Category: MLB

The Tigers looked to right the ship after several crushing, walk-off losses in Cleveland over the weekend, coming home for a three-game series against another division rival, the Minnesota Twins. They got a little revenge on their opponent for bashing them around last week, starting off the series with a tight 5-4 win featuring a long home run from a guy on a heck of a hot streak.

Troy Melton has been having a sensational year for the Tigers, and he started for them today. However, his previous start was in Minnesota and it did not go well: while he got into the sixth, he was charged with five earned runs (with another pair unearned) on the way to a 15-2 drubing.

Making his twenty-fourth start of the season for the Twins was Joe Ryan, who’s been a stalwart in their rotation since the tail end of 2021. He’s having his usual “above average, but not outrageously so” season: striking out a little more than one per inning, keeping traffic more-or-less off the basepaths, However, back in early August he strained his left gluteus maximus muscle and this is his first start back from spending time on the shelf, and it’s funny (to me, anyway) to think that “straining your ass” can be an actual baseball injury. He wasn’t going to go deep in this one.

The Twins made noise early: a leadoff plunking and single in the first was followed, after a strikeout, by a double steal to put runners on second and third with one out. A weak grounder to John Peck at shortstop produced a high throw home which allowed the annoying Luke Keaschall to score from third and put runners at the corners. Fortunately the next batter hit a harder grounder at Peck, who turned it into a 6-3 double play. But at that point the Tigers were behind — something they never were, at any point, during the Cleveland series. Le sigh.

Kevin McGonigle wouldn’t stand for that, though: he hit a laser-beam line drive into the right-field seats in the bottom of the first to even the score at 1-1.

Zach McKinstry led off the bottom of the second with a triple to the right-field corner, and then Ryan couldn’t find the strike zone: he walked Max Clark and then hit Peck and Colt Keith on consecutive pitches to drive in McKinstry. McGonigle then hit a grounder to first; the throw came home a little wild as Clark raced home to score for a 3-1 lead. It looked like the Tigers might be able to break the game open at that point, but a strikeout and a groundout kept the score static.

Things were quiet until one out in the top of the fourth when Trevor Larnach hit a line-drive home run to right field to narrow the lead to 3-2.

After Ryan’s pair of plunkings and the fielder’s choice in the second, he settled down and got the next eight hitters in a row, ending his day after 66 pitches and four innings. Remember, he was coming back from a butt-strain. Connor Prielipp replaced him to start the bottom of the fifth; with one out, Gleyber Torres singled, and a white-hot Riley Greene said a little “how-do-you-do” to a four-seamer on the outer half of the plate:

Melton got the first two batters out in the top of the sixth; you had to wonder, is he going to go a full six or maybe even seven innings? Well, a pair of singles and a two-run double narrowed the score to 5-4 and ended Melton’s day, which is a darn shame. Tyler Kinley, who had a nice 1 ⅓-inning stint in Minnesota last week, was brought in to deal with the situation and he promptly walked Keaschall and Brooks Lee to load the bases for Old Friend™ Kody Clemens, who has had quite a season bashing dingers. He started Clemens off with a juicy middle-middle slider that got fouled off, but ended up freezing him on an inside fastball for strike three to end the inning. Baseball is fun!

Jacob Waguespack came on for the seventh and after a strikeout and a four-pitch walk, Royce Lewis hit a grounder to third for the ol’ 5-4-3 double play.

Drew Sommers was brought in for the eighth and Old Friend™ Ryan Kreidler walked, but like Waguespack before him, a double-play grounder followed. Walker Jenkins was plunked — the fifth hit-batsman of the day — and a comebacker went off Sommers’ glove and into centrefield to put runners on the corners. But a fly ball to right got Sommers and the Tigers out of a too-eventful inning unscathed.

After not adding any insurance in the bottom of the eighth, the Tigers brought out Kenley Jansen to face the heart of the Twins’ lineup. Clemens led off with a walk, and the dangerous Ryan Jeffers hit a long fly ball to centrefield; Clark caught it at the wall while Clemens was near second base, so he couldn’t tag up to advance on the out. (It was a 411-foot out: Comerica gives, and it takes away.) And you’re thinking shoot, a walk and a long fly ball, what are we in for here? But on the very next pitch, Josh Bell hit a grounder to Peck at shortstop for a 6-3 game-ending double play, the first double play behind Jansen all year. See? It’s fun, everyone!

Final score: Tigers 5, Twins 4

Numbers and Commemorations

• Those walk-off losses in Cleveland (three in a four-game series) really stung. But do you remember the wretched 1989 season in which the Tigers lost four consecutive walk-off losses against the California Angels in late July? I sure don’t, as they were all on the west coast and probably past my bedtime, especially the third one which went sixteen innings.
• The Tigers may have had a generally lousy weekend in Cleveland, but Riley Greene found his groove, going 6-for-12 with three doubles and a pair of home runs, scoring four times. And then the home run today amidst a 3-for-4 performance? Looks like we got Greeney goin’.
• Spencer Torkelson’s 2026 season is exceptionally average by his standards. I’ll give his 2026 stat, with his career average in parentheses… batting average, .222 (.226); on-base percentage, .313 (.311); slugging percentage, .411 (.412); OPS, .724 (.722). I mean, that’s not Khris Davis-level consistency, but that’s creepily close.
• The radio broadcast used an instrumental snippet from “Life During Wartime” by the Talking Heads. You know what really propels that song? The extra percussion.
• Happy Labour Day, everyone! Today is the day on which we celebrate the achievements of organized labour: health and safety standards, the power of collective bargaining, and even things so basic (like an eight-hour work day and paid overtime) that most of us take for granted. These were all hard-fought gains, the struggles for which saw people lose their lives in the name of worker rights. Solidarity!

