Category: Sports News

MLB Trade Rumors | Steve Adams: Prior to yesterday’s game, the Yankees placed ace Max Fried on the 15-day injured list with a bone bruise in his left elbow. While, obviously, this isn’t great news, as Fried will not throw for a few weeks before being reevaluated, early indications seem to suggest that he has avoided ligament damage (although we’ll get confirmation on that in a couple of days). The start of the Gerrit Cole/Max Fried tandem atop the rotation will almost certainly be delayed once again, but at least we can cross our fingers and hope to see them both on the active roster at some point this season. Elmer Rodríguez is expected to take Fried’s next turn in the rotation, though until then, his roster spot will soon likely be occupied by a reliever.

Yahoo! Sports | Scott Walsh: In an article originally published our pal Scott in The Times-Tribune in Scranton, PA, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders announce that Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will be making his sixth rehab start with them on Saturday, as they face the Syracuse Mets. Even with Fried down, the Yankees do not appear inclined to rush Cole’s rehab, and expect him to make at least two more starts before returning to the Bronx.

The Athletic | Jayson Stark: (subscription required) Now that we’re about a quarter of the way through the season, we have finally reached the point where we can begin to draw some preliminary conclusions about the game this season. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the biggest new thing this season is how the ABS challenges have changed the game, with batters swinging less and walking more — perhaps the result of the fact that the ABS strike zone is, at its edges, a touch smaller than the “traditional” zone called by most umps.

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: (subscription required) In what will, rather annoyingly, be a staple of the next several years, the start of this season’s Subway Series once again has people talking about the fallout of Juan Soto’s decision to sign with the Mets. At this stage of the game, not much has changed since we talked about this last season, and in truth, the answer even within the front office is mixed, with people simultaneously talking about Soto’s offensive production and the importance of the moves made in the aftermath of that deal (e.g., Fried, Cody Bellinger).

Andy Pages got a sunflower seed shower. Then, he delivered another one himself.

In a 6-0 win over the Angels on Friday night, the Dodgers’ third-straight victory was keyed by two big swings.

Pages had the first, ambushing a 3-0 fastball from Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz for a three-run homer in the top of the fourth inning. Moments later, Max Muncy delivered the other, crushing an 0-2 mistake that Kochanowicz left over the plate to make it back-to-back long balls with a solo drive to right.

As Pages returned to the dugout following his trot around the bases, he got a customary seed shower from teammate Teoscar Hernández –– who has made the celebration a staple since arriving in Los Angeles three years ago.

But with Hernández on deck when Muncy went deep, it was Pages’ turn to handle the honors, grabbing a bag of seeds himself and tossing them in Muncy’s face as he came back off the field.

“He’s going to have my job when I’m not here,” Hernández joked of Pages’ seed-throwing form. “So it is getting better.”

The scene represented an uplifting turn on what started as a dark day for the Dodgers (27-18), who placed scheduled starting pitcher Blake Snell on the injured list pregame with loose bodies in his elbow that could require surgery.

Snell’s injury is the third the Dodgers have suffered to a star pitcher in the last month (after Edwin Díaz and Tyler Glasnow). It leaves them concerningly thin on depth as they try to emerge from a month-long slump.

“It seems like every year we go through it,” manager Dave Roberts said of the sudden deluge of pitching injuries. “What I have learned is, we get through it.”

The easiest way to do so this time: More offensive performances such as Friday’s. 

Thanks to a third home run in the sixth inning from Hernández –– who snapped a month-long homer drought by driving a two-run blast the other way –– the Dodgers eclipsed the six-run mark for only the fifth time in their last 23 games.

It gave their pitching staff plenty of breathing room in what became an emergency bullpen game.

And it served as the latest encouraging sign that they are beginning to rediscover better form at the plate.

“The at-bats are getting better throughout this week,” Hernández said.

Given the team’s pitching situation, not a moment too soon either.

What it means

The Dodgers don’t want to go with bullpen games regularly this year.

But when they need to, as Friday showed, it isn’t always the worst tactic.

Eight different Dodgers pitchers combined for the club’s fifth shutout this year, limiting the Angels to just two hits while striking out a combined 11 batters.

It started with two scoreless innings from Will Klein, who retired his first five batters before stranding a couple runners in the second. Edgardo Henriquez and Blake Treinen then followed with 1-2-3 frames, keeping the Angels quiet as the Dodgers built their lead. 

