Category: MLB

With 12 games left in the season, Jacob Milham and Jeremy Greco are counting down the games until the Kansas City Royals’ season ends amid a much-needed offseason overhaul.

Carter Jensen is the centerpiece of the on-field conversation after tying the Royals rookie home run record and climbing historic rookie leaderboards in extra-base hits, doubles, RBI, walks, and caught-stealing rate. He may not win AL Rookie of the Year, but Jacob and Jeremy make a real case for him as a catcher Silver Slugger contender. Bobby Witt Jr.’s pursuit of a 20-40 season keeps the MVP conversation alive, and a quick thought experiment considers whether a Padres roster crunch could open the door to a Freddie Fermin reunion.

The bullpen evaluation dominates the back half of the episode, with the hosts sorting the current arms into keep, depth, or move-on buckets. Steven Cruz and Nate Pearson both earn real support as 2027 pieces based on improved strikeout-minus-walk profiles, while Craig Kimbrel, Alex Lange, Anthony Gose, Jose Cuas, and Easton McGee are all scrutinized as possible non-tender or depth-only candidates. Connor Thomas and Nolan Hoffman emerge as pleasant surprises, drawing praise for strike-throwing and ground-ball rates.

The rotation discussion turns urgent quickly. Noah Cameron looks like the likely Opening Day starter, while Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Randy Dobnak, and Daniel Lynch IV are sorted into very different tiers of trust. Jacob and Jeremy stress that the Royals need multiple starting pitchers before a likely December lockout compresses the free-agent market, and the front office may have no choice but to move fast and overpay this winter.

On the farm, Quad Cities and standout left-hander Kendricho draw praise, LP Longavin’s strikeout totals are turning heads as a future Northwest Arkansas arm, and Carson Roccaforte is putting together a 30-30 season in Omaha.

Need your Royals fix? Head to royalsreview.com for news, analysis, and to engage with Royals fans around the world! Follow us online:

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– Jeremy Greco: @hokius.fromthehawkseye.com
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On September 14, 2026, the Texas Rangers begin the day a game back of the Houston Astros in the American League West, two games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the battle for the third Wild Card spot, and a game behind the Toronto Blue Jays. Texas had played 150 games, and had 12 games left over the final two weeks to determine whether they will make the playoffs. Fangraphs gave the Rangers a 30.3% chance of making the playoffs.

On September 14, 2025, the Texas Rangers ended the day three games back of the Seattle Mariners in the American League West, and two games back of the Houston Astros for the third Wild Card spot, a half-game up on the Cleveland Guardians for that spot. Texas has played 105 games, and has 12 games left over the final two weeks to determine whether they will make the playoffs. Fangraphs gives the Rangers a 31.3% chance of making the playoffs.

So much has changed. And yet, so much is still the same.

In 2025, the Rangers started the penultimate week of the season with a three game set in Houston, having just taken two of three in New York against the Mets to raise their record to 79-71. It was part of an improbable run after the team had been wracked with injuries and left for dead in mid-August.

In 2026, the Rangers return home for nine straight games at the Shed, beginning with three against the Boston Red Sox, having spent the last month or two generally hovering a game or two under .500.

The 2026 Texas Rangers have a worse record than last year’s version, but unlike the 2025 team, they aren’t running with a patchwork, duct-taped roster. Here’s the starting lineup the Rangers rolled with in their opener in Houston last year:

Smith — SS

Langford — CF

Pederson — DH

Burger — 1B

Garcia — RF

Osuna — LF

Jung — 3B

Heim — C

Moore — 2B

Cody Freeman, Kyle Higashioka, Michael Helman, Rowdy Tellez, and Ezequiel Duran entered the game off the bench. Jack Leiter started, with Jacob Webb and Carl Edwards, Jr. appearing out of the pen.

The Rangers, as you may recall, were swept by the Astros, then were swept at home by the Miami Marlins, pretty much putting a stake into their playoff hopes.

And here we are a year later, with the Rangers back in much the same place, fighting to stay in the playoff hunt, trying to keep their hopes afloat down the home stretch, facing a Boston team that has pretty much clinched a playoff spot, followed by a Toronto team they are battling in the playoff race.

History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes. Hopefully this time around, it results in a better outcome.

Poor Baltimore. The only AL East team to lose Sunday and it was in no small part because they were playing a divisional foe. The rest of the division, led of course by Cam Schlittler’s gem for the Yankees, all put notches in the win column.

Meanwhile, the rest of the AL continues to gravitate to the mushy middle. With the White Sox’s loss Sunday, they drop a mere three games above .500 leading the AL Central. The Astros, despite getting swept this weekend in Tampa, hold down the top spot in the West with a perfectly cromulent .500 record.

Tampa Bay Rays (90-59) 14, Houston Astros (75-75) 4

Sigh. The Houston Astros can’t do anything right. After losing Friday and Saturday to Tampa in nail biters, Houston evidently decided to take the suspense out of it and let the Rays put two touchdowns on them in honor of opening Sunday of NFL season. Tampa attacked early and often, scoring in four of the first five frames, giving themselves an 11-0 lead before the Astros got off the schneid.

