Category: Baseball

The Atlanta Braves are holding their breath as star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. is dealing with a thumb issue.

Acuña, 28, was slow to enter the field during the fifth inning of the Braves’ 9-3 win over the Marlins on Thursday, later exiting and getting replaced by outfielder Eli White.

Video from the broadcast showed Acuña outside of the dugout pointing at his left thumb to Atlanta medical staff. It appeared as if it were a struggle for him to close his hand before taking the field.

The Braves then announced on X that Acuña left the game with “pain in his left thumb.”

X-rays on the 2023 NL MVP’s thumb came back negative, with Acuña being designated as day-to-day, according to The Athletic.

Acuña has already missed time this year, being placed on the injured list at the beginning of May due to a hamstring strain.

He wound up sidelined for roughly two weeks, with Tuesday’s game against the Marlins being his first game back since he suffered his injury on May 2.

While on the field, Acuña has experienced a slow start compared to previous years, posting a modest slash line of .252/.364/.378 with just two home runs through 36 games.

“He just hasn’t found that consistency where he gets rolling, but it will be loud when he does… He’s getting really close,” Braves manager Walt Weiss told reporters in April. “Our offense has been really good, and we can dream big if Ronald gets rolling, it will be fun to watch.”

Injuries have plagued Acuña’s career since his 2023 campaign, playing in 95 games last year and just 49 games in 2024.

The five-time All-Star tore his ACL in May 2024, causing him to miss the remainder of the season, along with the start of 2025.

Acuña dealt with Achilles tightness during the 2025 season, causing him to miss roughly three weeks at the start of August.

The Braves sit atop the NL East with a 35-16 record following Thursday’s win.

The Yankees offense went cold for a second straight day as they mustered just three hits in their 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday night in the Bronx.

It's not like the Yankees didn't have their chances. They were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left five on base. With the loss, the Yankees (30-21) split the four-game series with Toronto (23-27).

Here are the takeaways...

-The Yankees bats didn't have many runners get into scoring position against the Blue Jays, who deployed the bullpen game strategy. In the second, Ryan McMahon'stwo-out double was wasted in the second inning by an Anthony Volpe flyout and a Spencer Jones leadoff single -- followed by the prospect's first career stolen base -- was gone by the wayside in the fifth after back-to-back strikeouts from Volpe and J.C. Escarra. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. (strikeout) and Paul Goldschmidt (groundout) left Ben Rice at second when the Yankees had two runners on in the sixth. 

The Blue Jays were worse in the clutch department, picking up seven hits (three from Ernie Clement) but making it count by going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight on base.

-Carlos Rodon made his third start of the season Thursday and got into some bad luck in the first. After walking Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with one out, the slugger stole second and Daulton Varsho poked an opposite-field double (65.5 mph off the bat) that hit the third base bag, scoring Guerrero. 

Aside from that, Rodon was solid. The southpaw gave the Yankees five strong innings, striking out a season-high seven batters. He allowed just the one run on three hits and three walks. It's the furthest Rodon has gone this season and he dropped his ERA to 5.40. 

-Aaron Judge's struggles continued, striking out looking in his first at-bat -- extending his consecutive strikeout streak to seven ABs. He finished 0-for-4. He is now homerless in 10 straight games.

Volpe is fighting to stay in the lineup with the return of Jose Caballero looming. The shortstop went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and went 3-for-14 with four strikeouts in the series.

Escarra is also looking to stay in the lineup with the slumping Austin Wells not starting. Escarra finished 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout and is 1-for-16 in his last seven games.

Jones started in center field with Trent Grisham getting the night off after injuring his knee on Wednesday. The young slugger went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and a strikeout.

-George Springer got to the bullpen, taking Camilo Doval deep for a solo shot to put Toronto up 2-0 in the seventh. The Yankees bullpen was up-and-down in this one. Yovanny Cruz, after having a spectacular MLB debut on Wednesday, was not as sharp, allowing a hit and hitting a batter while getting just one out. 

Here's how the bullpen fared:

• Y. Cruz: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 HB 
• Brent Headrick: 1.0 IP, 1 K
• Doval: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER
• Paul Blackburn: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 K

Game MVP: Blue Jays bullpen

Toronto used five pitchers and they kept the Yankees lineup off balance, striking out 14 batters.

