Category: MLB

Last week was tough for the Chicago White Sox, who could have practically shut the door on the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central race but couldn’t finish the job. With six games remaining in the regular season, the Good Guys start the week with a three-game road trip to face the Kansas City Royals. At this point in the season, the White Sox still control their fate by simply winning games, but the first-round bye that accompanies the division title sounds a whole lot better.

The good news is that the Royals have been struggling again lately, going 3-7 in their last 10, and the South Siders are coming off a rest day and a 3-1 series win over the Detroit Tigers. But let’s not ignore the fact that the one loss was devastating; yes, the one where they blew a 6-0, then 8-2 lead that dropped Chicago out of first. You know the one.

After a day off, the bullpen should be more rested ahead of these final six games, though it would be most ideal for left-handed starter Anthony Kay to own at least five innings. The southpaw looked solid in his last start after a rough stretch. Though two runs scored with Kay on the mound, neither was earned, and the Guardians managed just two hits off him before he was pulled after four frames.

It’s understandable that manager Will Venable keeps a shorter leash on Kay, who owns a 6.00 ERA in his last seven starts and has surrendered 22 earned runs across 33 innings, but there’s also room to evaluate each situation accordingly. Kay relies on a six-pitch arsenal, but tends to throw the sweeper (23.1%) and four-seamer (22.1%) most often; when it’s on, the sweeper is a knockout pitch, drawing a 33.7% whiff and holding opponents to a .238 batting average and a .217 xBA.

With lefthander Daniel Lynch IV on the mound for the Royals, the White Sox are rolling with a classic righty/lefty matchup for the batting order. While Randal Grichuk typically takes the DH role against lefties, he will remain in left field while Tristan Peters takes another day to rest after colliding with the outfield wall in Friday night’s game. Before you ask, yes, Venable does in fact have the ability to play left-handed hitters despite facing a southpaw, but instead of doing that and letting Sam Antonacci play, you will get 38-year-old Tommy Pham batting second, and you will like it.

Your AL Player of the Week, Miguel Vargas, will take over for Chase Meidroth in the leadoff position, which is totally fair considering he posted the seventh-highest OPS (1.250) in MLB over the last seven days, slashing .313/.500/.750 in 16 at-bats. Brenton Doyle has also been getting more playing time with Peters out, but he’s been excellent over the past seven games with a .364/.364/.500 slash line.

Lynch will make his ninth start of the season and his 54th appearance in 2026, and he’s been great for Kansas City this year. The lefty has pitched most of the season out of the bullpen (46 IP as a reliever), but has also shifted into a starting role (30 2/3 IP) since mid-August. As a bonus for the South Siders, Lynch owns a 5.28 ERA as a starting pitcher, and batters are hitting .241 against him compared to a 1.96 ERA and a .185 opponent BA as a reliever.

Even with a lefty on the mound, the Royals will stick with the five left-handed hitters in their lineup, though it’s not like Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia, and Salvador Perez are players to scoff at. The biggest threats in the lineup are Carter Jensen (.773 OPS), Witt (.799) and Jac Caglianone (.821).

We’ve been hoping for meaningful baseball for years, and now we have it. I can’t say I don’t wish we’d already clinched; however, we’re probably all collectively losing our minds game by game. Temperatures in Kansas City are in the low 70s and upper 60s, so it should be a beautiful night for some baseball that can only get better with a White Sox win. Tune in to CHSN for the TV broadcast, or ESPN Chicago AM 1000 for the radio and we’ll catch you here after the game.

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Andy Green was announced as the Mets' 26th manager in franchise history, removing the interim tag that he's held for months, and the players are on board with the decision.

“I’m glad they did. Everyone’s happy," Marcus Semien said prior to the team's series opener with the Rangers on Tuesday. "You look at our entire season, not great. But since Andy stepped in, he’s helped a lot of guys be a better version of themselves. We’ve been playing a good brand of baseball. Glad to have that continuity moving forward. Extremely happy for him and his family."

