Author: MLB Baseball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

Make sure to look back at the previous game thread and preview if you’re looking for game information.

Otherwise, have at it here as we watch the back half of this game.

I don’t have many words for this Red Sox team already, so we’re gonna keep it short.

Studs

No one? Is it that bad I don’t have just about anything good to say about this game?

Duds

Where do I even begin with duds for this game. Willson Contreras with a golden sombrero, including getting wrung up then losing an ABS challenge to end a frame. Duran and Durban both with 0-fers at the top of the lineup. Connelly Early not having any real smooth inning, then the bullpen not saving his skin in the least bit. Letting Dustin May look like a superstar on the bump. This was a rough one.

Play of the Game

The only real positive of the game was this bit of base-running to bring home a run.

The Mets, after falling to the Oakland Sacramento A’s by a score of 4-0, have pushed their scoreless streak to 17 innings. It’s not what you want.

The good news, which is more existential than tangible after three straight losses, is the loss puts the Mets at an even 7-7 to begin the season, which could be worse. While we all expect more from the team, it also is far from a death sentence — the best teams in every baseball season have stretches where they cannot really hit and go .500 for a spell. It mostly is just a big old heaping plate of Feels Bad when you start the season that way, especially when 2025 left a sour taste in everyone’s mouths.

Clay Holmes got the start in this one and looked good, until he left the game with hamstring tightness (more on that later). He only struck out three in his five and one thirds innings, but he did a great job of forcing weak contact continuously. He surrendered just one run, which came in the third inning. Old Friend Carlos Cortes singled to lead off the frame, Lawrence Butler walked, and Shea Langeliers singled to bring Cortes home. Holmes managed to keep the damage at just the one run, but that would have been enough for the A’s.

Holmes continued to keep it a 1-0 game into the sixth inning, where he surrendered a one out single to Jacob Wilson, did some hamstring sweeps beside the mound and grimaced in pain, and was quickly lifted by the trainer for Tobias Myers. In his postgame scrum, Carlos Mendoza said that they hope he does not miss a start, so hopefully it stays a minor thing for Holmes, who has had a nice start to his 2026 season.

The Mets offense could not hit water from a boat, however, so that one run was more than enough. They had six hits on the day, and only took three at bats with runners in scoring position. Another old friend, J.T. Ginn got the start and gave up a single hit in four innings, and it became a bullpen game from there for the A’s. Their biggest threat came in the sixth inning, when Jack Perkins came in to relieve Mark Leiter Jr. Back to back singles by Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette made it first and third with no outs. Jared Young hit a bouncer to first, and Lindor got held up between home and third. Nick Kurtz made a nice play to freeze him, and threw him out as he retreated to third for the first out. Luis Robert Jr. promptly hit into a double play to somehow escape the inning still down 1-0.

Myers was great in relief of Holmes until the ninth inning. He was perfect for the first two and two thirds innings prior to the ninth, but fell apart in the final frame of the evening. A Jacob Wilson lead off single (coupled with a brutal Carson Benge error in left to turn it into a de facto double) and a single by another Old Friend, Jeff McNeil, made it 2-0. A double by the Younger Max Muncy made it second and third. He got a ground out to finally put an out on the board, but a single by Denzel Clarke made it 4-0 and effectively ended the game. Richard Lovelady came into the game to mop it up and did so efficiently, getting Lawrence Butler to ground into a double play.

The bottom of the ninth inning went by quickly, with Jared Young, Brett Baty and Marcus Semien making the final three outs around a Luis Robert Jr. single.

Losers of three straight, the Mets offense is going through it right now. They obviously miss Juan Soto, and with Jorge Polanco battling Achilles bursitis, and Francisco Lindor ending the day with a whopping 73 wRC+, they are behind the eight ball on the offensive side of the ball. The good news is they are far from a terrible place at 7-7, and there are many many many many games left to be played. Despite that, it has been a frustrating watch over the first 14 games.

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Box scores

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Win Probability Added

Big Mets winner: Clay Holmes, +1.2% WPA
Big Mets loser: Luis Robert Jr., -2.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: +1.3% WPA
Mets hitters: -6.3% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Bo Bichette’s sixth inning single, +16.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Shea Langeliers RBI single in the third inning, -11.2% WPA

The St. Louis Cardinals began the 2nd homestand of the 2026 season taking on the Boston Red Sox at Busch Stadium. Before we get to the baseball, the first important moment of the game was the return of Willson Contreras to St. Louis after being traded during the offseason. As expected, he received a warm welcome.

Dustin May looked more like the Dustin May many of us expected/hoped to see as he gave St. Louis six strong innings allowing only 1 earned run. His stat line looked like this: 6 innings pitched, 4 hits, 1 earned run, no walks with 4 strikeouts.

The scoring began early for the Cardinals as they played some small ball in the 2nd inning. After Ramón Urías doubled, Masyn Winn walked and Jose Fermin singled to left. After Pedro Pagés struck out, Victor Scott II got the job done with a sacrifice fly to left.

Of note, Masyn Winn was hit in the calf by a pitch in the bottom of the 3rd inning and he would later leave the game as Thomas Saggese took his place in the lineup.

The Boston Red Sox would scrap back in the top of the 4th inning when Yoshida singled to right followed by a strikeout from Willson Contreras. That would be followed by a single to Abreu moving Yoshida to third. Yoshida would then score on a throwing error by JJ Wetherholt on a Trevor Story groundout. Later that inning, the Red Sox literally stole a run as Mayer stole second, Pages threw to 2nd and Wetherholt was unable to throw out Story at home. That made it 2-1 Red Sox halfway through the 4th inning.

The Cardinals would tie the game up and eventually take the lead in the bottom of the 5th inning when Jordan Walker singled. Urias then walked which brought up Thomas Saggese on his birthday. He did not disappoint. His single tied the game at 2-2.

Later in the 5th inning, Urias advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Jose Fermin making it 3-2 Cardinals.

