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For the first eight innings of Thursday’s contest against the St. Louis Cardinals, the absence of Shohei Ohtani in the starting lineup was emphatically felt.

Ohtani had went 0-4 with four strikeouts during Wednesday’s 8-6 extra-inning loss to St. Louis, and the Dodgers decided to give him the night off. Although the offense floundered throughout most of Thursday, they were able to string together a ninth inning rally to walk off St. Louis 3-2.

As the Dodgers prepare to host the Washington Nationals for three games, the question of whether Ohtani will be back in the lineup or not remains undecided. Sonja Chen of MLB.com notes that a move to the injured list for the two-way superstar is unlikely, but the team will monitor his health over the final 22 games of the regular season.

“Right now, I would consider it unlikely,” Roberts said. “Unlikely, but not impossible.”

“I think it’s up to us to kind of figure out how we navigate these next three and a half, four weeks,” Roberts said. “But I’m very confident that we’ll see the guy we all expect to see.”

Teoscar Hernández was the one to send the Dodgers to a walk-off victory, with his two-run double helping the Dodgers avoid a sweep at the hands (or wings) of the Cardinals. Hernández capped off the series going 6-13 with two doubles and two RBI, and he spoke with Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA about what he was looking for from All-Star closer Riley O’Brien.

“First, I was just trying to be more patient. He was a little wild in that inning. Just trying to get focused on the middle of the plate and get a good pitch to hit… We know we’re not playing the best baseball that we know we can play. We know we’re not hitting we know we can hit. One thing they should know is that we’re going to go out, we’re going to battle, fight every at-bat and just try to win every game.”

Tarik Skubal helped the Cardinals collect a season-high 10 hits against him, but he held them in check for just two runs allowed over 5 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out six in another no-decision. Skubal spoke with Watson following the walk-off win about not having to adjust as much while fending off traffic and dealing with calls going against him.

“I think, early, the changeup was a little bit elevated. They put some good hits on it. At the end of the day, they were all singles, so it’s not like I needed to change my approach. It’s not like they were slugging anything. Just gotta stay true to myself. I bet there was 10-15 throws that were less than two inches off the plate both ways. If those were over the plate, then that’s 10-15 more strikes.”

The San Francisco Giants spent much of the year acting as though the waiver wire did not exist. But they’re now ending the season by trying to make up for lost time.

On Thursday, the team announced that it had claimed infielder Brett Harris off of waivers. Harris had been designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox two days prior. To make space for Harris on the 40-man roster, pitcher Keaton Winn was moved from the 15-Day Injured List to the 60-Day Injured List.

Harris, a 28-year old right-hander, was a seventh-round pick by the Athletics in 2021, out of Gonzaga. He made his MLB debut in 2024 and has played in the Majors for the A’s in each of the past three seasons, while also appearing in games for the Red Sox this year.

He’s never really been able to find his bat in the Majors, as he holds a career .192/.307/.286 slash line in 216 MLB plate appearances. But he’s done a good job working counts, and he plays very strong defense at third base, while also being able to handle first and second. He’s spent most of this year in AAA, where he’s hit .293/.405/.459 for a 119 wRC+ with both the A’s and Red Sox affiliates. The Giants optioned him to Sacramento, so he’ll get a chance to lace up cleats for three different AAA teams this year.

While Harris could find himself in the Majors with San Francisco this year, especially if Christian Koss, Osleivis Basabe, Shay Whitcomb, or Nate Furman were to suffer an injury, it’s highly unlikely that he survives the upcoming offseason roster crunch. The Giants have a whopping 14 players on the 60-Day IL currently, meaning their 40-man roster has 54 names on it. That number will have to get trimmed down to 40 when the season ends, and lower still when the team wants to make Rule 5 protections and sign free agents. And not only is Harris unproven, but he’ll be out of options after this season.

But adding Harris now gives the Giants some extra depth in the infield for the rest of the season. And it also gives them a good chance of slipping him through waivers in the offseason, and then outrighting him to Sacramento to keep him in the system.

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants kick off a three-game road series against the New York Mets today at 4:10 p.m. PT.

