Category: Baseball

Turns out slam-fest over the weekend against the Chicago White Sox means very little to Merrill Kelly, Ketel Marte, and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The five days that elapsed between the Giants last meeting with starter Kelly wasn’t enough to cleanse the palate. The 2026 Giants can’t figure him out, nor could they over the past seven seasons either. He’s now collected a quality start in his last six games against San Francisco, a streak that dates back to September 2023. Over 22 starts in his career, Kelly has posted a 3.30 ERA over 133.2 innings pitched. That’s a solid two-thirds of a season in which Kelly has pitched admirably against the Giants. Results that bear a quiet dignity, like if a minor British Royal was on the mound. Kelly doesn’t light up the radar gun. He relies heavily on a change-up and a variety of low-90s fastballs that he cuts, sinks, and places pretty much where he wants it. The 37 year old has never been the ace or the star. His celebrity doppelganger is Chris Elliot, who is someone you don’t know by name but absolutely recognize. Elliot isn’t going to win an Oscar, and Kelly probably won’t ever win a Cy Young, or even an All Star nod, but he’s made a career out of dotting 90 MPH cutters on the outside corner of the zone. As Mike Krukow likes to point out, there are throwers and pitchers, and Kelly is the latter.

After a really rough start to the year in which he allowed 19 runs across three consecutive starts, Kelly has found his footing, and the Giants have played an integral part in regaining his form. Kelly has now won his last four starts, following up a quality start (3 ER, 6 IP) on May 25th with another rock solid outing, allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits over 7 innings pitched in San Francisco’s 6-2 loss.  

The only breakthrough against him came in the 4th when Rafael Devers took on Triple’s Alley with the second-longest double in the Majors (the longest was hit by Devers yesterday). At the time, it gave the Giants a 2-1 lead. Which was nice. It’s fun when your team is down by a run and then a pitch later, your team is up for a run. Like many leads this year, this feeling of positivity and good-will proved fleeting. I was listening to the game on the radio as I warmed up for my softball game, and the goodwill bought by Devers’s double lasted about as long as it took for me to move a milk carton full of softballs from the left field foul pole to the right. 

While Landen Roupp was perhaps not the sharpest he’s been, it was a couple of costly defensive mistakes in the 5th that Arizona capitalized. Number-9 hitter Tommy Troy reached second on a throwing error by Willy Adames. Ketel Marte tied on the next pitch when Casey Schmitt, playing left due to the health of Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee, misplayed an opposite-field flare. Maybe a more experienced or confident corner outfielder would’ve reeled the ball in, but with an xBA of .610,  it’s hard to argue that Ramos, or any other player on the Giants roster who’s played left this year, is that outfielder. The major mistake on the play wasn’t not catching the ball, but letting it skip past. Instead of a single with runners on the corners giving Roupp to work out of it (which he essentially did in the 3rd), the lead was gone, and the Diamondbacks were set-up to retake it. 

By the time the 4-run 5th was over Roupp had thrown 93 pitches. He bagged 7 strikeouts but lacked an efficiency in at-bats (against a tough contact-oriented Arizona lineup to be fair) to survive any deeper in the game. The error and misplay obviously didn’t help either. And with Roupp out of the game and Joel Peguero in, Marte continued to be the bat-wielding version of Kelly, extending Arizona’s lead with a 2-RBI single that effectively put the game to bed.

That’s two wins in a row for Kelly, four more hits and three more runs batted in for Marte (bumping up his totals to 10 H and 10 RBI vs. SF), and Arizona’s fourth win in as many games so far against our Giants. 

The Texas Rangers had zero hits but the Houston Astros scored nine runs.

I think in some regards it is at least interesting that we are getting to experience the worst lineup that perhaps the Rangers have ever fielded in franchise history. It certainly isn’t pleasant but at least it’s historic.

All you really need to know about this game from a Rangers perspective is Kumar Rocker hit the first batter of the night and that runner eventually scored without the benefit of a Houston hit. Meanwhile, in the bottom of the inning, the Rangers drew three walks and didn’t score a run. It was over right then and there, essentially.

Before it ended, however, Sam Haggerty pitched a scoreless final inning for Texas. It was the best performance by Sam Haggerty on a baseball field all year. Sam Haggerty is a hitter*.

^{*it says that on his business card at least}

By that final inning the Rangers had not had a hit all night. They did not get a hit that inning, either. The night’s starter Tatsuya Imai came into the evening with a 8.31 ERA. He’s now sporting a svelte 6.17 ERA. The final six outs came via a guy named Santa making his MLB debut. Merry Christmas!

