Category: MLB

Mariners Pitchers 2023-2024: Lazaro Montes, +0.20
Mariners Pitchers The Other Five Years This Decade: Eduard Bazardo -0.31 WPA, Bryce Miller -0.12 WPA, José Ferrer -0.12

Game Thread Comment(s) of the Day

Even Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who’d never be accused of wearing his emotions on his sleeve, was a little worried during his monthslong absence because of a persistent neck injury that he might not be healthy by the end of the season.

“‘It was kind of the ‘who knows how long it’s going to take,’” Smith said when the Dodgers activated him at the beginning of the month. “But at some point I was going to be fed up and just kind of deal with it.”

It apparently didn’t come to that. And in the Dodgers’ 3-2 win against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, Smith’s fifth time in the lineup since returning from the injured list, he put the Dodgers ahead with a first-inning home run and guided Dodgers left-handed starter Tarik Skubal through 7 ⅓ innings of two-run ball.

“He called a great game,” Skubal said of his Team USA teammate. “And the targets that he sets up, and the way that he goes about it, he gives me a ton of confidence back there.”

A neck problem that was initially expected to resolve on its own in a few days turned into a nearly three-month IL stint. With the revolving door behind the plate in Smith’s absence, getting him back down the stretch and into the postseason was going to be key.

While Smith was on the IL, backup catcher Dalton Rushing was thrown into the starting role, learning how to balance the defensive responsibility of serving as the main backstop at the major-league level with a desire to also contribute offensively.

It's nice to have you back, Will. pic.twitter.com/AZgPMTHgsG

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 9, 2026

Rushing seemed to be getting the hang of it, with Chuckie Robinson and then Eliézer Alfonzo behind him, before he hurt his right elbow right before the trade deadline. The Dodgers traded for an entirely new catching duo, Hunter Feduccia and Ben Rortvedt, who held down the position until Smith’s return.

“It was frustrating early,” Smith said. “Just looking for answers why it was taking longer, but we finally got those answers. And then it was kind of a pretty straightforward process from there. So last month or two hasn’t been too bad.”

Smith and the Dodgers sought multiple doctors’ opinions. He was eventually diagnosed with an annular tear and given two possible recovery timelines. Though they proceeded with hope for the earlier return, the longer one came to fruition.

Now, the Dodgers are carrying three catchers, trying not to overwork Smith in his first weeks back. He’ll be out of the lineup Wednesday and play two of three games in Miami, manager Dave Roberts said.

With Rushing back on the IL for the same elbow injury, Feduccia can also serve as a left-handed bat off the bench, and Alfonzo gives the team more substitution flexibility.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani out of the Dodgers lineup, available to pinch-hit

Entering Tuesday, Smith had already thrown out three baserunners attempting to steal in his first week back in action. But despite some hard contact, hits weren’t falling for him. He went two for 17 with a single and a double in the same time period.

“Will is just very consistent, dependable,” Roberts said. “I know he’s taking really good at-bats. Hitting some balls to the warning track.”

On Tuesday, batting third in the lineup against Reds left-handed starting pitcher Nick Lodolo, he showcased the kind of influence he can make on both sides of the ball.

In Smith’s first at-bat, he battled for nine pitches, finally lifting a changeup over the left field wall.

“That was really good to see,” Roberts said. “With Will, it’s just great having him in there because you know you can count on the at-bat quality, and obviously having him behind the plate has been good.”

The next inning the Dodgers (88-57) doubled their score when Tommy Edman — hitting in the leadoff spot in place of Shohei Ohtani (right biceps and left knee), who was out of the lineup Tuesday as the Dodgers ease him back from a four-day absence over the weekend — was hit in the leg by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The Reds then tied the score in the third, as Elly De La Cruz launched a two-run homer off Skubal. But the Dodgers pulled ahead again two innings later, courtesy of the red-hot bat Teoscar Hernández has been swinging in September.

Hernández avenged his ill-fated inside-the-park home run attempt — he was thrown out at the plate on an aggressive send two innings earlier — with a well-struck RBI single.

Skubal wrapped up his deepest start of his Dodgers tenure to a standing ovation. He’d limited the Reds to just four hits, while recording five strikeouts in an efficient performance.

Flame-throwing reliever Edgardo Henriquez replaced Skubal, tasked with recording the last two outs of the eighth. He did so with the help of an ABS challenge from Smith that secured an inning-ending strikeout.

Lefty Tanner Scott earned the save, retiring three straight batters after a leadoff walk, and the Dodgers extended their winning streak to six games.

“It’s the last stretch,” Smith said at the beginning of the month. “We’re fighting for seeding as well. So yeah, it’s definitely time to step on the gas.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Mets’ offense is rolling down the stretch. 

They’ve been on an outstanding run over the past week or so, and much of that success has come early and often against opponents starting pitching. 

Tuesday night, it was Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara’s turn. 

Alcantara shut the Mets down across six stellar innings the last time these two teams matched up in Queens, but it was a completely different story this time around. 

Francisco Lindor took the very first pitch he saw 405 feet to deep center for a leadoff homer.

“That’s a fun way to start a baseball game,” Andy Green said. “It just let’s everyone on the other team know that we’re coming for ya, and he set that tone out of the gate.”

The Mets tacked on another run on a Jared Young single later in the inning. 

Juan Soto then continued the early-barrage in the top of the second, demolishing his third career homer off Alcantara, this one being 417 foot three-run shot to dead-central.

And New York wasn’t done there, as Brett Baty stayed red-hot at the plate as well, one-upping Soto with a 426 foot solo blast of his own to dead-center. 

Alcantara tied his season-low with just 4.1 innings pitched, as he was chased from the ballgame after allowing seven runs on as many hits while issuing four free passes.

“I love the way we’re jumping on starting pitchers,” Green emphasized.

