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With three games remaining in the regular season, the Mets are looking to secure the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League.
The Reds hold the tiebreaker over the Mets due to winning the season series. The tiebreaker between the Mets and Diamondbacks will likely be based on intradivision record since the two clubs split the season series.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of play on Sept. 26...
Mets: 82-77, 1.0 game up on Reds and 2.0 games up on Diamondbacks for third Wild Card
Next up: @ Marlins, Friday at 7:10 p.m. on WPIX (Brandon Sproat vs. Sandy Alcantara) Latest result: 8-5 win over Cubs on Thursday Remaining schedule: 3 @ MIA Odds to make playoffs: 78.1 percent
Reds: 81-78, 1.0 game back of Mets
Next up: @ Brewers, Friday at 8:10 p.m. (Zack Littell vs. Quinn Priester) Latest result: 2-1 win over Pirates on Thursday Remaining schedule: 3 @ MIL Odds to make playoffs: 19.7 percent
Diamondbacks: 80-79, 2.0 games back of Mets
Next up: @ Padres, Friday at 9:40 p.m. (Zac Gallen vs. Yu Darvish) Latest result: 8-0 loss to Dodgers on Thursday Remaining schedule: 3 @ SD Odds to make playoffs: 2.1 percent
Stanford Medicine’s Marc Safran, M.D., spoke to NBC Sports Bay Area to provide more insight on the injury itself, a potential timeline for Rodriguez’s return and what the Giants could expect from the 26-year-old when he does get back on the mound.
Rodriguez initially sought out multiple opinions after the Giants placed him on the 15-day IL in late August. He had hoped to avoid surgery, but doctors made the recommendation to move forward with the procedure.
Dr. Safran detailed what goes into that recommendation to go through with the surgery versus opting out and seeking other options.
“It’s kind of shades of grey. Everybody’s a little bit different,” Dr. Safran said. “Some people are more loose-jointed than others. It’s almost always looser when I test that ligament on a professional player on their throwing side than their non-throwing side, even though they may be asymptomatic. So it’s really hard because there’s no objective measure that determines, ‘Oh yes, he definitely now needs surgery.’
“I mean, he’s been dealing with some elbow soreness, as most players, for a long period of time. And he’s had issues that date back to — I think even last season. It comes down to a point where they probably say, OK, well, we’ve tried all the nonoperative things that we would normally try: rest, strengthening, rehabilitation, maybe some injections. And if that doesn’t work and you still can’t get back to throwing the way you want to throw, then it’s time to go ahead and do the surgery.
“Unfortunately, it’s not all black and white. It’s really based on how his elbow responds to the rest of the rehabilitation.”
Rodriguez’s estimated rehab is 12 to 14 months, but as Dr. Safran noted, it could be longer.
While each player is different, the checklist a player must go through to return to the mound is pretty standard.
“It’s a very long and drawn-out process,” Dr. Safran said. “It’s first letting the wounds heal, working on getting his range of motion back to the elbow, and it’s working on the elbow and wrist muscles to get them stronger. It takes several months before we even let them start to do a throwing program where they go through light toss, 30 feet with a limited number of throws, and just kind of arcing the ball, so it’s a long thing that has to be drawn out to where they start to throw more throws at a longer distance and at a flatter rate before they actually try to let the ball go.
“Sometimes it’s not uncommon to get some elbow soreness during that process, so we want to be conservative to not push them back too fast because the graft undergoes a breakdown process and a build-back process, and that’s part of what takes so long to get back.”
Most people hear the term “Tommy John surgery” and their initial reaction, understandably, is worry and concern.
But Dr. Safran explained how the evolution of the impact of the procedure has helped players avoid ending their careers, and he gave Giants fans a glimmer of hope with Rodriguez’s recovery.
“That injury was a career-ending injury in the 70s, but since the Tommy John operation, it’s not as career-ending anymore,” Dr. Safran said. “A lot of players get back at a very high rate. The majority do get back. And there’s even some people who feel they come back stronger because their elbow is tighter than maybe it was in the year or two before. Some people say, ‘Well, I can throw a couple miles per hour faster after the surgery than before.’
“I think that’s been a little bit debunked. I don’t think the majority of people gain much velocity on the ball, but players can get back and, in fact, many can get back not just their velocity but their spin rates can get back, so they can still have a good action on the ball. So it’s not the death sentence, if you will, if you have that injury anymore. There’s so many people in the major leagues that have had that ligament reconstructed and are pitching at the major league level very effectively.”
While the Giants certainly will miss their All-Star during the 2026 season, there’s reason to believe Rodriguez will return to the bump as the same dominant flamethrower.