It was a very balanced attack from the Rays Sunday as well. Every starter either scored or drove in a run, with six of the nine ending the day with at least one ribbie and eight of nine stepping on home plate at least once. Former Yankee farmhand Hayden Wesneski was on the receiving end of the onslaught, giving up seven runs (four unearned thanks to an error) in just three innings of work.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (82-68) 4, Kansas City Royals (66-84) 1: It’s a good thing the AL East is representing these days, because the rest of the Junior Circuit… woof. The Red Sox sit third in the division, 14 games over .500. Only two AL teams outside the East are above .500 at all. Sunday, Roman Anthony broke a 1-1 tie with a single in the seventh. Trevor Story provided the insurance in the eighth with a two-run single of his own and Boston held on to take down an AL also-ran.

Chicago White Sox (76-73) 1, St. Louis Cardinals (74-76) 3: Imagine getting called up from Triple-A, taking a perfect game into the sixth, and… losing. Such was David Sandlin’s fate for Chicago today. Sandlin was perfect through 5.1 innings. Then, a pair of singles and an error loaded the bases for Alec Burleson. His 36th double of the season cleared them all and gave the Cards a lead they never surrendered.

Cleveland Guardians (76-74) 9, Minnesota Twins (70-79) 2: And while Chicago was losing, Cleveland was notching a win to move within half a game in the AL Central. Power powered the Guardians for a change, as they clubbed three dingers Sunday. And in a small miracle, Tanner Bibee was on the hill for a win for a change. Sunday’s outing gives him six to go with his 15 losses.

Toronto Blue Jays (75-75) 8, Baltimore Orioles (72-78) 1: Canada’s long national nightmare has ended. The $500 million man, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. has finally homered this season at home. Incredibly, it took 149+ games for the franchise player to put one in the seats in Toronto. Also of note, Dylan Cease put together another solid start as he continues to at least make the AL Cy Young Award race a conversation.

Texas Rangers (74-76) 7, Arizona Diamondbacks (79-71) 6: The Rangers took advantage of Houston’s loss Sunday. They scored five runs in the middle innings, just enough for the win, as Arizona scored twice in the ninth to get within one and brought the winning run to the plate. Corey Seager led the way for Texas, launching a majestic 458-foot bomb.

Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below. Check out the previous day’s recap here.

AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (72-71) won 5-0 (BOX SCORE)

Weiss started for Sugar Land and pitched well tossing 5 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts. The offense got on the board in the 6th inning scoring 5 runs on a Spence RBI single, Schiavone hit by pitch, Delgado walk and Ferreras 2 run single. The pen was really good tossing 4 scoreless innings as they closed out the 5-0 win for Sugar Land.

Note: Ferreras is hitting .320 in Triple-A.

• Pascanel Ferreras, SS: 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI
• Joey Loperfido, DH: 3-for-5, R
• Collin Price, 1B: 0-for-3, R, 2 BB
• Lucas Spence, LF: 2-for-5, R, 3B, RBI
• Zach Dezenzo, 3B: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB
• Jason Schiavone, C: 1-for-2, R, RBI, BB
• Ray Delgado, 2B: 0-for-2, RBI, 2 BB

• Ryan Weiss, RHP: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
• Nic Swanson, RHP: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
• Logan VanWey, RHP: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• Kai-Wei Teng, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• Roddery Munoz, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (62-76) lost 6-5 (BOX SCORE)

The Hooks got on the board in the 2nd inning scoring 4 runs on a Moss 2 run double and Bush 2 run single. They got another run in the 5th inning on a Whitaker RBI double. Dombroski got the start and pitched well tossing 6 scoreless innings allowing just one hit. Marrero struggled in relief allowing 6 runs and the offense was unable to respond as the Hooks fell 6-5.

Note: Moss has a .852 OPS in Double-A.

• Jack Moss, DH: 2-for-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
• Will Bush, 1B: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, SB
• Walker Janek, C: 2-for-4, R, 2B
• Tyler Whitaker RF: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB
• Alejandro Nunez, 2B: 1-for-4, R, SB
• Hector Salas, 3B: 1-for-3, R, BB, SB

• Trey Dombroski, LHP: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• Andrew Marrero, RHP: 0.1 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Railin Perez, RHP: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, o ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• Ramsey David, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

A+: Asheville Tourists (43-87) SEASON OVER

A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (1-0) won 14-4 (BOX SCORE)

The Woodpeckers got on the board in the first inning scoring a run on a wild pitch. In the 2nd inning, the offense blew the game open scoring 10 runs on a Tryon solo home run, Flores RBI double, Piasecki RBI single, Alvarez 2 run single, Luciano sac fly, Galloway walk, Flores sac fly, Piasecki RBI single and Hughes RBI single. Weber started for the Woodpeckers and went 4.2 innings allowing 2 runs. The offense added 3 more runs in the 6th inning on a Piasecki RBI double and Durnin 2 run home run. The pen allowed 2 runs late but held on as the Woodpeckers won game one 14-4.

Note: Woodpeckers are one win away from a Carolina League Championship!

