Category: Sports News

Yankees veteran DJ LeMahieu has returned to the fold with undefined expectations in an unspecified role, but his first start at Yankee Stadium in 2025 sparked some newfound optimism.

Batting eighth and playing second base, LeMahieu raised fans' eyebrows at the plate and in the field on Saturday afternoon against the crosstown rival Mets. He put the Yankees on the board first with a solo home run in the third inning -- snapping a nearly 10-month streak without a long ball -- and also flashed the leather with a slick back-handed diving grab up the middle that robbed Francisco Lindor of a single.

The all-around effort from LeMahieu wasn't enough, as the Mets outlasted the Yankees in a 3-2 thriller to even this weekend's Subway Series in the Bronx at a game apiece. But the 36-year-old showed the sold-out crowd that more turn-the-clock-back performances could be in store, just as long as he stays fully healthy.

"It felt good to play at Yankee Stadium again. Obviously a big series, so just excited to be out there," LeMahieu said after the game. "I don't think there was too much emotion, maybe for me. But it was good, it was fun. I feel like I'm finding my rhythm pretty quickly after coming off the IL. It's a couple of games, but I definitely feel like I'm in a pretty good spot."

LeMahieu's third-inning homer was a typical blast from the past. He drilled an 0-1 down-the-middle fastball from Mets starter Griffin Canning that flew over right fielder Juan Soto and landed just beyond the wall and into the seats. The short-porch shot traveled 333 feet.

In his second at-bat, LeMahieu ripped a 100 mph single to center, setting the Yankees up for a fifth-inning rally that was ultimately wasted. He then found himself in a position to play the role of hero in the eighth, with the bases loaded, two outs, and the score knotted at 2-2. But he wasn't rewarded for smacking a 106 mph liner to right -- the ball quickly found Soto's glove, ending the threat.

It's been quite some time since the Yankees last saw LeMahieu produce hard contact and connect with power. Hampered by foot and calf injuries, he hit a measly .204 with just seven extra-base knocks and 26 RBI across 67 games last season. The start to his 2025 campaign was delayed due to a calf injury.

LeMahieu's time away from the big league club this past March and April allowed Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Oswaldo Cabrera to fill the void at third base. Now, both of LeMahieu's replacements are on the injured list, and opportunity is conveniently knocking for a player who's been written off a few times and considered dead weight.

"Some big-time ABs today. Back-side homer, base hit up the middle, and probably his best at-bat ends up in an out with the bases loaded," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Really encouraging to see him having those level of at-bats in his first few outings... Injuries have taken him off the field. He's never been not outstanding in the field whenever he's been out there. That's who he is. He's an elite defender."

Only time will tell what LeMahieu offers as a platoon piece -- he only logged two at-bats during spring training and has yet to reach a dozen this season -- but the early results suggest there just might be something left in the tank.

It's hard to follow up on being part of a combined perfect game, but Mets prospect Jonah Tong did his best on Saturday.

In his latest start for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Tong was dominant again, pitching six scoreless innings while allowing two hits and two walks. He struck out eight batters in Binghamton's 12-0 win over the Hartford Yard Goats. Tong's fastball sat between 93-95 mph and showed off his array of pitches. He lowered his season ERA to 2.12 and has allowed just two earned runs over his last 25 innings pitched. In that span, he's struck out 48 batters.

Tong would not get run support from his teammates, who were shut out until they broke the game open with a huge sixth inning.

Binghamton pushed across five runs, thanks in large part to home runs from Nick Morabito and Kevin Parada. Parada had himself a career day at the plate, finishing 2-for-5 with two home runs and a career-high four RBI.

It's been a struggle for the Mets' 2022 first-round pick in his second full season with Binghamton, but perhaps this is a sign of his bat awakening. He has five hits in his last two games and three home runs on the season in 27 games, after blasting 13 across 114 games a year ago.

The Mets' Double-A affiliate would push across four in the eighth inning, thanks to Ryan Clifford. Playing first base on Saturday, Clifford cleared the bases with a double. It was Clifford's second hit of the game, and he finished 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs. Saturday's performance raised Clifford's batting average to .238, and it was his second consecutive multi-hit game.

Jett Williams, the Mets' No. 2 prospect according to SNY's prospects writer Joe DeMayo, played center field and went 1-for-6. He also extended his hitting streak to five games.

Jonah Tong's last start? Perfect. This start? More dominance.

