Category: Sports News

In the final three games against the San Francisco Giants, the Mets allowed five total runs en route to three wins to culminate a 4-3 road trip. Even in their losses, New York allowed three runs or fewer in two of them and for the most part has gotten superior starting pitching two times through the rotation.

On Sunday, it was Kodai Senga's turn to deliver a quality outing and the right-hander handed in five scoreless innings before getting tagged for two runs in the sixth where only one ball was hit particularly hard.

Senga finished his outing by going 5.2 innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits, two walks and striking out seven on 88 pitches (55 strikes). Early on, he even struck out five in a row and looked great for a second straight start, this one on four days rest.

"It wasn’t perfect today, but good enough to make the game winnable," Senga said after the game through an interpreter.

It's the same kind of mentality that Senga used to have with himself when he was going good, often being hyper critical of things that he could improve on and fix for the next one.

Still, manager Carlos Mendoza was much more effusive of the right-hander's performance, saying "he pretty much dominated that lineup… Overall I think he was outstanding."

Senga is the latest of Mets starters to pitch well, following Clay Holmes' seven scoreless innings on Saturday and Nolan McLean's five hitless innings on Friday. As a unit, New York's starting rotation has a 3.13 ERA, eighth in MLB and third in the NL.

What's also encouraging? The Mets rank third in total innings pitched by their starters at 54.2 -- a year after their staff was routinely unable to go deep into games. As the season progresses and the temperature gets warmer and pitchers become more stretched out, hopefully that number continues to go up as well.

"I think it’s a really strong group," Senga said of the starting rotation. "As long as we stay healthy, stay out on the mound, we can be a stabilizing force for the team. That goes for everybody and myself. I don’t want to be the one lagging behind, I want to be up there with them."

Of course, after his incredible first half last season, Senga returned from a hamstring injury and had a dreadful end to the year. It became such a problem that New York sent him down to the minors to try and restore his stuff and his confidence. 

The team even entertained trading the 33-year-old during the offseason but decided to keep the right-hander who then rewarded the Mets with a strong showing in spring training that has continued into the regular season.

It's obviously still very early into the season, but the signs are good for Senga and if he's able to keep it up he can certainly be a part of a Mets staff that has all the makings of a top rotation in baseball and be that stabilizing force that he was talking about.

Luis Torrens is in his ninth season in the league and his third with the Mets. During that time he has not been known for his offense and has played the role of backup catcher for most of his career.

Yet, on Sunday against the San Francisco Giants, with New York down 2-1 in the eighth inning but threatening, Torrens was called upon as a pinch-hitter against a left-hander.

The move was a bit surprising. Not only was Torrens replacing Jared Young who was already 3-for-3 on the day, albeit against right-hander Logan Webb, but with a thin bench the Mets could ill afford to lose their backup catcher should the game go to extra innings or anything unforeseen happening.

But according to manager Carlos Mendoza who spoke after the game, that was the exact moment the Mets were hoping to use Torrens.

“I gotta give credit to [bench coach] Kai Correa there,” Mendoza said. “...He brought it up to me way before the game started – like in a big spot, Luis Torrens against one of those lefties… Sure enough, the situation presented itself and we [used] him and he was ready to go from the very beginning and he executed it.”

Facing LHP Erik Miller with one out and runners at second and third, Torrens fell behind in the count but fouled off some pitches and was able to work the count full. On 3-2, Torrens got a changeup off the plate that would’ve been ball four, but the catcher swung at it and poked it down the right-field line for a two-run double that put New York ahead, 3-2.

The Mets scored twice more in the inning and went on to win 5-2 thanks to the four-run eighth inning, but the big hit came from Torrens who had been ready for that scenario since before the game even started.

“For me, to put the ball in play there I was prepared even before the game,” Torrens said through an interpreter. “Mendy told me there might be a situation where I come in, but for me it’s about being focused and trying to execute in a situation like that.”

Torrens continued: “I really appreciate to be told that earlier on in the game or even before the game just because I’m able to prepare myself the way that I know that I can prepare myself and with whatever situation arises in the game, I’ll be prepared and do my job.”

