Tong again entered as the bulk reliever behind Huascar Brazoban in the top of the second, and he battled his way through 3.2 innings of work before ultimately running out of steam.
The right-hander was able to work around three hits and four walks, with the lone unearned run on his line coming from an error of his own doing on a comeback in the top of the third.
He was pulled after issuing two free passes in the fifth, but pitched well enough to earn the victory.
“Some longer counts than I would’ve liked towards the end,” Tong admitted. “There’s a lot of things I can work on moving forward, but overall I’m just happy that I was able to put together some clean innings for the guys.”
Tong has now accomplished that in each of his two outings back with the Mets.
Wednesday’s unearned run is the only one he’s allowed to this point, after he put together three terrific innings of one-hit ball his first time out Friday night against the Marlins.
With the Mets' starting rotation in need of a boost, the club plans on keeping the 22-year-old top prospect around in this same flexible role for the time being.
“We’re going to need him,” Mendoza emphasized. “We’ll continue to get creative -- whether it’s using him as the opener, as a bulk guy, we’re going to have some off days coming up, so there’s a lot of different ways we can go.”
Now they're waiting to find out whether they will face the Carolina Hurricanes or the Montreal Canadiens in the championship round. The Hurricanes took a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals with a 4-0 win on Wednesday, May 27.
But when will the Stanley Cup Final begin?
Generally, the NHL will move up the Final if the conference finals wrap up in five games. Here are opening dates that make sense if that happens or if the Canadiens extend the series.
If Eastern Conference finals end in five games
June 2 would be the ideal starting date.
That's already set aside for Game 7 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Game 5 would be May 29 in North Carolina, so there's plenty of time for the Golden Knights to fly to Raleigh and for the NHL to hold media days.
If Eastern Conference finals end in six or seven games
How about June 4?
ABC is showing both the Stanley Cup Final and the NBA Finals, so there aren't a lot of open dates. June 4 would fall between Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals.
And nothing is going on at the Lenovo Center (Hurricanes) and Bell Centre (Canadiens) that day. The Stanley Cup Final will begin at the home of the East champion, regardless of who wins.
If there is a Game 7, it might be a tight turnaround for the Golden Knights to fly to the winning team's city and take part in media days, but it can be done.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - MAY 26: Yordan Alvarez #44 of the Houston Astros is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on May 26, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Yordan Alvarez has been absolutely on fire in this series, and he continued his torrid stretch at the plate with 2 more home runs to back SP Mike Burrows (W, 3-6) in the Houston Astros (25-32) 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers (25-30) tonight in Arlington.
Burrows tossed 7 innings of 2-run ball, allowing only 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6. It is the kind of length the Astros have sorely lacked in the rotation on a consistent basis this year, but have gotten from Burrows in 2 of his last 4 starts. He has gone at least 6 innings in 4 of his last 5 starts.
Alvarez hit his first HR of the night in the 4th off Rangers starter Jacob deGrom, victimizing the star pitcher for the second time this year, which tied the game at 2. He also took Tyler Alexander (L, 1-1) deep in the 8th give the Astros a 3-2 lead.
Alvarez finished the night 3-for-4 with 2 runs, 2 RBI, and a walk. His 20 HRs are 2nd in MLB and tops in the AL. He has now hit 5 HR in this series.
Enyel De Los Santos got the final 5 outs for his 4th save of the season. He did not allow a run, hit or walk, and struck out 3 in a dominant performance.
Taylor Trammell hit cleanup tonight and finished 2-for-3 with a double and a run. He’s currently batting .371 with a .922 OPS. Those numbers are far higher than anything he has ever shown previously at the MLB level, but he did make swing adjustments before the season and hit well both in spring training and earlier in the season before he was injured. It remains to be seen if this can be a breakout season for Trammell, but the early returns for him are very strong this season.
Houston will look to win the series tomorrow night behind RHP Spencer Arrighetti (6-1, 1.32), who will be opposed by Rangers SP Nathan Eovaldi (5-5, 3.55).
