MIAMI — Officially, it was Game No. 51 for the Mets on Friday. Unofficially, it was Kids’ Night.

That meant the all-rookie outfield of Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing and Nick Morabito was assembled for the first time, with all three in the starting lineup another first. They never had started together in the same outfield at any professional level.

The trio combined to go 1-for-9 in the Mets’ 2-1 loss. Ewing singled and was the only Met besides Juan Soto to get a hit against the Marlins.

On the bright side, Morabito’s diving catch in left helped save a run in the fifth.

From left field to right it was Morabito, Ewing and Benge, hardly a configuration many would have imagined this early in the season when the Mets opened spring training in February.

Count manager Carlos Mendoza among those who could not have envisioned it.

“I don’t think anybody did,” Mendoza said before the Mets’ loss. “But it’s exciting, and they continue to earn it.”

Such is the new reality for the Mets following injuries that have left Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. sidelined for the long term. Benge began the season with the club, Ewing arrived 1½ weeks ago, and Morabito was promoted in recent days.

All three have brought a youthful vibe to the Mets clubhouse.

“They are unreal,” Tyrone Taylor said. “I think they are built different these days.”

Taylor was asked in what manner the new wave is built differently.

“They are obviously skilled at baseball, but I think their mentalities, how they go about it is cool,” Tyrone Taylor said. “It’s like they are unfazed by the moment.”

Benge, 23, took a .262/.316/.360 slash line with three homers and eight stolen bases into play. He’s been among the team’s best offensive performers in May following a sluggish start to the season.

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He began the day with an .859 OPS for the month, but his defense has been mixed, with multiple glaring lapses including a dropped fly ball during the Subway Series last weekend.

“He is such a good hitter,” Morabito said. “His plate discipline is pretty elite with his bat-to-ball skills and he’s got some juice as well and he can impact the game. He can really run out there and he’s a great defender.”

Ewing, 21, brought a .276/.432/.448 slash line with one homer and two stolen bases over 10 games into play.

“I think what impresses me is his plate discipline and obviously his speed,” Morabito said. “Speed plays a big factor here.”

He can impact the game in so many ways, but I have loved playing with him and just watching him mature as a baseball player.”

Morabito, 23, was teammates with Ewing this season for two months at Triple-A Syracuse. He was teammates last season with Benge for about a month at Double-A Binghamton.

Ewing and Benge were teammates at Single-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton last season.

Morabito, who debuted in the major leagues Tuesday, has wasted little time getting acclimated.

“It’s awesome,” Ewing said. “The guys, everyone with me was super inviting, and they did the same with him and he’s been fitting in really well and seems comfortable. He plays the game extremely hard.”

Mendoza has other options for the outfield, most notably playing Juan Soto in left. But the inclusion of the three rookies on the roster allows Mendoza to use Soto as the DH. The Mets have another strong option defensively for the outfield in Taylor.

But it’s the three rookies attracting attention as the Mets attempt from the early hole they have dug. The Mets began play 22-28 after splitting four games in Washington.

“I think all three of them have all the tools and the Mets’ future looks pretty cool,” Taylor said. “Fans should be excited about it for sure.”

The Colorado Rockies came into Tuesday night looking to do more than play another close game.

This time, they finished one.

The Rockies (20-32) found a way to cross the finish line, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks (26-24) 3-2 at Chase Field after tying the game in the eighth, turning a huge double play in the bottom half, and pushing across the winning run in the ninth.

After back-to-back frustrating finishes — a late loss to Texas and Monday night’s walk-off loss in Arizona — Colorado finally got the kind of late execution it had been missing. Tomoyuki Sugano gave the Rockies a strong start, TJ Rumfield tied the game with an eighth-inning double, Sterlin Thompson set up the ninth with his first MLB extra-base hit, and Chad Stevens followed with his first MLB RBI to give Colorado the lead.

Antonio Senzatela got the win, improving to 4-0 after recording the final five outs. Ryan Thompson took the loss for Arizona, falling to 2-1.

