Category: MLB

For a second there, it seemed like South Side Sox recaps might simply turn into Munetaka Murakami home-run watches. Based on the flat start to Friday’s game, a fairly hapless team effort against a mediocre opponent, perhaps.

But the Good Guys rallied late, scraping and scrapping their way to four runs in their final three frames to eke out the win, 5-4.

But let’s get right to the shot that stopped the fizzless White Sox offense, back in the fourth inning.

Already down, 1-0, Murakami reached a tie atop the MLB home run leaderboard with a ball that, off the bat of 99% of hitters in the game, had no business leaving the park:

Murakami left the yard on a changeup, weight fighting to stay back on the ball — and off of the end of the bat, to boot! It’s the kind of swing you might lay out in a backyard Wiffle ball game, only Mune took his in the majors and sent it 415 feet away on 104 mph contact. The rookie is, simply, a beast.

Better, Murakami’s homer broke a streak of 10 straight hitless at-bats against a ragtag assemblage of Nationals bullpen arms. But Washington came right back in the fifth, after a single, (another) catcher’s interference from Edgar Quero and walk packed the sacks. The lead run came home on another walk, although in starter Erick Fedde’s defense, the lead was lost on a poor check-swing call on a full count. A second Nationals run later scored on a failed 6-4-3 double play.

The White Sox did creep to within 3-2 (Colson Montgomery rallied to not give up on an at-bat that saw him crush an RBI single to right field with two strikes) on their own recognizance. But for all the credit due to the White Sox for rallying for the win, the game was handed to them by Washington rookie Riley Cornelio, making his MLB debut.

In the bottom of the seventh, Cornelio entered the game and might as well have pulled his shirt up over his head and shouted FIRE FIRE, as his meltdown inning started with two walks (the second particularly egregious given Luisangel Acuña was showing sac bunt as early as possible) and was secured by throwing a Tristan Peters sac bunt into right field:

Then, with the score tied and runners on the corners after Cornelio’s error, Andrew Benintendi clubbed a sac fly to give the White Sox a 4-3 lead.

Tee-hee, the White Sox held the lead for two pitches in the eighth before Jordan Leasure room-serviced a slider to Brady House to knot the game back up.

For some reason, Cornelio came back out for the eighth, and though slightly more composed still handed the lead right back. Miguel Vargas hustled out an infield single to start things, chased by a Montgomery walk on pitches that weren’t close. Quero sacrificed the runners over (on another ball that the rookie almost threw away), and eventual winning margin came home on another battling at-bat from Sam Antonacci that ended in a deep fly to left for a sacrifice fly:

Seranthony Domínguez flirted with another tie in the game, but left a runner on third base after a one-out double and productive ground out by muscling up for a game-ending K against W’s slugger James Wood:

The White Sox improved to 11-15, and 5-5 in their last 10 games. Tomorrow is Noah Schultz Day, and we’ll see you right back here for more scrapin’ and scrappin’.

For much of the night, it looked like a step forward. And this time, they finished it.

Behind a quietly brilliant outing from Michael Lorenzen and a lineup that adjusted as the game went on, the Colorado Rockies (11-16) defeated the New York Mets (9-17) 4–3 on Friday night at Citi Field.

Lorenzen set the tone early and never really let it slip.

He wasn’t overpowering. He wasn’t racking up strikeouts.

But he was in control.

Working efficiently and generating consistent contact, Lorenzen leaned on his defense and kept the Mets from building anything sustained. Aside from a few isolated moments — including a 114 mph single from Juan Soto — he managed traffic, avoided big innings, and pitched deep into the game.

His final line told the story: 7 innings, 7 hits, 1 earned run, no walks, and three strikeouts on 90 pitches (55 strikes). Lorenzen improved to 2–2 on the season while lowering his ERA to 5.97.

It wasn’t flashy.

But it was exactly what Colorado needed.

The defense backed him up throughout. Ezequiel Tovar made a standout play up the middle, and the Rockies turned multiple double plays — including a key twin killing after Soto reached — to erase potential threats before they could grow.

Speaking of defense, check out this incredible catch from Carson Benge:

Freddy Peralta was sharp on the other side.

The right-hander worked 5.2 innings, allowing seven hits and two earned runs while striking out eight, leaning heavily on a devastating changeup that generated plenty of swings and misses. He threw 95 pitches (67 strikes) and, for long stretches, looked in control. Peralta’s changeup was absolutely nasty and really played off the fastball well.

And the strikeouts never really went away.

Colorado finished with 15 on the night — eight against Peralta and seven more against Sean Manaea, who struck out seven over 3.1 innings of relief.

But they didn’t let it define the game.

Instead, the Rockies chipped away.

They mixed in patient at-bats, forced Peralta into uncomfortable spots, and capitalized in small ways. TJ Rumfield delivered one of those moments, battling through a bases-loaded at-bat before tapping a slow roller that brought home a run to tie the game. TJ made the heads-up decision to stop running up the line, forcing Peralta to toss the ball to first for the out. Smart baseball.

