On the first day of September in 2024, Aroldis Chapman was toiling away on the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates en route to a below-average season with a 3.79 ERA and 14 saves in 19 appearances.
Twelve months later, Chapman was meeting with reporters at Fenway Park as one of the best closers in baseball to discuss his new contract extension with the Boston Red Sox, which will pay him $13.3 million in 2026 and includes a vesting option for 2027.
Chapman’s turnaround has been remarkable; at age 37 and in his 16th season, he boasts a 1.02 ERA with a microscopic 0.660 WHIP and 76 strikeouts in 53 innings. He hasn’t allowed an earned run since July 23 and hasn’t given up a single hit in his last 15 outings.
Aroldis Chapman has gone 15 straight appearances and 44 straight batters without allowing a hit!
Based on those numbers, it’s no wonder why the eight-time All-Star would want to stay in Boston after bouncing between four teams in the last three years. But Chapman also seems to be enjoying himself in the Red Sox’ clubhouse on a squad that entered Monday with a 76-62 record.
“The chemistry that we have here is unique,” Chapman told reporters Monday. “I feel like my teammates — we’re very together on and off the field. Also the coaching staff and the medical staff and the trainers made the decision easier for me wanting to stay here.”
That chemistry would be a strength of the 2025 Red Sox is also a surprise. At the beginning of July, Boston was two games below .500 and had recently traded away its franchise player, Rafael Devers, who publicly criticized the team for asking him to change positions.
All the Red Sox have done since July 1 is win 34 of their next 52 games to firmly entrench themselves as an American League Wild Card team.
Chapman has played a critical role in that turnaround. And for a player with two World Series rings, his commitment to Boston for at least the next season speaks volumes about what the Red Sox are hoping to build.
The Mets start a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Monday at 1:10 p.m. on SNY.
Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...
Mets Notes
Sean Manaea (1-2) looks to get his second win of the season after going 0-1 over his last six starts. His only win came on July 23 against the Angels
Brandon Nimmo has hit safely in his last 14 starts dating back to Aug. 12, batting .386 (22-for-57) in that span
Francisco Lindor extended his hitting streak to six games Sunday and has hit safely in 18 of his last 19 games. He batted .350 in the month of August, his best batting average over a single month in his career since his career-high .373 average in May of 2018 with Cleveland
METS
TIGERS
Francisco Lindor, SS
Jahmai Jones, DH
Juan Soto, RF
Gleyber Torres, 2B
Pete Alonso, 1B
Wenceel Pérez, RF
Brandon Nimmo, LF
Spencer Torkelson, 1B
Mark Vientos, DH
Riley Greene, LF
Jeff McNeil, 2B
Andy Ibáñez, 3B
Cedric Mullins, CF
Dillon Dingler, C
Luis Torrens, C
Zach McKinstry, SS
Brett Baty, 3B
Javier Báez, CF
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The Mets are recalling infielder Luisangel Acuña from Triple-A Syracuse, the team announced.
New York is also recalling RHP Justin Hagenman. The moves come as MLB rosters expand to 28 players Monday.
Acuña, 23, has been with Syracuse since the Mets optioned him to Triple-A Aug. 18.
He most recently played for Syracuse in Saturday's 2-0 win over the Yankees' Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, posting a 1-for-4 game with a ninth-inning double.
In 28 games for Syracuse this season, Acuña is slashing .303/.347/.395 with 10 RBI. He has a .239/.295/.283 slash line and seven RBI in his 79 games with the Mets this year.
Hagenman, 28, owns an 0-1 record with a 3.26 ERA over seven games (19.1 IP) and 20 strikeouts for the Mets this season. He last pitched in the bigs on Aug. 12, recording a four-inning save in a 13-5 win over the Atlanta Braves. He's pitched to a 6.12 ERA over 19 games (11 starts) with 67 strikeouts across 60.1 IP in Triple-A.
Dodgers pinch-hitter Will Smith celebrates after hitting a walk-off home run in the ninth inning of a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on Sunday afternoon. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Even before they blew a late-game, three-run lead.
As a clearly frustrated Dave Roberts put it ahead of first pitch, the team needed to “not get embarrassed” in the face of a potential three-game sweep by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and play with a level of “pride” that had been missing the previous two nights in this unexpectedly challenging weekend series.
