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CHICAGO — The Mets changed the script slightly Sunday, but the final scene of this horror show was all too familiar, with the opponent celebrating a victory.

Devin Williams wore the goat horns, blowing the save in the ninth before Nico Hoerner’s sacrifice fly against Craig Kimbrel in the 10th extended the Mets losing streak to 11 games with a 2-1 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

The losing streak matches the club’s longest since 2002.

“Eleven losses, that’s a lot, whether it’s in April or any point of the season,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We have got to find a way.”

A sputtering Mets lineup managed only 10 runs in six games on the road trip. On this day the Mets went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

“This feeling sucks,” Francisco Lindor said. “[But] we’re professionals and we have got to find a way to do whatever it takes to end up on top after 27 outs and sometimes 30 outs. It’s not a good feeling, but no one here is hanging their heads. Everybody has got their head up high, fighting for each other.”

Lindor, who has only one RBI, pointed blame toward himself.

“I came up in situations to drive runners in and didn’t do that,” he said. “It just came down to the last two outs. When I get guys in scoring position and I don’t drive them in, I don’t help the team.”

Kimbrel threw a wild pitch to advance automatic runner Pete Crow-Armstrong to third base with nobody out in the 10th before Dansby Swanson struck out and Hoerner won it with a fly to right.

Mendoza was asked about the possibility Kimbrel could have intentionally walked Hoerner, with slumping Michael Busch on deck, to set up a potential inning-ending double play.

“In that situation, especially with Hoerner, you put him at first base, they are going to take second base there,” Mendoza said. “There is a contact situation there, but they have got some of their best hitters coming up after that too, so just going right after him.”

Michael Conforto tied it against Williams with a pinch-hit RBI double in the ninth. Tyrone Taylor didn’t field the ball cleanly in right field, allowing Ian Happ to score easily. Happ led off the inning with a single against Williams, who struggled in his previous appearance, allowing four earned runs over one-third of an inning against the Dodgers.

“They gave me a lead,” Williams said. “It’s my job to hold it and I made a mistake. It cost us the game today.”

Tobias Myers, in an opener’s role of sorts, gave the Mets two scoreless innings before David Peterson entered for the third. Peterson pitched 3 ²/₃ scoreless innings in relief — his most effective outing since his first start of the season.

Peterson allowed a triple to the first batter he faced, Crow-Armstrong, but escaped the inning with help from Hoerner’s line-drive double play, on which Crow-Armstrong was caught off third base.

MJ Melendez — one of the few Mets showing life offensively — homered against Javier Assad leading off the fifth. Melendez worked the count full before clearing the ivy in right for his first Mets homer. Melendez is 5-for-14 since his recall from Triple-A Syracuse.

Peterson drilled Crow-Armstrong with two outs in the fifth, but Crow-Armstrong was thrown out by Luis Torrens attempting to advance to second.

Hoerner singled in the sixth and stole second with one out. Huascar Brazobán replaced Peterson after Busch was retired. Brazobán walked two batters to load the bases before striking out Seiya Suzuki to preserve the one-run lead.

Matt Shaw singled leading off the bottom of the seventh inning but was left stranded at second base — following Brooks Raley’s wild pitch — as Luke Weaver retired Swanson for the final out.

Weaver returned to pitch a scoreless eighth before Williams entered for the ninth.

“You got to the ninth inning feeling good, but when you are playing one-run games you have to be perfect,” Mendoza said. “It’s hard to play like that. It’s a tough stretch right now.”

The Mets were swept by the Chicago Cubs, losing Sunday's game by a score of 2-1 in 10 innings despite leading after eight innings.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- The Mets held a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning, but Devin Williams couldn't make the lead stand. After allowing a leadoff single, Williams allowed an RBI double to former Met Michael Conforto, with pinch-runner Scott Kingery scoring from first base, sending this game to extras and giving Williams his first blown save as a Met.

Despite a pair of runners in scoring position with two away, the Mets couldn't score in the top half of the tenth. Craig Kimbrel came on to pitch the bottom half of the tenth, uncorking a wild-pitch to move Pete Crow-Armstrong to third with no outs. NIco Hoerner cashed in with a sacrifice fly to right, giving the Cubs the win.

-- Carlos Mendoza's decision to go with an opener paid off.

