Category: Baseball

The Mets’ offense once again could not get anything going in their 2-1 loss to the Marlins. With this loss they now drop below Miami in the standings to become cellar dwellars once again in National League East.

Marlins starter Eury Pérez had been struggling heading into this game so of course he gave up just one run and pitched into the seventh inning against this pitiful offense. Juan Soto was the only Met batter to get to Pérez when he turned on a 100mph fastball and deposited it 449 feet away into the centerfield stands. The rest of the offense did not put up much of a fight except Carson Benge who had two great plays made against him in the outfield.

Tobias Myers got the start for the Mets but the team ultimately went with a bullpen game with all long men. None of the three pitched poorly but extra base hits combined with pesky Marlins baserunning ultimately doomed them. First it was Myers who departed in the second inning after he gave up a double with one out. A stolen base and a groundout later against Sean Manaea and the game was tied at one apiece.

Manaea for his part looked much better on the mound until he gave up a triple with two outs in the fourth. He couldn’t work out of it when he gave up a hit to Owen Cassie and Miami took a 2-1 lead.

The newly recalled Jonah Tong came in after Manaea and pitched well. He didn’t allow any hits in three innings and struck out two. It certainly was an encouraging appearance for the youngster who was having a bit of an uneven year in Triple-A.

While a bullpen game isn’t ideal, this loss is squarely on the shoulders of the offense who managed just two runs in the finale against Washington and now only scored one in the opener against the Marlins. They still have an opportunity to come out ahead in Miami, but this wasn’t an ideal way to start a series against a team ahead of you in the standings.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Jonah Tong, +13% WPA
Big Mets loser: Nick Morabito, -20% WPA
Mets pitchers: +15% WPA
Mets hitters: -65% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Soto home run in first, +10 WPA added
Teh sux0rest play: Owen Cassie RBI single in fourth, -11.4% WPA

In what would only be described by your dad or your grand-pappy as “A good old fashion pitchers’ duel”, runs were at a premium in Philadelphia tonight. Both Gavin Williams and Chistopher Sanchez were lights out all night long. 

As the game went on, it felt like each pitcher was just trying to outdo the other, inning after inning. There was little drama to speak of. Bryce Harper would hit a two out double in the 1st, but The Big Rig would strike out the next hitter Alec Bohm. The Guardians would follow in the top of the 2nd inning with a leadoff single by David Fry, but Sanchez would go on to retire the next three hitters in order. Adolis Garcia would reach base on a fielding error by José Ramírez on a softly hit grounder, but Williams would not be phased, as he retired the next 2 hitters on just 2 pitches!

Both pitchers would toss a 1-2-3 3rd inning, and back and forth it went. Neither pitcher would allow more than 1 baserunner at any point in the game. The Phillies were able to get a 1 out single from Brandon Marsh, but after a few attempts to steal second (with Garcia up to bat) that were foiled by foul balls, on a 3-2 pitch The Big Rig would finally get the swing and miss he needed. Marsh would be thrown out with the combination of a great throw and an even better catch and tag by Austin Hedges and Travis Bazzana.

Both teams would also get a 1 out baserunner in the 8th, but both pitchers would again get out of the jam with relative ease. Sanchez, with two soft outs from Petey Halpin and Angel Martínez, and Gavin Williams, with a 4-6-3 double play ball off the bat of Justin Crawford. The final line for each pitcher was 8 IP 4H 2BB 6Ks for Sanchez, and 8IP 4H 0BB 11Ks for The Big Rig.

After that, it was closer time for both teams. The Phillies brought in a familiar face in Jhoan Duran to try for a scoreless 9th. He would be greeted by an old friend in José Ramírez, who lined a 2-1 splitter down the right field line. In typical José fashion, he was looking for two, but the former Gold Glove Right Fielder Garcia cut the ball off before it could get into the corner, and fired a bullet to second to get José out at 2nd base. On a night where offense felt like it was at a premium, it was hard to feel hopeful after that gut punch from the Phillies, but then out of the dugout to pinch hit for Rhys Hoskins came Kyle Manzardo. He drilled the first pitch he saw from Duran the opposite way to Left Field over the wall to give the Guards a 1-0 lead.

There would be no more for the Guards in the 9th, however, and the fate of the game would now lie with our own closer, Cade Smith.