Since Green took over for Carlos Mendoza, the team is 37-38 entering Tuesday but is 31-28 since the All-Star break.

A big part of that turnaround has been the improving health of the team, but also Green's managing style. As many players pointed out Tuesday, Green isn't afraid to hold players accountable, and that has led to better play overall.

"He’s a guy that is straight up with you," Semien said of Green. "Whatever he sees, whatever he may be feeling, he communicates it in a way that you react to well, and you want to work hard for that guy."

"Felt like he’s done a good job and you don’t want to go into the offseason thinking about what’s going to happen," Francisco Lindor said of Green's hiring. "A familiar face that’s been around for a couple of years now, and in the clubhouse with us. It’s a wise decision; it’s a good decision. And looking forward to the next couple of years."

Lindor is one of those players whose improving health has coincided with the team's better play, but the Mets shortstop said that Green brings the "light, joy and accountability" to the team, and that has impacted the clubhouse.

"He’s someone from day one said he would hold players accountable, so if he says something, for better or worse, you have to listen," Lindor said. "He can be a guy that can blend in and stand out as well. With that, that gives him the ability to call people out and the ability to tap someone on the back and say good job." 

As Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said in Green's introductory presser ahead of Tuesday's game, continuity was a big reason for the decision to keep Green as the manager. But it couldn't be just anyone, it had to be the right person for the job.

"It has to be the right voice, and we have the right voice with Andy," Stearns said. "A lot of the players pulled me aside after we informed them earlier today. And that familiarity is helpful. The ability to go into the offseason understanding what this is going to look like from a leadership perspective when we all get back in the same room is important for players. It’s comforting for players and allows us as an organization to all move ahead together."

"It’s valuable not only for the manager, but for the guys in here," Semien said of the continuity. "To come back strong, understand what this year was. Learn from it and come back hungry as a group. We want to finish strong here first…and work hard in the offseason. Show up ready to improve."

It’s the last homestand of the year.

That sentence brings no small measure of relief. This has been a trying season for the Royals, and it’s certainly been a trying last month for the Royals. They have lost 14 of their last 19 games. And unlike some past years where the Royals have pivoted to playing a young lineup, there is little potential excitement in this year’s squad. We know who’s good, and everybody who isn’t good probably isn’t going to have a job in Kansas City next year.

It’s also the last Royals game I’m covering as a member of the press this year. As it was the first game of the homestand, both Matt Quatraro and JJ Picollo did pregame press conferences in the dugout. Here are some takeaways from that and from a few interviews in the clubhouse:

• Tony Gonsolin has been activated. Gonsolin has started 78 of his 86 career games—all for the Dodgers—but Q says he’s going to be in the bullpen for now. Next year, who knows; the Royals hold a 2027 club option for him, but he signed with the Royals because they offered him a job in the big leagues.
• Carter Jensen is, to quote Picollo, a “baseball rat.” What a term; he said it endearlingly. Anyway, Jensen is “in the conversation” to continue his spot in the leadoff role next year, but it depends on personnel. Read between the lines there a little and I think the Royals are pleased at how he’s performed but might prefer a more traditional leadoff guy next year.
• “This year’s work is going to be a lot different than last year.” Picollo knows that the team has to do more than just shore up some parts of the bullpen. I would expect a lot of moves.
• Speaking of a lot of moves, Picollo was asked about how the offseason would move forward if there were a lockout. The most interesting thing that he said was about how the Royals are eager to get stuff done before a potential lockout; that he wants to “push the envelope” as much as they can when the season ends.
• David Shields will start 2026 in Double-A. Kendry Chourio will play in Double-A sometime next year, too, but Picollo wouldn’t commit to him starting there at the beginning of the year.

Here we go:

White Sox lineup

Set for a new series pic.twitter.com/YlGoc46zRG

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 22, 2026

Royals lineup

Back in action to open the homestand vs. the White Sox. pic.twitter.com/KbK37xT2N1

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) September 22, 2026

Andy Green said he “didn’t expect” that he would take the reins as the Mets’ full-time manager, but over the last few weeks it became “more and more obvious” that his days with the interim tag next to his job title were numbered. 

