Category: MLB

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Happy birthday to Ryne Sandberg*, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1909 – Before 35,409, the largest paid baseball attendance ever, Charles Bender beats Bill Donovan and the Tigers, 2 – 0, at Philadelphia. Ty Cobb is the Triple Crown winner with a .377 BA, 9 home runs (all inside-the-park), and 107 RBI. He also will lead the American League with 216 hits, 116 runs, and 296 total bases. His 76 stolen bases make him the only player ever to win a “quadruple crown”, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1908 – The largest crowd in the history of the National League – 35,000 – cheer as the Giants shove the Pirates to five games off the pace by sweeping a doubleheader. Christy Mathewson shuts out the Bucs in the first game, 7-0, for his 11th shutout and his 33rd win. Then the Giants collect 18 hits to take the nitecap, 12-7, as Hooks Wiltse and Joe McGinnity combine for the win. The other hitting occurs in the first game when Mike Donlin tires of a heckler and punches him in the eye. Police quickly move in.
• 1922 – George Sisler‘s 41-game hitting streak is stopped by New York’s Joe Bush, the same pitcher he had started the streak against on July 27th.
• 1931 – Lefty Grove wins his 30th game, beating the White Sox, 3-1, on five hits. He is the first to win 30 since Jim Bagby of Cleveland in 1920 and will be the last American League hurler to do so until Denny McLain in 1968.
• 1937– Pittsburgh OF Paul Waner establishes a 20th-century National League record with his eighth year of 200 or more hits.
• 1950 – At Ebbets Field, the Dodgers’ Tommy Brown hits three home runs in his team’s losing effort. He is the third Dodger this year to clout three homers in one game. The Cubs’ Ron Northey hits his third lifetime pinch grand slam – a record – to give Chicago a 9-7 win.
• 1976– In his last major league at-bat, future Hall of Fame Cleveland player-manager Frank Robinson strokes a pinch-hit single against the Orioles.
• 1986 – For the second time in his career, Reggie Jackson belts three homers in a game in an 18-3 Angels laugher over Kansas City. At the age of 40 years, four months, Reggie joins Stan Musial and Babe Ruth as the only players to accomplish the feat after turning 40. Reggie scores four times and has seven RBIs.
• 1992– Pittsburgh’s Barry Bonds hits his 30th home run of the season off Philadelphia’s Terry Mulholland in the Pirates’ 5 – 2 win over the Phillies. Bonds thus becomes the fifth player in history to have a pair of 30-HR, 30-stolen bases seasons. The others include his father, Willie Mays, Howard Johnson, and Ron Gant.
• 1998 – Frank Thomas notches his 100th RBI – the eighth straight year he’s reached that level – by clouting a two-run home run in Chicago’s 11-9 win over Boston. Thomas’s home run is one of seven in the game in which 32 hits are registered.
• 2025– All-time pitching legend Clayton Kershaw, who in July became just the 20th pitcher to record 3,000 strikeouts, announces that he will retire following the season after 18 years in the majors, all with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Today in Cubs history:

• 1903 – The Cubs beat the Phils, 6-5, in the first game of a twinbill. In the second game, Chick Fraser no-hits Chicago, 10-0, for the Phils. Peaches Graham, normally a catcher, is the loser in his only major league decision, while Fraser K’s five and walks four.
• 1928 – The Braves and Cubs combine for National League-record eight double plays between them, but the Cubs win the game, 8-3. Sheriff Blake is the winner over Johnny Cooney.
• 1935 – With 30,000 fans watching at Wrigley Field, first-place Chicago tallies 20 hits in thrashing the Giants, 15-3. Charlie Root picks up the win, Chicago’s 15th straight.
• 1960 – Don Zimmer, Ron Santo, and George Altman hit 6th-inning home runs as the Cubs beat the Dodgers, 5-2, at Wrigley Field. Chicago’s biggest home run threat, Ernie Banks, sets a record by drawing his 27th intentional walk of the year.
• 1965– Larry Jackson of the Cubs beats the Mets, 4-3, for his 11th straight win over New York.
• 1970 – The Cubs sweep a pair from Montreal, winning 3-2 and 5-4. Fergie Jenkins wins his 20th in the opener, helped by Billy Williams‘ 40th homer of the year. Phil Regan is the victor in the nitecap.
• 1977 – After losing five of his last six decisions, Chicago’s Rick Reuschel notches his 20th victory, beating the Mets, 6-5. Reuschel leaves after six innings because of a blister, but racks up two hits and three ribbies at the plate.
• 1999 – Slammin’ Sammy Sosa becomes the first player in major league history to hit 60 homers twice. The Cub outfielder hits his milestone round-tripper off Brewer hurler Jason Bere.

Cubs Birthdays:Brent Lillibridge, Jody Gerut, Ozzie Timmons, Ryne Sandberg HOF*, Ed Hanyzewski, Paul Gillespie, Bob Collins.

