Category: Baseball

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

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

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

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

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

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

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

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

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

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

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

The threat, I fear, continues to lurk.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Studs

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

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

Jovani Morán (1.2 IP, 1 H, 3 K)

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

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

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

Duds

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

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

Team RISP (especially Andrew Monasterio)

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

Team Baserunning (especially Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela)

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

Play of the Game

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

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

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

Here are the takeaways...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Game MVP: Cam Schlittler

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

Highlights

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

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 16, 2026

Juan Soto homers in the Subway Series!

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

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 16, 2026

What's next

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

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

The month of May has been one to remember for 24-year-old Mets prospect Zach Thornton.

Thornton, who is the #13 overall prospect in Joe DeMayo's updated Top 30 rankings, was promoted from Double-A Binghamton to Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday, May 6.

Even with the level of competition increasing, Thornton has continued to impress on the mound.

Tonight, the lanky lefty starter pitched six complete innings, fanning nine Scranton/Wilkes-Barre batters. He dominated, allowing just four total baserunners, three hits and one walk, as his squad emerged 8-2, victors.

This was Thornton's second start so far at the top level of the Mets' farm system. In his first start, he allowed three earned runs on five hits through six innings of work.

Thornton's most prized asset as a pitcher is his command, and the early signs at Triple-A show that he's able to eat innings and limit damage effectively.

Fellow Mets top prospects Nick Morabito (OF, #11 overall) and Ryan Clifford (1B/OF, #6 overall) also featured in Friday's fixture. Morabito led off and went 3-for-5 with one RBI, while Clifford went 0-for-5.

Box Score

The Brewers got some help tonight, as a mistake by Royce Lewis and a key (see: correct) call by the umpires allowed them to tie and later take the lead in the eighth inning in Minnesota, giving the Brewers their 25th win of the season against the Twins.

Milwaukee got things started with a bang, as Jackson Chourio doubled, advanced on a flyout from Brice Turang, and William Contreras brought him around with a single off the glove of Brooks Lee at shortstop with the infield in.

After the top of the first, Coleman Crow and Joe Ryan exchanged 1-2-3 innings for a bit, as neither team had another baserunner until the top of the fourth, when Jake Bauers singled (extending his on-base streak to 17) and stole second but was ultimately stranded at third base after a nice play by Lee at short.

Crow’s first baserunner allowed came in the fourth, as Ryan Jeffers reached on an error by Luis Rengifo, whose throw pulled Bauers off the base at first.

The Twins finally put up a threat and picked up their first hit of the evening in the fifth, as Kody Clemens was hit by a pitch and Ryan Kreidler moved him to third with a single, putting runners at the corners with two outs. Kreidler was then caught stealing second, ending the threat just as it was getting started.

In the sixth, Crow got into some more trouble, allowing back-to-back singles to begin the inning and putting runners at the corners once again. That marked the end of the night for him, as he was pulled in favor of Aaron Ashby. Ashby immediately induced a double play to clear the bases, though the run scored to close the book on Crow with a no-decision.

Crow threw just 68 pitches, 49 of them for strikes, as he went 5+ innings with one run allowed on three hits, a hit batter, and no walks. He also struck out three.

In the seventh, the Brewers immediately responded with a threat of their own, as Andrew Vaughn and Sal Frelick hit a pair of one-out singles. Rengifo then grounded into what was initially called a double play, but the Brewers challenged the out call at first, and the call was overturned. The runners at the corners went for naught, though, as David Hamilton hit a soft grounder in front of the plate for the final out.

With Ashby still on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, the Twins took their first lead of the night, hitting three consecutive singles (though the first of those could certainly have been ruled an error on Bauers, as he deflected the ball into the outfield). On the third single, though, the throw home from Chourio was cut off, and Clemens was caught between second and third. Ashby allowed one more single to Kreidler, but he got out of the jam with a strikeout of James Outman.

