Category: Baseball

Carson Benge utilized a time-tested method for breaking his latest slump: He eliminated his mustache before Wednesday’s game.

“I really haven’t been getting a ton of hits, so I just shaved it off and it worked,” Benge said.

The rookie outfielder returned to the form of May flowers — after April showers to begin his major league career — with two key RBI hits that helped lead the Mets’ 4-2 victory over the Reds at Citi Field.

Benge delivered RBI singles in the fifth and seventh innings on a night the Mets assembled a strong bullpen performance in ending a five-game losing streak.

After scoring two runs or fewer in six straight games — the first time in a decade they had struggled to that extent — the Mets had a decent night offensively to avoid a second straight series sweep.

Benge was in a 1-for-20 rut before he stroked an RBI single in the fifth that gave the Mets a 3-1 lead. Two innings later, he singled in another run, giving the Mets their final margin of victory.

“[Benge] is always aggressive and has a really good swing, and he knows it,” Juan Soto said. “He’s squaring balls most of the time, and that is really cool to see.”

Before his slump, the 23-year-old outfielder was thriving, with a .919 OPS over 17 games, a stretch in which the Mets went 11-6.

“The one thing I like about him is you can never really tell whether he is 0-for-8 the past couple of days or he’s coming off a couple of games where he hit a walk-off or had a game like this,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s going to show up the next day and be the same person and give you his best. It’s pretty impressive for a player his age.”   

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

Devin Williams infused drama by walking the bases loaded in the ninth before escaping with the save. Williams struck out Dane Myers and Blake Dunn in succession to end it. The Reds left 17 runners on base.    

Jonah Tong created plenty of traffic in his bulk relief appearance but lived to tell the tale.

The right-hander surrendered three hits and four walks over 3 ²/₃ innings behind opener Huascar Brazobán, but only an unearned run scored on his watch.

It was a second straight effective bullpen outing for Tong, who pitched three hitless, shutout innings in Miami last Friday upon his recall to the Mets.

Soto’s first-inning homer against Andrew Abbott gave the Mets their initial run. The blast was Soto’s eighth in 12 games and second in as many days.

“I keep thinking to do damage every time, but the difference is the results,” Soto said. “I just feel good. I have been seeing the ball well and swinging the bat well. Just do damage whenever I can.”

Eric Wagaman, who started at DH to give the Mets an extra right-handed bat in the lineup, homered with two outs in the second to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. Wagaman hit nine homers in a full season for the Marlins last year.

Tong’s throwing error on Elly De La Cruz’s grounder leading off the third led to the Reds scoring an unearned run. Eugenio Suárez drew a two-out walk in the inning, and Nathaniel Lowe’s RBI single sliced the Mets’ lead to 2-1.

De La Cruz’s error with two outs in the bottom of the inning helped the Mets extend their lead with an unearned run. Luis Torrens and Benge singled in succession, with the latter hit giving the Mets a 3-1 lead.

Sal Stewart’s infield single in the sixth pulled the Reds to within 3-2.

Myers allowed a leadoff double to Tyler Stephenson, and Blake Dunn singled before Brooks Raley plunked De La Cruz. With two outs, Stewart’s roller to third brought in the run.

A.J. Ewing’s diving catch in center on Dane Myers’ line drive ended the top of the seventh with the tying run on first base following a walk to Stephenson.

Benge’s RBI single in the seventh gave the Mets a 4-2 cushion.

Jared Young’s pinch-hit single leading off started the rally. He reached second on a wild pitch.

“I am just trying to stay short,” Benge said, referring to his swing on high fastballs. “Just put it in play and not try to do too much, and things have been working out.”

The San Diego Padres completed their longest homestand of the season by being swept. The Philadelphia Phillies, who had been in a slump of their own, got well against the Padres. There were no blowouts; the Phillies never scored more than four runs in any of the three games. It’s just that the Padres scored three runs total for the whole series, being shutout twice. 

Over the nine home games, the Padres won the series against the A’s two games to one and lost the series against the Dodgers two games to one. Finishing the home stand with a 3-6 record, the Friars went from being 0.5 games up on the Dodgers for the division lead to being four games back and tied for second/third with the Diamondbacks.

The poor stretch dropped them to a 31-24 overall record, which is still in the Wild Card hunt, but who cares in May?

Takeaways from the first third

It will not come as a shock to any Padres fan to state that the offense has been largely absent for the whole start of the season. We have watched the rare explosion followed by multiple runs of offensive mediocrity. 

