Worldwide Sports News

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Well, gang, the vibes are…not great. The Orioles finally returned to Camden Yards last night after nearly two weeks on the road, but what could’ve been an uplifting series-opening victory against the Red Sox turned sour in the late innings. There were plenty of reasons for the O’s loss, which I’ll get to momentarily, but the biggest factor was that Adley Rutschman did Adley Rutschman things, only this time against the Orioles instead of for them.

It was an emotional night for Orioles fans as the Birds’ former #1 overall pick and franchise cornerstone played his first game in Baltimore as a member of the opposing team. Rutschman received a loud, extended standing ovation before his first at-bat in the top of the first, and another one after the inning when the Orioles played a tribute video on the Jumbotron. Adley was noticeably appreciative of the crowd, doffing his helmet and holding his hand to his heart, and his greetings with his former teammates were no less joyful (Pete Alonso gave him a hug in his first at-bat, aw).

And then Rutschman went out and beat the Birds, hitting not one but two home runs off an otherwise dominant Brandon Young and setting the stage for Boston’s late comeback. Ugh. Talk about a bittersweet reunion. Personally I was hoping we could see Adley succeed but his team fail miserably. We only got the first part of that.

Seeing Rutschman stomp the Orioles just opens old wounds about Mike Elias’s decision to trade him. On a baseball level, it made sense, and the O’s did get a nice haul of prospects. But man, I wish the Orioles, not the Sox, could be the team that’s locked into a playoff spot right now, with Adley helping to lead them to victory. But of course, that would have required the Orioles to put together a more competent team around him.

Last night’s loss laid bare the many problems that plague the Orioles right now. Their bullpen has collapsed, with almost no reliever proving to be a reliable option at the moment. Even Yennier Cano, who’s been the best of the lot for most of the season, fumbled yesterday by coughing up the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth. Before that, the O’s had a chance to get out of the inning on a double play, but Blaze Alexander spiked the relay throw to keep the Sox alive. So, yeah, bad defense is still an issue for the Orioles, too.

First-year manager Craig Albernaz continues to befuddle everyone with his inexplicable in-game tactics. Last night he astoundingly let Carlos Narváez hit for himself with two on and two out in a tie game in the seventh. Why even have three catchers on the roster if you’re not going to pinch-hit for Narváez in such a crucial situation? Samuel Basallo, Jackson Holliday, Heston Kjerstad, and Colton Cowser were all available on the bench, and while the Sox did have a southpaw on the mound, I’d take my chances with any of those left-handed hitters (or Yohel Pozo, if you insist on a righty) instead of Narváez, who is 5-for-55 as an Oriole and has a .486 OPS against lefties this year. Compounding the blunder, Albernaz did pinch-hit for both Coby Mayo and Luis Robert Jr., two far better hitters than Narváez, just one inning later. What are we doing here, buddy?

Overall, the Orioles just seemed fatigued, which is understandable considering their brutal travel schedule of late. Since Aug. 25, they’ve traveled to the Central Time Zone (St. Louis) to the Pacific (Sacramento) to the Mountain (Denver) and back to the Eastern (Baltimore), all without a single day off. The schedule makers did the O’s no favors, and the Birds may be paying the price.

That’s the third loss in a row for the Orioles, who remain 1.5 games behind the losing Guardians for the third wild card spot, but have now fallen a full game behind both the Rangers and Blue Jays. The O’s have yet to win since Colton Cowser’s game-saving catch in Colorado on Monday. I was hoping we’d eventually look at that play as the moment that sparked the Orioles into a playoff run. Instead, we might eventually look at that play as the last time we felt good about the Orioles this season.

Links

Rutschman on returning to Baltimore: “It’s a lot of feelings going on” – School of Roch

Same, Adley. Same.

Kyle Goon: For one night, Adley Rutschman forces Orioles fans to ask ‘What if?’ – The Baltimore Banner

That feeling is going to last for more than one night, I think. There are still three more games in this series for Adley to hit a bunch more home runs.

If Orioles make playoffs, would starters be strong enough to help? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com

There’s a Jim Mora quote that perfectly sums up my response to this headline.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Former Orioles born on this day include catcher Mark Kolozsvary (31), infielder Luis López (56), right-hander Doyle Alexander (76), and the late first baseman Eddie Waitkus (b. 1919, d. 1972).

On this date in 1957, Orioles 18-year-old right-hander Jerry Walker threw a 10-inning shutout to beat the Senators, 1-0. What were you doing at age 18?

In 1969, the Orioles pulled off a ninth-inning comeback in Detroit in most impressive fashion. Down by three runs, they led off the ninth with three consecutive homers by Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, and Brooks Robinson to tie the game. Later in the inning, a Mark Belanger RBI groundout sealed the Birds’ 5-4 come-from-behind win.

Exactly a year later, Brooks Robinson contributed to another O’s win by going 5-for-5 with two home runs at Fenway Park to top the Red Sox, 8-6. Brooks loved hitting on Sept. 4, apparently.

In 1982, 36-year-old right-hander Jim Palmer threw a one-hit shutout to beat the Twins, 3-0. (And at twice Jerry Walker’s age!) It was Palmer’s 11th consecutive victory, improving his record to 13-3.