Houston is currently 4-2 vs. the Rangers this season in the Silver Boot Series. They are 3 GB the Seattle Mariners for 1st place in the AL West.
The New York Mets won a baseball game Wednesday evening, and it took everything they had.
Beating the Cincinnati Reds to pull themselves 10 games under .500 required Devin Williams throwing more pitches than he has thrown in an outing all year and happened in large part because the Reds left 17 men on base.
It took every out Jonah Tong could provide in a bulk role behind Huascar Brazoban, the opener they leaned on to get past the Reds' big bats once before handing the game off to a rookie. And Tong needed every inch of center field to keep a few Reds hitters in the ballpark in his 3.2 gritty innings in which he allowed one run.
It took Tobias Myers moonlighting in short relief, heavily worked Brooks Raley throwing more than an inning, and a diving catch from A.J. Ewing with the bases loaded just to get through seven innings with a lead.
They threw recently summoned Eric Wagaman, who had two Major League plate appearances to his name this year, into the starting lineup because of his platoon advantage against Reds lefty Andrew Abbott. He rewarded them with his first big league homer of the season. When they replaced him with recently activated Jared Young against a righty in the seventh, he singled, and it took a two-out hit from Carson Benge to score a much-needed insurance run.
Were it not for two two-out hits from Benge, who was so desperate to climb out of a slump that he shaved his mustache beforehand, the Mets would not have won the game at all.
The point is this: Even games the Mets win these days leave the gnawing suspicion that the Mets are neither better at any one aspect of the game, nor as competent in as many facets of the game as most of their competition. David Stearns momentarily silenced questions about Carlos Mendoza’s job status. Questions about a potential sell-off are fair, but still premature in the eyes of an organization that believes the roster they built can still win when healthy.
So while more existential questions for and about Mets decision-makers are creeping closer, the queries the Mets are trying to answer imminently are these: Will they look more formidable when healthy and whether they can stick around long enough for it to matter if they do?
Their strongest unit, the starting rotation, has been picked apart by injuries. Most noticeably, injuries have also rendered their remodeled lineup completely unrecognizable from its intended form:
Francisco Lindor, Bo Bichette, Juan Soto, Luis Robert Jr., and Jorge Polanco have been in the Mets starting lineup together seven times this season. The Mets are 4-3 in those games, one of which was an Opening Day disemboweling of the normally steel-stomached Paul Skenes.
But without one or two or three of them at any given time, and with Bichette struggling early, the Mets have looked lifeless. The day Soto returned from injury, Lindor suffered his. If there is one thing anyone evaluating the Mets internally or externally can say for sure, it is that their lineup did not have the depth to withstand losing multiple of its most important hitters for long stretches, some of which overlapped.
May 27, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets right fielder Carson Benge (3) reacts to hitting an RBI single against the Cincinnati Reds during the fifth inning at Citi Field. / Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Whether a team with the financial resources they have should run out of depth is a fair question, given the way the Los Angeles Dodgers have spent to inoculate themselves against casualties in recent years.
And while one person’s feelings do not a teamwide mindset define, multiple people who spend their evenings in the Mets dugout have expressed continued belief in what this team can be when Lindor and Francisco Alvarez and Polanco and Clay Holmes and maybe even long-stalled Robert Jr. get healthy.
So the key will be trying to find ways to get the players they do have to perform beyond projections -- taking chances on the bases with Ewing and Benge they might not otherwise, trying to get Tong’s best innings without relying on him so much to fall victim to his growing pains, adjusting David Peterson’s role and Sean Manaea’s role and shuffling whenever one hand looks hotter than the other.
At times earlier this month, the Mets were piecing things together that way more often than not. The trouble, however, is that since they climbed to five under .500 with a win against the Nationals last week, they have looked like a team without several of its best hitters relying on people to produce above their proven means.
