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Honestly? I thought I was going to be writing another “The Cubs didn’t hit with RISP” recap and that the Cubs would lose this game by not scoring, because they went into the ninth inning 0-for-6 with RISP.

Thank you, Cubs, for proving me wrong. Michael Conforto’s RBI double in the ninth tied the game — and you can imagine how that made the former Met feel! — and Nico Hoerner hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th to give the Cubs their fifth straight win, 2-1 over the Mets. The win gave the Cubs their first series sweep of 2026 and sent the Mets to their 11th loss in row.

To begin at the beginning, Javier Assad threw very well for four innings, allowing just a leadoff single to Brett Baty in the fourth. Baty made it to third, but was stranded.

Then MJ Melendez led off the fifth with a solo homer off Assad. That was it, though — one more hit off the Cubs right-hander was all the Mets could muster, three hits and one run allowed in 5.2 innings was a very good outing for Javier Assad. Here’s more on Assad’s afternoon [VIDEO].

But the Cubs could not do anything with former Brewer Tobias Myers, who threw the first two innings, or David Peterson, who threw 3.2 scoreless frames after that. Pete Crow-Armstrong led off the third with a triple to right-center, but was doubled off third after Nico hit a sharp line drive to second [VIDEO].

The Cubs had a decent chance to score in the sixth. Hoerner singled with one out. Michael Busch hit one up the middle, but Francisco Lindor made a great stop to retire Busch [VIDEO].

After that, Alex Bregman and Ian Happ walked to load the bases, but Seiya Suzuki struck out to end the inning.

The Cubs got good relief work from Jacob Webb (1.1 scoreless innings, probably his best outing as a Cub) and their two Martins. Riley Martin threw a scoreless eighth and Corbin Martin, making his Cubs debut, had a scoreless ninth.

So the Cubs trailed 1-0 going to the bottom of the ninth, and as I said above… things did not look good. But Happ led off the inning off Devin Williams with a single. Scott Kingery was sent in to run for Happ. Suzuki struck out, and Craig Counsell sent Conforto up to bat for Matt Shaw.

Conforto came through to tie the game 1-1 [VIDEO].

Conforto thus represented the winning run on second with one out, but Saturday’s hero Carson Kelly struck out, and then PCA also struck out to send the game to extras.

Caleb Thielbar threw the 10th for the Cubs and retired the first two hitters on pop flies, one to second and one to short left. A ground ball that Nico had no play on went for a hit, but the placed runner (Melendez) had to hold at third.

Thielbar struck out Luis Torrens on a high fastball to end the inning [VIDEO].

PCA was the placed runner and former Cub Craig Kimbrel relieved for the Mets. Dansby Swanson tried to bunt him to third and popped both attempts foul. But then Kimbrel threw a wild pitch, sending PCA to third and accomplishing what a sac bunt would have. Swanson, though, struck out.

That brought up Nico [VIDEO].

Hoerner did what was needed, sending a fly to right deep enough to score PCA and the Cubs had their series sweep. Here are some postgame comments from Nico [VIDEO].

More on the walk-off win from BCB’s JohnW53:

Based on my research, this was the Cubs’ 999th walk-off win in regular-season games since 1876, first year of the National League.

It was their 901st since 1901, first year of the Modern Era, and their 796th at Wrigley Field.

Of all 999, 957 have come at home.

This was Hoerner’s fourth. He is among 420 Cubs who have done it.

(In case you are wondering how a team could have a walk-off win on the road, in baseball’s early days, teams could choose to bat first at home. In cases like that, the visiting team could have a walk-off win. In practice that hasn’t been done in more than 100 years, but the home team officially batting last wasn’t codified in the rules until 1950.)

It wasn’t pretty, but wins are wins, as you surely know, and when a team comes into Wrigley Field in as much disarray as the Mets appear to be in, it’s good to take advantage, and the Cubs did in multiple ways. Sunday, it was solid pitching and timely hitting.

An annoying little rainshower hit the area around Wrigley not long after the game started and lasted maybe 15-20 minute before passing out of the area. The sun came out, making it a reasonably pleasant afternoon after that, and forecasts are for dry conditions for the rest of the homestand.

