Category: Baseball

Memphis Redbirds 4, Charlotte Knights 1
Memphis wasted no time, tagging starter Douglas Nikhazy for three early runs. The 26-year-old, a spring waiver flier from the Cleveland Guardians, has been little more than a roster filler. Tonight, he went 3 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits. The Redbirds tacked on one more tally for good measure off Tyler Gilbert in the sixth.

Charlotte (5-6) finally scratched out a run in the third, courtesy of LaMonte Wade Jr. He ripped the Knights’ lone highlight, an RBI double in the third, to plate Mario Camilletti. Despite smacking seven hits and working three walks, the club couldn’t get anything else going. The good news is Sam Antonacci stretched his hitting streak to 10 games, leading off the ninth with a single. His spring slash line: .342/.500/.526 with a 1.026 OPS.

Chattanooga Lookouts 6, Birmingham Barons 2
Regions Field was quiet early as both teams were held hitless through four innings. The Barons (2-4) struggled early and failed to build any momentum, exchanging quick outs with Chattanooga. It all happened fast for the Lookouts in the fifth inning, beginning with back-to-back solo shots off starter Lucas Gordon. Chattanooga took a 2-0 lead and they wouldn’t look back.

Chattanooga took advantage in the eighth inning and piled on with a series of extra-base hits, extending their lead to 6-2. Birmingham plated two runs in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly and a force out, but the damage was done. The Barons had plenty of baserunners (nine), but couldn’t piece together enough hits to complete their comeback, falling in a game where timely hitting made all the difference.

Winston-Salem Dash 8, Frederick Keys 3
The Dash (4-2) came out swinging, slapping three doubles in the first inning— by Caleb Bonemer, George Wolkow, and Jacob Burke. Just like that, they put four runs on the board. The Keys tried to make things interesting, clawing back to 4-3, but W-S slammed the door in the seventh. Bonemer uncorked a three-run blast, DePino chipped in with a solo shot, and that was all she wrote.

Grant Umberger did his job: five innings, two hits, one earned, five punchouts, and three walks. Jake Peppers tried to keep the train rolling in the sixth but promptly derailed, allowing a run on three hits and two free passes. Dash skipper Guillermo Quiroz summoned Luke Bell to put out the fire, and he did just that. Bell and Drew Conover finished things up, holding the Keys scoreless for the rest of the game.

Hickory Crawdads 3, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 0
The game was scoreless through four, thanks to Max Banks, who’s now two starts deep and still hasn’t surrendered a run. In four innings, he gave up one hit, one walk, and had seven punchouts. The White Sox selected him in the 14th round last year (No. 406), and the 22-year-old is making pro ball look easy so far.

Jeremy González took the ball for the fifth, and that’s when it unraveled. He served up two runs in the fifth, another in the sixth, and just like that, Hickory had all they’d need. The Ballers (2-4)? Four hits, three guys in scoring position, and not a hint of a rally.

The Atlanta Braves return to Truist Park and kick off the weekend with a three-game set against the Cleveland Guardians. The Braves enter play with an 8-5 record and are coming off a series win in Anaheim, where the run column was high, and emotions even higher. The Guardians come to town with the same record after a recent series win over the Kansas City Royals. 

The series gets underway tonight at 7:15 ET, with Bryce Elder getting the nod against fellow right-hander Slade Cecconi. Game two is set for the same time Saturday night, as Martín Pérez faces Parker Messick. The series will conclude Sunday night with Chris Sale starting things off at 7:20 ET. 

The Braves haven’t dropped a series yet this season, and they’ll aim to keep that perfect streak intact this weekend.

More Braves News:

The City Connect uniforms have officially been unveiled, and here’s everything you need to know. 

BravesVision analyst Peter Moylan spoke with us earlier this week to talk about all things coaching, ABS, the big brawl, and more. 

Didier Fuentes threw a shutout and recorded eight strikeouts during Wednesday’s start. More in the minor league recap.

There are several high school prospects the Braves may explore this year, so take a look at potential selections. 

MLB News:

The Washington Nationals have yet to make an extension offer to outfielder Daylen Lile. The Nats currently have just one player on a guaranteed contract past 2026. 

From the Feed:

This week’s brawl has been the biggest Braves headline all week, and now it’s time to hear from you. Which Braves brawl do you think is most memorable?

There’s been plenty of reflection of the past this week after the City Connects were unveiled. So, let’s hear your favorite player as a kid. 

Jorge Polanco was out of the lineup Thursday against Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez with lingering left Achilles soreness, and manager Carlos Mendoza said the first baseman could end up on the IL.

“It is a possibility that we get to a point where we need to give him a break,’’ Mendoza said before a 7-1 loss at Citi Field. “It’s fluid. We’ll see what we’ve got.”

Right now, they’ve got a major part of their offseason transformation unable to play first base since the second game of the season, when Polanco first began to feel discomfort in the area.

