Category: MLB

The Mets got six solid innings from Sean Manaea and an all-around good effort at the plate and on the bases from Francisco Alvarez to grab a 6-3 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night in Texas.

The win was Andy Green's first as the full-time Mets manager after he signed a three-year contract with the club, and he is now 38-38 since taking over in late June.

Here are the takeaways...

- Alvarez got the Mets' first hit, smashing a 2-0 Mackenzie Gore fastball 396 feet into left-center for a double that one-hoped the wall to start the third. The DH for the night just tattooed it (112.3 mph off the bat) on a ball that would have gone out of seven ballparks, including Citi Field.

With two down and a runner on second in the fourth, he got lucky when former teammate Brandon Nimmo couldn’t make a running grab on a ball that hit off his glove as he nearly collided with center fielder Ezequiel Duran in the right-center gap to give the Mets a 2-1 lead on the error.

Alvarez, up with runners on first and second and one gone in the sixth, ripped his second double of the night to virtually the same spot to plate two more runs to give the Mets a 4-3 lead on his 14th double of the campaign. (The second double would have been a homer in six parks, including Citi Field.) Alvarez pushed the envelope and came around to score on a pop-out in foul territory as first baseman JakeBurger hesitated throwing home after making the catch up the right-field line. He finished 2-for-5 with a strikeout.   

- Manaea got four whiffs on his first four swings, plus four called strikes, as he struck out the side in the first on 13 pitches. He was immediately in a spot of bother in the second with an error and a Nimmo single to center. A ball that somehow carried to the wall in left put two in scoring position, but Manea got a strikeout looking and a pop-up to right to escape without any damage.

The southpaw started the third with a four-pitch walk to the nine-hole hitter, but bounced back with a three-pitch strikeout and a pop-up to shallow center FranciscoLindor tracked down. But a passed ball from Luis Torrens allowed the Rangers to level the score on Josh Jung’s RBI double that just stayed fair down the right-field line. Manaea got his sixth strikeout to end the frame. 

Manaea loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth on a bloop single, a walk, and a hit batter. A sac fly to the warning track in left leveled the score, but Manaea hit another batter, his 16th of the season. Another sac fly to the warning track in left put Texas ahead before the Mets lefty got a three-pitch strikeout to end the inning.

The lefty worked his second and third 1-2-3 innings of the night to close his penultimate start of the year on a high note, conquering his sixth-inning bugaboo. Manaea’s final line: 6.0 innings, three runs, three hits, two walks, two HBP, and nine strikeouts on 99 pitches (68 strikes).

- Carson Benge grabbed his 20th double of the season on a ball that hit the chalk in the left-field corner and hopped over the fence with one down in the fourth. He didn't wait long to grab his 21st with a two-out double yanked into the right-field corner to plate a run against left-hander Robert Garcia in the seventh. He finished 2-for-4 with a walk, a strikeout, and the pair of two-baggers.

- Brett Baty, pinch-hitting for Mark Vientos, smacked an 0-2, opposite-field double off Nathan Eovaldi to start the sixth, his 22nd double of the year, and later showed off his wheels to score from first on Benge's double as he was running with the pitch. He went 1-for-2 with a walk.

- A.J. Ewing went 1-for-3 with a walk and an infield hit with one down in the sixth and added a stolen base, his 25th of the year, setting a record for a Mets rookie.

- Juan Soto, who tagged a ball (100.5 mph) to left-center, but it went for a 373-foot warning-track out his first time up, got a chance with runners on the corners and two outs in the third and cashed in with an RBI grounder that squeaked into center to plate Alvarez. He went 2-for-5.

- Nate Lavender was the first man out of the bullpen and delivered a 1-2-3 inning with two going down on strikes. His ERA stands at 1.83 in 19 appearances with 25 strikeouts this year. Dedniel Núñez struck out the first two he faced in a perfect eighth to make it 14-straight Rangers retired. 

Kodai Senga got a strikeout to start the ninth as home plate umpire Laz Diaz, in his final week as an ump, made an astute call on a foul tip into the glove on a 3-2 pitch. Senga hit the next guy as he couldn't control his forkball, but earned his eighth save of the year with a strikeout and flyout to left. 

- Lindor committed his 11th error of the season with a bad throw to first on a routine grounder to leadoff the second. He went 1-for-4 with a walk.

- Bo Bichette flew out to left first time up and left runners on the corners with a groundout to end the third. He finished 1-for-4 with a strikeout looking, adding a ringing single (108.6 mph) to center to start the ninth.

- Marcus Semien, playing his first game in Texas since an offseason trade with the Rangers for Nimmo, went 0-for-5 but, with some good base running, scored from first on Alvarez's double.

- Luis Torrens went 1-for-3 with an RBI on a sac fly thanks to Alvarez’s smart base running.

- Vientos was caught looking at a fastball at the knees his first time up and went 0-for-2. 

- Nimmo went 2-for-4 with a strikeout in his first game against his old club.

- The Mets left plenty of meat on the bone, as despite pounding out 10 hits went 3-for-16 with RISP and left 10 on base. Semien was the biggest offender, going 0-for-4 in those situations, with Ewing and Alvarez each going 1-for-3. 

