Category: MLB

The White Sox (78-75) pulled through with an excellent pitching performance, as the Tigers (72-81) finished 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. As a result, despite quite a few high-leverage moments down the stretch, the South Siders prevailed by a score of 3-1.

Tigers starting pitcher Framber Valdez, 32, ran into trouble in the bottom of the first. Chase Meidroth led off for the South Siders with a tricky grounder that third baseman Kevin McGonigle did not field cleanly. Meidroth ended up with an infield single to set the stage for what turned out to be a big inning. Tommy Pham drew a four-pitch walk, so the White Sox had runners on first and second with no outs. Miguel Vargas struck out looking at a 3-2 cutter right on the upper-inside corner, and Randal Grichuk grounded into a force out. With runners at the corners and two outs, Munetaka Murakami stepped up to the plate. The first pitch from Valdez to Murakami was a sinker that caught too much of the plate, and Murakami did not miss it. Murakami has been cold since mid-August, entering this game with a .095/.252/.168 slash line from August 19 through September 16. However, Murakami changed that trend in a big way with a timely,423-foot three-run homer to center. Suddenly, the White Sox had an early 3-0 lead.

MUNE SENDS ONE 423 FEET! 😤 pic.twitter.com/r7eBANAUuB

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 17, 2026

Erick Fedde, 33, started on the mound for the South Siders, and overall, his evening went smoothly. Fedde got off to a fantastic start by retiring the first six batters he faced. Fedde’s third inning was not as easy, but even then, he limited the damage. Fedde hit Max Clark to open the inning, and Josh Peck singled to put two on with no outs. Javier Báez struck out, but McGonigle walked to load the bases with only one away. From there, Fedde got Gleyber Torres to hit a soft grounder to Vargas, who stepped on third for the force out. One run scored, but the White Sox still had a 3-1 lead. With runners on first and second with two outs, Fedde threw a 3-2 sweeper that was located very nicely at the knees, but Dillon Dingler hit a sharp liner toward shortstop. However, Luisangel Acuña was in the right place at the right time, and he made the catch to end the inning.

With the score still 3-1 in the top of the fifth, Fedde remained on the mound to open the inning. Fedde retired the first two batters of the inning, but the Tigers did not go down easily. Torres hit a deep drive to left that hit the middle of the wall, only a few feet from being a solo homer. However, the park held it, and Randal Grichuk made an excellent, barehanded play to quickly retrieve the ball and hold Torres to a long single.

That play by Grichuk turned out to be impactful, as Dingler hit a sharp liner to left for a double. Once again, Grichuk got it in quickly, and Torres was unable to score. Had Torres started that play on second, he surely would have scored on Dingler’s double, but instead, the Tigers had runners on second and third with two outs. At that point, Bryan Hudson replaced Fedde on the mound to face Riley Greene in a high-leverage spot. On a 2-2 pitch, Hudson got Greene to chase a low sweeper to end the threat. That closed the book on Fedde’s stat line, which was 4 2/3 innings, one run, four hits, two walks, and six strikeouts.

Spencer Torkelson led off the sixth for the Tigers, and he lined a fastball from Hudson toward the left field corner. Torkelson headed to second base, which he normally would have made it to safely, but once again, Grichuk came up big on defense. Grichuk fired a strike to second to retire Torkelson on another great play.

🤯 pic.twitter.com/sC4oQR8Usn

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 18, 2026

In the seventh, with the score still 3-1, Jordan Hicks took over on the mound and struck out the first two batters he faced. The second of those batters was Báez, and that was his third looking strikeout of the game, the first time that has happened in his career. However, McGonigle extended the inning with a single, and Torres walked, prompting a pitching change, as Grant Taylor took over for Hicks. Dingler hit a sharp grounder, but Acuña was there to make the play and end the threat.

Taylor remained on the mound in the eighth, and he retired the first two batters of the inning before issuing a walk to Brett Callahan. That extended the inning for Clark, who hit a tricky grounder, and he narrowly beat the throw to first for an infield single. Surprisingly, though, Callahan tried advancing to third. Murakami spotted this and made an accurate throw over, but Callahan was initially ruled safe. The White Sox challenged the play, and it was about as close as it could have been, but the call was overturned. Just like that, the Tigers walked away empty-handed again.

In the eighth, the White Sox had an opportunity to pick up an insurance run when Murakami tripled down the right field line to record his first career three-bagger. Murakami had the only two extra-base hits of the game for the White Sox. Murakami also picked up the only clutch hit, as the South Siders finished 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. After his triple, the South Siders failed to capitalize, so it was up to the bullpen to protect a two-run lead entering the ninth.

Taylor returned to the mound to open the ninth in an uncharacteristically long appearance for him. Taylor got Peck to fly out on the first pitch of the inning, but the White Sox were not out of the woods yet. Taylor initially got a friendly strike call on a 3-2 pitch to pinch-hitter Colt Keith. However, ABS showed that the pitch narrowly missed, so Keith reached base, and the potential tying run came to the plate. McGonigle hit a soft liner that landed in front of Acuña, who had an easy play at second base, even after a bobble. Since Keith had to wait and see if Acuña would make the catch, he got a late start on his journey to second. Instead, Acuña made the throw to first, which was late. That brought Torres to the plate with two on and no outs, but Taylor locked in and got a ground ball to third. Vargas tagged Keith, who unwisely ran into an out, and Vargas threw to first in time to retire Torres to wrap it up.

The White Sox are back in first place, as they have the same record as the Guardians (78-75), and the South Siders have the tiebreaker. The next game is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. CT on Friday. The probable starters are David Sandlin (5.64 ERA, 5.04 FIP, 0.1 fWAR in 30 1/3 innings) and Andrew Sears (5.40 ERA, 4.18 FIP, 0.1 fWAR in 16 2/3 innings). As usual, CHSN will televise the game, and ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage. We hope to see you then.