For most of the game, things had largely trended the Cubs way. They got a home run from their 9-hole hitter, Pedro Ramirez, in the fifth inning off Robert Gasser, and chased him from the game two batters later. Another short start, another long stretch for the Brewers bullpen.

Meanwhile, Matthew Boyd was carving up the Crew. He allowed an answer in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 1-1, but was fantastic through seven innings. The Cubs took the lead in the 7th with a two-out rally started by Pete Crow-Armstrong, who scored on a single from Alex Bregman.

With the Cubs leading 2-1 and their bullpen having been a bit of a dumpster fire of late, Craig Counsell opted to push Matthew Boyd back out there for the 8th inning. It turns out, he left Boyd out there a little too long.

Boyd started the 8th by allowing a leadoff walk to Garrett Mitchell, who supplied the Crew’s lone run back in that fifth inning with an RBI single. Then Joey Ortiz roped a double into the left field corner. A favorable bounce towards Ian Happ forced third base coach Matt Erickson to throw up the stop sign for Mitchell. But there were two men in scoring position and nobody out, and that’s when Counsell removed Boyd and went to his bullpen.

Ryan Zeferjahn entered to face Jackson Chourio, and the ever-aggressive Chourio punched a single through the right side to bring home Mitchell and Ortiz and give the Brewers the lead.

“Sometimes I feel like I was born for those moments, and other times I like the pressure that those moments bring.” Jackson Chourio said.

“He’s maturing as a hitter, and that’s not easy. (Zeferjahn)‘s throwing the ball almost 100 miles an hour and (Chourio)’s just trying to ‘Hey I’ve got to get him over, got to get him in. That was his mission” Pat Murphy said.

Christian Yelich would later add an insurance run in the inning, lifting a sacrifice fly to right with the bases loaded to bring home Chourio and make it a 4-2 Brewers lead. That run ended up being critical.

The Brewers then turned the ball over to Trevor Megill to close down the 9th. Things got even more interesting there.

After Megill gets a routine grounder to first base for the first out of the inning, he then gives up some loud contact to Pedro Ramirez, who looks like he’s about to have his second home run of the game, and then Luis Lara happened again.

“In that situation, I’m just reacting. That’s the only thing going through my head, reacting to the play and to the ball off the bat and just finding any way I possibly can to make the play there.” Luis Lara said.

Yet another incredible robbery from Lara gave the Brewers two outs and a chance to finish the Cubs off. Pete Crow-Armstrong stood in the way, and he made some loud contact as well, and this one wasn’t going to get robbed, as he got his 41st home run of the season to make it a one run game.

Seiya Suzuki was up next and hit a knuckling line drive to left that was tough to read and Chourio got a late break on it, but was able to make a diving grab in shallow left to end the game and secure the 4-2 win.

It was a very eventful final three batters, but Trevor Megill locked down his 27th save of the season and the Brewers got their 89th win of the year. The magic number to clinch the NL Central is down to 10.

Oct. 19

Today in sports history

Today is Oct. 19. On this date in:

1873: Representatives from Princeton, Rutgers and Yale met in New York to organize and standardize the rules of intercollegiate football, a major step in the development of American college football.

1940: Alabama ended Tennessee’s NCAA-record streak of 71 consecutive quarters without allowing a point, a run that had begun against LSU in 1938.

1957: Montreal Canadiens star Maurice “Rocket” Richard scored his 500th career NHL goal in a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Black Hawks, becoming the first player in league history to reach the milestone.

1960: Oscar Robertson and Jerry West made their NBA debuts against each other as the Cincinnati Royals defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 140-123 in the Lakers’ first regular-season game after relocating to Los Angeles.

1966: Bobby Orr made his NHL regular-season debut for the Boston Bruins and recorded an assist in a 6-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings, beginning one of hockey’s most celebrated careers.

1968: American Madeline Manning won the Olympic women’s 800 meters in Mexico City in an Olympic-record 2 minutes, 0.9 seconds.

1968: American Bill Toomey won the Olympic decathlon in Mexico City with an Olympic-record 8,193 points.

1981: Rick Monday hit a two-out home run in the ninth inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 2-1 victory over Montreal in Game 5 of the NLCS and send the Dodgers to the World Series.

1982: Rookie John Stuper pitched a complete-game four-hitter as the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Milwaukee Brewers 13-1 in Game 6 of the World Series to force a decisive seventh game.

1999: The Atlanta Braves defeated the New York Mets in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series to capture the NL pennant and advance to the World Series.

2004: Curt Schilling pitched seven innings on an injured ankle, with blood visible on his sock, as the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 4-2 in Game 6 of the ALCS to force Game 7 after trailing the series 3-0.

2005: The Houston Astros defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of the NLCS to clinch the first World Series berth in franchise history.

2006: Yadier Molina hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and Adam Wainwright struck out Carlos Beltrán for the final out as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the New York Mets 3-1 in Game 7 of the NLCS to reach the World Series.

2013: The Boston Red Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series to win the AL pennant and advance to the World Series.

2014: Peyton Manning threw his 509th career touchdown pass, breaking Brett Favre’s NFL record as the Denver Broncos routed the San Francisco 49ers 42-17.

