Category: MLB

Though the Mets have not been bitten nearly as severely by the injury bug on the pitching side of things, they have struggled to find answers outside of the top 3 in their rotation. Clay Holmes has dazzled and Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean have been mostly solid, but all of Kodai Senga, David Peterson, and Sean Manaea have been ineffective. Christian Scott has returned to the big leagues to replace Senga in the rotation and had a nightmarish first start, but rebounded in his next outing. The bullpen has been a mixed bag, but trending positive with Tobias Myers continuing to provide consistent quality in long relief and Carl Edwards Jr. joining him in that role. Brooks Raley continues to be outstanding and both Luke Weaver and Devin Williams have had hiccups over the past two weeks, but have had more good outings than bad ones.

Player	Last week	This week
Huascar Brazobán, RHP
Carl Edwards Jr., RHP	—
Clay Holmes, RHP
Craig Kimbrel, RHP
Sean Manaea, LHP
Nolan McLean, RHP
Tobias Myers, RHP
Freddy Peralta, RHP
David Peterson, RHP
Brooks Raley, LHP
Christian Scott, RHP
Kodai Senga, RHP
Austin Warren, RHP
Luke Weaver, RHP
Devin Williams, RHP

We’ll start with Kodai Senga, who has been so bad, that he likely wasn’t making his next start whether he was injured or not. He is now on the injured list with lumbar spinal inflammation and that is the only way he avoided a poop emoji. And it’s probably the only way he avoided another potential stint in the minor leagues too. Christian Scott, back from missing all of 2025 due to Tommy John surgery, has replaced Senga in the rotation. Nerves got the better of Scott in his first start against the Twins in which he issued five walks in just 1 1/3 innings. With the Mets in the position they are in, Carlos Mendoza pulled the plug early while the game was still in striking distance. It’s honestly a miracle Scott only gave up one run. But he looked much better in his outing in Anaheim in which he made one mistake to Jorge Soler, but otherwise pitched well. His defense didn’t do him any favors and ultimately he yielded three runs, only two of which were earned, in five innings of work. Most importantly, he struck out eight batters and walked none—a complete 180 from his first start.

In relief of Scott on Friday, the bullpen was perfect, paving the way for the comeback victory by the Mets. Huascar Brazobán got the win in that game for a scoreless sixth inning of work. Brazobán has been consistently excellent all season and though it wasn’t a clean sheet for him this time, the good outings outweighed the bad ones. One of those bad ones also came in relief of Scott in his abbreviated start against the Twins; Brazobán gave up a game-tying grand slam to Ryan Jeffers, but he inherited the bases loaded situation. And the Mets came back to win the game. He also gave up a run in the Game 1 loss to the Rockies last weekend over two innings of work. But he is spotless so far in the month of May. Carlos Mendoza has consistently turned to Brazobán with inherited runners rather than a clean inning, where he is more successful. But more often than not, he still gets the job done.

Speaking of guys who have been getting the job done, Brooks Raley had a clean sheet this week across five appearances and 4 2/3 innings of work. He earned his fifth hold of the season in relief of Scott on Friday with a scoreless seventh and sealed yesterday’s win with a scoreless ninth. He pitched a scoreless inning apiece in two losses—one to the Rockies and one to the Nationals. He also pitched 2/3 of an inning in last Wednesday’s 3-2 victory over the Twins that ended the legendary losing streak and got into a bit of a jam, but none of those runners would come around to score.

It was Luke Weaver who helped Raley escape that jam, getting the key final out of the eighth after issuing a walk to load the bases. Weaver came back out for the ninth as well and struck out three batters to pitch a scoreless inning and snap the Mets’ 12-game losing streak, earning a win in the process. Weaver bookended this 12-game span with two strong outings in the Angels series over the weekend. In yesterday’s game, he formed the bridge between Clay Holmes and Brooks Raley with 1 1/3 scoreless innings and in Friday’s win, he pitched a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts. Weaver only had one bad outing in the past couple of weeks, but it was a costly one. He gave up a go-ahead two-run homer to CJ Abrams on Thursday, which ended up costing the Mets the game and the series.

Similarly, Devin Williams had a strong couple of weeks outside of one extremely costly outing. In the series opener against the Twins, Williams blew a save, leading to the Mets’ 12th straight loss in the most soul crushing way imaginable. But his outings did improve from there. After the Mets jumped back out ahead of the Twins in the rubber game last Thursday thanks to Bo Bichette’s clutch bases-clearing double, Williams came in the game with one out in the ninth and struck out the first batter he faced, but then allowed three straight hits to bring the Twins within two and put the tying run on base. But he held on to strike out the next batter to end the game. His other outings were less eventful. He pitched a scoreless inning against the Rockies and another against the Nationals—both games the Mets went on to lose, but not because of Williams. He then finally got a save opportunity again on Friday in Anaheim and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to cap off that comeback victory.

Williams was not the only one to not distinguish himself in last Thursday’s game against the Twins. I already mentioned Scott’s terrible start and Brazobán giving up the grand slam, but three of the four runs that crossed the plate from Jeffers’ grand slam were charged to Craig Kimbrel, who loaded the bases on a couple of singles and a walk. Kimbrel pitched two scoreless innings after that—one in the series opener against the Nationals to help complete that shutout victory and a scoreless ninth inning in Anaheim on Saturday to help send that game to extras.

Tobias Myers also appeared in all three games Kimbrel appeared in. He immediately followed Scott last Thursday after he was unable to make it out of the second and pitched 2 1/3 innings, over which he gave up one unearned run and struck out three. Myers preceded Kimbrel in the series opener against the Nationals with two scoreless innings, contributing to the shutout. On Saturday Myers scattered three hits over 2 2/3 scoreless innings of work to cap off his clean sheet for this meter.

Austin Warren ended up taking the loss on Saturday for allowing the walk-off hit in the tenth. But Warren pitched a combined three scoreless innings across two outings before that, not allowing a baserunner in either outing and even striking out the side against the Twins after Devin Williams blew the save, leaving the bases loaded, leading to MVP chants being thrown his way.

Both that heroic effort and the walk-off loss came in relief of Nolan McLean, whose start in the Twins series played out like many of his other starts this season. He was basically unhittable early and then fatigued in the middle innings. But in the end, he logged another quality start, giving up three runs on five hits and striking out a whopping ten batters in 6 2/3 innings. McLean did not go as deep into the game in Saturday’s extra-inning loss. He lasted just four innings, over which he gave up three runs on six hits while striking out six and walking one. Still, even after that start, his season ERA starts with a 2.

The Mets’ best starting pitcher lately has not been McLean, but Clay Holmes, whose season ERA starts with a 1 and is among the best in baseball. He shut the Nationals out for six innings in that series opener, giving up just three hits with six strikeouts and one walk. He then followed that up with another sparkling performance on Sunday to help secure the series victory in Anaheim. He gave up just one run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings. That performance earned him his fourth win of the season and a well-deserved fireball for his cumulative body of work so far this season.

