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Earlier in the day, Christian Scott said he was ready to leave his rough first start behind him. And that's exactly what the young Mets right-hander did on Friday.

Going up against the Angels, Scott wasn't his sharpest, but showed improvement, going five innings in the Mets' eventual 4-3 win. But it could have gone sideways fast, and it almost did, for Scott and the Mets in the first inning.

Scott allowed a one-out single to Mike Trout and two batters later, Jorge Soler took him deep. The Mets, losers of 17 of their last 20 games, were already down two runs. But Scott settled in.

Aside from the third inning when he hit Zach Neto with a pitch to lead off, and he eventually scored on two stolen bases and a throwing error by Francisco Alvarez,the Angels could not get anything going off of Scott. Scott would retire the last nine batters he faced.

"That first inning, coming back from that last outing and he kept going," manager Carlos Mendoza said of Scott's outing. "He didn’t put his head down and kept attacking and gave us five innings and a chance to win a baseball game."

"When you go down 2-0 pretty early, you can start to overthink things," Scott said. "I think I did a good job going pitch by pitch, attacking the strike zone, bearing down and competing when I had to."

Scott, whose first big league start in almost two years was spoiled by erratic control that forced him out of the game after just four outs, said Friday's start felt like any other, and that his mindset was on attacking the zone, getting ahead and staying ahead. Scott credited Alvarez for being on the same page as him and calling a good game, but also leaned on his confidence to get over his rough first start and Friday's tough first inning. 

"I’m confident in myself and my stuff," Scott said. "I know I belong here and my stuff plays at a high level when it’s in the strike zone. Just have to be consistent... Just do that consistently is my goal moving forward."

"That’s what makes him. Not just because of the stuff, but he has a good head," Mendoza said. "Doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. Could have been easy for him to just put his head down after the last outing. First inning, he goes, ‘here we go again.’ And he didn’t show any sign. I’m not surprised by it. Goes to show you he’s a mature kid."

Once Scott was out after five innings and the score still 3-0, the comeback commenced. In the sixth, the Mets scored three runs on a pair of two-out singles. Ronny Mauricio then completed the comeback with a go-ahead solo homer. The bullpen continued what Scott started, retiring every Angels hitter they faced to finish the game.

"I’ve given up homers before, it’s not the end of the world," Scott said of overcoming the first-inning homer. "But I thought the offense did a really good job battling the whole day. Bullpen came in and not giving up a baserunner was nice to see them bearing down and competing at a high level. It’s early in the game, just have to give the team a chance to win and I thought I did that."

Scott not only gave the Mets a chance to win Friday's series opener, but Mendoza said the 26-year-old set the tone for the rest of the team.

"It started with Scotty. When he got punched, he punched back," Mendoza said. "He set the tone there."

Entering play Friday, the Mets held the worst record in baseball (10-21). Their offense was stagnant and questions regarding Mendoza's job security were rampant. But the team stuck together and prevailed, and it began with Scott's bounce-back start.

Ronny Mauricio picked a good time for his first home run of the season.

The Mets' ninth batter and starting shortstop in Friday's 4-3 win at the Los Angeles Angels took José Fermin's 94 mph pitch deep to right-center field on a 1-1 count with one out, giving New York (11-21) enough of a window to complete a four-run comeback in Anaheim, Calif.

"It feels great to be able to help the team in a situation like that," Mauricio said through an interpreter. "... We're coming out here, we're working, we're doing everything that we have to do to go out in front."

A day that started with president of baseball operations David Stearns' published comments about not intending to "make a change" at manager, followed by Carlos Mendoza's on-record remarks about the phone call, ended in a gutsy victory.

"It says a lot, especially after what we've been going through," Mendoza said. "You get down early in that first inning -- that two-run homer out of the gate -- but they fought back and they found a way. That's a good sign -- when you're able to come back and lock it down, good at-bats, continue to just create some traffic ... it was a solid team win."

With two more games at the Angels (12-21), led by Saturday's 9:38 p.m. start on SNY, the Mets have an opportunity to build as the initial series and overall nine-game road trip begins.

"Every win means a lot, especially when we've dug ourselves into a hole like this," said Marcus Semien, whose two-RBI single with two outs in the sixth inning capped the Mets' three-run rally to tie the game at 3-3. "Especially a comeback win on the road -- that's big. It's big for the group. 

From Christian Scott's career-high-tying eight strikeouts in a bounce-back start to the timely hits and the Mets' four-man bullpen consecutively retiring the final 12 batters, Mendoza saw his team dig deep.

