DENVER — The colder it got Wednesday night, the louder the Mets bats crackled.
By the middle innings, the temperature had dropped to 37 degrees at Coors Field and the Mets were rolling. All that remained was for the bullpen to secure the final outs.
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The Mets survived for a 10-5 victory over the Rockies, giving them three straight wins and four in their past five games. They will try for their first series sweep of the season today.
“It’s been tough times definitely,” Juan Soto said, referring to the Mets’ NL-worst record entering play. “But we come with the same mentality every day.”
After a postponement from Tuesday’s wintry mix that included snow that coated the field, the Mets broke out offensively, racing to an eight-run lead in the sixth inning.
The Rockies rallied later — most notably against Tobias Myers and Sean Manaea — but manager Carlos Mendoza’s high-leverage relievers preserved the victory.
It wasn’t the altitude ball as much as solid contact that carried the Mets, who had 15 hits.
Marcus Semien led the rampage with a 4-for-5 performance that included hits in two big rallies before smashing a two-run homer in the ninth. Mark Vientos and Luis Torrens were the only starters without a hit.
New York Mets’ Juan Soto gestures as he crosses home plate after hitting a solo home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen in the first inning on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Denver. AP
“You want to have good games in this ballpark, it’s a good place to hit,” Semien said. “It’s a big outfield and the ball carries.”
Freddy Peralta grinded through five shutout innings, allowing four hits and two walks with one strikeout. It was Peralta’s first start this season in which he didn’t surrender a run. Peralta ran deep into counts and was removed after 91 pitches.
“Crazy weather,” Peralta said when asked about the difficulty of pitching in such cold conditions. “Hard to breathe, and 35 degrees is crazy.”
Soto, batting leadoff for the second straight game — and the second time in his Mets tenure — hit the night’s third pitch for a homer. The blast was his fourth this season and the first leadoff homer of his career.
ew York Mets second baseman Marcus Semien (10) celebrates scoring a run in the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Carson Benge’s two-run single against Michael Lorenzen in the fourth was the big hit in an inning when the Mets scored three runs to take a 4-0 lead.
Brett Baty walked leading off and Semien doubled before Benge delivered, continuing his recent surge. He entered the day 10-for-23 (.323) over his previous nine starts. Francisco Alvarez extended the rally with a single before Torrens’ groundout brought in the Mets’ fourth run.
The Rockies produced plenty of early traffic against Peralta, but the right-hander wouldn’t break.
Carson Benge of the New York Mets hits a sixth-inning double against the Colorado Rockies. Getty Images
In the second, he allowed consecutive singles to TJ Rumfield and Tyler Freeman leading off the inning before recording three straight outs. In the third he allowed a single and a walk — with a wild pitch mixed in — before retiring Rumfield for the final out. In the fourth, Troy Johnston singled and Kyle Karros walked before Peralta recorded two straight outs to escape.
Benge’s sixth-inning double helped fuel another rally. Alvarez followed with an RBI single and Torrens got plunked to load the bases.
Soto’s sacrifice fly extended the lead to 6-0 before Bo Bichette delivered an RBI single. Tyrone Taylor’s RBI fielder’s choice widened the gulf to eight runs.
Freddy Peralta of the New York Mets reacts after the third out of the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on May 6, 2026. Getty Images
Myers entered for the sixth and surrendered a leadoff homer to Rumfield. Freeman and Johnston followed with consecutive doubles for another run before Jake McCarthy launched a two-run homer that sliced the Mets lead to 8-4.
Myers never completed the inning. He surrendered a single to Edouard Julien before Brooks Raley was summoned to get the final out.
Raley got the Mets through the seventh before Luke Weaver pitched a scoreless eighth and Manaea stumbled in the ninth. Devin Williams had warmed up in the bullpen earlier, but once the Mets tacked on with Semien’s homer in the ninth the lefty Manaea was deployed. Manaea, relegated to mop-up duty because of his struggles, recorded only one out and was removed after allowing three hits and plunking a batter.
Williams entered with the bases loaded and struck out Jordan Beck and Karros in succession to end the game.
“It’s been a tough stretch for Sean,” Mendoza said. “He’s too good of a pitcher. He’s very important for us. We have to continue to support him, work with him, especially in moments like this.”
DENVER, COLORADO - MAY 6: TJ Rumfield #7 of the Colorado Rockies runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning against the New York Mets at Coors Field on May 6, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Despite a good number of quality at-bats and a surplus of hits to generate traffic, the Colorado Rockies (14-23) left too many men on base as the New York Mets (14-22) continued to heat up with a 10-5 victory.
A cold night for Lorenzen
After delivering an incredible start his last time out against the Mets, Michael Lorenzen labored in his outing this time around against New York. The tone of his start was set when Juan Soto blasted a 435-foot home run on the third pitch of the game, the first leadoff home run of his impressive career, to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
That score would remain until Lorenzen surrendered three runs in the fourth inning. Brett Baty drew a lead-off walk and moved up to third on a Marcus Semien double. Both runners then scored on a single by Carson Benge, who later scored on a groundout by Luis Torrens, making it 4-0.
Things then quickly got out of hand for Lorenzen in the sixth inning when he allowed three straight hits to start the inning, leaving the game after allowing an RBI single to Francisco Alvarez. Zach Agnos relieved Lorenzen but couldn’t prevent the other two runs from scoring on a Soto sacrifice fly and a Bo Bichette single. Agnos would allow a fourth run of the inning on a botched double-play ball to give the Mets an 8-0 lead.
On the night, Lorenzen struggled to miss bats, leaving too many pitches over the plate, and the Mets took advantage of his errors in the cold air.
He tossed five complete innings, giving up seven runs on 11 hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Lorenzen threw 87 pitches, 53 for strikes, while inducing six ground outs. He now sports a 6.92 ERA on the season.
Innings eater
After escaping the sixth inning, Agnos settled in to save the bullpen by finishing the rest of the game on the mound. He went four innings, allowing three runs on four hits while throwing 59 pitches. The Mets managed to tack on a pair of runs after Baty singled, and Semien hit a home run.
Peralta’s Coors Field Comfort
Freddy Peralta continued his excellence at Coors Field, limiting the Rockies to just four hits through five innings. They had threatened to score multiple times but failed to bring home any runs. However, he also struggled to miss bats, as he struck out just one batter and the Rockies hitters made him work.
Peralta issued just two walks but threw 91 pitches, 56 strikes, while inducing seven groundouts. He did well to induce weak contact and get Colorado to hit the ball directly at the defense. However, once he was out of the game, the Rockies started to get rolling.
Rally in the Sixth
After being held scoreless through five, that finally changed with a sixth-inning rally against Tobias Myers.
TJ Rumfield led off the inning with his fifth home run of the season to get the Rockies on the board. Tyler Freeman and Troy Johnston laced back-to-back doubles to make it an 8-2 game.
