Elmer Rodríguez has faced some seriously fierce competition in his first three MLB starts, squaring off against Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, and today Freddy Peralta. He authored the best start of his young MLB career, holding the Mets to a run while pitching into the fifth to match the way Peralta was repeatedly silencing each Yankees threat that appeared on the bases. It took until the sixth and an Anthony Volpe two-run single to spark an eventual four-run frame. However, all of that hard work was undone in an instant when David Bednar surrendered the game-tying three-run homer to Tyrone Taylor with two outs in the ninth, the Mets eventually succeeding in plating the automatic runner an inning later to walk off the Yankees, 7-6, and win the series from their crosstown rivals. The Bombers remain winless in Citi Field series since 2018, finishing up this road trip through Milwaukee, Baltimore, and Queens at an appalling 2-7.

ERC is widely regarded to possess the most advanced command of his arsenal of any of the Yankees’ pitching prospects. He might not possess the top-end stuff of some of the other members of his cohort, but he was always able to overcome that with his strike throwing abilities and command of the edges of the zone. That was why it was so alarming to see him pitch so wildly in much of his first two career big league starts against the Rangers, walking eight batters in 8.2 innings. However, he appeared to find something after a three-run first inning threatened to derail his most recent start against Texas, and went on to pitch a further 3.2 scoreless innings.

Whatever adjustment he discovered, it looks like he was able to carry that momentum into today’s start against the Mets. Most of his misses with the fastball in his first two starts were high to the glove side, which you wondered whether it was a natural side effect of his crossfire delivery, but it was clear from the jump this afternoon that he found a good line for the delivery of his four-seamer and sinker. Because he fell behind in so many counts against Texas, he was never able to take advantage of the deadly secondaries in his arsenal, but getting ahead in counts today allowed him to hunt chases on his slider, changeup, and curveball out of the zone. The Mets fired off a fair bit of hard contact, but ERC putting himself in a position to use his secondaries allowed him to largely keep the ball just above or just below the barrel of the bat.

It’s a good thing ERC brought his A-game to the park, because his offense repeatedly wasted the opportunities they created for themselves. Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger drew a pair of two-out walks in the first but were stranded by a Jazz Chisholm Jr. strikeout. Volpe tallied his first base hit of his season with a two-out double in the second, but J.C. Escarra stranded him at second with a fly out. Ben Rice finally broke through in the third, crushing a 2-1 changeup that stayed up to right for a 409-foot solo blast, moving into a tie for the fourth-most home runs in MLB at 15.

Unfortunately, Ryan McMahon would strand Bellinger and Jazz with a groundout after they drew a pair of two-out walks following the Rice home run. That volume of missed chances was always liable to come back to haunt them, and indeed they surrendered the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Mark Vientos bounced a one-out single through the right side and Brett Baty followed with a two-out bloop single. This allowed the struggling Marcus Semien to ambush a mistake first-pitch sinker middle-middle from ERC, slicing it down the line in right for the game-tying RBI double. A.J. Ewing then worked a walk to load the bases, but ERC executed a good four-seamer down and in to Hayden Senger for the inning-ending ground out to leave all three ducks on the pond.

He was allowed to come back out for the fifth, but following a leadoff HBP of Carson Benge and with Juan Soto coming to the plate, Aaron Boone called on Ryan Yarbrough out of the bullpen. The crafty lefty allowed a two-out single to Vientos to put runners on the corners, but Trent Grisham bailed out his pitcher with a diving catch on a sinking line drive from Taylor to save two runs. That put a cap on ERC’s final line, the rookie allowing a run on five hits and a walk with one strikeout in 4.1 innings.

Peralta was showing clear signs of fatigue by the sixth, his fastball losing four mph off it’s peak as he walked Bellinger and Jazz to open the frame. That was enough to draw Carlos Mendoza out of the dugout to hand the ball to Sean Manaea, who gave up a McMahon sac bunt and hit pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt on the front foot to load the bases with one out. Volpe was the one to finally provide the timely hit with runners on, pulling a first pitch hanging sweeper to left to plate a pair and put runners on the corners. Pinch-hitter Amed Rosario lifted a fly deep enough to left to plate pinch-runner Max Schuemann, Volpe shrewdly tagging up and taking second on the play. That proved to be an important moment, as the ghost of Luis Castillo paid a visit to Citi Field for the second time this series, Bo Bichette dropping a pop up from Grisham to allow Volpe to score the fourth run of the inning.

Despite now pitching with the lead, Yarbrough felt like a ticking time bomb, and Boone apparently agreed because he hooked the southpaw after a Semien single and Ewing walk in the sixth. The move immediately backfired as Jake Bird coughed up a two-run double to Luis Torrens on a 1-1 sweeper right down Broadway, though he did manage to record the final two outs to send this game to the seventh with the Yankees still leading, 5-3.