"I think they're all different, but every time you get an opportunity to win a game like that -- we haven't been able to win games like that when you get down 3-0 and the feeling's like, 'All right,'" he said. "Today, it wasn't the case. It was something different -- the energy in the dugout, the guys playing loose, the guys playing their game and we saw that. And it started with Scotty -- when he got punched, he punched back. So, it kind of set the tone there."

"We always feel like we're in the game," Semien added. "It's nine innings of baseball. We're all major league players, so we're working hard to scratch and claw to get back into the game."

Remember the tv soap opera “As The World Turns”?

Maybe in the case of our 2026 Astros, it could be the daily viewing of “As The Losses Mount”.   

Seemingly with each passing day, it feels as if meaningful baseball in October will elude us once again. Consider just how long ago it actually was, since we Houstonians endured consecutive postseasons sitting idle.   

You’d have to go back to 2014.

In 2014, Dusty Baker wasn’t even managing, having been released by the Cincinnati Reds. Speaking of managers, for a portion of that 2014 season, Houston was led by Bo Porter. 

Carlos Correa was still in the minors.  

Rob Manfred wasn’t even “officially” MLB Commissioner.   

Neither Biggio nor Bagwell had been enshrined in Cooperstown.   

Center Field still featured Tal’s Hill. 

The A’s still played in Oakland.   

Okay, you get where I’m going with this. The injection of historical context, (even in early May) is only fitting because if the trend of dropping series continues, the Astros season will be history and they’ll be home in October for consecutive seasons.

That would be very 2014.   

May has officially begun, and the A’s begin the month with a series-opening loss to the Cleveland Guardians, falling to their AL Central foes in a high-scoring 8-5 contest. The starting pitching wasn’t great, the bullpen allowed three runners to cross home plate, and while the offense provided five runs they left 10 on base tonight and let this game slip away. The Mariners lost tonight but the Rangers won. The division lead is still ours and still at one game.

Teams trade early runs

Righty J.T. Ginn got the ball tonight looking to continue the solid streak he’s been on since joining the starting staff. He ran into some early trouble tonight though as the first three batters he faced all reached, loading the bases with nobody out before most people had found their seats. Not a good start.

This tough spot didn’t faze the young righty though. He buckled down and got two huge strikeouts before getting out of the early jam with a high flyout to right fielder Colby Thomas to end the threat:

That’s what we call a magic trick, folks.

Now it was the A’s turn to bat. Shea Langeliers got things going with a one-out single against Cleveland starting pitcher Joey Cantillo. After a flyout from Kurtz it was Brent Rooker up to the plate with two outs and he absolutely smacked the second pitch he saw over the wall in left field, giving the A’s the first lead of the game:

Pretty amazing considering how this game started. That was Rooker’s third of the season and he really needed that one. Snapped an 0-for-20 streak at the plate, longest of his career. He wasn’t done there tonight either.

While Ginn pulled some magic in the first, he couldn’t do it again in the second. A walk and single started the inning and Ginn got two outs right after that, but he got tagged for a two-run double that tied this game up at 2. Could have been worse.

The middle frames

From there Ginn actually settled in for a bit. He went three up, three down in the third and fourth innings, at one point retiring seven in a row.

On the other side, the A’s were getting contact against Cantillo and broke through again in the fourth. A pair of back-to-back walks to open the frame was followed by a sac bunt to put two runners in scoring position for Zack Gelof. Once considered a building block of the organization but beginning the year in Triple-A, Gelof came through with perhaps his biggest hit of the year to date, a two-run single to retake the lead for the Green & Gold:

Things have been rough for Gelof over the past couple of seasons but he’s already had a couple moments for this club so far. Gelof would actually be thrown out at home when Jacob Wilson grounded a ball to short to end the frame. Not a great call, going for home with only one out, but we like the aggressiveness. That’s a moment too.

Again, once the A’s took the lead Cleveland began to rally. Back-to-back walks to the top of the lineup to open the fifth was Ginn just asking for trouble. While he escaped the wrath of Jose Ramirez, another walk loaded the bases and veteran first baseman Rhys Hoskins made Ginn pay with a two-run double after that that tied this game back up. And at 88 pitches, that was the final straw for Mark Kotsay to come get his starter and turn things over to the bullpen.

• J.T. Ginn: 4 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 88 pitches

For someone whose control had been a major selling point, it was a bit disappointing to see Ginn’s command off essentially all night long. Cleveland made him pay for those free passes as three of them ended up crossing home plate. Considering his streak entering tonight he shouldn’t be in danger of being passed over for his next scheduled start, which lines up to be against the Phillies in Philadelphia next Friday.