Kyle Karros and Ezequiel Tovar then recorded the first two outs of the inning, and it looked like the Rockies’ rally would stall out with two runs. However, Jake McCarthy stepped up to the plate to make sure that wasn’t the case. Myers delivered an 80.4 mph splitter in an 1-2 count that hung over the middle of the plate, and McCarthy promptly deposited it 401 feet into the Rockies’ bullpen.
The two-run home run was his first of the season, making it an 8-4 ball game.
Edouard Julien kept things moving with a single, bringing Mickey Moniak to the plate. Unfortunately, Moniak struck out swinging against Brooks Raley to end the inning.
For the Rockies, the four extra-base hits were the most in an inning this season.
Left in the Cold
After Semien’s home run in the top half of the inning, the Rockies found a little bit more life in the bottom of the ninth. Facing the struggling lefty Sean Manaea, Mickey Moniak laced a one-out single to extend his hit streak to 18 games to tie a career-high. Hunter Goodman followed with a single and TJ Rumfield collected his third hit of the night to load the bases.
Freeman was then hit by a pitch to drive in a run and make it 10-5 with one out. The Rockies sent out Jordan Beck as a pinch-hitter, but the Mets countered with their closer, Devin Williams, who then struck out Beck. The rally ended as Karros struck out looking to end the game.
Leaving runners on base became the story of the game for Colorado. Despite notching 13 hits, the team went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base as a team.
Up Next
The Rockies look to avoid being swept in the homestand in the series finale.
Jose Quintana (1-2, 4.07 ERA) will take the mound and face off against Christian Scott (0-0, 4.26 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 pm MDT.
The Mets broke out the bats at Coors Field, beating the Colorado Rockies, 10-5, thanks to 15 hits by the offense.
Here are the takeaways...
-- For a stadium that most pitchers loathe to pitch in, Freddy Peralta loves it. The right-hander entered the game 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in four games (three starts) at Coors Field and he improved those numbers with five scoreless innings on Wednesday night.
Peralta did it despite traffic on the bases for most of the night, escaping jam after jam and relying on his defense to make plays behind him as he only struck out one batter, which is highly unusual for the pitcher who began the night with a career 11.1 K/9 rate.
With the Mets up 8-0, Peralta was pulled after 91 pitches (56 strikes) and lowered his season ERA to 3.12.
-- Offensively, Juan Soto, leading off for the second straight game, got New York going in the first with a leadoff home run off Michael Lorenzen, who shut out the Mets over seven innings at Citi Field a couple of starts ago. It was Soto’s first career leadoff homer as he’s only batted first four times in his career.
-- After the home run, Lorenzen kept New York at bay until the fourth inning, when the Mets teed off against the right-hander. Carson Benge had the biggest hit of the frame with a two-run single that extended New York’s lead to 3-0.
Benge, who homered on Monday, has had a terrific road trip and has been much better at the plate after a rough start to his career. The rookie finished 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored and raised his batting average above the Mendoza line (.202) for the first time since March.
-- But Benge wasn’t the only Met to swing a good stick against Colorado. Marcus Semien (4-for-5), Francisco Alvarez (2-for-4), Bo Bichette (2-for-5), Brett Baty (2-for-4) and MJ Melendez (2-for-2) all had multi-hit games to help knock Lorenzen out after 5.0+ innings.
In fact, New York doubled its lead in the sixth by putting up a four-spot with three of those runs charged to Lorenzen. Alvarez and Bichette each had run-scoring singles during the frame with Soto adding another with a sacrifice fly and Tyrone Taylor reaching on an error that brought home a run.
-- Tobias Myers, who hadn’t allowed an earned run in his last nine innings, began the bottom of the sixth inning and just didn’t have it. The right-hander was greeted immediately with a solo shot by TJ Rumfield before back-to-back, hard-hit doubles drove in another.
After a mound visit by pitching coach Justin Willard, Myers retired the next two hitters, but Jake McCarthy launched a two-run homer that got the Rockies closer at 8-4. Another hard-hit single by Edouard Julien extended the inning and knocked Myers out of the game. Myers surrendered four earned runs on five hits (all with exit velocities above 95 mph) and saw his ERA rise to 3.57.
-- Brooks Raley would come in and finally put the inning to bed with a strikeout. The lefty also pitched a scoreless seventh inning and has been amazing to start the year with his 1.29 ERA. Luke Weaver looked good in the eighth inning and Sean Manaea was tasked with finishing things off in the ninth, but the left-hander could only get one out before he was yanked with the bases loaded and a run already in after he hit a batter with the bases full following three-straight singles. Devin Williams came in and got the final two outs via strikeout to pick up the save.
-- Semien capped off his incredible night offensively with a two-run blast in the top of the ninth inning and was a triple shy of the cycle and was the first Mets player to tally four hits in a game on the year. He also made a nice play in the field on a ball with a tough hop to get a force out.
-- With the win, the Mets no longer have the worst record in MLB as they are now percentage points better than the Rockies.
Game MVP: Mets lineup
It's hard to pick one player when the Mets racked up 10 runs on 15 hits, although it's nice to see Semien have a good game at the plate after such a rough beginning to his tenure in New York.
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 23: Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner shakes hands with former Atlanta Braves during a"Field of Dreams" ceremoney to commemorate the last regular season home game to be held at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Ga 23 September. The stadium is scheduled to be torn down at the conclusion of this season. The Braves will move to Olympic Stadium next year. (Photo credit should read DOUG COLLIER/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images
Well the Braves finally lost a series, losing a 3-game series to the Mariners in Seattle, with a one-run loss and a two-run loss. It is pretty impressive that this far in the season, it took a lot to go wrong for them to lose a series by two small-margin losses like this. On Monday, of course, the pitching depth was essentially non-existant, resulting in JR Ritchie being left in the game too long and today the Braves might have had a better shot at coming back if it weren’t for some really egregious baserunning from Jorge Mateo. This is a good team folks and let’s hope for a good showing against that scary Dodgers team this weekend.
May 6, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) steals third base during the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
It was an interesting game at times tonight, though often not in the good interesting way for Kansas City. Regardless of the oddities, the bats just never did very much and the winning streak ends at five.
Cole Ragans exiting the game early, which was the biggest event of the game possibly in the short and long-term. When this happened against Cleveland a few weeks ago, it was very apparent why. This time it took a couple of innings to get information. In the first three innings, Ragans only gave up 1 hit and 2 walks while striking out 4 and surrendering no runs. Next thing we knew, Luinder Avila was warming up and starting the 4th. Eventually it was announced that Ragans left with “left triceps/elbow soreness”. No idea what that means going forward, but tonight it meant the bullpen had to get through 6 innings.
