Category: Baseball

Juan Soto wasn’t too concerned after fouling a ball hard off his ankle during his at-bat in the bottom of the third in Wednesday night’s walk-off win over the Tigers. 

Soto completed the AB, then took his next turn in the sixth. 

But concern certainly grew from Mets fans when the star outfielder was lifted for a pinch-hitter with two men on and two outs in a tie ballgame in the seventh. 

X-rays came back negative, and Soto told reporters Thursday that they were simply trying to play things safe.

“I’ve done it before,” he said. “I wasn’t able to push at that point, it was getting slow, so I was just trying to make the smart move but I know how to handle it.”

Soto was deemed well enough to jump right back into the Mets’ lineup for Thursday afternoon's series finale, and he showed no ill-effects as he put together a much-needed big day at the plate. 

The left-handed slugger was retired in each of his first two at-bats but then delivered in his next two, lining a two-out go-ahead single in the bottom of the fifth before hitting a solo homer to center leading off the seventh. 

He came into the day hitting just .146 with three RBI and a .502 OPS over 11 games in May. Those numbers improved after Thursday's performance.

“It’s always great to come through for your team,” Soto said. “Definitely in a big situation with guys in scoring position there, just trying to bring them in and take the lead, I think it’s huge.”

New York, of course, held on from there to secure the series sweep of the Tigers. 

With those three come-from-behind victories now in the books, the suddenly hot Mets have now taken three of their last four series and have won eight of 12 games thus far in May as they gear up for a highly-anticipated Subway Series over the weekend against the suddenly slumping Yankees.

“It shows we’re capable of doing whatever we want,” Soto said. “At the end of the day it’s all about us -- what we want to do is right there in front of us, we just have to go out there and get it.”

The Mets and Yankees have certainly had different starts to their 2026 seasons. The Yankees are 10 games over .500 and at times have looked prime for another deep October run. The Mets, meanwhile, are 18-25, and have been one of the more disappointing teams around the league. 

But baseball can be a funny game, and as of late, the tides have turned. The Yankees have lost six of their last eight games, while the Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers on Thursday afternoon behind a five-homer day from the offense and seven strong innings by Nolan McLean. 

Add all of that up, and this weekend’s Subway Series at Citi Field should be must-watch baseball. 

“Subway Series are always special,” said Carlos Mendoza, who served on the Yankees coaching staff before becoming the manager in Queens. “It brings an extra energy, it’s gonna be packed, it’s gonna be electric. They’re fun. But again, control what you can control, come back tomorrow and take care of business one day at a time. But it’s always fun, the Subway Series.”

Another Met who has experience on both sides of the Subway Series is Juan Soto. After one prolific season with the Yankees, Soto, of course, signed a massive 15-year contract with the Mets.

Soto switching teams has been a huge topic of conversation between Mets and Yankees fans, and the outfielder knows the energy will be ratcheted up at Citi Field this weekend.

“The vibe that you feel in the stadium outside is just great,” said Soto, who hit one of the Mets’ five homers on Thursday. “The fans, the field and everything just feels different, and it feels great to be out there.”

One of the biggest factors of the Mets’ sweep of the Tigers was the injection of energy provided by rookies Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, with Ewing hitting his first major league home run in Thursday’s win. 

Ewing may be a man of few words, but he admitted that he’s very much looking forward to his first taste of the crosstown rivalry.

“Absolutely,” he answered when asked about looking forward to the series. “100 percent.”

It’s old news by now, but it’s worth remembering some of these smaller stories in what figures to be a long season of losing. The other night, the Giants outfielders performed a final out act?… dance?… behavior?… performance? that received a strong response from those empowered to deliver and enforce a “Knock it off.” If you’ve already forgotten news from two days ago:

There’re Drew Gilbert, Harrison Bader, and Jung Hoo Lee smashing their cups together as all bros do in celebration after the final out of a baseball game. Yep. A tradition as old as the game itself. Totally normal stuff, right? WRONG! Obviously!

When I was in 8th grade, our boys’ basketball team set out to go 12-0 that season and when we got to around 7-0 or 8-0 we were really feeling ourselves. I went to a small Catholic school, and when we celebrated a little too hard after a couple of made shots on the opponents’ court to clinch that 7th or 8th straight win, on the following Monday we were taken into the convent garden and scolded by our principal, Sister Catherine, and the head of the parish himself, Father Lannigan. We were lined up, told that we were to immediately stop all forms of celebration and to play the game “like gentlemen.”

I don’t think we went undefeated that year (maybe 11-1?), but what I do remember is that talking to, in part because of Father Lannigan’s borderline farcical Irish brogue, but also because it felt unfair. It wasn’t formative in that I learned a valuable lesson about sportsmanlike conduct, but that I learned how powerful the spectators’ experience is on a performance. The audience matters more than the performance or the performers because it’s their feedback that delivers the enduring value judgment, either through paying money to watch or being a critic, formally or informally as a fan.

So, if Buster Posey doesn’t like what he’s seeing — even with the easily accessible experience of being a player — then that’s the end of that. If you don’t think it’s Buster who’s trying to prevent this particular memory from being a part of his business, consider this: as Andrew Baggarly reminds us in his newser from last night’s loss (and, if anyone doesn’t follow our recaps with Baggs’s work right after, you’re missing out — he’s been on a real heater with his write-ups during this eventful Dodgers series), Posey is a proud baseball traditionalist:

Although Giants president Buster Posey has publicly stated his disdain for fraternization between opponents, there’s an understanding that Adames is who he is. There should be room for a social butterfly to exist even in an organization that hired manager Tony Vitello to instill the kind of fighting spirit that could antagonize opponents at times.

