Category: Baseball

The first official mock draft has been released by MLB.com and reporter Jim Callis is predicting that the Pittsburgh Pirates will select the best pitcher in the class.

With the fifth overall pick, the Pirates are projected to draft right handed pitcher Jackson Flora out of UC Santa Barbara. This year Flora has been looked at as the consensus best pitcher in the class. The Junior righty has a 9-0 record in 2026 and leads NCAA Division I in earned run average with a 0.73 ERA this year.

Flora is ranked as the fourth overall prospect in this year’s class and has clearly separated himself from the rest of the arms that will be featured during the draft. At 6’5” Flora possesses an athletic build that helps him pack a punch with his fastballs. His heaters are on average in the mid-90’s range and regularly touch triple digits. His mid-80’s slider has developed as another strong pitch in his repertoire, while his changeup has become a solid second pitch in his arsenal.

The California native has enjoyed a solid three-year career at UC Santa Barbara. Flora’s freshman season saw him used mostly as a relief pitcher out of the pen, but he exploded onto the scene as a sophomore in 2025. As a second year player, Flora helped lead the Gauchos to a 36-18 record, and compiled 86 strikeouts with a 3.60 ERA and a 6-3 record as a starter. As the top pitcher in the country Flora and the Gauchos currently have a 32-15 record.

Flora fits the mold of pitchers that the Pirates have liked to bring in over the past couple of years. The tall athletic build coupled with a strong fastball first approach is the blueprint used for most of Pittsburgh’s starters, and Flora could be a great addition to that group if he’s still available fifth overall.

The MLB Draft starts on July 11 during the All-Star break in Philadelphia.

BALTIMORE – There are still a few maxims about playing for the Athletics – late of Oakland, currently of West Sacramento, perhaps soon of Las Vegas – that remain true in this period of franchise limbo.

Best to rent, not buy, as owner John Fisher’s cozy luxury-geared dream ballpark goes up in Las Vegas and the club makes do in what should be the second of three seasons in Yolo County.

Life remains more luxe on the road, with 10,000-seat Sutter Health Park still geared for a Class AAA ballclub despite upgrades to satisfy the big league squatters. And while the roster is no longer an homage to the major league minimum salary, the club’s $91.8 million opening-day payroll still ranks 25^th out of 30 teams.

 Yet it’s undeniable that something has changed as a core of largely homegrown players coalesces. Players can glance around the clubhouse and see not a stopgap or trade fodder, but rather a dude they came up with.

And in some cases, envision playing alongside for many more years.

“When there’s a level of comfort, a level of familiarity with each other, and camaraderie and a good culture in the clubhouse, it makes it easy to go out and have fun and perform at a high level on the field,” All-Star DH and veteran sage Brent Rooker tells USA TODAY Sports.

“We’ve got all those things.”

Forty games into the season, they’ve got something else: The third-best record in the American League and a tenuous hold on first place in the AL West.

At 21-19, the A’s are by no means popping bottles. After all, they reached the one-quarter mark last season with an identical record – and proceeded to lose 19 of their next 21 games on the way to a 76-86 finish.

As if on cue, the club lost All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson to a sprained left shoulder on Sunday, May 11; initial imaging was not definitive but Wilson figures to go on the injured list before the club takes on St. Louis at home Tuesday.

Still, the team at large has an extra year under its belt, a greater familiarity with its temporary home and a stronger conviction in doing its job.

“I feel like last year, all the guys were feeling everything – getting their feet wet in Sacramento, seeing how the ball flies, all that stuff,” says right-hander Luis Severino, whose $67 million contract signed before 2025 marked a capital investment unforeseen when the roster went to pot in the club’s dying days in Oakland. “Now we have a different mentality to go out there and compete.

“We showed the world last year what we can do and this year we just continue to do that.”

PHOENIX — The New York Mets sat in dead silence Sunday afternoon. No music. No TV. No conversation.

The only sound was chop sticks snatching sushi off plates, the packing of bags, and the shuffling of feet out of the visiting clubhouse, down the corridor and towards the team buses.

The Mets, after spending 10 days on the beaches of Southern California, the snow-capped mountains in Colorado and the desert in Arizona, are finally going home.

And they return to New York the same miserable, underachieving team that left.