Wyatt Mills and Kyle Hurt both worked around walks in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively. Alex Vesia negated a seventh-inning single by striking out his other three batters. Jack Dreyer and Charlie Barnes (a recent waiver claim who was called up in Snell’s place pregame) handled the final six outs.

It was the latest standout performance from a Dodgers relief corps that has a top-10 ERA in the majors this year.

It was also somewhat historic; marking only the 10th time in MLB’s modern era (since 1901) that club pitched a shutout using at least eight pitchers.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better situation tonight,” Roberts said. “It was good to see a few of the guys break out.”

Who’s hot

We covered Hernández (who is 9-for-19 in his last five games with four extra-base hits) in this space last night.

So, let’s go with Pages.

Entering Friday, the third-year slugger was in a lull, held without a hit in his last 13 at-bats. But with his score-opening home run, he continued to build on his strong overall start to the season –– continuing to be the Dodgers’ most consistent, and clutch, hitter.

Pages’ big fly was his 10th of the year, trailing only Muncy (who has 12) for most on the team.

It also put him back in a tie for the MLB lead in RBIs with 38, while helping him finish the night with a .305 batting average (11th-best in the National League) and .893 OPS (which ranks 12th).

Who’s not

Plain and simple, the Angels.

Since an encouraging 11-10 start to the season, the team has dropped 19 of its last 24 games. At 16-29 overall, they now own the worst record in the majors.

Before the game, manager Kurt Suzuki was asked if the club’s recent slump was simply in a run-of-the-mill “cold stretch” –– or something more reflective of the state of an organization that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2014.

Suzuki insisted it was the former, arguing that “there are a lot of games where we’re in it; we’re one swing away, maybe one pitch away, one out away.” 

“We’re gonna turn this around,” he added.

Either he was running cover for his bosses, or helplessly kidding himself.

Regardless, a franchise that has never before lost 100 games is well on its way to doing so right now. The “cold stretch,” unsurprisingly, continues.

Up next

The Dodgers will be going for only their second series win in the last three weeks on Saturday, when Justin Wrobleski (5-1, 2.42 ERA) faces breakout right-hander José Soriano (6-2, 1.66).

Early in the Mets' 5-2 loss to the Yankees on Friday night, it looked as if Juan Soto had tweaked something during a swing-and-miss early in the game.

Soto took a hack at a Cam Schlittler cutter in the fourth inning and noticeably grimaced. The Mets slugger had already landed on the IL this season, back in April, for a calf injury, and his return to the outfield was delayed due to an elbow, but Soto and his manager downplayed the moment following the Subway Series opener.

"The wrist. It’s usually when he swings and misses. It comes and goes," manager Carlos Mendoza said. "Whenever he makes contact, there’s no issue there. It’s only the swing and miss when he feels something. There’s nothing that we’re worried about there." 

"I was a little discomfort," Soto said. "No pain at all. I’ve been dealing with a couple of things. The foul ball [off my foot], the hand, the calf. Just trying to get back on track."

To Soto's credit, he completed the game in the outfield without issue. Even more impressive, he took Schlittler deep in the seventh to put the Mets on the board. And while it didn't spark a comeback victory, it did mark an individual achievement. The blast was Soto's 250th career home run, making him the fifth-youngest player in MLB history to reach the milestone.

"Means a lot," Soto said of the achievement. "A lot of hard work I’ve been putting on every year. Coming to play hard to have success for my team."

Soto's homer was a bright spot in an otherwise dour evening for the Mets. The loss snapped the team's three-game winning streak and halted the momentum from the sweep of the Tigers this week. But the Mets lost more than just the game. Clay Holmes will be out for a while with a fractured fibula he suffered after being hit by a Spencer Jones comebacker.

"It’s tough, man. Clay is a guy that shows up every day. One of the hardest workers I’ve seen in my career, Soto said of Holmes. "It’s unbelievable what he’s doing but it’s really sad about what happened to him. It’s part of the game. We’re going to support him, be right there for him in any kind of way that he needs us. It sucks."

And while the Mets navigate the loss of their most consistent pitcher, they hope Soto's blast on Friday could be the start of a hot streak for their slugger.

Soto had been hitting just .118 with an OPS of .449 from May 3-13, but now that he's homered in back-to-back games, perhaps more production is in his and the Mets' future. 