What's next

The Yankees continue their homestand by hosting the AL East-leading Rays for a three-game series starting Friday. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

Gerrit Cole will make his season debut while Tampa will have Nick Martinez (4-1, 1.51 ERA) take the mound.

Another game, another offensive outburst, another series win. The Braves continued to bounce back and then some from their 12-0 drubbing in the series opener, riding a trio of homers, including two by Michael Harris II, to yet another easy win over the Marlins in Miami.

The Braves wasted no time in opening the scoring against Sandy Alcantara. Ronald Acuña Jr. beat out a single to short, and then Harris unloaded on a hanging 1-2 changeup, sending a 110+ mph laser over the fence in right-center to give Atlanta a 2-0 lead. In the second, it was Mike Yastrzemski’s turn to jump on a changeup, and though he didn’t hit it as hard as Harris (102, not 110+), it still had enough to get past the field of play and give the Braves a 3-0 advantage.

Spencer Strider faced the minimum through two thanks to a double play, but Owen Caissie caught up to an elevated fastball to start the third and lofted it 400+ feet for a solo shot. Then, in the fourth, it was Kyle Stowers’ turn to scoop a Strider 1-2 curve below the zone and send it just far enough to give the Marlins another solo shot.

Not to worry, though, as the Braves stormed right back. Yastrzemski and Ha-Seong Kim each singled to start the fifth, and after a successful bunt by Chadwick Tromp, Acuña lined a ball past the drawn-in infield to make it a 5-2 game. Strider struck out the side in the bottom of the frame, working around a walk. A Yastrzemski opposite-field double plated a sixth Atlanta run. Strider then worked another perfect frame, retiring the top of the Miami order on two soft groundouts and a nine-pitch strikeout.

Sandy Alcantara departed after six innings. It was a pretty poor outing in an inconsistent season for him, as he managed just three strikeouts while allowing two homers. At least he didn’t walk anyone — but the two homers allowed were his first since he allowed four homers in two starts back in mid-April. Cade Gibson threw a scoreless seventh, though the frame involved a Tromp single and a hit-by-pitch of Eli White, who came in for Acuña after the latter made a precautionary departure due to pain in his thumb.

Strider came back out for the seventh, but he didn’t complete the inning. Stowers popped him for another homer, again on a low breaking pitch. This time, it was a slider still in the zone, but the result was largely the same. Stowers came into this game with a single homer on the year, and collected two off Strider tonight. After a routine flyout and a four-pitch walk, the Braves pulled the plug on Strider. His final line was 6 1/3 innings with a 9/2 K/BB ratio. It was kind of a weird outing — an FIP in the 7.00s due to the three homers, but an xFIP below 3.00, due to the stellar K/BB effort. It was his longest outing of the year, the nine punchouts were the most he had since last July, and it was the fourth three-homer game of his career.

Dylan Lee relieved Strider and the Marlins actually sent the tying run to the plate after a pinch-hit single greeted the Braves’ ace lefty reliever. A strikeout and a groundout stifled the threat, though, and the Braves pretty much rolled from there. Mauricio Dubon hit for Yastrzemski in the eighth and blooped a two-run single to make it 8-3. Robert Suarez threw an 11-pitch perfect frame with a strikeout in the eighth, and then Harris, not to be outdone by Stowers, hit his own second homer, this time off Pete Fairbanks on a letter-high, 98 mph fastball. Harris now has a 135 wRC+ on the season, and likely pushed his xwOBA back over .400 with tonight’s effort. Woo and wow.

Dylan Dodd struck out two in the ninth to end the game, giving the Braves their 35th win.

The lads will return home to start a weekend set with the Nationals tomorrow, but they’ll have a happy flight given that they’re on yet another win streak at this point.

Devin Williams was on the mound with a streak of nine straight scoreless outings under his belt, and yet when that wind-blown shallow fly ball fell in for a double leading off the ninth inning on Thursday in Washington, D.C, I’m quite sure most Mets fans were thinking the worst. 

How could you not, to be honest?

It has been that kind of season for the Mets, and, well, Williams has a reputation, between his work in the Bronx last season and a rough start in Queens this year, for shrinking in the biggest moments as a closer. 