Though the current ultra-humid atmospheric soup we call “air” belies this observation, autumn is right around the corner. Before embarking on Labor Day plans later today, let’s widen the aperture from the Minnesota Twins and look around Major League Baseball to see how each division is shaping up for the stretch run…

AL Central

• We know the drill: the current 1st place club (Chicago White Sox) could technically still finish 5th while the current 5th place club (Kansas City Royals) could technically still finish 1st. Shake the container and maybe the Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, or our Twins could sort to the top. Your guess is as good as mine.

AL West

• The Houston Astros & Texas Rangers have spent the majority of summer’s dog days slightly leapfrogging each other for the top spot. But now after struggling all season long, the Seattle Mariners have re-emerged as a potential threat (5.0 GB). The rub: none of these teams are all that good. There is a very real chance the West crown could be captured with a sub-.500 record. Yuck.

AL East

• The American League has two solid squads—maybe three—and they all reside on the Eastern Seaboard. The Tampa Bay Rays have been the Junior Circuit’s premiere club all year, with the New York Yankees consistently 3-5 games back. The Boston Red Sox are probably a little too far out—7.5 GB—to make a division run, but they are locked into a Wild Card berth and will be a tough out in the tournament.

NL Central

• The Milwaukee Brewers have this one in the bag—the only remaining drama being whether they will procure the #1 National League seed and be able to unleash The Miz (Jacob Misiorowski) at home. The Chicago Cubs are also cruising to a WC slot thanks to Pete Crow-Armstrong’s MVP push.

NL West

• As per usual at this time of year, the Los Angeles Dodgers are not battling fellow West teams—they are trying to maul Milwaukee for that top bunk. Meanwhile, the San Diego Padres & Arizona Diamondbacks—two teams nearly 10 games above .500—are in a dogfight for the final Senior Circuit WC entry.

NL East

• As per their usual pattern, just when you think “the Atlanta Braves’ window has probably closed”, they make a legitimate title run (in the hunt with LAD & MIL for the top NL spot). However, those ever-pesky Philadelphia Phillies lurk just 4.0 GB. Whether as a wild card or division champ, the Fightin’ Kyle Schwarber’s will be a pernicious postseason opponent.

Have an enjoyable and safe holiday weekend. When you return to reality, the weather may cool down but one thing will be for certain: the pennant races will only be heating up!

Max posted the big news yesterday. A pair of Royals were given “of the month” titles: Jac Caglianone, Noah Cameron win AL honors for August

At The Star, Jaylon Thompson wrote about Caglianone:

On Thursday, Caglianone was recognized as the AL Player of the Month. He is the 13th different Royal to receive the monthly honor. Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. was the last player to do so. In 2024, he was named the AL’s top player for his July surge. Now, Caglianone joins him — alongside other Royals Hall of Famers such as George Brett, John Mayberry and Mike Sweeney.

And about Cameron:

On Thursday, Cameron was named the AL Pitcher of the Month for August. He joins Royals teammate Jac Caglianone — who was named AL Player of the Month.

It’s the fourth time a pair of Royals have swept the monthly awards. The last time was July 1985 when George Brett and Brett Saberhagen were recognized by the league.

He also profiled Nate Pearson:

“We’ve pursued him for a couple of years just because of the power,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “There’s stuff and if you look at our advanced analytics, there are things that jump off the page. … The fastball has always been an outlier and the slider is consistent. When he can be in the zone with his fastball, you can see what he can do.”

Michael Massey also got an award:

And there were also Queens of the Diamond:

Blog time!

Royals Keep named their Hitter of the Month and Pitcher of the Month. Considering the news above, those awards went to, you guessed it: Frank Stallone.

Also at Royals Keep, Kevin O’Brien lists their Royals Minor League Pitchers of the Month:

Albus is not a pitcher who’s going to generate much fanfare at first glance. He’s a 19th-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Abilene Christian, a Mid-Major school. He doesn’t cast an intimidating presence on the mound at 5’11, 180 pounds. Furthermore, the numbers have been fine, but not impressive, for a Minor League reliever.

Last season, he posted a 3.54 ERA in 61 IP with the Fireflies. This season, he has a 4.39 ERA in 26.2 IP with the River Bandits. Thus, it is easy to dismiss him as just “organizational bullpen depth.” However, he had an impressive August that should put Royals fans on notice.

In nine outings and 16.2 IP in August with Quad Cities, he posted a 1.08 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 1.84 FIP, and 29% K-BB%. He has looked in control on the mound, and his quick and efficient style is starting to pay dividends in High-A ball after an initial slow start. For context, Albus made some noise last year in Columbia with an eight-pitch immaculate inning back in late July.

