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Blue Jays 6 Orioles 5

Back to .500.

Bullpen days are a terrible thing to watch. One of my lines is that if you use a lot of relievers, you are likely to find the one that doesn’t have it on that day.

And the Jays did find that guy. The second pitcher into the game, Austin Voth, had nothing, but with the guys who weren’t available, he had to throw some innings. He gave up 3 home runs, 5 hits, 5 earned with 4 walks. He had a terrible time finding the strike zone and anytime he came close the Orioles hit it hard. I thought it was game over, but the offense surprised us.

Beyond that:

• Adam Macko opened and worked his way through 5 outs, giving up 3 singles with a strikeout. He wasn’t great, but he didn’t give up a run.
• Connor Seabold (I keep typing Seaborn, I liked West Wing back in the day. If I thought he was going to stay around long, I’d call him Rob Lowe) got 5 outs without allowing a base runner (helped along by a successful Brandon Valenzuela challenge).
• Mason Fluharty was terrific, getting the last out of the seventh and all three outs in the eighth.
• And Braydon Fisher picked up his first save his MLB career, despite a two-out Ernie Clement error (on a very easy play). I made have sworn very very loudly, and with windows open in the house, several neighbours likely heard, but then they know me, they’ll just think ‘Something bad happened in the Jays game’.

On offense, we did nothing for the first six innings, just two hits, a one-out triple by Daulton Varsho in the second (he was stranded) and a one-out double by Valenzuela (also stranded). It looked like it was going to be one of those days where we just wouldn’t score. We thought that Trevor Rogers was going to get a complete game on 60 pitches. But we got to him in that seventh inning.

Vladimir Guerrero started off the seventh with a single and Kazuma Okamoto homered (108 mph, 387 feet). Varsho followed with a double and Charles McAdoo homered (his first MLB hit, 369 feet).

Suddenly it was 5-4 and I was hopeful.

Then, in the eighth, George Springer and Clement started it with singles and Vlad doubled them home, giving us our first lead of the day. It would have been nice to score Vlad and give the bullpen a little bit of room for error, but no. And, in the top of the ninth, Nathan Lukes started the inning with a double and again we couldn’t score him. But we had faith in Fisher.

We had 10 hits. Vlad and Varsho had 2 each. The only starters without a hit were Myles Straw (but he was pinch hit for after 2 at bats) and Yohendrick Piñango who needed break from carrying the team for the last while.

Jays of the Day: Vlad (0.34 WPA), Fisher (0.19) and Fluharty (0.15). Let’s give an honorable mention to McAdoo and Okamoto for the home runs.

Other Award: Voth (-0.26) and Piñango (-0.10). And an Honorable Other Award to Clement for that ninth inning error that shot up my blood pressure 40 points. He made the play on the next ground ball hit right at him.

Also making an error tonight was Vlad, who seemed to misread a popup, but got there, then had the ball pop out of his glove. Joe, in the analyst spot, said something about Vlad being so good at popups and I was thinking ‘name me an infielder who isn’t good at chasing popups’. I mean, there are pretty easy plays, I can catch a popup. Oh well, it didn’t cost us.

I thought McAdoo (or Chuck to those of us who are close friends) looked good at second. He made a very tough play. It is great to see him get that first hit, first home run. Also good to see anyone not named Sosa at second base.

We have game three of four in Baltimore tomorrow. It is a 4:00 Eastern start. Trey Yesavage (2-2,2.25) tries to get us above .500. Brandon Young (3-1, 3,47) starts for the O’s.

The Mets walked off the Miami Marlins on Friday night in the 10th inning to win, 9-7.

Here are the takeaways...

-- For a league-leading 11th time this season, the Mets went to extra innings with the Marlins after the game was tied at 7-7 through nine. Austin Warren did his job by stranding the ghost runner in a clean top of the 10th inning to give New York a chance to win it in the bottom half and that's exactly what it did after MJ Melendez socked a two-run shot to give the team a 9-7 win.

Melendez entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and finished with three RBI.

-- As is the case so often when a team faces a pitcher for a second straight start after the pitcher shut them down in the first outing, the Mets got to starter Max Meyer this time around, jumping him for four runs in the first inning after the right-hander went seven scoreless against New York in Miami on May 23 while allowing one hit.