Going all the way back to giving up the famous Pete Alonso home run for the Brewers, actually.

So I don’t blame you if you’re not fully buying into the new-and-improved Devin Williams just yet. Or is it the old reliable Devin Williams, going back to his pre-Alonso Milwaukee days?

But to be fair, the guy has been as lockdown as a closer can be for nearly a month now, covering his last 10 appearances, including Thursday’s 2-1 win over the Nationals. 

This one was especially impressive as Williams didn’t flinch on Thursday, despite the misplay by A.J. Ewing in center that turned Daylen Lile’s wind-blown fly ball into a leadoff double. Indeed, after a ground ball pushed the tying run on third base with one out, Williams fell behind 3-1 to Jose Tena, yet struck him out by getting swings on two nasty changeups. 

A routine groundout finished off the save, and suddenly, you can make a case that the air-bender is again worthy of the fancy nickname by which Williams’ changeup has been known for years. 

Certainly, he is carrying himself with the old confidence born from that pitch, a confidence that was evident after the save Thursday -- and quite a contrast to his subdued interviews from blown saves past. 

For example, he was asked by SNY’s Steve Gelbs how he pulled off the escape, especially after falling behind in the count to Tena. 

“Never giving in,” Williams said with a smile. “I know that guy wanted to hit a fastball there. I didn’t give it to him. I was pitching to the score of the game. The tying run was on third. Gotta keep him there.”

Only a couple of years ago, he was as good as anybody in the game in situations like that, which is why David Stearns thought it was worth a three-year, $51 million gamble to sign him last winter, believing he could be that guy again. 

And at least right now, it is looking like one decision for which Stearns doesn’t have to do any re-examining, unlike so many others in this so-far disaster of a season. 

For in those last 10 appearances, Williams has thrown 9.2 scoreless innings while holding opponents to a .069 batting average, with five walks and 12 strikeouts. 

It’s a relatively small sample, to be sure, but there’s another component to his recent success that could add weight to the results.

That is, those results coincide with Williams’ decision to go back to his old delivery. Actually, his old way of coming set before his delivery, with his glove in front of his chest. 

After the Alonso home run, which caused much video-inspired speculation that Williams was tipping his pitches that night, and his problems in the Bronx last season, he had changed his set position to try and protect against tipping, lowering his glove to a belt-high position.  

It's something, he believes, that messed with his mechanics as well as his mindset. 

“The way I’m starting with my hands now, it’s more comfortable for me,” Williams told reporters Thursday. “It’s back to what I used to do.”

He admitted he had changed it because of all the tipping-pitches speculation, but with a 10.29 ERA in late April, he decided to go back to his old way. So how will he guard against tipping now?

“Being conscious of it,” he said simply. 

If Williams returning to form turns out to be more than just some type of streak, it obviously would be crucial for the Mets, who are trying to save their season. As it is, they are slowly moving closer to .500, playing better baseball for the last few weeks. 

Yet a return to contention still feels like a major leap of faith. The Nationals aren’t pushovers -- they lead the majors in runs scored, and still it feels like the Mets should have won 3 of 4 against them, if Nolan McLean hadn’t imploded with a 5-0 lead in the second game of the series. 

The offense is showing signs of life, yet the Mets still have days like Thursday when they went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and couldn’t add on a crucial insurance run or two in the ninth inning after loading the bases with no outs.

But there are good signs as well. The emergence of Carson Benge and the call-up of Ewing have provided a spark, and now Juan Soto is hot while Bo Bichette, who delivered the only runs on Thursday with a two-run single, seems to finally be coming around as well. 

Meanwhile, the impact of the Clay Holmes injury is already being felt, but at least David Peterson has been solid enough of late, including Thursday, to offer evidence that he can be a capable starter. 

Then there is the bullpen, which has been mostly excellent lately, including Thursday, as Huascar Brazoban, Brooks Raley, and Luke Weaver each pitched a hitless inning to get it to Williams. And Austin Warren has been the surprise piece that teams need. 

Add it all up and there are rays of optimism in the Mets winning seven of their last 10 games. It may not be a reason to buy into a turnaround, but it’s not nothing. 

