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The Yankees have been clearly salty about the way their 2025 season came to a close since the moment it happened. They strongly believed that their team was talented enough to win a championship, and to lose to the Blue Jays—first in the AL East race and then in the AL Division Series—was deeply disappointing. Perhaps the worst part of all of it was that after falling behind 0-2 in the ALDS, they won a dramatic Game 3 to briefly get back into the series, and instead of getting another win to send it back to Toronto for a winner-take-all Game 5, they got utterly embarrassed in front of their own fans at Yankee Stadium as a bullpen game sent them home.

Well, it’s far from the end of the 2026 season, but as far as Mountie Wholestaff once again inexplicably dominating the Yanks in their own backyard goes? As Yogi Berra would say, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”

If the Yankees offense looked moribund on Wednesday night, tonight’s effort may want to make them consider checking their pulses. After eking out two close wins over the Blue Jays on Monday and Tuesday, the Yankee lineup completely flatlined over the ensuing pair of games for a dud of a split. Thursday’s contest was a three-hit shutout at the hands of Toronto’s depth pitchers: a 2-0 final that should prompt some big questions, especially with AL East-leading Tampa Bay coming to town. Carlos Rodón’s decent start was not good enough because it involved one mistake—not the margin for error you want from your starting pitchers, or the bullpen that followed.

Rodón got ambushed quickly to begin this affair. After a strikeout to start the night, he let Vladimir Guerrero Jr. slip away on a walk. That set the table for Daulton Varsho, who flapjacked a slider well out of the strike zone off the third-base bag and down the left field line for a goofy little RBI double—the kind Toronto does so well. Rodón regained his composure to end the frame, but that single run would stand tall for a while.

Toronto’s shutout started with a scoreless inning of work from opener Braydon Fisher, aided by a successful ABS challenge to strike out Aaron Judge. Then lefty Adam Macko worked around a two-out Ryan McMahon double to pass the baton to bulk man Spencer Miles. The 25-year-old righty used his sinker-curve combo to work ahead of the slumping Bomber lineup and quell any thoughts of a tying rally in the middle frames.

Rodón continued to work deep counts in this ballgame, exceeding 90 pitches by the end of the fifth and necessitating a move to rookie Yovanny Cruz after he finished that frame. The southpaw held his own though, working around more command issues to strike out seven Jays and keep the game within reach.

But like last night, the Yankees couldn’t hack it. They managed only three hits in the first seven innings against a trio of pitchers not exactly heralded as household names. Miles made his case to be used as a bona fide starter with 4.1 scoreless innings, striking out six and scattering a walk and two knocks.

Then an old, irritating friend paid a visit.

It’s a truism in Yankee circles that George Springer could be hitting .020 across a full season, and his only hits would probably be for extra bases against the Yankees. Well, Springer entered the night hitting below the Mendoza Line despite continuing to hit leadoff. Naturally, the longtime Yankee nuisance found a pitch to drive off Camilo Doval and snuck it over the left-field wall into the first row. I dunno, man. At least it wasn’t a moonshot? Not like those count any differently.

Because the 2026 Yankee bullpen is totally fine, please stop asking, the eighth and ninth innings saw a high-leverage relief appearance from Paul Blackburn. He actually did well enough. In the eighth, he worked around a double from Ernie Clement to retire Myles Straw. Then in the ninth, he got Springer to roll over into a double play.

But asking for this Yankee offense to produce multiple runs tonight felt like asking for the weather in New Jersey to stop seesawing between sweltering heat waves and spirit-crushing rainstorms.

Submariner Tyler Rogers walked the No. 9 hitter, usually an unforgivable sin against a top-flight offense. But a top-flight offense this was not, tonight. Ben Rice went first-pitch hunting and did Rogers a favor, hitting the ball straight to Varsho. Then Judge came up, and promptly dribbled a double-play ball to Andrés Giménez to finish off the eighth. Cool.

Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Paul Goldschmidt were the trio set to face closer Jeff Hoffman in the bottom of the ninth. Bellinger lined a ball down the line but right to Vladdy at first. Jazz struck out for the fourth time, and Goldschmidt chased a pitch well out of the zone.

That’s that: a 2-0 final and a three-hit shutout to clinch the kind of series split that makes you feel hollow inside. Judge and his teammates talked a big game earlier in 2026 about wanting to always finish series strong. This was very much the opposite of that.

