Game Recap: Suns get perfect season finale taking down the Thunder, 135-103

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - APRIL 12: Koby Brea #14 of the Phoenix Suns drives to the basket during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 12, 2026 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

Even with this game being meaningless standings-wise, it was nice to see the Suns come out hungry and take this one away with their depth. They ended up beating the Thunder for the second time this season, winning 135-103. This game was one that many will forget, but it showed a glimpse into the future of this team.

The Suns had some big performances with Ryan Dunn and Jamaree Bouyea leading the way. They both bounced back after a rough outing on Friday against the Lakers, which was a nice sight to see. Dunn had 20 points, while Boiuye had a career-high 27, leading the way. The best part of the night, though, was how everyone was contributing. Seven players had double-digit points, allowing the team to never let the Thunder get back into this one. Even Khaman Maluach got a double-double in his first career game.

With OKC locked into the one seed, it made sense they rested their starters, but some of their depth pieces also shone. Branden Carlson was huge for the team alongside Payton Sandfort. Carlson had 26 points while Sandfort contributed 23 with 5 threes.

Game Flow

First Half

The Suns came out hot to start the game, and their depth shone through. With both teams resting their starters and even key bench players, this one was left for the third stringers to fight for. Well, Jamaree Bouyea realized that and answered the call early, scoring the first five points for Phoenix.

This continued for Bouyea throughout the quarter, where Ryan Dunn also stepped up. After having a team low of -39 in his last game, he wanted revenge and showed it early on. Dunn ripped off two early threes and had a nice block to keep the energy up. This snowballed for the Suns, allowing them to get a 21-0 run this quarter. Something the Suns similarly had against Houston earlier this week when they went on a 24-0 run.

The Thunder, being depleted and locked into the first seed, took this game with no heart from the jump. Defensively, allowing the Suns to find their rhythm and get to the cup with ease. They did bounce back ot make a few threes to make them look alive, but find themselves down 37-19 at the end of one.

To start the second, the Thunder made their first three triples and were quietly crawling back. Then the Suns said, “Hold my beer” and decided to make some of their own, matching the Thunder. Rasheer Fleming was big in this quarter, making a pair of threes for Phoenix.

Dunn was also continuing to show that his aggressiveness was a key to his success. With everyone out, he can play as a creator and ball handler for the offense, and he was doing so during his hot streak. He had a ferocious slam that had the whole bench excited in this one. Then the Thunder found some life halfway through the quarter.

They forced some turnovers and pressured the Suns to cut the lead. Branden Carlson was huge for the Thunder, forcing attempts at the rim and from beyond the arc. That being said, Bouyea had a different finale for the quarter, hitting a nice step back three-point buzzer beater, to put the Suns up 70-52 at half.

Second Half

To start the second half, the Suns kept bringing it down on the Thunder, with the whole team getting involved. Even with Bouyea and Dunn bringing it offensively, guys like Khaman Maluach and Amir Coffey were getting involved too. Even Maluach got an insane block on Carlson that was very motivating for all the fans to see.

The Thunder tried to continue finding shots from Branden Carlson and Payton Sandfort, but the Suns were fighting back. Every time the lead shrank from under 15 points, it seemed to level back out with a nice Phoenix run.

The Suns then went on to dominate the rest of the third with some big performances from the whole team. Koby Brea now had a career-high with 11 points, and the Suns found another buzzer-beater this time from Amir Coffey. Heading to the fourth, the Suns were now up 104-77 and looking to close the season out in good fashion.

With the last quarter of the regular season upon them, the Suns came out ready to take this one under their belt. Maluach fell right into stride, tipping in misses for baskets, while Fleming was lethal from three-point land. Halfway through the quarter, they were up 31, and it was clear this one was done. Regardless of whether OKC tried shrinking the lead, it was not enough. The Suns win their final game of the season 135-103.

Up Next

The Suns gear up for the play-in on Tuesday, taking on the Portland Trail Blazers in the Valley.

