Category: MLB

If you needed more evidence that it’s no longer April, the Royals gave it to you tonight. Coming into May, the Royals were 1-5 in one-run games. So far in May, they’re 2-0 in those games and in all games. For most of the game, that didn’t seem possible.

Had the Mariners won, Emerson Hancock would be the story of this game. I’m not sure he shouldn’t still be. On the night the Mariners retired Randy Johnson’s number in a pre-game ceremony, Hancock pitched seven one-run innings with a whopping 14 strikeouts. That’s not only the most of his career; it’s the most of anyone in MLB so far this year. In case you were wondering, Hancock has never been a strikeout pitcher before. But the high heat was working for him tonight. You can refer to the game thread for a representation of how Hancock has looked this season; here’s the TJ Stats summary for Hancock tonight:

Oh yeah, he didn’t walk any either.

On the other side, Seth Lugo gave up a run within three batters. Julio Rodríguez continued his scorching hot May with a one-out, automatic double to the opposite field. Josh Naylor smashed a single to centerfield.

The Royals roared right back in the third inning. Kyle Isbel led off and snuck a double down the first base line, then Maikel Garcia drove him home with a double into the right-center gap. Unfortunately, the Royals stranded him there.

The Mariners stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the second after Vinnie Pasquantino and Seth Lugo each had brain farts on defense. In the bottom of the fifth, the Mariners had some good luck to load the bases against Lugo again. With one out, Leo Rivas had a clean single to right. J.P. Crawford snuck one past a diving Bobby into left, and Julio grounded one that Bobby grabbed on the dive but couldn’t get to Michael Massey in time to get an out. With the bases loaded and Josh Naylor at the plate, Lugo threw a wild pitch to allow Rivas to score. Lugo struck out Naylor but walked Randy Arozarena to reload the bases. Then, on a 2-2 pitch, Randy decided to take off for second. Perhaps he lost track of the count? Regardless, the Royals managed to tag him out before Crawford could score from third.

In the top of the sixth, the Royals put two runners on with no outs and failed to advance either runner. You’d be forgiven if you assumed the game was over then. But it wasn’t.

Lugo ended up only giving up two runs in six innings for the team’s 16th quality start – tied with the Mariners for fourth-most in baseball. He struck out six, walked a pair, and gave up seven hits. It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective. Luinder Avila looked absolutely deadly pitching the seventh and eighth innings. He allowed no runners and earned a strikeout. Matt Strahm pitched a clean ninth.

But the only reason Strahm pitched the ninth was because of what happened in the top of the inning against the Mariners’ stud closer, Andres Muñoz. Salvador Perez led off the inning and flipped a single into right. Lane Thomas came in to pinch run and was immediately awarded second base on a balk. Carter Jensen – who won April Royals player of the month, but is also 0 for his last 15 with 7 strikeouts – struck out. Jac Caglianone came to the plate with a chance to tie the game. We know what he did the last time Lugo started. Could he do it again?

Yep!

That was hit at 108.9 MPH off the bat of Jac Caglianone, and the defensive maven J-Rod had it skip past him, allowing Jac to arrive at third still with only one out. Unfortunately, the Royals couldn’t score him, so it was up to Strahm to get the game into extras.

In the top of the tenth, the Royals engaged in more shenanigans. Kyle Isbel led off with Massey at second. Isbel tried and failed to get the bunt down twice. On the second attempt, Massey got a little far from second, and Mitch Garver attempted a backpick. Massey turned his blunder into an opportunity by not panicking. Instead, he took off for third and made it a stolen base. Which was fortunate because Isbel struck out on the next pitch.

Maikel came up and, after taking a couple of big hacks, shortened his swing and got the ball just deep enough to score Massey.

In the bottom of the tenth, Lucas Erceg came out to earn his ninth save and looked like his 2024 self again. He struck out a pair – one on a slider in the zone and the other on a sinker up and away from a lefty – and got a 1-2-3 inning. Don’t look now, but Lucas has gone six straight appearances without allowing an earned run. Over that span, he’s walked 4, but he’s struck out 8 and only given up 1 hit. If Lights Out Lucas is back in business, that changes a lot of what’s possible for the Royals this year.

No matter what happens next, the Royals have guaranteed a .500 road trip with tonight’s victory. Still, they get a shot to earn a winning road trip and their second sweep of the season when they close out the series and the road trip with a late afternoon match tomorrow. Kris Bubic (3.74 ERA) will go against Luis Castillo (6.35 ERA). The game will start at 3:10 Royals time.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — For a second straight night the Mets rallied from an early deficit, but this time there wasn’t a postgame celebration.

Opportunities were wasted Saturday, including a replay challenge that the Mets didn’t issue, which would have subtracted the Angels’ first run.

Along with them went the Mets’ chances of winning a second straight game — something they have accomplished only once since April 7.

Former Yankee Oswald Peraza’s RBI single against Austin Warren in the 10th inning sent the Mets to a 4-3 loss at Angel Stadium.

The loss was the Mets’ 18th in their last 22 games.

Only adding to the team’s frustration, Ronny Mauricio fractured his left thumb diving into first base and will be placed on the injured list. It leaves the Mets in need of a shortstop — Mauricio became the starter last week after Francisco Lindor was placed on the IL with a left calf strain.

Warren was ahead 0-2 in the count with two outs before Peraza ended it with a line drive single to left. Warren had walked Jorge Soler and allowed a single to Jo Adell in the inning, moving the automatic runner to third base.

Adell’s single in the first gave the Angels a 1-0 lead, but the run should not have counted: replays showed Jorge Soler was tagged out attempting to race first-to-third before Nolan Schanuel touched home plate. The Mets did not challenge the play.

“We called obviously and he missed it,” manager Carlos Mendoza said, referring to replay coordinator Harrison Friedland. “Harrison is one of the best at his job and it ends up being a big play when you lose by one run, but I also think we had [other] chances there.”

