Category: Sports News

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza provided several updates on his club ahead of Wednesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field.

Luis Robert Jr., Ronny Mauricio progressing

Outfielder Luis Robert Jr. was seen throwing the ball in the outfield at Citi Field.

Robert, who has been on the injured list since April 30 (retroactive to April 27) due to lumbar spine disc herniation, was transferred to the 60-day IL in late May.

Meanwhile, Ronny Mauricio has progressed to the baseball activities portion of his rehab, the manager said.

“He’s throwing, he’s hitting,” Mendoza said. “So he’s now at the phase where he’s doing a lot of the baseball stuff.”

Mauricio, who was seen doing some running in the outfield near Robert, landed on the IL with a right thumb fracture in early May and was expected to miss six to eight weeks.

Rotation pushback

Mendoza confirmed pushing back Nolan McLean to Friday and having Christian Scott on Thursday was just about getting the arms an extra day amid a long stretch without a day off.

“This was something that we discussed over the weekend,” the skipper said, adding it was always part of the plan. “[The pitchers] knew the plan, the Cardinals knew the plan that we were going bullpen game today, Scotty tomorrow, and then Nolan.

“Just kinda giving those guys an extra day this early in the stretch we’re about to go here.”

The stretch, which began with Tuesday night's game, sees the Mets play 22 times over 23 days, with only Friday, June 19, without a fixture during that run.

David Peterson ‘ready to go’

Peterson could see action in Wednesday’s game as the left-hander has not appeared since tossing four scoreless frames on May 31 after his move to the bullpen.

Mendoza said the time out of action had been influenced by how the schedule fell, especially with the Padres sporting a very right-handed-heavy lineup during the series in San Diego.

“There’s a good chance he pitches tonight, so, he’s ready to go,” he said, adding that Peterson had been “touching the mound and throwing aggressive side [sessions]” and they don’t see the time off as an issue.

“This is a guy that we’re gonna use because he’s important for this team,” Mendoza said.

Odds and ends

The manager had nothing new to report on Kodai Senga other than the right-hander “felt good” on Tuesday after playing catch. The starter was scheduled to play catch again on Wednesday and Mendoza said he “wouldn’t be surprised if he was pitching in a game tomorrow or the next day.” 

Senga was scratched from a rehab assignment with ulnar nerve irritation earlier this week.

Francisco Alvarez is back in the lineup as the DH on Wednesday, the day after making his return from the IL. Mendoza said there were “no issues” physically for the catcher after his first game back.

Tobias Myers is still working to get stretched out at Triple-A Syracuse, and is likely scheduled to throw around 35 to 40 pitches on Wednesday after throwing 1.1 innings on Sunday.

“After that, he’s probably gonna get three days [rest], and then revisit,” Mendoza said, adding the righty is “throwing the ball well, doing everything we’re asking him to do.”

Texas Rangers lineup for June 10, 2026 against the Kansas City Royals: starting pitchers are MacKenzie Gore for the Rangers and Seth Lugo for the Royals.

We have game two of the three game series in Kansas City. After the Rangers put just three runs up on the board yesterday, Skip Schumaker has decided to put offensive catalyst Nicky Lopez back in the starting lineup. Jake Burger is getting the day off.

The lineup:

Pederson — DH

Seager — SS

Jung — 3B

Nimmo — RF

Langford — LF

Duran — 1B

Carter — CF

Higashioka — C

Lopez — 2B

6:40 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -119 favorites.

What started as a regular Little League practice in Pittsburgh turned into a memory Bryce Blewitt will likely carry for the rest of his life when Pirates ace Paul Skenes made a surprise stop at Vestal Field, home of Ingomar Franklin Park Little League.

The unplanned visit came when Skenes spotted kids practicing under the lights on his drive home and decided to pull over, join them on the field, play catch, sign autographs and spend time with players and families.

For Bryce, the night quickly became even more memorable because of one hilarious choice that made him a viral sensation.

“It’s kind of crazy that, like, I just blew up,” Bryce said in the transcript, explaining that after a friend joked earlier in the day about his forehead, he figured, “Why not get that big space signed.”

More: Heading to PNC Park hungry? Where to eat before a Pirates game

More: From Clemente Bridge to first pitch, Pirates fans soak in tradition

The video of the Pirates star autographing Bryce’s forehead spread widely online, helping turn a neighborhood baseball moment into a Pittsburgh feel-good story. Bryce also used the moment to ask baseball questions only a young pitcher would think to ask.

