ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MAY 08: Chris Kreider #20 of the Anaheim Ducks reacts after the game against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Three of the Second Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Honda Center on May 08, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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MONTREAL (AP) — Chris Kreider agreed to terms on a contract for this season with the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday after mutually terminating his previous deal with the Anaheim Ducks earlier in the week.
Kreider, a Massachusetts native, wanted to get back to the Eastern Conference to be closer to family after playing last year in Southern California following a trade from the New York Rangers. The 35-year-old winger joins a young team that is coming off reaching the East final before losing to eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina.
Kreider has been booed in Montreal since colliding with Carey Price during a playoff series with the Rangers in 2014. Price did not play again that spring because of a resulting knee injury.
Sep 12, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics designated hitter Shea Langeliers (23) hits a single against Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo (not pictured) during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Nasty result tonight. The A’s had their butts handed to them in this one, dropping the middle game of the series to the Seattle Mariners 19-1. Nothing went right on either side of the ball. Still have a chance at the series win tomorrow.
Sep 12, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Seattle Mariners designated hitter Michael Arroyo (96) runs the bases after hitting his first career home run against Athletics pitcher Joey Estes (not pictured) during the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Mariners 19, Athletics 1
Historic blowouts (complimentary): Randy Arozarena, +.18 WPA
Well, you know what they say: “You can’t win ‘em all.“ On paper, it looked like maybe we should have won this one, and if you were keeping score, it would not have been lost at you that we basically won eight out of the nine innings that were played tonight. Sadly, however, that’s not how baseball works. Early in the season, before his forced vacation in Reno, we became very familiar with Brandon Pfaadt, tonight’s starter, pitching at least okay for a handful of innings and then having there be the One Big Inning™ where everything kinda blew up. Upon Brandon’s return, we still saw some of that, except that the offending innings were generally pretty mild—one or two or three runs at most, which kept things close enough that we could get back into it. But that was not the case tonight.
He was going up against former first-round draft pick and general underperformer Kumar Rocker, and in terms of the numbers, it was a very favorable matchup. Rocker is often wild, and throws a bunch of pitches, and gives up a lot of walks, and leaves ballgames a lot earlier than you tend to want your starter to leave. Irritatingly, though, he was quite efficient in the early going tonight, as he and Pfaadt traded quick, scoreless innings in the first and second. After two innings, Rocker had thrown 24 pitches; Pfaadt, despite having given up two hits to Rocker’s none, had only thrown 23. Pfaadt had another shutdown inning in the top of the third, adding only 12 more pitches to his count and setting down the Rangers in order, and Tim Tawa led off the bottom of the third with a triple off the wall in pretty much straightaway center field:
Pavin Smith, who was for many of us a surprise call-up from Reno today, then grounded a single past Corey Seager and into left field to drive in Timmy. Three quick outs followed, but we’d drawn first blood against Rocker and that Rangers. 1-0 DBACKS
Pfaadt recorded another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fourth, we sat down in order against Rocker in the bottom half, and then the fifth inning rolled around, much like a giant stone boulder bearing down a steep slope in a narrow passageway, heading straight for our guy. And alas, Brandon Pfgaadt was no Indiana Jones; he couldn’t get out of the way.
It started with a leadoff dinger by Wyatt Langford to tie the game, and was followed by a single, a stoledn abse, a sacrifice bunt, another single that scored a run, a hit by pitch. and then a fielder’s choice that looked like an inning-ending double play but which was overturned by a review that determined that Brandon Pfaadt’s foot was perhaps not on the bag when he ran over to cover first base. The call on the field was “safe,” and while the replays we saw on the broadcast really looked like they’d be enough to overturn that call, but it was not to be, and the call stood. That completely knocked Pfaadt off kilter, and the next three batters went single-double-single before he finally struck out Wyatt Langford, the tenth batter of the inning, to put it to bed. 6-1 Texas
And that was pretty much that. Somewhat surprisingly, Pfaadt came out and pitched the sixth, and he even recorded the first two outs in the seventh, and it was all good and all zeros, but the damage had been done.