• Kam Durnin, SS: 3-for-4, 3 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB
• Logan Hughes, DH: 2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB
• Kevin Alvarez, CF: 1-for-5, R, 2 RBI, SB
• Ben Tryon, 1B: 2-for-5, 2 R, HR, RBI
• Rashawn Galloway, RF: 2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB
• Arturo Flores, C: 2-for-2, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
• Aaron Piasecki, 2B: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI, SB

• Charlie Weber, RHP: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
• Mick Uebelhor, RHP: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (WIN)
• Aubrey Smith, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• Leomar Rosario, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Brady Thomas, RHP: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
• Jank Pichardo, RHP: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Today’s minor league starters:

SL: OFF

CC: OFF

AV: OFF

FV: OFF

This one is basically for the folks who were paying attention to the Probable Pitchers page over on the Atlanta Braves’ official website. It still lists Wednesday’s starter for the game as “TBD” but that picture may becoming a little more determined with this latest move that the Braves have made.

Bailey Falter has been designated for assignment and his replacement on the Braves roster will be none other than Owen Murphy.

This will be Murphy’s first stint with the Braves since back in July, which is when he made three appearances (one of which were starts) before getting sent back down. He’s been pretty productive at the Triple-A level for the Gwinnett Stripers, which is where he’s made 18 starts and pitched 96.2 innings while producing an ERA of 3.61 and a FIP of 4.23. His last start for the Stripers was on September 8, which is when he tossed six innings and only gave up a run against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. If he does make the start, then he’ll be on more-than-regular rest.

With all of that being said, the indication does seem to be that Murphy will be coming out of the bullpen. That’s what Mark Bowman of MLB.com is reporting shortly after this news came down.

So Wednesday’s starter is still clearly “TBD” and we could still see another move before then. Will it be JR Ritchie? Will the Braves choose to go with Chris Sale on his regular rest? It’s all up in the air but for now, it’s time to see how Owen Murphy fares in his latest stint for Atlanta.

Meanwhile, Bailey Falter’s time with the Braves is now up in the air after 3.1 innings pitched for Atlanta during his time on the roster. He got a handful of outs against the Phillies on Sunday without giving up any runs, so “job done” in that regard. We’ll see what happens with Falter and the Braves organization going forward.

Edwin Díaz signed a record-setting contract for a relief pitcher last offseason, but his first season with the Dodgers has been a lost cause, sidelined by a pair of injuries, currently on the sidelines with neck inflammation. Díaz had another bad rehab outing on Sunday with Oklahoma City.

Díaz faced eight batters and retired two of them. He permitted two singles, walked three batters and hit another, and struck out one. He left with three runs already in, and two of his three bequeathed runners scored after he left. He threw only 13 strikes in his 30 pitches, the third time in four outings on this rehab assignment he’s thrown more balls than strikes.

In his four games over the previous eight days in Triple-A, Díaz has allowed six runs in 3 1/3 innings, with seven walks, four strikeouts, and a hit batter, with 46 balls and 40 strikes. I’m not sure what the Dodgers will do for the final two weeks of the regular season, but Díaz has no place on any postseason roster this year and it would make more sense to look forward to 2027 than activate the veteran closer for any of the final two weeks of the regular season.

Meanwhile, Kris Bubichas been getting outs on his rehab assignment, including 1 1/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts on Sunday for Oklahoma City. Bubic is a starter but being groomed for relief after the Dodgers acquired him from the Kansas City Royals on August 3, currently sidelined on the 60-day injured list with elbow soreness and shoulder soreness.

But right now Bubic looks healthy and in his six appearances over two weeks in Triple-A has pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings with two singles and two walks allowed, with nine strikeouts among his 21 batters faced, a 42.9-percent strikeout rate.

Player of the day

Infielder Jake Gelof capped off a stellar regular season with another home run on Sunday for Double-A Tulsa. His 34th home run of the season set a modern-era (since 1932) Tulsa record, surpassing Tim Wheeler in 2011 when the Drillers were a Colorado Rockies affiliate.

Gelof, the Dodgers’ second-round draft pick in 2023 out of Virginia, where he set a school record for home runs, had his best professional season to date, hitting .271/.285/.565 with a 138 wRC+, while splitting time at third base,s second base, and first base.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The five runs charged to Díaz were the only runs scored on Sunday in the Comets loss to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Astros), snapping Oklahoma City’s 14-game win streak.

Cole Irvin started and pitched 4 2/3 innings in a no-decision. The 32-year-old left-hander leads the Pacific Coast League in innings pitched (134), ERA (3.09), and wins (12).

Ryan Fitzgerald had two of Oklahoma City’s four hits, all singles.

Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers dropped their regular season finale the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Royals), but finished with a stellar 88-50 record, with 10 more wins than another team in the Texas League.

Tulsa also got reinforcements on Sunday, with High-A Great Lakes eliminated on Friday. Top-100 prospects Eduardo Quintero and Charles Davalan joined the Drillers for the playoff drive. Davalan got a hit, while Quintero hit a two-run home run in his first game in Double-A.

Tulsa starts the Texas League playoffs on Tuesday, Quintero’s 21st birthday.

Transactions

Triple-A: Pitcher Antonio Knowles was activated after missing five weeks on the injured list. He did not pitch on Sunday.