The Cardinals bullpen held the lead (barely) as Ryan Stanek pitched a solid 7th inning, but JoJo Romero got into trouble in the top of the 8th inning when he allowed a double to Ceddanne Rafaela. After Duran lined out to center, Durbin was hit by a pitch after Romero had 2 strikes on him. JoJo would redeem himself, though, by striking out Yoshida and getting Willson Contreras to flyout to deep right centerfield.

Riley O’Brien was brought in to close out the game in the 9th inning and quickly slammed the door on the Red Sox getting them out 1-2-3.

Other Cardinals stats to pass along from Friday’s game. JJ Wetherholt was 0-3, but managed 2 walks to continue his on-base streak of 12 games. Jordan Walker continued his impressive 2026 start by going 2-4 with singles to both right and left field. St. Louis is now 8-5 this season. Not bad for a rebuilding team, am I right? Let’s not get carried away, but as of right now, the Cardinals are tied for first place. The Cardinals have Kyle Leahy set to start Saturday night’s game against the Red Sox as he’ll do battle with Ranger Suarez. Game time Saturday night is 6:15pm weather permitting. That will be a national broadcast from Fox, by the way.

It looks like the Mets’ injury bug has infected the SNY broadcast booth as well.

Midway through the Mets’ 4-0 loss to the Athletics on Friday, Keith Hernandez revealed that he will be undergoing back surgery on Tuesday.

“Can’t happen soon enough,” Hernandez said during the WPIX broadcast. “I’ll be the first one under the knife, and I’ll feel better, hopefully.”

Hernandez, 72, added that he is hoping to return to the booth for the Mets’ home series against the Rockies, which starts on April 24.

“I’m shooting to come back during the Rockies series over the weekend home here,” he said.

He then joked with fellow commentators Gary Cohen and Ron Darling, with Hernandez saying that they don’t think he’s gonna make it out of surgery.

“I know you don’t think I’ll make it,” Hernandez said while the others can be heard laughing in the background.

“I hope you do, I’m rooting for you, Keith,” Cohen quickly interjected.

The broadcast then panned to a graphic titled “Get Well Soon Keith,” which showed a man lying on an island with a full-body cast.

This is not the first time that Hernandez has had back surgery, having repaired a ruptured disk back in 2019.

Ahead of this season, Hernandez signed a three-year deal to remain at SNY that reduced his workload from 110 games to 95.

Hernandez’s back troubles have already caused him to miss a few games this year, notably being absent from the Mets’ west-coast series against the Giants earlier this month, where the Amazin’s took three of four games from San Francisco.

During Tuesday’s 4-3 over the Diamondbacks, Hernandez said that he tried watching the Giants series back at home, but San Francisco played so terribly that he had to turn it off.

“I tried to watch the Giants series, Gare, but the Giants played so horribly that I had to turn it off,” Hernandez said.

“Todd [Zeile] and I were not compelling enough to keep your attention?” Cohen responded.

“Had nothing to do with you guys. It just was … the defense, I just was stunned,” Hernandez continued.

“When it was finally 6-0, I turned it off,” he added while mimicking turning off a television.

In the Mets’ loss Friday, starter Clay Holmes exited during the sixth inning of his with hamstring tightness.

Big league teams are still getting used to the automated ball-strike system, but they learned Friday that there are no take-backs on a challenge. 

On an 0-2 pitch with one out in the top of the seventh inning during the Pirates’ 2-0 win over the Cubs, Pittsburgh infielder Nick Gonzales took a 94 mph fastball from Chicago left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar that appeared to be off the plate. 

Home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz thought otherwise and rung up Gonzales for strike three. 

Nick Gonzales challenged this two-strike pitch and instantly tried to retract it since the Pirates only had one challenge remaining. The umpire insisted that he had to challenge it, and it ended up being successful pic.twitter.com/FpAbRZdSQ1

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 10, 2026

Gonzales immediately disagreed, tapping his helmet in a visual that baseball fans have become used to over the first few weeks of the season. 

Rather than turning his head to the video board and waiting for the robo umpires to give the verdict on the pitch, Gonzales appeared to change his mind, waving toward Ortiz as if to say “never mind.”

Ortiz wasn’t having it. 

Despite Gonzales’ wishes, Ortiz went on with the challenge, announcing to the crowd that the Pittsburgh hitter wanted to see if the pitch did in fact clip the strike zone. 

It all worked out for Gonzales in the end. 

ABS showed that Thielbar’s pitch was more than an inch off the plate, giving Gonzales a second life in the plate appearance. 

Gonzales would be set down four pitches later anyway on a fly ball to left field, but players and teams alike learned a valuable lesson — there’s no un-challenging a pitch under ABS.

Game Summary

The Diamondbacks starting rotation has had a habit of being sunk by the “Blow Up Inning” over the last couple seasons, and after the first inning tonight, I thought Soroka was just another member of the club. In a rare twist on that tired trope, the Diamondbacks offense punched through with their own Blow Up Inning against the now very-well-paid Jesus Luzardo, and when the dust settled, the Diamondbacks 5-run fifth eked out the Phils’ 4-run first.

Michael Soroka had been having a stellar start to the season, and I suppose he can say that is mostly still correct, with the lone exception being the first four Phillies hitters who faced him on this beautiful looking April night in Philadelphia. The Phillies offense was riding a 20 inning scoreless streak and quickly snapped it with Turner, Schwarber, Harper, and Marsh opening the game with Single, Walk, RBI Double, 3-Run Dinger. 4 runs. No outs. Cue the mound visit from Brian Kaplan. From that moment on, Soroka’s pitching line was: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 10 K and ZERO runs allowed. Unfortunately, his final line will include those first four hitters, but Soroka was able to lock in and keep the Blow Up to just the single inning and allow his offense a chance to come back.

