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One night after clinching a playoff spot, the Tampa Bay Rays went right back to work.

The Houston Astros did not waste much time to test whether Tampa Bay had moved past the previous night’s celebration.

Ian Seymour struck out Jeremy Peña to begin the game before former Ray Isaac Paredes sent a solo home run into left-center field for a 1-0 Astros lead. Jose Altuve walked, and Yainer Diaz followed with a single, putting two more runners aboard with only one out.

Seymour had seen enough.

Daulton Varsho went down on a foul tip, and Christian Walker struck out swinging, beginning a stretch in which Houston’s lineup struggled to do much of anything against the Rays left-hander.

Seymour retired the side in order in the second, struck out Peña and Paredes during a clean third and worked another clean inning in the fourth. He then turned the fifth into his most dominant inning of the night, striking out Cam Smith, Taylor Trammell and Christian Vázquez in succession.

By then, Tampa Bay’s offense was finally ready to give him something to work with.

Junior Caminero’s first-inning single was the only offense the Rays could generate through the first four innings against Peter Lambert. Victor Mesa Jr. changed that by leading off the fifth with a single, and Chandler Simpson followed with a liner into center that sent Mesa to third. Cedric Mullins dropped a sacrifice bunt that moved Simpson to second, giving Palacios two runners in scoring position with one out. Palacios took advantage, lining a single into center to score both Mesa and Simpson.

Just like that, a 1-0 deficit became a 2-1 lead.

Palacios was caught stealing for the second out, keeping the lead from growing any larger, and that extra insurance would have helped as the game progressed.

Seymour retired the first two Astros in the sixth before Altuve doubled to left, giving the Astros their first baserunner since the first inning. Diaz followed with a ground-ball single, bringing Altuve home and tying the game 2-2.

Seymour recovered by getting Varsho to ground out, finishing his night after allowing two runs while striking out 10 Houston hitters throughout the evening.

Tyler Wells kept the score tied in the seventh, working around a two-out walk to Trammell and striking out Vázquez to end the inning.

That gave the Rays another chance to move back in front.

Liam Hicks led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and was replaced by pinch-runner Kenny Piper. Mesa walked before a Simpson groundball got him out at second while advancing Piper to third.

The Rays then went to the bench.

Nick Madrigal pinch-hit for Mullins and lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Piper for a 3-2 lead. Jonny DeLuca followed with a pinch-hit infield single in place of Palacios and stole second, but Tampa Bay left runners at second and third on a Jorge Mateo line drive that found Cam Smith’s glove in right field.

One run would have to be enough.

Ty Johnson walked Peña to begin the eighth before retiring Paredes and striking out Altuve. Bryan Baker entered with two outs and immediately had to work for the final out after Diaz singled to put runners at the corners. He successfully got Varsho struck out swinging, preserving the lead.

Tampa Bay had a chance to make the ninth a little more comfortable after loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but Simpson grounded out to Astros pitcher Bryan King.

So Baker came back out for the ninth with the same one-run margin and save number 40 for the season on the line.

He did not make it complicated.

Walker grounded out to Caminero at third. Smith popped out to Jorge Mateo. Trammell then lined a ball to right that looked like it had a chance to get out but instead landed at the wall, where Mesa made the catch to finish the 3-2 victory and give Baker save No. 40.

The Rays will look for the series sweep when these two teams face off again Sunday at 1:40 pm. Freddy Peralta is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay opposite Hayden Wesneski from the Astros.

After an emotional induction into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame for Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols and Bill Sherder, it was time for baseball Saturday night at Busch Stadium. Kyle Leahy provided an efficient start for the first few innings of the game and the Cardinals offense provided some early runs. It would come down to how many more runs they could add and if the St. Louis bullpen could keep the White Sox suppressed. Short answer: eventually no.

The Cardinals bats strung together some hits in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Nolan Gorman hit a one-out single to right. Thomas Saggese copied Gorman’s plan with a single to right himself as Gorman advanced to third. Masyn Winn then came through with a clutch double into the left field corner scoring both Gorman and Saggese to give the Cardinals an early 2-0 lead.

