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Mets give emotional Jonah Tong advice following rough start: 'Keep your head up'

It's not easy what Jonah Tong is attempting to do for the Mets.

Last month the young right-hander was pitching for Double-A and now he's going up against Jacob deGrom at Citi Field, thrusted in a pressure-filled playoff race and trying to help his team overcome its losing ways.

Forget about difficult, that's just unfair.

And even though manager Carlos Mendoza said Tong is mature for his age, he's still just 22 years old and deserves all the grace in the world following his rough start on Friday night.

"Keep your head up, keep going," Mendoza said about his message to Tong. "There’s no other way around it. Flush that one out and just keep moving forward."

Tong, of course, has the talent and potential to be a successful starting pitcher in the league. Look no further than his MLB debut just two weeks ago and you'll see a pitcher with the stuff that can be dangerous for a long time. 

However, it's obvious he still needs time to continue to develop into the starting pitcher that he has the talent to be. But asking him, along with the two other rookies in the rotation, to be the savior of a flailing team with sky-high expectations that have not been met this season isn't the proper way to foster and nurture that talent.

After the loss, a clearly emotional Tong didn't have a lot to say. Still, he managed to get out that he didn't give the start that he wanted and even thought of the bullpen, saying that it "hurts" to know that his outing put "more stress" on a beleaguered group -- quite selfless for a 22-year-old.

"He’s a competitor," Mendoza said. "Obviously he cares a lot... He'll get through that one."

The question now becomes what will the Mets do next?

While he didn't confirm or deny that Tong would make his next start, Mendoza reiterated that New York could get creative. What's most sad about the situation, though, is despite how poorly his outing went on Friday, Tong remains one of the better options the Mets have at the moment due to massive failures elsewhere on the roster.

"It’s just life, so take it one step at a time," Tong said. "I mean, I’m always grateful for opportunity."

Among the players giving the right-hander advice was David Peterson who Tong said told him, "Keep your head up. The sun’s gonna rise tomorrow."

Wherever Tong makes his next start, he'll have time to learn from this one and hopefully grow from it.

"(I'm) gonna have some time to reflect on this and get ready for the next one and just go from there," he said.

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Jacob deGrom discusses ‘special’ Citi Field return: ‘I always enjoy taking the mound in front of this crowd’

Jacob deGrom had this one circled on his calendar. 

He looked at the beginning of the season and wanted the chance to return to Citi Field. 

Finally on Friday night, that opportunity came. 

The right-hander knew it was going to be a special night, and that it was. 

He couldn’t help but get emotional as the Mets took a look back at his prestigious nine-year career with the club with a tribute video before transitioning to his signature warmup song, “Simple Man” as he played catch pregame. 

But once the action got underway, it was business as usual. 

“It was really cool,” deGrom said. “This is where it all started, coming back here I thought it was going to be a very special day -- thankful to the Mets for playing that and like I said, these fans were great to me while I was here and that was a really nice thing to do.”

Fittingly, the 37-year-old was handed immediate run support, something he lacked throughout his time with the Mets. 

The Rangers jumped on New York’s young right-hander Jonah Tong for a total of six runs on four hits and three walks in the top of the first, handing their hard-throwing ace the big advantage before he even threw a pitch. 

DeGrom responded with a six-pitch bottom-half of the inning. 

He worked around a one out Mark Vientos single in the bottom of the second, but then the bottom of the Mets’ order got to him in the third, as a solo homer and a pair of sacrifice flies made it a three-run ballgame. 

But as Mets fans are very familiar with, it was lights out from there, as deGrom would set down the next 13 hitters in order to close out his night with seven strong innings. 

He ended up taking home his 12th victory of the season after allowing those three runs on four hits and no walks while striking out just two batters on the evening.

“It means a lot,” deGrom said. “The fans were great to me tonight and they were great to me when I was here, I always enjoyed taking the mound in front of this crowd, so tonight was just as special.”

