Category: MLB

Heading into their weekend series with the Kansas City Royals, the Yankees had lost seven out of their last 10 games and needed to get back on track.

And that's exactly what they did, outscoring KC 24-6 with nine home runs to complete the three-game sweep.

Leading the charge was Ben Rice, who homered in all three wins, bringing his streak to four straight games with a home run. Rice is now up to eight homers on the season, trailing Aaron Judge by just one HR as the slugger also went deep in Sunday's win.

With 17 home runs combined on the year (the most in the majors among a duo), Rice was asked what it's like "teaming up on opposing pitchers" with Judge and said he's just happy to contribute to winning baseball.

"I don't know about teaming up. It feels good to hit some homers. He's always going to be hitting homers," Rice said. "To be able to hit some along with him is cool for me. You don't really think about it too much to be honest."

Rice led off on Sunday and battled through a six-pitch at-bat to walk in the first inning, providing a baserunner for Judge to drive in on his two-run homer. Manager Aaron Boone spoke highly of Rice's first AB, saying it set the tone for the game and complimented his ability to hit tough pitches.

"Yeah, he's hit a couple on that same pitch," Boone said. "Feel like he got one the other day where it was tight to him like that and he's able to get the barrel to it and keep it fair. Really set a good tone first at-bat of the game, really long, grind it out walk ahead of Aaron's homer. More good ABs from him."

Boone added: "Bottom line is, again, I think he's turning into, or even is one of the really outstanding hitters in the league. That's what he is right now."

The manager went on to say that Rice has been on a "steady ascent" since his debut in 2024 and is now beginning to show his full potential.

"I think he's finding some more holes right now," Boone said. "Last year it was pretty dynamic. What did he end up with, 530 plate appearances, well over .800 (OPS). I think everyone's kind of done the digging where the underlying stuff suggests that it was even better than that probably. So it's just been a steady ascent for him. 

"He did some really good things in '24 for us. Had some struggles in '24 that I think he grew from. Last year was really a breakout season for him and I think a prelude to what he can be, which is I think what we're seeing."

Judge agreed with Boone's assessment, calling Rice's performance so far this season as "top of the league." 

"I know he's going to be on base a lot so it's going to make my job easy to get him into scoring position or drive him in like we did in the first," Judge said. "It definitely will be some headaches for opposing pitching staff. What Benny has done so far this year and will continue to do is top of the league right now."

The duo will look to keep it going this week when the Yanks face the Boston Red Sox for the first time, starting a three-game series on Tuesday at Fenway Park.

After getting pounded 7-1 on Friday at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Colorado Rockies bounced back with back-to-back come-from-behind victories. On Saturday, they were down 2-0 after just two pitches but ended up coming back to win 4-3 by putting up two runs in the sixth. On Sunday, after some “fishy” accusations, the Rockies once again climbed out of a 2-0 hole and ended up squeaking out a 9-6 dramatic victory.

Considering the Dodgers hadn’t lost to an NL West team in 2026, nor had they lost back-to-back games, this is a pretty big deal. Additionally, the Rockies hadn’t won a series — home or away — against the Dodgers since 2022. 2022!

So my questions to you this evening are this:

1. What are your biggest takeaways from this series so far?
2. Do you think the Rockies will win Game 4 tomorrow night?

Let us know in the comments!

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Austin Hedges’ Sunday wasn’t too shabby. 

First, his Guardians picked up an 8-4 win over the Orioles, and then the former World Series winner got engaged on the field at Progressive Field on Sunday.

Hedges asked his longtime girlfriend, Lexi Dickson, for her hand in marriage, with a message flashed across the stadium video board, and his teammates looked on. She said yes, of course, and those inside the ballpark cheered. 

Hedges, who has been dating Dickson since November 2024, told reporters that he had the ring since spring training and that he had figured out what his plan was going to be “only a couple weeks ago.” 

The Progressive Field’s jumbotron read, “Lexi will you marry me?” to kick off the celebratory moment. From there, Hedges got down on one knee.

The 33-year-old catcher was going to propose whether the Guardians won or lost, but he certainly sounded happy that his ball club got the victory. 

“I was really hoping we won the game,” he said, according to Cleveland.com. “I was going to do it regardless, but I really wanted to win that game to make it extra special.”

“There were a lot of nerves, a lot of nerves,” Hedges added. “I’m always nervous for baseball games … and just trying to stay present, knowing that there were some activities after. But it’s a special day. Special to be able to soak it all in.”

The couple wasn’t planning any sort of flashy celebration on Sunday night. 

Hedges said that they were going to “go to dinner and then just have a night to ourselves and enjoy it.”

The Guardians’ win on Sunday helped them take the four-game series against the Orioles. 

Cleveland currently sits atop the American League Central with a 13-10 record and a half game ahead of the Tigers. 

Hedges won’t have too much time to celebrate his engagement with the Guardians back on the field on Monday to host the Astros as they begin a three-game series at Progressive Field.

Ryan Weathers was dominant Sunday.

The inconsistent lefty the Yankees traded for from Miami this offseason has had a reliably unpredictable start to his tenure in The Bronx, but against a Royals team that’s lost seven in a row and giving the Mets a run for their money when it comes to ineptitude, Weathers was dominant.

In a 7-0 victory, he tossed 7 ¹/₃ shutout innings and gave up just five hits and a walk while striking out eight.

It’s starts like this one the Yankees envisioned when they added him to the rotation in the offseason, looking to harness his tantalizing repertoire.

The results weren’t great in his previous start, when the lefty allowed four homers to the Angels, but Weathers also gave up just one other hit in that outing, while walking none and striking out 10.

“There was a lot of good in the last outing,’’ Aaron Boone said before the game. “It was a case of a team [the Angels] swinging the bat well and not getting his fastball where he needed to. He had a hard time locating it.”

Overall, Boone said he felt Weathers had been “throwing the ball really well. His stuff has been excellent.”

Weathers said his location was much better Sunday, missing away on pitches near the corner, instead of in the middle of the plate.

“There was a lot of work between starts, focusing on location and just relaxing,” Weathers said.

Now they have to try to keep him there.

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It’s part of a pattern Weathers has shown so far with the Yankees, as he was solid in his debut in Seattle, struggled against his former team, the Marlins, in his second start, was outstanding versus the A’s and then shaky against the Angels before Sunday’s promising start with Kansas City in town.

