Category: MLB

New York Post | Greg Joyce: After last night’s loss to the Blue Jays, the Yankees sent Yovanny Cruz and Spencer Jones down to Triple-A. The moves clear two spots on the active roster, which will be taken presumably by Gerrit Cole and José Caballero today. This would all but confirm that the Yankees will go ahead with Anthony Volpe and Caballero both on the roster, so it’ll be interesting to see how they decide to give them both regular reps since Aaron Boone has spoken so highly of Caballero’s ability at the six.

MLB | Bryan Hoch: The 2026 Yankees sure have endured their fair share of injuries, but here’s some positive news on that front for a change: tests showed that Trent Grisham’s left knee hasn’t sustained any structural damage. The center fielder appeared to be experiencing discomfort in his knee after sliding into second base on a second inning bloop double during Wednesday’s contest, exiting the game in the top of the fifth. An IL stint would have been a real test for the Yankees’ outfield depth – already stretched thin with Jasson Domínguez’s injury – but it looks like they have avoided the worst case scenario. Exhale.

ESPN | Kiley McDaniel: Noted prospect guru Kiley McDaniel has released an update to his Top 50 MLB prospect rankings. Yankee fans rejoice; the crown jewel of their system, George Lombard Jr., ranks 10th, ahead of such notables as the Guardians’ Travis Bazzana and the Blue Jays’ Trey Yesavage. According to McDaniel, Lombard Jr.‘s improved contact rate this year has considerably brightened his outlook. Although the shortstop has cooled off in Triple-A after a blistering start in Double-A, his contact rate gains have held so far despite the promotion. Here’s hoping his bat passes the test; the defense was never the question.

The Wall Street Journal | Jared Diamond: ($) In the fall of 2020, Ivy League baseball had yet to resume, leaving then-Dartmouth player Ben Rice with nowhere to play. His solution? Make his own damn league. Well, maybe “league” is a bit strong, but he, along with some Harvard players, organized scrimmages for local college players at a facility in Worcester, Massachusetts. In this piece, Diamond sheds light on the various hurdles that Rice had to clear in his path to the major leagues as a player with limited exposure. Thank heavens the Yankees noticed the slugger; I shudder to think where they would be now without him.

The Athletic | Chris Kirshner: ($) The emergence of both Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice as elite players comes at a crucial time, argues Kirshner. With core players Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, and Giancarlo Stanton all well into their thirties, and a front office that spends less time at the top end of the free agent market, the Yankees desperately needed a homegrown talent that could sustain their window of contention – now they might have two. I implore the Yankees to protect them at all costs; please encase them in bubble wrap at all times when they’re not on the field. Just don’t forget to add holes for breathing.

Introduction

As Spring Training was getting underway this year, I wrote up an article on how the Diamondbacks might be able to improve themselves defensively as they attempted to navigate their way back into the playoffs. That argument centered on two changes: roster changes/upgrades and individual improvement from several younger players becoming increasingly comfortable and confident in their respective positions. It’s something of a bugaboo that I’ve been harping on for over a year now. In my opinion, excellent fielding not only protects pitchers but is also some of the most entertaining and rewarding parts of the game as it allows the players to demonstrate their otherworldly athleticism. Now that we’ve gotten past the quarter pole of the 2026 season, we have enough data to start teasing out some trends and conclusions on how those changed dynamics have played out to this point in the season. Overall, depending on your preferred metric, the D-Backs have definitely been better defensively so far with Baseball Reference putting them at third in the league by defensive runs saved (DRS), fifth by outs above average (OAA), and Fangraphs measuring them out at seventh – all of which represent significant improvements year–over–year.

Roster Improvements

This dynamic was probably the one I felt most confident about as it felt like a no-brainer to improve two lackluster defenders in Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez with excellent ones in Carlos Santana and Nolan Arenado respectively. Well, you can take this as exhibit #983 of why I’m not a baseball general manager. Santana has been functionally a non-factor this season after straining an adductor all the way back in the beginning of April while Arenado has been anywhere from excellent to mediocre depending on the outlet. Instead, the team has leaned on rookie Jose Fernandez and Ildemaro Vargas to fill in at first base with surprisingly positive results – especially considering it’s neither of their natural positions. Fernandez came up in the minors mostly as a shortstop and third baseman with just 17 appearances at first in the minor leagues, but he’s been able to utilize the excellent range that made him such an exciting shortstop prospect to hold his own at first base. Meanwhile, Vargas is having a career year by nearly every measure and his glovework has been no exception with excellent DRS ratings. It should be noted that both Vargas and Fernandez are not well rated by Fangraph’s version, but we’ll have to save those differences for another time.

Individual Improvements

Once again, both Geraldo Perdomo and Gabriel Moreno have been defensive standouts for the team as they continue to cement themselves as stars in their own right. But in my article from February, I highlighted that Moreno’s bigger issue has been staying healthy and on the field rather than any type of skill gap. Sadly, he has once again struggled with that aspect of his game by missing nearly three weeks of action already – this time for an oblique strain to go along with his long list of maladies. Meanwhile, even as Perdomo has struggled to regain the MVP-caliber offensive contribution he displayed last year, he’s managed to (mostly) maintain his defensive prowess. This is another situation in which different ratings land in very different places. According to Baseball Savant, Perdomo has stepped back slightly by OAA and arm strength while Fangraphs has seen him accumulate nearly half of his rating from last year. Regardless of the specific nuances though, it seems like both of them have mostly maintained their defensive skills to buoy slow starts offensively – here’s to hoping they can keep it up for the rest of the season.

The Angels led for five innings before crumbling late en route to a 10-inning, 3-2 loss to the Athletics on Thursday night at Angel Stadium, all in front of a sparse crowd featuring fiery “sell-the-team” chants from shirtless fans in the upper deck.

