Category: Baseball

The Yankees have optioned catcher J.C. Escarra to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the club announced after dropping Friday night's series opener to the Boston Red Sox.

Escarra has struggled mightily at the plate this year. He has just 11 hits in 62 at-bats (.177) with a .493 OPS over 22 games. 

Ali Sanchez will be called up in the corresponding move, according to multiple reports.

In 40 games at Triple-A on the year, Sanchez has posted a .227/.327/.375 slashline (.702 OPS) with six home runs and 11 RBI in 128 at-bats. He has 18 walks to 28 strikeouts.

Sanchez, who signed with New York on a minor league deal in December, has 50 games of big league experience to his name, across four seasons with five different clubs. In that time, the now 29-year-old has 22 hits in 120 at-bats (.183) with a .454 OPS.

Escarra's demotion comes as a bit of a surprise. Earlier on Friday, Brian Cashman was asked specifically about the Yanks' lack of production from the club's catchers and third baseman.

“Hopefully, they saved all their bullets for now, right?” Cashman said of the group consisting of Escarra, Austin Wells (.169 average, .544 OPS, 57 wRC+ in 46 games entering Friday), and Ryan McMahon (.205 average, .608 OPS, 71 wRC+ in 56 games) in response to Aaron Judge landing on the IL.

“They’re more than capable, they’re good players, we do believe in them,” the GM continued. “It’ll be great if they started ramping all that up and joining the party, too. And they have at times. They are really good, and it’s a grind, but it’s a long season, too. So hopefully, the best is yet to come from those positions.”

The adage goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I’ll tell you this: I don’t know if your heart can grow fonder of Mauricio Dubon, but if such a thing is even possible, then said fondness has probably grown quite a bit this week. The Braves’ nigh-indispensable Swiss army knife had himself another huge game, bashing a game-tying homer and then poking a go-ahead hit as the Braves welcomed the resurgent Pirates to Atlanta with a 6-3 unmanning.

Martin Perez got the start in this game for Atlanta, and as I’ve said before, Perez starts are, well, basically pachinko. Perez Pachinko has a certain ring to it. The Braves’ broadcast team described Perez as a tactician, and that may well be true in terms of sequence — but, fundamentally, Perez lacks the stuff and command to really “get away with” much, so much of what happens while he’s pitching feels awfully random to me. This game was a pretty great case in point, I think.

Perez started the game with a 1-2-3 frame — an ABS-overturn-assisted (thanks, Sandy Leon!) strikeout, and two weak grounders. Then he had another 1-2-3 frame, with another weak grounder, ABS overturn, and a weak liner to right. So far, so fortunate.

Perez began the third with a leadoff walk. Jared Triolo caught up to a high, 88 mph sinker and hit it hard into the gap for a double. Henry Davis got an 0-2 hanging changeup and barreled it to center; the ball had weird spin and was caught by Michael Harris II on a pivot-then-dive, resulting in a sacrifice fly. Both of those bits of hard contact weren’t really on pitches unique to what Perez was throwing in this game; the Pirates’ hitters just happened to put better swings on them than their counterparts in the first two innings. Nick Gonzales then followed with a weak grounder, but this one was too weak, and another run scored. Then there was another a walk, a weak flyout on a pitch down the middle, and old compadre Marcell Ozuna blooped a ball into center to plate the frame’s third run. Perez ended the inning with a strikeout of Oneil Cruz where he didn’t throw a single pitch anywhere near the zone.

Basically, I think you get the idea. Sometimes, what Perez does works. Sometimes, it doesn’t. It feels directly like pachinko to me. (If you have no idea what that is, go look up Peggle. Perez, pachinko. Perez, Peggle. It works. Sometimes Ode to Joy even plays.

The funny thing is, after that, Perez’ results went back to how they were during the first two innings. The fourth was groundout, weak flyout, Leon-assisted strikeout on a pitch not close to the zone. The fifth was weak flyout, weak groundout, and another strikeout (this time of Brandon Lowe) in another sequence where Perez didn’t throw anything near the zone at all. So, Perez’ final line: five innings, five strikeouts, two walks. It was a good outing, let’s be very clear — Perez just keeps doing pachinko, and it’s working.