While that drama was unfolding, the Royals scored a run in the bottom of the third. Bobby ended up on first after a fielder’s choice and then was moved to second when Lane Thomas walked. Witt decided he would rather be on third base, but getting there required a phenomenal slide that is unfortunately not available as an embed yet or I would be showing it to you right now. Without that the Royals don’t score, but it set up a sac fly from El Capitan to take a 1-0 lead.
Avila’s first inning went fine, but he got in trouble in his second frame. Austin Hedges was walked to leadoff. You never want to walk the guy with a .562 career OPS. Halpin then singled to set up a strange set of events. Cleveland looked like they wanted Martinez to sac bunt them to 2nd and 3rd, but on the first pitch he held back and Diaz tried to backpick Hedges at second. The throw beat him to the bag though he was called safe and the Royals challenged, you can take a look for yourself here:
I get why the call was not overturned, it probably would not have been had the original call been out either. Then Hedges and Halpin stole to move up thus any need to bunt though Martinez struck out just before anyway. Avila was not holding the runners much and it cost the Royals big. Chase DeLauter took advantage with a weak single sneaking through and rolling slow enough to score them both. Avila managed to get out of the inning after that.
Shreiber took over next and got 5 outs including one at third base when Schneemann tried to stretch a double into a triple. Lange took over for the last out in the 7th. He returned in the 8th and the Guardians added their third run of the night on another leadoff walk, this time to Jose Ramirez. If you have not been paying attention, Ramirez has stolen over 40 bags each of the last two seasons, and he took one here for his 14th already this season. He moved to third on a David Fry groundout and then scored when a hard ball to third went off Garcia. Bobby did pick it up and throw the batter out, there just wasn’t any way to keep Ramirez from scoring.
There was a debut tonight. Eric Cerantola, who was called up by the Royals this afternoon, took on the ninth inning with KC behind and not wanting to tax the back of their bullpen. We had another odd, and similar, situation to the 5th. Rocchio walked to lead off and then moved to third on an Austin Hedges single. Halpin comes up and shows bunt but does not lay one down on the first or second pitch. On said second pitch Diaz threw behind Rocchio at third and again the ball beat the runner to the bag where he was called out instead of safe this time. That call was subsequently overturned on review and Rocchio remained on third. On the next pitch, Hedges tried to steal second and Diaz did throw him out. Then Cerantola recorded his first strikeout against Halpin and his second K on Angel Martinez to end the inning with no damage done.
Cade Smith came in to get the save for Cleveland. Vinnie did single to get the tying run to the plate, but that was all the Royals could muster before Smith struck out the side including a challenged ball call becoming strike three against Isaac Collins to end it. The ABS challenge to end the game is a new phenomenon and not the one Royals fans wanted to see in this situation. They will have to win tomorrow to get the series win. No extra base hits and scattered singles and walks is not a winning formula most nights.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 06: Nathan Eovaldi #17 of the Texas Rangers pitches during the eighth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on May 06, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There was reason to be optimistic heading into tonight. Will Warren has been outstanding early this season and the Yankee offense has been humming. Warren has been stingy with issuing walks and has kept the ball in the yard, while the bats have been posting crooked numbers on the regular.
Conversely, there was a very good reason to be pessimistic about tonight. Nathan Eovaldi entered tonight having not allowed a Yankee run in the last 16 innings he pitched against them. The last time a Yankee touched up Eovaldi was almost a calendar year ago on May 22, 2025, when Jorbit Vivas hit a solo home run off Eovaldi – the only run he allowed that night. Unfortunately (predictably, considering his history against us?), Eovaldi was more than up to the task of stifling the Bronx Bombers
Warren and the Yanks fell behind early. After getting a pair of quick outs in the first, Warren fell behind 3-0 to a scuffling Corey Seager. Warren, quite rightly, didn’t want to walk Seager in front of a hot Josh Jung, so unleashed a 96-mph fastball that hit the strike zone high and tight. To Seager’s credit, he turned on it, kept it fair, and deposited it in the short porch.
For the Yankees, Cody Bellinger came into tonight with a seven-game hitting streak, hitting .444 with 12 RBI in that span. He wasted no time extending it to eight games, singling off Eovaldi in the home first. Unfortunately, that ended up being an offensive highlight against Eovaldi.
After a quiet second inning, Texas touched Warren up again in the third. Brandon Nimmo drew a leadoff walk and, in the least surprising outcome imaginable, came in to score on an Ezequiel Duran double. Warren came into the game with a 5.3 BB% (91st percentile in baseball) so it’s tough to get too upset with him. But it’s illustrative of a baseball truism nonetheless. Leadoff walks come around to score.
Unlike the first inning, Warren couldn’t contain the damage. He left what was supposed to be a back foot sweeper to Evan Carter over the plate. Carter did not miss. His two-run shot extended the Texas lead to 4-0. After only surrendering four home runs in his first 37.2 innings, Warren allowed two in fewer than four frames tonight. Regression to the mean. Bah.
Warren walked two more Rangers in the fourth and, lo and behold, two more runs scored. A sacrifice fly and a single put the Yanks in a 6-0 hole. Warren managed to get out of the fourth but that was the end of the road in what was easily his worst start of the season. His command just wasn’t there tonight, uncharacteristically walking opponents and missing badly on the pitch to Carter. Yerry De los Santos, recently recalled to the Bronx, came on in relief to begin the fifth.
Meanwhile, Eovaldi continued to annihilate the Yankees. After Bellinger’s first inning single, no Yankees reached base except Jose Caballero, who took a curveball off the elbow, only to promptly be erased by a double play ground ball from Trent Grisham. Finally, in the bottom of the fifth, Austin Wells poked a single to left field for the Yanks’ second knock of the night. He advanced no further, and Eovaldi was through five with only 63 pitches.
The Yanks got on the board in the sixth, thanks to the prodigious power of Aaron Judge. The Captain drove a belt-high sinker to center field for his 15th home run of the season. As Joe Girardi noted in the booth, Judge also tied Paul O’Neill on the Yankee career RBI leaderboard. Judge’s blast mercifully ended Eovaldi’s scoreless streak against the Yankees at 21.2 innings. Please go away, Eovaldi.
De los Santos was a godsend for Aaron Boone, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings. Alas, as Michael Kay and Girardi pointed out, when a long guy throws that many innings and pitches (54), a one-way ticket back to Triple-A is the usual reward. At any rate, De los Santos’ performance kept Boone from having to burn through his entire bullpen. Similarly, Ryan Yarbrough covered the final five outs, so, despite Warren only going four, the vast majority of the bullpen got the night off.
Eovaldi stayed on the mound for Texas, and kept dominating the Yankee lineup. When his night finally ended after the eighth, it meant he’d thrown 15 innings of one-run ball against New York in the last week. Thank the baseball gods he’s in the AL West. Jacob Latz came on for the final three outs, snapping the Yankees’ five-game winning streak.
