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The Mets opened up their three-game series with the Colorado Rockies on Monday with a 4-2 win.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Through the first five innings of the game both teams combined for just one hit. How did they get there? Well, Huascar Brazoban pitched a scoreless inning to open up the game and Austin Warren went two innings without allowing a run and struck out three. 

That allowed David Peterson, whose numbers have been astronomically better this season as a reliever, to enter the game in the fourth inning where he continued New York’s excellent pitching.

-- On the other side, Tomoyuki Sugano held the Mets hitless over five innings and had faced the minimum thanks to a double play after a walk in the third. All of that turned on a dime in the sixth inning, though, when the Mets had three straight extra-base hits to take a 2-0 lead. 

-- Carson Benge started things off by crushing a leadoff homer 436 feet to right-center, before Francisco Alvarez hit one 404 feet off the left-center field fence for a double. Luis Torrens then snapped an 0-for-13 skid with an opposite-field double and New York was suddenly in business.

-- Later in the inning, with runners on second and third and two outs Mark Vientos, who had 815 feet worth of flyouts to the warning track in left field over his first two at-bats, a day after hitting two monster home runs, came up to the plate. 

Facing reliever Jaden Hill, Vientos lined one up the middle and was finally rewarded for his efforts with a two-run single to double the Mets’ lead and cap their four-run inning. Vientos has six RBI in his last two games.

-- Staked to a 4-0 advantage, Peterson followed up New York’s big inning with a shutdown inning of his own by striking out the side, including two via the ABS system. He ran into trouble in the seventh after retiring the first two, but a single and a long triple by Jordan Beck got Colorado on the board. Kyle Karros singled in another run and cut the Mets’ lead to two.

Peterson's final line: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6 K on 69 pitches (52 strikes). He lowered his season ERA to 6.29.

-- New York finished off a great day of pitching with Craig Kimbrel leaving a runner stranded at third base in the eighth and Devin Williams closing things out with a perfect ninth for the save.

-- Defensively, Benge made another great catch, this one in center field, in the third inning.

-- After an 0-for-5 performance on Sunday to end an 18-game on-base streak, Juan Soto, batting leadoff for the first time as a Met and just the third time in his career, didn't look quite right once again and finished 0-for-3 with a strikeout, although he did walk and score a run in New York's four-run sixth inning. In his first at-bat, Soto popped out on the first pitch of the game.

Game MVP: Mark Vientos

Vientos gets the honor for the second game in a row as he continues to swing a hot bat. His two-run single was also the difference in the game.

Highlights

Another day, another fantastic catch from Carson Benge! pic.twitter.com/XasqqymM9q

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 4, 2026

According to Statcast, Mark Vientos' flyout in the 5th would be a home run in 29/30 ballparks. pic.twitter.com/QEwGpXpc2X

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 4, 2026

A pair of strikeouts for David Peterson in the 5th pic.twitter.com/5gAplBtN2a

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 4, 2026

Carson Benge with the Mets' first hit of the game and it's a home run! pic.twitter.com/IVTaLtHeMU

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 4, 2026

Francisco Alvarez follows up Carson Benge's homer with a long double! pic.twitter.com/VtemdZfklg

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 4, 2026

"The Mets catching combination trading places!"

Luis Torrens drives in Francisco Alvarez with a double of his own! pic.twitter.com/4TJ9MQjGAF

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 4, 2026

A 2-run single for Mark Vientos!

The Mets lead 4-0! pic.twitter.com/QVRICPb7p1

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 4, 2026

What's next

The Mets play the middle game of their three-game series against the Rockies on Tuesday night with first pitch scheduled for 8:40 p.m. on SNY.

RHP Freddy Peralta (1-3, 3.52 ERA) will face off against RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-3, 6.09 ERA).

The Dodgers aim for their 10th win on the road this season, opening a three-game series against the Astros.