Nobody had a rougher night at the plate than Bo Bichette, who grounded into a double play in the 10th inning after Brett Baty reached on a catcher’s interference. In the seventh, after the Mets had tied the game, Bichette batted with the bases loaded and hit into a fielder’s choice out at the plate. The Mets never took the lead.

“We had a chance to win it,” Bichette said. “I had two chances and didn’t get the job done.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

In his shortest career start, Nolan McLean lasted just four innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk.

Bichette’s RBI single in the third tied it 1-1. Austin Slater, in his first start for the Mets, doubled before Bichette delivered against Reid Detmers for his 15th RBI this season.

Vaughn Grissom’s two-run single gave the Angels a 3-1 lead. Soler walked and Adell singled before McLean’s wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. After Grissom delivered, Peraza singled, but McLean avoided further damage by striking out Travis d’Arnaud for the final out.

“I just wasn’t executing,” McLean said. “I got behind in counts in the fourth and it’s really hard to pitch behind in counts.”

The Mets scored twice in the seventh to tie it 3-3, but left the bases loaded when neither Bichette nor Juan Soto could deliver. Bichette grounded into a fielder’s choice out at home plate before Soto struck out against Sam Bachman.

Andy Ibanez brought in the inning’s first run with a sacrifice fly before Taylor’s RBI single tied it.

Slater then singled and Mauricio’s squib to first base became an infield single following a replay challenge won by the Mets.

But Mauricio fractured his left thumb on the dive into the bag. Bichette and Soto were then retired, leaving the bases loaded. Mark Vientos’ double started the rally and Marcus Semien singled and stole second.

“Guys like Bo and Juan, those are the guys you want at the plate in those situations and more often than not they are going to come through,” Mendoza said.

Tobias Myers worked into the seventh and departed with the go-ahead run on first base and two outs. Huascar Brazoban ended the inning by retiring Soler.

Myers allowed three hits and one walk over 2 ²/₃ scoreless innings. The right-hander has pitched to a 2.05 ERA this season.

Was that the most fun game of the year? I think it was. It’s been a long time since we saw the offense score the way they have in the last two games. Seeing Travis Bazzana get his first big league hit with the bases loaded was truly special. His surface numbers may not look great so far but I have been very impressed with his ABs. He is going to be a good player for a very long time.

Chase DeLauter continues to do absurd things for a rookie. I told some of my friends earlier today that he’s like a video game character with maximum hitting attributes. He truly has no weakness at the plate and it is an absolute joy to watch. Over his last 7 games he has a slash line of .565/.630/.696.

Maybe the most important thing from today was Kyle Manzardo hitting a pinch hit 3 run bomb. Let us all pray that this is the start of him going back to being the Kyle Manzardo that we know he is capable of being. José Ramírez also seems to be in a bit of slump, it was nice to see him have that big double today that knocked in a couple runs.

Angel Martinez continues to have an awesome season with 3 hits today. And how about David Fry? They have had a lot of patience with him and it looks to be starting to pay off after he hit a huge HR today off a lefty. How could I possibly forget AUSTIN HEDGES? With two doubles and a HR today, he is now hitting .325 with an .864 OPS on the season, good for third best on the team behind Schneemann and DeLauter. I do not expect this to continue, but we appreciate any and all offensive contributions from Hedgey.

Now that we have went through all the awesome things with the offense, it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room. Slade Cecconi had another rough start today. His ERA is up to 6.56 on the season and it’s hard to find any positives with him right now. How long can they keep running him out there every 5 days? Do they think Logan Allen can give them a better chance to win right now? Allen is not exactly lighting it up in AAA either. Cecconi does have an option, so they could always send him down to AAA and have him work on some stuff there. If it were my decision, that is likely what I’d do as he seems like someone who just needs a reset.

Tim Herrin might be the most underappreciated member of the team right now, he’s been phenomenal this season. He has yet to allow an earned run and the advanced metrics support that. Hunter Gaddis had another rough performance, but I am still not worried about him. I think he just needs some time and he’ll be fine.

The Guardians will look for the sweep tomorrow. It will be Parker Messick vs…checks notes…Aaron Civale at 4:05 pm ET.!

Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio is headed to the injured list after he fractured his left thumb on a head-first slide to first base against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night, manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game.

The injury occurred in the seventh inning after Mauricio hit a slow roller to first baseman Nolan Schanuel and tried beating it out by diving to first base. After initially called an out, the Mets immediately challenged the call which was overturned, but at great cost.

"I’m gonna have to talk to David [Stearns]," Mendoza said when asked about a possible replacement. "We need a player here tomorrow so it’s a quick turnaround."

Mauricio looked shaken up after the play, but stayed in to run the bases. He was taken out of the game in the bottom half of the inning when Brett Baty came in at third base, moving Bo Bichette to shortstop. 

Who will play shortstop in Sunday's series finale and beyond is now the question, although moving Bichette back to his natural position is an option.

"I gotta wait and see who the player is that’s gonna come up," Mendoza said. "Pretty sure Bo is gonna be in the conversation, but again we just got done with the game."

With Mauricio starting due to the calf injury of Francisco Lindor, this is just the latest blow to a team that has been decimated by injuries early this season. It's also Mauricio's second significant injury after he tore his ACL before the 2024 season and comes at a time where he was finally going to get a long look in the majors.

"It’s tough, obviously," Mendoza said. "You lose your everyday shortstop and the guy that comes up and is getting the everyday opportunity here now is hurt – somebody else is gonna have an opportunity."

April was a terrible month for the Mets. But April is over, and they won yesterday on May 1st. Surely May was destined to be much better. The 2026 season can now officially begin, right?

Yeah, no. Tonight we had another game where the Mets didn’t come through enough in the clutch—just like every other game in April. The result was an extra inning 4-3 loss.

Following a quiet first inning for the Mets, the Angels got off to an early lead against Nolan McLean. The rookie ace retired the first two batters with ease, but then surrendered three straight singles (one of them being a little squeaker to an empty spot on the right side of the infield). The third single was hit to right fielder Austin Slater, who unleashed a good throw to nab Jorge Soler trying to get to third to end the inning. Replay showed that the out at third beat the runner scoring at home, but the umpires did not see this, and Carlos Mendoza did not challenge the play, so the run counted and the Mets were quickly behind 1-0. That missed call/non-challenge would prove to be quite impactful.

