David Peterson’s return to the rotation went about as well as the rest of this cursed Mets season.

The left-hander allowed seven runs — all earned — in just 3 ²/₃ innings in Wednesday’s 14-2 loss to the Nationals at Citi Field.

And because the state of their pitching staff is so bad, Peterson will almost certainly remain either in the rotation or used behind an opener the next time through the rotation.

“He’s a big part of this team,’’ Carlos Mendoza said.

Peterson said his issues stemmed from falling behind in counts.

He also walked three batters, but insisted he could right himself.

“I’ve done it before,’’ Peterson said. “And I believe in myself and I know I have the stuff to do it.”

Mendoza also expressed belief that Peterson has the ability to be effective.

“We’ve seen flashes of it,’’ Mendoza said. “He’s got more than enough to compete in the strike zone.”

Peterson’s ERA in five starts this season is 8.10, compared to his success out of the bullpen, where he’s allowed one run in seven innings in two appearances.

And he’s also allowed six earned runs in the first inning of his five starts.

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“Out of the bullpen in his last couple of outings, he comes in aggressive and attacking,’’ Mendoza said. “He uses all his pitches and is competing in the strike zone.”

In the rotation, though, it’s a different story, but with so many pitchers struggling, the Mets have little choice but to keep going to the lefty.

Sean Manaea was as bad in relief as Peterson, allowing six runs in 2 ²/₃ innings.

Luis Robert Jr. remained sidelined by lower back tightness.

The center fielder had an MRI exam Wednesday, and Mendoza said they were awaiting the results following the latest loss.

The Mets have limited Robert’s playing time in an attempt to prevent the injuries that have plagued him the previous two seasons.

It’s not off to a great start.

“[His back] didn’t improve much after treatment,” Mendoza said before the game. “We’re doing everything in our power to keep him on the field.”

With Robert out and Juan Soto limited to DH duties as he deals with left forearm tightness, the Mets are willing to take advantage of Carson Benge’s ability to play all three outfield spots.

Soto, who went 3-for-5 with a solo homer in the Mets’ loss on Wednesday, entered the day swinging at the highest percentage of pitches outside the strike zone of his career (23.1 percent).

His career mark is a more selective 17 percent.

With Francisco Lindor out and much of the rest of the offense not hitting, Mendoza was asked if opposing teams will avoid giving Soto good pitches.

“Regardless of who’s in the lineup, a lot of teams pitch around him,’’ the manager said. “I feel like he continues to get, maybe not as many, [but] pitches to hit. If not, he’s got to trust his teammates.”

Francisco Alvarez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and is now hitless in his last 12 at-bats, with Mendoza saying the catcher is “in-between” in his at-bats.

A.J. Minter, rehabbing from last year’s lat surgery, is expected to pitch in two more minor league rehab games Friday and Sunday.

If all goes well, Mendoza didn’t rule out the possibility of the left-hander being activated at some point next week.

“We’ll see,’’ the manager said. “We said we’d take it slowly.”

Tommy Pham, designated for assignment by the Mets, cleared waivers and elected free agency. The veteran outfielder went 0-for-13 in his second stint in Queens.

He was replaced on the roster by another right-handed hitting outfielder, Austin Slater.

The Mets signed shortstop Jamari Baylor to a minor league deal.

The 25-year-old spent last season in the independent Atlantic League and has never played above High-A in the minors after being selected in the third round in 2019 by the Phillies.

Introduction

While it is still early in the season, I can’t help but notice that while the team is struggling at the MLB level, there’s several of the Dbacks top prospects playing very well for the D’Backs AAA level affiliate, the Reno Aces. There are also a couple veteran relief pitchers that have been pitching very well, who merit discussion, but who I won’t be discussing in this article. (NOTE: We’re just just under a full month into the Minor League Baseball season, so small samples abound, especially with the relief pitchers. Just a few good/bad outings and games can turn these numbers upside down, so this is just a fun exercise. It’ll be another month before any Minor League stats should be taken seriously. All stats in this article through 28th April, 2026.)

The Hot Hitting Prospects

Top 100 overall prospect Ryan Waldschmidt (Fangraphs |B-Ref player pages) has unsurprisingly been one of the Reno Aces best hitters. The 23 year old right handed hitting outfielder has played mostly center field in the 2026, but is capable of playing all three outfield positions competently. Through his first 131 plate appearences, he’s hit .303/.400/.505 with a 122 wRC+ and a .408 wOBA.

