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Happy birthday to Willie Greene, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1908 – Giants P Christy Mathewson and Cubs P Three Finger Brown battle in what is perhaps the most controversial game ever played. The score is 1-1, with two outs in the last of the 9th when Fred Merkle‘s failure to touch second base after an apparent game-winning hit by Al Bridwell scoring Moose McCormick from third costs the Giants a 2-1 win; the umpire calls Merkle out and rules the game a tie. Merkle’s “boner” will eventually cost the Giants the flag, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1845 – The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club is formed, and Alexander Cartwright‘s 20 rules, presented on September 13th, are adopted.
• 1902 – Cy Young eases to his 32nd win as Boston pounds the A’s, 14-1.
• 1911 – Walter Johnson gives up a two-run homer in the sixth inning to Joe Jackson, the eighth four-bagger the Big Train has allowed this year. Johnson had given up just two in the previous four seasons. 
• 1936 – Pitching in the tenth straight Giants game, Carl Hubbell notches his 16th consecutive victory, his 26th of the year. He will resume the streak next year to reach a record 24 wins in a row.
• 1962 – LA Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills breaks Ty Cobb’s 1915 MLB steals record, recording his 97th steal on his way to 104.
• 1967 – The Red Sox are in third place, also a half game out, after dropping a 7-5 decision to Baltimore. Carl Yastrzemski‘s 42nd home run had given the Red Sox a 5-4 lead, but a Brooks Robinson home run in the 8th inning wins it for the O’s.
• 1979 – Lou Brock steals base No. 938 to break Billy Hamilton‘s unofficial record in a ten-inning St. Louis victory over the Mets, 7-4. The Cardinal outfielder broke Ty Cobb‘s mark of 892 in 1977.
• 1983 – Steve Carlton becomes the 16th pitcher in major league history to win 300 games and the Phillies inch closer to the National League East title with a 6-2 win over the Cardinals.
• 1998 – Craig Biggio is 3 for 5 and swipes No. 50 to become the only player besides Tris Speaker in 1912, to have 50 doubles and 50 steals in a year.
• 2000 – Joining Frank Robinson, the Devil Rays’ Fred McGriff becomes only the second player in major league history to hit 200 homers in both the American and National League.
• 2022 – Albert Pujols, who has announced his retirement at the end of the season no matter what happens, becomes the fourth player to reach the 700-home run mark — after Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds. He does so by going deep twice, first off Andrew Heaney in the third inning and then off Phil Bickford in the fourth for No. 700.

Today in Cubs history:

• 1905 – In Chicago, Christy Mathewson and Carl Lundgren hook up in a tight pitchers’ duel, decided in Chicago’s favor on a mental error by Giants 2B Bill Dahlen. With two on and two out in the 5th inning, Dahlen bobbles a grounder and touches second base as the runner arrives. Dahlen, thinking that he has the third out, rolls the ball to the mound. But ump Bob Emslie calls the runner safe. Johnny Evers, the runner on third base, alertly scores on the play for the game’s only run. The loss stops Matty’s win streak at 11 games.
• 1907 – In Chicago, the Cubs clinch the pennant by beating the Phillies, 4-1. Chicago pulls off a triple play in the 5th inning to help seal the win.
• 1933 – The Cubs beat the Reds, 7-1, with Paul Derringer losing his 27th game for the last-place Reds, the most losses since George Bell in 1910. Gabby Hartnett hits a grand slam for the Cubs.
• 1959 – The Cubs continue to dash the Giants’ pennant hopes as Cal Neeman‘s 10th-inning home run gives Chicago a 9-8 win. The Cubs won the day before, 5-4, on George Altman‘s ninth-inning, two-run home run.
• 1965 – A 20-game winner in 1964, Larry Jackson loses his 20th game of this season, as the Phillies sweep a twin bill from the Cubs, 11-5 and 7-4. Jackson is the first pitcher since Murry Dickson of the 1951–1952 Pirates to follow a 20-win season with 20 losses.
• 1998 – Sammy Sosa breaks an 0 for 21 slump, hitting his 64th and 65th home runs as the Cubs build a 7-0 lead over the Brewers. Milwaukee fights back, however, and scores three in the last of the 9th when Chicago OF Brant Brown drops a routine fly ball with the bases loaded and two out to allow three Brewers to score. Rod Beck is on the mound when the Merkle-like error occurs (Fred Merkle’s boner occurred exactly 90 years ago). With his eight total bases, Sammy has now topped the 400 mark.
• 2000 – At Wrigley Field, the Cardinals defeat the Cubs, 6-5, despite 1B Mark Grace‘s 1,000th career RBI for Chicago. 
• 2001 – Sammy Sosa becomes the first player in history to hit three home runs in a game three times in a season. Despite his trio of blasts, the Cubs still lose to the Astros, 7-6.