It would be no easy task, as Smith would have to face the top of the Phillies lineup in the bottom half of the inning – Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper – or so you would think. On the first pitch of the 9th, Turnerhit a weak popout to Rocchio, and after working a full count, Smith blew a 98 MPH fastball right by Schwarber. That was the only Fastball he saw in that at bat as well. All hope for the Phillies would lie with Bryce Harper, but he somewhat poetically would weakly top a ground ball to the (just into the game) first baseman Kyle Manzardo, who fielded it and easily jogged to first to record the final out of the game. In all, it would take Smith just 8 pitches to hurl a scoreless 1-2-3 9th inning and secure for the Guards their 7th consecutive win!

The Guards will look to take the series tomorrow afternoon at 4:05pm. It’ll be Slade Cecconi on the mound for Cleveland, up against Zach Wheeler for the Phillies.

The San Francisco Giants welcome the Chicago White Sox to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Trevor McDonald, who enters tonight’s game with a 2.37 ERA, 3.47 FIP, with 17 strikeouts to three walks in 19 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 6-4 win over the Athletics last Saturday, in which he allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk in six and two thirds innings.

He’ll be facing off against White Sox right-hander Davis Martin, who enters tonight’s game with a 1.61 ERA, 2.39 FIP, with 59 strikeouts to 10 walks in 56 innings pitched. His last start was in the White Sox’ 8-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, in which he allowed one run on five hits with seven strikeouts in six innings.

Game #51

Who: San Francisco Giants (20-30) – Chicago White Sox (25-24)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 7:15 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

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

The St. Louis Cardinals were clear that this season would be a constant desire to compete, but the priorities would be player development and the future. The only thing that is clear right now about Victor Scott II’s development is that what he’s doing to make adjustments is not working against Major League pitching. Is it time to utilize one of his minor league options or is there wisdom to continue on the road the Cardinals are on with him staying in the lineup? The numbers don’t seem to favor the latter.

It was almost exactly one month ago when our own Jake Wood did an excellent deep dive into Victor Scott II and what he did during the offseason to adjust his swing and approach. I won’t rehash all that Jake shared, but I highly recommend you check it out if you haven’t already. The Cliff Notes version is Victor spent the offseason with a biomechanical specialist at his alma mater of West Virginia trying to improve swing efficiency. As Jake mentioned then, the early Statcast numbers didn’t reveal any great improvement other than an effort to direct the all up the middle to allow himself the opportunity to beat out more infield hits. He also moved back in the batter’s box to support that approach.

One month later, where is Victor Scott II now?

As of today, Victor Scott II has 138 plate appearances and he’s below the Mendoza line with an average of just .185. He’s making very little solid contact with a barrel rate of only 1.1 and a hard hit rate of just 27.7 according to Baseball Savant. Most of his offensive metrics are in the bottom 13th percentile with the exception of his whiff rate of just 22.9. I was surprised to see that Victor’s defensive numbers have regressed with only a 2 outs above average compared to his stellar 17 OAA last season.

Why won’t the Cardinals use one of Victor Scott II’s remaining minor league options?

The question is who would take Victor Scott II’s place on the major league roster if he gets another stint in the minors. The Cardinals just placed Nathan Church on the injured list which resulted in the callup of Bryan Torres. Torres would have been one of the likely candidates for Scott II’s roster spot if he were sent down. I have to wonder if St. Louis might be approaching the time when this would make sense for everyone involved since I’ve seen estimates that Lars Nootbaar will be ready to return to the Cardinals lineup around the start of June. Victor still has 2 minor league options remaining and the end of May/beginning of June timeframe might be the time to utilize it once Lars is ready for prime time again.

I love having players like Victor Scott II on the major league roster. His speed off of the bench and his ability to be a late inning defensive replacement are valuable. However, I would much rather he be allowed more development time out of the major league spotlight if he can manage to overcome the offensive struggles to become a complete player. I’ve seen Oli Marmol and the other Cardinals coaches talk about how hard Victor is working pre and post-game and I don’t doubt that effort, but I think the reappearance soon of Lars Nootbaar gives the St. Louis Cardinals the opportunity they need to allow VSII to see if he can ascend into the kind of all-around player they need him to be for the long term.

The Mets' offense couldn't get anything going and New York lost to the Miami Marlins, 2-1, on Friday night.

Here are the takeaways...