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Tigers’ Skubal leaves game against Marlins after experiencing left side tightness

MIAMI (AP) — Detroit Tigers star left-hander Tarik Skubal left the club’s game against the Miami Marlins in the fourth inning Friday night after experiencing tightness in his left side.

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner — and favorite to repeat this year — allowed a leadoff single to Heriberto Hernández and then retired Eric Wagaman on a flyout to center field when he exited. Skubal is currently under evaluation.

After a recent stretch of dominant outings, Skubal struggled Friday, giving up four runs and four hits. Rookie Agustín Ramirez and Hernández hit solo homers off Skubal.

Skubal had allowed one earned run over his previous 27 1/3 innings and had thrown seven scoreless innings in each of his last two starts.

Tigers shortstop Javier Báez also left early, when he fouled off a pitch that struck near his left eye in the second inning.

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Giants third baseman Matt Chapman wins suspension appeal, reaches settlement with MLB to accept fine

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman’s one-game suspension was dropped by Major League Baseball on Friday and he instead will pay a fine for his role in a benches-clearing incident at Colorado on Sept. 2.

The Giants made the announcement ahead of Friday’s opener in a weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, saying an agreement with the Commissioner’s Office had been reached.

Chapman had faced a suspension and an undisclosed fine after he made contact with Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland.

Chapman, Freeland and Giants shortstop Willy Adames were ejected following the first-inning fracas during San Francisco’s 7-4 win at Coors Field, then Chapman led the Giants past the Rockies 10-8 a night later — playing the game as the appeal was considered.

Freeland, Adames and Rafael Devers also were fined for their involvement. Tempers flared after Devers hit a two-run homer in the first inning and admired it before beginning his slow trot.

“Look, we didn’t feel like we started it. It is what it is, deal with it going forward. We’ll see what happens in the appeal. The other ones were fines,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said the next day. “You knew something was going to happen. We were hoping there weren’t suspensions. Ended up being one, and it’s on appeal, so see where that goes.”

Devers crushed a sweeper over the right field wall and then Freeland took exception with Devers’ celebration, prompting both players to shout at each other.

Several players charged toward the infield, and MLB said Chapman was disciplined for “pushing” Freeland. Adames also was in the middle of the scrum.

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Multitude of forwards pushing for Flyers open eyes in OT rookie game win

Multitude of forwards pushing for Flyers open eyes in OT rookie game win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Nikita Grebenkin popped off the bench in overtime, took a drop pass and zipped a shot into the net.

And just like that, the Flyers were celebrating Friday night at PPL Center.

With the club’s front office and new coaching staff watching from upstairs, the Flyers beat the Rangers, 4-3, in the first of two rookie games this weekend at the home of AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley.

Denver Barkey, Alexis Gendron and Jacob Gaucher also scored goals for the Flyers. The team, which just opened rookie training camp Thursday, erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-2.

“There’s a lot to like and a lot to be happy with,” John Snowden, the Phantoms’ head coach who runs rookie camp, said. “Obviously we don’t have a whole lot of time to put together what our plan is and I thought they did a heck of a job at executing it. We saw a ton of plays, we saw some skill come out, which I think we all wanted to see.”

• The Flyers’ decision-makers had to be pleased with the contributions from some forwards who will be knocking at the door throughout the season.

Grebenkin, who came to the Flyers in the Scott Laughton trade, definitely showed an offensive mindset.

“He finished in an important moment of the game for us,” Snowden said. “He made a lot of plays below the goal line. … It was a good start for him in this camp.”

The 22-year-old Russian winger played seven games for the Maple Leafs last season and will be vying for his Flyers debut this season.

In the second period, Barkey got the Flyers on the board with a 4-on-4 marker off a feed from recent trade acquisition Tucker Robertson. The 20-year-old Barkey is a dogged competitor who makes winning plays.

“The biggest thing about him is that he’s just so competitive,” Snowden said. “He’s a smaller guy, but he plays like he’s 6-4. How many puck battles did he win tonight?”

