Category: Sports News

The Yankees' bats went quiet after a strong first inning as they fell to the Athletics, 3-2.

Here are the takeaways....

-- The Yanks got on the board quickly with three straight singles in the bottom of the first inning as Cody Bellinger's bloop to right field scored Trent Grisham from second base. After former Yankee Luis Severino struck out two straight, New York found a way to tack on another run. Jazz ChisholmJr. walked to load the bases and J.C. Escarra followed with another walk to pickup the RBI, pushing the lead to 2-0.

-- Will Warren cruised through the first three innings before running into some trouble in the fourth. The right-hander let up three consecutive singles as Jeff McNeil singled to left field and Lawrence Butler beat Bellinger's throw home, making it a 2-1 game. Warren then issued a walk to load the bases and threw a wild pitch, scoring Max Muncy as the Athletics tied it up at 2-2.

Warren recorded two outs in the fifth inning, but with two runners on base and the lefty Butler coming up to bat, Tim Hill entered for the lefty vs. lefty matchup. His day ended after 4.2 IP and 85 pitches (48 strikes), allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Luckily, Hill needed just one pitch to get out of the jam and avoided adding on to Warren's line.

-- Starting at shortstop for the first time in the majors, Ryan McMahon got tested at the end of the first inning. He made a nice back-hand stop and got a little help from Ben Rice on the scoop at first base for the third out. McMahon looked more comfortable on his next three plays in the second and third innings, getting the runner at first each time. 

While McMahon was solid at short, Rice had some troubles at first base throughout the game, including a fielding error on a ball that bounced off his glove into foul territory. Rice also struggled at the plate, going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.

-- Pitching coach Matt Blake was ejected by home plate umpire Carlos Torres for arguing balls and strikes in the top of the third inning. Nick Kurtz ended up singling later in the at-bat.

-- Hill, Camilo Doval, and Brent Headrick tossed 3.1 combined scoreless innings of relief to keep the score knotted at 2-2 through the eighth. However, David Bednar got into trouble in the ninth inning, allowing a single to Kurtz and a double to Shea Langeliers. Bednar struck out Tyler Soderstrom, but then gave up a sac fly to Brent Rooker as the Athletics took a 3-2 lead. The veteran managed to strike out Jacob Wilson to avoid further damage.

The Yanks went down in order in the bottom of the ninth, finishing with just four hits after having three in the first inning. Their last hit came in the fourth inning.

Game MVP: Luis Severino

Severino reminded Yankees fans that he's still got it, striking out seven over 5.0 IP. The right-hander allowed two runs on four hits and five walks, with both runs and three of the hits coming in the first inning.

Highlights

Cody Bellinger drops in a base hit to get the Yankees on the board! pic.twitter.com/YkHCePAkt8

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 8, 2026

J.C. Escarra walks in a run! pic.twitter.com/YhsMhaG0Wb

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 8, 2026

Matt Blake has been ejected pic.twitter.com/EjrZnulrLB

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 8, 2026

Jazz Chisholm Jr. at full stretch to deny a base hit! 🎷 pic.twitter.com/GXacWP3CA0

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 9, 2026

What's next

The Yankees wrap up their three-game series with the Athletics on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m.

Ryan Weathers (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will take the mound against LHP Jeffrey Springs(1-0, 2.38 ERA).

Barring an injury to a starting pitcher, it doesn’t appear as if Sean Manaea will be joining the Mets rotation anytime soon.

Despite this stretch of nine straight days with a scheduled game for his team, manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday that he’s sticking with a five-man rotation. In spring training, Mendoza had indicated a six-man rotation was a possibility once the Mets got beyond their early off days in the schedule.

“We’re just going to keep guys with their routines,” Mendoza said before the Mets lost 7-2 to the Diamondbacks at Citi Field. “If we need to go that route, we will. But as I am sitting here, we are not planning on going to a six-man.”

With David Peterson removed after the fifth inning, Manaea was utilized in a second straight extended relief appearance.

He allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks over four innings (70 pitches).

“Each day we’re turning in the right direction,” said Manaea, who was squeezed from the rotation at the end of spring training.

Manaea’s lagging velocity has been part of the issue.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

On this day he averaged 88.4 mph on his four-seam fastball. It was a dip from his previous appearance — he averaged 89.9 mph with that pitch last Thursday.