He’s been limited to DH duties since then and even that hasn’t helped resolve the issue.

Mendoza said Polanco felt it again Wednesday, which led to Thursday’s decision.

“We’re saying it’s day to day and there are good days and days when he feels it more,” Mendoza said. “[Wednesday] was one of those days [he felt it].”

And there’s no telling how long Polanco will be dealing with the discomfort.

“It’s hard to tell,’’ the manager said. “We’re watching it closely.”

With Polanco sidelined versus the lefty, Mark Vientos was at first base and Francisco Alvarez was the DH.

The 32-year-old Polanco played 138 games with Seattle last season, but had IL stints due to leg injuries each of the three seasons prior — sidelined by hamstring strains in both legs, as well as left knee inflammation.

The lineup is already without Juan Soto, on the IL with a strained right calf and he hasn’t resumed running yet.

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“We’re being cautious,’’ Soto told The Post of the IL decision following a 7-1 loss to Arizona. “I want to be in the right spot when I come back. We have a plan and we’ll follow it.”

Soto, expected to be out 2-3 weeks after suffering the injury in San Francisco, is doing some baseball activities while he’s out, playing catch and hitting in the cages and said he feels “pretty good.”

There’s no timeline, though, for Soto to begin running, which will be the real test for when he might be able to return.

A.J. Minter, expected to be a major piece of the bullpen last year before being lost after a torn lat required season-ending surgery, returned to action Thursday with Low-A St. Lucie. The lefty tossed a scoreless inning to begin his rehab process. He’ll have to be activated by May 9.

“It was good to see him ready to go,’’ Mendoza said. “The fact he was in real competition was a good sign.”

Another veteran reliever, Craig Kimbrel, also tossed a shutout inning for St. Lucie after he had a rough spring.

While David Peterson continues to struggle and Sean Manaea can’t get his velocity back, Christian Scott had an encouraging outing Thursday for Triple-A Syracuse. The right-hander, out since 2024 Tommy John surgery, threw five scoreless innings against Buffalo.

He sat in the mid-90s and allowed just a pair of hits, a walk and whiffed seven.

Tobias Myers entered Thursday having not pitched since Saturday and hadn’t thrown more than 30 pitches since his season debut on March 26. Mendoza said Myers was still built up for “40-45” pitches, but “if we need to use him for one inning in high-leverage, we will.”

The Associated Press reported Thursday that the Mets had the highest Opening Day payroll at $352.2 million.

“There’s always pressure here in New York,’’ Mendoza said. “There are high expectations, regardless of payroll. We’ve got to go and not only get to October, but deep into October.”

MLB Trade Rumors | Anthony Franco: Luis Gil, who started the season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre since the Yankees did not need a fifth starter, was recalled after yesterday’s game. To make room on the 40-man, the team will designate Cade Winquest for assignment. New York took Winquest in the Rule 5 Draft over the offseason, but the right-hander didn’t manage to make it into a game in his two weeks with the club. After allowing three runs on four hits and four walks while striking out six in 4.2 innings for Scranton on Sunday, Gil is scheduled to make his season debut tonight against the Rays.

The Yankees made the move official on Friday afternoon;

The Winquest decision will likely spark debate over the Yankees’ decision to roster him but never use him across 12 games. For one perspective, check out the PSA account on BlueSky.

SNY | Alex Smith: The New York Yankees were blanked on Thursday afternoon by Jeffrey Springs and co., losing 1-0 and logging a single hit, a Ben Rice single in the seventh. They lost the series at the hands of the Athletics and haven’t scored a single run in their last 17 innings. As Matt noted in his recap for us, when the top of the order has a bad day, it just exposes the completely-punchless lower half. Ryan McMahon (2-for-29) and José Caballero (5-for-37) have horrid wRC+’s of 17 and 10, respectively, the catchers haven’t hit, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. has yet to homer. In fact, Chisholm, McMahon, Caballero, Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, Trent Grisham, and Austin Wells have combined for as many homers (2 in 304 PA) as bench bat Amed Rosario had on Tuesday alone.

Even manager Aaron Boone, known for always finding a silver lining in every tough situation, didn’t find any positives in Thursday’s game. “Look, we got shut down today,” Boone said. “The previous games where we’re struggling scoring, I feel like we’re getting the traffic and we’re having quality at-bats. Today was a day where we got beat. We just didn’t generate much, we didn’t hit a lot of balls on the screws at all, and didn’t create much traffic.”

NY Post | Dan Martin and Mark W. Sánchez: Yankees closer David Bednar, who has given up runs in three of his last four outings, has been averaging 95.6 mph with his fastball. After checking in at 97.1 mph in 2025 and 97.2 mph the year before, it’s clear his velo has been down a bit. The pitcher, however, is not concerned. “It’s early in the season and the weather [is cold],” Bednar told reporters. “It’s nothing to panic about.”

