NEW YORK (AP) — Done in by a robot reversal, Brett Baty of the New York Mets became the first batter to have a bases-loaded walk changed to an inning-ending called third strike by Major League Baseball's new challenge system.
Plate umpire Ryan Blakney was challenged four times in the first inning of the Colorado Rockies' 3-1 win a in doubleheader opener on Sunday, and three calls were overturned.
Baty dropped his bat and started to take off his batting gloves as he headed toward first after Blakney called ball four on a bases-loaded, full-count sinker on the outside corner. Only Colorado catcher Brett Sullivan tapped his helmet for an appeal, and the Automated Ball-Strike System changed the pitch to a called third strike for the inning’s final out.
Instead of moving ahead 1-0, the Mets never led all day as they were swept. The Rockies won the nightcap 3-0 for a three-game sweep, sending the Mets to their 15th loss in 17 games.
“It would have been big to get a run on the board there in the first,” Baty said. “But it’s part of the game now, so got to deal with it.”
Four of seven challenges overall were successful. Bo Bichette overturned a strike on Jose Quintana’s first pitch of the game and walked. Bichette was only the second player this season to challenge the first pitch of a game to his team: the Los Angeles Angels’ Zach Neto failed to overturn a strike from Cincinnati’s Brandon Williamson on April 11.
“I was really surprised,” Quintana said, “I think that pitch was right on the line.”
After Juan Soto struck out, Colorado unsuccessfully challenged the first pitch to Luis Robert Jr., who then succeeded in having a 2-1 pitch changed to a ball. Robert also walked, Mark Vientos loaded the bases with a bloop single and Marcus Semien struck out.
Three batters before Baty previously had bases-loaded walks changed by ABS to a called strike three, but none had ended innings, according to Elias: Houston’s Yanier Diaz by Seattle’s Cal Raleigh on April 11, Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz by the Chicago Cubs’ Carson Kelly the next day and Tampa Bay’s Jake Fraley by Edgar Quero of the Chicago White Sox on April 16.
Before the ABS decision, Quintana had assumed Colorado was trailing 1-0.
“I was thinking next pitch," he said.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Colorado Rockies pitcher Jose Quintana throws during the third inning of the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the New York Mets, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Payton Pritchard made six of Boston’s 24 3-pointers and scored 32 points and Jayson Tatum had 30 points and 11 assists to help the Boston Celtics spoil Joel Embiid’s return from an appendectomy and beat the Philadelphia 76ers 128-96 on Sunday night for a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Boston.
“It's going to have to be a big pick-up mentally,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said.
Jaylen Brown scored 20 points for the Celtics, who thumped the Sixers by 32 points for the second time in the series. The Celtics outrebounded the Sixers 51-30.
Embiid scored 26 points in 34 minutes just 17 days after having an appendectomy. Embiid wasted little time scoring in his first game since April 6. The two-time NBA scoring champion sank two free throws for the Sixers’ first points of the game, added a monster two-handed jam and scored the team’s first eight points.
Embiid withered after the fast start and missed seven straight shots before he converted a three-point play in the third quarter. That cut the Sixers' deficit to 23.
The Celtics hardly needed much production from Brown or Tatum — they combined for 50 points in a Game 3 win and only 13 in the first half of Game 4 — and used a whopping 14-rebound edge in the first half that sparked a 13-0 shutout in second-chance points to build a 21-point lead.
All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey took a backseat to Embiid and took only three shots in the first half. He scored 22 points for the Sixers.
“That can't happen," Maxey said of the slow start. “That's on me. That's just unacceptable by me. I was playing within the flow of the game. It kind of happened that way. It wasn't meant to happen that way.”
Maxey and the Sixers largely tried to get Embiid rolling early.
Embiid had an appendectomy in Houston on April 9 after Philadelphia’s star big man was stricken with appendicitis overnight. He returned to the court Sunday wearing a protective brace around his midsection and was cleared to play about 40 minutes before the scheduled tipoff.
“What am I going to do? Cry about it?” Embiid said of his latest postseason malady.
Whatever emotional lift he provided lasted only minutes into the first quarter.
Pritchard buried a long 3 on one leg to end the first quarter and give Boston a 34-18 lead.
“He’s just a guy that finds the game. He dictates the pace for us,” Celtics coach Joe Mazulla said. "He did a good job of that for himself and others tonight. When we’re at our best, he’s aggressive.”
Embiid shot 3 of 5 in the first quarter while the rest of the Sixers missed 10 of 13 shots.
There were some questions about how Tatum’s return in early March from the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered in the playoffs last May would affect the flow of a group that had learned to adjust and thrive without the six-time All-Star.
Instead, Tatum has reacclimated himself in short order and the Celtics are dominating like a team that feels as though the East will go through Boston.
Embiid's gutsy return mattered little, and now the Celtics can clinch the series at home and wait for the winner of the Atlanta Hawks-New York Knicks series.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid goes up for a dunk during the first half of Game 4 against the Boston Celtics in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Boston Celtics' Payton Pritchard, left, tries to get past Philadelphia 76ers' Dominick Barlow during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia 76ers' Andre Drummond, right, reacts past Boston Celtics' Neemias Queta after an injury during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum (0) goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Boston Celtics' Sam Hauser, from left, Payton Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic react during the first half of Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