It probably didn’t hurt that Weathers, who got a total of two runs of support in three of his first four outings, saw the Yankees offense erupt against overmatched Cole Ragans on Sunday at the Stadium.

Aaron Judge said of Weathers, “I was just happy we were able to get him some runs. He’s pitched his butt off. We haven’t really given him support.”

After giving up a one-out single to Bobby Witt Jr. in the first, Weathers had a three-run lead the next time he stepped on the mound, courtesy of a Judge two-run homer and a sacrifice fly by Austin Wells.

The Yankees tacked on a run in the second on a Ben Rice home run and three more in the fifth, when Trent Grisham went deep.

By then, Weathers was well into another terrific showing.

He retired 14 of 15 following Witt’s first-inning base hit and then got some help from the Royals in the sixth.

Elias Díaz singled with one out and Witt had a two-out double to center later in the inning. The slow-footed Díaz was unwisely sent home and a nice relay from Grisham to shortstop José Caballero to Wells at the plate was in plenty of time to keep Kansas City off the board.

Bryan Woo came to the ballpark seemingly on a mission today: to make the Rangers’ day miserable. So far this season, despite some solid performances, Woo has failed to notch a win, with three no-decisions and two losses. Today, he stepped on the hill, and, one inning aside, he looked as sharp as he has all season. While Woo certainly has the ability to flex his power, show off with a 97 mph fastball right at the numbers, today was all about keeping everyone off balance and dominating with soft contact, jam shots, and precision control. After the game, Dan Wilson commented on Woo’s mindset today:

“I think from pitch one you could see a little more determination on his face today, and wanting to really go out this afternoon and give us a good ballgame.”

Woo echoed much of the same sentiment:

“Being in the zone consistently, throughout the game, and not fishing for punchouts, just consistency in the zone and executing. And if they’re punchouts, if they’re quick outs, whatever they are, just take them as they come.”

The mindset showed as Woo used his fastballs to extreme effectiveness today, keeping the Rangers off balance and using his sinker to elicit weak contact and befuddled swings. Woo did an excellent job of keeping the ball in the infield as well, bringing about six ground balls and three infield fly balls to go against two hits from the Rangers today. Woo was near perfect in preventing free passes as well, issuing his only walk of the game to Corey Seager in the 7th inning (thanks partially to a savvy challenge from Mitch Garver in the first that flipped Seager’s first at-bat around from a 3-0 to a 2-1 count and eventual popout). Otherwise, Woo was playing in the zone all day, keeping hitters honest and tallying six strikeouts along the way.

The Rangers began to figure Woo out around the third time through the order, as a poorly timed walk to Seager to lead off the seventh, followed by a single Wyatt Langford and an HBP to Joc Pederson, loaded the bases. Josh Jung nearly got a hold of one but drove it out to the wall for a sacrifice fly as Seager ran in to score. A double from Evan Carter would bring home Langford and give the Rangers two runs off of Woo. Josh Smith would end the inning with a soft grounder to second, but the damage had been done, and Woo’s day came to a close at 7 innings pitched, 2 ER, 1 walk, and 6 Ks.

Despite the strong six innings, Woo struggled to hide his frustration with his difficulties in the 7th. But he remained calm, limited the damage, and finished the inning. Even so, Woo was very critical of the free pass and the HBP, expressing so after the game:

“The leadoff walk, number one. Hitting Joc, stupid. But it’s just the concept of keeping teams down when they’re down, not giving them any life, not letting them have any momentum, not letting them breathe in any way, just keeping our foot on the gas. You give up the two there and then it’s like, the at-bats for Gabe the next inning are just more stressful. And there’s no need for that if I just do my job. Yeah. I’m still beating myself up over it. It’s just little things like that. It’s like, if they were to hit their way through that inning it’s one thing, but for me to give them free passes, that’s another thing.”

Despite the negative self-talk, it seems to me that Woo is as locked in as he’s ever been, consistently focused on improving and not letting small mistakes eat at him too much:

“I give myself tonight to be pissed, and then once I wake up tomorrow, it’s a new day, and we get on it again…I try to take the positive and analyze the negative. So yeah. Six good and one bad. Try to weigh it in that way too, proportionally, like, don’t be too hard on yourself but take the good and learn from the bad, and it is what it is. Yeah, I hold high standards for myself but there’s a balance there too of not being too hard on yourself.”

The Mariners’ offense also put on a mighty display today to follow up on their strong performance from last night. Rob Refsnyder got the scoring started today with his first hit as a Mariner, a lead-off homerun off the first pitch of the day from MacKenzie Gore. Having just returned from paternity leave, it seems dad power is back on the menu!

Refsnyder spoke after the game on his struggles getting started here in Seattle:

“I feel thankful for my teammates, trying to help me through. I don’t think you ever want to slump, especially early in the year, new team, new city, so I’ve definitely been hard on myself, but I’ve had a lot of help. Our mental coach, Bern [Adam Bernero] has helped me a lot…And especially as a platoon guy, it kind of stinks because you have a couple of days to sit on it, too. But the most frustrating thing is that we feel like we’re playing decent baseball, just the results as a whole haven’t been exactly where we want it to be, but it’s a good group, and we honestly believe in each other. Hopefully this series we can kind of build on that.”

Refsnyder has had a difficult start to the season but remains committed to taking advantage of the opportunities and expressed thanks for the fan support he has received so far despite his cold start:

“I really appreciate, there’s been some fans out in early batting practice, even today in the outfield, who have been really supportive. That helps. Honestly, I’m human, so we hear a lot of things. So just to have the fan support, it meant a lot, it’s pretty cool. I’ve played in some places where you get booed at home and things like that, and it definitely wears on you…[The fans said] just supportive things like you got it, we believe in you, keep going, just nice stuff like that. And it means a lot when you’re going through it, wondering who knows if I’m ever going to get another hit. So just to have that support, honestly, it genuinely meant a lot. It was nice.”

Hopefully, today marks a turnaround moment for the journeyman outfielder and the spark for a successful run for him here in Seattle.

The Mariners wouldn’t end the scoring there, putting on a show of strength and power today in front of the hometown fans. In the second, a leadoff walk for Mitch Garver set up JP Crawford for a two-run home run of his own.

With the swing, Crawford became the first player to get a hit off of Gore’s curveball all year and the second lefty in the league with two career homeruns off of Gore (Michael Harris II being the other).

