Category: MLB

Here's what happened in Mets Land on Friday, in case you missed it...

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• Juan Soto's home run caps six-run inning as Mets defeat Nationals, 12-6
• Carlos Mendozaexplains why he pulled Brandon Sproat after four innings vs. Nats
• Soto sets new career-high with 42nd home run this season: "It’s pretty unbelievable what he’s doing"
• Kodai Sengato face live hitters next week; status for potential playoff roster spot even murkier
• Mets Notes: Jose Siri has tough day in CF, Ryan Helsley's "huge" performance vs. Washington
• Mets Prospect Roundup: Jett Williams homers, Carson Benge triples with Triple-A Syracuse
• WATCH: With the Mets finally turning the corner, will they be able to keep this momentum going?
• WATCH: Studying the poise and maturity of young Mets pitcher Sproat

Congratulations to class act Clayton Kershaw on a great career now that he's decided to retire. Hopefully Kersh goes out on top the way John Elway did in his final season — leading the team to a championship.

Ken Feldman
Tarzana

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I have been a know-it-all Dodger fan since the late 1950s and after last season I thought, and hoped, Clayton Kershaw would retire. I was wrong.

Paul Burns
Granada Hills

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I am so happy with Clayton Kershaw's decision to finally retire. Now I hope the Dodgers make the right decision and make him an offer he can't refuse by making him the highest-paid pitching coach of all time, Whom better?

Russell Morgan
Carson

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Clayton Kershaw’s retirement is bad timing for the Dodgers and manager Dave Roberts. Obviously, they will need three or four starters in the playoffs and Kershaw is now fifth or sixth in the rotation. If Roberts does not use Kershaw, the manager will be called a heel, and if he does start Kershaw and he’s bombed, then Roberts will be considered a bad manager.

Fred Wallin
Westlake Village

Pitching debate

Isn't it time to allow starters to finish their games, especially when they have a no-hitter going?

Utilizing the pitch count as a preventative measure may or may not work. After all, three lights-out pitching prodigies in Walker Buehler, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin were on restricted pitch counts. They were lights-out prospects, now they're just out.

It's impossible to predict when an injury will occur. And there may be something to the theory that more pitches will make for stronger arms, provided they have adequate rest between starts.

Ron Brumel
West Los Angeles

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If the Dodgers manage to get to the World Series this year, it will be in spite of Dave Roberts' obvious incompetence that was fully on display in Tuesday night's game against the Phillies.

Not only won't he let Ohtani pitch more than five innings, despite a low pitch count, but, as he has done on eight other occasions, completely ignores the fact his pitcher was pitching a no-hitter. With his bullpen in shambles, why does he pull his starter so early?

Ken Blake
Brea

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Finally, Dave Roberts showed confidence in a pitcher and Blake Snell responded. Roberts has spent his whole managerial career pulling pitchers every time they throw high. Pitchers build arm strength by pitching, not by growing splinters on their collective butts.

Steve Trocino
Simi Valley

No relief needed

The first two games of the recent series against the Phillies said it all. The Dodger bullpen is a five-alarm fire, an unmitigated disaster, a total catastrophe. I side with the recent letter writer who offered a solution to this mess: a two-starter approach. Please instigate a “no call zone” that covers the Dodger bullpen. For two starters to work the playoffs in a three-game rotation, the team needs six quality arms. We have them: Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Shohei Ohtani, Emmet Sheehan, Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Craig Rosen
Los Angeles

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Most of the time only a four-man pitching rotation is necessary for the MLB playoffs. If the Dodgers make the playoffs, I have a suggestion for their rotation: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and the combination of Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw. You would still have Emmet Sheehan for long relief and spot starting for injuries.

Neal Rakov
Santa Fe, N.M.

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Bill Plaschke’s column on the bullpen brought to light in my mind, a notable quote by the late Howard Cosell. Although I never met the man, “Plaschke tells it like it is.” I’m amazed by the way Bill summarized Dodgers weaknesses.

Patrick Kelley
Los Angeles

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A fond farewell

There is an obituary in Sunday's sports section. It is about Mike Kupper, written by Mike Kupper.

A few additional things need to be said, because Kupper wouldn’t say them himself.

He was hired because the massive Times sports section during the 1984 Olympics needed a master word editor. Once he arrived, you dared not use “that” when “which” was correct. Restrictive and unrestrictive clauses were mostly interchangeable for the rest of us. Not for Kupper.

His title was senior assistant sports editor. It could have easily been Staff Conscience Editor. We were not allowed shortcuts, lazy phrases, vague sources and insufficient attribution. He made all of us better in a quiet, firm way. When he fixed a story, we remembered how and why and dared not repeat the mistake.

He knew sports, loved its stories, loved writing many of them himself. He covered and wrote about everything. Each story was to the point, accurate, entertaining and without a whiff of the current “look at me” approach of so many writers. His specialty was auto racing. When he arrived at The Times, that specialty was already being handled by Hall-of-Fame auto writer Shav Glick. Without a hint of jealousy, Kupper walked side by side with Glick in the best one-two punch racing journalism has ever seen.

In retirement, he wrote dozens of obituaries, each entertaining and meticulously reported. Today, the one about himself, is the same. Those of us who worked with him would have expected no less.

Bill Dwyre
Baltimore, Md.

Conflicted much

It’s amazing that it took a shot of Tom Brady in the coaches booth at the recent Raiders game for most to understand that the NFL and Fox have a serious conflict of interest on their hands. This seemed glaringly apparent from the get-go, but now that it’s finally come to the forefront, it should allow Fox to rectify a wrong when they demoted Greg Olsen in favor of Brady.

Dump Tom and his mediocre broadcasting abilities and bring back Greg and his superb in-game analysis.

Axel Hubert
Santa Monica

Lock him up

Dear Chargers,

Can we please lock up defensive coordinator Jesse Minter with a lucrative contract and keep him paired with coach Jim Harbaugh for the long run? Do not let this man out of the building.

Sincerely, all Charger fanatics everywhere.

Felipe Varela
Whittier

Next move?

A lot of your letter writers got their wish with the firing of DeShaun Foster. Now what?

Vaughn Hardenberg
Westwood

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Chip Kelly left UCLA in a bad position in February 2024. The coaching carousel had already stopped. DeShaun Foster, who had a nice gig as running backs coach for the Raiders, fell on the grenade that was UCLA football. He probably won’t be remembered for that sacrifice, but he should be.