The 20-year-old first baseman contributed a 109.7 mph rocket for a double, plus an opposite-field single for his first multi-hit game in the big leagues during San Francisco’s 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park.
After the game, Eldridge revealed which Giants veteran he has leaned on for advice since making his MLB debut last week.
“I’ve kind of just been trying to talk to [Matt] Chapman,” Eldridge told Bonta Hill and Shawn Estes on “Giants Postgame Live.” “He’s hilarious, he’s awesome and obviously he’s been around for a little bit. He knows what he’s doing.
“The biggest thing a lot of these guys have been telling me is just have fun. It’s the same game, and don’t get overwhelmed by it. These guys in the clubhouse have made it easy for me to not do that, and I’m enjoying every second of it. It’s been awesome, and it’s finally good to get a home win.”
Eldridge shares how Chappy and other Giants vets are helping him adjust to the big leagues 🤝 pic.twitter.com/aZp8PCjtRV
Chapman, an All-Star third baseman and five-time Gold Glove winner, certainly isn’t a bad mentor to have as Eldridge seeks to get his footing at the top level. Baseball’s No. 13 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, went just 1 for 20 in his first seven games with San Francisco before his two-hit night on Wednesday.
With just three games left in the 2025 season for the already-eliminated Giants, Eldridge will look to have a big series this weekend against the Colorado Rockies to end the year on a high note — perhaps acquiring some momentum heading into 2026.
Cal Raleigh became the seventh player in Major League Baseball history to hit 60 home runs in a season Wednesday night, launching two solo shots for the Seattle Mariners against the Colorado Rockies.
“It’s crazy. Sixty is — I don’t know what to say,” said Raleigh, who leads the majors in homers. “I didn’t know if I was going to hit 60 in my life. Just tonight, what a way to do it.”
Batting left-handed in the first inning, the switch-hitting catcher connected off Tanner Gordon and sent a drive to right field that reached the top deck at T-Mobile Park for his 59th longball of the year.
“It was like a movie,” teammate Julio Rodríguez said of Raleigh’s moonshot. “I’m just so grateful that he’s on our team, that he’s able to do what he does. He’s so special, and I can’t say enough.”
Then in the eighth, batting left-handed again, Raleigh hit No. 60 off Angel Chivilli. Raleigh also had a two-run double in the second and finished with four RBIs to give him 125 this season, most in the American League.
The only other players to reach 60 home runs in a season are Babe Ruth (1927), Roger Maris (1961), Mark McGwire (1998 and ‘99), Sammy Sosa (1998, ’99, 2001), Barry Bonds (2001) and Aaron Judge (2022).
It was the 11th multi-homer game for Raleigh this year, tied with Judge (2022), Hank Greenberg (1938) and Sosa (1998) for the MLB record.
With four games remaining in the regular season, Raleigh has a chance to pass Judge for the American League record. Judge hit 62 homers in 2022 to break the previous AL mark of 61 set by Maris in 1961.
Raleigh’s latest homers came four days after he surpassed Ken Griffey Jr. for the franchise record with his 57th homer of the season. Griffey hit 56 in both 1997 and 1998.
“When you look at how he has done it and the position that he plays — I was telling somebody earlier today that when you come off the field, you’re mentally and physically exhausted,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, a former major league catcher.
“And for him to do what he’s done offensively and to do what he does behind the plate, I honestly don’t think we’ve seen this before. It’s been incredible. I think he deserves the MVP, no question.”
Cal Raleigh became the seventh player in Major League Baseball history to hit 60 home runs in a season Wednesday night, launching two solo shots for the Seattle Mariners against the Colorado Rockies.
“It’s crazy. Sixty is — I don’t know what to say,” said Raleigh, who leads the majors in homers. “I didn’t know if I was going to hit 60 in my life. Just tonight, what a way to do it.”
Batting left-handed in the first inning, the switch-hitting catcher connected off Tanner Gordon and sent a drive to right field that reached the top deck at T-Mobile Park for his 59th longball of the year.
“It was like a movie,” teammate Julio Rodríguez said of Raleigh’s moonshot. “I’m just so grateful that he’s on our team, that he’s able to do what he does. He’s so special, and I can’t say enough.”
Then in the eighth, batting left-handed again, Raleigh hit No. 60 off Angel Chivilli. Raleigh also had a two-run double in the second and finished with four RBIs to give him 125 this season, most in the American League.
The only other players to reach 60 home runs in a season are Babe Ruth (1927), Roger Maris (1961), Mark McGwire (1998 and ‘99), Sammy Sosa (1998, ’99, 2001), Barry Bonds (2001) and Aaron Judge (2022).
It was the 11th multi-homer game for Raleigh this year, tied with Judge (2022), Hank Greenberg (1938) and Sosa (1998) for the MLB record.
