Giants left seeking answers after blowout loss to Mets in Tyler Rogers' debut originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Giants knew losing Tyler Rogers would sting, and of course with baseball being the comedic entity of a sport that it is, the reliever made his New York Mets debut against his former team while San Francisco’s own bullpen wounds still were fresh.

In perhaps a perfect microcosm of where both Rogers and his former employers currently stand, the Giants watched their once-dominant bullpen flounder while the submarining right-hander logged a scoreless inning in his first action for the Mets in San Francisco’s 12-6 loss to New York on Saturday at Citi Field.

Spencer Bivens and Tristen Beck got tagged for seven earned runs across three innings of work after the former took the mound with the Giants trailing just 5-4 in the sixth inning. Despite the ups and downs of the 2025 MLB season, the Giants previously attacked these situations from a place of strength, having the luxury of rolling out Randy Rodríguez or Rogers to keep San Francisco within striking distance. Now with a bullpen in limbo, the Giants are dealing with the immediate consequences of reshuffling the deck.

“Yeah, we knew we were going to see it at some point,” Melvin told reporters when asked if it was weird facing Rogers after Saturday’s loss. “I’m sure it was just as uncomfortable for him — or weird, put it that way.”

There always was a long-term component driving the decision to trade one of MLB’s best relievers, and yet the potential of striking gold on a prospect or two in the return haul serves merely as a coping mechanism in the interim as the Giants watched Rogers seamlessly do what he has done for years, delivering in a late-inning situation without so much as breaking a sweat.

Even amid their prolonged slump, there always existed the possibility of the Giants gritting their way into a playoff berth, where San Francisco could enter any prospective series with a moderate level of confidence boasting a three-headed monster at the back of its bullpen.

After all, this organization rattled off three World Series championships in five years following a formula that relied heavily on leveraging the Giants’ arsenal of elite bullpen arms to close out games under the bright October lights.

Those dreams, like Rogers, are long gone with San Francisco’s rotation in shambles and a depleted bullpen left to pick up the slack amid the departures of two of their longest-tenured arms.

With morale already waning from the Giants’ catastrophic July freefall, seeing Rogers take the mound for a competitor for the first time mere days after parting ways is something not even the most seasoned baseball veterans are conditioned to brush aside.

While it certainly had to have been an adjustment for Rogers, the 34-year-old reliever made it a priority to remain positive while balancing his debut for a new team with facing the only MLB organization he’d ever known until earlier this week.

“The adrenaline was there,” Rogers told The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser after Saturday’s game. “And then just to look up and see the Giants across in the batter’s box was another level, too. I was just with those guys couple days ago, it was cool. I just told myself to enjoy it. Baseball is funny in that way.”

Rogers has been dynamite this season, boasting a 1.76 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP while ranking second in MLB with 54 appearances. If Saturday’s outing is any indication, he will continue to shine for a first-place Mets team that appears to be on a crash course for a deep playoff run.

Any fantasies Rogers had of taking the mound in October in front of a sellout crowd adorned in orange likely will be a reality — just not the one that Giants fans hoped for.

San Francisco now is left to pick up the pieces while being stuck in a baseball purgatory of sorts, not quite eliminated from postseason contention but playing with a level of enthusiasm that doesn’t exactly inspire visions of San Francisco putting together the kind of run needed to make up ground in the packed National League playoff picture.

But hey, it’s baseball after all. Stranger things have happened.

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Phillies can't pull off another comeback vs. Tigers as Skubal beats Wheeler originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies didn’t have a second straight comeback in the tank Saturday.

Despite the Phils’ three-run seventh inning and two-run eighth, the Tigers earned a 7-5 win at Citizens Bank Park. 

Tarik Skubal beat Zack Wheeler in a very high-quality pitching matchup. The 2024 American League Cy Young winner logged seven innings and conceded three runs and five hits. Skubal notched 10 strikeouts and zero walks. 

Wheeler allowed four runs (three earned) and nine hits in six-plus innings. He also struck out 10 and walked no one. 

Wheeler and Skubal each recorded their first three outs on strikeouts. Skubal added three more to his tally in the second inning and finished the frame with a 99.4 mph heater that Otto Kemp watched for strike three. 

True to form, Skubal combined precise command with swing-and-miss stuff. He threw strikes on 26 of his first 33 pitches. On the season, Skubal now has 181 strikeouts and 19 walks. 

With Skubal dealing, the Phillies’ task appeared rather daunting after Cole Keith and Kerry Carpenter bashed solo shots over the right-field wall in the third inning to put the Tigers up 2-0. 

Wheeler righted the ship in the fourth by striking out the side. He worked around a pair of one-out singles in the fifth by striking out Carpenter and inducing a Riley Greene groundout. 

Just about all of the Phils’ contact against Skubal was weak and nowhere near the fences until nine-hitter Weston Wilson lined a double to right-center with one out in the sixth inning. 

