Category: MLB

Of all the Yankees moves (or non-moves) this summer, their decision not to add pitching at the trade deadline probably caused the most consternation. The team’s pitching staff paced the league in the first half, sure, but most fans looked at the club’s bullpen, and at the long list of names on the IL, and figured the Yankees could use an extra arm or two just in case, just to add a little depth if things got hairy.

Well, we’re here in September, and things have gotten hairy, but the Yankees’ pitching staff has still performed. Max Fried and Ryan Weathers hit the IL with an elbow issues, and Fernando Cruz’s injury left the late-inning crew thin, and yet the Yankees’ team ERA of 2.77 since August 4th leads baseball. Their depth has been tested, and they’ve aced the test.

All that said, outside of David Bednar, Brent Headrick, and Paul Blackburn, there’s no obvious pecking order in the Yankee bullpen. Aaron Boone has three clear favorite options, and then a bunch of question marks. Other than the matter of how to structure the team’s outfield, this might be the most pressing roster concern to sort out in the final month. So, who will emerge as the next most trustworthy reliever in Boone’s bullpen?

I think the most fun part of this question is that the answer could be anyone, thanks to the Yankees’ proclivity for getting the best out of unheralded pitchers. Anyone that is currently on the roster, or working on things in Triple-A, or rehabbing from injury, is liable to step in and surprise us, because Matt Blake and his staff have been so proficient at molding flawed pitchers into serious contributors.

That leaves us with loads of possible players who could emerge in September to establish themselves in the Circle of Trust before the playoffs begin. We could start with the young big leaguers coming back from injuries, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, and Ryan Weathers. Gil, who missed most of this year with a shoulder problem, has returned as a reliever and looked intriguing, sitting 96 mph with his fastball in an outing on Monday night and generating six whiffs. Schmidt is coming off a longer layoff post Tommy John surgery, but also has a high-quality track record; his 3.07 ERA across 2024 and 2025 speaks to how effective he can be when healthy. Weathers morphed into one of the best starters in baseball after a midseason repertoire shift, and could be a dynamite bullpen weapon if he can make it back healthy. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see any of this trio become a key bullpen figure by the end of the month.

Then, there are the late-season scrap heap finds that the Yankees are actively working on. Last week, they dusted off Michael Fulmer, best known around here for swiping the 2016 Rookie of the Year award from Gary Sanchez, and also claimed John Schreiber off waivers. Fulmer has made three appearances with New York and flashed a somewhat interesting cutter-led arsenal, while Schreiber tossed a scoreless inning his Yankees debut Tuesday night and was a dependable middle reliever as recently as last year. It’s entirely possible both with will be off the roster before long, but would you be shocked if one of them benefited from working with Blake and proved they had something left in the tank?

From there, we have the arms in the minors that might seem like long shots, but have performed in the bigs before. The most interesting name is probably Angel Chivilli, who used a sharp changeup to dominate through the month of July before a six-run blowup against the Cardinals in early August ruined his season numbers. The Yankees also have Yerry De los Santos and Brendan Beck as possible options in Scranton. No, no ones wants the Yankees to be relying on these kinds of guys in October, and it’s unlikely any emerge as real options, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility they return to the bigs in September and show something. Elmer Rodríguez could’ve fit with this group of minors options, but he’s back with the big-league squad, and he too merits mention as someone that could earn Boone’s faith with a strong showing this month.

The fact of the matter is, the Yankees have some unsettled spots in the bullpen, and one month to decide who should fill them. Who do you think will step up? Will one or more of these guys find themselves adding to the Circle of Trust?

The Yankees are off today, getting some time to make the short jaunt down from Anaheim to San Diego. There will be plenty on the site to keep you busy, as Sam runs down the Yankees Plays of August, and Peter recaps Wednesday’s American League action. Later, Jonathan profiles Eric Plunk, the only player ever traded for the same Hall of Famer twice, while Andrés discusses Clarke Schmidt’s impending addition to the Yankee bullpen, and the rapid ascent of Yankee prospect Yostin Pena.

Today’s Matchup:

Offday.

Toledo Mud Hens 11, Indianapolis Indians 2 (box)

The Hens took advantage of 8 walks to crush Indy on Wednesday night.

The Carl Edwards Jr. experiment has been an absolute rollercoaster, but they got the good version in this one. The veteran right-hander gave up a run in the first, and then powered through four scoreless frames with six strikeouts to get this one to the sixth with a lead.

The lead was courtesy of a James Outman solo shot in the bottom of the second, a Corey Julks double in the fourth that led to him scoring, and then in the fifth, Max Burt doubled and stole third, scoring on a Jace Jung double.

So it was 3-1 through five innings. The game ended in the seventh for all intents and purposes, as the Hens scored seven runs in the bottom half. There were six walks and a hit batter in the inning, and the big blow was this grand slam by Burt that capped off a brutal inning for the Indians. It also wasn’t really a grand slam, but the umpires saw otherwise.

Enmanuel de Jesus succeeded Edwards and collected seven outs, five by strikeout. Tyler Mattison finished the eighth, and Nick Sandlin allowed a run in the ninth.

Burt: 2-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR, K, SB

Jung: 1-4, R, RBI, 2B, BB, 2 K

Edwards Jr.: (W, 5-10): 5.0 IP, ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: The Hens get back at it at 7:05 p.m. ET, and you may still be able to Konner Griffin for one more game on the other side.

Somerset Patriots 8, Erie SeaWolves 6 (box)

Max Alba was knocked around in this one, and the SeaWolves couldn’t manage a comeback. Fortunately, they still have a pretty good hold on a playoff spot with nine games left, but they do need to get back to winning right quick.

Somerset got to Alba for four runs in the first inning, and Dariel Fregio had to clean up the mess. Izaac Pacheco hit a solo shot, his 20th homer of the year for the SeaWolves, in the bottom of the second inning.

Fregio gave up a run in the third to make it a 5-1 game, but the SeaWolves fought back to tie it up in the bottom of the third.

