Category: MLB

Entering Saturday’s Subway Series matchup, Mets right fielder Carson Benge had gone 18 games since his last home run and was stuck in the middle of a quiet slump – so quiet, it was hard to notice because of what else the rookie does on the field.

From his sensational diving catches seemingly every other night to throwing runners out on the bases or keeping them from advancing because of his cannon of an arm, Benge’s impact on a game extends beyond his production at the plate.

Nevertheless, the rookie snapped his homerless streak in the third inning against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on a 1-0 slider that went high in the air with a launch angle of 43 degrees before landing 368 feet away in the bleachers in right-center field.

The home run was the Mets’ third off Cole, extended their lead to 4-0, and gave Benge 17 on the season. He finished 2-for-5 with two RBI.

“We put together some good at-bats early and just kept chipping away and eventually got [Cole] out [of the game], so overall I think we did a really good job at our plan today,” Benge said.

But the 23-year-old wasn’t done there. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Aaron Judge lined one towards the gap in right-center field, but the outfielder sprinted across the field, laid out and made a beautiful catch as he’s done so often before during his rookie campaign.

“It’s fun watching guys play the game all out and leaving it all out there all the time,” said interim manager Andy Green. “The diving catches are turning into something that you now expect, which tells you something about the type of defender he is. 

“When it goes in the gap and you see him running, you’re like ‘he’s gonna lay out and catch this,’ he just does it again and again and again.”

Benge’s catches, while amazing, have become so commonplace now that, much like their skipper, Juan Soto expects him to make it every single time and doled out high praise for the youngster.

“He doesn’t impress me anymore, I think he’s a superstar,” Soto said. “He’s doing things that superstars do every day. I mean, every day he’ll always find a way to make us smile with the swing, with the running, with the throws. It’s just incredible.”

It’s true, while he was picked off and caught trying to steal second base on Saturday, Benge has 22 stolen bases on the season to go along with the ridiculous catches and composure at the plate. He also has 10 outfield assists in right field, the most among all rookies, and is putting together one of the most complete all-around seasons as a rookie.

But if you ask Benge what he likes more: hitting a home run or making a great catch, he said going yard is “definitely way better,” perhaps signifying that his amazing grabs are becoming standard for him, too.

When told about Soto dropping “superstar” when describing him, Benge was appreciative, but composed.

“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “It’s pretty special to be able to catch someone’s eye like that, so that’s really cool and I’ll just keep on doing my thing and working hard every day.”

After an epic 11-inning win Friday night against the Phillies, the Braves were hoping to finish them off in the division race. They got a bit of a boost from the Phillies scratching Jesus Luzardo with long-running shoulder soreness.

Tyler Mahle cruised through the first two hitters before Bryce Harper hit a monster homer and took a comical amount of time rounding the bases, clearly hitting back at the controversy from Zach Wheeler’s comments about Ronald Acuna’s home run celebrations last week. The Phillies had to be feeling good with a 1-0 lead for a couple innings there, until the Braves essentially ended the game with 8 runs in the fourth inning. Ronald Acuna kicked things off with a towering homer (and a normal home run trot).

The Braves then got a walk, single, single, single, error, wild pitch, walk, double, and single to score another 7 runs. Drake Baldwin provided the double before things got all the way back around to Acuna for the last single, bringing home the last run of the inning.

Mahle continued to cruise after that Harper homer, finishing 7.0 innings of 1-run ball with no walks, even though he only had 7 whiffs and 3 strikeouts. The Braves added another run on in the sixth with a Ronald ABS strikeout-turned-walk, an error on an Olson ground ball, and an Ozzie sac fly. The Phillies got one back with a solo homer from Crawford in the eighth against Brent Suter. The Braves got another 3 runs against the position-player pitcher for Philly in the eighth, as Kiersey singled, Albies doubled, and Harris hit a homer off the right field foul pole. Suter finished off the Phillies in the ninth, as the Braves only needed to throw Mahle and Suter on the night. The Phillies’ bullpen is in rough shape on the other side, after the 11-inning game Friday and the blowout bullpen game they suffered today.