Celtics grab #2 seed in gap year and await winner of Magic-76ers

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 12: Luka Garza #52 of the Boston Celtics dribbles the ball during the game against the Orlando Magic on April 12, 2026 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images

The East is set:

After an unexpected win over the Magic in their Sunday regular season finale at TD Garden, the Celtics start the 2026 NBA Playoffs as the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference and are +550 at FanDuel to raise Banner 19.

The Magic will now travel to Philadelphia to play in the 7/8 Play-In game on Wednesday. Orlando opens up as 1-point favorites against the 76ers. The winner will then head to Boston for Game 1 at TD Garden at 1 pm EST on Sunday, April 19th. That gives the 56-26 Celtics nearly a week of rest, but because of the Play-In Tournament, less time to prepare than the Knicks, Cavaliers, Raptors, and Hawks.

As soon as our first round opponent is determined, we’ll have you covered here at CelticsBlog, but if you’re looking ahead to the NBA Draft on June 22nd, the Celtics sit at #27 in the first round and have Milwaukee’s #40 pick in Round 2. In his post-March Madness mock, SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell has Boston selecting Tounde Yessoufou out of Baylor, but if you’re interested in trying your hand in predicting the draft, our friends at FanDuel have you also covered for all your draft-related wagers.

Heat players reveal reason why LeBron James went nuclear against Celtics in 2012

An image collage containing 3 images, Image 1 shows Dwyane Wade and LeBron James smiling and wearing t-shirts and hats celebrating the Miami Heat's Eastern Conference Finals victory, Image 2 shows Basketball player LeBron James shooting a free throw as Boston Celtics fans in the stands taunt him, Image 3 shows LeBron James of the Miami Heat reacting after a foul call during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals

The night that LeBron James walked into TD Garden for Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals between the Heat and Celtics has always been the talk of myth and legends. 

Some, including his own teammates, have called it the greatest individual performance in a playoff game in NBA history. 

But now, more than a decade later, his former Heat teammates are pulling back the curtain on the real inspiration that lit a fuse under James that night and motivated him to make history. 

Speaking on the “OGs” podcast, hosted by James’ former teammates Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem, they recalled the story of that infamous Game 6 performance with another teammate who was there that day, forward Shane Battier. 

“It was the bus,” Haslem said. “That’s when they pissed him off.”

As the story goes, the Heat were waiting at their team hotel for the bus to pick them up and drive them around the corner to the arena. The Heat trailed the Celtics in the series 3-2 and were facing elimination inside hostile territory. Everything was on the line. 

However, the team bus ran late, and then it intentionally crawled through what should have been a quick trip to the arena. Nearly an hour later, they finally arrived. Less than 40 minutes before tipoff. 

Inside the locker room, tension clung to the walls. Dwyane Wade glanced at the clock. “We’ve only got 40 minutes.”

Haslem remembers the look on James’ face at that moment. He was calm but volcanic beneath the surface. He simply replied, “Don’t worry about it.” 

Miller remembered how he was lacking confidence ahead of the big game, but as soon as James said that, his confidence grew. 

“I’ve never been more confident going into a game that I should not have been confident about in my life,” Miller said on the podcast. 

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He also recalled James telling him before tipoff that he was not only going to fire every bullet he had at the Celtics that night, but he was going to take out the clip, throw that at them and then throw the gun itself. 

And that’s exactly what he did. James scored 45 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and had five assists, dismantling Boston with ruthless precision. The Heat would go on to win the series in seven games and then rolled through the Thunder to win their first title together in Miami.


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Monday's Time Schedule

All Times EDT

Monday, April 13

MLB

Houston at Seattle, 4:10 p.m.

Arizona at Baltimore, 6:35 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia, 6:40 p.m.

Washington at Pittsburgh, 6:40 p.m.

L.A. Angels at N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.

Miami at Atlanta, 7:15 p.m.

Boston at Minnesota, 7:40 p.m.

Cleveland at St. Louis, 7:45 p.m.

Texas at Athletics, 9:40 p.m.

N.Y. Mets at L.A. Dodgers, 10:10 p.m.

NHL

Carolina at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Detroit at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.

N.Y. Rangers at Florida, 7 p.m.

Dallas at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.

Minnesota at St. Louis, 8 p.m.

San Jose at Nashville, 8 p.m.

Buffalo at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.