So, why specifically Torrens, a career .228 hitter, in that moment?

“He slows the game down, he’s got the ability to use the whole field, he’s not afraid to go the other way, he’s not afraid to work counts,” Mendoza said. “He gets to two strikes and you feel good that he’s going to put the ball in play, he’s gonna take what the pitcher is giving him.

“This is a guy that’s been in baseball for quite a bit now, a lot of winter ball. So I was happy for Luis in that situation.”

A nine-year veteran (as a catcher no less), Torrens has used all of that experience to his advantage. It’s why the Mets have loved having him around for the past three years. In fact, even though he isn’t known for his bat, the 29-year-old is now batting .352 in 54 at-bats as a pinch-hitter, one of the most difficult jobs to do in baseball.

On top of that, Torrens is and continues to be elite at stopping the running game, even throwing out a runner trying to steal second base in the bottom of the ninth inning.

It’s plays like that, his hit in the eighth and the communication between him and the coaches before the game that had Mendoza commending “the small details” New York made on Sunday that resulted in an impressive win and taking three out of four in San Francisco.

“That speaks to how we prepare as a team,” Torrens said. “I think every single one of us before the game, during the game are all preparing ourselves to do the best that we possibly can and I think that speaks volumes to the group that we have here.”

After a rough stretch offensively to start the season, the Mets have completely turned it around, scoring 24 runs over their last three games. Almost all of that has been without Juan Soto, too.

“It’s special,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got good players, up and down. Dealing with a few guys there with injuries and you still feel really good with not only the guys that are in the lineup or who are getting the opportunity to play more, but [with] what’s on the bench as well and we saw it today.

“There’s a lot of versatility. There’s a lot of things that we could do because of the flexibility. It goes to show you that it’s a deep roster and it’s fun.”

New York will look to keep the good times rolling back at Citi Field starting on Tuesday when it hosts the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game set.

Pre-game

The Cardinals enter their April 5th, 2026 matchup vs the Tigers in Detroit with the 10th highest runs per 9 scored in the NL, but their 5.38 average runs allowed per game is the 4th worst in all of baseball. Prior to the game, the Cardinals were tied with the Cubs at the bottom of the NL Central.

Both the Tigers and the Cardinals have .500 records. If the Cardinals avoid the sweep, they will be the team with the winning record. If the Tigers sweep our redbirds, we will have went from 4-2 on the young season, to 4-5. That would take some wind out of the sails, momentum from the series wins vs Tampa Bay Rays and NY Mets. Kyle Leahy took the mound tonight vs Keider Montoro. I would describe Montoro as a back-of-the-rotation starter who relies on his good changeup to get outs. ERA probably will be mid 4s range. Leahy relies a lot on a sweeper that makes some batters chase pitches outside the zone. Leahy can also rely on trying to induce ground balls, and hopefully come up with some gidp. The verdict is still out on Leahy, but he appears to be a back-of-the-rotation starter experiment so far. What it is.

The Tigers have a better offense than the Cardinals, who are more of a mediocre offense so far compared to the Tigers, who have the 4th best team OPS in the AL. So far, the Cardinals offense has scored the same amount of runs as the two Chicago teams, and the Mariners. Which puts them middle of the pack.

If Leahy has a good start, the Cardinals have a good lineup to defeat Montero. If Leahy gives up 5 runs or more, I think it’ll be a total crapshoot. The game was streamed through the new Sunday night game-of-the-week host, Peacock, so if you have a Cardinals.TV subscription, the game was blacked out. So does MLB just expect everyone to subscribe to watch one game on a streaming site, or go out to a bar to watch the game? I guess so!

Cardinals 45.7% chance of winning

Kyle Leahy R

0-1 7.20 ERA 5 IP 1 SO

• 1.JJ Wetherholt L 2B
• 2.Iván Herrera R DH
• 3.Alec Burleson L 1B
• 4.Jordan Walker R RF
• 5.Nolan Gorman L 3B
• 6.Thomas Saggese R SS
• 7.Nathan Church L LF
• 8.Pedro Pagés R C
• 9.Victor Scott II L CF

Tigers 54.3% chance of winning

Keider Montero R

• 1.Colt Keith L DH
• 2.Kevin McGonigle L 3B
• 3.Gleyber Torres R 2B
• 4.Kerry Carpenter L RF
• 5.Riley Greene L LF
• 6.Dillon Dingler R C
• 7.Parker Meadows L CF
• 8.Spencer Torkelson R 1B
• 9.Javier Báez R SS

Well there you have it, I guess the Cardinals are the underdog in this matchup. But it could be a good game.

