Huascar Brazobán thought he had just gotten out of a big-time jam in the top half of the fifth inning on Tuesday afternoon at Citi Field. And in all other years of Major League Baseball’s history, the Mets' reliever did just that.
But this season is different from all others before it, and home plate umpire Brian O'Nora’s called strike three was merely an initial ruling and not the final word declaring Adrian Del Castillo guilty of being caught looking at a fastball on the inside corner to leave the bases loaded.
The Diamondbacks’ DH initiated the appeals process and the ABS challenge system quickly overruled O’Nora’s enthusiastic call as the right-hander’s pitch was 0.3 inches off the plate.
“It plays a big factor, big role,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of ABS after the game. “It was a really good challenge from [Del Castillo], really close pitch. Gotta give them credit there.”
Brazobán, who celebrated as a reliever is expected to after believing they ended a threat and preserved a 2-0 lead, had to quickly regain his composure for a 2-2 count. But it was Del Castillo who triumphed, driving the very next pitch, a 90 mph changeup that went right over the heart of the plate, into right field for a game-tying single.
“They got him there,” the manager said.
Mendoza added that the mental side of the new ABS challenge system was something they discussed with the players at the start of spring training.
“That particular spot right there, when there’s traffic, when there’s runners on. And you think you executed a pitch, you get the call, and then the hitter challenges,” Mendoza continued. “And then you gotta get back on the mound. That’s not an easy situation, and it’s new for all of us here.
“You think you’re out of the woods, and before you know it, you gotta get back on the mound.”
Reliever Luke Weaver called the situation the “challenge part” of the new system.
"I think that is the perfect example of what the ABS has for us,” Weaver said. “We want to get things right. We want the hitter obviously wanting to be right, and he was, but it's very close.”
He added that while he hasn’t gotten to experience the emotion of a big overturn going against him, “I just imagine that your body just kind of tends to want to lean towards the celebratory part of it, but you've kind of got to hold yourself.”
“It's kind of like the play in the field when the challenge happens. You see it as an out, and then you start to walk, and the umpire holds you up. There's this weird no man's land feel,” he continued. “I think it's a similar thing with the ABS, and in a crucial moment like that in a big inning, it's just so close.
“It can be disheartening, but I think if you're in a good frame of mind, which it's not always going to happen, I think you've got to fight for that. I think you've got to fight to be prepared for the worst and then be excited when it happens, because it's going to happen your way at some point."
The Diamondbacks took advantage of baseball's new reality by scoring three runs, including an RBI bloop double one batter later, but for Brazobán and the rest of the Mets, the learning experience was served with a side of victory after a walk-off win in the 10th.
Apr 7, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers (27) reacts to hitting a two RBI double during the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images | Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images
After a pair of disappointing losses, the Tigers looked to right the ship on another chilly evening in Minneapolis. Despite having their ace on the mound, and the Twins putting together a far-from-fearsome lineup these days, those bats did enough to knock our starter around and secure a 4-2 victory for the Minnesotans.
Tarik Skubal made his third start of the season, and he’s been doing Skubally things so far. Coming into tonight he’d struck out nine and walked exactly zero in thirteen innings. Would tonight be the night he’d walk a guy?
Making his third start of the year for the Twins was Taj Bradley. After two seasons in the Rays’ rotation, he was traded to Minnesota at the trade deadline for Griffin Jax. Remember last year when the Twins had a little fire-sale? I sure do. They managed to procure a pair of good young starters in Bradley and Mick Abel, who will no doubt be a pain for the Tigers.
With one out in the second, Zach McKinstry doubled to right field, and Spencer Torkelson hit a single to put runners at the corners. Parker Meadows then struck out on a nasty splitter for the second out, and Javier Báez got plunked to load the bases, but Colt Keith promptly grounded out to second and that was that.
Skubal found himself in a mini-jam of his own in the bottom of the inning, after a one-out double by Victor Caratini and a single by Josh Bell to put runners on the corners. But then Skubal bore down and got a strikeout and a flyout to get out of it.
The bottom of the next inning saw the Twins get two singles to lead off, and Austin Martin hit into a double play, putting the lead runner on third with two outs. But then a soft comebacker to Skubal got him out of the inning.
A similar thing happened in the next inning: a Kevin McGonigle throwing error and a single to centre put two runners on with two out, and Royce Lewis lofted a fly ball towards the left-field fence, but Riley Greene hauled it in for the third out. But you can only play with fire long enough before it singes your fingertips.
The bottom of the fifth featured Skubal’s first walk of the year, to Byron Buxton (check your Bingo cards, everyone). And then he went and walked the next hitter, Martin, to put another two runners on. Since you can only play with fire for so long before getting burned, Luke Keaschall singled to centre to score Buxton and open the scoring. Ryan Jeffers followed with a two-run double to right to score both Martin and Keaschall; he was 1-for-25 before this plate appearance off Skubal in his career. After a strikeout, Bell blasted a double to make it 4-0 and end Skubal’s day. Tyler Holton came in and got a sharp grounder to second for the third out, but the damage had been done.
