Category: MLB

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Happy birthday to Jeremy Jeffress*, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1934 – The Deans shut out the Dodgers. After Dizzy gives up just three hits in a 13 – 0 victory, allowing no hits until the 8th, Paul wins a no-hitter, 3-0. Diz says: “If’n Paul had told me he was gonna pitch a no-hitter, I’d of throwed one, too,” and 1997 – The Cubs beat the Phils, 11-3, but Curt Schilling racks up eight strikeouts to match J.R. Richard for the most Ks by a National League righty (313). He’ll finish with 319 strikeouts. Ryne Sandberg, in his final game at Wrigley Field, is 2 for 3 before leaving for a pinch runner in the fifth. He makes a curtain call in the seventh when Harry Caray sings “Take Me Out to the Ball Game“, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1901 – Tom Hughes of Chicago and Boston Beaneater Bill Dinneen pitch 16 scoreless innings before the Orphans score in the 17th on an error, hit batter, force out, and a single by Clarence Childs. Each pitcher gives up eight singles. This will stand as the longest shutout ever by a Cub pitcher. Hughes fans 13 in 17 frames.
• 1903 – Christy Mathewson, pitching for the third time in four games, keeps the Giants in second place by beating Chicago’s Clarence Currie, 8-3. For Matty, it is his 30th win of the year.
• 1916 – Tris Speaker goes 4 for 6 and drives in a run as Cleveland edges Washington and Walter Johnson, 3-2.
• 1928 – At St. Louis, Boston’s Red Ruffing smashes a three-run homer in the seventh and pitches the Red Sox to a 5-3 win over the Browns.
• 1966 – The players almost outnumber the fans at Wrigley Field, as the Cubs draw just 440 for a game with the Reds. Chicago wins, 9-3, behind Ken Holtzman, with Sammy Ellis taking the loss.
• 1973 – At Los Angeles, Tony Perez has five hits to lead the Reds to a 4-1 win over the Dodgers. Tony’s last hit is a three-run homer in the 10th.
• 1981 – Steve Carlton fans 12 Expos in ten innings to break Bob Gibson‘s National League strikeout record (Carlton now has 3,128), but the Phillies lose to the Expos, 1-0 in 17 innings.
• 1985 – In a Boston 7-6 win over Detroit, Wade Boggs ties Tris Speaker‘s club mark of 222 hits with a single in the second inning. His fifth-inning single, his 185th, sets a new American League record for singles, breaking the mark set by Willie Wilson in 1980. Wade will end with 187, a mark that will stand until 2001.
• 1992 – Oakland P Dennis Eckersley becomes the second pitcher in history to record 50 saves in a season as he preserves the Athletics’ 6-5 win over Chicago. The White Sox’ Bobby Thigpen had 57 saves in 1990.
• 1999 – The Red Sox defeat the Blue Jays, 3-0, as Pedro Martinez fans 12 for his 22nd win. He joins Randy Johnson as the only pitchers to strike out at least 300 in both leagues, and breaks Roger Clemens‘ club mark of 291 strikeouts.
• 2000 – In a 10-3 victory over the Marlins, Expo right fielder Vladimir Guerrero establishes a franchise single-season home run record by hitting his 43rd round tripper.
• 2001 – A crowd of 41,235 at Shea Stadium witness the return of baseball to New York City for the first time since the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Mike Piazza‘s eighth-inning home run gives the Mets a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Braves.

Cubs Birthdays:Jeremy Jeffress*, Doug Davis, Jim Todd.

Today in history:

• 1780 – Benedict Arnold gives British Major John André plans to West Point.
• 1915 – Cecil Chubb buys the prehistoric monument Stonehenge for £6,600 and later donates it to the British nation.
• 1955 – In his last fight, undefeated world heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano KOs light heavyweight Archie Moore in the ninth round at Yankee Stadium, NYC.
• 1970 – “Monday Night Football” created by Roone Arledge, premieres on ABC. Final score: Browns 31, Jets 21.
• 1976 – Asylum Records releases “Small Change”, the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter Tom Waits; his best-selling album until 1999, features the songs “Tom Traubert’s Blue” and “The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)”.
• 1985 – Michael Spinks beats Larry Holmes in 15 to become Heavyweight Boxing Champion.
• 1993 – Melissa Etheridge releases her breakthrough second album “Yes I Am”, featuring the single “I’m the Only One”.
• 2004 – Green Day releases their album “American Idiot” in the US.
• 2017 – Discovery of the first brainless animal that sleeps, the jellyfish Cassiopea, with research published in “Current Biology” by Caltech scientists.

*pictured.

The Detroit Tigers wrapped up their seven-game road trip with an 8-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field, dropping the four-game series to the home team, three games to one. The end of the regular season is mercifully near as the Olde English D returns home to wrap things up.

Next up, the Motor City Kitties head home to welcome the Washington Nationals to Comerica Park for the penultimate series of the summer starting on Monday. The three-game set is one of two in which the Tigers will host National League opponents — a strange way to end the schedule.

Making his Detroit debut in the opener is right-hander River Ryan, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tarik Skubal trade at the deadline. In the 28-year-old’s two appearances for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, he posted a solid 3.86 ERA but a disturbingly high 1.71 WHIP over just 4 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits (one home run) and a walk while striking out four of the 20 batters he faced.

For the Nats, left-hander DJ Herz will be making his 2026 debut after missing two years recovering from Tommy John surgery. Since the 25-year-old returned to action last month from a June setback, he has a 4.24 ERA over 17 innings in six minor league starts, getting up to 65 pitches in his final appearance; he should be good for about four innings of work.

