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

The New York Rangers are mentally, physically, and emotionally checked out. 

With their season basically on the line and multiple chances to seize control of the contest, the Rangers squandered the game late and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated them 8-5. 

No stats can properly summarize this night. 

To keep a long story short, the score went back and forth throughout the entirety of the game and despite taking the lead in the third period, the Rangers were still unable to hold on. 

Even with their playoff hopes on the line, there was no fight and no sense of urgency whatsoever from this Rangers team. 

In a season filled with terrible losses, this defeat felt like the final blow to the Rangers, a dagger in the heart if you will. 

While technically the Rangers aren’t eliminated from playoff contention, it would take an absolute miracle and I mean a miracle for the Blueshirts to make the postseason. 

After the game, you could not picture a more deflated locker room. Rangers players had no more excuses as they appeared to be overwhelmed with emotions. 

No one was on the verge of tears or anything, but you could feel the frustration and pure defeat from their voices. 

It was clear everyone from players to coaches know that the writing is on the wall and that they only have themselves to blame. 

“Let's be honest: We haven't really helped ourselves over the last couple weeks… A couple weeks ago, I felt like it was in our hands still. Take care of the games that we had, but we haven't been able to do that. That's why we're in this position. We're not in this position solely because of tonight, and it stings.”

There’s been a feeling of misery around the Rangers all season long. Now, they are not even hiding it and why should they, especially considering the fact that their season is essentially over.

“It’s a sh-tty feeling in here, for sure,” Adam Fox said. “We’re hanging on by a thread at this point.”

Peter Laviolette seems to be more frustrated than he’s ever been.

His press conferences continue to get shorter with his tone becoming more blunt and direct. 

“The frustration, the disappointment level has been there,” Laviolette said. “So, we’re still there.”

Wednesday night’s loss felt like the Rangers finally unleashed everything they’d wanted to say for months. 

Everything was boiling to the surface, but there was at least still hope of making the playoffs. 

That hope is gone now and the Blueshirts have given up trying to convey any sort of positive mindset. 

That’s exactly what we saw unfold in the Rangers locker room on Wednesday night.

Making his first rehab start since getting surgery on his left hand during spring training, Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez went 1-for-3 and caught five innings for Single-A St. Lucie on Wednesday night.

In his return to action, Alvarez hit second in the order and after getting called out on strikes in his first at-bat, the 23-year-old singled to the opposite field to lead off the third. In his final appearance at the plate, the catcher grounded into a double play after a leadoff single by Jeremy Rodriguez.

Francisco Alvarez with a line drive hit in the first game of his rehab assignment with Single-A St. Lucie! pic.twitter.com/Mui8H2ON9D

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) April 9, 2025

Behind the plate, Alvarez began the night by catching RHP Raimon Gomez who went 2.1 innings and allowed a run on one hit and two walks while striking out three. RHP Juan Arnaud didn't fare as well, giving up six hits, four runs (three earned) and striking out one in 1.1 innings.

Alvarez struggled to control the running game in his first game since March 7 as the Lakeland Flying Tigers ran wild, stealing four bases against him.

However, the youngster did manage to win an ABS challenge in the third inning on a pitch that was initially called a ball but was overturned to a strike for a strikeout.

Francisco Alvarez wins an ABS challenge and St. Lucie gets a strikeout pic.twitter.com/C2p0U2hMuK

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) April 9, 2025

Harper and Alvarado fired up after Phillies finish off another close win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ATLANTA — Raisel Iglesias’ fifth pitch of the ninth inning Wednesday night was an 84 mph slider, smack-dab in the middle of the plate.

It didn’t move.

It was exactly what Trea Turner needed to see and he didn’t miss it, demolishing it 402 feet to left field against the Braves’ top reliever to give the Phillies a 4-3 win.

Two innings earlier, Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer off left-hander Dylan Lee to briefly put the Phillies ahead, only for the Braves to fight back quickly with an Austin Riley solo shot off Joe Ross.

Another tight affair from start to finish. The Phils can’t stop playing close games.