So, the Braves had a three-run deficit to overcome against Mitch Keller and the Pirates. No problem. Am I the only one that thinks of, “This isn’t even [our] final form” whenever a team takes a lead against the Braves this year? (Well, I’m probably not after you’ve been memetically exposed to this thought provided you actually read recaps and don’t just scroll to the comments…) The Braves first lulled Keller and the Pirates into a false sense of complacency, as Dubon hit a routine grounder to third after Matt Olson blooped a single and Ozzie Albies walked. Then they struck, with Ronald Acuña Jr. hitting a weak RBI flare after Austin Riley walked and Mike Yastrzemski got grazed on the foot with a pitch. The Pirates then had their good pachinko inning, so the Braves trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the third…

…and it was Dubon delivery time. Albies drew another walk with one out, Dubon fouled off some pitches (including a low one and a high one nowhere near the zone), and then Keller did pretty much the paragon of all hang jobs on a curve and… bam. Tie game.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, that’s three dingers in three games for Dubon. Fondness up, if there’s anywhere else for it to go, as noted.

The Braves were quiet in the fourth, but Keller and his defense kind of hit a wall (or, more accurately, a tank or spike trap or Scud missile or something) in the fifth. Harris mashed the first pitch he saw in the inning for a single. Olson got a down-Broadway sinker and did the same. Albies nearly homered on a hanging changeup, but it was caught at the fence. Up came Dubon. He missed a couple of meaty pitches, then got a fastball at the top of the zone, and slashed it to right to break the tie. The ball actually got past the right fielder, but Olson couldn’t score because his player used dexterity as a dump stat, I guess. (Or, more accurately, because he had to hold up in case the liner was caught. Reader’s choice.) Dominic Smith followed with a sac fly, and then Riley barreled a ball off the bricks in right to make it 6-3. That was it for Keller, who ended up with a pretty ghastly 4 2/3 with a 4/3 K/BB ratio, a hit by pitch, and a homer allowed. The Braves got one more walk in the inning, but nothing else.

And really, no one got anything else for the rest of the game. Braves relievers (Didier Fuentes, Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez) threw perfect frames in the sixth, seventh, and eighth, creating a weird situation where the pitching and defense were perfecto-ing the Pirates other than the adverse pachinko results in the third. Braves bats did almost nothing either — Acuña had a single but was thrown out trying to steal in the sixth — until the eighth.

That frame was just kind of weird. The Braves made two outs, and the home plate umpire rung Acuña up on a horrendous call that was quickly challenged and reverted… except the Pirates had walked off the field. So, they all had to return, only for Acuña to draw a walk two pitches later. Then, Harris struck out on three pitches… except the third pitch was a curve as horrendous as the overturned call to Acuña, bounced, hit the catcher in the knee, and allowed Harris to reach. Olson ended up striking out, but still, weird.

So, the Pirates had one more chance to make the Braves walk the plank, and they actually got the tying run up at the plate with none out (to make sure the folks that picked Iglesias got an extra point in our WPA game, I guess). The first batter got a strange pitch clock-violation-aided walk, except that the actual violation was Raisel Iglesias tripping during his delivery and not a real delay. Ozuna then lined an 0-2 pitch to left. So, up came Oneil Cruz, and then he went down on a changeup after seven pitches. Up next was pinch hitter Ryan O’Hearn, and he tried to pull an outside changeup… which he did, right to Albies, who flipped to Dubon (who else, tonight?) as part of a game-ending 4-6-3 double play. Woo.

This game had eight ABS challenges, six of which resulted in overturns, three of which were engendered by Leon. Acuña, Harris, Olson, and of course, Dubon, each had multiple hits.

The series continues tomorrow with an afternoon contest featuring Spencer Strider and Braxton Ashcraft.

Orioles A Lot Blue. Jays A little.

That was less than fun.

Everything that mattered happened in the bottom of the fifth and the top of the sixth.

The Jays scored two in the top of the fifth. With two out George Springer reached on catcher interference, yet again. They are going to name catcher interference after him. Then Brandon Valenzuela homered. It was 3-1 Jays and all was good in the world.

Then, in the top of the sixth. Trey Yesavage, who had been great, other than a first inning home run, had a blow up inning. It seemed to come out of nowhere. It went:

• Double.
• Strikeout.
• Walk.
• Double (tie game).
• Strikeout.
• Single.
• Home run. 6-3.

And that was the game for Yesavage and the Jays really. It just snowballed so quickly. Everything was hit hard, or he got the strikeout.

Other than that. Conner Seabold gave up 3 more runs in the 8th. And Yariel Rodriguez gave up 4 more in the ninth.

Add into the fun, Daulton Varsho left the game with wrist discomfort.

We did have 8 hits, but no walks.

And there were dumb moments. Andrés Giménez was caught stealing, with two out and two on in the second. He is a good percentage stealer, but this wasn’t the time. And Jesús Sánchez was thrown out trying to turn a single into a double with two out in the sixth. Generally, with two outs, I’m ok with someone getting thrown out trying to get into scoring position. But, we were down by three, and he was out by 10-15 feet. It wasn’t close. And replays showed the first base coach telling him to stop at first. If it was a closer game, and if it was close at second, I’d say fine. In this case, just bad baseball.

