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The most memorable part of Carlos Rodón’s second start back after offseason elbow surgery was a wild pitch he followed with an even worse throw back to the plate.

A pair of runs scored on the play and helped spur the Mets to a 6-3 win over the Yankees at Citi Field.

The Yankees, by virtue of their solid start to the season — backed in no small part by the rotation — can afford to wait as Rodón finds his form.

But through his first two outings, the left-hander has been far from sharp and it cost them on Saturday, as they lost for the sixth time in their last eight games.

“I’ve got to be better,” Rodón said. “Especially with two outs.”

He has struggled with his command, walking three in just 3 ²/₃ innings on Saturday and in both the third and fourth innings, he retired the first two batters only to fail to finish off the frame before allowing the Mets to score.

Rodón called his performance “pretty inconsistent … I got two outs and the inning unraveled.”

In the third, he struck out Brett Baty and Luis Torrens before Carson Benge doubled to right.

Walks to the slumping Bo Bichette and the ever-dangerous Juan Soto followed.

Then things got wild.

Rodón airmailed a pitch to Mark Vientos. The ball bounced off the brick wall behind home plate toward the lefty, who caught it and compounded his mistake by trying to throw out Benge at home.

His toss to Austin Wells was also wild, leaving the catcher no chance. The error allowed Bichette to score from second base and advanced Soto to third.

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Suddenly, the one-run Yankees lead became a 2-1 deficit.

“That was a stupid play,’’ Rodón said. “I tried to make a superhero play. That’s one I’ve got to eat.”

Rodón got Vientos to ground out to end the inning. However, a two-out walk to Austin Slater in the fourth extended the inning, allowing Baty to hammer a 111 mph double over Aaron Judge in right field, driving in Slater to make it 3-1.

Again, the fact that Rodón has been rusty in some of his minor league rehab starts and his first two with the Yankees after having surgery to remove loose bodies and shave down a bone spur in his left elbow isn’t a disaster.

But until he flashes the form he showed in 2025, questions will linger as the Yankees also wait for Gerrit Cole to return from the Tommy John surgery he underwent during spring training of last year.

The fast start to the season the Yankees got off to, as well as the mediocre state of the rest of the American League, have given them the luxury to survive without Rodón and Cole.

Cam Schlittler has emerged as a Cy Young candidate in his first full season in the majors.

And Ryan Weathers and Will Warren have also pitched well.

But with Max Fried out with a left elbow bone bruise, the Yankees will be looking to Rodón to carry some of the load.

They entered Saturday with the third-best rotation ERA in the majors (3.09), trailing only Atlanta and Tampa Bay.

The Yankees might be able to point to Rodón retiring eight of the first nine batters he faced on Saturday — and striking out six in the outing — but it wasn’t enough to beat a Mets team that entered in disarray, after losing Clay Holmes to a fractured leg on Friday.

If you look at just some parts of the box score of this game with the runs stat blocked out, you might think the Yankees had come away with a win. They outhit the Mets, and they were fairly close in a lot of other stats. The issue for them is that they made several crucial mistakes.

Carlos Rodón got the start in his second appearance back off the injured list and again looked so-so. In addition to issuing three walks in 3.2 innings, he also made a costly error in the field, which came immediately after another miscue on a wild pitch. After him, the bullpen just kept allowing one too many baserunners, which allowed the Mets to keep adding pressure and eventually runs. Meanwhile at the plate, the Yankees ended up leaving 11 baserunners on for the game. The worst of those came in the seventh, when they couldn’t cash in on having the bases loaded with nobody out. Too many of those miscues in one game are going to end up costing a team, and it did the Yankees as they fell 6-3 on Saturday.

The Mets started — or should I say opened — the game with an opener in Huascar Brazobán, and he got through the first 1.1 innings without issue. They then went to the “bulk guy” in David Peterson, and the Yankees struck early against him. With one out in the second, Jazz Chisholm Jr. laced a double to right. After Chisholm moved to third on a groundout, Trent Grisham squeezed through a single to score Jazz.

Rodón looked pretty good the first time through the order, but the Mets then got to him as they started the second time. He got two quick outs to start the third, but Carson Benge then kept the inning alive with a double. Rodón then walked Bo Bichette and Juan Soto, loading the bases. He then got even wilder, as he sent a pitch flying over Austin Wells’ head. the ball ricocheted so far off the backstop that Rodón himself ended up fielding the ball. In an ill-advised attempt to get Benge at home, he then airmailed Wells again, allowing another run to come home, giving the Mets the lead.

An inning later, it was another two-out walk that spelled doom for the Yankees’ starter. Again in the fourth, Rodón got two quick outs to start the frame but proceeded to put Austin Slater on, despite even being ahead in the count early on. This time, Brent Baty did the damage, hitting a deep fly over the head of Aaron Judge in right, allowing Slater to come all the way around and score.