Recent history suggests that rallies from late May deficits like these are possible. Soto, of course, was on the Washington Nationals team that was 19-31 in May and went on to win the World Series. Bench coach Kai Correa served in that role for last year’s Cleveland Guardians, who rallied from 15.5 games out to win the American League central. But those teams were largely healthy when they staged their comebacks. The Mets are still beholden to daily injury updates about players they desperately need.
Lindor is fielding ground balls before games daily. Alvarez did what looked to be high impact, highly athletic agility work in the outfield before Wednesday’s game, despite being just two weeks removed from tearing his meniscus. In fact, only Robert seems stalled entirely, as the Mets moved him to the 60-day disabled list Tuesday because he remains limited by a lower back issue.
A few weeks from now, the Mets lineup could look much more potent than it has since early April. But if they cannot play .500 baseball, let alone make up games between now and then, a few weeks from now might be too late.
Mets veterans understand the numbers, which will either prove a blessing or a curse. On one hand, Soto and Bichette and Marcus Semien and others understand the reality of their situation – sometimes, believing is easier when no one knows better.
But Semien’s World Series winning Texas Rangers looked dead more than once in 2023. Bichette knows what it looks like for a team that has fallen short of expectations to finally meet them. Soto’s experience in 2019 always serves as a beacon. And the somewhat dwindling number of Mets who rode 2024’s magic to the National League Championship Series also know first-hand that slow starts do not guarantee quiet finishes.
Practically speaking, the Mets roster and coaching staff understand the importance of scratching out wins and staying in striking distance until injured players return. Realistically speaking, they have not yet proven they can do that.
The game got off to a rough start for Hagen Smith, who allowed a two-run homer in the top of the first. However, despite that mistake, Smith had a strong performance, and he did not allow any additional runs during his five innings of work. Smith struck out seven and only issued one walk.
In the third, with the score still 2-0, Korey Lee stepped up to the plate and fell behind in the count. With a runner on second and an 0-2 count, Lee took full advantage of a breaking ball over the heart of the plate, and he launched it 424 feet. That was Lee’s seventh homer of the season, and this one tied the game at two.
After Smith delivered a scoreless top of the fifth for the Knights, the game entered a rain delay with the score tied at two. Due to inclement weather, the game was suspended and is scheduled to be completed on Thursday. The Knights are set to bat in the bottom of the fifth and will be looking to break the 2-2 tie.
Pensacola Blue Wahoos 23, Birmingham Barons 4 After taking the first game of the series on Monday, the Barons (17-29) came up way, way short in Birmingham against Pensacola (24-23).
Barons starter Connor McCullough, 25, did not have his finest performance. McCullough allowed three runs in the first and five in the third. McCullough was removed with one out in the top of the third, but incredibly, things did not improve when the bullpen took over. While McCullough allowed eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings, the bullpen allowed 15 in 6 2/3 innings. Just an ugly day all-around for the pitching staff.
The Barons did stay in this game for a little while, as the score was 3-3 after two innings. Alec Makarewicz put the Barons on the board with a solo homer in the first, his 11th blast of the season. Then, in the second, the Barons scored a pair. Wilfred Veras led off with a single, and with one out, Drake Logan doubled to put a pair in scoring position. Jordan Sprinkle hit a sacrifice fly, and Colby Shelton doubled to tie the game. After that point, however, Pensacola went on a 20-1 run.
Winston-Salem Dash 3, Rome Emperors 0 For the second straight day, the Dash (28-19) had an excellent pitching performance during a victory against the Emperors (25-22).
In the bottom of the second, the Dash broke the scoreless tie. With one out, Kaleb Freeman singled, and after a productive ground out, Alex Ungar walked. That set the stage for T.J. McCants, who lined a single to drive in the first run of the game. From there, the Dash did not look back.
In the fourth, Kyle Lodise hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Ely Brown, who had singled to open the inning. Winston-Salem added another insurance run in the fifth, when Ely Brown reached on an error. That error allowed Arxy Hernández, who had singled, to score the third and final run of the game.