Tommy Troy ( Fangraphs|B-Ref), the 12th overall pick in the 2023, in his first 122 plate appearences is hitting .317/.405/.481 with a 120 WRC+ and .404 wOBA. Troy has seen the majority (60%) of his starts at second base, but surprisingly has spent a good chunk of time in left field and couple games worth of innings in center.

LuJames ‘Gino’ Groover III ( Fangraphs|B-Ref) through his first 127 plate appearances is hitting .340/.440/.427, with a 123 wRC+ and a .410 wOBA. He’s spent slightly more than half his time in the field this season at third base with the rest spent across the diamond at first.

Kristian Robinson’s ( Fangraphs | B-Ref ) history has been discussed so much that I’m not going to discuss it here other than the very short version. Once a top prospect, legal issues that came as a result of cannabis induced psychiatric episode along with pandemic kept him away from baseball for three years. Robinson is probably not the star outfielder we thought he was, but he is a perfectly servicable outfielder with an intriguing mix of power and speed. In his first 110 plate appearences in 2026, Robinson is hitting .286/.400/.484 with a 119 wRC+ and a .402 wOBA. Robinson is capable of playing all three outfield position as well, with a better throwing arm than any of the other outfielder on the MLB roster.

The biggest reason to not call up any of these four players is finding regular playing time, along with service time and roster considerations. Ryan Waldschmidt and Kristian Robinson are (arguably) an across the board upgrade over current Dback OFer Jorge Barrosa, but if they’re only on the roster as the fourth outfielder, they won’t get as much playing time as needed to further develop as hitters. With his .524 OPS and 46 wRC+, Tim Tawa has been a below average hitter in 2026, so bad that he’s been worth -0.3 WAR. Lourdes Gurriel may only have recently been activated of the Injury List, but he’s already matched Tawa in negative WAR despite having played in 10 fewer games. The aforementioned Barrosa’s job is arguably pretty safe, despite the 79 wRC+, he’s an above average outfielder who’s put up .2 WAR thanks to his defense. In a similar vein, the defensively gifted Alek Thomas is once again struggling offensively, and while he still is putting up positive value, his defense isn’t that much of an upgrade over Waldschmidt’s to make his job safe either. Theoretically Waldschmidt and Robinson could replace Barrosa and Thomas , and while there would almost certainly be a drop off defensively, the potential for a massive offensive upgrade could might very well be worth it.

Tommy Troy, who has the most defensive versatility thanks to his ability to play both infield and outfield, is an obvious choice to replace Tim Tawa on the roster. As long as the Ildemaro Vargas/Nolan Arenado experiment continues to be successful, and Jose Fernandez continues to rake, I can’t imagine we’ll see Groover anytime soon, unless Adrian Del Castillo just completely fails to provide any offense at DH. Which is unfortunate, as Groover statistically has been the best hitter on the Aces, while also having the exit velocity and batted ball data that legitimizes his production as more than a PCL induced fluke.

Pitching Prospects Having Success Shutting Down A Punishing PCL

Amongst the actual ranked pitching prospects on the Aces, Mitch Bratt (Fangraphs|B-Ref) has been the most effective of the starting pitchers in the Aces rotation so far. In his first five starts, he’s put up a 2.84 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, with a 50 ERA-. His 4.35 FIP and 4.64 xFIP aren’t exactly inspiring but overall those are very solid numbers for a starting pitcher in hitters haven that is the Pacific Coast League.

Yilber Diaz (Fangraphs|B-Ref) and Brandyn Garcia (Fangraphs|B-Ref) have combined to form a very effective relief duo. In his 10 relief appearances, he’s put up 13 ⅔ IP while striking out 20 batters (a 34% SO%) and walking just five batters (9.3BB%) His 1.32 ERA and 24 ERA- are absolutely stellar, though his 3.11 FIP and 2.90 xFIP do suggest his ERA won’t stay that low forever. Brandynn Garcia has also appeared in 10 games, putting up 12⅓ IP with 18 strikeouts and 10 walks. His 2.19 ERA works out to a 39 ERA-, though his stats do seem like they’re do for some regression, as indicated by the 4.58 FIP and 4.35 xFIP.

It’s almost certainly a matter of when, not if Yilber Diaz and Brandyn Garcia get called up in 2026, and there are already candidates in the bullpen for them to replace. The most obvious would be Paul Sewald, but arguements could be made for Ryan Thompson as well. Originally I was going to mention Andrew Hoffman, but the latter was sent down for Philip Abner whilst writing this article.