Freddy Peralta’s past two starts were good ones—they just happened to both be games the Mets lost, but that is much more the fault of the offense than of Peralta. He took the loss against the Rockies in the series opener, despite limiting the damage to just two runs on seven hits through 5 2/3 innings of work. He was even better against the Nationals, with just one of the three runs he surrendered being earned in six innings of work. He struck out 14 batters and walked 6 across the two outings.

Sean Manaea finished the game in relief of Peralta last Friday and allowed a pair of insurance runs to the Rockies, which turned out to be consequential as the Mets fell just one run shy of a comeback. Manaea did strike out seven batters in 3 1/3 innings in that outing though. But the real disaster for Manaea—and the reason he earned a poop emoji for this meter—came a few days later when the Nationals absolutely bludgeoned the Mets by a dozen runs. Six of the Nationals’ 14 runs were charged to Manaea.

Carl Edwards Jr., who used to pitch for the Nationals and was freshly called up, did mop-up duty in that game. After Manaea exited, Edwards Jr. pitched the final 2 2/3 innings of the game and was charged with one run on three hits. He struck out an impressive six batters in the outing. Edwards Jr. also pitched the bulk of long relief in Game 2 of last weekend’s doubleheader, started by Kodai Senga, in which the Mets were shut out by the Rockies. Edwards Jr. pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts.

Seven of the Nationals’ runs in Wednesday’s beatdown were charged to David Peterson, who started that game and fell to 0-4 on the season with his disastrous performance. His other outing was less of a disaster; he appeared in long relief after Myers in the rubber game against the Twins and was charged with one run on four hits in 3 1/3 innings, earning his first hold of the season. Unfortunately for Peterson, who seems to vastly prefer being in the rotation, he’s had more success out of the bullpen so far this year and will likely remain there for the time being.

It was a bit of a surprise when the Phillies promoted Felix Reyes to the majors on April 18th. It was a major surprise when he batted cleanup in his first ever MLB game. It was downright shocking that he took Chris Sale deep in his first at bat. 

However, everything that’s happened since is not too much of a surprise.

Reyes earned his call up by hitting .333 with 6 home runs through his first 18 games in Triple-A this season. But at the same time, he had an eye-popping 51.9% outside the zone swing rate coupled with a 16.1% whiff rate. That chase rate is Reyes’ biggest weakness and it’s now being exploited to a major degree in the majors. 

Reyes has swung at 55.6% of pitches he’s seen outside of the strike zone through his first eight MLB games. That would be far and away the highest in MLB if Reyes qualified, as the current leader is the Rockies Ezequial Tovar with a 48% rate. Since that first at-bat, Reyes is 3-27 (.111) with two singles and a double. He’s struck out 7 times and has yet to draw a walk. He provided a nice spark in one game but has been wholly ineffective since and has looked overmatched at times. 

If the Phillies were to decide to option Reyes back to the minor leagues, the internal options to replace him aren’t very enticing. The first choice would be Otto Kemp, the man who was demoted to allow Reyes to come up in the first place. Kemp started the year 2-20 with 9 strikeouts before being sent to Triple-A. Since his demotion, Kemp is hitting .237 with a .625 OPS in 12 games with the Iron Pigs. 

Another option would be Bryan De La Cruz who signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in November. De La Cruz has played 32 games with Lehigh Valley and is hitting .222 with a .672 OPS. He would need to be added to the 40-man roster if the Phillies were to decide to promote him to the majors. As of right now, the Phillies do have one spot remaining on the 40-man that could theoretically be used on De La Cruz. He also has an opt-out clause in his contract that can be triggered to make him a free agent at some point in the next couple of months if he does not make the roster. 

Looking outside the organization, there’s players such as Mark Canha and Randall Grichuk that the team could take a flier on. Obviously, there are not many options when it comes to finding help for your roster in early May. 

So, is it time to end the Félix Reyes experiment? If so, who should take his spot on the Phillies bench? 

Good morning.

MLB dot com’s Benjamin Rosenberg writes that the Texas Rangers are getting it done in relief without having a lot of strikeouts or flamethrowers.

Matt Snyder writes that with Tarik Skubal out, the AL Cy Young race is wide open with Jacob deGrom among the new favorites.

And, the DMN notes that former Rangers World Series catcher Jonah Heim has begun his journeyman era by (sort of) going back to where it began as he rejoins the Athletics no longer in Oakland.

Have a nice day!

A combination of day games and morning news gave me a brief, impromptu break, but I’m back.

Before this season started, I thought the Braves might need to operate more like their 2019-2021 lot in life (nothing is guaranteed) than their 2022-2025, “Our roster is good enough to do whatever” framework. The Braves have done their best to make a mockery of that thought, as they have baseball’s best record and run differential, and can still avoid losing a single series if they win the next two in Seattle.

For the season, the biggest chase is a playoff spot. Then, we can talk about winning the division. If that’s secure, I guess the next thing to think about is a first-round bye. And then we’re really just talking best record in MLB.

• The Braves currently have playoff odds of 95 percent. Seven teams have increased their odds more over the course of the season so far, but only the Yankees started in a similar place and have increased their odds more than the Braves. Basically, it’s possible that the Braves will still be in for a fight just to grab a playoff spot, but I’m not sure it’s that likely unless there’s another multifaceted collapse in terms of both injuries and approach.
• The Braves currently have the third-highest division odds, and no team has gained more in this regard. Those division odds are about 83 percent right now, so again, I don’t think it’s unrealistic at all to say their fight will in the end, be for the division, but you could also set your sights higher.
• They have the third-highest odds of a bye, but second in the NL — i.e., someone would have to supplant them from the field, aside from the Dodgers. This could be the most interesting “race” down the stretch… if everything goes okay for the Braves going forward.
• With the wins they have banked, they now project for the third-most wins in MLB as a central estimate. If everything goes right, maybe this is a “race” where they either lead the rest of the way with excitement, or they try to chase down, say, the Dodgers.

Which of these do you think will be the story down the stretch — say, in late August?

Michael Conforto has been an afterthought for most of this Cubs season.

The team didn’t sign him until late February. He got some playing time early on because of the injury to Seiya Suzuki, but since Suzuki’s return April 10, Conforto has played in just 10 games, starting just four of those. He didn’t play at all in the weekend series against the Diamondbacks.

Then Craig Counsell sent him up to bat in the bottom of the ninth Monday for Matt Shaw. Shaw had pinch-run for Moisés Ballesteros in the eighth, and what I was thinking in that tie-game situation was, “Well, if Conforto gets on, they’ll have to run Nicky Lopez for him.”