Everyone knows the struggles of Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, and Manny Machado are a large part of why this team has been so ineffective as a group.  The best hitter on the team continues to be a guy who has been on the injured list since early May, in Luis Campusano. Semi-regular first baseman Ty France and most-of-the-time DH Miguel Andujar are the only other hitters with anything resembling normal numbers.

Over their last 10 games the Padres have a 4-6 record. They have played to a 16-16 record at home and a 15-8 record on the road. They are 9-15 against teams with a .500 or better win percentage.

For April, when they were winning multiple games with late-game heroics, the Padres played to an 18-7 record. In May, when those heroics have mostly failed to materialize, they are 12-13 with three games left to play on the road against the red-hot Washington Nationals.

The numbers don’t lie

The Padres, as a team, are hitting .215, last in MLB. Their OBP is .291, last in MLB. The team slug is .361, 29th in MLB (ironically, the New York Mets are the worst). The team OPS is .652, again only one off the worst (Mets again).

They have improved in the home run category, now sitting 18th with 55, and have 207 RBI, good for 24th. The run differential sits at -1 for the season.

Although the eye test tells us that the starting pitching is also an area of concern, it is far from the most concerning. The bullpen, which started the season with some clunkers, is back to being the best in baseball.

The team ERA sits at 3.83, 12th in MLB. Starters are responsible for a 4.47 ERA (19th), and the bullpen has a 3.07 ERA(1st).

One area that does not bode well for the starting corps is the strikeout ranking. The Padres starters have 234 strikeouts, good for 26th in MLB. The bullpen has 232 strikeouts; they rank fourth in MLB. 

April was an illusion?

The amazing come-from-behind and final innings heroics of the Padres offense in April were an unsustainable fact. You can’t play a whole season like that, but it was fun while it lasted.

The Padres hitters chase too much, strike out too much, and hit a ton of ground balls. Many of those groundballs go directly to a defender. Much has been made of the fact that Fernando Tatis Jr. hasn’t hit a home run. That situation weighs on the minds of many fans, and probably Tatis himself. 

It seems pretty easily explained if you look at his stats. He is not hitting the ball in the air to the pull side. His 25.8% pull rate in the air compares negatively to the 39.4% of the rest of the team and all of MLB. There is nothing wrong with his bat speed, or barrel rate, or his launch angle and sweet spot data. The only glaring issue is that he is hitting a ton of balls into the ground and fly balls to right field.

Apparently, this is not an easy problem to fix, or we wouldn’t still be obsessing over it.

But Tatis is not the only problem. Manny Machado is hitting .169. Amazingly, he is on track to come close to his season numbers for home runs and RBI as he currently sits at nine homers and 27 RBI, a third of the way through the season.

Jackson Merrill is hitting .200 with 19 RBI  and a .271 OBP. He has struck out 55 times, second most to Ramón Laureano at 64 (he is hitting .211).

Primary catcher Freddy Fermin has a .140 average, which is worse than either Martin Maldonado or Elias Diaz in 2025. Rodolfo Durán has filled in great defensively but he is hitting .100.

The two main bench players, Sung-Mun Song and Bryce Johnson see very little playing time and are both hitting below .200.

The bench player getting the most playing time, Nick Castellanos, is hitting .186. He has four home runs and 19 RBI.

What is to come?

This can’t be the reality for this season, right? This many good baseball players can’t be this bad for a whole season. It just seems illogical to think that players who have track records and histories of success will stay this bad for months.

It should be obvious at this point, however, that the turnaround has to be soon. Before they dig themselves into a hole they can’t climb out of. The end of May is too soon to panic, but there has to be improvement. This kind of baseball is not only frustrating; it’s also boring.

The coming road trip to Washington and then to Philadelphia to play the Phillies could provide some clarity. The Nationals are playing above what was expected of them and the Phillies always play the Padres tough, especially at home. 

We need a reverse course, and it needs to come soon.

For the first time in their last seven games, the Mets scored more than two runs, and it turns out that it’s a lot easier to win a baseball game when that happens. A relative explosion of offense saw the team win 4-2 in their series finale against the Reds tonight at Citi Field, a win that snapped a five-game losing streak that might’ve felt even longer if the Mets hadn’t already lost twelve in a row earlier this season.

Juan Soto opened the scoring with a solo home run that he lofted and hooked a little bit inside the right field foul pole. He went on to have a 2-for-3 night with a walk, and whatever is occasionally ailing his right wrist when he swings and misses lately doesn’t seem to be having much of an effect on his performance when he makes contact.