With four games remaining in the regular season, Raleigh has a chance to pass Judge for the American League record. Judge hit 62 homers in 2022 to break the previous AL mark of 61 set by Maris in 1961.
Raleigh’s latest homers came four days after he surpassed Ken Griffey Jr. for the franchise record with his 57th homer of the season. Griffey hit 56 in both 1997 and 1998.
“When you look at how he has done it and the position that he plays — I was telling somebody earlier today that when you come off the field, you’re mentally and physically exhausted,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, a former major league catcher.
“And for him to do what he’s done offensively and to do what he does behind the plate, I honestly don’t think we’ve seen this before. It’s been incredible. I think he deserves the MVP, no question.”
Roki Sasaki pitches a scoreless seventh inning for the Dodgers on Wednesday. (Norm Hall / Getty Images)
If the Dodgers are going to win 13 games in October, they will likely have to master the playbook they ran Wednesday night.
Starting pitchers came out of the bullpen. Another late-inning collapse didn’t cripple their psyche. The offense delivered timely hits when it needed to. And the team grinded out a 5-4 extra-innings win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The story of the night, in an unexpected but entirely warranted late-season plot twist, was Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw throwing scoreless innings of relief for a beleaguered Dodgers bullpen.
The theme, however, was improvisation with the roster and resiliency in the dugout, moving the team within a win of another National League West division championship.
“I know the word resilience gets thrown out a lot, but it was a resilient win and a resilient group,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We fought our tails off until the end. It didn’t look good at different points of the game. But Arizona fought as well. So it was a heck of a ball game … Really good stuff.”
The game wasn’t settled until the 11th inning, when Tommy Edman gave the Dodgers a lead with an RBI single and Justin Wrobleski closed out a rare stress-free save.
It never would’ve gotten there, however, without the contributions Sasaki and Kershaw provided out of the bullpen earlier in the evening.
After all the struggles from the Dodgers’ traditional relievers lately, it was the two starting pitchers who helped save the day.
Activated from the injured list shortly before the game, and making his first appearance in the majors since suffering a shoulder injury in early May, Sasaki flashed hugely promising signs with a scoreless frame in the bottom of the seventh — protecting a 3-1 lead the team had been staked to by Blake Snell’s six-inning, one-run start, and an early offensive outburst that included a two-run homer from Andy Pages.
Sasaki’s fastball averaged 98-99 mph, was located with precision on the corners of the strike zone, and even induced a couple key swing-and-misses, things he never did consistently while posting a 4.72 ERA in eight starts at the beginning of his highly anticipated rookie big-league season.
He paired it with a splitter that was also commanded much better than at any point in his initial MLB stint, when a lack of velocity and inability to attack the strike zone made his trademark pitch an ineffective weapon.
Sasaki needed only 13 pitches to retire the side in order, punctuating his outing with a pair of strikeouts on 99-mph four-seamers. As he walked back to the dugout, he glanced toward his teammates with a stoic glare. Just about all of them, including Shohei Ohtani, applauded in approval.
“One hundred, with a nasty split, OK Roki,” Snell joked afterward. “I think everyone’s going to be so excited for him. And if he can do that, that’s a big help for us. Big boost.”
As usual, disaster did eventually strike in the eighth, even after the Dodgers (89-69) extended their lead to 4-1 on Teoscar Hernández’s RBI double in the top half of the inning.
The bullpen’s lone season-long stalwart, Alex Vesia, ran into trouble by giving up a single to Ketel Marte, a walk to Geraldo Perdomo, and an RBI double to Corbin Carroll, all with one out.
Hard-throwing rookie righty Edgardo Henriquez couldn’t put out the fire from there, giving up one run on a swinging bunt from Gabriel Moreno in front of the plate that spun away from catcher Ben Rortvedt, then another when pinch-hitter Adrian Del Castillo stayed alive on a generous two-strike call (which was no doubt impacted by Rortvedt dropping the pitch behind the plate) before lifting a sacrifice fly to center.
It was the second three-run lead the Dodgers' bullpen had squandered in as many nights.
It was the latest example of their unreliable relief corps imploding even with ample late-game cushion.
So, to calm the waters, Roberts made another out-of-the-box pitching move with the score still tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth.
In what was his first relief appearance since the infamous fifth game of the 2019 NL Division Series, Kershaw came trotting in from the bullpen and got the game to extras.
"It's an adrenaline rush, for sure,” said Kershaw, who retired all three batters he faced with the help of a diving catch from Edman in center. “I think relieving is just a different animal altogether. You kind of have to figure out how to maintain your heartbeat and get going. But it is a lot of fun, and it's fun to have success out there. So fortunate to get through that inning.”