Blog Roundup:

• Darin Watson at U.L.’s Toothpick: This Date In Royals History–1976 Edition: September 3 – Another quiet night on offense means a fifth straight loss
• Brian Burrows at Kings of Kauffman: 3 Royals with the most to prove in the final month of the season
• Trey Donovan at Kansas City Royals on SI: The Kansas City Royals Have Intriguing Relief Prospect in L.P. Langevin

It’s been a while since we’ve done “one-liner” movie reviews. They’re usually a lot longer, of late. However,  I haven’t had a lot of time to write up the movies I’ve watched over the summer. So here are the quick hits.

Casablanca (1942) – An excellent movie that is still very watchable today. What more can I say about it that hasn’t already been said over the last century? Amusingly, I watched this and the next one on a the same airplane trip.

The Day the Earth Blew Up (2024) – If you told competent people to make a Looney Tunes movie in 2024, this is what you’d get. It’s a little out of date, it takes a little liberty with the source material, and it’s a little looney. But I think the creative team loved the originals and did a good job modernizing it for a new audience. I want to see Coyote vs. Acme.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) – I’ve seen it a number of times, but never really watched it with a critical eye. Broderick and Ruck are great. It’s such an 80s movie in so many ways. The movie plays Ferris as the hero, despite him basically just being all ego and justifying it by saying he’s all doing it for Cameron (when he’s really not). The Chicago love letter is nice.

The Odyssey (2026) – Worth seeing in a theater, though we didn’t see it in IMAX or whatever. Feels kindof like Gladiator did when it came out back in 2000. Hand an excellent director good source material and a blockbuster budget and they deliver a blockbuster. Bonus points to Nolan for doing it with an “unfilmable” story.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) – This is the first MCU Spider-Man movie that felt like a Spider-Man movie rather than Peter Park, Junior Avenger (and Iron Man protege). As a Spider-Man fan, this was a nice new start after No Way Home was a celebration of the entire big screen franchise.

Clue (1985) – Have also seen it many times. For as big a cast as it has, it’s not quite as funny as it should be. But it’s really buoyed by Tim Curry’s manic energy. RIP.

Wicked (2024) – Deserving of its plaudits. Looks great, acted great, sounds great, and directed great.  Deserved to win more than 2 Oscars. I’m not a big musical guy, but that aspect only drags the movie a little in this half.  And it’s more than made up for by the spectacular bookend duo of “No One Mourns the Wicked” and “Defying Gravity”.

Wicked: For Good (2025) – There’s nothing terribly wrong with it. However, the payoff isn’t as satisfying or as clean as you hoped from the great setup.  Perhaps there was just too much going on in the first part and too much padding in the second part. You could cut it as they get on the train to Oz.  But if you did that, it would come at the cost of the there-aren’t-enough-superlatives “Defying Gravity” finale.

The Wizard of Oz (1939) –Like Casablanca, what more can I say about a classic that’s nearly a century old?Saw it twice this summer. The first time was at The Sphere in Las Vegas. I loved being able to see the scene where Oz bursts into Technicolor on the big screen. The second time I watched it was after we watched Wicked.

Masters of the Universe (2026) – I thoroughly enjoyed it. The comedy was good, it looked pretty, and there was a great earnestness in the whole endeavor. The plot was a little clunky and I’m not sure who thought it was a good idea to invest $200m on a mostly dormant and forgotten franchise. But if they make a She-Ra sequel, I’d watch

Masters of the Universe (1987) – Did not get to see because it was not on Amazon and I’m not paying for it. C’mon, Bezos – it can’t cost that much.

The Martian (2015) – This feel-good celebration of science is also deserving of its accolades. I think it would be impossible to not cut a few corners with science for the drama, but I think there’s an honest attempt to be mostly realistic.  Also, I thoroughly enjoy the problem-solving genre of “competence porn”, as this has been described.

Project Hail Mary (2026) – It’s hard to not compare this to “The Martian”. I think I liked the former a little more – it’s a bit more tangible, a bit less Treknobabble. However, this has the wonderful buddy pic dynamic that you don’t see as often in science fiction.

FYI: We started the MCU with our son last week. So expect those reviews to start trickling out over the next year, probably in phases.