The @Mets' No. 6 prospect K's 8 over 6 scoreless frames and has 48 strikeouts in his past 25 innings for Double-A @RumblePoniesBB. pic.twitter.com/XnIzNCq6DD

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 18, 2025

Brett Baty has wasted no time proving his ability to hit for power at the big league level since the Mets promoted him as an injury replacement nearly two weeks ago. He's hit five home runs over his last nine games in the majors, complementing the bottom half of the lineup.

But the long-awaited growth from Baty hasn't only been visible at the plate. He's also shown improvements in the field, and a few slick plays at third base on Saturday afternoon helped the Mets outlast the crosstown rival Yankees in a 3-2 thriller in the Bronx.

Baty's first web gem came in the second inning, when he barehanded a weak chopper and threw across his body to first to rob the speedy Anthony Volpe of an infield single. Two innings later, Baty fleeced Volpe again, this time flashing the leather with a scoop on another in-between grounder.

The ball found Baty on five more occasions, and his final contribution was snatching a weak fly from Ben Rice that sliced toward shallow left field in the ninth. Baty also collected an infield single in that inning, finishing the day 1-for-4, but it was his work at the hot corner that caught the Mets' attention.

"We've seen the athleticism from him and his ability to play up the middle. Today was a helluva game defensively for him," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the win. "The fact he's getting reps in the middle of the infield allows him to be better with his footwork. His read off the bat, the quickness of it. It's good to see Baty contribute in a lot of different ways."

When the Mets sent Baty back down to Triple-A in late April, realizing that regular playing time just wasn't in the cards for him, Mendoza reminded the 25-year-old that he's a big-league talent. The message appeared to stick, as Baty's teammates have noticed him playing with newfound confidence.

"He looks different, looks more comfortable," Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said of Baty. "He’s in a good mental space right now and truly believes he belongs here. With that said, he still works hard day in and day out to get better. He understands his role right now and he’s trying to excel at it."

Baty's role with the Mets remains fluid, considering that competition for playing time still exists between him and, youngster
Mark Vientos, and an even veteran Jeff McNeil. But, in the meantime, Baty is making the most of his latest opportunity, determined to prove that he's not a flash in the pan.

It was another electric atmosphere at Yankee Stadium. A day after the Yankees faithful rained boos and expletives at Juan Soto, the crowd was treated to a hard-fought, nail-biter on Saturday.

Despite allowing two home runs, the Mets scraped together enough offense to beat the Yankees, 3-2, and even the Subway Series. There were mesmerizing defensive plays and clutch hits, but the cherry on top was the matchup between Edwin Diaz and Aaron Judge with two outs in the ninth and the game on the line.

Diaz would come out the victor, striking out Judge on a 3-2 heater up in the zone to preserve the one-run victory.

"Big league game, big league matchup. Every pitch was intense, every play," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the win. "One-run game and then you get the matchup of Diaz-Judgey. That’s what you pay for."

While Diaz's personal victory over Judge capped the win, it was the little things that helped the Mets take the middle game of this weekend's series. Saturday's starter Griffin Canning continued his stellar pitching, allowing two runs (both solo shots) in 5.1 innings.

"It was awesome. Fun to compete in," Canning said of the atmosphere. "Awesome, awesome energy in the stadium and a fun lineup to compete against."

Canning was followed by 3.2 scoreless innings from the Mets' bullpen trio of Huascar Brazoban, Reed Garrett and Diaz. That allowed the Mets offense, which finished the game 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base, to scratch across the go-ahead run in the ninth.

That run was driven in by de facto captain Francisco Lindor. Against tough Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz, Luis Torrens drew a one-out walk and was lifted for pinch-runner Luisangel Acuña. Bertt Baty's infield single and Tyrone Taylor's hit-by-pitch gave Lindor an opportunity to give the Mets the lead. After getting ahead 3-0 in the count, Lindor didn't try to do too much, and lifted a sacrifice fly to allow the speedy Acuñato score.

"No one is trying to be the hero," Lindor said of the team's offensive mindset. "Just play the game."

Lindor said his approach in that ninth-inning at-bat was to get a good pitch to hit and not put too much pressure on himself. As the shortstop said, "If I don’t get a good pitch to hit, then it’s Soto’s turn."

Once he got to 3-1, Lindor wanted something to get in the air, and that's what he did.

FRANCISCO LINDOR BRINGS HOME LUISANGEL ACUÑA WITH A SAC FLY!