Like letting Luis Arraez play second base in order to sign him, looking the other way while Willy Adames exchanges hot goss with his fellow millionaires was the cost of acquiring the player. But letting Drew Gilbert bang his teammates in public? It’s too much, and Gilbert is easily sanctioned.

That’s going to do it for most baseball fans. Most baseball fans recoil at the notion of seeing anything vaguely human on a baseball field. Just baseball, spitting, scratching, high fiving, and butt slapping. Nothing more. The hint of sexuality — especially homosexuality — is the sort of thing that might trigger apoplexy in spectators and shareholders. And like everything meaningful in the world, keeping shareholders happy is all that matters.

Going back to that scolding at the convent, for the rest of the season we were assigned a chaperone. A teacher from another grade would attend all of our games and reported back to Sr. Catherine and Fr. Lannigan. We didn’t run afoul of the fun police the rest of the season, and we probably learned a lesson that we are always going to represent more than ourselves. That name on the jersey isn’t just our team; it’s everyone at our school and in that community. We 8th graders had offended the sensibility of some parents for high fiving and “YEAH”-ing on the court a little too hard in the moment and, okay, I’ll admit, there was one guy who held his hand up after making a three, running backwards a few steps, then turning that hand around and talking to it — so, you know, as a decrepit sports blogger now, I guess I can see a little bit why the decrepit people tasked with educating children and maintaining the school’s reputation might’ve been a little annoyed.

The Giants added a couple of new investors in the offseason and the last thing Buster Posey wants them to see is the players on the payroll acting “weird” or “obscene.” Or maybe he personally doesn’t feel it’s appropriate for Giants players to behave that way on the field — though, I’d hope nobody would dare invoke the “won’t somebody think of the children?!” reaction when most kids aren’t awake to see that celebration. But to add Drew Gilbert and Tony Vitello and a bunch of other big personalities to a team and then ask them to not be themselves just seems like another bad idea by a team that has had a lot of them over the past few years.

Players of a losing team having a little fun after one of their few wins by doing something people could see on TV for 25+ years on The Simpsons or How I Met Your Motherdoesn’t really strike me as controversial, even as we live in a culture now fully captured by conservative values, but then again, it (gasp) went viral! So, maybe that had everything to do with it. Forget that baseball players are generally odd ducks and what they find interesting or amusing or exciting is usually far afield from what the average baseball viewer or non-player does — “that ain’t right” is a trump card the outsider gets to play most of the time. If the Giants were winning a lot, perhaps that could’ve Uno reversed the outcome.

Anyway, here’s a good image from a bad site.

Hopefully, this shameful episode will remind baseball players to refrain from doing anything they find to be fun while in view of the cameras.

While it was certainly a team effort, the collective of Mets’ rookies contributed a huge part to the club’s 9-4 win over the Tigers in the finale of their three game set this afternoon at Citi Field. The team worked through first inning trouble to come out on top for their third straight comeback victory over Detroit.

Nolan McLean started the game off with a strikeout of Kevin McGonigle on a curveball that hung up on the zone a little too much. That lack of sharpness, despite the result, would be a bit of an omen for his day. A walk to Cole Keith and a single to Riley Greene put two on and, after a pop out by Dillon Dingler, Gage Workman cranked a three-run home run to put the Tigers up 3-0.

But unlike just about every stretch of the 2026 season thus far, the A.J. Ewing-era Mets feel like they’ve got some fight in them, and as they’ve done the last two nights, they came back.

Ewing was the sparkplug, leading off the third inning with a solo home run against Keiber Montero to cut the lead to just two. Montero and McLean both worked around some baserunners early, with just the long ball affecting the score early on.

The long ball would tie the game, too, when MJ Melendez walked, followed by Brett Baty hitting a two-run shot off the top of the fence in left-center in the fourth. Montero would start the fifth, but a Carson Benge single and stolen base would lead to a call to the bullpen ahead of Juan Soto. Left-hander Tyler Holton would be first out of the Tigers’ relief corps, and instantly gave up an RBI single, putting the Mets ahead for the first time all day.

Next up was Mark Vientos, who turned on a Holton meatball and deposited it over the Great Wall of Flushing to put the Mets up 6-3.

As noted earlier, McLean did not have his best stuff today, but seemingly was able to get past every obstacle after that initial home run. In the fourth, Workman doubled to lead off the inning, but some poor baserunning on a single by Zach McKinstry saw Workman thrown out at third by Melendez, a call confirmed by replay. One batter later, McLean got an inning-ending double play off the bat of Spencer Torkelson. That inning, which saw two hits, was wrapped up on exactly four pitches thrown: two pitches to Workman, one to McKinstry, one to Torkelson.

In the fifth, Wenceel Pérez led off the inning with a single, but was picked off by McLean on a replay-assisted call. And so even though he only had one one-two-three inning and wasn’t throwing his best stuff, McLean showed up and fought his way through.

McLean would come out for the seventh and promptly hit Torkelson. But, as he did all game, he bucked up and fought through, ending the game exactly as he started it: striking out McGonigle. It’s very possible that the game was bookended by the National League Rookie of the Year striking out his American League counterpart. Seven innings, six hits, seven strikeouts, three walks, one hit batsman.

The rest of the team showed up, too. In the bottom of the sixth, the Mets added to their lead when a Marcus Semien walk, an Ewing single, and a safety squeeze by Hayden Senger led to the seventh run of the game against Enmanuel De Jesus.

