Category: Baseball

The Rockies entered today struggling on offense. Losers of three straight, they had scored just four runs during that stretch. Last night they were humbled by one of the best pitchers in the league, and early tonight it looked like more losing was on the menu.

However, Mickey Moniak led a resurgent Rockies offense to a much needed victory despite a shaky and confusing start by José Quintana.

A unique start for José Quintana

Left-handed veteran José Quintana entered today’s game as a potential steady hand after doing well in his last three starts.

What followed was an… odd outing.

Quintana wasn’t at his sharpest, lasting just four innings. However, he did keep the game close enough for the Rockies to stage a comeback.

Quintana walked Oneil Cruz to leadoff the game in the first inning. With one out, Rockies fans were treated to something they had never seen before. Jake McCarthy recorded an unassisted double play in left field to end the inning. Per the Rockies, it was the first time such a play had happened in franchise history.

Then things went off the rails was the second inning.

With one out, Quintana issued a double and back-to-back walks to load the bases. He then struck out the next batter on three pitches, and it looked like the Rockies might escape the jam with no harm done.

Pirates catcher Henry Davis hit the ball sharply, but a diving stop by third baseman Kyle Karros looked to have the inning over. Karros threw to second instead of first without recording an out and a run scored. Edouard Julien then initiated a rundown that should have ended at home plate. Nick Gonzales veered into Quintana and pushed him, but Quintana was called for obstruction, and the run was granted.

This allowed the Pirates to take a 2-0 lead.

Quintana looked to be in trouble again in the third when he gave up a double and two singles to let the Pirates score another run, but a well-executed double play helped keep the damage to a minimum. Quintana then pitched a scoreless fourth inning, but his night was done.

Bats arrive fashionably late, but with gusto

You’d be forgiven for thinking you were watching a repeat of last night’s game over the first four innings.

Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller had been perfect through four innings. With a three-run deficit, the Rockies needed to get something going to avoid further déjà vu.

TJ Rumfield kicked off the fifth inning with a single for the first of five straight hits. Single-single-single-double-single. Suddenly the game was tied with no outs and runners still on base.

Then came along Mickey Moniak. The Birthday Boy.

Moniak slugged a three-run home run—the first of the season for the Rockies—to complete a six-run fifth inning and give the Rockies the lead. He would continue to hit well throughout the game with a double later on and a bases-clearing triple in the top of the ninth. Moniak finished a single shy of the cycle with five RBIs in a 3-for-5 evening.

His seven games with multiple extra-base hits is tied for the league lead and his 12 home runs is a team high for the Rockies.

TJ Rumfield also continued to play a substantial role. The rookie first baseman went 3-for-4 and scored twice. He also hit his sixth home run of the season in the top of the eighth. Rumfield leads all rookies in three-hit games this season.

The bullpen locked it down

Antonio Senzatela—who’s resurgence is still one of the best Rockies stories so far this season—pitched three almost-perfect innings in relief of José Quintana. He gave up just one earned run on one hit: a solo home run by Ryan O’Hearn off a fairly well-located pitch inside right on the hands. It was the first home run Senzatela has allowed this season. He also struck out two batters and allowed no walks.

Jaden Hill, who has quietly been one of the Rockies’ better relievers this season, lowered his ERA to 3.60 thanks to a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout. Lefty Brennan Bernardino wrapped things up in the ninth on nine pitches to seal the Rockies’ victory.

Coming Up Next

The Rockies will wrap up their road trip tomorrow morning with an early 10:35 AM MDT start time.

Chase Dollander—once again sans opener—will take the mound for the Rockies with righty Carmen Mlodzinski going for the Pirates.

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

Turns out there is still plenty of room for the human element even with Major League Baseball’s Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System. 

Now, it is all in the interpretation.  

Just ask Brett Baty. The New York Mets infielder slightly raised his right hand in the sixth inning on Tuesday night at Citi Field. He never touched his helmet, though it looked like he was going to touch the bill, not tap it.  

It didn’t matter. Homeplate umpire Junior Valentine saw the arm go up and immediately signaled for a challenge. Baty argued, but Valentine didn’t budge. The strike stood, the Mets were out of challenges.  

The reviews on SNY showed very clearly Baty never touched his helmet. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza came out to argue, it still didn’t matter. It was the umpire’s discretion.  

The Mets are out of ABS challenges tonight after home plate umpire Junior Valentine determined Brett Baty called for a review.