Colorado at Edmonton, 9:30 p.m.

Los Angeles at Seattle, 9:30 p.m.

Winnipeg at Vegas, 10 p.m.

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Chicago Blackhawks Goalie Prospect Adam Gajan Shines In Rockford IceHogs Debut

On Sunday, the Chicago Blackhawks were idle. Their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, however, was not. Rockford was at the Allstate Arena to take on the Chicago Wolves for Sunday night hockey. 

Rockford was defeated in regulation by a score of 4-2, but the story of the game was their newest goaltender, Adam Gajan. 

Gajan was a second-round pick, 35th overall, by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Draft. He has had a very interesting year, which included his first pro contract a couple of weeks ago. 

This was the first pro game for Gajan, making his AHL debut with Rockford. Although his team lost, he gave them a chance to win by making 36 saves on 39 shots. 

The IceHogs are the third team that Gajan has played for this season. He was one of the NCAA's top goaltenders with the University of Minnesota Duluth, and he was also a part of Team Slovakia at the Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina. He didn't see any game action there, but it was a great learning experience in the early stages of his development. 

With Gajan making this start, he became the 7th goalie to play for Rockford this season, which sets a team record. Even for an AHL team, where there is a lot of movement between the NHL and ECHL, that's a lot of goalies. 

Next season, the Blackhawks are projected to have Spencer Knight, Arvid Soderblom, Drew Commesso, and Adam Gajan in the mix for different roles. For a kid like Gajan still developing, this was a great start to begin his ascention within the organization that drafted him. 

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Mets to call up Tommy Pham

Tommy Pham holds a bat in a blue Mets uniform
Tommy Pham | (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

The Mets are calling up veteran outfielder Tommy Pham before their three-game series with the Dodgers begins in Los Angeles on Monday night, per a report from Will Sammon. The 38-year-old signed a minor league deal with the organization in late March.

Pham played in a handful of games with the Low-A St. Lucie Mets over the past few days, a relatively short ramp-up to get him ready to return to major league action. Having spent the majority of the 2023 season with the Mets, Pham has been a slightly-below-league-average hitter since the team traded him to the Diamondbacks that year. Over the course of the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Pham had a 93 wRC+ in 927 plate appearances with the White Sox, Cardinals, Royals, and Pirates.

There’s no news yet on the corresponding move that will clear a spot for Pham on the active roster, but the Mets have a few candidates. Carson Benge has struggled to the tune of a 33 wRC+ in his first 52 major league plate appearances, Brett Baty hasn’t been much better with a 51 wRC+, and Ronny Mauricio was only called up a few days ago, having spent the majority of this season in Triple-A Syracuse.

Purple Row After Dark: Impressive, surprising, concerning

DENVER, CO - APRIL 7: Kyle Freeland #21 of the Colorado Rockies delivers a pitch to Yordan Alvarez #44 of the Houston Astros in the third inning at Coors Field on April 7, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Colorado Rockies have had the most up-and-down season so far. They were swept on the road by the Miami Marlins; they then took two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays; they took one of three against the Philadelphia Phillies in the Home Opening series; swept the Houston Astros at home; and then were swept in a four-game road set by the San Diego Padres.

There have been some close games and there have been some blowouts — and the Rockies have been on the winning and losing side of both outcomes.

With that in mind, I hope you answer me these questions three:

  1. Who has impressed you the most so far this season?
  2. Who has surprised you the most so far this season?
  3. Who concerns you the most so far this season?

Let us know in the comments!


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Braves Take the Series from Guardians

The Sunday Night Baseball curse continues. After shutting out the Atlanta Braves last night, Tanner Bibee and the Cleveland Guardians weren’t able to take the rubber match from Chris Sale.

It wasn’t for a lack of hits that the Guardians lost, something strikingly different from last season. Cleveland, in fact, had a hit in every inning that they faced Chris Sale. Chase DeLauter and José Ramírez pieced together some quality at bats, but could never cross home plate.

In the top of the first, CDL and José hit back-to-back one-out singles. Chase had a great jump on José’s hit, going from first to third, leaving second base open for José to steal. In the top of the third, a force out and a single had runners on the corners that were, again, left stranded. Rhys Hoskins was the final out for both innings, making up for it in the top of the sixth.