Kershaw had volunteered to pitch in relief Tuesday night, effectively replacing his between-starts bullpen session ahead of what will be his final career regular-season start Sunday in Seattle.
Come October, however, his best fit on the roster might come in a full-time (and perhaps high-leverage) relief role, thanks to the Dodgers’ abundance of starting pitching options and lack of trustworthy late-game depth.
“I think that right now, you’re betting on people,” Roberts said. “For me, I trust Clayton.”
In extras, the rest of the bullpen finally held up. Blake Treinen inherited a bases-loaded jam with two out in the 10th, but got James McCann to fly out to shallow right field. Wrobleski (another pitcher who began this season as a starter) was handed a save situation in the 11th, after Edman singled home a run with his third hit of the night, and retired the side in order.
“That was like a playoff game,” Roberts said.
And once the actual postseason begins, it’s the kind of performance the Dodgers will have to replicate again and again.
Their traditional bullpen, after all, remains a mess. The need for alternatives like Sasaki, Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan (another starting pitcher likely to pitch in relief in the playoffs) has become immense.
It made Wednesday something of a trial run for how this year’s team will need to win games in October. It provided a sense of belief that, despite all of the recent relief problems, they can still piece together ways to mount a World Series defense.
"We're kind of at the point of at the point of the season where we're just doing whatever it takes to win ballgames,” Edman said. “I think that's what's great about our squad, is that we have a lot of guys who are no egos and just going to do whatever it takes."
After the Mets' 10-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, manager Carlos Mendoza and players spoke about the team's defense and the wild-card race...
Mets' defense needs to be cleaned up
The Mets have played sloppy baseball over the last few games, and it has cost them in some respects. In Tuesday's eventual win, miscues and errors put the Mets behind the eight-ball before the offense caught fire to make their comeback. But the sloppy defense of Mark Vientos and others put the game out of reach.
After Francisco Alvarez's two-run bomb in the fifth put the Mets on the board and cut the Cubs' lead to 6-2, the bottom half of the inning saw Vientos, starting at third base, back off on a two-out grounder by Pete Crow-Armstrong and then launch the ball into the ground that Pete Alonso could not come up with. The throwing error allowed Moises Ballesteros to score from third base and PCA to go to second. The play took away momentum from the Mets.
The inning got worse, as Clay Holmes threw a wild pitch that let PCA get to third, but the young outfielder hustled home, noticing Holmes was late covering the plate and slid in safely to put the Cubs up 8-2.
Before the game, Mendoza said the Mets players knew they had to be better than that and maintained that stance afterward.
"They are routine plays, at this level you expect them to be made," Mendoza said of Vientos' error. "We just have to be better."
The Mets skipper was asked if he felt if the error was a result of Vientos trying too hard, and Mendoza didn't see it that way.
"Those are routine plays. This is the big leagues, routine plays, we expect those plays to be made. And they know that."
"We have to clean it up," Francisco Lindor said after the game about the team's defense. "It’s not for a lack of effort. Everyone’s putting their time. Everyone was out there taking groundballs, doing their thing. It’s just stuff that happens. Part of the game. We have to be better. I take full responsibility for my mistakes, and I’m sure everyone here takes full responsibility for their mistakes, as well. We know how to play the game, we know what to do, we just got to get it done."
Mendoza had Vientos start at third base against the left-handed Matthew Boyd on Wednesday. He sacrificed defense for offense and admitted as such after the game, but said there were other factors to his decision.
"There’s a balance there when you’re facing a lefty," Mendoza explained. "Jonah [Tong] is a flyball pitcher. You’re trying to create some offense too, and Mark is one of those guys, especially when we’re facing lefties. He will continue to get opportunities."
Vientos went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts on Wednesday and is hitting .180 (9-for-50) with a home run and four RBI over his last 15 games.
Mets scoreboard watching
The Mets are one of three teams vying for the final NL wild card spot. Entering Wednesday's games, the Mets controlled their own destiny as they sat one game ahead of both the Diamondbacks and Reds.
The Reds' game against the Pirates finished before the Mets-Cubs tilt and Mendoza said he noticed the score when Wednesday's eventual loss got out of hand. Despite the favor the Pirates gave the Mets, the team is only worried about how they are playing and they know they need to figure it out fast.
"You can’t worry about [the Reds], you gotta play better," Mendoza said. "It doesn’t matter what other teams are doing, it starts with us. We’re better than that."
"We control our own destiny. It’s all about winning," Lindor said. "It’s only natural that we peek. Everyone is on it as well. We want to win because we control our destiny."