Conforto took care of that potential issue by smashing a walk-off home run into the left-field bleachers, giving the Cubs their sixth consecutive win and 12th straight at Wrigley Field, 5-4 over the Reds.

Let’s rewind to the beginning of this back-and-forth affair.

Late Monday morning, the Cubs moved the starting time of this game up 30 minutes to 6:10 p.m. CT in anticipation of some rain and storms that were supposed to hit around 9 p.m. Instead, it started raining just about 6:10, the rain lasting an hour, so the game wound up starting at 7:50. Give the Cubs credit for the attempt, anyway. The sun came out as the rain was ending, producing these beautiful views:

In case you were wondering what was at the end of a rainbow: pic.twitter.com/MAk0QPZYqw

— Wrigley Field (@ofcwrigleyfield) May 5, 2026

Edward Cabrera got in trouble in the first two innings with hits and walks, but squeezed out of both jams. Then he served up a home-run ball to JJ Bleday leading off the second, and in the third issued a two-out walk. That was followed by Ke’Bryan Hayes smashing one out of the yard to give the Reds a 3-0 lead.

The Cubs couldn’t do anything with Reds rookie right-hander Chase Petty over the first three innings, with just a double by Alex Bregman in the first and single by Nico Hoerner over that time.

An annoying little rainshower parked itself over Wrigley Field in the fourth. That, entirely coincidentally, was when the Cubs rallied. Bregman led off with a walk and Ian Happ also drew a base on balls.

Suzuki took ball one from Petty and then tied the game with his sixth homer of the year [VIDEO].

That ball was absolutely demolished [VIDEO].

That was the longest Cubs home run of 2026 to date, and the sixth-longest by anyone this year. As you can see at that link, Suzuki also had the previous longest Cubs homer this year (441 feet on April 21 vs. the Phillies). Another note on the home-run distance (Bluesky link):

And one last note on Suzuki’s homer from BCB’s JohnW53:

Suzuki’s home run was the Cubs’ seventh this season with two on base, among 45 total homers — 15.6 percent. That is significantly higher than their final percentage in each of their five previous seasons:

2025: 27 of 223 — 12.1
2024: 19 of 170 — 11.2
2023: 15 of 196 — 7.7
2022: 12 of 159 — 7.5
2021: 17 of 210 — 8.1

The rain stopped, this time for good, and Cabrera then pulled off a nice play in the fifth. With one out, Elly De La Cruz singled. Cabrera picked him off [VIDEO].

The play went to review, but as you can see, De La Cruz was clearly out. In the sixth, Cabrera got some help from his defense — this slick stop by Michael Busch [VIDEO].

Cabrera completed six innings, allowing just the three runs, with eight strikeouts [VIDEO].

More on Cabrera’s outing from John:

Cabrera’s three runs in six innings was the Cubs’ 15th quality start in their 35 games. They began the day tied with the Pirates for seventh most QS. Dodgers had 21; Braves and Royals, 17; and Mariners, Tigers and Yankees, 16.

Hoby Milner and Phil Maton threw a scoreless seventh, with Maton entering to throw to Sal Stewart after Milner walked De La Cruz with two out. Maton, who has pitched much better since his return from the IL, got Stewart to ground out to end the inning.

The Cubs, though, could not score in the fifth, sixth or seventh, and then Ben Brown gave up a run in the eighth. Uncharacteristically a bit wild, Brown walked Nathaniel Lowe leading off the inning. Leadoff walks, as most managers will tell you, are never good. The Reds sent Blake Dunn in to run for Lowe, and Dunn immediately stole second. That was important, as Spencer Steer’s single scored Dunn to give the Reds a 4-3 lead.

The Cubs had a good scoring chance in the eighth. Ballesteros led off with a walk and, as noted earlier, Shaw ran for him. Shaw was immediately erased on a force play by Bregman. A wild pitch moved Bregman to second and after Happ struck out, Suzuki ran a 3-1 count before being intentionally passed. Busch walked to load the bases, but Carson Kelly also struck out, ending the inning.

Ryan Rolison, who’s had an up-and-down year for the Cubs so far, was definitely “up” in this game. He struck out all three Reds he faced in the top of the ninth, throwing 14 pitches.

Pete Crow-Armstrong led off the bottom of the ninth with a triple [VIDEO].

As you can see in the clip, Dane Myers almost made a spectacular catch against the ivy, but the ball went in and out of his glove, and PCA raced around the bases, safe easily at third. A note on the triple:

Cubs triples this season

0 in first 20 games
6 in last 15 games

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) May 5, 2026

Dansby Swanson then struck out, but Nico then hit a fly ball deep enough in left to score PCA with the tying run [VIDEO].

That brought up Conforto, batting for Shaw. He ran the count full against Reds closer Emilio Pagan. And then… BOOM! [VIDEO]

Here’s a cool field level view of Conforto’s blast [VIDEO].

For Conforto, it was his first career walk-off home run. That entire ninth inning was something. Triples are perhaps the most exciting play in baseball, and PCA running the bases is always fun to watch. The walk-off homer wakes up and excites a crowd no matter who hits it. I’m really happy for Conforto, who has settled very well into his bench role on this team — now batting .323/.436/.548. It’s only 39 plate appearances for Conforto, but he has definitely made important contributions.

Here’s Conforto on the home run [VIDEO].

One more note on Conforto’s walk-off:

Michael Conforto: first player whose first homer as a Cub was a walkoff since Orlando Merced 9/12/1998 (his only HR as a Cub)

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) May 5, 2026

Hopefully, there will be more Conforto homers to come in a Cubs uniform.

Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame remarks [VIDEO]. In particular, the Cubs manager has major praise for what Conforto did in that ninth-inning situation.

Last note on this game from John:

This was the first game of the season in which the Cubs erased two deficits. They had erased one in 12 earlier games. They are 10-3 when they have erased at least one. They lost the first two, won eight in a row, lost last Monday at San Diego, then won Sunday and tonight.

I have written this before and I’m going to say it again: There is something special about this team. Every single player on the roster has made significant contributions to winning. That, I believe, is the mark of a really good team. They all pick each other up — and in this team’s case, even in the face of major pitching injuries. The season to date has been really enjoyable. Let’s hope that continues … all the way through October.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this recap, this was the Cubs’ sixth win in a row. They did not win six in a row all of last year. Now they have two streaks at least that long in 2026 — and we are only 35 games into the season.

Last note: The Cubs are on a 16-3 run since April 14, the best record in MLB in that span, and have scored the most runs over that period, 117 (6.2 per game). They’ve allowed 78 runs over the 19 games, or 4.1 per game.

The Cubs and Reds meet again at Wrigley Field Tuesday evening. Jameson Taillon will start for the Cubs and Andrew Abbott goes for Cincinnati. Game time is 6:40 p.m. CT (this time for sure, it will be cool but dry this evening) and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

With apologies to Shohei Ohtani and the faithful attending tonight’s contest at Daikin Park, the more significant season barometer will actually be registered approximately 23 miles southwest this evening when the Space Cowboys take the field against the Albuquerque Isotopes at Constellation Field.

