Category: Sports News

The Mets have played plenty of bad baseball this season, and Ron Darling sounded tired of watching it from the SNY booth.

The 1986 World Series champion pitcher ripped into left-hander David Peterson and what he believed to be a less-than-satisfactory reprimand to potentially come from the Mets coaching staff after the starting pitcher failed to back up a play at the plate in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s 7-2 loss to the Reds at Citi Field.

The blunder, after Bo Bichette made a wild throw home as JJ Bleday scored, allowed Tyler Stephenson, who doubled on the play, to move to third on the throwing error.

“I don’t understand it,” Darling said on the broadcast. “It really tells me that coaches really don’t have as much influence as the players as they think they have because someone should rip someone at some point. But they don’t because they don’t want to upset anyone. You have to back up bases every single time.” 

The tough critique left an almost surprised play-by-play man, Gary Cohen, asking if Darling believed it would be addressed after the game “at all.”

Darling didn’t let up.

“It might be, but not addressed the way it should be addressed, because if it was addressed, Gary, it wouldn’t happen,” he said. “It happens every game. We just don’t point it out.”

Even the Mets booth thinks Carlos Mendoza should be out of a job.

Speaks volumes when one of the most ethical booths in sports speaks this poorly. pic.twitter.com/bYomdtybDP

— SleeperMets (@SleeperMets) May 27, 2026

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza did tell reporters after the game that he would address the mistake with Peterson, who could be moving to a bullpen role with Sean Manaea starting to pitch more effectively as of late. Manaea allowed one run on three hits and fanned six in three innings of work. 

“It can’t happen. Obviously, he knows that,” Mendoza said of Peterson’s mistake. “There’s no excuses for it. I haven’t talked to him about it, but obviously, there’s going to be a conversation. He knows he made a mistake.” 

Peterson has a 5.57 ERA after allowing six runs on 11 hits Tuesday night as the Mets dropped their fifth straight game to fall to 22-33, 15 games out of first place. 

The Dbacks were able to get their 9^th win in the past 10 games Tuesday evening in San Francisco as they were able to beat the Giants 7-5. An all around win for a surging Dbacks team as they were able to get pitching as well as timely offense as this team just keeps rolling.

Eduardo Rodriguez was crafty tonight giving the Dbacks 6 innings while striking out 6 Giants and allowing just 2 earned runs despite maybe not having his best stuff. ERod got off to a little bit of a bumpy start with a long first inning and a couple of runs by the 3^rd inning, but he settled in nicely getting some clutch outs as the game went on. This Dbacks starting rotation has continued to carry this team over the past several weeks as they seemingly give this team quality start after quality start and today was no exception.

The highlight of the night was Ketel Marte hitting an absolute moonshot on the day he was named the NL player of the week. The blast was simply incredible as it was a 2 run shot that traveled 452 feet. The fact that that blast happened at night at Oracle Park makes this swing the stuff of Dbacks lore. People will remember this hot streak that Ketel is on for a long time something is telling me.

It was not all highlights for the Dbacks tonight as unfortunately Nolan Arenado was lifted in the 8^th inning due to groin tightness. Lets all keep our fingers crossed that this is something that will resolve itself after some rest. Arenado has been such a fixture in this lineup this season as a steading force in the cleanup spot and at 3^rd base that any extended period of time without Arenado would be terrible. In the post game conference Torey said that Arenado is day-to-day, but he feels as though he is in a good spot and not getting any imaging. Arenado himself said that it was more precautionary than anything. Hopefully the Dbacks will dodge a bullet here.

I also wanted to note that Paul Sewald picked up his 13^th save of the season on his 36^th birthday tonight. Despite giving up a home run tonight, he definitely deserves some praise on his birthday as he has flat out gotten the job done as the closer in the early going saving 13 of 14 opportunities. He may not always be flawless, but he is a great closer and an even better human being who deserves the praise and a big happy birthday from Dbacks fans.

The Dbacks will send Mike Soroka to the mound tomorrow as they look for the 3 game sweep.

