WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run homer, Ryan McMahon and Ben Rice also went deep, and the New York Yankees beat the Athletics 8-2 on Friday night for their fifth straight victory.
Goldschmidt connected in the first inning against Luis Severino (2-6) to stake the Yankees to a 4-0 lead and they rolled from there behind a strong outing from Carlos Rodon (1-2) for the win. Rodon allowed one run and four hits in six innings.
Aaron Judge added two RBIs for New York and Rice moved into a tie with Judge for the team lead with 17 homers on the season.
The Yankees outscored the opposition 36-6 during this current winning streak.
The A’s lost their fourth straight on this homestand and also might have lost Severino to an injury. Severino was grimacing after throwing warmup pitches before the second inning and called for manager Mark Kotsay to come to the mound with an athletic trainer. He left the game with what was described as a sore right arm.
The game didn’t get off to a good start for Severino, who allowed four unearned runs in the first inning to fall to 0-3 in four career starts against his former team.
After Rice reached on an error by first baseman Nick Kurtz, Severino allowed an RBI single to Judge and the homer to Goldschmidt. Severino has allowed 19 runs — 15 earned — in 13 2/3 innings in four starts against New York.
Kurtz hit a solo homer for the A’s, who have been outscored 30-6 during this four-game losing streak.
The A’s have gone 13 straight games without getting a win from a starting pitcher with starters going 0-9 with a 5.64 ERA during that stretch.
Up next
LH Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.14 ERA) was set to start the second game of the series for the Yankees against RH J.T. Ginn (2-3, 3.19).
LOS ANGELES — Justin Wrobleski took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers got home runs from Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith in a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.
Wrobleski (7-2) struck out a career-high nine against no walks in seven innings. The 25-year-old left-hander struck out the side in the first — setting down big boppers Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper — and the fifth innings.
In the sixth, Schwarber homered 411 feet to dead-center with two outs for the first hit and run off of Wrobleski in a rematch of last year’s National League Division Series. The Dodgers won 3-1 on the way to their second straight World Series championship.
Tanner Scott retired the side in the ninth for his fifth save.
The NL West-leading Dodgers won their sixth in a row for the first time since reeling off seven straight from April 26-May 3 last year.
Freeman hit an opposite-field shot on the first pitch from Zack Wheeler (4-1) in the first. Muncy went deep in the second and Ohtani homered into the Phillies’ bullpen in right in the third. Smith made it 4-0 with his solo shot in the fifth.
With retired three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw watching from the front row, Wrobleski’s only baserunner before Schwarber’s homer came on an error by right fielder Kyle Tucker in the fourth.
Turner was safe at first and advanced to second on Tucker’s error. Tucker and center fielder Andy Pages appeared to miscommunicate on Turner’s ball to the warning track. Wrobleski retired the next two batters to end the inning.
The Phillies’ other run came on Steward Berroa’s two-out single in the eighth off reliever Edgardo Henriquez.
May 29, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Justin Wrobleski (70) pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
The Philadelphia Phillies (29-28) played their first game in Chavez Ravine since they were eliminated in the National League Divisional Series last October and fell 4-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers (37-20) on Friday night.
Four of the five hits allowed by Zack Wheeler (4-1) were solo home runs to Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith, which accounted for the entirety of the Dodgers’ runs on the night.
Dodgers’ lefty, Justin Wrobleski (7-2), hurled nine of the Dodgers’ 11 K’s and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, though the Phillies did get a runner on in the fourth when a fly ball hit by Trea Turner was fumbled by Kyle Tucker for a two-base error. With two outs in the top of the sixth, Kyle Schwarber denied the no-hitter and the shutout with his major league-leading 22nd home run.
Dodgers' Justin Wrobleski is through five no-hit innings against the Phillies. He'd be perfect if it weren't for an error.
He has eight strikeouts, a new career-high. He's at 65 pitches.
In the top of the eighth, the Phillies did muster two hits and a run off Dodgers’ reliever, Edgardo Henriquez, via a Brandon Marsh double and a first-as-a-Phillie RBI single by Steward Berroa, who was promoted to the big league club in favor of Otto Kemp earlier in the day.
This is only the second time in his career that Wheeler has surrendered four homers in a start, the first also coming as a Phillies in June of 2024 against the Orioles. He has never surrendered more than two in any other game.
Andrew Painter (1-5) faces a tall task against Roki Sasaki (3-3) in the middle game of the series tomorrow night.
Munetaka Murakami left the Chicago White Sox’s 4-3 victory against the Detroit Tigers in the third inning on Friday, May 29, with hamstring tightness.
He hit the ball to center field and ran through first base before he was seen reaching for his hamstring. White Sox manager Will Venable, the team’s medical staff and Murakami’s interpreter, Kenzo Yagi, all ran onto the field after the play.
After the game, Venable called Murakami's injury a "little hamstring strain on the initial evaluation” and said the first baseman will likely miss time. "Probably a couple weeks," Venable said.
Murakami is expected to get more imaging done Saturday.
Venable wouldn’t commit to an official decision when asked whether Murakami would be placed on the injured list.
The Japanese star declined to talk with the media after the game, but a White Sox spokesperson stated that he would be available to talk before Saturday’s game.
The White Sox entered Friday’s game with the fourth-best record in the American League. Chicago now has a 30-27 overall record after its walk-off win in 10 innings.
The Yankees mashed three home runs and Carlos Rodon pitched his best game since coming off the IL as New York defeated the Athletics, 8-2, on Friday night in West Sacramento.
Here are the takeaways...
-The Yankees bats got to old friend Luis Severino early as an Aaron Judge single knocked home Ben Rice, who reached on an error and advanced to second on a balk, to give them the lead. With two outs and two on, Paul Goldschmidt capped off the big first inning with a three-run blast (380 feet, 99.5 mph exit velocity) on a sweeper that the veteran got around on.