It started after the Mets loaded the bases on a single and two walks, which brought up A.J. Ewing, hitting fifth in the order, who delivered a two-run single up the middle to beat the drawn-in infield. Brett Baty tacked on two more with his two-out single to right field after Ewing stole second base and put two in scoring position. 

The four runs New York scored in the first inning doubled the total number of runs it scored in the three-game series in Miami last weekend.

-- Staked to an early big lead, Mets starter Freddy Peralta kept the Marlins off the board for the first two innings, but had to endure a rigorous third inning in which he threw 38 pitches. The right-hander allowed just one run in the frame on a triple by Xavier Edwards, but he took a big hit to his pitch count, which could have possibly affected the rest of his performance.

-- Miami wasted no time in the fourth, attacking Peralta early in counts and stringing together three straight hits, two doubles and a single, on the first five pitches of the inning to score a run. Luis Torrens helped out his starter by throwing out a baserunner at second base for the first out and then Peralta escaped further trouble with a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.

-- Both times the Marlins scored in the third and fourth innings, the Mets got it right back by answering in the bottom half of the inning. In the third, it was Mark Vientos’ solo shot, a 445-foot towering blast that landed in the second deck. In the fourth, New York took advantage of two consecutive errors by Miami’s defense to plate a run.

-- In the fifth, it was a Mets error that hurt Peralta after he had gotten the first two outs of the inning following a leadoff single that advanced to third on two groundouts. On a 101 mph hot shot to first base off the bat of Otto Lopez, Vientos couldn’t make the play, which resulted in a run. Given an extra life, the Marlins cashed in immediately with a double by Kyle Stowers that drove in the second run of the inning and ended Peralta’s night.

Peralta lasted just 4.2 innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk while striking out five. He threw 94 pitches (60 strikes) and wasn’t able to earn a win despite his offense scoring six runs for him.

-- A.J. Minter made his second appearance for New York since returning from the IL and recorded the final out of the fifth. The left-hander got two more outs in the sixth before getting pulled. He had two strikeouts in his inning of work.

-- Huascar Brazoban also pitched an inning in relief but allowed a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly following a walk and a double that rolled past Baty down the third-base line and had a 50 mph exit velocity. Brooks Raley got the final out of the inning on a strikeout.

-- Once again, the Mets responded in their bottom half of the inning by scoring on a sac fly of their own by pinch-hitterMelendez. Bo Bichette walked with one out and Juan Soto singled to put runners at the corners before the sac fly.

-- With a two-run lead, manager Carlos Mendoza chose to go with Tobias Myers in the eighth inning, which backfired when Myers allowed a leadoff single and then a game-tying, two-run home run to Owen Caissie that knotted things up at 7-7. Myers finished the inning without any further damage and Luke Weaver maneuvered through two hits in the ninth to give New York a chance in the bottom half of the ninth.

Game MVP: MJ Melendez

Melendez called game with his walk-off two-run homer.

Highlights

Freddy Peralta strikes out Otto Lopez to end a 1-2-3 first inning 🔥 pic.twitter.com/8IHxV8YSoN

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 29, 2026

A.J. Ewing brings home Bo Bichette and Juan Soto with a two-run single! pic.twitter.com/QQbELGjb17

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 29, 2026

Brett Baty brings home two!

It's a four-run first inning for the Mets! pic.twitter.com/oHS6nTZYiq

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 29, 2026

Juan Soto makes the leaping catch as he collides with the left field wall! pic.twitter.com/OH2IVIcOaP

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 29, 2026

THAT IS WAY OUTTA HERE!

MARK VIENTOS HITS ONE TO THE SECOND DECK! pic.twitter.com/Vo2qEC6syI

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 30, 2026

Luis Torrens bunts, the ball gets away at third and Marcus Semien scores! pic.twitter.com/N3SbfrLCMJ

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 30, 2026

OH, WOW!

A.J. Minter goes behind the back! pic.twitter.com/o3IiOONJMn

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 30, 2026

MJ MELENDEZ WITH A WALK-OFF HOME RUN!!!!!!

METS WIN!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/O0g2sxorut

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 30, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Marlins continue their weekend series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 4:10 p.m. on SNY.