“Whatever it is, we've got to do it right now,” the manager said. “We've got to win today. We've got to play better baseball. ... There's more in there. There just is."
In the 5-4, walk-off win over the Diamondbacks that followed, his team finally delivered despite self-inflicted adversity.
After letting the Diamondbacks (68-70) get back into the game, and nearly squandering Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s seven-inning gem, the Dodgers prevailed on Will Smith’s pinch-hit, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth, moving two games up in the National League West standings after the San Diego Padres’ rubber-match loss to the Minnesota Twins earlier in the day.
The win should have been simpler.
Yamamoto gave up just one run and tied his career-high with 10 strikeouts without conceding a single walk. The Dodgers' lineup, meanwhile, wore down Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt with competitive early at-bats. They scored twice in the first after leadoff hits from Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, plus an RBI double from Freddie Freeman, and again in the fourth and fifth when Miguel Rojas and Andy Pages each delivered full-count singles to score a run.
“I thought today there was a lot of fight,” Roberts said. “Today was a good sign. I was pleased with today.”
Tanner Scott, however, almost wasted the good vibes.
In the eighth, he gave up a pair of two-out singles before Corbin Carroll took him deep for a tying three-run blast. The long ball was the ninth Scott has surrendered this year, compared to the 11 total he had yielded over the past three seasons. It came on the kind of misplaced, center-cut fastball that has plagued him repeatedly, leaving the $72-million offseason acquisition to be booed on his way off the mound as his ERA rose to 4.44.
“You never want to see the ball leave the park, especially in that situation,” Scott said. "It's super frustrating.”
Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott pitches in the eighth inning Sunday. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Yet, at what felt like another inflection point in the season, the Dodgers responded.
And, in an unexpected turn, it was Smith who saved the day.
After leading the NL batting race for much of the season, the veteran catcher had been mired in a deep slump. He was batting .147 in August. He had hit only two home runs in his previous 28 games.
Behind the scenes, though, coaches continued to praise his work. When pressed on his struggles, Smith pointed to mechanical flaws he was trying to iron out.
“I always say the game honors you, and Will has been going through it,” Roberts said. “But he’s been working his tail off. And today he reaped some benefit.”
Indeed, his reward came in the form of a 420-foot, stinging missile of a walk-off homer — driving the second pitch he saw into the left-field pavilion.
"We needed it. We needed a win in this series,” said Smith, who has four career pinch-hit, walk-off homers — the second most in MLB history.
“The first two [games of this series] got away,” Smith added. “Had the early lead [today]. Yoshi pitched really well, gave us a great start. Unfortunately, they got back in it, tied it up. But yeah, we were able to come up on top. ... Every win going forward is going to be huge.”
Dodgers catcher Will Smith celebrates after hitting a walk-off home run in the ninth inning Sunday.
Freddie Freeman, left, and Alex Call, center, and other Dodgers players celebrate with Will Smith, right, as he crosses home plate.
Will Smith, left, celebrates with Alex Call, right, and his Dodgers teammates.
Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times
Granted, any feeling of progress from the Dodgers (78-59) will remain tempered for now.
Whether Sunday proves to be a momentum-builder — or just another flash of promise that once again fizzles — remains to be seen as they enter September.
Coming into the weekend, the Dodgers appeared to be riding high. They had won four straight games, including a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. Their offense looked to be rounding a corner, finally pairing up with a strong run of pitching the way the front office envisioned when they built this supposed juggernaut in the winter.
But then, Friday and Saturday produced the kind of maddening, reality-check performances that have dogged the club repeatedly over the second half of the season.
There was listless offense at the plate both nights, amounting to one run off Arizona’s beleaguered pitching staff in 18 innings. There were fundamental miscues on the bases and on defense, lapses Roberts boiled down to a simple lack of focus.
"I wish I had an answer for you,” Rojas said of the team’s struggles to find consistency. “We're all frustrated. Coming out of the off-day [on Thursday, we played] pretty flat the last couple days.”
It was yet another unexpected drop in the team’s roller-coaster season.
Another example of the team taking two steps forward, then one stark jump back in their efforts to try and protect first place in the division.
