Category: MLB

He entered Friday’s game maybe a little later than fans expected, but Mets right-hander Jonah Tong looked fantastic in his season debut against the Miami Marlins.

Tong, promoted on Friday morning with the expectation of pitching at some point during the weekend series in Miami, finished the series opener by going three scoreless innings and facing the minimum while striking out two.

In a game in which New York’s pitching shined with the offense letting the team down, Tong looked the most impressive on the mound in his first MLB outing since his cup of coffee with the Mets at the end of last season. 

“Great,” Tong said about being back with the big league club. “It was awesome to be out there with the boys again.”

There’s no doubt that Tong has the potential to be a special pitcher for the Mets, but after his promotion last year which followed his meteoric rise through the minor league system and ended with him making five starts for New York and pitching to a 7.71 ERA (1.77 WHIP), it’s good to see the 22-year-old return with a flourish.

In fact, not only did Tong struggle at times in his first taste at the big league level, he had a 5.68 ERA this season in nine starts at Triple-A.

“Very encouraging,” said manager Carlos Mendoza about Tong’s outing. “The velo, the fastball, the way that it was playing. The changeup was good, he attacked, the curveball. He gave us a chance.”

In the end, the Mets lost 2-1 after their offense, outside of Juan Soto, couldn’t muster much of anything. 

But Tong, who entered in the sixth inning with his team down a run, kept the Marlins hitless over three innings in his first appearance as a reliever since 2024, when he was pitching for Single-A St. Lucie.

Nevertheless, the youngster wasn’t going to let that stop him from returning with a vengeance.

“I’ve done it in the past, especially growing up,” Tong said about pitching in relief “… Treat it no different and I’m thankful for all the vets that are around here and it’s just allowed me to have someone to talk to.”

While Tong is certainly surrounded by experienced veterans on the team who he can lean on, there are also a bunch of other rookies with the club now that might make him feel at ease, too. 

Three of those rookies, Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing and Nick Morabito, actually flanked the outfield together for the first time this season.

“All rookie outfield today, which I thought was really special,” Tong said. “I was talking to [Morabito] on the bus today and I just said like it happens very rarely, especially for all these guys coming up around the same time, so it was awesome.”

As for his own growth and how he’s changed as a pitcher since looking a bit overwhelmed at times in the majors, Tong has definitely used that experience to help him improve, but also believes the road to reaching one’s full potential can be bumpy and he isn’t dismayed by the results he saw last year.

“Development is never a straight line and I just think that [I need to] stick with the process,” he said. “Our coaches down in Triple-A have always preached that and they have all the confidence in me, so why not have the confidence in myself?”

If Tong can continue to pitch like he did on Friday night, he will earn the confidence of more than just his Triple-A coaches.

Pirates 2 Blue Jays 6

That game had everything. Good pitching. Timely hits. Good defense. And stuff to argue about.

Let’s start with that.

In the eighth, Mason Fluharty started the inning with a walk and a single. In comes Louis Varland. He gets:

• A wild pitch and a Bryan Reynolds ground out, scoring one and moving the, then, tying run to third. Ten pitches.
• A much needed strikeout. Three pitches.
• And a Jhostynxon Garcia ground out to end the inning. No I didn’t just make up that name. Yes I copied and pasted it. One pitch.

Great job by Varland to get out of the inning with us still winning. And he used 14 pitches.

The Jays scored three in the bottom of the inning, With Yariel Rodriguez warming up.

• Double off the left field wall (right on the foul line) by Ernie Clement. There was a lot of discussion, on the field, about whether it was a homer or a double.
• Jesús Sánchez also doubled, to the wall in right.
• Brandon Valenzuela came up and tried to bunt, but, after a couple of attempts, Myles Straw (who was pinch running for Sanchez) noticed the Pirates third baseman was come down the third base line on the bunt attempt and stole third, being the 3B back to the bag. Valenzuela ended up walking.
• Andrés Giménez after I said ‘hitting great with RISP, wasn’t a skill set’, struck out.
• George Springer doubled down the right field line. The ball got stuck between the padding and a mesh ‘window’, giving us PTSD from last year’s playoffs. Both runners scored.
• Vladimir Guerrero ground out and Daulton Varsho struck out.

We were up 6-2 and I figured John would go with Rodriguez, to save Varland some bullets for the weekend. If Yariel can’t get us out of the inning with a four-run lead, he shouldn’t be on the team.

They left Varland in. And he got through the ninth without a runner getting on. Two strikeouts and a ground out, on 17 pitches. 31 pitches on the night. I’d guess he won’t be available tomorrow. Maybe Sunday.

Kevin Gausman was terrific. 6.2 innings, 6 hits, 1 earned, 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. He was in control all the way. Or at least until he let the first two on in the seventh, but after getting two John came out to talk to him and apparently, Kevin didn’t make the case for staying in and Mason Fluhardy came in for the last out of the inning.

Mason had less luck in the eight, but we covered that above.

We got three in the third inning. Springer reached on catcher’s interference. He’s great at that. Vlad singled (George hustled to third). Varsho reached on a Spencer Horwitz error, scoring one. Kazuma Okamoto struck out, but Yohendrick Piñango doubled home two more. He crushed it, 114.8 mph. Clement struck out and Sanchez flied out (but they would help later).

And that was all our scoring until the eighth.

Bubba Chandler gave us some trouble early, but seemed to tire. I’m sure it is hard on a body to throw 100 mph.

We only managed five hits, but four of them were doubles. But took seven walks (and fifteen strikeouts). Okamoto and Gimenez were the only two in the lineup not to reach base (and they had seven strikeouts between them).

Jays of the Day: Gausman (0.19 WPA), Varland (0.19), Varsho (0.12) and Vlad (0.11).

Other Award: Okamoto (-0.12). He did have an amazing defensive play.

Tomorrow we have game two with the Pirates. A 3:00 Eastern start time. We get to see if the Jays can extend their win streak to four games against Paul Skenes (6-3, 2.62), perhaps the best pitcher in baseball. Patrick Corbin (1-1, 4.23) has the job of keeping the game close, so the Jays can beat up on the Pirate relievers.

And, just a heads up, Sunday’s game is an early start, 12:15 Eastern, so as not to interfere we the Leaf playoff game? No that’s not it. I don’t know why it is early.

The Royals had four hits tonight, all singles. Vinnie Pasquantino’s single in the first inning was the only hit they would have until the sixth. Bobby Witt Jr. struck out swinging in each of his first two at-bats. The Royals’ best chance to score came in the bottom of the eighth when Michael Massey led off with a single and Maikel Garcia added a one-out single to put runners at first and second for Bobby. Bobby and Vinnie each lined out to the outfield, and that was that.

