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

Alicia Mink wanted to see her Angels play Monday. She never had been to Petco Park.

“Super nice,” she said. “Love the stadium.”

Petco Park is the best ballpark in Southern California, by far — integrated into a vibrant neighborhood; spacious and modern; packed with delectable food and drink options; a community gathering spot rather than a venue that sits largely idle every winter and every other week during the summer.

Angel Stadium is none of those things. The city of Anaheim would like to change that.

On Tuesday, the Anaheim City Council is scheduled to discuss the city’s strategic plan. Included among the 21 objectives during the coming year: “Address the future of Angel Stadium and the surrounding property.”

The Angels’ stadium lease allows Angels owner Arte Moreno to control development on most of the property through 2038, although the city retains the right to build on roughly a third of the parking lot. Moreno has not publicly committed to negotiate with the city for a potential stadium deal.

The city’s priorities include getting out of the business of owning a stadium, securing the Angels in Anaheim for decades to come, generating tax revenue from a ballpark village atop the parking lot, and adding sorely needed housing within any development.

What about the fans’ priorities?

Read more:Shaikin: Ducks unveil $1-billion arena renovation, stress-free parking. But can either OC team win?

On Monday, I spoke with more than a dozen of the Angels fans at Petco Park. There were plenty of them within the sellout crowd, so loud when they cheered Zach Neto’s home run that Padres fans felt compelled to drown them out.

If Angel Stadium were renovated, the Angels fans I polled almost unanimously suggested two top priorities to borrow from Petco Park. The first: the space and spirit of Gallagher Square, the park behind center field.

When the Padres are not playing, it’s a popular concert venue, as well as a public park with a playground, dog run and paddleball courts. When the Padres are playing, there’s a Wiffle ball diamond for kids, surrounded by giant bats and baseballs to climb, a slide, and hills to roll down. For adults, there’s a wide promenade, concession stands, and the game on a really big screen.

“I like the vibe of it,” Cathi Phillips said.

The second top priority: the top-tier food and drinks, particularly from prominent local restaurants and craft breweries. Two fans I spoke with each volunteered the name of his favorite San Diego restaurant brand here: Hodad’s (burgers) for one, Seaside Market (tri-tip) for the other.

“There’s a variety of drinks and food we are missing immensely at Angel Stadium,” Adam Alexander said.

Also notable: Petco Park opens to the neighborhood, with downtown views. A ballpark village in Anaheim could provide similar views, but for now Angel Stadium looks out onto the 57 Freeway.

Petco Park opened in 2004. Angel Stadium opened in 1966 and underwent its last major renovation in 1997.

For now, the city of Anaheim is completing a property assessment to determine how many hundreds of millions might be needed to keep the stadium safe and sound for the coming decades.

Read more:Shaikin: What's the future for aging Angel Stadium? It feels like an increasingly uncertain one

The amenities might be secondary, except that the revenue from them could help pay for the renovations. And, with two stadium deals collapsing in the last decade, there may not be a third.

If not, the reaction would be mixed among the fans I polled Monday. One called Angel Stadium “archaic.” Another disagreed, but only gently: “It’s not the Oakland Coliseum.”

The stadium remains comfortable and functional. At the very least, Jaime Diaz said, the access is good.

“Can’t go wrong with the parking,” he said. “Easy to get in and out.”

And, for longtime fans, an old stadium is still their stadium.

“We have a fondness for it because we grew up there,” Rebecca Fuerst said. “It feels like home.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Why Melvin felt it was necessary to shake up Giants lineup originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — During his first season as a Giant, Matt Chapman started games everywhere from the second spot in the order through the seventh. Heliot Ramos went even further in his breakout season, hitting in every spot except for ninth.

That was normal for the Giants in 2024 and the previous five seasons. Under the last regime, it seemed the lineup underwent big changes every day, and players got used to not knowing where they would hit the next game. The first six weeks of 2025 have been dramatically different, with continuity being put above all else, but on Monday, there were finally some notable changes.

Coming off a three-game sweep in Minnesota that included a couple of ugly offensive performances, Bob Melvin shook things up. Chapman was moved to second in the order and Willy Adames, who has hit there all year, was bumped down to sixth. Ramos was the hottest hitter on the road trip and moved up to third, with Jung Loo Lee sliding down to the cleanup spot. 

The biggest difference was lower in the lineup, though. Melvin has kept Wilmer Flores in the DH spot all year, but LaMonte Wade Jr. was out of the lineup against a right-hander on Monday, with Flores at first and Luis Matos at DH. 