Tobias Myers ended up going 2.0 scoreless innings in his role as opener, pitching around a leadoff walk in the first inning. Myers allowed one hit and struck out two while walking one. 

-- David Peterson entered to start the third inning, and he was immediately greeted by Crow-Armstrong, who tripled to right center to lead things off. But Peterson got out of the jam without allowing a run, thanks to a line-drive double play hit right to Marcus Semien, who threw behind Crow-Armstrong to get the third out at third base.

Peterson pitched into the sixth inning, leaving the game with a runner on third base. Huascar Brazoban came on and walked the first two batters to load the bases for Seiya Suzuki, but then struck him out to end the threat. That closed Peterson's line at 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out one without a walk.

-- The game stayed scoreless into the fifth inning, but MJ Melendez jumped on a Javier Assad pitch for a solo home run, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. Melendez has provided a spark to the Mets' lineup since being called up, as he's now hitting .357 with a 1.152 OPS.

-- After the piggybacking plan worked to perfection, the Mets had their bullpen lined up well with Brooks Raley to pitch the seventh, Luke Weaver to pitch the eighth, and then Devin Williams to close things out. Raley and Weaver (four outs) kept things scoreless, but Williams couldn't match.

-- Brett Baty snapped his 0-22 slump with a line drive single to left in the third, the Mets’ first hit of the game. 

Game MVP

Hoerner, who had one hit and the game-winning sac fly RBI

Highlights

MJ Melendez hits his first home run as a Met! pic.twitter.com/GKtAGwAp5R

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 19, 2026

Huascar Brazobán gets out of trouble in the 6th! pic.twitter.com/cVri2A8u14

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 19, 2026

Upcoming schedule

The Mets are off on Monday and then begin a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday at 7:10 on SNY.

Nolan McLean will face Mick Abel.

The San Diego Padres played a seven-game home stand after taking 4-of-6 on the road. They swept the Colorado Rockies in dramatic fashion with a Xander Bogaerts walk-off grand slam one night and a Gavin Sheets walk-off the next night. They added eight home runs to their season total in the four games.

The Friars then swept the Seattle Mariners over three games and Bogaerts added another home run to his total. They won using power, base running, small ball and situational hitting; showing the range of talent they possess up and down the line up. A far cry from the 2025 season that started with a similar winning way but almost all the production came from the top of the line up.

Dia de los Muertos

The Padres debuted their new City Connect jersey during the homestand, paying tribute to the Dia de los Muertos holiday as well as the colors for the 1998 Padres team. They won for the first time in their new duds. The organization also sold $1.1 million of merchandise on the day of release (April 9).

Veterans have off days

Padres manager Craig Stammen has been liberal with off days for his veteran players, giving playing time to the bench and moving Fernando Tatis Jr. from right field to second base on Saturday and Sunday during the Rockies series. Both Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth got days off while Tatis Jr. became reacquainted with the middle infield.

When asked, Stammen explained his desire to keep his players fresh throughout the season and it all began with giving Manny Machado a day off in April. Machado had his first day off in 2025 during the month of September. He also slumped drastically the end of last season, admitting to being fatigued. It seems Stammen is determined for that to not happen this year with Machado or anyone else.

Padres visit the IL

When Jason Adam came off the IL to join the Padres after his injury rehab, Jeremiah Estrada took his place with elbow tendinitis. His velocity had been noticeably decreased with his fastball, down 3-4 mph from his top of 97 mph. His other pitches also showed a loss of velocity and he was being hit hard.

Nick Pivetta left his start on Sunday versus the Mariners after three perfect innings. It was obvious that something was really wrong as he kicked at the rubber, yelled into his glove and bit it as Stammen and a trainer walked out to the mound. There was minimal discussion and Pivetta left the game. It was revealed the next day that Pivetta would go on the IL and he was diagnosed with a flexor strain. A serious injury, flexor strains take weeks to months to heal at best.

The Padres had a scare when catcher Freddy Fermin took two deflected balls into his face mask on April 15, but he did not need the concussion protocol and was rested for two days before returning to the lineup. For back up, the Padres pulled catcher Rudolfo Duran from El Paso minutes after Fermin was removed in San Diego. He was with the Padres the next day, on the taxi squad, in case of any issue with Luis Campusano.

