Category: Baseball

The Mets locked up the season series with a 6-1 win over the Dodgers on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Here are some takeaways...

- As was the case in the first two games of this series, the Mets were able to jump out to a first-inning advantage. After LA booted a potential double-play ball, the first run of the game came in on an RBI groundout, then Pete Alonso crushed an opposite-field two-run shot to make it 3-0.

The Mets' offense generated plenty of traffic against Tony Gonsolin and the Dodgers bullpen over the next few innings, but they weren't able to come up with the big hit needed until Alonso struck again in the eighth -- crushing a monstrous 447-foot three-run homer to deep right field.

The big man is now tied with Seiya Suzuki for the NL lead with 53 RBI on the season. He's also tied with Darryl Strawberry for the most multi-homer games in franchise history (22) and is just two long balls behind David Wright for the second-most in franchise history (241).

- On the mound, Griffin Canning delivered a much-needed bounce-back outing. The right-hander was magnificent as he limited the high-powered Dodgers lineup to just three hits and a walk while striking out seven across six scoreless innings of work.

Canning's best frame of the night was the bottom of the fifth inning, when he worked around a one-out Dalton Rushing single by punching out both Kiké Hernández and Shohei Ohtani -- the latter of which was on a nasty painted 3-2 changeup.

After his best showing of the season, the California-native is now down to an impressive 2.90 ERA.

- José Castillo had to work around a bit of a scare before the Mets tacked on their insurance in the eighth. The left-hander allowed a single and a hit-by-pitch, but bounced back to strike out the next two batters with the tying run at the plate and the top of the order looming.

Castillo returned for an easy bottom of the eighth, giving him 6.0 scoreless innings since joining the Mets.

- Los Angeles was able to break up the shutout with a solo shot off the bat of Andy Pages in the bottom of the ninth. It was the first home run Ryne Stanek allowed this season -- but it was no harm, no foul, as he quickly put the finishing touches on this one to secure the win and clinch the season series.

- Juan Soto saw his five-game hitting and extra-base streak come to an end, but the star outfielder continues showing signs that he's rounding back into form -- breaking out the Soto Shuffle at times as he drew three walks across four plate appearances.

- Brandon Nimmo enjoyed another strong showing back in the two-spot against the righty -- picking up another hit and scoring two runs. He's now reached base in eight of his last nine appearances and has scored six runs over that span.

- Jeff McNeil pushed his hitting streak to six with a one-out single in the second.

- Ronny Mauricio is still looking for his first big-league knock this season. The 24-year-old was back in the lineup batting seventh and playing third base, but he was held hitless and struck out twice across four at-bats.

Game MVP: Pete Alonso

The big man came into the night with a ton of success in his career at Dodger Stadium, and he led the way -- driving in five of the team's six runs.

Highlights

Juan Soto drives in the first run of the night with an RBI groundout pic.twitter.com/mPRmM2I1zQ

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 5, 2025

PETE ALONSO 2-RUN HOMER!

He's got 50 RBIs on the season! pic.twitter.com/ixFn6iAhnc

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 5, 2025

Juan Soto comes back from down 0-2 to work a walk (with a couple shuffles) pic.twitter.com/XrdlinOsFz

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 5, 2025

Luisangel Acuña is working on his catching skills 😂 pic.twitter.com/IOcckks5Bs

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 5, 2025

Luisangel Acuña snagged a foul ball off the bat of Francisco Lindor with his catching gear on and Jose Siri, Starling Marte & Juan Soto enjoyed it 😂 pic.twitter.com/xMSKVbyCFL

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 5, 2025

Juan Soto and Tony Gonsolin were all smiles after Soto worked his second walk of the night pic.twitter.com/GJ0eZp3cXN

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 5, 2025

Griffin Canning gets Shohei Ohtani looking to end the 5th inning pic.twitter.com/pGIBWYl3bD

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 5, 2025

José Castillo strikes out a pair to escape trouble in the 7th! pic.twitter.com/aR9WKPdCOy

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 5, 2025

PETE ALONSO'S SECOND HOMER OF THE NIGHT IS A 3-RUN SHOT! pic.twitter.com/QQS8TkUOph

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 5, 2025

What's next

The Mets will look to secure the series win in the finale on Thursday afternoon at 4:10 p.m.

David Peterson (4-2, 2.69 ERA) takes the mound looking for his third consecutive victory against RHP Landon Knack (3-2, 4.58 ERA).

The Syracuse Mets were in action on Wednesday night and two prospects made their mark in the eventual 7-6 win over Buffalo.

Drew Gilbert was front and center in Syracuse's comeback. With the Mets down 2-0 in the third, Gilbert came up with one out and runners on second and third. The left-handed slugger fell behind in the count 0-2 before he fouled off four straight pitches.

He eventually worked the count to 2-2 before he lined a curveball down the right field line just out of reach of the right fielder for a two-run triple. It was the 12th pitch of the at-bat and Gilbert's 20th and 21st RBI of the minor league season between Low-A and Triple-A.

Gilbert finished 1-for-2 with two walks and that triple extended his hitting streak to five games.