“We’ve been pretty structured in the lineup to this point and we’ve been a little bit down offensively, so it’s a little change of scenery,” Melvin said before the game. “I think guys tend to like that sometimes.”

There was no spark on the first night with a new look, although it probably wasn’t a great idea to try it against Merrill Kelly, who has so thoroughly dominated the Giants in recent years that at times they have joked of pulling a lineup out of a hat. For the third time in four games, the Giants scored just one run.

The drought has dropped the Giants to 20th in team wRC+, but really, there were issues long before they arrived in Minnesota to face a good pitching staff over the weekend. The Giants have struggled to reach base all season long, and their lineup has been carried by just two or three guys at a time. For most of the year, it has been Mike Yastrzemski and Lee; over the last week, it has basically just been the Ramos Show.

Adames has yet to join the party in the first year of the largest contract in franchise history. He hit second — where teams often put their best hitter — in his first 41 appearances as a Giant, but Melvin said he wanted to change the shortstop’s focus. Adames drove in 112 runs last year and the hope is that moving him down can get him back in that mode, and bring his old swing back in general. Adames has looked better in recent weeks after an extremely slow start, but he was batting just .217 with a .632 OPS at the time of the switch.

That would be the lowest OPS of his career by nearly 100 points, but it’s not even close to being the roughest start among the regulars. Patrick Bailey is at .477, although there’s not really much the Giants can do there. Bailey has been working to find his way out of a slump that goes back to the second half of last season, but he’s so valuable defensively that he’ll continue to be in the lineup as often as possible.

The same can’t be said at first base, where the Giants opted to stand pat in the offseason and let Wade be the bridge to the eventual start of the Bryce Eldridge era. There were high hopes this spring when Wade stayed healthy, but he is hitting .145 with a .491 OPS and just one home run.

Wade went 0-for-9 during the Twins series and Melvin identified the start of this homestand as the right time to give his first baseman a physical and mental breather. The struggles have come in part because of a .185 batting average on balls in play, a sign of some bad luck early on this season. Melvin said Wade would start Tuesday, but the Giants face a lefty on Wednesday and are off Thursday, so he’ll get three light days out of four at the start of this week. 

“It’s just getting him a little bit of distance right now,” Melvin said. “The work he’s putting in is pretty extreme. It’s not like he’s sitting around pouting — he’s working like crazy, and for a guy that has had as much success as he has, this is really hard. The longer it goes on the harder it is, so I’m just trying to give him a little bit of a mental break.”

Melvin was adamant Monday that Wade will continue to be the primary first baseman, but the Giants could soon have some other options. The staff doesn’t want Flores to play the field too often because there’s a fear that it will lead to injuries, so he will continue to be the everyday DH for the most part. But Jerar Encarnacion has started a rehab assignment and Casey Schmitt isn’t far behind. Encarnacion, in particular, could wind up being the answer if Wade continues to struggle. 

The power-hitting outfielder has missed all year with a left-hand fracture, but when he returns, it will be as a first baseman. Melvin said Encarnacion, who has some experience at first in the minors but just one big league start there, will “play quite a bit” of first base when he returns. Initially, it will be against lefties, but there certainly is an opening for that to change.

Encarnacion isn’t eligible to be activated until May 26. In the meantime, Melvin is hoping that changes to his lineup lead to better days for the entire group, and the impacted players feel the same way. 

“Maybe some guys will take some more pressure off themselves,” Chapman said. “Sometimes that’s what happens. If you’re at the top of the lineup and it’s not going great, you go down a little bit — it’s happened to me a million times. You go down, you take a little bit of pressure off yourself, you get rolling, and then you’re right back up there. I think that’s kind of the idea, to shake it up a little bit and see if we can get a few more runs.”

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The Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners 11-5 for their second straight win on Monday night.

Here are some takeaways...

- New York's offense was tremendous during their three-game series in Sacramento, and they carried that momentum over into this one. They accumulated 15 hits and scored 11 times on the night -- giving them a total 40 runs over their last four games.

- Outfielder Trent Grisham continues to be tremendous out of the leadoff spot, launching two of those home runs to give him 12 on the season. He finished the night 3-for-6 with two RBI and two runs scored -- bringing him to a .288 average and a stellar 1.036 OPS.

- Austin Wells had one of the other two homers for the Yanks, lifting a three-run shot to help put this one away in the fifth. The young backstop has been struggling a bit of late, but he's now driven in 10 runs and has a .346 on-base percentage over his last seven games.

- Anthony Volpe had himself a two-hit day, including the fourth and final homer. He gave New York some breathing room in the top of the ninth with a two-run shot to dead-center -- the youngster is now hitting .321 with a .936 OPS over his last 15 games.

- Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, and Cody Bellinger all enjoyed two-hit days as well.

- On the pitching side of things, Clarke Schmidt threw relatively well as he picked up his third win of the season. The right-hander allowed just three runs on three hits (two homers) while walking three and striking out six across six efficient innings of work.

- Tim Hill allowed a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, before Devin Williams came on and got the last out of the inning, picking up his third hold of the season with a much-needed easy outing.

- The lone negative for the Yanks was that third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera left the game in an ambulance during the top of the ninth after suffering a gruesome leg injury scoring on Judge's sacrifice fly.

Game MVP: Trent Grisham

The veteran outfielder continues providing power at the top of New York's lineup.

Highlights

The ball goes off Julio Rodriguez glove and Trent Grisham has a home run!

(via @Yankees) pic.twitter.com/U0YBk8A6zh

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 13, 2025

TRENT GRISHAM'S SECOND HOME RUN OF THE GAME!

(via @MLB) pic.twitter.com/LRbBfv0r4p

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 13, 2025

Whats next

Max Fried looks to continue his tremendous start to the season against Bryan Woo on Tuesday at 9:40 p.m.

Yankees third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera left Monday night’s win over the Mariners in an ambulance after suffering a gruesome left injury. 

Cabrera scored New York’s 11th run of the night on an Aaron Judge sacrifice fly in the ninth -- but he had to sidestep the catcher to avoid a tag as he was trying to score, and he appeared to injure himself as he did so.  

He went down in a heap of pain as he reached back to touch home plate, and trainer Tim Lentych immediately raced out of the dugout. 

The T-Mobile Park crowd fell silent as Cabrera remained down for several moments at home plate and an ambulance made it’s way in from center field. 

After being loaded onto a gurney, he was taken in the ambulance to a local hospital. 

“Everyone understands it’s a pretty serious situation,” Aaron Boone said postgame. “We’re just praying for our guy Cabby tonight and hoping for the best and trust that he’s in good hands as he goes through the night here.”

The Yanks went on to close out the victory, beating the Mariners 11-5 for their second straight win.

Monday's win against the Pittsburgh Pirates was about as complete of a team-win as the Mets could have asked for.

It had everything -- defense, pitching, baserunning, coaching, all resulting in Pete Alonso's walk-off sacrifice fly to improve the team's home record to 16-4 this season. Four of those wins have come in walk-off fashion.

Let's start with the defense.

In the eighth inning, with New York having just taken a 3-2 lead, Brandon Nimmo made a leaping catch at the wall in left field to rob Joey Bart of a game-tying home run against Dedniel Nuñez. It was Nimmo's second home-run robbing catch of the season as the outfielder has made a habit of thievery during his Mets career, especially at Citi Field.

"I knew that if I could get a really good jump on it I would have a great shot of catching it," Nimmo said. "I think that relative comfort with your home field, it helps you to be able to go and make those plays."

For how impressive Nimmo's catch was, it wasn't the only great defensive play New York made in the field. Brett Baty made a beautiful snag to his left at third base and threw the runner out at first to keep a run from scoring in the fifth and the Mets turned a pretty double play in the top of the ninth to end the inning and keep things tied.

What about pitching?

On a night facing off against one of the game's best young pitchers in Paul Skenes, David Peterson matched him and went six terrific innings to keep New York in the game as the two starters were locked in a pitcher's duel.

"I think it’s always fun when you go up against someone’s best and you get into a pitcher’s duel," Peterson said. "It’s fun when you’re just trading blows like that and the offenses are grinding...

"In games like that it’s kind of a matter of us as the pitching staff holding it together where it is and giving the offense the opportunity to finally break through and be able to score enough runs to win the game."

Speaking of the offense, that brings us to baserunning.

Down 2-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the Mets got to work with the lower part of the lineup proving crucial. Pinch-hitter Tyrone Taylor got on thanks to a hit-by-pitch and then stole second base. Luisangel Acuña followed with an infield hit, outhustling the pitcher to the first base bag on a grounder to the first baseman, to put runners on the corners.

After Taylor scored to tie the game on a groundout, Acuña also came around after the ball deflected off the Pirates' third baseman's glove on a single. Unaware at first of how far the ball had trickled away, Acuña was sent home by third base coach Mike Sarbaugh who read it all the way. Coaching? Check.

"I’m always trying to impact the game in my defense, in my baserunning and anything I can do," Acuña said through an interpreter.

