Baker says Astros ‘have nothing to be ashamed of’
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Buster Olney, ESPN Senior Writer
HOUSTON — Dusty Baker spoke to his players in the Houston clubhouse after the Astros‘ final defeat Monday, which some in the room believed was his last speech as manager, as they have been privately speculating for weeks.
Baker thanked them for their effort and talked about their fight over what was an arduous, trying season, but didn’t seem quite ready to say aloud that his 26-year managerial career was over, because he knew the Texas Rangers were celebrating the American League Championship out on the field.
“I don’t want to take the spotlight away from anybody,” the 74-year-old Baker mused, before acknowledging that he hasn’t spent the kind of time with grandchildren as they deserve, and wondering aloud if his two hunting dogs would recognize him when he returned home. Baker’s contract is set to expire, and he is expected to have a conversation with owner Jim Crane and general manager Dana Brown.
But Baker also seemed a little stunned about the ugly and abrupt nature to the Astros’ reign as champions. Minute Maid Park has often seemed like a haven for a team that won two World Series and five AL championships over the last seven seasons. But there was so much losing in their home park this year, including all four games in the ALCS and the 11-4 wipeout in Game 7.
The Astros’ failure Monday was total, a shocking disintegration that belied their experience and maybe reflected a weariness starkly contrasted by the Rangers’ frenzied focus that seemed to start even before the game.
Texas manager Bruce Bochy stood behind the cage during pregame batting practice and cajoled coach Tony Beasley to throw high fastballs to the hitters, in anticipation of the typically effective high fastball of Houston’s Cristian Javier. A couple of Beasley’s pitches drifted down and Bochy pointedly waved his hand upward, coaching the coach: Get your pitches up.
Coincidence or not, Javier’s fourth pitch of the game was a high fastball, 93 mph, and Corey Seager attacked, driving the ball into the right field stands — and the Rangers kept swinging, kept getting hits. Last year, Javier contributed the bulk of a World Series no-hitter in the Astros’ championship run, and in this Game 7, he would face fewer hitters (six) than 28-year-old reliever J.P. France (eight).
Chas McCormick, whose defense helped the Astros defeat the Phillies in last year’s World Series, got a bad read on a pop fly, and after it fell, McCormick threw to the wrong base. Kyle Tucker was Houston’s best position player during the regular season, and in the postseason, he looked completely lost at the plate, batting 143 — five hits in 35 at-bats, and no homers. When he struck out in the fourth inning of Game 7, the ball bounced away from catcher Jonah Heim but Tucker had no chance to reach first because he had turned, with his head down, and walked back to the dugout, seemingly wanting to get out of sight as quickly as possible.
Baker will someday make a speech in Cooperstown, but he also seemed off — perhaps removing reliever Phil Maton too soon, after Maton relieved Javier; opting to not pitch around Adolis Garcia despite the home runs Garcia was launching all over Minute Maid Park; leaving France in too long; and repeatedly declining to pinch-hit Yainer Diaz for the light-hitting Martin Maldonado even as the Astros’ run deficit grew.
Painted along some walls in the park is the working mantra for the 2023 Astros: Ready 2 Reign. As in, trying to win two championships in a row, something that has not been done in Major League Baseball since 1998-2000. The Astros became the latest defending champions in the sport who could not mount a proper defense.
“It’s a grind — this season is a grind,” Maldonado said. “We play more games than any other professional sport. Right now, you look at players with other teams and they are already working out. When you play all the way to November, your body takes a beating. As a team, we’ve played the most games [of any team] the last six or seven years. It’s a hard sport.”
Justin Verlander said, “I think what some other sports have is that talent wins more often than not in other sports, especially like football, and basketball … Baseball is very hot and cold. You get hot at the right time. That’s why you see wild-card teams in the last few years be really dominant. … You get a good run of starting pitching, and anybody can beat anybody.”
But the Astros never seemed whole this year, never seemed complete. Jose Altuve suffered a broken thumb in the World Baseball Classic and missed a lot of weeks. Jose Abreu, signed as a free agent in the offseason, played terribly for two-thirds of the season. Framber Valdez struggled for a lot of the season, and the bullpen — a great separator for Houston when it won the World Series last year — wasn’t nearly as good. Incredibly, the Astros finished under .500 in home games.
Alex Bregman said he views this season “as not accomplishing our goal of winning the World Series. I thought the fight was there all year long. I just think we didn’t execute at the highest level that we have.”
When the Astros gather again next spring and begin the arduous process of pushing the championship rock back up the hill, their roster will largely look the same. Verlander, acquired during the 2023 season, is under contract for at least one more year, and Bregman has one more season with Houston before he becomes eligible for free agency. Organizational sources believe Michael Brantley will retire, and the Astros’ front office may move on from catcher Maldonado, who has been a source of contention between Baker and club officials. Baker has preferred Maldonado — as he has demonstrated throughout the postseason by keeping him in the lineup — because of his strong relationship with pitchers, while the front office has angled for more offense from the position.