In 39 games in Triple-A, Gilbert is slashing .214/.343/.321 with two home runs and 15 RBI.

Drew Gilbert works a 12-pitch at-bat and is rewarded with an RBI triple! pic.twitter.com/dV99duApgB

— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) June 4, 2025

On the mound, Blade Tidwell made his 11th start for Syracuse this season and was effective. The right-hander threw 89 pitches (51 strikes) across six innings, allowing three runs on six hits (two home runs) and four walks while striking out three batters.

Tidwell improved his record to 4-2 on the season but his ERA increased from 3.97 to 4.02 on the year.

The 23-year-old has continued to be a quality pitcher in Syracuse, pitching to a 1.23 WHIP to go along with the 4.02 ERA while striking out 64 batters across 53.2 innings pitched.

On a not-so-positive note, reliever Dedniel Nunez was hit hard on Wednesday. With Syracuse up 7-3 in the ninth, Nunez allowed a three-run shot before finishing the game. In his one inning of work, Nunez allowed three runs on three hits and a walk. It's Nunez's worst appearance since being optioned back to Triple-A in mid-May. In six appearances, he's allowed four runs, three coming on Wednesday.

After leaving Sunday's game with a thumb injury against the Dodgers, Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez has missed the team's last two games, including Wednesday night's loss against the Cleveland Guardians.

Manager Aaron Boone said before the game that Dominguez was feeling better and was available to pinch-run in Tuesday's game, but the team wanted the young outfielder to swing a bat in the cages on Wednesday without issue before he could return to the lineup. After the game, Boone was asked about Dominguez and the Yankees skipper was encouraged, saying everything went well in the cages.

"He should be good to go," Boone said.

Dominguez is slashing .247/.346/.420 with a .765 OPS this season with six home runs and 25 RBI in 49 games. The young outfielder is not an everyday player for Boone yet and is currently part of a four-man outfield that includes Aaron Judge, Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger.

Fernando Cruz first appearance off IL

Cruz made his triumphant return to the Yankees bullpen when he was activated on Tuesday, but didn't have his first appearance back off the IL until Wednesday, where he pitched a solid inning.

He struck out three batters but made one mistake pitch to Manzardo, who deposited his fastball over the right-center field wall.

"I thought Cruz was really good," Boone said after the game. "Obviously gave up the homer, Manzardo got him and ambushed him a little bit. Thought stuff was really good. Thought the fastball was good and tallied up three more of the ugliest swings on the forkball.

"Good to get him back in there. His stuff resembled who he is. He was pretty sharp. Manzardo just got him on a good swing on a fastball. Good to see him back out there. Reasonable pitch count, hopefully on his way again."

"I feel amazing," Cruz said of how he felt after the game. "Feel like everything was there. Velocity was there, stuff was there. Splitter feel amazing. Everything felt amazing out of my hand. It's a good time to give the team what it need. I'm ready, I feel good."

Cruz has become one of Boone's best relievers this season. After Wednesday's appearance, the 35-year-old has pitched to a 2.92 ERA and 1.01 WHIP but with 38 strikeouts in 24.2 innings.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone was not ready on Wednesday to announce the next steps for Giancarlo Stanton’s return from the injured list. But the slugger’s timetable is gradually becoming clearer.

Word around the Yanks is that Stanton could remain in Tampa over the weekend, then begin a rehab assignment as soon as early next week. If that goes off as planned, it’s reasonable to speculate that Stanton would make his season debut in or around mid-June.

Stanton, last seen propelling the Yanks to an American League pennant last fall, has yet to play in 2025 due to tendinitis in both elbows.

He has lately been working out and getting live at-bats at the team’s complex in Florida.

"Today was just a workout day,” Boone said on Wednesday afternoon. “I think he was doing baseball activities [but not live at-bats] today. He's probably headed up here, but I don't know the next step if it's a rehab assignment or what. Hopefully, we'll have that in the next 24 hours."

Asked if Stanton could forgo a rehab assignment, as he has in the past, Boone said, "I don't want to speak too soon. We'll see."

The prediction here is that Stanton will indeed go on a brief rehab.

He is 71 home runs away from 500 in his career, which would seal his Hall of Fame case.

Clarke Schmidt allowed three runs in the top half of the first inning, and Yankees batters could only muster five hits in response in a 4-0 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night in The Bronx. 

New York was shut out for just the second time this season as they left six runners on base and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. The Yankees struck out 10 times and fell to 37-22 on the year, 19-9 at home.

"We just didn't mount much offensively tonight," manager Aaron Boone said after the game. "I thought we got pitched pretty tough; we just didn't have a great night. It happens in the 162."

Here are the takeaways...

- Schmidt issued a walk to Steven Kwan to start the top of the first and then served up a 394-foot home run on the first pitch to Angel Martínez, as the cutter hung right over the heart of the plate. José Ramírez took a cutter at the top of the zone for a double to right and came around to score on a two-out Daniel Schneemann double to right as he tagged the knuckle-curve. The right-hander's 26th pitch of the inning ended the frame, blowing a fastball past Gabriel Arias, Cleveland’s lone right-handed batter in the starting lineup.