Double-A: Outfielders Eduardo Quintero and Charles Davalan were promoted to Tulsa. Outfielder Augstin Acosta and pitcher Alex Walsh were transferred back to the Arizona Complex League.

Sunday scores

• Sugar Land 5, Oklahoma City 0
• Northwest Arkansas 5, Tulsa 4

The week ahead

• Texas League divisional playoffs: Tulsa vs. Springfield (Cardinals)
• Oklahoma City at El Paso (Padres)

The North Division playoffs is best-of-3 for the Drillers, with Game 1 at second-half winner Springfield before Game 2 and potentially Game 3 in Tulsa on Thursday and Friday. Left-hander Adam Serwinowski starts Game 1 for Tulsa, with righthander Yhoiker Fajardo on the mound for Springfield.

(64-68) Columbus Clingstones 1, (71-66) Montgomery Biscuits 4

• John Gil, 2B: 1-for-4, .315/.385/.427
• Eric Hartman, LF: 0-for-4, .182/.312/.265
• Alex Lodise, SS: 0-for-4, .283/.343/.435
• Owen Carey, RF: 0-for-4, .211/.296/.323
• Davis Polo, SP: 6.1IP 8H 4R 3 ER 3BB 5K – 18 whiffs, 2.19 ERA

Box Score

The Clingstones ended the season on a sour note falling 4-1 to the Montgomery Biscuits ending the second half in the fourth place. The Clingstones got solid pitching from Davis Polo and Julio Robaina, but the offense came up short with just one hit in the season finale.

Davis Polo (6.1IP 8H 4R 3ER 3BB 5K) got the start in the final Clingstones game of the season and overall pitched very solidly. Davis clearly struggled with his command missing quite often in the first – missing erratically, well erratically for Davis Polo. Even still, Davis did well to generate whiffs with 18 on the afternoon coming from his slider and his quickly developing changeup. After giving up a pair of runs in the first two innings of the game he settled in putting up zeroes over the next four innings giving the Clingstones offense a chance to come back throughout the game. Davis would give up a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, get a fly out, and give up a walk before he was replaced by Julio Robaina (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K) who allowed that runner to score – but was unearned. He would go on to completely close the door, pitching a perfect 8th inning and opening the door for the Clingstones offense who couldn’t get the job done today.

Offensively, it was a stinker by the Clingstones who couldn’t get anything going throughout the game. As a team they went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, and they stranded a total of three runners on base the entire game. The lone run that scored came in the ninth inning when Dalton McIntyre lead off the inning with a walk, took second on defensive indifference, took third on a passed ball, and scored on an error by the shortstop. The only hit of the game was a fourth inning lead off single by John Gil who would be thrown out immediately after trying to steal second. It was a frustrating end to what has been a strong season for many of the Braves prospects on the team. It will be interesting to see who is moved up to Gwinnett this week to get more work in, but those that don’t will be able to hang their heads high after a strong season.

Hopefully, you are a Bears fan and had a lot of fun Sunday watching the team run up and down the field. As a Bears fan in Tampa, I wasn’t able to watch, but did enjoy some highlights and watching the score light up. As someone who feels like it wouldn’t be hyperbole to say I’ve seen years where some of the Cub scores this year would have been pretty good Bear scores, it was fun to see them put what I think of as a college football number on the board.

But you don’t come here for my analysis of football. The Cubs played a game and they just couldn’t come up with hits at the right times and only managed three runs on five hits and six walks drawn. Had the wind been blowing the other direction, I’m fairly certain this one would have been different. I didn’t think the Pirates hit too many scary flies. There is no question Pete Crow-Armstrong hit one that would ordinarily be a homer. I thought a few others, including one off of the bat of Ian Happ, might have had enough oomph to get out on another day. But you have to play the conditions that exist and as it turned out, the Cubs hit a lot of harmless fly balls on a day where the wind was blowing in pretty hard.

The Cubs also grounded into a pair of double plays, twice stifling promising innings. In the end, the Pirates made pitches when they needed to, the Cubs didn’t. For the first time I can remember, the Cubs used Aaron Civale like a reliever and not a bulk innings guy. By that, I mean they brought him into a dirty inning, with runners on second and third and only one out. The Cubs won on Saturday, in part, because Jacob Webb escaped a similar situation. But Civale failed and let both score.

This does not change the fact that I think Civale should be in the Cub mix for the playoffs. I basically think the Cubs need to manage the postseason like every game is an elimination game. You evaluate batter to batter and use guys potentially in situations where they wouldn’t ordinarily be used in order to maximize matchups and to change looks frequently. No Cub pitcher, save for Clay Holmes when he’s really on his game, particularly has the kind of stuff that wants to be seen over and over again by another team. Use a guy for an inning or two and get him out before anyone gets comfortable. Make sure the pitchers and catchers know that is the plan and don’t save any bullets or tricks. Do what works and attack.

It would have been great to complete the sweep. But this is a day where I’m going to tip the cap. The Pirates really executed when they needed to. I’ve said it a lot lately, but there is another good team in the making. Who’d have believed going into the year that their pitching might not be quite as good as it had been. But if their pitching stays where it is or gets better and that offense continues, that organization might finally be turning around. A lot of ifs, but it’s organization that really just went through a pretty lost decade.

