Category: Sports News

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the bopping-est bar for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. So glad you decided to stop by. It’s been a great day and we hope to make it better. The dress code is casual. The hostess can seat you now. 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.

The Cubs beat the Padres today 5-4, which wraps up a 3-3 road trip to Southern California. Considering how good those two teams are and that they’re both likely to be playoff teams. that seems like a very good result.

Last night I asked you if the Cubs should continue to let Moisés Ballesteros catch or whether he should be made a full-time DH. The vote was close, but 53 percent of you would continue to develop him as a catcher whereas 45 percent would just let him hit (and maybe play first base once in a while).

Here’s the part where we listen to jazz and talk movies. You can skip ahead if you want.

Tomorrow—or today (April 30) depending on when you read this—is International Jazz Day and the home city this year is Chicago. An all-star concert will be held at Millenium Park starting at 3 pm tomorrow and you can watch it online if you can’t make it to the show.

International Jazz Day was Herbie Hancock’s idea when he was a UNESCO Ambassador and was adopted by that organization in 2011. Here’s Hancock in a 2018 International Jazz Day concert in Osaka, Japan. Also in this All-Star show was Kenny Garrett (alto sax), Marcus Miller (electric bass), John Scofield (guitar), Roy Hargrove (trumpet), Terri Lyn Carrington (drums), Josh Johnson (alto sax), Courtney Pine (tenor sax), Steve Turre (trombone), Mike Cottone (trumpet), Takuya Kuroda (trumpet), Sheila E. (percussion) and Pete Escovedo (percussion).

This is “Hang Up Your Hang Ups.”

Generally I only tell you about the films that I’ve watched that I liked, but the only film I’ve watched in the past few days is Wife vs. Secretary (1935), a romantic comedy directed by Clarence Brown with an all-star cast of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy. It also has a pre-star James Stewart in one of his first big supporting roles. It’s a typical mid-century (or so) story of a wife (Loy) who gets jealous of the secretary (Harlow) of her workaholic husband (Gable). Unfortunately, despite the powerhouse cast, the film is very light on the “comedy” part of a rom-com. Maybe the jokes just don’t translate after ninety years, because I didn’t get it.

Gable plays Van “Jake” Stanhope, a magazine executive who is madly in love with his wife Linda (Loy). He also is married to his work, which puts him in constant contact with his super-competent secretary “Whitey.” (Harlow) Jake comes up with a plan to expand his magazine’s reach by acquiring another publication, which means he is spending all of his time at the office to complete the merger. It’s also top secret, so no one can know his plans other than Whitey, who has to help him.

Linda is initially quite understanding and trusting of her husband, knowing that he deeply loves her. Whitey’s fiancé Dave (Stewart) isn’t so understanding when she gets called into the office at all hours and he wants her to quit her job after they get married. But Whitey actually loves her job and is super good at it and doesn’t want to quit it to marry Dave. Obviously she’s someone whom 40 years later would be an executive herself and not a secretary.

Anyways, all the gossipy other executive wives tell Linda that they’d never let their husbands spend so much time with a secretary that looks like Jean Harlow. That plants a seed in her head. And while Jake deeply loves Linda and thinks of Whitey as more of a business partner, a series of coincidences and random comments makes Linda start to doubt her husband’s fidelity. Meanwhile, Whitey isn’t quite sure who really has her heart, Jake or Dave, even though Jake has made no indication that he sees her as anything other than a secretary.

So it’s a basic misunderstanding plot with a double love triangle, although Stewart’s Dave really isn’t in the film enough to be more than a minor diversion. (He does get the last words, however!) The problem is that none of these misunderstandings are actually funny. They are just very ordinary basic things associated with the business deal and Jake’s complete inability to get anything done without Whitey’s help. All four of those actors have made very good comedies elsewhere, but none of them get to show that talent here. Jake is just clueless about his wife’s suspicions. Whitey isn’t sure if she’s not falling in love with Jake, but she’s a good girl and would never be “the other woman.” Linda just goes from trusting, loving wife to a helpless, green-eyed woman.