Today in history:

• 1793 – US President George Washington lays the cornerstone of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
• 1812 – Great Fire of Moscow burns out after five days, destroys 75% of the city and kills 12,000 people.
• 1837 – Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young co-found a “stationery and fancy goods emporium” in New York City, renamed in 1853 as “Tiffany & Co.”
• 1899 – Scott Joplin is granted copyright for his “Maple Leaf Rag,” the most famous ragtime composition, by the US Copyright Office.
• 1946 – Joe Louis KOs Tami Mauriello in the first round for the heavyweight boxing title.
• 1947 – Central Intelligence Agency officially comes into existence after being established by President Truman in July.
• 1971 – Momofuku Ando markets the first Cup Noodles, packaging them in a waterproof polystyrene container.
• 1975 – American publishing heiress-turned-bank robber Patty Hearst captured by FBI in San Francisco, California.

*pictured.

The Mets. We don’t like them. We would like to beat them.

I cannot guarantee victory over the loathed blue and orange club. I can guarantee some links.

Phillies News

José Urquidy has made his way to Philly from the ChiSox via waivers.

Brandon Marsh’s season has hit a bumpy patch. ($)

Jesús Luzardo’s injury is a problem. But maybe not reason to panic. ($)

MLB News

Relievers who might be a big deal this postseason.

A breakout prospect from each club.
A 25-year-old mystery from a Fall Classic past.
Where’s the next two-way star?

It’s the final regular season homestand and it’s one of the tougher matchups. Atlanta Braves Pre/Post Game Host, Barrett Sallee from 680 The Fan joins us exclusively at The Crawfish Boxes to break it all down.

Q: Astros fans immediately flashback to the 2021 World Series against Atlanta. There’s still 5 members from that squad on the Braves. When you prepare your pre/post-game coverage tonight, will you reflect or reference that matchup?  

A: Yeah, we will definitely discuss the 2021 World Series. That was one of the most improbable runs we have seen in the sport in a very long time. It’s not often that a team that’s below .500 at the deadline makes a run like that, especially with two trade deadline pickups as the MVPs of the NLCS and World Series. As far as specific coverage, we haven’t figured that out yet. But it will definitely be a topic of conversation, especially for local callers after the network coverage wraps up.

Q:Let’s begin with the top of the order, it seems like there’s been a variety of combinations and most of them have worked.    

A: Walt Weiss has moved players all over the lineup this season. Typically, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Drake Baldwin are No. 1 and No. 2 depending on righty or lefty matchups. However, Harris has popped up to the leadoff spot a few times over the last few weeks. It’s been a challenge for the top of the lineup at times this season. Acuña was hurt, then Baldwin, then Acuña again. Things have settled down lately, and we have seen Olson entrenched in that No. 3 spot behind Acuña and Baldwin, wherever they pop in on any given day. Olson has been in a bit of a slump lately. He’s always been a streaky hitter, but this one seems to be longer than others that we have seen in the past. However, when he breaks out of them, he does in a BIG way. Those three can be the most dangerous top 3 in baseball if they’re all healthy and cooking at the same time. Hopefully we will see that for the rest of the season and beyond. 

Harris is a massive reason that the Braves have been successful this season. Historically, his slumps and hot streaks have been extremely low and extremely high, with nothing in between. However, this year he has been solid all season. The slumps haven’t been long, and certainly not as noticeable. The hot streaks have been incredible, which is why you see his offensive productions so high this year when compared to other seasons. 

Q: What has Chris Sale has meant to this rotation this season?

A: Sale might not win the Cy Young Award again this season, but there’s no doubt that his contribution to this team is as valuable as any other pitcher to any other team in the league. He has received very little run production, but finds ways to give his team chances to win every single game. He truly doesn’t care about his win/loss record. He goes in to every start with the only goal of giving his team a chance to win. If he has a great game and the Braves lose, he is not a happy camper. Some pitchers say things like that, but don’t really mean it. Chris REALLY means it.

He has been pushed back in the rotation quite a few times for two reasons this year. The first is to give him a little extra rest to keep him fresh and secondly, to set up matchups against good pitchers and teams to set the tone. I compare the way that Weiss uses Sale to that of a college coach in the midst of a conference schedule. Every team always has that “Friday starter.” The guy that you trust more than anybody else, and can go out and dominate not only to set the tone for the series, but also protect the bullpen for the remainder of the series. Sale has thrived because of it.

More than anything else, though, is that his mindset has permeated throughout the clubhouse. He wants to win, plain and simple. That’s all this team wants to do. If any starter or any hitter goes out and has a great day, but the team loses, that’s a bad day. The younger guys – pitchers and hitters alike – have all taken to this mindset.

Q:Are the Braves built for a deep run this postseason?

A: The Braves are definitely built for a postseason run. While the offense has gone through some rough spots – June and August to be specific – we know how dangerous it can be. Plus, the ability of the pitching staff to keep them in games really helps. The biggest reason, though, is the bullpen. We have seen Dylan Dodd and Didier Fuentes escalate their games to become much higher leverage pitchers than they were early on. When you factor in Raisel Iglesias and (hopefully) Robert Suarez, the Braves have one of the best bullpens in the game.

Q: What would be your overview on pitcher Grant Holmes ?

