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The Mets lost their fifth straight game on Tuesday night, getting out-hit 15-5 in a 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

If things are going to get any better for New York, there will have to be changes. One of those may be switching David Peterson and Sean Manaea's roles in the rotation after the two had another game of very different outcomes.

"I'm pretty sure there's going to be a conversation. We just ended here, but we're going to need all of them," manager Carlos Mendoza said. "We're going to need Petey to throw important innings for us, whether it's a starter, whether it's coming after an opener, or pitching out of the bullpen. We're going to need innings from them, especially with how the rotation is right now.

"And Sean, another good outing for him. So I'm pretty sure there's going to be a discussion here what's next when it comes down to the next turn in the rotation."

Peterson allowed six runs on a career-high 11 hits in Tuesday's loss, while Manaea let up just one run over 3.0 innings in relief with six strikeouts. 

"It was a tough one for him from the very beginning, missing arm side," Mendoza said of Peterson. "Looked like he didn't have the best feel for his pitches. And they put some really good swings on it. There was some hard contact there; we made some good plays behind him, but there was a lot of traffic in those early innings.

"He competed, but it was a tough one for him today."

Peterson had gone 3-0 over four outings in May, but looked more like his April self (0-4, 7.92 ERA) against the Reds. Manaea, on the other hand, has looked good recently and is down to a 3.75 ERA in May.

Mendoza went on to say Manaea's delivery and his success against right-handed batters stood out against the Reds.

"There's a lot to like there," Mendoza said. "With his delivery, you got to give him credit, man, he kept working and he continues to work. The life on the fastball. I think you see the swing and misses, especially at the top of the zone. The cutter, the sweeper, some changeups in there. He faced a lot of righties today... but overall, he came in with runner on third and got out of it.

"He's been very good against lefties, but it was good to see him today against righties."

When asked about a potential move to the bullpen or something else, Peterson said he is just focused on getting better. 

"I haven't thought about it," Peterson said. "It's been week-to-week every week. I'm focused on going back and looking at what we did well, what we need to do better, and move forward. Focus on the next one, whatever situation that's in."

For now, Mets pitching will remain in flux as they look to snap their losing streak on Wednesday against the Reds and avoid a second straight sweep. 

Tuesday marked the 12,000th game in the already historic career of Aaron Judge. He became the 33rd Yankee to reach that plateau in pinstripes and the player with the most home runs by game 12,000 in MLB history with 385, 58 ahead of Ralph Kiner. The captain and his teammates marked the occasion with aplomb, dismantling a 22-33 Royals squad in a laugher to take a three-game set while notching a nice little bit of history.

Bailey Falter served as the Royals’ opener, entering play with a 9.82 ERA. It didn’t take the Yankees long to show him why. After retiring the first two batters of the game, the veteran southpaw allowed a home run to Clay Bellinger, a Stantonian blast that left the bat at 105 mph and cleared the right-field wall on a line.

Paul Goldschmidt, starting his sixth straight game after beginning the year in a reserve role, laced a double just over the head of the reigning AL Gold Glover at third base, Maikel Franco, before coasting into second with a double.

Despite the rocky start, Falter nearly got through the frame with just one run on the board. The struggling Ben Rice, who came into the game mired in a 5-for-37 funk, smoked one to right. The ball was playable for Jac Caglianone and the hulking right fielder initially appeared to make the inning-ending grab. Yankees manager Aaron Boone challenged the apparent snow-cone grab, and upon review it became clear the ball scraped the ground while in Caglianone’s glove, netting Rice a single and an RBI as Goldschmidt was awarded home.

Amed Rosario, making his first start in over a week, made that defensive miscue hurt two pitches later, yanking a hanging curveball 420 feet to left field.

When it landed, the Yankees had a 4-0 lead, an embarrassment of riches given their starter, Cam Schlittler, had yet to allow as many as four runs in any of his 11 outings entering play.

In the bottom half of the inning, Schlittler worked around a two-out single to put up a zero. He was aided by a nifty play from Anthony Volpe, gloving a ball in the gap between short and third and throwing across his body to retire a plodding Salvador Perez. Tuesday’s game marked Volpe’s second straight start at shortstop while his competition for the job, Jose Caballero, was on the bench for the first time since returning from injury on Friday. A few minutes after the inning-ending play, Volpe smoked a center-cut fastball deep to left center for his first home run of the season.

