Category: Sports News

It’s Wednesday night here at BCB After Dark: the coolest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re hoppin’ in here and you’re welcome to come in and join us. There’s no cover charge. If you have something you’d like checked, we can do that now. The show will start shortly, Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night, I asked which of two potential trade targets for the Cubs would be the better “get,” Clay Holmes or Robbie Ray? By a margin of 64 to 36 percent, you preferred the ground ball specialist Holmes to the former Cy Young Award winner Ray.

Here’s the part with the music and the movies. You’re free to skip that if you’d like. You won’t hurt my feelings.

Today is the 76th birthday of Stevie Wonder and I don’t know of any living popular songwriters that jazz artists like to cover more than Stevie Wonder. Radiohead may be coming on strong, but they are still quite a ways behind Stevie on the jazz charts.

So here is Chicago’s own Ramsey Lewis covering “Living For the City.” After a break, he also plays his version of the African-American spiritual “Wade in the Water.” Joining Lewis here is Henry Johnson on guitar, Mike Logan on keyboards, Chuck Webb on bass and Steve Cobb on drums.

This appears to be from German television in 1990.

Tonight I’m just going to have a few words about one of my favorite cult classics, director Allan Arkush’s 1979 comedy Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, starring P.J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, Clint Howard, Dey Young and the Ramones. Rock ‘n’ Roll High School was a Roger Corman production, and it’s yet another example of Corman giving young wannabe filmmakers a chance. Co-conceived by Arkush and another at the time unknown at the time in Joe Dante, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School is a fantastic comedy that wittily skewers the teen/high school movie genre. Not only is it very funny, but there’s also a lot of great music by The Ramones which, contrary to what the film claims, is not lethal to mice.

Van Patten plays Tom Roberts, the captain of the football team at Vince Lombardi High with All-American looks who unfortunately can’t get any girl to have sex with him because he’s such a total nerd who spends most of his time talking about the weather. He has a crush on Riff Randle (Soles), the rebel girl who is only interested in her favorite band, The Ramones.

So Tom hires Eaglebauer (Howard) who is the Milo Minderbinder of the Vince Lombardi High boy’s room, where he runs a business where he sells anything to the students for the right price. Tom wants Eaglebauer to set him up on a date with Riff. Meanwhile, Riff develops a friendship with Kate Rambeau (Young), a nerdy science girl whose hobby is “splitting atoms.” Kate has a crush on Tom and goes to Eaglebauer to set up a date with Tom for her.

All of this is put into danger by the new principal, Evelyn Togar (Mary Woronov). Principal Togar is determined to put an end to all this rock and roll and has decided to make an example out of Riff and Kate.

Meanwhile, The Ramones are coming to town for a concert and Riff and Kate are determined to go. Will Principal Togar be able to stop them? Will Tom get a date with Riff? Will Kate get a date with Tom? Will The Ramones play the song that Riff wrote: “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”?

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School takes all the tropes of kids versus the teachers movies and turns them up to eleven. There’s also tons of little sight gags and running jokes that pay off repeatedly. While no one turns in anything less than a great comedic performance (well, except The Ramones, but we forgive them because they’re Ramones) special praise is deserved by former Andy Warhol “Factory Girl” Woronov and her often-acting partner Paul Bartel, who plays the hip music teacher Mr. McGree, who declares The Ramones to be “the Beethovens of our time.” Woronov and Bartel made 17 movies together including two other comedies that you should check out, Eating Raoul (1982) and Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989). Bartel also wrote and directed both of those films.

It seems incredible that Rock ‘n’ Roll High School wasn’t written for The Ramones, because their brand of absurdist punk is perfect for the absurdist comedy of the film. Arkush was supposedly turned down by Cheap Trick and Todd Rundgren and he was not interested in either Van Halen or Devo (both of whom were willing), the Ramones got the gig after Bartel showed Roger Corman a picture of Joey Ramone on a surfboard. No, they couldn’t act and they were not nearly as well-known and popular in 1979 as they are today. (The idea of buying a Ramones T-Shirt at Target in 1979 was unfathomable.) But it’s impossible to see the film working as well with any of those other bands. Dee Dee Ramone, upon seeing some of the footage, told Arkush that “We look like we’re from another planet!” to which Arkush responded “Yes, that’s what I wanted. You’re perfect.”

Corman’s productions were famous for their small budgets and Rock ‘n’ Roll High School was no exception. That Arkush was able to hide most of the tricks to keep the budget down was a major accomplishment. They found a school in LA that had closed and would soon be demolished, so they got to use it cheap and no one much cared when they trashed the place during filming. Exterior shots had to be done at a different, in-use, school and extras came from yet a third school, so a “fake” script was given to the authorities so they wouldn’t object to the subject matter of the film and withhold permission.

Corman has been called the most influential filmmaker of the last half of the 20th Century because of all the young talent he gave their first break too. Beyond Arkush (who has been a major TV director over the past 40 years) and Dante (who would go on to direct Gremlins), Corman gave unknown young talents like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, John Sayles, Peter Bogdanovich and James Cameron their first big breaks in the industry. When Corman agreed to finance TV star Ron Howard’s first film Grand Theft Auto, he told Howard that if he did a good job for him, he would never have to work for him again. And Howard never did.