Same for Williams. If the air-bender is truly a thing again, it’s hard to know how much it will matter in August or September. But for now, it’s something.

If you look at the chart above, you’ll notice something a little unusual. There’s eighteen bullpen outings in total above, and in none of them has a D-backs reliever thrown as many as twenty pitches. This appears to be something of a trend. Indeed, excluding Brandon Pfaadt for obvious reasons, no Arizona reliever has gone past 20 pitches in a game this month. The last to do so were Philip Abner and James McCann on April 30th, who threw 34 and 24 pitches respectively. Taylor Clarke’s last five appearances have averaged just 8.8 pitches, and Juan Morillo is lower still, at just eight pitches per outing over his previous five outings.

All told, the D-backs bullpen has thrown 681 pitches this month. That’s the lowest in the majors, and it’s not close. It’s 245 pitches fewer than the 29th-ranked Braves: they’re nearer the 12th ranked Cubs, than to the 30th place D-backs. The average Arizona relief appearance in May has lasted just 13.35 pitches. That figure is down by over twenty percent from 16.89 pitches per GR over the first month of the season. The number was even higher last year, at 18.94 pitches. This is not a major league-wide trend. Indeed, compared to last season, the average number of pitches has actually increased, going up from 18.55 to 19.50 P/GR.

I wonder if this is something the D-backs are consciously doing. It could partly be a result of the rotation going deeper into games. The starters have thrown 112 innings this month – most in the majors, despite playing a game less than the other leaders. When there’s only an average of eight outs per game to get, you can be more aggressive about changing relievers. Getting all of your bullpen into games might require shorter outings. But I wonder if it may also be an attempt to protect arms? Has the team found that longer outings lead to excessive strain on relief arms as well as starters? No idea. But something to keep an eye on.

After another heartbreaking loss on Wednesday to close out the homestand, the Colorado Rockies are back out on the road to kick off a seven-game trip to face the Arizona Diamondbacks for a four-game series, followed by three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Rockies and Diamondbacks squared off last weekend at Coors Field, with the Snakes taking the series. Arizona ended up scoring 19 runs while Colorado scored 11 in the series. Two of the games remained relatively close, so hopefully things can turn in the Rockies’ favor as they are 9-16 on the road. The Diamondbacks, on the other hand, are fresh off a three-game sweep of the scuffling San Francisco Giants and are now 15-9 at home.

Zach Agnos (0-0, 5.59 ERA) will take the mound as the starter for Colorado. This is Agnos’ first career start as he has only worked as a reliever dating back to his college days. Manager Warren Schaeffer has liked what he’s seen out of Agnos in a long relief role, and may have been convinced to give him this start after he tossed 4.1 innings in his last appearance. That outing just so happened to come against Arizona, as he allowed two runs on four hits. Agnos has now gone three or more innings five times out of his 13 appearances. Strikeouts are definitely down as he has just four in 11.2 innings, but he has also limited himself to three walks. He will get into some trouble giving up contact, but if he keeps up what he’s been doing of late, he could eat some much-needed innings.

Eduardo Rodriguez (4-1, 2.53 ERA) has continued his excellence for the Diamondbacks. The veteran lefty has consistently averaged at least five innings per start and allowed more than two runs just three times. His previous outing came at Coors Field, where he limited the Rockies to just three runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings of work with six strikeouts and no walks. It was the first game this season where Rodriguez hadn’t issued a walk, as he had allowed at least three in each of his previous five starts. He continues to limit hard contact and generate a healthy amount of ground balls.

First Pitch: 7:40 PM MDT

TV: Rockies TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Diamondbacks SB Nation site: AZ Snake Pit

Lineups:

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The Athletics have taken two of the three games in this series with the Los Angeles Angels at their home field and are aiming for three of four with a victory tonight in the final game of this set. But standing in their way will be LA’s ace, José Soriano. Soriano on the year is 6-3 with a 2.41 ERA in ten starts. He’s in the top five in the American League in wins, ERA, strike outs, and opponents’ batting average. However, he’s given up a dozen runs and has only one win in his last three starts in 2026. Soriano will face Luis Severino for the A’s. Severino is 2-5 with an ERA of 4.45 in his ten starts this season. His ERA is a full two runs lower on the road than at home in Sutter Health Park and the Angels struggle to score at home, so this may be a better matchup than anticipated.

