Category: MLB

What a way to start a homestand.

For those of us not in the sellout crowd on Star Wars Night, the crisp Apple TV cameras captured the first win of the season in the red uniforms. Atlanta remains a perfect 3-0 in Friday home games. 

Grant Holmes threw 89 pitches to go six and earn the win, giving up seven hits, three earned runs on two homers, three walks, and striking out four. 

Grant tossed two effective and efficient innings to start the game, setting down the Phillies in order in the first and working around a Bryson Stott single in the second. He would run into trouble in the third as Trea Turner homered to right field, scoring Garrett Stubbs and giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead. The Phillies would threaten for more with a Kyle Schwarber walk and an Adolis García single, but no further damage was done.

The Braves had two singles off Andrew Painter (L, 1-2) in the first, but neither would come home to score. They didn’t have anything going until Eli White set the table with a single to start the bottom of the third. Five pitches later, Ronald Acuña Jr. tied the game with his second home run of the year. Seeing Ronald trot around the bases is already a sight for sore eyes, but doing so in his Hot Wheels-flavored accessories? An icon.

The stalemate would be broken by Harper, who led off the top of the fifth with a homer off Holmes. It would remain 3-2 Phillies until the bottom of the sixth. 

Dear people of Battery Power, I cannot emphasize to you enough how routine and uneventful this inning was shaping up to be. Justin Crawford made a great play in center to rob Austin Riley, a Dom Smith single, a walk from Mauricio Dubón. Ben Ingram and crew were really trying to wish a big Yaz moment into existence, but it wasn’t meant to be. Two down for Eli White.

Except no, hold on. Not Eli White. By god… that’s Michael Harris II’s music.

And the crowd went nuts.

As they should! As noted in the lineups article, Michael is ridiculously hot. Five-straight-games-with-at-least-1-RBI hot. It was a stroke of fortune for the Phillies that his left quad was acting up, scratching him from today’s game. But here, Walt Weiss pressed the button to send out his star center fielder to face Painter, who was already on the ropes.

Ball one low and outside. Ball two high and outside.

Painter’s third pitch came in at 96.4 mph at the bottom of the zone, and Money Mike cashed in. He ripped it 105 mph for a two-run double to give the Braves the lead 4-3. They would never relinquish it.

As Truist Park went wild, a smiley Michael made his way back to the dugout, his job done and night over. Pinch runner Jorge Mateo did a great job stealing third and scoring on a wild pitch to make it 5-3. Ronald would follow with a walk. And only then did Rob Thomson make the stroll to take Painter out of the game. 

Aaron Bummer and Joel Payamps tossed a scoreless inning in the seventh and eighth respectively. 

The Braves tried to tack on some extra insurance in the bottom of the eighth, but Matt Olson would leave the bases loaded with a groundout to end the frame. 

Robert Suarez came in to face the top of the Phillies order. He walked Turner to put the leadoff man aboard. He brought Schwarber down to a knee to strike him out and got Harper to pop out on the first pitch to Riley. A single from García brought Brandon Marsh up to the plate representing the go-ahead run. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. But one incredibly casual groundout to Suarez later, that was the ballgame.

The Braves have a new win streak going (3). In contrast, the Phillies’ losing streak has hit double digits (10). Their hopes to end their current nightmare rest on Zack Wheeler’s shoulders – he will make his season debut tomorrow night against National League ERA leader Bryce Elder.

Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton left Friday night's game against the Houston Astros with what the team is calling right lower leg tightness after running the bases in the sixth inning.

After stroking an RBI single to extend New York's lead to 6-2, Stanton advanced to second base after Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked. J.C. Escarra then ripped a single off the wall in short left field at Daikin Park, which caused Stanton to hold up before deciding to go. Once he went, Stanton put it into first gear and jogged to third base.

The trainers looked at Stanton and shortly after, he was walking off the field. Randal Grichuk entered the game to pinch-run for Stanton, who finished the night 1-for-3 with an RBI. 

"Some tightness in his calf. Hopefully, we got ahead of anything serious," manager Aaron Boone said after the game. "We’ll see where we’re at tomorrow."