There were a few things about the film I liked. For one, Loy is allowed to play a very sexual wife, at least early in the film. This is a break from the stereotype of the dowdy wife versus the hot secretary. Conversely, Harlow plays Whitey as very professional and is dressed most of the time in proper business attire for women of the 1930s. (She does have a few sexy evening gowns when the situation calls for it.) Harlow is very much trying to shed her “blonde bombshell” image in this film, playing a capable businesswoman who doesn’t flaunt her obvious attractiveness. You can almost see her trying to have Katharine Hepburn’s career here as she aged had she not tragically died of kidney failure two years later.

The other thing I loved was the gorgeous Art Deco apartment that Jake and Linda lived in. In fact, most of the sets were in the best style of the era with a classy sophistication. The costuming was also a nice touch, with the wife Loy wearing a lot of attractive, stylish and sexy outfits and the secretary Harlow dressing down most of the time in some smart business attire. Gable also wore some fine menswear, although I couldn’t tell if he wore an undershirt. (Heh.)

Overall, the purpose of a comedy is to be funny and despite the stellar cast, Wife vs. Secretary just isn’t funny. Great looking, but not dramatic enough to be a good drama and not funny enough to be a good comedy.

Here’s the original trailer for Wife vs. Secretary. At least you get to see the great clothes here.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

The Cubs have finished the first month and change of the season with a record of 19-12, just half a game behind the surprising Reds. They’ve weathered a whole mess of injuries, especially to the pitching staff, and are still in prime position to win the division. They’re tied for second in the league in runs scored and home runs. They’re third in batting average and they lead the league on on-base percentage.

The Cubs’ pitching isn’t quite as good, with an ERA of 4.01. That’s seventh in the league, which puts them right in the middle of the pack. But that’s still not bad considering the number of injuries they’ve had. Probably good enough if the offense continues to produce like it has.

So what grade do you give the Cubs after one month (and change) of the season?

And by “April,” I mean the few games in March too.

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We’ve enjoyed having you all week. Please get home safely. We want to have you stop by again. Please recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.

Introduction

While it is still early in the season, I can’t help but notice that while the team is struggling at the MLB level, there’s several of the Dbacks top prospects playing very well for the D’Backs AAA level affiliate, the Reno Aces. There are also a couple veteran relief pitchers that have been pitching very well, who merit discussion, but who I won’t be discussing in this article. (NOTE: We’re just just under a full month into the Minor League Baseball season, so small samples abound, especially with the relief pitchers. Just a few good/bad outings and games can turn these numbers upside down, so this is just a fun exercise. It’ll be another month before any Minor League stats should be taken seriously. All stats in this article through 28th April, 2026.)

The Hot Hitting Prospects

Top 100 overall prospect Ryan Waldschmidt (Fangraphs |B-Ref player pages) has unsurprisingly been one of the Reno Aces best hitters. The 23 year old right handed hitting outfielder has played mostly center field in the 2026, but is capable of playing all three outfield positions competently. Through his first 131 plate appearences, he’s hit .303/.400/.505 with a 122 wRC+ and a .408 wOBA.

Tommy Troy ( Fangraphs|B-Ref), the 12th overall pick in the 2023, in his first 122 plate appearences is hitting .317/.405/.481 with a 120 WRC+ and .404 wOBA. Troy has seen the majority (60%) of his starts at second base, but surprisingly has spent a good chunk of time in left field and couple games worth of innings in center.

LuJames ‘Gino’ Groover III ( Fangraphs|B-Ref) through his first 127 plate appearances is hitting .340/.440/.427, with a 123 wRC+ and a .410 wOBA. He’s spent slightly more than half his time in the field this season at third base with the rest spent across the diamond at first.

Kristian Robinson’s ( Fangraphs | B-Ref ) history has been discussed so much that I’m not going to discuss it here other than the very short version. Once a top prospect, legal issues that came as a result of cannabis induced psychiatric episode along with pandemic kept him away from baseball for three years. Robinson is probably not the star outfielder we thought he was, but he is a perfectly servicable outfielder with an intriguing mix of power and speed. In his first 110 plate appearences in 2026, Robinson is hitting .286/.400/.484 with a 119 wRC+ and a .402 wOBA. Robinson is capable of playing all three outfield position as well, with a better throwing arm than any of the other outfielder on the MLB roster.