Meanwhile, the pitching staff got the job done and then some. Drew McDaniel pitched four shutout innings after Frankeli Arias served as the opener, delivering a shutout inning in the first. From there, Jake Bockenstedt, Mathias LaCombe, and Jack Young took care of business, combining for four shutout innings down the stretch.
Ryan Galvan led off the bottom of the second with a bang, launching his eighth homer of the season to put Kannapolis ahead, 1-0. The Cannon Ballers were not done hitting homers, as Javier Mogollón crushed a two-run shot in the third to drive in Abraham Núñez, who had singled. Incredibly, the next batter after Mogollón was Stiven Flores, who homered to extend the lead to four.
Cannon Ballers starter Truman Pauley was quite effective during his first three innings, but the fourth frame was a challenge. Pauley allowed two runs on two hits and a walk before being removed with two outs. Still, when Pauley left the game, Kannapolis had a 4-2 lead.
Kannapolis just could not find any runs down the stretch, and the bullpen was not up to the task of protecting a 4-2 lead. A three-run homer by Dallas Macias in the top of the eighth gave the GreenJackets a lead that they did not relinquish.
Complex Sox starter Fabian Ysalla, 21, struggled, allowing two runs on three hits in the first. After allowing a single and a walk in the third, Ysalla was removed from the game with two outs. Reliever Jesús Méndez took over, but he failed to strand either of the runners he inherited from Ysalla.
The Complex Sox scored their first run in a unique way. In the top of the third, Osniel Castillo doubled with one out and advanced to third on a ground out. D’Angelo Tejada walked, and incredibly, Castillo and Tejada executed a double-steal. Although they pulled off one of the most exciting plays in baseball, it was not nearly enough to come away with the victory, as the ACL Rangers pulled away late.
The Complex Sox did not score again until the seventh, when the game was far out of reach. Tejada hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Jurdrick Profar, who led off that inning with a walk.
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton weighed in on the ongoing discussion around flopping in the NBA, saying on “The Pat McAfee Show” that it’s “for sure” being taught.
“Yeah for sure, it’s being taught. I don’t think it’s as much head coach teaching as much as it is like player development,” he said on the ESPN program “Even before you get to the NBA, it’s just something that you kind of work on by nature. I think the best scorers are usually the guys that get to the free-throw line the most. It’s definitely something they work on, even in pickup, they’re working on how they can draw fouls. I think that’s a part of the game.”
Tyrese Haliburton says players are being taught how to flop:
“It’s for sure being taught. I don’t think head coaches are, but it’s a part of player development before you get to the NBA. It’s something you naturally work on. It’s now a part of the game.” (via @PatMcafeeShow,… pic.twitter.com/2WZF7OCQQX
Concerns about flopping have continued to permeate around the NBA, with Yahoo Sports’ Tom Haberstroh going as far as to do an extensive breakdown of Gilgeous-Alexander’s attempts to sell foul calls.
His report found that Gilgeous-Alexander fell down 51.4 percent of the time when a foul was called.
“I think more times than not there’s embellishing going on, more so than falling over out of nowhere, but does it happen? Of course it happens and it’s talked about, no question,” Haliburton said.
The Pacers star wasn’t the only one to address the flopping issue on McAfee’s show.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder drives around Julian Champagnie of the San Antonio Spurs during the fourth quarter in Game Five of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center on May 26, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Getty Images
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, during his appearance on the Worldwide Leader, made the distinction between trying to embellish contact to draw a foul and trying to trick the officials.
“Even as I sit in the stands at games, players may be falling down, players may be reacting to a call,” Silver said. “But to me, if they’re not fooling the referees, it’s OK.
The series isn't over yet by any means, but the way they Carolina Hurricanes handled the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final certainly makes it seem like it already may be.
The Hurricanes stomped the Canadiens in a 4-0 beatdown at Centre Bell on Wednesday in one of their more complete games of the postseason.
From the drop of the puck to the end, Carolina was far and away the better team.
They piled on the chances, outshooting the Canadiens 43-18 overall, and that was bookended by a hot start and a dominant finish.