It’s actually somewhat fitting that the most obvious candidate in the starting rotation that Mitch Bratt could potentially replace is the pitcher the Dbacks traded away last summer to acquire him (along with Hagaman and Kohl Drake), Merrill Kelly. To be as blunt as possible, Merrill Kelly has not been good at all so far this season, and his performance so far has been troubling. In his first start back in a 4-3 win against the baltimore Orioles, Kelly pitched 5 ⅓ innings, allowing a pair of earned runs on five hits and four walks. It doesn’t sound that bad, but it was a messy outing saved thanks to Ildemaro Vargas and Jose Fernandez’s offense, though he does deserve some extra credit for a successful pickoff throw of a runner on third. Kelly’s 2nd outing was a disaster: 4⅓ innings, 8 earned runs allowed on 10 hits ans 3 walks. Of those ten hits, half of them went for extra base hits, three of which were homeruns. His most recent outing wasn’t any better. He pitched 5 ⅓ innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits and five walks, with another homerun allowed. All that adds up to a 9.20 ERA with 8.78 FIP, which has cost the Diamondbacks -0.5/-0.6 fWAR/bWAR. It’s still early and he can turn it around, but if his season continues like this, then I would think that eventually a move will have to be made. Alternatively, Ryne Nelson and his 7.71 ERA or Brandon Pfaadt and his 5.54 ERA aren’t exactly lighting the world on fire either.

Conclusion

Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen has quite a few options in AAA that could potentially bolster the Major League roster. Which of these players do you think is most likely to be able to contribute to an MLB roster right now? Is there a prospect on the AAA or even AA roster that you feel is more deserving of a call up?Which player on the MLB roster do you think will be the next to go after Andrew Hoffman? Who do you expect to be called up first? Let me know in the comments down below!

Next Week: We wrap up the Top Prospect series by finally ranking the Dbacks top pitching prospects.

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the bopping-est bar for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. So glad you decided to stop by. It’s been a great day and we hope to make it better. The dress code is casual. The hostess can seat you now. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

The Cubs beat the Padres today 5-4, which wraps up a 3-3 road trip to Southern California. Considering how good those two teams are and that they’re both likely to be playoff teams. that seems like a very good result.

Last night I asked you if the Cubs should continue to let Moisés Ballesteros catch or whether he should be made a full-time DH. The vote was close, but 53 percent of you would continue to develop him as a catcher whereas 45 percent would just let him hit (and maybe play first base once in a while).

Here’s the part where we listen to jazz and talk movies. You can skip ahead if you want.

Tomorrow—or today (April 30) depending on when you read this—is International Jazz Day and the home city this year is Chicago. An all-star concert will be held at Millenium Park starting at 3 pm tomorrow and you can watch it online if you can’t make it to the show.

International Jazz Day was Herbie Hancock’s idea when he was a UNESCO Ambassador and was adopted by that organization in 2011. Here’s Hancock in a 2018 International Jazz Day concert in Osaka, Japan. Also in this All-Star show was Kenny Garrett (alto sax), Marcus Miller (electric bass), John Scofield (guitar), Roy Hargrove (trumpet), Terri Lyn Carrington (drums), Josh Johnson (alto sax), Courtney Pine (tenor sax), Steve Turre (trombone), Mike Cottone (trumpet), Takuya Kuroda (trumpet), Sheila E. (percussion) and Pete Escovedo (percussion).

This is “Hang Up Your Hang Ups.”

Generally I only tell you about the films that I’ve watched that I liked, but the only film I’ve watched in the past few days is Wife vs. Secretary (1935), a romantic comedy directed by Clarence Brown with an all-star cast of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy. It also has a pre-star James Stewart in one of his first big supporting roles. It’s a typical mid-century (or so) story of a wife (Loy) who gets jealous of the secretary (Harlow) of her workaholic husband (Gable). Unfortunately, despite the powerhouse cast, the film is very light on the “comedy” part of a rom-com. Maybe the jokes just don’t translate after ninety years, because I didn’t get it.

Gable plays Van “Jake” Stanhope, a magazine executive who is madly in love with his wife Linda (Loy). He also is married to his work, which puts him in constant contact with his super-competent secretary “Whitey.” (Harlow) Jake comes up with a plan to expand his magazine’s reach by acquiring another publication, which means he is spending all of his time at the office to complete the merger. It’s also top secret, so no one can know his plans other than Whitey, who has to help him.