For the first seven weeks of this trying 2026 season, Clay Holmes was the least dramatic thing about the New York Mets. 

He pitched like the ace they needed as the aces they planned for, Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean, worked through minor inconsistency. He pitched into the sixth inning in seven of his first eight starts, never taxing a bullpen often needed to carry a heavier load as Kodai Senga and David Peterson took their turns. 

But Friday night, he succumbed to whatever relentless force keeps pulling Mets onto the injured list whenever this team threatens to start getting in rhythm. The broken fibula he suffered on Spencer Jones’ comebacker will keep him out for “a long time,” according to Carlos Mendoza, though the Mets had no timetable immediately after the game. He had no spin about how the Mets proceed now, either.  

“It’s a huge blow,” Mendoza said. “He’s been one of the most consistent guys that we had in that rotation. Yeah. It’s a big blow.” 

Logistically, the loss of their steadiest starter in a season that has already required them to tap into minor league depth makes the Mets’ potential climb back to contention even more complicated. They began the year with promising starting pitching depth. By late May 15, they were running out. 

Senga is on the injured list. Sean Manaea is pitching out of the bullpen, scraping for innings where he can find them and hoping he pitches well enough to prove he deserves more. His bullpen colleague Tobias Myers is a former starter, but he has pitched so well that he has been promoted from mop-up duties early to keep-it-close duties recently. His first 10 outings were multiple innings. His last four — all of his work in May — have been one inning or fewer. 

“At the moment, I’m [not stretched out to where I could start]. Maybe 35, 40 pitches,” said Myers, noting that no one had approached him about how the Holmes news might affect him yet. 

Of course, they hadn’t. The news was so jarring that when someone asked Mendoza whether Triple-A righty Jonah Tong might be an option, the normally patient manager interrupted. 

“We don’t know,” he said. “We don’t know. It’s too early.” 

Tong, who was called up last year but has spent the beginning of this season trying to expand and hone his arsenal in Triple-A, is part of the pitching depth that reassured the Mets about their chances prior to this season. But Tong has been inconsistent, and at times wholly ineffective: He allowed six earned runs on five hits and three walks while recording just five outs Thursday. 

His Syracuse Mets teammate Jack Wenniger, on the other hand, has a 1.08 ERA and more strikeouts than innings pitched in seven starts. The 24-year-old last pitched May 12. 

Wenniger, a sixth-round pick, has never carried the same expectations as Tong. And despite his sparkling headline numbers, he is walking nearly five batters per nine innings while benefiting from an anomalously low .237 batting average on balls in play. Still, results as good as his do not happen fully accidentally. 

Perhaps by Saturday, the Mets will probably have a better idea of their short-term plans. They will not, however, have many more long-term answers. Because as they sit eight games under .500, just 44 games into the season, chaos remains the only constant.

The Athletics and Giants opened their three-game series on a beautiful Friday night in front of a strong crowd at Sutter Health Park. The A’s prevailed 5-2 thanks to another solid start from starting pitcher Aaron Civale, first baseman Nick Kurtz’s latest game-changing blast and a makeshift bullpen that bent but did not break.

A’s Waste Early Scoring Chance

Civale tossed a scoreless first, retiring the first three Giants hitters in order. Giants’ pitcher, Tyler Mahle, matched his counterpart. A’s left fielder Tyler Soderstrom hit a two-out double before Mahle struck out designated hitter Brent Rooker to complete a clean first inning of work.

A’s Take 1-0 Lead!

In the bottom of the second, Athletics’ third baseman Zack Gelof walked With two outs, shortstop Darell Hernaiz blooped a single to right field, moving Gelof from first base to third. Jeff McNeil roped his ninth double of the season to the right field fence. Gelof easily scored; however the Giants worked a defensive relay to perfection to throw out Hernaiz at home plate. With Kurtz on deck, the A’s maybe should have put the stop sign on there to give their slugging first baseman a chance with two on and two outs.

Civale responded with a seven-pitch shutdown inning, quickly turning things back over to his offense.

Giants Tie the Game

Giants’ second baseman Luis Arraez led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to right field, his first of the season and as a Giant. With two outs, San Francisco’s left fielder Heliot Ramos and shortstop Willy Adames got back-to-back hits off of Civale. The A’s pitcher escaped that jam by getting the Giants’ designated hitter Bryce Eldridge to hit a sharp line out to McNeil at second.