The biggest reason to not call up any of these four players is finding regular playing time, along with service time and roster considerations. Ryan Waldschmidt and Kristian Robinson are (arguably) an across the board upgrade over current Dback OFer Jorge Barrosa, but if they’re only on the roster as the fourth outfielder, they won’t get as much playing time as needed to further develop as hitters. With his .524 OPS and 46 wRC+, Tim Tawa has been a below average hitter in 2026, so bad that he’s been worth -0.3 WAR. Lourdes Gurriel may only have recently been activated of the Injury List, but he’s already matched Tawa in negative WAR despite having played in 10 fewer games. The aforementioned Barrosa’s job is arguably pretty safe, despite the 79 wRC+, he’s an above average outfielder who’s put up .2 WAR thanks to his defense. In a similar vein, the defensively gifted Alek Thomas is once again struggling offensively, and while he still is putting up positive value, his defense isn’t that much of an upgrade over Waldschmidt’s to make his job safe either. Theoretically Waldschmidt and Robinson could replace Barrosa and Thomas , and while there would almost certainly be a drop off defensively, the potential for a massive offensive upgrade could might very well be worth it.

Tommy Troy, who has the most defensive versatility thanks to his ability to play both infield and outfield, is an obvious choice to replace Tim Tawa on the roster. As long as the Ildemaro Vargas/Nolan Arenado experiment continues to be successful, and Jose Fernandez continues to rake, I can’t imagine we’ll see Groover anytime soon, unless Adrian Del Castillo just completely fails to provide any offense at DH. Which is unfortunate, as Groover statistically has been the best hitter on the Aces, while also having the exit velocity and batted ball data that legitimizes his production as more than a PCL induced fluke.

Pitching Prospects Having Success Shutting Down A Punishing PCL

Amongst the actual ranked pitching prospects on the Aces, Mitch Bratt (Fangraphs|B-Ref) has been the most effective of the starting pitchers in the Aces rotation so far. In his first five starts, he’s put up a 2.84 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, with a 50 ERA-. His 4.35 FIP and 4.64 xFIP aren’t exactly inspiring but overall those are very solid numbers for a starting pitcher in hitters haven that is the Pacific Coast League.

Yilber Diaz (Fangraphs|B-Ref) and Brandyn Garcia (Fangraphs|B-Ref) have combined to form a very effective relief duo. In his 10 relief appearances, he’s put up 13 ⅔ IP while striking out 20 batters (a 34% SO%) and walking just five batters (9.3BB%) His 1.32 ERA and 24 ERA- are absolutely stellar, though his 3.11 FIP and 2.90 xFIP do suggest his ERA won’t stay that low forever. Brandynn Garcia has also appeared in 10 games, putting up 12⅓ IP with 18 strikeouts and 10 walks. His 2.19 ERA works out to a 39 ERA-, though his stats do seem like they’re do for some regression, as indicated by the 4.58 FIP and 4.35 xFIP.

It’s almost certainly a matter of when, not if Yilber Diaz and Brandyn Garcia get called up in 2026, and there are already candidates in the bullpen for them to replace. The most obvious would be Paul Sewald, but arguements could be made for Ryan Thompson as well. Originally I was going to mention Andrew Hoffman, but the latter was sent down for Philip Abner whilst writing this article.

It’s actually somewhat fitting that the most obvious candidate in the starting rotation that Mitch Bratt could potentially replace is the pitcher the Dbacks traded away last summer to acquire him (along with Hagaman and Kohl Drake), Merrill Kelly. To be as blunt as possible, Merrill Kelly has not been good at all so far this season, and his performance so far has been troubling. In his first start back in a 4-3 win against the baltimore Orioles, Kelly pitched 5 ⅓ innings, allowing a pair of earned runs on five hits and four walks. It doesn’t sound that bad, but it was a messy outing saved thanks to Ildemaro Vargas and Jose Fernandez’s offense, though he does deserve some extra credit for a successful pickoff throw of a runner on third. Kelly’s 2nd outing was a disaster: 4⅓ innings, 8 earned runs allowed on 10 hits ans 3 walks. Of those ten hits, half of them went for extra base hits, three of which were homeruns. His most recent outing wasn’t any better. He pitched 5 ⅓ innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits and five walks, with another homerun allowed. All that adds up to a 9.20 ERA with 8.78 FIP, which has cost the Diamondbacks -0.5/-0.6 fWAR/bWAR. It’s still early and he can turn it around, but if his season continues like this, then I would think that eventually a move will have to be made. Alternatively, Ryne Nelson and his 7.71 ERA or Brandon Pfaadt and his 5.54 ERA aren’t exactly lighting the world on fire either.