Game MVP: Mets pitchers

The Mets allowed just one base runner after the fourth inning and held the Rangers to three hits with 15 strikeouts. 

Highlights

Sean Manaea strikes out the side in the first pic.twitter.com/czzml4A5Vs

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 23, 2026

Juan Soto drives in the first run of the game!

It's Soto's 66th RBI of the season pic.twitter.com/QcMV52hxVS

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 23, 2026

Carson Benge with his 20th double of the season! pic.twitter.com/v7uMbl5PtP

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 23, 2026

Brandon Nimmo can't make the catch in right and the Mets take a 2-1 lead pic.twitter.com/4LZVnWE0kT

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 23, 2026

Francisco Alvarez blasts a 2-run double and the Mets retake the lead! pic.twitter.com/bmuHksKwfv

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 23, 2026

Francisco Alvarez scores on a foul pop fly to the first baseman! pic.twitter.com/agVY22HegI

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 23, 2026

A.J. Ewing's 25th stolen base of the season!

He now has the most stolen bases in a rookie season by a Met, surpassing Mookie Wilson's 24 pic.twitter.com/vbNuLRpc4P

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 23, 2026

Carson Benge brings Brett Baty home from first with his second double of the night! pic.twitter.com/gklaEM6pFb

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 23, 2026

What's next

The two teams are back in action on Wednesday night with an 8:05 p.m. EDT first pitch. 

Nolan McLean gets the ball (3.18 ERA, 1.193 WHIP in 172.2 innings) for his 31st start for New York. The home side has yet to name a starter.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Brandon Nimmo is enjoying this new chapter of his career with a chance for a postseason return.

The Rangers began Tuesday’s play leading the AL West by one game, a fact that Nimmo emphasized over questions about playing against his former team, the Mets, for the first time.

“We are in a spot where we are trying to make something happen here at the end of the year,” Nimmo said at Globe Life Field.

Nimmo was a significant part of a Mets offseason overhaul, dealt to Texas for Marcus Semien after agreeing to waive his no-trade clause.

Other dominoes soon fell, most notably Pete Alonso’s departure through free agency, after president of baseball operations David Stearns showed no interest in a long-term deal for the first baseman, who received $155 million over five years from the Orioles.

Nimmo was asked if he felt as if he and Alonso became scapegoats for the team’s collapse last season that resulted in the Mets missing the playoffs.

“I honestly think we just weren’t thought of as a solution moving forward,” Nimmo said. “I don’t think we were blamed for what happened in the past. I tried not to read any more into it than that.”

From afar, what has Nimmo thought of the Mets this season?

“It was obviously not the way they drew it up, for things to start,” Nimmo said. “But it looks like they are trying to finish on a good note and that is always something that is good, especially with young guys. When I was over there and we went through some tough years, finishing on a good note always made the young guys feel better going to the offseason about what was ahead for next year.”

Nimmo was hardly surprised that Alonso, in his return to Citi Field last week, hit a game-tying blast in the ninth inning for career homer No. 300.

“I know Pete, and he lives for those moments,” Nimmo said. “That’s the magic of Pete and that is why people love him and we loved him.”

Christian Scott’s season will conclude on the injured list.

The right-hander was placed there Tuesday with left knee inflammation, an injury that manager Andy Green said occurred during Scott’s last start when he landed awkwardly on a warmup pitch.

Scott pitched to a 3.85 ERA in 23 starts for the Mets this season.

Devin Williams was activated from the IL after rehabbing a shoulder strain.

Williams won’t necessarily be used in the closer’s role over this final stretch, according to Green, but the plan is for the right-hander to resume that role next season.

The New York Yankees spent nearly 13 hours at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, were nearly no-hit, and then had to watch the Tampa Bay Rayscelebrate in the Bronx, posing for pictures on the infield, popping champagne and partying in their visiting clubhouse.

The Rays, for the first time since 2021, are the American League East champions.

They will have a first-round bye while the Yankees, who clinched a postseason berth last week, will be forced to play in a wild-card round.

Certainly, it would have been awkward, much less bizarre for the Yankees to join the celebration – but they weren’t about to break down in tears.

To tell you the truth, there was no reason for the Yankees to even be dejected.

More: Umpire calls out 'nasty' MLB as he ends storied career | Exclusive

They knew it was almost inevitable the Rays were going to win the AL East once Aaron Judge returned to the injured list, and then lost three of their next four games to the Minnesota Twins and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Now, they can worry about the real race, the one through October to be the last team standing for the first time since 2009.

“The 162 first games, it doesn’t matter," Yankees infielder/outfielder Jose Caballero said. “Now, the clock starts."

The Yankees won’t have a first-round bye. They’ll be without Judge for at least the AL wild card series against the Boston Red Sox with his moderate calf strain, Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced, and will be awfully rusty even if he’s able to play in the AL Division Series against these same Rays.

Yet, after they retreated to their clubhouse after their day/night doubleheader, they couldn’t help but still feel great about their team.

What they witnessed on the field for 18 innings subtly reminded them why they still may be the team to beat in the American League, with or without Judge.

It's that stellar pitching.

First, it was Carlos Rodon pitching one of his finest games in a Yankee uniform, giving up just three hits without a walk in eight shutout innings in their 2-0 victory in Game 1.

