The Clippers only scored one run, but they still managed 8 hits and 4 walks. George Valera went 2-3 with a HR and Kahlil Watson went 2-5 with two doubles. Kody Huff also went 1-3 with a walk.
Logan Allen had his first start back in AAA and it did not go very well. He allowed five runs in 4.0 innings pitched with two strikeouts and a walk. His AAA ERA is now up to 4.65.
Welbyn Francisca went 1-3 with a walk and his first AA RBI. Jaison Chourio went 2-5 with an RBI single. Jake Fox continued his bounceback season going 2-3 with a walk and an RBI. He is now hitting .349 with a .964 OPS on the season. Luke Hill also went 1-3 with a walk.
The good news is that the RubberDucks bullpen combined for 7 scoreless innings of relief with 10 strikeouts and zero walks. The bad news is starter Sean Matson gave up 9 runs on 8 hits and two walks in the first innings. His ERA is now up to 7.23 on the season.
Hagen Smith gets his first career MLB start, as an opener in tonight’s series finale. | (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)
With a sweep on the line, the White Sox need to lock in, with both pitching and the lack of hits over the last two games against the pesky Pirates. While the South Siders are still atop the American League Central, Cleveland is hanging around, and another loss tonight could be detrimental.
Hagen Smith, who has been great in a relief role, will open for Erick Fedde tonight. Jake Rogers will be behind the plate, with Andrew Benintendi as DH and at cleanup. The rest of the lineup is what we’re used to, with Sam Antonacci leading off. After last night’s bench-clearing kerfuffle caused by Antonacci’s elbow, and the White Sox on the verge of being swept, it should be a tense night in Chicago.
Jared Jones (3-6) will be on the mound for the Bucs. Jones is coming off one of his best games of the season, fanning nine in six frames against the Los Angeles Angels.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. CT. You can watch on CHSN or listen on ESPN Chicago 1000.
CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 06: Kyle Teel #8 of the Chicago White Sox celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a three run home run in the eighth inning during the game between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on Sunday, September 6, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Lawrence Brown/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
As the Cardinals limp home from a rough road trip, I would prefer to focus on the enshrinement of Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols in the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame this weekend. However, there are still games to be played and 3 of them over the weekend will be against the Chicago White Sox who will hopefully give St. Louis a glimpse at what might be their not-so-distant future.
Pitching Matchups
(NOTE: As of this writing, the Chicago White Sox have not officially announced their starters, but these pitchers are projected based on recent rotation)
Friday night, September 11 – Matthew Liberatore (LHP 5-14, 5.57 ERA, 144 SO) vs Erick Fedde (RHP, 8-8, 4.00 ERA)
Saturday night, September 12 – Kyle Leahy (RHP 10-4, 3.41 ERA, 124 SO) vs Anthony Kay (LHP, 9-8, 4.47 ERA)
Sunday afternoon, September 13 – Michael McGreevy (RHP 6-9, 3.92 ERA, 106 SO) vs Sean Burke (RHP, 8-7, 3.58 ERA)
Former Cardinal Erick Fedde has won 2 of his last 3 starts including September 4 when he threw 5 innings against the Minnesota Twins allowing just 3 hits and no earned runs. Anthony Kay has lost 2 of his last 3 starts including the most recent on September 5 against the Twins where he threw 4 1/3 innings allowing 6 hits and 5 earned runs. Sean Burke is 1-1 over his last three starts as he took the loss in his most recent start on September 8 against the Pirates allowing 8 hits and 7 earned runs.
Who are the Chicago White Sox players to watch?
Colson Montgomery: Leads the team with 31 home runs, 83 RBI’s with an average of .209
Munetaka Murakami: Also a home run threat with 30 home runs, 62 RBI’s and an average of .208
Miguel Vargas: Vargas also has 30 home runs plus 79 RBI’s and an average of .250
Andrew Benintendi: Has 14 home runs, 70 RBI’s and an average of .244
Randal Grichuk: Former Cardinal has 12 home runs, 34 RBI’s and an average of .286
The Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals look like two organizations going in completely different directions on paper, but an optimistic person would also point to the quick turnaround of the White Sox as a possible near-future glimpse of what the Cardinals could be. This season, though, these teams are in different worlds. The Chicago White Sox sit atop the American League Central with a record of 75-69. The Cardinals record isn’t all that different as they’re 72-75 but they’re near the cellar of the National League Central only a couple games above the lowly Reds and they’re 6.5 games out of the final Wild Card which might as well be 20.