The Dodgers offense is down in May relative to April, and they’ve struggled especially at home dating back several weeks. But the floodgates opened on Tuesday night in a 15-6 rout of the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium, matching the team’s season high for runs scored.

The Dodgers in March and April hit a home run every 26.6 plate appearances, but in May it was down to just one home run every 38.2 plate appearances. They hit just 11 home runs in their previous 14 home games, but they broke out with five long balls on Tuesday, matching their season high. The other three games with five home runs this year came in April, and allon the road.

At first glance there’s something a little funny about moving a slumping hitter down in the lineup to batting cleanup, but for Mookie Betts it was notable. They did the same with Betts in Games 6and 7 of last year’s World Series, but in the regular season Tuesday was the first time Betts batted lower than third since September 29, 2017 while with the Boston Red Sox.

But after hitting just .165/.230/.342 through the first third of the season, including just eight hits in 51 at-bats since returning from the injured list, the Dodgers needed something from Betts on offense. In his first at-bat hitting cleanup, after a Freddie Freeman single, Betts took a fastball over the center field wall.

Two runs in the first inning were the most by the Dodgers in their last 12 home games, something they hadn’t done since tallying three in the opening frame on April 26 against the Chicago Cubs.

But they weren’t done there.

Kiké Hernández and Andy Pages each homered in the third inning, and Betts added his second two-run home run of the night in the sixth inning. It’s the first multi-homer game for Betts since May 19, 2025, one year and one week ago. Will Smith homered in the sixth inning, his first extra-base hit in eight games.

Pages had four hits on the night, and Betts had three, both season highs.

Hernández also doubled in the fourth, but was wincing on his way to second base. He later scored in the inning, but was removed before the top of the fifth inning with a left oblique strain. It doesn’t take a genius to see he’s going to be out for a while, after collecting four hits in four at-bats, with a home run and two doubles since returning on Monday.

Eric Lauer with all that support got a warm welcome in his Dodgers debut, and he obliged by throwing strikes for six innings. The left-hander allowed a solo home run but otherwise only three singles and a walk, with four strikeouts,

Shohei Ohtani was hit on his right (pitching) hand in the fourth inning. He remained in the game and scored in the inning. The 85.2-mph changeup appeared to hit the heavy padding Ohtani was wearing, and he waved any attempts from a visit from a Dodgers trainer. Ohtani was later pinch-hit for, but by then the score was 10-1.

Colorado scored only once in eight innings against real pitching, but homered twice off position player Miguel Rojas in a five-run ninth. Amid the maneuvering in the final frame, Max Muncy played third base, in his first game since getting hit on the wrist by a pitch on Friday. It’s possible Muncy might return to the lineup as early as Wednesday.

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Mookie Betts 2 (6), Kiké Hernández (1), Andy Pages (12), Will Smith (5); Hunter Goodman (12), Brett Sullivan (1), Kyle Karros (2)

WP — Eric Lauer (2-5): 6 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

LP — Kyle Freeland (1-6): 4 IP, 9 hits, 8 runs, 4 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers close out this series with Shohei Ohtani on the mound on Wednesday (7:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network).

Kiké Hernández might be headed back to the IL just two games into his 2026 season.

Hernández, who hit his first home run of the year earlier in the Los Angeles Dodgers' May 26 game against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium, looked to be laboring as he rounded first base on his fourth inning double. He later came around to score on an RBI double from Andy Pages, but would not return to the field as Hyeseong Kim came out to replace him in the field for the top of the fifth.

Spectrum SportsNet LA broadcast cameras showed manager Dave Roberts consoling a distraught Hernández in the dugout between innings.

Shortly after, the Dodgers announced that Hernández had been removed from the game with a left oblique strain.

Not a good sign here as Kiké Hernández is OUT of the game, and it seems like Dave Roberts is consoling him in the dugout.pic.twitter.com/8K97WmCVo6

— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) May 27, 2026

It's a tough break for Hernández, as he was 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and two RBIs since making his season debut on May 25. The fan favorite utilityman underwent surgery last winter to repair a significant left elbow injury that according to him, Dr. Neal ElAttrache said was the worst of its kind he had ever seen.