2014: Brad Keselowski won the GEICO 500 at Talladega in a must-win situation to advance to the next round of the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.

2019: Jose Altuve hit a two-run, walk-off homer off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the ALCS, giving the Houston Astros a 6-4 victory over the New York Yankees and a berth in the World Series.

2022: Philadelphia Phillies ace Aaron Nola faced his brother, San Diego Padres catcher Austin Nola, in the National League Championship Series, marking the first pitcher-versus-batter matchup between brothers in MLB postseason history.

2024: Juan Soto hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning as the New York Yankees defeated Cleveland 5-2 in Game 5 of the ALCS, clinching their first World Series berth since 2009.

— USA TODAY Network

This story was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of information gathering, review, editing and publishing. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Today in sports history, October 19

You read the headline. You clicked on it – that’s why you’re reading this.

Chase Burns will lead the Cincinnati Reds into Monday night’s series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers. What we don’t yet know, though, is just how long he’ll be out there.

Monday will mark the first start of Burns’ spectacular 2026 season where he, us, them, and everyone will know he’s on a pitch count. It has been revealed that lefty Brandon Williamson is going to serve as a ‘piggyback’ starter with Burns, though we don’t know if that will come after 50 pitches, 70 pitches, 90 pitches, or what have you.

If I had to guess, I’d say it’ll be something close to 70 pitches for Burns tonight. All pitches are not created equal, of course, and the more high-leverage situations the Dodgers put him in early will clearly impact how much deeper he’s tasked with going. If he’s breezing, though, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him get to 70 and even finish an inning if that’s what presents itself.

As for Williamson, it will be another chance for him to show on a scheduled, multi-inning platform that he’s back from the litany of surgeries that robbed him of all of 2025 and most of 2026. His most recent outing showed promise (5.1 IP, 3 ER), and with Hunter Greene likely out for all of 2027 there’s a clear need for another quality starting pitcher on which the Reds can depend. This is the second big chance for B-Willy to show he can be just that.

It’s a late west coast start, obviously, with first pitch set for 9:10 PM ET.

Here’s how the Reds will line up to start:

Jonah Tongshowed the Mets just about every facet of his game in Monday's start against the Marlins in Miami.

The 23-year-old right-hander showed off his upside in the form of a good fastball-changeup combo to the tune of seven strikeouts. He showed the areas he still had to improve upon in a four-run inning. But he also showed that there's a big-league mentality in the way he responded.

“Really pleased with his outing,” interim manager Andy Green said about Tong after the Mets' 9-4 win, adding later, “He demonstrated a lot of toughness; we love to see that.”

Tong, who has been on a bit of a roller coaster as he rocketed up through the Mets' system last year from rather unheralded prospect to late-September call-up amid an ill-fated postseason push. But the rise ended there as he struggled at times during his debut month, and that carried over into the start of this year. 

The roller coaster continued in his first two innings of his first big-league start of the year on Monday: Tong struck out the first four Marlins he faced. And then he allowed the next four to all come around to score, as the home side overturned an early 3-0 deficit, with the damage coming on a first-pitch cutter going for a triple and a 1-2 fastball on the outside corner getting yanked for a three-run homer. 

“It’s just one of those things; the only hits he gives up all day are sequenced together right there, and the home run bites pretty hard at that point in time,” Green said. 

The young righty the homer stung, but the walk to the batter before that “sucked.”

“I can live with the hits,” Tong said. “I can control that part with the walk.”

But, as the interim skipper mentioned, Tong allowed just one hit, a walk, and a hit batter in his next three frames. 

“To watch him be a cutthroat competitor, get in there and go right back at them for the next three innings, it was really good,” Green said. “It's what you want to see from him. I know he’s not gonna love the line at the end of the day with the four runs coming in, but the way he pitched today was way better than that line is gonna indicate.”

Green added: “I love who he showed himself to be today. It was good to see.”

While Tong admitted to being "nitpicky" about his one walk and a few pitches he wanted back, the outing was decent for his first MLB start of the year. He got 15 outs on 87 pitches (55 strikes). The changeup was again the pitch for the right-hander, getting eight whiffs on 19 swings (42 percent) and accounting for five of his seven strikeouts. His four-seam fastball got him seven called strikes for a 44 percent called-strike-whiff rate on 27 offerings.

One pitch that wasn't used much was the curveball, just seven in the game. Green said he's "always loved” Tong’s curve, but he “didn’t have to use it” much in Monday’s outing. 

“It should feature prominently in his mix,” the interim manager said. “... Later in the game, he started to steal a strike with it. I think that probably throws teams off the scent a little bit. He can really zone it well, so it’s a great strike pitch; there’s times when he can get punchouts with it. 

“Should feature prominently in his arsenal. Today he got going without needing it, but it will be a part of what he does.”

Tong called the curveball to be a "big emphasis for him" in his evolution and one he's very "proud" of that he will continue to lean on as he develops. 

For the year, in his 15. big-league innings over four games, Tong has posted a 4.80 ERA with a 1.333 WHIP and 14 strikeouts.

And Monday's outing, along with his final 41 innings at Triple-A Syracuse since mid-July that saw him pitch to a 2.20 ERA and 1.146 WHIP with 44 strikeouts and 20 walks, are encouraging signs as much like the start against the Marlins on Monday, he responded to adversity – which came in the form of a 5.90 ERA and 1.639 WHIP over his first 61 innings at Triple-A – in earning more opportunities to show he belongs.