Let’s be realistic and stop concerning ourselves with Wild Card hopes. The St. Louis Cardinals expect to get JJ Wetherholt back in the lineup this weekend vs the White Sox. Perhaps he’ll catch fire offensively to give himself a better chance at winning some Rookie of the Year votes. The real highlight of the weekend will be the enshrinement of Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Bill Sherdel in the Cardinals Hall of Fame. That ceremony will begin at 5pm Saturday, September 12 and everyone with a game ticket can enter the stadium early to witness it. Let’s hope the young Cardinals on the current and future rosters will soak in that moment and see what they can aspire to.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani watches the action from the dugout during a 14-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
When it comes to Shohei Ohtani‘s injury management, it’s tempting to dwell on the what-ifs.
What if the Dodgers forced him to give up pitching duties in July, when he needed a lubricant injection to alleviate irritation in his left knee?
It was clear by then that Ohtani was playing through multiple injuries. A right biceps problem popped up for the second time on July 3 — the last time he pitched in a game. The Dodgers said his knee inflammation was only aggravated by pitching and the biceps tightness was tied to hitting. And yet, they were confident that the MLB All-Star break would give Ohtani enough time to bounce back.
If the Dodgers had been more proactive, instead of starting and stopping Ohtani’s throwing program until his injuries forced a shutdown, would he be in the lineup Friday against the Miami Marlins instead of the 15-day injured list?
Maybe.
Or maybe one or both injuries were far enough along by then that they would have affected him down the stretch regardless. Maybe seeing if he could return to the mound was worth the risk.
“Anyone can do that, and say, ‘What could you have done better or different?’” manager Dave Roberts said earlier this week when asked if he had any regrets about Ohtani’s injury management. “That’s something going forward we’re going to look at, absolutely. But, it’s certainly not a blame-game thing. It’s learning from what happened and getting better.”
Parsing through the alternative outcomes from decisions made months ago could take time. But the fallout from this past week is clearer.
What if instead of resting Ohtani four days, and bringing him back Monday, the Dodgers had put him on the IL right away?
“I think if we look right now, here today, I would love to go back and put him on the IL,” Roberts said. “But at that moment in time, we all felt that giving him four days was sufficient. He was agreeable. Getting him out there on Monday with the hope that he would be able to play [again Wednesday]. But where we’re at right now, sure.”
Two weeks without Ohtani is hard to swallow. As a two-way player, he’s eligible for the 15-day IL instead of the 10-day for position players.
The Dodgers tried to avoid it. But when he returned to the lineup Monday, he “didn’t feel great” on a swing, Roberts revealed.
So now the Dodgers can only backdate Ohtani’s IL stint to Tuesday, rather than Sept. 3. At minimum, Ohtani will be out until the final five games of the regular season.
“The most important thing is him being as healthy as possible, not compromising his swing, and kind of bet on that,” Roberts said.
He acknowledged that Ohtani wouldn’t be back to “100%” even with the two weeks off.
But plenty of players push through injuries in the playoffs. October becomes a test of pain tolerance before addressing ailments in the offseason.
“I want to make sure that when I look back [on] this season,” Ohtani said Monday through interpreter Will Ireton, “that I used this as an experience, a learning experience and make sure that I use that as something to improve upon for next season.”
So, does that mean Ohtani feels like he could be more up-front with the team about his physical well-being, regardless of whether he thinks he can play through aches and pains?
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani celebrates with teammates after a win over the Reds at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s hard to say now with the season still going on,” Ohtani said. “It’s something that I’m going to reflect back on during the offseason. I’m just making sure that I’m focusing on the now and finishing strong.”
The Dodgers, for the first time navigating what was expected to be a full season of two-way play from Ohtani, leaned on his expertise while managing his workload. In retrospect, they might have put too much stock in his self-evaluations.
Baseball has a long tradition of players downplaying injuries, out of a desire to play and a belief in their own perseverance.
“What can I learn?” Roberts said this week. “I think that sometimes, potentially trying to get ahead of managing his workload — it always feels good to run him out there offensively as a DH. Always feels good when you pencil him in as a starter — for me, it’s just really trying to be mindful of the long season.
“And I guess it’s under the thing of, ‘you don’t know until you know,’ and it’s important to learn from experiences. And I think it’s good for all of us to kind of appreciate that he’s not supernatural, as much as we think he might be at times.”
Roberts said he didn’t learn until Tuesday night, after giving Ohtani a day off for the fifth time in six games, that a swing on Monday had bothered him.
So, Ohtani didn’t return to the lineup Wednesday as planned. And the team arranged for No. 1 prospect Josue De Paula to meet the team in Miami, called up straight from double-A for his MLB debut on Friday.
