WEST SACRAMENTO, CA — Athletics catcher Brian Serven left Wednesday's game early after taking a ball to the face.
Serven was at bat in the bottom of the sixth inning when Angels pitcher José Fermin threw a 94 mph changeup that resulted in a foul ball.
The pitch just skimmed Serven's bat, which he had in a bunt position, and ricocheted directly into his left cheek bone, just under his eye. He took the impact and fell to the dirt.
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay and the team trainer ran immediately onto the field to check on Serven as Angels' infielders took a sportsmanship knee. Serven was down for several moments but slowly got up, signaling he was OK.
Brian Serven had to leave the game mid at-bat after a foul ball struck him in the face https://t.co/cLSruT4QX3
CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Stowers homered and the Miami Marlins prevented the Chicago Cubs from clinching a playoff berth for the second straight night with a 3-2 victory Wednesday.
Dansby Swanson drove in both runs for the Cubs, who needed a win or an Arizona loss to Colorado to secure an NL wild-card berth. The Diamondbacks beat the Rockies 5-3.
Joe Mack’s groundout brought home Augustin Ramirez with the go-ahead run in the seventh and the Marlins retired the next nine Chicago batters to win their second straight game after dropping three in San Diego.
Stowers hit his 21st homer, a two-run shot, off Kevin Gausman in the top of the sixth to break a scoreless tie. The Cubs evened things in the bottom of the inning when Swanson laced a broken-bat single into left field to bring home a pair of runs.
Cade Gibson (6-2), the second of four Miami relievers, struck out two in the seventh and Sandy Alcantara worked the ninth for his second save.
Reliever Ryan Rolison (9-2) took the loss.
Gausman struck out seven and allowed two runs, six hits and a walk in the first 5 2/3 innings. Miami’s Ryan Gusto allowed six hits and two walks while striking out five in 5 1/3 innings.
Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong needed a stolen base to become the seventh player to join the 40-40 club but went 0 for 3 with a walk and remained at 45 home runs and 39 steals.
Up next
The Cubs have not named a starter for Thursday afternoon’s home finale. RHP Tyler Phillips (5-6, 3.45 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Marlins.
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 23: Eddie Pérez #95, Ronald Acuña Jr. #13 and Robert Suarez #75 of the Atlanta Braves hold the flag of Venezuela during pregame ceremonies for Los Bravos Night prior to the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Wednesday, September 23, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kathryn May/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Well the Braves’ position in the playoffs may be clear (the third seed in the NL), but their opponent is far from clear, with the Padres, Phillies, and Cubs all very close to clinching wild-card spots, but within 0.5 games of each other, pending the Padres’ result against the Dodgers. With the return of Robert Suarez and the seemingly missed bullet of Ronald Acuna’s injury scare Tuesday, the Braves seem about as healthy as they could hope going into the playoffs. That said, the offense and pitching are both serious concerns. The pitching is fairly obvious, as the Braves have Chris Sale and a strong bullpen, but Tyler Mahle is a questionable second starter for a playoff team even with his phenomenal performance for Atlanta and behind him is a mess in the rotation. The offense has been a struggle for months now really and has a 98 wRC+ on the season. Ronald Acuna has looked like his prime self of late, but one man can only do so much. The talent is there but the consistency has not. Perhaps this will be the year for the offense to show up in the postseason after a number of years of high quality regular season offense, followed by disappointing playoff production.
DENVER (AP) — Corbin Carroll had a two-run triple to cap a four-run first inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks kept their playoff hopes alive with a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night.
Gabriel Moreno drove in the first run and finished with three hits to help Arizona (84-74) close within three games of the Phillies and Cubs for an NL wild card.
Moreno, with a .310 batting average, trails the Phillies’ Luis Arraez at .312 for the NL batting title with four games remaining.
Merrill Kelly (10-14) allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings to improve to 6-0 in nine starts at Coors Field since 2022. Jonathan Loáisiga earned his second save when he retired Ezequiel Tovar on a foul pop that first baseman Ildemaro Vargas caught at the railing with runners on second and third.
Ketel Marte reached second when Zac Veen misplayed his one-out liner to left field in the first and Moreno singled off rookie Mason Adams (0-2) two pitches later for the lead.
Nolan Arenado added an RBI single before Carroll hit his 17th triple — the most in the majors this season. The Rockies have allowed an MLB-high 131 first-inning runs.
Adams retired 13 straight following Carroll’s triple until Moreno singled leading off the sixth. All four runs off the right-hander were unearned. He allowed five hits and struck out eight in six innings for the first time in his six starts.
Adael Amador had an RBI double in the second and Hunter Goodman added a sacrifice fly in the third for the Rockies (57-101).
Tim Tawa hit his 11th homer off Mark Manfredi for a 5-2 lead in the eighth.
Tovar answered with his 12th home run of the season off Brandyn Garcia in the bottom of the inning.
DENVER, COLORADO - SEPTEMBER 23: Starting pitcher Mason Adams #38 of the Colorado Rockies throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Coors Field on September 23, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The 2026 Colorado Rockies have combined flashes of brilliance with a struggle to complete a full game on all sides of the ball. Tonight’s game fell in that camp.
There have been a few games this year where if you removed just one stretch of mistakes from one aspect of the game, the Rockies would have been in the mix, if not fully in a position to win. Tonight, the Rockies found themselves in a hole early on, one that they were unable to climb out of. Their defense allowed for a flurry of unearned runs and their bats didn’t consistenly step up to support the starting pitching.
That said, the Rockies found themselves right in the mix with a playoff contending team right until the end, with a few key performances to point to.
The Rockies first inning woes continue
Over the last 10 games, the Rockies had allowed 16 runs in the first inning. Last night, the Diamondbacks got after Kyle Freeland early and nearly hit around the order on their way to an early 3-0 lead. That trend continued tonight, unfortunately.
Mason Adams got the first laugh, but not the last. He started strong, striking out Lars Nootbar quickly on four pitches. He finished Nootbar off with his curveball, a pitch that Adams has dominated hitters with this year.
Ketel Marte, who tends to hit well at Coors more often than not, hit a double to left on a ball that Zac Veen lost in the lights for an error. That would prove costly as Gabriel Moreno brought him home just two pitches later.