Sugano survives the noise

The Diamondbacks hit the ball hard throughout Tomoyuki Sugano’s outing. That was clear early, and it never really went away. Arizona put 23 balls in play against him, and 11 were hard hit. Ketel Marte’s 116.7 mph double was the loudest swing, and Corbin Carroll added a 107 mph single in the fifth.

Sugano did not overpower the Diamondbacks. He managed them.

Arizona got its first run in the second, when Nolan Arenado opened the inning with a loud double to center. Ildemaro Vargas moved him to third with a flyout to right, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. brought him home with a sacrifice fly to center. In the fourth, Sugano’s only walk came back to hurt him. Geraldo Perdomo reached with one out, moved to second on Vargas’ groundout, and scored when Gurriel pulled a ground-ball single into left.

There were other pressure points, too. Marte doubled with two outs in the third before Sugano got Carroll to fly out. In the fifth, after the Rockies had cut the deficit to 2-1, Ryan Waldschmidt singled, stole second and moved to third on Carroll’s hard ground-ball single. Sugano stranded both runners by getting Perdomo to line out to right.

That was the shape of his night. Arizona kept creating stress, but Sugano kept the game from opening up. He changed looks, limited the walks, kept the ball in the park and carried the Rockies into the seventh.

Sugano finished with 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts on 97 pitches. He threw seven different pitch types: 33 sinkers, 19 splitters, 15 sliders, 10 sweepers, eight four-seamers, eight curveballs and four cutters.

That length mattered for more than the box score. The Rockies had leaned hard on their bullpen in recent days, and Sugano gave them exactly the kind of start they needed.

“Our bullpen was in bad shape, and we needed him to go a long time,” Warren Schaeffer said after the game. “He was efficient with his pitches, throwing strikes and just doing what he does with all of his pitches (and) keeping guys off balance. He’s been huge for us all year, and tonight was no exception.”

Rockies let Soroka off the hook

Michael Soroka gave the Diamondbacks six strong innings, and the Rockies did not make him work as hard as they needed to. He allowed one run on four hits, struck out two, walked none and threw 51 of his 78 pitches for strikes.

Colorado was aggressive against him, swinging at 48 pitches while taking 30. That approach kept the ball in play, but it did not produce enough damage. The Rockies struck out only twice against Soroka, which is usually a good sign, but they also did not draw a walk and rarely forced him away from his plan.

Soroka mixed five pitches, throwing 28 slurves, 27 four-seamers, 11 changeups, eight sinkers and four cutters. He did not need to overpower the Rockies. He stayed around the zone, changed speeds and got enough soft contact to keep Colorado from building sustained pressure.

The Rockies’ best chance against him came in the fifth. Willi Castro and Ezequiel Tovar opened the inning with singles, and Sterlin Thompson was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Soroka had given Colorado the opening it needed, but the Rockies came away with only one run. Chad Stevens struck out, Jake McCarthy drove in Castro with a deep sacrifice fly, and Hunter Goodman ended the inning by tapping a ball in front of the plate.

That was the miss. The Rockies had bases loaded, nobody out and a chance to take control of the game. Instead, they turned it into one run and let Soroka escape with the lead.

Rockies get to Arizona’s bullpen

For most of the night, the fifth-inning chance looked like it might define the game. Then the Rockies found another path against Arizona’s bullpen.

Hunter Goodman opened the eighth with a walk against Juan Morillo, then moved to second on a passed ball by Gabriel Moreno. TJ Rumfield followed with the swing Colorado had been chasing, pulling a double to right field to score Goodman and tie the game at 2-2.

They took advantage again in the ninth. After Ezequiel Tovar popped out, Sterlin Thompson worked the count full and lined a double to center for his first MLB extra-base hit. Chad Stevens followed with a line-drive single to right for his first MLB RBI, scoring Thompson and giving the Rockies their first lead of the night.

“It was an awesome job by [Thompson] hitting a double there,” Stevens said. “Then I don’t think I could have drawn it up much better by driving him in.”

“I couldn’t ask for much more,” he said. “I’m just happy I was able to contribute and help the team win.”

That gave Antonio Senzatela a one-run lead to protect, and he handled it cleanly.