I’ve never been a big fan of teen and high school movies, not even when I was in high school. There are exceptions, of course, but mostly I lean towards the films that savagely satirize the genre like Heathers and Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. But beyond its genre sendup, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School stands on its own merits as a very funny comedy.

Here’s the trailer for Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

The Cubs made a roster move today.

In the Cubs search for healthy pitching arms, they have turned to a three-time All-Star and two-time Mariano Rivera American League Relief Pitcher of the Year in Hendriks. Unfortunately, all of that came between 2019 and 2022. Now 37 years old, Hendricks underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 and missed most of that season. Boston signed Hendriks to one of those two-year deal before the 2024 season where they knew he wouldn’t pitch for them in 2024 but hoped he would last year. He did, but managed just 13.2 innings and was very poor, posting a 6.59 ERA.

Hendriks signed a minor league deal with the Twins this past offseason, but he failed to make the roster out of Spring Training and chose free agency over reporting to Triple-A St. Paul. Now he’s found a new team with the Cubs.

When Hendriks was at his peak with the Athletics and White Sox, he relied on a 97 mile per hour fastball and an 88 mph slider. He also had a change that he would work in to left-handers, but he was mostly hard fastball/hard slider. He was regularly striking out over 13 batters per nine innings and walking fewer than three per nine. In 202o and 2021, he was even better, walking just around one batter per nine.

Since Hendriks returned from Tommy John, the velocity on his fastball has been down to around 95 mph and the slider is down to more like 86. Unsurprisingly, he’s striking out fewer batters and walking more of them. You also have to wonder if he couldn’t make the pitching-desperate Twins out of Spring Training, whether he really has anything left in the tank.

On the other hand, before the injury Hendriks was an elite closer. It’s true that sometimes players never fully regain their velocity after Tommy John surgery, but it’s also true that sometimes it just takes longer than you had hoped to return to form. This article reports that “multiple teams” were interested in Hendriks before he signed with the Cubs, so it seems like the Cubs aren’t alone in thinking that there might still be something there.

Because Hendriks had turned down a chance to pitch in St. Paul earlier this year and because there were multiple teams interested in him, I assume that Hendriks has an opt-out clause. The Cubs will probably have Hendriks for about a month in the minors as he tries to regain his form before they have to make a decision on him: either call him up to the majors or release him.

You may not know this, but Hendriks was briefly a Cub before, although you won’t find any pictures of him wearing Cubs pinstripes. When the Twins, Hendriks original team, put him on waivers in December of 2014, the Cubs claimed him. Ten days later, the Cubs designated him for assignment, hoping to sneak him through waivers. It didn’t work as he was claimed by the Orioles. The Orioles then waited until February of 2015 to try to sneak him through waivers again, but that time Hendriks was claimed by the Blue Jays.

So do you think signing Liam Hendriks was a good idea?

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We appreciate all of you taking the time to sit with us for a while. Get home safely. Call a ride if you need to. Be sure to collect any personal items. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And stop by again next week for more BCB After Dark.

Daylen Lile may not be a true hometown hero in Cincinnati, but he was born nearby in Louisville. With his family and friends in the building, Lile has put on a show. In game one of the series, Lile hit two homers and tonight he hit a go-ahead shot in top of the 10th that won the game for the Nats.

Seeing Lile’s dad running down the stairs at Great American Ball Park yelling “that is my son” was an awesome moment to see. In both of the games, there has been a little Lile cheering section, and they have been going crazy all series so far. Their boy has hit three no-doubt homers, and the one tonight was the clutchest one of them all.

In the bottom of the first, this did not seem like a game where there would be a lot of cheering for Nats fans. Jake Irvin got himself into trouble with erratic control, and was unable to stop the bleeding. He got close when it appeared that he struck out Spencer Steer to end the inning. However, Steer challenged the pitch and won. Irvin eventually walked Steer. Two batters later, Tyler Stephenson hit a grand slam.

It looked like the game was over before it started, but that was not the case with this electric Nats offense. They started their barrage right away. CJ Abrams started the second with a double and then Jacob Young got a hit of his own. The pressure was immediately back on Reds starter Nick Lodolo.

After a Daylen Lile sac fly and a Joey Wiemer double, it was 5-2 Reds, but the Nats were not done. A suddenly hot Keibert Ruiz came to the plate and took Lodolo yard to make it a one run game. As they have all season, this Nats offense made a statement.

The Nats would tie the game on a Joey Wiemer bases-loaded walk the next inning, but the Reds responded in the bottom half. After three innings, it was a 6-6 game. Fans of both teams needed things to calm down a little for the sake of their sanity.

That lull would happen as both bullpens settled in. The Nats got a run in the fifth to tie the game, but other than that both offenses went quiet. You have to give huge credit to Mitchell Parker for delivering three no-hit innings for the Nats. It was a much-needed bounceback performance from Parker, who got lit up in his last outing.

After Parker exited, Richard Lovelady got himself in and then out of a big jam. Lovelady showed his now signature passion after getting a double play to end the inning. I love the passion Lovelady plays with, especially considering his story. This is a guy who has been tossed around the league, and now finally has a home.