“If he had any advice for the young pitchers,” Bryce said, adding that he also asked how to recover after hitting a batter. Skenes’ answer stuck with him and was in simple Skenes delivery: “Just throw hard,” and “Just don’t hit the next batter.”

Bryce’s father, Brent, a coach of the Little League team, said what stood out most was not just that Skenes showed up, but how he treated every child there.

 “To see a guy like that just step up, and I mean take his time out of his day to make a special moment for these kids,” Brent said.

 “Honestly, like, I wish there were more people like Paul in the world.”

The next night at PNC Park, Skenes went back to being the ace on the hill, holding the powerful Dodgers lineup to two runs over more than six innings before the bullpen let a 12–3 game get away; a reminder that even on nights when the final score tilts the wrong direction, his arm is already one of the most feared in baseball.

For Bryce and his Ingomar Franklin Park teammates, though, the box score will never matter as much as the night before, when that same arm was just a few feet away, signing a forehead, answering questions about hitting batters and turning a regular Little League practice into a story they will tell for the rest of their lives.

This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paul Skenes’ surprise visit to Ingomar Franklin Park little leaguers

The sun rises in the east, the sun sets in the west and the Arizona Cardinals rookie defensive lineman will miss a large swath of offseason, training camp and preseason.

The Arizona Cardinals new head coach Mike LaFleur is far more forthcoming than Jonathan Gannon was about injuries as he reported fourth round pick Kaleb Proctor has a meniscus issue and could miss a lot of time.

This is another blow to a team who did almost nothing to improve one of the worst defenses in the NFL, and a team that is desperate for healthy reinforcements.

The other concern with a meniscus is that there are not a lot of guys who had meniscus issues, and at Proctor’s size and the way he wins, with explosive movements and quickness, could this be something that hinders him?

More than the Cardinals, although somewhat for the Cardinals, I hope Proctor can be healthy and play at his full potential, because you want to see a player not have setbacks with injuries derail their career.

Let’s hope for the best for Proctor.

The Royals have called up outfielder Kameron Misner from Triple-A Omaha and placed Kyle Isbel on the Injured List with a left foot plantar fascia injury. He injured himself diving into first base in last night’s contest against the Rangers.

Misner is a native of Poplar Bluff, Missouri and was a standout at Mizzou. The Marlins selected him in the first round of the 2019 draft, and traded him to the Rays in 2021. He made his MLB debut with Tampa Bay in 2024, and hit .203/.260/.325 with five home runs and eight steals in 79 games over parts of two seasons. He was hitting .276/.373/.547 with 13 home runs and 11 steals in 59 games for Omaha, recently going on a tear where he was recently named International League Player of the Week.

Misner is a 28-year-old left-handed hitter with plus power and speed. What has held him back is an inability to make consistent contact – he had a 34 percent strikeout rate in his time with the Rays. He has gotten that strikeout rate down to 26 percent with Omaha and he does have a patient eye with an ability to draw walks.

Isbel was hitting .244/.298/.354 with three home runs in 56 games with the Royals. He was a Gold Glove finalist last year, and his +4 in Outs Above Average is among the leaders for American League outfielders.

It was a fine afternoon for baseball, because the weather is always great when you’ve got a dome. The Rays were looking to sweep their series against the Red Sox, and to get the job done, they had Drew Rasmussen on the mound. He was up against Jake Bennett for the Sox.

Rasmussen got things started by doing what Drew does best, and he got the side out in order. In the bottom of the inning, the Rays did the same, though, so not an ideal way to get things going.

It was another 1-2-3 for the Red Sox in the top of the second, but once again, the Rays also didn’t get a baserunner on.

Caleb Durbin broke the hitting dry spell for the game with a leadoff single in the top of the third. Isiah Kiner-Falefa then grounded into a force out to eliminate Durbin. Once on first, IKF stole second, but he got greedy trying to steal third and was tagged out. The Rays finally managed to get their offense working in the home half with a leadoff double from Nick Fortes. A sac bunt from Cedric Mullins moved Fortes to third, then a sac fly from Taylor Walls brought him home and put the Rays on the board first. Love to see a little small ball action.

The Sox went three-up, three-down in the fourth. Does Drew Rasmussen have somewhere to be? Love the efficiency. In the home half, Junior Caminero singled. One out later, Jonathan Aranda joined him with a single. With two runners on, though, they weren’t able to bring anyone home.

Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch to start the fifth. Then, with one out Masataka Yoshida singled. Rasmussen got himself out of the jam, though, collecting the next two outs of the inning. Nick Fortes decided he was going to have himself a game and opened the home half with another double. Then, with one out, Walls singled to push Fortes to third. A Yandy Diaz single brought him home. Then Austin Slater doubled to score Walls, putting the Rays up 3-0.

They weren’t done quite yet, though. Caminero was intentionally walked, which evidently Ryan Vilade took personally, because he hit a sac fly to score Diaz.

If the Red Sox were hoping for a comeback, they sure didn’t show it, going 1-2-3 in the top of the sixth. That was all she wrote for Bennett, who was replaced by Ryan Watson. Fortes continued to dominate, getting a one-out single in the bottom of the inning. Then, with two outs, Walls singled, bumping Fortes to third. A Yandy Diaz single brought Fortes in to score for the third time in the game. Walls then stole second, and a wild pitch allowed Diaz to advance, but the Rays had to settle for just the one run.

With two outs in the seventh, Mickey Gasper walked, but he was soon walking right back to the dugout as Rasmussen got out of the inning. The Rays didn’t do anything to add to their lead in the bottom of the inning.

Rasmussen was done after seven, with a final line of 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB and an INSANE 13 K on 97 pitches. He was replaced by Cole Sulser, and the first thing Sulser did was give up a solo home run to Durbin. Then Kiner-Falefa walked. After getting an out, Sulser was done, replaced by Steven Matz. Jarren Durran singled, then Ceddanne Rafaela homered, bringing the score to 5-4. With two outs in the inning, Matz was replaced by Casey Legumina, who got the final out. If I was Drew Rasmussen, I’d be pretty annoyed. Justin Slaten was the new pitcher for the Red Sox, and with one out, Fortes singled again. Chandler Simpson came in to run for him, and then Cedric Mullins hit a home run to recover a few of those runs.

Yandy Diaz singled, and the Sox dipped back into their pen for Greg Weissert who got the final out of the inning.

Garrett Cleavinger came on for the Rays in the ninth and with two outs, gave up another home run to Durbin. Those extra runs were certainly looking extra nice right about now. Kiner-Falefa walked after challenging his call, and the took second on defensive indifference. Cleavinger did manage to get the final out and the Rays walked away with both a game and series win.

Final: Rays 7, Red Sox 5

The Braves are looking to force a rubber match tomorrow with a win tonight behind Chris Sale.

Chicago waited until the last second to confirm it, but they will indeed send Davis Martin to the mound to face the Ronald Acuña Jr.-less Braves. Upside for us, downside for his teammates? More time for pranks, maybe.

(The roster moves today: Ronald to the 10-day IL for the strained left hamstring (hello, Rowdy Tellez), Tyler Kinley to the 15-day IL for his elbow, James Karinchak selected, JR Ritchie recalled, and Carlos Carrasco DFA’d.)

Even though the role of RAJ was played by Eli White on last night’s great outfield assist, it will be Michael Harris II batting leadoff. Ozzie Albies will hit second, and then we’ll go from small to tall with Matt Olson in the three-hole. Dominic Smith will hit in the cleanup spot, followed by Mauricio Dubon making a start in left field. Austin Riley (sixth) and Mike Yastrzemski (seventh) aren’t surprising to see. Walt Weiss rounds out the lineup with Jorge Mateo at shortstop and Austin Wynns catching and batting ninth for a second straight start. 

Atlanta isn’t the only one shaking things up – the White Sox have reengineered their whole lineup to face a southpaw. The only constant from last night’s lineup is Luisangel Acuña playing SS and hitting eighth. 

Last night’s walkoff hero Braden Montgomery remains in right field but moves up a spot to bat fifth. What a great story for your major league debut… just wish it didn’t have to happen to us. But that’s baseball! 

New face Edgar Quero will start instead of Drew Romo to catch and bat cleanup. Randal Grichuk, who came in late last night as a pinch-hitter, will DH and bat second behind Chase Meidroth. As mentioned in the preview, Grichuk has the most history versus Sale. Miguel Vargas drops a spot to bat third and play third. Derek Hill will man left field and bat fifth. Jacob Gonzalez remains at first base but will bat seventh, and following Acuña in the nine-hole will be center fielder Tristan Peters.

First pitch is at 7:40 pm ET.

Getaway games can never just be normal, can they?