Nathan Church followed Masyn’s double with a single that moved Winn to third. He then scored when Jose Fermin lifted a sacrifice fly to center to make it 3-0 Cardinals.

As expected, Kyle Leahy was limited to just 3 innings as his pitch count only reached 38. He was supported by some fine defense including a stellar one from Alec Burleson.

Leahy was relieved in the top of the 4th by Connor Hjerpe. Unfortunately, his control was all over the place. He had a solid start to the inning with a strikeout of Vargas, but then gave up a single to Murakami before striking out Randall Grichuk. It was then Connor caused all kinds of trouble for himself as he hit Peters with a pitch and then walked Meidroth to load the bases and then walked Colson Montgomery gifting the White Sox a run making it 3-1 St. Louis. Fortunately, he pulled it together and struck out Braden Montgomery to limit the damage.

The Cardinals offense took the momentum back in the bottom of the 4th inning when Nolan Gorman drew a leadoff walk. He advanced to second after Thomas Saggese lined out to third and the White Sox threw the ball away trying to double him off at first. Two batters later, Nathan Church came through with a clutch 2-strike 2-out double that bounced off of the right field wall giving St. Louis its 3-run lead back making it 4-1 Cardinals. They came close to adding a lot more as White Sox starter Luis Castillo seemed inclined to help as he walked Fermin and Herrera to load the bases which brought up Alec Burleson with an opportunity to break the game wide open. Too bad that he struck out on a 92 mph four-seam fastball up in the zone to end the Cardinals 4th.

You could see potential big trouble rearing its head in the top of the 5th inning when Connor Hjerpe put men on base nearly every way possible with a hit-by-pitch (again), walk and a single to load the bases for the dangerous Murakami with nobody out. Hjerpe walked him, too, to gift the White Sox a run (again) reducing the Cardinals lead to 4-2. That finally inspired Oli Marmol to take Hjerpe out of the game and bring in Luis Gastelum. He managed to get a double-play ball out of Randall Grichuk, but a run scored on the play cutting the Cardinals lead to just 1. Peters tied the game with a single to left-center, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Still, the score was all tied up at 4-4 going into the bottom of the 4th.

After the Cardinals failed to generate a rally in the bottom of the 4th inning, it was Justin Bruihl’s turn to come into the game to hit White Sox batters. After striking out Meidroth, he hit Colton Montgomery on the hands. The other Montgomery, Braden, grounded a ball that was too much for Nolan Gorman to handle at third which gave the White Sox a legitimate scoring chance. Fortunately, Bruihl was able to get a groundout to short from Antonacci for the second out. It was up to Kyle Teel if the White Sox were going to do anything with runners at first and third with two outs. Fortunately, the White Sox were out of challenges as he watched a 76 mph sweeper barely come back to catch the top-left of the strike zone for the final White Sox out of the inning. No soup for you!

After the Cardinals went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 6th inning, Ryne Stanek came in to handle the top of the 7th inning and he was exceptional in that he didn’t walk or hit anyone. Instead, he set down Vargas, Murakami and Grichuk with no drama. After a fruitless Cardinals bottom of the 7th, it was George Soriano’s turn to try and keep the game tied. He got Peters to fly out to center for the first out and then struck out Meidroth for the second out. He then walked Colton Montgomery who then stole second to give Chicago a runner in scoring position. Braden Montgomery then drew a walk because that was a Cardinals bullpen specialty Saturday night. Nolan Gorman redeemed himself for a misplay earlier in the game as he made a fine play on a hard hit ball from Antonacci for the final out of the White Sox 8th.

The Cardinals bats that went quiet through the middle innings woke up in the bottom of the 8th inning when Leo Bernal slammed a 98 mph four-seam fastball 421 feet into the right field stands for a 5-4 Cardinals lead. Boom!