The Hurricanes didn't allow a shot on goal through the first eight minutes of the game and then in the final period, they outshot the Habs 19-3.
Despite the Canadiens needing their best possible push in that third period, they didn't manage to put any rubber on Frederik Andersen until the final three minutes of the game, a testament to the Canes' defensive clinic.
The game looked much like the last two, where the Hurricanes held Montreal to 12 and 13 shots respectively, but the difference tonight is that they finally found a little more finish.
Carolina blew the game open midway through the first period, putting three past Jakub Dobes in less than three minutes.
Sebastian Aho got the party started with the team's first power play goal of the series, rifling home a Nikolaj Ehlers feed.
Just over a minute later, the Canes' third line got the cycle going and after a long o-zone shift, K'Andre Miller activated down from the blueline and fed a perfect pass to Jordan Staal in front.
And then a minute and a half later, Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven were sprung on a 2-on-1 thanks to a monster Shayne Gostisbehere block and the former fed the latter for his team leading eighth goal of the playoffs.
From there, the Hurricanes just put the pressure on the Canadiens and even though the Habs had a few pushes, Andersen was there, stopping all 18 shots he faced for his third shutout of the postseason (Andrei Svechnikov scored an empty netter at the end too).
Again, the series isn't over by any means, but it's hard to see the Canadiens finding a way from here.
Outside of Carolina's disastrous Game 1 start, where they gave up four goals in the opening 14 minutes following 11 straight days off, there really hasn't been any portion of games where you can say Montreal was better.
Yes, they've gotten strong goaltending and they've certainly been opportunistic with their chances, but that's not a sustainable method.
Carolina has been better in every matchup, their defense has been dominant on both ends of the ice, they're more physical, they're quicker to pucks, they're more decisive.
I mean, the Hurricanes had as many shots on Wednesday as the Canadiens have had combined over the last three games, even despite playing at home and being able to dictate their matchups in the last two.
The Hurricanes are a machine and the Habs so far just don't have an answer.
That's been the story of the playoffs so far, as Carolina handled the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers in back-to-back sweeps and now they sit just one win away from the Stanley Cup Final.
It's been a long road to get to this point, but the job is certainly not done.
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MONTREAL — Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal and Logan Stankoven scored in a 2:47 span late in the first period and the Carolina Hurricanes moved within a victory of the Stanley Cup Final, beating the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Wednesday night.
Frederik Andersen made 18 saves for his third shutout in 12 postseason games this year to help the Hurricanes take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Final.
Game 5 is Friday night in North Carolina, with the series winner facing the Vegas Golden Knights.
Carolina’s Jordan Staal (11) scores on goalie Jakub Dobes during the Canadiens’ 4-0 Game 4 win over the Canadiens on May 27, 2026 in Montreal. The Canadian Press via AP
“We have better,” Stankoven said. “It’s great to come out like a team like this and perform like that, but I think at this time of the year you can’t bring your ‘B’ game. You have to bring your ‘A’ game every night.”
Nikolaj Ehlers and Shayne Gostisbehere each had two assists for the Hurricanes. They are the seventh NHL team to win six or more road games to start a postseason.
“Definitely excited,” Gostisbehere said. “Have to take care of business.”
Anderson and the Hurricanes are 11-1 in the first three rounds. They put it away early in Game 4 after winning the previous two games in overtime.
The Hurricanes scored first for the fourth straight game when Aho beat Jakub Dobes with a one-timer from the right circle on a power play with 5:02 left in the first.
Sebastian Aho (right) celebrates his goal with Carolina teammates Andrei Svechnikov (37), Nikolaj Ehlers (27) and Shayne Gostisbehere (4) during the first period of the Hurricanes’ Game 4 win over the Canadiens. The Canadian Press via AP
Staal followed with 3:53 to go, tipping in K’Andre Miller’s centering pass. Stankoven then finished off a two-on-one with Jason Blake with 2:14 remaining in the period.
“The game’s going to humble you,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “Whenever you get humbled, you stand tall.”