The Yankees skipper said that Stanton had motioned to him when he was on second, and didn't want to push it around the bases, which is why he stopped at third base. 

As far as getting tests done, Boone said right now they don't plan on getting imaging done, but the team will see how Stanton feels Saturday morning.

Stanton has dealt with a multitude of injuries in recent history, but played in 24 of the first 25 games for the Yanks this season. He is slashing .256/.302/.422 with three home runs, 14 RBI and a .724 OPS after a monster season in 2025 in just 77 regular season games.

Giancarlo Stanton left the game after gingerly jogging to third base on a single pic.twitter.com/qoP8s64rLZ

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 25, 2026

Giancarlo Stanton has been ravaged by injuries over the years, many of them to his lower body. During an otherwise-smashing Friday night in Houston for the Yankees, his old injury bug seemingly popped up yet again. With Stanton at second base, J.C. Escarra singled to left field, off the wall at Daikin Park. Stanton advanced to third but it was obvious to anyone watching that he was not moving well.

Stanton immediately left the game, replaced by Randal Grichuk. It’s obviously too soon to speculate. With any luck, it is something minor and the club is just being careful with Stanton who, while he hasn’t been on fire at the plate, is still off to a solid start and poses a dangerous power threat to opposing pitchers.

Update: Meredith Marakovits reported that it’s right lower leg tightness for Stanton.

The YES booth wasted no time considering roster implications in the event Stanton has to go on the IL. Michael Kay quickly suggested that the club’s move will be to greatly increase Paul Goldschmidt’s playing time, with him and Ben Rice covering first base and designated hitter. Anthony Volpe is expected to return from the shelf himself soon, so the roster machinations might discourage the Yankees from calling up a more long-term answer like Jasson Domínguez. Someone else on the 40-man roster like Oswaldo Cabrera might be more likely until Volpe’s rehab assignment ends. We’ll find out soon enough.

Stanton hasn’t played anything close to a full season since 2021, when he appeared in 139 games. Unfortunately, Big G going down with something was almost inevitable. For so many reasons, hopefully he’s back sooner rather than later. Stanton sits 44 home runs short of 500. Every missed game makes that bit of baseball immortality more out of reach.

In a game that featured all the worst aspects of the 2026 team, the Mets dropped the opener of their three game set with the Rockies 4-3. Freddy Peralta was outpitched by Michael Lorenzen, who entered the game with an ERA of nearly 7.5. The offense had just about as poor of luck as you can imagine. It was more of the same.

We can keep the play-by-play portion of the recap brief. Two deep fly balls in the first died on the warning track, and a rally that could’ve been bigger in the second resulted in only a single run. After that, the Mets’ bats went silent while the Rockies scored in three consecutive innings; one run in the fifth, another to take the sixth, and two more for insurance in the seventh. The Mets got two back in the eighth but lined into three outs in the inning, then had some more poor batted luck in the ninth as they went down 1-2-3.

Let’s get more granular on just how bad the batted ball luck was in this one. The Mets ground into three double plays and lined into another, with the latter coming in the eighth with the tying run on second. They hit two other line drive outs on the infield. There were multiple balls die on the warning track that might have left the yard on another night. The struck out only 3 times to the Rockies 15 and had more hits (though they did not work a walk). Yes, the offense needs to do more against literally Michael Lorenzen, but sometimes the baseball gods are just not on your side. Sure seems like that’s been the case more often than not for the 2026 Mets.

That said, chalking this entire loss up to poor sequencing and BABIP isn’t fair – the manager deserves blame too. Yes, the Mets could’ve used some more length out of their starter after Thursday night emptied their bullpen and yes, Freddy Peralta was nominally acquired to lead the rotation (though Nolan McLean is clearly the staff ace). At the same time, Peralta has never been the arm to give his team length. He was clearly gassed at the end of the fifth. And Carlos Mendoza, asleep at the wheel as he so often is, sent Peralta back out for the sixth and pulled him five batters too late after he’d given up another run.

It’s impossible to say for certain that the Mets win the game if that run doesn’t score, or that the reliever who came in would’ve been more effective. That’s irrelevant, however. This is one of the most basic managerial decisions imaginable, and Mendoza got it blatantly wrong. More than that, it’s a mistake he’s made time and again with Peralta and other starters. Clearly, no learning has occurred here.

