After Friday’s rainout, the Brewers and Pirates are set for a doubleheader today at PNC Park, with Brandon Sproat and Shane Drohan lined up to start for Milwaukee and Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler expected to take the ball for Pittsburgh. The Pirates sit at 47-47, fourth in the NL Central and 12.5 games behind first-place Milwaukee, but a series win over the division leaders would go a long way toward trimming their 4.5-game gap in the NL wild card chase.
The 2026 MLB Draft takes center stage today as the first 135 picks are made, with rounds 5 through 20 coming Sunday. Chicago holds the No. 1 pick, and the White Sox remain the big question mark at the top.
The most common guesses have the first player off the board coming from a group that includes UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey, and high school shortstop Grady Emerson, though Chicago could still go off-script and grab someone farther down the board. MLB Trade Rumors will track the first-round selections as they come in throughout the afternoon, starting at noon CT.
Chicago also had a night to remember on the field. The White Sox rolled past the Athletics, 14-1, behind a cycle from center fielder Tristan Peters.
His last two hits both came in the seventh inning, when he launched a two-run homer and later added an RBI triple during Chicago’s eight-run burst in the frame. Peters became the seventh player in White Sox history to hit for the cycle and the second Canadian ever to do it in MLB.
It’s the latest sign of a breakout season for the rookie, who came over in a low-key deal with the Rays last December. After making his big league debut in four games with Tampa in 2025, Peters is hitting .303/.357/.484 across 270 plate appearances and has settled in as Chicago’s everyday center fielder with strong defense.
Boston’s surge keeps getting louder. The Red Sox are 44-48 overall, but they’ve won 12 of their last 14 and stretched their streak to seven games with Friday’s 6-2 win over the Mets.
That victory came after a travel mess that left the club delayed by nearly a full day; Boston didn’t reach Citi Field until around 4 p.m. CT on Friday for a 6:50 p.m.
CT first pitch, and the game had already been moved back from 6:15 p.m. CT to give them more time.
Once they got there, Wilyer Abreu and Anthony Seigler each homered twice, and Sonny Gray held New York to one run over six innings. Gray’s ERA now sits at 2.54 over 95 2/3 innings.
In Other News...
Pirates Just Lost The Skenes Showdown That Made This Finale Huge
After sweeping Saturdays doubleheader against the Brewers, the Pirates head into the first-half finale with a chance to put a clean finish on a day that already gave them a jolt of momentum. The club also spent the draft adding five players, including a notable move that sent away the 34th overall pick and pitcher Jaden Woods, so it has been a busy stretch even before the final game of the series.
Sundays matchup had been shaping up as the marquee pitching duel of the weekend, with Paul Skenes lined up to face Milwaukees Jacob Misiorowski. Instead, the Brewers will turn to Robert Gasser, which changes the feel of a game that still carries plenty of weight for Pittsburgh as it tries to complete the sweep and close out the first half on the right note. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Prospects Seth Hernandez And Edward Florentino Turned Heads In Futures Game
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Florentinos night included reaching base, moving into scoring position and crossing the plate, a sequence that helped keep his name in the conversation among Pittsburghs young talent. For a farm system always looking for the next wave, it was the kind of showcase that can matter beyond the box score, especially when both players are already carrying the expectations that come with being near the top of the organizations prospect list. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Fans Have Every Reason To Question This No. 5 Pick
The Pirates first-round decision in the MLB Draft already has the feel of a pick that will be debated for a while. Pittsburgh went with LSU outfielder Derek Curiel Jr. at No. 5 overall, a choice that caught plenty of attention because it came after a draft board that seemed to offer other directions the club could have taken.
Jacob Lombard, Eric Booth Jr. and Gio Rojas all surfaced as names some observers thought fit Pittsburgh better, and the conversation only gets more interesting when you consider the possibility that the Pirates had been eyeing a different type of player before the board shifted. However the front office explains the process, this is the kind of selection that leaves fans wondering what the original plan really was. [Read more 🡒]