METS LEAD IN THE 9TH! pic.twitter.com/bQxdWcB697

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2025

"Today was a good team win," he said. "Good defense, good pitching. To beat a team like that, you have to do a lot of things the right way… Brazoban coming in with people on base, Garrett executing, Canning and then you have Diaz coming in looking really good. Torrens starting the game, [Francisco Alvarez] closing the game. Baty had like five great plays. And then just passing the baton in the offense. They have a really good pitching staff and have to take it one at-bat at a time."

And what about the Subway Series so far?

"The atmosphere here has been fantastic. Whether it’s their fans or our fans, they’ve brought the energy," Lindor said. "It’s been good. It’s the loudest it’s been of any of the Subway Series that I’ve played."

Pete Alonso, who tied the game with an RBI single in the fourth, said the Citi Field crowd during last year's NLDS against the Phillies -- when Lindor hit the grand slam -- was the loudest atmosphere he's been a part of. But the 2025 Subway Series ranks "top three" for him.

The Mets' slugger was asked how the team -- especially Soto -- has been able to handle the hostile environment.

"To be honest, it’s persistence and sticking to the gameplan and trust," he said. "Trust in the guy in front of you and behind you. When it’s your turn in the box or whenever the ball is hit to you, you trust your preparedness. Every single guy trusts themselves and their teammates. That’s huge, especially in the later innings. There’s no second-guessing. Everyone has that connectedness and trust within each other.

"For us, the job at hand is to win the game….This team, this core, we’ve experienced a bunch of hostile environments. Especially with the playoffs and every time we play a couple of the in-division rivals, the Dodgers, it’s those super high-energy series. We are battle-tested in these types of environments. We’re excited for another exciting game tomorrow. It’s a great matchup and that’s a great team over there. That’s the beautiful part of the Subway Series, no matter what side you’re on, it’s that electric environment. It’s really fun baseball."

The Mets will look to take the rubber game of the first Subway Series this season on Sunday. They'll look to keep that "team" mentality as they go against arguably the best pitcher in baseball right now, Max Fried.

In the end, after nine innings of high-intensity baseball, Game 2 of this Subway Series weekend gave us a classic confrontation of power vs. power, Edwin Diaz vs. Aaron Judge, with the game very much on the line.

Or as Carlos Mendoza put it, “That’s the matchup you pay to see.”

And as it turned out, it was also a matchup that confirmed an important point for the Mets: That is, at his best, Diaz is still as dominant as anybody in the game in the ninth inning, as he proved by winning a seven-pitch battle with Judge as the final hitter of the game.        

Indeed, Diaz dialed up his fastball up to 100 mph on pitch five and finally 98 at the shoulders with the count full for the swinging strikeout to finish off a 3-2 win over the Yankees in the Bronx.

“That was fun,” Diaz said with a smile in the Mets’ clubhouse. “The way I’m feeling, I can make my pitches and still have fun.”

Edwin Díaz's full at-bat against Aaron Judge in the 9th 🔥 pic.twitter.com/zkSB2Hi071

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2025

It seemed all the more significant because Diaz has had some shaky moments this season. He is 10-for-10 now in save situations, but early in the season, especially, he struggled with his fastball command and his velocity was down at times as well.

On Saturday, Diaz admitted he was concerned enough by some of his outings in April to put in some work on his mechanics with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner that he believes is paying off now.

“At the end of April, I fixed a couple of things with my mechanics,” he said. “I was missing a lot with my fastball to the arm side, and we worked on getting me to throw straight to the batter.”

Soon enough, he started seeing results with the fastball, commanding it well enough to make his slider that much more effective. Diaz said it’s made him feel completely confident again.

“Now I’m doing whatever I want on the mound,” was the way he put it. 

It looked that way, especially against Judge. Diaz got ahead 0-2 with good sliders, then tried to get Judge to bite on two more sliders off the plate, as the count went to 2-2.

At that point, he cranked up the fastball to 100 and Judge couldn’t catch up, fouling it off. When Judge wouldn’t bite on a 2-2 slider down-and-away, Diaz decided he was going to challenge him once more with the fastball.

Just not recklessly.

Judge may have been having a rare rough day, finishing 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, but he’s still the best and most dangerous hitter in baseball, and Diaz was well aware.

“I was going to go up with the fastball,” he said. “In that whole at-bat, I wasn’t going to make a mistake in the zone. If I was going to miss location, I was going to make sure I missed out of the zone.”