Hans Ghaffari
Encino

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The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.

Email: sports@latimes.com

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

On the scoreboard in right field, it was 7:08 p.m. in the City of the Angels: Los Angeles, California. And a crowd of 53,037 was just sitting in Friday to see the greatest pitcher of his generation take the mound at Dodger Stadium, perhaps for the final time.

Tonight

We are young

So let’s set the world on fire

We can burn brighter than the sun

The band Fun. released what would become Clayton Kershaw’s signature song on Sept. 20, 2011. That night, he beat Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants 2-1 to become a 20-game winner for the first time, in the year Kershaw would become a Cy Young Award winner for the first time.

If success means leaving someplace better than you found it, Kershaw triumphed spectacularly.

On Friday, the day after Kershaw announced he would retire at season’s end, the Dodgers beat the Giants again. For good measure, the Dodgers clinched a postseason berth for the 13th consecutive season, and with it the chance for Kershaw and Co. to win a third championship in six years.

Fun. broke up 10 years ago. Kershaw played 18 years, all in Dodger blue.

“Eighteen years of memories you can’t just put into words in one night,” Kershaw said, “or feel all the feels that you can possibly feel.”

What distinguishes Kershaw in the pantheon of Dodgers greats is that he was the guiding light through the darkest of times.

“The Dodger culture has been established long before me, and it will be established long after I’m gone,” he said. “That’s the cruel thing about baseball: your career will be gone in an instant, and the game keeps going. But that’s also the beautiful thing about it too.

“This game doesn’t need anybody. I’m so grateful I got to be a small part of Dodger history for as long as I’ve been here.”

Read more:Clayton Kershaw delivers another 'perfect' L.A. moment as Dodgers clinch playoff berth

In the 1960s, the Dodgers had Koufax, Drysdale and Wills. In the 1970s: Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey. In the 1980s: Valenzuela, Hershiser and Gibson. In this run of success: Seager, Bellinger and Turner; and now Ohtani, Freeman and Betts.

In between: Kershaw, a metronome of excellence every fifth day, and not nearly enough else. When he made his major league debut on May 25, 2008, the Dodgers had not won a postseason series in 20 years.

The Dodgers! Twenty years!

That is what can happen when you trade away Pedro Martinez and Mike Piazza, and when Rupert Murdoch buys your team for television content, not championships.

That is what can happen when Frank McCourt buys your team and returns the Dodgers to the league championship series but pays for advice from a Russian physicist who knew next to nothing about baseball but claimed he had “diagnosed the disconnects” in the organization while watching on television and channeling his energy toward improving the team.

That is what can happen when McCourt takes the Dodgers into bankruptcy court to take on Major League Baseball and — three days after Kershaw beat Lincecum for that 20th win — the commissioner’s office threatens to kick the team out of the league.

Those 2011 Dodgers had no chance, outspent by the Minnesota Twins and outdrawn by the Milwaukee Brewers. Kershaw pitched well enough to endure, and Mark Walter and the Dodgers’ current ownership group made sure he did not have to endure Octobers in which he pitched on short rest because the team had little choice.

“It is great that he has been a stalwart,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He has seen the organization where it was, and there were some lean times 18 years ago.

“To see where we’re at the last 10, 12 years and where we’ve been, he’s been right there in the middle of it.”

It is easy to glance at the back of Kershaw’s baseball card, or at his Baseball Reference page, and pick whatever statistic you like to illustrate his greatness. He led the league in earned run average four years running. He won the Cy Young award three times and finished in the top five for seven consecutive years.

He was so dominant that, when he no-hit the Colorado Rockies in 2014, the Times headline read “Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw throws first no-hitter,” because of course he would throw another.

That might have been the only thing he did not do. His career 2.54 earned-run average is the lower than the career ERA of Cy Young himself. No pitcher in the last 100 years has thrown as many innings with a better ERA.

In his final season, when a 90 mph fastball was a rarity, Kershaw (10-2) still led the Dodgers’ starters in winning percentage. He did not win on Friday, but the Dodgers did.

Read more:Plaschke: Clayton Kershaw retiring with legacy as the greatest Dodger ever

These Dodgers, unlike the Dodgers of his early years, had superstars to pick him up. After Kershaw left the game in the top of the fifth, with the Dodgers trailing by one run, Ohtani and Betts homered in the bottom of the inning to put the Dodgers ahead to stay.

When a reliever enters the game, Dodger Stadium public address announcer Todd Leitz simply introduces the new pitcher. On Friday, before introducing Edgardo Henriquez, Leitz delivered a proper preface and farewell all in one.

“On in relief,” he said, “of the great Clayton Kershaw.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Clayton Kershaw blew a kiss to his family, pounded a fist in his glove, then made the familiar trot from the Dodgers’ dugout to the Chavez Ravine mound.

This time, however, he did it alone.

In what was his final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium, coming one day after he announced that he would retire at the end of this year, Kershaw took the field while the rest of his teammates stayed back and applauded.

On a night of appreciation for his 18-year career, the moment belonged to him — and an adoring fan base that has watched his every step.

The first time Kershaw ever pitched at Dodger Stadium, he was a much-hyped and highly anticipated 20-year-old prospect. His talent immense. His Hall of Fame future in front of him.

When he did it for potentially the last time on Friday night, he was a much-beloved and long-admired 37-year-old veteran. Hardened by the failures that once defined his baseball mortality. Celebrated for the way he had learned to overcome.

Few athletes in modern sport play for one team, for so long. Fewer still experience the emotional extremes Kershaw was put through, or manage still to weather the storm.

When Kershaw was asked about Dodgers fans during his retirement news conference Thursday, that’s the dynamic he quickly pointed to.

“It hasn’t been a smooth ride,” he said. “We’ve had our ups and downs for sure.”

Between boundless cheers and intermittent boos, historic milestones and horrifying heartbreaks, triumphant summers and torturous falls.

In regular-season play, baseball has maybe never seen a more accomplished pitcher. Kershaw’s 2.54 ERA is the lowest in the live-ball era among those with 100 starts. He is one of the 20 members of MLB’s 3,000 strikeout club. He is one of four pitchers to win three Cy Youngs and an MVP award.

In October, however, no one’s history has been more checkered. There were implosions against the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013 and 2014. The infamous fifth game of the 2017 World Series against the sign-stealing Houston Astros. The nightmare relief appearance in 2019 against the Washington Nationals. Nine trips to the playoffs in his first 11 seasons, without winning a championship.