Linda is initially quite understanding and trusting of her husband, knowing that he deeply loves her. Whitey’s fiancé Dave (Stewart) isn’t so understanding when she gets called into the office at all hours and he wants her to quit her job after they get married. But Whitey actually loves her job and is super good at it and doesn’t want to quit it to marry Dave. Obviously she’s someone whom 40 years later would be an executive herself and not a secretary.

Anyways, all the gossipy other executive wives tell Linda that they’d never let their husbands spend so much time with a secretary that looks like Jean Harlow. That plants a seed in her head. And while Jake deeply loves Linda and thinks of Whitey as more of a business partner, a series of coincidences and random comments makes Linda start to doubt her husband’s fidelity. Meanwhile, Whitey isn’t quite sure who really has her heart, Jake or Dave, even though Jake has made no indication that he sees her as anything other than a secretary.

So it’s a basic misunderstanding plot with a double love triangle, although Stewart’s Dave really isn’t in the film enough to be more than a minor diversion. (He does get the last words, however!) The problem is that none of these misunderstandings are actually funny. They are just very ordinary basic things associated with the business deal and Jake’s complete inability to get anything done without Whitey’s help. All four of those actors have made very good comedies elsewhere, but none of them get to show that talent here. Jake is just clueless about his wife’s suspicions. Whitey isn’t sure if she’s not falling in love with Jake, but she’s a good girl and would never be “the other woman.” Linda just goes from trusting, loving wife to a helpless, green-eyed woman.

There were a few things about the film I liked. For one, Loy is allowed to play a very sexual wife, at least early in the film. This is a break from the stereotype of the dowdy wife versus the hot secretary. Conversely, Harlow plays Whitey as very professional and is dressed most of the time in proper business attire for women of the 1930s. (She does have a few sexy evening gowns when the situation calls for it.) Harlow is very much trying to shed her “blonde bombshell” image in this film, playing a capable businesswoman who doesn’t flaunt her obvious attractiveness. You can almost see her trying to have Katharine Hepburn’s career here as she aged had she not tragically died of kidney failure two years later.

The other thing I loved was the gorgeous Art Deco apartment that Jake and Linda lived in. In fact, most of the sets were in the best style of the era with a classy sophistication. The costuming was also a nice touch, with the wife Loy wearing a lot of attractive, stylish and sexy outfits and the secretary Harlow dressing down most of the time in some smart business attire. Gable also wore some fine menswear, although I couldn’t tell if he wore an undershirt. (Heh.)

Overall, the purpose of a comedy is to be funny and despite the stellar cast, Wife vs. Secretary just isn’t funny. Great looking, but not dramatic enough to be a good drama and not funny enough to be a good comedy.

Here’s the original trailer for Wife vs. Secretary. At least you get to see the great clothes here.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

The Cubs have finished the first month and change of the season with a record of 19-12, just half a game behind the surprising Reds. They’ve weathered a whole mess of injuries, especially to the pitching staff, and are still in prime position to win the division. They’re tied for second in the league in runs scored and home runs. They’re third in batting average and they lead the league on on-base percentage.

The Cubs’ pitching isn’t quite as good, with an ERA of 4.01. That’s seventh in the league, which puts them right in the middle of the pack. But that’s still not bad considering the number of injuries they’ve had. Probably good enough if the offense continues to produce like it has.

So what grade do you give the Cubs after one month (and change) of the season?

And by “April,” I mean the few games in March too.

Thanks for stopping by tonight. We’ve enjoyed having you all week. Please get home safely. We want to have you stop by again. Please recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.

The Rockies’ new pitching philosophy is no longer a secret. They promised to leave no stone unturned, and one month in, the results have been genuinely impressive. Depending on your preferred WAR metric, Colorado has had one of baseball’s most valuable pitching staffs — at altitude, no less. 

That story has been covered well, including here at Purple Row. So here’s the next question: When does experimentation become refinement? 

I started thinking about that while watching Tanner Gordon on Tuesday. The shapes of his fastball, changeup and sinker all looked…. similar. So, naturally, I spent my Tuesday night in a Baseball Savant rabbit hole. 

While looking at Gordon’s movement profile, the arm angle caught my eye: He is up from 43° last year to 46° this year.