With what was looking like a shutout looming, Rhys Hoskins got Cleveland on the board with a solo home run to center.

Hopefully Rhys’ next home run will come in a situation with runners on.

Other than that, this was a rough one. Bibee finished the night having allowed 8 runs on 11 hits in 4.2 innings of work. He walked 1 and struck out 4. Kolby Allard pitched 3.0 innings, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 1 batter. Hedges pitched for one out.

Chase DeLauter went 2-for-2 with a walk and a double before being pinch hit for. Rhys Hoskins went 1-for-4 with a HR. Daniel Schneemann went 3-for-4, keeping the offense alive at the bottom of the line up with 2 doubles.

Atlanta always has Cleveland’s number for whatever reason. I will take solace in the fact that this series came early this year, giving the team plenty of time to rebound and move on.

The team will travel to St. Louis to face the Cardinals in a three game series. Tomorrow’s games starts at 7:45PM.

Bottom of the order leads Braves to series-clinching rout of Guardians

ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 12: Dominic Smith #8 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates with Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves after hitting a two-run home run in the fourth inning during the game against the Cleveland Guardians at Truist Park on April 12, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jack Casey/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The reports of the Braves’ offensive demise were greatly exaggerated.

A night after the lineup was blanked for the first time since last July, the Braves awakened with a vengeance, running away with a 13-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians to win their third rubber match of the season.

With the victory, Atlanta is the last team in the league to have not lost a series this season.

Atlanta finished with 19 hits, its third game with at least 15 this season and the most hits a major league team has had in a game this season. Nine different players earned a hit, led by a 4-for-4 night from Jorge Mateo and three-hit nights from Ozzie Albies and Mauricio Dubon.

The Braves’ offense handed Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee (0-2, 6.38 ERA) the worst start of his major league career. He let up a career-high eight runs and a career-high-tying 11 hits.

It didn’t get any better when former Brave Kolby Allard came out of the bullpen for Cleveland as Atlanta tagged him for five runs on eight hits over three innings of relief work.

The bottom four spots in the order played a big role in Sunday’s win, amassing a combined 12 hits and eight RBIs. Mauricio Dubon and Jorge Mateo opened the scoring with consecutive two-out RBI hits in the second before Ronald Acuña Jr. followed with an RBI double of his own to make it 3-0.

Dominic Smith added on with a two-run homer in the fourth (his third in 12 games and 31 at-bats) to extend the Braves’ lead to 5-0.

That alone proved to be more than enough for Atlanta ace Chris Sale (3-1, 3.27 ERA), who bounced back from a rough start last time out against the Angels to look like himself again in his fourth start of the season.

It wasn’t his sharpest outing. He allowed at least one baserunner in each of his six innings on the mound and scattered eight hits. But it may have been one of his more clutch starts, as he stranded seven runners by holding the Guardians hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Sale’s only run allowed came on a leadoff homer from Rhys Hoskins in the sixth and he bounced back to retire the final three batters he faced.

Even with such a cushion thanks to Sale’s strong start, the offense kept piling on with a four-run fifth to open up 9-0 lead. After Drake Baldwin — the only starter to finish without a hit — lined out, five of the next six batters reached, highlighted by an RBI single from Albies, a two-run double from pinch hitter Kyle Farmer and another RBI hit from Dubon.

Just for good measure, Atlanta tacked on four more runs in the eighth, forcing Cleveland to bring catcher Austin Hedges into the game to get the final out in the ninth.

The freshly called-up Dylan Dodd carried things the rest of the way after Sale’s departure, tossing three shutout, one-hit innings to close out a stress-free win and earn his third career save.

The Braves remain at home to begin next week, kicking off NL East play with a three-game series against the Marlins before heading north for a weekend set against the Phillies.

Nico Hischier scores in overtime, Devils beat the Senators 4-3

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nico Hischier scored his second goal of the game on the power play with 1:45 left in overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night.

The Devils trailed 3-2 after two periods, but Dawson Mercer scored a short-handed goal with 7:32 left in the third period to tie it at 3-3, setting the stage for Hischier's winner.