Royals manager Matt Quatraro let it ride with Falter, presumably in hopes of saving as many of his relievers as possible in what was quickly becoming a nightmare scenario: an unwinnable game requiring an emptying out of the bullpen. After allowing four more hits, he threw in the towel, pulling his opener with two on and one out in the third. The next man out of the Royals’ ‘pen, Luinder Avila, didn’t get off to a much better start. Volpe, the first batter he faced, lined an RBI single to score Rice.

Then, after Austin Wells singled to load the bases, Trent Grisham grounded out to first, scoring Rosario. Judge followed with a walk before Bellinger hit a hard grounder through the hole between first and second, scoring two more to stake the Yankees to a commanding 9-0 lead. The inning only ended, mercifully for KC, when Judge was thrown out advancing to third.

The Bombers continued to pile on, with Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr. going yard in the late innings. Every starter ended up with at least two hits, a first in the Yankees’ long history. In total, New York hitters reached base 29 times, accounting for more than half of their plate appearances. After winning their last two games in the ninth inning to break out of a 4-10 skid, the comfortable victory was, as Ryan Ruocco put it on the broadcast, a much-needed chance to exhale.

Bellinger, who entered this series facing a narrative that he was struggling to hit away from Yankee Stadium, led the way with a three-RBI showing. Rosario, buoyed by a two-run shot in the ninth against utilityman Tyler Tolbert, actually ended up with the gaudiest stat line, notching four hits and as many RBI to make a case for expanded playing time.

Judge reached safely in four of his five plate appearances from the two hole. Rice notched three hits to break out of his slide. Perhaps most consequentially in the scope of the Yankees’ season, Volpe’s three-hit, three-run, two-RBI day continued to build on the erstwhile golden boy’s case to regain the starting shortstop role he’d held the last three seasons.

This offensive output placed Schlittler firmly in the catbird seat. He took full advantage, allowing just one run (on a Bobby Witt Jr. homer) on four hits. Despite throwing just 77 pitches, he was pulled for Ryan Yarbrough after six innings, cruising to his seventh victory of the season. The showing was just another day at the office for the sophomore starter, whose 1.50 ERA was unchanged by the dominant showing.

The Yankees will go for the sweep tomorrow. Gerrit Cole’s scheduled to make his second start of the season for the Yanks while the Royals will hand the ball to left-hander Noah Cameron. The game, which will air on Amazon Prime, is scheduled to start at 7:40pm ET.

Box Score

It was a pitching duel tonight with the starters Joe Ryan and Sean Burke exchanging zeros for the first 3 innings before the Twins scored first in the 4th. Trevor Larnach started things off with a double, then Kody Clemens drove him in with a triple. A single by Austin Martin scored Clemens to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.

This lead would stick with Ryan through 7 shutout innings. In the 8th, however, a hanging sweeper to Munetaka Murakami would be hit over the right field wall for a game-tying two run homer. Joe was brilliant tonight, otherwise, striking out 9 over 7.2 innings, but just one bad pitch in the 8th slated him with the no-decision.

Meanwhile, the Twins couldn’t get much of anything going against Sean Burke and company, as 12 straight Twins batters were retired by Chicago pitchers after the fourth inning.

The game moved to extra innings, and, with 2-outs, Orlando Arcia got a single to right field, but Clemens was thrown out by Rikuu Nishida (his second assist in as many games).

Going to the bottom of the 10th, Taylor Rogers came in to pitch and got Nishida to strike out, then Sam Antonacci hit an infield single advancing Luisangel Acuna to 3rd. Then Rogers got Murakami to ground to 1st baseman Josh Bell, who stepped on first and Antonacci just sort of backed up and left the base path for an inning ending unassisted double play.

In the top of the 11th, Luke Keaschall singled to 3rd, then Byron Buxton walked after James Outman’s 4th strikeout of the night, loading the bases for Brooks Lee. In the biggest at bat of the night, Lee lined a double down the right field line, scoring 3, and giving the Twins a 5-2 lead going into the bottom of the 11th.

The Twins would call on Yoendrys Gomez to pick up the save. He got Vargas to fly out, and Colson Montgomery to strikeout. Chase Meidroth picked up an RBI single to left, but Gomez got Randal Grichuk to ground out to end the game and give the Twins their second extra inning win of the season.

Studs:

Brooks Lee: 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI

Joe Ryan: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K

Taylor Rogers (W): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K

Duds:

NO DUDS TWINS WIN!!