St. Louis tried to add to the lead after Bernal’s homer as they loaded the bases with two outs on back-to-back singles by Masyn Winn and Nathan Church and a walk to Fermin, but Herrera lined out to right for the final out of the 8th with no additional runs scored. That meant it was Riley O’Brien protecting just a one-run lead in the top of the 9th inning. He started by walking Teel on 6 pitches putting the potential tying run on first base with no one out. Vargas was next for the White Sox. He struck out when Leo Bernal successfully challenged a high strike. Doyle, who was sent in to pinch-run for Teel, stole second when Masyn Winn was unable to handle a nice throw from Leo Burnal giving Chicago the tying run in scoring position. Fortunately, Murakami struck out for the second out. That meant it was up to former Cardinal Randall Grichuk. With two strikes he lifted a fly ball that barely cleared the right field wall over a jumping Victor Scott II giving the White Sox a remarkably depressing 6-5 lead. I think it was Yogi Berra who once said it’s like Deja vu all over again.

Could the Cardinals offense somehow muster some magic in the bottom of the 9th to avoid a heartbreaking defeat? It didn’t start well as Alec Burleson lined out weakly to third. Jordan Walker was sent up as a pinch-hitter as he had been given the night off after an awkward landing on the first base bag during Friday’s game. Jordan struck out chasing a fastball out of the zone for the second out. The last hope for St. Louis was the switch-hitting Leo Bernal. He sadly grounded out to end the game.

It’s game 3 of the Cardinals weekend series against the White Sox Sunday as Michael McGreevy takes the mound for the Cardinals. The White Sox have not officially announced their starter as of this writing. First pitch scheduled for 1:15pm central time and the game broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.

For three innings, things were going well for the Phillies. Despite being forced to utilize a bullpen game, they had a 1-0 lead over the Braves. By the time the fourth inning ended, they found themselves trailing 8-1 as Grant Holman had a debut he (and everyone else) would like to forget. The rest of the game was mostly cursory as the Braves coasted to a 12-2 win.

After Friday night’s game when extra innings forced the Phillies to use five relievers, it certainly wasn’t welcome news that Jesus Luzardo was experiencing shoulder stiffness and wouldn’t be able to make his start. Don Mattingly would need to piece together nine innings from his beleaguered bullpen.

Tim Mayza got the start and thanks in part to inducing two double plays, he pitched three scoreless innings.

He got some early run support off the bat of Bryce Harper who hit one deep and then apparently tried to send a message with an especially slow home run trot.

You know what else would send a message, Bryce? Avoiding mistakes on the basepaths! Or getting back to the patient approach that was working so well last month. I think that would make much more of an impact than a home run trot in the first inning of a game you’d eventually lose by double digits.

After Mayza’s time was up, Brooks Raley was the next man in. After his failure on Friday night, Raley spent Saturday putting himself up there with Brandon Workman and Asdrubal Cabrera in terms of worst trade deadline pickups ever.

With one out, Ronald Acuna tied the game at one with a solo home run.

Raley actually struck out the next batter before allowing a walk and a single. This was a critical spot of the game, so naturally Mattingly decided this was the time for Grant Holman to make his season debut.

Holman spent the previous two seasons with the A’s, but was placed on waivers in May, and subsequently claimed by the Phillies. He pitched pretty well in AAA as a reliever and has been on the roster since the beginning of September, but the team didn’t trust him to appear in a game…until now.

How did that go?

It went stolen base, single, fielding error by Bryson Stott (who has apparently forgotten how to play baseball), walk, wild pitch, double, single, fly out. By the time the inning was over, the Braves led 8-1.

The rest of the game was mostly cursory. The Braves scored a few more. The Phillies got one back on a Justin Crawford home run of all things, and Garrett Stubbs pitched the final 2.2 innings.

Andrew Painter will start the series finale on Sunday as the Phillies will attempt to salvage the final game of what has been a disastrous series so far.

MLB.com defines a “no-trade clause” as “a contractual clause that allows players to veto trades to certain teams. No-trade clauses are often worked into contract extensions and free-agent contracts as a perk for the players signing such deals.”