Carlos Rodón’s second pitch of the game was hit out of the park, Angel Martínez played right field like he was doing shots in between innings, Trent Grisham had one of the most consequential ABS challenges of the year … this game had a bit of everything. Despite all the chaos, the Yankees got exactly what they needed — a sweep of the Cleveland Guardians, and it wasn’t some one-run affair this time.

Pour one out for the Yankee starter with that opening home run, but the Yankees did well to get right back in the game. A pair of leadoff singles had them in business early, just in time for Jazz Chisholm Jr. to crack another big hit, not waiting for the eighth inning this time:

That hit helped push Jazz officially over 100 wRC+ on the season, and the keystoner is warming up with the weather. The Yankees benefitted from a Guardians error one batter later, with Chisholm coming home to make it 3-1.

Rodón had kind of a funky day, up and down almost along with the inning count. The first inning wasn’t very good, with the aforementioned leadoff home run, a walk, and soft single allowed. A clean second inning followed and a clean third would have to if Anthony Volpe was a major-league-caliber shortstop, but I am becoming increasingly convinced he is not:

Carlos was able to work around what was officially scored a single and error, sparing Volpe any more venom than he rightfully received for the misplay. The fourth inning was once again trouble for the southpaw though, as he issued two leadoff walks and Austin Hedges made him pay with a double that plated one of those runners, and a followup sac fly tied the game at three. And then Good Rodón was back, icing the Guardians through the fifth and sixth, finishing a full frame deeper than I thought he would based on his pitch count in the fourth.

Critical was that perfect sixth inning, a shutdown affair as the Yankees picked the top half to be their breakout frame, kicked off by Grisham’s keen eye:

We don’t get WPA for turnovers, but by that metric this has to be one of the bigger swings of the season. Grisham going down would have left the Guardians two out, nobody on, in a tie ball game.

Fallacy of the predetermined outcome and all, but José Caballero’s subsequent fly ball would have ended the inning instead of giving the Yankees the lead — although Grisham does deserve additional credit for one heck of a slide:

From there the club had themselves a nice little two-out rally, with Volpe and Paul Goldschmidt tacking runs on in the tack-on portion of the game:

We got that big inning from Carlos, and the Yankees added two more runs in the seventh to push the lead to five. Brent Headrick and Ryan Yarbrough teamed up after Rodón’s six innings, and while Yarbrough did allow a run to cross in the ninth, a pair of nifty defensive plays from the left side of the infield was enough to seal the game, series, and sweep.

The Yankees did what they had to to keep pace with the Rays, who finished off their own sweep of the Red Sox at the Trop. There’s truly no salve like the AL Central, and now the team will enjoy an off day in June in Toronto, which is a pretty good deal for anyone. Ryan Weathers is expected to get the ball against the Yanks’ now-familiar nemesis Trey Yesavage on Friday night to kick off a three-game series with the Blue Jays, so we’ll see you all for the 7:07pm first pitch.

Box Score

Pretty embarrassing series start to finish, especially on the heels of taking 2 out of 3 from this same team in the Bronx. Starting pitching was an absolute mess, furthered today by Messick giving up a career-high 5-runs against a Judge-less Yankees lineup. The bullpen was, again, an embarrassment. Festa came on in relief of Messick and gave up a run and Heuer gave up 2 runs only recording 2 outs. On the bright side, Will Dion pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out 3!

The game started well, at least, with Martinez hitting a leadoff homer.

The Yankees scored 3 runs in the 2nd, and the Guardians tied the game in the 4th.

From there on out it was all New York.

This last month-ish of mediocre baseball from the Guardians (paired with the White Sox seemingly being a team of destiny) is going to make the trade deadline much more difficult than it looked early on. This team has gaping holes in the rotation (whether it’s an abject lack of depth or an inability for the non-Gavin-and-Parker starters to establish themselves as the SP3), in the bullpen (even with a healthy Sabrowski), and in the lineup. Getting tossed around by a Yankees team — when you didn’t have to face their best starter or the best hitter on the planet — is an embarrassment. This team desperately needs another injection of youth into the 26-man roster, and I just don’t see how the front office can neglect the bullpen (with Aleman still waiting in the wings and an external addition absolutely necessary) and lineup (with Valera, Ralphy, Ingle, and Watson all raking in AAA) much longer.

The Guardians will host a hot Detroit team this weekend, with Skubal perhaps making his return at some point during that series. The White Sox now hold a share of first place in the division (with the chance to own it alone tonight) for the first time in 4 years.