Conclusion

Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen has quite a few options in AAA that could potentially bolster the Major League roster. Which of these players do you think is most likely to be able to contribute to an MLB roster right now? Is there a prospect on the AAA or even AA roster that you feel is more deserving of a call up?Which player on the MLB roster do you think will be the next to go after Andrew Hoffman? Who do you expect to be called up first? Let me know in the comments down below!

Next Week: We wrap up the Top Prospect series by finally ranking the Dbacks top pitching prospects.

The Mets thought they saw some positives from David Peterson as he put together back-to-back solid outings working behind an opener. 

The left-hander struggled mightily, though, in his return to the rotation on Wednesday.  

As has been the case all season, Peterson put the Mets behind from the get-go, as Washington was able to jump on him for a pair of runs on three hits and a wild pitch in the top of the first.

He's now racked up an ugly 10.80 ERA in the opening frame through five starts. 

Peterson then appeared to find his groove as he retired nine in a row, but things caved in on him in the fourth, as the Nationals made him pay for a one-out walk to Jacob Young. 

The lefty gave up two hits and another walk, then almost danced his way out without further damage, but a bases loaded free pass to James Wood to forced in another run and end his night.

Sean Manaea entered and things spiraled from there, as he hit a batter before giving up a grand slam, pushing Peterson’s total to seven runs in just 3.2 innings of work. 

“The first he fell behind hitters and they got to him,” Carlos Mendoza said. “In the fourth he lost a feel for all of his pitches -- even with the bases loaded he had a chance to get out to it getting ahead of Wood 0-2, then issues the walk.

“It’s just the feel for his pitches, not able to get in the zone consistently, and it cost him.”

That specific issue has cost Peterson not just throughout the early-part of this season, but also as he was knocked around during the second-half last year.

With his ERA now sitting at an ugly 6.53 through seven appearances (five starts), Mendoza said that the team will have more discussions about how they use him moving forward. 

While he’s going through it right now, they remain confident he can turn things around. 

“He’s a big part of this team,” the skipper said. 

"I've done it before," Peterson added. "I believe in myself and know I have the stuff to do it."

Box Score

It was a bit of a Jekyll-and-Hyde night for the Brewers, both for the team’s offense and for their starting pitcher, Brandon Sproat. Sproat showed his immense potential early but ran into trouble later on; that trouble was all the Diamondbacks needed, as a Milwaukee offense that showed some life early went into a deep rut after that and couldn’t come back.

Sproat came in going as hard as William Friedkin in To Live and Die in L.A. With a fastball that hit 99.9 mph, Sproat struck out the side—and this wasn’t some scrubs, either. It was three of the best hitters in the NL: Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, and Corbin Carroll.

In the bottom of the first, the only two lefties in Milwaukee’s starting lineup came through against the left-handed Arizona starter, Eduardo Rodríguez. With one out, Brice Turang lined a double to left center. After a three-pitch William Contreras strikeout, Jake Bauers lined a nearly identical double on a 3-2 pitch. Turang scored, and Milwaukee took an early lead.

In the top of the second, Sproat was nice enough to allow Ildemaro Vargas extend his hitting streak to 22 games early to avoid any sort of drama, a cheapie bloop single to shallow left. But Adrian Del Castillo was Sproat’s fourth strikeout victim, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Nolan Arenado popped out, and it was a pretty easy second inning.

Rodríguez had a quick bottom of the second against the soft bottom of the Brewers lineup. Jose Fernandez led off the third with a base hit, but Sproat got Alek Thomas to fly out and Fernandez was caught stealing. With two outs, Sproat issued his first walk to Perdomo, and Marte put a scare into the Brewer faithful with a fly ball to deep right, but Greg Jones caught it calmly with his back against the wall.

Milwaukee added on in the bottom of the third, and it was the lefty Turang, again. After Lockridge started the inning with a bunt single, Turang hit another hard line drive just to slight center, but he hit it hard enough that Thomas, the Arizona center fielder, couldn’t make the catch going back. It was over his head for Turang’s second double, and Lockridge scored from first to make it 2-0.