However, after another quiet inning in the second, the Amazins finally pushed a run home in the third against Angels starter Reid Detmers. Following his impressive defensive play in the first, Slater—in the lineup against the lefty pitcher—socked a one-out double to left field, and after Ronny Mauricio struck out for the second out of the inning, Bo Bichette knocked a single to right to tie up the game.

They failed to add any additional runs on the board, though, and the Angels would retake the lead in the bottom of the fourth. After recording the first out, McLean surrendered a walk and a single to put runners on first and second, and both runners would subsequently advance on a wild pitch. A strikeout of Josh Lowe got the Mets one out away from getting out of the inning, but Vaughn Grissom then blooped a single to center to bring both runs home and put the Angels up 3-1. Another single extended the inning and further contributed to the high pitch count which would end McLean’s night after just four innings (the first time in his young career that he had an outing that short), but he did strike out former Met Travis d’Arnaud swinging to keep the deficit at just two.

Tobias Myers came on for the bottom of the fifth for some long relief and managed to work out of a jam after allowing the first two baserunners on. He followed that with a scoreless second inning, and it was at this point when the Mets’ bats decided to wake up against Detmers. Mark Vientos led off the inning with a double to left field, and Marcus Semien followed with a single to put runners on first and third with no outs. Andy Ibáñez—making his first start as a Met—then hit a ball to deep center to score the runner from third on a sacrifice fly, cutting the lead to just one run. Semien then swiped second base to put the tying run in scoring position, and Tyrone Taylor quickly took advantage by socking a single to center to even it up at three runs apiece.

Two infield singles (one from Ronny Mauricio, who slid into first base and would subsequently have to come out of the game in the bottom of the inning after hurting himself on the play) knocked Detmers out of the game and gave the Mets an opportunity with the bases loaded, one out, and the top of the order up against an Angels bullpen that has struggled mightily in recent times. Alas, Sam Bachman came on and retired Bichette (on a groundout to third base in which Taylor was thrown out at home) and Juan Soto (on a strikeout). Thus, following another scoreless frame from the Angels in the bottom of the inning (started by Myers in his third inning of work, and finished by Huascar Brazobán when Mendoza turned to him with two outs and a runner on), the score remained tie after seven.

Anyway, remember that beleaguered Angels bullpen we just remembered? Well, it should surprise absolutely no one that against the Mets, they suddenly looked like prime Mariano Rivera, as Bachman retired three straight batters in the top of the eighth with two more strikeouts and Ryan Zeferjohn followed with an easy 1-2-3 inning as well. For his part, Brazobán also pitched his own 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the eighth, and Craig Kimbrel then came on for the ninth to try to bring the game into extra innings. After retiring the first batter, Yoan Moncada hit a line drive to first that Vientos inexplicably failed to catch, resulting in a double down the line to put the winning run in scoring position. But the future Hall of Fame reliever bore down, striking out Zack Neto for the second out and then—following an intentional walk to Mike Trout—inducing a groundout to second to end the game and send it to the tenth.

The Mets got a gift in the beginning of the top of the tenth, as Brett Baty—who entered the game when Bichette moved to shortstop following Mauricio’s exit—reached on a catcher’s interference, putting runners on first and second with nobody out and the top of the order coming up. As was the case in the seventh inning, however, the top of the order failed to come through. Bichette grounded into a double play, Soto was intentionally walked with the go-ahead run on third, and Francisco Alvarez weakly flied out to shallow center to end the inning without a single run coming home. Austin Warren then came on with the unenviable task of needing to prevent the ghost runner from scoring to keep the game going. But, well, you already knew that wasn’t going to happen. Jorge Soler led off the inning with a walk, and Jo Adell then lined a sharp single to right to load the bases. Warren, to his credit, did bear down to record two straight outs and get to within a strike of getting out of the inning unscathed. But Oswald Peraza dunked a single into left field to end it.

The Mets are now 11-22. On the bright side, they’re still 1-1 in May. That’s .500! Progress!

SB Nation GameThreads

Amazin’ Avenue

Box scores

MLB.com
ESPN

Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Brett Baty, +20% WPA
Big Mets loser: Austin Warren, -36% WPA
Mets pitchers: -11% WPA
Mets hitters: -39% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Brett Baty reaching on catcher’s interference in the 10th, +19.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Oswald Peraza walk-off single in the 10th, -34% WPA

The Mets went to extra innings and lost to the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night by a score of 4-3.

Here are the takeaways...

-- After striking out the first two batters he faced, Nolan McLean couldn't put the opening inning to bed and allowed three straight singles, two of which came with two strikes. The third hit of the inning produced an out as right fielder Austin Slater gunned down Jorge Soler at third base, but not before Nolan Schanuel crossed home plate to put the Angels up 1-0... or so the Mets thought.

As it turned out, thanks to replay, Soler was tagged out before Schanuel touched home plate which should've canceled the run from counting. However, New York either didn't see it or caught it too late because nobody in the dugout challenged the call, which is a reviewable play, on the field. The mental lapse cost McLean and the Mets a run. Would it come back to bite them?

-- New York would get the run back in the third inning. After Slater, in the Mets' starting lineup for the first time because of lefty Reid Detmers on the mound, doubled with one out, Bo Bichette drove him in with a two-out single. Slater had a good game and finished 2-for-3 alongside his outfield assist at third base from right field.

-- McLean followed up the missed call in the first inning by retiring the next seven hitters in a row before issuing a one-out walk in the fourth. The inning began innocently, but a single and a wild pitch, the right-hander's first of the season, put runners on second and third with one out. McLean managed to strike out Josh Lowe for a path out of the inning, but after getting ahead in the count 0-2 to Vaughn Grissom, he left a sweeper in the zone that Grissom lined into center field for a two-run single. McLean lost Oswald Peraza to a single after getting to two strikes as well before finally ending the inning with a strikeout.