The Yankees then got one of those runs back when Paul Goldschmidt hit a single to bring home Ben Rice. However, the Mets immediately answered back with more. Jake Bird finished off the fourth inning and got another out in the fifth, but also gave up a single in the process, which eventually led to Brent Headrick coming in. Headrick walked Soto as well, before giving up a two-RBI double to Mark Vientos.

The Yankees then got another run back in the seventh, thanks to some help. After Judge led off the inning with a double, the spirit of Luis Castillo inhabited Benge, as he dropped a Cody Bellinger fly ball, allowing Judge to race around and score. There was then the most frustrating sequence of the game, as Goldschmidt was hit by a pitch and Chisholm reached on a bunt single to load the bases with still nobody out. However, Amed Rosario, Trent Grisham, and Anthony Volpe couldn’t do anything with that spot, stranding all three runners.

That failure ended up proving costly. That chance ended up being their last legitimate one, with a Wells single providing the only other baserunner after that. That missed opportunity was also the story of the day, the Yankees’ mistakes in the important situations proved costly.

The Yankees and Mets will wrap up this edition of the Subway Series tomorrow afternoon, with the rubber match starting at 1:40 pm ET. Moving around their rotation a bit, the Yankees will give the recently recalled Elmer Rodríguez the start opposite Freddy Peralta for the Mets.

Box score

Luke Weaver was a pleasant dream for his latest team and a nightmare for his old one Saturday night.

Carson Benge’s muff on a fly ball resulted in an error in the seventh inning, leaving the Yankees ready to pounce. With one run already across and nobody out, Weaver entered with the bases loaded and produced his signature moment to date in a Mets uniform.

The right-hander struck out Amed Rosario and Trent Grisham before getting Anthony Volpe to hit a ground ball for the final out, averting crisis. The Mets held on for a 6-3 victory at Citi Field, setting up a Subway Series rubber game Sunday.

“It’s a cool moment and that is why you play the game,” Weaver said. “Things that kind of come out of you, the moment gets big, you try to find a way to channel it, not panic, not get stressed out. It’s pretty stressful.”

Weaver, who signed a two-year contract worth $22 million with the Mets last offseason after the Yankees showed only mild interest in retaining him, wasn’t finished after saving the Mets in the seventh.

He returned for the eighth and pitched a scoreless inning, highlighted by his sprint to cover first base that completed a 3-6-1 double play on Ben Rice’s grounder.

“Unicorn stuff; he’s great,” Juan Soto said of Weaver. “He comes in and shows no fear and attacks the hitters and gets the job done. It’s cool to see.”

The Mets, who won for the fourth time in five games, received a big night from another former Yankee: Soto reached base four times to lead the offensive attack. If that wasn’t enough, Devin Williams — who pitched last season in The Bronx — got the final three outs for the save.

The victory lifted the Mets a day after Clay Holmes was lost to a right fibula fracture, another jolt to a team besieged by injuries.

“When I saw [Holmes] I said, ‘That was in honor of you. I even had your name written in my hat’ — which I didn’t,” Weaver said. “But it just felt right to say; kids don’t lie to your parents. But we just try to pick each other up.”

Carlos Rodón, in his second start for the Yankees since returning from offseason elbow surgery, threw 88 pitches over 3 ²/₃ innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts.

Rodón gifted the Mets two runs in the third to put the Yankees in a 2-1 hole. After Benge delivered a two-out double and Bo Bichette and Soto walked to load the bases, Rodón unleashed a wild pitch. Rodón fielded the carom bare-handed and attempted to nail Benge at the plate, but threw wild. Bichette also scored.

“That was a stupid play,” Rodón said. “I tried to make a superhero play. That’s one I have got to eat.”

The Mets got frisky again with two outs in the fourth. Rodón walked Austin Slater before Brett Baty’s ensuing RBI double placed the Yankees in a 3-1 hole.

Mark Vientos’ two-run double in the fifth widened the Yankees’ deficit to 5-2.

Benge, who finished the night with three hits, singled to begin the rally and Soto walked against lefty Brent Headrick before Vientos’ smash eluded the diving Rosario at third base to bring in both runners.

David Peterson created plenty of traffic in his appearance, allowing six hits and three walks that produced the Yankees’ two runs over four innings.

The lefty threw 82 pitches in his third straight outing in a bulk relief role.

Aaron Judge doubled leading off the seventh and Cody Bellinger’s fly to right should have been the first out.

But the ball ticked off Benge’s glove for an error, allowing Judge to score.

Brooks Raley drilled Paul Goldschmidt and allowed a bunt single to Jazz Chisholm Jr. that loaded the bases before departing with nobody out. Weaver got the next three outs, without a run scoring.

