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

Tommy Lasorda had a lot of things to say, many of which still stick in our heads after all these decades.

He exulted in the fruits of victory. He dubbed Dodger Stadium "Blue Heaven on Earth." He warned you might not get into the real heaven if you did not root for the Dodgers.

He also had a simple formula for success.

“No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games,” Lasorda liked to say. “No matter how bad you are, you’re going to win one-third of your games. It’s the other third that makes the difference.”

If you believe the hype, these Dodgers are out to make a liar out of Lasorda.

Under Lasorda’s axiom, no team wins more than two-thirds of its games. For the Dodgers, that would be 108 games.

“117 would be a nice number,” former Dodgers pitcher and current broadcaster Orel Hershiser said. “Set the record.”

The record indeed is 116, set by the Chicago Cubs in 1906 and tied by the Seattle Mariners in 2001.

“There's just a lot of excitement,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, "probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base.”

Nine teams in history have won 109 or more games. One of those teams: the 2022 Dodgers, winners of 111 games during the regular season, eliminated by the San Diego Padres in four games in October.

Two Brooklyn Dodgers teams won more than two-thirds of their games: the 1953 team, which lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series; and the 1942 team, which lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League, at a time there were no divisions and the league champion advanced directly to the World Series.

These Dodgers enjoyed a ring ceremony Friday. They plan to enjoy another one this time next year.

“That’s our only focus right now, to go back to back,” Roberts said. “We have the best team.”

Hershiser pitched under Lasorda, who managed the Dodgers to two World Series championships in 20 years. In 1977, Lasorda’s first year, the Dodgers won 98 games. In 1978 they won 95. Never again under Lasorda did the Dodgers win so many games.

This is not a knock on Lasorda, who is in the Hall of Fame. Teams are not supposed to win two-thirds of their games, and yet here we are watching a team so talented and deep that not winning two-thirds of its games might be a letdown to its fans.

“It’s going to be really hard to continue to think of glowing things to say about this team,” Hershiser said. “I think the adjectives are going to get real thin.”

Hershiser has allowed himself a moment or two to have some fun with the anticipation of greatness. At the start of the season, he said, the Dodgers’ broadcasters had a group text for predictions about how many games the team would win.

Hershiser smiled as he told the story. The regular season features 162 games. His text read 162.

It was a joke. The fans, he said, should have some fun too.

“I would hope it’s fun,” he said. “I guess it’s less excitement when you win, and more disappointment when you lose. It’s not quite as balanced of a feeling.”

For fans of every other team, the exhibition season is over. For fans of the Dodgers, the exhibition season extends through September, and the meaningful games start in October. The last time the Dodgers failed to make the playoffs: 13 years ago.

Yet a baseball season is a book with 162 chapters. There is plenty to savor within, new players and surprise storylines, a bounty to celebrate and appreciate as the summer unfolds.

Read more:Mookie Betts' walk-off homer in 10th keeps Dodgers undefeated: 'We just don't quit'

This is not as easy as the Dodgers plan to make it look, even with their 4-0 start.

When I asked Roberts what he would suggest to fans already counting down to October, he channeled one of the greatest champions in our city’s history.

“My advice would be what Kobe said: The dream is a journey. And when we're in your living rooms every night, when you come to the ballpark — 4 million people come to the ballpark every year — enjoy the journey.

“If you're just waiting to win a championship, and that defines the season for you and your joy, then you might want to find something else to root for, because you're missing a lot.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Five months removed from one storybook ending, the Dodgers are already penning another Hollywood-worthy script.

It started last week in Japan, when the defending World Series champions were fervently welcomed on the other side of the world. It continued into this weekend’s opening homestand; one that featured a sentimental banner-raising celebration at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, then an emotional championship ring ceremony before first pitch Friday.

Read more:The Dodgers received their World Series rings. Here's what they look like

Amid that backdrop, the Dodgers might have been forgiven for struggling with an early season hangover. Like countless champions before them, it would have been no surprise for their title defense to begin with a slow first step.

But instead, these Dodgers have embraced all the pomp, absorbed all the circumstance, and put their own triumphant stamp on the season’s opening act.

For the first time since 1981, they're off to a 4-0 start. And on Friday — in an 8-5, walk-off win over the Detroit Tigers that included a five-run rally and Mookie Betts' game-winning home run in the 10th inning — they even started to rekindle last year’s magic.

"By far, the best opening week I've ever experienced,” manager Dave Roberts said.

“Kind of feels like we’re just picking up a little bit where we left off last year,” third baseman Max Muncy echoed. “There’s still a lot of fight in this team.”

Friday night was not always destined to end so spectacularly.

Early on the Dodgers generated little against Tigers starter Jack Flaherty, one of the few core pieces from their postseason run who didn't return, and didn't score until a two-run home run from Freddie Freeman in the sixth.

Later the Dodgers squandered the opportunity for a more rudimentary win. New reliever Tanner Scott blew a save in the ninth and needed his defense to throw out another runner at the plate simply to force extra innings. In the 10th the Tigers quickly surged to a 5-3 lead when Dillon Dingler’s two-run, two-out triple landed just beyond a diving effort from Michael Conforto in left field.

But in a week that has been so dedicated to honoring the Dodgers’ 2024 success — when their World Series trek included a litany of injuries, a shorthanded roster and near-elimination at the start of the playoffs — this team orchestrated its own resilient answer for the first time.

