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What’s Happening in Baseball Today
The First Pitch: April 13, 2026
Phil Garner, a three-time All-Star infielder and manager of 15 seasons—leading the 2005 Astros to their first-ever pennant—passes away at the age of 76 from pancreatic cancer.
A tough-as-nails competitor, Garner debuted with the Oakland A’s in 1973, becoming an everyday presence in the lineup two years later. After the 1976 campaign, Garner was dealt to the Pirates in a trade that did very well for Oakland (the A’s received Tony Armas, Mitchell Page and Rick Langford, among others) but also well for the Bucs, as Garner peaked through the late 1970s—batting .472 (17-for-36) during the team’s 1979 world championship run. Entering the 1980s, Garner played mostly with the Astros, for whom he’d manage from 2004-07 after turns with Milwaukee and Detroit.
Overall, Garner garnered 1,594 career hits with 109 homers, including three grand slams—two of them hit on back-to-back days in 1978.
A highly anticipated pitching duel between two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and former NL Cy honoree Sandy Alcantara—off to an electric start—ends up a one-sided romp. Alcantara is rocked for seven runs on 10 hits (including three home runs) through six innings, while Skubal doesn’t allow his first hit until two outs in the sixth; he’ll end up allowing a run on two hits in six-plus innings of work as the Tigers breeze over Alcantara and the Marlins, 8-2.
The Mets and Yankees are a combined 0-10 over the last five days. At Citi Field, the Mets are swept in three games by the Athletics, 1-0, as they continue to struggle at the plate without injured star slugger Juan Soto. Meanwhile down in St. Petersburg, the Yankees are swept by the Rays in a three-game series for the first time in five years, as Drew Rasmussen silences the Yankees for six shutout innings, allowing one hit. After Rasmussen’s departure, the Yankees make a late go of it but fall a run short, losing 5-4.
The Rays have drawn crowds of over 20,000 in all six of their games at the reopened Tropicana Field this year. That’s the longest streak of 20,000-plus at the ballpark since 2019.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
4-2-2-5—Brandon Lowe, Pittsburgh
The first-year Pirate knocked in five of the Pirates’ six runs on the strength of two home runs including a second-inning grand slam. Lowe had the chance for more offensive damage stolen from him when, with two outs in the ninth, he struck out on a very questionable check swing with a runner left stranded at third. The opposing Cubs took advantage and scored the game winner in the bottom of the inning to take a 7-6 decision.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
7-2-0-0-3-10—Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels
We might as well lock in this guy’s name for this category every time he takes the mound; that’s pretty much the way it’s been pretty much going so far this year. At Cincinnati against the Reds, Soriano continued his early-season dominance, becoming the majors’ first four-game winner with his second straight 10-K effort. In his four outings to start 2026, Soriano has allowed a run on nine hits and nine walks through 27 innings for a 0.33 ERA.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1914: The Federal League, attempting to crash the majors’ two-league structure, holds its inaugural contest with the Baltimore Terrapins defeating the Buffalo Blues, 3-2, before an overflow crowd of 27,692 at Baltimore. Former New York Highlanders pitcher Jack Quinn picks up the win for the Terrapins.
1963: Pete Rose collects his first of 4,256 career hits with a triple off of the Pirates’ Bob Friend in the Reds’ 12-4 loss at Cincinnati.
1984: Exactly 21 years later—and one day shy of his 43rd birthday—Rose becomes only the second player in baseball history to collect 4,000 big league hits when he doubles off Philadelphia pitcher Jerry Koosman for the Expos at Montreal.
1987: The Padres’ Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk become the first trio of players to hit back-to-back-to-back home runs to open the first inning. It won’t be enough for San Diego, which loses 13-6 to the Giants.
2019: On the heels of a dismal 2018 campaign, the Orioles’ Chris Davis runs up a record hitless streak of 54 at-bats—a slump that began at the end of the previous year—before finally connecting on an RBI single in Boston on April 13. Additionally, Davis’ single ends a streak of 61 straight plate appearances without a hit—another all-time mark.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Cubs pitcher Edward Cabrera (28)
Lorenzo Cain (40), two-time All-Star center fielder with 1,220 hits, 190 steals and one Gold Glove; 2014 ALCS MVP
Hunter Pence (43), upbeat outfielder of 14 seasons; member of four All-Star teams; 244 career home runs
Born on this date:
Dewey Clancy (1900), 15-year Negro League third baseman with career .291 batting average
Claude Hendrix (1889), 1910s pitcher with 144 wins, including 29 (with league-leading 1.69 ERA) for 1914 Chicago Chi-Feds of short-lived Federal League; paced league twice in win percentage
Vean Gregg (1885), pitcher who won 20-plus games in each of his first three seasons
Kid Elberfeld (1875), Deadball Era shortstop with 1,235 career hits
Herman Long (1866), 16-year shortstop with 2,129 career hits; twice knocked in 100-plus runs
Shameless Link of the Day
Phil Garner managed the Astros to their first-ever pennant in 2005, before being shut down in the World Series by the White Sox. Here’s the story of that season.
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