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Following the Yankees' 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday afternoon, manager Aaron Boone and some players spoke about a number of topics...

Ryan Yarbrough gives Yanks what they needed

With the sudden scratch of Clarke Schmidt on Saturday, Yarbrough was tasked with being the team's opener against the Rays. The bulk reliever is used to pitching multiple innings, but Boone was very happy with the results.

The left-hander allowed just one run on one hit and three walks in four innings. It was a season-high four innings for Yarbrough, who had a sac fly from Taylor Walls in the second inning to thank for the lone run allowed.

"I tried to convince [Boone] to get me into the fifth there, especially with a bullpen game," Yarbrough said after the game. "Just really giving those guys some time off, especially when you have a day that you don't really necessarily expect early on. We were there to pick each other up and just tried to go as deep as I could."

"I thought he did great," Boone said. Walked a couple of leadoff hitters, which wasn’t ideal, had a few walks in there. But going into the day, if you said four innings, one run. Sign us up, all day long. He gave us exactly what we needed. Gave us a chance and put us in a good position to win a game. Unfortunately, just couldn’t get to the finish line today."

Mark Leiter Jr. gives up lead

The Yankees were up 2-1 heading into the eighth inning when Leiter Jr. came in. The hard-throwing right-hander was a bit unlucky in that inning. After allowing a leadoff hit to Christopher Morel -- on a play that was just out of the reach of Anthony Volpe -- Brandon Lowe walked. Leiter Jr. struck out Junior Caminero before a Curtis Mead bloop single tied the game and then a Volpe error pushed across the go-ahead run.

Boone, after the game, applauded the Rays' hitters, especially Lowe and Mead for getting to Leiter Jr.'s well-executed pitches.

"I thought he threw the ball alright. Just a couple of balls that had eyes," Boone said.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. surprised by MRI

Chisholm was placed on the IL on Friday with a high-grade oblique strain. Boone expects Chisholm to be out 4-6 weeks, but when the infielder was asked how he felt in the Orioles series earlier in the week, he believed he would be back in a few days.

“I’m very surprised [by the results], just depending on how my body feels and how I feel personally," Chisholm said after Saturday's game. "This is the second time I had an oblique. This feels completely different from the first one. So, for me, I was super surprised when I saw the results."

Chisholm revealed that there were three different tears in his oblique, which made him more surprised.

"That’s why I’m really surprised by what [the tests] said," he explained. "It doesn’t feel like three, doesn’t feel as bad as when I tore my oblique two years ago."

Chisholm is having an up-and-down 2025 with the Yanks. He has launched an impressive seven homers, but his batting average (.181) and OBP (.304) remain low.

Nola works through pregame neck injury to deliver 6 scoreless originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Aaron Nola felt his neck tighten up about 45 minutes before first pitch Saturday night.

It put manager Rob Thomson, pitching coach Caleb Cotham and catcher J.T. Realmuto on high alert, and the Phillies even activated Ranger Suarez from the injured list pregame, a day early, in case he was needed for an emergency start.

There was no emergency because Nola felt good enough to pitch. And he didn’t just toe the slab, he delivered six scoreless innings against a Diamondbacks lineup that can hurt you with power and with speed.

“They said we’ll see what we get out of him tonight, essentially,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “We were a little worried, we didn’t know how much he was going to be available but obviously his neck felt good enough.

“I was on high alert in the bullpen just trying to watch his pitches and see if anything was moving differently or his stuff was different, but it was just as sharp as it normally is. Once the game started, I didn’t even really think about it again.”

Nola didn’t have his best command early but found a groove after ending the second inning by inducing a 4-6-3 double play. His velocity was up for a second consecutive start and averaged 92.2, more than 1 mph above his season average. He also had his cutter working for a second straight start and had one of his better curveballs, the pitch he utilized most to beat the D-backs in a 7-2 Phillies win.

“It says a lot,” Realmuto said. “He’s a competitor so if there’s a way for him to go out there and pitch, he’s gonna do it. He showed that tonight.”