In the nightcap, it was Max Fried (5-4, 2.84 ERA) who was fabulous for the first six innings before the Rays beat him by playing small ball in the seventh inning.

Considering that Cam Schlittler should be the unanimous Cy Young winner by giving up two or fewer earned runs in 22 starts, and former Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole (9-9, 3.63 ERA) was dominant in his last start, against Arizona, no one outside perhaps the Dodgers has a more formidable and powerful starting rotation.

The Yankees have an MLB-best 3.20 ERA, including an MLB-best 3.24 for ERA by the starting rotation.

Sure, the Yankees (90-67) are hardly flawless. The Rays (96-61) are a more complete and well-rounded team, particularly without Judge in the lineup.

The Tampa Bay Rays were terrible houseguests Tuesday night.

They showed up at Yankee Stadium wearing their brand-new Road Gray uniforms, refused to give the Yankees much at the plate, and then helped themselves to the American League East title. Drew Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Yandy Díaz drove in four runs, and Tampa Bay defeated New York 6-1 before taking the celebration into the visitors’ clubhouse, where the beverages were flowing, and the Yankees’ staff were left with the cleanup.

In short, they walked in Yankee Stadium and took over Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night.

Tampa Bay had an early opportunity against Max Fried when Junior Caminero doubled with two outs in the first inning. Jonny DeLuca struck out swinging to leave him at second, and Fried followed with a clean second.

Rasmussen was even less accommodating.

The right-hander struck out the side in the first, getting Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger swinging before freezing Heliot Ramos for the final out. He retired the Yankees in order again in the second, adding another strikeout against Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The Rays got things going in the third without much hard contact.

Taylor Walls opened with an infield single, and Cedric Mullins followed with a walk. Yandy Díaz moved both runners into scoring position with a fly ball to right before Ryan Vilade grounded out to second, bringing Walls home for a 1-0 lead.

One run was enough to give Rasmussen something to work with for a while.

Austin Wells drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the third, but Rasmussen retired Ryan McMahon and struck out Rice to preserve the lead. Bellinger walked to start the fourth, but Rasmussen retired the next three hitters, striking out Luis García Jr. and Spencer Jones to end another potential scoring opportunity.

Fried continued keeping the Rays from adding to their advantage.

Nick Fortes singled to open the fifth, but Walls lined out, and Mullins grounded into what was originally ruled a double play. Tampa Bay successfully challenged the call at first to keep Mullins aboard before Chisholm made an over-the-shoulder running catch on Díaz’s popup to end the inning.

Vilade drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, but Caminero grounded into a double play, and DeLuca struck out looking.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen kept putting zeros on the scoreboard. He struck out two more in the fifth and retired the side in order in the sixth, taking a no-hitter into the seventh with the division title getting closer.

The Rays finally gave him some breathing room.

Chandler Simpson and Ben Williamson opened the seventh with consecutive singles, putting two aboard with nobody out. Fortes flew out to center, allowing Simpson to advance to third. Walls then dropped a bunt toward Fried, bringing Simpson home on an RBI single to double Tampa Bay’s lead.

After Mullins struck out, New York turned to John Schreiber to face Díaz with two runners aboard.

The pitching change did not produce the desired result.

Díaz lined a single into center field, scoring Williamson and Walls. The Yankees challenged the tag play, but the call was upheld, and Tampa Bay suddenly led 4-0.

Rasmussen returned for the seventh with a chance to keep his no-hit bid alive, but Ramos ended it immediately with a leadoff double to left.

García moved Ramos to third with a groundout before Rasmussen struck out Jones for the second out. A walk to Chisholm ended his night, with Kevin Kelly entering to face George Lombard Jr.

Lombard singled into right to bring home Ramos and get New York on the board. Kelly prevented further damage when Wells grounded out to Caminero, ending the inning with Tampa Bay leading 4-1.

Rasmussen finished with 11 strikeouts, allowing one hit and one run across 6 2/3 innings.

The Rays threatened again in the eighth when DeLuca doubled with one out, but Ryan Yarbrough retired Simpson and Williamson to strand him.

Cam Booser took over for Tampa Bay in the bottom half and delivered a clean inning, retiring pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt, striking out Rice and getting Bellinger to fly out.

New York’s bullpen still had one more encounter with Díaz ahead.

Walls singled with one out in the ninth, and Mullins followed with a single that moved Walls to third. Michael Fulmer replaced Yarbrough, and Mullins stole second to put two runners in scoring position.

Díaz responded with another two-run single, this time into left field, extending the lead to 6-1 and giving him four RBIs.

Bryan Baker handled the ninth, allowing a two-out walk and single before getting Lombard to ground out to Walls for the final out.

The Rays had already punched their postseason ticket. Now, with the AL East secured, they will enter October as division champions.

And after showing off their new uniforms, nearly no-hitting the home team, and celebrating a division title at Yankee Stadium, Tampa Bay made itself right at home.

These teams face each other again tomorrow with LHP Ian Seymour scheduled to start for the Rays and RHP Gerrit Cole for the Yankees.

The Yankees will not accomplish the chief goal of their regular season, which will make their chief goal of the postseason harder to accomplish. 

That Aaron Boone’s group will have to play a best-of-three series in the wild-card round — almost certainly against the Red Sox in The Bronx and almost certainly without Aaron Judge — is discouraging for a club that sought to avoid the same precarious position that it encountered last season. 