It’s also important to point out that the reliever has been throwing a lot these days due to the Yankees’ shallow bullpen, but the situation is worth monitoring even though it’s very early, and the cold does play a role. The pitching staff has at least generally done its part so far; it’s more the offense that needs to catch up.

CBS | RotoWire Staff: Yankees veteran ace Gerrit Cole keeps advancing in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. After throwing on Monday without issues, the next step is facing hitters with High-A Hudson Valley, according to Boone. The session will take place on Sunday and, if it goes well, a rehab assignment could be next.

Introduction

I struggle with failure. It’s one of many, many, many reasons I was never going to be a professional athlete – particularly a baseball player given the sport’s inherent propensity for failure. No matter how many times someone told me, “Even the best ballplayers fail seven out of ten times” I was always too scared of failing to be successful. But professional baseball players, especially playing at the highest levels, are so accustomed to failure that cold stretches mean very little to them. Which is why I’m sure Geraldo Perdomo isn’t sweating (if he even could through this current cold snap) a pretty rough start to this season. Through the first two weeks of the season, Perdomo is the owner of a pitiful .179/.277/.308 slash line – a far cry from the .293/.347/.415 slash line he had at this point last year. Perdomo has still found ways to contribute, especially on the field, but his offensive contributions are a key to the team’s success this season. I don’t want to overstate anything. I’m not even at the “concerned” stage yet and we’re not yet even 10% of the way through the season. But I am slightly puzzled and if you’ll forgive a baseball writer looking for subjects to write about, I’d like to dig in to see if there are any patterns leading to his scuffling start.

Bat Speed

Unsurprisingly, there is a direct, linear relationship between bat speed (how fast the bat is moving through the strike zone) and exit velocity (the speed of the ball when it leaves the bat). In turn, there’s a strong relationship between exit velocity and the expected outcome of a particular batted ball not being converted into an out. Perdomo’s lack of power was one of the consistent criticisms levelled against him by evaluators and was likely at least partially based on his relatively poor bat speed. To this point in his career, Perdomo has only topped out at an average of 68 miles per hour last year, which clocked in at the seventh percentile in the league that season. So far this year, it’s gone down a few ticks to 65 MPH, which likely in turn has led to decreases in his expected batting average and slugging from .278 and .424 last season to .237 and .342 respectively. There are a myriad of explanations for the dip from cool weather to mechanical issues, but he’ll need to regain that speed if he wants to return to the form he had last year.

Overly Aggressive

I’ve always loved watching Perdomo’s at bats even before his breakout last year. He has an excellent approach at the plate and has earned a reputation for being a pesky at bat – on display during tonight’s game in New York when he worked two walks after falling behind in the count. That approach hasn’t dramatically changed so far this year as his swing percentage hasn’t changed year over year, he’s in the 94th percentile for chase percentage and 99th percentile for whiff rate. Cumulatively, that all screams to me an excellent approach to his plate appearances. What has changed is his swing decision on first pitches, spiking from ~15% last year to ~21% this season. That kind of percentage limits the number of pitches he’ll get to see when he’s at the plate and indeed he’s only seeing around four pitches per plate appearance, which is close to league average so far. When he does swing at those first pitches, he’s struggled to turn them into hits with substantially different results from last year in the same situations.

Missing Meatballs

Related to his (slightly) more aggressive approach at the plate, Perdomo has looked a little weaker against meatballs – so-called because of the relative ease for hitting them. He hasn’t seen as many of them so far, falling from 9% to 7.4% in the early going of the season and failing to swing at them when he does see them, dropping from 70% to 64% in his meatball swing percentage year-over-year. Some of that might be due to the relative quality of pitching the team has seen so far as only the Tigers have a below-average pitching staff by ERA so far this year. Those numbers might stabilize as the team faces off against weaker opponents in the league, but it could also indicate a changed approach by the league. It’s possible pitchers are pitching more carefully to him as a result of his performance last season than they might have previously.

Again, I’m neither worried nor even concerned at this point. It’s far too early to try and extrapolate or make any kinds of conclusions about where Perdomo is. There are plenty of superstars who have seriously struggled out of the gate – including Perdomo’s opposite number this series in Francisco Lindor who owns a .157/.306/.255 slash line and has yet to drive in a run on the young season. But the sooner both his and Ketel Marte’s bats wake up, the better I’ll sleep at night.

Nolan McLean let out a roar as he bounded off the mound after freezing Arizona Diamondbacks’ first baseman Ildemaro Vargas on a knee-high sinker on the inside corner to close the top of the sixth inning on Thursday night at Citi Field.

The Mets' young right-hander’s emotional explosion came after his seventh strikeout of the night, stranding a leadoff base runner as he protected a 1-0 lead and looked to outduel Eduardo Rodriguez, his foe from the WBC final 23 days prior.