Andrei Svechnikov had an empty-net goal in the third.
Frederik Andersen, who had 17 saves, stops a Cole Caufield shot during the Hurricanes’ Game 4 win over the Canadiens. The Canadian Press via AP
Carolina had a 19-3 shots-on-goal advantage in the third period for a 43-18 overall edge.
“It seemed like the only guy that showed up was Doby,” Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson said. “Wasn’t good enough. Didn’t answer the bell.”
Shohei Ohtani is one of the best in the business and he continues to prove it.
The Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star crushed a leadoff home run in LA's Wednesday meeting with the Colorado Rockies in the bottom first inning, sending it 424 feet over the center field fence.
May 27, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens right wing Josh Anderson (17) shoots on Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) during the second period in game four of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
MONTREAL (AP) — Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal and Logan Stankoven scored in a 2:47 span late in the first period and the Carolina Hurricanes moved within a victory of the Stanley Cup Final, beating the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Wednesday night.
Frederik Andersen made 18 saves for his third shutout in 12 postseason games this year to help the Hurricanes take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Final. Game 5 is Friday night in North Carolina, with the series winner facing the Vegas Golden Knights.
Anderson and the Hurricanes are 11-1 in the first three rounds. They put it away early in Game 4 after winning the previous two games in overtime.
The Hurricanes scored first for the fourth straight game when Aho beat Jakub Dobes with a one-timer from the right circle on a power play with 5:02 left in the first.
Staal followed with 3:53 to go, tipping in K’Andre Miller’s centering pass. Stankoven then finished off a two-on-one with Jason Blake with 2:14 remaining in the period.
Andrei Svechnikov had an empty-net goal in the third.
Carolina had a 19-3 shots-on-goal advantage in the third period for a 43-18 overall edge.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 25: Teoscar Hernández #37 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after striking out during the second inning against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on May 25, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Teoscar Hernández was forced to depart the game early on Wednesday, as he came up hobbling trying to beat a ground ball in the bottom of the second inning against the Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers announced that Hernández suffered a left hamstring strain.
Teoscar Hernández left tonight’s game with a left hamstring strain.
Hernández was slow to walk off the field and was seen on the SportsNet LA broadcast smashing his helmet against the helmet cubby in the dugout. He was replaced by Hyeseong Kim in left field to begin the top of the third inning.
After miring in a month-long homerless drought, Hernández was one of the driving forces behind the Dodgers’ 7-2 road trip, as he smashed three home runs and drove in 13 runs in the nine games against the Angels, Padres and Brewers. Hernández had a hit in each of the first two games against the Rockies, and he finishes the series with a .250 average over the three games.
Hernández joins Kiké Hernández as another Dodger to exit the game early against Colorado, as the utility man suffered a left oblique strain during batting practice on Monday and left after the fourth inning on Tuesday. Alex Freeland was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City with Hernández landing back on the injured list.
Carson Benge came into Wednesday night's series finale against the Reds with just one hit in his last 20 at-bats, so he decided it was time to shake things up.
The youngster shaved off his mustache, and the new-look actually worked.
Benge came through for the Mets in a big way, coming through with a pair of clutch run-scoring knocks late in the game to help them end their five-game losing skid.
“It’s always nice to get a win,” he said. “You always want to go out and win.”
The 23-year-old lost the lefty-lefty matchup with Andrew Abbott each of his first two times up, but he was sure to make the Reds pay for a two-out error in the bottom of the fifth.
Benge battled back from down 0-2 in the count, working things full before pulling his hands in and dumping an up-and-in fastball to shallow center for the massive knock.
“You just fight,” he said. “Fight for every pitch to not give him anything there.”
“He continues to work and grind out at-bats,” manager Carlos Mendoza added. “Those were some really good takes trying to stay in the fight and not trying to do too much in that spot.”
The rookie slugger kept that same approach his next time up, two innings later.
Facing a righty with a man on third and two outs, Benge again fought off a tough pitch way up and out of the zone, and he was able to drop it in to add a much-needed insurance run.