This Texas lineup followed up a 16-strikeout almost perfect game last night with the first no-hitter in the big leagues in like two years. I’ve written this like it’s an achievement for the lineup because it very much is. Congratulations on finally securing that no-hitter, fellas!

Player of the Game: Dan Jansen fielded a throw on a delayed squeeze play bunt where Jansen caught the ball flipped from in front of the plate by Rocker and immediately moved his knee/leg further away from the plate as to provide the Astros’ runner a red carpet experience on his way to scoring Houston’s third run.

I’ve appreciated the moment because it allowed me to no longer invest emotions into tonight’s game. Thanks, Dan.

Up Next: The Rangers will play the Astros on Tuesday night. Someone will pitch for Texas against someone for Houston thanking their lucky stars that they get to face the Rangers.

The first pitch from The Shed will be at 7:05 pm CDT. It’ll be on the Rangers Sports Network if you want to tune in.

People might show up and take their off shirts in a section of the top deck in the hopes of going viral on social media.

They might do the pledge of allegiance during the seventh inning.

The Rangers will allow a first inning run.

You won’t know whether or not the Rangers will get a hit all evening and that will replace the suspense that used to exist for the outcome of the run column.

Kiké Hernández was still in an anesthetic haze when he woke up from the elbow operation he underwent in the offseason, so forgive him if the details of this story aren’t entirely accurate.

But as far as he could recall, when he came to, his surgeon told him his injury was the worst of its kind that he’d ever seen.

“I don’t know how you played,” Dr. Neal ElAttrache told him.

Hernández quickly thought of how he could leverage the compliment.

He made a video-call to Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, and asked ElAttrache to repeat what he just told him.

“I did this for you,” Hernández recalled telling Freidman, “so you better bring me back.”

Not as if Friedman had to be pushed into doing so.

The now-34-year-old former class clown is one of the most emblematic players of the golden era of Dodgers baseball. Activated from the injured list on Monday, Hernández started his ninth season with the franchise in the opening contest of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies at Uniqlo Field.

“I’m still the clown in the clubhouse,” Hernández said.

Except when he first joined the Dodgers, he was thought of as that and little else. He was a part-time player who knew how to attract eyeballs, once popping up in the dugout in a full-body banana costume in hopes of inspiring a comeback.

But Hernández didn’t work his way into the position he is now just by thrusting his pelvis whenever he heard reggaeton playing in Dodger Stadium.

If his playful antics granted him entry into the hearts of fans, his on-field performances kept him there.

More specifically, his performances in October.

One of the greatest postseason players to ever wear a Dodgers uniform, Hernández has been part of several pivotal moments in the franchise’s recent history, which, by extension, were pivotal moments in the lives of its fans.

Who could ever forget the three home runs Hernández hit against the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the 2017 National League Championship Series to advance the Dodgers to their first World Series in 29 years?

Or his game-tying pinch-hit home run against the Atlanta Braves in the 2020 NLCS that contributed to the Dodgers finally breaking their championship drought?

Or his solo blast against the San Diego Padres that drove in the deciding run in a winner-take-all Game 5 of the 2024 NLDS?

Or how he doubled off a runner at second base to seal a win over the Toronto Blue Jays that extended the World Series last year to a seventh game?

What’s especially striking about those games is how Hernández seems to be a completely different player in the playoffs than in the regular season. He’s a career .236 hitter in the regular season. Wanting to be a full-time player, he left the Dodgers after the 2020 World Series, only for the Boston Red Sox to discard him in his third season with them. 

Hernández returned to the Dodgers and resumed creating postseason moments. He now has 16 career postseason homers, tying him for 20th-most all-time – one fewer than Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and David Ortiz; and one more than Babe Ruth.

Producing last October, however, was particularly difficult. His left elbow problems sidelined him for nearly two months, and he reaggravated the injury diving for a ball in left field against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the NLCS.

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“Every time I would get in my batting stance, I would feel like I had a blowtorch on,” Hernández said.

In his eight games before the dive, Hernández batted .379. In the nine games after, he hit .143.

He still managed to make one of the most memorable plays of a World Series won by the Dodgers.

“He’s a tough, tough competitor, tough player,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And I don’t think anyone appreciated how severe the injury was (last year). He was not going to come out of the lineup and gave himself every opportunity to play with the kind of pain that he was going through. That’s kind of what makes him special.”