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Yankees may have a new Twins, or at least a budding twin of the Twins — another AL Central team that has become their personal punching bag and a cure to all that ails them.

The Royals do not yet have the longevity of the Twins, but they may be on their way.

During a recent stretch when hits and runs have largely been at a premium, the Yankees enjoyed an all-you-can-eat buffet of them Tuesday, courtesy of the Royals, en route to a much-needed laugher.

Attacking early and often while racking up a season-high 24 hits — 21 before facing a position player pitching in the ninth — the Yankees cruised to their third straight win, 15-1 over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

For the first time in franchise history, every member of the starting lineup had at least two hits. Amed Rosario led the way with four, and Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells each added three. Rosario homered twice, and Grisham, Cody Bellinger, Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. also went deep on a night the Yankees led 9-0 by the third inning.

“As hard as hitting is and as hard as it is now, night in and night out, to have a day where everyone can fatten up a little bit is good,” manager Aaron Boone said.

The Yankees (33-22) have won 13 straight games against the Royals (22-33), dating to the 2024 ALDS, and will go for the sweep Wednesday with Gerrit Cole on the mound. They have won 22 of their past 23 completed series against the Royals. In five wins against them this season, the Yankees have outscored them 43-10.

Before Tuesday, each of their past eight games — including Monday’s ninth-inning comeback win — and 11 of their past 15 had been decided by two runs or fewer.

That made Tuesday’s blowout a nice change of pace, allowing Cam Schlittler to get a breather — in the form of six innings of one-run ball on 77 pitches, on a night when he did not think he had his best stuff, keeping his ERA at 1.50 — and Ryan Yarbrough to finish the game and give an overworked bullpen a rest.

“It’s electric,” Schlittler, who struck out six, said of the hitting outburst. “Long sits there [between innings], but I think that’s the most hits this season in MLB, so really impressive up and down the lineup.”

The Royals used Bailey Falter as an opener, and the left-hander simply faltered. The Yankees clobbered him for seven runs across 2 ¹/₃ innings.

Falter faced 16 batters, all of them putting the ball in play and 13 of them registering hard-hit balls at exit velocities of 95 mph or higher.

“That stuff’s contagious,” said Rice, who went 3-for-5 with a walk and three runs. “Started early and then just kept our foot on the gas. It’s really fun when everyone’s clicking like that.”

Bellinger started it off with a two-out homer in the top of the first inning — his second home run in as many days — before Paul Goldschmidt doubled.

Then, after a successful Yankees challenge turned the third out into an RBI single for Ben Rice on a sinking liner to right field that touched grass as Jac Caglianone tried to make a snow-cone catch, Amed Rosario took advantage by crushing a two-run shot.

Rosario, who had not played in six days and not started in eight days, later added another two-run shot off infielder Tyler Tolbert in the ninth inning.

“Feels great to be part of Yankee history,” Rosario said through an interpreter, referring to every starter collecting at least two hits. “It’s a great fraternity. It’s great to be part of that. It’s a team effort.”

Volpe — who played hero Monday with a two-run, go-ahead single in the top of the ninth — led off the second inning Tuesday with his first home run of the season.

It was a 409-foot blast that came off the bat at 103.1 mph, his first home run since Aug. 29.

The shortstop ended up a triple short of the cycle, going 3-for-6 with two RBIs and three runs, making a case for more playing time as the Yankees continued their domination of the Royals.

“It’s one of those things where we’ve probably run into them at a good time, where we’ve had some good series at different points,” Boone said. “Just a ton of really good at-bats, and guys that were hitting the ball out of the ballpark, too. One of those nights where everything’s falling.”

For a while, in the early part of this game, it looked like the Red Sox were on their way to a satisfying victory. Ranger Suarez got through the first inning on eight pitches and held Atlanta scoreless into the fifth, Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela led things off with back to back home runs, and all the high leverage relievers were ready and rested following an off day. Unfortunately, it didn’t materialize.

For a while, in the bottom of the ninth inning, it looked like the Red Sox were on the verge of piecing together their most impressive comeback of the season. They were facing Raisel Iglesias — one of the best closers in the game — down by three, and had the bottom of the lineup due up. But five batters into the inning, four men had reached, the tying run was at second, the potential winning run was at first with speed in Jarren Duran, and the heart of the order was coming up. Again, it didn’t materialize.

