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Record: 79-69. Pace: 86-76. Change on 2025: +6.

In the middle of the fifth inning, this looked like another one of those Diamondbacks games, which have been all too common lately. They were trailing 1-0 to the Rangers, starter Merrill Kelly was out, and the team had never really looked like scoring. But they then exploded for nine runs in the fifth and sixth innings, to give Arizona their biggest offensive production since August 28. It was a much-needed start to the last home-stand of the season, allowing the D-backs to keep pace with the Padres, and close a game on the Phillies. In individual marks, Corbin Carroll hit his 20th home-run of the season, and Justin Martinez threw just the fifth immaculate inning in franchise history.

The first inning was quick on both ends, Kelly and MacKenzie Gore, who threw eight innings of one-run ball against Arizona in Texas, needed only 20 pitches between them to get the first six outs. However, Kelly’s second inning was a real grind, as he struggled to locate his change-up, missing his spots by a wide margin. He was getting ahead of the hitters: four of the five batters faced went 0-2, and the other was 1-2. But there were then three full counts, two walks, and a total of 31 pitches thrown. As zeros go, it was about the least convincing one possible. A pair of one pitch outs in the third helped get Merrill somewhat back on track.

It was only temporary, however. After a 1-2-3 fourth, Kelly recorded only one out in the fifth, and that was on a sacrifice bunt. After a lead-off walk, and that sacrifice, he hit the next batter, and an RBI double into the right-field corner brought home the game’s first run, giving Texas a 1-0 lead. With men on second and third and one out, they threatened to score more, and Torey Lovullo had a quick hook. Kelly’s night was over after just 4.1 innings and 80 pitches, allowing one run on two hits and three walks with three K’s. Kevin Ginkel inherited the jam, and performed magnificently, stranding both runners on a just shallow enough fly and groundout, around another HBP to load the bases.

In hindsight, that proved to be the night’s turning point, because the Arizona offense finally showed up. Jordan Lawlar got things going with a double, Ryan Waldschmidt walked, and after Ildemaro Vargas failed to bunt them over, he slapped a ground-rule double to left-field instead, tying up the game. Ketel Marte then extended his hitting streak to nine games since coming off the injured (and restricted) list, with the third double in four batters, which made it 3-1 to Arizona and chased Gore. Gabriel Moreno then singled Marte home, making it 4-1. The D-backs loaded the bases before Lawlar grounded out in his second at-bat of the inning.

We then got to see something very special in the top of the fifth. Martinez took over from Ginkel, and threw the ultimate shutdown frame, in the shape of an immaculate inning: nine pitches, nine strikes, three strikeouts (above). These are rare: less common than no-hitters or hitting for the cycle, with just 123 instances since the feat was first recorded in 1889. It was the fifth immaculate inning in franchise history – here’s the full list:

• Randy Johnson, August 23, 2001 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
• Byung-Hyun Kim, May 11, 2002 vs. Philadelphia Phillies
• Wade Miley, October 1, 2012 vs. Colorado Rockies
• Michael Soroka, March 30, 2026 vs. Detroit Tigers
• Justin Martinez, September 11, 2026 vs. Texas Rangers

Yes, that’s the second immaculate inning thrown by a Diamondback this season. Though that fact is probably less impressive than the Astros’ Luis Garcia and Phil Maton, who threw their immaculates in the same game, against the same Rangers on June 15, 2022. Actually, the same three batters – Nathaniel Lowe, Ezequiel Durán and Brad Miller – were struck out in both frames. None of them were involved tonight: Durán is the only hitter to have been a part of three immaculate innings.

The Arizona offense came right back out in their half of the sixth, and tacked on five more runs. Waldschmidt was hit by a pitch, and one out later, Marte notched another RBI double, to make it 5-1 to Arizona. Moreno singled Marte home for the second inning in a row (6-1), and after the second out, Corbin Carroll hit his 20th home-run of the season, making it 8-1. As Preston noted on Twitter, Corbin is the first player ever with multiple 20 HR, 20 SB, 15 3B seasons. Nolan Arenado then followed with his team-leading 24th home-run to finish off the scoring for the Diamondbacks, with their ninth and final run.