“There has to be a point where that has to be sharpened,” Roberts said. “And that’s where, I feel, the time is now.”
Asked before the game why his team has wavered so much, Roberts struggled to find an answer.
He alluded to a potential World Series hangover, noting “when you’re playing a long season, you’re defending champions, people are coming after you — which we know and understand — it’s just hard to keep that dialed-in focus every single night. That’s just reality.” (Rojas also mentioned that dynamic, though insisted it’s “not an excuse.”)
Roberts highlighted the lack of reliable production from veteran players, as well — coinciding with his decision Sunday to leave Teoscar Hernández on the bench, in favor of Alex Call in right field, amid a recent three-for-27 slump that has been compounded by persistently shaky defense.
“He's an everyday guy,” Roberts said of Hernández, whom the team hopes will benefit from a “two-day reset” between Sunday’s day off and Monday’s travel day. “But I do think that where we're at, you've got to perform too, to warrant being out there every single day.”
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers during the fourth inning Sunday against the Diamondbacks. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Roberts said that thinking would apply to the rest of the lineup, too, in an aim to raise his players’ late-season urgency and steady their ever-teetering focus.
“I do think that a flip can be switched,” Roberts said. “Each day should be equally important. Every little play, pitch, should be equally important. ‘How you do anything is how you do everything,’ that kind of adage, I believe in that.”
And on Sunday, at least, his team managed to persevere.
“It's just really focus on this last month, just go pitch to pitch ... and do what we need to do, do the little things,” Smith said. “We can't try to win the game in one pitch. All the little things add up each and every day, each and every inning. That's how you win baseball games."
The challenge will be replicating that formula over the season’s final month, and ensuring Sunday’s gut-check victory is not wasted on clunkers marred by self-inflicted mistakes.
“It's going to take every little ounce of us to do what we want to do,” Rojas said. “I feel like we should be playing way better baseball than what we did the last couple days, and today we showed that we play a really quality game.”
The Phillies were poised to author a resounding response to being swept by the Mets earlier in the week.
They were on the cusp of sweeping the Braves in a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park.
But the bullpen couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain.
Jose Alvarado surrendered a two-run home run to Braves pinch hitter Drake Baldwin in the top of the ninth inning as Atlanta defeated the Phillies 3-1 in Sunday night’s series finale.
The Phillies maintained their six-game lead in the NL East thanks to the Mets’ 5-1 loss to the Marlins on Sunday afternoon.
Braves pinch-hitter Jake Fraley led off the top of the ninth with an infield single that deflected off Alvarado’s glove. Fraley advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Nacho Alvarez Jr. After pinch hitter Vidal Brujan struck out, Baldwin stepped to the plate and delivered the deciding swing of the night.
“Probably up a little bit and out over the plate,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of Alvarado’s 98 mile per hour sinker that Baldwin deposited in the left field seats. “(Baldwin) barreled that pretty good. But I liked Alvarado’s stuff tonight.”
The Phillies were six outs away from their third straight one-run win, leading 1-0 entering the top of the eighth inning. Orion Kerkering surrendered an infield single and walked the next two batters to load the bases with no outs.
Thomson removed Kerkering in favor of Tanner Banks, who did a masterful job of limiting the damage. After the tying run scored on a Matt Olson groundout, Banks struck out Ronald Acuna Jr. looking. Ozzie Albies was intentionally walked before Banks got Michael Harris II to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Kerkering has now allowed at least one earned run in four of his last six outings.
“He’s just misfiring,” Thomson said of Kerkering’s recent struggles. “Two walks tonight. He’s got to trust the stuff and attack the zone. Go after people. He just didn’t have it tonight.”
The bullpen spoiled a terrific outing by Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo, who set the tone by retiring the first 13 Braves batters he faced. He tossed six and two-thirds shutout innings, leaving the field to a standing ovation.
“Just establishing the fastball,” Luzardo said when asked about the key to his outing. “I had good command of it today, which was good. Just filling up the strike zone for the most part, me and J.T. (Realmuto) had a good plan out there. Just trying to keep them off balance as much as possible.”
Luzardo allowed just two hits, struck out seven and issued one walk. He threw 104 pitches, 71 for strikes.