Patience from the bottom of the Yankees order earned them an insurance run in the seventh. Bellinger and Jazz reached on consecutive one-out singles and Schuemann drew a walk to load the bases. Up stepped the man of the hour, Volpe grinding back from 0-2 to draw the free pass that plated Bellinger as the Yankees’ sixth run. Just when it looked like the Yankees had the win in the bag, Camilo Doval pitching a scoreless seventh and Fernando Cruz a scoreless eighth, David Bednar undid all the hard work of his teammates. He allowed a pair of leadoff singles to Benge and Bichette, and though he was able to record the next two outs, he hung a first pitch curveball to Taylor, who demolished it to left to level the scores, 6-6.

The Yankees put runners on the corners with one out in the tenth, but that brought the slumbering Austin Wells to the plate and you know how that was always going to end: the inning-ending double play. Failing to score in the top of the tenth typically leads to walk-off losses. Tim Hill had the unenviable task of trying to pitch a scoreless half-inning, but a Ewing sac bunt, Torrens HBP, and Benge walk-off fielder’s choice—one in which Volpe and Schuemann ran into each other—condemned the Yankees to a 7-6 loss and their second straight series loss against a last-place team.

The Yankees will hope they can bounce back starting tomorrow against the Blue Jays. Ryan Weathers faces off against Patrick Corbin in the series-opening battle of southpaws. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm EDT with the broadcast remaining on YES.

Box Score

The Seattle Mariners are calling up top prospect SS/3B Colt Emerson, per multiple reports led by Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The move came as somewhat of an unexpected move, as Emerson was initially listed in the Tacoma Rainiers lineup in Triple-A. Instead, Seattle is bringing up their 20 year old quite literally from the South Sound. The corresponding move is another stint on the injured list for Brendan Donovan, this time with a left groin muscle strain. Per Mariners GM Justin Hollander, Donovan re-aggravated his groin injury in the last game in Houston when he was on base three times with a near-cycle.

Apparently, core surgery, such as the one Donovan had this off-season, can make one more susceptible to groin strains and core muscle strains in the months following recovery. Hollander said that while the team was aware Donovan would need to have his workload managed carefully in the first half of the season, the re-aggravation is a clear sign that they need to take a step back.

“It’s inflamed, it’s irritated, and it’s back to where it was when he went on the IL for the first time, so we need to get it right,” said Hollander.

Donovan will have two separate injections: a PRP injection for the groin strain and a separate one in his adductor muscle “to try to keep both things working together and get them right.” The team will evaluate further after the inflammation calms, but Hollander anticipates Donovan to be down for at least two to three weeks.

Emerson is one of the most well-regarded prospects in all of baseball, with national outlets ranking him near the top of all major prospect lists to start the year (Baseball America – 7th, Baseball Prospectus – 15th, FanGraphs – 11th, MLB Pipeline – 9th).

“This is not a 15 at-bat or 20 at-bat tryout to see if he’s capable of taking the job and running with it for the rest of the year,” said Hollander, who said Emerson’s response to the news that he was officially going to be a big-leaguer was great I’m gonna go pack my bag and I’ll head right up, like he was picking up a friend at the airport instead of achieving a lifelong dream. “I have zero concerns that he’s emotionally ready to handle it, that he’smature enough to handle the day-to-day of the major league life. He certainly has the tools and skills to go compete at this level.”

The move makes Emerson the youngest player in the American League, and the youngest Mariners player since Félix Hernández debuted as a 19 year old in August of 2005. In fact, Emerson was born just 15 days before the King’s big league debut, h/t Connor Donovan. After scorching the minors a season ago, Emerson signed a contract extension for eight years, $95 million, with club options for 2034 this spring. It seemed like the sort of move that would come in concert with an immediate call-up, but Seattle left the youngster in Tacoma to continue working. Healing from a few minor injuries—most notably a wrist injury that sidetracked his progress towards the end of last month—Emerson has played regularly for the Rainiers while working between shortstop and third base.

The Mariners have seemed intent to work in Emerson at third base when he debuts, where he’s looked smooth as a defender, as opposed to shifting veteran SS J.P. Crawford in the de facto captain’s final year under contract. It’s a bit of rhyme with Crawford’s own debut, as the then-22-year-old took primary work at third in deference to Freddy Galvis. But Emerson came up as a shortstop, and is the heir apparent to the position in the future, and will get reps in there, as well, said Hollander, which will also serve to give J.P. Crawford some much-needed days off.

“I think he sees the ball really well,” said Hollander. “In our view, he’s always handled that transition [between third and short] seamlessly. Bouncing back and forth has never really bothered him. I think he naturally has sort of arm angle adaptability, so he can throw from a bunch of different stops. He’s always made it look very easy at third base, too. So I wouldn’t anticipate any growing pains.”

Emerson’s defensive capabilities should be a boon for Seattle in either location, so it’s most pertinent to see how the 2023 first round pick handles himself at the plate. He’d run a respectable .255/.347/.469 line in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but striking out at an elevated 27.2% clip had suggested he might receive a bit more seasoning before the call.

Instead, he is here. The club announced the move just after 2 PM on Sunday.

“You never really know with a young player until they get out there and show us what they can do, but we do have all the confidence in the world that he can go take the job and run with it,” said Hollander. “And it that’s how it works, that’ll be great. We’d be thrilled for him and thrilled for us.”