The Cubs will open a four-game series against the Phillies Monday evening at Wrigley, hoping to extend the five-game winning streak that began last Tuesday against the Phillies in Philadelphia. It’ll be a pitching rematch of that game, with Colin Rea going against Aaron Nola. (Yes, I know Riley Martin started that game, but it was basically Rea vs. Nola. Let’s hope for a similar result, as the Cubs won that game 10-4.) Game time Monday is 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! This week, we focus not just on the present, but also on the legacy of the past, as we celebrated Jackie Robinson Day this Wednesday. How did the Yankees acknowledge this important day — as well as the other goings-on of the early season — this week? Let’s find out!

Jackie Robinson Day

As you could probably guess from the top image, the article heading, and the intro, we begin this week with Major League Baseball’s annual celebration of Jackie Robinson, whose story — as timely as ever — needs no introduction.

Cam in the Garden for NBA Playoffs

Because the Yankees had a matinee on Saturday, they had some rare free time at night, so after helping beat the Royals on Friday night with six innings of three-hit, one-run ball, Cam Schlittler was among the many celebrities at Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks’ playoff opener. He got a very nice hand from the crowd, who got to see the Knicks take down the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1, 113-102.

Daily Comments from Dave

Yankees radio broadcaster Dave Sims discusses the Yankees’ hectic week on his Instagram.

Behind the NY

The Yankees continued to upload episodes of their YouTube series, Behind the NY.

Welcome back, Paulie!

Over the first couple of weeks of the regular season, the YES broadcast rotated David Cone and Joe Girardi alongside Michael Kay. But you know who was conspicuously missing? That’s right — the Warrior himself, Paul O’Neill. Well, at long last, the former Yankees right fielder made his season debut at the ballpark.

The Game Belt

The Game Belt got passed around quite a bit this week.

Batting practice with the WPBL

The Yankees invited the players from the new Women’s Professional Baseball League to take batting practice at Yankee Stadium last weekend, a show of support for the new league, which launches this summer.

The House of Horrors Returns

Guess what’s back! That’s right — the Trop. (chorus of boos and hisses)

Yeah, I’m not happy about it either. At least the Rays finally have something that resembles concrete plans for a new ballpark.

Of course, the Trop did give us our first “opposing mascot attempts to troll with Meredith Marakovitz during the pregame show.” As the YES Network account said, she truly is a mascot whisperer, and handles their shenanigans like a champ.

Banana Ball

The Savannah Bananas will be playing at Yankee Stadium next weekend, as the Bombers are on the road. One of their players posted to Instagram to express his excitement over fulfilling his childhood dream of playing at Yankee Stadiuim.

The New York Mets' losing streak is only growing more extreme, more historic, even more soul-crushing.

The beleaguered squad carried a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth inning at Wrigley Field, but a funky hop off a side wall, a failed effort to score a courtesy runner and continued offensive futility fueled a 2-1, 10-inning loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, April 19.

It was the Mets' 11th consecutive loss. They haven't lost that many in a row since 2004.

They're now 7-15 – already three games behind the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals, who have payrolls a fraction of theirs – in the NL East.

And on a chilly day at Wrigley Field, they managed only one run – a fifth-inning home run from M.J. Melendez, a scrap heap acquisition who suddenly is the most effective offensive player on a club with a $358 million payroll.

"When you’re playing one-run games, you have to be perfect. It’s hard to play like that," says manager Carlos Mendoza. "We are not impacting the baseball at all, as a team."

Yet, it was a defensive misplay that will sting the most.

The New York Mets are finding that money doesn’t necessarily bring happiness. The second-most expensive team in MLB – with a payroll of $381m – lost their 11th game in a row on Sunday as they were swept for a third straight series, this time by the Chicago Cubs.

“Eleven losses, that’s a lot, whether it’s in April or at any point in the season,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to find a way.”

On Sunday, the Mets found new and interesting ways to torment their fanbase. They led 1-0 going into the ninth inning before their former outfielder, Michael Conforto, drove in the tying run for the Cubs. Another former Mets outfielder, Pete Crow-Armstrong, then scored Chicago’s winning run in the 10th inning off Nico Hoerner’s sacrifice fly.

“This feeling sucks,” said shortstop Francisco Lindor after the game. “It’s not a good feeling.”

The Mets’ losing streak matches the team’s longest since 2002, and they have scored just 19 runs in their 11 consecutive losses. The Mets’ woes come after a terrible 2025 season in which they collapsed from having the best record in baseball early in the season to missing the playoffs entirely.

The Mets have a small sliver of hope with their best player, Juan Soto, due back from injury in the coming week. But Lindor said Soto should not be expected to work miracles.