It wasn’t a big swing. It was just enough.

Staying alive

The Rockies stayed persistent, continuing to put the ball in play and forcing action. They scratched across another run — the first time all season Peralta had allowed a hit with a runner in scoring position — and eventually pushed him out of the game.

Once into the bullpen, they found their opening.

In the seventh, Colorado finally created separation. After putting runners in scoring position, Troy Johnston delivered a clutch two-run hit off Manaea to extend the lead.

They didn’t blow the game open. They didn’t need to.

The Mets made things interesting late, but the Rockies didn’t lose control.

Jaden Hill ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing four hits and two earned runs as New York cut into the lead and brought the game back within reach.

For a moment, the pressure returned.

But Antonio Senzatela stepped in and restored order.

Working 1.2 innings out of the bullpen, Senzatela stabilized things and didn’t let the game drift any further. He worked quickly, got outs, and ultimately finished the game with authority — blowing a 98 mph fastball MJ Melendez to seal the win.

Lorenzen gave them the game. Senzatela made sure they didn’t give it back.

Functioning just fine

For a team that entered the night 3–10 on the road, this was something more than just a win.

It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t dominant.

But it was controlled, complete, and, most importantly, it traveled.

And for one night, at least, the Rockies didn’t just compete away from Coors. They finished.

Up Next

The Rockies will look to keep things rolling as they continue the series at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon.

First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m. MDT, with José Quintana (0–2, 6.23 ERA) getting the ball for Colorado against Kodai Senga (0–3, 8.83 ERA) for New York.

On paper, it’s another matchup where both teams are searching for stability on the mound.

For the Rockies, it’s a chance to build on a complete performance and carry some momentum into the rest of the series.

Let’s keep the good vibes going.

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The A’s sure needed that day off apparently. They marched into Texas this evening and looked like the better team in every facet of the game against the Rangers. That allowed the A’s to romp to a series-opening win and reclaim sole possession of first place in the AL West. Life is good.

A’s ambush Eovaldi

Entering tonight’s game, Texas starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, a veteran of 15 years in the major leagues, had generally had the A’s number over the years. He came into tonight’s contest with a 2.54 ERA in 15 career starts against the Green & Gold.

Well the A’s really didn’t wait around for him to get comfortable tonight. On the very first pitch of the game, leadoff man Nick Kurtz took Eovaldi deep to right field to take the quick lead:

After Shea Langeliers grounded out, it was Carlos Cortes’ turn at the plate and he took the third pitch he saw and delivered it over the wall in right field as well for a solo home run to double the lead for the A’s:

Think they were done there? Think again. On the very next pitch from Eovaldi, Tyler Soderstrom got in on the fun and blasted his own solo shot to make it a 3-0 game just four batters into this contest:

What a start! That is the first time the Athletics have hit three home runs in the first inning in franchise history! That’s quite a stat to think about considering how long this team has been around for.

Cortes adds insurance

Clinging to a 3-1 lead, the A’s were on the lookout for some insurance. Carlos Cortes, who was the backup outfielder to begin the season but has steadily increased his playing time, had already hit one homer this evening. But here he comes, our #3 hitter striding to the plate with two on and two outs in the top of the fifth inning. And what does he do?

He does it again! Except this time a 3-run shot to double the A’s lead and really blow this game open. Cortes is now hitting .339/.403/.625 with four long balls. Quite the production from someone considered the backup. When Brent Rooker returns from the IL (which seems like it could be sooner than later), Kotsay is going to have to find a way to keep Cortes’ bat in the lineup. Butler to center, Cortes to right, Rooker DH?

Severino bounces back

On the other side of things, the A’s had Luis Severino on the hill for them to start this series off. He was coming off a pair of tough outings that saw him allow nine total runs so he was in dire need of a rebound performance this evening.

The team got just that from their expensive right-hander. Sevy sat down the first three batters of the game on just seven pitches, and over the next 5 1/3 innings only allowed one run in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a pair of doubles. That was all the damage that they could ultimately do against him tonight though as he absolutely smothered the Texas offense this evening. Of course, he got some serious help from his defense tonight too, from Nick Kurtz…

… to Max Muncy:

It was only once he gave up back-to-back singles and was approaching the 100-pitch mark did Kotsay finally elect to take him out and turn this game over to the bullpen. A respectable move, even though Severino probably didn’t want to leave quite yet.

• Luis Severino: 6 1/3 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 98 pitches

That’s what we’ve been missing right there. Severino was dominant tonight as he held down a Texas offense that has some serious weapons in their lineup. This is what was expected of him when he signed that massive contract and he delivered on it tonight. Hopefully he can take this momentum with him into his next start, which is tentatively scheduled to be next week against the Kansas City Royals.

Adding on

After Severino came Hogan Harris and he got a couple strike outs, but also gave up a couple hits. Righty Justin Sterner relieved him and escaped that jam, bringing us to the final frame of the game.