Take a look below at how these two pitchers performed back in 2024 — the last time either saw major league action.

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

Time (ET): 6:40 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:Federal Baseball
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 157: RHP River Ryan (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP DJ Herz (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Ryan (2024)	4	20.1	22.2	11.1	50.0	3.36	0.4
Herz (2024)	19	88.2	27.7	9.4	36.4	3.71	1.7

RYAN

HERZ

No games today means the Phillies can’t break my heart once again. With only three games on the schedule for MLB in total today, a lot of teams are getting set before the final sprint to the end of the season. Luckily, the Phillies will be stress free all week!!!

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• It’s totally in the realm of possibility for the Phillies that Jesus Luzardo returns to the team for the playoffs as a reliever ($).
• Orion Kerkering was sent to Lehigh Valley after his latest brutal outing. Funnily enough, Lehigh Valley’s season is over.

MLB news:

• Laz Diaz did his final game of his umpiring career on Sunday. Know what he won’t miss? Umpiring baseball games.
• A few teams clinched things yesterday. The Braves took the NL East while the Red Sox grabbed a playoff spot.
• Speaking of the Red Sox, two of their assistant GMs interviewed for the job with the Sacramento A’s.
• Alex Bregman had to leave the Cubs game yesterday after being hit in the face by a foul ball while in the on deck circle.

BALTIMORE — Jason Benetti’s 26-week road show was coming to a close in a couple hours, and as he held forth in his broadcast booth at Camden Yards, Orioles analyst Ben McDonald and Milwaukee Brewers color man Tim Dillard sat a few feet away from him, cramming for NBC’s final Sunday Night Baseball broadcast this season.

Preparation is the backbone of broadcasting, yet the relatively daring format for Sunday Night Baseball is forged on plunging into the unknown.

Rather than a fixed two- or three-person booth, NBC charged back into baseball by tabbing Benetti as their play-by-play man and paired him with announcers from each team, placing the glue guy in between a pair of expert voices.

Every week, there’d be no guarantee of chemistry. No chance to develop continuity. And plenty of chances for unfamiliarity to send the broadcast off track.

McDonald and Dillard might not have known it, but this is Benetti’s kind of thrill ride.

“I have to bring it not knowing what they’re going to bring and see how it coalesces. It’s like the job of a lifetime in so many ways,” Benetti tells USA TODAY Sports. “You get so many perspectives. I don’t know how many people watched all 26 of our Sunday nights.

“But if you put the range of that 26 up against any other series, it’s such a dazzling array of information and prisms through which you can see the game.”

Yet Benetti is the final medium through which those thoughts will pass. And it’s hard to consider this grand experiment anything but a rousing success.

NBC’s takeover of Sunday Night Baseball from ESPN resulted in a 62% increase in ratings, according to the network. While audience metrics have shifted over time, the series produced five games of at least 3 million viewers, the most for Sunday Night Baseball since 2010; a Yankees-Red Sox matchup drew 4 million viewers, the most-watched SNB game since August 2011.

The un-measurables might be more impressive.

NBC tabbed Benetti, 43, the TV voice of the Detroit Tigers, to carry this franchise. And told him to go out and vibe with a roving cadre of 31 color analysts, ranging from Hall of Famers (Andruw Jones) to former MVPs and Cy Young Award winners (Albert Pujols, Orel Hershiser, Roger Clemens) to utility players and spot starters (Lou Merloni, Mike Bacsik) to irreverent voices (Hunter Pence, John Kruk).

They did provide him some pieces of furniture, such as All-Star first basemen Joey Votto and Anthony Rizzo, giving Benetti the task of integrating broadcast newbies into a highly-watched fixture in NBC’s canon of Sunday night sports offerings.

“When you’re at a higher level than everyone you’re talking to – and Jason is more prepared than anyone, knows about what’s going on with the game right this very second – he can say less and figure out where he fits in and leave things to the other people he’s working with,” Votto tells USA TODAY Sports. “That, to me, is why he delivers such good results when he’s doing his work.

“To be able to be flexible enough to handle a couple former pitchers, transition to a couple position players, transition to a couple guys who never played the game, and be able to adapt, fit in, it’s not easy to do. But Jason does it quite well.”

In a sense, it’s a gig he’s been training for most of his life.

Live, from New York

Ask Benetti which broadcasters shaped his worldview as a youth growing up near Chicago, and he cites ESPN’s freewheeling NFL Primetime with Chris Berman and Tom Jackson and the many Chicago Bulls games that landed on NBC during Michael Jordan’s heyday.

“It seemed like Marv (Albert) did every Bulls game,” says Benetti of his fellow Syracuse grad.

But before Boomer and Marv, Benetti mentions a far greater cultural influence: Saturday Night Live.

“I’d sit there and watch it with my parents and memorize skits,” he says of growing up in Homewood, Illinois. “That was the thing we had to watch together.”

Nowadays, cultural touchstones are harder to come by. With streaming and social media constant competitors, and Big Football overshadowing every other sport, establishing a fixed beachhead for a sport like baseball is a massive challenge.

Taking a chance or two certainly can’t hurt.

“That’s how Saturday Night Live made its mark on the culture. It just became a thing,” says Benetti. “You hear ‘Live from New York,’ and everyone knows how to finish the sentence.

“We don’t have writers. But we do have guest stars every week. And it’s about putting them in the best position.”

That showtime element probably broke through best on Aug. 30, when a Reds-Cubs matchup put the cheery Rizzo in the booth alongside Jeff Brantley, the salty 63-year-old Reds analyst who goes by “Cowboy.”