Their only dignity leaving Phoenix was that they didn’t suffer the humiliation of being no-hit, losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1, producing a combined total of nine hits and three runs in regulation during the three games at Chase Field. Their three hits and two runs in the 10^th inning in their 3-1 Friday victory saved their weekend from being a complete disaster.

They managed to make Diamondbacks starter Eduardo Rodriguez, Merrill Kelly and Ryne Nelson look like Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Brandon Webb of D-backs’ lore. The D-backs trio, who entered the weekend with a 5.50 ERA, yielded a 1.23 ERA in the series, yielding just nine hits and three runs in 22 innings. Rodriguez, who has pitched 11 years in the major leagues, making 243 career starts, pitched 8 ⅓ innings Sunday for the longest stint of his career.

“We’re better than that," said a visibly frustrated Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, “especially the past couple of days. We needed to be better."

The Mets’ offense was not only awful Sunday, but for their entire trip. The Mets hit .209 on the nine-game journey, averaging 3.6 runs a game.

Juan Soto and Bo Bichette, who are earning $103.875 million this year, highlighted the Mets’ woes, going 0-for-20 in the three games in Arizona.

“I mean, there’s no issues right here," Soto said. “We’re all professionals. We all can handle this stuff. But definitely, we’re struggling a little bit right now.

“But I think it’s going to pass."

MLB.com | Casey Drottar: Although the Yankees suffered a second straight walk-off loss and a series sweep on Sunday, at least one Yankee enjoyed a nice moment. After going hitless with four strikeouts in his first two games, Spencer Jones got his first major league hit in the second inning against Logan Henderson, a 106.4 mph single up the middle that scored José Caballero. Fittingly for Mother’s Day, his mom (along with the rest of his family) was there to cheer him on. Hard to top that in terms of presents, I imagine. Congratulations, Spencer, and I hope the hits keep coming for you.

NY Daily News | Gary Phillips: Camilo Doval was trusted with the eighth inning of the Yankees’ Saturday extra inning loss to Milwaukee, and Doval played his part in getting the game to extras by allowing Brice Turang to get aboard, steal second, and score on a William Contreras hit. Doval has managed to cut back on issuing walks, his previous Achilles heel, and yet he’s allowed 10 runs in his last 12.1 innings of work largely due to the 15 hits he’s allowed over that span, three of which were long balls. The former Giants closer doesn’t look like he can be trusted with high leverage outings at this point, leaving a gap in the team’s bullpen hierarchy that needs to be filled sooner rather than later.

MLB.com | Casey Drottar: Another Yankee who achieved an important milestone on Sunday was Carlos Rodón, who made his first start of 2026 after missing the first month of the season while recovering from offseason surgery to remove a bone spur from his left elbow. While his overall line was forgettable – 3 earned runs, 5 strikeouts and 5 walks over 4.1 innings – Drottar points to one undeniably positive sign; Rodón averaged 95.7 mph on his heater during the start, 1.6 mph faster than his 2025 average. If nothing else, this suggests that his elbow is indeed in better shape. If he can improve his control, Rodón might be able to recapture his excellent 2025 form, or maybe even surpass it.

FanGraphs | David Laurila: If you’re a fan of the splitter, you’ll enjoy this interview with Spencer Medick, currently the pitching coach for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, on the various shapes and properties that splitters can have. According to Medick, by generating less spin on their splitters, pitchers can make the pitch “dance” in a way akin to knuckleballs from the batter’s viewpoint. The erstwhile Driveline coach cites Fernando Cruz as an example of a low-spin splitter, while naming Yovanny Cruz and Brendan Beck as current Triple-A hurlers that have the pitch in their arsenal (though their spin rates vary).

ESPN | Bradford Doolittle: You might’ve taken a look at the AL standings at large lately and become perplexed at how bunched up most of the field is. Outside of New York and Tampa Bay, everyone else is either under .500 or skirting around it. While the standard deviation between the teams in the league is currently 14.4 wins, it’s projected to dive back down towards a final number of 8.8, by far the lowest amount since the turn of the decade and a sharp nosedive from the drastic disparity that 2019 displayed with three 100 win teams and three 100 loss teams in the league. Whether this can hold up or not remains to be seen, but the huge clump that has formed at the start of the year should give us a race where most teams are in the running for a long time.