Now down 2-1, Ashby was suddenly in line for his first loss of the season. Not for long, though.

Chourio singled and moved to third on a single by Turang, as he was in motion on the 3-2 count. Turang then stole second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position with no outs. With Contreras at the plate and the infield in, things got strange fast.

Contreras hit a routine groundball right to Lee at shortstop, and with Chourio a few steps off the bag, Lee went to third with the throw. A sliding Chourio was initially called out, but third base umpire Jordan Baker’s hands immediately went up as he called for an umpire meeting. Both managers stepped out of their dugouts at this point.

After a short discussion, Chourio was awarded home plate due to obstruction by Royce Lewis at third, as Lewis clearly blocked the bag with his foot (the play is technically ruled as an E5 by Lewis). Both Contreras and Turang were also safe at first and second, respectively. Understandably upset at the situation, Twins manager Derek Shelton was tossed after a few words with the umps.

After all of that, Milwaukee was still in the driver’s seat with Bauers at the plate. Bauers lined a 2-1 sinker that hung over the middle into right-center, allowing Turang to score and putting runners at second and third, still with no outs. Unfortunately, the Brewers couldn’t cash anything else in, as Blake Perkins grounded out with the infield in, Vaughn flew out to shallow left (after missing a two-run ground-rule double by mere inches down the right field line), and Frelick lined out. Still, Milwaukee led 3-2, and Ashby was now in line for his MLB-leading eighth win.

Abner Uribe, who has had his share of struggles this season with a 4.96 ERA entering tonight, took the eighth. After a strikeout, he allowed a single and a walk, but a Josh Bell grounder turned into an inning-ending double play.

After a 1-2-3 ninth for the Crew, Trevor Megill, who was demoted from the closer role roughly a month ago, entered for what would be his first save chance since an extra-inning save in Miami on April 17 (which also happened to be Crow’s first and only MLB start to date). He set the Minnesota batters down with ease, ending things with a strikeout of Lewis on the sixth pitch of the at-bat.

It may not have been pretty, but the Brewers escaped with their seventh win in their last eight games, moving them to 25-17 on the season. Despite allowing the go-ahead run in the seventh, Ashby is now a perfect 8-0 on the season, a full two wins ahead of Chris Sale, Paul Skenes, and José Soriano, three Cy Young candidates who sit tied for second with six wins each. Megill picked up his fifth save of the season with a clean ninth.

Chourio and Bauers led the offense with two hits each, including a double for both. Bauers brought in the go-ahead run with his double in the eighth, and he added a stolen base, too (as did Turang). No other player reached more than twice, as the Brewers totaled nine hits and one walk on the night.

The Brewers will look to keep it rolling on Saturday night, as Logan Henderson gets the start against Connor Prielipp in a matchup of rookies. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m.

A rookie pitcher making his second MLB start mostly stymied the Twins’ offense, and when this team gets into a bullpen battle, they’d lose to the Bad News Bears. Inning-by-inning notes:

1: We begin a sparsely-attended game with a Jackson Chourio double; he scores on a William Contreras single. Three hits for Milwaukee in the inning; each at 107 MPH or higher. Not ideal.

The Twins go down in a hurry to Brewers starter Coleman Crow; not ideal. Incidentally Crow was part of a trade that went from the Angels to the Mets for Eduardo Escobar! (The Mets later traded Crow to Milwaukee.)

EE is still playing, or was as of this winter. For the Tigres de Aragua of the Venezuelan Winter League. No word on if he knowsthenamesofhisteammatescorrectlyornot. Brewers 1-0

2: Easier go-round for Ryan this inning. The Ball Talc must finally be working.

Also easy is Coleman Crow’s second inning. Here’s the ascending order in which I hate the movies of writer/director Cameron Crowe. Almost Famous, Say Anything, We Bought a Zoo, Elizabethtown, Aloha, Singles, Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky. I actually haven’t seen four of these but I’m ranking them by how much I hate the plot outlines. I hate Cameron Crowe. A friend told me Almost Famous was OK but I think they’re trying to make me suffer after I made them watch In the Loop and it pissed ‘em off. Well, it’s SUPPOSED to piss you off!