"His speed is electric," added Alonso, whose single deflected off Ke'Bryan Hayes' glove. "He causes a ton of havoc on the base paths. He’s a burner and having that skillset is huge for us. Any time he’s on base he causes so much pressure on the defense."

Even when things didn't go as planned for New York, like Huascar Brazoban blowing the save opportunity in the ninth, the team still found a way to rebound almost immediately.

Francisco Lindor, after his error in the top half of the ninth led to the tying run to score, reached thanks to an error by the Pirates. But given just a little bit of leeway, the Mets have made teams pay this season which is what happened when Juan Soto singled to put runners on first and third before Alonso's sacrifice fly won it.

"We don’t give up. We’re a scrappy bunch," Alonso said. "Yeah we got guys who can drive the ball out of the yard, we got guys who can put up some good numbers offensively and hit the ball a long way and stuff like that, but at the end of the day our identity is we’re just a scrappy team. We fight til the last out and that’s just who we are."

"I think we did a lot of good things today," Mendoza added. "... As a whole, yes we’re a good team but we’re a good team not just because we’ve got good players, we’re going out there and we’re executing."

The Mets won in walk-off fashion on Monday night, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of 4-3 thanks to Pete Alonso's sacrifice fly.

Here are the takeaways...

-New York got a taste of last year's NL Rookie of the Year in Paul Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft who entered the contest with a 2.77 ERA, and the 22-year-old lived up to the billing.

Even with Skenes not at his best, particularly early in the game, the right-hander was still able to hold the Mets to just one run over six innings, despite dealing with traffic on the bases in five of those innings. In fact, New York got the leadoff man on three times in the first four innings but couldn't do more damage against the youngster.

-The Mets broke through in the fourth inning after Brandon Nimmo led off with a screaming double off the wall in right-center before trading places with Jeff McNeil who hit his first double of the season down the right field line to tie the game at 1-1.

-Coming into the game, David Peterson was likely going to need to match Skenes for New York to have a chance and the left-hander did just that.

After a solo homer by Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the second inning, Peterson retired the next 10 hitters in a row before Jared Triolo ended that streak with a double in the fifth. A two-out single would put runners on the corners, but Peterson struck out Bryan Reynolds to end the inning and let out a burst of emotion heading off the mound as the game remained tied.

-A pitcher's duel for most of the night, things got hairy once the bullpens were deployed. It started in the top of the seventh inning afterPeterson began the frame by walking the only batter he faced following a 10-pitch at-bat. Manager Carlos Mendoza turned to Jose Buttó after that, but he wasn't able to strand the runner.

With a runner at second following a stolen base, Buttó was playing close attention and after throwing over twice he disengaged a third time without getting the baserunner who was then awarded third base. After a walk, Reynolds hit into a force out that scored a run that wouldn't have had the runner stayed at second base.

-The Mets returned the favor in the bottom half of the inning, scoring the tying and go-ahead run thanks to three close plays that all went their way. First, after pinch-hitter Tyrone Taylor was hit by a pitch, he immediately stole second by getting his hand on the base just before the tag. Luisangel Acuña followed with an infield hit, beating the pitcher to first base by a hair, to put runners on the corners.

A Juan Soto groundout tied the game before Pete Alonso singled on a ball that was deflected by third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes. With Acuña running, the speedster kept going after the deflection and slid into home plate before the catcher was able to slap the tag which gave New York its first lead of the night.

-Dedniel Nuñez pitched the eighth inning and was saved by Nimmo who robbed Joey Bart of a home run at the left field wall to start the frame. Nuñez ended up pitching a 1-2-3 inning in his third appearance since returning from the IL.

-Without Edwin Diaz, Mendoza turned to Huascar Brazoban for the final three outs, but the right-hander allowed a run on two hits and an error by Francisco Lindor. With runners on the corners, the Mets turned an inning-ending double play to keep the game tied.

-Right after making a costly error in the top half, Lindor reached base in the bottom half thanks to an error by Kiner-Falefa, Pittsburgh's shortstop. That allowed New York's offense to get to work with Soto hitting a single to put runners at the corners for Alonso who hit a sacrifice fly to give the Mets their fourth walk-off win of the season.

Game MVP: Luisangel Acuña

Even with just a 1-for-4 night, Acuña's speed changed the game and allowed the Mets to come back the first time before Alonso won it for them in the ninth.