“That’s the game right there,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s a completely different game if we catch that ball in right field. I am glad that guys could pick other guys up and that’s what it’s all about.”

The Mets took advantage of walks and wildness and got some clutch pitching of their own to defeat the Yankees 6-3 at Citi Field Saturday night, evening this Subway Series at 1-1. 

Here are the takeaways...

-Luke Weaver’s escape from a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the seventh inning was the game-changing sequence of the ballgame.

After the Yankees had scored a run in the seventh and loaded the bases against Brooks Raley, due in part to dropped fly ball by Carson Benge in right field, Weaver came on with the Mets leading 5-3 and got three huge outs on a total of 11 pitches.

He struck out Amed Rosario and Trent Grisham, both swinging at change-ups. Then he got Anthony Volpe to ground to shortstop on a fastball for a force out to end the inning.

Weaver has had his hiccups this season but has been good lately, with a 1.69 ERA over his last 10 appearances before Saturday’s outing.

-The Mets got some outstanding work from five pitchers, from opener Huascar Brazoban to closer Devin Williams, who got the save and now hasn’t allowed a run over his last eight appearances.

-Despite his embarrassing drop of a routine fly ball, Benge continues to spark the Mets with his bat as the leadoff hitter.

He went 3-for-4 on Saturday night, the fourth time in his last five games he’s had a multi-hit game. Over his last 21 games, Benge is hitting .342 with 13 runs scored, raising his average from below .200 to .245.

-With Juan Soto starting to heat up again, it’s up to Mark Vientos hitting behind him in the No. 4 spot to be an RBI, as well as make pitchers pay for walking Soto.

On Saturday Vientos delivered in a couple of such situations.

With runners at first and third in the fifth, after Benge singled and Soto walked, Vientos lined a double down the left field line, scoring both runners to give the Mets a 5-2 lead.

Two innings later, with runners at second and third, after singles by Benge and Soto, plus a Soto stolen base, Vientos hit a hard ground ball toward the hole between first and second, far enough that Jazz Chisolm Jr. had no play at the plate even after fielding the ball.

For the night Vientos had three RBI, giving him 14 in 12 games in May.

-Without Clay Holmes the Mets need David Peterson more than ever to recapture his old form as a dependable starter, but he remains something of an enigma after a four-inning stint as the bulk reliever Saturday in which he struggled with his command, gave up six hits and three walks, yet managed to limit the damage to two runs.

Peterson had good stuff, as indicated by his eight strikeouts, but he was constantly in deep counts, and wound up throwing 82 pitches during his four innings.

Peterson’s biggest out was a two-out strikeout of Jazz Chisolm to end the fifth with runners on first and second, the Mets leading 3-2 at the time.

-Carlos Rodon’s wildness enabled the Mets to take the lead in the third inning after falling behind 1-0. After a two-out double to right-center by Benge, Rodon walked both Bo Bichette and Soto to load the bases.

Rodon then threw a wild pitch too high for Austin Wells to catch and all the way to back wall behind home plate. The ball caromed off the ledge high into the air, allowing Benge to score easily. Rodon ran to catch the carom in the air near the first base line, and though he had no shot at Benge, he threw to the plate anyway, wild again, past Austin Wells, allowing Bichette to also score on the play.

Game MVP: Luke Weaver

Weaver’s escape from a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the seventh inning with the Mets leading 5-3 at the time changed the complexion of the game.

Weaver relieved Brooks Raley with the bases already loaded and proceeded to strike out Rosario and Grisham, and get Volpe on a ground ball to short to end the inning. Weaver has stranded all seven runners he has inherited over his last 11 appearances.

Highlights

Trent Grisham brings home the first run of the game! pic.twitter.com/oBWXHMHohT

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 16, 2026

Carlos Rodón throws a wild pitch, then throws the ball away and two Mets runs score! pic.twitter.com/IOMpGHtyJi

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2026

Brett Baty brings home Austin Slater with an RBI double 💪 pic.twitter.com/ABqHxAIAKI

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2026

Paul Goldschmidt gets a run back for the Yankees with an RBI single! pic.twitter.com/5pqt7wZS17

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 17, 2026

David Peterson strikes out Jazz Chisholm Jr. to strand two and keep the Mets in front pic.twitter.com/4yEICgV9XY

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2026

MARK VIENTOS DELIVERS!

He brings home two with a double 🔥 pic.twitter.com/YZQBAWvSa5

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2026

He dropped the ball!

Carson Benge's error leads to a Yankee run! pic.twitter.com/971J7e5Amv

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 17, 2026

CLUTCH PITCHING BY LUKE WEAVER!

He comes in with the bases loaded and nobody out and doesn't allow any further damage 💪 pic.twitter.com/DK7nraV7CZ

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Yankees wrap up their series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:40 p.m.