And that kind of sums up the 2026 Red Sox, doesn’t it? The ingredients are always in the kitchen, and the meal is never made.

We could pinpoint an extraordinary number of moments from the middle of this game where it all fell apart, particularly if you want chronicle Ranger Suarez slowly melting away, but offensively, it’s hard to find a more costly at bat than Mickey Gasper’s double play in the sixth inning. Atlanta was struggling to bridge the gap to their better relievers and looked frustrated they had to leave Didier Fuentes in to face a third hitter, but somehow, they still got the best result they could have hoped for in their most problematic inning on paper.

But regardless of where you want to point the telescope, the night night sky was filled with an array of Red Sox shortcomings. There were approximately 874 different things the Red Sox could have done slightly differently in this game, and if they had done any of them, they probably would have won. Alas, things didn’t materialize.

Here’s a few other fun facts about where the Red Sox stand after this game:

• They’re nine games under .500 for the first time since 2022
• They hit three home runs at Fenway Park for the first time all year, and still lost.
• They’re 0-4 on the homestand and 8-18 at Fenway Park this season.
• They’re still winless when they fall behind by at least three runs.

Alas, things are not materializing.

Three Studs

Jarren Duran: For leading off the bottom of the first inning with a home run:

Ceddanne Rafaela: For immediately following that up with another home run:

Isiah Kiner-Falefa: For a home run of his own in the bottom of the seventh and a single up the middle to help make things interesting in the bottom of the ninth.

He also had this quote after the game:

“We’re honestly just lucky to be in the American League”

You can say that again!

Three Duds

Ranger Suarez: Five runs in five plus innings just isn’t good enough, especially after being handed a two run lead early.

Mickey Gasper: It was a questionable night behind the plate, and that double play was a complete backbreaker.

Wilyer Abreu: Not only did he go 0-4 on the night, but he also made the final out and killed what could have been the most fun rally of the entire season. If you’re going to be one of the biggest sticks in the lineup, you eventually need to start cashing some of these big moments in.

Play of the game:

You could pick a half dozen items here and not be wrong, but for me, it’s the Gasper double play. (A base hit here and there’s a decent chance the Sox put up a number large enough to get the high leverage relievers in the game.)

Anyway, leave it to the 2026 Red Sox to make the play of the game a moment where they score a run, and it still simultaneously crushes their chances to win.

Box Score

The Milwaukee Brewers have hit the fewest number of homers in the major leagues this season, coming into the night with just 35 long balls. It’s been a tough year for Bernie Brewer, not being able to go down his slide as often as he’d like. But on Tuesday night, he was able to make use of his slide a couple of times in the Crew’s 6-0 win over the Cardinals.

Jake Bauers got the scoring started for the Brewers with a solo shot in the fourth inning on an 0-1 cutter that leaked too far out over the plate. It was Bauers’ eighth home run of the season, which leads the team. He’s now surpassed his home run total from last year.

Then the Brewers really busted the game open in the fifth inning. It started with a leadoff double from Christian Yelich, which was followed by walks from Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang. That loaded the bases for William Contreras, who ripped a double to the opposite field on the first pitch he saw, bringing home two runs. That was all for Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy as Oli Marmol went to his bullpen.

For some reason, with both a lefty and a righty warming, and four of the next five batters being true lefties, Marmol opted for the right-hander Ryan Fernandez. Fernandez hung a slider to Garrett Mitchell, who sent the ball 421 feet to dead center to give the Brewers a 6-0 lead and sent Bernie Brewer down the slide again. It was the first time the Brewers had multiple homers in a home game since April 30 against the Diamondbacks.

Meanwhile, on the mound, Kyle Harrison was twirling a gem once again. He carved through the Cardinals’ lineup with ease, allowing just two baserunners to reach scoring position all night and not a single runner to reach third base. Harrison had just two strikeouts on the night, well below where he was in his last start when he had 11 punchouts.

Harrison extended his scoreless innings streak to 18 IP, covering his last three starts. In those 18 IP, Harrison has allowed just 11 total hits, only one walk, and has 20 strikeouts.

After 92 pitches from Harrison, Pat Murphy went to his bullpen. Grant Anderson posted a 1-2-3 seventh with the help of a 4-6-3 double play. Then Abner Uribe had a pair of strikeouts in the eighth inning and added a new emote to his end-of-inning celebration, the DX chop. Directed at the Cardinals’ dugout.

