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Another night, another injury concern for the Dodgers.

After placing Kiké Hernández on the injured list before Wednesday’s game with an oblique strain, the Dodgers lost outfielder Teoscar Hernández to a left hamstring strain in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies that is expected to land him on the IL, as well.

In the bottom of the second inning, Hernández ran hard up the first base line on a grounder to shortstop, but then came up limping after the throw beat him to the bag.

Hernández grabbed at his left hamstring, walked slowly off the field with a trainer waiting for him, then seemed visibly upset upon returning to the dugout –– nearly slamming his helmet at one point before disappearing into the clubhouse.

“[It’s] disappointing,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “He’s been playing so well and he’s a big part of what we’re doing. So to lose him for any length of time is not great.”

How long the Dodgers will be without Hernández is not yet clear. Roberts said he “tested well” in some initial evaluations after leaving the game, but will go in for further imaging on the team’s off day on Thursday.

“Something like that,” Roberts said, “obviously is going to be a few weeks at the minimum.”

Hernández’s injury comes at a bad time for both him and the team. 

Kiké Hernández, another right-handed-hitting veteran capable of playing the outfield, will be out for the foreseeable future with what Roberts said pregame was a “significant tear” in his oblique.

Teoscar Hernández, meanwhile, had just started to get hot at the plate following an opening month slump. Over his last 17 games, he was batting .373 with three home runs and 14 RBIs, raising his season batting average from .236 to .278 and his OPS from .667 to .789.

In Hernández’s absence, the Dodgers will likely use a platoon at his spot in left field, Roberts said.

Alex Call, who has played well in a reserve role this year with a .294 batting average, will figure to get plenty of at-bats as the right-handed-hitting part of that equation. Hyeseong Kim, who was about to see his playing time cut after Alex Freeland was called up from the minors to take on regular duties at second base, could factor in as a left-handed option.

As for who the Dodgers will call up to replace Hernández on the big-league roster?

There is left-handed-hitting prospect James Tibbs III, who has had a big year for triple-A Oklahoma City by batting .316 with 12 home runs, though he also has four errors in right field.

Ryan Ward, a long-time minor-leaguer who made his MLB debut earlier this season when Freddie Freeman was on the paternity list, could be another option, although his triple-A numbers have declined from last year, when he was Pacific Coast League MVP. He has also played mostly first base in the minors lately, with only 10 appearances in the outfield this year.

The team’s other 40-man roster options include Alek Thomas, who was acquired in a trade earlier this month from the Arizona Diamondbacks but has spent the last few weeks working with the organization’s player development staff at Camelback Ranch in Arizona; and Tyler Fitzgerald, a utility player whom the Dodgers got in another trade with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this season.

Tommy Edman is also currently on a rehab assignment, but will likely need another week or two to build up after missing the beginning of the year recovering from offseason ankle surgery.

Either way, Hernández’s hot bat had been key to the Dodgers’ offensive turnaround of late.

Now, he has become the latest injury concern the team will potentially have to navigate around.

Left-hander Ty Blach elected free agency on Sunday. Today he re-signed with the Cubs and reported back to Iowa to make tonight’s start. Or rather with Iowa in Indianapolis. Reminds me of what Jack Paar said when he returned to the Tonight Show after quitting for a month: “ . . . my last words were that there must be a better way of making a living than this. Well, I’ve looked and there isn’t.”

Shortstop Jose Escobar was promoted to High-A South Bend from Low-A Myrtle Beach.

It’s looking more and more like Josiah Hartshorn will be the Cubs’ top prospect in the mid-season update.

Everybody won tonight! So can we get some smiles for once?

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs shut out Indianapolis (Pirates), 1-0. It was Iowa’s fourth-straight win.

Four Iowa pitchers combined on a three-hit shutout. Ty Blach made his return to the Cubs a good one as he allowed just two hits over 4.2 innings. Blach walked three and struck out six.

Blach was one out away from qualifying for a win but also at 81 pitches, so Gavin Hollowell entered the game with two on and two outs in the fifth. Hollowell struck out Nick York to end that threat and then retired the side in order in the sixth to get the win. Hollowell struck out two.

CollinSnider then retired the side in order in the seventh, striking out one. Christian Roa then got the save by pitching the eighth and ninth inning. Roa allowed a two-out single in the eighth, but no other baserunners. Roa struck out three.

First baseman Jonathon Long scored the only run of this game in the top of the first inning. He singled with one out and then went to second on a wild pitch. After left fielder BJ Murray singled him to third. After shortstop Owen Miller was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Long scored on a wild pitch.

Long went 2 for 4. Murray was 1 for 3 with a walk. Miller was 0 for 3 with the hit batter.

Catcher Christian Bethancourt went 2 for 4 with a double. That’s all five Iowa hits in this game. It was all they needed.

A nice defensive play by third baseman James Triantos.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies got smoke in the eyes of the Chattanooga Lookouts (Reds), 5-4 in ten innings.

The Smokies got an excellent start from Grant Kipp, who gave up just one run on four hits over five innings. Most impressively, Kipp struck out eight and walked no one, although he did hit one batter.

Unfortunately, Jace Beck didn’t pitch as well in relief of Kipp, giving up three runs on two home runs over two innings. But Vince Reilly pitched the eighth and the ninth inning and got the win after the Smokies re-took the lead in the top of tenth. Reilly allowed no runs and just one hit over his two innings. Reilly struck out four and walked no one.

