The Phillies entered play Monday with a sizeable seven-game lead in the NL East over the Mets. But after Wednesday's 6-0 win by New York, completing the three-game sweep, the division is now in play.
New York now sits just four games behind the Phillies for first place in the division with four more games against Philadelphia still to be played. But Wednesday's win was also significant in that it improved the Mets' record against the Phillies to 7-2, securing the season series and the tiebreaker in the event of a tie.
But while the Mets are playing the best they've played in some time, winning five of their last six and eight of their last 11, they are keeping the series sweep in perspective.
"We’re going to continue to take it one day at a time," Carlos Mendoza said after Wednesday's win. "Baseball‘s crazy, everything happens fast here. We have to continue to control the things we can control, and that’s coming in day in and day out with a mission and a purpose. That’s winning ball games. We know we’re good; that’s a good team there. Every game counts. That’s our mentality right now."
The Mets (72-61) still have 29 games to go this season, so there's a lot that can happen between now and the end of the regular season.
But it's hard not to feel something about sweeping the team that you're chasing for the division.
"It gives us some confidence, for sure. But I think that's just what we expect out of ourselves," Mark Vientos said of the sweep. "Feel like we know how great of a team we are and this is just what we do. It’s exciting. Just gotta keep taking it one game at a time."
The young slugger went 2-for-4, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. His two-run shot in the seventh gave the Mets the cushion they needed, and it is the sixth longball he's hit during his current streak. But Vientos is just part of a Mets offense that has been on a hot stretch of late and has helped them close the gap with the Phillies.
Wednesday was the 12th time Mets hitters recorded double-digit hits over their last 16 games. In 23 games this month, the Mets are batting .281/.358/.491 and are ranked first in the majors over the month in slugging and OPS (.849), are second in batting average, OBP, home runs and runs scored.
They hope to continue that hot hitting and their winning ways when they host the Miami Marlins for a four-game series starting Thursday. The Phillies return home to host the Braves for four games of their own. It's plausible that the Mets could be tied or close to the Phillies in the division by the end of the weekend.
Shohei Ohtani pitches during the first inning against Cincinnati on Wednesday. (Eric Thayer / For Los Angeles Times)
Ever since resuming two-way duties earlier this year, Shohei Ohtani had been throwing the ball well.
It wasn’t until Wednesday, however, that he finally pitched like a frontline starter, too.
Coming off his second career Tommy John surgery this year, Ohtani immediately lit up the radar gun with 100-mph fastballs and amassed gaudy strikeout totals with a devastating sweeper. In his first eight pitching starts of the season, he gave up just five runs in 16 innings for a 2.37 ERA, racked up 25 punchouts against just five walks, and looked every bit of the hard-throwing ace he was before spending a year-and-a-half rehabbing his right elbow and only serving as a designated hitter.
But, during that time, Ohtani was also throwing in only short bursts, as part of a deliberate effort to slowly build him up. He tossed one inning in his first two starts. Two innings, then three, then four, in each pair of outings after that. Rarely did he face a lineup two times through. At no point did he see the same batter three times in the same game.
He was, in effect, an opener.
And in that role, raw stuff was enough.
Recently, however, Ohtani had encountered a new challenge. Since getting the green light to make more typical five-inning starts, he had failed to actually complete the fifth in his first two attempts.
The struggles weren’t surprising, with five of the nine runs Ohtani had given up in his previous two outings coming in either the fourth or fifth innings. For all of Ohtani’s talent, it was clear there was tactical rust that still needed to be cleared.
“I think we’re still in the [process of] finding out who he is, what he is, getting his bearings for him,” manager Dave Roberts acknowledged ahead of Wednesday’s game.
“But,” the skipper added, “I’m expecting him to get through five [tonight], pitch well and just continue to get better.”
In the Dodgers’ 5-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, Ohtani was indeed better.
Both in his results, and his process for getting there.
The right-hander not only got through five full innings of one-run ball, but did so by adopting a new, more unpredictable plan of attack, keeping the Reds off-balance over the duration of his 87-pitch effort.
Instead of leaning predominantly on fastballs and sweepers as he did earlier this year, Ohtani threw the kitchen sink at the Reds; using his curveball a career-high 23 times and his splitter a season-high 11 times.
Along the way, he yielded only two hits (one of them a solo home run from Noelvi Marte in the third), recorded nine strikeouts (his most in a game in more than two years) and, for the first time this year, showed the kind of ability to work deep into a game that could be pivotal in determining his October pitching role.
Before Wednesday, there was still an open question over how the Dodgers might use Ohtani’s arm in the postseason.
Ideally, he could help headline their star-studded rotation, joining Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and maybe Clayton Kershaw to form the kind of deep starting pitching arsenal the Dodgers have sorely lacked in recent playoff treks.
But first, he had to show he was capable of navigating an opposing order multiple times.
“In general, I think it’s figuring out where the secondaries are at,” Roberts said. “I don’t think fatigue had anything to do with it.”
Against the Reds (68-66), Ohtani went to his secondary stuff early and often. His 12 curveballs in the first two innings alone were more than he had thrown in his 10 previous outings this year combined.
It led to temporary trouble in the second, when a lack of command led to two walks that Ohtani needed back-to-back strikeouts to strand. With one out in the third, he misfired on a first-pitch cutter to Marte, leaving it down the middle for a home run that was clobbered to the left-field pavilion.