"It's kind of a hallmark of our ballclub,” Roberts said. “We just don't quit.”

“We're kind of carrying that over a little bit from last year,” Muncy added. “You can have all the talent in the world but if you don’t have that gel in the clubhouse, then it’s not gonna work.”

In the bottom of the 10th, Conforto cut the deficit in half with a leadoff double, scoring the automatic runner from second. Will Smith came off the bench and slapped an RBI single through the infield, tying the score at 5-5.

Shohei Ohtani kept the rally going, lining a base hit to right to put two runners aboard. Then, just as he had two innings earlier, when he broke a 2-2 tie with a home run to left, Betts came to the plate and delivered again, whacking a no-doubt, stadium-shaking blast.

“I just couldn't have scripted it any better,” Roberts said. “It's huge, especially given all that we've taken on in this last, call it, 10 days."

No one’s last 10 days have been as wild as what Betts has experienced.

In Tokyo he was unable to play after losing more than 15 pounds while battling a stomach virus. Up until Tuesday it was unclear if the 32-year-old star, who also is embarking on a position change back to shortstop, would be available for this series.

His first home run was so surprising to his teammates — given that he has been playing at about only 165 pounds, well below an already undersized stature to begin with — that Muncy said they joked it “was probably the best bulk that he’s got right now,” noting how it barely clear the fence in left field.

When Betts came up in the 10th, he worked an eight-pitch at-bat before jumping on a changeup below the zone. The ball rocketed off his bat at 97 mph. Even on a brisk night at Chavez Ravine, it landed several rows deep in the left-field pavilion.

Read more:Shaikin: Jack Flaherty grateful for L.A. World Series moment even though it didn't last

“He one-upped us, so we were all wrong on that one,” Muncy conceded with a laugh.

"That was not on my bingo card,” Roberts echoed in amazement. “He just does some special things ... He won a ballgame for us tonight."

As Betts rounded the bases he broke into an animated celebration that felt right out of last October’s highlight reel.

Part of the reaction, he explained later, was personal exaltation.

“Just the fight that I’ve been through, the ups and downs, the nights where I’m just crying because I’m sick, my wife there kind of holding me,” he recalled of his two-week ordeal, “that’s where that emotion comes from.”

But the rest of the emotion, he added, was simply “winning for the boys.”

Such sentiments are what helped carry the Dodgers last fall — a key reason why, for roughly 30 minutes before first pitch Friday, every 2024 team member in the building other than Flaherty (who will get his ring Saturday) was called to a makeshift stage to receive their 14-karat, 300-diamond piece of jeweled history.

“It’s my favorite one,” said Betts, the only active position player in MLB with three World Series championships. “Hopefully I can get some more and we’ll be able to compare.”

To that end, the Dodgers already giving early validation to their status as World Series favorites with the franchise’s best four-game start in 44 years.

“It’s a great thing to be a Dodger, a lot of cool things happen,” veteran catcher Austin Barnes said. “Play a lot of cool games. Go to Tokyo. Get some rings. Opening day. They do things right here. ... So yeah, it’s been a great little week. But gotta keep going.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Brett Baty got the chance to play at second base for the first time in the big leagues on Friday night in Houston and had a quiet night.

Thanks to Tylor Megill and four relievers out of the Mets’ bullpen, there was little action save one line drive on the right side of the infield as they struck out 10 batters in a 3-1 win over the Astros.

Baty, who went 0-for-2 with a strikeout at the plate, was forced to make a tough play, turning a 5-4-3 double-play to end the fifth inning. His throw from the bag at second was in time, but the out was saved by Pete Alonso making a good stretch to dig the ball out.

Of course, there was one play to be made on the Mets’ right side of the infield, but it happened to come in the eighth inning after Baty was lifted in the top of the seventh for Luisangel Acuña to pinch hit.

With one out and a runner on first, Yordan Alvarez yanked a ball in the hole and Acuña made a diving stop to his left before jumping up and tossing the ball to Alonso at first. Carlos Mendoza called it “a sneaky good play.”

While the Astros’ left-hander Steven Okert led to the decision to lift Baty in a game the Mets led, Mendoza said inserting Acuña for defense in late-inning situations is something they may do.

“Even though Brett has been doing a really good job, we’re looking at a plus, plus defender that’s played the position a lot more,” he said. “There’s gonna be times where Baty stays in there, but today, I thought once they brought that lefty in, I thought it was the right thing to do.”

(Okert got Acuña on strikes to end the inning).

Of course, late-inning decisions like this will all depend on who you are facing and the situation of the other team’s bullpen, Mendoza added. 

Despite the late change, the plan is for Baty to get a lot of time at second. The manager’s message to him after he was told he would be on the roster to start the season: “Be yourself.”

"Same thing that you're doing here. Whenever we get to the regular season, just continue to be yourself. Play your game,” he said ahead of Friday’s game. “Don’t feel like you have to get four hits, three hits every day to be in the lineup the next day. Let us make those decisions; just control what you can control. 

“Trust the work, he’s put in a lot of work this offseason. We saw results in spring training. Now it’s up to him to go out there and continue to be himself and trust the work.”

Vientos ➡️ Baty ➡️ Alonso for the double play!

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/gD2K6xTw12

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2025

Luisangel Acuña makes the diving stop and throws to first for the out!

