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What’s Happening in Baseball Today
The First Pitch: May 18, 2026
Not even Paul Skenes can stop the rebounding Phillies. The Pirates ace looks dominant through the first four innings at home against Philadelphia, extending his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 20, but he begins to fold in the fifth—allowing two runs, followed by three more an inning later before being removed. Meanwhile, Zack Wheeler (see below) coasts through seven shutout innings for the Phillies, allowing four hits while striking out eight to lower his season ERA to 1.99.
The Phillies have won 15 of their last 19 games, and are above the .500 mark at 23-22 just three weeks after being 10 games below water (at 9-19).
Before falling apart, Skenes had struck out 45 batters without a walk—a modern Pirates franchise record.
Down three runs and with no outs to spare against the visiting Yankees, the Mets finally conjure up some long-overdue ninth-inning magic as Tyrone Taylor smacks a game-tying home run. An inning later, gift runner Marcus Semien nets the game-winner for the Mets after being bunted over to third and scoring on Carson Benge’s grounder. The 7-6, 10-inning win is the first by the Mets when trailing after eight innings since their penultimate regular season game of the 2024 season—a span of 93 losses. (They also came from behind in the ninth to eliminate the Brewers shortly afterward in the Wild Card Series.)
The Cleveland Guardians muscle up for six home runs—their most in seven years, and one shy of their all-time high at Progressive Field—and defeat the visiting Reds, 10-3. Kyle Manzardo, entering the day with just two homers on the season after hitting 27 last year, doubles his 2026 total with a pair of dingers.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
3-2-3-4—Gavin Sheets, San Diego
Who would have predicted a Padres universe where Fernando Tatis Jr. has no home runs and Gavin Sheets has nine after 46 games? The first baseman who took over this year for the departed Luis Arraez has been a godsend thus far for the Friars—especially on Sunday night’s national broadcast at Seattle in which he went deep twice, doubled and walked twice in an 8-3 win over the Mariners. Sheets’ nine blasts lead the team.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
7-4-0-0-1-8—Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia
A day after Cristopher Sanchez tamed the Pirates, it was Wheeler’s turn. The 35-year-old southpaw easily outdueled Paul Skenes and contributed seven scoreless frames as the Phillies shut out the Bucs for the second straight game, 6-0. Wheeler hasn’t skipped a beat since returning to action in late April, following shoulder surgery late last season; he’s 3-0 with a 1.99 ERA through five starts.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1912: In one of the most bizarre—and one-sided—contests in major league history, the A’s romp 24-2 over a visiting Tigers team made up entirely of replacement players as the regular team protests over Ty Cobb, suspended a few days earlier after attacking a fan in the stands at New York. Detroit starting pitcher Al Travers, in his one and only big-league game, goes the distance—and sets major league records by allowing 24 runs and 26 hits.
2004: Randy Johnson retires all 27 Braves he faces and becomes, at age 40, the oldest pitcher in history to throw a perfect game—erasing the old mark held for a century and two weeks by Cy Young. Johnson strikes out 13 and throws 117 pitches in Arizona’s 2-0 win at Atlanta.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Joakim Soria (42), two-time All-Star reliever; 773 appearances resulting in 229 saves
Eric Young (59), speedy 15-year second baseman who three times stole over 50 bases, including NL-leading 53 in 1996; career .283 batting average on 1,731 hits
Catcher Jim Sundberg (75), three-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove recipient; first-round draft pick by Rangers, for whom he played 12 of his 16 seasons with
Hall-of-Fame slugger Reggie Jackson (80), collector of 563 home runs, five World Series rings, and 1973 AL MVP; 1977 World Series hero, with three homers in three swings in final game; all-time leader in batting strikeouts with 2,597
Born on this date:
Popular Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson (1937), who played all 23 of his major league seasons in Baltimore and has two statues of him in and around Oriole Park at Camden Yards; 15 All-Star roster spots, all successive; record 16 Gold Gloves at third, all successive; 1964 AL MVP; 2,848 career hits; TGG interview subject
Jack Sanford (1929), pitcher of 137 wins including 24 for 1962 Giants; 1957 NL Rookie of the Year
Gil Coan (1922), postwar outfielder for the Washington Senators; TGG interview subject
Babe Adams (1882), arguably the best pitcher in Pirates history; 1909 World Series hero; five-time league leader in WHIP; suffered mid-career funk after pitching exhausting 21-inning start in 1914; top NL pitcher of 1919; pitched to the age of 44
Shameless Link of the Day
Check out list of the 10 greatest hitters of the 1980s.
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