Marino Santy retired the side in order in the bottom of the tenth for the save. He struck out two.

Smokies pitchers combined to strike out 16 Lookout batters and walk none of them.

Left fielder Carter Trice opened the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning, his seventh of the season. Trice also singled home the automatic runner in the top of the tenth with what proved to be the winning run. Trice went 2 for 5.

In the seventh inning, catcher Owen Ayers homered with the bases empty. It was his sixth on the season. Ayers went 1 for 2 with two walks. He was also hit by a pitch.

DH Cameron Sisneros singled in a run in the sixth inning for his first Double-A hit and first RBI. Sisneros went 1 for 3 with a walk. He also scored one run.

Right fielder Alex Ramírez went 2 for 5.

The Trice home run.

The Sisneros RBI single.

Ayers goes deep. Really deep.

Trice’s RBI single in the tenth.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs melted down the Ft. Wayne TinCaps (Padres), 13-5. It was South Bend’s seventh-straight win.

Kevin Valdez started and allowed just one run on five hits over 4.1 innings. Valdez walked two, hit one batter and struck out two.

The win went to Kenyi Perez because Valdez didn’t go five innings. Perez entered the game with runners on first and second in the fifth inning and struck out the next two batters to end the threat. He then allowed a one-out walk in the sixth, but no other baserunners. His final line was no runs or hits over 1.2 innings. Perez walked one and struck out three.

If there was a downside to this game, it’s that South Bend allowed four runs on no hits in the eighth inning thanks to six walks and an error. Ben Johnson and Kenten Egbert both walked three batters each. In fact, South Bend allowed just six hits total, but they walked 11 batters.

In only his second game in High-A, first baseman Josiah Hartshorn hit his first Midwest League home run. It came with a man on in the fifth inning off of rehabbing major leaguer Ty Adcock. It was Hartshorn’s sixth overall home run.

But that wasn’t all Hartshorn did. He was 3 for 4 with a sacrifice fly and five RBI and two runs scored. In just two Midwest League games, Hartshorn already has seven RBI.

Hartshorn wasn’t the only one who had a big game. Right fielder Leonel Espinoza was 3 for 5 with a two-run triple and three overall RBI. Espinoza scored once.

DH Kane Kepley was 2 for 4 with a sacrifice fly and two steals of third base. Kepley scored twice.

Shortstop Ty Southisene went 3 for 4 and was hit by a pitch. He stole second twice, both times were as the back half of a double steal with Kepley. Southisene scored four runs.

Center fielder Miguel Olivo went 2 for 4 with two RBI and one run scored.

Espinoza’s two-run triple.

Two-run single for Hartshorn.

And the home run by Hartshorn.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans shot down the Wilson Warbirds (Brewers), 6-2. The win snaps the Pelicans nine-game losing streak.

It was a very good start for Dominick Reid, who gave up just one run on two hits over five innings. He struck out nine, walked two and hit one batter. It was Reid’s second win of the season and his career.

Henry Cone pitched the sixth inning and allowed one run and one hit in his Pelicans debut. He struck out one and walked one.

Daniel Avitia pitched the final three innings, did not allow a run and got the save. Avitia allowed two hits, walked three and hit one batter. He struck out two.

The Pelicans took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth inning when catcher Logan Poteet smashed a three-run home run, his sixth on the season. Poteet was a perfect 2 for 2 with a double, the home run and two walks. He scored twice.

Second baseman Derniche Valdez singled home two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh. Valdez went 2 for 4.

Enjoy nine Reid strikeouts.

And enjoy this Cody Poteet three-run home run. This one cleared the bleachers.

ACL Cubs

Off day.

The Texas Rangers scored three runs while the Houston Astros scored four runs.

Eschewing the exchange of bizarre history that highlighted the first two games of this series, the Rangers and Astros instead settled into more standard fare at The Shed tonight with a low-scoring contest that sort of became a home run derby between each designated hitters for each squad.

Rangers starter Jacob deGrom mostly recovered from his terrible trip to Disneyland where he allowed six runs in three innings in his last start in Anaheim. Tonight the veteran went six innings and allowed two runs on four hits with a walk and six strikeouts. However, twice the Rangers took one-run leads in the early innings only for Houston to immediately tie the game the next half inning.

The second time that happened came via a Yordan Alvarez solo home run to continue both deGrom’s inability to keep the ball in the yard and Alvarez’s reign of terror against Texas (more on that in a moment). Then again, a solo home run to Alvarez probably shouldn’t be evidence that deGrom is still dinger prone as there’s virtually no one Alvarez wouldn’t take deep if they were wearing RANGERS across their chest.

The game stayed tied through the middle innings until it got to the bullpens when left-handed pitcher Tyler Alexander was tasked with tackling Alvarez to lead off the eighth. Instead, Alvarez hit one about 450 ft for his second solo home run of the game, which gave Houston their first lead of the night.

That lead was doubled when Alexander fielded a bunt with a man on and threw it down the right field line to allow a second run to score in the eighth. That error proved costly as the Astros cashed in on that insurance when Joc Pederson made it a 4-3 game with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning.

Not even the cavalry could save Texas with career .619 OPS hitter Nicky Lopez going hitless in his debut. 4-3 was as close as the Rangers got with the loss leaving them trailing in this series ahead of tomorrow’s finale.