In those days, it made Kershaw’s relationship complicated with Dodger Nation. He was heroic until he wasn’t. Clutch until the autumn. It didn’t matter that he was often pitching on short rest, or through injuries and strenuous workloads, or in situations no other pitcher would have ever been tasked. He was the embodiment of the Dodgers’ repeated postseason failings. The face of a franchise that could never clear the final hurdle.

In Kershaw’s case, though, that’s how such an enduring bond was built.

By persevering through such struggles. By coming back every season. By finally getting over the hump with World Series titles in 2020 and 2024. By never shying away and never backing down.

“With that responsibility as the ace, you've got to take on a lot of scrutiny or potential failures,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Everything wasn't optimal for him. But he never complained about it. Never made an excuse for it.

“I think the fans, certainly at his highest moments, have shown their love for him and support. In those other times, I think it's just, the fans have been hurting along with him. Wanting so much for a guy that's been such a stalwart and a great citizen and person for this city and organization.”

"I think the respect, the universal respect, is certainly warranted 10 times over.”

Over a 6-3 win against the San Francisco Giants that ended just minutes after the Dodgers clinched their 13th consecutive postseason berth, that’s what was celebrated from Kershaw’s first pitch to his last.

The left-hander pitched 4 ⅓ innings of two-run ball, striking out six batters on four hits and four walks, but it wasn’t his stats that mattered. He struggled with his command, averaged only 89 mph with his fastball, and left the mound with the Dodgers trailing, but the memories from this night will go far beyond that.

From the moment Kershaw emerged on the field at 6:23 p.m., fans rose to their feet. They cheered and chanted his pregame routine in the outfield and bullpen. They roared when his name was introduced shortly before first pitch.

They knew this could be his Dodger Stadium send-off, a sentimental opportunity to say thank you for all he accomplished and all he endured.

So, when he then emerged for the start of the first inning, they serenaded him with an extended ovation. Alone on the field, he smiled and waved from the top of the mound.

“This is one of those moments where Dodger fans, you all have seen him for 18 years and watched his career grow and everything that he's gone through,” Roberts said. “People are going to back and go, 'I was there for the last time he started a home game at Dodger Stadium.'”

From there, the night was surprisingly tense.

Kershaw gave up a home run on the third pitch of the game to Heliot Ramos. He spent the next four innings battling traffic, stranding two runners later in the first, another two in the second, and two more in the third after a Wilmer Flores RBI single.

Read more:Plaschke: Clayton Kershaw retiring with legacy as the greatest Dodger ever

By the fourth, it was clear Kershaw was not long for the evening. His pitch count was rising. The bullpen was active. And with two outs in the inning, Willy Adames was extending a two-strike at-bat.

On the ninth pitch of that battle, however, Kershaw finally got a whiff on a slider. For the first time since first pitch, Dodger Stadium erupted once again. When Kershaw returned to the dugout, he had enough left in the tank to face at least one more batter.

When he returned to the mound to begin the fifth, he struck out Rafael Devers with a knee-high fastball for a called third strike.

With that, Kershaw’s night was over. Roberts started to the mound. The infield swarmed him with a line of hugs.

In the stands, applause echoed through a sell-out crowd of 53,037 — which included former teammates Austin Barnes, Andre Ethier, Russell Martin, Trayce Thompson and AJ Pollock; as well as other Los Angeles sports icons from Magic Johnson to Matthew Stafford (a childhood friend of Kershaw’s from Texas).

Then, after an embrace with a smiling Roberts, Kershaw made the slow walk back off the field.

He took a deep breath. He gave a hugging motion to his family sitting in the loge level. Then he donned his cap, and repeatedly said thank you as he looked around the stadium. After more hugs with coaches and teammates in the dugout, he reemerged into view for a raucous curtain call.

Read more:'I’m really at peace.' Why Clayton Kershaw decided to make resurgent 2025 season his last

“I’m super grateful to every single Dodger fan who’s come through the stalls here at Dodger Stadium, and everyone that I’ve gotten to meet along the way,” Kershaw had said the day before. “It’s been pretty special to have that fan base behind us all these years. There’s nothing better than having a full Dodger Stadium and getting to pitch in front of it.”

Now, one more October awaits — with the Dodgers (87-67) officially clinching a postseason berth Friday after roaring to the lead on back-to-back home runs from Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts in the bottom half of the fifth.

Kershaw’s role in this last title chase is uncertain. With a loaded rotation, but shaky bullpen, the Dodgers' best use for him could come in a relief role. Roberts said he envisions Kershaw fitting somewhere on the playoff roster, but has stopped short of any guarantees.

Either way, Kershaw has already left his mark this season, finishing Friday with a 10-2 record and 3.55 ERA. His legacy with the Dodgers, and its forever indebted fan base, has long been cemented.

“I think the only thing I can say right now is thank you so much,” Kershaw said in an on-field postgame interview amid one last stadium-wide ovation. “It hasn’t always been a smooth ride, but you guys have stuck with me. Thank you so much. We got another month to go.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Mets fans are excited to see their three young arms pitch for their team, especially at Citi Field. But Brandon Sproat's outing was short on Friday as the right-hander lasted just four innings against the Washington Nationals.

It started great, with Sproat striking out three of the first six batters he faced, but defensive miscues -- one of his own -- resulted in a four-run third inning for Washington. 

Despite that one hiccup, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was impressed with Sproat's start.

"The first two innings, he was pretty nasty, especially the way he was using the breaking ball," he explained. "The sweeper, the curveball, he used a lot of them for strikes to get chases, swing and misses, get back in counts, The sinker was playing up. The third inning, he lost it a little bit. It got away from him a little bit because he lost the strike zone there for a minute. One batter from getting out of that inning, then they hit some balls really hard there."

"First two innings were good. Leadoff walk, not a recipe for success," Sproat said of his outing. "Threw the ball away there. Frustrated with myself, make that play nine times out of 10…the second walk. Walks are never good."

Sproat allowed four runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five batters across his four innings, but at just 71 pitches, it's curious that Mendoza decided to pull Sproat. The second-year skipper explained that with the Mets fighting to hold on to a playoff spot, he didn't want to risk the game getting away from them. 

"I like what I saw. Even though he only gave us four, I was aggressive with him," Mendoza continued. "I thought he could have kept going, but where we’re at every game, I’m going to be aggressive when we need to. It was a positive outing for him."

