Category: Baseball

ABC7 | Sam Ryan: Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, and baseball played somewhat of a role in helping New York and the nation emotionally recover. Several players from 2001 were part of the pregame remembrances ahead of the Subway Series game on Friday. Players from both teams also took time to tell what they remember from those times 25 years ago.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Among those pregame moments, the Yankees had Brielle Saracini and Sean McGuire, who were both children when they lost parents on 9/11 (and later married), throw out the first pitches. However, it was not Saracini’s first time up close with the Yankees, as Derek Jeter and the team invited her to a game back in 2001 after she had written a letter to the team as a 10-year old shortly after the tragedy. Ahead of Friday’s game, they reunited and both remembered their experiences.

New York Post | Dan Martin: The Yankees made a couple lower-profile additions to try and shore up their bullpen in recent weeks, and one of them was former AL Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer. In this Subway Series, he’s facing the team that drafted him years ago, eventually trading him to the Tigers for Yoenis Cespedes in 2015. However, he’s now on the other side of the city and has gotten off to a decent start in the Bronx.

Two starters are getting closer to coming off the injured list to help the Yankees in the bullpen.

Clarke Schmidt will make a fifth rehab appearance on Saturday, which could be his last if he gets through it without issue to finish off his comeback from Tommy John surgery, with the hope that he joins the Yankees on their upcoming road trip and gets activated.

“Let’s get through Saturday and we’ll see,” manager Aaron Boone said Friday before the Yankees’ 6-4 win over the Mets in the teams’ Subway Series opener. “But that’s in play.”

Ryan Weathers, meanwhile, is almost a week into his throwing program after being shut down for two weeks with a left forearm flexor strain, and is hoping to advance to a bullpen session on Monday.

The left-hander, who expects to start throwing his hard slider on flat ground Saturday — at which point he will be throwing all his pitches again — is trying to talk his way into being activated as soon as possible so he can pitch in at least a game or two of the regular season before heading into the playoffs.

“Obviously we’re kind of fighting the clock right now and we’re trying to be smart with it too,” Weathers said. “But everything’s trending in the right direction. … I have no doubt I could throw 40 pitches right now in a game. It’s like, if I just need 20-25, I’d rather use those in a game than burn them in a live [batting practice].

“I just would like to get an inning back in competition before [the playoffs]. Not that I don’t trust myself in a wild card or division series, but it’s more high-pressure and just [want to] get my feet back under me for an inning.”

José Caballero was out of the lineup Friday against the Mets for a second straight game, with Boone playing the hot hand at second base (without the injured Jazz Chisholm Jr.) in Anthony Volpe, who was called up on Thursday after learning the position at Triple-A.

Boone acknowledged that he has spoken with Caballero — who the Yankees value as a 10th man off the bench — about the situation as they enter crunch time.

“Everyone wants to play,” Caballero said. “Everyone wants a chance to be out here and playing.That’s why we have a manager. He’s the one making decisions to play or not.

“We all, as players, have to take it and be OK with it and try to do the best we can do in the role we got.”

After getting Thursday off, Aaron Judge (1-for-3 with a walk) returned to the lineup Friday in his third game back from missing three months with a right rib stress fracture.

Boone said, “We’ll see,” when asked if Judge could play in all three games against the Mets.

The Yankees recalled reliever Bradley Hanner, returning to 14 pitchers on the 28-man roster after playing the Rockies series with an extra position player (Jasson Domínguez, who was optioned to Triple-A after Thursday’s game).

Brett Baty’s left knee appears to have avoided the worst.

Though the utilityman wasn’t in the Mets’ starting lineup on Friday, interim manager Andy Green expected to have him off the bench if needed for the Subway Series opener at Yankee Stadium.

Baty did not appear in the Mets’ 6-4 loss.

Baty left Wednesday’s game with discomfort in the knee after running to first base.

He underwent an MRI exam a day later that was negative for structural damage.

Green noted that Baty would have been absent from Friday’s starting lineup regardless with left-hander Carlos Rodón on the mound for the Yankees.

Green lauded MLB’s decision to put the Mets and Yankees on the same field for the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

“I was watching part of the documentary earlier in the day and literally crying at the Mike Piazza home run, because that brought back so many memories of feeling like baseball had value that went beyond just the game,” Green said. “There’s moments where sport transcends entertainment and that was one of them and has played a huge part in our country’s healing from that day.”