Monday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Astros
• Ballpark: Daikin Park, Houston
• Start time: 5:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The already injury-plagued Mariners took another hit today as it was announced lefty Gabe Speier is going on the IL with left shoulder inflammation. LHP José Suarez, who was recently claimed off waivers from the Braves, has reported to the club to take his place. Additionally, the Mariners selected lefty Josh Simpson from Tacoma and sent RHP Cole Wilcox to Triple-A.

Speier, 31, hasn’t been objectively bad, but nor has looked like the dominant reliever he was last year. While his numbers look fine on the surface, his expected metrics have been rough: his line of a .261 xBA, .466 xSLG, and .337 xwOBA are all career-highs, and all up about a hundred points over where he ended last year.

Curiously, Speier has been leaning on his slider more heavily this season than his fastballs, throwing the pitch 35% of the time, but he’s had trouble landing it with the consistency he did in 2025. On the left is his 2025 heat map for the pitch; on the right, this season.

For whatever reason, he’s had trouble getting the slider to the bottom of the zone consistently, and when the slider leaks into the middle and up on the plate, bad things happen.

No further details are yet available about the grade of severity of Speier’s shoulder inflammation; we will update this story when we know more.

With Speier down, the Mariners are going for a double-barreled approach to replacing the lefty in the bullpen. Josh Simpson, 28, has been selected from Triple-A Tacoma after being previously recalled on May 1. As we wrote about Simpson the last time, he’s got a big nasty sweeper and some legit strikeout potential, but he struggles to throw strikes. So far that’s not been an issue that’s worked itself out at Triple-A Tacoma, so expect Simpson to have a short leash if he can’t solve his strike-throwing issues on the fly in the big leagues. Quite an ask. To make room for Simpson, the Mariners sent another arm with command issues, Cole Wilcox, back to Tacoma, which makes me sad because I believe in Wilcox’s stuff, but at the end of the day, you have to throw strikes. Wilcox will have an opportunity to work on that with Tacoma and work his way back up to Seattle – soon, hopefully.

The other lefty the Mariners are going with is new acquisition José Suarez, who we also wrote up recently. The former AL West foe has had a bumpy start to his 2026 season with Atlanta after a successful 2o25 after signing there as a free agent. Suarez has also had issues throwing strikes, and has less bat-missing ability than Simpson, but he has more neutral platoon splits rather than being a lefty specialist and as a former starter has length to cover innings if one of the Mariners starters goes short, a troubling trend of late. While neither of these relievers are a perfect replacement for peak Speier, each one now has a shot to try to carve out a role in the Mariners pen and make a case to be kept around even after an IL stint ends.

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (14-21) will wear their City Connect uniforms tonight as they welcome in the rival Los Angeles Dodgers (21-13) for the first game of a three-game series at Daikin Park.

Veteran reliever LHP Steven Okert (0-0, 4.20 ERA) will get the start for the Astros as an opener tonight opposite the Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-2, 2.87 ERA).

TONIGHT’S STARTER: LHP Steven Okert, a nine-year MLB veteran, will be making his fifth Major League start as an opener and his second as an Astro (also, Aug. 5, 2025 at MIA).

The often-used lefty reliever had made 17 relief appearances in 2026, which ranks tied for fourth in the AL.

VS. THE DODGERS: The Astros and Dodgers will forever be connected by the 2017 World Series, which was won by Houston in a thrilling seven games. Since that 2017 season began, the Astros and Dodgers have been the two top clubs in baseball, in terms of regular season wins and playoff wins.

Since the 2017 World Series, the Astros are 11-9 against the Dodgers in the regular season and have won six of the last seven games.

In their last meeting, the Astros swept the Dodgers in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium (July 4-6, 2025), outscoring the Dodgers 29-6 in the three games.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH!: Announced earlier today, OF Yordan Alvarez was named the AL Player of the Month for March/April for his third career AL Player of the Month Award.