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/3GB7R47TPF

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2025

Mendoza was encouraged by the work he saw Baty do to improve during the spring.

“The communication from pitch to pitch, there’s a lot that goes into it when you’re playing middle infield as opposed to when you’re playing third base,” he said about the areas of improvement. “There’s more communication with your shortstop, with the first baseman, with the pitcher. I think he did a really good job going to the right places when he needed to with cuts and relays, covering a base where it was a first base steal coverage.

“The range, going to his right especially, he’s made some plays that are not easy and then throwing with a different angle. He did a lot of that and we’re encouraged by that.” 

The key factor the Mets are looking for from him is seeing that he is slowing the game down and moving on to the next play if mistakes occur.

“[The] game is gonna be fast. And I think it starts with the preparation, it starts with the anticipation: Knowing what to do with the baseball before the plays happen," Mendoza said. "That’s what good infielders do. And, especially when you’re playing up the middle. He did a little bit of that, now he’s gotta go out there and do it.

“I think [Francisco] Lindor’s gonna help him, [Mike Sarbaugh] in between innings, myself, we’ll be there for him.”

Mendoza said there will be some “give and take” with Baty as he gets to learn the intricacies of the new position during big league action and will, of course, likely go through a rough patch.

“I think having the feel for the situation, but there’s gonna be things that need to be addressed right away, we will address them right away,” the manager said. 

“The more you play, you’ll learn,” he continued. “And then the Q and A: ‘What are you thinking here? What were you thinking? What was the thought process before the play happened? Did you think about this?’

“Those are some of the discussions that we’ll have and I know [Sarbaugh] is constantly have these conversations with the guys.” 

HOUSTON -- Two games into the season, we have gathered some data on how Mets manager Carlos Mendoza will approach game strategy with his new roster.

Friday’s 3-1 win over Houston allowed Mendoza his first opportunity to deploy his current group of high-leverage relievers. He chose to bring in Reed Garrett to bail Tylor Megill out of a jam in the sixth, new acquisition A.J. Minter in the seventh, Ryne Stanek in the eighth and Edwin Diaz in the ninth.

All were effective, but that order of relievers was not what we will see every time the Mets are protecting a tight lead in the early part of the season.

-- Mendoza said he is still tinkering with when to use Minter, Stanek and Garrett in the eighth versus the seventh.

“There’s going to be a combination,” the manager said. “[It will depend on] who is available, who is coming up.”

When Mendoza served as Aaron Boone’s bench coach with the Yankees, the coaching staff would meet before the game to determine the best “lanes,” as they called them, for each reliever against the night’s opposing lineup.

The Mets’ approach under Mendoza sounds similar. They will look every day at data that cuts deeper than handedness and prior history, like how a given pitcher’s stuff plays against an opponent’s swing. They will consider which pitchers are most capable that night of contributing length, among many other factors that will determine the ideal situation for each.

-- You’ll see Diaz at some point in the spot that Stanek faced on Friday: eighth inning, best part of the lineup. In this case, it was Jose Altuve, Isaac Parades and Yordan Alvarez. Stanek took care of them, but contemporary managers, including Mendoza, often use their “closers" (a term that is gradually becoming anachronistic) in that spot.

I asked Mendoza after the game if he considered Diaz in the eighth. He said no, primarily because it was Diaz’s first appearance of the season. He wanted to get his closer out of the gate in standard fashion. But if, say, it’s next weekend at Citi Field and Toronto’s Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Anthony Santander are due up in the eighth with the Mets up by a few runs, that could easily be Diaz’s inning.

-- One last bit of late-inning run prevention strategy: Mendoza said that he might use Luisangel Acuña as a late-inning defensive replacement at second base on days that Brett Baty starts. On Friday, Acuna pinch-hit for Baty in the seventh because of a platoon advantage. He then made a nifty play on a grounder in the eighth.

Baty is a hardworking neophyte at the position and Acuña is what Mendoza called a “plus-plus defender” there. Because of that, the manager might make the substitution for purely defensive reasons late in games, even if an obvious pinch-hit situation does not arise -- provided that he is not facing a team with righty relievers that could make it unwise to remove the lefty Baty. Managing is complicated.

After their rally fell short on Opening Day, the Mets came back with an impressive 3-1 win over the Astros in Houston on Friday night. Manager Carlos Mendoza had a few things to talk about before and after the game, including his starting rotation, Brett Baty and when we'll see outfielder Jose Siri in a game.

Why Tyrone Taylor get the start over Jose Siri on Friday

One of the notable acquisitions for the Mets this offseason was the trade for outfielder Jose Siri. The right-hander has a great glove and some sneaky pop, but he has not appeared in the first two games of the 2025 season.

Mendoza was asked about why he started Taylor against starter hard-throwing right-hander Hunter Brown on Friday.

"Hunter Brown, there’s velo, there’s the sinker, cutter, it’s more of that," Mendoza explained. "There’s a good chance Siri plays tomorrow."

Taylor went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts on Friday and has started the season 1-for-8.

A media member asked the Mets skipper if Siri would sit against the team's best pitchers, which Mendoza answered plainly.

"It’s the big league;s you’re facing the best of the best every day. Siri is going to get a lot of opportunities. First two games of the season, and he’s not there. He’s going to play a lot." 