Cubs Birthdays:Gonzalez Germen, Chris Volstad, Willie Greene*, Tony Fossas, Dennis Lamp, Oscar Zamora, Mack Stewart, Joe Kelly.

Today in history:

• 1779 – John Paul Jones aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard defeats the British frigate HMS Serepis and becomes the United States first well-known naval hero.
• 1780 – British Major John Andre reveals Benedict Arnold‘s plot to betray West Point.
• 1806 – Lewis and Clark return to St Louis from Pacific Northwest.
• 1862 – US President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is published in northern newspapers.
• 1875 – Billy the Kid is arrested for the first time and jailed after receiving clothing stolen from a Chinese laundry but escapes two days later.
• 1926 – “Upset of the Decade”: Gene Tunney defeats defending champion Jack Dempsey by 10-round unanimous decision at Sesquicentennial Stadium (later known as JFK Stadium) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the world heavyweight boxing title.
• 1952 – Undefeated Rocky Marciano knocks out defending champion Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round at Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia, for the world heavyweight boxing title.
• 1957 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders US troops to support the integration of nine Black students at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas after a white mob forces them to withdraw.

Today in music history:

• 1945 – First Cavalcade of Jazz outdoor concert is held at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, featuring Count Basie, Valaida Snow, and others.
• 1957 – “That’ll Be the Day” single by Buddy Holly and The Crickets reaches No. 1 in the US.
• 1969 – Northern Star, the student newspaper for Northern Illinois University, starts rumors that Paul McCartney is dead.
• 1974 – John Lennon‘s single “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night,” featuring Elton John, is released in the US; it is Lennon’s only solo No. 1 single during his lifetime.
• 1980 – Reggae legend Bob Marley‘s final concert at Stanley Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• 1982 – Columbia Records releases “The Nylon Curtain,” singer-songwriter Billy Joel‘s eighth studio album.
• 2016 – Shawn Mendes releases his album “Illuminate”, debuting at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200.

*pictured.

Zack Wheeler has reached a number that only 96 other pitchers in the history of the game have reached by striking out his 2,000th hitter on Tuesday night.

I will go so far as saying that his is the greatest free agent signing in team history.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• The bullpen and how they use all the players available there will be just one thing to watch during this final week of the season ($).
• Dave Dombrowski is going to wait until the season is over before talking about Don Mattingly’s future ($).
• Dan Baker, legendary PA announcer at Citizens Bank Park, celebrated his 80th birthday by giving away a lot of his Phillies stuff to a local university.

MLB news:

• The Red Sox and Mets decided to keep their interim managers around for a while longer, Chad Tracy getting his options picked up while Andy Green added on three years.
• Justin Verlander will get one last chance to pitch in Detroit this Saturday before he calls it a career.
• There’s weather a’comin’ to Boston this weekend and that could have some major baseball implications to the pennant chase.

Good morning Birdland,

For a while now, we have been able to lean on the crutch that the Orioles were still “mathematically alive” in the AL playoff race. There is a chance, perhaps even an inevitability, that it will no longer be a matter of math after today. The Orioles elimination number is at one, and they play two games today. The same is true for the Blue Jays. Both teams need to sweep today and hope that the White Sox and Rangers are suddenly sapped of all talent, much like the basketball players in the 1996 hit film Space Jam. Unfortunately, as far as I know, that movie was not based on a true story.