Hunter Goodman flashed his always strong ABS challenge skills for the second strikeout of the inning, coming on a four-seam fastball that kissed the corner of the zone. But with two outs and two on, Nolan Arenado — who was just a triple short of the cycle last night — singled to left to score another. Veen’s rough start continued, as he scooped the ball but bobbled it.
With a sharp triple down the first base line, Corbin Carroll scored two more to make it an early 4-0 deficit for the Rockies. The Rockies went down in order in the bottom of the inning to leave things there.
No trouble with the curve for Adams
Sadly, Adams’ first career win proves to be elusive. Even still, all of his starts have shown stretches of extreme promise. Tonight was no different.
After surrendering four runs in the first, Adams locked in and bounced back, sitting down 13 straight batters from that point on until his next allowed hit in the top of the sixth. He got ahead in counts often (with 65% first pitch strikes) and worked his pitches well. In particular, Adams continues to be a master of the curveball. Entering tonight, he maintained a .083 batting average against for the pitch, allowing only one hit on curveballs all season.
He relied on the strength of that pitch today, alongside a mix of other effective pitches. He used his four-seamer most today (28%), but mixed in the sinker (24%) and curveball (21%). He kept hitters guessing with the curve (70% whiff rate) and sweeper (13% usage, 43% whiff).
During his stretch of four 1-2-3 innings, he continued to add to his strikeout total. Among those strikeouts, several rattlers were the victim of the curve tonight. Of his eight strikeouts, four of those came on a swinging curveball, as he rang up Nootbar (twice), Tim Tawa, and Pavin Smith with the pitch.
In another 100-loss season, you want to be able to point to bright spots, and Adams has been just that. He tallied an astounding 41% whiff rate on called strikes and set a new career high with those eight strikeouts. He ended his day after 6.0 innings pitched with zero earned runs and four runs allowed on five hits and no walks.
It’s impossible to know how the first inning and the game would have shaken out if the fly ball was reeled in for the second out. Without the outlier inning, Adams could have been in position for a competitive game throughout. Nevertheless, he put up one of, if not the best performance of his career, showed a lot of resilience, and put together a strong starting spot to build momentum heading into next year.
Diamondbacks holding steady
For their part, the D-backs held steady tonight, both in the game and in the Wild Card race.
While Adams held off the Arizona offense after the first, the Diamondbacks were able to add a small cushion in the bullpen innings. With Mark Manfredi in the game in relief, Tawa launched a home run to left field to give Arizona a 5-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning. That would be Arizona’s lone run outside of the first inning. Arizona managed eight hits on the night, but were shut down for a long stretch.
The Rockies offense did better than they did last night but couldn’t quite get enough going. Their seven hits came in spurts and they ended the night with four batters left on base as a team.
Arizona gave up some ground on the other end of a solo shot in the bottom of the inning, as Ezequiel Tovar homered to right field to bring the Rockies back within two runs at 5-3.
Keeping an eye on the Wild Card race around the league, the Diamondbacks got some much-needed help. The Chicago Cubs fell to the Miami Marlins and the Philadelphia Phillies dropped a game to the Milwaukee Brewers, opening things up for the D-backs to threaten for one of the three open playoff spots.
Final Thoughts
On offense, Tovar had a night, logging two hits and two runs, including a solo homer. For a player that struggled to find contact through much of the season, settling in for most of the team’s runs was a win.
But the star of the show was Mason Adams, acquired in the Brenton Doyle trade, who delivered in his last start of the season. In that last start, he made it into the sixth inning for the first time all year. That feat was especially impressive given that it took over 30 pitches for him to escape the first.
In a game at Coors Field, Adams deserves all the kudos for holding strong and making it deep into the game. Manager Warren Schaeffer noted that Adams “kept his head about him in the first inning and was basically unhittable after that.” He added that “he’s extremely even-keeled. The game can speed up, but I don’t ever see that with Mason.”
It’s hard to be happy about 101 losses, but at this point in the season, it’s promising to see some good in the lineup. For a team with glaring holes in its rotation, having a pitcher like Adams stepping up throughout the year and late into the season provides a glimmer of hope for the 2027 campaign.
Up Next
It’s time for one last hurrah at Coors Field.
With tonight’s loss, the Rockies sit at 32-48 at home on the season but will try to end things on a good note. They’ll finish off the three-game series against Arizona before heading out to Chicago for a weekend series against the White Sox.
Tanner Gordon gets the start for Colorado. This year, he’s 1-5 in 11 starts and 23 total games, with a 6.01 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, and 84/18 K/BB.
Eduardo Rodriquez takes the mound for Arizona, entering with a 15-7 record over 31 starts, with a 2.89 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP, and a 140/62 K/BB.
The first pitch for the Thursday afternoon game is set for 1:10 p.m. MT.
NEW YORK — Maybe nothing has changed with Aaron Judge’s status, but the Yankees captain prefers to conduct the narrative regarding his calf injury.
Judge's message is, essentially: Don't rule me out of next week's opening playoff round.
A day after manager Aaron Boone said that “we’re planning on him not being a part of that’’ Wild Card series roster next week, Judge said he's aiming to be in that lineup.
"My goal is to come back as soon as I can. If (Boone) says I’m not going to be ready…I’ve got no control over that,'' said Judge. "I’ve got control over what I can do to get back as soon as I can.
"So, if you ask me if I’m going to be back, I’m going to tell you, yeah, I’m doing everything I can every single day I show up here to get back and be ready to go.''
Locked in as the AL’s top wild card, the Yankees will host a best-of-three series against Boston, beginning Tuesday night.
Per Boone, Judge was diagnosed with a “moderate’’ grade right calf strain, which Judge clarified as the soleus muscle.Its proximity near the Achilles tendon, and the general nature of calf strains, suggests a weeks-long recovery, placing Judge's 2026 season in jeopardy.
Ultimately, Boone added that he’s “not expecting’’ Judge for the first round. “But I’m not ruling it out either.’’
Judge told ESPN that "we've done a lot of talks" within the organization about his injury status, "but I can't control what people say.''