It was a bit of a wait for the offense to show up in this game, though, but when it did finally show up, it provided a knockout punch. Jesus Luzardo didn’t have the prettiest ERA coming in to this game, but his 18:1 K:BB ratio was all you really needed to know about this tough lefty. Luzardo had the Snakes hitters flummoxed through the first 4 innings, only being able to muster 2 baserunners via BB and striking out 6 times. Then the floodgates opened in the fifth with young Jose Fernandez leading off with a 110mph single followed by a walk and bunt single from Tawa and AT, respectively. With the bases loaded and 1 out (after Barrosa punched out) Ketel Marte lined a 2-RBI single, Ildemaro Vargas got an RBI single, and James McCann (inserted into the game in the third inning which I’ll discuss more in a bit) rocked a go-ahead 2-RBI double into the right-center gap to put the DBacks in the lead and chase Luzardo from the game.

From that point it was a battle of the bullpens and both were up to the task. Each bullpen only allowed 2 H and 0 BB the rest of the night. Jonny Lasagna was the first out of the pen, getting the final out in the sixth and the first 2 of the 7th, all via strikeout. Juan Morillo then came in for the lefties at the top of the order: Schwarber, Harper and Marsh. Schwarber flew out, but Harper and Marsh went down flailing haplessly at Morillo’s filth. Morillo then got one more strikeout after allowing a single to send the game to the 9th with a Diamondbacks lead. Sewald came in and was living dangerously, his fastball (with velocity at his upper end of 92mph) landing right in the middle of the zone repeatedly, but the Phillies miraculously couldn’t do anything with it outside a 2-out triple and left the Snakes victorious.

The one blemish on tonight’s victory is that Gabi Moreno had to leave the game early due to what the team was saying is lower back tightness. Doesn’t sound too severe, but leaving the game in the third inning is generally not what you want, especially for a guy who has had as much time missed to injury as Gabi has. James McCann hasn’t had the greatest start offensively while Gabi has been one of our best hitters so any extended absence for Moreno would be devastating. Come to think of it, though, tonight makes two nights in a row that the second catcher in the game got a pinch-hit RBI double in a critical moment. Maybe we should use 2 catchers every game! /s

Win Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• No notes from me tonight as I was detained elsewhere for the bulk of this game. Have to get back on it next week.

Comment of the Game

Looks like the GameDay Thread was fairly well attended with a total of 250 comments at time of publishing. Tonight’s COTG goes to the always optimistic ChefAZ with this postscript to the game:

Rolling we are! Not so bad when we aren’t facing a billion-dollar lineup!

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Phillies for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow afternoon with an early 10:05am start time on FS1 and DBacks.TV. Former Diamondback right-hander Taijaun Walker (0-2, 9.31 ERA) will take the mound for the Phillies and Brandon Pfaadt (0-0, 6.75 ERA) takes the ball for the good guys hoping to make a statement to the front office that he deserves to stay in the rotation after the return of the Mainstay.

The Yankees dropped Friday night’s series opener in St. Petersburg by a final of 5-3, unable to fully recover after Luis Gil’s rollercoaster 2026 debut and a middle-inning Rays bullpen bridge that slowly squeezed control of the game away. Ben Rice’s late homer gave New York a pulse, but the offense simply could not create enough real opportunities to make the comeback feel sustainable.

New York wasted no time taking advantage of Tropicana Field chaos in the top of the first. Aaron Judge singled, then immediately pressured the Rays by stealing second and advancing to third when the throw skipped into center field. Cody Bellinger brought him home with a sacrifice fly, and after Giancarlo Stanton worked a two-out walk, Amed Rosario lifted what should have been a routine ball into left. Chandler Simpson turned it into a full Trop adventure, misplaying it badly enough for Rosario to race all the way to third with a Little League-style RBI triple that quickly made it 2-0.

It was exactly the kind of early gift the Yankees needed, and one everyone hoped would spark the offense.

The problem was Luis Gil’s 2026 debut never really allowed them to settle into it.

Gil’s first inning was immediately labor-heavy, requiring 32 pitches to get through six Rays hitters. After Jonathan Aranda worked a two-out walk, Yandy Díaz punished a hanging slider and sent it deep to right field for a game-tying two-run homer. The Yankees never led again.

Tampa Bay kept the pressure on in the second. Taylor Walls fought through a 10-pitch at-bat before being hit by a pitch, Nick Fortes executed a hit-and-run through the right side, and Simpson beat out a grounder to plate the go-ahead run and make it 3-2.

From there, Gil’s outing became exactly what watching Luis Gil often feels like: a rollercoaster of emotions. The raw stuff flashed enough to keep the optimism alive, but every deep count seemed to threaten another spiral. The biggest moment came in the fourth, when Ben Williamson opened the inning with a walk and quickly moved to second on a wild pitch. Walls then dropped a swinging bunt single to put runners on the corners, and the Rays tried to manufacture another run with a squeeze bunt from Fortes.

This time, Gil answered. The bunt came right back to the mound, and Gil calmly fired home to Austin Wells to cut down the runner at the plate. With two still on, he got the groundball he needed to escape the jam and keep the deficit at one.

That would end up being Gil’s final act of the night.

The right-hander finished at 88 pitches over four innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits, walking three, and striking out two. In many ways, it looked a lot like last season’s version of Gil: inefficient, occasionally electric, and constantly riding the line between escaping trouble and creating more of it.

Jake Bird was the first reliever out of the bullpen and somehow matched the tone perfectly. He struck out the first two Rays he faced before immediately allowing the next two hitters to single, throwing the Yankees right back into stress mode. Still, Bird managed to escape the cuckoo’s nest by his tail feathers, stranding both runners and handing the ball to Brent Headrick with the deficit still just 3-2.

The game tilted harder in the sixth. Headrick allowed a leadoff double, then compounded the trouble with a fielding error on a sacrifice bunt attempt that put runners on the corners. For a brief moment it looked like he might escape when Fortes challenged a called strike three that was upheld, but the momentum disappeared on the very next pitch when Williamson lined an RBI single into center.