The 5-foot-9 winger will have to overcome the undersized label.

“It has kind of been the story of my life, always have been a smaller guy,” Barkey said. “So ever since a young age, I’ve always had to be a heads-up player and think ahead.”

Karsen Dorwart didn’t hurt his chances at trying to work his way into the Flyers’ bottom-six picture at center. The 22-year-old collected a pair of assists. On Gendron’s game-tying 2-2 goal at shorthanded, Dorwart sparked the rush. His second helper came on Grebenkin’s winner.

The Michigan State product signed with the Flyers toward the end of last season as a college free agent and played five games for the big club.

“I think last spring was huge for me to kind of get out of the mindset of, ‘Whoa, this is the NHL,'” Dorwart said. “Now my goal is to make the team. That’s what I wanted to do all summer, it’s what I want to do now. Just doing everything I can in these couple of games and then going into to training camp to prove that I can make the team.”

Devin Kaplan made a slew of impressive moves to set up Gaucher’s game-tying 3-3 goal in the third period. The 21-year-old winger made his NHL debut in last season’s finale.

• Alex Bump, the rookie camp headliner, played on the Flyers’ top line with Jack Nesbitt and Samu Tuomaala.

The 21-year-old winger didn’t crack the scoresheet, but he had his offensive savviness on display. He also exhibited his improved strength by protecting the puck to extend possession on a few plays.

“He’s a cerebral, intelligent hockey player, especially when it comes to the offensive side of the game,” Snowden said Friday after morning skate. “He is so strategic as for where he needs to go, he never puts himself outside of a scoring area, he always re-routes back into the interior. So he’s always putting himself into good spots.”

Bump has a legit shot to make the Flyers’ season-opening roster. Before now, he had never been in a training camp because of school.

“I’m prepared for it,” Bump said Friday after morning skate. “I don’t really think there should be pressure if I’m prepared for it.”

• An under-the-radar defenseman would be Ethan Samson, who played an athletic and comfortable game at the point of the power play. The 22-year-old has good size and two AHL seasons under his belt.

“Samson I thought looked pretty good tonight,” Snowden said.

• Carson Bjarnason, the Flyers’ 2023 second-round pick, played the full game and converted 21 saves on 24 shots.

He allowed two goals a little over four and a half minutes into the action. The second one he needed to stop. Bjarnason saw the shot, but the puck popped past him after it appeared to hit his stick.

“The first period, I want those back, definitely,” Bjarnason said. “I’ll take the blame on those, those are my fault.”

The 20-year-old was playing his first game since April 1 in the WHL playoffs. His first pro season is ahead of him with Lehigh Valley.

• Sawyer Boulton fired up the crowd in the second period when he fought Corbin Vaughan and then jawed with the Rangers’ bench.

Vaughan dropped the gloves earlier in the period when he gave Gaucher a round of punches. Gaucher was defending Kaplan, who took a big hit.

Boulton then stood up for Gaucher by giving it back to Vaughan.

• Oliver Bonk was out because of a maintenance day, but the 2023 first-round defenseman is expected to play Saturday against the Rangers in the second rookie game (5 p.m. ET).

Bjarnason will play the first half of the game before camp invite Joey Costanzo comes on in relief.

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Aaron Judge hits his 362nd career homer, passing Joe DiMaggio for 4th in New York Yankees history

BOSTON (AP) — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit his 362nd career home run on Friday night, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio and taking sole possession of fourth place on the franchise’s all-time list.

One game after Judge homered twice to tie DiMaggio with President Donald Trump at Yankee Stadium to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Yankees captain hit the second pitch he saw from Boston’s Lucas Giolito in the first inning over the Green Monster and onto Lansdowne Street.

The 468-foot shot gave New York a 1-0 lead over Boston as the longtime rivals battle for playoff position. The Yankees entered the night with a one-half game edge over the Red Sox in the AL East, behind division leader Toronto, with both in position for a wild-card berth.