After the first, Schmidt settled down and retired 12 of the next 14 batters, allowing just a pair of two-out singles while tallying six strikeouts. "He stayed true to his stuff," Boone said, adding that mixing in his curveball and fastball allowed him to "settle in" against the lefty-heavy lineup.

Cleveland put two on with one out in the sixth on a single and a checked-swing infield hit, leading to Matt Blake’s second mound visit of the night. The pitching coach said the right words as Schmidt got Arias swinging for the third time of the night. Boone summoned lefty Brent Headrick to get the final out to strand a pair.

Schmidt’s final line: 5.2 innings, three runs, seven hits, one walk, eight strikeouts on 91 pitches (64 strikes) to see his ERA rise to 4.04 on the year.

- Ben Rice, who lined out in the first when he smashed a ball (102.9 mph off the bat) to the opposite way, had better luck in the third inning, rocketing a single to right (108.8 mph) to give Aaron Judge a two-out chance with two runners on base. But Cleveland starter Luis Ortiz got Judge looking at a breaking pitch right over the plate to end the frame.

The Guardians' righty gave Yanks batters tons of trouble through the first five frames, tallying seven strikeouts with two hits (both singles) and two walks. Ortiz had 13 whiffs on 40 swings with 14 called strikes, and his slider was particularly good.

"He kinda kept us at bay and we really didn't sting the ball much off him at all," Boone said of Ortiz's start. "Pretty slow night for us offensively."

Judge, who singled his first time up, got his second hit of the night with two outs in the sixth, which ended Ortiz’s night. But lefty Tim Herrin stranded the inherited runner. 

- Against Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase in the ninth, Rice grabbed an infield hit to second, but Judge went down swinging, before Cody Bellinger sliced a ground-rule double on a ball that just stayed fair down the left-field line. But in just their second and third at-bats with a runner in scoring position on the night (and first since the third inning), Clase got two strikeouts to close the door.

Rice finished the day 2-for-4, grounding into a rare 5-3 double play thanks to a Cleveland shift on a tapper toward the middle. Judge also went 2-for-4 with two strikeouts as his average rose to .389 on the year. Bellinger finished with one hit in four at-bats as he is in a 5-for-30 funk, but did end a streak of eight games without an extra-base hit.

- Anthony Volpe grounded out three times, but accounted for five outs as he bounced into 5-4-3 and 4-6-3 twin killings to finish 0-for-3. He entered the night hitting into just two double-plays in his first 58 games of the campaign.

- Paul Goldschmidt was 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.

- Jazz Chisholm Jr., in his second game back from the IL, struck out swinging in each of his first two at-bats. He finished 0-for-3, reaching on an error in the seventh.

- Austin Wells was hitless in three at-bats with a strikeout.

- DJ LeMahieu finished 0-for-3 with a strikeout looking.

- Trent Grisham went 0-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout

- Out of the bullpen: Headrick allowed a hit but only faced four batters thanks to a double-play ball in 1.2 innings.

Fernando Cruz, making his first appearance since May 17 after an IL stint, struck out the first two batters swinging at his devastating splitter to start the eighth, but left a 1-0 fastball up over the plate to Kyle Manzardo, who clobbered it 402 feet into the Yankee bullpen. Schneemann followed with a double to the right-field corner, but Cruz got Arias swinging at a splitter in the dirt to strand the runner.

A couple singles off Tim Hill put two on and one out in the ninth, but the lefty got a strikeout and a foul popout. Yankees pitchers surrendered 12 hits and a walk, but stranded eight runners by holding the visitors to 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

What's next

The three-game series concludes on Thursday night with a 7:05 first pitch.

Left-hander Max Fried (1.92 ERA, 0.973 WHIP in 75 innings) gets the ball for the home team. Righty Slade Cecconi (5.28 ERA, 1.435 WHIP in 15.1 innings) gets the ball for the visitors.

Prior to Wednesday's matchup with the Dodgers in Los Angeles, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza gave updates on a number of injured players...

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Sean Manaea's first rehab start set

The Mets skipper revealed when Manaea will finally get some game action after a months-long recovery process from a strained right oblique.

Mendoza said that Manaea is scheduled to have his first rehab start on Friday with High-A Brooklyn. The Cyclones are on the road, but Manaea will appear in that game with the expectation to have two ups and 35 pitches or so.

Manaea threw 29 pitches in a live bullpen that "went well" earlier this week and the Mets starter recovered well and is not ready for the ramp up until he returns to the Mets rotation.

Frankie Montas' next step unclear

Montas has had a few rehab outings as the veteran right-hander recovers from a lat strain, and his latest came Tuesday with Triple-A. It was the first rehab start for Montas in Syracuse and he was not effective across his four-plus innings of work.

Mendoza was asked about Montas and the Mets skipper said they have to wait to see how he recovers from his latest start but he did not know how many rehab starts his pitcher will need. He did say they wanted to continue to build him up, but they have 20 days until his rehab assignment is officially completed, and they will have to revisit then.