The Royals were 1-for-7 on hard-hit balls. Jac Caglianone hit three of those, though one was a pop-up that went 190 feet nearly straight up. An impressive athletic feat, but meaningless on a baseball field. So there was an element of bad luck in this one, but when you’ve lost 10 out of 11 and averaged 2.3 runs over that span, no one wants to hear about it.

Anyway, that’s probably enough about the hitting. Let’s talk about tonight’s bright spot, Noah Cameron.

Cameron has struggled quite a bit this year. At this point, it’s well known that he dropped his arm angle by nearly 10 degrees. It’s caused him to struggle. But for the second straight start, Noah compensated for it by leaning heavily on his fastball, changeup, and curveball. The curveball, in particular, was deadly tonight.

As you can see in the TJ Stats graphic above, Noah got a ridiculous 71.4% whiff rate on his curveball tonight. They were nearly three times as likely to miss it entirely as make contact. You can also see that there is no xwOBACon in the final column for that pitch. That’s because they didn’t put a single one in play. Cameron tied a career high with 8 strikeouts, and 5 of those were with his curveball. The fastball and changeup didn’t work as well tonight as they did Sunday, but they did well enough I guess. The cutter started working again, so that helped. The slider is still kind of a disaster, he got chases on more than half of the ones out of the zone but couldn’t get a single swing and miss.

It was easily his best start of the year and could give Royals fans some hope for this year, if the bats ever wake up again, or next year if they don’t. Curse you, Hawaiian Bros!

The Royals will attempt again to get unstuck tomorrow afternoon at 3:10 PM Kauffman time. Stephen Kolek (4.24 ERA) will attempt to continue to do Stephen Kolek things and put that unfortunate White Sox start behind him. The Mariners will counter with George Kirby (3.45 ERA). So it could be another low-scoring affair. Maybe the Royals are the ones who will run into a dinger this time. The game will be nationally broadcast on FS1 but should also be available on Royals.TV.

The Dodgers (31-20) had plenty of scoring opportunities and base runners, but the offense failed to come up with a timely hit in the 5-1 loss to the Brewers (30-18) Friday night. Justin Wrobleski struggled in a four-run first, but the bigger issue was the offense’s inability to cash in base runners.

The team went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. They went 1-for-17 with runners on base. Leaving that many ducks on the pond made it incredibly difficult to mount a comeback and dig out of the early deficit.

The Brewers’ relentless offense was on full display in the first. Perhaps it was driven by a bit of revenge. The pesky Brewers offense looked loaded and ready for the rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series in the series opener between the two first-place teams.

The Brewers attacked Wrobleski in the bottom of the first inning and put up four runs on the board. Wrobleski struggled mightily and made 38 pitches. He allowed six hits and a walk including a huge three-run shot by William Contreras.

Wrobleski only allowed three home runs to the opposition all season before Contreras launched the three-run home run in the home half of the first. Contreras attacked the first pitch he saw from Wrobleski, a 89-mph slider.

It felt like the inning would never come to the close as the Milwaukee offense continued the lengthy onslaught.

A two-out RBI double to center field from Andrew Vaughn in the second inning gave the Brewers a commanding 5-0 lead.

Wrobleski finally put together a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the third. The Dodgers also finally started to figure out Henderson the second time through the order.

Ohtani continued to look better at the plate, and his leadoff single against Henderson in the top of the fourth was the first base hit of the night for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers loaded the bases with two outs for Muncy in the top of the fourth. They had the perfect opportunity to get back into the game. Muncy popped up a changeup to leave the bases loaded and keep the shutout intact for the Brewers.

The rookie Logan Henderson struck out five Dodgers in the first three innings. Henderson capped off five scoreless innings in his first career start against the Dodgers with a strikeout of Ohtani.

Surprisingly, Wrobleski made it through five despite facing 10 batters in that long first frame. Henderson was done for the night after five innings as well.

Muncy’s struggles with runners in scoring position continued. He came into the game hitting .167 with runners in scoring position, and he stranded another three runners on the night.

The Dodgers collected five walks through 5 1/3 innings, but the bats couldn’t get the big hit to cash in on any of the free passes. Muncy failed to come through with another two runners on base and two outs in the sixth, but he again stranded runners.

The Dodgers once again got the leadoff hitter on in the seventh. Teoscar Hernandez walked, and Dalton Rushing singled for the Dodgers first hit with men on. Rushing’s hit broke an 0-for-19 stretch for the catcher.

Pinch-hitter Miguel Rojas moves Hernandez to third on a flyout. Pat Murphy chose to go to Aaron Ashby to face Ohtani with two on and one out.

The Dodgers finally got on the board on an Ohtani sac fly. Betts nearly extended the inning, but Vaughn stretched and won the challenge at first by a toe nail.

Muncy had to leave the game after being hit by a pitch on his right arm by a 95-mph Ashby sinker to add to his frustrations.

Jonathan Hernández, the 29-year old the Dodgers signed on Monday, was in for his Dodger debut in the bottom of the eighth. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning, and the bullpen continued to roll on with their scoreless streak.

The Dodgers look to come back strong in the second game of the series after they stranded a small army of base runners in the series opener. Muncy’s inability to capitalize on the scoring opportunities is frustrating, but an injury to Muncy right now would be a huge blow.

Friday particulars

Home runs: William Contreras (4)

WP — Logan Henderson (2-1): 5 IP, no runs, 2 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts (85 pitches)

LP — Justin Wrobleski (6-2): 5 IP, 5 runs, 8 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts (100 pitches)

Up next

Roki Sasaki (2-3, 5.09 ERA, 1.45 WHIP) takes the hill for the second game of the series Saturday (4:15 p.m., FOX). Left-hander Robert Gasser (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 1.250 WHIP) starts for Milwaukee.

Studs

Peyton Tolle (6.0 IP, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 Ks)

Look, did Tolle have a rough second inning? For sure. But this was a truly professional outing for Tolle that he hunkered down and put down Twin after Twin through the remaining four frames. For a young starter, this is the growth you want to see that makes it known they’re a professional ballplayer.

Wilyer Abreu (2-for-5, 1 RBI)

That first inning was so nice for the Sox, and Willy continues to be one of the most consistent hitters in this lineup.

