Category: MLB

You wouldn’t think there would be any competition in terms of hostile crowds for the Giants than the one they will face for four games this week at Dodger Stadium.

That is, until they heard it from their own fans over the weekend at Oracle Park.

“I had never heard that, ever,” outfielder Heliot Ramos said.

Things have gotten so dire in San Francisco that a historically cordial home crowd voiced its frustrations at multiple points in the team’s ugliest loss in an eyesore of a season.

“What would you do?” manager Tony Vitello said in reaction to the rarely heard boobirds. “I think it got to the point where it wasn’t an acceptable effort.”

At the quarter mark of the season, there haven’t been enough acceptable efforts from a team that expected to compete for a playoff spot. Only thanks to a walkoff win in extra innings the following day did they begin Monday outside of the cellar in the NL West.

Time is running out fast to turn things around.

By the time the Giants return home from their first of two 10-game road trips this month, it will be Memorial Day weekend — traditionally an important inflection point in the MLB season.

By then, with about a third of the season behind them, teams have typically separated themselves into contenders and pretenders. The Giants, at this point, are squarely in the latter camp.

Consider this a make-or-break road trip.

“I think this is going to be a good road trip,” Ramos said.

They’d better hope so.

Facing four games against the Dodgers, three more against the AL West-leading Athletics and a third series against another divisional foe ahead of them in the Diamondbacks, the Giants have already dug themselves a deep enough hole — they can’t allow it to get any bigger.

Sunday’s win staved off the distinction of holding the worst record in the majors — the Mets, Rockies, Angels and Astros were all either a half or full game worse — but their amount of stinkers like Saturday’s left them with the game’s worst run differential (minus-48).

In MLB’s wild-card era (since 1995), only a handful of teams have been able to recover from a start as poor as the Giants. Just six have won 16 or fewer of their first 40 games and went on to make the postseason, most notably the 2019 World Series-champion Nationals.

Extend that out to 50 games, where the Giants will be at the end of this road trip, and the list narrows to just three teams with 20 or fewer wins — the position the Giants will be in if they don’t win at least half their games during this stretch.

“This thing is about winning series,” Vitello said. “If you just break our season down into series, you win the first and you win the third, the second one was an embarrassing loss. But it’s not a slam dunk contest. You don’t get extra value or not based on how the win or loss went.”

Not only had the gap between them and the Dodgers grown to eight games entering Monday, they have to make up seven games and overtake as many teams just to get themselves into the picture for one of the NL’s three wild card spots.

A successful series in Los Angeles would go a long way to making up their deficit in the NL West. That could prove difficult for an offense that has scored the fewest runs in the majors, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell expected to oppose them.

“As a team, we’ve just been trying to find momentum,” said Ramos, who scored the winning run Sunday when Jesus Rodriguez snuck a soft line drive into right field in the 12th inning. “I think we haven’t played our best baseball yet. I think that’s it. (Bad) stretches are going to happen.”

The walkoff win against the Pirates offered some signs for optimism. They got strong efforts from members of their struggling bullpen, including two scoreless innings from lefty specialist Ryan Borucki against a pocket of righties. Rafael Devers and Willy Adames both collected hits and the rest of their lineup provided enough timely knocks.

Could that be the kind of win that finally kickstarts some of that long-lost momentum?

“The last game was really reassuring of what we can do,” Ramos said. “It’s comforting for us to just know that we can carry that from one series to the next.”

That hasn’t been the case so far this season.

San Francisco has ended its previous two home stands on positive notes, too. In April, they shut out the Phillies in back-to-back games, extended their winning streak to three games in their first game on the road against the Orioles and proceeded to lose their next four contests.

They took two of three from the Dodgers earlier this month and won their final two games against the Marlins. They hit the road and lost all six games they played — without homering.

Entering Monday, they had lost their last seven games away from Oracle Park.

This time around, at least, the road atmosphere could provide a respite of sorts from the pressures of playing in front of a fanbase whose patience has run thin.

That doesn’t mean they won’t hear their fair share of boos inside their archrivals’ ballpark.