Join us tomorrow for the rubber game of this three-game set. Rangers offseason trade addition MacKenzie Gore will face Paul Blackburn, subbing in for an ill Ryan Weathers. First pitch at 12:35 pm ET.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 29: Tarik Skubal #29 of the Detroit Tigers pitches in the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on April 29, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s Wednesday night here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in for a while. We always have a seat for a friend, new or old. There’s no cover charge. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last night I asked you what was your favorite home run of the season, so far? Fifty-eight percent of you picked Conforto’s walk-off, and that was to be expected. Another 22 percent picked Dansby Swanson’s two-run home run in the top of the ninth in Los Angeles that ended up beating the Dodgers. But in truth, the poll was just a good excuse to relive some terrific highlights of the 2026 season. So far, of course.
The Cubs won their eighth in a row tonight, 7-6 over the Reds in ten innings. It was their third-straight walkoff and their 14th-straight home win. I think that calls for Judy.
Here’s the part with the music and the movies. You’re free to skip that if you want. You won’t hurt my feelings.
Tonight we are honored to have jazz guitarist Julian Lage join us from Tokyo and the summer of 2025. Joining Lage is Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave King on drums.
Before I we go on, I want to acknowledge the passing of former Atlanta Braves owner (and manager!) Ted Turner. There are a lot of obituaries out there and I’m sure you can find one on your own. But I want to take a moment to thank him for the creation of Turner Classic Movies, which is the greatest gift anyone has ever given to the cinephile community.
While much of the credit for what TCM is today should go to the people Turner hired to run the place, including longtime host Robert Osborne, it was Turner’s vision that created it. Turner bought the rights to a whole library of films, mostly from MGM, to show on his TBS Superstation in the eighties. More films than he could possibly show on a channel that also had Braves games and television reruns. Although he rightly got criticized for some of the early stuff that he did with those films, such as the colorization debate of the eighties, eventually he decided these films needed to be seen somewhere. So in 1994, Turner Classic Movies was launched as a commercial-free, uncut movie channel. Yes, they showed big hits like Turner’s favorite film Gone With the Wind, but they also showed tons of more obscure films that had mostly been forgotten. Nothing has been more instrumental in the preservation and distribution of the history of cinema than TCM.
People smarter than me have said that you can get a film school education just by watching Turner Classic Movies, free with your cable or satellite subscription. If you ask me how I know so much about movies, I certainly have read some books and listened to the commentary tracks on the physical media I buy. I have a Criterion Channel subscription as well. But mostly, I just watch a lot of TCM. So thanks, Ted.
Moving on. Last night, I watched my first Nancy Reagan movie, the 1950 noirShadow on the Wall, directed by Patrick Jackson. I’ve seen plenty of films featuring Ronnie, but this is the first film I’ve ever seen with a future First Lady in it. Obviously Nancy’s career, under her maiden name of Nancy Davis, was not as extensive as Ronnie’s, who was a much-in-demand supporting actor during his career. But Nancy does a fine job in Shadow on the Wall, even if it’s not in a terribly challenging role.
To be clear, Nancy Reagan is not the star of Shadow on the Wall. The film stars Ann Sothern, Zachary Scott and Gigi Perreau in a potboiler noir about a man, David Starrling (Scott), falsely convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of his wife. The only witness who can clear his name is his eight-year-old daughter Susan (Perreau), who has unfortunately blocked out the memory of the whole event because of the trauma. Davis (and I suppose I should call Nancy Reagan “Nancy Davis” from this point on) is in a supporting role as the psychologist trying to help Susan overcome her trauma and recover her memory.
The setup of Shadow on the Wall is that David’s wife Celia (Kristine Miller) is cheating on him with the fiancé of her sister Dell (Sothern). David confronts Celia about the affair and Celia, wrongly thinking David is going to kill her (don’t ask), hits him over the head and knocks him out. Meanwhile, Dell has jealousy issues with her sister and the affair with her fiancé was the last straw. While David is out cold, Dell shoots and kills her sister. Little Susan sees all of this from the hallway, but the trauma of the event forces it from her memory.
As far as the police are concerned, Celia and David were the only ones in the room. David wakes up with no memory of what happened and assumes the police are telling the truth when they tell him he murdered his wife. He’s tried, convicted, and given the death sentence.
Davis shows up now as Dr. Caroline Canford, a child psychologist who tries to help Susan get through the trauma of seeing her mother murdered. In order to do that, she needs to get her to remember what happened. To be clear, Dr. Canford is not doing this to find out who really killed Celia, at least not at first. She’s just trying to get Susan through her PTSD (although she calls it “shell shock” in the terminology of the time). But eventually as Susan begins to remember more and more, the doctor starts to suspect that maybe David may be innocent and that only Susan can save her father’s life.
Meanwhile, Sothern’s Dell needs to stop Susan from regaining her memory. As the girl’s closest-living relative (other than her father on death row), she puts on the charm offensive to try to get custody of her, which would make it all that much easier for Dell to kill Susan. So yeah, Sothern has the really good role here—playing a psychopath who murders her sister, lets her brother-in-law take the rap for her and is now trying to murder her niece. She plays it well and certainly Dell has some qualms about murdering her niece at first. But she’s so petrified of going to the chair herself that any moral issues she has slowly disappear as she becomes a monster. Dell’s first murder was just a crime of passion. Her attempts to murder Susan are just cold-blooded evil.
Gigi Perreau has the only other really good part here as Susan. Yes, there’s a kind of artificiality to the way her character is written and she’s certainly too articulate for an eight-year old trauma patient. But that’s the way all kids in movies were written at the time. She’s better than most child actors of the era.
As far as Nancy Davis goes, she’s fine? Good, even? Her psychologist character really has only one emotional state, concern and curiosity. There’s not a lot of range here, and that’s on the script. But she’s certainly believable as a concerned child psychologist and she handles the mid-century psychologist tropes with ease. This was Davis’ first big film role and were I watching this in 1950, I’d come away saying that she’s got a future as a fine character actress. Maybe she did.
At no point did she ever tell Susan to “Just Say No,” in case you were wondering.
Watching Shadow on the Wall reminded how much the theories of Freud was a major part of mid-century culture. The entire plot of Shadow on the Wall is about repressed memories and working towards catharsis.
Shadows on the Wall is a decent noir, not a great one. If you like shadows in your noir, then they’re a major plot point here, as you might deduce from the title. But the biggest reasons to watch it is Sothern’s great performance as a murderess and because you want to see what kind of an actress Nancy Reagan was.
Shadow on the Wall is available on HBO Max.
The trailer for Shadow on the Wall. Since Nancy Davis was an unknown when this film was released, she’s barely in this trailer. You can get a quick glimpse of the future First Lady at the 42 second mark.
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.
The Tigers got bad news as the co-Best Pitcher on the Planet™ Tarik Skubal is going to have surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow. The Tigers are not putting a timetable on his return, but the normal timeframe on this is 2 to 3 months.