MLB.com: There are flaws to be spotted on each and every team after more than a month of play, and the Yankees have their fair share of them. One of the areas they can reasonably improve on is their leadoff production, and their biggest culprit can lead the charge to fixing the problem. Trent Grisham has received the lion’s share of starts atop the lineup but struggled out of the gate. Grisham’s peripherals have looked amazing, however, and he’s starting to see more of the hits that he’s deserved based off of how hard he’s been ripping the ball setting the table quite nicely for the Yankees’ sluggers behind him.

The Athletic | Amy Cuddy: ($) Baseball players are a superstitious bunch, and there’s no shortage of stories of weird rituals that escape the confines of the clubhouse — like, for example, Jason Giambi’s lucky gold thong. Here, Cuddy, a social psychologist, sheds some light on why baseball’s characteristics make the sport uniquely conducive to ritualistic behavior, and argues based on neuroscience that rituals may actually help hitters perform.

The Los Angeles Dodgers won't go wire-to-wire in the National League West - nor will they in USA TODAY Sports' power rankings.

The preseason No. 1 club may very well win a third consecutive championship this autumn but for now, they've been dislodged from the top spot for the first time this season by the Atlanta Braves.

The passing of the torch came head-to-head, as Atlanta won two of three games at Dodger Stadium and improve to a major league-best 28-13. Their plus-87 run differential is also tops in the majors, and they also lead in OPS and ERA.

Uh, any questions?

The Braves' newfound position will be tested immediately, as they return home for a three-game series against the No. 3 Chicago Cubs, beginning Tuesday, May 10 at Truist Field.

A look at our updated rankings:

1. Atlanta Braves (+1)

• Spencer Strider punches out eight Dodgers in second start of year.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers (-1)

• Mookie Betts is back this week, not a moment too soon for flaccid offense.

3. Chicago Cubs (+1)

• Have the Cubs rescued Michael Conforto? Batting .364 with 1.132 OPS in 55 plate appearances.

4. Tampa Bay Rays (+2)

• Nick Martinez's 1.70 ERA is best in club history through eight games for a starter.

5. New York Yankees (-2)

• Carlos Rodón makes season debut, but can't prevent unsettling sweep at Milwaukee.

6. San Diego Padres (-1)

• A quarter through the season, Fernando Tatis Jr. at 0.0 WAR and zero home runs.

7. Milwaukee Brewers (+3)

• Sweep the Yankees for first time since they were an AL team - in 1989.

NY Daily News | Gary Phillips: Camilo Doval was trusted with the eighth inning of the Yankees’ Saturday extra inning loss to Milwaukee, and Doval played his part in getting the game to extras by allowing Bryce Turang to get aboard, steal second, and score on a William Contreras hit. Doval has managed to cut back on issuing walks, his previous Achilles heel, and yet he’s allowed 10 runs in his last 12.1 innings of work largely due to the 15 hits he’s allowed over that span, three of which were long balls. The former Giants closer doesn’t look like he can be trusted with high leverage outings at this point, leaving a gap in the team’s bullpen hierarchy that needs to be filled sooner rather than later.

NY Post | Greg Joyce: Spencer Jones recorded the first hit of his MLB career on Sunday, lining a single up the middle to drive in a run in the second inning. It was an extra special moment for Jones, playing on Mother’s Day with his mom and family members in attendance sitting just next to the Yankee dugout. Jones got a trial by fire in his first series of play, going 1-for-9 with five strikeouts and a walk against Milwaukee’s pitching staff, but Jones thinks he’s gotten to settle in having faced the challenge head on.

ESPN | Bradford Doolittle: You might’ve taken a look at the AL standings at large lately and become perplexed at how bunched up most of the field is. Outside of New York and Tampa Bay, everyone else is either under .500 or skirting around it. While the standard deviation between the teams in the league is currently 14.4 wins, it’s projected to dive back down towards a final number of 8.8, by far the lowest amount since the turn of the decade and a sharp nosedive from the drastic disparity that 2019 displayed with three 100 win teams and three 100 loss teams in the league. Whether this can hold up or not remains to be seen, but the huge clump that has formed at the start of the year should give us a race where most teams are in the running for a long time.