“Hopefully it’s the good ones,” Ramos said. “When we’re winning.”

The San Francisco Giants come to Dodger Stadium for the first time in 2026—Mookie Betts returns from the injured list.

Monday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Giants
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
• Start time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

It seems impossible, but one year ago today, the Colorado Rockies fired then-manager Bud Black and named third-base coach Warren Schaeffer their interim manager.

On November 24, 2025, he was given the permanent position.

As Rockies president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta said at the press conference introducing Schaeffer as permanent manager,

“I certainly explored the idea [of exploring other managerial candidates],” he told the media. “I thought it was important to do that and talk to a lot of people about different potential candidates, but ultimately, this is where I landed. And it was pretty quick. I mean, I would say even a week in with the number of people that I had spoken to, both in the organization and outside the organization, about ‘Schaeff’ it became pretty clear to me that this was a good direction to go.”

Whether or not this was the right decision was a subject we’ve written about a lot (see here, here, here, here, and here, for example).

Despite the change, the Rockies still finished 2025 with a historically bad 43-119, and while they are better in 2026, many of the problems remain.

So, Purple Row Night Owls, here’s the question: How would you grade Warren Schaeffer’s first year as the Rockies manager?

Vote in the poll, and explain your evaluation in the comments!

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

The San Francisco Giants head south today to begin a four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers this afternoon.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Trevor McDonald, who will be making his second start for the Giants this season. His first start was in the team’s 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres last Monday, in which he allowed just one run on two hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings.

He’ll be facing off against Dodgers right-hander Rōki Sasaki, who enters tonight’s game with a 5.97 ERA, 6.81 FIP, with 26 strikeouts to 15 walks in 28.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on May 2nd, in which he allowed three runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks in six innings.

Lineups

Giants

1. Jung Hoo Lee — RF
2. Luis Arráez — 2B
3. Casey Schmitt — 1B
4. Rafael Devers — DH
5. Heliot Ramos — LF
6. Willy Adames — SS
7. Matt Chapman — 3B
8. Harrison Bader — CF
9. Jesús Rodríguez — C

RHP. Trevor McDonald

Dodgers

1. Shohei Ohtani — DH
2. Mookie Betts — SS
3. Freddie Freeman — 1B
4. Kyle Tucker — RF
5. Will Smith — C
6. Max Muncy — 3B
7. Andy Pages — CF
8. Teoscar Hernández — LF
9. Hyeseong Kim — 2B

RHP. Rōki Sasaki

Game #41

Who: San Francisco Giants (16-24) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (24-16)

Where: UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California

When: 7:10 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

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

Sometimes you just have to tell yourself it’s a long, long season. These are one of these days.

After a mildly depressing sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend, the Yankees’ offense looked to break out against a pitching staff with considerably less firepower, one which they dominated last week in a four-game series at Yankee Stadium. With a depleted bullpen, they needed both length from Ryan Weathers and some offense to give the high-leverage guys some rest.

It all started according to plan with six no-hit innings by Weathers and an early home run by Ben Rice, but a perpetual struggle with runners in scoring position carried over from Milwaukee, and the O’s capitalized on their only real traffic of the night, stealing a 3-2 heartbreaker over the Yankees to mark their fourth consecutive defeat.

A trend in the first couple of innings for the Yankees’ offense was to make Brandon Young work, which is what they did in the first. Rice ripped a single after getting it to 3-2 and Cody Bellinger drew a two-out walk, only to be stranded by a weak fly ball from Jazz Chisholm Jr. Weathers got things started by working around a leadoff walk to put up a quick zero.

Both pitchers worked 1-2-3 second innings, but Young wasn’t as fortunate in the third. After walking Trent Grisham with one out, Rice worked another three-ball count before getting a 3-1 sinker up and driving it to left-center field for a home run into the bullpen. His 13th of the season, it put the Yanks up 2-0 in the third.

Weathers continued to be absolutely brilliant. He retired 13 consecutive hitters at one point, only getting into a tad of trouble when he walked Coby Mayo with one out in the fifth. He was able to get to scoring position after a mental blunder by Rice trying to turn a double play, but Weathers was able to strand that first real threat.