After that, however, Ohtani found a groove. He retired the final eight batters he faced. He finished his start by getting Cincinnati leadoff man TJ Friedl to ground out in their third meeting of the evening. And he concluded his performance with 14 swings-and-misses overall, the most whiffs he had generated in a game all year.
By getting through five innings, Ohtani also qualified for his first pitching win of the season.
The Dodgers (77-57) made sure they didn’t squander it.
After starting the game with nine straight outs against Reds starter Nick Lodolo, the club finally broke the game open with a four-run rally in the fourth, when Kiké Hernández and Dalton Rushing each had two-run, bases-loaded singles. Michael Conforto added a solo insurance homer in the eighth. And the bullpen tip-toed in and out of trouble over four scoreless innings of game-sealing relief.
The victory helped the Dodgers grow their National League West lead to two games over the San Diego Padres, who dropped a series rubber match to the Seattle Mariners earlier in the day. It ran the team’s recent winning streak up to four games, its longest since the start of a 21-25 run dating back to July 4.
What was most important, though, was the way Ohtani looked.
Long ago, he had erased any doubts about the life he still possessed in his surgically repaired arm.
Wednesday showed he remains capable of translating it into successful, full-length, dominating starts, too.
Freeman, Call out
The Dodgers were without Freddie Freeman and Alex Call on Wednesday, but are hoping both will be available for their next game on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Freeman was absent from the lineup because of a “stinger” in his neck and right shoulder, Roberts said. Freeman has dealt with similar issues before, and Roberts said they wanted to give him the opportunity for two consecutive days off (including Thursday’s off-day) to let it calm down.
Call was also out of the lineup after being removed from Tuesday’s game with a back flare-up. He, too, has dealt with similar issues in the past. Roberts described Call as “day-to-day” and said the team would re-evaluate his status Friday.
With the Mets looking to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night at Citi Field to pull within four games of the NL East title and get right back into the division race, the stage couldn't have been brighter for starter Nolan McLean.
Not only was it a huge opportunity for New York, it was also just McLean's third career start. And although the right-hander aced his first two tests and entered the game 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA, there was certainly some added pressure facing the team the Mets are chasing in the standings and knowing what a sweep would mean.
But the pressure didn't faze McLean one bit. In fact, it looked like it added some extra motivation to the 24-year-old who rose to the occasion with eight scoreless innings against a loaded Phillies lineup.
"All I can say is wow," said manager Carlos Mendoza after the game. "That was super impressive. He dominated one of the best lineups in the league. He made it look easy. Just everything about the kid, you know? Not only what we’re seeing on the mound, but the way he’s carrying himself.
"He’s got electric stuff, but he’s got pitch ability. He knows what he’s doing on the mound, he knows how to manipulate the baseball, he knows what hitters are trying to do to him. He’s not afraid to use all of his pitches."
McLean had Philadelphia in his pocket from the start. It started with a 1-2-3 opening inning in which he struck out the first batter he faced on three pitches and needed just nine pitches in total before walking back to the dugout.
The right-hander was rolling from there and faced the minimum through six innings by utilizing his entire mix of pitches to keep the Phillies off balance and guessing all night. Bryce Harper's two-out single in the seventh inning was just the second hit McLean allowed after Alec Bohm had a single in the second (erased on a double play).
"I knew about the lineup going into it, that I was gonna have my hands full and was gonna have to have some good stuff," McLean said. "I mean, top to bottom, they’re stacked with hitters, so I definitely knew I had to bring some good stuff tonight."
Bring it he did.
With the Mets' offense continuing its hot stretch and giving their rookie some runs early, McLean was able to focus on making his pitches and attacking hitters, which he did the entire outing. In fact, McLean was so dominant, he entered the eighth inning with just 76 pitches thrown.
It was in that eighth inning that the first sign of trouble came for the rookie. Despite making what he believes to have been good pitches, McLean allowed the first two runners on after consecutive singles put runners on the corners.
While New York was safely up 6-0, the sudden traffic on the basepaths was enough to make anybody nervous, especially with the aforementioned offensive juggernaut that Philadelphia possesses. Yet, after a talk with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and with battery mate Hayden Senger, McLean was able to flip the script and, once again, rise up to the occasion by retiring the next three batters to not allow a run -- a microcosm of the pressure-filled game itself.
"First and third, and he continues to make pitches and kinda like ‘let me flip it back here and let me use my secondary pitches.’ That’s pitching there," Mendoza said while adding that he could tell McLean still had a lot left in the tank towards the end. "... You get to this level and guys like that, they’re wired differently. They take it to the next level. Obviously, trusting the catcher, the game plan, trusting your defense behind you."
Overall, McLean went eight shutout innings, allowed four hits, walked none and struck out six to notch his third win in his first three career starts -- the first pitcher in Mets history to accomplish that. His brilliant outing also lowered his season ERA to 0.89 in 20.1 innings.
With numbers like that, it's not a surprise to find that the right-hander exudes confidence and moxie on the mound.
"I’ve always been a believer in my stuff. I’m a confident guy," McLean said. "Obviously, the hitters here are the best in the world and I know that, but I also know I have good stuff and if I go out there and execute, I can get a lot of guys out as well."
In regard to pitching in big moments like Wednesday's game, McLean said, "That’s exactly what I want."