3: Another good inning for Ryan. I like how GameDay foretells the Future:

I mean, it’s currently still light out in St. Paul, but the sun will go down in 105 minutes or so. GameDay KNOWS.

Coleman Crow is throwing a perfect game. This pisses me off.

4: A leadoff Jake Bauers single; he steals second. Ryan stops him from scoring. As in, he doesn’t allow an RBI. Not that he stands in front of home plate as Bauers is running from third and goes “You shall not pass!” Although that would be good.

Hey, Ryan Jeffers breaks up the perfecto! A one-out single. Which probably could have also been ruled an error, but what the hey. We’ll take it. Does he score? This is a journey of a thousand miles, folks, you’ve got to make the little steps before you can make the big ones. In other words no, he doesn’t score.

5: David Hamilton takes a one-out walk (on a rare missed ABS challenge by Ryan Jeffers) and is caught stealing for out #3. Nice job, Joe.

Would you like a bagel recipe? Here is a bagel recipe. Skip the whole part about putting the dough in the fridge. After the bagels are shaped into rounds, I cover them with a damp cloth for exactly one hour. Then I boil them for 30 seconds on each side before they go in the oven. I usually make 7 at a time and freeze 4 or 5 of them.

Why a bagel recipe? Because I’m making bagels. Why am I making bagels? Because after you’ve lived in either New York or Los Angeles, you DEMAND good bagels, and no place in the Twin Cities has them.

Why am I writing about bagels? Because the Twins’ offense sucks. Kody Klobberin’ Klemens gets HBP, and with two outs Ryan Kreidler singles him over to third… then gets thrown out by a mile trying to steal second. Booooo. Make bagels, not basepath outs.

6: According to Dan Gladden on radio, Kreidler missed a sign. He was supposed to stop about halfway, try to draw a throw and get into a rundown so Clemens could scamper home. Oops. No bagels for you Kreidler.

Hey, a leadoff single for Minnesota! James Outman belying his name for once! Austin Martin with a single; it confuses Outman for a bit, but he takes third anyways. Coleman “Ben Sheets” Crow leaves the game. Good news, except the Brewers’ bullpen guys are quite good — and none pitched in last night’s 7-1 Brewers victory.

LHP Aaron Ashby gets about the ideal result; a Brooks Lee GIDP. At least it’s tied 1-1

7: Taylor Rogers in for the Twins (Ryan had 90 pitches). One-out weak singles to Andrew Vaughn and Sal Frelick. Luis Rengifo BARELY beats out the back end of a GIDP. (The umps called him out at first; Milwaukee made the successful challenge.) Rogers still gets out of it on an itty-bitty grounder by David Hamilton.

All right! Twins POINTS! A one-out single (maybe error) from Luke Keaschall where Jake Bauers boots the ball. Then a solid single from Klobberin’ Kody, and another by long-lost Royce Lewis to score Keaschall. (For some da*n reason Clemens gets himself out in a rundown between second and third.)

A wild pitch puts runners on second and third, but James Outman can’t knock them in. It’s Twins Bullpen Confidence Is With Us All time! Better half of Duluth/Superior 2-1

8: Fu***ng youngster nobody Andrew Morris in to pitch? GREAT. Right off the bat, an infield single for Chourio. He runs on the 3-2 pitch and takes third on the Brice Turang single. THIS EFFING BULLPEN. Turang steals second. Infield in.

Contreras hits it sharply to short and Chourio heads back to third; Lee throws it to Lewis and Royce tags Chourio out.

But the umps rule that Lewis blocked the base with his foot! They give Milwaukee the run.