Aaron Judge led off the sixth with a double and got to third on a Cody Bellinger groundout to chase Young. Despite being in a prime tack-on scoring position, one-time Yankee farmhand Dietrich Enns struck out Chisholm and got a soft groundball out of Ryan McMahon, in which he had to bail out Pete Alonso at first base from a truly awful toss to first that would’ve been a run-scoring E3.

After another scoreless inning by Weathers, the Yankees once again stranded a runner at third following a one-out double by Max Schuemann when Grisham and Austin Wells both grounded out. The recent injuries, coupled with some deep slumps, have made this lineup a lot easier to navigate for a manager who has a lefty to deploy.

The Orioles didn’t have a hit through six innings, but just as Michael Kay started to talk about potential history afoot, Adley Rutschman fought off a 1-2 changeup out of the zone into right field for a leadoff single in the seventh. Tyler O’Neill worked a gritty walk with one out to finally chase Weathers. Brent Headrick came in to face the struggling Mayo, and he got revenge after getting spiked by Schuemann a few innings prior, golfing a fly ball into the left field seats for a crushing, go-ahead three-run homer.

It ruined a really great outing by Weathers, who only surrendered one hit on soft contact and walked O’Neill in a long at-bat after six no-hit innings. He has two runs on his ledger, though it was at least Headrick saddled with the loss.

After Headrick finished the inning, Rico Garcia tore through the heart of the Yankees’ order in the eighth. He was a Yankee very briefly during the summer last year, so it may hurt to see this guy utterly dominating for a division rival, but considering he was cut by the Mets twice last year as well, we aren’t alone in feeling left out.

Camilo Doval tossed a pretty solid bottom of the eighth to give the bottom of the order a chance in the ninth against Anthony Nunez. McMahon put a charge into the ball with one out, coming oh-so-close to a game-tying home run, but hit it to the (slightly) wrong spot and also a bit too high, allowing O’Neill to make a jumping catch.

Paul Goldschmidt extended the game with a two-out single and was pulled for José Caballero, who’s battling a finger issue. Despite that, the Yankees had him try to steal second to get in scoring position for Schuemann, but he was thrown out in plenty of time to end the game in 1926 World Series Game 7 fashion.

The Yankees will look to even this three-game set at Camden Yards tomorrow night at 6:35 pm. It’ll be Will Warren against a pitcher to be determined (likely Trevor Rogers back from illness). The offense is in need of another breakout and more eyes will be watching.

Box Score

BALTIMORE — In his first start since “[throwing] my guts up for several hours” nine days ago, Ryan Weathers took a hurl at history.

Then, soon after the lefty’s no-hit bid ended in the seventh inning, the Yankees coughed up the win, too, in large part because of a lineup that has gone quiet.

Minutes after the no-hitter was wiped out, so was the Yankees lead, as Brent Headrick relieved Weathers and served up a three-run shot that lifted the Orioles to a 3-2 win Monday night at Camden Yards.

In agonizing fashion, the Yankees (26-16) suffered their fourth straight loss — a stretch in which they have scored just eight runs, with their lineup held in check once again Monday after a quiet weekend in which they were swept by the Brewers.

Ben Rice was responsible for the only runs against the Orioles (19-23), crushing a two-run shot in the third inning.

The Yankees had outscored the Orioles 39-10 in a four-game sweep in The Bronx earlier this month but could not pick up where they left off, mustering only five hits against Brandon Young and three relievers.

“We’ve got to get some guys unlocked,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got a handful of guys that are scuffling, and we’ve got to get a little more competitive up and down the lineup as we hit this little rough patch during this week.”

The game ended with José Caballero — who will undergo an MRI on Tuesday morning on an injured right middle finger but was cleared to enter the game as a pinch runner — getting thrown out trying to steal second base.

The Yankees went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. responsible for half of those empty at-bats on a night when he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

The second baseman, who entered his contract year with lofty expectations for himself, is now batting just .201 with a .603 OPS through 41 games.

