Category: MLB

When Marcus Stroman left the field after getting just two outs in Friday's 9-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants, the veteran right-hander told the team his knee was bothering him, and it has led to an IL stint.

The Yankees announced that they put the 33-year-old on the IL with left knee inflammation, hours before their game on Saturday. In a corresponding move, the Yankees have called up RHP Allan Winans.

Once Stroman left the dugout, he had an X-ray done at Yankee Stadium before heading to a hospital for further tests. Manager Aaron Boone said before Saturday's game that he hadn't spoken to his starter yet, but once he arrived to the stadium, the team doctors would update them on Stroman's condition.

"The hope is it's not something too serious and that we can attack this and hopefully be a little bit of a source of maybe some of the things not having him as sharp as he needs to be," Boone said after Saturday's 8-4 win over the San Francisco Giants. "Hopefully we can attack this and it be something that we can benefit from and can get him physically where needs to be and then translate that onto the mound."

Friday night's game was not easy to play in. The rain and high winds affected fly balls and clearly affected the pitchers. Stroman couldn't get out of the first and some of the Yankees relievers -- like Yoendrys Gomez -- had trouble gripping the ball.

It led to Boone discussing the weather with the umpires and grounds crew between innings before the game was delayed in the sixth and ultimately called.

The question of whether the weather affected Stroman's ability to pitch on Friday was brought up, and the Yankees skipper couldn't give a definitive answer.

“We haven't been in ideal conditions most of the start of the season here. And that affects everyone a little bit different," Boone said before Saturday's game. "But Stro’s also been doing this a long time and pitched in these situations a lot before. I'm sure that all plays a role, even we saw on the other side. Even though we only got one run last night, it was a grind for [Giants starter] Robbie Ray. 

“It's just one of those rare games where, you know, it's a challenge and we saw that on the pitching front last night.” 

In three starts this season, Stroman has struggled. He's 0-1 with a 11.57 ERA and a 2.04 WHIP, and allowed nine runs in his last two outings while only pitching 4.2 innings.

Now that Stroman is on the IL, a returning Clarke Schmidt will take his spot in the rotation for the time being. That gives Will Warren and veteran Carlos Carrasco more chances to prove they belong in the rotation when Stroman eventually returns.

The New York Rangers are all set for their matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes today at 3:00 PM EST. 

Here’s everything you need to know from a Rangers perspective. 

Projected Lineup:

Forwards:

Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Jonny Brodzinski

Will Cuylle-J.T. Miller-Mika Zibanejad

Chris Kreider-Juuso Parssinen-Alexis Lafrenière

Brett Berard-Sam Carrick-Matt Rempe

Defensemen:

K’Andre Miller-Will Borgen

Carson Soucy-Adam Fox

Urho Vaakanainen-Braden Schneider

Goaltenders:

Igor Shesterkin 

Jonathan Quick

Notable Storylines:

• The Rangers are coming off of an 8-5 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. 
• Igor Shesterkin is set to start for the Rangers. 
• Gabe Perreault and Brennan Othmann will be scratched out of the lineup.
• The Rangers currently hold a 37-35-7 record.
• The Hurricanes are coming off of a 5-4 loss to the Washington Capitals.

The Yankees rotation is struggling to start the season.

Entering Saturday, New York's starters have an ERA of 5.46 -- the highest in MLB. The non-Max Fried arms (Carlos Rodon, Will Warren, Carlos Carrasco, Marcus Stroman) have not done their jobs consistently enough to help the Yankees bats get through the cold spring months.

Fortunately for the Yankees, reinforcements are on the way in the form of Clarke Schmidt.

The 29-year-old righty completed his second rehab start with Somerset on Friday and rejoined the team on Saturday and says everything went well.

"Everything went good and feeling good," Schmidt said in front of his locker before Saturday's game. "Happy for where everything's at."

Schmidt was slotted to make the rotation out of spring training, but a rotator cuff injury forced him to the IL to start the season. Six weeks later, and Schmidt's return is imminent.

The right-hander said he hasn't been told his return date -- manager Aaron Boone had said he's penciled him for the the Kansas City Royals series early next week -- but Schmidt will throw a side session Saturday and go from there.

And it can't come at a better time. Stroman struggled in the inclement weather in Friday's 9-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants, where the veteran right-hander could only get two outs before being pulled. To add injury to insult, Stroman told the team his knee was nagging and he underwent tests.

While the Yankees await word on Stroman, they'll need Schmidt's steadiness after the rotation's rocky start to the season.