Baty never touched his helmet. pic.twitter.com/rusKZJIxpq

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

Sound familiar? 

That was the reasoning on Sunday when home plate umpire Carlos Torres denied a challenge from the Orioles and another from the A’s.  

In March, we got ahead of things with way-too-early 2026 MLB All Star Game roster predictions. With that pace, it’s just about time to chat about the potential moves you’re expecting or hoping to see by the early August trade deadline.

Even though we’re still a few months away, trade talk might not actually feel too premature. There has been a ton of buzz among Colorado Rockies fans over the past few weeks about potential trade candidates given the vision for the future that the front office is committed to and given strong performances from assets who might not be a part of that long-term vision.

A lot of the chatter has centered around Mickey Moniak, in particular. The former #1 overall pick has found his stride since becoming a Rockie and is having a career year. As a 28-year-old on a team working towards a rebuild, he’s right on the bubble of being a must-sell asset or being a veteran piece to complement a younger squad.

Blake Street Banter put together a wonderful look at Moniak as a trade candidate or as a player to extend, breaking down his production and examining a potential return that could be expected for him. Mickey’s home and road splits may strongly influence what his value would be outside of Coors.

Trending further towards the “must-sell” side of the spectrum are a handful of older players, especially pitchers, who don’t align with the long term future of a club that’s still has a few years to go in the rebuild. There’s always a strong market for relief arms at the trade deadline, so Brennan Bernardino and Michael Lorenzen (both 34-years-old), as well as Antonio Senzatela (31), would make sense for the Rox to move. And, as fun as he’s been after signing with Colorado this offseason, the front office may see what they can get back for 36-year-old Tomoyuki Sugano. A handful of position players could be in the mix, as well.

In recent history, the Rockies have been quiet at the trade deadline (and that’s a vast understatement). They’ve held onto prospects that they valued much more highly than the rest of the league and saw their returns diminish as they fizzled out. They also held onto players at the end of their contracts and saw them walk in free agency.

If the front office’s transactions and comments are any indication of how they’ll move this club forward, we should expect more of a “strike while the iron’s hot” approach as we near August. There will be big decisions to make as the Rockies look to recoup value, clear the way for prospects, and continue the move forward.

Who do you expect to see moved by August 3rd? Who do you hope the Rockies lock up for a few more years? And what other big trade predictions do you have, not just for the Rockies but around the league? Let us know in the comments!

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

LOS ANGELES — For the first time in 2026, Shohei Ohtani will not start at either designated hitter or pitcher for the Dodgers in their series finale against the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

Ohtani has slumped for several weeks, which coupled with the need to manage his two-way workload as both starting pitcher and lineup-anchoring hitter necessitates finding rest opportunities whenever possible. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made the decision prior to Tuesday’s game to have Ohtani not hit on either Wednesday (when he’s pitching) or Thursday, the latter more of a mental reset day in which he will be available to pinch-hit later if the game is in the balance.

The call was made beforeOhtani homered on Tuesday night, his first in 17 days, a decision Roberts had no intention of changing after the fact.

“I talked to him and said that was my thought, and we were both good with it,” Roberts said Tuesday night. “I don’t like the bait and switch.”

Emmet Sheehan starts on the mound for the Dodgers on Thursday, with right-hander Landen Roupp going for the Giants.

Thursday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Giants
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

As the Dodgers look to snap a four-game losing skid, Shohei Ohtani faces Robbie Ray.

WEDNESDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Giants
• Stadium: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

It was a bit of a quiet game to start tonight’s midweek matchup, but the Atlanta Braves pulled it off against the Chicago Cubs 4-1.

The first run was a solo-shot by Drake Baldwin in the bottom of the fourth, and the only run scored by the team until the bottom of the eighth.

Brett Baty was involved in a puzzling moment for the Mets in their 3-2, 10-inning win over the Tigers on Wednesday night at Citi Field as he was charged with a phantom ABS challenge.

The third baseman struck out looking in the bottom of the sixth inning and glared in the direction of umpire Junior Valentine before quickly raising his arm in the air.

The gesture fell well short of the required helmet tap to challenge a call, but Valentine nonetheless ruled that Baty had contested the strike, and the pitch was officially reviewed.

The home plate umpire assumed Brett Baty was going to challenge, but Baty never actually tapped his helmet.

The Mets are now out of challenges. pic.twitter.com/lZqlSOFhze

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) May 14, 2026

The called strike was quickly confirmed, as a confused Baty could be seen pleading his case to the umpire.