In the bottom of the second, Mets designated hitter Eric Wagaman—a phrase you certainly wouldn’t have expected to hear when the season began—hit a solo shot that was much more of the no-doubt variety. It was his first hit as a Met, having joined the organization on a waiver claim from the Twins in late April, and he hit it 110.1 miles per hour to left field.

The Reds got on the board in the top of the third with an unearned run off Jonah Tong, who worked as the bulk guy after Huascar Brazobán made another successful appearance as an opener. Tong himself committed the error that allowed Elly De La Cruz to reach first base to start the inning, and he eventually came around to score on a two-out single by Nathaniel Lowe.

Tong was neither efficient nor dominant, but he did manage to keep the Mets in front through his three-and-two-thirds innings work. He walked four and only struck out one batter, gave up three hits, and threw 76 pitches. But his first two major league appearances this year have been encouraging.

Speaking of rookies, Carson Benge had himself a big night, as he went 2-for-4 with an impressive pair of RBI singles in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively. The one in the fifth that plated the Mets’ third run of the night turned out to be the difference maker.

Tobias Myers got into a quick jam in the top of the sixth, giving up leadoff double and a one-out single to put runners on the corners before Carlos Mendoza gave him the hook. Brooks Raley loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch and got the second out of the inning before an infield single to third base allowed the Reds to score to get back within one run.

Raley and Luke Weaver wound up recording four outs apiece to get the Mets to the top of the ninth with their lead—which had grown by a run with Benge’s seventh-inning single—intact. And Devin Williams tried his best to lets the Reds score, issuing back-to-back walks to begin the ninth before getting a strikeout and issuing a third walk to load the bases. Fortunately, he struck out the next two batters he faced, earning one of the most laborious saves you’ll ever see.

SB Nation GameThreads

Amazin’ Avenue
Red Reporter

Box scores

MLB.com
ESPN

Win Probability Added

Big Mets winner: Carson Benge, +17% WPA
Big Mets loser: Mark Vientos, -8% WPA
Mets pitchers: +36% WPA
Mets hitters: +14 % WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Devin Williams strikes out Blake Dunn to end the game, +14.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Sal Stewart hits an infield single to score a run in the sixth, -12.1% WPA

The Royals were swept by the Yankees in the season series for the second year in a row, losing Wednesday evening 7-0.

Tonight’s game was a pitchers’ duel through the first six innings. The 17th batter of the evening, Michael Massey, was the first hitter who managed to reach base when he hit a liner down the first base line in the bottom of the 3rd by hitting line. It looked like the Royals would have the first run of the day when he was followed by a Maikel Garcia single to right. Unfortunately, Aaron Judge gunned down Massey at the plate.

Gerrit Cole looked in control from the outset. His 4-seam fastball and slider were both moving a little faster and spinning more than in his first start against Tampa Bay last week. The Royals, who are 19th in the majors as a team in strike out rate, were punched out 10 times by Gerrit in just innings 6 2/3 innings. He only had two counts where the hitter had 3 balls and 59 of his 79 pitches were for strikes. It is always hard to know how much to blame the offense and how much to credit the pitcher in a game like this. Cole looked like his dominant old self today.

Noah Cameron was very good too, just not anywhere near as dominant as Cole. His final line of 5IP, 4H, 1BB, 2ER, 4K is not amazing, but it was against one of the best lineups in the game and part of the two runs was a weird bounce off of the left field wall to get Ben Rice an RBI triple and then in on a sac fly. Both of those came in the top of the 4th. The only other trouble he got into was in the 6th when Paul Goldschmidt singled to lead off the inning and then Rice walked. John Schreiber was called on to bail him out and bail him out he did. Aaron Judge grounded into a double play and was promptly followed by a Cody Bellinger flyout to keep the 2-0 score through six.

In the seventh, Nick Mears took over and made some trouble for himself too, though in part it was BABIP luck with Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon both singling on poor contact. Sandwiched between those two was a walk to Anthony Volpe, so the bases were loaded. Nick almost escaped, getting a lineout from Jose Caballero and then a strikeout of Austin Wells, but he could not find the third out. Goldschmidt walked in the Yankees third run, which resulted in Mears being pulled. Alex Lange then allowed two more runs on a ground ball to the left of Vinnie Pasquantino and the Royals had 9 outs left with a 5 run deficit to make up. It only got worse from there.