And on this day in 2012, the Orioles demolished the Blue Jays in Toronto, 12-0, behind an 18-hit explosion and Zack Britton’s seven shutout innings. The win pulled the O’s into a first-place tie with the Yankees, marking the first time in 15 years that the Orioles had been in first place in September.

Random Orioles game of the day

On Sept. 4, 2018, the Orioles…actually won a game! That’s a season where they finished 47-115, so it’s a legitimate surprise to discover a win on any given date. The O’s beat the Mariners in Seattle, 5-3, thanks to a four-run rally in the seventh. Reñato Nunez tied the game with a homer and Jonathan Villar, Joey Rickard, and Trey Mancini each collected an RBI in the frame. Even Chris Davis, well into his late-career collapse by then, contributed an RBI single in the ninth. Alex Cobb threw a quality start to run his record to 5-15, and Mychal Givens notched the last five outs for the save. The win “improved” the Orioles to 41-98. It snapped a four-game losing streak, though they started a six-game skid the next day.

Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. The Brewers are in the midst of another solid winning stretch, and they’re one step closer to locking up the NL Central with just over three weeks to go in the regular season. After facing the Cubs for four games at Wrigley, they’ll continue their Central schedule with three games against the Reds, three games against the Cubs, three games against the Reds, and three games against the Pirates to get them to mid-September.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread:

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Andrelton Simmons, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 2024 – With Shōta Imanaga pitching the first seven innings, three Cubs pitchers combine for a 12-0 no-hitter against the Pirates at Wrigley Field. Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge pitch one inning each to complete the feat. Imanaga is responsible for all seven strikeouts in the game, while Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong both homer and drive in three runs to lead to offense. It is the first no-hitter by the Cubs in the normally hitter-friendly ballpark since 1972, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1908 – In New York, Walter Johnson opens a series against New York by besting Jack Chesbro, 3-0, allowing six hits in the Washington win.
• 1920 – In Boston, 33,000 are on hand for a doubleheader and to see Babe Ruth return to the Yankee lineup. The Babe hits his 45th homer in the opener to give New York a 5-3 win.
• 1935 – Carl Hubbell subdues the Reds, 6-4, for his 20th win of the season. King Carl scatters 12 hits including three apiece by Kiki Cuyler and Lew Riggs.
• 1961 – Roberto Clemente leads the Pirates to a 9-4 win over the Cardinals. After doubling and scoring the first of three first-inning Pirate runs, Clemente greets newly-inserted reliever Al Cicotte with a line-drive home run worth three more runs.
• 1961 – At Los Angeles, Don Drysdale stops the Giants, 4-0, allowing just two hits.
• 1964 – The Yankees overcome two homers by Ken Harrelson to beat the host A’s, 9-7, in 10 innings. Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard hit back-to-back homers in the fourth inning for New York.
• 1968 – The Dodgers’ Don Sutton allows just three hits and strikes out 12 to beat the Phils, 3-0.
• 1969 – Down 4-1 in the ninth against the Tigers in Detroit, Baltimore gets consecutive home runs from Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, and Brooks Robinson off Earl Wilson to tie. Tom Timmermann then gives up the winning run on a double, sacrifice fly, and Baltimore chop as the O’s win, 5-4.
• 1982 – At Baltimore, Jim Palmer one-hits the Twins, 3-0, for Baltimore to get his 11th consecutive victory. It is Palmer’s second career one-hitter against the Twins.
• 1999 – The Red Sox defeat the Mariners, 4-0, as Pedro Martinez wins his 20th game, striking out 15 batters in eight innings of work.
• 2002 – Randy Johnson pitches a complete game in defeating the Dodgers, 7-1. The Diamondbacks’ ace improves to 20-5 on the year and punches out eight opponents to give him 300 or more strikeouts for the fourth straight season, the first ever pitcher to do so
• 2009 – Roy Halladay pitches a one-hitter to beat the Yankees, 6-0.

Today in Cubs history:

• 1902 – Chicago Orphans rookie Alex Hardy debuts with a 1-0 shutout victory over Brooklyn, and becomes the first 20th century National League pitcher to toss a shutout in his first game.
• 1908 – In a game, the significance of which will not be recognized for another three weeks, the Pirates and Cubs are tied 0-0 in the last of the 10th at Pittsburgh. With two outs and the bases loaded, Pittsburgh’s Owen Wilson singles to CF, scoring Fred Clarke with the winning run. Warren Gill, on first base, does not get to second but stops short, turns, and heads for the dugout, a common practice. The Cubs’ Johnny Evers calls for the ball from Jimmy Slagle, touches second, and claims the run does not count as Gill has been forced. The lone umpire, Hank O’Day, has left the field. When queried, he rules that Clarke had already scored, so the run counts. The Cubs protest to league president Harry Pulliam, but are denied. This is the first time the Cubs try this tactic, but not the last, as the Fred Merkle game will demonstrate.
• 1916 – Reds player-manager Christy Mathewson, pitching his only game not in a Giant uniform, beats his long-time nemesis Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown and the Cubs, 10-8, in the second game of a twin bill, in what is the final career game for both pitching greats. Matty takes a 10-5 lead into the ninth, but wanting to match Brown’s complete game feat, hangs on to record the final three outs in spite of three runs scoring in the bottom of the ninth. In the 25 contests in which the two legends have faced one another, Matty, by winning the last decision, takes a 13-12 advantage over his rival.
• 1935 – The third-place Cubs get two home runs, including a grand slam from Augie Galan, to beat the Phillies at Wrigley Field. Larry French is the winner, 8-2, for his 13th victory.
• 1967 – In the first of two at Wrigley Field, Chuck Hartenstein and the Cubs top the Dodgers, 2-1, in 11 innings. Don Sutton takes the loss and is now 0-7 against Chicago.
• 1972 – The Cubs top the Mets, 2-0, as Fergie Jenkins posts his 19th win. 
• 1998 – Sammy Sosa‘s 57th home run leads the Cubs to a 5-2 win over Pittsburgh. Sosa surpasses Hack Wilson‘s club record set 68 years ago.
• 2020 – Yu Darvish continues his dominant season as he allows just one hit – a solo homer by Matt Carpenter to lead off the sixth inning – and no walks while striking out 11 in seven innings in defeating the Cardinals, 4-1. The Cubs ace is now 7-1, 1.44 on the season.

