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Prior to last night’s game, the Texas Rangers announced that outfielder Joc Pederson had been placed on the 10 day injured list due to the broken bone in his hand that he suffered on September 12. To replace Pederson on the active roster, the Rangers activated Michael Helman from the 60 day injured list. To make room for Helman on the 40 man roster, the Rangers moved Cal Quantrill from the 15 day injured list to the 60 day injured list.

It is a disappointing end to what was a very solid season from Pederson, who slashed .235/.329/.487 in 432 plate appearances covering 136 games as the team’s primary DH against righthanded pitching. The Rangers had held off on putting him on the injured list in the hope that he would recover to the point he could resume hitting, but that didn’t happen. The hope is that, if the Rangers make the playoffs, Pederson would be physically able to hit by then, and could be on the team’s playoff roster.

The Quantrill move to the 60 day injured list means that he is done for the 2026 season, and won’t be eligible to return even in any potential playoff series. This is disappointing but not surprising, as a lat strain, which is what Quantrill landed on the injured list with, is the sort of thing that is going to generally sideline a pitcher for a couple of months.

As for Helman, he last played in the majors on June 13, having gone on the injured list with multiple fractures in his hands and fingers. He played in five games for Round Rock on a rehab assignment prior to being activated from the injured list. He presumably is a late game pinch runner/defensive replacement option.

After last night’s rare low scoring win, the Nats are in position to claim a series win. This afternoon contest in Detroit will be the last road game of the season for the Nats. The boys will look to finish on a high note as they head home for a final series.

With a lefty on the mound, the Nats are loading up on right handed bats. James Wood and CJ Abrams are the only lefties in the lineup. Jacob Young and Harry Ford will return to the lineup in this contest. Dylan Crews moves to left field as Daylen Lile gets the day off. Richard Lovelady will be the opener in what will be a bullpen game.

A couple big names are back in the lineup for the Tigers. After sitting yesterday, Riley Greene and Dillon Dingler are back. Zach McKinstry will also make his first start of the series. Javier Baez will be getting the day off. Framber Valdez has had an up and down first season in Detroit, but he has been better lately. He is on the mound this afternoon. 

Game Info:

Stadium: Comerica Park

Time: 1:10 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

It is wild that this is the last road game of the year, but here we are. Hopefully we can finish the road slate with a curly W. CJ Abrams has been swinging it well, so he is one to watch this afternoon. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

LOS ANGELES — Last year at this time, Evan Phillips and Brock Stewart were both recovering from surgeries and unavailable to pitch. They were around the team but unable to contribute during the stretch run and postseason. This year, both veteran right-handers are two key cogs in an increasingly deep Dodgers bullpen and an important part of their October puzzle.

Phillips had Tommy John surgery in June 2025, wiping out the last half of last season and the first half of this one. When he returned from the injured list in July, the Dodgers were cautious in his usage, not using him on back-to-back days for his first four weeks, and used him on one day rest only four times during that stretch.

The results were spotty at first, allowing runs in five of his first seven appearances, including an uncharacteristic four home runs in such a short span. Since then, Phillips has allowed runs in only three of his last 21 appearances, and the lone home run surrendered was last Monday to Elly De La Cruz, which seems to be a rite of passage for everybody these days.

“Evan as you would expect, the first handful of outings were inconsistent coming off Tommy John, but I’d say the last [few] have been kind of who he is, and it’s been fun to see,” manager Dave Roberts said recently. “There’s a two-seamer, there’s a four-seamer, and some sweepers getting some awkward swings, some chase. That’s been good, and his command has been a lot better, too.”

Phillips in his 28 games has 28 strikeouts against only three unintentional walks. Since the start of August, the Dodgers have used Phillips more aggressively, pitching on back-to-back days five times, and he pitched three times in four days in three different stretches, and during that span has a 2.30 ERA and 2.46 FIP.

“I appreciate what they’ve done, trying to build me up, plus also protect me, plus giving me advantageous lanes while also challenging me,” Phillips said. “It’s been great so far, and I definitely feel like I’m coming closer and closer to that best version of myself that I have been and continue to strive to be.”