Player of the Game: You can pretty much pencil in a few Yordan Alvarez runs each night when the Rangers play the Astros but the Rangers tried to counter Houston’s prolific DH with one who has been heating up a little.

Pederson also hit two solo home runs tonight and went 3-for-4 while scoring all three of Texas’ runs. Unfortunately for him and the Rangers, he was basically the lone star for Texas.

Up Next: The Rangers and Astros will close out this four-game series with RHP Nathan Eovaldi set to make the start for Texas against RHP Spencer Spaghetti Arrighetti for Houston.

The Thursday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and you can view it via the Rangers Sports Network.

The Yankees kept it rolling over the Royals, making it 14 straight overall against Kansas City while sweeping the season series. Behind a vintage Gerrit Cole performance and a huge night from Ben Rice, the Yankees came away with a 7-0 victory over the Royals.

If Tuesday night was about fireworks, Wednesday night was about control. Cole looked completely locked in from the opening pitch. This new, thicker, smoother version of Cole is pure art on the mound. If Cole gets any better than this, watch out American League.

The ace carved through Kansas City’s lineup with precision, allowing just four hits across 6.2 scoreless innings while striking out 10 Royals hitters. Cole did not walk a batter, needed only 79 pitches to navigate nearly seven innings, and looked stronger as the game progressed.

The veteran consistently got ahead in counts and buried hitters once he had leverage, looking every bit like he had not missed any time at all. Cole 2.0 appears well on track to filling a role very similar to the one he held before the injury. The one real threat Cole faced was erased by Aaron Judge, who dropped the gavel at home plate when the Royals tried to run on the captain.

The bullpen handled the rest from there as Fernando Cruz worked 1.1 clean innings out of the bullpen before Camilo Doval tossed a scoreless ninth inning to seal the victory. Cole did not leave any strikeouts for the bullpen, but the clean low stress innings are very welcomed.

The Yankees opened the scoring in the fourth inning when Paul Goldschmidt worked his way aboard and got a chance to show that the old man still has some tread left on the tires after Rice drove an opposite-field triple off the left field wall. Goldschmidt never stopped running, charging all the way home from first base as the Yankees grabbed a 1-0 lead. The full-speed athleticism of both Yankees first basemen was on full display as Rice flew into third for the triple. Aaron Judge later added to the lead with a sacrifice fly that brought Rice home and gave Cole a little extra breathing room.

For much of the night, however, the game still carried the feeling that one swing could change everything and that the Yankees might get stuck at two runs again. That changed in the seventh inning when the Yankees finally broke through again. To his credit, Noah Cameron tossed 5.0 innings of two-run ball, but the Royals offense failed to give him any support and the bullpen could not keep the game within reach either.

The inning started with traffic everywhere as Trent Grisham, Anthony Volpe, and Ryan McMahon all found their way aboard. Then Rice came through again. The young slugger lined a single into right field that plated both McMahon and Volpe while moving Goldschmidt to third. Suddenly the Yankees had a 5-0 lead and Kauffman Stadium was starting to empty.

The Yankees were not finished either. In the eighth inning, McMahon delivered the exclamation point when he launched a two-run homer into the left field seats. The blast scored Grisham and stretched the lead to 7-0, fully slamming the door on the Royals.

Rice finished the night with three RBI and once again looked like one of the most important bats in the Yankees lineup. Between his opposite-field triple, clutch seventh-inning single, and continued emergence, Rice continues proving he rightfully belongs in the middle of the Yankees’ short-term and long-term plans.

It is always fun to hear the Yankees win. Tomorrow is an off day, but the club returns to action Friday in Sacramento with first pitch scheduled for 8:40 p.m. eastern. Carlos Rodón is currently scheduled to face old pal Luis Severino.

Box Score

It’s Wednesday night here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. There’s no cover charge. The dress code is casual. We still have a few tables available. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night I foolishly asked you how Jordan Wicks did in last night’s game, settling on a topic and writing the article before first pitch. Well, 79 percent of you gave him an “F,” and I can’t argue with that. Another 16 percent gave Wicks a “D.”

Here’s the part where we listen to jazz and talk movies. You can skip that.

We continue to celebrate Miles Davis for the 100th anniversary of his birth. As noted in earlier pieces, Miles was never content to stay in one place. With his 1968 album Miles in the Sky, Miles went electric. No, it wasn’t as controversial as Bob Dylan going electric was, although there is always grumbling from the purists. Miles didn’t invent fusion, but him getting on the bandwagon of this merger of jazz and rock music gave it a kind of respectability in jazz circles. Plus, he had the better musicians and the better ear to take fusion to a new level.

In 1969, Miles released the electric In a Silent Way that was a lot more controversial. Working with producer Teo Macero, In a Silent Way featured just two tracks, one on each side. While previous jazz records had merged different performances into one longer number in the studio, In a Silent Way was the first to take one solo and loop it into a different part of the piece. Macero even repeated the same solo at different times in the same track. The way I think of it is that Miles used Macero as yet another musician who turned the studio into an instrument in and of itself. Macero and his engineers proved to have just as much creativity as Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul. But it’s also a kind of performance that can only be done in the studio with multiple tracks and not on stage.

Miles always said he was influenced by Jimi Hendrix in making In a Silent Way. I think that Hendrix influence is definitely there (especially the Electric Ladyland album), but there’s a lot more there than just trying to do a jazz version of cutting-edge rock.