Severino would leave the game warming up for the top of the second with what the team called right arm soreness, but the Yankees would get to the A's bullpen, too. Rice drove in a run in the second with a single and Ryan McMahon launched his 150th career home run in the third to give New York a 6-1 lead.
Rice wasn't done. He hit his team-tying 17th bomb of the year in the seventh and finished 3-for-5, a triple short of the cycle.
-Judge went 1-for-4 with the RBI single and an RBI groundout, while Jose Caballero, starting at shortstop instead of Anthony Volpe, finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.
The Yankees had 11 hits and the only starters to not get a hit were Jazz Chisholm Jr. (0-5) and J.C. Escarra (0-4).
-Rodon was on the mound, making his fourth start since returning from the IL and had to grind it out at first. He allowed a solo shot to Nick Kurtz in the first, and the A's had runners on second and first with no outs in the second, but the southpaw worked out of the jam without allowing a run.
Rodon would scatter baserunners but got stronger as the game went along. He finished up pitching six innings (93 pitches) while allowing just one run on four hits and two walks, while striking out three batters.
-The Yankees bullpen was up and down, as per usual. Brent Headrick allowed the A's to load the bases with one out in the seventh, before Fernando Cruz bailed Headrick out, getting an inning-ending double play to end the threat.
Paul Blackburn pitched a clean eighth inning but got into trouble in the ninth, allowing a run on two hits and a walk, but got the final out to start the weekend series on a winning note.
Game MVP: Carlos Rodon
While the offense continued to give plenty of run support, the A's lineup threatened early on and Rodon kept them at bay to make this a laugher.
May 29, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates with center fielder Andy Pages (44) after scoring against the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
The Dodgers (37-20) launched four solo home runs in a 4-2 win over the Phillies (29-278) ace Zack Wheeler Friday night at Dodger Stadium in the opener of a three-game weekend series.
Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski earned the win by pitching one of the best starts of his career. He struck out nine and allowed just one earned run.
The Dodgers flexed their power with home runs from Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, and Will Smith. Wheeler took his first loss of the season after giving up all four runs over six innings, while Kyle Schwarber provided a solo home run for the Phils in the loss.
Wheeler had been absolutely dominant this season, carrying a microscopic 1.67 ERA and allowed only one home run going into Friday’s game. The Dodgers hit four solo home runs against the Philly ace, serving him up his first loss of the season.
Wrobleski struck out the side in the first inning for the first time in his career. He struck both Schwarber and Trea Turner looking to open the game, and Bryce Harper went down swinging. His fastball velocity was quite a bit faster than his career average in the frame.
Wheeler struck out Ohtani to open his night. Freeman continued to find success in his career against Wheeler and blasted a solo home run against him to the left field corner. That was Freeman’s third career homer off Wheeler.
The Dodgers had already collected three home runs in the game before the Phillies could even muster a base runner against Wrobleski through four innings.
The Phillies did catch a break with one out in the top of the fourth after a defensive miscue in the outfield allowed Turner to reach second base. Kyle Tucker was tagged with the error when the ball dropped between himself and Andy Pages. The Phillies failed to cash in on the mistake.
Wrobleski continued to cruise through the order working quickly. He picked up a career-high eighth strikeout when he whiffed Brandon Marsh to cap off five hitless innings.
Will Smith took a Wheeler sinker for a ride over the right center wall for the fourth solo home run of the night for the Dodgers.
The usual culprit, Schwarber, was the one who broke up Wrobleski’s no-hit bid with a two-out solo home run in the sixth.
The Dodgers bullpen allowed a rare run in the top of the eighth after Wrobleski ended his night. Edgardo Henriquez allowed two hits and a run before Dave Roberts went to Alex Vesia to face Schwarber who represented the tying run at the plate.
Channeling that Bobblehead Night energy, Vesia reared back and struck out Schwarber swinging on a full count to keep it a two-run game into the ninth.
Tanner Scott got the ball in the ninth and sent the Phillies down in order. He struck out Harper who fanned three times on the night and secured his fifth save of the year.
Friday particulars
HRs — Freddie Freeman (8), Max Muncy (13), Shohei Ohtani (10), Will Smith (6), Kyle Schwarber (22)
Roki Sasaki (3-3, 4.93 ERA, 1.42 WHIP) starts the second game of the series against the Phillies at (7:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Lefty Jesús Luzardo (4-4, 4.38 ERA 1.28 WHIP) counters for Philly.
May 29, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar (14) celebrates his two run walk off home run with right fielder Troy Johnston (20) in the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
The Rockies came home trying to end a losing streak against a reeling division opponent. They did it by turning a frustrating offensive night into their first walk-off win of the season.
Colorado beat San Francisco 8-6 on Friday at Coors Field, improving to 21-37 while dropping the Giants to 22-35. The Rockies trailed 4-1 in the eighth and 6-3 in the ninth before Hunter Goodman tied the game with a three-run homer and Ezequiel Tovar ended it with a two-run shot.
Tovar drove in four runs with homers in the eighth and ninth. Goodman drove in three on the game-tying blast. Juan Mejia, despite allowing two runs in the top of the ninth, got the win. Caleb Kilian took the loss after allowing five runs in the ninth.
Lorenzen bends in the middle innings
Michael Lorenzen’s first two innings were clean enough. He struck out Casey Schmitt in the first, worked a clean second, and helped himself with a good play on Matt Chapman’s soft comebacker.
San Francisco started getting to him in the third. Bryce Eldridge doubled to left, moved to third on Harrison Bader’s flyout, and scored on Willy Adames’ sacrifice fly. Adames’ out was hit 416 feet at 101.4 mph, a sign the Giants were starting to square Lorenzen up.