We did get to see Tyler Heineman pitch, but just one pitch getting pop out to second.

Jays of the Day: Valenzuela (0.15 WPA) and Springer (0.10).

Other Award: Yesavage (-0.46).

Tomorrow we have a bullpen day. 3:00 PM start. Kyle Bradish (3-6, 3.44).

While they’ve already played a handful of games without him, Friday night’s game against the Red Sox marked the first one for the Yankees since Aaron Judge was placed on the injured list with a fractured rib. Let’s just say the early returns on the lineup without him weren’t glowing.

It won’t go down as the worst performance from the offense this season, as they did put up three runs on eight hits, and there were moments where they threatened. However at a time when people are concerned about what the Yankees will do for the next four to six weeks, it didn’t exactly provide reassurance.

Former Yankee Sonny Gray was on the mound for the Red Sox, and he managed to hold the Yankees to just three runs despite the Yankees scattering eight hits. Meanwhile, Ryan Weathers wasn’t able to match the “bend but don’t break” performance. He allowed five runs on seven hits and a walk, including two home runs.

In general, it wasn’t the most sparkling performance in any aspect, as the Yankees fell to the Red Sox 5-3 on Friday night.

Despite how the game played out in general, the Judge-less offense got off to a solid enough start in the first. Ben Rice took former Yankee Sonny Gray in the Bombers’ second at-bat of the game, opening the scoring. That just ended up being the high point of the night.

However, the Red Sox then struck for the next couple runs to take control of the game. After a couple singles, Weathers did himself some unnecessary damage by walking the bases loaded. He then induced a ground out, but there was only play for Anthony Volpe to make, which allowed the tying run to score. The next at-bat, Willson Contreras hit a little soft grounder that Weathers’ throw to first on was off and possibly late, allowing another run to score.

Weathers was hit decently hard all day, and would go on to allow a couple home runs in the fourth and fifth innings. The one in the fourth was a monster shot from Andruw Monasterio, before Contreras added a two-run blast in the fifth.

The Yankees had got one run back in the fourth when Spencer Jones picked up an RBI double for his second hit of the day. Then in the fifth, Trent Grisham got in on the home run game by hitting a solo homer to keep the Yankees hanging around.

However, hanging around was all they did. In the ninth, another former Yankee in Aroldis Chapman took the mound and did give the Bombers a glimmer of hope. He walked two of the first three batters he faced in the ninth, and both on four pitches. With the winning run suddenly at the plate, it looked somewhat like some of the most irritating outings he used to have in pinstripes. However, he eventually got a hold of things and got out of the jam, leaving both Yankees’ runners on base.

If there are any positives to take from this game, Jones had the afformentioned two hits. Plus, Grisham’s homer helps makes his stats look a bit better after his slow start to the year. Besides that, there was not a lot to write home about.

With the Yankees looking to draw even, the rivalry series will continue tomorrow night, with a game scheduled to start at 7:35 pm ET. Will Warren is expected to go opposite Ranger Suarez in that one.

Box Score

The Subway Series isn’t just for the Major League clubs.

And Friday proved to have something a little extra special.

The Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, led by Yankees right-handers Brendan Beck and Carson Coleman, combined to no-hit the Syracuse Mets in a 4-0 win in Central New York.

It marked the RailRiders’ first no-hitter since 2021, according to Minor League Baseball.

Beck, who won his fifth game of the year, threw the first seven innings, striking out six batters and walking three.

Coleman tossed the final two innings with one walk and two punchouts. He closed it out with a 6-4-3 double play against Kevin Parada, a Mets first-round pick in 2022.

Scranton took the lead with two runs in the second off a run-scoring double play and an RBI triple by Duke Ellis. Ellis then hit a solo homer in the fifth. Jonathan Ornelas blast his own solo shot in the eighth.

The game also marked the start of a rehab assignment for outfielder Jasson Dominguez. The switch-hitting outfielder got injured crashing into the left field wall at Yankee Stadium on May 7, and it was later revealed that he suffered an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder.

He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in Friday’s contest.

Jack Wenninger, the Mets’ fifth-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline, started the game for Syracuse. He threw 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs — one earned.

Jorge Polanco and Francisco Alvarez also started the game as part of their respective rehab assignments. Polanco had two walks while Alvarez went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

The RailRiders have been leading the five-game series with Syracuse thus far. They won the first two in the set on Tuesday and early Wednesday before the Mets grabbed the Wednesday nightcap and Thursday’s game with a walk-off single by Matt Rudick.