The bizarre sequence cost the Mets their final challenge of the game, and manager Carlos Mendoza wasted little time entering the field and arguing with Valentine’s interpretation of the moment.

“He saw that he went to the helmet. I think Junior is gonna go back and take a look at the film, and pretty sure he missed it, because he wasn’t even close,” Mendoza said after the game.

Liam Hendriks is getting another chance to work his way back to the majors.

The veteran reliever signed a minor league deal with the Cubs on Wednesday after being let go by the Twins before Opening Day, giving Chicago a low-risk opportunity to evaluate whether the former All-Star closer still has something left in the tank.

Hendriks, 37, struggled during a brief stint with Minnesota in spring training, allowing three earned runs while surrendering nine hits and five walks across seven appearances before his release.

“It’s, you know, essentially, just depth right now and taking a shot at somebody who’s had a lot of success and see what happens,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said, per MLB.com. “He’s going to have a ways to build up.”

The signing marks another chapter in one of baseball’s most remarkable comeback stories.

Hendriks was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after the 2022 season and made a triumphant return to the mound in 2023 after completing treatment.

That comeback was short-lived, however, as Hendriks underwent Tommy John surgery after making just five appearances that season, sidelining him for most of 2024.

He returned to the majors last year with the Red Sox but struggled to regain his old form, posting a 6.59 ERA across 14 appearances.

At his peak, Hendriks was one of baseball’s most dominant relievers, earning three All-Star selections while recording 114 saves from 2019-22 with the A’s and White Sox.

The Cubs’ bullpen has been hit hard by injuries, with Caleb Thielbar, Hunter Harvey and Riley Martin all currently sitting on the IL.

Chicago’s rotation also hasn’t been healthy.

Justin Steele (elbow) and Matthew Boyd (knee) are both on the IL, while Cade Horton will miss the rest of the season after Tommy John.

Despite injury troubles, the Cubs are sitting at 27-15 in first place in the NL Central heading into Wednesday’s play.

The New York Mets experienced another scare with Juan Soto's health, but he seems to have escaped serious injury.

Soto exited Wednesday night's game against the Detroit Tigers in Queens in the seventh inning when MJ Melendez pinch hit for him. In the third inning, Soto had fouled a ball off his own leg that appeared to cause him considerable pain, but he remained in the game.

Soto, serving as the designated hitter, hit again in the sixth inning but grounded out to Tigers pitcher Framber Valdez.

MJ Melendez is pinch-hitting for Juan Soto in the 7th inning.

Soto fouled a ball off his ankle in the 3rd inning but completed his at-bat, and also took his at-bat in the 6th. pic.twitter.com/1BFVDufczS

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

He was then lifted in the seventh, finishing his night 0-for-3 with a strikeout. He was seen on the SNY broadcast back in the dugout following his removal from the game.

The Mets won Wednesday's game 3-2 in 10 innings on Carson Benge's walk-off single.

Juan Soto injury update

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that X-rays came back negative for Soto.

"So, we got good news there. He's day-to-day," Mendoza said.

Mendoza said the Mets would see how Soto was doing Thursday and determine if he can be in the lineup.

Carlos Mendoza says x-rays were negative on Juan Soto's ankle and he's day-to-day pic.twitter.com/5bjP6a94kv

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

The injury update seems like positive news for the now 17-25 Mets. They floundered without their $765 million man when Soto was out from April 4-21, losing 12 straight games at one point.

This story was updated with new information.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Juan Soto injury update after he exits Tigers-Mets game early

The San Francisco Giants continue this four-game road series against the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be left-hander Robbie Ray, who enters tonight’s game with a 2.76 ERA, 4.52 FIP, with 47 strikeouts to 18 walks in 45.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, in which he allowed one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and four walks in six innings.

He’ll be facing off against Dodgers right-hander Shohei Ohtani, who enters tonight’s game with a 0.97 ERA, 2.52 FIP, with 42 strikeouts to nine walks in 37 innings pitched. His last start was in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros on May 5th, in which he allowed two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings.

Game #43

Who: San Francisco Giants (18-24) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (24-18)

Where: UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California

When: 7:10 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

After squeezing out a tight 2-1 win over the Red Sox in game one of this series, it was Boston’s turn to win on the margins. Trevor Story led the way with two fantastic plays in the 5-6 hole to prevent hits and he took Painter deep on a middle-middle sinker. Ceddanne Rafaela hit the big home run and the Phillies’ offense didn’t have much in the tank outside of a Justin Crawford home run.