Peyton Graham and Woody Hadeen started the inning with singles, and Zyhir Hope smashed a two-run double to center field. Hope stole third, but ultimately rode home on a two-run shot from E.J. Exposito. The infielder now has 23 homers on the season. 5-5 game.

Colin Fields allowed a run in the top of the fifth, partly due to his own bad pickoff throw, and the SeaWolves just couldn’t manage another push. Moises Rodriguez led it get away a little further when, after collecting five outs in the seventh and eighth, he allowed two runs in the top of the ninth.

Graham walked, took two bases on defensive indifference, and scored on an error on a Hadeen fly ball, but they couldn’t get any closer.

Hope: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B, BB, 2 K, SB

Pacheco: 2-4, R, RBI, HR, K

Graham: 2-4, 2 R, BB, K, SB

Rodriguez: 2.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves get back to work at 7:05 p.m. ET on Thursday. Their Southwest division lead is down to 4.5 games over Chesapeake with nine games remaining.

West Michigan Whitecaps 14, Dayton Dragons 6 (box)

The Whitecaps know the situation; win or go home. Still 1.5 games back of Great Lakes for a playoff spot, Ben Jacobs absolutely shoved in this one, and the Whitecaps offense went off to win again on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the Loons won as well, so there are just four games left to make a run at this.

If you read BYB you’ve heard a lot about the 22-year-old lefty this year, and he lived up to the billing again in this one. He gave up a two-run shot in the bottom of the third, but was otherwise dominant the Dragons, showing some really good sliders to go with the gnarly fourseam-splitter combo that is usually his bread and butter. Jacobs punched out 10 without allowing a walk in five innings of two-run ball in this one, and it’s great to see that in a game where his teammates really needed a good outing.

The Whitecaps struck first in the top of the third. Stephen Hrustich cracked a solo shot with two outs, and Bryce Rainer smoked a sharp single to left. Edian Espinal ripped a drive to the wall in center field for an RBI triple, and Beau Ankeney doubled him home for a 3-0 lead.

Jacobs gave up the homer in the bottom half, but was lights out the rest of his night.

In the sixth, they got to work against the Dragons’ bullpen. Ankeney doubled again with one out, and a recently scorching hot, and the still somehow just 22-year-old Cristian Santana crushed a two-run shot to left for a 5-2 lead. Walks to Jackson Strong and Samuel Gil followed, and Carson Rucker grounded into a force of Gil at second. Nolan McCarthy singled in Strong, and it was 6-2 Whitecaps.

Luke Hoskins gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-3, but in the eighth the Whitecaps blew this one open. Santana reached on an error to start the inning and Strong walked again. Juan Hernandez blasted a three-run shot to center field and they tacked on another run in the inning to make it 10-3.

In the top of the ninth, Espinal reached on an error on Dayton’s left fielder and reached third on the play. Ankeney singled him home. Santana struck out, but yet again, Strong drew a walk. Hernandez flew out, but Carson Rucker launched a three-run shot tucked just fair down the right field line to make it 14-3.

Ethan Sloan was a mess in the bottom half, allowing three runs, but it was already over.

Ankeney: 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B

Espinal: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 3B

Rucker: 1-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, BB, K

Jacobs (W, 5-2): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 10 K

Coming Up Next: The ‘Caps have won four in a row, but they need to keep it going at 7:05 p.m. ET in Dayton on Thursday. Do it for Dan Hasty!

Lakeland Flying Tigers @ Bradenton Marauders (postponed)

Cameron Flukey’s last start of the season will have to wait. They were rained out on Wednesday, and will try to make this one up with a doubleheader on Friday. Thursday night’s game is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. In other news LHP Caleb Leys has been moved to the development list, while RHP Jhonan Coba has been activated by the Flying Tigers. Presumably we’ll see another start from Coba before the season ends on Sunday.

PHOENIX — It has been 131 days since they last saw one another.

It was back when the Philadelphia Phillies were playing their worst baseball of the season, while Atlanta was playing its best baseball.

The season wasn’t even a month old, and after losing for the 11th time in the last 12 games, the Phillies were already 10 ½ games behind Atlanta.

Now they meet again four months later, with the Phillies look nothing like the woeful team Atlanta last saw the final weekend of April.

The Phillies have a new manager in Don Mattingly, a completely reshuffled infield, a new right fielder, a three-time batting champion, and the confidence that they can go where no Phillies team has gone since 2008.

The Phillies (79-61) are four games behind Atlanta (83-57), but they also are the hottest team in baseball, winning 15 of their last 18 games.

The Phillies will open a crucial four-game series against Atlanta beginning Friday night at Citizens Bank Park, and after a three-game series against the Washington Nationals, they head to Atlanta for another three-game set.

By the time they leave Atlanta, the Phillies will have only 12 games remaining with a long, deep October run on their minds.

“I’ve got my batting titles," new second baseman Luis Arráez tells USA TODAY Sports. “I’ve got my All-Star Games. My Silver Slugger. All of the individual awards.

“What I want now is a World Series ring.

“I can’t tell you how bad I want that."

WASHINGTON – Sometime soon, the Washington Nationals bullpen will tie, and almost certainly break a record it wants no part of.

Nationals relievers have blown 35 saves, second in major league history to the 37 suffered by the 2024 Chicago White Sox. You might remember those Sox: They were, according to the loss column, the worst team in major league history, dropping a record 121 games as the roster suffered a complete breakdown.

Yet these Nationals are not a bad team.

They wildly exceeded expectations thanks to a vastly improved offense, were above .500 as late as July 29 and made the decision much harder for first-year president of baseball operations Paul Toboni to part with prized players come the August trade deadline.

Toboni ultimately sold, but not before perhaps the most teachable moment of his first season served to ruin many late innings and lead to more than a few restless nights for he and rookie manager Blake Butera:

You can only skimp so much on relief pitchers.

NL EAST: Ronald Acuña Jr. becomes fastest to join 200-200 club

“The value of having homegrown relievers coming through the farm that you don’t have to spend huge dollars on necessarily but can lean on is really important,” Toboni said this week.

“But the opposite is true, too: If you don’t feel like you’re in that spot at any given point in time, you have to consider throwing free agent dollars at pitchers.”