They wrap up the series this weekend with a 7:35 p.m. start on Saturday and a 1:05 p.m. contest on Sunday.

The game was played on Friday, but the Chicago White Sox certainly made it look like a “Throwback Thursday” in an 8-6 loss in the opening game of their series with the Philadelphia Phillies.

It started out well for the White Sox, as they struck first in the second inning thanks to a two-out rally. It was started by a Sam Antonacci hit-by-pitch and capped off with a Tristan Peters RBI single to give the South Siders a two-run lead. Unfortunately, after that the White Sox — most notably Anthony Kay and Miguel Vargas — looked more like their 2025 selves than the team that has been one of the surprises in the MLB this spring.

Kay came into the game off of a strong May campaign that saw him sport a 4-0 record with a 1.95 ERA in six starts. With two of those efforts coming against the Seattle Mariners and another against the San Diego Padres, it wasn’t just a case of Kay feasting on weak opponents. Unfortunately, he reverted back to who he has been most of his career, as a pitcher with a career ERA over five — and one who struggles with command.

Kay couldn’t throw strikes when it mattered in the bottom of the second, and he didn’t get much help defensively, either. With runners on the corners and one out in a tie ball game, a chopper to Vargas at first had out written all over it. Instead of making the easy play at first, Vargas tried to gun out Adolis García at home, but a poorly-thrown ball allowed everyone to reach safely:

That mistake would cost the White Sox dearly, as an Alec Bohm double with two outs scored two runs that otherwise wouldn’t have crossed the plate.

Unfortunately the mistakes didn’t stop there, as after a Randal Grichuk homer and a Vargas walk, Vargas was caught stealing to turn momentum back in favor of the Phillies. Kay kept making mistakes on his pitch locations but was able to get away with it until García finally made him pay, with his own solo shot in the fourth to stretch the lead to three runs.

To Chicago’s credit, they continued to show the same grit and fight that they have all season. Even after falling behind 6-3 and Kay clearly not having his best stuff, they refused to give up. Grichuk and Derek Hill both knocked out solo homers to keep the game close before Colson Montgomery muscled a broken-bat RBI single to tie the game at six apiece. Unfortunately, the bullpen, mainly Bryan Hudson, looked like the bullpen of old and imploded in the seventh inning. The bases were loaded before Hudson even registered an out, and a sacrifice fly brought a run in. While the lefty was getting squeezed on some good-looking pitches painting the inside corner, it was still a rough outing for a guy who has been clutch all season.

Seranthony Domínguez relieved Hudson and was the next White Sox player to make a critical error. He walked JT Realmuto before getting Brandon Marsh into an 0-2 count. Just one strike away from limiting the damage to a run, he chunked a splitter in the dirt for a wild pitch and a second run scored. Domínguez was able to get Marsh down on strikes on the next pitch, but further damage had been done.

The White Sox posted one last threat in the eighth, but with two on and no outs Rikuu Nishida hit a line drive right at pitcher Brad Keller who made a great reaction catch and threw to second for the double play.

The White Sox would not see another base runner from there on out. Between Vargas’ fielder’s choice, Hudson’s meltdown, and Domínguez’s wild pitch, the South Siders gave Philadelphia too much help, and they paid the price for it. Fortunately, the White Sox still have a chance to win the series as the teams meet two more times.

When the Phillies have won this season, it’s largely been on the back of their pitching staff. But on Friday night, it was the offense that carried the way, as they overcame a shaky start by Jesus Luzardo to top the White Sox 8-6.

Luzardo’s off night began with two outs in the second. He hit a batter, then gave up a run scoring double to Luisangel Acuna and a run scoring single to Tristan Peters to put the Phillies in a 2-0 hole.

The deficit didn’t last long. In the bottom of the inning, J.T. Realmuto led off with a walk, and then Brandon Marsh did something he hasn’t done as a member of the Phillies: Hit a home run off a lefthanded pitcher.

The score was tied at two, but the Phillies weren’t done for the inning. Singles by Adolis Garcia and Kyle Schwarber put runners on the corners. Trea Turner hit a ball to first base, but Garcia was able to beat the throw home to make it 3-2.

Next, Alec Bohm hit a double to left to score both Schwarber and Turner before getting tagged out attempting to advance to third.

Unfortunately, Randal Grichuk immediately got one of those runs back when he led off the third with a home run.

Adolis Garcia extended the lead to 6-3 with his second home run in two games. Unfortunately, Luzardo once again almost immediately gave a run back thanks to Grichuk’s second home run of the night.

Luzardo stayed in the game for the sixth, and that might have been a mistake since he gave up another solo home run, this time off the bat of Derek Hill cut the lead to 6-5.