“You’ve got to win the tough ones, right? Win the ones that you’re supposed to and then win games like that,” Harper said. “I thought we let the game go yesterday and getting 1-1 there with (Spencer) Schwellenbach tomorrow. Big win right there.”

Wednesday made it six Phillies games in a row decided one or two runs and that already matters because of how taxed the bullpen has been. The Phillies’ series opener at Truist Park began a stretch of 16 straight days with a game, meaning the starters won’t get any extra days and the relievers will be used plenty.

Through 11 games, Matt Strahm and Jose Alvarado have pitched six times and Orion Kerkering and Jordan Romano have made five appearances apiece. Those were the Phillies’ core four leverage relievers entering the season but Romano’s early struggles seem to have already altered the bullpen picture, at least temporarily.

Manager Rob Thomson used three relievers for more than an inning Wednesday. The first was Jose Ruiz, who recorded four outs to get the ball from the fifth inning to the seventh. Ross pitched the seventh and retired the first two hitters he faced to bring up Riley, who tied the game with a homer after popping up with two outs and the bases loaded twice earlier.

Ross picked up five outs and Jose Alvarado secured the final four to finish the game, striking out Sean Murphy with runners on the corners for the 27th out.

“I feel so great, man. I feel great,” Alvarado said. “I changed my routine. The plan I have right now in the fifth inning, it’s good. I need to keep it up like that. I don’t need to change anything.”

It’s helped Alvarado that he firmly knows what his role is this season. He knows he will either be the lefty closing out the game or the lefty used in the seventh or eighth inning if the opponent’s best chance to score has come up. There were times last season when he was fourth, fifth, sixth in the hierarchy.

“Before, you know, it’s hard when you don’t know what’s going on with you because everybody after the fifth or sixth inning, the phone call, everybody panics, ‘Oh, that’s not me,'” he said. “Now everybody’s got a role. You know, today it’s me. Tomorrow, Romano. Everybody needs to be ready. The team is in a good spot. We need to keep it up like that.

“When you have that role, you need to be prepared for that situation. Four outs or maybe save the game or win the game and get ready for the next day back-to-back. I’m so happy they gave me the opportunity tonight to get four outs.”

This was an important game for both Turner and Harper.

Turner had been searching for his stroke. He entered the night with one extra-base hit and a rate of hard-hit balls (19%) that was less than half his career mark (41%).

He reached three times with a walk, single and homer. He’s been walking more so far this season with six in nine games, and he adjusted within the game Wednesday night after chasing three breaking balls in a first-inning strikeout vs. Grant Holmes.

“My swing’s been feeling really good and my work has been really good,” he said. “I feel like I’m getting myself in good counts but just really not getting a lot of pitches to hit. Yesterday, I got some pitches to hit for the first time in a while and just kind of fouled them off, took great swings, just fouled them off. I felt like if I keep swinging at those, and getting myself in those good counts, then it’ll come.”

Harper’s two-run shot was his biggest at-bat in the early going, and he also made a crucial defensive play in the bottom of the eighth. Bryan De La Cruz singled off Ross to start the inning and Jarred Kelenic laid down a bunt, which Harper charged aggressively before firing to second base to nab the lead runner in a tie game.

It was the first time Harper has ever made that play and he was fired up about it postgame, as much if not more so than his bomb.

“I was more excited about that than the homer just because I did it, first time during the game,” he said. “It’s a tough play getting around and getting it in the glove. Felt like I was playing third base again when I was younger.

“You see a lot of first basemen do it from (Matt) Olson to Ryan Zimmerman and who else. … I thought besides the homer, I thought that was the coolest play of the game because I’ve never done it.”

The Phillies are 8-3 and try for a fourth straight series win on Thursday night behind Jesus Luzardo.

Dave Roberts had a feeling as he walked around the clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon.

Over the previous five days, his once-unbeaten Dodgers team had lost four times. The night before, they did so embarrassingly on a frigid night in the country’s capital, striking out 15 times in a six-run loss to the rebuilding Washington Nationals.

In that defeat, Roberts was particularly perturbed by the club’s quality of at-bats — or lack thereof.

“The at-bats collectively haven’t been ‘team’ at-bats, and the results are showing,” Roberts said Tuesday night.