Juan Soto led off the seventh with a solo home run off of Brenan Hanifee to put the Mets up by 5. Tobias Myers pitched the eighth for the Mets and gave up a solo home run to Dingler. However, Semien hit the foul pole on the first pitch he saw from Ricky Vanasco in the bottom of the inning to make it 9-4.

Craig Kimbrel pitched an uneventful ninth for the Mets to secure the win and the sweep. The Mets have now won three of their last four series and finally looked like a competitive team, even though it was against a team that is struggling mightily.

The Mets hit five home runs, the rookie combo of Benge and Ewing each collected two hits, and aside from Bo Bichette, every starter contributed a hit or an RBI to the game.

This was only the third time in Mets’ history that the Mets came back from multiple runs down to win each game in a series (against the Giants in 1969 and against the Phillies in 2012). This was a fun three games.

The Citi Field portion of the Subway Series kicks off tomorrow night with a hell of a pitching duel when Clay Holmes faces off against Cam Schlittler.

SB Nation GameThreads

Amazin’ Avenue
Bless You Boys

Box scores

MLB.com
ESPN

Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Brett Baty, +27.0% WPA
Big Mets loser: Bo Bichette, -10.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: -1.0% WPA
Mets hitters: +51.0% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Baty’s two-run homer, +24.9% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: George Workman’s three-run homer, -25.4% WPA

Among Yankees regulars, only Austin Wells and Ryan McMahon had a lower wRC+ than Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s 72 mark before Wednesday’s game against the Orioles. To say that the second baseman’s season has been a disappointment to this point would be an understatement.

Before taking the field on Wednesday, Chisholm’s slash line was at .200/.280/.320 with four home runs, 11 stolen bases, and a 29.2 percent strikeout rate in 168 plate appearances. As you can see, his production is down across the board. You can tell Jazz is frustrated by how things are going, and he recently acknowledged that he’s “not swinging well.” He did say, however, that he’s working hard to get back on track. Chisholm summed up his slump, probably without knowing he did.

The strikeout rate is higher than last year’s 27.9 percent, but the difference is not that big between this year and last. The most worrisome development about Chisholm’s 2026 campaign has been his horrible contact quality metrics, and that suggests that, well, he’s really not swinging well. It might be a timing issue, a mental block, or a mechanical problem, but his batted ball metrics are awful, probably as bad as they have ever been.

The main issue is that Chisholm is just not barreling the ball. A year after ranking in the 91st percentile in barrel rate with 15 percent, he is at 5.9 percent, in the 30th percentile. That’s a huge dropoff. Additionally, Chisholm’s 35.3 percent hard-hit rate is well-below average and significantly down in comparison to last year’s 43.3 percent.

In 2025, the mercurial second baseman had a .346 xwOBA. This season, it’s down to a stunningly low .263. A whopping 94 percent of the league has a higher mark than that. His .481 expected slugging percentage last year is considerably higher than 2026’s .312.

So far, Chisholm’s contact metrics are so bad that xwOBA even thinks he has been a tad lucky. That .263 mark is lower than his .274 wOBA. His 73 mph average bat speed is not too much lower than his 73.9 mph in 2025, so the power is still there.

If he’s healthy, the Yankees have enough reasons to believe he will eventually figure things out and the talent will speak for itself. Chisholm is, at least, stealing bases and playing solid defense. But the team needs him to hit, too. He appears to be having a particularly bad time with breaking pitches — after posting a .326 xwOBA last year against this specific pitch type, he is at an alarmingly low .205 in 2026. Additionally, Chisholm might be too passive at times. His zone swing percentage is at 60.7, the lowest since his rookie season by a considerable margin, and his first-pitch swing percentage is at 31.5, his lowest mark since 2023. It’s all about having good takes, working the count, and putting up good hacks on hittable pitches, so he should eventually get to where he wants to be. A little more aggressiveness should also help him.

Expecting Chisholm to be a 72-wRC+ hitter when he finished the last two years at 111 and 126, respectively, would be foolish. However, denying that he has a lot of work to do to get his best swing back would be, too. Baseball is a game of constant adjustments, and Chisholm will need to spot the problematic areas and work on them to improve. He’s too good to be this bad, if that makes sense.

It’s been a tremendous season of Cubs baseball so far with the team putting together two 10-game winning streaks and still in the midst of a 15-game home winning streak before Memorial Day. Neither of those events have happened since 1935, and you know when a team with a 150-year history is doing things that haven’t been done in more than 90 years good things could be on the horizon.

Unfortunately, there are also storm clouds brewing for Major League Baseball as a whole. Earlier this week the MLBPA and MLB presented their opening proposals for this offseason’s looming CBA negotiations. Al already covered the main headlines from Tuesday’s meeting. I’m not going to rehash that here. “Reading the CBA leaves” will be a periodic column here at BCB covering some of the elements that may not be getting the headline on a particular day, but are just as important to understanding the coming CBA battle. Sometimes, like today, it will highlight stories from the last year that are important context for current conversations, other days it might look at under-covered stories from the negotiations or historical context from previous CBA negotiations.

As I was reading coverage of this week’s meeting, I couldn’t help but think of a couple of developments in the last year that really color how contentious the bargaining next offseason could be, specifically, how things actually went when Commissioner Rob Manfred acted on his preferred strategy of “to get directly to the players.”

That’s a reference from this section of Evan Drellich’s piece in The Athletic:

MLB has not explicitly said it will propose a cap but commissioner Rob Manfred has made many references to major economic change.

“The strategy is to get directly to the players,” Manfred said last summer. “I don’t think the leadership of this union is anxious to lead the way to change. So we need to energize the workforce in order to get them familiar with or supportive of the idea that maybe change in the system could be good for everybody.”