Cubs Birthdays:Andrelton Simmons*, Jim McAnany, Eddie Waitkus, Red Corriden. Also notable: Mike Piazza HOF.

Today in history:

• 1861 – British Association for the Advancement of Science proposes standard units of electrical measurement (the Volt after Alessandro Volta; the Ohm after Georg Ohm) at its 31st annual meeting (Manchester, England).
• 1888 – George Eastman patents the first roll-film camera and registers the brand name “Kodak”.
• 1950 – “Beetle Bailey” comic strip debuts in 12 newspapers.
• 1965 – Rock group The Who’s van is vandalized with $10,000 worth of equipment stolen while the group is inside Battersea Dogs Home buying a guard dog at the time.
• 1972 – “The Price is Right,” the US’s longest-running games show, debuts on CBS.
• 1998 – Google is formally incorporated by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University.
• 2016 – Mother Teresa is canonized by Pope Francis in a ceremony at the Vatican.
• 2025 – Long-lost painting, ‘Portrait of a Lady’ by Giuseppe Ghislandi, is handed over to the Argentine justice system after being discovered in an estate that belonged to the daughter of a Nazi fugitive; the painting was looted in Nazi-occupied Europe, missing for 80 years.

*pictured.

The Braves, at CBP, with the NL East lead on the line. Enough said.

On to the links.

Phillies news

Is Aidan Miller making his return soon? ($)

The farm system is having a moment.

A rookie makes a star look silly, and the the clubhouse takes notice.

MLB news

Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 4 on Wednesday, and didn’t play yesterday.

Which deadline deals worked, and which didn’t?

And another take on the same.

Adley Rutschman made his return to Baltimore.

The Detroit Tigers are moving on to the second leg of their current American League Central road trip starting on Friday with a doubleheader against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. The opener of the four-game series is a make-up for a matchup originally scheduled for June 14 that was postponed due to weather.

On Friday afternoon, right-hander Keider Montero will get the start for the visitors. It will be the 25-year-old’s third outing against the Guardians this year, having earned a loss in his first appearance back in May after giving up three runs in five innings; he earned a win in his second start against the AL Central rival with 6 1/3 innings of shutout ball in August. Both games were in Detroit.

Taking the mound in the second game is left-hander Andrew Sears, who will be making his first-ever MLB start. He has produced mixed results out of the bullpen so far, but hopefully, the just-recently-turned 24-year-old can find a groove as a starter.

For Cleveland, southpaw Logan Allen takes the hill in the first game of the doubleheader for his second start of the 2026 campaign. The 27-year-old spent most of the season at Triple-A Columbus — having hurled for the big league club in a pair of games during May and July — before being recalled in mid-August for his latest stint in the majors.

For the nightcap, another left-hander, Foster Griffin, gets the call for the 28th time this summer. The 31-year-old saw the Tigers last month at Progressive Field, spinning five frames of three-run (but one earned run) ball en route to his 13th win in a 6-4 final.

Make note that the second game of the doubleheader will be broadcast on Apple TV, while the first game will be shown on Detroit SportsNet and MLB.tv.

Detroit Tigers (64-75) vs. Cleveland Guardians (70-70)

Time (ET): 2:10 p.m. ET, 7:15 p.m. ET
Place: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
SB Nation Site:Covering the Corner
Media: Detroit SportsNet, Apple TV, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 140: RHP Keider Montero (9-8, 3.24 ERA) vs. LHP Logan Allen (0-0, 3.77 ERA)

MONTERO

ALLEN

Game 141: LHP Andrew Sears (0-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. LHP Foster Griffin (15-4, 3.21 ERA)

SEARS

GRIFFIN

When I learned late last year that the Cardinals intended to make Kyle Leahy a starter, my first impression was….hmmm. I sifted some data on his past as an MiLB starter and was profoundly unimpressed. His starting history, last at AA, was quite similar to many young pitchers who never see a major league mound. Not promising. Yet, we had some more recent data where he was experiencing a fair amount of success as kind of a jack-of-all-trades reliever. Enough that I wasn’t sure what bucket to put him in. Swingman? Multi-inning relief? Leverage reliever? In 2024, he showed some promise. In 2025, he handled all the roles thrown at him adroitly, confounding the predictive stats that preceded him. His 88 IP of relief defied orthodoxy that would suggest overload, and yet he closed the year with a starting assignment! My (first) impression was that he was one of those guys who might be more than a reliever but perhaps less than a full-on regular starter. A tweener in the mold of Colin Rea or Chad Patrick. I wondered if the decision to move him to starter was motivated more by lack of starting depth than it was a real attempt to better leverage his pitching acumen. Like many things, I was willing to see how it turned out, and I put this date in my calendar of articles to write, and I would come back and re-assess. So, here we are.