Just not enough positive here to dwell on. I’ll hit the things that there were positive in the three positives section. Bring on the Braves who just had a weekend full of the Phillies.

Three Positives:

• Miguel Amaya. He had two of the five Cub hits, one of them a two-run homer. He also threw a runner out stealing to help keep the game close.
• Daniel Palencia looked good in the ninth. That was the best I’ve seen him look in a while. A hat tip to him bouncing back after allowing a walk with a strikeout to keep the game at one. I’ll say again, there is no functional circle of trust. This is going to be a trust fall this year. Like Webb yesterday, you probably have to throw Palencia in a big situation and just hope.
• Michael Busch seems to be heating up a bit. He had two hits and scored a run. Five hits including a double and a homer over the three-game set. The Cubs could really use his big bat. Without looking, I’m guessing his .396 slug is near the very bottom of all typical three hitters in big league lineups. Interestingly, the Cubs do have a .470 overall from the three spot (.380 from the two). Alex Bregman has a .536 slug when hitting third.

Yeah, I don’t go back into narrative often. I can hear Anthony Rizzo in my head. If you are worrying about getting an extra plate appearance for your best hitter, you probably aren’t a very good team. That would be his argument for PCA batting third, I’m sure. The traditional spot for the team’s best hitter. Regardless of how you do it, Bregman should probably bat behind PCA. That maximizes your offense and encourages them to throw to Pete and then hopefully Breggy bats with more traffic. I certainly wouldn’t move Pete out of the top spot now. It’s worked so well for so long. I think I would hit them 1/2. I’d go PCA/Bregman/Happ against a right handed pitcher. Then Seiya and Busch. I’m comfortably batting Happ third, because I’m pinch hitting with Conforto the second they bring in a righty to face that Bregman/Happ/Seiya combo.

I’ll hang up and wait to be flamed for the above suggestion. Maybe just checking to see who’s paying attention.

Game 150, September 13: Pirates 4, Cubs 3 (83-67)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Miguel Amaya (.271). 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Hero: Daniel Palencia (.041). IP, 4 BF, BB, K
• Sidekick: Caleb Thielbar (.031). 0.2 IP, K

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Pedro Ramirez (-.205). 0-3, BB, R
• Goat: Nico Hoerner (-.134). 0-4, RBI
• Kid: Matthew Boyd (-.131). 5.1 IP, 24 BF, 7 H, 2 BB, 4 R, 3 K (L 8-5)

WPA Play of the Game: Miguel Amaya’s two-run homer with two outs in the very briefly gave the Cubs the lead. (.309)

Pirates Play of the Game: Nick Gonzales’ RBI double in the sixth tied the game back up with no outs in the sixth. (.220)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 149 Winner: Pedro Ramirez received 51 of 75 votes.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Alex Bregman +27
• Pete Crow-Armstrong +24.5
• Carson Kelly +16.5
• Michael Conforto +15
• Ben Brown +13.5
• Jameson Taillon -13
• Seiya Suzuki -15
• Nico Hoerner -15
• Dansby Swanson -17
• Caleb Thielbar -18.5

Scoreboard Watching: Padres won (1.5 behind Cubs and Phillies). Phillies won and moved back into a tie with the Cubs, though the Cubs still own the tiebreaker and would be Wild Card 1 right now. The Diamondbacks lost, they are four games back of the Cubs with 12 to play. The Cubs magic number to make the playoffs has reached eight, since they have the tiebreaker.

Up Next: The Braves come to town at 88-62. They helped the Cubs a bit, winning two of three from the Phillies over the weekend in Atlanta. Their game ended first, so they should be in Chicago plenty early to get as good a night’s sleep as one gets on the road. The Braves are 37-35 on the road, 14-10 versus the Central and 61-42 at night. They are 13th in MLB in OPS. They are 7th in WHIP. But, I do believe they threw their best pitchers over the weekend as one would expect. Their bullpen WHIP is second, and they are fifth in saves, so this is not a series where waiting out the starter is necessarily their go-to strategy.

David Peterson (7-8, 5.28) starts for the Cubs. His Cub numbers are a fair bit better (4-2, 4.41). He’s gotten blasted twice at Wrigley (10 over 3.2 against the Cardinals and 6 over 3.2 against the Brewers). He’s been pretty good at Wrigley otherwise. That is a lot of words to say “hit or miss,” about what you’d expect from a back of the rotation guy.

32-year-old righty Reynaldo Lopez starts for the Braves. Lopez has made 25 appearances but only 12 of them are starts. He’s 2-4 with a 4.47 as a starter, so his numbers (4-4, 4.13) are buoyed a bit by his relief numbers. He just started against Tampa, allowing six runs over 4.2 innings. Before that, he hadn’t pitched at the big league level since July 26. He missed a little over a month after having left knee inflammation. He threw 93 pitches in a rehab outing and 80 last week, so he’s pretty good to go endurance wise.

Fangraphs actually like the Cubs best in the middle game of this series, but they continue to favor the Cubs in all three games. Not totally unreasonable with the Braves fairly ordinary on the road and not using Tyler Mahle or Grant Holmes in the series (and maybe not Chris Sale either). This all assumes Fangraphs has projected their starters correctly.