Top 1

To begin what looked like a chilly night in Detroit, JJ Wetherholt, a masked Ivan Herrera (looking almost ninja-like), and Alec Burleson were retired quickly by Keider Montero. 1-2-3

Bottom 1

Kyle Leahy was aggressive going up against the Tigers leadoff hitter Cole Keith, and struck him out to start the game. Leahy definitely needed to up his K rate there. Vs McGonigle, Leahy lost the battle; McGonigle worked it to a full count and then walked. Leahy recovered and then struck out Gleyber Torres! To complete an impressive first inning, Kyle struck out Kerry Carpenter.

Top 2

Jordan Walker lead off the 2nd with a single to right field, hitting cleanup. Nolan Gorman, another possible cleanup hitter batting fifth, popped up just outside the infield after fighting off a bunch of pitches. 1 out. Then Saggese flew out to right field. Walker’s hit had better placement, but similar nonetheless. Nathan Church was not up to the challenge, ending the top of the inning with a groundout.

Bottom 2

Kyle Leahy was looking good in the second until he started putting runners on base. Runners at first and second, Leahy faced bottom of the order Javier Baez with two outs. The escape artist, escaped unscathed.

Top 3

The Cardinals offense just wasn’t getting it done, but both teams had 1 hit at this point in the game. Baseball gonna baseball, would not have guessed these two pitchers would be having a pitcher’s duel, but Detroit in early April at night isn’t usually that conducive to hot hitting.

Bottom 3

Holt lead off the 3rd with a hit through the infield between 2nd and short. Leahy then struck out McGonigle with a filthy pitch that McGonigle could not connect with. However, the next batter Kerry Carpenter took Leahy deep to center during the next at bat. 2-0 Tigers. When Leahy gets hit, he gets hit hard. JJ Wetherholt almost made a super rangey, amazing play where he needed to slide and throw, making a play close that should not have been. The Tigers offense was dialing in on Kyle Leahy. But Kyle left the inning with only 2 runs allowed.

Top 4

Ivan Herrera lead off the 4th for the Cardinals and struck out on an ABS challenge. The rest of the Cardinals offense also appeared to be frozen in place in the freezing Michigan night.

Bottom 4

Leahy gave up a double to Spencer Torkelson to start out the 4th. Not a good start. Leahy however was able to retire two batters in a row, Torkelson advanced to third on a shattered bat. If nothing else, Leahy’s changeup looked real good tonight. He was just throwing too many pitches down the middle. Luckily, sometimes even when you throw a meatball, the hitter just pops out to center. Stil 2-0 Tigers.

Top 5

Finally the Cardinals got on base somehow, Nolan Gorman sharply hit a liner that bounced off the diving first baseman’s glove. Gorman on first with Saggese at the plate. Thomas worked the count to 3-2, then walked. There were 2 on nobody out for Nathan Church. Could Church save Easter Sunday for the Cardinals? 1-0. Foul, behind on the fastball. 1-1. 2-1 on another ball outside. It looked like Church had hit into a double play but the Tigers did not execute on the throw to second, which still got 1 out for them. Pedro Pages was up with 1 out, runners at first and third… it was quickly 0-2 for Pages. But, Pedro came up with a clutch RBI single! Nathan Church, absolutely flying around the bases, advanced all the way to third somehow. This moment knocked Montero out of the game.

Cardinals were down 2-1 with a runner at third base and 1 out when Victor Scott II layed down a bunt that actually worked out splendidly, because it scored a run and turned into VSii making it to first base. JJ Wetherholt popped out but moved Pages over to third. Then Ivan Herrera knocked in 2 runs byt hitting an opposite field lining looper which landed in right. Burleson was up with two outs and Herrera at first base, and grounded out up the middle. The damage was done though, Cardinals 4-2!