Brandon Marsh provided the Phillies’ only run of the night in the bottom of the fourth inning, swatting a solo home run to right field. It was Marsh’s eighth homer of the season.
It was the only damage the Phillies did against Braves rookie phenom Hurston Waldrep, who entered his fifth career start with a 0.90 ERA. The 23-year old right-hander allowed one run in five and two-thirds innings, striking out nine and walking four.
“His stuff’s good,” Thomson said of Waldrep. “We hadn’t seen him before but that’s not an excuse. His stuff is really good. He’s got a really good pitch mix. He attacks the zone, his split is his swing and miss pitch. He’s got good stuff.”
The Phillies squandered several scoring opportunities, leaving runners in scoring position in the third, fifth and seventh innings. They struck out a total of 13 times.
The Phillies finished the month of August with a 18-11 record. They are 79-58 on the season and hold a one-game lead over the Dodgers for the second-best record in the National League. Securing the No. 2 seed in the NL postseason means the Phillies would receive a bye to the NLDS and avoid having to play a wild card series.
Despite Sunday’s disappointing result, taking three of four from Atlanta was a step in the right direction, especially after what transpired in New York.
“That was a big bounce back for us,” Marsh said of the series against the Braves. “(Starters) pitched their butts off and the lineup as a whole, I felt like we did a really good job this series. It was a big bounce back, much-needed for sure.”
The Phillies begin a 3-game series against the best team in baseball, the Brewers, on Monday afternoon in Milwaukee. The Brewers swept the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in May, outscoring the home team 28-11 in that three-game series.
New York's captain launched his second homer in as many days, bringing his season total to 43 through 127 games, but more importantly tied Yogi Berra on the franchise's home run list with 358 career long balls.
"The most important thing's trying to get a win, especially when you can finish off a series sweep right there, so not getting that kind of stings," Judge said, referencing the Yankees (76-61) squandering a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning against the White Sox (49-88) and snapping New York's win streak at seven games. "But you get a chance to tie one of the greatest -- if not the greatest -- Yankee in homers is pretty special.
"The way Yogi played the game, what he meant to the pinstripes -- you knew how much it meant, being a New York Yankee, to him. I feel the same way. I'm honored to wear this jersey. So, it's pretty cool to be on that list with him."
Judge trails Joe DiMaggio (361), Lou Gehrig (493), Mickey Mantle (536) and Babe Ruth (659).
"It's the company he belongs in," Boone said. "When he came into the dugout, I yelled 'Yogi' out to him. He's certainly earned his way into those rarified-air names with the career he's put together so far."
The Yankees selected Judge with the 2013 MLB Draft's No. 32 overall pick in the first round. His MLB debut was Aug. 13, 2016, and spent time around veterans who told him of Berra's firsthand influence.
"Didn't get to see him too much -- he was definitely around, over at big-league camp -- but he was a special individual," Judge said. "A lot of the veteran guys talked highly of him, as far as some of their favorite memories coming to spring training, was having the chance to talk to him during camp, just hear some of his stories, hear them say he just always had a smile on his face, was fun to be around.
"So, I didn't get to have a lot of time with him, but he's one of the greatest Yankees, one of the greatest players to play this game. So, it was pretty cool."
Berra died Sept. 22, 2015. He was 90.
His decorated career as a player with the Yankees (1946-63) and Mets (1965) saw him total 18 All-Star selections, 10 World Series rings, three American League MVPs. The Yankees retired his No. 8, and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame's 1972 class.
"He was a fantastic baseball player," Judge said. "Ten World Series, that's pretty impressive -- that's what we're all chasing. Like I said, to be on a list with him, tie him -- I think our statures are a little different, but it's pretty cool."
Judge, 33, is carving his own path.
"He's as good as we've seen in this generation," Boone said of Judge, who is a seven-time All-Star, two-time MVP and the AL's single-season home run record holder, among other accolades.
CLEVELAND — Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz had their paid leaves extended indefinitely on Sunday as Major League Baseball continues an investigation to gauge their possible involvement in gambling during games.
Clase and Ortiz were initially set to sidelined until at least Aug. 31. MLB and the players’ union said in a news release they have agreed to extend the nondisciplinary paid leave “until further notice.”
The Guardians are not commenting until the investigation is completed.