Nola is not worried about the neck tightness and expects it to subside quickly. He felt it during the game on a few occasions but is fortunate that it’s the right side of his neck, not the left. The left side is the direction to which a right-handed pitcher like Nola cocks his head before delivering a pitch out of the stretch or when peering over to first base.

“Everything was normal. I felt it a little bit but it didn’t get any worse during the game,” Nola said. “I don’t think it’s gonna be any long-term, lingering kind of thing.

“Felt like it needed to pop and wouldn’t pop. Just a little tight on a couple of different movements but luckily it wasn’t to my left where I have to look toward the plate. If it was on the left side, it might have been a little bit different.”

Nola received seven runs of support, more than the Phillies had provided him all season. He has lowered his ERA in his last two starts from 6.43 to 4.61. His command is sharpening and he’s generating more finish to his pitches. All but one of his 18 outs Saturday night was a strikeout or groundout.

“I feel pretty good, all my pitches feel pretty good right now,” Nola said. “Getting ahead of the hitters better than I was the first few starts and putting ’em away when I need to.”

His next one will be Friday in Cleveland. The Phillies will start Ranger Suarez on Sunday to finish up the Diamondbacks series, then have Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo going in Tampa. Taijuan Walker has been moved to the bullpen, where he’ll be used as a longman or reliever who can pitch one-plus inning.

Red Sox 1B Triston Casas out for rest of season after rupturing left knee tendon​ originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas suffered a ruptured tendon in his left knee and is out for the remainder of the season, the team said on Saturday.

The 25-year-old Casas ruptured his patellar tendon running to first on a slow roller up the line and fell awkwardly in Boston’s victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. After laying on his back in pain — not moving the knee — he was carted off on a stretcher before being taken to a Boston hospital.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Casas, who remains in the hospital, will have surgery, but the date has not been determined.

“I talked to him last night,” Breslow said in a press conference discussing the injury outside Boston’s clubhouse. “We exchanged text messages (today). We all care deeply about just his overall wellbeing.”

Manager Alex Cora said Casas worked hard during the offseason to play every day after missing a large amount of last year with torn cartilage in his rib cage.

“He did an outstanding job in the offseason to put himself in that situation. It didn’t start the way he wanted it to,” Cora said of Casas’ struggles. “He was going to play and play a lot. Now we’ve got to focus on the rehab after the surgery and hopefully get him back stronger than ever and ready to go next year.”

Casas batted just .182 with three homers and 11 RBIs, but Breslow said his loss will be felt, especially with the team’s lack of depth at the position.

“He certainly struggled through the first month of the season but that didn’t change what we believe his production was capable of being,” Breslow said. “It’s a big loss. In addition to what we think we were going to get on the offensive side, he was kind of like a stabilizing presence on the defensive side of the field — also a big personality and a big part of the clubhouse.”

During spring training, Casas talked about how his focus at the plate this season was being more relaxed.

“You really want it until you don’t,” he said, explaining his thoughts while standing at his locker. “Then you can’t want it that much.”

Now, he’ll have to focus on his recovery plan for next season.

Casas, a left-handed batter, was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with infielder/outfielder Abraham Toro selected from Triple-A Worcester.

Cora said Toro — a switch-hitter — will split time at first along with Romy Gonzalez. who bats right-handed.

Breslow said the team might be exploring a long-term replacement.

“This is unfortunately an opportunity to explore what’s available,” he said. “We’ll look both internally and outside as well.”

Cora said there are no plans to move Rafael Devers, who was replaced at third by offseason, free-agent acquisition Alex Bregman, and moved to DH.

“We asked him to do something in spring training that in the beginning he didn’t agree with it and now he’s very comfortable doing what he’s doing,” Cora said. “Like I told you guys in spring training, he’s my DH.”

Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe has avoided the worst after suffering an injury scare during Saturday's game against the Rays.

With the Yankees up 2-1 in the eighth, Volpe ranged to his right on a grounder hit in the hole between short and third base. Volpe dove for the grounder, but his left shoulder slammed into the ground on the attempt. The third-year infielder stayed on the ground for a noticeably long time as manager Aaron Boone and the trainers came out to tend to him.

On Sunday, though, Boone told reporters that X-rays and an MRI showed "good news" for Volpe, who's now considered day-to-day and not in Sunday's lineup.