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MVP
Munetaka Murakami (1B): 2-for-4, HR, 3B, 3 RBI, 0.23 WPA

Runners-Up
Grant Taylor (RHRP): 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 0.21 WPA
Bryan Hudson (LHRP): 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 0.14 WPA
Erick Fedde (RHSP): 4 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 0.10 WPA
Brenton Doyle (CF): 2-for-4, stolen base, 0.02 WPA

Cold Cat
Braden Montgomery (RF): 0-for-3, K, -0.06 WPA

Runners-Up
Luisangel Acuña (SS): 0-for-3, K, -0.02 WPA
Jake Rogers (C): 0-for-3, BB, 2 K, -0.01 WPA
Miguel Vargas (3B): 0-for-3, BB, K, -0.05 WPA

The final few weeks of the baseball season usually sees fans and the teams they root for in 2 boats, 1 boat was sunk weeks if not months ago and has everyone looking forward to the future and what they can possibly get excited about in the offseason, the other boat has holes in it and the fans inside are using whatever they can to scoop out whatever water is pouring in hopes that they can stay afloat just enough to reach the finish line and make it to October and get to play postseason ball. 

All fans (whether our hearts and blood pressure agree or not) would prefer to be in the second boat 10 times out of 10 and that’s exactly where the Diamondbacks find themselves as they continue to paddle their way towards a Wild Card birth, but after a series loss to the Texas Rangers that added more leaks to the Snakes boat they find themselves running out of buckets to scoop out the water that is rapidly filling up their ship.

Dead Fish

With the San Diego Padres on a winning streak that seemed like it might never end, the Diamondbacks found themselves with little to no room for error going into this 3 game series against the Miami Marlins and they would need the offense to do whatever it can to get out of the rut they seem to have been in the last few weeks.

Mondays up and down roller coaster of events that had us ready to jump head first off the 3rd deck as the Snakes entered the 9th inning down by just a run and looking like they would drop to 3.5 games back of San DIego, but the heroics of Corbin Carroll and his walk-off 2-Run blast had the indoor skydiving event postponed to another day and gave us hope that maybe Corbin and the rest of this offense found the spark they needed to get hot at just the right time and go on a run to end the season. Sadly that was not the reality that we would be treated to for the following 2 days.

The next 2 days were full of even more drama and even more of the same offensive struggles that have seemed to plague this squad and us fans for what feels like an eternity, as a heartbreaking loss in extras, a game that the Diamondbacks had nearly every opportunity to cash in and get a crucial win, to a 4-3 loss in the series finale that ended with Jordan Lawler getting thrown out on a steal attempt with Ketel Marte at the plate representing the winning run brought more misery and pain to fans in attendance and those watching at home.

Brandon and I aired out our frustrations with this teams lack of clutch hitting (yet again) and just how much this series loss has put them back in the position of begging other teams to beat the Teams ahead of them and give them as much assistance as they can ask for in getting to October and with the Dbacks having an even tougher opponent coming to town for the final homestand of the 2026 campaign, its leaving both of us with little optimism heading into their final 9 games.

“From You, 25 Years Ago”

WIsh a gut wrenching series loss to the Marlins in the rear view mirror, Brandon and I looked ahead at the matchups in store for the Snakes in their final 3 home games of the year as the Diamondbacks would be welcoming the New York Yankees into town and celebrating the 25th anniversary of the greatest fall classic that has ever been played.

The two of us both had equal levels of excitement for the festivities in store as it’s always fun to reminisce on the good times that was the 2001 World Series and getting to see so many heroes and legends from that year’s roster, our excitement for this series ended there once we looked at who would be toeing the rubber for the Evil Empire with 3 really tough right handed starters scheduled for New York in Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler (AL Cy Young favorite by the way) and Will Warren.

Brandon brought up that this teams has not only struggled to get anything going against opposing starting pitchers as of late, but right handed pitching has given them the most trouble all year as they have the 2nd worst OPS against right handed pitching in all of Major League Baseball with a .689 mark having them ahead of only the Angels and their .676 OPS. 

With the Diamondbacks being a full 4 games back of San Diego heading into Friday, the snakes can not afford any more setbacks and have to do anything and everything in their power to at least win 2 of 3 from New York or even somehow sweep them, but even that might not be enough to help them with the way the Padres have been playing.

The Mets lost to the Phillies tonight 3-0, but the loss paled in comparison to the frightening collision between Nolan McLean and Jared Young that left Young crumpled on the field before being removed by EMS on a backboard. He was taken to the hospital, and the Mets have confirmed that he has feeling in, and full use of, his extremities. Nevertheless, the accident was an abrupt reminder of the very human side of the game and bigger priorities we all share.

With two outs at the top of the first inning, Bryce Harper knocked a ground ball into center field for a single. McLean walked Luis Arraez on four pitches, but the scoring threat ended when Alec Bohm grounded into a force out for the third out. At the bottom of the inning, Juan Soto walked with one out, but was picked off by Aaron Nola, and Bo Bichette then struck out for the third out.

Bryson Stott singled on an infield hit to lead off the second inning, but the top of the inning ended when Justin Crawford grounded into a double play. Nola retired the Mets’ batters in order in the bottom of the second, and the score remained 0-0 through the first two innings. McLean and Nola both worked 1-2-3 innings in the third. Harper socked a fly ball single into right field to lead off the fourth inning, but was stranded there when McLean retired the next three batters in order. Francisco Lindor bunted, but grounded out to lead off the bottom of the inning. Soto drew another walk, but unfortunately Bichette grounded into a double play to end the inning. The score was still 0-0.