The slot and the sinker 

That arm-angle change makes the curveball experiment logical. A higher slot can help create a more vertical breaking ball, giving Gordon a different plane from the fastball/changeup/slider foundation. 

The sinker, though, is harder to defend. 

Gordon has not been given a start yet, so this is an imperfect evaluation. He has mostly worked out of the bullpen, and the sample sizes are tiny. His sinker has made up only 12% of his pitches — 23 total. 

Still, in that tiny sample, hitters are batting .667 against it with a 2.000 slugging percentage, 100.4 mph average exit velocity, and no putaways. Hitters are not just seeing the sinker; they are ordering it off the menu. 

The concern is not only the results. It is the shape. The sinker visually lives too close to the fastball/changeup lane. If it is not creating grounders, weak contact, or a different plane, it risks becoming another version of a pitch family Gordon already has. 

Fewer pitches, better fit? 

The Rockies have had early success letting pitchers find footing in the bullpen, and Gordon can still offer rotation value because his command is legitimately excellent. He does not need overwhelming stuff to survive, but the pitch mix has to be coherent. 

Of course, pitches take time. Michael Lorenzen is a useful reminder. His curveball was barely part of his mix in 2023 at 1%, then grew to 8% in 2024, 11% in 2025, and 15% this season. That is what refinement can look like: not instant reinvention, but gradual trust. 

Still, patience and commitment are not the same thing. 

The Rockies may not need Gordon to throw more pitches. They may need him to throw fewer pitches that make more sense. 

So, After Dark: keep developing the sinker, reduce it, or lean harder into the curveball/changeup path? 

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks! 

The Mets thought they saw some positives from David Peterson as he put together back-to-back solid outings working behind an opener. 

The left-hander struggled mightily, though, in his return to the rotation on Wednesday.  

As has been the case all season, Peterson put the Mets behind from the get-go, as Washington was able to jump on him for a pair of runs on three hits and a wild pitch in the top of the first.

He's now racked up an ugly 10.80 ERA in the opening frame through five starts. 

Peterson then appeared to find his groove as he retired nine in a row, but things caved in on him in the fourth, as the Nationals made him pay for a one-out walk to Jacob Young. 

The lefty gave up two hits and another walk, then almost danced his way out without further damage, but a bases loaded free pass to James Wood to forced in another run and end his night.

Sean Manaea entered and things spiraled from there, as he hit a batter before giving up a grand slam, pushing Peterson’s total to seven runs in just 3.2 innings of work. 

“The first he fell behind hitters and they got to him,” Carlos Mendoza said. “In the fourth he lost a feel for all of his pitches -- even with the bases loaded he had a chance to get out to it getting ahead of Wood 0-2, then issues the walk.

“It’s just the feel for his pitches, not able to get in the zone consistently, and it cost him.”

That specific issue has cost Peterson not just throughout the early-part of this season, but also as he was knocked around during the second-half last year.

With his ERA now sitting at an ugly 6.53 through seven appearances (five starts), Mendoza said that the team will have more discussions about how they use him moving forward. 

While he’s going through it right now, they remain confident he can turn things around. 

“He’s a big part of this team,” the skipper said. 

"I've done it before," Peterson added. "I believe in myself and know I have the stuff to do it."

Box Score

It was a bit of a Jekyll-and-Hyde night for the Brewers, both for the team’s offense and for their starting pitcher, Brandon Sproat. Sproat showed his immense potential early but ran into trouble later on; that trouble was all the Diamondbacks needed, as a Milwaukee offense that showed some life early went into a deep rut after that and couldn’t come back.

Sproat came in going as hard as William Friedkin in To Live and Die in L.A. With a fastball that hit 99.9 mph, Sproat struck out the side—and this wasn’t some scrubs, either. It was three of the best hitters in the NL: Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, and Corbin Carroll.

In the bottom of the first, the only two lefties in Milwaukee’s starting lineup came through against the left-handed Arizona starter, Eduardo Rodríguez. With one out, Brice Turang lined a double to left center. After a three-pitch William Contreras strikeout, Jake Bauers lined a nearly identical double on a 3-2 pitch. Turang scored, and Milwaukee took an early lead.

In the top of the second, Sproat was nice enough to allow Ildemaro Vargas extend his hitting streak to 22 games early to avoid any sort of drama, a cheapie bloop single to shallow left. But Adrian Del Castillo was Sproat’s fourth strikeout victim, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Nolan Arenado popped out, and it was a pretty easy second inning.