Connor Brown also had a short-handed goal for the Devils and Nico Daws made 27 saves.

Michael Amadio, Shane Pinto on the power play, and Fabian Zetterlund all scored in a roughly seven-minute span of the second period for the Senators, who had their four game win streak snapped.

Drake Batherson had an assist on Pinto's goal to move into 10th place on the franchise's career scoring list with 363 points. Marian Hossa is ninth with 390. Daniel Alfredsson is first with 1,108 career points with the team.

James Reimer made 26 saves for the Senators.

Hischier gave the Devils a 1-0 lead 5:12 into the game and also had an assist on Mercer's goal. Jack Hughes had two assists for the Devils including one on Hischier's winner.

Up next

Senators: Host Toronto on Wednesday night to end the regular season.

Devils: Play at Boston on Tuesday night to end the regular season.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Thoughts on a 5-2 Rangers win

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 12: Joc Pederson #3 and Brandon Nimmo #24 of the Texas Rangers celebrate a 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on April 12, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Rangers 5, Dodgers 2

  • And the Rangers take the finale.
  • For the second straight game, Jacob deGrom gave up a first inning home run, and then didn’t allow any more runs the rest of the way.
  • The previous time out, the homer was by the second batter of the game. This time, it was to the first batter of the game. Maybe next time, deGrom will give up a homer to the zeroth batter of the game, maybe in some sort of closed timelike curve, and shatter the laws of physics.
  • The home run last time out was to Cal Raleigh. The homer in this game was to Shohei Ohtani. I guess if you’re going to give up first inning homers, at least you want to give them up to guys who are legit.
  • Things were more or less under control for deGrom after the Ohtani homer that started the game. The Dodgers had runners on first and second with one out in the third, but deGrom got Kyle Tucker to strike out, and then, with Andy Pages up, there was a mix-up on the bases, with Shohei Ohtani, who was on first, thinking that Alex Call, on second, was headed to third on an 0-2 pitch called for a ball. Call wasn’t going, though, until Ohtani heading to second meant that he had to run, and the result was a TOOTBLAN to end the inning.
  • Call and Ohtani ended up on first and second with two outs in the fifth, and Call went to third on a wild pitch, but Tucker once again struck out, and that was that.
  • DeGrom generated 15 swings and misses in the game — six on the fastball, five on the slider, four on the change.
  • DeGrom went six innings, picking up a Quality Start and keeping the bullpen from having to carry to heavy a load after Jack Leiter left in the fourth inning the previous night.
  • Just a really nice outing from deGrom overall.
  • Skip Schumaker went to Jacob Latz for the seventh, likely hoping to neutralize the Dodgers’ lefty-heavy lineup while getting a couple of innings from Latz. Latz ended up retiring just two of the five batters he faced, getting pulled for Cole Winn with a run in and a pair of runners on base. Winn fell behind Pages 2-0 before getting him to pop up to shortstop — with all three outs in the inning coming on pop ups to shortstop.
  • Speaking of pop ups to shortstop…one of the four hits deGrom allowed came in the sixth inning, when Freddie Freeman hit a routine pop up to the left side of the infield. Josh Jung appeared, on the broadcast, to have been calling it, but then stepped away, apparently expecting Seager to catch it. Seager though Jung was going to catch it, and the result was a single.
  • Per Statcast, that single was on a ball with an expected batting average of .000.
  • Winn got out of the 8th, though he was not sharp — in all on the day, he threw 12 balls and 9 strikes. Winn walked Alex Freeland with two outs in the eighth, fell behind Dalton Rushing 3-1, got a strike swinging, and then threw a fastball that was called a ball.
  • Good thing there’s ABS this year. Danny Jansen challenged the pitch, which was shown to clearly be in the strike zone, and instead of two on and two out with the tying run coming to the plate, Winn was out of the inning.
  • Jansen challenged five pitches in all, with four of them being overturned. The final one was on a 1-2 pitch to Alex Call, who led off the ninth against Jakob Junis. The call was overturned, and Call was called out. Junis walked pinch hitter Will Smith on four pitches to alarm us all, but he struck out Ohtani swinging and, after falling behind Tucker 3-0, induced a 3-2 easy fly to end the game.
  • The offense showed up, which was good, though there were definitely a lot of opportunities missed in the game.
  • Texas picked up 10 hits and 10 walks in all, and you’d definitely expect more than five runs to come from that.
  • Unfortunately, Texas hit into two double plays, had a caught stealing, and were 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position.
  • Still, everyone had a hit except for Corey Seager, who drew a walk, and Danny Jansen, who drew three walks. Evan Carter homered, Josh Jung was 2 for 3 with two walks and a double, and Brandon Nimmo had a pair of hits.
  • The win means that the Rangers remain in a tie in the American League West with the Athletics.
  • Jacob deGrom’s fastball topped out at 98.6 mph, averaging 97.2 mph. Jacob Latz touched 95.4 mph with his fastball. Cole Winn’s fastball hit 96.1 mph. Jakob Junis’s sinker maxed out at 92.8 mph.
  • Brandon Nimmo had a 104.4 mph single. Evan Carter had a 101.7 mph home run. Josh Jung had a 101.4 mph double.
  • On to wherever it is that the Athletics play.