Not only were the three earned runs the most allowed by the rookie in the first four innings of his career, it was also the shortest outing of his career after he was not given the fifth as Tobias Myers took over to start the fifth inning. McLean's final line: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. His season ERA rose to 2.97.

While it wasn't the right-hander's best performance, the decision by manager Carlos Mendoza to pull him after just 78 pitches (51 strikes) was certainly interesting.

-- As for Myers, he found himself in trouble immediately after the first two hitters he faced reached base. He managed to escape without allowing a run and ended up going 2.2 scoreless innings.

-- Thanks to Myers' efforts, the Mets were able to hang around before tying the game in the seventh. Still facing Detmers, who had been cruising right along, Mark Vientos began the seventh with a double down the left field line. Marcus Semien followed with a single to put runners at the corners with nobody out and Andy Ibañez, in his Mets debut, drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

New York continued to play solid baseball after Semien stole a crucial base with one out to advance to second in front of Tyrone Taylor who knocked him in with a game-tying single. The Mets would end up loading the bases, knocking Detmers out of the game in the process, but were unable to push across the go-ahead run against the Angels bullpen after Bichette grounded into a force play and Juan Soto struck out to leave them loaded.

-- Things stayed tied through the bottom of the ninth inning where Craig Kimbrel was tasked with sending the game to extra innings. Things got dicey after pinch-hitter Yoan Moncada doubled with one out to bring up the top of the order, but Kimbrel struck out Zach Neto for the second out and New York wisely intentionally walked Mike Trout, already 2-for-4 on the night, to pitch to Schanuel who grounded out to end the inning. 

-- In the top of the 10th inning, after the Mets got the first batter to reach, Bichette grounded into a double play and Los Angeles returned the favor by intentionally walking Soto to face Francisco Alvarez who popped out to end the frame. In the bottom half of the inning, Austin Warren came in and walked the first batter he faced before allowing a single to load the bases. 

After Warren nearly escaped the jam by retiring the next two hitters, Peraza stroked a two-strike single into left field for the game-winner. Mets pitchers not being able to put away hitters with two strikes was a theme for most of the night and the miscall in the first inning that New York failed to review cost them dearly in the end.

Game MVP: Oswald Peraza

He finished 3-for-5 with the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Highlights

Bo Bichette ties it with an RBI single 💪 pic.twitter.com/8a944wOBo6

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 3, 2026

Nolan McLean has struck out four through three innings 🔥 pic.twitter.com/JogvIIXLb9

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 3, 2026

Andy Ibáñez gets his first RBI as a Met with a sac fly and the Mets are within one! pic.twitter.com/msZ75y1u4q

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 3, 2026

Tyrone Taylor ties the game with an RBI single! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/AApsnKi4Lc

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 3, 2026

What's next

The Mets close out their series with the Angels on Sunday afternoon starting at 4:07 p.m. on SNY.

RHP Clay Holmes (3-2, 1.75 ERA) looks to keep his fantastic beginning to the season going and will face off against RHP Jack Kochanowicz (2-0, 3.09 ERA).

Matt Olson has been absolutely crushing the ball this season. Through roughly 20% of the season, he is on pace for 55 homers and 65 doubles. He has a monster 171 wRC+, plays elite defense at the first base position, and is leading the NL in fWAR. With Olson leading the way, Drake Baldwin, Michael Harris, and Ozzie Albies have been premium offensive contributors as well. With Ronald Acuna seeming likely to miss at least some time with a hamstring injury, the Braves could really use Austin Riley stepping up and producing like he is paid to fill in some of that production for the time being. Austin has put together two nice nights at the plate in Coors, punctuated by a huge homer Saturday night. Here’s hoping that could be a turning point for Austin, because while the team has started this season incredibly well, some of this offensive production seems likely to come back to Earth, at least some, and especially without Ronald Acuna in the lineup.

Braves News

Ronald Acuna exited Saturday’s game with a hamstring injury, with details presumably coming soon, as he is set to receive an MRI.

Alex Anthopoulos had an interesting conversation with 92.9 The Game, covering a few notable topics.

Chris Sale and Drake Baldwin led the way to a 9-1 blowout of the Rockies.

The Braves optioned Anthony Molina, re-signing Carlos Carrasco to the major league roster.

Grant McAuley took a look at Bryce Elder’s strong season so far.

MLB News

Cardinals’ Lars Nootbar is set to begin his rehab assignment in the next couple weeks.

The Mets extended catcher Luis Torrens for another two years to the tune of $11.5 million.

JT Realmuto returned from injury for the Phillies after 10 days, DFAing Dylan Moore.

Just when it seemed like the Atlanta Braves were starting to turn a corner with injury luck with all of the positive updates on players who are currently on the injury list and Michael Harris II continuing to rake despite quad issues of his own, the injury bug appears to have taken another bite from this squad.

Ronald Acuña Jr. has exited Saturday night’s game against the Colorado Rockies with what appears to be a left hamstring issue. Acuña was simply running out a ground ball to second base and pulled up grabbing at his left hamstring. He walked off the field under his own power but he did need help getting down the stairs according to what we saw on the television broadcast.

We’ll provide more updates as they become available and hopefully it’s not as bad as looks for Acuña.

[UPDATE 11:08 p.m ET]: Walt Weiss talked to the media following the game and stated that Ronald Acuña Jr. will be going for an MRI. He said he was hoping for it to be a cramp but also it’s “never good” whenever you see a guy going in for an MRI for this sort of thing. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best at this point.

The Colorado Rockies were hoping their offense would take flight after last night’s showing, but unfortunately it did not. Instead, the offense was limited to just four hits, while Chase Dollander got roughed up for the first time this season.

Playing from behind

Brennan Bernardino served as the opener, and he left Dollander with a mess right off the bat. Bernardino failed to get out of the first inning giving up a single to Ronald Acuña Jr., and then he surrendering a two-run homer to Drake Baldwin to make it a 2-0 ballgame with zero outs in the first.