Aaron Boone quickly turned to Camilo Doval, but the weirdness only continued. Aaron Judge misplayed a fly ball to right to load the bases, and Jonathan Aranda followed with a slow grounder that only resulted in an out at first while another run crossed to make it 5-2. Doval finally got the groundball he needed from Díaz to prevent the inning from completely unraveling.

That escape kept the game close enough for the offense to matter. Unfortunately, they did not, in fact, matter all that much. Outside of the first-inning defensive chaos behind him, Steven Matz was in complete control. The veteran southpaw finished five innings, allowing two runs on just two hits while walking two and striking out seven, and once he exited the Rays bullpen only tightened the screws.

Griffin Jax breezed through a clean sixth while striking out two Yankees, and Ian Seymour followed with a spotless seventh as the Yankees’ offense could practically hear the collective groans from fans across the country. The bats somehow remained colder than last night’s leftovers, and the early two-run burst already felt like it had happened in another game.

Ryan Yarbrough kept the Yankees within shouting distance in the seventh, though naturally not without adding one more layer of tension. After recording two quick outs, he walked Williamson, who promptly stole second to keep the Trop crowd engaged. The inning finally ended when the large foul grounds and rebuilt roof gracefully allowed Paul Goldschmidt to settle under a popup and make the play.

At 5-2, the Yankees still technically had time. The bigger question was whether the bats had any warmth left to give. The first real sign of life finally came off the bat of Ben “Instant Offense” Rice.

Facing Hunter Bigge, Rice got all of one and launched it deep into the night, cutting the Rays’ lead to 5-3 and instantly changing the energy of the game. The blast left his bat at 104.4 mph and traveled 411 feet, his fourth home run of the season and easily the loudest swing the Yankees had produced since the chaos of the opening inning.

The ninth briefly teased something more.

Bryan Baker came on looking for the save, but Stanton greeted him with a hard-hit single to left. Rosario followed with a single to center, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. beat out a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners with one out. When Jazz stole second, the tying run suddenly sat just 180 feet away and the Yankees had their best chance of the night to completely flip the script.

Instead, the rally fizzled.

Baker got Randal Grichuk to chase a high strike three for the second out, and Trent Grisham’s pinch-hit appearance ended on a lazy infield fly, bringing a frustrating night to a flat finish. In the end, the Yankees scored a very uninspiring three runs, and even that total somehow felt louder than the actual quality of the offense.

Next up: The Yankees will try to even the series on Saturday night at 6:10 PM ET, with Max Fried set to take the mound against Nick Martinez as New York looks to get the bats going again and avoid letting an early AL East opportunity slip further away at the Trop.

Box Score

Someone’s three-game win streak had to give. The Orioles came into tonight with three consecutive wins against the White Sox, while the San Francisco Giants just swept the Phillies. Shane Baz and the Orioles were not up to the task, and by the end of the night, the Giants’ win streak was up to four games. The Orioles reset their counter after the 6-3 loss and will try to start a new one tomorrow.

Baz battled through five innings. “Battled” is slang for when a pitcher stunk, but did not blow up. He worked around traffic in each of the first two innings before surrendering a run in the third. He got two quick outs, but then Willy Adames went deep. It was a no-doubt opposite field shot to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. Baz went on to walk Luis Arraez for the second time in the game, which is pretty bad. It doubled his walk total on the year. Matt Chapman singled, but Rafael Devers grounded out to keep any more damage at bay.

Until the next inning, that is, when Baz allowed two more runs thanks to four more baserunners. Casey Schmitt doubled, then scored on a single from Heliot Ramos. Ramos scored on an Adames double. Patrick Bailey also singled for good measure. Baz finally retired Arraez to strand two.

Baz flirted with more danger in the fifth but emerged unscathed. After a weak pop-fly single by Devers, Schmitt got his second double of the game. It was a scorcher to left field and put runners on second and third with just one out. But Baz got a strikeout and a groundout to get out of it.

After five innings, Baz’s day was done. It was ugly. He threw 99 pitches and allowed 11 baserunners. He did not have a clean inning. His ERA went from 4.09 to 4.50. He left four innings for the bullpen to cover. But the good thing is that, when he left, the Orioles were in the game. They still had a chance, if the offense were to take it. They did not take it, nor did the bullpen hold the line.

One batter who did not forget how to get on base is Adley Rutschman. With two outs in the first inning, he lofted a ball to left field that fell in for a double. He doubled again in the third, that one a line drive to right field. He had a solid single in the fifth inning. But he wasn’t involved in any scoring on account of the ice-cold Pete Alonso batting behind him. Alonso struck out twice and grounded out once behind Adley, each time ending the inning.

The single run on the board for the Orioles came in the fourth. Dylan Beavers walked, then came all the way around to score on a double by Leody Tavaras. Neither Jeremiah Jackson nor Blaze Alexander could bring Tavaras home, though Alexander made solid contact that lined right to Matt Chapman at third base.

Through six innings, the Orioles had five hits, all by Rutschman or Taveras. Gunnar Henderson walked once along with Beavers. It was not a great night for the offense. Taveras was not in the original lineup; he was a last-minute add after Tyler O’Neill was scratched with illness. Things would have been even more dire if not for his late add.

With the Orioles down by two going into the seventh inning, Craig Albernaz turned to a new relief pitcher, lefty Nick Raquet. Yennier Cano had looked fantastic in the sixth, but that bullpen goodwill was about to be undone. Raquet got two outs sandwiched around a Chapman walk, but had a hard time closing the door. Schmitt hit yet another double, his third of the game. Chapman scored, then Jung Hoo Lee hit his first home run of the year. Just like that, the Giants were up, 6-1. Thanks for trying, Raquet.

Down by five runs after seven innings, the Orioles turned to Albert Suárez. Suárez had two good innings, which was nice. But it didn’t matter in the end.