In the top of the seventh, and with Bradley still on the mound, the Tigers got a pair of singles from Torkelson and Meadows. Báez struck out, Bradley left in favour of Taylor Rogers, and Keith was replaced by Jahmai Jones, who flew out to right and pushed Torkelson to third. McGonigle singled to left, scoring Torkelson and making the score 4-1. But Gleyber Torres struck out and the inning ended.
Connor Seabold replaced Holton to start the seventh, and he threw a pleasantly boring inning.
With two out in the top of the eighth, Cole Sands walked McKinstry and Torkelson, and Kerry Carpenter, who hadn’t started the past two days due to an illness, came on to pinch-hit for Meadows. Eric Orze replaced Sands to face Carpenter, but alas, he struck out and the threat was extinguished.
Seabold carried on into the bottom of the eighth, and perhaps he shouldn’t have, allowing a pair of singles to start the inning. After a strikeout and a walk, the bases were loaded with one out. Seabold then struck out Brooks Lee looking, surprising him with a low fastball, to bring up Buxton… who fouled-out to Torkelson for the third out.
The Tigers had some signs of life in the ninth: Báez doubled to lead off the ninth, but Jones struck out for the first out. McGonigle followed, and of course he came through, anticipating a splitter down and scraping it almost off the firt for a sharp double down the right field line. That knocked Báez in for a 4-2 score. Justin Topa replaced Orze, Torres grounded out for the second out, pushing McGonigle up to third; Greene walked to put runners at the corners. Alas, Dillon Dingler grounded out softly to shortstop and the game was over.
Coming into tonight’s game, the Tigers were tied for last (with the Orioles) in the American League with seven home runs.
The Astros have the most homers with fifteen, but what jumps out the most with me for Houston is the number of doubles they’ve hit: they have 34, and the second-place team, Boston, has 19. Wow! (The Tigers are in third place with 18, so there’s your extra-base power, I guess.)
On this day in 1795, France officially adopted the kilogram as its unit of mass. I’m a giant fan of the metric system, and the kilogram is the basic unit of mass around which lots of other units are built (the newton, the joule, the watt, and others). Ounces, pounds, bushels, hogsheads, fathoms, acres? Get outta here with that hot nonsense, buddy! Keep it metric!
Apr 7, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers (27) reacts to hitting a two RBI double during the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images | Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images
After a pair of disappointing losses, the Tigers looked to right the ship on another chilly evening in Minneapolis. Despite having their ace on the mound, and the Twins putting together a far-from-fearsome lineup these days, those bats did enough to knock our starter around and secure a 4-2 victory for the Minnesotans.
Tarik Skubal made his third start of the season, and he’s been doing Skubally things so far. Coming into tonight he’d struck out nine and walked exactly zero in thirteen innings. Would tonight be the night he’d walk a guy?
Making his third start of the year for the Twins was Taj Bradley. After two seasons in the Rays’ rotation, he was traded to Minnesota at the trade deadline for Griffin Jax. Remember last year when the Twins had a little fire-sale? I sure do. They managed to procure a pair of good young starters in Bradley and Mick Abel, who will no doubt be a pain for the Tigers.
With one out in the second, Zach McKinstry doubled to right field, and Spencer Torkelson hit a single to put runners at the corners. Parker Meadows then struck out on a nasty splitter for the second out, and Javier Báez got plunked to load the bases, but Colt Keith promptly grounded out to second and that was that.
Skubal found himself in a mini-jam of his own in the bottom of the inning, after a one-out double by Victor Caratini and a single by Josh Bell to put runners on the corners. But then Skubal bore down and got a strikeout and a flyout to get out of it.
The bottom of the next inning saw the Twins get two singles to lead off, and Austin Martin hit into a double play, putting the lead runner on third with two outs. But then a soft comebacker to Skubal got him out of the inning.
A similar thing happened in the next inning: a Kevin McGonigle throwing error and a single to centre put two runners on with two out, and Royce Lewis lofted a fly ball towards the left-field fence, but Riley Greene hauled it in for the third out. But you can only play with fire long enough before it singes your fingertips.
The bottom of the fifth featured Skubal’s first walk of the year, to Byron Buxton (check your Bingo cards, everyone). And then he went and walked the next hitter, Martin, to put another two runners on. Since you can only play with fire for so long before getting burned, Luke Keaschall singled to centre to score Buxton and open the scoring. Ryan Jeffers followed with a two-run double to right to score both Martin and Keaschall; he was 1-for-25 before this plate appearance off Skubal in his career. After a strikeout, Bell blasted a double to make it 4-0 and end Skubal’s day. Tyler Holton came in and got a sharp grounder to second for the third out, but the damage had been done.
In the top of the seventh, and with Bradley still on the mound, the Tigers got a pair of singles from Torkelson and Meadows. Báez struck out, Bradley left in favour of Taylor Rogers, and Keith was replaced by Jahmai Jones, who flew out to right and pushed Torkelson to third. McGonigle singled to left, scoring Torkelson and making the score 4-1. But Gleyber Torres struck out and the inning ended.
Connor Seabold replaced Holton to start the seventh, and he threw a pleasantly boring inning.