“We’ve had really good at-bats against great pitching and we’ve put pressure on the other team not waiting for them to throw the first punch, we’ve gone out there and thrown it -- we threw a lot of them again today.”

The Mets have now scored seven or more runs in four of their five victories so far this month. 

While they did go down quietly the rest of the way against the Marlins' bullpen, their own relievers did an even better job of keeping the lead afloat to secure the series victory. 

New York will to continue rolling against Janson Junk as they go for the sweep on Wednesday.   

LOS ANGELES — Tarik Skubal pitched his longest start since joining the Dodgers, and Teoscar Hernández continued his excellent homestand in a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Dodgers’ six-game win streak matches their longest of the season, matching May 23-29 and August 17-23.

Skubal, who was flipped with Yoshinobu Yamamoto to pitch Tuesday instead of Wednesday, didn’t allow a hit his first time through the order, but then in the third inning surrendered a two-out single to leadoff man Dane Myers and a mammoth home run by Elly De La Cruz into the back part of the left field pavilion, tying things up.

Those were the only two runs Skubal permitted on Tuesday.

“He should be at 75 pitches through six innings, that’s when he’s really good, 80 pitches, something like that,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “When he’s efficient, that’s when we know we’ve got Tarik back, with the strikeouts on top of that.”

Skubal wasn’t quite that dominant, with five strikeouts, but he did need only 84 pitches to get through six innings, which was enough to get him into the seventh, and he retired all three Reds he faced on just eight more pitches. He faced one more batter in the eighth inning, retiring left-hander Héctor Rodriguez before leaving to a nice ovation.

Skubal pitched 7 1/3 innings on only 94 pitches, the first time he pitched into the eighth inning on four days rest since tossing a shutout on May 25, 2025 against Cleveland.

Edgardo Henriquez, who recorded a save on Sunday, was first out of the bullpen Tuesday against the top of the Reds batting order. Though he allowed a double to De La Cruz, Henriquez struck out Sal Stewart looking to strand the tying run in scoring position.

Tanner Scott walked Tanner Stephenson to open the ninth, but then struck out the next two and got a groundout to finish the save.

The Dodgers threatened in each of the first six innings, and scored single runs in three of those frames against Reds starter Nick Lodolo

Will Smith won a nine-pitch battle with Lodolo in the first inning for his first home run since returning from the injured list exactly one week ago.

It was just the second time the Dodgers scored in the first inning during this six-game winning streak (also, two runs on Saturday).

Tommy Edman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second inning for the Dodgers’ second run, marking the second time this homestand that a Dodger was hit by a pitch to knock in a run, joining Alex Call on Saturday against the Washington Nationals.

That’s Edman’s 12th time getting hit by a pitch this season, the most by any Dodger since 2023, when Freddie Freeman (16), Smith (15), and James Outman (12) were all plunked at least a dozen times. It’s even more remarkable considering Edman’s first HBP this season came on July 4.

With two outs in the third inning, Teoscar Hernández had a hit fall in front of and bounce past Myers in center field, which led to an exciting romp around the bases. While the Reds scrambled to retrieve the ball at on the warning track, Hernández tried for an inside-the-park home run but was thrown out by several feet, thanks in part to a ridiculously fast relay throw home by De La Cruz.

Hernández settled for a triple there, but in the fifth inning his two-out single scored Mookie Betts to give the Dodgers another lead. Hernández also singled in the eighth, part of a three-hit night plus a walk to extend his hit streak to nine games, during which he has 16 hits in 32 at-bats (.500).

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Will Smith (7); Elly De La Cruz (25)

WP — Tarik Skubal (9-7): 7 1/3 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts

LP — Nick Lodolo (3-4): 4 2/3 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts

Sv — Tanner Scott (22): 1 IP, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers close out their nine-game homestand on Wednesday night (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound, and right-hander Rhett Lowder starting for Cincinnati.

MIAMI — Devin Williams’ confidence that he will pitch again for the Mets this season remains high.

To that end, the reliever threw a bullpen session Tuesday, his first since he was placed on the injured list Aug. 10 with a right shoulder strain.

“It’s all moving in the right direction,” Williams told The Post before the Mets beat the Marlins 7-5 at loanDepot park. “I think we’re in a good spot.”

Williams’ stated goal since he was placed on the IL was to return this season.

“I don’t think as an organization we’re going to carry any doubt [about him physically] if he doesn’t pitch before the year is over,” interim manager Andy Green said. “It’s something he wants and we want if he’s healthy, but it’s not something we would push to if we felt like we’re putting him in jeopardy for next year.”

Williams has pitched to a 4.66 ERA in 42 appearances this season. He arrived last winter on a three-year contract worth $51 million. Kodai Senga has moved into the closer’s role with Williams sidelined and has thrived.

“It’s all about getting built back up now,” Williams said.

Nolan McLean, Zac Thornton and Christian Scott are aligned to face the Yankees in the Subway Series beginning Friday in The Bronx.

Robert Stock is returning to the rotation to pitch Wednesday’s series finale against the Marlins. The right-hander last started Aug. 31 when he pitched 5 ¹/₃ scoreless innings at Tampa Bay. Overall, he’s pitched to a 5.81 ERA in seven appearances for the Mets since returning from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.

“He’s had some amazing outings and he’s had some tough ones,” Green said. “The amazing outings are a lot of fun, where he has pitched deep into games and handled tough offenses.”

“When he’s in the strike zone his stuff really plays, so I think we’re looking at him in potential roles. Thinking of 2027, I think we’ll see him out of the pen a little bit more this year as well, and we’ll continue to try to figure out what kind of Swiss Army knife he could be for us, because that is valuable to have — somebody who can bounce back and forth from those roles.”

