In a tribute to Judge, who has fueled much of their first-inning damage over the years, the Yankees put up a five spot in the opening frame before Gerrit Cole took care of the rest in an important bounce-back start.
Coming into the day having allowed seven home runs over his last two starts, Cole gave up another but limited the damage to just one on the way to the Yankees’ 9-2 win over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
On a day that began with news of Judge going on the injured list with a right calf strain that very much threatens his availability for the postseason, the Yankees (89-64) inched within four games of the Rays for the division with nine games remaining, while staying 5 ¹/₂ games clear of the Red Sox for the top AL wild card.
“We’re obviously bummed for Aaron and Aaron’s probably bummed too,” Cole said. “But we’ve been in this position before this year, so unfortunately, it’s our reality at this point. We came out tonight with a good mentality and we played really good baseball and that’s a recipe for success, regardless of who’s in the lineup. Aaron’s a quick healer and a hard worker, and he’ll be back sooner than later for us. In his absence, we’ll hold the fort.”
Barring a Rays collapse, the Yankees will almost certainly be facing the Red Sox in the AL wild-card series, and Aaron Boone said before Friday’s game that he would expect Cole to make a start in that series despite getting roughed up of late.
Designated hitter Ben Rice lets a low pitch go as he earns a bases-loaded walk during the first inning of the Yankees’ 9-2 blowout win over Diamondbacks on Sept. 18, 2026 in Phoenix. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
Cole then took the mound and backed up that faith, tossing six innings of two-run ball in his penultimate start of the regular season.
The runs both came on Corbin Carroll’s two-run shot in the second inning, which came on a 97 mph fastball, the pitch that opponents have hit hard lately against Cole.
And though he still only generated four whiffs on 20 swings against his fastball, he found a way to minimize the damage and get back on track.
George Lombard Jr. celebrates while running the bases after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ win over the Diamondbacks. Getty Images
“I think a lot of people probably overreacted to a couple of outings that, frankly, are inevitable in a long season,” Boone said. “The reality is he’s having an outstanding season, he’s throwing the ball really well, and a great pitcher like him is going to be able to make some adjustments when you have a couple where they get to you.”
The veteran right-hander struck out six while walking none and scattering just four hits — all of which came off his fastball — against the Diamondbacks (80-74), who are on the outside looking in for the final NL wild card.
Boone said Cole “grinded pretty hard” between starts, which the former Cy Young winner indicated was about tightening up his delivery to create more deception.
“I don’t think we did a perfect job tonight,” Cole said. “I think we moved the needle in the right direction, but there’s still some meat on the bone there. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary. It’s the big leagues.”
Ben Rice celebrates with Spencer Jones after hitting a solo home run in the third inning of the Yankees’ win over the Diamondbacks. Getty Images
It helped that the Yankees gave Cole a 5-0 lead to work with before he threw a single pitch, as they made Diamondbacks All-Star lefty Eduardo Rodríguez throw 45 pitches in the top of the first.
Each of the first five batters reached base, as Paul Goldschmidt walked, Cody Bellinger singled, Heliot Ramos walked, Ben Rice walked and Amed Rosario singled.
One out later, George Lombard Jr. roped a two-run single up the middle to make it 5-0.
Gerrit Cole, who held the Diamondbacks to two runs over six innings and picked up the win, throws a pitch during th fifth inning of the Yankees’ road victory. Getty Images
Rice added a solo shot off Rodríguez in the third inning, for his 39th home run of the season — a number Boone insisted he predicted back in spring training — before Lombard knocked him out of the game in the sixth with a home run of his own that made it 7-2.
“Obviously we were missing [Judge] for a long time there, so this one is especially hard to swallow, him just being back for a brief period and now already gone,” said Rice, who added a triple and two walks. “But we have no choice but to keep playing hard, keep doing our thing.”
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - SEPTEMBER 18: George Lombard Jr. #96 high fives Austin Wells #28 of the New York Yankees after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the sixth inning at Chase Field on September 18, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The two starting pitchers entered this game trending in opposite directions. Gerrit Cole had just allowed the most home runs (seven) in a two-start span in his career, while Eduardo Rodriguez is in the midst of a career year with a 2.62 ERA. One of those trends remained — Cole giving up another home run on a fastball — but fortunately the other trend was momentarily halted, the Yankees scoring five in the first off E-Rod to give themselves enough of a cushion to weather Cole’s continued home run woes.
Cole settled down after the Carroll dinger to give the Yankees six innings, by which time the offense all but put this game out of reach. They kept the pressure on, scoring a further four runs including solo home runs by Ben Rice and George Lombard Jr., to cruise to a series-opening victory in the desert, 9-2.
Rodriguez came into this game with an ERA above six in the first inning and an ERA right around two for the subsequent innings combined. That made it imperative that the Yankees find a way to do damage before the home team had a chance to come to bat, especially with the rate Cole is giving up the long ball. They did just that with a clear disciplined approach not to expand the zone against E-Rod’s curveball.
Paul Goldschmidt drew a leadoff walk, Cody Bellinger followed with a single, and Heliot Ramos also walked to load the bases with no outs. Rice drew the Yankees’ third walk in the first four batters to plate Goldschmidt and open the scoring, Goldy, Ramos, and Rice all working full counts before taking the free pass. Amed Rosario then fought off a cutter that handcuffed him up and in, muscling it to the opposite field perfectly between center and left fielder to plate Bellinger as the runners went station to station. A wild pitch allowed Ramos to score and Rice and Rosario to move up to second and third. This set up a two-run ground ball single from Lombard that just got by Geraldo Perdomo’s diving attempt to atone for his defensive misplay in the 13th that allowed the Twins to walk off the Yankees on Wednesday.
Rodriguez struck out Volpe to end the inning giving him three strikeouts in the frame, but the damage was done. The 45 pitches he threw were the most he’s thrown in the first inning in his career. 33 of those pitches fell out of the zone, but only eight induced a chase.
It’s a good thing they hung such a crooked number, because Cole immediately gave two of those runs back. He gave up a leadoff single to Perdomo before yanking an 0-1 four-seamer right into Corbin Carroll’s nitro zone, the three-time All-Star obliterating it to right for a two-run bomb to reduce the Yankees’ lead, 5-2. Rice made sure to immediately tilt the momentum back in his team’s favor. After falling behind 0-2, he stayed back on an elevated heater from E-Rod riding it out the other way and over the fence in left-center for a leadoff bomb, his 39th of the year, to give Cole some more of his cushion back, 6-2.