Sunday’s game started out with an encouraging first inning. Maikel Garcia singled up the middle and then two batters later Vinnie Pasquantino also singled to center where Victor Scott II fumbled the ball and allowed Garcia to advance to third. Salvador Perez then picked up his first RBI of the night by hitting a sac fly to left. Stephen Kolek took the mound for the bottom half of the inning and induced three groundball outs, which would be foreshadowing for how his day was going to go. One inning down and Kansas City had a 1-0 lead.

Most of the rest of the afternoon turned into a pitchers’ duel. Andre Pallante needed 21 pitches in that first frame, but then went two outs into the 7th and only needed 99 total to get there. He did have one more little hiccup along the way when Salvy deposited his first pitch of the 4th into the seats to double the Royal lead and put The Captain just 7 HR behind George Brett for the Royals career home run mark.

The Royals did scatter some hits throughout, but Perez was the main offensive force for the team, which could mean he is starting to heat up finally. In fact, the Cardinals never got him out after the sac fly. He hit the homer, then singled in the 6th, and had a nine pitch walk in the 8th. If Salvy can be patient like he was in the 8th, it would greatly benefit this offense.

Stephen Kolek was more dominant than Pallante. His final line was a solid 6.1IP, 4H, BB, 3K, but it felt even better than that somehow. He is typically a groundball pitcher, over 50% of balls put in play by him are on the ground so far in his career, which would have put him in the top 10 for qualified starters last year in groundball rate. Today almost everything was on the ground. He had 13 of those ground balls turn into 14 outs thanks to one of them being this pretty double play.

That was a very nice outing that was turned over to Daniel Lynch IV in the 7th. Lynch quickly took care of the last 2 outs in the seventh and then went ahead and took care of the 8th as well. It looked like this would be a save situation for Lucas Erceg, thought the offense tried to create some insurance in the top of the 9th.

Justin Bruihl had come on to finish the Royals off in the 8th and continued on into the 9th. Isaac Collins lead off the inning with a single and was followed by a Lane Thomas walk. Bruihl was pulled for Matt Pushard who then beaned Nick Loftin in the hand while he was trying to bunt. Loaded bases with no outs is generally a pretty good situation for an offense to be in. Unfortunately, Kyle Isbel struck out and then Garcia grounded to third for a double play, so it was time for the save attempt.

Erceg, sans lights out due to the road day game, got the job done. He did allow a walk to Nolan Gorman and a loud line drive out to Cesar Prieto, but no runners got past first base. Four batters, three outs, one save. That puts an end to the Royal’s six game losing streak and sends them back to KC after a disappointing 1-5 road trip.

At home, the Royals will have 9 games against the Red Sox, Mariners, and Yankees. With Boston and Seattle off to slow starts on the season, like almost the entire AL, that is not as daunting as it might have looked going into the year. So far, the home cooking has been good, the Royals need to right the ship by taking care of business in Kauffman.

The Mets, with their season on life support after a horrendous start and a roster filled with injuries, sure appeared to be on their way to another series loss — this time at home to the Yankees in the Subway Series.

Instead, they came away with a stunning 7-6, 10-inning win at Citi Field on Sunday.

Down to their final out, Tyrone Taylor tied the game for the Mets with a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth off closer David Bednar.

And in the 10th, after Devin Williams got Austin Wells to hit into an inning-ending double play with runners on the corners to keep the game knotted, Carson Benge won it with a chopper up the middle that scored Marcus Semien from third.

The Mets have won five of their past six games — and four of their past five series — while the Yankees have dropped three straight series and seven of their past nine games.

“Baseball is hard to explain at times,’’ Carlos Mendoza said after the Mets won a game they trailed heading into the ninth inning for the first time since Pete Alonso homered against Williams in Game 3 of the 2024 wild-card series in Milwaukee.

They had lost 91 straight games when behind entering the ninth.

“We continue to come back in games,” the manager said. “We showed it the whole homestand. We get punched in the face [and] we get back up.”

That was rarely more true than Sunday, as Freddy Peralta struggled with his command and Sean Manaea replaced him in the sixth and the two combined to allow four runs in a tie game.

And one of those runs scored when Bo Bichette dropped what Mendoza called a “routine” pop-up.

But then the Mets, who dropped the first game of the series before beating the Yankees on Saturday, scored twice in the bottom of the sixth.

Still, down by three runs in the bottom of the ninth, a comeback didn’t seem close.

Benge and Bichette, though, led off with singles before Juan Soto grounded into a forceout and Mark Vientos whiffed.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

Taylor followed with a homer down the left field line off a Bednar curveball.

With Tim Hill on the mound for the Yankees in the bottom of the 10th, A.J. Ewing bunted automatic runner Semien to third and with the infield in — including Max Schuemann in from left field as the fifth infielder — Luis Torrens was hit by a pitch.

That brought up Benge, who hit a chopper over the mound. Schuemann and shortstop Anthony Volpe collided and Semien scored without a throw.

“It’s always good to show some fight and come back,’’ said the lefty-swinging Benge after he delivered against the left-hander Hill.

The Yankees, meanwhile, will head back to The Bronx after a tough road trip that included a series sweep at the hands of the Brewers, as well as four losses in six games to the Orioles and Mets.