Senzatela wins the day

Brennan Bernardino entered in the seventh and finished Sugano’s inning by getting Ketel Marte to ground out. He came back for the eighth after the Rockies had tied the game, but Arizona immediately put pressure on him. Corbin Carroll reached on a ground-ball single that deflected off Bernardino, and Geraldo Perdomo bunted him to second.

That brought in Antonio Senzatela with one out, Carroll in scoring position and the game tied. Senzatela hit Nolan Arenado with a pitch, putting two on and giving Arizona a chance to answer right back.

Instead, the Rockies made the biggest defensive play of the night.

Ildemaro Vargas grounded into a 5-6-3 double play, with Kyle Karros starting it at third, Tovar making the turn and Castro finishing it at first. The play ended the inning, kept the game tied and gave Colorado one more chance.

The Rockies used it in the ninth, and Senzatela made it stand.

He stayed on for the bottom of the ninth and retired Jose Fernandez on a flyout, Gabriel Moreno on a groundout to third and Adrian Del Castillo on a popup to second. His final line was 1.2 scoreless innings with no hits, no walks and no strikeouts. It was not flashy. It was clean, and it was exactly what the Rockies needed.

Colorado finished with nine hits and went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position, so there were still missed chances. They left nine runners on base. They did not play a perfect offensive game.

But they got Sugano’s length, Rumfield’s tying double, the massive eighth-inning double play, Thompson’s first extra-base hit, Stevens’ first RBI and five outs from Senzatela.

Winning feels great.

Up Next

The Rockies will continue their series against the Diamondbacks on Friday night at Chase Field. Colorado is scheduled to send right-hander Michael Lorenzen to the mound. Lorenzen enters at 2-6 with a 7.03 ERA and 36 strikeouts.

Arizona will counter with right-hander Zac Gallen, who enters at 2-4 with a 4.78 ERA and 34 strikeouts.

First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. MDT.

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The Athletics and San Diego Padres kicked off a three-game series on a beautiful Friday night in San Diego. The A’s sought to win their fourth straight game, while the Padres hoped to rebound after losing their past series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Buoyed by three key home runs, the Padres won the series-opener 7-3, ending the A’s winning streak.

Early Offense

A’s right fielder Carlos Cortes started the game with a single against Padres starting pitcher Walker Buehler. First baseman Nick Kurtz promptly socked an RBI double on the first pitch he saw from the right-hander, scoring Cortes to give the A’s an early 1-0 lead. That hit extended Kurtz’s on-base streak to an incredible 45 consecutive games. Kurtz moved to third on catcher Shea Langeliers’ groundout and then scored on designated hitter Brent Rooker’s groundout.

In the bottom of the first, the Padres answered right back. Second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr. drew a leadoff walk against A’s starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs. With two outs, Machado tied the game with his eighth home run of the year, a two-run blast to the stands in left field.

A’s Waste Multiple Scoring Chances

In the second, the A’s had a chance to re-take the lead. With one out, center fielder Henry Bolte walked and then second baseman Jeff McNeil singled. Alas, Buehler buckled down, retiring the next two hitters to escape that jam unscathed.

Kurtz led off the A’s half of the third with a walk, but was stranded at second. Athletics’ left fielder Tyler Soderstrom ended the inning by striking out looking on a pitch right down the middle that was begging to be crushed.

Through three innings, the A’s went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, failing to take advantage of several early scoring opportunities. Meanwhile, Springs settled down, posting two-straight scoreless frames.

A’s Jump Back in Front

A’s third baseman Zack Gelof kicked off the fourth inning with a double down the left field line. Like Gelof, Bolte took advantage of the first pitch he saw from Buehler, sizzling an RBI single to center field. The Athletics first hit with a runner in scoring position put the team up 3-2.

Bolte did not spend any time at first. He was quickly thrown out attempting to steal second, the second A’s runner caught stealing through the game’s first four innings. Unlike in the first inning, Jeffrey Springs retired the San Diego Padres in order in the bottom of the fourth, delivering a much-needed shutdown inning. With one out in the fifth, Kurtz worked an 11-pitch at-bat that resulted in his second walk of the game and third time reaching base in three plate appearances. That was all the A’s offense mustered that inning.