Kumar Rocker, meanwhile, walked Nolan Arenado and Tim Tawa to lead off the bottom of the fifth, and that ended his night, and Texas got their bullpen involved and that bullpen also proved to be irritatingly effective. Both of the leadoff walks were left stranded. Rangers’ opening day starter Nathan Eovaldi, fresh off the IL and returning to big league action without any rehab starts or anything, let us get a second run in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to one-out singles by Gabriel Moreno and Geraldo Perdomo, followed by a Corbin Carroll sacrifice fly that scored Moreno from third, which narrowed the game to 6-2 Texas
But that was where it stayed. Jonathan Loaisiga, Derek Law, and Juan Morillo put zeroes up the rest of the way for us, but there was nothing further doing from the offense, despite us putting the leadoff runners on in both the seventh and eighth innings. And so it was. 6-2 Texas FINAL
The Lost Ark: Nobody. The Last Crusade: Tim Tawa (3 AB, 1 H, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 BB, +10% WPA) The Crystal Skull: Brandon Pfaadt (6 2/3 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, -34% WPA)
It was a fairly sparse Gameday Thread this evening, with 201 comments at time of writing. Precious few recs got handed out tonight as well, and pretty much the only comments to go Sedona Red were concentrated at the start of the game, when folks were still marveling at the return of Pavin Smith to a major league roster and a starting lineup. As such, tonight’s Comment of the Game goes to onedotfive, for this solid suggestion about how we might find a way to turn his presence to our collective advantage in the remaining days of the season:
Works for me….I think Baxter is creepy anyway.
So join us tomorrow afternoon for the rubber match of the series. Hologram Eddie takes the mound for us; Cal Quantrill goes for Texas. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm AZ time. Hope to see you around the place!
As always, thanks for reading, and as always, go Diamondbacks!
DYERSVILLE, IA - AUGUST 11: Chas McCormick #11 of the Iowa Cubs catches a fly ball during the MiLB Field of Dreams game between the St. Paul Saints and the Iowa Cubs at MLB Field at Field of Dreams on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 in Dyersville, Iowa. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Smokies right-hander Jake Knapp went on the 7-day injured list and right-hander Kenyi Perez joins Knoxville from the Development List.
Andrew Wantz started this game for Iowa and held Toledo to just one run on three hits over 3.1 innings. Wantz walked four and struck out three.
Iowa had a 7-1 lead going into the top of the fifth inning, but Toledo scored six runs in the fifth to tie it. Five of those runs came off of Luis Peralta, who gave up five of the runs on four hits over one inning. Peralta walked one and struck out one.
Tyler Ferguson allowed a two-run home run in the top of the ninth to take the loss. Ferguson’s final line was two runs on three hits over one inning. He struck out two and did not walk anyone.
Right fielder Chas McCormick hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, his 14th on the year. McCormick was 2 for 5.
Left fielder Jordan Nwogu hit a two-run triple in the fourth inning. Nwogu went 2 for 4 with three total RBI. He scored once.
Center fielder Justin Dean went 2 for 5 with a stolen base. He drove home Nwogu after a bunt single in the fourth.
Starter Dawson Netz lasted 3.2 innings and gave up two runs on two hits and one walk. Both runs scored after he left the game in the fourth. Netz struck out six.
Luis Martinez-Gomez let in those two inherited runs, but then he settled in and threw 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, giving up just the one hit. Martinez-Gomez walked three and struck out five.
Frankie Scalzo Jr. pitched the eighth inning and got shelled for three runs on three hits including a solo home run to the first batter he faced. Scalzo walked two, hit one batter and struck out two in his one inning of work.
Both Knoxville runs came in the sixth inning when left fielder Carter Trice tripled in a run and then scored on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Angel Cepeda. Trice went 2 for 3 with a double, a triple and a walk. Cepeda was 1 for 3 with the sac fly.
That’s all three hits Knoxville had tonight.
The start of this game was delayed 1 hour and 43 minutes because of rain.
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 11: The Atlanta Braves honor the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks before the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Truist Park on September 11, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jack Casey/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Braves have now all-but won the NL East after winning the first two games of this three-game series against the Phillies. Tyler Mahle continues to cement his spot as the presumptive game 2 starter going into the playoffs, with another solid outing Saturday. Perhaps most encouragingly, the offense showed some life, which has been a struggle recently for Atlanta. Needless to say, the Braves will need the offense to show up to have success in October.
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Here's how some of the Mets top prospects did down in minor league action on Saturday...
INF Emilien Pitre, Triple-A Syracuse
Pitre kept up his solid production since joining Triple-A with two more hits against the St. Paul Saints. The 23-year-old finished 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI and is hitting .292 with a .802 OPS in 18 games for Syracuse. His RBI came with two strikes and two outs in the second inning and extended the Mets' lead to 4-2.
1B/3B Billy Amick, Triple-A Syracuse
Amick hit his seventh home run with Syracuse and his 14th in the Mets organization since coming over in a trade. He has 37 long balls total in 116 games this season.
The home run came on an 0-2 pitch with a runner on first and gave Syracuse a 7-3 advantage. Amick, 23, finished 1-for-5 and although he's hitting .221 in Triple-A (compared to .307 in Double-A Binghamton), he still has a .844 OPS thanks to his power.
C Kevin Parada, Triple-A Syracuse
Perhaps lost in the shuffle of prospects is Parada who is quietly having a great second stint in Triple-A after finishing the season there in 2025 but struggling. Now 25 years old, Parada is slashing .298/.375/.452 with two home runs and 16 RBI in 28 games with Syracuse after getting promoted despite struggling in Double-A.