"I just don’t think 15 strikeouts with our ballclub should happen,” he reiterated in his pregame media scrum Wednesday.

Read more:Without Blake Snell, Dodgers' highly touted pitching depth falters in loss to Nationals

By then, however, Roberts had noticed a renewed intensity from the group in their afternoon preparation — hopeful that Tuesday’s blowout, and an overall frustrating first trip in which they’d already clinched back-to-back series losses, would serve as the catalyst for a much-needed getaway day win.

“You don’t want to get swept by these guys. That wouldn’t be a good thing,” Roberts said, with the Dodgers having already lost twice this week at Nationals Park. “I think our guys have a good look today. There’s a sense of pride … I think you’ll see a different focus today. I expect us to perform today.”

In a 6-5 win over the Nationals, the Dodgers performed just enough; building, then blowing, an early four-run lead before finally prevailing behind a go-ahead seventh-inning rally.

With the sun finally out, and this week’s freezing East Coast temperatures finally warming up, the Dodgers got off to a blistering start Wednesday.

Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff single. Mookie Betts put two aboard with a walk. Tommy Edman drove them both in with a triple into the right-field corner. Then Teoscar Hernández left the yard for a two-run shot.

Four batters in, it was 4-0.

The lead, however, wouldn’t last.

Nationals starter Jake Irvin found a groove, retiring 18 of the 21 batters he faced the rest of the way in what turned into a decent six-inning start.

Dodgers starter Landon Knack, on the other hand, faltered in his return to the big-league roster, giving up three runs in the bottom of the first (it would have been more if not for an inning-ending play Betts made deep in the hole at shortstop) then two more while getting pulled in the third.

The Nationals’ 5-4 lead lasted until Irvin exited the game at the start of the seventh — opening the door for the Dodgers to finally answer back.

Andy Pages started the rally by whacking his second home run in two nights, busting out of his early-season slump with a game-tying drive to left in an 0-and-2 count.

Then, Ohtani reached on a booted grounder to second. Edman drew a two-out walk. And with runners on the corners, Hernández lifted a bloop single just over the head of second baseman Luis García Jr. in shallow right field, plating the go-ahead run with his 16th RBI of the season (tied for most in the National League).

The Dodgers’ offense wouldn’t tack on again, finishing the day with nine more strikeouts.

But that was enough on a day the team’s lockdown bullpen combined for 6 ⅔ scoreless innings — avoiding what would have been their first three-game series sweep since last July, and validating Roberts’ pregame confidence.

Freddie Freeman expected back Friday

When the Dodgers return to Los Angeles for the start of a six-game homestand Friday, they’ll get an important boost to the lineup.

As was initially expected, injured first baseman Freddie Freeman is on track to be back on the field Friday night, after missing the team’s last nine games after re-aggravating his surgically repaired right ankle slipping in the shower earlier this month.

Read more:After 'honor' of White House visit, Shohei Ohtani picking up where he left off in 2024

Freeman stayed back in California during the team’s trip this week, taking live batting practice at-bats against minor-league pitchers the last several days. More encouraging, according to Roberts, has been the way Freeman looked in baserunning drills the major-league coaching staff watched via video.

"Just looking at his gait running yesterday, I would say that it's better than it was when he started the season,” Roberts said.

“If nothing changes, he'll be in the lineup on Friday."

Freeman has played just three games so far this season. He sat out during the team’s season-opening series in Tokyo after feeling discomfort in the same area of his ribs he suffered torn cartilage during last year’s playoffs. And even before his shower mishap, his right ankle had not yet returned to 100% from the severe sprain he played through last October; an injury that led to a December debridement surgery to remove loose bodies.

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 Yankees went into the ninth inning of Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers feeling pretty good about themselves.

After the offense was held in check for most of the last three days, the Yankees were three outs away from salvaging the final game of the series after scoring four late runs. Manager Aaron Boone tasked closer Devin Williams with sealing the win, but it didn’t go as planned.

After getting two of the first three batters Williams faced out, the Tigers loaded the bases. A wild pitch and a two-run single later, and the Yankees’ four-run lead was cut to one.