It’s possible the pitchers will be out at least until the end of the regular season, which concludes Sept. 28. The Guardians recently cleared out their lockers, a sign Clase and Ortiz were unlikely to return in the final month.
Ortiz, who was acquired by Cleveland in an offseason trade from Pittsburgh, was placed on paid leave on July 3, the same day he was scheduled to start against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
MLB reportedly was looking into to whether Ortiz was influencing prop bets in games he pitched. His leave was supposed to end on July 17 but was later extended.
The 26-year-old Ortiz was 4-9 with a 4.36 ERA in 16 starts before his ban.
One of baseball’s top closers, Clase joined Ortiz on the sideline July 28 when MLB announced it had broadened its query to include the three-time All-Star.
Clase’s departure came just before the trade deadline. The Guardians were expected to receive numerous offers for the right-hander, who led the AL with 47 saves last season.
Clase had 24 saves and was 5-3 with a 3.23 ERA this season.
Cleveland has managed to hang around in the wild-card race despite losing Clase. Cade Smith has assumed the closer duties.
The inquiry into the actions of the Cleveland pitchers comes after MLB suspended five players for gambling in June 2024, including a lifetime ban for San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano.
CHICAGO — New York Yankees star Aaron Judge hit his 358th career homer in the first inning of Sunday’s game against the White Sox, moving into a tie with Yogi Berra for fifth in franchise history.
Judge drove an 0-2 cutter from Martín Pérez deep to center for a one-out solo drive. Judge’s 43rd homer of the season had a 112.6 mph exit velocity and traveled 426 feet.
He batted again in the third and doubled off the wall in center. He scampered home on Cody Bellinger’s double to right.
The 33-year-old Judge also connected for a solo homer in New York’s 11-inning victory at Chicago on Saturday night. The two-time AL MVP and seven-time All-Star was batting .218 (17 for 78) with five homers and 11 RBIs in August coming into the day.
Hall of Famers Babe Ruth (659 homers), Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493) and Joe DiMaggio (361) are on top of the Yankees’ career homers list. Judge’s drive produced the first change in the franchise’s top five since Aug. 7, 1957.
Judge was activated from the 10-day injured list on Aug. 5 after being sidelined by a flexor strain in his right elbow. He has been serving as the team’s designated hitter, but he could return to the outfield at some point this season.
“We’ve got to get him right, obviously,” manager Carlos Mendoza said following the 5-1 loss, with Miami taking three of four in the series. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to have some discussion about what’s next for him, but our job is to get him right. But it’s been a struggle, and again, we’ll see what’s next for him.”
As has been the case for most of his outings since coming off the IL in July, Senga struggled with his command, throwing just 43 of his 75 pitches for strikes as he went just 4.2 innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking two.
“I think a lot of the things that we’ve seen the past couple of weeks or so where he’s having a hard time coming in the strike zone, a lot of uncompetitive pitches, ball out of the hand, and then he’s having a hard time competing in the strike zone,” Mendoza said of Senga’s issues. “We saw it today, every time he came in, they made him pay. On a slider there for a two-run homer [byAgustín Ramírez], they were aggressive, but it’s just executing and not getting ahead enough.
“When you get behind hitters, it’s hard to compete at this level.”
Senga echoed his manager’s thoughts, saying that while he feels healthy, he hasn't been able to perform that way he’d like to.
“There’s definitely some frustration,” Senga said through an interpreter. “I’ve never experienced something like this for this extended period of time. There’s some confusion why I’m not able to perform, but at the same time, when I’m able to prepare well and able to do what I’m capable of out there, I know that I’m able to put up a good performance.”
In nine starts since coming off the IL, Senga has allowed three runs or more six times, and he’s yet to complete 6.0 innings in any of those outings.
Mendoza explained that pitching coach Jeremy Heffner and his staff have been working to try to get Senga right for quite some time now, and with rosters expanding to 28 players on Monday, perhaps there’s a chance that the Mets, who are currently utilizing a six-man rotation, could choose to handle Senga’s next turn through the rotation differently.
“We’ve been trying to fix him for quite a bit now,” Mendoza said. “Whether it’s the mechanics, he says he feels fine physically, but we’re not seeing the results.”