Manaea was asked for his reaction to hearing he won’t be joining the rotation as a sixth starter.

“No disappointment,” Manaea said. “I am here to help this team win in any way that I can. And right now this is my job to do what I have been doing and I’m very happy doing that.”

Mendoza said the manner in which his starting pitchers have recovered between starts is the biggest factor in wanting to stick with the five-man set.

“We wanted to be flexible and leave it open just in case somebody comes in and says maybe they can use an extra day, then you can always make that adjustment,” Mendoza said. “That was the idea coming out of camp, but here we are now.”

Carson Benge snapped an 0-for-24 with a ninth-inning single.

The hit was Benge’s first in April.

Through four innings, this was an enjoyable game.

Joe Boyle and Colin Rea took two different approaches attacking hitters as each limited the other side to just one run. Boyle made an early mistake missing his location on a putaway sweeper that Nico Hoerner converted into a leadoff home run, but then Boyle quickly rebounded to retire the next batter and then execute that first sequence to Alex Bregman. Boyle did not miss that time and got the well-disciplined veteran on a check swing to strike out. Boyle, for the next three innings, went on to show more growth as he looked to distance himself from his days of wildness mixing in his new sinker and improved sweeper while aggressively attacking the strike zone.

Then, the 5th inning happened and the rather enjoyable game evolved into another cavalcade of self-inflicted problems to completely change the tone of the game.

The fifth inning opened with Boyle being a bit wild inside with his first two pitches before finding the zone again until Carson Kelly tried to pull a Derek Jeter and milk a hit-by-pitch on a ball which clearly hit the knob of the bat. The Rays successfully challenged the play, but Kelly took what felt like a commercial break to redress with his acoutrements. The long delay between pitches may have gotten to Boyle as he missed high on the next pitch and then hung another slider which resulted in a leadoff double to Kelly. The next at bat was a five-pitch walk to Ballesteros with only one of the pitches in the zone which was followed by a similar at bat to Dansby Swanson that loaded the bases with no outs. Those three runners would quickly come around to score on the next pitch that Michael Conforto drove off the centerfield fence with some extra help from the Rays poor defensive execution:

The Rays were charged with two throwing errors on the play, but charging Fraley with a throwing error was questionable in the moment and I’m still not sure how that is an error on him as Taylor Walls did not exactly make himself big for a cutoff throw and the throw scooted by him. The throw at least ended up close to second base, but then Jonathan Aranda doubled down on the miscue throwing wildly by Hunter Feduccia at home in an attempt to nab Dansby Swanson trying to score. Boyle would be allowed to stay in and he retired Matt Shaw in an eight-pitch at bat before Nico Hoerner took a 99-mph fastball off the outer half the other way down the line for a double. Five pitches later, an infield dribbler by Michael Busch was thrown down into the Rays’ bullpen by Feduccia for the third throwing error of the contest leading to the fifth run of the inning and Boyle’s departure after 34 pitches that frame.

Jesse Scholtens would come in to finish the contest and looked as good as Boyle did the first four innings. The Rays offense disappeared in the middle of the game as Colin Rea, Hoby Milner, and Ben Brown retired 12 straight until an 8th inning single by Aranda, a wild pitch by Brown, and a single by Fraley brough in a late run in the 8th. Chandler Simpson got on in the 9th and promptly stole second, but inexplicably tried stealing third with no outs and was thrown out on a perfect peg and tag by the duo of Kelly and Bregman.

Tonight was the third time this month the Rays have committed at least three errors in a contest and the 5th time in their past 25 contests dating back to the late September weekend when they did so in consecutive games against Boston. That is simply unacceptable for any team, let alone one who plans on relying upon pitching and defense to keep them in games.

Losses heading into an off-day always feel doubly painful, and things do not get easier this weekend with the Yankees coming to town with the front of their rotation ready for battle.

It was one of the best games Ron Cey ever played in his MLB career.

And looking back more than 50 years later, he had Davey Lopes partially to thank.

Entering Game 2 of the 1974 National League Championship Series, Cey can still remember struggling to find a feel for his swing.

“I was kinda sluggish and just felt like I didn’t have a lot of energy,” Cey recalled in a phone conversation with The California Post. “I mentioned to Davey, ‘I just don’t feel quick. I don’t feel like I’m getting to the zone very well with bat speed and everything.’”