Idina Menzel is an amazing singer who had kids singing “Let It Go” for a decade.  Her version of “Defying Gravity”, the initial well-known version, is a Broadway classic that has quotes like “silliest, most inspiring, most enduring song in recent Broadway history” splashed all over its Wikipedia page.  To reinvent it enough to make it a new classic for a new generation – it’s an amazing performance by Cynthia Erivo, accompanied by Ariana Grande. I wasn’t exaggerating when I called it superlative-defying above. I can’t get through the song without getting goosebumps at least a time or two from the raw vocal power.

Good morning.

• The ESPN dot com baseball writers pick the winners and losers in August.
• You already know about Pete Crow-Armstrong, but Max Clark has the other award winners for August.
• Jordan Schusterman has ten September call-ups that could have an impact in September.
• One call-up was Padres catcher Ethan Salas, who at age 20 became the youngest player to catch a major league game since Ivan Rodriguez.
• Keith Law has a scouting report on Salas and some other top prospects (The Athletic sub. req.) making their major league debuts this month.
• Jim Callis and Sam Dyskstra have each team’s hottest pitching prospect.
• One month after the Trade Deadline, people are looking back to see which moves are the best. Brian Murphy has the ten most impactful trade deadline deals.
• Bradford Doolittle has the trade deadline winners and losers, one month later.
• Dayn Perry has the best and worst deals of the trade deadline. Note that all three of them praise the Cubs’ acquisition of Clay Holmes.
• Bob Nightengale takes time to praise the Phillies acquisition of Luis Arráez and how he’s helping turn the Phillies season around.
• ESPN spoke anonymously to several current players about the CBA talks and their feelings about a salary cap. No one is out singing “The Internationale,” but the players are mostly united in their support of their union and its goals.
• Speaking of unions, the New York Times union demanded that The Athletic abandon talks to partner with the prediction market Kalshi.
• Returning to the biggest news of last time, Rhett Bollinger has answers all your questions about the Angels sale.
• Sam Blum has ten questions about the Angels sale. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Marcus D. Smith looks at the possibility that the Angels sale will lead to a new stadium.
• Sam Blum and Chris Kirschner talks to former Angels players about their reaction to the sale. (The Athletic sub. req.) It’s not in the article, but Arte Moreno made former Angels players pay their own way to the ceremony on the 20th anniversary of the 2002 World Series team.
• Ben Clemens offers his take on the sale and Arte Moreno’s disastrous reign as Angels owner.
• Jake Mintz believes that the FBI investigation into Dodgers owner Mark Walter will have a negative impact on the team, no matter what the outcome.
• Mike Axisa has some current trends in MLB as we approach the end of the season.
• Jay Jaffe notes that the Tigers have a chance to be the team that underperformed their Pythagorean Record by the most in the Wild Card era. He also tries to figure out why.
• The Nationals are approaching a major league record for most blown saves in a season. Gabe Lacques has the details.
• Jake Mintz asks if Braves outfield Ronald Acuña Jr. has finally returned to his superstar self.
• Michael Baumann looks at Braves ace Chris Sale’s dominating season and how he resurrected his career since coming to Atlanta.
• Sale is challenging Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski for the NL Cy Young Award, since Misiorowski has come back to earth recently. Kristie Ackert examines what’s been different lately for Misiorowski.
• Jason Foster notes that the favorites for the AL and NL Rookie of the Year Award are separating themselves from the pack.
• Jackson Stone argues that Reds first baseman Sal Stewart should run away with the NL honors.
• Ken Rosenthal agrees and backs Stewart for Rookie of the Year. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is playing through and injury and struggling. Fabian Ardaya asks how much longer can the Dodgers keep Ohtani in the lineup. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Jay Jaffe has some thoughts about position players pitching.
• Jared Greenspan has ten of the greatest seasons in major league history.
• And finally, check out this amazing high school baseball field carved into a mountainside in Kentucky.

One of the strengths of the Colorado Rockies this season has been their ability to come back and win games late. They’ve been able to come up clutch and overcome deficits, making baseball more fun this season.

Including Wednesday’s 11th-inning walk-off victory, the Rockies have come from behind to win 33 games (compared to 30 last season). It’s a big reason why the Rockies have 11 more wins than they earned in 2025 with 23 games left on the schedule.