Pat Murphy strongly condemned Uribe’s celebration, saying, “That’s unacceptable. I don’t know what got over him. I mean, he’s been an emotional guy, but that kind of thing, that’s just not how we do things. And I was embarrassed by it.”

Uribe offered a different story, saying via translator Daniel de Mondesert, “I understand that that’s unacceptable to go out there and react in a way like that, but at the same time I don’t think it’s professional for their manager to be making signs toward our dugout that he’s going to be hitting guys,” Uribe said. “There was an event that occurred during the practice today, too, and I don’t think that was right, and I have my teammates’ backs, always.”

Uribe declined to comment on what the pre-game incident actually was. He apologized to his Brewers teammates, coaches, and all the higher-ups, but declined to apologize to the Cardinals.

After that, it was on to Trevor Megill back in a ninth-inning role, even though this was not a save situation. Megill slammed the door, kept the shutout intact, and gave the Brewers the series win.

While the rivalry between the Brewers and Cubs has been the hottest the last couple of years, the rivalry with the Cardinals sure seems to be alive and well. The Brewers have a chance for a sweep on Wednesday. First pitch in that one is slated for 1:10 p.m., with Dustin May starting for St. Louis and the Brewers not yet announcing a starter.

The Yankees smashed six home runs and Cam Schlittler was strong through six innings in their 15-1 win over the Royals in Kansas City on Tuesday night.

It's the Yankees' third win in a row and 13th straight victory over the Royals, including the postseason. New York's 24 hits are a season high, with every starter getting at least two base knocks, the first time in franchise history that has occurred. It's the most hits the Yankees had in a single game since 2011. 

Here are the takeaways....

-Going up against an opener, the Yankees made the Royals pay. Cody Bellinger opened up the scoring again with his eighth homer of the season, launching a two-out solo shot in the first on a slider over the heart of the plate from Bailey Falter.

After a Paul Goldschmidt double, Ben Rice hit a sharp liner toward Jac Caglianone in right field, who could not maintain control of the ball. It was initially called an out, but Aaron Boone challenged and it was overturned, allowing Goldschmidt to score. 

Amed Rosario made the Royals pay with a two-run bomb that went 420 feet into the fountain in left center field to put the Yankees up 4-0.

-Anthony Volpe launched his first homer of the season in the second, a 409-foot blast that went 103 mph to straightaway center. It's his first regular season homer since Aug. 29 of last year. Volpe finished 3-for-6 with two RBI. 

-The Yankees would pour on four more runs in the third thanks to RBI from Volpe, Trent Grisham and Bellinger. Aaron Judge's double in the fifth pushed the Yankees' lead to 10-1. Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr. added solo homers in the seventh and eighth, respectively. 

Rosario would launch his second homer of the game in the ninth off shortstop Tyler Tobert to put the Yankees up 15-1. 

-The offensive onslaught was more than enough for Schlittler. The young right-hander tossed just 77 pitches but got through six innings, allowing just one hit on four hits. His one mistake was a Bobby Witt Jr. homer back in the third inning. 

Schlittler struck out six batters and has now gone at least 6.0 innings in his last four starts (2-1). 

Ryan Yarbrough mopped up the rest of the innings, pitching three scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and one walk. 

Game MVP: Amed Rosario

Rosario's two-run bomb in the first inning made the Royals pay and gave the Yankees the breathing room for Schlittler to do his thing.

Highlights

Cody Bellinger hits a home run to get things started early for the Yankees! pic.twitter.com/NViy3J8T1g

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) May 26, 2026

Amed Rosario hits a 2-run homer! pic.twitter.com/NNRklHQqvZ

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) May 26, 2026

Anthony Volpe hits his first home run of the season!pic.twitter.com/KPgOeLzg7l

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) May 27, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Royals wrap up their three-game series on Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 7:40 p.m.

Gerrit Cole will make his second start this season and go up against Noah Cameron (2-3, 4.72 ERA).

One of my pet theorems about the Kansas City Royals franchise and their fans is that nobody really knows what winning looks like, what good players look like. It’s a point of view naturally warped by decades of mediocrity punctuated by brief seasons of excitement. Tonight, the New York Yankees crushed the Royals 15-1 and notched a hilarious 24 hits in a farce of a game that was never close.