The operation to repair the torn extensor tendon and muscle in his left elbow cost Hernández the chance to represent Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic, which he said “hurt my soul a little more than I was in pain physically last year.”

While appreciative of his place in Dodgers history, Hernández said, “I don’t like to sit back and think about it at all because that’s when you start thinking about, ‘Oh, life after baseball,’ and things like that.”

But he said he’s aware of the different roles he has to take on as a veteran player, whether it’s as a leader in the clubhouse who is “in charge of checking guys” or a representative of the Latino community. 

“We’re living in some rough times, especially in this city in the last few years,” Hernández said.

Last year, Hernández was the only Dodgers player to speak out against the ICE raids staged across Los Angeles.

“I always say that one baseball year is kind of like cat years,” he said. “One baseball year is like seven years of life with how much you learn and all the stuff that happens in one season. And, you know, I love being here. I love being a Dodgers. I love the grind of a baseball season.”

He reflected on the three weeks he spent in the minor leagues on a rehabilitation assignment.

“Now I’m back with my guys here,” he said, “and am ready to go.”

In the bottom of the first inning against the Dodgers on Monday night, Colorado Rockies first baseman TJ Rumfield was hit by pitch in the right hand. The rookie stayed in the game to run the bases, and even tried to field in the bottom of the inning, but he was unable to stay in the game.

His hand was visibly swollen above his ring and pinky knuckles after being hit by a 96.6-mph four-seam fastball from Emmet Sheehan.

UPDATE 10:07 pm — In his postgame interview, Warren Schaeffer said that Rumfield’s x-rays showed he did not have any broken bones. He will get additional imaging tomorrow.

Purple Row will continue to follow this developing story as more information becomes available.

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James Wood set the tone for this game when he absolutely launched a lead off home run into the Progressive Field crowd. From there, the Nats put it on the Guardians, and did not let up. The Nats launched six home runs in this contest, absolutely lighting up Guardians starter Tanner Bibee.

This weekend in Atlanta, the Nats offense was mostly neutralized. Maybe it was due to the Braves elite pitching staff, or the presence of Darnell Coles in the opposing dugout. Whatever the reason, the Nats were still able to take 2 out of 3 from the Braves without having their A game, which is the offense.

Tonight the Nats had that A game early and often. Tanner Bibee was just not fooling any of these Nats hitters. It really felt like Bibee was tipping his pitches based on some of the swings these Nats hitters were taking. They seemed to know what was coming, and then absolutely hammered the pitches they did get.

One of the subplots of this series was the Aussie battle between Curtis Mead and Travis Bazzana. As the former first overall pick, Bazzana is the bigger name, but tonight belonged to Mead. Two batters after Wood, Mead hit a two run blast right into the hands of a Guardians fan wearing an Australia t-shirt. In the 5th inning, Mead launched another one. This was his first career multi-homer game.

The pickup of Curtis Mead has been such a great addition by Paul Toboni. Mead now has an .844 OPS and is hammering righties and lefties. When Brady House got sent down, most thought third base would be a platoon between Jorbit Vivas and Mead. However, Mead has gotten the majority of the starts, even playing against a righty tonight. He is running with that opportunity, and it seems like he is living up to his prospect pedigree at 25 years of age.

While the Nats were blasting home runs, the pitching staff was also doing a nice job. Outside of a solo homer, PJ Poulin was solid in his two innings as the opener. However, Zack Littell was the real star of the show. He threw the last 7 innings of the game, only allowing one run and striking out 7. The veteran righty did a great job saving the bullpen and shutting down the Guardians.

In May, Littell has been who the Nats thought they were getting. Littell has posted a 2.19 ERA in 24.2 innings this month. After giving up 11 home runs in April, Littell has surrendered just two long balls this month. He seems like he has settled into the season after signing late in the offseason.

The power show the Nats put on in the early innings was absolutely outrageous though. They hit 5 home runs in the first 13 at bats of the game. James Wood, Curtis Mead, Jacob Young, Luis Garcia Jr., and CJ Abrams all went deep. It was truly a magical thing to watch.

So many guys in this lineup are taking a massive leap. Abrams and Wood were already good, but now they are elite. Jacob Young has tapped into power nobody thought he had. Curtis Mead looks like the guy who was a top 50 prospect all those years ago and even Keibert Ruiz has been excellent with the bat.