With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 10th, the A’s Zack Gelof hit into a fielder’s choice groundout off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn.

Angels second baseman Adam Frazier had trouble getting the ball out of his glove after catching shortstop Zach Neto’s throw. That allowed Nick Kurtz to reach home as the go-ahead run.

Gelof was initially called out, but the A’s won the challenge — and ultimately the game 3-2.

“Yeah, [Frazier] looked like he just couldn’t get the ball out of his glove,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “You know, one of those things where the ball got in, and he was doing everything right to turn it, just couldn’t get out of his glove.”

The Angels were unable to tie against A’s reliever Mark Leiter Jr., who earned the save, despite having runners on the corners and zero outs in the bottom half of the frame. Zeferjahn (2-2) took the loss.

Nolan Schanuel gave the Angels a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run homer. But the Angels’ offense, which has been outscored 84-32 since a May 9 loss in Toronto, continued to struggle.

“They believe,” Suzuki said of the Angels’ spirit, specifically on offense. “Every inning, you got all the guys — they’re all up there, rooting guys on and believing that we’re going to put up runs, and really, we’re just not. And it’s not for a lack of effort; it’s not for a lack of anything like that. We just need to find ways to score runs, that’s all.”

The Athletics took advantage of the small deficit, as Darell Hernáiz and Nick Kurtz hit RBI singles in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to tie the game and force extras.

Angels starter José Soriano surrendered two runs and six hits over 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts. A’s starter Luis Severino surrendered two runs on three hits over seven frames with 10 strikeouts.

“I’ll take away the positive things,” Soriano said. “[I] got into the seventh, but couldn’t complete the inning, but I feel good (about) the way I pitched today. I helped the team the most I can … I control what I could control … I battled; I feel good about that.”

Read more:Athletics rally to beat the Angels in extra innings

After failing to split the four-game series with the AL West-leading A’s, the Angels have dropped four consecutive series and hold an MLB-worst 17-34 record.

That has prompted a growing group of fans to gather shirtless in the upper deck at Angel Stadium and chant that owner Arte Moreno should “sell the team.” The chants could be heard on the Angels’ TV broadcast.

The players, meanwhile, are trying to string together enough good plays to score more wins.

“Really just trying to get the rhythm going of just piling on good at-bat after good at-bat after good at-bat,” Angels right fielder Jo Adell said. “We just haven’t really had that rhythm. It’s like a good at-bat here, and we struggle to kind of pile up after one another and get that rhythm going. We’re hoping to, at some point, find what that is; we’ve had it, we know what it is. But it’s just one of those things, baseball can kind of just slip away from you.”

The road ahead doesn’t get any easier for the Angels. The Angels host the Rangers (24-25), who are a close second in the AL West and riding a two-game winning streak.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

On Thursday night, the Arizona Diamondbacks were able to begin the weekend series against the Colorado Rockies with a walkoff win to push the team’s winning streak to a season-long 5 games. This team has now won 9 of their last 12 games.

This game was won due to the continued success of this Arizona pitching staff. Eduardo Rodriguez continued his run as the ace of this staff throwing 7 scoreless innings tonight. The 7 scoreless innings tonight drop his season ERA to a minuscule 2.24 as he continues to be the leader of this rotation. ERod continued his approach mixing up his pitches more this season vs previous seasons and getting lots of ground balls because of it. It has been such a massive development for this team continuing to get so much length from their starting rotation. Cant be overstated the importance of this.

Another equally enormous performance tonight came from Kevin Ginkel in the 8^th inning getting out of a bases loaded 1 out jam and keeping it a tie game at 1-1. Juan Morillo began the inning, and after getting some planned rest and not throwing much the past week appeared very rusty. Morillo loaded the bases and then hit the batter walking in a run and putting this bullpen in a precarious position. Fortunately, Kevin Ginkel came in and completely overpowered the next 2 Rockies hitters keeping the score where it was and giving the team a chance to win the game. Kevin Ginkel regaining the dominant form we have seen from him in previous seasons has been such a massive development in the early going for this team.

The offense really was disappointing tonight. The Rockies threw a starter who had never even started a professional game in his career before, and he held the Dbacks offense scoreless through 5 innings while only allowing 2 baserunners. Definitely not what you would expect, but the Dbacks hitters continued to chase pitches outside of the zone playing right into the pitcher’s hands.

Dbacks hitters were able to draw 8 walks, mostly off the Rockies bullpen, but the Dbacks were still only able to score just 2 runs despite all of the free passes.

Good teams can win baseball games in multiple ways, and this team this season has shown the ability to win slugfests as well as the pitching duels like we saw tonight. This is definitely an encouraging development from my perspective as it has seemed like in year’s past this team could only win games by bludgeoning teams to death with offense. The Dbacks will look to keep the momentum going tomorrow night as they will give the ball to Michael Soroka.

The biggest negative for me of this game, was the reporting from Bob Nightengale during the game that this was the smallest crowd at Chase Field since May of 2023 at just 14,761 fans. C’mon guys! We have got to do better than that! Especially when this team is winning games! I would greatly encourage people to try and show up to the ballpark this holiday weekend and give these guys some energy at home! They deserve it! Especially with the big replica jersey giveaway this weekend. LFG!

The Yankees needed to make a tough decision to bring Gerrit Cole and Jose Caballero back from the IL and optioning prospect Spencer Jones was the solution.

The team announced late Thursday that Jones and RHP Yovanny Cruz were optioned back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The corresponding moves were not announced, but with Cole slated to start Friday's series opener against the Rays and Caballero's 10-day IL stint set to end, those are the likely changes to the roster.