With two out in the top of the eighth, Cole Sands walked McKinstry and Torkelson, and Kerry Carpenter, who hadn’t started the past two days due to an illness, came on to pinch-hit for Meadows. Eric Orze replaced Sands to face Carpenter, but alas, he struck out and the threat was extinguished.
Seabold carried on into the bottom of the eighth, and perhaps he shouldn’t have, allowing a pair of singles to start the inning. After a strikeout and a walk, the bases were loaded with one out. Seabold then struck out Brooks Lee looking, surprising him with a low fastball, to bring up Buxton… who fouled-out to Torkelson for the third out.
The Tigers had some signs of life in the ninth: Báez doubled to lead off the ninth, but Jones struck out for the first out. McGonigle followed, and of course he came through, anticipating a splitter down and scraping it almost off the firt for a sharp double down the right field line. That knocked Báez in for a 4-2 score. Justin Topa replaced Orze, Torres grounded out for the second out, pushing McGonigle up to third; Greene walked to put runners at the corners. Alas, Dillon Dingler grounded out softly to shortstop and the game was over.
Coming into tonight’s game, the Tigers were tied for last (with the Orioles) in the American League with seven home runs.
The Astros have the most homers with fifteen, but what jumps out the most with me for Houston is the number of doubles they’ve hit: they have 34, and the second-place team, Boston, has 19. Wow! (The Tigers are in third place with 18, so there’s your extra-base power, I guess.)
On this day in 1795, France officially adopted the kilogram as its unit of mass. I’m a giant fan of the metric system, and the kilogram is the basic unit of mass around which lots of other units are built (the newton, the joule, the watt, and others). Ounces, pounds, bushels, hogsheads, fathoms, acres? Get outta here with that hot nonsense, buddy! Keep it metric!
Apr 7, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers (27) reacts to hitting a two RBI double during the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images | Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images
After a pair of disappointing losses, the Tigers looked to right the ship on another chilly evening in Minneapolis. Despite having their ace on the mound, and the Twins putting together a far-from-fearsome lineup these days, those bats did enough to knock our starter around and secure a 4-2 victory for the Minnesotans.
Tarik Skubal made his third start of the season, and he’s been doing Skubally things so far. Coming into tonight he’d struck out nine and walked exactly zero in thirteen innings. Would tonight be the night he’d walk a guy?
Making his third start of the year for the Twins was Taj Bradley. After two seasons in the Rays’ rotation, he was traded to Minnesota at the trade deadline for Griffin Jax. Remember last year when the Twins had a little fire-sale? I sure do. They managed to procure a pair of good young starters in Bradley and Mick Abel, who will no doubt be a pain for the Tigers.
With one out in the second, Zach McKinstry doubled to right field, and Spencer Torkelson hit a single to put runners at the corners. Parker Meadows then struck out on a nasty splitter for the second out, and Javier Báez got plunked to load the bases, but Colt Keith promptly grounded out to second and that was that.
Skubal found himself in a mini-jam of his own in the bottom of the inning, after a one-out double by Victor Caratini and a single by Josh Bell to put runners on the corners. But then Skubal bore down and got a strikeout and a flyout to get out of it.
The bottom of the next inning saw the Twins get two singles to lead off, and Austin Martin hit into a double play, putting the lead runner on third with two outs. But then a soft comebacker to Skubal got him out of the inning.
A similar thing happened in the next inning: a Kevin McGonigle throwing error and a single to centre put two runners on with two out, and Royce Lewis lofted a fly ball towards the left-field fence, but Riley Greene hauled it in for the third out. But you can only play with fire long enough before it singes your fingertips.
The bottom of the fifth featured Skubal’s first walk of the year, to Byron Buxton (check your Bingo cards, everyone). And then he went and walked the next hitter, Martin, to put another two runners on. Since you can only play with fire for so long before getting burned, Luke Keaschall singled to centre to score Buxton and open the scoring. Ryan Jeffers followed with a two-run double to right to score both Martin and Keaschall; he was 1-for-25 before this plate appearance off Skubal in his career. After a strikeout, Bell blasted a double to make it 4-0 and end Skubal’s day. Tyler Holton came in and got a sharp grounder to second for the third out, but the damage had been done.
In the top of the seventh, and with Bradley still on the mound, the Tigers got a pair of singles from Torkelson and Meadows. Báez struck out, Bradley left in favour of Taylor Rogers, and Keith was replaced by Jahmai Jones, who flew out to right and pushed Torkelson to third. McGonigle singled to left, scoring Torkelson and making the score 4-1. But Gleyber Torres struck out and the inning ended.
Connor Seabold replaced Holton to start the seventh, and he threw a pleasantly boring inning.
With two out in the top of the eighth, Cole Sands walked McKinstry and Torkelson, and Kerry Carpenter, who hadn’t started the past two days due to an illness, came on to pinch-hit for Meadows. Eric Orze replaced Sands to face Carpenter, but alas, he struck out and the threat was extinguished.
Seabold carried on into the bottom of the eighth, and perhaps he shouldn’t have, allowing a pair of singles to start the inning. After a strikeout and a walk, the bases were loaded with one out. Seabold then struck out Brooks Lee looking, surprising him with a low fastball, to bring up Buxton… who fouled-out to Torkelson for the third out.