The Yankees have now scored one run over the past 18 innings. That’s not going to cut it against a division rival, especially one like Toronto that tends to round into form in the second half—and with another rival already growing their margin in the division. And oh, yeah, that other rival is coming to town. The Rays swept the Yankees earlier in the year at the Trop and will meet them at a convenient time.

Well, the sun will come out tomorrow, at least. And with it will come a gift: Gerrit Cole is back! I mean, starting pitching isn’t exactly the biggest issue facing the Yankees this season, but hey. You take the positives you can get them. He’ll oppose Nick Martinez with first pitch at 7:05pm on YES.

Box Score

Game 1

Purdue 8 Iowa 1

Starting Pitchers:

· Purdue — RHP Austin Klug (6-3, 5.57 ERA)

· Iowa — RHP Cole Moore (3-0, 5.09 ERA)

Fourth time is a try for the Purdue Boilermakers as they finally got a win over Iowa this season.  Last weekend they were swept on the road by the Hawkeye, but today they got ‘em.  Even though Iowa put a runner on base every inning but the first, their offense was for the most part inept as they could not string anything together.  Iowa is at the best when they get runners on base and create chaos.  That didn’t happen today.

Purdue starter Austin Klug went 4.2 innings today and lefty Jarvis Evans went the rest of the way.  Klug did a solid job though Iowa did take a lead in the fourth inning thanks to Miles Risley reaching on an error and scoring two batters later when Jaixon Frost drove a single to leftfield.  It was a little surprising that Klug was pulled with two outs in the fifth, but apparently coach Greg Goff saw something casual fan didn’t.

The Boilers jumped all over Hawkeye relievers Brolan Frost and Tyler Guerin in the bottom of the fourth.  Frost walked Jackson Bessette and C.J. Richmond to start the inning and was pulled in favor of Guerin.  He promptly gave up a triple to Dylan Drake that scored two.  Drake then scored when the nine-hole batter Westin Boyle hit a deep fly to center.  After four innings, Purdue was up 4-1.

The Indiana boys swung Pete’s hammer again in the sixth inning to put more of a beating on Tyler Guerin.  Richmond saw that the Hawkeyes went into a pull-side shift and laid down an easy bunt to third, reaching first without a throw.  Drake singled to put two on and no outs.  Boyle then executed a bunt of his own and beat it out to first as none of the Hawkeyes could make a play.  That loaded the bases.  Bessette score on a sacrifice fly by Eli Anderson and then former Cornhusker Aaron Manias struck the big blow with a double that scored two more.  Purdue had a 6-1 lead and Iowa showed little life the rest of the game.

Jarvis Evans gave up three hits once he came in to get the last out of the fifth, but did not leave many pitches in the zone that Iowa batters could put a barrel on.  His defense backed him up and did not let a Hawkeye get past first base in the final 4.1 innings.

Purdue added a run in the seventh and another in the eighth by consistently putting the ball in play against a depleted Iowa bullpen.  With the 8-1 win, the Boilermakers will move on to the quarterfinals to take on number one seed and number one ranked UCLA.

With rain in the forecast for Friday there is no word yet whether the Purdue players will be required to support the ground crew in tarping the field.

Game 2

Michigan 3 Ohio State 0

Starting Pitchers:

· Ohio State — RHP Gavin Kuzniewski (6-2, 4.90 ERA)

· Michigan — LHP Shane Brigham (5-4, 4.50 ERA)

While it was not a cloudy, chilly day in November, the fact that Ohio State and Michigan faced off against each other meant there would be a lot of intensity.  From the opening pitch, there was a lot of noise and energy on the field and the fact that it was also an elimination game, just multiplied that.

Ohio State swept the Wolverines last week in their regular season ending series leaving the maize and blue wanting to at least take one chunk out of them for the season.  

The Buckeyes put their Friday night starter Gavin Kuzniewski out on the mound against Michigan’s freshman Shane Brinham.  From that perspective, one would think a slight edge would go to Ohio State.  That said, Brinham moved into a weekend position late in the season and pitched very well.  To no one’s surprise, this one was dominated by the right arm of Kuzniewski and the left arm of Brinham.

In a game like this it is imperative that a team take advantage of any break given to them or mistake made by the opposition.  That happened in favor of Michigan in the top of the third inning.  After striking out Drew Culbertson, he walked both Dane Morrow and Colby Turner.  After a mound visit from the Buckeye pitching coach, he hit Brayden Jeffries with the very next pitch.  All of a sudden, Michigan had bases loaded with one out and their cleanup hitter standing in the batter’s box.  Noah Miller came through with a two-RBI double to put the Wolverines up 2-0.  That was the only hit given up by Kuzniewski on the night.