We now have almost two years of data on Mr. Leahy. Albeit somewhat mixed because of his changing roles, but we are moving beyond small sample size. Starting with some raw counting stats showing what he has accomplished as a starter in 2026, I see he has accumulated 2.4 fWAR through the end of August. That places him 40th among MLB starters, almost in a dead heat with our own Andre Pallante. Some folks would describe this performance as a solid#2. I’m not sure I’d go that far. I look at good rotations (SEA, NYY, PHI) and see that they have multiple starters operating above this level, in some cases a fair bit above (5 pitchers have more than doubled Leahy’s 2.4 fWAR). In reality, in a strong rotation, Leahy’s performance would be 3rd or 4th best. That is nothing to sneeze at. So, overall, he has been pretty good.

Breaking his performance down by month, there are some striking numbers:

When I look at any pitcher, these columns are my go-to, first look indicators. My very first? 3.51 overall FIP. I like anything under 4.00, and anything under 3.50 falls in the really, really good category. I was immediately curious about his FIP as compared to xERA and xFIP. I think of FIP as expected ERA based on pitcher controllables. xERA is expected ERA based on context-insensitive batted ball data. Across 3 years of MLB history, Leahy has consistently over-performed his xStats. Some of that is the ballpark he pitches in, some of that is the defense he pitches in front of, and some of that is his innate ability to avoid hard pull contact. It becomes hard to attribute much to good luck, not across 3 years.

What I really notice is that Kyle has improved as the season has gone on, with the inflection point appearing in June. He struggled across the board in April, his predictive stats (FIP) suggested better days in May and by June his actual results started to really improve. Notice how his xERA comes closer to his FIP as the season wears on. Not as much divergence. I note the striking difference in K-BB% from July onward. Something to explore when I mine the pitch-by-pitch data. My personal threshold is I look for a K-BB% of 15 or better. These last two months have been a fair bit better. Sustainable? Interestingly, he has improved both his K% and his BB% as the season has gone on. But that stark change between June and July sure stands out. What gives?

We will get there, but I follow my usual methodology in diving deeper and deeper until I find answers.

To go beyond the stat line, let’s look at some underlying (Statcast) metrics. On the left we see that Leahy has a six pitch assortment, which is it’s own advantage. None of the pitches exhibit extraordinary movement, although that Sweeper sweeps horizontally toward the high end of the average scale, as does the Slider.

These two pitches have plus movement, but I suspect having six pitches he can regularly throw for strikes makes each one of them a little better. First, it is easy for a hitter to eliminate a pitch or sit on one when a 2- or 3- pitch pitcher is having trouble throwing one of his pitches for strikes. Not so easy to do when that pitcher still have 3 more pitches in his arsenal.

Kyle pretty evenly distributes his pitches, also, throwing nothing more than 27% of the time nor less than 13%. His most thrown pitch, like most pitchers, is his FB. 27% is relatively low usage rate, however.

Here on the left, we see some blue (not so hot) and some red (good). Notice that HardHit% in the 2nd percentile. I’m thinking that is a vestige of early season woes. I do notice that FG has his HardHit% at 41% where as Statcast has it at 48%. Why the gap? Are their HardHit calc methods THAT much different?

We will see a chart that shows his rolling average later. HardHit% has steadily declined through the season and is better than average now. In fact, if you look at the table at the top and the chart on the left, you can see evidence that many of the blue lines are lagging his current output. The key question is … is the improvement sustainable, or is the aggregated, full season view more indicative?

On the more positive side, we see that Leahy has a strong GB% and an excellent walk rate. These numbers are in line with his historical norms, such as they are in a relief role.

About that striking change in the June-July timeframe, I got curious, so I went to Fangraphs and graphed out his pitch usage by month and added in hard hit % (shown below). Starting with the HardHit% (the dark blue line), you notice a steady decline as the season goes on, falling below (better than) league average in the June timeframe. I don’t have room for another visual, but I looked and xwOBA follows a very similar trend line. Interestingly, I notice that the downward trend in HardHit% (and xwOBA) follow a similar trajectory to declining reliance on his fastball (the purple line below). Instead, he has added more use of his breaking/off-speed pitches (ie. added more wrinkle to his game) as shown in the red, yellow and blue lines.

The pitch mix influence on HardHit% and xwOBA seems to be correlated. Cause and effect? Let’s continue.