It’s curious that Manfred believes his best strategy is to go straight to the players considering the MLBPA has long been opposed to a salary cap. Frankly, MLB heading into clubhouses to hash out their preferences with the players seems akin to union busting tactics that require employees to attend management led meetings that suggest management has the best interest of employees at heart.

Apparently some players felt similarly last summer as MLB made their tour of clubhouses. Who can forget the tension that arose between Manfred and Bryce Harper when MLB visited the Phillies clubhouse last season? Here at reading the CBA leaves we’re all about refreshing your memory:

Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper stood nose to nose with Rob Manfred during a meeting between the Major League Baseball commissioner and the team last week, telling him to “get the f— out of our clubhouse” if Manfred wanted to talk about the potential implementation of a salary cap, sources told ESPN on Monday.

The confrontation came in a meeting — one of the 30 that Manfred conducts annually in an effort to improve his relations with every team’s players — that lasted more than an hour. Though Manfred never explicitly said the words “salary cap,” sources said the discussion about the game’s economics raised the ire of Harper, one of MLB’s most influential players and a two-time National League MVP.

That’s not a “friendly meeting” to talk about what MLB believes is in the players’ best interest. That’s a team leader reacting in a pretty predictable way to MLB campaigning for the economics behind their salary cap argument in a team clubhouse.

In fact, last offseason we got more information about that meeting in Newsweek and via the Agent Provocateur podcast that I wrote up for BCB at the time:

Manfred was visiting with the Phillies as part of an annual visit he hosts with all 30 clubs’ players. Harper reportedly told Manfred to “get the (expletive) out of our clubhouse,” when Manfred mentioned the idea of a salary cap. Manfred reportedly replied by saying he would not leave and continued the meeting.

Those details from ESPN were the only details on the altercation until a new report from sports agent Allan Walsh. During an appearance on “Agent Provocateur,” Walsh reported that, later, a “deputy” of Manfred’s allegedly threatened Harper.

“Don’t ever say that again to the commissioner,” Walsh said, quoting what was allegedly said to Harper. “Don’t ever disrespect him again publicly like that. That’s how people end up in a ditch.”

It later came out this was Mark DeRosa who was “making a bad joke” as Molly Knight posted on Bluesky:

To be clear, I love DeRosa as much as any Cubs fan who cheered for the team circa 2007. I’m also not sure it’s that much better to have likeable guys who are great on TV cracking jokes to current players about ending “up in a ditch” for disrespecting the Commissioner of MLB.

The bottom line is there is a lot of subtext buried in Rob Manfred’s friendly campaign to chat with the players directly. According to the excellent CBA primer published at ESPN this week, last time a disconnect between the MLBPA Executive Committee and the rank and file players is what ultimately ended to lockout:

Near the end of the previous CBA negotiations, the executive committee — a group of active players elected to represent their peers — unanimously recommended rejecting the owners’ last offer. However, the rank-and-file overwhelmingly voted to go back to work, rejecting the advice of their leadership.

A question, then, will hover over these forthcoming talks: Will the rank-and-file be in lockstep with whatever direction the union leadership points? A critical element during the players’ strike that ended the 1994 season and impacted the start of the 1995 campaign is that, generally speaking, the players maintained a resolute front with the leadership and the players unified. — Olney

It seems plausible that fissure is what Manfred and company are hoping to exploit as one place to gain leverage on pushing a salary cap and floor in this year’s negotiations. That’s an argument MLB has failed to win in the past and it’s a key element to keep an eye on as the sides stake out their ground for the terms of the next CBA.

It’s no secret that Harry Ford’s start to the 2026 season was less than ideal. Acquired this offseason from the Seattle Mariners for Jose A. Ferrer, many expected Ford to step in day one and be the Nationals’ starting catcher, but the Nats front office felt he could benefit from some time in Triple A to work on his defense.

It is clear the trade had an effect mentally on Ford, as he looked nothing like himself through his first month in the Nats organization, posting a .182 batting average and racking up just 3 extra base hits on the month. As a result, he saw his prospect stock drop somewhat, falling off MLB Pipeline’s newest top 100 rankings.

Eyes have turned away from Ford and towards other prospects on the farm, especially at the lower levels, but while fans have watched the offensive outbursts of Eli Willits and Devin Fitz-Gerald, Ford has quietly begun to find himself again offensively in May. Through 9 games in the month, Ford has a .241 batting average, 0.90 BB/K ratio, 1 home run, and .367 wOBA, much improved from his .198 average, 0.38 BB/K ratio, 0 home runs, and .247 wOBA in April.

The biggest difference for Ford in May has been the return of his bat-to-ball skills, as after an unusual April where Ford posted a 31.6% whiff rate and 78.5% Zone-Contact rate, he has cut the whiff rate down to 23% and increased the Zone-Contact rate to 88.6% in May. Ford has been making more contact this month while also lowering his chase rate, going from the 73rd to the 90th percentile in chase rate. The hit tool is the driving force of Ford’s offensive profile, and after seemingly losing it during his first month as a Nat, he’s gotten back to his 2025 levels.

The area where Ford is still looking to find himself again is in the power department, as although he got his first home run of the year the other day, his average exit velocity of 85.1 MPH is well below his 88.8 MPH mark in 2025. The good news is that, while the exit velocities aren’t there yet, Ford is doing everything right to maximize his power output when they are, as his 82nd percentile barrel rate and 66th percentile pulled flyball rate in May are both above average and allow someone with average raw power like Ford to still hit 15-20 home runs a season.