Brinham was dominant and into the seventh inning had only allowed three hits and one Buckeye to reach second base.  Ohio State had been one of the hottest hitting teams in the league over the last month and they could not get to him.

After giving up the two runs, Kuzniewski entered into a zone where he was unhittable.  Even having thrown 120 pitches, Kuzniewski was still striking out Wolverines in the eighth inning and sat down 15 batters in a row until Colby Turner reached on an error for the second time in the game.  After surrendering a walk to Jeffries, Kuzniewski’s night was over.

Ryan Zamora came on with two Wolverines on base and two outs.  Noah Miller came up big again with his second hit of the game, driving in Turner, who had reached on an error.  Going to the Buckeye half of the

Shane Brinham threw is 100^th pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning and struck out Henry Kaczmar, Noah Furtch, and Dane Harvey, the Buckeyes best hitters.  Harvey was his tenth K of the game, which was a career high for the lefty out of North Vancouver, British Columbia. 

After Zamora struck out the side in the top of the ninth, Brinham was sent out to pitch the ninth for Michigan.  He had not gone this deep in a game in his young career and had thrown 110 pitches.  After giving up his fifth hit of the game to Maddix Simpson, he struck out Mason Eckelman, popped up Lee Ellis, and popped up Grant Mangrum to end the game.

Two incredible pitching performances tonight.  Michigan got the win and advances with only two hits in the game.  This was also the second complete game of the tournament for the Wolverines as their closer, Cade Montgomery went seven innings in a run-rule win over Rutgers.  They will play Nebraska at 5:00 tomorrow night.

WASHINGTON — Devin Williams should have had one out in the ninth inning Thursday, but a misread by his center fielder placed the Mets lead in jeopardy.

A.J. Ewing initially broke backward on Daylen Lile’s fly ball to center and upon recovery had to lunge for a ball that popped out of his glove for a leadoff double.

But Williams has dominated after a rocky transition to the Mets. And Thursday, he recorded three straight outs without Lile advancing beyond third base, securing a 2-1 victory over the Nationals.

It was the 10th straight scoreless appearance for Williams, who earned his seventh save in eight chances.

“I feel like I’m on a good streak here and I am trying to keep it going,” he said.

The right-hander credited a mechanical adjustment for his improvement over a rough April stretch in which he surrendered eight earned runs over four appearances.

“It’s basically my starting position — the way I am starting with my hands, it’s just a lot more comfortable for me,” he said.

Williams said during his struggles he was experimenting with a new starting position with his hands because of concern he was tipping his pitches.

But now he’s found a new comfort zone.

“I have a lot of reps coming from there, so it was always kind of a struggle for me coming set with my hands at my belt,” Williams said. “So we just changed it.”

The Mets have received strong work from not just Williams, but the back end of their bullpen overall. Huascar Brazobán, Brooks Raley and Luke Weaver are the other key components. The group, including Williams, combined for four scoreless innings Thursday.

“They are aggressive, they are attacking hitters, they are sticking to their strength,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “A perfect example was in the ninth inning there with a runner on third base and less than two outs. Devin gets behind in the count and he sticks to the changeup there. He gets to 3-1, gets the swing and miss and then gets a strikeout. It comes down to them executing, but also sticking to who they are.”

An announced crowd of 40,249 came to a chilly Yankee Stadium on Thursday night to watch a ballgame. 

They may have been better off just staying home to tune into the Knicks, or any number of activities that would have been less frustrating than watching the Yankees lineup. 

On a night when arguably the biggest cheers were reserved for the Knicks score being flashed on the video board, the Yankees bats came up emptier than airballs in a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays in The Bronx. 

After winning the first two games of the four-game set against the defending division champs, the Yankees (30-21) wasted a chance to take the series over the past two nights, going down meekly with a combined one run and nine hits. 

That was understandable Wednesday, when the Blue Jays (23-27) had young stud Trey Yesavage on the mound, but on Thursday, the Yankees mustered just three hits as they were shut down in a bullpen game, led by bulk reliever Spencer Miles, a rookie who cruised across 4 ¹/₃ innings. 

“We got some work to do,” said Aaron Judge, who acknowledged looking forward to the series after the Blue Jays ended the Yankees’ season last October with an ALDS thrashing. “We don’t like splitting that series, but we’ll take care of business in the next one.” 

The Yankees, who will welcome the division-leading Rays on Friday for a showdown that begins with Gerrit Cole’s season debut, have now lost nine of their past 13 games. 

