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

Mayer's eventful debut weekend includes first MLB hit, lost car keys originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Marcelo Mayer has had quite the 48 hours.

It all started Saturday afternoon, when the Boston Red Sox promoted the talented infield prospect from Triple-A Worcester to the big leagues. Both Worcester and Boston were playing doubleheaders that day, and between games, WooSox manager Chad Tracy called Mayer into his office to deliver the good news.

Marcelo gets the call: pic.twitter.com/jVZDqRxKjP

— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 24, 2025

“(Tracy) said something along the lines of, ‘You’re not playing. You’ll play the second game, but not here. You’ll be playing in Fenway,’” Mayer told reporters of the moment, via The Boston Globe. “I just got the craziest rush through my whole body.”

Mayer — the No. 2 prospect in the organization behind teammate Roman Anthony and the No. 8 prospect in all of baseball, per MLB Pipeline — was thrilled to get the big-league call. But he also needed to get from Worcester to Boston ASAP — and he couldn’t find his car keys.

“I lost them about three weeks ago and never cared to look for them until I needed to,” Mayer admitted to reporters at Fenway later Saturday, via MLB.com.

So, the WooSox deployed a clubhouse attendant to drive Mayer down I-90 and deliver him to Fenway in time for Game 2 of the Red Sox’ doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles. The 22-year-old arrived just before 5 p.m. ET and started the 6:35 p.m. game at third base, receiving a standing ovation from the home crowd ahead of his first major league at-bat.

Marcelo Mayer received a standing ovation from the Fenway fans 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/MW0zn5EdvK

— NESN (@NESN) May 24, 2025

Mayer struggled at the plate in his first MLB game, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and a fielder’s choice. But he finally broke through on Sunday, collecting his first big-league hit in the series finale vs. Baltimore with a second-inning single.

Save that ball!

Marcelo's first big league hit. 👏 pic.twitter.com/120BnfOy0f

— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 25, 2025

Mayer didn’t stop there, lacing a double to the right-center gap in the ninth inning to finish 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Marcelo Mayer’s first double of his career.

Just such a smooth and effortless swing. pic.twitter.com/ImtqzgViXB

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) May 25, 2025

Mayer played primarily shortstop in the minors but is expected to man third base for now with Alex Bregman on the injured list due to a strained quad and Trevor Story playing short. Mayer also took reps at second base in Worcester, so he could bump to the right side of the infield when Bregman returns, or perhaps take over at shortstop for Story, who is hitting .156 with 27 strikeouts in May.

Whatever position Mayer plays, the Red Sox and their fans hope the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft can provide their team a jolt as they enter a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers with a 27-28 record.

“It’s awesome to play for a city like this that cares so much about their team and is so passionate about the Red Sox and the Red Sox winning,” Mayer said Saturday, via The Globe. “It holds everybody to a higher level of play. It’s something that I’m looking forward to.”

Check out NBC Sports Boston’s full conversation with Mayer on Friday in Worcester about switching positions, his mindset prior to promotion and more:

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza spoke following Sunday night's win over the Los Angeles Dodgers...

Vientos' defensive struggles

Mark Vientos has had a bit of a rough time defensively this season.

The youngster showed signs of improvements last season, but he's taken a drastic step back this year.

He's been losing out on playing time to Brett Baty of late, but was back in there for Sunday's series finale.

Unfortunately, things didn't quite go as planned.

Vientos booted a Mookie Betts ground ball in the top of the first, allowing the speedster the reach on an infield knock.

Luckily, it didn't come back to bite the Mets as Tyrone Taylor gunned down Betts trying to score later in the inning on a potential Will Smith sac fly.

Still, this is an ugly trend for him as he has now committed a team-high seven errors on the season.

"He's going through it defensively right now," the skipper said. "Especially on those slow rollers, as of late I feel like three or four of them where he gets on the change or he's having a hard time securing the baseball -- it happens, he's continuing to work.

"He was out there today on that particular play. He's got to keep going and he'll get through it."