Soriano will go up against this lineup for the A’s tonight:

Severino will face off against this lineup looking to even up this four-game series for the Angels:

Follow the Game:

Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast

Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña, Jr. was replaced in the bottom of the sixth inning of tonight’s game against the Miami Marlins by Eli White after dealing with an apparent thumb issue one inning prior.

When getting ready to take the field in the bottom of the fifth, Acuña, Jr. lingered near the dugout while his thumb was examined before jogging back to right field. Acuña, Jr. had singled in two runs in the top of the inning.

The star outfielder has been snake-bitten by injuries throughout his career and hopefully this was purely a precautionary measure with the team leading the Marlins 6-2 at the time of his removal.

Update #1: The Braves official statement was removal due to “pain in his left thumb.”

Update #2: The Braves announced that X-Rays on his thumb were negative and he is day-to-day (but then again, aren’t we all).

Thursday was big for the Mets and especially David Peterson. 

After the Mets removed Peterson from the rotation -- having him pitch as a bulk reliever behind an opener -- the southpaw was pegged to start Thursday's series finale against the Nationals. The decision was made partly because Peterson has pitched better of late as a reliever, and the Mets, in the midst of playing 16 straight games, needed length from a starter and the left-handed heavy Nationals lineup was an ideal landing spot to give Peterson his first start in almost a month.

And Peterson rewarded the Mets with arguably his best start of the season.

Peterson allowed just one run on four hits and three walks while striking out three across five innings. The combination of Peterson and four relievers led the Mets to a 2-1 win. It was Peterson's first win as a starter since Sept. 5, 2025.

"I thought he was good. That first inning, he lost the zone a little there. Got a little quick with his tempo but settled in nicely and gave us what we needed," manager Carlos Mendoza said after the win. " He’s a good pitcher. That’s why he starts. Went through struggles and we believe in him. Now it’s time for him to continue to do that and he will. He’s a big part of this team and we’ll continue to use him." 

Thursday's start wasn't all great, as Mendoza mentioned. In the first, Peterson loaded the bases with three straight two-out walks, but got out of the jam by striking out Daylen Lile. He escaped another jam in the fifth, allowing just one run after Washington had runners on second and third and no outs.

"Felt I was a little quick. Just tried to settle in and slow myself down my motion," Peterson said. "Get ahead on the first pitch and go from there... We were on the attack, just tried to fill up the zone and stay on the attack, be aggressive all day."

Entering Thursday's start, Peterson was much more effective as a reliever, pitching to a 2.25 ERA and allowing only four earned runs over his last three appearances (13.0 IP). In his five previous starts this season, Peterson is 0-4 with an 8.10 ERA across 18.0 innings pitched. 

With the Mets dealing with injuries and inconsistencies, if Peterson can find his 2025 self (the first half, at least) the rotation would be in much better shape as New York looks to absorb the loss of Clay Holmes. 

Peterson pitched to a 6-4 record and a 3.06 ERA in the first half of last season, en route to his first All-Star Game selection. However, his second-half performance was one reason the Mets faltered down the stretch and missed the postseason. Mendoza was asked what it would mean if Peterson returned to that form, and the skipper gushed over the idea.

"A lot. We saw it; he was an All-Star last year. A big part of the success we had last season," Mendoza said. "If he can be that guy, it’ll help us get us to the next level and he’s more than capable of doing that."

"Felt like I’ve been that for a couple of outings now," Peterson said when asked if he feels like his 2025 first-half self. "Good to get the start. Continue to build off of it, look at what we need to work on and move forward."

The 30-year-old says he's confident that he can recapture those performances because he's done it before and knows what he's capable of. 

"Trust in my teammates, my catchers and continue to be aggressive and throw a lot of strikes," he said.

As the Colorado Rockies prepare to start their three game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, they announced a series of roster moves on Thursday afternoon.

Brenton Doyle was injured on Tuesday while making a diving catch, so his landing on the IL with a left-oblique contusion is not surprising.