Hernández first suffered that injury while sliding home to score on a wild pitch on May 28, 2025 and spent two months on the IL with elbow inflammation. He later reaggravated it diving for a fly ball in Game 3 of the NLCS that October and told reporters he "would feel like I had a blowtorch on" every time he got into his batting stance.

Shohei Ohtani was also pulled from the game when Dalton Rushing pinch hit for him in the bottom of the fifth. Ohtani was hit by a pitch right after Hernández's double in the fourth, but appeared to be fine after. There's yet to be any official announcement on Ohtani's status, so it's possible he was pulled as a precaution ahead of his scheduled start on the mound against the Rockies on Wednesday, May 27.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kiké Hernández injury update: Dodger leaves game with oblique injury

It was a simple win.

The Mariners got a lot of hits and scored four runs. The A’s got fewer few hits and scored fewer runs. The Mariners beat the A’s 4-1 on Tuesday. It was that simple.

The Mariners wasted no time in jumping on Gage Jump, making first his first start as a big leaguer. Josh Naylor and Rob Refsnyder led off the second with a pair of singles. It seemed they’d both score after Mitch Garver doubled into the left field corner, but the ball lodged itself in the fence and the umpires sent Refsnyder back to third. No matter. Cole Young hit a sac fly to plate Refsnyder and make the game 2-0. Victor Robles came through with a single to make it 3-0.

Robles led off the fourth with a double (his second of three hits on the day) and Julio Rodríguz would later make it 4-0 with a rocket single to left. The Mainers wouldn’t score again, but it was an overall great night for the lineup, especially facing the lefty in Gage. They picked up 11 hits and a walk, and every starter either reached base or plate a run.

Emerson Hancock was perfect through four. He was efficient, needing just 37 pitches to get there. He wasn’t necessarily picking up lots of whiffs or punching out batters — save for a beautiful top-rail fastball that Nick Kurtz swung through in the first — but the A’s couldn’t square him up, or could only do so right at a Mariners fielder. Hancock got Darrell Hernaiz to hit the ball less than a foot in the third inning; he ticked it straight down to where Garver could simply pick it up and tag him out in the batter’s box. It was going that well. In the fourth, Hancock got the top of the order of Carlos Cortes, Kurtz, and Shea Langeliers to go down without much fight. For a moment, I wondered if this was it.

Hancock has been a revelation this year. It’s one of the most impressive career turnarounds I’ve witnessed first hand. I wouldn’t quite say he’s the Mariners absolute best pitcher right now, but that it’s close is borderline unbelievable. Even just the idea that Hancock might throw a perfect game would have seemed impossible this time last year. Of course, that he might strike out 14 would have seemed impossible, too.

I probably beat this drum too often. Every time I cover a Hancock start, I remind you that he was once bad and that now he’s good. One of these days, he’ll just be good.

Anyways, Hancock wasn’t perfect. I did not burry that lede. He got into a jam in the fifth, walking the lead off batter then giving up a single. But he set down the side in order from there to escape the inning unscathed. The command started to falter in the sixth with a walk and a hit by pitch. But he painted another perfect top rail fastball to strikeout Kurtz in between, and got Brent Rooker to groundout to again shimmy out unscathed. 

A fully rested bullpen, fresh off a complete game from last night’s starter, did its job from there. José Ferrer worked around a single in the seventh. Gabe Speier, in his first game back from the injured list, worked around a hit by pitch in the eighth. Speier also struck out Kurtz to snap his 48-game on base streak, leaving him forever (or maybe not forever) tied with Mark McGwire for the longest in A’s history. 

Andrés Muñoz pitched the ninth with a 4-0 lead. He gave up a homer to make it 4-1 but eventually got the job done.

The Mariners took the series from the first place A’s with the win. Everyone in the division is now under .500. The Mariners could be in first place alone Wednesday — still under .500 — if they finish off the sweep.