In short, this was a typical loss for the 2026 Mets; solid pitching undermined by an inert offense, managerial incompetence, and poor luck en route to another irritating loss. The Mets are now 2-6 in 1-run games and 9-17 on the season. They’ll try to get back on the winning side of the ledger on Saturday with former Met Jose Quintana squaring off against Kodai Senga.

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Win Probability Added

FanGraphs

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Brett Baty, +19% WPA
Big Mets loser: Marcus Semien, -19% WPA
Mets pitchers: -12%% WPA
Mets hitters: -38% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Brett Baty singles on a ground ball to center field Brenton Doyle, +16.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jake McCarthy doubles in the sixth to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead, -20.8% WPA

Against an opposing pitcher who’s been one of the best in the AL the last several years, you need your starter to be really sharp — Taj Bradley was doing kinda OK until he wasn’t — and you need your hitters to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. These Twins were terrible at the latter last year, and are running out mostly the same lineup now. What else would you expect to happen?

Inning-by-inning notes:

1: If you missed the intro, Drew Rasmussen is a darn good pitcher. His sinker/4-seam/cutter mix means three pitches in the 90s that can go in or out and they’re all thrown hard. Byron Buxton strikes out and two other guys hit nubbers. The onus is gonna be on Taj Bradley to throw a heckuva game.

Aren’t too many ballparks where a ball hit 450 feet ain’t a home run. Maybe the old Polo Grounds? (Looks it up.) Yep, the centerfield wall was 483 feet from home plate. This ain’t the Polo Grounds, though. Nice swat, Junior Caminero. Rays 1-0

2: Groundout, flyout, groundout. Drew Rasmussen’s career BAbip is .262. Normally, when a pitcher’s BAbip is much lower than around .300, that’s taken as an indicator that they’re getting lucky and are likely to come down to Earth sooner or later. So was Mariano Rivera’s .265 BAbip a fluke? It certainly wasn’t.

Three outs on nine pitches is much better than 450-foot dongs.

3: Well, that’s one way to get on base; Matt Wallner walks. (Rasmussen doesn’t walk a lot of guys, either.) Followed by K, ꓘ, groundout. Sigh.

Unlucky start; Nick Fortes squeezes one right down the left-field line and it gets by 3B Royce Lewis for a double. Then the Rays do something I can’t remember the Twins doing in years; they have the #9 hitter lay down a perfect sac bunt to move the runner to third. A grounder on a contact play gets Fortes in.

Radio actually has an interesting factoid; that RBI grounder was by Chandler Simpson, who has never hit a home run over the fence; he had three inside-the-park home runs in the minors. He hit one off Twins pitcher Dan Altavilla in Spring Training this year, but I guess that doesn’t count. Devil Rays 2-0

4: Hey now — a single by Trevor Larnach and a first pitch double by Austin Martin puts two guys in scoring position. Victor Caratini strikes out and I have a terrible feeling about this. Kody Clemens strikes out and Royce Lewis bloops one into “no-man’s land” that Ben Williamson, who is a human man, catches.

It’s innings like this that make me physically angry with the Twins. Like my tummy hurts. I hope the team hotel has bedbugs. OK, not that. But I’m still angry.

Jonathan Aranda hits another dinger off Bradley, the second long ball Bradley’s given up this year. Notably, both homers were on balls outside of the strike zone.

Also not in the strike zone were the four straight balls Bradley threw to Cedric Mullins (after a single by Jonny DeLuca), so this inning/game are within range of getting out of hand. Smart running by DeLuca; he tags and reaches third on a foul flyout just beyond first base. Fortunately Bradley induces the groundout; still, 3-0 seems like more than these Twins can manage tonight.

5: FINALLY! Brooks Lee has a nice AB and it ends with a bang. He fouled off or took several close pitches after falling behind 0-2. The Pride of Missouri City, TX, Tristan Gray, singles. Nothing comes of it.