Meanwhile, Chad Stevens has absolutely been on fire with the Albuquerque Isotopes. In 168 plate appearances, he’s slashing .362/.435/.523 (.958 OPS). He has stolen six bases. The infielder was an off-season minor league free agent signing for the Rockies. Stevens, 27, was originally drafted by the Houston Astros in 2021 and made his big league debut with the Los Angeles Angels last season.

Blas Castaño was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque four days ago. He pitched 2.1 innings for the Rockies and allowed one earned run on two hits. He also struck out three and walked one. The righty fits well into the Rockies current model that relies on relievers who can throw bulk innings.

The Rockies optioned LHP Sammy Peralta to Albuquerque. He most recently served as an opener for Tanner Gordon on Tuesday, and did not get out of the first inning.

Finally, the Rockies designated LHP Carson Palmquist (No. 19 PuRP) for assignment. Palmquist has struggled this season. In 25.0 IP, he has a 7.20 ERA, allowing 12.6 H/9. Originally selected in the third round of the 2022 draft, Palmquist made his MLB debut last season but struggled immensely. He posted an 8.91 ERA in nine appearances—seven of which were starts—with 25 walks to 27 strikeouts and ten home runs allowed over 34.1 innings.

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WASHINGTON — David Peterson has rehabilitated his season over the past few weeks with hardly flashy, but effective performances.

On Thursday, he walked the bases loaded in the first inning, escaping unscathed, albeit with an elevated pitch count.

As the starting pitcher, he got the Mets through the fifth with only one run allowed against the Nationals, reversing a recent trend:

In five appearances this season as a bulk reliever, he’s pitched to a 2.25 ERA.

In five as a starter before Thursday, he had an 8.10 ERA.

Peterson’s best start since opening weekend helped the Mets win 2-1 to split their four-game series at Nationals Park and snap a two-game skid.

“He’s a good pitcher, that is where you start,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s a real good pitcher that went through struggles, but we believe in him. Now it’s time for him to continue to do that and he will. He’s a big part of this team and we are going to continue to use him.”

The lefty had a brutal start against these Nationals on April 29, allowing seven earned runs, but since then has recovered, pitching to a 2.50 ERA over four appearances following an opener.

The Mets have needed him, especially with Clay Holmes’ deployment to the injured list over the last week with a fractured right fibula.

“I feel like I have been there for a couple of outings now,” Peterson said when asked if he felt as if he’s reverted to the pitcher who earned an All-Star appearance last season.

Huascar Brazobán, Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams each pitched a scoreless inning behind Peterson.

Next stop for the Mets is a three-game series beginning Friday in Miami.

Peterson started his day with two fast outs before walking Andrés Chaparro, CJ Abrams and Dylan Crews to load the bases.

Peterson, who threw 28 pitches in the inning, struck out Daylen Lile to escape.

“There’s a couple of things I was feeling, but I was a little quick [in the first inning],” Peterson said. “I just tried to kind of settle in, slow myself down and get in my motion and then continue to try to get ahead with the first pitch and go from there.”

Bo Bichette’s fielding error to begin the second was overcome as Keibert Ruiz was nailed attempting to steal second, completing a strikeout/throw-out double play to end the inning.

Bichette stroked a two-run single in the third against Cade Cavalli to give the Mets their only scoring.

MJ Melendez got hit by a pitch and Luis Torrens and Carson Benge each singled to load the bases before Bichette delivered with a shot through the middle.

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It continued a hot stretch for Bichette, who was 7-for-19 (.368) with three homers over his previous four games.

He finished with six RBIs in the four-game series.

The Nats pulled to within 2-1 in the fifth on Chaparro’s RBI groundout.

Ruiz singled and James Wood doubled to put runners on second and third with nobody out.

After Chaparro brought in the run, Mark Vientos’ diving stop and scamper to first on Abrams’ smash prevented the Nats from tying the game.

“I felt like we were on the attack,” said Peterson, whose outing matched his longest since April 13. “I felt like we had a good game plan and just tried to fill up the zone and stay on the attack, be aggressive all day.”

The Mets loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth, but couldn’t add insurance.

Melendez struck out, Torrens was retired on a line drive and Carson Benge flied out.

A.J. Ewing broke in the wrong direction on Lile’s fly ball leading off the bottom of the ninth and couldn’t secure the ball in his glove upon recovering.