Randy Arozarena followed that up with a two-run homer of his own in the 5th. A Julio Rodriguez single put him on first and in a 0-2 count against the curveball Randy hit it off the left field foul pole to put the Mariners up 5-0.

The Mariners were relentless against Gore today in a way they have not been before. In the previous three games in which the Mariners faced Gore over 18 innings, they scored 1 run, struck out 25 times, and walked 3 times, a record that certainly suggests today’s game should have gone differently. Today, however, the Mariners sparked Gore for 5 runs on 7 hits over 5 innings today, a marked improvement from previous outings. On top of that, as I mentioned earlier, coming into this start, Gore had not given up a hit all year on his curveball. 4 of the Mariners’ 8 hits came on Gore’s curveball, and two of those were home runs. Whatever change was made in the clubhouse, the Mariners have finally managed to get to a guy who has seemingly had their number over the last year or so.

Muñoz came in and shut the door in typical fashion in the 9th to put the bow on one of the most complete Mariners games I’ve seen so far this season. The Mariners have struggled in various areas so far this season – the bullpen not showing up, the starter struggling through the first 5 innings, or the offense doing their best impression of a ghost – but today the Mariners really put it all together. All the ingredients were there: a dominant start from Woo, who went on a solid run, run support from the top of the order, and the bullpen came in and shut down the game without incident. Hopefully, this is a sign that the Mariners are turning it around and maintaining the strong performances we are used to seeing from last year. There is another division-winning team here; it remains to be seen if that team can show up consistently.

Austin Hedges had the best Sunday.

Hedges scored the first run in the Cleveland Guardians' 8-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles, then saved his best score for the postgame, when he proposed to his girlfriend, Lexi Dickinson, on the field.

With a few friends and teammates present, a "Lexi, will you marry me?" message was displayed on the scoreboard at Cleveland's Progressive Field.

"Really hoping to win that game," Hedges said. "I was going to do it regardless, but I really wanted to win that game to make it extra special."

Hedges, 33-year-old, 12-year major-league veteran catcher, admitted to being nervous the entire day.

"Lots of nerves, lots of nerves," Hedges said. "A lot of nerves about – I'm always nervous for baseball games. I mean, obviously that's a good team over there and we want to win the series. And just trying to stay present, knowing that there was some activities after. But special day, special day to be able to soak it all in."

Hedges said that he's had the engagement ring since spring training and was looking for the right moment to propose to Dickinson, who he has had been dating since November 2024. After the successful proposal, Hedges' teammates joined in an on-field celebration.

Hedges has played six of his 12 big-league seasons in Cleveland, and also spent time with the San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers, with whom he was a member of the team's 2023 World Series winners.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Austin Hedges gets engaged after Guardians' win over Orioles

It had been a laborious weekend for the Giants bats. After two — count ‘em two — high intensity games in which they scored 17 total runs on 31 hits over 21 innings, the offense looked relatively exhausted in Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Washington. Spring’s bipolar nature abruptly swapped the tank-top heat of summer for an abrasive, chill-laced wind. Sunday was a day of indoor batting practice, of clubhouse breakfast buffets, of yawns in the dugout. They team had secured a series win and won three in a row. Didn’t they earn a day to just chill, to just zone out in the batter’s box and suck seeds on the bench with your cleats up? What does the good book advise? I say, unto thee: Pack all thou grinding and disciplined at-bats, thou situational contact, thou two-baggers and round -trippers and rallies and swipt bases into six days in order to rest on the seventh.

Obviously I don’t actually think the offense played with this level of lackadaisicalness, but it did, at time, look like they took these words to heart. Hitters truly did observe at the plate. Their swings were often hole-y as lefty opener PJ Poulin, struggling veteran Miles Mikolas, and recent Triple-A arrival Andrew Alvarez cruised through 9 shutout frames.

Mikolas, who lugged a 11.49 ERA (15.2 IP) into this game, scattered four singles across four scoreless innings while striking out 4. His four-seam fastball and its  -3.3 RV/100 earned three of his four strikeouts. Previous opponents had hit .316 and slugged .526 against the pitch… but not these opponents. Seemingly non-descript fastballs exposed out over the plate proved fatally feisty for Willy Adames and Heliot Ramos. Four of six swings elicited by the pitch came up empty. Only one of them was put into play. 

Frustratingly unproductive outs added up to an 0-for-11 day with runners in scoring position. And I joke that the offense took the day off, but the reality is some work was being done because the table was set multiple times. San Francisco out-hit Washington 8 to 7 and also got a boost from three defensive errors. 11 at-bats ain’t nothing to sneeze at. Those chances were more than enough rungs on a ladder to help the Giants climb out of their three-run hole. The difference proved to be a lack of decisiveness. A 2-run shot that echoed Ramos’s game-tying homer on Saturday, or his 3-run blast on Friday night, was glaringly absent.

Instead with a chance to bring home a run or two, the Giants batters piled up six strikeouts and also hit into a double play. They had a runner standing on second base with nobody out in the 6th, 8th, and 9th innings…and that runner managed to reach third just once. 

And to be clear, no tension or suspense was built in these at-bats with runners on. These were not gritty, 10-pitch showdowns, or spirit-filling shows of defiance and resistance. They were blink-and-you-missed-it outs. A candlelight in a windstorm. Mere whimpers. Twice Drew Gilbert and Patrick Bailey reached with two outs to set-up an RBI chance for Willy Adames, and twice Willy Adames flailed at strike three. The first time, in the 2nd, Adames was felled on three straight fastballs from Mikolas. In the 4th, he managed to see four. 

After Casey Schmitt led off the 6th with a double, southpaw Andrew Alvarez, who had been called up from the Rochester Red Wings earlier in the day, dispatched Jung Hoo Lee with a sinker, slider, curveball. Easy as A-B-C. The hot-hand Ramos fouled off three pitches in the middle of the zone before being called out on strikes. In the 8th with a runner on third, pinch hitter Jerar Encarnacion waved helplessly at an 0-2 curveball from Alvarez to end the innings. Easy as 1-2-3. 

Just another outing of little to no run support behind a solid Robbie Ray performance. After getting beat by a pair of solo shots in Cincinnati, Ray swallowed another bitter pill in D.C., logging his second quality start of the year as well as his third loss.

The veteran had been excellent for four innings, uncharacteristically pitching with efficiency and count leverage. The Nationals recorded three soft-contact singles in the first three innings, and Ray did well to manage the undeserved traffic.