Vientos was pulled later in the game for defensive purposes -- as Baty slid over to the hot corner and Luisangel Acuña entered the game at second base.

Big Pete's back on the board

It's been a bit of a tough stretch of late for Pete Alonso.

The big man has slowed down drastically after his scorching hot start to the season.

Entering Sunday's contest, Alonso was stuck in a 65 at-bat homerless streak -- the longest of his career.

But with a favorable matchup against Dodgers righty Landon Knack, it didn't take him long to snap that skid.

After Juan Soto busted it down the line to beat out a two-out infield single, Alonso cranked the first pitch he saw from Knack over the left-field fence for a two-run homer.

It was his 10th of the season and ended up being a big one in the 3-1 victory.

"It's rare for Pete to go on a stretch like that without a homer," Mendoza said. "Finally gets a breaking ball first pitch and he was ready to go -- hopefully they come in bunches now. It was good to see him from the first pitch today in the first inning and put early pressure on them."

Kodai Senga quickly found himself on the ropes on Sunday night. 

After Shohei Ohtani crushed the second pitch of the ballgame for a homer, Mookie Betts reached on a Mark Vientos error and Freddie Freeman lined an opposite-field double to put two in scoring position with no outs. 

Will Smith then stepped to the plate looking to add on. 

The sweet-swinging catcher floated a liner to shallow right-center which Tyrone Taylor broke in on at full speed and made the catch before unleashing a perfect throw home to catch the speedy Betts trying to score.

That ended up being a huge play for the Mets in what ended as a 3-1 victory.   

“That’s not an easy play,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s coming from a different angle, but then he has to put himself in a different position quickly to align the hips, the shoulder to make that throw to home plate -- that’s what makes him a special defender. 

“He’s really good out there because of the little things like that. When he’s going pretty much away from the play and he’s got to turn and put his body into position to execute a perfect throw to the plate.” 

This is just the latest of numerous game-changing plays Taylor has made this year. 

The 31-year-old has stepped up tremendously in the everyday centerfielder role since Jose Siri went down with an injury -- currently ranking in the 92nd percentile, according to Baseball Savant, with a stellar 3 Outs Above Average.

Mendoza and the Mets know this is who he is, they certainly aren’t surprised.

“With TT and you’re talking about defense, you’re not surprised,” the skipper said. “This guy that whether it’s the jumps, the routes, the range overall, and then the arm. That’s not an easy play but for him to just turn and execute the throw -- he’s an elite defender.”

And it’s not just defensively where Taylor has provided a spark -- prior to his 0-for-2 showing on Sunday night, the veteran was riding a seven-game hitting streak with two doubles and an .847 OPS over that span. 

Tyrone Taylor throws out Mookie Betts at home!

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/we7LXxRL5L

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 25, 2025

At some point in the months ahead, perhaps that six-game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS last October will be remembered as a coming-of-age moment for the Mets.

That is, they clearly weren’t good enough at the time but off their impressive series win this weekend at Citi Field it appears these Mets have taken important strides in matching up with baseball’s glamour team.

For starters, don’t dismiss the grit they showed, bouncing back from that agonizing 13-inning defeat on Friday night to win the final two games at Citi Field, including Sunday night’s 3-1 win behind Kodai Senga. 

“Why you gotta bring that back up?” Tyrone Taylor said, only half-kiddingly when a reporter asked what it said about his team. “But, yeah, we’re pumped about it.”

If you were looking for him to expound on that answer, well, he didn’t. It’s not Taylor’s style. When he was asked how he pulled off his spectacular throw, with all his momentum going to his left, that nailed Mookie Betts at the plate in the first inning, his reaction was basically, “I thought (Luis) Torrens made a nice tag.”

I point that out because Taylor’s modest description of the play was emblematic of the Mets’ reaction to winning the series from the big, bad Dodgers. 

Nobody was beating their chest, put it that way. As manager Carlos Mendoza said more than once this weekend, “We know we’re good too.”

Fair enough. Still, what’s significant is the way the Mets bounced back, doing it mostly with pitching against one of the most imposing lineups in the game. 