The fourth brought the damage. Rafael Devers opened with a walk, but Lorenzen got Chapman to hit into a forceout. Jung Hoo Lee followed with a single to right, putting runners on the corners, and Daniel Susac gave San Francisco a 2-1 lead with a sacrifice fly to center.
Lorenzen then walked Eldridge, moving Lee into scoring position. Bader followed with a 98.6 mph two-out ground-ball single to right, scoring Lee and moving Eldridge to third. That made it 3-1 and ended Lorenzen’s night.
Lorenzen finished with three runs allowed on five hits, two walks, and two strikeouts over 3.2 innings. His ERA rose to 7.22. He threw 70 pitches and used six offerings, led by 22 cutters. His velocity ranged from 81.9 to 96.4 mph.
Webb keeps the Rockies from cashing in
Logan Webb was not efficient in his return from the injured list, but he kept the Rockies from turning traffic into runs.
Colorado’s first run came in the second. Tovar walked, and Edouard Julien followed with a sharp single to center. It was Julien’s first hit in 35 at-bats, snapping an 0-for-34 skid and keeping him one hitless at-bat shy of the Rockies’ record.
With runners on the corners, Julien broke for second but stopped short of the bag as Luis Arráez moved to cover. Arráez threw home, and Tovar slid in safely on the delayed steal. Julien still reached second, and the Rockies had a 1-0 lead.
They had chances after that but did not finish them.
Tyler Freeman singled in the third but was caught stealing. The Rockies rebuilt the inning with a TJ Rumfield single and a Goodman walk, but Troy Johnston flew out. In the fourth, Tovar reached on Webb’s throwing error and advanced to third, but Lee ran down Kyle Karros’ liner in right and crashed into the wall to end the inning. In the fifth, Freeman was hit by a pitch and Goodman doubled after Webb exited, putting two runners in scoring position. Colorado came away empty again.
Webb allowed one run on three hits and three walks over 4.1 innings, striking out five and lowering his ERA to 4.82. He threw 86 pitches, only 28 for strikes in the zone, but the Rockies still swung 38 times. Webb leaned on five pitches, led by 27 sinkers and 23 cutters. Colorado managed only three hard-hit balls against him and put six balls on the ground.
Hill and Halvorsen hold the line
Jaden Hill kept the game from getting away after Lorenzen exited.
Hill entered with two outs in the fourth and got Adames to fly out with two runners aboard. In the fifth, Schmitt hit a hard one-out double, but Hill answered with back-to-back swinging strikeouts of Devers and Chapman. Both came on fastballs, including a 97.9 mph fastball that Devers swung through.
Hill finished with 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two. His ERA dropped to 2.61.
Welinton Herrera opened the sixth and ran into traffic. Lee singled, and after Susac flew out, Eldridge walked. Seth Halvorsen entered with two on and one out and gave the Rockies one of their best pitching sequences of the night — Back-to-back strikeouts of Bader and Adames to end the frame.
Halvorsen worked around a two-out Devers single in the seventh with help from his defense. Tovar made a leaping catch on Arraez’s liner, and Freeman made a diving catch in right on Schmitt. Halvorsen then got Chapman to fly out.
Herrera was charged with one hit and one walk while recording one out. Halvorsen followed with 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two.
The comeback arrives late
San Francisco added a run in the eighth against Keegan Thompson without much force. Lee led off with a soft double down the third-base line, Susac bunted him to third, and Eldridge brought him home with a sacrifice fly to center. Thompson struck out Bader to end the inning, but the Giants led 4-1.
Colorado answered against Keaton Winn, who entered with a 1.82 ERA and had been one of San Francisco’s better bullpen arms. Johnston opened the bottom of the eighth by swinging at the first pitch and dropping a soft single into center. Willi Castro flew out, but Tovar attacked a first-pitch 95.3 mph fastball and drove it 441 feet to dead center.
The Giants pushed the lead back out in the ninth. Mejia got Adames to ground out, then hit Arraez with a 98.5 mph fastball. Schmitt lined out, but Devers tripled to right on a ball deflected by Jake McCarthy in center, scoring Arraez. Chapman followed with an RBI single to right, making it 6-3. Lee singled before Susac flew out to end the inning.
That gave the Rockies one more chance, and they did not waste it.
Kilian replaced Winn to start the bottom of the ninth, and Drew Gilbert entered in center field. McCarthy opened with a ground-ball single back to the mound. Freeman followed with a line-drive single to center, moving McCarthy to second. Rumfield flew out to right, allowing McCarthy to reach third.
Goodman came up as the tying run and drove a ball down the left-field line.
The umpires reviewed the home run call, and the ruling stood. Goodman’s 13th homer of the season tied the game at 6-6.
Johnston struck out for the second out, but Castro singled to right. Tovar followed with his second homer in as many innings, a two-run shot to left that gave the Rockies an 8-6 win.
It was the Rockies’ first walk-off win of the season.
Final thoughts
Tovar was the best player on the field tonight. He made several solid defensive plays, scored the Rockies’ first run on the delayed steal, hit the two-run homer in the eighth, and ended the game in the ninth. He finished 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBI.
Goodman had already doubled in the fifth before tying the game with his three-run homer in the ninth. Julien’s single snapped an 0-34 streak. Hill continued to pitch well, and Halvorsen’s two strikeouts in the sixth kept the Rockies close enough for the late comeback to matter.
The Rockies still left chances on the field. They went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base. But they also finished with 13 hits, played clean defense, and finally got the late swings they had been missing.
Mejia earned the win despite allowing two runs in the ninth, moving to 1-4 with a 5.13 ERA. Kilian took the loss for San Francisco, falling to 1-3 with a 3.96 ERA.
