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ST. LOUIS — Clay Holmes was on the brink of completing six innings Monday in his initial start this season before he threw a cutter that didn’t cooperate.

Nolan Gorman swatted the pitch beyond the right field fence, prompting manager Carlos Mendoza to leave the dugout and retrieve Holmes.

An additional out would have been nice, but even so, the Mets received an acceptable performance from a starter for a third straight game, in a 4-2 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Holmes, who was last seen giving the Mets life with a strong outing in Game No. 161 last season in Miami, resumed where his 2025 ended. On this night, the right-hander allowed two earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks, departing after 90 pitches.

“I felt really good,” Holmes said.

The Mets (3-1) settled the matter in nine innings after two straight days playing extra frames. They split those games against the Pirates, receiving solid performances from David Peterson and Nolan McLean in the process.

The rotation will flip over Wednesday with Freddy Peralta’s return from his underwhelming Opening Day start, but first the Mets will see Kodai Senga make his first start of the season. The Japanese right-hander is scheduled for Tuesday’s start as he looks to begin showing the team he can reemerge, following a hideous second half last season, as a trusted rotation piece.

Holmes, relying on his sinker, produced nine outs on ground balls. He navigated early traffic and was on a roll of seven straight batters retired before Gorman’s blast ended his night.

“There was a little bit of excitement early on, it was the first game of the year,” Holmes said. “Some sinkers were a little bit up and I got in some longer counts there and kind of drove my pitch count up early and I was able to just settle in.”

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Tobias Myers provided 1 ¹/₃ perfect innings in relief with three strikeouts before Brooks Raley pitched a scoreless eighth. Devin Williams earned his first save for the Mets with a perfect ninth.

The Mets scratched for their runs, receiving two RBIs from Bo Bichette and two hits apiece from Jorge Polanco and Carson Benge. Juan Soto reached base three times.

“Good approach up and down and we made those guys work,” Mendoza said. “We fouled some pitches off, but we made contact. We have guys throughout the lineup that are capable of putting the ball in play.”

Francisco Lindor’s triple leading off the game positioned the Mets for their first run. Bichette delivered the RBI with a groundout to the right side. It was the second RBI of the season for Bichette, who finished 1-for-14 on his initial Mets homestand and heard boos Sunday. Later, Bichette added an RBI single.

“I just wanted to get back on track, I guess, and compete,” Bichette said. “I feel like I did a better job of that today, but still more to go.”

The Cardinals recovered the run in the bottom of the first on Alec Burleson’s RBI single. Holmes’ balk moved JJ Wetherholt — who walked leading off — to third base before Burleson delivered.

Burleson’s two-out double in the third and Masyn Wynn’s ensuing walk gave the Cardinals a threat, but Holmes escaped by retiring Gorman. In the fourth, Holmes got Pedro Pagés to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Bichette stroked an RBI single in the fifth that gave the Mets a 2-1 lead against Kyle Leahy. Benge’s leadoff single and a walk to Lindor fueled the rally. Bichette delivered with two outs.

Jared Young’s RBI double in the sixth widened the lead to 3-1 and knocked out Leahy. Brett Baty singled leading off and Young’s ensuing double gave the Mets consecutive hits for the first time in the game.

Francisco Alvarez walked with two outs and Lindor got plunked to load the bases. Soto drew a walk, extending the Mets’ lead to 4-1 before Bichette was retired to end the inning.

“We had a lot of opportunities today and I was pleased with our at-bats,” Mendoza said.

It’s Monday here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and join us. There’s always room for one more. The dress code is casual. We have a few tables still available. The hostess will 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.

Last week, I asked you for your pick on how many wins the Cubs will have in 2026. Fifty-four percent of you think the Cubs will win between 90 and 94 games, or the same that they did last year. Another 23 percent said between 95 and 99 games. I like that “100 or more” got eight votes and “under 80” only got 1.

Here’s the part with the music and the movie stuff. You’re always free to skip that.

Tonight we have the Robert Glasper Trio playing “59 South” live in 2010.

Alibi Ike (1935) always gets mentioned among the best early baseball movies, but I had never seen it before last week. It’s a slight but amusing comedy starring Joe E. Brown, William Frawley and in her film debut, Olivia De Havilland.

Based on a story by Ring Lardner, Brown plays Francis Farrell, a terrific pitcher with a tendency to make up excuses for everything. That earns him the nickname “Alibi Ike” from his teammates on the Cubs. (Yes! This is a movie about the Cubs. More on that in a bit.) De Havilland plays Dolly, the sister-in-law of the Cubs’ manager (Frawley) who immediately falls in love with Francis from the stands.

