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José Caballero didn’t hesitate. “Always,” he said, when asked if he longed for clutch at-bats his entire career. He wanted the pressure-filled swings. The big moments of games, like the one Wednesday night, when his walk-off double less than an hour before his answer lifted the Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Angels. 

“That’s the at-bats that I want,” Caballero said. “I’m living for those at-bats. I want those at-bats every time I step in the box.” 

When the Los Angeles series began Monday, he doubled in the ninth and scored the winning run during the Yankees walk-off victory.

Two nights later, he helped play hero again with his extra-base hit, allowing both Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells to score.

Caballero, in the middle of a shrinking window to steal the Yankees starting shortstop job before Anthony Volpe returns, moved to .400 with two doubles and six RBIs with runners in scoring position this year.

He’s driven in seven runs across the past five games, too. 

It likely won’t be enough to hold off Volpe, who received a public endorsement from general manager Brian Cashman last week in Tampa and started his rehab assignment Tuesday.

Caballero, outside of the clutch spots, has struggled, hitting just .186 for the year overall with a .543 OPS.

But with Volpe’s return looming, Caballero continued to make his case with the game-deciding hit. 

“He loves the action,” manager Aaron Boone said, “and, as I’ve told you, he’s really confident. That’s one of his biggest strengths, is he thinks he’s the best player on the field — and that’s an important thing to have and play the game with. It does seem like the bigger the stakes, the more he’s able to dig in.” 

So there was Caballero, who also walked and scored the third Yankees run in the second inning in a 1-for-3 night, on the receiving end of a Gatorade cooler dump postgame.

There was Caballero, one day after Volpe played five innings for Double-A Somerset and struck out twice, delivering strong defense again and then adding to it at the plate in the final moments. 

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This was always his opportunity, with Volpe, who struggled last season, sidelined to start the year due to a shoulder injury. If he was ever going to snag the starting shortstop job, it needed to happen before May.

Two clutch at-bats in three days won’t change what happened before this Angels series began. Caballero’s average hasn’t topped .200 since April. He recorded four hits in four games to start the year but just seven in the 13 since. 

But even when Volpe returns, Caballero could still provide value for the Yankees off the bench.

His at-bat in the ninth Wednesday — and his swing on the 1-2 slider from Angels closer Jordan Romano that left the bat at 100.7 mph, dropped into left-center field and changed everything for one night — served as the latest example. 

“I like to contribute to the team,” Caballero said, “and I did it.”

The Texas Rangers scored five runs but the Athletics of California, United States on planet Earth scored six runs.

The Rangers didn’t have many hits on the night — just five total — but two of them contributed to all five of their runs with Corey Seager hitting a two-run home run in the 3rd and Jake Burger continuing to feast in Sactown with a three-run shot in the 8th.

Unfortunately for Texas, the A’s got a couple of two-out, RBI hits early off a rather inefficient Kumar Rocker and then had their own big swings with a two-run home run off the bat of Rangers killer Shea Langeliers that broke a 2-2 tie in the 6th and a two-run home run from Jacob Wilson an inning later.

Despite being solid so far this season, both homers were given up by Cole Winn in what proved to be a bad moment for a poor outing as the 6-2 lead was exactly enough insurance for the A’s.

Nevertheless, the lack of production throughout most of the game (just one hit through the first five innings) ultimately feels like more of the deciding factor than anything else.

Player of the Game: Burger and Seager tried to make it happen with their home runs but I’d like to give a nod to Gavin Collyer who made his debut, threw three pitches, and picked up the first strikeout of his career.

Up Next: The Rangers close out this series in West Sacramento with RHP Jack Leiter set to make the start opposite LHP Jacob Lopez for the Athletics.

The Thursday afternoon finale from Sutter Health Park is scheduled for 2:05 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.

The Houston Astros beleaguered starting rotation was desperate for a strong starting performance.

Spencer Arrighetti, in his first start of the season, delivered.

Arrighetti gave the Astros their third quality start of the season, hurling 6 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 10 to lead Houston to a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Arrighetti was terrific, allowing only 2 hits on the night. He threw 100 pitches, 61 for strikes. He generated an incredible 20 swings and misses.

Arrighetti was backed by Yordan Alvarez, who was 2-for-3 with a double and his 7th HR of the season. He scored twice and also drew a walk.

Alvarez is now batting .333 on the season with a 1.250 OPS. He has 7 HR and 17 RBI.

Also of note, struggling reliever Bryan Abreu threw 1.1 innings of scoreless and hitless baseball. He walked one and struck out 2.

Enyel De Los Santos pitched a 1-2-3 9th for his second save of the season, and second in as many nights. He struck out 2, needing only 14 pitches to complete the inning.

With the victory, the Astros improve to 8-11 on the season.