The typically accessible Chisholm declined to speak with reporters after Monday’s game but is expected to do so Tuesday.

“You sense guys feeling it when you’re a month-plus in and you’re not doing what the back of your baseball card is,” Boone said. “So it’s part of it. Probably feeling that a little bit, probably pressing a little too much, trying to do a little too much. He’s going to get it going. I have no doubt about that. But sometimes you’ve got to slow things down first and have some small successes to get you going again.”

The lack of offense ensured that Weathers had little margin for error, spoiling another strong pitching performance in which he struck out nine and walked three across 6 ¹/₃ innings.

Adley Rutschman broke up the no-hit bid with a single to lead off the seventh, and one out later, Weathers walked another batter on his 101st and final pitch of the night.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

On a night when he was without Fernando Cruz or Tim Hill because of recent workloads, Boone had the lefty Headrick and righty Jake Bird warming but called on Headrick to face the right-handed hitting Coby Mayo, who had been struggling.

Boone said it was a better matchup than if he used Bird because he knew the Orioles would pinch hit a lefty.

Headrick has been one of the most dependable Yankees relievers this season and had stranded all 14 runners he inherited before Monday.

But that changed when he hung a slider to Mayo, who crushed it for a three-run shot — the second straight appearance in which Headrick allowed a homer after not giving up any through his first 20 appearances.

Weathers, who is battling with Will Warren to keep his rotation spot once Gerrit Cole returns from the injured list (likely by the end of this month), was left to pick up the pieces.

“It was cool, but I wish we would have been able to pull out a win,” Weathers said of the no-hit bid that he did not know about until he came out of the game. “We got a good ballclub, so we’re going to get some more wins.”

The Mets are calling up top A.J. Ewing, their most exciting prospect right now, per a report by Will Sammon. The 21-year-old was drafted by the Mets in the fourth round in 2023, and he’s been even better this season than he was in his breakout year in the minors last year.

After finishing the 2025 season in Double-A Binghamton following two promotions earlier in that season, Ewing started this season back in Binghamton. But after hitting an outstanding .349/.481/.571 with two home runs and twelve stolen bases, he was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse.

Since that promotion, Ewing has appeared in twelve games at the highest level of the minors, and he’s hit .326/.392/.435 despite not hitting a home run yet at the level. He’s stolen five more bases since that promotion, too, giving him a total of 17 steals in a season that’s only seen him be caught stealing once.

There’s no word yet on who the Mets will cut to make room for Ewing on the active roster, but given the putrid state of the major league lineup, there are plenty of options. He’s played center field the overwhelming majority of the time this season, but he has played a good amount of second base in his professional career. He’s logged innings in both outfield corners, as well.

René Cárdenas, the Dodgers first Spanish-language play-by-play broadcaster when they moved to Los Angeles, died on Sunday at age 96.

Cárdenas started with the Dodgers in 1958, and helped train Jaime Jarrín, who joined him in the booth one year later. After four years in Los Angeles, Cárdenas moved to the expansion Houston Colt .45s, and also called one year of games for the Texas Rangers before returning to call Dodgers games from 1982-1998.

Born in Managua, Nicaragua in 1930, Cárdenas covered several sports, including baseball, before moving to the United States.

From José de Jesus Ortiz at La Esquina:

“Rene was a true pioneer in our industry,” said Hall of Famer Jaime Jarrin, the legendary former Spanish voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. “He played a predominant role in my start as a baseball broadcaster. 

“I learned a lot from him and from Jose el Fat Garcia, both of the land of Ruben Dario. Rest in peace, my maestro and friend Chelito Cardenas.”

After the initial run with the Dodgers, Cárdenas called games for the Astros from 1962-75 and again in 2007-2008, including some television broadcasts in 2008. In 2024, he was inducted into the Astros Hall of Fame.

Per his profile in the Astros Hall of Fame: “During his illustrious career, Cardenas also called high-profile events in other sports, including the famous Muhammad Ali-Jimmy Ellis heavyweight boxing match that took place in the Astrodome in 1971.”