Up next
The Rockies continue their series against the Giants on Saturday at Coors Field. Ryan Feltner is scheduled to start for Colorado against San Francisco right-hander Adrian Houser.
Feltner enters at 1-1 with a 6.30 ERA and 17 strikeouts, while Houser comes in at 2-4 with a 5.30 ERA and 31 strikeouts. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. MDT.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 08: BJ Murray #7 of the Great Britain in action during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool B game between Great Britain and Italy at Daikin Park on March 08, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Right-hander Tyler Beede went from Triple-A Iowa to the Development List.
South Bend right-hander Nate Williams also went to the Development List.
Knoxville first baseman Edgar Alvarez was placed on the Restricted List. No, I don’t know why.
Four Iowa pitcher combined to allowed just three hits. Starter Paul Campbell went four innings and gave up no runs on just one hit. Campbell struck out four and walked no one.
Luke Little pitched the fifth inning, retired the side in order and got teh win because Campbell didn’t go five innings. Little did not strike anyone out.
Shortstop Owen Miller was a perfect 4 for 4 with a triple and a walk. Miller scored two runs and drove home one.
Third baseman BJ Murray went 3 for 5 with a double and a triple. Murray scored three runs and had one RBI.
DH Christian Bethancourt was 2 for 5 with a two-run double in the fifth.
Left fielder Chas McCormick went 2 for 5 with two RBI, one on a first inning single and one on a single in the sixth. McCormick scored once.
Starter Jostin Florentino gave up a solo home run in the second inning and no other runs. Florentino’s final line was one run on two hits over three innings. Florentino did walk five batters while striking out two.
South Bend had an 8-5 lead going into the top of the ninth when Grayson Moore was summoned from the bullpen for the save. Unfortunately, Moore was only able to retire one batter while the other five batters he faced combined for a solo home run, a single and three doubles. Moore got the loss after allowing four runs on five hits over just one-third of an inning. Moore struck out one.
It looked like South Bend was going to cruise to an easy win when they scored seven runs in the first inning, six of them coming off the Padres’ number-two prospect (per Baseball America) Kash Mayfield.
First, center fielder Josiah Hartshorn hit a two-run bomb, his second South Bend home run and seventh overall. Hartshorn was 1 for 5 tonight.
Later on in the first, first baseman Drew Bowser hit a grand slam, his second home run of the year. Bowser was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Left fielder Miguel Useche went 3 for 4 with a walk. He drove in one run and scored on the grand slam.
Starter David Bracho pitched the first 3.2 innings and gave up four runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out two.
Hayden Frank allowed two runs in the seventh inning and was allowed to start the ninth inning with a four-run lead. However, he loaded the bases with only one out and was pulled for Aiden Moffett. Moffett then walked four of the next five batters to drive in all three inherited runners and one of his own. But then he got a strikeout to end the game and collect a very ugly save.
The final line on Frank, who was the winning pitcher, was five runs on five hits over 3.1 innings. Frank walked five and struck out three.
Moffett’s final line was one run on no hits and four walks. He struck out two in two-thirds of an inning.
Right fielder Eli Lovich hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning, his seventh of the year. Lovich went 3 for 4 with a double, the home run and four total RBI.
First baseman Edward Vargas was 3 for 5. He scored twice and had one RBI.
Catcher Jairo Díaz was 2 for 4 with a walk and a double. He scored one time.
Left fielder Darlyn De Leon went 2 for 4 with a walk. He scored two runs and drove home one.
Everyone in the Pelicans lineup had at least one hit.
A great catch in center field by Alexey Lumpuy, who was 1 for 5 with an RBI double and one run scored.
One of the best stories of the 2026 baseball season will likely be put on pause.
White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami exited Friday’s 4-3 win over the Tigers early with a hamstring issue that the team later said was a strain. Manager Will Venable told reporters that the slugger is likely heading to the injured list.
The White Sox, in a corresponding move, are going to call up Jacob Gonzalez from Triple-A, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported, saying Murakami is likely to miss a few weeks of action.
Munetaka Murakami #5 of the Chicago White Sox grabs his leg after running to first base in the third inning of a game against the Detroit Tigers at Rate Field on May 29, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images
Gonzalez, the No. 15 overall pick in the 2023 draft, is the team’s No. 23 prospect on MLB Pipeline.
“Nothing official. Got to continue the evaluation, but it might be a couple weeks,” Venable told reporters, according to ESPN.
Murakami appeared to injure himself in the bottom of the third inning on Friday when he beat out a throw to first base to avoid a double play. He grabbed at his right hamstring as he walked back to the bag and was seen wincing in pain.
Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox is removed from the game in the third inning of a game against the Detroit Tigers with an apparent injury at Rate Field on May 29, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images
But if there were any concerns about how his game would play stateside, he has assuaged any of those fears by flashing the power he was well-known for in Nippon Professional Baseball.
His 20 home runs through 57 games are tied with the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez for most in the American League. He has a .240/.378/.560 slash line with 44 walks and 80 strikeouts across 200 at-bats.
If it is indeed Gonzalez coming up, the White Sox are getting a red-hot bat from the International League. Gonzalez has belted 19 homers with a .317 and 1.087 OPS this year, his fourth year in the minor leagues.
With two outs in the fifth and the tying run at second base, A.J. Minter entered for Freddy Peralta in just his second appearance for New York since he returned from the injured list. Minter looked in mint form, striking out two over his inning of work to give him four strikeouts in two innings this season.
And although the Mets’ bullpen has been one of their saving graces this year, having Minter back in the fold after more than a year away from the team has already been a game-changer.
“Huge, especially when you’re facing a lineup like the Marlins where there’s a lot of left-handed hitters on a night where you’re probably trying to stay away from your other lefty, which is [Brooks] Raley,” manager Carlos Mendoza said about Minter’s role. “For me, to be able to continue to play the matchups in those middle innings without having to worry about what’s gonna happen when the next at-bat comes in.