Here’s side one of In a Silent Way entitled “Shh/Peaceful.” Besides Miles on trumpet, Shorter is on soprano saxophone, John McLaughlin on electric guitar, Corea, Zawinul and Herbie Hancock on electric piano, Dave Holland on bass and Tony Williams on drums.

A great story from the recording session come from McLaughlin, who had just joined Miles’ group and was understandably nervous. Miles was not happy with McLaughlin’s first take on the album and told him to go work on it. With McLaughlin sweating bullets, Miles told him “Why don’t you play it like you don’t know how to play guitar” which was brilliant advice that only makes sense coming from Miles Davis.

I don’t have a film to write about tonight. I’m in the middle of watching director Wong Kar-wei’s 2004 film 2046, but I had to go to sleep last night with about 45 minutes left before the end of the film. The movie is a sequel to Wong’s earlier In the Mood For Love which I wrote about earlier this year. In the Mood for Love made the BFI Sight & Sound poll of the ten greatest films ever made and I agree that In the Mood for Love is a masterpiece. My opinion on 2046 is still out. So far, it’s like if they decided to make a sequel to Love Story that follows what happened to Ryan O’Neal’s character after the events of Love Story. In fact, they made that film—it’s called Oliver’s Story. But it’s as if someone making that film said “Do you know what Oliver’s Story needs? Some elements from Blade Runner. What Love Story was missing was that science fiction element.“

So in light of that, I thought I’d just throw it open for you to talk about your favorite romantic movies. It can be a rom-com or a straight romantic drama. Even if it’s not your favorite, tell us ones that you think are overlooked and the rest of us should check out.

And yes, you should all check out In the Mood for Love.

I don’t have to tell you that the Cubs are struggling to find pitching, as several players whom they were counting on this year have come up injured or Phil Maton. In that light, the Cubs signed 32-year-old left-hander Aaron Bummer to a minor-league deal.

So it’s never a positive sign when a pitcher gets released from another organization, especially since the Braves still owe the pro-rated portion of the $9.5 million Bummer was owed this year. But since it’s a minor league deal, the Cubs are only on the hook for the major league minimum once he gets called up. So the risk is low—the Cubs can send him to Iowa for a few weeks and then decide whether or not they want to add him to the major league roster or release him.

To be clear, Bummer has been poor this year. Teams don’t release good left-handed relievers. Over 15.1 innings this year, Bummer has allowed 15 runs, 13 earned, for an ERA of 7.63. His four-seam fastball has lost some velocity, which normally might not be much of a problem since he doesn’t throw it very much. But it does seem to be affecting how his sinker and cutter give the hitter a different look.

Bummer’s problems are that he’s been walking too many hitters and giving up too many home runs. Six in 15.1 innings qualifies as too many. Bummer has been a ground ball pitcher throughout his career, but this year the fly balls are up and they are leaving the yard at an alarming rate. Some of that might be poor luck, but the increases in the fly ball rate indicate it’s not all bad luck. Also, the increase in the walk rate make those home runs hurt more.

So why would the Cubs want someone like that? For one, Bummer was a pretty good reliever with Atlanta in 2024 and 2025 when he posted an ERA of 3.58 and 3.81 respectively. You’re probably familiar with Bummer from his time with the White Sox, but historically he’s been a pretty good strikeout pitcher as well, striking out 10 batters per nine over the course of his career.

So if the Cubs see something that they can fix in Bummer, then maybe they’ve just gotten a good reliever for free. And if they can’t get him back to his 2024 and 2025 form, they haven’t lost much.

So what do you think of the Cubs signing Aaron Bummer? I couldn’t resist tweaking the traditional “Yay!/Nay!/Meh” format that we normally use by replacing “Nay!” with “Bummer.” I guess I could have replaced “Yay!‘ with ”Bummer!,“ but that would have been too confusing.

Thanks for stopping by. We’ve had a rough week, but it’s been better because of you. Get home safely. Recycel and cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gerrit Cole and his new right elbow will, in fact, allow a run at some point.

It just has not happened yet through his first two starts back in the big leagues after Tommy John surgery.

Cole looked very much like his vintage self Wednesday night in a dominant showing against the Royals, striking out 10 across 6 ²/₃ scoreless innings to help the Yankees finish a sweep with a 7-0 win at Kauffman Stadium.

“Feel like maybe the first game was a little appetizer and that was the main course right there,” manager Aaron Boone said. “That was surgical.”

The 35-year-old right-hander scattered just four hits and did not walk a batter while pounding the strike zone all night. After tossing six scoreless innings against the Rays on Friday in his season debut, Cole’s toughest opponent Wednesday was once again his pitch count, capped at 79 pitches as the Yankees continue to build him back up carefully.

But Cole made the most of those pitches, dialing his fastball up to 98 mph for a called strikeout in the fifth inning on a night when his command was on point.

“I think it’s coming along,” an understated Cole said in the visiting clubhouse, shortly after his warmup song, “Lean Back,” had finished blaring over the speakers as the Yankees headed into an off day on a high note. “There’s still some stuff to work on, absolutely, going forward. But with what we had tonight, I thought we used it really well.”

Cole and the Yankees (34-22) have acknowledged there will be some inevitable bumps in the road as the former Cy Young winner settles back into pitching every five or six days. But until then, he has only offered a tantalizing preview of how he might elevate an already strong rotation.