Jonathan Bowlan took over from Luzardo in the seventh, and his night started on a bad note when he allowed an infield single, compounded by a throwing error. That proved costly three batters later when Bowlan gave up a game-tying single to Colson Montgomery.

Six runs can sometimes feel like a series’ worth of output from the Phillies’ offense, but they didn’t stop there. They loaded the bases against Sox reliever Bryan Hudson in the seventh, but after an Alec Bohm line out and a run-scoring Edmundo Sosa sacrifice fly, it felt like they might waste a chance to give themselves a nice cushion.

But former Phillie Seranthony Dominguez was brought in to finish off the inning, and with two strikes he uncorked a wild pitch that gave the Phillies an insurance run.

Brad Keller handled the eighth for the Phillies and immediately found himself in trouble thanks to a leadoff single followed by a fielding error by Bryce Harper. But Keller caught a break when Rikuu Nishida lined a ball right at him, and he was able to double the runner off second.

Keller finished the inning without incident, and it was up to Jhoan Duran to close things out. Two strikeouts and a nice play by Bryson Stott later, and the Phillies were victorious.

They’ll be back at it tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the bats will continue to look lively, and maybe the pitching staff – Andrew Painter gets the start – can perform well at the same time!

The Dodgers (40-23) host the Angels (24-39) for a three-game series starting Friday night. 

Roki Sasaki (3-3, 4.59 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) starts the series opener for the Dodgers. 

Left-hander Reid Detmers (2-5, 4.63 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) gets the ball for the Angels.

Lineups

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Angels
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, KTTV channel 11 (Angels broadcast)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

It is Friday night.

The Orioles rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the sixth inning to turn the game around into a laugher against the Blue Jays, eventually winning 13-3 in the opener of the series. Adley Rutschman finished the classic triple shy of the cycle while driving in five runs (is he back?), Coby Mayo hit a massive two-run homer, and Brandon Young was good enough to hang in there and get the win after his team mounted the comeback.

YOU KNOW WHAT MUST BE DONE.

Here comes the hard part.

After waiting nervously while Aaron Judge sat out three straight games before being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his rib, the Yankees faced the last-place Red Sox in The Bronx on Friday night — and went out and lost for the third time in four games without their captain, this one 5-3.

This loss wasn’t all on the offense, as Ryan Weathers was tagged for five earned runs for the third time in his last four starts.

But the Yankees’ chances for a comeback against Boston were certainly diminished without Judge.

“It’s a big presence not to have in our lineup,” Ben Rice said. “It’s definitely gonna hurt us, but all we can do is keep moving forward.”

Facing former Yankee bust Sonny Gray — who brought a career 6.06 ERA at Yankee Stadium into the game — the offense never got going, as hitters No. 3-5 in the lineup went hitless in 11 at-bats.

“I thought for the most part we had quality at-bats,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We had a couple of opportunities to get a big hit.”

Rice gave the Yankees a lead in the first inning with his 18th homer of the season — a solo shot to right.

Asked if he thought he’d be pitched differently without Judge’s protection behind him, Rice said, “It’s not for me to say. We’ll see what happens. All I can control is the pitches I swing at and don’t swing at.”

But Weathers faltered in the second, loading the bases with one out.

Boston tied the game on a Wilyer Abreu grounder to short.

Willson Contreras followed with a chopper in front of the plate that went for an infield single to score Jarren Duran and give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

They added to it in the fourth, as Weathers gave up a one-out homer to Andruw Monasterio to make it 3-1.

Weathers said he’s been unhappy with his four-seam fastball and that one ended up in the seats.

The Yankees got a run back in the bottom of the inning on Spencer Jones’ double down the right field line that drove in Jazz Chisholm Jr.

But Weathers’ long-ball problems continued in the fifth, as Contreras hit a two-run shot into the second deck in left for a 5-2 lead.

He’s given up seven homers in his last four outings.

A Trent Grisham blast to right with two outs in the fifth got the Yankees back to within two runs.

They were on the verge of getting back in the game in the seventh, with Ryan McMahon on first and Rice facing lefty Danny Coulombe.

Rice got the count full, with lefty-killing Paul Goldschmidt on deck, but Rice whiffed to end the inning.

In the ninth, against another disappointing ex-Yankee, Aroldis Chapman, the Yankees got a leadoff walk from Max Schuemann, pinch hitting for Jones.

Anthony Volpe struck out looking on three pitches and Amed Rosario, pinch hitting for McMahon, also walked on four pitches.

Then came their third pinch hitter of the inning, José Caballero for Austin Wells.