Sung-Mun Song optioned to Triple-A

The Padres signed Song during the offseason to serve as a super utility player for the Padres. He came to Spring Training recovering from an oblique strain and aggravated the injury during camp. Starting the season on the IL, Song completed his rehab on Wednesday and was reinstated then optioned to El Paso.

His stats with the Chihuahuas have improved in most areas but with a few concerning spots. Although he is hitting .276/.364/.310 in 58 at-bats he has eight walks and 17 strikeouts. He has no home runs and two doubles with no stolen bases. Defensively, he has played 3B, 2B and SS but has not played in the outfield. He has also been the DH. Making better contact and cutting down on strikeouts will need to happen before he can be considered a better option than what the Padres currently have.

Luis Campusano on a tear

After starting the season slowly, Campusano was the quiet hero during the homestand. Although he didn’t hit the game-winning hits in any of the comeback wins or rallies, Campusano hit a home run and multiple doubles during almost every rally. He is currently hitting .300/.364/.533 with an .897 OPS. He has four doubles and a home run with six RBI. The faith and confidence that the Padres have shown since the start of Spring Training is being repaid. It seems that what Campusano needed was an opportunity, and some confidence, in order to show what he can do.

Ramon Laureano is the man

An adage often heard among the Friar media and fans is that the Padres will go as Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. go. It is usually true that those two lead the team offensively in one way or another. But to start 2026, after the first 20 games, left fielder Ramon Laureano leads in almost all categories while Machado and Tatis Jr. are hitting .203 and .233 respectively. Tatis Jr. still doesn’t have his first homer of the year.

Laureano is first in average at .290, first in slug at .551 and first in OPS at .906. Machado has the OBP of .363 due to his 16 walks, which leads the team. Laureano has four home runs and 13 RBI, both tops though Bogaerts and Jackson Merrill also have 13 RBI.

Bench power

The Padres bench has been superior to what we have seen in the past so far, especially the bench of 2025. The contributions of Campusano are not to be compared to the sub-.200 batting average of the past back up catchers. The combination of Ty France/Miguel Andujar/Nick Castellanos has far outperformed last year and could rival the 2024 bench. The three combined have seven doubles, a triple and a home run with eight RBI.

Defensively, France is the best first baseman on the team and has a Gold Glove from 2025 to prove it. Andujar can cover for Machado at third when needed and has been the DH. Castellanos doesn’t appear to have a good defensive position but pinch-hitting and occasional filling in at right or left field has been his role.

Mason Miller

Miller’s outstanding performance so far this season has been discussed almost every day around baseball. What he is doing is unprecedented and we should all just be grateful we get to experience it on our team. In his 9.1 innings pitched, he has 23 strikeouts, two walks, two hits and seven saves. That brings his total from last August to 31.2 innings pitched with no runs allowed, passing Padres icon Randy Jones and closing in on Cla Meredith.

In comparison, Randy Vasquez has 25 strikeouts in 21.1 innings pitched. The Rockies’ Chase Dollander has 23 strikeouts in 19 innings pitched.

Through four rehab games with the Yankees' Double-A Somerset Patriots, shortstop Anthony Volpe has his first multihit performance.

In Sunday's 7-6 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies' Reading Fightin Phils, Volpe's 2-for-4 afternoon started with a first-inning single.

Volpe followed third baseman and top prospect Greg Lombard Jr.'s leadoff home run against Zack Wheeler by sending a 1-0 offering back up the middle.

Anthony Volpe looking comfortable with this smooth single against Zack Wheeler 👀

Volpe now has hits in each of his last three rehab starts. pic.twitter.com/cQjvGIzFpO

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) April 19, 2026

After an inning-ending flyout to left field in the third and a one-out lineout to shortstop two frames later, Volpe led off the seventh with a single through the middle against Luke Russo.

Following Volpe's second knock, which had an exit velocity of 104.2 mph, he stole second base.

Through 11 at-bats with Somerset since last Tuesday, Volpe (left shoulder surgery recovery) has four hits -- all singles -- and three strikeouts. He has two stolen bases and one walk.

That's 104.2 mph off the bat for Anthony Volpe! 🔥

He rocks a base hit up the middle for his first multi-hit game of his MLB rehab assignment. pic.twitter.com/Qj2IdYpN6V

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) April 19, 2026

The Cleveland Guardians and Baltimore Orioles faced off for the final game of the four game series. With the Guardians up 2-1 on the series, the worst case was a series split. A welcomed change of pace after dropping back-to-back series.