In Tuesday's start, Montas threw 61 pitches (43 strikes) but allowed six hits, three for home runs.

Good news on Mark Vientos

The Mets placed Vientos on the 10-day IL on Tuesday with a hamstring strain but Mendoza provided a positive update on the young slugger.

"We got relatively good news. It’s a low-grade strain," he said. "Going to treat it for the next 10-14 days until he’s symptom-free and then ramp him back up. Good news there."

Vientos hit a slow grounder to the left side in extra innings of Monday's game but collapsed running up the first base line and stayed down for a bit. He eventually got back up and grabbed his hamstring as he made his way to the dugout. After the game, Mendoza said the injury "didn't look good" so he was pleasantly surprised by the results of the testing on Vientos.

"You never know, guy goes down the way he did. You kinda expect the worst," Mendoza said. "Once he went through all the testing, talking to the trainers - You hate to see him go down at any time, the fact that it’s low-grade, it’s good news."

Vientos will rest for a minimum of 10 days and see if he's symptom-free before he starts baseball activities and then he will be ramped back up.

In the meantime, prospect Ronny Mauricio was called up and is seeing time at third base while Brett Baty, Luisangel Acuna and Jeff McNeil split time at second.

Johnson helps Giants find spark in emotional win vs. Padres originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Standing on second base and staring straight into the Giants’ dugout, Heliot Ramos pounded his chest twice and finished his fiery moment of pure excitement with the three best words in sports: “Let’s f–king go!”

Ramos had just hammered the hardest-hit ball of the night, a one-hopper off the left-field wall with the bases loaded to tie the game at five runs apiece in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Giants once had trailed the San Diego Padres — a team they hadn’t beaten in four tries this season and had a seven-game losing streak against since September of last season — 5-0 before coming back to earn a 6-5 win Wednesday night at Oracle Park.

Mood when you score five runs 🔥 pic.twitter.com/t3qj4ZvjS9

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025

Jung Hoo Lee’s sacrifice fly right after Ramos’ double gave San Francisco the lead, and the bullpen slammed the door shut on San Diego. 

The talk of the town had been the Giants’ reeling offense, leading to a major roster shakeup earlier in the day. They needed a jolt; a spark had to be lit. Multiple players had a hand in igniting a wick and lighting a fire in front of the home fans.

None brought pure adulation quite like Ramos’ swing after the seventh-inning stretch. 

“It was not only in our dugout, but the crowd went … I mean, that’s as loud as we’ve heard them all year,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said after the win. “It’s pretty inspiring when you haven’t scored any runs and you’re down 5-0 to one of the better pitchers in the National League. Now we get into a situation where we got a chance, and it was pretty loud.

“Big hit, big response by the crowd. Obviously a huge win for us.” 

HELIOT TIES IT UP 🤩 pic.twitter.com/jkYyXnskh5

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025

Ramos joined NBC Sports Bay Area’s Laura Britt and Shawn Estes on “Giants Postgame Live”, and called the win “a very emotional game, mostly mentally.” 

“When they scored those five runs, it was really tough,” Ramos said. “Then we started putting at-bats together. We always have the support of the fans, and that’s what we love. Honestly, it was an emotional at-bat. It was an emotional game, for sure.” 

The Giants on Wednesday morning designated LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment as part of multiple roster moves. They had lost the first two games of the series against the Padres, almost exclusively because of a sputtering offense that hadn’t scored five or more runs since May 16. Ramos, their All-Star left fielder, is supposed to be a bat the Giants can lean on, and San Francisco did when it mattered most. 

The same goes with Matt Chapman. Defense always will come first for the glove manning the hot corner, but as the Giants’ cleanup hitter, Chapman also has a spotlight on him at the plate. 

Prior to the Giants scoring three runs in the seventh inning to tie the game and take the lead, Chapman got them within striking distance the inning before with a two-run homer that nearly was erased from the unfriendly confines of his home park.

Chappy's homer cuts the deficit in half 💥 pic.twitter.com/gK7REPBqoU

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025

Chapman’s blast just barely cleared the left-field wall, literally bouncing on top of it and back into the field. He felt like he got enough of it off the bat, but there’s no telling unless it’s a no-doubter in San Francisco. 

“I thought it was gone, and then by the way the left fielder started looking like he was camping under it, I was getting a little nervous there,” Chapman admitted. “I knew I hit it well, but sometimes here with the wind and it being cold, you don’t always know if it’s going to go. But I’m glad it did. We needed that.” 

Though Willy Adames’ 0-for-3 night dropped his batting average down to .201, his walk to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning wound up sparking the pivotal rally. The rest of the Giants’ big-name bats — Ramos, Chapman and Lee — came up big. 

Yet it was a fresh face who had just arrived from Sacramento that lit a flame as much as anybody else. 

Mac Dre’s “Since ‘84” blasted across the speakers when Vallejo native Daniel Johnson first walked up to the plate. He grew up coming to Giants and Athletics games, recalling memories of Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi. It was easier to get to A’s games, but he couldn’t hide his smile before or after the game to be wearing the Orange and Black. His night began with a strikeout but only got better from there. 

