Category: Baseball

The St. Louis Cardinals began rivalry weekend welcoming the Kansas City Royals to town and Jordan Walker was on the welcoming committee hitting his 13th home run leading St. Louis to a game 1 win in the I-70 series, but it would take more than 9 innings to do it.

The first three innings of the game were a pitchers duel of sorts with both Dustin May and Michael Wacha not allowing a run until the 4th inning. The Royals struck first, but they received some assists from Dustin May as he walked Pasquantino. Salvador Perez followed that with a single before Carter Jensen doubled scoring Pasquantino giving Kansas City a 1-0 lead. May then walked Jac Caglianone. Collins sacrifice fly scored Perez doubling the Royals lead to 2-0.

The St. Louis Cardinals would immediately even the game in the bottom of the 4th inning after it was ruled that Ivan Herrera was hit by a pitch even though replay showed the ball glanced off the catcher’s glove and not his helmet. The Royals did not challenge which was a 2-run mistake because of what Jordan Walker would do with an 0-2 pitch from Michael Wacha.

Pedro Pagés gave the Cardinals the lead in the bottom of the 5th inning with his solo blast to Freese’s Landing in center field making it 3-2 St. Louis.

Dustin May would start the 6th inning with the lead, but not finish that way as he would again walk Pasquantino to start the inning. May would get Perez to fly out to right, but the Royals would load the bases on singles by Jensen and Caglianone. A Collins ground out to Alec Burleson at first base would score the tying run when Alec’s throw to the plate was too late to get Pasquantino making it 3-3. Dustin May’s final stat line for the night would be 6 innings allowing just 4 hits, but 3 earned runs with 3 strikeouts and 4 walks.

George Soriano and JoJo Romero would pitch around a Bobby Witt Jr. single in the top of the 7th inning keeping the Royals off the board. St. Louis would get off to a flying start in the bottom of the 7th inning as Masyn Winn rifled a double down the left field line. Nathan Church was unsuccessful getting down a bunt to move Winn over to third and then Pagés struck out. Manager Oli Marmol asked Jose Fermin to come off the bench as a pinch hitter with two outs in place of Victor Scott II. He would draw a walk bringing up JJ Wetherholt who was 0-3 up until that point of the game. He would unfortunately softly ground into a force out to end the inning squandering Winn’s leadoff double.

JoJo Romero would also handle the top of the 8th inning with the only wart being a two-out walk to Lane Thomas, but he would not score sending the game into the bottom of the 8th tied 3-3. St. Louis would threaten again in the bottom of the 8th when Herrera and Burleson both singled, but Jordan Walker would hit into bad luck grounding a ball that the Royals third baseman Garcia could grab, step on the base and fire across the diamond for a double play. The Royals then made the curious choice to walk Nolan Gorman bringing up Masyn Winn for a righty-on-righty matchup. Fortunately (for the Royals), that worked out as Winn struck out moving the game into the 9th inning tied.

The Cardinals brought in Riley O’Brien to keep the Royals at bay in the top of the 9th inning. After Massey grounded out to Alec Burleson, Isbel hit a bloop single to center. That brought up the top of the Royals order, but Garcia politely hit into a double play to end the top of the 9th.

Nathan Church led off the bottom of the 9th inning hoping to redeem himself for a missed sacrifice bunt opportunity earlier. He would do that by poking a single into short left-center field. Nathan Church was then gifted a stolen base as Perez throw to second beat him easily, but the ball was dropped during the tag. After Pedro Pagés struck out thanks to a perceptive ABS challenge by Perez. Reliever Strahm gave Jose Fermin nothing to hit walking him on 5 pitches. That brought up JJ Wetherholt. He hit a sac fly to deep left center advancing Church to third base. With Herrera up next, the Royals brought in John Schreiber to try and send the game to extras. Ivan Herrera came within inches of sending the Cardinals home a winner as he hit a screaming line drive to right-center, but Isbel made an incredible catch to save the game.

Ryne Stanek was brought in for the top of the 10th inning. He promptly gave up a double to Bobby Witt Jr. scoring designated runner Garcia giving the Royals a 4-3 lead. It could have been worse as Nathan Church made a great diving stop keeping Witt Jr’s ball from going to the wall. Stanek get Pasquantino to pop out and struck out Perez. The Cardinals chose to eventually intentionally walk Jensen bringing up former Cardinal Lane Thomas who also struck out holding the Royals to just that one run.

The Cardinals hopes in the bottom of the 10th inning would rest in the hands of Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman. Designated runner Thomas Saggese would score on the first pitch to Alec Burleson as he immediately ripped a single to right evening the score to 4-4.

Jordan Walker entered the batter’s box with chants of “MVP!” from the crowd. That may eventually prove true, but Jordan unfortunately struck out on a disappearing slider. Nolan Gorman wasted no time crushing a single to right field advancing Burleson to third base with the potential winning run. Masyn Winn struck out for the second out leaving Nathan Church with the hero opportunity. He was only able to muster a weak flyball to right-center ending the 10th inning.

Gordon Graceffo was tasked with top of the 11th inning. He walked Collins on 4 pitches. Massey then gave two examples of how not to bunt before flying out to Fermin in right field, but designated runner Lane Thomas decided not to advance to third. Perhaps he still has some Cardinals tendencies after all. Isbel then grounded out to Alec Burleson, but it wasn’t hit hard enough for a double play, but did give the Cardinals out number two. That brought up Garcia who was hitless in 5 previous at-bats on the night. He would go hitless in the 6th at-bat, too, grounding out to Gorman to end the top of the 11th inning.