Joey Cantillo took the mound for the Guards and had a rocky start. In the first 9 pitches, he only threw 2 strikes and had two runners on via a single and walk. Austin Hedges visited the mound and Joey locked in for the next 3 innings. Through the fourth inning he drastically improved his strike/pitch rate and kept Baltimore to two base runners.

The defense behind Cantillo looked to start the game in prime form with David Fry making a stellar catch in right field to end the third.

It took the Guardians a few innings to get the offense rolling. In the bottom of the third inning, Austin Hedges reached on a fielding error then went first to third on Brayan Rocchio’s single. Steven Kwan’s sac fly scored Hedgey, putting Cleveland on the board first.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Guards pulled further ahead of the Orioles, building on their lead. José Ramírez hit a first pitch, lead off home run. He punished the 89.8 mph four-seamer, launching it 408ft to the bleachers.

It didn’t stop there, either. David Fry got on base with a single to left. Daniel Schneemann worked a full count and drew a walk after facing eight pitches. Juan Brito doubled, scoring two. Schneemann had a great jump on Brito’s double. The misread by Oriole’s outfielder Blaze Alexander gave Schnee the timing he needed to score.

The final run of the inning came with two outs. Brayan Rocchio slapped a single to left that scored Brito from second base.

Things fell apart for Cantillo and the defense in the top of the fifth. Joey struggled pitching again, giving up a walk and a single before recording the first out. Taylor Ward hit a home run off of Cantillo, bringing the Orioles within two runs of tying. With two outs, Pete Alonso singled and Jonathan Rodríguez walked, putting Cantillo in the same situation for the second time in the inning resulting in his early pull from the game. Vogt turned to Matt Festa to finish out the inning. Matt Festa did his job, getting a hit directly to the second baseman Juan Brito sure to end the inning. Except, Brito committed a throwing error, loading the bases instead. The Baltimore pinch hitter hit up the middle in what should have been the third out, again. And, again, Juan Brito couldn’t flip the ball to Brayan Rocchio in time for the out, resulting in a fielder’s choice that brought Baltimore within one and loaded the bases. Thankfully Steven Kwan was able to nab a fly out to center to finally retire the side. Cantillo finished the day having gone 4.2IP, 5H, 4R/3ER, 6K.

José Ramírez came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth with one out and promptly reminded us fans that he is capable of single handedly changing the flow of a game. José saw a ball, took a strike, and then launched a low changeup to the porch in left field.

His second home run of the game aptly put him in sole possession of second most home runs at home in franchise history.

Peyton Pallette came out in the top of the sixth to pitch for Cleveland. He made two quick outs and was assisted by a great play in left by Angel Martínez to retire the side.

Peyton stayed in, going 1-2-3 in the seventh. Erik Sabrowski came on in the eighth giving up a walk, but then striking out the next three batters. In the bottom of the eighth Rhys Hoskins drew a lead off walk, and with David Fry’s single up the middle and a walk from Daniel Schneemann, they loaded the bases with no outs. Brayan Rocchio delivered with a two-out, two-run single on a liner to center.

Shawn Armstrong closed the game out in a non-save situation. Armstrong and Angel retired the Orioles 1-2-3, with Angel making another great catch in center. The Guardians win the game and win the series. The Houston Astros are coming to town for a three game series starting tomorrow night, in Cleveland.

The Orioles dropped the finale of their four-game series to the Guardians, 8-4, as their offense underachieved again, their defense continued to stink, and their erstwhile ace coughed up six runs and suffered a noticeable velocity dip in his second straight ugly outing.

Other than that, though, it was a great afternoon of baseball.

The first four innings of this game featured the classic combination of terrible 2026 Orioles baseball — offensive futility and defensive shenanigans — along with the unfortunate new wrinkle of a horrendous Trevor Rogers performance. Normally, Trevor Rogers Day is one of celebration, in which fans can take comfort that they’ll at least get a quality outing from the Orioles ace. Today, though, he was sucked into the abyss of ineptitude that’s swallowed up so many of his teammates.