Johnson went 2-for-4 at the plate with two liners to center field, two runs scored and a stolen base. He had eight people in the stands for his Giants debut, including his mom, dad, brother, sister and a couple of friends. His season began in the Mexican League, where he hit the cover off the ball, and his night ended in a victory celebration, two outs after making the play of the game defensively. 

With his speed, Fernando Tatis Jr. almost was assured to score from first base when Luis Arráez launched a ball 372 feet into the right-center gap with a .520 expected batting average. Johnson opened his hips, changed his cleats for track spikes and ran down a ball that was waiting to bounce off the warning track. 

No triples allowed by Daniel Johnson 🚫 pic.twitter.com/w0dPDBVyb3

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025

“I got to go. I have to run,” Johnson remembers telling himself. “He hit it — we were playing kind of in — I was running and I’m just like, ‘I have to run. I have to go.’ That was my only thought: Go get to the ball.” 

There are no words for a night like Johnson had or the kind of win the Giants could finally relish in, just feelings and unbridled emotions. 

“Speechless,” Johnson said. “Just enjoyed every moment of it.”

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Phillies lose in Toronto but the Mick Abel turnaround might be legit originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

It had been six years since the Phillies used their top pick on a pitcher when they made Mick Abel the first high school arm off the board, 15th overall, in the 2020 draft.

There was Aaron Nola in 2014, Abel in 2020 and then Andrew Painter a year later.

Nola was viewed coming out of LSU as a fast riser with well-above-average command and he lived up to the billing, speeding through the Phillies’ minor-league system and debuting 13 months after his draft date.

Painter was viewed as a potential phenom, a massive right-hander with a classic pitcher’s frame, upper-90s velocity and impressive secondary stuff. After only one full season in the minors, he was the perceived front-runner for the No. 5 spot in the Phillies’ rotation in spring training 2023 before suffering an elbow injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery. Painter has been working his way back since and should be up with the Phils shortly after the All-Star break.

Abel’s path to The Show hasn’t been nearly as straightforward. There were years of control problems. There were questions about confidence and overthinking. There were never questions about the quality of his stuff, and he’s shown why in two major-league starts.

After beating the Pirates with six scoreless innings and nine strikeouts on May 18, Abel pitched nearly as well Wednesday night in Toronto, returning to the Phillies’ rotation with 5⅓ innings of one-run ball.

The lone run came in the bottom of the sixth when Abel allowed a one-out single to Andres Gimenez and an RBI triple to Bo Bichette, whose deep fly ball narrowly eluded a diving Brandon Marsh in center field.

It was another walk-free outing. Abel has made two major-league starts and hasn’t walked anyone. Only two of his last 53 minor-league outings were walk-free. Control is the biggest key for him and it’s been a primary factor in his early success. Abel has thrown a first-pitch strike to 29 of the 41 batters he’s faced (71%).

“I think it’s kind’ve clicked for him,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s been around now for a few years and learned a lot. He’s confident in his stuff. He understands now to attack hitters and trust his stuff. That goes a long way.

“He was fantastic. Strike-to-ball ratio, curveball was really good. Poise was outstanding.”

The Phillies really seem to have something here with Abel. Even with side tightness delaying Aaron Nola’s live BP session this week, the Phils’ rotation is an embarrassment of riches — Zack Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, Nola, Abel, Painter soon. Suarez is a free agent after the season but even if he walks, it will be difficult to fit everyone into one rotation, which could make Abel even more important this July.

Thomson lifted Abel with one out in the sixth to let Orion Kerkering face Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Kerkering worked out of the jam and the game remained tied until Alejandro Kirk’s walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth.

The loss went to Jordan Romano in his first appearance back at Rogers Centre. The win went to Jeff Hoffman in his first appearance against the Phillies since departing in free agency.

Hoffman faced only two batters, allowing a two-out single to Alec Bohm before ending the top of the ninth with a Nick Castellanos groundout. Romano had Guerrero on second with two outs and was ahead 0-2 on Kirk, who ended a seven-pitch at-bat with a deep drive to center that fell in for the winning run.

The Phillies are 37-24 heading into Thursday afternoon’s rubber match between Luzardo (5-1, 3.58) and Chris Bassitt (5-3, 3.80). J.T. Realmuto exited in the bottom of the ninth Wednesday after taking a foul ball to the nether regions. He was in considerable pain and had trouble walking off the field with a trainer. With a 3:07 p.m. game Thursday he might not have played anyway, but it’s looking more like a Rafael Marchan day.

“He said he’s had worse but we’ll check him out tomorrow,” Thomson said.

Phillies lose in Toronto but the Mick Abel turnaround might be legit originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

It had been six years since the Phillies used their top pick on a pitcher when they made Mick Abel the first high school arm off the board, 15th overall, in the 2020 draft.

There was Aaron Nola in 2014, Abel in 2020 and then Andrew Painter a year later.

Nola was viewed coming out of LSU as a fast riser with well-above-average command and he lived up to the billing, speeding through the Phillies’ minor-league system and debuting 13 months after his draft date.