Two teams met today at 1:35 Eastern on Labor Day. One of them is sinking into irrelevance, limply making outs when runs are desperately needed. The other is hanging tough, gradually solidifying its hold on a playoff spot.

Today, you’d have been hard pressed to figure out which team was which. The Orioles quickly jumped on Cleveland starter Joey Cantillo – a control lefty! – with four runs in 2.1 innings. Meanwhile, in his 28th start of the season, Baltimore’s Trevor Rogers turned in yet another solid performance. Barring a terrible April/May, he’s allowed two or fewer runs in 19 of 21 starts. The lefty has been a rock in the rotation, and he was again today, going 7 1/3 innings to make his bullpen’s life easy.

Where was this offense against the league’s worst pitching staff in Colorado, where the Birds dropped a winnable series? Almost instantly, the Birds put up four runs on a Cleveland staff that proved delightfully command-challenged. Nothing came easy for Cleveland pitchers today, especially the starter Cantillo, who struggled to locate all day in the hot sun, giving up three hits, four runs, and five walks in just 2.1 innings.

Cantillo gifted the O’s several important free runners, including the first two batters of the game, Blaze Alexander and Pete Alonso. Nothing came of it then, but the O’s cashed in the second. Two more free bases, as Samuel Basallo got hit on the left hand (he’d stay in, seeming to be OK) and newcomer Rece Hinds walked on five pitches. Today, against a lefty, Dylan Beavers has was buried in the No. 9 spot, despite his solid .279/.367/.419 slashline over the last two weeks. Well, today it didn’t matter where you put him: Beavers waited on a 3-1 fastball and slammed it into the left field corner, scoring Basallo.

The Orioles weren’t done yet. Joey Cantillo was about to lose the plot. Er, the zone. The Birds left two runners on in the second, but come the third, they’d tack on three more runs, two on bases-loaded walks.

First, Coby Mayo homered. Imagine, Mayo homering against a lefty. It’s what he does now. It was a gorgeous blast to the left field second deck, the kind you make a “yuck” face at.

It didn’t get better for Cantillo. With one out, he walked Christian Encarnacion-Strand and served up a single to Basallo, the catcher’s second time on. It’s Basallo, he’s good, but Joey Cantillo probably didn’t want to also walk Rece Hinds to load the bases. Cleveland promptly lifted Cantillo, putting in the righty Franco Aleman. Dylan Beavers struck out swinging—two outs. Would the rally fizzle?

No, it didn’t fizzle, actually, thanks to Blaze Alexander, who put together an absolutely terrific at-bat. Not only did Blaze foul off off six pitches, keeping the swing short and tight, he did it after falling down 0-2 in the count. “What a walk!”exclaimed Kevin Brown from the MASN booth, calling it one of Blaze’s best AB’s all year. “Sometimes you get walked, and sometimes you earn it,” echoed Jim Palmer. True, indeed. Now it was 3-0, Orioles. Pete Alonso took a bases-loaded free pass, too, if less dramatically, and it was 4-0.

Granted, this productive offensive work could have been even more productive, as the Birds left on 12 runners today, a sign of how lavish Cleveland pitching was with the walks and singles. But given what the month of September has looked like for Baltimore, this is welcome.

And given how good O’s starter Trevor Rogers looked, by that point this game felt like a done deal. I don’t want to give Rogers stinting praise by lavishing little recap space on him, but I guess I will. What Rogers did, in compressed fashion, is make a good offense look bad while pitching deep into the game in highly efficient fashion. Rogers got through the first three innings in just 41 pitches, 32 of them for strikes, and he looked like that all game.

His one blemish was a solo run allowed in the sixth inning. It came on two straight singles and a bloop double down the right-field line, 71.3 mph off the bat of Jo Adell.

But that was all the hope that Rogers would allow Cleveland, and in the bottom of the inning, a 4-1 O’s lead became 6-1. First, Jackson Holliday singled off new Cleveland pitcher Slade Cecconi. Coby Mayo, killer of lefties, was apparently undeterred by Cecconi’s right-handedness, and he slugged his second of the game. “Beware of flying objects!” announced Kevin Brown.

That kind of did it. Rogers came out gamely for the seventh inning, facing the minimum again. Out he came, again, cool as a cucumber, for the eighth. He retired one and gave up a single before giving way to Rico Garcia, who did his cleanup thing perfectly to end the inning.

That left three more outs. With the O’s still down a real closer in Ryan Helsley and Félix Bautista (although both injured relievers are getting closer to a return this year), Andrew Kittredge has pitched the ninth more often than not. Today he again showed he’s not a real closer, even if the W was ultimately unharmed. Kittredge allowed two straight singles and an out, then hung a slider to pinch-hitting slugger Nathaniel Lowe. Bad move—and a really bad pitch. Lowe drove it to the flag court, and suddenly, at 6-4, this was a close game.

It should never have been this close, but Kittredge was allowed to face one more batter—Angel Genao, the Guardians’ second baseman, who grounded out. O’s manager Craig Albernaz put in lefty Josh Walker instead to try to get the last out. Walker did, throwing nothing but fastballs. Fly ball to right, game over. Orioles win!

Look, these games mean something. Today’s win doesn’t mean that the Orioles are a lock, or even likely, to earn a trip to the postseason, but it’s good to see them keep fighting. Maybe the Birds’ predictable unpredictability, which sunk them against a lowly team like the Rockies, will give them a competitive fire against the Guardians, a team playing these days with everything on the line.