The Tigers had some signs of life in the ninth: Báez doubled to lead off the ninth, but Jones struck out for the first out. McGonigle followed, and of course he came through, anticipating a splitter down and scraping it almost off the firt for a sharp double down the right field line. That knocked Báez in for a 4-2 score. Justin Topa replaced Orze, Torres grounded out for the second out, pushing McGonigle up to third; Greene walked to put runners at the corners. Alas, Dillon Dingler grounded out softly to shortstop and the game was over.
Coming into tonight’s game, the Tigers were tied for last (with the Orioles) in the American League with seven home runs.
The Astros have the most homers with fifteen, but what jumps out the most with me for Houston is the number of doubles they’ve hit: they have 34, and the second-place team, Boston, has 19. Wow! (The Tigers are in third place with 18, so there’s your extra-base power, I guess.)
On this day in 1795, France officially adopted the kilogram as its unit of mass. I’m a giant fan of the metric system, and the kilogram is the basic unit of mass around which lots of other units are built (the newton, the joule, the watt, and others). Ounces, pounds, bushels, hogsheads, fathoms, acres? Get outta here with that hot nonsense, buddy! Keep it metric!
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 7: Brendan Donovan #33 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates with teammates after hitting a solo home run against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Globe Life Field on April 7, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Rangers 3, Mariners 2
Something that is good or, sometimes, less bad: J.P. Crawford, +.016 WPA Something that is less good or, sometimes, bad: Dominic Canzone -.270 WPA
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 7: Brendan Donovan #33 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates with teammates after hitting a solo home run against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Globe Life Field on April 7, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Rangers 3, Mariners 2
Something that is good or, sometimes, less bad: J.P. Crawford, +.016 WPA Something that is less good or, sometimes, bad: Dominic Canzone -.270 WPA
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 7: Brendan Donovan #33 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates with teammates after hitting a solo home run against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Globe Life Field on April 7, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Rangers 3, Mariners 2
Something that is good or, sometimes, less bad: J.P. Crawford, +.016 WPA Something that is less good or, sometimes, bad: Dominic Canzone -.270 WPA
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 07: Amed Rosario #14 of the New York Yankees hits a two run home run in the eighth inning against the Athletics at Yankee Stadium on April 07, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The life of a backup position player isn’t a fun one. Sure, you get paid a lot to spend most of the game on the bench and have relatively little blame go your way any time your team loses, but any person who’s ever played sports tells you that it’s not fun to sit on the bench.
It was for that reason that Amed Rosario decided to take less money ahead of the 2024 season to sign with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees reportedly offered him a $4 million contract in their pursuit of bench depth, but Rosario took a $1.5 million deal to get more playing time with the Rays. A year and a half later, fate brought him to the Yankees at the Trade Deadline as a right-handed platoon bat off the bench, where he got some big at-bats but ultimately sat in the backup role he once shrugged off.
After hitting free agency this offseason, he elected to accept that bench role and returned to the Yankees on a small deal to fill the same role. It would be rare that he would face a right-handed pitcher, but in the wake of Ryan McMahon’s deep slump to start the year, Aaron Boone decided to give Rosario a start against a pitcher with semi-reverse splits.
That decision may go down as one of Boone’s best-ever moves, at least on an individual game basis. Rosario blasted two home runs Tuesday night. Both against righties, both gave the Yankees the lead, and both induced emphatic celebration. His pair of long homers lifted the Yanks back up off the mat, helping them come back from a 3-1 deficit to knock off the (Sacramento) Athletics, 5-3, to open a three-game set.
Cam Schlittler started his outing on the right note, retiring the first six batters he faced with a trio of strikeouts, including one over the American League’s Luis Arraez, Jacob Wilson. Against Aaron Civale, the Yankees drew a couple of walks in the first two innings and had Aaron Judge reach on catcher’s interference, but the only real damage would come on a long home run to left field by Rosario to open the scoring. Amusingly enough, it was his first regular season homer at Yankee Stadium since he walked it off for the Mets in the most 2020 game of all time.
Schlittler unraveled in the third. Max Muncy nubbed an infield single, Jeff McNeil lined a hit to right field, and Schlittler was able to jump ahead of the light-hitting Denzel Clarke, 0-2. Despite having two strikes, Clarke laid down a successful bunt, which set up slumbering slugger Nick Kurtz to break out of his rut with a two-run double. Two batters later, Tyler Soderstrom ripped a double down the right-field line to make it 3-1, A’s.
Civale went back out and worked around a two-out walk to Ben Rice to get through the third and had a 1-2-3 fourth, while Schlittler settled back in after a rough third inning. The Yankees finally got something going off Civale in the fifth with a José Caballero double and a Judge walk, but the veteran righty was able to strand the tying run in scoring position.
Schlittler wrapped up his outing with two straight clean innings, ultimately finishing with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed in five innings. While it was his worst start of the year, and his velo was down because of the blistering cold, he continued an impressive walkless streak. Once considered his biggest weakness, the 25-year-old is now up to 22 strikeouts and zero walks in 16.2 innings on the season.