That Boone’s group was forced to watch the Rays clinch — and celebrate the AL East title that the Yankees made it their mission to win — on The Bronx grass sure must have added some irritation and some motivation. 

One year later, the Yankees will enter the postseason the same way: through the dreaded back door that adds to their World Series degree of difficulty. 

The Rays celebrated a 6-1 nightcap victory and division title Tuesday night at the Stadium, where a 2-0 Yankees matinee win simply delayed the inevitable. 

In Game 157, Tampa Bay (96-61) won its first AL East championship since 2021, and the Yankees (90-67) wrapped up the top wild card for a second consecutive season. 

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

After Bryan Baker induced a groundout from George Lombard Jr. to end it, Baker raised his arms in triumph, and the Rays began congratulating one another while the Yankees quietly shuffled out of their own dugout. 

“It’s never good,” said Max Fried, who was not the problem and better than his pitching line suggested — four runs in 6 ²/₃ innings. “You don’t want anyone to be celebrating at your stadium.” 

Last year it was the Blue Jays who edged out the Yankees (through a tiebreaker), forcing Boone’s crew to sweat out a three-game set against Boston before wilting against that Toronto club, which could arrange its starting pitchers and had home-field advantage. 

And so the Yankees were vocal all spring and all season that this year, they expected better. 

“It kind of sucks — that’s what we were working on all season,” said Jazz Chisholm Jr., “but it’s not the end goal for us. The end goal is the World Series.” 

So amid a campaign with too many lulls, too many notable injuries and not enough players stepping up during those injuries, they will enter October in the same position: likely fighting the Red Sox for a chance at knocking off AL East champions that they could not solve in the regular season. 

The small-market, penny-pinching Rays did not steal the division but won it decisively. The Yankees had been playing catch-up since June 28 and never caught up. With two more now-meaningless games to play, the Rays have won seven of the 11 head-to-head matchups. 

“Obviously we wanted to push it off if we could. Credit to them,” Boone said on a night Drew Rasmussen flirted with a no-hitter. “They beat us today. Rasmussen was great, and they’ve put together a fantastic regular season to earn that.” 

For a brief glimpse at what has gone wrong this season for the Yankees, consider how they lost the nightcap: 

• A team that has not hit enough without Judge again did not hit enough without Judge, no-hit until the seventh inning against Rasmussen. Heliot Ramos’ double ensured the night might be embarrassing but would not be humiliating. 
• A team that did not capitalize enough on its excellent starting pitching again did not capitalize enough on its excellent starting pitching. They won the opener behind eight shutdown innings from Carlos Rodón, but a slip from Fried in the second game was the only opening Tampa required. 

All it took in the third inning was an infield single, a walk, a fly out that advanced both runners and a groundout that scored the go-ahead run. The deficit would grow in the seventh because … 

• A team that did not play enough clean baseball again did not play enough clean baseball. With runners on first and third, Taylor Walls pushed a bunt toward first base. Fried pounced, did not believe he had a play on Chandler Simpson at home, and so he looked toward first, where no one covered and thus no out was recorded in what became a three-run frame. 

One more regrettable inning that led to the division slipping away. 

“Hopefully it’s not the last time we face them,” Fried said in what became a common refrain in the clubhouse. 

“I just want to face them, obviously, again,” Ramos added, “and just try to beat them.”

It’s Tuesday evening here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest gathering of night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in out of the fall air. There’s no cover charge. The dress code is casual. We have a few tables available. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last night I asked you for your pick for Cubs Minor League Player of the Year. Will 66 percent of the vote, you went with 19-year-old outfielder/first baseman Josiah Hartshorn. Catcher Owen Ayers got 29 percent.

On Tuesday night, I don’t normally do any movie stuff. But I always have time for jazz so let’s do that now.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great saxophonist John Coltrane. Tonight we have Trane performing “Alabama” in 1963. Coltrane never actually told anyone why or about what he wrote this song, but everyone believes that it was his response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Alabama by the Ku Klux Klan that killed four young Black girls. Clearly the song has a dirge-like quality to it.

Coltrane is joined here by McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums.

Welcome back from the music.

Since yesterday we voted on the Cubs Minor League Player of the Month, it only seems reasonable to vote on the Minor League Pitcher of the Year. The Cubs official award is named after Vedie Himsl, who was a part of the Cubs coaching staff, scouting staff or front office from the mid-fifties until 1999. Himsl was also one of PK Wrigley’s “College of Coaches” experiment in 1961, managing the Cubs to a 10-21 record.

No one would dispute that the strength of the Cubs’ farm system is with their position players. Some of the better prospects coming into the season were either hurt or were ineffective this year. But there were some pitchers who emerged this year to put themselves on the prospect map.

It should also be remembered with both the hitters and the pitchers, the minor league ball was flying this year at levels Double-A and below. In the Southern League, offense was up 28% over 2025 this year. In the Midwest League, it was up 24 percent and the Carolina League increased by 17 percent. In contrast, the International League was only up four percent over 2025.

So with that said, here are my candidates for the Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Left-hander Jackson Brockett: Normally I wouldn’t consider a reliever for this award, but Brockett did pitch 79 innings in his professional debut and a good chunk of his appearances were for three or four innings.