The remainder of the game was largely a procession. Old “friend” Jordan Montgomery shambled out of the Rangers bullpen to pitch mop-up. Or, as kilnborn put it in the GDT, “And the Rangers decide to put a non-pitcher on the mound, since they’re down by 8+.” He retired all six batters faced, which would normally have been a point of pain. But by that point, my third cider was kicking in, and I couldn’t give a damn. Vargas, Marte, Moreno and Arenado all had two-hit games. Marte now has an .838 OPS since returning to the field, which seems solid enough to me. Hopefully, tonight might get Carroll, and the bats in general going consistently.

Click for details at Fangraphs
Never forget: Ildemaro Vargas, +19%
God Bless America: Ginkel, +14%; Marte, +11%
Never remember: Corbin Carroll, -5%

A very entertaining Gameday Thread, though that may partly be the cider talking. So apologize for any typos! I’m going off the rec path tonight, and giving it to Prof, for a comment which ended up being highly prophetic, in a discussion about whether or not Arizona leave more people on base than other teams (answer: no).

Ask, and ye shall receive… As mentioned, the Padres won, but the Phillies lost. That keeps the D-backs one-half game back of the Padres, with the Phillies and Cubs now level, three games in front of the Diamondbacks. After that solid start to the series, we’ll reconvene tomorrow for an earlier game – 5:10 pm – with Brandon Pfaadt on the mound for Arizona.

Wow. It took an extra inning for it to be decided but the A’s came out on top thanks to some late-game heroics from an unexpected hero. The Athletics took the first game of the series against the Mariners, walking them off en route to a 6-5 victory. Seattle’s playoff hopes are on life support.

Springs solid again

The A’s had veteran southpaw Jeffrey Springs on the bump tonight. It’s no secret he’s in the final month donning the Green & Gold but there’s no reason his tenure has to end on a low note.

Springs had literally just seen these guys, pitching against them within the past week. That start was in Seattle though and he’s been much better on the road. How would he do against them in the hitters ballpark that is the Athletics’ current home?

Seattle struck first tonight, going small-ball to bring in a run in the first against Springs to give the M’s a quick lead. They’d go small-ball again in the second for their second run, pushing across that baserunner off a groundout. That was all the damage Seattle could muster tonight against the lefty though as he would toss three more innings without allowing another run.

• Jeffrey Springs: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 94 pitches

The veteran did his job tonight and departed with a chance at a victory. His bullpen would let him down yet again but he did what he needed to do, which is impressive considering his year in Sacramento. He’s lined up to take on the Rays next time out, a much tougher opponent.

Offense musters just enough

On the other side of the ball, the Athletics’ offense was going up against Mariners righty George Kirby, a familiar foe for the A’s in the past few years. While Seattle was able to get a quick run against Springs, the A’s pushed across two against Kirby in the first inning. Rookie outfielder Henry Bolte got things started with a single then promptly stole second base (his 20th of the year). Veteran Jeff McNeil followed him up with an RBI double, and that was soon followed by an RBI single off the bat of Max Muncy:

After just two batters the A’s had tied this game, and a couple more and we’d take the lead (briefly). Seattle tied it up but that was only for a short time.

A couple innings later, Lawrence Butler stepped to the plate with a runner on and delivered the big blast of the game, a two-run shot to make it a 4-2 A’s lead:

That was home run #14 on the year for Butler, and one that the A’s desperately needed. That’d power the offense for the next few frames as the rest of the lineup struggled to add on.

Mariners fight back

After Springs’ night was done, manager Mark Kotsay turned to right-hander Scott Blewett. Just like his name would suggest, tonight he blew it as he’d allow Seattle to tie this game right back up with a two-run home run in the sixth. It was now 4-4 with just a few more innings to go.

A couple of uneventful innings took this one to extras, giving Seattle an advantage to get that go-ahead run. The A’s almost got out of the top of the tenth without allowing the ghost runner to score but a two-out hit brought him home to give Seattle their first lead since the first. The A’s were down and they only had three outs to make some magic happen.

Time to go home!