Join us for hopefully the last time we see the Phillies this season tomorrow at 1:35 PM ET.

The Mariners are currently six games out of the AL West, six games out of the last Wild Card spot, and nine games from elimination. While it’s technically possible the Mariners squeeze into the playoffs if they go on a crazy run over the next 13 games, given how this team has played all year, I’m finding that increasingly unlikely. For now, let’s focus on what’s in front of them; perhaps the Mariners can get out of Sacramento with a series victory and some pride rather than dropping another winnable series at a crucial time in the season. Bryan Woo takes the hill for his 28th start of the season. Last time out, Woo went eight innings, giving up just one hit and two walks, with nine strikeouts. Woo’s dominance at home has become a calling card of sorts for him as he has continued to struggle on the road at times. However, in his last three road starts, Woo has logged two quality starts, kept opponents under two runs, and logged five-plus strikeouts in each start. Since the start of August, Woo’s road ERA ranks 6th best in MLB, while his road WHIP, .86, ranks 11th.

Lineups

Game Information

Radio: Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com

TV: Mariners.TV

The Guardians had a plan to use Daniel Espino as an opener and follow it up with Joey Cantillo. They got two good innings out of Daniel Espino, and instead of going to Cantillo, they decided to go to Aleman, which wound up being a disaster that costed them the game. Joey Cantillo went 4 scoreless innings with just one hit allowed and 8 strikeouts. It’s hard not to think if they would have just went straight to him, they would’ve won this game.

The offense scored three runs on five hits, including RBI hits from Bazzana, Kwan, and Hedgey. It wasn’t a great performance but this should’ve been enough to beat this Twins team today. Now they are in a spot where they HAVE to win tomorrow. We desperately need a vintage Tanner Bibee start.

The Brewers 20-0 blowout victory over the Reds Friday wasn’t the only highlight of the night in Milwaukee.

Sverre Vinje, a 102-year-old World War II Navy veteran from Rockford, Illinois, sang “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch. The moving rendition went viral on social media.

Vinje, who served from 1943-45 and was at the Battle of Iwo Jima and Battle of Okinawa, received ongoing cheers from the crowd in attendance at American Family Field on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

The Brewers clinched a spot in the postseason with their beatdown of the Reds Friday night. The squad became the first team in MLB history with multiple shutout wins of 20-plus runs in a season.

Milwaukee leads the National League with a 90-56 record and are poised to make a deep playoff run.

Manager Pat Murphy remains one of the most highly-touted skippers in baseball, leading a small-market team to another league-leading season.

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Clarke Schmidt was dominant in what may be his final rehab start Saturday with Double-A Somerset.

The Yankees right-hander pitched out of the bullpen, getting four outs and striking out three. It took Schmidt just 21 pitches (12 strikes) to get through his appearance with the Patriots. He allowed just one batter to reach a three-ball count in his performance.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that if all goes well for Schmidt with his recovery, the team could activate him for the upcoming road trip to pitch out of the bullpen. And the Yankees could use it. Although they held the best bullpen ERA in the majors going into the weekend series with the Mets, the Yankees relievers have scuffled a bit.

The Yankees bullpen allowed two runs on Friday, but held on for the 6-4 win. On Saturday, behind Gerrit Cole, the bullpen allowed seven runs in their 12-2 loss. 

Clarke Schmidt faced four batters in his fifth outing of @MLB rehab. He struck out THREE of them! 🔥

1.1 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 BB | 3 K pic.twitter.com/LdXT8KdDNi

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) September 13, 2026

The A’s won on some fireworks last night thanks to a late extra-inning blast from Donovan Walton. That gave the A’s the first win of the weekend series against the Mariners, who are desperate for wins right now. The postseason is slipping away from them and the A’s are doing their part dragging them away from October baseball. We want our division rivals joining us on the couch this playoffs and that’ll look even more likely with another win tonight.