They struck out 14 times, did not have a runner advance past second base all night and only had multiple base runners in one inning — first and second with one out in the sixth, after which Jazz Chisholm Jr. (0-for-4, four strikeouts) struck out on three pitches and Paul Goldschmidt grounded out. 

“Bullpen games can be challenging offensively and they matched up well,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But we got shut down tonight. … We got to get some guys going, period.” 

Judge, owner of the seventh-highest OPS in the majors, had another quiet night, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout and grounding into a double play. He is now 4-for-31 with 12 strikeouts over his past eight games. 

“I’m not doing enough at the plate,” Judge said. 

Boone chalked it up to a timing issue for the back-to-back AL MVP. 

“Just going through it a little bit right now,” Boone said. “Usually that means good things coming on the other side. A little in between probably. … He’ll get through it and somebody will pay the price real soon.” 

Carlos Rodón turned in the best start of his delayed season, tossing five innings of one-run ball. He still battled some issues with his command — walking three batters, one of which turned into the only run he allowed — but allowed just three hits and struck out seven while completing five innings for the first time this year. 

Despite the left-hander’s fastball velocity being down, Rodón generated 18 whiffs, an encouraging sign even on a night when he was still trying to fine-tune his command. 

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Rodón said. “Obviously I’d like to get deeper into games.” 

Camilo Doval later gave up another run when he left a slider over the heart of the plate to George Springer, who belted it for a solo shot that made it 2-0 in the seventh inning. 

But with the way the Yankees offense was going, it did not matter much, a fact that will need to be rectified against another tough division opponent this weekend. 

“We just got to tighten up a couple things here with us and we’ll be right where we need to be,” Judge said. “The offense isn’t too far off. You get a couple timely hits, get a couple walks when you need it, some good things are going to happen. Just got to get some traffic back out there.”

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were blue after losing to the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals), 1-0.

Iowa wasted a terrific start from Jordan Wicks, who tossed five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. Wicks struck out two and walked two.

Luis Peralta hit a batter to open the sixth inning and after a stolen base, a walk, and an infield single to load the bases, a sacrifice fly scored the only run of the game. Peralta’s final line was one run on one hit over two innings. He walked one and struck out two.

Corbin Martin retired the side in order in the ninth, striking out one.

With no one on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, center fielder Kevin Alcántara walked. Then second baseman James Triantos and shortstop Owen Miller both singled. Alcántara tried to score from second on Miller’s single, but was thrown out at the plate in a controversial call.

You be the judge.

No replay in the minors, so what the umpire called goes. I can’t tell if Alcántara touched the plate or not from that angle anyways.

Alcántara was 0 for 2 with two walks. Triantos was 1 for 4. Miller was 2 for 4.

A great catch from left fielder Justin Dean.

Knoxville Smokies

Rare scheduled off-day so the Savannah Bananas can play in Knoxville. There’s a double-header on Saturday.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs calmed the West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers), 7-1.

Starter Ethan Flanagan threw four innings and allowed just one unearned run on three hits. He struck out three and walked no one.

After Kenyi Perez retired the side in oder in the sixth, striking out two, Kevin Valdez went the final four innings for the win. Perez gave up no runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out two.

Third baseman Matt Halbach hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, his fourth on the season. Halbach was 1 for 4.

First baseman Cameron Sisneros hit an RBI single in the third inning that gave South Bend the lead for good. Sisneros was 2 for 4 with a walk.

Left fielder Kade Snell was 2 for 5 with an RBI single in the fifth inning. He later scored in that inning on a throwing error.

Shortstop Miguel Olivo was 1 for 2 with a double and two walks. He scored twice.

RBI singles for Kane Kepley and Sisneros. Kepley was 1 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.

The Halbach home run.

A two-run double for Leonel Espinoza. He was 1 for 5.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were shot by the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox), 3-1 in a game that ended in the bottom of the fifth inning because of rain.

Starter Daniel Avitia got the loss after he allowed three runs on three hits over four innings. Two of those runs scored on third inning home run. Avitia did strike out seven while walking three.

Left fielder Eli Lovich hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning. It was his fourth on the year. Lovich was 1 for 2.

ACL Cubs

Losing to the Brewers 6-5 in the fourth inning.