To that end Mendoza said his team did learn a valuable lesson from that NLCS that they apparently took to heart.“We attacked,” the manager said of the way the Mets pitched, holding the Dodgers to a total of three runs in the final two games. “We saw it in the playoffs last year. We gave them free passes and it cost us. 

“We did a better job of attacking this time and we got results.”

On Saturday night David Peterson struck out Shohei Ohtani three times and pitched into the eighth inning in a game when the Mets’ bullpen was exhausted, but if there was a moment that best defined the attack mentality Mendoza referenced, it was the third inning on Sunday night. 

Ohtani had ambushed Senga for a monster home run in the first inning, a moment that had to sting for the Mets’ ace against his fellow countryman. Yet, in the third Senga did indeed attack Ohtani, striking him out on three pitches, a 91-mph cutter, an 83-mph ghost fork, and then a 96-mph fastball above the strike zone that Ohtani chased for the K. 

It was a statement of sorts by Senga that he was up to the task, despite the fact that Mendoza said of him, “he didn’t have his good forkball tonight but he found a way. That tells you how good he is.”

Senga didn’t seem to entirely agree about the ghost fork. He indicated that he believed the Dodgers were going to the plate looking for his forkball, and he had to adjust. 

“That’s very Dodger-like,” he said. “They’re a clever team. They have a bunch of clever hitters.”

At least partly as a result, Senga had to work awfully hard and was constantly in deep counts, throwing 91 pitches to get through five innings, and 101 in 5 1/3 when Mendoza pulled him for Ryne Stanek. 

Four walks and five hits made for a lot of traffic on the bases, but once again he was at his best when pitching out of jams.“He made some huge pitches,” said Mendoza. “That’s who he is.”

That and 3 2/3 near-perfect innings from the bullpen, on a night when Edwin Diaz wasn’t available after pitching Friday and Saturday, locked up the Dodgers’ big bats for the second straight night.

It’s significant because, once again, it was evidence that the Mets aren’t leading MLB in team ERA (2.81) with smoke and mirrors. Just as they did to the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs, two other powerful offenses, their pitching proved to be for real. 

And it was needed because the Mets still can’t seem to get the bats going in a big way. It was a good sign that Pete Alonso broke out of his career-long home run drought with a two-run shot in the first inning, but otherwise it was another quiet night offensively. 

Instead, it came down to the little things, if you will. Taylor’s throw in the first inning may well have changed everything, preventing the Dodgers from taking a 2-0 lead after Ohtani’s home run, an error by Mark Vientos, and a double by Freddie Freeman. 

There was also Juan Soto’s hustle, notable after what happened in Boston last week, as he beat out a hard ground ball after a bobble by Max Muncy with two outs in the bottom of the first, allowing Alonso to get a turn and hit his home run.

There was also a gorgeous double play in the sixth inning that featured Brett Baty, playing second base, handling a tough hop and backhanding a flip perfectly to Francisco Lindor coming full speed across the bag and making the throw. 

Soto even chimed in with a nice running catch at the fence to rob Michael Conforto of an extra-base hit in the seventh inning. 

All of it making a case that these Mets could be a more well-rounded team than the one that lost to the Dodgers last October, especially with a healthy Senga on the mound.

It’s a long way to another postseason matchup with LA, of course, but if this weekend proved anything, it was that Mendoza was right to keep making his point whenever anybody wanted to wax poetic about the Dodgers:

Yes, these Mets are pretty good too.

Two pitches in to Sunday's rubber match between the Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani took Kodai Senga deep for a solo shot that gave the Dodgers an immediate 1-0 lead.

Los Angeles would quickly put runners on second and third with nobody out in what looked like could be Senga's first real bad outing of the season.

Instead, with some help from Tyrone Taylor's fantastic throw from center field, Senga escaped the inning without allowing another run. The leadoff home run ended up being the only run Senga allowed over 5.1 innings -- on a night he didn't quite have his patented ghost fork working, either.