“Simply put, I think Andy’s the perfect person for this job,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said at a news conference announcing Green as the permanent manager on a three-year contract Tuesday in Texas, adding he is “thrilled we got to this day” and is “looking forward to parenting” with Green going forward.

“Certainly, when I came down here three months ago I didn’t anticipate this day at all,” Green said. “Wasn’t anything I was thinking could happen, but that does not take away from my level of excitement and passion that I’ve felt over the last three months with this group of guys.”

Green, who spent four seasons managing in San Diego, said he wasn't going to look to get back in the dugout full time until his two youngest daughters graduated from high school. With them as seniors this year, Green said the timing was right, and that his family has “pivoted over the last three months as they’ve seen my passion rise.”

But “above anything else,” Green acknowledged the players in the clubhouse for influencing his decision to take on the full-time role.

“They’ve rekindled in me a love I had for being in the dugout, and I’ve enjoyed believing in them, encouraging, and challenging them,” he said. “At times, holding them accountable and being a mirror for them, and seeing themselves for what they’re doing. I have been grateful for how they have responded

“Certainly know that we have not met the level of expectation of what we want to do in a win-loss capacity, but I am excited to go forward with that group. I have a ton of belief in that group and what we can do together and what we anticipate doing together.”

Green’s future with the club and if he would be a candidate for the managerial job was a topic just about every time Stearns spoke the last few weeks. And just about every time it was asked, the response from Stearns and Green was that he would be returning to the front office for the 2027 season. That changed with the manager calling the executive earlier this month.

“He gave me a call sometime in the first week of September, and wanted to let me know that his passions had changed a little bit,” Stearns said. “I think Andy was very careful to not assume anything, but he wanted me to know that if we wanted him to be a candidate, he was eager to do that. He was willing to serve the organization in whatever capacity we thought was best, but that his passion was in the dugout.”

Stearns admitted that call “got his head spinning a little bit,” but after digesting the change, there were a number of conversations leading to him giving his recommendation to ownership to go with Green.

For his part, Green said he started to feel that itch – what he later called "an overwhelming sense of joy and purpose" – in late July, which was a “tough time to start saying you’re feeling more passion for being in the dugout.”

“It was trade deadline time; we weren’t necessarily winning baseball games, there were a lot of conversations that had to be had with players to help walk them through difficult chapters,” Green said. “And I started thinking, if I have such a passion for the hard times, I’m looking forward to the good times.”

Green added that with August and moving forward with the new group after the deadline, it became “more and more clear,” and that once he reached the decision with his family, he made the call to Stearns.

Stearns said that the organization did "a significant amount of due diligence on external candidates" to uphold their "responsibility" to make sure they knew who else would be out there before Green put pen to paper on the contract, "but we never got to the point of interviewing an external candidate."

Green, who has a 37-38 record since he took over as interim following the firing of Carlos Mendoza, said he feels getting key pieces back from injury and the players have "gelled together and enjoyed playing together," which helped them play better baseball of late.

"This is a player-led business where they gotta take ownership of their careers and have the initiative to make this place great," Green said. "I think they've felt a transferring of that ownership and initiative. And I think they've risen up and played better baseball. Perfect baseball? No. And is there better baseball than we've played up 'til now? Yes.

But the newly minted skipper is "encouraged" by the way they have come together and "played with a better measure of freedom" since he came into the dugout.

"I think you see that on a pretty daily basis, so encouraged by those things," he continued. "We still have real strides to make to get to where we wanna go. We're very aware of that."

In making those strides for next season, Green told the clubhouse on Tuesday, after informing them of his new contract, that the "bright lights next year will reveal the work they did or didn't do in the shadows of the offseason."