Jake Bird got the sixth for the Yankees, trying to bounce back from an awful outing on Sunday. It was a mixed bag, as he gave up a smoked single to Soderstrom, but bounced back to strike out Brent Rooker and retire Wilson. Boone elected to play to a matchup with Lawrence Butler due up with Brent Headrick, but the lefty walked him, and after a throwing error by Austin Wells on a stolen base, there were runners on the corners. Fortunately, Headrick rebounded to strike out Muncy to end the frame.
Justin Sterner was first out of the bullpen for the Athletics, and he got through the sixth cleanly, striking out Giancarlo Stanton and erasing a Jazz Chisholm Jr. single with an immediate 6-4-3 double play by Rosario. Boone elected to be aggressive with the matchups again in the seventh, taking out Headrick with two outs so Fernando Cruz could get Shea Langeliers. An update on Headrick’s odd reverse splits: righties are 0-for-12 with two walks and eight strikeouts against him, while lefties are 5-for-11 with two doubles, two walks, and two strikeouts.
Wells drilled a leadoff double at 111 mph into the gap to start the bottom of the seventh, but was stranded after Caballero, Grisham, and Judge all grounded out off Sterner. Cruz walked a pair of A’s in the eighth, but tip-toed his way out of a jam with a strikeout of Muncy.
I had a very soft spot for Mark Leiter Jr. last year, almost to a fault. The Yankees played unfathomably poor defense behind him, and he ran an impossibly high BABIP all season long. I believed in his stuff, which was still very strong (along with his peripherals) until a midseason injury. He was non-tendered in the offseason and picked up by the Athletics, where he’s one of their better relievers.
Leiter was tasked with holding the lead in the eighth, which he did not do. Bellinger and Rice hit two jamshot singles to start the frame before an absolutely baffling knuckleball single by Stanton that somehow evaded Wilson at shortstop brought in a run.
Whatever curse was put on Leiter at Yankee Stadium was clearly in full effect.
After the righty narrowly avoided a fourth consecutive bloop single on a diving play by Clarke in center, he faced Rosario, and this was his night. The veteran journeyman absolutely cranked a splitter that stayed up into the second deck, prompting one of the most emphatic home run celebrations I’ve seen from a Yankee in April, to make it 5-3. It’s just his third career multi-homer game and first in nearly five years.
After Caballero’s single and stolen base were stranded to end the inning, it was time for Renegade. David Bednar got the call to face 8-9-1. He fell behind McNeil, but rebounded to strike him out in a lengthy at-bat in what would be the only time he’d have to sweat. A pinch-hitting Carlos Cortes flew out, and Kurtz did the same to end it, with Bednar picking up his fifth save of the season.
The Yankees will look to win their fourth consecutive series to start the season in the middle game of this three-game set, as Will Warren faces former Yankee Luis Severino tomorrow at 7:05pm ET on YES.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 07: Amed Rosario #14 of the New York Yankees hits a two run home run in the eighth inning against the Athletics at Yankee Stadium on April 07, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The life of a backup position player isn’t a fun one. Sure, you get paid a lot to spend most of the game on the bench and have relatively little blame go your way any time your team loses, but any person who’s ever played sports tells you that it’s not fun to sit on the bench.
It was for that reason that Amed Rosario decided to take less money ahead of the 2024 season to sign with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees reportedly offered him a $4 million contract in their pursuit of bench depth, but Rosario took a $1.5 million deal to get more playing time with the Rays. A year and a half later, fate brought him to the Yankees at the Trade Deadline as a right-handed platoon bat off the bench, where he got some big at-bats but ultimately sat in the backup role he once shrugged off.
After hitting free agency this offseason, he elected to accept that bench role and returned to the Yankees on a small deal to fill the same role. It would be rare that he would face a right-handed pitcher, but in the wake of Ryan McMahon’s deep slump to start the year, Aaron Boone decided to give Rosario a start against a pitcher with semi-reverse splits.
That decision may go down as one of Boone’s best-ever moves, at least on an individual game basis. Rosario blasted two home runs Tuesday night. Both against righties, both gave the Yankees the lead, and both induced emphatic celebration. His pair of long homers lifted the Yanks back up off the mat, helping them come back from a 3-1 deficit to knock off the (Sacramento) Athletics, 5-3, to open a three-game set.
Cam Schlittler started his outing on the right note, retiring the first six batters he faced with a trio of strikeouts, including one over the American League’s Luis Arraez, Jacob Wilson. Against Aaron Civale, the Yankees drew a couple of walks in the first two innings and had Aaron Judge reach on catcher’s interference, but the only real damage would come on a long home run to left field by Rosario to open the scoring. Amusingly enough, it was his first regular season homer at Yankee Stadium since he walked it off for the Mets in the most 2020 game of all time.
Schlittler unraveled in the third. Max Muncy nubbed an infield single, Jeff McNeil lined a hit to right field, and Schlittler was able to jump ahead of the light-hitting Denzel Clarke, 0-2. Despite having two strikes, Clarke laid down a successful bunt, which set up slumbering slugger Nick Kurtz to break out of his rut with a two-run double. Two batters later, Tyler Soderstrom ripped a double down the right-field line to make it 3-1, A’s.