Last season, Schmidt pitched to a 2.85 ERA and a 1.184 WHIP in 16 starts.

“Excited to get him back, obviously," Boone said prior to Saturday's game. "He's turned into a really good pitcher in the league. Feel like he's in a really good spot, too. His setbacks in spring training were pretty minor in nature. So the biggest challenge for him, is just been getting built up. Excited to get him back and know what he can mean to our staff."

When asked if he had a sense of urgency to return knowing the rotation's struggles, Schmidt brushed it off.

"I have a sense of urgency regardless, regardless of how we're doing or how anybody's performing," he said. "I'm eager to get out there. So, doesn't affect me."

What did affect Schmidt was landing on the IL and not being able to help the Yankees (7-6) get off to a better start.

"It's obviously frustrating. I want to be out there competing with my guys," Schmidt said. "This is something that I don't want to happen. Being able to go out there and compete every five days is something that I hold close to my heart and I want to make sure that I'm able to do that. Play at a high level consistently and be one of the guys that these guys rely on.

"Definitely looking forward to putting this past me and getting out there and being able to do that."

After the weekend series with the Giants, the Yankees will host the Royals for a three-game set starting Monday. Schmidt is expected to make his first 2025 start on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Sanchez racks up GIDPs, big day for Castellanos as Phillies even series in St. Louis originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ST. LOUIS – When Rob Thomson decided this weekend to protect Bryce Harper with Kyle Schwarber, the natural next question became, who protects Schwarber?

On Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium it was Nick Castellanos, who had three hits and a pair of doubles, the first of which scored Harper and Schwarber after both reached base in the opening frame for the second consecutive game.

If the Harper-Schwarber duo remains intact against right-handed starting pitchers, the hitter in the No. 5 spot will have plenty of RBI opportunities. Not only do Harper and Schwarber hit for power but both also walk a ton.

In Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals, Harper and Schwarber walked and singled but were stranded when Castellanos lined out to right field to end the top of the first. Saturday was a good example of how one early swing and a couple of early runs can change an afternoon. With a quick lead and an effective Cristopher Sanchez on the mound, the Phillies were in control the whole way and won, 4-1.

“He’s just driving the ball in the gaps,” Thomson said. “When he does that, he’s in pretty good shape. The five-strikeout game, you don’t see that too often, but like I said the other day, I don’t think a guy like Nick really thinks about it, it’s just a new day and he moves on.”

Castellanos was indeed 0-for-5 with five K’s on Thursday in Atlanta, but the Phillies have played 13 other games and he’s performed in most of them. He’s looked comfortable at the plate since Opening Day. His plate coverage has been solid. He had four at-bats Saturday and picked up hits on a pitch down-and-in, a pitch up-and-in, a pitch over the middle, and he lined out on a pitch just off the plate away. He’s also consistently driving the ball to right and right-center, which has always been his trademark when going well.

“It reassures that I’m in a good spot,” Castellanos said, “and I really like my work that I’m doing with (hitting coaches) Kevin (Long), Raffy (Pena) and Dustin (Lind).

“If you take out that one night in Atlanta, I just feel like I’ve controlled my at-bats decently for the most part.”

Sanchez dealt with traffic on the basepaths but induced double plays in four of the first five innings. Three of them weren’t even on particularly well-located pitches, but Sanchez has an elite changeup, a mid/high-90s sinker and a slider that continues to improve. The better the stuff, the more wiggle room a pitcher is afforded.

“That keeps me in the game, too,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I was able to stay out there until the seventh inning. I love double plays. The defense did a great job today.”

Sanchez’ sinker averaged 96.1 mph in his first two starts but, curiously, he threw a couple at 91 in the first inning. The velocity was right back to the 96 mph range thereafter, including some 97s. Sanchez said his body just felt off on Saturday.

The results weren’t. The Phillies lefty is 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA through three starts after Orion Kerkering, Jordan Romano and Jose Alvarado recorded eight outs to uphold his win.

“The first inning, he looked a little lethargic but then he picked it up in the second and got back to normal,” Thomson said. “He was really efficient, which was something we needed today. We should, for the most part, have a full bullpen tomorrow.”

Thomson used the same top half of the order as in Friday’s series opener, leading off Bryson Stott, followed by Trea Turner, Harper, Schwarber and Castellanos. J.T. Realmuto was back after a night off, so Alec Bohm moved from seventh down to eighth. Bohm struck out looking and grounded out sharply in his first two at-bats before finally finding a hole in the seventh with an infield hit between short and third.