Cole settled down to work a scoreless third and fourth, helped in part by a sharp uptick in slider usage at the expense of some four-seamers as well as an impressive sliding catch in left-center by Spencer Jones in the third. He finally began dialing the fastball command to the corners in the fifth, striking out Tim Tawa and Lars Nootbaar on four-seamers to end the frame after Jesús Sánchez singled with one out. This allowed Lombard to restore the Yankees’ five run lead in the sixth, the rookie punishing a hanging curveball from E-Rod by lining the solo shot down the line it left and into the bullpen for his fourth of the year and third RBI on the night.
The four-seamer was the prime culprit for Cole in his previous two starts with a 68.2-percent hard-hit rate and just six whiffs, and that remained the case tonight. However, I believe it is Cole’s rustiness with his secondaries that is leading his four-seamer to get barreled. The fastball still has plenty of velocity — at 97 mph it’s a full tick above last season. I will grant that he has missed location in the zone on numerous occasions which hasn’t done him any favors.
However, after his last start, Cole identified a lack of chase and whiff against his secondaries as the reason his fastball is getting crushed. Hitters being able to lay off those chase pitches forces Cole to overuse the fastball in counts that favor the softer stuff, which in essence gives them the opportunity to hunt the heater when they should be defending against the breaker. When you can hunt a fastball in any count, chances are you are going to do damage when Cole misses his spot in the zone, the high velocity not much of a weapon when hitters’ bats are preemptively sped up.
Indeed, once he started commanding his slider and knuckle curve to the shadow of the zone in the middle innings, the hard contact against the fastball dried up. Having pitched a strong fifth and sixth and with his pitch count at 90, Boone saw no reason to overextend Cole and ended his night after six with his best innings freshest in mind. He finished night having pitched six innings, allowing two runs on four hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
Despite possessing one of the stingiest bullpens in baseball, the Diamondbacks decided that a five-run deficit in the seventh was too steep to justify using their high leverage arms. So, Zac Gallen made his first career relief appearance, the former All-Star in the midst of am injury-plagued, below-replacement-level campaign. He allowed a leadoff single to Goldschmidt and walked Ramos and Rice — again, both in full counts — to load the bases with one out. Aaron Boone sent out Ryan McMahon to pinch-hit for Rosario, and he hit a sharp grounder to first that Pavin Smith gloved but airmailed the underhand toss to Gallen covering first as all the runners were safe and a run scored on the error. Spencer Jones then appeared to ground into the inning-ending double play, but his hustle out of the box and down the line just beat the throw to pick up an RBI and make it 9-2.
Ryan Yarbrough pitched 1.1 innings in relief of Cole and worked himself into and out of trouble in the seventh. Arizona put runners on second and third as Nolan Arenado singled and Carroll doubled with one out. However, Yarbrough struck out Jose Fernandez and Tawa to strand the pair in scoring position. Rice smoked his fourth triple of the year in the ninth but was stranded at third by a McMahon strikeout. Michael Fulmer and Luis Gil recorded the final five outs of the game without allowing a baserunner to seal the win, 9-2. With the Rays having lost to the Red Sox earlier in the evening, the Yankees’ deficit is back to four games in the division, making that looming four-game set against Tampa in the Bronx even more high stakes.
Cam Schlittler looks to cement his AL Cy Young case tomorrow after Dylan Cease suffered his shortest start of the season on Friday. The Yankees ace will face off against Brandon Pfaadt with a slightly more reasonable game start time. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 pm ET with the broadcast remaining on YES.
The Yankees' offense scored five first-inning runs, en route to a 9-2 victory over the Diamondbacks on Friday night in Arizona.
With the win and the Rays' loss earlier in the evening, the Yankees are 4.0 games behind Tampa for first place in the AL East.
Here are the takeaways...
-The Yankees got to Eduardo Rodriguez early, loading the bases (walk, single, walk) with no outs in the first. Ben Rice worked his way back from a 1-2 count to walk and force in the game's first run. Amed Rosario, starting at third base, blooped a single to drive in a run. Spencer Jones struck out before a passed ball allowed Heliot Ramos to score from third. George Lombard Jr. followed up with a two-run single to give the Yankees a 5-0 lead.
-Gerrit Cole, after allowing seven home runs in his last two starts, had a shutdown 12-pitch first inning after the Yankees gave him that five-run lead. However, the longball would bite Cole in the second, when Corbin Carroll launched a two-run shot to put Arizona on the board.
But that's all Cole would give up in six strong innings. He allowed those two runs on four hits, no walks, while striking out six, a great bounceback performance from the right-hander.
-Rice smashed his 39th home run of the season off the southpaw Rodriguez in the third. The homer went 390 feet over the left center field wall. He now has five homers in his last 22 games. Rice finished 2-for-3 with the home run and a triple.
Lombard's productive day wasn't done either, as the rookie launched a solo shot in the sixth to knock Rodriguez out of the game.
-The Yankees pushed across two more runs in the seventh off former ace Zac Gallen, making his first career relief appearance after he was moved to the bullpen after a terrible 2026, thanks to an error and a failed double-play attempt.
-In relief of Cole, Ryan Yarbrough, Michael Fulmer and Luis Gil got the final nine outs. Yarbrough worked out of trouble after giving up two hits in the seventh and Gil worked out of an inning where he allowed two baserunners.
-With Aaron Judge on the IL for the foreseeable future, the rest of the Yankees outfield's production will be under a microscope. Cody Bellinger (1-5), Jones (0-4, RBI) and Ramos (0-2, 2 BB) combined to go 1-for-11.
Jones, in particular, is struggling. He went hitless again and struck out two more times. He's now struck out nine times in his last four games.
Game MVP: Gerrit Cole
The Yankees and the right-hander needed this start, to instill confidence that Cole has not lost it. He also helped give the bullpen a rest after the 13-inning game on Wednesday.
New Zealand may be without their best young player for this summer’s four-Test tour of Australia after Rachin Ravindra dislocated his right shoulder while attempting a diving catch during a promotional shoot in Auckland earlier this week.
The last couple of seasons have not been kind toMark Vientos.
The young Mets slugger, after a breakout 2024 -- especially in the postseason -- was primed to become a building block for the team's future. But after a down 2025 and a miserable 2026 filled with injuries and poor performance, Vientos' future in Queens may not be so clear-cut.