Arizona answered in the top of the fourth. After Sproat struck out Carroll for a second time to start the inning, Del Castillo hit an opposite-field homer just over the outstretched glove of Lockridge in left field. After that, Vargas and Gurriel hit back-to-back singles on lazy, looping line drives (77 and 82 mph exit velocity), and Chris Hook was out of the dugout for a visit with runners on first and second and one out.

The mound visit did not work. Sproat threw two sinkers low and in to Arenado; he fouled off the first, but detonated the second one, which went way out to left field (411 feet). Two of the four hits that Sproat allowed in the inning were cheap, but the runs counted just the same, Arizona had a 4-2 lead, and what started as an outstanding night for Sproat had quickly turned sour.

Milwaukee put themselves in a good position to get something back in the bottom of the fourth. Luis Rengifo led off with a double over the head of Carroll in right that bounced into the stands. But Jones unwisely burned the Brewers’ only remaining challenge before striking out and Perkins popped out behind the plate for two quick outs that didn’t advance the runner. Joey Ortiz came from behind to work a two-out walk, and Lockridge walked too, even after a 3-1 pitch that was initially called ball four was overturned by a Diamondbacks challenge. That gave Turang, who already had two doubles, a big opportunity with the bases loaded and two outs. But Turang grounded out, and the rally fizzled.

Perdomo walked to lead off the fifth. Marte hit a ground ball that looked like it might become a double play, but a miscommunication meant no one covered first base and Ortiz could return the throw to first. Still, Milwaukee erased the lead runner, but that was all for Sproat, who was pulled from the game after 4 1/3 innings. DL Hall replaced Sproat and promptly struck out Carroll, the third time he’d struck out on the night, and got Del Castillo to pop out to Rengifo in foul territory.

Sproat’s night featured highs (he struck out the first four batters of the game in extremely impressive fashion) and lows (two homers, four runs in the fourth inning). That’s sort of a microcosm of the Sproat experience thus far this season, but there are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the young right-hander.

Contreras hit a ball pretty well to start the fifth but he hit it to the wrong part of the ballpark and it became the first out. Bauers grounded out, but a two-out walk to Sánchez spurred Arizona manager Torey Lovullo to go to his bullpen, a decision that Rodríguez—who, I noted in the game thread, is only four wins from 100 for his career—wasn’t happy about. In any case, Kevin Ginkel entered to flip Rengifo to the left side of the plate; that didn’t work, as Rengifo singled to right and sent Sánchez to third, and Pat Murphy countered the Ginkel move by pinch-hitting Garrett Mitchell for Jones. That didn’t work either, as Mitchell struck out to end the inning.

Hall kept pitching in the sixth and got a 1-2-3 inning, although not without some excitement; with two outs, Arenado hit a grounder to third, and Rengifo’s throw to first went over Bauers’ head. But Arenado tried to go to second, and the ball bounced back to Ortiz in between first and second base, and he threw to Rengifo, covering second, who tagged Arenado out (although Milwaukee had to successfully challenge the play, as Arenado was called safe on the field).

Sal Frelick, who’d entered defensively for Perkins in the top of the inning, led off the bottom of the sixth but grounded out. David Hamilton pinch-hit for Ortiz but struck out looking, and Lockridge struck out swinging. Hall continued in the top of the seventh. He got two quick outs, but issued a two-out walk to Perdomo (his third of the game) and then gave up a single to Marte.

With 42 pitches, Murphy decided to pull Hall and go with the brand-new lefty Brian Fitzpatrick, called up earlier today to replace Ángel Zerpa. A heck of a time to make your major-league debut: two on, two out, and Corbin Carroll at the plate. Fitzpatrick should’ve gotten Carroll, who hit a dribbler up the first-base line, but Carroll is extremely fast and the ball kind of landed in no-man’s land, and he was on with an infield hit to load the bases. But Del Castillo went after the first pitch and popped it up to shallow right, where Frelick made the catch and got Fitzpatrick successfully out of the first inning of his big-league career. Congrats, kid.

The heart of Milwaukee’s order went down quickly in the seventh versus the new Arizona pitcher, Juan Morillo; Turang grounded out, Contreras flew out to the warning track in right, and Bauers struck out. Fitzpatrick continued in the eighth and allowed another infield hit, this one to Gurriel, and walked Arenado to put runners on first and second with one out. But he got Fernandez and Thomas on pop-ups, and in his debut, Fitzpatrick got four outs and didn’t allow any runs (or hits out of the infield).