A seven-pitch inning for Taj. He really is pitching pretty well (minus that walk last inning); too bad the Twins left their good bats in Minnesota. Tampa Bay 3-1

6: Klobberin’ Kody Klemens has a two-out hit. Do you think it matters? Do you think anything the Twins will try to do matters? Now, tomorrow, or ever again? It doesn’t.

Aranda does it again. Same location; off the plate inside. Then Yandy Díaz singles. With two outs, Ben Williamson walks. Royce Lewis saves a double that probably would have scored both runners BUT NOTHING MATTERS DO NOT BOTHER CARING

7: Kris Atteberry mentions that new RP Cole Sulser went to Dartmouth and this fills my heart with hate. Not for Sulser. Brooks Lee has a one-out single. It doesn’t matter. Byron Buxton hits a long fly. Atteberry is excited. I know not to be.

Huh. With one out and the Rays coming around for the fourth time, pitching coach Pete Maki walks out from the dugout and… is ejected. I dunno why. Doesn’t he know that it doesn’t matter?

Caminero hits another homer. So what. That one wasn’t off the plate, by the way, it was dead center. In comes Anthony Banda, a relief pitcher who currently sucks at relief pitching. He is fine. St. Petersburg Devil Rays 6-1

8: Trevor Martin replaces Cole Sulser. It doesn’t matter.

Eric Orze comes in for the team that will lose. He was traded by Tampa to Minnesota this offseason for a pitcher named Jacob Kisting. He currently has a 1.80 ERA in high-A. Good for him.

9: Royce Lewis improves his OPS from .726 to .771 with a dinger. Good for him. Wallner singles and Lee doubles. It doesn’t matter. Bryan Baker in to pitch for the Rays. The shame of Missouri City, TX, Tristan Gray, can’t hit it far enough for the runners to advance and Buxton strikes out on nine pitches and Larnach grounds out I told you it didn’t matter. Twins lose

Studs of the game: Lee and Lewis both having dingers and nice fielding plays. Duds: hoo boy. That last Bradley homer was bad. Caratini, Clemens, Gray and Wallner for failing to do ANYTHING with RISP and less than two outs.

COTG goes to nagurskiinnortheast for cussing at the Twins’ hitters and Zach for sharing a typically wonderful family photo. Thanks to everybody who participated in a GT for a game that was genuinely pretty boring right from the start.

Tomorrow’s game is at 3:10, featuring Shane (not Rue) McClanahan against our own Bailey Ober. Catch y’all next time!

The Orioles’ offense had been looking for a “get right game” all season; they finally found it Friday night agains the Red Sox, as they launched six long balls and collected 20 hits in a 10-3 win over the Red Sox.

The O’s had struggled all season to get off to hot starts, but you never would’ve known watching Friday’s first-inning firework show. It only took two pitches for Baltimore to get on the scoreboard against Red Sox righty Brayan Bello, as 26-year-old Dominican left an 0-1 cutter over the plate to Gunnar Henderson, who emphatically launched a high fly ball toward Eutaw Street.

The solo shot was Gunnar’s first leadoff home run since September 4th, 2024 and the first of three homers in the inning for the suddenly on fire Orioles’ offense. After Taylor Ward shot a single up the middle, Adley Rutschman decided to get in on the early-inning fun. Bello left a 2-2 sinker up and over the plate, and the Baltimore backstop did his best Ken Griffey Jr. impression, upper-cutting a ball into the right-center bleachers.

After a Pete Alonso groundout, the Red Sox starter made another mistake to Dylan Beavers. The rookie outfield jumped all over a first-pitch fastball from Bello, sending another towering home run onto the flag court to give Baltimore a 4-0 lead and send Birdland into a first-inning frenzy. Samuel Basallo tried to keep the rally going, hustling for a double a ball he grounded down the first base line and off the bag into right field. However, the big DH would get stranded at second after a Leody Taveras flyout and Coby Mayo strikeout.

And yet, while Bello escaped further damage in the first inning, the O’s weren’t done teeing off on the Red Sox’ suffering starter. Baltimore would manufacture a run in the third, thanks again to the resurgent top of their order. With one out, Henderson laced a single into right field, which probably would have gone for a double if not for its 111mph exit velocity. Then, with Gunnar trying to steal second, Taylor Ward bounced another single up the middle to give the Orioles runners at the corner. Rutschman then picked up his third RBI of the night, grounding into a fielder’s choice at third and beating out the double play to allow Gunnar to score.