This is just another twist to one of the biggest storylines of the season. This is Skubal’s walk year and he was likely looking at a $400 million contract on the free agent market this upcoming winter. Because of that high number, many thought the wisest course of action was for the Tigers to trade Skubal last winter rather than let him leave this winter for just a draft pick. However, understandably the Tigers didn’t do that. They made the playoffs as a Wild Card last year and advanced to the Division Series. They lost that when Seattle won the winner-take-all Game 5 in the 15th inning. It wasn’t unreasonable to think that, with Skubal, the Tigers could make the playoffs again and have a decent chance to make it to the World Series.
Skubal’s injury puts a dent in those plans. As I write this, the Tigers are a game under .500. Of course, in the weak AL Central, that puts them in a tie for first place. As long as the Tigers are in spitting distance of the playoffs, they’re not going to trade Skubal at the deadline. Fangraphs gives them a 57 percent chance of making the playoffs, although I don’t think that number takes the Skubal injury into consideration.
But let’s assume that the Tigers do fall out of the playoff hunt in July and they decide to trade Skubal. There’s no guarantee of that, but it’s possible. The problem is, it’s unlikely that Skubal will be back on the mound before they have to make that decision. Yes, if Skubal comes back in exactly two months, that would have him return in early July with three weeks to go before the deadline.
The problem is that there is no reason to think Skubal will only be out the minimum. In fact, it’s in both the Tigers’ and Skubal’s best interests to make sure he’s 100% before he takes the mound. For the Tigers, if they have any chance of making some noise in October, they need Skubal at full strength for the playoffs. He gives them a chance to win any series, but only if he doesn’t re-injure himself trying to come back early.
For Skubal, he’s got about 400 million reasons to make sure he doesn’t re-injure himself before he hits the market this winter. He also wants to look good in every start he has left in Detroit.
So assuming that the Tigers decide to trade Skubal and assuming that he doesn’t make it off the injured list before the trade deadline, are you still willing to give the Tigers a haul for Skubal? This assumes that the medical prognosis is that Skubal is likely to return to the mound sometime around Labor Day, or at least before the playoffs. Of course, with injuries, there are no guarantees.
So the risk of trading for Skubal is that you have to give up multiple Top 100 prospects for maybe a month of the regular season and the playoffs of the co-Best Pitcher on the Planet™. The upside is that Skubal returns to what he was before the injury and he becomes the ace the team needs in the playoffs. He starts a few must-win games and the Cubs’ chances of winning the World Series goes way up.
The downside is that he comes back and he’s not the pitcher that he was before surgery. Or worse, he doesn’t come back at all or he comes back and injures himself again and doesn’t pitch in the playoffs. Then he leaves for a $400 million contract with the Dodgers or Yankees when the season ends. The Cubs farm system gets stripped for a bag of magic beans.
Any team that trades for Skubal is going to be buying what’s behind door number three without knowing if it’s a new car or a zonk.
It’s impossible to guess what it would cost in trade capital to acquire Skubal without knowing how his recovery is going. But the Tigers aren’t going to give him away cheap. The price, I would think, begins with two top 100 prospects. For the Cubs, that means something like Jaxon Wiggins and Pedro Ramírez. Or maybe Josiah Hartshorn and Jefferson Rojas. Since those players are closer to the bottom of the top 100 lists than the mid-section, there might be another throw-in prospect, but let’s just take it as two top 100 prospects for now. All this for a guy who is almost certain to leave after the season and for whom the Cubs will only be able to hope that he’ll be back to Cy Young form by October.
The cost would be high. The risk factor is high. The payoff is potentially huge. Would you make that kind of deal?
Thank you to everyone who stopped by tonight and all week. I appreciate every one of you who takes the time to join us. Please get home safely. Call a ride if you need to. Don’t forget any personal items. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.
The Yankees will not have their scheduled starter for the series finale against the Rangers on Thursday.
Manager Aaron Boone announced after Wednesday's loss that Ryan Weathers is scratched due to an illness. A new starter was not announced.
Boone said Weathers was ok and is now set to start Monday.
Ryan Yarbrough threw 29 pitches across 1.2 innings on Wednesday, while Paul Blackburn, another long reliever, last pitched Monday against the Orioles after tossing 17 pitches in 1.0 IP. The Yankees, whose bullpen has been taxed over the last few days, will have to try and piece it together before heading to Milwaukee for a three-game series with the Brewers.
The Yankees could also call up another pitcher and option Yerry De los Santos, who pitched 3.2 innings on Wednesday.
Weathers is having a solid start in his first season with the Yankees. In seven starts, he's pitched to a 2-2 record and a 3.03 ERA. He's struck out 45 batters across his 38.2 innings.
In his last start, Weathers allowed just one run on three hits and two walks in five innings in the win against Baltimore.
Aaron Boone says Ryan Weathers will not start tomorrow's game due to an illness he suffered this week, but he will pitch on Monday
Will Warren, who had not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his seven outings this season, surrendered three in the third inning alone in start No. 8.
Warren, whose season high for walks was three, matched that before the end of the fourth inning.
The Yankees offense, which had scored at least seven runs in each of the previous five games, was held to one run on three hits.
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The Yankees offense, which entered play leading the American League in walks, did not draw a walk in eight innings against Nathan Eovaldi, reaching a three-ball count just once (Trent Grisham, in the team’s first at-bat).
For both pitcher and team, Wednesday became something rare in the strong early going of the season: a dud.
Warren’s location was amiss and the Yankees offense missed plenty against Eovaldi in a 6-1 loss to the Rangers in front of 40,269 in The Bronx on a night that was pleasant before rain arrived late.
“It’s going to happen,” Aaron Boone said about Warren, who mixed in one poor start with six solid ones, but the manager could have been talking about his offense as well.
The Yankees (25-12) dropped just their third game in their past 18 and will turn to Paul Blackburn — and not Ryan Weathers, who was scratched with an illness — for Thursday afternoon’s rubber match in hopes of avoiding their first series defeat since April 10-12, when they were swept at Tampa Bay.
Will Warren struggled for the Yankees against the Rangers on May 6, 2026. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Warren allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks in four innings, swelling his ERA from 2.39 to 3.46 in less than 90 minutes. Every start matters for Warren, who is believed to be competing with Weathers to keep a rotation spot when Gerrit Cole returns in the next few weeks.
The young right-hander again had stuff good enough to swerve around bats, seven of his 12 outs coming from strikeouts, but he did not bait Rangers hitters to chase outside of the strike zone enough and watched as four strike calls were overturned through Texas challenges.
Rangers center fielder Evan Carter celebrates a home run against the Yankees. Robert Sabo for NY Post
“Just not real sharp with what I thought was good stuff again,” Boone said of Warren, who fell behind in counts too many times, a problem that became apparent immediately.