Bottom 5

Leahy continued with this 3rd MLB start of his career. Out #1 was an insanely high pop out to deep right center. McGonigle just missed a dinger. He retired Gleyber Torres. Kerry Carpenter up again, Leahy looked really good and went to 1-2 with another nasty changeup. 2-2 after a pitch missed low. 3-2 on a pich way outside. And Leahy just could not find the zone vs Carpenter, who walked to first. Kyle lost control of that at bat. Could Leahy retire Greene? He threw 3 straight balls. The wheels were coming off for Leahy. Finally a strike. Leahy quickly improved the count to two strikes. On the full count, Riley Greene hit one deep to center field and Victor Scott II pulled it in for the out.

Top 6

Jordan Walker was up at the plate. He struck out on a pitch way outside the zone, looking like the bad version of Jordan Walker. Nolan Gorman was up vs DeJesus on Easter Sunday and hit a dribbler up the middle. He almost beat it out because the ball moved slowly under the pitcher’s glove. Thomas Saggese was up and hit a deep one to right field but the outfielder was able to reign it in.

Bottom 6

Tigers down 4-2 still. George Soriano took over for Kyle Leahy. He threw 3 balls then a strike. Then another one missed low and Dingler walked. Leadoff hitter on base. Soriano did not have it tonight. Hsi slider ended up towards the middle of the zone, which got hit advancing the runner to third. Nobody out. This was the bullpen’s game to take. What would happen next? Tigers stole a base, runners at second and third. Pages with a terrible throw that bounced in the grass. Soriano battled back and it was 0-2 vs Torkelson. Then he threw one into the dirt which was blocked nicely by Pages. 2-2 count. Torkelson worked a full count by checking his swing at one in the dirt. Soriano walked the bases loaded, almost was a wild pitch. Pedro went out to the mound to calm down the vibes.

The Tigers got a run on what was in effect a sacrifice fly and Marmol decided to bail on his George Soriano plan for the 6th. There was 1 out with runners on first and second, leadoff man Jones was up with Romero. Saggese botched the double play but JoJo got an out. Cards up 4-3 with two outs, runners on first and third. It was McGonigle vs Romero… JoJo got wild and went 3-0! And then missed inside! Bases were loaded. Gleyber Torres was up and was 0-3 on the day… could he do anything? Romero threw a strik and two balls, 2-1 count. This time Saggese was able to make up for his botched DP, tossing the ball to second base for the out.

Top 7

The game felt far from over. Cardinals at bat. Church could not buy himself a hit tonight, or even a walk. One down on DeJesus striking out Church. Pedro Pages also struck out vs DeJesus. Buinting expert Victor Scott II flew out to left field this time. 1-2-3

Bottom 7

Romero was back out and quickly got a deep fly out to right field. 1 down. Riley Greene was up vs JoJo. JoJo struck him out! Two outs. Dillon Dingler which is one of the dumbest names I’ve ever heard… was up at the plate. Romero threw one low that he lost control of. But then Torres just ended up having a bad day and JoJo steamrolled through the Tigers offense like it was warm butter.

Top 8

JJ Wetherholt lead off the 8th inning for the Cardinals. He got a hit vs DeJesus! Who you might be surprised was still in the game. This hit knocked him out though. It was Herrera vs Seabold. Herrera took 3 balls in a row, and then four for the walk. Two on nobody out! Burly was up, having a no hit night. He took a strike, then whiffed on a pitch that dropped down out of the zone. Seabold threw another one outside the zone, which Burleson popped up to center field. Wetherholt was able to advance on this pop-out though, so it was not an entirely unproductive at bat.

One out for Jordan Walker, he held off on an away sweeper. Three balls in a row again, Walker thought he had a walk, but Seabolt caught the top of the zone. The next pitch was some junk down low though, so Seabolt walked the bases loaded, 1 out. Nolan Gorman was up at the plate. Took a ball inside that looked more like a nasty strike, but the Tigers didn’t challenge it. 1-1 count to Gorman. 2-1, then a nasty changeup fooled Gorman, making it 2-2. 3-2… Gorman popped out to left field, but it worked as a sacrifice fly. 5-3 Cardinals with Wetherholt scoring! Saggese struck out to end the inning. Not a very good day for Thomas Saggese.