At the top of the fifth, Brandon Marsh smacked a fly ball into right field in front of multiple defenders, reaching first base in the process. Crawford laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved Marsh to second base, and Garrett Stubbs grounded out, allowing Marsh to reach third. McLean then walked Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to load the bases. Harper initially was ruled to have grounded into a force out at second base, but the Phillies challenged the ruling, and it was overturned. Instead, it was an RBI hit, and the Phillies scored the first run of the game. The Mets again went down in order at the bottom of the fifth inning, and the score was Phillies 1, Mets 0.

The top of the sixth inning started inauspiciously. Bohm hit an infield single to third base and reached second on a sac bunt by Stott. Marsh flied out to Ewing in center field for the second out. And then it took some time to understand what happened next. Crawford dribbled a hit up the first-base line. McLean ran to cover and grab the ball, but Young seemed to realize that the ball was close to him as well and stretched to grab it off the ground. The ensuing collision between the two left Young on the ground for several minutes as EMS used the backboard. McLean was deeply shaken, yet he assured Andy Green that he was going to finish the inning. He struck out the next batter for the third out.

At the bottom of the sixth inning, Brett Baty walked with one out, and Nick Morabito broke up Nola’s no-hitter with a single to left field. However, Lindor grounded into a double play to end the sixth inning. Tobias Myers replaced McLean at the top of the seventh inning. He gave up a walk to Turner, who reached third base on a throwing error by Francisco Alvarez. Alvarez had been attempting to catch Turner stealing at first base. Harper walked as well, and Arraez drove in Turner on a sacrifice fly. At the bottom of the seventh, Carson Benge slapped a one-out single into center field. Mark Vientos, who had come in for Young, followed by lining a single into center field as well. A.J. Ewing grounded out to end the seventh inning with the runners stranded, though, and the score was Phillies 2, Mets 0.

Stott led off the eighth inning with a double into right field that Benge could not quite get his glove on, and Brandon Marsh laid down yet another sacrifice bunt to get Stott to third. Crawford scored Stott on the sac fly. Jonathan Bowlan replaced Aaron Nola in the bottom of the eighth inning and walked Baty with one out. However, he was experiencing a lower body injury issue, and Tim Mayza replaced him after two outs, during Lindor’s at-bat. Mayza walked Lindor, but Soto grounded out to end the eighth, and the score was now Phillies 3, Mets 0.

Austin Warren replaced Myers at the top of the ninth inning and retired the Phillies batters in order. Phillies’ closer Jhoan Duran came out for the bottom of the ninth. Bichette swatted a line drive into center field for a single, but Duran retired the next three batters to end the game 3-o.

Game two of the series is tomorrow at 7:15 PM. Zac Thornton will pitch for the Mets against TBD for the Phillies.

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Win Probability Added

Fangraphs

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Nolan McLean, +17% WPA
Big Mets loser: Francisco Lindor, -18% WPA
Mets pitchers: +4% WPA
Mets hitters: -54% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Nick Morabito single, 6.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Francisco Lindor grounds into double play, -15.5% WPA

Obviously, the title can seem a bit misleading when you account for this being a Phillies-centric website for Phillies fans. This isn’t about the Phillies winning or how.

New York Mets first baseman Jared Young collided headfirst into pitcher Nolan McLean’s knee and went down cold for several minutes. The stretcher came out immediately and eventually Young was able to open his eyes and give a thumbs up as he was being carted off the field. The Mets announced later that Young had feeling in his extremities and was taken to a hospital for further evaluation.

There is no good transition for this, but the game had been going and ended up finishing so there is a recap needed for it.

The Phillies worked a few baserunners over the first four innings of the night but with little success when it mattered. With two outs in the first, Bryce Harper took a first pitch sinker right up the middle for a single, followed by a Luis Arraez walk to put runners on first and second. On the next pitch, Alec Bohm hit a soft groundball to Jared Young that ended the Phillies threat. In the second, Bryson Stott led the inning off with a single, but a Justin Crawford double play ended the inning.

It wasn’t until the fifth inning where the Phillies were able to string things together. Brandon Marsh snapped an 0 for 15 with a bloop single in front of Carson Benge for a leadoff it. After a Justin Crawford sacrifice bunt and Garrett Stubbs groundout, the top of the Phillies order went to work.

Kyle Schwarber was able to work a five-pitch walk. Then, Trea Turner saw seven pitches against McLean, fouling off a few comeback sinkers while being able to foul a high and inside fastball with two strikes. He did just enough and McLean did not have enough command and walked him on an uncompetitive sinker.

Bryce Harper’s at bat was not impressive, hitting a soft groundball on a sinker off the plate but Turner’s speed beat Lindor’s toss to second base and the Phillies took a 1-0 lead.

It was enough for Aaron Nola, who continues to run hot with the Phillies needing it most. Even with slightly diminished velocity, he worked quickly with curveballs, sinkers, and changeups to keep the Mets from recording a hit for five and a third straight innings.

The final two innings of Nola’s seven-inning shutout were his toughest. In the sixth, it was the bottom of the Mets order trying to give a veteran team some life in a meaningless September. Brett Baty fouled three straight full-count off-speed pitches from Nola to work a walk on the tenth pitch of the at bat.

After falling behind 3-1 to Nick Morabito, Nola threw a well-located curveball for a strike but Morabito slapped a single past Trea Turner to put runners on first and second with one out.

On what ended up being a very frustrating night for Francisco Lindor, he grounded out to Luis Arraez for an inning ending double play.

In the top of the 7th, the Phillies once again played small ball. Trea Turner worked a one-out walk, then reached third base when Francisco Alvarez decided to try and back-pick him and threw the ball well past Mark Vientos’s first base glove. After a Harper walk, Luis Arraez hit a flyball to center field that doubled the Phillies lead to two.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Mets tried starting a two out rally with back-to-back singles from Carson Benge and Mark Vientos but rookie center fielder AJ Ewing got on top of a cutter and grounded out to Trea Turner.