Francis can’t stand the kidding from his teammates, so he’ll make up some lie to deny that he and Dolly are an item. Of course, that eventually will get him in trouble with Dolly. He frustrates his manager because he’ll do dumb stuff and then make up a ridiculous excuse for it. He also falls in with some gangsters who want him to throw games and it’s pretty much his own fault because he won’t be honest with anyone. But Francis is as honest as the day is long, so obviously he’s going to get into trouble with the gamblers as well.

One thing that I found amusing about this film is that while “Ike” pitches for the Chicago Cubs in 1935, they play the World Series at Wrigley Field at night. I don’t have to tell you that lights at Wrigley are over 50 years away. Not only that, but lights at any major league park are still three years in the future. But Wrigley Field Los Angeles, home of the Pacific Coast League Los Angeles Angels, had lights as early as 1930. That’s where they shot the baseball scenes, naturally. It just strikes me how much Hollywood of the thirties just didn’t care about verisimilitude.

This film is clearly a vehicle for Brown, who was one the top comedians of the era. He was also a huge baseball fan and made several baseball-themed pictures, of which Alibi Ike is generally considered the best. You probably at least know Brown as Osgood Fielding III in Some Like it Hot, if you don’t know him from anything else. So if you find Brown’s stammering, mugging and slapstick funny, you’ll find the film funny. I thought he was funny enough to make watching the film worth my while.

If we ever do a baseball movie tournament in the off-season, Alibi Ike should be included. It’s certainly an old-fashioned comedy and the baseball is pretty incidental to the plot of a man who can’t ever be honest with anyone and it gets him into trouble. But Brown was a pretty talented comedian. Nothing in here will get as big a laugh as Brown got at the end of Some Like it Hot (perhaps the greatest laugh line of all-time in “Nobody’s perfect.”), he gets enough chuckles and laughs to make watching it worth while. That the Cubs win the World Series makes it all that much better.

Here’s the trailer for Alibi Ike

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

Tonight’s a simple question. Who is your choice to lead the Cubs in home runs this year.

Happ already has a lead with three home runs and he should have had a fourth if the wind wasn’t howling in on Opening Day. Bregman showed on Sunday that he can take advantage of the short power alleys at Wrigley. And we know that Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch can hit 30 a year.

Also, Seiya Suzuki can hit thirty in a season as well. EXCEPT I FORGOT TO PUT SUZUKI IN THE POLL AND IT’S TOO LATE TO CHANGE IT NOW. So if you think Seiya is going to get back healthy quickly enough to hit enough hoe runs to lead the Cubs, vote for “other.” I’m going to assume that most of the votes for “other” are for Suzuki.

Again, vote “other” if you want to vote for Seiya Suzuki. I’m sorry I messed that up.

Thanks for stopping by tonight. I hope you’ve had a good time. Don’t be a stranger. Tell your friends about us. Get home safely. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow for more BCB After Dark.

The White Sox scored early and often against the Marlins, getting their first win of 2026 and second grand slam of the season so far. And for the record, there have only been four grand slams in all the major leagues thus far.

Before the bigger fireworks, Everson Pereira doubled to kick off the third inning. With two outs, Miguel Vargas knocked Pereira in with a single to left field, putting the Good Guys on the board first.

Munetaka Murakami kept the inning alive, slapping a single, which set the table for Austin Hays to hit his first homer of the season to break the inning wide open, 4-0.

The White Sox didn’t stop at 4-0, though.

Tristan Peters singled to start the fourth, and Pereira continued with another single. After an Edgar Quero sac bunt to advance runners, Luisangel Acuña was hit by a pitch to load the bases. That set the table for Chicago’s second grand slam of the young season, as Vargas crushed a ball that left the bat at 105.5 mph. The first baseman got to show off in his hometown of Miami, and the White Sox led, 8-0.

Chicago starter Davis Martin lost his focus a bit too much with the big cushion, giving up another walk and looking rushed at the mound in the Marlins half of the fourth. With the second Marlins hit of the ball game, Liam Hicks hit a two-run blast to actually put the Fish on the board.

The Marlins started to give Martin more trouble in the fifth when Griffin Conine doubled, and Jakob Marsee singled to send him home, making it 8-3.

Acuña picked up a walk in the top half of the sixth, and promptly stole second and third. Vargas knocked him in with a sac fly to put the Sox up 9-3. It was Vargas’ sixth RBI on the night.

With Martin in position for the win having gotten through five innings, Sean Newcomb trying to support him for three frames — and almost did. However, Miami rallied with a triple and two singles sandwiching two Ks for the southpaw. After Newcomb walked Owen Cassie to load the bases with two outs in the eighth, Will Venable made a frightening call to the pen: Jordan Hicks.

But on the second pitch of Connor Norby’s at-bat, Hicks jammed him up and in with a sinker and got the inning-ender on a flare to second base. Hicks stayed on for the ninth, earning his first White Sox save as well as the club’s first save of the season. The undefeated Marlins fell, and the White Sox got in the left-hand column for the first time all season.