“Better to walk him than give up a bomb?” I asked Diaz.

“I wasn’t going to give up a bomb,” he said with a smile. “I was making my pitches. If I didn’t get swings [out of the zone], I felt good about facing [Cody] Bellinger.”

Maybe on another day, Judge would have taken that 3-2 pitch and, indeed, Diaz would have had to get Bellinger for the final out. Judge didn’t look like himself, to be sure, but give credit to the Mets for pitching him tough and aggressively, especially starter Griffin Canning, who got Judge the first three times, with a routine fly out, a strikeout, and a weak ground ball to third.

This year, teams have often paid a heavy price for being too bold with Judge, who is still hitting .402 even after his 0-for-5. But on this day, the Mets lived to tell about not backing down from him.

“We know how good Judgie is,” said Mendoza, the former bench coach of the Yankees. “But our guys did a great job of attacking him and we got results.”

In a lot of ways, it was the difference in a well-pitched game that featured important plays at the plate for both sides, in what felt like the frenzied atmosphere of a postseason game.

“That was a big league game with big league intensity,” Mendoza said.

After two straight losses and a week of mostly futility at the plate, the Mets needed the win. More than anything, they needed somebody to deliver in the clutch after all of their struggles lately with runners in scoring position.

That turned out to be Francisco Lindor in the Mets’ rally in the ninth that broke a 2-2 tie. Facing reliever Fernando Cruz, they loaded the bases with one out on a walk to Luis Torrens, a single by Brett Baty, and a hit-by-pitch to Tyrone Taylor.

Up came Lindor in an RISP spot, the kind that Mendoza said before Saturday’s game he felt his players chased way too much on Friday night against the Yankees, and in general lately.

“We’ve got to change that,” Mendoza said.

Lindor must have been listening. He was patient, taking close pitches as the count went to 3-0, and then after taking a strike, delivering with a good situational approach to get a fly ball to left-center that scored pinch-runner Luisangel Acuña with the go-ahead run.

The rest was up to Diaz. Three outs later, finishing in grand style against Judge, he gave the Mets reason to believe they still have one of the best closers in baseball.

Giants' dominant bullpen sets stage for Flores' latest heroics originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — As he sat in the dugout on Saturday afternoon, Bob Melvin got different variations of the same question: What’s next for Jordan Hicks? 

Hicks has been moved back to the bullpen, where he spent the first five seasons of his MLB career. He throws as consistently hard as any player in MLB history, and he had 32 saves in his career before hitting free agency and deciding he wanted to become a starter. He seems an easy fit in the late innings for any team, and Melvin is excited to have him in the mix, but as he answered the questions, he trailed off while talking about the depth of the bullpen even before the move was made.

It would be tough for any reliever to crack the late innings for the Giants. 

“You look at our bullpen arms now … ” Melvin said. 

Right now, it’s as good as it gets in Major League Baseball, and it’s why the Giants are 27-19 despite flaws elsewhere on the roster. Four Giants relievers combined to throw four hitless innings Saturday on just 34 pitches, setting the stage for Wilmer Flores’ latest heroics. 

A night after hitting three homers, Flores drew the first walk-off walk in a 1-0 game in franchise history. He was eager to share the credit with a bullpen that leads the majors with a 2.59 collective ERA. 

“They kept us in the game, especially Camilo (Doval) with the guy at second and getting out of that,” Flores said. “It was great.”

Doval was the fourth Giants reliever to take the mound after Landen Roupp pitched six shutout innings in one of the best starts of his career. The first man up was Randy Rodriguez, who threw nine pitches — all strikes — to lower his ERA to 0.96. Tyler Rogers followed and was just about as efficient as it gets; he threw four pitches (all strikes) and got three groundball outs. Ryan Walker went 1-2-3 on seven pitches, six of them strikes.

From the seventh through the ninth, the bullpen needed just 20 pitches to record nine outs, and 19 of them were strikes. Doval inherited the automatic runner on second base and struck out a pair to give the Giants a chance to walk it off against Mason Miller in the bottom of the inning. 

As he recounted the sequence, catcher Patrick Bailey smiled and shook his head. “Sheesh,” he said quietly. 