During both the sixth and seventh innings, Don Mattingly warmed up Alex McFarlane twice but he never appeared. With him probably being down for the rest of the game, Mattingly had Jonathan Bowlan get up and come in for the 8th.

Bowlan showed some life that inning, his fastball velocity was back to the 97+ range he had before September started and he struck out Francisco Alvarez and Nick Morabito on well-placed fastballs, albeit with a Brett Baty walk in-between.

In the middle of a battle with Francisco Lindor, Bowlan threw a slider and immediately started grabbing at his side. He threw one more pitch, a 93 mph fastball that had no finish and had to exit the game immediately. The Phillies later said he was removed with right groin tightness.

Tim Mayza entered, likely because Alex McFarlane warmed up twice before, and walked Francisco Lindor on his first two pitches, resuming the battle. On his first pitch to Juan Soto, Mayza was able to get a groundball to first that ended the Mets best chance of coming back.

With an insurance run in the ninth and a Jhoan Duran save, the Phillies have the same record as the Chicago Cubs and are one game up on the San Diego Padres for the fifth seed.

But still, it’s not all quite good news. Who knows exactly what happened with Jonathan Bowlan and it’s fair to point out his September issues but Bowlan has been a key fixture in the late innings for the Phillies bullpen all season. The Phillies already put Jesus Luzardo on the injured list on Tuesday, and his status for the rest of the season is up in the air. Now they see Jonathan Bowlan have to exit. Who knows how things go there but the Phillies’ pitching staff is getting thinner and thinner.

Things went south for the Tigers in the South Side as they lost their series opener against the White Sox 3-1.

With less than two weeks left in the regular season, the Tigers opened a four-game series against the division rival White Sox in a series of games that could, surprisingly, actually matter a great deal. Despite dropping their final game against the Blue Jays earlier in the week, the Tigers had been on a red-hot run and were hoping to bring that luck back against the Sox, who have been struggling of late. To get the job done, they had Framber Valdez on the mound, up against Erick Fedde on the mound for the White Sox.

The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the first. Chase Meidroth singled to start the home half, followed by a walk to Tommy Pham. If you missed the fun story from this week. Pham literally talked his way into being activated by making an elevator pitch to the team’s GM and hit a three-run homer in his first game back. Hopefully he got that out of his system for tonight. With two outs, Munetaka Murakami hit a three-run homer to put the White Sox in an early lead.

In the second, the Tigers went three-up, three-down again. In the home half… Jake Rogers apparently plays for the White Sox now? Hi Jake! He challenged a strike call, and it was a ball, giving him a leadoff walk. Three outs followed, though, putting the risk of another run to bed.

Max Clark was hit by a pitch to start the third. John Peck singled. Then, with one out, Kevin McGonigle walked to load the bases. Gleyber Torres grounded into a force out that allowed Clark to score, and Peck was out at third. The Tigers were now on the board with their first run of the night. Miguel Vargas got a one-out walk in the home half. Two outs followed, though, to leave him stranded.

Riley Greene kicked off the fourth with a single, then Spencer Torkelson walked. Two outs ended the inning with two men left on the bases, though. Brenton Doyle singled to start the bottom of the inning. Rogers struck out, but Doyle advanced to second on a passed ball by Dillon Dingler. Luisangel Acuna then reached on a fielding error by McGonigle. Braden Montgomery hit into a force out, eliminating Acuna for the second out of the inning. The Tigers got the final out of the inning and avoided any additional runs scoring.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, Torres singled. The only reason it wasn’t a double was a pretty great off-the-wall bare-handed catch by Grichuk. Dingler doubled, putting two runners in scoring position, so the White Sox dipped into their bullpen for Bryan Hudson, who got Riley Greene for the last out of the inning and cut off one of the Tigers’ best scoring opportunities of the night. Grichuk got a two-out walk in the home half, but the White Sox failed to capitalize on a baserunner.

Spencer Torkelson singled to start the sixth, but he tried to leg out a double and Grichuk once again played the spoiler, getting Torkelson out at second. It was a whopping five-pitch inning as the next two outs happened in quick succession. Valdez was done after five innings, with a final line of 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 8 K, 1 HR, on 90 pitches. That’s a lot of Ks for a guy whose bread and butter is inducing contact. A decent outing for him with a few moments of frustration. Jacob Waguespack came in to replace him. Brenton Doyler singled to start the home half, then stole second. But three consecutive outs put an end to any hopes of getting another run in.

Jordan Hicks came in for the seventh and pitched as if he had never met the zone, with some truly crazy pitches. McGonigle got a two-out single, then Torres walked. A flailing Hicks was swapped for Grant Taylor, who got the final out of the inning. Ty Madden came in for the Tigers in the bottom of the inning. He got the side out in order. One play was particularly delightful as Baez seemed to literally juggle a catch, bouncing it up several times before finally getting it in his glove. Ben Malgeri has never had more fun watching someone play.

With two outs in the eighth, Brett Callahan walked, and while the Sox did challenge it, the call on the field was confirmed. Max Clark singled, which led to a fairly dramatic moment in the game as Clark easily made it safely to first, but Callahan made a break for third and initially looked safe. The White Sox challenged both safe calls, and ultimately Clark was ruled safe at first, but Callahan was out at third to end the inning. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Murakami tripled. The Tigers got the next two outs to end the inning.

Colt Keith came in to pinch-hit for Baez with one out in the ninth. Keith ended up going for two ABS challenges, losing the first but winning the second on a full count to get a free pass to first. Keith got insanely lucky as McGonigle singled to Acuna, and Acuna didn’t even make a move towards second, throwing to first instead and getting zero outs in the process. Torres then grounded into a double play, though, ending the inning and the Tigers’ chances of a rally.

Final: White Sox 3, Tigers 1

The Royals dropped the rubber game against the Houston Astros Thursday night. Despite scoring first, Kansas City falls 6-2 as Houston homered five times.