Orlando Ribalta and Gus Varland also fired scoreless innings, and this game was headed to extras. That is when the somewhat local kid, Daylen Lile delivered his big moment. These home runs Lile has been hitting this series have all been absolute moonshots. With his family in attendance, Lile has really been flexing his muscles.

However, this game had one last crazy turn. While Daylen Lile put his hand to his neck to signal that the game was over, he should have known better with this bullpen. PJ Poulin was very shaky tonight. His command was spotty, and he gave all Nats fans a heart attack.

The biggest heart attack moment came when Spencer Steer drove a ball deep to left field. A fan reached over the fence to grab the ball, and the umpire immediately signaled fan interference. However, we had to go through an anxiety inducing review to make sure the ball was not gone. Eventually, the call was confirmed, and Steer had an RBI double to make it a 1 run game instead of a game tying homer. Baseball really is a game of inches.

Poulin was still struggling to find the zone, but he managed to survive the outing. After the Steer scare, he got Nathaniel Lowe to ground out. Then he walked Tyler Stephenson to set up a matchup with Blake Dunn. Poulin proceeded to throw three straight non-competitive balls. However, he settled back in and fired a strike. Then he got yet another ground out to end the game. The makeshift second baseman Curtis Mead made a nice play to get the speedy Dunn at first.

This may have been the most fun win of the season. On the broadcast, they mentioned that the Nats had lost 60 straight games when they trailed by 5 at any point. Now that streak is over thanks to a truly elite offense. Tomorrow the Nats have another chance to get back to .500 and sweep the Reds. Recent history suggests they will come up short there because it always feels like they lose when they have a chance to get to .500.

Maybe this time will be different. With Foster Griffin pitching, they have the right guy on the mound. However, they will also be facing Reds ace Chase Burns. This offense can get to anyone, other than Jacob Misiorowski though. Tomorrow will be a really fun early afternoon showdown, and hopefully the boys can get the sweep.

Carson Benge began tonight’s game with a mistake that cost the Mets two runs, but he ended it with the game-winning hit in the tenth, as the Mets walked off the Tigers 3-2 in extra innings in a game that was full of oddities, but provided a glimpse into what the future may hold in Queens.

The Tigers got on the board right away in the top of the first. Kevin McGonigle led things off with a walk and then Dillon Dingler hit a fly ball that Carson Benge chased down in deep right, but the ball clanked off Benge’s glove and rolled away from him, resulting in a double for Dingler and a second and third nobody out situation for the Tigers. Scott bounced back to strike out Colt Keith, but then Riley Greene laced a single to plate two runs. Two consecutive fly balls ended the inning and held Detroit to just two runs, which were the only ones Scott ended up giving up, though one could argue that he should have been charged with zero runs given the mishap by Benge that was not scored an error.

The Mets went down quietly in the bottom of the frame, but were able to scratch out a run against Framber Valdez in the bottom of the second. Vientos singled to lead off the inning and then with one out, Brett Baty singled to advance Vientos to third. Tyrone Taylor then hit a sharp grounder on which Kevin McGonigle made a nice diving stop and was able to throw Baty out at second, but Zach McKinstry threw wildly to first base, allowing Taylor to reach safely and a run to score. Unfortunately, A.J. Ewing struck out looking to end the inning and the one run was all the Mets would manage against Valdez until the seventh, despite multiple opportunities.

Christian Scott navigated a lot of traffic on the base paths, which inflated his pitch count, but he managed to limit the damage, in part due to five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings of work and some timely double plays. The Mets had a good chance to tie the game in the third when Torrens and Benge led off the inning with back-to-back singles, each past a diving Zach McKinstry to put runners at first and third with nobody out. But then Bo Bichette hit a soft grounder to first on which Torrens was thrown out at home. Before striking out for the second out, Juan Soto fouled a ball off his ankle and was in visible discomfort, being attended to by the trainer for several minutes before stepping back into the box. He remained in the game for another plate appearance, but was later pinch hit for in a key situation, demonstrating pretty definitively that he was in too much pain to continue. The budding rally was fully quashed when Mark Vientos flew out to the warning track in center field to end the inning.

Huascar Brazobán deftly navigated the middle innings for the Mets and recorded seven outs without allowing a hit. But several other notable things happened. With two outs in the top of the sixth, McKinstry reached in what I can only describe as the strangest error I’ve ever seen by Mark Vientos at first base. Luckily, McKinstry rendered the error moot by being picked off to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Junior Valentine hallucinated a challenge signal from Brett Baty that never happened on a call that was obviously correct, resulting in the Mets losing their only remaining challenge. Both Baty and Carlos Mendoza argued with Valentine and they had a case since Baty never touched his helmet, but their pleas went unheeded and Baty ended up striking out. Neither team was happy with Valentine, who rung up Dingler on a pitch clock violation to end the top of the seventh for not engaging the pitcher.

The Mets finally broke through against Valdez in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, Luis Torrens worked out a walk and then Carson Benge lined a soft single just over the third baseman’s head. That chased Valdez from the game and Kyle Finnegan came in the game to relieve him. Then, Bo Bichette’s batted ball luck finally turned around for once, as he dunked a bloop single into center to plate the tying run. But before one could even finish celebrating the game-tying hit, MJ Melendez came striding to the plate in place of Juan Soto. Another day, another injury for the Mets. It is worth noting, however, that SNY had a shot of Soto later in the dugout laughing with his teammates—hopefully a good sign.