Willson Contreras (1-for-4, 1 RBI)

Congrats to Bowser on his 1,000th RBI! I don’t know if anyone expected it to be on a triple but wow, did Byron Buxton show he can’t play the Monster.

Duds

Justin Slaten (0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, loss)

…what happened here? Slaten has been shut down since he came back off the IL and just, this was a dismantling. Ouch.

Overall defense (2 errors)

For how above average this team defense is (as written by Matt this week), tonight’s fielding was pretty subpar. I don’t exactly blame Tolle for his fielding error; Sogard’s opened up that frame to close this game out for the Twins. Marcelo charging in with Contreras and making him drop that foul ball also isn’t as fabulous look.

Tyler Samaniego (0.0 IP, 1 ER)

I don’t know if this is a case of bad luck or just a poor outing for Samaniego, but this was a weird one. A fielding error, a bunt single, a wild hit by pitch, then hooked. Tyron Guererro then walked in a run but he inherited such a bad deal from Samaniego.

Play of the Game

I’m giving this to Tolle, who continually impresses me this 2026 season.

The Atlanta Braves took on the Washington Nationals tonight in a matchup that featured the top two scoring offenses in MLB thus far.

Dating back to 2018 when the Braves’ rebuild ended they have won seven of their last eight season sets against the Nationals going 80-49 in that timeframe.

With these two high powered offenses, one would assume that it would be a relatively offensive driven game. This was not the case. Bryce Elder took the mound for the Braves so it could be guessed that the Nationals may be slowed down some, but the Nationals basically had an opener style game planned with a Richard Lovelady pitching only to be replaced early by Miles Mikolas and his 6.91 ERA. Fun fact about Lovelady. He pitched four games in Atlanta’s organization back in 2023 for Gwinnett.

Bryce Elder started off relatively strong in this game. He struck out rising star James Wood to lead off the game. He did give up a single in the first but that was the only baserunner. For the Braves half of the inning the Braves could not capitalize on a small spark. Ronald Acuña flied out, but then Mauricio Dubón doubled on the first pitch he saw. Matt Olson grounded out, but moved the runner over. Unfortunately, no run was scored when Ozzie Albies grounded out.

Elder continued to look good in the second. He picked up two groundouts and a strikeout of Jacob Young. Miles Mikolas came in to pitch in the second inning and it looked like the Braves may have been able to get another run. However, they had some poor luck on the base paths. Austin Riley singled but it appeared that a hit and run was in play on a Dominic Smith hard hit line out to RF that Dylan Crews was able to fire back to first for the double play to end the inning.

In the third inning it was more of the same for Elder. He allowed contact, but not much damage. He surrender a single to Nasim Nuñez who promptly stole second, but that was the only baserunner once again. The Braves were sat down in order by Mikolas in the third with a Kim strikeout, a hard hit fly ball by Sandy León, and a 103.6 MPH groundout from Acuña.

In another sign of deja vu, Bryce Elder had almost identical inning as before in the fourth. He gave up a single, followed by the hitter, Dylan Crews, stealing second. That was the only baserunner with Elder picking up a strikeout and inducing two groundouts. Mikolas continued to have the Braves’ number sitting down the heart of the order in order.

In the fifth inning, Elder finally changed things up a bit and allowed two base runners. Elder gave up a single, sat down the next hitters, then walked James Wood. Elder was able to take a deep breath, dig deep, and end the top of the fifth by inducing his sixth groundout of the game. The Braves came close to taking the lead the fifth. After a Harris groundout, Riley hit a single after the Nationals lost an ABS challenge. Smith struck out, but then Kim hit a shot to deep center, but Young made a jumping catch at the warning track to save the run and end the inning.

Elder finally showed weakness when Curtis Mead took him deep no doubter on a full count for the first run of the game. Elder settled down and sat down the next three hitters. It is moments like these where you can tell Elder is different. He does not seem to let mistakes get to him like he did in the past. In the bottom the sixth, red hot Mike Yastrzemski came in to pinch hit for Sandy León, but struck out. Acuña flied out, but Dubón picked up his second hit of the night. Olson hit into a flyout though that was about twenty feet short of a HR.

Didier Fuentes came in to pitch for Elder in the seventh. Elder finished his night giving up five hits, one walk, four strikeouts, and allowing one run on the solo shot. He lowered his season ERA to 1.97. Fuentes was a bit shaky. He got Young to fly out, but gave up a single to Millas. After another fly out James Wood hit a single after losing an ABS challenge. After a mound visit, Fuentes was able to gain his composure and strike out Luis García Jr. on three pitches.

The Braves were finally able to break through offensively in the seventh. After Mikolas was replaced with Mitchell Parker. Albies grounded out, but then Harris singled and Riley walked. Dominic Smith continued to cement himself as a fan favorite with another timely hit. This time it was a single that scored Michael Harris to tie the game at one. With runners on the corners and one out Ha-Seong Kim hit a perfectly placed bunt for a single to score Riley and take the lead.

The Braves could not score more this inning, but they took the lead with their elite bullpen ready to go. Robert Suarez came in to pitch the eighth inning, and he has been lights out this year. Well, that streak ended tonight. After inducing a ground out, Abrams took him deep to tie the game at two.

It looked like the Nationals may take the lead with Lile htting a single and stealing second, but fortunately Suarez was able to stop anymore damage before the top of the inning ended.

Clayton Beeter came in the game to pitch the eighth, and the Braves could not figure him out. Dubón and Olson both struck out and Albies grounded out. Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth and struck out Millas on four pitches, followed by a routine fly out by Nuñez and a groundout to Wood.

The Braves had some of the hottest hitters of the night due up in the bottom of the ninth in Harris, Riley, and Smith. Gus Varland came in to pitch for Nationals in the ninth. Harris struck out on five pitches, but Riley stayed hot and singled on the first pitch he saw on a hard hit ball. The Braves then replaced Riley with Mateo as a pinch-runner showing they had no interest in going to extras. Dominic Smith lined out on a pitch that was up and away to make it two outs. Mateo then stole second for his sixth steal of the season with Kim up to bat. Kim could not play the hero again and grounded out to send the game into extra innings.

Dylan Lee came in for the tenth, as expected. Lee has easily been one of the most underrated pitchers in all of MLB this season. Unfortunately, the Braves’ elite bullpen had an off night. With the ghost runner on second, Lee walked the first hitter he faced to put two runners on. CJ Abrams then doubled to right scoring two and moved to third on the throw. Lee was able to stop anymore scoring, but tonight was easily his roughest outing of the season.