The first headline I saw when I searched up our recently cast-off backstop was for an AP article published by the Watertown Daily News: “Baily, Cantillo lead Guardians to four-game series sweep…” 

While I harbor no real ill-will towards Patrick Bailey, I admit I wasn’t pleased about the news.  Petty tribalism inherent in fandom runs deep, and stumbling upon some local coverage reporting on the exploits of ex-Giant really ticked me off. I wanted no news. I wanted bad news. The fact that Patrick Bailey hit a solo shot in the 8th inning of a 3-1 win over Detroit, that he “led” his team to a sweep (just as the Giants were swept), that he did something so positive that rural Wisconsin was talking about him robbed me of some strange vindication/validation that my team “won” the trade that sent him to the Midwest. The transaction was no banishment. Bailey was “Baily” now, according to the headline — he had been reborn.

Upon further digging, he hasn’t. That homer earlier today was his second hit as a member of the Guardians (18 AB). He left San Francisco with a .146/.213/.183 slash line and after Thursday’s fireworks, he’s batting .140 with a slightly elevated .210 slugging percentage. He’s got three RBIs and a 50% caught stealing rate (on 4 chances). Bailey is still Bailey. 

And in his stead, the Giants catcher committee has been at least more productive. You can’t argue with numbers: their 65 wRC+ is certainly better than Bailey’s -30 wRC+ in the same span, but maybe it hasn’t been the boon some hoped for. The individuals in the committee have shone brightest in moments rather than day-in and day-out consistency. Jesus Rodriguez’s only hit since May 9th was a walk-off single against Pittsburgh. Eric Haase earned an entry in the Encyclopedia of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry with a two-homer night off Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Daniel Susac, while at the center of a controversial catcher-interference call earlier in the week in Arizona, has put would-be base stealers on notice.

Two weeks isn’t enough time to accurately grade the Bailey trade — but an off-day after a series sweep, a losing road trip, a losing two months can certainly have one circling the drain. Its easy for us fans to get sucked into that dangerous whirlpool of what-could-have-beens. The recent roster woes force our rumination on the roads not taken. A heavy fog of doubt still lingers over choices made. Buster Posey has taken some mighty swings as the President of Baseball Operations. A mighty swing produces a hard-hit ball that goes really really far…or a fleeting breeze.

Rafael Devers will be a Giant for many more years to come. From the vantage point we have now it’s hard to say whether that’s terrifying or exciting. What I know for sure is that the decision to take the Devers path will be costly in more ways than one. And what I also know for sure is, situated firmly in the present, Kyle Harrison is 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 59 strikeouts over 45.2 innings pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers, and yup, he’s still just 24 years old.

Rewind to Wednesday. As Tyler Mahle malfunctioned once again when facing a lineup for the third time in a game, Harrison limited the Chicago Cubs, one of the best offenses in the league, to 2 hits over 7 shutout innings while striking out 11.

There hasn’t been any major restructuring. He hasn’t discovered a Skubal-esque change-up, or cooled down his heater’s workload. Harrison is dominating with the same two pitches and the same 60-30 mix, he had in San Francisco, just with a couple of tweaks. He throws from the first base side of the rubber now. The arm angle is still slingy but a little higher, helping the fastball to holding its plane, and a better more consistently located fastball is working wonders for his breaking ball.

Can you imagine being the Red Sox and trading that guy?

So what else happened on Wednesday amongst the recent cast-off Giants that could hollow out my stomach even more? 

Ah yes, in the Blue Jays’ 2-1 win over the New York Yankees, another imposing offense, reliever Tyler Rogers turned in an 11-pitch 8th for his 8th hold of the year while lowering his ERA to 1.61 (22.1 IP). The submariner continues to throw against the grain. His fastball velocity is the lowest in the league, yet ranks in the 96th percentile. His 69% groundball rate is second only to New York reliever Tim Hill. A baseball touched by Rogers has yet to find itself in the outfield bleachers. Drew Gilbert is good for a laugh, but considering the bingo cage reliever situation the Giants are in, and the fact that this team was supposedly being constructed with pitching and defense at the forefront of their minds, a late-inning arm of his consistency and caliber sure would be nice…

And over in Miami, on the same Wednesday, Dom Smith did this on the twelfth pitch of his at-bat…

Then he did this…

Is there anyone in the league right now more loved than Dom Smith? The journeyman player is playing for his sixth team in five seasons and continues to endear himself to franchise after franchise. This year in Atlanta, it didn’t take long. 14 days after his mom passed away, Smith hit a walk-off grand slam in his first game as a Brave. He’s batting .337 with a .903 OPS (106 PA, almost exclusively against RHP) so far this season, and while he fell victim to the crush of players vying to fill the Giants’ first base/DH role, getting those kinds of platoon-split numbers off the bench would’ve been more than welcome. 