It's an attitude and a charisma that the Mets have lacked for much of the season, especially from their pitching rotation. But with McLean now appearing poised to break out and top prospect Jonah Tong getting ready to make his highly anticipated MLB debut on Friday, New York suddenly has a bolt of energy shot into the starting staff.
"We’ve been missing that type of performance pretty much the whole year and here we are when we gotta go," Mendoza said. "And just as a team, knowing that when he takes the baseball, you feel pretty good about your chances. That’s a really good feeling. It tells everyone in that room that I’m here with you guys, let’s go."
The Mets blanked the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 6-0 on Wednesday night, completing a three-game sweep to get within 4.0 games of first place in the NL East.
Here are the key takeaways...
-- Coming off two terrific starts, Nolan McLean was dealing once again, allowing one hit (an Alec Bohm single) but facing the minimum through three innings to go along with three punchouts. The 24-year-old made it look easy against a talented Phillies lineup, needing just 49 pitches to get through the fifth while still facing the minimum.
-- The Phillies rarely made hard contact off of McLean, but even when they did, they still couldn't get runners on base. With two outs in the top of the sixth, Harrison Bader smoked a ball to left center that looked to be at least a double, if not a homer, but Jeff McNeil made a terrific leaping catch at the wall to end the frame.
-- McLean was a strike-throwing machine and the definition of efficiency. With a pitch count in the mid-50s to start the seventh inning, McLean allowed a two-out single to Bryce Harper, breaking a streak of 15 straight Phillies retired in order. J.T. Realmuto popped out harmlessly to end the inning, though, as McLean finished the seventh at just 76 pitches.
--The only bit of trouble McLean found himself in all night came in the eighth, when back-to-back singles put runners at the corners with no one out. But shallow fly balls to right and left, and strong throws by Soto and Brandon Nimmo, respectively, kept Bohm from scoring from third, and Bader tapped back to the mound to end the threat.
McLean's night ended after 8.0 pristine innings of shutout ball, as he allowed just four hits and struck out six without a walk. McLean now has a 0.89 ERA through three major league starts.
-- The Mets just kept passing the baton in the third inning, scoring three runs on five hits against former Met Taijuan Walker. What started with a Brett Baty hustle double eventually led to three straight RBI hits by Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Pete Alonso. The Mets took a 3-0 lead, and with the way McLean was throwing the ball, that would end up being more than enough.
Walker battled to give the Phillies 5.0 innings, but he gave up another run on aMark Vientos two-out RBI knock in the fifth. The right-hander allowed four earned runs on 10 hits while striking out three and walking one.
-- Vientos provided an exclamation point in the bottom of the seventh, again with two outs. This time, Vientos clobbered a two-run homer to left off of Tanner Banks, breaking the game open at 6-0. Vientos proved last season that he can carry an offense when he gets hot, and he certainly appears to be back in a groove at the plate.
Game MVP
McLean, who electrified the Citi Field crowd for 8.0 shutout innings. McLean became the first Mets starter ever to win his first three starts.
LOS ANGELES — All-Star Freddie Freeman was out of the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup on Wednesday because of a nerve issue in his neck.
Manager Dave Roberts said Freeman had a "stinger," which typically affects a network of nerves extending from the neck into the shoulder and arm.
“It’s something that is recurring, but it’s been kind of showing itself a little bit the last couple days,” Roberts said. "I think that just giving him a couple days, with the off day tomorrow, he'll be back on Friday.”
Kiké Hernández was set to start at first base in place of Freeman against the Cincinnati Reds. Hernández was 2 for 3 with a run scored Tuesday in his first game since July 6, when he went on the injured list.
Freeman was 1 for 4 with a double in the Dodgers' 6-3 win Tuesday. He leads the National League with a .302 average in pursuit of his first career batting title. He's tied for the league lead in doubles with 34.
Outfielder Alex Call was out of the lineup with a back issue that flared up when he was running the bases Tuesday, Roberts said.
MILWAUKEE — Right-hander Erick Fedde joined his third organization this season when he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, who also placed All-Star closer Trevor Megill on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday with a right flexor strain.
Fedde was activated in time to be available for the Brewers’ home game against Arizona. Fedde signed with the NL Central leaders three days after he was released by the Atlanta Braves.
The 32-year-old Fedde was 1-2 with an 8.10 ERA in five games with Atlanta after going 3-10 with a 5.22 ERA in 20 starts with the St. Louis Cardinals, who designated him for assignment last month.
The Brewers need healthy arms to eat innings in the midst of an 18-day stretch in which they’re playing 19 games.
“Great pickup, I think, for the situation we’re in,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
Murphy also said Quinn Priester, who had been scheduled to start Wednesday's game, was pushed back to Friday due to a wrist issue. Aaron Ashby is expected to work as an opener on Wednesday, with Fedde entering the game later.
Megill, 31, is 5-3 with a 2.54 ERA and 30 saves in 44 appearances while striking out 58 batters over 46 innings. He has blown three of his last four save opportunities.
He underwent imaging that revealed the flexor strain after throwing 34 pitches Sunday in a 4-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants. Megill said it's only a mild strain.
“Nothing too serious,” Megill said. “No damage to the ligament or anything. I've just kind of been grinding through it for the last week. ... Just taking a step back and get this right for the postseason.”
Murphy said Abner Uribe will get the first shot at save opportunities in Megill's absence. Uribe is 2-1 with three saves and a 1.71 ERA in 63 appearances. He has 78 strikeouts over 63 1/3 innings.