"We have a lot of work to do on an individual basis," he said. "And each one of those guys is responsible for coming back as a better version of themselves and transferring that ownership to them was imperative to do, and it's why I'm so hungry to just get this announcement out of the way and move forward so we can have player meetings and talk to them individually about, 'Where's your next stride? Where's the next step? How do you get back to your best level of greatness?' And then try to set up an offseason where we're all collectively pushing in that direction.

"For me, there's a lot of work ahead. And the last three months there's been progress. Enough [progress]? No, we've got more to do."

Stearns added that he sees Green as having an ability to “connect the organization in ways that very few people could.”

“He allows us to connect front office to dugout, he allows us to connect minor league to major league, and he provides us a level of continuity that we need right now,” he said. “And a level of stability and belief that I think our players and our entire organization covet.”

And that his experience is a huge plus for the Mets heading into 2027.

“His experience throughout his career in this game, his experience in our organization over the last three years, our relationship that we’ve developed, and his ability to lead our clubhouse makes him the right choice,” Stearns said. “I’m thrilled that Andy has gotten to the point where this is the right choice for him and his family, as well. And I think we’re in very good hands in our dugout going forward.”

Stearns said that no decision had been made about the rest of the Mets coaching staff, and they would conduct a full review during the offseason, which is the organization's standard procedure.

Mets lineup

Francisco Lindor – SS
Juan Soto – LF
Bo Bichette – 3B
Mark Vientos – 1B
Carson Benge – RF
Marcus Semien – 2B
Francisco Alvarez – DH
A.J. Ewing – CF
Luis Torrens – C

SP: Sean Manaea – LHP

Rangers lineup

Wyatt Langford – LF
Corey Seager – SS
Josh Jung – 3B
Jake Burger – 1B
Brandon Nimmo – RF
Ezequiel Duran – CF
Justin Foscue – 2B
Elias Diaz – DH
Danny Jansen – C

SP: MacKenzie Gore – LHP

First pitch: 8:05 PM EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

New York Mets @ Texas Rangers

Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 7:05 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

The Shed

LHP Sean Manaea vs. RHP MacKenzie Gore

The Mets can’t be assed to release a lineup. Here is Texas’:

Rangers lineup for September 22, 2026 vs. New York-NL pic.twitter.com/U8gdhrRemm

— Texas Rangers PR (@TXRangersPR) September 22, 2026

Go Rangers!

Playing out the string.

Brandon Williamson gets the start on Tuesday night in Atlanta as the Cincinnati Reds begin their penultimate series of the season against the Braves.

JR Ritchie will start for Atlanta, and he’ll chuck out the game’s first pitch at 7:15 PM ET.

The Braves have already clinched the NL East and have the slimmest of chances to earn a 1st round bye, so this game is more likely than not nothing more than a footnote of history.

Here’s how both teams will line up to start, however:

Earlier this afternoon, we saw the blueprint for what an Aaron Judge-less postseason run will have to look like: Incredible performance from the starter, good defense, and just enough hitting to get by. The Yankees will look to repeat that in the nightcap of today’s doubleheader, with a crackling starting pitcher matchup.

Max Fried toes the slab in the Bronx, having an excellent season albeit one twice interrupted by injury. He’s rounding out the regular season with one of my favorite statistical quirks, an identical 2.63 ERA and FIP. Had he avoided the IL with a year like this, the Yankees would have two of the likely top three finishers in Cy Young voting, but all we can ask of Max tonight is that he delays the Rays’ champagne celebration at least one more day.

Opposing him is a starter who will get his share of Cy Young votes, although he won’t sniff the award itself. Across 29 starts Drew Rasmussen has posted a four-and-a-half win year by fWAR, and a stellar 4.5-percent walk rate. If you wanna get on against Drew, you have to hit your way aboard, and even then he runs a 44-percent groundball rate. The Yankees are going to have to rely on one big swing a game for a little while, and that’s going to have to be the way they beat Rasmussen.