MLB.com: There are flaws to be spotted on each and every team after more than a month of play, and the Yankees have their fair share of them. One of the areas they can reasonably improve on is their leadoff production, and their biggest culprit can lead the charge to fixing the problem. Trent Grisham’s gotten the lion’s share of starts atop the lineup but struggled out of the gate. Grisham’s peripherals have looked amazing, however, and he’s starting to see more of the hits that he’s deserved based off of how hard he’s been ripping the ball setting the table quite nicely for the Yankees’ sluggers behind him.

Spencer Jones was thrown right into the fire in his Yankees debut. 

The 24-year-old slugger had to face a tough Milwaukee staff headlined by ace right-hander Jacob Misiorowski over his first three games at the big-league level. 

Jones looked a bit overmatched, striking out four times in his six at-bats Friday and Saturday, but he finally delivered the elusive first knock and RBI early on Sunday. 

After Jose Caballero opened the top of the second with a double, he ripped the first pitch he saw from Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson right back up the middle for a single.

The liner left the bat at a whopping 106.4 mph. 

Jones celebrated at first base then pointed towards his teammates and fired-up family, sitting in the front row behind the Yankees’ dugout. 

“It was super exciting,” Jones said. “I’m glad that my family was here to share that with me, my teammates were rooting me on, I got a lot of congratulations, and I was excited to be able to get a run across for the guys -- just a special moment.”

He finished the day hitless across his other three at-bats. 

Despite reached base just two times in his first weekend up with the club, Aaron Boone actually liked what he saw from the free-swinger at the plate. 

“He had a lot of good at-bats,” the skipper said. “Was able to get the first one today which everyone was excited about, got some decent swings off, was recognizing the zone well, wasn’t chasing, but also ran into some tough matchups.”

Despite those tough matchups, the youngster feels he’s adjusting well. 

“Trial by fire is the best way to do it,” Jones said. “Getting exposed to a lot of really good arms is the best way to get your feet wet -- as the days have gone I’ve settled in more, I’m starting to feel comfortable and do what I do, and moving forward I’ll be in a good spot.”

MILWAUKEE — Spencer Jones’ first series as a big leaguer is in the books, but not before collecting his first career hit.

The Yankees top prospect got that out of the way Sunday, in the third game of his major league career, smoking an RBI single to center field off Brewers righty Logan Henderson in the second inning of a 4-3 loss at American Family Field.

Henderson threw a first-pitch slider and Jones pounced on it, drilling it 106.4 mph off the bat to score José Caballero from second for the 2-0 lead.

The milestone hit came on Mother’s Day, with Jones’ mom and family sitting next to the Yankees dugout, as they did all weekend, including his MLB debut Friday night.

“It was super exciting,” said Jones, who had the ball in a case sitting in his locker after the game. “I’m glad my family was here to share that with me. Teammates rooting me on, a lot of congratulations. I was excited to get a run across too for the guys. It was a pretty special moment.”

Jones’ new teammates were equally excited.

“Ecstatic,” said Aaron Judge, who was impressed by how “composed” Jones was throughout the series. “Everybody was kind of waiting for it. Just happy his family could be here for him.”

Jones finished the game 1-for-4 with a strikeout and the series 1-for-9 with five strikeouts and a walk, getting a stiff test from a challenging Brewers pitching staff that shut down most of the Yankees all weekend.

“As the days have gone, I’ve settled in more and starting to feel more comfortable, doing what I can do,” Jones said. “I think moving forward, going to be in a good spot.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

The 24-year-old (who turns 25 on Thursday) started in right field Sunday, with Judge getting a DH day, after starting in center Saturday and DH on Friday.

“I thought he had some good at-bats,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought got some decent swings off, was recognizing the zone. I don’t think he was chasing a lot, but also ran into some tough matchups there for him, too.”

Cam Schlittler was still “pretty sore” Sunday morning, Boone said, the day after taking a 108.5 mph comebacker off his left calf in the first inning of his six-inning gem.

The right-hander, who had a sizable welt and the imprint of the ball on his calf Saturday night, was expected to be getting treatment on it in the coming days ahead of his next scheduled start Friday against the Mets.

“I hope not, but I don’t know,” Boone said when asked if it could be an issue for his next start. “I’m sure he’ll be working overtime with the trainers and just trying to get that flushed out this week.”

Gerrit Cole made his fifth rehab start Sunday with Double-A Somerset, building up to 77 pitches across five innings while striking out eight, walking one and giving up two earned runs.