Late Nite with Nola is the hottest show on television. It’s got celebrity guests. It’s got a good opening monologue. It’s got fun interviews about Bryce Harper’s toothbrushing preferences. One thing it doesn’t have a lot of is runs for his opponent.

The night started with Kyle Schwarber getting most of a cutter, but not all of it. It ended up as a fly out. But Bryce Harper got all of his, and sent it over the fence in right field: good night, baseball, and good night to the many Phillies fans who nod off before these late West Coast starts. Brandon Marsh singled on the first pitch he saw, then got picked off at first for the last out of the frame. As he slid, the tag from Ty France caught his fingers. He regarded them gingerly, but returned to play. In the bottom of the inning, Aaron Nola sent the first three Padres he saw back to their dugout in rapid succession, operating at a pace that was a kindness to East Coast fans hoping both to watch the game and get some shuteye.

J.T. Realmuto, like Harper before him, saw a Randy Vásquez cutter he liked, and sent it on a tour of of the Western Metal Supply Co Building in left for the Phillies’ second homer of the night. Not to be outdone as a philanthropist, Trea Turner treated a sinker to the same tour one inning later, and the Phillies were up 3-0. After Harper walked and Marsh and Alec Bohm both singled, they were up 4-0. Meanwhile, Nola dealt with the minimum number of Dads through three. Edmundo Sosa almost joined the solo shot parade, but a leaping grab from Jackson Merrill stopped him.

Marsh left the game as the bottom of the fourth dawned. The tag on the pickoff turned out to have caused a sprained middle finger; Adolis García was his replacement. Nola breezed through the first two San Diegos, then found trouble: a sharp hit from Gavin Sheets up the middle bounced off Turner’s glove for the first Padre baserunner of the night, and Manny Machado sent a liner over the left field wall to narrow the score to 4-2.

The score remained there through the sixth, with Nola righting the ship following the homer and sending the next five Padres down in order. It would’ve been six, had San Diego not successfully challenged an out call at first. Unfazed, Nola struck out Sheets to end the sixth.

That ended his night on a successful note (3 hits, 2 ER, 5 K). Orion Kerkering was brought in to replace him and struck out three, continuing a solid night for Philadelphia pitching.

The Phillies put two runners on to start the eighth via Padres reliever Wandy Peralta granting free passes, but quickly saw that start become two outs via a Bohm pop out and Bryson Stott grounding into a force out. Realmuto was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but a groundout from Justin Crawford ended the frame.

Brad Keller was given the eighth and quickly allowed a solo shot to Ramón Laureano. Nick Castellanos was called in to pinch-hit. He struck out, Fernando Tatis Jr. singled, and Sheets walked. An infield dribbler from Machado threatened to load the bases, but Bohm charged in and deftly completed the play, sending the Phillies to the ninth with their narrow lead.

The Padres went with Adrian Morejon rather than Mason Miller for that final frame; he faced three Phillies and sent them all down, aided by a baserunning blunder from Schwarber that turned a lineout into a double play.

That cued up Jhoan Duran for the bottom ninth. This being a road game, he did not get his traditional entrance. It turns out, however, that he does not need flaming tarantulas to get himself in the zone. He induced a groundout from Miguel Andujar, made Merrill strike out on an awkward looking failed check swing, and bid bonne nuite to France, and the Padres, with a low splitter for strike three.

The Phillies thus sent their fans to bed happy, and provided a happy wake-up for the fans who didn’t stay up for the game. All’s well that ends well.

The Phillies are 28-27. They’ll finish the series in San Diego tomorrow at 4:10.

The offense came up short for the Good Guys, going 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position in a frustrating 5-3 extra-inning loss to the Twins on the South Side tonight. This game had all the emotions: annoyance that the bats couldn’t ignite, excitement from a game-tying homer, shock after the go-ahead run was thrown out at home, and then back to sadness in the 11th. You can almost feel them just from the win probability chart.