-- It looked like the Mets might get to feast against struggling Marlins starter Eury Perez after Juan Soto blasted a tank of a solo shot in the first inning that gave New York a 1-0 lead. The home run, which traveled 449 feet, landed in the second deck and was Soto’s longest career homer.

-- Also in the first, Carson Benge led off the game with a deep fly ball to center field that Jakob Marsee made a splendid running catch at the wall. While the play was impressive, Mets hitters appeared to be on Perez early.

-- But after Soto’s home run, Perez retired the next eight hitters in a row before Soto stayed hot with a single. Soto has had a terrific road trip with eight hits, four home runs, five RBI, six runs scored and a stolen base. He’s also hit safely in nine of the last 11 games and has had multiple hits in seven of those games.

-- Unfortunately for the Mets, Soto was the only player to show up in Miami as the rest of the offense went hitless against Perez, who settled in after the dicey first and looked incredible in his 6.1 innings of work.

-- Perez left with a lead after the Marlins scored once in the second and once in the fourth. The first run was charged to Tobias Myers, who got the start and lasted 1.1 innings, leaving the game after giving up a double to Esteury Ruiz.

-- Sean Manaea was the bulk reliever and the first one out of the bullpen and was unable to strand the runner in scoring position, giving up the tying run on a groundout after Ruiz stole third base. The left-hander looked better than he has in recent outings in his 3.2 innings of work. He struck out three while reaching 94 mph on his fastball, which the Mets have not seen this year.

Still, he allowed the go-ahead run in the fourth after Ruiz reached third base on a two-out triple down the right field line that Benge just barely missed before Owen Caisse singled Ruiz home.

-- The only other hit New York had aside from Soto was A.J. Ewing, who singled with two outs in the eighth inning. Trying to make something happen, the speedster immediately took off for second base, but he was gunned down on a perfect throw by catcher Joe Mack to end the inning.

-- Perhaps the biggest star for the Mets was Jonah Tong, who, in his season debut, came in after Manaea and looked dominant, facing the minimum over three innings and striking out two on just 28 pitches.

-- Benge made a bid to tie the game in the sixth with another shot to center, but there was Marsee once again making a tremendous catch high up the wall for the out. Benge finished 0-for-3 with a walk and had 801 feet worth of flyouts.

Game MVP: Jonah Tong

The right-hander looked unhittable in his season debut, which could be great news for the Mets and their patchwork starting rotation.

Highlights

A SOTO SHOT!

Juan Soto's 10th homer of the year! pic.twitter.com/0Etdg0VfwS

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 22, 2026

Nick Morabito makes the diving catch to keep the Marlins off the board in the 5th pic.twitter.com/kM06bou4b9

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 23, 2026

What's next

The Mets continue their three-game series with the Marlins on Saturday, with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. on SNY.

RHP Freddy Peralta (3-3, 3.31 ERA) goes for New York and will be opposed by RHP Max Meyer (4-0, 2.85 ERA).

The weekend Memorial Day series is going to be filled with weather issues. It’s projected to rain all day tomorrow, which could force a doubleheader for Sunday before they play a day game in San Diego on Monday. They did not get batting practice in today because of rain and showers filled through as Cristopher Sánchez and Gavin Williams dueled for eight scoreless innings each.

So even if the Phillies lost this game, there is some good news for it going quick.

Sánchez entered tonight’s game with a 29.2 inning scoreless streak that began back in April against the Giants. Even if he threw eight shutout innings against a surprisingly competent Guardians offense, it didn’t always look like his A stuff.

He was cutting his changeup often early in the game but it didn’t matter. Angel Martínez and Rhys Hoskins couldn’t stop biting on it in the first.

David Fry took a hanging changeup into left field for one of his two hits off Sánchez for the night but the next three batters couldn’t do anything.

Skipping to the 5th, Brayan Rocchio took a single to left field for a knock but it led to nothing again. This time, it was JT Realmuto who fired a dart to keep the Guardians out of scoring position. They did not have a runner on second or third base for a single pitch of this game.

The seventh inning was the Guardians best chance of ending Sánchez’s streak. Rhys Hoskins crushed a sinker at 99.9 mph off the bat but it died into Justin Crawford’s hands. David Fry hit a 106.2 mph line drive over Bryson Stott’s head and after a Bazzana strikeout, Sánchez fell 3-0 to Rocchio.

Rocchio got the green light to swing 3-0, got a good pitch to crush, but the ball died at the warning track in Crawford’s hands.