The Cardinals had speedster Nathan Church as their designated runner in the bottom of the 11th inning and he was bunted over to third base by Pedro Pagés. Unfortunately, Fermin’s ground out to 2nd base wasn’t enough for Church to score. The Royals chose to intentionally walk JJ Wetherholt which would have brought up Thomas Saggese, but pinch-hit superstar Yohel Pozo was sent to the plate instead. He did what Yohel Pozo often does and walked off the game with a single into right field giving St. Louis a 5-4 victory.

The I-70 series continues Saturday as it’s game 2 of the St. Louis Cardinals playing host for the Kansas City Royals. Kyle Leahy (4-3, 4.31 PCL, 32 SO) will start the Saturday afternoon affair for the Cardinals while Noah Cameron (2-2, 5.55 PCL, 32 SO) will begin the game for the Royals. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15pm at Busch Stadium and the broadcast will be handled by Cardinals.tv.

What’s that viral quote referenced in Ted Lasso time and time again? “It’s the hope that kills you?” Unfortunately, White Sox fans know that all too well, although even hope has been hard to come by in recent years. In those recent years, the moment the White Sox fell behind the game was virtually over. There was no fight from the team, and it was nothing but sadness all season.

We’re still only midway through the month of May, but it’s clear that this White Sox team has plenty of fight in them and won’t go down easily. Unfortunately, it’s the hope for rallies that makes the pending collapses that much harder to watch. It’s only one game in a long season, but all the immaculate vibes leading into this first Crosstown Classic series fell apart in just a few bad innings late in the game, as the White Sox fell to the Cubs, 10-5. It’s certainly not the end of the world, but boy does it feel like it when you lose to a team as universally hated as pineapple on pizza.

The story coming into this game was what we’d see out of Sean Burke and Edward Cabrera. Both have struggled as of late, but have been solid enough this season. White Sox starter Burke blinked first when after getting two quick outs in the first inning he gave up a single, threw a wild pitch that allowed Alex Bregman to advance, and then gave up an RBI single to Ian Happ.

Luckily, Burke got out of the inning without any more damage and it was Cabrera’s turn to take the mound. The Cubs starter held serve in the first inning but faltered as well to start the second, when a hanging changeup was taken out by Colson Montgomery to tie the game up at one apiece.

Both pitchers battled fairly well for the next inning or two until the Cubs brought back their dark magic, sorcery that has allowed a team that has barely scored more runs than the Minnesota Twins to somehow find themselves atop the NL Central.

The Cubbies put together three singles, two coming on decent pitches outside of the strike zone, to take the lead. Fortunately, with runners on the corners Pete Crow-Armstrong decided to lay down a bunt that would’ve been poor from a Little Leaguer. Moisés Ballesteros accepted his fate awaiting for him at home and Burke got out of the inning:

The close game wouldn’t remain close much longer, as Burke just didn’t have it. With the vibes getting too fast and too furious, he looked more like a willing batting practice pitcher in a fifth inning that saw the deficit ballon to three runs.

Luckily, Cabrera pulled his best little brother act after watching Burke struggle and said, “anything you can do, I can do better” by promptly walking three batters and allowing a double to Drew Romo that resulted in the White Sox cutting the deficit to 4-3.

Craig Counsell brought back flashes of his management from his Brewers days and made the wrong decision by selecting Ryan Rolison to try to stem the damage. While he got out of the fifth, he unraveled quickly and the game was tied by a Miguel Vargas homer in the sixth. After that, the Good Guys had multiple chances in scoring position and the fans were getting behind the team, but the hope would fade away quickly.

Bryan Hudson stepped up to the mound with the White Sox looking like they had of all the momentum. Unfortunately that age-old quote came back again. Hudson looked lost for the first time all season, allowing two huge runs to cross the plate, and the Cubs never looked back. They would tack on even more runs in the eighth against the tackling dummy that is Jordan Hicks and the scoreline flattered the visitors in a game that got out of hand in a hurry. There weren’t enough innings left for the White Sox to come back, as they fell 10-5 to the hated northern neighbors.

The hope may be what kills you, but with two games left in the series and the White Sox still at .500, hope is still very much alive.

Game Summary

The Diamondbacks kicked the weekend off right with a big win in Denver. The headline from this one is all about Merrill Kelly and his first career Complete Game. Merrill finally had a good start against the Mets last weekend and he followed it up with quite probably the best start of his career: 9IP, 1 R, 4H and 0 BB.

It’s possible being staked to a 6-run lead before he even reached the mound helped him relax and flow through the game, but, big lead or not, Merrill was dominant in the most Merrill of ways. He wasn’t overpowering, finishing with only 3 Ks and 7 total whiffs, but he pounded the strike zone, getting first pitch strikes in 23/31 plate appearances and had an overall Strike% of 73% which is just about as high as you’ll see anyone get (73% would rank in the top 3% or so of all appearances this season with at least 50 pitches thrown per my BaseballSavant search).

That’s not to say there wasn’t hard contact against Kelly. The Rockies had 10 balls in play classified as Hard Hit, but only 3 resulted in hits. Some of that was good positioning/luck, but there were several good plays by Diamondback defenders that kept Kelly cruising along turbulence free. One of the nicer plays was by Tim Tawa in the 9th inning. As the old baseball maxim goes “the ball will find you” and Tawa was tested right away after being inserted as a pinch runner and defensive replacement for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Leading off the 9th inning, Edouard Julien cracked a line drive toward the left-center wall and Tim Tawa raced over and made a perfectly timed reach above his head before he sprinted into the wall for the critical first out of the inning. If that play wasn’t made, I doubt Kelly finishes the game. Merrill was also quick to credit his defense in the postgame interview. Our defense hasn’t been nails 100% of the time this season, but they have been pretty good most nights and this contest was a nice payoff for the guys behind the pitcher to help their guy go long.