Bolte: Good and Bad

In the bottom of the fourth, A’s center fielder Henry Bolte lined a single to center. He has now recorded a hit in his first three MLB games. Bolte was thrown out attempting to steal second to end that frame.

Giants Jump in Front

In the fifth, the Giants took their first lead of the game. Center fielder Harrison Bader hit his third home run of the season, a solo blast to left field. After allowing two singles, Civale wiggled out of that tough situation by retiring Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers to keep his team’s deficit at one.

Churn More Butter!

A’s right fielder Lawrence Butler led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to right. He advanced to second on Hernaiz’s sacrifice bunt. McNeil singled to left just in front of the diving Ramos, advancing Butler to third with only one out. That brought up Kurtz, who extended his on-base streak to 38 games in a big way. The “Big Amish” put his team back in front with a three-run home run to left center, his eighth of the season and third in as many games.

A’s Add Another Run

The A’s were not done against Mahle. Shea Langeliers and Rooker blooped singles to right field. With two outs, Bolte lined an RBI single to left field, scoring Langeliers for the A’s fourth run of the inning.

Bolte continues to impress since his promotion, contributing on offense and defense. That was Mahle’s last inning of his outing, which quickly devolved as he failed to protect his team’s lead.

A’s Bullpen Shuts the Door

A’s right-handed reliever Joel Kuhnel replaced Civale in the sixth. Civale had another solid outing, aside from the two mistake pitches that resulted in home runs. Despite only striking out two and giving up a fair amount of hard contact, he was able to limit the damage and keep his team in the ballgame. Kuhnel pitched a scoreless inning, getting the next two hitters out after Adames had doubled with one out.

Left-handed reliever Jose Suarez made his A’s debut in the seventh inning. He did not take long to put himself in a tough situation as Bader singled and then Arraez doubled. Somehow Suarez escaped that situation by striking out Chapman and getting Devers to groundout to first baseman Kurtz. Those two Giants continue to struggle, which is particularly problematic given both players’ high salaries. The Giants finished the game 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and ten left on base, a sign they had plenty of chances to score, but failed to capitalize.

Right-hander Luis Medina pitched a much less stressful scoreless eighth inning for the Athletics, continuing his stellar recent work in relief. He has gradually worked his way into higher-leverage opportunities and now sports a 1.62 ERA in his first season post Tommy John surgery.

Last but not least, left-hander Hogan Harris came in for the ninth inning save opportunity. Unlike yesterday, the A’s held on for the victory. Harris got two quick outs, gave up Arraez’s fourth hit of the game and then rebounded to retire Matt Chapman to secure the Athletics 5-2 victory and collect his third save of the season.

Things got rocky late for the A’s bullpen, but they were able to protect the lead, securing Civale’s fifth win of 2026 and getting this rivalry series off to the right start.

Preview

Tomorrow, these two teams will duke it out in the middle game of this three-game set. Right-hander Luis Severino is scheduled to pitch for the hosts. Through nine starts, the 32-year-old is 2-4 with a 4.07 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He has pitched well in his last two outings, only to get tagged with the loss in each game. Hope he has another strong performance tomorrow as the A’s seek to win the series. The Giants will counter with young right-hander Trevor McDonald, who enters his third start with a 1-0 record and a 2.92 ERA, It should be another exciting matchup tomorrow evening.

The Mariners waited too long, and Mason Miller eventually caught up with them.

The Padres shutout the Mariners 2-0 in Friday’s series opener in Seattle. The win gives them the second ever Vedder Cup, tying the all-time series at one apiece. Emerson Hancock pitched well, working around a bit of hard contact to get through six innings with the game still reach. But the Mariners’ lineup was lifeless for 7 2/3 innings, starting their day just in time for Miller to end it.

Hancock was a bit of a mix, picking up six strikeouts on 14 whiffs. He was rarely in trouble over his six innings of work, allowing just one run on five hits. But the contact he allowed was often quite hard. The Padres smacked 11 batted balls with exit velocities greater than 95 mph. Those just so happened to turn into nine outs.

That’s because the Mariners defense, particularly the middle infield, was actually quite good. They entered the day next to last in the majors in defensive run value, and I’m not sure there’s been a game this year that struck me as well-played in the field. This one did. (Of course, I wrote this before J.P. Crawford threw away a grounder of modest difficulty in the ninth inning. I was trying to say something nice about this game, and now I can’t.)