Bottom 8

Ryne Stanek was in for the 8th. It was an 0-2 count vs Meadows. Then he threw 2 balls, 2-2. Meadows popped out. Stanek got a gift from the ump with a ball up in the zone, Tigers no challenge. 1-1 on an outside pitch. Stanek through a ball high, 2-2. Did he attack the zone? No, he threw it into the dirt. 3-2. Then he walked him, nibbling around the zone, but too wild. With a runner at first, Baez was up. Urias was brought in as a defensive replacement for Gorman at the beginning of the inning, by the way.

Stanek was able to strike out Baez on a nasty breaking ball just outside the zone. 2 outs. Top of the order, Jahmai Jones up. Stanek took the count to 1-2, then threw some slop in the dirt making it 2-2. Stanek tried to throw it by Jones, up in the zone, but he fouled it off. Then Ryne Stanek struck out Jones!

Top 9

It was 5-3 Cardinals. Seabold was still in pitching for the Tigers. Church had a chance to get his first hit of the day. He swung at some junk outside the zone and tapped out to the pitcher. Pages, first pitch swinging, grounded out to first. Victor Scott II was up! He got a single past second base! This brought up Wetherholt again… however Victor tried to steal and was barely thrown out. You just knew he was going to try to steal there.

Bottom 9

Closer apparent Riley O’Brien got the ball to try and shutdown the game with a 2 run lead. Quickly, O’Brien got the leadoff hitter with a nasty sinker! Gleyber Torres was 0-4 on the day, O’Brien looking good. But then he threw one into the dirt that Pages blocked with his body, spinning out of control. Riley was looking wild, 3-1 count… another sinker sunk the count to full. O’Brien blew away Torres with another sinker higher up. Nasty high heat. Vierling was up to bat, trying to make something happen… strike. Then a wild pitch. 1-1. The game ended with a weak flyout to the outfield.

Post-game

The Cardinals manufactured a win with some small ball, good pitching, and some defense. JoJo Romero gets my nod for player of the game, he really swayed the outcome and locked down some key outs. Kyle Leahy only gave up 2 runs today, which was another key to the game. The only poor pitching performance came from George Soriano, who otherwise has been good this year. The Cardinals pitchers looked to be struggling a bit with the cold, issuing 7 walks today. But the effectively wild “tactic” worked. Sometimes an MLB team is just tough to sweep, and the Cardinals were up to the challenge of not getting swept on the road by a pretty good team.

Ivan Herrera was your player of the game on offense, providing 2 of the 5 RBI today. He was 1-3 with a walk and a strikeout tonight. Burleson, Saggese, and Church all could not hit tonight, so it is somewhat surprising we scored 5 runs. Nolan Gorman, Pedro Pages, and Victor Scott II all had an RBI each. Teamwork gets the job done sometimes. Gorman and Walker were both 1-3, Jordan taking a walk so a .400 OBP is nice, eh? 15 total strikeouts between both teams.

The Cardinals go to Washington DC next and face the Nationals tomorrow night at 5:40pm!

A day after the Tigers secured the series victory — but lost Justin Verlander to the Injured List with a hip problem — they went for the series sweep on a chilly, breezy Sunday night. A costly throwing error by a Tigers pitcher against the Cardinals (déja-vu, anyone?) undid an early lead and sent Detroit to a 5-3 loss.

Verlander was originally slated to start, on somewhat-national television (I think it was streaming on the BlorgNet app or something); the Tigers even had a special ticket promotion going, including a t-shirt commemorating his true homecoming. Well, instead, they got everyone’s favourite sixth starter, Keider Montero, who’s in his third season… I hesitate to say “with the Tigers,” because he’s spent half of the past two seasons in Toledo. He made a dozen starts and eight relief appearances for the Tigers last year, and he was part of the WBC-winning Venezuela team earlier this spring.

