It was quite a day across MLB on April 25. The Phillies ended a lengthy losing streak in Zack Wheeler’s return, while Cole Ragans looked like an ace. Meanwhile, in Baltimore, Boston beat up on Trevor Rogers and the Orioles in what was Alex Cora’s last game as Red Sox manager.
Red Sox win, fire Cora
The big news from Major League Baseball came during the evening of April 25, hours after the Boston Red Sox won 17-1.
The Red Sox scored 10 runs in the ninth, highlighted by home runs from Andruw Monasterio, Caleb Durbin, and Willson Contreras. Both Durbin and Monasterio hit their first as Red Sox. Garrett Crochet (29.3% Whiff%) struck out seven over six innings in a much-improved outing.
But after the game, the Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora, plus most of his coaching staff. Four other coaches, including Ramon Vazquez, hitting coach Peter Fatse, and Kyle Hudson, were terminated. Jason Varitek was reassigned.
Chad Tracy, manager for Worcester, will take over as manager on an interim basis.
Phillies snap losing streak
The Phillies snapped a ten-game losing streak with an 8-5 extra-inning victory over the Braves. Bryce Harper broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run single to give the Phillies a 6-4 lead.
Zack Wheeler (35.7% Whiff%) pitched well in his return to the Majors. Wheeler. who was sitting 93-94 MPH for a good chunk of his rehab starts, reached back to hit 95-96 MPH in his first inning back. His fastball dipped overall slightly but he still averaged 95 MPH on the four-seamer and 94 MPH on the sinker.
He struck out six over five innings.
Ragans sharp
The Royals blew through the Angels 12-1 on April 25.
It was not a good start for Walbert Urena, who walked five and gave up a home run over 3.2 IP. However, it was a good day for the Royals’ offense. Salvador Perez hit his fourth home run of the season, while Bobby Witt Jr., Kyle Isbel, Michael Massey, and Nick Loftin each had two hits.
It was also a much better run for Cole Ragans, who struck out 11 over six innings. Ragans (46.6% Whiff%) had 27 swings-and-misses, most on the day for a Major League pitcher.
Dodgers blow out Cubs
The Dodgers defeated the Cubs 12-4.
Every player in the Dodgers’ starting lineup picked up at least one hit on the day. Teoscar Hernandez, Dalton Rushing, Alex Freeland, and Hyeseong Kim each had two hits.
Roki Sasaki won his first game of the 2026 campaign. Sasaki (31.9% Whiff%) struck out five over five innings.
Wild game in St. Louis
Seattle and St. Louis combined to score 20 runs on April 25. The Mariners wound up with an 11-9 victory over the Cardinals.
The scoring started early, as Julio Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the first inning against Matthew Liberatore. JJ Wetherholt and Ivan Herrera hit home runs in the first off Bryan Woo, who gave up four home runs and seven total earned runs over three innings.
Connor Joe hit a two-run single in the eighth to tie the game for the M’s. An inning later, a two-run single for Leo Rivas gave the Mariners an 11-9 lead.
Everything else
- Blue Jays def. Guardians 5-3
- Giants def. Marlins 6-2
- Rays def. Twins 6-1
- Nationals def. White Sox (10)
- Padres def. Diamondbacks
- Rangers def. Athletics 4-3
- Yankees def. Astros 8-3
- Pirates def. Brewers 6-3 (10)
- Reds def. Tigers 9-2
The Padres won the first of two games in Mexico City against the D-Backs. San Diego scored five unanswered runs between the seventh and ninth innings to secure the victory.
Mason Miller notched his 10th save of the season and didn’t allow a run, which pushed him past Cla Meredith for the longest scoreless streak in Padres history.
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