Brockett, 23, was signed as a non-drafted free agent early this year after a four-year career at Nebraska. He started in Myrtle Beach where he did not allow a run over 14.2 innings over five relief appearances. That got him promoted to High-A South Bend where he didn’t allow many runs either. Brockett totaled 50.1 innings over 17 appearances and went 7-2 with a 1.79 ERA. He then made five appearances with Double-A Knoxville where he had three good appearances and two bad ones, which left him with a 6.43 ERA for the Smokies

If you add up the three levels, Brockett went 9-3 with a 2.28 ERA. In the 79 innings, he struck out 85 and walked 27.

Right-hander Brooks Caple: Caple, 24, was a ninth-round pick out of Lamar in 2024. He made five starts for South Bend and dominated, going 3-1 with a 2.49 ERA. That got him promoted to Double-A Knoxville, where Caple made 16 starts and one six-inning relief appearance. Caple went 4-4 with a 3.24 ERA for the Smokies.

Between the two levels, Caple threw 107.2 innings and posted a record of 7-5 with a 3.09 ERA. Caple struck out 108 and walked 31. He held opposing hitters to a .217 average.

Left-hander Pierce Coppola: Coppola was a seventh-round pick last year out of Florida. He pitched eight innings for Low-A Myrtle Beach last year and returned there to start the season. He went 0-5 for the Pelicans, but he posted a solid 3.60 ERA over ten starts and 40 innings. He didn’t miss a beat after his promotion to South Bend. Coppola pitched 35.1 innings over nine appearances and went 1-3 with a 3.31 ERA.

Between the two levels, Coppola pitched 75.1 innings and had a record of 1-8 with a 3.46 ERA. He struck out 86, walked 31 and held opposing hitters to a .200 batting average.

Right-hander Dawson Netz: Netz, 26, is another undrafted free agent, this time out of Arizona. He originally signed with the Orioles, but didn’t pitch for them in 2024 before signing with the Cubs before last season. After pitching for three levels last year, Netz spent the entire season this year in Knoxville. He made 17 starts and seven relief appearances, totaling 85.2 innings. In that time, Netz went 7-4 with a 2.94 ERA. Netz struck out 103 and walked 35. He held opposing hitters to a .170 batting average.

So who is your pick for the Vedie Himsl Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year?

Thanks everyone for stopping by. We’re always happen to see you. Please get home safely. Call a ride if you need one. Please recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow evening for more BCB After Dark.

The last time I was physically here at Kauffman Stadium for a baseball game was on September 4, where I witnessed Daniel Lynch IV immediately give up five runs in two innings and functionally take the Royals out of the contest before it began. I got worked up enough about it that I wrote about it that weekend, where I said that the Lynch starter experiment was going exactly how everyone knew it would because of Lynch’s inability to get right-handed batters out with his awful changeup. I linked multiple videos of Lynch hanging changes on a line to those righties.

You can therefore imagine my displeasure at walking into the clubhouse this afternoon, checking my phone to see who was officially starting, and seeing Lynch’s name pop up. I feared a Groundhog’s Day situation.

Unfortunately for me and the meager collection of Royals die-hards watching in person, that’s what happened. The White Sox crushed Royals pitching to the tune of 14 runs, and no amount of late game heroics could lessen the gap. Final score: 14-11, White Sox.

It began early. Witness this rocket line drive off a changeup in the first inning! It was from right-handed batter Chase Meidroth.

Oh, and this laser of an opposite-field home run from right-handed Brenton Doyle. It came off, you guessed it, a changeup.

And this—hark! Another Meidroth homer off another changeup!

After three innings, the White Sox had thwomped their way to a 6-0 lead, which was cut to a whole 6-1 lead by a solo Nick Loftin home run in the bottom of the sixth.

But Lynch was still pitching, and so you could probably bet that five-run lead might balloon further. Sure enough, it did. In the fourth inning, Lynch managed to get two outs but then ran into a row of right-handed batters and, well. You know what happened. Miguel Vargas single, Tommy Pham walk, Randal Grichuk home run. 9-1, White Sox.

At this point, I packed up my belongings and left to listen to the game on the drive and follow from home. Getting credentials is an honor, but what is also great is that, since I’m not a beat writer, I can bail when it’s clear that postgame pressers are not going to yield any particularly interesting pieces of information. Both teams packed it in after the seventh inning; the White Sox removed Miguel Vargas, Tommy Pham, and Braden Montgomery, while the Royals removed Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez.

Kansas City’s offense, however, did not go quietly into the night. The Royals struck in three consecutive innings against Chicago starter Anthony Kay, with Witt accruing three hits. They managed a trio of runs against Trevor Richards in the eighth, with a pair of extra base hits by the Italian Stallions Jac Caglianone and Vinnie Pasquantino providing the power. And then, in the ninth inning, Tyler Tolbert singled, and Caglianone singled, and Maikel Garcia worked his third walk of the game. Pasquantino then crushed a grand slam to right-center field. It was glorious.