Entering the seventh with the score unchanged, McLean said he “felt good” coming in at 85 pitches and facing the heart of the D-backs' order, having allowed just two hits and two walks to that point.

“Felt like I had a lot left in the tank,” he said after the game. 

But after a leadoff walk and a strikeout, McLean's final pitch of the night, the 100th he threw, was muscled into center off the end of Jose Fernandez's bat. The next four batters all managed to knock in a run off reliever Luke Weaver, and McLean's dominant start felt like a memory in what would become a 7-1 defeat.

“It’s part of baseball at the end of the day,” McLean said of being the hard-luck pitcher of record. “I’m sure I’ll leave guys out there, and our bullpen’s gonna strand them for me plenty of times this year – and it’s already been done, actually, this year a couple times. It’s part of the game, it’s a long season, I know those guys got my back out there.”

McLean’s final line of his third start of the year: 6.1 innings, two runs on three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts on 100 pitches (64 strikes). But the numbers are deceptive, as he was better.

“He was really good today,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He had everything working, especially the sinker. [Which] has been a pitch that’s been kinda off the first couple of outings, but today the movement, the way he was just commanding that pitch.”

McLean leaned heavily on that sinker, including throwing 10 in a 12-pitch, 1-2-3 first inning. He threw 44 of them on the night and got 15 called strikes with it, including four times for strike three.

“That’s been a pitch that hasn’t felt great for me so far this year. But it felt really good today,” McLean said, adding that the difference with the sinker on this night was “just getting more reps with it.”

“It’s a little bit different feel throwing it in cold weather versus back in Florida,” he said. “So it’s just finding the grip that works, and also some mechanical stuff getting cleaned up.”

Mendoza said there was no consideration to leave McLean in beyond the 100-pitch mark, and was “banking on how good that sinker was there” for the 24-year-old to get one more groundball to end his night on a high note.

And, unlike his previous start in which he said he had only one pitch working, the sinker was buttressed with a good sweeper and curveball, complementing his four-seam fastball nicely.

“Curveball’s been feeling good, definitely felt good tonight,” McLean added. “Landing it for strikes more than just a chase pitch for me, so I was excited to see that.”

“He had pretty much everything else working,” Mendoza said. “He was pretty solid.”

Overall, the righty got 26 called strikes, including getting four on 16 sweepers, four on 14 fastballs, and two on seven cutters. He got just six whiffs on 36 swings, with the sweeper (2-for-4) and curve (2-for-6) working best.

McLean didn’t think the high number of called strikes said much about his stuff, but more about Arizona batters’ plan going into the game.

“I haven’t shown a great ability to throw strikes in the first couple of games,” he said. “So I think part of their plan was to force me to get into the zone. And luckily, I was able to do that early.”

Through three starts of the season covering 16.2 innings, McLean has allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits, six walks, and one hit batter with 20 strikeouts.

But all of this is just a silver lining.

“It happens,” Mendoza said. “Gotta move on. Had some opportunities to score, we didn’t cash in. But you take the positive, and that was Nolan today.”

The Yankees will welcome Luis Gil back to the rotation Friday.

But which version? The 2024 Rookie of the Year who so often could not be touched? Or the 2025 starter who spent much of the season on the injured list and then returned without the same velocity and stuff?

Gil will begin to answer that question when he takes the mound in St. Petersburg to open a series in which the Yankees will need a fifth starter for the first time this year.

The 27-year-old did not look his best through much of spring training, which meant he slotted in behind Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Ryan Weathers and began his campaign with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

But his velocity ticked up in a dominant start against the Orioles to end his time in the Grapefruit League. On Sunday, he made his lone start with SWB during a chilly afternoon in Rochester, where his velocity was down but the environment may have played a role.

Gil allowed three runs on four hits and four walks, including walking the first two batters he faced, while striking out six in 4 ²/₃ innings.

“You could tell it was a really cold, windy day in Rochester,” said manager Aaron Boone, who watched Gil pitch on a monitor during a rain delay in The Bronx. “That first inning, he gave up a couple runs. I think he struck out the side in the first inning.

“… Managed contact pretty well. A little struggle in that first inning with his command, but overall threw the ball alright.”

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The stuff during a frigid matinee at a minor league park was less interesting than the pitch mix. Of Gil’s 85 pitches, 30 were sinkers — a pitch he did not have in his arsenal in his first two major league seasons.

“Hopefully it’s just something that’s a little bit of a different look to help the four-seam play up a little bit and also help out with his secondary,” Boone said of Gil, who previously threw just a four-seamer, slider and changeup.

The Yankees are three games in to a stretch of 13 games in 13 days, which suggests that they likely will roll with the five-man rotation for a short while and enable Gil to make two starts.

Whether he sticks in the majors beyond that will hinge upon injury and upon which Gil takes the mound this year.