Sánchez would fire a scoreless eighth inning to put his streak at 37.2 innings for second most in Phillies history. It’s incredible.

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams more than matched Sánchez pitch-for-pitch with 11 strikeouts, 17 whiffs, four hits allowed, and no walks. The command and feel for his sweeper and curveball tonight were elite and the Phillies didn’t stand a chance.

Bryce Harper smacked a two out double past a diving Rhys Hoskins into right field but Alec Bohm struck out to end the threat. Adolis García reached first base on a José Ramírez error but nothing could follow.

The single worst at bat of the entire night might’ve been in the fifth inning by García. He has not been able to find any sort of offensive stroke for two weeks. He entered tonight just 1 for his last 32 with 17 strikeouts in his last ten games. He chased three different Williams sweepers that weren’t particularly close and went back to the dugout.

They tried to start something right after with Bryson Stott slapping a single and stealing second base. However, the bottom of the order couldn’t get the job done and the game stayed scoreless.

Moving forward to the bottom of the seventh, there could’ve been a spark. Brandon Marsh took a curveball to right field for a one-out single and was looking to run. García worked a seven pitch at bat, laying off a few down and away sweepers but wasn’t ready for the high fastball and Marsh was caught stealing.

Jhoan Duran entered the ninth inning with a game still searching for it’s first run of the night. As both starters threw body shots and uppercuts at the opposing lineups for eight innings, it was time for both teams’ top-tier closers to send the game into extra innings.

José Ramírez was ready for a splinker and sent one down the right field line for what should’ve been a leadoff double. Adolis García had other plans, throwing an absolute strike to second base to nail JRam by multiple feet.

It seemed like the game would remain scoreless forever… well for only a few extra minutes.

Stephen Vogt went to his bench and called on Kyle Manzardo to hit for Rhys Hoskins with the right handed Duran on the mound. He looked for a splinker up in the zone, got it, and sent it into the left field seats to finally break the tie.

Cade Smith, one of the game’s underrated closers, entered to shut down the top of the Phillies lineup. Trea Turner popped up a first pitch sweeper to shortstop. Kyle Schwarber saw a steady diet of splitters and sweepers to work a full count but was not ready for the one fastball he was going to get and walked back to the dugout. Bryce Harper ended it quickly by chasing a first-pitch sweeper to Manzardo to end the inning.

The Phillies are once again below .500, with the offense being shutout by the Guardians. As things were heading in the right direction to begin the Don Mattingly tenure, the club has now lost three in a row.

Gerrit Cole's long-awaited return fell short of spectacular, but was the solid shot in the arm the New York Yankees badly needed.

Pitching for the first time since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, Cole pitched six shutout innings against the first place Tampa Bay Rays Friday, May 22 at Yankee Stadium.

Cole missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, his right elbow finally giving way during spring training. He underwent a steady and successful rehab since, and rejoined the Yankees after they jumped out to a 30-21 start − but still 4½ games behind the Rays.

Amid that backdrop, he took the Yankee Stadium mound and delivered efficiency, giving up just two hits in six innings, but walking three and striking out just two. Yet he finished striking, fanning Jonathan Aranda looking on a full-count 96-mph fastball.

Thanks to an Austin Wells home run, Cole left with a 1-0 lead.

Cole, who won the 2023 AL Cy Young Award, is in the seventh year of a nine-year, $324 million contract.

Yankees bullpen blows lead

Alas, the Yankees bullpen could only preserve the advantage provided by Wells and Cole for one inning. Shortstop José Caballero committed an error on a grounder by leadoff batter Chandler Simpson, and after a Junior Caminero single, Jonathan Aranda followed with a game-tying double off lefty Tim Hill.

Richie Palacios then followed an intentional walk with a go-ahead two-run single, producing a 3-1 lead and chasing Hill.

We did previously highlight how well the D-backs’ bullpen is pitching this month. While their ERA has crept up a little from the sub-two figure, it’s still a thoroughly respectable 2.08. That’s fourth-best in the majors, and they are also the only bullpen to have a WHIP below one. Over 47.2 innings, they have allowed only thirty hits (that’s a minuscule .181 average against) and fifteen walks, for 0.944 WHIP in May. However, a league-low BABIP of just .227 is clearly a factor there. They also haven’t allowed a home-run this month: the last reliever to do so was Brandon Pfaadt on April 30th. Let’s hope I’m not tempting fate by mentioning this. It’s why their xFIP – FIP with a normal home-run rate – is a much less impressive 4.30.