Giants starter Landen Roupp, who had kept the Orioles offense in check, exited after six innings. With Roupp out of the game, at least Pete Alonso finally got on base. He took a two-out walk in the eighth inning and Samuel Basallo followed with the same. But pinch-hitter Ryan Mountcastle flew out to end the inning.

Rookie pitcher Blade Tidwell came in to pitch the ninth, and he was not good. Too bad the Orioles were already down by five runs, or it might have been more exciting. Tidwell got to two outs with a runner, Jeremiah Jackson, on first base. He threw a fastball down the middle to Henderson, who destroyed it. Gunnar’s fifth home run of the season was of the FUHR variety and cut the score to 6-3.

Taylor Ward followed with a double and Rutschman came to the plate. Even if he had homered, the Orioles would still have been down by two. But he did not. He just missed an 0-1 sweeper and popped out to end the game. I guess he just didn’t have four hits in him.

Orioles lose, 6-3. They and the Giants play again tomorrow at 7:15 with Chris Bassitt scheduled to face off against Logan Webb. What could go wrong?

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Yankees wasted no time snapping their scoreless streak Friday night. 

But it did not get much better from there. 

An offense that spent Wednesday and Thursday being as cold as the air in The Bronx did not instantly heat up in a warmer climate, instead dropping a third straight game as the Yankees fell to the Rays 5-3 at Tropicana Field on Friday. 

In all, the Yankees (8-5) mustered just five hits, which was four more than they had Thursday. But still, over their last three games, they have recorded only 10 hits. 

“Just got to get some guys clicking and get that big hit,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’re not hitting a ton of long balls right now. But for the most part, approach-wise, I’ve been good [with it]. 

“It’s going to happen sometimes from the offense. They’ll get it rolling and some people will pay the price.” 

After Amed Rosario’s RBI triple made it a 2-0 game in the top of the first inning Friday — the two runs ending a 17-inning scoreless drought — the Yankees did not record another hit until Ben Rice led off the eighth inning with a pinch-hit home run that pulled them within 5-3.

Their only base runner in between was Paul Goldschmidt, who drew a walk and was hit by a pitch, but never got past first base. 

The Yankees then made a late threat in the ninth inning, when they led off with back-to-back singles. But Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded into a fielder’s choice, Randal Grichuk (staying in to bat for himself because Boone said he liked his righties against righty Bryan Baker, who has reverse splits) struck out and pinch-hitter Trent Grisham popped out to end it, leaving runners on second and third. 

“We got to hit. That’s it,” said Austin Wells, who went 0-for-3 and is 5-for-33 on the young season. “We got to take pressure off these guys on the mound, they’re doing a great job for us. So we got to string some at-bats together and hit a couple big ones and get rolling.” 

While the last two offensive duds before Friday wasted quality pitching, Luis Gil was just OK in his season debut, allowing three runs on three hits, three walks and a hit batter across four innings in which the Rays (6-7) forced him to throw 88 pitches. 

Gil grinded for much of the night and got into some long at-bats in his first start after being the odd man out of the Yankees’ four-man rotation to begin the season. The right-hander spent much of the spring trying to rediscover the form that made him the AL Rookie of the Year in 2024, which remains a work in progress after starting the season at Triple-A. 

“It was a battle tonight,” Gil, who struck out two and only got five swings-and-misses, said through an interpreter. “I can be better. But at the same time, it’s the first outing of the season. I’m happy to be back here.” 

The Yankees quickly got on the scoreboard against Rays left-hander and ex-Met Steven Matz in the top of the first. Aaron Judge smoked a one-out single to left field, stole second and took third after an error on the play, and then came home to score on Cody Bellinger’s sacrifice fly. 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

After Giancarlo Stanton walked, the Rays helped out some more when Rosario hit a sinking liner to left field that Chandler Simpson tried to make a sliding grab on. But he came up well short of the ball as it bounced off the turf and way over his head, rolling all the way to the wall, allowing Stanton to score on Rosario’s “triple” that made it 2-0. 

Gil immediately gave those runs right back, though, in the bottom of the first. After getting two quick outs, he walked Jonathan Aranda before leaving a slider up to Yandy Diaz, who belted it the other way for a two-run homer that tied the game. 

In the third inning, the Rays pushed ahead the go-ahead run — in the form of Taylor Walls, who got on base after being hit on the 10th pitch of an at-bat — before tacking on two more runs against Brent Headrick and Camilo Doval in the sixth inning, fueled in part by Headrick’s fielding error. 

“I think for our team, we have all the opportunity and all the strength to be able to go out there and turn it around [Saturday],” Wells said. “All the guys in this locker room are capable of turning it around the next day. I think that’s what’s good about our team and what’ll make us good for the rest of the season.”

Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes unexpectedly exited Friday's game against the Athletics in the top of the sixth inning with what the team says is a left hamstring injury.

After letting up a one-out single to Jacob Wilson, Holmes was met on the mound by trainers, who decided to remove him from the game. 

It looked like Holmes was stretching and reaching toward his leg after Wilson reached first base.

"To lead off the inning, there was that chopper that I think it was a weird spot there," Holmes said after the game. "Thought I had to make a move for the ball and felt tightness afterward. There was some unsureness about what was going on. It was the smart decision to not make it worse. Hopefully, we’re in a good spot. Doesn’t seem too major, and see how it is tomorrow and go from there. Nothing major here and hopefully we can get right here in a couple of days."

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after Friday's 4-0 loss that there are no plans for Holmes to go get imaging on his hamstring. But that could change Saturday if Holmes feels off physically. But overall, the skipper and pitcher are optimistic about the prospects of Holmes not missing time.

"He doesn’t seem too concerned. He got to a weird position on a ball that got hit to second base," Mendoza said. "He got to a weird position and felt a little tight there. The more testing they’re doing there, the better he’s feeling. And see what we got. As of right now, he doesn’t seem too concerned."