When asked by ESPN if he expected to be active next week, Judge said: "I don't make the roster. I've got no idea."
Judge had a platelet-poor plasma (PPP) injection Monday, further limiting his already limited activity this week.
Boone restated that the Yankees' championship goals haven't been altered due to Judge's injury.
"Look, we've played much of the year without him, and for the most part we've done a pretty good job,'' said Boone. "So, (our) guys are used to it.''
Judge missed 84 team games due to a fractured first right rib. He returned to the lineup on Sept. 8, and batted .174 (4-for-23) in seven games with one homer, a .513 OPS and 13 strikeouts.
Lifted for a pinch-hitter during a Sept. 16 game at Minnesota, Judge was placed on the 10-day IL retroactive to Sept. 17.
LOS ANGELES — Josue De Paula's first trial run in the big leagues has come to an end. For now, at least.
With Shohei Ohtani back in the lineup for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, Sept. 23 against the San Diego Padres and manager Dave Roberts wanting to get a look at other players competing for a spot on the postseason roster, Roberts said the choice to option De Paula to Triple-A Oklahoma City was easier than it might've appeared on the surface.
"This was the original thought," Roberts said. "That once Shohei gets back, we were going to send (De Paula) out. We had a runway to give him, which we gave him, and he performed more than admirably."
Even that might be an understatement to how well De Paula played.
In a small sample size of 11 games, the 21-year-old showed a confidence and poise beyond his years in the batter's box, controlling the strike zone like a seasoned vet and drawing 11 walks. And once the hits started falling, De Paula showed how dangerous he can really be, mashing three doubles and a home run (his first MLB hit in Miami) while driving in seven RBIs and posting a 1.081 OPS across 31 at-bats. His last regular season game in LA on Tuesday may have been his best yet as De Paula went 2-for-3 with a walk and his first career triple in a 7-0, series-opening win over the Padres.
He's played so well, in fact, that Roberts is seriously considering him for the postseason roster.
"He's a part of that conversation," Roberts said. "He's earned that."
De Paula's value goes beyond the stat sheet, too. Whether he's flipping the bat and yelling, "I really do this!" to his teammates in the dugout after hitting his first career home run, flexing after driving in a go-ahead run on a double or just nodding his head after not chasing a ball outside the zone, there's a level of swag De Paula brings to Dodger Stadium that not only energizes his older teammates, but also captivates fans in attendance every time "Hypnotize" by The Notorious B.I.G. blares over the loudspeakers when the Brooklyn native walks up to the plate.
Per MLB rules, a player who has been optioned can be eligible to play in the postseason as long as his club did so at least 10 days before a series. Optioning De Paula Wednesday would make him eligible to play in the NLDS, Game 1 of which starts on Saturday, Oct. 3, exactly 10 days from now.
That gives the Dodgers flexibility to evaluate the rest of the players vying for a spot in October with limited at-bats to go around in their remaining five games. Roberts specifically mentioned that he wants to get more reps for Miguel Rojas and Kiké Hernández, but the player that De Paula is most directly competing with is probably Dalton Rushing. He's been on the IL since Sept. 5 with right elbow discomfort but is expected to be activated ahead of the final regular season series in San Francisco this weekend.
Rushing won't catch again this season, so his best shot at making the playoff roster is as a lefty bat off the bench, which is the role De Paula would also have, given that president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman mentioned they currently view De Paula as a DH until his defense develops and he can be the capable corner outfielder they believe he can be one day. The Dodgers are unlikely to carry both De Paula and Rushing in October.
But while Rushing, Rojas and Hernández try to make their case in the last few opportunities, De Paula's already made his impression on Dodgers brass.
"Josue's been awesome," Friedman said. "Injected some real-life energy into our team as we got into September and close out the regular season. He handled himself as well as he could possibly do. ... He's done everything he can to put himself in a position to be in the conversation for us as we make our postseason roster."
"He's just a special hitter," Roberts said. "Hitters don't see the ball that quickly out of hand. It's a gift. Just the ability to (not) chase, I think that lines up in the postseason and no moment's gonna be too big for that kid."
De Paula joins the Comets in the middle of the Triple-A playoffs, but Roberts has basically seen enough from the rookie. The onus now lies on the vets.
STATELINE, NEVADA - JULY 12: Stephen Curry plays his shot from the second tee box during the final round of the American Century Championship 2026 at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course on July 12, 2026 in Stateline, Nevada. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images) | Getty Images
He’s been eligible for a contract extension for nearly a month and has likely been discussing terms with the Golden State Warriors for longer than that. Still, Steph Curry says that the delay in his signing an extension in no way suggests he’s wavering on his “obvious goal” of playing with the Warriors for his entire career.
Steph Curry tells ESPN his unsettled extension will have no impact on his play or the team's vibe: "No drama. No talking points. This team should be competitive and go win."
If he waits, it's about future flexibility: "Information and patience is key."https://t.co/eOVt2jsc7g
There’s no reason to debate what Curry deserves after delivering four championships to the Warriors, who are worth roughly 25x what they were before he arrived. If he wants to take a max deal for two seasons, the Warriors are going to pay it, and we’ll get a big retirement tour, complete with a heartfelt, scrappy battle for a play-in spot. He’d also have the chance to get a rare no-trade clause, not that it seems likely the Warriors would trade him without his cooperation.
But it certainly sounds like Curry isn’t going to simply take as much money as possible, or he would have already done it. Speaking to ESPN, he made it clear he wants to resolve his contract situation before the season and have “No drama, no talking points.”
It’s an interesting conundrum, because while the Warriors have limited options for improving next season if Curry takes a max, which would lower their potential cap space from over $100M to around $45M, with the contracts of Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, and Kristaps Porzingis all expiring. That’s a huge difference, but it comes with a lot of questions.
Do the Warriors have a plan to exploit all that cap space?
It’s all well and good to create cap space and options, and the Warriors have a mixed record in exploiting that. Clearing money in the summer of 2016 and landing Kevin Durant? A-plus. Amassing a collection of tradeable deals and trading for Jimmy Butler in 2025, after striking out on a Durant return? Solid B-plus. Getting Green to opt out of his deal and standing pat while waiting for LeBron James this year? D-minus.