In the first inning, Warren threw three straight balls to Corey Seager. He then grooved a 3-0 fastball that was reversed to the short porch, a solo home run that gave the Rangers a lead they would not return.
They added on from there. After an eight-pitch walk to Brandon Nimmo, whom Warren could not put away to begin the third, Ezequiel Duran drove an RBI double into left-center. Later in the inning, Evan Carter saw a 2-1 sweeper sweep across the middle of the plate and hooked a two-run homer off the facing of the second deck in right.
“When you’re behind in the count, I think you’re trying to limit damage,” said Warren, who matched the most runs allowed by a Yankees starter this season. “Therefore you get finer, and you miss a little bit.”
Three of the first four batters reached in the fourth — Andrew McCutchen and Nimmo on walks — before a Duran sacrifice fly and a well-placed Seager single up the middle became the last of the damage against Warren. Warren, who had allowed five earned runs in his past four starts, was pulled after the six-spot. Yerry De los Santos (3 ¹/₃ scoreless innings) impressed quickly in the hours after his summons from Triple-A.
The entirety of the Yankees’ offense was home run No. 15 for Aaron Judge — his third in four games, sixth in 10 games and 12th in 23 games — in the sixth inning.
Aaron Judge homers in the sixth inning against the Rangers. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Otherwise, Eovaldi — the former Yankee and frequent Yankees killer, entering with a 3.05 ERA in 25 games against the club — looked like vintage Eovaldi, throwing 72 of his 101 pitches for strikes.
“He kind of stays unpredictable,” Boone said of Eovaldi, who kept the Yankees guessing and relied heavily on a splitter, curveball and cutter to strike out eight in his eight innings.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 06: Corey Seager #5 of the Texas Rangers looks on after hitting a solo home run during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on May 06, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Texas Rangers scored six runs while the New York Yankees scored one run.
After much consternation over the last few days (weeks? months? years?) about the offense, the Rangers had a few ingredients going for them tonight that left us with a better taste in our mouths.
For one, they had Nathan Eovaldi on the mound and he seems to have New York’s number. Sporting a 1.59 ERA over seven starts against the Yankees during his tenure with Texas, Eovaldi was practically as masterful as his win over New York from April when he went seven shutout innings.
Tonight, with the mood waning as the road trip trudges on, Eovaldi provided a pep in Texas’ step as he went eight innings of one-run ball on three hits with zero walks and eight strikeouts. The only blemish on his evening came when Aaron Judge won a sixth inning battle and swatted a solo home run. That’ll happen to anyone.
When that did happen, the Rangers were already up 6-0. Thanks to home runs from Corey Seager and Evan Carter, and with Brandon Nimmo and Ezequiel Duran doing work at the top of the lineup, the Rangers scored all six of their runs off New York starter Will Warren before the end of the fourth to muddy Warren’s previously sparkling 2.39 ERA coming into tonight’s game.
After surprisingly becoming something of the poster child for the club’s early season woes at the plate in what is surely one of the longest slumps in his career, Seager led off the scoring with a solo home run in the first. Carter followed with a two-run home run that capped off a three-run third inning. Four runs was plenty for Eovaldi and Texas still added a couple more in the fourth when they finally capitalized on a bases-loaded situation.
As an aside, this was the sort of game that ABS was made for. Tonight’s home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott has often been an ump tracking era darling. In fact, he was the top home plate ump during the 2023 season (despite missing ten calls against Texas during Game 2 of the 2023 World Series, the only game in the series that the Rangers lost) and is considered one of the better balls and strikes callers.
Tonight was not Quinn’s night however and both teams knew it. With Wolcott in desperate need of a recalibration, the teams made use of baseball’s shiny new toy to help prevent the game from going sideways. The Rangers and Yankees combined to contest nine of Quinn’s calls with Texas going 5-for-7 before running out of challenges in the eighth.
I shudder to recall the before times. Both 24 hours before when the Rangers couldn’t score runs and before when a bad night from the guy behind the plate could ruin a baseball game.
Player of the Game: Eovaldi is obvious and Seager, Carter, and Nimmo deserve notice but I’ll also highlight former Yankees prospect Duran for doubling in the game’s second run, hitting a sac fly, scoring a run, drawing a walk, and stealing a base from the 2-hole.
Subbing in for the injured Josh Smith, Duran has been one of the more productive bats in recent days and has seen his OPS rise to .833 on the year, the best non-Josh Jung mark that the Rangers have in the first week of the season’s second month.
Up Next: It’ll be breakfast with the Rangers for tomorrow’s series and road trip finale from the Bronx as LHP MacKenzie Gore is set to take the mound for Texas in the rubber match against RHP Ryan Weathers for New York.
The Thursday morning first pitch from Yankee Stadium is scheduled for 11:35 am CDT and you can find it on the Rangers Sports Network.
The Yankees bats were shut down by Nathan Eovaldi and Will Warren had his first bad start of the season as New York fell to the Rangers, 6-1, on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
New York had just three hits as Eovaldi has now allowed just one run across 15.0 IP in his last two starts, both against the Yankees.
Here are the takeaways....
-The Rangers took a first-inning lead for the second straight game. This time, Corey Seager launched a 3-0 pitch fromWarren and dumped it over the right field wall to give Texas a 1-0 lead.
The Rangers threatened again in the second, with back-to-back two-out singles, but Warren got Andrew McCutchen to strike out to end the inning. Warren couldn't keep the Rangers off the scoreboard in the third, however, after he walked Brandon Nimmo to lead off and Ezequiel Duran drove him in with a double that split the outfielders. Three batters later, Evan Carter drilled a hanging sweeper over the right field wall to give the Rangers a 4-0 lead.
Warren just didn't have it, tossing 90 pitches (52 strikes) across four innings, allowing six runs on seven hits. He struck out seven but he tied a season high with three walks.
It's the first time this season Warren has allowed more than two earned runs in a start.
-On the opposite side, Eovaldi continued his personal dominance of the Yankees. Last week, Eovaldi pitched seven scoreless innings against the Yankees, allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out seven. Wednesday was more of the same. Eovaldi went 5.2 innings without allowing a run until Aaron Judge launched his 15th homer of the year, and now leads the league in homers.
From there, Eovaldi continued his dominance, pitching eight innings, allowing just one run on three hits and striking out eight batters. Over his last nine games against the Yankees, Eovaldi has pitched to a 1.65 ERA, striking out 53 batters and walking only 11 across 59.2 innings pitched (h/t Katie Sharp).
-Yerry de los Santos was the first arm out of the pen, and he ate some much-needed innings. In his first game back after being called up, de los Santos pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out five batters.
Ryan Yarbrough followed de los Santos and delivered five outs without allowing a hit.
-Cody Bellinger continued his hot hitting, lining a single in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games. He finished 1-for-3 with a walk.
-Jose Caballero went 0-for-2, with a hit by pitch. Eovaldi plunked Caballero with a curveball that hit him above the left elbow. The Yankees shortstop was looked at after he was in visible pain, but stayed in the game.