Freddy Peralta (3-3, 3.10 ERA) will take the mound for the Mets, while recently called-up prospect Elmer Rodriguez will start for the Yankees.

The roof was closed from the start on a blustery afternoon in Seattle, with rare thunderstorms in the forecast. The Mariners’ offense gathered, swirled, and covered the field in strong contact, line drives, and threat after threat. But it was the Padres whose lumber cracked like thunder, pummeling Logan Gilbert under a storm of punished mistakes. Enlisting the help of my compatriots around the ballpark, I’ve secured a procedural slice of the game from a collection of the staff seated in the 300 level, adding the crucial details from the press box that had little insight pregame and few happy faces postgame including a dour-faced Dan Wilson.

From the collective:

First Inning: It’s a 4:15 start. The vibes are confusing immediately. Logan Gilbert looks sharp in the home whites and cuts through the Padres easily. The Mariners pick up the dance steps and go 1-2-3 in kind.

Second: Gavin Sheets hits a solo homer. Everyone involved should be embarrassed. Luke Raley singles, and the threat of total mortification disappears.

Third: The side was struck out, and not the one you want.

At some point in the earlyish innings, Dan Wilson is tossed. He does not pick up and throw a base, which is disappointing, but at one point he does point strongly at the field, which is Dan Wilson for “Bleep you, you bleeping, bleeper from bleep.” It is done to defend the honor of Logan Gilbert and the sanctity of a check swing, something nobody knows the rules of.

Fourth: Logan Gilbert had the good slider for one wonderful inning this game. This was not that inning. There is a man in the crowd wearing a Dodgers jersey, and you have to respect a hater with commitment. You do not have to respect Nick Castellanos, but you still shouldn’t throw him middle-middle braking balls.

Fifth: J.P. Crawford homers, every one feels like a last gasp. We stand and applaud, as you should when a man is dying in front of your eyes.

Sixth: No.

Seventh: J.P. Crawford steps up to the plate, following Leo Rivas’ daily ritual (rolling over on a grounder). He may not be dying, we think! Perhaps his homer portends great things! Perhaps he’s been motivated by America the Beautiful just before the bottom of the inning, and he’s ready to start a two-out rally! J.P. Crawford strikes out on a 2-2 count.

Eighth: On a pitch from Nick Davila, Jhonny Pereda throws out Fernando Tatís Jr. stealing second. Shortly thereafter, Leo Rivas makes an unbelievable grab on a line drive from Manny Machado. Yes, of course, we all saw this type of inning coming.

Reclaiming the reins:

Ninth: The tying run came to the plate, something that seemed impossible at several stages of this evening’s grind of a loss. This was only possible thanks to two more highlights of the defensive variety, on a night where the gloves shone all around. With his second brilliant throw of the game, Jhonny Pereda cut down Miguel Andujar attempting to steal second. That seemed like a face-saving moment when, following his debutante moment, longtime toiling minor leaguer Rodolfo Durán clubbed what looked to be his second home run of the game. Julio, mercifully, is a thief for joy.

Alas, if the brown of the Padres uniforms weren’t hint enough, we’re in Mudville despite Julio’s best efforts. Two on, one out, chasing a 7-4 deficit, Seattle mustered a fielder’s choice and a groundout. The chase for .500 is deferred another day.

Mars might consider rebranding their famous M&M’s candy to M&M&M&M.

Davis Martin, Miguel Vargas, Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery set the tone early and never looked back in the Chicago White Sox landslide 8-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs, and it was mightily sweet.

Davis Martin

Right off the jump, Davis Martin sat the Cubs down in order to begin the ballgame, and he never let up. Notching a quality start, Martin shoved for six innings and only allowed one run via a Miguel Amaya homer. He struck out seven and induced 15 swings and misses.

Tonight’s start marked the sixth consecutive outing Martin has allowed one run or less.

Davis should be well on his way to Philadelphia for this year’s All-Star Game.

Miguel Vargas (11)

In the home half of the first inning, Sam Antonacci (single) and Munetaka Murakami (walk) made their way on base for Miguel Vargas, who put a charge into a sinker right down the middle: 108.4 mph exit velocity, 421 feet and most importantly, a 3-0 Sox early lead.

This marked back-to-back games with a home run for Vargas.

Munetaka Murakami (16, 17)

On a 1-1 count with one out in the third inning, Munetaka Murakami took a high-and-away changeup to the left-center field bleachers for a 391-foot bomb, his 16th of the season, for a 4-0 Sox lead. Pete Crow-Armstrong measured the ball all the way to where DeWayne Wise made “The Catch,” but this ball? Uncatchable.

