacular, as Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez extended his scoreless innings streak to 34 ⅔ innings with eight more shutout innings, while Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams — who now leads the AL with 84 strikeouts and 69 ⅓ innings pitched — tossed eight shutout innings, recording 11 strikeouts and giving up just four baserunners (four hits). Manzardo, who hit 27 home runs in what was his first full season at the big-league level in 2025, is off to a slow start this year (he has a .228/.307/.382 slash line), but he has hit three home runs and posted a .389/.450/1.000 slash line over his last six games. The Guardians (31-22) have won seven consecutive games and 10 of their last 11. It wasn’t pretty, but the Atlanta Braves got their fourth consecutive win. Trailing the Washington Nationals 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, the Braves took the lead on back-to-back RBI singles by designated hitter Dominic Smith and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim. Granted, an eighth-inning solo home run by Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams tied the game at 2-all, which would ultimately send the game to extra innings, where Abrams would drive in two runs on a triple in the top of the 10th — but the Braves would rally once again. Chadwick Tromp singled home a run to lead off the bottom of the 10th for the Braves, with Mauricio Dubón later driving in a game-tying run on an infield single. Washington failed to plate a run in the top of the 11th, and Tromp hit a walk-off, RBI single for Atlanta in the bottom half of the inning, giving it a 5-4 win. Tromp is 4 for 7 at the plate this season, while Abrams leads the NL with 45 RBIs and a 169 OPS+, while sporting a .299/.391/.556 slash line. The Braves are now 4-1 against the Nationals and own the best record in the NL at 36-16. The Chicago White Sox scored nine runs in a 9-4 road victory over the San Francisco Giants; each of their nine runs came in the same inning. Chicago loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with one out, which began with the first two batters getting hit. Second baseman Chase Meidroth then walked in a run, designated hitter Andrew Benintendi hit a two-run double and catcher Edgar Quero grounded in a run before a Tristan Peters strikeout. Then, right fielder Derek Hill singled in a run, first baseman Munetaka Murakami — who leads the AL with 17 home runs — hit a three-run double and third baseman Miguel Vargas — who has an .848 OPS — later drove in a run on a single, capping off a nine-run inning. “That’ll do, Donkey. That’ll do.” Remarkably, the White Sox had just five hits in the game altogether, while the Giants — who scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth and a fourth run in the sixth — finished with seven hits. Ace Davis Martin pitched through 5 ⅔ innings for the White Sox, who got 3 ⅓ combined scoreless innings of relief from Tyler Davis, Brandon Eisert and Trevor Richards. Chicago (26-24) is in possession of the No. 2 AL wild-card seed. Juan Soto looks like Juan Soto. The New York Mets’ star outfielder hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning of the team’s Friday night road matchup against the Miami Marlins; he also singled in the fourth. Over his last 11 games, Soto has posted six home runs, 11 RBIs, four stolen bases and a .381/.458/.810 slash line. And through 36 games, he has totaled 10 home runs, 21 RBIs, five stolen bases, a 174 OPS+ and 1.5 wins above replacement, while having a .301/.394/.571 slash line. The problem? Soto’s home run was the only run the Mets scored in a 2-1 loss, with his two hits accounting for half of New York’s total baserunners (the Mets had three hits and one walk). Marlins right-hander Eury Pérez surrendered just one run over 6 ⅓ innings, while right fielder Owen Caissie drove in a run on a ground out in the bottom of the second and later singled home a run in the fourth, which would be enough offense for Miami to take Game 1 of the three-game series. The Mets (22-29) are now back in last place in the NL East, with the Marlins (23-29) a half-game ahead of them in fourth. The Arizona Diamondbacks were on a five-game winning streak, but the Colorado Rockies had seen enough. With the game tied at two apiece and one out in the top of the ninth, Rockies designated hitter Sterlin Thompson doubled to center field, which infielder Chad Stevens followed up with a go-ahead, RBI single to right field in what was his first hit of the season, putting Colorado up 3-2, and that would be the final score. Antonio Senzatela, who owns a 1.13 ERA and an 0.78 WHIP over 32.0 innings of relief, pitched the final 1⅔ innings for the Rockies. Earlier in the game, Rockies center fielder Jake McCarthy drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth and rookie first baseman TJ Rumfield — who sports a .788 OPS — hit a game-tying RBI double in the eighth. Arizona got its two runs on a second-inning sacrifice fly from left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and an RBI single from Gurriel in the fourth. Meanwhile, Colorado starter Tomoyuki Sugano gave up just two runs over 6 ⅔ innings. Through 10 starts, the 36-year-old Sugano owns a 3.86 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP across 53 ⅔ innings pitched. The Boston Red Sox got out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and later led 6-3 in the seventh, but the Minnesota Twins fought back. Following the aforementioned first inning that saw right fielder Wilyer Abreu double in a run, first baseman Willson Contreras triple in a run, designated hitter Andruw Monasterio single in a run and second baseman Marcelo Mayer hit a sacrifice fly for the Red Sox, the Twins had a three-run second inning, with shortstop Ryan Kreidler hitting an RBI double and second baseman Luke Keaschall and designated hitter Byron Buxton each singling home a run. Boston got two runs back in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice bunt and an RBI ground out, but Minnesota turned the tide in the seventh with a pair of two-run home runs from Buxton and outfielder Austin Martin to go up 7-6; the Twins got an eighth run in the ninth and won 8-6. Martin, Buxton, Kreidler and Keaschall each had two hits for the Twins, who got five scoreless innings from their bullpen after the Red Sox scored six runs off Connor Prielipp over four innings. On the season, Buxton has hit 16 home runs, which is tied for third in MLB; Martin sports a .297/.413/.398 slash line; Kreidler has recorded three home runs, eight RBIs and a .313/.405/.656 slash line over 11 games. Minnesota has won four of its last five games. The ball was flying out of Petco Park. Following the Athletics scoring two runs in the top of the first, San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado made it 2-all with a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning. Later, trailing 3-2 in the fifth, right fielder Nick Castellanos unloaded on a solo home run to left field to get the Padres even once again. Then, in the seventh, left fielder Ramón Laureano put San Diego up for good with a solo homer. The Padres tallied three more runs in the bottom of the eighth, as first baseman Gavin Sheets — who leads the Padres with nine home runs, while sporting a .522 slugging percentage — hit a two-run single and shortstop Xander Bogaerts hit a sacrifice fly en route to a 7-3 win. Right-hander Walker Buehler pitched through the fifth inning for San Diego, whose bullpen proceeded to pitch four scoreless innings. The A’s scored their three runs on a double from first baseman Nick Kurtz and an RBI ground out from designated hitter Brent Rooker in the first and an RBI single from center fielder Henry Bolte in the fourth. San Diego (30-20) is the No. 1 NL wild-card seed.