“It was more just really huddling up and saying, ‘Hey, how are you going to feel on Friday? How are you going to feel on Saturday, talking to the doctors and training staff?’” Roberts said. “There was not much certainty that he’d be in a much better place. With that, just taking it off the table seemed like the best course of action.”
De Paula wasn’t otherwise guaranteed to debut this season, although the Dodgers would have needed to eventually put him on the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
The Dodgers see him as a major-league ready hitter, but he still has work to do on the defensive side for the team to feel comfortable playing him in the outfield regularly. An early taste of the big leagues, even with his playing time expected to come mostly in the DH spot, could be beneficial for the 21-year-old’s development.
For Ohtani, the ramp from the IL to postseason play will be short. But his recent offensive struggles emphasized the importance of having a healthier version of him in the lineup come October.
If anyone can make it work, it’s Ohtani. He may not be supernatural, but he also isn’t just any player. And if he performs in the postseason, that will drown out any lingering what-ifs.
Times staff writer Kevin Baxter contributed to this report.
Sep 10, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Jake Burger (21) is tagged out by Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (29), right, at home plate during the fifth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Texas Rangers scored three runs but the Seattle Mariners scored four runs.
deGrom was dang near perfect. Joc Pederson tied Jake Burger for the team lead in dingers with a two-run shot off a tough Logan Gilbert. The Rangers manufactured a run via Skip Schumaker’s daily prescribed small ball.
Yeah, sure, they were thrown out at home thrice trying to extend their lead, but things were going to script for Texas as they attempted to escape Seattle with a series victory and to stay relevant in the terrible American League playoff race.
And then, after deGrom’s day ended after six innings and 92 pitches, Jakob Junis was called upon for the seventh inning and promptly retired zero of the four hitters he faced and turned a 3-0 lead into a 4-3 deficit that the Rangers couldn’t overcome as they combined to score five runs over two losses after scoring ten runs in the opener.
There’s still over two weeks of the baseball season to go so the Rangers could still recover from this and the many other foibles from this season, but they’re making it incredibly hard on themselves and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see the path while it also hasn’t been all that compelling to have been on the journey.
Player of the Game: Jacob deGrom was as good as we’ve seen him as he was squeezing his glove around a shot back to the mound away from completing six perfect innings with zero walks and 12 Ks. Alas, he chose to stay a Texas Ranger so he remains a Texas Ranger and all that entails.
Up Next: The Rangers head south for a trip to Arizona where they will take on the Diamondbacks. Neither team has announced a starter for the opener.
The Friday evening first pitch from Chase Field is scheduled for 8:40 pm CDT and will be aired on the Rangers Sports Network.
ATLANTA — The Tampa Bay Rays were prevented from possibly becoming the first team to clinch a playoff berth when Martín Pérez threw seven scoreless innings and Austin Riley’s run-scoring single in the eighth inning gave Atlanta its first lead of the series in the Braves’ 3-1 win Thursday.
Seeking its first division title since 2021, Tampa Bay (87-59) entered with a four-game AL East lead and would have clinched no worse than a wild card with a victory and a loss by Texas to Seattle or the Chicago White Sox to Pittsburgh.
Riley’s hit came after pinch-hitter Ozzie Albies’ had his first triple of the season, a drive against Kevin Kelly (6-4). Light-htting Ha-Seong Kim tacked on a two-run single for the offensively struggling Braves that proved crucial when Victor Mesa Jr. led off the ninth with a homer against Raisel Iglesias.
Iglesias bounced back to get the final three outs for his 32nd save in 35 chances for the Braves, who began the day with a three-game NL East lead.
Didier Fuentes (6-2) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win, which sent the Braves into an important series against second-place Philadelphia with a big lift.
The Braves, who had scored just three runs in a three-game losing streak and lost the previous two games to the Rays by a combined score of 14-3, were held to two hits in 6 1/3 innings by Nick Martinez. But the offense finally came to life in the eighth against the bullpen, stringing together five straight hits.
Pérez turned in a stellar outing after escaping a major jam in the first. The Rays loaded the bases on three singles, but Chandler Simpson hit into an inning-ending double play that began with a sharp grounder to first baseman Matt Olson. He threw home for the force at the plate and catcher Drake Baldwin’s throw back to first just beat the speedy Simpson.
Up next
Rays: RH Drew Rasmussen (14-5, 2.88) will take the mound for the opener of a three-game home series against the Houston Astros.
Braves: LH Chris Sale (14-9, 2.10) gets the ball for the start of the big series against the Phillies. The Atlanta ace will face RH Aaron Nola (6-10, 4.76).