“Even when he comes, we’ve still got to get it done,” said Lindor. “It would be unfair to just throw everything on him.”

General manager David Stearns shipped out many of the team’s veterans and much of the coaching staff in the wake of last season’s disappointment, but the new version of the Mets appears to be even worse this time around. After Sunday’s loss they fell to 7-15, the worst record in the major leagues.

For eight innings on Sunday, the Cincinnati Reds looked mostly miserable in the cold confines of Target Field. Minnesota Twins starter Bailey Ober had their number (6.0 IP, 3 H, ER, 4 BB, 10 K) each and every time a Red actually reached a base, with the Reds – at one point – sitting 0 for 11 with runners on-base for the game.

Then, though, the Reds got an idea. An awful idea. The Reds got a wonderful, awful idea!

The Reds – believe it or not – decided the floodgates deserved opening!

Rookie righty Andrew Morris got out of a jam in the Top of the 9th, but the starter-turned-reliever was brought back out for the 9th inning by Twins manager Derek Shelton as a confidence boost, I can only assume. Cincinnati wasted little time in getting right to him, as Spencer Steer singled, Tyler Stephenson singled behind him, Dane Myers coaxed a walk, and Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game TJ Friedl smashed his first extra-base hit into the gap in right-center to clear the bases and give the Reds a 4-3 lead.

The Twins got out of the inning, though, and managed to get a leadoff runner on, over, and in off Reds closer Emilio Pagan to send the game disappointingly into extras. Disappointing for us, I should clarify, as the Cincinnati offense had only just begun to warm up, apparently.

Elly De La Cruz was the Manfred Man at 2B to begin the inning, and the fortuitous way that worked out meant he was set to wreak havoc on the bases immediately. That happened with 1-out as Eugenio Suarez topped a grounder between short and 3B that was booted by the Twins infield, and Elly motored initially to 3B. However, the Minnesota LF bobbled the ball, and Elly reversed reversing course to sprint home and give the Reds a lead they wouldn’t relinquish this time. After the Twins intentionally walked Will Benson to set up force outs, Rece Hinds cleared the bases again with a clutch double into the LF corner, and that put Cincinnati up 7-4.

Graham Ashcraft, who had literally never saved a game before in his life, came on to pitch the Bottom of the 10th, and he wrapped the game up in short order.

That’s a sweep for the 14-8 Cincinnati Reds, who sit alone atop the NL Central leaderboard.

Other Notes

• Each of Cincinnati’s three hardest-hit balls of the day resulted in outs. Elly smashed a grounder at 109.3 mph that went for an out, while Sal Stewart blasted a bal 108.8 mph that went for a lineout.
• There were no homers socked by either team this entire series in the cold weather up north.
• Friedl went 2 for 3, and after his clutch double his slugging percentage (.167) is now higher than his average for the year (.154).
• Ke’Bryan Hayes, meanwhile, went 0 for 2 before being subbed. He’s down to .058/.125/.058 on the year.
• Brady Singer battled early and admirably kept the Reds in the game (6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K on 104 pitches). He still doesn’t look ‘right’ and his peripherals remain ugly, but that’s a serviceable outing any way you look at it.
• The four fastest pitches of the game were all thrown by Connor Phillips (up to 99.3 mph). He’s got all the makings of Cincinnati’s closer of the future, as well as (perhaps) the present.
• PJ Higgins ended up catching in extra innings after Will Benson came on to pinch-run for (and score for) Tyler Stephenson in the crucial 9th inning rally. He’s a master of the strike zone, and the game actually ended on his challenge of a ball call on a pitch by Ashcraft that was, in fact, actually a strike.
• The Reds will get warm, dry, and cozy on the next stop of their road trip as they head to Tampa and their rebuilt dome. First pitch on Monday is set for 6:40 PM ET, and Rhett Lowder will toe the rubber for the Reds. The Rays have yet to announce their starter at the time of publishing.

Box Score

In a battle of young, tall, flamethrowing phenoms, Jacob Misiorowski stumbled out of the gate, and even though he recovered nicely, it was ultimately too much to come back from on a Sunday afternoon in Miami.