Some of this is young players taking natural steps in their development, but you have to give so much credit to Matt Borgschulte, Andrew Aydt, and this hitting staff. We are almost in June, and this team has the most runs in all of baseball. They made Tanner Bibee, a solid arm in this league, look like a batting practice pitching. It is crazy to see what is going on in the Nations Capital.

Your Washington Nationals are over .500 after 50 games for the first time in 1,788 days. There is a whole generation of young Nats fans, who were too young to remember 2019 now. All they know is losing and rebuilding. I can only imagine how much fun those little kids are having watching James Wood and CJ Abrams go nuclear.

Honestly, this Nats team is making me feel like a kid again. That 2010’s magic is slowly starting to come back. You go into a series expecting to win games, no matter the opponent. The other team has to fear the Nats, not the other way around. Being the young, fun new kid on the block is such an exciting feeling.

I hope Nats Park is packed this weekend to support this group that has exceeded expectations so massively. It is really May 25th, and the Nats are playing above .500 baseball. Sure, it could come crashing down at some point, but this is already the most fun Nats season in at least five years. This team is making the fanbase feel alive again.

Earlier today, the Colorado Rockies released their weekly injury report.

Below is a list of players on the Injured List and an update on their recovery.

• OF Jordan Beck (10-day IL; left hamstring strain) – continuing to progress in his running program in Denver.
• RHP McCade Brown (60-day IL, right shoulder inflammation) – playing catch and continuing his throwing program; scheduled to throw a bullpen at the end of the month.
• RHP Jeff Criswell (60-day IL; Tommy John surgery rehab) – made his eighth rehab appearance Saturday; scheduled to make another rehab appearance.
• RHP Chase Dollander (15-day IL; right elbow sprain) – continuing his rehab program in Denver.
• OF Brenton Doyle (10-day IL; left oblique contusion) – receiving treatment; no baseball activities.
• RHP Ryan Feltner (15-day IL; right ulnar nerve inflammation) – joined the team in Los Angeles to receive a medical check-up; made his second rehab start Sunday.
• RHP Jimmy Herget (15-day IL; right shoulder impingement) – continuing progress in his rehab; playing catch.
• OF Mickey Moniak (10-day IL; right ankle tendonitis) – continuing to rehab and will have a medical evaluation in Denver.
• LHP Jose Quintana (15-day IL; left elbow sprain) – flew back to Denver to receive an MRI.
• RHP Victor Vodnik (15-day IL; right ulnar nerve inflammation) – continuing progress in his rehab; playing catch.

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After a disappointing series loss to the Royals where the offense looked blinkered, the Mariners now have to contend with the high-flying Athletics offense in their pint-sized ballpark. Sounds like a recipe for a good time. Also, per Shannon Drayer, it’s looking like it will be a windy game in Sacramento. Surely that won’t lead to any hijinks, right?

Lineups:

It’s (heavy sigh) piggyback day. Luis Castillo will be the starter this time with Bryce Miller coming out of the bullpen.

News:

Gabe Speier’s return seems imminent, which will help prop up a beleaguered bullpen:

Also, excitingly, we have a Cal Raleigh update:

Today’s game information:

Game time: 6:40 PT

TV: Mariners.TV, with Aaron Goldsmith and Angie Mentink, with Brad Adam as field reporter

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Gary Hill Jr. and Ryan Rowland-Smith

Emmet Sheehan is the starter to open this homestand that’ll see the Dodgers host the Rockies and Phillies.—Kiké Hernández makes his 2026 season debut.

Monday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Rockies
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
• Start time: 6:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Fresh off the Twins first sweep in Boston in nearly a century and back in playoff position, the Twins came into Chicago looking to keep the momentum going in a battle of two (somewhat surprising) playoff spot holders. Unfortunately, the bats didn’t hold up their after yet another strong performance from Minnesota’s makeshift pitching staff.

Things were looking good to start the game. Newly minted third baseman Brooks Lee connected on his 6th homer of the season in the top of the first, putting the Twins up 1-0 on the fourth pitch of the game. Since bunting a ball into his own face, Lee is now hitting .272/.327/.442 with six home runs and 24 RBI and a 116 wRC+. The numbers aren’t anything to write home about and the expected numbers are still anticipating some regression, but Lee is looking like a real contributor after his first two seasons of well below-average performance.