Now, in a game where you score 9 runs, it seems weird to talk about the offense last, but writing about tonight’s offensive outburst was definitely worth the wait. The Diamondbacks scored 9 runs tonight, the first time they’ve scored more than 5 since they scored 9 runs against the Pirates on Cinco de Mayo. In fact, since scoring better than 5 runs 9 different times in their first 21 games, they’ve only scored more than 5 runs 4 times in their last 21 games. The bats have been scuffling, but perhaps a trip to this park, against this pitcher, is exactly what the doctor ordered to snap the offense out of it’s slump.

Kyle Freeland was the Rockies starter tonight and he’s had a bit of a rough go of it recently, and the Diamondbacks have usually fared pretty well against him, too. After a rare first inning challenge overturning a Corbin Carroll Caught Stealing 3rd to a Stolen Base with 2 outs, the Snakes had the next 6 reach and brought home a total of 6 runs in the inning. The telecast noted it was the first time this season that the Diamondbacks had scored 3 or more runs in the first inning this season, which by itself is kind of remarkable. The fact that the offense put up 9 runs in Coors without a homer is also fairly remarkable. The high mark for a road team without a homer in 2026 coming into tonight was 6 runs, and in 2025 only once did a team score at least 9 runs without a homer at Coors. The Diamondbacks were taking their walks and putting the ball in play (5:5 K:BB) and the balls in play were actually falling in for hits instead heading right at defenders gloves. Gold stars for offense go out to Nolan Arenado with 4 BB on the night, Ildemaro going 4/5 (and having a fifth hit taken away on a good defensive play) and Gabi driving in 3 runs. You can’t say the offense is fixed after putting up a crooked number in Colorado, but it felt great to finally see the boys running around the bases again.

Win Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• Ildemaro Vargas’ RBI single in the first was a rocket back up the box that made the pitcher duck and cover. I would be terrified of that kind of play if I was a pitcher and don’t blame anyone who hits the deck instead of trying to make a play on the ball. 
• The Diamondbacks scored six runs in the first inning and all six scored with 2 outs in the inning. What a fun rally to start off the game!
• Jose Fernandez double during the first inning rally was a hustle double which was great to see from the kid. The ball was softly hit into the right center gap and Fernandez utilized his awesome speed to slide into second safely even though the ball was fielded at medium depth. That’s normally Corbin Carroll hustle double territory, nice to see another player putting that sort of pressure on defenses!
• Merrill Kelly had recorded 2 outs, only thrown 7 pitches and was ahead in a 1-2 count when he threw a changeup that got turned around and sent screaming into the first few rows of the left field bleachers for a solo HR. The trajectory of the hit looked like it never got much higher than the wall, but when a ball is hit at 111 mph, it doesn’t need to get very high to get out. 
• Nolan Arenado was thrown out for the final out in the second inning trying to score from first on an Ildemaro Vargas double down the left field line. Looked like a bad send by our third base coach JR House. Replay showed the Go sign going up when the ball was fielded in the corner and Arenado not quite at third. An excellent relay throw beat Arenado by about 10 yards.
• I haven’t written much about Merrill Kelly thus far, probably because he’s cruising through extremely efficiently. He made it through 6 innings with only 3 hits and 0 walks and needed only 64 pitches to do it!
• The first batter after Tim Tawa came on as a pinch runner and defensive replacement for LGJ in left field drilled a line drive toward the wall in left field and Timmy made a fantastic running grab while reaching above his head just before he hit the wall.

Comment of the Game

The GameDay Thread was fairly sparse for a Friday night with a final tally of 256 comments at time of publishing. Comment of the Game tonight is awarded to AZNailgal520 for her appreciation of former Snake favorite Jake McCarthy:

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Rockies for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow evening with a 12:10pm first pitch Arizona time. Righthander Tomoyuki Sugano (3-3, 4.07 ERA) will take the mound for Colorado and our favorite hologram, Eduardo Rodriguez (4-0, 2.25 ERA), takes the ball for the good guys looking to continue his streak as the Snakes unequivocal best starting pitcher.

Heroes, zeros and the inside pitch from the Yankees’ 5-2 win over the Mets on Friday night in the Subway Series in Queens:

Hero

Cam Schlittler’s Subway Series debut was impressive — as has just about everything else the right-hander has done since being called up last season.

He gave up just one run in 6 ²/₃ innings, struck out nine and threw a season-high 106 pitches.

Zero

The Mets offense, arguably the worst in the majors, came up empty against Schlittler — outside of Juan Soto’s homer to left-center in the seventh inning.

Prior to that blast, they had just one hit on the night.

Unsung hero

Ben Rice hit his 14th homer of the year in the ninth, but it was his two-out single in the third that got the Yankees’ three-run rally started against Clay Holmes.

Key stat

111: The exit velocity on Spencer Jones’ comebacker that hit Clay Holmes and fractured the right-hander’s leg.

Holmes hadn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his eight starts prior to Friday, when he gave up four in just 4 ⅓ innings.

Quote

“He’s gonna be down a long time.”

– Carlos Mendoza on Holmes’ absence after suffering a leg fracture.

Following the Mets’ loss to the Yankees tonight, Carlos Mendoza announced that Clay Holmes, who started the game, has a fractured fibula and will be out for a long time. Holmes had taken a line drive to his leg during his start.

Having converted to working at a starter after signing with the Mets ahead of the 2025 season, Holmes has been a success story in his time with the team. While he struggled to go deep into games in the second half last year, he threw 165.2 innings and had a 3.53 ERA in his first year as a starter after working as a reliever for virtually the entirety of his big league career before then.