Hogan Harris replaced Ginn and gave up a sacrifice fly that gave Cleveland their first lead of the game, which was charged to Ginn, though he did get Bazzana to strike out to end the threat. Still, the damage was done and the A’s offense had work to do.

Comeback attempt falls short

It took a couple innings but they got something going in the seventh. Starting with a Wilson single and a pair of walks, Rooker came to the plate with no outs and delivered a base knock that whittled the Cleveland lead down to three:

Of note, one of those walks was to Nick Kurtz, which was the 20th straight game he’d drawn a walk. That officially surpasses Barry Bonds in the modern era:

Next up, the all-time record by Roy Cullenbine in 1947, who walked in 22 straight games. Think Kurtz can do it?

Anyway, the bases were still loaded with no one out. The A’s were in business. But it was the Guardians’ turn for some magic. Now into the Cleveland bullpen Darell Hernaiz struck out, then Soderstrom, and finally a fly ball that looked on its way out of the yard was instead robbed by Guardians center fielder Steven Kwan. Owch:

Absolutely horrible luck. On the bright side the fire in the A’s wasn’t out quite yet. Still down three runs, the bats continued to work. A Jeff McNeil double and Jacob Wilson on base via error put runners on the corners in the bottom of the eighth with just one out. Tying run at the plate, and the heart of the order coming up. Instead Langeliers and Kurtz both struck out swinging, ending the threat. Another big owch.

The A’s went down in order in the ninth to seal this one. Their record now stands at 17-15 after the first game of May. Hopefully this isn’t another year where the season is sunk by a terrible May. Not off to a good start in that regard.

Tough pill to swallow, this one. The A’s offense came through tonight for five runs, but the pitching couldn’t hold down a Guardians offense that didn’t allow a hit to Jose Ramirez. Ginn was shaky tonight and clearly didn’t have his control in this one. Kurtz, though he drew that record-breaking walk, went 0-for-4 and came up short in some moments. Everyone of the other starters other than Hernaiz got at least one hit tonight (and Hernaiz drew a pair of walks). It doesn’t help when your bullpen doesn’t keep the deficit to a minimum but still. For someone who was a darkhorse candidate for AL MVP, Kurtz has been a bit absent in the early going.

It’s going to be a quick turnaround as the series continues tomorrow afternoon in the second game of the series. For the A’s it’ll be left-hander Jacob Lopez getting the ball for his sixth start (seventh appearance) of the season. Things have not gone all that smoothly for Lopez in his second full season with the A’s, and his spot in the rotation has to at least be feeling insecure. With other arms in the system ready to jump at their opportunity Lopez needs a big game tomorrow or else the voices calling for a change will get bolder and louder. He’ll be opposed by Guardians right-hander Slade Cecconi, who’s in line for his seventh start of the year. He saw the A’s twice last year, first going seven shutout innings against us in June before, strangely, giving up six runs in nearly nine innings of work in a Guardians win. Should be another good one at Sutter Health Park tomorrow!

It may have taken some time to get his sea legs back, but Shane McClanahan pitched with a level of conviction we haven’t seen since before the injuries. As a result, he turned in his best outing of the season and set the table for the Rays second shutout in their last three games. His six-shutout innings were the most he has thrown in nearly three years. It was the sharpest he has looked post injuries and sight for sore eyes, especially in the wake of the news that Ryan Pepiot would be out for the remainder of the season. Having Mac back on the mound in any capacity this season would have been a positive for the Rays. To see him return to form this quickly is as good as the Rays brass could have hoped for.

Opposite McClanahan was San Franciso Giants starter, Robby Ray, who also turned in a strong performance but left trailing and took home the loss. McClanahan and Ray battled it out over the first six innings and Mac came out on top as Ray made a few costly mistakes to the big boys, Yandy and Caminero.

The first mistake, if you can even call it that, came in the bottom of the second inning when Yandy Diaz flicked a outside fastball over the wall in right field to give the Rays a 1-0 lead. His fifth homer of the year and a perfect Yandy blast at that.

Two innings later Junior Caminero turned on a high and inside fastball and deposited it deep into the left field stands. It was his ninth homer of the year and it traveled 432 feet.

Then in the sixth inning, Walls doubled to lead off the inning, quickly stole third, and scored on a Chandler Simpson sacrifice fly. The Rays took a 3-0 lead and that score would hold.

That was essentially all the action in this one. McClahanan worked quickly striking out five and walking none while scattering five hits across his six innings. Ray only allowed four hits, but three of them went for extra bases. he also struck out five and walked none.