Green was a player in Class-A on Sept. 11, 2001, preparing for a playoff game in the Midwest League. “Waking up that morning expecting to play and then feeling how radically insignificant what I once felt was incredibly significant,” Green said.

Nate Lavender’s scoreless streak to begin his major league career (14 innings) was snapped on Wednesday when he allowed three earned runs in the ninth inning against the Marlins.

Green wasn’t unhappy that the streak had concluded.

“I’m glad he gave up a run this year,” Green said.

year.’ That’s not how the big leagues work.

Of the 176 players all-time who have played for the Mets and Yankees, five are on the current rosters: Juan Soto, Devin Williams, Paul Blackburn, Amed Rosario and Ali Sanchez.

Record: 79-69. Pace: 86-76. Change on 2025: +6.

In the middle of the fifth inning, this looked like another one of those Diamondbacks games, which have been all too common lately. They were trailing 1-0 to the Rangers, starter Merrill Kelly was out, and the team had never really looked like scoring. But they then exploded for nine runs in the fifth and sixth innings, to give Arizona their biggest offensive production since August 28. It was a much-needed start to the last home-stand of the season, allowing the D-backs to keep pace with the Padres, and close a game on the Phillies. In individual marks, Corbin Carroll hit his 20th home-run of the season, and Justin Martinez threw just the fifth immaculate inning in franchise history.

The first inning was quick on both ends, Kelly and MacKenzie Gore, who threw eight innings of one-run ball against Arizona in Texas, needed only 20 pitches between them to get the first six outs. However, Kelly’s second inning was a real grind, as he struggled to locate his change-up, missing his spots by a wide margin. He was getting ahead of the hitters: four of the five batters faced went 0-2, and the other was 1-2. But there were then three full counts, two walks, and a total of 31 pitches thrown. As zeros go, it was about the least convincing one possible. A pair of one pitch outs in the third helped get Merrill somewhat back on track.

It was only temporary, however. After a 1-2-3 fourth, Kelly recorded only one out in the fifth, and that was on a sacrifice bunt. After a lead-off walk, and that sacrifice, he hit the next batter, and an RBI double into the right-field corner brought home the game’s first run, giving Texas a 1-0 lead. With men on second and third and one out, they threatened to score more, and Torey Lovullo had a quick hook. Kelly’s night was over after just 4.1 innings and 80 pitches, allowing one run on two hits and three walks with three K’s. Kevin Ginkel inherited the jam, and performed magnificently, stranding both runners on a just shallow enough fly and groundout, around another HBP to load the bases.

In hindsight, that proved to be the night’s turning point, because the Arizona offense finally showed up. Jordan Lawlar got things going with a double, Ryan Waldschmidt walked, and after Ildemaro Vargas failed to bunt them over, he slapped a ground-rule double to left-field instead, tying up the game. Ketel Marte then extended his hitting streak to nine games since coming off the injured (and restricted) list, with the third double in four batters, which made it 3-1 to Arizona and chased Gore. Gabriel Moreno then singled Marte home, making it 4-1. The D-backs loaded the bases before Lawlar grounded out in his second at-bat of the inning.

We then got to see something very special in the top of the fifth. Martinez took over from Ginkel, and threw the ultimate shutdown frame, in the shape of an immaculate inning: nine pitches, nine strikes, three strikeouts (above). These are rare: less common than no-hitters or hitting for the cycle, with just 123 instances since the feat was first recorded in 1889. It was the fifth immaculate inning in franchise history – here’s the full list:

• Randy Johnson, August 23, 2001 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
• Byung-Hyun Kim, May 11, 2002 vs. Philadelphia Phillies
• Wade Miley, October 1, 2012 vs. Colorado Rockies
• Michael Soroka, March 30, 2026 vs. Detroit Tigers
• Justin Martinez, September 11, 2026 vs. Texas Rangers

Yes, that’s the second immaculate inning thrown by a Diamondback this season. Though that fact is probably less impressive than the Astros’ Luis Garcia and Phil Maton, who threw their immaculates in the same game, against the same Rangers on June 15, 2022. Actually, the same three batters – Nathaniel Lowe, Ezequiel Durán and Brad Miller – were struck out in both frames. None of them were involved tonight: Durán is the only hitter to have been a part of three immaculate innings.