As impressive as Murakami’s young MLB career has been, he had yet to homer more than once in a single game until the fifth inning of tonight’s ballgame. After Antonacci slashed a single down the left field line, Mune unloaded on a 4-seam fastball right down the middle, driving it 428 feet to the fans in right-center field to make it 7-0, Sox.

Colson Montgomery (13)

In the same frame as Mune’s first bomb, Colson Montgomery hit the definition of a moonshot (112.4 mph exit velocity and 442 feet) to the right field fans in the stands for his 13th longball of the season. The towering drive banged off of a window in the right field suites; the oddity of such a blast alone found the umpires reviewing the blast, but it had the distance and the height and was fair all the way for a call-stands declaration.

This homer marked Colson’s third in as many games, and he has four such stretches in his young career: July 22-25 & August 22-26 in 2025, and April 18-22 & May 13-16 in 2026. It also marked the fourth time this year where Vargas, Mune and Montgomery all homered in the same game. The last time this happened? José Valentín, Paul Konerko and Joe Crede in 2004, and they did it five times.

The Highlights

When it was still a 3-0 ballgame in the top half of the third inning, Tristan Peters robbed Matt Shaw of a triple, if not an inside-the-park home run. On a ball I thought was ticketed for the gap, Peters laid out in a full Superman extension on an 8% catch probability to take extra bases away and immediately plug any momentum the Cubs were trying to concoct.

With Jameson Taillon looking to take one for the team and pitch into the sixth, Andrew Benintendi joined the home run parade with a 406-foot dinger to right field, running Taillon out of the game and extending the Sox’s lead to 8-1.

As for the bullpen? Still a bit shaky. Brandon Eisert walked two in his inning of work in the seventh, but escaped the frame scoreless. Trevor Richards pitched a clean eighth, but the ninth gave him some trouble. Allowing a leadoff double to Michael Conforto, he gave up the longball to Crow-Armstrong for an 8-3 game. However, he ate the final six outs in tonight’s series-tying victory.

The White Sox reclaim a winning record at 23-22, while the Cubs drop to 29-17.

The Good Guys look to take the series in tomorrow’s rubber match against the Bad Guys, starting at 1:10 p.m. CT on CHSN and ESPN 1000.

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Left-hander Jordan Wicks was activated off the injured list and assigned to Triple-A Iowa. So not much changed for him from his rehab assignment.

Left-hander Caleb Thielbar started a rehab assignment for South Bend.

So great news from South Bend (or Appleton, technically). You might want to close your eyes for the other games.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs had their eardrums broken by the Nashville Sounds (Brewers), 12-1.

Starter Vince Velazquez didn’t make it out of the first inning, leaving with an injury, but not before giving up a grand slam. Velazquez’s final line was five runs on one hit (the grand slam) over two-thirds of an inning. Velazquez walked four and struck out two.

Third baseman James Triantos singled hom second baseman Pedro Ramírez in the top of the ninth for Iowa’s only run of the game. Triantos was 1 for 4 and Ramírez went 1 for 2 with a double and two walks.

DH Owen Miller went 2 for 3 with a walk.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies were sliced up by the Columbus Clingstones (Braves), 6-2.

Starter Tyler Schlaffer pitched four innings and surrendered two runs on five hits, including one solo home run. Schlaffer walked two and struck out two.

Luis Rujano pitched the next two innings and got the loss. Rujano gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits. He walked one and struck out one.

Knoxville had six hits, all singles, and the two runs scored on an error and a sac fly.

DH Jordan Nwogu was 2 for 4.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs skinned the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers), 24-4. It was the most runs scored by South Bend in a game since they scored 25 on Thursday.

Jostin Florentino threw the first four innings and other than a solo home run in the third, he did really well. Florentino’s final line was one run on just one hit and two walks. He struck out four.

Brayden Spears pitched the next three innings and got the win after allowing one run on one hit, again a solo home run. Spears walked three and struck out two.

Caleb Thielbar pitched the eighth inning on a rehab assignment. Thielbar gave up a single and a walk, but no runs. He struck out two.

South Bend scored seven runs in the second inning and never looked back after that. They scored 24 runs despite hitting no home run. The Cubs had 20 singles, four doubles, 12 walks and were hit by three pitches. They were 12 for 24 with runners in scoring position. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit and reached base a second time by either a walk or a hit batter.

Center fielder Kane Kepley had an RBI single in the second inning and seventh inning, a two-run single in the ninth and a bases-loaded walk in the fourth for five total RBI. Kepley finished 4 for 7 with a walk and three runs scored.

Shortstop Ty Southisene was 4 for 6 with a walk and a hit by pitch. He drove in four and scored once.

First baseman Cameron Sisneros went 2 for 5 with three walks. He had one RBI and scored three times.

DH Leonel Espinoza was 3 for 5 with two walks. He scored three times and singled home the seventh run in the second inning.