The Mets began play 19-12 since the trade deadline — tied for the second-best record in the major leagues over that stretch. Only the Phillies, who began the day 21-10 since Aug. 3, were better. The Mets’ 3.01 ERA over that stretch was third in MLB since the trade deadline.

The Athletics faced the Toronto Blue Jays in the second game of their three-game series. The Green and Gold mustered only a pair of solo home runs against Blue Jays starter José Soriano, whose gem carried the visitors to a series-evening 4-2 victory.

A’s Waste Early Scoring Chance

A’s center fielder Henry Bolte led off the bottom of the first inning with an infield single, making it six straight at-bats reaching base. Zack Gelof walked to give the hosts two runners on with one out. The A’s failed to capitalize on that early scoring opportunity, as Soriano retired the next two hitters.

Blue Jays Strike First

After turning in a scoreless first inning, A’s starter Jack Perkins did not fare as well in the second inning. Blue Jays left fielder Josh Smith led off the frame with his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field. The next batter, third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, made it back-t0-back home runs with his 30th long ball of his rookie season.

Those two consecutive home runs bring the A’s pitching staff total to 217 home runs allowed, second-most in MLB.

In the top of the third, Athletics shortstop Alika Williams and center fielder Henry Bolte made nice defensive plays to help Perkins bounce back with a scoreless inning. Meanwhile, the A’s offense could not figure out Soriano, who completed three scoreless innings to begin the game.

A’s Answer Back

The A’s got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs, left fielder Carlos Cortes cut his team’s deficit in half with his ninth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field.

Perkins kept the momentum on the hosts’ side by turning in a scoreless fifth inning, his third straight clean frame.

Blue Jays Add On

Perkins’ night ended after he allowed two straight singles to open the sixth inning. He allowed four runs on seven hits over five innings. The right-hander struck out three, and most importantly, walked none in a much-improved performance from his previous outing.

Right-hander Chris Roycroft entered from the A’s bullpen and failed to strand the inherited runners. The first batter he faced, Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk, hit an RBI single, extending the visitors’ lead to 3-1. The Blue Jays plated a fourth run when Smith grounded into a double play with runners on the corners.

A’s No Match for Soriano

Seeking to comeback, Bolte and Jeff McNeil led off the bottom of the sixth with singles against Soriano. For a second time tonight, Soriano escaped a jam unscathed, inducing ground balls to maintain Toronto’s three-run advantage. Lawrence Butler failed to come through with a runner in scoring position for a second time this evening.

A’s Inch Closer

After Roycroft escaped a runner-on-third, one-out situation in the top of the seventh inning, A’s second baseman Donovan Walton made it a 4-2 game with his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field.

Soriano allowed just the two solo home runs on six hits over seven innings, striking out three while recording an astounding 15 groundball outs.

Right-hander Geoff Hartlieb tossed two scoreless innings to close out the game, keeping the hosts within striking distance. Unfortunately, the Athletics did not possess late inning magic for a second consecutive night. Blue Jays right-hander Spencer Miles shut the hosts down over the final two innings, securing his second save of the season and forcing a series rubber match tomorrow afternoon.

The A’s have southpaw Brady Basso lined up as the opener tomorrow, while the Blue Jays have yet to announce their starter for the series finale.

Blue Jays 4 A’s 2

We got off to an early lead today; Josh Smith and Kazuma Okamoto each homered in the second inning.

And we got two more in the sixth. We got singles from Nathan Lukes, Vladimir Guerrero and Alejandro Kirk to start the inning. Lukes scored on the Kirk single. And Vlad went first to third. He scared me when he did it, but he slowed a second, and then the throw came in to second, so he took off to third. Good heads-up running. It worked out because he was able to score on Josh Smith’s 4-3 double play.

There was some strangeness after that. Okamoto, in his at-bat, put his hand towards his helmet and plate umpire Bill Miller thought he was asking for a challenge. He seemed to say he wasn’t, but it did cost us when it was a strike. Next up, Andrés Giménez asked for a challenge and was wrong, using up our last challenge. Giménez should have been smarter; no need to waste our last challenge on a 1-0 count.

We got a very good outing from José Soriano. Seven innings, six hits, two earned runs (on solo homers), one walk and three strikeouts.

And Spencer Miles got a two-inning save (just a few days after they said they were going to limit his innings). His second save of the season. He threw two clean innings with three strikeouts. Pretty amazing.

We had some great defence today:

• The first out of the second inning was a ball hit hard down the third-base line; Okamoto made a nice pickup behind the bag and made a good one-hop throw to Vlad.
• Giménez got the last two outs of that inning, picking up the ball at short, beating the runner to the bag and then throwing to first while jumping over the runner.
• Vlad got the last out of the first, getting the ball deep behind first and throwing from foul territory to José Soriano covering first.
• Giménez also made a nice play in the fourth, picking up a grounder and making a spin and throw to first.
• Okamoto had another nice play in the seventh: a hard grounder down the line, pick up, and a perfect throw.
• Vlad grabbed a line drive in the ninth.

We had 11 hits and 2 home runs, so we really should have had more than 4 runs. Vlad, Smith and Okamoto had two hits each. The only starter without a hit was Ernie Clement.

Jays of the Day: Soriano (0.26 WPA) and Miles (0.21). Honourary mention to Smith and Okamoto.

No one gets the Other Award. The low mark was Sanchez at -0.07.

Tomorrow, we have everyone’s favourite thing, a bullpen game. And it is an afternoon game. 3:00 Eastern. The A’s are starting Brady Basso (4.32 ERA on the season), who hasn’t gone more than 3 innings this season, so it’s a bullpen day on their side too.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. was pulled in the top of the ninth inning Tuesday after jamming his right thumb while diving into second base in the bottom of the eighth. 

After initially remaining in the 5-3 win over Colorado in The Bronx, Chisholm bounced a throw to first base to open the ninth inning. 

Although Chisholm got the out on the play, he was replaced by José Caballero. 