The Brewers also transferred right-hander Logan Henderson to the 60-day injured list.
In his first game of a rehab assignment with Triple-A after suffering a right thumb sprain against the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 17, Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez had to leave in the top of the sixth inning after getting drilled on the left hand.
Already 1-for-2 in the game after a double in the first inning against Sean Boyle, Alvarez was plunked on the left hand by the right-hander on a 89 mph sinker that ran in on him. Clearly in pain after getting hit, Alvarez took his time getting to first base and was met by trainers who took a look at him.
After checking on his hand, Syracuse decided to remove the 23-year-old for a pinch-runner.
Beginning the season on the IL with a wrist injury, Alvarez has dealt with a lot of hand injuries in his career. The right thumb sprain he was rehabbing resulted from sliding head-first into second base, although he has been hit by numerous pitches and gets banged up behind the plate, as well.
After the Mets' 6-0 win against the Phillies on Wednesday, manager Carlos Mendoza was asked if he had an update on Alvarez. The Mets skipper said he hadn't heard anything yet, but he's getting "checked out." Mendoza did confirm that the backstop was hit in the pinky of his left hand.
Francisco Alvarez has left the game for Triple-A Syracuse after being hit on the hand pic.twitter.com/Y53td17K2t
Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees hit the road to take on the White Sox in a four-game series starting on Thursday...
Preview
Can Anthony Volpe get a hit?
Volpe is in a major slump, worse than he's experienced in his short career so far.
Entering Thursday's series opener, Volpe is 1-for-37 with 14 strikeouts in his last 11 games. In the Yankees' 11-2 pounding of the Nationals on Wednesday, Volpe went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and was the only starter to not get a hit.
The Yankees tried to give Volpe a breather and reset with two games off earlier in the week, but at this point, the team is going to try and push through and see if Volpe gets out of his slump by playing.
On the other side of it, is the shortstop set up for another day off? Jose Caballero was the starting shortstop when Volpe was benched, so it'll be interesting to see how manager Aaron Boone writes up his lineups during this series.
How much will Giancarlo Stanton play?
As Aaron Judge continues to work his way back to playing in the outfield, Boone has to decide whether to play Stanton in right field in his captain's stead.
The Yankees need Stanton in the lineup as much as possible. Over his last 30 games, Stanton is slashing .362/.429/.819 with 13 home runs and 32 RBI. Over his last seven games, Stanton launched five long balls and hit .421. Stanton played the outfield in two of the three games at Yankee Stadium against the Nationals, but the last time the Yankees were on the road (and not at George M. Steinbrenner Field), Stanton sat out all three games against the Cardinals in St. Louis.
Cam Schlittler, Will Warren trying out to be Game 3 starter
If the Yankees make the postseason, Max Fried and Carlos Rodon will pitch the first two games of any series they are in. But who will start Game 3?
Aug 20, 2025; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler (31) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. / Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Warren is set to start Thursday's series opener and will hope to bounce back from his rough outing against the Red Sox. In his four prior starts, Warren had allowed only four runs across 22.1 innings pitched. The 26-year-old is having a solid season for the Yanks. In 27 starts, he's pitched to a 4.47 ERA with 146 strikeouts across 131 innings pitched.
For the rookie Schlittler, he has the tougher matchup, going up against All-Star Shane Smith on Saturday. In only eight starts, the 24-year-old is pitching to a 2.76 ERA with 46 strikeouts across 42.1 innings pitched. But Schlittler has really started to blossom his last few times on the mound.
In his last two starts (Rays, Nationals), Schlittler has pitched 12.2 scoreless innings while allowing just five hits and striking out 16 batters. If Schlittler repeats that performance on the road against the White Sox, his name will be in serious consideration to pitch behind Fried and Rodon in October.
Is Aaron Judge back?
Judge is still trying to go on a tear like he did pre-injury, but Wednesday's performance may be the start of it. Against the Nationals, Judge went 2-for-4 with a home run in the Yankees' win. It's been tough sledding for the reigning AL MVP. Prior to the series finale against Washington, Judge was 2-for-17 in his previous five games. A series against the lowly White Sox could be what he needs to go on a run.
Taking care of business
The Yankees are one of the best teams in MLB against under-.500 teams and the White Sox come into the four-game set with the second-worst record in baseball.
Like how they did sweeping the Nationals this week, the Yankees need to take care of business and win the series in Chicago. It's hard to sweep a four-game set no matter who you're facing, but the Yankees should take three games from the White Sox. Doing so will continue to solidify their spot in the postseason and perhaps even help them bridge the gap with the Blue Jays and Red Sox.
Predictions
Who will the MVP of the series be?
Aaron Judge
Judge seemed very comfortable at the plate on Wednesday and should be the start of a great run for him.
Which Yankees pitcher will have the best start?
Carlos Rodon
Rodon has been the most consistent pitcher for the Yankees and going up against the White Sox, his former team, will continue that streak.
Which White Sox player will be a thorn in the Yankees' side?
Colson Montgomery
The rookie shortstop is dealing with a left side injury that sidelined him on Wednesday, but his MRI came back clean, so he should be back in the lineup sooner rather than later.
NEW YORK — The flight patterns for planes landing at nearby La Guardia Airport had them going directly behind Citi Field during much of the game between the Phillies and Mets. The patterns were a little more varied when it came to the Mets hitting Wednesday, as they flew the baseball all over the field in a lopsided 6-0 win.