It’s likely to be a bummer of an end to the Orioles home slate in 2026. Double-headers can be cool, but a split admission isn’t ideal for really anyone. The weather is expected to be cloudy and cool, peaking in the mid-60s this afternoon, with 10 mph winds and a low chance of rain. I would guess that attendance to the afternoon start will be rather pitiful.

The Orioles do not have a starting pitcher named for either game today on their website just yet. But it sounds like Chris Bassitt is confirmed for Game 1 to take on Max Scherzer in a rematch of last week’s face-off in Toronto. As for Game 2, both teams are quiet. Craig Albernaz seems to be picking between Trey Gibson and Cade Povich. It might depend on what happens in the opener with both teams possibly treating it like a playoff game, since it pretty much is one.

Also, Pete Alonso will be named the Most Valuable Oriole some time today. That is not confirmed, but the announcement for MVO is slated for this date, and Alonso is really the only choice at the top of the ballot. It will be interesting to see how some other names finish further down the list. I would expect Trevor Rogers, Brandon Young, and Shane Baz to get some love, as will Gunnar Henderson despite his struggles, and you might even see Rico Garcia among the vote-getters.

Links

Orioles confronted by doubleheader today and possible elimination in Wild Card race | Roch Kubatko
Roch has more daily updates, including the possibility that Samuel Basallo’s season could be done a little early. The team has concussions concerns coming out of Monday, and it’s obvious that he hasn’t been quite right since coming off of the IL anyway.

Mariners Lose Scout Behind George Kirby and Jonny Farmelo to Orioles | Yahoo! Sports
Apparently, this is a nice get by the Orioles. Joe Doyle, the reporter credited with most of the information in this story, explains that Ty Holub was courted by multiple organizations and chose to return to the Orioles, where he worked under the prior front office regime from 2013-17 as a baseball operations assistant.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s glasses are a distinctive feature on a distinctive player | The Baltimore Banner
CES is one of the positives coming out of this season. It’s nice to read up a little more on him. Unless he is traded this offseason, he would seem like a lock to return to the Orioles in 2027. Jordan Westburg’s rehab is likely to bleed into the start of the season, and it’s possible that Coby Mayo sees time elsewhere on the field to get his bat into the lineup more often.

Candidates to add to Orioles’ 40-man roster | Baltimore Baseball
As is explained in the article, there may not be a Rule 5 draft to protect players from this offseason. But you will still probably see the O’s (and other teams) add a handful of interesting youngsers to their 40-man roster sometime this fall.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Willie Greene turns 55 today. He spent part of the 1998 season with the Orioles, acquired from the Reds in a deadline swap for outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds. Greene played in just 24 games for the O’s and had a .608 OPS in that time.
• Pete Harnisch is 60 years old. An Orioles’ first-round pick in 1987, the right-handed pitcher debuted with them at the major league level in 1988 and stuck around through ‘90 before he was part of one of the most lop-sided deals in team history. The Orioles sent him, along with Steve Finley and Curt Schilling, to the Astros in exchange for Glenn Davis. Harnsich was an all-star in his first season with Houston and had a few more impressive years after leaving Baltimore.
• The late Marcelino López (b. 1943, d. 2001) was born on this day. He played in three seasons for the Orioles between 1967-70. In total he had a 3.23 ERA over 147.2 innings with the O’s.

This day in O’s history

1958 – Orioles pitcher Jack Harshman hits two home runs to help himself to a 3-2 win over the Washington Senators.

1967 – A Brooks Robinson homer in the eighth inning lifts the Orioles to a 7-5 win over the Red Sox.

1997 – The Orioles use three early runs off of Roger Clemens to hold onto a 3-2 win against the Blue Jays.

1999 – A 13-game winning streak comes to an end for the Orioles as they lose 9-6 to the Athletics in the first part of a double-header. They bounce right back in the evening with a 12-4 win led by Albert Belle’s four-double performance.

2002 – The Orioles lose their 26th game in 30 chances as Jay Gibbons’ two-homer showing isn’t enough and the Red Sox prevail 5-4 in 15 innings.

2013 – Not only do the Orioles lose 5-4 to the Rays, but Manny Machado suffers a season-ending injury when he steps awkwardly on first base and twists his knee.