Padres Come Back Again

In the bottom of the fifth, the Padres tied the game with their second and home run of the night. Right fielder Nick Castellanos crushed Springs’ hanging sweeper for his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot that hit the Western Metal Supply Co. Building beyond the left field stands.

A’s Leave Bases Loaded

In the top of the sixth, Bolte’s speed was on full display as he hustled down the line to beat Machado’s throw to first base. The rookie recorded two singles and a walk in his first three at-bats. McNeil hit his second single to keep his team’s two-out rally going. Shortstop Darell Hernaiz walked to load the bases.

The Padres brought in left-handed reliever Adrian Morejon to replace right-handed reliever Bradgley Rodriguez. The A’s countered by having right-handed hitter Colby Thomas pinch hit for the left-handed hitting Cortes. Morejon won the battle, striking out Thomas to strand the bases loaded.

Padres take the lead

San Diego fully seized the game’s momentum shortly after the A’s left the bases loaded. With one out in the seventh, Padres’ left fielder Ramón Laureano, a former A’s player, gave the hosts a 4-3 lead with his sixth home run of the season and his team’s third home run of the matchup.

His solo blast knocked Springs out of the game. The A’s starter allowed four runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking three. Springs mostly kept the ball on the ground, inducing nine groundouts compared to only three fly outs. The long ball was his downfall in tonight’s outing. A’s right-handed reliever Jack Perkins entered the game in relief of Springs and got the final two outs of the seventh inning.

Soderstrom began the eighth with a base hit to the gap. He tried stretching the hit into a double, but got thrown out at second for the first out of the inning.That proved to be a small momentum shift, as it erased a leadoff baserunner and led to a quick scoreless inning from Padres’ right-handed.reliever Jason Adam.

Padres Add on Late

In the last of the eighth, the Padres scored multiple insurance runs against Perkins. They opened the inning with three straight singles to load the bases. First baseman Gavin Sheets’s base hit knocked in two runs. San Diego added a third run on shortstop Xander Bogaerts’s sacrifice fly.

With it no longer being a save situation, the Padres put right-hander Jeremiah Estrada in for the ninth inning instead of their closer Mason Miller. Estrada needed just nine pitches to record the final three outs of the game.

The Athletics will try to bounce back and even the series tomorrow night. J.T. Ginn will make his second start of the roadtrip. The right-hander has been the A’s best starting pitcher these last few turns through the rotation, as evident by his near no-hitter against the Los Angeles Angels in his last outing earlier this week. He will be opposed by Padres’ right-hander Lucas Giolito, who will make his second start of the season.

The Dodgers’ loss in Friday’s series opener to the Milwaukee Brewers added injury to insult when third baseman Max Muncy left the game after getting hit by a pitch on his right wrist.

Muncy was hit by a 95.5-mph fastball from Aaron Ashby in the top of the eighth inning on Friday, and immediately left the game, replaced by pinch-runner Santiago Espinal.

X-rays on the wrist came back negative.

“We just gotta monitor the next couple days. Typically, especially in that area, the X-rays never come back positive immediately. It kind of forms a little bit. I’m pretty sure it hit half my wrist pad and then half my wrist,” Muncy told reporters in Milwaukee, as shown by SportsNet LA. “Me deciding to wear that wrist guard the last couple of years might have saved my wrist, at least tonight.”

Muncy has been the Dodgers’ best hitter this season, hitting .258/.363/.515 with a team-leading 147 wRC+ and 12 home runs.

How long Muncy misses remains to be seen, but with left-hander Robert Gasser starting for Milwaukee on Saturday that was likely a logical day for Muncy not to start anyway. Manager Dave Roberts said that Espinal will start at third base in the middle game of the series, and Miguel Rojas will start at second base.

“He’ll be down for the next couple of days, just to make sure we get that swelling out,” Roberts said of Muncy, as shown by SportsNet LA. “But for right now, we’re breathing a sigh of relief.‘

Game Summary

The Diamondbacks starting rotation has been on another level over the last couple weeks, and that trend continued tonight with Michael Soroka earning another Quality Start, their league-leading 13th this month. With only 78 pitches thrown after six innings and only a single run allowed, it looked like it was a no-brainer for Soroka to come back out for the 7th. Instead, Soroka was pulled and the Diamondbacks bullpen allowed 2 runs over the next 3 frames to hand the Rockies a rare win at Chase Field.