Parada went 1-for-3 in the No. 9 hole, but also had a throwing error at catcher, his third.
SS Mitch Voit, Double-A Binghamton
Voit extended his hit streak to five games following a 1-for-4 day for the Rumble Ponies. It wasn't all good for the 21-year-old, though, as he was caught stealing second and had a throwing error.
Still, Voit is hitting .347 with a .947 OPS in 29 games since getting promoted to Double-A.
After going a perfect 3-0 in last year's Prospects Showcase in Buffalo, the Pittsburgh Penguins looked to build on that during this year's Prospect Tournament in Detroit.
And, on Saturday, they got off to a good start.
The Penguins' prospects defeated the prospects of the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-1, in a shootout to open their three-game tournament slate. Brayden Edwards scored for the Penguins on the power play with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first period with assists from Jordan Charron and Tanner Howe, while defenseman Tomas Galvas and forward Pierce Mbuyi scored a pair of nifty goals in the shootout to bring the Pens to victory.
Free agent goaltender Carter Casey stopped 19 of 20 Columbus shots, and the Penguins outshot the Jackets, 52-20. The lone goal from Columbus was scored by Jack Williams.
There were a lot of positives to pull from this game, especially since the Penguins pretty much dominated from start to finish. From the drop of the puck, they had the ice tilted in their favor, and aside from the lone goal, they never relented.
That said, there were a few players who stood out above others. Here are three standouts from Game 1:
Tomas Galvas
Out of everyone in Game 1, Galvas stood out the most.
The 5-foot-11, 168-pound left blueliner's mobility and skating were on full display, as he skated around defenders with ease and glided through the neutral zone in transition effortlessly. Obviously, the offensive highlight was his crafty shootout goal that led to the 2-1 win, but there was a play late in regulation that helped show off his two-way prowess.
With only four seconds left in regulation, Columbus was pressuring. Positioned near the net front, Galvas was able to get his stick on the puck first to thwart a scoring chance on a reobund opportunity, preventing a last-minute goal by the Jackets.
With about four seconds left in regulation, Tomas Galvas saves the day on the defensive end! pic.twitter.com/1rPQfxCxsM
Galvas was far and away the best player in this game, and it will be interesting to see how he builds on this performance the rest of the way. The way he was able to command the offensive blue line was remniscent of Harrison Brunicke, who the Penguins hold in high regard and who did not play in this game.
The Ruck first selected in this year's draft, Liam was all over the ice. He seemed to be involved in every significant play offensively, even if he didn't end up with a point in this game.
What was most surprising was Ruck's speed through the neutral zone. Liam is ahead of Markus in terms of skating, and that much has been clear for a while. But he can get himself up ice surprisingly quickly, and he was able to generate as a result.
But his offensive smarts are what stand out most. His playmaking ability was right up there with the level of his brother, Markus, and he clearly has a scoring touch, too. He even had a semi-breakaway opportunity at one point that he was stymied on.
There is still some growth that needs to happen for both Rucks, but Liam was already pretty advanced and clearly one of the best players on the ice.
Like Galvas, the left-side McGowan should be one of many in the mix for a final NHL roster spot once training camp begins on Sept. 17.
And there were a few glimpses of him flying up and down the ice and imposing his will.
McGowan can really, really skate, and it's the bread and butter of his game. He even said as much when we spoke with him during development camp. He was blowing by the opposition through the neutral zone, and on one opportunity, even carrying the puck 200 feet all the way down through to the net front for a scoring chance. He also almost scored on a wraparound attempt.
Maleek McGowan can really skate, and he catches the defender a little off guard. pic.twitter.com/he3CG1MgC2
He's physical, he's fast, he's good on the walls, he wins a whole lot of battles for positioning and puck battles, and he has the ability to defend well with his stick. His mobility and aggressiveness, though, is what he showed throughout Game 1.
The Penguins liked McGowan enough to sign him to an AHL deal at the end of last season. Look for him to keep making an impression, especially in these games, where he thrives with his motor and his chippiness.
The San Jose Sharks were back on the ice for the first time in a competitive environment this season on Saturday evening as they played the Los Angeles Kings in their first game at the 2026 Rookie Faceoff.
The Sharks didn’t take long to get on the board, as Filip Bystedt was able to deflect a Jake Boltmann shot past the Kings’ netminder Carter George to make it 1-0.
George denied Bystedt’s attempt to score a second halfway through the first save, extending his body across the crease to stop a one-timer. Moments after the spectacular save, Carson Wetsch shot a bouncing puck that evaded George, making it 2-0 for the team in teal.
Less than a minute later, Wetsch would add an assist to his stat line after he found Andre Gasseau on a two-on-one rush, extending the Sharks’ lead to 3-0 just over halfway through the period.