“Do I want to be a New York Met? Of course I want to be a New York Met,” Vientos told MLB.com's Anthony DiComo this week. “This is the team that I got drafted by and I have so many great memories with. But it’s whatever life has in store for me.”
The Mets have a decision to make this offseason. Vientos is arbitration-eligible for the first time, but he's also a non-tender candidate. As DiComo notes, Vientos will receive a significant raise in salary if the Mets tender him a contract through the arbitration process. If they non-tender him, Vientos' time with the Mets will be up.
New York could also tender a contract and try to trade Vientos, or tender him and cut him in spring training, which he will be just 27 by then.
All of this seemed impossible just a couple of years ago when Vientos, 22 years old at the time, batted .266 with 27 home runs before hitting .327 with five more homers in the Mets' magical 2024 postseason run. However, he slashed .233/.289/.413 (.702 OPS) with just 17 home runs in 121 games the following season when he was given the keys to an everyday job.
This season has been more of the same. In 82 games, Vientos is slashing .218/.267/.405 (.672 OPS) with 13 home runs.
“After '24, I had expectations,” Vientos said. “When those expectations don’t come, you start to wonder, ‘What do I need to do?’ … I believe what I did in '24, that’s me.
“I feel like these past two years were just learning experiences that I really appreciated. And I think it’s going to help me for sure.”
Vientos landed on the IL with a hand fracture in July and returned Aug. 31, but did not see immediate playing time.
Interim manager Andy Green was upfront with Vientos when he went on his rehab assignment that he would have to earn playing time.
"I was very forthright with him when he started the rehab assignment that a lot of that will be dictated by how others perform and also by how he performs," Green said at the time. "Still think there’s a very bright future for him out there if he wants to grab a hold of it. That’s on him."
Vientos told DiComo that he doesn't know what his future will hold, but will "go with the flow." In the meantime, he's content with the playing time and Green has applauded Vientos' approach to this situation and being a good teammate when he's not in the lineup.
Vientos was in Friday's lineup as the DH and went 1-for-3 with a walk. With the season-ending injury to Jared Young, Vientos could see more playing time as the DH and at first base.
He will try to use the final eight games to show what he's capable of, and let the chips fall where they may this offseason.
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 18: Lazaro Montes #99 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates his go-ahead solo home run with third base coach Carlos Cardoza #57 in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on September 18, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Colorado Rockies spent most of Friday night finding ways to create offense.
They piled up 15 hits. They stole five bases. They recovered from an ugly first inning, erased a three-run deficit and eventually took the lead.
They also left 12 runners on base, failed to score with runners at the corners in the eighth, and erased their final chance with a baserunning mistake in the ninth.
Seattle made those misses hurt.
Lazaro Montes crushed a go-ahead home run off Jordan Romano to open the ninth, and the Seattle Mariners held on for a 5-4 win at Coors Field.
The loss dropped the Rockies to 56-98, while Seattle improved to 72-82. Carlos Vargas earned the win to improve to 2-0, Romano took the loss and fell to 0-4, and Andrés Muñoz recorded his 28th save.
Hughes settles in after a brutal start
Gabriel Hughes’ night could hardly have started worse.
J.P. Crawford opened the game with a seven-pitch at-bat. Hughes jumped ahead 0-2, but Crawford worked the count full before turning on an 84.9 mph slider and sending it 421 feet to right at 104.5 mph.
Randy Arozarena followed with a six-pitch double. Hughes had again gotten ahead 0-2, but Arozarena worked his way back and lined a 92.2 mph four-seamer into center at 100.3 mph.
Then, Dominic Canzone attacked immediately.
Hughes threw an 85.6 mph sweeper with his first pitch and Canzone drove it 406 feet at 102.7 mph for another double.
Three batters. Three extra-base hits.
Hughes finally stopped the momentum by winning a pair of long at-bats.
Cal Raleigh went eight pitches before Hughes got him to swing through an 87.9 mph slider.
Julio Rodríguez followed with a seven-pitch battle before Hughes froze him with a 91.9 mph four-seamer.
Josh Naylor still got Seattle two more runs with a ground-ball single to right before Hughes finally escaped the inning.
Seattle led 3-0.
Then Hughes looked different.
His demeanor changed. He started working with noticeably more energy and purpose and, more importantly, started getting outs.
Hughes returned for a 1-2-3, 13-pitch second inning, striking out Brock Rodden and Crawford. He retired the side again in the third, finishing it by striking out Raleigh for the second time, then needed only seven pitches to get through the fourth.
He also started getting more out of his full arsenal. Hughes leaned most heavily on his four-seam fastball, throwing it 38% of the time at an average of 92.4 mph, but mixed six pitches overall. He used his curveball 21%, sinker 17%, slider 13%, sweeper 9% and changeup 2%.
The four-seamer did most of the strikeout work, accounting for five of his six strikeouts, while the sweeper produced his best swing-and-miss rate among the secondaries. Hughes finished with 14 whiffs and 15 called strikes, and his velocity held steady even after the 34-pitch first inning.
By the time Lazaro Montes went down looking to begin the fifth, Hughes had retired 11 straight Mariners.
The streak ended when Rodden walked. Crawford lined out, but Arozarena reached on an infield single and Hughes’ night was over.
Mark Manfredi entered and walked Canzone to load the bases, but struck out Raleigh to leave all three runners stranded.
Hughes finished with three runs allowed on five hits over 4.2 innings. He walked one, struck out six and threw 95 pitches.
Bryan Woo did not have much trouble getting Colorado to swing.
The Rockies were aggressive early in counts throughout the night, with plenty of plate appearances ending after only two or three pitches.
They also hit him.
Connor Norby singled with one out in the first, Hunter Goodman added another single and Cole Carrigg lined an RBI single to right to get Colorado on the board.
Mickey Moniak opened the second with a triple, but Colorado could not bring him home.
Norby and TJ Rumfield opened the third with consecutive singles. Goodman forced Rumfield at second, then Carrigg hit a fielder’s choice that resulted in Norby being thrown out at the plate. Kyle Karros lined out sharply to center to end another scoreless inning.
Colorado finally got another run in the fourth.
Ezequiel Tovar doubled with two outs, and Jake McCarthy followed with an RBI single to right to cut Seattle’s lead to 3-2.
McCarthy stole second, and Norby walked, but Rumfield struck out to end the inning.
Norby’s walk stood out.