Ozzie Albies then doubled before Matt Olson finally flew out to center record the first out for Bernardino. A wild pitch allowed him to advance to third, and then Bernardino struck out Michael Harris II.

Warren Schaeffer likely envisioned Bernardino finishing at least the first inning, if not multiple innings, but ended up lifting him after just 0.2 innings. Dollander entered and immediately walked Mauricio Dubón, but then struck out Austin Riley to limit the damage.

The Braves Chase’d Dollander

Dollander started off the second inning strong with a strikeout of Mike Yastrzemski, but then gave up a double to Jorge Mateo. Acuña then came up to the plate and grounded out, but he pulled up halfway to first base. Hopefully it’s not an extended injury, given his history.

Next up, Baldwin singled to score Mateo and put the Braves up 3-0 but then Ozzie Albies struck out to end the inning.

Dollander recorded a 1-2-3 third, but the fourth and fifth got dicey.

The fourth started off with a walk to Austin Riley, which inevitably came back around to haunt. Yastrzemsky popped out to Karros, but then Riley stole second and then was knocked to third by a Mateo single. Eli White — who entered for Acuña — bunted, which scored Riley and moved Mateo to third. Baldwin struck again, though, with an RBI double to put the Braves up 5-1 and then Albies hit a sac fly to score White. Matt Olson flied out to end the inning, but the damage was done.

The fifth inning started with a single by Harris, which turned into two bases on an error committed by Troy Johnston. Dubón grounded out, but Riley homered to center to put the Braves up 8-1.

It was just Dollander’s fourth home run allowed this year, but he came back to get Yastrzemski and Mateo.

The sixth featured a lot of traffic, but nobody came around to score. Dollander was lifted after the sixth with a final line of 5.1 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR. He threw 97 pitches, 61 for strikes.

“I thought (Dollander) was just a little behind today,” Schaeffer said after the game. “I think (it was) unusual, with some walks. The breaking ball and the off-speed stuff — not enough strikes out of those so he relied on his fastball a little more. And they got him. I mean, that’s a good lineup. Tip your hat to that lineup, it’s a really good lineup.”

Dollander echoed that postgame with the media.

“I just didn’t get ahead and then didn’t put guys away when I needed to,” he said. “I started falling behind when I got ahead and it’s not conducive to success.”

When asked about pitching behind an opener versus starting, Dollander responded that it doesn’t change his mentality.

“I’m just trying to get the guys innings and put up zeroes just like I was when I was starting,” he said. “The mentality does not change at all. If you fall into that trap, it’s not good for pitching.”

You can watch Dollander’s full postgame interview here (courtesy of Patrick Saunders).

Offensive Offense

The Rockies offense, once again, was MIA tonight. They did not record a hit until the third inning, when Kyle Karros singled to lead off the inning. Ezequiel Tovar and Troy Johnston both flied out to center, but then Jordan Beck smacked a double to (barely) score Karros and end the shutout.

Brenton Doyle struck out, but at least the Rockies plated a run.

But that was the end of the scoring.

There was some traffic in the fifth, when Karros and Tovar walked back-to-back to start the inning, but Johnston grounded into a force out, Beck was called out on strikes, and Doyle struck out swinging to strand the runners.

Their next hit wouldn’t come until the seventh, when Brett Sullivan led off with a single. But then three-straight strikeouts stranded him at first. Willi Castro got a hit with one out in the ninth, but Sullivan grounded into a double play to end the game.

In total the Rockies offense mustered just four hits, but walked three times and struck out 12 (11 of those were against Chris Sale).

Up Next

The Rox will look to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Braves tomorrow afternoon. Kyle Freeland will face Spencer Strider, who is making his 2026 debut. First pitch is at 1:10pm.

See you then!

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

Soon after the 27th out was recorded in the 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Giants players filed out of the dugout into the clubhouse as somber as one leaves a church pew at a funeral. Heads were mostly bowed. Hats pulled low. Eyes kept down. The coaches busied themselves with their game-prep clipboards and binders. The auxiliary staff gathered equipment. Amidst the muffled bustle, Rafael Devers and Willy Adames stayed frozen on the bench, bearing expressions infinite in their emptiness. 

The pair have sat shiva together after each loss so far in Florida. After today’s defeat, a camera operator slowly zoomed in on the two processing their grief. Adames started to distractedly wipe his brow of sweat, hiding his face in the crook of his arm. Beside him, Devers’s wide, glazed-over eyes laid the hollowness behind them bare as Katrina and the Waves 1983 hit “Walking on Sunshine” blasted over the stadium PA system.  The song’s refrain “I’m walking on sunshine…wooah!” repeated again…and again…and again… and again… as the camera closed in on Devers’s face, numb and in hell. 

Pure cinema. The clip was better than anything Giants fans had watched all game, and thank god the camera caught the moment, considering how one failed to track the flight of a consequential ball off of Heliot Ramos’s bat in the 2nd. 

I say consequential because in theory, this hit should’ve been the Giants’ first home run since last Sunday — coincidentally the last outing of the evening’s starter, Landen Roupp, and San Francisco’s last win.

Runs have been hard to come by for this club. Wall-clearing power, nearly impossible. Going into Saturday’s contest, the 2026 Giants have gone homer-less in a MLB-leading 19 games. Their record in those games: 3-16, good for a .158 win-loss percentage that’s the lowest in the National League. Conversely if a Giant homers in a game, the team is 10 – 3, which is a much better .769 win-loss percentage, which means good things happen when the Giants hit a home run, which means it was kinda messed-up when Ramos’s 108 MPH shot to center somehow got knocked out of the sky and fell to earth twenty feet short of the wall.  

Baseball should be played outside. God wants it that way. Hurricane Milton made that abundantly clear in 2024, and yet, the Rays organization stubbornly spent all of last season rebuilding Tropicana Field’s roof in blasphemous defiance.