With the Reds' loss, the Mets remain one game ahead of Cincinnati for the final spot. Both teams have four games remaining on their schedule. New York finishes their series with the Cubs on Thursday before heading to Miami to take on the Marlins for three. The Reds finish their series against the Pirates before going to Milwaukee for three.
“We’ll piece it together. We’ll continue to find ways to get 27 outs, and get the wins that we need here,” manager Carlos Mendoza said when asked about his side’s plans for the season’s final four games as they cling to the final NL Wild Card spot. “It’s not easy, especially what’s happened the last couple of days, even after an off day [Monday].”
“It was their bullpen day, pretty much, and they volunteered yesterday,” Mendoza said. “Like, ‘Hey, if you guys need us.’ You appreciate that; it says a lot about them. And here we were today needing them. And instead of throwing that bullpen, they ended up throwing in the game.
“But this is something that’s gonna be day-to-day. Whether they’re starting, whether we need them out of the bullpen. We’re gonna try and put our best guys there to get 27 outs.”
Their short outings – Holmes throwing 14 pitches and Manaea 16 – still have the duo in line to be available on Saturday, “at the earliest,” Mendoza said.
The trouble began for Tong immediately as he put the first two runners on base with a double and a walk in the first inning, before a strikeout and a fine defensive play by Tyrone Taylor kept the Cubs off the board. After a bounce-back second, it looked like Tong could be set for another bounce-back start.
“Tough first, huge play by Tyrone,” Tong said. “And thought I figured it out in the second, and then, they just got to me.”
In that third, the Cubs went: single, walk, single, double, single, and double to score four runs in and ended his night without an out recorded in the frame.
“They got him. They were aggressive on the fastball,” Mendoza said. “I feel like, other than the second inning, he had a hard time elevating the fastball, and that’s what makes him who he is. They took some really good changeups.”
“I made my effort, just didn’t execute it,” the righty said about struggling to elevate the heater. “Just gotta do a better job limiting damage there.”
The 22-year-old was just a two-pitch pitcher on the night, throwing the fastball and changeup 51 times out of 56 offerings. “I don’t think he used the breaking ball enough,” Mendoza said. “He could have done a better job of mixing there. Especially once they were all over the fastball.”
Four of his breaking pitches went for balls, and the other was smashed up the middle for a first-inning single.
Tong agreed with the manager’s assessment: “Definitely have to establish that more in the zone and keep just being unpredictable. Just gotta do a better job on my part.”
And, amid pitching staff-wide struggles, it is a tough task for Tong and fellow rookies Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean to do the heavy lifting in high-pressure games at the business end of the season while they’re still figuring out how to pitch in the majors.
“You got some of these guys going through it at the big league level, especially where we’re at,” Mendoza said. “It’s hard to put it on them or to blame them. This is where we are. We continue to go through it.”
After a fast rise from the Double-A ranks to the big leagues and a Wild Card race, the pressure of it all getting to the youngster could be understandable. But he said he entered the start with the mentality that “it’s just another baseball game.”
“Pressure is a privilege,” he said. “And I’m just out there just trying to do the best that I can.”
Mendoza doesn’t believe that the rough time for Tong (a 7.71 ERA through his first 18.2 innings) will impact his development. “Not at all,” he said.
Tong, who could still be used again either as a starter or out of the bullpen before the regular season ends on Sunday, said that he can “execute his pitches a little bit better, slow the game down, and go from there.”
Cal Raleigh became the seventh player in Major League Baseball history to hit 60 home runs in a season Wednesday night, launching two solo shots for the Seattle Mariners against the Colorado Rockies.
“It’s crazy. Sixty is — I don’t know what to say,” said Raleigh, who leads the majors in homers. “I didn’t know if I was going to hit 60 in my life. Just tonight, what a way to do it.”
Batting left-handed in the first inning, the switch-hitting catcher connected off Tanner Gordon and sent a drive to right field that reached the top deck at T-Mobile Park for his 59th longball of the year.
“It was like a movie,” teammate Julio Rodríguez said of Raleigh’s moonshot. “I’m just so grateful that he’s on our team, that he’s able to do what he does. He’s so special, and I can’t say enough.”
Then in the eighth, batting left-handed again, Raleigh hit No. 60 off Angel Chivilli. Raleigh also had a two-run double in the second and finished with four RBIs to give him 125 this season, most in the American League.
The only other players to reach 60 home runs in a season are Babe Ruth (1927), Roger Maris (1961), Mark McGwire (1998 and ‘99), Sammy Sosa (1998, ’99, 2001), Barry Bonds (2001) and Aaron Judge (2022).
It was the 11th multi-homer game for Raleigh this year, tied with Judge (2022), Hank Greenberg (1938) and Sosa (1998) for the MLB record.