The Kings cut the Sharks’ lead to 3-1 with roughly six minutes remaining in the first frame, with a goal from Vojtech Cihar.
The Sharks’ “veteran line” created a chance late in the period as Igor Chernyshov sprung Michael Misa on a breakaway, but Misa was unable to get a shot off.
The Kings got the first power play of the night with 2:43 remaining in the first, after Bystedt was called for cross-checking following a dangerous hit. That type of penalty certainly won’t help his chances of earning an NHL job in training camp.
Wetsch and Gasseau attempted to recreate their prior magic while shorthanded, but while the play ended up getting broken up by the Kings’ defense, the puck landed on Phillip Sinn’s stick and he found Gasseau in front. Gasseau found the back of the net with his second goal of the night, making it 4-1 right before the end of the first period.
Wetsch and Gasseau almost connected again near the midway point of the second period, but were denied by George.
Brendan Hoffman forced a turnover at the defensive blue line to create a breakaway for himself, but was unable to get the puck past George.
The Sharks got their first power play opportunity with nine minutes remaining in the period, as Kaleb Lawrence sat for holding the stick.
Right after the power play expired, Wetsch scored his second of the night to extend the Sharks’ lead to 5-1.
Eric Pohlkamp was called for slashing with two and a half minutes remaining in the middle frame, giving the Kings another power play opportunity. The Sharks killed off the penalty and kept their 5-1 lead heading into the third period.
Quentin Musty got a little shaken up after blocking a shot early in the period, but remained in the game. On his next shift, he took a slashing penalty though. Wetsch, despite being short-handed, attempted to get his hat trick when he earned himself a breakaway, but was denied by George.
Ivar Stenberg picked up his first goal of the tournament with 8:47 remaining in the third period, when Mack Oliphant took a shot from the point which deflected off of his skate. Just 23 seconds later, Stenberg scored again, this time off of a perfect feed from Chernyshov, to make it 7-1. The Kings took exception to the goal, causing a large scrum immediately afterwards.
Chernyshov and Henry Brzustewicz both received 10-minute misconducts for their role in the scrum.
Quentin Musty dropped the gloves with the much larger Woolley with 6:27 remaining in the game.
Alexander Karmanov threw a huge hit on Jakub Dvorak, which left the Kings’ defenseman shaken up. Liam Lefebvre came over and immediately dropped the gloves with the Sharks’ 7-foot-1 defenseman. Karmanov fired up the TechCU Arena crowd as he skated off. Boltmann then had a scrap of his own before the game came to an end. Pavel Martinu added the Sharks’ eighth goal of the night with a minute and a half remaining. The Sharks would maintain their 8-1 lead and turn it into a dominant victory when the final whistle blew.
Sep 12, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Cesar Perdomo (with ball) gets removed for a reliever during the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Once again the Giants offense made things interesting against the San Diego Padres, and once again they came up short.
A late outburst of power from the unlikely sources of Drew Cavanaugh (his first career HR) and Drew Gilbert forced the Padres bullpen to rally their arms with Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller stopping the buck to serve the Giants their second loss in the series, and seventh of their last nine games against San Diego.
The afternoon didn’t start with the Giants playing catch-up. Two batters into the bottom half of the 1st, Rafael Devers put San Francisco up by two with his 37th home run of the season.
The 2-run jog earned Devers his 61st and 62nd runs batted-in at the intimidating cavern that was/is Pac Bell/SBC/AT&T/Oracle Park, the second highest RBI total after Barry Bonds’ 71 in 2001. Devers’ 19 home runs at Oracle are the most by a player not named Barry Bonds and is tied with the ‘02 Bonds model for fifth most HR in a season at 3rd and King. (Fun fact: Devers never hit more than 16 in a single season at Fenway.)
Unfortunately, the two-run lead in the hands of the rookie southpaw Cesar Perdomo didn’t last. Nor did the one-run lead regained on Shay Whitcomb’s solo shot in the 2nd. All in all, four home runs blasted by Giants bats weren’t enough in Saturday’s 7-6 loss, and that comes down to a major difference in starting pitching, as well as some key miscues on defense.
Perdomo had allowed just one run on six hits in his first 10 career innings (2 games). By the end of the 4th, both of those numbers had been surpassed by the relentless press of San Diego’s offense. Trouble boiled over in every inning. Perdomo toiled with little finesse. Offerings were elevated, out over the heart of the plate. The Padres didn’t miss much, and when they did, it proved to be the exception not the rule.
Jackson Merrill waving over an 0-2 change-up to end the 1st and strand two was not, as it turns out, a sign of good things to come. It was an aberration. That offspeed offering whistling down Main Street without a care in the world — a mistake. A mistake that was punished going forward. Dustin Harris was all over a fastball that stayed flat out over the zone and pushed it away from the defense, through the chasm on the left side of the infield, for a game-tying single in the 2nd.