The Braves have a five-game lead with 12 to play. That’s an enormous edge with no head to head remaining with the Phillies. So they’ll want to be doing things to get guys healthy and rested and lined up for an eventual first round series. They are likely to end up playing a Wild Card series though they could technically catch the recently hot Dodgers. Not having to play in the Wild Card round is enough of an edge to play for. They’d likely get either the Padres and their bullpen or a roller coaster Diamondbacks team. But I’m sure they’d rather just wait out a Wild Card winner instead.

Let’s go get a win in this one. Go Cubs!

Good morning! As I wrote last night, yesterday’s win against the Royals was subtly important for the Sox. I was looking at things in the context of the team’s recent sluggish play heading into a tough roadtrip. But it was important in another sense: it was their 82nd win, meaning the Red Sox will finish the 2026 season over .500.

Prior to last year’s 89-win campaign, the Sox had failed to reach that mark for three seasons in row, a level of historical ineptitude they had not previously hit in 31 years. Had the Sox not turned around their season in historic fashion after an ugly start to this campaign, this season would have marked 5 sub-.500 seasons in 7 years, which would’ve been as bad a stretch of baseball that the club has had since before the Impossible Dream season of 1967. In light of the fact that 1967 is sort of looked at as the beginning of the modern period of Red Sox baseball around these parts, that would’ve been unacceptable.

This isn’t exactly cause for popping Champagne (though I’m hardly one to discourage you from livening up your Monday any way you can) but it’s nice to have mathematical confirmation that the dark days are behind us.

Use this space to talk about whatever you want and, as always, be good to one another.

When the San Diego Padres jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the San Francisco Giants and their ace pitcher Logan Webb in the first two innings, it appeared they were on their way to an easy win on getaway day at Oracle Park. Like the first two games of the series, that proved not to be the case as the Padres held on for a dramatic 6-4 win to complete the three-game sweep of the Giants.

Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon AND Bradgley Rodriguez were all out for the final game of the series due to recent heavy workloads. That meant that if the Padres found themselves in a tight game, they would need to finish the game with the like of the lower leverage and long-relief arms in the bullpen. Despite a fast start which saw San Diego jump out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning of the game, the Padres needed those remaining arms in the ‘pen to secure a two-run win.

Nick Pivetta started for San Diego and allowed two runs over four innings with five hits and five strikeouts. He was up to 69 pitches after four innings and due to the fact that this was just his second start since returning from injury he did not return to the mound in the fifth inning. That task was given to Kyle Hart who allowed two runs in one inning of work. Hart allowed a single and a stolen base to Christian Koss to open the bottom of the fifth and then issued a walk to Drew Gilbert. A double steal allowed Koss and Gilbert to move into second and third. Hart then got Jung Hoo Lee to pop out and Bryce Eldridge grounded out, which allowed a run to score. The Padres were able to get out of the inning with a 6-3 lead.

Hart started the sixth inning but after allowing a single to Scott Bandura who was making his MLB debut and advanced to second on an error by Xander Boagaerts, Hart was replaced by David Morgan. The right-hander got a groundout before issuing a walk to Drew Cavanaugh to put two runners on, Morgan then got Turner Hill to strikeout, but allowed an RBI-single to Koss to make the score 6-4. Morgan got the second out of the inning but was then replaced by Wandy Peralta.

Peralta got the final out of the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh before Randy Vasquez was called on for the eighth inning. Vasquez allowed two walks in the inning but kept the Giants off the board. Yuki Matsui got the call in the bottom of the ninth inning and kept it interesting, but was ultimately able to get three outs and earn his first save of the 2026 season.

The San Diego lineup jumped all over Webb from the start of the game, although he would settle in as he is known to do. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the game with a single and was followed by Dustin Harris who singled to put runners at the corners just seven pitches into the game. Harris then stole second before Manny Machado walked and the Padres had the bases loaded with no outs in the top of the first inning. Luis Campusano popped out to shortstop for the first out of the inning, but Jackson Merrill took advantage of the opportunity when he lined a double to left field to give the Padres a 2-0 lead. A pop out and a strikeout ended the inning, but it was a sign of things to come.

Samad Taylor singled to start the second for San Diego and stole second base. Ethan Salas, who would notch his first MLB hit (a triple) later in the game, struck out. Tatis recorded his second of three hits in the game and that allowed Taylor to score to give the Padres a 3-0 lead. Harris grounded out for the second out of the inning, but Machado crushed a two-out, two-run home run to put San Diego up 5-0 after two innings.The Padres tacked on a run in the top of the fourth, which made the score 6-2 at the time.

Tatis was the offensive leader for San Diego, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBI and a strikeout. Machado had the two run-home run and Merrill had the two-run double.

The Padres return to action tonight when they open a road series against the Colorado Rockies at 5:40 p.m.

Padres News:

• Xander Bogaerts has steadily declined on offense since signing with the Padres and Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball says he needs to be better.

• Ramon Laureano is still in the process of recovery from a surgery earlier in the season, is not ruling out an October return should the Padres reach the postseason.

Baseball News:

• Vladamir Guerrero Jr. hit his first home run at his home field in the 2026 season to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a win over the Baltimore Orioles.