And just to be abundantly clear:

Rafael Devers: 5 HR, 20 RBI, 99 OPS+ in 191 AB

Dom Smith: 6 HR, 22 RBI, 155 OPS+ in 98 AB (though Wednesday)

Alas, not every San Francisco alum is absolutely crushing it in Atlanta.

After scorching hot spring, Mike Yastrzemski has struggled in…well, actually as I write this, I just checked the boxscore and Yaz went 3-for-3 with a double, homer and 3 RBIs in today’s 9-3 series finale win against Miami. He’s 12-for-37 over his last 15 games with a .649 SLG while boasting a top-shelf top lip for Mustache May. 

I know this is reactionary, I know nostalgia and calling “Mulligan!” aren’t solid principles of roster construction — but could we get a couple of do-overs ‘cuz I miss those guys right now.

The Atlanta Braves are holding their breath as star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. is dealing with a thumb issue.

Acuña, 28, was slow to enter the field during the fifth inning of the Braves’ 9-3 win over the Marlins on Thursday, later exiting and getting replaced by outfielder Eli White.

Video from the broadcast showed Acuña outside of the dugout pointing at his left thumb to Atlanta medical staff. It appeared as if it were a struggle for him to close his hand before taking the field.

The Braves then announced on X that Acuña left the game with “pain in his left thumb.”

X-rays on the 2023 NL MVP’s thumb came back negative, with Acuña being designated as day-to-day, according to The Athletic.

Acuña has already missed time this year, being placed on the injured list at the beginning of May due to a hamstring strain.

He wound up sidelined for roughly two weeks, with Tuesday’s game against the Marlins being his first game back since he suffered his injury on May 2.

While on the field, Acuña has experienced a slow start compared to previous years, posting a modest slash line of .252/.364/.378 with just two home runs through 36 games.

“He just hasn’t found that consistency where he gets rolling, but it will be loud when he does… He’s getting really close,” Braves manager Walt Weiss told reporters in April. “Our offense has been really good, and we can dream big if Ronald gets rolling, it will be fun to watch.”

Injuries have plagued Acuña’s career since his 2023 campaign, playing in 95 games last year and just 49 games in 2024.

The five-time All-Star tore his ACL in May 2024, causing him to miss the remainder of the season, along with the start of 2025.

Acuña dealt with Achilles tightness during the 2025 season, causing him to miss roughly three weeks at the start of August.

The Braves sit atop the NL East with a 35-16 record following Thursday’s win.

The Yankees offense went cold for a second straight day as they mustered just three hits in their 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday night in the Bronx.

It's not like the Yankees didn't have their chances. They were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left five on base. With the loss, the Yankees (30-21) split the four-game series with Toronto (23-27).

Here are the takeaways...

-The Yankees bats didn't have many runners get into scoring position against the Blue Jays, who deployed the bullpen game strategy. In the second, Ryan McMahon'stwo-out double was wasted in the second inning by an Anthony Volpe flyout and a Spencer Jones leadoff single -- followed by the prospect's first career stolen base -- was gone by the wayside in the fifth after back-to-back strikeouts from Volpe and J.C. Escarra. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. (strikeout) and Paul Goldschmidt (groundout) left Ben Rice at second when the Yankees had two runners on in the sixth. 

The Blue Jays were worse in the clutch department, picking up seven hits (three from Ernie Clement) but making it count by going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight on base.

-Carlos Rodon made his third start of the season Thursday and got into some bad luck in the first. After walking Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with one out, the slugger stole second and Daulton Varsho poked an opposite-field double (65.5 mph off the bat) that hit the third base bag, scoring Guerrero. 

Aside from that, Rodon was solid. The southpaw gave the Yankees five strong innings, striking out a season-high seven batters. He allowed just the one run on three hits and three walks. It's the furthest Rodon has gone this season and he dropped his ERA to 5.40. 

-Aaron Judge's struggles continued, striking out looking in his first at-bat -- extending his consecutive strikeout streak to seven ABs. He finished 0-for-4. He is now homerless in 10 straight games.

Volpe is fighting to stay in the lineup with the return of Jose Caballero looming. The shortstop went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and went 3-for-14 with four strikeouts in the series.

Escarra is also looking to stay in the lineup with the slumping Austin Wells not starting. Escarra finished 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout and is 1-for-16 in his last seven games.

Jones started in center field with Trent Grisham getting the night off after injuring his knee on Wednesday. The young slugger went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and a strikeout.