Still up 6-1 and with one inning to go, the A’s still didn’t let their foot off the gas. A leadoff base knock by Jeff McNeil started things off and after a quick couple outs it seemed like this was almost it from the bats tonight. Except new center fielder Zack Gelof had something else to say about that:

That blast was his first of the season for the big league squad and it wasn’t even his best highlight of the night. That would be his leatherwork in center field earlier in the game:

He ultimately finished 2-for-4 on the evening. With that two-run homer plus the robbery, he was worth at least three runs this evening and is hitting .250 so far in the early going. He’s yet to draw a walk though compared to seven strikeouts already. The concerning trend from the past couple of seasons is continuing in that regard.

Anyway, that home run all but sealed tonight’s outcome. Luis Medina came on for mop up duties in the ninth and had a perfect frame, shutting down the Rangers 1-2-3 to finish them off and reclaim first place in the AL West for the Athletics.

Good game all around. Severino finally showed what he can do on the mound with a dominant performance against a division foe. The offense continues to rely on the long ball even while missing their All-Star DH in Brent Rooker. Though they seem to have a new middle of the order bat in Carlos Cortes, who had two home runs and four RBI’s this evening. The bullpen did it’s job and the defense flashed some leather, especially Gelof in center on that robbery. And for all their efforts this evening, the A’s are rewarded with a night’s sleep knowing that they are in first place in the AL West.

We do it all again tomorrow, same place, different time. It’ll be an afternoon matchup between left-handers Jeffrey Springs for the A’s and MacKenzie Gore for the Rangers. Springs has been the Athletics’ best pitcher this year but is coming off easily his worst outing of the season when he allowed seven earned runs against the Chicago White Sox. Gore meanwhile has also been solid for the Rangers for the most part but is also coming off a down performance that saw him yield five runs to the Mariners. Will either or both bounce back, or are we in store for another offensive night?

The Texas Rangers scored a run but the West Coast Athletics scored eight runs.

The Rangers donned their new Oklahoma Sooner college baseball uniforms and then Nathan Eovaldi allowed three home runs in the game’s first seven pitches and then like two and a half hours later here Texas is back at .500.

Player of the Game: Our lone star Josh Jung doubled in the Rangers’ lone run.

Up Next: The Rangers and A’s are back at it tomorrow in a battle of left-handers with LHP MacKenzie Gore set to pitch for Texas against LHP Jeffrey Springs for the formerly-Oaklands.

The Saturday afternoon first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 6:05 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

It was a second straight heartbreaker as the Philadelphia Phillies (8-18) blew two leads en route to their 10th straight loss and fourth within that span to come at the hands of the rival Atlanta Braves (19-8) by a score of 5-3 on Friday Night Baseball.

Andrew Painter made his fifth career start, his second on the road and his second consecutive against the Braves.

The Phillies opened the scoring against Braves’ starter, Grant Holmes, in the top of third inning when Trea Turner followed a Garrett Stubbs’ leadoff single with a two-run home run to right field, his third of the year.

Ronald Acuña, Jr. answered Turner’s shot in like-fashion in the bottom of the inning after a leadoff single by Eli White to tie the game at two.

In the top of the fourth, walks to Alec Bohm and Turner and Stubbs’ second hit of the night loaded the bases but Kyle Schwarber struck out to end the inning.

Bryce Harper continued his productive April with a tie-breaking opposite field solo shot to begin the fifth inning, his sixth of the season.

Other than the mistake to Acuña, Painter kept the Braves in check until the bottom of the sixth inning, when he allowed a one-out infield single to Dominic Smith and a walk to Mauricio Dubon. After Painter got Mike Yastrzemski to fly out, Michael Harris II, who was 2-2 with a home run against Painter last weekend, pinch hit for Eli White and stroked a two-RBI double to give the Braves the lead. Another run would come across the plate on a wild pitch before Rob Thomson finally took Painter out of the game, having surrendered five earned across five and two thirds.

Kyle Backhus, Chase Shugart and Tim Mayza held the line in relief of Painter, with Mayza withstanding a bases loaded threat in the eighth.

A leadoff walk by Turner and a one-out hit by Adolis Garcia provided a glimmer of hope against Braves’ backend stopper, Robert Suarez, but Brandon Marsh hit a weak grounder to end the threat and seal the loss.

The ten-game skid is the Phillies’ longest such streak since September of 1999 when Rico Brogna & Co. lost 11 straight.

Garcia grew his hitting streak to five games with three hits on the night.

The teams are back at it tomorrow night as Zack Wheeler is scheduled to make his first start since being shut down last August with the shoulder injury which required offseason surgery. Wheeler will be opposed by Braves’ right-hander, Bryce Elder.

Guardians 8 Blue Jays 6

I really hated them signing Max Scherzer again this season (even if it was cute that his daughter wrote to the Jays to plea for them to sign him). I didn’t think Scherzer had much left last year, I couldn’t imagine he’d be any better this year. So far, I’m thinking I was right.

He was just awful today. He gave up five in the first. Got out of the second without giving up a run. And then gave up two more in the third. Max gave up two home runs in the first and another in the third. He likely should have come out sooner, but I can understand John hoping to save a few pitches for his bullpen, with this being the first game of the series.