Stott, 0-for-4 on Friday in his first game out of the leadoff spot, made better contact on Saturday, lining out to begin the game and doubling home Brandon Marsh in the top of the fifth. Stott has hit .344 this season against right-handed pitchers and will likely continue to lead off against them. Marsh’s run came after a two-out walk and had to feel good given his recent lack of production. He also sacrificed Bohm to second base in the seventh inning, enabling him to score two batters later on a Turner single.

It will be interesting to see how the Phillies set the lineup Sunday against left-hander Matthew Liberatore. The top four could be Turner, Harper, Schwarber, Castellanos in that order. Bohm will likely move up a couple of spots, and Edmundo Sosa could start for Stott.

With Zack Wheeler on the mound for the rubber match, the 9-5 Phillies have a good chance to make it a .500 road trip and win their fourth series out of five.

“It gives us a lot of confidence knowing we don’t have to get it done the first time through the lineup, even second time through the lineup, that we’re still in the game,” Castellanos said of the Phillies’ top-tier rotation. “I think it also helps us relax a little bit because we do have an explosive group of guys that can put up runs pretty quick.”

Sanchez racks up GIDPs, big day for Castellanos as Phillies even series in St. Louis originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ST. LOUIS – When Rob Thomson decided this weekend to protect Bryce Harper with Kyle Schwarber, the natural next question became, who protects Schwarber?

On Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium it was Nick Castellanos, who had three hits and a pair of doubles, the first of which scored Harper and Schwarber after both reached base in the opening frame for the second consecutive game.

If the Harper-Schwarber duo remains intact against right-handed starting pitchers, the hitter in the No. 5 spot will have plenty of RBI opportunities. Not only do Harper and Schwarber hit for power but both also walk a ton.

In Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals, Harper and Schwarber walked and singled but were stranded when Castellanos lined out to right field. Saturday was a good example of how one early swing and a couple of early runs can change an afternoon. With a quick lead and an effective Cristopher Sanchez on the mound, the Phillies were in control the whole way and won, 4-1.

Sanchez dealt with traffic on the basepaths but induced double plays in four of the first five innings. Three of them weren’t even on particularly well-located pitches, but Sanchez has an elite changeup, a mid/high-90s sinker and a slider that continues to improve. The better the stuff, the more wiggle room a pitcher is afforded.

Sanchez’ sinker averaged 96.1 mph in his first two starts but, curiously, he threw a couple at 91 in the first inning. The velocity was right back to the 96 mph range thereafter, including some 97s, so it might have been a matter of Sanchez either settling in or intentionally adding and subtracting.

The Phillies lefty is 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA through three starts after Orion Kerkering, Jordan Romano and Jose Alvarado recorded eight outs to uphold his win.

Thomson used the same top half as in Friday’s series opener, leading off Bryson Stott with Trea Turner, Harper, Schwarber and Castellanos following. J.T. Realmuto was back after a night off, so Alec Bohm moved from seventh down to eighth. Bohm struck out looking and grounded out sharply in his first two at-bats before finally finding a hole in the seventh with an infield hit between short and third.

Stott, 0-for-4 on Friday in his first game out of the leadoff spot, made better contact on Saturday, lining out to begin the game and doubling home Brandon Marsh in the top of the fifth. Stott has hit .344 this season against right-handed pitchers and will likely continue to lead off against them. Marsh’s run came after a two-out walk and had to feel good given his recent lack of production. He also sacrificed Bohm to second base in the seventh inning, enabling him to score two batters later on a Turner single.

With Zack Wheeler on the mound for Sunday’s rubber match, the 9-5 Phillies have a good chance to make it a .500 road trip and win their fourth series out of five. It will be interesting to see how they set the lineup against left-hander Matthew Liberatore. The top four could be Turner, Harper, Schwarber, Castellanos in that order. Bohm will likely move up a couple of spots, and Edmundo Sosa could start for Stott.

The Mets (9-4) face the Athletics (5-9) in Sacramento on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. on SNY.

Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...

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Mets Notes

• After a 3-for-3 night, including a home run, Pete Alonso is slashing .378/.482/.778 with 10 extra-base hits in 45 at-bats over 13 games this season
• LHP David Peterson will make his third start of the season and hopes to have more control after walking five in his last outing as the 29-year-old tries for his second win
• Luisangel Acuña went 2-for-4 with a double, walk and a stolen base while scoring a run on Friday
• RHP JT Ginn, former Mets prospect traded to the A's in the Chris Bassitt deal, will start on Saturday which gives the struggling Brett Baty the start at second base

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For more information on how to stream Mets games on SNY, please click here. 