However, August didn’t go as well. It wasn’t the worst month of the season record-wise, though. That distinction belongs to May when the Rockies went 8-20, but August was close behind at 9-19.

Because the Purple Row community is awesome, you gave us a great idea to break down:

ArkieRockie, you are 100% right.

The Rockies have been able to cash in with runners in scoring position this season, but that significantly dropped off last month. Overall, the Rockies are in the middle of the pack at No. 12 with a .256 batting average with RISP. They rank No. 13 in average runners left on base per game at 6.8. In August, the Rockies hit .210 with RISP, which was the worst in MLB for the month. Their average number of runners left on base in August jumped to 7.47 per game.

There’s no clear answer as to why production with RISP was so bad. Like most things in life, it’s complicated.

With runners at second and/or third, the Rockies walked more — which is good — but struck out more, too — which hurts. Hitting into eight double plays isn’t very helpful, either.

At the same time, if you examine when the Rockies couldn’t come up with that big hit to bring runners home, it happened a lot in close games. The Rockies lost eight games by two or fewer runs in August. In those close losses, the Rockies went 9-for-59 with RISP. That’s an absolutely abysmal .153 batting average. They also left 59 runners on base for an average of 7.5 per game.

Can you imagine a timely hit in three or four of those eight games? If that’s three more wins, perhaps it breaks up that gnarly seven-game losing streak in the middle of the month or the five-game skid to end the month.

When it comes to individual Rockies, it helps to see who has been the best Colorado batter to have at the plate when the team needs runs. The answer is three Rockies: TJ Rumfield,Jake McCarthy and Troy Johnston.

When it comes to RISP, Rumfield is tops with a .336 batting average and has the second most RBIs at 47. McCarthy has driven in the most runs with 57, with an impressive .321 average. Johnston is hitting .330 with 40 RBIs.

In August, Rumfield walked 19 times, seven more times than any other month this season. If he’s drawing more walks, then he’s also not driving as many in with hits. While McCarthy is still hitting well, his RBIs dropped from 22 in July to 11 in August. Johnston’s playing time has decreased in the past two months, giving him fewer at-bats, which could also hurt Colorado’s RISP performance.

There are likely dozens of other factors that came together to make a perfect storm of RISP despair.

The good news is that September is off to a better start. In the Rockies win over Baltimore on Sept. 1, Rumfield homered with Mickey Moniak on second and McCarthy singled with Veen on third. Colorado went 2-for-11 with RISP and left nine on base, but they held the Orioles to 0-for-3 with RISP and stranded eight runners.

In the walk-off win on Wednesday, McCarthy hit an RBI triple, Cole Carrigg singled with Goodman on third, Zac Veen doubled with Carrigg on second, and Rumfield, Adael Amador and Brett Sullivan were all clutch in the 11th inning. They went 4-for-11 with RISP, leaving eight runners on base.

If the Rockies want to avoid 100 losses and build momentum to carry into 2027, they’ll need to rebound in September and return to their above-average production with RISP.

On the farm

Triple-A: Tacoma Rainiers 9, Albuquerque Isotopes 8 (10)

Roc Roggio hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th, but it wasn’t enough to complete a come-from-behind win on Thursday night. The game went back and forth from the beginning when Tacoma jumped out to a 1-0 lead and Albuquerque rallied back in the bottom of the frame to go up 3-1 when Drew Avans homered, Sterlin Thompson hit an RBI double and Roggio hit an RBI single.

When Thompson hit a two-run double in the eighth, the Istopes went up 8-6. But the Rainers tied it up in the ninth and scored three runs in the top of the 10th to come out on top. Roggio and Conner Capel finished with three hits each and Tyler Freeman doubled, walked and scored two runs.

Double-A: Reading Fightin’ Phils 10, Hartford Yard Goats 5

A six-run sixth inning gave Reading a 9-2 lead and the Yard Goats weren’t able to come back on Thursday night. Kyle Karros went 1-for-2 with a walk, an RBI and a strikeout in his first rehab start since going on his second stint on the IL after suffering a concussion on Aug. 12. Jack O’Dowd hit a two-run homer and doubled, Dyan Jorge hit an RBI single and drove in another run with a fielder’s choice and Roynier Hernandez added two hits.