There’s not much of a story to this one, really. The Royals, down a couple of starting pitchers and bereft of any legitimate arms in the upper minors to help, made this a bullpen game. One week ago, I sat in the press box and wrote about a game wrecked by Bailey Falter and The Bullpen Dudes. Tonight, I type this sitting in the press box and am writing about a game being wrecked by Bailey Falter and The Bullpen Dudes once again.

Falter’s first inning was one of the worst innings I think I’ve ever seen. No, he didn’t give up nine runs in a frame like Edinson Volquez did in 2016 or 10 runs like Vin Mazarro’s fourth inning disaster in 2011, but it was frankly a miracle he didn’t give up more. And that’s because, well, just look at this:

Seven batted balls. An average—average!!!—exit velocity of 104 MPH. Not a single ball had an expected batting average of less than .460, and that one was the home run. Just an absolute embarrassment. Four runs scored.

Now, to be somewhat fair to Falter, he should have been out of it with just Cody Bellinger’s solo home run on the board. Two batters later, Ben Rice hit a sinking line drive to right field. Jac Caglianone had a bead on it but jogged it down instead of ran it down, barely catching the ball with his glove touching the ground.

But the Yankees challenged. They thought the ball touched the ground in the course of the catch, and the MLB replay officials agreed. That ended up scoring Paul Goldschmidt and led to two more runs.

Falter managed to squeeze through the second inning with only one additional run given up, but the Yankees tagged him (and reliever Luinder Avila) for another four runs in the third. Just look at this beautiful pitching from Falter:

The Yankees ended up with a whopping 11 batted balls off Falter at more than 100 MPH, tagging Avila with two more. Stephen Cruz later gave up a 103.9 MPH home run from Trent Grisham. Eli Morgan gave a 107.3 MPH homer to Jazz Chisholm Jr. It was a bloodbath.

The Royals bats were, as you might expect, silent. Kansas City didn’t get shut out thanks to a laser beam opposite-field homer from Bobby Witt Jr., in a sort of “Chris Paul hits a huge 3 to cut the lead to 42” sort of way. It was his second consecutive day with a home run. His wRC+ is up to 135. That’s nice.

The rest of the game happened, but it was over in the first inning, unfortunately. Despite the conditions, the sizable crowd remained jovial throughout. I’m sure that was because of the significant count of Yankees fans; during the “root, root root for the TEAM NAME” section of the seventh-inning stretch, the volume of the words “Yankees” and “Royals” was identical.

But this goes back, I think, to my initial statement a few hundred words ago. Royals fans are so used to losing that they didn’t seem particularly phased by the drubbing. Despite getting totally pantsed by a team that most Royals fans despise, the only notable boos were reserved for Jazz Chisholm (warranted) and varying calls by the officiating crew (maybe warranted, depending on your opinion of the Cags drop call). Now, it was indeed a lovely night at the ballpark with absolutely perfect weather, and Lord knows there are enough angry Royals fans on the internet to make up for the chill vibes at Kauffman tonight. And yet I simply can’t imagine Yankees fans in the Bronx suffering a game like this without being ticked about it, and I can’t imagine St. Louis Cardinals fans just sitting around if the Cubs were dominating at Busch Stadium.

At one point there was this, I guess? It was a Vinnie bobblehead night.

Anyway, it’s easy to chalk a game like this up to a pitching mismatch—Yankees starter Cam Schlittler has been the best pitcher in the American league, after all—and to just shake a game like this off. Some of tonight’s result was because the Royals put in Tyler Tolbert in to pitch the ninth inning, so like, ok. But the truth of the matter is that this is simply the result of a talent difference. The Yankees are a good team. The Royals are not.

The Royals are 22-33. They are not coming back from this.

The Texas Rangers scored ten runs while the Houston Astros scored seven runs.

Tonight’s starter for Houston Jason Alexander must feel like the biggest chump alive. After the Rangers nearly experienced a perfect game against them in Anaheim two games ago, and then saw these Astros toss a no-hitter against them last night, Alexander had to have been eager for the chance to face Texas.

If you were wondering if maybe the Rangers felt a little embarrassed by want transpired last night, I think the first inning tonight provided a decent answer. Alexander got an out to start the game and then ten more Rangers stepped up to the plate before he got the third out of the inning.

Before the final out of that fateful first frame the Rangers had collected five hits and scored eight runs. It was the most runs scored in the first inning at home in The Shed’s history, the most for Texas since 2004, the first time they’d scored eight or more in a first inning at all since 2012, and the most runs scored in the first inning following a no-hitter since 1905.