"He made huge pitches because I didn’t think he had the forkball today," manager Carlos Mendoza said after the Mets' 3-1 win. "From the very beginning when you watch that Freddie Freeman at-bat in the first inning, he was fouling pitches off, he was laying off. Then Will Smith laid off one of them too and you could tell that he didn’t have it.

"And then a few 2-0 counts, but I just thought that he kept making pitches. We made some big plays – that play in the first inning that Tyrone Taylor threw to home plate was huge. He kept battling. He used the cutter even though I don’t think he had that pitch either, but he found a way and for him to go back out there for the sixth and get us one out there, it was important. That goes to show you how good he is on a night that he’s not at his best against a lineup like that, he’s able to keep us in the game, make pitches when he needed to and gave us a chance."

Aside from the first inning, Senga still had to deal with traffic on the bases for most of the night. The right-hander allowed five hits and walked four against what he described as a "clever" Dodgers lineup as his command continues to be a bit of problem.

But regardless of the situation, no matter how stressful, Senga was able to work his way out of it. It's something he's beginning to be known for now in his career -- getting out of sticky situations.

"I used my whole repertoire," Senga said through an interpreter. "Used every pitch in all sorts of situations and I was able to get through it."

It wasn't just Senga, though, as Ryne Stanek, Max Kranick and Reed Garrett combined for 3.2 scoreless innings against one of the top offenses in baseball. Kranick, in particular, shined as the right-hander pitched two innings and hasn't been scored upon in his last three appearances (5.1 innings).

Really all weekend New York's pitching dominated the Dodgers. And if the Mets' offense was able to produce just one hit in extra innings on Friday night, they would've swept Los Angeles.

"We attacked," Mendoza said about what his pitchers did well against the Dodgers. "We saw it in the playoffs last year and we gave them free passes and it ended up costing us. We saw it today with Max Kranick, perfect example. Coming in in that situation, attacking hitters, staying on the attack, make them swing the bat and let the defense take care of itself.

"I thought overall, the whole series, I thought we did a better job of attacking those guys and executing pitches when we needed to."

The series win against one of the top teams in the National League came at a great time for New York who was coming off back-to-back series losses against the Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

The Mets improved to 32-21 -- the same record as the Dodgers -- and are now 2.0 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies who lost earlier on Sunday against the Athletics.

"For us to bounce back the way we did and taking the last two, winning a series against a really good team, obviously, it shows a lot about that group -- our ability to bounce back, the grit, the resilience and it was on display the whole weekend there," Mendoza said.

"It was a good series win," Taylor said. "We’re out here trying to win every series and they have a really good team over there so to get this one is huge."

Shohei Ohtani provided the Dodgers some temporary reprieve on Sunday.

Before the game, he faced hitters for the first time since undergoing Tommy John revision surgery in 2023, drawing a large crowd in the visitor’s dugout at Citi Field as he touched 97 mph with his fastball and struck out two batters in five at-bats.

Four and a half hours later, the two-way star dazzled with his bat, as well, belting a second-deck leadoff blast in the first inning against Mets ace and fellow Japanese star Kodai Senga to tie the major league lead with 18 home runs on the season.

“I thought that infused some life into us,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Alas, it wouldn’t last, the Dodgers instead going quiet the rest of the night in a 3-1 rubber-match loss to the New York Mets.

They were doomed by bad defense early, the Mets scoring three early runs with the help of two Dodgers errors. They were frustrated by wasted opportunities at the plate later, hitting into three double plays for a second consecutive game.

It sent the team to a series defeat in the weekend’s rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series. It also dropped them to 3-6 in their last nine games and 9-11 in their last 20.

Really, outside of their 8-0 start to the season, they’ve been little better than a .500 team, going just 24-21 since then (even with another seven-game winning streak mixed in to that stretch).

And while they’re still in first place in the NL West, and trailing only the Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees for the best record in baseball, they aren’t playing like a team anywhere near that distinction.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani throws live batting practice session 19 months after Tommy John surgery

“Tonight was one of those nights that we just gave them extra outs, and they took advantage,” Roberts said.