The overall numbers for this season at Triple-A will not look clean for Ford for a while, but after spending 5 seasons climbing the Seattle Mariners minor league system, it can be expected that he might not fully acclimate to baseball with a new club on the other side of the country immediately.

Ford is slowly but surely getting comfortable at Triple A for the Nats, and the results are getting back to where he and the Nationals organization expect them to be. Stack up a few more weeks of offensive success, and Ford could find himself back in the big leagues, this time as the starting catcher for the Washington Nationals.

A sweep moment finally arrived for the Mets, with their shiny new toy as an integral component. 

It took until their 14th series this season. The Mets had been swept four times during that stretch, but their own sweep aspirations were unfulfilled. 

Thursday they brandished their bats for the second time in three days since rookie A.J. Ewing’s arrival from Triple-A Syracuse. Their three-game sweep of the Tigers was complete with a 9-4 victory at Citi Field. 

Ewing blasted his first major league homer as part of a barrage that let the Mets begin contemplating the upcoming Subway Series in a positive mindset. Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Juan Soto and Marcus Semien also went deep on a day the Mets established a season-high with five homers. 

Ewing, a 21-year-old outfielder, had a major league debut series to remember — which included reaching base four times in his first game Tuesday, scoring the winning run in the 10th inning a night later then clearing the fence for the first time in Thursday’s third inning. 

“He brings the energy that we need, he’s a young core [player], a really humble kid,” Soto said. “He’s showing every aspect of the game.” 

It doesn’t hurt that another rookie, Carson Benge, has been among the team’s hottest players. A night after providing the game-winning RBI in the 10th inning, Benge added a 2-for-5 performance Thursday and owns an .888 OPS in May. 

“They are going to get on base, they are going to grind at-bats, they are going to put the ball in play,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of the rookie tandem. “They are going to make pitchers work and once they get on, they are going to put pressure on the defense. They are having fun. They are playing, and that is contagious.” 

Just maybe, the Mets (18-25) have found the boost they need to get their season on track. Winning at least two games in Queens against the Yankees this weekend might bolster that notion. 

It’s certainly the right time for the Mets, who have begun the month with eight victories in 12 games, to play their interborough rival. 

“Not just the Subway Series, but the whole season, we have just got to keep the momentum going all the way to October,” Soto said. “Definitely it was a start we didn’t want, but it’s the right time to get hot.” 

The positives from this series included three comeback victories and 22 runs scored — the team’s most this season in a three-game series. 

“There’s a lot to like,” Mendoza said. “We won in a lot of different ways.” 

Nolan McLean, after a rough first inning, got the Mets through the seventh. The rookie right-hander allowed three earned runs on six hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. 

McLean sank the Mets into a first-inning hole by allowing a three-run homer to Gage Workman. McLean surrendered a walk and a single before giving up his fourth homer of the season and second in as many starts. 

Ewing began the comeback by homering against Keider Montero leading off the third. Last season, Ewing homered just three times in 485 at-bats over three minor league levels. 

“I think [homers] can be part of my game,” Ewing said. “I don’t think it’s going to be my identity. I spray the ball, hit a lot of line drives and put myself in position to get on base a lot. But when I catch stuff out in front, I think that can happen, for sure.” 

Baty hit a two-run homer in the fourth that tied it 3-3. Soto stroked an RBI single in the fifth that gave the Mets the lead. Benge singled and stole second to ignite the rally. Vientos launched a two-run homer that gave the Mets a 6-3 lead. It was the fourth homer in 10 games for Vientos, who owns an .843 OPS over his past 12 games. 

Hayden Senger, on a safety squeeze, bunted in a run in the sixth that extended the Mets lead to 7-3. The knockout punches were delivered by Soto and Semien, who each homered later. 

“We have been struggling for a while, I have too these last couple of [starts],” McLean said. “But I wouldn’t say we ever got down on ourselves in here. You come and watch the work these guys are putting in and we know how good our clubhouse is, and that is all that matters: what we think of each other. We’re not worried about anybody else.”

The Atlanta Braves are going for a sweep against the Chicago Cubs, which would cap off a fantastic six-game stretch if the Braves were able to pull it off. Things went well enough against right-handed Cubs starter Colin Rea in the first game and after shaking things up against the lefty Shota Imanaga in the second game, the Braves are going back to their usual lineup meant for right-handed pitchers.

That means that Mike Yastrzemski and Dominic Smith are back in the lineup and Drake Baldwin is catching. Here’s the rest of the lineup:

As I mentioned in the title, this lineup is identical to the one that they trotted out there for their matchup against the Cubs on Tuesday and hopefully, it’ll be just as successful. Mike Yastrzemski in particular was successful, as he picked up two hits (including a homer) and three RBI on Monday and then he added on another big hit as a pinch-hitter in Wednesday’s win. He’s doing pretty well against the Cubs in this series and here’s hoping that he can keep it up. Dominic Smith will also be looking to pick up where he left off on Monday, which is when he delivered a four-hit game. His pinch-hit effort was unsuccessful on Wednesday but maybe we’ll see something different here on Thursday night.

Here’s the lineup for the Chicago Cubs, which was released just under an hour after this post was originally published. Thanks, Cubbies.

The Cubs will have played three games here and will have put out three different lineups so far. Nico Hoerner remains in the leadoff spot, Alex Bregman, Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki each move up a spot, Matt Shaw makes his first start of the series in right field, old friend Dansby Swanson moves up to his highest lineup position so far this series in seventh, Miguel Amaya becomes the third different starting catcher for the Cubs in this series and Pete Crow-Armstrong moves down to ninth like he was on Tuesday. The only constants has been Michael Busch batting sixth. Fascinating.