For the months of March and April, Alvarez batted .356 (42×118) with nine doubles, 12 home runs, 27 RBI, 21 walks, 25 runs scored and a 1.199 OPS (.462 OBP/.737 SLG).

MILB PLAYERS OF THE MONTH: Earlier today, the Astros named RHP Brandon McPherson and C Jason Schiavone the Astros Minor League Pitcher and Player of the Month for April.

McPherson, 26, went 0-1 with a 3.24 ERA (6ER/16.2IP) in four starts in April with Double A Corpus Christi.

Schiavone, 23, hit nine home runs and recorded 23 RBI, with 22 walks, seven stolen bases and a 1.050 OPS in 20 games in April with High A Asheville.

HIT PARADE: The Astros, who lead the AL in batting average (.269), have reached double-figures in hits in each of the last six games, hitting .316 (71×225) in that span.

The last time the Astros reached double-figures in hits in six straight games was Aug. 6-12, 2024. The club record is eight straight games, done several times (last, June 1018, 2018).

Yesterday marked the 17th game in which Houston reached double figures in hits in 2026.

TODAY’S ROSTER MOVES: The Astros have recalled OF Zach Cole and designated OF Daniel Johnson for assignment.

Additionally, the club has reinstated OF Zach Dezenzo from the Injured List and optioned him to Triple A Sugar Land.

FROM THE TRAINER’S ROOM: The Astros have 13 players on the Major League IL.

• RHP Ronel Blanco (rt. elbow surgery) continues his bullpen progression in West Palm Beach.

• RHP Hunter Brown (rt. shoulder sprain) is progressing through his throwing program and is now up to throwing from 120 ft.

• RHP Tatsuya Imai (rt. arm fatigue) is scheduled to make his second rehab start tomorrow at Triple A.

• RHP Cristian Javier (rt. shoulder strain) will begin a throwing progression this week.

• LHP Josh Hader (lt. biceps tendinitis) is scheduled to make his first minor league rehab appearance this week at Triple A Sugar Land.

• RHP Nate Pearson (rt. elbow surgery) is scheduled to make his third minor league rehab appearance tomorrow at Triple A Sugar Land.

• LHP Brandon Walter (lt. elbow surgery) continues his throwing progression this week in West Palm Beach.

• RHP Hayden Wesneski (rt. elbow surgery) continues his bullpen progression in West Palm Beach.

• IF Nick Allen (mid-back spasms) played in two minor league rehab games over the weekend at Double A Corpus Christi, going 2×7 with a double and two RBI.

• OF Joey Loperfido (rt. quad strain) has started light running and light baseball activity.

• OF Jake Meyers (rt. oblique strain) has started swinging a bat and doing running and throwing activities.

• SS Jeremy Peña (rt. hamstring strain) continued baseball activity in Boston over the weekend. He continues to increase the intensity of his workouts.

• OF Taylor Trammell (left groin strain) has begun a running progression and light baseball activity.

THE ORDER: The Astros have used 35 different batting orders in their 35 games so far this season. Only LF Yordan Alvarez has started every game in the same spot in the lineup (second).

WALKER, TEXAS HAMMER:Christian Walker is hitting .426 (20×51) in his last 12 games (since April 20) with four homers and 10 RBI.

For the season, Walker ranks tied for fourth in the AL in RBI (26), fifth in SLG (.579) and sixth in OPS (.975).

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: With 238 career homers as a second baseman, Jose Altuve needs one more to tie Lou Whitaker for seventh place all-time in MLB history among second basemen.

Altuve also needs three RBI to become the fifth player in franchise history to reach 900.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 1975 – Astros great 1B Bob Watson makes history, as he scores the 1,000,000th run in Major League history in Game 1 of an Astros doubleheader in San Francisco.

