The White Sox are back at it tonight, looking to build on yesterday’s 11-5 win after consistently showing some life at the plate. Winners of three of their last four, the South Siders will try to string together another strong performance against the Diamondbacks. Last night was the first time they scored more than nine tallies over their first 23 games.

In every sense, Tuesday’s contest was a blast. Four home runs left the yard, including the chaos-filled, blink-and-you-miss-it inside-the-park homer from Sam Antonacci and Munetaka Murakami’s ninth bomb. For the fourth straight game, Chicago’s lineup actually resembled something functional.

Tonight’s cautious optimism starts with Anthony Kay. The southpaw (1-0, 2.60 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) has been solid through his first four appearances, even if he hasn’t quite provided length. His longest outing so far has been 5 2/3 innings, which means the bullpen has had to do plenty of heavy lifting. Still, he’s kept the Sox competitive, and at this point, that’s not nothing. If Kay can push a little deeper into the game while maintaining that effectiveness, the South Siders’ chances look a lot better.

On the other side, the Diamondbacks hand the ball to Eduardo Rodríguez, who has been exactly what you don’t want to see if you’re hoping for another offensive breakout. The lefty (1-0, 1.96 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) has been excellent through four outings, including a pair of quality starts. He’s limited damage, worked efficiently, and generally made life difficult for opposing hitters, holding opponents to a .218 BA. In other words, this isn’t exactly shaping up as another obvious “get-right” spot for the Sox offense, even if last night suggested they might be trending in that direction.

So the key question seems all too familiar. Is the 33-run offensive explosion over the last four games the start of something, or are we experiencing just a fun but brief detour? The good news is it took until May 2 for the club to win their ninth game last season, so we’re at least ahead of the curve there.

The Good Guys will once again try to piece together enough offense to support a starter who’s giving them a fighting chance.

Here’s how skipper Will Venable sends them out to face Rodríguez.

The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, will look to do what good teams tend to do — win with steady pitching, timely hits, and capitalizing on mistakes.

The first pitch is set for 8:40 p.m. CST. You can watch on CHSN or listen on ESPN 1000.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Texas Rangers, April 22, 8:05 p.m. ET

Location: Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet

Pitching Matchup: Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.38 ERA) vs. TBA

The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road today in the Lone Star State against the Texas Rangers looking to grab a win.

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BD community, this is your thread for today’s game against the Rangers. Enjoy!

Pittsburgh Pirates @ Texas Rangers

Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 7:05 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

The Shed

RHP Braxton Ashcraft vs. RHP Jack Leiter

Go Rangers!

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been in complete control of their first-round series against the Toronto Raptors so far. They’ve cruised to stress-free wins in the first two games of this series, but anything can happen when the series shifts to a different venue.

“The series hasn’t even started yet until you go on the road,” Max Strus said after practice on Wednesday. “So we got to come in with an aggressive mindset, just like we treated games one and two, and play our best basketball.”

We’ll see what adjustments either team makes for Game 3. The Raptors decided to bench normal starting center Jakob Poeltl for the entirety of the second half of Game 2, opting to go small with the 6’7” Collin Murray-Boyles at center. At this point, it’d be surprising if they went back to Poeltl.

No matter who the Raptors decide to go with at center, the Cavs hope to get the version of Evan Mobley they did through the first two games of this series. He put up 25 points and eight assists in the win on Monday.

“He’s in a great, great, spot,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said on Wednesday. “Physically, this is probably the best I’ve seen him move in two years, just moving really well, and then just confidence…he’s kind of in a flow state right now, which equals super [aggressiveness]. I’m watching him go to the offensive board. It’s another level than it was in the regular season. He’s definitely turned it up.”

Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (2-0) at Toronto Raptors (0-2)

Where: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON

When: Thur., April 23 at 8 PM

TV: Prime Video

Point spread: Cavs -3

Cavs injury report: Thomas Bryant – QUESTIONABLE (calf)

Raptors injury report: Immanuel Quickley – QUESTIONABLE (hamstring)

Cavs expectedstarting lineup: James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Raptors expected starting lineup: Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, Collin Murray-Boyles

Previous matchup: The Cavs secured a 2-0 lead with a 10-point victory.