“Guys are playing tough and making the plays they need to, but just coming up a little bit short,’’ Aaron Judge said of the team’s struggles. “We’ve got to have a short memory and move on and get ready for the [homestand] because we’ve got a big division opponent [Toronto] coming in.”

They were set up to beat the Mets after Volpe’s two-run single in the sixth gave them a 5-1 lead and his bases-loaded walk an inning later put them ahead by three runs.

But Bednar faltered and the slumping Wells couldn’t come through in the 10th.

“I think they’re all capable of getting big outs and they have throughout this year,’’ Aaron Boone said of the bullpen. “We just had a terrible road trip where we certainly had some tough ones.’’

As the Mets travel to Washington, they’ll look to build on their success and overcome their list of injury woes.

“We know we’ve got to start playing better,’’ Mendoza said. “It’s been rough. But that’s in the past. All we can control is every game, every series. We did that this homestand. We’ve got to continue to do it. We’ve got a long way to go.”

The Mets defeated the Yankees in dramatic fashion, coming back from four runs down to walk off with a 7-6 win in extra innings.

Here are the takeaways...

--In the ninth inning, with the Mets trailing 6-3, Carson Benge fought off a single to center, and Bo Bichette ripped a grounder up the middle, bringing Juan Soto to the plate as the tying run against David Bednar.

But Soto grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Mark Vientos went down swinging, leaving it up to Tyrone Taylor.

Taylor, who had a couple of defensive misplays earlier, went from goat to GOAT as he demolished a three-run homer just fair inside the left field foul pole. With the Mets down to their last out, Taylor knotted things up, sending it to extras.

-- In the top of the 10th, with runners on the corners and one out, Vientos started a 3-6-3 double play that fired up the team and fans alike. In the bottom half, A.J. Ewing bunted the free runner Marcus Semien to third. With the Yankees playing a five-man infield, Benge hit a chopper up the middle, and the Yankees' defenders bumped into each other while trying to make a play, allowing the game-winning run to score.

-- On the pitching side, it was a strange outing from Freddy Peralta. On one hand, he allowed just two hits and struck out four in 5.0+ innings. But he also walked six Yankees, including the final two he faced as he exited the game with two runners on and no outs in the top of the sixth. Of his 96 pitches thrown, 52 were out of the zone (54 percent).

Sean Manaea came in to try to clean things up, but after hitting Paul Goldschmidt with a pitch, he allowed a two-run single to Anthony Volpe, his second hit of the game after being hitless since his call-up. Former Met Amed Rosario added to the lead with a sac fly and then disaster struck. Trent Grisham lofted a lazy pop-up to shallow left, butTaylor didn't call Bichette off, and the backpedaling Bichette dropped the ball, giving the Yankees a 5-1 lead. The Yankees scored four runs in the inning on just one hit. 

Taylor also missed the cutoff man earlier in the inning, which allowed the Yankees to take an extra base during the rally. Peralta was charged with three earned runs over his 5.0+ innings.

-- The Mets got two runs back in the bottom half of the inning, as Luis Torrens laced a two-run double to the right field corner, making it a 5-3 game. Bichette came up later in the inning as the potential tying run, but flew out to right-center to end the inning. 

-- Manaea got into more trouble in the seventh, and walked Volpe with the bases loaded to force in the Yankees' sixth run of the afternoon. Manaea gave the Mets some needed length, going four innings while allowing two earned runs. He threw 57 pitches, which could help him get stretched out as a starter or a bulk reliever when Clay Holmes' turn comes up in the rotation. 

-- Aaron Boone recently said that he believed Ben Rice was evolving into one of the best hitters in baseball. Rice proved his manager right by crushing a solo home run to right center in the third inning. Rice's 15th homer of the season put the Yankees up 1-0.

-- There was some two-out magic from the Mets in the fourth. With two down and a man on first, Brett Baty singled, and Semien doubled, tying the game at 1-1. They ended up loading the bases later in the inning, but Hayden Senger grounded out to short, keeping the game tied.

-- Yankees starter Elmer Rodriguez wasn't exactly efficient, but he was effective. While just 38 of his 64 pitches were strikes, he held the Mets to one earned run on five hits in 4.1 innings.

-- Ewingcontinues to look perfectly at home in the majors, reaching base four times with a hit and three walks, while perfectly executing a sac bunt in the 10th.

Game MVP

Taylor, who launched a three-run shot to save the series for the Mets.

Highlights 

Freddy Peralta fans Jazz Chisholm Jr. to get out of trouble in the first

Opponents are now hitting 3-for-41 (.073) against Peralta with runners in scoring position this season pic.twitter.com/FHYztyfdyN

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2026

What a catch by Spencer Jones! 👏 pic.twitter.com/YAzslEHtj3

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 17, 2026

Ben Rice gets the Yankees on the board first with a solo homer! 💪 pic.twitter.com/uqrWnhtcd8

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 17, 2026

Marcus Semien ties the game with an RBI double! pic.twitter.com/qeE55UlDvW

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2026

Trent Grisham's diving catch ends the inning and keeps the game tied! pic.twitter.com/WxNjCqd853

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 17, 2026

Anthony Volpe brings in two runs to give the Yankees the lead! pic.twitter.com/JiiVyDuHa6