Orlando Ribalta came in to pitch the tenth. With Kim on second, the Tromp came to bat. Tromp came through and hit a single on an 0-2 count to score Kim and cut the lead to one run. Acuña then walked on five pitches and then Dubón had his third hit of the night to tie the game on a single that just made it past Abrams’ glove. Olson hit a fly ball that moved Acuña to third and Dubón moved to second on defensive indifference with one out. Ozzie Albies then walked to load the bases, leaving room for Michael Harris to be the hero. He almost did it on a long fall ball to RF, but then popped out to third leaving the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the tenth for Eli White who replaced Mateo, who replaced Riley. The gamble to replace Riley with Mateo came back to bite the Braves as Eli White grounded out to to end the inning.

Tyler Kinley, who has been shaky lately, got the nod for the eleventh inning. He struck out the first batter he faced on four pitches.He then got Millas to fly out, which moved ghost the runner to third.

In the eleventh Paxton Schultz came in to pitch to Dominic Smith with Eli White on second. Smith flied out to center, but it was not enough to move the runner. Kim then struck out, leaving it to Tromp once again being in a big spot. On a 2-2 count Tromp singled to center and the speedy Eli White scored to win the game.

Tromp is the fourth string catcher for the Braves. He was never supposed to be put in this spot, yet tonight he is the hero. Baseball is awesome. Braves play the Nationals again tomorrow in hopes of continuing their historic run of series won.

Tonight’s matchup at Oriole Park was not exactly the platonic ideal of what a baseball game should be. The weather was absolutely miserable. The teams were two of the worst in baseball. Let’s just say it’s not the kind of game you’d write wistful histories about.

But the Baltimore Orioles versus the Detroit Tigers was on the schedule for May 22, darn it, and so a baseball game was indeed played at Camden Yards tonight. And the O’s emerged victorious, 7-4, to begin their 10-game homestand, thanks to a 14-hit attack by the offense, home runs from Pete Alonso and Jackson Holliday, and a quality effort from a slew of bullpen arms.

The first two innings of this game were a microcosm of everything that’s gone wrong for the Orioles in 2026. Did the O’s give up a home run on the very first pitch of the game? Yes, of course they did, with rookie prodigy Kevin McGonigle crushing opener Keegan Akin for a dinger to right. Did the Orioles struggle to score runs against a terrible pitcher, with a bunch of RISP failures thrown in? Yes, naturally, as former O’s dud Jack Flaherty (5.77 ERA entering the game) started with two scoreless innings while the Birds went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. By the time bulk reliever Chris Bassitt gave up a third-inning run to put the Orioles in a 2-0 hole, it looked like it was going to be another long night at the ol’ ballyard.

But here’s a key thing to remember: the Tigers, too, are a very bad team. And in the bottom of the third, they showed why. With one out and a runner at first, Gunnar Henderson smacked a grounder to short that could’ve been an inning-ending double play. But McGonigle booted it, getting nobody out. The Orioles took full advantage of the extra out when Pete Alonso went the opposite way on a Flaherty fastball and drove it onto the right-field flag court for an Earl Weaver Special. That’s what I’m talking about, Polar Bear! With one mighty swing, the O’s had taken a 3-2 lead.

No sooner had the Orioles taken the lead than they coughed it up again, with some bad defense hounding Bassitt in the fourth. A leadoff single and ground-rule double put two runners in scoring position with one out before Zach McKinstry bounced a chopper to Alonso at first. Pete made the wrong decision to try to cut down the lead runner at the plate, but his throw home was late. Had he just gotten the sure out at first, the run still would’ve scored, but the O’s would’ve had the second out of the inning. Instead, the Tigers remained alive even after Bassitt struck out Gage Workman, and Hao-Yu Lee’s infield single plated the go-ahead run from third.

Still, the Orioles wasted no time erasing their latest deficit. Back-to-back singles by Leody Taveras and Colton Cowser opened the bottom of the fourth before Flaherty balked. You can’t just be up there and just doin’ a balk like that! That tied the game at four, and two batters later, Jackson Holliday untied it. He lofted a fly ball to left field that just kept carrying…and carrying…and somehow snuck onto the base of the foul pole for a two-run homer.

At 337 feet, it was the shortest left field home run of the Statcast era. But it’s a towering blast in the box score! It was the first of the year for Holliday, who reached base three times tonight. Maybe he’ll be a useful addition to the lineup after all. That prompted an exit for Flaherty, who lasted just 3.1 innings and gave up six runs (three earned). Never change, Jack.

This time, the O’s didn’t let the lead slip away. Bassitt worked into the sixth inning, ultimately allowing three runs and six hits in 4.1 innings, before Craig Albernaz unleashed his high-leverage relievers. He aggressively turned to erstwhile closer Rico Garcia in the sixth inning, when the Tigers were threatening to rally with a runner at second and one out. Garcia did his job to perfection, retiring both batters he faced. I approve of using Garcia in any high-leverage situation, whether it’s the sixth inning or the ninth or anything in between.

Yennier Cano and Tyler Wells were similarly excellent, tossing a perfect seventh and eighth inning respectively, while the O’s added an insurance in the sixth on an Alonso sac fly. That plated Henderson, who had led off with a single, one of his three hits on the night. Don’t look now, but Gunnar has 11 hits in his last five games, and his OPS is back over .700. It’s a start.

Have I mentioned yet that the majority of this game was played in what appeared to be a torrential downpour? The rain didn’t let up the entire night, and at every inning break I was sure that the grounds crew was about to bring the tarp onto the field. But no delay ever occurred. Kudos to the small but intrepid crowd of O’s fans who stuck around for the entirety of this rain-soaked game between two sub-.500 clubs in May. You are made of stronger stuff than I.

Albernaz showed faith in rookie Anthony Nunez, last seen blowing an eighth-inning lead to the Rays on Wednesday, to lock down the save attempt in the ninth. Happily, this outing went much better for him than the previous one. Nunez followed the lead of the Orioles’ other relievers and retired all three batters he faced, racking up two strikeouts, to put this one to bed.

Nice job by the Orioles to notch a victory under miserable field conditions and handle their business against a badly struggling Tigers team. Who is your Most Birdland Player for tonight? The Polar Bear, for his three-run homer and sac fly? Holliday or Henderson, for reaching base thrice? How about the combined effort from the O’s bullpen? Let us know in the comments.