The game started off promising as the Royals loaded the bases in the top of the first on just nine pitches—two four-pitch walks to Carter Jensen and Bobby Witt Jr. before Houston opener Miguel Ullola plunked Jac Caglianone in the foot. Up came tonight’s cleanup hitter, Maikel Garcia, with a chance to do some real damage.

Real damage he did not inflict.

Instead, on the second pitch of the at-bat—Ullola’s last pitch of the evening—Garcia grounded into a run-scoring double-play. The Royals led 1-0 but the air had been let out of the balloon. Michael Massey couldn’t score Cags from third with two outs.

Houston wasted no time tying the game as Jeremy Pena led off the bottom of the first with his 20th home run of the season. In the bottom of the second, Daulton Varsho’s 12th homer gave Houston the lead it would never relinquish.

La Tormenta sent that one DEEP💥#ChaseTheFight x @Phillips66Copic.twitter.com/RJc5kKcL5I

— Houston Astros (@astros) September 17, 2026

Before the Royals collected their first hit of the evening, LaMonte Wade Jr. (4) and Yordan Alvarez (40) also homered. Taylor Trammell (8) added another in the bottom of the 8th.

"An MVP swing from Alvarez!" 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/cPzBJioJ2q

— Houston Astros (@astros) September 18, 2026

In total, the Astros hit more home runs tonight than the Royals had basehits.

That’s never a good sign.

Props to Jensen, though, as he remains the only good thing about this woeful offense recently. In addition to his walk, he broke up Houston’s combined no-hitter with a sharp single in the sixth before adding another in the eighth inning, this time driving in John Rave, who’d doubled, to make it a 5-2 game. With Witt up next and Cags after him, things didn’t look completely dire.

But then Witt struck out on a wicked slider nowhere close to the strike zone. Astros pitcher Bryan Abreu, who only faced Witt, made the Royals shortstop just look silly.

That was pretty much it. Trammell’s home made it 6-2, and then Josh Hader came in to lock it down. Can you believe this is already Hader’s 10th season? I shouldn’t have looked that up. It made me feel old.

Hader retired the Royals in order, getting Nick Loftin—pinch-hitting for Cags for some reason—to fly out to right, Garcia to ground out to second, and Michael Massey to ground out to first. Bingo bango bongo, ballgame.

The loss drops the Royals to 67-86. The Astros improve to 77-76, 1/2 game up on the Texas Rangers in the division. As of this writing, the Rangers lead the Red Sox, 3-0, in the seventh inning, so it looks like these two Lonestar teams will continue duking it out for the West.

Before ending this, here’s how Royals starter Seth Lugo fared: five innings pitched, eight hits allowed, four homers given up, one walk, five strikeouts. He’s now 7-9 on the year with an ugly 5.06 ERA. If he didn’t have guaranteed money lined up for 2027, one would be forgiven for thinking this was the end of his line.

Alas, he will return.

The offseason is approaching fast, which means we’ll have to find other things to fill our evenings. For me, I’ll probably get caught up on a lot of movies and TV shows I’ve been putting off. And some of those will probably getting caught up on baseball movies I haven’t seen.

I mean, I only saw Bull Durham for the first time a few weeks ago, and ashamedly watched A League of Their Own for the first time last year.

So tonight, I’d like to ask you all: What’s your favorite baseball movie? I’m always looking for recommendations!

Let us know in the comments!

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The Mets mustered just four hits while falling to the Phillies, 3-0, in the opener of a four-game series on Thursday night at Citi Field. 

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Here are the takeaways...

- In his penultimate start of the season, Nolan McLean was sharp over the first four innings as he used his entire arsenal to keep the Phillies off balance.

While dancing around four runners in the first four frames, McLean pitched quickly and efficiently -- averaging 12 pitches per inning and retiring eight of nine batters spanning the second inning and end of the fourth.

McLean was victimized by soft contact in the fifth inning as the Phillies opened the scoring. Following a bloop single by Brandon Marsh and a pair of two-out walks, Bryce Harper hit a slow grounder to shortstop, with Francisco Lindor's throw to second base arriving a hair too late to nab Trea Turner. That resulted in Marsh scoring from third base to make it 1-0, Philadelphia, though McLean escaped further damage by getting Luis Arraez to line out to left field.

Overall, McLean allowed one run on seven hits while walking three and striking out five in 6.0 innings, lowering his ERA to 3.18. He threw 82 pitches (57 strikes).

- Philadelphia increased its lead to 2-0 in the seventh inning after Francisco Alvarez made a two-base error while throwing behind Turner at first base. Following the error, Arraez lifted a sacrifice fly to center field. The Phils tacked on another run in the eighth on a sac fly by Justin Crawford.

- Aaron Nola held the Mets hitless over the first five innings while facing the minimum (Nola picked Juan Soto off first base after a walk in the first inning, and erased Soto with a double play in the fourth).

The Mets, swinging early and often and not generating much hard contact, made Nola throw just 47 pitches over the first five innings.

- New York finally tallied a hit against Nola in the sixth inning, with Nick Morabito's line drive single to left field giving them runners on first and second with one out. But Lindor bounced into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.

The Mets had another chance against Nola in the seventh inning, when back-to-back two-out singles by Carson Benge and Mark Vientos set things up for A.J. Ewing. But Ewing tapped out to shortstop to leave the runners stranded.

Nola finished with seven scoreless innings while allowing three hits, walking three, and striking out four.

Soto came to the plate as the tying run with runners on first and second and two outs in the eighth inning, but grounded out softly to first base on the first pitch he saw.

- In a scary scene in the sixth inning, first baseman Jared Young was taken off the field on a stretcher after being kneed in the head by McLean on a play at first base. On the play, the ball -- which was hit by Justin Crawford -- rolled slowly up the first base line with both Young and McLean pursuing it. As it got close to the bag, Young lunged to his right to attempt to field it as McLean arrived near first base, with McLean's right knee hitting Young in the head/face, resulting in Young lying face down and motionless.