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 04: Max Fried #54 of the New York Yankees pitches during the first inning of a game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on September 04, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) | Getty Images
With the Yankees looking to track down the Rays in the AL East while also maintaining the cushion they have on the Red Sox, this interleague matchup against the Rockies was a couple of must win games. Colorado is closing in on 100 losses and is as beatable an opponent as there is right now, sorry to them. Well so far, so good for the Yankees as they’ve taken the first two games of the series. Tonight, they’ll go for the sweep.
To try and accomplish that sweep, the Yankees will give the ball to Max Fried. This will be Fried’s third start since returning from the IL, and he’s been decent enough so far, allowing two runs in 9.1 combined innings. He still hasn’t gone over 72 pitches yet, so it’s still unlikely that he’ll be airing it out for 100 or anything tonight, but we’ll see.
As for the rest of the lineup, the big news is the return of Anthony Volpe. With Jazz Chisholm Jr. going on the IL, Volpe has been recalled and will play second base. He has been hitting decently since getting sent back to the minors, so we’ll see if there’s any correlation now that he’s back in the bigs. Aaron Judge will get a planned day off, his first since being reinstated from the IL on Tuesday as Aaron Boone will take it slow with his superstar outfielder especially after Judge returned without a rehab assignment. Jasson Domínguez will start in right field instead and bat third, flanked by Cody Bellinger and Luis García Jr.
Meanwhile, Ryan Feltner will take the mound for the Rockies. Feltner has a 5.91 ERA and a 5.27 FIP in his 106.2 innings on the season. The 30-year-old right-hander was having a decent year by Rockies pitchers standards until about mid-July, when a 2.1 inning eight-run disaster outing against Cincinnati ballooned his ERA north of five and he’s stayed there ever since. His latest start was a mediocre one, where he lasted five innings and gave up four runs to the Cardinals, but he’s got some seven-run outings in recent memory as the Dodgers and Nationals took him to task a couple of weeks ago.
Here’s all the information to know on how to catch tonight’s action, and we hope you’ll come join us in the game thread!
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium — The Bronx, NY
First pitch: 7:05 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES, Rockies.TV
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM (COL)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 28: Evan Phillips #59 and Alex Vesia #51 of the Los Angeles Dodgers laugh during the 2024 World Series championship ring ceremony prior to the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Friday, March 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Remember when the Dodgers went to the market and spent a lot of money to sign Edwin Díaz, baseball’s number one available relief pitcher simply because they could? Well, that hasn’t worked out the way everybody hoped. Intentionally overlooking the possibility — small, although very real — that something clicks and Díaz can perform up to his potential in the playoffs, the reigning back-to-back champs will have to make do without what they bargained for last offseason.
As damaging as that can be, this bullpen in its current construction bears no resemblance to the unit that was dragged over the finish line a season ago; this one is perfectly capable of not just getting by but fulfilling a crucial role in this quest for a three-peat.
Although other bullpens carry better stats, the Dodgers lead the National League in one particular category, one that will definitely come into play in October: strikeout rate, only trailing the Guardians in the entire sport with a 25.5-percent strikeout rate.
Any bullpen conversation with the Dodgers starts with Tanner Scott’s bounce-back, a pitcher we shall pretend arrived a year later than his contract would suggest. The former Padre has essentially filled the role set aside for Díaz before the season, as the standout closer acquired on the open market. Prone to inopportune slip-ups, hence the 1-5 record, Scott shouldn’t see his total production diminished to the point of skepticism around his ability to come up big in the playoffs. The air of invincibility may be lacking in comparison with other elite closers, such as Mason Miller and Josh Hader. Given where we were a year ago, it’s difficult not to embrace the optimism of this development. And we even have a backup plan for the closer role; more on that later.
Below Scott, the Dodgers rely on Edgardo Henríquez, who has firmly established himself as a key setup option, matching the wow factor of his stuff with the production on the mound. Henríquez was already a serviceable alternative coming up down the stretch last season. With adjustments to his arsenal and approach, the righty has taken his strikeout rate to the expected range for a pitcher of his qualities, near 30 percent.
The link in trust between last year’s bullpen and this season’s unit might be in the middle of a last dance in a Dodgers uniform. Alex Vesia — a free agent to be — might very well be priced out of staying with the Dodgers, who have other priorities, but let’s not dwell on that now and simply enjoy this special character who has been here since the start of this dynasty. Carrying on an extremely reliable career, becoming much more than the simple specialist he was first deployed as, Vesia has been equally dominant against righties and lefties—with a slugging percentage allowed below .300 facing either. Lastly, in the group of reliable regular-season options, you have maybe the heir apparent to Vesia in Jack Dreyer—a reliever developed in-house with similar fastball characteristics to Vesia, who has over 130 innings in the bigs since the start of last season with a sub-3.00 ERA. Equally dominant against righties and lefties, Dreyer is already a key cog in this bullpen, only in his second season as a big leaguer.
