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

The Yankees avoided a sweep by salvaging the finale of their three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-3, on Sunday Night Baseball.

Here are the takeaways...

-New York's offense made Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto work in what ended up being the right-hander's shortest start of the season. In the first inning, Yamamoto needed 28 pitches to get out of the frame while the Yanks managed to score just one run. They left the bases loaded on Austin Wells' groundout.

After another laborious inning in the second that didn't yield any runs, Yamamoto unraveled in the third. Aaron Judge started the inning with a walk which brought Ben Rice up to the plate. On an 0-2 pitch, Rice clobbered his 12th home run of the season to straightaway center that traveled 425 feet and gave New York a 3-1 lead.

Back-to-back one-out singles by Anthony Volpe and Wells put runners at the corners and a wild pitch by Yamamoto allowed Volpe to dash home for the third run of the inning.

-Yamamoto's night was done after 3.2 innings and 96 pitches. He allowed four earned runs on seven hits and three walks and only struck out two, a season-low. His ERA went from 1.97 to 2.39.

-Opposite Yamamoto was Ryan Yarbrough who, unlike his counterpart, pitched great. Yarbrough carved up Los Angeles' lineup over six innings, only allowing a run on four hits. He also struck out five.

The run Yarbrough gave up came in the second inning and tied the game. Tommy Edman took the lefty deep on a 2-1 changeup that would've given the Dodgers the lead had Andy Pages not been caught trying to steal third base following a double. After the home run, Yarbrough set down nine in a row before Max Muncy's single in the fifth.

Yarbrough ended his night by striking out Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman as part of a 1-2-3 inning. The outing was Yarbrough's fifth straight start of allowing two earned runs or fewer in what has been a great move by the Yanks putting the 33-year-old in the starting rotation. He now has a 2.83 ERA to go along with a 0.99 WHIP.

-With Yamamoto out of the game, New York's offense didn't stop and went to work against the Dodgers' bullpen, particularly Anthony Banda and Lou Trivino in the fifth. After Banda walked two in the inning, Trivino entered and gave up a run-scoring single to DJ LeMahieu which made it 5-1. Oswald Peraza followed with an RBI single of his own.

LeMahieu added an RBI double in the ninth, his first double of the season, and finished 4-for-5. He was the only Yankee to have multiple hits.

-The Yankees had traffic on the bases all night after producing 11 hits and seven walks while getting plunked twice. They also stole three bases and finished 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

-Jonathan Loáisiga was the first man on in relief and allowed Los Angeles to inch closer after home runs by Muncy and Pages in the seventh made it 6-3. But other than the Dodgers' three solo homers, their offense was held in check as their top four hitters went 0-for-16 with five strikeouts.

-New York pitchers struck out 10 and walked none in what was a relatively clean game. Devin Williams and Tim Hill each pitched a scoreless inning to end the game.

-After going 1-for-2 at the dish with a walk, RBI, run scored and stolen base, Jasson Dominguez was pinch-hit for in the sixth inning. It was announced he left the game with a left thumb contusion.

Game MVP: Ryan Yarbrough

In need of a win to salvage the series finale and avoid being swept, Yarbrough delivered like he has since making the transition to starter this season.

Highlights

Jasson Domínguez brings home Trent Grisham with the first run! pic.twitter.com/QIP5ffbdSV

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 1, 2025

BEN RICE HOMERS TO DEAD CENTER 🍚 pic.twitter.com/xcTCOEOVLW

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 1, 2025

A wild pitch from Yoshinobu Yamamoto brings home another run for the Yankees! pic.twitter.com/Fy9kfoQmfo

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 2, 2025

DJ LeMahieu brings home another run for the Yankees! 🤖 pic.twitter.com/51Sbl7WusY

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 2, 2025

Oswald Peraza makes it 6-1! pic.twitter.com/8F1gGPPCzA

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 2, 2025

RYAN YARBROUGH 💪 pic.twitter.com/brxNagN0Pd

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 2, 2025

A four-hit, two-RBI game for DJ LeMahieu 🔥 pic.twitter.com/eBPwGaK4Rb

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 2, 2025

What's next

The Yankees have an off day on Monday to return home before starting back up on Tuesday night against the Cleveland Guardians for a three-game series. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

LHP Carlos Rodón (7-3, 2.60 ERA) faces off against RHP Tanner Bibee (4-5, 3.86 ERA).