The Yankees’ lineup features a familiar presence returning from the IL, as Jazz Chisholm Jr. is back from his brief absence and will man the keystone. Max Schuemann was demoted to make room for Jazz on the active roster. If the man has a hot stretch ready for the end of his bumpy walk year, now would be the time to kick it off.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY

First pitch: 7:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Rays.TV, TBS (out-of-market only)

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | WDAE 95.7 FM, WQBN/1300AM (TB)

Streaming: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Ready for the Nightcap. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/Ea89PkrVuu

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 22, 2026

Night Shift

👀: https://t.co/FG0urYWuwh
👂: 95.7 WDAE pic.twitter.com/7aw6e6JGes

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 22, 2026

Here’s the Guardians lineup:

Oh, look at that. Another big series.#GuardsBall | #StandGuardpic.twitter.com/iVbXO3qRgl

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 22, 2026

Here’s the Red Sox lineup:

Back home! pic.twitter.com/KKzVhO1xew

— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 22, 2026

Let’s go, Guardians!

Detroit Tigers (74-83) vs. Washington Nationals (73-84)

Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site:Federal Baseball
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Drew Anderson (5-6, 3.62 ER) vs. LHP Jackson Kent (1-4, 6.40 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Anderson	48	102.0	25.1	9.9	49.1	4.19	0.7
Kent	7	32.1	17.9	15.2	49.0	4.37	0.4

158/162

⚾️ 6:40 PM ET
📺 @WatchDSN
📻 @971theticketxyt
🏟️ Comerica Park pic.twitter.com/kBAKviWM7U

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 22, 2026

lineup near me

→ https://t.co/3oYxA8Hsm0pic.twitter.com/nPSGInzWic

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 22, 2026

For the first time since getting traded by the Mets during the offseason, Brandon Nimmo gets a chance to play against his former team.

With New York in Texas for a three-game series against the Rangers, Nimmo was finally able to share his thoughts on playing for and leaving the Mets, what’s gone wrong for New York this season and recently, as well as the Pete Alonso situation at Citi Field that took the baseball world by storm last week.

To kick things off, though, Nimmo expressed excitement over playing his old club, a series that he circled early on after joining the Rangers and one that comes at a time when his team, at 78-78, is in first place in the AL West and leading the Houston Astros by one game.

“I obviously knew this series was coming up and it’s not like it surprised me or anything, so it’s gonna be fun to see those guys again and fun to play against them on the field,” Nimmo said. “It’s gonna be interesting.”

The Mets, of course, have already been eliminated from playoff contention after one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, but they’ll do their best to play spoiler against Nimmo and the Rangers and end the year on a high note.

In fact, New York has actually played much better since its fire sale at the trade deadline, which is something Nimmo has noticed and is not taking lightly.

“I think it’s been a tale of two stories,” he said. “I think that the team in the beginning, from what I’ve seen from the outside, is much different than the team that they are now. Not just because of the trade deadline, but they seem to be playing better baseball now and so I think it’s a real formidable team over there. 

“For us, we’re looking to really go play some good baseball against them tonight because we know that they’re very dangerous. It was obviously not the way that they drew it up for things to start, but that’s baseball. You can’t predict the future.”

It’s true, at 71-85 on Sept. 22, this wasn’t where the Mets pictured themselves before the season started. After trading Nimmo and moving on from a core that wasn’t able to get it done over the last few years, including Alonso, who they let walk in free agency, David Stearns and the Mets still had a plan to compete in 2026.

That plan included a bunch of fresh faces, some old and some new like Carson Benge, who made the team out of spring training and has been a ROTY candidate, as well as A.J. Ewing, who emerged as the team’s everyday center fielder and added a spark when New York desperately needed one.

“Benge seems like the real deal. What a great player all around,” Nimmo said. “…Ewing, seems like he’s got a lot of tools and seems like a great player – obviously playing center field is a really hard thing to do and he’s doing a great job of that. 

“From what I’ve seen from the young guys that they have over there, it seems like a really bright future, so I think that they definitely have that hammered down and seems like they’re doing great and good things to continue to come from them.”

From that aspect, moving on from Nimmo, who has four years remaining on his eight-year, $162 million contract, made sense and has worked out for the Mets.