Beyond that trio, you have a balanced mixture of talented arms with a limited sample in the regular season, often due to injuries, and then perhaps this team’s secret weapon in the playoffs: talented starters turned relievers and all the flexibility they bring to the table. It’s difficult to imagine the Dodgers reaching their ultimate goal last season if not for the efforts of Roki Sasaki out of the bullpen, quickly becoming LA’s most trusted reliever back then. Working his way back from a nagging blister, Sasaki has taken steps forward on his way to establishing himself as a productive major league starter, but in the short term his postseason role once again lies in the work out of the bullpen. Considering his level of success as a closer last year, the Dodgers could reasonably hand him that role, but it should be noted that Scott has struggled when pitching in non-save situations this season, with an opponent’s OPS north of .700. Depending on how much weight the Dodgers place on that, they may just opt to keep him as the closer and have Sasaki in a firemen-type role.
While Sasaki is the high-profile name, there are other Dodgers starters who can provide a key impact working in relief, chief among them Justin Wrobleski, whose recent home run woes aside, has had a magnificent breakout campaign. On any other team, he’d be looked at as nothing but a starter, but the Dodgers can afford to rely on his skill set in a multi-inning role, similar to what we saw a year ago. A pitcher with more raw talent than Wrobleski but without the 2026 production to back that up, Emmet Sheehan looked great in his return to the bigs this month and will battle for a postseason spot down the stretch. If a pitcher as skilled as Sheehan ends up your go-to option to eat up innings in low-leverage spots, that’s something to be satisfied with.
All of this talent could reasonably be enough to get by in a scrap for the title, certainly much better than what Dave Roberts had at his disposal a year ago. However, we still haven’t even gotten to the wild cards of production—the ones that could make the difference between a pretty good bullpen showing and an outstanding one come the playoffs. It starts with perhaps the best success story of development in the Dodgers bullpen since Alex Vesia: Evan Phillips, who is finally healthy and pitching reasonably well in the time he’s been available.
When Phillips last pitched in the postseason, he was instrumental in helping the Dodgers get to the World Series before an injury kept him from participating in the Fall Classic. At his best, Phillips doesn’t come close to Díaz’s level, but he’s still a formidable force, and as things currently stand, there is no reason to believe he won’t carry that into October. He is probably the easiest name to be skipped to the front of the line in the race for high-leverage opportunities.
Beyond Phillips, you have Brock Stewart and Blake Treinen, whose case for reliability is a bit murkier, but it’s there nonetheless. However, the thing to note here is that even superb bullpens don’t have options of this quality just lying around with a small chance of being a big factor in the playoffs. It might even deserve more appreciation.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 18: Jose Altuve #27 of the Houston Astros celebrates with manager Dusty Baker #12 after defeating the Texas Rangers in Game Three of the American League Championship Series at Globe Life Field on October 18, 2023 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Legendary manager and future Hall of Famer Dusty Baker was brought to Houston in 2020 to restore credibility, pride and honor to the Astros organization and lead it to another World Championship. In his four years as the team’s skipper, Baker accomplished both of those lofty goals. He continued the Astros Golden Age by going to the ALCS every season he managed the team, and winning the 2022 World Series.
Baker is one of 19 people to ever win a World Series as both player and manager. He is 8th all time in managerial wins with 2,183 regular season wins, and he has 57 more in the postseason. He is the first manager in history to lead five different teams to division titles. He is the first African American manager to both 2000 career wins and to 50 career postseason wins. He is the oldest manager to appear in, and win, the World Series.
Baker has long been regarded as a players’ manager, renowned for the strong relationships he has built with his players over the years. In Houston, that is exactly the kind of relationship he had with Astros 2B Jose Altuve.
I reached out to Baker to get his thoughts on Jose Altuve becoming just the second active member and 103rd member in the history of baseball to join the 2500 hit club.
Baker could not have been happier for his former charge:
“It’s remarkable what he’s accomplished. The epitome of determination, will power, hard work and perseverance. Not to mention a ton of ability in a small package. Couldn’t happen to a finer person. Next stop: 3000, then the Hall of Fame.”
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 04: Chris Sale #51 of the Atlanta Braves tosses the ball to first base in the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies during a game at Citizens Bank Park on September 04, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) | Getty Images
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 09: Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Jorge Mateo (9) tags Atlanta Braves shortstop Mauricio Dubón (14) out at 2nd base in attempt to steal the base during the MLB game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Atlanta Braves on September 09,2026 at TRUIST Park in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Braves try to avoid getting swept / having the division lead possibly drop to two games (where they would be in danger of losing the division if swept over the weekend).