Former Brewer Taylor Clarke was the pitcher in the bottom of the eighth and had no trouble retiring Sánchez, Rengifo, and Mitchell in order. Grant Anderson, on for the ninth, finally retired Perdomo, but gave up back-to-back bombs to Marte and Carroll, both of them no-doubters. Anderson, who hadn’t allowed a homer all year, was due, I guess. Arizona’s lead doubled.

Milwaukee’s offense, which had looked punchless since the third inning, had a tall task in the ninth, down four runs. It turned out that two would’ve been plenty; Paul Sewald got Frelick, Hamilton, and pinch-hitter Tyler Black in order, and the game was over.

Not a whole lot to write home about: this was a pretty standard, anonymous regular season baseball loss. Turang was the offensive standout, as he was 2-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored. Rengifo also had two hits, and Bauers added his RBI double. On the mound, we covered Sproat’s outing; Hall completed 2 1/3 solid, scoreless innings, while Fitzpatrick created a nice memory with his 1 1/3 inning scoreless debut.

The series will be decided tomorrow, when Brandon Woodruff faces off with Arizona’s Michael Soroka. It’s an early one, at 12:40 p.m.

The Nats lit up the Mets like a Christmas tree in their 14-2 mauling on a rainy night in Queens. This was a comprehensive beatdown, where the Nats dominated from start to finish. The bats and the arms were both top tier in this one, which led to the big win.

On the mound, Cade Cavalli followed up an excellent start against the Braves with an even better one tonight. The Nats right hander threw six innings of two run ball while striking out 10. This is the second straight outing that Cavalli has fanned 10 batters. He joins Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Gio Gonzalez as the only Nats to do that. Scherzer accomplished that feat on a crazy 20 occasions.

Cavalli’s curve was dominant tonight, getting both whiffs and called strikes. This is the second straight outing where his curveball has looked like a dominant pitch. After a rocky start to the season, Cavalli is starting to come into his own.

However, the offense is an even bigger story. The unit cooled off a bit after a red hot start to the season, but they picked it up in a big way in this game. They came out of the gates hot, scoring two runs off of David Peterson in the 1st inning. CJ Abrams opened the scoring with an RBI knock. The Nats shortstop had a big day, racking up 3 hits to bust out of his mini-slump.

Abrams was one of four Nats to have multi-hit days. Curtis Mead had the most hits on the night, with four, including a home run. The Aussie seemed to be in the middle of everything good that was happening for the Nats offense tonight. In the fateful fourth inning, Mead drove in a run by getting hit by a pitch. Mead already has a career high in home runs, with four. He has been a solid addition for the Nats.

Joey Wiemer also had a multi-hit day, which was nice to see. While Wiemer has inevitably cooled off from his historic start to the season, he has still been a useful contributor, particularly against left handed pitching. He also seems like a big personality in the locker room.

The Nats effectively won the game with one swing of the bat, and it came from a softer spoken figure in Brady House. After a great Spring Training and good start to the season, House had cooled off these past few weeks. He has not been on time for fastballs, which has led to the strikeouts piling up. However, he was on time for Sean Manaea’s 90 MPH heater and hit it into the stands for a grand slam. 

It turned a 3 run inning into a 7 run inning, and broke the game open. After the grand slam, boos rained down, as Mets fans accepted that they were about to fall to 10-20. It was a team effort, but House was the man who busted it open.

On a rainy night at Citi Field, it felt like both teams wanted to go home once the 7th inning rolled around. The Nats bullpen fired off three scoreless innings against a hapless Mets offense to win it 14-2. After a pair of blowout wins for both teams, the stage is set for a rubber match tomorrow afternoon.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs deconsecrated the St. Paul Saints (Twins), 11-4.

Starter Ty Blach gave up three runs in the second inning, but nothing else as he picked up the win. Blach’s final line was three runs on four hits (including one two-run home run) over five innings. Blach walked one and struck out six.

Third baseman Pedro Ramírez tied the game in the top of the third inning with a two-run home run. Ramírez went 1 for 4 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch (on a 35 mph pitch from a position player). He also stole two bases and scored three times. Ramírez now has eight home runs this year, which ties a career-high for a season for him and we’re not finished with April yet.