Game MVP: Nathan Eovaldi
The Rangers lineup woke up, but Eovaldi didn't need much on this night.
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 05: CJ Abrams #5 of the Washington Nationals hits an RBI single against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning at Nationals Park on May 5, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The first nine Nationals hitters of the game were retired, and it felt like it would be another game where the offense would struggle. However, the Nats were able to flip some sort of crazy switch and put an absolute beating on the Twins. They scored 15 runs in a game where 6 Nats hitters had multi-hit games.
This Nats team has been a real Jekyll and Hyde group to start the season. They can look flat and then just pounce suddenly. When you have guys like CJ Abrams and James Wood in the lineup, good things can happen in a hurry.
Speaking of Abrams, he was in the middle of everything tonight for the Nats. He went 3 for 5 with two doubles and a grand slam to cap off the win in the 9th. The Nats shortstop truly looks like he is blossoming into that star player we know he can be. We have seen hot starts from Abrams before, but I am not sure we have seen him this locked in for this long before.
You could have never guessed what the final score of this game was going to be after the first three innings. The lineup looked absolutely perplexed by Bailey Ober, the Twins massive soft tossing righty. He had Nats hitters guessing wrong every time in those first three innings. However, James Wood and CJ Abrams cracked the case in the fourth and the boys never looked back.
While the Nats were working to solve the puzzle that was Bailey Ober, Miles Mikolas was doing a good job keeping the boys in the game. This was Mikolas’ best start of the season. He pitched into the 6th inning and kept the ball on the ground all night long. The veteran’s velocity was up in this one and he was fooling Twins hitters not named Matt Wallner all night.
A season-high 5 1/3 innings for Miles Mikolas, who retired 16 of the 19 batters he faced. The guy who got booed off the mound at the home opener just tipped his cap to the politely applauding crowd as he returned to the dugout.
After a miserable start to the season where Mikolas looked truly cooked, he has done a good job steadying the ship. The Nats helped him get his confidence back in shorter spurts behind an opener, but now they are starting to let him loose. Hopefully this same approach can get Zack Littell back on track as well. Mikolas also got a nice reception from the home fans as he left the ball game, which was nice to see.
The pitching has been significantly better over the past couple of weeks. However, that has coincided with the offense taking an inevitable step back. Tonight, the Nats got the good pitching and the good hitting. There were so many heroes tonight that I will not be able to shout all of them out.
However, one guy I do want to mention is Brady House. There has been quite a bit of discourse in the Nats community about House over the past few days. He had not been playing as regularly, and his defense has been very suspect this season. However, he got his chance to play today and responded in a big way.
House went 2 for 5 with a double, a homer and three RBI’s. I will say that he got some absolute hangers tonight, but he did not miss them. The home run he hit to straightaway center was an absolute bullet. When he is at his best like he was tonight, House can hit lasers all over the yard.
Brady House has been known in the Nats world for so many years now, it is easy to forget that he is still just 22 years old. Will he be the Nats long term answer at third? I am not sure, he needs to clean a lot of things up. However, the youngster has plenty of talent and showed his upside tonight.
Overall, it was an unbelievable performance from the Nats. They will look to secure a series win tomorrow afternoon with Jake Irvin on the mound. Hopefully the offense did not get all the runs out of their system tonight. They are facing a struggling Twins starter in Simeon Woods-Richardson, so I hope the offense can take advantage of that. We also saw what happens when this offense can get to the underbelly of the Twins bullpen.
I have faith in the Nats getting the series win tomorrow, but that faith can be a scary thing. Whenever I believe in this team, they fall on their face and whenever I get down on this group they put up 15 runs like tonight. The 2026 Nationals are an absolute roller coaster, and I think it is a fun ride, but I cannot tell.
The Mattingly-resurgent Philadelphia Phillies (17-20), they of “8-2 in last ten games” fame, removed another monkey off their backs as they defeated lefty, Jeffrey Springs, and the Athletics (18-18) by a score of 6-3 on Wednesday night, their first victory against a left-handed starter in 11 tries this season.
It was Zack Wheeler’s first home start of the year and he put forth another quality effort, the third straight to open his 2026 campaign. He allowed three runs across six and a third innings of work.
Kokomo’s own, Jack Perkins, walked Kyle Schwarber to begin the frame and erstwhile divisional nemesis, Jeff McNeil, committed his second and the A’s eighth-as-a-team error of the season on an errant throw to second on a fielder’s choice from a Bryce Harper grounder to put two men on with no outs.
A single by Adolis Garcia, his second hit of the night after a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth, loaded the bases. Edmundo Sosa, in turn, got his second hit of the night after swinging at all seven pitches he faced for a go-ahead two-RBI single. An RBI single by Brandon Marsh and an RBI groundout by Justin Crawford completed the four-run barrage.
Brad Keller loaded the bases in the top of the ninth via a single by McNeil and walks to Lawrence Butler and Nick Kurtz, but he got Jacob Wilson to swing for weak contact on the first pitch to end it.
Tim Mayza, Jose Alvarado and Orion Kerkering held the A’s at bay in relief of Wheeler.
The Phillies will take their third stab at a five-game winning streak as they go for the sweep tomorrow night. Andrew Painter will be opposed by A’s right-hander, J.T. Ginn.
May 6, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray (54) delivers in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images | David Reginek-Imagn Images
The Detroit Tigers had one goal in mind on Wednesday evening: salvage one win from a three-game home series against the Boston Red Sox. It wasn’t meant to be, though, as the Crimson Hosiery completed the sweep with a 4-0 shutout victory.
Making the start for the Tigers tonight was Jack Flaherty, whose troubles have been well-documented. His previous start, against the Rangers, did not go well: he didn’t make it out of the fourth and had trouble finding the plate as, as we’ve seen before, an inning spins wildly out of control for him. I feel for the guy; he’s been open about the sorts of things he’s been battling when he’s on the mound.
The ageless Sonny Gray started for Boston. He’d been on the shelf since a short start against the Tigers in Boston on April 20, and had only pitched in a simulated game before taking the mound tonight. He had a lot of great years in Oakland, then has bounced around a bit since then. But he’s been pretty reliable striking guys out, not walking too many, and keeping the ball in the yard — plus, has more pitches than a struggling Hollywood screenwriter.
Flaherty started off great, striking out the first five batters he faced with pinpoint control. But, as has been the case too often, a bit of adversity opens up into a whole lot of trouble: in the third an infield single and a hit-batsman was followed by a double, Dillon Dingler doing yeoman’s work behind the plate corralling some pitches in the dirt. When the Red Sox were making contact it was generally hard as well, and you had to think, well, here we go again. A sacrifice fly made it 2-0, and Flaherty managed to limit the damage.