The Mets recorded 10 hits and the bullpen tossed 4.1 scoreless innings to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2, on Monday night.

Here are the takeaways...

--  Francisco Lindor tripled for the second straight day to leadoff the game against Kyle Leahy, coming up just short of his first home run of the season with a blast off of the right-center field wall. Following some drama Sunday, Lindor opted to not run home on Juan Soto's hard grounder to short, but scored on Bo Bichette's ground ball to second to go up 1-0 as JJ Wetherholt couldn't get the ball out in time and had to turn to first base.

Lindor tied Jose Reyes in Mets franchise history with two triples through four games. It's also the first time he's tripled in back-to-back games as he's already doubled his 2025 total (zero). 

-- Bichette stepped up again and gave the Mets a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning, ripping a two-out single to right field that scored Carson Benge from third. 

Bichette also looked more comfortable at third base on Monday night. He made a nice backhand stop and a perfect throw in the first-inning to get Iván Herrera out at first base. The former SS nearly did it again in the second inning, but Jordan Walker reached first safely.

-- Clay Holmes was solid in his first outing of the 2026 campaign, allowing two runs on four hits over 5.2 IP (90 pitches) with five strikeouts and three walks. The righty forced eight groundouts, including a double play, and two flyouts.

He issued a leadoff walk to Wetherholt in the first inning, as the rookie advanced to second on a ground out and reached third on a balk. The right-hander then let up an RBI-single to Alec Burleson that tied the game up at 1-1.

Holmes got back-to-back strikeouts to end the first inning and after getting his pitch count up, settled in after the third inning for the rest of the game. He retired seven straight Cardinals into the sixth inning before allowing a two-out home run to Brendan Gorman, ending his night with the Mets up 4-2.

-- Starting for the first time, Jared Young made it a 3-1 game in the sixth inning with an RBI double to the right-center gap, scoring Brett Baty (single) from first base. Defensively, Young had no issues at first base, including a clean flip on a slow-roller to Holmes covering first to end the third inning. He finished the day 1-for-4 with the RBI and a run scored.

After Lindor got hit in the foot by Matt Svanson to load the bases in the sixth inning, Juan Soto picked up an RBI on a walk, extending New York's lead to 4-1.

-- Benge got his first start in CF and went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases. Carlos Mendoza decided to put Luis Robert Jr. in as a pinch-runner for Young in the seventh inning, moving Benge to right for Robert in the bottom half with Baty sliding to first base. DH-ing Monday night, Jorge Polanco went 2-for-5 with a ground-rule double.

-- Tobias Myers replaced Holmes and got a flyout to end the sixth inning. He then struck out the side in the seventh on 12 pitches. Brooks Raley pitched a scoreless eighth inning, topping out at 91.4 mph and allowing just a single. Devin Williams shut things down with a 1-2-3 ninth, earning his first save as a Met.

Game MVP: Bo Bichette

Bichette bounced back from a tough opening series, finishing the game 1-for-5 with two RBI. 

Highlights

A leadoff triple for Francisco Lindor! pic.twitter.com/Bb79wawdte

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 30, 2026

Francisco Lindor comes in to score the first run of the game on a Bo Bichette groundout pic.twitter.com/3fwDgwPNUU

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 30, 2026

Bo Bichette with the backhand and the throw on the run! pic.twitter.com/rUiCXzAp5r

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 30, 2026

A pair of strikeouts from Clay Holmes to end the first pic.twitter.com/5Ytpm0MDsC

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 31, 2026

Carson Benge's second MLB hit pic.twitter.com/JgrMbkqjEF

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 31, 2026

A ground-rule double for Jorge Polanco pic.twitter.com/mwVqfUxHO8

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 31, 2026

Carson Benge is 2-for-2 pic.twitter.com/nCs9UUyWa3

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 31, 2026

Bo Bichette with a two-out RBI single while falling down to give the Mets the lead! pic.twitter.com/FBS8e762oL

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 31, 2026

Jared Young drives an RBI double to bring home Brett Baty to make it 3-1 Mets! pic.twitter.com/nGLfhQACNG

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 31, 2026

Tobias Myers strikes out the side in the 7th! pic.twitter.com/99PcWJ2Vj3

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 31, 2026

Upcoming schedule

The Mets continue their series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. on SNY.

Kodai Senga will face right-hander Andre Pallante.

The big story tonight was Cody Ponce’s injury. He had to leave on the cart, and while we can hope it isn’t serious he had the look of a guy who’s resigning himself to something terrible as he rode off. It was a devastating turn for a guy who’s more than paid his dues to make it back to the major leagues.

Otherwise, it was all bad. Bad pitching, no offence, and some uncharacteristic errors. Just a grim evening all around.