Carson Benge finds ‘pretty incredible’ way to help Mets as struggles at plate deepen

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows New York Mets outfielder Carson Benge diving to catch a fly ball, Image 2 shows New York Mets outfielder Carson Benge dives for a catch

Carson Benge found a way to make himself valuable, even as he is among the many in the Mets lineup coming up short at the plate.

Sunday against the A’s, with the Mets down by a run, Benge made an excellent diving catch in shallow center to rob Denzel Clarke of a two-run single to end the top of the fourth.

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“It felt great to have my pitcher’s back,’’ Benge said after the 1-0 loss. “I haven’t been the best out there the past few days. I’ve had a couple hiccups, but it’s part of it. That’s how you learn.”

The Mets are hoping Benge’s struggles — on both sides of the ball — are part of his learning process.

He went hitless Sunday as the Mets were swept out of Citi Field by the A’s to extend their losing streak to five games.

Benge is in a 3-for-34 funk, with nine strikeouts and four walks.

But with Juan Soto on the IL with a strained calf and Luis Robert Jr. still on a controlled playing calendar as the Mets try to keep him healthy, Benge continues to get opportunities.

Mets outfielder Carson Benge (3) catches a fly out by Athletics center fielder Denzel Clarke (1) during the fourth inning at Citi Field, Sunday, April 12, 2026. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

Lately, he’s been surrounded by plenty of other slumping hitters.

“I feel like, particularly over the homestand, I had really good at-bats,’’ Benge said. “I feel it’s just a matter of time for everything to click, and I’m gonna be — and we’re all gonna be — rolling.”

And he insists he’s not overwhelmed by major league pitching or the pressure that comes with slumping — despite just 131 minor league games under his belt and having begun last year with High-A Brooklyn and finishing with 24 games at Triple-A Syracuse before he won the job in spring training.



“You double down on the process even when things aren’t going your way out there,” Benge said. “Sticking to what makes you good is a big thing. I’m just approaching all of this like I always have: as the same game, just that guys are a little bit better. That doesn’t change even if you’re not doing too well. You don’t let the outside get to you.”

Mets outfielder Carson Benge (3) dives and makes a stellar catch on a blast to center field by Athletics center fielder Denzel Clarke (1) during the fourth inning when the New York Mets played the Athletics Sunday, April 12, 2026. Robert Sabo for NY Post

And when you can, try to help on defense.

Carlos Mendoza called the catch, which came with runners on second and third and two outs in the fourth, “pretty incredible.”

“That was an awesome play by him,’’ Freddy Peralta said. “I couldn’t believe it. For a moment, I thought it was gonna hit the ground. He was prepared for that and made a great catch.”

“He had that jump off the bat,’’ Mendoza said. “It looked like it would probably fall in, and the way he went after that ball and the dive was pretty impressive.”

Snakepit Roundtable: We’re doin’ alright

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 10: Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo #2 shows the ball during the game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 10th, 2026 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Since last we spoke, the Diamondbacks have been one of the hottest teams in baseball. What’s going right for them?