Votto lurked by the Reds dugout. The byplay was constant, an energy often missing from any sports telecast, with Votto’s oddball confession he’d never eaten nachos causing a moderate hubbub on social media.

“I felt like Brantley-Votto-Rizzo was just one instance of like, the Peyton Manning (Saturday Night Live) United Way commercial. You don’t know until it happens,” says Benetti. “I hope, over the course of time, however long we have this and have everybody rotating in here, which I love dearly, I hope people will realize it’s a place you go where we don’t have writers, but you know you’re going to get something different.

“And there will be Easter eggs over the course of time.”

Votto says he’s constantly impressed by the pointed and thoughtful questions Benetti poses to managers in pregame production meetings, while processing the information in a manner that informs.

“He loves the sport. He’s an excellent listener,” says Votto. “And he knows how to take those strong skills and turn it in-game: ‘We’re coming into your house. You’re going to get to know me. And we’re going to have a good time together.

“‘But we’re going to make sure we stay on point with the game.’”

Enjoying 'the human experience'

That’s where Benetti’s broadcasting come-up helps. He called college basketball for ESPN and Fox Sports for more than a decade, putting him alongside the late, great Bill Walton and the still-rambunctious, 86-year-old Bill Raftery, among many others.

Walton, he says, taught him the art of letting the wheels wobble a little bit, yet never stray off the road.

“Bill was the kind of guy who was, ‘Just go. Go. The only way is forward.’ There was so much expertise and creativity in his mind,” says Benetti. “You’re not going to make factory-built parts with Bill Walton. And this show, to me, is the same way. You’re going to get something custom-built. In some way. I don’t know what it is. But it’s going to be that night, and it’s probably not going to be replicated.

“Because when are you going to get Ben McDonald, Tim Dillard, Joey Votto all in the same place together? Probably never. So, you might as well let ‘er rip. Do this game in front of you with these people around you.

“And enjoy the heck out of the human experience.”

The strange bedfellows can create spontaneity. Rangers broadcaster Mike Bacsik and Tigers analyst Dan Petry discovered, on the air, that they had a mutual friend. The combos can cross eras and baseball generations, and, Benetti says, conjure “thoughts they would have never expressed if the other person had not stoked that fire in their mind.”

“You discard the pretense of ‘broadcasting.’ You’re just doing this game and it’s not going to be the regulation thing people expect, with two people in a booth, this regular cadence. The best moments are the ones I never would have dreamed.”

The show isn’t quite over for NBC, which will broadcast the four, best-of-three wild card series beginning Sept. 27. It’s highly likely Benetti and the A crew will be on the Yankees-Red Sox series, with a second series on NBC and two more on Peacock.

It’s the first of NBC’s three-year contract to air Sunday Night Baseball, before Major League Baseball takes all of its broadcast rights to market after the 2028 season. Labor conditions willing, Benetti already has his eye on Act II.

“As we hit the finish line, Season 2 is right in my mind, right now,” says Benetti. “What is the evolution going to be? Because that’s how you have to see it. Everything is competition for everything else.

“But entertainment’s entertainment.”

Votto certainly understands that. The likely Hall of Famer has, as Benetti puts it, “has a little Andy Kaufman in him, in a good way. Because he’s always so immersed in the topic he’s doing.”

Yet it was Benetti who smoothed the transition for Votto, along with nearly three dozen parachuting analysts, creating compelling broadcasts more often than not.

“He’s easy to be around,” says Votto. “Sarcastic. Sharp. I feel challenged by him. I think that’s why it works for me.

“And I couldn’t imagine working with someone better.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 26 weeks, 31 analysts, one rock: How NBC 'Sunday Night Baseball' stayed on point

In a season where the American League is redefining "quality," it's only appropriate that a team exemplifying "mid" is going on a little warm streak at just the right time.

In short: The Texas Rangers are probably going to the playoffs.

They have never been more than three games above or six games below .500. Their greatest player – Corey Seager – has not yet played in 100 games. Yet by winning a series against the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend, the Rangers largely control their own playoff destiny, with two routes to get in – the AL West title or the last wild card.

And their productive and timely spurt pushed them up four spots to No. 14 in USA TODAY Sports' power rankings.

The Rangers more or less eliminated the Blue Jays this weekend and now face a tricky but not untenable final week: Three games against the improved New York Mets and three more vs. the Minnesota Twins. They'll take a one-game AL West lead over the Houston Astros into this final lap, and therein lies the danger: The Houston Astros finish with four games against the Athletics in Yolo County and own the tiebreaker over Texas.

Yet they're also just two games behind the Chicago White Sox for the final wild-card spot. Texas – now 76-76 – needs to just win, baby, even if doing so consistently has been a challenge this season.

A look at our updated rankings:

1. Milwaukee Brewers (-)

• One hundred wins? It will probably happen this week.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers (-)

• Teo, Tucker and Mookie are heating up and Ohtani is gearing up. Yeah, don't waste your time worrying about these guys.

3. Tampa Bay Rays (-)

• Three walk-off wins put a death grip on the division.

4. Atlanta Braves (-)

• Ronald Acuña Jr. has seven homers and a 1.096 OPS this month and looks like he could carry these guys a while next month.

5. New York Yankees (-)

• Still not wise to sleep on these guys, even sans Aaron Judge.

6. Chicago Cubs (-)

• Finishing strong down the stretch, kind of like their third baseman's horse.

7. San Diego Padres (+2)

• On a 13-1 heater. But are they the team "no one wants to face" come playoff time?

8. Boston Red Sox (-1)

• Trevor Story has a .343/.361/.486 line since coming off the IL.

9. Philadelphia Phillies (-2)

• The lineup is flaccid, the bullpen practically nonexistent, the rotation down its best starter. We miss anything?