A: Grant has really come along this season. He has a bulldog mentality. There have been times where, whether it’s for the team or himself individually, he has been in pressure-packed situations. He has come through in every single one of them. His slider has been nasty essentially the whole season. When he gets in trouble, it’s because of walks. However, he told us a few months ago that he really toned down his intensity. As a result, his command has become much sharper and he’s been able to go deeper in games. He really has a chip on his shoulder, too. He was a first round draft pick who essentially spent a decade in the minors. He belongs, we all know he belongs, and he’s going to show everybody that he belongs every time he takes the hill.

In theory, taking two of three in a road series to open the week should qualify as a success, but in dropping the series finale in Minnesota, the Yankees lost ground in the AL East race, and they wake up today in Arizona five back of the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s a sobering set of events; the Yankees have played very good baseball for some time now, but haven’t been able to inch closer at all to their rivals. The goal at this point is to get the deficit within four, so that when the Yankees and Rays match up for four games in the Bronx next week, New York still has something of a gutshot straight draw, a narrow window to move into first with a sweep.

This morning on the site, you can get ready for the weekend series against the Diamondbacks with Nick’s preview, and get caught up on Thursday’s action with Sam’s Rivalry Roundup. Later, Matt’s entry in our Yankee Birthday series features a lesser-known figure in Brent Lillibridge, Josh discusses why Cam Schlitter’s stellar season has him leaving fWAR, and Madison delivers the answers to this week’s mailbag.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees at Arizona Diamondbacks

Time: 9:40 p.m. EST

TV: YES Network, DBacks.tv

Venue: Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ

Questions/Prompts:

1. Will Gerrit Cole turn things around and reel in his gopher-ball problems tonight?

2. The 73-80 Detroit Tigers have nearly the same run differential as the 93-59 Tampa Bay Rays. This is less a question than it is a frustrated observation.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have had one of the best Minor League systems over the past couple of seasons, and this year has been no different. As a result the Buccos are sending three of their top prospects to play for the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League.

Three out of the top 30 prospects in Pittsburgh’s system will be representing the Pirates’ organization when league play begins on Oct. 3. Wyatt Sanford (5), Easton Carmichael (8) and Jhonny Severino (28) were selected to compete alongside prospects from the Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins that make up Glendale’s squad.

Sanford has been one of the most exciting prospects in High-A this year, despite missing nearly two months with a hand injury. With the Greensboro Grasshoppers, Sanford has been one of the best hitters in the South Atlantic League. On the season he has a .292 batting average and a .974 OPS. His 19 homers on the season certainly showed that he had more pop than many anticipated, and his 33 steals showcased his ability to be a capable athlete at the next level. His involvement in the AFL could be huge for his career moving forward, especially considering he missed significant time due to injury during the regular season.

TWO HOME RUN NIGHT FOR WYATT SANFORD. 😤 pic.twitter.com/ZyGfN8N5m9

— Young Bucs (@YoungBucsPIT) September 12, 2026

Sanford’s former Greensboro teammate Easton Carmichael has also made waves in 2026. In just his first full season of professional baseball, the Oklahoma catcher has put together quite the campaign. Carmichael was promoted to Double-A Altoona at the tail end of July, and although he hit better with Greensboro he’s still shown flashes of excellence with the Curve. His 20 homers on the season come off the back of some solid consistent hitting at the plate. A disciplined approach, Carmichael rarely plays recklessly and is good at picking his spots offensively. His 13 steals are also staggering for a catcher, as he continues to develop into a well-rounded ball player.

Jhonny Severino had a huge first year in Greensboro as he hit .256/.308/.524 with .832 OPS. He also had 111 hits, 23 doubles, 31 home runs, 95 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. At just 21-years-old he looks like a seasoned hitter already, as he added 15 more homers to his season total from last year. The Pirates have a lot of depth at shortstop these days with players like Severino and Sanford coming up behind Konnor Griffin, and both of these Grasshoppers could be promising prospects in the making.

The Pirates also sent pitchers Cameron Keshock, Zander Mueth, Brandon Cain, Cristhian Tortosa and Michael Walsh to Glendale. Those five are not listed in the organization’s top 30 prospects list.

MLB.com | Clark Fahrenthold: Carlos Lagrange made a triumphant return to the mound Wednesday, striking out two in a scoreless inning with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Most encouragingly, the fireballer’s heater topped out at 102.1 mph and he threw four pitches in triple digits. The Yankees’ number-two pitching prospect had been on the shelf since the end of June with a capsular sprain in his right shoulder. The team had transitioned him to a bullpen role earlier this year in hopes he could help out the major-league team down the stretch, though it’s unclear if that remains an option this year.

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: ($) With the postseason approaching, a round-robin of looming questions. Spencer Jones’ struggles in center have weakened his case to hold down center field upon Trent Grisham’s return, though Kirschner would still give him the edge. In a potential Wild Card series, he projects Cam Schlittler to start Game 1 with Max Fried and Gerrit Cole (in no particular order) to follow, making Carlos Rodón an option in a relief role. With starters bouncing to the bullpen, Tim Hill, Luis Gil, and Michael Fulmer don’t make the cut for Kirschner’s roster projection.