Right fielder Chas McCormick was the big star tonight, going 3 for 4 with an RBI double and a two-run home run in the fifth. It was McCormick’s fourth home run this year. McCormick had the three RBI and scored twice.

First baseman Jonathon Long went 3 for 6 with three RBI and one run scored.

Second baseman James Triantos was 2 for 5 with a walk and two steals. He scored two runs.

Shortstop Hayden Cantrelle was 2 for 5 with one run scored.

Center fielder Brett Bateman was 1 for 3 with an RBI double and two walks.

Left fielder Kevin Alcántara left this game in the sixth inning. It wasn’t immediately clear why, but I-Cubs broadcaster Jason Kempf said Alcántara appeared to grab his back after a foul ball. Alcántara was 1 for 3 with a walk and one run scored.

Here’s Bateman’s RBI double.

The two-run home run for Ramírez got out of the park in a hurry.

McCormick hit one to dead center field.

McCormick’s RBI double.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies were composted by the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels), 6-0.

Yenrri Rojas started and took the loss. Rojas gave up two runs on five hits over four innings. Rojas struck out six and walked no one.

Ben Johnson tossed two scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits. Johnson did walk one and didn’t strike anyone out.

The Smokies had only four hits. Shortstop Jefferson Rojas had the only extra base hit. He was 1 for 3 with a double.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs were dented by the Ft. Wayne TinCaps (Padres), 7-4.

Starter Cole Reynolds pitched 3.1 innings and gave up four runs on seven hits. Reynolds struck out five and walked just one.

Jackson Brockett relived Reynolds and gave up a two-run home run in his first inning in High-A. Brockett got the loss after surrendering two runs on three hits over 1.2 innings. Brockett did not strike anyone out, but he also didn’t walk anyone.

All four South Bend runs came in the fourth inning. Left fielder Reginald Preciado was responsible for three of them with his second home run of the year. Preciado was 1 for 3 with a walk.

Center fielder Kane Kepley went 1 for 3 with a walk, a stolen base and a sacrifice fly.

The South Bend social media team reminding us that Preciado was part of the Yu Darvish deal—and the last one who is still on the Cubs.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans netted the Columbia Fireflies (Royals), 7-3.

David Bracho threw the first 3.2 innings without allowing a run. He did give up seven hits, but Bracho didn’t walk anyone, although he did hit one batter, and he struck out three.

Aiden Moffett pitched the middle innings and got his first professional win. Moffett did not allow a run or a hit over 2.1 innings. He did walk one batter while striking out four.

Jordan Henriquez went the rest of the way for a three-inning save. He gave up just one hit, but it was a two-run home run in the top fo the ninth to spoil the shutout. Henriquez walked two and struck out four.

The Pelicans jumped out to an early lead with a four-run bottom of the first inning. The big blow was a two-run home run by left fielder Jose Escobar. Escobar was 2 for 4.

In the second inning, DH Eli Lovich hit a solo home run. It was his third of the season and his second in two games. Lovich was 1 for 4.

In the eighth inning, catcher Logan Poteet added an insurance run with a solo home run, his second on the season. Poteet was 1 for 3 with a sac fly and two total RBI.

The Pelicans had just six hits, but three of them were home runs. They also drew five walks.

Escobar’s home run.

Lovich showing some opposite field power.

Poteet’s home run.

After the bats woke up in the first game of the series with the Nationals, David Peterson and Sean Manaea collectively got shelled in another terrible loss, 14-2. On Gary Cohen’s birthday no less.

The Mets were down from the top of the first, when Peterson allowed singles to three of the first four hitters in the game, which resulted in the first run of the game. A passed ball and an RBI ground out made it 2-0 before the Mets came to the plate.

The Mets loaded the bases in the bottom of the first against Cade Cavalli, but Tyrone Taylor struck out to end the frame without any scoring. The Mets added their first run in the bottom of the third when Juan Soto hit an opposite-field solo home run.

Peterson started to tire in the fourth. After striking out CJ Abrams, he walked Jacob Young and allowed back to back singles to Daylen Lile and Joey Wiemer, scoring Young. Two more walks with a strikeout sandwiched in between made it 4-1, and Peterson was done. Sean Manaea entered the game and promptly forced in a run when he hit Curtis Mead. Brady House then hit his first career grand slam, and it was 9-1. The pain continued.