The injury occurred when Chisholm was thrown out at second in the bottom of the eighth after he hit a ball off the wall in right field. 

Chisholm dived awkwardly into second on the play and was called out — which was upheld on review. 

Then, when Chisholm went to his right on Jake McCarthy’s grounder to open the ninth, he made a poor throw that Luis García Jr. scooped. 

Asked if Chisholm was OK, Aaron Boone said, “We’ll see.” 

The manager added Chisholm was a “little numb” and could potentially get imaging on the injury Wednesday, depending on how he feels. 

It’s been mostly a rough season for Chisholm, who is headed to free agency after this year, but he’s played better over the last two weeks. 

Two Yankees postseason X factors are beginning to take steps toward rejoining the club for the most important time of the year, albeit one with a more likely chance at completing his comeback in time. 

After a two-week shutdown with a left forearm flexor strain, Ryan Weathers began throwing again Saturday and then threw Sunday and Tuesday. He has stretched out to 75 feet from flat ground and likely will graduate to a mound after he throws for three straight days, which might occur this weekend. 

“So far, so good,” Weathers said. 

Weathers likely will return as a reliever because there is not enough time to fully build up and because he might not have been in line for a playoff start anyway. 

“I’ve come out of the bullpen before, so if that’s where I’m needed, then yeah, I’m all for it,” said Weathers, who is one more possible arm for a wide-open bullpen competition that was not expected to include Francisco Cruz — but just might. 

Cruz appeared to be out for the rest of the season and likely all of next year when he was diagnosed with a partially torn UCL, which typically leads to Tommy John surgery. 

But Cruz met with Dr. Keith Meister, received a cortisone shot and was told he could start throwing again. 

Cruz did not want to announce he will return and help the Yankees in October. He said he will not be back on the mound this year unless he can be 100 percent “and help the team accomplish what we started in spring training.” 

It is possible Cruz’s arm does not respond well and he opts for surgery a week or month from now. It is also possible that he finds a way to be pain-free and effective with the same ailment that Masahiro Tanaka pitched through for years. 

The Yankees clinched their 34th straight winning record with Tuesday’s victory. 

“There’s a lot to be said for that,’’ Boone said. “It’s not as easy as sometimes people think. In ’23, it was a fight to get to that point. It’s certainly not what we’re out for, but it’s a good look at what this organization has been now for decades. We’re happy we got there again, but we’ve got bigger things we’re chasing.’’

Aaron Boone called Cam Schlittler “the best pitcher in the league,” and given the right-hander’s performance over his first full season in the majors, it would be hard to argue with the manager.

Schlittler padded his résumé, which has made him the favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award, with another gem in a 5-3 win against Colorado on Tuesday.

“That’s a great compliment,’’ Schlittler said when told of Boone’s praise.

And though Schlittler said the trophy is not at the top of his mind with the Yankees still trying to clinch a playoff spot, as well as catch Tampa Bay atop the AL East, he acknowledged he’s talked with Chad Bohling, the team’s director of organizational performance, about “chasing” the award.

“But I try to push that to the side and I don’t worry about it on a daily basis,’’ Schlittler said. “If I go out there every five days and compete, there’s no reason I don’t have an opportunity to win it.”

His main competitor is Toronto’s Dylan Cease, but if Schlittler puts up more outings like this one, he should be in good shape. After walking 11 batters over 17 innings over three straight starts, Schlittler has delivered consecutive outings in which he hasn’t issued any — while fanning 19.

He leads the league, and extended his franchise record, with 20 starts this season of giving up one run or fewer, and his ERA dropped to 2.01.

Schlittler’s only mistake Tuesday came in the third, when Adael Amador led off the inning with a homer to right-center that tied the game at 1-1.

It was one of just three hits Colorado had against Schlittler, as the Yankees improved to 19-11 in his starts this year.

Only two pitchers in the majors have thrown more innings than Schlittler’s 178 ²/₃ and even when he’s had issues with command, he’s nearly always been effective.

That consistency has helped the Yankees not only withstand the extended absence of Aaron Judge to a fractured rib, but injuries to several key members of the rotation.

“When you have that going all year at the top of the rotation, that’s massive,’’ Boone said of Schlittler.

The 25-year-old seemed most pleased with the lack of walks, noting he’d “rather they put it in play and let them beat me than beat myself.”

And he seems to have overcome the one shortfall that bothered him earlier in the season, as Schlittler has given up just three runs in 25 ²/₃ innings in his past four outings at Yankee Stadium. Prior to that stretch, he was 2-4 with a 4.32 ERA in his first 10 starts in The Bronx.

All of it adds up to what could turn out to be a historic season.

“Ask me in three weeks and I can give you my honest opinion,’’ Schlittler said of his season. “I’m focused on the last few weeks [of the regular season]. It’s been good so far, but a lot of things can happen.”

Quinn Mathews gave the St. Louis Cardinals a strong effort even though the first two innings were a little rough. The big question mark for the St. Louis Cardinals would be when or if the bats would wake up. That would ultimately decide Tuesday night’s contest against the Giants.

Quinn Mathews gave up a home run in the first and second inning, but both were solo shots. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Bryce Eldridge launched a 389 foot shot to the opposite field in left for a 1-0 Giants lead.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning, it was Christian Koss who turned on a 91 mph four-seam Mathews fastball and send it 373 feet over the left field wall for a 2-0 San Francisco lead.

That was all Quinn Mathews allowed the Giants for the first 6 innings. 99 pitches thrown, 4 strikeouts, 2 walks and 2 earned runs. He kept St. Louis in the game.