Even Nimmo understands that.

“I honestly just think we weren’t thought of as the solution moving forward,” he said, referring to himself and Alonso. “I don’t think we were blamed for what happened in the past, I think we were just thought of as not the solution going forward. I tried not reading any more into that than that… For me, I didn’t look at it like ‘hey, we blame you guys’ that’s not how I looked at it.”

But while the Nimmo trade has been, for the most part, a clean break, the Alonso situation still looks like a bad breakup.

That was obviously on full display at Citi Field recently when Alonso and the Baltimore Orioles came to Queens for a three-game set which drew boisterous crowds all three nights and came to a head when Alonso hit his 300th career home run to tie the game in the ninth inning.

“There’s a lot of people that love Pete and there’s a lot of people that love what he did for that Mets organization,” Nimmo said about the circumstances. “…People are gonna go watch those franchise guys and root for them.”

Nimmo was also in awe of his former teammate’s performance during that series, but wasn’t surprised by it as he saw it time and time again with the Mets.

“I know Pete and he lives for those moments and there’s very, very, very few people that can live for those moments and come through in them and Pete’s one of them,” he said. “I think [the home run in] Milwaukee probably solidified that for most Mets fans, but I’ve seen it time and time again.”

He continued: “For me, I thought it was a really cool experience for them and the Mets fans and I just think it’s so Pete that like he would go back and do that and put on a show for the fans.”

Part of the reason why fans reacted the way they did during Alonso’s homecoming is because of Stearns' plan to replace him and the lack of production coming from first base this season. The other part was to show Alonso the love that they felt during his time with the Mets – the same love that they showed Nimmo, who spoke about what it’s like playing in New York.

“This is completely different,” he said, referring to the media and public scrutiny. “How much is looked into every single day and the exposure of every single day rather than kind of taking things in stride from month to month. [In New York], it’s like did you do it today or did you not? And you have to own up to that and it’s something that I learned really early on, way back in Brooklyn. I grew up in the system and I figured it out really early on, but when you come from other places and you go into it, it’s completely different.

“Playing in New York is a different animal and it’s good, it’s a really great thing and I think that the New York market is awesome and it’s a great place to win and I developed great relationships there, but it is not for everyone. That is for sure."

Just 6 games to go for the St. Louis Cardinals this season. Tuesday night, it’s the beginning of a 3-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Andre Pallante will get the start for the Cardinals while the Pirates will give the ball RHP Jared Jones. First pitch at PNC Park in Pittsburgh is scheduled for 5:40pm central time and the game broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.

1. JJ Wetherholt (L) 2B
2. Iván Herrera (R) DH
3. Alec Burleson (L) 1B
4. Jordan Walker (R) RF
5. Leo Bernal (S) C
6. Bryan Torres (L) LF
7. Thomas Saggese (R) 3B
8. Nathan Church (L) CF
9. Masyn Winn (R) SS

Last night was not a competitive performance from the Nats. The offense did not show up and the pitching put them in a hole. Hopefully the boys can get back to playing like they have the past couple weeks. With only five games to go, this season is almost over. Why not finish strong.

Blake Butera is making a couple alterations to his lineup. The struggling Abi Ortiz is out of the lineup in favor of Andres Chaparro. Yohandy Morales plays DH, which means the outfield consists of Daylen Lile, Dylan Crews and James Wood. CJ Abrams will shift to second base as well. Keibert Ruiz will do the catching tonight. Riley Cornelio will open for Jackson Kent.

Nationals 9/22

J. Wood RF
D. Lile LF
D. Crews CF
C. Abrams 2B
A. Chaparro 1B
J. Vivas 3B
Y. Morales DH
K. Ruiz C
N. Nuñez SS

R. Cornelio SP

— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) September 22, 2026

The Tigers are adding two exciting left handed rookies to this lineup. Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark are both in there tonight. Clark will play center, while McGonigle plays third base. Both Dillon Dingler and Riley Greene are on the bench tonight. Swingman Drew Anderson will get the start for Detroit tonight.