The Arizona offense came right back out in their half of the sixth, and tacked on five more runs. Waldschmidt was hit by a pitch, and one out later, Marte notched another RBI double, to make it 5-1 to Arizona. Moreno singled Marte home for the second inning in a row (6-1), and after the second out, Corbin Carroll hit his 20th home-run of the season, making it 8-1. As Preston noted on Twitter, Corbin is the first player ever with multiple 20 HR, 20 SB, 15 3B seasons. Nolan Arenado then followed with his team-leading 24th home-run to finish off the scoring for the Diamondbacks, with their ninth and final run.

The remainder of the game was largely a procession. Old “friend” Jordan Montgomery shambled out of the Rangers bullpen to pitch mop-up. Or, as kilnborn put it in the GDT, “And the Rangers decide to put a non-pitcher on the mound, since they’re down by 8+.” He retired all six batters faced, which would normally have been a point of pain. But by that point, my third cider was kicking in, and I couldn’t give a damn. Vargas, Marte, Moreno and Arenado all had two-hit games. Marte now has an .838 OPS since returning to the field, which seems solid enough to me. Hopefully, tonight might get Carroll, and the bats in general going consistently.

Click for details at Fangraphs
Never forget: Ildemaro Vargas, +19%
God Bless America: Ginkel, +14%; Marte, +11%
Never remember: Corbin Carroll, -5%

A very entertaining Gameday Thread, though that may partly be the cider talking. So apologize for any typos! I’m going off the rec path tonight, and giving it to Prof, for a comment which ended up being highly prophetic, in a discussion about whether or not Arizona leave more people on base than other teams (answer: no).

Ask, and ye shall receive… As mentioned, the Padres won, but the Phillies lost. That keeps the D-backs one-half game back of the Padres, with the Phillies and Cubs now level, three games in front of the Diamondbacks. After that solid start to the series, we’ll reconvene tomorrow for an earlier game – 5:10 pm – with Brandon Pfaadt on the mound for Arizona.

Wow. It took an extra inning for it to be decided but the A’s came out on top thanks to some late-game heroics from an unexpected hero. The Athletics took the first game of the series against the Mariners, walking them off en route to a 6-5 victory. Seattle’s playoff hopes are on life support.

Springs solid again

The A’s had veteran southpaw Jeffrey Springs on the bump tonight. It’s no secret he’s in the final month donning the Green & Gold but there’s no reason his tenure has to end on a low note.

Springs had literally just seen these guys, pitching against them within the past week. That start was in Seattle though and he’s been much better on the road. How would he do against them in the hitters ballpark that is the Athletics’ current home?

Seattle struck first tonight, going small-ball to bring in a run in the first against Springs to give the M’s a quick lead. They’d go small-ball again in the second for their second run, pushing across that baserunner off a groundout. That was all the damage Seattle could muster tonight against the lefty though as he would toss three more innings without allowing another run.

• Jeffrey Springs: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 94 pitches

The veteran did his job tonight and departed with a chance at a victory. His bullpen would let him down yet again but he did what he needed to do, which is impressive considering his year in Sacramento. He’s lined up to take on the Rays next time out, a much tougher opponent.

Offense musters just enough

On the other side of the ball, the Athletics’ offense was going up against Mariners righty George Kirby, a familiar foe for the A’s in the past few years. While Seattle was able to get a quick run against Springs, the A’s pushed across two against Kirby in the first inning. Rookie outfielder Henry Bolte got things started with a single then promptly stole second base (his 20th of the year). Veteran Jeff McNeil followed him up with an RBI double, and that was soon followed by an RBI single off the bat of Max Muncy:

After just two batters the A’s had tied this game, and a couple more and we’d take the lead (briefly). Seattle tied it up but that was only for a short time.

A couple innings later, Lawrence Butler stepped to the plate with a runner on and delivered the big blast of the game, a two-run shot to make it a 4-2 A’s lead:

That was home run #14 on the year for Butler, and one that the A’s desperately needed. That’d power the offense for the next few frames as the rest of the lineup struggled to add on.

Mariners fight back

After Springs’ night was done, manager Mark Kotsay turned to right-hander Scott Blewett. Just like his name would suggest, tonight he blew it as he’d allow Seattle to tie this game right back up with a two-run home run in the sixth. It was now 4-4 with just a few more innings to go.