Where was that Cardinals offense? Landen Roupp, the starter for the Giants didn’t give them much. It wasn’t like St. Louis didn’t have a few opportunities. Two walks and a single loaded the bases in the top of the 3rd inning, but Jordan Walker grounded out scoring no one. In the top of the 6th inning, the Giants tried to help the Cardinals cause as Ivan Herrera reached on an error to start the inning followed by a walk to Alec Burleson, but Jordan Walker grounded into a double play that killed a potential rally. Thomas Saggese continued his hitting streak with a single up the middle in the top of the 7th inning and advanced to scoring position on a Masyn Winn groundout, but didn’t score as Nathan Church grounded out to end the inning.

Gordon Graceffo took over in the bottom of the 7th inning in relief of Quinn Mathews. His first inning was a carnival of chaos that at least had a happy ending. Gordon walked McCray followed by a single from Koss. Cox tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but a charging Thomas Saggese decided to try and go for the force-out at third and failed as the ball hit Masyn Winn’s glove at third and trickled away which resulted in the bases loaded with no outs and the dangerous Rafael Devers coming up. Graceffo struck him out with a nasty 95 mph four-seam fastball that he threw by him. He then performed and encore and struck out the also-dangerous Bryce Eldridge for the second out. The Giants sent up Jung Hoo Lee as the pinch-hitter who rarely strikes out. He didn’t strike out, but Gordon was able to get him to fly out to end the Giants bottom of the 7th.

The Cardinals threatened again in the top of the 8th inning as Bryan Torres drew a leadoff walk. Two batters later, Alec Burleson walked giving St. Louis the potential tying runs on base and Jordan Walker coming up yet again with a chance to do damage and get the Cardinals back in the game. He flew out harmlessly to right for the second out. Leo Bernal was the next Cardinal with a bat with the opportunity to turn the game around. His strikeout turned into a bases-loaded opportunity as the ball got away from Giants catcher and former Cardinal Andrew Knizner and he got tangled up and was unable to put much steam on the throw to first as Bernal beat it out. The Giants went to the bullpen to bring in Joel Kuhnel to face Joshua Baez. He flew out to center to end the Cardinals 8th. If St. Louis had a nickel for every runner in scoring position that was stranded Tuesday night, well…they’d have a lot of nickels.

Gordon Graceffo was tasked with keeping the Giants quiet in the bottom of the 8th to give the Cardinals a reasonable chance to do something special in the 9th. He was successful limiting San Francisco to two groundouts and a pop-out. The big question mark would remain the offense. Could St. Louis do anything in the 9th?

The Cardinals 9th would start with Thomas Saggese. He grounded out sharply to Koss at short for the first out. Masyn Winn was up next for St. Louis. He flew out to right center for the second out. Nathan Church slapped a single to left to bring up the potential tying run in the form of Bryan Torres. Church took second which the Giants didn’t contest, but perhaps they should have as Torres singled to right which scored Church and reduced the Giants lead to just 1. Manager Oli Marmol sent Victor Scott II in to pinch-run for Torres with the mission to get into scoring position. He was successful as he stole second with Ivan Herrera as the potential go-ahead run at the plate. Sadly, he (stop me if you’ve heard me say this before) grounded out to end the game. Final score: Giants 2, Cardinals 1.

The St. Louis Cardinals wrap up their west coast swing with a matinee game Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco against the Giants. Andre Pallante gets the start for the Cardinals while it will be RHP Blade Tidwell starting for the Giants. First pitch scheduled for 2:45pm central time and the game broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.

Early on, this game had the feeling of a barn burner. A pair of 85-win teams, both atop their divisions, clashing in Atlanta. Heading into the second inning, both teams had already scored and the game was tied at one. Both starting pitchers looked shaky in the first and it felt like we were headed towards an 11-10 final score. It would just come down to which bullpen could put up a zero first.

Instead, after a lengthy first inning, Freddy Peralta put up a zero in the second inning and the four innings that followed. AJ Smith-Shawver, the Braves starter, was less fortunate and was unable to make it out of the fourth. Instead of a barn burner, it became a boat race in favor of the Rays. The AL East leading and American League best Rays out pitched, out slugged, and out defended the NL East Braves to the tune of a 7-1 victory.

Junior Caminero got the party started in the first inning when he launched is league-leading 39th homer of the year. The monstrous blast traveled 455 feet and deep into the right field stands to give the Rays an early 1-0 lead.

While the Braves were able to come back and tie the game in the bottom half, Freddy settled down and with the game tied at 1-1 entering the third inning, the Rays capitalized. With Junior on first, Hicks clobbered his 18th homer of year and gave the Rays a 3-1 lead. Following the homer, Simpson singled, stole second, and later scored on a two-out RBI-single via Mesa Jr.

With a 4-1 lead entering the sixth inning, Mateo reached on an infield single to start the inning. He quickly advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Brent Suter. Yandy picked up the RBI on a ground out to second and gave the Rays a 5-1 lead.

The Rays added a pair of insurance runs thanks to solo shots by Yandy in the eighth inning and Palacios in the ninth.

With a 7-1 lead, Cash turned things over to Brian Baker in the bottom of the ninth and he retired the side in short order, seemingly back to his normal self after being sidelined with an illness.

The Rays totaled eleven hits to Atlanta’s five. Yandy, Caminero, and Mesa Jr. all had multi-hit days.

Peralta ended the day with six innings of one run baseball. He allowed five hits while walking one and punching out a pair. Kelly, Sulser, and Baker combined to toss the final three innings, allowing no hits in doing so.

With the Yankees’ win over the Rockies, the Rays’ four game lead in the division remains heading into Wednesday night when Griffin Jax will take the mound looking to rebound after a shaky first start back from the IL. At 86-58, the Rays now sit at 28 games over the .500 mark and hold the third best winning percentage in all of baseball.