In the battle of Two Struggling Teams with Two Rookie Starters, it seemed like the Sox had the edge with Fenway mystique intimidating Connor Prielipp… until the Twins got to a Red Sox bullpen that had been pretty good so far this year. Inning-by-inning notes:

1: I mentioned that rookie Payton Tolle was a pretty highly-valued prospect. He strikes out two Twins here. His MLB career-high (in seven starts) is eight strikeouts. Chances of him surpassing that tonight? About 50%. Chances of him doubling it? At least 10%.

Walks will haunt. Leadoff one to Jarren Duran; he scores easily on a Wilyer Abreu double. Then Wilson Contreras triples off the Monster. I suspect the Battle of the Young Pitchers is not gonna go our way here. Andruw Monasterio singles. There’s a Sack Fli. Another one of these games that is testing my resolution to try drinking less. By the time the #8 guy flies out it’s Red Sox 4-0

2: Josh Bell single and “first ever MLB plate appearance” Gabriel Gonzalez walk. Ryan Kreidler knocks him in, and Kody Klobberin’ Klemens hit it to Tolle, who bobbles the ball, everyone safe. Bases loaded, no out NOBLETIGER time? At least one scores! Luke Keaschall singles! Buxton knocks one off the glove of 3B Caleb Durbin! A Lee strikeout and Martin popout kill the rally, but that’s still better than the Twins usually do with the bases loaded lately.

Tolle has four Ks but I think we can definitely say he won’t hit 16 tonight.

Durbin cracks the first pitch pretty hard but Keaschall makes a nice dive to grab it. Then the next two guys FINALLY stop hitting Prielipp like he’s throwing tennis balls underhand. Bawston 4-1

3: Ha — Gonzalez has a career OPS of 1.000 but no PAs yet; he takes another walk and is left there. These pitchers are confusing me. You’re supposed to do it like Brad Radke and suck in a designated inning every time, not be good/bad at random.

Abreu (nor relation to any other Abreus) with a leadoff single. Neither is Jarren Duran related to Jhoan Duran or Caleb Durbin related to J.D. “The Real Deal” Durbin. Wilson Contreras (who IS Brewer William Contreras’s brother) provides the GIDP. Monasterio takes a walk, tries to steal, and he’s gunned down by the Lou Gehrig to Ryan Jeffers’s Wally Pipp, Alex Jackson.

4: Three strikeouts for Tolle! Are you hoping for him to get a personal best with nine? I AM!

Another leadoff baserunner for Boston; Nick Sogard with a single. Given that the Twins have had pretty strict pitch limits on Prielipp so far in his career we’re gonna have a bunch of relief innings, be still my happy heart. A hit-and run single puts runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Durbin tries to sac bunt himself, and Prielipp generously throws it to Harvard instead of first. Duran grounds to first and a run scores. This could have been worse but it’s still a disappointing Prielipp outing, Chow-dah 6-4

5: Well, Tolle has eight! Only one more, brother! Can a honky call another honky “brother”? OK, only one more, pal, buddy. Or, to say it the Boston way, only one more ya fuquin guy ya.

Travis Adams pitching, hopefully he can go a few. Of course not that it really matters; there aren’t any “good” arms in the pen to save. He does fine.

6: My main man with a career-high nine! I feel like this season has been fun, now.

7: Now that Tolle has accomplished a Career Goal, the BoSox bring in another pitcher who will keep the Twins from doing anything. Who is he? I don’t care. We’ll call him Pedro Martinez just for fun. Keaschall gets a single and the Sox fans are doing the Wave because even in classic stadiums fans act like stoopid ijits and do the Wave.

Oops I was wrong! This guy is NOT Pedro Martinez. Because this guy (he is named Justin Slaten) gave up a LONG DONG to Byron!

A Brooks Lee walk and Austin Martin homer! In nine outings this season Slaten hadn’t given up a run yet, and THIS is the team he has his first meltdown to? I’ll take it.

Gonzalez gets his first MLB hit! Kriedler gets another but the Twins can’t pad their lead. Time for the Best Bullpen in Baseball (if baseball only has one team and the Twins are it) to work their Tragic Magic.

The mighty arm of Yoendrys Gómez is in. Well, he gets three outs! We’ll call him Dennis Eckersley Jr. Twins 7-6

8: Greg Weissert got the last out last inning and is still in there. Luke Keaschall gets on the Homer Simpson way then gets off the “thrown out at second by ten feet trying to steal” way.

Eric Oozy Orze pitching for Us. It goes well until a two-out error by Keaschall, followed by a four-pitch walk to Carlos Narváez (of a .632 OPS).

The Bo Sox bring in former Twin Mickey “Steamboat Willie is public domain” Gasper, and the Twins counter with Anthony “Badda” Banda. A two-pitch popup! Mickey still loves us and can’t bring himself to hurt us.

9: Tyler Samaniego pitching. Brooks Lee gets on via error, Austin Martin via bunt for base hit, and then a plunked “defensive” replacement James Outman! Tyler Samaniego no longer pitching.

Tyron Guerrero now pitching; up until basically today, radio tells us, he was “Tayron,” but some typo in his official documents was discovered. I wish that would happen to me and I wouldn’t be named after a crappy President anymore.

Trevor Larnach in for PH for Gonzalez; he walks. Kreidler strikes out, Clemens pops out, Keaschall grounds out. You’d have really liked more there! Still, a two-run lead is better than I thought this game was gonna go.

Not an auspicious beginning for Banda’s save attempt. He strikes out Duran but the pitch is so wild Duran reaches first anyway.

Ceddanne Rafaela smacks one severely and Outman runs it down. Then…

Game over! Abreu cracks one 100+ MPH, but it’s in the perfect spot for a GIDP. Twims wim! (Yes we spell it wrong on purpose on this site sometimes.)

Studs: Buxton bomb, Martin bomb and nice catch, Gabriel Gonzalez for great OBP and first MLB hit, Ryan Kreidler for having a 1.061 OPS (it’s TOTALLY sustainable), and, I guess, grr, the bullpen.

Duds: AI

COTG go to Minnesota1952 for “insurance runs please,” Prester John for Mickey Gasper amazement, Zach andNagurski for bird-loving the same Oriole, gintzer andsandwiches for observations on Technology, and MM for “‘are you the type of person who sings “Isiah Kiner-Falefa” to the tune “For he’s a jolly good fellow” or to the tune “If you like piña coladas’”

Thanks to everyone who joined in! We need more chilly/drizzly nights to get more gamethreads like this!

Tomorrow’s game is at 3:10 Central, with TBD vs. TBD pitching, but there’s a chance it might be Taj Bradley. Catch y’all next time!