Stewart, a sixth-round draft pick of the Dodgers in 2014, was reacquired by the team at the 2025 trade deadline, but he pitched in only four games for them before succumbing to right shoulder debridement surgery in September. This year the right-hander has a 2.45 ERA and 2.53 xERA in his 27 games, with 24 strikeouts and seven unintentional walks in 25 2/3 innings, including a scoreless first inning to start Tuesday night’s bullpen-game shutout of the San Diego Padres.

“When Brock’s healthy, he’s as good as anyone we have,” Roberts said Tuesday. “For us, it’s just trying to manage him the right way and keep him strong and healthy. He’s been great.”

“That’s very cool to hear. I just go out there and throw it, that’s literally all I focus on. But people tell me that my — you know, I throw five pitches, which helps as a reliever,” Stewart said. “They tell me my stuff is pretty good, and it’s always nice to hear that. But I don’t know, I just go out there and throw it, try to compete as best I can, and hope it works out.

Roberts wasn’t wrong. Since returning to the majors in 2023 with the Minnesota Twins, Stewart has a 2.45 ERA and 2.78 xERA, which ranks 10thand ninth, respectively, among the 576 major league pitchers with at least 100 innings over the last four years. Tarik Skubal, with two Cy Young Awards during that stretch, has a 2.50 ERA and 2.73 xERA, for example.

But staying on the field has been a problem for Stewart, who this season alone has been on the injured list three different times — recovering from shoulder surgery, bone spur in his left foot, and shoulder discomfort — inactive for a total of 95 games. Since 2023, Stewart has also been on the injured list with elbow soreness, shoulder tendinitis, a shoulder strain, a hamstring strain, and shoulder inflammation, limited to just 106 2/3 total innings over the last four seasons.

“I feel good, but I’ve told everybody though, one day at a time. I’ve been hurt a lot so I always try to take things one day at a time. But I’m happy with the way I feel, happy with the way I felt today,” Stewart said. “Getting close to the finish line, but happy with how I feel, happy with how the stuff is coming out. I feel like I’m in a good spot and can hopefully help out.”

Stewart has pitched in the postseason only once, in three games over two series with the Minnesota Twins in 2023. Phillips was an October stalwart for the Dodgers since he was acquired on a waiver claim in 2021. In 12 appearances for the Dodgers in the playoffs, Phillips has yet to allow a run, over 15 1/3 innings, with 21 strikeouts and six unintentional walks. Phillips missed out on the World Series in 2024 with a right rotator cuff injury suffered during the NLCS, and was sidelined for all of last October.

“I love pitching in the postseason, I love competing with these guys. In 2024, missing out on the World Series, but I tried to dig in on the fact that I helped us get there, and played quite a large part in the Division Series and Championship Series. Obviously I want to see it all to the end, and help us carry that trophy off the field,” Philips said. “I’m just as eager as ever. Fortunate that I feel healthy at this time, and just trying to build on that, continue to chip away, and be the best I can when it matters most.”

This season, only Tanner Scott, Edwin Díaz, and Alex Vesia have a higher average-leverage index than Phillips and Stewart among Dodgers relievers. Phillips and Stewart have each saved a game this year, and Phillips has done so in the past with 46 saves with the Dodgers. Roberts said he’d feel comfortable with either Phillips or Stewart getting a save opportunity in October, along with a group that includes Tanner Scott and the just-activated Roki Sasaki.

“This year, more than any other year, I think there’s more guys we feel comfortable closing out games,” Roberts said.

The initial plan called for Roki Sasaki to pitch an inning or two as an opener.

Sasaki had other ideas.

“I said I wanted to pitch out of the bullpen,” Sasaki said in Japanese.

Because Sasaki will be deployed as a reliever in the playoffs, he figured he should spend the remainder of the regular season becoming reacquainted with the role.

So instead of throwing the first and second innings of the Dodgers’ 7-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, Sasaki pitched the fourth.

Returning from a month-long stay on the injured list, Sasaki pitched in relief for the first time this season.