“He’s one of the greatest to ever do it, and you see it with starts like this, where you come back from a major surgery and it looks like he hasn’t even skipped a beat,” said Aaron Judge, who threw a runner out at the plate in the third inning to keep the shutout intact.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

Paul Goldschmidt, Ben Rice and Ryan McMahon provided most of the offense, each recording a pair of hits and combining to drive in six runs, as the Yankees won their 14th straight game against the Royals (22-34) — including outscoring them 50-10 in the now-complete season series.

Rice got the Yankees on the board in the fourth inning with an RBI triple and then scored on Judge’s sacrifice fly.

The slugging first baseman later added a two-run single in the seventh before McMahon crushed a two-run shot in the eighth.

Cole, meanwhile, had only two strikeouts in his season debut, but matched that in the first inning alone Wednesday and then kept piling on. Even more encouraging was that after walking three batters against the Rays, Cole had only two three-ball counts all night Wednesday.

The first came in the fourth inning when he fell behind 3-0 to Bobby Witt Jr., who had the green light and popped out to second base.

The other came against the final batter he faced, Carter Jensen, who drew a full count with one out and one on in the seventh inning before also popping out.

“I think when I first started throwing [in the rehab process], and I was able to get through the four-seam better than I had been in the previous few years, that was obviously an encouraging sign,” Cole said. “Outside of that, it’s two games, man, small sample. There’s still stuff to improve.”

But Wednesday offered the Yankees another chance to dream on what their rotation might be capable of doing the rest of the way.

Cole, Cam Schlittler and Will Warren combined to give up just three runs across 18 ²/₃ innings in this series.

They have Carlos Rodón and a surging Ryan Weathers lined up to start the first two games against the Athletics this weekend, and hope to add Max Fried back into the mix at some point this summer.

And if Cole continues to look like this?

“I just thought we were watching excellence,” Boone said. “I don’t want to overstate it or understate it. It was just an excellent, efficient, surgical outing where I thought he had a little bit of everything going.”

After a tough loss in extras Tuesday evening, the White Sox put on a hitting clinic against the Twins, ending in a 15-2 blowout. David Sandlin pitched a gem through six innings, breaking franchise records, and both the small and long ball were prevalent tonight. There was even a grand slam!

Believe it or not, things started out a bit dicey, when Sandlin tossed a low fastball to Byron Buxton for his second pitch of the game and it left the park. However, that would end up as the only hit the rookie would surrender on the night.

Back-to-back singles at the bottom of the second would be fruitful for the Good Guys. A successful sac bunt advanced Colson Montgomery and Edgar Quero, and Sam Antonacci knocked both runners in to take a 2-1 lead. The White Sox would not look back from there.

While the White Sox continued to nibble their way to a bigger lead (including a Montgomery RBI double in the third), Sandlin cruised through the Twins. The righty was not only dominant, but efficient. With help from Quero and ABS in the fourth, Sandlin closed out Minnesota on just nine pitches in the fourth. One inning later, he stood at just 51 pitches and became the first White Sox hurler to retire 15 in a row in his debut since 1920.

The White Sox side of the fifth proved to be a whopper of a crooked number.

Munetaka Murakami picked up a walk to lead off the bottom of the fifth, and Miguel Vargas followed with a single, giving Connor Prielipp a tough time. Randal Grichuk singled, and without a throw to the plate, Murakami was waved home to make it 4-1. Prielipp faced Montgomery again before getting pulled after 93 pitches in just under five innings. Eric Orze inherited runners in the corners with one out. A sac fly would send Vargas home, and Tristan Peters, who stepped in to pinch-hit for Derek Hill, singled. Antonacci singled, allowing Grichuk to score, and on a throwing error, Peters was waved home, too. But not to be outdone, and perhaps in response to all the shit-talking White Sox fans have done about him, Luisangel Acuña also knocked in a run with an RBI single. Still no home runs, but the Good Guys finished off the fifth inning up, 8-1.

Sandlin would finish his night by serving the previous pain in his side, Buxton, a fly out, before letting out a hearty yell. Well deserved, kid. He retired 18 in a row (most-ever in a White Sox debut), only giving up one run on one hit, with four strikeouts and no walks. Sandlin was greeted with a standing ovation from a grateful fan base. Leading off the bottom half of the sixth, Murakami singled and stole second, standing up, his first career SB. With one out, Grichuk’s single produced another run before Montgomery hit into a double play.

While the Twins continued to flounder with just one hit, Chicago responded with another onslaught after the seventh-inning stretch. Quero started with a single, Peters picked up a walk, and Antonacci singled to load the bases. Enter Chase Meidroth with a GRAND SLAM.

Yes, Chase Meidroth hit a grand slam.

But it was far from over, because Mune hit a home run right after that, his 20th, putting the South Side Hit Men up, 14-1:

Munetaka became the third White Sox hitter in history (along with Frank Thomas and Jim Thome) to homer at least 20 times before June.

Brandon Eisert gave up a solo run in the top of the eighth and a double to Luke Keaschall, but escaped the inning. At that point the Twinkies gave up, putting a position player on the mound. Orlando Arcia stepped in and walked Quero, gave up a single to Peters, and walked Antonacci. Acuña grounded into a double play, but still sent Quero home to make it 15-2 before Meidroth ended the frame with a grounder.