In the second inning, Hancock loaded the bases with a trio of singles — his one real jam of the day. Hancock got Sung-Mun Song to hit a hard grounder to Crawford at short stop, who raced to second, tagged the bag, and made a leaping throw to first to get out of it. This reminded me of the old, er, young J.P., with that slick sling and flare.

Hancock picked up a pair of strikeouts to begin the third. Then he served up another hard grounder, this time to Fernando Tatis Jr. The ball nearly got through the infield, but Cole Young made a nice back hand play, getting the ball to first with a jump throw. Young would make another nice play in the ninth, leaping to snag a soft liner and save a run.

Gavin Sheets walked with one out in the fourth on a sweeper that Hancock yanked and threw way, way behind Sheets all the way to the backstop. Sheets then stole second and would later score on a double from Miguel Andujar.

“Well, how did Sheets get on?” Hancock said after the game, when asked about the double. “I mean that’s what it comes down to. Free bases, an early jump, early break to steal second, and a really good two strike pitch but a good hitter puts a good swing on it, it’s one run – it’s that small of a margin. One walk ends up scoring in a close game and that’s the difference between a win and a loss.”

For as good as Hancock has looked at times this year, he seems to occasionally lose the grip on that big bender. This time it came back to hurt him, but it’s a small thing, especially when it’s the only walk of the day.e

In the fifth, Song hit a chopper over the mound to leadoff the inning. Brendan Donovan ranged over and fired the ball to first. Josh Naylor made an awkward lunge for the throw and took his foot off the bag. Song was safe after review. It proved no matter, as Hancock picked up another 6-4-3 double play on the next batter.

That was kind of the game for Hancock. Again, he got a solid number of whiffs and tons of awkward swings. He continued to look like the new version of himself. But he lived in the zone with his fastball and the Padres swung hard. I think this is another good example of an outing where he can still be quite effective even when he’s not at his absolute best. It’s certainly helpful when the defense steps up behind him.

Cooper Criswell got the eight inning and gave up a run on two singles and a groundout, making the game 2-0. But it didn’t really matter because even one run proved too much for the Mariners lineup.

Yes, the Mariners got shut out at the plate. They ultimately picked up seven hits and three walks, but that kind of overstates how much offense they generated. Their only real threat came in the bottom of the eighth when Donovan singled and Julio walked with one out. Josh Naylor nearly took the lead with a barrel deep to center, but it was tracked down. That was actually the third hard hit out to the warning in center field for the Mariners on Friday, and they did swat 12 hard hit balls. It just wasn’t enough.

“If we have a process that gets balls on the barrels, we’re doing something right,” Dan Wilson said after the game. “But we also want to get balls that fall. We’ll just keep grinding away.”

The Padres acknowledged the threat after Naylor’s near-homer and took the appropriate action, bringing in the cyborg Miller for a four-out save.

The Mariners actually put up a bit of a fight. Randy Arozarena exploded his bat and dropped a ball just beyond the mound to load the bases with two outs. And Connor Joe worked a full count- hey, that’s something. But Joe struck out, ending the threat. 

In the ninth, Crawford drew a leadoff walk, and Young dunked a single. Miller countered with three more strike outs and the game was over. It’s, frankly, kind of impossible to string hits together against Miller, who lowered his FIP to -0.22 in the outing. He’s having simply the most dominant reliever season in history. The Mariners only mistake was letting him in the game. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that he probably won’t pitch Saturday after throwing 34 pitches to get four outs.

“He’s pitching very well,” Wilson said postgame. “He’s got great stuff — I think he hit 103 (mph) tonight — and to be honest, I thought the at-bats we put up against him were really strong, to load the bases there and have a couple of at-bats that went very deep, and the guys kept fighting all the way to the end. Those at-bats were tough, and that’s what you love to see. But he’s definitely touch, and scoring early was what we needed to do.”

The season series — the Vedder Cup — goes to the Padres. The Mariners will look to even this particular three-game set Saturday.

The Dodgers opened MLB rivalry weekend with a blast — three to be exact — in a 6-0 win over the Angels on Friday at Angel Stadium.

The Dodgers also achieved something last year's World Series-winning team couldn't — they beat the Angels. The Angels had won seven consecutive games against the Dodgers, the franchise's longest winning streak against its crosstown rival.