Misiorowski allowed the first three batters he faced to reach base, though one was due to an error by shortstop David Hamilton. Faced with bases loaded and nobody out in the first inning, Misiorowski then threw a wild pitch, then hit Kyle Stowers with a pitch before getting Agustín Ramírez to ground into a double play that scored a run. Liam Hicks singled to add a third run, and very quickly the Marlins had a 3-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Eury Pérez held down the Brewers offense completely through the first five innings, scattering just three hits in them. The Brewers finally broke through in the sixth inning with a Hamilton leadoff walk. He promptly stole second, and the throw went into centerfield, allowing Hamilton to take off for third. Garrett Mitchell brought him home with an RBI groundout to make it 3-1.

DL Hall entered for Misiorowski in the bottom of the sixth and allowed a pair of hits and a pair of walks, leading to two runs for the Marlins and a 5-1 Miami lead. He was relieved by Grant Anderson after getting just one out.

The Brewers had some chances in the eighth with a Sal Frelick pinch-hit single, followed by walks from Garrett Mitchell and Brice Turang to load the bases. Gary Sánchez delivered two runs with a single to center to make it 5-3. Trying to capitalize on the opportunity, Pat Murphy decided to have William Contreras come off the bench to pinch-hit. The Marlins responded by bringing in righty Calvin Faucher, and Faucher got Contreras to fly out to left to end the inning.

Pete Fairbanks sat the Brewers down in order in the ninth inning to secure the save and a 5-3 Marlins win over the Brewers.

The four-game winning streak gets snapped, but they’ll get a chance to start one again Tuesday as they travel to Detroit to start a three-game series against the Tigers after an off day tomorrow.

The first half of Sunday’s game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros was a pitcher’s duel. The second half of the game not so much as the Cardinals bats woke up in the 5th inning against the Houston Astros in the weekend series, but it would be extra innings heroics by Masyn Winn that would give them a series sweep.

Matthew Liberatore had a stellar start only allowing the Astros 3 hits and 1 earned run due to a bizarre sequence in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Trammell tripled off of the right field wall after his backswing hit Pedro Pagés in the side of the head. After he looked back to check on Pagés, he began to circle the bases when Jordan Walker overthrew the cutoff man and missed third base trying to throw out Trammell, but Nathan Church alertly backed up the throw preventing Trammell from scoring. He would score on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Correa to short center field when Victor Scott II’s throw hit the pitcher’s mound giving the Astros a 1-0 lead. Liberatore would end up throwing 6 innings for St. Louis Sunday.

Mike Burrows had a perfect game two outs into the 5th inning for the Houston Astros, but a hit by Masyn Winn broke that up and seemingly caused Burrows to lose his control. Nathan Church walked after Winn’s single. Pedro Pagés beat out an infield single (yes, you read that right) which loaded the bases for Victor Scott II. Burrows walked him to tie the game 1-1 which brought up JJ Wetherholt who slammed a single to right field scoring both Church and Pagés. Pedro looked like he stepped on a slick patch of ice crossing home plate.

Iván Herrera followed Wetherholt’s RBI single with one of his own to score Victor Scott II.

Nolan Gorman showed Arenado tendencies in the bottom of the 5th inning when he absolutely robbed Alvarez of a hit. For what it’s worth, Gorman’s defense has been much better than Arenado’s in 2026 so far.

Ryan Stanek was brought in to relieve Liberatore in the 7th inning. He was helped by an excellent diving catch by Nathan Church. JoJo Romero entered the game in the bottom of the 8th inning. He got the first two outs, but gave up a long home run to Alvarez to draw the Astros closer at 4-2. Altuve followed that with a hard hit single to left field. After that, Walker walked which inspired manager Oli Marmol to bring in closer Riley O’Brien. After a wild pitch that moved both runners up a base, he was greeted by Paredes who smacked a single to right-center field to tie the game 4-4. He was able to get out of the 8th inning by picking Paredes off first.

The Cardinals mounted a threat in the top of the 9th inning when José Fermín doubled into the left-center field gap. Pedro Pagés was unable to move him over to 3rd base when he missed a bunt attempt and then struck out. Yohel Pozo pinch-hit for Victor Scott II. He did move Fermín to third base by grounding out to 2nd base. That brought up JJ Wetherholt who was hit by a pitch for the 4th straight game tying a record held by current Cardinals coach Jon Jay. Ivan Herrera grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the Cardinals 9th inning.