Such a contractual element gives a player considerable control over their future.

Case in point? Jacob deGrom, who used his no-trade clause to stop a proposed trade by the Texas Rangers.

So here’s tonight’s questions for the Purple Row Night Owls.

Congratulations! Your agent has gotten you an excellent free-agent deal, and now you are ironing out the details with your new team.

You will be allowed to select five teams that you will refuse a trade to.

Which teams will you include in your no-trade clause and why?

Let us know in the comments.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Entering Saturday’s Subway Series matchup, Mets right fielder Carson Benge had gone 18 games since his last home run and was stuck in the middle of a quiet slump – so quiet, it was hard to notice because of what else the rookie does on the field.

From his sensational diving catches seemingly every other night to throwing runners out on the bases or keeping them from advancing because of his cannon of an arm, Benge’s impact on a game extends beyond his production at the plate.

Nevertheless, the rookie snapped his homerless streak in the third inning against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on a 1-0 slider that went high in the air with a launch angle of 43 degrees before landing 368 feet away in the bleachers in right-center field.

The home run was the Mets’ third off Cole, extended their lead to 4-0, and gave Benge 17 on the season. He finished 2-for-5 with two RBI.

“We put together some good at-bats early and just kept chipping away and eventually got [Cole] out [of the game], so overall I think we did a really good job at our plan today,” Benge said.

But the 23-year-old wasn’t done there. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Aaron Judge lined one towards the gap in right-center field, but the outfielder sprinted across the field, laid out and made a beautiful catch as he’s done so often before during his rookie campaign.

“It’s fun watching guys play the game all out and leaving it all out there all the time,” said interim manager Andy Green. “The diving catches are turning into something that you now expect, which tells you something about the type of defender he is. 

“When it goes in the gap and you see him running, you’re like ‘he’s gonna lay out and catch this,’ he just does it again and again and again.”

Benge’s catches, while amazing, have become so commonplace now that, much like their skipper, Juan Soto expects him to make it every single time and doled out high praise for the youngster.

“He doesn’t impress me anymore, I think he’s a superstar,” Soto said. “He’s doing things that superstars do every day. I mean, every day he’ll always find a way to make us smile with the swing, with the running, with the throws. It’s just incredible.”

It’s true, while he was picked off and caught trying to steal second base on Saturday, Benge has 22 stolen bases on the season to go along with the ridiculous catches and composure at the plate. He also has 10 outfield assists in right field, the most among all rookies, and is putting together one of the most complete all-around seasons as a rookie.

But if you ask Benge what he likes more: hitting a home run or making a great catch, he said going yard is “definitely way better,” perhaps signifying that his amazing grabs are becoming standard for him, too.

When told about Soto dropping “superstar” when describing him, Benge was appreciative, but composed.

“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “It’s pretty special to be able to catch someone’s eye like that, so that’s really cool and I’ll just keep on doing my thing and working hard every day.”

After an epic 11-inning win Friday night against the Phillies, the Braves were hoping to finish them off in the division race. They got a bit of a boost from the Phillies scratching Jesus Luzardo with long-running shoulder soreness.

Tyler Mahle cruised through the first two hitters before Bryce Harper hit a monster homer and took a comical amount of time rounding the bases, clearly hitting back at the controversy from Zach Wheeler’s comments about Ronald Acuna’s home run celebrations last week. The Phillies had to be feeling good with a 1-0 lead for a couple innings there, until the Braves essentially ended the game with 8 runs in the fourth inning. Ronald Acuna kicked things off with a towering homer (and a normal home run trot).

The Braves then got a walk, single, single, single, error, wild pitch, walk, double, and single to score another 7 runs. Drake Baldwin provided the double before things got all the way back around to Acuna for the last single, bringing home the last run of the inning.