Civale went back out and worked around a two-out walk to Ben Rice to get through the third and had a 1-2-3 fourth, while Schlittler settled back in after a rough third inning. The Yankees finally got something going off Civale in the fifth with a José Caballero double and a Judge walk, but the veteran righty was able to strand the tying run in scoring position.
Schlittler wrapped up his outing with two straight clean innings, ultimately finishing with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed in five innings. While it was his worst start of the year, and his velo was down because of the blistering cold, he continued an impressive walkless streak. Once considered his biggest weakness, the 25-year-old is now up to 22 strikeouts and zero walks in 16.2 innings on the season.
Jake Bird got the sixth for the Yankees, trying to bounce back from an awful outing on Sunday. It was a mixed bag, as he gave up a smoked single to Soderstrom, but bounced back to strike out Brent Rooker and retire Wilson. Boone elected to play to a matchup with Lawrence Butler due up with Brent Headrick, but the lefty walked him, and after a throwing error by Austin Wells on a stolen base, there were runners on the corners. Fortunately, Headrick rebounded to strike out Muncy to end the frame.
Justin Sterner was first out of the bullpen for the Athletics, and he got through the sixth cleanly, striking out Giancarlo Stanton and erasing a Jazz Chisholm Jr. single with an immediate 6-4-3 double play by Rosario. Boone elected to be aggressive with the matchups again in the seventh, taking out Headrick with two outs so Fernando Cruz could get Shea Langeliers. An update on Headrick’s odd reverse splits: righties are 0-for-12 with two walks and eight strikeouts against him, while lefties are 5-for-11 with two doubles, two walks, and two strikeouts.
Wells drilled a leadoff double at 111 mph into the gap to start the bottom of the seventh, but was stranded after Caballero, Grisham, and Judge all grounded out off Sterner. Cruz walked a pair of A’s in the eighth, but tip-toed his way out of a jam with a strikeout of Muncy.
I had a very soft spot for Mark Leiter Jr. last year, almost to a fault. The Yankees played unfathomably poor defense behind him, and he ran an impossibly high BABIP all season long. I believed in his stuff, which was still very strong (along with his peripherals) until a midseason injury. He was non-tendered in the offseason and picked up by the Athletics, where he’s one of their better relievers.
Leiter was tasked with holding the lead in the eighth, which he did not do. Bellinger and Rice hit two jamshot singles to start the frame before an absolutely baffling knuckleball single by Stanton that somehow evaded Wilson at shortstop brought in a run.
Whatever curse was put on Leiter at Yankee Stadium was clearly in full effect.
After the righty narrowly avoided a fourth consecutive bloop single on a diving play by Clarke in center, he faced Rosario, and this was his night. The veteran journeyman absolutely cranked a splitter that stayed up into the second deck, prompting one of the most emphatic home run celebrations I’ve seen from a Yankee in April, to make it 5-3. It’s just his third career multi-homer game and first in nearly five years.
After Caballero’s single and stolen base were stranded to end the inning, it was time for Renegade. David Bednar got the call to face 8-9-1. He fell behind McNeil, but rebounded to strike him out in a lengthy at-bat in what would be the only time he’d have to sweat. A pinch-hitting Carlos Cortes flew out, and Kurtz did the same to end it, with Bednar picking up his fifth save of the season.
The Yankees will look to win their fourth consecutive series to start the season in the middle game of this three-game set, as Will Warren faces former Yankee Luis Severino tomorrow at 7:05pm ET on YES.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 07: Amed Rosario #14 of the New York Yankees hits a two run home run in the eighth inning against the Athletics at Yankee Stadium on April 07, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The life of a backup position player isn’t a fun one. Sure, you get paid a lot to spend most of the game on the bench and have relatively little blame go your way any time your team loses, but any person who’s ever played sports tells you that it’s not fun to sit on the bench.
It was for that reason that Amed Rosario decided to take less money ahead of the 2024 season to sign with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees reportedly offered him a $4 million contract in their pursuit of bench depth, but Rosario took a $1.5 million deal to get more playing time with the Rays. A year and a half later, fate brought him to the Yankees at the Trade Deadline as a right-handed platoon bat off the bench, where he got some big at-bats but ultimately sat in the backup role he once shrugged off.
After hitting free agency this offseason, he elected to accept that bench role and returned to the Yankees on a small deal to fill the same role. It would be rare that he would face a right-handed pitcher, but in the wake of Ryan McMahon’s deep slump to start the year, Aaron Boone decided to give Rosario a start against a pitcher with semi-reverse splits.
That decision may go down as one of Boone’s best-ever moves, at least on an individual game basis. Rosario blasted two home runs Tuesday night. Both against righties, both gave the Yankees the lead, and both induced emphatic celebration. His pair of long homers lifted the Yanks back up off the mat, helping them come back from a 3-1 deficit to knock off the (Sacramento) Athletics, 5-3, to open a three-game set.