Facing the Tigers tonight was Kyle Leahy, who spent the previous two years in the Cardinals’ bullpen, transitioning to a starting role this year. He had a decent 2025 in a relief role, with an ERA just above 3, a WHIP of 1.227, and while he doesn’t usually strike everybody out, he only gave up five home runs in 88 innings. He’d been a starter from the time he was drafted in 2018 through the 2022 season in the minors; he saw some action in AAA before the Cardinals made the decision to convert him to a reliever.

The game started off with both starting pitchers well in command, but the Tigers got a mini-threat going in the bottom of the second: Parker Meadows hit a sharp single and Spencer Torkelson walked, but Javier Báez hit a sharp grounder to third to end the inning. Meanwhile, Montero was only giving up soft contact, with a bloop single in the second being the sum total of the traffic on the basepaths for the Cardinals, and getting strikeouts on his sinker.

Kerry Carpenter opened the scoring with his second home run in two days; Colt Keith led off the bottom of the third with a single, went to second on a groundout, and with two outs Carpenter launched a mighty blast to straightaway centre for a 2-0 lead.

Montero, who was on a pitch count and so wouldn’t go too deep in this one, allowed a single and walked a guy to start the fifth; a groundout to second got the out at second. A single to left scored a run and ended Montero’s day, with Enmanuel De Jesus taking over. A comebacker bunt saw De Jesus fielding it and throwing it away, getting a run home to tie the game and putting runners on second and third. A single to right scored those two runs to put St. Louis up 4-2, and well, that was all pretty lousy.

But in the sixth Dillon Dingler — the master of the ABS system, apparently — walked to lead off, and he scooted over to third with a Parker Meadows single. Meadows then stole second to put a pair in scoring position, then Torkelson walked to load the bases. Báez hit a liner to left which was deep enough to score Dingler and narrow the lead to 4-3. Pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones hit a grounder to second which got Báez out at second, leaving runners on the corners with two outs. Kevin McGonigle drew a walk to re-load the bases, but Gleyber Torres grounded out to shortstop to end the inning. That felt like a squander to me, and was probably the thing that ultimately did the Tigers in tonight.

De Jesus righted the ship in the seventh with a 1-2-3 inning, and after giving up a leadoff single in the eighth, Connor Seabold took over. After a walk, a flyout and another walk, the Cardinals had the bases loaded with one out and Seabold was clearly having trouble finding the strike zone. A sacrifice fly pushed the Cardinals’ lead back to two runs, and after a strikeout the inning was mercifully over.

With one out in the eighth Torkelson walked again, but Báez flailed at an outside slider and Jones foul-tipped a high fastball into the catcher’s mitt. So much for that.

Riley O’Brien — tell me he shouldn’t have an auto-parts store named after him, I dare you — came on for the ninth and got three quick outs and everyone went home for hot cocoa.

Final score: Cardinals 5, Tigers 3

That got outta here in a hurry

Anything travelling that far oughtta have a darn stewardess on it.

114.2 MPH blast from Michigan native Zach MacDonald, who caps off a seven-run inning for the Flying Tigers. It is now 13-4. pic.twitter.com/RXGqvh5Ikt

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 5, 2026

(Catch the slightly-cleaned-up movie reference there?)

Notes and Observances

• Look, you can make all the age-related quips you want about Justin Verlander injuring his hip. Goodness knows I already have, amongst my BYB colleagues. Did this joke involve a reference to a Werther’s Original? I won’t tell.
• All joking aside, I’m older than Verlander, and I once had my back seize-up by getting out of my car in the parking lot at work. So for those of you younger than Verlander — a spry 43, merely a spring chicken — age is going to come for you, too, pal.
• Did you see that Jo Adell of the Angels, playing right field, went over the fence to rob the Mariners of three home runs? And that the game ended up a 1-0 Angels victory? Holy mackerel! Do yourself a favour and go find that video clip. Hold on, here it is, and you are very, very welcome.
• You really should be following the Artemis II mission around the Moon, and not just because one of the astronauts is from small-town southwestern Ontario like me.
• On this day in 1974, Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, was published for the first time. I think he’s done pretty well for himself in the ensuing years.