Moniak had seen two pitches. Adael Amador saw two. Tovar doubled on the first pitch and McCarthy singled on the second. Woo faced those four hitters with only seven pitches combined.
Norby matched that total by himself, fouling off two-strike pitches and eventually drawing a seven-pitch walk.
Woo leaned even more heavily on his fastball than Hughes. His four-seamer made up 53% of his pitches and averaged 96.5 mph, with the sweeper serving as his primary secondary.
The Rockies were willing to attack both.
Woo’s sweeper still missed bats, producing four whiffs on six swings, but Colorado repeatedly squared up the harder stuff. He allowed 13 hard-hit balls, including seven against the four-seamer, while his sinker was also hit hard when the Rockies put it in play.
The velocity held into the sixth, but Colorado never really let him settle into an easy rhythm. The Rockies swung aggressively in the zone, hit plenty of balls hard and kept forcing him to pitch with traffic.
The Rockies broke through in the sixth.
Tovar singled with one out, ending Woo’s night.
Seattle brought in left-hander Gabe Speier.
Tovar immediately stole second.
McCarthy then worked a six-pitch at-bat before driving a 94.2 mph sinker to center for his 12th triple of the season. Tovar scored and the game was tied.
After McCarthy forced Speier through six pitches, Norby attacked the first one he saw, lining a 94.3 mph four-seamer into center to score McCarthy and give Colorado a 4-3 lead.
Norby stole second and moved to third on Rumfield’s groundout.
Goodman flew out to finish the inning, but the Rockies had finally turned all of their traffic into a lead.
The lead does not last
Manfredi worked a scoreless sixth before Brennan Bernardino took over in the seventh.
Seattle tied the game without doing much damage after the first batter.
Michael Arroyo pinch-hit for Rodden and attacked Bernardino’s first pitch, driving a 76.6 mph curveball at 99.5 mph for a double.
Crawford bunted him to third.
Bernardino hit Arozarena.
Canzone lifted a sacrifice fly to center.
Tie game.
Bernardino then struck out Raleigh looking, giving Raleigh his fourth strikeout of the night.
Jaden Hill followed with a clean eighth.
The biggest play came against Naylor, who drove a ball 396 feet to straightaway center at 105 mph. Carrigg broke back immediately and chased it down just in front of the warning track.
Tovar popped out to start the bottom of the eighth before McCarthy once again used his speed to create something.
He hit a liner back toward José A. Ferrer that ricocheted off the pitcher’s glove and rolled toward short. McCarthy was already at first by the time Cole Young recovered the ball.
Norby followed with a high chopper to short. The second bounce took heavy topspin and shot past Young.
Runners at the corners.
One out.
This was the chance.
Rumfield went down on three pitches, although the final one initially was called a ball before Seattle challenged and had the call overturned to strike three.
The Mariners went back to the bullpen for Goodman.
Goodman battled.
He also nearly took McCarthy out with a foul ball that hit him square in the shin near third base. McCarthy laughed it off.
Then Goodman grounded out to short.
Colorado had runners at the corners with one out in a tie game.
They got nothing.
One swing changes the ninth
Closer Jordan Romano entered for the ninth.
Montes greeted him immediately.
Romano left an 83.9 mph second-pitch slider where Montes could do damage, and Montes knew it as soon as he hit it.
Romano recovered from there. He struck out Arroyo, got Crawford to fly out, allowed an Arozarena single and retired Canzone to keep the deficit at one.
Colorado still had a chance.
Carrigg led off the bottom of the ninth with a single against Andrés Muñoz.
Then he took off.
Carrigg stole second with a headfirst slide on a play close enough for Seattle to challenge. His outstretched hand reached the base, started to come off, and his foot slid onto the bag almost simultaneously.
The Rockies had the tying run at second with nobody out.
Karros went down looking at a 100.1 mph fastball at the bottom of the zone.
Then Carrigg pushed too far.
He broke early for third, Muñoz stepped off, and Carrigg was caught in a brief rundown back toward second.
Out.
The speed that had helped Colorado all night finally cost it.
Moniak struck out to end the game.
Final thoughts
The Rockies had plenty of offense.
McCarthy went 3-for-5 with a triple, two RBI, a run and a stolen base.
Norby went 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI, a run and a steal.
Carrigg went 3-for-5, drove in a run and stole two bases while also making one of the defensive plays of the night in center.
Tovar had two hits, including a double, stole a base and scored twice.
Hughes recovered from three straight extra-base hits to start the game and retired 11 straight Mariners.
There was a lot to like.
There was also a leadoff triple that never scored. Two runners aboard with nobody out in the third that produced nothing. Runners at the corners with one out in the eighth that produced nothing. And finally a runner at second with nobody out in the ninth who never made it home.
Colorado’s speed was a factor all night, with the Rockies stealing five bases and repeatedly using their legs to create pressure — even if one final aggressive decision ended up costing them in the ninth.
The Rockies finished with 15 hits, and 12 runners left on base.
Up next
The Rockies and Mariners continue their three-game set Saturday night at Coors Field, with first pitch scheduled for 6:10 p.m. MDT.
Seattle will send right-hander Bryce Miller to the mound. Miller is 4–9 with a 4.19 ERA and 106 strikeouts this season. The Rockies have not yet announced their starter.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 18: Jose Rodriguez #64 of the Toronto Blue Jays throws a pitch against the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning of his MLB debut at Globe Life Field on September 18, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Blue Jays 1 Rangers 7
There is an ancient Chinese proverb about how it is hard to win a game if you only score one run.
The unfortunate thing is that they beat the horse (by horse, I mean pitching staff) hard in August to get us back in the race. There is only so long you can beat a horse until it is dead. It amazes me when people try to complain about Schneider, saying he should have pulled a pitcher earlier. Does anyone really think we should be using more relievers?
Anyway, Dylan Cease didn’t have ‘it’. He’s been ridden hard. Too hard obviously. He gave up four runs in the second inning and that was about it for the game. Cease only made it through 2.2 innings, giving up six walks. Only one of four runs against was earned (there was an Ernie Clement throwing error in there, speaking of players ridden hard), but he had a really rough time. Not that any manager wouldn’t have ridden him hard considering lack of innings we’ve gotten out of other ‘starters’.
We used five relievers. I enjoyed watching Brendan Cellucci (who got four outs without allowing a run) and Jose Rodriguez (who got five outs, giving up just a hit, with two strikeouts). Brayden Fisher, Brendon Little (we really didn’t have much imagination when naming kids around the turn of the century), and Joe Mantiply each gave up a run, though Little’s wasn’t earned as the run scored because of a Kazuma Okamoto error.