For Jones, the call-up felt like a long time coming for the 25-year-old. With his power numbers opening eyes in the minors, 35 long balls in 2025 and 11 this year, many wanted to see if his skills could translate with the Yankees. But the outfielder just couldn't get it going in his time in pinstripes.

In 10 games in the bigs, Jones had four hits (all singles) in 24 at-bats, with three walks, two RBI and a stolen base. He also struck out 12 times, an issue the slugger has had his entire professional career.

Across 33 games in Triple-A this season, he has struck out 46 times in 120 at-bats. He had 179 punchouts in 438 at-bats between Double-A and Triple-A. 

Cole will take the spot of Cruz, 26, who made his MLB debut on Wednesday against the Blue Jays. The right-hander was electric, striking out three batters in his two innings of work. On Thursday, Cruz wasn't as effective. He allowed a hit and hit a batter while getting just one out. 

He'll return to the minors, where he held a 3.00 ERA and struck out 23 batters in 18.0 IP across 15 appearances with the RailRiders. 

Offense was tough to come by as the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks squared off in the desert to kick off the series. A spectacular pitching duel highlighted the night as the Rockies ended up losing 2-1 on a Diamondbacks walk-off single.

The Amazing Agnos

Making his first start since high school, Zach Agnos was incredible on the mound. Coming into the game, the Rockies were hoping to get at least four innings out of Agnos, but got much more than that. Showing command of all his pitches, Agnos kept the Diamondbacks off balance as he worked quickly and efficiently, firing 71 pitches, 49 for strikes, over five innings of work while collecting four strikeouts and allowing just one walk, just the third Rockie all-time to have that stat line in his first career start. He also induced three groundouts and six flyouts. The baserunner for Arizona didn’t come until Adrian Del Castillo drew a one-out walk, and the lone hit Agnos gave up was a soft line drive by Ketel Marte with two outs in the same inning.

While it wouldn’t have been great for him to get more run support and leave with a lead instead of a 0-0 tie, the fact that he matched the veteran Eduardo Rodriguez pitch-for-pitch through five innings is a major feather in his cap and may warrant another start in five days.

A Threatening Rattle

The Rockies then turned to Blas Castaño, who had impressed in his Rockies debut against Arizona last Sunday, out of the bullpen to start the sixth inning.

Things got a little hairy out of the gate as Castaño walked Ryan Waldschmidt and surrendered a single to Marte to put runners on the corners. Corbin Carroll then grounded into a force out, thanks to a nifty play by Chad Stevens, that drove in the run to give the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead. Castaño then dug himself into a bit more of a hole as he loaded the bases by walking Geraldo Perdomo and hitting Nolan Arenado with a pitch. Stevens again came through defensively to start a double play off the bat of Ildemardo Vargas to end the inning.

The Diamondbacks threatened in the following inning as Castaño allowed a single and a walk. He managed to get Waldschmidt to strike out for the second out and then got Marte to hit a ball on the ground to first base. Willi Castro had a peculiar play as he just needed to touch the bag, but seemed to forget how many outs there were and turned to fire to second base to try and turn a double play. Luckily, Ezequiel Tovar was able to cover the bag for the force out.

The Amazing Rodriguez

As good as Agnos was for the Rockies, Rodriguez was just as good for the Diamondbacks and then some. The Rockies didn’t get their first base runner until the fourth inning, courtesy of a walk by Castro, and didn’t get their first hit until the fifth inning. Rodriguez ended up going seven innings, allowing just four hits while striking out four. He threw 63 of his 99 pitches for strikes and induced a whopping 10 ground-outs, including a couple of crucial double-play balls.

The Rockies’ best chance to score against him came in the fifth inning. Tovar led off the inning with a double to right field. Kyle Karros then ripped a ball to third base and was robbed of a hit by Arenado, who was playing even with the bag, anticipating a bunt. Jake McCarthy then reached on an infield single to put men on the corners with one out. Braxton Fulford then laid down a bunt in front of the mound for a squeeze play, but it went right to Rodriguez, who then flipped it to the plate to get Tovar. Troy Johnston then flew out to end the inning.

Rox Equalize

Once Rodriguez was out of the game, the Rockies found some momentum against reliever Juan Morillo, who hadn’t allowed a run since May 2. Johnston got things started with a one-out single and was followed by a pinch-hit single from TJ Rumfield, and another Castro walk to load the bases. The birthday boy, Tyler Freeman, was then hit by a pitch to drive in the run and tie the game up 1-1 and keep the bases loaded.

Kevin Ginkel then entered the game on the mound with the Rockies looking for the big hit to take the lead. Unfortunately, Hunter Goodman popped out softly to the catcher, and Tovar grounded out to third base to end the inning.

Tough Luck Loss

After Seth Halvorsen escaped the eighth without giving up a run, Juan Mejia wasn’t as lucky in the bottom of the ninth. Having allowed two walks in the inning, Mejia was close to sending the game to extra innings as he faced Corbin Carroll with two outs. Carroll won the batter, however, sending a ball into right field that Freeman was unable to send home to catch the winning run.

The Rockies managed six hits in the game, but went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They struck out six times and had two walks. The Diamondbacks only had four hits and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile, walks turned out to be a huge difference maker as the Rockies’ bullpen issued seven walks after Agnos departed.

Up Next

The series continues on Friday with Tomoyuki Sugano (4-3, 4.02 ERA) taking the mound for Colorado. Michael Soroka (6-2, 3.49 ERA) will take the pill for Arizona. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 am MDT.

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WASHINGTON — Kodai Senga’s rehab is moving to the game phase.

The Mets right-hander is scheduled to pitch Friday for Single-A St. Lucie, his first minor league rehab appearance since the team placed him on the injured list April 27 with lumbar spine inflammation.