Here's what happened in Mets Land on Friday, in case you missed it...

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• Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso each hit a home run as New York survived a late push by the Athletics in a 7-6 win
• Jose Siri walked in the sixth inning to spark a rally as the outfielder came around to score on a shallow sac fly and extend the Mets' lead
• Jeff McNeil got a hit and scored a run in his first rehab start with Single-A St. Lucie
• Former Met Luis Severino, now with the A's after signing a three-year, $67 million contract, talked before the game about his offseason negotiations with New York and how we was willing to return to the Mets on a cheaper deal
• On The Mets Pod, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo discuss prospect Matt Allan's return to the mound after a long road of recovery

Snakebit Bohm on slump and outside noise: ‘Guess the game's trying to teach me a lesson' originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ST. LOUIS — Alec Bohm came to the plate against Andre Pallante in the top of the seventh inning Friday night looking to do anything to spark the Phillies’ offense and break himself out of a two-week funk.

He hit a ball hard, over 102 mph toward the middle of the diamond. Cardinals shortstop Thomas Saggese was positioned well and ranged to his left to field it and throw to first.

So ended another hitless night for Bohm, who is 4-for-43 since the third game of the season despite a batted-ball profile that says he should be hitting .272 rather than .151.

Bohm has hit 14 balls this season at over 100 mph. The league average on batted balls at that exit velocity is approximately .600. Bohm is batting .286 on them, 4-for-14. And that’s after starting the season 3-for-4. The last 10 times Bohm has hit a ball harder than 100 mph, he has one hit.

He’s frustrated and he wants it to turn, but he’s also more experienced now and not beating himself up over things outside his control.

“I barreled up everything I swung at last night too,” he said. “It’s really hard. Obviously it’s nothing to do with the swing and everywhere I turn, it’s look at your expected numbers, look at this, keep your head up, it’s gonna be OK. But I just keep hitting balls hard and they keep going right at people. There’s really nothing I can do about it.

“I know eventually everything sort of evens out and I know that I’ve hit well over .400 for an entire month in this league at times. As far as me being worried about anything, no, but I’d like it to end. I certainly would like it to turn in my favor a little bit. I watched back-to-back broken-bat hits last night.

“Results are not happening right now. At some point this year, they’re gonna happen and I’ve got to think for some extended period of time I’m gonna get some luck too. I think when we look up at the end of the year, I’m gonna be right around .280, right around 100 RBIs, right around everywhere I’m supposed to be.

“I guess the game’s trying to teach me a lesson, maybe.”

Bohm was dropped from fourth to seventh in the Phillies’ batting order Friday night. He was moved a spot lower on Saturday to eighth when J.T. Realmuto returned to the lineup after a night off. It doesn’t mean Bohm will hit at the bottom of the order for the rest of the season, but right now manager Rob Thomson is looking for a way to strip some pressure off him while also better protecting Bryce Harper.

But it’s not as if Bohm has even been having particularly poor at-bats these last few nights. In the second inning of Thursday’s extra-inning loss to the Braves, he had his second-hardest-hit ball of the year, 105.3 mph off the bat against Spencer Schwellenbach. It was directly at second baseman Ozzie Albies for another lineout.

“Yeah, against Schwellenbach. It was like all right, I guess we’re doing this,” Bohm said. “If I’m gonna try to change anything or do anything different, it’s not being wise at this point. Really the only at-bats that aren’t good are the ones that I’m swinging out of the zone, and I’m not doing that a ton. Get the pitch that I should swing at and I’ve put that ball in play, for the most part hitting that ball hard.

“If there’s an obvious answer like I’m doing this, I’m continuing to swing at the high pitch, something glaring and obvious that I’m getting exposed on it, but that’s not the case. So there’s really nothing to spin your wheels about. Just see how many at-bats it takes to get lucky, I guess.”

Not every fan or observer of a baseball team knows the advanced metrics and for some, a slump is a slump whether or not the player is dealing with bad luck. For Bohm, the criticism is often even louder because of all that he’s been through as a Phillie. The “I hate this place game,” which for him ended up being a launchpad rather than rock bottom. The strong first half last season, when he looked like he might lead the National League in doubles and RBIs. The September and October skid after his hand strain, which resulted in him being benched in Game 2 of the NLDS.