2. Where do the Warriors spend that money?
The list of unrestricted free agents available next season is unexciting. The biggest prize would look to be 22-year-old All-NBA center Jalen Duren, but even with his contentious negotiations this summer, it’s hard to believe the Detroit Pistons would let a 22-year-old All-NBA center hit unrestricted free agency. As long as the Denver Nuggets don’t implode, Nikola Jokic is unlikely to be going anywhere, nor is Giannis Antetokounmpo after the Miami Heat emptied the chamber of picks and players to get him.
The best player who could be available is Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks, who is quite good indeed! Towns is an underrated defender and perhaps the best-shooting center in NBA history, which allows his teams a lot of flexibility in who plays around him. Head coach Mike Brown and the Knicks offense unlocked a previously-unknown level of passing from Towns during their title run. Towns has a $61M player option for 2027-28 but extension talks with the Knicks have reportedly stalled.
Beyond Towns, the players who can opt out of their 2027-28 deals tend to be older: Jrue Holiday, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Julius Randle, Damian Lillard, and Rudy Gobert. On the younger side, Jalen Green of the Phoenix Suns has a player option, as does Bennedict Mathurin of the New Orleans Pelicans. And if the Warriors want to bang their head against the same wall, Durant and James can both become free agents.
3. How good could the Warriors be if Steph Curry played for the minimum?
$100M is really a lot of money, and opens up a lot of options for trades, signings, sign-and-trades. Should the team have extra money, they’ve got more to work with, in front of a roster that would have Curry, Al Horford, Yaxel Lendeborg, Gui Santos, plus whoever they sign or trade for. And a lot of question marks beyond that.
4. What about Brandin Podziemski?
Going into his fourth year, Podziemski is eligible for a rookie extension. But as we’ve seen with Jonathan Kuminga, teams have far more leverage than players until they can hit unrestricted free agency, much less restricted status. The Warriors have very little motivation to lock up Podz early unless they get a discount. Even if he’s facing restricted free agency in the summer of 2027, the cap hold for Podziemski should be around $17M, which could be similar to what he’d get in a long-term deal. If he signed for less than that for 2027-28, it would mean even more cap savings.
5. How long do the Warriors and Curry have to decide?
Technically Curry can sign an extension at any time during the season, but his “no drama” comments indicate he’d like to wrap things up before the season begins. But at least for now, the idea of Curry leaving in free agency doesn’t seem to be something he’s considering. It’s up to the front office to convince him that if he gives up money, they’ll actually do something with the extra cap space.
ARLINGTON, Texas — The boos directed at Marcus Semien in Wednesday’s eighth inning were music to the Mets’ ears.
Semien’s shot to left field had just cleared the fence to put his team ahead, and the fans at Globe Life Field let him know he had betrayed them in the moment.
This certainly wasn’t Pete Alonso returning to Citi Field.
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That blast, coupled with Brett Baty’s grand slam an inning later, fueled the Mets’ 7-2 victory over the Rangers that further wounded a team fighting for the AL West title.
The Mets will try to complete the series sweep Thursday.
Semien, traded by the Rangers last offseason for Brandon Nimmo, was just one of the Mets’ big performers on this night. Another was Nolan McLean, who concluded his rookie year with an outing indicative of his season.
Marcus Semien of the New York Mets runs the bases following a home run against the Texas Rangers during the eighth inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. Getty Images
The right-hander allowed two earned runs on three hits over seven innings with five strikeouts, completing his season with a 3.16 ERA. Overall, he pitched 179 ²/₃ innings and struck out 194.
New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty is greeted in the dugout after hitting a grand slam home run against the Texas Rangers during the ninth inning at Globe Life Field, Wednesday, September 23, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Juan Soto’s two-run homer in the third inning gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. Soto’s homer was his 27th this season.
Baty, pinch hitting, homered in the ninth for his second grand slam this season.
Kodai Senga’s role will be among the uncertainties facing the Mets heading to the offseason.
The right-hander moved into the closer’s spot with Devin Williams’ injured list stint late this season and was largely successful. But Williams’ return to the bullpen this week — he will be the team’s closer heading into spring training — left manager Andy Green on Wednesday to answer questions about where Senga will fit in 2027, when he will be entering the final year of his contract.
“I think there’s a real decision point there and it’s not one that we’re ready to make today,” Green said.
Senga has expressed a preference to pitch as a starter. But he struggled in that role this season, prompting his move to a bulk relief role before transitioning to aa high-leverage, one inning pitcher after the trade deadline.
He entered the day with eight saves in nine opportunities and had a 3.78 ERA in 18 appearances since Aug. 1.
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“We have an idea of how he fits in the pen now, which is really helpful,” Green said. “We don’t know the depth of our rotation going into ’27 right now. There’s a free-agency period. There’s a lot of uncertainty that could unfold over the offseason and he will fit into the spot he fits the best for us because that is how we should move forward at this point in time … where we’re at [after the offseason] will make the picture clearer nd figure out where the puzzle piece fits the best.”
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 23: Brett Baty #7 of the New York Mets celebrates a grand slam during the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on September 23, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Mets beat the Rangers for the second straight night, defeating Texas 7-2 at Globe Life Field to secure the series victory and play the role of spoiler. Nolan McLean retired the Rangers in order in every inning he pitched except one and earned his 12th win in his final start of 2026. Three home runs—one from Juan Soto to get the Mets on the board, a go-ahead solo shot from Marcus Semien, and a pinch-hit grand slam from Brett Baty that sealed the deal—were responsible for all seven of the Mets’ runs.
The first inning was rather uneventful except for the fact that right after Gary Cohen mentioned that Rangers first baseman Jake Burger was on the precipice of breaking a Rangers club recrod for consecutive errorless games, he made an error on the very next play on a Bo Bichette grounder that went right between his legs for the game’s first base runner. Nothing came of it, however, as Mark Vientos flew out to end the inning.