So who was your Most Birdland Player of the day, CC’ers? If I’m being frank with you, I see two real choices. You could go starting pitching, with Trevor Rogers and his cool 7 1/3 one-run innings. Or you could opt for the long ball and pick Coby Mayo, who drove in three runs on two home runs, his first career multi-homer game. An outside-the-box choice, if you like a good batting eye, would be Blaze Alexander, who walked twice, including an 11-pitch gem with the bases loaded and two outs, to keep the rally alive. It’s good to have choices.

Craig Kimbrel came on in the 10th inning of a 0-0 tie game and allowed five singles en route to giving up five runs in a 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks. Ildemaro Vargas snuck a bunt under Kimbrel’s dive, and then a sacrifice fly scored the first run of the game for either team. From there it went off the rails, as Kimbrel gave up single after single and the runs poured in. Five, in total. It wasn’t all on Kimbrel – Rave flubbed fielding a ball in right field – but the damage was done.

The game wasn’t over yet. The Royals offense finally woke up in the bottom half of the 10th and valiantly tried to pick Kimbrel up. Kyle Isbel walked to lead off the inning. Carter Jensen hit a double to give the Royals their first run of the game. Witt was hit by a pitch to load the bases, bringing up The Captain. Perez doubled to bring all three runners in. Michael Massey hit a long fly ball to move pinch-runner Tyler Tolbert to third base, which meant the tying run was on third with two outs and Nick Loftin up to bat. Loftin unfortunately challenged the wrong pitch in his plate appearance, letting a questionable first pitch strike call go by and using the last challenge later on a more obvious strike call. Unfortunately, he seemed to be fishing for the walk and let two close pitches go by in a clutch situation. He was called out on strikes to end the game.

It was an absolute shame because Noah Cameron turned in a brilliant performance. He was mixing his pitches well, keeping the D-Backs completely guessing nearly every plate appearance. He induced some really bad swings, like guys swinging out of their shoes, and some bad knee-buckling takes too. Cameron struck out the side in the third; he did not walk anyone until the fourth inning. He already had five strikeouts by that time.

He gave up his second walk in the sixth inning, a leadoff walk, but no damage done. He completed six full innings and gave up only three hits. He allowed zero runs, walked two guys, and struck out seven. He allowed only two batted balls above 100mph in exit velocity. He allowed zero runners to reach second base! Nate Pearson pitched two dominant innings of relief after him.

In a goofy coincidence, both teams had unassisted double plays in which the corner defender caught a line drive and tagged the base to force out the baserunner. For the Royals, it happened in a crucial situation – with no outs and runners on the corners in the ninth, Nick Loftin caught a liner from Nolan Arenado and dove to the bag to tag it with his glove to force out Ketel Marte. Going from first/third no outs to runner on first with two outs in the ninth…that was a relief (at the time). Steven Cruz struck out pinch-hitter Corbin Carroll to escape the ninth without giving up a run.

But Kimbrel couldn’t hold the tie.

Ideally, the team wouldn’t even be in a 0-0 situation like that in a bullpen game. The Royals mounted a couple scoring threats in regular time but couldn’t cross the plate. In the fourth, a walk and a single put men on first and second, but Michael Massey struck out to end the threat. In the fifth, John Rave doubled with one out. Matthew Lugo singled on a ground ball between the third baseman and shortstop, which meant Rave had to hold until the ball went through. Rave made it to third but no further. Kyle Isbel tried a squeeze bunt, but he hit it in the air and too far so that Ildemaro Vargas could slide and catch the bunt for an out. Carter Jensen walked to load the bases for Bobby Witt Jr. Witt put a fly ball into the right-center gap, but Tim Tawa caught it on the warning track for the third out.

The bullpen woes continue in a lost season. It’s hard to watch. This is nothing new.

There will be another game tomorrow despite the bullpen. The Royals and D-Backs will play at 6:40pm US Central.

The Guardians lost 6-4 to the Baltimore Orioles today

Joey Cantillo was, again, awful. He went 2 and 1/3rd and gave up four runs and five walks and hit two batters. Franco Aleman wasn’t great, either and Slade Cecconi surrendered his scheduled homer. I vote Austin Peterson gets the Cantillo starts for the rest of 2026, until such a time as Ben Lively would demonstrate his readiness.

Steven Kwan and Jo Adell had two hits and Nathaniel Lowe hit a three-run homer in the ninth. So, that’s nice to see some life.

I don’t know if this team is gonna do anything with Jose’s hand like it is, currently. But, today was the scheduled loss of this series. Let’s get these guys the next two.

MIAMI — One rough inning wasn’t going to sabotage Jonah Tong’s major league return. 

Back to the laboratory after allowing four runs in the second inning Monday, the rookie right-hander utilized a steady array of changeups and cutters for his final three frames, largely avoiding his four-seam fastball. The adjustment helped Tong finish strong. 

Tong got the win, and the Mets won for the fourth time in five games, 9-4 over the Marlins. 

This team playing for next season has started reevaluating the 23-year-old Tong, a third rookie to join Nolan McLean and Zac Thornton in the rotation. 

“Last year, I felt like a kid going out there every time, being shell-shocked,” said Tong, who started five games late in 2025. “Now, it’s more like my feet are kind of more set than they were last year and it’s just go out there and do my job.” 