Mason Black was the next out of the pen for Kansas City. He also got touched up. McMahon hit a two-run line drive into the visitor’s bullpen with one on to move the score to 7-0. So, just like last year, the Royals faced the Yankees twice and were swept in both series. It will be at least 2027 before the Royals pick up a win against the Yanks who they last dispatched on October 7th, 2024. Next up for the Royals is a 10-game road trip where they will face Texas, Cincinnati, and Minnesota. They have struggled on the road this year, though they just struggled through a homestand too, so it cannot be much worse.

After six straight games of scoring two runs or less, the Mets offense was able to give their pitching staff enough run support to secure a 4-2 win on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

This win snapped a five-game losing streak as the Mets (23-33) avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds (29-26).

Here are the takeaways...

-Mets relief pitcher Huascar Brazobán opened the game with a clean frame, surrendering two runners on base by striking out Cincinnati's DH, Eugenio Suárez.

-Surging superstar Juan Soto sent a hanging Andrew Abbott curveball over the right field fence to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, his seventh homer in the last 11 days and his 11th of the season.

-Jonah Tong served as the bulk reliever for the Mets tonight. While he struggled with his command, walking four batters and striking out just one, Tong limited the damage, surrendering just one unearned run through 3.2 innings. He was relieved by Tobias Myers.

-In his first game as a Met, exactly a month after being claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Twins, DH Eric Wagaman hit a solo shot to left field in his first at-bat.

-Mets right fielder Carson Benge singled home Brett Baty in the bottom of the fifth inning, extending New York's lead to 3-1.

-With Reds baserunners on first and third and nobody out in the top of the sixth inning, Brooks Raley relieved Myers. An infield single by Sal Stewart scored one run to close the gap on the scoreboard, but Raley was able to get out of the jam for the Mets with the lead still intact at 3-2.

-Jared Young led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a leadoff double, and was eventually driven home by a two-out RBI single by Benge. 

-Devin Williams walked the bases loaded in the top of the ninth with the game on the line, but held firm, striking out Dane Myers and Blake Dunn to secure his eighth save of the season and the 4-2 win.

Game MVP: Carson Benge

Benge's two RBI were the difference tonight for the Mets. Both of Benge's hits were singles to center field in two-strike counts with two outs in the inning. Clutch hitting from the rookie leadoff hitter.

Highlights

Embed

Juan Soto's home run celebration looks familiar 👀 pic.twitter.com/TmuOac1fpe

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) May 27, 2026

 

Carson Benge worked an eight-pitch at-bat before his RBI single 👏 pic.twitter.com/BjDSnaOBaZ

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) May 28, 2026

What's Next

The Mets begin a three-game series at home against the division rival Miami Marlins on Friday night. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m.

Freddy Peralta (3.52 ERA) is slated to toe the rubber for the Mets, while breakout righty Max Meyer (2.52 ERA) is expected to start for the Marlins.

The Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-0, on Wednesday to complete the sweep.  

New York has now won four straight games, improving to 34-22 on the season.

Here are the takeaways....

-- Making only his second start of the season, Gerrit Cole loked like his old self on Wednesday night. The right-hander tossed 6.2 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, allowing just four hits. His fastball topped out at 98.4 mph and averaged 96.3 mph on the night.

Cole opened with a 1-2-3 first inning, including back-to-back strikeouts of Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino. He let up his first hit of the night in the third inning on a double to Michael Massey, and after another strikeout, gave up a single to Maikel Garcia. Luckily, Cole got some help from Aaron Judge in RF, throwing out Massey at home on Garcia's single for the third out of the inning.

He stayed in a groove and retired eight straight from the fourth through sixth innings, including four strikeouts. Garcia snapped the streak with a two-out double, but he got Witt to fly out to end the frame. Cole got two outs in the seventh inning, and was then pulled after 79 pitches with a runner on first base.

-- Paul Goldschmidt got the Yanks first hit of the game in the top of the fourth inning and he'd come around to score on Ben Rice's triple off the LF wall. Rice would then score on Judge's sacrifice fly as New York took a 2-0 lead.

-- Goldschmidt and Rice reached base again in the top of the sixth inning, but Judge grounded into a 6-4-3 double play and Cody Bellinger flied out to end the scoring chance.

The duo bounced back in the seventh inning and found ways to produce for New York. Goldschmidt picked up an RBI on a bases-loaded walk and Rice drove in two more on a single to make it a 5-0 game. Rice finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and a walk, while Goldschmidt went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk.