The Detroit Tigers missed a chance to secure a series win over the visiting Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, dropping the second of the three-game series, 3-1. Despite tossing a quality start, Drew Anderson was saddled with the loss while the offense barely made a peep at Comerica Park.

Making his final start of the 2026 campaign in Game 3 is left-hander Framber Valdez — the lone survivor from the Tigers’ pitching rotation from the beginning of the season. While his overall numbers fall significantly short of what one would expect for his level of pay, the 32-year-old has been a mostly steady presence on the pitching staff, save for his short suspension in May.

Valdez is finishing the season on a strong note, having put up a 1.50 ERA and 3.71 FIP over his three games in September, allowing 12 hits (one home run) and seven walks while striking out 13 plus a hit-by-pitch across 18 innings to earn a pair of wins along with a loss.

For the Nats, fellow southpaw Richard Lovelady will take the mound looking to give the team a series win in his sixth start of the season. The 31-year-old journeyman was with the New York Mets to begin the season and served primarily as a back-end reliever; he has become something of a Swiss Army arm for Washington since acquiring him in a trade in mid-April.

Lovelady has not thrown more than two innings in an appearance this season, so he ostensibly will be serving in the opener role on Wednesday.

Here is a quick look at the stats for both pitchers in the series finale.

Detroit Tigers (74-84) vs. Washington Nationals (74-84)

Time (ET): 1:10 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:Federal Baseball
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 159: LHP Framber Valdez (10-11, 4.06 ERA) vs. LHP Richard Lovelady (3-4, 3.86 ERA)

VALDEZ

LOVELADY

Leading off yesterday’s doubleheader, Carlos Rodón pitched like a man who had something to prove. In a way, he does. He may be asked to step aside if the club needs a three-man rotation for a potential Wild Card series next week, widely viewed as the fourth guy sitting outside the Yankees’ Big 3 in their rotation, Cam Schlittler, Max Fried, and Gerrit Cole. Rodón’s also had to answer doubts all year as he’s dealt with numerous injuries, starting the season on the IL after offseason elbow surgery and a hamstring injury in spring training, before hitting the IL again with elbow inflammation over the summer. He’s been nails through it all, posting a 2.67 ERA in 16 starts, saving his best for last in the form of an eight-inning masterpiece Tuesday afternoon.

Rodón’s performance forces some interesting questions for the Yankees, particularly when it comes to their strategy should they face the Red Sox in a best-of-three. How should the Yankees deploy Rodón next week?

First off, you can make a compelling argument that they should just start the man. By any measure, he’s been the club’s third-best starter this season, behind Schlittler and Fried and ahead of Cole. Cole has been more durable throughout the season, but Rodón’s been in better form down the stretch, posting a 1.89 ERA in seven starts since coming off the IL a second time. Why not just roll with the hot hand?

The Yankees seem likely to go with Cole, preferring to defer to both Cole’s extensive track record and status over Rodón’s superior recent performance, a decision that’s both debatable and reasonable. Should that be their move, the strategic implications run deeper.

They could use Rodón in something of a piggyback role, letting him eat multiple innings in support of one of their top starters (perhaps Cole, the team’s shakiest starter lately?). They could let him air it out in a one-inning relief role for one series, or even deploy him as a lefty specialist, choosing to bring him in if and when the opposing lineup presents a lane of left-handed hitters.

It’s not at all a simple decision, in no small part because there’s another plausible idea here: keep him in reserve for a potential ALDS. If the Yankees burn all four of their top starters in some fashion in the ALWC, they’d be forced to start Will Warren in Game 1 of the ALDS should they advance. The difference between Rodón and Warren isn’t exactly massive, and Warren has been strong down the stretch as well, but saving Rodón for the ALDS allows the Yankees to ensure that every game is started by one of their top four pitchers.

It’s a complicated calculus; every tactical decision you make in one postseason game or series has major strategic consequences on every future game and series. Rodón could be an extra relief weapon in a Wild Card series, he could be held in reserve for a future series, and you could even argue he should just start against Boston. What do you think? What should the Yankees do with Rodón?