Judge reached 362 homers in his 1,130th game. DiMaggio played 1,736 games and hit his last homer on Sept. 28, 1951, at the end of a 13-year career that was interrupted for three seasons because he served in World War II.

Judge’s 47th homer of the season raised his major league-best batting average to .324.

Judge broke a tie with Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra for fifth on New York’s career list Tuesday night. Babe Ruth hit 659 of his 714 homers with the Yankees. Mickey Mantle (536) and Lou Gehrig (493) are the other Yankees ahead of Judge.

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Luis Gil twirls six hitless innings, Yankees beat Red Sox 4-1 in series opener

The Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-1 in the series opener on Friday night at Fenway Park.

Here are some takeaways...

- Aaron Judge got the Yankees' offense started early, and he made some history in the process. The captain crushed a solo homer over the Green Monster in the top of the first, giving him 362 for his career to pass Joe DiMaggio for fourth on the Yanks all-time HR list. 

- Judge started a two-out rally and scored the second run of the game two innings later. After he drew a seven-pitch walk, Ben Rice reached on catchers interference and Cody Bellinger lined an RBI single right back up the middle to make it a 2-0 ballgame. 

- Giolito settled in nicely, allowing just the two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk over 5.2 innings. 

- Luis Gil threw extremely well after being handed the early lead, as he held the Red Sox to just two baserunners (a walk and a Jose Caballero error) over the first four innings. The righty was hurt by some questionable calls in the fifth, which resulted in a pair of walks, but retired the next three and to keep the shutout and no-hitter going. 

A Jazz Chisholm throwing error put Trevor Story at second with one out in the sixth, but Gil got a strikeout and groundout to again escape the inning with no damage. The reigning Rookie of the Year finished his night allowing just six baserunners (two errors, four walks) while striking out four across six hitless innings.

- Fernando Cruz took things over in the bottom of the seventh and struck out the first two hitters he faced before Nick Eaton crushed just the second homer of his big-league career into the Green Monster, breaking up both the shutout and no-hitter. 

Cruz is now up to an ugly 16.20 ERA across five appearances this month. 

- Devin Williams was helped out by a great backhanded play from Ryan McMahon to strand a man on second in a scoreless bottom of the eighth following Cruz, then David Bednar put the finishing touches on the victory, securing his sixth save since joining the club. 

- Caballero received the start at short over Anthony Volpe for the second straight night, and while he committed an error, he made up for it with his offense and speed. He ripped a ground-rule double leading off the seventh before stealing third and then hustling down the line to beat the throw on a grounder with the infield in. 

Caballero is now up to a league-best 46 stolen bases on the season. 

- Chisholm picked up his 30th stolen base of the year in the top of the eighth -- he is now just two home runs away from joining Bobby Bonds and Alfonso Soriano as the only three players in franchise history with a 30/30 season. 

Game MVP: Luis Gil

The young right-hander was masterful, holding the Sox hitless across his six innings of work. 

Highlights

What's next

Max Fried (16-5, 3.02 ERA) faces off with Bryan Bello (11-6, 3.12 ERA) as the Yanks and Sox continue this weekend set on Saturday at 4:10 p.m.

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Jonah Tong torched in first inning as Mets lose to Rangers, 8-3

The Mets got hammered once again on Friday night, losing to the Texas Rangers by a score of 8-3 to extend their losing streak to seven games.

Here are the takeaways...

- Tasked with putting a stop to a six-game losing streak in just his third career start and facing one of the game's best pitchers on the other side, Jonah Tong had a lot on his plate. Up for the challenge anyway, the 22-year-old had a disastrous outing and failed to get out of the first inning.

Throwing predominantly changeups early, Tong couldn't find a feel for his fastball and that came around to bite him. After walking two of the first three batters, sandwiched between a strikeout, the right-hander retired Jake Burger on a flyout for a path out of the inning. Tong then got to two strikes on Josh Jung and with Citi Field behind him, he needed to make one more pitch to escape the jam. Instead, two straight hits on two straight fastballs scored two runs.