MLB.com | Patrick Donnelly: Inherent in the Grisham/Jones question and other decisions about postseason playing time is a simple question: how much can a player be trusted to perform his first time playing October baseball? Fellow rookie George Lombard Jr. and deadline acquisitions Luis García Jr. and Heliot Ramos join Jones in making zero playoff appearances to date. Aaron Boone opines that playing in the Bronx helps mitigate the newcomer concern. “You play for the Yankees, you play in New York,” said the Yankees manager, “it has a way of getting you ready for the postseason.”

In Buster Posey’s big interview with Tim Kawakami, he stated that the bullpen would be a point of emphasis this offseason. That group has been among the worst in the sport, but not quite negative in value, believe it or not: +0.9 fWAR, bad enough for 25th in MLB. As bad as they’ve been there, they’ve been as bad with their gloves in the field, coming in 24th place with -16.4 Defensive Runs Above Average. In fact, they lead all of Major League Baseball in errors with 102 and counting. They need better defense. How can they make that happen?

Well, this is where trading away Patrick Bailey and losing Daniel Susac to injury hurts. Bailey had been the top defender on the team three years running and even this year, with just 238.1 innings under his belt before the trade, his +5 Fielding Run Value and 4.8 Defensive Runs Above Average made him third-best. Susac’s +8 FRV and +8.7 Def in 351 innings wound up being a great swap (second-best), but here are the other two players in the top four: Luis Arraez, the team leader in defensive value this season (+9 FRV, +9.2 Def in 885.2 innings), and Matt Chapman (+5 FRV, 4.6 Def in 718.2 innings), checking in at #4. Drew Gilbert is #5 with +4 and +2.6. Casey Schmitt follows, then Christian Koss, then Jonah Cox are the next bunch of positive defenders. So, let’s just say that Susac, Chapman, Gilbert, Schmitt, Koss, and Cox aren’t the problem.

Also not the problem? Bryce Eldridge (-2.3 Def) or Rafael Devers (-7.9). Defensive measures for first basemen are typically tough because it’s considered such an easy position. Very easy to drop into negative numbers. Admittedly, Devers’ 8 errors are the third-most on the team behind Willy Adames (18) and Matt Chapman (9), but I’m going to chalk some of that up to lingering injuries and basically settling in to a new position. Still this trio makes up 34% of the team’s errors this season.

But the worst defenders on the Giants are pretty easy to identify. Willy Adames (-8.3) and Jung Hoo Lee (-10.5) both have both cost the Giants about 1 game each over the course of the season with their poor defense. They are the worst position players on the roster by far (minimum: 100 innings). The pitching group’s 17 errors is tied with Cincinnati for 2nd in MLB (or, 29th) behind only Toronto.

Now, maybe you’re a gut-trusting eye-tester when it comes to defense, and I can understand that because it’s hard to conceive of how laser tracking and computer modeling could properly value defensive contributions or the subtleties of playing in the field, but if you line up the good defending teams vs. the bad defending teams this season, an interesting pattern emerges:

With the exceptions of the Royals and Phillies, bad teams have bad defense and good teams have good defense. Though, it must be noted that the Royals have gone 38-41 over the last 3 months and the Phillies 25-15 since improving their defense significantly with the addition of Luis Arraez.

And just to underscore how important defense is, in the past 10 years, the only Giants teams with positive Defensive Runs Above Average values were:

• 2021 (+28.3) | 107-55
• 2023 (+22.6) | 79-83
• 2019 (+19.6) | 77-85
• 2024 (+8.9) | 80-82
• 2025 (+7.9) | 81-81

Not exactly the strong point I was hoping to make but you can see that the past decade of Giants Baseball, whenever it has even bothered to approach success, has had strong defense as part of the foundation.

So, how can the Giants improve? The sexy call is to figure out how to get Jung Hoo Lee off the roster. If that’s possible, sure, why not? That’s a good step in the direction of fixing the defense while getting cheaper. I’m not confident that Lee’s bat is worth keeping around, either. But it’s not that easy to trade a player like Lee. There’s the money owed to him for one thing, but it’ll be tough from a fanbase position to do it, too. He is a draw, even though he and the team are not good.

And, if Casey Schmitt hadn’t torn his meniscus, I’d think it’d be close to a no-brainer to put him at short and slide Willy Adames over to second base; but, I’m not so sure that’s in the cards now. In any case, Adames had better move in with Ron Washington this offseason and hope that he has an Arraezean renaissance in 2027. But that could still happen with him at second base. He has been bad enough there that I think trying to get Chapman to play short while sticking Schmitt at third might make more sense than giving Adames another go.

The team has increased its athleticism in the field as the season has gone along and that’s the sort of thing they’ll need to keep doing in order to improve this part of the team. On paper for next season, it’s basically Daniel Susac, Jonah Cox, and Matt Chapman as the defensive keystones. The team does have a glut of up the middle players working their way through the minors so reinforcements could be well on the way, but I’ll just go ahead and say that the Giants don’t go anywhere without better defensive play. A better defense will take the pressure off the team needing to spend big bucks on the bullpen — or even the rotation, which might be a better use of time and resources, Buster Posey.