-- McMahon added insurance runs in the top of the eighth inning with a two-run HR, pushing the lead to 7-0.

-- Fernando Cruz kept Cole's line clean by getting Lane Thomas to line out to right field for the third out of the seventh. He continued the shutout by tossing a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Camilo Doval got three groundouts in the ninth to close it down.

Game MVP: Gerrit Cole

The former AL Cy Young Award winner was locked in, recording his first 10 strikeout game since Aug. 10, 2024. 

Highlights

What a catch by Jose Caballero!pic.twitter.com/56hwernhpc

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) May 27, 2026

What a throw from Aaron Judge to get the runner out at home!pic.twitter.com/m7h2o3m7i1

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) May 28, 2026

Ben Rice with the RBI triple 💪pic.twitter.com/2Pvyq7fHu2

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) May 28, 2026

9 strikeouts for Gerrit Cole in 5 innings 🔥pic.twitter.com/n4pREIXgyo

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) May 28, 2026

Ben Rice drives in two runs to extend the lead to 5-0pic.twitter.com/n7uTW2Epn2

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) May 28, 2026

Ryan McMahon homers to make the lead 7-0 pic.twitter.com/kE6mxN81cb

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) May 28, 2026

What's next

The Yankees remain on the road and head West to Sacramento to face the Athletics on Friday at 9:40 p.m.

Carlos Rodon (0-2, 4.15 ERA) faces former Yankee Luis Severino (2-5, 4.23 ERA).

The Colorado Rockies, ranked fifth in the NL West with a 20-36 record, face the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are first in the NL West with a 35-20 record. The Los Angeles Dodgers are favored with a -422 moneyline compared to the Colorado Rockies' +326. Starting pitchers are Tomoyuki Sugano for Colorado, with a 3.86 ERA, and Shohei Ohtani for Los Angeles, with a 0.73 ERA.

How to watch Colorado Rockies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

• Date: Wednesday, May 27

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET / 7:10 p.m. PT

• Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

• TV Channels: SportsNet LA, Rockies.TV

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Colorado Rockies: 20-36 (No. 5 in NL West)

• Los Angeles Dodgers: 35-20 (No. 1 in NL West)

Odds

• Spread: Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5

• Moneyline: Los Angeles Dodgers -422 (77.5%) / Colorado Rockies +326 (22.5%)

• Over/Under: 8.0

Starting pitchers

Colorado Rockies: Tomoyuki Sugano (4-3, ERA: 3.86, K: 28, WHIP: 1.23)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani (4-2, ERA: 0.73, K: 54, WHIP: 0.84)

Weather: 63°F at first pitch

Ballpark: Capacity: 56,000 | Roof: Open | Surface: Grass

One Piece Night is returning at Dodger Stadium this summer.

The Dodgers announced they will host One Piece Night on July 2, when they host the Padres.

The first 40,000 in attendance are eligible to receive a One Piece straw hat as a promotional item ahead of the game.

Tickets have skyrocketed in price; the cheapest seat at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium is $157, while the most expensive seat is going for $2,337 (as of Wednesday).

Last season, One Piece Night was among the most popular promotions at Dodger Stadium. The first 40,000 who showed up received a co-branded straw hat, as well as a trading card of the show’s main character, Monkey D. Luffy.

One Piece Night is scheduled the same day that Anime Expo begins at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The convention is considered one of the biggest events of the summer in Los Angeles; more than 410,000 from 65 different countries attended last year’s convention.

One Piece is considered one of the best-selling manga series of all time after it was created by Eiichiro Oda in 1997.

In 1999, One Piece went from books to the television screen, and it is an anime series that is still on the air today, with 22 seasons.

In 2023, a live-action version of the show was created as a direct-to-streaming show on Netflix. So far, the live version of the show has premiered two seasons, while a highly anticipated third season is set to come out in 2027.

Shohei Ohtani faces Tomoyuki Sugano as the Dodgers look to sweep the Colorado Rockies.

WEDNESDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Rockies
• Stadium: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

Every baseball season has at least a few of these games for every team, but that doesn’t make it fun when it happens to the one you root for. On Wednesday night, the Braves had to suffer through a bunch of things that they didn’t even come close to overcoming: an awful Bryce Elder effort, bad luck on both sides of the ball, and bad defense. That’s how you lose 8-0. It is what it is.