Three-pitched by Perdomo in the 1st, Merrill returned the favor by one-pitching him in the 3rd. The sucker crushed 405 feet to center? Another change-up whistling down Main Street.
The game went like this for some time. After Devers’ statement dinger in the 1st, it was pretty much all San Diego until the 8th. They scored in every frame from the 2nd through the 7th using a variety of methods and means at their disposal: The homer, the opposite field single, the safety squeeze, the walk, the stolen base, the sacrifice fly. Perdomo gave up 10 hits along with two walks before getting pulled in the 5th. All those runners clogged up the bases, pressure built up in the pipes behind Perdomo, and though they went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, a steady drip helped their run total to pool.
San Diego’s starter Michael King turned off the tap in the 2nd and that was that. The offense stalled out at three runs on three hits as San Diego’s lead grew inch-by-inch. The right-hander retired 14 Giants hitters in a row between Whitcomb’s homer and Jonah Cox’s lead-off single in the 7th — a single promptly erased from the bases with a double play. No Padres pitcher issued a walk. No Giant hitter batted with a runner in scoring position.
For how busy and hectic and productive their offense was at the plate, and how stifling King was on the mound, it surprised me how quickly the Giants closed the gap in score. Reliever Bradgley Rodriguez took over in the 8th and within seven pitches, San Francisco had doubled their hit and run total.
Rodriguez came into the game with a 1.90 ERA, having allowed just three homers over 66.1 innings. Then Cavanaugh, Koss, and Gilbert happened — our Murderer’s Row. Three batters, three swings, three runs in after six innings of the Padres peppering the baseball around the diamond was all it took to get back within one and make it feel like a ball game.
The 7-3 loss you’ve come to terms with in the 4th inning usually goes down easier than when a comeback doesn’t comeback all the way, but comes back enough to force you to linger with hope until the last pitch to accept the outcome you had already accepted before the whole comeback not-comeback started. Was it all just a gigante waste of time? I don’t think so — but a one-run loss does make the postgame autopsy a little more raw in its search for what went wrong.
Perdomo’s pitching was the dark cloud of ambiguous not-good that hangs over this outcome. But if you want to retroactively identify “the fatal play,” look at the defense.
A bunt single by Samad Taylor and a “swinging bunt” single by Tatis started the top of the 4th. Perdomo had to venture far off the mound to field the soft roller up the third base line. With Tatis’s speed, he should’ve known better to chase the out at first, but without a discerning glance towards Taylor rounding second, Perdomo sent the baseball chasing after Tatis. The throw arrived late and allowed Taylor to take third. A small swipe of 90 feet that immediately paid out. One pitch later, Taylor touched home on a sac fly for the Padres’ first lead of the afternoon.
An inning later, Austin Hays stood on third with two outs and lefty Jake Cronenworth up to bat. Cronenworth took a fastball for a ball. Mike Krukow, savvy as ever, noted how deep Shay Whitcomb at third was playing, exposing them to a safety squeeze, just as Cronenworth squared around. Considering the defensive alignment, Hays’s speed from third, Perdomo’s lack of speed off the mound, Cronenworth’s ability as a bunter, conditions were already perfect to execute the squeeze play, but Perdomo made them even more perfect-er by delivering a 93 MPH fastball, straight, on the outer third of the plate and just above the belt.
And in the 7th, there was just the obvious blunder. The actual error error when Whitcomb, fluctuating between GOAT and goat at third base, had what should’ve been an inning-ending, runners-stranding, no run scoring, routine groundball clang off his mitt and roll into left field. Xander Bogaerts scampered home for the Padres’ seventh and final run of the afternoon. At the time, based on how the game had been going, the misplay felt inconsequential, just some salt in the wound, a little extra blush on the cheeks of an already forgettable day — but in retrospect, after Gilbert’s homer ball skipped into the Cove with the score still coming in a run shy of tied, the error loomed.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - SEPTEMBER 12: William Contreras #24 of the Milwaukee Brewers reacts while crossing home plate after hitting a three-run home run in the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at American Family Field on September 12, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After scoring 20 runs the night before, the Brewers offense showed no signs of slowing down against a beleaguered Reds pitching staff, putting up 13 runs en route to a 13-9 victory.
The scoring started early, again. Jackson Chourio led off the game with a walk and Brice Turang followed with his 19th home run of the season, setting a new career-high for himself. That put the Brewers up 2-0 very quickly. But they weren’t done in that first inning. With two outs, William Contreras drew a walk and then Garrett Mitchell clobbered his 11th home run of the season, a mammoth blast into the 2nd deck.
Just like that, it was 4-0 Brewers and the Reds had to be thinking ‘oh no, here we go again!’