Things started out innocently enough, with Rogers mowing down the first seven batters he faced. But then came the defensive shenanigans I referred to earlier, and Rogers has nobody to blame but himself. On an Austin Hedges grounder to first base, Rogers raced to the bag to receive the feed from Pete Alonso, and then just…ran right past the base. He couldn’t get back before Hedges reached safely, and Cleveland had a gift baserunner on the Rogers error.

The Guardians, of course, took full advantage, because every Orioles defensive misplay is required to lead to at least one run. It’s in the MLB rulebook, look it up. Brayan Rocchio advanced Hedges to third on a single, and Steven Kwan scored him on a sac fly. An inning later, the Guardians made it 2-0 when José Ramírez blasted Rogers for a home run to left, the 290th of his Hall of Fame career. Well, there’s no shame in giving up a dinger to a guy like that, and at least things hadn’t spiraled out of control for Rogers.

…Oh. I spoke too soon. After the home run, Rogers suddenly couldn’t get anyone out. A single and a walk brought up Juan Brito, who lofted a shot to deep center field. It wasn’t an easily catchable ball, but a natural center fielder might’ve had a play on it. Unfortunately, the Orioles’ center fielder on this day was infielder Blaze Alexander, who got himself turned around and had no chance to reach the warning track as the ball fell in safely. Two runs scored on the double. If I could make a humble suggestion to the Orioles: maybe stop playing infielders in the outfield?

Two batters later, Brito scored on a Rocchio RBI single, extending the Cleveland lead to 5-0. It marked the second straight outing in which Rogers allowed four or more runs, something he hadn’t done since May 2024 with the Marlins (somehow he didn’t even do it in his disastrous four-start debut with the Orioles in September 2024). Not only that, but Rogers’ fastball velocity was notably down nearly 3 mph from his average. It’s fine. This is fine. Everything is fine. Rogers gutted through five innings, but coughed up a second Ramírez homer before he left.

As for the Orioles’ offense, well, the majority of the game was the same, sad story we’ve seen this whole series and most of the season. Birds hitters looked completely inept against a cavalcade of Cleveland pitchers, making weak contact — when they made contact at all — and coming up empty in most RBI situations. The O’s put up goose eggs in eight of their nine offensive innings.

The only exception was the top of the fifth, when it briefly looked like the O’s might stage a multi-run comeback like they did in Friday’s win. Starting the inning with a 5-0 deficit, the Orioles put two runners on base for Taylor “Two Bags” Ward, who added an extra two bags in this case, cranking a three-run homer to left field to whittle the deficit to 5-3. At long last, Ward — who homered 36 times for the Angels last year — picked up his first dinger as an Oriole in his 22nd game. He’s been one of the Birds’ best hitters all season, so I wasn’t going to rag on the guy for not homering, but it’s nice to get that first one into the ledger.

The rally continued, thanks to some bad Guardians defense. With two outs, Pete Alonso singled and Johnathan Rodríguez walked, chasing starter Joey Cantillo from the game. Against reliever Matt Festa, Jeremiah Jackson shuffled a grounder to the hole on the right side. The second baseman Brito fielded it cleanly but yanked a wild throw to first, allowing Jackson to reach. The next batter, pinch-hitter Dylan Beavers, rolled a grounder near the second base bag. Again Brito fielded cleanly but again muffed the throw, lobbing too late to the shortstop Rocchio as Jackson slid in safely to second. Beavers had a gift RBI and suddenly it was just a one-run game, 5-4, with the bases loaded and the chance for more damage.

Sadly, Coby Mayo flied out harmlessly, and the Orioles essentially never threatened again. Despite the Birds’ success against the Cleveland bullpen earlier in the series, they had no answer for the Guardians’ relief crew on this day. Rule 5 righty Peyton Pallette painted the strike zone for two perfect innings, followed by a scoreless inning apiece from Erik Sabrowski and ex-Oriole Shawn Armstrong. The Guardians added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on Rocchio’s two-run single off Cameron Foster.

Before that, at least, Tyler Wells had his best outing of 2026 with two perfect innings, including five strikeouts. It’d be nice if Wells could do that in high-leverage situations, but kudos to him in any case. Tyler’s performance was one of the few highlights in another all-around ugly, lackluster showing by what’s becoming an increasingly uncompetitive Orioles team.