It was the 10th straight loss against the Mets on their home field for the Phillies, who got swept in the three-game series and now have just a four-game lead in the National League East.
When things are going the way they are for the Mets at home in this rivalry, everything just seems to go a little better. Extra bases are taken without much thought, spectacular fielding plays seem to be the norm and driving in runs when they are out there to be had is expected.
New York did all of that in the three-game series and has climbed itself right back into the divisional race.
“We’ve got a series tomorrow and we’ve got to be able to turn the page and go out there and play the Braves,” Kyle Schwarber said. “I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people that are going to be thinking about the series, whatever it is, try to do different. But when we show up tomorrow, it’s a new day. We’ve got to be able to walk out of the clubhouse and expect to win the game.
“I don’t think we’re focused on that (the Mets getting back into the race). I think we’re focused on ourselves. It’s about us, us as a team, we’ve got to get back. We have another important series in front of us. Moving forward, we still have another series against these guys. We’re not looking to that, we’re looking to the series ahead. Things happen.”
If the Phillies were itching to get away from the area, the stadium, the other team, their offense sure played like they wanted to climb on the bus and head south as soon as possible. Rookie Nolan McLean, making just his third start in the majors, stymied them during his eight innings as he allowed just four hits, two coming in his final inning of work, walked none and struck out six.
The Mets strung together five straight hits in the third inning off starter Taijuan Walker. Brett Baty started it off with a double to left-center, followed by a bunt single from catcher Hayden Senger that just got past a charging Walker. Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso each followed with RBI singles and the familiar beatdown was on.
Walker was out after a fifth inning in which he gave up three hits, a walk and allowed the Mets’ fourth run of the night. In all, he allowed 10 hits and four earned runs.
“I feel like I made some good pitches,” Walker said. “They had a really good approach today. I feel like when I had two strikes, they really battled me, got to deep counts and put the ball in play and found holes. Just one of those series for us. We hit some balls hard, they were just in the right spot and the rest just didn’t go our way.”
McLean has now pitched 20 1/3 innings in his three starts and has given up only two earned runs and 10 hits while striking out 21. He’s also won all three games. So fooled did he have Phillies hitters that twice bats went flying out of hitters’ hands on swings and misses.
“He was as advertised,” Rob Thomson said. “Good sinker, good four-seam fastball and he can spin it. I don’t think we were pressing as much as it is not seeing him before. There are times that I think that guys try to do too much. I kind of chalk it up to not seeing him.”
Added Walker on the rookie: “He’s good. He’s got good stuff. Six pitches. I feel like you have young guys that have one or two pitches, maybe three. But he has a good six-pitch mix and I think that’s going to be key for him moving forward.”
The talk among Thomson and players during the series was often to debunk the idea that there is something more going on when the Phillies visit than just the Mets playing better baseball, that there may be some mental side of the competition that is leaning very heavily in the Mets’ favor. Understandably, manager and players must believe that. But to Phillies fans and observers, it certainly seems to be there for now.
The top of the Mets’ lineup destroyed the Phillies as the first five batters in the order went 9 for 19 with four runs scored and all six RBI. Mark Vientos had a pair of hits, including a two-run home run in the seventh inning. It was the third baseman’s sixth home run in his last 10 games. Brandon Nimmo had three of the Mets’ 12 hits on the night.
Perhaps results will be better for the Phillies when the Mets visit Philadelphia for four games in less than two weeks. What the standings will look like then is anybody’s guess after these three games.
“We’ve got an experienced group, I don’t think it does much,” Thomson said of the team’s confidence moving forward. “We know that we need to play better. It’s one of those series. We just need to flush it and move on. It’s one series and I know it’s against the Mets, but admittedly so, we need to play better. We will. We’ve got a good club and that’s not going to change.
“I think there’s disappointment, but again they’re experienced players. I don’t think they get too high or too low. They just keep moving on and that’s what you’ve got to do in this situation. The first game I didn’t think we played well, but the last two I think we battled. The kid today was good.”
The Phillies for three games were not and now the fun really begins with 29 games remaining.
The New York Rangers have the 24th-best prospect pool according to The Athletic’s prospect pipeline rankings.
Corey Pronman of The Athletic listed Malcolm Spence, Brennan Othmann, E.J. Emery, Gabe Perreault, Carey Terrance, Noah Laba, and Scott Morrow as the Rangers’ top prospects.
In last year’s prospect pipeline list, the Rangers ranked as the 15th best team, as the Blueshirts saw a slight drop off.
The only teams ranked behind the Rangers in this list are the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, and Colorado Avalanche.
The Rangers’ opening-night roster may consist of a number of young players, including Othmann, Perreault, Morrow, and Brett Berard.
SAN FRANCISCO — Matt Chapman stood on second base and smiled as a ballpark tried to digest a game-altering throw that had hit his helmet and skipped more than 100 feet to the backstop. He held one finger in the air as 30,000 fans alternated cheers and laughter. The grin on his face said it all, but if anything was actually said on the field or in the Giants dugout, the veteran wasn’t going to let it slip.
“I can’t remember,” he said later, smiling. “Maybe I’m concussed.”
When you’re going right, you’re going right, and the Giants finally feel headed back in that direction. They have played solid baseball for five straight games now, winning four of them, and the breaks once again are backing their efforts.