“Those guys, they’re in a good place and for us to have those guys every time they’re available, we’re gonna be pretty good back there.”
Minter was originally signed two offseasons ago to be New York’s left-handed setup man in front of Edwin Diaz. And while the lefty will certainly get some late-inning work at some point this season to help bridge the gap to closer Devin Williams, Mendoza is fine with getting Minter’s feet wet a little before throwing him into the deep end.
Plus, on a night where the Mets were trying not to use Raley, the perfect situation for Minter arose.
Speaking of Raley, the veteran left-hander also checked into the game, striking out the final batter of the seventh inning for his only out of the night – exactly how Mendoza planned it.
“Today was a day like if he was in the game it was gonna be for a batter or two,” the skipper said. “I was trying to avoid that situation, but the game called for [it]. With two outs, tying run on second base, there was a lefty coming up and that was it right there.”
But perhaps the most important outing of them all was from Austin Warren who kept the game tied in the 10th inning with a 1-2-3 inning, including a strikeout. Warren’s appearance allowed New York to win it in the bottom half on MJ Melendez’s two-run homer.
In his second season with the Mets after a cup of coffee with the big league team in 2025, Warren has been dynamite. In fact, in 56 career appearances, the reliever has a 2.48 ERA and has been a godsend for New York after not cracking the Opening Day roster.
“Huge, and today [was] another example there,” Mendoza said about the job Warren has done. “Extra innings, runner at second base and the situation is not too big for him and he goes out there and just makes pitches and slows the game down, doesn’t try to do too much, sticks to what makes him who he is.
“[He’s] not afraid to spin the baseball and then uses the fastball effectively when he needs to and he got a huge three outs for us.”
On the other side, Tobias Myers had a rough eighth inning after allowing a game-tying two-run homer to Owen Caissie. In a bit of a surprise move, Myers will reportedly be optioned to the minors after the game as the Mets need a fresh arm for Saturday’s game after using seven pitchers on Friday.
A corresponding move has yet to be made.
“At this level, whatever it takes day in and day out,” Mendoza said. “We’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow and I’m glad that the boys came through today.”
"Special," manager Carlos Mendoza said of the moment. "Especially what he’s been going through the past couple of weeks, two, three weeks. Where he gets called up, he puts together some really good at-bats and he kind of gets going out of the gate, but then it’s been hard for him. But for him today, in that situation against a right-handed pitcher, to get to that fastball like that. Special."
"You got to give him credit, this guy continues to work. He was one of the ones today hitting early out there. And that’s what makes this group who they are, they’re not going to give up. They’re going to keep going and they’re gonna continue to find ways to get the job done. Which was nice to see MJ today coming through for us."
It will certainly be a moment Melendez will always remember, especially since it was his first career walk-off over his five seasons in the majors (470 career games played).
"Honestly, pretty speechless, kind of a surreal feeling," Melendez said. "It’s something that I’d never done before at the major league level. Definitely not a walk-off home run, so it was a really crazy feeling."
Melendez added that he had been pulling the ball foul a lot recently, but was confident that he got enough on the fastball from Pete Fairbanks. The homer ended up having an exit velocity of 105 mph and traveled 373 feet into the second deck in right field.
"I knew I got it, I just didn’t know if it was going to stay fair. That was the question," Melendez said. "I had been hooking a lot of balls foul like the last few weeks, so that was always kind of in the back of my mind."
The home run also came on an 0-2 pitch, as Melendez said he was simply just trying to put the ball in play with a runner on second base.
“Honestly, when I got in the box, I knew I had to put the ball in play,” Melendez said. “Obviously, give yourself a chance. Any hit right there for the most part can possibly score him. So just try to shorten up in that situation and not try to do too much.”
Melendez was asked if not starting the game helped motivate him in the moment, saying that's part of the "ups and downs" of baseball, and credited his mindset to the message his father sent him prior to the game.
"Yeah, you know I feel like in baseball you’re gonna kind of go through those ups and downs, and the last few weeks have been kind of rough," Melendez said. "I just haven’t gotten the results I’ve wanted.
"Talking to my dad today, he’s coached me my whole life, some of the best advice he gives me is just staying in my faith. And for me, him sending me message today of a Bible verse, Galatians 6:9… And that was just something that really stuck to me today, especially, just not giving up and keep doing things the right way. Staying steadfast in my faith and knowing things will work out."
Melendez and the Mets will now look to stay afloat and extend their winning streak to three games on Saturday against the Marlins.
The Mets, in need of fresh pitching, are set to make a pitching move ahead of Saturday's game against the Marlins.
According to The Athletic's Will Sammon, New York will option RHP Tobias Myers. Who will replace Myers is still unknown.
Myers has one option remaining, according to Fangraphs, and will give the Mets a much-needed arm in the bullpen after they had to use seven pitchers in their 9-7 extra-inning win on Friday night.
The Mets acquired Myers in the trade that brought over Freddy Peralta from the Milwaukee Brewers and has been a solid addition to the manager Carlos Mendoza's bullpen. However, he has struggled a bit of late.
Myers allowed the tying two-run shot to Owen Caissie in the eighth inning of Friday's game. He also allowed a run on two hits in Wednesday's series finale against the Cincinnati Reds. Over his last five games, he's allowed five runs on seven hits across 5.2 innings of work and 10 earned runs in his last 10 innings pitched.