The likes of Josh Hader, Nate Pearson, & Tatsuya Imai are each expected in the mix, returning to action and not a moment too soon.  For Imai in particular, getting “comfortable” a few days prior to his 28th birthday is paramount in Houston’s ability to steadily climb the A.L. West standings.   

In large measure, the divisional crown will not be measured against Ohtani’s “Unicorn” flashes, but rather, against its rivals within.  Control the division, and control your destiny.

In May alone, the Astros have 11 combined games against the Mariners and Rangers.  The final week of the regular season concludes with a 6 game road swing against Seattle and those pesky A’s.   

Show of hands if you thought by the third homestand that Spencer Arrighetti would have 3 more wins on the year than ace Hunter Brown.  Each year, there are surprises.  Remember the start Tyler Mahle had a year ago with the Rangers?  He finished last April with an ERA of 0.68.

Maybe even a “Spencer” (of a different variety), recall Schwellenbach who opened with the Braves allowing only a single run to be scored during the course of 20 innings?  Sugar Land may play as significant of a role in the “resist the rebuild” movement as any.  Barring a mega in-season trade, the Astros are a glorified mash unit, waiting to heal and deal.     

While the calls for Espada to be removed have a foreboding undertone, who’s available on the managerial docket that would galvanize the fan base and reverse course?  Dave Martinez? Skip Schumaker?  Yawn.

I’d rather have Julia Morales if we’re going that route, at least she knows the clubhouse and has a grasp on the organizational pulse.    

The Astros are far from dead and buried.  In fact, they might be ripe for an in-season trade.  You know the history.  Verlander, Greinke, Bagwell, Carlos Beltran in 2004 or even Randy Johnson in 1998.

As the Brewers continue to occupy 4th place in their division, the tantalizing possibility of Freddy Peralta or Brandon Woodruff linger in the air.

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Dinger Tuesday and here, and we need a big day in a bad way. Today's looks are heavily factoring in familiarity, which isn't usually priced in for MLB player props.

The Yankees just saw Jacob deGrom, and the right-handed bats in New York have an advantage. Cleveland Guardians rookie Chase DeLauter is still undervalued, and there is only one Toronto bat I want to back indoors today. 

These are my favorite home run props for Tuesday, May 5. 

Best MLB home run props today

Home run pick: Aaron Judge (+240)

The New York Yankees just saw Jacob deGrom one start ago, and that familiarity won’t be fully priced into their HR lines. Add in 17-mph winds blowing out to left, and the conditions only improve. It’s not every day you get +EV on Aaron Judge at +240, but that’s what the Covers projections show.

At first look, he has a split disadvantage vs. deGrom, but the Texas Rangers starter is much tougher on lefties. Right-handed hitters are hitting .324 vs. him compared to .139 vs. LHHs.

The fair price sits closer to +200. Lefty bats like Jazz Chisholm Jr. (+470), Trent Grisham (+390), and Ben Rice (+350) also project as +EV, but I want a right-handed slugger, and the Yankees have the best one projecting for 0.37 HRs today

• Time: 7:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: YES, Rangers Sports Network

Home run pick: Kazuma Okamoto (+449)

It’s not the best weather slate today for dingers, so let’s go indoors and back one of the hottest bats over the last two weeks in Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto.

The first-year MLB infielder has been the only answer to the Blue Jays’ recent slugging issues, leading the team in every key power metric while launching a half-dozen long balls.

He’s seeing the ball better as well, posting the team’s No. 2 walk rate over that stretch, and now gets a controlled environment.

He just wrapped a three-game home run streak and has been raking over his last 11. The Jays have been snakebitten at the Trop, but maybe that changes with the newcomer. The Tampa Bay Rays’ bullpen also owns the second-worst HR/9 in baseball. I’d play this to +410.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Sportsnet1, Rays.TV

Home run pick: Chase DeLauter (+960)

Cleveland Guardians rookie Chase DeLauter has all six of his home runs vs. right-handed pitching, and today he’s priced at +960 to go yard against Stephen Kolek, who is making his season debut coming off an oblique injury.

The Kansas City Royals starter isn’t known for missing bats, and his fly balls left the yard at a high rate last year at Triple-A. He’s a rotational fill-in and a fringe MLB arm at best.

DeLauter is riding an eight-game hitting streak and has 2+ total bases in four straight, including a homer in his last game. He had the day off yesterday, and while the setting isn’t perfect, these teams combined for three homers at Kauffman last night.

He owns the best BlastContact% on the team over the last seven days, and both his swing speed and SqUpContact% have been trending up.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Guardians.TV, Royals.TV

Today’s HR parlay

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Meet the Mets

The Mets scored four runs on four hits on May the 4th in a 4-2 victory over the Rockies at Coors Field. Carson Benge hit a home run to lead off the sixth inning and made another sparkling defensive play to spark the victory.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, Daily News, NY Post, Newsday, ESPN, Faith and Fear in Flushing

Juan Soto batted lead off for the Mets, marking just the third time he has done that in his career. Mendoza explained the move as ‘trying to create traffic’.

While Soto has not been a problem for the Mets this year, Laura Albanese wondered if him leading off could be the answer.

Keith Hernandez rejoined the SNY booth after recovering from back surgery.

Joel Sherman wrote that David Stearns’ flimsy words won’t save Carlos Mendoza, but then outlined some things that might.

Anthony DiComo analyzed what we’ve learned about the Mets so far.

Tim Britton explored the things the 2026 Mets can learn from the 2024 squad.

AJ Minter will likely return this weekend or early next week.

Marc Levine will be honored with a Mets Hall of Fame Achievement Award.

Around the National League East

The Braves have topped the latest MLB Power Rankings for the first time in three years.

Atlanta activated Sean Murphy from the IL and designated Jonah Heim for assignment to make room on the roster.

Aaron Nola’s room for error is shrinking, but his fastball issues persist, writes Cole Weintraub.

Todd Zolecki looked at potential topics for the Phillies to address in upcoming meetings.

The Marlins called up catcher Joe Mack, their fourth ranked prospect, to make his major league debut. They sent down Agustin Ramirez as their corresponding move.

The Phillies blanked the Marlins 1-0. Nola tossed six shutout innings on extra rest as the Phillies improved to 6-1 under their interim skipper.

The Braves fell 5-4 to the Mariners after surrendering five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Around Major League Baseball

John Sterling passed away yesterday at the age of 87. The longtime radio voice of the Yankees, who was known for his creative home run calls and called over 5,400 games for the Bronx Bombers during his career, retired in 2024.