In a lineup filled with righties against southpaw Jeffrey Springs, Paul Goldschmidt sat and Ben Rice started at first base in what became a 1-0 loss in The Bronx on Thursday.

Goldschmidt is fine, Boone said, and likely will play Friday against another lefty in Steven Matz, but the Yankees want to expose Rice — who went 1-for-4 and collected the lone Yankees hit — to lefties.

Yankees starting pitchers have allowed 16 runs, which is the fewest through 12 games in franchise history.

Carlos Rodón threw around 40 pitches while approximating two innings in a bullpen session Wednesday, Boone said. The next step — whether more side work or a rehab assignment — is unclear.

Gerrit Cole is set to throw a simulated game Sunday morning in Hudson Valley.

The Yankees designated reliever Cade Winquest for assignment before he pitched a game, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported.

Winquest, a Rule 5 pick this winter, will go to waivers, where he will be available to any team. If he is not claimed, he will be removed from the Yankees’ 40-man roster and offered back to the Cardinals, his original team. If it gets to that point and St. Louis declines to bring him back, the Yankees could then send Winquest back to the minor leagues.

On a cold blustery evening, the Arizona Diamondbacks were able to take the series against the Mets today after the bats broke out late against the Mets bullpen. The victory today is a key win for this team in the early going as the W/L record against a team like the Mets could prove to be very important down the line.

The beginning of the game was a solid pitchers duel for as it was a rematch of the World Baseball Classic championship game of Eduardo Rodriguez vs Nolan Mclean. Despite a first inning home run given up by Erod, the 2 pitchers went toe to toe inning for inning. Eduardo Rodgriguez managed to go 6 Innings of just the 1 run allowed while being the first Dbacks pitcher of the season to reach the 100 pitch mark. Although still early, he has really seemed to turn a corner in his career adapting his pitch arsenal. A historically fastball heavy pitcher, Erod continued the recent trend of throwing his changeup 32% of the time tonight while cutting his fastball usage almost in half. The early season results have been astonishing as he has pitched to a microscopic 0.50 ERA. Has to be one of the highlights of the early season so far.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Dbacks failed to score going into the 7^th inning and I think every fan was thinking, “Oh great here we go again! Another wasted Erod masterpiece” Things turned around in the 7^th however as Geraldo Perdomo led off the inning with a walk, Jose Fernandez notched his 2^nd hit of the night moving Perdomo into scoring position, and Gabi Moreno pinch hit for James McCann and  promptly rips a double over the head of the right fielder Brett Baty tieing the game. Alek Thomas was up next and knocked in the go ahead run Jose Fernandez on a fielder’s choice and a masterful slide by the young Fernandez. His elite sprint speed was definitely a factor on that play and caused a rushed throw by the first basemen. It is really nice having that athleticism on the field! From there, the Dbacks would open this game up on a sac fly by Tim Tawa and a triple by Jorge Barrosa bringing the score to 4-1 and some much needed breathing room.

The bullpen was nails tonight as Taylor Clarke did a tremendous job of holding the score there in a quick and efficient bottom of the 7^th inning. A very underrated thing for a reliver to do by maintaining all that momentum and getting the team back in the dugout quickly. Taylor Rashi came in after Clarke and had perhaps the most dominant relief outing we have seen from a Dbacks pitcher in the early going as he pitched 2 flat out filthy innings striking out 3 Mets batters. Like he was in complete control tonight and he was even smiling on the mound as he was toying with the Mets batters with his high arm slot 4 seamer, splitter, and slider combination. He even threw a slurve tonight. Is Taylor Rashi a leverage reliever all of a sudden? Would be a huge break for this team if so.

Gabi Moreno was able to notch 2 doubles in a game that he didn’t even start in and the Dbacks were able to have a nice little 7 run outburst tonight on the offense bringing the final score to 7-1. The offense though it was late to show up tonight was a welcome sight for the Dbacks and their fans given some of the early season struggles they have had in that department. All in all, the Dbacks won tonight with excellent starting pitching, and athleticism on the offensive side. A welcome sight in my opinion and certainly playing the likes of Jose Fernandez, Ildemaro Vargas, and Jose Barrosa were paramount. Hopefully we see more of this brand of Dbacks baseball. This is the type of offense that is sustainable especially considering the Dbacks once again scored all 7 runs without the benefit of the longball. Refreshing!

The Dbacks will get on the bus tonight a game over .500 and head to Philadelphia to begin the weekend series against the Phillies. Lets see if the young guns get rewarded with more playing time, and this team can keep the momentum going into Philly!

To make room for Luis Gil on the roster, the Yankees are reportedly designating right-hander Cade Winquest for assignment.

NY Post's Jon Heyman reported that the Rule 5 draft pick will be off the Yankees' roster when the transaction becomes official on Friday.