RHP Christian Scott (0-0, 3.20 ERA) will be in search of his first career win and will go up against RHP Tyler Phillips (0-0, 1.07 ERA).

Interesting one tonight. The Red Sox used an opener for struggling righty Brayan Bello tonight. The Guardians scored 4 runs off of him. In one inning. Here’s the sequence from that inning: strikeout-single-single-single-single-single-single-sac fly-strikeout. Here it is in action.

You must be thinking the Guardians managed to pile on after to blow the Red Sox out, right? 4-0 in the first? Not quite. Bello came in for the 2nd inning and pitched 7 scoreless innings, allowing only 4 Cleveland baserunners. Those 7 innings are tied for the longest outing of Bello’s season, and represent the longest start in which he’s given up 0 runs all year. In fairness, Bello has been great since he started coming in after the 1st (with the exception of one game in which he started). He’s pitched 30.1 innings in his last 5 games and given up only 9 earned runs (7 of which came against the Braves, where he opened the game). But, the Guardians only made Bello throw *63* pitches in 7 innings.

Okay, I’m done with the negativity. Jose looked really good today. In his 4 plate appearances he struck out once, and had batted balls of 103.6mph, 100.9mph, and 106.4mph. Two of those were outs. Perhaps he’s finally about to catch fire.

Slade was, well, normal. He pitched extremely well for the first 4 innings, and then imploded in the 5th. He gave up 4 hits and 3 runs recording only 1 out in the 5th. (Much like what the Red Sox have done with Bello, I really think the Guardians should consider having Festa open for Cecconi)

The bullpen was good again! Colin Holderman was tasked with cleaning up Cecconi’s mess and did so beautifully. He came on with a runner on second and got two weak groundouts. He came on for the 6th and induced a strike out and a groundout. Gaddis found himself in some trouble in the 8th with runners at the corners and 2 outs, but got Mickey Gasper to groundout for the last out of the inning.

Let’s talk about Cade Smith. He got his league-leading 20th save tonight, striking out the side. His ERA is down to 2.60, and his FIP is down to 1.04. Since the Cubs series, he’s pitched 20.2 innings to the tune of a 1.31 ERA and 0.36 FIP (3 total ER). He’s struck out 31 (thirty-one!!) batters and walked only 2. He’s recorded 16 saves in 20 opportunities. Since then, he’s remembered how to locate his fastball, consistently gotten his splitter below the zone, and is throwing his sweeper down-and-away to righties a blistering 56.3% of the time.

That’s all for tonight. It’ll be Messick (yay) vs. Gray tomorrow night.

The Dodgers (36-20) face off with the red hot Philadelphia Phillies (29-27) on Friday night at Dodger Stadium in the opener of a three-game weekend series. 

Justin Wrobleski (6-2, 3.07 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) starts for the Dodgers.

Zack Wheeler (4-0, 1.67 ERA, 0.82 WHIP) takes the mound for Philly.

Lineups

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Phillies
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:15 p.m.
• TV: Apple TV
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

For six innings, everything appeared to be going Baltimore’s way. Trevor Rogers looked like the guy everyone hoped he would be this season. The Orioles already had three home runs under their belt and appeared destined for more against Toronto’s bullpen.

Then things quickly fell apart. Rogers allowed four runs in the blink of an eye, and Yennier Cano surrendered the lead one inning later. Baltimore’s bats went silent, and the Orioles dropped an extremely winnable game 6-5.

Rogers absolutely cruised through the first six innings. If he hadn’t been so efficient, he would have ended the day with six scoreless frames and a much needed confidence boost. Instead, he left the game with a bat taste in his mouth.

Rogers needed only 74 pitches to record 18 outs. He limited the Jays to two hits and a walk before running into trouble in the seventh. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got the rally started with a base hit on a 0-1 fastball. Rogers attempted to sneak a first-pitch fastball by Kazuma Okamoto, but Toronto’s home run leader ambushed the pitch. Okamoto turned the ball around at 108 MPH and trimmed Baltimore’s lead to three.

Daulton Varsho followed with a double down the left field line, and Adley Rutschman trotted out to the mound before rookie Charles McAdoo stepped to the plate. McAdoo took a pair of pitches before jumping on a similar high fastball. The rookie sent the ball into the first row of the right field bleachers for his first major league hit, and Rogers looked down at the ground in disbelief.