Because of this repeated hubris, new rules were made to account for totally foreseeable occurrences like a baseball hitting a bunch of metal hanging down from the ceiling. The rule: If a fly ball hits one of the lower two catwalks between the foul lines, a home run should be awarded. That rule makes a lot of sense. What doesn’t make a lot of sense is having a rule and not enforcing it. Or not having a way of enforcing it. Or not having a back-up plan, like an all-seeing eye-in-the-sky in case something goes awry. 

Something went awry in the 2nd inning of Saturday’s game. Heliot Ramos ripped a 96 MPH four-seam from Rays’ starter Griffin Jax to dead-center. It shot off his bat at 107.9 MPH with a 33 degree launch angle. A baseball with similar off-the-bat metrics left Ramos’s bat under a roofed park in Arizona back in June 2024. 108 MPH exit velocity, 35 degree launch angle. It cleared the center field wall with ease, officially traveling 424 feet, officially outta here in all 30 Major League parks. It stands to reason a similarly struck ball in a similarly, climate-controlled enclosed arena, would also clear an outfield wall by plenty. 

Apparently not. Ramos’s projected 420 foot bomb was quickly downgraded to a routine 380 foot flyout after it fell into center fielder Cedric Mullins glove. Ramos lingered around second base, mouthing “No way,” looking around in disbelief. What went on up there was apparently beyond the field of vision for the four bleary-eyed umpires in attendance, and out of frame of the dozens of officially sanctioned cameras that Big-Brother MLB games nowadays. Giants coaches voiced their discontent, gesturing towards the heavens, towards he obvious. The umpires performed an official review on the play, waiting on the field for visual confirmation to bail them out for their collective blink. They surely understood what had happened by that point, but now needed visual proof, another angle. There were plenty that provided cursory evidence. How ‘bout Heliot Ramos trotting out of the box as if the ball was destined to splash down in the aquarium; or Griffin Jax rubbernecking the drive from the mound? With his eyes pinned to the ball at the center field wall, Cedric Mullins clearly says “Oh sh*t”  before retreating back across the warning track to catch the baseball dropping from the sky like a dead dove. 

One of the catwalks turned a sure-fire tater into a can of corn, and I guess since the lens’ eye missed it, it didn’t happen, no matter what physics and geometry and logic dictates. What is written in the official scorebook is what happened. No questions asked. Baseballs fall from the sky all the time.

The home run that never was cost the Giants the game.

Well, probably not.

It cost them an early lead, at least, a brief boost in energy, a reprieve from the suffocating bleakness that has blanketed the team. The solo shot could’ve meant something — but it didn’t happen, so nothing happened. A couple of frames later, the Rays scored first with three consecutive weak singles off Landen Roupp in the 4th. A lead-off double, a pair of walks, and a single helped chase the right-hander off the mound with just an out recorded in the 5th, serving Roupp his shortest outing of the year. The Giants bullpen kept things mostly steady in relief, and the offense avoided the complete embarrassment of another another shutout when Devers doubled home Luis Arraez in the 6th.    

Arraez’s one-out double gave San Francisco their first at-bat with a runner in scoring position. They managed just one yesterday; today they got three and a hit! Devers punched a hard-hit liner towards left field that Chandler Simpson jumped after, pocketed in his glove momentarily before jostling free after colliding with the wall.

So I guess things evened out. Tropicana’s structural features, they giveth and taketh. Thanks to a wall, the Giants had their first run in the series — four innings late, but what can ya do? Be mad at a building? 

ANAHEIM, Calif. — They were once core four prospects and considered the Mets’ future, but these days Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio are an overall reflection of the team’s disappointing play.

The foursome began Saturday with a combined -0.8 bWAR, a troubling factor in the Mets’ 11-21 start.

Baty and Vientos have taken on larger roles than originally anticipated due to injuries: Juan Soto missed nearly three weeks in April and Jorge Polanco has missed the past 2 ½ weeks. Mauricio became the starting shortstop last week when Francisco Lindor hit the injured list with a left calf strain.

The Mets need improvement, and it might start with these four, all of whom have shown flashes over the last few seasons. A closer look:

Alvarez

After a fast start to the season, the 24-year-old catcher has cooled, both offensively and defensively.

Though his strikeout percentage has dropped, so has Alvarez’s hard-hit ball rate. The idea that he can help anchor a lineup as a consistent 25-homer-a-season presence might be fading.

Will the Mets ever get the offensive presence from Alvarez that compensates for his difficulty behind the plate?

Most notably, Alvarez ranks only in MLB’s fifth percentile for blocking balls in the dirt. Alvarez has been league average in throwing out base stealers.

Luis Torrens is the superior defensive player — explaining the two-year contract extension he received from the club Saturday — and it might be time, for the third straight season, to consider whether Torrens should play more often than a traditional backup.

Baty

There was so much hope Baty had finally arrived following a strong two-month stretch to conclude last season, but mostly he’s just appeared lost at the plate and frustrated by umpires.

Baty, 26, has bat speed — he ranks in MLB’s 75th percentile in that category — but his strikeout percentage and hard-hit ball rate are problematic.

After spending the last two seasons at third base and second base, he’s playing neither position this year as he receives work in right field and at first base. Has the change been too much for Baty to absorb?

Vientos

Other than the Mets’ first road trip of the season, when he helped carry the lineup, it’s been a slog for the 26-year-old as he adjusts to playing first base on an almost regular basis.

Vientos’ underlying numbers paint an ugly picture, with his average exit velocity, strikeout percentage and walk percentage all ice cold. Ideally, the Mets would just use him against left-handed pitching, but that luxury hasn’t been possible due to the injuries.

Vientos entered Saturday with an .833 OPS in 26 plate appearances against lefties. But in 56 plate appearances against righties, that number dropped to .548.

Defensively, he’s a work in progress at first base. He earned praise early in the season for his glovework, but there have been glaring letdowns. And his baserunning doesn’t earn him bonus points.

Most glaringly, he ran through a stop sign at third base last week and was thrown out by plenty at home plate.