Cam Schlittler started his outing on the right note, retiring the first six batters he faced with a trio of strikeouts, including one over the American League’s Luis Arraez, Jacob Wilson. Against Aaron Civale, the Yankees drew a couple of walks in the first two innings and had Aaron Judge reach on catcher’s interference, but the only real damage would come on a long home run to left field by Rosario to open the scoring. Amusingly enough, it was his first regular season homer at Yankee Stadium since he walked it off for the Mets in the most 2020 game of all time.
Schlittler unraveled in the third. Max Muncy nubbed an infield single, Jeff McNeil lined a hit to right field, and Schlittler was able to jump ahead of the light-hitting Denzel Clarke, 0-2. Despite having two strikes, Clarke laid down a successful bunt, which set up slumbering slugger Nick Kurtz to break out of his rut with a two-run double. Two batters later, Tyler Soderstrom ripped a double down the right-field line to make it 3-1, A’s.
Civale went back out and worked around a two-out walk to Ben Rice to get through the third and had a 1-2-3 fourth, while Schlittler settled back in after a rough third inning. The Yankees finally got something going off Civale in the fifth with a José Caballero double and a Judge walk, but the veteran righty was able to strand the tying run in scoring position.
Schlittler wrapped up his outing with two straight clean innings, ultimately finishing with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed in five innings. While it was his worst start of the year, and his velo was down because of the blistering cold, he continued an impressive walkless streak. Once considered his biggest weakness, the 25-year-old is now up to 22 strikeouts and zero walks in 16.2 innings on the season.
Jake Bird got the sixth for the Yankees, trying to bounce back from an awful outing on Sunday. It was a mixed bag, as he gave up a smoked single to Soderstrom, but bounced back to strike out Brent Rooker and retire Wilson. Boone elected to play to a matchup with Lawrence Butler due up with Brent Headrick, but the lefty walked him, and after a throwing error by Austin Wells on a stolen base, there were runners on the corners. Fortunately, Headrick rebounded to strike out Muncy to end the frame.
Justin Sterner was first out of the bullpen for the Athletics, and he got through the sixth cleanly, striking out Giancarlo Stanton and erasing a Jazz Chisholm Jr. single with an immediate 6-4-3 double play by Rosario. Boone elected to be aggressive with the matchups again in the seventh, taking out Headrick with two outs so Fernando Cruz could get Shea Langeliers. An update on Headrick’s odd reverse splits: righties are 0-for-12 with two walks and eight strikeouts against him, while lefties are 5-for-11 with two doubles, two walks, and two strikeouts.
Wells drilled a leadoff double at 111 mph into the gap to start the bottom of the seventh, but was stranded after Caballero, Grisham, and Judge all grounded out off Sterner. Cruz walked a pair of A’s in the eighth, but tip-toed his way out of a jam with a strikeout of Muncy.
I had a very soft spot for Mark Leiter Jr. last year, almost to a fault. The Yankees played unfathomably poor defense behind him, and he ran an impossibly high BABIP all season long. I believed in his stuff, which was still very strong (along with his peripherals) until a midseason injury. He was non-tendered in the offseason and picked up by the Athletics, where he’s one of their better relievers.
Leiter was tasked with holding the lead in the eighth, which he did not do. Bellinger and Rice hit two jamshot singles to start the frame before an absolutely baffling knuckleball single by Stanton that somehow evaded Wilson at shortstop brought in a run.
Whatever curse was put on Leiter at Yankee Stadium was clearly in full effect.
After the righty narrowly avoided a fourth consecutive bloop single on a diving play by Clarke in center, he faced Rosario, and this was his night. The veteran journeyman absolutely cranked a splitter that stayed up into the second deck, prompting one of the most emphatic home run celebrations I’ve seen from a Yankee in April, to make it 5-3. It’s just his third career multi-homer game and first in nearly five years.
After Caballero’s single and stolen base were stranded to end the inning, it was time for Renegade. David Bednar got the call to face 8-9-1. He fell behind McNeil, but rebounded to strike him out in a lengthy at-bat in what would be the only time he’d have to sweat. A pinch-hitting Carlos Cortes flew out, and Kurtz did the same to end it, with Bednar picking up his fifth save of the season.
The Yankees will look to win their fourth consecutive series to start the season in the middle game of this three-game set, as Will Warren faces former Yankee Luis Severino tomorrow at 7:05pm ET on YES.
Apr 6, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (10) and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jhoan Duran (59) celebrate their victory against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images | Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images
Apr 6, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (10) and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jhoan Duran (59) celebrate their victory against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images | Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images
Apr 6, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (10) and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jhoan Duran (59) celebrate their victory against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images | Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images
Apr 7, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka (11) runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
The Texas Rangers scored three runs while the Seattle Mariners scored two runs.
I have this impression that George Kirby is one of the greatest pitchers to ever live because I’ve mostly only ever seen him pitch against the Rangers and when Kirby pitches against the Rangers, he’s one of the greatest pitchers to ever live.
Coming into tonight’s game, Kirby was 8-0 with an ERA of 1.04 in his career spanning ten starts and 60 2/3 innings against Texas. Simply put, Kirby has been one of the all-time Rangers slayers on the mound.