Buster Olney spoke about why Sterling was perfect for the Yankees and their fans.

Jared Greenspan cataloged the top hitters, pitchers, relievers, and rookies in the first month of the season.

The two OPS leaders in the NL right now are not who you might expect.

The first MVP poll of 2026 revealed some expected favorites along with some early-season surprises.

Reigning two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal will undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow and is expected to miss two to three months.

Mark Feinsand examined how the injury will affect Skubal’s free agency and the Tigers.

The metrics prove that Yordan Alvarez is pretty much good at all things hitting.

The Orioles signed veteran reliever Lou Trivino in an effort to bolster their bullpen.

The White Sox added journeyman outfielder Randal Grichuk to their roster.

The Brewers activated Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn from the IL. In corresponding moves, they optioned Perkins to Triple-A Nashville and designated outfielder Greg Jones for assignment.

Ben Rice was out of the lineup yesterday after exiting the team’s previous game with a bruised hand.

The Rays beat the Blue Jays 5-1.

The Red Sox used a five-run seventh to defeat the Tigers 5-4.

The Yankees obliterated the Orioles 12-1 to complete the four-game sweep. Michael Kay paid homage to Sterling with his home run call on Aaron Judge’s latest blast.

The White Sox blanked the Angels 6-0, as Munetaka Murakami tied Aaron Judge in homers with a majestic blast.

The Dodgers’ offense came to life in an 8-3 win over the Astros, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto returned to form with eight strikeouts in the victory.

The Cubs walked off the Reds 5-4 thanks to a pinch hit, two-run ninth inning homer from old friend Michael Conforto. It was the Cubs’ 12th straight win at Wrigley Field.

The Royals defeated the Guardians 6-2.

The Cardinals doubled up the Brewers 6-3.

The Giants outlasted the Padres 3-2.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Chris McShane previewed the team’s series against the Rockies.

Linus Lawrence provided a Monday Stat Party.

Allison McCague brought us the position player meters for the week.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2004, I was one of 19,974 fans in attendance at Shea Stadium to witness Mike Piazza hit his 352nd home run as a catcher, breaking Carlton Fisk’s record for most home runs by a backstop.

The Bombers will remain in the Bronx for their next series before hitting the road again. The upcoming series is not just the second half of their stay at home, following a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles in which they scored at least seven runs in all four games and came away with a series sweep, but it’s also the second of the last three series in which they face the Texas Rangers. However, this time, it will be on their own home turf, and the pitching matchups will be exciting for fans in attendance.

Tuesday: Elmer Rodríguez vs. Jacob deGrom (7:05 pm ET)

The last time Rodríguez was on the mound was in that last series in Arlington, and it wasn’t just any start. The 22-year-old right-hander pitched four full innings in his Major League debut and collected three strikeouts, but ended up giving two runs in the final game of the series, while Nathan Eovaldi pitched a gem and the Yankees were shut out. Considering the small workload for Rodríguez, it’s hard to say the kind of impact he could have in his first start at home, but there’s no doubt he will be fired up and looking to make sure that he gives the home fans a show.

However, in order to give the Yankees faithful a good performance, he’s going to have to push past someone who has terrorized all of Major League Baseball — and was the lead man for the other New York team — for a long time: Jacob deGrom. The last time deGrom was on the mound was also when the Yankees visited Texas, pitching six innings with five strikeouts, no walks, and only three hits. He has been very strong through the year thus far, too, with a 2-1 record and a 2.01 ERA through six games with 40 strikeouts in 31.1 innings pitched. So, even though he sits at 38 years old, the kind of problems deGrom can bring to an opposing lineup is serious.

Wednesday: Will Warren vs. Nathan Eovaldi (7:05 pm ET)

Will Warren has been about as good at the backend of the rotation as anyone on the Yankees’ staff could ask for, and that continued in his last start against the Orioles. He pitched 6.1 innings with three hits, one earned run, one walk, and nine strikeouts in a 7-2 victory. He remains a perfect 4-0 with a 2.39 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 37.2 innings this season. Warren did not pitch against the Rangers last time the two teams faced each other, but the pitcher he’s across from did, and it was the best outing of the series by any pitcher on either squad.

Nathan Eovaldi, the former Yankees hurler, posted seven shutout innings with four hits and seven strikeouts against the Bombers in his last outing, and he’s familiar with Yankee Stadium. Despite having a somewhat surprising 4.76 ERA on the season, it feels as if every time Eovaldi takes the mound against his former team, he finds another gear. In fact, of any team that Eovaldi has pitched against at least 10 times in his career, he has the fourth-lowest ERA against the Yankees. So, with that being said, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the 36-year-old get back to that standard as he looks to bring down his season ERA as well.

Thursday: Ryan Weathers vs. MacKenzie Gore (12:35 pm ET)

The final matchup between these two teams for the series comes between two pitchers who are somewhat of the same archetype. Ryan Weathers, a 26-year-old left-handed pitcher who stands at 6-foot-1 on the mound with a new team this season, is going up against MacKenzie Gore, a 27-year-old left-handed pitcher who stands at 6-foot-2 on the mound with a new team this season — and both were previously on NL East teams as well.

Weathers had a decent last outing against the Orioles, trying to maintain a starting role in the organization with the impending returns of Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón and, as of now, competing with Warren for that final spot. He pitched five innings with three hits and three runs given up (one earned). He also walked two batters and struck out five. It was an outing that he likely would have wanted to see go a little bit better, but he received the win in the decision column, so it was a good enough buffer outing. Overall, Weathers still sits with an ERA just over 3.00, with 45 strikeouts in 38.2 innings pitched, a very solid place to be at the backend of a rotation.

His opponent, Gore, hasn’t had the start with his new team that he would have liked to have coming out of spring training. His 4.67 ERA through seven starts and 34.2 innings pitched is a bit of a concern, and his last five games have been a bit of a slog to try and find any rhythm at all. In four of his last five, he has collected at least five strikeouts, with the highest total being nine in a 3-0 win against the Mariners on April 8th. However, that was almost a month ago, and in his last three games, he has allowed at least three runs. In his last start, Gore pitched only 3.2 innings (with 94 pitches) against the Tigers and gave up those three earned runs on just four hits. So, the Yankees are catching him at a vulnerable time. This game could be a pivotal one in the series, taking advantage of the weakest pitcher they’ll see from the Rangers this time out will be crucial.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have on paper one of the best rotations in baseball, but they cannot expect to maximize that talent if they continue to limit their ace, Paul Skenes.

In 2026, Skenes has seven starts under his belt with a 4-2 record and a 3.18 ERA. When he’s on the mound, he’s mostly been very effective, with his starts against the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals being outliers. Outside of those two ugly starts though ,Skenes has only allowed one earned run or less in his other appearances. The problem now though is when Skenes, pitches he’s averaging less than five innings pitched, 4.76 innings on average to be exact.