Young was down for several minutes while being attended to by the medical staff. Young, who was surrounded by McLean and every starting position player while lying on the field, was eventually placed on a stretcher and removed from the field on a cart. He had feeling in his extremities and was taken to the hospital for further evaluation.

What's next

The Mets and Phillies continue their series on Friday night at 7:15.

Zac Thornton gets the start for New York, while Philadelphia has not yet announced a starter. 

Jefferson Rojas can't be stopped.

The Mets’ top prospect launched his third homer in just his third game since being promoted to Triple-A. 

In the third inning, with the game tied, 7-7, Rojas smashed a 364-foot blast off southpaw Tucker Davidson on a 1-0 slider over the plate. It was Rojas' third at-bat of the game after he was hit by a pitch in the first inning. He smoked a double, his first with Syracuse, to drive in a run in the second inning. 

Rojas finished 2-for-4 with three RBI.

He is now 7-for-12 with the aforementioned three homers and seven RBI since being promoted. 

Rojas' numbers since being acquired by the Mets at the deadline have been phenomenal. He first started in Double-A, where he immediately excelled. In 29 games with Binghamton, Rojas slashed .280/.336/.593 with an OPS of .929 to go along with nine home runs and 29 RBI, nearly doubling both season totals in a third of the games from when he was in the Cubs' system. Rojas hit 15 homers and drove in 57 runs in 91 games with Knoxville while slashing .270/.339/.461.

Jefferson Rojas stays hot with an RBI double!

Rojas is 6-for-9 since being promoted to Triple-A Syracuse 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ug3lSDbgqC

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 17, 2026

THREE TRIPLE-A GAMES, THREE HOME RUNS FOR JEFFERSON ROJAS! pic.twitter.com/fugMEXHfa6

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 18, 2026

Catcher Kevin Parada had another great game, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. He raised his batting average in Triple-A to .310. Once a top prospect, Parada has had a strong 2026. After slashing .229/.315/.327 with an OPS of .642 in 64 games with Binghamton, he was promoted to Syracuse in May and really took off.

On the other side of the coin, pitching prospect Jack Wenninger struggled. He allowed five runs on six hits and two walks in 1.2 innings while striking out just one batter.

It's a setback for Wenninger, who was finding his groove. He had allowed two or fewer runs in his last five games (four starts) across 22.0 IP. 

On a day the A’s lost 10-1 you probably don’t much care to discuss the team anyway. We’ll save that for a day, hopefully tomorrow, when the A’s give a glimpse of being good in 2027 and not just flirting with 100 losses in 2026.

Baseball matters, but when an injury like Ryan Lasko’s occurs we are reminded that was truly matters is the lives of the men who take the field for our entertainment.

Yesterday brought some good news — and a sobering reminder of what constitutes good news these days with regard to Lasko. The A’s OF prospect headed home, but with the longest road still ahead in his quest to regain feeling and mobility in his entire body.

Lasko’s terrifying injury, incurred diving for a fly ball, brought to my mind another horrible incident back in 2009, when a drunk driving collision took the life of Angels’ pitcher Nick Adenhart just hours after his best career start — against the A’s. Two others in the vehicle also lost their lives, and only one of the four passengers survived.

The surviving passenger was Jon Wilhite, like Lasko an accomplished athlete who played for Cal State Fullerton. In the crash Wilhite suffered an “internal decapitation,” which is when the skull base detaches completely from the cervical spine, that left him initially paralyzed.

Wilhite eventually began the long, long road to trying to regain as much mobility as possible, similar to the journey now in front of Lasko. Wilhite’s recovery has been described as “miraculous” — it is miracle enough that he was able to throw out the first pitch at an Angels game in May, 2021 and today he works as a supply chain manager while maintaining close ties to the Angels’ organization.

One of Wilhite’s teammates at Cal State Fullerton was Kurt Suzuki. While with the A’s, Suzuki’s wife spearheaded a fundraiser for Wilhite’s recovery and I was able to link with her to use the AN platform to raise money from some of our generous and caring readers. Suzuki is now, of course, manager of the Angels.

No one yet knows what Lasko’s recovery will look like and so currently baseball is very much on the back burner of anyone’s thoughts around his future. A dream might be to once again play baseball, while a goal might be to once again walk without medical aid. Lives can change in an instant and rarely does that instant announce itself ahead of time.

One prospect I have thought about since the injury is Devin Taylor, who is moving up the ladder fast and whose bat likely will put him into the 2027 conversation for the big league club. Taylor is the outfielder Lasko collided with as they both chased that fateful fly ball.

Through absolutely no fault of his own, Taylor became the barrier Lasko’s neck hit in just such a way as to cause the paralyzing injury. I wonder how this has been for Taylor, as guilt is not a rational emotion and can strike the profoundly innocent. Taylor is one step from the big leagues now, while Lasko is just hoping to take one step.

I hate it when the A’s lose, even more so when it’s 10-1. And I would take 50 consecutive 10-1 losses in a New York minute if it meant seeing Ryan Lasko run in the outfield again. Best wishes in your recovery, Ryan, and here’s hoping we at least see you throw out the first pitch some day soon.

New York Mets first baseman Jared Young was still experiencing concussion symptoms hours after he was carted off the field in the top of the sixth inning Thursday night at Citi Field after a scary collision with his pitcher. The Mets announced he was being taken to a hospital for examination and that he had feeling in his extremities and interim manager Andy Green told reporters that Young had undergone a CT scan.

Green said the CT scan was "negative," and emphasized how scary it was because Young was unconscious.

"It was a terrifying moment on the baseball field. Took him a while to come to," Green said after the 3-0 loss to the Phillies.