Tong allowed four earned runs on four hits and one walk with a hit batsman over five innings and struck out seven. It was a welcome return to the major leagues for Tong (who had two previous stints with the club) after he pitched to a 0.84 ERA in his last four starts for Triple-A Syracuse. 

Tong’s major misstep on this day was the three-run homer he surrendered to Graham Pauley in the second inning. 

“Really pleased with the outing,” interim manager Andy Green said. “The second inning is one of those things that the only hits he gives up all day are sequenced together right there, and then the home run bites pretty hard. But to watch him be a cutthroat competitor, get back in there and go back at them for the next three innings, it was really good. 

“It’s what you want to see from him. I know he’s not going to love the line at the end of the day, with four runs coming in, but the way he pitched today is way better than that line is going to indicate.” 

Tong said he turned to his cutter and changeup (and away from his four-seamer) as the game progressed with an eye toward quicker outs. 

“It was more quality of contact and assessing that we wanted to go deeper into the game and obviously we needed to get some quicker outs,” Tong said. “It was just seeing what was in front of us.” 

A 16-hit attack carried the Mets, who were swept in three games at this ballpark Memorial Day weekend and had lost four straight here overall, including Game 162 last season, when they fell a victory short of the playoffs. 

The Mets capitalized on sloppy Miami defense to score the game’s first run. Bo Bichette hit a grounder that Javier Sanoja threw into left field while attempting to get the force at second, allowing Juan Soto to score. Bichette scored when catcher Joe Mack threw errantly to second base while attempting to nail Carson Benge stealing. 

Nick Morabito’s RBI single in the third followed a Brett Baty double and gave the Mets a 3-0 lead against Eury Pérez. 

Tong struck out the first four batters he faced before getting knocked around in the second inning. After Sanoja delivered an RBI triple, Tong walked Owen Caissie and surrendered a three-run homer to Pauley that gave the Marlins a 4-3 lead. Pauley hit a 95 mph four-seamer on the outside corner over the right field fence. 

“It wasn’t even the home run — it was more just the walk before that,” Tong said. “That kind of sucked because I can live with the hits, it’s just I can control that part with the walk. Other than that, it’s just the same thing after every pitch, and it’s really easy to just move on from that.” 

Francisco Alvarez’s RBI single in the fourth tied the game after Marcus Semien hit a leadoff double and A.J. Ewing reached on an infield single. 

Bichette’s RBI single in the fifth reclaimed the lead for the Mets. With two outs, Ewing stroked a two-run double that extended the Mets lead to 7-4. The rally started with singles by Francisco Lindor and Soto. 

Semien’s RBI double in the sixth widened the Mets lead to 8-4 before Ewing delivered his third hit of the game, an RBI single. 

“I thought we were great up and down the lineup,” Green said. 

Padres fans have already shown what they are willing to endure for a coveted giveaway. Joe Musgrove’s wizard makeover could test that restraint again.

San Diego will celebrate Harry Potter Day during Monday’s Labor Day game against the Nationals, with a limited-edition “School of Pitchcraft and Wizardry” Musgrove bobblehead anchoring the promotion.

The collectible is available only through a designated Theme Game package, not with a standard ticket.

One Musgrove bobblehead presale was marked sold for $50 before the promotion. Other Harry Potter-themed MLB collectibles have commanded more. Aaron Judge versions from the Yankees’ 2026 event were marked sold for $75 and $99.99, while a Drake Baldwin-Braves edition was offered for $99.99 with at least one sold.

Listings do not guarantee future value, but the market suggests Musgrove may quickly graduate from souvenir to resale inventory.

The Padres already know how feverish demand can become.

Their April puffer-vest giveaway, advertised for the first 40,000 fans, descended into pushing and fights after popular sizes reportedly ran out. Viral videos showed employees struggling to control the surge, while delays caused some fans to miss the beginning of the game. The Padres subsequently apologized.

Harry Potter Day uses a package-ticket system, which should make the supply easier to manage. Fans can still expect costumes, house scarves and a ballpark atmosphere designed to resemble a different kind of school.

There is also a small Southern California coincidence. A 290-foot superyacht reportedly owned by “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling recently docked at Marina del Rey with its name concealed. Rowling has not confirmed that she is in California, and there is no known connection between the vessel and the Padres’ event.

The real attraction remains in San Diego, where fans do not need an owl, wand or sorting ceremony to obtain Musgrove’s bobblehead.

They need the correct ticket package — and, considering the Padres’ recent giveaway history, an early arrival would not hurt.

Here’s how cursed the Angels remain, no matter the owners (for now): Brayan Bello started today’s game and went 5 innings with 7Ks and without allowing a run. The last time he did anything comparable to that at home this year was all the way back on May 22nd, when he shut out the Twins over 5 with 5 Ks, back when the Sox were just the worst. Now they’re good, and they proved it in the 2nd inning against Grayson Rodriguez, with a warmup solo shot from Jarren Duran:

Followed by the main event, a three-run stealth bullet from Adley:

Bring us 6 tomorrow, fellas.

The Nats suffered from familiar problems this weekend against the Dodgers, with the bullpen up to their usual tricks. However, they have a chance to bounce back and be spoilers against the Padres. The Friars are deep in the wild card hunt, but the Nats have a chance to put a dent in their playoff dreams.

Blake Butera is shaking up his lineup today. CJ Abrams is back at shortstop due to Nasim Nunez’s offensive struggles. That moves Jorbit Vivas to second base. The outfield consists of Dylan Crews, Jacob Young and James Wood with Daylen Lile at DH. Abi Ortiz will be at first base and Keibert Ruiz is behind the plate. Jake Irvin will be on the bump.