Soroka wasn’t the best we had seen him, but he was extremely efficient and mostly effective. Not much swing-and-miss, but a lot of light contact and good defense backing him up. Right from the start of the bullpen usage, however, things were off. Taylor Clarke was first up and got some terrific help from his defense to record 2 outs, but he also allowed a couple baserunners which led to him being pulled in favor of Brandyn Garcia who recorded the final out of the 7th and hit the showers. Then it was Juan Morillo’s turn one night after getting hit with a blown save against these Rockies and it started off just as poorly as last night ended, allowing a quick run to tie the game before recording an out, but Morillo regained his composure and got 2 outs before turning the ball over to Ryan Thompson who mirrored Garcia’s 7th inning performance with a groundout to end the 8th. Thompson came back out for the 9th and looked considerably less sharp than before and ended up giving up the go-ahead run before working his way out of a mess of his own making.

Still, after all of that, Diamondbacks pitchers combined to only allow 3 runs. That is not an epic meltdown. They kept the offense in the game, giving their teammates a chance to win it, but the offense was nowhere to be found. Or, perhaps, the offense was down in the locker room with hamstring tightness for the last few innings.

Coming into the 6th inning, the Diamondbacks had scored 2 runs thanks to 2 RBI base hits by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. In the top of the 6th, Lourdes sprinted in for a sliding catch in shallow left field but was very slow to get back up. Eventually, Torey and the trainer came out to speak with Lourdes and all three walked back to the dugout together, with the team saying Lourdes left with hamstring tightness. While Gurriel finished the night 2/2 with RISP on the night, the rest of the team was 0/5, leaving 6 LOBsters.

The team’s last real opportunity came in the 8th with the score still tied and Corbin leading off. He earned an infield single, then was bunted over to second by Perdomo. Arenado went to first the hard way with a HBP, bringing the very clutch Ildemaro to the plate. Unfortunately, he grounded into a double play and that was that. Jose Fernandez (pinch hitting for injury replacement Jorge Barrosa), Gabi, and ADC went down 1-2-3 in the 9th and the Rockies got their 4th win at Chase in their last 22 tries.

Loss Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• In perhaps an early indicator of how the ball was going to carry tonight with the roof and panels open (SPOILER: there were no home runs this game, just a bunch of warning track fly outs), the Rockies second hitter of the game lifted a flyball to left field that carried and carried all the way to wall where Lourdes made a leaping grab to either rob a homer or keep it from scraping down off the top of the wall. It did not seem like that ball was that well struck and the expression on Michael Soroka’s face when the ball was finally caught looked like he was surprised at the carry as well.
• The D-backs played some superb small ball in the 2nd inning to plate the first run of the game. Nolan Arenado led off with a double, Ildemaro hit fly ball to right field that was deep enough for Nolan to advance to third, and Lourdes then strung together a tough 8-pitch AB culminating in a deep flyout to center that scored Arenado.
• Waldschmidt’s strikeout to start the third was of the ꓘ variety. He made valiant effort to work the count from 1-2 to full, laying off some tough balls just out of the zone, but then was fooled by a fastball that he stared right through the outer-third of the plate and into the mitt. That was his 6th strikeout looking of the year out of 13 total Ks. His 46% ꓘ-rate is easily highest on the team and is one of the higher marks across the league.
• Ketel’s double in the third came off the bat at 116.7mph which was his 2nd hardest hit ball this year. The other was a 116.9mph grounder that resulted in an out. Because of course it was.
• Geraldo Perdomo and Ildemaro Vargas paired up for an outstanding play to get the 2nd out of the 4th inning. Gerry ranged way into the deep hole between second and third to field a grounder and threw back across his body with his momentum still carrying to third. The throw short-hopped Vargas, but it was dead on line and Ildemaro was able to scoop it and complete the out. Excellent play!
• Gerry Perdomo was back to his pesky self in the 4th inning, and it resulted in another D-backs run. Domo led off the inning with a 7-pitch walk, then exhausted Sugano’s disengagements across 2 different hitters looking like he was going to steal. After Arenado popped out during a Domo steal attempt, Ildemaro came up and grounded out to second but since Domo was running on that play, he slid in safely and was in scoring position for Lourdes Gurriel who played the hero again with a ringing single to left. A note should also be given that JR House gave a pretty aggressive send to Domo coming home, but the throw from left field was offline so there was no “option House to Reno” comments on the thread.
• Lourdes Gurriel left the game in the 6th inning after making a stellar sliding grab in short left field. Replays showed he made a bit of a face on his last couple steps before sliding and he knew something was wrong immediately. Hopefully nothing serious and he’s back in short order.
• The 7th inning was all about defense for the Snakes. Corbin started things off with a sliding, backhanded catch in right for the first out, then Waldschmidt made a long run and leap into the corner in left to track down a flyball for the second out of the inning. Then, with 2 runners on, Jake McCarthy hit a grounder halfway between first and second. Ildemaro ranged over and delivered an on-time, on-target toss to Brandyn Garcia who was hustling to cover first and beat McCarthy by a step.
• Ketel Marte worked a 3-0 count in the bottom of the 7th with 2 outs and a runner on. If anyone has earned the right to swing 3-0 on this D-backs team, it’s Ketel, but he grounded out weakly to end the inning.
• Juan Morillo was called on for the 8th inning one night after being pulled in the 8th for giving up the tying run and the box score will show he did indeed give up the tying run again, but tonight he was able to rebound after a rough start to the frame and get the final 2 hitters he faced out before handing the ball to Ryan Thompson who did his normal get-the-groundball-out-you-desperately-need thing.

