What was missing – again – in Rangers’ setback

Artemi Panarin led the Rangers with 120 points during the regular season. Chris Kreider, the captain, finished third. And Mika Zibanejad finished fifth.

Over the course of three games in the Eastern Conference Finals, this trio had a total of one point against the Panthers, thanks to an assist from Panarin.

Panarin finally got it done with two assists in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss to Florida in Game 4, but the team's leading scorer in the regular season has yet to score a goal in this series and, Worse yet, Kreider and Zibanejad produced nothing.

And for all the tremendous play of Vincent Trocheck and the continued emergence of Alexis Lafreniere — they both scored on Tuesday — the Rangers will have a hard time winning this series, let alone their first Stanley Cup in three decades, without the added help from some of their most established offensive weapons.

Without that, the Rangers had to rely too much on Igor Shesterkin, who was brilliant against the Panthers making 37 saves.

But he was no match for Sam Reinhart's quick, powerful shot just 1:12 into overtime after Florida took advantage of a power play on a returning Blake Wheeler penalty.

Game 5 is scheduled for Thursday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers have yet to face a playoff game in the playoffs. Another defeat and that will change.

Some goals from Panarin, Kreider and Zibanejad would help.

The last page of today

Quick learning

While Luis Severino has taken steps to resurrect his career with the Mets, he still has his eye on town, where the Yankees are doing just fine without their former No. 1 starter.

And one of the reasons the Yankees have been the best team in the American League is the scheduled starter Wednesday against the Angels: Luis Gil.

Severino said he met Gil — who turns 26 next week — in 2018 after Gil was picked up in a trade with the Twins in exchange for outfielder Jake Cave.

Because both right-handers are from the Dominican Republic, Severino said, he took Gil under his wing.

“He was still in the minors when we met, but I always try to talk to the kids in the Dominican Republic,” Severino said. “I had him at my house in Tampa and we were playing dominoes.”

Now, after recovering from Tommy John surgery, Gil is off to a great start in 2024 with a dynamic four-seam fastball and terrific changeup.

“I’m really happy for him,” Severino said. “He has an elite fastball and showed everyone he was good before he got hurt. Now he's rocking incredibly [well]. He is young, healthy and can do anything.

And Gil's evolution shows how difficult it is to predict how prospects will evolve.

Pitching coach Matt Blake recalled recently that shortly after getting the job with the Yankees, he went to the team's academy in the Dominican Republic to meet with Severino and Gary Sanchez, among others.

That’s when he first saw Gil, alongside Deivi Garcia – then perhaps the team’s best pitcher – and Luis Medina.

“Some people thought he could be the best of them all,” Blake said of Gil. “Now we know the arm talent is there, but maybe we didn’t expect it to be this good, this fast.”

Gil helped the Yankees go without Gerrit Cole for the first two months of the season — and counting — without missing a beat: Nestor Cortes gave the Yankees their record 15th consecutive start of at least five innings with two runs or less granted. Tuesday night, before the bullpen and defense conspired to screw things up in a 4-3 loss to the Angels, which improved their record to 37-19.

Over his first 10 starts last season en route to his first Cy Young Award, Cole pitched 62 ⅔ innings with a 2.01 ERA. In 10 starts this year, Gil has pitched 55 ⅓ innings and has a 2.11 ERA.

Gil heads into Wednesday's outing as the MLB leader among starting pitchers with 4.39 hits allowed per nine innings, nearly one hit per nine innings fewer than the next pitcher on the list, Ranger Suarez of the Phillies.

“I feel like what he’s doing now is sustainable if he stays healthy,” Blake said. “It’s repeatable.”

Meanwhile, Garcia is pitching in the bullpen for Triple-A Charlotte after compiling a 7.07 ERA with the White Sox in April. Medina finished last season with a 5.42 ERA in Oakland, and he is now recovering from an injury suffered in spring training.

Trivia question

In a historic update to baseball's digital history, Major League Baseball will incorporate statistics from the Negro Leagues into its official record book.

With this change, the legendary Josh Gibson becomes the all-time leader in batting average (.372, surpassing Ty Cobb) and slugging percentage (.718, surpassing Babe Ruth) as well as the single-season leader in several batting categories. (he hit .466 in 1943).

There are also many more subtle changes. With the update, Willie Mays now has 3,293 career hits. Three years before his debut with the New York Giants, he had 10 hits at age 17 with which Negro Leagues team?

(Scroll down for the answer.)

Average infielders

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns stated the obvious Tuesday when he said, “We haven’t played like a playoff team. »

He added that it's too early to start breaking the team apart, but two players who don't think they're going anywhere seem to be part of the problem: Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor.

Two years ago, the Mets seemed more situated in the middle of their infield. McNeil was third in the majors in OPS among second basemen with .836, and Lindor was fifth among shortstops with a .788 OPS.

Lindor had completed the first year of a 10-year, $341 million contract, and after this 2022 season, McNeil signed a four-year, $50 million deal to stay in Queens.

Neither investment looks good for Steve Cohen at the moment. Both infielders' production fell in the intervening years.

After going 2-for-9 with a home run and five strikeouts in Tuesday's doubleheader sweep by the Dodgers, Lindor owns a .651 OPS, ranking 18th among 21 qualifying shortstops this season.

McNeil, who went 0 for 7, including a popup with a chance to win the opener in the ninth inning, is 16th among 20 qualified second basemen with a .633 mark.

The drop isn't shocking, according to some scouts.

“McNeil is old and Lindor is getting older,” said a Newfoundland and Labrador scout.

The Mets are one of three teams with both a second baseman (McNeil is 32) and a shortstop (Lindor turned 30 in November) over 30 years old. The other two are the Rangers (Marcus Semien and Kyle Seager) and the Diamondbacks (Ketel Marte and Kévin Newman).

Like the Mets (22-32), Texas and Arizona are both under .500.

Many other problems plagued the Mets, from a shaky rotation to an overloaded and undermanned bullpen, as well as generally poor play at third base and a lengthy injury absence from Francisco Alvarez.

But there’s no denying the black hole in the middle of the infield.

What we read

Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves won Game 4 to avoid a sweep and postpone the cruelty for Nets fans of seeing Kyrie Irving in the NBA Finals.

Lexi Thompson has announced her retirement from golf at the age of 29, effective at the end of the LPGA season. “Being here can mean a lot. It can be lonely,” Thompson said.

Caitlin Clark filled the stat sheet with a WNBA career-high 30 points (including three 3s and 13 free throws), six assists, five rebounds, three blocks, three steals and seven turnovers while her fever is dropped to 1-7.

The Post's Mike Vaccaro says you've gone from here to Angel Hernandez, “the consensus worst umpire in the game in an era when every pitch – literally every pitch – was available on video.”

St. John's has likely seen the last of Chris Ledlum and Jordan Dingle after a judge denied the players' request for relief as they sue the NCAA for additional eligibility.

Quiz answer

The Black Barons of Birmingham