Painter was viewed as a potential phenom, a massive right-hander with a classic pitcher’s frame, upper-90s velocity and impressive secondary stuff. After only one full season in the minors, he was the perceived front-runner for the No. 5 spot in the Phillies’ rotation in spring training 2023 before suffering an elbow injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery. Painter has been working his way back since and should be up with the Phils shortly after the All-Star break.

Abel’s path to The Show hasn’t been nearly as straightforward. There were years of control problems. There were questions about confidence and overthinking. There were never questions about the quality of his stuff, and he’s shown why in two major-league starts.

After beating the Pirates with six scoreless innings and nine strikeouts on May 18, Abel pitched nearly as well Wednesday night in Toronto, returning to the Phillies’ rotation with 5⅓ innings of one-run ball.

The lone run came in the bottom of the sixth when Abel allowed a one-out single to Andres Gimenez and an RBI triple to Bo Bichette, whose deep fly ball narrowly eluded a diving Brandon Marsh in center field.

It was another walk-free outing. Abel has made two major-league starts and hasn’t walked anyone. Only two of his last 53 minor-league outings were walk-free. Control is the biggest key for him and it’s been a primary factor in his early success. Abel has thrown a first-pitch strike to 29 of the 41 batters he’s faced (71%).

“I think it’s kind’ve clicked for him,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s been around now for a few years and learned a lot. He’s confident in his stuff. He understands now to attack hitters and trust his stuff. That goes a long way.

“He was fantastic. Strike-to-ball ratio, curveball was really good. Poise was outstanding.”

The Phillies really seem to have something here with Abel. Even with side tightness delaying Aaron Nola’s live BP session this week, the Phils’ rotation is an embarrassment of riches — Zack Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, Nola, Abel, Painter soon. Suarez is a free agent after the season but even if he walks, it will be difficult to fit everyone into one rotation, which could make Abel even more important this July.

Thomson lifted Abel with one out in the sixth to let Orion Kerkering face Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Kerkering worked out of the jam and the game remained tied until Alejandro Kirk’s walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth.

The loss went to Jordan Romano in his first appearance back at Rogers Centre. The win went to Jeff Hoffman in his first appearance against the Phillies since departing in free agency.

Hoffman faced only two batters, allowing a two-out single to Alec Bohm before ending the top of the ninth with a Nick Castellanos groundout. Romano had Guerrero on second with two outs and was ahead 0-2 on Kirk, who ended a seven-pitch at-bat with a deep drive to center that fell in for the winning run.

The Phillies are 37-24 heading into Thursday afternoon’s rubber match between Luzardo (5-1, 3.58) and Chris Bassitt (5-3, 3.80). J.T. Realmuto exited in the bottom of the ninth Wednesday after taking a foul ball to the nether regions. He was in considerable pain and had trouble walking off the field with a trainer. With a 3:07 p.m. game Thursday he might not have played anyway, but it’s looking more like a Rafael Marchan day.

“He said he’s had worse,” Thomson said, “but we’ll check him out tomorrow.”

What we learned as Giants' offense returns in comeback win vs. Padres originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO – The streaks – yes, plural – finally are over for the Giants in all the right ways. 

Fighting back for a 6-5 victory Wednesday night at Oracle Park, the Giants snapped a seven-game losing streak against the San Diego Padres that dated back to last season. They were 0-4 against the Padres this season prior to the win.

They also showed their most life offensively in weeks. The Giants hadn’t scored five or more runs since May 16, and only had scored four in three games since then. But in the final four innings, the Giants scored all six of their runs.

Starting pitcher Kyle Harrison couldn’t get through the fifth inning. Not to worry, the Giants’ bullpen held it down for the young left-hander. A combination of Sean Hjelle, Tyler Rogers, Ryan Walker and Randy Rodriguez kept the Padres scoreless over the final 4 2/3 innings. Rodriguez earned his first save of his young career. 

Here are three takeaways from the Giants’ much-needed win against the Padres.

Harrison’s Tough Outing 

At 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, Gavin Sheets isn’t built for speed. The 29-year-old first baseman is in his fifth MLB season and on his second team. Wednesday night was his 492nd game in the majors, and he entered with exactly one career triple. 

That number doubled in Sheets’ first at-bat of the night. Sheets roped a hanging slurve off the bricks in Triples Alley to score two runs in the top of the first inning. In the top of the fifth inning, Sheets ended Harrison’s night on an odd sequence. 

With one out and runners on second and third base, Sheets hit a one-hopper up the middle that bounced off Harrison’s left throwing elbow and into right field. The single plated both runners and sent Harrison to the dugout. 

It’s not like the Padres crushed balls left and right off Harrison. He got tough luck on multiple infield hits, making his line of five earned runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings look worse than it really was. However, the nine hits Harrison allowed were his most ever in a Giants jersey. 

Fresh Faces

On a day where the Giants said goodbye to LaMonte Wade Jr. and looked to inject life into a struggling offense, it was the same result the first time two new players stepped to the plate. Both Dominic Smith and Daniel Johnson struck out in the bottom of the second inning. But Smith followed his disappointing debut at-bat with the Giants by flashing some leather to start the top half of the next inning. 