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 17, 2026

A fielding error by Bo Bichette brings home Anthony Volpe pic.twitter.com/UoghBBkUU2

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 17, 2026

Luis Torrens gets the Mets right back in it with a two-run double! pic.twitter.com/Dm9IVuAOoG

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2026

TYRONE TAYLOR TIES THE GAME WITH A THREE-RUN HOMER IN THE NINTH!!!!! pic.twitter.com/akrcp21K58

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2026

THE METS TURN TWO AND DON'T GIVE UP ANY RUNS IN THE TOP HALF OF THE 10TH! pic.twitter.com/zlCT3SFzoy

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2026

CARSON BENGE WALKS IT OFF FOR THE METS! pic.twitter.com/nbPm7EdECY

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2026

Upcoming schedule

The Mets hit the road for a seven-game road trip, starting with four games against the Washington Nationals.

Christian Scott will face Jake Irvin on Monday night on SNY, with first pitch at 6:45 p.m.

Quiet Sundays can be a good thing, but not when it describes what happened to the St. Louis Cardinals bats as the Royals avoided a sweep winning 2-0.

Andre Pallante was not the Cardinals problem Sunday as he gave them 6 2/3 innings allowing 8 hits, 1 earned run striking out 7 with no walks. Unfortunately, Salvador Perez was his nemesis knocking in the first run on a sacrifice fly in the 1st inning scoring Garcia who singled then advanced on an error by Victor Scott II making it 1-0 Royals after 1. All was relatively quiet until the 4th inning when it was Salvador Perez who hit a towering 393 foot solo shot off off Pallante pitch upping the Royals lead to 2-0.

It could have been much worse as Nathan Church made a diving catch on a shot from Bobby Witt Jr. to wrap up the top of the 3rd inning with a runner aboard. Feel free to insert your favorite “Church on Sunday” phrase here.

Stephen Kolek pitched a gem for the Kansas City Royals. He tossed an extremely solid 6 1/3 innings. He last batter was Masyn Winn who grounded into a fielder’s choice after he hustled to avoid a double play. Unfortunately, Masyn was also taken out of the game because of a yet unnamed injury/discomfort. Cesar Prieto was the pinch-runner who was brought in for Masyn and also replaced him at shortstop. CBS Sports reporting that Masyn is dealing with knee discomfort and is listed as day-to-day, but further tests will be done on Monday.

Happy to report that both Matt Svanson was solid in relief of Andre Pallante Sunday. He did not allow any additional damage to keep the Cardinals within striking distance in the late innings. Justin Bruihl did get into a bit of a mess allowing the first two on-base in the top of the 9th inning. Matt Pushard added to the misery by nailing pinch-hitter Loftin in the hand to load the bases, but he was able to strikeout Isbel for the first out and then get a groundball double play from Garcia to send the game into the bottom of the 9th with St. Louis at least having a chance.

The Kansas City Royals brought in their closer Lucas Erceg to try and shut the Cardinals down. All Jordan Walker could manage was a groundout to third base. Nolan Gorman managed to draw a walk bringing up Cesar Prieto as the potential tying run. He barreled a ball that unfortunately was directed straight at right fielder Lane Thomas for the second out. Nathan Church was the Cardinals final hope. He battled for 10 pitches, but grounded out for the final out of the game.

The Cardinals have Monday off and will be back at Busch Stadium Tuesday night as they’ll begin a series against NL Central foe the Pittsburgh Pirates. Matthew Liberatore is scheduled to pitch for the Cardinals while the Pirates will send Mitch Keller to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45pm central time.

The Red Sox’s performance today was similar to my dog’s now that the weather is in the 80s. They were around, but they mostly did nothing, and the stuff that they did was a complete mess (My dog drips water all over the place when she drinks.)

Is Brayan Bello’s story over? He had two solid performances working after an opener, but started Sunday’s game from the dugout. It went poorly — seven runs over five innings — and I can’t shake the flaws that I see in his game. His sinker is good. It’s got good velocity and a sound movement profile. After that, there’s nothing else. That showed up in a big way on Sunday.

Bello was wild from the jump. He left a cutter over the plate with two strikes to Austin Riley that went for a three-run home run, and the Braves were off and running. In the second inning, the bases were loaded before Bello recorded an out, and Drake Baldwin came to the plate. The first pitch was a curveball that was called a ball. The second was a changeup that Baldwin jumped out of his shoes to swing at. With the bases loaded and nobody out, hitters look for fastballs to drive. Baldwin showed his hand by swinging at the changeup, and Bello wisely stayed away from his fastball. The issue, however, is that he can’t throw anything else for strikes, and the stuff isn’t good enough to get hitters to expand. The count went to 3-1, and Bello had no choice but to nibble with his fastball. He missed, Baldwin walked, and the Braves grabbed two more runs in the inning. I will say, the first pitch curveball was executed for a strike, but the ump missed the call, and Narvaez didn’t challenge. Ahead 0-1 changes the at-bat, but he still needs to find a way to escape at-bats, and he doesn’t have that.