10. Arizona Diamondbacks (-)

• Hanging on for dear life – playoff hopes and manager, both.

11. Cleveland Guardians (+1)

• Jose Ramírez has passed 1,000 RBIs – and just three away from 300 homers.

12. Chicago White Sox (-1)

• They've reached the "watching your child ride a tricycle across four lanes of traffic" stage of the season.

13. Pittsburgh Pirates (+4)

• With one start remaining, Paul Skenes' adjusted ERA has been cut almost exactly in half (226 to 114) from his Cy Young season.

14. Texas Rangers (+4)

• They were four games under .500 a little more than a week ago. They'll begin the final week of the season in first place.

15. Houston Astros (-1)

• Too often, Yordan Alvarez bats with no one on base. That's no way to win a Triple Crown.

16. Miami Marlins (-1)

• The Sandy Alcantara save was pretty cool but also a little weird?

17. Toronto Blue Jays (-4)

• With season on line, came up very small against Tigers, Rangers.

18. St. Louis Cardinals (-2)

• Playoff drought stretches to four years, longest under current ownership.

19. Baltimore Orioles (-)

• Weekly ritual: Pete Alonso does something cool, everyone else looks confused.

20. Detroit Tigers (+2)

Their +75 run differential is better than five likely playoff teams.

21. Washington Nationals (+2)

• Cade Cavalli contract extension shows ownership has a pulse, if nothing else.

22. Seattle Mariners (+2)

• In half a century, they've reached the playoffs in consecutive seasons just once (2001-2002).

23. New York Mets (+2)

• September window dressing, or is their serviceable play indicative things are turning around?

24. Minnesota Twins (-4)

• Byron Buxton's hip surgery has estimated recovery time of six months.

25. Cincinnati Reds (-4)

• Acquisition of Oswaldo Cabrera likely means end of TJ Friedl's career in Cincinnati.

26. Kansas City Royals (-)

• Carter Jensen sets both team rookie home run (25) and extra-base hits (60) records.

27. San Francisco Giants (-)

• They've used 67 players this season, 18 for eight games or less.

28. Los Angeles Angels (+1)

• Grayson Rodriguez went two years between quality starts. Now he has three in the past six weeks.

29. Athletics (-1)

• Penultimate season in Yolo County will conclude with four games against Astros, chance to play spoiler.

30. Colorado Rockies (-)

• Progress? Team ERA down to 5.62 from 5.97; home runs allowed drops from 251 to 215.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB power rankings: Remember the Rangers? Texas has playoff bid in reach

Expectations were fairly in check for the Yankees during this last regular season road trip of 2026, and they still didn’t meet them. They started it off well enough but then dropped three of four—including two maddening walk-off losses—to finish it at 3-3. If they were just treading water until October, they’d be fine enough, but they talked a big game about aiming to chase down the Rays in the AL East, with this upcoming four-game homestand a chance for them to take command. That ain’t happening because now they’re six back. Even acknowledging the loss of Aaron Judge to the IL again on this trip, that’s tough stuff.

The Yankees will try to win out of pride, but the Rays will almost certainly clinch the AL East in the Yankees’ own ballpark — just as the Blue Jays did when they dispatched the Yanks in the 2025 ALDS, just as the Dodgers did when the Yanks utterly fell on their asses in 2024 World Series Game 5, and just as the Astros did when they swept ’em out of the ALCS after Judge’s 62-homer season. (Add the 2018 Red Sox and 2015 Astros to the roll call if you want more unpleasant memories.)

The difference here is at least that the Yankees will have a shot at revenge on Tampa Bay in the ALDS … but it’s a conditional shot. They’ll need to get by the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series again, just as they did last year. Your mileage may very on their odds, but we’ll have the next full week to ponder it.

Today on the site, we skip the minors recap because Scranton was rained out to end the Yankees’ minor-league season (stay tuned for Arizona Fall League action soon!) and go straight into Kevin on the Rivalry Roundup. Andrés will prouce a guide a what to watch for around the league during the final week of regular season play, Jeremy will celebrate the 63rd birthday of a beloved 1996 Yankees World Series champion, and Madison will post the mailbag prompt.

Today’s Matchup:

Offday

Questions/Prompts:

1. This may well be a daily question at this point, but hey, ‘tis the season: Who gets the last AL Wild Card spot?

2. With all due respect to the Diamondbacks taking two of three from the Yankees, it seems like the NL Wild Card teams are locked in with the Padres, Phillies, and Cubs. Who gets the top spot and hosts the NL Wild Card Series?

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft was placed on the 15-day injured list on September 10, 2026, due to right arm discomfort and fatigue. He has been shut down for the rest of the season.

Ashcraft met with reporters at PNC Park on Saturday and made one thing abundantly clear and that is his arm is not seriously injured. The Pirates right-hander described the issue that ended his season as fatigue and general discomfort, not anything structural, and he expressed confidence that he would have been available had Pittsburgh reached the postseason.

He traveled to Arlington to be evaluated, and the consensus among the medical professionals he saw was that there is no long-term concern provided he stays diligent about recovery.

That is very good news that this injury has no structural damage. Ashcraft is one of the top pitchers for the Pirates and has had a fantastic season. The All-Star went 14-6 this season with a 3.65 ERA with 28 games started. 

Ashcraft admitted he tried to talk the training staff into letting him pitch through it, but he understands the decision to shut him down. He emphasized the importance of transparency with the medical staff and front office.  

Ashcraft said he wanted to return for two starts in the final week but acknowledged it doesn’t make sense now that the Pirates are out of playoff contention. It doesn’t make sense to have him go back out there to pitch when the games just don’t matter anymore. The last thing you want to do is to put him back on the diamond and have the injury get worse and have long term damage. 