Erie SeaWolves 5, Richmond Flying Squirrels 3 (box)

Kenny Serwa put together a whale of a start for the SeaWolves, while a game tying home run from his catcher sparked the offense as the Erie SeaWolves advanced to the Eastern League Championship series for the fifth straight season.

Things didn’t start off well for Tony Cappuccilli’s squad in this one. The Giants first round pick in July, right-hander Jackson Flora, got the ball for two innings and the SeaWolves couldn’t deal with him, striking out four times in two perfect frames. Fortunately, he’s on a strict pitch count. Once he was out of the game, lefty Jacob Bresnahan took over to flip the SeaWolves platooning. The SeaWolves got a single from Izaac Pacheco and a walk to E.J. Exposito to start the third inning. Seth Stephenson advanced them with a sac bunt, but they squandered that chance as Peyton Graham and Zyhir Hope struck out.

Meanwhile, Serwa was cruising in the early innings before trouble struck in the fourth. A one-out single and then a walk set the table for Kaeden Kent, who smoked a three-run shot to right field for a 3-0 lead.

The SeaWolves couldn’t get it going in the fifth, but credit to Cappuccilli for sticking with Serwa, who proceeded to steady the ship and cruise through seven innings with no further trouble.

Finally, in the top of the sixth, Stephenson reached and took second on an error. Graham struck out, but Hope walked, and Thayron Liranzo mashed a three-run homer to tie the game.

Thayron Liranzo ties the game for Erie in the 6th with a monster 3-run homer to left. pic.twitter.com/kiXZfi4Phl

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 18, 2026

They didn’t stop there. Chris Meyers followed with a double. Andrew Jenkins struck out, but Luke Shliger walked. The Squirrels went back to their pen, but Marques Johnson walked Pacheco to load the bases. A passed ball scored Meyers, and it was 4-3 SeaWolves.

Serwa tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth, and Stephenson walked to start the seventh. He stole second, and after Graham made on out on a comebacker to Johnson, a wild pitch got Stephenson to third, and Hope drove a ball out to center field for a sacrifice fly. 5-3 SeaWolves.

Zyhir Hope lofts a fly ball to center and Seth Stephenson scores on the sac fly to put Erie up 5-3. pic.twitter.com/sLbBQkPECJ

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 18, 2026

Surprisingly, Cappuccilli continued to ride his veteran knuckleballer, and it worked. He gave up a leadoff bunt single, but got a double play ball to face the minimum in the inning. Really good work from Serwa to recover from the homer and pitch deep into this one, especially as the bullpen isn’t exactly stacked with monsters.

Tanner Kohlhepp took over in the eighth, pitching around a two-out walk, and so it was up to hard-throwing sinkerballer Moises Rodriguez. The slender right-hander was 98-99 mph, but with one out, Graham booted a routine ground ball at shortstop, and after getting a fly ball for the second out, Rodriguez walked the next hitter. He bounced back, tying up Zander Darby, who hit a little swinging bunt down the first base line. Rodriguez pounced on it, flipped to Jenkins, and it was party time for the Erie SeaWolves organization.

Moises Rodriguez gets a soft tapper for out number 3 and the @erie_seawolves are moving on the the Eastern League Championship series for the 5th consecutive year. pic.twitter.com/nTfMHehwom

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 18, 2026

Congrats to Greg Coleman, Greg Gania, Tony Cappuccilli and his staff and team, and the whole SeaWolves family on reaching their fifth straight Eastern League championship series.

Liranzo: 2-3, R, 3 RBI, HR, BB, K

Stephenson: 1-1, 2 R, 2 BB, SB

Meyers: 1-4, R, 2B, K

Serwa (W, 1-0): 3 ER, 4 H, BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves will have two days off until the Eastern League championhip best-of-three series gets underway on Sunday. Game 1 will be held at home at UPMC Park at 5:05 p.m. ET before heading to Reading next Tuesday.

Division CHAMPagne 🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾 pic.twitter.com/RMJcbGDcPf

— Erie SeaWolves (@erie_seawolves) September 18, 2026

Toledo Mud Hens 5, Louisville Bats 1 (box)

Dylan File threw a good game, and the Hens took advantage of seven walks to beat the Bats again on Thursday.

File was cruising early on and the Hens broke through in the bottom of the third. Max Burt and Trei Cruz walked with one out, and sent the Bats back to their bullpen. The new reliever walked James Outman and Max Anderson both, forcing in a run. Jace Jung lifted a sacrifice fly to right to plate Cruz, and it was 2-0 Hens.

File allowed a solo shot in the fifth, but in the bottom half, Jung doubled in Cruz to make it 3-1 Hens.

File wrapped up his day in the sixth, and in the bottom of the seventh, Cruz led off with a single. Outman grounded into a force of Cruz, but Max Anderson singled, and Jung doubled in both runners to make it 5-1.

Enmanuel de Jesus handled the seventh and eighth without much issue. Yilber Diaz walked two and struck out one in closing out the ninth. Hopefully he can get his control dialed in this offseason.