The team will get a big boost on offense tonight as the squad welcomes back catcher Shea Langeliers from the injured list, with him taking Darell Hernaiz’s roster spot:

Langeliers beat all the expectations that he was done for the year. He’ll wind up missing just over seven weeks, beating the expectations that his season was over. While he won’t be catching for the remainder of the season, getting his bat back in the lineup sure helps for the final couple weeks, and gives both him and team some peace of mind about his knee’s health heading into the winter.

To the game. Tonight’s starting pitcher for the Athletics will be rookie Gage Jump. The southpaw is has shown his talent plenty of times this season but with plenty of rookies consistency has been an issue. Jump got hit especially hard during August, when he posted a 7.58 ERA in his six starts. He seemed to enjoy the calendar flipping to September since he looked much better his last time out, which was against these same Mariners. Up in Seattle last weekend Jump held down the M’s to just two runs, but he exited after only four innings of work and eventually was saddled with the loss. Everyone will be looking for more length this evening in Sacramento, where Jump has struggled more compared to the road.

Here’s how the Athletics’ lineup shakes out for the second game of the series:

Langeliers slides right back into the heart of the order batting fourth behind Bolte, McNeil and Butler. After his walk off homer last night Walton rises to the fifth spot in the order while Zack Gelof drops all the way to sixth. It’s Cortes and Heim in left and catcher again, respectively, and Alika Williams is back in the lineup after a night off manning his usual shortstop position.

Seattle meanwhile will turn to righty Bryan Woo, asking him to help keep their season alive. Woo, a Bay Area native, has been a consistent and solid arm for the Mariners this season, making all of his starts and sporting a 4.03 ERA entering tonight. There’s more to his story however. When pitching in his home ballpark in Seattle Woo is among the best pitchers in the game. On the road? A different, worse pitcher. That doesn’t bode well for his chances tonight against an A’s team surging and getting their best hitter back.

And the Seattle starting nine:

The A’s have enjoyed playing spoiler in recent weeks and why stop now? Keep our foot on the Mariners’ throats and their season is almost toast thanks to us. Time for another nail in their coffin. Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

Aaron Judge was back in the lineup Saturday for a second straight game after sitting out the final game of the Rockies series Thursday, as the Yankees work their best player into form. 

Judge, who was in right field in Friday’s win over the Mets in The Bronx, was at DH Saturday and went hitless in four at-bats in a 12-2 loss to their crosstown rivals. 

Before the game, Aaron Boone said he opted not to put Judge back in right for a day game after a night game in his first week back following a three-plus-month absence with a fractured right rib. 

The manager added Judge could “potentially” be off either Sunday in the series finale against the Mets or Monday in Minnesota. 

“He’s physically responded well,’’ Boone said of Judge’s first games back. “That’s been encouraging. He’s handled the rigors of playing in these games.” 

Through Judge’s first four games after skipping a traditional minor league rehab assignment, Judge is 3-for-14 with a walk, six strikeouts and no extra-base hits. 

“Offensively, I feel like he looks good in these handful of days,’’ Boone said. “Hopefully, he gets more and more sharp.” 

Judge said he is seeing the ball well and feels fine. 

“He’s made good swing decisions, is getting deep in the count for the most part,” Boone said. “He’s gotten a lot of good swings off, gotten some results [and] gotten on base. I’m encouraged by where he’s at. Hopefully he continues to find that real timing and rhythm we know he can.” 

The Yankees have been waiting all year for Amed Rosario to start hitting left-handers, and he started Saturday against Zac Thornton. Rosario hit the ball hard, but came away empty. 

Boone remains confident in the veteran right-handed hitter. 

“He’s having the right at-bats and represents a real threat,’’ Boone said. “He hasn’t gotten a lot of results, [but] I expect him to be more in line with who he’s been against lefties.” 