Entering Friday's series opener, the Mets (79-74) were 2.0 games ahead of the Diamondbacks and Reds with nine games remaining. Every game matters at this time of the year, but Mendoza also pointed out that the Nationals hitters, especially the lefties, were starting to get to Sproat. He wanted to avoid them facing Sproat a third time.

"Watching those lefties in that third inning. After [James] Wood, [CJ] Abrams, all the lefties, there was some hard contact from them," Mendoza explained. "Wasn’t going to take chances there, especially after we got back. Wanted to give [Huascar Brazoban] or whoever a clean inning. That was the reason there."

But both Mendoza and Sproat were happy with how the fourth inning went. After the Mets cut their deficit to 4-2, Spraout got a groundout and struck out Paul DeJong and Jorge Alfaro to end his night.

"Had a good bounceback in the fourth. I was pleased with it, control what I can," Sproat said. "If I dwell on [the third inning], it’s not going to do anything for me. Told myself it’s the past, put it in the past, it is what it is, gotta move forward for this team. And that’s what I was able to do."

Sproat said there was no conversation with Mendoza about being taken out and respected his manager's decision. But Sproat, now after his third big league start, is experiencing in real time that in the majors, pitchers need to go pitch by pitch.

"That’s the beauty of this game, you’re never really out of it," Sproat said. "Runners first and second, no one out and you’re one pitch from a doubleplay. Gotta take it pitch by pitch and you’re only as good as your next one."

In three starts since his debut, Sproat has pitched to a 3.94 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP while striking out 15 batters across 16.0 innings. 

 

The Mets defeated the Nationals, 12-6, in their series opener but while the score may appear lop-sided, it wasn't always. In fact, the defense of the Mets could have cost them this matchup and a chance to keep their ground in the wild-card race.

With youngster Brandon Sproat on the mound in the third inning, the right-hander was struggling. His throwing allowed the tying run to score and he had runners on first and second with no outs. Sproat, however, induced a clutch double play before allowing a double to give the Nationals the lead. Then going up against Josh Bell, Sproat threw a 1-0 sinker that Bell lined into left-center field but Jose Siri seemed to have a beat on it. Siri got to his spot on the run and reached out for the ball. The ball hit the inside of his glove and popped out, allowing another run to score. 

The very next hitter, Daylen Lile, hit a grounder into center field and Siri took a bad route to the ball, allowing it to go to the wall and Lile ended up on third with a triple and scored the fourth Nationals run of the inning. 

Siri didn't help himself at the plate either, going 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. The Citi Field crowd booed the first-year Met as he struck out in the fourth when the Mets tried to retake the lead.

"He didn’t have a good day, obviously," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. "All I was telling him was to keep your head up. Mistakes happen, he went a long ways for that ball got there and dropped it, and then a poor route on the grounder in the gap. I know it could get hard, but not putting your head down and keep competing, that was my messaging to him. They’re going to make errors; it’s going to happen. What I don’t like is guys putting their head down, that was my messaging to him."

Sproat was a lot more forgiving of Siri's attempt in the outfield.

"Props to Siri for running after that ball," he said. "It was a long run, heck of an effort for it."

Since his return to the team on Sept. 9 after fracturing his leg back in April, Siri has only appeared in four games and is 1-for-12 with nine strikeouts over that span.

The return of Helsley?

Aside from the win, Ryan Helsley's performance on Friday was encouraging. The big trade deadline acquisition has struggled mightily since coming to Queens, but has strung together some good outings of late.

Over his last three appearances, he's allowed just one hit and one walk across three innings with one strikeout. Friday was extra impressive as he came in in a high-leverage situation. With the Mets only up 8-6 in the seventh, Mendoza called on Helsley and the veteran delivered, getting a ground out, a strikeout looking and a line out to finish the 1-2-3 frame.

"There’s a lot to like. The way the slider, below the strike zone, getting chases and swings and misses there," Mendoza said of Helsley's outing. "Tried a few times to elevate the fastball, even though he didn’t get swing and miss on the nine-hole hitter, it was effective enough with the fastball. Throwing strikes but executing when he needs to.

"I’ve been saying, we need him. This is a guy that’s proven before in this league. It’s good to see him out there in that situation, up two in the seventh in high-leverage for him to get three outs was huge." 

Raley continues to give Mets options

Speaking of the Mets' bullpen, they used six relievers, including Brooks Raley, who continues to give New York exactly what they need whenever they call upon him.

Raley got three outs, two in the fifth after Huascar Brazoban struggled and then one to start the sixth. His performance helped him pick up his second win of the season. 

"This is a guy who is coming off Tommy John surgery," Mendoza said of Raley. We’re using him for two ups, multiple innings. As early as the fifth inning, sixth, seventh, eighth. He’s a total pro. He’s very honest with us in letting us know how he’s feeling every day. To have a guy like that in that bullpen where you can shoot him anywhere is a luxury. We’re going to continue to need him, but we have to continue to take care of him as well."

Raley returned to the Mets in mid-July and has been great. He's pitched to a 2.42 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP across 25 games (22.1 IP). 

Juan Soto's first year with the Mets is becoming more and more legendary by the game, and Friday saw another milestone set for the outfielder.

Soto's fourth-inning blast not only gave the Mets an 8-4 lead, but it was the 42nd long ball of his season, a new career high. It's the third-most ever by a Met in a single season, and his 21 homers at home are tied for fourth-most by a Met. 

Considering how Soto's inaugural season in Flushing started, it's impressive how far the slugger has come, to the point that he's having one of his best statistical seasons ever. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was asked after Friday's 12-6 win over Soto's former team, the Nationals, what impressed him the most about Soto.

"When you talk about the numbers, that is something special," Mendoza said. "For me, it’s just the person. It’s how consistent he has been the whole year. It was hard for him in the beginning, going through the ups and downs, tough stretches…Never panicked, the impact he has with the boys, that for me is what makes him who he is.

"Special guy, special player, man, it’s pretty unbelievable what he’s doing."

"Feels great," Soto said of reaching his new milestone. "A lot of hard work day in and day out since the offseason and to get results it’s really good for any player. It feels great that we got the win. It was good."

After the blast, Soto trotted out to left field, where the Citi Field crowd chanted and showed him love. It doesn't feel like too long ago Soto wasn't getting that reception from the home crowd, but he's flipped his season on its head and is helping the Mets push their way into the postseason.