Cárdenas was a finalist last year for the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence by the Hall of Fame, but did not get inducted. He was also a finalist in 2011and 2012, but his consideration for Cooperstown has been discussed for decades. Back in 1995, Kevin Baxter wrote about Cardenas and his Hall of Fame chances at the Los Angeles Times:

“It was an honor just to be nominated,” Cardenas says of his consideration for a place in baseball’s shrine. “There are a lot of people who would like to be in. It’s a very exclusive club.

“[But] I’d love to be elected while I’m alive, not after I’m dead. That’s no fun.”

Cárdenas was inducted into the broadcasters wing of the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame in 2002 and is also in the Nicaragua Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Yankees wasted away a great start from Ryan Weathers, falling to the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2.

It's New York's fourth straight loss after getting swept by the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Ben Rice recorded New York's first two hits of the game, and the second got the team on the board. After Trent Grisham walked with one out in the third inning, the growing star smacked a two-run homer to left-center field, putting the Yanks up 2-0. 

It was Rice's 13th home run of the season.

-- Weathers had arguably the best start of his Yankees career, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

Weathers dazzled after issuing a leadoff walk to start the game, retiring 13 straight Orioles into the fifth inning, including five straight strikeouts in the second and third innings. The left-hander walked his second batter with one out in the fifth, but locked back in to get the next two outs.

He tossed another 1-2-3 inning in the sixth but lost the no-no bid to Adley Rustchman in the bottom of the seventh inning. Weathers stayed in the game and got Pete Alonso to groundout before walking Tyler O'Neill to end his night. He finished after 101 pitches in 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on only one hit with three walks and nine strikeouts.

-- Aaron Boone's choice to hand the ball to Brent Headrick out of the bullpen backfired, as the lefty allowed a three-run home run to the first batter he faced, Coby Mayo. Baltimore took a 3-2 lead on just their second hit of the night, tacking two runs onto Weathers' line.

-- The Yanks wasted two opportunities to add on to their 2-0 lead. Aaron Judge ripped a leadoff double in top of sixth inning and advanced to third on Cody Bellinger's groundout, but was left stranded after Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out and Ryan McMahon grounded out (despite a bad toss from Alonso at first base).

The seventh inning was nearly identical as Max Schuemann (getting the start at SS with Jose Cabellaro out) was also left stranded at third base after a one-out double in the seventh inning. Austin Wells and Trent Grisham both grounded out to end the frame. New York ended the game 0-for-6 with RISP and left five on base.

-- McMahon got fans on their feet in the top of the ninth inning with a deep drive to right field, but it was caught at the wall by O'Neill. Caballero came in to pinch run for Paul Goldschmidt with two outs and tried to steal second base, however, Baltimore challenged the ruling on the field and the call was overturn to end the game.

Game MVP: Brandon Young

The Orioles' right-hander allowed the two-run homer to Rice, but that was his only mistake. Young allowed the two runs on just three hits over 5.1 innings with five strikeouts and three walks.

Highlights

Ryan Weathers strikes out the side in the second 🔥 pic.twitter.com/pWDXhS4Uzz

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 11, 2026

Ben Rice's 13th home run of the year! 🍚 pic.twitter.com/vI7NhuL3e8

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 11, 2026

What's next

The Yankees continue their three-game series against the Orioles on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

Will Warren (4-1, 3.46 ERA) will take the mound for New York. Baltimore has yet to announce a starter.

Tonight’s game was filled with “here we go again” moments. The Orioles scratched an injured player from the lineup before the first pitch, the opponent took an early lead on a home run, and the offense absolutely refused to produce against a left-handed pitcher. Baltimore appeared well on its way to a fifth consecutive loss against the Yankees, but finally some Orioles Magic intervened.

Adley Rutschman broke up a no-hit bid in the bottom of the seventh, and Coby Mayo launched a go-ahead three-run homer. Rico Garcia shutdown the heart of the Yankees order in the eighth, and the Orioles used a successful challenge to secure a 3-2 win at Camden Yards.