Senga, according to manager Carlos Mendoza, will throw 50-60 pitches, a maximum of four innings. It’s still too early, Mendoza said, to know if Senga will need the full 30-day rehab window.

It’s been a rough start to the season for Senga, who owns a 9.00 ERA in five starts. Senga’s lumbar inflammation was diagnosed after a third straight subpar outing in April.

He is one of two pitchers who began the season in the Mets rotation now on the IL (Clay Holmes, with a fractured right fibula, is the other).

Another starting pitcher, Sean Manaea, has been relegated to mop-up duty in the bullpen.

The Mets have received mixed results from reinforcements from Syracuse. Christian Scott has pitched to a 4.12 ERA in five starts.

Zach Thornton debuted for the team on Wednesday and allowed four earned runs over 4 ¹/₃ innings.

Mark Vientos made a highlight-reel play at first base with a diving stop in the fifth inning that retired CJ Abrams for the final out and prevented the tying run from scoring in the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Nationals.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

“You have to give him a lot of credit because he continues to work every day with the coaching staff and he’s gotten so much better,” Mendoza said. “He’s comfortable. That wasn’t an easy play. It was a bullet and then he got a good first step on it. Overall, the awareness on bunt plays, there’s a lot that he is doing right.”

A.J. Minter’s potential last rehab appearance is scheduled for Saturday with Syracuse.

The lefty reliever, who had hip discomfort after rehabbing from lat surgery, hasn’t pitched for the Mets since April 2025.

Tobias Myers will start Friday’s game in Miami, the team announced. 

José Caballero is returning from the injured list Friday, but Anthony Volpe is sticking around. 

The Yankees optioned Spencer Jones to Triple-A following Thursday’s 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays, opening a spot for Caballero but keeping Volpe on the roster — albeit in an uncertain role. 

Aaron Boone had indicated that the plan is for Caballero to reclaim his starting shortstop job after missing just the minimum 10 days on the IL with a fracture in his right middle finger. That would relegate Volpe to a bench role, without any defensive versatility to play elsewhere, though evidently he showed the Yankees enough while filling in for Caballero to at least extend his stay. 

“[Volpe] is doing great,” Caballero said Thursday afternoon. “It definitely means a lot to me [Boone giving a vote of confidence]. But I just want to be in there and help the team as much as I can.” 

Whether the Yankees start to work Volpe out at different positions remains to be seen, though that likely would be easier to accomplish at Triple-A. Caballero has the ability to play the super-utility role, but his defense at shortstop was the best in the majors as of Thursday by Defensive Runs Saved. 

Instead, Jones was the odd man out after his first two weeks in the big leagues in which the outfielder hit just 4-for-24 (.167) with 12 strikeouts and a .426 OPS. His demotion is further indication that Trent Grisham could be back in the lineup as soon as Friday after he missed Thursday’s game with left knee discomfort — though an MRI earlier in the day showed no structural damage. 

“It’s a relief,” Grisham said. “Anytime you get something in your knee, I guess you’re a little worried. I was pretty optimistic with how I was feeling that there would be no structural damage. But still good to get the news.” 

Grisham indicated that the imaging did show some inflammation in his knee, but said it was unrelated to Thursday’s issue. He said he has banged it multiple times this season, creating some bruising on the top of his kneecap, though Thursday he felt the discomfort on the inside of his knee. 

“I think there’s a chance he’s in there [Friday],” Boone said before Jones was sent down. “Today went pretty well, he did a number of things. We’ll move him around some more [Friday] and potentially be an option for us tomorrow.” 

Without Jones, the Yankees’ fourth outfielder is now Max Schuemann or Amed Rosario, with Caballero also having played there in the past. 

Yovanny Cruz, who pitched a second straight night Thursday after not pitching back-to-back days at all with Triple-A prior to his call-up, was also optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game to make room on the roster for Gerrit Cole’s debut Friday.

Cruz was less effective Thursday, giving up a double and hitting a batter in one-third of an inning.

The Mets announced that RHP Tobias Myers will start Friday's series opener against the Marlins in Miami.

Myers, 27, has not started a game this season, but Mets manager Carlos Mendoza had left the possibility open to use the reliever in that role following the injury to Clay Holmes. However, the Mets skipper said it would be tricky to get Myers stretched out to go deep into games. 

Myers was getting warmed up in the bullpen in the eighth inning if the Mets tacked on runs, but Devin Williams was called on to complete the save in Thursday's series finale. 

He last appeared in a game on May 18 against the Nationals, where he pitched 1.1 innings while throwing 25 pitches. 

Myers has starting experience, 32 career starts, but has been used as the long man in the Mets bullpen.

The right-hander told SNY's Chelsea Janes last Friday in the aftermath of Holmes' injury that no one had approached him about replacing Holmes in the rotation, but confirmed that he's not stretched out enough that he can start.

“At the moment, I’m [not stretched out to where I could start]. Maybe 35, 40 pitches,” Myers told Janes.

The Mets pulled prospect Jonah Tong from his Syracuse start earlier this week and Mendoza said that the right-hander is "in play" to be called up for the Miami series. It looks unlikely Tong will be called up now, but fans will have to wait until game time to find out. 

New York will start their series with the Marlins on Friday at 7:10 p.m.

The Yankees have been clearly salty about the way their 2025 season came to a close since the moment it happened. They strongly believed that their team was talented enough to win a championship, and to lose to the Blue Jays—first in the AL East race and then in the AL Division Series—was deeply disappointing. Perhaps the worst part of all of it was that after falling behind 0-2 in the ALDS, they won a dramatic Game 3 to briefly get back into the series, and instead of getting another win to send it back to Toronto for a winner-take-all Game 5, they got utterly embarrassed in front of their own fans at Yankee Stadium as a bullpen game sent them home.