Jung: 2-3, 4 RBI, 2 2B

Cruz: 1-3, 2 R, 2 BB

Anderson: 1-3, R, RBI, BB

File (W, 7-1): 6.0 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: The Hens had won six of their last eighth, and are up 3-0 in this series heading into a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Friday in Toledo.

If two teams in the bottom of their respective divisions play a game of baseball, does it really happen? Sorry, that California air is really getting to me. Just kidding, I’m not in California.

The Minnesota Twins are there in Anaheim taking on the “Los Angeles” Angels. Stop me if you’ve heard this, but the team facing Minnesota scored a few runs in the first inning. This time it was off of starter Taj Bradley, albeit not really entirely all his fault. Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but the Twins defense kinda played a part. Bradley walked Mike Trout with one out. That’s Bradley’s fault. Then someone named Wade Meckler hit a grounder to someone named Ben Ross and the grounder ate him up and couldn’t get the out. Moisés Ballesteros brought in Trout with an RBI single. Denzer Guzman (not sure on the relation to Twins great Cristian Guzman) singled to left field and the throw in did not go directly to second base to get Ballesteros at second, but according to the radio, it should’ve and could’ve gotten him for a second out. After a strikeout of Josh Lowe, Oswald Peraza drove his hit to right field, bringing in Ballesteros. That’s a 3-0 lead after the first inning for the Angels.

After that, it was goose eggs through seven. Rookie Walbert Ureña held the Twins to four hits across his seven innings of work, striking out nine batters while walking none. Bradley settled down to turn in seven frames as well, allowing only two more hits and notching nine strikeouts, raising his K total to 199 on the year.

Minnesota batters did claw back one run in the eighth. On two consecutive pitches to lead off the inning, Walker Jenkins singled to center and Ben Ross got his first major-league hit – a double – off of bullpen arm Luke Murphy. After striking out Luke Keaschall, former Twins player-turned-manager Kurt Suzuki turned to Tayler Saucedo. Brooks Lee hit a sac fly, allowing Jenkins to tag up and touch home from third.

Ben Joyce came in for the ninth to attempt to close the door on Minnesota. Victor Caratini hit a two-out single, setting up newly-hot Jenkins. And Jenkins did a hot thing: hit a homer to tie the game. Ross did a not-hot thing and struck out to keep it a tied game at three runs apiece.

A depleted bullpen was put to work tonight for the Twins. Andrew Morris pitched a clean eighth while A. J. Minter, who pitched last night, was given the ninth. After striking out two batters, he gave up an almost-home-run double to Josh Lowe. Derek Shelton pulled him in favor of Jeff Hoffman. An intentional walk to Adam Frazier put runners on first and second and a double-steal during a Jose Siri at-bat put both runners in scoring position and took the force play off the books. But no worries, as Hoffman got Siri out on strikes to take the game into extras.

The tenth inning had Manfred Mann’s Earth Band participant Ben Ross on second base with Blake Weiman pitching for the Halos; Keaschall singled him over to third while Lee hit an RBI single to untie the baby. Kody Clemens dropped a sac bunt to move the runners to second and third. A Josh Bell pop-out and an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers brought up Royce Lewis with the bases juiced. However, he made the decision to strike out on four pitches.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: the bullpen blew it. Yoendrys Gomez, who got tagged with the blown save yesterday, was tabbed to take the bottom of the tenth with Jose Siri joining Manfred Mann’s Earth Band at second base for the Angels. A flyout and a walk set up runners on the corners for Trout, who singled in Siri to tie the game at four runs. Kody Funderburk was brought in to face Meckler, which resulted in a single to walk-off the game, 5-4.

These two teams meet up again tomorrow – same time (838p Central), same place (Angel Stadium) – for the second game of this four-game set. Connor Prielipp (5-7, 5.24 ERA) is listed as the starter for Minnesota while Grayson Rodriguez (4-7, 6.10 ERA) goes for Anaheim.

Also, this is my last game thread and recap for the season, so I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for joining in and making this fun as always!

W: Blake Weiman (1-1)
L: Yoendrys Gomez (2-4)

STUDS

• Walker Jenkins: 3-4, game-tying HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
• Brooks Lee: 2-4, 2 RBI

duds

• Royce Lewis: 0-5, 4 K

COTG

Prester John (no relation to me, or at least I don’t think so) willed Jenkins out of his slump.

This is why we watch! Trevor Story’s season looked dead and buried both three months and three weeks ago. He’s battled injury, surgery, rehab, way too many strikeouts, and growing chatter from knuckleheads like me who have repeatedly questioned if he even belongs back in this lineup.

Well tonight, he came to the plate with the Sox down 3-1 in the eighth and on the verge of getting swept. He was facing a tough reliever in Jacob Latz, a Texas team that was 63-1 when leading after seven innings, and the weight of his team going a combined 0-17 with runners in scoring position in the series up to that point.

Then he did this:

As somebody that’s been leading the “Trevor Story is cooked ” charges, I love this so much! Nothing can humble and amaze quite like baseball, and after months of hard work, grinding behind the scenes, and having to deal with all the noise, Story smashed a 108mph line drive home run not only in the face of Latz and Texas’ playoff hopes, but also in the face of all those who have been doubting him for weeks (hand raised).