If we look at Stuff+, Leahy’s FB is rated at 93 this year, or below average. That explains why it is getting hit hard and why he is using it less. His Sinker (115) and his Slider (111) Stuff+ ratings are excellent although his Curve (95) and Cutter (93) ratings are below average. I would note that he carries a strong Location+ rating of 105 (overall) and in the aggregate Pitching+ has him as a slightly above average pitcher in 2026 as well as across his career.

Here are some more things to peek at. The chart on the left essentially demonstrates how well Leahy tunnels his various pitches. When a pitcher “tunnels” well, he makes it harder for the hitter to discern spin well enough read what the pitch is going to be by making some or all them appear to spin the same. In this case, Leahy releases his 4-seam and 2-seam (Sinker) fastballs with nearly the same spin direction, but as you can see in the above chart, different movement. I’d personally like to see more differentiation there, but that is nitpicking.

The Sinker has above average rise, but in ways ends up being too much like his four seamer, although independently, the Sinker performs better. Likewise, he tunnels his Change well with the two fastballs, but gets pretty ordinary results, mostly as a result of sub-optimal pitch shape. His change simply doesn’t have enough fade at the end to fool a hitter and the velo difference itself isn’t enough. Notice on the opposite side of the spin cycle sit the sweeper and curveballs. The exact opposite spin on a pitch looks the same to a hitter with sharp eyes (ie. that’s also good tunneling). Guess what? Those pitches, while the spin looks the same out of his hand, the pitches behave radically differently when the get to the plate and they become highly effective. In the end, Sinker-Sweeper-Curve combinations are his bread and butter and show each having positive run value that leans elite. Oddly, his slider is not well disguised, but is still quite effective.

In the end, you have a pitcher with three pretty effective breaking balls (Sweeper, Curve, Slider) and a reasonably good 2-seam Fastball (Sinker). After looking at this, I am a bit surprised about the following:

Here I mapped out the same stats as above, but instead of by month, I did by times through the order. Even with a pretty effective four pitch mix, Leahy is largely unable to successfully navigate an order for the third time (beware of SSS – only 19 IP pitched 3rd time through). I suspect some of it has to do with stamina (not being used to a starter’s work load) and perhaps a little bit to do with needing to show more of his breaking pitches early (due to a non-productive fastball) and just flat giving hitters too many looks at them by the third time through. That sinker spin has enough difference that once hitters get some looks, they will pick it up and that will allow them to either sit on it or ignore it, both of which reduce the effectiveness of having a deep arsenal (as it is no longer deep). Time will tell on this one. The fall off in K-BB% the third time through is striking, no?

One last thing I look at…run values for his pitches. This ends up being a little redundant, but there are some interesting tidbits when each pitch is summarized into one value. Why is the 4-seam having so much less run value this year than last? His velo is down more than 1 mph (probably typical in the transition from reliever to starter). Why is his good curveball not quite as good this year? I don’t know. This where comparing Kyle Leahy the reliever with Kyle Leahy the starter becomes challenging. So I note, and wait for more data.

Some questions going forward

So, do we know why his K-BB% has improved so dramatically recently? Is it the refined pitch mix? Will the league catch up to that?

How will his body and his arm react next year after setting new highs in IP and overall workload (pitches, up/downs, steps, etc.)?

Which pitcher is he? The April/May Leahy or the July/August Leahy? Is June the 50th percentile outcome for him? Have we seen floor and ceiling together this season?

Summary

My primary concern with Kyle is his IP and what it will be by season’s end. Pitchers who greatly exceed their prior workloads have a pretty strong tendency to be not as sharp in the following season and subject to greater incidence of injury.

As a pitcher, he seems solid, if unspectacular. His pitch mix, GB% and low walk rate seem like sustainable, steady-eddy results that will likely keep him from being super-volatile, either up or down. I really like how he has improved as this season goes on, and I think it is fair to say he has built on his successful 2025 season very well.

I wonder if we’d like him a lot more if he was doing this at age 24 or 25, than at age 29?

Toledo Mud Hens 2, Indianapolis Indians 1 (box)

Jackson Wolf delivered six hitless innings, and Toledo reclaimed the lead in the eighth to earn its third consecutive win over Indianapolis. Four Mud Hens pitchers combined to allow just one hit while striking out 12.

Wolf’s only two blemishes were a leadoff walk in the second and a hit batter in the fifth. The latter looked like it might have caught the knob of Tyler Callihan’s bat, but there’s no replay to review that in the minors.

Wolf filled up the strike zone over six innings, throwing 54 strikes on 72 pitches. He struck out five with his sweeper and eight overall, generating 13 whiffs on 41 swings. Wolf’s command of his secondary pitches was a thing of beauty today. His sweeper was lethal in two-strike counts and averaged 11 inches of horizontal break.

The no-hit line is a bit deceptive. Indianapolis put 10 balls in play against Wolf, including six hard hits, but some good defense from Michael Siani in center field, among others, bailed him out a few times.

Wolf’s only problem was that the offense provided hardly any run support. The Mud Hens squandered an early opportunity in the second, when Siani struck out with the bases loaded. James Outman grounded into Toledo’s second double play of the game earlier in the inning.

Andrew Navigato doubled with one out in the fifth and advanced to third on a groundout, but the Hens stranded him there. They finally broke the scoreless tie in the sixth. Corey Julks doubled with one out, and Jung drove him home with a single to center.