Over his last 20 games, dating back to Aug. 29,  Soto has a .368/.462/.829 slashline with 10 home runs, three doubles, one triple, 24 RBI and 20 runs. During that span, he leads the majors in home runs, RBI, SLG, total bases (63) and OPS (1.291).

The reception for Juan Soto at Citi Field after his 42nd home run 👏 pic.twitter.com/1LoTCHlTCz

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 20, 2025

"This crowd has been unbelievable," Soto said. "The whole year they’ve been showing up, Nothing else we can ask for."

In his eighth big league season, Soto continues to push the heights of the production he can put up. After setting a career high in homers in his final season with the Padres, he eclipsed that with the Yankees a year ago, en route to finishing third in MVP voting. But in 2025, Soto continues to produce power that we haven't seen from him.

What goes into it?

"A combination of everything that he does at the plate," Mendoza explained. "His ability to control the strike zone. His bat-to-ball skills, his power, his ability to drive the ball to all fields. His ability to hit righties and lefties and on top of that, the awareness and understanding of the situation. What the pitcher is trying to do to him, it’s a complete package at the batter’s box. At this point, nothing surprises me anymore. He’s going to continue to get better, that’s pretty unbelievable."

Soto finished Friday's game going 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. His walk is the 121st of the season and is now just four shy of tying John Olerud's franchise record for a season. His 34th stolen base, another career high, are the most by a Met in a single since since Eric Young Jr. in 2013. 

With eight games to go, and just six stolen bases needed, Soto can become the first Met to go 40/40 and just the seventh player in MLB history to do it.

Unbelievable indeed.

The regular season is winding down for Triple-A Syracuse, but two of the Mets' top prospects aren't squandering the few opportunities they have left to improve their standing within the organization.

There was no shortage of offense in Syracuse's 8-1 road win over Lehigh Valley on Friday night, and Jett Williams and Carson Benge inflicted the most damage. The pair of highly-touted youngsters delivered three combined extra-base hits, and drove in two runs apiece.

Benge broke the ice in the first inning with an RBI single to right, and then in the fourth, his triple to the right-center field gap bumped Syracuse's lead to 2-0. It was the 22-year-old outfielder's first Triple-A three-bagger, and seventh across three minor-league levels this season.

Williams then flaunted some pop in the sixth, crushing a two-out fastball to deep left field for a two-run shot -- his sixth homer with Syracuse. It also wasn't the only extra-base knock for the 21-year-old infielder, as he collected a triple of his own with one out in the eighth.

Call it welcomed production from Williams and Benge, who've both hit near the Mendoza Line since receiving the Triple-A promotion in mid-August. The Mets' expectations for them remain sky-high, of course -- Benge was recently named the franchise's Minor League Player of the Year.

In between Benge and Williams in Syracuse's lineup was outfielder Tyrone Taylor, recovering from an early September hamstring strain. He began his rehab assignment on a positive note, finishing 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the sixth. He was subbed out in the bottom of the seventh.

Carson Benge with an RBI triple for Triple-A Syracuse 💪 pic.twitter.com/8S8TUHOb8a

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 20, 2025

Jett Williams launches a two-run blast for Triple-A Syracuse 💣 pic.twitter.com/b0XphvvQpF

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 20, 2025

Tyrone Taylor drives in a run on his rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse! pic.twitter.com/bUtNyiGNUN

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 20, 2025

Juan Soto set a new career high for homers in a season as the Mets took advantage of mistakes to defeat the Nationals, 12-6, at Citi Field on Friday night.

Soto went 2-for-3 with three RBI, two walks and a stolen base as the Mets have won four of their last five games.

Here are the takeaways...

-Brandon Sproat dominated the Nats over the first two innings, striking out three, but it started to unravel a bit in the third inning due to to bad fundies. After a leadoff walk, Jorge Alfaro hit a dribbler down the third base line that Sproat came off the mound to field, and the young right-hander probably should have held it, but tried to get the out at first and instead threw it into the outfield. Paul DeJong scampered all the way home as the Mets' fielders took a while to get the ball in. After a walk, Sproat got James Wood to hit into a much-needed double play to record the first two outs of the inning. Sproat was one strike away from getting out of the inning, but CJ Abrams' double put the Nats up 2-1. Josh Bell followed with a liner to left-center field that Jose Siri had a beat on, but the ball bounced out of his glove and Abrams came around to score on the double. Daylen Lile then hit it toward Siri in shallow center but he took a bad route on it and the ball skipped past him all the way to the wall as the fourth run of the inning for Washington scored on the triple.

Sproat bounced back, striking out two in a 1-2-3 fourth, but that was the end of the line for the youngster. Sproat tossed 71 pitches (42 strikes) in four innings, allowing four runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five batters.

-As for the Mets' offense, Pete Alonso was the catalyst for the team's first two runs. In the first, the slugger hit a bloop single down the right field line. Francisco Lindor, who hit a leadoff single, went first to third and came home on an error by right fielder Dylan Crews. In the third, Alonso hit a two-out single to drive in Lindor, who walked with two outs and advanced to third on a Soto single.

The Mets would get squared at 4-4 in the fourth thanks to back-to-back singles by Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte to lead off the inning, followed by a two-run double from Francisco Alvarez. After a Brett Baty HBP and Siri struck out, Lindor picked up his second hit of the game to drive in Alvarez as he and Baty moved up base on Woods' error in left field, allowing the ball to trickle under his glove. Soto capped off the six-run inning with a three-run shot to put the Mets up 8-4. The ball went out 107 mph off the bat, 419 feet to dead center for his 42nd blast of the year, a new career high. 

-Huascar Brazoban was the first arm out of the bullpen in relief of Sproat and he didn't have it. A leadoff single, then a one-out, two-run shot from Abrams cut the Mets' lead to 8-6 and Brazoban's night. After Brazoban, the Mets' bullpen was nails. The combination of Brooks Raley, Ryne Stanek, Ryan Helsley (yes, Helsley) and Tyler Rogers locked down the Nationals lineup before Chris Devenski, with a six-run lead, was asked to preserve the win. After allowing two one-out hits, Devenski struck out the last two batters he faced.