What do y’all think? Does Atlanta’s lineup look good enough to complete a sweep?

I would start this recap by talking about the importance of the Tigers avoiding a sweep, and how they need to come together to prove they are a better team than what we’ve been seeing from them, but that’s just stating the obvious at this point and the Mets are starting Nolan McLean, who totally dazzled viewers in the World Baseball Classic. So what I’m saying is that every game could be anything and we’ll just see what happens. Keider Montero was on the mound for the Tigers and he’s been having a respectable season so far, so let’s cross our fingers and just go with it.

Colt Keith got a one-out walk in the first, followed by a single from Riley Greene, who has been a real highlight in this series. With two outs, Gage Workman came through with a home run to score three.

Despite his heroics in the top of the inning, Workman was quickly charged with an error in the home half that allowed Carson Benge to get safely to first. Three outs (including one challenged one by Bo Bichette) followed, ending the threat by the Mets.

The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the second. In the home half with one out, Brett Baty got a walk, but he was very quickly eliminated in a double-play off the bat of Marcus Semien.

With two outs in the third, Riley Greene continued his incredible efforts this series with a single, but the Tigers weren’t able to convert the baserunner. The Mets did manage to get one back, though, in the home half as A.J. Ewing got a solo home run to start things off. Three outs followed, but the Mets had started to chip away at the lead.

Gage Workman continued to have one heck of a game, starting the fourth with a leadoff double. Zach McKinstry then singled, sending Workman to second, but he was called out at the plate. It was pretty clear from both replay and the naked eye that he was safe, but when the Tigers called for a review, the call on the field was upheld. A.J. Hinch then got ejected for having it out with the umpires about the insanely incorrect review play. This series has just been crazy with umpire nonsense. A double play ended the inning. With two outs in the home half, M.J. Melendez walked. Baty then homered, bouncing a ball off the orange outfield line. The call of a homer was reviewed, but upheld, and the game was tied. Marcus Semien followed that up with a single. The final out of the inning came on a crazy good catch by Kevin McGonigle who practically ran a half-marathon to snag the ball.

Wenceel Perez got the fifth going with a leadoff single. There was a pickoff attempt of Perez at first, and he was ruled safe by the Mets, who challenged. Somehow, this call was overturned. Did someone hire some Etsy witches to curse this team or something? Jake Rogers then walked. Wonder if someone wants to challenge that and have it overturned, too. Really, the only thing the Tigers had working in their favor at this point in the game was that McLean wasn’t at his best, showing shaky command. Yet, Keider Montero, who barely gave up any home runs all season, gave up two in one game. So no one is really playing their best, are they? The Tigers didn’t manage to convert any baserunners, but the universe conspiring against them didn’t help. The weirdest series ever continued. Benge got a one-out single, then stole second. Initially, he was called out, but the Mets challenged and it was overturned. With two outs, that was it for Montero. He went 4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HR on 70 pitches. Certainly not his best outing. Tyler Holton came out of the bullpen to replace him. A Juan Soto single scored Benge. Then, because this game and series are what they are, Mark Vientos homered, putting the score up to 6-3 for the Mets. The Tigers finally got out of the inning, but they’d have a long way to go to get a win at this point.

Riley Greene took a leadoff walk in the sixth. After that, they went down in order, though, leaving Greene stranded. Enmanuel De Jesus was the new Tigers pitcher in the home half. With one out, Semien walked. A.J. Ewing then singled, continuing his impressive debut series. Semien moved up to third. Hayden Senger played the coward’s game with a sac bunt, scoring Semien. With the second out of the inning De Jesus was done. Brenan Hanifee came in and got the final out of the inning. The Mets were up 7-3.

In the seventh, Spencer Torkelson was hit by a pitch, but even with a free baserunner, the Tigers couldn’t make anything happen. Heading into the home half, Juan Soto got a leadoff home run. With two outs after that, the Tigers switched over to Ricky Vanasco, who got the final out of the inning.

McLean’s day was finally done after seven innings, and he was replaced by Tobias Myers. With two outs in the eighth, Dillon Dingler got a solo home run. The Tigers would have to settle for just the one run, and then as the game headed to the home half, the Mets got it right back with a leadoff home run off the foul pole by Semien. With two outs, we had to take a break so Benge could have someone put in eye drops for him. Maybe the drops helped, because he singled. Bo Bichette then walked, but the Mets weren’t able to bring any additional runs in.

Craig Kimbrel came in for the Mets for the top of the ninth. He got the Tigers out in order and the series limped over the finish line.

Final: Mets 9, Tigers 4

The Colorado Rockies were unable to replicate their offensive production from Wednesday, but the major concern from their 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates lies with a concerning injury to their most promising starting pitcher. The Rockies finish the road trip with a 2-4 record and two series losses.

Danger for Dollander?

The Rockies hoped for another strong outing from Chase Dollander, especially three games into a schedule of playing 16-games straight. Unfortunately, the fireball righty departed in the top of the second with an apparent injury.

The day didn’t start well as Oneil Cruz kicked things off with a double in the top of the first inning that dropped because of a miscommunication between Jordan Beck and Brenton Doyle. Cruz then scored on a single from Bryan Reynolds to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. The next batter, Ryan O’Hearn, belted a two-run home run to center field, making it 3-0 with one out. Dollander managed to escape the inning with a couple of pop-ups, but lasted just two batters the following inning after giving up a double to Endy Rodriguez and walking Jared Triolo. Dollander shook his arm after walking Triolo, and out of caution, Warren Schaeffer pulled him from the game, turning the day into a bullpen affair.