These statements made from Ashcraft are good news. Even though he will miss the rest of the season, it is great news that this is not a major injury and that it is expected that Ashcraft will be ready for the start of next season.    

Philadelphia Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber and Chicago White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery are nearing some dubious baseball history.

Schwarber and Montgomery each have 216 strikeouts entering the final week of the season, endangering Mark Reynolds’ all-time record of 223 strikeouts set in 2009.

Yet, it hardly bothers them.

“Guys who strike out a lot," Montgomery told reporters, “you see them, but what do they also do? They hit a lot of homers and drive a lot of guys in.”

More: MLB manager knows he's done if team misses playoffs | Nightengale's Notebook

Montgomery has 31 homers and 87 RBIs. Schwarber has 45 homers and 95 RBIs.

It's Montgomery's first 200-strikeout season but the third for Schwarber – who broke his career high of 215, set in 2023.

Both sluggers' teams have everything to play for in the days to come with the Phillies fighting for positioning in the NL wild card and the White Sox trading blows with the Cleveland Guardians for the AL Central crown, meaning they'll both see a regular number of at-bats.

Most strikeouts in a season

• 1.Mark Reynolds (2009) – 223 SO
• 2.Adam Dunn (2012) – 222 SO
• 3.James Wood (2025) – 221 SO
• 4.Chris Davis (2016) – 219 SO
• 5.Elly De La Cruz (2024) – 218 SO
• 6.Yoán Moncada (2018) – 217 SO
• 7.Kyle Schwarber (2026) – 216 SO
• –Colson Montgomery (2026) – 216 SO
• 9.Kyle Schwarber (2023) – 215 SO
• 10.Eugenio Suárez (2023) – 214 SO
• 11.Joey Gallo (2021) – 213 SO
• 12.Chris Carter (2013) – 212 SO
• 13.Teoscar Hernández (2023) – 211 SO
• –Mark Reynolds (2010) – 211 SO
• –Giancarlo Stanton (2018) – 211 SO

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: These MLB sluggers are chasing an ugly record. Will history be made this week?

New York Post | Greg Joyce On September 4th, Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham suffered what was later deemed a Grade 2 right hamstring strain. He was placed on the injured list the following day and was considered unlikely to return before the end of the regular season. That remains the case, both because he isn’t quite ready and because it’s logistically difficult to bring him back before the playoffs.

“I know he’s trending to be close, but the activation might be a little complicated,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday morning at Chase Field. To bring Grisham back, they have to option or DFA someone, and if they do that, that player wouldn’t be eligible to be recalled for 10 days (15 if it’s a pitcher), virtually eliminating whoever it is from consideration for the Wild Card Series and possibly beyond.

Spencer Jones has been filling in for Grisham in center field and should continue to do so while Grisham is out. For all we know, the latter might not be ready in time for the Wild Card round, but he does seem to be trending in the right direction. At some point, the Yankees will need to make a decision — though sticking Grisham into a situation where he’s playing in a postseason games when he hasn’t taken an at-bat in nearly a month could certainly be a questionable bit of business.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Clarke Schmidt, who was activated from the injured list last week, was warming up to enter Sunday’s game against the D-backs but experienced soreness/cramping in his right biceps. He and the Yankees decided he wouldn’t pitch in the game. Per Joyce, “He’ll see the doc when they get home, but Schmidt and the Yankees are hoping it’s not a big deal.”

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips With the Yankees falling to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday and the Tampa Bay Rays winning again, the latter have a six-game cushion in the AL East heading into the last week. There’s a four-game set between the two powerhouses scheduled for next week, but Boone acknowledged they may need to sweep to even have a chance at the division crown. And even if that happens, it’s a “tall task,” he said. From the outside, the race feels done and dusted with a Wild Card Series rematch with Boston probably on deck.

New York Post | Charles Gasparino: The previously reported $2.6-billion financing deal between the Yankees and Apollo Global Management has more details out now. The Steinbrenners will give up a 16-percent stake in the most successful franchise in baseball and one of the biggest in professional sports (MLB rules do not seem to allow private equity to hold more than 15 percent, so this is puzzling if true and would have to involve loopholes in some way). According to the terms of the agreement, the firm will now hold the largest share in the Yankees after the Steinbrenner family.

Inside ‘Team Blessed,' the Phillies trio always staying ready together originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

QUEENS, N.Y. — While a Phillies game is unfolding a few feet away, Derek Hill and Bryan De La Cruz are often playing one of their own.

They head into the batting cage during the game and turn their work into a competition.

Three innings. Three outs.

They decide whether each ball in play is a single, double or home run. Edmundo Sosa serves as the umpire.

He does not make it easy on them.

“I’m pretty hard on them,” Sosa said through the club’s interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “The game is tough on you, so I try to be as tough as I can on the guys. That way, when we go out there, maybe the game seems easier.”

The game inside the game has become part of how three Phillies reserves stay ready for opportunities that can arrive without much warning.

It has also become part of something they call Team Blessed.

The name began not long after the Phillies acquired Hill from the White Sox on June 11.

When Hill was asked exactly when Team Blessed started, he turned toward outfield coach Paco Figueroa, a clubhouse favorite who happened to be nearby.

Figueroa remembered saying something simple to Hill one day.

“Bless up.”

Hill liked it.

The phrase stuck.

“We’re blessed to be here every single day,” Hill said. “When an opportunity presents itself, it’s a blessing to be able to go out there and perform.”