The Yankees skipper, not wanting to risk the win, pulled his closer for Mark Leiter Jr., who got the final out in the 4-3 win, ending New York’s three-game losing streak.

It’s alarming to see Williams, who was dominant last season pitching to a 1.25 ERA in 22 appearances with the Milwaukee Brewers after returning from injury, struggle so mightily.

But the Yankees skipper isn’t concerned with his closer’s performance so far this season.

“I don’t think it’s far off,” Boone said of Williams’ pitches after the game. “I thought we saw more velocity in there when he needed it. It’s just that next level of execution. He’ll get there. Credit to [the Tigers] too for laying off a lot of tough pitches but just being more in the zone.”

In four appearances this season, Williams has allowed four earned runs in just 3.0 innings pitched. We had the nail-biter on Opening Day when he allowed one run on two hits and a walk before ultimately completing the save.

And then we had the series finale in Pittsburgh this past Sunday when he allowed the ghost runner to score the winning run in the 11th, before nearly blowing the save on Wednesday.

Williams admitted he is still figuring things out this season and there’s nothing physically wrong with him, but he's still "figuring stuff out," and just needs more game reps and to better execute his pitches.

"I haven't felt like 100 percent myself up to this point, but I would say I'm getting closer," Williams told the media including the NY Post’s Greg Joyce after the game.

Entering Wednesday, Williams has a career 3.03 ERA in the months of March and April, by far the highest for any month in his career.

Boone pointed to Williams’ recent absence when he went on the paternity list as a part of his closer’s early-season struggles and thinks once the team gets into a “flow” the Williams of old will emerge.

“I’m confident this is going to be a distant memory as we continue to move forward,” Boone said. “He’s not far off. Just a little better strike-throwing. Once he starts doing that and dictating counts, then you’re going to see it because his stuff is not far off. This is his fourth outing. He’ll be fine, he’ll get through this. Just early part of the season."

The Yankees return home after a 3-3 road trip and will host the San Francisco Giants in the Bronx this weekend starting Friday.

Perhaps returning home, in warmer weather than Detroit, will help Williams come out of hibernation.

The Mets completed a 5-1 homestand on Wednesday that solidified their early weeks of the 2025 season as successful. Here is reporting from their first six games at Citi Field in 2025:

Brett Baty has to hit to stay; Luisangel Acuña, not as much

The Mets are not close to optioning Brett Baty back to Triple-A, according to sources, and that’s probably the right call. Why not take Baty on the road, away from the booing fans at Citi Field, and see if he can start to hit as he did in spring training? With the Mets' offense mostly clicking, they can carry a player who needs to dig for confidence, and who might be crushed by another demotion.

But the plain truth about Baty as a second baseman is that he must hit in order to stay. Mets people know that Baty is a corner infielder playing out of position, without the experience or the physicality to be a middle infielder. They understand that the transition to a new spot will bring errors like the one Baty made in Wednesday’s 5-0 loss to Miami and can’t blame him for it.

But the bat is a bigger issue. The idea last year in giving Baty reps at second base was to see if he could become the type of bat-first middle infielder prominent a decade or more ago. In the contemporary game, agility and defense are once again essential – and none other than Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns places a high value on up-the-middle glove work.

Because of this, the rangier Luisangel Acuña can win playing time without major offensive contributions, but Baty cannot. His bat is his carrying tool, period.

One of the factors helping to buy Baty more time is that potential replacements Donovan Walton and Luis De Los Santos are struggling offensively in Triple-A. But when Jeff McNeil returns from the injured list, Baty could go down without having proven he can hit in a big league regular season – unless, that is, he heats up soon.

For now, the Mets plan to give him time to do that.

The Clay Holmes transition is moving forward

An observation from talking to Clay Holmes after his first start with the Mets and then after his third: Holmes is already more confident in how to deploy his expanded repertoire in the new role than he was on Opening Day.

Following the opener in Houston, the always open and insightful Holmes admitted that he could have found spots to work in his new changeup. But when he found himself in competition, Holmes reverted to the comfort zone that made him an All-Star reliever: sinker/slider. Suddenly it was no longer spring training, the red light was on, and he did what he had to do to retire a heavily right-handed Houston lineup.