Back in Dec. 2025, the Yankees selected the 25-year-old in the Rule 5 Draft. Winquest earned the distinction of being the first player selected by the Yankees in this particular draft since 2011. 

As a Rule 5 pick, Winquest had to make and stay on the Yankees' roster for the entirety of the 2026 season, or he would be offered back to the Cardinals. The right-hander made the team out of camp after seven spring games. In that span, Winquest allowed eight runs on 13 hits, four walks and eight strikeouts across 10 innings pitched. 

Although Winquest was with the team, he did not make an appearance in the team's first 12 games. 

Winquest was originally drafted by the Cardinals in the eighth round of the 2022 MLB Draft and did not make the big league club. In 58 minor league games (38 starts) in the Cardinals system, Winquest pitched to a 4.19 ERA with 219 strikeouts in 212.2 innings.

Winquest finished the 2025 season at the Double-A level, appearing in eight games for Springfield with a 3.19 ERA in 42.1 innings. 

Gil is set to make the start for the Yankees in Friday's series opener against the Rays and the Winquest move will be made official sometime before first pitch.

Pitching ruled the night, and the bats did just enough to drag the White Sox across the finish line, 2-0. Raise a glass: the South Siders finally snap that 14-game Kansas City curse.

This evening’s contest was influenced a little by the ABS, with a few calls overturned on both sides. It added a bit of rhythm disruption to an otherwise crisp, low-scoring, slow-moving game. A key moment was Edgar Quero winning a challenge strike three call in the bottom of the first after a very lengthy at-bat from Vinnie Pasquantino.

Chicago finally broke the stalemate in the fourth after a quiet start by both sides. Munetaka Murakami coaxed one of two walks on the night and then hustled home on a 106.6 mph rocket RBI double from Colson Montgomery, putting the Sox ahead 1-0.

The Good Guys tacked on another tally in the seventh, capitalizing on a little chaos. Who doesn’t love a little on-field turmoil? Two free passes, a throwing error by Vinnie Pasquantino, and a sacrifice fly from Luisangel Acuña made it 2-0. It felt delightful to take advantage of the other team’s mistakes for once.

On the mound, the South Side staff was good enough, but did have to work around quite a bit of traffic. Veteran Anthony Kay set the tone with a strong start, getting key swings and misses for 5 2/3 scoreless frames. The bullpen didn’t light itself on fire and kept the Royals off the board. Grant Taylor tossed 1 1/3, and Jordan Leasure managed a drama-free inning with just one walk in the eighth. Seranthony Domínguez came out and slammed the door in the ninth.

KC had more than a few chances with baserunners everywhere. Bobby Witt Jr. provided most of the spark and did his best to play spoiler with a double, steal, and single, but thankfully for the White Sox, the Royals just weren’t able to cash it in. With the victory, Chicago snaps their three-game losing streak and improves their record to 5-8. The club will be back at it tomorrow at 6:40 p.m. CST with Davis Martin on the bump.

You can’t win if you don’t score.

For the second time this season, the Royals failed to score a run in a game. A 2-0 loss to the White Sox drops Kansas City to 5-8.

It’s the Royals’ third straight loss, and in that time, the offense has averaged a single run per game.

Tonight, the Royals faced lefty Anthony Kay, who came it having not yet reached five innings in an outing sporting a FIP near seven while not winning a Major League game since 2021.

He looked dominant tonight. Against left-handed batters, he retired all seven he faced with six strikeouts. He pitched 5-and-2/3 innings, allowing only three hits and two walks. His offense didn’t give him much against Seth Lugo, but tonight, Kay didn’t need much help.

Lugo continued his strong season with 6-and-1/3 innings while allowing two runs (only one earned) while striking out four. He allowed four hits and walked four.

He also benefited from some stellar defense from Maikel Garcia:

And from Bobby:

The White Sox scored their first run in the top of the fourth when Colson Montgomery doubled home Munetaka Murakami. Lane Thomas took a very curious route to the ball, not only failing to catch it but also allowing it to get by him and reach the wall.

The scored remained 1-0 until the seventh when Luisangel Acuna hit a sacrifice fly to right off John Schreiber, allowing Andrew Benintendi to come home.

Royals batters only managed five hits for the night, the best of them a 113-MPH line drive off the left field wall by Bobby Witt Jr. for a double. Another foot or so higher and it would’ve been a home run. Aside from that, the Royals managed four other hits—another by Bob, two by Garcia, and one by Thomas. They also managed four walks, including one to start the ninth.

In the end, the Royals stranded 11 baserunners while going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Mother Nature pending, they’ll get another crack at the White Sox tomorrow night as they look to snap their three-game skid and even up the series.

For six-plus innings Thursday night, Nolan McLean dazzled at Citi Field. He allowed just a pair of hits and his stuff was especially filthy, as Arizona hitters were largely overmatched.