From there, Team Blessed began to take shape around the club’s main reserves, Hill, De La Cruz and Sosa.

There is faith behind the name, but also perspective.

None of the three is guaranteed to start. They can spend most of a night watching before suddenly being asked to pinch-hit, pinch-run or enter defensively in a spot that could decide a game.

They have to prepare as though the opportunity is coming, even if it never does.

“I think it’s just something fun that people can kind of keep their perspective with,” Hill said. “I think it’s cool to be able to show up every day and attack the day with the same attitude, the same drive.

“No matter if you’re starting that day, not starting that day, if you’re getting put into a high-leverage situation or a blowout game, it doesn’t matter. Just be happy that you’re at the field and realize that it is a gift that you are here.”

Hill has moved between eight different organizations during his career. He knows how quickly a player’s circumstances can change.

“It doesn’t matter if you have 15 years or 15 days,” he said. “It’s a gift to be in the big leagues.”

And since Hill arrived, that group of Phillies reserves has done much more than simply stay ready.

Players entering games off Philadelphia’s bench since June 11 have combined to hit .284, the highest average in baseball over that span. Their .453 slugging percentage ranks third.

Hill, De La Cruz and Sosa have been even better, even when the lights get brighter.

In games they entered off the bench, the trio has combined to hit .394 with four homers and a 1.200 OPS in 34 plate appearances from the eighth inning on.

Hill has hit three of those homers.

Those opportunities have produced some of the Phillies’ more memorable late-game moments during a season that has them days away from potentially securing a fifth consecutive postseason berth, matching the longest streak in franchise history from 2007 through 2011.

The stars will draw most of the attention if they get there.

But postseason games have a way of turning on one swing from somebody who spent the first six or seven innings waiting.

The trio are trying to make sure that wait doesn’t leave them unprepared.

That is where their game in the cage comes in.

Hill and De La Cruz work through their progression while the actual game continues outside. They use a smaller bat, move into side toss and front toss, then compete against each other.

“We do the same routine now,” Sosa said. “We’re trying to keep it as simple as we can and not be too mechanical about it. When you think too much about your mechanics, that’s when things get tougher.”

The competition gives them something to focus on while they wait.

It also gives three players with similar responsibilities a shared routine.

“We’ve been working in a way that we enjoy it,” Sosa said. “We’ve been working to continue to be happy playing the game of baseball and enjoying it.

“We just started calling it Team Blessed one day, and it stuck.”

Sosa said De La Cruz, who was promoted to the Phillies on July 21 from Triple-A, has brought another meaningful element to the group.

“He’s been trying to change his life in such a positive way recently,” Sosa said. “He’s been more of a believer in God. He uses that to motivate us, and his energy is contagious.”

That energy is not limited to whichever member of the trio gets the opportunity that night.

When one enters, the others are invested.

“It doesn’t matter who it is that’s stepping up to the plate or going onto the field,” Sosa said. “We’re just going to support and show our energy to the next man up.

“We want him to do well. Any positive outcome that comes from anyone who goes in, we’re going to celebrate it.”

That support is crucial in roles defined by uncertainty.

A reserve can deliver a game-winning hit one night and never leave the bench the next. Several days can pass between meaningful at-bats. When the call finally comes, there isn’t much room for rust.

Hill believes their shared faith and circumstances have brought the group closer.

“One hundred percent,” he said. “This is a long journey, the baseball season and a baseball career, and you definitely can’t do it [all by] yourself.

“If you try, you’re going to fail, and you’re going to figure out that there’s not only a higher calling, but there’s a lot that you can tap into when you do go through those moments.”

Hill did not need long to feel comfortable after joining the Phillies.

“I’ve been in a lot of clubhouses, and this has been easily the most welcoming,” he said. “Obviously, we have a lot of big personalities and a lot of big talent in this clubhouse, but you wouldn’t know.

“Nobody has any egos in here. It’s just all about winning baseball games.”

Team Blessed grew within that environment.

Other players know about the group. Some have apparently expressed interest in joining.

Hill warned that membership is not automatic.

“It’s a tough application fee,” he said. “A lot of people want to jump on board, but it’s a rigorous process to get into it.”

There is no real application.

There is no official uniform, either, although the group has discussed the possibility of creating Team Blessed merchandise.

For now, the three have their in-game routine, their competition, their handshake.

And their faith, too.

“I think that’s more than enough,” Sosa said.

PHOENIX — Add another concern to the Yankees’ already hefty list of them heading into the final week of the regular season.

Clarke Schmidt, who returned from Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, was warming up Sunday to make his second appearance before experiencing cramping in his right biceps, which ultimately kept him out of the Yankees’ 8-4 loss to the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

“Nothing structural, it was more precautionary,” Schmidt said. “Obviously given the circumstance, coming back from surgery, I don’t want to push through anything. All the testing was fine, nothing with the shoulder, nothing with the elbow. It was more a cramping-type feeling. I had nothing in catch play earlier today and in the previous days I’ve been feeling very strong. So just very, very minor, just precautionary.”

Schmidt was expected to see the Yankees’ team doctor when they returned home, but no tests were planned as of Sunday.

Even if Schmidt checks out fine, it is a reminder of the tightrope the Yankees are walking in hoping the former starter can be part of their playoff bullpen just 14 months removed from major surgery.

After making his season debut on Wednesday, Schmidt warmed up in Saturday night’s game before Aaron Boone went to Michael Fulmer, who served up a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Schmidt was then warming in the bullpen again in the top of the sixth Sunday before the biceps issue popped up, leading to Tim Hill throwing the bottom of the frame instead.

“I’m hoping it’s not a big deal, but enough to have him not go into the game,” Boone said. “We’ll see what we have there.”