Well, it’s far from the end of the 2026 season, but as far as Mountie Wholestaff once again inexplicably dominating the Yanks in their own backyard goes? As Yogi Berra would say, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”

If the Yankees offense looked moribund on Wednesday night, tonight’s effort may want to make them consider checking their pulses. After eking out two close wins over the Blue Jays on Monday and Tuesday, the Yankee lineup completely flatlined over the ensuing pair of games for a dud of a split. Thursday’s contest was a three-hit shutout at the hands of Toronto’s depth pitchers: a 2-0 final that should prompt some big questions, especially with AL East-leading Tampa Bay coming to town. Carlos Rodón’s decent start was not good enough because it involved one mistake—not the margin for error you want from your starting pitchers, or the bullpen that followed.

Rodón got ambushed quickly to begin this affair. After a strikeout to start the night, he let Vladimir Guerrero Jr. slip away on a walk. That set the table for Daulton Varsho, who flapjacked a slider well out of the strike zone off the third-base bag and down the left field line for a goofy little RBI double—the kind Toronto does so well. Rodón regained his composure to end the frame, but that single run would stand tall for a while.

Toronto’s shutout started with a scoreless inning of work from opener Braydon Fisher, aided by a successful ABS challenge to strike out Aaron Judge. Then lefty Adam Macko worked around a two-out Ryan McMahon double to pass the baton to bulk man Spencer Miles. The 25-year-old righty used his sinker-curve combo to work ahead of the slumping Bomber lineup and quell any thoughts of a tying rally in the middle frames.

Rodón continued to work deep counts in this ballgame, exceeding 90 pitches by the end of the fifth and necessitating a move to rookie Yovanny Cruz after he finished that frame. The southpaw held his own though, working around more command issues to strike out seven Jays and keep the game within reach.

But like last night, the Yankees couldn’t hack it. They managed only three hits in the first seven innings against a trio of pitchers not exactly heralded as household names. Miles made his case to be used as a bona fide starter with 4.1 scoreless innings, striking out six and scattering a walk and two knocks.

Then an old, irritating friend paid a visit.

It’s a truism in Yankee circles that George Springer could be hitting .020 across a full season, and his only hits would probably be for extra bases against the Yankees. Well, Springer entered the night hitting below the Mendoza Line despite continuing to hit leadoff. Naturally, the longtime Yankee nuisance found a pitch to drive off Camilo Doval and snuck it over the left-field wall into the first row. I dunno, man. At least it wasn’t a moonshot? Not like those count any differently.

Because the 2026 Yankee bullpen is totally fine, please stop asking, the eighth and ninth innings saw a high-leverage relief appearance from Paul Blackburn. He actually did well enough. In the eighth, he worked around a double from Ernie Clement to retire Myles Straw. Then in the ninth, he got Springer to roll over into a double play.

But asking for this Yankee offense to produce multiple runs tonight felt like asking for the weather in New Jersey to stop seesawing between sweltering heat waves and spirit-crushing rainstorms.

Submariner Tyler Rogers walked the No. 9 hitter, usually an unforgivable sin against a top-flight offense. But a top-flight offense this was not, tonight. Ben Rice went first-pitch hunting and did Rogers a favor, hitting the ball straight to Varsho. Then Judge came up, and promptly dribbled a double-play ball to Andrés Giménez to finish off the eighth. Cool.

Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Paul Goldschmidt were the trio set to face closer Jeff Hoffman in the bottom of the ninth. Bellinger lined a ball down the line but right to Vladdy at first. Jazz struck out for the fourth time, and Goldschmidt chased a pitch well out of the zone.

That’s that: a 2-0 final and a three-hit shutout to clinch the kind of series split that makes you feel hollow inside. Judge and his teammates talked a big game earlier in 2026 about wanting to always finish series strong. This was very much the opposite of that.

The Yankees have now scored one run over the past 18 innings. That’s not going to cut it against a division rival, especially one like Toronto that tends to round into form in the second half—and with another rival already growing their margin in the division. And oh, yeah, that other rival is coming to town. The Rays swept the Yankees earlier in the year at the Trop and will meet them at a convenient time.

Well, the sun will come out tomorrow, at least. And with it will come a gift: Gerrit Cole is back! I mean, starting pitching isn’t exactly the biggest issue facing the Yankees this season, but hey. You take the positives you can get them. He’ll oppose Nick Martinez with first pitch at 7:05pm on YES.

Box Score

Game 1

Purdue 8 Iowa 1

Starting Pitchers:

· Purdue — RHP Austin Klug (6-3, 5.57 ERA)

· Iowa — RHP Cole Moore (3-0, 5.09 ERA)

Fourth time is a try for the Purdue Boilermakers as they finally got a win over Iowa this season.  Last weekend they were swept on the road by the Hawkeye, but today they got ‘em.  Even though Iowa put a runner on base every inning but the first, their offense was for the most part inept as they could not string anything together.  Iowa is at the best when they get runners on base and create chaos.  That didn’t happen today.

Purdue starter Austin Klug went 4.2 innings today and lefty Jarvis Evans went the rest of the way.  Klug did a solid job though Iowa did take a lead in the fourth inning thanks to Miles Risley reaching on an error and scoring two batters later when Jaixon Frost drove a single to leftfield.  It was a little surprising that Klug was pulled with two outs in the fifth, but apparently coach Greg Goff saw something casual fan didn’t.

The Boilers jumped all over Hawkeye relievers Brolan Frost and Tyler Guerin in the bottom of the fourth.  Frost walked Jackson Bessette and C.J. Richmond to start the inning and was pulled in favor of Guerin.  He promptly gave up a triple to Dylan Drake that scored two.  Drake then scored when the nine-hole batter Westin Boyle hit a deep fly to center.  After four innings, Purdue was up 4-1.