In all Max went 2.1, with 6 hits, 7 earned, 3 walks, and 0 strikeouts. I’m not sure I would have done worse (well, I am sure I would have been worse, but it is nice to dream).

As it was, the Jays used five relievers. And they did a great job:

• Joe Mantiply got five outs, giving up two hits with a strikeout.
• Spencer Miles got six outs, giving up two hits, with two strikeouts and one fun, coming in his second inning. He was impressive, likely out there too long, but we had to cover a lot of innings with the bullpen.
• Tommy Nance struck out the side in his inning.
• Mason Fluharty struck out two in his clean inning.
• Braydon Fisher had a walk in his shutout inning.

The run against Miles came with a running on third and one out. The Jays had the infield in, and got a soft grounder to Vlad, who fired home, but it was just too soft to get the out.

Our offense had a good night. We got homer from Jesus Sanchez (solo) and Kazuma Okamoto (solo). Both crushed to dead center. Sanchez at 111.8 mhp and 422 feet. Okamoto 109.9 mph and 430 feet (good to see him getting his bat going).

Andrés Giménez went 3 for 4, with a double and 2 RBI. Okomoto had 2 hits. Ernie Clement, Nathan Lukes, Sanchez and Lenyn Sosa each had a hit. 0 fors go to Vlad (0 for 4 with an RBI), Daulton Varsho (0 for 4), Tyler Heineman (0 for 3).

Lukes doubles in the first but limped into second and left the game with a sore hamstring. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow if it is serious. We have been very unlucky with injuries this year.

We had a shot in the ninth, when Okamoto and Giménez each singled to start off the inning, giving us the tying run at first, winning run at the plate, with no outs. But Eloy Jiménez bounced into an easy double play.

Jays of the Day: Giménez (.29 WPA) and Okamoto (.19). And give an honourable mention to all the relievers.

Other Award: Scherzer (-.48, I would think he will have to come out of the rotation when Yesavage comes back. Could be used as a long man/inning eater from the pen), Davis (-.10 for his 0 for 3, with a walk and two runs scored) and Jiménez (-.28, for his double play ball in the ninth).

Tomorrow is game two of the three games. Kevin Gausman (2.54) vs. Joey Cantillo (3.20). A win would be nice.

Michael Conforto never played worse in his career.

But Conforto said he reflects on his time with the Dodgers last year as a positive experience, a feeling that was amplified when he received a reward he pursued for more than a decade.

Now a reserve outfielder for the Cubs, Conforto was presented with his World Series ring on Friday before the opening game of a three-game series against his former team at Dodger Stadium.

Conforto was met by a group of Dodgers that included Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Kike Hernandez and Tommy Edman.

“Seeing this ring, holding it and putting it on, it’s one of the cooler moments of my baseball career,” Conforto said.

Batting a career-worst .199 last year, Conforto wasn’t on the Dodgers’ roster in the postseason. 

“Being back here, it’s kind of a weird experience for me,” he said. “I wasn’t on the roster, but I very much felt like I was part of the team, and I was able to support these guys and just be there for them,” Conforto said.

As much as he struggled, Conforto drew high marks as a teammate.

“I know he didn’t perform the way people would have liked and he would have liked, but I loved him on the team,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I loved what he brought to the Dodgers.”

Conforto said he was proud of that.

“I’ve had good role models, guys who let me know one of the most valuable things in a clubhouse is a guy who’s always the same,” he said. “Consistency is huge, especially when you’re seeing others [for] eight months every day. 

“I wanted to make sure that the way I was playing didn’t affect my relationships with guys on the team.”

Conforto recalled being next to Kirby Yates on the top step of the Dodgers’ dugout when Miguel Rojas tied Game 7 with a ninth-inning home run.

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“Just think about that all time and I’m sure Miggy is thinking about it if I’m thinking about it,” he said. “Just pretty cool to be there to experience one of the best games ever played.”

Conforto entered the game Friday with a .304 average, and he credited his turnaround to lessons he learned with the Dodgers.

“I kind of brought a lot of things that I learned from this past season with me to Chicago and into my workouts in the offseason,” he said. 

He said his conversations with Roberts were especially important.

“Doc really just kind of being brutally honest with me, saying, ‘I need to see more, I need you to make some baseball plays, move guys, get them in from third with less than two [outs], focus more on that stuff rather than slug, big swings and all that stuff,’” Conforto said. “I really took that to heart. And I think in my role with this team, it’s pretty valuable stuff to bring.”

It wasn’t the stars, but the supporting cast that stole the show as the Royals knocked off the Angels 6-3 on Friday night. The 5-9 hitters in the lineup went a combined 7-for-18 and drove in all six runs, as the Royals scored six runs for the third consecutive game.

Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi mowed down nine of the first ten Royals hitters he faced, but the boys in blue piled it on in the fourth. Bobby Witt Jr. led off with a double, moving to third on a Salvador Perez flyout. After Lane Thomas walked, Starling Marte lifted a ball into shallow right. Angels right fielder Jo Adell ran in on it and slid, but was unable to corral the ball. Witt scored, but Lane Thomas was caught heading back to first, thinking it had been caught, and the Angels threw to second for the force out.