On a night filled with disappointments, it’s brutal that Rogers let a quality start slip away. Tonight could have marked a significant step in the right direction for the struggling starter. Instead, he’s stuck regretting a few late mistakes.

Craig Albernaz summoned Tyler Wells from the bullpen, and the former starter recorded three outs without relinquishing the lead. Baltimore went quietly in the bottom half of the seventh, and Toronto picked right back up where they left off in the top of the eighth.

Yennier Cano coughed up a pair of singles to George Springer and Ernie Clement to start the inning. Guerrero jumped on a first-pitch fastball and sent it to left field for a two-run double. Gunnar Henderson spiked the relay into the ground, and the go-ahead run scored without a play at the plate.

The Orioles jumped out to the five-run lead with some patience at the plate and three home runs. Jackson Holliday led off the third with a single, and Baltimore took three consecutive walks to score the first run of the game. The team could have struck for more, but Pete Alonso delivered an uncharacteristic and uncompetitive at bat with the bases loaded.

After three straight walks, Alonso swung at two pitches well outside of the strike zone before popping out for the first out. Samuel Basallo extended the strike zone a few times as well, but Basallo muscled a fly ball deep enough to plate the second run with a sacrifice fly.

Holliday extended the lead to three with a solo homer in the fourth, and Alonso returned to the plate with some patience in the fifth. Alonso took three pitches before launching an opposite field home run. The Polar Bear’s 11th homer of the season gave Baltimore a 4-0 lead and provided a template for Basallo.

Basallo stepped in and took three pitches before sending an opposite field homer of his own. The back-to-back jacks appeared to position Baltimore for a relatively easy path to victory. The Jays had other plans.

Baltimore had one last chance to extend the game in the ninth inning. Taylor Ward flied out to the warning track. Gunnar Henderson reached on a fielding error, but Adley Rutschman bounced out to end the game.

The game marked the latest chapter in a series of bad losses. The Orioles appeared to capture some momentum with a three-game sweep of the first-place Rays, but things changed in a hurry. The Blue Jays returned to .500 with the win, while Baltimore slipped to 26-32.

There’s nothing quite as heartwarming as letting your former team know what they gave up on. Nelson Velázquez greeted the Chicago Cubs by slamming the first pitch he saw into the visitor’s bullpen helping the St. Louis Cardinals win Friday night. He was joined in the home run parade by Ivan Herrera and Thomas Saggese, but more on that later.

Andre Pallante struggled and that’s putting it kindly. In the top of the first inning, Andre was able to get Pete Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner out, but then allowed Chicago to do a lot of two out scoring. Michael Busch singled and Alex Bregman both singled before Cardinal killer Ian Happ greeted a Andre Pallante 4-seam meatball by sending it 407 feet into the stands giving Chicago an early 3-0 lead.

Fortunately, it did not take long for the Cardinals to respond. In the bottom of the 1st, Iván Herrera had a ball glance off of his toe and then Jordan Walker lived up to his name and walked which brought up Nelson Velázquez who played his first Major League game as a Chicago Cub in May of 2022 until he was traded to Kansas City the following year. Nelson celebrated his call-up from Memphis by destroying a Shota Imanaga 4-seam fastball giving it a 411 foot ride tying the game at 3-3. Yo Nelly indeed.

Andre Pallante looked uncomfortable in the top of the 2nd inning as he gave up a single to Dansby Swanson and then walked Nico Hoerner with two outs. Michael Busch punished him by singling in Swanson allowing Chicago to jump back in the lead 4-3.

The resilient Cardinals answered that challenge again in the bottom of the 4th inning when Thomas Saggese homered to left-center tying the game again 4-4.

Andre Pallante would only last 3 innings giving up 8 hits and 4 earned runs while striking out 3 and walking 1. Justin Bruihl would come in for relief in the 4th inning before handing the ball to Gordon Graceffo who entered the game in the top of the 5th inning, but only being allowed to throw 10 pitches. George Soriano pitched the top of the 6th inning. They were able to keep the Cubs off of the scoreboard in the middle of the game giving St. Louis a chance to grab the lead for the first time which they did thanks to Ivan Herrera slamming his 7th home run of the season. At that point, it was 5-4 Cardinals.