Some Padres mainstays such as Tatis, Machado, Merrill and Bogaerts are in the lineup. However, we will see a new face with 20 year old Ethan Salas starting behind the plate. Despite all these big names, Ty France has probably been the Padres best hitter this season. Nick Pivetta will be making his first big league start since April 12th.

Game Info:

Stadium: Petco Park

Time: 5:10 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

Playing the Padres is always exciting given the history between these two teams. Seeing James Wood and CJ Abrams spoil their playoff dreams would be awfully exciting. However, they will need some help from the bullpen. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

Jonah Tong earned the win in his first big league start of 2026, as the Mets bested the Marlins 9-4 in this series opener at loanDepot Park by taking advantage of some shoddy defensive work by Miami.

The Mets handed Tong a lead to work with right away, assisted heavily by the Marlins’ defense. With one out, Juan Soto lined a single up the middle that narrowly missed hitting Eury Pérez, which would have been potentially catastrophic given how hard the ball was struck. Bo Bichette then hit a grounder to second and rather than getting the sure out at first, Javier Sanoja tried to get the lead runner Soto at second, but he threw wildly and the ball went sailing into left field and all the way into foul territory, allowing Soto to score all the way from second base for the game’s first run and Bichette to reach second. Pérez then walked Carson Benge, but got Marcus Semien to fly out to right for the second out. Benge then stole second base and the Marlins made their second costly errant throw of the inning when catcher Joe Mack sailed the throw into center field, allowing Bichette to score. Benge advanced to third on the error, but Pérez managed to limit the damage to just the two runs by getting A.J. Ewing to ground out to end the inning.

Jonah Tong responded by striking out the side in the bottom of the first to send the offense right back out there and they scored for Tong again. In fact, the Mets scored in each of five of the first six innings of the game. With one out, Brett Baty scorched a double to the gap in left-center. Nick Morabito then laced a single up the middle to score Baty and extend the Mets’ lead to 3-0. The Mets would load the bases on walks to Soto and Bichette, but Pérez once again managed to limit the damage.

Tong’s only tough inning came in the bottom of the second. Things started promisingly enough when he struck out Otto López—not an easy man to strike out—for his fourth straight K. But then things unraveled for Tong rather quickly. He gave up a single to Jakob Marsee for the Marlins’ first hit and Sanoja made up for his earlier defensive miscue with a triple to plate Miami’s first run. Tong then walked Owen Caissie and Grant Pauley socked a three-run homer to put the Marlins in front. Tong stopped the bleeding there, retiring the next two batters—the latter via another strikeout—but he had coughed up the early lead the Mets had given him.

However, the Marlins’ lead was short-lived, as the Mets tied the game in the third and took the lead in the fourth, after which they didn’t look back. Marcus Semien led off the third inning with a double and then the Mets benefited from another lapse in the field by the Marlins when A.J. Ewing hit a grounder between first and second on which Griffin Conine made a nice diving stop, but Eury Pérez failed to get over to cover first base, allowing Ewing to reach safely. Ewing eventually gave the out back by getting picked off and not staying in the rundown long enough to score Semien, who had advanced to third on the play. However, now without a runner on first, the Marlins brought their infield in and Francisco Alvarez hit a sharp grounder past the drawn in infield for a game-tying single. Tong only needed six pitches to retire the Marlins in the bottom of the third and the Mets put up a crooked number in his favor in the fourth—again with some help from the Marlins’ defense. Francisco Lindor led things off by blooping a single in front of a diving Caissie. Soto then hit a screamer right at López, but the 111 mph rope ate him up and deflected off of him into center field, advancing Lindor to third. Bo Bichette then laced an opposite field single to drive in Lindor and retake the lead 5-4. It looked like Pérez was poised to avoid a big inning again, as he bounced back to get Carson Benge to ground into a fielder’s choice at second and Semien to pop out in foul territory. But then A.J. Ewing, who continues to break out of his slump, blooped a double just fair down the left field line to score both runners and extend the Mets’ lead to 7-4.

Tong delivered another 1-2-3 inning in the fourth as he settled into the game and Cade Gibson came in the game in relief of Pérez for the Marlins and provided a rare scoreless frame for Miami. All told, Pérez gave up an unsightly seven runs on ten hits in just four innings. Only five of those runs were earned, but one could certainly argue that an even greater proportion were due to defensive plays that weren’t called errors, but should have been made. Meanwhile, Tong worked around a one-out hit by pitch in the fifth to become the pitcher of record and got handshakes in the dugout for a start the final line of which looked a lot worse than it actually was. In reality, the outing amounted to one bad inning that Tong managed to battle through and still keep his team in the game, striking out seven batters while walking only one.

The Mets piled on in the sixth against Josh Ekness. With one out, Carson Benge singled to right. Marcus Semien then laced a double down the left field line to drive him in and Ewing followed with a single to score Semien and make it a 9-4 game in the Mets’ favor. Ekness threw a wild pitch to advance Ewing to second and walked Francisco Alvarez before retiring Baty and Morabito to end the inning. The Marlins threatened in the bottom of the sixth against Dedniel Núñez when López and Jakob Marsee reached via back-to-back infield singles, but Marcus Semien made an excellent play on a grounder by Sanoja to turn a 4-4-3 double play. Núñez then struck out Caissie to escape the inning unscathed.