Jacob Young led off the 2nd with a bloop single, but Ray softened the lead-off hit with back-to-back strikeouts. In the 3rd, Keibert Ruiz managed an infield single on a soft roller and advanced into scoring position after a James Wood walk. More troublesome soft contact off the bat off of Curtis Mead resulted in a heads-up defensive play by Willy Adames to expose some poor baserunning by the lead runner Ruiz. Brady House then flew out to deeeeep center field before Ray escaped the jam by inducing a routine flyout from Abrams. 

The relief of that escape lasted one more inning before Washington broke through the scoreless deadlock in the 5th.

A bunt single from Nasim Nunez was the inconspicuous start to the Nationals 3-run rally. Nunez promptly stole second and from scoring position scored on Keibert Ruiz’s double — a “double” really in name only. Off the bat, the ball looked to be destined to be caught. It boasted an xBA of .170. It lingered in the air. Perhaps the wind pushed it further away from Ramos than expected. He initially broke back towards the wall before course correcting to the right. The ball clipped the end of his glove before finding grass. An opportunity for out missed there. But Ramos got the ball quickly into Adames in shallow left. Nunez had a late break for home, and the relay to the plate beat him by plenty, but Bailey couldn’t corral the hop before prematurely bringing his glove over for the tag. The baseball rolled freely up the line as Nunez came to a complete stop, turned around, and cheekily leaned on the plate. 

Either end of that play could’ve produced an out. Instead the Nationals claimed the lead and then extended it. Two pitches later, Mead jumped on a first pitch change-up to plate the second and third runs of the day. 

The three earned runs allowed are so far a season high for Ray. He went on to bag two more strikeouts (7 K on the day) and complete the 6th before being relieved by scoreless appearances by Keaton Winn and JT Brubaker. All for naught though. The crooked number in the 5th proved to be a bridge too far for San Francisco’ listless lineup. Considering the looming midweek series against LA, and the arms they’ll be facing (Yamamoto, Ohtani, Glasnow), the offense might be kicking themselves for shrugging off the opportunities that presented themselves today. 

There should be no rest for a 9-13 team.  

WHAT A WEEKEND!!

Nebraska baseball sweeps USC and solidly plants itself in 2nd place in the Big Ten standings. This is the first sweep of a ranked opponent in Haymarket Park since that legendary 2015 Texas series. It also happened to be the highest attended series in the Big Ten era of Haymarket Park, and the 5th highest all time. Three straight walk-off wins, including 2 by way of the 10 run rule has the Huskers sitting at 15 in the RPI, putting them in the mix to reach their biggest goal every year, hosting a regional.

The Trojans were actually the first to score, getting to Husker starting pitcher Gavin Blachowicz right away in the top of the first. Kevin Takeuchi singled up the middle and advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw. He came home a couple batters later on a Jack Basseer RBI single.

Nebraska responded right away, with DH Jeter Worthley burning the Trojan center fielder and racing all the way to third for a triple. Case Sanderson drove a ball to the wall in straight away center that bounced off the glove of the center fielder and off the wall. He strode into second with an RBI double and remained there all of 1 pitch as Dylan Carey pulled a ball down the left field line for an RBI double of his own, and the first big roar from the 7600 in attendance as the Huskers took a 2-1 lead.

Things went completely sideways for Blachowicz in the 2nd. He was squeezed early by the home plate umpire and walked 3 batters on 3-2 counts, though he was able to pick off the first one. Backed into a corner, Blachowicz grooved one right down the middle that Takeuchi hammered into the Party Porch for a 3 run home run. USC’s best home run hitter, Augie Lopez, then sky-ed a ball that not one Husker defender even moved to attempt to give chase as it cleared the USC bullpen completely. The Trojans put up a 4 spot and take a 5-2 lead.

The Huskers turned to new reliever, Ty Horn to steady the ship, and he did just that. Horn was spectacular, pitching 5 innings, scattering 6 hits and giving up 1 run on a solo home run, again by Augie Lopez in the top of the 5th. Horn struck out 4 and more importantly, walked zero.

The Husker offense went on a tear starting in the 3rd. Carey on a big day, even for him obliterated a ball that despite the 42 degree launch angle, which generally results in a pop fly, still easily cleared the left field fence into the mass of humanity occupying the outfield berm. Carey would go 4 for 5 on the day, with the aforementioned double and home run, good for 2 RBIs.

Nebraska took the lead back for good in the 4th. Rhett Stokes hit a ball hard up the middle that the short stop bobbled for an error. A perfect hit and run call (one of many by the coaching staff on the weekend) had Trey Fikes hit a ball right to where the second baseman was, but vacated to go cover second base. That put 2 on for Mac Moyer against the clearly unraveling Trojan starting pitcher. Moyer did the rare thing for him and pulled the ball and as the right fielder kept drifting back and back, the crowd again went from a murmur to an all out roar as what happened so many times on the weekend happened again, a USC outfielder couldn’t make a play at the wall, and a 3 run home run landed in the first row of the party porch.

The Trojan started remained in there and issued back to back full count walks to Worthley and Sanderson before being pulled. Carey hit a ball to shallow center, his lone out of the day, but Worthley was able to tag up at second base and slide safely into third. That would prove to be very important, as USC uncorked a wild pitch, and Worthley scampered home to put NU up 7-5.

The wild pitch would rear its ugly head for the Trojans again in the 5th, Trey Fikes bunted Josh Overbeek and Rhett Stokes to 3rd and 2nd. Then with Jeter Worthley up with 2 out, the wild pitch hit the backstop. The catcher threw it back to the pitcher covering home, but over his head as Beek slid in. Stokes had rounded third hard and upon seeing the ball by the pitcher took off for home. The first baseman grabbed the ball and tried to toss it back to the pitcher, but his toss was high, and Bolt’s Boys took a soul crushing 9-6 lead.

The onslaught continued. Sanderson led off the 6th with another walk. Carey singled to center to put runners on the corners. Jett Buck took a 1-2 pitch right to the side of the helmet, knocking it clean off. He gathered it up and sprinted to first to load the bases for Drew Grego. Grego has been red hot all series, and this was his magnum opus. The pitcher, rattled from just hitting a guy in the head, put one right down Main Street, and Grego took it for a ride. A second 400+ foot home run in as many days, this one a grand slam. The crowd exploded.