Mauricio

Of the four players, the 25-year-old Mauricio is the least tested. He began Saturday with only 321 major league plate appearances, largely a result of losing the 2024 season rehabbing a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

The Mets received a reminder of his power potential Friday when he crushed a go-ahead, seventh-inning homer. The blast was Mauricio’s first this season. He began the day with 10 strikeouts in 29 at-bats, without a walk.

“It’s been difficult,” Mauricio said. “I think there are moments where maybe you are trying to focus on too many things. In order to kind of make it a little bit easier on myself I kind of have to simplify the game, focus on the things I can control, and the things you can’t control you just let that go and play the game.”

With fireman Fernando Cruz having pitched Friday night and three of four days, it was Jake Bird who got the call in the role Saturday, which began an uneven string of relief work from a Yankees bullpen that is fighting for roles.

Bird showed potential and issues before Camilo Doval did the same in what became a 9-4 win over the Orioles in The Bronx.

After Ryan Weathers (with the help of a misplay from Ben Rice) loaded the bases without an out in the sixth in a game the Yankees led by five, manager Aaron Boone went to the righty Bird for the righty Pete Alonso.

A move that might have looked poor on paper worked, Alonso grounding into a double play that scored a run.

But on the verge of escaping, the inconsistent Bird walked Tyler O’Neill and gave up an RBI double to Samuel Basallo before getting out of the inning with the Yankees in front 6-3.

“Jake Bird had some really good moments again today,” Boone said. “I thought [he] stabilized through a dangerous part of the game for us.”

Bird passed the baton to Doval, one of the quietly more important Yankees considering his potential and his volatility for a team that needs quality setup men ahead of David Bednar.

Pitching for a second straight day, Doval walked Dylan Beavers and displayed a career-long issue: a struggle to hold runners on base.

Beavers stole second and third and then scored on a groundout.

“I thought he threw the ball well, but a little slow in the running game,” Boone said of Doval, who had been excellent Friday and on Saturday recorded two outs before giving the ball to Tim Hill, who once again just needed one pitch (which induced a groundout from Gunnar Henderson) to escape.

Paul Blackburn pitched the final two scoreless innings as the Yankees ran away from Baltimore and helped preserve further work from an unorthodox bullpen.

The Yankees are carrying Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough, two arms capable of starting, while searching for reliable bridges to Bednar.

The bullpen as a whole started well, became an issue for a short while and has pitched better of late, posting a 2.79 ERA in the past 14 games.

“I think our pen’s done a really nice job,” Boone said. “I think leaving spring training, maybe we had some question marks to answer down there. And it’s still going to evolve and get there. But I think by and large, those guys have done a really nice job.”

Jasson Domínguez, who was drilled in the elbow and left Wednesday’s game, returned to the lineup and served as designated hitter.

Domínguez went 1-for-4 with a single.

Giancarlo Stanton has begun hitting, Boone said, taking cuts Friday for the first time since straining his calf April 24.

There is no known timetable for Stanton to start running.

Elmer Rodríguez is expected to receive at least one more start and is lined up to pitch Tuesday in a series opener against the Rangers.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

His teammate earlier this season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Carlos Lagrange, remains on the Yankees’ radar.

The fireballing righty has pitched to a 3.75 ERA in six starts — while maxing out at 83 pitches in an outing — and struck out 30 while walking 14 in 24 innings.

There is still uncertainty whether Lagrange, whose four-seamer has averaged 99.2 mph, can better help this season in the rotation or bullpen.

“[He] continues to give us reason to be very excited about him,” Boone said of the 22-year-old, who finished last season at Double-A Somerset. “Another step up to Triple-A, and starting there and getting rolling. So far I think it’s been good.”

Anthony Volpe, who remains at Double-A Somerset despite being healthy enough to return to the majors, was set to play his 12th rehab game Saturday night.

Volpe is expected to play for Somerset again Sunday before his rehab clock runs out and the Yankees will have to decide whether to bring him back — and if so, whether he would be the starting shortstop over José Caballero — or whether to option him to the minors.

Boone and Gerrit Cole greeted Sarah Langs, an MLB researcher who is fighting ALS, on the field before the game and gave Langs a signed bat for her birthday.

With a chance to secure the series win, the Braves had ace Chris Sale on the mound at Coors Field with young Rockies star Chase Dollander expected to take the mound after an opener.

The Braves followed my recommendation in the first inning, jumping on the opener Brennan Bernardino, as Ronald hit a line drive single and Drake Baldwin sent an opposite field shot over the left field wall for a two-run homer. Ozzie doubled before Bernardino recorded two outs and was yanked for Dollander to face Dubon. That’s a pretty disastrous opener scenario for Colorado. Dubon walked, but Austin Riley struck out to end the inning.

Chris Sale worked a clean first and handed things back to the offense. Jorge Mateo doubled with one out in the second and advanced to third on a Ronald Acuna groundout. Unfortunately, Ronald pulled up limping on that play and appeared to have injured his hamstring, walking off under his own power. Drake Baldwin brought Mateo home with a opposite field line drive single. The next threat was in the bottom of the third, as the Rockies got a leadoff single from Karros. Mauricio Dubon made a spectacular sprinting catch, crashing into the wall in center field, robbing double bases and an RBI for the first out of the inning. That was a big deal, as the Rockies ended up getting an RBI double, but that easily could have been a 2 or 3 run inning without that catch.

The Braves broke things open in the fourth, however, scoring three runs on an Austin Riley walk, a Jorge Mateo infield single, an Eli White bunt single, and a Drake Baldwin frozen rope double. Atlanta now carried a 6-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, where Chris Sale worked around a walk for another scoreless frame. Onto the fifth and Michael Harris doubled ahead of Austin Riley, who absolutely launched a homer off a 98 MPH fastball into the left field seats. That’s Austin’s second productive game straight at the plate, as getting real production from him would be huge for this team.

Chris Sale lost his command to start the bottom of the fifth, walking the first two batters. This seemed to frustrate Sale a bit, as he started pumping upper 90s with his fastball. One soft grounder and two strikeouts later, the inning was over with no damage done. The game settled down from here, and Sale completed two more innings, finishing with a flourish of three consecutive strikeouts following a leadoff single in the seventh. Chris ended up with 7.0 innings of 1-run ball with a season-high 11 strikeouts on a monstrous 20 whiffs.