On the site this morning, Matt reviews Tuesday night’s American League action, and John ruminates on Moneyball, the movie, released on this day 15 years ago. Later, Jonathan’s entry in our Yankees Birthday series features a fan favorite from a bygone era, Joba Chamberlain, and Josh discusses Aaron Judge’s calf injury, and the Yankees’ continued reluctance to be forthright whenever Judge gets hurt.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Time: 7:05 p.m.

TV: Amazon Prime Video, Rays.TV

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

Reading Fightin Phils 13, Erie SeaWolves 4 (box)

SeaWolves pitching held up in the postseason about as well as one could hope as the club had similar issues to their parent club all year. The magic finally evaporated in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s Game 2 of the Eastern League championships, as the Phils launched a pair of grand slams to bury the SeaWolves and claim the title.

Things started off with plenty of promise in the must-win elimination game. Peyton Graham drew a leadoff walk and Zyhir Hope blasted a two-run homer before an out had been recorded in this one.

The SeaWolves got leadoff singles in the second from Chris Meyers and E.J. Exposito, and after Izaac Pacheco struck out, the Phils turned quickly to their bullpen and got flyouts from Seth Stephenson and Graham to escape the jam.

Lucas Elissalt cruised early on, giving up just a leadoff single in the third, which he stranded. Elissalt’s velocity was up nicely much of the summer, but it’s been back down more in the low 90’s recently, suggesting he was running out of gas. In the fourth, he gave up a leadoff single to Dante Nori, and then hung sliders to Aidan Miller who doubled, and Chris Heredia, who singled. With a run in and Miller on the third, Elissalt bounced a breaking ball and Luke Shliger failed to block it. It was ruled a wild pitch and Miller scored to tie the game. Elissalt collected himself and struck out the next hitter, ultimately escaping the jam, but the weak SeaWolves bullpen made that at most the best of a set of bad options.

In the top of the fifth, Pacheco singled, and Stephenson bunted him to second base. A Graham ground out moved him to third, and the Phils turned to a lefty to deal with Hope, eventually walking him. Thayron Liranzo pulled a ball to third that went for an error, scoring Pacheco to re-take a 3-2 lead, but that’s all they’d get.

Elissalt got three quick outs in the bottom of the fifth, but Tony Cappuccilli stuck with him in the sixth and it all blew up in their face. Three line drive singles started the inning, and that was the end of Elissalt’s outing. Colin Fields took over and promptly walked in a run. Caleb Ricketts was up next, and he lifted a grand slam just over the right field wall to make it a 7-3 Reading lead. Eventually Zane Barnhart had to take over, and he allowed an inherited runner to score. 8-3 Reading.

From there the bullpen continued its meltdown. They allowed a run in the seventh, and then Tanner Kohlhepp dug himself a deep hole in the bottom of the eighth. Wandisson Charles took over and allowed a Carson DeMartini grand slam.

E.J. Exposito hit a solo shot in the ninth, but this was long out of reach by that point.

Congrats to the SeaWolves on a good season. Ultimately they fell victim to the same thing that plagued the Tigers all year. There just aren’t many legit pitching prospects in the upper levels of this system, and that better change pretty quickly. Right now it’s Andrew Sears and Elissalt alone, with only Moises Rodriguez, Yuniel Curet, and Yilber Diaz as notable relief prospects. Jake Miller’s injuries the past two years make his future extremely uncertain. Ben Jacobs, Cameron Flukey, Kelvis Salcedo, and Cale Wetwiska offer hope in 2027, but aren’t going to approach major league readiness until 2028 most likely. Michael Massey, probably the top pure relief prospect in the system, will hopefully join them now that he’s recovered from Tommy John surgery.

Point being, the Tigers have another nice wave of position prospects coming in 2027, but internal help for the pitching staff is still another year away for the most part.

Hope: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB

Exposito: 2-4, R, RBI

Meyers: 2-3, 2B, BB

Elissalt (L, 1-1): 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 5 K

This concludes the season for Tigers Prospect Daily as well. On behalf of David Rosenberg and myself, thank you very much for following along, and for your comments, prospect discussion, and support. It means a lot to us, and never fear, we have plenty of season-ending prospect coverage coming in October, and we’ll be tracking Zyhir Hope, Bryce Rainer, and the rest of the Tigers’ Arizona Fall League contingent starting in two weeks.