-George Springer got to the bullpen, taking Camilo Doval deep for a solo shot to put Toronto up 2-0 in the seventh. The Yankees bullpen was up-and-down in this one. Yovanny Cruz, after having a spectacular MLB debut on Wednesday, was not as sharp, allowing a hit and hitting a batter while getting just one out. 

Here's how the bullpen fared:

• Y. Cruz: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 HB 
• Brent Headrick: 1.0 IP, 1 K
• Doval: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER
• Paul Blackburn: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 K

Game MVP: Blue Jays bullpen

Toronto used five pitchers and they kept the Yankees lineup off balance, striking out 14 batters.

What's next

The Yankees continue their homestand by hosting the AL East-leading Rays for a three-game series starting Friday. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

Gerrit Cole will make his season debut while Tampa will have Nick Martinez (4-1, 1.51 ERA) take the mound.

Another game, another offensive outburst, another series win. The Braves continued to bounce back and then some from their 12-0 drubbing in the series opener, riding a trio of homers, including two by Michael Harris II, to yet another easy win over the Marlins in Miami.

The Braves wasted no time in opening the scoring against Sandy Alcantara. Ronald Acuña Jr. beat out a single to short, and then Harris unloaded on a hanging 1-2 changeup, sending a 110+ mph laser over the fence in right-center to give Atlanta a 2-0 lead. In the second, it was Mike Yastrzemski’s turn to jump on a changeup, and though he didn’t hit it as hard as Harris (102, not 110+), it still had enough to get past the field of play and give the Braves a 3-0 advantage.

Spencer Strider faced the minimum through two thanks to a double play, but Owen Caissie caught up to an elevated fastball to start the third and lofted it 400+ feet for a solo shot. Then, in the fourth, it was Kyle Stowers’ turn to scoop a Strider 1-2 curve below the zone and send it just far enough to give the Marlins another solo shot.

Not to worry, though, as the Braves stormed right back. Yastrzemski and Ha-Seong Kim each singled to start the fifth, and after a successful bunt by Chadwick Tromp, Acuña lined a ball past the drawn-in infield to make it a 5-2 game. Strider struck out the side in the bottom of the frame, working around a walk. A Yastrzemski opposite-field double plated a sixth Atlanta run. Strider then worked another perfect frame, retiring the top of the Miami order on two soft groundouts and a nine-pitch strikeout.

Sandy Alcantara departed after six innings. It was a pretty poor outing in an inconsistent season for him, as he managed just three strikeouts while allowing two homers. At least he didn’t walk anyone — but the two homers allowed were his first since he allowed four homers in two starts back in mid-April. Cade Gibson threw a scoreless seventh, though the frame involved a Tromp single and a hit-by-pitch of Eli White, who came in for Acuña after the latter made a precautionary departure due to pain in his thumb.

Strider came back out for the seventh, but he didn’t complete the inning. Stowers popped him for another homer, again on a low breaking pitch. This time, it was a slider still in the zone, but the result was largely the same. Stowers came into this game with a single homer on the year, and collected two off Strider tonight. After a routine flyout and a four-pitch walk, the Braves pulled the plug on Strider. His final line was 6 1/3 innings with a 9/2 K/BB ratio. It was kind of a weird outing — an FIP in the 7.00s due to the three homers, but an xFIP below 3.00, due to the stellar K/BB effort. It was his longest outing of the year, the nine punchouts were the most he had since last July, and it was the fourth three-homer game of his career.

Dylan Lee relieved Strider and the Marlins actually sent the tying run to the plate after a pinch-hit single greeted the Braves’ ace lefty reliever. A strikeout and a groundout stifled the threat, though, and the Braves pretty much rolled from there. Mauricio Dubon hit for Yastrzemski in the eighth and blooped a two-run single to make it 8-3. Robert Suarez threw an 11-pitch perfect frame with a strikeout in the eighth, and then Harris, not to be outdone by Stowers, hit his own second homer, this time off Pete Fairbanks on a letter-high, 98 mph fastball. Harris now has a 135 wRC+ on the season, and likely pushed his xwOBA back over .400 with tonight’s effort. Woo and wow.

Dylan Dodd struck out two in the ninth to end the game, giving the Braves their 35th win.

The lads will return home to start a weekend set with the Nationals tomorrow, but they’ll have a happy flight given that they’re on yet another win streak at this point.

Devin Williams was on the mound with a streak of nine straight scoreless outings under his belt, and yet when that wind-blown shallow fly ball fell in for a double leading off the ninth inning on Thursday in Washington, D.C, I’m quite sure most Mets fans were thinking the worst. 