The Mets put men on in almost every inning, but only managed to score in the fifth, when three straigth singles to lead off the inning led to Bo Bichette scoring the second run of the game. However, a Francisco Alvarez double play and a Brett Baty strikeout ended the bases loaded, no-out threat right quick.

The Nats continued to tattoo Manaea, adding a tenth run in the sixth and two more in the seventh. That would be enough for Carlos Mendoza, who pulled him in favor of Carl Edwards Jr. An infield single, a strikeout, a walk, and a single by Young brought in the thirteenth run of the game for Washington.

At one point, Edwards had struck out five Nationals in a row, but that streak was ended when Curtis Mead hit a solo home run, making it 14-2.

Two small bits of Mets minutia/Immaculate Grid information: Austin Slater made his first appearance as a Met, flying out in his only at-bat and playing left field, and Luis Torrens made his first appearance since 2021 (and first as a Met at first base).

The Mets hope to take the series tomorrow afternoon with Freddy Peralta facing Miles Mikolas.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Juan Soto, 17.0% WPA
Big Mets loser: David Peterson, -30.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: -44.0% WPA
Mets hitters: -6.0% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Soto’s home run, 11.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: C.J. Abrams’s first inning single, -9.2% WPA

It’s official: The Mets are the worst team in baseball. 

And on Wednesday, especially, they looked the part. 

Five weeks into the season and with a sky-high payroll, the mismatched disaster that is the Mets roster was overmatched again in a 14-2 loss to the lowly Nationals at Citi Field that wasn’t as close as the score might indicate. 

“We have to be better,” Carlos Mendoza said after his team’s 16th loss in 19 games. “There’s no excuses. It’s been a long period of time here that we’re not playing well. We’ve got to fix it.” 

Whether that’s even possible is a serious question. 

With their latest defeat, when they allowed a season high in runs, the Mets fell to 10-20. 

That’s a half-game behind their NL East rivals, the Phillies, who were rained out and remained 10-19. 

The weather was not as kind to the Mets faithful, as a few thousand masochists stuck around on a miserable, wet night in Queens to watch … what, exactly? 

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David Peterson delivered his latest awful start, as the lefty’s ERA as a starter jumped to 8.10 after allowing seven runs in just 3 ²/₃ innings. 

Another rotation castoff, Sean Manaea, was called upon to replace Peterson and gave up a grand slam in the fourth. 

And the offense, which briefly awoke during a seven-run fourth inning in Tuesday’s win, went back to its typical ineptness against Washington right-hander Cade Cavalli. 

The lone exception to the collapse was Juan Soto, who looked to be in peak form. 

He homered in a second straight game and added a single and a double. 

But as everyone from Mendoza to David Stearns to Soto himself has said, even Soto can’t carry the team by himself. 

The Mets, though, apparently wanted to test that theory against the Nationals, as Soto — serving as the DH again as he deals with left forearm discomfort — provided just about the only positives for a Mets team that’s now dropped four of five. 

And there are five months to go. 

“The challenge is coming back tomorrow with a good attitude, a good mindset, work hard and try to take care of tomorrow’s game,’’ Peterson said. “It’s easy to let things compound. It’s easy to get caught up in it, but the only way to get out of it is to take it one day at a time and attack and win tomorrow.” 

As Mendoza said before the game: “We’ve got to play better baseball, period. Regardless of who we’re playing, we’ve got to start winning series. We haven’t been able to do that for a long period of time now.” 

And they may have even made it harder on themselves Wednesday during their rare win Tuesday, when Mendoza went to Tobias Myers — who has pitched well out of the bullpen — for two innings with an eight-run lead. 

So the right-hander was unavailable to either open for Peterson — who started because Washington had two left-handers among their top four hitters — or take over for him in the fourth. 

Honestly, it’s hard to fathom any combination of pitchers or position players — short of cloning Soto — would have helped the Mets on Wednesday. 

An announced crowd of 32,624 — and fortunately, not nearly that many actually showed up — made its displeasure known throughout the latest defeat. 

As there has been with alarming frequency this season at Citi Field, the booing could be heard at some point during nearly every inning. 

With five months to go in what’s already been an interminable season, the Mets surely have hit rock bottom. 

But as they’ve proven consistently so far this year, there’s apparently always lower to go.