By late Sunday afternoon, the Tampa Bay Rays had secured their 55th win at Tropicana Field. The victory marked the second most home wins in a single season by the Rays, second only to the fabled 2008 team. It also capped off an 8-1 home stand and series win over the Boston Red Sox.

By Sunday evening, their magic number to clinch the AL East title for the first time since 2021 was down to just two thanks to another Arizona Diamondbacks win over the Yankees. In reality, that magic number is really just one if they win just one of the four upcoming games against the second place Yankees in the Bronx. If they can win the East, they will secure home field advantage throughout the ALDS and ALCS, along with a first round bye.

So, to recap, it was a good day in Tampa Bay.

This one was all Rays from the first inning on. After Griffin Jax tossed a scoreless first, the Rays bats got to work against Red Sox starter Patrick Sandoval. Back in the lineup after a scheduled day off, Yandy Diaz drew a leadoff walk. Vilade then reached on a HBP, setting up first and second for Junior Caminero who singled to left and loaded the bases for DeLuca.

DeLuca roped a double down the left field line and drove in the first two runs of the game.

Chandler Simpson followed with a two-RBI single of his own and opened this game up. Five batters in and the Rays had opened up a 4-0 and Patrick Sandoval had yet to record an out.

Sandoval did stop the bleeding and escaped the first with no further damage. But, the damage was done. Jax continued to throw up zeroes and then in the fifth, the Rays struck again. This time it was Mesa Jr. with a solo blast to right center. It was his 14th of the year and gave the Rays a 5-0 lead.

Trevor Story ruined the shutout in the top of the ninth and hit a one-out solo home run to left. That was it for the Sox though and the 5-1 score would become final.

After the four run first, the Rays arms took over. Again, Jax was solid. He tossed five scoreless innings, punched out five, walked two, and allowed just three hits. Suler, Hopkins, and Matz combined to toss three scoreless in relief. Johnson ran into some trouble in the ninth and surrendered the blast to Story, and was relieved by Kelly who shut the door, recording the final out. Rays pitching struck out nine in total and the only walks issued were those by Jax.

Despite only mustering four hits, the Rays offense did enough in this one, mostly in the first inning. But, as we have seen all year, if the offense can get the pitching staff a lead, they very seldom surrender it.

The Rays will have Monday off prior to a double header in the Bronx on Tuesday. With a win on Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday against the Yankees, they will be celebrating a division title in Yankee Stadium.

At 95-60 with seven games remaining, 100 wins is not out of the question. If they reach triple digit wins, it would be just the second time in franchise history, the first being 2021. First up, win #96.

BALTIMORE — Their sights are set on far bigger and better things.

Yet a franchise-record 98 wins and a pair of twentysomething stars are enough for the Milwaukee Brewers to pause momentarily and sniff the flowers.

They eclipsed their previous standard of 97 wins set just one year ago by putting ace Jacob Misiorowski on ice after three innings, trotting out seven pitchers and still shutting out the Baltimore Orioles3-0 on Sunday, Sept. 20 at Camden Yards.

At 98-58, with six games remaining, the Brewers are almost certainly going to post their first 100-win season in franchise history.

“Cool and all,” says closer Trevor Megill, who pitched a clean ninth inning for his 29^th save, “but not trying to be regular season warriors.”

Harsh but true.

The Brewers are National League Central champions for the fourth consecutive season, the arrow ticking up from 92 to 93 to 97 wins to however many more they can corral this week. And the postseason progress is evident, too: The club reached the NL Championship Series last season for the first time since 2018, only to get swept by the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Megill's point, then, is valid. Counterpoint: The team is sprinting through the tape, even as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs has been largely assured for a few days.

Ninety-eight wins? Yeah, crank the stereo a little more.

“It’s hard to win 98 games and be healthy. It’s hard to be in this spot to begin with,” says third-year manager Pat Murphy. “And I don’t think it’s appreciated enough. I don’t think anyone realizes how hard it is for any of the 30 teams to put themselves in this position. And that’s what makes me proud of these guys.

“We’re not the most experienced team. We’re not the most talented. We’re not the most a lot of things. But for sure, they’ve proven they’re a team. Because it’s hard to win major league games. And to win 98 of them, tells you there’s a team in there.

“And I’m really proud of them.”

Their wares were on full display Sunday, even as they pulled Misiorowski after just three innings and 44 pitches, 28 of them clocked between 99 to 102 mph.

But off he went, like a thoroughbred heading back to the barn after a brisk sprint on the backstretch. No matter: The Miz struck out four to move into second place on the Brewers’ single-season strikeout list, with 247. He’s going to be the NL Cy Young Award winner and will have one more regular-season start to lengthen out a bit before starting Game 1 of the NL Championship Series on Saturday, Oct. 3.  

At 24, he’s a relative graybeard compared to 22-year-old outfielder Jackson Chourio. All that kid did Sunday was join Julio Rodriguez and Bobby Witt Jr. as the only players to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases in their first three seasons.

Sure, the liberalized stolen-base rules help. But Chourio’s immense talent plays in any era.

“I’ve watched him play through countless levels,” says Misiorowski. “I think it’s cool to see a guy like that perform at the highest level. He’s an animal out there. He’s also crazy in here.”

Says Megill of Chourio, who signed an eight-year, $82 million deal in December 2023: “Dude’s a beast. They gave him a lot of money for good reason.”

The Brewers will enjoy an off day in Philadelphia on Monday, then play three against the flailing Phillies before wrapping up with three games at home against St. Louis. Then, a few off days as they await the survivors of the NL wild-card series.