So, his longtime Dodgers teammate offered a suggestion.

“Back then, I had like a 34/35-ounce Louisville Slugger (bat) I was swinging,” Cey said. “So he reaches over and gives me one of his bats, which were a lot smaller. It felt like a toothpick.”

At first, Cey was hesitant.

“Well, this is almost too small,” the eventual six-time All-Star slugger told his speedy, contact-hitting, four-time All-Star teammate.

Lopes, however, was persistent.

“Just try it out,” he countered. “I’m pretty sure you’ll see a difference.”

Lo and behold, Cey proceeded to go 4 for 5 with two doubles and a homer –– keying an NLCS victory that helped those ‘74 Dodgers reach the World Series.

“I should have done that long before, but I was too stubborn,” said Cey, who switched to a lighter bat model for the rest of his career. “And he changed my mind.”

That was one of the many memories that came flooding back for Cey on Wednesday, after learning Lopes had died at the age of 80 following several years of declining health.

To the rest of the baseball world, Lopes will be remembered for his lengthy list of accomplishments: 1,671 hits, 614 RBI and (most notably) 557 steals over a 16-year playing career that also included one Gold Glove at second base and a 1981 World Series title.

But to those who played with him during a storied decade-long run with the Dodgers, Lopes’ legacy will transcend just his stats.

“He was the catalyst,” Steve Garvey, the 10-time All-Star and 1974 MVP winner, told The California Post in the wake of Lopes’ death. “He was a quiet leader.”

Lopes, Cey, Garvey and Bill Russell, of course, will forever share the closest historical link –– serving as the Dodgers’ starting infield for an MLB-record 8 ½ consecutive seasons from 1973 to their World Series title in 1981.

“When it’s all said and done,” Garvey said, “you could argue it’s the greatest infield in history.”

And it wouldn’t have been the same without Lopes, the undersized second baseman who set the table as the team’s leadoff hitter and menaced opposing teams with his speed on the basepaths.

“He controlled the game at times with his base-stealing capabilities,” Cey said. “He wreaked havoc on defenses … His contributions were immense.”

For all of Lopes’ on-field accolades, however, Cey spent just as much time Wednesday reminiscing on their lifelong friendship away from it.  

They originally met during spring training in 1969, as just a couple young prospects playing a game of pool at the team’s old Vero Beach, Florida, training facility. They remained close for more than half a century to follow, seeing each other in recent years at alumni camps and autograph signings.

As teammates with the Dodgers, Cey joked how “you’d see more of them guys than you do your own family.”

During the 8 ½ years the infield quartet was together, they took pride in a longevity that still hasn’t been matched.

“I think we probably made Tommy Lasorda’s and Walter Alston’s days a lot easier as manager,” Cey said. “Because we played every single day … We were the glue.”

During that time, they helped the Dodgers win four NL pennants, nearly 800 regular-season games and a long-sought championship in 1981.

But while triumphs will long be remembered, so too will the little moments like before that NLCS game in 1974.

“It was real special for all of us to be a part of that, to carve out our own little history and tradition,” Cey said. “We have a unique spot in Dodger history.”

As well as in each others’ lives.

California Post baseball columnist Dylan Hernandez contributed to this report.

Even after David Peterson allowed five runs in the first two innings of Wednesday afternoon’s 7-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, it would be fair to say the New York Mets starting rotation has largely inspired confidence this season.

Only five teams’ rotations have struck out more batters, and two of them have played a full game more than the Mets had as of late Wednesday evening. Nolan McLean has looked ace-ready. Kodai Senga has pitched with more power than he did in 2025. Freddy Peralta has yet to be at his best, and he has still been very good.

But if cracks are going to spread – and when it comes to major league starting pitching, they almost always do – Wednesday offered a glimpse into where they might find room.

After allowing a run on two hits in the first, Peterson was vexed with small ball and pummeled with hits in a four-run second inning before retiring 11 of the last 12 batters he faced. Inconsistency, not total ineffectiveness, has been his undoing: Since he worked in and out of traffic through 5.1 scoreless innings in his first start of the year, Peterson has allowed 10 runs over 9.1 innings in his last two, scattering 15 hits and four walks. His ERA is 6.14.

Two mediocre starts seem like far too small a sample to dislodge a pitcher who was an All-Star in the first half of last season, though Peterson did struggle in the second half. His manager confirmed as much after the game, when asked if he was considering making a change in the rotation.