It’s just one game, and the real test doesn’t start until the 29th, but boy did this have to feel incredible for Story who hadn’t gone deep since May 13th. To do it in that moment, in his home town, and against the backdrop of everything that’s happened this year is just so perfectly baseball. It’s why we love this game so much, and why people like Story are willing to put in the work behind the scenes for months on end to get the chance to do something amazing like that.

I know some of you might not believe it after what I’ve written about him in recent weeks, but I truly am very happy for Story! He deserves all the credit tonight!

---

Oh, and in addition to Story’s game changing three-run homer, he followed that up by starting double plays on defense to end both the eighth and ninth:

Baseball really is the best!

Studs

Trevor Story: If I didn’t put him here, I’d have to legally resign from Over The Monster.

Wilyer Abreu: He looked a little better tonight with a sharp single in the fourth and a walk that turned into a run on Story’s three-run shot.

The bullpen: The comeback wouldn’t be complete without the pen holding it down, and with Aroldis Chapman unavailable with lat tightness, Wyatt Olds, Alec Gamboa, and Garrett Whitlock combined to go 2.2 scoreless innings.

Duds

Only one dud tonight, and that’s me given my recent stance on Story’s playing time. The crow is delicious, and I hope it remains on the menu well into October!

One other important note

Just before Story’s home run, Willson Contreras was hit in the hand by a pitch and had to leave the game. The good news is x-rays were negative, but given x-rays were also negative after Curtis Mead got hit in July, I’m not going to be celebrating this one until we get further confirmation.

X-rays were negative on Willson Contreras, at least initially, but he remains sore.

Aroldis Chapman was unavailable due to lat tightness and is day-to-day.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) September 18, 2026

Willson Contreras: "Sore. Painful. My hand was numb for like five minutes. That was the reason I came out of the game. I have fractured, before, the same hand. It felt like a fracture. Thankfully, it’s not a fracture on the top of the bone. I’m just frustrated."

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) September 18, 2026

Play of the game:

Was there ever any doubt it would be Story’s home run? Here’s the game changing swing one more time.

Iowa second baseman Hayden Cantrelle was activated off the Development List

Iowa outfielder Greg Jones went on the injured list.

The Midwest League postseason All-Star Team was announces and two South Bend Cubs were named to the team. Josiah Hartshorn was the team’s first baseman and Jackson Brockett was named as one of two relievers.

Hartshorn hit .297/.405/.560 with 18 home runs and 12 steals in 83 games for South Bend.

Brockett made 17 appearances for South Bend and was 7-2 with a 1.79 ERA and three saves in 50.1 innings. He struck out 54 and walked just 12 in that span.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs calmed the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals), 3-2.

Starter Connor Noland absolutely dominated the Storm Chasers over five innings, allowing no runs and no hits. Noland struck out six and walked two.

Jordan Wicks relieved Noland in the sixth and gave up a solo home run to the first batter he faced. Wicks’ final line was two runs on five hits over 2.2 innings. He struck out two and walked one.

Gabe Klobostis retired the side in order in the ninth inning for the save. Klobostis struck out one.

The I-Cubs managed just four hits tonight, but three of them were the first three batters of the fourth inning, which led to three runs. Catcher Owen Ayers doubled, first baseman Kevin Alcántara singles and then left fielder Chas McCormick doubled them both home. McCormick would come around to score later in the inning on a Jordan Nwogu sac fly.

Ayers went 1 for 4 with the double. Alcántara was 1 for 4. McCormick went 1 for 4 with the double.

McCormick’s two-run double.

The weather might be cooling down, but Chas McCormick stays hot 🔥 pic.twitter.com/dRSFslOKq9

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) September 18, 2026

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies were blasted by the Rocket City Trash Pandas (Angels), 13-3. The Trash Pandas win the best-of-three Division Series two games to none and the Smokies season is now over.

This game was over early as Rocket City scored two runs in the second, four in the third and three in the fourth, giving them an early 9-0 lead. Brody McCullough started and took the loss. McCullough allowed five runs on five hits over 2.1 innings. Two of the five runs were unearned. McCullough did strike out six and he walked no one.

Center fielder Kane Kepley went 2 for 3 with a walk, a double and an RBI triple in the bottom of the ninth. Kepley also scored one run.

Catcher Ariel Armas was 2 for 3 with a walk. He had an RBI single in the sixth inning.

Shortstop Karson Simas was 2 for 3 with a walk. He scored on Kepley’s triple.

Kepley’s triple [VIDEO]

The result of Thursday's series opener against the Phillies wasn't on the minds of the Mets. All they could think about was the health of Jared Young.

The first baseman took a knee from Nolan McLean on a dribbler down the first base line, which left Young motionless on the ground for a few moments before he was carted away. 

Interim manager Andy Green gave a positive update on Young's condition, saying he was responsive and doing well in the hospital. He underwent CT scans and the results came back negative, but the Mets skipper could not understate how he felt in that moment.

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

Green said his thoughts immediately go to Young's family and teammates.