The third walk of the inning loaded the bases before Tong got to two strikes once again, this time on Cody Freeman, but another single drove in two more to double the Rangers' lead. The rookie ran the count full on Michael Helman before allowing a two-run double that ended his night.

Tong lasted 0.2 innings and allowed six runs on four hits and three walks. It was the shortest start from a Met pitcher since David Peterson recorded one out in September 2022. Tong entered the game with a 4.09 ERA and it ballooned to an unsightly 8.49. He threw 40 pitches (20 strikes).

- Shell-shocked by what just happened in the top of the inning, the crowd on hand unfortunately didn't really give Jacob deGrom his much-deserved standing ovation when he took the mound in the bottom of the first inning in his first time pitching in Citi Field since leaving the team in free agency in 2022. The former Met wasn't on the mound for long, needing six pitches to retire the side in order.

- After four straight outs to start this game following 25 straight outs to end Thursday's game, Mark Vientos' single in the second ended a terrible string of 29 consecutive outs made by the Mets. DeGrom retired the next two.

- Led by the bottom of the lineup, New York got to deGrom in the third. Francisco Alvarez began the inning with a solo shot, his eighth of the season, before Cedric Mullins and Francisco Lindor followed with a single and a double to put runners on second and third with nobody out, showing signs of life. Juan Soto and Pete Alonso each had a sacrifice fly that cut the deficit to 6-3 with plenty of ballgame left.

- Thanks to Huascar Brazoban (3.1 innings of scoreless relief) and Ryne Stanek (five up, five down) the Mets entered the later innings still in the game. However, after allowing three runs in the third inning, deGrom settled back down and found his groove, denying New York any chance of making a comeback. He ended his night by retiring the final 13 batters he faced and pitched seven terrific innings in his old home.

- Gregory Soto's recent struggles continued after giving up a two-run home run to pinch-hitter Dylan Moore in the seventh inning. Soto now has a 5.52 ERA in his last 15 games and a 9.45 ERA in his last seven games.

- Ryan Helsley allowed a screaming double to his first batter of the ninth and it looked like he was on his way to having another outing to forget, but Lindor made a great play on a flyout to shallow center field and doubled up Jung at second base. 

Game MVP: Jacob deGrom

In what was another ugly performance by the Mets, it was at least nice to see deGrom back on the Citi Field mound, even as a member of an opposing team.

Highlights

What's next

The Mets continue their three-game series with the Rangers on Saturday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 4:10 p.m. on SNY.

RHP Brandon Sproat (0-1, 4.50 ERA) makes his second career start and will face LHP Patrick Corbin (7-9, 4.36 ERA).

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Report: Steve Ballmer made a second, $10 million investment into failing company that endorsed Leonard

Clippers' owner Steve Ballmer's defense in the Kawhi Leonard salary cap circumvention and “no show” endorsement scandal has been "plausible deniability." Ballmer said he was “duped” like other investors when he put $50 million into the green bank company Aspiration (a company that had become a $300 million Clippers team sponsor back in 2021, but now is bankrupt with its CEO pleading guilty to fraud). Ballmer noted that the Clippers ended their team sponsor relationship with Aspiration after it defaulted on its obligations, and said both he and the team knew nothing about Leonard's $48 million endorsement deal with Aspiration ($28 million in cash, the rest in stock) other than that it existed. Ballmer vehemently denied the charge that the Clippers used Leonard's Aspiration endorsement to circumvent the NBA salary cap.

That argument is becoming increasingly difficult to believe.

After a detailed initial report came a second one from the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast (which broke the story initially) that Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong invested $2 million into Aspiration late in 2022 — when the company was failing and struggling to make payroll — and a week later Leonard got a delayed $1.75 million quarterly endorsement check.

Now comes a report that Ballmer made a second, $10 million investment in Aspiration in March, 2023, despite it being clear at that point the company was failing and headed toward bankruptcy. The report comes from Mike Vorkunov at The Athletic.