Holmes really looked the part of a starting pitcher in the early going this season, which makes the injury sting that much more. In nine starts, Holmes has thrown 52.2 innings, and he has a 2.39 ERA and a 3.22 FIP. Two of those starts saw him complete seven innings, a relative rarity in the sport at this time.

Cam Schlittler is really good at pitching a baseball. The young Yankees standout yet again refused to blink as he continued his domination of the major leagues in his sophomore season. Facing former Yankees closer Clay Holmes to open the 2026 edition of the Subway Series, Schlittler again gave the Yankees a solid performance. That gem, along with a three-run third inning, helped set the tone in Queens for a 5-2 victory in favor of the Bronx visitors.

The Yankees hitters seemed unimpressed with Holmes’ streak of allowing two earned runs or fewer in every start this season as that streak came to an end with two outs in the third inning. That was when the Yankees suddenly began lacing the ball to right field.

Ben Rice started the rally with a single before Aaron Judge followed with one of his own. Cody Bellinger then ripped a double into right field to drive in the Yankees’ first run, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with another double to make it 3-0, Bombers.

The Yankees threatened again in the fourth inning, but Holmes was able to escape without further damage. In the home half of the frame, Schlittler struck out Juan Soto before making an incredible play off the mound to end the inning. The web gem is one Yankees fans will likely be seeing on highlight reels for the rest of the season.

Soto also appeared to tweak his back during his second strikeout of the night, briefly causing concern for the Mets. He ultimately remained in the game, though carrying the weight of an entire organization on your shoulders can apparently be a painful experience.

Holmes failed to make it through five innings for the first time this season after issuing a walk to Chisholm in the fifth inning. That free pass ultimately ended the righty’s night after 4.1 innings of work. It was a painful day for Holmes in multiple ways, as an earlier 111.1-mph smash by Spencer Jones fractured Holmes’ fibula, and while he had initially seemed OK to stay in the game, the postgame X-rays revealed bad news for the Mets.

Jones greeted Mets reliever Austin Warren, ripping a hard-hit line drive into right-center field to plate Chisholm and give the Yankees their fourth run charged to the former Yankees closer. Holmes’ final line included four earned runs, on seven hits, with two walks, and eight strikeouts. For a Yankees lineup searching for more consistent production, getting to a tough customer was a good way to start the series.

Soto finally got his team on the board in the seventh inning with a solo home run to right field. Shortly after the blast, Schlittler had another comebacker scorched directly toward his feet. It marked the second time during the game that Schlittler had been hit by a sharply struck ball after also taking one off his leg during his previous outing in Milwaukee.

Schlittler would not be able to close out the seventh inning after his pitch count eclipsed 100 and a walk to Brett Baty ended his night after 6.2 innings of one-run ball. The rookie right-hander finished his outing with nine strikeouts and just two walks in another strong performance.

Aaron Boone then turned to Fernando Cruz. An infield single suddenly brought the tying run to the plate and a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position and quickly raised the tension level in Queens. Cruz ultimately settled down and got rookie A.J. Ewing to fly out, ending the threat and preserving the Yankees’ lead.

Rice helped the Yankees grab the run back in the top of the ninth inning. The already-likely All-Star launched his 14th home run of the season off Craig Kimbrel, extending the Yankees’ lead to 5-1 and giving the bullpen a little extra breathing room heading to the bottom of the frame.

The Yankees handed the four run lead over to closer David Bednar in a non-save situation. Bednar would walk Soto and then quickly erase him with a double play ball. Bednar didn’t exactly cruise from there though. After a single and a defensive interference call, Baty drove in MJ Melendez to make it 5-2. That, however, was the final score, as Bednar successfully slammed the door.

Schlittler was as good as advertised and the Mets continued to struggle. The Yankees will look to take game two tomorrow as Carlos Rodón makes his second start of the season against a Met yet to be named (likely an opener). First pitch is scheduled for 7:15pm ET in another national broadcast, this time on Fox.

Box Score

Apparently no one is safe on the Mets roster. 

Clay Holmes, one of the few bright spots in an ugly Mets season, was drilled by a Spencer Jones comebacker in the top of the fourth Friday and suffered a fractured right fibula that will sideline him indefinitely. 

Manager Carlos Mendoza said Holmes would be “down for a long time.” 

The play happened when Jones led off the top of the fourth. 

Holmes finished the inning and got an out in the fifth before being removed in a 5-2 loss at Citi Field. 

“It’s a huge blow,’’ Mendoza said. “He’s been one of the most consistent guys we have in that rotation. It’s a big blow.” 

To Mendoza’s point, Friday was the first time Holmes allowed more than two runs in his nine starts this season. 

The rotation has already been impacted by the loss of Kodai Senga to lumbar spine inflammation, as well as ineffectiveness by left-handers David Peterson —who has been pitching in a bulk role — and Sean Manaea, who’s in the bullpen. 

Notified of Holmes’ injury, Jones expressed shock. 

“I didn’t know that,’’ Jones said. “I’m sorry. He’s a friend of mine.” 

Jones said the two work out at the same gym in Nashville, Tenn., during the offseason. 

“It’s tough to hear,’’ Jones said. 

Without Holmes, the Mets will need another arm. 

Jonah Tong has struggled with Triple-A Syracuse, with a 5.68 ERA in nine starts and he allowed seven runs- six earned- in just 1 ²/₃ innings in his last outing. 

Right-hander Jack Wenninger, 24, has been the best pitcher for Syracuse, with a 1.08 ERA in seven starts this season. He hasn’t given up a run in any of his previous three starts. 