“It's been pretty frustrating,” echoed third baseman Max Muncy. “Just keep shooting ourselves in the foot.”

There was no bigger self-inflicted wound than the one Muncy suffered in the bottom of the first.

After two strikeouts from Landon Knack to start the inning, Juan Soto hit a sharp grounder to third that Muncy bobbled on a high hop, recovering too late to throw Soto out at first. 

It was Muncy’s eighth error of the season, second-most among MLB third basemen, and first not to come on a throw.

“It's one of those things where I'm just really not good defensively right now,” Muncy said. “Not going to shy away from it, but all I can do is keep showing up every day, working on it, trying to figure things out, trying to get better. That's what I've been doing.”

On Sunday, however, there was nothing Muncy could do.

One pitch later, Pete Alonso whacked a hanging curveball from Knack for a two-run homer. The Mets (32-21) wouldn’t squander the lead the rest of the way.

“We were trying to get it down a little bit, and obviously left it up,” Knack said. “I would say he’s a little more aggressive with runners on, so was able to take advantage of it.”

As Alonso rounded the bases, Muncy stared stoicly into the distance.

“It makes you feel like the game is on your shoulders. That's how I feel, at least,” Muncy said. “It’s a play that needs to be made, and I should have made it. It's just a frustrating one.”

Read more:'It’s reimagining team travel.' Why the Dodgers are using two planes on road trips this year

There were plenty of other moments, however, that left the Dodgers (32-21) shaking their head.

After Ohtani’s leadoff homer, their offense had the chance to add more. Mookie Betts reached on an error. Freddie Freeman moved him to third with a double. When Will Smith followed with a fly ball to center field, it was deep enough for Betts to break for home. At least, that’s how it seemed.

Instead, Mets center fielder Tyrone Taylor delivered a strike to the plate. And after Betts was initially ruled safe on a feet-first slide, a Mets challenge got the call overturned. A chance to build some early breathing room for Knack had disappeared. And despite repeated opportunities to claw back later, the Dodgers failed to scratch anything else across the plate.

In the fourth inning, Freeman hit a leadoff single … only for Smith to promptly ground into a double-play.

Later in the inning, Teoscar Hernández doubled and Muncy walked to put two aboard … only for Andy Pages to hit a deep fly ball that died at the warning track in left.

In the fifth, the Dodgers generated their best chance against Senga … only for the right-hander to induce a two-out grounder from Smith that ended the threat.

In the sixth, Muncy drew a one-out walk … only for Pages to roll into another double play, the 42nd for the Dodgers this season (fifth-most in the majors).

“I think that the tale is we've just got to play clean baseball, have a good offensive approach, because we're going to see some good pitching,” Roberts said, with the Dodgers in the midst of a 29-game stretch against nothing but playoff-contending teams. 

“Case in point is Shohei didn't get a fifth at-bat [tonight], because they made plays and they got a couple double plays and things like that. All that stuff matters. So that stuff, that's really highlighted when you're playing against good ballclubs."

The Mets scored their only other run against Knack — who delivered just the 14th six-inning start of the season for the club — in the third. With one on and one out, Mark Vientos hit a hard grounder up the middle that Betts impressively got to from shortstop. But then Betts misfired on a flip to second base, sailing the ball over teammate Tommy Edman’s head to put runners on the corners. A fielder’s choice from Soto in the next at-bat scored a run.

The 3-1 deficit proved too much for the Dodgers to surmount — ending a day that had begun with so much optimism around Ohtani’s two-way talents with a dud of a performance and frustrating series loss in Queens.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Mets defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 at Citi Field Sunday night to take two of three in the weekend series. 

They got strong starting pitching from Kodai Senga and an early two-run home run from Pete Alonso to spark the win. 

Here are the top takeaways...

-Senga gave up a monster home run to the first batter he faced, fellow countryman Shohei Ohtani, but then shut the door on the Dodgers for 5 1/3 innings before a high pitch count forced him out of the game. 

Senga had to pitch around four walks, in addition to five hits, but held the Dodgers without another run before being relieved in the sixth at 101 pitches. 