Elsewhere, the offense was lethargic once again. The only run came in the ninth inning against the mop-up man. There were some hard-hit balls directly to outfielders, but when Grant Holmes throws six shutout innings, something is wrong. On to Kansas City for a series against the ice-cold Royals.

Three Studs

Ceddanne Rafaela

Rafaela was 1-3 with a walk at the plate, but it’s his glove that puts him in the studs today. Every time a ball is hit to center field, he catches it. He made a highlight reel catch in the eighth and had a few others that he made look easy. He’s fun to watch.

Ryan Watson

Saved the pen. From what? Who knows. But he saved them.

Newcastle United

With their 3-1 victory over West Ham, my beloved Tottenham Hotspur Football Club needs just one point from their next two matches to avoid relegation. COYS.

Three Duds

Brayan Bello

See above.

Mother Nature

It randomly started pouring rain to the point where the tarp was on the field for about half an hour. I’m not mad that it rained. I’m mad that it didn’t rain long enough to call the game after six innings. Do better, Mother Nature.

The Offense As A Whole

1 run? In this economy?

It took more than a quarter into the season, but the Dodgers on Monday finally will play the San Diego Padres for the first of four series this season, this one a three-game affair between the top two teams in the National League West at Petco Park in San Diego.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts the series opener on Monday night, coming off his first MLB game allowing three home runs. Right-hander Michael King starts for San Diego.

Monday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Padres
• Ballpark: Petco Park, San Diego
• Time: 6:40 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

This felt like a game the San Diego Padres would lose. With the Seattle Mariners’ ace on the mound in Logan Gilbert, it felt like the moping San Diego offense would struggle to score enough to back starter Walker Buehler.

That was not the case. Buehler pitched a gem and the Friars rode three homers against Gilbert to a 7-4 victory. Rookie catcher Rodolfo Durán finally got his first hit in the big leagues, and he made it count. The backstop slugged a two-run homer in the seventh inning, and would have had another in the ninth inning if not for the acrobatics of Julio Rodríguez in center field.

The win gave the Friars a needed series victory. They’ll go for the sweep today against Seattle, with Lucas Giolito set to make his Padres’ debut.

Taking the mound

George Kirby (SEA) v. Lucas Giolito (SD)

The young right-hander has tested his mettle at the major-league level multiple times. He’s pitched with an ERA under 4.00 for four of his five years of service. Kirby owns a 2.84 ERA this season, impressing almost every time he takes the mound.

Kirby has been on a particular hot streak lately, not allowing more than two runs in a start since April 7. The Friars will need to figure out Kirby in order to back up their starting pitcher.

Speaking of, Lucas Giolito will make his 2026 debut with the Padres after signing him to a one-year deal late into the season. He’s pitched well while on assignment in the San Diego minor league system. If he can pitch a dominant outing against the Mariners, it would be a major relief for any rotation worries.

Batter up!

The offense-centric lineup that manager Craig Stammen has continued to go with in this series finally clicked, with all seven of the Friars’ runs coming from the long ball.

Despite that, the star trio of Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. went a combined 0-for-10 at the plate with two walks. They need more from that group to keep pace in the division. Still, those three will probably remain atop the lineup in today’s finale.

1. Jackson Merrill, CF
2. Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
3. Manny Machado, 3B
4. Gavin Sheets, 1B
5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
6. Miguel Andujar, DH
7. Ramón Laureano, LF
8. Nick Castellanos, RF
9. Freddy Fermin, C

The Padres own a combined .318 batting average against Kirby. Machado and Tatis both have OPS marks above 1.000. They could be poised to break out in the series finale against Seattle.

Relief corps

In spite of Buehler’s solid start against the Mariners, the Friars needed five pitchers to get through the game. Wandy Peralta and Jason Adam pitched scoreless frames before Alek Jacob came in to pitch the eighth. He struggled, failing to record a single out. Adrian Morejon was called on and finished the inning before Jeremiah Estrada slammed the door.

For today’s game, that means Ron Marinnacio, Yuki Matsui, Mason Miller and Bradgley Rodriguez are available. The latter two have been incredibly good for the Friars whereas the former two have a less consistent record.

That will leave the ‘pen somewhat depleted. The Padres will need a quality outing from Giolito or else their bullpen may be on thin ice heading into this week’s series against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Orioles have played from behind far too often this season. Today they decided to try something different. Baltimore scored in each of the first four innings, and the bullpen stepped up after a short outing from Brandon Young. Gunnar Henderson, Coby Mayo and Colton Cowser all went yard, and the Orioles avoided a sweep with a 7-3 win in the nation’s capital.

Gunnar Henderson kicked off the early production with a solo shot in the first. Henderson squared up a sweeper and snuck it inside the right-field foul pole to provide Baltimore an early advantage. The ball left the bat at 107 MPH and traveled all the way to the third deck in right field.

Young delivered a shutdown bottom of the first, and the Orioles built on their early lead in the second. Samuel Basallo led off with a hard hit single to right field. With one on and one out, Coby Mayo battled until Miles Mikolas left the ninth pitch up in the zone. Mayo launched the sinker 407 feet to left field, and the Orioles led 3-0 after two.