“I think everyone knows our bullpen has been our biggest strength this year,” he continued. “I mean, goodness, I’d put Randy with anybody in baseball right now. His stuff is electric, the confidence is high. Rog, nothing changes with him. He goes out there and gives you clean innings and throws strikes. That’s been the biggest thing this year for the pen is filling up the zone. It was awesome to see Walker get in there and fill up the zone as well, and then Duvey looks like the guy he was in 2023, maybe even better.”

Doval had the toughest task because he was the only one of the four to inherit a runner. A groundout got the go-ahead run to third and Doval walked the third batter he faced in the top of the 10th, but he stranded a pair with a nasty slider that A’s slugger Brent Rooker waved at. When he’s right, Doval accentuates his strikeouts with a hop off the mound. The one Saturday was about as high as he has gotten in the last couple of seasons. 

“He’s been — not only on the mound, but in the clubhouse as a teammate — he’s been awesome. He’s been awesome,” Bailey said. “I think he was always there, but you struggle and it’s a humbling and frustrating game, but it’s been really cool to see him back to himself both on the mound and off the field.”

Doval is just two years removed from being an All-Star closer, and Rodriguez is pitching like someone who might have that in his future. Rogers has been so consistently good for so long now that he deserves a nod at some point, and Walker looks like he’s rounding back into form after some wobbles earlier this season. 

It’s as good a foursome as there is in baseball, and the A’s didn’t even see Erik Miller, who has a 1.88 ERA from the left side. The bullpen also includes Spencer Bivens (3.54 ERA) and Kyle Harrison, who is sitting 96-98 mph in his return to the big leagues. 

Hicks has sat at 100 mph with his sinker at times this season, and the Giants anticipate he’ll be a weapon in the bullpen right away. They believe the best bullpen in baseball got better on Saturday, and the 1-0 win was a reminder that a dominant pen can cover up for a lot of other issues this summer. 

“We’re not always going to hit every day. The pitching is always keeping us in the game,” Flores said. “It’s been the same way all year.”

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The Yankees left nine runners on base in their frustrating 3-2 loss to the rival Mets on Saturady afternoon at Yankee Stadium, and the number could've been lower with a sharper plate approach midway through the game.

With the Mets ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth, the Yankees quickly developed a rally against starter Griffin Canning. It began with a leadoff walk from J.C. Escarra, and four pitches later, DJ LeMahieu singled to center to set up No. 9 hitter Jorbit Vivas with two on and no outs.

While the sold-out crowd expected Vivas to bunt and advance the runners, the Yankees stunningly allowed the rookie infielder to swing away. The plan backfired, as Canning struck out Vivas and then escaped the jam by getting Ben Rice to line out to left and Aaron Judge to ground out to third.

After the game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked why he didn't call for Vivas to bunt with the top of the order waiting and hoping to inflict some damage. The skipper said he pondered the move, but the Mets' infield alignment utlimately made him reluctant.

"They're just playing it aggressively," Boone explained. "Not a lot of speed on the bases for us, and I've got top of the order coming up. But yeah, definitely some consideration there... I'm in the middle of the game too, and I know they're going to play it aggresively."

The Yankees managed to knot the score at 2-2 in the sixth on a leadoff homer from Cody Bellinger, and after back-to-back one-out singles from Jasson Dominguez and Anthony Volpe, the stage was set for Escarra to drive in the go-ahead run against Mets reliever Huascar Brazoban.

Escarra couldn't take advantage with the go-ahead run at third. He chopped a grounder to first baseman Pete Alonso, who then threw the ball home to catcher Luis Torrens to get Dominguez trying to score.

That wasn't the end of the Yankees' bad luck in the inning. After the fielder's choice out, LeMahieu nearly had two in scoring position on a double steal from Volpe and Escarra. But both players were sent back to their original bases due to interference by the home plate umpire, who made contact with Torrens behind the dish.

"I don't know if [the interference] was consequential or not. We had two outs and still didn't drive him in there," Boone said. "Obviously don't want that to happen. I feel like we had the bases stolen regardless... It doesn't happen very often. I can remember it being called before. So I have seen it, but it's pretty rare."

The Yankees had one more shot with the bases loaded in the eighth, but LeMahieu lined out sharply to right, keeping the score tied. The missed chance came back to haunt them, as the Mets produced a rally of their own in the ninth and scored the game-winning run. The Yankees finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

What we learned as Roupp impresses in Giants' win over Athletics originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Wilmer Flores had the best night of his career on Friday night. The Athletics apparently forgot it happened. 