Highlights

David Peterson strikes out Matt Gorski to get out of the first inning pic.twitter.com/2gqyWuZ8nn

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 12, 2025

Two more strikeouts for David Peterson and he has five in the first four innings pic.twitter.com/R3Z5nUchNP

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 13, 2025

Brandon Nimmo hits a leadoff double off the wall! pic.twitter.com/Z8wofk8veJ

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 13, 2025

Jeff McNeil brings home Brandon Nimmo with an RBI double to tie the game! pic.twitter.com/lZKZHp0rP5

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 13, 2025

Brett Baty makes the diving stop to rob Henry Davis of a hit 🔥 pic.twitter.com/U6LAM1IXl6

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 13, 2025

David Peterson gets out of trouble in the 5th and he is PUMPED! pic.twitter.com/uuhgREq62v

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 13, 2025

Francisco Lindor gets a base hit as the Citi Field crowd sings "My Girl" 🎶 pic.twitter.com/EHou9QoXPn

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 13, 2025

Luisangel Acuña legs out an infield hit! pic.twitter.com/aVca7zVdfA

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 13, 2025

WHAT A SLIDE BY LUISANGEL ACUÑA!

THE METS TAKE THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/IQg9uBscLU

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 13, 2025

BRANDON NIMMO MAKES THE CATCH AT THE WALL! pic.twitter.com/Np83uiEZBF

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 13, 2025

PETE ALONSO WALKS IT OFF WITH A SACRIFICE FLY! pic.twitter.com/GlY1L108ma

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 13, 2025

What's next

The Mets and Pirates continue their three-game series on Tuesday night with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. on SNY.

RHP Kodai Senga (4-2, 1.16 ERA) faces off against RHP Mitch Keller (1-4, 4.40 ERA).

It’s been a long road back for DJ LeMahieu, but it appears he’s officially ready to return. 

The veteran infielder is expected to be activated from the injured list prior to Tuesday night’s game and he’ll be back in the Yankees' lineup for Wednesday’s series finale against the Mariners, manager Aaron Boone said. 

LeMahieu is with the team in Seattle, but they’ll wait one more day to officially activate him. 

“I think he’s in a good spot,” Boone told reporters pregame Monday. “I feel like his ramp-up’s been good. He’s had a pretty good long runway of build up. I feel like he’s ready to go and hopefully ready to contribute.”

The oft-injured LeMahieu has missed the first 40 games of the season due to a left calf strain he suffered during his second spring training at-bat.

He's been progressing well over the past couple of weeks and has impressed during his recent minor league rehab appearances -- going 12-for-27 with a pair of extra base-hits while playing the full game in the field.

The expectation is that he'll see the bulk of the playing time at second until Jazz Chisholm returns from injury, and then he'll share duties with Oswaldo Cabrera at the hot corner, as long as he can stay healthy.

"The biggest thing is health,” Boone said. "DJ can fall out of bed and hit. The biggest thing that’s tripped him up over the years is just the different nagging injuries that have popped up on him and have slowed him.

"Obviously, he’s a little older now, but I always feel like guys that can really hit like him, if you’re healthy you can usually really hit late in your career. So hopefully he can come and be a real contributor for us."

First Giants win still evades Verlander in loss to D-backs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Justin Verlander probably is tired of being asked about it. And for good reason.

For the fifth time this season, the 42-year-old pitched well enough to earn his first win in a Giants uniform. And for the fifth time this season, he was denied the decision.

After nine starts, Verlander (262 career wins) still sits 38 wins away from the exclusive 300-win club. Now in his 20th MLB season, the three-time Cy Young Award winner is running out of time to notch Ws, and his team isn’t doing him any favors.

Verlander (L, 6 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K) once again pitched well in the Giants’ 2-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday at Oracle Park, and once again, local media found themselves asking San Francisco manager Bob Melvin a similar version of a question he’s been asked a handful of times already this season.

“Again, it’s about losing the game,” Melvin said when asked how frustrating it was not to reward Verlander with a win. “I think it’s just when you keep pitching well, literally it was just two balls off of [Corbin] Carroll’s bat. Other than that, he pitched into the seventh inning, so he’s given us quality starts the last four times or so.”

Verlander did surrender nine hits, so he wasn’t his sharpest, but two of those hits, solo home runs off the bat of Carroll in the third and fifth innings, were enough to earn an “L” next to his name.

That’s typically not the case for a starting pitcher who surrenders two or fewer runs over six innings of work, but for Verlander, that’s how the cookie, or the Giants’ lineup, has crumbled for him.

“It’s one of the tough things about being a starting pitcher, you know? You want to win baseball games,” Verlander said postgame. “You have the exact same outing and you win, you feel really good when you go home, versus this one you don’t feel nearly as good.”

Despite not recording a win himself, Verlander has been able to celebrate team wins (May 6 vs. Chicago, April 9 vs. Cincinnati, April 4 vs. Seattle) after some of his outings. That first winning decision, though, will feel different. Even if his routine afterward remains the same, regardless of a win or a loss.