Before the fireworks, Brandon Young did his part to keep the Orioles in the game. The 27-year-old held the best offense in the American League to two runs over 5.1 innings. Young retired Jazz Chisholm Jr to dance out of trouble in the first, and he struck out Ryan McMahon and Spencer Jones during a clean second.

The damage came in the third after a one-out walk to Trent Grisham. Young fell behind in the count 3-1 before catching a little too much of the zone with a sinker. Ben Rice took the ball the other way and sent it over the Budweiser advertisement on the left-field wall.

Things could have spiraled after the big blast, but the Orioles buckled down. Tyler O’Neill robbed Aaron Judge with a diving catch in left field, and Young overcame a two-out walk by retiring Chisholm for the second time. Young proceeded to retire the side in order during the fourth and fifth innings

Judge snapped Young’s modest streak by ripping a leadoff double down the left field line. Judge advanced to third on a grounder by Bellinger, and Craig Albernaz went to get his starter with one out in the sixth. Enns struck out Chisholm for a big second out before generating a slow grounder by McMahon. Enns raced to cover first and caught the ball with his bare hand to secure the final out of the inning. Enns returned and worked around a one-out double by Max Schuemann to keep the score at 2-0 after six.

The Orioles finally broke through in the seventh inning. Adley Rutschman went down and punched a changeup the other way for the Orioles first hit of the game. Weathers appeared visibly frustrated after losing his no-hit bid on a pitcher’s pitch, and the Yankee dugout quickly responded by sending out the pitching coach for a quick chat.

Weathers remained in the game to face Tyler O’Neill, and the right fielder turned in a quality at bat. O’Neill nearly evened the score at two by pulling a change up down the left field line, but the ball soared just foul. At that point, with the way the season has gone, a strikeout felt like a sure thing. Instead, O’Neill locked in and took the ninth pitch of the at bat low for ball four.

The free pass brought the go-ahead run to the plate. The Orioles did not have Coby Mayo in the original starting lineup, but Albernaz inserted Mayo as the DH when Samuel Basallo was scratched with left-knee soreness. Basallo injured his knee during a collision at the plate in Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Athletics. Basallo held the ball when Leody Taveras threw out the potential tying run at the plate, but somehow even a strong defensive play had come back to bite the Orioles.

Or so we thought. Instead, the chain reaction led to a strong dose of Orioles Magic. The Yankees went to the bullpen, and reliever Brent Headrick threw a hanging slider over the heart of the plate. Mayo smashed a ball 389 feet over the left field fence, and suddenly the Orioles held a 3-2 lead.

Held is the key word, because the Yankees sent up Rice, Judge and Bellinger in the top of the eighth. Rico Garcia has emerged as the leader of the bullpen with Ryan Helsley on the IL. The Orioles deployed Garcia in the eighth to face the heart of the order, and the Honolulu native continued his dream season. Garcia struck out Rice, generated a harmless fly out from Judge, and struck out Bellinger for a shutdown eighth inning.

Anthony Nunez replaced Garcia and provided one more “here we go again” scare. Nunez struck out Chisholm for the first out, but McMahon pulled a towering fly ball to right field. The ball hung in the air for an eternity before O’Neill made a jumping catch at the wall for the second out. Paul Goldschmidt kept the game alive with a single to right, and the Yankees sent José Caballero to pinch run.

Nunez tried and failed to pickoff Caballero, and the speedster broke toward second on an 0-1 fastball. Adley Rutschman threw a dart to second, and Blaze Alexander managed to tag Caballero despite an impressive swim-move slide. The second base umpire initially botched the call, but replay confirmed that Alexander made the game-sealing tag for a 3-2 win.

Young kept the Orioles in it, and Garcia delivered a massive shutdown inning, but Mayo’s big blast stole the show. Give us your pick for the Most Birdland Player of the Day in the comments below!

Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound on Tuesday night for the Dodgers against the Giants, looking to avenge one of his two losses this season.