158/162

⚾️ 6:40 PM ET
📺 @WatchDSN
📻 @971theticketxyt
🏟️ Comerica Park pic.twitter.com/kBAKviWM7U

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 22, 2026

Game Info:

Stadium: Comerica Park

Time: 6:40 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

Hopefully the Nats can put up more of a fight in this one. They had been playing some solid baseball. We are getting very close to the end of the season and I do not have many more game threads to write for a while. I will miss this! Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats.

The San Diego Padres are here to stay. They only need one more win (and one Arizona Diamondbacks loss) to clinch the postseason on Tuesday night versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Friars throttled the Miami Marlins, sweeping the away team and outscoring them 22-11 in the series sweep.

The Friars got an incredible performance from Walker Buehler. The starter went 6 2/3 innings and was nearly perfect through the first six. The trouble came in the seventh when Buehler surrendered a three-run shot to Javier Sanoja. Thankfully, San Diego’s offense has been rolling lately. The lineup has scored a ridiculous 80 runs in their last 11 games, for an average of 7.3 runs per game. They’ll need that to continue to clinch versus the Dodgers.

Taking the mound

Brock Stewart (LAD) v. Michael King (SD)

It seems like L.A. is pitching a bullpen game tonight. Stewart was announced as the starter for the Dodgers, but will likely only cover the first 1-2 innings as an opener. The right-hander owns a 2.55 ERA across 24 2/3 innings pitched this season. It’s been tougher lately though, with Stewart surrendering three runs in his last seven appearances.

It seems likely that Justin Wrobleski will appear to cover the middle innings. He had a phenomenal start to the season, but has struggled since with a 4.40 ERA in his last 15 games and a dismal 7.62 ERA in his last 23 2/3 innings. Wrobleski hasn’t faced San Diego this season.

King has been the Padres’ ace this season. He’s stepped up in a major way after an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. The right-hander owns a 3.03 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP through 181 innings pitched. He’s been even better down the stretch, with a 2.73 ERA in his last 15 starts (89.0 IP) and a 2.01 ERA in his last seven (44.2 IP).

Not only that, but King has pitched quite well versus Los Angeles this season. The righty has surrendered six runs across 17 1/3 innings pitched against the Dodgers. Most of that damage came on June 28, with King surrendering four runs in 4 1/3 innings. In his other two starts, King pitched a seven-inning shutout and a six innings of two-run ball.

Batter up!

Jake Cronenworth has been more than due lately. He’s batting .229 on the season with a dismal .637 OPS. That said, he plays above-average defense all around the diamond and has been quite the utility player for San Diego. He became so much more than that on Sunday afternoon, putting together his first multihomer game of the season. Cronenworth is currently on a 10-game hitting streak and has batted .464/.516/.786 in his last seven games.

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
2. Dustin Harris, RF
3. Manny Machado, DH
4. Ty France, 1B
5. Jackson Merrill, CF
6. Xander Bogaerts, SS
7. Jake Cronenworth, 3B
8. Samad Taylor, LF
9. Freddy Fermin, C

Machado has been DH-ing quite a bit lately. It’s possible that his hand is injured and the Padres are making sure their star third baseman will be ready come playoffs. He’s actively winced multiple times at the plate since seeming to injure it during San Diego’s recent road trip.

Relief corps

With Buehler pitching six pristine innings before collapsing in the seventh, only three relievers needed to be used. Kyle Hart got the final out of the seventh before Bradgley Rodriguez came in. He pitched a scoreless eighth and Mason Miller started warming up with the score at 5-3. That changed quickly when Cronenworth knocked in his second homer of the day, but Miller still came out to finish the game.

With the off day on Monday, the Padres will have their whole ‘pen available for their series opener in L.A. That said, those who will be readily available are Griffin Canning, Kyle Hart, Yuki Matsui, Adrian Morejon, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta and Randy Vásquez. King shouldn’t have too many troubles, but the Friars have options if their ace struggles.