If this is how the Yankees put together a “Welcome Home” party, then count us out on the next invitation. New York dropped their third consecutive game to a division rival on Friday, losing a late 1-0 lead to fall 4-2 to the first-place Rays despite an impressive season debut from their ace, Gerrit Cole.

The Yankees are now 30-22 and trail the Rays in the AL East by 5.5 games. They will need to return to their winning ways over the weekend if they want to get even somewhat close to the current division leaders, who have already swept them once this year.

The offense will need to be much better, though. After scoring just once in the last two games against the Jays, the Yankees’ lineup didn’t really do much against the Rays in the opener. They did log 11 hits against Nick Martinez and company, but producing with runners in scoring position was a problem, as they finished 2-for-12 in those situations.

Cole was the primary reason why the Yankees were even in the game tonight. He gave his team six strong, scoreless innings in his season debut after spending over a year on the shelf while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He surrendered just two hits, topped out at 98.6 mph, and even though he walked three, the Rays didn’t stand a chance against him. Cole struck out two, inducing a whole bunch of weak contact and popups on the first second pitch, needing just 72 to get through six.

Cole’s batterymate was responsible for his slim 1-0 lead, too.

Struggling catcher Austin Wells got to Martinez in the fifth inning for a long solo homer that traveled 392 feet and left his bat at 106 mph. It was his fourth long ball of the season, a bright spot in an otherwise rough year for him at the dish.

Brent Headrick got into some issues in the seventh frame with Cole gone from the ballgame, but Fernando Cruz bailed him out with two huge strikeouts that protected the Yankees’ one-run lead at the time. Too bad it didn’t last much longer.

Just when it looked like the Yanks had the game in control, the Rays’ offense got to work in the eighth frame against Tim Hill. José Caballero, fresh off the injured list, committed a costly error to open the inning that put the speedy Chandler Simpson on base.

Then, Junior Caminero singled to put runners in the corners, and Jonathan Aranda tied the game with a double. Hill intentionally walked Yandy Díaz, but allowed a crushing and somewhat lucky two-run single to Richie Palacios that narrowly missed Hill’s glove, giving Tampa a 3-1 lead. At that point, manager Aaron Boone mercifully removed the lefty from the game, but put in the inconsistent Camilo Doval.

The righty did well to limit the damage, immediately surrendering a sac fly to Ryan Vilade but otherwise keeping the Rays in check and getting out of the inning. The damage was done, however. Hill was saddled with the loss after failing to register an out, conceding four runs (three earned) on three hits and a walk in the process. Cole’s brilliant outing was wasted.

New York didn’t go down without a fight. With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Cody Bellinger hit a two-bagger that preceded Paul Goldschmidt’s strikeout to give away the second out of the inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. tripled with the help of Tampa Bay’s outfielders to bring Bellinger home with the second run of the night for New York. It’s a good reminder that it’s not as though the Rays played a perfectly pristine game; indeed, they had a runner picked off at second base on two separate occasions on this night. Regrettably, the Yankees couldn’t capitalize enough on their own opporunities to take advantage.

The Yankees couldn’t put any additional runs on the scoreboard. Although they had a shot in the ninth when Bryan Baker walked Wells to bring Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge to the plate as the tying runs, Grisham hit a slow groundout and Judge’s 396-foot drive died at the left-center-field wall.

If the nasty weather stays away, the Yankees will try to stop their three-game skid on Saturday afternoon. They will send Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.58) to the mound against Drew Rasmussen (4-1, 3.19) starting at 1:35 pm ET.

Box Score

It is Friday night.

The Orioles have beaten the Tigers by a 7-4 score. Gunnar Henderson had three hits, Pete Alonso and Jackson Holliday each homered, and four relievers combined for 3.2 scoreless innings to finish off the game, including a bounce-back outing from Anthony Nunez, as the O’s sent Detroit to their seventh straight loss.

YOU KNOW WHAT MUST BE DONE.

After a bleak four-game sweep against the Guardians to start the week, the Tigers left home and headed to Baltimore, asking themselves one important question: if two teams who just got swept by their league opponents face off against each other, which team is most likely to lose? I’m glad you asked. The Tigers and Orioles both presently find themselves at the bottom of their respective divisions. At the moment, the Orioles have the better record, by a hair, with 21-29 vs. the Tigers’ 20-31. The Orioles also tip the scales slightly with their home record being 12-12 vs. the Tigers’ away record being a very bad 7-19. The Tigers are also 1-9 in their last 10 games as opposed to the Orioles’ 4-6. So most of the numbers, unfortunately, favor the Orioles here. However, if we’re looking at pure dumb luck and who needs their losing streak busted the most, then it’s all the Tigers. The pitching matchup will see Jack Flaherty for the Tigers (0-5 record) against Keegan Akin (0-0 record with a 13.5 ERA), who would serve the Opener role for a bullpen game. If you’re curious, because I was, the longest scoreless game in MLB history was in 1968 between the Mets and the Astros. It went 24 innings and lasted over 6 hours. No reason for me sharing that fact, just thought it was interesting.

Thankfully, the Tigers won’t need to worry about breaking that scoreless inning streak just yet, because Kevin McGonigle got the first inning going with a solo home run on the very first pitch of the game. The next three batters were out in order, but hey, big boom to start the game? We’ll take it.

In the home half, Gunnar Henderson got a one-out double, but two outs followed to keep the threat at bay.

Akin was done after the first inning, making way for Chris Bassitt who would likely be doing the long-haul for the game. Bassitt fared better against the lineup, getting the Tigers out in order. The O’s continued to try to chip away against Flaherty, as Leody Taveras got a one-out double in the home half. But as with the first inning, Jack was able to pitch out of the jam.

In the top of the third, Gage Workman doubled. Then Hao-Yu Lee doubled right behind him to score the Tigers’ second run of the game. Two outs followed, along with a swap of Jahmai Jones being replaced by Colt Keith, and the game headed to the home half with the Tigers up by 2. Give me 3 more and I’ll start to feel comfortable.

Jackson Holliday singled to start the bottom of the inning. Henderson reached on a fielder’s choice but thanks to a fielding error by McGonigle, both runners remained safely on base. With two outs, Pete Alonso did what Pete Alonso gets paid to do and he homered, putting the Orioles in the lead.

Riley Greene started the fourth inning with a single, followed by a ground-rule double from Spencer Torkelson to put two runners in scoring position. Zach McKinstry reached on a fielder’s choice that allowed Riley Greene to score despite Alonso’s efforts, tying the game, and leaving two baserunners on.

Then, with two outs, Lee singled to score Torkelson, putting the Tigers back in the lead.