Yamamoto pitched seven innings on April 21 in San Francisco but took the loss after allowing three runs, all of them in the first inning. The opening frame is the worst one for the Dodgers right-hander this season, with six runs allowed in his seven first innings.

Adrian Houser starts for San Francisco, coming off his best start of the season, allowing only two runs (one earned) in six innings last Wednesday against the San Diego Padres. Houser has a 6.19 ERA and 5.56 xERA, and the Giants have lost six of his seven starts.

Houser has also had rough first innings, allowing eight runs and five home runs in the opening frame.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Giants
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Looking for a spark, the Mets are calling up top prospect A.J. Ewing, SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes confirmed.

Ewing, who is SNY's No. 3 Mets prospect, was recently promoted from Double-A to Triple-A at the end of April. 

The 21-year-old hit .349 over 18 games in Binghamton and didn't miss a beat in Syracuse, hitting .326 through 12 games. 

New York currently owns the worst record in the majors at 15-25 and is 12.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. Injuries have also been a challenge for the club with Juan Soto missing 15 games in April and Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, and Luis Robert Jr. all on the IL.

The hope will be that Ewing comes in and provides energy before it's too late for the Mets to turn their season around.

Overall across 30 games between Double-A and Triple-A, Ewing slashed .339/.447/.514 (.961 OPS) with nine doubles, two triples, two home runs and 17 stolen bases. He's also shown great plate discipline with 22 walks and only 20 strikeouts.

Defensively, Ewing has played mostly center field in the minors (18 games in 2026, 150 for his career). He'll likely slide into that role in Queens with Carson Benge in right field and Soto in left field or DH. The former fourth-round pick has also logged 53 games at second base (four in 2026), 21 in LF, and 20 in RF. 

When asked in a recent interview what fans can expect from him, Ewing expressed tons of confidence and highlighted his ability at the plate. 

"I spray the ball to all fields," Ewing said. "I think I'm a tough out. I think I grind at-bats really well and I see a lot of pitches and I make pitchers work hard."

The Mets begin a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m., ahead of their weekend Subway Series against the Yankees.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

And with the Mets in disarray as they open a homestand Tuesday with the worst record in the majors, they are calling on A.J. Ewing to try to help right their season.

The move, first reported by The Athletic and confirmed by The Post’s Jon Heyman, means Ewing will make his major league debut Tuesday against the Tigers at Citi Field after just a dozen games at Triple-A.

It comes after another top prospect, Carson Benge, made the Opening Day roster and looked better at the plate recently following a poor start.

The 21-year-old Ewing figures to face a learning curve as well.

He opened eyes throughout last season as well as during spring training.

He was at Low-A St. Lucie just over a year ago and sped through the minor league system to Double-A Binghamton before the season ended.

And after just 18 games at Double-A this year, Ewing was bumped to Triple-A Syracuse, where he continued to produce.

Ewing has played all three outfield positions as well as second base, although he has mostly played the outfield this season and is considered an excellent defensive outfielder.

The promotion comes with the Mets at the bottom of the National League and trying to save their season.

Ewing will be tasked with trying to spark the weakest lineup in the majors.

Asked about his goals heading into the season, Ewing said, “Dominate the level where I’m at.”

Little did anyone know that, just about two months later, the Mets would be flailing at the bottom of the standings, unable to score runs or basically do anything well.

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Even without much expectation that Ewing would have an impact in Queens this season, manager Carlos Mendoza paid attention to the 5-foot-10, 2023 fourth-round pick out of Springboro High School in Springboro, Ohio.

“He’s a baseball player,’’ Mendoza said in March. “There’s a lot of different ways he can help a team win a baseball game: whether it’s the way he plays defense, the way he runs the bases [or his] good at-bats. He puts the ball in play and drives the ball. He’s another kid. I don’t think people talk much about him. He’s a good one there.”

If nothing else, Ewing should provide some entertainment on what’s been a deathly boring team.

He swiped 70 bases across the three levels last season, and after putting up an OPS of 1.053 in 18 games with Binghamton this season, Ewing hit well at Syracuse, with an .827 OPS.

Ewing, Ryan Clifford and Nick Morabito were all considered potential additions this season.