“As I’m sitting here right now, no,” Mendoza said.

Exactly why Peterson is pitching less effectively seems to be a subject of debate. Mendoza suggested that Peterson was struggling to execute his pitches inside to right-handed hitters, leaving pitches meant to land on his glove side out over the plate.

“When he’s going well,” Mendoza said. “The two-seam comes in, the slider down and in to righties. And like I said, right now, he’s having a hard time.”

Peterson, meanwhile, admitted that while he did require mechanical adjustments after that troublesome second inning, he thought pitch selection, rather than execution, was his problem.

“I don’t think I’ve had a problem executing the pitch,” Peterson said. “I don’t think we’ve gone there enough. I think we’ve relied on the sinker and change-up too much and allowed hitters to sit over the plate. In my eyes, it’s more about usage than it is execution.”

Whatever the issue, Peterson seems likely to get plenty of time to address it. For one thing, none of his potential rotation replacements are currently applying pressure. As recently as spring training, the Mets rotation looked sturdy – maybe even deep. But in the weeks since, a series of worrying developments – none of them remotely catastrophic – have nonetheless whittled at its edges.

Sean Manaea’s velocity still hasn’t come back, and he is trying to rediscover his best stuff in the bullpen while also keeping his pitch counts high enough to start. He allowed two runs on five hits (unaided by a few defensive miscues) in four innings following Peterson on Wednesday, the second straight time he has followed his fellow lefty into a game. 

He said he felt better, that his secondary stuff felt sharper than it had in his last outing – the product, in part, of working on leaning over less so he can rotate through his delivery more easily.

“I thought he was aggressive. The way he was moving on the mound, threw with his delivery,” Mendoza said. “I thought he was good.”

Mendoza initially suggested they would consider reincorporating Manaea into the rotation after a few turns through the rotation. But Wednesday, Mendoza said they will stick with the five starters they have used so far instead.

“It’s just where we’re at right now with this turn, where everyone is at and how they’re bouncing back,” Mendoza said. “I think that’s the bottom line. We wanted to be flexible. We wanted to leave it open just to make sure that [if] somebody comes in and says, ‘Hey man, I might need an extra day,’ then you can always make an adjustment. That was the whole idea coming out of camp.”

Some of the Mets' less convenient would-be rotation options are not knocking forcefully at this exact moment, either. Christian Scott, who looked like an obvious first call-up after a strong spring training, allowed six earned runs in 3.1 innings in his first outing for Triple-A Syracuse. Jonah Tong walked three and allowed four runs in 1.2 innings in his second Syracuse outing, though of course, their samples are minuscule, too. 

Two or three starts do not make a season. The question Peterson will now answer is whether they will become a problem.

Zach Eflin’s season is over before it ever really got going. 

Eflin, 32, underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery, the Orioles announced Wednesday, after he made just one start for the ballclub this season. 

The right-hander threw just 3 ⅔ innings when he took the mound on March 31 against the Rangers before exiting the game with right elbow discomfort. 

He was placed on the 15-day injured list shortly after and underwent an MRI. He then flew to Texas to get a second opinion on imaging from Dr. Keith Meister, who ultimately ended up performing the procedure.

“I feel for Zach,” manager Craig Albernaz told reporters last week, according to the Baltimore Banner. “The whole coaching staff, the whole team, you just feel for him. Heart hurts for him. You never want to see anything happen to any player, especially someone like Zach.” 

It’s a tough break for Eflin, who saw his 2025 season hindered by three separate stints on the IL and didn’t pitch again after July 28.

He underwent back surgery in August. 

Eflin has spent parts of three seasons with the Orioles after arriving in Baltimore in 2024 via a trade with the Rays. 

This offseason, the Orioles re-signed Eflin to a one-year contract worth a guaranteed $10 million, which also included a mutual option for 2027. 

Eflin has spent 11 years in the major leagues, spending the first seven in MLB with the Phillies. 

He spent part of two seasons in Tampa.

During his time with the Orioles, Eflin has posted an 11-7 record with a 4.42 ERA and 104 strikeouts. 

He had a 5.93 ERA in 14 starts during the 2025 season. 

The Orioles are 6-6 and second in the American League East after winning three straight games against the White Sox.