Padres designated hitter Luis Arraez worked an 11-pitch at-bat to lead off the second inning, and looked to continue extending his battle with Harrison. Smith had other plans. The left-hander made an incredible diving back-handed snag down the first-base line.

Dom Smith makes a nice play in his Giants debut 🙌pic.twitter.com/1usbHfwbVw

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025

Smith grounded out softly to third baseman Manny Machado his next time up, though Johnson had much better luck his second crack at starting pitcher Nick Pivetta. Johnson started his own little two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth when he singled to center field, stole second base and then scored on a Patrick Bailey double to right field.

Johnson again singled up the middle to center field in the bottom of the seventh, this time knocking Pivetta out of the game. He finished the night 2-for-4, and Smith was hitless in four at-bats. Both showed out defensively as Johnson tracked down a big-time catch in the right-center gap to preserve the Giants’ lead in the ninth inning.

No triples allowed by Daniel Johnson 🚫 pic.twitter.com/w0dPDBVyb3

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025

Bats Wake Up

Through the first four innings, it looked like the Giants’ offense would continue to be stuck in the mud. Bailey’s double got the ball rolling, and just like that, the Giants remembered what it was like seeing runs scored for their side. 

With one swing, the Giants’ deficit was cut in half in the bottom of the sixth inning. Matt Chapman sent a two-run blast to left field that just barely cleared the fence to make it a 5-3 game. Every inch counts. 

Chappy's homer cuts the deficit in half 💥 pic.twitter.com/gK7REPBqoU

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025

The Giants’ first two batters in their lineup, Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee, then did something that has seemed impossible as of late. Ramos’ bases-loaded double off the left-field wall in the seventh inning scored two runs to make it a 5-5 game, hyping the Giants and every fan at the ballpark. Lee followed Ramos by hitting a sacrifice fly to center field, giving the Giants the lead and their most runs in nearly three weeks. 

HELIOT TIES IT UP 🤩 pic.twitter.com/jkYyXnskh5

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025

Jung Hoo Lee puts the Giants in front 💪 pic.twitter.com/9zn2nWtGFu

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025

As a team, the Giants went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and Lee and Johnson each enjoyed a multi-hit game in the win.

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New York Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury is once again open for business. 

During the beginning of the 2024-25 season, Drury was not happy with the way the Rangers were playing, so he sent out a league-wide memo indicating his desire to shake up the roster and make trades. 

Ultimately, the Rangers missed the playoffs and now major change could very well be on the horizon. 

“The Rangers are considering an awful lot of things,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said. “Like after the season they had last year, there are very few things that are off the table. Chris Drury has got a lot out there and he basically wants to know if you want to talk to them about something, just reach out because he’s gotta know everything that's on the table for him.”

Over the course of the 2024-25 campaign, Drury traded away multiple players including Jacob Trouba, Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, Ryan Lindgren, and Jimmy Vesey. 

Drury already made a big move to start the offseason by firing Peter Laviolette and hiring Mike Sullivan to be the Rangers’ head coach. 

There are a ton of questions when it comes to how the Rangers’ roster is currently constructed and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if Drury continued his pursuit of completely re-shaping the team’s core.

Posey's first roster shakeup sends message to Giants' slumping lineup originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — When LaMonte Wade Jr. made his Giants debut in 2021, Buster Posey was in the dugout. Posey was there for all of the late-game heroics that year, and when Wade won the Willie Mac Award in September, he joined other past winners for the on-field ceremony. Posey considers the two friends, which made their short meeting late Tuesday night a difficult one. 

With Dominic Smith on the way, the Giants parted ways with Wade, a breakout star four seasons ago, but one of the worst everyday players in the big leagues this season. But they didn’t stop there. 

Catcher Andrew Knizner, a 30-year-old who was picked up late last month and had just eight games with Triple-A, also was added, taking the spot of Sam Huff, who was DFA’d along with Wade. Outfielder Daniel Johnson was in Mexico at the start of the season. On Wednesday, he swapped roster spots with infielder Christian Koss and started in right field over slumping veteran Mike Yastrzemski.

The Wade move alone would have felt significant given his time with the organization, but this was more than that. It felt like a message being sent by a front office that knows this pitching staff is good enough to reach the MLB playoffs and make some noise there if the offense can just make the modest jump from two to four runs per game. 

“It’s been a rough go the last two and a half weeks,” Posey said Wednesday in an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area. “I hope that for however long I end up doing this, I hope it’s never easy to have to tell players that you’re taking a job away from them — whether it’s optioning them or not — it’s not an enjoyable thing to do. But the way we’re going right now, we’ve got to change some things up. We’ve got to hopefully get some different looks from some different hitters and get this thing going.”

As Posey sat in the dugout Wednesday afternoon, he talked of how the only experience he can personally rely on is his time as a player. But he also leans on former Giants general managers Brian Sabean and Bobby Evans, the latter of whom is back with the organization. Current general manager Zack Minasian was part of plenty of roster flurries the last few seasons. 