Dave Roberts downplayed the easy narrative on Sunday afternoon.

“No,” he said when asked if his Dodgers had the New York Yankees’ proverbial number, having followed up their defeat of the Bronx Bombers in last year’s World Series with two impressive wins to start this weekend’s rematch at Dodger Stadium.

“I think we’ve had their number the last two nights,” Roberts said, “but today’s a different day.”

Was it ever.

Twenty-four hours after a total annihilation of the Yankees in a 16-run rout on Saturday, the Dodgers suffered the kind of setback that has so often plagued them this season, squandering the chance to build further momentum in a 7-3 loss that prevented a series sweep.

Read more:Hernández: How Japan media track down Ohtani's home-run balls

For as complete a performance as the Dodgers (36-23) put together Saturday, they looked equally out of sorts in a "Sunday Night Baseball" finale, getting a rare bad start from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, mistakes on defense and basepaths that cost them early runs, and virtually nothing from a lineup that looked largely discombobulated against funky left-hander (and former Dodgers swingman) Ryan Yarbrough.

They might have come out of the weekend with a marquee series win, continuing to nurse a narrow lead in the National League West standings.

But, they invited more scrutiny over their inconsistent start to the season with a finale flop, dropping to 13-13 over their last 26 games.

“You got to focus on the positives,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “We just took two of three from a really, really good team. We're obviously upset that we didn't get this one. But we played two really good games. … Just [today] the result wasn't there."

Yamamoto had been the one constant in the Dodgers’ injury-plagued rotation. His 1.97 earned-run average was second in the NL. His 64 innings not only led the team, but were almost twice as many as anyone else besides Dustin May.

Yamamoto also had an impressive personal track record against the Yankees (36-22), shutting them out over seven innings in New York last June before delivering 6 ⅓ innings of one-run ball in Game 2 of the World Series.

On Sunday, however, he couldn’t consistently find the strike zone or execute his trademark splitter. And after scoring just two runs in their previous 15 innings in this series, the Yankees finally came to life at the plate.

“I was not being able to control my pitches,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “During the game, I was trying to make an adjustment, but … I could not get it back, my stuff.”

In the first, Trent Grisham singled and Ben Rice walked before Jasson Domínguez dumped a line drive into left, driving in a run when Andy Pages airmailed his throw to home plate.

In the third, a leadoff walk to Judge was followed by a two-run homer to Rice — Yamamoto missing badly with two splitters in the first at-bat before leaving one hanging in the next.

Later in the inning, the Yankees scored again after Yamamoto gave up two singles and spiked a splitter for a run-scoring wild pitch.

And with two outs in the fourth, Roberts pulled Yamamoto, his pitch count having ballooned to 96 on a day he gave up a season-high in hits (seven) and walked three others. It was the first time this year that Yamamoto, whose ERA rose to 2.39, had failed to complete the fifth.

“He wasn’t great today, wasn’t sharp with any of his pitches,” Roberts said. “Really uncharacteristic.”

The Dodgers faltered in other ways, as well.

After his first-inning throwing error, Pages made a mistake on the bases in the second. Following a one-out double, he was thrown out on an over-aggressive steal of third. That meant that when Tommy Edman homered moments later — his first long ball in 17 games, breaking him out of a recent funk at the plate — it was only a solo blast, temporarily tying the score before the Yankees answered in the next half-inning.

There would be no counterpunch from Dodgers’ offense, which was missing Mookie Betts for a third-straight game because of a toe fracture (Betts said before the game his toe was starting to feel better, and went through pregame activities in hopes of avoiding a stint on the injured list).

Read more:Dodgers remind baseball world how good they can be in blowout win over Yankees

Instead, Yarbrough cruised against the team that dealt him away at last year’s trade deadline.

Even though he never hit 90 mph with his fastball, he induced a string of soft contact while striking out five in a six-inning start. Yarbrough was especially effective against the top of the Dodgers' order, which went a combined 0 for 16.

“It’s funky,” catcher Will Smith, who was batting cleanup, said of Yarbrough’s unorthodox delivery. “We gave them a little momentum. They jumped on us early [with] some long innings. So he did a good job attacking us and keeping us off balance.”

The Dodgers did show some life after Yarbrough’s exit, with Pages and Muncy each taking reliever Jonathan Loáisiga deep within the space of three at-bats.