The collision happened when Nolan McLean inadvertently kneed a diving Young in the head as he chased a ground ball to first base. Young's head snapped back and he went down hard.

Status alert: Jared Young (head) carted off field Thursday.

Young gave a thumbs up as he was carted off the field.pic.twitter.com/bkacGRl7xI

— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) September 18, 2026

Young laid in the infield dirt for several minutes as his teammates gathered around him and the Phillies waited quietly in their dugout. Young was attended to by Green and the Mets training staff for several minutes before being carted off. He was conscious and moving as he was carried off.

Young eventually lifted his arm and gave the crowd a thumbs-up as the cart went through the outfield.

"It is scary to see one of our brothers, one of the most respected and loved teammates that we have here, like that," Francisco Lindor said of Young.

Jared Young has been taken off the field on a stretcher after a collision with Nolan McLean near first base.

Young gave a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was carted off the field. pic.twitter.com/VsYlxza2Pt

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 18, 2026

The injury is a brutal turn for Young, who has been one of the more unlikely success stories on the Mets' roster this season. A 15th-round pick by the Cubs in 2017 out of Old Dominion, Young bounced through Chicago's system before a brief big-league cameo in 2022-23. The Cardinals claimed him off waivers in 2023, but rather than grind in their minor league system, he signed with the Doosan Bears of the Korean Baseball Organization, where he hit .326 with 10 homers in 2024 and set a foreign-player record with eight RBI in a single game.

The Mets brought him back to the U.S. on a one-year split deal in December 2024 and he spent most of 2025 buried behind Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker. Young finished 2025 as a September call-up, brought up to replace Brett Baty, who was injured.

Young made the Mets' 2026 Opening Day roster off the bench in part because Mike Tauchman suffered a knee injusy. Young tore the meniscus in his left knee in mid-April and underwent surgery, an injury that cost him roughly six weeks. He returned hot, posting a 1.018 OPS over his first nine games back, and kept hitting his way into a bigger role. He entered Thursday's game hitting .267 with a .761 OPS, nine home runs and 39 RBI.

Phillies slugger Bryce Harper began his postgame remarks by saying "I hope he's OK, may God be with him and his family."

Lindor also thanked the medical professionals that helped his teammate.

"Respect for the paramedics and our training staff, they did a really good job, as well," Lindor said.

This story has been updated with new information.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jared Young injury update: Mets first baseman taken to hospital after scary collision

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I thought the Minnesota Twins started this road trip in San Francisco, so I was going to put Scott McKenzie’s song “San Francisco” in and say the Twins should wear flowers in their hair and blah blah blah because the Giants are not doing well either and I dunno, man. But no, the Twins are going to Anaheim to play the Angels, another California team that is not doing well. I don’t know what you wear to Los Angeles though. Sequins?

It’s a meaningless late-season West Coast road trip against two teams that are also in the cellars of their respective divisions. What a party! The first series is a four-gamer against the Angels of Anaheim.

Walbert Ureña will get the ball for Los Angeles (A. L.) and he’s been pretty good this year. The rookie has put up a 2.88 ERA/3.68 FIP in 27 games (25 starts), does not give up many homers (nine on the season!), and strikes out two batters for every walk he issues. Also he has a cool name.

Taj Bradley gets the call for the Twins (A. L.) and he’s also been pretty good this year. He faced the Agnels on July 12 of this season, throwing seven innings of two-run baseball, both runs coming on homers – and both those hits were the only ones he allowed. He also struck out six and walked two batters. The Twins ended up winning 4-2 and he was awarded the W.

Put on the coffeepot. It’s TTAD!

Lineups:

In a scary scene at Citi Field on Thursday night, Mets first baseman Jared Young was taken off the field on a stretcher after being kneed in the head by Nolan McLeanon a play at first base in the sixth inning against the Phillies. 

The Mets announced shortly after Young was injured that he had feeling in his extremities and was being taken to the hospital for further evaluation.

On the play, the ball -- which was hit by Justin Crawford -- rolled slowly up the first base line with both Young and McLean pursuing it. As it got close to the bag, Young lunged to his right to attempt to field it as McLean arrived near first base, with McLean's right knee hitting Young in the head/face, resulting in Young lying face down and motionless.

Young was down for several minutes while being attended to by the medical staff. Young, who was surrounded by McLean and every starting position player while lying on the field, was eventually placed on a stretcher and removed from the field on a cart.

As Young was being taken through the opening in the left center field fence, he gave fans a thumbs-up. 

“It was really scary," interim manager Andy Green said after the game. "Since he’s got to the hospital, he’s had a CT scan and the results have come back negative. Still experiencing real concussion symptoms right now. Likely avoided the scariest outcome. It was a terrifying moment on the baseball field."

McLean, who was visibly shaken as Young was being taken care of, returned to the mound after Young was removed from the field and recorded the final out of the inning. 

Young was replaced at first base by Mark Vientos.

The 31-year-old Young, who has become the Mets' regular first baseman this season, is hitting .268/.332/.431 (.764 OPS) in 102 games this season. It has been a breakout year for him after playing just 44 games for the Mets and Cubs between his big league debut in 2022 and 2025.

The San Diego Padres’ Low-A affiliate, Lake Elsinore Storm, pummeled their way to the California League Championship on the backs of their newest players, with some assistance from some of their other highly ranked young prospects.

After struggling through most of the second half of the season, the Storm put on a postseason surge after suffering an 11-game losing streak during the last three weeks of the season. There was a hint of the turnaround during the last week of the regular season when Lake Elsinore finished with a winning series against Inland Empire, showing increased effectiveness on both offense and with their pitching.

After going 39-30 in the first half of the year, winning a spot in the playoffs, the Storm finished the second half with a 27-35 record and barely had a winning season at 66-65. Their first-half success was fueled by multiple players who earned themselves promotion to Single-A Fort Wayne. The Storm players that were promoted to Lake Elsinore from the Arizona Complex League were not able to sustain that success.

