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The First Pitch: May 6, 2026
The Dodgers have been giving Shohei Ohtani time away from the bat whenever he pitches. Perhaps they need to rethink that. At Houston against their old friends in the Astros, the Dodgers suffer a 2-1 loss despite another solid start on the mound for Ohtani, who over seven innings allows two runs—both solo homers, the first round-trippers he’s given up this season—on four hits and no walks with eight strikeouts. But his presence at the plate is sorely missed, as the Dodgers can only scrimp up three hits through seven shutout innings against Houston starter Peter Lambert—who boosts his career record to 10-21. It’s the second straight game in which Ohtani has started in which he hasn’t hit—and both times, the Dodgers have only mustered up one run of support.
One of the two home runs hit off of Ohtani comes from Christian Walker, who continues his role as a Dodger killer. It’s Walker’s 30th homer in 95 games against Los Angeles; according to MLB stat hawk Sarah Langs, only Willie Mays hit more homers (36) in the same amount of games to start his career against the Dodgers.
Ohtani has a career 41-22 record as an MLB pitcher—but he’s 3-7 against the Astros.
The new is not all good on the day for the Astros. Once-and-current Houston infielder Carlos Correa, batting .279 with three homers and 16 RBIs through his first 32 games this year, injures his left ankle while taking swings in the batting cage. Word is that Correa could miss up to several months.
While Lambert has a night to remember for the Astros, so does a former Houston pitcher—though he’d prefer to forget about it. At Detroit against the Red Sox, the Tigers’ Framber Valdez gives up a career-high 10 runs, the last two coming on back-to-back solo homers to start the fourth inning. His next pitch, to Trevor Story, does not result in a home run; it’s a 94-MPH fastball that dangerously plunks Story in the shoulder. An incensed Red Sox bench empties out to confront Valdez, who’s ejected by umpires.
The 10 runs will be all the Red Sox need to defeat the Tigers, 10-3.
After the game, Valdez pleads ignorance and states that he didn’t mean to plunk Story—just as he claimed that he didn’t mean to plunk his own catcher last year after giving up a grand slam while pitching for the Astros.
The Cubs make it 13 straight wins at home—the last two in walkoff fashion, as Micheal Busch’s grounder up the middle appears to knock Cincinnati shortstop Elly De la Cruz off his feet despite never touching himself or his glove. Busch’s base hit brings home gift runner Dansby Swanson for a 3-2 win, pushing the Cubs to a 24-12 record. The Reds, meanwhile, suffer their fifth straight loss—and perhaps loss closer Emilio Pagan for the long term after painfully reaching for his hamstring while trying to hold a 2-1 lead in the ninth.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
4-3-3-3—Bryce Harper, Philadelphia
The two-time MVP for whom even his own front office boss (Dave Dombrowski) recently began to criticize as no longer elite had, well, an elite night against the visiting A’s. Harper singled, walked, and drilled his eighth and ninth homers in a 9-1 pasting, raising his season average to .286. The power burst increases his pace for a full season to 41 homers, 104 RBIs and 90 walks. Feels kind of elite to us.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
8-3-0-0-1-10—Christopher Sanchez, Philadelphia
There hasn’t been too much to complain about in regards to the tall lefty, except that he hasn’t had any start that could truly be labeled as dominant so far in 2026. That is, until last night. Sanchez finished off the eighth inning (and the seventh before that) for the first time all year, shutting down the A’s to lower his season ERA to 2.42—and that’s below his 2.50 figure from a 2025 campaign that netted him NL Cy Young runner-up honors.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1903: The Chicago White Stockings tie a major league record by committing 12 errors in one game. Detroit adds six to set an all-time mark for the most errors by both teams in one game, at 18. The White Stockings overcome the dozen errors and a 9-7, ninth-inning deficit to beat the Tigers, 10-9, at Chicago.
1915: Babe Ruth hits his first major league home run for the Boston Red Sox. Ironically, the 20-year old connects against the New York Yankees, the team for which he will ultimately become famous. Jack Warhop is the first of many pitchers to serve Ruth with a gopher ball; Ruth’s homer (and his 13 innings of pitching) will be wasted as the Red Sox lose at New York’s Polo Grounds, 4-3.
1934: The Red Sox smack four consecutive triples, a major league record, off Detroit pitcher Firpo Marberry during a 12-run, fourth-inning outburst. The Red Sox win at Fenway Park, 14-4.
1953: On a dismally wet St. Louis evening in front of 2,473 fans, Browns rookie Bobo Holloman becomes the first pitcher in modern major league history to throw a no-hitter in his first start, blanking the Philadelphia A’s, 6-0. Holloman’s instant celebrity, enriched by his colorful personality, won’t last long; he’ll be demoted to the minors in July with a 3-7 record and lackluster 5.23 earned run average—never to return to the majors.
1982: Gaylord Perry, age 43 and pitching for the Seattle Mariners, becomes the first pitcher since Early Wynn in 1963 to win 300 games when he takes a 7-3 victory over the Yankees at the Kingdome.
1991: Driving home together from teammate John Kruk’s bachelor party, the Phillies’ Lenny Dykstra and Darren Daulton are seriously injured when Dykstra loses control of his Mercedes and slams into a tree. The car is totaled, and so almost is Dykstra—suffering a punctured lung and fractures to the collarbone, three ribs and a cheekbone. Daulton has a broken bone under his left eye and will struggle to regain clear vision throughout the rest of the season. Dykstra, charged with DUI, will miss two and a half months.
1998: In just his fifth career major league start, the Chicago Cubs’ Kerry Wood, age 20, ties Roger Clemens’ all-time major league mark by striking out 20 Houston batters in a 2-0 win over the Astros at Wrigley Field. More focused on completing the victory than counting strikeouts, the quiet, almost reclusive Texan native doesn’t even realize his accomplishment until a reporter tells him. Wood walks no one and allows just one hit.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Nine-time All-Star Houston second baseman Jose Altuve (36), multi-talented offensive force with a shot at 3,000 career hits; 2017 AL MVP; three-time AL batting champ; two-time leader in stolen bases; 27 home runs over 105 postseason games; target of angry fans after Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal became public knowledge
Gerardo Parra (39), 12-year outfielder among six teams; recipient of two Gold Gloves
Larry Andersen (73), reliever of 17 seasons and 699 appearances
Masanori Murakami (82), first Japanese-born major league ballplayer; pitched two years for the Giants from 1964-65; returned to Japan after admitting homesickness
Born on this date:
Bill Hands (1940), winner of 111 games, including 20 for 1969 Cubs
Willie Mays (1931), arguably considered the game’s greatest player, an icon of the New York/San Francisco Giants; five-time outfielder amassed 3,293 hits including 660 home runs, two MVPs, 339 steals, 12 Gold Gloves and 20 All-Star roster spots; 1951 NL Rookie of the Year; 1954 NL Batting titlist; made what some considered baseball’s most famous catch in 1954 World Series; finished career back in New York with the Mets
Shameless Link of the Day
The April Comebacker—is now live! Check out the top stories, record-breaking moments and oddities of the past month—plus, our first installment of the Best and Worst hitters, pitchers and teams from each league since Opening Day! Check it out!
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