He crosses the plate at approx. 12:32 p.m. in the afternoon, scoring from second base on a three-run homer by C Milt May. The Astros lose the opener, 8-6.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, May 4, 7:10 p.m. CT

Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

TV: Space City Home Network

Streaming: SCHN+

Radio: KTRH 740 AM, KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

The St. Louis Cardinals will begin one of the most important early season series as their NL central rivals Milwaukee Brewers come to town. Kyle Leahy (3-3, 5.52 ERA, 22 SO) will get the ball for the St. Louis Cardinals while those dastardly Brewers will start Chad Patrick (2-1, 2.57 ERA, 16 SO). First pitch is scheduled for 6:45pm in Busch Stadium Monday night.

The 15-19 Royals, who are now fourth in the AL Central, welcome the division-leading (well…tied with Detroit) 18-17 Cleveland Guardians to Kansas City for a four-game series. The Royals are fresh off a sweep of the Seattle Mariners and, with a good series here, can strengthen their position within the division. The Guardians took 2 of 3 from the Athletics over the weekend and have a tenuous at best position to hold that. A four-game sweep would go a long way here.

With that, the Royals will put Michael Wacha on the mound to start. Over 37 and 1/3 innings and 6 starts, Wacha seems more or less the same guy he’s been for the past several years with the Royals, though it’s been imbalanced. His first four starts were quite good, while his last two were….not. Wacha has already faced Cleveland this season back on April 6th. He threw seven innings of one-run ball. I’d take that again.

The Guardians start Tanner Bibee, who also has pitched to about the same stats as usual, which is roughly league average. Bibee started that same game on April 6th in which Wacha was the Royals pitcher. He also gave up one run but threw only 4 and 2/3 innings. The Royals won that game on the back of homers from Jensen and India.

Perhaps the main change from that last game is that 2024 first overall pick Travis Bazzana is now playing for the Guardians. He has walked 6 times in 22 plate appearances for a 27% walk rate (he also has 1 intentional walk). Otherwise, he does not yet have an extra base hit.

For the offense, the Royals will have Jensen at catcher today and Kyle Isbel gets the day off. I’m not 100% clear why; Bibee is a right-hander, and Isbel is a left-handed hitter. Lane Thomas, a right-handed hitter, starts in CF. In the wake of India’s injury, the Royals will use Nick Loftin to plug the 2B hole.

The game starts at 6:40pm US Central time. You can watch on Royals.tv or listen via 96.5 The Fan or the Royals Radio Network.

Lineups:

Here’s the Guardians’ lineup:

Here’s the Royals’ lineup:

Let’s go, Guardians!

It’s the unofficial Star Wars celebration day out there and while I don’t condone it, I recognize that I’m in the minority. For one thing, I’m a Star Trek guy. And the other thing is I think it’s incredibly dumb to use a speech impairment as the basis for celebration. Also, what are we celebrating? Star Wars surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds pop culture together! Having said that, people like Star Wars and they like the San Francisco Giants, and since the Giants will be celebrating Star Wars on May 24th, let’s put these two properties together.

There was a time before the season started when the Giants were seen as being capable of great things — heroes, really, kind of like the Jedi, that ancient sect of space monks who battle with laser swords and help aid the rise of fascism a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. So, for the moment, let’s pretend that the team isn’t cooked and celebrate them by matching each hitter with a Jedi.

Matt Chapman is Obi-Wan Kenobi

It’s the easy call. The veteran with a lot of miles and a lot of history trying to lead by example. His first season as a Giant was a lot like Obi-Wan’s role in Star Wars, impressing with powers and hinting at just enough magic and mystery to seem almost larger than life. Last year? Well, it was his Revenge of the Sith: he was good in his part of the story, but he wasn’t around for the whole thing and it ended in tragedy for him (Bob Melvin’s departure). This year, it’s the Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Just awful.

Rafael Devers is Mace Windu

Powerful, confident, but then all of a sudden gets absolutely merc’d by a decrepit old man — in Mace Windu’s case, Emperor Palpatine fully unleashing his Sith powers. In this case, Father Time.