The Reds offense, however, was able to do a little bit more than they did on Friday night, getting in some hard contact off Brewers starter Shane Drohan. After being robbed of a home run by Luis Lara in right field last night, Eugenio Suarez went pull side and lifted a home run to left field to get the Reds on the board.
The Reds would answer again in the 3rd on a double from Elly De La Cruz. Then they had a big inning in the 4th. Suarez drew a walk, JJ Bleday doubled, then Juan Brito, who was hitting .197 coming into the day, slugged a three run homer on an 0-2 pitch to tie the game at 5-5.
“I think I was 15 of 17 on first pitch strikes, I was getting in good counts, then just throwing terrible two-strike pitches” Drohan said.
That chased Drohan from the game, who ended up going 3.2 IP with five hits and five earned runs allowed.
What should have been a very comfortable Brewers lead was no more. But, the Brewers offense was able to answer right back in the bottom of the 4th. With two outs, the rally started with a Jake Bauers walk, then a Christian Yelich single, then William Contreras lifted his 17th home run of the season to take an 8-5 lead.
The Brewers were not done. They sent 10 men to the plate in the 5th inning. The rally got started with a Cooper Pratt single, his third hit of the game. That was followed by four consecutive base hits from Chourio, Turang, Bauers, and Yelich. Then Contreras was intentionally walked, the bases were loaded for Garrett Mitchell, who hit a grand slam last night, and he ripped a 2 RBI double over the head of Hector Rodriguez in right.
Mitchell finished a triple shy of the cycle in this game and was 4-for-5 on the night with 4 RBIs.
Meanwhile, the Brewers bullpen was largely locking it down. Chad Patrick, DL Hall, and Antonio Senzatela all combined to keep the Reds off the board. Then Pat Murphy turned to struggling starter Kyle Harrison for the 8th inning.
The struggles continued. Harrison’s fastball velocity was up to 97 MPH consistently, which was a nice uptick, but his command was lacking and he left a couple over the heart of the plate. The Reds did not miss them and crushed a pair of 109 MPH base hits. Then Harrison generated some soft contact, but that fell in for hits too and Murphy had to quickly pull Harrison.
All four batters Harrison faced reached and all four came around to score. In his last 7.1 IP, Harrison has allowed 23 hits and 17 runs. What does Murphy tell Harrison after an outing like that when it was supposed to help build his confidence?
“We’ll get this straight. This will happen. You’re going through a rough patch, we’ll get it straight” Murphy said.
Murphy remains confident in Harrison, but Harrison’s struggles did force him to use two leverage arms he did not want to use in what was a blowout game. Aaron Ashby had to secure the 8th inning and with the lead dwindled to just four runs, Abner Uribe came in to close down the 9th.
With the win, the Brewers dropped their magic number to clinch the division down to 3.
Murphy named Robert Gasser the starter for Sunday’s finale against the Reds.
Randal Grichuk was as stunned by his chip shot around the right-field foul pole in the ninth as every single White Sox fan on the planet.
Last night it was a rain delay without rain, tonight it was Cardinals Hall of Fame honors for Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, so expect Sunday’s finale to be pushed back due to, dunno, no hot dogs in stock or something. But whatever the excuse, the Cardinals could not avoid the inevitable on Saturday.
With the White Sox down to their last strike after a battling but ultimately lackluster game in St. Louis, former Cardinals farmhand Randal Grichuk drove a sinker on the outer edge of the plate from closer Riley O’Brien to the shortest porch in the ballpark, putting the White Sox ahead, 6-5, and swelling their division lead back to 1 ½ games.
Grichuk, along with most of the White Sox hitters, was having a miserable game to that point, but his 358-foot doink of a round-tripper — a ball that the veteran seemed stunned by and stumbled out of the box over — made everything right:
For the first eight innings, the game looked to be a snapshot of two young, talented franchises moving in opposite directions, with fundamental play and potent offense a seeming hallmark of the St. Louis club and poor defense, mental lapses and an utter inability to string hits (and sometimes even contact at all) characteristic of the White Sox. But Grichuk, far outside of the young talent core of the White Sox, rescued the diaper dandies who had carried the club into September.
Sean Newcomb had another solid opening stint, gulping too many pitches in the first (20) but with just about the best outcome possible (three Ks and a walk). The sly southpaw came on for a second inning, but saw just two batters, adding a K but relinquishing a single before getting a quick hook (at 29 pitches) that no one really wanted to see: Luis Castillo, a career-long starter being asked to take the ball mid-frame.
Castillo poured gasoline on the embers, getting battered for a single, double, single and sac fly by the first four batters he saw, and a crooked number gave St. Louis a 3-0 lead early. (Instructively, in Castillo’s first clean start to an inning, the third, he worked through the Cards on five pitches.)