But any hope the Royals had of a great comeback was stymied by, you guessed it, the bullpen. In his Royals debut and his 2026 debut, Tony Gonsolin—who has only pitched 36 MLB innings the last two seasons due to injury—pitched two clean innings and exploded in the seventh, giving up a double to Grichuk and a homer to Munetaka Murakami. Then, he loaded the bases and walked home another run, which prompted Matt Quatraro to remove him in favor of Nolan Hoffman. Hoffman immediately gave up a single to Andrew Benintendi to push the score to 14-4.

As a result, even though the Royals scored 11 runs, they didn’t score a single run down by less than six. Since August 30, the Royals have won two (2) games where they have scored fewer than five runs. That’s because they’ve given up, on average, 5.5 games during that 20-game span.

This is the Royals’ fifth consecutive loss, their eighth loss in their last nine games, and their 15th in their last 20. Remember when the Royals won 13 of 15? They were 13 games under .500 after that first win.

Tonight, the Royals officially wipe all those gains away, and are now 13 games under again. Winning 70 games seems like a longshot. Eat Arby’s.

The Dodgers plan to give catcher Dalton Rushing a chance to make his case for a spot on the postseason roster, after playing just four games in the last seven weeks because of a right elbow injury.

He’s set to be activated from the injured list before the end of the season, manager Dave Roberts said, and he’ll serve as a left-handed bat off the bench.

“Just showing them that I can swing it, and it’s an option,” Rushing told The Times after taking live batting practice Tuesday for the first time since landing on the IL earlier this month. “I know that you kind of tie [the team’s] hands up when you can’t play defense. So, I’m not expecting anything… just continue to take at-bats and see where we go from there.”

The slight tear in Rushing’s ulnar collateral ligament made headlines after he landed on the IL on Aug. 3. But Rushing’s MRI scans suggest the UCL — which is associated with Tommy John surgery — is not the issue.

The pain in his elbow seems to stem from a flexor strain. The small tear in his UCL has remained the same size since 2022, he said.

Rushing received platelet-rich plasma injection after aggravating the flexor injury a second time while working through a throwing program at the beginning of the month.

“I’m pretty confident I can still avoid surgery after the shot,” he said, noting that he’s been getting regular scans to monitor his healing. “Obviously, when I re-injured it the second time, I was almost 70-30, thinking that I was for sure going to need surgery. But after I got the shot and it ran its course, I feel as close to healthy in my arm as I have in a pretty long time.”

Read more:The Dodgers’ Josue De Paula can hit. Now he’s out to prove he can play defense, too

This time, Rushing has abandoned the throwing program. But he said he doesn’t regret trying to return to the field the first time around.

“In my eyes, me trying to throw is me showing them that obviously I want to help the team win,” he said. “I want to give us the best available option that we have at that moment, and that was my whole plan all along. So I hope they see there wasn’t any selfishness in that.”

The Dodgers will need a left-handed bat off the bench in October, but Rushing now has competition.

Rookie Josue De Paula replaced Shohei Ohtani on the roster when the superstar landed on the 15-day IL two weeks ago. His first major-league hit was a three-run home run, and he entered Tuesday with a .974 OPS in 10 games.

Even if the Dodgers option De Paula on Wednesday when they reinstate Ohtani, 10 days before the NL Division Series, he will be eligible to be added to the NLDS roster via petition to the Commissioner’s Office.

Read more:Dodger Stadium has a botanic garden tour. Meet the man entrusted with making it a draw

“It’s going to be a good debate,” Roberts said. “Hitting off the bench is very difficult, and so you’re just trying to figure out who gives us the best chance. To be quite frank, it’s going to be tougher for Dalton given the time that he’s missed, and … you have three games to get back in the playoff form, which is tough to do. It’s not a knock on him. He’s been great for us. But it’s still tough given that also you’re talking about the consistency of at-bats recently from Josue. We have to have those conversations and make a decision.”

Rushing played a large role in the Dodgers’ regular season. In his second year in the majors, he was thrust into the primary role behind the plate for two months because of Will Smith’s lingering neck injury. Now, he might not see the field in the postseason.

“It sucks,” he said of the injury derailing him down the stretch. “I mean, that’s really the only thing I can say about it, it’s not what I wanted — by no means.”

Looking beyond the playoffs, Rushing plans to evaluate his routine, hoping to set himself up to be available for more of 2027.

“I don’t even want to talk about it right now because we still have obviously a bigger task at hand,” Rushing said. “But my main plan moving into playing every day in the future is, make sure that my body can hold whatever stress or whatever is needed for this team — first base, behind the plate, whatever they need. I want to make sure my body can handle it and do it for 162.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Tampa Bay Rays clinched the American League East title by beating the New York Yankees, 6-1, in the Bronx on Tuesday, Sept. 22. The win also clinches the top record in the AL for the Rays and the first-round bye that goes with it.

The division win means the Rays can sit back and rest while division rivals Boston and the Yankees likely battle it out before having to face one of them.

The Rays pulled it off in the night cap of a doubleheader after getting shutout by the Yankees earlier in the day. Drew Rasmussen almost returned the favor. The Rays right-hander took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Heliot Ramos broke up the no-hitter with a double to left and Rays manager Kevin Cash quickly pulled Rasmussen to save him for the playoffs.