With two on and two outs in the 10th inning Saturday, the A’s intentionally walked Mike Yastrzemski to face Flores, who hit three homers and drove in eight runs just a few hours earlier. The Giants’ best clutch hitter fouled off a couple of 103 mph fastballs from A’s closer Mason Miller before drawing a walk that pushed across the only run in a fabulously pitched game on both sides. 

WALK-OFF WILMER 🔥 pic.twitter.com/7X8BGQYHDQ

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 18, 2025

With the walk, Flores moved one ahead of Aaron Judge for the MLB lead in RBI. With the 1-0 win, the Giants got back to eight games above .500 and clinched the series on a night when their bullpen was about as efficient as it gets. 

Landen Roupp took the shutout through six and Randy Rodriguez, Tyler Rogers and Ryan Walker cruised through the next three innings. The three relievers needed just 20 pitches to get their nine consecutive outs, and 19 of them were strikes. 

On the other side, right-hander Luis Severino matched Roupp, but the Giants looked like they might get something going against reliever Justin Sterner in the bottom of the eighth. 

Speedy No. 9 hitter Tyler Fitzgerald reached with a leadoff single and took off on a 3-2 pitch to Mike Yastrzemski. It was strike three, and A’s catcher Shea Langeliers made a perfect throw down to second to nail Fitzgerald. 

Camilo Doval came on for the top of the 10th and stranded the automatic runner. When he struck out Brent Rooker, he took a huge hop off the mound before strutting back to the dugout with his 17th consecutive scoreless appearance. 

More Like R00PP

For the first time in his career, Roupp went at least six innings without allowing a run. In fact, this was just the third scoreless start out of his 13 in the big leagues, and his first this season. 

Roupp dealt with plenty of traffic, allowing five hits and walking two, but he always had an answer with his back against the wall. With two on and no outs in the second, he got a liner to center, strikeout and grounder to second. With a runner on in the first, he struck out a pair to end the threat. A pop-up and strikeout stranded runners in the fourth, and he struck out Luis Urias to end the sixth — and his night — with a runner on first.

Roupp entered the night with a 1.53 difference between his ERA and xERA. Like Jordan Hicks, who was removed from the rotation, he has pitched a bit better than the raw numbers, and on Saturday the results were there, too. 

Typical Randy

Speaking of xERA, Rodriguez is ninth in the majors, sandwiched between dominant American League closers Jhoan Duran and Andres Muñoz. His actual ERA after a 1-2-3 seventh inning is down to 0.96, and nothing about it feels flukey. 

Rodriguez breezed through the seventh, putting up a scoreless outing for the 17th time in 18 appearances. When he was coming through the minors, Rodriguez’s issue was command, but at some point last April that locked into place and he became a trusted reliever.

On Saturday he threw nine pitches and all were strikes, including six sliders. His fastball sat at 98 mph. The Giants bullpen has been excellent all year long, and the middle-inning guys are a big part of the reason. 

More Relief

Rodriguez can’t crack the eighth because Tyler Rogers is having his best season as a big leaguer, and Saturday’s eighth was his easiest yet. 

Rogers needed just four pitches to get through the inning, inducing three groundball outs. The submariner has his highest strikeout rate since 2020, but when he’s out there he’s looking for groundballs, and this was as good as it gets given that he faced the heart of the A’s lineup.  Rooker bounced the first pitch of the inning back to the mound and Rogers got an easy first out.

Tyler Soderstrom also bounced a sinker back to the mound but it was just over Rogers’ glove; Willy Adames was right there for the second out. After taking a pitch, Shea Langeliers hit a hard shot to first that LaMonte Wade Jr. stopped with a dive. With that, Rogers lowered his ERA to 1.27. 

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Wheeler looks like he's on a mission, Phillies win another series originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Rob Thomson began describing what made Zack Wheeler so effective Saturday night against the Pirates then stopped himself.

“I mean, it’s the same quotes. You can take the same quotes from the last 20 starts and fill it in,” the Phillies’ manager said.

Wheeler is on another one of his dominant runs. It was 84 degrees at first pitch Saturday night and he barely broke a sweat, mowing down the Pirates over six scoreless innings and riding an early lead to a 5-2 win, one of the Phillies’ most comfortable of the season.

Wheeler allowed just three hits and a walk, improving to 5-1 with a 2.67 ERA. The Phillies have won his last four starts and seven of 10 for the season. He’s cruised his last six times out, putting just 31 men on base over 39⅔ innings with a 1.82 ERA and .177 opponents’ batting average.