The Indiana boys swung Pete’s hammer again in the sixth inning to put more of a beating on Tyler Guerin.  Richmond saw that the Hawkeyes went into a pull-side shift and laid down an easy bunt to third, reaching first without a throw.  Drake singled to put two on and no outs.  Boyle then executed a bunt of his own and beat it out to first as none of the Hawkeyes could make a play.  That loaded the bases.  Bessette score on a sacrifice fly by Eli Anderson and then former Cornhusker Aaron Manias struck the big blow with a double that scored two more.  Purdue had a 6-1 lead and Iowa showed little life the rest of the game.

Jarvis Evans gave up three hits once he came in to get the last out of the fifth, but did not leave many pitches in the zone that Iowa batters could put a barrel on.  His defense backed him up and did not let a Hawkeye get past first base in the final 4.1 innings.

Purdue added a run in the seventh and another in the eighth by consistently putting the ball in play against a depleted Iowa bullpen.  With the 8-1 win, the Boilermakers will move on to the quarterfinals to take on number one seed and number one ranked UCLA.

With rain in the forecast for Friday there is no word yet whether the Purdue players will be required to support the ground crew in tarping the field.

Game 2

Michigan 3 Ohio State 0

Starting Pitchers:

· Ohio State — RHP Gavin Kuzniewski (6-2, 4.90 ERA)

· Michigan — LHP Shane Brigham (5-4, 4.50 ERA)

While it was not a cloudy, chilly day in November, the fact that Ohio State and Michigan faced off against each other meant there would be a lot of intensity.  From the opening pitch, there was a lot of noise and energy on the field and the fact that it was also an elimination game, just multiplied that.

Ohio State swept the Wolverines last week in their regular season ending series leaving the maize and blue wanting to at least take one chunk out of them for the season.  

The Buckeyes put their Friday night starter Gavin Kuzniewski out on the mound against Michigan’s freshman Shane Brinham.  From that perspective, one would think a slight edge would go to Ohio State.  That said, Brinham moved into a weekend position late in the season and pitched very well.  To no one’s surprise, this one was dominated by the right arm of Kuzniewski and the left arm of Brinham.

In a game like this it is imperative that a team take advantage of any break given to them or mistake made by the opposition.  That happened in favor of Michigan in the top of the third inning.  After striking out Drew Culbertson, he walked both Dane Morrow and Colby Turner.  After a mound visit from the Buckeye pitching coach, he hit Brayden Jeffries with the very next pitch.  All of a sudden, Michigan had bases loaded with one out and their cleanup hitter standing in the batter’s box.  Noah Miller came through with a two-RBI double to put the Wolverines up 2-0.  That was the only hit given up by Kuzniewski on the night.

Brinham was dominant and into the seventh inning had only allowed three hits and one Buckeye to reach second base.  Ohio State had been one of the hottest hitting teams in the league over the last month and they could not get to him.

After giving up the two runs, Kuzniewski entered into a zone where he was unhittable.  Even having thrown 120 pitches, Kuzniewski was still striking out Wolverines in the eighth inning and sat down 15 batters in a row until Colby Turner reached on an error for the second time in the game.  After surrendering a walk to Jeffries, Kuzniewski’s night was over.

Ryan Zamora came on with two Wolverines on base and two outs.  Noah Miller came up big again with his second hit of the game, driving in Turner, who had reached on an error.  Going to the Buckeye half of the

Shane Brinham threw is 100^th pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning and struck out Henry Kaczmar, Noah Furtch, and Dane Harvey, the Buckeyes best hitters.  Harvey was his tenth K of the game, which was a career high for the lefty out of North Vancouver, British Columbia. 

After Zamora struck out the side in the top of the ninth, Brinham was sent out to pitch the ninth for Michigan.  He had not gone this deep in a game in his young career and had thrown 110 pitches.  After giving up his fifth hit of the game to Maddix Simpson, he struck out Mason Eckelman, popped up Lee Ellis, and popped up Grant Mangrum to end the game.

Two incredible pitching performances tonight.  Michigan got the win and advances with only two hits in the game.  This was also the second complete game of the tournament for the Wolverines as their closer, Cade Montgomery went seven innings in a run-rule win over Rutgers.  They will play Nebraska at 5:00 tomorrow night.

WASHINGTON — Devin Williams should have had one out in the ninth inning Thursday, but a misread by his center fielder placed the Mets lead in jeopardy.

A.J. Ewing initially broke backward on Daylen Lile’s fly ball to center and upon recovery had to lunge for a ball that popped out of his glove for a leadoff double.

But Williams has dominated after a rocky transition to the Mets. And Thursday, he recorded three straight outs without Lile advancing beyond third base, securing a 2-1 victory over the Nationals.

It was the 10th straight scoreless appearance for Williams, who earned his seventh save in eight chances.

“I feel like I’m on a good streak here and I am trying to keep it going,” he said.

The right-hander credited a mechanical adjustment for his improvement over a rough April stretch in which he surrendered eight earned runs over four appearances.

“It’s basically my starting position — the way I am starting with my hands, it’s just a lot more comfortable for me,” he said.

Williams said during his struggles he was experimenting with a new starting position with his hands because of concern he was tipping his pitches.

But now he’s found a new comfort zone.

“I have a lot of reps coming from there, so it was always kind of a struggle for me coming set with my hands at my belt,” Williams said. “So we just changed it.”

The Mets have received strong work from not just Williams, but the back end of their bullpen overall. Huascar Brazobán, Brooks Raley and Luke Weaver are the other key components. The group, including Williams, combined for four scoreless innings Thursday.