Overall, Myers has pitched to a 4.05 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP in his 20 appearances (33.1 IP), which includes two starts, this season. He has 26 strikeouts and converted one save.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 29: MJ Melendez #1 of the New York Mets follows through on his tenth inning game winning two run home run against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on May 29, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Baseball is a roller coaster. Seasons are roller coasters, where even the best teams have losing streaks, even the best hitters slump, and vice versa. This game was exactly that, with the Mets slowly bleeding away an early lead, only for MJ Melendez to hit a towering home run in the 10th inning to walk off the Marlins. It is a game that will hopefully be featured on 2026 Mets Classics in a “this is one of the wins that helped get the Mets back into the playoffs” type of way, and not in a “2018 José Bautista hits a walk off grand slam for the 77-85 Mets” type of way.
The Mets started off hot behind Freddy Peralta, getting to Max Meyer early. A.J. Ewing snuck a ground ball past a draw in infield with the bases loaded and one away in the first inning, plating two. After Ewing stole second, Brett Baty added a single of his own to make it 4-0.
The Marlins started their comeback in the third, when Xavier Edwards hit an RBI triple over the head of Ewing in center field. Mark Vientos got the run back in the bottom of the frame, absolutely walloping a slider 445 ft., making it 5-1. The two teams traded runs again in the fourth, with Jakob Marksee dunking a Peralta changeup into left field, and hustling an RBI double out of it. The Mets scored their run in the frame with a throwing error by Joe Mack on a Luis Torrens sacrifice bunt, as the catcher was trying to move Marcus Semien over after a leadoff double.
The middle of the game was (mostly) all Marlins. Peralta, who was not helped out by his defense, was chased in the fifth inning after Otto Lopez drove in a run due to an ugly Vientos error at first base, and Kyle Stowers drove him home with a double down the right field line. A.J. Minter came in to clean up the inning and did just that, and got two outs in the sixth inning on top of it. Huascar Brazoban came in to relieve Minter and did well until the seventh, when a walk, a Liam Hick ground ball double that beat the shift down the third base line, and a sacrifice fly turned it into a 6-5 game. Brooks Raley got a king sized out after the sacrifice fly to end the threat with the lead intact.
The bottom of the seventh was retroactively incredibly important; in all honestly, they lose this game without it, and this recap is much more morose than matter-of-factly. Bo Bichette walked with one out. Juan Soto singled to make it first and third, and a pinch hitting M.J. Melendez sacrifice flew Bichette home to make it 7-5. The importance of that insurance run showed up immediately, as Tobias Myers served up a two run home run in the eighth to tie it at seven.
The bottom of the eighth and the entirety of the ninth went by scoreless, as we were sent to extras with a score of 7-7 (hence, the importance of that sacrifice fly). Austin Warren came in for Luke Weaver, who pitched well in the ninth, for the tenth and was great, getting out of the Rob Manfred-enforced jam to keep the score tied going into the bottom of the tenth.
Juan Soto, leading off the tenth, popped out on the first pitch, but M.J. Melendez hit a towering home run to push the Mets record to 24-33 on the season.
Big Mets winner: M.J. Melendez, +34% WPA Big Mets loser: Tobias Myers, -27% WPA Mets pitchers: -3% WPA Mets hitters: +53% WPA Teh aw3s0mest play: M.J. Melendez’s walk off home run, +30.7% WPA Teh sux0rest play: Owen Cassie’s two run home in in the eighth, -32% WPA
May 29, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio (11) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the fifth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
The Brewers didn’t look great tonight. They only got four hits. They had a couple of tough errors, one of which led directly to runs. They trailed for most of the game. But these Brewers don’t lie down. They managed to squeeze a couple of late runs across by a combination of grit and good baserunning, and the bullpen kept the Astros down for six innings. Trevor Megill did the rest, and the Brewers had their third extra-innings win of the season.
Christian Yelich got the Brewers off to an inauspicious start when he struck out on three pitches, the second and third of which he swung out despite being way out of the zone. After Jackson Chourio flew out on a fly ball, Turang struck out looking (also on three pitches), and Astros starter Kai-Wei Teng had a quick and easy first inning. Taylor Trammell started things for the Astros with an infield single, but an Isaac Paredes double play erased him. Yordan Alvarez put a scare into Milwaukee starter Coleman Crow when he scorched a ball to the warning track in center, but he hit it to the wrong spot—despite a 113 mph exit velocity on a 409-foot drive, Garrett Mitchell ran it down for the third out.
The Brewers did get a couple of runners on in the second inning. Jake Bauers drew a one-out walk, and advanced to third when Mitchell followed that with a base hit up the middle. But Bauers was a sitting duck at home when he broke on a Rengifo ground ball to third, and Sal Frelick was unable to come through with a two-out knock when he flew out to center.
David Hamilton made a nice play on a hard grounder from Christian Walker to start the bottom of the second, but the Astros got on the board with one out when Cam Smith hit is sixth homer of the season out to left. (It wasn’t a cheapie, either.) Pop outs by Braden Shewmake and Jake Meyers ended the inning, but Houston had an early 1-0 lead.
The Brewers had an immediate response through an unlikely source: David Hamilton. He led off the top of the third with a backhand slapshot to the Crawford Boxes in left field, an opposite-field shot for his first homer of the year (despite just 94 mph exit velocity and a measured 343 feet!). Teng recovered to get the top of the Brewer order all in a row, but Milwaukee had tied it up.
After Nick Allen popped out to start the bottom of the inning, Crow walked the nine-hole hitter, César Salazar. But Trammell became Crow’s first strikeout victim, and Paredes grounded to Hamilton who flipped to Turang for the third out. Garrett Mitchell drew a two-out walk in the top of the fourth, but Milwaukee got nothing else.
A Rengifo throwing error put the Brewers in hot water in the bottom of the fourth. After Alvarez walked to start the inning, Walker hit a ground ball to third. It probably wasn’t hit hard enough to turn two, but Rengifo rushed the throw and threw it into right field. On the very next pitch, Smith hit one to the gap in right center; Alvarez scored, and runners were on second and third with still no outs.