That, the Nationals did not do.

Five of the seven relievers on their opening-day roster had one year or less of service time and six of the seven made between the major league minimum $780,000 and $825,000, according to salary data obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

Their most experienced arm, lefty Cionel Perez, posted an 8.31 ERA for Baltimore a year ago, made the club on a $1.9 million deal and was designated for assignment by May 4.

But the Nationals’ relief torment was just beginning.

The Pirates are making roster moves with one month left in the season. The Bucs recalled left-handed pitcher Brandon Eisert from Triple-A Indianapolis and selected the contract of catcher Christian Bethancourt from Indianapolis, adding him to both the 28-man roster and the 40-man roster.

Pittsburgh also moved catcher Endy Rodriguez from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Rodriguez suffered a season ending left hip injury, and they made the move to make space for Christian Bethancourt. 

MLB teams get two extra players for September, as rosters expand from 26 to 28 players for the last month of the regular season. The Pirates add a pitcher and a position player, one that will give the bullpen an extra arm and the other some help at catcher, a position that has been dealing with injuries this season.

Eisert has struggled throughout his time in Pittsburgh. He has posted a 7.71 ERA over seven innings pitched, with a .345 batting average allowed and a 2.00 WHIP. Although his numbers have not been good, he still adds depth to a struggling bullpen.

Since Eisert was sent down to Indianapolis on August 4, he has been a lot better. He has a 2.08 ERA over 10 appearances and 13.0 innings pitched, 18 strikeouts to three walks, a .093 BAA and a 0.54 WHIP.

Bethancourt hasn’t played in the Majors since late 2024 with the Chicago Cubs. He does have 428 games of experience over eight seasons and is a solid third option for the Pirates to have behind Henry Davis and Rafael Flores Jr.

I don’t think any move that the Bucs made will help the Pirates make that improbable playoff run but it builds depth for a team that has dealt with some big injuries this season. 

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Gerrit Cole grew up an Angels fan, so it’s only natural that he would have something to say about the franchise’s recent sale to Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. However, the veteran approached the issue from a business standpoint rather than an emotional one, noting that the club’s ultimate price tag of $4 billion was remarkably high, especially when compared to the Padres, who were sold for $3.9 billion earlier this year despite being much more competitive in recent years. Said Cole: “It shows that there’s ability to get top dollar on both ends of the spectrum…I think that would speak to how healthy economically the game is functioning.” Definitely something to keep in mind as the MLBPA and the owners continue their standoff. 

NJ.com | Randy Miller: With rosters having expanded on September 1st, the Yankees’ additions were 3B Ryan McMahon and reliever John Schreiber. Here, Miller liaises with an anonymous scout who shares his evaluations on several players who were passed over, including pitching prospect and 2026 debutant Brendan Beck, and former regulars Anthony Volpe and Jasson Dominguez. The scout doesn’t really tell us anything new about the latter two, but his comments on Beck are interesting; he pegs him as a fifth starter and a trade chip of some value despite his relatively advanced age. Not bad for a guy who was drafted 55th overall, then had Tommy John surgery just six months after. 

The Athletic | Asli Petit: In a first for MLB, the Yankees now have an official tampon! Sequel, an upstart company founded by two women ex-athletes, has partnered with the club to offer free tampons in Yankee Stadium’s women’s bathrooms. I wouldn’t have guessed that the Yankees of all teams would be the first team to embark on such a partnership, but it’s a welcome change and an important step towards ensuring the inclusion of female fans. Hopefully more clubs will follow suit!

ESPN.com: The Yankees have struggled to close the gap between them and the Rays in the division race (though it’s certainly closer now than it once was). It’s still a long shot, but the Yankees have one thing going for them; the remaining strength of schedule. The Yankees’ upcoming opponents have a collective winning percentage of .489, markedly lower than the Rays’ slate of .517. The two teams are set to face off in the penultimate series of the season. Here’s hoping the Yankees can handle their business against their lackluster opponents leading up to that all-too-important matchup.

A couple of tweets to round out today’s roundup: first, a quick overview of how Spencer Jones has produced since his second call-up. I have never been more happy to eat crow, and I hope Jones forces me to continue my raven-based diet. 

Second, Clarke Schmidt inches nearer to his return, as he’s been reassigned from Double-A to Triple-A for his rehab. With the Yankees piggybacking Max Fried and Will Warren on Friday, it’s fair to wonder if Schmidt could also be a piggyback candidate should he rejoin the big league club according to schedule.

It’s rare in baseball for a single player to single-handedly win a game because of the structure of the sport. There are very few things a single player can do to have that much leverage in a game and instead requires much more active participation from the rest of the team on the field or in the dugout. This afternoon was one of those exceptions when James McCann took the first pitch he saw in the home half of the eighth straight into the left field bleachers for the game’s sole run. It was a needed cathartic release to end what was a tense, hard fought series against one of the team’s primary rivals in the Wild Card race. This series also included one of the hottest teams in the league right now who showed no sign of slowing down either and could easily be a first-round playoff preview if things break the way we hope they do.

Andrew Painter, the Phillies’ top-ranked prospect and the eighth-ranked prospect in the sport, struggled to start the year by posting an ERA of 7.06 before being demoted. Since returning to the big leagues however, he’s looked like a different pitcher. Today’s seven-inning, dominant scoreless outing lowered his ERA all the way down to 3.12 since his return. The rookie buzzed through the lineup, allowing just three baserunners to reach on the afternoon by leaning on a combination of his fastball, sweeper, and slider to devastating effect. Impressively, the D-Backs failed to get a single hit with runners in scoring position during the entire series, going a combined 0-for-17 on the series. Unsurprisingly given that context, the team managed to only score one run in each game, which puts that much more pressure onto the starting and relief pitching as a substitute.