Here's how the Mets bullpen fared on Friday:

• Brazoban: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 K
• Raley: 1.0 IP
• Stanek: 0.2 IP, 1 K
• Helsley: 1.0 IP, 1 K
• Rogers: 1.0 IP
• Devenski: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 K

-With the Mets only up 8-6, the team scratched across a crucial insurance run in the seventh. Jeff McNeil hit a leadoff single (pinch-hitting for Mark Vientos) before Luisangel Acuña pinch-ran and stole second. Nimmo moved Acuña to third on a groundball and Marte tacked on the run with a groundout of his own.

Acuña then walked on four pitches with the bases loaded in the eighth with two outs to push across the 10th run of the evening for the Mets. Nimmo followed with a two-run single to put the game out of hand.

-Siri, getting the start at CF against the southpaw with Tyrone Taylor on a rehab assignment, not only made two misplays in the outfield but also went hitless (0-3, 2K). His strikeout in the fourth as the Mets were making their comeback had Citi Field booing. 

Game MVP: Francisco Lindor

Lindor went 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and three runs scored. His aggressiveness on the basepaths got the scoring going for the Mets and he was in the mix for all of the Mets' rallies. 

Highlights

Francisco Lindor comes all the way home from first on Pete Alonso's base hit! pic.twitter.com/SllaZNbfJw

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 19, 2025

Pete Alonso drives in his 122nd run of the year 💪 pic.twitter.com/3NrjYNjmVN

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 20, 2025

Two strikeouts for Brandon Sproat in the fourth pic.twitter.com/FMQLMbTntX

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 20, 2025

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ TIES THE GAME WITH A TWO-RUN DOUBLE! pic.twitter.com/bQ9WFIMeDX

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 20, 2025

FRANCISCO LINDOR GIVES THE METS THE LEAD! pic.twitter.com/B46CQA6qxE

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 20, 2025

A NEW CAREER-HIGH 42 HOME RUNS FOR JUAN SOTO!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/hYmUFy0SlV

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 20, 2025

Starling Marte's groundout brings home a key insurance run for the Mets! pic.twitter.com/YyvdWOKeE5

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 20, 2025

Brandon Nimmo drives in two more with a single! pic.twitter.com/srD35dCaPH

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 20, 2025

What's next

The Mets and Nationals continue their weekend series with a Saturday afternoon game. First pitch is set for 4:10 p.m.

Nolan McLean (4-1, 1.19 ERA) looks to continue his dominance since being called up, while the Nationals will send Cade Cavalli (3-1, 4.76 ERA) to the mound.

 

The Yankees were unable to narrow the gap in the AL East standings on Friday night, as they fell to the last place Orioles, 4-2, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Orioles starter Trevor Rogers entered Friday with a stellar 1.43 ERA through 16 starts this season, and it didn't take long to realize that the Yankees weren't picking up his stuff with ease. The left-hander retired the first eight batters faced, and while the Yankees managed to reach base three times on two walks and one hit-by-pitch through five innings, they failed to register a hit or orchestrate a rally. Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Volpe came close to inflicting damage, but their 400-foot flyouts landed just short of the wall. Rogers logged seven strikeouts during this five-inning stretch.

-- All that the Yankees could ask from Will Warren was some quality length, and much to their delight, the rookie right-hander delivered it. He lowered a bloated first-inning ERA by retiring the Orioles in order with a pair of strikeouts, and while he served up a leadoff solo home run to Ryan Mountcastle in the second inning, he limited mistakes from there and sent down 12 of the next 15 batters with four punchouts. After five, the Yankees trailed, 1-0.

-- The Yankees' luck against Rogers slightly turned in the sixth, as Austin Wells broke up the no-hitter with a single to center. But the leadoff knock was all for naught, as Orioles outfielder Dylan Beavers crushed any chance of a momentum shift by robbing Paul Goldschmidt of a two-run homer (or extra bases) and Aaron Judge of a single. The first web gem required a decent leap at the left-center field wall, while the latter demanded a head-first slide and snowcone catch. Rogers then induced a groundout of Cody Bellinger to complete the inning at 106 total pitches. 

-- The Yankees' missed opportunities at the plate came back to bite Warren shortly thereafter. He allowed the leadoff man, Jordan Westburg, to reach first on a fielding error, and then one pitch later, Jazz Chisholm Jr. botched a shovel throw to first on a grounder that went past Goldschmidt and put a pair of Orioles in scoring position. Warren's night didn't last much longer -- a sac fly extended Baltimore's lead to 2-0, and he then walked Beavers on four pitches. Fernando Cruz took over with one out, allowing a walk and an RBI groundout before escaping the jam. Still, a decent outing from Warren.

-- Chisholm made up for his defensive blunder in the seventh. With two outs and a runner on first, he cut the Yankees' deficit back to one with a timely two-run homer to right. The 388-foot blast was also memorable, as Chisholm became just the third player in franchise history to produce a campaign with 30 homers and 30 stolen bases. The other two members of the exclusive club? Bobby Bonds (1975) and Alfonso Soriano (2002, 2003).

-- Cruz returned for the seventh, striking out the leadoff hitter, but further work wasn't requested. Tim Hill entered with one out, and the lefty-on-lefty strategy backfired. While the veteran southpaw induced a grounder for the second out, he gave up a single to Westburg and then a double to Gunnar Henderson that bumped the Orioles' lead to 4-2. Camilo Doval was tasked with logging the third out, and he did just that by getting Mountcastle to fly out. 

-- The Yankees were given a crack at a late-inning rally, as a one-out, pinch-hit walk from Ben Rice, a bloop single from Judge, and a soft groundout from Bellinger set Stanton up with the tying run at second. But the moment didn't overwhelm Orioles reliever Rico Garcia, who managed to induce an inning-ending groundout to third. The ninth inning belonged to Keegan Akin, who needed only nine pitches to record his eighth save this season.

Game MVP: Trevor Rogers

Rogers kept the Yankees off balance for much of the night, and while he needed a season-high 106 pitches to complete six innings, he gave the home crowd a shutout performance worthy of cheers.

Highlights

Aaron Judge lays out for the catch! pic.twitter.com/w2cucclICb

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) September 19, 2025

A 30/30 SEASON FOR JAZZ CHISHOLM JR.! pic.twitter.com/KDMGq8vi9Q

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) September 20, 2025

What's next

The Yankees (86-68) will continue their four-game set in Baltimore on Saturday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

LHP Carlos Rodón (16-9, 3.11 ERA) is slated to take the mound, opposite RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (10-8, 4.39 ERA).