Down a run. Down to their last three outs. The A’s needed a big hit to at least keep this game going. Well, Donovan Walton wanted to get home early it seems. Leading off the bottom of the tenth with a man on second the journeyman connected on a walk-off two-run home run, sending the A’s home winners:

Now that’s how you play spoiler. Tonight might have been the stake through Seattle’s heart and we’re all about it. Two wins in a row for the A’s and we’re now a full 3 1/2 games over the Angels in the AL West. The little wins.

The series continues tomorrow night, same time same place. It’ll be left-hander Gage Jump taking the ball for the home squad while the M’s will counter with Bay Area native Bryan Woo. Should be a good one!

Orioles 7 Jays 4

This one couldn’t have gone much worse.

Dylan Beavers homered on the second pitch of the game.

Then, in the bottom of the first, the Jays had two on and one out, and Vladimir Guerrero was picked off first—just bad baseball. With a runner on second, he wasn’t going anywhere. It looked like the Orioles put a play on: pitch low and outside to the right-handed-hitting Alejandro Kirk and catch Samuel Basallo throws straight to first. Vlad was out, and it wasn’t close.

The second inning was even worse. The Orioles started the inning with four straight singles (2-0). Then a double (4-0). And another single (6-0). After that, Max Scherzer got the next 12 outs without giving up a hit. Barn doors and horse.

Max Scherzer ended up going 5 innings, allowing 7 hits, 6 earned runs, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. The only good thing was he ate 5 innings.

The Jays got a run in the fourth, a Kazuma Okamoto home run (his 31st of the season).

One more in the sixth: Nathan Lukes led off with a single, Okamoto doubled. And Andrés Giménez drove in the run with a groundout.

And two more in the ninth. With two outs, Ernie Clement doubled, and Brett Bateman homered 7-4 after that. We got singles from George Springer and Vlad, to bring the tying run to the plate. But Kirk ground out to end the game.

That, and a Guardians win, puts the Jays two games back of the last Wild Card spot.

We had 10 hits. Bateman had 3, including the home run. Springer and Okamoto (with a home run) had 2 each. Kirk, Smith and Giménez had 0 fors.

Ricky Tiedemann, Braydon Fisher (giving up a run), Paul Sewald and Brendon Little each pitched an inning of relief.

Jay of the Day: Let’s give it to Okamoto (0.08 WPA, for a 2 for 4, home run).

Other Award: Scherzer (-0.34), and let’s give one to Vlad (-0.04 plus the base-running mistake.

Tomorrow we have Kyle Bradish (7-13, 3.91) vs. Spencer Miles (as opener) and Spencer Arrighetti (as bulk guy).

We still aren’t at the ‘have to run the table’ point, but it is getting closer.

On the upside, we had a very nice supper for my middle son’s birthday. All three of our boys came out, and it was a very nice evening.

This may come as somewhat of a shock, but the White Sox lost again Friday night. I know, who could’ve seen it coming that the team that has looked like a dumpster fire since late August would once again do everything possible to lose a game.

I don’t even know how to feel, but I do know I feel numb. Just another game where the White Sox gave false hope, had plenty of opportunities to grab the win, and instead tripped over their own feet and got caught with their pants around their ankles.

It’s usually a great sign to get a homer on the first pitch of the game, which Chase Meidroth did later than usual thanks to a 70-minute “rain delay” to start the game. That was followed by a Randal Grichuk double, six total bases on three pitches that got fans hopeful that the team wouldn’t completely choke. Unfortunately, the starting burst was followed by a weak ground out and two awful at-bats that ended in strikeouts.

Say I’m a pessimist or “not a real fan,” I don’t care; anybody that’s been following this team lately with a pulse knew what kind of game we were in store for. It was at that time I started checking the score of the Cleveland Guardians, game knowing what was bound to happen. Like a fool who believed in the White Sox, I also believed that maybe the Guardians wouldn’t pull a win out of their hat late.

As we kept our eyes on the Cleveland score, the White Sox immediately gave back a run in the first. They never like holding a lead for long, and what are the White Sox if not predictable?

Then they gave up a run in the second. Then they gave up another run in the third. Then they gave up another run in the fourth. Anthony “Kiss of Death” Kay strikes again, ladies and gentlemen.