Siri had a solid spring with impressive numbers coming from the power department. In 16 games, Siri hit three home runs while driving in 11 runs.

The Mets will take on right-handed pitcher Spencer Arrighetti on Saturday, so we'll see if Siri is in the lineup.

Confidence in starting rotation to start season?

The Mets, like many other teams, saw many injuries this spring. For New York, their starting rotation took huge hits when Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas went down.

They got more injury news when Paul Blackburn had to start the season on the IL with a knee issue, something that is seemingly close to clearing up. Those injuries have left Mendoza to roll out a rotation that includes Friday's starter Tylor Megill, amongst other question marks like reliever-turned-starter Clay Holmes and Kodai Senga, who hasn't pitched many innings in two years.

Despite that, Mendoza is confident in his rotation.

"We feel really good about it," he said. "We got the guys in there, they’re going to give a chance to win baseball games game in and game out. We feel good with that."

Holmes was solid yet erratic on Opening Day, but Megill proved his skipper's confidence right. The big left-hander was solid, allowing just one run on three hits and one walk across five innings while striking out six.

"I thought he was really good," Mendoza said after Friday's game. "Early on he was attacking. They hit some balls hard but that's what we're asking him to do, throw strikes and stay on the attack. When they scored that run I thought he kept making pitches. He settled in nicely and limited the damage, which is something we also want to see... I thought overall, he threw the ball really well."

Message to Brett Baty

Baty made his first start of the season Friday at second base. While he went hitless in his two at-bats -- before being pulled for Luisangel Acuña for defense -- it was still a good outing for the young infielder.

It was a pivotal game for Baty, who is looking to solidify himself as a major leaguer after a couple of underperforming seasons. Mendoza has dealt with young infielders like this just last season. When Baty was demoted a year ago, Mark Vientos came up and took the third base job. The Mets skipper, and the rest of the organization reassured Vientos of his role, and they are doing the same for Baty.

"[I told him] be yourself. Same thing you’re doing here [in spring training], just continue to be yourself," Mendoza said. "Don’t feel like you have to get three, four hits to be in the lineup the next day. Trust the work. We saw results in spring training. Now it’s up to him."

Mendoza raved about Baty's advances at second. The improvements in his communication from pitch to pitch and his range, which he has shown in spring.

With a right-hander on the mound for Houston on Saturday, Baty is likely to start at second again.

Tylor Megillhas had ups and downs as he enters his fifth big league season with the Mets. But the talent of his right arm has never been in doubt.

“It starts with having really good stuff, he's got good stuff,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before Megill started Friday’s game in Houston.

“If he’s aggressive and he’s trusting his pitches in the zone? He’s a guy, he’s a dude,” the skipper added. “He’s got that potential… he’s been through a lot in this league, and he’s ready to take that next step.”

Against the Astros, Megill retired the first nine batters he faced en route to a fine five-inning outing that saw him allow one run on three hits and a walk with six strikeouts in the Mets’ 3-1 win.

“I thought he was really good,” Mendoza said. “I thought he threw strikes. Early on, he was attacking; they hit some balls hard, but that’s what we are asking him to do: to throw strikes, stay on the attack.”

And that was the prescription for the 29-year-old: Simplifying his game and being efficient with his pitches.

“When we can keep it simple, just use two-three pitches against righties, two- three pitches against lefties. Get strike one, continue to stay in the attack, trust the defense, trust your pitches in the strike zone,” the manager said pregame. “I think that’s gonna be the key for him.”

Megill, who threw a strike on the first pitch to 11 of 19 batters he faced, had 49 strikes on 77 pitches. He went heavy on the fastball, sinker, and slider – accounting for 72 of his offerings – against a right-handed heavy Astros lineup.

“We executed really well,” he said, after getting 10 whiffs on 35 swings with 14 called strikes for a 31 called-strike whiff percentage. The slider was working very well for him, contributing five whiffs on eight swings.

“Putting pressure on hitters, getting ahead early, and getting to two strikes as fast as possible,” Megill said. “That allows me to go after them with the secondary stuff and get some strikeouts and then some weak contact.”

The sinker, a pitch the manager said before the game his starter would have to show good “awareness” in deploying against the right-handed Astros – came up big getting an inning-ending double play in the fifth.

“Huge,” Megill said. “That’s kinda what the pitch is for: get the ball in play and let the defense work. And it helps me out, especially there. Obviously, used to be predominantly four-seam, get fly outs or whatnot, but sinker really allows ball on the infield hit to a position player.”

In the fourth inning, the Astros bit him for their only run of the night – with back-to-back singles setting up a sacrifice fly – the manager praised the starter for avoiding a big inning.

“He kept making pitches,” Mendoza said. “The last couple of innings he was really good, got in trouble there, we didn’t make a play the leadoff hitter in the sixth [on the dropped third strike], but I thought overall he threw the ball really well.”

Now comes the challenge of repeating the performance and proving he can be a guy, a dude, as the manager said.

“I think, day in and day out, gotta stay working; consistency is the name of the game,” Megill said. “If I can go out and do what I did tonight, keep that going forward, throughout the whole year, I think I’ll end up in really good shape.”

Bullpen keeps at it

In that sixth, Mendoza turned to Reed Garrett with runners on first and second and nobody out. The right-hander worked around a one-out walk to put out the fire with two strikeouts.