Hayden Minton preserved the lead and extended the combined no-hit bid in the seventh, working around a leadoff walk. Ty Madden took over in the eighth and struck out the first batter he faced before Nick Cimillo gave the Indians their first hit of the day, a game-tying solo homer to center.

The Mud Hens answered in the bottom half. Jung collected his third base knock of the game, and Outman walked before Seby Zavala bunted both runners into scoring position. Indianapolis intentionally walked Chris Meyers to load the bases, and Navigato brought Jung home with a force out.

Madden returned for the ninth but walked Enmanuel Valdez with one out. Tanner Rainey took over and retired the final two batters, securing the victory and Rainey’s third save.

Jung: 3-4, R, RBI

Navigato: 1-3, 2B (15), RBI, HBP

Julks: 1-4, 2B (15), R

Wolf: 6.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, 8 K

Coming Up Next: The series continues Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET. Toledo leads 3-0.

Somerset Patriots at Erie SeaWolves, postponed

Thursday’s game was postponed due to rain. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 5:05 p.m. ET.

Coming Up Next: The series resumes Friday at 6:05 p.m. ET. Somerset leads 2-0.

Dayton Dragons 9, West Michigan Whitecaps 4 (box)

West Michigan carried a two-run lead into the bottom of the eighth, but Dayton scored seven runs with two outs to hand the Whitecaps their first loss of the series.

The loss left West Michigan two games behind Great Lakes in the Midwest League East with only three games remaining. Great Lakes was rained out Thursday and has four games left, beginning with a doubleheader Friday, leaving the Whitecaps needing to win out and get plenty of help to reach the postseason.

Cale Wetwiska made his High-A debut in this one. He struck out the first two batters he faced but had to escape a jam after a hit batter and a single put runners on the corners. Dayton broke through in the second when a pitch hit Damian Ruiz, advanced to third on a Kyle Henley single and scored on Johnny Ascanio’s sacrifice fly.

The Whitecaps answered in the third. Bryce Rainer doubled — his second hit of the day — and Beau Ankeney launched a no-doubter to the scoreboard in left-center.

West Michigan added to its 2-1 lead in the fourth with a single from Cristian Santana and a double to right from Juan Hernandez. Despite the ball going into the corner, Dayton got the relay home in time to tag Santana, who stumbled rounding third. The catcher dropped the ball, though, leading to a quick reversal of the home-plate umpire’s out call.

Wetwiska got through the third 1-2-3, but he gave up a solo shot and two singles while recording only one out in the fourth. Zack Lee took over and stranded both runners, preserving a 3-2 lead.

Stephen Hrustich drove in Jackson Strong with a sac fly to put West Michigan back up by two in the fifth. Lee retired the side in order in the bottom half, but Dayton pulled within one again in the sixth. Jalen Evans got the final out of the inning and worked a clean seventh. He was an out away from getting through the eighth without trouble, but things unraveled.

A double tied the game up, and a single put the Dragons in front 5-4. Consecutive walks loaded the bases, prompting a pitching change for the Whitecaps. Logan Berrier couldn’t stop the bleeding. Back-to-back two-run hits blew the game wide open before Berrier finally ended the seven-run inning.

West Michigan struck out six times against David Lorduy over the final two frames.

Ankeney: 3-4, 2B (6), HR (9), 2 RBI, BB

Rainer: 2-5, 2B (21), R, K

Hernandez: 2-4, 2B (7), K

Wetwiska: 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, BB, 4 K

J. Evans (L, 4-5): 2.0 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: The series continues Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET. West Michigan leads 2-1.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 8, Bradenton Marauders 2 (box)

Lakeland launched a pair of three-run homers during a seven-run third inning and cruised past Bradenton to even the series.

Cameron Flukey gave the Flying Tigers four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out six. He had to work out of trouble immediately after Bradenton’s first two runners reached, but Flukey struck out the next three batters.

Flukey faced another jam in the second after a hit-by-pitch, bunt single and throwing error put runners on second and third, but Mike Jarvis flied out to end the threat.

Flukey generated 10 whiffs on 21 swings, including four with his slider and three with his changeup. His fastball was elite, generating 20 inches of induced vertical break and 8 inches of armside run.

The Flying Tigers erupted in the third. Brady Ballinger singled, and Hunter Dobbins doubled before Angel De Los Santos launched a three-run homer to left.

Tyson LeBlanc singled, and Jesus Pinto walked before Anibal Salas followed with another three-run shot, making it 6-0.

Cris Rodriguez doubled after the homer and scored on Zach MacDonald’s sacrifice fly.

Paul Wilson took over in the fifth and struck out three consecutive batters after hitting the leadoff man. Bradenton finally broke through against him in the sixth. Tre Phelps and Brent Iredale opened the inning with singles, and Wilson issued a one-out walk to load the bases before Leonardo Rossell entered. Carl Calixte brought Phelps home with a groundout, but Rossell stranded the other two runners.

Rossell’s command slipped in the seventh. He walked Chris Rembert before allowing a single and another walk to load the bases with one out. Yendy Gomez entered and traded a run for an out on Antonio Pimentel’s grounder before striking out Bralyn Brazoban to end the inning.