In March 2023, LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer invested almost $10 million into financial technology and sustainability services company Aspiration, according to legal filings reviewed by The Athletic and corroborated by a former Aspiration executive...

Ballmer's 2023 investment was part of a fundraising round made up almost entirely of previous Aspiration investors, with Wong being the lone exception. The company hoped to raise $75 million in fresh money but came up nearly $9 million short.

What is not known is when the payments on Leonard's endorsement stopped. He is a creditor in Aspiration's bankruptcy, seeking $7 million he is still owed.

Ballmer and the Clippers have not commented on the latest allegations, but their defense is likely the same: Ballmer was making a personal investment (and not a big one for Ballmer, who Forbes estimates is worth $153 billion), hoping to prop up the company and recoup his original investment, that this had nothing to do with Leonard.

This latest report is another wave in the tsunami of evidence that the Clippers used Aspiration to funnel extra money to Leonard outside his standard contract — maybe it's all circumstantial evidence, at least what we see publicly, but it's not hard to connect these dots. It's short, straight lines between these dots.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that the burden of proof is on the league — which has hired a law firm to do its investigation as a third, neutral party — and that he "would be reluctant to act if there was sort of a mere appearance of impropriety."

It feels like more than an appearance now, the buzz in league circles is that many owners feel the same way, which means Silver is going to have to bring the hammer down on the Clippers (likely taking away future first-round draft picks, fining the Clippers up to $7.5 million, suspending team executives, and he could potentially void Leonard's contract, although that last one is unlikely).

The NBA's formal investigation is ongoing and likely will drag out for a while.

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Mets' Jeff McNeil ejected in fourth inning against Rangers

Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil was ejected from Friday's game against the Texas Rangers in the bottom of the fourth inning by home plate umpire Scott Barry.

McNeil, 0-for-2 on the night against Jacob deGrom, disagreed with a strike three call that appeared low and reacted angrily before getting tossed. 

Ronny Mauricio entered the game to play third base, shifting Brett Baty to second base.

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Kodai Senga throws six efficient innings in first Triple-A start following demotion from Mets

Kodai Senga took the mound on Friday night making his first Triple-A start following a demotion from the Mets. 

The right-hander found immediate success, getting a pair of Worcester hitters to chase forkballs in the dirt for two strikeouts in a perfect top of the first.

The Sox were able to strike against Senga in the second, though, as a leadoff single and two-out RBI double down the right field line brought home the first run of the game. 

Senga rebounded nicely over the next three innings -- he put together a clean third, used a double play ball to work through the fourth, and then struck out a pair in an easy fifth. 

He then needed just eight pitches to cruise through the sixth after Syracuse’s offense rallied to hand him a lead for the first time in the bottom-half of the fifth. 

That closed Senga's final line with one run allowed on just three hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. 

He used his full arsenal on the night as he threw 74 pitches, 52 of which were strikes. 

Senga had allowed three or more earned runs in six of his last eight outings prior to his demotion, lifting his ERA to 3.02 for the season. 

He is expected to make at least two minor league outings before potentially rejoining the big-league team. 

Friday’s dominant showing was certainly a good first step. 

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Patrick Bailey, Justin Verlander power Giants' unforgettable win over Dodgers

Patrick Bailey, Justin Verlander power Giants' unforgettable win over Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Giants manager Bob Melvin sat down behind a podium late Friday night and asked a question that was more pertinent than any he would be asked. 

“Where do you want to start?” he said, smiling as he looked out at a packed interview room at Oracle Park.

With a game like that, where do you start? 

Perhaps with Justin Verlander, the 42-year-old who celebrated 20 seasons of MLB service time by throwing seven strong innings against a star-filled lineup that seemingly had found its stride earlier this week at Dodger Stadium.

Or maybe with Matt Chapman and Dominic Smith, who combined for one of the better defensive plays of the year, saving an early run in a game that would go to extra innings. The stretch at first will send Smith to the MRI tube, but teammates stopped by after the 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers to celebrate him for giving everything he had — including perhaps part of his upper hamstring — to the effort. 