The fireworks returned in the 3rd thanks to the big bat of Basallo. With one out and the O’s up 5-1, Bello left a cutter over the plate to his compatriot, and Basallo joined in on the home run derby, sending a laser over the right field fence for his fourth long ball of the season.

The O’s would finally chase Bello in the 4th after the second Rutsch-bomb of the night. Ward once again started the rally, collecting his third single of the night on a sharply hit ground ball to right. Then, in a deja vu moment for the right-hander, Bello left another cutter over the plate and Adley hooked a ball over the flag court fence for his second homer of the night, and the Orioles fifth home run off Bello. Boston left him in for two more batters, but after back-to-back singles from Pete Alonso and Dylan Beavers, manager Alex Cora finally pulled the plug on his starter. Bello came into Friday’s start with a strong track record in Camden Yards; he left having given up over 2,000 feet of home runs, while allowing eight runs and 13 hits.

However, just because Bello left the game didn’t mean the ball stopped leaving the Yard. Coby Mayo led off the bottom of the 5th inning with his third long ball in as many games, digging out a low changeup from Boston lefty Jovani Morán and flipping the left field wall for the Orioles’ fourth solo shot of the night.

Rutschman would pick up his 6th RBI of the night in the 7th to push the Orioles to double-digit runs. With two outs, Henderson picked up his third hit of the night, before Ward added his fourth single of the evening to move Gunnar into scoring position. Not wanting to feel left out, Adley joined the three-hit club, slashing a single to left that allowed Gunnar to race home and make the score 10-3.

The barrage of long balls overshadowed a strong outing from Baltimore starter Brandon Young. After pitching five shutout innings against the White Sox in his only other major league start this season, Young once again looked sharp early against the Red Sox. He worked a quick 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 1st, thanks to a lineout to center and a pair of groundouts to short.

Young was especially sharp with his sinker and splitter early on, tunneling the pitches off each other and consistently hitting the outside with both pitches. He also showed a sharp slider to right-handers, using the breaking ball to punch out Willson Contreras to lead off the 2nd. The 27-year-old righty only made one big mistake on the night, leaving a four-seamer over the plate to Wilyer Abreu, who hit the Red Sox’ only homer of the night with a solo blast in the 2nd.

The right-hander worked around a one-out single in the 3rd to post another scoreless frame. Young then started the 4th with back-to-back Ks, punching out Contreras on a high fastball before getting Abreu to swing through a splitter that fell off the plate at the bottom of the zone.

Young started to fade as he got into the 5th and 6th innings. He allowed back-to-back singles to Caleb Durbin and Carlos Narváez to start the 5th. Durbin would come around to score after moving to third on a fly ball and scampering home on an RBI groundout.

Abreu would get Young again in the 6th, slashing a one-out double down the left field line for his second extra-base hit of the evening. Two batters later, Marcelo Mayer lined a double to the right-center gap to score Abreu and end Young’s evening. After Yennier Cano stranded Mayer at second, it closed Young’s final line at 5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB and 5 K.

The bullpen combined to pitch 3.1 scoreless innings, while not allowing a hit until the 9th. The most notable outing came from the 36-year-old Andrew Kittredge, who pitched a 1-2-3 7th inning in his season debut.

Additional game notes:

• The two home runs and 6 RBIs both tie career highs for Adley Rutschman. The other three two-homer games from Adley all came against the Blue Jays
• Taylor Ward tied his career high with four hits. All three of his four-hit games have come this month with the Orioles.
• Samuel Basallo set a career high with four hits and finished a triple shy of the cycle.
• Dylan Beavers tied a career high with three hits.
• Friday was the first game in Orioles history where they hit 6+ home runs and collected 20+ hits.
• The Orioles are the first team to record 20+ hits in a game in 2026.

The Dodgers (17-8) return home to take on the red hot Chicago Cubs (16-9) for a three game series starting Friday night at Dodger Stadium. 

Emmet Sheehan (2-0, 5.58 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) makes his fifth start for the Dodgers.