It was a one-sided slugfest on the South Side as the Pirates (72-73) teed off on the White Sox (75-69), mashing 18 hits and scoring nine to defeat the South Siders in Tuesday’s series opener, 9-3. Sean Burke relinquished a career-high seven runs in tonight’s start, and only lasted 1 1/3 frames before surrendering the game to the bullpen. And on the other side of the ball, Chicago couldn’t manage to string multiple hits together and were retired in order for their first 12 at-bats.

In the simplest of terms, it was simply not the night for Burke. The righty floundered through the first inning, giving up five runs on six hits and a walk as the Pirates batted around, with four of those hits being two-baggers. The South Siders were suddenly looking at a five-run deficit before they even got an out, but finally on the eighth batter, Burke maneuvered a strikeout against his old teammate, Jacob Gonzalez, for the first of the inning. Getting Gonzalez out seemed like it broke the ice a little bit for Sean, and he managed to snag the next two outs to stop the madness, ending with a fly out from Konnor Griffin in his second at-bat of the inning.

White Sox manager Will Venable likely was trying to avoid taxing his bullpen in their first of 13 straight games, so he had Burke back on the mound to start the second. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh picked up right where it left off, as Brandon Lowe singled to leadoff the inning, and Bryan Reynolds smoked his second double of the night to put ducks on the pond. Burke walked his second batter to load the bases up for Spencer Horwitz, and with how the first inning played out, Venable went to the pen. Tyler Schweitzer was called upon to clean up the mess, but Horwitz had other plans, driving in two more runs on a base hit up the middle, marking a season high of seven runs charged to Sean Burke.

Outside of that one hit, Schweitzer worked through the second with two straight outs, and remained in the game for another two scoreless frames in which he only gave up two more hits. The rookie Schweitzer has done a decent job in the long relief role, posting a 3.06 ERA in 35 1/3 innings this year.

The South Siders called upon José Urquidy in the fifth, and while he immediately struggled, the veteran recovered well enough. Raphael Flores Jr. was the first batter up to face Urquidy, and Flores poured salt in the wound by blasting a solo shot to tally the eighth run for the Pirates. To keep the inning rolling, Pittsburgh loaded the bases once again after two hits and a walk as Bryan Reynolds stepped up to the plate. Reynolds just missed a grand slam, but took a sacrifice fly as a stumbling Tristan Peters was able to track it down at the wall, making it nine unanswered runs.

You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned the White Sox bats yet, and that’s because they were doing absolutely nothing, allowing Pirates starter Bubba Chandler to hold a perfect game through four innings. Thankfully, Andrew Benintendi finally cancelled the postgame show by sending a double into the right field corner — his first of two today — and ended up scoring the first run of the game for the Good Guys when Braden Montgomery drove him to shave the lead to 9-1.

While Urquidy was able to fend off the Pirates, the South Siders tallied one each in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to cut the lead down to 9-3. Kyle Teel led off the sixth by shooting a solo shot over the right field wall, his second homer in as many games, and the only other run that Chandler surrendered.

The third and final run for the Sox came from an RBI ground out by Colson Montgomery in the seventh, scoring Benintendi for the second time, after his second straight double into the corner. The South Side bats were quiet for the remainder of the game, unable to further rattle Wilber Dotel, and Yohan Ramírez shut them down in order in the bottom of the ninth. Even with their six hits, the Good Guys hardly had opportunities to score, and went 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position.

As Tyler Davis came out for the ninth in an effort to prevent any further runs from scoring, and he wriggled out of without a scratch, even with two hits against him. Perhaps it was one of those days where if you are not named Tyler, you were not going to have a good day. Or perhaps Burke is just human, and the Pirates beat him today.

Even if Burke had pitched better, there wasn’t really any run support. One of the main issues with the bats tonight was the lack of production at the top of the order from those not named Andrew Benintendi. Among Sam Antonacci, Miguel Vargas and Munetaka Murakami the linescore was 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts: the only hit came from Sam, Mune struck out every time he stepped up to the plate and Miguel grounded into a double play along with his 2 Ks. In comparison, every single batter who started the game tonight for the Pirates managed to tally at least one hit, as even Gonzalez managed to snag one in his final at-bat. On top of that, seven of their nine hitters racked up multiple hits, and their first three batters went 6-for-13 with five runs scored, two RBIs, and three doubles.

With Cleveland’s win in Baltimore, it’s down to just a two-game lead over the GuardiansThe best-case scenario is that Burke doesn’t run out of gas before the playoffs, and that tomorrow’s starter, Davis Martin, can throw even remotely like he did in his last outing.

MVP
Kyle Teel: 2-for-3, R, RBI, K, HR, 3-for-4 ABS challenges

Runners-Up
Andrew Benintendi: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B
Braden Montgomery: 1-for-3, RBI
Tyler Schweitzer: 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R
Tyler Davis: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R

Cold Cat
Sean Burke: 1 1/3 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 2 BB, 2 K, WP, LOSS (8-7)

Runners-Up
Miguel Vargas: 0-for-4, 2 K, GIDP
Munetaka Murakami: 0-for-4, 4 K
Tristan Peters: 0-for-3
Chase Meidroth: 0-for-3, K
José Urquidy: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, BB, K, HR

It’s the Brewers and Cubs in September, which means every game is going to be a nailbiter. Tuesday night’s contest was no different and the final score was no different from the night before.

The scoring got started early in this game, with the Cubs attacking sliders from Jacob Misiorowski as Seiya Suzuki and Nico Hoerner both punished them for base hits. They quickly grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

The Brewers would then answer right back in the span of seven pitches as Jackson Chourio led off with a double and then Brice Turang drove him home with a single. Just like that, it was 1-1 and this game was on pace to be a track meet.

And then the scoring just stopped. Nothing from either side after the first inning, until we got all the way to the 9th.