Offensively, we didn’t do much. Five hits. Two by Straw (who had the lone RBI), and one each from Vlad, Kirk, and Okamoto. Even Brett Bateman went hitless.
As one of the talking heads said ‘when a team isn’t hitting it looks listless’.
Jay of the Day: Straw (0.10 WPA).
Other Award: Cease (-0.28), Bateman (-0.12, I want to go back and check see if that is his first ‘other award’, but, at the moment, I’m tired of baseball), and Clement (-0.10).
Tomorrow we have José Soriano (12-7, 3.56) vs Cal Quantrill (9-5, 2.90). It is a 7:00 Eastern start. Jose, we are really going to need some innings out of you.
New York Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio reacts after striking out swinging against the Washington Nationals to end the ninth inning at Citi Field in Queens, New York, Thursday, April 30, 2026.
Ronny Mauricio will get another chance, if a brief one.
With the year winding down, the former Mets top prospect was called up for a fourth time this season Friday in the wake of Jared Young’s season-ending injury.
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Now 25, Mauricio is finishing up another season in which he has not asserted himself at the major league level and another season in which injury set him back.
Mauricio’s first chance at extended playing time this year, in late April following Francisco Lindor’s strained calf and when the club needed a shortstop, ended after just eight games because of a fractured left thumb that forced him out for nearly two months.
He returned but has spent the majority of his season with Triple-A Syracuse, with whom he has been solid — owning a .795 OPS with 18 home runs and 12 steals in 71 games while playing second base, third base and shortstop — but not enough to earn major league run even on a team playing for next year.
“We’ll get him out there for sure,” interim manager Andy Green said before a 6-3 over the Phillies at Citi Field, after which the Mets have just eight games left. “Ronny’s had a nice Triple-A season. We’ll find a way to get him some at-bats.”
New York Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio reacts after striking out swinging against the Washington Nationals to end the ninth inning at Citi Field in Queens, New York, Thursday, April 30, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
As recently as 2023, Mauricio was the club’s No. 3 prospect behind Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty, according to MLB Pipeline, before he tore his ACL during a Dominican Winter League game, which wiped away his 2024 campaign and delayed his 2025.
Mauricio did not return with the same speed and has jumped back and forth from the minors to the majors since, never sticking at the highest level.
This is the final year Mauricio can be optioned to the minor leagues without being exposed to waivers, and this offseason will be the first in which the Mets will have a choice of whether to tender him a contract.
Juan Soto (3-for-5) launched a three-run home run in the sixth for his 100th hit of the season and 26th dinger in 103 games.
Carson Benge (2-for-3 with an RBI single) has 153 hits this season, two shy of Pete Alonso’s single-season franchise rookie record set in 2019.
New York Mets right fielder Carson Benge (3) hits an RBI single during the first inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, at Citi Field in Queens, N.Y. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Dedniel Núñez recorded a four-out save, his first save of the season and second of his career.
Without Young, who was officially placed on the injured list with a concussion, Brett Baty got the start at first base against lefty opener Tim Mayza and expected bulk pitcher and righty José Urquidy.
Green said he expects Baty and Mark Vientos, who served as DH, to see time at first as well as Christopher Morel.
On Saturday, the Mets will induct Carlos Beltrán into the team’s Hall of Fame and retire his No. 15 in an on-field ceremony prior to the game.
New York Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio reacts after striking out swinging against the Washington Nationals to end the ninth inning at Citi Field in Queens, New York, Thursday, April 30, 2026.
Ronny Mauricio will get another chance, if a brief one.
With the year winding down, the former Mets top prospect was called up for a fourth time this season Friday in the wake of Jared Young’s season-ending injury.
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Now 25, Mauricio is finishing up another season in which he has not asserted himself at the major league level and another season in which injury set him back.
Mauricio’s first chance at extended playing time this year, in late April following Francisco Lindor’s strained calf and when the club needed a shortstop, ended after just eight games because of a fractured left thumb that forced him out for nearly two months.
He returned but has spent the majority of his season with Triple-A Syracuse, with whom he has been solid — owning a .795 OPS with 18 home runs and 12 steals in 71 games while playing second base, third base and shortstop — but not enough to earn major league run even on a team playing for next year.
“We’ll get him out there for sure,” interim manager Andy Green said before a 6-3 over the Phillies at Citi Field, after which the Mets have just eight games left. “Ronny’s had a nice Triple-A season. We’ll find a way to get him some at-bats.”
New York Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio reacts after striking out swinging against the Washington Nationals to end the ninth inning at Citi Field in Queens, New York, Thursday, April 30, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
As recently as 2023, Mauricio was the club’s No. 3 prospect behind Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty, according to MLB Pipeline, before he tore his ACL during a Dominican Winter League game, which wiped away his 2024 campaign and delayed his 2025.
Mauricio did not return with the same speed and has jumped back and forth from the minors to the majors since, never sticking at the highest level.
This is the final year Mauricio can be optioned to the minor leagues without being exposed to waivers, and this offseason will be the first in which the Mets will have a choice of whether to tender him a contract.
Juan Soto (3-for-5) launched a three-run home run in the sixth for his 100th hit of the season and 26th dinger in 103 games.
Carson Benge (2-for-3 with an RBI single) has 153 hits this season, two shy of Pete Alonso’s single-season franchise rookie record set in 2019.
New York Mets right fielder Carson Benge (3) hits an RBI single during the first inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, at Citi Field in Queens, N.Y. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Dedniel Núñez recorded a four-out save, his first save of the season and second of his career.
Without Young, who was officially placed on the injured list with a concussion, Brett Baty got the start at first base against lefty opener Tim Mayza and expected bulk pitcher and righty José Urquidy.
Green said he expects Baty and Mark Vientos, who served as DH, to see time at first as well as Christopher Morel.
On Saturday, the Mets will induct Carlos Beltrán into the team’s Hall of Fame and retire his No. 15 in an on-field ceremony prior to the game.
When we needed them most, David Sandlin and the pitching staff were nowhere to be found.
Seriously what is even left to be said at this point? The White Sox were spotted SIX UNEARNED RUNS IN THE FIRST INNING! The South Siders were up, 8-2, going into the fifth with a starter on a low pitch count. How hard is it to simply not completely blow the game from that point? I get the offense didn’t have a pulse after the third inning but how many runs do you possibly need?