If Painter was the lone Old West lone wolf, the D-Backs countered with an entire posse of nasty relief pitchers in a planned bullpen game. There is always an inherent risk to such a game plan as a single reliever having a bad day could easily occur and completely ruin the rest of the plan. Thankfully, the plan went off nearly flawlessly with just one reliever (Jose Cabrera) covering more than a single inning, and all but one reliever picking up at least one strikeout for their efforts.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. This was a near-disaster of a series – even as they avoided the sweep this afternoon. It was a prime opportunity for the team to create some additional separation between them and the rest of the teams chasing them in the Wild Card race and maybe even gain some ground on the Phillies and the second Wild Card spot. Instead, the offense continued to scuffle, the bullpen looked shaky at times, and the team looked exhausted. I understand that we’re coming to the home stretch of the season but this team is all too aware of how thin the margins can be for reaching the playoffs after the past two unsuccessful seasons.

Shohei Ohtani didn’t look right when striking out in the 10th inning of the Dodgers’ 8-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.

Ohtani, who hasn’t pitched since July 3 due to lingering knee and biceps issues, winced in pain throughout his eight-pitch at-bat against reliever Riley O’Brien, seeming to strain himself with every muscle flex, let alone big-league hacks.

“I saw the same thing that everyone saw,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I’m going to talk to [Ohtani] tomorrow and really try to figure out … where he’s at physically. Because, yeah, I saw the shaking of the arm, I saw the wincing, and clearly, the swings aren’t who he is.

“Obviously, there’s some compensation. So, I’m going to talk to him, and then I’ll make a decision tomorrow about his availability.”

Roberts isn’t sure if Ohtani, who went 0-for-4 on Wednesday with four strikeouts and a walk, will need to go on the injured list.

“It won’t be an IL, unless it is,” Roberts said. “But it’s very unlikely.”

Ohtani is the type of player who will suit up as long as he has a leg to stand on. He’s on pace to appear in 158 games for the third consecutive season.

“I think that tonight was kind of the tip of the iceberg,” Roberts said. “But I’ve seen it over the last couple of weeks, where he hasn’t been who he is.”

Read more:Plaschke: No two ways about it — Shohei Ohtani should not pitch again this season

With a month to go before October, when the Dodgers’ pursuit of a third consecutive World Series title truly starts, Roberts understands that Ohtani’s situation must be addressed now.

“I know he feels that he needs to post and be in the lineup, and if he’s upright, he should play; I respect that,” Roberts said. “But if he’s feeling the way that it visibly looks, then [that’s] really not helping anyone. So, that’s the conversation that I’ll have with [the training staff].”

The Dodgers, who were 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position against the Cardinals Wednesday, could’ve used a big hit from their future Hall of Famer. They probably could’ve used his pitching, too.

Instead, the Dodgers are waiting to see if Ohtani will — or should — even be available for the foreseeable future.

“I do think that he is a very finely tuned athlete,” Roberts said. “So when he’s not kind of all synced up, and the parts aren’t working the way that he’s used to them working, things are compromised. And so clearly tonight, you can see the swing wasn’t the swing that we’re used to seeing. So he’s not close to optimal tonight.

“What is going to get him close to being able to perform at the level that you know he expects? That’s kind of the question. And time off obviously seems logical, so I’m not blind to that.”

Ohtani’s uncertain status comes at a tricky time for the Dodgers.

The two-time defending champions haven’t looked the part for much of the summer. Wednesday’s ugly loss, in which Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers crumbled late despite taking a 3-0 first-inning lead, was the latest example.

“As a team, yes, there might be some stuff we need to do better [and] work on some stuff,” said Yamamoto, who had a no-hitter through five before surrendering a pair of two-run homers over his final two innings. “But because we have great players and experienced players, I think we will be able to get over this hump.”

Yamamoto isn’t alone in staying calm.

“We’ve been through everything,” Freddie Freeman, who ended his career-high 47-game home run drought with a three-run blast in the first, said. “We’ve seen everything. [We’ve] had our backs against the wall and had to win games when we really needed to … I think good things are ahead.”

Good things very well could be ahead for the Dodgers, who are 82-57 and in first place by nine games in the NL West. They’ve earned the right not to panic; that’s for sure.

But the equation could change drastically based on Ohtani’s status down the stretch.

CT3 comes home

The Dodgers welcomed back former longtime utility player Chris Taylor to Dodger Stadium and presented him with a video tribute and his third World Series ring.

“It’s pretty much what I identify my career as — over 90% of my entire career was in Dodger blue,” Taylor said. “This is the place I call home. Always proud to be a Dodger, and it means a lot to me that they would do this for me. So, I’m extremely humbled.”

Taylor, a 12-year veteran who retired this season, said Wednesday night was the first time he was able to watch a game with his family.

Injury updates

Catcher Will Smith was given a breather after going one for five with two RBIs in his first game back from a three-month stint on the injured list on Tuesday.

“It was good to see him get a knock,” Roberts said. “I thought he swung the bat pretty well. So, it’s a premeditated day off today. He’ll be back in there tomorrow, but I guess no news is good news.”

It wasn’t a full day off, as Smith pinch-hit for Hunter Feduccia in the ninth and scored the Dodgers’ run in the 10th.

Right-hander Roki Sasaki’s blister is healing while he’s on the IL, so he shouldn’t miss additional time.

“I saw him yesterday at the end of the bench; it’s healing well,” Roberts said. “He’s still moving his arm, playing catch. So I think it’s going to be a shorter term getting him back.”

Roberts doesn’t yet know whether Sasaki will take a spot in rotation upon his return.

Another right-hander, Gavin Stone, who hasn’t pitched since August 2024 potentially could pitch this month, Roberts said. Stone recently made his fourth rehab start.

“Gavin’s been good,” Roberts said. “I think right now — and again, this is not talking to the guys in the, you know, player development — but it’s more of just getting him to stay upright, stay healthy, is the win for 2026.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Yankees’ top priority in September is trying to chase down the Rays for the division.

Besides that, they need to get Aaron Judge back healthy and allow him to get his timing down before the postseason arrives. They wouldn’t mind giving their heavily used high-leverage relievers a rest, either.

In addition to all of that, though, the final month of the regular season offers another sideshow of sorts: the AL Cy Young race.