Along the way, Senga exacted some revenge on Ohtani, striking him out on three pitches the second time up, getting him swinging at a high fastball for the K. He also got him on a shallow fly ball to CF with a good ghost fork in the fifth. 

As usual, he was at his best with runners on base. Throughout the season, and going back to his 2023 season, he has been one of the best in the majors at stranding runners. 

Senga’s ERA rose slightly to 1.46. 

-Max Kranick gave the Mets two scoreless innings in relief, pitching the seventh and the eighth, buzz-sawing through the fearsome top of the Dodgers’ lineup without allowing a hit. 

In all, the Mets got 11 outs from their bullpen, two from Ryne Stanek, six from Kranick, and the final three from Reed Garrett for the save as Edwin Diaz was unavailable after pitching on both Friday and Saturday night. 

-Alonso broke the longest home run drought of his career with a two-run shot to left in the first inning off Dodgers’ starter Landon Knack. 

Alonso had gone 65 at-bats and 71 plate appearances without a long ball, a span that stretched over 16 games, though he thought a strong wind cost him two home runs during that time, one at Yankee Stadium and one at Fenway Park. 

It was his 10th home run of the season. 

Juan Soto set the stage for it by hustling to beat out a hard ground ball that Max Muncy bobbled for an error. 

-Tyrone Taylor, who is playing a Gold Glove-caliber center field this season, made a spectacular throw in the first inning to nail Mookie Betts at the plate in the first inning and limit the Dodgers to one run -- Ohtani’s leadoff HR. 

With Betts at third and Freddie Freeman at second and no outs, Will Smith lofted a fly ball toward right-center. The ball was fairly shallow and Taylor had to run hard to make the catch, with his body angling toward right field. With great body control Taylor turned and threw in one motion, making a perfect throw to Luis Torrens to get Betts sliding at the plate. 

-Soto made an impact with his hustle play but otherwise had a rough night at the plate, going 0-for-4 with two weak groundouts and a strikeout swinging.

He did make a good running catch near the right-field fence to rob Michael Conforto of a hit leading off the seventh inning.

Game MVP: Kodai Senga

It's tempting to give it to Alonso but the Dodgers’ lineup is so potent that Senga gets the nod, allowing one run over 5 1/3 innings, giving LA nothing after a leadoff home run by Ohtani. 

Senga probably could have gone deeper into the game if not for his pitch count of 101.

Highlights

Tyrone Taylor throws out Mookie Betts at home!

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/we7LXxRL5L

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 25, 2025

POLAR POWER.

PETE ALONSO WITH A TWO-RUN BLAST!

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/C8XGXAPuUM

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 25, 2025

Kodai Senga goes upstairs to strike out Shohei Ohtani! 🔥

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/jf8oEyw3K4

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 25, 2025

Kodai Senga escapes a bases-loaded jam in the 5th

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/sLgV7QRMaI

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 26, 2025

BATY ➡️ LINDOR ➡️ ALONSO

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/3MleAMvovi

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 26, 2025

Juan Soto takes an extra-base hit away from Michael Conforto 🔥

(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/JBvyedrg6c

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 26, 2025

Whats next

The Mets open a three-game set with the Chicago White Sox on Monday at 4:10 p.m. at Citi Field.

RHP Clay Holmes (5-3, 3.13 ERA) takes the mound against former Met RHP Adrian Houser (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who is making his second start of the year.

The Yankees almost let another one slip away against the Colorado Rockies, but they did just enough to win 5-4 on Sunday and win the series.

Here are the takeaways...

- After a 3-for-4 day from the leadoff spot in Saturday's blowout win, Paul Goldschmidt kept his hot bat going with another multi-hit game in the series finale. Hitting leadoff once again, Goldschmidt got things started with a single and came around to score the game's first run in the first inning. The first baseman added another hit in the fifth and scored again on Aaron Judge's run-scoring double that broke a 2-2 tie.