There were a few of them Wednesday, none bigger than a throw from right field that bounced off Chapman’s helmet as he stood on first base and allowed another two-out run to score in the three-run fifth. When Casey Schmitt followed with a single, Chapman cruised home from second. The Giants kept pouring it on from there, beating the Chicago Cubs 12-3.
Chapman — who was fine, by the way — was part of the strangest play, but most of the damage came from another man who has played plenty of third base in the big leagues. Rafael Devers homered twice and also had a double, single and walk. He drove in five runs, showing exactly why president of baseball operations Buster Posey jumped the line in June to bring him to San Francisco.
“This is the guy that everybody is accustomed to seeing,” Chapman said. “It’s not easy to get traded and come in and instantly be yourself. [We’re] seeing him get more comfortable … when he feels good, he’s that dangerous.”
The Giants are a ways away from being officially eliminated from the MLB playoff race, and Chapman reiterated several times Wednesday that the focus is simply “on tomorrow.” But when the attention does fully turn to 2026, the Giants will be reminded that this summer wasn’t a total loss.
Devers, their big acquisition, is sneaking up on 30 total homers. His 26th went out to dead center at Oracle Park and his 27th was an opposite-field shot, his specialty. When he’s comfortable at the plate, he’s ballpark-proof, the type of player the Giants have sought for years. On Wednesday, Devers became just the third Giant since 2015 to have at least three hits leave the bat at 106 mph or above.
“He hit it everywhere today,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We know he’s capable of having games like that.”
The same could have been said of the Giants the past two months. They knew this was in them somewhere, but they couldn’t summon a stretch like this until they already were in a deep hole. With 29 games to go, they remain seven games out of a playoff spot.
Barring a miracle, they’ll look up in the offseason and wonder where this was against the Pittsburgh Pirates right before the trade deadline, or the Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays right after.
But that’s something they don’t want to think about at the moment. For the first time in a long time, they’re having fun. They’re scoring in traditional ways and in hilarious ways.
“I don’t know if you get an RBI for hitting one off your head,” Chapman said as the victory soundtrack played in the background. “Hopefully …”
Ask anybody involved with the Red Sox in any way whom they believe to be the best center fielder in baseball, and they won’t hesitate. It’s Ceddanne Rafaela.
It was downright shocking, then, to see Rafaela make not one but two defensive gaffes on Wednesday night in Baltimore. Both were costly, too, as Rafaela dropped a ball while diving to allow a run to score in the bottom of the second and later didn’t take charge as a fly ball fell directly between him and left fielder Jarren Duran in the seventh, allowing another run to score.
Both plays should have resulted in third outs, but they instead accounted for the entirety of Baltimore’s offense on a night when Brayan Bello was dealing.
It was uncharacteristic, to say the least, and it put the Red Sox in position to lose a game they should have won.
Yet baseball has a funny way of creating opportunities for those who need them. And in the top of the ninth, Rafaela got his.
With Duran — who did bear some responsibility for the fallen fly ball — reaching base on a leadoff single, Rafaela stepped to the plate as the go-ahead run in the final frame. After taking the first two pitches from Keegan Akin, Rafaela got an off-speed pitch over the heart of the plate and unleashed on the offering.
The re-modified dimensions of Camden Yards helped out, and by the time the ball came down, Rafaela was casually jogging around first base, having known right off the bat that he had given his team a 3-2 lead.
The home run was Rafaela’s 15th of the season but his first since July 13, and only his second after hitting a walk-off home run against the Rays on July 11.
From there, Aroldis Chapman — in the midst of the best season of his life — shut down the Orioles in a 1-2-3 inning with three strikeouts to secure the victory.
For the Red Sox, the victory secured a second consecutive four-game series win, after they took the first three in the Bronx over the weekend. They’ll have the chance to make this one a four-game sweep on Thursday afternoon.
For Rafaela, it might have meant a little more. He had cost his team a shutout, but he managed to make sure the unexpected miscues didn’t hurt in the standings.
The Vedder Cup — which goes to the winner of the Seattle Mariners-San Diego Padres MLB season series — is a custom Fender Telecaster designed with rocker Eddie Vedder, who appeared at T-Mobile Park before the game Monday. (Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
Before MLB’s newest trophy was offered up as the prize in a competition between the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres, it had to pass through the hands of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.
The custom Fender Telecaster guitar, named the Vedder Cup, is said to have been played by its namesake for “about an hour” before it was shipped off to T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
“He gave it a good run through,” George Webb, Pearl Jam's equipment manager, told the Seattle Times on Monday. “He always likes to feel like he puts a little energy, you know, spiritual energy, into an instrument. Not just hand off something that’s brand-new, never-touched kind of thing. So yeah, jammed on it for about an hour. Had a good time.”
The trophy features many nods from the 60-year-old musician, including a hand-drawn “cresting wave” illustration and an arrow and mod symbol — an allusion to Vedder’s tribute to the Who on his personal guitar. On the back, the Padres and Mariners logos appear alongside text hand-written by the singer and guitarist: “The Vedder Cup Established 2025 by Major League Baseball.”
The Vedder Cup, a guitar shown off Monday by Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, will go each year to the winner of the full-season series between the Mariners and the San Diego Padres. (Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
It also contains a logo from EB Research Partnership, a nonprofit co-founded by Vedder and his wife, Jill, after a childhood friend's son was born with the painful skin condition epidermolysis bullosa. The nonprofit funds research on the disease.