It was later announced that Dollander departed with right forearm tightness and will undergo some more testing in Denver.

Early Game Bullpen Brigade

Brennan Bernardio replaced Dollander in the second with two on and nobody out and managed to quickly record three outs to escape the inning. Bernardino started the third inning, giving up back-to-back singles and inducing a weak groundout in front of the plate for the first out of the inning.

Victor Vodnik then entered the game and walked Marcell Ozuna to load the bases. Rodriguez followed up with a two-run single to center field to extend the Pirates’ lead 5-0. Cruz later drove in another run on a groundout to short to make it 6-0 before Vodnik struck out Brandon Lowe to end the inning.

Between Dollander and the two relievers, the Pirates were quite effective in putting the ball in play, and it threatened to place a heavy burden on the bullpen, but the Rockies were able to get length out of Tanner Gordon to survive the day.

Go-Go Gadget Gordon

It’s been a crazy couple of days for Gordon after he was optioned back to Albuquerque on Tuesday and had to turn around and quickly return to Pittsburgh after Jimmy Herget was placed on the injured list. With the transition to a bullpen game, it became clear that Gordon was going to have to eat some innings, and he delivered on the day.

Gordon ended up tossing four innings, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out five batters and allowing one walk. He threw 69 pitches, 47 for strikes, inducing two groundouts and four flyouts. Calm and composed, Gordon worked through the seventh, giving way to Juan Mejia in the eighth. Given the circumstances that arose for the game, Gordon lifted a potentially great burden from the shoulders of the Rockies’ pen.

Steel City Blues

The Rockies’ offense wasn’t able to get much of anything done at the plate. They managed to score two runs on just five hits while striking out seven times. They did manage four walks, but they were unable to string together hits like they had done Wednesday night.

The runs came in the fourth inning after TJ Rumfield and Willi Castro managed to draw back-to-back one-out walks against bulk reliever Carmen Mlodzinski. Troy Johnston then managed a two-out, two-run double to get the Rockies on the board, trailing 6-2 at the time.

Still, some promising things are happening for the Rockies’ offense. Rumfield continues to impress as he drew a pair of walks, Johnston remains very clutch with runners in scoring position, and Ezequiel Tovar is slowly coming along with some excellent at-bats.

The Pirates exemplified what the Rockies are trying to do contact-wise on offense, as they totaled 12 hits with four players collecting two or more.

Up Next

The Rockies head back home to welcome Nolan Arenado and the Arizona Diamondbacks to town. Kyle Freeland (1-4, 6.00 ERA) looks to rebound from a couple of rough starts. He will face off against Merrill Kelly (2-3, 7.62 ERA) who has also had a rough go of it to start the season.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 pm MDT.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

The Mets came back from an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Tigers, 9-4, on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field and complete a three-game sweep.

Here are the takeaways...

- With the score tied, 3-3, two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Carson Benge on second base (after he lined a single and swiped a bag), the Mets pounced.

First, Juan Soto stroked a single up the middle to drive in Benge and put New York up, 4-3. Mark Vientos followed that up by launching a no-doubter of a two-run homer deep into the seats in left field to increase the Mets' advantage to 6-3.

The Mets added on in the sixth, seventh, and eighth.

In the sixth, after Marcus Semien walked, A.J. Ewing cracked a single that moved Semien to third base. Hayden Senger then dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt/safety squeeze that brought Semien home to make it 7-3, Mets -- with Senger beating out the play to reach first base. 

In the seventh, Soto led off by drilling a homer to center to increase the lead to 8-3.

In the eighth, Semien roped a leadoff shot off the foul pole in left field to up the advantage to 9-4. 

- Leading off the third inning, Ewingjumped on a 1-0 pitch from Keider Montero and sent it over the right field fence for his first big league homer to trim New York's deficit to 3-1 -- the ball came off his bat at 110.5 mph.

Aside from Ewing's jack, the Mets' offense was kept in check by Montero over the first 3.2 innings. But they staged a two-out rally in the fourth. After MJ Melendez walked, Brett Baty smoked an opposite-field homer that tied things, 3-3.

- It was an inauspicious start for the usually-dominant Nolan McLean, who struggled with his command and didn't have his usual swing-and-miss-stuff in the first inning. 

After a one-out walk followed by a single, the Tigers capitalized with two outs when Gage Workman lofted a three-run homer that landed just over the wall in left-center field to give Detroit a 3-0 lead. 

Those were all the runs Detroit would get.

McLean, who battled with his command throughout and didn't have his best stuff, fought through seven innings where there was constant traffic on the bases -- his only clean frame was the second.

In the seventh, McLean closed his outing in emphatic fashion, striking out Jake Rogers swinging and Kevin McGonigle looking to end the inning before unleashing a primal scream as he fist-pumped while making his way off the mound.

McLean's final line: 7.0 innings, three runs, six hits, three walks, one hit batter, seven strikeouts. His ERA for the season is 2.92.

- Ewing became the first player in Mets history to have a triple and home run (in either order) for his first two career hits, and just the seventh MLB player in the last 20 seasons to accomplish that feat (h/t Sarah Langs).

Highlights

A.J. EWING'S FIRST CAREER HOME RUN! pic.twitter.com/vkJDNHlk1U

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

A.J. Ewing goes deep for the first time in the big leagues! pic.twitter.com/L4aODLiW1g

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) May 14, 2026

A.J. Hinch has been ejected from the game after the Tigers lost a challenge on an out at third base pic.twitter.com/oThN2d6TzK

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) May 14, 2026

Bretty Baty's second homer of the season ties the game! pic.twitter.com/9WE0IqXgla

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

Juan Soto puts the Mets on top! pic.twitter.com/q3SgbDu4ja

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

MARK VIENTOS LAUNCHING 🚀 pic.twitter.com/HFOKwmZl39

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

The safety squeeze from Hayden Senger works!