The Astros will go for the sweep Thursday at Daikin Park. Ryan Weiss will get the start for Houston. First pitch scheduled for 7:10 P.M.

The line at Petco Park began forming on Wednesday night long before the first pitch was thrown. It curled around the ballpark and caused logjams at the entrances. But it wasn’t about baseball. It was about a puffer vest. 

A Padres-themed puffer vest, to be exact.

The story of the Padres puffer vest dates back to March 2 in Peoria, Arizona, at the Padres’ spring training facility. 

New Padres manager Craig Stammen was photographed wearing the now-infamous outwear on the field. It looked sharp and clean. Fans started saying they wanted one of their own in the replies. 

So when the Padres announced 40,000 of them would be handed out as a giveaway item against the Mariners, fans didn’t just show up — they descended upon downtown San Diego like the city was giving away free lottery tickets. 

What the Padres didn’t anticipate wasn’t demand. It was desperation.

Fights breaking out at Petco Park after lines wrapping around the block over the puffer vest giveaway #Padrespic.twitter.com/SeK9lfHbxn

— Chase Izidoro (@chaseizi) April 16, 2026

Videos that ricocheted across social media showed lines devolving into chaos. At multiple gates, fans pushed and shoved, not for entry, but for sizes. Mediums vanished. Larges disappeared quickly. Some fans refused to move until another box arrived, clogging entrances into the park. 

Inside the ballpark, the Padres rallied from a 6-0 deficit to stun Seattle 7-6 with a five-run bottom of the ninth and walk-off victory. Hopefully all the anger from the beginning of the game was settled by the end as fans went home happy with their puffer vests.

Right now, the pace is unsustainable. Incomprehensible, even, when considering the scope of a full season.

Brent Headrick, one of the left-handed relievers in the Yankees’ bullpen, has already pitched in 12 of their first 18 games to start the season, putting him on pace to tie the MLB record of 108 that the Dodgers’ Mike Marshall set in 1974. That won’t happen.

The Yankees’ early schedule, with days off worked in, helped space Headrick’s availability, but the 28-year-old has also flashed durability that he thinks will be replicable for the games he ends up pitching in — even with it being his first full season as a true one-inning reliever.

He sits first in the majors in appearances by a reliever and entered play Wednesday eighth in strikeouts (12), and after a spring training where Headrick received plenty of praise from manager Aaron Boone, he has delivered promising early returns.

“You’re not gonna be 100 percent every night, but just being the best version of yourself each night that you can,” Headrick told The Post before the Yankees’ 5-4 win over the Angels, where Headrick tossed a scoreless eighth and lowered his ERA to 1.74. “We prepared for this. We prepared to pitch one inning, like I said, multiple days a week and things like that — and one-plus even if I need to. So I think we’re ready for it.”

Headrick doesn’t have a goal for how many games he wants to pitch this season.

He threw 108 ¹/₃ innings as a starter in 2022, so innings wouldn’t be a concern — but rather an ability to bounce back health-wise from one outing to the next.

Headrick struggled a bit with that last year when shifting from the rotation to the bullpen, Boone said, but he already noticed an improvement. 

His season opened with eight consecutive scoreless appearances across seven innings, and after allowing runs during his next two cameos, Headrick rebounded with a scoreless frame Tuesday.

Headrick has now thrown four back-to-backs during the first three weeks of the season, too.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

“Brent’s been excellent,” Boone said. “He’s been one of those guys that kind of has grabbed a key role down there and been real consistent.” 

In a Yankees bullpen still filled with plenty of questions, Headrick has a chance to keep carving out a significant role. He’ll need to avoid fatigue with the mounting workload. He’ll need to navigate any growing pains that inevitably pop up when hitters adjust to his two-seam fastball — which he’s throwing more to lefties and righties this year, he said — and his four-seam fastball, while mixing in his slider and his new splitter. 

But after the first chunk of the season, he already has a foundation to work with — even if it’s an unfeasible pace for the marathon ahead. 

“It’s a long season,” Headrick said. “I just try to stay as neutral as I can with everything, and just try to go out there and do my job and execute. Because I know that when I’m at my best, I can do that.”

Tonight’s game felt almost like déjà vu from Tuesday. The Rays (10-7) once again put up eight runs while a prominent Chicago prospect made their major league debut, dealing the White Sox (6-12) back-to-back losses, 8-3.

Righthander Sean Burke was doing all right through four innings despite giving up a solo shot to Junior Caminero in the third, but the righthander had zero run support and started to fall apart in the fifth. Two hits in a row from Tampa Bay to begin the fifth kick-started their offense, with Caminero driving in his second run on an RBI ground out and Jonathan Aranda following that up with an RBI double to make it 3-0, Rays.