Comment of the Game

The GameDay Thread started out fairly light tonight, but the comments picked up as the game outcome became more and more in doubt. A final tally of 310 comments at time of publishing with a tie for Comment of the Game awarded to Veeloh and Dano_in_Tucson, fittingly the top two rec’d comments on a night where Lourdes Gurriel had a great game and a very bad night:

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the Rockies for the third game of this 4-game set tomorrow evening with a 12:10pm first pitch Arizona time. Righthander Michael Lorenzen (2-6, 7.03 ERA) will take the mound for Colorado and Zac Gallen (2-4, 4.78 ERA) takes the ball for the good guys. Can Gallen continue this impressive streak of elite starting pitching for the Snakes?

If you had “a tidy 2-0 victory in Kauffman Stadium” on your mind tonight, no you didn’t. The amount of nonsense in AL Central road games over the past few seasons has been enough for a lifetime, but no greater shenanigans have taken place than here. There was the 11-spot in 2022, its little sibling in 2024, and despite ultimately winning three out of four games, I think plenty of ink has been spilled about that August 2023 series. Mix in a feeble righty-heavy lineup and a scuffling Logan Gilbert? Yeah, no one would blame you if you grabbed the clicker.

Tonight the Mariners transcended the ghosts of Kauffman.

The bats had an early chance in the first, with Julio Rodríguez continuing to lay waste to the Royals by ripping a one-out double down the left field line and Randy Arozarena working a walk to put two runners on. Alas, notably left-handed Royals starter Noah Cameron got the last laugh against Rob Refsnyder and Patrick Wisdom, dispatching them both on swings and misses over a combined ten pitches. Spark joy, that does not. Logan Gilbert thankfully came out of the gate strong, setting down Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. with a pair of leadoff strikeouts. Vinnie Pasquantino showed off a nice piece of hitting by slapping an up and a away fastball into left field, but after a harmless flyout from Salvador Pérez, the Royals were turned away.

That’s just kind of how the next several innings went. Logan picked up another duo of Ks from Carter Jensen and Isaac Collins that sandwiched a nice grab by Julio in center off the bat of Jac Caglianone. At long last scaling back the cutter (just nine out of 94 pitches thrown!), Gilbert’s slider and splitter were his primary offspeed offerings. The split kept any hard contact at arm’s length, and strong fastball command kept the Royals’ bats regular off balance. A one-out walk to nine-hole hitter Kyle Isbel was the only blemish through his first five frames, but things may have turned out different had J.P. Crawford not turned back the clock a tad in the fourth.