Trevor Richards stepped in to close out the game and retired the Twins in order. Cue the fireworks, friends!

It was a stomach-churning performance.

Rays hurler Jonathan Heasley — making his first MLB appearance in two seasons — threw up on the mound just three pitches into his outing against the Orioles on Wednesday at Camden Yards.

The 29-year-old right-hander let it loose on three different occasions in the fifth inning, prompting a visit from the Rays’ training staff.

But in a similar case to that of pitcher Adrian Houser last year with the White Sox, Heasley’s repeated regurgitation is not out of left field.

“Heasley actually talked to this about us pregame when he arrived here,” Rays Baseball sideline reporter Ryan Bass said during the TV broadcast as Heasley was evaluated. “This is something he’s actually is regularly known for. He actually did hurl on the field when he was with [Triple-A] Durham.

“He said when he used to play high school football, it would happen regularly. He just has a weak stomach. It sometimes happens when his nerves kick up a little bit. He said, ‘I’m totally fine.'”

Heasley, who has appeared in parts of four MLB campaigns with the Royals and Orioles, is also no stranger to potently puking during a game in the majors.

During an Aug. 23, 2022 outing, Heasley — then a member of the Royals — unleashed a barf barrage during a start against the Diamondbacks.

Visibly frustrated as he blew chunks, Heasley confirmed after that game that he was fine and was more irked by failing to complete five innings.

“I feel good now. Most of you guys know this has happened before,” Heasley told reporters, per The Kansas City Star. “It happened last year in a game. I think it’s — I don’t know, honestly. There’s nothing I can do to stop it. It just kind of hits me sometimes. I think it’s a mix of adrenaline, everything, getting a little amped up, whatever.

“It sucks it happened when it did. I was more frustrated about not getting through that fifth inning. I knew the bullpen was a little thin today. I was more frustrated that I had to come out when I did and just kind of put the team in a tough spot.”

After wiping himself off and hydrating Wednesday night, Heasley stayed in the game and pitched the final four innings for the Rays, to less than stellar results.

The journeyman allowed eight hits and five earned runs across his four frames while striking out two batters in an 11-2 loss.

Heasley’s promotion from Triple-A was part of a series of roster moves by Tampa Bay in recent days, including signing a pair of Mets castoffs: future Hall of Fame reliever Craig Kimbrel and outfielder Austin Slater.

Carson Benge utilized a time-tested method for breaking his latest slump: He eliminated his mustache before Wednesday’s game.

“I really haven’t been getting a ton of hits, so I just shaved it off and it worked,” Benge said.

The rookie outfielder returned to the form of May flowers — after April showers to begin his major league career — with two key RBI hits that helped lead the Mets’ 4-2 victory over the Reds at Citi Field.

Benge delivered RBI singles in the fifth and seventh innings on a night the Mets assembled a strong bullpen performance in ending a five-game losing streak.

After scoring two runs or fewer in six straight games — the first time in a decade they had struggled to that extent — the Mets had a decent night offensively to avoid a second straight series sweep.

Benge was in a 1-for-20 rut before he stroked an RBI single in the fifth that gave the Mets a 3-1 lead. Two innings later, he singled in another run, giving the Mets their final margin of victory.

“[Benge] is always aggressive and has a really good swing, and he knows it,” Juan Soto said. “He’s squaring balls most of the time, and that is really cool to see.”

Before his slump, the 23-year-old outfielder was thriving, with a .919 OPS over 17 games, a stretch in which the Mets went 11-6.

“The one thing I like about him is you can never really tell whether he is 0-for-8 the past couple of days or he’s coming off a couple of games where he hit a walk-off or had a game like this,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s going to show up the next day and be the same person and give you his best. It’s pretty impressive for a player his age.”   

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Devin Williams infused drama by walking the bases loaded in the ninth before escaping with the save. Williams struck out Dane Myers and Blake Dunn in succession to end it. The Reds left 17 runners on base.    

Jonah Tong created plenty of traffic in his bulk relief appearance but lived to tell the tale.

The right-hander surrendered three hits and four walks over 3 ²/₃ innings behind opener Huascar Brazobán, but only an unearned run scored on his watch.

It was a second straight effective bullpen outing for Tong, who pitched three hitless, shutout innings in Miami last Friday upon his recall to the Mets.

Soto’s first-inning homer against Andrew Abbott gave the Mets their initial run. The blast was Soto’s eighth in 12 games and second in as many days.

“I keep thinking to do damage every time, but the difference is the results,” Soto said. “I just feel good. I have been seeing the ball well and swinging the bat well. Just do damage whenever I can.”

Eric Wagaman, who started at DH to give the Mets an extra right-handed bat in the lineup, homered with two outs in the second to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. Wagaman hit nine homers in a full season for the Marlins last year.

Tong’s throwing error on Elly De La Cruz’s grounder leading off the third led to the Reds scoring an unearned run. Eugenio Suárez drew a two-out walk in the inning, and Nathaniel Lowe’s RBI single sliced the Mets’ lead to 2-1.

De La Cruz’s error with two outs in the bottom of the inning helped the Mets extend their lead with an unearned run. Luis Torrens and Benge singled in succession, with the latter hit giving the Mets a 3-1 lead.

Sal Stewart’s infield single in the sixth pulled the Reds to within 3-2.