If this is the plan the Pirates have to keep Skenes fresh for the postseason, they will fail. The game plan of playing not to lose instead of playing to win has a weak foundation, and the Pirates won’t even sniff the playoffs if they continue to utilize Skenes this way. The middle innings have been rough for Pittsburgh’s bullpen, and the longer those arms are out there the more likely it is that opposing teams are going to win.

Paul Skenes took a perfect game into the 7th inning in one of his best career starts 👏 pic.twitter.com/FRQcvx949K

— MLB (@MLB) April 25, 2026

Perhaps the biggest flaw in Skenes’ game is why the Pirates have been cautious with his starts; his biggest flaw being that he throws a lot of pitches. Skenes relies a lot on swing and miss pitches, and balls that just barely miss the strike zone. Because of his approach, he racks up pitches, sometimes quickly. In his most recent start against the Cardinals, the 23-year-old righty threw 102 pitches in just five innings. His start before that against Milwaukee, he threw 93 pitches, and twice this season topped 85 pitches thrown as well. If it’s a matter of workload ,the Pirates are still letting him throw a high number of pitches in a smaller amount of innings, as he’s currently averaging roughly 78.3 pitches thrown per contest.

Perhaps the reason that the Pirates have limited the action that Skenes sees is the dark underlying one that all Buccos fans fear. It’s possible that the Pirates don’t see Skenes as a long term option for the club, but instead as a massive trade package for future assets. Let’s not sugarcoat it, Skenes is the best pitcher in baseball. The best pitcher in baseball figures to fetch quite the contract extension when his time comes. However, the 19-year-old unproven prospect who hadn’t yet played an inning of Major League ball got the largest contract extension in franchise history. Meanwhile Skenes is already a two-time All-Star and Cy Young Award winner, and is still playing on the deal he signed when he was drafted.

Ever since he was drafted but especially last season, there have been numerous rumors about the Pirates receiving trade offers for Skenes. Now even if the Pirates have no intention of trading the superstar pitcher now, they might not have him in the budget long term. Skenes could easily garner a $5o million yearly salary, which would break the bank for the thrifty Pirates. Zach Wheeler and Jacob DeGrom are currently averaging about $40 million a year, and Skenes could easily get that or more. Perhaps the Pirates are just trying to keep Skenes as healthy as possible to keep the trade market as bountiful as possible, or it’s entirely possible that Skenes doesn’t want to be a Pirate long term, although nothing to this point has indicated that.

"We should do this more often."

Henry Davis goes yard with Paul Skenes mic'd up 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9nia216teJ

— MLB (@MLB) May 2, 2026

Regardless of what the Pirates or Skenes’ plans are longterm, both parties need to be focused on the task at hand. Pittsburgh is at the bottom of the NL Central, and it’s not going to get any easier down the stretch. The goal should be to win, and Skenes is the guy that can help bring this team out of the basement and into the limelight.

The Ringer | Ben Glicksman: Early yesterday morning, WFAN broke the news that legendary Yankees broadcaster John Sterling had passed away at the age of 87. Immediately, broadcasters and journalists throughout the league penned tributes to the beloved man. Saying, “Of all the people I didn’t really know in my life, I knew him the best,” Ben Glicksman of The Ringer reflected on the idiosyncrasies that made Sterling an icon in the broadcasting world, as Sterling remained unapologetically himself throughout his career.

I could fill out this whole list with tributes and obituaries written by members of the media, so in order to save space, let me just list the others instead of summarizing them: Brendan Kuty (The Athletic), Andrew Marchand (The Athletic), Chris Kirschner (The Athletic), Buster Olney (ESPN), Bryan Hoch (MLB), Mark Feinsand (MLB), Greg Joyce (New York Post), Matt Snyder (CBS Sports). No two were alike, even those written by members of the same publication, a true testament to how Sterling built such a unique relationship with those around him.

FanGraphs | Michael Baumann: The biggest baseball news of the Yankees’ week is, of course, Anthony Volpe’s demotion to Triple-A Scranton. Yesterday, Michael Baumann reflected on the move, noting that while the beleaguered shortstop has not met the sky-high expectations imposed on him when he made his debut on Opening Day three years ago, Volpe has nonetheless been a solid player in his early career (with the exception of the period after his injury last season). Ultimately, Baumann expects him to eventually return to The Show and reclaim the starting shortstop job — after José Caballero comes back to Earth, of course.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: While Jasson Domínguez’s big two-run homer that broke open the game on Sunday and sparked the seven-run eighth inning drew most of the attention, it was his two other hits that game — a sixth-inning double off lefty Grant Wolfram and an eighth-inning double (as the 11th batter in the inning) off Dietrich Enns, another southpaw — that should get the Yankees most excited. After making some adjustments from the right side of the plate, El Marciano has looked much better this season, posting a 1.172 OPS in Scranton against lefty pitching and recording three hits (including the two aforementioned doubles) in his first five plate appearances against them since being recalled when Giancarlo Stanton hit the IL.

MLB Trade Rumors | Anthony Franco: Randal Grichuk, designated for assignment last week, signed a Major League deal with the Chicago White Sox yesterday. With former Yankee prospect Everson Pereira, who has been the right fielder on the South Side, on the shelf, the White Sox now turn to Grichuk to fill the bench spot vacated by Austin Hays, who is now likely in a platoon with Jarred Kelenic in right.

The San Francisco Giants, feckless and fully on life support after one of the worst road trips in franchise history, were in desperation mode after Sunday’s defeat. As we’ve been told since birth, desperate times call for desperate measures, and in baseball parlance, desperate measures means desperate transactions.

And so it wasn’t surprising that the team that flew out of Tampa Bay on Sunday was not the same as the one that arrive to Oracle Park on Monday to face the San Diego Padres to kick off a six-game homestand.

The reports trickled in on Sunday night while the plane was likely still on the tarmac in Florida. They were confirmed by the beat reporters later in the evening. They were announced by the team on Monday afternoon.

Exactly a month ahead of the schedule set by last year’s “it’s time to go” quote, Buster Posey was pulling the trigger on the biggest in-house moves he could make.

Bryce Eldridge, the team’s top hitting prospect since Posey himself, was coming up. Jesús Rodríguez, one of the top contact hitters in all of the Minors, was accompanying him.

The third move was almost an afterthought, both in the announcement and in the literal sense. After opting to use two starters during Thursday’s excruciating doubleheader, the Giants needed to add a starter for Monday. With a shrug, a sigh, and perhaps even a blindfold, they waved their collective finger around and landed on Trevor McDonald.

If you could inject truth serum into a press release, here’s what the one from the Giants would have said: Giants call up top prospect Bryce Eldridge, oh my god that’s exciting and they also call up Jesús Rodríguez, and my goodness that’s going to be so much fun, all of this is for Monday’s game and oh yeah, if you’re curious, not that you care, Trevor McDonald is also up to start that game, don’t get used to him, he’ll be gone tomorrow.