And while Cam Schlittler certainly added to his case with a dominant outing Wednesday night, his lineup let him down, spoiling a gem and forcing the Yankees’ ace to settle for a no decision after making just one mistake across eight innings.

But the Yankees bats woke up in time to make sure the night was not a total bust.

Austin Wells delivered a clutch two-out, two-strike, two-run single with the bases loaded in the top of the 10th to put the Yankees ahead for good on the way to a 6-3 win over the Angels to take the series at Angel Stadium.

After David Bednar tossed a scoreless bottom of the ninth, the Yankees loaded the bases with one out in the top of the 10th and then exploded with two outs against reliever Luke Murphy.

Wells’ go-ahead single — causing the Yankees-heavy crowd to erupt — was the first of four straight hits as Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice followed with RBI singles of their own to push the lead to 6-1.

That proved important as Michael Fulmer gave up a two-run shot in the bottom of the frame before recovering to close out the win.

By the end of the night, the Yankees (80-60) had moved within 3 ¹/₂ games of the Rays for the division and five games clear of the Red Sox for the top AL wild card entering Thursday’s off-day.

Schlittler had retired 17 straight before leaving a cutter down the middle to Vaughn Grissom, who crushed it to dead center field for a solo shot that tied the game 1-1 in the seventh inning.

The problem for Schlittler, more than one bad pitch, was that Angels lefty Reid Detmers was stifling the Yankees lineup at the same time, allowing just one run across seven innings.

Schlittler went a step further, finishing eight innings while allowing just two hits — both to Grissom — walking none and striking out nine. It marked the 19th time in 29 starts he has allowed one run or fewer, lowering his ERA to 2.04 in the process.

Before Schlittler took the mound Wednesday, his biggest threat in the AL Cy Young race, Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease, had already thrown six shutout innings against the Guardians, lowering his ERA to 2.25.

Schlittler was coming off a strange outing in which he threw 5 ²/₃ shutout innings against the Red Sox and allowed just two hits, but tied a career high with five walks, which clearly irked him.

The free passes had become something of an issue even as he pitched well in August, uncharacteristically walking 16 batters in 27 innings across five starts last month. But Schlittler made the adjustment in a big way, not walking a single batter.

Detmers faced the minimum through three innings and needed just 30 pitches to do so, but Paul Goldschmidt led off the fourth with his second single of the night — both coming on the first pitch of the at-bat.

Bellinger followed with a single through the right side before Heliot Ramos smoked a 112.2 mph line drive to shortstop. But Zach Neto snared it and threw to second for the double play.

Rice extended the rally, though, with a swinging bunt before Amed Rosario came up and laced a ground-rule double into the right field corner to score Bellinger for the 1-0 lead.

Over the course of his career, Rosario has been a lefty killer, but he came into the night having hit just .200 with a .610 OPS against them this season, part of the reason why his roster spot might be at risk when Judge returns as early as next week.

But Rosario has shown some more signs of life lately, with three straight two-hit efforts before Wednesday’s hard-hit RBI double.

The Dodgers scored three runs but couldn’t cash in more in the first inning, then failed to capitalize on several scoring chances. They blew a late lead after Yoshinobu Yamamoto flirted with a no-hitter in his first start of September for the second season in a row. That helped get the game to extras, and the St. Louis Cardinals pounced with three runs in the 10th for an 8-6 win at Dodger Stadium.

Before Wednesday, the Dodgers were 5-0 in extras this season thanks in large part to stingy pitching. They allowed only one free runner to score in six total innings on just two hits. But the first three Cardinals in the 10th inning all got hits off Brock Stewart to plate three runs, capped off by a two-run double by Joshua Báez.

The rookie Báez didn’t even start the game, but his leadoff double off Tanner Scott in the eighth inning was cashed in on two outs to tie the game. St. Louis never led until the 10th inning.

From no-no to oh-no

Yamamoto allowed multiple home runs for just the third time in 25 starts this season. Weirdly all three games have been at home, with three home runs by the Giants on May 12 and two by the Red Sox on August 1. Twelve of Yamamoto’s 18 home runs allowed this year were hit at Dodger Stadium.

Yamamoto didn’t even allow a hit until the sixth inning, but after José Fermín singled to break up the no-no, infielder Thomas Saggese spoiled things with a two-run home run. Saggese entered the series with one home run this season and four home runs in 435 career plate appearances. He now has three long balls in two games thus far against the Dodgers in this series.

Catcher Leo Bernal, serving as the designate hitter for St. Louis on Wednesday, added a two-run shot in the seventh for his first major league home run.

Even with the disturbances, Yamamoto’s pitch count was still low, and he got through seven innings on 93 pitches. He completed seven innings for a 10th time this season, tied for third-most in the majors.

Yamamoto’s four-seam fastball and splitter were especially working on Wednesday, finishing off six of his eight strikeouts on those pitches and inducing 14 swinging strikes on those two pitches alone. Even with the four runs on Wednesday, Yamamoto allowed only 14 runs over his last eight starts, with a 2.32 ERA since the All-Star break.

First things first

A walk and hit by pitch gave the Dodgers an instant rally to open the game, then one out later Freddie Freeman tattooed a ball over the left center field wall for his first home run since July 4, the early fireworks making for a quick 3-0 lead.

Freeman went 196 plate appearances in between home runs and 47 full games, the longest power drought of his career. Even without a home run, those 47 games were still somewhat productive for Freeman, who hit .315/.359/.371 with 10 doubles and a 102 wRC+ during the stretch, though well below his established norms.

Freeman on the night also walked three times and singled, the second time this season he’s reached base five times, along with May 23 at Milwaukee.

This was a bullpen game for the Cardinals and Brycen Mautz had a tough go of things. He also allowed a popfly double to Miguel Rojas and walked two more batters to load the bases. Mautz escaped the jam without anything beyond the three runs Freeman plated, but then hit Ohtani to open the second inning. In all, Mautz retired only three of his 10 batters faced and was lucky to allow just the three runs.

Mookie Betts added a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth, immediately answering the Saggese home run in the top of the frame. Betts has a nine-game hit streak.