But by then, it was much too little, much too late — resulting in the Dodgers’ second straight series in which they failed to complete a sweep, and yet another momentum-halting loss in a season plagued by a few too many of them.

“I think for us, the takeaway is we won a series and that was the goal coming in,” Roberts said. “I think at the end of the day, you keep winning series and things will take care of themselves.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

First baseman Dom Smith is now a free agent after exercising his out clause with the Yankees after spending two months playing for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Smith spent spring training with New York after the team signed him to a minor-league deal with an invite to major league camp.

With Giancarlo Stanton out to begin the season, Smith was hoping to make the roster as possibly a DH in Stanton's absence or a backup first baseman. The 29-year-old had a strong spring, too, hitting .297 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 37 at-bats, but he was ultimately released.

A week later, he signed with the Yanks once again and was assigned to Triple-A.

After a rough April, Smith turned it on in May and slashed .317/.389/.622 with seven home runs and 22 RBI. He's now hoping to turn that hot month into a major league contract somewhere else.

A former Met for six seasons, Smith last played in the majors in 2024, splitting time between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds.

The lefty-swinging first baseman is a career .246 hitter and has 64 home runs across 693 games.

When the Mets signed Clay Holmes to a three-year, $38 million deal in the offseason, it wasn't a foregone conclusion that the right-hander would be a part of New York's starting rotation.

Sure, that was president of baseball operations David Stearns' plan, but the tall task was a daunting one as the 32-year-old had spent the majority of his seven-year career as a relief pitcher, save for four starts he made his rookie year with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018.

Now, it's hard to imagine Holmes not in the Mets' rotation as he owns a 3.07 ERA (1.16 WHIP) through 12 starts and 67.1 innings so far this season -- a testament to New York's coaching staff and organization as a whole.

Holmes' latest start on Sunday against the Colorado Rockies was a milestone for the right-hander as he went seven innings for the first time in his career. He allowed three earned runs after giving up two home runs aided by the wind, but the offense, led by the Mets' big three, did just enough to give him his sixth win of the season.

"I thought he was really, really good," manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. "I thought the life on all of his pitches, especially the four-seam, the two-seam -- other than the two pitches that they hit for homers -- the slider, the changeup. And I thought he elevated the four-seam effectively. The whole time I'm watching him and just with the way the ball was coming out, it had life and he was really good."

After just 85 pitches thrown over those seven innings, Holmes probably had enough left in the tank to go even deeper, but the Mets weren't about to push their starter even more than they already had and have this season.

Nevertheless, the outing was another great one for Holmes who has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 10 of 12 starts this season.

"I feel like I'm in a good rhythm right now, in a good routine, recovering well," Holmes said. "... For me to go out there and give some length, it feels good."

Before Sunday's start, four out of his last five starts Holmes had gone six innings. Compare that to pitching 5.1 innings or less in five of his first six starts and the writing was on the wall for a game like this out of the former reliever.

And despite only recording three strikeouts on the day, Holmes, known more as a ground ball specialist, was a groundout machine against Colorado, totaling 10 outs on the ground.

Weak contact on the ground early in counts and letting the defense behind him make plays was part of the reason he was able to go deeper than he has all season.

"It was really good to see that and I felt like in that seventh inning he was still touching 94 (mph), kept getting ground balls and that’s his calling card," Mendoza said. "... I thought he was in pretty good shape throughout the outing, those middle innings, I thought overall he was in complete control."

Fully entrenched as a starter now, what will be interesting for Holmes is how the Mets deploy him for the rest of the season as he's just 2.2 innings away from matching his career-high in innings pitched (70 innings in 2021).

What will help is the calvary that is on its way, starting with Paul Blackburn on Monday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea not far behind.

Regardless, Holmes deserves a lot of credit for even putting New York in this position, stepping up in a big way for a team that had a lot of question marks on the pitching side entering the season.

It took 59 games, but for the first time this season since joining forces, Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso all went yard as the Metsbeat the Colorado Rockies, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon to complete the series sweep and cap off a 7-2 homestand.

New York is now 15 games above .500 at 37-22 which is the most games they've been above .500 this season. What's most impressive about that is it did it, for the most part, without its big three all clicking at the same time.

But over the weekend against the Rockies who are on pace to be historically bad this season, the trio turned it on.