The cup is intended to bring “meaningful awareness” to the rare disorder, Mariners Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Trevor Gooby said in a statement in March, when the longtime rivalry became official.
“We can't wait to see this rivalry series grow and look forward to battling the Mariners for the Vedder Cup,” Padres Chief Executive Erik Greupner added.
The rivalry, such as it is, arose from forces both real and manufactured, apparently. Vedder has strong ties to both cities, having grown up in San Diego, then moved to Seattle to start Pearl Jam with Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament — hence, the "Vedder" Cup.
Also, upon the introduction of interleague play in the late ’90s, MLB looked for "natural" rivalries between teams like the Padres and Mariners. This year, the league canonized the rivalry, which is said to have begun as geographic, given both teams' West Coast homes, Reuters reports.
The two teams have met almost annually since 1997. In the informal all-time series, Seattle currently leads 68-63. Additionally, they share a training complex in Peoria, Ariz.
Some fans are still left with questions as to why the competition has turned official, with one claiming on Reddit that "padres and mariners fans literally give no s— about each other."
Still, they conceded it is "likely the most meaningless and yet kinda fun thing in MLB."
The trophy was in the spotlight Monday when the teams met for the fourth time this season. The Mariners notched a 9-6 victory over the Padres, taking the season series after three previous wins in San Diego. The Padres beat the Mariners Tuesday, 7-6, and the final game is Wednesday, but the contest has already been decided. Cal Raleigh, the Mariners’ switch-hitting, homer-hammering catcher, known as "Big Dumper," hoisted and played the trophy in celebration Monday night.
The name and logo for the cup were first shown off in March, but its final design wasn’t finished until the weeks leading up to the fixture.
“Typically on a custom build like this it will take us six months or so to source the wood, get everything mapped out ready to go and take our time to vet the process, apply the graphics, do some test runs,” Chase Paul, director of product development for Fender, told the Seattle Times. “On this we just kind of headed into it in parallel with testing and the production version at the same time, and kind of getting it ready to go.”
In all, it took Fender eight or nine weeks to get the work done, which Paul called a "really incredible effort by the team in the shop."
Naturally, Vedder doesn’t want the trophy guitar to sit on a shelf for the next year while it's in the Mariners’ possession. According to Webb, “He wants it to be played.”
“That’s his attitude with everything. It’s a living, breathing instrument. It sounds great,” he added.
As an added bonus to fans, the league announced it would give away limited-edition Vedder Cup hats during the last 2025 game between the two on Wednesday.
To no surprise, the exclusive ticket package that included the hats has sold out.
SAN FRANCISCO — With two outs in the bottom of the fifth and the Giants nursing a one-run lead, Dominic Smith hit a single to center. Rafael Devers eased into third, and then looked around in confusion as the ball rolled around near the bag.
Had Chicago Cubs rookie Matt Shaw fielded the throw cleanly, Devers might have been out because he slowed down as he approached the bag. Instead, he scored a few seconds later on Matt Chapman’s bloop single, and then turned and watched as Smith scored, too, after a throw from right field hit Chapman’s helmet and bounced all the way to the backstop.
It was the type of sequence that would have fit right in with games of April or May. Right now, everything once again is going right for the Giants, who crushed the Cubs 12-3 to clinch a second straight series against an NL Central team headed for the MLB playoffs.
The Giants’ own postseason odds haven’t improved much in recent days since the New York Mets picked up steam at the exact same time. They completed a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies earlier Wednesday, leaving the Giants seven out with 29 to play.
Stranger things have happened, but right now they’re happy to just be back on the right track. Their fourth straight win got them to 65-68, and they’ll go for a sweep Thursday behind ace Logan Webb.
Devers Demolishes
Here’s how Rafael Devers’ night went: 106 mph homer, 107 mph double, walk, 106 mph homer, single.
The first blast went to dead center and got the Giants on the board in the first inning, and the second one was a three-run shot to left in the sixth that got them to double-digits. With the two-homer night, Devers reached 27 homers on the season.
Devers won’t really break the long-running 30-homer drought since most of that damage happened with the Boston Red Sox, but he certainly looks capable of doing it next year. When he’s right, Devers is the kind of hitter who can make even Oracle Park feel small.
W for Whis
Willy Adames’ athletic double play got Carson Whisenhunt through the fifth and allowed him to pick up his second big league win. It wasn’t easy, but Whisenhunt twice got double plays with the bases loaded.
Whisenhunt gave up five hits, walked three and hit one, but allowed just three earned over those five innings. The Giants are watching everything he does right now, and that includes dealing with adversity. Wednesday wasn’t the cleanest night, but Whisenhunt found a way to limit the damage, which is a positive sign as he tries to lock up a long-term rotation spot.
Double Trouble
Jung Hoo Lee caught a break in the fourth when left fielder Willi Castro misjudged his liner to left. It went for a double, his 30th of the year, and that put him in a small club.
Lee became the fifth San Francisco Giant to pick up 30 doubles and 10 triples in a single season, joining Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds, Garry Maddox and Angel Pagan. Lee is second in the National League in triples and now ranks eighth in doubles.
While there have been some home runs, most notably in New York, peppering the gaps is what the Giants expected when Lee signed a long-term contract. He had just four doubles and no triples as a rookie, but he has found his stride in the second half of his sophomore season. Lee has now picked up a hit in 21 of 23 games this month.