But the rest of the lineup picked him up. Carter Jensen singled to move Marte to third, setting up an RBI single by Isaac Collins. Elias Diaz doubled to drive home two, and Michael Massey followed with another double to plate a run. When the dust settled, the Royals had a five-run inning.

Meanwhile Noah Cameron cruised through the first six innings. He also retired nine of the first ten hitters, and tossed goose eggs through the sixth. But in the seventh, he gave up a one-out double to Vaughn Grissom, then walked Logan O’Hoppe. Bryce Teodosio hit a hot shot to third that Nick Loftin was unable to handle for an infield single to load the bases. Zach Neto singled to put the Angels on the board and end Noah Cameron’s night.

The Royals’ bullpen has been the worst in baseball so far, and they continued to have their struggles tonight. Nick Mears walked Mike Trout to force in another run. Jo Adell hit a slow chopper that Loftin fielded and elected to try to turn a double play, but was only able to get one out, allowing another run to score to cut the lead to 5-3 Royals. After Mears walked Jorge Soler, Daniel Lynch IV was brought in and wriggled out of the jam by striking out Yoán Moncada.

The Royals added an insurance run in the eighth off Angels reliever Drew Pomeranz. Starling Marte singled with one out, and pinch-runner Kyle Isbel stole second, his fifth of the year already. Isaac Collins singled to drive him home, his second hit of the night, making it 6-3, Royals. Lucas Erceg came on to pick up his sixth save of the year, and the Royals improved to 9-17. Noah Cameron picked up his second win of the year, giving up three runs in 6.1 innings.

The Royals have a chance to take just their second series win tomorrow evening when they face the Angels again. Cole Ragans takes on 22-year-old right-hander Walbert Ureña at 6:10 CT.

What a way to start a homestand.

For those of us not in the sellout crowd on Star Wars Night, the crisp Apple TV cameras captured the first win of the season in the red uniforms. Atlanta remains a perfect 3-0 in Friday home games. 

Grant Holmes threw 89 pitches to go six and earn the win, giving up seven hits, three earned runs on two homers, three walks, and striking out four. 

Grant tossed two effective and efficient innings to start the game, setting down the Phillies in order in the first and working around a Bryson Stott single in the second. He would run into trouble in the third as Trea Turner homered to right field, scoring Garrett Stubbs and giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead. The Phillies would threaten for more with a Kyle Schwarber walk and an Adolis García single, but no further damage was done.

The Braves had two singles off Andrew Painter (L, 1-2) in the first, but neither would come home to score. They didn’t have anything going until Eli White set the table with a single to start the bottom of the third. Five pitches later, Ronald Acuña Jr. tied the game with his second home run of the year. Seeing Ronald trot around the bases is already a sight for sore eyes, but doing so in his Hot Wheels-flavored accessories? An icon.

The stalemate would be broken by Harper, who led off the top of the fifth with a homer off Holmes. It would remain 3-2 Phillies until the bottom of the sixth. 

Dear people of Battery Power, I cannot emphasize to you enough how routine and uneventful this inning was shaping up to be. Justin Crawford made a great play in center to rob Austin Riley, a Dom Smith single, a walk from Mauricio Dubón. Ben Ingram and crew were really trying to wish a big Yaz moment into existence, but it wasn’t meant to be. Two down for Eli White.

Except no, hold on. Not Eli White. By god… that’s Michael Harris II’s music.

And the crowd went nuts.

As they should! As noted in the lineups article, Michael is ridiculously hot. Five-straight-games-with-at-least-1-RBI hot. It was a stroke of fortune for the Phillies that his left quad was acting up, scratching him from today’s game. But here, Walt Weiss pressed the button to send out his star center fielder to face Painter, who was already on the ropes.

Ball one low and outside. Ball two high and outside.

Painter’s third pitch came in at 96.4 mph at the bottom of the zone, and Money Mike cashed in. He ripped it 105 mph for a two-run double to give the Braves the lead 4-3. They would never relinquish it.

As Truist Park went wild, a smiley Michael made his way back to the dugout, his job done and night over. Pinch runner Jorge Mateo did a great job stealing third and scoring on a wild pitch to make it 5-3. Ronald would follow with a walk. And only then did Rob Thomson make the stroll to take Painter out of the game. 

Aaron Bummer and Joel Payamps tossed a scoreless inning in the seventh and eighth respectively. 

The Braves tried to tack on some extra insurance in the bottom of the eighth, but Matt Olson would leave the bases loaded with a groundout to end the frame. 

Robert Suarez came in to face the top of the Phillies order. He walked Turner to put the leadoff man aboard. He brought Schwarber down to a knee to strike him out and got Harper to pop out on the first pitch to Riley. A single from García brought Brandon Marsh up to the plate representing the go-ahead run. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. But one incredibly casual groundout to Suarez later, that was the ballgame.