• Josue De Paula hit his first home run since being called up for the Los Angeles Dodgers but it was not enough to help them top the Miami Marlins.

• The Arizona Diamondbacks came up one run short in their loss to the Texas Rangers.

If the Orioles were trying on purpose to dismantle all of the hard work they did in July and August of clawing their way out of a disappointing start to the season, the result would not look a whole lot different than what they’ve actually done in the month of September. The just-concluded weekend series against the Blue Jays pretty much settles things: It’s over, unless they run the table and win every game from now on.

In this week’s episode, before getting into the frustration and sadness about the state of the team, I offer a salute and congratulations to the High-A Frederick Keys, whose season came to an end with a playoff loss last week. A number of interesting prospects were part of Frederick’s season, both guys who started there and played their way up a level, and guys who started below and played their way up to Frederick. This really is an exciting thing for down the road for the Orioles. It’s just that the payoff probably won’t start in 2027, or at least certainly not on the Opening Day roster.

Then, the frustration. A listener started an email with so much rage that he didn’t even realize he sent the thing before finishing, then he followed up with the full message. This month’s play, particularly the presence of Red Sox uniform Rutschman at Camden Yards in a series where the Orioles were mopped, was just too much. I don’t think this person is the only one who’s turned to football season in frustration.

Last, I recount the grim toll of September so far for the Orioles, where as is typically the case there are many problems, but it’s hard not to be the most disappointment at an offense that is completely fizzling, with key players who were supposed to be better than this in massive slumps that are even worse than their already-disappointing season totals.

Listen to this week’s episode here:

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This is my weekly podcast about whatever is going on lately with the Orioles. If you enjoyed this episode, please make sure to subscribe. You can get the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you prefer to access your podcasts.

How are you feeling about the way things are going with the Orioles right now? Answers could make it into the mailbag section of a future episode of the podcast.

Good morning.

Evan Grant writes that the Texas Rangers are bruised and battered but they return home still vying for the playoffs somehow.

Kennedi Landry writes that Corey Seager led the way for the Rangers as they took a series on the road for the first time in two and a half months.

Grant writes that bigger names have made their way back but Robert Garcia has been an under-the-radar returnee who has helped to stabilize the bullpen.

MLB dot com’s Jared Greenspan checks out the playoff picture with two weeks left in the season where the Rangers, despite everything, remain in the race.

Grant notes that the Rangers don’t know yet when Joc Pederson will be available again after getting hit by a pitch to the hand on Saturday.

And, in the regular season finale for Frisco, Rangers top prospect Sebastian Walcott returned to the field to play shortstop for the first time this year.

Have a nice day!

Happy Monday, everyone. The Tigers are riding the high of their weekend series sweep against the Rockies, and hoping to take those good vibes into the week ahead. We’ve got plenty of little news bites to keep you busy on a Monday, with some highlights including the Tigers’ hopes of seeing Justin Verlander make at least one last start before his retirement; a touching letter from Keider Montero who has just hit the paternity list; and a look at some of the players who have made the biggest differences (for better or worse) for their teams this season.

All that and more below, so let’s just jump right into it.

Detroit Tigers News

• Justin Verlander may be on the path to making at least one final start this season before he retires at the end of the year. Verlander threw off the mound on Saturday, throwing harder than he has all season. Manager A.J. Hinch is hopeful that Verlander will be ready to start over his celebratory retirement weekend at the end of September. Hinch said, “We’re aiming for that weekend, which we know will be an emotional and important weekend for him.” To help him further prepare, he will likely throw a bullpen session or simulated game over the coming weeks. While nothing is certain yet, the Tigers and Verlander seem ready to do whatever it takes to have him make one last start before he walks off the field one last time. To read more of the AP article, click here.)
• A really lovely message from Keider Montero.

And congrats to Keider, who has welcomed a new family member.

• Some Fiesta Tigres highlights.

• Former Detroit Tiger Jonathan Schoop has been sentenced to 30 months for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

MLB News:

• A look at Pete Crow-Armstrong and his push for NL MVP.
• The revival of Teoscar Hernandez couldn’t come at a better time for the Dodgers.
• A roundup of the baseball stories that stood out to Ben Clemens at FanGraphs this week.
• What does the decline of starting innings mean for baseball?
• The positives and negatives of being a dad while also being a professional baseball player. ($)
• Mike Shirley, scouting director for the Chicago White Sox, has resigned amid verbal harassment allegations. ($)
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally got his first home run at home for the season.
• The teams that have defied expectations this season, for better or worse.
• The DBacks have DFA’d Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
• The Red Sox have activated Willson Contreras from the IL.
• Why Walt Weiss deserves to be manager of the year. ($)
• A look at some of the most disappointing players of 2026.
• And, conversely, the 10 players who made the biggest positive difference for their teams.
• How the Yankees honored the memory of 9/11 during the Subway Series. ($)
• Revisiting the trade deadline five weeks later.
• Rafael Devers’ season is over due to a core muscle injury.
• Byron Buxton will undergo season-ending hip surgery. ($)
• Love things like this.

• This worked out well.

• Sometimes, there is definitely crying in baseball.