But it’s worth nothing that the rotation have been getting on board the performance train of late. As noted the other day, they have been working hard, having thrown 119 innings across nineteen starts. That’s an average of 6.26 IP per start. The next-highest figure for May is the Phillies, down at 5.84 IP/GS. At the other end? The Tigers, barely at four. They have one win in nineteen efforts this year. But it’s not just length, it’s quality length. A 3.18 ERA by the rotation this month is fourth-best, and certainly deserving of more than the eight wins, also in nineteen starts.

It’s when we combine the two that we get the really startling number. Because it’s not often that the D-backs have had both the rotation and bullpen firing on all cylinders. Combined, through 19 games in May, Arizona has an ERA of just 2.86. It has been almost twenty-four years since the Diamondbacks have posted a figure that low over the course of a calendar month. You need to go back to August 2002 to find a lower figure of 2.63. [Kinda fun to look at the contributors – not just the obvious!] There hasn’t even been an ERA for a month under 3.20 since August of 2018. Hopefully that can continue tonight against the cellar-dwelling Rockies.

Prior to Friday’s game, Aaron Boone made it clear what it meant to the Yankees to have Gerrit Cole back on the mound: “We’re excited to get our ace back.”

Cole returned against the Rays in The Bronx, having last pitched in a major league game in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series.

And he looked every bit as good as the Yankees remembered after missing a year-plus following March 2025 Tommy John surgery.

The 35-year-old pitched six shutout innings, allowed two hits and three walks.

He struck out just two and was removed after just 72 pitches- with lefty Brett Headrick taking over to start the seventh.

It was exactly what the Yankees wanted to see from Cole.

He started off with a 96-mph four-seam fastball to Chandler Simpson before the speedster poked a single over shortstop to lead off the game.

A walk to Junior Caminero put the Yankees and Cole in a dangerous spot, but Cole got Simpson leaning off second and got him caught in a rundown for the second out before the right-hander struck out Yandy Diaz looking to end the inning.

The right-hander, who was initially expected to make one more minor league rehab start before his return to the Yankees rotation, was certainly major-league ready.

After allowing a leadoff walk in the second, Cole retired the next 10 batters he faced before Cedric Mullins’ one-out single in the fifth.

And he threw hard throughout the outing, consistently hitting 96-plus and topping out at 98.6 mph before Boone went to the bullpen with the Yankees leading, 1-0.

The Colorado Rockies are better than they were a year ago. 

That is true. It is also not especially comforting after the last two nights. 

On Wednesday, the Rockies carried a one-run lead into the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers and lost 5-4. On Thursday, they wasted an impressive first career start from Zach Agnos in a 2-1 walk-off loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Two games. The same frustrating result. 

The season splits make the frustration easy to understand. Colorado is 5-14 in May and has been outscored 122-74 this month, so this has not all been heartbreak. They have had their doors blown off, too. But the pain comes from the games that were there to be won. The Rockies are 5-8 in one-run games, have blown 12 leads, and have four walk-off losses without a walk-off win of their own. Some nights get away early. The ones that stick are the ones they fail to finish. 

After Thursday’s loss, Warren Schaeffer did not dress it up. Arizona executed. Colorado did not. 

And, yes, that is pretty much it. 

The Rockies did not lose because of bad luck, bad vibes, or some complicated baseball mystery. They lost because Arizona made the pitches and plays when it mattered, and the Rockies did not. 

Tonight, the Rockies enter at 19-32 and get another chance against an Arizona team that comes in at 26-23 and has won five straight. Colorado is 1-3 against the Diamondbacks this season and has been outscored 21-12 in the series. 

Taking the ball for Colorado is 36-year-old veteran righty Tomoyuki Sugano 菅野 智之, who enters at 4-3 with a 4.02 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Sugano is coming off his 150th career win in professional baseball after beating this same Arizona team in his last start. The Diamondbacks made Sugano work, but he kept the ball in the yard and gave Colorado a chance. He went 5.0 IP, allowing seven hits and two earned runs with two walks and one strikeout. 

Sugano does not miss bats, and the underlying numbers are still flashing warning signs, including a .310 xBA, .589 xSLG, and 7.37 xERA. But he generally avoids walks, and when he keeps the ball in the park, the Rockies have been able to live with the contact. 