Andrew Painter entered his eighth major league appearance with something to prove after getting crushed against the powerful Athletics offense. Luckily, the Boston Red Sox came into this game ranked 29th in wRC+, 28th in OPS, and 29th in home runs. There aren’t many opponents that look like an easier matchup on paper than this one for the rookie right hander, who entered this outing with a 6.89 ERA overall.

Painter looked the part of a solid back-of-the-rotation starter with five innings of one-run ball, a Trevor Story home run in the second inning. He seemed to a real rhythm right after that home run. He ended off the inning by striking out Caleb Durbin with Marcelo Mayer on second base. In the third, he generated two ground balls, one of them being a double-play ball from Willson Contreras.

His fifth and final inning of the night was his finest. He got Connor Wong to chase the tight slider for a strikeout, Caleb Durbin looked like a bad fisherman on the two-strike slider he swung at, and got Jarren Duran on an inside fastball.

Painter showed a different pitch mix in this one. In 62 pitches of work, he threw just 15 four-seam fastballs and six sinkers. He relied on sliders and sweepers to keep the Red Sox lineup off balance and generate more swing and miss. This also might help explain why Don Mattingly had a quick hook for him, with the potential that the Red Sox would be able to make a significant adjustment the third time through the order.

In that span, Sonny Gray matched the rookie pitch for pitch but could not record a shutdown third inning right after Boston took the lead. Justin Crawford worked a two ball count and got a 91 mph fastball right down the middle and put a fantastic swing on it to straightaway center field.

The Phillies offense struggled to handle Gray’s mix outside of that. The sweeper and curveball kept the Phillies offense off-balance enough to produce some ugly swings. One stat that might symbolize the issues is that Gray got 4 whiffs on nine swings with his sinker. That is probably more about how he was mixing his pitches, and the Phillies offense rather than how nasty the pitch is.

It was a battle of the bullpen’s with Painter going five and Gray going six. The Phillies deployed Tanner Banks but he gave up a single to left handed hitting Wilyer Abreu. When Red Sox manager Chad Tracy elected to hit Ceddanne Rafaela for Masataka Yoshida, Mattingly countered with Orion Kerkering.

One thing you should probably not to do a hitter who takes big hacks and chases 36% of the time is throw a fastball right down the middle.

That would be all for either offense as the bullpens handled the opposing lineups for the rest of the night. Justin Slaten and Garrett Whitlock worked scoreless seventh and eighth innings. Whitlock specifically made an impressive catch in foul territory to end that frame. It all set up for Aroldis Chapman to close out the ninth.

It wasn’t easy for him, Kyle Schwarber walked on five pitches because Chapman couldn’t find the zone and took second base on a wild pitch. Bryce Harper and Adolis Garcia went down swinging. Mattingly elected to deploy Trea Turner, who wasn’t in the lineup to begin the same, for Brandon Marsh. While Marsh has been hitting lefties better than Turner this year, it did make sense to have a right handed hitter in that spot. Turner stood there for four pitches and walked down to first base.

Alec Bohm was the Phillies’ last chance and eventually had the chance to tie the game with a single. Schwarber and Turner ran a double steal to put runners on second and third.

On a one-two count, Bohm could not lay off on Chapman’s whiffle ball sinker and struck out to end the night.

After scoring 22 runs against the Rockies in three games at home, the Phillies have scored just three runs through the first two games of this series and their pitching just couldn’t save them tonight.

The 20-23 Phillies are supposed to play the final game of this series tomorrow night with Jesús Luzardo going against Ranger Suarez. The battle of who the Phillies let walk and decided to pay on a long term contract extension.

John Franco now has 424 career saves and one first pitch to forget.

The Mets’ all-time leader in saves was given the ceremonial task for Italian Heritage night at Citi Field on Wednesday night before the Amazin’s 3-2, 10-inning win over the Tigers, and his throw delivered flashbacks to rapper 50 Cent’s ill-fated toss in Queens that went viral in 2014.

Franco, donning the promotional green, white and red Mets jersey of the Italian flag, didn’t complete the follow-through on this throw, and it sailed well high and wide and eventually made its way to the backstop in Flushing.

All the Brooklyn native could do was laugh, shrug his shoulders and extend his arms in disbelief as he walked toward home plate for a handshake with Mets catcher Hayden Senger.