The Yankees blew a late lead and chance to sweep the lowly Chicago White Sox, who scored three unanswered runs in the second half of Sunday's 3-2 final at Rate Field.
Takeaways
RHPLuis Gil's August ends with a solid outing but disappointing finish. He threw 98 pitches (63 strikes), yielded two runs on four hits, struck out seven and walked two in 5.1 IP. Gil's sixth-inning solo home run allowed to Colson Montgomery was costly, though, squandering New York's 2-1 lead with one out in the sixth inning and leaving the bullpen to sort through the final few frames. In six starts this month as he made his season debut and return from injury, Gil went 2-1 with a 3.75 ERA and 1.60 WHIP over 24 innings -- a welcome sign for the Yankees (76-61), but Sunday's finish should leave a sour taste into September.
CaptainAaron Judge's second home run in as many days, a first-inning solo shot that put New York on the board, ties him with legendary catcher Yogi Berra among all-time Yankees at 358 career home runs. Judge's 3-for-5 afternoon, which included his third-inning double and fifth-inning single, sees him slashing .324/.443/.674 with 43 home runs and 97 RBI in 127 games this season. He flew out with one out andTrent Grisham on first base in the ninth inning while New York trailed 3-2, which is unfortunate for him, but he otherwise showed up on a day where the Yankees only managed six hits.
LHPTim Hill allowing the go-ahead home run, a solo shot by Lenyn Sosa, with two outs in the eighth inning was the turning point for New York's late-game collapse. Hill (2.93 ERA, 1.09 WHIP), who allowed a run on three hits in this past Friday's 10-2 win, is trending the wrong way.
The Yankees' win streak snaps at seven games, and the recent victorious trend closed the gap with the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East, but these are ones that New York must have if it wants to play its way out of the wild card. Chicago (49-88) was dead in the water and now the Yankees are three games behind the Blue Jays (79-58) entering a three-game series at the AL West-leading Houston Astros (75-61). New York is 37-37 against teams over .500 this season.
The Yankees have Monday off before they finish the second leg of their seven-game road trip with the Astros. New York LHP Max Fried (14-5, 3.06 ERA) is set to start Tuesday's 8:10 p.m. opener.
The Mets (73-64) fell to the Marlins (65-72) on Sunday afternoon by a score of 5-1, with Miami taking three of the series' four games in New York.
Here are the key takeaways...
-- Kodai Senga has struggled since coming off of the IL in July, and Sunday was much of the same. Senga had a tough time throwing first-pitch strikes, and consistently falling behind hitters ultimately hurt him. Senga allowed a run in the first on some Marlins small ball, and then hung a breaking ball toAgustín Ramírez in the third, as the Marlins catcher lined a bullet two-run homer over the wall in left to put Miami up 3-0.
Miami would tack on additional runs in the fourth and fifth, and Senga's afternoon came to an end after 4.2 innings, as the right-hander allowed five earned runs on seven hits, striking out six and walking two. Senga threw 75 pitches, with just 43 going for strikes.
-- Former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara has had an up-and-down season for the Marlins, but he was back in All-Star form on Sunday, keeping the Mets off the board for his first six innings. Alcantara ended up going seven innings, allowing one earned run on four hits while striking out six and walking one.
-- There was a bit of a fracas in the bottom of the seventh, when Alcantara came inside and hit Mark Vientos with a pitch. Vientos and Alcantara shared some words, and the dugouts and bullpens emptied, but that's as far as things escalated. Both teams were warned after cooler heads prevailed.
-- It wasn't a day to remember for Mets hitters, but Jeff McNeil had a good one at the dish, recording two knocks against Alcantara. One of those was a seventh-inning single where McNeil later scored the Mets' first run of the game on a Cedric Mullins force-out.
-- Tip of the hat to Brandon Waddell. Called up just before the game, the lefty saved the Mets' bullpen, following Senga by pitching 4.1 scoreless innings of relief. Waddell allowed just three hits, striking out four and walking two.
The Mets catcher continued his rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday, catching and hitting third in the order. Alvarez played all nine innings behind the plate in a 3-0 win, going 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders did not attempt a stolen base against him.
According to manager Carlos Mendoza, Alvarez, who went 0-for-4 as the DH for Syracuse on Saturday, came out of that game feeling fine and is still moving in the right direction towards a return to the big leagues.