Myers allowed a leadoff double to Tyler Stephenson, and Blake Dunn singled before Brooks Raley plunked De La Cruz. With two outs, Stewart’s roller to third brought in the run.

A.J. Ewing’s diving catch in center on Dane Myers’ line drive ended the top of the seventh with the tying run on first base following a walk to Stephenson.

Benge’s RBI single in the seventh gave the Mets a 4-2 cushion.

Jared Young’s pinch-hit single leading off started the rally. He reached second on a wild pitch.

“I am just trying to stay short,” Benge said, referring to his swing on high fastballs. “Just put it in play and not try to do too much, and things have been working out.”

The San Diego Padres completed their longest homestand of the season by being swept. The Philadelphia Phillies, who had been in a slump of their own, got well against the Padres. There were no blowouts; the Phillies never scored more than four runs in any of the three games. It’s just that the Padres scored three runs total for the whole series, being shutout twice. 

Over the nine home games, the Padres won the series against the A’s two games to one and lost the series against the Dodgers two games to one. Finishing the home stand with a 3-6 record, the Friars went from being 0.5 games up on the Dodgers for the division lead to being four games back and tied for second/third with the Diamondbacks.

The poor stretch dropped them to a 31-24 overall record, which is still in the Wild Card hunt, but who cares in May?

Takeaways from the first third

It will not come as a shock to any Padres fan to state that the offense has been largely absent for the whole start of the season. We have watched the rare explosion followed by multiple runs of offensive mediocrity. 

Everyone knows the struggles of Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, and Manny Machado are a large part of why this team has been so ineffective as a group.  The best hitter on the team continues to be a guy who has been on the injured list since early May, in Luis Campusano. Semi-regular first baseman Ty France and most-of-the-time DH Miguel Andujar are the only other hitters with anything resembling normal numbers.

Over their last 10 games the Padres have a 4-6 record. They have played to a 16-16 record at home and a 15-8 record on the road. They are 9-15 against teams with a .500 or better win percentage.

For April, when they were winning multiple games with late-game heroics, the Padres played to an 18-7 record. In May, when those heroics have mostly failed to materialize, they are 12-13 with three games left to play on the road against the red-hot Washington Nationals.

The numbers don’t lie

The Padres, as a team, are hitting .215, last in MLB. Their OBP is .291, last in MLB. The team slug is .361, 29th in MLB (ironically, the New York Mets are the worst). The team OPS is .652, again only one off the worst (Mets again).

They have improved in the home run category, now sitting 18th with 55, and have 207 RBI, good for 24th. The run differential sits at -1 for the season.

Although the eye test tells us that the starting pitching is also an area of concern, it is far from the most concerning. The bullpen, which started the season with some clunkers, is back to being the best in baseball.

The team ERA sits at 3.83, 12th in MLB. Starters are responsible for a 4.47 ERA (19th), and the bullpen has a 3.07 ERA(1st).

One area that does not bode well for the starting corps is the strikeout ranking. The Padres starters have 234 strikeouts, good for 26th in MLB. The bullpen has 232 strikeouts; they rank fourth in MLB. 

April was an illusion?

The amazing come-from-behind and final innings heroics of the Padres offense in April were an unsustainable fact. You can’t play a whole season like that, but it was fun while it lasted.

The Padres hitters chase too much, strike out too much, and hit a ton of ground balls. Many of those groundballs go directly to a defender. Much has been made of the fact that Fernando Tatis Jr. hasn’t hit a home run. That situation weighs on the minds of many fans, and probably Tatis himself. 

It seems pretty easily explained if you look at his stats. He is not hitting the ball in the air to the pull side. His 25.8% pull rate in the air compares negatively to the 39.4% of the rest of the team and all of MLB. There is nothing wrong with his bat speed, or barrel rate, or his launch angle and sweet spot data. The only glaring issue is that he is hitting a ton of balls into the ground and fly balls to right field.

Apparently, this is not an easy problem to fix, or we wouldn’t still be obsessing over it.

But Tatis is not the only problem. Manny Machado is hitting .169. Amazingly, he is on track to come close to his season numbers for home runs and RBI as he currently sits at nine homers and 27 RBI, a third of the way through the season.

Jackson Merrill is hitting .200 with 19 RBI  and a .271 OBP. He has struck out 55 times, second most to Ramón Laureano at 64 (he is hitting .211).

Primary catcher Freddy Fermin has a .140 average, which is worse than either Martin Maldonado or Elias Diaz in 2025. Rodolfo Durán has filled in great defensively but he is hitting .100.

The two main bench players, Sung-Mun Song and Bryce Johnson see very little playing time and are both hitting below .200.

The bench player getting the most playing time, Nick Castellanos, is hitting .186. He has four home runs and 19 RBI.

What is to come?

This can’t be the reality for this season, right? This many good baseball players can’t be this bad for a whole season. It just seems illogical to think that players who have track records and histories of success will stay this bad for months.

It should be obvious at this point, however, that the turnaround has to be soon. Before they dig themselves into a hole they can’t climb out of. The end of May is too soon to panic, but there has to be improvement. This kind of baseball is not only frustrating; it’s also boring.

The coming road trip to Washington and then to Philadelphia to play the Phillies could provide some clarity. The Nationals are playing above what was expected of them and the Phillies always play the Padres tough, especially at home. 

We need a reverse course, and it needs to come soon.