The embarrassing miscue was certainly odd from someone who had so much success in the big leagues. But the Mets Hall of Famer’s daughter, Ella, provided an explanation on X. She said it was the first time Franco has thrown a baseball since undergoing shoulder surgery — asking fans to “cut him some slack.”

John Franco's first pitch for Italian Heritage Night was *just* a bit outside pic.twitter.com/IwREmr4wLM

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) May 13, 2026

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

It didn’t stop her from having some fun at her dad’s expense, writing on X: “Dude I’m crying.”

“This reminds me of 50 cent I have not stopped laughing (crying laughing emoji), she added.

Franco played 21 MLB seasons, including 14 with the Mets. The St. John’s alum, who was drafted by the Dodgers in 1981 and debuted with the Reds three years later, was a four-time All-Star and two-time Rolaids Relief Award winner.

He last played in the majors in 2005 at the age of 44 for the Astros, finishing with a 90-87 record and a 2.87 ERA. 

His wild pitch comes with the home team also struggling.

The injury-riddled Mets improved to 17-25 but still remain in last place in the National League East. 

There was a familiar face at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.

Jason Heyward was reporting for his first day of in-person duty in his new job.

The Dodgers have hired Heyward, the recently retired 16-year MLB veteran and former All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder, as a special assistant in their front office — a role that will allow the 36-year-old to begin what he hopes is a second career as a front office official.

“I asked for an opportunity to learn,” Heyward said. “I have a goal of potentially one day being in the front office.”

Heyward said his interest in a front office future was piqued during the final few seasons of his career, growing fascinated as an older player by all the intricacies that go into running an organization.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

“As I came down the stretch over the last few years, it was watching different roles, having to make bullpen moves, having to make lineup matchups and things like that,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Let’s continue to have conversations on those and see what I can bring as a former player to that side of things.’”

For now, Heyward’s role with the Dodgers is open-ended. He will get the opportunity to experience several different front-office departments (on Wednesday, he was shadowing Dodgers vice president of scouting David Finley). He will also travel to the team’s minor-league affiliates to work with young players.

“I think it’s awesome to be a line of communication,” he said, “and be a resource to not just the players but also the front office.”

As for his long-term goals, he said it “would be amazing” to one day become a general manager or president of baseball operations with an MLB club.

“Again, I don’t know what that route looks like right now today, coming here without much experience in it,” he said. “But that’s what I’m here to work toward.”

While Heyward spent most of his playing career with the Braves (who drafted him 14th overall in 2007) and Cubs (where he won a World Series in 2016 and continues to live), he made a significant impact with the Dodgers over his two-year tenure with the team in 2023 and 2024.

During that time, he served a critical role as a veteran leader in the clubhouse. And though he was DFA’d late in the 2024 season –– just months before the team won its first of two consecutive World Series titles –– people around the organization still credit him with helping set a standard that has underscored much of their recent success.

“I’m excited for Jason to be back in the organization,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s got the clubhouse part covered, so part of it is working with the front office guys and getting to see the other side of things and how it operates. He’s going to be very helpful.”

After retiring as a player following a short stint with the Padres last year, Heyward said he reached out to several teams inquiring about a front office role this offseason.

The Dodgers, he noted, were the one that gave him the best opportunity to learn.

“I understand there’s a lot I have to learn on this side of things,” he said. “It’s great to be a player, it’s great to have that experience. I think that will help me along the way. But at the same time I knew it was important to learn to scout, how to evaluate players, learn the R&D, analytics, terminologies and things like that.”

“Everything’s on the table,” he added of what his future might hold. “It is a process, starting from the ground up … But it is nice to have an opportunity to learn for what I think is the best.”

The Mets have yet another injury worry on their hands. 

Juan Soto exited Wednesday’s game against the Tigers at Citi Field in the seventh inning, four frames after fouling a ball off his right foot. 

During his third inning at-bat, Soto hobbled out of the batter’s box and hopped around to regain feeling in his foot.

He briefly took a knee while manager Carlos Mendoza and trainer Joe Golia came out to check on him. Soto eventually stood up on his own power and limped back to the plate.

He went on to strike out with two runners on base.

The four-time All-Star came out for one more at-bat and grounded out. He finished the night 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

Soto may join a lengthy list of Mets regulars on the mend, including Francisco Alvarez, whom the team placed on the 10-day IL on Wednesday after he sustained a right meniscus tear.