Attempting to come out for one final inning, Burke was unable to get it done and conceded a fourth run to Tampa on a leadoff home run from Jake Fraley to start the sixth. Burke was able to work around Cedric Mullins, but Richie Palacios’ base hit marked the end of the road. Until tonight, Sean hadn’t surrendered a single home run this year, and doing so ballooned his 3.60 ERA up to 4.43. Burke clearly didn’t have his A-game tonight, and his 17% CSW% (called strike plus whiff rate) was much lower than his previous two outings (averaging around 30%).

Notably, Burke’s fastball CSW% was only at 15% tonight, whereas in his previous start his fastball drew 13 called strikes + whiffs (35% CSW%), and a 44% CSW% from his April 3 outing. Burke ultimately allowed four runs on seven hits, and walked one more batter (three) than he struck out (two). At the very least, his average four-seam velocity was right in line with his 94 mph average, so hopefully it was just one of those days.

In for Sean, but not faring much better, was lefthander Tyler Gilbert, who was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte earlier today as Brandon Eisert was shuttled back down. This was Gilbert’s second appearance with the MLB squad this season, and just like Burke he surrendered four runs on two hits: a Yandi Díaz RBI double and a pinch-hit, three-run blast from Jonny DeLuca as a part of the Rays’ four-run seventh inning that made it 8-0.

It only took eight innings for a White Sox pitcher to make it through a frame unscathed — thank you, Bryan Hudson. Appearing in back-to-back games, Hudson put together a second consecutive clean inning tonight.

You’ll notice that I’ve only talked about pitching thus far, and that’s because up until the bottom of the ninth, there wasn’t much life coming from the South Side bats. Righthander Cole Sulser opened the game for the Rays and shut the Sox down for two innings before our old pal Jesse Scholtens took over for the next five. Scholtens ended up with the win in his one-hit outing against his former team, walking two and striking out three.

The Good Guys had posted just five hits and were facing an eight-run deficit through eight stanzas, and ended up waving the white flag given the starting catcher ended up pitching the last inning. Reese McGuire navigated a 1-2-3 inning, joining Hudson as the only other effective pitcher the White Sox used tonight, which is honestly kind of sad.

One of the (very few) positive offensive notes was that Sam Antonacci got a hit in his first major league at-bat — welcome to the show, Sam.

Antonacci also reached base a second time to start the ninth and ended up scoring for the first time as a White Sox. Rays reliever Ian Seymour began the ninth by walking both him and Tanner Murray. Derek Hill drove a base hit out to left to load the bases up for the Good Guys with nobody out; it finally seemed like they were getting something going, far too late. Antonacci crossed the plate on a wild pitch, which felt fitting. McGuire, the new star White Sox pitcher, yanked a single to drive in their second run of the game, 8-2.

Luisangel Acuña came up in another clutch situation and actually put up a decent at-bat, fouling off a few pitches and working a full count before grounding into a double play. Whomp whomp. A third run did score on the play, but going from zero to two outs with one pitch killed the momentum, and Andrew Benintendi struck out on three straight pitches to end the game.

Looking at the box score, the White Sox were outhit just 9-7, and going 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position doesn’t seem too bad. But they had just five hits and couldn’t convert a single run through eight frames, also leaving seven on base. On top of that, they struck out six times as a team, with four of them coming from Colson Montgomery in the cleanup spot — woof.

It was a rough showing from the Good Guys these last two games, given the mental gaffes, poor defense and lack of offensive production. Regardless of how the pitching does, they aren’t going to be able to win games without scoring runs. As Ozzie Guillén pointed out in the postgame show, the White Sox have seven players batting below .200, which is borderline horrific.

It would also be really nice if they started scoring runs earlier in the game rather than waiting until the very last minute to start stringing some hits together. The series finale will take place Thursday at 1:10 p.m., with lefthander Anthony Kay on the mound. Let’s hope the offense can wake up before then.

Jon Kemmer, a former minor leaguer who played with the Astros, Twins and Dodgers, died over the weekend after getting into a rollover crash while returning home from coaching a youth baseball tournament, according to multiple reports.

He was 35.

Explore Jefferson, citing the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office in Texas, reported that Kemmer, while coming back from coaching the 14U HTX Battle Bucks at a tournament in Houston, was traveling on Farm to Market Road 2004 when his car left the road, struck an electrical pole and rolled over at about 6:09 p.m. local time.

He died on the scene.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic passing of Jon Kemmer over the weekend,” the Astros said in a statement Wednesday, according to Chron.com. “Jon was drafted by the Astros in 2013 and developed into one of the organization’s most productive players, advancing to the Triple A level and also appearing in several Spring Training games. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jon’s family and friends during this very difficult time.”

A standout player at Clarion High School in Pennsylvania, Kemmer, primarily an outfielder, played college baseball at Allegany College of Maryland, Clarion University and Brewton-Parker College before getting selected in the 21st round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Astros.

He spent the first four years of his career with the Astros organization, making it all the way to Triple-A.