The Braves have a new win streak going (3). In contrast, the Phillies’ losing streak has hit double digits (10). Their hopes to end their current nightmare rest on Zack Wheeler’s shoulders – he will make his season debut tomorrow night against National League ERA leader Bryce Elder.

Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton left Friday night's game against the Houston Astros with what the team is calling right lower leg tightness after running the bases in the sixth inning.

After stroking an RBI single to extend New York's lead to 6-2, Stanton advanced to second base after Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked. J.C. Escarra then ripped a single off the wall in short left field at Daikin Park, which caused Stanton to hold up before deciding to go. Once he went, Stanton put it into first gear and jogged to third base.

The trainers looked at Stanton and shortly after, he was walking off the field. Randal Grichuk entered the game to pinch-run for Stanton, who finished the night 1-for-3 with an RBI. 

"Some tightness in his calf. Hopefully, we got ahead of anything serious," manager Aaron Boone said after the game. "We’ll see where we’re at tomorrow."

The Yankees skipper said that Stanton had motioned to him when he was on second, and didn't want to push it around the bases, which is why he stopped at third base. 

As far as getting tests done, Boone said right now they don't plan on getting imaging done, but the team will see how Stanton feels Saturday morning.

Stanton has dealt with a multitude of injuries in recent history, but played in 24 of the first 25 games for the Yanks this season. He is slashing .256/.302/.422 with three home runs, 14 RBI and a .724 OPS after a monster season in 2025 in just 77 regular season games.

Giancarlo Stanton left the game after gingerly jogging to third base on a single pic.twitter.com/qoP8s64rLZ

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 25, 2026

Giancarlo Stanton has been ravaged by injuries over the years, many of them to his lower body. During an otherwise-smashing Friday night in Houston for the Yankees, his old injury bug seemingly popped up yet again. With Stanton at second base, J.C. Escarra singled to left field, off the wall at Daikin Park. Stanton advanced to third but it was obvious to anyone watching that he was not moving well.

Stanton immediately left the game, replaced by Randal Grichuk. It’s obviously too soon to speculate. With any luck, it is something minor and the club is just being careful with Stanton who, while he hasn’t been on fire at the plate, is still off to a solid start and poses a dangerous power threat to opposing pitchers.

Update: Meredith Marakovits reported that it’s right lower leg tightness for Stanton.

The YES booth wasted no time considering roster implications in the event Stanton has to go on the IL. Michael Kay quickly suggested that the club’s move will be to greatly increase Paul Goldschmidt’s playing time, with him and Ben Rice covering first base and designated hitter. Anthony Volpe is expected to return from the shelf himself soon, so the roster machinations might discourage the Yankees from calling up a more long-term answer like Jasson Domínguez. Someone else on the 40-man roster like Oswaldo Cabrera might be more likely until Volpe’s rehab assignment ends. We’ll find out soon enough.

Stanton hasn’t played anything close to a full season since 2021, when he appeared in 139 games. Unfortunately, Big G going down with something was almost inevitable. For so many reasons, hopefully he’s back sooner rather than later. Stanton sits 44 home runs short of 500. Every missed game makes that bit of baseball immortality more out of reach.

No one thought the winning would go on forever, right? 

After back-to-back victories over Minnesota, the Mets got another dose of reality Friday, dropping their series opener to Colorado, 4-3, at Citi Field. 

For those keeping score, that’s now losses in 13 of their last 15. The Mets seem to be in an unlikely race to the bottom of the NL East with the Phillies. 

This one involved some late drama, as the Mets rallied for two runs in the bottom of the eighth to pull within a run, but with two on and one out, Mark Vientos lined into a double play to end the threat. 

It was the fourth double play of the night by the Mets — the first three on the ground. 

And they failed to take advantage of a game against a Rockies team that entered 10-16. 

The issues that have plagued the Mets, who dropped to 9-17, so far this season haven’t gone away and it became obvious Friday that Juan Soto’s return alone won’t fix the lineup. 

“We’ve still got a long way to go,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before the game. “We put ourselves in this position, but we understand what’s ahead.” 

After scoring 10 runs Thursday, their bats went silent again versus right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who entered the game with a 7.48 ERA, but limited the Mets to just one run over seven innings. 

In the process, Lorenzen outdueled Freddy Peralta, who dropped his third straight start. 

Peralta wasn’t bad — two runs in 5 ²/₃ innings — but he wasn’t nearly enough to overcome another disappearing act from the offense. 

“He’s an ace,’’ Mendoza said of Peralta. “He’ll get there.’’ 

The offense nearly came all the way back in the bottom of the eighth — with Lorenzen replaced by right-hander Jaden Hill. 

Ronny Mauricio and Bo Bichette singled to lead off the inning, but Juan Soto lined out to first. 

Francisco Alvarez singled to left to load the bases for Brett Baty, who delivered a two-run single to center to make it 4-3. 

Vientos’ line drive double play kept them a run short and the Mets have scored more than three runs just three times in their last 15 games — as they now deal with life without Francisco Lindor, out indefinitely with a left calf strain. 