“They are aggressive, they are attacking hitters, they are sticking to their strength,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “A perfect example was in the ninth inning there with a runner on third base and less than two outs. Devin gets behind in the count and he sticks to the changeup there. He gets to 3-1, gets the swing and miss and then gets a strikeout. It comes down to them executing, but also sticking to who they are.”

An announced crowd of 40,249 came to a chilly Yankee Stadium on Thursday night to watch a ballgame. 

They may have been better off just staying home to tune into the Knicks, or any number of activities that would have been less frustrating than watching the Yankees lineup. 

On a night when arguably the biggest cheers were reserved for the Knicks score being flashed on the video board, the Yankees bats came up emptier than airballs in a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays in The Bronx. 

After winning the first two games of the four-game set against the defending division champs, the Yankees (30-21) wasted a chance to take the series over the past two nights, going down meekly with a combined one run and nine hits. 

That was understandable Wednesday, when the Blue Jays (23-27) had young stud Trey Yesavage on the mound, but on Thursday, the Yankees mustered just three hits as they were shut down in a bullpen game, led by bulk reliever Spencer Miles, a rookie who cruised across 4 ¹/₃ innings. 

“We got some work to do,” said Aaron Judge, who acknowledged looking forward to the series after the Blue Jays ended the Yankees’ season last October with an ALDS thrashing. “We don’t like splitting that series, but we’ll take care of business in the next one.” 

The Yankees, who will welcome the division-leading Rays on Friday for a showdown that begins with Gerrit Cole’s season debut, have now lost nine of their past 13 games. 

They struck out 14 times, did not have a runner advance past second base all night and only had multiple base runners in one inning — first and second with one out in the sixth, after which Jazz Chisholm Jr. (0-for-4, four strikeouts) struck out on three pitches and Paul Goldschmidt grounded out. 

“Bullpen games can be challenging offensively and they matched up well,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But we got shut down tonight. … We got to get some guys going, period.” 

Judge, owner of the seventh-highest OPS in the majors, had another quiet night, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout and grounding into a double play. He is now 4-for-31 with 12 strikeouts over his past eight games. 

“I’m not doing enough at the plate,” Judge said. 

Boone chalked it up to a timing issue for the back-to-back AL MVP. 

“Just going through it a little bit right now,” Boone said. “Usually that means good things coming on the other side. A little in between probably. … He’ll get through it and somebody will pay the price real soon.” 

Carlos Rodón turned in the best start of his delayed season, tossing five innings of one-run ball. He still battled some issues with his command — walking three batters, one of which turned into the only run he allowed — but allowed just three hits and struck out seven while completing five innings for the first time this year. 

Despite the left-hander’s fastball velocity being down, Rodón generated 18 whiffs, an encouraging sign even on a night when he was still trying to fine-tune his command. 

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Rodón said. “Obviously I’d like to get deeper into games.” 

Camilo Doval later gave up another run when he left a slider over the heart of the plate to George Springer, who belted it for a solo shot that made it 2-0 in the seventh inning. 

But with the way the Yankees offense was going, it did not matter much, a fact that will need to be rectified against another tough division opponent this weekend. 

“We just got to tighten up a couple things here with us and we’ll be right where we need to be,” Judge said. “The offense isn’t too far off. You get a couple timely hits, get a couple walks when you need it, some good things are going to happen. Just got to get some traffic back out there.”

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were blue after losing to the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals), 1-0.

Iowa wasted a terrific start from Jordan Wicks, who tossed five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. Wicks struck out two and walked two.

Luis Peralta hit a batter to open the sixth inning and after a stolen base, a walk, and an infield single to load the bases, a sacrifice fly scored the only run of the game. Peralta’s final line was one run on one hit over two innings. He walked one and struck out two.

Corbin Martin retired the side in order in the ninth, striking out one.

With no one on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, center fielder Kevin Alcántara walked. Then second baseman James Triantos and shortstop Owen Miller both singled. Alcántara tried to score from second on Miller’s single, but was thrown out at the plate in a controversial call.

You be the judge.

No replay in the minors, so what the umpire called goes. I can’t tell if Alcántara touched the plate or not from that angle anyways.

Alcántara was 0 for 2 with two walks. Triantos was 1 for 4. Miller was 2 for 4.

A great catch from left fielder Justin Dean.

Knoxville Smokies

Rare scheduled off-day so the Savannah Bananas can play in Knoxville. There’s a double-header on Saturday.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs calmed the West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers), 7-1.

Starter Ethan Flanagan threw four innings and allowed just one unearned run on three hits. He struck out three and walked no one.

After Kenyi Perez retired the side in oder in the sixth, striking out two, Kevin Valdez went the final four innings for the win. Perez gave up no runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out two.

Third baseman Matt Halbach hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, his fourth on the season. Halbach was 1 for 4.

First baseman Cameron Sisneros hit an RBI single in the third inning that gave South Bend the lead for good. Sisneros was 2 for 4 with a walk.

Left fielder Kade Snell was 2 for 5 with an RBI single in the fifth inning. He later scored in that inning on a throwing error.

Shortstop Miguel Olivo was 1 for 2 with a double and two walks. He scored twice.

RBI singles for Kane Kepley and Sisneros. Kepley was 1 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.

The Halbach home run.

A two-run double for Leonel Espinoza. He was 1 for 5.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were shot by the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox), 3-1 in a game that ended in the bottom of the fifth inning because of rain.

Starter Daniel Avitia got the loss after he allowed three runs on three hits over four innings. Two of those runs scored on third inning home run. Avitia did strike out seven while walking three.

Left fielder Eli Lovich hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning. It was his fourth on the year. Lovich was 1 for 2.