All of Wheeler’s stuff was up Saturday — velocity, spin and command. He hit 99 mph with his four-seam fastball and 98 with his sinker. The sinker was his best of the season, 96.2 compared to a season average of 94.5.

“Sometimes they just explode out of his hand and you know he’s got his A-plus-plus stuff instead of his A-plus stuff,” said Bryson Stott, who drove in three runs.

“A guy with that many pitches, that many strike pitches, he may save one or two the first time through the order and you think you’ve got him, and then he busts out the splitter, cutter or slider. That’s what the great ones do, they keep a pitch in their arsenal and start using it the second or third time through.”

Wheeler’s sinker has been a plus pitch for years but hadn’t been as sharp early this season. Last week, he attributed it to facing so many left-handed hitters. The sinker is more of a weapon vs. righties and he just doesn’t see many. On Saturday, though, the Pirates started five of them.

“The pitch was good, but obviously when you throw it more in a game, it’ll be better,” Wheeler said. “Everybody’s been stacking lefties against me so you can’t throw it as much and it won’t be as crisp or as good.”

The Phillies (27-18) scored in the bottom of the first with one-out singles by Trea Turner and Bryce Harper and an RBI double from Kyle Schwarber. The Pirates are 2-19 this season when falling behind and have scored the fewest runs in baseball, so jumping on them early almost always means a win. Their only runs came on a Bryan Reynolds homer with one out in the ninth.

Stott added to the Phillies’ early lead with a solo home run in the third inning and they scored three more times in the fourth on Stott’s two-run single and Bryce Harper’s RBI double.

Stott’s homer came on a low-and-in slider to end a six-pitch plate appearance, the same number he saw before lining out in the first inning. Stott leads MLB this season with 4.59 pitches seen per plate appearance, a valuable attribute for a leadoff hitter. All four of Stott’s home runs this season have been pulled to right field on pitches on the inside corner at the belt or below.

“Yeah,” Stott said when asked if his eyes light up when he gets a pitch in that zone. “Kinda big, sometimes too big, like my last at-bat, the one in the dirt. I like it there and do damage there. Sometimes you’ll get a game where you’ll see every pitch outside and then you get one in. You don’t want to miss it.”

Harper sure seems to be finding his swing. He went 3-for-4 with a walk and two RBI in Friday’s win then reached base three more times Saturday. His double was the kind of swing Harper puts on a ball when he’s going well, laced to the opposite field with fading action away from the left fielder. He’s slumped for about a month yet still has an .816 OPS.

The Phillies have gone 10-4-1 in their 15 series. Only the Tigers (10-4) have a better series winning percentage. The back-to-back victories guarantee the Phils at least a .500 homestand and they can make it a winning week on Sunday, but it will be a challenge facing Pirates ace Paul Skenes for the first time. Mick Abel makes his big-league debut.

The Mets defeated the Yankees 3-2 on Saturday at Yankee Stadium to even this version of the Subway Series at 1-1.

They scored a run in the top of the ninth, on a Francisco Lindor sacrifice fly, to break a 2-2 tie, and Edwin Diaz closed it out for the save.

Here are the top takeaways...

-- There was plenty of late drama, especially in the bottom of the ninth as Diaz had to get Aaron Judge for the final out of the game.

Diaz got ahead 0-2 and then, after Judge worked the count to 3-2, struck out the Yankees’ superstar swinging at a high fastball.

-- The Mets put together the winning rally in the ninth against Fernando Cruz, loading the bases with one out on a walk to Luis Torrens, and infield single by Brett Baty, and a hit-by-pitch to Tyrone Taylor.

Lindor, on a 3-1 count, delivered his sacrifice fly to right-center, just deep enough for pinch-runner Luisangel Acuña to score ahead of Cody Bellinger’s throw to the plate.

-- Reed Garrett pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth for the Mets to keep the game tied 2-2.

Garrett was fortunate, as he allowed three walks and a hard-hit double to right by Anthony Volpe. But he also got a 6-4-3 double play for the first two outs, and ended the inning when DJ LeMahieu line a hard-hit ball to Juan Soto in right.

-- A questionable send of Brett Baty in the seventh inning didn’t wind up costing the Mets. On the play, Baty was thrown out at the plate in the top of the seventh on Taylor’s one-out double to left-center, leaving the game tied 2-2.