Unfortunately for the Twins, there wasn’t much notable on offense from there. The Twins had a decent scoring chance in the second inning with runners on first and second and two outs, but an over-aggressive send from Ramon Borrego had Orlando Arcia out at home by a country mile. Arcia even dodged the initial tag, but the process took him far away from home plate and he wasn’t able to get back it before he was tagged. There were never really other scoring opportunities after that, with Minnesota only getting multiple baserunners once from there.

On the other side, Zebby Matthews turned in his third straight quality start since being recalled two weeks ago. It wasn’t perfect, but similar to Lee, Zebby turning into a strong contributor is a huge boon to this team that is short on high-end pitchers. International sensation Munetaka Murakami hit a ball a mile in the air which found the right field bleachers, but who among us hasn’t given up a home run to the AL home run leader?

Matthews also gave up a two run shot to catcher Drew Romo in the second inning to give the Sox their ultimate 3-1 lead, but Zebby really settled in from there. After the second inning, Matthews only allowed a single baserunner, and even the single hit he surrendered deflected off the glove of second baseman Luke Keaschall. He and newly-minted reliever Simeon Woods Richardson kept the Twins in the game, but got nothing to show for it with the bats asleep at the wheel.

The Twins still have three more chances to beat the South Siders this week, but it was a disappointing showing for the bats after all the positive momentum the past week. Back at it tomorrow!

STUDS

• Zebby Matthews: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, BB, 6 K, 2 HR
• Reliever Simeon Woods Richardson: 2 IP, H, BB, K
• Brooks Lee: solo dong

DUDS

• Bats with RISP: 1-7 with the 1 hit resulting in an out at home
• Middle of the lineup (Martin, Bell, Clemens): combined 0-12, 2 K

Record: 29-24. Pace: 89-73. Change on 2025: +3.

The Diamondbacks won the opening game of their series in San Francisco this afternoon. The win moved them into sole possession of the third wild-card in the National League, and was their eighth victory in the last nine games. It was, looking at the final result, quite comfortable. After Ketel Marte’s single drove in a pair in the sixth to complete the scoring, the team’s Win Probability was never less than 92.6%. But, sheesh. This was a win only its mother could love, with the D-backs sloppy on both offense and defense, capped off with a “Not seen that before” moment from Marte. On the other hand, if you can have so much room for improvement, and still get the W, maybe that’s a good thing?

Largely devoid of blame in the above is Merrill Kelly, who posted his fourth quality start in a row. As mentioned in the preview, these haven’t exactly come against the strongest of opponents. Still, he’s got it done as a good pitcher should. Today, he gave Arizona seven innings of two-run ball, on four hits and two walks, with five strikeouts. Kelly is 5-0 against teams currently below .500, and 0-3 facing teams above .500. The only real static came in the bottom of the fourth inning. It began after the Diamondbacks ran out of challenges, Gabriel Moreno wasting our second, after Nolan Arenado had blown one in the second inning. The batter ended up walking.

This was followed by a pair of doubles over the head of Corbin Carroll, which might have been outs: the first in particular was in and out of his glove. [These weren’t our only misplays either. The first batter in the game for San Francisco singled in front of Ryan Waldschmidt, after he had initially broken back on the ball.] They scored a pair of runs, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead. I am also under strict instructions to tell you that Rafael Devers is now Mrs. SnakePit’s most hated player for his “disgusting” chewing and spitting habits, which almost provoked a Roman moment in SnakePit Towers. Googling tells me it’s not tobacco… But Mrs. S is far from convinced.

Anyway. That was it for the Giants offense, though they had their chances, as our bullpen wobbled but held. Jonathan Loaisiga gave up a lead-off double, then retired the next three batters in the eighth. Then Brandyn Garcia triggered indigestion in the ninth by hitting the first batter he faced, then going 3-0 on the next. A much needed double-play calmed the nerves, and he got the final out to move Arizona back to five above .500, tying our season high set on April 18 at 13-8. We haven’t been beyond that since the end of 2024, so it’d be nice if the team can keep up its momentum here.

The offense was good enough. Though it felt like there were any number of wasted opportunities across the course of the game. Gabriel Moreno got Arizona on the board in the third inning, with his third home-run of the season (above). The D-backs had a chance to add on there, getting one-out singles from Tommy Troy, Marte and Carroll. But Geraldo Perdomo struck out without taking the bat off his shoulder, and Nolan Arenado fouled out. Fortunately, the Giants were playing just as sloppily as the Diamondbacks, and a pair of defensive mistakes by them opened the door to a three-run fifth inning, giving Arizona a lead they’d not relinquish.