The late innings were handled by JoJo Romero who took over in the top of the 7th inning and had the honor of being the first Cardinals pitcher to get Michael Busch out Friday night as he was 3 for 3 before JoJo struck him out. He also struck out Ian Happ which proves it’s possible for a St. Louis pitcher to accomplish this. Ryne Stanek was tasked with the top of the 8th inning. He gave up a leadoff single to Seiya Suzuki, but struck out Michael Conforto with a nasty split finger third strike. After Carson Kelly grounded out in front of the mound, Stanek appeared to tweak his knee a bit, but he stayed in the game. Ryne was able to close out the Cubs in the top of the 8th by getting Dansby Swanson to fly out to Walker in right field.

The Cardinals would add some badly-needed insurance in the bottom of the 8th inning when Nelson Velázquez reached on an infield single. After Alec Burleson struck out, Masyn Winn (who had 2 hits on the night) went the other way with a pitch into right field giving St. Louis a scoring chance that was delivered on when José Fermín singled into left upping the Cardinals lead to 6-4.

Riley O’Brien was brought in to lock down the game for St. Louis in the top of the 9th inning. He was rudely greeted by Pete Crow-Armstrong who knocked the 2nd pitch he saw off of the right field wall for a double. Nico Hoerner then nailed Riley in the back of the leg with a ball back up the middle, but he was able to recover and get the first out at first. O’Brien got Michael Busch to ground out scoring Armstrong from third, but the Cardinals were still clinging to their 6-5 lead. Alex Bregman grounded out to Masyn Winn to end the game and give St. Louis a very important early season victory.

Game 2 of the rivalry will happen Saturday night at Busch Stadium as Kyle Leahy will make the start for the St. Louis Cardinals while the Chicago Cubs will ask Ben Brown to take one for the team. Saturday night’s game will be a national broadcast on Fox with first pitch scheduled for 6:15pm.

The Atlanta Braves have scored the second most runs MLB so far this season and had plans of continuing this trend while facing the Reds an their started Chris Paddack and his 6.86 ERA.

The first inning started off with a bang. Ronald Acuña Jr. hit the fourth pitch he saw for a solo shot in the first inning to set the tone with a solo shot to make the score 1-0. The interesting part is he saw three four-seam fastballs and then took a curveball deep. Notoriously this season he has struggled against four-seamers.

After a Harris fly out Olson hit a ball to the wall and tried for a sliding double but got thrown out in a bang-bang play. Albies then flied out to end the top of the first. Grant Holmes looked good in the first, outside of a walk to Mosley High School graduated JJ Bleday, he sat down every other batter to include a strikeout.

In the second inning the Braves started to blow the game open, Smith singled followed by a Riley walk and a Yastrzemki walk and the bases loaded. Jorge Mateo then hit a chopper to short in which he got out, but a run scored to make it 2-0. Tromp then came to the plate and did his job by hitting the ball deep to right to get a sac fly and make it 3-0. After a walk, Harris hit a single to score Mateo from second to make the score 4-0. Olson grounded out, but the damage had been done.

Holmes then did what he does best early in a game and sat the Reds down in order in the second inning picking up two groundouts and a strikeout. To not be outdone, the Braves were also sat down in order in the third. In the third fr Holmes his rival Freidl who already has two HRs against him singled, but then Holmes struck back with back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout from De La Cruz.

The only offense in the fourth for the Braves was a single by Yastrzemski. The fourth for the Red was very different. Bleday hit a shot to to RF to make the score 4-1. After a pop up and Stewart being caught try ing to steal third, Lowe hit a solo shot to make the score 4-2 Braves. Steer then singled, but after a mound visit Holmes got the last out.

In the fifth, Harris singled, but was caught stealing second. He was initially called safe, but after a challenge it was overturned. That was the only offense for the Braves in the inning. The Reds got to Holmes again. This time with two singles After the hits Didier Fuentes came in the game. Holmes finished the game going 4.2 innings with seven hits (two HRs), three earned runs, one walk and five strikeouts. Solid work.