“Go home, watch a TV show, have a glass of wine,” Verlander said of his post-start routine. “Get ready for tomorrow. Come in early, start getting ready for my next start.”

Pitcher wins, for the majority of fans, and even players, hold very little value in the year 2025. And for good reason. For Verlander, however, that’s not the case.

All he can do moving forward is give his team a chance to win. Which he’s done time and time again this season. Eventually they will reward him.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

What we learned as Justin Verlander solid again in Giants' tough loss to D-backs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO — The only thing colder than a summer night at Oracle Park is the Giants’ offense right now.

Manager Bob Melvin made some noticeable adjustments to his starting lineup on Tuesday in an effort to jumpstart San Francisco’s struggling offense, but the result was more of the same, as the Giants lost 2-1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Giants sent Justin Verlander to the mound against Diamondbacks righty Merrill Kelly (W, 7 IP, 8 H, ER, 0 BB, 8 K) as they looked to snap a three-game losing streak. Spoiler alert: They did not.

Here are three takeaways from the Giants’ fourth consecutive loss that drops them to 24-18:

Doing Everything He Can

Verlander (L, 6 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K), who continues on his unlikely journey to 300 career wins, has pitched well enough to earn at least three wins so far this season, but the Giants have continued to find creative ways to spoil each one.

He toed the rubber against a Diamondbacks team that he historically has pitched well against throughout his career.

Verlander was 5-2 with a 3.14 ERA with 58 strikeouts and a 1.13 WHIP in 48 2/3 career innings pitched against Arizona, and that trend continued on Monday.

Outside of two solo home runs off the bat of Diamondbacks star Corbin Carroll in the third and fifth innings, Verlander, as he has been over his last five starts, was excellent.

Different City, Different Team, Same Ramos

Heliot Ramos has been just about the only bright spot on offense for the Giants lately. He has been on fire since April 26, batting .419 with 11 runs, three doubles, four homers, nine RBI, five walks and a 1.267 OPS over his last 13 games.

He showed no signs of slowing down in the series opener on Monday, recording three hits in his first three at-bats against Kelly. He very easily could have had four hits in the game if not for an absurdly acrobatic catch by Arizona left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the bottom of the eighth.

AIR LOURDES 😮 pic.twitter.com/KGCT4fHefD

— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2025

Not only has he been on fire offensively, but Ramos has been excellent defensively after making minor adjustments to his approach in left field. After making two impressive diving catches in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Twins, Ramos made perhaps his best catch of the season in the top of the eighth.

What a catch by Heliot Ramos‼ pic.twitter.com/Pj8SdmHJR1

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 13, 2025

A one-in-a-million photo 🤯 pic.twitter.com/zlkMUA0rdd

— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2025

Unfortunately for the Giants, one player only can do so much.

They Tried, It Didn’t Work

Melvin strayed from his and the team’s consistently harped-on theme of roster continuity this season.

Matt Chapman, who primarily has hit fourth, moved up into the second spot in the lineup, previously held by Willy Adames, who moved down to the six hole. Ramos, usually in the fifth or sixth spot, moved up to third in the order, while Jung Hoo Lee, usually third in the lineup, moved down to cleanup.

Meanwhile, utility man Wilmer Flores started at first base in place of the struggling LaMonte Wade Jr., who, according to Melvin, just received a day off.

It wasn’t for a lack of trying, but Melvin’s adjustments didn’t result in much offense.

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Phillies done in by late homer in one-run loss to Cardinals originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

There was a two-week period in March when it looked like Matt Strahm might not be ready for Opening Day. He was dealing with an impingement and bone bruise in his left shoulder which explained why his fastball velocity was down from a 93.6 mph average last season to just above 91 early in the spring.

The Phillies backed off Strahm and he didn’t pitch in Grapefruit League games after March 5. Surprisingly, though, he was ready for the March 27 opener in Washington D.C. and pitched that evening, closing out a win with a scoreless 10th inning.

Strahm wasn’t charged with a run until his eighth appearance of the season but hasn’t pitched well over the last month, allowing six earned runs (eight total) in 9⅓ innings with a .341 opponents’ batting average. That is not the Matt Strahm the Phillies have come to know since 2023. He excelled in multiple roles his first year with the Phils then was one of the best late-inning relievers in baseball last season, earning an All-Star nod along the way.