With the mood in the dugout flat, Munetaka Murakami followed up an utterly helpless K in the first inning with a battle of an at-bat with two outs in the fourth, stroking a single on the eighth pitch he saw. Another walk and Tristan Peters taking a ball off his shoulder sandwiched around a Grichuk walk loaded the bases for Colson Montgomery. The good news is Colson narrowed the deficit to 3-1 with a key RBI. The bad? It came via a walk against wild and ineffective Cards reliever Cooper Hjerpe. But Braden Montgomery wasn’t even able to match his surname kin, striking out.
After a Cardinals half-inning that saw a wild Castillo give that run right back, almost an identical arrangement loaded the bases for the White Sox in the top of the fifth: San Antonacci HBP, Kyle Teel walk and Miguel Vargas single setting up Murakami for a key RBI … once again, not a homer or even a single, but a walk, a second run forced in by Hjerpe.
But one key difference in the fifth was the number of outs: none. However, the theme of the swoon continued, as Grichuk stepped up to deliver Chicago another run … via GIDP. But with the White Sox down, 4-3, Peters delivered a ball in the left-center gap to tie things up … but was thrown out trying to stretch his hit to a double.
With the game now renewed and shortened to 5 ½ innings, manager Will Venable went to southpaw phenom Hagen Smith to take over. Not that Smith needs help at this point, but in extinguishing St. Louis on nine pitches the final out came on a mis-called K, as Cardinals third-sacker Nolan Gorman foul-tipped a ball scooped nicely off the ground by Teel but called a third strike and out by home plate ump Doug Eddings Alfonso Márquez.
Gorman’s woes extended onto the field, as his olé defense at third turned a possible inning-ending double play in the sixth into two men on for the White Sox, following a Colson HBP. But the mini-rally ended with, what new, a strikeout, this one from Teel. That out piled up a seventh runner left on base and fourth with two outs at the game’s halfway mark.
After another quick hook, this time for Smith (21 pitches, all spent simply melting through the Cardinals lineup), Grant Taylor entered in the bottom of the seventh. Taylor forgave Venable his overmanaging by blanking St. Louis while allowing only a walk.
The game seemingly came down to the eighth inning, with the White Sox adding another chapter to September’s swan song of South Side missed opportunities. In the top half, Colson and Braden drew two-out walks, but Antonacci grounded to third to extinguish the free-pass rally. In the bottom half Taylor remained for a second inning and the White Sox immediately paid for it, as Cards leadoff hitter Leo Bernal swung at three straight pitches out of the zone. Unfortunately, Bernal caught up with a 98 mph fastball at his chest that nonetheless cut the heart of the plate and turned on it 106 mph out to right:
There was no reason to expect that the White Sox, who had done all their damage in the game against a young reliever in his second MLB game and sporting a 7.20 ERA, would knot things up against Cards closer Riley O’Brien.
And they in fact did not knot it up, but won the game outright, thanks to the better of the veteran DH hydra this season, Grichuk. Without overhyping the moment, this is exactly the thrilling victory snatched from the jaws of defeat that can provide the kick needed to push a division title home over the final 14 games.
The White Sox still have not lost more than four consecutive games this season. Houston’s loss in St. Petersburg also increases Chicago’s pad to 1 ½ games for the No. 2 seed to The magic number is down to 13, and the White Sox are assured of arriving in Cleveland on Monday in first place.
Officially, after a long summer wait, Philadelphia Flyers hockey returned Saturday night, with the prospects going toe-to-toe with their New York Rangers counterparts, running away with a 3-2 win in a contest that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated.
Forward prospects Alex Bump, Cole Knuble, and Matthew Gard each got on the scoresheet for the Flyers, with Bump's third-period tally standing as the game-winner.
Gard opened the scoring for the Flyers early in the first period, wheeling around the front of the net to collect the loose change after some tidy work from Noah Powell and Alex Ciernik in the offensive zone.
For a 6-foot-5 center like Gard, playing around the net is going to be the key to his game at the NHL level, and his true offensive upside is questionable, so that was an important goal for the former second-round pick, even in an unofficial game.
As for Knuble, his impressive night, highlighted by his unrelenting motor and knack for creating offense, his second-period goal was facilitated by Bump, who alertly spotted his buddy crashing the Rangers' crease for an easy finish at close range.
Bump himself would ice the game late in the third period, cashing in on a mazy solo effort from his center, Jett Luchanko, which started in the neutral zone.
That line of Bump, Luchanko, and Knuble drove the bus for the Flyers from start to finish, as they should.
Flyers had a host of standout performers
Top Flyers goalie prospect Carson Bjarnason is looking poised ahead of his second professional season. (Photo: Geoff Burke, Imagn Images)
It was a quiet night overall for Luchanko, whose game was largely reduced to doing the detailed work he was so highly regarded for coming into the 2024 draft two years ago.