(Original Caption) 9/4/1961-New York, NY-ORIGINAL CAPTION: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle lost ground in their efforts to equal or surpass Babe Ruth's home run record. Mantle made a brief defensive appearance, but never batted. Maris, who played, had his woes and went 0-for-8. This photo series shows Maris muttering as he pops up to the third baseman: spinning away from a tight pitch; dropping his bat on a bunt; and flipping his batting helmet away in disgust after grounding out. The Yankees still swept the doubleheader, 8-5 and 3-2.
Roger Maris arrived in New York on the cusp of his prime, with a few solid power seasons under his belt. He left as a legend who broke one of baseball’s most respected, yet controversial, records, and he definitely paid the price for it. Time has given him his due place in baseball history, but the largely unpopular, introverted slugger had to live in the shadow of friend and fellow star Mickey Mantle in the convoluted sixties.
Roger Eugene Maris
Born: September 10, 1934 (Hibbing, MN) Died: December 14, 1985 (Houston, TX) Yankees Tenure: 1960-1966
Roger Eugene Maris was born in Hibbing, Minnesota, on September 10, 1934. Both his parents, Rudolph S. “Rudy” Maris and Ann Corrine “Connie” (née Perkovich), were of Croatian heritage.
In this space, we have said countless times that ‘X’ player grew up loving baseball, but Maris was the opposite of that. He actually hated the game as a kid and said his brother Rudolph forced him to play it. Luckily, he eventually fell in love with it while he was in high school.
Maris moved to North Dakota with his family in the late thirties. There, he played ball at Bishop Shanley High School in Fargo, where he became a legend in multiple sports, most notably football. In fact, he earned a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, according to the Society of American Baseball Research, but he decided to forgo college and focus on baseball instead.
The Cleveland Indians were the first MLB organization to employ Maris. He developed in their farm system and, playing for the Keokuk (Iowa) Kernels, he developed his power after manager Jo-Jo White made sure to teach him to pull the ball. That new swing helped Maris hit 69 round-trippers from 1954 through 1956. A year later, he would make his MLB debut with Cleveland, but not before marrying his high school sweetheart, Pat Carvell.
Family meant everything to Maris. He and Pat would go on to have six children, and they all gave him the emotional support and strength to navigate the highs and, especially, the lows in his career.
After playing 116 MLB games for Cleveland in 1957 and 51 in 1958, they traded Maris to the Kansas City Athletics. There, he hit 19 home runs in 99 games with a 97 wRC+. The power was there, evidenced by his 28 total homers between the two organizations, but the batting average and on-base skills weren’t fully developed yet.
Maris played in Kansas City until 1959. Late that year, in December, the Athletics sent him to the Yankees alongside Kent Hadley and Joe DeMaestri, with Marv Throneberry, Norm Siebern, Hank Bauer, and Don Larsen going the other way.
The Yankees were in the middle of their most successful stretch in franchise history. They went to the World Series in nine of the previous 10 seasons leading up to 1959, when they finished third in the junior circuit. Maris immediately had the best campaign of his career up until that point in 1960, when he slashed .283/.371/.581 with 39 homers for a 156 wRC+, surrounded by talented players like Mantle, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Tony Kubek, Bill Skowron, Clete Boyer, and Bobby Richardson, among others.
That year, he led the league in RBI with 112 and slugging percentage with .581. It was a marvelous display, but it felt like a ‘meh’ display if we consider what was about to come for him. Yes, it’s a crazy thing to say after a season in which Maris was an All-Star and won the Gold Glove and the AL MVP Award.
In 1961, however, he tried and succeeded in his quest to break one of baseball’s most revered records: Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs in a season. Since he reached his final tally of 61 in a 162-game calendar, however, his accomplishment had an asterisk attached to it for years.
Most fans and members of the media wanted Mantle to break the record instead. He was far more popular than Maris, and people sure let Roger know that. It wasn’t always in the kindest ways, either.
“The media scrutiny that Maris and Mantle had endured previously reached unprecedented heights in September. For Maris in particular, it became almost unbearable. While Mantle had been cordially, if not happily, dealing with the New York press ever since he became the heir to Joe DiMaggio, the plain-spoken, small-town Maris was nowhere near as comfortable in the spotlight,” Bill Pruden of SABR wrote about the uncomfortable situation for Maris. He has been described through the years as an ‘outsider,’ a man who didn’t like to talk too much, and the New York media found him awkward and unpleasant.