Gilbert wobbled a bit in the sixth, sneaking a knock from Garcia in between a popout from Isbel and an initially scary flyout from Witt, but an errant pickoff throw where his cleat got caught in the mound let Garcia scoot into second. Vinnie Pasquantino battled for seven pitches – the last four of which were splitters down – and came out victorious with a walk, ending a visibly frustrated Gilbert’s night. Walter may have been cranky, but after his last start against the Padres spiraled quickly, it was a reassuring sight to see that he’s still there. Eduard Bazardo was on to face Salvy, and took a minute to settle in, going into a full count before a harmless forceout at third.

Conversely, Cameron threw his four-seam just fifteen times in his six-inning start, leaning heavily on his changeup and curveballs to dice through Seattle’s hitters, setting a season-high in strikeouts in the fourth. The Mariners also did themselves no favors in the sequencing department. Julio spanked a 113 MPH ground ball into left for a two-out base hit in the third, but Randy went fishing on 2-2 curve. Mitch Garver checked in with a leadoff single in the fifth, only to be almost immediately erased by a Víctor Robles double play. But hey, Colt Emerson notched his second Major League hit, pulling a hard ground ball through the right side. J.P. Crawford and unable to get him in, though, sending a flyball to center for the third out, and after six, the 0-0 score felt quite earned.

The one silver lining on the offensive side was that the bats had worked Cameron for 96 pitches, forcing the Royals to turn to their struggling bullpen. Righty Nick Mears took over duties for the seventh, and promptly walked Cole Young. Garver stepped to the plate for the third time tonight, taking an easy high fastball before getting a middle-high sinker that didn’t sink. Two pitches prior, Angie on the broadcast opined that it was “do your job” time for the lineup.

The Garv man obliged.

The M’s never added on, and they never looked back. Bazardo was sent back onto the mound and threw a hellacious seventh inning, striking out the side in order – including a pair of his patented called third strikes. Matt Brash handled eighth duties, working around hits from Michael Massey and Garcia and some hard contact to stave off a late Kansas City threat. Andrés Muñoz, as is typical, was in to seal the deal. Three batters – and for the first time in his career, zero fastballs – later, and the Mariners had done the unthinkable: win a low-scoring, low-stress game in Kansas City. George Kirby squares off against notably right-handed Stephen Kolek tomorrow at 1:10pm Pacific time. Maybe the ghosts of Kauffman will show us something cool.

The Texas Rangers scored six runs but the Anaheim Angels scored nine runs.

Last Friday we were wondering if the Rangers would make use of a ninth-inning rally from their previous game to push them forward on the cusp of returning to .500 baseball only for them to spend their Friday evening getting one-hit on their way to a series loss in Houston last weekend.

After coming back to win with a ninth inning rally on Wednesday in Colorado, the Rangers got their first look at the Anaheim Angels and instead of any presence of momentum, Texas combined two of the more dubious threads that have plagued them this season into one crappy first inning.

A dash of first inning woes with a pinch of Jacob deGrom dingerball issues put the Rangers in an immediate 4-0 hole. The first inning issues have been well documented but the home run bug for deGrom is something that was worrying early but became a crisis after allowing four dongs in the second loss in the series against Houston.

Tonight, deGrom allowed two more homers, including an inexcusable three-run bomb from someone named Wade Meckler, the first of his big league career.

Overall, deGrom lasted just three innings and allowed six runs on six hits while tying a season-high three walks. This came against a club that had won just five times all month and had scored as many as the four runs that they scored in the first inning alone in just six of their 19 games in May. As you might expect, their nine runs tonight is their best this month.

Texas tried to chip away at the Angels’ early lead and even got to within a run at 6-5 but they eventual ran out of innings but not before old, broken relievers allowed three more Angels runs.

So once again instead of building on a comeback victory the Rangers opened a series against the American League’s worst team with a loss to a division rival.

Player of the Game: Brandon Nimmo has been beat up a little over the last few weeks but after a day off yesterday he had a nice game tonight.

Nimmo hit a fourth inning solo home run and a seventh inning double that, at the time, seemed like it might bring in what would have been the tying run if not for the fact that Josh Jung is incredibly slow and couldn’t score from first base on a two-out extra base hit.