"I’m optimistic with it. Feel like I’ll be able to make my next start," Holmes said. "But until I wake up tomorrow, we don’t really know. Can’t rule anything out, but feel pretty good about it right now. I can still keep throwing. I didn’t feel it tighten up on a throw….I think we’ll be good, but we’ll have to see."

Holmes had tossed 81 pitches over 5.1 innings up to that point, allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks.

The right-hander had been one of the Mets' best pitchers to start the season. Entering Friday, Holmes had allowed just two runs in his first two starts across 13.2 innings. 

However, Holmes feels he wasn't as efficient as he was in his first two starts and that played a part in him taking his first loss of the season.

"The sinker was good. Was putting some pressure on them was able to get some groundballs and some early outs," Holmes said of his outing. "There was a couple of times I got myself in trouble by getting behind in counts. Having to be perfect with the sinker and they were able to put some good swings on it. When I had the sinker, I got what I needed to and the defense made some good plays."

Clay Holmes is leaving the game with a Mets athletic trainer pic.twitter.com/JFPbShQnwb

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 11, 2026

Well, things were looking good for Twins starter Simeon Woods-Richardson until a Roman servant whispered in his ear “all glory is fleeting,” and the Bad Mojo spread through the bullpen like bedbugs in a bad motel. Ouch! Inning-by-inning notes:

1: Austin Martin singles and scores; Luke Keaschall beats out a single of his own. Bringing up Super Slugger Josh Bell! He flies out to right. Paul Molitor on radio says that Martin should have read that Keaschall grounder, been at third, and scored on the Bell flyout. Says “if I was still managing, I’d have screamed his head off until he broke down in uncontrollable sobs.” (Molitor didn’t say that.)

It doesn’t matter anyways, because Ryan Jeffers HOMER! The Twins are NEVER GONNA LOSE AGAIN!

33 pitches thrown for Blue Jays starter Patrick Corbin, but he’s kinda mediocre, so knocking him out early doesn’t necessarily mean striking gold. Twins 3-0

Daulton Varsho says “the Twins are SO gonna lose again eventually” and smacks a one-out double, but neither Mini-Vlad nor Jesús Sánchez can knock him in. 20 pitches for SWR, and knocking him out gets to the worrisome Twins bullpen, so that might be gold for the Jays.

2: Brooks Lee is HBP and the Twins, alas, do not start a huge BaseBall FIGHT, they instead have the pride of Missouri City, TX (Tristan Gray) bunt him over. It makes sense, lefty on lefty. It doesn’t amount to anything.

Huh — unexpected radio story. Apparently Geddy Lee of the band Rush is a huge baseball fan, and usually attends games (not tonight), and once donated 200 baseballs signed by Negro League players to the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City. I was just there. So maybe I saw a ball donated by the guy from Rush? That’s cool. I mean it was a cool visit already.

Phil Collins of the band Genesis also donated a bunch of stuff to the Alamo museum (he was a big Alamo collector) but unfortunately a ton of it was fake. Not Collins’s fault, he didn’t know the stuff was fake.

SWR has an easier second inning.

3: Another two-out hit for Jeffers, and another HBP for the Twins. Wallner with the easy fly to end the inning. Corbin now at 59 pitches.

Brandon Valenzuela batting ninth for the Jays; he IS from Mexico, but he is not, alas, related to the great Fernando Valenzuela. I remember watching weekend baseball as a kid and Valenzuela was pitching for the Dodgers. It confused me when the TV went to commercial and a song played “there was something in the air that night, the stars were bright, Fernando.” ABBA once gave a bunch of memorabilia to the International Cryptozoology Museum in Bangor, ME. (This never happened, but such a museum actually exists.) SWR at 44 pitches.

4: Brooks Lee cries “vengeance!” for his earlier HBP with a 3-2 homer to left. Martin has a two-out double and Molitor’s still talking about ways he would discipline players in his day, a towel filled with soap bars was his favorite. Martin doesn’t score.

Vlad hits one 113 MPH over Buxton’s head for the leadoff double. Sánchez doubles on the next pitch. Two batters later, a Davis Schneider double. Right now Fred Schneider of the B-52s could hit SWR. OK, maybe not him, but Andrés Giménez can and Valenzuela can (his first MLB homer). The shame of Arkansas City, Gray, makes an error on an easy grounder and George Springer reaches second; then, inexplicably, Springer is caught stealing at third for the last out. SHEESH. Blue Jays 5-4

5: Big (6’6”, 235#) Tommy Nance in to pitch for the Jays. He made his debut in 2021 at age 30 for the ChiSox, bounced around from team to team, and had a great year last season for Toronto. He leaves with two outs for lefty Joe Mantiply to face Wallner and Wallner to cast a wistful gaze at Strike Three going over the plate.

Anthony Banda is a lefthander for the Twins; he had two good seasons for the Dodgers in 2024-2025. Apparently the Dodgers knew what they were doing in letting him go as he promptly gives up a leadoff homer to Varsho. Big Canada 6-4

6: Lee, Gray, Buxton. ꓘ, ꓘ, K. Th last one courtesy of old buddy Louis Varland. SIGH.

The Blue Jays against Banda? ꓘ, ꓘ, K, right? Um, no. Walk, double, bunt, out, double, I don’t need to name their names. Anthony Banda will see them in his NIGHTMARES. Land o’ poutine 8-4

7: The Twins have a runner on in Keaschall but Uncle Lincoln in the comments wills the rally dead.

Old friend Taylor Rogers gives up the leadoff single to Mini Vlad, he steals, and scores on a two-out single by Schneider, but to heck with that. I’ve identified why the Blue Jays are kicking the Twins’ butts.