That didn’t stop him from completing a magical 1961, statistically speaking. While Mantle’s late-season hip infection took him out of the race for Ruth’s record, Maris kept going and eventually made history, whether people liked it or not. He finished the year with a .269/.372/.620 line, 61 dingers, 141 RBI, 132 runs scored, and a 162 wRC+, and the Yankees won the Fall Classic again.
Maris’ 1962 season would represent a stark drop-off in his power output with 33 home runs, but it was still enough to rank him fifth in the American League. He was solid overall, with a 126 wRC+ and 100 RBI, and the Yankees again won the World Series, giving the outfielder his second and final ring with New York.
Multiple injuries limited Maris to just 90 games in 1963, but he still managed to sock 23 homers and finish with an excellent 147 wRC+, slashing a robust .269/.346/.542 as the team made it back to the last series of the season, only to fall to Sandy Koufax’s Dodgers. Maris would produce another nice campaign in 1964, hitting a strong .281/.364/.464 and playing in 141 games, posting a 134 wRC+ and finishing with 26 round-trippers. He helped the Yankees advance to the World Series once again, falling 4-3 against the Cardinals.
The powerful slugger nursed a broken hand in 1965, which limited him to just 46 games. The second half of the sixties was actually rough for the Yanks, and that year marked the beginning of the decline and the return of some of the bad blood between Maris and the always unforgiving New York media. The team finished sixth in the American League that year and last in 1966, which wound up being the outfielder’s final campaign in the Bronx.
After two years in St. Louis in 1967 and 1968 (winning a couple pennants and a championship in ‘67), Maris would hang up his cleats. No matter how criticized he was back in the day, or how much of an outsider he was in the minds of some, he, his family, and everyone who saw him play can say that he is a Monument Park honoree.
After retirement, Maris and his brother owned and managed Maris Distributing, which was Budweiser’s beer distributorship in Gainesville, Florida. He also had a brief adventure as a coach at Oak Hall High School.
He was part of 1978’s Old-Timers’ Day in the Bronx, and Mantle introduced him to a welcoming crowd. Maris, unfortunately, started a battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1983, and died two years later. The Yankees at least retired his No. 9 in 1984, before he passed away.
Some say Maris is a borderline Hall of Famer, while others believe that he should be in because of the importance of the record he held until Mark McGwire broke it in 1998 and, of course, his two AL MVP awards and three World Series titles. The baseball world, however, hasn’t voted him in as of 2026.
In any case, Maris was one of the American League’s premier power hitters in the sixties, and he was part of one of the most fascinating records and chases in the history of the game. Because of that, he will forever hold an important place in Yankees history.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - AUGUST 24: Zack Wheeler #45 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on August 24, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Phillies and Astros will wrap up what has been a bizarre series on Thursday afternoon. In both of the previous games, the Phillies fell behind early, and while their comeback fell short on Tuesday, they were able to surge ahead on Wednesday.
Zack Wheeler will start for the Phillies. The righthander has given up just two runs across 12 innings in his last two starts.
Aug 10, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Freddy Peralta (51) looks towards the sky after the Rays recorded an out against the Athletics in the sixth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Freddy Peralta looks like he’s back to his old self. Over his last five starts with the Rays, he has a 2.73 ERA and 3.80 FIP while cutting his walk rate from 9.4% with the Mets to 4.5% with the Rays. Kyle Snyder and his team helped Peralta clean up some mechanical things to help him get lower down the mound, but those were relatively minor tweaks compared to how Peralta has changed the way he uses his arsenal.
We know the Rays pitching team preaches two main things: winning the race to two strikes and expanding the zone with two strikes. It’s easy to tell a pitcher, “Okay, get to two strikes and then make them chase.” But what does that actually look like in practice?
It starts with how Peralta is attacking the zone. He’s actually finding the zone less with the Rays compared to his time with the Mets (40.5% vs 43.2%), but his strike rate is up (64.1% vs 60.5%). In other words, he’s throwing fewer pitches in the zone but getting more strikes overall. That’s the result of changing how and where he uses each pitch.
Zone% with Mets
Zone% with Rays
Four-seam
50.0%
47.7%
Changeup
34.9%
23.2%
Curveball
34.8%
61.9%
Slider
30.5%
—
Sweeper
47.4%
27.0%
Aside from Peralta’s fastball, all of his secondary shapes are being used differently. The changes are dramatic. Peralta has taken his changeup and sweeper out of the zone more often while dramatically increasing the rate at which he lands his curveball in the zone. Each pitch now has a more defined job.
Two important pieces of a fastball-offspeed relationship are velocity separation and vertical approach angle (VAA) separation. His offspeed pitch doesn’t have much velocity separation from his fastball which makes it harder to generate in-zone whiffs, so the Rays are having Peralta lean into its vertical separation from his fastball and use it primarily as a chase pitch. His overall usage of it has increased – especially against righties – which makes sense because it’s his best pitch. But the bigger change is where he’s using it: out of the zone rather than trying to steal strikes with it. His sweeper is being used in a similar way, but mostly for chases against righties.