Farhan Zaidi seemingly would put out a press release like this once a month. But this is new to Posey. He can no longer control a slump with his bat or a few pointed words in a hitters’ meeting. Now, it’s with the transaction wire, which was busy Wednesday after three weeks of historically poor production. 

“For me, the easy thing to point to is early in the year it felt like were doing a really good job of moving runners when we needed to. We were hitting and scoring runs with runners in scoring position, popping a homer here and there,” Posey said. “[Now], it’s a little bit of everything. I’ve been on teams where the offense has struggled. Sometimes it’s one game and you get going, a couple of games when you get going, and we’re talking about how good the offense is in three weeks. I hope next time time I talk to you, that’s what we’re talking about.”

That spark has been missing for weeks, which led to moves that sent a message, and not just to a fan base that has grown appropriately disgruntled. This is a message to the team’s core players, too. Had any of them come through more often in recent weeks, Wednesday’s series of moves might not have gone down the same way. Koss and Huff haven’t jumped off the page, but they seemed to get caught up in a push to make big changes. 

For Wade, this day has been telegraphed for several weeks. He had two rough months, but it goes deeper than that. Since the start of the second half in 2024, he is hitting .188 with just six homers. The Giants would have needed to make a move there even if Smith had not come available over the weekend, although Posey said he wasn’t quite sure what that would have looked like. 

“It’s hard to say. There might have been something else that we were looking at at that point,” he said. “There might have been more at-bats for [Casey] Schmitt or [Jerar] Encarnacion or [Wilmer] Flores, but it’s hard to say.”

Posey is hopeful that Wade gets an opportunity elsewhere, and he will. There’s a lot at stake for the 31-year-old who is about to hit free agency for the first time, but he’s healthy and teams are always looking for change-of-scenery candidates this time of year. The Giants have one of their own now, and on Wednesday, Dominic Smith went right into the lineup at first base, hitting fifth, one spot ahead of slumping shortstop Willy Adames. 

The Giants never imagined being at this point, but there’s also a silver lining as they look forward. They made the moves at a time when they’re just half a game out of a playoff spot, nearly entirely thanks to what might be the deepest pitching staff in baseball. The pitching Posey has seen in recent weeks called for urgency, and on Wednesday, the shakeup finally arrived. It wasn’t hard to view that as a message to the other half of the clubhouse.

“It’s time to go,” Posey said. “I think we all believe we’re better than we’ve been with the bats the last two to three weeks. It’s time to go.”

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How DFA'ing Wade, other roster moves impact Giants moving forward originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Waiting wasn’t an option. The Giants shook up their roster Wednesday ahead of their game against the San Diego Padres, highlighted by designating first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment, and new faces immediately were slotted into manager Bob Melvin’s lineup. 

“We’re building a new group and we’re trying to change things up a little bit,” Melvin said. “Giving it a little different look is important.” 

The Giants’ plethora of roster moves included DFA’ing Wade and catcher Sam Huff, as well as optioning infielder Christian Koss to Triple-A Sacramento. To fill their spots, the Giants signed veteran first baseman/left fielder Dominic Smith to a one-year major league contract, while also selecting outfielder Daniel Johnson and catcher Andrew Knizner from Sacramento. Both Smith and Johnson are starting Wednesday night in their Giants debuts. 

Dominic Smith explains why he chose to sign with the Giants as a new free agent pic.twitter.com/oViK4eaUuj

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025

Smith is playing first base and batting fifth. Johnson will roam right field and bat seventh, and Knizner is expected to be the starting catcher Thursday to conclude a four-game series with San Diego. 

Between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds, Smith had six home runs and a .691 OPS in 93 games last year. He’s yet to play in the big leagues this season, but had eight homers with a .782 OPS for the New York Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate in 45 games prior to his signing. 

Johnson has only played 32 major league games in his career, but had been impressing in Sacramento with five home runs and an .846 OPS.

Adding three players and dropping three will affect multiple players and positions, most notably first base. Smith, a left-handed hitter, is getting the first crack against right-handed starter Nick Pivetta. Smith for his career has shown much more power against righties and should see himself in a platoon situation more than anything else. He’s the Giants’ lone left-handed bat that has experience playing first base.

Melvin still has a handful of right-handed choices. Jerar Encarnación has the ability to play first base, but likely will see most of his action at DH and right field. Casey Schmitt also is an option there as well. Wilmer Flores already has played 60 of the Giants’ 61 games after playing 70 all of last year, and Melvin hopes to get him some more rest. 

“Just gives us a few more options depending on how guys are swinging at the time,” Melvin said. 

Notably, Johnson, a left-handed Vallejo native, is starting in right field and not Mike Yastrzemski. Melvin is going to give Yastrzemski some days off, and Johnson’s long experience playing center field could even spell a breather here and there for Jung Hoo Lee.

“All in all, a little bit more versatility and flexibility, move guys around a little bit and also give some guys some days off who have had extreme workloads,” Melvin said. 

The Giants’ offense has been historically bad as of late, and the team has lost the first two games in their series with San Diego. They’re searching for any kind of spark, and their decision to drop Wade and others will affect plenty of players and positions.

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