Most of this game didn’t really have anything warranting discussion, and pretty much everything hinged on one inning where the Red Sox plated six runs. Bryce Elder wasn’t particularly good up to that point, with just a 1/0 K/BB ratio through the first three frames. Whatever mechanical adjustments he had made to move up a performance notch this season were seemingly absent, and his pitches were all over the place in eminently hittable ways. A great throw from left field cut down a runner at the plate for the third out in the first, and Elder was relying heavily on his defense in this one.

Which, of course, made it a real issue when the defense stopped backing him up. In the bottom of the fourth, Elder threw a four-seamer down the middle, and it turned into a hard-hit leadoff single. He then had a pretty gross walk (falling behind 3-0, non-competitive 3-2 pitch) to put two on. A bunt moved the runners over and brought up Marcelo Mayer. Elder threw a cutter up and in and Mayer somehow chopped it weakly to Matt Olson at first, but Olson booted it, and it was 1-0 in favor of Boston. Elder then threw a slider that didn’t quite dive as far as it needed to, and it was yanked into left field to make it 2-0. A bloop single on another down-the-pipe four-seamer loaded the bases, and Cedanne Rafaela unloaded them by mashing a meaty first-pitch sinker into left field. That was it for Elder, but Wilyer Abreu got some revenge for Michael Harris II’s onslaught and his own game-ending grounder from last night by hitting a Dylan Dodd pitch below the zone up the middle for a two-run single. So, in the span of not very long at all, it went from a tie game to a 6-0 rout.

This wasn’t Elder’s only bad start of the year (he also had some pretty bad pitching against Detroit and Cleveland), but it’s the sort of thing he needs to avoid to keep the good times rolling. He didn’t really have any trouble bouncing back after those other outings, but he has absolutely no margin for error of just kind of throwing pitches willy-nilly across the strike zone, nor for forcing his defense to make every play because he’s not striking anyone out.

Offensively, the Braves didn’t do much, but it wasn’t entirely for lack of trying. To be fair, Connelly Early had a nice game (7/3 K/BB ratio in seven innings), but things could’ve been different. Ozzie Albies hit into an inning-ending double play with two on in the first. Chadwick Tromp struck out to end the second, stranding two more. Ha-Seong Kim hit a ball decently well with a man on and two outs in the fourth, but it went for a harmless flyout.

Even after the game imploded, the Braves’ lack of sequencing and BABIP fortune didn’t end. Olson had a barreled out to start the sixth. After Tromp doubled in the seventh, Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a 100+ mph liner… but right at the right fielder. Meanwhile, the Red Sox added a seventh run on a seeing-eye roller and a bloop. The top of the eighth was probably the silliest in this regard, as the Braves had two hard liners, a weak fly ball, and a walk, but none of those balls in play found grass. Jarren Duran made it 8-0 with a crush job off Carlos Carrasco, and the game ended with, what else — a hard liner out off the bat of Tromp.

Not much else to say, really — it happens, it sucks. I played catch with my kid after the game got out of hand, and that was a lot more fun to pay attention to than the Braves lining out over and over while the Red Sox sprayed the ball through the fielders.

The Braves can still win the series tomorrow behind Chris Sale, though they’ll need to overcome Payton Tolle and avoid all the nightmarish stuff that happened tonight to do so.

Cristopher Sanchez has now gone to a place where no Phillies pitcher has visited since the dead ball era.

Yes, really.

The left-hander extended his scoreless streak to 44 2/3 innings with seven zeros during Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over the Padres.

In the middle of the effort, he broke the previous scoreless record (41 innings) held by Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, set in 1911 — when the National League comprised eight teams.

Sanchez went the entire month of May (five starts, 39 innings) without allowing a single run. He was last charged with runs on his ledger in the first inning of an April 30 start against the Giants.

Since then, his record is as clean as it could be.

“I just told them it was something special for me,” Sánchez told reporters after Wednesday’s win, which sealed a three-game sweep over San Diego. “First I thanked God and then I thanked all my teammates and everyone around me for their support. It’s really special to have their support, in the good times and through the rough times as well. That’s something I admire with this group.

“This is a game that it’s not only about me or about what I do on the mound, it’s about our group and I think it’s really something special and beautiful to feel the support of the team as a whole.”

Sanchez, an All-Star in 2024, finished second in the National League Cy Young race last year and is making the case early this year to win the award. His 1.62 ERA leads the NL, and he’s the only pitcher in the big leagues this year with a shutout.

“It’s a lot of fun right now,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said, according to MLB.com. “I mean, he’s just been so dominant. He makes my job easy. It’s kind of like playing a video game back there.

“I just press buttons and then he executes.”