The Huskers added two more in the 6th inning to go up 15-6, but couldn’t get the 10th run differential. That is until the bottom of the 8th. Mac Moyer was hit by a pitch, but not awarded first. Bolt challenged the call and won. A passed ball allowed Moyer to take second base. The Case Sanderson poked a single down the left field line and Moyer ran home and then immediately took off with the rest of his team to catch Sanderson who by this time had run into the middle of center field. Fear not, the team has gotten good at tracking down batters after walk offs, this was their 3rd walk off of the 3 game series against USC. Those Gatorade containers made the 350 foot trek to dead center and doused the Huskers’ first baseman.

Nebraska hits the road again, traveling down to Kansas to attempt to avenge the loss two weeks ago at the hands of the Jayhawks (still the only loss at Haymarket Park all season). They then go to Illinois for the weekend, to take on the Illini who occupy 8th place in the Big Ten currently. If they continue to take care of business the rest of the way, the attendance records set this weekend will be a thing of the past.

It looked like the Mets were going to end their nightmare for a moment on Sunday afternoon in Chicago. But then things took another turn for the worse as Devin Williams blew the save in the ninth and the Cubs walked it off in the bottom of the tenth inning, handing New York its 11th straight loss.

After the crushing defeat, manager Carlos Mendoza discussed the "tough stretch" the team is going through.

"Yeah it's tough, it's tough, especially when you're going through it," Mendoza said. "You feel like you got to the ninth inning feeling good, but I mean when you're playing in one-run games you have to be perfect and it's hard to play like that. It's a tough stretch right now."

The Mets had opportunities to tack on to their 1-0 lead, but finished the game 1-for-9 with RISP and left six on base. Mendoza noted how New York wasn't "impacting the baseball as a team" and "didn't hit many balls hard" on Sunday, something that's become regular during their losing streak. 

When asked if it's getting late to turn things around, Mendoza said the team needs to "find a way" soon.

"11 losses, that's a lot, whether it's in April or at any point in the season," Mendoza said. "Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We've got to find a way. Off day tomorrow and back at it Tuesday."

Francisco Lindor had one of the scoring opportunities in the sixth inning after Luis Torrens hit a leadoff double, but the shortstop struck out to end the inning. He said it isn't "a good feeling" to have this long of a losing streak and took accountability for the lack of production, adding that the whole team needs to do a better job of executing in the clutch moments.

"This feeling sucks. It's not a good feeling," Lindor said. "You said it, we're professionals, and we got to find a way out of it. We got to do whatever it takes to end up on top after 27 outs and sometimes 30 outs. It's not a good feeling. But, no one here is hanging their heads, everybody has their heads held high and they're fighting for each other.

"Today, they played a good game, but I came up in situations to drive runners in and didn't do that. It came down to last two outs, I think when I get guys in scoring position, I don't drive them in, I don't help the team that way, it can come back. But what it comes down to is me executing, and all of us executing. Like you said, we are professionals and this is what we get paid to do so I got to be better."

Lindor reiterated that the Mets need to execute, knowing only they can fix the problems on the field.

"We got to bring it," Lindor said. "We got to continue to bring it day in and day out. No one's going to feel sorry for us. We can't feel sorry for ourselves. We've got to bring it."

Having been in New York for six seasons now, Lindor understands the outside noise is going to continue until the team strings together some wins. He said they have to keep fighting and not let it distract them.

"Fight for each other, stick [up] for each other," Lindor said. "What Mendy has said from day one, protect the house. It's going to get loud. It's going to get very loud. And ultimately, everyone here knows it and we've just got to stick together and stay within ourselves and fight, fight."

The All-Star agreed that having an 11-game losing streak is shocking, but said they have to forget in order to improve moving forward.

"Yeah, 100 percent. We have a tremendous team. David Stearns put a good team together, but this shows that nobody really cares," Lindor said. "We've got to go out there and get it done and this past week-and-a-half, we haven't gotten it done. It's a bad feeling, but we got to turn the page. I've always said this, whether we win or lose, look at it for a little bit and then turn the page and focus on what we have in front of us."

David Peterson, who tossed 3.2 scoreless innings on Sunday, and Williams both agreed with Lindor that the losing streak is on the players, not the coaches or front office.

"It's on everyone. We're in this together," Peterson said. "Everyone has a part in this and we've got to stick together. Everyone's got to take responsibility and accountability. We all need to look in the mirror and see what we can do better to help this team move in the right direction. That's the job. Like I said, come back ready to go on Tuesday, fight like hell, and play our brand of baseball."

"It's tough to explain," Williams added. "This is one of the most talented locker rooms in the league. We just can't seem to string it together right now."

Lindor was also asked how getting star Juan Soto back from the injured list soon could help the Mets out of their slump, but again, said it's not on one player to be the savior as they all need to play better.

"I mean, like I said earlier, Soto is irreplaceable and having him back is going to help us a lot," Lindor said. "Hopefully he is back [soon]. Top three hitters in the league probably, top two? So yeah he's going to help us a ton. He's going to lengthen our lineup.

"Even when he comes, we've still got to get it done. It would be unfair to just throw everything on him. As a team we got to come together and execute, that's what it's going to come down to."

New York will have Monday off to regroup and find a way to win on Tuesday when they start a three-game series back home against the Minnesota Twins. 

The Yankees entered this weekend winless in their past three series. Their lineup was an issue in dropping a series against the A’s; their fielding a problem in a sweep in Tampa; their pitching (and particularly the bullpen) exposed while splitting a set against the Angels.

And then the Royals arrived for a get-right series after which the Yankees sure look a lot more right.

The Yankees finished off a demolition of the worst team the American League has to offer with a 7-0 smacking Sunday in front of an announced Bronx crowd of 40,198, whose beverages should have been free after sticking through a 2-hour, 45-minute weather delay at the start.

Aaron Boone’s group (13-9) completed a 5-2 homestand that began with too many home runs served up against the Angels and ended with nine launched against the Royals (7-15).

Aaron Judge, Ben Rice and Trent Grisham all went deep in the finale to back Ryan Weathers (7 ¹/₃ scoreless innings) and inspire some confidence ahead of a nine-game road trip through Boston, Houston and Arlington, Texas. The final tally from three games involving teams from New York and Kansas City: an NFL-like 24-7.

“I thought we played really well, obviously, this weekend in a lot of facets,” Boone said after the offense broke out in a second straight game, Weathers and Angel Chivilli combined for a shutout and the defense executed a relay to cut down a runner at the plate. “You want to play clean. You want to feel like you can do different things on a given day to win a game.”