A couple of uneventful innings took this one to extras, giving Seattle an advantage to get that go-ahead run. The A’s almost got out of the top of the tenth without allowing the ghost runner to score but a two-out hit brought him home to give Seattle their first lead since the first. The A’s were down and they only had three outs to make some magic happen.

Time to go home!

Down a run. Down to their last three outs. The A’s needed a big hit to at least keep this game going. Well, Donovan Walton wanted to get home early it seems. Leading off the bottom of the tenth with a man on second the journeyman connected on a walk-off two-run home run, sending the A’s home winners:

Now that’s how you play spoiler. Tonight might have been the stake through Seattle’s heart and we’re all about it. Two wins in a row for the A’s and we’re now a full 3 1/2 games over the Angels in the AL West. The little wins.

The series continues tomorrow night, same time same place. It’ll be left-hander Gage Jump taking the ball for the home squad while the M’s will counter with Bay Area native Bryan Woo. Should be a good one!

Orioles 7 Jays 4

This one couldn’t have gone much worse.

Dylan Beavers homered on the second pitch of the game.

Then, in the bottom of the first, the Jays had two on and one out, and Vladimir Guerrero was picked off first—just bad baseball. With a runner on second, he wasn’t going anywhere. It looked like the Orioles put a play on: pitch low and outside to the right-handed-hitting Alejandro Kirk and catch Samuel Basallo throws straight to first. Vlad was out, and it wasn’t close.

The second inning was even worse. The Orioles started the inning with four straight singles (2-0). Then a double (4-0). And another single (6-0). After that, Max Scherzer got the next 12 outs without giving up a hit. Barn doors and horse.

Max Scherzer ended up going 5 innings, allowing 7 hits, 6 earned runs, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. The only good thing was he ate 5 innings.

The Jays got a run in the fourth, a Kazuma Okamoto home run (his 31st of the season).

One more in the sixth: Nathan Lukes led off with a single, Okamoto doubled. And Andrés Giménez drove in the run with a groundout.

And two more in the ninth. With two outs, Ernie Clement doubled, and Brett Bateman homered 7-4 after that. We got singles from George Springer and Vlad, to bring the tying run to the plate. But Kirk ground out to end the game.

That, and a Guardians win, puts the Jays two games back of the last Wild Card spot.

We had 10 hits. Bateman had 3, including the home run. Springer and Okamoto (with a home run) had 2 each. Kirk, Smith and Giménez had 0 fors.

Ricky Tiedemann, Braydon Fisher (giving up a run), Paul Sewald and Brendon Little each pitched an inning of relief.

Jay of the Day: Let’s give it to Okamoto (0.08 WPA, for a 2 for 4, home run).

Other Award: Scherzer (-0.34), and let’s give one to Vlad (-0.04 plus the base-running mistake.

Tomorrow we have Kyle Bradish (7-13, 3.91) vs. Spencer Miles (as opener) and Spencer Arrighetti (as bulk guy).

We still aren’t at the ‘have to run the table’ point, but it is getting closer.

On the upside, we had a very nice supper for my middle son’s birthday. All three of our boys came out, and it was a very nice evening.

This may come as somewhat of a shock, but the White Sox lost again Friday night. I know, who could’ve seen it coming that the team that has looked like a dumpster fire since late August would once again do everything possible to lose a game.

I don’t even know how to feel, but I do know I feel numb. Just another game where the White Sox gave false hope, had plenty of opportunities to grab the win, and instead tripped over their own feet and got caught with their pants around their ankles.

It’s usually a great sign to get a homer on the first pitch of the game, which Chase Meidroth did later than usual thanks to a 70-minute “rain delay” to start the game. That was followed by a Randal Grichuk double, six total bases on three pitches that got fans hopeful that the team wouldn’t completely choke. Unfortunately, the starting burst was followed by a weak ground out and two awful at-bats that ended in strikeouts.

Say I’m a pessimist or “not a real fan,” I don’t care; anybody that’s been following this team lately with a pulse knew what kind of game we were in store for. It was at that time I started checking the score of the Cleveland Guardians, game knowing what was bound to happen. Like a fool who believed in the White Sox, I also believed that maybe the Guardians wouldn’t pull a win out of their hat late.

As we kept our eyes on the Cleveland score, the White Sox immediately gave back a run in the first. They never like holding a lead for long, and what are the White Sox if not predictable?