Bohm has gotten better at blocking out the noise as he’s grown up, but he still acknowledges that his every action seems to be under the microscope.

“Definitely. I feel like everything is very, very overanalyzed that I do on the baseball field from the moment I step on it to the moment I step off it,” he said. “But again, that’s out of of my control.

“The longer you play in the big leagues and the more experience you get and the more comfortable you get with who you are and that you belong here, the less anything really affects you. Other peoples’ opinions and whatnot, the more you’ve been here, the more you know you’re gonna be here, the more confident you are in what you’ve done here, the more that stuff kinda fades away. People are gonna say what they’re gonna say, people are gonna think what they’re gonna think and that’s their thoughts, their opinions. We just kinda stay in this dugout and play the game.”

Yoshinobu Yamamoto can win the National League Cy Young Award.

The possibility of Yamamoto doing that has felt increasingly real every time he has stepped on the mound this season, reaching the point in the Dodgers’ 3-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night to where the previously-reticent right-hander readily embraced it.

“I’ve heard no Japanese pitcher has won it yet, so I’m awfully interested in it,” Yamamoto said in Japanese. “I think that concentrating on each and every game and performing at my best is what will lead to a wonderful award like that, so I’d like to do my best every day.”

The statement was a reflection of how much has changed for the 26-year-old Yamamoto over the last year.

The apprehension he exhibited in his first major league season has been replaced by assertiveness, leading to him terrorizing hitters of whom he used to be overly respectful.

He pitched six scoreless innings against the Cubs to improve his record to 2-1 and lower his earned-run average to 1.23.

Yamamoto completely overwhelmed the Cubs, not giving up a hit until the fourth inning and not issuing a walk until the sixth. He struck out nine batters, giving him 37 punchouts in 28 innings for the season.

As reluctant as manager Dave Roberts was to compare Yamamoto to another Japanese pitcher, he said Yamamoto reminded him of Hideo Nomo because of his reliance on his fastball and splitter.

Read more:Tommy Edman continues to reveal his inner slugger in Dodgers' win over Cubs

“You have hitters guessing,” Roberts said. “It’s just a split that’s a strike, then it’s a ball that’s a swing and miss or a strikeout there. There’s a good fastball that’s commanded and that’s a lot like Hideo. He doesn’t have the tornado delivery, but it’s a lot like that.”

The start against the Cubs was noteworthy in how comfortable Yamamoto was on the mound. He looked almost as if he was toying with them.

“I think I was able to control my fastball really well and I was able to throw my breaking balls in a good zone, which allowed me to pitch in good counts,” he said. “I think that gave me a lot of options.”

Even when Kyle Tucker advanced to third base in the fourth inning, Yamamoto looked as if he was in control of the situation. Even when Michael Busch worked the count full in that inning, Yamamoto looked as if he was in control.

And he was.

Yamamoto struck out Busch with a splitter for the third out of the inning. The pitch was in the strike zone, meaning that Busch would have still struck out if he had kept the bat on his shoulder.

Yamamoto’s control is so precise, Fuji Television reporter Yu Suzuki said in Japanese, “He has the luxury of throwing a strike with a 3-2 count.”

Suzuki would know.

A former pitcher for the Orix Buffaloes, the 28-year-old Suzuki was Yamamoto’s teammate for five seasons.

From Suzuki’s vantage point, Yamamoto is “starting to look like the Yoshinobu who pitched in Japan.” Throughout Yamamoto’s injury-plagued rookie season with the Dodgers, Suzuki insisted this would happen.

Suzuki has observed Yamamoto’s greater comfort in the major leagues, noticing how Yamamoto has started changing the intervals between pitches and the speed of his delivery. Suzuki pointed to how Yamamoto is also throwing a wider variety of pitches, which has given him a greater number of ways he can attack hitters.

“This year, he’s mixing in his cutter or two-seamer more,” Suzuki said. “Take tonight. He got a strikeout with a 95-mph two-seamer. When he mixes in a pitch like that, it makes it harder for hitters to sit on particular pitches.”

The ability to throw any pitch in any count is what made Yamamoto a three-time most valuable player in Japan. His showdown against Busch in the fourth inning was one of three at-bats in which the hitter worked the count full. He struck out the batter in each of them.

Yamamoto will continue to improve, Suzuki said.