Bauers doubles home another. Morris gets two outs, and Anthony “He’s Bad” Banda gets a lucky lineout hit RIGHT at Outman, but the damage is done, and the f***in’ bullpen sucks again.

Brewers tough pitcher Abner Uribe (no relation to former ChiSox infielder Juan) gives up a one-out Lee single and Jeffers walk, but induces a Josh Bell GIDP to continue the Twins’ inevitable loss. ‘Sconnies 3-2

9: Banda still in. A nice play by Clemens! A one-out grounder to short, and Lee throws it a bit too high to first. Clemens jumps, grabs it, and tags pinch-hitter Joey Ortiz on his way down. Well done, son of Rog. Yoendrys Gómez comes in to K Chourio for the final out.

Radio tells us the Twins have not won a game trailing by one in the ninth so far this year.

Trevor Megill in to pitch for Milwaukee. He was a Twin in 2022. Master Dealer Derek Falvey traded him to the Brewers for a PTBNL (turned out to be Taylor Floyd, a righty reliever now with the Reds’ organization in AA).

Keaschall grounds out, Clemens has an easy flyout, Lewis strikeout. Thanks Falvey! Twins lose

Studs: Joe Ryan, and that’s it. (Nice plays by Lee, Lewis, and Martin, and that good tag by Clemens, though.) Duds: Josh Bell (0-4), Derek Falvey for trading Megill for bupkis and setting up yet another of what’s gonna be a LONG season of Twins’ bullpen game blows.

Happy birthdays to Kody Clemens (30th), Brian Dozier (39th) and Justin Morneau (45th).

COTG goes to Naginskiinnortheast for “I know it’s suboptimal but id rather not see freshness back on the mound… gotta preserve him especially after the recent injury scare.” (“Freshness” meaning Captain Ball Talc Ryan.)

Thanks to everyone who participated in the GT on a night where, on radio at least, it practically sounded like there were more Twins fans here than at Target Field.

Tomorrow’s game is at 6:10 Central, and features Brewers RHP Logan Henderson against our own Connor Prielipp. Catch ya next time!

The Braves started their series against Boston off with Spencer Strider on the mound, looking to build on his strong start against the Dodgers.

Spencer worked around a leadoff walk with two contact outs and a nice pickoff for a clean first inning. It didn’t take long for the Braves to give him some help, as Drake Baldwin hit his sixth home run against left-handed pitching this season, just barely eluding Ceddanne Rafaela’s glove in centerfield. The Braves got another couple of baserunners, as Ozzie was hit by a pitch and Austin blistered a single, but to no avail.

Strider walked another in the second, but struck out two batters on high heat and got a groundout to end the frame. Both pitchers settled in and pitched around a few scattered baserunners until Michael Harris added on with another lefty-on-lefty solo shot to lead off the fourth.

After a quiet fifth, Strider allowed a soft leadoff double before striking out Durbin, at which point Walt Weiss pulled him for Dylan Lee, keeping him to just two times through the Boston lineup. His 5.1 innings with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks isn’t his best, but he kept the Red Sox to one run and induced 16 whiffs, with his fastball averaging 95.5 MPH. It wasn’t quite the Dodgers start, but those whiffs are still a good sign for Spencer. Dylan Lee struck out Duran, but allowed an RBI single before inducing an inning-ending pop-up.

After another quiet outing from the Atlanta offense, Tyler Kinley got the seventh and recorded two outs before allowing a Chop House homer and a ground rule double. Robert Suarez came in to finish the inning and worked a clean eighth as well after more of nothing from the Braves’ offense. Drake Baldwin led off the home eighth with a scalded single, but Ozzie, Olson, and Austin went down in order. Iglesias got the ninth and recorded the first two outs before allowing a single and a walk to put the go-ahead run in scoring position for Boston. Iggy struck out Monasterio to keep the game tied and give the Braves a chance to walk the game off in the bottom of the ninth.