So imagine my not-surprise when the offensively-challenged-at-home Rangers were getting shut down by Kirby on like 30 something pitches through four scoreless frames. I was certain the Rangers were going to get shutout on a turbo Maddux on like 65 pitches by Kirby and it would have been like maybe one of his second or third best outings against them.
But a weird little thing happened . In the top of the fifth, after Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi had shrugged off a first pitch home run by Brendan Donovan to give the Mariners an immediate 1-0 lead, Eovaldi got into a spot of trouble with three consecutive two-out baserunners that scored Seattle’s second run.
Eovaldi needed a ton of pitches to get out of the inning without further damage but for as brisk as Kirby was working, it offered a moment where he had to sit and wait. This effectively worked to ice Kirby as in the bottom of the inning the Rangers ambushed the righty for three runs and a lead.
Joc Pederson singled on a ball to third base that Donovan threw away. With Pederson at second base, Evan Carter drove in his first run on the season with an RBI single and then Kyle Higashioka had the big hit with a two-run dong that gave the Rangers their lead and the game its eventual final score.
Just like that, Kirby had proved to be mortal and the Rangers have their first win against Seattle’s Rangers killer despite the fact that Kirby went on to finish an eight inning complete game.
Player of the Game: Eovaldi (6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K) bouncing back from not only two poor starts to begin the year, but also the lead off home run, was critical but there was no bigger moment than his battery mate Higashioka giving Texas the lead on the eventual game-winning two-run homer that turned what looked like another dominant Kirby start against the Rangers into a win.
Thanks to Eovaldi and Higgy, the victory guarantees Texas no worse than a series victory over Seattle in their first battle of the year and it also moved the Rangers back above .500.
Also, hat tip to the two Jac(k)obs Latz and Junis for three innings of scoreless ball with two frames from Jacob and a one-run save for a second consecutive night for Jakob.
Junis’ 9th inning was scary with the first two hitters reaching but after two flyouts, the game ended on a check swing grounder in the front of the plate off the bat of Donovan that Higgy pounced on for the out and a bit of poetry.
Up Next: The Rangers will close out this series eyeing their first sweep of the season with LHP MacKenzie Gore set to make the start for Texas opposite RHP Bryan Woo for Seattle in the latest stellar pitching matchup between these two AL West rivals.
The Wednesday afternoon finale from The Shed is scheduled for 1:35 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.
Apr 7, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka (11) runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
The Texas Rangers scored three runs while the Seattle Mariners scored two runs.
I have this impression that George Kirby is one of the greatest pitchers to ever live because I’ve mostly only ever seen him pitch against the Rangers and when Kirby pitches against the Rangers, he’s one of the greatest pitchers to ever live.
Coming into tonight’s game, Kirby was 8-0 with an ERA of 1.04 in his career spanning ten starts and 60 2/3 innings against Texas. Simply put, Kirby has been one of the all-time Rangers slayers on the mound.
So imagine my not-surprise when the offensively-challenged-at-home Rangers were getting shut down by Kirby on like 30 something pitches through four scoreless frames. I was certain the Rangers were going to get shutout on a turbo Maddux on like 65 pitches by Kirby and it would have been like maybe one of his second or third best outings against them.
But a weird little thing happened . In the top of the fifth, after Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi had shrugged off a first pitch home run by Brendan Donovan to give the Mariners an immediate 1-0 lead, Eovaldi got into a spot of trouble with three consecutive two-out baserunners that scored Seattle’s second run.
Eovaldi needed a ton of pitches to get out of the inning without further damage but for as brisk as Kirby was working, it offered a moment where he had to sit and wait. This effectively worked to ice Kirby as in the bottom of the inning the Rangers ambushed the righty for three runs and a lead.
Joc Pederson singled on a ball to third base that Donovan threw away. With Pederson at second base, Evan Carter drove in his first run on the season with an RBI single and then Kyle Higashioka had the big hit with a two-run dong that gave the Rangers their lead and the game its eventual final score.
Just like that, Kirby had proved to be mortal and the Rangers have their first win against Seattle’s Rangers killer despite the fact that Kirby went on to finish an eight inning complete game.
Player of the Game: Eovaldi (6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K) bouncing back from not only two poor starts to begin the year, but also the lead off home run, was critical but there was no bigger moment than his battery mate Higashioka giving Texas the lead on the eventual game-winning two-run homer that turned what looked like another dominant Kirby start against the Rangers into a win.
Thanks to Eovaldi and Higgy, the victory guarantees Texas no worse than a series victory over Seattle in their first battle of the year and it also moved the Rangers back above .500.
Also, hat tip to the two Jac(k)obs Latz and Junis for three innings of scoreless ball with two frames from Jacob and a one-run save for a second consecutive night for Jakob.
Junis’ 9th inning was scary with the first two hitters reaching but after two flyouts, the game ended on a check swing grounder in the front of the plate off the bat of Donovan that Higgy pounced on for the out and a bit of poetry.
Up Next: The Rangers will close out this series eyeing their first sweep of the season with LHP MacKenzie Gore set to make the start for Texas opposite RHP Bryan Woo for Seattle in the latest stellar pitching matchup between these two AL West rivals.
The Wednesday afternoon finale from The Shed is scheduled for 1:35 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.