It began with Troy reaching second on a wild throw from Willy Adames. Marte then blooped a pitch just in front of left-fielder Casey Schmitt, who opted to ignore the ball as it went past him. Somehow, this was scored an RBI double, but Marte will take it. Perdomo then singled Ketel home, and after an Arenado ground-out moved Perdomo into scoring position, Adrian Del Castillo made it 4-2 to Arizona. Marte then got another hit in the sixth, driving in Moreno, who’d walked, and Jose Fernandez, who had doubled. And Marte wasn’t done either, getting his fourth hit of the game… while still making the out at first.

This came in the seventh, on our most annoying (yet, I’ll admit it, amusing enough – albeit, only because we won anyway) gaffe of the season. Troy walked, and Marte sent a fly-ball down the first-base line. It clanked out of the right fielder’s glove, and Marte hared round first, intending to reach second. Unfortunately, he met Troy, who was still intent on returning to first-base (above). While both realized their error, ending up on first and second, the Giants appealed, and on review, Marte was ruled to have passed Troy and so was out. It was reminiscent of this play back in 2018, when Deven Marrero was robbed of what would have been his only HR with us, for a similar base-running mistake.

In the end, it proved irrelevant – mostly because of the Giants going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, otherwise it would likely have been a lot more nervewracking. But we got there. Marte finished the day with four more hits. He now has a nine-game hitting streak where he is 21-for-37 – that’s an average of .568 – with three home-runs and 15 RBI. He got help today from Carroll’s two hits, while Del Castillo, Moreno and Troy each chipped in with a hit and a walk. The only starter not to reach base this afternoon was Ryan Waldschmidt, who had a rough 0-for-5 day with a trio of strikeouts.

Click here for details, at Fangraphs.com
Memorialized: Ketel Marte, +23%
Well remembered: Del Castillo, +13%; Moreno, +11%
Best forgotten: Nolan Arenado, -11%

Thanks to all who showed up in the Gameday Thread on this Memorial Day. 330 comments is very respectable, I’d say. I’m declaring Comment of the Thread a tie between MikeMono and AZNailgal520:

We will be back tomorrow at the same park, to face the Giants again. It will be a 6:45 pm first pitch, the only night game of the series, with the mound being taken by Arizona staff ace Eduardo Rodriguez. And, yeah, it does still feel funny writing that, thank you for asking…

Happy Memorial Day everyone! The A’s are back at home and return to the friendly confines of Sutter Health Park still in first place in their division after a 4-3 road trip. Now the team will go head-to-head against the team that won the AL West last year and are hot on our heels this season in the Seattle Mariners. Tonight marks the opening of this three-game series that could have huge implications down the line at the end of the year.

Scheduled to get the ball tonight for the home team is veteran Aaron Civale. The right-hander has had a great season overall but got hit hard his last time on the mound. He surrendered five earned runs to the Angels in an eventual A’s win, getting bailed out by the offense down in Anaheim. He’ll carry a 3.31 ERA into tonight’s contest, a number he’ll be looking to lower and get closer to 3.

Here’s how the Athletics’ lineup looks for the series opener:

The A’s will welcome Brent Rooker back to the starting lineup after the DH got the series finale off yesterday. He’ll slide back into his usual cleanup spot behind Carlos Cortes, Nick Kurtz, and Shea Langeliers (who is back behind the plate tonight), with Tyler Soderstrom’s left-handed bat right behind him.

The back half of the lineup gets a little shuffle as center fielder Henry Bolte rises up to the sixth spot in the batting order. Jeff McNeil and Zack Gelof follow at second and third base, respectively, while Darell Hernaiz also returns to the starting lineup batting ninth after getting a breather yesterday as well.

For Seattle, they’re sending their own veteran to the mound in Luis Castillo. The 10-year vet has been a reliable arm atop the Mariners’ starting rotation for years now but is perhaps beginning to show signs of falling off. The righty is having by far his worst statistical season to date as he’s consistently gotten hit hard in all of his outings. That, plus the Mariners’ deep and young rotation options, caused the M’s to reconsider his stance as one of the team’s five starting pitchers but they’re planning to stick with him for a little while longer. The A’s could push up that decision up with a big showing on offense against Castillo.