The Mets did not record a hit until the third inning, thanks in part to a couple of nice places early in the game by Wyatt Langford in the outfield. But finally Francisco Lindor broke through against Cody Bradford with a two-out single up the middle and Juan Soto followed with a 429-foot blast to put the Mets on the board. Given a 2-0 lead to work with, Nolan McLean made quick work of the Rangers early and was perfect through four innings. The Mets squandered a golden opportunity in the fifth when the first two runners reached base, but did not score. Francisco Alvarez singled to lead things off and then A.J. Ewing dropped down a bunt intended to be a sacrifice, but he ended up reaching first base safely because the catcher Danny Jansen went to field it, but Bradford got in his way and the Rangers were unable to make the play. Nick Morabito then failed to execute a sacrifice bunt and struck out. Not taking any chances in a game that is crucial for their playoff hopes, the Rangers brought in Tyler Alexander to face the top of the order. Francisco Lindor flew out to center and not wanting to allow Soto to beat them again, Alexander intentionally walked Soto to load the bases. The move worked; Bo Bichette grounded out to end the inning.
Meanwhile, the Rangers did all of their damage against Nolan McLean in one inning in the bottom of the frame. Brandon Nimmo led off with a single for the Rangers’ first hit. Ezequiel Duran then grounded out for the second out, but Nimmo advanced into scoring position on the play. Jake Burger then smacked a single to plate the Rangers’ first run. As often happens with McLean, the base runners came in bunches; Nicky Lopez singled to advance Burger to second and Danny Jansen walked to load the bases still with only one out. But McLean did good to limit the damage to just one additional run. Evan Carter hit a grounder to second on which the Mets could not turn a double play, recording only the out at second base as the tying run came home. Carter stole second base, but McLean induced an inning-ending popup off the bat of Wyatt Langford to stop the bleeding.
McLean bounced back with a very quick 1-2-3 inning in the sixth and the Mets’ half of the seventh inning played out almost exactly like their missed opportunity in the fifth. Chase Silseth took the mound for the Rangers and Francisco Alvarez greeted him rudely with a sharp single up the middle—the first time in his career he’s had four straight multi-hit games. A.J. Ewing followed with a walk and then Nick Morabito once again failed to bunt the runners over and bunted a two-strike pitch foul for strike three. Desperate to keep this important game tied, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker turned to his closer Jacob Latz to get the final two outs. Francisco Lindor made a bid for home run number 300, but the ball was caught on the warning track for the second out. The Rangers then intentionally walked Juan Soto to load the bases for a second time and for a second time it worked; Bo Bichette flew out to right field to end the inning.
Nolan McLean finished his night on a high note, retiring the Rangers in order to keep the game tied. Marcus Semien rewarded McLean’s brilliant work by putting him in line for the win in the top of the eighth with a two-out, go-ahead solo homer off his former team. Devin Williams made his first appearance back from the injured list in relief of McLean in the eighth and recorded a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout of Wyatt Langford to cap it off. Jordan Montgomery took the mound for the Rangers in the eighth and Morabito redeemed himself somewhat with a one-out hit—his first big league hit off a left-handed pitcher. He advanced to second on a Lindor dribbler in front of the plate for the second out. The Rangers then—you guessed it—intentionally walked Juan Soto yet again. It marked the first time a Met has been intentionally walked three times in a game since David Wright in 2009. Montgomery then made way for righty (and former Met) Trevor Williams to face Bo Bichette, who this time finally made the Rangers pay by drawing an unintentional walk to load the bases. Brett Baty then pinch hit for Mark Vientos to face the righty and dealt the decisive blow—a towering grand slam to extend the Mets’ lead to 7-2 and break the Rangers’ hearts.
Cionel Pérez was tasked with the ninth inning by now-official manager Andy Green and worked around a one-out single to Josh Jung to complete the victory and give Nolan McLean the win in his final start of 2026. The Mets will go for the sweep at Globe Life Field tomorrow afternoon.
Big Mets winner: Juan Soto, +28% WPA Big Mets loser: Bo Bichette, -15% WPA Mets pitchers: +29% WPA Mets hitters: +21% WPA Teh aw3s0mest play: Marcus Semien’s go-ahead home run in the eighth, +29.6% WPA Teh sux0rest play: Jake Burger’s RBI single in the fifth to drive in the Rangers’ first run, -10.9% WPA
The Mets secured a series win against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night, winning by a score of 7-2.
Here are the key takeaways...
-- In his final start of his rookie season, Nolan McLean looked like he was on his way to something special after retiring the first 12 batters he faced on just 43 pitches. However, a Brandon Nimmo single to lead off the fifth inning put history to rest.
-- A groundout advanced Nimmo to second and a single by Jake Burger ended McLean’s shutout bid and cut New York’s lead to 2-1. After finding an opening, the Rangers did not let up and loaded the bases on the right-hander following a single and a walk.
With his back against the wall, McLean got Evan Carter to ground one to second base, but the Mets couldn’t turn the double play thanks to Carter’s speed and Texas tied the game. Still in trouble, McLean finally ended the inning with a popout, leaving two runners in scoring position.
-- The rocky fifth inning took McLean 26 pitches to complete and came out of nowhere. In fact, before the game manager Andy Green was asked about the rookie’s season and talked about wanting McLean to work on limiting those innings where he’s forced to work a ton.
To McLean’s credit, he did manage to keep what could’ve been a big inning to just two runs and then went back out in the sixth inning and needed just five pitches to get through the frame. The right-hander ended his outing by retiring the side in order in the seventh inning on just eight pitches.
-- Overall, McLean allowed two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out five on 82 pitches (52 strikes). Aside from the fifth inning, the youngster pitched six perfect innings in what was another fantastic start and ends his season with a 3.16 ERA in 31 starts.
-- McLean left in a tie game but his teammates picked him up as Marcus Semien made the right-hander the pitcher of record on the long side (12-10) with a solo home run with two outs in the eighth against his former team which put New York ahead, 3-2.
The Mets’ only other offense prior to that came in the third inning off the bat of Juan Soto who demolished an 0-1 changeup from Cody Bradford for a two-run shot.
-- The Rangers learned their lesson after that and intentionally walked Soto three times later in the game, twice to load the bases – seldom seen. Both times it worked, though, as Bo Bichette ended the inning by making an out.