Milwaukee benefitted from bad Houston baserunning for the first out. Shewmake hit a grounder to a drawn-in Turang at second, and after he looked Walker back to third, he threw to second, where Smith was too far off the bag and was caught for the first out. Crow had a path out of the inning with runners on the corners and one out, but Meyers spoiled that when he hit a one-hopper off the wall in left for an RBI double. There were still runners on second and third with one out for Allen, who hit a fly ball to center that was plenty deep to score Shewmake from third. Salazar flew out to end the inning, but Houston scored three (two of them unearned) and led 4-1.
Once again, the Brewers had an answer right away. With two outs in the top of the fifth, Yelich drew a two-out walk, and Chourio finally got a sweeper that was over the plate, and he didn’t miss it. He crushed it, 431 feet, to left-center for his second homer of the season. After a walk for Turang, too, Contreras grounded out to end the inning, but Milwaukee had closed the gap to 4-3.
Crow was done after four—Rengifo’s error certainly didn’t help what was a somewhat disappointing day. DL Hall replaced him in the bottom of the fifth and started with strikeouts of Trammell and Paredes. He got Alvarez, too, on a silly little play; Alvarez hit one pretty much straight down and assumed it was a foul ball, but it trickled into fair territory and Contreras picked it up and tagged him out as he stood outside of the batter’s box.
Steven Okert, a lefty, replaced Teng in the sixth. Bauers tried to poke one at the Crawford Boxes to lead off the sixth, but it didn’t quite get there, and he became the first out of the inning. A slider got away from Okert with Mitchell at the plate and went right at his head; luckily Mitchell mostly got out of the way, and instead of getting hit on the helmet, it was a glancing blow to his upper back that didn’t even really seem to hurt. Mitchell tried to steal a couple of times on pitches that Rengifo fouled off, but Mitchell was a little too aggressive; Okert threw over and had Mitchell picked off, though he almost made it into second on the throw from Walker. In any case, Rengifo struck out and the inning ended.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Hall ran into a bit of trouble when he walked Smith and Shewmake in back-to-back plate appearances. But he got out of it quickly when Meyers followed with a second-pitch 4-6-3 double play. Okert had no trouble at all with Frelick, Hamilton, and Yelich in the top of the seventh, mowing down the three lefties in a row.
Grant Anderson replaced Hall for the bottom of the seventh, and he got through it with a pop out and two fly outs. Bryan Abreu came in for Okert in the eighth and started by throwing eight straight balls, walking Chourio and Turang. After a ninth straight ball to Contreras, he finally got one in the zone. A couple pitches later, Contreras hit a fly ball to center field for the first out, but Chourio tagged and made it to third.
That set up Jake Bauers with a good situation, but the Astros had had enough of one Bryan and switched to another, Bryan King. He also struggled to find the strike zone, and on a 3-1 pitch, Bauers hit a slow ground ball to second where the only play was to first base. Chourio scored to tie it, and Turang moved to second. Pat Murphy took an opportunity to use a weapon off the bench, but Andrew Vaughn, pinch-hitting for Mitchell, flew out to foul territory in right on the first pitch and the inning ended.
Now in a tie game, the Brewers went to the Vulture, Aaron Ashby. He struck out Paredes and Alvarez, and though Walker picked up a two-out single, Ashby needed just one more pitch to get Smith to ground out to short.
Could the Brewers get him a 10th win? With King still pitching, Rengifo lined out to right on the first pitch he saw. Frelick lined a solid single up the middle on a 3-2 pitch and put the go-ahead run on first with one out. The Brewers at this point decided to go with another pinch-hitter, Gary Sánchez, who hit for Hamilton. Sánchez popped up to shallow right—the second baseman, Allen, let the ball hit the grass so that he could throw Frelick, the faster runner, out at second, though that didn’t matter much anyway because Joey Ortiz was going to come in for Sánchez whether that was on the bases or in the bottom of the inning. So Ortiz was on first with two outs for Yelich, but he grounded out to end the inning. No win tonight for Ashby.
Abner Uribe was the Brewer pitcher, making his first appearance since “crotch-chop gate” against the Cardinals on Tuesday. The leadoff hitter in the bottom of the ninth was pinch-hitter Jeremy Peña, who was one of the better players in the league last season but has struggled while dealing with injuries in 2026. Peña should’ve grounded out, but Ortiz, who’d just entered the game, didn’t make a perfect throw and it got by Bauers (who honestly probably should’ve caught it). Ortiz was charged with an error; Meyers tried to bunt on the first pitch but swung away at the second; Rengifo, playing in to cover the potential bunt, didn’t have a play on a ground ball that probably would’ve been a double play with a regularly positioned defense. Tough luck, but the Astros had runners on first and second and nobody out.
Allen was definitely in to bunt, and he laid down a good one; it required a good (and kind of scary) play by Uribe to get him at first base, but the winning run was at third with one out. Christian Vázquez came in to pinch-hit for Salazar, facing a fully drawn-in infield. After a first-pitch ball, the Brewers chose to intentionally walk him to load the bases. The batter was not Trammell, but Brice Matthews, who’d entered as a defensive substitute an inning earlier. Uribe needed just three pitches to strike out Matthews looking, and the Brewers were one out away from a Houdini act. The batter was Paredes. A beneficial call in an 0-1 count made it 0-2, and there was nothing Paredes could do about it, as the Astros had burned both challenges early in the game. After a couple more pitches, Paredes popped out to Turang in shallow right, and the Brewers were out of it.
