First Pitch - April 24th, 2026

🎉 Padres storm back with 5-run 9th, Sheets delivers birthday go-ahead blast

🔥 Cubs win 9th straight on Swanson walk-off, Phillies drop 9th in a row

🚨 Mets survive late chaos as Bichette clears bases in clutch win over Twins

💪 Yankees complete Fenway sweep behind dominant outing from Schlittler

🚀 Torkelson launches first career walk-off as Tigers beat Brewers

⚾ Welcome to First Pitch - Today is Friday, April 24th.

Friday’s slate is loaded with sneaky good matchups, I’ll be out at the bar tonight drinking for Giants vs Marlins, hope the Giants keep playing well!

A couple other games I’m looking forward to:

Cubs @ Dodgers: A high-scoring clash between two of the NL's top offenses. The Dodgers look to protect home turf behind Emmet Sheehan, while Chicago counters with Jameson Taillon. Keep an eye on Kyle Tucker facing his former squad.

Phillies @ Braves: The NL East’s top-seeded Braves look to extend their division lead against a struggling Phillies squad. Atlanta sends Grant Holmes to the hill to face Andrew Painter.

Enjoy your Friday and I hope everyone has a great start to the weekend. Full recap from Thursday below!!

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Padres 10, Rockies 8 — Sheets celebrates birthday with go-ahead blast

The Padres erased a late three-run deficit with a massive five-run ninth inning to stun the Rockies at Coors Field.

Colorado controlled most of the game behind a big day from Mickey Moniak, who homered twice and scored three runs. The Rockies built an 8-5 lead before the Padres came storming back.

In the ninth, Xander Bogaerts singled home Jackson Merrill, then Miguel Andujar followed with an RBI single to cut it to one.

That set the stage for Gavin Sheets, who came through on his 30th birthday with a go-ahead three-run homer to right, flipping the game and giving San Diego the lead for good.

Mason Miller finished it off in the ninth, getting a game-ending double play to secure his ninth save.

📊 Notable Stats

Padres

Gavin Sheets: 1-2, HR, 3 RBI, R
Xander Bogaerts: 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB
Miguel Andujar: 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI
Ramón Laureano: 3-6, 3B, 2 RBI
Manny Machado: 2-5, 2 R
Mason Miller: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER

Rockies

Mickey Moniak: 4-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R
Troy Johnston: 3-4, 2 RBI, BB
TJ Rumfield: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R, BB
Edouard Julien: 2-5, 3B, RBI, 2 R
Tyler Freeman: 1-2, 2B, RBI, R

Cubs 8, Phillies 7 — Swanson walks it off as Chicago wins 9th straight

The Cubs kept their heater rolling with a wild extra-inning win over the Phillies, extending their winning streak to nine games while handing Philadelphia its ninth straight loss.

Brandon Marsh opened the scoring with a solo homer, but Chicago answered quickly. Dansby Swanson tied it with a sac fly before Michael Busch delivered the big swing, launching a three-run homer in the third.

The Cubs kept adding on with homers from Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki, but the Phillies kept fighting back. Marsh hit his second homer, Edmundo Sosa tied it in the eighth, and Adolis García forced extras with a pinch-hit homer in the ninth.

In the 10th, Carson Kelly loaded the bases with a single, and Swanson finished it with a walk-off single to right.

📊 Notable Stats

Cubs

Michael Busch: 2-6, HR, 4 RBI, R
Dansby Swanson: 2-5, 2 RBI
Seiya Suzuki: 3-4, HR, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB
Ian Happ: 2-6, HR, RBI, 3 R
Carson Kelly: 3-5, 2 R
Edward Cabrera: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Phillies

Brandon Marsh: 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB
Adolis García: 1-1, HR, RBI, R
Edmundo Sosa: 1-2, RBI, SB
Alec Bohm: 1-4, 2B, R, BB
Cristopher Sánchez: 5.1 IP, 12 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Mets 10, Twins 8 — Bichette delivers clutch double as New York survives late chaos

The Mets picked up another much-needed win, outlasting the Twins behind a huge late swing from Bo Bichette.

Minnesota jumped ahead in the first, but New York answered right away when Brett Baty launched a three-run homer. The Mets kept building from there, adding a run on a passed ball before Carson Benge went deep in the fourth.

The Twins fought all the way back, with Tristan Gray homering in the sixth and Ryan Jeffers blasting a game-tying grand slam in the eighth.

But with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Bichette came through with the biggest hit of his Mets career so far, ripping a bases-clearing double to put New York back in front for good.

📊 Notable Stats

Mets

Bo Bichette: 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R, SB
Brett Baty: 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
Carson Benge: 2-3, HR, 2B, RBI, 2 R
Marcus Semien: 2-4, 2B, 2 R, SB
Luis Robert Jr.: 1-4, 2B, RBI, R

Twins

Ryan Jeffers: 1-3, GS, 4 RBI, R, 2 BB
Tristan Gray: 2-5, HR, 2 RBI, R
Austin Martin: 3-4, RBI, BB
Brooks Lee: 3-4, 3 R, BB
Joe Ryan: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

💪 Schlittler Shoves: Hometown Gem at Fenway

Cam Schlittler dominates in his return to Fenway, tossing eight strong innings to lead the Yankees to a sweep.

😬 Rivalry Heating Up: HBP + Hard Slide Sparks Tension

Dodgers-Giants gets chippy as Dalton Rushing is plunked, then comes in hard on a double play ball, setting off another round of bad blood between the rivals.

🚀 Tork Delivers: Walk-Off Bomb Wins It

Torkelson comes through late with a clutch walk-off shot to seal the series for Detroit.

Braves 7, Nationals 2
Atlanta Braves got a huge debut from JR Ritchie, who shook off a first-pitch home run to deliver seven strong innings with seven strikeouts. The 22-year-old became the first Braves pitcher in franchise history to go seven-plus innings with seven strikeouts and two runs or fewer in his MLB debut.

Yankees 4, Red Sox 2
New York Yankees rallied late to complete the Fenway sweep, getting eight strong innings from Cam Schlittler before breaking through in the seventh. Payton Tolle was electric in his 2026 debut with 11 strikeouts and five straight to open the game, even escaping a bases-loaded jam, but Boston couldn’t hold the lead.

Dodgers 3, Giants 0
Los Angeles Dodgers took the series finale in a tense matchup that featured hit-by-pitch drama and hard slides between the rivals. While things didn’t escalate into a full incident, both sides acknowledged the growing edge in the rivalry as tensions carried throughout the game.

Tigers 5, Brewers 4
Detroit Tigers walked it off thanks to Spencer Torkelson, who crushed his first career walk-off homer to seal the win and the series. It also marked his second straight game with a homer, continuing his recent surge at the plate.

Rangers 6, Pirates 1
Texas Rangers got a dominant outing from Jacob deGrom, who struck out 10 and allowed just one run over 5 2/3 innings. It was his first double-digit strikeout game of the season and tied him with Gerrit Cole for fourth among active pitchers with 62 career 10-K games.

White Sox 4, Diamondbacks 1
Chicago White Sox scratched across runs all day before Andrew Benintendi delivered the big swing, crushing a three-run homer in the ninth to take the lead. Davis Martin backed it up with another strong outing, allowing one run over 6 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts as Chicago keeps finding its rhythm offensively.