On the mound for Arizona is 28-year-old right-hander Michael Soroka, who enters at 6-2 with a 3.49 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. In his last outing, Soroka faced the Rockies at Coors Field and gave Arizona 5.2 innings, allowing six hits, two earned runs, two walks, and no home runs while striking out eight.  Soroka threw 98 pitches and used a five-pitch mix, led by 38 slurves, 21 four-seam fastballs, and 19 cutters.

The slurve is the pitch that makes his arsenal work. He has thrown it 33.0% of the time this season, and it has produced a 36.9% whiff rate. The four-seamer has been more vulnerable, allowing a .349 batting average and a 47.8% hard-hit rate. 

Against Soroka, the assignment is simple: do not let the slurve control the at-bat, and do not miss the fastball. 

For Colorado, the rest of the formula is unforgiving: Sugano has to thread the needle, the defense has to be sharp, and the bullpen has to execute well enough to give the Rockies another chance to finish one.

The long-term project is still the long-term project. Nobody needs to pretend otherwise. 

But even bad teams should want to win. 

And after the last two nights, a win would feel awfully good. 

The details….

First Pitch: 7:40 PM MDT

TV: Rockies TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

Diamondbacks SB Nation site: AZ Snake Pit

Lineups:

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

Athletics (26-24) at San Diego Padres (29-20), May 22, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Texas Rangers @ Anaheim Angels

Friday, May 22, 2026, 8:38 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

Angel Stadium

RHP Jacob deGrom vs. RHP Grayson Rodriguez

Go Rangers!

Kodai Senga began his road back to the Mets by pitching in his first rehab start with Port St. Lucie on Friday night.

While he didn't go long, pitching just 3.1 innings, Senga was okay in his first game action in almost a month.

The right-hander's night started rather precariously. He walked the leadoff man -- thanks to an ABS challenge -- and two batters later, Senga was faced with two runners on thanks to catcher's interference. Senga would get a groundout and fly out to end the first inning. After a clean second inning, Senga would allow the first run after a leadoff single, who advanced to second on a throwing error, and a two-out single plating the runner from third. A stolen base later, and a single pushed across the inning's second run. 

Senga ended the third with a groundout and came back out for the fourth where he struck out the first batter he faced before being pulled. 

Senga allowed two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out two batters across 3.1 innings. He threw 58 pitches (35 strikes), which is the range Mets manager Carlos Mendoza expected. 

It'll likely be some time before Senga is ready to rejoin the Mets. Before he landed on the IL with lumbar spine inflammation on April 28, Senga was just not getting it done. He was unable to pitch more than 3.1 innings in his last three starts before being shut down. 

The Mets will take their time with Senga as they hope to get the right-hander healthy and pitching well before potentially rejoining a rotation that recently lost Clay Holmes. New York could also have Senga rejoin the team and pitch out of the bullpen, but it's unclear the path the organization will take or how Senga will fare in that role.

The Athletics started this weeklong Southern California road trip on the right note, winning three of four against the woeful, last-place Los Angeles Angels. The series win was anything but easy, though, as the A’s needed 10 innings to win each of the final two games.

Tonight, the first-place Athletics head further south to begin a three-game Memorial Day weekend series against the San Diego Padres, who will be a much tougher opponent.

It will be Padres’ closer Mason Miller’s first time facing his former team since he was traded last July. Miller’s success has carried over to his new team, as he is 1-1 with a 0.79 ERA and 15 saves in 22 appearances this season. The 27-year-old flamethrower has accumulated an incredible 45 strikeouts in 22.2 innings pitched, cementing his reputation as one of the most unhittable pitchers in the league.

While the A’s bullpen could desperately use Miller’s elite repertoire, the team likely made the right decision by trading him last summer. His talent is too good to be wasted on a club that was not playoff-bound, and if top shortstop prospect Leo De Vries — the centerpiece of the return package — reaches his All-Star-caliber ceiling, he could ultimately provide the A’s with a greater long-term impact than a closer who only pitches one or two innings per game.

Tonight, the A’s will send left-hander Jeffrey Springs to the mound as they try to extend their winning streak to four games. The 33-year-old enters his 11th start of the season with a 3-4 record, a 3.93 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP and 47 strikeouts across 55 innings pitched. Springs took the loss in his last start against the San Francisco Giants despite allowing just two runs, one earned on five hits over six innings. After going winless so far this month, the A’s southpaw looks to continue pitching well and earn his fourth win of 2026 this evening.