Skubal evaded any damage. Trea Turner grounded out to third base, which brought Kyle Schwarber to the plate. The Phils’ slugger hit a shallow fly ball down the left-field line and Greene made a great play in foul territory, nabbing a sliding catch. Skubal raised his arms in celebration as he walked off the field.

Detroit then expanded its lead in the seventh. Kemp committed an error at third and Javier Baez homered to end Wheeler’s day. A Gleyber Torres dinger off of Tanner Banks gave the Tigers another insurance run. 

Those runs wound up mattering, since Skubal was not destined to cruise to a shutout.

Bryce Harper led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and J.T. Realmuto followed with an RBI double. Nick Castellanos’ first-pitch bomb cut the Phillies’ deficit to 5-3. He smashed a Skubal changeup 428 feet.

Matt Strahm couldn’t pitch a clean eighth inning. The Tigers caused two-out trouble and a Baez grounder trickled over the third-base bag, turning into a two-RBI triple.

Again, the Phillies prevented Detroit from feeling comfortable. Brandon Marsh delivered a pinch-hit single to begin the bottom of the eighth and eventually rounded the bases on a Harper homer to left-center against Tigers reliever Will Vest.

Max Lazar kept Detroit’s lead at two runs by tossing a 1-2-3 top of the ninth. Kyle Finnegan still picked up a low-stress save, though. Harrison Bader grounded out to shortstop, Kemp struck out, and Bryson Stott flew out to left to wrap up the Tigers’ win.

Sunday night’s game will decide the three-game series. Cristopher Sanchez (9-3, 2.55 ERA) is set to face Charlie Morton (7-8, 5.42 ERA). 

Alvarado back in town soon 

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said pregame that Jose Alvarado will come to Philadelphia on Monday before the suspended reliever’s rehab assignment. 

Thomson said he’s talked to Alvarado “once” since the lefty was suspended 80 games for testing positive for exogenous testosterone. Alvarado is ineligible for the 2025 playoffs but can pitch in the regular season starting on Aug. 19. 

“I know what his program’s been,” Thomson said. “He’s thrown a bunch of bullpens, he’s had a bunch of BP sessions. He feels like he’s good to go.”

Lehigh pitching plans 

Aaron Nola was at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday after going three scoreless innings Friday for Triple A Lehigh Valley. 

Thomson expects his second rehab start will likely be next Wednesday.

“Probably four (innings), 65, 70 (pitches), something like that,” Thomson said.

Both David Robertson and Joe Ross are scheduled to pitch again out of the IronPigs’ bullpen on Sunday. 

Phillies can't pull off another comeback vs. Tigers as Skubal beats Wheeler originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies didn’t have a second straight comeback win in the tank Saturday.

Despite the Phils’ three-run seventh inning and two-run eighth, the Tigers earned a 7-5 victory at Citizens Bank Park. 

Tarik Skubal beat Zack Wheeler in a very high-quality pitching matchup. The 2024 American League Cy Young winner logged seven innings and conceded three runs and five hits. Skubal had 10 strikeouts and zero walks. 

Wheeler allowed four runs (three earned) and nine hits in six-plus innings. He also struck out 10 and walked no one. 

Wheeler and Skubal each recorded their first three outs on strikeouts. Skubal added three more to his tally in the second inning and finished the frame with a 99.4 mph heater that Otto Kemp watched for strike three. 

True to form, Skubal combined precise command with swing-and-miss stuff. He threw strikes on 26 of his first 33 pitches. On the season, Skubal now has 181 strikeouts and 19 walks. 

With Skubal dealing, the Phillies’ task appeared rather daunting after Colt Keith and Kerry Carpenter bashed solo shots over the right-field wall in the third inning to put the Tigers up 2-0. 

Wheeler righted the ship in the fourth by striking out the side. He worked around a pair of one-out singles in the fifth by striking out Carpenter and inducing a Riley Greene groundout. 

Just about all of the Phils’ contact against Skubal was weak and nowhere near the fences until nine-hitter Weston Wilson lined a double to right-center with one out in the sixth inning. 

Skubal evaded any damage. Trea Turner grounded out to third base, which brought Kyle Schwarber to the plate. The Phils’ slugger hit a shallow fly ball down the left-field line and Greene made a great play in foul territory, nabbing a sliding catch. Skubal raised his arms in celebration as he walked off the field.

Detroit then expanded its lead in the seventh. Kemp committed an error at third and Javier Baez homered to end Wheeler’s day. A Gleyber Torres dinger off of Tanner Banks gave the Tigers another insurance run. 

Wheeler went out of his way to take the blame for the inning, saying postgame that he asked Phillies manager Rob Thomson to start the seventh.

Those seventh-inning runs wound up mattering, since Skubal was not destined to cruise to a shutout.

Bryce Harper led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and J.T. Realmuto followed with an RBI double. Nick Castellanos’ first-pitch bomb cut the Phillies’ deficit to 5-3. He smashed a Skubal changeup 428 feet.

Matt Strahm couldn’t pitch a clean eighth inning. The Tigers caused two-out trouble and a Baez grounder trickled over the third-base bag, turning into a two-RBI triple.