What was most memorable about his night wasn’t that he struck out two batters or threw six of his 20 pitches faster than 99 mph. Rather, what was most striking was his embrace of his move out of the Dodgers’ rotation.

Sasaki was reluctant to make the switch last year, doing so only as a last-ditch effort to salvage an otherwise disastrous rookie season. The decision made him an October hero, as the team’s lack of options made him the closer almost by default.

He returned to the rotation this year and was 5-5 with a 4.56 earned-run average through his first 23 games, all of them starts. His form improved over the course of the season, and he was 2-0 with a 3.05 ERA in seven starts after the All-Star break. But in the last of those starts, which was on Aug. 26 in Atlanta, he developed a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand.

Starting games was a source of pride for Sasaki. When he agreed to try pitching in relief last year, he made the Dodgers promise him they would use him as a starter this season.

Sasaki didn’t require as much convincing when team officials started talking to him about a role change on the Dodgers’ recent trip to Cincinnati.

The Dodgers will use a four-man rotation in the playoffs, and they have four Cy Young Award-caliber pitchers in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tarik Skubal and Tyler Glasnow. Sasaki could do the math. If he was going to pitch in the postseason, it would be as a reliever.

“I think it’s important to make the roster,” Sasaki said.

Something else: The Dodgers kept their word about him starting games, and Sasaki wanted to repay them.

“In the first half of the season, they used me as a starter even when I wasn’t pitching well,” he said. 

Sasaki didn’t pitch more than five innings in any of his first five starts. His ERA at that point was 6.35. His fastball velocity was down and his command was non-existent.

The Dodgers would have been justified in removing him from the rotation.

They didn’t.

They could have sent him to the minor leagues.

They didn’t.

That meant something to Sasaki.

“This time,” Sasaki said, “I want to be able to contribute to the team in whatever shape.”

The feelings point to a growing trust that has developed between Sasaki and the Dodgers.

At this stage of the season last year, they didn’t seem to be on the same page. As he shined as their closer last October, Dodgers officials and coaches told stories about how they helped Sasaki rediscover his 100-mph fastball. Sasaki downplayed the team’s role in his resurgence, saying he figured out what he was doing wrong by watching videos of himself pitching in high school.

Sasaki is said to have become more open to instruction this season, which contributed to an improved fastball as well as the incorporation of a different variation of his signature forkball.

He is also physically stronger than he did last year. Fatigue was a factor for him in the postseason, and by the World Series, he looked like a spent cartridge. To close out Game 7 of the World Series, manager Dave Roberts went to Yamamoto, who was pitching his third inning in relief a day after making a six-inning start.

Sasaki looks more capable of shouldering a reliever’s schedule and workload.

Sasaki closing games in the upcoming postseason is “certainly an option,” manager Dave Roberts said. 

Edwin Diaz has worked his way back into ninth-inning consideration by posting three consecutive scoreless appearances since his return from his latest IL stint. Tanner Scott has been the Dodgers’ primary closer this season, but Roberts said there could be instances in which the left-hander is used earlier in games in high-leverage situations.

Sasaki said he would pitch whenever asked.

That could be determined by how he looks over this final week of the regular season. Roberts said he will likely pitch next on Friday in San Francisco.

This time around, there isn’t any hesitation on the part of Sasaki. This time around, he really wants to do this.

The Cleveland Guardians got a key win against the Boston Red Sox last night, leaving their magic number to clinch a postseason berth at two. What should Guardians’ fans be watching for starting with tonight’s primetime matchup with the Red Sox and Sonny Gray?

First, obviously, the Guardians are trying to beat Boston, again, while rooting for the Mariners to GET THEIR CRAP TOGETHER and beat the Astros and the Mets to remember they have a billion dollar roster for one more night and beat the Rangers again. If either of those events happen, the Guardians’ magic number reduces by one more. So… a win over the Red Sox and a loss by either Houston or Texas and Cleveland has punched their ticket to October baseball. The Astros will start Ethan Pecko who doesn’t strike anyone out and won’t be out there more than like three innings at the most, so, that helps, but the Mariners are starting George Kirby who has a 4.24 ERA. Come on, Seattle, play spoiler for those hated ‘Stros. The Mets will start Nolan McLean who is good and has a 3.18 ERA while the Rangers do a sort of bullpen game starting Cody Bradford who has a 4.19 ERA. So, there is hope all around here.