But lefty Eduardo Rodríguez was nearly as good for the Diamondbacks, and when McLean faltered in the seventh inning, Luke Weaver came in and got knocked around, as the Mets lost their second straight, 7-1.

McLean’s performance was about the only thing that went right for the Mets on another chilly night in Queens.

The right-hander faced just two batters over the minimum heading into the seventh before a leadoff walk to Geraldo Perdomo to start the inning. After a strikeout of Adrian Del Castillo, McLean’s eighth of the night, he gave up a single to Jose Fernandez and was yanked after a career-high 100 pitches.

And that’s when the game was lost, with the bullpen and defense falling apart late.

Weaver entered having allowed just three base runners in five innings over five appearances, but he gave up a game-tying double to right to pinch-hitter Gabriel Moreno that Brett Baty couldn’t catch up to. Baty, still new to right field, pulled up short of the fence in right and the ball hit off the fence.

“I felt I got a good read on it and tried to get back there [quickly] to find the wall,’’ said Baty, who added it was the first time he’s had a play like that. “I’m still working hard to get some experience with wall balls. … I think they’re extremely hard, but I’m gonna do everything I can to catch those. I’ll run through the wall if I have to.”

Hopefully it doesn’t come to that. But in this one, the inability to come up with a catch led to a loss, as Alek Thomas then grounded to first with the infield in and Mark Vientos made a poor throw home, which allowed Fernandez to score to give Arizona the lead.

A Tim Tawa sacrifice fly added another run, and Jorge Barrosa continued the rally with a triple to right to make it 4-1.

Weaver left to a chorus of boos following the four-run outburst.

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Luis García was even worse, as the right-hander gave up three runs in the eighth, with the Diamondbacks putting the game away.

The lineup didn’t give the pitchers any margin for error, mostly silent outside of one swing from Luis Robert Jr. in the bottom of the first. His two-out solo homer was the first earned run scored off Rodríguez this year — and the last the Mets would score on the night.

They threatened with two outs in the third when Bo Bichette singled and Robert walked. Vientos followed with a liner up the middle, but second baseman Ketel Marte was shaded that way and made the catch.

Another potential rally arose in the fifth. Tyrone Taylor opened with a double to left and moved to third on Francisco Lindor’s grounder to shortstop. After Bichette walked, Rodríguez got Robert looking and Vientos grounded out to third to keep it a one-run game.

Still, the Mets held the lead to open the seventh and had their high-leverage relievers ready to go. But Weaver and García combined to give up five runs while getting just three outs.

Weaver said his tough outing was more painful considering how well McLean pitched.

“It adds a little more sting,’’ Weaver said. “He deserved the win there.”

If Wednesday’s offensive disappointment was pinned on Ryan McMahon, who heard boos on a rough day during a rough start, Austin Wells might have been the face of Thursday’s frustration.

What amounted to the Yankees’ best rally of the game — putting two runners on base in the seventh inning, Giancarlo Stanton drawing a walk and Ben Rice connecting for the club’s first hit of the afternoon — ended with Wells flying out on an afternoon the Yankees fell 1-0 to the A’s in The Bronx.

The entire bottom of the order is an early problem for the Yankees, but the struggles of Wells stand out in part because he is not experimenting with a radically different stance (like McMahon) or serving as a fill-in until a reinforcement arrives (like José Caballero) or owning a stellar track record that suggests he will come around (like Jazz Chisholm Jr.).

Wells arrived in the majors a couple of years ago with a reputation as a strong hitter who needed to work on his catching defense. He has emerged as an excellent framer and game-caller, but his bat has only flashed the kind of hitter he can become.

Those flashes have not appeared in the early going this season. Since tallying two hits on Opening Day, Wells has gone 3-for-27 with two singles, a double, four walks and 11 strikeouts.

In a reminder that the season is still in its infancy, Wells shrugged off the slump and was happy with the process that he feels will yield results.

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“I feel pretty good [at the plate],” said Wells, who swung through a fastball for a strikeout in the third, grounded out in the fifth and made decent contact with his seventh-inning flyout. “Swinging at the right pitches. I’m just not getting much results. So, keep going.”

His manager, too, thought Wells’ swings were improving even if they were ending similarly.

“A little better, actually. He’s been one of those guys struggling a little bit,” Aaron Boone said after the Yankees were shut out for the first time this season. “The last AB there, where we had a couple runners on, I thought he put together a pretty good at-bat and got some good swings off.”

The Yankees are only about 7 percent of the way into their season, and early April numbers often are forgotten. Plus, the Yankees are generally winning and Wells’ mind and defense are significant factors in the club’s rotation excellence thus far.

But the Yankees also consistently praise what J.C. Escarra can become and insist that Rice could be a major league catcher. So if Wells does not hit, there are other options.