ACL Cubs

Losing to the Brewers 6-5 in the fourth inning.

The first headline I saw when I searched up our recently cast-off backstop was for an AP article published by the Watertown Daily News: “Baily, Cantillo lead Guardians to four-game series sweep…” 

While I harbor no real ill-will towards Patrick Bailey, I admit I wasn’t pleased about the news.  Petty tribalism inherent in fandom runs deep, and stumbling upon some local coverage reporting on the exploits of ex-Giant really ticked me off. I wanted no news. I wanted bad news. The fact that Patrick Bailey hit a solo shot in the 8th inning of a 3-1 win over Detroit, that he “led” his team to a sweep (just as the Giants were swept), that he did something so positive that rural Wisconsin was talking about him robbed me of some strange vindication/validation that my team “won” the trade that sent him to the Midwest. The transaction was no banishment. Bailey was “Baily” now, according to the headline — he had been reborn.

Upon further digging, he hasn’t. That homer earlier today was his second hit as a member of the Guardians (18 AB). He left San Francisco with a .146/.213/.183 slash line and after Thursday’s fireworks, he’s batting .140 with a slightly elevated .210 slugging percentage. He’s got three RBIs and a 50% caught stealing rate (on 4 chances). Bailey is still Bailey. 

And in his stead, the Giants catcher committee has been at least more productive. You can’t argue with numbers: their 65 wRC+ is certainly better than Bailey’s -30 wRC+ in the same span, but maybe it hasn’t been the boon some hoped for. The individuals in the committee have shone brightest in moments rather than day-in and day-out consistency. Jesus Rodriguez’s only hit since May 9th was a walk-off single against Pittsburgh. Eric Haase earned an entry in the Encyclopedia of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry with a two-homer night off Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Daniel Susac, while at the center of a controversial catcher-interference call earlier in the week in Arizona, has put would-be base stealers on notice.

Two weeks isn’t enough time to accurately grade the Bailey trade — but an off-day after a series sweep, a losing road trip, a losing two months can certainly have one circling the drain. Its easy for us fans to get sucked into that dangerous whirlpool of what-could-have-beens. The recent roster woes force our rumination on the roads not taken. A heavy fog of doubt still lingers over choices made. Buster Posey has taken some mighty swings as the President of Baseball Operations. A mighty swing produces a hard-hit ball that goes really really far…or a fleeting breeze.

Rafael Devers will be a Giant for many more years to come. From the vantage point we have now it’s hard to say whether that’s terrifying or exciting. What I know for sure is that the decision to take the Devers path will be costly in more ways than one. And what I also know for sure is, situated firmly in the present, Kyle Harrison is 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 59 strikeouts over 45.2 innings pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers, and yup, he’s still just 24 years old.

Rewind to Wednesday. As Tyler Mahle malfunctioned once again when facing a lineup for the third time in a game, Harrison limited the Chicago Cubs, one of the best offenses in the league, to 2 hits over 7 shutout innings while striking out 11.

There hasn’t been any major restructuring. He hasn’t discovered a Skubal-esque change-up, or cooled down his heater’s workload. Harrison is dominating with the same two pitches and the same 60-30 mix, he had in San Francisco, just with a couple of tweaks. He throws from the first base side of the rubber now. The arm angle is still slingy but a little higher, helping the fastball to holding its plane, and a better more consistently located fastball is working wonders for his breaking ball.

Can you imagine being the Red Sox and trading that guy?

So what else happened on Wednesday amongst the recent cast-off Giants that could hollow out my stomach even more? 

Ah yes, in the Blue Jays’ 2-1 win over the New York Yankees, another imposing offense, reliever Tyler Rogers turned in an 11-pitch 8th for his 8th hold of the year while lowering his ERA to 1.61 (22.1 IP). The submariner continues to throw against the grain. His fastball velocity is the lowest in the league, yet ranks in the 96th percentile. His 69% groundball rate is second only to New York reliever Tim Hill. A baseball touched by Rogers has yet to find itself in the outfield bleachers. Drew Gilbert is good for a laugh, but considering the bingo cage reliever situation the Giants are in, and the fact that this team was supposedly being constructed with pitching and defense at the forefront of their minds, a late-inning arm of his consistency and caliber sure would be nice…

And over in Miami, on the same Wednesday, Dom Smith did this on the twelfth pitch of his at-bat…

Then he did this…

Is there anyone in the league right now more loved than Dom Smith? The journeyman player is playing for his sixth team in five seasons and continues to endear himself to franchise after franchise. This year in Atlanta, it didn’t take long. 14 days after his mom passed away, Smith hit a walk-off grand slam in his first game as a Brave. He’s batting .337 with a .903 OPS (106 PA, almost exclusively against RHP) so far this season, and while he fell victim to the crush of players vying to fill the Giants’ first base/DH role, getting those kinds of platoon-split numbers off the bench would’ve been more than welcome. 

And just to be abundantly clear:

Rafael Devers: 5 HR, 20 RBI, 99 OPS+ in 191 AB

Dom Smith: 6 HR, 22 RBI, 155 OPS+ in 98 AB (though Wednesday)

Alas, not every San Francisco alum is absolutely crushing it in Atlanta.

After scorching hot spring, Mike Yastrzemski has struggled in…well, actually as I write this, I just checked the boxscore and Yaz went 3-for-3 with a double, homer and 3 RBIs in today’s 9-3 series finale win against Miami. He’s 12-for-37 over his last 15 games with a .649 SLG while boasting a top-shelf top lip for Mustache May. 

I know this is reactionary, I know nostalgia and calling “Mulligan!” aren’t solid principles of roster construction — but could we get a couple of do-overs ‘cuz I miss those guys right now.