How about with Grant McCray? The bold young outfielder has not started a game since he was added as a speed-and-defense September call-up, and his wheels weren’t enough to get him home safely when he tagged on a shallow fly ball in the bottom of the ninth. McCray was thrown out at the plate, but he recovered in a magnificent way, making a 101.7 mph throw to third in the top of the 10th to snuff out a potential Dodgers rally with Mookie Betts at the plate and Freddie Freeman due up. 

You should probably start, though, with where this one ended. 

Patrick Bailey has had a nightmare of a season at the plate, but he’s well on his way to a second straight Gold Glove Award and he might take home the Platinum Glove, too. It was the bat that was in the spotlight on Friday, though. 

Bailey crushed a Tanner Scott fastball into the seats in left for a walk-off grand slam, which will fit nicely alongside his walk-off inside-the-park homer when he tells stories to his kids one day. It’s probably not a shock that he’s the first MLB player to do both in one season, but the way this one ended was a surprise. It had been 56 years since a Giants catcher hit a walk-off grand slam and more than two years since Bailey had gone deep from the right side. 

On a night when you could have picked a half-dozen Giants to do the on-field interview and get splashed by Willy Adames, Bailey ended up being an easy choice, and then he went and joined what was described as the most exciting clubhouse celebration of the season. 

When it was over and everyone had calmed down, it was clear that something had shifted. 

The Giants are still taking things one day at a time, but they also have started to mention the MLB postseason, which now is well within their grasp. Perhaps that was because Friday felt like a playoff game. 

“We’ve got a lot of young guys that haven’t quite experienced that atmosphere yet, so to come through in a big way like that, that’s a big boost to a team that hasn’t really proven ourselves,” Verlander said. “To know that when those moments come along, which inevitably they will, there’s big moments that come along if you want to make it to the playoffs, much less win in the playoffs, then you’ve got to have the belief that you can succeed in those moments.”

The Giants are long past the point of finding belief in a season that felt lost in July and August. They have been the hottest team in baseball for several weeks, steadily picking up ground on the New York Mets. On Friday, it felt like a dam broke. 

Every other team in the wild-card race lost, and the Giants are now just a half-game behind the Mets, or 1.5 games if you take the tiebreaker into account. They picked up a game on the San Diego Padres, who lost to the last-place Colorado Rockies, and on the Cincinnati Reds, who got blanked up the road in Sacramento. The Arizona Diamondbacks got walked off in Minneapolis, and the Giants even gained ground on the Dodgers, who are hoping to wrap up the NL West in time to set their postseason rotation. 

For all that has gone right in recent weeks, the Giants have always known that they would have to get through Los Angeles in the end. Friday was the start of a stretch of seven games in 10 days against the Dodgers, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto did his part, striking out 10 Giants and allowing just one hit. 

But Verlander kept them close, with some help from Chapman and Smith. The Giants had a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth, and there was some urgency. Shohei Ohtani, Betts and Freeman were due up in the 10th. 

Melvin had no problem with the decision to send McCray, noting that it took a perfect throw to get him. Still, it was questionable, especially with Chapman due up next. It certainly wasn’t a fun walk back to the dugout for McCray, but as he grabbed his glove, he fired himself up.

“I just wanted to take one away, honestly,” he said. 

McCray did so in memorable fashion. Catcher Ben Rortvedt tagged when Betts hit a fly ball to right and got cut down by the fastest throw by a Giant in the Statcast era. Asked about it later, McCray looked over at Casey Schmitt’s locker. 

“Schmitt says he throws harder than me,” he said. “Will you guys let him know he doesn’t?”

As Verlander took his turn in front of the cameras, the two young players argued about who actually does have the better arm. It was the type of moment that didn’t exist in the clubhouse a few weeks ago, but right now, the Giants can seemingly do no wrong. 