Whomever the Mets call upon, they’ll unlikely be able to fill Holmes’ shoes. 

In his second season as a starting pitcher after pitching in the Yankees bullpen, Holmes was a candidate for the All-Star Game, with a 1.86 ERA in his first eight starts this year. 

But that all changed with the Jones comebacker. 

“It’s really sad,’’ Juan Soto said of Holmes’ injury. “It’s part of the game. We’re gonna support him. It just sucks. .. We have to keep our heads up and keep moving forward. We’re gonna miss Clay.” 

They’ve already missed Soto due to a strained calf and are still missing Francisco Lindor, who also suffered a calf strain. 

Key offseason additions Luis Robert Jr. and Jorge Polanco, off to bad starts in Queens, are also on the IL with no expectation they’ll be back soon. 

The lineup has been revived by rookies Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, but a Mets team that was already rattled by injuries and underperformance will now be without their top pitcher for the foreseeable future in what’s already been a long season at Citi Field.

No major league player has ever woken up on Lagwagon Day with 20 home runs to his name on the season…until tomorrow.

Kyle Schwarber continued his torrid power pace with two more homers to aid in the comeback victory as the Philadelphia Phillies (22-23) defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates (24-21) by a score of 11-9 in their weekend series opener.

After trailing most of the game, the Phillies brought seven men to the plate in the 10th inning and cemented their biggest win of the season.

Schwarber beat Albert Pujols record of 19 home runs by May 15th and also became the fourth fastest to 20 homers in his team’s first 45 games, behind ‘94 Ken Griffey, Jr., ‘06 Pujols, and ‘01 Barry Bonds. He was one game behind the franchise record set by Cy Williams in 44 games in 1923.

The Phillies came back from down six runs to take a game to extra innings for the second time in a week and finished the job this time after a heartbreaker against the Colorado Rockies last Friday night.

Aaron Nola agonized through the bottom of the third inning in which he allowed all six of his earned runs against on the night, allowing fives hit and a walk including two separate two-run homers to Brandon Lowe and Marcell Ozuna.

The Phillies began to chip away in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Bryson Stott that scored Bryce Harper who reached on a single, the second of his four hits on the night.

In the top of the fifth, Pirates’ starter, Braxton Ashcraft, hit Garrett Stubbs with a pitch and Schwarber hit his 19th home run of the season to cut the Pirates’ lead in half.

Lowe hit his second home run of the game to lead off the bottom of the fifth against Tim Mayza to make it 7-3.

The Pirates would pad the lead again in the bottom of the sixth via a leadoff single by Spencer Horwitz, who stole second and came all the way around to score on a pair of errors by Stubbs and Alec Bohm.

Schwarber’s record-setting 20th dinger came against Pirates’ reliever, Mason Montgomery, in the top of the seventh, a two-run blast that cut the deficit to three.

Former Phillie, Gregory Soto, came in for the save opportunity in the top of the ninth. Edmundo Sosa reached base safely to lead off the inning on a bobble error by Pirates’ phenom, Konnor Griffin, and Soto walked Adolis Garcia and allowed a single to Turner to load the bases for Schwarber with one out. The Pirates clearly did not want Schwarber to beat them deep a third time and unintentionally walked in a run. Four pitches later, Harper tied the game with a two-RBI single (it was a double) off the wall.

Jose Alvarado held the line in the bottom of the ninth, allowing one hit and striking out three.

Brandon Marsh broke the tie with a leadoff double to score Bohm and Rafael Marchan doubled his season RBI total with a two-run single to blow it open.

Orion Kerkering recorded his first save of the season, allowing one walk and a run scored.

Cristopher Sanchez will try to get his squad back to .500 for the first time since April 13th when he faces off against Bubba Chandler in the middle game of the series tomorrow afternoon.

Mets starter Clay Holmes broke his leg in Friday's game against the Yankees, fracturing his fibula, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters after the team's 5-2 loss.

The injury occurred in the fourth inning when Spencer Jones hit a liner up the middle that deflected off Holmes' leg. Holmes was shaken up and looked at by team trainers, but continued his outing and finished the inning. The right-hander then came out for the fifth inning and recorded one out before walking Jazz Chisholm Jr., which ended his outing.

"He's going to be down for a long time," Mendoza said after the game.

The skipper also called the injury a "huge blow" for New York, which had been leaning on Holmes this season. The right-hander has a 2.39 ERA in nine starts this season after allowing four earned runs in 4.1 innings against the Yanks in Friday's series opener.

After the liner by Jones, nothing looked amiss for Holmes, but after his last pitch of the night, he said something didn't feel right, per Mendoza.

Well. Frustrating night for Cleveland sports. Let’s start with the pitching.

Bibee was fine. 6.2 innings of 3-run ball should be more than enough for a decent offense to rally behind. In fact, it very well would have been. It wasn’t the prettiest 3-run start, but it was one nonetheless. Let’s talk bullpen.

Matt Festa was the first man out of the ‘pen… again. I have no idea why Vogt treats Festa like a lockdown reliever. He is a fine middle reliever, but has no business routinely coming out of the bullpen with runners on in a close game. Both his ERA and FIP are just shy of 5. That is not a reliever that should be coming on in leverage. Especially not when it’s in the 7th inning.

Payton Pallette. I was really hopeful about him early on in the season, but I think the experiment should be over soon. His K-BB% was a measly 8% coming into tonight. A good reliever will sit around a 20ish K-BB%. (For reference, Cade Smith’s is 30, Matt Festa’s is ~17). Pallette’s outing cost the Guardians the game, giving up 3 runs in his lone inning of work. In the ninth, Vogt brought in Hoosier Herrin. Another questionable choice because, despite the surface-level results from Herrin this year, he has not been great. He’s walked more batters than he has struckout (very bad), and owns a FIP a full 3 runs higher than his ERA. He gave up a leadoff double that eventually scored, putting the Reds up 2.