In the home half, Taveras and Colton Cowser hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Taveras was then able to score on a balk, because that’s absolutely something that would happen to the Tigers this season, and the game was once again tied. Then, with one out, Holliday homered. Taylor Ward then singled. That was rightly it for Flaherty, who was replaced by Brant Hurter. Flaherty’s final line for the game was 3.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 2 HR on 78 pitches, and, well, it was bad. With two outs, Adley Rutschman doubled, then Pete Alonso was intentionally walked to load the bases. Hurter did manage to pitch out of the jam, though, so the gambit paid off and the inning was over. But the Orioles were now up 6-4.

The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth. In the home half, with two outs, Connor Seabold came in after Hurter appeared to slip on his delivery and hurt himself. Seabold gave up a single to Coby Mayo but he did get the final out of the inning.

In the sixth, with one out, Wenceel Perez doubled. That was all she wrote for Bassitt who was replaced by Rico Garcia. He got the last two outs of the inning. In the home half Henderson got a one-out single, followed by a Rutschman single. Then Alonso hit a sac fly to score Henderson. Kyle Finnegan came in out of the Tigers’ pen to get the final out of the inning.

Yennier Cano was the new Orioles’ pitcher for the seventh and he got the Tigers out in order. In the bottom of the inning, Taveras got a leadoff single, but was then eliminated in a double play off the bat of Tyler O’Neill. Blaze Alexander doubled, followed by a walk to Holliday. The Tigers did work their way out of another potential jam, though, and no runs scored.

The Orioles turned things over to Tyler Wells in the eighth, and he got the Tigers three-up, three-down. In the home half, Enmanuel De Jesus came in and gave up a single to Henderson. He turned things around, though, and got the next three batters out in order.

The Tigers were down to their last chance in the top of the ninth. They’d be doing it against Anthony Nunez, and they went 1-2-3 to end the game and extend their losing streak.

Final: Orioles 7, Tigers 4

After 569 days between outings in the major leagues, Gerrit Cole returned Friday night and looked a lot like vintage Cole. Well, with fewer strikeouts than usual. 

Still, Cole was excellent, throwing six shutout innings in his comeback from Tommy John surgery. He got close to 99 miles per hour on the radar gun and gave the Yankees and their fans every reason to believe their ace is indeed back and at least close to his full powers.

The Yankees’ other returning player -- José Caballero -- didn’t fare quite as well. Caballero was back at shortstop in place of Anthony Volpe, but made a key error in the eighth inning to help the Rays start a game-tilting four-run rally. Tampa Bay ended up with a 4-2 victory in front of 41,358 at Yankee Stadium.

The Yanks’ loss dropped them to 30-22 on the season and they are 5.5 games behind the first-place Rays (34-15) in the AL East. The Rays are 4-0 against the Yankees so far this year.

Here are the takeaways...

-Cole might not have been missing bats the way he has throughout his career – he only induced five swings-and-misses, according to Statcast – but he was economical all night. He only used four pitches to get three outs in the air in the fourth inning, meaning he had only thrown 42 pitches through that point. He finished throwing 72 pitches over six frames, 50 of them for strikes.

Cole, who missed the first 51 games of this season and all of 2025, made six rehab starts before joining the big-league roster. He had been set for a seventh, but the Yankees believed he had crossed enough thresholds that he belonged with them instead. Based on the way he pitched, they nailed it. The three walks were a bit uncharacteristic for Cole, but other pitchers have said command was one of the final things to come online at the end of Tommy John rehab, so perhaps that offers an explanation of sorts.

-In the ninth inning, the Yankees brought the tying run to the plate in the form of a struggling Aaron Judge, who came into the game 1-for-his-last–20 and 0-for-his-previous-11. With a runner on second base and two out, Judge put a charge in one, but it was caught on the warning track in center. Judge finished 0-for-4 with a walk. The Yanks had 11 hits, but could only muster two runs. They were 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base.

-In the eighth, Chandler Simpson hit a grounder leading off that Caballero botched for his fourth error of the season. Entering the game, some defensive metrics ranked Caballero as the best fielding shortstop in baseball. The Rays scored four runs in the inning – three earned – on an RBI double by Jonathan Aranda, a two-run single by Richie Palacios that was deflected by reliever Tim Hill and a sacrifice fly by Ryan Vilade. Reliever Camilo Doval got out of the mess with the help of a pickoff at second base – the Yankees’ second of the game.

-The Yankees got within 4-2 in their half of the eighth. Cody Bellinger hit a one-out double to right and scored on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s triple to right-center one out later. But they couldn’t tack on more – Caballero followed with a groundout to end the inning.

-As good as he was overall, Cole felt pressure quickly – Simpson hit the second pitch of the game for a single and then Cole walked Junior Caminero. But Cole escaped. He retired Aranda on a fly ball and then picked off Simpson at second base. Then he got his first strikeout, catching Yandy Díaz looking at a 97 mile-per-hour sinker. Earlier in the inning, Cole had hit 98.6 mph on the radar gun, his high mark of the night.

-There has been a lot of teeth-gnashing over the Yankees’ catching corps, with them not getting much offense from behind the plate. But Austin Wells showed why his skill set can be enticing when he led off the fifth inning. Wells, who entered the game with a .165 batting average and a meager .539 OPS, smacked the first pitch of the inning into the right-field stands for his fourth home run of the year. It was only his sixth RBI thus far, but it gave the Yanks a 1-0 lead.

-With one out and a man on first in the Rays’ fifth, Chisholm let a pop fly fall to the earth on purpose, a cagey play. Chisholm then scooped up the ball and fired to second for a force out, which removed the speedy Cedric Mullins from the basepaths in exchange for the catcher, Nick Fortes, who reached first via the fielder’s choice. Cole and the other Yankees pointed at Chisholm afterward to recognize him for the savvy play. After a walk, Cole retired Simpson on a groundout to end the inning.

-The Yanks had good chances in the first and third innings, but came up empty. Trent Grisham, who came into the night batting just .174, led off both frames with doubles. In the first, Judge followed with a walk, but Rays starter Nick Martinez retired the next three hitters. In the third inning, Ben Rice hit a one-out single and Grisham chugged for home, but was thrown out at the plate by right fielder Jonny DeLuca.

-The Rays threatened in the seventh inning when Mullins doubled with one out and a man on first against reliever Brent Headrick. That prompted another pitching change and Aaron Boone brought in Fernando Cruz to face Tampa’s 8-9 hitters. First, Cruz got Fortes to swing over a splitter for strike three and then he threw a fastball past Taylor Walls for strike three. Cruz bounded off the mound with a big fist pump in celebration.