“Definitely a little cranky in the shoulder today," Boone said of Volpe's status.

"Just felt like a pop in my shoulder," Volpe explained after Saturday's loss. "It happened quick and it was scary, but after that, I felt okay and had my strength."

"I’ve never been in this situation, so it’s scary," he added. "My movements feel good, just a weird play."

Volpe finished the game, but the shortstop was in the spotlight for another reason in that eighth inning. The Rays had already tied the game at 2-2, but with runners on the corners and one out, Jose Caballero hit a grounder up the middle. Volpe ranged to his left and was in position to scoop up the ball, but it bobbled and all runners were safe, allowing the Rays' winning run to score.

"Just trying to make the play without securing the ball," Volpe said.

"With Caballero running, that’s a game you got a chance to potentially turn a double play, but you got to be fast with it," Boone said of Volpe's error. "And probably a half step behind to really be able to turn the double play, probably just rushed trying to make it to the bag. I don’t think he’s going to turn it anyway, but I think that’s what happened when looking back at it."

Anthony Volpe is staying in the game after appearing to hurt his shoulder diving for a ground ball pic.twitter.com/rf67OriqVV

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 3, 2025

Kepler keeps crushing, Nola strong again in first win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Whether he ends up as a true everyday player this season or a platoon left fielder who starts the majority of games, Max Kepler is looking like someone who can help the Phillies. He already has during a power-packed week.

Kepler hammered the first pitch he saw Saturday night from Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon Pfaadt, hitting it 392 feet for a missile of a two-run homer to right field. It was 107 mph off the bat but might as well have been 150, the second of five straight loud hits in a three-run second inning for the Phillies, who scored three more in the third on a J.T. Realmuto homer.

The 7-2 win was one of the Phillies’ easiest of the season. They had to eke out all but one of their nine wins from April 3-19, taxing their most important relievers, but the Phils have won three games by a comfortable margin since last Saturday. They’ve needed nights like these.

Kepler has been an important part of them, homering in all three lopsided wins. He is hitting .280 with an OPS just under .900 against right-handed pitching and has 10 extra-base hits in 94 plate appearances. His rate of hard contact is the highest of his career.

“He’s been awesome,” Realmuto said. “He has good at-bats all the time, hits the ball hard. He’s been doing damage for us. Putting us up 2-0 tonight with the way Noles was throwing the ball, that was great.”

The Phillies’ offense scored more runs for Aaron Nola than they had all season — seven on Saturday compared to six in his previous six starts. And Nola made all the support stand up with six scoreless innings. He sure appears to be settling in. After throwing three of his four fastest pitches of the season last Sunday at Wrigley Field, Nola exceeded 94 mph for the first time this year on Saturday with heaters of 94.4 and 94.3.

This has always been the case for Nola, whose fastball after May 1 has averaged 92.3 compared to 91.4 in March and April. He also has historically performed much better in warmer weather and these were by far his best conditions since spring training. It rained during the second and third innings but the temperature was in the high-70s, not the mid-40s or 50s with wind chill he dealt with in St. Louis, New York and twice at home.

What Nola did not have early on Saturday was his best control. His ball-strike ratio was nearly even through the game’s first seven batters, then he found a groove with a 4-6-3 double play to end the top of the second. He retired nine of 10 batters from the second through fifth innings and held the Diamondbacks hitless in four at-bats with a runner in scoring position.

Of the 18 outs Nola recorded, 17 were via strikeout or groundout. It looked like he might be done after five innings because his pitch count was at 95 but Rob Thomson extended him one more. The manager’s reasons were likely three-fold: Nola was pitching well, he will have an extra day between starts and the Phillies were down a reliever after placing Jose Ruiz on the IL pregame with a neck spasm.

Nola is 1-5 with a 4.61 ERA and trending in the right direction. So is Trea Turner, who has a .475 on-base percentage in his last 14 games and so are the Phillies, who at 19-14 have matched a season-high at five games over .500.

They’ve won three straight series since being swept at Citi Field and look for a sweep of their own Sunday afternoon behind a debuting Ranger Suarez.