The Brewers certainly had their chances prior to that, though. In the fifth inning, they chased starter David Peterson with a single from Chourio and a walk by Turang. William Contreras delivered a single through the right side and Chourio was waved home. It looked like he should’ve beat the tag, but Chourio took an ill-advised slide and tried to reach the hand in while sliding feet first instead of putting his foot on the plate and was called out.

Meanwhile, Jacob Misiorowski settled in, retiring 11 Cubs batters in a row at one point. He ended up cruising through 6.1 IP, striking out nine and looking much more like the Misiorowski we’ve seen time and time again earlier in the year.

It was a battle of the bullpens from there and just a question of which one would crack first. Old friend Aaron Civale showed no signs of cracking, going two perfect innings with four strikeouts. Pat Murphy burned through some of his top arms with Chad Patrick, Aaron Ashby, and Antonio Senzatela combining to get through the 7th and 8th innings.

So it went to the 9th as a tie game and Murphy turned to his closer, Trevor Megill, who has been dominant nearly all season. Back-to-back singles from Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ got the inning started for the Cubs. He got Matt Shaw to strike out looking, but then allowed a walk to Michael Conforto on what should have been strike three, but the Brewers were out of ABS challenges.

The bases were then loaded for pinch-hitter Carson Kelly, who ripped a double off the wall in right-center that brought home two runs to make it a 3-1 Cubs lead.

The Brewers had the bottom of the order due up in the 9th and both Ortiz and Mitchell went down quietly. But when it looked like all hope was lost, suddenly, a spark.

Christian Yelich worked an 0-2 count to a 3-2 count and then ripped a single to right field. That turned the lineup over to Chourio, who was already having a great day at the plate, 3-for-4 with a double. Chourio, who said yesterday that “sometimes I feel like I was born for those (clutch) moments”, proved indeed he was born for those moments.

109.8 MPH off the bat, off the front facing of the 2nd deck in left field, Jackson Chourio absolutely smashed his 22nd home run of the season, setting a new career high for him. Jacob Webb tried to bust him inside on back-to-back changeups and Chourio was ready for it. Just like that, this game was tied.

To the 10th inning we go, and the clutch plays didn’t stop there for the Brewers.

With the ghost runner on 2nd, Alex Bregman hit a deep fly ball to center, but plenty playable for Garrett Mitchell, who was able to settle underneath it and uncork a 94 MPH missile to third base to gun down Seiya Suzuki.

DL Hall was able to close out a scoreless top of the 10th, meaning the Brewers only needed one run to walk it off in the bottom half.

William Contreras was intentionally walked with one out, Sal Frelick dropped in a bloop single and the bases were loaded for rookie Luis Lara. Prior to the at-bat, while the Cubs were trying to position a five-man infield, Murphy had a conversation with Lara in the on-deck circle.

“He asked me if I was ready and he told me that he believed in me 100%” Lara said, through translator Daniel de Mondesert.

Lara was indeed ready and that belief was rewarded. On the first pitch, Lara lifted a single down the left field line, over the heads of the infield and the Brewers secured a 4-3 walk off win over the Cubs.

Lara, who cost the Brewers their last ABS challenge in the 6th and was not close to overturning it, ended up hitting the walk-off single. Chourio, who made a poor slide in the 5th, which was the reason this game was still tied heading into the 9th, ends up crushing the home run to tie it again. Garrett Mitchell, who struck out in each of his first three at-bats, had the major defensive assist to hold the Cubs in the 10th.

“We made some junior mistakes…but again, (we) hung in there and (were) resilient. That’s just kind of what you love to be a part of, trusting your team and believing that they’ll keep coming back.” Pat Murphy said.

That resiliency has this Brewers team on the cusp of clinching their fourth consecutive NL Central division title. The magic number is down to seven.

On Tuesday the Dbacks were able to get to a season high 10 games over .500 as they beat the Kansas City Royals in 11 innings. The story of the game was Corbin Burnes’ return to the team, but the guys that stole the show at the end were of an unlikely variety as there was lots to report from this one!

Corbin Burnes looked about as I expected him to in his season debut, but perhaps performed slightly better. His fastball was up a tick or 2 topping out at 95 mph when it topped out at 93 in his rehab outings so the adrenaline was going as expected. I think also as expected was Burnes’ command looked a little shaky. I think this is too be expected for a guy who is coming back from major injury and the shoulder setback. The fact that he was able to get through 3 innings, get up to 57 pitches, and not allow any runs is definitely the best outcome you were hoping for. As long as he feels good the next couple of days, expect him to maybe be able to pick up another 15 pitches or so in his next outing which could put him into that 5 inning territory that you are looking for as a starter.

According to Burnes in his postgame interview, he felt good today. He blames 3 AB’s for zapping his pitch count. Also said he struggled to find a feel for the curveball. Admitted he was probably trying to do to much as their were some nerves today. 464 days since his last big league game.

Aside from the excitement of seeing Burnes again, this appeared to be almost the exact same game again as yesterday as this Dbacks offense continues to struggle. They were finally able to get on the board in the 8^th inning thanks to a Perdomo sacrifice fly. In the top of the 9^th, Tim Tawa came up huge and added what would prove to be a critical insurance run on a home run to left center field. He would also follow that up with a game saving diving catch in extra innings.

The story of the game was its unlikely hero’s at the end however. Admittedly I was someone who wasn’t thrilled to see Blake Walston entering the game in the 10^th inning with a tie game, but he really stepped up when this team needed him most going 2 innings as the last line of defense with his back against the wall in a tired Dbacks bullpen. After Walston got the final out of the game, his reaction represented a long time coming for a guy who has struggled with consistency and just returned from Tommy John. Such a cool moment to see that emotion from a guy like Walston.

The other unlikely hero who was activated off the IL at the same time as Walston was Lourdes Gurriel Jr who hit an RBI triple in the 11^th to put the Dbacks ahead for good. Hopefully a moment he can build upon as he has struggled to return from injury.