Clifford has split time at first base and the corner outfield spots and hit with power from the left side, and Morabito — like Ewing, a speedy outfielder — has been on a hot streak at Syracuse.

But scouts warned against counting on too much, too soon from Ewing or anyone else from the minors.

“They have potential, and maybe one of them could give them something, but none of them are banging on the door to get [to the majors], and they’d be better off with more experience down there,’’ an American League scout said.

With a huge payroll and little to show for it, though, the Mets have opted for a different path and will wait for Ewing’s potential to pay off.

If Ryan Borucki strikes out Shohei Ohtani at any point in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series, I’ll email “Ryan Borucki is as cold as the Bo-Rockies” with zero explanation to the department head at the middle school I work at.    

If Ryan Borucki strikes out Shohei Ohtani at any point in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series to strand a runner, or runner(s) on base, I’ll slap a “Ryan Borucki brings the Bo-Ruckus” bumper sticker onto my 2002 Volkswagen Eurovan and ride it ‘til it rusts. 

If Ryan Borucki strikes out Shohei Ohtani at any point in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series to strand a runner, or runner(s) on base in a game the Giants win, I’ll upgrade the aforementioned “Ryan Borucki brings the Bo-Ruckus” sticker to a t-shirt that I’ll wear every time I go grocery shopping and offer an unsolicited explanation to at least one person I encounter, ending said explanation with “Basically, Ryan Borucki is one badass mutha-rucka.”

If Ryan Borucki strikes out Shohei Ohtani twice in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series — which is the amount of times Trey Yesavage struck out Shohei Ohtani in the 2025 World Series, which is relevant because to make room on their roster for Yesavage last September, Toronto DFA’d Borucki — I’ll wear a backpack over my head at a Giants home game this summer with “Ryan Borucksack” stitched across it. Look for me.

If Ryan Borucki strikes out Shohei Ohtani three or more times in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series, I might just have to do all four of those things, and then Lord knows what else…

And if Ryan Borucki gives up a game-altering homer to Shohei Ohtani in this upcoming Giants-Dodgers series…well, what’d ya expect?

The Los Angeles Dodgers are hoping to get a much-needed spark back in the lineup.

Mookie Betts, who has been out since April 4 with a right oblique strain, has been activated from the 10-day injured list and will start at shortstop and bat second in the order in the series opener against the San Francisco Giants on Monday, May 11, the Dodgers announced.

"I don't know if there's gonna be a jolt of energy or not," Betts told reporters in the dugout pregame. "I just know that I'm here, I wanna play and I wanna win. Hopefully that gets the guys going as far as focusing on the game and taking care of wining ball games, but we'll see. Only time will tell when it comes to that."

Rookie infielder Alex Freeland was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in a corresponding move.

No. 50 is back.

Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. Giants: pic.twitter.com/SwR5YJA1bB

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 11, 2026

The four-time World Series champion went on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City over the weekend in which he went 2-for-5 with a walk and played 11 innings in the field over two games. Entering May 8, manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Betts could come back as early as May 11 if he came away from both rehab games feeling well.

The current plan, according to Roberts is to ease Betts back into action. There isn't much opportunity built into the schedule to get Betts rested and recovered with the Dodgers playing 10 games in the next 10 days through May 20, so expect Roberts to give him some days off over that stretch. Right now, the current plan is for Betts to play two in a row before a planned off day on May 13.

"I think he's going to want to be in there regularly, but we'll kind of see," Roberts told reporters. "But this is more just based on the front-end progression."

The Dodgers are hoping that getting Betts back into the lineup will provide some production that has been missing as their offense has stalled to a collective .204 batting average over the last five days with a .658 OPS in that span.

"I think that we certainly have enough talent to be better than we have," Roberts told reporters on Sunday. "But adding Mookie’s at-bat quality, I think, will certainly help. We just haven’t been as consistent as a group as we should be, even without Mookie. But yeah, he certainly raises the floor."

DODGERS-GIANTS SERIES: Comparing teams as rivalry heats up this week