"That’s probably the first time if I’m not mistaken," manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game about Lindor, Soto and Alonso all homering in the same game. "There’s three really good hitters at the top and it’s fun to see them going deep in the same game. That’s what we envisioned. When you got those three at the top, it’s pretty special. We saw it today and hopefully they’ll get going here."

Alonso started the home run train with his three-run blast in the fourth inning that gave the Mets a 3-1 lead. The first baseman had a hit in all three games of the series and after a career-long power outage ended at the start of the homestand, he's now hit three home runs in his last seven games to give him 12 on the season.

After Colorado tied the game against Clay Holmes in the next half-inning thanks to a wind-aided two-run homer, Lindor wasted no time to retake the lead with a long ball of his own. Like Alonso's, the shortstop's homer was a no-doubter and capped a memorable series and homestand for the 31-year-old.

Suddenly raging hot, Lindor went 6-for-11 against the Rockies, including two walks and three home runs. He now leads the team with 13 dingers and has his OPS back to .845 on the season.

"You try to go out there and play your best and when Francisco is going, obviously, at the top it makes everyone else’s job easier, whether he’s getting on base or driving the ball the way he’s doing it," Mendoza said. "And you see it, every time he goes deep it’s usually with runners on base (or) to take the lead. He’s pretty clutch. Great player here and you gotta embrace it and enjoy it."

Then there was Soto who did not have a hit until the eighth inning, although he was hit by a pitch and walked in his two prior at-bats. Still holding on to a one-run lead from Lindor's home run back in the fifth after Colorado's bullpen pitched well, Soto cracked a solo shot on a 3-2 pitch that had just enough legs to get out and give the Mets an insurance run for Edwin Diaz in the ninth.

The home run was Soto's second in as many days after the right-fielder went back-to-back with Brandon Nimmo on Saturday which ended a homer-less streak of his own.

Not having played his best in his first season in Queens so far and owning a career-low .224 batting average before the weekend series, the 26-year-old finally perked up at the end of the homestand and is now 4-for-his-last-9 with two home runs and a double.

"Coming through for the team is always great so I’m really happy with that," Soto said. "I’ve felt good since Day 1, the results just haven’t been there. So for me, finally I’m getting some balls landing, finding some holes and some gaps. We just gotta keep working on it."

New York will now leave home where it is an MLB-best 24-7 this year to embark on a seven-game West Coast road trip, starting with four games against the Los Angeles Dodgers whom the Mets took two out of three at the beginning of their homestand.

The Mets have not had the same success on the road and are 13-15 away from Citi Field. They'll look to turn those road misfortunes around starting on Monday night. Hopefully their big three are all still clicking when they arrive to Los Angeles.

"Obviously their talent jumps off the page and for us, we just need to stay in our area, stay locked in and really play our game," Alonso said about the Dodgers. "That’s really it."

"We gotta keep going, we got a long ways to go," Mendoza added. "The mentality is one series at a time, one day at a time."

The Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field, winning Sunday afternoon's affair by a score of 5-3.

Here are the key takeaways...

-Have a series, Francisco Lindor. The Mets shortstop homered for the third time of the three-game series in the bottom of the fifth inning, a solo shot to left that put the Mets up 4-3 after the Rockies had just fought back to tie the game.

Lindor ended up with six hits and three RBI in the series, and the Mets have now won each of the last 26 games in which Lindor has homered.

-Don't look now, but Juan Soto is starting to find his power stroke. After homering on Saturday, Soto went yard again, this time lifting a solo shot to give the Mets a late insurance run. Soto now has 10 home runs on the season, with his OPS now at .792.

-Clay Holmes has been terrific for the Mets over the first two months of the season, and he was mostly excellent again on Sunday afternoon. Holmes was plagued by a pair of long balls, as Orlando Arcia hit a solo shot in the third inning (just out of the reach of a leaping Tyrone Taylor) and Tyler Freeman hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifth, but he was otherwise excellent.

Holmes pitched 7.0 innings for the first time in his career, allowing just three earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Holmes has now allowed three runs or fewer in 10 of his 12 starts.

-On the other side, Colorado starter Carson Palmquist was dealing early, striking out six Mets over his first 3.0 scoreless innings of work. But the Mets got to him in the fourth, putting two runners on before Pete Alonso provided the power, launching his 12^th home run of the season to right field to give the Mets a 3-1 lead.