They did not, however, as Aroldis Chapman breezed through the 6, 7, and 8 spots of the order. Didier Fuentes took the tenth and gave the Braves a golden opportunity with a scoreless frame, despite the ghost-runner. Mike Yastrzemski took quick advantage of that opportunity after trying to bunt for his first two strikes, ultimately landing a walk-off single to bring Kim home.

The Braves will have two chances to win the series now this weekend, so join us tomorrow at 7:15 PM ET, as they look to take their first chance behind Bryce Elder.

If there is one thing this Orioles team has been good at this year, it’s failing to maintain any momentum. They are coming off a feel-good series win against the Yankees and could have kept the good vibes going with a solid game tonight against a pitcher who has had no success this year. But they did not. They opened up their road trip with a dismal loss to the Nationals. They made some noise in the ninth to make the score 3-2, but in the end it was another loss.

Nats pitcher Zack Littell has been the worst starting pitcher in baseball this year. He came into the game with an ERA of 6.94 and a FIP of 8.25. He has given up a ton of homers. He doesn’t strike a lot of guys out. His season has been a disaster.

Enter the Orioles, who managed just two hits and two walks against this pitcher. They did hit him hard at times and had some bad luck, but they just couldn’t get the job done against a pitcher who has struggled again and again this year.

Both walks came in the second inning, sandwiched around three outs. They looked like they might score in the fifth inning when Coby Mayo was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Gunnar Henderson absolutely scorched a ball to right field. It got off his bat at 111.9 mph, a ball that would have been a home run in 19 parks. As part of the bad luck by the Orioles tonight, it hit off the wall and bounced directly to the right fielder. Mayo was unable to score and both runners were stranded on a Taylor Ward groundout.

The only other hit Littell allowed was a single by Ward in the second inning.

As for bad luck, in the first, Adley Rutschman was robbed of extra bases by center fielder Jacob Young. In the second, Pete Alonso hit what looked like a homer off the bat, but it stayed in the park. Tyler O’Neill had two flyouts that looked like they might go out. They did not. It wasn’t a warm night in DC, and at least a few of those may have been out of the park on a hot, humid day in the Mid-Atlantic. That doesn’t help the Orioles tonight, though.

Littell exited the game after five innings and was relieved by Andrew Alvarez. The lefty was activated before tonight’s game. He made five starts for the Nationals last year and was pitching as a starter at Triple-A with a 5.29 ERA. So naturally, he dominated the Orioles for three innings. He allowed just two hits, both in the seventh inning. Mayo singled ahead of Jeremiah Jackson, who doubled. Like Henderson’s double, Jackson’s 110.0 mph hit was too hard to give Mayo time to score.

Alvarez allowed just those two base runners in innings six, seven, and eight. He struck out five and looked in control. It did not extend to the ninth, where he allowed a Basallo single and O’Neill walk prompting his removal from the game.

From there, the Orioles made it interesting but couldn’t come all the way back. Pinch-hitter Leody Taveras took a walk from the new pitcher to load the bases with no outs. Mayo, who had been on base twice in the game, flailed at strike three out of the zone. But Jackson hit a sac fly and Henderson lined a single back up the middle to make the score 3-2. Ward walked, but Rutschman struck out to end the game. It was an off night for Adley, who went 0-for-5 with three Ks.

Lost in the offensive futility was a solid start from Shane Baz. Like Littel, Baz got hit hard early on without much damage. He worked around a single in the first inning and got out of trouble again in the second after allowing two baserunners. His first run allowed came in the fourth on a sac fly after back-to-back singles.

With the score just 1-0, it felt like the Orioles were still in the game. But then in the sixth inning, Baz walked Curtis Mead before giving up a big home run to Daylen Lile. It was Lile’s third hit of the game and the 3-0 lead felt insurmountable. Turns out it was. Baz ultimately finished seven innings with pretty good results despite a lot of traffic on the bases. His final pitching line: 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 K.