With runners on first and second and one out, Caballero popped out to right and Grisham grounded out and the Yankees dropped their first game of the year to Boston after sweeping three at Fenway Park in April.

On the morning of Wednesday, May 20, San Francisco Giants first baseman Bryce Eldridge had a slash line of .143/.226/.250, with only one extra-base hit in nine games. He wasn’t playing every day, looked to be pressing at the plate, and was blocked by stronger hitters Rafael Devers and Casey Schmitt.

That’s when Mike Krukow went on KNBR and declared that Eldridge should go down to Triple-A.

Krukow sounded like a hater, stopping just shy of telling Eldridge to “grab some Rivercats pine, meat.” He wasn’t being malicious, and it’s not like the Giants don’t have a recent history of promoting prospects with limited minor-league experience. Dearly departed catcher Patrick Bailey got only 60 plate appearances each at Double-A Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento. Schmitt played 29 games at Double-A and 36 at Triple-A before the Giants brought him to the big leagues.

Was there an element of “Respect your elders, young fella” and “Get off my lawn infield grass!” to Krukow’s comment? Of course! Krukow is 74 years old. He likely remembers how annoying Will Clark was to hang out with 40 years ago.

Perhaps fired up by the criticism, Eldridge hit a double that afternoon. Two games later, he went 2-for-3 with a walk. In a three-game series at Coors Field, Eldridge was 6-for-11 with two walks, a homer, and four doubles. He went 2-for-5 Friday, continuing his eight-game hit streak and scoring two runs, and his slash line now stands at 293/.372/.467. Since Krukow’s comments, Eldridge is hitting .383 and slugging .596, with six walks and 10 Ks.

He’s also wearing out pitchers. Since May 23, Eldridge is seeing 4.57 pitches per plate appearance, fourth-most in the league. He’s also regularly lining balls off of opposing pitchers, leading to infield hits and bruises, with Eldridge’s liner off Grant Anderson’s forearm knocking him out of Thursday’s game.

Thankfully, Eldridge has not struck back at another pitcher named Mike Krukow, though we are fairly sure that the 21-year-old slugger looks plenty ready to him now. The Giants offense is red-hot, scoring 30 runs in their last two games.

But if they start to cool off, manager Tony Vitello can fire up his team by playing the KNBR card. We suggest going on the station and find out what Larry Krueger thinks about ethnic differences as it pertains to plate discipline.

The Rays are in Miami to open their annual Citrus Series against the Marlins. Drew Rasmussen is on the bump against Marlins starter Ryan Gusto.

Junior Caminero got things going in the top of the first with a one-out double to right, and Jonathan Aranda drew a walk to put two runners on for Yandy Diaz. Diaz grounded out, but moved both runners into scoring position for Richie Palacios to try and bring them home.

Richie delivered, scoring both runners on a line drive to right. Marlins right fielder Owen Cassie misplayed the ball, and Palacios slid into third with a two-RBI triple. Two pitches later, Palacios scored on a Ryan Vilade single to right field, making it 3-0 Rays. Cedric Mullins grounded out to end the inning.

Rasmussen took the mound in the bottom of the first, and set the Marlins down quickly, needing only five pitches to move this game into the second.

The Rays weren’t able to replicate their first inning, but Ras kept the Marlins quiet in the second, and did so again in the bottom of the third, striking out four between those two frames. Tyler Phillips entered for the Marlins in the top of the third to relieve Ryan Gusto. Chandler Simpson was replaced in the third with a discomfort in his left thumb, with Victor Mesa Jr. replacing him in right field.

Fast forwarding to the top of the fifth, Junior added to his double total on the night, hitting another one to left field this time. Jonathan Aranda stepped up next, reaching for a slider and poking it into center field to bring Caminero home, extending the lead to 4-0 and tallying his 44th RBI on the season.

Yandy followed the Aranda hit with a single, deflecting off Tyler Phillips’ foot. He was checked out by the team’s training staff, but stayed in the game and ultimately worked his way out of the jam in the top of the fifth.

Ras worked another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fifth, recording his seventh strikeout in the process. Cedric Mullins led off the bottom of the sixth, with Phillips staying in for another inning on the mound for Miami. Mullins swung at the fourth pitch he saw, an 87mph splitter, and he sent it 397 feet over the right field wall, extending the lead to 5-0.

Rasmussen pitched another shutdown inning in the bottom of the sixth, recording his eighth strikeout of the game in the process.

Junior led off the top of the seventh and draw a walk for his fourth time reaching base on the night. Yandy hit a one-out single to move Junior up to second, and with two outs in the inning, Ryan Vilade hit a single to bring Caminero home, extending the lead to 6-0 and putting two runners on for Cedric Mullins. Mullins reached on a catchers interference, and with the bases loaded, Nick Fortes stepped up to face new pitcher William Kempner.