High-A: Everett AquaSox 5, Spokane Indians 2

Everett’s Anthony Donofrio tripled with the bases loaded in the fourth inning to put the AquaSox up 4-0. After six innings, they increased the lead to 6-0, partially thanks to two Spokane errors. The Indians actually out-hit Everett 6-5, but only managed to score two runs. The first came in the eighth inning when Roldy Brito led off with a single and Robert Calaz doubled to prevent the shutout. Spokane got another base runner when Tommy Hopfe walked, but two strikeouts and a groundout ended the inning. In the ninth, Kelvin Hidalgo walked and Max Belyeu doubled to drive him in.

Low-A: San Jose Giants 8, Fresno Grizzlies 5

Completing a night when the Rockies farm system was swept, Fresno got behind 7-1 after three innings and wasn’t able to rally enough to come back. Cort MacDonald hit a two-run home run, Daniel Jackson hit a solo homer, and Ashly Andujar added an RBI single and sac fly. Both Jackson and Andujar recorded two hits for the Grizzlies.

Connor Norby finally faces foe from 2024 trade | Purple Row

Connor Norby is making a splash with the Rockies, despite just playing in 21 games since being traded to Colorado from Miami for RHP Victor Vodnik Aug. 3. He’s got an interesting backstory from his days with the Marlins, which includes the infielder recently playing against the player he was traded for in 2024: Trevor Rogers.

Ranking the 10 most impactful Trade Deadline moves, one month later | MLB.com

The Rockies don’t often make national, positive top-10 lists, but they did this time. And it’s for the trade in which Colorado acquired Connor Norby at the trade deadline. The infielder reached base in his first 16 games with the Rockies and has put up impressive numbers in all 21 games in purple.

Goodman already has history under his belt, but more is in reach | MLB.com

With 36 homers, Hunter Goodman could go beyond the Rockies homer record for a catcher in a single season, which he already owns, to join an exclusive club of National League catchers who hit or passed the 40-HR mark. He just needs four more before the season comes to a close at the end of this month.

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

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 10, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins) 9 — F/10

The Jumbo Shrimp struck for two in the top of the tenth, but Norfolk walked it off in the bottom half. José Barrero trimmed the lead to one with a base hit, and Brandon Butterworth stepped in with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. With the infield playing in, Butterworth lined a ball up the middle. Both runs scored without a throw, and the Tides bested the Jumbos 10-9.

Barrero went a game-best 4-for-5 with a two-run home run. Enrique Bradfield Jr. finished 2-for-5 with a double, and Bryan Ramos ended the day 2-for-4 with a solo shot. Jud Fabian singled, doubled and scored three of Norfolk’s 10 runs.

Starter Trace Bright continued to struggle at Triple-A. Bright allowed seven earned runs over the first three innings. Dietrich Enns limited Jacksonville to three hits over three scoreless innings. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.

Double-A: Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox) 5, Chesapeake Baysox 4

On the night the Adley Rutschman returned to Camden Yards, Anthony Eyanson delivered six strong innings against his former team. Eyanson limited the Sea Dogs to one solo homer. He struck out eight batters without issuing a free pass and dropped his ERA to 2.00 through five Chesapeake starts.

Eyanson exited with the Baysox leading 4-1, but the bullpen let this one slip away. Richard Guasch coughed up two. Tyson Neighbors allowed the tying run to score, and Micah Ashman surrendered the fifth and final run.

Griff O’Ferrall and Vance Honeycutt both finished 3-for-5 from the top two spots in the order. Both Ethan Anderson and Anderson De Los Santos finished 2-for-4. Colin Tuft game Chesapeak a 2-1 lead with a solo shot in the second.

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets) 12, Frederick Keys 5

The Cyclones broke this one open with a five-run eighth. Starter Boston Bateman allowed three runs over three innings. Stephen Still allowed four more (three earned), and Cohen Achen gave up the big inning.

Enddy Azocar—another member of the Rutschman deal—finished 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Yasmil Bucce drove in three with a majority of the damage coming on a two-run home run. Ryan Stafford shined from the nine-hole going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Low-A: Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 13, (White Sox) Delmarva Shorebirds 0

Delmarva was outhit 14-5 in an absolute dud. Looking for a bright spot? Stiven Martinez tripled in the sixth inning. Adriander Mejía had already reached base with a leadoff walk, but he was erased on a double play before Martinez delivered Delmarva’s only extra-base hit. Obviously the Shorebirds stranded Martinez at third.