The last time, however, came back to bite Texas. With New York up by a run in the top of the ninth and a runner on second with two outs, the Rangers intentionally walked Soto and then walked Bichette after a tough at-bat. With the bases loaded, pinch-hitter Brett Baty, who has been on a tear to end the season, hit a no-doubt grand slam off Trevor Williams that went 455 feet and blew the game wide open.
Over his last 30 games, Baty is slashing .348/.439/.609 (1.048 OPS).
-- Devin Williams made his first appearance since re-joining the team from the IL, entering in the eighth inning of a one-run game at the time and pitching a perfect inning with a strikeout.
Game MVP: Nolan McLean
Baty's grand slam will capture the headlines, but McLean showed his mettle and ended his rookie season on a high note.
Joe Veleno is a player who is well positioned to take on a big role for the New York Rangers.
Over the offseason, the Rangers signed Veleno to a one-year, $1.2 million contract.
Veleno, coming off a season with the Montreal Canadiens in which he played 61 games, was in search of an expanded role, and the Rangers presented him with that opportunity.
“I think the opportunity and having a bigger role,” Veleno said about why he decided to sign with the Rangers. “Not to say that obviously Montreal was great and the deep run and being part of a winning team. I just feel like there's a lot of potential here too. I think you look on paper and some of the depth that was talked about during the offseason obviously made it a little bit more interesting to want to come here.”
“I think there's a good opportunity here to be really competitive this year, push for a playoff spot, and that's what kind of made it a little bit more exciting.”
Despite being touted as a player with high offensive upside going into his draft year in 2018 when he was selected in the first round by the Detroit Red Wings, that side of his game has not quite translated at the NHL level.
However, Veleno expanded his two-way game during the 2025-26 campaign with the Canadiens, which helped earn him a spot on the team’s penalty kill.
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis built trust in Veleno because of his strong two-way play over the course of the season, ultimately helping grow his overall role with the team.
“I realized it last year, although my offensive numbers weren't where they wanted to be by any means, I think still having the coach's trust to put me in situations, I kind of knew my role,” Veleno said. “I knew that you know we were a team that lacked a lot of physicality and a lot of defensive habits.
“We had our star players that took over a lot of the games offensively, but (I) just found a niche and a way to contribute, and I kind of took on that role and embraced it. Took a lot of pride into penalty killing and doing the hard things that not a lot of guys want to do… I want to carry that on over to here and have that responsibility (on the penalty kill), and hopefully be a big part of it.”
To go along with his expanded defensive skill set, Veleno proved to be a reliable presence on the faceoff dot, setting a career-high in his faceoff percentage by raising his efficiency to 51.6%.
With the Rangers looking to put their top-six forward unit in more situations where they can thrive offensively, Mike Sullivan is hoping for the bottom-six forward unit to match up against the opposing team’s top lines if needed.
“Our hope is that we can maybe take J.T. and Mika out of those (defensive) situations and deploy them in a more advantageous situation offensively to try and take advantage of their strengths as a group,” Sullivan said.
Through the first week of training camp, Veleno has slotted in as the Rangers’ fourth-line center on a line with Tye Kartye.
By the looks of training camp practices, it appears as if Veleno is essentially a lock to earn that fourth-line center role, previously held by Sam Carrick before he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in March.
Sullivan plans to deploy Veleno in a similar manner to the way St. Louis did in Montreal, as he envisions the 26-year-old forward playing penalty killing and a two-way role that goes above and beyond the typical fourth line center.
“He will without a doubt be a big part of the penalty kill,” Sullivan said of Veleno. “I think he’s also a guy that has shown his ability just with his defensive conscious, we can put him in defensive situations to play against other team’s top players if we need him to. I think the biggest thing that allows him to do that is his size and his skating ability. He can really skate, so I think that is a great attribute as a defensive player… I’m excited to work with Joe. I think he can play a real important role for us.”
ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 22: Marcus Semien #10 of the New York Mets looks on during the game between the New York Mets and the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Tuesday, September 22, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Kelcee Skoug/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Texas Rangers scored two runs but the New York Mets scored seven runs.
Oh. So baseball games are telling jokes now, huh?
With their season hanging very much in the balance, Texas went until the first batter of the fifth inning before their first time on base all night and by that point, they were already trailing 2-0 and had committed another couple of defensive miscues in what had swiftly devolved into a mistake-filled series at quite literally the worst time for it.
The Rangers did make there first hit of the game matter as they finally worked a rally against Mets starter Nolan McLean that eventually plated the tying runs, but they also had a bases loaded, one out scenario after scoring their first run and they only managed to tie the game out of it and only just barely as Evan Carter beat out a would-be double play.
Instead of breaking through and taking the lead, the Rangers didn’t get another baserunner on against McLean or any other Mets hurler for that matter until there was one out in the ninth. Meanwhile, sensing the season was definitively on the line, Skip Schumaker called in closer Jacob Latz earlier than usual when the Mets threatened with two on in the seventh inning in a tied game.
After Latz wiggled out of that jam, he remained in for the eighth where, after a couple of outs, he allowed a solo home run to former Ranger World Series winner Marcus Semien. You know, the guy the Rangers traded away over the winter in an attempt to rinse off the stink of a couple of lost seasons that is nearing a third, now perhaps punctuated by Semien as the grim reaper.
Kind of funny, all things considered.
Not quite as funny, but at least relieved us of the last vestiges of hope for this one, with two outs in the top of the ninth, Brett Baty hit a pinch-hit grand slam to slam the door in Texas’ face.
The Rangers aren’t eliminated just yet but their path is exceedingly perilous now as they’ve dropped this series to the lowly Mets, their first home series loss in over two months.
Up Next: The Rangers close out this series against the Mets trying to avoid a sweep. They haven’t announced a starting pitcher but it’s probably RHP Kumar Rocker. New York will counter with LHP Zac Thornton.
The Thursday afternoon first pitch in the final home game of the season is schedule for 1:35 pm CDT and you’ll find it on the Rangers Sports Network.
Bryan Hudson walks off after an opener that closed almost immediately. | (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
The Cleveland Guardians lost, 1-0, to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night. All the White Sox had to do was beat the Kansas City Royals to reclaim first place in the AL Central.