Mentioning how Yamamoto threw 103 pitches in the six innings he pitched against the Cubs, Suzuki said, “In Japan, he used to pitch eight or nine innings like this, except he would do it in 110 pitches. I still think the pitch count is a little high by Yoshinobu’s standards. The real Yoshinobu can throw this many pitches and get through eight or nine innings.”

That wouldn’t just make him a candidate for the Cy Young Award. That would make him a lock.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Following the Mets' 7-6 win over the Athletics on Friday night, manager Carlos Mendoza and some of the players spoke about the ebbs and flows of the victory...

Jose Siri sparks rally

The Mets entered the sixth inning only up 3-1. Despite having multiple opportunities to score, the Mets just could not capitalize until the sixth. With one out, Siri came to the plate. He was hitless up to that point and had been struggling so far this season, but he rewarded Mendoza's confidence to start him with a great nine-pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk.

Mendoza called it the at-bat of the night as it set the table for what would come after. Francisco Lindor reached on an error, Juan Soto walked setting up Pete Alonso. The slugger didn't get much on the 3-1 cutter over the plate but he hit it to shallow right field for Lawrence Butler. Despite that, Siri was going and sped his way to home to push the Mets' lead to 4-1.

"This is something we’ve been talking with him since day one in spring training," Mendoza said of Siri. "Making sure you control the strike zone. Once you get to two strikes, stay short control the strike zone, put the ball in play. To work that walk, and get the rally going was pretty impressive. In a time when things aren’t going his way but when the bottom of the lineup is getting on base, what’s behind is a dangerous offense."

"I felt comfortable in that at-bat," Siri said through an interpreter. "I was also comfortable with the way [Mitch Spence] was throwing the slider I was able to get a good read. I felt like I had taken a good at-bat earlier in the game but In that situation like that I was really able to focus in on my approach and I was able to get the results I wanted there."

Mendoza called Siri's decision to go for home "great" and pointed out how Butler wasn't in position to throw a runner out. Siri echoed his manager's critique.

"I saw the right fielder was a little flat-footed there," Siri explained. "When I saw him like that, he needed to get in the right position to throw., he just wasn’t in the right position and I knew I could score there.

"When a runner like me is on base I think they need to be more prepared for the situation that I am actually going to go home," he added.

Alonso called Siri's run and slide "slick" and that it was a huge run for the team at the time. He also pointed out how although Starling Marte's two-run double later in the inning put an exclamation point on that rally, it was Siri who started it. And the team felt the momentum shift.

"From the at-bat that I had it switched some momentum," Siri said. "There was only one out and I was able to get on base. Then Lindor comes up, Soto comes up and they were able to take more comfortable at-bats because they needed to focus on throwing strikes in that situation. I felt the momentum shift over to our side there."

Jose Siri comes in to score on the shallow sac fly from Pete Alonso! pic.twitter.com/ZZfHrpCnQr

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 12, 2025

Edwin Diaz gets job done

It was another adventure for Diaz on Friday night. Following his clunker in the series finale against the Marlins, Diaz was tasked with finishing the save against the Athletics.

With a three-run lead, Diaz walked batters and allowed some hard-hit balls, resulting in two runs. But when he needed it, Diaz got the final out and secured the first win on the road trip.

"He got the job done. That's the bottom line," Mendoza said of Diaz. "On a night where he had a hard time feeling the strike zone. He was missing, especially against the left-handed hitters. I thought the experience, he was able to calm down, continue to make pitches and got the third out and we got the W."

Diaz is a perfect 3-for-3 in save opportunities this season, but in six total appearances, he's allowed five earned runs in 5.2 innings.

Pete Alonso playing freely at the plate

Although the Siri walk and Marte double were big, it was Alonso's performance that put the Mets over the top. He not only got three hits, he hit his fourth home run of the season and drove in three runs.

When asked if there's any difference in his mechanics that has gotten him off to such a great start, the slugger put it plainly.

"Just feeling like myself pitch to pitch at-bat to at-bat," Alonso explained. "I just want to make quality swing decisions and put the ball in play hard when pitchers come over the plate."

When asked to elaborate on "feeling like myself", Alonso said it meant he could "play freely and feel like I’m in control." 

In addition to his four home runs, Alonso has driven in 18 runs while hitting .378 through the first 13 games of the season. On Friday, he had some lengthy at-bats, showcasing how well he's seeing pitches at the plate. Alonso said he prefers to not let his at-bats go that long.

"I'd rather hit it hard when I get the opportunity," he said. "I just want to make good swings on good pitches whenever they come over the plate. When they're not, just take and let it be a ball."