Then they gave up a run in the second. Then they gave up another run in the third. Then they gave up another run in the fourth. Anthony “Kiss of Death” Kay strikes again, ladies and gentlemen.

Sure they were down 3-2 in the fifth, but they had the bases loaded! Surely they have to come through in the clutch at some point right?!

Wrong again.

Tristan Peters pinch-hit for Brenton Doyle and looked so bad Will Venable might as well have had himself suit up and take a few pitches. Seriously, this team is hitting less than .200 this month. Even crazier, the White Sox have one sacrifice fly in their last 50 opportunities, back on August 22 against the New York Mets.

It was right at that time that Sox fans everywhere probably scoreboard-watched to see that the Guardians mounted a late comeback to escape with another victory. I would go over the rest of the White Sox game but it just followed the same script it has for the last few weeks, so why bother? The White Sox had some inconsequential hits, immediately failed when anyone got into scoring position, and the opposing team coasted to a win. Congrats, I just described each loss since the All-Star break, ho-hum.

It’s so predictable that I legitimately typed up the first half of the previous paragraph, saw they had the bases loaded with one out and didn’t bat an eye returning to this writeup knowing they’d find a way to blow it. Would it shock you to hear that the White Sox immediately struck out on an awful pitch and then flew out to score zero runs in another prime opportunity?

I don’t even know if mad is the term to describe the feelings towards the White Sox right now. It’s more of a disbelief than anything else. For the last two weeks or so, the same exact scenario has played out every day. It’s like a baseball version of “Groundhog Day,” except there’s no happy ending.

The one positive from this game was that the White Sox didn’t give too much false hope. The bullpen *cough cough* Trevor Richards *cough* melted down faster than Bobby Knight in the 1980s.

The White Sox still hold a lead in the division and are in a playoff spot right now, but just one glance at our game thread tells you that confidence is as low as possible for a team in first place, being chase by another mediocrity. Hopefully the White Sox can still find a way to sneak into the playoffs, one way or another. At this point, however, I don’t know who they’re going to be able to beat to get in there. At least we have the weekend?

MVP
Chase Meidroth: 2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, K

Runners-Up
Randal Grichuk: 2-for-4, 2B, K
Jake Rogers: 0-for-0, 2 BB, willing to shave his walrus stache in order to get the White Sox out of their hirsute slump
Kyle Teel: 2-for-2

Cold Cat
Trevor Richards: 2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K

Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-4, BB, 3 K
Braden Montgomery: 0-for-4
Anthony Kay: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K, LOSS (9-9)
Miguel Vargas: 1-for-5, SB, crazy hustle on a missed foul pop which at least indicated some heart

The Texas Rangers scored a run but the Arizona Diamondbacks scored nine runs.

It’s pretty ironic that in the span of about an hour, the 2026 Texas Rangers were laid to rest at Chase Field.

I’ve watched nearly 150 games of this baseball team this season and have written about how a moment or sequence was “like the entire season in a nutshell” so often that I’m pretty sure I’ve developed a peanut allergy.

How about we try this sequence on for size:

In a 0-0 game in the top of the fifth, Skip Schumaker offered up a free out by asking Nicky Lopez to bunt before the Rangers scored the first run of the game off last season’s failed savior Merritt Kelly only to see the middle of the order leave the bases loaded and viciously squeeze all the air out of the balloon despite the fresh lead.

In the bottom of the inning, MacKenzie Gore, whose starts have bled together at such a predictable cadence that it has begun to feel like he has given up four runs in some random inning every other day for these last six months, allowed a double, walk, ground-rule double, and then go-ahead two-run double without collecting an out.

Schumaker finally saw enough and brought in Jakob Junis, who you may recall allowed four runs without registering an out in yesterday’s tragedy. Junis immediately allowed the fourth run to score.

Now down 4-1, if you’re wondering if Texas showed some fight or pride after a demoralizing but familiar turn of events, the answer is a resounding no. Instead, they saw nine pitches and they went for nine strikes for an immaculate inning with each strikeout coming via a swing and miss each more pathetic than the last.

In the bottom of the inning, the Diamondbacks scored five more runs.

Pass the Planters.

Player of the Game: Josh Sborz.

Up Next: The Rangers will be on the field for a baseball game tomorrow in Arizona. Or maybe it will be a wake. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm CDT.