The new Houston pitcher in the tenth was Alimber Santa, who made his major-league debut on Monday when he pitched the last two innings of the Astros’ combined no-hitter. He started Chourio with three straight balls but worked the count back full before Chourio flew out to center. It wasn’t hit very deep, but Yelich challenged Meyers’ arm in center, and made it to third with one out. Turang jumped on the first pitch and hit a line drive to right—it was caught, but Yelich, who’d just moved to third with good baserunning, tagged and scored. Santa struck out Contreras to end the inning, but the Brewers had a 5-4 lead.
Megill replaced Uribe with pinch-runner Zach Dezenzo on second as the ghost runner and Alvarez at the plate. Walking Alvarez seemed like the obvious decision, but Megill had different ideas. The first pitch was a fastball on the upper inside corner for a called strike, a perfect pitch. The second one, he got away with: a fastball in the lower half that got a bit too much of the plate, but Alvarez mercifully missed it. The next pitch, a fastball on the outer half, surprised Alvarez, and he struck out looking. It was quite an at-bat.
Walker, the next batter, hit a fly ball to fairly deep right, which Frelick caught right on the edge of the warning track. Dezenzo tagged and moved to third, but Houston was down to their last out—in the form of Cam Smith, who’d already homered and doubled in this one. The Brewers got another fortunate call in Smith’s at-bat when he appeared to check his swing on a 2-1 pitch, but the first-base umpire disagreed; Smith was only able to get a tiny piece of the next pitch, a fastball in the upper part of the zone, and he was out on a foul tip. Milwaukee won, 5-4.
This felt like an unlikely win. The offense was lifeless for most of the game, and the Brewers had a couple of uncharacteristic defensive miscues that nearly cost them the game. But this is a team that doesn’t quit, and some timely manufactured offense along with six shutout innings from the bullpen gave them a win.
Crow wasn’t as bad as his line—four innings, four hits, two walks, one strikeout, four runs, two of which were earned—but he’ll hope for better days in the future. Hall looked great in his first inning and got through the second despite a couple of walks. Anderson and Ashby threw solid scoreless innings. Uribe worked around the throwing error that nearly handed Houston the game. And Megill was extremely impressive in the 10th.
Offensively, Milwaukee managed only four hits, but they did what they needed to do. Two of those hits were homers, Hamilton’s first and Chourio’s second. Yelich’s baserunning in the 10th didn’t show up in the box score, but the run he scored did. Bauers and Turang both went hitless but both knocked in runs (and each drew a walk).
Milwaukee now has two chances to win the series. The first of those comes tomorrow afternoon at 3:10 p.m., when Brandon Sproat takes on Peter Lambert.
Rangers batters saw a lot of the back of Stephen Kolek’s jersey tonight | Getty Images
It has been said that when Stephen Kolek is getting ground outs in the first inning, you can tell it’s going to be a good night. Unfortunately, Kolek didn’t get a groundball until the seventh batter he faced in the first inning, and Nick Loftin turned that into an error. But let’s back up a bit.
In the top of the first, Mackenzie Gore was not fooling anyone. Lane Thomas struck out swinging on a well-located fastball, but Bobby Witt Jr. barrelled a line drive to center at 107.4 for the second out. Maikel Garcia then lined a single to center at 103.8 MPH, Salvador Perez smoked a double down the line at 105.7 MPH. Starling Marte, with runners at second and third but two outs, smoked a ground ball up the middle at 102.1 MPH that old friend Nicky Lopez turned into an inning-ending groundout despite its expected batting average (xBA) of .590.
The bottom of the inning had the Rangers also put a runner at second and third with two outs. Backup infielder Ezequiel Duran hit a line drive to center with a .990 xBA to score them both. Two errors later, two more runs had scored. If that first inning isn’t exemplary of the Royals’ 2026 – failing to drive in runners despite a moderately good effort, followed by giving up runs in the exact same situation, and then crumpling – I don’t know what is.
What makes it the most frustrating is that, during the good stretch the Royals had for a couple of weeks, they were playing some of the most resilient baseball I’ve ever seen in my entire life. But the rest of the time, they have the resiliency of wet single-ply.
Anyway, I don’t think we need to recap in detail every single moment of this game. One particularly frustrating moment was when Steven Cruz, pitching the sixth inning, allowed a two-run home run to Nicky Lopez. That was Lopez’s eighth career MLB home run in his eighth MLB season. He hadn’t hit one since 2024 until tonight. The Royals scored their lone run in the ninth inning when Rangers reliever Gavin Colyer, the first right-hander the Royals saw all night, walked Maikel Garcia and Salvador Perez to lead off the inning before giving up a nice single to Vinnie Pasquantino. He still got two strikeouts and a pop-up to end the game.
One of the most consistent complaints about the Royals this year by fans – including yours truly – is that the Royals aren’t just bad, they’re also not really doing anything about it. Vinnie and Salvy not only still bat 3-4 most nights, but they’ve literally had three days off between them. Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen still get benched for every lefty despite doing slightly better against them than Vinnie.
The Royals have also had multiple opportunities to shake things up with off-days following disastrous series that they’ve completely ignored. I sat down with the FanGraphs transaction tracker and determined that the Royals have the fourth-fewest transactions in MLB since the season started, ahead of only the Padres, Cardinals, and Rangers. That includes promotions, demotions, signings, releases, and IL movement. They’ve also still got the entire coaching staff they started the year with.
They are not behaving remotely like a team that feels any urgency about their predicament. One of the reasons they were able to bounce back last season to finish 82-80 was that they acted with urgency during the season, even if they could have used some more in the previous offseason. We haven’t seen any urgency in either the most recent offseason or this season, and it’s gotten pretty old.
Anyway, the Royals will try again tomorrow afternoon. Seth Lugo (3.74 ERA) will face off against Kumar Rocker (3.96 ERA). The game will start at 3:05 PM CDT. I no longer expect anything to change or anything interesting to happen.