How could you not, to be honest?

It has been that kind of season for the Mets, and, well, Williams has a reputation, between his work in the Bronx last season and a rough start in Queens this year, for shrinking in the biggest moments as a closer. 

Going all the way back to giving up the famous Pete Alonso home run for the Brewers, actually.

So I don’t blame you if you’re not fully buying into the new-and-improved Devin Williams just yet. Or is it the old reliable Devin Williams, going back to his pre-Alonso Milwaukee days?

But to be fair, the guy has been as lockdown as a closer can be for nearly a month now, covering his last 10 appearances, including Thursday’s 2-1 win over the Nationals. 

This one was especially impressive as Williams didn’t flinch on Thursday, despite the misplay by A.J. Ewing in center that turned Daylen Lile’s wind-blown fly ball into a leadoff double. Indeed, after a ground ball pushed the tying run on third base with one out, Williams fell behind 3-1 to Jose Tena, yet struck him out by getting swings on two nasty changeups. 

A routine groundout finished off the save, and suddenly, you can make a case that the air-bender is again worthy of the fancy nickname by which Williams’ changeup has been known for years. 

Certainly, he is carrying himself with the old confidence born from that pitch, a confidence that was evident after the save Thursday -- and quite a contrast to his subdued interviews from blown saves past. 

For example, he was asked by SNY’s Steve Gelbs how he pulled off the escape, especially after falling behind in the count to Tena. 

“Never giving in,” Williams said with a smile. “I know that guy wanted to hit a fastball there. I didn’t give it to him. I was pitching to the score of the game. The tying run was on third. Gotta keep him there.”

Only a couple of years ago, he was as good as anybody in the game in situations like that, which is why David Stearns thought it was worth a three-year, $51 million gamble to sign him last winter, believing he could be that guy again. 

And at least right now, it is looking like one decision for which Stearns doesn’t have to do any re-examining, unlike so many others in this so-far disaster of a season. 

For in those last 10 appearances, Williams has thrown 9.2 scoreless innings while holding opponents to a .069 batting average, with five walks and 12 strikeouts. 

It’s a relatively small sample, to be sure, but there’s another component to his recent success that could add weight to the results.

That is, those results coincide with Williams’ decision to go back to his old delivery. Actually, his old way of coming set before his delivery, with his glove in front of his chest. 

After the Alonso home run, which caused much video-inspired speculation that Williams was tipping his pitches that night, and his problems in the Bronx last season, he had changed his set position to try and protect against tipping, lowering his glove to a belt-high position.  

It's something, he believes, that messed with his mechanics as well as his mindset. 

“The way I’m starting with my hands now, it’s more comfortable for me,” Williams told reporters Thursday. “It’s back to what I used to do.”

He admitted he had changed it because of all the tipping-pitches speculation, but with a 10.29 ERA in late April, he decided to go back to his old way. So how will he guard against tipping now?

“Being conscious of it,” he said simply. 

If Williams returning to form turns out to be more than just some type of streak, it obviously would be crucial for the Mets, who are trying to save their season. As it is, they are slowly moving closer to .500, playing better baseball for the last few weeks. 

Yet a return to contention still feels like a major leap of faith. The Nationals aren’t pushovers -- they lead the majors in runs scored, and still it feels like the Mets should have won 3 of 4 against them, if Nolan McLean hadn’t imploded with a 5-0 lead in the second game of the series. 

The offense is showing signs of life, yet the Mets still have days like Thursday when they went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and couldn’t add on a crucial insurance run or two in the ninth inning after loading the bases with no outs.

But there are good signs as well. The emergence of Carson Benge and the call-up of Ewing have provided a spark, and now Juan Soto is hot while Bo Bichette, who delivered the only runs on Thursday with a two-run single, seems to finally be coming around as well. 

Meanwhile, the impact of the Clay Holmes injury is already being felt, but at least David Peterson has been solid enough of late, including Thursday, to offer evidence that he can be a capable starter. 

Then there is the bullpen, which has been mostly excellent lately, including Thursday, as Huascar Brazoban, Brooks Raley, and Luke Weaver each pitched a hitless inning to get it to Williams. And Austin Warren has been the surprise piece that teams need. 

Add it all up and there are rays of optimism in the Mets winning seven of their last 10 games. It may not be a reason to buy into a turnaround, but it’s not nothing. 

Same for Williams. If the air-bender is truly a thing again, it’s hard to know how much it will matter in August or September. But for now, it’s something.