Heroes, zeros and the inside pitch from the Yankees’ 6-4 win over the Mets on Friday night in the Subway Series in The Bronx:

Hero 

Cody Bellinger, whose father Clay was a member of the 2001 Yankees, hit a three-run homer in the second inning that gave the Yankees a lead they didn’t give up. 

Zero 

After allowing just five runs — four earned — over his previous five starts, Nolan McLean had an uncharacteristic poor start, as the Yankees tagged him for five runs in five innings. McLean also gave up a career-worst 10 hits. 

Unsung hero

Carlos Rodón had his longest outing of the season, tossing 6 ¹/₃ ⅓ innings, despite Aaron Boone saying he’s not fully built up. 

Key Stat

5: With Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick struggling, David Bednar was called on with one out in the eighth inning and the bases loaded. He got out of that inning and despite giving up a leadoff homer to A.J. Ewing in the ninth, picked up his second five-out save of the year. 

Quote of the night

“The energy in the crowd was special. I’m glad it felt like … you want a ballgame to feel like. I thought a lot of people were here having a great time on what, for many, is a difficult day.” 

— Aaron Boone on the atmosphere at the Stadium. 

Nolan McLean’s Subway Series debut won’t be included among his rookie season’s greatest hits. 

The right-hander yielded a career-high 10 hits (including two homers) on Friday in the Mets’ 6-4 loss to the Yankees in The Bronx. 

Cody Bellinger’s three-run homer in the second inning inflicted most of the damage against McLean. In the fifth, Ben Rice cleared the left field fence against him, widening the Mets’ deficit to 5-1. McLean was removed after the inning at 101 pitches. 

“If you don’t have your best stuff, teams are going to beat you,” McLean said. “I didn’t have my best stuff tonight, and the Yankees are a good team. They came out and beat me.” 

The rough outing snapped a string of five straight starts in which McLean allowed two earned runs or fewer and pitched at least six innings. Overall, he had lasted at least six innings in 13 of his previous 14 starts. 

McLean was shaky from the start, allowing three singles and a walk in the first inning to fall into a 1-0 hole. After Spencer Jones delivered an RBI single with the bases loaded in the inning, McLean eluded further damage by getting George Lombard Jr. to ground into an inning-ending double play. 

Though McLean got two fast outs in the second, he surrendered consecutive singles to Anthony Volpe and Rice before Bellinger homered on a full-count curveball into the right-field seats. It was the first career homer McLean surrendered on a curveball. 

“There’s some pitches I probably could have thrown a little bit better, and there’s times in a game, too, where you make pitches and they don’t find gloves,” McLean said. “It felt like those first two innings a lot of that was happening. Bellinger with a big swing, that kind of sealed the deal and a lot of the damage in that second inning.” 

Carson Benge’s right arm helped McLean avoid trouble in the third: Luis Garcia was erased trying to stretch a leadoff single into a double as Benge threw a strike to Francisco Lindor. 

Rice’s blast in the fifth left McLean with multiple homers allowed in a game for the first time since July 30, when he surrendered two to the Marlins. 

McLean didn’t lose sight of the night’s significance, with pregame ceremonies dedicated to the 25th anniversary of 9/11. 

“Awesome fans, awesome city,” he said. “I think ultimately that is what is most important about tonight: People who died trying to help others and people who were in those buildings. It’s awesome to see that many people show up and support it.”

Nolan McLeandid not have his best outing Friday against the Yankees, but the Bombers still left their 6-4 win impressed with the Mets rookie.

It was the first time the Yankees saw McLean, yet they picked up 10 hits off of him -- a career-high against the right-hander -- and broke a string of strong starts, but it wasn't necessarily easy. 

The Yankees pushed across a run in the first, but could not capitalize further after getting the bases loaded. A successful ABS challenge led to a three-run bomb by Cody Bellinger in the second. From there, McLean pitched two scoreless frames before Ben Rice hit a solo shot in the fifth. 

"His stuff’s really good," Rice said of McLean after the game. "It’s moving in all different directions, it’s nasty, he throws hard. You have to try and get him in your zone as best you can."

According to manager Aaron Boone, that was the game plan against McLean on Friday. Swing at pitches in the zone and force McLean to throw it there.

"Swing decisions were excellent," Boone said. "You have to control the zone against him because of the movement of his pitches. Whether he’s spinning it, that sinker that’s kinda running, or the four-seam that’s taking off. But he’ll leave the zone a little bit and you have to make sure you bring him in the zone, and I thought we did that."