This time, however, the Dodgers (27-18) took command. The Dodgers' lineup lit up Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz’s fastball. Andy Pages hit a three-run home run and Max Muncy hit his 12th homer of the season on the next at-bat to break a scoreless game in the fourth inning. Both home runs came off four-seams Kochanowicz left hanging too far over the center of the plate.

Read more:Dodgers' Blake Snell returns to injured list with loose bodies in his left elbow

During Pages’ at-bat, a pitch ricocheted off Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe's left hand. Playing in his first game since returning from the injured list, O'Hoppe stayed in the game despite appearing to be in pain. He left in the sixth because of irritation in his left wrist — the same wrist he fractured on April 25.

In the sixth, Teoscar Hernández tacked on two more runs with an opposite-field home run after an errant sinker from Kochanowicz. The 33-year-old wore a big smile after he crossed home and was showered in sunflower seeds. Hernández had gone 23 days without a home run.

Shohei Ohtani also put together good at-bats. He walked and had a double, but he also struck out twice.

Freddie Freeman was notably absent. Roberts texted Freeman a couple nights ago and told him he would give him Friday off. Freeman, ever the competitor, tried to get Roberts to reconsider, but the Dodgers manager held firm.

"Just in the middle of 13 in a row, I felt this was a good day to kind of sit and watch a ballgame,” Roberts said before the game. “He’s been doing great. He’s trended in the right direction the last couple weeks. But I still feel that it’s still the right thing to give him a day.”

Will Klein opened for the Dodgers after Blake Snell was placed on the injured list because of loose bodies in his left elbow. The Dodgers recalled left-hander Charlie Barnes to take Snell’s place on the active roster.

Read more:Swanson: Dave Roberts made the right call giving Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani a rare day off

The quick pivot didn’t affect the Dodgers much Friday. The team relied on eight pitchers — Klein, Edgardo Henriquez, Blake Treinen, Wyatt Mills, Kyle Hurt, Alex Vesia, Jack Dreyer and Barnes — to complete the game. No one ate up more innings than Klein, who struck out two and surrendered one of the two hits the Dodgers gave up across two innings.

Barnes closed out the game. He induced two quick infield groundouts before walking Zach Neto. Bryce Teodosio flied out to Kyle Tucker in right field to end the game.

The Dodgers now have a chance to do something last year's team couldn’t: win a series against the Angels (16-29).

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The ball went off Spencer Jones’ bat at 111.1 mph and ricocheted off Clay Holmes’ lower leg toward the first base foul line. At the time, as the Yankees rookie hustled down the line for a hit, Jones had no idea he’d broken Holmes’ fibula.

But he did recall this: “It sounded loud.”

After the game, a game in which Cam Schlittler dominated the Mets en route to a 5-2 win for the Yankees at Citi Field Friday night, Jones seemed surprised to see a crowd of reporters gather at his locker. He hadn’t heard the damage his liner had done to Holmes, not to mention the Mets’ season, and he seemed stunned when a reporter relayed the news to him.

It hit hard in part because Holmes is one of the good guys in the sport, one who has pitched for both the Mets and Yankees, and perhaps even more so because Jones considers him a friend, one with whom he works out in the offseason in Nashville.

“I didn’t know,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry to hear that. He’s a tough guy. He went back out there and pitched on a broken leg. That’s incredible.”

Indeed, that may be the most stunning part of all. Holmes not only pitched to five more hitters in the fourth inning, after the Jones liner, allowing no runs, but told Carlos Mendoza in the dugout he was fine and went back out for the fifth inning, striking out Cody Bellinger before showing signs of the fracture with his delivery that forced the manager to take him out of the game.

Mendoza seemed practically sick to his stomach as he announced the injury in the interview room, and didn’t try to downplay it in the slightest.

“It’s a huge blow,” he said.

There wasn’t much else to say. Only Juan Soto spoke in a group interview in the Mets clubhouse, and he’s not one to throw compliments around for sound bites, so when he praised Holmes as “one of the hardest workers I’ve seen in my career,” it told you much the pitcher’s teammates were feeling for him.

So on a night when much of the Subway Series buzz died quickly at Citi Field as quickly as the Yankees took an early 3-0 lead and Schlitter shut down the Mets’ offense, it was hard not to compare and contrast the sights and sounds from the two clubhouses, as well as the state of the Mets’ and Yankees’ seasons.