In his first season in New York, Goldschmidt has been fantastic with a .347/.401/.492 slash line in 52 games. The 37-year-old has mostly split his time between leadoff and his more traditional cleanup spot in the batting order this season and while he's had success either way, he's really taken to leading off for the first time in his career, amassing 22 hits in 61 at-bats so far.

- Along with Goldschmidt, Judge also finished with multiple hits as he continues to love his first time hitting at Coors Field. The right-fielder went 2-for-4, including the aforementioned go-ahead double off Jake Bird.

- However, the player with the best day at the plate was No. 7 hitter J.C. Escarra. The backup catcher led all Yankees with three hits, including a double, and two RBI. Escarra's first hit came in the second which scored Anthony Volpe who tripled to lead off against Antonio Senzatela. He also singled in the fourth and drove in an insurance run in the eighth to make it 5-3 after the Rockies got a little closer. Making his MLB debut at 30 years old, Escarra is hitting .244.

- Will Warren got the start for New York and pitched four innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits and two walks while striking out seven. Both runs surrendered came in the first inning after he loaded the bases with nobody out, but the 25-year-old did well to escape the jam without further damage.

The right-hander was well on his way to go deeper into the game with his pitch count at only 57 pitches, but a lengthy rain delay in the top of the fifth inning -- right after the Yanks re-took the lead -- knocked him out of the game.

After a rough April where he pitched to a 5.63 ERA in six starts, Warren has enjoyed a much better May (2.38 ERA in five starts) and has 41 strikeouts in 26.2 innings.

- Following the rain delay, Jonathan Loáisiga entered the game and went 1.2 innings. Mark Leiter Jr. followed with 1.1 scoreless innings before Devin Williams also had a clean outing in the eighth, featuring three strikeouts, to set up Luke Weaver.

With a two-run lead, Weaver was ambushed by Mickey Moniak who homered to lead off the frame and made it a 5-4 game. Things got interesting after back-to-back one-out singles put the tying and winning runs on base, but the Yankee closer steadied himself and retired the next two hitters to give New York a series win over the hapless Rockies.

Game MVP: J.C. Escarra

In addition to leading the offense with his three-hit performance, his third and final hit to give the Yanks a two-run lead turned out to be the difference as Colorado attempted a ninth-inning comeback.

Highlights

J.C. Escarra brings home Anthony Volpe to tie the game!

(via @Yankees) pic.twitter.com/pawrXjM3we

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 25, 2025

Aaron Judge puts the Yankees in front 💪

(via @Yankees) pic.twitter.com/YiOzLwGMzs

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 25, 2025

What's next

The Yankees continue their West Coast road trip with a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels starting on Monday night. First pitch is scheduled for 9:38 p.m.

New York has yet to announce its starter, but the team will face RHP Jack Kochanowicz (3-5, 5.03 ERA).

Angels manager Ron Washington knew his team needed cultural adjustments.

It wasn’t just handling the 40-man roster general manager Perry Minasian assembled. The 73-year-old skipper, in his second season leading the Halos, identified a characteristic missing from last year’s Angels. Washington said his goal was for the Angels to become a family.

Looking back on two weeks ago, when the Angels stumbled to a 17-25 record after a hot start to begin the season, Washington said he felt the buy-in to the family ideology already seeped into the walls of the clubhouse — featuring a roster makeup mixing veterans with postseason success along his young starters across his infield. The results, however, were yet to come.

“My clubhouse was already jelled,” Washington said. “We just had to start playing good baseball.”

Read more:Why Angels manager Ron Washington thinks 'things can go way better than you think'

The Angels didn’t just play good baseball. They were the best in baseball across the last two weeks. With seven of eight victories coming on the road — a three-game sweep of the Dodgers and a four-game sweep of the Athletics — the Angels riddled off an eight-game winning streak. The run was the franchise’s best since 2014 when the Angels won 10 straight and clinched a postseason berth (their most recent playoff appearance).

"We're not going to win them all,” said shortstop Zach Neto, referring to Saturday's loss to the Marlins that broke the Angels’ streak. “It was a matter of time. But we've been playing really good baseball. It's another day today. We get to come out, play, play the game we all love.”