Home plate umpire Junior Valentine caught flack again from Detroit’s dugout for requesting multiple times that the Tigers move their on deck circle out of the sightline of Luke Weaver, pitching the eighth inning for the Mets, who could not see the pitch clock. Despite these difficulties, Weaver worked around a single and a walk to pitch a scoreless eighth. Finnegan righted the ship in the bottom of the eighth with a 1-2-3 inning and Devin Williams worked around a walk to Kevin McGonigle and a stolen base to deliver a scoreless top of the ninth. Kenley Jansen continued his career long dominance of the Mets by striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth and send the Mets to extras for the eighth time this year.

Brooks Raley issued a two-out walk to Matt Vierling but held strong to keep the ghost runner from scoring in the top of the tenth to give the Mets a chance to win the game with speedster A.J. Ewing as the ghost runner. And win the game they did against Drew Anderson. Luis Torrens led off the inning and showed bunt, but tried a butcher boy play and hit it foul instead. He went on to strike out for the first out, but then Carson Benge laced a single up the middle to score his fellow rookie as the Baby Mets played hero in the walk-off victory.

SB Nation GameThreads

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Box scores

MLB.com
ESPN

Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Carson Benge, +39% WPA
Big Mets loser: Marcus Semien, -14% WPA
Mets pitchers: +49% WPA
Mets hitters: +1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Carson Benge’s walk-off single in the tenth, +30.7% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Riley Green’s RBI single that got the Tigers on the board in the first, -11% WPA

If you were categorizing where the Royals were struggling the most this season, you would probably go with on the road, hitting with runners in scoring position, and against left-handed pitching. All three of those problems arose again today though the team fought and kept themselves in the game to the very end.

The White Sox made Seth Lugo work early. It took him 27 pitches to get through the 1st, though he did manage to emerge unscathed. In the second he did not. Jarred Kelenic shot a single through short with Bobby Witt Jr. shifted toward second. Then Peters doubled to right and brought him around. Romo then hit a weak dribbler down the first base line that Vinnie Pasquantino did not handle well, so Peters scored and the Sox were up 0-2. They added a third run in the next inning on a Chase Meidroth sac fly.

In the fourth Kansas City tied it back up again after three consecutive walks loaded the bases to start the inning. Garcia, then Witt, then Thomas all reached base. Walks are the main problem for the 6’10” rookie Noah Schultz. Salvador Perez struck out, so the problems with runners in scoring position started rearing their head again in a way that later felt like foreshadowing. Nick Loftin hit a sac fly to bring in Maikel Garcia and get one. Then Vinnie picked up the other two on this single:

A single does not normally score two with first and third occupied, but that not so well hit flare got the job done.

The Royals did manage to get Schultz out of the game fairly early when he walked Garcia in the 5th inning. Bobby walked after him again, so it was looking good, but then Lane Thomas struck out looking and Perez grounded out to end the threat. Chicago mounted a threat of their own that inning when Colson Montgomery singled with one down and was moved to second on an Andrew Benintendi walk. Kelenic doubled them both in to get the White Sox a two run lead.

The seventh inning is where it felt like the Royals actually lost the game. Collins takes a pitch off of the knee to start the inning with a hit by pitch. Carter Jensen came in to pinch hit for Diaz and singled moving Collins to third with no one out and the top of the lineup coming to the plate. Maikel Garcia K, Bobby Witt K, Lane Thomas K looking. another threat ended. Then Schreiber came in to pitch the bottom of the inning and gave up a solo bomb on the first pitch to move the game to 3-6.

In the 9th, the Royals made one more attempt to come back and take the game. Carter Jensen had a nice hustle double after the first out. Garcia moved him to third on the second out of the inning. And Bobby hit a no doubter to left center.

Now a one run game, the Royals had closed the gap, but they were also down to their last out. Caglianone pinch hit for Thomas, but he struck out and that was that.

Back-to-back one run losses to an in-division opponent feels pretty bad. The White Sox have taken the series, and the Royals need to avoid the sweep tomorrow. Getting back to .500 felt attainable in the near future a couple of days ago, but they have dropped to 5 under and are back at the bottom of the AL Central.

Rays 3 Jays 5 (10 innings)

Dylan Cease was terrific. Seven innings of one run ball. He allowed just three hits and three walks with nine strikeouts. He was in control until the seventh, when he went walk, pop out, walk, single (RBI), pop out, strikeout (with a Jays challenge helping to get the strikeout.

He wanted to come out for the eighth, but he was at 99 pitches (and he’s not Max Scherzer).

• Louis Varland fought his way through the eighth, 2 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts. But no runs.
• Tyler Rogers got the first two outs of the ninth. He gave up a hit and a walk, with strikeout.
• Mason Fluhardy got the last out of the inning.
• Jeff Hoffman got the tenth with the speedy Chandler Simpson at second. Ben Willamson singled him home. A steal moved Willamson to second. Then a fly out and a line single over Clement at second. A fly out and a ground out ended the inning (with yet another steal in there. But for the second night in a row we allow two in the tenth.