7-2 Mets! pic.twitter.com/1BvxD5GNrk

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) May 14, 2026

NOLAN MCLEAN. pic.twitter.com/0D9VFaUdV4

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) May 14, 2026

Marcus Semien joins the party!

The Mets have mashed five home runs today! pic.twitter.com/r0hvhnmqw5

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Yankees open the Subway Series at Citi Field on Friday at 7:15 p.m.

Clay Holmes starts against Cam Schlittler.

Starting pitching has not been the Red Sox problem in 2026. And with Payton Tolle performing well and Brayan Bello possibly bouncing back thanks to the use of an opener, the staff has more than held its own in the absence of Garrett Crochet. But Crochet isn’t taking any chances. Yesterday, he completed his first bullpen session since being sidelined with shoulder inflammation. And while he’s not ready to come back just yet, he hopes to skip any rehab assignments and head straight back to the Majors when he is. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

Crochet returning without stretching himself out in the minors would not be without recent precedent. Sonny Gray also came right back to the big league team and has been outstanding. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)

Exactly how good as the Sox’ rotation been lately? They have a 2.61 ERA in May. “I think pitching is contagious,” said Sonny Gray. “I think hitting is contagious. I think winning is contagious. So, I’ve enjoyed watching our staff, and there’s zero part of me that feels complacent or that feels that we’re there. I feel like when you start to feel that way, it’ll come up and find you. I feel we have a good staff, and I feel like you can definitely build off of one another. We’re just going to continue to push forward because I think we could still get better.” (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)

It sure would be nice if Roman Anthony could return from injury, but things aren’t looking great in that regard. He’s due to come off the IL tomorrow, but is wearing a brace and has yet to resume baseball activities. According to Chad Tracy, the Sox are waiting until his grip strength improves before thinking of next steps. (Justin Leger, NBC Sports Boston)

Speaking of injuries, Sox catcher Connor Wong had a little bit of an injury scare last night, when he tripped over Edmundo Sosa’s leg while chasing after a foul pop-up in the eighth inning. “I think he banged on the outside bone part of the ankle,” said Chad Tracy. “They did some quick images. Everything’s negative. He was able to kind of jump on it. Just felt a little discomfort pushing off of it.” (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

And speaking of Red Sox catchers, Sam Kennedy spoke a bit about the recently fired reassigned Jason Varitek. “We have a personal relationship, all of us do, with Tek. We’re gonna give him all the time he needs given what went down. We respect him and appreciate him. There will always be a home for him in this organization. But we’re also gonna respect the fact he’s probably taking some time now, well-deserved time, but we’ll address that at the appropriate time.” (Lauren Campbell, MassLive)

A frustrated John Smoltz called his agent in the winter of 2001 and gave him specific Bronx-themed instructions.

“(I) said, ‘Call the Yankees, tell him I’m going,'” Smotlz recalled to The Post’s Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman on the latest “The Show” podcast.

His agent, though, had made a promise to former Braves executive John Schuerholz that he would circle back to them before any decision would be finalized.

Those late talks ultimately swayed Smoltz, keeping him in Atlanta at the “buzzer” rather than joining the Yankees after their Game 7 World Series loss to the Diamondbacks.

Said Smoltz: “That’s how close it was.”

One of the most famous failed Yankees free-agent pursuits involves Smoltz’s ex-Braves teammate Greg Maddux, especially due to the ramifications it would have had for both franchises, and this Smoltz entry is a neat little “What if” to ponder from the early 2000s.

After starting all 356 games in his career through the 1999 season, the Braves transitioned Smoltz to a relief role in the 2001 season in his return from Tommy John surgery.

Over the final roughly six weeks, he served as their closer and tallied 10 saves.

Smoltz entered free agency that offseason wanting to return to the rotation, but the Braves instead wanted him to remain in the closer role.

View this post on Instagram

Atlanta valued said role at three years and $21 million, which he viewed as below his value.

The Yankees, meanwhile, viewed Smoltz as a starter and he said Gene Michael — then the team’s vice president of professional scouting — offered a four-year, $52 million deal.

“The negotiations did not go well in Atlanta,” he said. “I was like, ‘Look, we’re not even close.”

Atlanta had one ace up its sleeve, though: Smoltz’s desire to remain in Atlanta.

He said he took less each time he stayed with the Braves during his career, but would be “boisterous” about it since he didn’t want to leave.

But the one year and extra $31 million marked quite the gap this time around.

“I didn’t mind taking a little bit less, but this was a little bit crazy,” he said.

The Braves ultimately upped their offer to $30 million over three years, which Smoltz accepted.

Smoltz noted that he wanted to be paid the same amount as Mariano Rivera, who made $9.15 that season and would make $9.45 million, $10.5 million and $10.89 million from 2002-04, respectively.

“Mariano Rivera is the best in our business. Nobody’s better,” Smoltz recalled. “But I’m not taking a penny less than him. It wasn’t arrogance, it was just like, ‘I don’t want to be the closer.’

“We ended up working it out at the buzzer.”

Smoltz ultimately served as Atlanta’s closer for the duration of that deal before returning to a starting role in 2005, and he remained with the Braves through the 2008 season.

He finished his career with the Cardinals and Red Sox in 2009.

The Yankees, meanwhile, still added veteran pitching that offseason in the form of Daivd Wells, in addition to signing slugging first baseman Jason Giambi.