Contrast that to Tuesday’s win against Miami, when Holmes realized in the first inning that he did not have a feel for his sinker. In the second, he switched to heavy usage of a four-seam fastball. Mid-game, he went with a slew of sliders and sweepers.

Were these the type of in-game adjustments that Holmes would not have had time to employ as a short reliever?

“I think so,” Holmes said. “Part of it is just having the arsenal and the awareness to pivot. Instead of trying to force a sinker on a day like today when it was kind of tough early. … I kind of went with the four seamer and let that play up and away to the lefties. And I started getting some good counts. So, yeah, have few more pitches and especially after the first it’s like, what can I start doing a little different here? And I was able to pivot.”

That pivot is a strong sign that he is settling in. Consider this quote from Holmes, also after Tuesday’s game: “You try to get strike one, and then you build off it.”

That sounds like a jazz musician comfortable enough to learn the basic framework of a song and confident enough to improvise from there. And quite a difference from not even two weeks ago, when Holmes couldn’t quite nail down when to throw which pitch.

Mark Vientos will be fine

Any fears of a sophomore slump for Mark Vientos appear premature. The third baseman is just 5-for-42 on the season, but his at-bats have steadily improved.

One evaluator noted that Vientos was briefly out front lunging at pitches last week in Miami, but has already made the adjustment to allow the ball to travel to him. He walked five times on the homestand, repeatedly made hard contact, and does not look lost in his at-bats.

Hayden Senger might have answered a huge question about himself

For several years, folks in the Mets organization, not least among them catching instructor Glenn Sherlock, have viewed Hayden Senger as a big league defender.

The question following Senger was whether he could hit enough to serve as an MLB backup, or whether a .684 OPS in six minor league seasons ticketed him for life as an “org guy,” a non-prospect who helps the affiliates and might one day make a good coach. There is no shame in this; Sherlock himself was once an org guy with the Yankees before a long and distinguished coaching career.

But Senger, who has received more playing time than expected with Luis Torrens banged up, is 4-for-18 and does not look overmatched.

“What we're seeing is pretty impressive,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “His ability to manipulate the barrel [Tuesday] with a runner on second base, nobody out, and having the awareness of the situation: ‘You know what, I got to get the guy over.’ And getting the head out and driving the ball. Controlling the strike zone and walking. Getting a bunt down. Offensively, he's been really, really good.”

Senger is ticketed back to the minors once Francisco Alvarez returns from the injured list. But now the Mets know that they can call on Senger again, and opposing scouts know that he can be a viable backup to acquire. Count this as a pleasant silver lining of Alvarez’s and Torrens’ injuries.

Cold and stiff

Several Mets pitchers, including Holmes, Edwin Diaz, and Tylor Megill, saw their fastball velocities down a tick on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the Mets are not concerned. Mendoza attributed the group slowdown to the extreme cold, not any health issues.

Taijuan Walker still scoreless, does his job again vs. a tougher lineup originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ATLANTA — It’s meaningful any time a starting pitcher keeps a big-league lineup off the board, but as uplifting a story as Taijuan Walker’s scoreless start was last Thursday, a grain of salt was required. The Rockies are going to lose 100-plus games, they can’t hit and are even less threatening on the road.

Could he do it again in Atlanta? Against a powerful and proven Braves offense hungry for wins after beginning the season 2-8? Making a mistake vs. Michael Toglia and Nick Martini isn’t the same as missing over the plate to Austin Riley and Matt Olson, after all.

But Walker didn’t miss over the plate much at all to Riley, Olson or the Braves on Wednesday night at Truist Park, pitching 4⅔ scoreless innings. The Rockies put the barrel of the bat on the ball just twice against him last week and Walker induced more soft and middling contact in this one, allowing no extra-base hits.

Walker bent but didn’t break, as the cliche goes, stranding two runners in the second inning, the bases loaded in the third and a leadoff single in the fourth. He loaded the bases again with two outs in the fifth and was replaced by Jose Ruiz, who popped up Austin Riley. Neither team scored until the sixth inning when both starters had already departed. The Phillies eventually won another nailbiter, 4-3.