I’m not sure why Vogt went to Festa, Pallette, and Herrin in a tight game, but that was the difference between a come-from-behind victory in honor of the 2016 Pennant-winning team and a (perhaps more fitting) come-from-behind-but-fall-just-short loss. Yes, I know we can’t pitch our only two (reliably) good relievers every night. But, you have two very fun relievers who could very well pitch successfully in leverage in the minors. No reason for Walters and Aleman to not be in Cleveland. Regardless, let’s move to the offense!

The offense was fine tonight. I’m not going to be overly critical of any offensive effort that results in 5+ runs. 2 of their 6 runs came via RBI walk. 1 came via an extremely impressive hustle play from Bazzana to score on a shallow flyout from Jose. 1 came from a ball that Hoskins absolutely demolished into the porch in left.

The other two came from a Bazzana RBI single —

— and an Angel Martinez RBI groundout. After Pallette’s 3-run outing in the top of the 8th, the Guardians rallied to score 4 in the bottom of the 8th, bringing the game within a run. After Herrin pitched, the deficit was 2. Hoskins popped up a sweeper down the middle, but then Manzardo laced a triple into center which CF Dane Myers couldn’t quite corral, leading to a rare Manzardo triple. Martinez drove him in with a groundout, and then Bazzana laced a ball through the right side that 2B Matt McClain made an incredible play on to end the game.

That’s all. It’ll be Gavin vs. Chris Paddack tomorrow. $10 to anyone who knew (no cheating) that Paddack was a Cincinnati Red.

The Mets fell to the Yankees 5-2 in the opening game of this Subway Series at Citi Field. On a night when young flamethrower Cam Schlittler was facing off against the Mets’ best pitcher through the first month and a half of the season in Clay Holmes, you knew it wouldn’t take much offense to give one team the edge and indeed it was one big inning from the Yankees that was the difference in tonight’s contest.

Holmes worked around a base runner in each of the first two innings to take a scoreless game into the third when the Yankees mounted a rally against him that was built entirely with two outs. Ben Rice and Aaron Judge got things started with back-to-back singles and then Cody Bellinger ripped a double to put the Yankees on the board. Jazz Chisolm Jr. followed with another double to plate two more runs and put the Yankees up 3-0.

Clay Holmes did a good job to keep the game from getting away by retiring Aaron Judge in a huge spot with the bases loaded in the fourth to end the inning, but the Yankees added a run in the following frame. With one out, Chisolm worked a walk and with Holmes’ pitch count rising, he was removed from the game in favor of Austin Warren. Warren got Ryan McMahon to ground out for the first out, but Chisolm advanced to second and was driven in on a Spencer Jones single that expanded the Yankees’ lead to 4-0.

That was all the run support Cam Schlittler would need, as he was dominant this evening, striking out nine Mets in 6 2/3 innings of work, as the Mets continue to struggle against velocity. The Mets’ best chance to come back came in the bottom of the seventh after Tobias Myers retired the Yankees in order in the top of the inning. Juan Soto, who had yet another nervy moment earlier in the game when he was seen holding his back and grimmacing on the way back to the dugout after a strikeout, was clearly okay because he launched a solo home run to left-center to lead off the inning and break up the shutout. Schlittler bounced back to retire the next two batters, but then Brett Baty worked out a walk to put Schlittler’s pitch count over 100 for the first time this season and chase him from the game. Fernando Cruz came in the game and Marcus Semien hit a slow grounder down the third base line that he beat out for an infield hit to bring the tying run to the plate for the Mets. A wild pitch by Cruz advanced the runners to second and third, but Cruz retired A.J. Ewing on a fly ball to right field to put an end to the rally and the inning.

Both Myers and Cruz came back out for a second inning of work and each pitched a scoreless eighth. The Yankees added an insurance run in the form of a Ben Rice solo homer off Craig Kimbrel in the top of the ninth inning. The Yankees were poised to possibly pile on even further, but after hitting a single, Jazz Chisolm was picked off first base to end the inning. Despite the fact that it was no longer a save situation, Yankees manager Aaron Boone still turned to his closer David Bednar to close things out. It wasn’t an easy inning for Bednar. Juan Soto walked to lead off the inning, but he was erased on a double play grounder by Mark Vientos. The Mets were down to their final strike twice, but MJ Melendez singled, took second on defensive indifference, and Brett Baty singled to drive him in. Marcus Semien also hit the ball hard, but it was right at third baseman Ryan McMahon to end the game and secure the victory for the Yankees in the opening bout of this season’s Subway Series.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Juan Soto, +5% WPA
Big Mets loser: Clay Holmes, -16% WPA
Mets pitchers: -18% WPA
Mets hitters: -32% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Soto’s solo homer in the seventh, +5.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jazz Chisolm Jr.’s RBI double in the third, -17.1% WPA

The Texas Rangers had one hit but the Houston Astros scored two runs.

If you thought perhaps the Rangers’ miraculous ninth inning comeback win on Wednesday evening would help them carry over some momentum to their first matchup against the Astros this season, well, how silly of you. Instead, tonight’s game nearly proved to be the culmination of the perpetual lurking threat that any night could be the night that the Rangers get no-hit.

Usually you have pitchers who you think “tonight could be the night” but the Rangers have a whole lineup. In fact, for a while there, the only thing Texas really made contact with was viral meningitis.