That was the sentiment, and I don’t say that negatively. It’s just the reality of the situation, and it was entirely justified.

But that chasm in excitability was forgetting two of the foundational tenets of baseball.

The first tenet: inexperienced hitters tend to take quite a lot of time getting their feet wet and their gears spinning and their numbers numbering. They’re usually pretty bad for a while, making it a little bit of a paradox that Posey was calling on two such players to fix a broken offense.

And so it was that neither of the young electric hitters did much in the batter’s box.

Eldridge, making his season debut, hit a weak pop up that carried into left field in his first at-bat, and struck out in his final one, and while he sandwiched those two negative outcomes around a walk, it’s hard to give him much credit there when it was a four-pitch bases on balls in which Randy Vásquez couldn’t find the strike zone if you built a new mega strike zone out of four normal-sized strike zones.

Rodríguez, making his Major League debut, used his three at-bats to make four outs, hitting a line out and two ground outs, the first of which erased Eldridge’s walk with a double play.

The second tenet: no player in the history of baseball has as large of a gap between their ability to be bad in AAA and their ability to be good in the Majors as McDonald.

And so it was that McDonald, who entered the game with a 5.40 ERA in five AAA games this year, and with 15 walks in 15 innings, made the Padres look feeble and foolish from start to finish, pitching seven of the most efficient innings the Giants have seen all year, allowing just two hits and one run, walking nobody, and striking out eight.

It truly defies explanation. McDonald now has pitched 205 innings in AAA and has a 5.18 ERA, with 192 strikeouts and 91 walks. He’s pitched 25 MLB innings and has a 1.44 ERA, with 23 strikeouts and just three walks. I don’t know what kind of bizarre magic that is, but if the Giants are going to take at-bats away from Matt Chapman to facilitate time for Eldridge, one would have to imagine they’ll be compelled to siphon some of Adrian Houser’s innings in the direction of McDonald.

McDonald stated his case immediately, striking out Ramón Laureano on three pitches to open the game. It was a statement for McDonald, for McDonald’s sinker (which he threw all three times), and for Rodríguez, who suited up behind the dish and saw his first taste of MLB action calling and receiving a strikeout.

For as impressive as the punchout was, it arguably wasn’t the best thing that McDonald did in the inning. After retiring Fernando Tatis Jr., he faced his first bit of adversity: following five straight sinkers to open the game, McDonald finally deviated on the first pitch he threw to Jackson Merrill. Instead of his best pitch, McDonald went to a changeup, which not only hung, but floated into the worst spot of the plate. Merrill responded the way All-Stars do, by taking on center field with absolute ease, clearing the fence with room to spare, and earning a slow jog around the bases while admiring a 436-foot blast.

A lot of things have plagued the Giants over the last five seasons of relentless mediocrity. A whole lot of things. That’s a can of worms for another day. I recommend following our own Bryan Murphy’s writing if you really want to get into it.

But the defining characteristic of the Giants during this half-decade of futility has been an inability to right the ship once the bad times commence. Miniature obstacles turn to small slumps turn to large swaths of failure. The inability to get the team to stand up after falling over ultimately cost Bob Melvin his job, and plenty of players have exited the stage for the same reason.

So it was a breath of fresh air — and an injection of something sorely needed (no, not steroids) — that McDonald galumphed about on the mound as he watched Merrill run his 360 feet, then rubbed up a new baseball, dug in, and attacked Manny Machado, earning a two-pitch out. And then he needed just 10 pitches to cruise through the second inning, while striking out a pair of batters. To that point, McDonald had thrown 18 pitches, and 17 of them had been strikes.

If there’s a way to Posey’s heart, it just might be that (if there’s a way to mine, however, it is food; I am not beating that stereotype).

From that point on, McDonald would only allow two more baserunners: one in the third, when he hit Jake Cronenworth, and one in the fourth, when he gave up a single to Merrill. And this time he was once again prepared to bounce back from the baserunner: after Merrill reached second on a fielder’s choice, McDonald provided one of the highlights of the game, and one that showed his deft theatrics, as well. Right as Kruk and Kuip were alerting fans to the fact that McDonald can field his position well, he stabbed a comebacker from Xander Bogaerts, whipped to third, and fired a strike to Casey Schmitt to get the lead runner out. It was a gutsy play, and one that required a tremendous amount of skill.

Thankfully, neither guts nor skill seem to be in short supply for McDonald.

The offense, meanwhile, may not have been jumpstarted by the arrivals of Eldridge and Rodríguez, but it wasted no time giving McDonald a lead to play with. It took only until the second batter in the first inning for the Giants to have one of their best at-bats of the season, and it’s not hard to guess who provided it: Schmitt.

Starting at third base while Chapman rested (it appears Schmitt will be roving around the field now that Eldridge has arrived), the breakout star of the team continued his torrid start on Monday. After falling behind in the count 0-2, Schmitt took three consecutive brilliant pitches, all off the plate by merely an inch or two.

The fish weren’t biting, and with the count now full, Vásquez was forced to find the strike zone. He opted for the pitch he (and most people) can most reliably accomplish that with, and Schmitt was waiting for it all the way. The four-seam fastball entered batter’s box at 95.6 mph and exited it at 102.5 mph, finding a home comfortably up the left field bleachers as Schmitt rounded the bases.

That was the equalizer, but the Giants were hungry for more. Luis Arráez followed Schmitt by smacking a double in an 0-2 count, and then the Padres reminded you that they, too, are capable of a little bit of ineptitude. With one out, Heliot Ramos grounded a ball to the shortstop Bogaerts, while Arráez broke for third. Bogaerts attempted to take out the lead runner but was unable to do so, and suddenly Giants had runners at the corners thanks to the no-out fielder’s choice. Two pitches later, they would cash in one of those runs on a Rafael Devers RBI single.

They added a critical insurance run in the sixth inning in remarkably similar fashion: Arráez doubled for the second time and Ramos (who would later triple as he continues to come to life) once again grounded the ball to Bogaerts, who this time did the smart thing and got the easy out, allowing Arráez to take third, where he would score on a Devers sacrifice fly.

That run proved necessary, as the the bullpen took a bend-don’t-break approach. Tony Vitello opted to not risk ruining a good thing, and didn’t let McDonald go out for the eighth inning, despite the righty having thrown a mere 81 pitches (60 of which were strikes). Instead, it was Keaton Winn, who appears to be settling into the setup man role, especially with Erik Miller currently injured. Winn played that role excellently, needing just eight pitches to retire the side in order.

The ninth was a little less smooth, but reminiscent of the first inning. Vitello continues to search for the right bullpen buttons to press, and on Monday opted for a very sensible one, as he gave Caleb Kilian a chance to close. And the very first batter he faced, Laureano, hit a 447-foot moonshot — as no-doubter as a no-doubter can be at Oracle Park.