Brandon Nimmo’s one-out single was Texas’ first hit of the series and before the first inning had concluded, the lineup had combined to hit for the cycle with an Ezequiel Duran double, Evan Carter triple, and a two-out Joc Pederson three-run dinger to act as the exclamation mark in Pederson’s second at-bat of the inning.

We will ignore the fact that the Rangers only got one baserunner after the first inning until a ninth inning insurance run and that the Astros scored seven of the game’s final nine runs. Instead, we will celebrate the fact that for tonight, the first inning didn’t kill the Rangers and now they have a shot at a series win taking a lead in this series tomorrow night.

Player of the Game: After last night’s no show, only three Rangers regulars didn’t have a hit tonight with only two of them failing to reach base. However, it was Carter who produced a team-high three hits as he finished a double shy of the cycle following his sixth home run of the year.

Up Next: The Rangers and Astros close out this play the third game in this series with RHP Jacob deGrom on the mound for Texas opposite RHP Mike Burrows for Houston.

The Wednesday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

The Los Angeles Dodgers organization might be down one of its most intriguing prospects, and in one of the most bizarre fashions you'll ever see.

Outfielder Kendall George, one of the fastest players in the minor leagues and one who has drawn comparisons to Chandler Simpson of the Tampa Bay Rays, suffered a knee injury with Double-A Tulsa while trying to avoid the team's bat dog on May 25, according to a report by The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya and Jesús Cano.

Per the article, George underwent imaging on May 26 and though the team is currently awaiting the official results, initial testing reportedly didn't bring optimism.

George scored from second on a Josue De Paula single in the second inning of the Drillers' 14-8 win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, but had to jump out of the way as he returned to the dugout to avoid the bat dog, which came out to retrieve De Paula's bat. George landed on his left foot, but a replay showed him immediately jump back up after his right foot landed. He was visibly upset after and slammed his helmet to the ground in frustration as he limped the rest of the way to the dugout.

He also appeared to be limping and was removed from the game after he tried to avoid a collision with the bat dog, which seems important. https://t.co/5DH1BemaFgpic.twitter.com/CzS5GVaqA6

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 26, 2026

Dodgers prospect Kendall George got hurt trying to avoid the bat dog. pic.twitter.com/4fS53NBRRB

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 27, 2026

George, the Dodgers' No. 9 prospect according to Baseball America and 13th-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, was having a stellar start to the season at Double-A, hitting .333 with an .841 OPS through 43 games.

Though lacking power with just four home runs in his four years in the pros, George excels at making groundball contact and reaching base with his blazing 80-grade speed that helped him swipe 100 bases with High-A Great Lakes in 2025, making him the fourth minor leaguer in the last 20 years to reach triple digits.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers prospect Kendall George injures knee trying to avoid bat dog

Tampa Bay is looking to find a ray of light among the Mets’ castoffs.

Hours after signing veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel, the Rays agreed to a minor league deal with outfielder Austin Slater on Tuesday, FanSided’s Robert Murray reported.

Slater, 33, was designated for assignment by the Mets last week after appearing in nine games with the team, slashing .250/.286/.300 with one RBI across 20 at-bats.

The veteran right-handed hitter elected free agency on Sunday after he cleared waivers, allowing him to sign with any team.

Tampa Bay marks Slater’s fourth organization of 2026 as he began the year with the Tigers in spring training before brief cameos in the majors with the Marlins and Mets.

The Amazin’s originally acquired Slater, who spent the second half of last season with the Yankees, in late April after DFA’ing Tommy Pham.

Slater has long been regarded for his ability to hit lefties, notching an outstanding .285/.374/.463 line with an .837 OPS against southpaws from 2017-23.

This season has been a different story, however, as Slater wields a .175/.244/.200 line in 45 plate appearances versus lefties.

Slater will serve as minor league depth for the Rays, unlike Kimbrel, who signed a major league deal with the team earlier in the day.

Kimbrel, 37, was also DFA’d by the Mets after a rough 14-game stretch that saw the nine-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer post a 6.00 ERA.

The Rays became Kimbrel’s 11th team when he made his debut with the club on Tuesday against one of his former teams, the Orioles.

Kimbrel threw a scoreless eighth inning at Camden Yards, allowing one hit and striking out two batters in a 6-1 Rays loss.