The Yankees room was full of noise, smiles, and good vibes after the win. They haven’t played well lately, but there’s no question this team knows it’s going to the postseason, with Ben Rice emerging as a masher to ride shotgun for Aaron Judge, and Schlittler continuing to make a statement as the early AL Cy Young Award favorite.

“It’s really something to watch him pitch,” Rice said.

On the other side, you got the sense that the shock of losing Holmes was settling in through the clubhouse.

Just when the Mets were finally showing signs of life, with the sweep of the Detroit Tigers this week, they lost the guy who has been their best pitcher this season, a dominant force in his own right.

In truth, it’s hard to see how they recover from this one, especially with all of their other injuries, considering there is no telling yet how soon the likes of Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr. and others will be back.

As it is, their better play over the last couple of weeks was difficult to measure. For four straight series, the Mets played teams that were each in long losing streaks, playing their worst baseball of the season, and the 5-4 record on their nine-game road trip actually felt like a disappointment.

But then came the energy and hope that came with A.J. Ewing’s call-up, and the sweep of the Tigers finally offered evidence that perhaps the Mets aren’t as bad as they’ve played this season.

In that respect, this Subway Series loomed as a litmus test of sorts. The Yankees have been slumping themselves, but if the Mets could play well against them this weekend, it would validate the Tigers sweep to a degree and further their momentum.

Well, one game down, and maybe they can shrug it off to the brilliance of Schlittler, who is shutting everybody down this season.

They have two more games to prove they’ve raised their game against more hittable starters in Carlos Rodon and Ryan Weathers.

Yet suddenly it’s not just the offense that is the problem, but a starting rotation that has a huge hole in it, due to the Holmes injury.

Holmes, Nolan McLean, and Freddy Peralta were the only reliable starters for most of the first several weeks of the season. David Peterson has been better lately, but only when used after an opener, for whatever reason, in relatively short stints. And Christian Scott offers promise but plenty of uncertainty.

Even with Ewing and Carson Benge providing a spark, these Mets need pitching depth and a fair amount of dominance to have any chance of winning with the consistency it will take to get back into contention.

Soto, for one, didn’t want to believe the reality of the Holmes injury.

“We’re going to miss Clay for maybe a month,” he said. “Hopefully less.”

Nobody wanted to tell him a broken fibula likely means Holmes will miss three months or so.

By then, the trading deadline will have come and gone, and at the moment, that feels like a day that will be significant for these Mets for all the wrong reasons.

In his last experience facing the Yankees’ best hitter in a major league game, Luke Weaver was schooled on proper etiquette. 

Then pitching for the Reds in 2023, Weaver caught flak from Aaron Judge for not acknowledging him with a head nod when Judge came to bat for the Yankees. 

The two were teammates in the Cape Cod League as collegiate players. 

“We hadn’t seen each other in quite a bit,” the Mets reliever said Friday before the Yankees beat the Mets 5-2 at Citi Field. “Aaron Judge was at the plate, and I was in a bit of a trying season, so I needed all the energy I could muster. We had a laugh about it, and he made it a big deal, but in a light, kind-hearted way.” 

Weaver spent the past two seasons as Judge’s teammate but has reverted to wearing an opposing uniform. He entered Friday with a 4.15 ERA in 17 appearances for the Mets this season. 

The Mets signed Weaver to a two-year contract worth $20 million last winter after he received limited interest from the Yankees following a rough final stretch with the club. 

“There was some light communication, I think respectful communication and just like staying in touch,” Weaver said. “But I think they were wanting to go in a different direction, and so there wasn’t anything major in our discussions about returning.” 

Weaver, who pitched to a 9.64 ERA last September before he had two ugly postseason outings in three appearances, said he holds no animosity toward the Yankees for wanting to move on from him. 

“I have a lot of great, fond memories,” said Weaver, who pitched for the Yankees in the 2024 World Series. “For me individually down the stretch, it didn’t quite click the way it did the year before. Circumstances change and roles change and obviously results sometimes change.” 

Manager Carlos Mendoza is expected to use Huascar Brazobán to pitch in the opener’s role Saturday, with David Peterson in a bulk relief role. Brazobán served as the opener Sunday in Arizona and allowed two earned runs over one inning. 

The Mets held a moment of silence for former Yankees radio voice John Sterling, who died last week.