Third baseman Alex Madera was 3 for 5 with a double and two walks. He scored three runs and had two runs batted in.

Catcher Miguel Useche went 4 for 5 with a double and two walks. Useche scored five runs and drove in two.

Left fielder Christian Olivo doubled twice in a 2 for 4 day. He also walked once and was hit by a pitch. Olivo scored five runs and had two RBI.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans landed in the sand trap against the Augusta Green Jackets (Braves), 11-1.

Luis A. Reyes retired the first two batters of the game, striking out one of them. Then he walked the next four before getting pulled. Since all four of those runners scored, his final line was four runs on no hits and four walks over two-thirds of an inning.

Reyes now has an ERA of 41.40 on the season.

The Birds only managed five hits. The one run came when Jose Escobar scored on a Derniche Valdez ground out in the second inning. Escobar was 1 for 3. Valdez was 1 for 3 with a double.

ACL Cubs

Lost to the Athletics, 8-2.

Box Score

For the second straight night, the Brewers used the help of a mistake made by third baseman Royce Lewis to tie the game, making way for the offense to take care of business later on. Tonight’s win secures their seventh series win over their last nine.

Despite a lack of offense from both sides, the Minnesota Twins were threatening early on in the bottom of the second inning. Josh Bell singled, and Kody Clemens doubled to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. After Lewis struck out, Logan Henderson gave up a walk to load the bases. With the Twins set up for a large inning, Henderson prevailed, striking out back-to-back batters to escape the bases-loaded jam and keep the game scoreless at 0-0.

Later on, the Twins struck first as Trevor Larnach hit a two-out solo home run to give them a 1-0 lead. It wound up being the lone run the Twins scored against the Brewers pitching staff.

With the two young pitchers in the middle of a pitchers’ duel, the Brewers were looking for their first real threat in the ballgame. Brice Turang led off the top of the fourth inning with a single to right field, then Andrew Vaughn was able to add a second runner on base with a walk of his own. For the second straight night, an error by Lewis helped Milwaukee get on the board, as Luis Rengifo reached to score Turang from second to tie the game at 1-1.

A couple of innings later, Jackson Chourio continued his hot start to the road trip as he slugged his first home run of the 2026 season over the left-center field wall to give the Crew their first lead of the night at 2-1. This was the first of his two hits on the night, making it a total of four hits to start the road trip for the Brewers.

Henderson was pulled from the ballgame in the bottom of the sixth inning for Chad Patrick. Henderson finished his night with a stellar outing, and on top of it all, engraving his name among some of the best in franchise history. First, Henderson struck out seven batters while allowing just one run on six hits. Secondly, he moved up to second for the most strikeouts with 56 through his first nine career games. The only person with more? Old friend Freddy Peralta, who struck out 63.

After using all of their big arms in the opening game of the series, the Brewers could’ve trotted out their tandem closer duo, but instead they opted out after the night Patrick was having. Patrick finished the night with four innings pitched, striking out three, allowing one hit, and continuing to prove that he can pitch in any kind of situation. He earned his first MLB save, and his first save on the baseball field since his collegiate days at Purdue University Northwest.

The Brewers’ 2-1 victory over the Twins tonight was their first road win scoring two or fewer runs this season. It was also their eighth victory over their last nine games, bringing their month of May record to 10-3 overall.

Although it hasn’t officially been announced, tomorrow has the possibility of being another day of young pitching talent going for the Brewers on the mound, as the speculation leads us to believe that Robert Gasser will be throwing his first pitch for the Brewers since September 27 of last year. One thing we do know for tomorrow is that the right-hander Bailey Ober will be taking the rock for the Twins in the series finale as they try to salvage one win of the Border Battle. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m.

Padres 7, Mariners 4

Tom DeLonge, musical artist: J.P. Crawford, .07 WPA

Tom Brokaw, musical artist: Logan Gilbert, -.30 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day:

Paging Luis Castillo.

In a play reminiscent of the former Mets second baseman’s infamous error in the Subway Series, rookie Carson Benge made an ugly miscue in the top of the seventh with the Mets up by three runs over the Yankees at Citi Field.

Carson Benge drops a fly ball and allows the Yankees to make it a two-run game pic.twitter.com/E1NJzsJiPW

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 17, 2026

After Aaron Judge opened the inning with a double off Brooks Raley, Cody Bellinger sent a fly ball to right field, where Benge was ready to make a routine catch.

But Benge, who had made some highlight-worthy plays and some head-scratchers, dropped the ball for a two-base error that allowed Judge to score and Bellinger to reach second.

It gave the Yankees a big chance to spark a rally with the Mets already reeling in the wake of Clay Holmes’ injury on Friday night.