And the Mariners’ starting lineup this evening:

The A’s maintain a 2.5 game lead over the Mariners in the AL West. One win guarantees us remaining there through the series but the team should be aiming higher for a series win or possible sweep. One game at a time though. Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:

Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

Nolan McLean had been dominant to begin his big-league career. 

The Mets' young right-hander appears to have officially hit his first rough patch at the highest level, though, as he’s been extremely ineffective each of his last two times out. 

The latest came on Monday afternoon, when McLean allowed runs in three straight innings and was pulled after failing to complete the top of the fourth in a series-opening loss to the Reds.

His once stellar ERA has quickly risen to 4.40 through 11 starts on the the season after allowing 16 runs (13 earned) on 13 hits and four walks over that two-outing span. 

McLean and Carlos Mendoza explained postgame Monday that the struggles have been a combination of things. 

“He’s having a hard time landing the secondary pitches,” the skipper said. “There’s a ton of movement side-to-side and not so much depth, and he’s getting into bad counts -- it comes down to execution.”

“It’s just bad pitching, honestly,” McLean added. “Getting behind in counts, not landing my off-speed pitches, and I’ve been hitting guys with two strikes -- I haven’t been pitching my best and I gotta be better.”

McLean felt that he did too much mound work this week trying to work through the issue, which led to him losing his legs after striking out the first three hitters he faced in order on Monday. 

The 24-year-old right-hander will now use this as a learning point moving forward, trying to find that balance as he works to get things right ahead of his next turn out against the Marlins. 

Mendoza and the Mets are confident that he'll be able to do just that. 

“He’s a competitor,” Mendoza emphasized. “He’s not happy, but he’s going to keep going -- this is a guy who isn’t going to back down, he’s going to show up tomorrow, put his head down and get back to work -- he’s going to get back on track.”

By now, A.J. Minter has become familiar with surgeries and recoveries. In 2024, it was for his hip. Before that, it was Tommy John and thoracic outlet syndrome procedures at Texas A&M. But this one — surgery to repair a torn lat last May and the yearlong recovery that followed — has been a “weird one,” even by Minter’s standards.

It felt easy at first. Then, a rough patch followed. Minter didn’t want to rush the recovery process, and just when it seemed earlier this month that he was on the verge of finally returning, the Mets removed him from his rehab assignment due to hip discomfort.

Minter described the setback as “super minimum,” but after resuming and making his latest minor league appearance Sunday, his return could happen as early as Tuesday or Wednesday — though it’ll arrive with a lingering velocity question he’ll need to answer.

“It’s been a difficult one for sure,” Minter told The Post of his recovery before the Mets opened a series against the Reds. “Obviously, I would love to [have] been back sooner, but just kinda taking me a little bit to get back. But I do feel like I’m in a good space physically, mentally.”

It could be a different version of the 32-year-old — at least to start. He might not have the same velocity. His fastball averaged 94.5 mph in 2024 and 2025, but during his most recent appearance for Triple-A Syracuse, Minter maxed out at just 93.7 mph and hit only 90.7 on May 20.

He hopes that will change once he returns to an MLB environment. Manager Carlos Mendoza agreed and cited an example of how that was the case for Minter in spring training last year, though he also admitted that it could take time.

“He’s still gonna be able to compete with whatever he’s got,” Mendoza said. “The 91 [mph], 92, he’s got weapons to get righties and lefties. I’m not worried about it, but it’ll be something that I’m pretty sure it’ll be a topic, but like I said, I think he’s more than capable of competing with what he has right now.”

Compared to an invisible lineup and woeful starting pitching, the Mets bullpen hasn’t been a glaring concern, as the team collected the ninth-best ERA in the majors (3.46) entering Monday’s game.

But Minter, who recorded a 1.59 ERA across 12 minor league appearances this season, would serve as another lefty alongside Brooks Raley and demoted starter Sean Manaea.

Minter has tried to avoid getting caught up in the velocity. He just wants to make hitters work and earn everything. And when that happens, when Minter makes a return that Mendoza said the lefty “can’t wait” for, it’ll cap a grueling journey back to the Mets bullpen that’s now more than a year in the making.

“Whether I’m throwing 92 or 97, I feel like I’m just gonna go out there and just attack the strike zone and see what happens,” Minter said.

Eric Lauer will make his Dodgers debut by starting against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers acquired the veteran left-hander from the Toronto Blue Jays on May 17.

It’s a battle of southpaws on the mound, with Kyle Freeland starting the middle game of the series for Colorado.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Rockies
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)