“We had a lot of hard-hit balls,” Marcus Semien said. “[Vientos] hit that ball 107 [mph] in the middle of the field. Most of the time, that’s a base hit.” 

That’s not the way it’s going right now in Queens. 

“Every loss is frustrating,’’ Semien said. “They put together good at-bats when they needed to … [and] we hit into some double plays.’’ 

The Mets went ahead in the bottom of the second when Baty, heating up offensively, doubled to right to open the inning and moved to third on Vientos’ infield single. 

With runners on the corners, Semien hit into a double play, scoring Baty to put the Mets up, 1-0. 

Colorado threatened to score in the third, as ex-Yankee prospect TJ Rumfield and Tyler Freeman opened with singles. 

Troy Johnston followed with a fly ball down the left field line, where Carson Benge made an outstanding sliding grab for the first out to save at least one run. 

It was the rookie’s second excellent diving catch in as many games and Peralta retired the next two batters. 

The Rockies tied it in the fifth, loading the bases on a pair of singles and a walk before Rumfield hit a slow roller in front of the plate to score Brenton Doyle. 

The Mets fell behind in the sixth when Peralta walked Kyle Karros and Ezequiel Tovar reached on a slow roller to third. 

Jake McCarthy hit a run-scoring double to right-center to put the Mets in a 2-1 hole. 

With the infield in, Peralta fanned Doyle and was lifted for Sean Manaea, who struck out Mickey Moniak. 

But Manaea faltered in the seventh, giving up a two-run single to Johnston that made it 4-1.

In a game that featured all the worst aspects of the 2026 team, the Mets dropped the opener of their three game set with the Rockies 4-3. Freddy Peralta was outpitched by Michael Lorenzen, who entered the game with an ERA of nearly 7.5. The offense had just about as poor of luck as you can imagine. It was more of the same.

We can keep the play-by-play portion of the recap brief. Two deep fly balls in the first died on the warning track, and a rally that could’ve been bigger in the second resulted in only a single run. After that, the Mets’ bats went silent while the Rockies scored in three consecutive innings; one run in the fifth, another to take the sixth, and two more for insurance in the seventh. The Mets got two back in the eighth but lined into three outs in the inning, then had some more poor batted luck in the ninth as they went down 1-2-3.

Let’s get more granular on just how bad the batted ball luck was in this one. The Mets ground into three double plays and lined into another, with the latter coming in the eighth with the tying run on second. They hit two other line drive outs on the infield. There were multiple balls die on the warning track that might have left the yard on another night. The struck out only 3 times to the Rockies 15 and had more hits (though they did not work a walk). Yes, the offense needs to do more against literally Michael Lorenzen, but sometimes the baseball gods are just not on your side. Sure seems like that’s been the case more often than not for the 2026 Mets.

That said, chalking this entire loss up to poor sequencing and BABIP isn’t fair – the manager deserves blame too. Yes, the Mets could’ve used some more length out of their starter after Thursday night emptied their bullpen and yes, Freddy Peralta was nominally acquired to lead the rotation (though Nolan McLean is clearly the staff ace). At the same time, Peralta has never been the arm to give his team length. He was clearly gassed at the end of the fifth. And Carlos Mendoza, asleep at the wheel as he so often is, sent Peralta back out for the sixth and pulled him five batters too late after he’d given up another run.

It’s impossible to say for certain that the Mets win the game if that run doesn’t score, or that the reliever who came in would’ve been more effective. That’s irrelevant, however. This is one of the most basic managerial decisions imaginable, and Mendoza got it blatantly wrong. More than that, it’s a mistake he’s made time and again with Peralta and other starters. Clearly, no learning has occurred here.

In short, this was a typical loss for the 2026 Mets; solid pitching undermined by an inert offense, managerial incompetence, and poor luck en route to another irritating loss. The Mets are now 2-6 in 1-run games and 9-17 on the season. They’ll try to get back on the winning side of the ledger on Saturday with former Met Jose Quintana squaring off against Kodai Senga.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Brett Baty, +19% WPA
Big Mets loser: Marcus Semien, -19% WPA
Mets pitchers: -12%% WPA
Mets hitters: -38% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Brett Baty singles on a ground ball to center field Brenton Doyle, +16.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jake McCarthy doubles in the sixth to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead, -20.8% WPA

Against an opposing pitcher who’s been one of the best in the AL the last several years, you need your starter to be really sharp — Taj Bradley was doing kinda OK until he wasn’t — and you need your hitters to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. These Twins were terrible at the latter last year, and are running out mostly the same lineup now. What else would you expect to happen?

Inning-by-inning notes:

1: If you missed the intro, Drew Rasmussen is a darn good pitcher. His sinker/4-seam/cutter mix means three pitches in the 90s that can go in or out and they’re all thrown hard. Byron Buxton strikes out and two other guys hit nubbers. The onus is gonna be on Taj Bradley to throw a heckuva game.