McLean came into this game completing at least 6.0 innings in 13 of his last 14 starts, and allowing two or fewer earned runs in 15 of his last 17 starts. Those numbers put McLean in the NL Rookie of the Year discussion.

And while Friday's five-inning start may have set those ambitions back, it's clear that McLean is being recognized by the best hitters as a legit pitcher.

Aaron Judge, who walked, hit a single and struck out in three at-bats against McLean, was asked about his team's success of late and the two-time defending AL MVP couldn't help but give McLean his flowers while praising his own squad.

"To get to a pitcher like McLean, he’s one of the best young pitchers in the game," Judge said. "He’s got some amazing stuff. For us, to put a couple of crooked numbers on him and hold off their offense that started getting going there in the end. Just got to keep it rolling." 

It’s been said that it’s not how you start, but how you finish. That’s a good thing because Matthew Liberatore’s first pitch of the game got torched, but he didn’t finish poorly at all. Would that be enough for the St. Louis Cardinals to win the first game of their homestand against the Chicago White Sox? The Cardinals offense and bullpen would ultimately have to answer that question. Fortunately, the middle of the Cardinals lineup would show up big time.

After a brief rain delay, Matthew Liberatore threw his first pitch which was a 93 mph four-seam fastball. It left the bat of Chicago White Sox leadoff man Chase Meidroth faster than that and traveled 398 feet into the left field plants for an immediate 1-0 White Sox lead. Former Cardinal Randall Grichuk followed that with a double to the right field wall and it looked like the wheels might come off of Liberatore’s wagon right out of the gate. Fortunately, he pitched around the Grichuk double and a walk later in the first only allowing that lone White Sox run on the homer.

The Cardinals bats answered in the bottom of the 1st inning when they were gifted a base when White Sox starter Anthony Kay hit Iván Herrera with a pitch. Alec Burleson made them pay when he ripped a double into the right field corner which scored a hustling Herrera tying the game at 1-1.

St. Louis would take the lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Leo Bernal ripped a double into the left-centerfield gap. Thomas Saggese singled to center which moved Bernal to third. Leo then scored when Masyn Winn grounded out to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.

We all had a sense of the wrong kind of Deja vu in the top of the 3rd inning when Chicago White Sox leadoff man Chase Meidroth launched an 88 mph Matthew Liberatore changeup into nearly the same spot he hit his first home run over the left field wall tying the game 2-2.

The Cardinals bats did not go for a nap for a change as St. Louis rallied for another run in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Jordan Walker led off with a solid single to center then advanced to second on a groundout from Alec Burleson. Joshua Báez added a single of his own to center which scored Walker giving the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.

Matthew Liberatore would get the Cardinals 1 out into the top of the 5th inning before he would be lifted by manager Oli Marmol for Gordon Graceffo. He would leave with a runner on 1st with a line of 4 1/3 innings pitched allowing 6 hits and 2 earned runs striking out 2 and walking 3. Not his best start of the year by far, but not his worst either and he did keep the Cardinals in the game unlike a few other outings. Graceffo would run into potential trouble for his part of the 5th as the White Sox would eventually load the bases with a walk and hit-by-pitch, but he’d strike out Peters to end the White Sox threat with no runs scored.

I haven’t heard an official nickname given, but I like the idea of Alec Burleson, Joshua Báez and Leo Bernal being known as the “killer B’s”. They lived up to that billing in the bottom of the 5th when they followed a nice Jordan Walker double to left with a single, double and single consecutively to give the Cardinals 3 more runs to increase the lead to 6-2.

Oh, the eternal question (or at least the one for the second half of this season) is whether the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen could hold that lead. Luis Gastelum entered the game in the top of the 6th inning and trouble appeared to follow him. After getting Montgomery to ground out for the first out, Antonacci and Teel both reached on singles to give the White Sox a scoring threat with runners on first and second with just one out. That situation was worsened by a Gastelum walk to Meidroth which loaded the bases for Randall Grichuk. Luis struck him out as Grichuk helped the cause by swinging at some balls out of the zone. It would come down to a crucial at-bat by Miguel Vargas. He connected with an 85 mph sweeper and drove it to the centerfield wall that Nathan Church bumped into as he caught the ball for the final out of the White Sox 6th. Whew!