Young gave one back in the bottom of the second when Jacob Young launched a solo shot to left, but the O’s starter minimized the damage after the solo shot and a two-out double.

The Birds picked up where they left off when Taylor Ward took a walk to start the third. Henderson followed with a hard hit single, and Ward took the extra-base to put runners on the corners for Pete Alonso. The first baseman made contact and muscled a fly ball deep enough to score Baltimore’s fourth run of the day on a sacrifice fly.

Young kept the Nats off the board in the bottom of the third, and the Orioles kept their foot on the gas in the next half inning. Leody Taveras got things going with a hustle double before Mayo lined out sharply to third. Mayo has trended upward over the last week with several solid at bats, but Baltimore’s number eight hitter needed a big hit more than anyone.

Colton Cowser entered the game without a hit off of a breaking ball this season. Mikolas gave Cowser a belt-high slider, and Cowser delivered a swing that instantly lifted a weight from his shoulder. The Milk Man hooked the ball 394 feet to right field for his first home run of the season. The blast gave Baltimore a 6-1 advantage, and Cowser’s teammates rewarded him with the silent treatment after his first dinger in 2026.

The early offense was exactly what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately, Young stopped short of pairing a strong offensive performance with a quality start on the mound. Despite pitching with a five-run lead, Young allowed a leadoff single and then walked the bases loaded in the fourth.

Young got the first out of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Keibert Ruiz. The 6-foot-6 Texan followed that with a strikeout of Nasim Nuñez, but James Wood reloaded the bases with an infield single. Luis García Jr. stepped to the plate represent the tying run, and Craig Albernaz made a move. The Orioles couldn’t afford to let Washington back into the game, so Albernaz summoned Anthony Nunez. Nunez met the moment and sent García down swinging to end the threat.

Baltimore’s bats went silent for a bit, but the bullpen did its part. Nunez returned for a clean fifth, and Tyler Wells retired the side in order during the sixth. Wells allowed a run on three singles in the seventh, but he struck out Daylen Lile to keep the lead at three.

Yennier Cano tossed a scoreless eighth, and the Orioles added an insurance run in the top of the ninth. Jeremiah Jackson got into scoring position with a double to right-center, and Henderson brought him home with his fourth hit of the day. Henderson finished 4-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and finished a triple shy of the cycle.

The extra run eliminated a save opportunity for Rico Garcia, but Baltimore still turned to its best reliever in the bottom of the ninth. Garcia allowed a rare extra-base hit on a one-out double, but he still posted a scoreless frame to secure the 7-3 victory.

The early offense was the story today. Gunnar Henderson did his part with a four-hit day. Coby Mayo and Colton Cowser both delivered big blasts, and Anthony Nunez prevented Washington from creeping back into the game. Who is your pick for Most Birdland Player of the Day? Let us know in the comments below!

The Texas Rangers scored eight runs while the Houston Astros scored zero runs.

The top of the fifth was a big moment for the Rangers as Alejandro Osuna ended the daily no-hit watch with an infield single and then Jake Burger collected the first extra base hit of the weekend for Texas when he smacked a two-run dong to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

That home run meant that Texas wouldn’t be shut out today as they doubled their run output for the series with one swing.

The cold, factual nature of the above may have come off as sarcastic but I truly am grateful as the home run supported Nathan Eovaldi’s efforts today and eventually that darned dam finally broke for the Rangers at the plate.

Indeed Texas turned to Eovaldi with the requirement that he keep putting up zeros while the lineup was working through whatever the heck has been troubling them and he did just that with seven innings of scoreless ball on five hits and a couple of walks. Eovaldi struck out eight Astros as he picked up his fifth win of the year.

That win was all but assured when the Rangers added five runs in the top of the seventh when Burger again came through with a two-run double with the bases loaded.

Texas has had a devil of a time delivering on bases loaded chances, and producing big innings, so the five-run seventh had to feel cathartic. Following Burger, Kyle Higashioka — who also threw out a would-be base stealer and made some laser precision ABS challenges behind the plate — singled in two more runs and Brandon Nimmo — who robbed a home run earlier in the day — doubled in the fifth and final run of the inning.

In the ninth, Higashioka collected his second home run of the year, a solo shot to finish off the scoring. Meanwhile, reliever Gavin Collyer bounced back from his shakiest outing as a big leaguer against Arizona last Tuesday with a couple of strikeouts in two easy shutout innings.

The first two games of this series were certainly annoying as evident by the fact that the Rangers actually out-scored the Astros 9-6 in this series but come away down a leg in the fight for the Silver Boot, but claiming the finale at least allows them to leave Houston with a victory and some good vibes at the plate.

Player of the Game: Eovaldi deserves a hat tip for coming through inning after inning as he waited for the lineup to catch up to him. That said, you have to acknowledge games like today from Burger and Higashioka when they come.

Burger produced two extra base hits that provided the bulk of the scoring as the Texas first baseman collected four RBI and scored two runs. Meanwhile, Higgy homered and drove in three runs while being a difference-maker behind the plate. A much-appreciated impactful day from the No. 7 and No. 9 hitters in the lineup.

Up Next: The Rangers next travel to Colorado to take on the Rockies with LHP MacKenzie Gore expected to make the start in the opener for Texas against LHP Jose Quintana for Colorado.