Wesley: Eduardo Rodriguez, Zac Gallen, Jonathan Loáisiga, Corbin Carroll, Ildemaro Vargas, Jose Fernandez, and the unfortunately now injured Lawlar and Moreno have all been key drivers of this early success, in my opinion.

Makakilo:  Two observations: 

  • From 5 to 11 April, the Diamondbacks scored 5.2 runs per game, which is more than a full run higher than their average from last season. 
  • From 5 to 11 April, the Diamondbacks relievers had 9 shutdowns.  Since the start of this season, they had 22 shutdowns, which was tied with the Pirates for the second most in the Majors.   

Spencer: They’ve been playing good ball against teams scuffling to start. In the best case scenario, this means we will hold tie breakers if necessary late in the season. 

James: The pitching has been digging deep to find a bit of quality and the defense has been bailing out some mistake pitches, especially for Sewald. The team has also looked like one that is never convinced they are out of a game, even down four, so they keep pushing. 

One thing that isn’t is Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo. What do they need to change to get the bats woken up?

Wesley: Ketel homered in Saturday’s loss, so hopefully that means he’ll start heating up. As I commented recently, the league is clearly taking Perdomo a little more seriously now that he’s established himself as a much more credible offensive threat. Now Gerry needs to adjust to the league. Simple as that.  RIBBIT. (Side Note: the linked song could easily be reworked to be about Gerry, or used a walk up song)

Makakilo:  Perdomo.  This season his 98.6% zone contact percentage is a career high, while his 7.9% whiffs is near a career low.  Let’s look at two strengths from last season:   “Perdomo’s batting strengths include squared-up per swing and launch angle sweet spot percentage.” – Makakilo

  • His squared-up percentage improved from 32.3% to 38.4%.
  • His launch angle sweet spot percentage fell from 36.2% to 27.9%. 

Geraldo Perdomo is doing nearly everything excellently.  Perhaps if he could improve his launch angle sweet spot percentage, that would allow him to sustain his breakout from last season.  

Spencer: I think the cold is affecting Marte. And Perdomo is playing to his floor which is unfortunate but not entirely surprising. I trust he pushes through it and finds the sweet middle ground. 

James: Marte is pressing too hard now. He got off to a slow start, quite possibly due to the colder weather. But once those struggles started to carry on, he started pressing much harder. When batting righty now, he’s taking Paul Bunyan swings at any fastball near the zone. He needs to simplify things and take what they are giving him, even if it is just slapping the ball into open space. Once he starts getting some results, the rest will follow.

Perdomo just needs to not let these struggles get to him. He is still working the counts admirably. That’s his game. He isn’t always going to get the walk or the mistake pitch, especially now that the opposition is keying in on him. But he needs to stay within himself and to continue playing his game while at the plate. The league has adapted. It is time for him to adapt in response, but to not abandon what has gotten him where he is.

The bullpen has actually been decent. Is this sustainable, or is it a bubble waiting to pop?

Wesley: Yes, it is sustainable, but also yes, it’s a bubble waiting to pop. The only reason why I think it might be sustainable is some of those veteran relievers signed to minor league contracts over the winter, are actually showing some promising results initially in Reno. 

Makakilo:  Two reasons to think it is sustainable:

  • After 15 games, the relievers’ innings per game and ERA were about the same as last season (3.47 vs 3.45 Innings per game, and 4.85 vs 4.82 ERA).
  • The anticipated return of pitchers (both starters and relievers) from the injured list.

Spencer: Both. Could go either way. 

James: The level of results is indeed sustainable. But the performance levels of some of the pitchers, especially Sewald, is likely a bubble waiting to burst. Sewald is getting saves. But he is giving up entirely too much hard contact. Right now, balls bouncing off the top of the wall or finding themselves screaming into a glove that was barely moved are allowing Sewald “success”. As the weather heats up, those balls are going to leave the yard or make it through the infield. The pitching in general needs to start doing better at limiting hard contact. Continuing to allow exit velocities over 100 mph is not a recipe for extended success.

Jo Adell put on a masterclass in home run robbery. In your opinion was it the greatest defensive game ever?