The St. Louis defense had some nice highlights Friday night, too, especially Nathan Church who made two difficult catches including one in the top of the 7th where he slammed into the centerfield wall saving reliever Justin Bruihl some heartache.

Joshua Báez came about as close as you can come to hitting a home run in Busch Stadium without actually hitting a home run in the bottom of the 7th inning. He turned on an 89 mph slider and hit it off of the padding at the top of the left field wall that came back into the field of play which was confirmed to be a double after a crew chief’s review. He would eventually score anyway when Leo Bernal smacked a RBI single to left making it 7-2 Cardinals.

Bruihl would not get bailed out in the top of the 8th inning when he hit Antonacci with a pitch and then gave up a single to Teel allowing the White Sox runners on first and third with no outs. That inspired Oli Marmol to remove Justin for Ryne Stanek. He struck out Meidroth who had homered twice earlier in the game for the first out in the White Sox 8th. That brought up Munetaka Murakami who has 31 home runs on the season, but Stanek got him to ground into a force out at second for the second out, but a run scored on the play reducing the St. Louis lead to 7-3. Stanek would escape the top of the 8th when Vargas grounded out to Urias at third for the final out helped by a nice play by Burleson at first who had to be creative snagging the throw from Urias.

I remember the days when the St. Louis Cardinals would have a 4-run lead going into the top of the 9th inning and I’d feel comfortable with that number. This year? Not so much. Riley O’Brien was brought in to handle the middle of the White Sox lineup starting with Colson Montgomery. He struck him out on 3 pitches. No problem. Next up was Benintendi. He flew out innocently to Victor Scott II who was a defensive replacement in right. Tristan Peters was the last home for the White Sox. He grounded out weakly to Burleson. No drama in the 9th? Pinch me, I must be dreaming. More of this please!

The Cardinals will have a big Saturday with the entrance into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame by Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Bill Sherdel Saturday night starting at 5pm. After that, it will be game 2 of the weekend series as Kyle Leahy will start the first few innings for the Cardinals. Luis Castillo gets the start for the White Sox. First pitch Saturday night is set for 6:15pm and the game broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.

Carlos Rodón looked like a postseason pitcher on Friday night — and just in time. 

The lefty, who’s been bothered by elbow issues this season, dominated against the Mets in possibly his best start of the year in a 6-4 win in The Bronx. 

Rodón pitched a season-long 6 ¹/₃ innings and allowed two runs, only one earned, while striking out eight, also a season-best. 

“I thought he threw the heck out of the ball,’’ Aaron Boone said. 

Wearing an FDNY hat, as the Yankees commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Rodón called it “an honor to be able to pitch” on the emotional night. 

While he hadn’t given up more than two runs since his return from elbow inflammation, Rodón had been unable to provide much length prior to Friday’s start. 

As the Yankees look to fortify their October rotation, Rodón very much fit the part against a Mets lineup that’s hit better of late. 

He was hurt by a leadoff walk to Mark Vientos in the second, as Vientos scored later in the inning- due in part to Spencer Jones’ fielding error in center. 

But following Marcus Semien’s one-out single in that second inning that led to an unearned run, Rodón retired 15 of the next 16 batters he faced before Carson Benge’s base hit ended his night with one out in the seventh. 

Rodón was at 93 pitches and the Yankees haven’t let Rodón hit the 100 mark yet this season. 

So Paul Blackburn entered and struggled and a run-scoring single by A.J. Ewing knocked in Benge for the only other run permitted by Rodón. 

Still, the Yankees will take this kind of performance from Rodón, who didn’t make his season debut until May following offseason elbow surgery. 

Rodón hit the IL again in late June and missed over a month, dealing with elbow inflammation. 

Since his return, Rodón entered Friday having allowed just five earned runs in four starts, but he’d pitched just 17 ²/₃ innings. 

His previous outing in San Diego had been Rodón’s most effective, as the left-hander struck out seven and gave up just one run and a pair of hits- but he walked three in five innings. 

On Friday, Rodón allowed only one walk, and it was to Vientos. 

“He had better strike-throwing,’’ Boone said of Friday’s start. “He’s been really effective [and] really limiting hits, but walks have hurt him and his ability to get deep in games.” 

If Friday was any indication, Rodón could be moving past that and as long as he stays healthy, should be a key factor down the stretch and into the playoffs. 

“He’s been in a good place throughout the year when he’s healthy,’’ Boone said.