Sanchez still has a ways to go for the overall MLB record of 59 innings held by Orel Hershiser.

The O’s scored five runs in the 1st inning and never looked back, completing a sweep of the Rays with an 11-2 pummeling of the American League’s top team.

The Orioles came into Wednesday’s bottom of the 1st ranked 27th in 1st inning runs and 26th in 1st inning average. But just as we saw in the first two games against Tampa, the O’s continued to show their new and improved selves from the start of the series finale vs. the Rays.

Taylor Ward led off the rally by slashing Steven Matz’s first pitch of the evening into center field for a lead-off single. That brought up Gunnar Henderson, who was 0-for-9 in the first two games of the series. The former All-Star SS put those struggles behind him with one swing, launching a 1-1 changeup onto Eutaw Street to give the Orioles a lightning-fast 2-0 lead.

After an Adley Rutshcman walk, Pete Alonso kept the rally going, with the Polar Bear collecting his 1,000th career hit on a single to center. Coby Mayo walked on five pitches to load the bases, setting up Leody Taveras to extend the lead on a single dumped just in front of RF Ryan Villade.

Tyler O’Neill then got the first out of the inning, striking out on a 2-2 changeup after barely missing a grand slam on a ball pulled down the left field line. Blaze Alexander picked up the Orioles’ fifth hit of the inning on a sinker lined to left that brought home Alonso and Mayo. Jeremiah Jackson would fly out to center and Ward would strike out looking after a nine-pitch battle to end the offensive explosion. The O’s saw 36 pitches in the inning, sent 10 batters to the plate and set an early tone against a battered and befudled Matz.

Two of the more often maligned Orioles would combine to extend the Baltimore lead in the 3rd. Mayo led off the inning by turning on a first-pitch sinker and sending it down the left field line for a leadoff double. Two batters later, O’Neill got another changeup left over the plate by Matz, and General Soreness dropped it into left to score Mayo and increase the lead to 6-0.

The Oriole infielders would add on some insurance runs against former Oriole Jonathan Heasley. Mayo and Taveras welcomed Heasley into the game with back-to-back singles to lead off the 5th. After Taveras stole second, Alexander turned on a fastball in on his hands, shooting a double down the left field line that grew the O’s lead to 8-0.

Henderson and Alexander would then give Birdland some fireworks to further bury the Rays. Gunnar led off the 6th with his 13th long ball of the season on a drive to deep center field. The solo shot gave Gunnar his first two-homer game since June 21st, 2024 and has him on pace for 37 homers in 2026. Alexander then hit the O’s final deep fly of the evening, blasting a two-run homer off Hesley to give Baltimore an 11-1 lead. His first Orioles home run gave Alexander 6 RBIs on the night, setting a new career-high for the 26-year-old.

While the offensive fireworks will steal the headlines from Wednesday’s game, the defense behind rookie starting pitcher Trey Gibson also deserves a ton of credit for the Orioles completing the sweep. Baltimore came into Wednesday 25th in Baseball Reference’s Defensive Runs Saved metric, but the infield in particular looked like a unit Earl Weaver would be proud of.

Gibson ran into some early trouble in the 1st after giving up a lead-off single to the speed Chandler Simpson. However, the right-hander then rolled his first double-play ball of the night, getting Junior Caminero to ground into an around-the-horn, 5-4-3 double play to erase the early runner. After a single by Jonathan Aranda and a walk from Yandy Díaz, Pete Alonso made a nice snag for a 3-1 groundout to strand both runners.

The defense would then bail Gibson out again in the 3rd to keep the game scoreless. No. 9 hitter Hunter Feduccia led off the inning with a single up the middle, before Simpson and Aranda walked to put Baltimore in a bases-loaded, one-out jam. Gibson then picked up his first strikeout of the evening on a cutter that just caught the top of the zone against Díaz. That set the stage for the defensive play of the day, as Gunnar Henderson denied Richie Palacios of a run-scoring infield single on a Machado-esque throw from short.

The Orioles would turn two other double plays in the 4th and 5th to kill rallies before they started. Alexander started an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play on a Carson Williams grounder. Then, after a Feduccia leadoff single in the 5th, a sharp grounder from Simpson turned into a 4-6-3 double play—only the second time Simpson has been doubled up all season.