WHO'S IN? Every MLB team that has clinched a playoff berth

Rasmussen has had two Tommy John surgeries, the first at Oregon State, where he also threw a perfect game in 2015, and the second in September 2017 shortly after the Rays drafted him. He needed a third procedure, for a flexor strain, in 2023. None of it has slowed his stuff down. His fastball has touched the upper 90's, and scouts have compared his quick, over-the-top arm action to Curt Schilling's. He's a two-time All-Star, was the American League's Pitcher of the Month in August 2022 and again in June of this season. When he posted a 0.82 ERA with 39 strikeouts and four walks over five starts. Coming into Tuesday, he was 7-4 with a 2.45 ERA and 94 strikeouts over 92 innings this season.

I’m sorry dear reader, that I don’t have much to say to you. After a high-wire act win earlier in the day, the Yankees did in fact go gently into that good night. They were overmatched by Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, and while the race for the division was functionally over after dropping two of three to Arizona, Tampa Bay can start sewing up the banner as of now. In a 6-1 loss, the Yankees had to watch the Rays celebrate winning the AL East while in the Bronx.

We’ve talked for weeks now about how the Yankees without Aaron Judge need to have a great start, good defense, and no funny business in order to make a deep playoff run. I don’t know if Max Fried had a great start, but it was quite good — two four-pitch walks annoyed you, but the two runs he let score himself came on balls that didn’t even leave the infield. I did notice his fastball down more toward 94 than 96, but if he’s in a bit of a preservation mode headed into the Wild Card Series, I’ll take it.

Pulled after 6.2, with two men on, Fried had allowed two runs. I don’t think that’s a bad pull, his pitch count was at 97 and the order was turning over again, and the Yankee bullpen has been pretty good. You bank what the starter gave you and turn it over to the big arms. The problem was what happened after, as John Schreiber came in promptly served one up to Yandy Díaz:

Ben Williamson scores on this, sure, fine, I legitimately do not know who he is even after watching 18 innings today, whatever. That’s now 6.2 innings and three earned for Fried, not quite as nice a line but you still take that. Taylor Walls though, who I am told is a terrible hitter and yet somehow is on base every three innings against the Yankees, is DOA at home plate:

I don’t watch football but I understand there is weekly consternation about what exactly a catch is. I am feeling consternation about what exactly “clear evidence to overturn” means. That’s clear evidence! Austin Wells’ glove is on Walls’ arm and Walls has not yet touched home plate! He was found safe on review!

I thought Aaron Boone was going to do one of those “I’ll get ejected to hype up the boys” after that mis-call, but he didn’t even give us that. That fourth run makes Fried’s line look uglier than it should, but more than that, every additional run surrendered by this team makes things so much harder on a pretty papery offense.

That offense was no-hit through six innings, with Rasmussen making a late charge to finish second to Cam Schlittler in the AL Cy Young race. The nine Yankee hitters appeared bedazzled by Ras’ offerings, as the righty sat down 11 in his own 6.2 innings of work. Heliot Ramos broke up the no-no leading off the seventh with a double, and suddenly the Yankees had their 4-5 hitters facing the starter, who set a career-high in pitches thrown tonight, for the third time, and maybe this is where the rally can start, and no, Luis García Jr. and Spencer Jones could not cash in the run. George Lombard Jr. was the only one who managed the trick, with an RBI knock.

Díaz then knocked in another pair of Rays against Ryan Yarbrough in the ninth, and that’s your ballgame. The blood-alcohol levels of the new division champs are surely rising, so maybe the Yankees will get some rather toothless revenge against their rivals tomorrow.

If nothing else, we have some cost certainty now. The Yankees needed a miracle to win this division and we seem to be fresh out of those. The club has locked up the fourth seed in the AL, meaning they will host the No. 5 seed—most likely the Boston Red Sox—in a best-of-three series next week. In the time between then and now the Yankees do have five baseball games to play, but it’s more important to make the final decisions on what exactly the pitching staff will look like, which of the bottom of the bullpen gets left off the Wild Card roster, and who amongst a too-often-narcoleptic group of hitters do you trust to try and push a crooked number across?

As of now Gerrit Cole is scheduled to make his final start of the year against the Rays tomorrow. We will see if the Yankees want to shuffle that with their newfound Wild Card certainty, or if it’ll be an abridged start for the veteran, or maybe he will just shove. Game 3 of this series is the weekly Amazon Prime game, and we have a 7:05pm first pitch with southpaw Ian Seymour tentatively scheduled for Tampa Bay.

Box Score

The Yankees' long-shot hopes of winning the AL East were dashed after the Rays picked up the 6-1 win in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader.

New York mustered just three hits as they have lost three of their last four games.

Tampa Bay's victory clinches the division and the No. 1 seed in the American League playoffs.

Here are the takeaways....

-Max Fried tried to match his fellow southpaw from the first game, but just couldn't keep Tampa off the scoreboard. The Rays pushed across a run in the third on a Ryan Vilade groundout. 

Tampa tacked on in the seventh, after Taylor Walls hit a bunt single to drive home Chandler Simpson from third base after the Rays started the inning with back-to-back singles. Yandy Diaz singled off of John Schreiber to drive in two runs, with Walls scoring the second run sliding headfirst into home. The call on the field was safe, and it stuck after a Yankees challenge, despite it looking like Walls was tagged before he touched the base. 