But former Yankees reliever Luke Weaver entered and struck out Amed Rosario and Trent Grisham before Anthony Volpe grounded out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

That turned out to be the key moment in the Mets’ 6-3 win over their crosstown rivals. Game 3 of the Subway series is on Sunday.

Folks, we have to have a conversation about Angel Martinez.

After tonight’s two-run homer to put the Guardians’ ahead of Tito Francona’s persnickity Reds, Martinez has a 125 wRC+ with eight homers and eight doubles. Martinez has a sustainable .290 BABIP. While he as outperformed his xWOBA a bit (.338 to .315 coming into tonight), but he is also third on the team and 36th in MLB in pulled-fly ball rate at 25.2% which generally helps players outperform their expected stats.

Most excitingly, Martinez had a wRC+ of 127 vs. RHP coming into tonight, and 93 against LHP. Up until this season, in the majors, Martinez had a wRC+ around 60 vs. RHP and a wRC+ of 120 against LHP. If he is capable of hitting right-handers now, this is very likely a valuable hitter on a sustainable basis. He’s also stolen 8 of 10 bases and flashed 65th percentile sprint speed, which is another very positive development.

So, why wouldn’t you believe in Angels? Well, he still has only a 4% walk rate and he chases 40% of the time. But, hey, he makes contact with 85% of all pitches he sees. And he has demonstrated the ability to lay off the worst pitches he sees and keep fouling off other bad pitches until he gets one to hit. There is no way to say anything for sure with a player as young as Angel, but I think what he’s doing looks extremely sustainable and he has earned himself everyday playing time at this point.

Angel is still not a defensive standout, but he looks competent in the corner outfield positions, especially, and playable, so far, in center. I have cautioned folks against comparing him to Jose, and I think that his chase rate still prevents exact comparisons there… but I’m done putting a ceiling on this kid. He is so much fun, his smile is so infectious, and I am ready to give him all the at-bats at this point for finally helping this team beat the Reds.

You’ll notice I did put AngelS in the title, and that’s so I can throw in this paragraph about Angel Genao. The Columbus Clippers’ shortstop had a 134 wRC+ so far in Triple-A with five homers and three steals and he added a single and another homer in tonight’s game. Genao has a 19/16 K/BB% which is more than adequate. His 27% chase rate is a little high, but not too alarming and he has only a 7% swinging-strike rate. He has an average exit velocity of 91.7 mph and a 53.1% hard-hit rate, which is amazing. The one knock against him is his 57.3% groundball rate, which is alarming. You can hit the ball 100 mph every time in the bigs and infielders are going to make most of those plays. However, if he can continue to slug homers regularly and take walks, he has potential to make up for it. He looks like someone who is going to be knocking on the door of the big leagues by August… making it a challenge to figure out where he will play. But, shortstops can generally play anywhere (Rocchio being the exception), so we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I thought Angel Martinez should probably stop switch-hitting. I am so glad to be wrong. I thought he was probably a 4th outfielder who should start against LHP. I am so glad to be wrong. He is one of the most pleasant athletes I have ever had the chance to meet and this start to the season for him is such a delight.

Believe it or not, currently the Colorado Rockies bullpen is tied for eighth place with its 1.6 accumulated fWAR. (They are tied with the Miami Marlins.)

Their 4.35 ERA comes in 20th, and their BB/9 of 3.38 comes in ninth.

Probably, a lot of that is due to Chase Dollander’s working with an opener, so let’s set him aside as well as Tanner Gordon, who appears to be headed for Dollander’s spot in the rotation.

Instead, consider the rest of the bullpen:

• Zach Agnos
• Brennan Bernadino
• Jimmy Herget
• Jaden Hill
• Juan Mejia
• Sammy Peralta
• Antonio Senzatela
• Victor Vodnik

Right now, who’s your All-Star pitcher? Who’s impressed you with his evolution? And who are you concerned about?

Let us know in the comments.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Remember when we just complained about the third time through the order? We didn’t know how good we had it.

Holding on to a slim lead and wanting to give their top bullpen arms a break, the Braves opted not only to run Bryce Elder through the Red Sox order a third time, but also a fourth. While the first two outs of the eighth occurred with little drama, the Braves didn’t budge when a double put the tying run on second. Up came Willson Contreras, and not much later, a no-doubter of a two-run shot turned the game around. While the Braves rallied in the ninth, a ricochet didn’t quite go their way, and that was that. They’ll need to win tomorrow to take the series.

The beginning of this game zipped along, though things got a bit muddy in the middle innings. Jarren Duran hit a double to start the game, but Elder held fast and struck out two to prevent him from advancing. Drake Baldwin then jumped all over a mis-located Payton Tolle sinker and smashed it to deep center for another leadoff homer. Ozzie Albies followed with a barrel of his own, but his didn’t carry out to left. The game then went into turbo mode. There were 13 straight outs before Jose Azocar ripped a double off Tolle. Baldwin then worked a walk, but Albies and Matt Olson made outs in the air to keep it a 1-0 game.