He is expected to need at least one or two more rehab starts before he could rejoin the Yankees.

To make room for Carlos Rodón on the active roster, the Yankees optioned reliever Kervin Castro back to Triple-A.

It was the best Mother’s Day gift that Orioles pitcher Anthony Nunez could have given his sister-in-law on Sunday. 

Nunez appeared to randomly mouth the words “it’s a boy” when he came off the mound after the top of the eighth inning.

However, it wasn’t random at all, and as MASN broadcaster Kevin Brown explained during the broadcast, there was a reason why he did it. 

“Anthony is mouthing ‘it’s a boy’ for some family members,” Brown explained on air. “His brother and sister-in-law, Danny and Makayla Delgado, are expecting child No. 3. And that, folks, is one of the most creative gender reveals you’ll ever see. Anthony had the answer. Danny and Makayla did not know, and I hope that you two are watching.”

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Anthony Nunez with the rare mid-inning gender reveal to his family watching at home. https://t.co/YMwvwoYGc7pic.twitter.com/xTIPjTZUES

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 10, 2026

The special moment came during Sunday’s Mother’s Day win for the Orioles, who defeated the Athletics 2-1 at Camden Yards to avoid getting swept by the A’s in their three-game set in Baltimore. 

Danny and Makayla Delgado are expecting their third child, and the couple only revealed the fact that they were about to welcome another member to the family on Sunday, Nunez told reporters after the game. 

“They were all together for Mother’s Day. My brother wanted to surprise everybody,” Nunez said, according to the Baltimore Sun. “He just announced to them today that they were having their third kid, and he wanted to do the gender reveal.” 

Nunez was able to get out of the top of the eighth unscathed and with the Orioles’ one-run lead intact after walking two batters during the inning. 

He managed to get a flyout to right field to end the inning, and after he revealed the gender of his brother’s next kid. 

“To be able to get three outs without giving up a run for her is awesome. Happy Mother’s Day for that, too,” Nunez said.

Carlos Rodon spent most of last season pitching with a bone spur in his left elbow. 

After a lengthy recovery following offseason surgery, the left-hander was eager to make his way back into the Yankees’ rotation fully healthy once again. 

That chance finally came on Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee. 

Rodon showed some positives signs, but was ultimately hurt by struggles with command, as he allowed three runs on two hits and five walks over 4.1 innings of work. 

He issued a free pass to the leadoff man in all but two of those innings. 

“That was the bugaboo,” Aaron Boone said. “Overall his stuff was good -- fastball ticked up being here, I thought he had a really good changeup and some solid sliders to get swing-and-misses, but the three leadoff walks hurt.”

Rodon was able to dance his way around it in both the first and second innings, but Milwaukee finally made him pay in the bottom of the fourth. 

After two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, the Brewers got on the board with a sacrifice fly then took the lead with their first hit of the day, a two-out two-run single. 

“He just lost the zone there,” Boone said. “It’s a really good job getting out of the first two innings, walking the leadoff batter usually isn’t a recipe for success -- a couple more they come back to haunt him a bit.”

The skipper pointed towards rust as a potential source of some of the left-hander's struggles finding the zone, but Rodon didn't have any sort of explanation himself. 

Rodon was trying to adjust on the fly over the course of the outing, but simply could not get himself into a groove. 

He'll look to turn thing around in his next outing, opening this year's Subway Series. 

“It’s frustrating,” Rodon said. “Obviously I need to be better in that aspect of just attacking the zone and getting ahead in the count quick, just some stuff to work on for the next time out.”

PHOENIX — On a day of few positives for the Mets, a displaced starting pitcher finally took a step forward.

Sean Manaea pitched a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts in the Mets’ 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

The result was the lefty’s best in several weeks, but the most encouraging sign might have been his velocity.

Manaea, whose fastball has lagged all season, averaged 91.3 mph with his four-seamer.

He was averaging 89.7 mph with that pitch when the day began.

In his relief appearance in Colorado on Wednesday he recorded only one out in the ninth, allowing three hits and plunking a batter.

That letdown forced manager Carlos Mendoza to use Devin Williams for the final two outs with the bases loaded and the Mets ahead by five runs.

“[Manaea] has been working really hard, you have to give him credit,” Mendoza said. “This is a guy that is not going to put his head down and it’s good to see the fastball, the life and for him to get those three outs hopefully it gets him going.”