Orioles lose, 3-2. These two teams meet again tomorrow at 4:05 with Chris Bassitt on the mound vs Cade Cavalli.

Rangers second baseman Josh Smith was diagnosed with viral meningitis and will be hospitalized for at least a week, the team announced Friday.

Smith, 28, is at a Dallas-area hospital and is expected to remain there for 7-10 days, according to the Associated Press.

The Rangers said that Smith was feeling ill on Wednesday before seeing a doctor.

“Our only concern right now is Josh’s health,” Texas president of baseball operations Chris Young said. “This is obviously an unexpected illness, but we hope to see him return to full health and rejoin the club very soon.”

According to the CDC, viral meningitis is the most common variant of the disease, which is the swelling of the protective lining of the brain and spinal cord.

The illness is caused by a viral infection, with a fever, stiff neck and headache often arising as common symptoms.

Nausea, vomiting and an altered mental state can also occur, albeit more rarely.

Texas placed Smith on the 10-day injured list, and a program for his return will be determined once he’s able to resume physical activity.

After being drafted by the Yankees in the second round of the 2019 draft, Smith has been with the Rangers since July 2021 and made his MLB debut with the club in 2022.

Smith, who was a part of Texas’s 2023 World Series championship team, has taken a larger role in recent seasons, playing in over 140 games in 2024 and 2025, serving as a utility player.

Since the Rangers traded Marcus Semien to the Mets in November, Smith has served as the team’s everyday second baseman, starting 26 games at the position to start the year.

He has been off to a slow start at the plate this season, however — putting up a modest slash line of .217/.324/.239 across 108 plate appearances.

The Tigers came home from New York with their tails between their legs, hoping their fortunes would change with some home-cooking. An unexpected bullpen game (of sorts) with finally some strong pitching, a key stolen base and a well-placed line drive gave the Tigers a 3-2 victory in the opener of a three-game weekend series against a former division rival.

Brenan Hanifee was the opener; he didn’t make the big-league team out of Spring Training this year, which was a little strange. He’s been a solid part of the Tigers’ bullpen the past two years, and especially in 2024 when he was sensational down the stretch. But, as the saying goes, “relievers are fungible,” so they can be great one year and lousy the next. The plan was for Ty Madden to be the Bulk Guy; he’s done that twice so far this season, and in his previous outing he started the third and finished the game. Kinda seems backwards to me.

The Blue Jays started highly-regarded rookie Trey Yesavage. It seems weird to still think of him as a rookie, given how valuable a pitcher he was for the Jays in their World Series run last year, but the fact remains that tonight was his seventh major-league regular-season start. He gets a lot of attention in Toronto sports media, and rightly-so: he was a first-round draft pick in 2024, rocketed through the minor leagues in 2025, and had a mostly-sensational post-season too. He has an exaggerated over-the-top pitching motion that causes a ton of vertical break on his fastball.

Hanifee had a 1-2-3 first inning, then threw one pitch in the second that Kazuma Okamoto hit for a double; Brant Hurter came in to face a stretch of left-handed hitters. With two out he walked Ernie Clement, and Andrés Giménez squeaked a double down the right-field line to score both runners. After Hurter walked Brandon Valenzuela — nice job with all those lefties, pal — Madden came on and got George Springer to fly out.

In the top of the third, Madden got hit by a 108-mph Yohendrick Piñango line drive on the right arm, and he had to leave the game after two batters; so much for being the bulk guy. I just hope he’s alright; especially so given the spate of injuries to Tigers starting pitchers lately.

Burch Smith became the fourth Tiger pitcher of the night, and they were going to have to get some length out of him, and the rest of the pitchers in the bullpen. Smith then picked off Piñango for a bit of revenge for injuring his teammate, which is nice.

With one out in the bottom of the third, Kevin McGonigle walked and Dillon Dingler singled; McGonigle took third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch to narrow the lead to 2-1.