With four games remaining in the regular season, Raleigh has a chance to pass Judge for the American League record. Judge hit 62 homers in 2022 to break the previous AL mark of 61 set by Maris in 1961.
Raleigh’s latest homers came four days after he surpassed Ken Griffey Jr. for the franchise record with his 57th homer of the season. Griffey hit 56 in both 1997 and 1998.
“When you look at how he has done it and the position that he plays — I was telling somebody earlier today that when you come off the field, you’re mentally and physically exhausted,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, a former major league catcher.
“And for him to do what he’s done offensively and to do what he does behind the plate, I honestly don’t think we’ve seen this before. It’s been incredible. I think he deserves the MVP, no question.”
The Mets fell behind early and couldn’t dig themselves out of a hole, falling to the Chicago Cubs 10-3 on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.
Jonah Tong surrendered five runs in the third inning, and it wasn’t until the fifth inning that the Mets got their first hit of the game. They finished the game with just four hits, one walk, and one hit batter.
The loss didn’t cost them too dearly, as the Pirates hung on to beat the Reds 4-3 in 11 innings and the Dodgers hung on to beat the Diamondbacks 5-4 in 11 innings, meaning New York is still 1.0 game ahead of Cincinnati and Arizona for the final NL Wild Card spot with four games to play.
Here are the takeaways...
- Tong surrendered a leadoff double to the right-center gap to start the bottom of the first and, after getting squeezed by home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn on a 2-2 changeup on the corner, issued a walk to put two men on base with nobody out. But Tong kept the Cubs off the board: First getting Ian Happ swinging at a changeup below the zone, then, on a Moisés Ballesteros single up the middle, Tyrone Taylor – in his first start off the IL - gunned down Michael Busch at the plate with a perfect throw and a sweeping tag from Francisco Alvarez, and closed the door with Seiya Suzuki grounding out to third.
An eventful, but not overly taxing first inning (22 pitches) was followed by an easy-breezy 1-2-3 second on just 12 pitches with three outs to center. But Tong was in a big jam in the third after a bloop single, a walk, and a single to left loaded the bases with nobody down.
The young righty paid the price: Happ yanked a changeup down the line at first that just stayed fair over the bag for a two-run double, Ballesteros bounced an RBI single past a diving Mark Vientos, on a ball he probably should have snagged as he was playing in and on the line, and Suzuki pulled an RBI double down the third base line.
That ended Tong’s night with Richard Lovelady entering with two in scoring position and nobody out. The lefty put out the fire with a strikeout, sac fly, and strikeout to limit it to a 5-0 Chicago lead. Tong’s final line: five runs on seven hits and two walks with one strikeout in 2.0 innings on 56 pitches (38 strikes). His ERA is now at 7.71 through 18.2 big league innings as Chicago jumped all over his two-pitch mix as he threw his fastball or changeup on all but five of his offerings.
- Lovelady, needing to put up zeroes and outs, was stung for a solo home run off Matt Shaw’s bat to start the fourth, but thanks to diving plays from Brandon Nimmo and Vientos, he got three more outs for the beleaguered bullpen.
- Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd retired the first six Mets he faced before issuing a leadoff walk to Alvarez to start the third, but was left stranded there. Boyd got through the first four innings without allowing a hit on 56 pitches before Vientos smoked a single past the third baseman to lead off the fifth. And with one down in the inning, Alvarez smashed a changeup up right down the middle for a two-run home run to left (417 feet, 106.6 mph off the bat). That cut the deficit to 6-2, but the Mets never got any closer.
Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto both started the night 0-for-3 off the Cubs’ left-hander before he departed with one out in the sixth. Daniel Palencia entered to get Alonso to fly out and Starling Marte swinging, meaning the top of the Mets’ order started the night 0-for-12 with two strikeouts.
Soto got that gang's first hit of the night, cranking an up-and-away cutter 397 feet to left center for his 43rd home run of the season. The solo homer was just smoked: 105.1 mph off the bat. He finished 1-for-4. But Lindor was 0-for-4, Alonso 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and Marte 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Clay Holmes, who threw 57 pitches Sunday, entered after Lovelady issued a leadoff walk in the fifth. After getting the first two outs on groundouts, Alonso couldn’t scoop Vientos’ throw in the dirt to plate another run on the throwing error, the speedy Pete Crow-Armstrong on second. And after a wild pitch, Holmes was late to cover the plate, allowing PCA to score all the way from second to make it 8-2.
After Holmes' 14-pitch inning of work, Sean Manaea, who threw 50 pitches Sunday, entered and allowed a leadoff single to Shaw, who promptly swiped second base. Busch then turned on a sweeper right down the middle for a 376-foot homer to right that just carried through the wind into the first row of seats to make it 10-2. The lefty got a strikeout in a 16-pitch inning of work. That could still have those two in line to pitch on Saturday in Miami.