And it may be that Baker’s long career will come to an end. After the Astros won the World Series last year, Baker received a one-year extension. This year, Crane and Brown have yet to publicly say for sure that they will seek another manager.
Baker was hired by Crane in the winter of 2020, after the sign-stealing scandal erupted and led to the firings of manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow. Baker did exactly what Crane had hoped for, deflecting attention away from a group of players who were besieged by boos in all parks other than Minute Maid, while fostering continued success. The Astros reached the AL Championship Series in 2020, secured the AL title in 2021 and won the World Series in 2022.
But because of the timing of Baker’s hiring, he has long been isolated within the organization. Most of the coaches were hired under Hinch, his predecessor, and now he answers to Brown, who was hired by Crane last year.
Baker sidestepped some questions about some of his decisions in Game 7, and spoke more broadly about the year. “We have been spoiled around here, as far as winning …” he said. “We have nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to put our heads down about. We were playing from behind the whole season … It was a grind.”
When Altuve, Verlander and others reconvene, it may well be another manager who speaks to them and leads them moving forward.
It seems such a short time ago that all 16 teams began the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs with a clean slate. On Tuesday night, two teams could have their postseason runs ended.
Can both teams stave off elimination to get another home game out of the 2025 postseason?
Meanwhile in the Western Conference, both series involving Pacific Division teams are tied 2-2 heading back to the higher seed’s domain. Which teams will take pivotal Games 5 in Vegas Golden Knights–Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings–Edmonton Oilers?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down in Monday’s games, and the Three Stars of Monday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 5 (TOR leads 3-1) | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN
Games 2-4 marked the 11th time in the past 20 years that teams have gone to overtime three straight times in a playoff series.
Jake Sanderson‘s game-winning overtime goal was the first of his career, and he became the ninth defenseman age 22 or younger with an OT goal in the playoffs (and the first for the Senators).
Veteran David Perron scored his first playoff goal with the Senators, the fourth team with which he has scored a postseason goal (Blues, Golden Knights, Ducks).
Matthew Knies scored his sixth career playoff goal, which is tied for the fourth most by a Maple Leafs player age 22 or younger since 1976-77, behind Auston Matthews (12), Wendel Clark (11) and Russ Courtnall (8).
Toronto defensemen have scored five goals this postseason, the most by any team, a surprising outcome given that the Leafs had the fewest goals by defensemen in the regular season (21).
New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 5 (CAR leads 3-1) | 7:30 p.m. ET | TBS
The Devils have outscored the Hurricanes at 5-on-5 in the series (7-5), but trail on their own power plays (0-1), the Canes’ power plays (0-4) and when the net is empty (0-2).
Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen was knocked out of Game 4 following a collision with Devils forward Timo Meier. Meier has not scored on Andersen during this series, but scored on his first shot on goal against backup goalie Pyotr Kochetkov.
Andersen’s status is up in the air for Game 5, but he is the current leader among playoff goaltenders in goals-against average (1.59) this postseason, and is second among qualified goalies in save percentage (.936).
Andrei Svechnikov scored his second career playoff hat trick in Game 4. He has two for his career and is the only player in Hurricanes/Whalers franchise history to score a playoff hat trick.
Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 5 (series tied 2-2) | 9:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
Game 4 broke one streak and continued another. Ivan Barbashev‘s OT winner snapped a three-game losing streak for Vegas in playoff OT games, while the loss for Minnesota makes it five straight defeats in home playoff games that go to the extra session.
Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson made 42 saves in the loss, his second career playoff game with 40 or more. He is the only goaltender in franchise history with multiple 40-save games in the playoffs.
Kirill Kaprizov registered an assist in the Game 4 loss, giving him eight points in four games this postseason, one behind the leaders.
Vegas forward Tomas Hertl is on a heater. His goal in Game 4 is his third this postseason, and he has eight goals in his past nine games going back to March 22.
The Wild have been mostly effective at keeping Jack Eichel off the score sheet. He had one assist in Game 4, his first point of the series after a team-leading 94 points in the regular season.
Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings
Game 5 (series tied 2-2) | 10 p.m. ET | TBS
With his two-goal outing in Game 4, Evan Bouchard became the fourth defenseman in Stanley Cup playoff history to have back-to-back multigoal games, joining Rob Blake (2002), Al Iafrate (1993) and Denis Potvin (1981).
Leon Draisaitl — who scored the OT game winner in Game 4 — now has eight four-point games in his playoff career. That’s the fourth most in Oilers history, behind Wayne Gretzky (20), Mark Messier (10) and Jari Kurri (10).
Tied with Draisaitl for the playoff scoring lead is Kings winger Adrian Kempe, who is also tied for the goals lead with four. Kempe had 19 total points in 22 previous playoff games, all with the Kings.
Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper has been busy, facing 134 shots, which is the second most among postseason goaltenders (Gustavsson is first with 136). Kuemper’s current .881 save percentage is the second worst of his playoff career, narrowly ahead of the .879 he generated while backstopping the Wild for two games in the 2013 playoffs.