Jameson Taillon (1-1, 3.97 ERA, 1.28 WHIP toes the rubber for the Cubs.

Lineups

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Cubs
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:15 p.m. PT
• TV: Apple TV
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

It is Friday night.

The Orioles have demolished the Red Sox by a 10-3 score, a beatdown so thorough that they literally ran out of in-game pyrotechnics at Oriole Park at Camden Yards because the O’s hit so many home runs. Gunnar Henderson led off the O’s hitting in the game with a homer, Adley Rutschman hit a pair of homers, each of Taylor Ward and Samuel Basallo had four hits, Brandon Young got a second win, and the Orioles picked up 20 hits on the way to an easy against the last-place Boston Red Sox.

YOU KNOW WHAT MUST BE DONE.

The Mets dropped the series opener against the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field on Friday night by a score of 4-3.

Here are the takeaways...

-- After putting up 10 runs the night before to break out of a long, team-wide slump, New York's offense went right back to sleep against Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen, who entered the game with a 7.48 ERA. Lorenzen held the Mets to just one run through seven innings, maneuvering around seven hits by keeping the ball on the ground and getting New York to hit into three double plays.

The first double play of the night at least brought home a run when Brett Baty scored following Marcus Semien's double play grounder in the second inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Still, the inning started out promisingly after Baty doubled to lead off, followed by Mark Vientos' infield single. With two outs and nobody on, the inning continued with a Carson Benge single and Tyrone Taylor reaching on an error, but Ronny Mauricio grounded out to end the threat.

New York would threaten again in the fifth after back-to-back, one-out singles by Taylor and Mauricio, but Bo Bichette's double play grounder on the first pitch got Lorenzen through the frame unscathed. Juan Soto then began the sixth with a well-struck single but was erased on a double play by Francisco Alvarez.

-- Opposite Lorenzen was Freddy Peralta, who was looking to get back on track after losing his previous two starts. Staked to the early 1-0 lead and nothing else, the right-hander made it stick for the first four innings, getting some help from his defense in the fourth after Benge made a diving catch in left field after running a long way.

Striking out six through four innings, Peralta had things working early, but he loaded the bases with one out in the fifth and allowed Colorado to tie the game on a weak groundout. Things unraveled further for Peralta in the sixth after a walk and a single brought up Jake McCarthy, who doubled in a run to give the Rockies the lead.

After striking out Brenton Doyle, Peralta's night was done. His final line: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K on 95 pitches (67 strikes). His ERA dropped to 3.90.

-- With runners on second and third, Sean Manaea entered the game and struck out Mickey Moniak to keep the Mets' deficit at one. He wasn't so lucky in the seventh, though, getting into trouble and surrendering a two-run single to Troy Johnston. Manaea pitched 3.1 innings, allowed two earned runs on three hits, a walk and a HBP while striking out seven.

-- With Lorenzen out of the game, New York was finally able to capitalize with runners in scoring position. The inning began with singles from Mauricio and Bichette and after a lineout by Soto, Alvarez singled to load the bases. Baty followed with another single to score two and get the Mets to within a run. 

Just as New York was getting a rally going, Vientos stepped up to the plate and, as luck would have it, lined into an unassisted double play for the Mets' fourth double play of the game. The ball Vientos hit had an exit velocity of 107.7 mph, but was hit directly at the second baseman, who doubled off pinch-runner Tommy Pham, who had no chance of getting back to the base.

New York went down 1-2-3 in the ninth inning.

Game MVP: Michael Lorenzen

The right-hander got the win after pitching seven terrific innings.

Highlights

Three strikeouts in the first two innings for Freddy Peralta ♨️ pic.twitter.com/GVeZB5fA2t

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 24, 2026

Brett Baty drills a first-pitch double to start the second pic.twitter.com/AmSo0TeIdR

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 24, 2026

Two more punch-outs for Freddy Peralta and he's got five in the first three innings 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9XaMT5o4RA

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 24, 2026

What a catch by Carson Benge! pic.twitter.com/NuDgYYTZON

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 24, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Rockies continue their three-game series on Saturday with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. on SNY.

RHP Kodai Senga (0-3, 8.83 ERA) will face former Met LHP Jose Quintana (0-2, 6.23 ERA).