The Shorebirds committed four errors during the game. Only seven of the 13 runs were earned.

Box scores

Friday’s Schedule

Norfolk: vs Jacksonville, 6:35. Starter: Michael Forret (1-4, 5.40 ERA)

Chesapeake: vs Portland, 7:05 pm. Starter: JT Quinn (1-0, 3.46 ERA)

Frederick: at Brooklyn, 6:40 pm. Starter: Twine Palmer (4-4, 3.91 ERA)

Delmarva: at Kannapolis, 7:00 pm. Starter: Braden Smith (0-0, 2.70 ERA)

If you frequent Over The Monster, you may already know I absolutely detest MLB’s bloated current playoff format. Way too many teams get in, you can win your division and end up not making the LDS, and the September spotlight strays away from the spectacular squads who spent the first 130 games proving themselves to alternatively focus on flawed teams trying muster 83 wins and grab the final Wild Card spot. Nasty, nasty stuff!

But I’m not here to complain about the overarching gripes I have with the system today, or at least not as much as I usually do. Instead, I want to dive into another bizarre byproduct of this increasingly swollen playoff structure, and how the Red Sox may be positioning themselves to take advantage of it. Specially, I want to underscore how baseball in 2026 is more about small sample size, readiness, rest, and randomness than it’s ever been in its history.

You’d never know it by the way we talk about baseball now — WAR, wOBA, wRC+, BABIP, xFIP, and every other stat that needs a large sample size to normalize dominates the conversation — but in terms of being one of the last teams standing in the middle of October, being good at the right time is increasingly more effective than being good a majority of the time.

So before we join the Red Sox and go to meet the baseball devil, we have to stop and take a moment to marvel at the irony. In an age where we can calculate everything to the point that 99% of the audience will stop caring about the details in the quest to create the best team on paper, having the best team on paper over 162 games has actually never mattered less.

We can track exit velocities and spin rates, we can track arm angles and run production, we can track defensive metrics and zone ratings, and then we can add it all up, throw it in a formula that would make an MIT grad blush, and determine who the best of the best are in a league of large sample samples. That’s all great, except for the fact that having the best team isn’t necessarily how you get to the World Series anymore.

Instead, it’s more about having the hottest and healthiest players over a very specific window. It’s a road the sport’s been trending down for the better part of the last 30 years, but thanks to the gluttonous owners and their dopey third Wild Card that was specifically spawned to salivate their insatiable search for more money, we’ve arrived in baseball hell.

For most of MLB history, the most direct (and really only) path to get near the World Series was to win as many regular season games as possible. But now, the path to and through the playoffs involves this awkward two step process we really haven’t ironed out yet.

1)Don’t suck! (Just be a handful of games over .500 in the regular season and you’re probably getting in the playoffs.)

2) Play your best baseball for somewhere between three and eight games spread over a twelve day stretch when the regular season ends.

I don’t think we talk anywhere near enough about how ridiculous that second bullet is in determining a champion. Once you’ve got a team on paper that can win 85 or more games (a pretty low bar), surviving that klutzy corner of the calendar where the schedule resembles anything but a typical baseball stretch for a fortnight becomes orders of magnitude more important for your chances of winning a World Series than adding regular season wins to you total. It sucks, but it’s very much the reality.

In terms of strategy, being one of the twelve best teams in the sport over 162 games isn’t all that difficult — or at least not compared to what it’s taken to make the playoffs in the past — But being specifically good over a less than two week stretch where you may have more off days than game days is quite a sticky wicket, and it flies right in the face of conventional baseball wisdom.

So with that, what type of team on paper would be best equipped to handle such a strange stretch of baseball? Here’s a list of items that comes to my mind from the pitching side:

• Elite starting pitching at the top of the rotation.
• Healthy starting pitching at the top of the rotation.
• Rested starting pitching at the top of the rotation.
• Elite relief pitching at the back of the bullpen.
• Healthy relief pitching at the back of the bullpen.
• Rested relief pitching at the back of the bullpen.

And here’s a much more complicated list from the positional side:

• Power in your lineup.
• Situationally aware players in your lineup.
• Clutch players in your lineup.
• Guys who can lock in / get in a groove quickly from regular to postseason game atmospheres in your lineup.
• Guys who can make adjustments with two strikes in your lineup.
• Healthy players in your lineup.
• Rested players (but not too rested) in your lineup.
• Speed and strong platoon options on your bench.