Palmquist went 4.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on four hits, striking out eight while walking two and allowing a pair of homers.

-Edwin Diaz snapped a streak of hitters going 0-for-their-last-30 against him, but the closer struck out three hitters in a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the save.

-A day after exiting the game with a calf cramp,Brandon Nimmo was not in Sunday’s starting lineup, with manager Carlos Mendoza saying the club wants to be overly cautious due to the trickiness of the calf.

-Starling Marte made his third appearance of the season in left field, scoring a run on Alonso's homer, and Nimmo would eventually come into the game as a defensive replacement, a sign that all is good with the outfielder.

Who was the game MVP?

While the stars (Alonso, Lindor, and Soto) provided the pop, Holmes gets the nod for his first-career 7.0-inning performance.

Highlights

PETE ALONSO GIVES THE METS THE LEAD WITH A THREE-RUN SHOT! pic.twitter.com/gvnHqkQY6n

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 1, 2025

Francisco Lindor puts the Mets back in front with his 13th home run of the year! 💪 pic.twitter.com/yr3KieWYOL

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 1, 2025

HOME RUN JUAN SOTO! pic.twitter.com/iz2I4a2Zdq

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 1, 2025

Upcoming schedule

The Mets have a four-game 2024 NLCS rematch with the Los Angeles Dodgers up next, beginning on Monday night at 10:10 p.m. on SNY.

Paul Blackburn, who has been rehabbing from a knee injury, will make his first start of the season, while the Dodgers haven’t announced a starter.

Carlos Carrasco is back in the big leagues.

According to Jack Curry of the YES Network, the Yankees are promoting the veteran right-hander, who will join the team in Los Angeles ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Dodgers.

With the Yankees using six relievers in Saturday’s 18-2 blowout loss to the Dodgers, Carrasco gives them a fresh arm who can deliver multiple innings, if needed, behind Sunday’s starter Ryan Yarbrough.

Signed to a minor league deal in February, Carrasco ended up having a role in the starting rotation due to key injuries to starters like Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil.

In eight games (six starts), Carrasco pitched to a 5.91 ERA with a 1.531 WHIP. Carrasco was designated for assignment in early May, but elected to accept an outright assignment to Triple-A, rather than become a free agent.

A corresponding move has not yet been announced.

The Mets go for a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies on Sunday, with first pitch on SNY set for 1:40 p.m. from Citi Field.

Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...

---

Mets Notes

• Brett Batyis slashing .318/.400/.455 with five RBI and five runs scored over his last seven games
• Edwin Diazhas allowed just one earned run since his appearance on April 11 -- a span of 17.2 innings over 17 games
• Clay Holmes, in his fist season as a full-time starter, has a 2.98 ERA and has allowed three earned runs or fewer in nine of his 11 starts

---

---

What channel is SNY?

Check your TV or streaming provider's website or channel finder to find your local listings.

How can I stream the game?

The new way to stream SNY games is via the MLB App or MLB.tv. Streaming on the SNY App has been discontinued.

In order to stream games in SNY’s regional territory, you will need to have SNY as part of your TV package (cable or streaming), or you can now purchase an in-market SNY subscription package. Both ways will allow fans to watch the Mets on their computer, tablet or mobile phone. 

How can I watch the game on my computer via MLB? 

To get started on your computer, click here and then follow these steps: 

• Log in using your provider credentials. If you are unsure of your provider credentials, please contact your provider. 

• Link your provider credentials with a new or existing MLB.com account. 

• Log in using your MLB.com credentials to watch Mets games on SNY. 

• Select the SNY Mets game you wish to view from the Multimedia Center. 

How can I watch the game on the MLB App? 

MLB App access is included for FREE with SNY. To access SNY on your favorite supported Apple or Android mobile device, please follow the steps below.  

• Download the free MLB App.

• Open “MLB” and tap on “Subscriber Login” for Apple Devices or “Sign in with MLB.com” for Android Devices. 

• Type in your MLB.com credentials and tap “Log In.”  

• To access live or on-demand content, tap on the "Watch" tab from the bottom navigation bar. Select the "Games" sub-tab to see a listing of available games. You can scroll to previous dates using the left and right arrows. Tap on a game to select from the game feeds available.  

For more information on how to stream Mets games on SNY, please click here.