Ponce’s MLB return started well before quickly turning into a disaster. He at the Rockies down in order in the first with the help of a nice running grab by Addison Barger in the right field alley. He gave up a double in the second when TJ Rumfield went down and got a fastball on the outside corner and lined it to left, but got out of it without conceding a score. He walked the lead-off hitter in the third, then bounced back with a strikeout of Edouard Julien. He fell delivering a pitch to Jake McCarthy. It looked like his cleat slipped coming down the mound. That was a balk, advancing the runner to third. McCarthy hit a dribbler up the first base line that Ponce tried to field but bobbled, allowing McCarthy to reach and the runner to score. A couple steps after missing the ball, Ponce landed awkwardly and appeared to twist his right knee before going down in a heap. He was clearly in a lot of pain, and ultimately had to be carted off. Louis Varland took over, striking out the next two batters.

The offence couldn’t figue Tomoyuki Sugano out. Jesus Sanchez lined a single in the bottom of the first, but that was all the Jays could manage. They went down in order in the second, including a swinging K by Sugano’s long time teammate Kazuma Okamoto. Finally, with two out in the third, George Springer got into one, firing a laser to left-centre to tie the game at one.

Varland came back for the fourth. He gave up a line single to Ezequiel Tovar, who stole second. Varland got the next two, but then Ernie Clement booted a very routine grounder. It was the kind of error he usually just doesn’t make, but it allowed Tovar to score and extended the inning. Kyle Karros followed with an infield single, pushing Varland to 30 pitches and forcing John Schneider to make a change earlier than he would have hoped. Spencer Miles punched out the next batter to end the inning, limiting the damage at least.

Sugano continued to roll in the fourth, striking out Vladimir Guerrero jr. and Addison Barger. Alejandro Kirk walked on a pitch clock violation, but they couldn’t capitalize.

Mile came back for the fifth. He got a pair of fly outs and had a soft line single erased when Kirk gunned down Hunter Goodman stealing second. Okamoto worked a leadoff walk in the bottom half. Sugano go the next two batters, but was then pulled for Jaden Hill rather than seeing the top of the order a third time. Hill got Springer to ground out to end the inning.

The wheels came completely off for the Jays in the sixth. Miles returned and struck out Tovar, but then he gave up a line single to Rumfield, then a homer to Troy Johnston that extended Colorado’s lead to 4-1. The next batter walked, and that was it for Miles. Brendon Little got his first batter swinging, but then a pair of singles, a walk, and a pop up down the first base line that Addison Barger misplayed into a double resulted in two more runs. Tovar followed with a real double to clear the runners and make it 9-1.

At that point it was pretty much over. Tyler Rogers handled the seventh, while Tyler Heineman was called on to mop up. He gave up four in the eighth and one more in the ninth. His 22.5 ERA is less than half Brendon Little’s.

The Jays at least gave the crowd a bit of a show in the eighth. Andres Gimenez hit a solo homer and, following a Jesus Sanchez single, pinch hitter Davis Scheider went yard as well. Okamoto chipped in a solo shot of his own in the ninth.

Jays of the Day: Nobody

Less so: Miles (-0.11) and Little (-0.12) qualify, and Little especially deserves it, but this one was a team effort.

We’ll be back tomorrow at 7:07pm ET. Ryan Feltner goes for the Rockies, while Max Scherzer makes his 2026 debut for the Jays. And hey, it almost has to go better!

Cody Ponce’s debut with the Blue Jays and first MLB start in five years ended in nightmare fashion.

The 31-year-old, who last pitched for the Pirates in 2021 and last started a game in May of that season. 

Ponce suffered a leg injury running to field a bouncer between the mound and first base during the third inning of the Blue Jays’ game against the Rockies at Rogers Centre on Monday. 

Cody Ponce had to be carted off in his Blue Jays debut after collapsing trying to field a ground ball pic.twitter.com/FO0YUfYlZz

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 30, 2026

He stayed down on the ground, wincing in pain before being attended to by the team’s training staff after his right leg appeared to buckle as it landed stiffly. He briefly grabbed for the back of his knee.

Ponce was able to stand and walk toward a cart before being driven off the field. The former Brewers second-round pick in 2015 was noticeably emotional, blowing kisses and lifting his cap to the Canadian crowd.

He was part of a retooling of the defending American League champion’s pitching staff that included signing Dylan Cease to a seven-year, $210 million contract and top reliever Tyler Rogers to a three-year, $37 million deal.

Ponce pitched two scoreless innings for the undefeated Blue Jays before a run scored on the play he was injured on. 

He has been fighting to get another shot in the majors after his disastrous 2021, which saw him go 0-6 with a 7.04 ERA, mostly out of the bullpen. Ponce spent three seasons in Japan before pitching in Korea in 2025.  

It’s now unclear when he will be back on the mound for the Blue Jays.