And it was a game of missed chances on offense. We hit into four double plays. With taking eight walks, you’d think we’d score more. But only five hits and no extra base hits.

We got out run in the eighth. Bryan Baker walked George Springer, Yohendrick Piñango and Vladimir Guererro walked to load the bases with no outs. You’d have thought we should score a few. Kazuma Okamoto hit a deep fly to left field, right to the wall in left, scoring our run. Daulton Varsho struck out on three pitches, chasing two that were well above the strike zone. A really bad at bat, when we need better. Myles Straw walked to load the bases again. But Ernie Clement flied out on a 2-1 pitch that was off the outside of the plate. But, Ernie isn’t the type to take a walk.

In the bottom of the tenth, with Springer on second Piñango popped out on the first pitch. Vlad walked on four pitches (Yohendrick……if you hadn’t popped up on the first pitch that was a couple of inches below the zone that could have been you). Okamoto, with the tying run a first, took two balls, swung through one, took a third ball, a strike and ball. Bases loaded again. Had the Rays not used their last challenge earlier in the at bat, they might have asked about that one. Daulton Varsho went foul, called strike, ball, ball, foul, GRAND SLAM.

Daulton made up for the other time he was up with the bases loaded.

Jays of the Day: Varsho (0.56 WPA), Clease (0.21), Vlad (0.21 for 3 walks), and Piñango (0.09).

Other Award: Hoffman (-0.41, for his two hits against in the 10th, but he gets the win), Lenyn Sosa (-0.19 for an 0 for 1), Clement (-0.18)

Tomorrow is an off-day, before a trip to Detroit.

I feel like there is more to say about this game, but that’s what tomorrow is for.

The Mets rallied to walk-off the Detroit Tigers 3-2 on Wednesday night at Citi Field. 

Here are some takeaways...

- Christian Scott found himself behind early in this one, as he walked the leadoff man then Carson Benge botched a routine fly ball into a double to push two into scoring position before Riley Greene drove them home to make it a 2-0 game. Scott did well to limit the damage there, but was forced to throw 23 pitches in the opening frame. 

Detroit worked Scott's count up to 44 through two innings, putting two more runners in scoring position before stranding them. He finally put together a quick inning, using a strikeout and his first groundball double-play of the season to work around another leadoff hit in the third. 

A single and hit-by-pitch prolonged another inning on Scott, but he was able to get Kevin McGonigle to rollover to escape without further damage. Already at 80 pitches, manager Carlos Mendoza pushed the righty for a chance to get through five, but he pulled him after Greene dropped in a two-out, opposite-field single. 

Huascar Brazoban needed just two pitches before getting a lineout, closing Scott's line with just the two runs allowed on seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out five across 4.2 innings. The 26-year-old extended his franchise record, now going 13 starts without his first big-league win.

- After breaking through for 10 runs on Tuesday, the Mets' offense couldn't deliver against a well-rested Framber Valdez in his return from suspension. They had plenty of opportunities in the early innings, but were only able to scratch across one run on a fielder's choice, going 0-for-6 as a team with runners in scoring position over the first six. 

- Bo Bichette wasted two of those chances against Valdez over his first three at-bats of the night, bringing him down to .189 on the season with RISP. He rolled over to first on a 1-0 pitch with runners on the corners and nobody out in the third, then weakly flew out to shallow center with a man on third and two outs in the fifth.

Bichette finally delivered with Valdez out in the seventh, though, evening the game with a bloop single to right.

- The Mets took another big blow to their lineup, as Juan Soto was lifted for a pinch-hitter following Bichette's knock. Soto went down in significant pain after fouling a ball off his right foot in the third, but was able to complete the at-bat and took his next in the sixth before being pulled. 

- The Mets' bullpen was terrific behind Scott. Brazoban delivered 2.1 perfect innings, Luke Weaver struck out Spencer Torkelson to dance his way out of a jam in the eighth, then Devin Williams was able to work around a two-out walk and stolen base to keep things even in the ninth. Brooks Raley escaped the 10th without the ghost runner moving.

- The Mets' youngsters then combined to send them home victorious, as Benge rolled a single up the middle with one out in the top of the 10th to drive home A.J. Ewing as the ghost runner. Benge made up for his first-inning misplay, coming through with three hits, the last of which was the biggest. 

Game MVP: Carson Benge

The youngster shook off his first inning mistake, delivering the game-winning hit in the 10th. 

Highlights

The Mets stick with it as Brett Baty, Marcus Semien & Mark Vientos turn the 5-4-3 double play pic.twitter.com/3gwkx400V6

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 13, 2026

Mark Vientos starts the 3-6-3 double play! pic.twitter.com/NHekzDCYUJ

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

The Mets are out of ABS challenges tonight after home plate umpire Junior Valentine determined Brett Baty called for a review.

Baty never touched his helmet. pic.twitter.com/rusKZJIxpq

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

It drops in for Bo Bichette and this game is tied! pic.twitter.com/BmJRrExSam

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

MJ Melendez is pinch-hitting for Juan Soto in the 7th inning.