Yeah they hired the Grand Master in December. Granted, Sweet Drew hadn’t helped the ChiSox much as a catching coach, but when you think of Butera, what you think of is RAW POWER and that’s what he’s bringing Toronto tonight. Now you know. Les Geais bleux or whatever it is 9-4

8: Another HBP Twin, Jeffers. Do you think he scores? He does not. Do you think Justin Topa is a good relief pitcher? He is not. Guerrero now 3-5 on a 115.7-hit RBI double. There is a town in south Ontario 10-4

9: Radio is talking about how Canada served them cream of wild mushroom soup. Kris Atteberry has probably never seen a mushroom that didn’t come from a stubby little can. The announced crowd on 40,721 are happy. Are you happy? I hope you are happy. Unless you’re a sack of s**t, in which case I hope you are sad. Twins (Kyle) lohse

Studs: Jeffers, 3-3 with a dinger. Lee, 1-3 with a dinger. Martin was 2-3 but the entire outfield was taking routes tonight like they’d been huffing glue. Duds: every Twins pitcher.

COTG got to Nagurskiinnortheast for asking “Where’s Don Zimmer when you need him?!?!” after a second Twins HBP and gintzer responding “Losing in a fight against Pedro Martinez.” Thanks to everybody for joining in; sorry this one became such a bummer so fast.

Tomorrow’s game is at 2:07 Central, featuring Eric Lauer against Joe Ryan. Catch ya next time!

On a night 21° colder than Thursday, everyone on the field was playing like it was 21°, period, as it didn’t even take two hours for Kansas City pitching to utterly eviscerate and embarrass their visitors’ offensive attack.

Kansas City starter Kris Bubic and White Sox counterpart threw pitches like they had to pay per toss, burning through the first two-thirds of the game. Bubic rang up five Ks (yep, shocking) in his first run through the order, piling up his sixth of 10 batters with a second punch-out of Chase Meidroth and seventh of 12 batters treating Munetaka Murakami likewise. By the end of the fourth, the southpaw had held the Pale Hose hitless and added insult with a nine-pitch frame.

But ascending ace Martin matched Bubic through three, ending that stanza on just five pitches. That effort was aided by a tidy toss-out of Isaac Collins by Tanner Murray, as Collins got greedy on a bloop to left he deigned a double. The effort ended in d’oh, and Martin put his windbreaker on in the dugout at just 32 pitches.

But Davis got rocked and socked a bit to start the fourth, as just four pitches in the Royals broke ahead on two sharp hits: Makiel García singled to right and Bobby Witt Jr. doubled deep to left.

Bobby Baseball now has a 23-game hit streak against the White Sox.

But even through the trauma of a broken tie, Martin was ruthlessly efficient, dispatching the R’s on 12 pitches and leaving Jr. stranded on third.

And almost as efficiently, the White Sox came back in the top of the fifth, as Lenyn Sosa cancelled the postgame show with a double of his own deep to left — just the second Sox baserunner, nearly halfway through the game. And two weak pops and a three-pitch K later, Sosa was left lonely in scoring position. The K, from Tanner Murray, was his second of the game, making it eight Ks of 15 outs and just 64 pitches for Bubic, cruising through the easiest first five frames he’s ever tossed.

Jac Caglianone smashed a drive 110.3 mph the other way with one out in the K.C. fifth, but that double died on the vine. Overall it was an 11-pitch, 11-strike frame for Martin, as he left Caglianone stranded just as sad as Sosa: A K and sharp ground out to first rendered the Royals hitless in their last 28 with RISP, stretching back to Monday.

After Derek Hill led off the sixth with a two-strike single to right, Meidroth gave Bubic a tie for his all-time single-game K mark, bowing for the third time to give tricky Kris nine for the night. Mune surrendered one out later for his third of the night and a record 10 for Bubic. The City Connects-bedazzled starter was sitting at 80 pitches through six.

While the bats were stiff, at least the leather was supple for the Sox. Martin cruised through the Royals sixth thanks to a smart pursuit of a Witt pop out to the no-man’s land in short center; as Luisangel Acuña struggle to find the ball in the dull heartland twilight, Meidroth kept on the pursuit for an easy elimination. And to end the inning, Vinny Pasquantino set a soft liner out to right, which Hill spread out and into for the diving catch. Martin surpassed Bubic in every way but the score on the board, tossing 50 strikes on 68 pitches, for a nifty 74% success rate.

Bubic’s 11th K got the game into the seventh-inning stretch, ending an eight-pitch frame for the southpaw, as the White Sox apparently had gotten the memo to push the lefty onto a future Hall of Fame ballot.

And as if adding insult to ineptitude, Carter Jensen stepped up with one out in the bottom of the seventh and crushed a first-pitch cutter in for a 425-foot homer to right, doubling K.C.’s lead. At 113.7 mph, it would stand as the hardest-hit ball of the night.

Michael Massey followed with a hustle double to center, and suddenly Martin slipped from catbird seat onto the ropes, with a wild pitch pushing Massey to third. The WP was yet another pitch that could have been knocked down by Edgar Quero behind the plate, but instead bounced high and deflected into the White Sox dugout. Martin escaped — but at just 82 dominant pitches, he would exit the game and wear the horns as tonight’s hard-luck loser.

After another “make quick work of the White Sox” half-inning (is that their rallying cry on the T-shirts under their jerseys this year, or what?), Duncan Davitt made his major league debut. In a desperate attempt to prevent Davitt’s first face-off ending in a walk, Quero challenged ball four, 2.7´´up and out of the zone:

But all’s well that ends, as a double play and fly out let Davitt finish his first frame clean.

Chicago’s last gasps went quickly, and mercifully. Meidroth escaped a golden sombrero by flying out to left, but not before getting victimized for the second time of the game by catcher Salvador Pérez challenging a called ball into a strike. A tap back to the mound and line out to center ended the proceedings.

The White Sox ended the game with two batters in the lineup hitting better than .200. Chill out, dear reader, the clubbers of this inept bunch are Meidroth at .224 and Hill at .214. Let’s hope the clubhouse staff can apply some elbow grease in scrubbing the stink from all nine of these pretenders out of this game.