His 2015 season with Double-A Corpus Christi proved to be his most fruitful, as he received multiple honors, including winning Texas League Player of the Month for August and getting named a postseason All-Star.

Kemmer was traded to the Twins in 2018 and later spent time in the Dodgers organization in 2019, the same year he also played in the Mexican League.

He later played in the Dominican Winter League during the 2020-21 campaign.

He finished his minor league career with 116 home runs and a .283/.366/.509 slash line.

Kemmer is survived by his wife, Kourtney, and their two children, according to an online obituary.

A celebration of life is slated to be held in Clarion in late May.

The Braves are cruising to start this season, with the second best record in MLB and the best run differential (pending the Dodgers game tonight). While there’s been some good fortune on the pitching side, there has also been some uncharacteristic underperformance from Chris Sale and some bad luck from a few of Atlanta’s bats. Dominic Smith is unlikely to be Aaron Judge all year, but on the whole this feels in the realm of sustainable, especially with reinforcements coming over the coming weeks and months. It would be especially useful if a few of Schwellenbach, Smith-Shawver, and Waldrep could come up and be productive, perhaps giving the team and opportunity to bump Grant Holmes and/or Reynaldo Lopez into an impact reliever spot. For now though, let’s just enjoy the team being in a good spot 10% of the way into the season, a stark contrast from last year.

Braves News

Martin Perez is back and expected to start Friday’s game, after being waived, electing free agency, and ultimately re-signing with Atlanta.

Luke Williams elected free agency after being DFA’d, but of course he could always sign back in Atlanta like Perez did.

We took a minute to appreciate what Dominic Smith has produced for Atlanta so far this season.

The Braves collected another series win, this one against the Marlins in a convincing 6-3 game behind Bryce Elder and some solid offense.

MLB News

Nick Pivetta will be sidelined for significant time with a flexor strain for the Padres.

Jorge Soler’s suspension for his brawl with Reynaldo Lopez was reduced to 4 games from 7, 1 fewer than Lopez got.

Young shortstop Kevin McGonigle signed an 8 year, $150 million extension with the Tigers.

The MLBPA continues to shake up its upper level management in the 11th hour of this CBA, as negotiations are set to begin in earnest on the new CBA.

After an off day Thursday, the Dodgers open a four-game weekend wraparound against the Colorado Rockies starting Friday night at Coors Field in Denver.

Tyler Glasnow takes the ball in the series opener on Friday. Right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano will be on the mound for Colorado.

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Rockies
• Ballpark: Coors Field, Denver
• Time: 5:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

LOS ANGELES — Mets outfield depth has turned shallow since the latter part of spring training.

Jared Young is the latest casualty.

Young was placed on the injured list Wednesday with a meniscus tear in his left knee, becoming the third Mets outfielder sidelined by injury. Young is scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday, with a return to play set for six to eight weeks.

Juan Soto is on the IL with a right calf strain, and Mike Tauchman underwent surgery for a meniscus tear in spring training. Tauchman’s injury created the opening for Young to stick with the team.

The Mets recalled MJ Melendez from Triple-A Syracuse to fill Young’s spot. Melendez went 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the Mets’ 8-2 blowout loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday night.

Young, who also saw action at first base, owned a .350/.391/.450 slash line in 23 plate appearances.

He also provided a left-handed bat off the bench.

“There not only was going to be playing time for him, but he was giving us some good at-bats from the left side,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before the Mets faced the Dodgers on Wednesday night. “It’s a big blow, but guys will step up.”

Melendez signed with the team at the start of spring training, but was optioned to Syracuse late in camp.

The Mets later signed veteran outfielder Tommy Pham to a minor league contract and selected him to the major league roster Monday.

Jorge Polanco was absent from the starting lineup and could face an IL stint as soon as Friday, according to Mendoza, as he deals with bursitis in his right Achilles.

With Polanco sidelined, Melendez was inserted as the DH with Pham in left field.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

Soto continued a running progression and took at-bats against minor league pitching at Citi Field.

The goal, according to Mendoza, is to get Soto back in the lineup during the next homestand. Soto last played for the Mets on April 3.

Luis García was released by the Mets. The veteran reliever was designated for assignment by the club last weekend.

Huascar Brazobán had not allowed an earned run over 11 multi-inning appearances since last season entering Wednesday.

The right-handed reliever had not allowed a run over 8 ¹/₃ innings this season, tying him for fifth in scoreless streaks among MLB relievers.

The Mets’ offensive stats were ugly even before they suffered their eighth consecutive loss.

During their previous seven losses as play began Wednesday, the Mets had a .178/.211/.258 slash line from their lineup.

Opponents outscored the Mets 36-10 in those seven games. Six of the Mets’ runs during that stretch were scored in one game, against the Athletics on Saturday at Citi Field.