Through two starts, Walker has pitched 10⅔ scoreless innings. He won’t finish with an ERA of 0.00, 1.00, 2.00 or likely 3.00, but that doesn’t matter right now. What matters currently is that with Ranger Suarez out, Walker is filling a role for the Phillies and doing it capably.

“It’s been great,” Bryce Harper said. “He’s got the confidence in his ability again and it’s fun to watch. 94 Tai’s a lot different than 89. He worked his butt off this offseason. After his last start, I went up to him and told him I’m happy for him. He’s been through a lot. Signed a deal with us to come here, had a couple great years in New York. Tough last year for him but he’s finally rounding the corner. I thought he threw great.”

Walker retired the side 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first with two strikeouts. He hit Sean Murphy with two outs in the second and allowed a single to Bryan De La Cruz but escaped with a Jarred Kelenic groundout. The Braves loaded the bases after two quick outs in the third but Walker jammed Riley for a foulout to first base. He induced a 5-4-3 double play after a leadoff single in the fourth and combined with Ruiz to avoid damage in the fifth.

It’s been quite the bounce-back so far for Walker, who finished last season with a 7.10 ERA and career-worst numbers across the board. A year ago, he couldn’t miss bats and didn’t have an out pitch. He didn’t have a single start like these first two. But the velocity has crept back up from 88-90 mph to 92-93 and the movement of his sinker and splitter have both been sharp.

His first inning Wednesday was a good example. The first batter, Michael Harris II, extended the zone to tap out back to the mound on a splitter just off the plate away. Atlanta’s No. 2 hitter, Ozzie Albies, struck out on a two-seamer from Walker that was probably a mistake because of how much plate it caught, but it only did so because of how wickedly it danced back over the middle. Walker had the movement on his two-seamer last year but not the velocity to miss a bat. Last season, that might have been a foul ball or hit.

There was a thought this winter that the Phillies might cut ties with Walker despite owing him $18 million in 2025 and $18 million in 2026. Even with their added starting pitching depth, it’s a good thing they didn’t.

“He’s always been upbeat but there is a little bit of a difference and that’s understandable to me,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Last year was rough, I mean it was rough. I don’t really know how a person could go through something like that. That tells you a lot about him.

“If you’re any type of leader at all, you love the people that you’re around, it’s innate, it’s like your kids. So when that stuff happens, bad or good, there’s feelings that come out for me. So I’m glad he’s on the good side of that.”

Walker is holding a rotation spot until Suarez is ready to return from a back injury. Suarez will begin a rehab assignment Thursday with Clearwater and is expected to pitch three innings. The lefty will likely need at least three rehab starts, maybe four, after pitching just five innings in Grapefruit League games.

With Jeff McNeil starting the season on the IL with an oblique strain, Brett Baty was given a prime opportunity. Not only would Baty and Luisangel Acuña get to split time at second base, but Baty had the inside track to prove himself as a big leaguer, something he hasn’t been able to do, at least on a consistent level, since his call-up in 2022.

And after a red-hot spring in which he posted a 1.186 OPS, four home runs, and 11 RBI, Baty seemed poised to take this latest chance and run with it.

Unfortunately for Baty, the start of his 2025 regular season has been nightmarish, and Wednesday’s loss to the Miami Marlins at Citi Field was a game to forget for the 25-year-old, as he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts while also committing an error that cost the Mets’ two runs in what turned into a 5-0 loss.

“Just kind of indecision. Just being in-between, not having the finger on the trigger,” Baty said about his struggles after the game. “I just need to do a better job offensively and defensively, for sure.”

“I guess you could pin it to [confidence] maybe a little bit,” he added, “but at the end of the day, I was feeling great with the cage work today and going into the game, so it was there. I’ve just got to do a better job for sure.”

Baty’s fielding error in the top of the fifth led to the Marlins’ first two runs of the game. With a runner on first and nobody out, Baty fielded a grounder to his left, spun, and tried to make the throw to second base, instead sailing the ball past Francisco Lindor into the outfield. The next batter, Matt Mervis, singled up the middle to break a scoreless tie.