The Yankees didn't have enough juice on Friday night at Tropicana Field, falling to the Rays, 5-3.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Aaron Judge got the Yankees going in the first inning with a single and a stolen base, advancing to third base on a throwing error by the catcher. The MVP scored on Cody Bellinger's sacrifice fly to make it a 1-0 game. Giancarlo Stanton walked and Amed Rosario came through with his first triple since 2024 as LF Chandler Simpson mistimed a sliding catch and the ball rolled to the wall, giving the Yanks a 2-0 lead.

-- Making his season debut, Lui Gil found himself in trouble right away. The 27-year-old recorded two quick outs before walking Jonathan Aranda and giving up a two-run home run to Yandy Díaz as the Rays tied it up at 2-2.

In the second inning, Gil hit Taylor Walls and then let up a single to Nick Fortes, setting up a first-and-third situation with just one out. Simpson hit a double play ball to Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second, but used his league-best speed to beat the throw to first, allowing the run to score for the Rays to take a 3-2 lead.

Gil bounced back for a 1-2-3 third inning and avoided further damage in the fourth inning by getting a tag down on Ben Williamson, trying to score on the safety squeeze. His day ended after 4.0 IP, allowing three runs on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks.

-- After Jake Bird tossed a scoreless fifth inning, Brent Headrick had a tough sixth inning. He let up a leadoff double to Williamson and an RBI single to Simpson as the Rays pushed the lead to 4-2. Camilo Doval then came in and let up a single to Junior Caminero and an RBI groundout to Aranda, making it a 5-2 game.

-- Ben Rice blasted a pinch-hit solo home run in the top of the eighth inning, cutting the Tampa Bay lead to 5-3. 

New York couldn't keep up the momentum as Judge grounded out and Bellinger struck out to end the frame. They tried to rally in the ninth with two straight singles, but a forceout, a Randall Grichuk strikeout, and Trent Grisham popout ended the game.

Highlights

An RBI triple for Amed Rosario 🏃‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/4QJgORWCDx

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 10, 2026

Ben Rice gets a run back for the Yankees within a home run! pic.twitter.com/nT6PQXspcz

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 11, 2026

Upcoming Schedule

The Yankees continue their three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday at 6:10 p.m.

Max Fried (2-0, 1.35 ERA) gets the start against righty Nick Martinez (0-0, 2.25 ERA).

Been a while since we had a fun one, but the vibes may have turned. Patrick Corbin does not look like the answer to their rotation problems, but just about everyone else did their job. The offence was undaunted by a four run hole, racking up nine extra base hits (14 total) against just four strikeouts. The bullpen looked like they benefited greatly from a day’s rest, combining for five innings of one hit relief while picking up nine punch outs.

It was a rough welcome back to the show for Patrick Corbin. He got Byron Buxton to pop out to open the game, but then Austim Martin and Luke Keaschall singled to set the table for Ryan Jeffers’ first home run of the year to stake Minnesota to an early 3-0 lead. Things did improve a bit from there for Corbin. He walked the next batter but got a strikeout to end the inning. He hit Brooks Lee in the second, but limited the damage there. In the third, he managed to strand a single and another hit batter. Brooks Lee chipped in the Twins’ fourth run on a solo shot to lead off the fourth, and Austin Martin would double later in the inning, but Corbin also got a pair of strikeouts and held it to 4-0. Four innings was all he’d manage. A 9.00 ERA is bad, no way to spin it, but they needed a guy to take the ball and he managed that. If you want to hunt for a source of optimism, his 9 swinging strikes on 85 pitches suggest his breaking balls can still miss some MLB bats.

Meanwhile, the Jays took three innings to get used to Simeon Woods Richardson, failing to score a Daulton Varsho one out double in the first and going in order in the second. A George Springer walk in the third was also left on. Finally, in the fourth, the floodgates opened. Vlad ripped a double to centre, Jesus Sanchez followed with one of his own to put Toronto on the board, one out later Davis Schneider chipped in the third double of the inning to plate Sanchez, and an Andres Gimenez ground single brought them within one. Brandon Valenzuela launched his first big league home run, a line shot 383 feet to right, to put them ahead 5-4.

Tommy Nance faced the first three batters in the fifth, getting a strikeout and a ground out but allowing a ground ball single. Joe Mantiply cleaned up by coming on to strike out Matt Wallner. The Jays continued to score in the bottom half against reliever Anthony Banda. Daulton Varsho his his first homer of the year, 405 feet to right-centre.

Mantiply struck out the first two Twins in the sixth, while Louis Varland got his man to finish striking out the side. Schneider worked a walk off Banda, then scored on an Ernie Clement line double, extending the Jays’ lead to three. Two batters later, Springer’s fourth double cashed Clement to make it four.

Varland walked Austin Martin in the seventh, but a ground out and a double play ball retired the Twins. For the Jays, Vlad singled, stole second, and scored on a Schneider single.

They kept rolling in the eighth. Braydon Fisher hit lead off man Jeffers, but a ground out and a pair of K’s retired Minnesota without them scoring. Brandon Valenzuela picked up his second hit on an infield single off new reliever Justin Topa, and two outs later Vlad crushed a 116mph ball over Austin Martin’s head and off the left field wall to cash Valenzuela and put the Jays in double digits.

Fisher stayed in to handle the ninth, getting a ground out and his third and fourth Ks to wrap it up.

Jays of the Day: Team effort today. Valenzuela (0.23) and Schneider (0.12) have the number, but two hits including a homer and three hits (two doubles) and a stolen base earn Varsho and Guerrero nods

Not So Much: Corbin (-0.23)

It’s an afternoon game tomorrow, first pitch at 3:07pm ET. Ace Joe Ryan (1-1, 4.40) will go for the Twins, while the Blue Jays will turn to Eric Lauer (1-1, 4.91).