The Dodgers, who hit two home runs all of last week on their road trip through Atlanta and Detroit, on Wednesday hit two home runs for the first time in 11 games, since August 19 at Coors Field.

Teoscar Hernández hit the ball hard all night, with four batted balls hit with triple-digit exit velocities. He got three hits out of it, including a one-out double in the ninth inning. But he was stranded when pinch hitter Will Smith smashed a ball to the wall in right center field for an out.

Freeman’s home run was the Dodgers’ only hit in 18 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Getting defensive

Rojas made some fantastic defensive plays while Yamamoto still hadn’t yet allowed a hit, thanks partially to him. First, Rojas had nifty timing in trying to execute a tag (the runner was called out of the baseline) while fielding a bounding ball then turned a double play out of it in the third inning. Rojas in the fourth turned things up a notch, with an extension to his far left to rob Bryan Torres of a hit, then on the next play went up the middle with a long throw to nail catcher Iván Herrera.

Wednesday particulars

Home runs: Freddie Freeman (16), Mookie Betts (17); Thomas Saggese (4), Leo Bernal (1)

WP — Justin Bruihl (1-1): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 strikeout

LP — Brock Stewart (0-2): 1 IP, 3 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 1 strikeout

Sv — Riley O’Brien (35): 1 IP, 1 unearned run, 1 strikeout

Up next

Tarik Skubal hooks up with with Will Smith for the first time since the World Baseball Classic in the series finale on Thursday night (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with rookie left-hander Quinn Mathews pitching for St. Louis.

Since I am not a St. Louis Cardinals coach, I can’t say for sure that I know what the plan was for Wednesday night’s game against the Dodgers, but I’m fairly certain walking 4 batters in the first 2 innings wasn’t it. Brycen Mautz had a less-than-ideal start for the Cardinals while Yoshinobu Yamamoto was dealing for the Dodgers. That was not the recipe for a St. Louis Cardinals victory. Fortunately, baseball games have 9 innings and Wednesday night they’d play even more and it would end spectacularly for St. Louis.

The bottom of the 1st inning will take awhile to explain. It started with Shohei Ohtani walking on 4 straight pitches followed by 2 more balls thrown to Tommy Edman before Brycen Mautz registered a strike. Then he hit Edman with the next pitch to give the Dodgers runners at first and second with no outs. Brycen was able to get Betts to pop out to second for the first out, but more trouble was on the way. After throwing another ball out of the strike zone to Freddie Freeman, Mautz unfortunately threw the next one right down the middle of the plate which Freddie torched 416 feet into the left-centerfield stands for a 3-run homer and an immediate Dodgers 3-0 lead.

Remarkably, that’s all the runs the Dodgers would get in the bottom of the 1st because Rojas followed Freeman’s homer with a bloop double to right and then slumping Kyle Tucker was walked. It took a great catch by Bryan Torres in left on a screaming line drive from Hernandez and then another excellent play by Alec Burleson who made a diving grab on a ball headed toward right field from Fedducia. Alec threw him out from a seated position for the final out of the inning. It easily could have been worse than a 3-run inning by the Dodgers.

The Cardinals had planned a bullpen game, but pretty sure they wanted Mautz to pitch deeper into the game than the just one inning as he was pulled without recording an out in the bottom of the 2nd inning for Ryan Fernandez. He would handle that task without allowing the Dodgers any more runs before he handed the ball to Gordon Graceffo in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Gordon also held LA scoreless in the 3rd and 4th innings before the Dodgers mounted a threat in the bottom of the 5th. In that inning, Kyle Tucker led off with a single and stole second because, yes, Iván Herrera was catching so of course he did. Graceffo was able to nurse a hard groundout to short by Hernandez for the first out without allowing Tucker to advance. Gordon then struck out Muncy and Fedducia to keep LA from adding to their lead.

While the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen merry-go-round was spinning, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was mystifying the Cardinals lineup not allowing a hit through the first 5 innings. José Fermín ended the no-hitter in the top of the 6th with a no-doubt single into right field. Two batters later, Thomas Saggese ended the shutout as he connected with a 94 mph sinker and launched it 396 feet into the centerfield stands cutting the Dodgers lead to 3-2. When did Thomas Saggese suddenly start channeling his inner Mark McGwire?

George Soriano entered the game in the bottom of the 6th inning to face the top of the Dodgers lineup and keep the game close for the Cardinals offense which finally woke up. That unfortunately did not work out. After Tommy Edman lined a one-out single to left, Mookie Betts caught one of Soriano’s 85 mph sweepers hanging and crushed it 392 feet into the left-field seats for a 2-run blast and a 5-2 Dodgers lead.

The St. Louis Cardinals were not done fighting. In the top of the 7th inning, Jordan Walker smacked a double off of the left field wall followed by Leo Bernal crushing his first major league home run deep into the right field stands cutting the Dodgers lead back down to just 1 at 5-4. Hope you packed all of your belongings when you left Memphis, Leo, because you aren’t going back!

Ryne Stanek jumped into the fray in the bottom of the 7th inning with the prime directive of keeping this a 1-run affair so the Cardinals could claw and scratch out a couple of runs for another victory over the billionaires Dodgers. Ryne allowed a bit of drama by giving up a couple of two-strike hits, but no runs became of it, so no worries.

The Cardinals finally got into the Dodgers bullpen when Yamamoto exited the game after 7 innings. Tanner Scott was brought in to face Joshua Baez who turned on an 88 mph slider and ripped it into the left-field corner for a leadoff double. Herrera hit a sharp ball to first which resulted in an out, but it went to the right side of the infield which advanced Baez to third with just one out. Fundamental baseball at its finest. Alec Burleson proved that true when he battled through a bunch of Scott sliders before he got a ball he could lift into deep left for a game-tying sacrifice fly giving us a new ballgame at 5-5.

Luis Gastélum was the Cardinals answer for the bottom of the 8th inning. He kept the Dodgers from scoring and was aided by an inning-ending double play.