In addition to the success at the plate, Nimmo also made a nifty catch at the wall in right field that prevented extra bases.

Up Next: More Rangers and Angels with a pitcher to be named for Texas opposite LHP Reid Detmers for Anaheim.

The Saturday evening first pitch from the Big A is scheduled for 6:20 pm CDT and will be aired on NBCSN / Peacock.

Yes, it was another loss – to the Rays, no less. Again.

But if you zoom out from the workaday parts of Rays 4, Yankees 2 on Friday night at the Stadium, there’s gold in the fact that Gerrit Cole looked so good in his first big league outing since Game 5 of the 2024 World Series.

Because if these Yankees are going to reassert themselves in the AL East race, their rotation figures to be a major factor. And if Cole can be his old self, they’ll doubtless make a push.

“We’re capable of big things,” Aaron Boone said, referring specifically to his starting rotation. “And it’s great to have our ace back in the mix.”

Frankly, the Yanks needed the boost, even if one night’s result didn’t turn things around immediately. Following Friday night, the Yankees had lost three straight games and 10 of their last 14. Tampa Bay has pushed its division lead to 5.5 games on the Yankees (seven in the loss column).

Aaron Judge is struggling – he’s 0-for-his-last-15 – and while the Yankees had 11 hits Friday and mustered 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position, they only scored two runs. Boone, though, noted that there were several hard-hit balls throughout the lineup, including a long drive to the warning track by Judge that ended the game, that left him thinking “this wasn’t the last couple of nights” with his sputtering offense.

Cole, meanwhile, delivered six shutout innings, allowing just two singles, and seemed delighted by the results in his first game in 569 days. A reporter asked how close the performance was to his “full self,” and Cole, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, responded like this:

“You know, it’s pretty close.”

Added catcher Austin Wells: “Both fastballs look great. All the stuff was moving.”

Cole had only two strikeouts, a far cry from the nights he’s been utterly dominant in his wondrous career. But he and Boone attributed it partly to Tampa Bay’s overt aggression and their outsized ability to make contact. That helped Cole to some brief innings, including a four-pitch 1-2-3 fourth.

“The stuff I was looking at (Friday), moving forward, I think there’ll be nights when the swing-and-miss is there,” Boone said.

And one of the strikeouts was, perhaps, a harbinger of whiffs to come, according to Boone. Cole caught Rays cleanup hitter Yandy Díaz looking at a 97.2 mile-per-hour four-seamer to end the first inning. “The freeze of Yandy was really nice,” Boone said.

Overall, Cole threw 72 pitches and there was no thought of pushing him for more, even with the recent struggles of the Yankee bullpen. “He was done at that point,” Boone said. “He was great.”

“I feel like that was a smart play,” Cole said of when he exited. “You know, it may seem easy, but it was a high-pressure, tough game.”

The Rays tested Cole early by getting their first two batters of the game on base. Cole picked off the speedy Chandler Simpson, which probably helped settle any nerves that may have bloomed in the first inning. Boone praised Cole for the way the pitcher managed the Rays’ aggressive style.

Command is generally the last skill item to fully return for pitchers. Cole walked three Friday night and it was clear that a couple of four-ball free passes irked him.

“I might have to deal with some of that here,” Cole said.

Whatever tweaks he may have to make, the night, as a whole, was a success for him. He noted that his sons were thrilled for his comeback. He called the whole experience of being back “lovely” and that seems like a nice state to land in after all the ups and downs of surgery and rehab.

Now, of course, the Yankees have to start playing better. Over the long season, having Cole back and at this level – in start one – will help.

But the Yanks need to perform immediately against the Rays, too. Tampa Bay is 4-0 against the Yankees so far this season. You might remember a theme of the Yanks’ 2025 season was their inability to beat the Blue Jays, who won the division on a tiebreaker and got home-field advantage against the Yankees in the playoffs. Ultimately, Toronto eliminated the Yanks in the playoffs.

They can’t afford a repeat scenario with another division rival this year. The teams are close – the Rays have won four games against the Yankees by a total of six runs.

“Obviously,” Boone said, “we got to find a way to beat that team.”