Soto fouled a ball off his ankle in the 3rd inning but completed his at-bat, and also took his at-bat in the 6th. pic.twitter.com/1BFVDufczS

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

Luke Weaver gets Spencer Torkelson looking to escape trouble in the 8th pic.twitter.com/H9gSXate2p

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

CARSON BENGE WITH THE WALK-OFF SINGLE! pic.twitter.com/h0HVnJx62w

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

What's next

Nolan McLean faces off with Keider Montero as the Mets look to lock up the series sweep on Thursday at 1:10 p.m.

Despite the Mets’ dismal season record and poor performance this season, the New York club managed to trounce the Tigers on Tuesday. Wednesday night, the Tigers were hoping to get one back and save face a little. They’ve been having an awfully rough go of it lately, and the longer that lasts, and the more we see performances like the one on Tuesday, the harder it is to believe this is the 90-win team many of us predicted with great hope at the start of the season. Fresh off his suspension, Framber Valdez was back on duty, and he was up against Christian Scott for the Mets.

The Tigers got things started right away with a leadoff walk in the first to Kevin McGonigle. Dillon Dingler then doubled right behind him, pushing McGonigle within 90 feet of home. A scorching single to center by Riley Greene brought both baserunners home and put the Tigers on the board early. Two outs followed the Greene single, but he was still the game’s early hero.

Valdez also wasted no time, churning through the Mets’ order with three consecutive groundouts, his bread and butter.

In the second, Zach McKinstry got a one-out single. Another out followed, then McGonigle singled, putting runners on the corners. A Dingler flyout ended the inning scoreless, though. In the home half, the Mets got their first baserunner, a leadoff single by Mark Vientos. Then one out later, Brett Baty singled as well. A Tyrone Taylor groundout brought Vientos home and put the Mets on the board. They’d have to settle for just the one run, though.

Colt Keith got the third inning going with a leadoff single. Greene then grounded into a double play, to eliminate the baserunner. A Matt Vierling strikeout then ended the inning with little fanfare. In the bottom of the inning, Luis Torrens singled for the Mets. Carson Benge then singled. Bo Bichette hit into a fielder’s choice that saw Torrens tagged out at home, avoiding the tying run. Benge stole second during a Juan Soto at bat (where, notably, he fouled a ball very painfully off his foot), but it didn’t really matter as a flyout then ended the inning.

In the fourth, Spencer Torkelson got a one-out walk. One out later, Zack Short was hit by a pitch to put two men on. Despite the free baserunners, the Tigers weren’t able to convert any runs. The Mets went 1-2-3 in the home half.

Dingler got a leadoff single to get things going in the fifth, but Colt Keith then grounded into a double play. Riley Greene singled, and that was enough to end the night for Scott, who was replaced by Huascar Brazobán. Brazobán then collected the final out of the inning. In the home half A.J. Ewing took a leadoff walk. A Luis Torrens groundout advanced him to second. Two more outs followed to leave the baserunner stranded and the Mets without any more runs.

With two outs in the sixth McKinstry reached on an error by Mark Vientos at first. The call was initially an out, but a very quick review showed that McKinstry was safe. It didn’t end up making much difference as he was then picked off stealing to end the inning. Oops. In the bottom of the inning, with one out, Vientos got hit by a pitch for a free walk to first. Things got really fiery during Baty’s at-bat as the umpire claimed he appealed a call, when it appeared he hadn’t, and the strike was upheld, but oh boy, folks got heated. Baty ended up striking out but yikes.

The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh. The final out of the inning was another contentious one, as the umpire called an automatic strike because Dingler wasn’t “prepared” at the eight-second mark. Pretty brutal play, though, considering he literally just messed up an ABS call. With two outs in the home half, Torrens walked. Then Benge singled to put two men aboard. That was it for Valdez, whose final line for the game was 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, on a season-high 106 pitches. Kyle Finnegan came in and promptly gave up a single to Bo Bichette to tie the game. Benge got tagged out attempting to steal home and the Tigers were able to get out of the inning without giving up the lead.

Luke Weaver was the new Mets pitcher for the eighth. With one out, Greene singled, then advanced to second on a Vierling groundout. Wenceel Perez then drew a walk. A strikeout ended the inning, Torkelson tried to challenge and wasn’t allowed to, but it wouldn’t have mattered; it was a strike. The Mets went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.

Devin Williams was in for the ninth, and with two outs, gave up a walk to McGonigle. McGonigle then stole second. A flyout ended the inning, though, putting a kibosh on any Tigers’ comeback efforts. Kenley Jansen was the Tigers’ pick for the ninth, and got three outs in a row. The game was heading into the tenth.

Matt Vierling got a two-out walk in the tenth against new pitcher Brooks Raley. A flyout put an end to any run-scoring hopes, though. Drew Anderson came in to pitch for the Tigers. Benge got a one-out RBI single, and the Mets were walk-off winners, taking the second game of the series.

Final: Mets 3, Tigers 2 (F/10)

The Blue Jays beat the rays tonight, walking off in the bottom of the tenth inning thanks to a grand slam homer.