“When you see a collision like that and you get out there quick, and there’s not much going on, those are very scary moments," Green said. "Thankful he’s showing really good signs right now and doing well at the hospital. Thankful for the paramedics and everybody that came on the field so quickly for taking care of him. Thoughts and prayers to Julia and the rest of his family."

McLean was not available to the media following the game, but Green said the young right-hander was shaken by the play. 

"Knew it was a really bad collision. Still was willing to go back out the next inning," Green said of McLean. "Didn’t feel that was in his best interest at that point in time. Probably should have made a better position to not let him get the next hitter.

"He was still strong enough to do it and got back out there and did it. He’s a heck of a person. He’s a great competitor. But the humanity hit him pretty hard there too."

McLean said he was capable of pitching both mentally and physically. Once he got on the mound and took some warm-up throws, he felt good enough and struck out Garrett Stubbs to get through the sixth. 

"It’s scary to see one of our brothers, one of the most respected and loved teammates that we have here, like that," Francisco Lindor said. "And then seeing another great teammate say, ‘man this is not good. I hit him with my knee.'  Life is bigger than this game, for sure. Seeing him not reacting and the trainer holding his neck. It's scary. It's a scary moment. You can only think about how quick life can get out of his hands. You think about his family and everyone else here. Thoughts and prayers to him and his family...Tough moment. It's scary. Respect for Nolan to gather himself and finish the inning." 

Young, 31, had become the everyday first baseman with his play this season. In 102 games this season, he slashed .268/.332/.431 (.764 OPS) and became a fixture in the lineup and in the clubhouse.

How Young's teammates speak about him and the somber atmosphere after the game show how much they respect and care for Young. 

"He’s a guy who is always happy, is the same person no matter what," Lindor said of Young. "He posts up whether he’s playing or not. He’s there, he’s consistent. He’s somebody we all respect and appreciate and have love for him. He’s been a big part of our team this whole year. Probably one of the better hitters on our team. Can only imagine what he is going through right now and his family as well."

The Los Angeles Angels remain in search of a permanent general manager after the firing of Perry Minasian on June 26.

The organization is one of three, as of Sept. 17, looking for a new lead front-office official, along with the Athletics and Houston Astros.

According to a report from Yahoo Sports, the Angels may have become a lot more desirable following the agreement that will see Arte Moreno sell the team to Stan Kroenke, who also owns the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche, among other teams. The franchise is expected to be sold for a record $4 billion.

"The Angels job just shot to the top of everybody's list," one American League general manager told Yahoo Sports. "That owner with those resources and an empty canvas — every executive not tied down is gonna want that job and should!"

With the fan base hungry to have a winner back in Anaheim and a new owner who's won championships in multiple sports at the top, the Angels could be appealing.

There had been a vocal group of fans expressing their frustration at home games, the group sitting in the upper deck shirtless, waving their shirts and asking for Moreno to sell the team. He finally did.

John Mozeliak was named the team's "Baseball Operations Consultant" and interim general manager.

Mozeliak had spent 30 years with the St. Louis Cardinals, including 18 as the head of the club's baseball operations, but he was not expected to be the full-time replacement as general manager upon his hiring.

Who could Angels consider for general manager role?

Tampa Bay Rays senior advisor Jon Daniels and Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes received the most votes as part of a Yahoo Sports survey asking 24 MLB executives to name potential general manager candidates they would have on a short list.

Dodgers' special advisor Farhan Zaidi also received a vote.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who will be next Angels GM? Job viewed as more desirable after sale

The Texas Rangers scored three runs but the Boston Red Sox scored four runs.

Well that one stings.

Despite the laundry list of things wrong with the club this season, the Rangers have been dang near perfect when leading late in games. Most of the reason for that is because Jacob Latz has also been dang near perfect. Tonight, with a 3-0 lead for much of the game, and a 3-1 lead in the eighth, the Rangers tried to get six outs out of Latz again after Jakob “Judas” Junis allowed two to reach to start the inning.

Latz couldn’t do what he’s done all year as he allowed a back-breaking three-run home run to local boy Trevor Story to erase Texas’ evening-long lead. That disaster caused the Rangers to miss their shot at a revitalizing sweep and a return above .500 for the first time since early August.

I guess the good news is there’s still time but Texas is back to essentially being two games behind Houston in the AL West.

Player of the Game: I suppose I’ll nominate Cody Bradford for making use of an opener before successfully piggybacking for the bulk of the evening. Bradford worked through 4 1/3 innings of scoreless ball against the AL’s top Wild Card holders. The former Baylor Bear gave up just three hits and walked one while striking out three Red Sox.

The Rangers were perhaps eyeing Nathan Eovaldi to take Bradford’s spot in the rotation, but with Eovaldi coming through with some relief heroics last night, they turned to Bradford again tonight and he did his job before the bullpen collapse.

Up Next: It’s out of the frying pan into the fire for the Rangers as they open up a series against a fellow AL playoff hopeful with RHP Kumar Rocker expected to start for Texas the opener against RHP Dylan Cease for Toronto.

The Friday night first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and you’ll find it on the Rangers Sports Network.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

🤯 pic.twitter.com/sC4oQR8Usn

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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