“Unbelievable job coming in in that situation,” the manager said. “Getting a strikeout, understanding that there was a base open [against Yordan] Alvarez and he could still make pitches. And that’s what he did.”

After Garrett in the sixth, Mendoza went with A.J. Minter and Ryne Stanek to bridge the gap to Edwin Diaz. But, as he has said all spring, the roles for the high-leverage situations will be based on who is coming up in the lineup and who is available that day.

“We’ll play the matchups there,” Mendoza said. “You saw it today in that situation; we like Reed Garrett at the top with traffic, and then it lined up perfectly after that.”

When it came time for Diaz in the ninth, the closer was all business: getting five called strikes, five fouls, and two whiffs on 15 pitches.

"As soon as I started warming up in the bullpen, I knew my pitches were really good today," Daiz said. "And I just came out and tried to have fun. That's what I did."

After Diaz’s velocity had been a topic of conversation during the spring – at least outside the Mets’ clubhouse – the four-straight 98 mph fastballs he threw to start the ninth inning quieted any chatter on that front.

“Of course, we weren’t worried about the velo,” Mendoza said. “We knew that once the lights goes on we’re gonna see typical Sugar.”

"Today, the intensity was higher than it was in spring training," the closer added. "Spring training, sometimes you go out and just try and work on things, so I wasn't paying attention much to my velo. I knew today, as soon as I start playing catch, I knew my velo was there. Was feeling strong. It's way different in the season than spring training."

The thing that impressed the skipper most about the 1-2-3 ninth: “How easy he attacked. He came in and attacked hitters right away… he was attacking in the strike zone and just challenge those guys.”

Unsung bullpen hero

Of course, on a night he didn't appear, Huascar Brazobán played a role after retiring seven of the nine batters he faced on Opening Day to eat up innings after Clay Holmes' short start.

“It was huge,” the skipper said of Brazobán before the game Friday. “It was huge for him to go three ups, 2.1 I think it was, pretty much save our bullpen when Clay comes out of the game after 4.2, for him to go out there and pitch efficiently.

"It was an easier decision for me to send him back out there [because] he’s built up for that. We had him up to 35 pitches in spring training. And the fact that he was able to do that and pretty much save some of the other guys for [Friday night] and for the rest of the series, it was huge.”

Juan Soto hit his first home run with his new team and Tylor Megill allowed just one run in five frames as the Mets grabbed their first win of the 2025 season, 3-1, over the Houston Astros on Friday night.

Edwin Diaz got the ninth and looked like his old self, pumping in 98 mph fastballs and snapping off great sliders with ease. The closer needed 15 pitches for a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout to earn the save.

Here are some takeaways...

- Astros' starter Hunter Brown had some juice in the first, with seven of his 11 pitches at 97 mph or faster. He got Francisco Lindor swinging on a 99 mph fastball and Soto looking at a sinker. Pete Alonso should have been called out on strikes, but home plate umpire Rob Drake was fooled by a 100 mph fastball on the outside corner – that was a theme for the rest of the night. On the next pitch, Alonso powered a 95 mph cutter to deep center (415 feet, 108.6 mph off the bat), but Jake Meyers made a leaping catch before the wall.

- Soto’s second at-bat went much better for the slugger as he smacked a 96 mph 1-2 cutter at the top of the zone for his first homer with his new team. Standing at the plate to admire his work, the sluggers saw the lined shot (107.3 mph off the bat) travel 390 feet and smack off the facade of the second deck in right.

Soto had a big chance in the eighth after Luis Torrens doubled (just missing a home run off the top of the wall in right) and Lindor got plunked. But Tayler Scott’s slider just eluded the sweet spot of the bat, and it was a fly out to right.

- Megill got Jose Altuve with a wild swing on a slider off the outside corner to start the home half of the first. Megill needed just 13 pitches for a clean first, and he was bringing the heat as well, throwing nine pitches at 96 mph or faster. The right-hander kept Houston off the bases through nine batters, adding two more strikeouts.

On his 45th pitch of the night, Altuve singled up the middle for the Astros’ first hit. Isaac Paredes pulled one down the third base line to put runners at the corners with nobody out in the fourth. Megill limited the damage with Jordan Alvarez grabbing a sacrifice fly and Christian Walker and Meyers swinging through pitches out of the zone.

A dropped third strike allowed Meyers to reach to start the sixth as Luis Torrens tried to backhand a slider and it skipped away from him. Altuve snuck a single past a diving Lindor and Carlos Mendoza called for Reed Garrett, who retired the side, despite issuing a one-out walk, getting two strikeouts: freezing Parades with a slider and getting Walker to wave at slider low and away.

- Out of the bullpen: A.J. Minter worked a clean seventh inning in his Mets debut, with a strikeout and a one-out walk on a 3-2 pitch that looked an awful lot like a strike. Ryne Stanek walked Altuve to start the eighth but kept the Astros quiet 

- In the second, Brandon Nimmo smacked a base hit to left. He didn’t stay at first for long, taking off with a walking lead while Brown was still in the stretch. Second baseman Brendan Rodgers failed to field the throw to give the Mets a runner in scoring position.

Mark Vientos, with a short compact swing, connected on a 2-2 sinker on the inside corner for an RBI double to left and Jesse Winker followed by taking a cutter over the plate up the middle to put the Mets up 2-0.