Watching the play live, it looked like an overly aggressive send of Baty by third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh, as Volpe took the relay throw in shallow left in time to nail the runner.

Still, Baty might well have been safe with a better slide. The throw was up the line just enough that Baty needed to slide more to the inside of the field, away from the tag. Also, Lindor could have given Baty more directional help, as he saw the throw veering up the line as the on-deck hitter.

Had Baty been held, the Mets would have had runners at second and third with one out and Lindor and Soto coming up.

-- Griffin Canning delivered a solid start, allowing two runs over 5.1 innings with an assist from Huascar Brazoban, who got the final two outs of the sixth, stranding two inherited runners.

The Yankees clipped Canning for solo home runs by DJ Lemahieu and Bellinger for their two runs against him -- a wall-scraper to right by Lemahieu and a 432-bomb to right-center by Bellinger.

Canning pitched exceptionally well against Judge in three at-bats, getting him on a routine fly to right, a strikeout swinging on a slider, and a soft ground ball to third by jamming him inside with a fastball.

-- Clarke Schmidt gave the Yankees a solid start as well, though he was fortunate that five walks didn’t cost him more as he allowed two runs over six innings.

Three of the walks came in the fourth inning, when the Mets scored two runs to take a 2-1 lead. But Schmidt pitched out of a bases-loaded jam, getting Brett Baty to fly to right to end the inning.

Soto stole third in the inning to set up the second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Mark Vientos. For Soto it was his second steal in two games against the Yankees, both times getting an early jump and stealing without a throw.

-- Judge had a rare rough day at the plate, going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts as the Mets pitched him tough. The 0-fer dropped Judge’s average to .402.

-- Lemahieu, making his second start of the season after injury delay, had a big day with two hits and a very good defensive play at second, as he slid to backhand Lindor’s ground ball toward the middle and threw him out to end the top of the seventh.  

Lemahieu’s homer was a Yankee Stadium Special, breaking a scoreless tie in the third inning. It was tracked at 333 feet, just clearing the fence toward the right field corner. According to Baseball Savant, it would have been a home run in four of the 30 major league ballparks.

Game MVP: Francisco Lindor

It wasn’t the most heroic of MVP games, but Lindor came through with a sac fly in the ninth. No small matter for a team that has struggled with runners in scoring position at times this season, and especially lately.

Highlights

Juan Soto steps to the plate for his first at-bat of the day at Yankee Stadium pic.twitter.com/tCNIhCYWNF

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2025

Juan Soto heard some boos and looked towards the bleacher creatures after making the putout on Aaron Judge pic.twitter.com/wYRZ7jIEpj

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2025

Griffin Canning strikes out Cody Bellinger to complete a 1-2-3 first inning! pic.twitter.com/tRNThyV9zM

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2025

BRETT BATY WITH THE BAREHAND! pic.twitter.com/ja80jO1aXL

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2025

DJ LeMahieu homers in his fifth at bat since returning to the Yankees this season! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/b7l6ERP5la

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 17, 2025

Pete Alonso drives in his 37th run of the year and ties the game in the 4th! pic.twitter.com/LIYgV6Xb2V

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2025

A long sacrifice fly from Mark Vientos brings home Juan Soto and the Mets take the lead! pic.twitter.com/lVR8hPgm0z

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2025

Cody Bellinger ties it with a solo home run! 💣 pic.twitter.com/RuxKYmDV2J

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 17, 2025

Pete Alonso comes home for the out! pic.twitter.com/3OsPt6klbp

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2025

GOT ‘EM pic.twitter.com/fZscjyR86j

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 17, 2025

DJ LeMahieu makes the sliding grab and throw for the third out and Mark Leiter Jr. is PUMPED 🔥 pic.twitter.com/US1obUzPvV

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 17, 2025

FRANCISCO LINDOR BRINGS HOME LUISANGEL ACUÑA WITH A SAC FLY!

METS LEAD IN THE 9TH! pic.twitter.com/bQxdWcB697

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2025

EDWIN DÍAZ STRIKES OUT AARON JUDGE AND THE BALLGAME IS OVER! pic.twitter.com/1QSG5OFIC6

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2025

What's next

The Mets wrap up their Subway Series against the Yankees on Sunday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

David Peterson (2-2, 3.05 ERA) will take the mound, opposite Max Fried (6-0, 1.11 ERA).