Among the issues that the Yankees faced just a few days ago was their lack of offensive firepower against lefty pitchers, against whom they owned the majors’ second-worst OPS (.535) entering this weekend.

That number has ballooned after they teed off Saturday against Noah Cameron and Sunday against Cole Ragans, southpaws who allowed a combined 14 runs in 8 ¹/₃ innings.

“Hopefully that is something that guys are starting to find their stride a little bit offensively,” said Boone, whose lineup decisions have led to another issue facing the club: Rice has been coming off the bench frequently against lefty pitchers.

Sunday, what had been metaphorical became literal: Rice leapfrogged a few spots in the order and jumped in front of Judge as the leadoff man against Ragans, the club’s one-two punch batting first and second for the afternoon. They kept punching.

In the first inning, Rice worked a walk and Judge followed with a first-pitch trip to Monument Park, Judge’s ninth of the season and sixth in eight games. Remember that talk about his slow start? Through 22 games, the Yankees captain is on pace for 66 homers.

After showing off their power, the Yankees used patience to score again in the frame, three walks and an Austin Wells sacrifice fly adding a third run against Ragans.

An inning later, it was Rice’s turn to do damage against a lefty and further force his way into the everyday starting lineup, turning on an inside fastball from Ragans and visiting the short porch for a solo shot. He has swatted four dingers in as many games and is up to eight on the season.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

Judge’s and Rice’s 17 combined home runs are the most by any duo in the sport, one more than the entire Mets team (16) and four more than the Red Sox (13), whom the Yankees will see beginning Tuesday.

The Yankees notched just seven hits Sunday, but three left the park — Grisham ended the scoring with a three-run shot to the second deck in right in the fifth — and they created traffic with 10 walks.

Weathers bounced back from a five-inning, four-homer outing against the Angels and limited the Royals to five hits and one walk with eight strikeouts while pitching into the eighth inning.

He was dominant, and the defense behind him crisp, including a sixth-inning relay from Trent Grisham to José Caballero to Austin Wells to nail Elias Díaz by several steps to preserve the shutout.

Against the Royals, the lefty Weathers and the whole team looked right.

“This was a big series for us,” said Judge, who praised a young Royals team that has gotten off to a poor start. “To be able to come out there and put up some big runs, especially the last two games, was huge for us.”

In such a short period of time, dare I say that Noah Schultz has really, truly, already arrived?

It almost seems too good to be true, for somebody who’s gotten plenty used to even the best White Sox prospect requiring some adjustment time in the majors. But the young condor-like lefty is is looking like an exception, perhaps just a little bit in the mold of another tall, lanky lefty whose presence undoubtedly changed the current of Sox history.

As far as today’s action goes, Schultz fired five innings of one-run baseball in his second career start, punching out six while walking just one along the way. Even more excitingly, he did it in a way that makes you think there’s a lot more in the tank moving forward.

The vibes were good from the outset in this one, beginning with a manufactured run in the first — courtesy of Chase Meidroth and Edgar Quero — and expanding farther with a towering Derek Hill fly ball to start what wound up being a bevy of White Sox home runs:

On another part of the lineup, I won’t mince words. Miguel Vargas spent the entire series against Tampa Bay getting completely hosed on some excellent batted balls. His BABIP entering today was a a paltry .161, which is stupid given the fact that he runs around league average in terms of swing speed and hitting the ball hard. His BABIP actually decreased today, but that’s because his one hit wasn’t a ball in play, as he demolished a baseball out to left field in the second inning to spot the Sox a four-run early lead for the second straight day:

I spoke in the game thread about how Schultz was either going to need to get better at spotting his breaking balls to righties or he’ll have to figure out how to effectively use his changeup. While he did manage to break out the cambio quite a bit more, his breaking ball command remains a work in progress, as evidenced by the wildness of the breakers on his pitch chart this afternoon:

The spinners weren’t quite rolling for Schultz today, but a lot of the other stuff was. That changeup I was just talking about? It drew six swings, all against right-handed hitters, three of which resulted in whiffs. Overall, an excellent 30% of swings against Schultz came up with air over his five innings of work, heavily contributing to allowing just one run and one hit on the board. He also walked one, but more than compensated with six punchouts in total.

That one run, though? Schultz learned the consequences of being unable to spot a breaking ball in Sacramento’s half of the second inning. After being ahead in the count, 1-2, Schultz wasn’t able to locate either his fastball or sweeper near enough to the zone to put Darnell Hernaiz away, and when forced to throw one over the plate on a 3-2 count, the young righty made him pay:

It became somewhat clear that Schultz’s high velocity last week was at least partly a function of debut-at-home adrenaline. He still reached back to touch 97-98 mph a few times today, but after one time through the order he settled more at 94-95 mph. With his huge frame and unconventional release point, that was still enough to remain effective through all five of his innings.

At least the Sox offense actually gave him enough of a cushion to work comfortably late into the outing. Just as on Friday, Munetaka Murakami provided the death blow for the Athletics with yet another mammoth homer on a Springs breaking ball that hung like a half-dry chunk of beef jerky:

That makes eight homers on the year for Murakami, bringing him into a three-way tie with Jordan Walker and Aaron Judge for second in the majors. With that homer, he also became the Sox leader in home runs over their first 22 games with the team, actually surpassing José Abreu’s magical start to the 2014 season.

Hey, remember when Abreu came up and hit a walk-off grand slam within a few weeks of joining the team? Even the bad times produce some good times in this game.

Anyhow, Murakami wasn’t the only of Springs’ worries. Immediately after surrendering Murakami’s blast, Colson Montgomery decided to make his day even worse by knocking one into the batter’s eye in dead center field for his fourth dinger of the young season.

After much consternation yesterday, we did see Grant Taylor toe the rubber again, though in a much less useful situation than if he had been available yesterday — which he understandably wasn’t after heavy work on Thursday. Taylor worked around a tapper of a single to put together a scoreless seventh inning before getting touched up just a bit for two runs, just his second set of runs allowed this year. Still, the stuff looked as excellent as ever, and he still has yet to allow a home run in the major leagues. He’s not quite Mason Miller — nobody is — but he does have a chance to go neck-in-neck with Caleb Bonemer as the franchise’s best second round pick since Terry Forster back in 1970.