“I said to [bench coach] Kai Correa right away, it’s really good to see,” Mendoza said. “That’s a pitch that he struggled with early on, and he just continues to get better, he continues to find a way -- those weren’t easy at-bats there, the two of them.
“The thing I like about him is you can’t tell if he’s 0-for-8 the past couple of days or he’s coming off a game like this -- he’s going to show up and be the same person and just give you his best, it’s impressive for a player his age.”
Even with the rough stretch, Benge is now hitting .302 with six XBH’s, 14 RBI, and a .753 OPS in May.
For all the talk about matchups, defense, rotations and depth (not to mention a poorly officiated game), the real difference in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals was much more basic:
Oklahoma City made the play harder adjustment. The Spurs did not.
"I just think [the Thunder] were the more desperate team tonight," Julian Champagnie said. "I think they wanted the game more than we did."
Oklahoma City wasn't perfect, but they showed real game-plan discipline and went hard, like a team that has been in this moment before and knew how to respond. San Antonio looked tired and a step slow.
Six games into any series — let alone this situation where these teams have now played each other 10 times during the season and playoffs — there are no more surprise adjustments to be made. There are no secrets. It's about playing harder. It's about executing the game plan better than your opponent.
If the Spurs don't do that on Thursday night, their season ends.
"I feel like we've been great when we're desperate all year," Stephon Castle said. "I'm excited to see how we'll respond."
You can watch that response starting at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday night, a gam you can watch on NBC or stream on Peacock.
Starts with Wembanyama
If San Antonio is going to make the play harder adjustment in Game 6, it has to start with Victor Wembanyama. The math in this series is straightforward:
• The Spurs are 30-4 this season when Wembanyama scores 12 or more points in the paint. • Wembanyama scored 26 points in the paint in Game 1, a Spurs win. • Since then, with Isaiah Hartenstein drawing the primary defensive assignment (and with a lot of help), Wembanyama has averaged 10.5 in the last four games. • He scored just eight points in the paint on 4-of-9 shooting in Game 5.
It's not just shots in the paint, it's getting up shots period. Wembanyama took 25 shots in Game 1 and 22 in Game 4, the two Spurs wins. In the three losses, he took 16, 15 and 15 shots.
"He's got to take more than 15 shots, even with the free throws. He's going to have to score more than 20 points, for sure..." Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said after Game 5. "OKC did a good job. We've got to do a better job."
It has to be more than just Wembanyama. De'Aaron Fox is playing through an ankle sprain and scored a playoff career low nine points on 4-for-15 shooting (26.7%) in Game 5. Dylan Harper has not shown the same ability to get to the rim and finish since his adductor injury, and he had five points on 1-of-5 shooting in Game 5.
The one standout was Stephon Castle, who scored 24 points on 7-of-11 shooting with six assists. San Antonio needs to get him some help.
Does experience matter?
It's easy to read into Game 5 and say that experience won out. It's more than just poise in the moment, it's the understanding of conditioning and level of effort and commitment required to reach this level and win. The Thunder are leaning into that.
"The thing that you take from those experiences is the mental part of it — not getting too high, not getting too low and just going in there knowing you have to come with a certain sense of urgency," Hartenstein said. "I think our group does a great job of just not being too emotional with it. I think when you go into any playoff game and your emotions are too high or too low, that’s kind of when it doesn't work for yourself."
Just don't tell the Spurs that experience matters.
"That experience does not matter," Devin Vassell said. "Experience does not matter. We're here. We've had all the experience we've needed this regular season, and we're going to keep proving everybody wrong."
One thing we have seen in this series is that the Thunder bring the effort every game. Even in Game 4, when OKC lost by 21, it was more about execution — and an ice-cold shooting night — than effort. On the Spurs side, the effort has been less consistent game to game.
Expect the Spurs to feel desperate and bring that effort in Game 6 at home. Will that be enough is another question, the Thunder have been here before and know how to close a team out.