The Rays pen did their job again as Seymour, Sulser, and Baker held the Giants scoreless and to just one hit. Baker took home the save, his eighth of the year.

The Rays staff as a whole has been fantastic over the. Across their last eight games, they have allowed a total of just eleven runs. They have gone 7-1 over that stretch. The Rays are firing on all cylinders right now. They are hitting for power, limiting runs, and the defense has improved. They are playing winning baseball at a high level and will look to continue that tomorrow and secure a third straight series win.

Following the confirmation that he will be transitioning to the rotation and following in the footsteps of Rasmussen, Springs, and Littel, Griffin Jax will make his second consecutive open/start opposite Landen Roupp of the Giants.

Tonight’s match was about the closest you can get to playoff baseball on May 1. Bryan Woo and Cole Ragans are both considered aces on their staffs, though you might not know it from how they performed tonight, and each took home a no-decision. There were multiple lead changes, and the bullpens were tested to their limits. In the end, the Royals emerged victorious in their first contest of a new month.

Things got off to a fast start for KC. If you sat down a little late, you’d have found KC in front 3-0 before you even got logged into Apple TV. Maikel Garcia singled to right, Bobby Witt Jr. singled to shortstop, and Vinnie Pasquantino – freshly returned to the lineup after aggravating a back injury during the first contest in Sacramento – also singled to right to drive in the first run of the game. Connor Joe had a fielding error, and the Royals had a run in with runners at second and third with no outs for Salvador Perez.

Perez, of course, has been a lightning rod for criticism during the Royals’ slow start, but he whalloped a sinker that got a little too much of the plate down the left field line to drive in both runners. Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone both made outs, but Isaac Collins parachuted a pop-up down the left field line to bring home Salvy with two outs and give the Royals a 4-0 lead.

Cole Ragans, unfortunately, was not destined to look like the same guy who had absolutely dazzled the Angels. He walked J.P. Crawford, struck out Cal Raleigh, and then gave up a massive two-run home run to Julio Rodríguez. Rodríguez, of course, is known for turning things on once May starts, and he didn’t take any time with that tonight. Ragans settled down a bit until the fifth inning – though he still flashed some poor control at times. In the fifth, he allowed Connor Joe to bash his first MLB home run in more than two years. Fortunately, the bases were empty, and the Royals still led 4-3.

Over the same span, however, Bryan Woo hadn’t allowed a single baserunner since Collins’ single. But Vinnie put an end to that really quickly, leading off the sixth.

Two outs later, Jac joined his Italian-American brother.

Those dingers felt even more important as Cole gave up his third home run of the night in the bottom of the inning to Randy Arozerena. He was pulled for Nick Mears, who got the job done, recording the final two outs of the inning despite walking the first batter he faced.

Daniel Lynch IV, only recently installed as the Royals’ preferred seventh-inning pitcher, had to face the 9-1-2 hitters in the bottom of the inning. He got behind Leo Rivas 3-0 before striking him out looking, walked Crawford, struck out Raleigh, but gave up a game-tying home run to the magma-hot Rodriguez. Game tied. Lynch became the tenth Royals’ reliever with a Meltdown this year. The only players to pitch in relief for KC and not accrue one are Bailey Falter, Mitch Spence, Mason Black, and Tyler Tolbert. In other words, the only guys who haven’t been allowed to pitch in high leverage.

But hey, Sal was leading off the top of the eighth. What could go wrong? Nothing! He led off with a double into left center, advanced to third on a Carter Jensen groundout, and then Matt Quatraro made the controversial decision to pinch-hit Lane Thomas for Jac Caglianone. It worked, and Thomas drove in the go-ahead run by flipping an inside changeup over the second baseman’s head.

Matt Strahm pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out two and walking one. Then it was Lucas Erceg’s turn in the ninth inning. He needed to record a clean inning in order to prevent Julio Rodríguez from getting a chance to finish what he had started.

We diagnosed Erceg’s issues with his slider just yesterday, so Lucas led with his four-seam fastball and sinker against two lefties and the switch-hitting Raleigh. He threw no changeups; he threw only two sliders. For what it’s worth, he doesn’t often throw his slider against left-handed hitters; only about 22% of the time compared to 33% of the time against righties. Regardless, he got two pop-ups and struck out Crawford with a beautiful front hip goofy slider. It took Erceg only 12 pitches, 8 of which were strikes, to pitch a perfect ninth. It’s still a bit concerning to see his slider and changeup MIA, and he had trouble locating the four-seamer, but a win is a win!