The Rays finally got on the board against Gibson in the 6th, thanks to some would-be double-play balls that the Orioles’ infield didn’t turn. Aranda led off the inning with a single and then moved to second on a Díaz walk. Palacios then pounded a hard grounder to Alonso at first, who tried to start a 3-6-3 double play, only for a high throw to momentarily pull Henderson off the bag and prevent a timely throw back to first. Then, with runners at the corners, Gibson got Villade to hit a grounder to short, which turned into a run-scoring fielder’s choice after the Rays outfielder beat Jeremiah Jackson’s throw to first.

After losing his shutout on his 100th pitch of the night, Gibson would exit to an ovation from the Camden Yard faithful, coming up just one out short of his first-ever quality start. After Keegan Akin got the final out of the 6th, it closed the rookie’s line at 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 4 BB and 1 K. With 13 outs via ground ball, Trey Gibson looked like the best version of former Oriole Kyle Gibson as he shut down the Rays.

The win sealed the Orioles’ first sweep over Tampa since a four-game sweep in Tropicana Field in June 2024. The O’s last swept the Rays in Baltimore during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. This is also the first time the Rays have been swept this season.

Baltimore will look to earn their first four-game win streak of the season when they welcome the Blue Jays to Camden Yards tomorrow.

Let us know your favorite moment and player of the game down in the comments.

The Red Sox looked like a different team in the best way possible. 

Boston blanked the Atlanta Braves to even the three-game series by way of the pitching staff’s seventh shutout of the season. The Red Sox held down MLB’s best team and knocked around a starting pitcher riding plenty of momentum. 

Here’s three takeaways from Wednesday’s win. 

EXCELLENT EARLY

Connelly Early had thrown the ball fairly well in his three previous starts with no more than three earned runs allowed. Against arguably baseball’s best lineup on Wednesday, the young Red Sox lefty tossed seven brilliant innings of shutout ball. 

Early struck out seven hitters and allowed just four hits on the night. He matched his best start of the year from another seven-inning gem against the Rays on May 8. 

HOW MANY RUNS IN AN INNING? 

Baseball is a weird sport sometimes.

That’s the only explanation for an offense that’s struggled all season to explode against one of the best starting pitchers in baseball so far. 

Bryce Elder sported a 1.97 ERA in 11 starts when he took the mound at Fenway Park. The right-hander posted three scoreless innings before the Red Sox tallied six runs (five earned) in the fourth inning to bring an early end to the night for the Atlanta starter.

Boston posted a six-run inning for just the second time this season, joining the 10-3 win over the Tigers on May 5.

ONE MORE! 

The Red Sox are still the only team in baseball without 10 home victories on the season. Beating Chris Sale on Thursday to take the series would finally bring the Red Sox to the double-digits club with the rest of the league.

As the Colorado Rockies aim to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, there will likely be more than just Colorado and Los Angeles fans eagerly paying attention. The entire country of Japan may very well be checking in as two of their most beloved stars take center stage on the mound to square off for the first time in their careers.

Tomoyuki Sugano ( 菅野 智之 ) enters the game as one of the Rockies’ most reliable starters this season. While Sugano-san has had a couple of rough outings this season, he sports a 4-3 record and a 3.86 ERA. His last outing on the road against Arizona started some of the spiraling for a ragged rotation as he allowed two runs on six hits over 6.2 innings of work. It was the first quality start for the Rockies since the beginning of May and was representative of the veteran at his best. He continues to pound the zone, allowing more than two walks in just a single start this season. He has only gathered more than three strikeouts twice, but ground balls and weak fly balls have been the name of the game. Through his last six starts, he has only allowed four home runs, three of which came in his start against the Philadelphia Phillies.

In his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which came at Coors Field, Sugano gave up five runs on nine hits in four innings of work.

Shohei Ohtani ( 大谷 翔平 ) has ascended to another level on the mound this season as he has his eyes set on the Cy Young Award. Ohtani-san is 4-2 on the year with a microscopic 0.73 ERA over 49 innings of work. . He has worked at least six innings in seven of his eight starts and allowed at least one earned run in just three starts. His last outing against San Diego saw the two-way star fire five shutout innings while allowing just three hits and striking out four. He features a varied pitch mix with up to nine different types of pitches, making it difficult for opposing hitters to adjust to what’s coming. Ohtani generates plenty of swing-and-misses while pounding the zone.

He has made two career starts against the Rockies, posting a 4.91 ERA over 11 innings of work. His last outing came in 2025, where he allowed five runs on nine hits over four innings at Coors Field.

First Pitch: 8:10 pm MDT

TV: Rockies TV

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

SB Nation site: True Blue LA

Lineups:

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