The Monday evening first pitch from Coors Field is scheduled for 7:40 pm CDT and you can watch it via the Rangers Sports Network.

After a close win Friday and a narrow loss Saturday, the Atlanta Braves left no doubt in their Sunday series finale against the Boston Red Sox at Truist Park.

The Braves leapt out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and a 5-0 advantage through two, coasting to an 8-1 win to remain unbeaten in home series this season and close out a 4-2 homestand.

Buoyed by a strong start from Grant Holmes, it was Braves’ 11th straight game allowing three runs or less, which is the franchise’s longest-such streak since the 2002 Braves did so in 12 straight games that July.

The Braves were also one out away from their fifth shutout of the season as Nick Sogard delivered a two-out double when down to his last strike to score Connor Wong.

With the victory, the Braves are 7-1 in rubber matches this season, including 5-0 in home rubber matches.

After Brayan Bello struggled to begin the season as a starter and found more success in his last two outings pitching behind an opener, it was a blessing for the Braves that Boston elected to move him back into his starter role.

Austin Riley tagged him with a three-run homer to left in a 30-pitch first inning to stake the Braves to an early lead. It was Riley’s seventh homer of the season and fourth of the month.

Riley also added a double in the fifth, finishing with multiple extra-base hits for the first time in exactly a month.

That alone proved to be more than enough for Holmes, who delivered one of his better starts of the season. He allowed five hits (three doubles) over six innings of work, but stranded all six runners, holding the Red Sox hitless in three at-bats with runners in scoring position.

It was his second scoreless outing in nine starts this season and his fourth time tossing six-plus innings. A rain (HAIL?!) delay ended his outing after six innings, although he was likely done anyways considering he was at 87 pitches.

The Braves loaded the bases with no outs in the second against Bello and tacked on two more runs on a Drake Baldwin run-scoring walk and an RBI groundout by Matt Olson, who finished the Boston series 0-for-11.

Atlanta tacked on another run in the fourth on Mike Yastrzemski’s leadoff homer into the Chop House. After he entered the week with no homers and six RBIs in 38 games, he finished the week with two homers and six RBIs in five games.

The Braves made it 7-0 in the fifth when Riley laced a leadoff double to left and came around to score on Dominic Smith’s single.

Baldwin closed the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the eighth, robbed of extra bases by a leaping grab in center from Ceddanne Rafaela but still bringing home his second RBI of the day to reclaim the team lead with 39.

Reynaldo Lopez followed Holmes with two scoreless innings. Kinley allowed the lone run after retiring the first two batters he faced.

Up Next

No rest for the Braves, who continue a stretch of 13 games in as many days by kicking off a four-game series at Miami on Monday night. J.R. Ritchie will be making his fifth start.

Blue Jays 4 Tigers 1

We got more than two runs. Or actually, we got two runs twice:

• Two in the first: A Vladimir Guerrero home run (what a great thing it was to see that). Daulton Varsho followed with a double off the center field wall (homer in 12 of 30 MLB parks, including Rogers Centre). Jesús Sánchez singled him to third, and a Jack Flaherty wild pitch scored him.
• Yohendrick Piñango flied out to deep center (homer in 10 parks, including RC) to start the inning. Vlad single and Varsho tripled. A Sánchez sac fly got our fourth run home.

We only had six hits and one walk on the day. Vlad and Varsho had two each (and all the extra base hits).

On the pitching side, Kevin Gausman was great. He went six innings, allowing just four hits (all singles) with five strikeouts. He was excellent. Left at 97 pitches.

Yariel Rodríguez got the next four outs and then gave up a very, very soft ground single (33 feet from the plate when Andrés Giménez).

Joe Mantiply came in and wasn’t great. He went single, walk, groundball force at second (Ernie Clement, I figured he could have touched third and then gone to first, but getting the one out was big). That got the Tigers the run. Mantiply threw three straight balls to Riley Green, the next baller, then got two strikes and a weak ground ball to end the inning.

Tyler Rogers came in for the save. He didn’t make it easy either, walking the leadoff guy. Then got a ground ball to short that Giménez made a nice play on and a great throw to second. Schneider tried to turn it, but was just late. It was called out on the field, but the Tigers challenged. It was a very fast challenge as it was obvious. A popout to short got the second out. Tyler went seven pitches to Spencer Torkeleson before getting strike three right on the outside corner (Tigers challenged again, but it caught the zone). Save #1 for Rogers.

After a challenge in last night’s hockey game that seemed to take forever, I appreciated the speed of the challenges in this game.

The bad moment of the game was when Giménez and Piñango collided while going for a popout. Both were calling the ball. The rule of thumb is that the outfielder takes charge, but then Giménez seems to be the captain of the infield. Hard to blame either player.

Jays of the Day: Gausman (0.26 WPA), Varsho (0.19), and Vlad (0.12).

No one gets the ‘Other Award’. The low mark went to Lenyn Sosa (-0.4) and Ernie Clement (-0.4). Sosa hasn’t shown anything this season. Daulton made a couple of good catches in the outfield.

Tomorrow the Jays face the Yankees in da Bronx.