Kempner was able to get the Marlins out of the jam, so the lead stayed at six for Rasmussen to manage. Ras needed 13 pitches to continue the one-hitter and set down the heart of the Miami lineup.

Cam Booser was brought in to pitch the bottom of the eighth, ending Ras’ 87 pitch, one-hit night. Ras struck out nine with no walks, lowering his ERA to an even 3.00, on the season.

Booser’s eighth inning was nearly perfect, recording three strikeouts but walking Jakob Marsee in the process. Yandy Diaz led off the top of the ninth with a single off Tyler Zuber, and Richie Palacios followed that up with a walk, but neither runner made it home after the next three hitters were set down by Zuber.

Cole Sulser entered for the bottom of the ninth, and did exactly what he needed to do — recording a strikeout of Kyle Stowers to end it.

Behind a monster outing from Drew Rasmussen, the Rays and their six-run performance shut out the Marlins to open the Citrus Series. Shane McClanahan will take the mound tomorrow in Miami against a Marlins starter to be determined, first pitch scheduled for 4:10pm.

Prior to the start of the team’s series against the Padres, Carlos Mendoza announced that Francisco Alvarez Will be catching back-to-back games tonight and tomorrow for the Syracuse Mets. If all goes well, he will likely return at some point during the team’s next homestand next week.

This is, quite frankly, a freakish recovery for Alvarez, who has made a habit of beating the projected return date on injuries by several days, if not weeks. This represents the latter, as he was expected to miss six-to-eight weeks with his meniscus tear in his right knee and could be back in just under four. Alvarez recently attributed his quick recovery from injuries to being a normal human “with a different mindset” and really, who could argue with that?

Alvarez has already had a noteworthy rehab stint, doubling in his first two at-bats and finishing his first game on June 2 by going 2-for-3 with a run batted in. He went hitless in his second game on June 4, which included three strikeouts, but he caught seven innings and threw out a runner trying to steal second. The last hurdle appears to be catching back-to-back games, at which point the team will re-evaluate and determine whether he’s cleared to return to the majors.

Prior to his injury, Alvarez was slashing .241/.317/.393 with four homers, a 104 wRC+, and a 0.5 fWAR in 37 games played. He has been struggling as of late, however, hitting just .214/.250/.286 while being held without a homer and posting a 51 wRC+ in 17 games since April 21. In his absence, Luis Torrens has assumed the bulk of the team’s catching duties, hitting .231/.298/.308 with a 78 wRC+ in 18 games while continuing to excel behind the plate, especially with respect to throwing out would-be base stealers.

Am I the Willson Contreras whisperer? Many are saying it’s true. Due to a bug/feature in the schedule I haven’t have a game recap since mid-May, when the headline was “Where there’s a Willson, there’s a way, son.” Deja vu? Contreras led the way again tonight, in swatting Yankees pitchers:

And coolers of delicious, cold crisp liquids on a balmy Big Apple nite:

Not to be outdone, Andruw Monasterio hit his first donger of the year which helped the Sox pull one out behind Sonny Gray, who worked into the 7th and gave up two solo homers and a double but got the W once Aroldis Chapman closed the door on the two-on, one-out situation into which he was put by Aroldis Chapman. I will admit it was tough to follow the game while watching Thor: Ragnarok but it was made easier by the fact I’ve seen it a million times but I promised my son (almost 9) that we’d watch tonight and I forgot I had traded for the game because of Patriots Day until I was reminded like three hours before. Rules are rules.

But a note about the Yankees from down in enemy territory. It’s sorta obvious the Knicks have subsumed them right now, especially with Aaron Judge’s injury, but they’re the one team that always had the power to do so. As much as Yankees fans are a majority bloc here, there are more Mets fans here than there are of hometown fans in most league cities. But the Knicks are the only game in town (the Nets are a fake idea that helps Barclays Center charge mortgages for 19.2-oz cans of Brooklyn Lager). Is it worth it? I’m not a Celtics crazy by any means, so the answer is a plain yes. This is fun. The Yankees cannot be fun by definition. You might say we won this one before the game even began. Thanks to Willson, we did it afterward too.

The Yankees had chances, but failed to capitalize as they dropped the first game of the series against the Boston Red Sox, 5-3, on Friday night in The Bronx. 

New York (37-26) went 1-for-6 with RISP and left seven men on base. Boston (27-35) didn't tally a hit in the last four innings.