Alvarez will now have the day off on Monday with the rest of the Syracuse team, and then the team will have a decision to make about what comes next.
Could the next step be a return to the big leagues this week?
“At this point, nothing is going to surprise me or all of us in here,” said Mendoza. “It’s pretty remarkable what he’s doing. So, yeah, we’ll see how it goes today. Pretty sure he’s off tomorrow and then we’ll see what the next day is going to look like. But again, having him catch real games and how he’s going to feel afterwards is the biggest test.”
Alvarez has had a string of bad injury luck of late, all involving his hands. After tearing the UCL in his right thumb while sliding into second base earlier this month, Alvarez then broke his pinky finger in his left hand after getting hit by a pitch during his rehab assignment on Wednesday.
As Mendoza said, hitting doesn’t seem to be an issue for Alvarez at this point, but his ability to receive the ball with that fractured left pinky will determine how quickly he can get back in the Mets’ lineup.
SAN FRANCISCO – After getting plenty of swing-and-misses from the Baltimore Orioles through the early part of his outing Sunday, Giants starter Justin Verlander opted to pitch more to contact as his afternoon was ending.
With a pitch count that had risen like a good tech stock, Verlander didn’t have much other choice.
“Toward the end there I was really just making pitches and trying to put the ball in play, and still got a lot of foul balls,” Verlander said after throwing 121 pitches over five scoreless innings in a 13-2 win over Baltimore in the final game of San Francisco’s homestand at Oracle Park. “You could definitely tell there was a little hit of fatigue setting in, but overall everything felt fine physically. Just tried to tone things down a little bit and tried to force some contact.”
Verlander looked a lot more like the pitcher with three Cy Young Awards at home rather than the guy whose first Giants season has had more ups and downs than an elevator.
Against the Orioles, Verlander had a day for the record books.
With 10 strikeouts, the 42-year-old became the oldest pitcher in franchise history to reach double-digit K’s, a title formerly held by Giants great Vida Blue.
Verlander also is the oldest pitcher in MLB to have 10 strikeouts and go five innings or longer since Roger Clemens did it with the Houston Astros in 2005.
The last pitcher in MLB to achieve that milestone was one-time Giant Randy Johnson, who was 18 days away from his 45th birthday when he did it for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008.
Giants manager Bob Melvin didn’t sound surprised at all by what he saw from Verlander.
“In a day when you feel like you’re penalizing somebody if they throw 100 pitches, to throw 120 in five innings … he didn’t want to hear anything about coming out,” Melvin said. “Here we are knocking on the door in September, and to do it like he’s doing it now, and throw that many pitches, it’s hard work. There’s a competitiveness to him that very few have.”
That same competitiveness probably is why Verlander didn’t make a big deal about his day.
The high pitch count and short outing was a bigger concern.
“It’s hard for me. The old school in me is like, ‘It was only five innings,’ ” Verlander said. “I’m not sure I’ll go home and say that was a great start.”
It might not have been great, but it definitely was vintage Verlander for much of the afternoon.
He gave up just three hits, pitched out of jams in the first two innings and overcame four walks. His fastball clocked in faster than it has been in recent games, and he generated a season-high 23 swing-and-misses out of the Orioles’ lineup.
It’s the first time this season that Verlander has won back-to-back starts, and it certainly sparked renewed belief from Giants fans.
San Francisco already has a solid one-two punch atop the rotation with Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. Verlander now is firmly locked in as the No. 3 starter, which could give teams all kinds of problems if the Giants make it to the MLB playoffs.
Beyond the boxscores, Verlander’s season has been a good example for some of the Giants’ other pitchers.
Despite an arsenal of accolades that surely will land him in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Verlander suffered through some rough times earlier in this season but stayed committed to what he knew.
He didn’t flip out when things got tough and stuck to his process of trying to improve.
“It’s inspiring,” Carson Seymour toldNBC Sports Bay Area. “The best players, especially Justin, they’re always working on something, always trying to get better. That’s why he’s had the career he’s had.”
Verlander had to change things up to get this win. Normally heavily reliant on his fastball, the veteran pitcher went to his off-speed and breaking pitches to dazzle Baltimore’s hitters.