Sure they were down 3-2 in the fifth, but they had the bases loaded! Surely they have to come through in the clutch at some point right?!

Wrong again.

Tristan Peters pinch-hit for Brenton Doyle and looked so bad Will Venable might as well have had himself suit up and take a few pitches. Seriously, this team is hitting less than .200 this month. Even crazier, the White Sox have one sacrifice fly in their last 50 opportunities, back on August 22 against the New York Mets.

It was right at that time that Sox fans everywhere probably scoreboard-watched to see that the Guardians mounted a late comeback to escape with another victory. I would go over the rest of the White Sox game but it just followed the same script it has for the last few weeks, so why bother? The White Sox had some inconsequential hits, immediately failed when anyone got into scoring position, and the opposing team coasted to a win. Congrats, I just described each loss since the All-Star break, ho-hum.

It’s so predictable that I legitimately typed up the first half of the previous paragraph, saw they had the bases loaded with one out and didn’t bat an eye returning to this writeup knowing they’d find a way to blow it. Would it shock you to hear that the White Sox immediately struck out on an awful pitch and then flew out to score zero runs in another prime opportunity?

I don’t even know if mad is the term to describe the feelings towards the White Sox right now. It’s more of a disbelief than anything else. For the last two weeks or so, the same exact scenario has played out every day. It’s like a baseball version of “Groundhog Day,” except there’s no happy ending.

The one positive from this game was that the White Sox didn’t give too much false hope. The bullpen *cough cough* Trevor Richards *cough* melted down faster than Bobby Knight in the 1980s.

The White Sox still hold a lead in the division and are in a playoff spot right now, but just one glance at our game thread tells you that confidence is as low as possible for a team in first place, being chase by another mediocrity. Hopefully the White Sox can still find a way to sneak into the playoffs, one way or another. At this point, however, I don’t know who they’re going to be able to beat to get in there. At least we have the weekend?

MVP
Chase Meidroth: 2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB, K

Runners-Up
Randal Grichuk: 2-for-4, 2B, K
Jake Rogers: 0-for-0, 2 BB, willing to shave his walrus stache in order to get the White Sox out of their hirsute slump
Kyle Teel: 2-for-2

Cold Cat
Trevor Richards: 2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K

Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-4, BB, 3 K
Braden Montgomery: 0-for-4
Anthony Kay: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K, LOSS (9-9)
Miguel Vargas: 1-for-5, SB, crazy hustle on a missed foul pop which at least indicated some heart

The Texas Rangers scored a run but the Arizona Diamondbacks scored nine runs.

It’s pretty ironic that in the span of about an hour, the 2026 Texas Rangers were laid to rest at Chase Field.

I’ve watched nearly 150 games of this baseball team this season and have written about how a moment or sequence was “like the entire season in a nutshell” so often that I’m pretty sure I’ve developed a peanut allergy.

How about we try this sequence on for size:

In a 0-0 game in the top of the fifth, Skip Schumaker offered up a free out by asking Nicky Lopez to bunt before the Rangers scored the first run of the game off last season’s failed savior Merritt Kelly only to see the middle of the order leave the bases loaded and viciously squeeze all the air out of the balloon despite the fresh lead.

In the bottom of the inning, MacKenzie Gore, whose starts have bled together at such a predictable cadence that it has begun to feel like he has given up four runs in some random inning every other day for these last six months, allowed a double, walk, ground-rule double, and then go-ahead two-run double without collecting an out.

Schumaker finally saw enough and brought in Jakob Junis, who you may recall allowed four runs without registering an out in yesterday’s tragedy. Junis immediately allowed the fourth run to score.

Now down 4-1, if you’re wondering if Texas showed some fight or pride after a demoralizing but familiar turn of events, the answer is a resounding no. Instead, they saw nine pitches and they went for nine strikes for an immaculate inning with each strikeout coming via a swing and miss each more pathetic than the last.

In the bottom of the inning, the Diamondbacks scored five more runs.

Pass the Planters.

Player of the Game: Josh Sborz.

Up Next: The Rangers will be on the field for a baseball game tomorrow in Arizona. Or maybe it will be a wake. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm CDT.