The San Francisco Giants welcome the Miami Marlins to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Adrian Houser, who enters tonight’s game with a 5.40 ERA, 4.44 FIP, with 11 strikeouts to seven walks in 21.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 7-6 win over the Washington Nationals on Saturday, in which he allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits with one strikeout and two walks in five and two thirds innings.

He’ll be facing off against Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara, who enters tonight’s game with a 2.80 ERA, 4.42 FIP, with 23 strikeouts to 12 walks in 35.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Marlins’ 5-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, in which he allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits with one strikeout and six walks in five innings.

Game #26

Who: San Francisco Giants (11-14) vs. Miami Marlins (12-13)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 7:15 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

David Stearns un in making over the Mets roster, and a 12-game losing streak just two weeks into the year might lead an executive to some regrets. 

Stearns insisted Friday he remains confident in the group he put together as the president of baseball operations. 

“It’s tough for me to take two weeks — even two weeks when we didn’t win a baseball game — and say that’s going to dramatically alter who we think we are,’’ Stearns said before the Mets opened a series against the Rockies with a 4-3 loss at Citi Field. 

“I still think we’re a good team,” Stearns said. “I recognize we had a stretch where we did not play good baseball, and it cost us. It cost us repeatedly. I think we’re a good team, and I think we will show that.” 

It hasn’t been evident much so far, as the new-look offense has mostly slumped — outside of a 10-run eruption in Thursday’s win. 

But even that victory was almost spoiled by some rough work by a bullpen that Stearns called “inconsistent,” with an odd mix of starting pitchers and the unreliable Devin Williams closing. 

The rotation has been shaky outside of Nolan McLean and Clay Holmes and the defense, also a focal point of the offseason, has had its rocky moments. 

And it left the Mets with a 9-17 record after Friday’s loss. 

Asked about his attempt to improve the team’s run prevention — a theme in the offseason — Stearns said the results have been mixed. 

“Run prevention as a whole is pitching and defense,’’ Stearns said. “There have been moments it’s really good [and] a couple moments that haven’t been so good. It leads to the record we’re at right now. We’ve had consistent play from different parts of our team.” 

Bo Bichette has shown signs of life at the plate, as has Marcus Semien, but only the Giants entered Friday having scored fewer runs than the Mets and the lineup as a whole has struggled against hard fastballs. 

Stearns pointed to the fact that some of those hitters struggling against high velocity have performed better in those spots throughout their careers and is confident that will happen again. 

But the reality is, even with winning consecutive games following the franchise’s longest losing streak since 2002, the Mets have issues — including being without Francisco Lindor indefinitely with a strained left calf just as Juan Soto returned from a right calf strain. 

“Injuries are part of this and injuries to good players are part of this,’’ Stearns said. “We’ve just got to get through it.” 

Hopefully with more success without Lindor than in Soto’s absence. 

“It’s frustrating,’’ Stearns said of the recent streak. “No one likes to lose and when you lose every single day for two weeks, it’s not a good feeling. We also know — I also know — where we are in the schedule and how long the season is.” 

And that’s why he’s not looking back and wondering what went wrong in putting the team together. 

“We’re not going to wholesale change the evaluation of our team over a two-week stretch,’’ Stearns said. “This is a long season. Going through a 12-game losing streak is difficult and not usual. There’s a reason it doesn’t happen very often, especially this early in the season.”

The Mets have gotten some clarity on Francisco Lindor’s left calf strain — and it’s not good news.

A day after the shortstop landed on the IL, manager Carlos Mendoza said Lindor would be in a walking boot for a week before being reevaluated in three weeks.

Mendoza said he did not yet know the grade of Lindor’s calf strain, as he and team president David Stearns both expressed that the five-time All-Star would be reassessed in 21 days.

Lindor’s injury, suffered during Wednesday’s 3-2 win against the Twins, came as the Mets welcomed back Juan Soto from a 15-game absence (following a calf issue of his own).

“Injuries are part of this, and injuries to good players are part of this,” Stearns said on Friday before the Mets faced the Rockies. “We’re certainly not the only team in baseball that deals with this, and we just got to get through it.”