Mahle continued to cruise after that Harper homer, finishing 7.0 innings of 1-run ball with no walks, even though he only had 7 whiffs and 3 strikeouts. The Braves added another run on in the sixth with a Ronald ABS strikeout-turned-walk, an error on an Olson ground ball, and an Ozzie sac fly. The Phillies got one back with a solo homer from Crawford in the eighth against Brent Suter. The Braves got another 3 runs against the position-player pitcher for Philly in the eighth, as Kiersey singled, Albies doubled, and Harris hit a homer off the right field foul pole. Suter finished off the Phillies in the ninth, as the Braves only needed to throw Mahle and Suter on the night. The Phillies’ bullpen is in rough shape on the other side, after the 11-inning game Friday and the blowout bullpen game they suffered today.

Join us for hopefully the last time we see the Phillies this season tomorrow at 1:35 PM ET.

The Mariners are currently six games out of the AL West, six games out of the last Wild Card spot, and nine games from elimination. While it’s technically possible the Mariners squeeze into the playoffs if they go on a crazy run over the next 13 games, given how this team has played all year, I’m finding that increasingly unlikely. For now, let’s focus on what’s in front of them; perhaps the Mariners can get out of Sacramento with a series victory and some pride rather than dropping another winnable series at a crucial time in the season. Bryan Woo takes the hill for his 28th start of the season. Last time out, Woo went eight innings, giving up just one hit and two walks, with nine strikeouts. Woo’s dominance at home has become a calling card of sorts for him as he has continued to struggle on the road at times. However, in his last three road starts, Woo has logged two quality starts, kept opponents under two runs, and logged five-plus strikeouts in each start. Since the start of August, Woo’s road ERA ranks 6th best in MLB, while his road WHIP, .86, ranks 11th.

Lineups

Game Information

Radio: Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com

TV: Mariners.TV

The Guardians had a plan to use Daniel Espino as an opener and follow it up with Joey Cantillo. They got two good innings out of Daniel Espino, and instead of going to Cantillo, they decided to go to Aleman, which wound up being a disaster that costed them the game. Joey Cantillo went 4 scoreless innings with just one hit allowed and 8 strikeouts. It’s hard not to think if they would have just went straight to him, they would’ve won this game.

The offense scored three runs on five hits, including RBI hits from Bazzana, Kwan, and Hedgey. It wasn’t a great performance but this should’ve been enough to beat this Twins team today. Now they are in a spot where they HAVE to win tomorrow. We desperately need a vintage Tanner Bibee start.

The Brewers 20-0 blowout victory over the Reds Friday wasn’t the only highlight of the night in Milwaukee.

Sverre Vinje, a 102-year-old World War II Navy veteran from Rockford, Illinois, sang “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch. The moving rendition went viral on social media.

Vinje, who served from 1943-45 and was at the Battle of Iwo Jima and Battle of Okinawa, received ongoing cheers from the crowd in attendance at American Family Field on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

The Brewers clinched a spot in the postseason with their beatdown of the Reds Friday night. The squad became the first team in MLB history with multiple shutout wins of 20-plus runs in a season.

Milwaukee leads the National League with a 90-56 record and are poised to make a deep playoff run.

Manager Pat Murphy remains one of the most highly-touted skippers in baseball, leading a small-market team to another league-leading season.

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Clarke Schmidt was dominant in what may be his final rehab start Saturday with Double-A Somerset.

The Yankees right-hander pitched out of the bullpen, getting four outs and striking out three. It took Schmidt just 21 pitches (12 strikes) to get through his appearance with the Patriots. He allowed just one batter to reach a three-ball count in his performance.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that if all goes well for Schmidt with his recovery, the team could activate him for the upcoming road trip to pitch out of the bullpen. And the Yankees could use it. Although they held the best bullpen ERA in the majors going into the weekend series with the Mets, the Yankees relievers have scuffled a bit.

The Yankees bullpen allowed two runs on Friday, but held on for the 6-4 win. On Saturday, behind Gerrit Cole, the bullpen allowed seven runs in their 12-2 loss. 

Clarke Schmidt faced four batters in his fifth outing of @MLB rehab. He struck out THREE of them! 🔥

1.1 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 BB | 3 K pic.twitter.com/LdXT8KdDNi

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) September 13, 2026