The 20-year-old former 13th overall pick had a breakaway opportunity, set up by Ilya Pautov, denied by Rangers goalie Callum Tung. That would have been a good time for Luchanko to show his scoring, but it didn't come.
Luchanko also made a high-profile, uncharacteristic defensive zone error, whiffing on a breakout pass in his own end, only to try again and put it on the tape of a forechecking Rangers player. Fortunately, Carson Bjarnason was up to the task, as he was all night long.
The two goals against Bjarnason look favorable relative to how the Rangers played; he was unflappable all game and was only beaten on the power play. One of those two goals came on a deflection through heavy traffic.
Maksim Sokolovskii, the burly defender drafted 27th overall by the Flyers in June's draft, was the player who twice put the Rangers on the power play, getting whistled once for roughing on a high hit, and another time for a retaliatory hit.
And to be fair, the roughing call was a result of Sokolovskii just being bigger and stronger. Over time, the London Knights, University of Maine, and the Flyers themselves will all work with him to help try to avoid those tacky penalties.
Other than that, it was a good night for the 6-foot-8 defender, who regularly asserted himself physically, used his stick to disrupt rushes, and tried to contribute offensively.
Sokolovskii's defense partner and draft classmate, Brek Liske, also had an impressive performance and featured as the quarterback on the first power play unit.
Although the Flyers' power play, as we've come to expect, isn't very good, Liske looked surprisingly comfortable at the point, directing traffic, moving the puck, and manipulating defenders. There may be more offense there than the WHL stats indicate.
Ty Murchison and Spencer Gill, who played as a pair behind them, were physical and fine; they did nothing spectacular but made no mistakes. For defensemen, that's a good thing sometimes. Those two were also regularly at the center of post-whistle scrums, including two fights at the final horn.
Another player who popped against the Rangers was 2024 seventh-round pick Ilya Pautov, who signed with the Flyers this summer and came over from Russia.
Despite only being listed at 5-foot-11, 168 pounds, Pautov did some good work along the boards and flashed the creativity that enticed the Flyers to pick him in 2024.
Pautov lined up alongside grinder-types in Riley Thompson and Devin Kaplan, and his offensive potential could be better realised playing alongside more dynamic, talented players.
Denver Barkey and Porter Martone are expected to play in the second Rookie Series game on Sunday, so maybe Pautov will get his chance then.
The 20-year-old Russian is expected to spend the 2026-27 season with the QMJHL's Gatineau Olympiques, who drafted him eighth overall in the CHL import draft on June 30.
Sep 12, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung (6) hits an RBI single against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Texas Rangers scored six runs while the Arizona Diamondbacks scored two runs.
Josh Jung had been the Rangers’ best and most consistent hitter throughout most of the first half of the season and right as the season’s second half was kicking into gear, Jung went down with a calf strain that was initially expected to be minor before it cost the third baseman nearly two months worth of action.
Things weren’t exactly easy for this lineup even with him on the field. Without him, however, the Rangers struggled to an even greater degree to consistently score runs. I suppose that makes sense as they were without their only non-platoon regular who was sporting an OPS north of .800 and also the squad’s leader in batting average.
Tonight, at last, Jung made his return and the Rangers had a new but familiar No. 3 hitter. Jung didn’t miss a beat as he singled in his first at-bat and later singled and drove in a run in the top of the fifth to extend a rally which would see the Rangers score all six of their runs.
In addition to Jung’s reappearance, Nathan Eovaldi also returned to action after missing more than a month. There’s perhaps not enough time left to ramp Eovaldi back up for his spot in the rotation, so the veteran arm is being used as a Swiss army knife for the ‘pen.
Tonight the 2023 Game 5 World Series winner took the Chase Field mound once again and tossed 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball to shepherd the game through until Jacob Latz collected the final four outs.
Eovaldi took on bridge building duties because tonight’s starter Kumar Rocker lasted just four innings on 65 pitches despite working with a five-run lead. After allowing the first two hitters to reach in the bottom of the fifth, Rocker was lifted for a third recent returnee Ranger with Robert Garcia coming on and working around the inherited danger to get the ball to Eovaldi.
Other than Garcia, the Rangers had these guys for the majority of the season so you can’t really say “oh what might have been…” but it’s clear that they were missed during a period where the Rangers couldn’t pull ahead in the destitute American League.
Maybe it’s not too late.
Player of the Game: Batting ninth, catcher Elias Diaz produced a team-best three hits, including the go-ahead RBI single in the top of the fifth that helped to spark the six-run frame which saw the Texas send ten batters to the plate.
Up Next: The Rangers and D-Backs close out this series with a matinee matchup featuring a pitcher to be named for Texas opposite LHP Eduardo Rodriguez for Arizona.
The Sunday afternoon finale first pitch from Chase Field is scheduled for 3:10 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.