Riley O’Brien held the Astros scoreless through the bottom of the 9th inning sending the game into extras. Ivan Herrera was the designated runner in the top of the 10th inning. Alec Burleson was unable to move him over when he flew out to short centerfield. Jordan Walker reached on an error by third baseman Matthews. Ramón Urías then pinch-hit for Nolan Gorman who was 0-4 in the game. He was hit in the foot by a pitch which loaded the bases for Texas native Masyn Winn. He cleared the bases with a screaming double into the left field corner making it 7-4 Cardinals.

Justin Bruihl was brought in to handle the bottom of the 10th inning. His time would not be without drama as Trammell reached on a dribble infield single. That brought up Carlos Correa as the tying run. His tapper back to Bruihl would result in Matthews being tagged out in a rundown between third and home for the first out. Alvarez lined out to Winn at short for the second out. Gordon Graceffo was then brought in to get the last out. Altuve managed to get a two-strike infield single that was kept from going into the outfield by Winn. Christian Walker came up as the potential winning run, but Graceffo was able to get him out on a fielder’s choice by Urias.

The Cardinals will move on to Miami for a 3-game series versus the Marlins. Michael McGreevy is scheduled to start for the Cardinals for a 5:40pm start Monday night.

Jake Cronenworth took a 97-mile-per-hour pitch to the face and didn’t leave.

The San Diego Padres infielder was up to bat against Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi with a man on second in the top of the fifth inning when a 97-mph fastball struck him in the cheek.

Scary moment as Jake Cronenworth was hit in the face with a pitch. He walked it off to first base pic.twitter.com/3ykXiHD8ZL

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 19, 2026

Cronenworth, luckily, wasn’t hit dead on and didn’t even come out of the game, taking a second to gather himself before heading to first base.

Still, it was a pretty frightening experience for those in attendance.

Cronenworth finished the game 1-for-1 with two walks and an RBI.

Cronenworth is a two-time All-Star from his seasons in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

The Padres later won the game 4-1, improving to 14-7 this season, and are just 1.5 games behind the Dodgers in the National League West, who are 15-5 to start the year.

Cronenworth is only hitting .152 this season, but the 32-year-old infielder remains a fixture on the Padres roster in his seventh full season with the team.

Though the Padres haven’t won the NL West since 2006, the team has been to the playoffs four times in six years, reaching the NLCS in 2022 and the NLDS in 2020 and 2024.

The team has also just had one losing season during that timeframe, making them one of the more successful National League teams in recent years despite their lack of deep playoff trips.

For a while there, it looked like the Mets would finally win a baseball game. But they’ll have to wait until at least Tuesday to break their losing streak, as Devin Williams blew his save opportunity in the bottom of the ninth before the Cubs scored a walk-off sac fly in the bottom of the tenth.

Until Williams allowed that run in the ninth, MJ Melendez had provided the entirety of the scoring in the game with his solo home run in the top of the fifth. In total, the Mets had just six hits on the afternoon.

Tobias Myers got the start for the Mets and used as an opener, and to his credit, he threw two innings, didn’t allow a run, struck out two, walked one, and allowed just one hit. He needed just 28 pitches to get through those innings, and he now has a 3.00 ERA on the season.

David Peterson, who had struggled mightily in his last three starts, took over from there. And he fared much better today, as he completed three-and-two-thirds innings without allowing a run. He struck out just one opposing hitter, but he didn’t walk anyone and gave up just three hits.

Things got a bit dicey when Peterson was pulled from the game with a runner on third and two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Huascar Brazobán issued a pair of walks to load the bases but struck out Seiya Suzuki to get out of the inning unscathed.

Brooks Raley and Luke Weaver combined to maintain the shutout in the seventh and eighth, but Michael Conforto faced Williams as a pinch hitter and doubled in the Cubs’ run in the ninth—because of course he did.

The Mets’ lifeless offense then failed to score despite having the Manfred runner on second base in the top of the tenth, and it felt like a sure thing they’d lose in the bottom of the inning. And then they did, as Pete Crow-Armstrong advanced to third base on a wild pitch by Craig Kimbrel and came in to score the winning run on a one-out sac fly off the bat of Nico Hoerner.

The Mets are 7-15, and by the end of Major League Baseball’s slate of games today, they’ll either still be tied for or have sole possession of the worst record in baseball.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?
Big Mets winner: David Peterson and Luke Weaver, +21% WPA each
Big Mets loser: Craig Kimbrel, -37% WPA
Mets pitchers: -5% WPA
Mets hitters: -45% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: MJ Melendez hits a solo home run in the top of the fifth, +14% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Michael Conforto doubles to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, -49% WPA