Indeed, someone named Spencer Spaghetti or whatever took a no-hitter into the top of the eighth before Justin Foscue rescued Texas from the indignity of a no-hitter with a one-out single. He was picked off first base moments later to end a rare rally as the Rangers were shut out in the first game of the 2026 edition of the Silver Boot series.

The threat, I fear, continues to lurk.

Player of the Game: Jack Leiter was an even harder luck loser than you usually see during a no-hit bid as he allowed just one run via an Isaac Paredes solo home into the quaint formerly-Minute Maid Park short porch in left field. Cole Winn labored through the bottom of the eighth before allowing Houston’s second run to all but put this one to bed.

Leiter made one mistake all night and it cost him. Otherwise he enjoyed one of his better outings of the season despite issuing a few more walks than he’d surely like. Overall Leiter went seven innings and allowed the run on three hits and three walks while striking out six.

Up Next: The Rangers will try to get a hit or more tomorrow with RHP Jacob deGrom set to pitch for Texas against RHP Kai-Wei Teng for Houston.

The Saturday evening first pitch from Daikin Park is scheduled for 6:10 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

Cam Schlittler can add Queens to his list of conquered locales. 

All it took for the Mets to revert to their pre-homestand form Friday was a visit from the Yankees ace, in his Subway Series debut, carrying the weight of the team’s weeklong downturn. 

The Mets barely touched him in a 5-2 loss at Citi Field that snapped their three-game winning streak. 

Only adding to the Mets’ angst: Clay Holmes sustained a broken right fibula on a 111-mph rocket off Spencer Jones’ bat leading off the fourth. Holmes remained in the game and pitched into the next inning, but now faces a long absence from the Mets rotation. 

“Every team is going to deal with adversity,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We have got to keep going.” 

Mendoza was noncommittal about who the Mets will use to fill Holmes’ rotation spot. Candidates could include Jack Wenninger, who has dominated at Triple-A Syracuse. 

Schlittler, in helping the Yankees win for only the second time in seven games, allowed one run — on a Juan Soto homer — departing after 6 ²/₃ innings in which he surrendered two hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. He threw a season-high 106 pitches and his ERA remained at 1.35. 

“You are going to be a little extra locked in for situations like this, so those don’t faze me and I know that doesn’t faze the guys around here,” Schlittler said. “It’s a lot of fun to be part of.” 

The Mets managed five hits on a night the Yankees received 2 ²/₃ solid innings in relief from Fernando Cruz and David Bednar. 

It was a comedown for the Mets after blasting a season-high five homers a day earlier to complete a three-game sweep of Detroit. The Mets scored 22 runs in the three games and appeared offensively on track after a deep slumber during their last road trip. 

Brett Baty singled with two outs in the second against Schlittler for the Mets’ only hit until Soto homered leading off the seventh. Schlittler had a fourth straight start allowing one run or less. 

Holmes lasted only 4 ¹/₃ innings and surrendered four earned runs on seven hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. He was checked by the Mets’ trainer after Jones’ 111-mph line drive hit his leg in the fourth, but he was in pain in the fifth. A subsequent X-ray revealed the fracture. 

“It’s really sad what happened to him,” Soto said. “It’s part of the game. We’re going to support him. We’re going to be right there for him in any kind of way that he needs us, but it just sucks.” 

Holmes got two outs in the third before allowing consecutive singles to Ben Rice and Aaron Judge. Holmes got ahead 1-2 in the count to Cody Bellinger, who swung at a curveball below the strike zone and golfed a two-run double to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a fourth straight hit against Holmes, an RBI double. 

Jones hit a rocket off Holmes’ leg for a single to begin the fourth. Holmes walked Anthony Volpe on three straight pitches before striking out Austin Wells and Trent Grisham. Rice’s ensuing infield single loaded the bases before Judge was retired on a fly to right. 

Chisholm walked in the fifth, prompting Mendoza to replace Holmes with Austin Warren. After a fielder’s choice moved Chisholm to second, Jones stroked an RBI single that widened the Mets’ deficit to 4-0. Anthony Volpe followed with a walk before Warren escaped by striking out Wells. 

Soto ended the shutout bid by clearing the fence in left-center leading off the bottom of the seventh for his second homer in as many games. Soto fell behind 0-2 in the count before smashing a 97-mph four-seam fastball from Schlittler for career homer No. 250. 

Schlittler walked Baty with two outs in the seventh and was removed. Cruz allowed a bunt single to Semien and unloaded a wild pitch, advancing runners to second and third, before retiring A.J. Ewing. 

Rice homered leading off the ninth against Craig Kimbrel to extend the Yankees lead to 5-1. The blast was Rice’s 14th this season, moving him within two of Judge for the team lead. 

Bednar gave up one run in the ninth for the Yankees after Cruz’s perfect eighth. Bednar walked Soto in the ninth before getting Mark Vientos to ground into a double play. MJ Melendez’s single extended the inning and he stole second before Baty singled in the final run. 

“There was a lot of buzz around [the ballpark],” Schlittler said. “Great atmosphere and it was good to get the win.”

The last week feels like rinse and repeat for these Boston Red Sox. From Peyton Tolle, Brayan Bello (post opener), Ranger Suarez, and now tonight with Connelly Early, the starting rotation is doing just what they need to do for this ball club. It’s when they step up to the plate they’re still like ghosts. The Red Sox haven’t scored more than four runs in a loss since April 13th. That’s more than a month ago. Thankfully, instead of putting up a lead and giving it up, it was clawing back from a small deficit, but it’s still just a frustrating watch. We’re onto tomorrow.

Also RIP Bobby Cox—you were one fiery dude and made watching baseball outside of Boston a joy to keep track of.