Tonight’s collapse, culminating in a five-run eighth inning by Detroit that turned things around to the eventual 11-8 final, was gutting. All the White Sox needed to do was not completely flame out — but that’s exactly what happened. I know nobody expected these guys to be here, competing for the AL’s No. 2 seed in the last two weeks of the season, but that doesn’t make this embarrassment OK in the slightest.
This team had a pitching problem as big as any in the league, and GM Chris Getz failing to see where the arms were heading in the stretch resulted in an underwhelming trade deadline, where prospect hoarding or simple hubris prevented Chicago from adding anything more than Luis Castillo (embroiled in the first horrible season of his career) to the rotation. Everybody in the league could see it was a cause of concern. The failures of the whole bunch brought in at the start of August, including Castillo, Huascar Brazobán and Brenton Doyle, has seemed ton infect the rest of the roster.
The worst thing about a game like tonight is that it was all so avoidable. You can’t tell me there isn’t a pitcher in Charlotte who can’t be a better starter than Castillo, who gives up six runs every three innings. You can’t tell me there isn’t a reliever that can handle more than one clean inning in a row.
Actually, the worst thing about a game like tonight is Tristan Peters’ injury, which will reduce him to day-to-day at best. But knowing the White Sox, rather than ending Peters’ regular season by shelving him and calling up Rikuu Nishida or another specific-skill(s) player to be ready on the bench, the club will play hamstrung for at least the rest of this Detroit series:
Suddenly, a team with the luckiest path to the ALCS in recent memory is now looking down the barrel at possibly missing the playoffs entirely. The only question is whether or not the White Sox have anything left in the tank.
The sun will rise again tomorrow — and Mother Nature offered a gift by rolling in night rain that has pushed tomorrow’s game up to 1:10 p.m. — but will the White Sox? Only time will tell.
MVP Colson Montgomery: 2-for-4, 3 RBI, R, 2 K
Runners-Up Miguel Vargas: 2-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, R, K Hagen Smith: 1 IP, BB, 3 K
Cold Cat Sean Newcomb and Bryan Hudson: 1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, BB
Runners-Up Chris Murphy: 1 IP, 2 H, ER, K David Sandlin: 4 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, BB, 4 K
Sep 18, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Seattle Mariners left fielder Randy Arozarena (56) reacts from second on a double in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Mariners 5, Rockies 4
Sicko ball: Andres Muñoz, +.25 WPA; Lázaro Montes, +.22 WPA
Mar 27, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Steele (35) pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
BJ Murray joined the Iowa Cubs from Chicago and right-hander Connor Noland, who was probably done for the year after yesterday’s start, was placed on the Development List.
Just Iowa tonight. And for the rest of the year, which ends Sunday.
Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs swept a doubleheader from the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals), 2-1 and 10-2.
Justin Steele made a strong rehab appearance in game one. He pitched the first two innings and allowed no runs and no hits. Steele did walk one and he struck out five.
Grant Kipp tossed the next three innings and got the win because Steele didn’t go five. Kipp gave up one run on two hits. He struck out three and walked one.
Tyler Ferguson entered the game with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth. He got a strikeout to end that threat and then pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning for the save. Ferguson’s line 1.1 innings with no baserunners. He struck out two.
Iowa scored a run in the first when DH BJ Murray singled, then shortstop Owen Miller singled. Murray went to third on a fly out by first baseman Kevin Alcántara and then scored on a fielder’s choice by left fielder Chas McCormick, who beat out the relay throw at first on an atttempted double play.
Murray and Miller were 1 for 3. Alcántara and McCormick went 0 for 3.
The other run came in the second inning on a solo home run by catcher Austin Wynns. It was Wynns’ first Cubs home run and fifth on the season. Wynns was 1 for 2.
Braxton Garrett started game two and picked up the win after giving up just one run on five hits over five innings. Garrett struck out six and walked one.
Iowa jumped all over their former teammate Luke Little for five runs in the sixth inning. Then after Little left the game, DH BJ Murray cranked a grand slam to turn it into an eight-run sixth.
Murray went 1 for 3 with two walks and the grand slam in game two. It was Murray’s 17th home run this year.
Center fielder James Triantos went 4 for 5 and scored once.
Left fielder Chas McCormick was 2 for 4 with an RBI double. He scored one run.
Right fielder Jordan Nwogu went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI single. He also scored one run.
Second baseman Ben Cowles was 2 for 3 with a double, a walk and an RBI single that scored Nwogu.
RBI double for third baseman Jackson Cluff, who went 1 for 3 and was hit by a pitch.
Sep 18, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers second baseman Nicky Lopez (33) scores on a sacrifice fly against the Toronto Blue Jays during the second inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Texas Rangers scored seven runs while the Toronto Blue Jays scored one run.
Last night’s loss felt deflating but the Rangers had another crack at a similar game with the stakes still elevated and they made sure to take advantage of the second chance by earning a big series-opening victory.
After getting the better of Sonny Gray before falling late to Boston yesterday, the Rangers were again tasked with taking on another of the league’s top starters with their own pitching setup in question. On paper, you wouldn’t like the odds of Dylan Cease vs. Kumar Rocker for Texas. We’ve learned quite well that unless you’re like 65 years old and playing Strat-O-Matic, baseball isn’t played on paper.
Turns out, Cease was not at his best and the Rangers capitalized. Despite the fact that Cease has been perhaps the American League’s best non-Cam Schlittler pitcher this season, Texas saw a Cease that had reduced velocity and substandard control. It really is about when you face someone rather than who you are facing, ain’t it?
Despite coming in looking like a potential grim reaper for this season for Texas, Cease left after collecting just eight outs, which required 74 pitches. The AL strikeout leader K’d just three Rangers and walked six in his 2.2 innings of work. When he made his early retreat, it was 4-0 Rangers after Texas got to him for four runs (though only one earned) in the bottom of the second.
Similarly to how the Rangers tried to ambush Gray last night, small ball pressure was placed on Cease but he just kept walking guys so Skip Schumaker couldn’t even give away as many outs as he’d like.
Meanwhile, the Rangers got four comfortable innings out of Rocker before his control also abandoned him in the fifth. The Rangers have relied heavily on a shaky bullpen of late, and that bit them bad in last night’s late defeat. Considering the stakes, however, Texas couldn’t afford to let Rocker try to work his way through it and lifted him after just 4 1/3 innings and 76 pitches.