Jorge Polanco’s right wrist contusion, for which he was originally placed on the injured list, is “in a good place,” according to Mendoza.

But the first baseman remains on the injured list because of a recurrence of the left Achilles bursitis that limited his mobility earlier in the season.

“There’s some good days and other days when it’s not so good,” Mendoza said.

Luis Robert Jr. is receiving treatment, but has not resumed baseball activity.

Robert has been on the IL since April 27 with lumbar spine disc herniation.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

Kodai Senga threw from a bullpen mound for the first time in his rehab from lumbar spine inflammation.

The right-hander has spent the last two weeks on the injured list.

A.J. Minter, whose rehab was terminated on Wednesday because of left hip discomfort, threw a bullpen session on Saturday, according to Mendoza.

The lefty reliever will throw at least two additional bullpens before he’s considered for minor league rehab games.

Joey Gerber was removed from the injured list and optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.

Eric Wagaman was outrighted to Syracuse after clearing waivers.

Well, you felt good about a sweep going in. All you had to do was best the Tigers bullpen, and after overcoming a 3-0 deficit to tie it after 4 innings, the Royals looked primed to sweep their divisional foe.

However, Gage Workman, who literally got recalled this afternoon from AAA hit his first career MLB homer off Nick Mears, it was worth two runs, and the Royals dropped the series finale 6-3.

It was another lackluster start for Noah Cameron. He went just 4 innings allowing 5 hits, 3 runs, walking 3 and striking out 4 batters. It took him 95 pitches to get just 12 outs.

John Schreiber threw a scoreless 5th. It’s still scary every time he takes the hill, but he has looked better after a very tough beginning of the season. Mears gave up a leadoff single ahead of the two-run homer.

Daniel Lynch IV finally looked human, struggling in his 2/3 of an inning. He allowed a run on two hits and a walk. Alex Lange pitched a scoreless inning, and two thirds and Steven Cruz threw a scoreless 9th inning for the second consecutive night.

Offensively, it looked like the April Royals. They were 3-11 with runners in scoring position and squandered an opportunity right out of the gate. After back-to-back singles in the bottom of the first, Vinnie Pasquantino weakly flew out to left, Isaac Collins fouled out to third and Carter Jensen fouled out to the catcher. Scoring right of the gate would’ve been the gut punch to the Tigers bullpen game plan and put a lot of pressure on the visitors, but the missed opportunity swung the momentum.

The Royals got a pair of runs back in the third after Garcia doubled and Witt singled. Vinnie came through this time with an RBI single and Jensen just missed a three-run homer with a sac fly to deep right field.

Garcia bailed out Elias Diaz and Kyle Isbel in the bottom of the 4th after Jac Caglianone led off the inning with a double, Garcia smacked a 2-out single to center to tie it at 3. Garcia was 3-3 after the first four innings of the game.

The Royals threatened in the 7th and 8th but hit into double plays that ended the threat. They went down 1-2-3 in the 9th.

The Royals finish the homestand 4-3. On the season, they are 3-4 against Cleveland, who they don’t play again until August and 2-4 against Detroit, who they don’t play again until July. A couple of key head-to-head tiebreakers as the season progresses.

The Royals are 19-22 on the season, just like the Tigers, and a game and a half back of the 21-21 Guardians for the division. The Royals are off tomorrow after 13 straight days of baseball. They have a three-game series against the White Sox in Chicago, and then next weekend are in St. Louis to take on the Cardinals. It’s a big trip and week for the Royals who are still trying to climb out of the hole they dug for themselves.

First pitch on Tuesday is at 6:40 p.m. CT, the game can be watched on Royals.TV. Stephen Kolek is expected to start.

The Syracuse Mets suffered their third straight loss to the Rochester Red Wings on Sunday afternoon, but some of the organizations top young talents enjoyed another big day.

Both A.J. Ewing and Ryan Clifford accounted for a bulk of the team’s offense. 

Ewing continued his strong start at the new level, picking up two more hits and driving in a run across four at-bats. 

One of those knocks was a double and he also stole a base.

The 22-year-old surging prospect is now hitting .333 with four extra base-hits, four RBI, five stolen bases, and a .844 OPS in 13 games since joining Syracuse. 