After falling to the Marlins (21-30) in 6-2 fashion on Saturday, the Angels (25-27) couldn't respond Sunday, falling 3-0 to Miami to lose the weekend series. Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera sailed through 5 2/3 shutout innings, striking out 10 as the Angels' offense struggled to produce for back-to-back days and tallied just three hits.

Saturday and Sunday's offensive production featured the opposite of the Angels' winning streak.

Read more:Angels defeat Shohei Ohtani and rival Dodgers, but they aspire for much more

Players such as veteran outfielder Taylor Ward were hitting the cover off the ball. The 31-year-old former first-round pick tallied a hit in each game of the eight-win run, hitting a home run in five of the contests amid a 10-game hitting streak and franchise-tying nine-game extra-base hit streak. On Sunday, both streaks came to a close.

The Angels, as a whole, socked 19 home runs across the eight games — the power appeared to help them surge to third place in a division more than up for grabs.

“Everyone’s whacking homers all the time,” said Jack Kochanowicz, the Angels' second-year starting pitcher who shut down the Dodgers for 6 ⅔ innings of one-run ball on May 16. “It’s just good vibes in here right now."

As Angels first base coach Eric Young Sr. put it, last year’s team featured young upstart talent — Neto, catcher Logan O’Hoppe and first baseman Nolan Schanuel — trying to make a name for themselves on a roster circling the drain of the American League West.

In 2025, all three have taken the next step.

Read more:Shaikin: The Angels have the longest playoff drought in MLB. What exactly is the plan?

“They're playing better baseball than they did last year,” Washington said. “They are more consistent right now than they were last year. Are they a finished product? Not by a long shot, but we like the progress. And that's what the game of baseball is — progression."

O’Hoppe (.272 batting average, 14 home runs and 30 RBI) is slugging almost .100 points higher than a year ago to a .543 clip. Neto (.284 batting average, eight home runs and 19 RBI) is hitting close to .300 for the first time in his career, coming back from a right-shoulder surgery that kept him out of action to begin the season. Schanuel (.281 batting average, .382 on-base percentage and has walked just as much as he’s struck out with 26 apiece) has developed into the Angels' surefire everyday first baseman in his second full season at Angel Stadium.

The trio has year in, year out All-Star potential should the Angels play their cards right. O’Hoppe is under team control until 2029, while Neto and Schanuel are under team control until 2030.

“We realize, the veterans realize, that those guys are going to be the leaders of the Angels in the future, if not now,” Young said. “They probably have more leadership than they know, because we can't let them know too much right now because they are still young, but they are learning and processing.”

Read more:Shaikin: Angels ownership could learn something from Athletics' purposeful rebuild

And despite the eight-game turnaround turning into a two-game skid to end the weekend against the Marlins, Young knows the Angels could turn it back around on a dime.

“I don't remember in my major league career going on an eight-game winning streak,” he said. “And you know, you always say, 'Hey, we're gonna start a new one today.' Well, you never know, it's got to start somewhere.

“So why not go out there and win today?”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Mets are in wait-and-see mode about outfielder Brandon Nimmo's status for Sunday's 7:10 p.m. game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, manager Carlos Mendoza explained.

"Not yet," Mendoza said whether he has an update on Nimmo. "I'm waiting. Hopefully -- because he didn't do any baseball activities (Saturday). So, hopefully, he does something (Sunday) and we'll see if he's available off the bench."

Nimmo left Friday's 7-5 loss to the Dodgers in 13 innings because of neck stiffness.

"This morning, my neck tightened up on me," Nimmo, who is slashing .212/.274/.397 with eight home runs and 27 RBI through 49 games, said after Friday's loss. "It's from 2019 when I ran into the wall and we've been really good with the training staff and myself about keeping it under control and at bay.

"Sometimes with the travel and just everything, it pops its ugly head and it takes a few days to deal with it."

The Mets start an outfield of Jeff McNeil (left), Tyrone Tracy (center) and Juan Soto (right) in Sunday's rubber match with Los Angeles.