The Royals have now scored 6+ runs in 6 of their last 9 games. Wouldn’t you know it, they’ve won 6 of their last 9! It’s probably not a coincidence that they did this while Vinnie was going 6-for-24, all but 1 for extra bases, plus walking 6 times and only striking out 3. Oh yeah, Salvy has gone 10-for-36 with 2 homers and 2 doubles in the same span. It’s almost like having the middle of the order show up in positive ways can make this offense look a lot better! Prior to the nine-game stretch, Salvy had a .536 OPS with Vinnie at .470. Checking in again after tonight’s game, they’re at .615 and .631, respectively. Sure, those still aren’t good, but they represent MASSIVE improvements in a very short span. That highlights how bad they were, how hot they’ve been, and how small the sample sizes still are in this young season.

The Royals will attempt to continue their perfect May tomorrow night, though it promises to be even more difficult than tonight. Seth Lugo (2.63 ERA) will go for the Royals, but Emerson Hancock (2.86 ERA) will go for the Mariners. It’s anyone’s guess if they can pull it off, but it sure would be sweet to go into Sunday afternoon with a chance to sweep their way to a winning road trip.

After a series loss to the Nationals, which had a blowout loss followed by a heartbreaking late-game loss, the Mets headed west again, starting in Anaheim to face the Angels. Christian Scott was getting his second start of the season, hoping to have a much better performance than his first, which would be difficult not to. All he had to do was get through more than 1.2 innings and/or give up less than five walks.

After an uneventful top of the first for the Mets, Christian Scott’s first inning of his second start seemed to get off to an inauspicious start. A one-out single from Mike Trout turned into a two-out, two-run home run to Jorge Soler to put the Mets in an early 2-0 hole after the first inning, which has proven to be an insurmountable problem for the Mets as of late.

(Author’s note: during the second inning, the broadcast kept dropping out, and I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t immediately think that it could be a blessing in disguise, not being forced to watch whatever disaster was awaiting me in the future innings. Alas, I was cursed with a return of service and the ability to forge ahead.)

It took until the bottom of the third for anything to happen again, with Zach Neto reaching first on a leadoff hit by pitch. He then stole second base, and stole third, and then scored when Alvarez’s attempt to throw him out ended up in left field. So the Mets were then down 3-0 in the third, which was as close to a death sentence as the Mets could get in the third inning.

The Mets weren’t able to get any luck until Bo Bichette, in the top of the sixth, hit a line drive directly into the leg of Walbert Ureña, driving him from the game in favor of Brent Suter. Suter then gave up a single to Soto, and Alvarez, which drove in the Mets’ first run of the game. Baty grounded out to set up runners on second and third with two outs, which has typically been the end of the inning for the Mets this season. The Angels brought in Chase Silseth to face Marcus Semien. And then, the most amazing thing happened.

Marcus Semien got a hit. With runners in scoring position. And two outs. And the game was tied.

Carson Benge grounded out to end the inning, but there was potential for a win for the Mets now, which they were in dire need of. Huascar Brazobán came in to relieve Scott, who had a much better start the second go around this season. Scott gave up three runs (only two earned) on three hits, and eight strikeouts which ties his career high. Brazobán had a clean inning, keeping the Mets in the game.

José Fermin came in to relieve Silseth in the top of the seventh, and he gave up a one-out solo home run to Ronny Mauricio, his first of the season, to put the Mets ahead by one run. Nine outs to go, the Mets had a lead. A slight lead, a scary single run lead, but a lead is a lead.

Raley, Weaver, and Williams each pitched a scoreless inning to keep the Mets ahead to the end and then, unbelievably, they won. The Mets won a game, a one-run game, and their pitching staff was able to retire 21 batters in a row to end the game. It was the 2026 Mets version of an episode of The Twilight Zone.

An optimist could hope that this is the start of something for the Mets, that they could build on this and win another game, maybe sweep, win a series or two or even three on the road against not very stiff competition. A realist would recognize that that idea has been brought up before in the past few weeks without materializing. A pessimist would expect a few losses to follow this win. But all anyone can know at this point is the facts: they play again tomorrow night at 9:38 against the Angels, with Nolan McLean facing Reid Detmers. Anything else would be a stab in the dark.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Devin Williams, +20% WPA
Big Mets loser: Christian Scott, -12% WPA
Mets pitchers: +41% WPA
Mets hitters: +9% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Marcus Semien two-run single in the sixth inning, +22.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jorge Soler’s two-run home run in the first inning, -18.4% WPA