Anthony Volpe also got the nod Saturday over the vanishing José Caballero at second base and went 0-for-3. 

With Ryan Weathers throwing off flat ground Saturday in his attempt to return from being shut down for two weeks with a left forearm flexor strain, Boone didn’t rule out the lefty returning to the roster even if he isn’t able to pitch any minor league rehab games. 

“The bottom line is hopefully he’s pressed into a situation where he’s a little uncomfortable because he is healthy and ready to go,’’ Boone said of Weathers, who could have a bullpen session as soon as Monday. “In reality, that may happen.’’ 

Asked if Weathers could go straight to a postseason roster, Boone said, “I don’t know. I’d like to think that hopefully he’s back before then, but we’ll see.” 

Clarke Schmidt was scheduled to make his fifth — and likely final — minor league rehab appearance Saturday with Double-A Somerset in his comeback from Tommy John surgery. 

“I feel he’s thrown the ball well during games,’’ Boone said. “He feels and looks good. … Hopefully he plays a role for us.” 

Right-hander Chase Hampton, the top Yankees pitching prospect just two years ago, was claimed off waivers by Washington and optioned to Double-A. Hampton was designated for assignment to open up a spot on the 40-man roster when Judge returned from the IL.

Spencer Jones had his third straight multihit game.

“He’s done a good job in certain situations in thinking a little smaller,’’ Boone said. “Knowing where he can take his shots. He’s played a very mature game.”

The Yankees surpassed 3 million fans for a 26th straight season in which there’s been full attendance. 

Were you worried about Ranger Suárez coming into this afternoon’s game? It’s okay to admit it if you were. Hell, it’s okay to still be worried a tad. The man put up a 5.70 ERA in the month of August, culminating in a no-show performance against the Yankees in what was the biggest series of the season up to that point.

But today Suarez dined out on crafty veteran card, putting together a start that was uneventful in the best way. He gave up just one solo shot and was only trouble twice — and it was a but a teeny tiny little bit of trouble both times. In the first inning Bobby Witt, Jr. made his way to third after singling and stealing second. Suarez would escape the inning unscathed after striking out Vinnie Pasquantino on a full count (hat tip to Adley Rutschman for a nice challenge on the called third strike).Then in the seventh, after the Sox finally took a 3-1 lead in a game that was somnambulant up that point, Suárez struck out consecutive hitters to end a mini threat that saw the Royals put a runner in scoring position with only one out.

The whole point of Ranger Suárez is that you’re not supposed to worry about him. He’s never going to look like one of the best pitchers on the planet. He’s going to have stretches where he looks hittable. But, ultimately, he’s going to figure it out and get the job done. That’s what he did today, giving the Royals hitters no room to breath while the heart of the Sox lineup strung a few hits together here and there.

The losing streak is over, the Red Sox magic number is 7

Three Studs

Ranger Suárez: See above, duh.

Wilyer Abreu: It was Wilyer’s two-out, two-run double in the sixth that gave the Sox a 3-1 lead. Even at the time you knew it was all they would need.

Garrett Whitlock: We all know how important the bullpen is going to be in October. Whitlock striking out the side in the 8th has me dreaming about the postseason Sox shortening ballgames big time.

One Dud

Jarren Duran: 0-4 with a K, the only Sox player who played the whole game without getting a hit

Play of the Game

Heroes, zeros and the inside pitch from the Mets’ 12-2 win over the Yankees on Saturday afternoon in the Subway Series in The Bronx:

Hero 

Zac Thornton couldn’t have scripted a better Subway Series debut. Coming off the worst outing of his brief big league career, the left-hander tossed seven innings of two-run ball. He limited the Yankees to five hits and struck out four.

He completed the outing by getting Anthony Volpe to ground into an inning-ending double play and left the mound fired up. 