Casey Schmitt is Luke Skywalker

A new hope? He’s far from being a whiny farm boy, but he is being mentored by Matt Chapman / Obi-Wan Kenobi… who may not be all that great of a teacher? It remains to be seen, but the kid who was just trying to escape and experience something bigger sure has hit his way into that reality.

Patrick Bailey is Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren

A side-hopping, hard to pin down figure with a degree of charisma. Will he follow in his father’s (Buster Posey’s) footsteps by being the next great Giants catcher, or will he The Force Awakens his dad to forge his own path? It’s hard to imagine Patrick Bailey hurting anybody since he can’t even hurt a baseball thrown across home plate, but he’s on the path to betraying all the trust and investment of time the team is putting into him — just like Kylo Ren. They also have distinct headgear.

Bandana and wannabe Darth Vader mask — 100% equivalent, right?

Luis Arraez is Yoda

The clubhouse guru, but not about The Force. About hitting: “Do [hit] or do not [hit]. There is no try.”

Daniel Susac is Rey Palpatine-Skywalker

Hardly a “nobody from nowhere,” the Susac name is a respected one in the halls of the Giants and he has brought a dynamic perspective to what had become a tired battle between good and evil (Giants hitters vs. major league pitching). Most importantly, as the backup catcher, he is in a Force dyad with Patrick Bailey/Ben Solo, just like how the two characters were in The Last Jedi.

Harrison Bader is Count Dooku

I don’t entirely get Count Dooku’s “deal,” but he plays good defense, I’d say.

Christian Koss is Qui-Gon Jinn

Look, not all of these comparisons are going to be winners, and all I really remember about Q-GJ is that he got cut in half by Darth Maul. I find his lack of playing time to be a neat comparison.

Willy Adames is Anakin Skywalker

He was the Chosen One! The largest contract in team history (before the Devers trade) equals… the most powerful Force user ever known? Sure, why not? And yet here he is, having another terrible start to the season, tempted by the dark side, his smiling face transformed into a frown. A total turn to the Dark Side? Hard to say, but that hitting line is sure making the argument.

Heliot Ramos is Ahsoka Tano

I can think of few better comps for Ramos than this outcast Jedi who was once the apprentice to Anakin Skywalker. Now, Willy Adames hasn’t done the full turn (yet), but Ramos was on the outs with the Jedi order (the Giants’ front office) until he worked his Force off to become an All-Star hitter for a time.

Jung Hoo Lee is Leia Organa

Lee coming over from Korea gives him the outsider sheen needed to pull off a Leia Organa comp. Also, Grandson of the Wind might as well be Grandson of The Force. Leia was a Force-sensitive person who maybe could’ve been a Jedi if things had gone differently, instead, she wields her power differently, much like how JHL’s KBO experience gives him a different perspective on major league pitching.

Drew Gilbert is Grogu

This seems pretty obvious, right? The loud, little mascot who can steal the spotlight every so often and who at least one person (Tony Vitello) would die for.

So the Jays don’t appear to be using an opener today, it is Eric Lauer right from the first pitch. Let’s have a good start Eric.

And there is no Heineman or Springer. Springer is supposed to be available off the bench and he’s supposed to be starting tomorrow. We’ll see I guess. That ball off the foot looked really bad when it happened.

Heineman…..I don’t know. Valenzuela has looked ok offensively. He seems like a fine defensive catcher. If it were me choosing who to keep when Kirk comes back, I’d lean towards him. But then lots can happen between now and then.

I like Okamoto in the two spot. It is nice to see we’ve gotten past that idea that the power hitter has to bat fourth. I’d like Okamoto getting more at bats. And I’m good with Yohendrick Pinango leading off. He’s having good at bats. When Barger comes back, it will be interesting to see what the Jays do. And it will be interesting when Lukes is really to come back.

But then, let’s see if Yohendrick is still hitting great when that time comes. These things tend to work themselves out.

Go Jays Go.