Even then, his pitch count kept steadily rising.
“They really battled [and had] a lot of foul balls,” Verlander said. “I’d rather not throw 120 in five innings. I’d rather it be seven, eight or nine.”
On Sunday, it didn’t really matter. It was the type of game that Verlander and all Giants fans have been hoping for since the day he signed with the team.
The Phillies signed veteran right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler to a minor league contract.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced the move prior to Sunday night’s game against the Braves.
The plan is for Buehler to start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley next Saturday before starting for the Phillies on September 12 against the Royals, at which point the Phillies will go to a six-man rotation.
The Phillies had planned to go to a six-man rotation in mid-August to give their starters extra rest. But the team abandoned that plan following Zack Wheeler’s season-ending injury.
“We’re very excited to have him,” Dombrowski said of Buehler. “We think he makes us better.”
Dombrowski was asked what specifically he likes about Buehler.
“A lot of things,” he said. “He’s been a very successful major league pitcher, he still has a good arm, has a variety of pitches at this point. This year hasn’t been as good for him as other years but we still like a lot of his stuff. We think we see some things that can hopefully help him.”
The 31-year old Buehler was released by the Red Sox on Friday after posting a 5.45 ERA in 22 starts and one relief appearance this season.
“He’s willing to work with us,” Dombrowski said. “We have a very good pitching coach in Caleb (Cotham). We spent some time on a zoom visit with him going over those things (that he can improve).
“You don’t have to worry about him being concerned about any type of anxiety in pitching in a postseason game if we get to that point.”
Signing Buehler before September 1 means he will be eligible for the postseason roster. He has vast postseason experience, sporting a 3.04 ERA in 19 career postseason games, including 18 starts. He recorded the final out of the 2024 World Series for the Dodgers.
This is a low-risk, potentially high-reward move that will cost the Phillies less than $1 million for the rest of the season.
Buehler signed a one-year deal worth more than $21 million with Boston prior to the 2025 season after spending the first seven years of his career with the Dodgers.
Buehler was one of the best starting pitchers in baseball earlier in his career. He was selected to the National League All-Star team in 2019 and 2021, finishing in the Top 10 of the Cy Young voting each of those seasons.
Phillies announce Tim Mayza signing
It was a busy Sunday for the Phillies front office. The club claimed left-handed reliever Tim Mayza off waivers. To make room for Mayza on the 40-man roster, the Phillies transferred Wheeler to the 60-day injured list.
Mayza will be added to the Phillies active roster on Monday when MLB rosters expand to 28 players.
“In the Mayza case, a couple things happen,” Dombrowski said. “One is that (Jose) Alvarado cannot pitch in the postseason. If (Mayza) pitches as we anticipate, he’s in a position where it could give us three left-handers in the bullpen.”
Mayza would potentially join Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks as the three left-handers in the Phillies’ postseason bullpen.
“In the past we talked about moving one of our starters (to the bullpen in the postseason),” Dombrowski said. “But without having Wheeler, I’m not sure how that’s going to mesh. So we have the potential to use the three left-handed starters (Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez and Jesus Luzardo) in addition to (Aaron Nola) being our big four (in the postseason). That’s all just looking ahead, I don’t what’s going to happen in that regard.”
The 33-year old Mayza posted a 2.89 ERA in seven appearances for the Pirates this season. He went on the injured list in mid-April with a lat strain and has not pitched in the big leagues since.
Mayza had a 1.93 ERA in four rehab appearances before Pittsburgh placed him on waivers Sunday morning.
Mayza has a 3.85 career ERA in eight MLB seasons. He’s an Allentown native who attended Upper Perkomien High School and Millersville University.
The return of Garrett Stubbs
Dombrowski announced that Garrett Stubbs will also join the Phillies roster on Monday. The Phillies want to add a third catcher to give Rob Thomson the flexibility to use J.T. Realmuto as a pinch hitter in games that Rafael Marchan starts.
The 32-year old Stubbs hit .265 with eight home runs, 50 RBI and a .754 OPS in 71 games in Triple-A this season.
Stubbs was Realmuto’s backup catcher from 2022 through 2024. He has a .222 batting average with a .628 OPS in 141 career games with the Phillies.