The rest of the game was easygoing for a Sox bullpen that desperately needed an easygoing game. Taylor gave way to Jordan Leasure in the seventh inning, and Leasure managed to keep the ball in the yard to bring the game to the eighth at 7-3. Bryan Hudson got into a little bit of trouble in his own bridge inning, bringing the 7-4 game just close enough that, with an off-day tomorrow, Will Venable felt comfortable giving Seranthony Domínguez his seventh save opportunity, and ultimately, his fourth successful conversion of the year so far.

The squad gets the day off tomorrow as they move south for a three-game bout with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have looked pretty dang good across a 14-8 start in a bitterly competitive NL West. We’ll see you for that one on Tuesday night, at 6:40 p.m. Central time!

Offence! By the Toronto Blue Jays! So the legends were true…

After a terrible four game stretch, this win was cathartic.

This one got late early. Nathan Lukes lead the game off with a single, Ernie Clement doubled to put runners on second and third, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined a single to bring them home. Jesus Sanchez, Eloy Jimenes and Andres Gimenez each singled in turn to score a third and load the bases, and then a Kazuma Okamoto double to left increased the margin to five. After a Myles Straw walk, Brandon Valenzuela was the only Blue Jay not to reach the first time through the order, striking out swinging. Not to worry, as Nathan Lukes lined a double to left for his second hit of the inning, clearing the bases. That spelled the end for Ryne Nelson, who recorded just one out while giving up eight. Reliever Andrew Hoffmann escaped the inning from there and get through the second unscathed, but Okamoto lead off the third with a home run to run the Jays tally up to nine. The tenth run came in the next frame, as Vlad singled, was pushed up on a Sanchez walk, advanced on a wild pitch, and came home on a Gimenez sac fly.

Meanwhile, Kevin Gausman stayed sharp. He gave up a ground ball single in the first, and one run on a walk and a pair of singles in the bottom of two. He went back to holding the snakes scoreless in the third, fourth and fifth. Arizona got one more back in the sixth, on a Lourdes Gurriel jr. single and an Adrian Del Castillo double. All in all, Gausman gave up two earned on seven hits and a walk over six, striking out four.

Mason Fluharty gave two back in the bottom of the seventh, on a Ketel Marte single and a Jorge Barrosa home run. 10-4 would be the final, as Tommy Nance and Braydon Fisher combined to shut the door.

Jays of the Day: Nobody actually qualifies because the good work was spread around. Lukes had three hits and two doubles, Vlad had three of his own, and Okamoto had a homer and a double. Every Jays batter got on base. Gausman also deserves a nod.

Less So: Nobody.

Tomorrow it’s on to Anaheim for *bass reverb voice* Blue Jays After Dark. Dylan Cease (0-0, 1.74) will try to finally get a win in the books after four excellent but indecisive starts. The offence will contend with Reid Detmers (1-1, 3.57). First pitch is set for 9:38pm ET.

The third game of a wrap-around four-game series had a start time that was pushed back by three hours to accommodate some inclement weather moving through Boston. After the rains came and (occasionally) went, the Tigers won the game 6-2 while dodging raindrops, especially late in the game.

Framber Valdez made his fifth start for the Tigers, and if you Porcello-out his clunker against the Twins, he’s been sensational. But since we can’t selectively remove only one start from a record, let it just be said that he’s been, overall, pretty decent. His previous start was on April 14, a seven-inning outing against the Royals in which he only gave up one run; that was the game in which both teams combined to strike out a half-dozen times. Weird.

Facing Valdez was a fellow lefty, Garrett Crochet. He spent three years in the White Sox bullpen (and another on the shelf recovering from Tommy John surgery), had a solid year in the White Sox’ rotation, exchanged white hosiery for red for 2025, and had a fantastic season last year in Boston, leading the American League in strikeouts. He placed second in the Cy Young voting last year to you-know-who. His previous outing was, shall we say, uncharacteristic for him: eleven runs (ten earned) in 1 2/3 innings against the Twins. The Twins have early on showed a knack for beating up on top shelf southpaws.

With two outs in the top of the first inning, Matt Vierling and Dillon Dingler hit back-to-back doubles for a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the inning Willson Contreras turned around a sinker that didn’t sink, and parked it over the Green Monster to even the score at 1-1. Trevor Story then singled and Wilyer Abreu walked, but Valdez struck out Ceddanne Rafaela to end the inning and limit the damage. He bounced back in the next inning for a 1-2-3 frame, though and went on to a really stong start.

In fact, both starters settled down for a while, with some inconsequential hits sprinkled here-and-there. But Jahmai Jones, who was in the leadoff spot against a lefty today, cracked a long home run to centre to put the Tigers up 2-1 with two out in the top of the fifth.

But the Tigers weren’t done: Gleyber Torres walked, Vierling singled, and Dingler smacked another home run to centre to make it a 5-1 game. All the runs in the fifth scored with two out, incidentally. How about Dillon Dingler, eh?

The rain occasionally intensified through the later innings, and the Fenway grounds crew did their best to make the dirt part of the field as playable as possible. Fresh rosin bags had to be delivered to the mound more than once.

Valdez finished six innings and gave up three hits, two walks and one run while striking out seven. It was good to see him increase his strikeout total today; he’s a big groundball pitcher but the strikeouts were still pretty nice nonetheless. Kyle Finnegan pitched a mostly-boring seventh, which is exactly what you want from him, particularly as it was pouring rain again by this point in the game. Will Vest’s eighth inning featured a leadoff walk, a double play, and a nice play by Hao-Yu Lee on a grounder deep down the third base line for the third out.

In the ninth Javier Báez singled to start the inning and Kerry Carpenter followed with a walk. Torres singled to right to plate Báez for a 6-1 score. After a double play, Dingler singled to left — his fourth hit of the day — and Torres tried to score all the way from first, but someone forgot to tell Torres how short that left field is and he was thrown out at the plate trying to score. Hey, the ball was sure to be wet, why not force the throw?

Connor Seabold came on for the last three outs; he gave up an infield single to Abreu, who advanced to second on defensive indifference and scored on a double by Caleb Durbin. A routine grounder to second ended things, and both teams went to their clubhouses to dry off a bit. Good win over one of the best pitchers in baseball, and the Tigers take a 2-1 lead in the series heading into Monday’s odd 11:05 am ET conclusion to this four-game set. They’re 8-2 over their last 10.