Lile reached second and advanced to third on a groundout. Williams kept the tying run stranded by striking out José Tena before retiring Ruiz.

“That’s a good team over there,” Williams said. “We were able to split with them and come away with two [wins] and we have got to keep stacking good days.”

David Peterson and the Mets’ bullpen combined to hold the Nationals to one run, which meant that Bo Bichette’s two-run single in the top of the third was just enough for the Mets to beat the Nationals by a 2-1 score and get out of D.C. with a series split.

Peterson might not have been dominant, but he was effective. The lefty went five innings, struck out three, walked three, and gave up one run on four hits. That brought him down to a 5.03 ERA on the season, and he threw 82 pitches in the start. Having struggled mightily in traditional starts so far this year, it was good to see him pitch that well without an opener having pitched before him.

As for the aforementioned two-run single from Bichette, the Mets had loaded the bases for him when MJ Melendez was hit by a pitch, Luis Torrens reached on an infield single, and Carson Benge singled to left. In a series that’s seen his bat finally come to life, Bichette came through with a single to center to bring home the Mets’ only pair of runs.

From there, the bullpen was the story. Huascar Brazobán, who’s been the most vital and versatile reliever on the roster so far this year, spun a scoreless sixth on just nine pitches. Brooks Raley needed just 14 pitches to get through a scoreless seventh with a pair of strikeouts. Luke Weaver issued a walk but notched one strikeout in a scoreless eighth. And following a wind-aided leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth that barely eluded A.J. Ewing in center field, Devin Williams got a ground out, a strikeout, and another ground out to get the save.

The Mets’ lineup remains a concern, but in isolation, there’s nothing wrong with a pitching-fueled win. Depending on the outcome of the Marlins’ game against the Braves, which is ongoing at the time of this writing, the Mets might even wake up tomorrow morning in fourth place in the division.

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Federal Baseball

Box scores

MLB.com
ESPN

Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Devin Williams, +20% WPA
Big Mets loser: Mark Vientos, -23% WPA
Mets pitchers: +70% WPA
Mets hitters: -20% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Devin Williams strikes out José Tena for the second out in the ninth, +25% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Daylen Lile doubles to lead off the bottom of the ninth, -24% WPA

Just in case I don’t get home before game time, use this as the game thread. I expect to be home before, but best laid plans and all.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Spencer Miles does tonight. He’s been terrific in this role. I’m thinking they could skip the opener thing, but i don’t run things.

Go Jays Go

Thanks mostly to dominant pitching, especially from the bullpen, the Mets squeezed out a 2-1 win over the Nationals in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

With the win, the Mets split the series 2-2 with the Nationals.

Here are the takeaways...

-Devin Williams finished off an excellent day for the bullpen, pitching out of trouble in the ninth inning to get his seventh save of the season.

The inning became dicey when rookie center fielder AJ Ewing misplayed a shallow fly ball by Daylen Lile into a wind-blown double, charging hard after getting a late start as the ball hit off the heel of his glove.

Lile advanced to third on a ground ball, but Williams then struck out Jose Tena swinging at a change-up and got Keibert Ruiz on a routine groundout to end the game.

The Mets’ bullpen, which has been outstanding lately, delivered dominance on this day as four relievers pitched four near-perfect innings, allowing only one walk and one hit, all while holding a 2-1 lead.  

-Prior to Williams in the ninth, Huascar Brazoban and Brooks Raley were perfect in the sixth and seventh innings, before Luke Weaver allowed a two-out walk in the eighth, the only blemish for the bullpen.

Weaver now has a streak of eight straight scoreless innings.

-Bo Bichette’s bases-loaded single in the third inning gave the Mets their only two runs of the afternoon.

They loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning but failed to score as MJ Melendez struck out swinging, Luis Torrens’ soft liner was caught by second baseman Nasim Nunez, and Carson Benge flied out to deep right-center – a 101 mph shot that may have been knocked down by a fairly strong wind.  

With a solid five-inning outing in his first start in three weeks, Peterson offered the Mets hope that he can again be a reliable piece in their starting rotation.

After early-season struggles, Peterson has been more effective recently, being used as a bulk reliever, following an opener. But because the Nationals feature key left-handed hitters at the top of the lineup, Peterson got the start.