Bigger things ahead, certainly. Yet plenty behind them, too, enough worth pausing to appreciate.

“It means a lot. It’s always a big deal to set a record, a franchise record,” says Misiorowski. “Hopefully, we get to a little bigger number but it’s still cool. Ninety-eight games, that’s awesome.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: On way to playoffs, Brewers stop to smell the flowers: A club-record 98 wins

Once again, the Braves are the Beasts of the NL East. For the first time since 2023, the Braves have won the 2026 NL East Division. They clinched the division over the weekend with a convincing sweep of the Houston Astros, including another win via late game heroics on Sunday. While the Braves certainly have much higher goals in mind to earn this season, it is still an accomplishment to cherish after the struggles in 2024 and 2025.

Braves News

Robert Suarez returned to the mound to begin a rehab assignment in Gwinnett for the first time in three months. While the performance was a bit shaky, he completed the inning without setbacks.

Davis Polo continued to show why he is one of the biggest breakout starts for the Braves on the farm in 2026.

MLB News

The Red Sox are once again the postseason.

Alex Bregman was hit in the face by a foul ball. Tests will be done to determine the full extent of the injury.

Another pitiful showing from the Orioles offense wasted an impressive Brandon Young start, and likely put the final nail in their 2026 coffin, as the O’s lost 3-0 to the Brewers on Sunday night in Baltimore.

The Orioles bats have now been shut out for 19 consecutive innings. That streak began in the 10th inning of the series opener against the Brewers, and then continued through the entirety of Games Two and Three of this late-season sweep. A truly nauseating experience.

Across tonight’s nine innings, the O’s managed just four hits, three walks, and three at-bats with a runner in scoring position. Of course, none of those hits overlapped with a runner in scoring position, giving us our final scoreline.

Colton Cowser had two of the hits. Coby Mayo and Carlos Narváez had one each. Mayo, Samuel Basallo, and Chrsitian Encarnacion-Strand worked one walk apiece. That was all they managed. The first three hitters of the lineup, Dylan Beavers, Pete Alonso, and Gunnar Henderson combined to go 0-for-11 with four strikeouts.

The closest the Orioles ever came to scoring was in the sixth inning. After the first two batters were retired, Henderson reached base on a hit by pitch. Brewers reliever Chad Patrick was all over the place. He then uncorked two wild pitches, advancing Henderson to third base. Mayo and Basallo followed with their walks to load the bases with two outs and Jeremiah Jackson at the plate.

So, after seeing this pitcher throw nine consecutive balls, including two that got passed the catcher and one that hit Henderson, what would you think Jackson would do? Maybe see a pitch himself. Force the guy to keep working? Nope, he swung at the opening offer and weakly grounded out to first base to end the threat.

It was a wrap after that. The O’s got some runners on in the seventh, but it never really felt like they were going to score. And then they went down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings to seal the loss.

What’s worse is that it’s not as if the eventual NL Cy Young winner shut them down all night. Jacob Misiorowski only threw three innings. Milwaukee is saving him for the playoffs, so they used this game as a formal bullpen day instead. Then it was left up to six relievers, who all dominated a Baltimore lineup that sure looks like it is throwing in the towel.

The good news of the game was all on the pitching side of things.

Brandon Young started on the bump, and was quite good. He worked six innings, putting him over the 150-inning threshold on the year. It was another solid effort as he coughed up just two runs on three hits, three walks, and a career-high nine strikeouts. That eclipsed the eight strikeouts he had against the Nationals back on June 27, his previous career-best.

Those two runs were spread across two different innings. Cooper Pratt singled in Jake Bauers in the second inning. Later, William Contreras launched his 18th home run of the season in the fourth inning. Even including all of that, it was a nice showing for Young, who may make one more start before the season is up. But if this was his last trip to the mound this year, he is ending things on a rather high note and has put himself in position to make the big league rotation out of spring training in 2027.

The most important development of this game—from the Orioles’ perspective anyway—came in the seventh inning, when Félix Bautista emerged from the Camden Yards bullpen for the first time since last July. Officially back from right shoulder surgery, the towering righty reclaimed his spot atop a big league mound. It just felt right.

The on-field results, however, still have room for improvement.

Bautista recorded two outs, both via strikeouts. He got Joey Ortiz to whiff on an 89-mph splitter up in the zone, and punched out Christian Yelich on a 90-mph splitter on the outside edge of the plate. The velocity of the sinker was 96-97, so down a touch from his prime, but still very useable and with a chance to regain a tick following a healthy offseason.

Bautista also allowed Milwaukee’s third run of the day. Prior to the two strikeouts, Jake Bauers opened the inning with a double. He then came in to score on a two-out single for Pratt. After Pratt swiped a couple of bags on the hefty hurler, and then Garrett Mitchell worked a walk, O’s manager Craig Albernaz decided that 19 pitches was plenty for a return from more than a year on the IL. Bautista was yanked, and Grant Wolfram effectively cleaned up the mess.

Getting Bautista back on the field was an important step. He is likely to get back into another game or two before the season wraps up next weekend. Whatever stats he puts on the page won’t be as important as getting over the mental hurdle of pitching in the big leagues again. He’s already done that. Now he can focus on building towards his role in 2027.

The loss drops the Orioles to 75-81 on the season, five games back of the AL’s final wild card spot with six games to play. Their elimination number is two. It’s not over folks, but it might as well be.

They now welcome a desperate Blue Jays team to town for a three-game series beginning on Monday. Shane Baz (6-15, 4.11 ERA) is set to return from being hit by a comebacker in his last start. He will be opposed by Trey Yesavage (5-5, 3.65 ERA), who will be pitching for the first time since August 4. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35.