Final score: Tigers 6, Red Sox 2

Prior to the game, Kevin McGonigle and Hao-Yu Lee got the customary trip inside the famed Green Monster to add their signatures to the enormous list of players both famous and obscure who have inked their names inside the wall.

Notes and Notices

• The word crochet is the French word for “hook.” So, if you buy a crochet hook, you’re buying a hook hook, and this has been Languages Corner with JT.
• The series finale goes Monday at 11:10 am EDT due to Patriots’ Day in Boston. The game is meant to coorindate with the running of the Boston Marathon.
• On this day in 1810, the people of Venezuela overthrew the governor that had been appointed by Spain so they could rule the place themselves. And that was the last time anything interesting happened with the government of that country.

With Missouri baseball hoping to grab at least one win in the series, the Tigers came up just short, battling to the finish in their final game against Oklahoma on Sunday, April 19.

Left-hander Javyn Pimental set the tone early for Mizzou, working a composed opening inning that included a double play, a pair of walks and a key throwout at second to escape early traffic. 

Kaden Peer provided that lone early spark with a single to left, but a batter interference call on Pierre Seals quickly ended that inning.

The Sooners struck first that same inning, with a home run to center, followed shortly by a triple and multiple hits that forced the Tigers into an early bullpen situation. Keyer Gonzalez came on in relief in the second and recorded a strikeout, but Oklahoma continued to apply pressure and added another run, making the score 4-0 before he could fully settle the inning.

Gonzalez later found his rhythm on the mound, mixing in two strikeouts and limiting damage after a defensive shift that saw Isaiah Frost and Tyler Macon switch positions. 

Still, Oklahoma’s big swing came in the fourth inning, when Ian Lohse came in to relieve Gonzalez during the middle of the inning, when a three-run home run to right pushed the lead to 8–0. Sooners

Offensively, Missouri was held quite early by Oklahoma starter Cord Rager, who worked through the first five innings with eight strikeouts while allowing just one hit.

Slight Hope for Mizzou

The Tigers’ offense finally broke through in seventh inning. Kam Durnin launched a 398-foot home run for his fourth of the season to put Mizzou on the board at 8–1. Isaiah Frost followed with a single, and while the inning ended on a double play, it gave Missouri its first real momentum of the day.

Defensively, the Tigers had bright spots throughout. Juan Villareal and Kaden Drew each turned in steady relief innings, while Sam Rosand benefitted from a highlight catch by Peer in center field that took away extra bases. Isaiah Salas also worked a clean frame, allowing one hit with a double play and strikeout.

The late push came in the eighth. Peer sparked it again with a single, Eric Maisonet followed with another hit and Tyler Macon worked a walk to load the bases. Blaize Ward delivered the biggest swing of the inning with a two-run single to left, scoring Peer and Maisonet to make it 8–3. Durnin later walked to reload the bases, but the rally ended when Frost grounded out.

Mizzou added one final push with Serna reaching on a walk, Peer collecting his third hit of the day and Maisonet hitting a single to the right side scoring Serna. Although the Tigers comeback attempt stalled as Macon struck out to end the game.

What’s Next

The biggest key for the Tigers right now is clear, they need timely hitting. Mizzou has shown they can get runners on, but the next step is cashing in when it matters. If the offense can start producing in those situational spots, the upcoming series against No. 16 Arkansas could be a real turning point for the season.

That test begins Thursday, April 23, and runs through Saturday, April 25 against the Razorbacks. It won’t be easy, but with an 11-10 record at home, the Tigers will be looking to lean on familiar surroundings and try to steal the series in front of their own fans.

Before that, Mizzou gets one more tune-up, hosting Southern Illinois at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 21 at Taylor Stadium. After a stretch of road games, the Tigers finally return home, where they’ll hope the energy from the crowd can help spark the consistency this lineup has been searching for.

To follow along and read more about Mizzou Baseball, follow @Rock MNation,@SophBleedsLA and @Henry_C81, on twitter/x.

The start of the game was delayed a little over three hours, but it didn’t seem to affect either the Yankees’ bats or arms. With a chance to sweep the Royals, the club did just that, flattening their onetime bitter rivals behind Ryan Weathers’ strong start and a big first inning for the lineup. The Yankees move to 13-9 with a dominant 7-0 victory on Sunday.

We got right to it once play was allowed, with leadoff hitter Ben Rice doing his job and walking, ahead of Aaron Judge:

That’s Judge’s fifth first-inning dinger of the season, more or less able to start his team with a lead before the game really starts. It’s also Judge’s ninth overall homer, second in baseball behind the currently-unconscious Yordan Alvarez, who cracked his 10th today. Austin Wells helped keep the pressure on in the first, bringing Cody Bellinger in with a sac fly after Cole Ragans walked three of four batters to load the bases. If you stuck around the Stadium through the entire delay, you were certainly rewarded with that big first inning.

Ben Rice continued to burnish his case for abolishing the platoon, taking Ragans to right field for his eighth long ball of the year, and fourth straight game with one:

This looks like a porch job, but it turns out Statcast has it a homer in 21 of the 30 MLB parks. Ben’s maturation as a hitter — and the two walks he took today — sure make him a good candidate to hit in front of Judge atop the lineup.

Trent Grisham helped the club put the game out of reach in the fifth:

For all the fun of the offense though, the real story may have been Ryan Weathers. The Yankee lefty had a second excellent start in three outings, going 7.1 innings and shutting out the Royals, albeit with a little bit of help from the defense behind him:

Getting through the first without allowing three straight home runs — although Bobby Witt Jr. did get a single in the frame — already meant we were off to a good start with Weathers, but more than one inning of work was the process. Weathers does not have a good four-seam fastball, and indeed those three home runs the Angels clocked were all center-cut heaters. Today, just 29 percent of his offerings were the #1, three points lower than that bad outing last Tuesday, and his slider/sweeper… thing was much more active, 28 percent of pitches thrown rather than 20.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Weathers pitches best when he pitches backwards, mixing more breaking and offspeed stuff in in place of his fastball. He was able to do that today, and posted his second-best start of the year. Perhaps more importantly, it’s a second excellent start sandwiched around that Angels game, which may be the start of some consistency for the southpaw.

For all the angst of the five-game losing streak, the Yankees went 5-2 on the week and took care of business to close out the homestand. They’ll be off tomorrow before a long road trip starts in Boston Tuesday night, with Luis Gil scheduled to get the start at Fenway. First pitch from the Hub comes at 6:45pm Eastern.

Box Score