If you take a step back, it’s all a little insane. 

In the top of the 10th, the Giants survived Ohtani-Betts-Freeman because of a stunning throw from a September call-up, which led to a scoreless inning for a reliever who was struggling in Triple-A for most of this season. In the bottom of the 10th, they got a walk-off from a catcher who has spent most of this season trying to get his average comfortably above .200. 

The walk-off was Bailey’s sixth in the big leagues and gave him two memorable ones this season.

“Both are definitely pretty cool,” he said. “I’m definitely not as tired on this one.”

In between the inside-the-park walk-off and Friday’s slam, the Giants often struggled just to score one run. But right now they’re firing on all cylinders, and they’re no longer simply hoping to get back into the race. They’re right in the thick of things, and given how bad the Mets have played and how red-hot the Giants have been in September, they really should be considered the favorite to get that final postseason spot. 

It’s been a long, strange journey, and Melvin, after figuring out where to start, summed it all up neatly.

“There have been extremes all year,” he said. “And we’re riding this one.”

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Brian Cashman: This season doesn’t change Yankees’ viewpoint on Anthony Volpe

It’s been a rough season for Anthony Volpe. 

The Yankees shortstop has struggled mightily on both sides of the ball, and it’s led to him losing more and more playing time to trade deadline acquisition Jose Caballero down the stretch in September. 

Volpe is on pace for a new career-high in homers with 19 to this point, but he’s hitting just .206 with a .268 on-base percentage while striking out 140 times over 141 games. 

He’s also committed a league-high 19 errors at shortstop and has accounted for -9 Outs Above Average, despite being just one year removed from taking home his lone career Gold Glove award. 

Some of that can be pinned on a shoulder injury he's been playing through for some time now, but with top prospect George Lombard Jr. waiting in the minors, there still have been questions of whether or not Volpe is still the SS of the future for the organization. 

GM Brian Cashman was asked that exact question before Friday’s series opener in Boston.

“I think he’s a good player,” Cashman told reporters. “This year not withstanding, I think he’s got a lot of abilities that are positive. I think he’s had a tough stretch, but he’s someone we can count on and believe in.

“At the same time, this isn’t the season that we expected or he expected -- but that doesn’t change our viewpoint of what he’s capable of. As you know, I think he’s a really talented guy and I think he has a chance to be a positive impact on us.”

Volpe is out of Friday’s lineup, and manager Aaron Boone says he isn’t expected to start at any point this weekend as he recovers from a cortisone shot in his injured right shoulder. 

This is just the first time in his big-league career that the youngster is sidelined for two consecutive games, but the team expects he could be available off the bench at some point this series.

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Germany, Turkiye — both undefeated — advance to face off in EuroBasket final

In a result that feels in sync with what is going on in the NBA, it's the young generation of stars — Orlando's Franz Wagner with Germany and Houston's Alperen Sengun with Turkiye — who have led their teams to the EuroBasket Finals. Not Giannis Antetokounmpo, not Nikola Jokic, not Luka Doncic, and not Lauri Markkanen.

In the first semifinal match on Friday, Wagner had 22 points, while Sacramento's Dennis Schröder added 26 points and 12 assists to lift Germany past Finland.

As good as Germany's offense was, it was its defense on Markkanen that was the difference. One of the best players in this tournament, the Utah big man who has sparked a basketball frenzy in Finland, was held to 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting.

In the second game it was the same theme — Turkiye triple-teamed Antetokounmpo on his drives limiting him to 12 points on 13 shots. Without his spark, it wasn't much of a game as Turkiye cruised to a 94-68 win.

Ercan Osmani led Turkiye with 28 points, and it was another impressive game for Sengun who had 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists as the hub of the Turkish offense. Sengun has had a monster EuroBasket.

Turkiye and Germany face off Sunday for the EuroBasket title. Expect a close game between the two 8-0 teams, Germany and Turkey played a friendly before EuroBasket, which Germany won in a close one, 73-71.