The Phillies offense is not playing particularly well right now. There are multiple hitters mired in if not exactly slumps, then at least not hitting well. Personnel changes aren’t really going to happen at this point in the season, so the only real solutions that they might have are lineup changes.

Mixing things up isn’t really an M.O. of this Phillies roster, but were you the manager, which lineup changes would you consider?

Moving Trea Turner down in the lineup, maybe moving Bryson Stott up? Moving Luis Arraez down, Alec Bohm up? There are a myriad of things they could do if they weren’t so ironclad in their ways.

With the Orioles all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, an autopsy on the season that was can begin sooner rather than later. At a bare minimum that analysis should include a deep dive into the plethora of homegrown hitters that failed to meet their expectations coming into the season. Samuel Basallo’s immense struggles in the second half of the season should be at the very top of list.

Basallo’s extension signing last summer felt like a significant point for this era of Orioles baseball. The club had finally managed to ink one of their homegrown prospects to a long-term deal, something the fanbase had been wanting for years. That player was a product of the organization’s renewed interest in Latin America, which had been almost nonexistent prior to 2018. And he was also a catcher, the same position that at the time was manned by Adley Rutschman, an all-star that had become the face of the team’s turnaround in the 2020s.

We all know what has happened since.

The Orioles have gone through yet another disappointing season and appear set to miss the playoffs for a second straight year. Rutschman, despite injuries, regained his all-star form in the first half, but was unable to lift the team along with him. He was dealt to the division rival Red Sox in early August. Meanwhile, Basallo found himself a nice rhythm in the early portion of the season, but has also missed time with injury, and is now in the midst of a deep slump as the Orioles spiral out of contention.

Let’s look into that difference in performance a bit more.

Basallo’s IL stint for right shoulder inflammation began on July 22. From the beginning of the season through that date, he was hitting .241/.305/.450 with a 110 wRC+, 16 home runs, a 26.4% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. Pretty good, especially for a rookie that is still just 22 years old.

He returned to the active roster on August 19. Since then, he is batting .150/.250/.217 with a 39 wRC+, one home run, a 26.5% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. So it’s not as if he has seen wildly different strikeout and walk rates. But when he puts the ball in play, his results have been far worse than the earlier portion of the year.

We can see exit velocity is down as well. Pre-IL he was hitting the ball 91.3 mph on average, fourth on the team behind Pete Alonso, Coby Mayo, and Blaze Alexander. Since then, he’s averaging 86.2 mph on contact, on par with Jackson Holliday, who has similarly struggled in the second half, though that is worth its own blog.

Basallo’s line drive rate has been cut in half. Through July he had an 18.3% line drive rate. Since the start of August it is down to 9.5%. That has coincided with where on the field he is hitting the ball. Early on he pulled 46% of pitches. Now he is pulling just 38.1%. The difference in the two numbers has almost entirely shifted to opposite field contact.

At the same time it’s not as if Basallo is being treated all that different than he was early in the season. Opposing pitchers have maintained pretty consistent rates at which they have thrown fastballs compared to breaking pitches and off-speed offerings. Of course, that can look different against different pitchers, but day-to-day the young catcher has been getting similar looks all summer.

What has undoutedly changed, however, is Basallo’s ability to get his bat going. As mentioned earlier, he is not hitting the ball as hard as he was, and he isn’t pulling it as often. That starts to make even more sense when you see the continual downward trend in his overall bat speed. That has gone from 75 mph back in April and seen monthly deteriorations to a season-low 73.1 mph so far in September.

This feels like the right time to point out that Basallo’s IL stint was the not the first visible injury he sustained this season. He was scratched from a game against the Yankees on May 11 with left knee discomfort. He had an awkward swing on May 30 against the Blue Jays that left him grabbing at his left shoulder/pec. A few days later he was said to be dealing with a “bony growth” in his left wrist. Then there was the IL stint, and finally at the end of August he briefly dealt with a hand injury.

The way in Basallo handles his injuries was a point of contention for the Orioles back in mid-June. At the time, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz made a comment about how the emerging slugger needed to work on “knowing how to play through some pain and not being 100% all the time.” The next day, Basallo himself pushed back, explaining that players “are not robots.” Awkward, and based on everything we have seen maybe the catcher was right to slow down a bit.

Basallo’s continually deteriorating play would seem to indicate that he has not been at 100% for at least half the season. His exit velocities have been down since June. His bat speed has not recovered since April. And his statistical outcomes have all gotten progressively worse.

His month by month OPS this season has gone like this: .754, .974, .584, .694, .481, .444. Those last two are August and September, the two months since he was deemed “healthy” enough to come off the IL after two rehab games.

Look, it’s not as if Basallo is going anywhere. He is signed through 2033 at least with a team option for ‘34. And there was plenty of good news in his first two or three months of this rookie season to suggest he will become a staple in the middle of the Orioles lineup for a long time. But clearly the team needs to figure out what has changed since then.

Maybe they should have taken his discomfort earlier in the season more seriously. Maybe he needs to catch less frequently. If the bat is as good as the Orioles hope it will be, they will do whatever it takes to keep him in the lineup as often as possible, even if that may not align with what Albernaz or the organization expects from their backstop.