Instead, they lost, 5-4. Apparently, taking control of your own destiny sounded a little too easy.
Bryan Hudson’s opening assignment was to get through the top of the Royals’ order. That plan lasted five batters. Carter Jensen and Bobby Witt Jr. opened with singles. After Jac Caglianone grounded out, Maikel Garcia drove in two runs with a base hit and Vinnie Pasquantino doubled home another.
Having seen enough, skipper Will Venable called for bulk reliever Erick Fedde. The veteran punched out Salvador Perez before Kansas City tacked on an unearned run on a bad throw by Colson Montgomery to take a 4-0 lead. Fedde finally got out of the inning by getting John Rave to fly out. The opener strategy works considerably better when the opener gets more than one batter out.
Seth Lugo retired the South Siders in order in each of the first two innings, and Fedde needed an escape act to keep the Royals from adding to the lead in the second. Then the Sox remembered they were allowed to hit.
Chase Meidroth opened the third with a bunt base hit. Braden Montgomery singled, Sam Antonacci took one for the team and Kyle Teel delivered a two-run single. Miguel Vargas followed with an RBI knock, and Munetaka Murakami doubled to tie it, 4-4.
Chicago batted around in the inning and had a chance for more, but Meidroth popped out with the bases loaded to end the frame.
The Sox got another gift-wrapped opportunity in the fourth. Back-to-back singles from Braden and Antonacci chased Lugo, and Anthony Gose walked Teel to load the bases with one out. Vargas grounded into a double play. Four runs in the third, bases loaded in the fourth and somehow that was the end of the offense.
Fedde gave the Sox a chance after the ugly start, allowing no runs on four hits and two walks over 2 2/3 innings. Sean Newcomb got Chicago out of trouble in the fourth by striking out Jensen and getting the speedy Witt to ground into a double play. Hagen Smith handled the sixth with two strikeouts.
But Kansas City broke the tie in the seventh off Smith. Jensen singled, Witt reached on a force out and Garcia doubled him home for a 5-4 Royals lead. That one run held up with alarming ease.
Lucas Erceg needed just nine pitches to retire the Sox in the eighth. In the ninth, Royals manager Matt Quatraro called on Steven Cruz to close it out. He struck out Meidroth on three pitches, and Colson Montgomery went down on five. Unfortunately, with that K, he’s now tied Adam Dunn’s White Sox single-season record with 222 strikeouts. That total also leads all of MLB this season and puts him just one shy of Mark Reynolds’ all-time record of 223, set in 2009. Two more punchouts would give him the record outright. With four games left, it seems almost inevitable that the crown will be his.
Braden tried to get something going with two outs and did manage a single to give Antonacci one last shot. He flew out to end it.
The Royals played spoiler, but the Sox did plenty to help them. Chicago wiped out a four-run deficit, stranded a bases-loaded chance and then offered little resistance when it mattered most. Cleveland left the door wide open. The South Siders walked right past it.
MVP Kyle Teel: 1-for-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K
Runners-Up Braden Montgomery: 3-for-4, R Munetaka Murakami: 1-for-4, RBI, 2B, K Miguel Vargas: 1-for-4, RBI Chase Meidroth: 2-for-4, R, K Erick Fedde: 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K Sean Newcomb: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Boston, MA - July 1: Rain led to the suspension of a game between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds at Fenway Park on July 1, 2025. (Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
It’s the end of another week here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. We’re always glad to see you. We’ll waive the cover charge for you. The dress code is casual. There are still a few tables available. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last night I asked you for your pick for the Vedie Himsl Cubs’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Many of you lamented the paucity of good performances by Cubs pitchers, but I will once again remind you that offense was up by about 30 percent this year in all minor league levels below Triple-A.
In any case, you went with Brooks Caple, who got 50 percent of the vote. Dawson Netz came in second with 24 percent and Jackson Brockett was third with 18 percent.
Here’s the part with the music and the movies. Please join us. But you don’t have to.
It was 100 years ago today in Hamlet, North Carolina when we were blessed with the birth of the great saxophonist John Coltrane.
We’ve already listened to parts of A Love Supreme as our tribute and I’m pretty sure we will get to “My Favorite Things” when Christmas time rolls around. So tonight I thought we’d finish off with another one of the Coltrane performances that most of us are familiar with already. I had a hard time deciding between “Blue Train” and “Giant Steps.” So I decided to give you both of them.
Here is “Blue Train” from 1958. It features Lee Morgan on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on double bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums.
Two years later, Trane released the album Giant Steps. The title track featured here, written by Coltrane, is often cited as one of the most complex series of chord progressions on any song.
This one also has Chambers on bass, but Art Taylor is the drummer and Tommy Flanagan on piano.
I think I owe you an essay on director Robert Altman’s 1973 Neo-noir The Long Goodbye, starring Elliot Gould as Raymond Chandler’s iconic detective Philip Marlowe. Chandler’s novels were notoriously difficult to adapt to the screen, so Altman, Gould and screenwriter Leigh Brackett just use the book as a general guide and create a crime film that’s delightfully perverse in its own right.
I read the novel The Long Goodbye about 20 years ago. What I remember about it was Chandler’s vivid prose, his memorable characters and a plot that was complicated and nonsensical even by Chandler’s standards, which is saying a lot. I went into this film remembering the characters but only vaguely remembering what happened to all of them.
About 30 years earlier, Brackett was tasked with adapting Chandler’s novel The Big Sleep to the big screen with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Back then, she had to worry about the Production Code as well as pumping up Bacall’s part after Bogart and Bacall became front page tabloid news. Here, Brackett deals with Chandler by dealing with the spirit of the novel rather than the actual details.
My first impression was that no matter what his character’s name was, Gould was not playing Philip Marlowe. Gould’s Marlowe is more low-key and easygoing than Chandler’s. His catchphrase is “It’s all right with me,” which is a huge change because nothing was all right with Chandler’s Marlowe. Marlowe in the novels was almost always angry. Even when Gould’s Marlowe is angry, he generally does everything he can to not show it and to de-escalate.
Also, not to spoil the plot, but Gould’s Marlowe does things that Chandler’s Marlowe never would.