The Cardinals came close to taking the lead in the top of the 9th when Leo Bernal ALMOST hit his second home run of the night flying out to deep right field on a ball that was only 9 feet from giving St. Louis a 6-5 lead. It’s too bad that “almost” only counts in horseshoes and not baseball. After the Cardinals failed to score in the top of the 9th, it was up to Justin Bruihl to shut down the Dodgers in the bottom of the 9th. It started spectacularly when José Fermín made a great diving play on a ground ball from Kyle Tucker deep into the right-field hole throwing him out from the ground. Teoscar Hernandez was not so kind as the next Dodger up as he crushed a ground-rule double over the left field wall to give LA the potential winning run in scoring position. However, Bruihl struck out pinch-hitter Enrique Hernandez for the second out. Bruihl made life more difficult on himself when he threw a wild pitch advancing Hernandez to third. It was up to Will Smith to decide if the game would go to extras. We all held our breath as Smith hit a fly ball to deep right field that Nathan Church caught up against the wall. This game would not be decided in 9 innings.

Jose Fermin was the Cardinals “free runner” starting the inning at second base and he immediately was moved up to third as Nathan Church hit the first pitch he saw for a single up the middle giving St. Louis runners at first and third with no out in the 10th. Thomas Saggese, who’s having a career road trip so far, tapped a ball into the hole between second and first and beat the throw knocking in Fermin and giving the Cardinals a 6-5 lead and they were just getting started. Joshua Baez would sink the Dodgers hopes as he ripped his second double of the night into the left field corner scoring both Church and Saggese upping the Cardinals lead to 8-5.

It would be up to Riley O’Brien to lock down the game and the series for the Cardinals. He would have to face the top of the Dodgers lineup starting with Ohtani. With two strikes, Herrera would let a ball get away which would allow Dodgers free runner Will Smith to advance to third. Riley would shake that off and strike out Ohtani after 8 pitches for the first out. Tommy Edman would score Smith from third, but his groundout registered the second out. Mookie Betts lineout to center ended an epic come-from-behind Cardinals victory and a series and season series victory over LA.

The St. Louis Cardinals will enter the gauntlet again Thursday night as it’ll be game 3 against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Quinn Mathews will start for the Cardinals going up against the formidable Tarik Skubal for the Dodgers. First pitch scheduled for 9:10pm central time at Dodger Stadium and the game broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.

How good has Austin Wells been of late? Initially starting this game on the bench, Wells joined the action in the eighth with a pinch-hit single to prime his bat for the true decisive blow — the go-ahead two-out, two-run single in the tenth to salvage a win from a day when it looked like the offense would squander another brilliant Cam Schlittler start.

Schlittler’s velocity was down about a tick-and-a-half from his amped up last start against the Red Sox, but that didn’t sap any of his effectiveness. After walking a career-high five batters his last time out (albeit across 5.2 scoreless against Boston), there seemed to be a concerted effort to really attack the zone. This led to quick outs on a lot of early contact in the opening innings before he honed his command to the edges, leading to an uptick in strikeouts toward the end of his outing.

He got three straight groundouts in the third and then navigated around a Vaughn Grissom single to leadoff the second by striking out Moisés Ballesteros on a pair of overpowering fastballs. The third and fourth brought another strikeout each, Schlittler remaining economical with his pitch count in both frames. The fifth saw him shift into high gear as he was able to gas a pair of four-seamers by Ballesteros and Christian Moore for his fifth and sixth strikeouts.

Schlittler needed to be shutdown given the way the offense struggled against Reid Detmers. Widely expected to get traded at the deadline, the Angels hung on to their starter and he rewarded them with a 1.55 ERA in eight starts since the break. The bats had no answer the first time through the order, Detmers needing just 30 pitches to make it through three perfect innings.

The script flipped upon facing him for the second time, Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger opening the fourth with a pair of singles. Heliot Ramos couldn’t follow suit, grounding into what is already his fifth double play in 76 plate appearances for the Yankees. However, Ben Rice kept the inning alive with a two-out infield single, allowing Amed Rosario to open the scoring with an RBI ground-rule double that one-hopped the fence in right. However, you couldn’t help but feel they left meat on the bone between the Ramos GIDP and Spencer Jones striking out to strand Rice at third.

There was a scary moment in the sixth when a Rice foul line drive struck a camera man in the head near the Yankees’ dugout, and it was relieving to see him get up under his own power and get carted off after an over ten minute delay. To Detmers’ credit, he settled down after the fourth, retiring ten of the final 11 batters he faced to end his outing with seven innings of one-run ball.

Schlittler kept cruising through the sixth, punching out Oswald Peraza on a gross curveball and Travis D’Arnaus looking on a painted heater. He got two outs into the seventh to make it 17 retired in a row before making his lone mistake of the outing, and unfortunately for him it left the yard, Grissom crushing a center-cut cutter to dead center just over the outstretched glove of Jones at the wall.

His pitch count was only at 83, so it was a no-brainer to send Schlittler back out for the eighth. He retired the side in order to complete eight innings for the third time this season. It was also his fifth straight start giving up one or fewer runs, and 19th such start overall on the year to set a new franchise record. He had all his pitches working, it’s just a shame the one mistake he made got punished on a night when his offense couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain. He ended his outing having given up a run on two hits and no walks with nine strikeouts in eight innings.

David Bednar was tasked with pitching a scoreless ninth to give his offense a chance in extra innings, and he did so with aplomb, striking out three to nullify a Mike Trout single. Off to extras this game went, the Yankees loading the bases with one out on a José Caballero single and Jazz Chisholm Jr. walk. A Luis García Jr. infield fly put them on the brink of wasting the opportunity, but it also brought one of their most clutch hitters of late to the plate in Wells.

Wells fouled off three straight elevated heaters before getting one he could handle, grounding a single just past the dive attempts of the first and second basemen to plate a pair and take the lead. That opened the floodgates against reliever Luke Murphy, who gave up three straight singles to Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and Rice, each one plating an additional run to make it 6-1 in favor of the Yankees by the time Rosario flew out to end the frame.

Recent bullpen signing Michael Fulmer was entrusted to record the final three outs, and he certainly made us sweat a little. He gave up a two-run blast to Ballesteros, but bounced back to retire the next two batters and nail down the victory, 6-3.