The Red Sox threatened with a couple of soft singles to start the fourth. A number of Braves losses this season have been precipitated by terrible defensive plays in key moments, and that also happened here: Contreras hit a routine, probably should’ve been a double play ball to Austin Riley at third, but Riley booted it and then didn’t even get a force at second in time. The next batter hit a lineout to left that worked a sac fly: the Braves inexplicably took forever to decide whether to challenge, ultimately opted to, but to no avail. (I’m not sure why they thought, if they took them so long to decide whether to challenge, that somehow the borked replay system currently in place in MLB would reward them with an overturn, but here we are.) Elder and the Braves were able to wriggle out of the jam with a couple of outs in the air, but the game was now tied.

And, thus it stayed tied, as there were ten consecutive outs before Azocar hit another double. Starting Tolle’s third trip through the Braves’ gauntlet, Baldwin then came through again, lashing a 108+ mph liner to left that gave the Braves another lead, though he was thrown out trying to take second.

The Braves have been somewhat inconsistent with the urgency of their pitching management this season. I think both sides are understandable, though understandable doesn’t mean pleasant to watch. Pushing the reliever button early could suggest needing to take it easy here and there, though the Braves have played a number of close games due to their great position player production on both sides of the ball, which has made it somewhat hard to find a place to do so. To his credit, Elder didn’t melt down the third time through, working around a two-out Contreras single in the sixth, and then getting three straight balls on the ground to strand a leadoff double in the seventh.

Meanwhile, the Braves just weren’t doing much against Tolle. He wasn’t exactly defeating them, more just letting them hit the ball in the air over and over, but Cedanne Rafaela made a number of nice catches in center and the Braves just didn’t get any ball-in-play fortune, receiving a .130 BABIP on the night.

So, then came the fateful bottom of the eighth, which also heralded Elder’s foray into ye olde 4TTO. There was a pop-out. There was a groundout. Wilyer Abreu poked a double the other way, but the Braves didn’t press the bullpen button. Contreras fouled off a hanging changeup. He chased a buried slider. He took a buried slider. Elder threw a third straight slider. It was low, below the zone, but not so low that Contreras couldn’t demolish it for a game-winner.

Tolle went 1-2-3 in the eighth, finishing his night with a pretty weird line that included just a 3/1 K/BB ratio, a homer allowed, and a grounder rate below 20 percent. Elder was similar with a 3/0 K/BB ratio, but his grounder rate was over 50 percent. The part that would’ve made me gnaw on my shirt if I had pica or whatever was that the Braves ultimately summoned Martin Perez for the ninth, where he had little trouble. If you were going to use Martin Perez for an inning in a close game, why not just use him for two innings, and not have Elder pitch to a lineup a fourth time in the same game? On the one hand, these are the luxuries you can afford to partake in when you have the best record in baseball. On the other hand, I’d rather it be some other team engaging in the eff-ayy-eff-oh Olympics.

The Braves actually threatened in the ninth against Aroldis Chapman, though it didn’t actually result in a comeback. Albies popped out, and Olson hit a very hard liner that was unfortunately right at the shortstop. Riley then reached on a botched throw from that same shortstop, and Chapman floundered about a bit with back-to-back walks on four pitches each.

That brought up Ha-Seong Kim, who hasn’t really hit at all since returning from his Injured List stint and rehab assignment. Kim had a chance to play hero, and he almost did, lining an 0-2 pitch back up the box and off Chapman, who tumbled to the ground but recovered and tossed it to first in time to end the game. If the ball had gone through Chapman, it’s likely an easy out; if it ricochets away a bit further, this game is tied and I’m probably writing some other flavor of recap, the massive 34TTO blunder/self-inflicted wound overshadowed by whatever else happened. But, as we’ve seen for a while now, the beneficence, or lack thereof, of a ricochet off the pitcher seems to be nigh-deterministic, and this one did not go the Braves’ way.

They can still win the series tomorrow. Hopefully they’ll go back to chasing wins and whatnot.

The Dodgers finish off their weekend series against the Angels on Sunday afternoon at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, with Roki Sasaki on the mound for the series finale.

This will be the first career game against the Angels for Sasaki.

Grayson Rodriguez is expected to be activated from the injured list to make his Angels debut on Sunday, after missing the first seven-plus weeks of the season with right shoulder inflammation. Rodriguez struck out 11 last Sunday in 4 2/3 innings in a rehab start for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga against the Dodgers’ affiliate Ontario.

Sunday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Angels
• Ballpark: Angel Stadium, Anaheim
• Time: 1:07 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, KCOP channel 13 (Angels broadcast)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)