- The Mets had a chase to add to a 3-1 lead after Soto and Alonso worked walks with nobody down in the sixth. But Brown got Nimmo to bounce into a 4-3 double play and Vientos to fly out to center.

Nimmo got another chance with two down and runners on the corners in the eighth, but lefty Bryan King got him to loop a fly to center to end the threat.

- Brett Baty got his first start at second base and helped turn a 5-4-3 double play in the fifth, but had little action otherwise. He went 0-for-2 with a strikeout. 

Baty was lifted for pinch hitter Luisangel Acuña in the seventh with Houston left-hander Steven Okert on the mound. 

Acuña, who went down swinging in that at-bat, made a fine play diving to his left to steal a base hit in the eighth.

Game MVP: Megill (and the pitchers)

Yes, Soto had the big dinger and went 1-for-3 with a walk, but the starter delivered 5.0 innings (plus two batters), three hits, one run, one walk, six strikeouts on 77 pitches (49 strikes). The four relievers combined four scoreless innings with no hits (three walks) and four strikeouts on 69 pitches (44 strikes).

Highlights

Brandon Nimmo gets to second base after Brendan Rodgers drops the ball

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/IaXD80EvbD

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2025

SWAGGY V.

Mark Vientos gets the Mets on the board with an RBI double!

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/vc3XkBkgra

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2025

IT FEELS LIKE A PARTY EVERY DAY.

Jesse Winker with an RBI single!

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/VWhBHxRlDn

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2025

"OOOOOoooooooHHHHHH"

Francisco Lindor makes a play while mic'd up 🎤

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/Bux6XYg0h2

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2025

JUAN SOTO'S FIRST METS HOME RUN!

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/s7y3TNg4z5

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2025

Vientos ➡️ Baty ➡️ Alonso for the double play!

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/gD2K6xTw12

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2025

TWO HUGE OUTS FROM REED GARRETT IN THE 6TH.

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/3GmYRGRYhk

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2025

Upcoming schedule

The Mets look to take the series against the Astros on Saturday night, first pitch is set for 7:15 p.m.

Right-hander Griffin Canning makes his debut for the club against righty Spencer Arrighetti.

No detail, or diamond, was spared.

Modern-day championship rings, Dodgers chief marketing officer Lon Rosen joked, essentially have “turned into wearable sculpture pieces.” And after a month of intricate design planning this offseason, the Dodgers’ 2024 World Series rings are no exception.

Presented to players and coaches on the field before Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers at Dodger Stadium, the latest championship rings in Dodgers history are easily the most grandiose yet, each made of 14-karat gold, more than 300 diamonds and 120 sapphires.

At the top, the LA logo is spelled out in blue gems, with a bed of oval diamonds as the backdrop. Around the edge lies a circle of 34 sapphires honoring late Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who died during the World Series run. On either side eight more diamonds were included to recognize the organization’s eight championships. On the top and bottom, “World Champions” is spelled out in more bling.

Read more:Mookie Betts' walk-off homer in 10th keeps Dodgers undefeated: 'We just don't quit'

Down the side of the ring, there are personalized touches, with each team member’s last name and number displayed around a hexagon shape inspired by Dodger Stadium’s unique scoreboards. Inscribed on the inner half are each recipient’s signature and logos of the three teams the Dodgers defeated on their way to the crown. 

Beneath the lift-off top of the ring, more Easter eggs abound — most notably, cut-up pieces of the bases from the team’s title-clinching Game 5 win at Yankee Stadium, as well as a bedazzled recreation of Dodger Stadium with the Commissioner’s Trophy in the middle.

One final touch resides on the bottom of the ring: five diamonds to signify the five-run deficit the Dodgers overcame in the clincher.

“We had input from our ownership, from Stan [Kasten, team president], from me,” Rosen said. “Looked at it, worked with designers, and our owner made the final decision, which we all actually agreed on.”

“It’s very cool,” Rosen added shortly before Friday’s ceremony. “The guys are gonna be really excited.”

Even before the rings were presented, anticipation was high in the clubhouse.

“This is the final piece,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Just to have the fans here to enjoy this with us, the players, to kind of close the book on 2024, and still staying focused on the baseball game tonight, there's just a lot of excitement. Probably more than I can ever recall, with the Dodger fan base. Our players feel that."

In a fitting twist, the rings were presented on the same night a key piece of that team, L.A. native Jack Flaherty, pitched against the club as a member of the Tigers — who re-signed him in the offseason after trading him to the Dodgers at last year’s deadline.

The World Series ring is here and it’s perfect. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/EhgOmi8H08

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 29, 2025

“He was somewhat of a savior, to be honest with you,” Roberts said of Flaherty, who will get his ring Saturday. “He was the right person at the right time for our club. And I'm happy that he got family and friends who got to see him in a Dodger uniform, get a championship ring.”

“Now,” Roberts added with a laugh, “we can go beat him up today, and give him his ring tomorrow.”

Like most of his players, Roberts isn’t one to wear World Series hardware often. The rings from his previous two championships — as Dodgers manager in 2020 and as a player with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 — reside inside a safe in his garage.

But, the manager conceded, he was excited to get to try on this piece during Friday’s ceremony.

“I hope it fits,” he joked. “If you see me fiddling with it, and it ends up on my pinky, we’ll have big problems.”