Rodríguez had a quick bottom of the second against the soft bottom of the Brewers lineup. Jose Fernandez led off the third with a base hit, but Sproat got Alek Thomas to fly out and Fernandez was caught stealing. With two outs, Sproat issued his first walk to Perdomo, and Marte put a scare into the Brewer faithful with a fly ball to deep right, but Greg Jones caught it calmly with his back against the wall.

Milwaukee added on in the bottom of the third, and it was the lefty Turang, again. After Lockridge started the inning with a bunt single, Turang hit another hard line drive just to slight center, but he hit it hard enough that Thomas, the Arizona center fielder, couldn’t make the catch going back. It was over his head for Turang’s second double, and Lockridge scored from first to make it 2-0.

Arizona answered in the top of the fourth. After Sproat struck out Carroll for a second time to start the inning, Del Castillo hit an opposite-field homer just over the outstretched glove of Lockridge in left field. After that, Vargas and Gurriel hit back-to-back singles on lazy, looping line drives (77 and 82 mph exit velocity), and Chris Hook was out of the dugout for a visit with runners on first and second and one out.

The mound visit did not work. Sproat threw two sinkers low and in to Arenado; he fouled off the first, but detonated the second one, which went way out to left field (411 feet). Two of the four hits that Sproat allowed in the inning were cheap, but the runs counted just the same, Arizona had a 4-2 lead, and what started as an outstanding night for Sproat had quickly turned sour.

Milwaukee put themselves in a good position to get something back in the bottom of the fourth. Luis Rengifo led off with a double over the head of Carroll in right that bounced into the stands. But Jones unwisely burned the Brewers’ only remaining challenge before striking out and Perkins popped out behind the plate for two quick outs that didn’t advance the runner. Joey Ortiz came from behind to work a two-out walk, and Lockridge walked too, even after a 3-1 pitch that was initially called ball four was overturned by a Diamondbacks challenge. That gave Turang, who already had two doubles, a big opportunity with the bases loaded and two outs. But Turang grounded out, and the rally fizzled.

Perdomo walked to lead off the fifth. Marte hit a ground ball that looked like it might become a double play, but a miscommunication meant no one covered first base and Ortiz could return the throw to first. Still, Milwaukee erased the lead runner, but that was all for Sproat, who was pulled from the game after 4 1/3 innings. DL Hall replaced Sproat and promptly struck out Carroll, the third time he’d struck out on the night, and got Del Castillo to pop out to Rengifo in foul territory.

Sproat’s night featured highs (he struck out the first four batters of the game in extremely impressive fashion) and lows (two homers, four runs in the fourth inning). That’s sort of a microcosm of the Sproat experience thus far this season, but there are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the young right-hander.

Contreras hit a ball pretty well to start the fifth but he hit it to the wrong part of the ballpark and it became the first out. Bauers grounded out, but a two-out walk to Sánchez spurred Arizona manager Torey Lovullo to go to his bullpen, a decision that Rodríguez—who, I noted in the game thread, is only four wins from 100 for his career—wasn’t happy about. In any case, Kevin Ginkel entered to flip Rengifo to the left side of the plate; that didn’t work, as Rengifo singled to right and sent Sánchez to third, and Pat Murphy countered the Ginkel move by pinch-hitting Garrett Mitchell for Jones. That didn’t work either, as Mitchell struck out to end the inning.

Hall kept pitching in the sixth and got a 1-2-3 inning, although not without some excitement; with two outs, Arenado hit a grounder to third, and Rengifo’s throw to first went over Bauers’ head. But Arenado tried to go to second, and the ball bounced back to Ortiz in between first and second base, and he threw to Rengifo, covering second, who tagged Arenado out (although Milwaukee had to successfully challenge the play, as Arenado was called safe on the field).

Sal Frelick, who’d entered defensively for Perkins in the top of the inning, led off the bottom of the sixth but grounded out. David Hamilton pinch-hit for Ortiz but struck out looking, and Lockridge struck out swinging. Hall continued in the top of the seventh. He got two quick outs, but issued a two-out walk to Perdomo (his third of the game) and then gave up a single to Marte.

With 42 pitches, Murphy decided to pull Hall and go with the brand-new lefty Brian Fitzpatrick, called up earlier today to replace Ángel Zerpa. A heck of a time to make your major-league debut: two on, two out, and Corbin Carroll at the plate. Fitzpatrick should’ve gotten Carroll, who hit a dribbler up the first-base line, but Carroll is extremely fast and the ball kind of landed in no-man’s land, and he was on with an infield hit to load the bases. But Del Castillo went after the first pitch and popped it up to shallow right, where Frelick made the catch and got Fitzpatrick successfully out of the first inning of his big-league career. Congrats, kid.