For the first time in their last seven games, the Mets scored more than two runs, and it turns out that it’s a lot easier to win a baseball game when that happens. A relative explosion of offense saw the team win 4-2 in their series finale against the Reds tonight at Citi Field, a win that snapped a five-game losing streak that might’ve felt even longer if the Mets hadn’t already lost twelve in a row earlier this season.

Juan Soto opened the scoring with a solo home run that he lofted and hooked a little bit inside the right field foul pole. He went on to have a 2-for-3 night with a walk, and whatever is occasionally ailing his right wrist when he swings and misses lately doesn’t seem to be having much of an effect on his performance when he makes contact.

In the bottom of the second, Mets designated hitter Eric Wagaman—a phrase you certainly wouldn’t have expected to hear when the season began—hit a solo shot that was much more of the no-doubt variety. It was his first hit as a Met, having joined the organization on a waiver claim from the Twins in late April, and he hit it 110.1 miles per hour to left field.

The Reds got on the board in the top of the third with an unearned run off Jonah Tong, who worked as the bulk guy after Huascar Brazobán made another successful appearance as an opener. Tong himself committed the error that allowed Elly De La Cruz to reach first base to start the inning, and he eventually came around to score on a two-out single by Nathaniel Lowe.

Tong was neither efficient nor dominant, but he did manage to keep the Mets in front through his three-and-two-thirds innings work. He walked four and only struck out one batter, gave up three hits, and threw 76 pitches. But his first two major league appearances this year have been encouraging.

Speaking of rookies, Carson Benge had himself a big night, as he went 2-for-4 with an impressive pair of RBI singles in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively. The one in the fifth that plated the Mets’ third run of the night turned out to be the difference maker.

Tobias Myers got into a quick jam in the top of the sixth, giving up leadoff double and a one-out single to put runners on the corners before Carlos Mendoza gave him the hook. Brooks Raley loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch and got the second out of the inning before an infield single to third base allowed the Reds to score to get back within one run.

Raley and Luke Weaver wound up recording four outs apiece to get the Mets to the top of the ninth with their lead—which had grown by a run with Benge’s seventh-inning single—intact. And Devin Williams tried his best to lets the Reds score, issuing back-to-back walks to begin the ninth before getting a strikeout and issuing a third walk to load the bases. Fortunately, he struck out the next two batters he faced, earning one of the most laborious saves you’ll ever see.

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Win Probability Added

Big Mets winner: Carson Benge, +17% WPA
Big Mets loser: Mark Vientos, -8% WPA
Mets pitchers: +36% WPA
Mets hitters: +14 % WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Devin Williams strikes out Blake Dunn to end the game, +14.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Sal Stewart hits an infield single to score a run in the sixth, -12.1% WPA

The Royals were swept by the Yankees in the season series for the second year in a row, losing Wednesday evening 7-0.

Tonight’s game was a pitchers’ duel through the first six innings. The 17th batter of the evening, Michael Massey, was the first hitter who managed to reach base when he hit a liner down the first base line in the bottom of the 3rd by hitting line. It looked like the Royals would have the first run of the day when he was followed by a Maikel Garcia single to right. Unfortunately, Aaron Judge gunned down Massey at the plate.

Gerrit Cole looked in control from the outset. His 4-seam fastball and slider were both moving a little faster and spinning more than in his first start against Tampa Bay last week. The Royals, who are 19th in the majors as a team in strike out rate, were punched out 10 times by Gerrit in just innings 6 2/3 innings. He only had two counts where the hitter had 3 balls and 59 of his 79 pitches were for strikes. It is always hard to know how much to blame the offense and how much to credit the pitcher in a game like this. Cole looked like his dominant old self today.

Noah Cameron was very good too, just not anywhere near as dominant as Cole. His final line of 5IP, 4H, 1BB, 2ER, 4K is not amazing, but it was against one of the best lineups in the game and part of the two runs was a weird bounce off of the left field wall to get Ben Rice an RBI triple and then in on a sac fly. Both of those came in the top of the 4th. The only other trouble he got into was in the 6th when Paul Goldschmidt singled to lead off the inning and then Rice walked. John Schreiber was called on to bail him out and bail him out he did. Aaron Judge grounded into a double play and was promptly followed by a Cody Bellinger flyout to keep the 2-0 score through six.

In the seventh, Nick Mears took over and made some trouble for himself too, though in part it was BABIP luck with Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon both singling on poor contact. Sandwiched between those two was a walk to Anthony Volpe, so the bases were loaded. Nick almost escaped, getting a lineout from Jose Caballero and then a strikeout of Austin Wells, but he could not find the third out. Goldschmidt walked in the Yankees third run, which resulted in Mears being pulled. Alex Lange then allowed two more runs on a ground ball to the left of Vinnie Pasquantino and the Royals had 9 outs left with a 5 run deficit to make up. It only got worse from there.

Mason Black was the next out of the pen for Kansas City. He also got touched up. McMahon hit a two-run line drive into the visitor’s bullpen with one on to move the score to 7-0. So, just like last year, the Royals faced the Yankees twice and were swept in both series. It will be at least 2027 before the Royals pick up a win against the Yanks who they last dispatched on October 7th, 2024. Next up for the Royals is a 10-game road trip where they will face Texas, Cincinnati, and Minnesota. They have struggled on the road this year, though they just struggled through a homestand too, so it cannot be much worse.