Wesley: I don’t think there is a definitive answer to that question other than “Maybe?” and there’s a few problems with that question. The first problem here is that the data just isn’t there for us to actually compare performances across all of MLB history.  At best, we have about 20 years of solid defensive data out of the 150 years of pro baseball’s history. The second problem is that you can’t compare an outfielder’s defensive performance easily against catchers or the other infield positions easily. A shortstop, for example, is going to have so many more defensive opportunities compared to an outfielder. The third and final problem is that some of the stats we have don’t capture the difficulty of robbing a HR. Catch probability doesn’t factor in the height of the wall at all, which is why statistically the Jo Adell game doesn’t look all that impressive when it obviously is impressive. With all that said, I’d say it’s the best defensive performance in a game I’ve seen by an outfielder in the last 25 years. 

Makakilo:  I’m thrilled to know that the glove, which Jo Adell used in the 3 catches, will go to the Hall of Fame at the end of the season.  It gladdens my soul to honor an extraordinary achievement by a player very unlikely to reach the Hall of Fame.   

Spencer: It may well be. I tend to be a fan of amazing infield play over outfield, but what he did is incredibly impressive. Great to see. 

James: It was certainly among them. I know Stark tried to find an answer and had little luck in finding a solid one. It will certainly go down as one of the greatest ever and likely one of the greatest any of us will see in our lifetimes – until someone else does it next week, just because that’s how fickle baseball can be.

Besides baseball, what is your favorite summertime activity?

Wesley: Being able to enjoy the beautiful night’s sky without freezing my a** off. I’ve conveniently always been more of a night owl, so while southern Arizona gets hot during the day, it’s generally cooler at night as long as you aren’t deep in the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas. I live just southeast of Tucson, where it still gets quite chilly at night even when hitting triple digit temps during the day, while also having some of the darkest skies in Western North America that aren’t in the middle of nowhere. 

Makakilo:  Play pickleball.  I registered for two tournaments (one in April and one in June).  Each has random partners assigned in each round, so my expectation is mostly fun.    

Spencer: Homemade pizza and movie nights in a backyard. The ideal cookout style yard games, etc. absolute perfection. 
James: Saturday dinners with the close friends at my besty’s place. We do various themes and just chill with some adult beverages, good food, good friends, great vibes. Whenever it cools down, we’ll sit around the fire pit instead of the patio table. Just chilling and relaxing. Depending on the weekend, there is likely footy watching involved.

Nets fall to Raptors 136-101, close regular season with third straight loss

TORONTO (AP) — RJ Barrett scored 26 points, Scottie Barnes had 18 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists for his ninth career triple-double, and the Toronto Raptors clinched their first playoff berth in four seasons by beating the Brooklyn Nets 136-101 on Sunday in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Atlanta’s loss to Miami and Orlando’s loss at Boston gave Toronto the fifth seed in the East and a first-round matchup with fourth-seeded Cleveland.

The Raptors and Hawks both finished 46-36 but Toronto swept the season series 4-0.

Toronto went 3-0 against the Cavaliers this season but the teams haven’t played since Nov. 24.

Barnes shot 8 for 11 in his third triple-double of the season. He’s the first player in Raptors history to have three triple-doubles in multiple seasons.

Brandon Ingram scored 25 points, Ja’Kobe Walter and Jakob Poeltl each had 11 and AJ Lawson had 10 points as the Raptors posted their best record since going 48-34 and placing fifth in the East in 2021-22. That season also saw Toronto’s most recent playoff appearance, a six-game defeat to Philadelphia in the first round.

Tyson Etienne led the Nets with 20 points, E.J. Liddell scored 17 points, Chaney Johnson had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Ben Saraf scored 15 points.

Brooklyn (20-62) lost three straight to finish their worst season since posting the same record in 2016-17.

The Nets, who went 26-56 last season, have lost four consecutive season finales.

The Nets were without 10 players due to injury, a group that included Nic Claxton (sprained finger), Noah Clowney (left ankle), Egor Demin (left foot), Josh Minot (left ankle), Michael Porter Jr. (left hamstring) and Ziaire Williams (left foot).

Up next

Toronto will be on the road at Cleveland next weekend to begin the playoffs.