- Ryan Helsley needed nine pitches for a 1-2-3 seventh, with a strikeout. He allowed a single in the eighth, but added another strikeout. He's now put up five-straight scoreless outings, allowing just two hits and two walks in that six-inning span.
- Taylor’s throw home in the first was clocked at 95.2 mph, the Mets’ fastest outfield assist of the season and the fastest of Taylor’s career, per Sarah Langs. He finished the night 0-for-3 at the plate.
Highlights
WELCOME BACK TYRONE TAYLOR!
He throws out Michael Busch at the plate to prevent the game's first run!
The Mets and Cubs conclude their series Thursday night with first pitch scheduled for 7:40 p.m. on SNY.
Right-hander Nolan McLean (1.27 ERA and 1.008 WHIP in 42.2 innings) gets his eighth start of the season with the home side sending out left-hander Shota Imanaga (3.37 ERA and 0.957 WHIP in 139 innings) for his 25th start.
PHOENIX — The Los Angeles Dodgers activated Japanese rookie Roki Sasaki from the 60-day injured list on Wednesday, and the right-hander is expected to throw out of the bullpen over the final five games of the regular season to see if he can earn a postseason role.
Manager Dave Roberts confirmed the move, saying right-hander Kirby Yates will head to the injured list because of a lingering hamstring issue. The move is retroactive to Sept. 21.
Roberts said he doesn't have a specific role for Sasaki, but wanted him to take advantage of his opportunities.
“Giving everything he has for an inning or two at a time,” Roberts said. “That's kind of what I see. Let the performance play out. Just go after guys and be on the attack.”
The 23-year-old Sasaki is 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings over eight big league appearances this season, all starts. He's also spent time at Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he was 0-2 with a 6.10 ERA over seven appearances, including five starts.
The defending World Series champion Dodgers are searching for bullpen help as the postseason approaches. Tanner Scott blew a save in Tuesday's 5-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Sasaki agreed in January to a minor league contract with a $6.5 million signing bonus as an international amateur free agent under Major League Baseball’s rules, leaving the Pacific League’s Chiba Lotte Marines under the posting system.
His debut season in the big leagues has been mostly disappointing, but the Dodgers hope he can still have a role in October.
Sasaki is one of three Japanese players on the Dodgers' roster along with two-way star Shohei Ohtani and right hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
NEW YORK (AP) Aaron Judge put himself in some rare company while lifting the New York Yankees into a share of the AL East lead for the first time in 3 1/2 months.
Judge became just the fourth player to reach 50 home runs four times and, just like last year, he followed by hitting No. 51 in the same game.
“If you sit back and admire it, then you’re going to stop your momentum,” Judge said after he drove in four runs to lead the Yankees over the Chicago White Sox 8-1 on Wednesday night. “Hopefully I have a long career here and we do some special things that we can talk about at the end.”
New York (90-68) has won seven of eight, moving a season-high 22 games over .500 and getting to 90 wins for the seventh time in the last eight full seasons. The Yankees, who hadn't been in first place since before play on July 3, are tied with Toronto atop the AL East with four games left - though the Blue Jays hold the tiebreaker. Toronto led by five games with 11 remaining but has lost six of seven.
“All across Major League Baseball it's been a crazy 10 days, two weeks,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
A day after the Yankees clinched their 60th postseason berth and eighth in nine years, Judge joined Babe Ruth (1920, ’21, ’27, ’28), Mark McGwire (1996-99) and Sammy Sosa (1998-2001) as the only hitters with four 50-homer seasons.
Judge drove a 96.6 mph sinker from Jonathan Cannon (4-10) into the Yankees bullpen in right-center field for a 3-1 lead in the second inning.
“Obviously made a mistake to the best hitter in the game and punished me for it,” Cannon said. “He hits everything.”
Judge followed Trent Grisham's two-run homer in the eighth with a solo shot off Cam Booser on a fastball for his 46th mulithomer game, matching Mickey Mantle for the Yankees' second-most behind Ruth's 68.
Judge had three hits, raising his major league-leading batting average to .328 along with 109 RBIs. The 6-foot-7 Yankees captain, who turned 33 in April, is on track to become the tallest batting champion in big league history. He also has the top OPS at 1.136.
“The consistency is incredible,” said teammate Max Fried, who won his sixth straight start and became the major leagues’ first 19-game winner. “Every game that he plays, everyone’s giving their best stuff to him every single day.”