“I feel like there’s been some games where he’s had some quality at-bats,” Boone said, “but obviously we got to get it more consistent, start getting some results. Obviously, he’s a guy that drives the ball as well.”

Iowa Cubs

Rained out. Doubleheader starting at 5:08 tomorrow.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies knocked the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels) out of orbit, 8-7.

The Trash Pandas jumped all over Smokies starter Luis Martinez-Gomez with two runs in the first, one in the second and two more in the third. The final line on Martinez-Gomez was five runs on five hits over four innings. He walked two, struck out one and gave up a two-run home run in the third inning.

Vince Reilly pitched the eighth and ninth innings and got the win. He did not allow a hit or a run, although he did walk one. He faced the minimum thanks to a fantastic diving catch and double play by third baseman Karson Simas. Reilly struck out two.

The Smokies trailed this game 7-0 after five and a half innings, but they scored three in the bottom of the sixth and five in the bottom of the eighth to stage an improbably comeback.

First baseman Devin Ortiz hit a three-run double in the sixth. He also chipped in an RBI single in the eighth. His final line was 2 for 4 with the double and four RBI. He scored once.

Shortstop Jefferson Rojas hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to give the Smokies the lead. It was Rojas’ third home run this year. He was 1 for 4 with a walk.

Left fielder Jordan Nwogu went 2 for 4 with a triple.

Here’s the Rojas home run.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were demoted by the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 5-3.

Kevin Valdez made his season debut tonight by pitching 3.2 scoreless innings to start the game. Valdez allowed three hits. He struck out five and walked two.

Ethan Flanagan’s season debut could have gone better. After Grayson Moore gave up two runs in relief and South Bend tied it back up, Flanagan gave up three runs on five hits over 2.1 innings. Two of the five hits were home runs. Flanagan walked two and struck out three.

Catcher Owen Ayers hit his first South Bend home run with the bases empty in the fourth. He also singled and scored in the eighth. Ayers went 2 for 3 with a walk and the two runs scored.

Second baseman Drew Bowser tied it up 2-2 with a solo home run in the seventh. Bowser went 1 for 4.

Third baseman Reginald Preciado went 3 for 4. He singled home Ayers in the eighth.

Here’s Ayers’ home run.

And here’s Bowser’s blast.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were hypnotized by the Columbia Fireflies (Royals), 1-0.

There were only three hits in this game, two by Columbia and only one by the Pelicans, and the one run scored without the benefit of a hit.

Starter Dominick Reid dominated the Fireflies for five scoreless innings. Reid gave up just one hit. He struck out five and walked no one.

Here are some highlights for Reid.

Rowell Arroyo came on to pitch the sixth inning and allowed a runner to go to third with one out after fielding a dribbler in front of the mound and throwing the ball down the right line. The runner would score the only run of the game on a fielder’s choice. The final line on Arroyo was one unearned run on one hit over two innings. He walked two and struck out one.

Second baseman Jose Escobar singled to lead off the sixth inning. That was the only Pelicans hit of the game. Escobar was 1 for 3.

Josiah Hartshorn had the night off, so that didn’t help the offense.

It seemed like a solo home run might be enough. With Nolan McLean already having put up six zeroes, the Mets had a 1-0 lead as the seventh inning began thanks to a solo home run by Luis Robert Jr. in the bottom of the first.

McLean was dealing at the time, but he appeared to tire a bit in the top of the seventh. He issued a leadoff walk, got his eighth and final strikeout of the night, and gave up a single to put runners on first and second. Carlos Mendoza turned to Luke Weaver, who immediately gave up a game-tying double to right field. If the Mets had an experienced right fielder at the position, there’s a chance the ball would’ve been caught. But Baty didn’t come close.

With runners on second and third, Alek Thomas hit a sharp ground ball to first base with the infield in. Mark Vientos fielded it nicely, but he absolutely butchered his throw home as the go-ahead run scored. If not for a great pick by Luis Torrens on the throw, another run might have scored on the play.

But a sac fly plated the Diamondbacks’ third run of the inning, and a Jorge Barrosa triple scored Arizona’s fourth run of the frame. Two of those runs were charged to McLean, while Weaver got full credit for the other two.

The Mets’ bats remained silent from there, but Mets reliever Luis Garía dampened spirits further by serving up three runs in the top of the eighth. Richard Lovelady threw a scoreless ninth and wound up being the only Mets pitcher who appeared in the game but wasn’t charged with a run.

With that, the Mets are 7-6 to start the season, and they’re set to host the don’t-call-us-Sacramento A’s for a three-game series this weekend.

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Win Probability Added

Big Mets winner: Nolan McLean, +28% WPA
Big Mets loser: Luke Weaver, -51% WPA
Mets pitchers: -28% WPA
Mets hitters:-22% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Luis Robert Jr. hits a solo home run in the first, +11% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Gabriel Moreno hits a game-tying double in the seventh, -28% WPA