That is what you are supposed to do against the worst team in baseball. Stay in the game long enough until you expose their fatal flaw — in this case, LA’s bullpen — and then capitalize on the opportunities you create for yourself. It’s the Yankees’ fourth series win out of their last five as they become the second team in the AL to reach 80 wins and draw within 3.5 games of the Rays after they lost to the Mets earlier in the day.

The Yankees get tomorrow off before making the short journey to San Diego for three games. Max Fried is scheduled to make his second start back from his latest IL stint facing Walker Buehler in the opener Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. ET with the broadcast remaining on YES.

Box Score

The Yankees' offense came alive in extra innings, scoring five in the 10th to defeat the Angels, 6-3, on Wednesday night in Anaheim. 

In the 10th, the Yankees had the bases loaded with two outs for Austin Wells. The backstop, who pinch-hit earlier in the game, hit a single past the diving first baseman to drive in two runs. Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice followed up with RBI singles.

New York outhit the Angels, 12-4, but the four straight hits in extras were the most impactful as the Yankees (80-60) pulled to 3.5 games of the Rays, who lost earlier in the day, for the top spot in the AL East.

Here are the takeaways...

-The Yankees could not get to Reid Detmers in this one, hitting into some bad luck on multiple occasions, but finally broke through in the fourth. With runners on first and second and two outs, Amed Rosario lined a ground-rule double into the stands in right field to score the team's first run.

Against Detmers, that was all they could do. The veteran left-hander allowed six hits, but just the one run across seven innings while striking out eight batters. 

-On the other side, Cam Schlittler was dealing. The Cy Young frontrunner allowed just one hit through six innings and retired 17 straight Angels before Vaughn Grissom took the right-hander deep with two outs in the seventh, smashing a 95 mph cutter over the center field wall just out of the reach of Spencer Jones (408 feet). 

Despite the solo shot, Schlittler strengthened his Cy Young credentials, pitching eight innings of one-run ball. He allowed one run on two hits, no walks, while striking out nine batters, all on 99 pitches. 

-Jones got the start in center field instead ofGrisham, but the rookie went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.

-Aaron Boone used three pinch-hitters in this one, with Wells and Grisham coming through, combining to go 3-for-4 with three RBI. Luis Garcia Jr. was the third pinch-hitter and went 0-for-2 as he was benched for Paul Goldschmidt, who went 2-for-3 against the left-handed starter.

-David Bednar bounced back from his rough outing on Monday by striking out three in the ninth and allowing just one hit. With the five-run lead, Michael Fulmer came on in the 10th to wrap up the game, but the veteran right-hander didn't make it easy. He allowed a two-run home run to Moises Ballesteros but got the final two outs to end the game.

Game MVP: Austin Wells

Wells' single put the Yankees ahead for good.

Highlights

Amed Rosario opens the scoring! pic.twitter.com/OCxXsRBtTI

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 3, 2026

AUSTIN WELLS DELIVERS!

YANKEES LEAD IN THE 10TH! pic.twitter.com/Inb6SYaJog

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 3, 2026

CODY BELLINGER TACKS ON AN INSURANCE RUN pic.twitter.com/dweSVAv0S0

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 3, 2026

TRENT GRISHAM MAKES IT 5-1! pic.twitter.com/OXPd8CalEL

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 3, 2026

ANOTHER ONE!

Ben Rice's turn! pic.twitter.com/gKWBupm0et

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 3, 2026

What's next

After an off day, the Yankees head to San Diego for a three-game series with the Padres starting Friday. First pitch is set for 9:40 p.m.

The Yankees will send Max Fried (4-4, 2.80 ERA) to the mound while the Padres will send Walker Buehler (8-6, 4.66 ERA).

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Padres fans and fans across the country.

The San Diego Padres made it through much of the 2026 season with bubble gum and duct tape holding their starting pitching staff together. Michael King and Walker Buehler have been the only two constants in the rotation while other starters like Randy Vasquez, Griffin Canning and German Marquez, who is no longer with the team, have been used as starters and have worked out of the bullpen as a result of their struggles on the mound. The one constant for the San Diego rotation has been inconsistency.

Padres general manager and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller tried to address the rotation at the trade deadline. He went out and got arguably two of the top starters on the market in Casey Mize from the Detroit Tigers and Robbie Ray from the San Francisco Giants. San Diego had to use some of what little capital it has left in the minor league system to make the additions, but the moves by Preller at the deadline were widely praised by MLB pundits and fans alike.

The additions of Mize and Ray could have been foreshadowing what was to come over the remaining months of the season. Starters Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta have each been working back from injury throughout the first half of the season. Musgrove has had a much slower rehab process recovering from Tommy John surgery following the 2024 season than was expected by much of the Friar Faithful. Pivetta went down early in the season and has slowly worked back to health and is pitching in various stages of the San Diego minor league system on rehab assignments.

Musgrove and Pivetta have each had setbacks in their processes and it was revealed on Wednesday that Musgrove had another setback with arm soreness following his last rehab start at Triple-A when the El Paso Chihuahuas were in Oklahoma City. Pivetta pitched for El Paso as well and looked good considering the last time he was on the mound in Lake Elsinore he walked off the mound suddenly and did not return to the game. It was revealed later he felt some discomfort, but it turned out to be inconsequential and he threw additional pitches in a bullpen session that same day.

King and Buehler were joined by Mize and Ray and the thought was Musgrove and Pivetta would be added to a potential six-man rotation or perhaps Buehler would be transitioned to a bullpen role. Based on the latest developments with Musgrove that may not happen and the Padres will have a rotation of King, Buehler, Mize, Ray and Pivetta. Vasquez, who had pitched better as of late before his latest outing against the Cincinnati Reds, could also make the claim he deserves to be in the rotation.

It may be a mute point depending on the health of Musgrove, but should he bounce back and have a minor setback before continuing his rehab, Gaslamp Ball wants to know who you think would have a greater impact on the team during the final 20-plus days of the season, Musgrove or Pivetta? Results of the Gaslamp Ball Reacts Survey poll will be published later in the week.

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