This loss ended Minnesota’s seven-game losing streak against the White Sox, but there are still two more this week and another three next week against them to rebound and shut them down. It would have been nice, though, to pick up a game on the entire division as the Tigers, Royals, and Guardians all took an L Tuesday, but the South Siders remain 3 1/2 games back.

Sean Burke had a solid seven-inning, two-run start, but received absolutely zero run support from the offense. The righty was hot out of the gate, needing just eight pitches to get through the first and going hitless through three. The second inning got a bit dicey as Burke walked two batters, and though it took him 28 pitches — the most in an inning for his entire outing — he still worked out of the jam without any runs scoring.

Burke ended up with 100 pitches thrown with 65 strikes, with the two runs coming in the fourth after Trevor Larnach and Kody Clemons mashed a double and an RBI triple, respectively, for Minnesota’s first run of the game, 1-0. Austin Martin followed that up with an RBI single for Burke’s only other run allowed for the Twins to take a two-run lead, and even with the two tallies, Burke was otherwise efficient and got out of the inning with just 13 pitches.

Though he wouldn’t end up on the hook for the win, Burke gave up just three hits, walked two, and struck out eight. Recording 10 swing and misses, he averaged a 30% called strike plus whiff rate (CSW%), using his fastball the most at a 36% CSW — the highest of all of his pitches — peaking at 97.4 mph and producing the weakest average opponent exit velocity (85.9 mph). On the bright side, he brought his ERA back below 4.00 (3.90), so it was definitely progress and good to see him looking more like he did at the start of the season.

On the other end, righthander Joe Ryan was essentially mowing down White Sox hitters left and right and racked up nine Ks in his 7 2/3 frames. Through seven, Ryan was practically unhittable for the South Siders and had only given up three hits until the eighth. With 14 swing and misses, he posted a 37% CSW% with his knuckle-curve and sweeper getting the best of the Good Guys, accumulating 42% and 43% called strike plus whiff rates. In other words, the White Sox couldn’t touch the ball to save their lives for seven innings.

Until Munetaka Murakami saved the entire game for the South Siders, they had plenty of chances to score runs before the eighth. It doesn’t help when your DH (Andrew Benintendi) comes up with runners in a prime spot, and he just grounds out to second, which is exactly what happened in the fourth after Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth strung consecutive base hits together. Sure, he had two hard hits, but we must get better production from that spot.

Another foiled chance for the South Siders came in the seventh when Benny hit a two-out single, Tristan Peters was (maybe?) hit by a pitch, but Drew Romo struck out on three straight pitches to end the threat and the inning. I’m sure that the Twins regretted not ending Joe Ryan’s day after seven, but in their defense, he was cruising through his entire outing. Rikuu Nishida poked his second career hit out to left to start the bottom of the eighth, flipping it back to the core of the White Sox lineup. Sam Antonacci ended up striking out, but Murkami sent a game-tying tank over the right-field fence for his 19th of the season. It was beautiful.

Once Burke was replaced, the bullpen was a big reason that the Good Guys were able to hang in the game. Lefthander Sean Newcomb handled the eighth and ninth innings almost flawlessly, allowing just one hit while striking out two, including a clutch inning-ending K against Byron Buxton in the eighth after Buxton challenged the strike call. Newcomb, with ice in his veins, already knew he snagged the strikeout, and didn’t even wait for ABS to clock it.

Taking over in the 10th with the ghost runner on second, the pressure was no match for Bryan Hudson, who struck out the first two batters he faced. Hudson gave up a hit on the next at-bat, but Nishida was prepared out in right and came up firing home and threw the go-ahead run out with a few steps to go. Two games in a row, he’s thrown someone out at home — dare I say the outfield isn’t as scary as of late?