Again, the Phillies prevented Detroit from feeling comfortable. Brandon Marsh delivered a pinch-hit single to begin the bottom of the eighth and eventually rounded the bases on a Harper homer to left-center against Tigers reliever Will Vest.

Max Lazar kept Detroit’s lead at two runs by tossing a 1-2-3 top of the ninth. Kyle Finnegan still picked up a low-stress save, though. Harrison Bader grounded out to shortstop, Kemp struck out, and Bryson Stott flew out to left to wrap up the Tigers’ win.

Sunday night’s game will decide the three-game series. Cristopher Sanchez (9-3, 2.55 ERA) is set to face Charlie Morton (7-8, 5.42 ERA). 

“I loved it,” Thomson said of the Phillies’ comeback effort. “They just kept coming, and that’s what this team does. I don’t think that they ever believe that they’re out of a ball game. 

“They just kept fighting, even with Skubal out there. That’s good to see. We put this behind us, come out here tomorrow and win a series.”

Alvarado back in town soon 

Thomson said pregame that Jose Alvarado will come to Philadelphia on Monday before the suspended reliever’s rehab assignment. 

Thomson said he’s talked to Alvarado “once” since the lefty was suspended 80 games for testing positive for exogenous testosterone. Alvarado is ineligible for the 2025 playoffs but can pitch in the regular season starting on Aug. 19. 

“I know what his program’s been,” Thomson said. “He’s thrown a bunch of bullpens, he’s had a bunch of BP sessions. He feels like he’s good to go.”

Lehigh pitching plans 

Aaron Nola was at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday after going three scoreless innings Friday for Triple A Lehigh Valley. 

Thomson expects his second rehab start will likely be next Wednesday.

“Probably four (innings), 65, 70 (pitches), something like that,” Thomson said.

Both David Robertson and Joe Ross are scheduled to pitch again out of the IronPigs’ bullpen on Sunday. 

Carlos Mendoza provided some updates on the Mets' plans for the starting rotation and how he would deploy his options off the bench.

Rotation to remain a quintet

The Mets will “stay in line” with the rotation for the next time through and have David Peterson, who started Friday’s game, make his next start on regular rest, the skipper said.

Peterson has had some issues pitching without an extra day of rest and Clay Holmes struggled in his last outing (four runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings) on regular rest as well -- that’s something that hasn’t escaped Mendoza’s mind.

“Those are some of the conversations,” he said, adding that Holmes’ start in San Diego, “we saw the results. “We’ll continue to monitor it, but we feel good. 

“They understand that at some point throughout the year, you’re gonna take the ball on regular rest. Petey’s done it and we’re not concerned at all.” 

Saturday’s starter Kodai Senga, pitching as usual on five days' rest, is set to make his fourth start since returning from the IL and while the results haven’t been up to his standards, the skipper noted some promising signs.

“It's been fine,” Mendoza said of the righty’s recent outings. “I feel like, for the most part, he's getting the feel for his mechanics, which is a big deal for him.

“Definitely feeling really good physically, so health-wise he’s in a really good place. But I think it’s the mechanics that he’s continued to work on it and I feel like he’s getting to a really good spot.”  

Bench to play active role

With the addition of Cedric Mullins, who was making his first start in center field on Saturday, the Mets will have another veteran option off the bench, which will likely lead to more mixing and matching off the bench in-game and have knock-on effects in terms of playing time for several players.

“They’re up for whatever we need as a team,” Mendoza said about the conversations he had with players about how Mullins’ arrival will change roles.

“We get into a time where they’re gonna understand that I can only play nine guys, we got 13 really good position players,” he said. “And even though your name is not in the lineup, you gotta be ready to come up and pinch-hit and get the biggest at-bat. And if I’m pinch-hitting for you, that doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in you, I like the matchup.

“I might be taking the bat away from you today, but tomorrow you could be the one getting that at-bat. It just goes to show you how deep we are with the roster.”

In Friday night’s game, it was Mark Vientos who was pinch-hit for by Brett Baty with two outs in the bottom of the eighth against ex-Met José Butto. For Saturday, Vientos is on the bench as Baty gets the start.

"It wasn’t an easy decision last night either, I wanted a lefty against Butto, we're familiar with him,” Mendoza said. “Then, you look at it today, facing a guy with big splits, too. And then we’re getting a lefty tomorrow, there’s couple of lefties [coming up]. 

“It's not like Mark won’t play against righties, he will pay, he will continue to get at-bats. It’s just me, especially today, trying to get all the lefties in the lineup.”

Vientos extended his hitting streak to 10 games in Friday's loss, and is slashing .343/.361/.486 for an .822 OPS over his last 16 contests.

Max Kranick update

Mendoza was not asked about the injured reliever ahead of Saturday's game, but an update earlier in the day from The Athletic's Will Sammon had a spot of good news.

Kranick, who was believed to have needed Tommy John surgery for a second time in his career, ended up undergoing flexor tendon repair surgery. 

That procedure will be a shorter recovery timeline for his return at some point during the 2026 campaign, Sammon reported.