Rodriguez restored the six-run lead in the eighth with his third home run of the season, a leadoff shot to right-center. Both of Rodriguez’s extra-base hits came off the bat at 105 mph, the two hardest hits of the day.

Gomez struck out the side in the bottom half, giving him four strikeouts over 1 2/3 perfect innings. He threw 15 of his 19 pitches for strikes and generated seven whiffs on 10 swings, including six on six swings against his slider.

Xiomer Guacache retired the side in order in the ninth to finish the victory.

De Los Santos: 1-4, HR (3), R, 3 RBI, BB, K

Salas: 2-5, 2B (17), HR (8), R, 3 RBI, K

Rodriguez: 2-4, 2B (4), HR (3), 2 R, RBI, K

Dobbins: 1-3, 2B (11), R, BB, K

Flukey: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: Lakeland and Bradenton play a doubleheader Friday beginning at 5 p.m. ET. The series is tied 1-1.

It is a delectable September showdown series pitting longtime rivals: Braves at Phillies, four games in Philadelphia that will go a long way toward determining the winner of the National League East.

And it starts in spectacular fashion: Left-handers Chris Sale of Atlanta opposing Cristopher Sánchez, the 2024 Cy Young Award winner and perhaps this year’s honoree linking up in a rare battle of true aces Friday, Sept. 4.

“We obviously love any time he’s on the bump,” Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson says of Sale. “He’s a bulldog.”

Yet for the Braves, who hold a four-game lead on Philadelphia with 22 games remaining, it’s the rest of the weekend that might better inform their championship chances as summer gives way to autumn.

They have no All-Star answer for Philly’s Zack Wheeler and Jesus Luzardo, who pitch Saturday and Monday. Both strike out more than 10 batters a game and their stuff is well-suited for October. On this superstar-studded Philly squad, Sánchez, Luzardo and Wheeler go 1-2-3 in WAR.

Atlanta? It will counter with left-hander Martín Pérez and righties Tyler Mahle and Bryce Elder, respected arms who nonetheless will not light up the marquee in the NL playoffs the way Philly’s trio, or the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal or Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski can.

In a sense, this weekend may give us a sense whether Atlanta’s good guys are good enough.

“Just consistency,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss says when asked what he needs from the non-Sale staffers. “Our pitching’s been really good. Pretty much all year. Just continue to do what they’re doing. It’s all about finding consistency in this league.

“It’s tough to do, because it’s a tough league.”

Particularly when injuries wrack the pitching department, as it has the Braves’. Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach and Reynaldo Lopez have missed much or all of this season. Meanwhile, Sale is 37, and Atlanta has run a six-man rotation to cut down his innings and allow him a loose leash on nights he does throw.

He will be on a full week’s rest when he pitches Friday, his last outing a sterling one-hit shutout of the Dodgers Aug. 27. At 144 innings, his tank is still full.

And the results bear that out: Sale has a 2.06 ERA and 177 strikeouts in those 144 innings, helping Atlanta’s rotation post a 3.72 ERA, seventh in the majors.

The rest of the starters? They’ve combined for a 4.14 ERA, a more middle-of-the-pack outcome.

Yet Atlanta may have at least a partial antidote to its decent but not dominant pitching situation.

A 'great pickup' at the deadline

It was virtually lost in the flurry of higher-profile deals at the trade deadline, one that left Atlanta fans grumbling that their GM, Alex Anthopoulos, did not do enough to upgrade the rotation for the stretch.

No, Tyler Mahle, acquired from the San Francisco Giants, did not move the needle much in that first week of August, not when Skubal or Robbie Ray or Clay Holmes were available. Yet something’s happened since Mahle arrived in Atlanta.

It’s just a five-start sample, but Mahle’s output with the Braves compared to the Giants is startling:

His ERA dropped from 5.13 in 18 starts with the Giants to 1.48. His WHIP fell from 1.39 to 0.96, his hits per nine from 9.0 to 7.1. Meanwhile, his strikeout-walk ratio more than doubled, from 2.41 to 6.40.

Weiss credits the Braves and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner for “tightening up his arsenal,” particularly throwing his splitter more often, especially against right-handers. Mahle downplays that notion, claiming he’s the same guy.

Yet a change of scenery undeniably helped.

“I don’t know what to tell you. It’s like a fresh start,” says Mahle. “I have the same stuff I did in San Fran. Same repertoire. There’s nothing to it but fresh start, good baseball team, good coaching staff.

“I went from one of the worst records to one of the best records. It’s pretty crazy. There’s been no hiccup in that transition over here. Everybody here is awesome. Everybody made me feel welcome. Just get here and do your thing.”

The first weekend of September features some critical series in the Major League Baseball pennant races, highlighted by the Philadelphia Phillies hosting the Atlanta Braves for a three-game set with four games separating the two teams in the NL East.

Atlanta has held first place for nearly five months and heads north to Citizens Bank Park with a four-game advantage atop the division. That lead was 9.5 games as recently as Aug. 14 but the Phillies went 21-7 for the month to get within arm's reach.

Other matchups with playoff implications this weekend include the Arizona Diamondbacks visiting the Houston Astros, the New York Yankees facing the San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox hosting the Minnesota Twins in an AL Central showdown.