Fuentes allowed a runner to score that he inherited, but then he got the strikeout to end the inning. After a single by Smith and a HBP from Riley, Yastrzemski hit a double to make the score 5-3.

Mateo then singled to keep the scoring going and make it 6-3. Harris came in clutch after an intentional walk and singled to make the score 8-3, which would end up being the final score.

The Braves started the series off with a statement. They are the best overall team in MLB. After Fuentes the Braves pitched Lee, then Suarez, and finally Kinley who combined for 3.0 innings and allowed two hits, zero walks, zero runs, zero walks, and five strikeouts.

The Braves showed out tonight and look to do it again when they face the Reds again tommorow. Harris and Smith had three hit nights and Ronald Acuña had a HR.

The Red Sox will likely have to wait a little longer for their young star’s return to the diamond.

Outfielder Roman Anthony suffered a setback during his rehab process on Thursday and is now reportedly shut down, according to Boston manager Chad Tracy.

Tracy told reporters on Friday that Anthony “felt discomfort hitting off a tee” and that the 22-year-old “has been shut down from swinging…at least for a few days,” according to MassLive.

Anthony is recovering from an injury he suffered in a game against the Tigers earlier this month, with this being the second time he’s been shut down during his rehab. The first time occurred last week.

He last played on May 4, when he hurt his wrist while swinging a bat, and the Red Sox placed him on the 10-day injured list three days later.

The affliction has since been reclassified as a finger injury, with Anthony calling it a partially torn right ring finger ligament. But there is still some confusion about what exactly he is suffering from.

“I know stuff came out yesterday about ‘tear vs. sprain vs. strain’ and all these things. I don’t know what else to say other than a strain/sprain, it is a tear,” Tracy said. “If you strain a hamstring, that’s a partial tear.

“Fibers let go a little bit and they’ve got to heal. I don’t think anything was portrayed differently or wrongly.”

Tracy added that although Anthony’s time away from the field hurts his club, the best thing they can do is just wait and see.

“The fact of the matter still remains that he’s got something in there and if there’s discomfort, we just have to wait,” he said. “Did we want it to go quicker? Yeah, but we can’t control the healing. If he’s got discomfort, we’ve got to wait.

“Is it going to go longer than we had originally hoped and thought? Yeah, but that’s just how it goes.”

Anthony was off to a slow start to his sophomore season before his injury, putting up a slash line of .229/.354/.321 with just one home run through 30 games.

He burst onto the scene during his rookie year, batting .292 with 18 doubles through 71 games in 2025, prompting the Red Sox to sign him to an eight-year, $130 million contract midway through his impressive campaign.

I hope we all enjoyed our two-week vacation, enjoying the lightest of thrills resulting from the D-backs going 11-2 against the Rockies and Giants. Things will likely be a bit tougher now, facing the division leading Mariners, who just came off a three-game sweep of the [THIS SPACE FOR RENT] Athletics. However, I’d be more impressed if the Mariners weren’t still actually below .500, despite being on top of the AL West. It is arguably the most competitive division in the game so far, with just 2.5 games covering the top four. The NL Central is the only other division where you need less than double digits for that, and even they are still at a five-game spread.

The D-backs come in, having used only eighteen pitchers to this point. No team in the majors has needed fewer arms. The rotation has been particularly stable, with just the late arrival of Merrill Kelly disrupting things, bumping Brandon Pfaadt to the bullpen. The Cleveland Guardians are the only more stable team than Arizona, having used the same five guys since Opening Day. At the other end, the Astros are already up to thirteen different starting pitchers. Out of the bullpen, the Diamondbacks have been very stable too: thirteen relievers used is just one man above the MLB low to date, in San Diego and St. Louis.

A good series here could see the D-backs’ ERA for the year drop below four – it’s currently at 4.02. Been a while: to find the last time Arizona had a sub-four ERA through 55 games, you need to got back to 2018, when it was 3.40 to this point in the season. We’d used twenty pitchers, and only one – Kris Medlen, in a single appearance – had an ERA of five or worse. Patrick Corbin anchored the rotation in the way E-Rod is doing this year, having made twelve starts with a sub-three ERA. Out of the bullpen, T.J. McFarland, Yoshihisa Hirano, Brad Boxberger and Andrew Chafin, had thrown 19-35.1 innings, all with sub-two ERAs. Those were the days…

The Mariners are in first place.