Then again, championship rings now are less for wearing anyway. As Rosen noted, they have transformed more into pieces of art. And after the franchise’s first full-season title in more than three decades, the Dodgers didn’t waste an inch of this diamond-studded design, infusing as much symbolism from their triumphant season as they could.

Hernández on the mend

Friday’s ceremony was a can't-miss occasion for Kiké Hernández.

Though the veteran utility man played a key role in the Dodgers’ 2020 title, he missed out on all the season-opening ceremonies the next year after signing with the Boston Red Sox that winter.

Then, on Thursday, Hernández was absent again during the World Series banner raising, unable to make it to the ballpark for the home opener while battling a stomach illness.

On Friday, however, Hernández was feeling strong enough to return to the ballpark. He wasn't in the starting lineup, and it remains unclear when he will be back on the field. But Roberts said Hernández was “feeling much better” and seemed hopeful his illness would cause only a short-term absence.

“He is not going to be here at the ballpark early on, doing work, just make sure that he kind of stays strong and builds up,” Roberts said.

“But,” he added, “he wasn't going to miss this one.”

Pitching injury updates

Hours before Friday’s game, injured pitchers Tony Gonsolin (back) and Evan Phillips (shoulder) faced hitters in live batting practice. Reliever Michael Kopech (shoulder) threw a flat-ground session in the outfield. And Clayton Kershaw (offseason toe and knee surgeries) told reporters he would face hitters for the first time this year Saturday.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani hits one of Dodgers' three homers to beat Tigers in their home opener

Gonsolin, who tweaked his back while doing squats in the gym near the end of spring training, and Phillips, who had a platelet-rich plasma injection this offseason to address a partially torn rotator cuff he suffered during the playoffs, are the closest of the group to returning to the active roster.

Phillips likely will throw another live BP before beginning a rehab assignment, keeping him on track to rejoin the team in the next couple of weeks. Gonsolin’s next step will be to throw three innings in either another simulated setting or a minor-league rehab assignment as he works toward a long-awaited return from his 2023 Tommy John surgery.

“To have something like that, non-baseball-related, really sucked, honestly,” said Gonsolin, whose last appearance in the majors came in August 2023. “I don't really have any other words for it. But again, it's a minor setback, and I'll try to take this time to build back up and get into an even better position."

The timeline for Kopech’s and Kershaw’s returns are less clear, but Kershaw said he remains hopeful of being ready right around the time his 60-day injured list stint is up near the end of May.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

That didn't take long.

In the second at-bat of his second game with the Mets, Juan Soto lined an absolute shot off the facade of the second deck in right field for his first home run with his new club.

With two outs and nobody on in the top of the third, Soto was down in the count 1-2. But unlike his first time up against Astros right-hander Hunter Brown, he got a cutter at the top of the zone and didn't miss the 96 mph offering.

The slugger clobbered a line-drive home run 390 feet to right (107.3 mph off the bat). And while the ball took no time to leave the park, Soto took his time to admire the home run before taking his trot around the bases.

“That was pretty impressive, I’m not gonna lie,” manager Carlos Mendoza said during an in-game interview on the TV broadcast. “When he’s got the ability to turn on the pitch when it’s 96, above the strike zone, up and in. That’s pretty incredible.”

JUAN SOTO'S FIRST METS HOME RUN!

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/s7y3TNg4z5

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2025

JUAN SOTO’S FIRST METS HOME RUN! pic.twitter.com/09C1Jp5eWq

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 29, 2025

Soto's homer put the Mets up 3-0 on Houston after Mark Vientos and Jesse Winker had RBI hits in the second.

In his first at-bat against Brown, Soto was caught looking as he was badly fooled by a 1-2 sinker at the bottom of the zone. How fooled was the man with the best eye in baseball? He had words with home plate umpire Rob Drake about the call, which was clearly a correct one.

Needless to say, Soto's second crack at Brown went better for the Mets' slugger.

Springs' strong debut sparks Athletics' first win of 2025 season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Jeffrey Springs pitched a scoreless six-inning gem in his Athletics debut on Friday night and sparked the Green and Gold’s first win of the 2025 MLB season, a 7-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

The right-handed starter, who was acquired this offseason via trade from the Tampa Bay Rays, needed 83 pitches to collect nine strikeouts and allowed just four baserunners on three hits and one walk.

“Overall, definitely I’ll take it for the first one,” Springs told reporters after Friday’s win. “Being able to go six, be efficient, that was kind of the goal. Just be efficient, get the pitch count down — that was a big issue in spring training — and just try to go right at hitters and fill it up as much as possible.

“Pretty pleased with how the first one went.”

Springs used 41 four-seam fastballs, peaking at 91.8 miles per hour on the night, and generated six whiffs with the heater. He also went to his changeup 22 times – finishing six of nine strikeouts with the breaking ball – and sprinkled in 13 sliders, six cutters and one sweeper.

Springs' changeup 🤌 pic.twitter.com/44BvfOEKEy

— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) March 29, 2025

It was the 32-year-old’s first start since Sep. 3, as he was shut down by the Rays after making seven starts in 2024 due to elbow fatigue directly related to the Tommy John Surgery he underwent in 2023.

Springs’ only trouble against Seattle was a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth, but a clutch throw-turned-out at home from JJ Bleday followed by the centerfielder’s inning-ending sliding catch kept the Athletics unscathed.