Here’s a look at both teams’ regular-season impact stats via Cleaning the Glass.

Think of any great pitcher in modern MLB history. None of them had a start to the season quite like Los Angeles Angels right-hander José Soriano.

With five scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, Soriano lowered his ERA to 0.24. That’s not just the best mark in the league; it’s the best by any pitcher in MLB history through his first six starts of the season (min. 30 innings), according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.

Soriano is also the only pitcher in MLB history to allow only one run across his first six starts of the season, per the Angels. The Angels are 6-0 in his starts, with a 7-3 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

Soriano’s lone earned run came against the Atlanta Braves on April 6, when fellow breakout player Drake Baldwin knocked a solo homer off Soriano in the first inning.

Here is that homer:

The obvious comparison is Los Angeles Dodgers great Fernando Valenzuela’s legendary run to open the 1981 season, in which he threw eight straight complete games to begin the year and ended up winning the Cy Young Award, Rookie of the Year and a World Series title. In that case, however, Valenzuela allowed a run in two of his first six starts, making his ERA 0.33.

Obviously, most teams and fans would take Valenzuela’s run over Soriano’s, given the innings discrepancy (54 to 37 2/3), but those two 1981 runs give Soriano the ERA edge.

Who is José Soriano, the Angels’ budding ace?

Soriano, 27, is in his fourth MLB season and had been a solid enough pitcher for the Angels entering 2026, with a 3.89 career ERA. His strikeout and walk rates weren’t what you would call impressive, but an arsenal headlined by a high-velocity sinker gave him an elite 66% groundball rate in 2025, per Baseball Savant.

Now, Soriano is getting strikeouts while still getting groundballs. As of Wednesday, his 30.7% strikeout rate is 11th among 82 qualified MLB pitchers. Per Baseball Savant, batters have managed only two hits, both singles, off his sinker in his first six starts, and his knuckle curve, his second-most used pitch, has caused hitters to whiff on 50% of swings.

That’s dominant stuff from a pitcher not many fans outside Orange County had heard of entering this season.

Will Soriano keep it up? No starting pitcher is likely to sustain an ERA below 1.00, but his peripherals certainly indicate the Angels at least have a well-above-average pitcher on their hands. Hitters will try to make adjustments, but pitchers with high strikeout rates and high groundball rates, backed by high velocity, tend to do quite well in MLB.

Here are the NBA Playoff games for today, Apr. 22:

• Orlando Magic at Detroit Pistons — 7 p.m. ET (NBA TV)
• Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder — 9:30 p.m. ET (TNT)

Enjoy the games!

INDEPENDENCE — The Cleveland Cavaliers have taken a comfortable 2-0 lead in their first-round series against the Toronto Raptors despite not getting consistent help outside of their star players.

Max Strus’s 24 points in Game 1 account for nearly half of the team’s bench points through the first two games of the series. In Game 2, Cleveland’s bench was outscored 45-19 by the Raptors’ reserves.

The lack of bench production hasn’t hurt the Cavaliers so far this series. But according to head coach Kenny Atkinson, he believes that one player will help turn this around: Jaylon Tyson.

“I told him today he’s next up,” Atkinson said after practice on Wednesday. “Max had that big game, core four had their big games. [Next] it’s going to be Jaylon Tyson. I can almost guarantee that he’s going to have one of those games where he’s converting that offensive rebound, he’s getting into the half roll because they’re playing smaller.”

Tyson has been the Cavs’ most pleasant surprise this series. The improvements he’s made as a three-point shooter and defender have allowed him to become a mainstay in the rotation. However, a toe injury at the end of the regular season took him out of the rhythm he was in. That’s difficult for someone heading into their first real postseason action.