Suddenly it was just a one-run game, and the heart of the order was showing up.

But if McDonald provided the first example of a Giants player proving that you can stop negative momentum in its tracks, Kilian brought the closing blow. He responded by completely breaking down Tatis, getting him to strike out with all three strikes coming via ugly swings-and-misses.

Then he got Merrill to weakly ground a ball to second base … so weakly, in fact, that it almost wasn’t an out, save for the brilliance of Arráez, who had a truly sensational game with the glove, making highlight play after highlight play.

And finally, with the Giants faithful rising to their feet, Kilian struck out Machado swinging as the crowd erupted.

Eldridge and Rodríguez will have their time in the sun. Hell, it might be as early as tomorrow. But it’s a team sport, and sometimes it’s the less heralded call ups that stop the bleeding, and lead you to a 3-2 victory.

After all, there’s no wrong way to win.

Every Star Wars Day (May the Fourth, in case this particular branding hasn’t been pounded into your skull) produces the same opportunity to lay the story of the baseball game over the Star Wars leitmotif. Last year we had an uninspiring 8-1 loss to the Rangers where Zach purposefully trolled by mixing up Stars War and Trek, but ultimately got trolled by the game being so bad no one got particularly mad about it. Maybe the only person he really made mad was staffer Jake Parr, who wrote his own Star Wars-themed recap a week later, repeating a theme of his from 2024 (and 2023!), when he was mad I had the recap on Star Wars Day and neglected to do anything with it, because by this point I have been through so. many. baseball Star Wars Days, while still having only ever seen the original trilogy, and at that only in 20-minute asynchronous increments on my break at the Cineplex Odeon Southcenter Theatre (-tre because we were Fancy).

But sometimes the narrative pull is so strong, and tonight that narrative pull involves a guy named Luke using the force to win (or help win) a baseball game, you just have to throw up your hands, pour a nice [frantic googling sounds] Tarisian Ale, put on some [more frantic googling] Max Rebo Band, and give yourself over to the story being told.

The story tonight was of two halves. The first half: bad. I will not be making an analogy to a Star Wars Thing here because I don’t want to make anyone mad, but it’s Jar Jar, right? Jar Jar is universally regarded as Bad? Anyway, things got off to a rough start right away, with Logan Gilbert surrendering a homer on the third pitch of the ballgame, a slider that reigning NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin was able to elevate over the right-center wall for a no-doubter. Gilbert said postgame he wasn’t unhappy with his slider, saying he thought they hit some good ones – and he did get two of his four strikeouts on the slider – but that’s also the number of home runs he have up on the slider, and I am not sure that is a tenable ratio going forward.

The other concerning aspect of Gilbert’s outing was how much hard contact he gave up. The Braves finished this game with an xBA of .314, and that was down from the .385 it was earlier in the game while Gilbert was pitching. This is just way too much good stuff, too much in the middle of the plate, especially on the fastball:

So, things could have been worse, for Gilbert, but conversely, they also could have been better for the Mariners. Facing Bainbridge Island-raised JR Ritchie, the Mariners were able to get traffic on against the rookie, pitching in the ballpark he grew up attending as a fan. Ritchie’s command was far from pinpoint, and he only struck out two over five innings, but the Mariners continually shot themselves in the foot with runners on, generally looking like the disconnected, discombobulated mess we’ve come to expect from them offensively over the last week-plus. They hurt themselves at seemingly every opportunity: Braves catcher Sean Murphy, making his first start back after off-season hip surgery, blew both Atlanta’s challenges in the first inning, leading to a leadoff walk for J.P. Crawford, but Josh Naylor lined into an inning-ending double play to kill that momentum. A leadoff infield single by Randy Arozarena in the second, followed by a walk by Luke Raley, similarly went nowhere. A Naylor leadoff single in the fourth was erased by Randy Arozarena immediately grounding into a double play; and then when Dominic Canzone tried to keep the line moving with a single, Raley flew out harmlessly to end the inning.

The real crushing moment was when the Mariners loaded the bases without a hit with two outs in the fifth – Leo Rivas was hit by a pitch (a fireable offense, says one Brad Adam) and Crawford and Julio Rodríguez each worked walks behind him, but Naylor grounded out easily on the third pitch he saw to end the threat.

That last inning might have been the back-breaker for Logan Gilbert, who did everything he could to hold the Braves’ powerful offense down but lost the battle in the sixth, as all the hard contact he’d given up during the game came home to roost at once. It started with back-to-back solo home runs, first to Ozzie Albies, who smacked a fastball on the plate over the wall; and then another one, to Matt Olson, on one of the aforementioned sliders. Two batters later, Austin Riley, who had been pushed down in the lineup because he is off to such a slow start this season, demolished another fastball on the plate for a 4-0 lead that felt like game over facing the Death Star of Atlanta’s scorching-hot lineup.

But this is Star Wars Day, and the Mariners have a guy named Luke. Ritchie led off the sixth by walking Arozarena on four not particularly close pitches followed by a walk to Dominic Canzone on five pitches, four of which were nowhere close. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss opted to leave Ritchie in to face Luke Raley, who was on an 1-for-24 skid with 11 strikeouts over his past 11 games (and that one was…a questionable ruling). I feel like we’ve all earned this: Luke Used The Force.

After that bit of managerial misconduct, Weiss went out and collected his starter, bringing in Tyler Kinley. Kinley was able to strike out Cole Young, who had a rough game offensively, but walked Mitch Garver on four non-close pitches, something one Brad Adam calls a fireable offense. With two outs, J.P. Crawford came up, battled the count full, and punished a slider of his own:

Because who else could it be but J.P. Crawford? Author of so many walkoff wins for the Mariners, king of the two-strike hitting, subject of much criticism over this past week for his defense, flipping his bat like a light saber into the dark Seattle night.

The bullpen held it down over the stretch, with José Ferrer pitching in 1.1 innings of work, Eduard Bazardo – maybe the most Star Wars-coded names of the current Mariners – doing his Bazardo thing and hanging another Bazero, and Andrés Muñoz protecting that one-run lead like the Mandalorian protects Grogu (because if there’s a Mariner with Pedro Pascal vibes, it’s definitely Muñoz). The Braves’ last (not new) hope was the dangerous Baldwin, up with a runner on after pinch-hitter Dominic Smith came up with a sharp single on a 98 mph fastball. Baldwin took a called strike on a slider and then chased one, putting himself in an 0-2 hole, but declined to chase a third straight slider. Muñoz went to the slider one more time and Baldwin helpfully hit it to the Mariners’ most surehanded infielder, Cole Young, for an easy 4-3 putout and a losing streak-snapping win. Just like the script said.