The National Football League likes to make a spectacle out of its schedule release date, teasing the moment as must-see TV for months and generating enough hype to actually squeeze some ratings out of the ordeal.
Major League Baseball, meanwhile, just dumps the thing on a random weekday while the current season is still taking place.
It’s a decision. We can say that all right.
In any event, considering that schedule release came on the aforementioned random weekday, it’s possible you didn’t have time to lay out the calendar and analyze everything that made an eyebrow or two rise around Boston. Fortunately, we can fix that.
In theory, having a historic franchise like the Red Sox open the season in Cincinnati, which marked the location of the first game of the MLB season for 100 years or so, is pretty cool. In actuality? It’s tough to get excited about a Red Sox-Reds game in March.
That season opener — on March 26! — kicks off a six-game road trip to start the season, with the Red Sox heading to Houston after Cincinnati.
(A bonus to this matchup is Terry Francona managing the Reds. Yet the novelty of the Red Sox facing Francona wore off some time during his 1 million games managing Cleveland.)
No Yankees in September
Do you love a good rivalry game in September, when a chill hits the air, the sun sets early, and everybody knows the game just mean a little bit more?
Well, too bad! No soup for you.
The Red Sox and Yankees will wrap up their season series the weekend of Aug. 28-30, leaving the final month without any potential playoff-implication matchups.
The final month of the season is devoid of most AL East competition, too, with only six of 24 games coming against divisional opponents (three in Baltimore, three in Tampa). The Red Sox’ final home series against an AL East opponent will take place July 24-26 against Toronto.
That’s all good for the sake of variety, but it could theoretically make it difficult for the Red Sox to gain ground if there’s a race for the division playing out over the final two months of the season.
Season finale vs. the Cubs
Interleague play has been around for almost 30 years. With pitchers no longer batting in the NL, and with interleague series taking place at all times, it’s become a very normal part of Major League Baseball.
Still. The Red Sox close out their regular season at home against the Cubs. Which means, by necessity, the Cubs are closing out their season on the road against the Red Sox.
It’s weird.
A Red Sox-Cubs series is always a big deal, with fans of both teams dishing out big bucks to make pilgrimages to both Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. They used to be very rare, but next year will mark the fifth straight season with a Cubs-Red Sox matchup.
The oversaturation and the fact that it could be a meaningless series for both teams drains quite a bit of juice out of this one.
Home opener against the Padres
Keeping it with the interleague-is-a-little-strange theme, the Red Sox will open Fenway Park on Friday, April 3, against the … San Diego Padres.
On the one hand, Red Sox fans will (most likely) get to finally say hello to Xander Bogaerts, who’s yet to return to Boston as a vistor.
On the other … there’s something discomforting about an interleague series opening the home slate for the Red Sox, even if it happens quite often. It happened this year, with St. Louis visiting Boston and getting swept by the Red Sox. It also happened in 2017, when the Red Sox swept the Pirates (one game got postponed, but the Red Sox later won that one, too), and in 2015, when the Red Sox took two out of three from the Nationals. But the Brewers swept the Red Sox in their first home series in 2014, so the results haven’t been perfect.
Either way, given the fact that it’s happened quite often, you’d think everybody would be used to an interleague series for the home opener by now. But … we’re not.
(By the way, after the Padres leave Boston, the Brewers will head to town, and then the Red Sox will visit St. Louis. The Red Sox may be honorary National League members in April.)
On the road for the Fourth of July
If you like catching a Red Sox game as the appetizer before your evening of Boston Pops and fireworks, you’ll have to readjust. The Red Sox are in Los Angeles to play the Angels on July 4, in the early part of a nine-game road trip ahead of the All-Star break.
After a series finale against the Nationals on July 1, Fenway won’t host a baseball game again until July 17. Sounds like Concert Season.
Raffy returns
The Rafael Devers trade was a bit messy. Its full impact won’t be judged for years. Yet the early indications are that somehow, the Red Sox have been better off without him, and the Giants are worse with him. That’s an odd early result for a three-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger in the prime of his career.
In any event, most fans stuck with Devers even as he refused to play first or third base after getting moved to DH this year. When he comes back as a visitor, will they cheer for the 2018 champion? Or will they boo him for the ugly and abrupt ending?
We’ll all find out together when the Giants visit Fenway Park from Aug. 21-23.
Unique visitors and potential road trips
For all of the complaining about interleague play, it’s still fun to occasionally see some jerseys inside Fenway Park that you don’t see too often. Likewise, when fans plan out potential road trips, variety is always a good thing.
Teams visiting Fenway that fit that bill:
San Diego (April 3-5)
Milwaukee (April 6-8)
Philadelphia (May 12-14)
Atlanta (May 26-28)
Washington (June 29-July 1)
Arizona (Aug. 17-19)
San Francisco (Aug. 21-23)
Chicago Cubs (Sept. 25-27)
And the potential NL road trips:
Cincinnati (March 26-29)
St. Louis (April 10-12)
Atlanta (May 15-17)
Colorado (June 22-24)
New York Mets (July 10-12)
Los Angeles Dodgers (July 31-Aug.2)
Pittsburgh (Aug. 14-16)
Miami (Aug. 24-26)
Scheduled double-header
You don’t see scheduled double-headers too often, but the Red Sox have one in Seattle on June 20.
There’s a hot dog-themed video about it all
The Red Sox announced some of their home series in a video starring hot dogs.