The Phillies turned to Strahm in the seventh inning of a tie game Monday night in their series opener against the surging Cardinals. Strahm retired the first two hitters he faced with a strikeout and lineout but missed a spot belt-high and over the middle to Masyn Winn, who homered on an 0-1 count for the game’s deciding run. The pitch was a 91 mph fastball. Strahm pounded his glove immediately, knowing it was gone.

The Phillies lost, 3-2, to a Cardinals team that has won nine in a row.

Strahm was behind the eight-ball to start the year and acknowledged last week in Tampa that he hasn’t felt quite like himself.

“Still working through things,” he said Thursday night. “It was obviously a weird spring for me but it’s getting too late to make excuses.”

It’s not like the overall performance has been poor — Strahm has a 3.24 ERA on the year and has allowed two of five inherited runners to score. He’s been able to record outs even without his best stuff. But the difference in reliability has stood out when combined with the early-season shakiness of Orion Kerkering (seven runs in his last nine innings) and Jordan Romano, who has ripped off five straight scoreless appearances after having four blow-up outings in his first nine.

“Velocity’s down a little bit and he left that pitch Winn hit out up and over the plate so he missed a spot,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Velocity’s down a little bit but I thought overall, his stuff and his execution was better other than that one pitch.”

The Phillies are 24-17 and brought five straight series wins into a homestand against the Cardinals and Pirates, but there have been times this season when they’ve been too dependent on their starting pitchers and Jose Alvarado. They need the other relievers to be effective for more than a few games in a row, especially if they want to keep their most important arms as fresh as possible for October.

Long-term, the Phillies need to get the bullpen right, though Monday’s loss was more about the offense. The Phils had nine hits and scored only twice, going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Their only extra-base hit was a one-out double in the fourth inning from J.T. Realmuto, who scored the Phils’ first run and drove in their second with a groundout with runners on the corners in the sixth.

Former Phillies reliever JoJo Romero picked up one of the game’s most important outs, popping up Bryson Stott on two pitches to end the eighth inning with the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Romero was traded to the Cardinals for Edmundo Sosa at the 2022 deadline. Ryan Helsley closed it out. He’s been a popular trade candidate connected to the Phillies but St. Louis might be playing too well to deal him this summer.

The Phils are 1-3 against the Cardinals this season. They’ve hit .177, scored six runs total, haven’t homered and averaged under two walks per game. They face St. Louis’ top arm, Sonny Gray, on Tuesday night. Asked postgame if the Cards are attacking the Phillies any differently than other teams have, Kyle Schwarber referenced the depth of their pitchers’ arsenals and penchant for being around the zone. Thomson agreed.

“They’ve pitched well,” Thomson said. “They have a group of guys that keep you off balance, they’ve got good secondary pitches and that’s what they do, they throw strikes. They’re not going to give you free passes, so we have to make the adjustment.”

Mets left-hander Sean Manaea continues to progress well from his right oblique strain after experiencing discomfort while ramping up his throwing that caused him to be shut down for two weeks.

Manaea threw off the mound for the first time in his recovery process, getting up to 15 pitches, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters before Monday's game between the Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates.

It's a huge step toward a return to the big league club for Manaea, who signed a three-year, $75 million deal to return to New York during the offseason.

Meanwhile, Paul Blackburn is also nearing a return to the Mets as the right-hander will pitch again on Friday for Triple-A Syracuse, per Mendoza.

"I think he was four [innings], 65 [pitches]," Mendoza said. "I’m not sure what’s the pitch count, we’re waiting to check with him when he gets in here today and tomorrow. But the plan is for him to make another rehab [start] on Friday."

Blackburn is coming off his second rehab start for Triple-A on Sunday where he allowed three earned runs on four hits in three innings. He walked three and struck out two.

When asked if Friday's start will be the last one before Blackburn returns to the majors, Mendoza said "we'll see."

"We gotta see how he’s feeling today and the next couple of days and then we’ll go from there," the skipper added.

When Bud Black was fired as manager of the Colorado Rockies on Sunday, the last limb of the acclaimed Mike Scioscia coaching tree was snapped off and stacked on the mulch pile.

Joe Maddon remains out of work after being fired by the Angels in 2022. Scott Servais was canned by the Seattle Mariners last year. Ron Roenicke hasn't managed since 2020.

Black, who managed the San Diego Padres for eight-plus seasons before lasting another eight-plus seasons with the mostly hapless Rockies, boasts his own coaching tree. And one particular branch has become strapping and sturdy: Dave Roberts.

Black mentored the Dodgers manager from 2011-2015 as a Padres coach, and they remain close friends.

But the winds of change in Colorado caused this particular branch in Blue to rattle and sway.