Unlike last night, the bullpen didn’t buckle thanks largely to a surprising, four-inning scoreless appearance from Trevor Williams. A latecomer to the ‘pen, Williams came on and pitched through the middle innings after Tyler Alexander cleaned up the final couple of outs following Rocker’s fifth inning flareup. Suddenly, with Williams still in the game, it became the late innings and he just kept getting outs until the Rangers had 27 of ‘em.
Another way in which the Rangers solved their issues from last night’s defeat is they didn’t take the foot off the gas. After scoring three runs in the first two innings in last night’s loss, they barely even got on base the rest of the way. Tonight, after scoring four runs in the second, the Rangers padded their lead with a run immediately following Toronto’s lone run in the fifth, and then another single run tally in both the sixth and eighth innings for a little extra insurance for Williams.
The victory helps the Rangers ascend back to the .500 mark with both the White Sox and Astros losing tonight to allow the Rangers to grab a game back off both teams ahead of them in the two avenues to October. The Rangers are again tied with Houston in the AL West (but without the tiebreaker advantage) and now a game back of Chicago for the final AL Wild Card spot. In addition, Toronto fell a game back of Texas in the Wild Card hunt.
Player of the Game: Other than Williams’ big night in relief, Wyatt Langford seemed like a pretty big thorn in Cease’s side as he drew three walks on the night, singled, scored twice, and drove in a run. In addition, Langford also reached via an error to reach base in each of his PAs this evening.
Also, shoutout to oft small ball whipping boy Nicky Lopez for also putting Cease through some tough battles that ended in a couple of base hits and also coming up with some stellar defensive plays in the early goings when the game was still in question.
Up Next: The Rangers and Blue Jays are back at it tomorrow an hour earlier with staff ace Cal Quantrill set to take the bump for Texas opposite RHP Jose Soriano for Toronto.
The Saturday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 6:05 pm CDT and will aired on the Rangers Sports Network.
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - SEPTEMBER 18: William Contreras #24 of the Milwaukee Brewers drives in a run with a double in the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 18, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
In a game full of ups and downs, the Brewers had the last laugh. Dustin May didn’t make it through the third inning and Milwaukee blew two different leads, but they still managed to pull out a win in tonight’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles.
The visiting Brewers took an early lead thanks to a two-out rally in the second sparked by the bottom of the order. Luis Lara beat out a soft grounder down the third-base line, and Cooper Pratt worked a walk to put two on for Jackson Chourio.
The box score will say the Brewers went Luis Lara single, Cooper Pratt walk, Jackson Chourio home run with two outs in the second inning for a 3-0 lead. Here's the single. pic.twitter.com/4VTvg21lYr
Chourio’s been red-hot all month, he’d already singled, and Orioles starter Cade Povich wasn’t going to give him anything to hit. Down 3-0 in the count, Povich finally grooved a changeup down the middle. Bad idea. Chourio sent it 419 feet into the center-field bleachers to give the Brewers an early 3-0 lead.
Side note: Per the radio broadcast, that was apparently the first time Chourio has ever swung on a 3-0 pitch. Maybe conventional wisdom doesn’t apply when you’re as hot as Chourio has been.
While the three-run bomb gave the Brewers a substantial lead, Brewers starter Dustin May couldn’t hold it for more than an inning. May’s stuff had looked pretty good through the first two frames, as he gave up a single in each inning but kept Baltimore out of scoring position.
The third inning was a different story. May allowed a single to Leody Tavares, then walked Dylan Beavers to bring up Pete Alonso with two on and nobody out. Not an ideal situation in which to face a guy with 37 home runs. May quickly fell behind 3-0, battled back to work the count full, then threw a cutter that Alonso punished, sending it over the fence in right field to tie the game at 3.
May bounced back by striking out Gunnar Henderson but fell apart after that, giving up a hard-hit double to Coby Mayo and a single to Samuel Basallo. He quickly got two strikes on Christian Encarnacion-Strand but ran an 0-2 sinker in far enough to hit him.
At this point, Pat Murphy had seen enough, and for the second straight game, the Brewers’ starter would fail to make it through three innings. Shane Drohan came in and managed to stop the inning from snowballing further, striking out Colton Cowser for the second out, then getting Jeremiah Jackson to ground out to retire the side.
Milwaukee had a chance to take the lead right back in the fourth after a two-out single by Cooper Pratt, after which Orioles manager Craig Albernaz yanked Povich in favor of Anthony Nunez. With Chourio up, Pratt immediately stole second, and Chourio smoked a line drive into right field that hung up just long enough for Tavares to run it down.
With both starters out of the game before the end of the fourth, you’d be forgiven for thinking this would turn into a shootout. In reality, neither team would score again for a long stretch. Drohan went one more hitless inning before ceding the ball to Antonio Senzatela, who didn’t exactly shut the Orioles down but managed to keep them off the board.
After Mayo led off the fifth with another double, he advanced to third on a groundout. Senzatela then got Encarnacion-Strand to hit a weak grounder back to him, but Mayo — somewhat inexplicably — was caught three-quarters of the way down the basepath. Mayo almost made it back to third (Senzatela might need to practice rundowns), but Joey Ortiz applied the tag just in time to get the second out of the inning. Despite allowing another hit, this time to Cowser, Senzatela got Jackson to line out for the third out.
DL Hall kept the Orioles scoreless through the sixth and seventh, dominating in the sixth before working around a single, a walk, and a wild pitch in the seventh. Meanwhile, the Brewers offense managed a baserunner in every inning after the fifth, but they couldn’t score either. They had their best chance in the eighth after two Orioles relievers — Josh Walker and Rico Garcia — walked the bases loaded, but Pratt flew out to right field to end the inning.
After Abner Uribe set down the Orioles in the bottom of the eighth, culminating with a swinging strikeout of Pete Alonso, Brice Turang led off the ninth with a single off of Garcia. The next batter, William Contreras, put the Brewers ahead with one swing of the bat.
After Contreras’ go-ahead double, Albernaz pulled Garcia for old friend Grant Wolfram, who got out of the inning; but not before allowing another RBI, this time a two-out single off the bat of Christian Yelich.
Trevor Megill entered for the bottom of the ninth having not blown a save since June 5, but the Orioles had other ideas. Henderson led off with a single, then Mayo hit yet another double down the left-field line. Basallo followed with a high fly ball into right field that Sal Frelick, who’d pinch-hit for Lara, had to range over to catch. With his torn labrum, he didn’t have a shot at getting Henderson at home. Encarnacion-Strand then hit a sac fly of his own, with Mayo just beating a high throw from Garrett Mitchell.