Doesn’t this largely sum up the Red Sox September dilemma? They don’t really have a healthy or rested roster right now, but it sure looks like they’re hell bent on getting one by the time September 29th rolls around, even if that means letting go of the rope a few times during a stretch that historically means pennant chase.

Garrett Whitlock to the IL to get some rest in late August? Sure. Tyron Guerrero the same right now? Why not? Push Sonny Gray back in the rotation? Yep! Align Payton Tolle’s starts so that he’ll have an extra off day all the way through the end of the season and be perfectly positioned to start Game 2 of a Wild Card series? Absolutely!

Did you purchase tickets to Tuesday’s game and get to see Jedixson Paez give up eight runs in 3.2 innings? That’s too bad, but the Red Sox weren’t making that one a priority.

On Wednesday, Dan Secatore wrote a great piece here on OTM about Adley Rutschman’s nagging elbow injury and how it’s important to beware of trade deadline hype. Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s still Okay to get hyped if you believe that suffering through Connor Wong for a bunch of games now means you might get a big playoff performance from Rutschman in a few weeks. I don’t care if Rutschman bats half his weight for the Sox in the regular season if helps him go 3-5 with a home run on September 29th. And I don’t care if he rests his elbow now if it better allows him to throw out the potential tying run in the ninth inning at second base on September 30th. Small sample size baby! That’s the game we’ve been reduced to.

Yesterday, our own Tim Crowley even took it one step further and went on to ponder if falling to the No. 6 seed would give the Red Sox an easier path through the playoffs. Again, all this is made possible because of the safety net of the completely unnecessary third Wild Card.

Oh, and as dirty as this feels, I can’t even blame the club for these actions. Just two weeks ago, I wrote about how Willson Contreras should’ve been put on the IL to rest up for when the games matter more. This is the reality when FanGraphs gives you a 97.1 percent chance to make the playoffs, but just a 0.3 percent chance to win the division.

Because do you know what else FanGraphs says about Boston’s chances? They have a 6.5 percent chance to win the World Series (over 20 times higher than their chances of winning the division). So you’re better off trying to fatten up those odds by prioritizing health and rest in September when the other two figures are virtual locks.

Again, it’s not really baseball, it doesn’t feel right on the night’s you’re doing it, and there’s no guarantee it’s even going to work, but if you think it’s going to bump your World Series odds, you get out your quill and sign the pact with the baseball devil.

Oh, and while we’re down this portal to hell, do you want to really get in the sheets with Satan? How about rooting for the Yankees? Currently, New York is just 3.0 games behind the Rays for the AL East lead with a SIGNIFICALLY easier schedule. Not only do the Rays still have to play Texas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Houston and Boston, but they also have a four game set with the Yankees at Yankee Stadium near the end of the month in games 156 through 159.

If the Yankees draw close enough, Tampa and New York being better than the Red Sox over 162 games could actually work to Boston’s advantage if they each end up burning resources during the final few games of the season trying to win the division. The Red Sox meanwhile can spend that weekend exchanging love letters with the Cubs admiring how awesome each of their ballparks are and end up fully rested up for Tuesday, September 29th.

I don’t know if it will work, but I do know those first two legs of the MLB postseason are a complete mayhem machine, and figuring out how best to survive MLB’s crunch from twelve teams to four is the new holy grail of championship building. The sport has thoroughly and publicly figured out how good baseball teams are built in large sample size, but it hasn’t figured it out in small sample size yet.

Again, I don’t know exactly what that’s going to look like (nobody does), but I can take a guess; and it’s pretty clear the 2026 Red Sox are trying to align themselves to tackle that puzzle. It’s no longer about the marathon, it’s about positioning and peaking at a very specific moment. The Sox are trying to do this with a bunch of things we can see above the surface, and I’d bet my bottom dollar they’re also doing it with things we can’t see below the surface.

That’s the story of September. That’s the deal they’re making with the baseball devil. The sins may come with a very hefty price tag for throwing away some of these games down the stretch, but if the Red Sox do manage to punch their playoff ticket, navigate through the mess, and make it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series, it will all appropriately pay off on Halloween night. That’s just the sort of thing a baseball fanatic might sell their soul for.