The stats haven’t been impressive through two games this series. Tyson has just five points on 1-8 shooting in 26 total minutes. That hasn’t stopped his head coach from praising what he’s seen so far.

“I’d give him a B, B+ in what we’re asking him to do,” Atkinson said. “He’s got all this stuff he could do, and now you have to reduce your package, and then you have to be aware of who I’m on the court with. There’s another level of sacrifice, and he’s getting that.”

Games 3 and 4 will be challenges. Toronto is a tough environment to play in. The margins for Cleveland will be much smaller in the next two games than they were in the first two. They’ll need some of their role players to step up and make positive contributions. Atkinson is sure Tyson will answer the call.

“He’ll have a big game,” Atkinson said. “It’s just a matter of time. It’s really talking to these guys individually about the patience needed until we get there. But I’m loving what I’m seeing from him right now.”

On the latest episode of “Baseball Bar-B-Cast,” the hosts discussed the struggling Houston Astros, and the reality that they are very, very injured, with Taylor Trammell their latest player to land on the injured list.

As Jordan Shusterman noted, teams sometimes like to crown themselves the most injured team in baseball, whether as an excuse or as some kind of badge of honor.

But you know what no team ever says? “We’re so healthy. We’ve got everyone available. Nobody’s hurt!” Shusterman said.

To fact check the Astros’ claim, the hosts looked at each team’s tally of players on the injured list. Trammell is Houston’s 16th player to land on the IL, 11 of whom are on the 15-day or 10-day IL. As Shusterman noted, that’s 11 players the Astros are essentially missing from their active roster. Of the 16 total, 10 are pitchers and six are position players, which is more than any other team is missing.

The team with the second-most players on the IL is the Dodgers, with 13 (10 pitchers, three position players). “That’s just a bunch of pitchers that I don’t even know are on the Dodgers that they probably signed to rehab,” Jake Mintz interjected.

Third on the list is the Orioles, with 12 players on the IL after they activated Adley Rutschman. And the Diamondbacks, Giants, Cubs and Blue Jays all have 11 players on the injured list.

On the other end of the spectrum, which teams have the fewest injured players about a month into the regular season? The Phillies, Twins and Nationals have zero position players on the IL. In terms of total players, the Guardians, Pirates and A’s each have only two injured players (one pitcher and one hitter). Most of the league has eight or nine players on the IL at this point, Shusterman noted.

What should we make of this? It’s difficult to say, particularly this early in the season.

“This is just a snapshot in time, but this is a real thing that certainly impacts certain teams,” Shusterman said. “So if you hear any of the other teams say, ‘Oh man, we’re so injured,’ it’s like, ‘No, you’re not, though.’”

With the Guardians and Astros playing this week, we have both ends of the injury spectrum on display in Cleveland.

The San Diego Padres (16-7) meet the Colorado Rockies (9-15) in the second game of their series. The Padres won the opener 1-0 on Tuesday. Starting pitchers are Walker Buehler for San Diego, with a 4.58 ERA, and Tomoyuki Sugano for Colorado, with a 3.92 ERA.

How to watch San Diego Padres vs. Colorado Rockies

• Date: Wednesday, April 22

• Time: 8:40 p.m. ET / 5:40 p.m. PT

• Where: Coors Field, Denver, CO

• TV Channels: Rockies.TV, Padres.TV Presented by UC San Diego Health

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• San Diego Padres: 16-7 (No. 2 in NL West)

• Colorado Rockies: 9-15 (No. 5 in NL West)

Odds

• Spread: Colorado Rockies +1.5

• Moneyline: Colorado Rockies +135 (40.9%) / San Diego Padres -160 (59.1%)

• Over/Under: 11.5

Starting pitchers

San Diego Padres: Walker Buehler (1-1, ERA: 4.58, K: 18, WHIP: 1.25)
Colorado Rockies: Tomoyuki Sugano (1-1, ERA: 3.92, K: 15, WHIP: 1.16)

Weather: 78°F at first pitch

Ballpark: Capacity: 50,144 | Roof: Open | Surface: Grass