Phillies execute piggyback plan to defeat Diamondbacks 8-2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

PHOENIX – The big picture for the Phillies as they wind down this regular season is to make sure a first-round bye is secured by either being the first or second seed in the National League.

The smaller one is for manager Rob Thomson to tweak and shuffle and have his players in just the right frame of mind heading into the postseason.

Friday night at Chase Field, the Phillies checked both those boxes with an 8-2 thumping of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

With the Milwaukee Brewers losing to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phillies are now two games back in their quest for that No. 1 seed. The Phillies have now won 12 of their past 16 games and improved to 92-62 on the season.

Thomson designed for Friday to be a pitchers’ piggyback game with Taijuan Walker getting the start and Walker Buehler scheduled to replace him during a clean inning. If he could have gotten eight innings or so out of the duo, the manager deemed before the game that it would be ideal. He pretty much got it.

After giving up two runs in the first, Walker didn’t allow another during his four innings before giving way to Buehler, who was nothing short of terrific in his 3 2/3 innings of work.

Buehler, whose fastball got as high as 96 MPH and hovered around 94 during his stint, was in complete control during most of his 60-pitch outing. He did load the bases in the eighth on a single and two walks, but Tanner Banks came in and got pinch-hitter Jordan Lawlor to pop out to short to end the threat. For the night, Buehler allowed two hits, two walks and struck out three.

The Phillies got their first run on the board in the second when Brandon Marsh got a one-out single and scored on a double to right-center by Alec Bohm, who was making his first start since September 7th after coming off the IL earlier in the day.

A two-out home run to left by Harrison Bader in the fifth tied the game before the Phillies took the lead in the sixth inning.

Marsh led off with a single and stole second with two outs. Weston Wilson then brought him home with a single to left for a 3-2 lead.

Marsh had a chance to do more damage in the seventh when he came up with the bases loaded and two outs. But lefthander Philip Abner, making his major league debut, got Marsh looking with a fastball. It really didn’t matter, though, as the Phillies combined to score five more times in the eighth and ninth.

Nick Castellanos, who put on a home run hitting show in batting practice before the game, drilled a two-run shot to left off Jake Woodford in the eighth for a 5-2 lead. Castellanos entered the game in the sixth when he pinch-hit for Max Kepler against lefthander Jalen Beeks. He stayed in the game and provided those huge insurance runs for the Phillies.

It was a positive return for Bohm, who saw eight pitches before delivering his RBI double the opposite way to open the scoring for Philadelphia. He also made a spectacular play at third in the fourth, diving towards the line to get a ground ball by Tim Tawa. He reached base in the eighth on an error by third baseman Blaze Alexander and scored ahead of Castellanos on his homer and drove in a pair in the ninth with a bases-loaded single to center. Castellanos then drove in his third run of the game with a single to center to drive in Marsh and the route was complete.

Giants fail in bid to spoil Kershaw Night as postseason hopes continue dwindling originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

LOS ANGELES — At 9:53 p.m. last Friday, Patrick Bailey hit a walk-off grand slam off Tanner Scott to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park. The Giants crept closer in the NL Wild Card race that night, and given how ridiculous the moment was, it wasn’t hard to picture them rolling all the way through September. 

At 9:57 p.m. exactly a week later, Matt Chapman popped up a slider from Scott, clinching a 6-3 loss on a night that started with some promise. The Giants lost for the sixth time in seven games since the Bailey slam, and while they’re trying to avoid the math, the situation is bleak.

The late July/early August Giants returned at the worst possible time. Their dreams of an unlikely postseason run could be officially extinguished as early as Sunday afternoon, and the final week might be spent simply trying to finish above .500. Even that might be a stretch, given that they’re 76-78 and have two more games left at Dodger Stadium this weekend.

After the Bailey slam, manager Bob Melvin noted it has been a season of extremes. He smiled and said he hoped the Giants would ride the positive vibes as long as possible. Instead, they have found themselves on the other side. 

The 2025 Giants might finish right around .500, but they don’t necessarily embrace the middle. When they win, they do so with walk-offs and offensive explosions. When they lose, well, the lows are pretty low. 

The latest loss came when Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts went back-to-back, erasing a deficit and knocking Robbie Ray out of the game after a strong start to his night. Ray had outdueled Clayton Kershaw in the other lefty’s final start at Dodger Stadium, but the Dodgers quickly caught up after Kershaw was pulled in the fifth and showered with multiple standing ovations. 

Ray has had some success against Ohtani, and his fastball has been firm in September even as he has struggled overall. He threw five of them at Ohtani in the fifth, the final one coming in at 95.5 mph and sticking to the corner. Ohtani casually flipped it into the seats. 

“It was almost like he was trying to foul it off, and he hit it out to left several rows deep,” Melvin said. 

Ray said he thought it was a good pitch. Ohtani just put a good swing on it. 

“If it’s not down the line, it’s probably not a homer,” Ray said. “But he caught it deep enough to where he was able to get it over the wall.”

NO. 52 FOR SHOHEI

On the anniversary of his historic 50/50 achievement, Shohei Ohtani gives the fans some fireworks to celebrate 🚀 pic.twitter.com/hbvjWYLJaY

— MLB (@MLB) September 20, 2025

This is what the Giants will be up against for the rest of the decade, but the last time they were at Dodger Stadium, they tried to cut into the deficit. At the end of a trip in June, Buster Posey acquired Rafael Devers, who helped the team get back in the race in early September. 

Devers, however, is still looking for a signature moment in orange and black, and he has struggled when the Giants needed him most. Since the win last Friday, Devers is 2-for-27 with 11 strikeouts. Four of them came Friday night, including one with two runners on in the ninth. 

The stars have slumped over the past week, and given their lack of pitching depth, that has left the Giants with little hope. They weren’t even able to spoil Kershaw’s goodbye outing, despite a strong start. 

Heliot Ramos was intent on being aggressive, and he nearly homered on Kershaw’s first pitch. Later in the at-bat, he smoked a ball 431 feet into the seats in left-center. 

“The plan was to be aggressive and try to attack,” Ramos said. “We know the position we’re in. I was trying to attack.”

Heliot Ramos isn't here for the Clayton Kershaw pageantry 😅pic.twitter.com/GrsuTLnOEx

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 20, 2025

It was the right mentality, but the rest of the lineup would manage just one more run off Kershaw, who soaked in every moment. Long after the final out, which clinched a postseason spot for the Dodgers, he came back out to the mound to wave at fans and take pictures with his large family. 