With the bases now empty, Heston Kjerstad came in to pinch-hit for Rece Hinds, but Megill struck him out to end the inning.
Megill has been dominant for the vast majority of this year, so he hasn’t needed the Brewers offense to pick him up much, but they did tonight. Ortiz started on second, Mitchell bunted him over, and Frelick grounded a single through the right side to put the Brewers up by a run once again.
Sal Frelick for the Brewers' third lead of the game. Chad Patrick is warming. pic.twitter.com/WVeQQaLfSi
That would turn out to be all the run support they’d need, as Chad Patrick slammed the door on the Orioles for his sixth save of the season. With tonight’s win, the Brewers move to 96-58 on the season, and they’ll get another chance to add to their league-leading win total tomorrow. Robert Gasser is slated to go for Milwaukee opposite lefty Trevor Rogers. First pitch is set for 3:05 p.m.
BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 21: Manager Craig Albernaz #55 of the Baltimore Orioles looks on during the eighth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 21, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) | Getty Images
In the final accounting of the 2026 Orioles season, there will not be a shortage of things that a person can point to as a representative explanation for why things have turned out the way that they did. Many of their losses have contained multitudes of such decisions, actions, sequences of play. They found a way to do it again on Friday night, blowing repeated opportunities before ultimately falling behind in the top of the ninth inning, tying the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, and still losing in ten innings, 6-5.
The bottom of the seventh inning is the one that really sticks out. When people advocate for manager Craig Albernaz to be relieved of his duties after only one season at the helm, this inning is why. Decisions that were obviously bad even as they were happening that turned out badly and made the Orioles have a worse team on the field for the remainder of the game.
Here’s what happened. The Orioles entered this inning with a 3-3 tie game, facing former Oriole DL Hall. Leading off the inning, Gunnar Henderson got a left-on-left hit against his buddy, and alertly advanced to second base on a ball that bounced. Hall walked Coby Mayo after tossing the wild pitch. There was no one out. In a late-inning situation, this was a crucial at-bat coming up. Due up for the Orioles was Samuel Basallo, who has been having a rough time at the plate of late.
On the first pitch of the at-bat, Basallo squared to bunt. No, I’m not making that up. Albernaz – we can only assume – demanded of Basallo that he bunt. What happened in this at-bat? Basallo looked like a guy who has bunted one time in his professional career. He picked up strike one while missing a bunt, the kind of thing that anybody, even bad bunters, knows how to pull the bat back. Albernaz left the bunt on even after watching this and Basallo bunted the next pitch foul, again looking kind of like pitchers used to do when they were asked to bunt.
Basallo eventually struck out on four pitches, failing to advance the runners at all. It’s not his fault he was asked to bunt! This is just absurd to even have to describe it. To be sure, the “let Basallo swing away” option wasn’t great either. The guy has a .579 OPS in September. Perhaps Albernaz might remember he has three catchers on the roster and he could pinch hit someone who has a chance of bunting and then put in a different catcher. It is his job to remember who is on the roster. No.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand struck out after this. That was also dumb but probably not Albernaz’s fault, particularly. Next up was Colton Cowser, a lefty who struggles against lefties. The Orioles pinch hit Rece Hinds, who struggles against everyone, for Cowser. Hinds grounded out. They wasted the chance. Maybe they should have had Hinds drop the bunt. Maybe they should have done a lot of things as this year went along.
Later, in the ninth inning, Milwaukee took a 5-3 lead on a play in which Hinds featured prominently, bobbling a liner into the outfield that led to a run scoring. It didn’t get scored an error. But it might have just been better to have Cowser out there.
The Orioles pulled off a dramatic ninth inning comeback even after Rico Garcia and Grant Wolfram teamed up to allow those two ninth inning runs. Henderson led off the inning with a single and Mayo followed with a double, and each of these O’s eventually scored on sacrifice flies hit by Basallo and Encarnacion-Strand. (Henderson and Mayo each had three hits in the game; Mayo’s three hits were all doubles.) As dumb as it all was, the Orioles went into extra innings with the wind at their back as they were able to rally.
They blew it again, of course. The Brewers, with the zombie runner starting on second base, opted to sacrifice bunt to get that runner to third. This is a poor tactical decision for a road team; the home team has the winning run at the plate already. Most road teams, anyway. Perhaps when you’re playing the Orioles, you can feel more confident about the one run lead. You have to get the one-run lead first, but like, Wolfram was on the mound, and he couldn’t do anything about Sal Frelick and his .618 OPS, giving up what turned into the game-losing hit.
In the bottom of the tenth, the Orioles 8-9-1 hitters struck out, flew out, and popped out. That flyout would have scored the game-tying run as a sacrifice fly, if only Jeremiah Jackson had advanced the runner ahead of it. He did not. The Orioles lost.
Returning to Albernaz, his seventh inning decisions are all the more infuriating because in some ways, he managed earlier in the game like it really mattered if the Orioles won for the first time all year. This included an aggressive hook for Cade Povich in only the fourth inning as Povich seemed to be running into the times-through-the-order penalty – which is a reasonable thing to conclude, because he always does.
Povich had given up a three-run home run to Jackson Chourio in the second inning to put the Orioles in a 3-0 hole. Pete Alonso erased that hole in one swing in the bottom of the third, tying it up with his 38th homer of the season and 302nd of his career. He extends his AL RBI lead, now with 105. Nobody has had at least 105 RBI in a season as an Oriole since Jonathan Schoop had 105 in 2017.
That 3-3 score is where things stayed for a long time. The Orioles did not lack for chances. They had 12 hits in the game and had a total of 13 at-bats with a runner in scoring position. They got two hits in those at-bats. It is one of the common things about this season. They struck out 13 times. More than once, they just needed a productive out and they couldn’t get it.
It’s all the more frustrating of a loss because the Orioles could have gained a game. In Chicago, the White Sox blew an 8-2 lead to the Tigers and eventually lost, 11-8. The Orioles would be just two games back to a team they have the head-to-head tiebreaker. They would be, if only they were a better team, with a better just about everything, compared to what they have now. Instead, here we are, with the Orioles having lost a game where they made Basallo try to bunt. I don’t have any problems believing that the Orioles lost a game. I still can’t believe they had Basallo try to bunt.