Going back in time to the bottom of the second, a Riley Greene double and a pair of walks to Zach McKinstry and Spencer Torkelson loaded the bases with two out. Jace Jung lifted a shallow fly ball to right field and Wilyer Abreu made a sliding grab to save at least one run, probably two.
The Tigers put together another threat in the bottom of the third when back-to-back singles by Colt Keith and Greene put two runners on, but Dingler struck out and the inning was over.
Flaherty got into trouble again in the fourth: Trevor Story, who is apparently fine after getting a fastball in the back on Tuesday night, popped out to Torkelson at first who made a nice play against the netting. But then a single and a four-pitch walk put a pair on, and after a strikeout for the second out, a grounder to third went right past Keith on a play he should’ve made and both runners scored for a 4-0 Boston lead.
But then Flaherty struck out the side in the fifth inning so, as the kids these days say, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . That was the end of his night, and his final line went thusly: 5 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K. I forget what the word for a unique starting pitcher’s line is — “boxscorigami” would be great if that isn’t already it — but if that’s such an instance, I wouldn’t be surprised. Except for those hiccups and when his defence let him down, at this point? I’ll take it. I assume people have a lot to say about Flaherty and his start tonight; feel free to give your opinion. (Let’s face it, you folks never need to be asked twice to give your opinion! But we dig that around here.)
Drew Anderson took over in the top of the sixth, and he had his changeup — the “kick-change” he’d honed in South Korea which acts like a split-fingered fastball — working nicely. He got a pair of strikeouts on it in the sixth, along with another on a curveball.
In the seventh, though, Anderson twice was ahead of a hitter 0-2 and ended up walking him, with the Scarlet Stockings getting runners on the corners with one out. He walked another after being up 1-2, leaving with the bases loaded and one out; Brant Hurter was then brought into the second-stickiest situation there is. Abreu had a big swing at a sweeper for the second out, and Story grounded out sharply to shortstop for the third out, and Hurter admirably got the job done.
In the bottom of the seventh Zach McKinstry walked with one out against rookie righty Tyler Samaniego, but Torkelson struck out and Wenceel Pérez flew out to centre.
Kyle Finnegan took over for Hurter to start the eighth; he’s had a bunch of good outings lately. He walked a pair of batters with one out to get in a bit of a jam, but he turned a comebacker into a 1-4-3 double play to end the inning.
In the past couple of years, this would be the time the Gritty Tigs would make an appearance: behind a bit, top of the order up? Kevin McGonigle lined out to right, but a pair of walks to Matt Vierling and Keith put two runners on… alas, Greene and Dingler both struck out on high cutters, and that was that for the eighth. And the Tigers capped it off by going meekly 1-2-3 in the ninth to complete the sweep.
If a Tiger hitter ever wears the number 96 — nobody has yet — I hope they go with “96 Tears” by Michigan’s own ? and the Mysterians as they come to the plate.
Jack Flaherty struck out the first five batters he faced, and the last four batters he faced. Has that ever been done before? Someone call Jayson Stark!
Old Friend™ Matthew Boyd injured himself while playing with his kids at home. I hear ya, Matty.
On this day in 1889 the Eiffel Tower was officially opened to the public as part of the Universal Exposition in Paris (a world’s fair). It was originally going to only be a temporary structure during the Exposition and then torn down, but I guess people seemed to like it enough to keep it around.
The Royals’ ace, Cole Ragans, left tonight’s game against the Guardian with what is described as elbow/triceps soreness. It’s not safe out there, kids.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 06: Blaze Alexander #23 of the Baltimore Orioles slides into third base after hitting a triple against the Miami Marlins in the eighth inning of the game at loanDepot park on May 06, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) | Getty Images
For the second consecutive game, the Orioles jumped ahead with three-runs in the first inning. Unfortunately, for the second consecutive game, Baltimore failed to hold its early lead. The Birds gave three back in the first, but Brandon Young found his groove. The offense kept its foot on the gas, and Young delivered a quality start in a 7-4 Orioles win over Miami.
Leadoff hitter Gunnar Henderson went down swinging, but a wild Eury Pérez got the rally started. Pérez walked Taylor Ward on four pitches and plunked Adley Rutschman to put two on for Pete Alonso. Alonso fell behind 0-2 before turning on a 99 MPH fastball. The slugger launched the ball 407 feet to left center, and the Orioles held a 3-0 advantage before Brandon Young took the mound.
Young needed only four pitches to record the first two outs, but the Fish used some two-out lightning to get right back into the game. Young came within one strike of a clean inning, but former Oriole Connor Norby worked a six-pitch walk.
Kyle Stowers followed with a base hit to right that put two on for center fielder Jakob Marsee. Young jumped ahead 0-2 before Marsee punched a two-run double to left field. Young got ahead 1-2 on Christopher Morel before losing the designated hitter for the second walk of the inning. Owen Caissie followed, fell behind 0-2, and proceeded to even the game at three with a base hit up the middle. Young finally ended the inning by getting Joe Mack to ground out on a 2-1 curveball.
Both Young and Pérez responded by posting zeros in the second and third innings, but Baltimore found a way to break through in the fourth. Leody Taveras legged out a two-out double, and Dylan Beavers followed with a ground-rule double that gave Baltimore a 4-3 lead.
It felt nice to have the Orioles be the team striking with two outs, and the trend continued in the fifth. Ward earned another free pass, and Adley Rutschman worked the count full before absolutely ripping a ball to right field. Ward, already on the move with the 3-2 count, scored with ease to make it 5-3.
Meanwhile, Young found his footing. The 27-year-old became more intentional with his pitches and gained better command of the strike zone as the game progressed. After allowing three hits and three walks in the first two innings, Young limited Miami to only one single over his final four frames. He notched a quality start with 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, and 5 K.
Ward took his third walk of the game with one out in the seventh, and Rutschman followed with another hard-hit double. The insurance run came in handy when Grant Wolfram allowed a run in the bottom half of the inning. Baltimore extended the lead to three thanks to an opposite-field single by Samuel Basallo and a two-out triple by defensive replacement Blaze Alexander.
Anthony Nunez replaced Wolfram and struck out Norby to end the seventh. The rookie returned and tossed a clean eighth inning to setup Rico Garcia in a save situation. Garcia allowed a leadoff walk before generating a double play ball and striking out Javier Sanoja to end the game.
Young and the Orioles could have spiraled after the three-run first, but Baltimore carved out a true team win. Young demonstrated an ability to make adjustments, and the O’s offense scored in four of the final six innings. Nunez bounced back after allowing a pair of runs last night, and Garcia delivered a drama-free save after recording four outs on Tuesday.
Alonso got the party started with the Earl Weaver special, and Rutschman reached base four times. Henderson finished 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, but Beavers and Alexander both came through with big hits.
Young made a strong case, but maybe you’d like to go off the board. Let us know your pick for the Most Birdland Player of the Day in the comments below!