On Aug. 4, the Padres organization started adding the newly signed 2026 draft picks to the Lake Elsinore roster. Over the course of the month, outfielder Alex Conover (4th round), infielder Nu’u Contrades (6th round), infielder Elliot Lascelles (2nd round), C/1B/DH Augie Lopez (10th round), and infielder Joe Tiroly (7th round) all made their professional debuts.

They joined infielder Dawson Willis, who was promoted from the ACL when that league finished but had been injured and was activated shortly before their arrival. It took most of August and into September for the new Storm teammates to adjust to the major changes in the roster. Their prolonged and frequent losses attest to the time it took for them all to become a cohesive team.

Divisional playoffs

The Ontario Tower Buzzers (Dodgers) were the first to discover the Storm had found their footing. After dominating the second half, Ontario finished 10 games over .500. Playing a divisional playoff series, the Storm swept the best-of-three by winning the first two games. 

RHP Jesus Castro, 19, had a stellar start in the first game, with six innings of two-hit and one-run ball. The pitching staff had been reinforced at the beginning of September with some more 2026 signees, including lefty relievers Rob Evans (12th round) and Andrew Wright (UDFA), both contributing. LF Conover went 4-for-5 with two RBI, and DH Contrades had three hits in four at-bats. 1B Joe Tiroly went 1-for-4 with two RBI.

In their clinching game on Sept. 10, LHP Kruz Schoolcraft had his best outing of the year. Finishing five innings, Schoolcraft allowed two hits and no runs with eight strikeouts. He was followed by 2026 first-rounder Coleman Borthwick, whom the Padres sent to Lake Elsinore from their Bridge League to pitch in the playoffs. The 18-year-old, who tops out his fastball in the high-90’s, threw two innings of two-hit ball, allowing a run with two walks and four strikeouts, making his professional debut in a playoff atmosphere. The last two innings were covered by 19-year-old Lan-Hong Su, who registered his first professional save by shutting out Ontario on a walk and three strikeouts. 

DH Nu’u Contrades had two hits in three at-bats with two RBI while CF Dawson Willis hit 2-for-4, upping his average to .375. Canadian SS/2B Elliot Lascelles, 18, hit a double, drove in a run, and had an RBI. 

Using all starters to cover nine innings, the Storm allowed only four hits and recorded 15 strikeouts in their 6-1 win. 

Winning a Championship 

Advancing to the Championship series, the Storm had to face off against the team with the best record in the league. 

The San Jose Giants (SF Giants) finished their season at 80-52, 11 games up on the second-place Fresno Grizzlies. They led the league in both hitting and pitching stats for the regular season.

The best-of-three series kicked off on Sept. 13 in Lake Elsinore with a rout by the Storm. Scoring 12 runs to the Giants’ one run, the Storm had 13 hits, with 2B Lascelles going 3-for-6 with three RBI, including a double. 1B Joe Tiroly had three hits in five at-bats, with a run scored and an RBI. He also hit a double as part of his offensive effort. LF Conover went 2-for-4 with four RBI, including a two-run home run.

The game was started by RHP Tyler Schmitt, who went 4.1 innings, allowing four hits and no runs with three walks and three strikeouts. He was followed by RHP Jack Pineau, a 22-year-old Canadian who was signed as an undrafted free agent (UDFA) in July. Pineau completed the fifth inning with no hits and a strikeout. LHP Adler Cecil got the win with three innings of two-hit pitching, issuing two walks and striking out five.

LHP Ben Stubbs (2026, ninth round) finished off the game, allowing the only run on two hits with two walks. Overall, the pitchers issued seven walks and had nine strikeouts.

After an off day, the second game was played in San Jose, with the Giants showing why they were the best team in the league. Their pitching staff no-hit the Storm over nine innings, with the Storm scoring a run on a Dawson Willis walk followed by a balk and then a passed ball, scoring on a double steal (with Lascelles).

RHP Jesus Castro threw 4.2 innings of two-hit, two-run baseball with a walk and three strikeouts. The effort by the bullpen included UDFA RHP Tyler Pitzer, who allowed three runs in 0.1 innings, and 2026 12th-rounder Rob Evans, who pitched 1.1 innings with two hits and a run allowed.

Besides being no-hit, the Storm hitters only managed two walks while striking out 11 times.

The deciding game of the series was played the next day, Sept. 16, in San Jose. Lake Elsinore liked the effort made by first-rounder RHP Coleman Borthwick so much in the Ontario series that they started him in the deciding game for the championship. 

Shutting out the Giants over two innings, Borthwick struck out two while using his fastball/slider combo, proving effective in four innings of playoff pitching, while leading the Storm to a 13-2 decisive clincher and a championship.

Borthwick was followed by RHP Lan-Hong Su for three innings of work. He gave up four hits and a run but struck out eight hitters. The last four innings were finished by Jack Pineau, Andrew Wright and LHP Sean Fitzpatrick, who combined to limit San Jose to one run on six hits with a combined 15 strikeouts.

The offense went to town on Giants pitching, amassing 13 runs on 13 hits while the pitching staff held the Giants to two runs.

Second baseman Lascelles was 2-for-5 with two runs scored. 1B Tiroly went 2-for-4 with two RBI, including a double. DH Contrades had two hits in four at-bats with three RBI, including a double and a home run. RF Qrey Lott, 21, who had a good season with a .272 average and a .805 OPS, went off in the postseason. In the five games, Lott had 18 ABs while hitting .444/.524/.944 with two doubles, two triples, a home run, and five RBI. 

The surprising turnaround for the Lake Elsinore Storm shows what a team can do when talented players start playing together. I watched all three of the championship series games, and the Storm played at an intensity not seen in prior games. The Storm won their last California League Championship in 2021.