Zero 

Gerrit Cole allowed a home run to the first batter he faced, Francisco Lindor, and his day didn’t get any better. He gave up nine hits, three of which were homers, and five earned runs across 4 ¹/₃ shaky innings.

Cole has been touched up for seven home runs in his past two outings as his ERA has risen to 3.67. 

Unsung hero

Lindor set the tone for the afternoon and then provided an exclamation point. The Mets shortstop homered off Cole leading off the game and drilled a grand slam off Bradley Hanner in the eighth to put a bow on the blowout.

It was the 24th multihomer game of his career and third against the Yankees. 

Key stat

10.93 — Cole’s ERA in his past three starts against the Mets. He’s taken the loss in all three games. 

Quote 

“I think it’s something that we’ve gotta figure out for sure, and it’s one of those times in the season where you have to start making adjustments. Sometimes adjustments are hard, but that’s the demand of the game, right?”

— Gerrit Cole 

Francisco Lindor should lobby for the Mets to play the Yankees on Sept. 12 every season. 

After blasting three homers on that date in the Subway Series at Citi Field in 2021, the Mets shortstop had an afternoon for himself Saturday, homering twice — including a grand slam — in the Mets’ 12-2 romp over the Yankees in The Bronx. 

Lindor’s five-RBI performance led an offensive attack that also included homers from Luis Torrens, Carson Benge, Juan Soto and Jared Young.

The six homers were a season high for the Mets. 

“It’s been an uphill fight this year,” Lindor said, referring to injuries within the lineup — including a calf strain that sidelined him for two months. “It just sucks that we haven’t played as much together. But when we do play together and we are all in the same lineup, this is what we should have been doing since the beginning.” 

Lindor, with seven homers in his past 12 games, continued a hot stretch. The grand slam was the eighth of his career and sixth in a Mets uniform.

His previous regular-season grand slam was delivered Aug. 24, 2024, in San Diego. 

The party started with Lindor’s homer against Gerrit Cole leading off the game. The Mets scored five runs against Cole over 4 ¹/₃ innings. 

“He’s one of the best pitchers in the game,” Lindor said. “We have a crazy amount of respect for him, but he made a couple of mistakes.” 

In the eighth, the Mets loaded the bases with two outs following Torrens’ RBI double. Lindor hit a towering fly to right field against Bradley Hanner that kept carrying over the fence. 

The Mets are 22-13 since the Aug. 3 trade deadline, but their earlier struggles have ensured a second straight season without the playoffs.

Lindor was asked what the Mets can accomplish over these final two weeks. 

“Build on our relationships and try different things to be as strong as we can,” he said. “Guys would be lying if they said they don’t want to have good years. Everybody wants to have a good year, whatever their good year means for them. You are trying to give what you have got and learn each other.”

Zac Thornton walked off the mound yelling, his left fist pumping, after throwing his most significant pitch of the afternoon. 

The left-hander, allowed to remain in Saturday’s game with two runners on base in the seventh and the Mets ahead by four runs, got Anthony Volpe to hit a grounder for an inning-ending double play.

The celebration began for the Mets rookie, aware that his superb day’s work was complete and he had fulfilled his vow to interim manager Andy Green. 

“Andy had come out and just asked where I was at,” Thornton said after the Mets’ 12-2 victory over the Yankees. “I said, ‘I wanted this guy,’ and I was going to get the double play for him.” 

In all, he allowed two earned runs on five hits and one walk, striking out four over seven innings, needing only 81 pitches. 

“It was pretty impressive for him to call [the double play] right there and get it,” Green said. “I don’t know that I am going to believe him every single time he says it, but it was a great way for him to end a really good start.” 

Green noted an uptick in Thornton’s velocity throughout the game, with a four-seam fastball that peaked at 96 mph. He’s averaged 92.1 mph with that pitch this season. 

“It gives him so much more margin when he can live at those numbers,” Green said. “It speeds guys up even more, makes earlier decisions on cutters, open hips faster, gives him the outer half access when he needs it or wants it, so in every regard [velocity] just makes it easier.” 