Winning this game felt like a tough challenge even before the game started. Apart from a poor start against the Red Sox, the Blue Jay’s Dylan Cease has been very effective. And the Rays countered with something of a bullpen day, as the effort to turn Griffin Jax into a starter continues. Jax has been good in that starter role but as he gets stretched out he’s been largely a 4-5 inning pitcher.

So I didn’t expect a win tonight. But I also didn’t expect to lose in quite this fashion. I didn’t expect to see a reliever who until two weeks ago had been pitching in the Mexican League come in (unsuccessfully, obviously) for the save. I certainly did not expect the Rays pitching staff to give up ten walks.

Unsurprisingly, Cease was very good. It took the Rays until the fourth inning to get their first baserunner, in the form of a Junior Caminero single.

Jax was, perhaps uncharacteristically, flailing a bit with his control. Prior to tonight, he’d given up ten walks in 18 innings, but tonight he gave up three walks in just five innings, and had base runners every inning. His performance was definitely not pretty, but you can’t argue with giving up no runs. He was aided by several double plays, like this one:

After five innings, he gave way to Hunter Bigge.

Cease lost some of his sharpness in the seventh inning and the Rays took advantage. Two Rays hitters walked, and with one out Richie Palacios came through with a single, Aranda charging around the bases to score.

Hunter Bigge was replaced by Garrett Cleavinger, and his outing did not go very well. He did get one out, but also gave up a single, and then hit a Jays batter on the wrist. (Were you thinking that the Rays would be trying to get payback after Aranda had been hit on Monday? Well, I don’t think you avenge your hit batter by putting a guy on base when you have just a one run lead). Kevin Kelly came into the game and miraculously he got Sosa to hit a liner to Walls, which turned into an inning ending double play.

The Rays loaded the bases in the eighth inning, but failed to score, which was fortunate for the Blue Jays both for the obvious reasons, but also because they misplayed a ground ball — with runners on first and second, Diaz grounded to first base, the Jays’ pitcher never went to cover the base and everyone was safe. Unfortunately Jake Fraley popped up the first pitch he saw and ended the inning.

Bryan Baker took over for the bottom of the eighth inning, and walked the leadoff batter. And the second batter. And the third batter.

The Blue Jays were then able to tie the game with a sac fly. But Baker then walked yet another batter, and in a strange turn of events, Cash brought in Cole Sulser, the man who blew last night’s lead, to get out of the bases loaded jam. Which he did.

The game went into extra innings with the score tied 1-1. The Rays were able to start the scoring in their half of the tenth. Ben Williamson singled home the so-called “ghost runner” from second to take a 2-1 lead.

Williamson stole second, and Diaz then drove him in with another single, give the Rays a two run lead.

That would seem to be a fairly comfortable position, but the next Rays pitcher was a fellow named Aaron Brooks, someone I’d didn’t realize existed on the Rays roster but he was apparently promoted recently from Durham, and before he was with the Bulls he had been playing in the Mexican League.

Apparently he decided to use Bryan Baker as his role model, but not Bryan Baker the effective closer but rather Bryan Baker who couldn’t find the strike zone, and he walked the bases loaded with no outs.

His misery ended quickly thereafter, however, when he gave up a grand slam home run to Daulton Varsho, ending the game with a 5-3 Blue Jays victory. Maybe this is 20-20 hindsight, but I swear that once he had loaded the bases that grand slam seemed inevitable.

So the Rays have to settle for a series win, and can enjoy a day off tomorrow before starting a home stand against the Marlins.

Let’s just hope the Bryan Baker we saw today was an aberration, and that the next time we see Aaron Brooks it will be with the Rays ahead by ten runs.

Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson destroyed a ball for a grand slam in the Bottom of the 1st inning tonight in Great American Ball Park, the blast giving the Reds an early 5-0 lead. This, of course, came just a day after they were run ragged by a rebuilding Washington Nationals club 10-4 in the series opener at home, and it sure looked like the lineup – revamped by manager Terry Francona before the game – was finally there to put its foot down.

About that…

Despite handing the ball over to Nick Lodolo, who struck out the side in a brilliant Top of the 1st inning, the Reds completely imploded. Lodolo fumbled the lead almost as quickly as it was given to him, allowing a 4-spot in the Top of the 2nd fueled by a 2-run homer from Keibert Ruiz and later yielding a game-tying run in the Top of the 3rd to make this game square.

The Reds and Nats forged a stalemate for awhile thereafter, but the sad trombone fireworks were hardly over. Elly De La Cruz led off the Bottom of the 7th in a 6-6 game with a double, yet the Reds failed to drive him in. Then, in the Bottom of the 9th, Matt McLain similarly led off with a double, only for the Reds to a) botch a bunt attempt and b) also fail to get him around to score.

That sent the game into extra innings, where the fail horn kept right on a-honkin’.

Tony Santillan immediately served up a meatball to Daylen Lile, who smoked it for what feels like the 77th homer of the series for the Louisville, KY native. Santillan has now allowed 7 homers already this season in just 17.0 IP, and that’s going to make for a bad time for all parties involved.

Down 8-6 in the Bottom of the 10th, things once again got spicy for all the wrong reasons. Spencer Steer, who’s been mashing lately, worked a deep count off lefty reliever PJ Poulin before smashing a 102.7 mph laser that seemed to be a magnet to the yellow line atop the wall in LF. Before we had the chance to see if it was a homer, a double, an odd-bounce triple, or god forbid an inside-the-park homer, a fan reached over and caught the ball and the umpires rendered it a dead ball double.