Aren’t too many ballparks where a ball hit 450 feet ain’t a home run. Maybe the old Polo Grounds? (Looks it up.) Yep, the centerfield wall was 483 feet from home plate. This ain’t the Polo Grounds, though. Nice swat, Junior Caminero. Rays 1-0

2: Groundout, flyout, groundout. Drew Rasmussen’s career BAbip is .262. Normally, when a pitcher’s BAbip is much lower than around .300, that’s taken as an indicator that they’re getting lucky and are likely to come down to Earth sooner or later. So was Mariano Rivera’s .265 BAbip a fluke? It certainly wasn’t.

Three outs on nine pitches is much better than 450-foot dongs.

3: Well, that’s one way to get on base; Matt Wallner walks. (Rasmussen doesn’t walk a lot of guys, either.) Followed by K, ꓘ, groundout. Sigh.

Unlucky start; Nick Fortes squeezes one right down the left-field line and it gets by 3B Royce Lewis for a double. Then the Rays do something I can’t remember the Twins doing in years; they have the #9 hitter lay down a perfect sac bunt to move the runner to third. A grounder on a contact play gets Fortes in.

Radio actually has an interesting factoid; that RBI grounder was by Chandler Simpson, who has never hit a home run over the fence; he had three inside-the-park home runs in the minors. He hit one off Twins pitcher Dan Altavilla in Spring Training this year, but I guess that doesn’t count. Devil Rays 2-0

4: Hey now — a single by Trevor Larnach and a first pitch double by Austin Martin puts two guys in scoring position. Victor Caratini strikes out and I have a terrible feeling about this. Kody Clemens strikes out and Royce Lewis bloops one into “no-man’s land” that Ben Williamson, who is a human man, catches.

It’s innings like this that make me physically angry with the Twins. Like my tummy hurts. I hope the team hotel has bedbugs. OK, not that. But I’m still angry.

Jonathan Aranda hits another dinger off Bradley, the second long ball Bradley’s given up this year. Notably, both homers were on balls outside of the strike zone.

Also not in the strike zone were the four straight balls Bradley threw to Cedric Mullins (after a single by Jonny DeLuca), so this inning/game are within range of getting out of hand. Smart running by DeLuca; he tags and reaches third on a foul flyout just beyond first base. Fortunately Bradley induces the groundout; still, 3-0 seems like more than these Twins can manage tonight.

5: FINALLY! Brooks Lee has a nice AB and it ends with a bang. He fouled off or took several close pitches after falling behind 0-2. The Pride of Missouri City, TX, Tristan Gray, singles. Nothing comes of it.

A seven-pitch inning for Taj. He really is pitching pretty well (minus that walk last inning); too bad the Twins left their good bats in Minnesota. Tampa Bay 3-1

6: Klobberin’ Kody Klemens has a two-out hit. Do you think it matters? Do you think anything the Twins will try to do matters? Now, tomorrow, or ever again? It doesn’t.

Aranda does it again. Same location; off the plate inside. Then Yandy Díaz singles. With two outs, Ben Williamson walks. Royce Lewis saves a double that probably would have scored both runners BUT NOTHING MATTERS DO NOT BOTHER CARING

7: Kris Atteberry mentions that new RP Cole Sulser went to Dartmouth and this fills my heart with hate. Not for Sulser. Brooks Lee has a one-out single. It doesn’t matter. Byron Buxton hits a long fly. Atteberry is excited. I know not to be.

Huh. With one out and the Rays coming around for the fourth time, pitching coach Pete Maki walks out from the dugout and… is ejected. I dunno why. Doesn’t he know that it doesn’t matter?

Caminero hits another homer. So what. That one wasn’t off the plate, by the way, it was dead center. In comes Anthony Banda, a relief pitcher who currently sucks at relief pitching. He is fine. St. Petersburg Devil Rays 6-1

8: Trevor Martin replaces Cole Sulser. It doesn’t matter.

Eric Orze comes in for the team that will lose. He was traded by Tampa to Minnesota this offseason for a pitcher named Jacob Kisting. He currently has a 1.80 ERA in high-A. Good for him.

9: Royce Lewis improves his OPS from .726 to .771 with a dinger. Good for him. Wallner singles and Lee doubles. It doesn’t matter. Bryan Baker in to pitch for the Rays. The shame of Missouri City, TX, Tristan Gray, can’t hit it far enough for the runners to advance and Buxton strikes out on nine pitches and Larnach grounds out I told you it didn’t matter. Twins lose

Studs of the game: Lee and Lewis both having dingers and nice fielding plays. Duds: hoo boy. That last Bradley homer was bad. Caratini, Clemens, Gray and Wallner for failing to do ANYTHING with RISP and less than two outs.

COTG goes to nagurskiinnortheast for cussing at the Twins’ hitters and Zach for sharing a typically wonderful family photo. Thanks to everybody who participated in a GT for a game that was genuinely pretty boring right from the start.

Tomorrow’s game is at 3:10, featuring Shane (not Rue) McClanahan against our own Bailey Ober. Catch y’all next time!