It was a return to form for Thornton, who surrendered six earned runs (including four homers) in a loss to the Giants last weekend. With his latest strong performance, his ERA dropped to 3.44. 

Thornton retired the first nine batters he faced before Paul Goldschmidt doubled leading off the fourth.

Cody Bellinger’s RBI single sliced the Mets lead to 4-1, but Thornton retired the next two batters. 

Francisco Lindor’s defense the previous inning provided a boost: The shortstop ranged into the hole and unleashed a strong throw to nail George Lombard Jr. at first base to begin the inning. 

Bellinger homered against Thornton in the sixth for the second Yankees run. In the seventh, he allowed a single to Spencer Jones and walked Lombard before getting Volpe to hit into the inning-ending double play. 

Thornton was asked about the adrenaline of pitching in the Subway Series. 

“I love pitching in front of New York fans, whether it’s Yankees fans or Mets fans,” Thornton said. “I think it’s some of the best fans in the world, so I would continue pitching here.”

The Washington Nationals bullpen blowing games is nothing new and we saw that today. However, the offense bailing out the bullpen and fighting back in the late innings was something different. That fight late in the game helped the Nats get their second walk off win of the season and win the series against the Angels,

As we have discussed, CJ Abrams has really been struggling lately. However, this series has seen a much more lively version of Abrams. While the Angels are not a good team, you cannot solely attribute this improvement to just seeing bad pitching. Walbert Urena was averaging over 99 MPH, but Abrams was still able to get the Nats on the board with an RBI double in the 1st.

These last couple of weeks are very important for the Nats shortstop/second baseman. His OPS is still a ways off what it was a couple months ago. However, if he can stabilize these last couple of weeks, he can end the season on a positive note. There are still plenty of milestones for CJ to reach. He is one stolen base away from a 30-30 season and 4 RBI’s away from 100.

His 29th stolen base was perhaps his most important of the season. In the bottom of the 10th inning, the Nats had runners on first and second with 1 out. Abrams noticed that the pitcher was not paying enough attention to him and took off. He swiped third base without a throw. That stolen base ended up winning the Nats the game.

After Abrams stole third, Harry Ford hit a ground ball to the shortstop that Zach Neto booted due to the pressure of trying to get Abrams out at home. The Nats won the ball game and Harry Ford gave the Nats their second walk-off of the season. However, you have to give Abrams a lot of credit for this walkoff.

Honestly, the Nats never should have been in this position. Through 7 innings, it looked like the Nationals were cruising to an easy win. Andrew Alvarez had one of the finest starts of his career and deserved to get a win. He went 7 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts and only 1 hit.

With a 4-0 lead entering the 8th, this should have been a drama free contest. However, the Nats bullpen had other ideas. Brad Lord’s struggles in later innings continued in a 3 run 8th inning that included a 2-run homer.

When Will Dion entered to try to close out the game, Nats fans knew what was coming. They got what they expected, with the short lefty blowing the Nats 39th save of the season. Denzer Guzman was the hero for the Halos, ripping a double down the line to tie the game. Moises Ballesteros ended up giving the Angels the lead with a sac fly.

The Nats were down by one entering the bottom of the 9th. So many times this season, the Nats have rolled over in these situations. However, that did not happen this afternoon. Against Angels flamethrowing closer Ben Joyce, the Nats battled.

It started with a Jose Tena walk. After James Wood struck out, Tena stole a base and advanced to third on an error. That put the game on Andres Chaparro’s shoulders and the big man delivered with a base hit. The Nats were able to extend this contest into extra innings.

In the 10th, Jack Sinclair was able to come up with a crucial scoreless frame. That gave the Nats a chance to walk this game off, and they took advantage. They used their speed and some timely contact skills to end this game and get the series win. It was a thriller and the good guys came out on top!

The Pittsburgh Pirates have lost the first two games of their final three-game series against the Cubs this season and are back below .500.