Torey Lovullo confirmed in his postgame press conference that Zac Gallen will start in the game tomorrow and be followed up by Michael Soroka as all of a sudden, there are starting pitchers galore 😊.

Cubs lost, Phillies lost, Padres losing at the time of this writing…. (knock on wood). Dbacks will look to get the sweep tomorrow.

“The best hitter in the world,” as his manager called him, returned to the Yankees’ lineup Tuesday night for the first time since late May. What a compliment it is to Aaron Judge that Aaron Boone was neither pandering nor exaggerating with that description.

When Judge is healthy, he is the best hitter in the world. Since the start of the 2021 season, no one in baseball has a higher wRC+ or OPS. In both categories, no one is even within 25 points.  Judge has missed significant parts of multiple seasons in that span -- including more than half of this one -- and still leads the majors in home runs in the last five-plus seasons, a period that included peak Shohei Ohtani and a usually healthy Kyle Schwarber. 

So his return from a stress fracture in his ribs should make a major difference to the Yankees, who would probably have been content to be where they are in the standings even if they had not been without him for 84 games in the middle of the summer. 

All of the cliches about Yankees’ championship standards aside, many excellent teams have found themselves three games back in the American League East in early September. The Yankees were 12 games over .500 before Judge’s injury. Despite two and a half months of sometimes stunning offensive inefficiency, they were seven games over .500 without him. 

“We hung in there,” Boone said, though it should be noted that only two other American League teams have “hung in there” enough to be seven games over .500 all season.

“Not only is it [Judge] and what he brings offensively, but there is an effect around him -- netting better opportunities, better at-bats for everybody, especially over the course of time. I feel like the guys have done a good job of winning games, especially on days and weeks where it’s been a struggle.” 

Indeed, after leading the American League in OPS before Judge’s injury, the Yankees were 27th in baseball during the three months after. They scored five runs on average with him in the lineup and around four without him. Tuesday, even largely without his help, they beat the Rockies 5-3. 

“It’s hard to quantify, but you take the best hitter in the world out of your lineup, that’s pretty significant,” Boone said. 

Judge was only in the lineup for three at-bats and six innings Tuesday because the Yankees are going to build him up to a full nine innings over the next few days -- but even his limited return rightfully qualified as spectacle. 

Cameras huddled around the entrance to the dugout waiting for him during batting practice. Not many fans were in the ballpark by the time he did, but the ones who were mustered a small cheer. Boone leaned on a bat nearby, visibly holding back a smile as Judge marched by the cameras without one. Judge plays the part of superhero here. If he is somehow mortal behind the scenes, Boone and the Yankees respect him too much to spoil the legend. 

“[The buzz] is there,” Boone said. “I think it’s real. His presence is very real, and obviously we know what he means to those guys, not only as a player but as a person in that room.”

Boone was one of the Yankees staffers who spent Monday at Yankee Stadium watching what they hoped would be Judge’s final workout before returning. Judge had pushed to return sooner, after Trent Grisham injured his hamstring Friday night in San Diego. 

“He actually appeared at my door after Grish got hurt,” Boone said. “Had to push that away. Didn’t want to do that because there were some final boxes we definitely wanted him to check.”  

One of those boxes was labeled “facing live pitching,” so, an eager Judge told them “great, I’ll do that on the day off so I can play.”

So Monday, he simulated a few innings in the outfield. Boone talked to Judge to see if he was ready. He talked to the Yankees’ strength and conditioning team to see if they thought the superstar was ready. Boone said he even talked to owner Hal Steinbrenner to get his thoughts on Judge’s return. 

Monday evening, they made the move. 

“I wanted to come back a couple months ago,” Judge said Tuesday night. “But I’m not a trainer, so I gotta check whatever boxes they got.” 

Judge looked like a man who only saw live pitching once in the last three months at times during his three at-bats Tuesday. At other moments – like when he hit a soaring fly ball to deep right center in his second – he looked a tick or two away. 

He finished 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and only departed in the sixth after a long conversation with his manager at the top step of the dugout. 

 “I respect Boonie, so whatever he says I’m gonna do,” Judge said. “But I’m not happy about it.”

Though Boone and others say they still don’t know for sure, they think Judge suffered the injury diving for a ball in April. So he won’t be diving for balls in the outfield, at least to the extent he can override his instincts. 

But Boone also said he does not plan to spell Judge with designated hitting duties as he builds back up to everyday duty: The Yankees, trailing the Rays in their division and trying to play their way out of a trip to Boston for a treacherous Wild Card series, have a better lineup when they can use others as the designated hitter. 

And they will be using their best lineup, even if that lineup cannot have Judge for a full nine innings for a few days while they build up his in-game stamina. 

“I think what it is is we’re very left-handed and have been much of the year. So how many days of the week are we getting a lefty in the fifth inning, in the seventh inning, in the ninth inning, and they’re matching up against us, and they don’t have to roll through Aaron Judge?” Boone said. “There’s a protection element there.” 

The lineup did not exactly explode in its win over the Rockies, but Boone’s point materialized anyway: When Judge’s spot came up with two on and no one out in the, Heliot Ramos faced Rockies’ lefty Brennan Bernardino. He hit a three-run homer, exactly the kind of blow they sorely needed from a righty in the middle of the order during Judge’s absence.

“Hitting is a weird game, a fickle game. Sometimes you get it that first week and it clicks with you and you’re rolling. Sometimes it takes some time,” Boone said. “So I think it’s good that we’re getting [Judge] back now when we are -- we can build him up properly but hopefully get him clicking as soon as possible.” 

All summer, night after night, the Yankees offense looked like it might be broken. Night after night, Yankees hitters hung their heads. Day after day, Boone tried to explain why his lineup was not scoring. Perhaps, without pandering or exaggerating, it was simply meant to include the best hitter in the world.