But what Altman and Brackett did was make Marlowe a “man out of time.” The story is moved up to the 1970s, but Marlowe is still a man of the fifties. He drives a 1948 Lincoln Continental. He wears a white shirt, a tie and a jacket, even while he lives next door to a group of women hippies who dance around topless on their balcony constantly.
The film starts with Ball Four author Jim Bouton playing Terry Lennox, a friend of Marlowe’s. We quickly find out that Lennox has stole a bunch of money from mobsters and has been accused of murdering his wife. Lennox commits suicide and the mobsters think that Lennox left the money with Marlowe.
Meanwhile, Eileen Wade (Nina Van Pallandt) hires Marlowe to find her alcoholic and famous author husband Roger Wade (Hayden Sterling). He’s in a rehab clinic under the control of the manipulative Dr. Verringer (Henry Gibson, of all people).
Marlowe eventually comes to believe that the deaths of the Lennoxes is connected to the Wades. Meanwhile, a sadistic mobster (Mark Rydell) comes after Marlowe looking for his money.
So the plot of the movie The Long Goodbye makes more sense than the plot of the novel, but it’s still not exactly easy to follow. But Chandler was all about the vibes and Altman smartly recreates the aura of Chandler and not the plot and characters. The scene is corrupt and violent. Truth is hard to come by. In both the book and the movie, Marlowe sees himself as someone who swims above the culture of corruption that permeates Los Angeles, both in 1953 and 1973.
Despite the film being in color, Altman creates that noir feel by using desaturated colors, He takes camera angles where parts of the scene is obscured by things in the foreground. Then, of course, there is the famous Altman overlapping dialogue that muddies up what is being said.
Gould does a great job of creating a detective that’s all his own, even if I don’t think that character is Marlowe. Hayden’s performance stands out as the angry, alcoholic Roger Wade, a character that Chandler based on himself. Gibson throws himself into the part of a doctor who cares more about money than his patients. Jim Bouton is a retired ballplayer trying to act, but at least he looks the part. Nina Van Pallandt could be one of Hitchcock’s “icy blondes.”
Also, there’s a moment in the second half of the film where Marlowe is being threatened by the mobster over the missing money and in the background there’s a non-speaking extra with his shirt off playing one of his thugs. At that point, you can say “Hey! That’s Arnold Schwarzenegger!”
The Long Goodbye is only a Raymond Chandler movie is spirit. That’s probably a good thing. The movie version of Dorothy B. Hughes’ novel In A Lonely Place has almost nothing in common with the book and they’re both fantastic. The Long Goodbye, both the novel and the book, aren’t that good. But it’s an interesting and engaging spin on a Neo-noir that only an accomplished director like Altman could have pulled off in 1973.
Here is the trailer for The Long Goodbye.
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.
The talk of the Cubs right now is the weather. In particular, the weather in Boston this weekend. Major League Baseball and the Red Sox have already announced that the Cubs and Red Sox will play a doubleheader in Boston on Friday and there will be no game on Sunday. Saturday’s game is still scheduled to go on as scheduled.
The problem is that while the two teams will probably be able to get the doubleheader in on Friday (although that’s not guaranteed), Saturday’s forecast is as bad as Sunday’s. There seems to be no way to play that third game in Boston except on Monday.
I imagine that MLB is simply hoping the weather forecast for Saturday is wrong or that the 162nd game of the season won’t end up mattering and it can simply be canceled. We here at BCB have long advocated that the series be moved elsewhere, most likely St. Petersburg, but understandably the Red Sox aren’t too keen about that. I understand that the Red Sox don’t want to have to refund all that money to fans who bought tickets and they probably also have some end-of-the-year ceremonies planned for this weekend.
But Mother Nature doesn’t care about the Red Sox box office. The games are also completely meaningless to Boston, who is locked in to a Wild Card-round matchup with the Yankees in New York. But the games are very meaningful to the Cubs. Home field advantage is on the line as the three Wild Card teams are all tied for the three Wild Card spots as I write this.
To be clear, MLB should move game 162 to either St. Pete or Houston now. But in fairness to them, they still have a few days to do that, as long as they are preparing for that possibility right now. But if they wait until the last minute and Saturday’s game gets rained out like we all expect, there may only be one possibility and that’s playing game 162 on Monday in Boston.
To be clear, such an outcome would be awful for both the Cubs and Red Sox. Except maybe the Red Sox business side that then wouldn’t have to refund anyone’s money. But it would mean that the Cubs and the Red Sox would have to play Monday afternoon and then Boston would have to fly to New York to play again on Tuesday.
That’s not good for the Red Sox, but it’s not terrible. For one, Monday’s game would be meaningless to them and they’d just play their subs. They also have a short flight to New York after the game that would definitely be played in prime time, giving them a decent amount of down time before Tuesday’s game.
But for the Cubs, it’s a disaster. For one, they’re playing for home field. If they win, they’d have to fly back to Chicago after that game and likely play a day game on Tuesday, although perhaps they could get the late 8:10 pm start since there aren’t likely to be any West Coast teams hosting Wild Card games if the Cubs are hosting.
But if they lose that game, things get even worse. I suppose a flight to Philadelphia wouldn’t be too bad. But a trip to San Diego after a day game in Boston would be bad. At least they’d almost certainly get the last TV slot of the night in San Diego.
There is another option if the Cubs have to play on Monday—forfeit and go on the road for the Wild Card round on three days rest. This isn’t going to happen. MLB would put incredible pressure on the Cubs to play if they even considered it and Tom Ricketts wants his gates for the Wild Card series anyways. The Cubs would be heavy favorites in any game on Monday anyways.
But I am going to ask you what is the worse outcome for the Cubs—going on the road for the Wild Card series or playing at home after playing on Monday? Would you rather the Cubs fall out of home field for the Wild Card if that meant not having to play on Monday?
Again, let’s hope sanity comes to MLB and they schedule Sunday’s game in Tampa or Houston if necessary. But if they mess this up, is it worse that the Cubs have to start the Wild Card at home without an off day or that they start the Wild Card on the road?
Thank you for stopping by tonight. Please get home safely. Tell your friends about us. Don’t be a stranger. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.