Clifford reached three times with a walk and a pair of extra base-hits. 

He helped Syracuse even things up with a 400 foot solo homer to deep right in the fourth, then ripped a triple down the right-field line before scoring on Christian Arroyo’s sacrifice fly in the sixth. 

The slugger is now hitting .252 with a triple, six doubles, seven home runs, 21 RBI, and an even .800 OPS after a bit of a slow start to the season. 

Not much went right for Syracuse on the pitching side of things, but Dylan Ross did strike out two as he worked around a pair of walks in a scoreless inning of work.

He was able to reach up to 99 mph on his fastball. 

27-year-old starter Xavien Curry and veteran lefty reliever Cionel Pérez made their first appearances with the organization after signing on minor league deals last week. 

PHOENIX — David Peterson received no love from his defense, particularly third baseman Andy Ibáñez, but he did his part to give the Mets an opportunity to win Sunday.

The lefty, who has been placed in the bullpen to work as a bulk reliever, pitched five innings without allowing an earned run in the team’s 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks.

All three runs that scored with Peterson on the mound followed Ibáñez’s second throwing error of the day, in the sixth inning.

“I think it’s just getting back to who I am as a pitcher, getting the sinker down, and using the four-seamer,” said Peterson, who owns a 5.49 ERA. “I feel like I have had better feel the last couple of outings with the changeup and the sliders continue to be good.”

Peterson surrendered two earned runs over four innings in relief on Monday in Colorado, both scoring after Carson Benge tripped chasing a fly ball in the outfield.

Peterson has been less successful as a starter.

In each of his last four appearances as a starter Peterson has surrendered at least four earned runs.

That included a seven-run meltdown over 3 ²/₃ innings against the Nationals in his last start, on April 29.

“I thought he was really good today,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He got ground balls, made pitches, we didn’t make a couple of plays and it ended up costing us runs. But overall, I thought he threw the ball very well.”

Mendoza utilized Huascar Brazobán as the opener, sticking with him into the second inning and got burned when the right-hander walked two batters to begin the frame.

Tobias Myers got two outs before Ryan Waldschmidt delivered a two-run double for the game’s first scoring.

“Overall, [Brazobán] had a hard time throwing strikes today,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza said he didn’t consider using Myers to start the second inning because of the right-hander’s recent workload.

“Toby was short today,” Mendoza said. “We knew we were going to try to get through the first time through the lineup with the two of them, it just didn’t work.”

Things were looking a bit better for the struggling Mets. 

Despite falling to the Rockies on a late-inning grand slam on Thursday afternoon, they showed some positives and took the first two series of their nine-game road trip. 

This weekend in Arizona, though, all of that was quickly erased. 

The Mets were able to salvage the series opener on Friday night thanks to Mark Vientos and some late-inning heroics, but otherwise the shorthanded offense wasted more strong pitching. 

Clay Holmes followed that by put together 5.2 innings of two-run ball on Saturday, only to be handed his second loss of the season as the bats managed just a run on three hits.

Despite facing struggling right-hander Merrill Kelly, who came into the night with a 9.95 ERA on the season, they didn’t record a baserunner after the top of the fifth. 

That stretch would carry into the fourth inning on Sunday afternoon, as 22 consecutive Mets were set down in order before Juan Soto drew a leadoff walk, which tied their season-high drought. 

While the perfect game was broken up, Arizona southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez kept his no-hit bid intact until Carson Benge laced a single with one out in the top of the sixth. 

Luis Torrens followed that with a double to breakup the shutout as well, but the D-backs answered back with three unearned runs in the bottom-half to put this one away for good. 

Rodriguez finished just two outs shy of his first career complete game, allowing just three walks and four hits. 

“He was hitting his spots,” Soto said. “He was throwing the ball well, he was being careful with the big guys and being aggressive with guys he thought he could be aggressive to.”

That's been the case of late for the extremely shorthanded Mets, as both Soto and Bo Bichette haven't nearly look like themselves with a lack of big threats behind them. 

Soto has just three hits in 33 at-bats this month, Bichette has seven in 36. 

New York dropped three of the final four games of the nine-game road trip, scoring just seven times over that span, after starting with four wins over the first six games. 

"We’re better than that,” Carlos Mendoza said. “Especially the past couple of days, we needed to be better.”