As for the Guardians tonight, they face old nemesis Sonny Gray. In the past three years, Gray has pitched 15 innings against the Guardians to the tune of an 0.60 ERA. It’s a small sample size! But, of course, Gray does have a 2.82 ERA this season. He is, unfortunately, very good. So, the Guardians will need to find a hero or two offensively. Petey Halpin hit a home run off Gray earlier this season; start him today. Give it a shot. Travis Bazzana has a .429 wOBA, Austin Hedges and Brayan Rocchio have .349 wOBA’s against him, and in 30 pitches seen Jo Adell has a .300 wOBA against him. Is that good? No. But it’s way better than the rest of the Guardians’ options have against Gray. It’s probably all mostly small sample size; Gray is just good and they need to put up good at-bats and come through with runners in scoring position.

ALSO, of course, it would be a good time right now for Foster Griffin to really put forth the kind of effort the Guardians were hoping for when they acquired him at the trade deadline. Unfortunately, the Red Sox do have a 107 wRC+ against LHP this season; however, they are missing Willson Contreras who was a big piece of that. They do still have bats who can provide some right-handed thump like Adley Rutschmann, Jahmai Jones, Trevor Story, Caleb Durbin, Nate Eaton, and Andruw Monastario. Griffin will have to find a way to keep them at bay for a while, and I suspect we will need a return scoreless appearance from Craig Yoho and no gopherballs tonight from Hunter Gaddis. The Red Sox for the season have been +4 runs above average when facing lefties against Griffin’s best pitch (the cutter), but they’ve been -0.6 against sinkers and -4.9 against changeups, so I’d see if Griffin can leverage those two offerings into some outs tonight if I were designing the gameplan.

Finally, of course, we ideally want the Guardians to find a way to hang on to their slim one-game lead in the AL Central and get the #2 seed in MLB’s postseason bracket, including the bye. BUT, the Chicago White Sox have the tiebreaker and they are playing the terrible Royals and then the even more terrible Colorado Rockies to end the year. Tonight, the White Sox will open with very good reliever Bryan Hudson and then go to Erick Fedde, who is a solid but not dominant arm. The Royals will start the very bad Seth Lugo with an ERA over 5. He has surrendered a .341 wOBA to the White Sox this year, which is also bad. BUT, the Royals scored 11 runs last night. Let’s hope they can do that again because they’ll probably need it. The Royals will start Randy Dobnak on Thursday and he has a 3.08 ERA (somehow!) and they’ll be facing the back end of the White Sox rotation… so that may be the best chance for Chicago to lose a game this series. The Guardians, however, will be facing lefty Ranger Suarez who is good… and will need David Fry and Jo Adell to make some noise in that one.

Pitching rotations are not set for the Astros and Rangers after today, but the Mets will throw Zac Thornton who has a 3.40 ERA against Texas on Thursday. Meanwhile, to face the Astros, the Athletics will throw Mason Barnett who is capable of a decent performance but not great, Jacob Lopez who is like Logan Allen but worse, Jack Perkins who has been very good his last two starts, and Brady Basso who hasn’t been good but whose expected numbers look better. The Athletics are bad, no doubt, but they do have a bit of kick to them and should be motivated to spoil things for big bad Houston. The Rangers wrap up their season with three versus the Twins, who should be throwing Joe Ryan one of those games, so that’s the one to steal.

For the Guardians, Travis Bazzana needs to find it again soon, we need some Playoff Rocchio and Hero Hosey, and the bullpen will have to hold up while Griffin, Joey Cantillo and Tanner Bibee finish strong. The team has been putting up good at-bats and finding a way. I believe they can continue to do so – we will see where they end up on Sunday evening!