Game MVP: Gerrit Cole

Cole, obviously. He allowed just two hits, both singles, and was only in serious trouble once. He struck out only two batters – Cole has averaged more than 10 strikeouts per nine innings in his career – and walked three. He threw three 1-2-3 innings. Only one ball hit into fair territory off Cole was clocked at more than 100 miles per hour off the bat, a lineout to right by Mullins.

Highlights

A great catch by Aaron Judge with Gerrit Cole on the mound 🥲 pic.twitter.com/yxHOTJCH6Z

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 22, 2026

Austin Wells with a solo shot! pic.twitter.com/iok1CUxurC

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 23, 2026

What's next

The Yankees continue their three-game series with the Rays.

Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.58 ERA) will take the mound against Drew Rasmussen (4-1, 3.19 ERA). 

MIAMI — The Mets’ patchwork pitching plan worked out just fine Friday night, but a sputtering lineup couldn’t help the cause.

After scoring just two runs in Washington a day earlier and escaping with a victory, the Mets went backward.

Juan Soto homered in the first inning and silence followed for the Mets in a 2-1 loss to the Marlins.

The Mets, who had only four base-runners, wasted a solid pitching performance from Tobias Myers, Sean Manaea and Jonah Tong, who combined to limit the Marlins to five hits.

Tong was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse before the game, with Craig Kimbrel designated for assignment.

Soto had the Mets’ only two hits (he also singled in the fourth) until A.J. Ewing’s single in the eighth.

But Ewing was thrown out attempting to steal second for the final out.

In the ninth, Carson Benge drew a two-out walk from Pete Fairbanks before Bo Bichette was retired.

“We have been playing a good baseball the last couple of days,” Soto said. “I feel like we scored a good amount of runs in D.C., and before that we took care of business [at home]. We have been doing well. It was a tough day today and sometimes you have got to tip your cap to a guy who is throwing 100 [mph] and then his offspeed.”

Eury Pérez’s heat created much of the Mets’ angst, but the right-hander also entered the day with a 5.33 ERA.

He toyed with the Mets over 6 ¹/₃ innings before the Marlins’ bullpen finished strong, with five strikeouts over the final 2 ²/₃ frames.

“You take the positive, obviously it’s not what you want as far as the results,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But on a night we went in there trying to piece it together there was a lot of good things from the pitching staff. We just didn’t get anything other than a couple of at-bats from Soto, a couple of hard-hit balls from Benge. Other than that, we couldn’t put together anything against Perez.”

Soto’s fourth home run in as many games gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

Soto’s 449-foot blast to right-center against Pérez continued a sizzling stretch for the All-Star outfielder, who began the day with a 1.357 OPS over his previous eight games.

Soto’s thunder included a two-homer game on Wednesday in Washington.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

Tobias Myers, as the opener, worked 1 ¹/₃ innings and allowed one earned run.

Esteury Ruiz doubled and stole third, before he scored on Owen Caissie’s ground out.

Myers served as an opener for a second time this season.

Caissie’s RBI single in the fourth against Manaea put the Mets in a 2-1 hole.

Manaea got two quick outs in the inning before Ruiz hit a slicing fly ball to right that bounced as Benge slid toward the foul line.

Ruiz raced to third base.

Nick Morabito’s diving catch in left helped prevent a run in the fifth.

Javier Sanoja doubled leading off the inning and stole third with two outs before Connor Norby hit a sinking line drive that Morabito snagged on a dive.

Jakob Marsee’s leaping catch near the top of the center-field fence deprived Benge of an extra-base hit for the Mets’ final out in the sixth.

Manaea gave the Mets 3 ²/₃ innings in relief and allowed one earned run on four hits with three strikeouts.

It was the lefty’s first appearance since last Sunday in the Subway Series, when he allowed two earned runs over four innings in relief.

Manaea has struggled for most of the season before showing glimpses of hope more recently.

“He’s just a different guy right now with the way he’s moving on the mound, with his delivery, the way the ball is coming out,” Mendoza said. “He’s attacking and it’s just good to see him get swings and misses with his fastball. When he’s at his best he does that, he can elevate it, the two-seamer going into righties, it makes all the other pitches more effective.”

Tong was also effective, with three hitless innings in which he struck out two and walked one.

“It was awesome to be out there with the boys again,” said Tong, who started five games for the Mets’ last season.

After back-to-back to back road trips to the West Coast, this series represents, in late May, the White Sox final games in the Pacific Time Zone. Tony Vitello and the San Francisco Giants look to give the South Siders their first series loss since April 26, while Munetaka Murakami and friends will look to not drop back-to-back games and series.

On the mound to protect the club’s quickly-building reputation as a threat in the league is this season’s ace, Davis Martin. The dominant righthander is coming off of a thrilling win at home against the Cubs where he went six innings, gave up one run, and struck out seven. His 10th start of the season could tie him with former White Sox great Chris Sale with seven wins to lead baseball.

Martin was recently name No. 10 on the MLB’s pitching power rankings, a standing that should be higher but nonetheless has been earned given his third-ranked 1.61 ERA. He ranks in the top 5% of MLB pitchers with a 4.7% walk percentage. He has only struck out 59 batters over his 56 innings of work, but of the 45 hits he has given up so far this season, only 38% have gone for extra bases. Martin’s quick work of batters is also allowing him to get further in games this year. In 2025, Martin had a total of nine quality starts to his name. Not even halfway through 2026, only two of his nine starts haven’t been quality.

Opposing Martin is 25-year-old Trevor McDonald. The 18th-ranked Giants prospect was called up back on May 4. On May 5 he was sent back to Triple-A, but before he could get too comfortable. he was called right back to San Francisco before his next start. The rookie righty has been given three games so far. In them, he is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA. His 19 innings of work have resulted in 17 strikeouts, three walks, and two home runs. The White Sox are likely to see a good mix of 94 mph sinkers and 87 mph sliders.

Here’s how the Giants line up behind McDonald:

As for the White Sox, after this graphic was posted it was announced that Jarred Kelenic was scratched due to a back contusion. Derek Hill will replace him in right field. The bottom of the lineup will now have Edgar Quero batting seventh, Tristan Peters batting eighth, and Hill batting ninth.

It is a late one tonight. First pitch will be thrown at 9:15 PM CDT. If you are staying up past your bedtime with us, you can catch the game on CHSN or listen on ESPN 1000.