Baty made no excuses about his poor play, though he did point out it’s been a relatively small sample size for him this season. In 27 at-bats, Baty has just three hits, slashing .111/.111/.148 with four total bases and 11 strikeouts.

And with McNeil taking another step forward in his recovery by taking batting practice on the field on Tuesday while getting closer to a rehab assignment, Baty knows his window as a starter, at least presently, could be closing soon.

But the former first-round pick is only focused on getting better every day.

“That’s always kind of in the back of your mind, but what I try to tell myself is I just have to control what I can control,” Baty said when asked if wondered about how many more opportunities would come his way. “If I see my name in the lineup, control what I can control that day, just be who I am that day. Just be where my feet are.”

And if you ask manager Carlos Mendoza, the Mets still believe in what Baty can be at the big league level.

“I’ve been around him now for quite a bit, and he knows how to handle (himself),” Mendoza said. “Obviously, it’s not easy because you want to see the results, and as of right now he’s struggling. He’s going through it. But he’ll continue to work hard, we’ll continue to support him, continue to give him opportunities, and he’s got to fight through it.

“We believe in the player. There’s tools, there’s a lot to like there. You can say the same thing about Luisangel Acuña. They’re both going to get opportunities. They’re good players, they’ve got talent, so we’ve got to do everything in our power to make sure we get the best out of them, and you do that by giving these kids an opportunity, and they’re going to continue to get it.”

The Yankees snapped a three-game losing streak, defeating the Tigers in Detroit on Wednesday afternoon by a score of 4-3.

Here are the takeaways...

-The pitching duel of Max Fried vs. Jack Flaherty lived up to the hype, as both starters looked strong out of the gates. As was the case on Tuesday with Tarik Skubal, the Yankees had a chance to get to Flaherty early, but couldn't capitalize, as the right-hander escaped a bases-loaded, two-out jam by getting Oswaldo Cabrera to fly out harmlessly.

Both starting pitchers held the opposition scoreless through the first five innings.

-The Yankees finally got something cooking in the top of the sixth, as Paul Goldschmidt doubled down the left field line to put runners at second and third with one out, chasing Flaherty from the game. Tyler Holton came in, and with the infield in, he induced a ground ball right back to the mound, and Aaron Judge made a poor base-running play, getting caught in no man’s land for the second out. Anthony Volpe then went down swinging as the Yanks squandered yet another opportunity.

Flaherty went 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out nine and walking three.

-At long last, New York broke through for two runs in the top of the seventh, courtesy of Ben Rice, who hammered a two-run home run to right-center. Rice now has three home runs and four RBI on the season.

-Fried finished the game in dominant fashion, striking out two to end the seventh inning. The lefty ended his day with 7.0 shutout innings, allowing just five hits while striking out 11 Tigers without a walk. His ERA is now a sterling 1.56.

-Following Fried's stellar start, Luke Weaver pitched a scoreless eighth, and after the Yankees added two insurance runs thanks to a bases-loaded single by Judge, Devin Williams came in to try to close things out in the ninth. But Williams struggled mightily, allowing three earned runs before getting pulled. Fortunately for New York, Mark Leiter Jr. came in and closed the door with the tying run stranded at second base.

Game MVP

Fried, who has been every bit the ace the Yankees hoped they were getting.

Highlights

Max Fried continues to be strong having 4 shutout innings pic.twitter.com/yxmf0m7XVi

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 9, 2025

Ben Rice breaks up the scoreless game with a two-run shot!

108.1 MPH exit velocity off a lefty 🔥 pic.twitter.com/84JKKtMGp5

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 9, 2025

Max Masterclass. @MaxFried32 👏 pic.twitter.com/K0ipJs3HGJ

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 9, 2025

Aaron Judge tacks on two more! pic.twitter.com/swZTZF2T6b

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 9, 2025

Upcoming schedule

The Yankees are off on Thursday before welcoming the San Francisco Giants to the Bronx for a weekend series, starting on Friday at 7:05 p.m.

Lefty Robbie Ray will face Marcus Stroman.