Arda’s three stars from Monday night
Johnston scored his first goal of the 2025 postseason nine seconds in, which is tied for the fifth fastest goal to start a game in Stanley Cup playoff history. He had himself a night, with two goals and an assist in the Stars’ win.
Rantanen scored his first postseason goal with the Stars against his old team. Rantanen became the seventh different player in NHL history to score a playoff goal against a team with which he previously tallied 100-plus postseason points. The others: Jaromir Jagr (2012 and 2008 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins), Brett Hull (2002, 2001, and 1999 vs. St. Louis Blues), Wayne Gretzky (1992, 1990, 1989 vs. Edmonton Oilers), Jari Kurri (1992 vs. Oilers), Paul Coffey (1992 vs. Oilers) and Bernie Geoffrion (1967 vs. Montreal Canadiens).
His postgame quotes keep getting better and better, to the point where he deserves a star for saying, “I’m sick of talking about hits” — then asking the media for their thoughts. Love it.
Monday’s scores
Florida Panthers 4, Tampa Bay Lightning 2
FLA leads 3-1 | Game 5 Wednesday
After an exciting, but scoreless, first period, the game heated up even more in the second. Anton Lundell opened the scoring for the Panthers, and Aaron Ekblad delivered a vicious hit to Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel; the call was not penalized on the ice, and Hagel would have to leave the game. Thereafter, the Lightning scored two goals within 11 seconds from Mitchell Chaffee and Erik Cernak to take the lead well into the third period. But then in another span of 11 seconds, the Panthers pulled off the same feat, with goals by Ekblad and Seth Jones, sending the building into a frenzy. Carter Verhaeghe added an empty-netter for insurance. Full recap.
1:21
Panthers match Lightning with 2 goals in 11 seconds to take lead
Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones score within 11 seconds of each other as the Panthers grab a late lead in the third period.
Dallas Stars 6, Colorado Avalanche 2
DAL leads 3-2 | Game 6 Thursday
As wild as the opening game was Monday night, this one looked to be going down the same road early. Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston scored nine seconds into the game, which is the fastest goal ever to start a playoff game in Stars franchise history. Fellow young Star Thomas Harley joined him on the scoresheet with 45 seconds left in the first. From there on, Dallas kept Colorado at arm’s length, with a second-period goal from Mikko Rantanen, another from Johnston and one from Mason Marchment, followed by an empty-netter from Roope Hintz to put an exclamation point on the proceedings. Artturi Lehkonen and Nathan MacKinnon scored in the second period, but that was not nearly enough on this night. Full recap.
0:34
Stars score in first 9 seconds of the game
Wyatt Johnston wastes no time as he finds the net within nine seconds of play for a Stars goal against the Avalanche.
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Greg Wyshynski
Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad will have a hearing Tuesday with the NHL Department of Player Safety for elbowing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel in the head in Game 4 of their series Monday night.
Hagel won’t play in Wednesday’s Game 5.
“He’s not playing tomorrow. And you know why,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper on Tuesday.
Ekblad’s hearing will be held remotely.
With less than nine minutes left in the second period of Florida’s 4-2 victory, Hagel played the puck out of the Tampa Bay zone near the boards. Ekblad skated in on him and delivered a hit with his right forearm that made contact with Hagel’s head, shoving Hagel down in the process. The back of Hagel’s head bounced off the ice. He was pulled from the game because of concussion concerns and didn’t return to the bench.
Ekblad wasn’t penalized for the hit and remained in the game. He would play a critical role in the Panthers’ late-game rally to take a 3-1 series lead, tying the game with 3:47 left in regulation before Florida defenseman Seth Jones scored the winner 11 seconds later.
Hagel returned to the Lightning lineup in Game 4 after serving a one-game suspension for interference on Florida captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2. The NHL ruled that Barkov wasn’t eligible to be hit and that Hagel made head contact with him, which forced Barkov out of the game. Barkov returned to the Florida lineup for Game 3, which the Lightning won in Hagel’s absence.
“It’s getting tiresome answering questions about a hit every single game,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after the game before asking media members whether they had anything to say about Ekblad’s check, with no takers. “All right, let’s move on,” he said.
Ekblad missed the first two games of the playoffs after he was suspended 20 games without pay in March for violating the NHL and NHL Players’ Association’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
The Department of Player Safety did make a ruling on Florida defenseman Niko Mikkola, who received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for boarding Tampa Bay’s Zemgus Girgensons in Game 4. Mikkola was fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the NHL CBA, but escaped suspension.
Cooper said the physicality of “The Battle of Florida” shouldn’t come as a surprise
“Players are missing games because of it, whether it’s physically or by the league. So it’s going to be talked about. But if anybody’s followed Tampa and Florida over the last five or six years, this is kind of how these series are. This one is a little different because of the major things that have happened, but these are hard-fought series,” he said.
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