The only thing that seems certain is that Game 6 is setting up to be a classic.
The injury occurred during the bottom of the second inning, when Teoscar Hernández was sprinting to first base on a ground out to Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar. Hernández immediately grabbed his left hamstring after reaching the base.
Hyeseong Kim replaced Hernández in left field to start the top of the third inning.
Teoscar Hernandez is grabbing his hamstring after running to first base, marking the second injury in as many days after Kike Hernandez suffered his.
Teo slammed his helmet, and Dave Roberts was left shaking his head after the play. pic.twitter.com/EVGjKF9U0A
Teoscar Hernández had been on a hot streak of late. He entered Wednesday night's game riding a seven-game hitting streak, during which he hit two home runs. An 11-year veteran in his third season with the Dodgers, Teoscar Hernández is a two-time All-Star — including winning the 2024 Home Run Derby.
May 26, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) scores a run against the Colorado Rockies during the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory...
Another night, another injury concern for the Dodgers.
After placing Kiké Hernández on the injured list before Wednesday’s game with an oblique strain, the Dodgers lost outfielder Teoscar Hernández to a left hamstring strain in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies that is expected to land him on the IL, as well.
In the bottom of the second inning, Hernández ran hard up the first base line on a grounder to shortstop, but then came up limping after the throw beat him to the bag.
Dodgers removed outfielder Teoscar Hernández from the contest early after he hurt his left hamstring. Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Hernández grabbed at his left hamstring, walked slowly off the field with a trainer waiting for him, then seemed visibly upset upon returning to the dugout –– nearly slamming his helmet at one point before disappearing into the clubhouse.
“[It’s] disappointing,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “He’s been playing so well and he’s a big part of what we’re doing. So to lose him for any length of time is not great.”
How long the Dodgers will be without Hernández is not yet clear. Roberts said he “tested well” in some initial evaluations after leaving the game, but will go in for further imaging on the team’s off day on Thursday.
“Something like that,” Roberts said, “obviously is going to be a few weeks at the minimum.”
Hernández’s injury comes at a bad time for both him and the team.
Kiké Hernández, another right-handed-hitting veteran capable of playing the outfield, will be out for the foreseeable future with what Roberts said pregame was a “significant tear” in his oblique.
Teoscar Hernández, meanwhile, had just started to get hot at the plate following an opening month slump. Over his last 17 games, he was batting .373 with three home runs and 14 RBIs, raising his season batting average from .236 to .278 and his OPS from .667 to .789.
In Hernández’s absence, the Dodgers will likely use a platoon at his spot in left field, Roberts said.
Alex Call, who has played well in a reserve role this year with a .294 batting average, will figure to get plenty of at-bats as the right-handed-hitting part of that equation. Hyeseong Kim, who was about to see his playing time cut after Alex Freeland was called up from the minors to take on regular duties at second base, could factor in as a left-handed option.
As for who the Dodgers will call up to replace Hernández on the big-league roster?
There is left-handed-hitting prospect James Tibbs III, who has had a big year for triple-A Oklahoma City by batting .316 with 12 home runs, though he also has four errors in right field.
Ryan Ward, a long-time minor-leaguer who made his MLB debut earlier this season when Freddie Freeman was on the paternity list, could be another option, although his triple-A numbers have declined from last year, when he was Pacific Coast League MVP. He has also played mostly first base in the minors lately, with only 10 appearances in the outfield this year.
The team’s other 40-man roster options include Alek Thomas, who was acquired in a trade earlier this month from the Arizona Diamondbacks but has spent the last few weeks working with the organization’s player development staff at Camelback Ranch in Arizona; and Tyler Fitzgerald, a utility player whom the Dodgers got in another trade with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this season.
Tommy Edman is also currently on a rehab assignment, but will likely need another week or two to build up after missing the beginning of the year recovering from offseason ankle surgery.
Either way, Hernández’s hot bat had been key to the Dodgers’ offensive turnaround of late.
Now, he has become the latest injury concern the team will potentially have to navigate around.