Chris Devenski was tasked with the bottom of the seventh for the Mets and worked around a hit by pitch and wild pitch with a couple of strikeouts to keep the Marlins off the board. Meanwhile, Bradley Blalock worked two scoreless innings for the Marlins in relief. Daniel Duarte pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning for the Mets in his first outing in five days. The Mets loaded the bases in the top of the ninth with nobody out against Blalock in his third inning of relief on a walk and two choppers by Morabito and Lindor that both went for infield hits, but then Soto hit a sharp grounder to Sanoja and this time the drawn in infield was to the Marlins’ benefit, as Sanoja whipped an excellent throw home for the first out and Soto was thrown out at first for the double play. Sanoja followed that great play with another web gem when Bo Bichette followed with a grounder up the middle on which Sanoja made a leaping throw to get Bichette by a stride at first.

Austin Warren was able to bounce back from his rough outing against the Giants to pitch a scoreless ninth inning to cap off four scoreless innings of relief for the Mets’ bullpen to seal the victory. He issued a leadoff walk to Javier Sanoja, but struck out the next two batters Caissie and Pauley looking and then picked Sanoja off first base to end the game.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Bo Bichette, +26% WPA
Big Mets loser: Jonah Tong, -15% WPA
Mets pitchers: -8% WPA
Mets hitters: +58% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: A.J. Ewing’s RBI double in the fifth, +18.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Grant Pauley’s go-ahead three-run homer off Jonah Tong in the second, -22.5% WPA

The Mets racked up 16 hits to take the first game of a three-game series against the Miami Marlins, 9-4, on Monday afternoon.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- New York took advantage of some poor defense by Miami in the first inning, scoring two unearned runs. Juan Soto was able to score from first base on Bo Bichette's grounder to second, as Javier Sanoja sailed the throw into no-man's land in left field. Bichette later scored easily from third base to make it 2-0 on another throwing error, this time by catcher Joe Mack trying to get Carson Benge stealing second base.

-- Brett Baty ripped a double to center field with one out in the second inning, giving him four straight games with an extra-base hit. He then came around to score on Nick Morabito's single to extend the lead to 3-0. 

-- Jonah Tong, making his first start of the season, allowed four runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk over 5.0 IP (87 pitches).

Tong struck out the side in the first inning, becoming just the third Met to do it this year (joining Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean). Although, the second inning was the complete opposite. He struck out his fourth straight to open the frame, but then let up a single, RBI-triple, walk, and three-run HR to Graham Pauley as the Marlins took a 4-3 lead.

The 23-year-old rebounded with a 1-2-3 third inning, followed by four-batter fourth and fifth innings to be in place for the win.

--The Mets fought back in the third inning as Marcus Semien won an ABS challenge to extend his at-bat and doubled, then A.J. Ewing reached first on an infield single to give them runners on the corners. Ewing made a rookie mistake and was caught in rundown trying to steal second, although Semien stayed at third base. Francisco Alvarez then came through and drove him in to tie it up at 4-4.

The top three of the order recorded three straight singles in the fourth, as Bichette earned the RBI and put New York back up, 5-4. Ewing made up for his mistake earlier, slicing a two-out, two-run double down the left field line to push the lead to 7-4.

-- After Benge singled with one out in the sixth, Semien drove him in with an RBI-double. Ewing added on again with an RBI-single, extending the lead to 9-4.

-- New York's bullpen carried the baton after Tong's day was done: Dedniel Núñez, Chris Devenski, Daniel Duarte, and Austin Warren combined to throw four scoreless innings of relief, allowing just two hits (both against Núñez). Warren capped it off with an impressive pick off to Baty at first to end the game.

Game MVP: A.J. Ewing

The rookie recorded his first three-hit game since Aug. 7, going 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI.

Highlights 

Bad fundies by the Marlins and Juan Soto comes all the way around to score from first on the throwing error! pic.twitter.com/evRWDggEom

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

The Mets score their second run of the inning on another Marlins throwing error pic.twitter.com/ynbcnksekZ

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

Jonah Tong strikes out the first batter he faces today pic.twitter.com/LDpPm4WhPW

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

Jonah Tong gets two more Ks to strike out the side in the first! pic.twitter.com/NTIrLGYnNu

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

A fourth-straight game with an extra-base hit for Brett Baty!

It's his 20th double of the season pic.twitter.com/AIMSXKP57X

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

Nick Morabito with an RBI single and moves up to second on the throw! pic.twitter.com/ApBEo4tkt9

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

Francisco Alvarez ties the game at 4-4 with an RBI single pic.twitter.com/kqm70eaSS1

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

Bo Bichette drives in Francisco Lindor to give the Mets a 5-4 lead pic.twitter.com/l8q1DKd3UF

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

A.J. Ewing slices a double the other way to drive in a pair to give the Mets a 7-4 lead! pic.twitter.com/BeaPWioVGp

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

Marcus Semien with an RBI double as Carson Benge scores all the way from first! pic.twitter.com/hLbKKVXd8k

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

A.J. Ewing with his third hit and third RBI of the day to make it 9-4 Mets! pic.twitter.com/b5AUOTctrt

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

Austin Warren picks off Javier Sanoja to end the game! pic.twitter.com/i0Hei9rscw

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 7, 2026

Upcoming Schedule

The Mets and Marlins continue their three-game series in Miami on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. on SNY.

Sean Manaea (4-7, 4.70 ERA) takes the mound against Sandy Alcantara (13-9, 3.54 ERA).