Smith gave the Tigers two innings, then Drew Anderson — who has a background as a starter — took over. He got a nice 5-4-3 double play to end the fifth after giving up a single to Valenzuela.

In the bottom of the sixth Dingler hit a grounder to Clement at second; he airmailed the throw and Dingler ended up on second base. Greene followed with a double on a middle-middle splitter to the right-field corner to score Dingler and tie the game at 2.

Anderson ended up pitching four innings of one-hit, no-run baseball, doing a heck of a job in a game in which the guys in the bullpen probably thought they could relax for a while. Kenley Jansen took over for the ninth and he sandwiched a lineout between a pair of strikeouts.

Jeff Hoffman, who’s now sharing closer duties with Louis Varland, took over for the bottom of the ninth for the Jays. With one out Matt Vierling blooped a single into centre; Gage Workman struck out and extra innings were looming. With Zach McKinstry at the plate, Vierling stole second base; this prompted Toronto manager John Schneider to intentionally walk McKinstry so Hoffman could face Spencer Torkelson, who went hitless in the Mets series. Well, Torkelson must’ve been saving up his hits for just such an occasion, as he spanked a fastball to the right-centrefield gap; Vierling raced around third to score the winning run.

Final score: Tigers 3, Blue Jays 2

Injured List Update

Notes and Numbers

• Coming into tonight, Riley Greene was second in the American League, hitting .341. If you had that on your bingo card this offseason, my goodness, you’re good.
• Drew Anderson has pitched professionally in Australia, Japan and South Korea. Neat.
• As per usual, there were plenty of Blue Jays fans in attendance that found their way over a bridge or through a tunnel to Detroit.
• On this day in 1911, the US Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil, founded by John D. Rockefeller, had an unreasonable monopoly on the oil market. As such, it was ordered to be broken up under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Famously — or, perhaps, infamously — a lawsuit filed a few years later against Major League Baseball resulted in the organization not being found to be a monopoly, because it did not engage in “interstate commerce.” Now, I’m no Matlock, but that sounds like complete horsefeathers to me.

Well, after a dramatic walk off victory on Wednesday we get a crushing walk off loss. Jeff Hoffman takes the L, but actually wasn’t really bad. The bigger problem was managing just five hits and two walks off a pretty bad bullpen in a game where the expected bulk guy was knocked out after two batters.

The Tigers’ bullpen was mostly effective today. Their intended bulk guy, Ty Madden, was knocked out by a comebacker on his second batter, but Drew Anderson assumed the role and shut the Jays down for four innings. Brenan Hanifee got through the first facing the minimum, but a lead off double from Kazuma Okamoto knocked him out in favour of Brant Hurter. Hurter got two outs, but then a walk to Ernie Clement and an Andres Gimenez double right down the left field line resulted in a pair of runs for the Jays. He’d then walk Brandon Valenzuela, leading AJ Hinch to call for Ty Madden to clean up. He got a fly out to end the inning. Leading off the third, Yohendrick Pinango lined a comebacker off Madden, going for a single and knocking yet another Tigers reliever out of the game. Burch Smith got out of the inning, on a pop up and a K plus picking Pinango off first. Smith stuck around for the fourth, getting a double play to erase a Jesus Sanchez ground ball single. Drew Anderson did exactly the same in the fifth, with George Springer hitting the double play ball to erase a Valenzuela single. Anderson did one better in the sixth, sitting the Jays down in order, and then repeated the trick in the seventh and eighth.