Studs

Connelly Early (5.0 IP 5H, 2 ER, 6K, 2HR)

These starting pitchers continue to just do their job. It felt like he really wanted to stay out there for the sixth but 86 pitches is fine for a young pitcher with so much season left.

Jovani Morán (1.2 IP, 1 H, 3 K)

Is this the Morán we’re supposed to be getting? Cause three strikeouts against one of the best offenses in the league—let alone sluggers like Matt Olson and Austin Riley—is damn good. Maybe this is an actually competent arm for the bullpen for once!

Marcelo Mayer and Micky Gaspar (combined 3-for-8, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB)

Yes, Gasper got caught stealing, but he did something not many Sox players can do at this point—drive in a run. Marcelo, sheeeeeeesh that was a moonshot to right-center field.

Duds

Tyler Samaniego (0.0 IP, 1 H, I R, loss)

This sucks to put Samaniego here for literally five pitches but he did get the loss. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Team RISP (especially Andrew Monasterio)

A combined 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position continues to underscore the woes of this Red Sox offense. Monasterio left two on base with two out, which hurts.

Team Baserunning (especially Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela)

Oh guys. Duran getting picked off in the first inning and then Rafaela getting caught stealing third in the fifth? I feel like each was so bad for different reasons. Duran is normally fantastic chaos on the base paths and it would have been great to get to Spencer Strider early. Instead? Momentum shift their way. Ceddanne hit a lead-off ground rule double and then wastes himself trying to get to third. Yes, Micky Gasper also got caught, but shhhhh. Both CS are from former friend Sandy Léon. Cool.

Play of the Game

You don’t get to extras without this gorgeous homer from Marcelo. Yes we got another Car Max ad and it rejuvenated his bat? He can keep making em if it’ll keep him hiting!

The Mets’ three-game winning streak came to an end on Friday night at Citi Field as they lost 5-2 to Cam Schlittler and the Yankees in the opener of this three-game Subway Series.

After the bats came to life in sweeping the Detroit Tigers this week, the Mets returned to their quiet ways offensively, managing five hits.

Here are the takeaways...

-Schlittler dominated the Mets as he continued to make an early case for being an AL Cy Young Award favorite.

The righthander allowed one run, on a Juan Soto home run in the seventh inning, and only two hits as he pitched 6.2 innings, coming out at 106 pitches after walking Brett Baty.

Schlittler attacked Mets’ hitters mostly with his 97-mph fastball, as has been his style, racking up nine strikeouts. His ERA stayed at 1.35.

-Clay Holmes didn’t have the form that had made him one of the top starters in the majors, as he struggled with his command and wound up going only 4 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season. By then, he’d already thrown 95 pitches.

The righthander allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks, and he was also hit on the foot by a line drive from Spencer Jones in the fourth inning that seemed to contribute to his command problems. He appeared to be limping slightly as he headed to the dugout after being taken out of the game.

With the poor start, Holmes’ ERA jumped from 1.86 to 2.39.

Holmes’ lack of sharpness cost him in the third inning, where he couldn’t get his sinker down. Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Jazz Chisolm Jr. delivered four straight hits, three of them on mistake-sinkers about thigh-high or so, and the Yankees scored three runs to take a 3-0 lead.

Rice and Judge each singled to right off sinkers. Bellinger then showcased his two-strike hitting ability, going down to get a 1-2 curveball at his ankles and hook it down the right field line to put the Yankees ahead. Chisholm, hitting only .203 on the season, then got a middle-middle sinker on a 1-0 count and hooked it down the right field line for a two-run double.

In the fourth, the Yankees were perhaps one hit from blowing the game open, with Judge at the plate and the bases loaded, two outs.

Holmes threw a first-pitch sweeper, slower than usual at 81 mph, and though he left it in the middle of the plate, Judge was fooled and out in front, popping a routine fly high to right field to keep the game at 3-0.

The Mets had one chance to get back in the game, in the seventh inning. After Soto took Schlittler deep for a home run to left-center, cutting the lead to 4-1, the Mets put runners on first and second with two outs, and rookie sensation AJ Ewing at the plate against reliever Fernando Cruz.

Ewing got ahead in the count 2-0, but after fouling off a fastball, he was a bit out in front on another fastball, making contact toward the end of the bat as his fly ball died in medium right field, an easy play for Judge.

-Soto’s home run was the 250th of his career. It was also only the second long ball that Schlitter has given up all season.

The home run was also notable in that Soto appeared as if he may have injured himself in his previous at-bat. As he struck out against Schlittler in the fourth, he maneuvered his right arm, putting it behind his back as if something was bothering him with either his hand or his arm.

But he stayed in the game in left field and then went deep in his next at-bat.

-Rice hit his 14th home run of the season, off Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning.

Game MVP: Cam Schlittler

The Yankees’ young star mostly took the air out of the building at Citi Field with his dominance of the Mets’ lineup. He is putting up some spectacular numbers this season: coming into the game, according to OptaStats, he was the first major leaguer to record a sub-1.50 ERA, at least 50 K’s, fewer than 10 walks, and one or zero home runs over his first nine starts since Walter Johnson in 1913. 

Highlights

Brett Baty brings home MJ Melendez to make it 5-2 pic.twitter.com/vDOIMfPmSl

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 16, 2026

Juan Soto homers in the Subway Series!

It's his 250th career home run! pic.twitter.com/XVHgIPIe3Q

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 16, 2026

What's next

The Subway Series continues on Saturday night with first pitch scheduled for 7:15 p.m. on FOX.

The Mets have not announced their starter, but the Yankees are going with LHP Carlos Rodon (0-0, 6.23 ERA) who is making his second start of the season.