The heart of Milwaukee’s order went down quickly in the seventh versus the new Arizona pitcher, Juan Morillo; Turang grounded out, Contreras flew out to the warning track in right, and Bauers struck out. Fitzpatrick continued in the eighth and allowed another infield hit, this one to Gurriel, and walked Arenado to put runners on first and second with one out. But he got Fernandez and Thomas on pop-ups, and in his debut, Fitzpatrick got four outs and didn’t allow any runs (or hits out of the infield).

Former Brewer Taylor Clarke was the pitcher in the bottom of the eighth and had no trouble retiring Sánchez, Rengifo, and Mitchell in order. Grant Anderson, on for the ninth, finally retired Perdomo, but gave up back-to-back bombs to Marte and Carroll, both of them no-doubters. Anderson, who hadn’t allowed a homer all year, was due, I guess. Arizona’s lead doubled.

Milwaukee’s offense, which had looked punchless since the third inning, had a tall task in the ninth, down four runs. It turned out that two would’ve been plenty; Paul Sewald got Frelick, Hamilton, and pinch-hitter Tyler Black in order, and the game was over.

Not a whole lot to write home about: this was a pretty standard, anonymous regular season baseball loss. Turang was the offensive standout, as he was 2-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored. Rengifo also had two hits, and Bauers added his RBI double. On the mound, we covered Sproat’s outing; Hall completed 2 1/3 solid, scoreless innings, while Fitzpatrick created a nice memory with his 1 1/3 inning scoreless debut.

The series will be decided tomorrow, when Brandon Woodruff faces off with Arizona’s Michael Soroka. It’s an early one, at 12:40 p.m.

The Nats lit up the Mets like a Christmas tree in their 14-2 mauling on a rainy night in Queens. This was a comprehensive beatdown, where the Nats dominated from start to finish. The bats and the arms were both top tier in this one, which led to the big win.

On the mound, Cade Cavalli followed up an excellent start against the Braves with an even better one tonight. The Nats right hander threw six innings of two run ball while striking out 10. This is the second straight outing that Cavalli has fanned 10 batters. He joins Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Gio Gonzalez as the only Nats to do that. Scherzer accomplished that feat on a crazy 20 occasions.

Cavalli’s curve was dominant tonight, getting both whiffs and called strikes. This is the second straight outing where his curveball has looked like a dominant pitch. After a rocky start to the season, Cavalli is starting to come into his own.

However, the offense is an even bigger story. The unit cooled off a bit after a red hot start to the season, but they picked it up in a big way in this game. They came out of the gates hot, scoring two runs off of David Peterson in the 1st inning. CJ Abrams opened the scoring with an RBI knock. The Nats shortstop had a big day, racking up 3 hits to bust out of his mini-slump.

Abrams was one of four Nats to have multi-hit days. Curtis Mead had the most hits on the night, with four, including a home run. The Aussie seemed to be in the middle of everything good that was happening for the Nats offense tonight. In the fateful fourth inning, Mead drove in a run by getting hit by a pitch. Mead already has a career high in home runs, with four. He has been a solid addition for the Nats.

Joey Wiemer also had a multi-hit day, which was nice to see. While Wiemer has inevitably cooled off from his historic start to the season, he has still been a useful contributor, particularly against left handed pitching. He also seems like a big personality in the locker room.

The Nats effectively won the game with one swing of the bat, and it came from a softer spoken figure in Brady House. After a great Spring Training and good start to the season, House had cooled off these past few weeks. He has not been on time for fastballs, which has led to the strikeouts piling up. However, he was on time for Sean Manaea’s 90 MPH heater and hit it into the stands for a grand slam. 

It turned a 3 run inning into a 7 run inning, and broke the game open. After the grand slam, boos rained down, as Mets fans accepted that they were about to fall to 10-20. It was a team effort, but House was the man who busted it open.

On a rainy night at Citi Field, it felt like both teams wanted to go home once the 7th inning rolled around. The Nats bullpen fired off three scoreless innings against a hapless Mets offense to win it 14-2. After a pair of blowout wins for both teams, the stage is set for a rubber match tomorrow afternoon.