And after a shaky first inning, in which he walked three straight hitters with two outs but escaped unscathed, the Mets’ lefty put together a strong outing. He had a shutout through four innings, then gave up a run in the fifth and escaped further damage when Mark Vientos made a nice, diving grab to his left of a hard one-hopper, stranding a Nationals’ runner at third base.

Peterson was pulled after five innings, his pitch count at 82. He lowered his ERA to a still-high 5.03, but he has been much better lately, with a 2.50 ERA to show for his four outings in May, spanning 18 innings.

-Bichette continued his recent productive streak at the plate. His hard, ground-ball single up the middle off Cade Cavalli with the bases loaded and one out in the third inning delivered two runs to give the Mets a 2-0 lead at the time.

The two RBI gave Bichette nine for the series. He hit three home runs and drove in seven runs in the first two games of the series. Bichette’s overall numbers remain well below expectations: he’s hitting .227 with a .607 OPS and 11 extra-base hits.

-Despite his wind-blown misplay in center, Ewing continues to do the little things well, dropping down a sacrifice bunt in the ninth inning that moved two runners into scoring position.

Ewing was actually safe on his bunt when the throw to first was dropped by second baseman Nasim Nunez. But more to the point, he has now delivered twice in late-inning sacrifice situations since his call-up on May 12. He had never bunted for a sacrifice successfully in the minors.

Game MVP: Devin Williams

Williams had to overcome the wind-blown double in the ninth, but he got a huge strikeout to prevent the Nationals from scoring with a runner on third base and one out. Williams now has 10 straight scoreless outings. 

Highlights

David Peterson strikes out Daylen Lile to end the first after walking the bases loaded pic.twitter.com/3jUfpFTdwk

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 21, 2026

The Nationals attempt the double steal, but Luis Torrens throws out Keibert Ruiz at second! pic.twitter.com/JhiW7wI9Nh

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 21, 2026

A 2-run single for Bo Bichette to open the scoring!

9 RBIs for Bichette in this series against the Nationals! pic.twitter.com/AQJAEOgsSY

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 21, 2026

Devin Williams gets out of the jam and locks down his 7th save of the season!

The Mets win and split the series with the Nationals pic.twitter.com/HkSMY6ryVl

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 21, 2026

What's next

The Mets' road trip continues with a three-game series in Miami as they take on the Marlins on Friday night. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m.

The Mets have yet to announce their starter, while the Marlins will send Eury Perez (2-6, 5.33 ERA) to the mound.

Though the Yankees and Blue Jays remain 7.5 games apart in the AL East standings, the first three games of this four-game set between them have each been decided by a single run. Last night, the Yankees failed to support Cam Schlittler’s strong start as their nemesis Trey Yesavage dominated them again. Thanks to the wins on Monday and Tuesday, though, the worst the Bombers can do is split with the Jays. Carlos Rodón has other plans—he’ll look to get right in his third start of the season and bring the Yanks a much-needed series victory.

Rodón himself had harsh words for his first two outings of the year, but as I mentioned in the series preview, his woes have been almost entirely limited to getting the last out of a given inning. While velocity has been solid, his command has been spotty. Again, pay close attention to how he approaches Toronto with two outs. They’re a team that was famously pesky in 2025 with no margin for error, but they haven’t been quite at the same level this year.

The Blue Jays’ rotation only goes four deep right now; Eric Lauer was recently DFA’d, Shane Bieber is working his way back, and José Berrios just underwent Tommy John surgery, so John Schneider has no choice but to turn to a bullpen game. Righty reliever Braydon Fisher, who has a 3.08 ERA in 24 games this year, will get the opener assignment.

As far as the bulk innings, that will be handled by 25-year old Spencer Miles, who has pitched to a 2.55 ERA in 24.2 innings. Miles started a game against the Angels back on May 10th but only went three innings—scoreless innings, though. He pitched from the second to the fifth his last time against Detroit, so look for a similar strategy today.

Trent Grisham is out today after having to leave early in last night’s contest, so Spencer Jones stays in tonight. Aside from J.C. Escarra filling in for the badly struggling Austin Wells, it’s the same lineup as yesterday.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY

First pitch: 7:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, SN1

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280, SN590 THE FAN

Streaming: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

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