Here's a look at the latest standings and projected postseason bracket:

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in the midst of the last possible push for the postseason as the last month of the season is officially underway. At five games back from a Wild Card spot, the pressure is on for the Pirates to rally, and there are a couple of things they can do to give themselves the best shot possible at the playoffs.

First and foremost the bats have got to stay hot. In a previous game against the San Francisco Giants, they collected the win after they scored 13 runs off of 19 hits. Offensively, these are exactly the kind of performances the Pirates need to string together to give themselves a good shot.

The second half of the season saw the Pirates red hot offense turn stagnant, as the team was littered with injuries and had a lack of production from their leaders. The performances that ensued saw the Pirates go into a bad slump that saw them slip to the bottom of the National League Central. They have surged lately though, and more consistent performances from their lineup will carry a lot of the weight as they try to claw back into contention.

The Pirates’ rotation also has to be dialed in to end the season. All year long the Pirates’ star studded starting pitchers have struggled with consistency. Paul Skenes has looked out of sorts all year, and has unfortunately blown numerous games for the Buccos. However, the rise of Braxton Ashcraft has been essential for the team’s success this year and he has emerged as a leader for the group.

Luckily the performances from the rotation have been better lately, but still shaky. Many are calling for Bill Murphy to be replaced after the collapse that his starters have experienced, but Ashcraft dismissed those notions surrounding his coach.

“What I do know is that it’s really easy to point fingers, and everybody is looking for somebody to point their finger at,” Braxton Ashcraft said. “And whether it’s a hitting coach, pitching coach, manager, bench coach, whatever it is, [the] coach is the first place that everybody goes to point their fingers and place blame. I don’t think it’s necessarily fair.”

Ashcraft added that the players on the team owe a lot to their coaches.

“We didn’t get to the big leagues singularly because we had great coaches,” Ashcraft said. “ … The pitching coaches, in my opinion, they work best to keep us in [mechanical] guide rails, to give us reminders when we need reminders, and to bridge the gap between what we do physically and how we attack with our arsenal. And I think that he does a really good job of that.”

If the starters can lock in for the remainder of the season it gives the team a far better shot, and takes a lot of weight off of the offense on slower nights.

More than anything, the Pirates need to beat the teams they’re supposed to beat. It’s a tough stretch to end the year, but the Pirates on paper are a far better team than how they’ve looked at times throughout the season.

The Pirates won their series against the Giants. They should also absolutely win their series against the Los Angeles Angels who sit below the American League West division. Back-to-back series in the Windy City against the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs will be tough, but the team has the benefit of staying in one location for that six-game stretch. Ideally, they split those series against the Chicago teams.

Following the series against the Cubs the team then comes back to Pittsburgh for three straight series against the Brewers, Royals and Cardinals. The Pirates have been mostly great against Milwaukee all season, and being able to win the series against the division leaders would be a great momentum swing to end the year. The Royals are also at the bottom of their division, so that should be a lock for the Buccos. The Cardinals have given the Pirates fits all year, and that may be the toughest opponent they have left to face. St. Louis however is on a downturn. The Pirates then travel to Detroit to end the regular season, a team that they just won against less than a month ago.

It’s going to be an uphill battle for the Buccos to make it to the postseason, but it’s far from over yet. A couple of strong performances in September could put this team over the top and bring Bucctober back to Pittsburgh.

New York Post | Greg Joyce: George Lombard Jr. exited a game against the Red Sox last Saturday with a knee injury, and a fan base held its collective breath. Well, Lombard appears to have escaped serious injury, and now it sounds like he could return to the lineup as early as today. “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse … but it is trending and looking like that is going to be the case,” Aaron Boone said Wednesday. “It’s been progressing every day,” Lombard said, with the rookie having been doing agility drills onfield before games this week.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Through the first three months of the season, Austin Wells struggled through the worst stretch of his pro career, posting one of the ugliest slash lines of any player in the league. He hit the IL with cervical headaches in June, and still struggled for a couple weeks after returning. But since early-July, Wells has been money, posting a near-.800 OPS while providing his typical excellent framing behind the plate. “It was just kind of the understanding of where my swing was at, and then how I was missing, whether it was actually missing or fouling stuff off I should be hitting,” Wells said. The catcher came through with a huge hit in extra innings Wednesday night, which felt like a milestone moment in what’s been a vital turnaround for the once-beleaguered backstop.

MLB.com | Courtney Hollman: The Yankees, and the rest of the league, have hit the stretch run, and every game from here on out is crucial. Hollman runs through the details of how the Yankees are preparing for the season’s final stages, as they await the return of Aaron Judge and eye the Rays in first place in the AL East. “We’ve got a great opportunity in front of us,” Boone said. “Put ourselves in position, like I’ve said a lot, to realize all our hopes and dreams and our goals. But we’ve got to play well, and hopefully, we’re at our best when it matters the most.” Judge’s arrival is the big potential domino to fall in the coming weeks, but also important is the team’s pitching puzzle. The Yankees will apparently piggyback Will Warren after Max Fried starts against the Padres, while they also weigh their options in the bullpen, with John Schreiber and Michael Fulmer recently added to the mix, and the likes of Clarke Schmidt and Ryan Weathers working back from injury.