The Mets did that on Thursday, winning their series against the Twins on the back of a 12-game losing streak, but will now rely on a rather unproven prospect in Lindor’s place.

His injury resulted in a second call-up of the season for Ronny Mauricio, who will look to seize his latest chance after blasting six homers in 15 games for Triple-A Syracuse.

The infielder committed an error in his first start back but has the trust of Stearns to make the shortstop position his own in Lindor’s absence.

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“He’s going to get opportunity there. He demonstrated to us both in spring training and Triple-A that he can play shortstop, and we’re going to be confident in him at shortstop,” Stearns said.

“I recognize last night was a rough showing, but we believe he can play shortstop and we’re going to give him a chance.”

The 25-year-old’s gaudy minor league numbers haven’t yet translated to the majors, and he went 0-4 at the plate despite the Mets’ 10-8 win.

Mendoza said he is confident Mauricio will figure it out.

“It’s always important when you finally get an opportunity, but [it] also can put too much pressure. The last thing you want is trying to do too much and trying to impress people,” the manager said. 

“I think it’s just ‘go out there, play your game, be yourself.’ That’s all we’re asking him to do. And he’ll do just that. He’s a really good player that just needs to settle in here.”

Following his controversial remarks about Dodgers fans this offseason, Pete Crow-Armstrong told The California Post he’s anticipating a loud round of boos throughout his trip to Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

But if you think the expected response has the Cubs outfielder reconsidering his polarizing stance, think again.

“I don’t triple down,” Crow-Armstrong said. “But I don’t f—king regret s—t.”

In February, Crow-Armstrong, who grew up in Los Angeles, ruffled Angelenos’ feathers when he accused Dodgers fans of being fairweather supporters.

While praising Cubs fans for their passion, he alleged Boys in Blue backers simply show up to the ballpark “to take pictures and whatever.”

A few days later, following backlash, he stood by his statements.

“I grew up going to Dodgers games when they weren’t always good,” he said. “Their fans go in phases. Putting the Giants fan in the coma stuck with me as a kid. Sitting in the stands, nasty stuff goes on. I didn’t always experience that at other ballparks.”

Crow-Armstrong told The Post hours before he and his team took on the Dodgers for the first time since he muttered the shade that his feelings haven’t changed one bit.

“People that I grew up with that say they’re Dodgers fans don’t know s—t about baseball,” said Crow-Armstrong, a Harvard-Westlake School alum. “They don’t pay attention to the team, it’s just a place they go.

“So, again, no shade to diehard Dodgers fans. Because they’re out there. Every team’s got ‘em. But that’s what I got.”

Crow-Armstrong added that he truly feels people in LA head to Chavez Ravine to “take pictures of themselves at the games, just like what they go to Lakers games for and sit courtside and look good.”

“And, do what you do,” he continued. “But Cubs fans don’t do that. We got a fan base that loves being there in 20-degree weather.”

Crow-Armstrong also said he actually got threats over his initial statements.

“I’ve had people telling me that all offseason that my comments about the two fans that put the Giants fan in a coma — ‘I hope you get ready to know what that feels like,'” he said.

But he added he never took any seriously.

The Cubs and Dodgers will square off beginning at 7:15 p.m. Crow-Armstrong will start in center field and bat eighth.

And he said while he’s expecting a lot of trash talk, he won’t be shy about returning it.

“If I give them reason to talk s—t,” he said, “then I hope they take advantage of it and vice versa.”

The Dodgers and Cubs continue their weekend series with another exclusive national broadcast on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday is the Dodgers’ first game on Fox this season, which means no SportsNet LA for the series opener. But they will have Joe Davis on the national call, his first of two consecutive Dodgers Saturday telecasts for Fox.

Roki Sasaki gets the start on his bobblehead night, the third Dodgers player to play in their bobblehead game this season. Will Smith hit a game-winning two-run home run in the eighth inning on March 28, which was also his 31st birthday. Shohei Ohtani had a single and walk in his five plate appearances on April 10.

Right-hander Colin Rea starts for the Cubs.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Cubs
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 4:15 p.m.
• TV: Fox (Joe Davis, John Smoltz)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)