Here’s the A’s starting nine for the game tonight:

Right fielder Carlos Cortes remains in the leadoff spot, a switch made a few days ago that has worked wonders for the A’s lineup. Batting first baseman Nick Kurtz second or third gives him more opportunities to hit with runners on base, creating additional RBI chances for the team’s hottest hitter. Tonight, Kurtz and catcher Shea Langeliers swap spots in the order.

The A’s are still searching for more consistent production from designated hitter Brent Rooker and left fielder Tyler Soderstrom. Meanwhile, Henry Bolte gets another start in center field, with the slumping Lawrence Butler once again relegated to the bench.

This A’s lineup will face Padres’ right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler. The 31-year-old has struggled through his first nine starts with San Diego, posting a 3-2 record with a 5.01 ERA and 37 strikeouts across 41.1 innings pitched.

However, Buehler appears to be turning things around lately. In his last start against the Seattle Mariners, he earned the win after allowing two runs on five hits over five innings of work. The outing before that, he tossed six innings of two-run ball. While Buehler may not be the same pitcher he was during the early years of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the veteran right-hander still has the ability to stymie an opposing lineup on any given day. Will Buehler make it three-straight quality starts or will the A’s offense strike early and often to avoid having to face Miller in a save situation?

Springs will face off against this Padres’ lineup on Star-Wars Night at Petco Park:

Starting off, it is important to note that Fernando Tatis Jr. has yet to hit a home run this season. Hopefully his home run drought continues against the A’s this series. The A’s will see several former players in San Diego’s lineup, including designated hitter Miguel Andújar and left fielder Ramon Laureano. Tatis is not the Padres’ only superstar off to a slow start. Third baseman Manny Machado is also struggling, batting .178 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs.

Springs and the A’s relievers who follow him will need to carefully navigate the top six hitters in the Padres’ lineup, as San Diego’s lineup becomes significantly weaker from spots seven through nine. Padres starting center fielder Jackson Merrill is not playing tonight due to sore ribs, though he is expected to return in the coming days

This will be a much tougher series against a team widely expected to contend for a National League playoff spot this season. If the A’s can win tonight, it would set the tone for the rest of the series and signal that the “Green and Gold” should not be taken lightly. Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:

Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, A’s Cast

The Colorado Rockies made roster moves on Friday night prior to their scheduled game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

Outfielder Mickey Moniak has been placed on the 10-day injured list with right ankle tendonitis. He sustained the injury colliding with the outfield wall while the Rockies were in Pittsburgh. Moniak joins fellow outfielders Jordan Beck and Brenton Doyle on the Injured List.

“He suffered that in Pittsburgh when he made a collision with the wall,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s been battling it since then and it’s been tough for him to hit, so we just want to get it right and move forward. He had something similar to this back in 2024, so we’re just going to try to nip this in the bud and hopefully he’ll be back in 10 days.”

Moniak’s injury may help to explain his recent slump. Since the final game of that Pittsburgh Pirates road series, Moniak is just 2-for-23 with a double in eight games. Prior to that he had been hitting .315/.358/.693 with eight doubles, two triples, 12 home runs, and 26 RBIs as one of the Rockies’ best bats.

In a corresponding roster move, the Rockies have recalled outfield prospect Sterlin Thompson from the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes.

Thompson (no. 13 PuRP) made his Major League debut last weekend, entering as a pinch hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He also made two starts before being optioned back to Triple-A, ultimately going 1-for-8 with one strikeout. Thompson is currently hitting .341/.485/.485 with five doubles, a triple, and four home runs with the Isotopes this season. He has also drawn more walks (31) than he has struck out (30).

In addition, the Rockies also made a trade on Friday. They obtained right-handed reliever Andrew Baker from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for international bonus pool signing money.

Baker, 26, was originally selected by the Phillies in the 11th round of the 2021 draft out of Chipola College in Florida. He has largely pitched for the High-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws and Double-A Reading Fightin’ Phils since 2022 with a career 5.28 minor league ERA in 196 total appearances.

Purely a reliever, Baker currently has a 2.65 ERA this season in 14 appearances and has 25 strikeouts to five walks in 17 innings with Double-A Reading.

The Rockies’ 40-man roster is currently full.

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