A couple hundred feet away, the Giants got dressed in a quiet clubhouse. Ramos said the goal was still to pile up as many wins as possible over the next week and see what happens. Ray said the team is still taking things one day at a time. 

They are running out of days, though. That’s what happens when you waste an entire week in September. 

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

What we learned as Clayton Kershaw gets last laugh in Giants' loss to Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

LOS ANGELES — In the fifth inning Friday night, about two hours after the first pitch, Dodger Stadium started shaking. But it had nothing to do with the game being Clayton Kershaw’s final regular season start in Los Angeles. 

Shortly after Kershaw departed, Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts went back-to-back off Giants starter Robbie Ray. That flipped a close game and led to another NL West loss for the Giants, who are getting closer and closer to being officially eliminated from the MLB postseason race. 

The 6-3 loss was the fourth in five games on this road trip through Phoenix and Los Angeles and sixth in seven games since the Giants briefly climbed into a tie for a postseason spot. They got a leadoff homer from Heliot Ramos, but after that it was another quiet night for a group that has seen its stars slump with the season on the line. 

The night started with a standing ovation for Kershaw, who took the field alone and then signaled his teammates to join him as he warmed up. Before many of the 53,000 could sit down, Ramos blasted a 431-foot homer to left-center, but the Giants weren’t able to spoil Kershaw’s big night. 

Heliot Ramos isn't here for the Clayton Kershaw pageantry 😅pic.twitter.com/GrsuTLnOEx

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 20, 2025

A day after he announced that he is retiring after the season, Kershaw allowed two runs in 4 1/3 innings. He was on the hook for a loss when he departed, but Ohtani quickly changed that with a three-run blast. 

Closing The Book

For years, a decade even, the Ramos homer alone would have qualified as a good day for the Giants against Kershaw. Nobody has ever been more of a Giants-killer than the future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, who made his 63rd career appearance against them on Friday night. 

With his second of six strikeouts, Kershaw passed Warren Spahn for the most career strikeouts against the Giants. He finished with 421 of them in 411 2/3 innings and posted a 2.10 ERA. That’s the lowest for any pitcher in history who threw at least 150 innings against the organization.

Kershaw finished his night — and possibly his career at Dodger Stadium — by striking out Rafael Devers for a second straight time. He froze Devers with an 89 mph fastball at the knees and then hugged teammates as Dodger Stadium roared and Dave Roberts came out to get the baseball.

The Night’s Other Lefty

Ray has gotten to know Kershaw over the years, a friendship that began when they played catch together at an All-Star Game. On Thursday, shortly after Kershaw’s announcement, Ray said he was excited about pitching in what would feel like a playoff atmosphere. 

For four innings, Ray looked ready to ruin the night. But he got heater-happy against Ohtani and paid for it. Ray has had good velo the last two times out and he pumped fastballs at Ohtani, who hit the fifth one into the seats in left for his 52nd homer of the year. 

Ray was charged with five earned runs. He has allowed 16 earned over four starts in September. 

Postseason Picture

If you are, uhh, still holding out hope … it’s not pretty.

The New York Mets used a six-run inning to blow out the Washington Nationals on Friday afternoon and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs in a homer-filled game at Great American Small Park. It shouldn’t be long now before the Giants are mathematically eliminated. 

Counting the tiebreaker, they are five games behind the Mets with eight to go. The Reds are two games ahead of the Giants, so even if New York collapsed and the Giants finished strong, they would still need plenty of help. With a rough weekend, they could be eliminated as soon as Sunday. 

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Alec Bohm returns from IL with time to regroup before postseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

PHOENIX – Since getting hit with a pitch just before the All-Star break that resulted in a fractured rib and then developing inflammation in his left shoulder, Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm has played in just 20 of the team’s last 58 games.

Friday, before playing the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team announced that it had reinstated Bohm from the injured list. Manager Rob Thomson penciled him in to play third base and hit sixth as the Phillies opened their final road series of the regular season against a Diamondbacks team that is fighting for a playoff spot.

Bohm is hitting .293 with 22 extra base hits and 42 RBI over his last 81 games and did have an 11-game hitting streak from mid to late August during which time he hit .349. That is the Bohm the team hopes they are getting back.

“Just see what the swing looks like with a healthy shoulder,” said Rob Thomson of what he’s looking for from his third baseman. I think that had a lot to do with a lot of the stuff that was going on. I think we’re all encouraged. Watching his BP over in Dodger Stadium was pretty good, pretty impressive. He showed some raw power in BP, anyway. Hopefully it transfers into the game.

Not that injuries ever come at a good time but these came when Bohm was really rounding into form before the rib injury sat him down.

“The power was coming, he was using the field and putting the ball in play hard,” said Thomson. “Sometimes time off helps. So, hopefully it helps him and get him back to where he was.”

The other player out with injury on the left side of the infield, Trea Turner, continues to rehab back in Philadelphia with the hope still being he returns for games before the playoffs begin.

“He couldn’t get on the field today because it was covered,” said Thomson. “So, he did a lot of stuff inside. But he went through his whole routine offensively inside, so we’ll get him back on the field tomorrow. He’s probably 60 percent (running), that’s from Trea. I want to see him run 100 percent.”

Painter is dry

Top prospect Andrew Painter threw four innings and gave up seven hits, three earned runs, two walks and struck out six on Wednesday for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and, according to Thomson, that’s all she wrote for the season for Painter.

“No. He’s done. He’s tired,” Thomson said. “To me he’s had a really good year, has come through healthy and it’s always the second year when you see the stuff really play up and a guy gets back to normal after Tommy John. So, I think, all in all, it was a very successful year for him.”

This was a work year for Painter, to just try and build up the innings and make sure that arm got through things well. He made 22 starts and threw just over 106 innings. While word was swirling earlier in the season about him coming up to the Phillies, the scenario still played out well.

What’s left?

The goal for the Phillies is still to try and win every game, get the top seed and a first-round bye. But there are still some things that Thomson wants to see his team work on while still trying to achieve those goals.

“Yeah, some reliever stuff. Get a one-plus out of certain guys,” he said. “But at the same time not put them in harm’s way. Just little things like that. Pickoff plays at second. Bunt plays. Doing some little things that we haven’t done a whole lot of.”

Might that include using closer Jhoan Duran for more than inning? Maybe face a fourth or fifth hitter in a save opportunity?

“He’s done that before, so I’m not really concerned about him,” said Thomson.