Dylan Lee pitched a clean eighth inning and Matt Olson launched a moonshot of a solo homer in the ninth, at just under 110 MPH off the bat and a 39 degree launch angle, his 11th homer of this young season.

Hunter Stratton got mop-up duty in the ninth, with an eight run cushion. He had no issue finishing the game, with some assistance from a tailor-made double play to end the ballgame. That’s now 10 series wins and one split through 11 series and a 23-10 record for Atlanta. They will go for a sweep behind the returning Spencer Strider tomorrow.

ST. LOUIS — Roki Sasaki might’ve finally turned a corner from his recent struggles Saturday night.

Too bad the Dodgers’ offense took too long to do the same.

Despite a season-best six-inning, three-run start from Sasaki, the Dodgers remained mired in their recently maddening slump during a 3-2 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. 

In their latest sign of futility, they endured eight shutout innings that included as many hits as double plays (four each). Then, despite some good batted-ball luck that keyed a last-gasp, two-run rally in the ninth, they fittingly ended the game by stranding the tying and go-ahead runners on base.

“Just comes down to, we didn’t score enough tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Indeed, Saturday followed what has become an uncomfortably common script for the Dodgers (20-13) in recent days.

They couldn’t generate power, failing to hit a home run for a fifth straight game (the longest drought for the club since 2015). They couldn’t take advantage of situational opportunities, either, going hitless with runners in scoring position until their short-lived comeback attempt in the top of the ninth.

That inning was keyed by three two-out singles that all deflected off the glove of a Cardinals fielder. Andy Pages then snuck a seeing-eye grounder through the infield to cut the deficit to one.

Alas, Dalton Rushing struck out as a pinch-hitter to end the game and send the Dodgers to a fourth straight defeat.

They still somehow finished with six runners left on base, even when accounting for all the double plays they hit into.

In the first inning, Will Smith became the first victim on an inning-ending grounder that was turned by shortstop Masyn Winn. In the third, Alex Freeland got doubled off after an overly aggressive jump on a lineout to second from Shohei Ohtani. Another double play ended the fourth, when JJ Wetherholt made a spinning turn at second on a ground ball from Teoscar Hernández. Then in the fifth, Hyeseong Kim couldn’t leg out a tapper back to the mound that was also turned for two.

“Once we started to build something, the double plays got us,” Roberts said. “They turned a couple really good ones. That certainly kills innings.”

It also meant that, when Sasaki stumbled in a three-run third inning, the 3-0 deficit might as well have felt like 30.

Even with some fortunate bounces at the end, the Dodgers fell to 5-9 in their last 14 games.

“There’s gonna be times where we’re not clicking,” Pages said through an interpreter afterward. “And this is one of those times right now.”

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

What it means

Before Saturday’s game, Roberts joked he was an “eternal optimist” while declaring “today’s the day” the lineup would finally turn things around.

By the end of the night, such laughter was gone –– but the manager was still trying to put a spin on the team’s confounding recent struggles.

Roberts maintained that the club’s slide is “what every team is going to go through in baseball throughout the course of a season.” He downplayed the notion that it has revealed larger concerns in the offense, noting what he felt were higher quality at-bats throughout Saturday’s game.

“I thought the intentions were better on balls in the hitting zone,” he said, after noting pregame that his hitters seemed too “passive” on pitches they should attack.

“Yes, we hit into some double plays tonight. But I thought we took some good walks and, obviously, in the ninth inning, I thought we put together some good at-bats. I just think we need to be aggressive and take what the pitcher gives you. But every team goes through this through the course of the season.”

Who’s hot

Sasaki … at least by the end of the night.

After drastically changing his signature splitter last week — abandoning his traditional forkball grip for a more prototypical splitter release — the right-hander used both variations of the pitch Saturday. It led to varying degrees of success.

Early on, Sasaki had his usual command problems, walking two batters and hitting another in his first two innings. Then in the third, the Cardinals finally got to him. Iván Herrera and Alec Burleson hit back-to-back doubles off his fastball. Jordan Walker got a hanging forkball in an 0-2 count that he belted for a two-run blast.

Just like that, it was 3-0 with no outs in the inning.

Another disastrous performance seemed to be at hand.

The one thing Sasaki has done well this season, however, is bounce back from such adversity. And over the rest of Saturday night, he provided his best example yet. The 24-year-old retired 12 of his final 13 batters to complete six innings for the first time this year. He also recorded only his second “quality start” (at least six innings, no more than three earned runs) in 14 career starting performances in the majors. 

There’s still a long way to go in his development. And his ERA is still an unsightly 5.97.

But the trend line, for the first time this year, finally appears to be pointing up. 

“I do think that there was a lot of growth,” Roberts said. “Each of his last handful of starts, he’s gotten better.”

Who’s not

Of the many, many hitters who don’t look right in the Dodgers’ lineup, no one’s slump has been more consequential than Ohtani’s.

After his ice-cold bat, the rest of the offense seemed to follow his lead.

On Saturday, the two-way star went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. In this series, he has now made an out in all nine trips to the plate. Overall, Ohtani hasn’t recorded a hit since Monday. And after it seemed like he was getting back on track last week, his season batting average is back down to .252 and his OPS is down to .835.

When Ohtani last spoke to reporters Tuesday, he framed his slow start as nothing out of the ordinary, saying it usually takes until May for him to typically find his swing. However, he also acknowledged that, when his hitting mechanics are off, his two-way duties can make it more difficult (or at least take longer) to get his swing synced back up.

Case in point: He has just one home run in his last 18 games and only two extra-base hits in his last 12.

Up next

The Dodgers will try to avoid getting swept for the first time this season Sunday, when Justin Wrobleski (4-0, 1.50 ERA) will face off against ex-Dodger Dustin May (3-2, 5.28 ERA).