Great throw ✅
Great tag ✅
GOT ‘EM 💪 pic.twitter.com/920XT15qyu

— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) March 29, 2025

This offseason, fourth-year manager Mark Kotsay discussed Spring’s experience as a seven-year MLB veteran as an attractive aspect of his arrival, considering the franchise’s heavy reliance on youth over the past few seasons. Kotsay, who already enjoyed prized free-agent signing Luis Severino’s six scoreless frames on Opening Day, can get used to Friday’s version of Springer.

“Jeffrey really controlled the game. [He] changed speeds really well tonight, had a great game plan against them, and used it effectively,” Kotsay told reporters postgame. “Nine punch-outs in six innings says a lot about his performance and his stuff.”

Athletics relievers – in order: righty Justin Sterner, lefty T.J. McFarland and righty Mitch Spence – collectively finished the job with a scoreless three endings to set the table for the penultimate series game on Saturday at 6:40 p.m. PT.

The Green and Gold’s first offensive burst of the season made the Pacific Northwest evening that much more leisurely, a complete flip from its three-hit season-opener.

The scoring started in the fifth, as right-fielder Lawrence Butler registered his first hit of the year with a double off Mariners starter Luis Castillo and was brought home by Brent Rooker’s two-run home run, which was the designated hitter’s first knock of 2025.

A pair of singles from Bleday and catcher Shea Langeliers with a ground-rule double from first baseman Tyler Soderstrom – all with two outs against left-handed Seattle reliever Tayler Saucedo – gave the Green and Gold three more runs in the seventh.

“Tonight was a great night for [Rooker], tonight was a great night for a lot of guys in the lineup,” Kotsay said. “The top four guys (Butler, Rooker, Bleday and Langeliers), who I talked to last night, only reached base once (on Thursday). They were a driving force tonight. … That’s production [and] that’s where it needs to come.”

Athletics rookie second baseman Max Muncy put the icing on the cake in the eighth when recording his first career hit with a 430-foot home run to center off right-handed Mariners reliever Carlos Vargas.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW, MAX MUNCY 😱 pic.twitter.com/9WtA1aHsol

— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) March 29, 2025

“It was definitely exciting,” Muncy said on NBC Sports California’s “A’s Postgame Live” with Jenny Cavnar and Dallas Braden. “He got me down 0-2 early, and I just kind of stuck with my plan, and he ended up leaving his changeup over the plate, and I was able to get it out of here.”

And to really send the Seattle faithful home bitter, Luis Urías hit a 396-foot homer to left-center against Vargas and his former club, in a pinch-hit bid for third baseman Gio Urshela.

Luis Urías crushes his first home run with the Athletics 👏 pic.twitter.com/y5sk4BI0ia

— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) March 29, 2025

It was a top-to-bottom victory for the Athletics and one the franchise aims to build on. Last year, they started 0-3 and later 1-7. The Green and Gold are on a better trajectory in 2025.

Right-hander Osvaldo Bido is expected to take the mound for the Athletics on Saturday against righty Bryce Miller. The Athletics haven’t started 2-1 since the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season, also the last campaign the Green and Gold reached the postseason.

Mets pitcher Paul Blackburn said an MRI revealed “no structural damage” to his right knee and that he will soon resume throwing after beginning the season on the 15-day injured list.

“I should be able to start throwing on my feet on Monday,” the pitcher said from the clubhouse in Houston ahead of Friday’s game.

Blackburn added that the news he’s received about his knee so far has been good and “everything has progressed really well.” Of course, the 31-year-old said it is “frustrating,” but he's glad the issue isn’t worse.

“It could have been structural damage, it could have been a lot of other stuff instead of, we just have to drain this and kind of wait a week and then we’re able to just kind of pick up where we left off,” he said.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Blackburn’s knee had already responded "really well" to the injection he received on Monday to deal with inflammation. Stearns announced that the veteran right-hander would start the season on the 15-day IL on Wednesday, and that he would be shut down from throwing for 7-10 days.

“Right now it’s just kind of waiting those seven days to just rotate on it again,” Blackburn said Friday.

Blackburn said the injury first presented itself after his final outing of the spring on March 22. He woke up the following morning and the knee was sore but “nothing crazy.” It wasn’t until the morning of Monday, March 24, when there was a “sack of fluid in there” that had to be drained. A gel was then injected.

The veteran wasn’t sure what caused the injury, but revealed an MRI showed “a little bit of cartilage that just seemed a bit pissed off.”

Stearns was upbeat about the situation, and expected Blackburn to return at some point in April. He'll presumably slide into the bullpen, after Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill beat him out for the final two spots in the starting rotation this spring.

It has been a rough start to Blackburn’s tenure with the Mets on the injury front since he arrived in Queens at last season's trade deadline. A line drive off his right arm sent him to the IL in August before a back injury led to a spinal procedure that ended his season.

“I feel for him,” manager Carlos Mendoza said on Friday. “He’s been through some freaky injuries, some scary ones. Especially the one that he was dealing with the back and the fluid and all that, pretty scary.

“And then he worked so hard in the offseason. He’s having a really good camp and feeling good and then for this to pop up his last start in spring training. He’ll get through it.”

When asked about his auspicious time with the Mets, Blackburn just shook his head and, with a wry smile, said, “I don’t know. I really don’t know. Just part of it, I guess.”