Judge became the fourth player to hit 50 homers this year, joining Seattle’s Cal Raleigh (59), Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber (56) and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (53). The only prior seasons with a quartet reaching that mark came during the Steroids Era, by McGwire, Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Greg Vaughn in 1998, and by Barry Bonds, Luis Gonzalez, Alex Rodriguez and Sosa in 2001.
A two-time AL MVP, Judge made an 85.8 mph throw to second base on Colson Montgomery’s second-inning drive that went off the right-field wall on a hop. Judge overthrew shortstop Anthony Volpe at second, and the ball went on two hops to third baseman Ryan McMahon, Judge's hardest throw since hurting his right elbow in late July.
“Still a work in progress," Boone said. "That was by far the most he’s let one go so, hopefully, that’s a good sign.”
Judge came back on Aug. 5 from a 10-day stint on the injured list caused by the strained flexor tendon in hir right elbow and threw gingerly upon his outfield return on Sept. 5.
“It’s feeling great,” he said. “I've got to get back the accuracy a little bit, but that’ll come. That’ll come. I don’t like air-mailing balls like that.”
Defending AL champion New York still hopes for its second straight AL East title and third in four seasons. It's been a topsy-turvy season, in which all three AL summer division leaders have frittered away leads. Toronto topped the East by 6 1/2 games, Detroit the Central by 14 and Houston the West by seven.
“It’s unbelievable, but that’s baseball,” Judge said. “Especially with the expanded postseason, you’re going to have some moments like this where teams are going back and forth. When I go home, turn on MLB Network, check all the scores, see what’s happening, it’s pretty amazing. It’s just a lot of competitive teams out there doing their thing and we’ll see what happens here in the next four days."
SAN DIEGO — Ramón Laureano of the San Diego Padres broke his right index finger on Wednesday in a 3-1 loss to the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers and manager Mike Shildt said the outfielder will miss the first round of the playoffs.
Laureano shook his hand after fouling off a pitch in the second inning. He took a called third strike to end the nine-pitch at-bat, and was replaced in right field by Bryce Johnson in the top of the third.
Laureano was a key acquisition at the trade deadline on July 31, coming over from Baltimore along with Ryan O'Hearn.
He helped carry the Padres offensively since then, hitting nine homers and driving in 30 runs for his new team.
The Padres clinched a postseason berth Monday night with a 5-4, 11-inning win over the Brewers. San Diego won 7-0 Tuesday night to pull within 1 1/2 games of the Chicago Cubs in the race for the National League's first wild-card spot and within 1 1/2 of the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Padres were also without star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. for the third straight game. The team has said only that he has an illness, with symptoms including nausea, chills and a fever.
Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run of the season, and Max Fried pitched seven one-run innings as the Yankees to an 8-1 win over the White Sox on Wednesday night in The Bronx.
The win, coupled with the Blue Jays' earlier loss to the Red Sox, has put the Yankees and Toronto in a tie for first place in the AL East. The Blue Jays do hold the tiebreaker as both teams have four games remaining.
Here are the takeaways...
-With the White Sox going with a bullpen game, the Yankees' lineup got the bases loaded with no outs in the first inning thanks to three walks from Fraser Ellard. However, Giancarlo Stanton popped out to shallow right field. Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt followed up by striking out swinging.
Anthony Volpe hit a one-out double in the second, and the Yankees again were in trouble of not capitalizing. Ryan McMahon struck out swinging and, after a Trent Grisham walk, set up Judge. The Yankees captain made the White Sox pay, launching a first-pitch sinker 392 feet into right-center field for a three-run shot.
It's Judge's 50th home run of the season and is the first Yankee since Babe Ruth to have back-to-back 50-homer seasons. It is also his fourth career 50 home run season, tying Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Ruth for the most all-time.
-The Yankees continued to tack on in the third, with Goldschmidt tapping an opposite-field single that scored Rice -- who reached on a triple -- from third. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a double that Goldschmidt scored all the way from first.
Grisham continued his amazing 2025 with his 34th homer of the season, but was immediately followed by Judge's 51st of the season, that put this game way out of reach.
-After a 1-2-3 first inning, Max Fried pitched into trouble in the second, allowing back-to-back singles and a sac fly to allow his first run. After a throwing error by McMahon, Fried bounced back with a flyout and strikeout to limit the damage. And that was all the southpaw would give up through seven innings.
In his final regular-season start, Fried pitched like the team's ace, allowing just one run on four hits and two walks across seven innings while striking out seven. His first season in pinstripes ends with 19 wins and a 2.86 ERA.
-In relief of Fried, Devin Williams pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Paul Blackburn got the final three outs to complete the win.
Game MVP: Aaron Judge
Although Fried was masterful, there was an air of unease at Yankee Stadium with the team down 1-0, but the three-run blast allowed the team to exhale.