Trey Yesavage had some struggles with his command today, as he has since his injury-delayed debut this season, but was pretty effective in spite of that. He got into a jam in the first, with a walk to Dillon Dingler and a Colt Keith single putting men on the corners with one out, but a pair of Ks helped him escape. After a 1-2-3 second, he found himself in another two-on-one-out jam in the third. Kevin McGonigle walked and Dingler singled. He struck out the next batter, but a pair of wild pitches while facing Riley Greene plated McGonigle and cut the Jays’ lead to 2-1 before a fly out ended the inning. The fourth was another clean inning. His wildness returned in the fifth. His third walk put Hao-Yu Lee on, and his third wild pitch moved him to second base. He got a weak fly from McGonigle that Lee thought was going to drop, but Daulton Varsho made a sliding catch and then threw back to second for the rare fly ball double play. The Tigers tied it up in the sixth. Dingler hit a grounder to second. Ernie Clement fielded it but his throw to first was way wide, allowing Dingler to advance to second. A ground out moved him to third, and a Greene line drive double scored him. The next two batters hit balls hard but some solid outfield D got Yesavage out without falling behind.

In spite of the wildness, Yesavage got through six in 88 pitches. Because he’s still ramping up, though, that was it for his night. All told he allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with three wild pitches, striking out six. He racked up 18 swinging strikes, which shows that his stuff was as dominant as ever. Trey still doesn’t have the feel for his splitter, but it’s a good sign that he’s getting through innings in spite of that, and as he gets dialed in the Jays can hope he gets even better.

Braydon Fisher took over in the bottom of seven. He walked Spencer Torkelson but a double play got him out of it with the tie preserved.

The eighth belonged to Joe Mantiply. Jahmai Jones lined a two out single, but Valenzuela gunned him down trying to steal second to end the inning.

Kenley Jansen sat the Jays down in order in the ninth. In the bottom half, Jeff Hoffman struck Greene out before a soft Matt Vierling fly ball found the exact spot where none of Varsho, Pinango or Gimenez could get to it. Hoffman bounced back to strike out Gage Workman. Vierling stole second, and Hoffman fell being Zach McKinstry 2-0 before deciding to intentionally walk him to get force plays at every base and get a matchup with Spencer Torkelson. That seemed questionable, and sure enough Torkelson lined a walk off single to right to end the game.

Jays of the Day: Gimenez (0.12), Mantiply (0.11)

Less so: Springer (-0.14), Pinango (-0.10), Vlad (-0.10), Varsho (-0.11), Hoffman (-0.36)

It’s a day game tomorrow. The Jays have not officially announced a starter. Last time through, Spencer Miles pitched three innings opening for Eric Lauer. With Lauer banished to the phantom zone, it’ll likely be a bullpen day, probably with Miles as a bulk guy or opener again since he hasn’t pitched in five days now. We know who’ll represent the Tigers: Casey Mize (2-2, 2.90), who’s off to a terrific start. Things get rolling at 1:10pm ET.

The Dodgers (26-18) travel to Orange County Friday evening to battle the Angels (16-28) for a three-game series at Angel Stadium. 

Blake Snell was scratched before his scheduled start and is going on the injured list due to loose bodies in his left elbow.

The Dodgers will go with a bullpen game in the series opener.

Jack Kochanowicz (2-2, 3.97 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) starts for the Angels. 

Freddie Freeman also gets a break.

Lineups

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Angels
• Ballpark: Angel Stadium, Anaheim
• Time: 6:38 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, KTTV channel 11 (Angels broadcast)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The San Francisco Giants head to Sacramento tonight to begin a three-game series against the Athletics.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Tyler Mahle, who enters tonight’s game with a 5.18 ERA, 5.03 FIP, with 42 strikeouts to 20 walks in 41.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, in which he allowed four runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in five and two thirds innings.

He’ll be facing off against A’s right-hander Aaron Civale, who enters tonight’s game with a 2.59 ERA, 3.78 FIP, with 33 strikeouts to 13 walks in 41.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Athletics’ 6-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday, in which he allowed six hits and three walks with six strikeouts in five innings.

Game #45

Who: San Francisco Giants (18-26) vs. Athletics (22-21)

Where: Sutter Health Park, Sacramento, California

When: 6:40 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area & KNTV (Giants); NBC Sports California (A’s)

National broadcast: n/a

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