[SI] What D-backs Brutal Dodger Stadium Sweep Told Us — And What it Didn’t – Surprisingly enough, the D-backs’ bullpen has not been as poor as one might think. Outside of the blowup inning by Taylor Clarke in game one, the D-backs relief corps gave up three runs in 10 innings — certainly not a terrible result against an All-Star-filled lineup. But they also coughed up leads in back-to-back games. The overall output may not have been as bad as it could have, but the timing was as bad as possible. The question will be how this under-constructed unit can perform against less-proficient offenses.

[AZ Central] Diamondbacks 1st home series features 2-time defending Cy Young star – The Diamondbacks are 24-22 all-time against the Detroit Tigers, a team they have faced more than most others in the American League. For several years in the early years of interleague play, the Tigers were the Diamondbacks’ “natural rival” in the AL. Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal, the two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, is expected to pitch the series finale on Wednesday, April 1. In his one career outing against the Diamondbacks, Skubal fired six innings of one-hit, shutout ball in a start in 2024. Skubal was originally drafted by the Diamondbacks but did not sign.

[Arizona Sports] How often have the Diamondbacks started a season 0-3? – “I just feel like we have a really good battle. We end up losing all three games, but I feel like the last two games, we have a really good battle and that’s something we’ve got to take. Sometimes you’ve got to take the good and the bad, and we lost two games when we had a chance to win it,” pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez said. “I did not think we would be coming home 0-3, but we are,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “We’ve got to understand why it happened, accept why it happened, get better and get ready for a very spirited Monday, Opening Day.”

[MLB] Well, it’s almost April, so time for our annual overreactions – “Two days ago, we were very excited about ABS. And today, we’re not too happy with it.” – Alex Cora, after his team ran out of challenges in a loss to the Reds. You had to figure we’d see an early situation in which a team uses up its challenges prematurely and pays for it. That’s precisely what happened when the Red Sox lost to the Reds on an 11th-inning walk-off single Saturday. Though the Sox got a challenge for each inning of extras, they ran out of their regulation challenges in the third inning. It hurt them in such a close game, as there were multiple situations in which a challenge would have been beneficial.

[CBS Sports] Why Dodgers owner Mark Walter’s ‘parity’ comments matter with potential MLB lockout looming – “Here’s what the problem is: Money helps us win. We can’t win all the time. We’ve got to have some parity. So we’ve got to come up with something that will give us some parity.” The sport has countless examples of teams that spend and don’t wind up hoisting the trophy. Accuracy, though, isn’t the point. The point is that Walter has plainly communicated that the Dodgers are on board with whatever changes come out of the wash. Presumably, the “something” to which Walter refers is a salary cap on team payrolls.

[Yahoo] Twins manager Derek Shelton ejected after arguing ABS challenge during loss to Orioles in MLB first – Twins POS Josh Bell initially drew a walk, which would have made him the game-tying run with just one out in the ninth inning of the contest. But Orioles closer Ryan Helsley called for the challenge, which quickly determined that his last pitch was in fact a strike, though just barely. So just like that, as it was already a full count, Bell was instead called out. But Shelton erupted after the challenge was allowed to go through, and he came out screaming at the umpires. That led to a pretty quick ejection.

Rating: C+
Dir: Vicky Jewson
Star: Iris Apatow, Lana Condor, Uma Thurman, Tamás Szabó Sipos

This is all adequately entertaining nonsense. Disbelief obviously needs to be suspended as you watch 90-pound girls beat up men twice their size. At least there is some effort put in to making them, in the main, use their agility and flexibility, rather brute force. There’s some cool stuff with razor blades, embedded into ballet slippers or taped to fingertips, which works well. Though the sequence I enjoyed most was the one where they went full corps de ballet on Pasha’s men. It’s impossible to take seriously, yet is done with so much inventive energy I was left with a big, goofy grin on my face. Shame there wasn’t more. It’s certainly lighter in tone – and likely more entertaining – than director Jewson’s previous GWG entry, Close, with Noomi Rapace.