Replay could not overturn it, and what could have been the game-tying play – or a play that left a Red on 3B instead of 2B – was undone, and Cincinnati remained trailing at 8-7.

Despite Stephenson working a walk, Blake Dunn couldn’t pull off the magnificent this evening on the game’s final play, and the Reds fell in the kind of frustrating fashion that make you despise all fashions altogether.

The Rockies entered today struggling on offense. Losers of three straight, they had scored just four runs during that stretch. Last night they were humbled by one of the best pitchers in the league, and early tonight it looked like more losing was on the menu.

However, Mickey Moniak led a resurgent Rockies offense to a much needed victory despite a shaky and confusing start by José Quintana.

A unique start for José Quintana

Left-handed veteran José Quintana entered today’s game as a potential steady hand after doing well in his last three starts.

What followed was an… odd outing.

Quintana wasn’t at his sharpest, lasting just four innings. However, he did keep the game close enough for the Rockies to stage a comeback.

Quintana walked Oneil Cruz to leadoff the game in the first inning. With one out, Rockies fans were treated to something they had never seen before. Jake McCarthy recorded an unassisted double play in left field to end the inning. Per the Rockies, it was the first time such a play had happened in franchise history.

Then things went off the rails was the second inning.

With one out, Quintana issued a double and back-to-back walks to load the bases. He then struck out the next batter on three pitches, and it looked like the Rockies might escape the jam with no harm done.

Pirates catcher Henry Davis hit the ball sharply, but a diving stop by third baseman Kyle Karros looked to have the inning over. Karros threw to second instead of first without recording an out and a run scored. Edouard Julien then initiated a rundown that should have ended at home plate. Nick Gonzales veered into Quintana and pushed him, but Quintana was called for obstruction, and the run was granted.

This allowed the Pirates to take a 2-0 lead.

Quintana looked to be in trouble again in the third when he gave up a double and two singles to let the Pirates score another run, but a well-executed double play helped keep the damage to a minimum. Quintana then pitched a scoreless fourth inning, but his night was done.

Bats arrive fashionably late, but with gusto

You’d be forgiven for thinking you were watching a repeat of last night’s game over the first four innings.

Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller had been perfect through four innings. With a three-run deficit, the Rockies needed to get something going to avoid further déjà vu.

TJ Rumfield kicked off the fifth inning with a single for the first of five straight hits. Single-single-single-double-single. Suddenly the game was tied with no outs and runners still on base.

Then came along Mickey Moniak. The Birthday Boy.

Moniak slugged a three-run home run—the first of the season for the Rockies—to complete a six-run fifth inning and give the Rockies the lead. He would continue to hit well throughout the game with a double later on and a bases-clearing triple in the top of the ninth. Moniak finished a single shy of the cycle with five RBIs in a 3-for-5 evening.

His seven games with multiple extra-base hits is tied for the league lead and his 12 home runs is a team high for the Rockies.

TJ Rumfield also continued to play a substantial role. The rookie first baseman went 3-for-4 and scored twice. He also hit his sixth home run of the season in the top of the eighth. Rumfield leads all rookies in three-hit games this season.

The bullpen locked it down

Antonio Senzatela—who’s resurgence is still one of the best Rockies stories so far this season—pitched three almost-perfect innings in relief of José Quintana. He gave up just one earned run on one hit: a solo home run by Ryan O’Hearn off a fairly well-located pitch inside right on the hands. It was the first home run Senzatela has allowed this season. He also struck out two batters and allowed no walks.

Jaden Hill, who has quietly been one of the Rockies’ better relievers this season, lowered his ERA to 3.60 thanks to a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout. Lefty Brennan Bernardino wrapped things up in the ninth on nine pitches to seal the Rockies’ victory.

Coming Up Next

The Rockies will wrap up their road trip tomorrow morning with an early 10:35 AM MDT start time.

Chase Dollander—once again sans opener—will take the mound for the Rockies with righty Carmen Mlodzinski going for the Pirates.

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Turns out there is still plenty of room for the human element even with Major League Baseball’s Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System. 

Now, it is all in the interpretation.  

Just ask Brett Baty. The New York Mets infielder slightly raised his right hand in the sixth inning on Tuesday night at Citi Field. He never touched his helmet, though it looked like he was going to touch the bill, not tap it.  

It didn’t matter. Homeplate umpire Junior Valentine saw the arm go up and immediately signaled for a challenge. Baty argued, but Valentine didn’t budge. The strike stood, the Mets were out of challenges.  

The reviews on SNY showed very clearly Baty never touched his helmet. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza came out to argue, it still didn’t matter. It was the umpire’s discretion.  

The Mets are out of ABS challenges tonight after home plate umpire Junior Valentine determined Brett Baty called for a review.

Baty never touched his helmet. pic.twitter.com/rusKZJIxpq

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 14, 2026

Sound familiar? 

That was the reasoning on Sunday when home plate umpire Carlos Torres denied a challenge from the Orioles and another from the A’s.