Peralta’s curveball usage is most interesting. It’s a relatively platoon-neutral shape, but it lacks the velocity and depth to suppress contact. The Rays have helped him shift his usage of the pitch to being more of a taste-breaker to earn called strikes in counts where batters don’t typically swing at breaking balls. Peralta is throwing curveballs nearly a quarter of the time on the first pitch of an at-bat and getting just a 20% swing rate against it compared to his called strike rate of 54.3%. Peralta is taking advantage of that tendency by using his curveball to steal called strikes before hitters are ready to react to it.
Once Peralta gets to strike one, the rest of his arsenal can do what the Rays want it to do: attack the edges of the zone and force swings outside it. He’s throwing 45% fastballs and just under 40% offspeed pitches when he’s ahead or even in the count. The tunnel between those two pitches is excellent, allowing him to attack the zone without giving hitters an easy pitch to sit on. He’ll occasionally sprinkle in a breaking ball to keep hitters off balance.
Eventually, hitters will start to adjust and they might be looking to do damage on a first pitch curve in the zone. Peralta and the Rays might already be preparing for his next adjustment – a cutter.
It appears Peralta introduced a cutter in his most recent start against the Braves:
I circled two pitches that Hawkeye tagged as four-seamers, but their movement profile looks much more like a cutter. Peralta is clearly still developing the shape, so it will likely vary as he continues to refine it. The two pitches sat in the upper 80s with less vertical movement than his four-seamer and similar glove-side movement to his breaking balls.
That combination could make the cutter a useful “bridge” pitch to his sweeper against righties. It’s relatively easy for hitters to distinguish Peralta’s four-seam fastball from his sweeper out of the hand, but a cutter occupying the space between them gives hitters another shape to account for. Both cutters appeared to be intended down and just off the plate glove-side. That’s where Peralta’s breaking-ball shapes are most effective, so the cutter could add another layer of deception to the way his arsenal interacts.
Cutter shapes also tend to play platoon-neutral, so this is something he can deploy against lefties but with a different purpose than being a bridge to a breaking ball. It’s not a perfect tunnel because of the difference in vertical movement, but the difference in velocity between his cutter and offspeed is essentially nonexistent. The cutter and offspeed pitch sit in the same velocity band, but have nearly two feet of difference in horizontal movement. That could create a difficult decision for hitters looking to protect with two strikes; if Peralta can maintain those shapes, the two pitches could be difficult to distinguish out of the hand.
It will take some time for Peralta to land on a consistent shape, but I’m looking forward to seeing him increase its usage into October. The curveball has already given Peralta a new way to steal strikes early in the count; the potential cutter could make those strikes harder to predict while giving his sweeper and changeup more room to work once he’s ahead. That makes it an especially natural fit for the Rays’ philosophy.
The NFL betting volume took some heat off the MLB player prop market yesterday, and I took advantage with a big day on the diamond, including a pair of dingers. I still have juice to sprint to the finish line.
My home run props for Thursday, Sept. 10, are looking for a Burger bomb vs. Logan Gilbert, and Cody Bellinger is getting my money again today thanks to another great left-handed matchup and setting.
MLB home run props for today
For help understanding Polymarket probabilities, see our odds calculator.
Player to hit a HR
Chance
Cody Bellinger
18.3%
Jake Burger
16%
Home run prediction: Cody Bellinger (18.3%)
Colorado Rockies right-hander Ryan Feltner is the biggest pitcher target today. He has the worst HR/9 among today's starters dating back to last year and is pitching in the toughest environment on the slate.
The wind is blowing out to the short porch at Yankee Stadium, and Feltner gives up more slugging to left-handed bats. It's another great day to target New York Yankees lefties.
Cody Bellinger cashed yesterday at 17% with a fair price of 20%. I might move that fair price closer to 21%, making today's 18.3% an easy call for my MLB picks.
Logan Gilbert has the fifth-worst HR/FB rate among starters in the second half at 21.8%, along with the 11th-worst HR/9 at 2.12. He just gave up four dingers in his last start and has surrendered 11 home runs since Aug. 1, with lefties and righties both hitting him for power.
I'll roll with Texas Rangers slugger Jake Burger. I have his fair price at 20%, so there's plenty of value on a batter with nine homers in the second half.
He's gone deep three times over the last three games and brings a hot bat against a cold arm, with a great price on a small slate.
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Cody Bellinger
Jake Burger