Here are the takeaways…

- SpencerJones, called up with Aaron Judge set for a long stint on the IL, singled up the middle in his first trip to the plate before he notched an RBI double, bouncing a 3-0 offering down the first baseline in the fourth for the Yankees' lone hit with a runner in scoring position on the night. The RF, who was 4-for-24 during his first stint in the big leagues, got his first career three-hit game with a two-out single in the sixth. 

- Ben Rice put the Yanks up 1-0 in the first, taking a hanging Sonny Gray curveball 377 feet to right. It was Rice's 18th homer and 45th RBI of the year. He added a smashed single to right and a walk, but struck out swinging to end the seventh, chasing ball four against lefty Danny Coulombe. He finished 2-for-3 with a walk.

- Trent Grisham, who grounded out to second his first two times up, got a sweeper in the happy zone and clocked it 424 feet into the second deck in right (108.3 mph off the bat) for a solo shot. Grisham has been swinging a better bat of late; he entered the game 15 for his last 43 (.349) with a .917 OPS. With two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth, he grounded out to first to finish 1-for-5.

- Ryan Weathers got a scare when Red Sox leadoff man Jarren Duran clubbed the game's first pitch to the warning track in left for a long out. After the six-pitch clean first, the left-hander followed with a 10-pitch second, getting around a one-out single.

Weathers was in a spot of bother with one out in the third when Connor Wong flipped a single into left, Duran singled into right on a ball that ticked off Paul Goldschmidt’s glove at first, and he walked Ceddanne Rafaela on four pitches. The righty traded a run for an out on a slow roller to short, but allowed Boston to go ahead on a WillsonContreras check-swing infield hit as the pitcher’s throw to first pulled Goldschmidt off the bag.

After picking up his second strikeout of the night, Andruw Monasterio absolutely smoked a 3-2 Weathers fastball 408 feet into left field for a solo homer in the fourth. And after getting two quick outs in the fifth, a bouncing ball just eluded Jazz Chisholm Jr. in shallow right and Weathers paid the price when Contreras clobbered a changeup at the bottom of the zone 419 feet that just stayed fair around the left-field foul pole to give the visitors a 5-2 edge.

Weathers finished his night with a 1-2-3 sixth, his final line: 6 innings, five runs on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts on 93 pitches (57 strikes).

- Anthony Volpe, who entered the game with two hits in his last 18 at-bats, took a cutter the other way for a single to put to aboard with one out in the second. He had a bit of bad luck to end the fourth, when his liner up the middle was snared by Monasterio, who doubled Jones off second. Volpe had more bad luck in the sixth, smashing a liner (104.8 mph) to center to end the inning. He finished 1-for-4, with a strikeout looking at three straight fastballs (the last of which went right down the middle) in the ninth.

- The lack of production from the Yanks’ third baseman and catchers was a topic of conversation before the game, and it came to be in the second as Ryan McMahon and Austin Wells failed to come through with runners on first and second, both with lazy flies to left.

McMahon would grab a basehit to right to start the seventh, finishing the day 1-for-3.

Wells, who entered the game hitless in his last 10 at-bats, went 0-for-3 with a strikeout swinging.

- Chisholm, who reached on a fielder’s choice his second time up, stole his 16th base of the season and came around to score two pitches later. He finished 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

- Cody Bellinger went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a walk.

- Goldschmidt was hitless in four at-bats, including an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play in the third.

- Out of the Yanks’ bullpen: Paul Blackburn got six straight outs, including two strikeouts in the eighth. Camilo Doval made it four consecutive 1-2-3 innings for Yankee pitchers with two strikeouts in the ninth.

- In the bottom of the ninth, Max Schuemann walked on four pitches as a pinch-hitter for Jones to lead off the ninth against Aroldis Chapman,before Amed Rosario (as a pinch hitter for McMahon) walked on four pitches with one out. José Caballero (pinch-hitting for Wells) ended that run when he flied out to right with the tying run on base.

Highlights

Ben Rice gets the Yankees on the board early! pic.twitter.com/Tqp1oAJfr0

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 5, 2026

Spencer Jones sends Jazz Chisholm Jr. home on an RBI double pic.twitter.com/hwokCZCGse

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 6, 2026

Trent Grisham homers to make it a two-run game pic.twitter.com/1iKytF5kpI

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 6, 2026

Spencer Jones is 3-3 tonight! pic.twitter.com/uyzct3tk8L

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) June 6, 2026

Upcoming schedule

The series continues on Saturday night with a 7:35 p.m. first pitch. 

Will Warren (3.22 ERA, 1.197 WHIP in 64.1 innings) climbs the hill for the Yanks against lefty Ranger Suarez (3.38 ERA and 1.159 WHIP in 58.2 innings).