“I'm bummed. I'm disappointed. I don’t think Casey Stengel could change the outcome of that ballclub,’’ a perturbed Roberts told reporters Sunday. “That’s not the manager’s fault. Obviously, they felt they needed a change in voice or direction, but for me, there’s not many people that are better than Buddy Black. It’s very disappointing. It’s certainly not his doing.’’

Read more:Plaschke: Dave Roberts is Dodgers’ real MVP? New contract removes all doubt

The Rockies sent Black out a winner, defeating the Padres 9-3 on Sunday, but remain historically bad, posting a 7-33 record that includes three eight-game losing streaks and projects to a finish of 29-133 that would be the worst by any team since 1899. Only four other teams lost 33 of their first 40 games: the 1904 Washington Senators, 1928 Philadelphia Phillies, 1932 Boston Red Sox and 1988 Baltimore Orioles.

Roberts disparaging the Rockies was a bit surprising because it was akin to someone telling Mother Teresa to take a hike. A visit from Colorado cures ills. Struggling pitchers are revived. Slumps stop. But Roberts' mentor and friend had devolved over two decades from Angels' World Series champion pitching coach to Dodgers punching bag.

Case in point: The Dodgers hosted the Rockies for a three-game series in mid-April after they'd lost six of the previous nine games, including an embarrassing 16-0 defeat to the Chicago Cubs two days before Black and Co. arrived. Et voila! The Dodgers won all three, jump-starting a 16-8 stretch that continues with a homestand beginning Tuesday.

They don't play Colorado again until June 24, when presumably Warren Schaeffer — the Rockies' third-base coach until today — will remain interim manager. It is doubtful that his purple-clad charges will be much better than they were under Black.

Black, 67, led the Rockies to playoff berths in 2017 and 2018, but they haven’t had a winning season since and are well on their way to a third consecutive 100-loss season. They are already 19.5 games behind the first-place Dodgers in the NL West, and their minus-128 run differential is nearly double that of the next closest team. They are batting a dismal .219, and the ERA of the starting rotation is an MLB-worst 5.77.

“Our play so far this season, especially coming off the last two seasons, has been unacceptable. Our fans deserve better, and we are capable of better,” Rockies owner Dick Monfort said Sunday in a statement.

Read more:Tony Gonsolin, Freddie Freeman help Dodgers complete successful trip

Some of the underachieving Rockies players don't blame Black, whose even-keel temperament, attention to detail and empathetic communication skills made him a respected leader. And everyone knows the first to go in troubled times is the manager.

“It’s tough, I don’t think it was Buddy’s fault, much,” Rockies infielder Ryan McMahon told the Denver Post. “We didn’t play to our capabilities, but this is the direction the organization decided to go, so we’ll roll with it. …

“Hey, it might be a kick in the ass. Like, heads up! We’re in a spot where we need to make some moves and start doing some stuff, or things like this are going to happen.”

Black had a strong track record when he took the Rockies reins in 2017. He was the Angels' pitching coach when they won their only World Series in 2002 and made the postseason three times in his six years. He was the National League Manager of the Year in 2010 with the Padres. A left-handed pitcher for five teams in 15 years, posting a 3.84 earned-run average over more than 2,000 innings, he won a World Series with the Kansas City Royals in 1985.

Colorado made the postseason in Black's first two years as manager, but did not come close to .500 since then. He approximated his mentor, Scioscia, in managerial longevity but not in accomplishments. Scioscia, the Angels manager for 19 seasons, stepped down in 2018 and hasn't returned to a major league dugout, although he was head coach of the bronze-winning USA team in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Read more:Remembering Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda

Nobody can adequately explain why so few pitchers become managers, let alone successful ones, but Black lasted longer than just about any other. Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda is easily the most decorated. California native Bob Lemon won a World Series with the Yankees.

Hall of Fame pitchers Walter Johnson,Christy Mathewson and Ted Lyons were much less successful as managers than with a baseball in their hands. Roger Craig finished exactly one game over .500 in 10 managerial seasons and Clyde King five games over .500 in short stints with three teams. Marcel Lachemann, Ray Miller, Larry Rothschild,George Bamberger and a few others failed to win half their games.

Black's tally stands at 649-713, a .477 winning percentage. He didn't address the media on Sunday, but his players ducked into his office one by one to say goodbye. Left-handed starter Kyle Freeland was probably closest to Black; his rookie year in 2017 coincided with the manager's arrival.

“I have a lot of different emotions right now,” Freeland said, referencing fired bench coach Mark Redmond along with Black. “I have been with Buddy and Red my entire career. Both are great guys, and they have been in my corner my entire career. I love both those guys."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.