Pittsburgh sits 74-75 with 13 games remaining and continues to watch their fleeting playoff hopes become a distinct reality.

The Pirates had won eight of their last 10 games including four in a row that concluded with a sweep of the Chicago White Sox. It was the team’s first road series of the year. 

As the San Diego Padres and Arizona Padres continue to win and the Pirates at least 5.5 games back, questions remain whether Don Kelly will be back as Pirates manager.

Kelly’s decision to pull Paul Skenes after seven innings with only 82 pitches in a must-win game was costly. Gregory Soto entered and gave up the lead, allowing two runs and the Pirates losing a deflating game to their division rival. 

It all but eliminates the Pirates from the wild card race. This would be the 11th year in a row the team misses the postseason. 

Decisions with the bullpen, pulling starters early, and lineups have frustrated Pirates fans throughout the season, especially because their year was supposed to be different.

We asked fans if they think the Pirates will retain Kelly at the end of the season. 

77% of fans think Don Kelly will be back as Pirates manager for the 2027 season, per our SB Nation MLB Reacts poll. 

Kelly took over for Derek Shelton as Pirates manager in May of 2025 and was named the full-time leader after the season. The Pirates extended Kelly’s deal, but the length and terms of the deal were not released. 

It’s unclear how long Kelly is under contract and if that would play a factor in if he would be retained. Kelly has been in the Pirates dugout since 2020.

The Pirates are underdogs against the Cubs on Sunday, and the spread is set at +1.5 on FanDuel Sportsbook as the Bucs look to avoid being swept. The over/under run total is set at 6.5, and the moneyline is +122 at Wrigley. 

To bet on the Bucs on FanDuel, click the link here to get in on the weekend’s action: https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/mlb

Kelly’s Pirates return to Pittsburgh for the final homestand of the year for nine games against the Brewers, Royals, and Cardinals beginning on Monday and concluding on Thursday, September 24 at PNC Park.

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ active roster is at 28 and the 40-man roster is at 40.

• Selected from Triple-A Reno: INF/OF Pavin Smith
• Optioned to Triple-A Reno following last night’s game: C Adrian Del Castillo
• Recalled to Roster and placed on the 60-day Injured List: INF Tyler Locklear (fractured right thumb)

He’s back! I’m one hundred percent certain the reactions to this move will be calm, logical and not involve an enraged mob, with torches, marching on Chase Field to demand the head of Mike Hazen. Right? For, a little over two months after being designated for assignment, clearing waivers and being returned to Reno, Smith is back on the active roster. To be fair, he has posted a .927 OPS over 39 games for the Aces since. If it were anyone else, Twitter would likely be demanding his call-up. Jose Fernandez’s OPS over the same time? .767. That does include 10 major-league games, but his OPS there was actually .785, meaning his Reno OPS is lower. But I do wonder if Hazen is simply trolling. 🙂

Early action hasn’t gone the Diamondbacks way. The Cubs came from behind in the eighth inning to beat the Pirates, while the Padres edged the Giants 7-6. Our only hope for gaining ground is therefore for the Phillies to lose again in Atlanta, a game which starts around fifteen minutes before this is scheduled to post. Of course, the D-backs taking care of their own business is the most important thing. We still have our destiny in our own hands, in that if Arizona win all of their remaining games, they would make the post-season. That would be… nice. But a 15-game winning streak is not something I would rely on!

Last night’s offensive outburst sure was very pleasant. I trust we will all remember chasing MacKenzie Gore after four innings, and him being charged with four earned runs, the next time we hear whining about “Why are we making this scrub look like a Cy Young winner?” I suspect “not” though. Today’s starter, Kumar Rocker is another pitcher who has not been brilliant. Though the old mantra remains. Any major-league starting pitcher can potentially throw a no-hitter on any day, against any opponent. Maybe Pavin Smith will work his magic, though since we are 6-16 when he starts…