With the winning run standing on second in the bottom of the 10th, the South Siders completely folded and were unable to push the run across. Rikuu’s job was to get the bunt down to move the runner over, but he could not get it done. He even attempted on two strikes, but he let the bat drop and fouled out, completely wasting the at-bat. Antonacci manufactured an infield single to put runners on the corners. Still, the inning ended on a strange unassisted double play after Mune sharply grounded out to first, and Antonacci caught in the cross-hairs. With Luisangel Acuña and his speed on third, it made sense for the Sox to steal with Sam to put both runners in scoring position and take away a double-play opportunity, since the Twins might have just let him have it. Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but it would be great if we could go back and try it to see how that play changes without Antonacci on first. So it goes.

On to the 11th we went. And things did not go as smoothly this time around. Righthander Tyler Davis was next out of the pen, and though he struck out one, a Luke Keaschall base hit, and a walk to Buxton loaded the bases up for Brooks Lee, who capitalized with a double to right to clear the bases, 5-2.

Murakami had started the bottom of the 11th on second with the three, four, and five hitters coming up. If the Sox were going to tie or win the game, it was now at this part of the order. Miguel Vargas flied out deep to center, which allowed Mune to move to third, and Montgomery lost an eight-pitch battle and struck out. Down to their last at-bat, Meidroth ripped a base hit out to left that scored Mune and brought up Randal Grichuk as our last hope, who smoked a 104.9 mph grounder to shortstop Ryan Kreidler, who was able to make the play at first to end the game, 5-3. He hit it hard, and it did have a .540 xBA on the play, but a second comeback wasn’t in the cards for the South Siders tonight.

The Atlanta Braves kept things interesting on Tuesday night but ultimately improved to 37-18 after a 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox. Spencer Strider got the start, and the win; things started out shaky, but he settled in to give the offense a chance to even things up. His night ended after five innings, allowing three runs on three hits. He walked three and struck out five.

The Atlanta lineup tallied nine hits, and Michael Harris II accounted for four of those. He went 4-for-4, recorded three RBI, and scored two runs. It was a sight to see after he had a quiet series offensively against the Washington Nationals.

The series continues tonight at 6:45 ET, as the Braves go for the series win. 

More Braves News:

Today we remember Bob Horner, the Braves star who passed away at 68.

MLB News:

The New York Mets made several roster moves on Tuesday, including reinstating A.J. Minter from the injured list. 

The Milwaukee Brewers placed right-hander Logan Henderson on the 15-day injured list with a low back strain. The move is retroactive to May 23. 

The Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to a major league deal with veteran Craig Kimbrel. He was designated for assignment by the New York Mets last week and elected free agency. 

From the Feed:

Cast your vote here for Player of the Game after the series-opening win at Fenway Park.

José Azócar has returned to the Braves on a minor league deal and appeared in Gwinnett’s lineup on Tuesday.

Kiké Hernández got off to an excellent start in his first two games back, collecting two hits in each of his first two games since getting activated off the injured list on Monday. But the Dodgers infielder/outfielder left Tuesday’s game after four innings with a strained left oblique strain.

Hernández doubled and scored in the Dodgers’ four-run fourth inning. But on replay appeared to be laboring while running around first base on the hit.

He was replaced on defense by Hyeseong Kim in the top of the fifth inning, with SportsNet LA showing manager Dave Roberts talking to a frustrated Hernández in the dugout, before Hernández retreated to the clubhouse.

It was a long road for Hernández just to get his season started. He missed the first 53 games after undergoing left elbow surgery in November, and played three weeks on a rehab assignment in Triple-A before getting activated off the 60-day injured list on Monday. Hernández told reporters on Monday at Dodger Stadium this was the healthiest he’s felt in a year.

“I think I was in so much pain this year that it helped with the patience,” he said Monday.

Hernández started at third base on both Monday and Tuesday. He doubled in a run and singled on Monday, then homered in his first at-bat on Tuesday before the fourth-inning double. Now we’ll see how long that 1.000/1.000/2.250 batting line holds for the utility man.

Mookie Betts strained his oblique earlier this season in April, and he missed 36 days before returning.

“I was trying to hurry, but the docs were like, ‘It takes a month for it to just heal,’” Betts said on May 11 when he was activated off the injured list. “Then you have to do all your prep to get back to playing. So you can’t really rush time.”