Dan Wilson said the team today is a bit “lighter in the step” following their sweep in Sacramento over the midweek slate. The team is now in first place (even if they’re still a game below .500) and looking to build some positive momentum against the Diamondbacks this weekend. The Diamondbacks enter with a strong 31-24 record. For more on them, Jake Mailhot has you covered. Justin Hollander provided some injury updates before the game. Brendan Donovan is running in zero-G, and Cal Raleigh is taking some swings. There’s no timeline for a return for either. Kate Preusser has further details.

Lineups

Game Information

First Pitch: 7:10 p.m. PDT (because * fireworks *)

TV:Mariners.TV

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — By the time he landed on the injured list last month, Giancarlo Stanton was not exactly lighting the world on fire.

In 24 games, the veteran DH had three home runs, a 102 OPS+ (100 being average) and 14 RBIs.

But the Yankees have sorely missed him beyond his production. His absence has been noticeable, with their left-handed heavy lineup losing an important righty bat in the middle of it, giving opponents a slightly easier task in how they attack the Yankees.

“That’s huge,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees opened a series against the vagabond Athletics on Friday at Sutter Health Park. “And that’s more on the nights where we’re facing a righty, where I got six or seven lefties in there. Having him in that middle, his presence is massive. Hopefully not too much longer. Obviously we want him back in there. But his presence is real.”

Stanton was finally cleared to start an outdoor running progression this week after yet another MRI exam showed enough improvement in his right calf for him to advance to the next step of his rehab.

The 36-year-old has been hitting all along, which should help expedite his return, but he will still have to check off more boxes, all the way up through running the bases, before he is able to return.

If the past is any indication, Stanton may not end up needing to go out on a rehab assignment because he is not playing the field, so taking live batting practice — which Boone indicated he might be able to do at some point next week — and at-bats off the Trajekt pitching machine may be enough.

Still, it figures to be another week or two, at least, before Stanton is ready to be activated.

In the time between Stanton’s injury and both Anthony Volpe and José Caballero being on the active roster together, the Yankees only had two right-handed bats guaranteed to be in the lineup when they were facing a right-handed starter — Aaron Judge and Caballero or Volpe.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

That was not a problem when facing the starter, but once that pitcher was out of the game, teams with multiple lefties in their bullpens could better line up for tough matchups for the Yankees.

In general, when he has three right-handed hitters in his lineup, Boone likes to slot them batting second, fifth and eighth, or third, sixth and ninth — guaranteeing that if a lefty comes in, he has to face at least one of those right-handed bats.

But without Stanton, if the Yankees only had two righty bats in the lineup — say, Judge batting third and Caballero batting seventh — the lanes were easier for teams to match up well with left-on-left at-bats, even with the right-handed hitting Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario looming on the Yankees bench.

That was mitigated some by the switch-hitting Jasson Domínguez being called up in Stanton’s absence, with the ability to flip around (especially as he was starting to hit lefties better), but that only lasted until Domínguez sprained the AC joint in his left shoulder May 7. He, like Stanton, could also begin facing live pitching next week as he has started to ramp up his baseball activities.

In the five games after the Yankees optioned the lefty-hitting Spencer Jones to Triple-A to make room for Caballero to come off the injured list, Goldschmidt had started all of them at first base, with Ben Rice moving to DH. Only two of those games came with a lefty on the mound, but the presence of Goldschmidt’s right-handed bat in the middle of the lineup has somewhat mimicked Stanton.

“Huge,” Boone said. “Just giving us that little bit of balance in the order, and obviously what he does with lefties, usually when I lead him off, he’s been so good in that role and in that spot. He’s playing really well and we need it right now.”

The Dodgers and Phillies are back at it on Saturday, with Roki Sasaki on the mound for the home team, for his final start of May. In his first four start of the month, the right-hander has a 3.52 ERA and 3.94 xERA with 21 strikeouts against five walks in 23 innings.

Left-hander Jesús Luzardo starts for the Phillies, so expect to see starts for Santiago Espinal — now back — at third base and Miguel Rojas at second base in the middle game of the series.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Phillies
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)