Fried allowed four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out four. 

-The story of this game was Fried's opponent, Drew Rasmussen. The AL Cy Young candidate pitched six no-hit innings, striking out 10 batters before Heliot Ramos led off the seventh with a double. 

After Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked with two outs, Rasmussen was pulled. George Lombard Jr. delivered the team's first run with a single to score Ramos before Austin Wells grounded out to end the Yankees threat. 

The Rays right-hander allowed one run on one hit and three walks across 6.2 innings while striking out 11 batters.

-The Yankees offense could not get to Tampa's bullpen. The combination of Kevin Kelly, Cam Booser and Bryan Baker got the final seven outs to end the game. 

The same could not be said for the Yankees bullpen. Ryan Yarbrough and Michael Fulmer allowed two runs in the ninth on a Diaz two-run single, to put the game out of reach.

-Chisholm, who was activated from the IL ahead of Game 2, went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.

Game MVP: Drew Rasmussen

Rasmussen mowed down the Yankees and kept any hopes of a comeback to a minimum.

Highlights

Heliot Ramos has the Yankees' first hit in the 7th inning pic.twitter.com/J9ZgimGB3w

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 23, 2026

George Lombard Jr. gets the Yankees on the board! pic.twitter.com/oSQfluqcFi

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 23, 2026

What's next

The Yankees continue their four-game series with the Rays on Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

Gerrit Cole (9-9, 3.63 ERA) will take on Ian Seymour (9-7, 4.38 ERA).

Was this a hangover game? Or was it a post-hangover game, given the travel-related off day on Monday? Whatever the case, the Braves didn’t put up much of a fight as they dropped a fairly meaningless contest to the Reds by a score of 4-0.

If you want a positive from this game, look at JR Ritchie. Though he didn’t alter his pitch mix and attack sequence in the way I was hoping to see, he still eviscerated a weak Reds offense in what could qualify as his best start so far. Maybe he makes the playoff roster as a nine-batter-max lower leverage guy, but if he doesn’t, this was definitely something to build off of for the offseason.

Ritchie’s day was really pretty fun, especially in the early going. He struck out the side in the first (but also walked Elly De La Cruz). There were two more punchouts in the second, giving him a 5/1 K/BB ratio through his first nine batters. Things got a little dicier after that, as De La Cruz took him deep with two outs and none on in the third, followed by an errant walk, but he at least got a strikeout to end that frame. He collected two more strikeouts (and one more walk, again to De La Cruz) the rest of the way. His final line: an 8/3 K/BB ratio across 22 batters spanning five innings of work. His line included a sub-3.00 xFIP, his best in a multi-inning outing so far in his career, and far better than his MLB debut, which was his best start to date. (One homer allowed is also better than two.)

Nothing else of note really happened in this game, unless you want to be discouraged by the offense turning into the soporific version of itself once again. Owen Murphy relieved Ritchie and gave up two homers in three frames with a 1/0 K/BB ratio. Didier Fuentes breezed through his tune-up frame in the ninth.

The offense basically handed Brandon Williamson one of the best outings of his injury-interrupted career, and certainly his best since he was waylaid by shoulder and elbow problems in 2024. (Williamson had thrown just 58 innings from 2024-onward coming into tonight.) However, it wasn’t really all Williamson, or all paltry-Braves-offense, as Williamson managed just a 2/0 K/BB ratio, and the Braves had a .176 BABIP while he was in the game. There were multiple ripped balls right at infielders, and one barreled out.

The Braves actually kinda-sorta tried to rally once Williamson departed after six, but got nothing for it. The first two reached in the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate, but each of Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris II, and Mauricio Dubon failed to do anything useful. Albies came into this game with a ghastly .280 xWOBA against southpaws, and an overperformance of that input that only puts him at a 99 wRC+ in a split he’s historically dominated, so batting him cleanup against a lefty isn’t really much of a flex these days. They actually loaded the bases to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Matt Olson in the eighth, but he fouled out. Harris had a barreled double in the ninth, but the other batters all made outs.

Worth noting too, perhaps, is that Ronald Acuña Jr. departed partway through this game after fouling a ball off his lower leg. He was seen jumping down the steps leading to the clubhouse, so it was more of a why push it sort of thing — but he might get a few days off just because, again, why push it.

So, nothing doing here, really. The series theoretically continues tomorrow as Chris Sale gets his pre-playoff tune-up.

Entering the final week of the regular season, the biggest question for the Brewers is, “What is their plan for the rotation and the bullpen?”

Tonight, we often heard Jeff Levering and Bill Schroeder talk about this, and from the fourth inning on, the Brewers looked to have found their answer. But was Colton Gordon’s Brewers debut enough to sway the decision-makers for a spot on the playoff roster? Five innings of two-run ball on four hits, when most of that didn’t come until the bottom of the eighth inning, feels like he’d be worthy of a spot.

Pat Murphy gave us a taste of what is likely more to come in the pitching situations, especially during the postseason, as Dustin May threw the first two innings of the game. His outing wasn’t kind to him yet again, as he allowed a Brandon Marsh two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning.

Marsh’s home run came off the coat tails of Zach Wheeler striking out the first six Brewers of the game; the third of those was his 2,000th career strikeout. Following the home run from Marsh, Wheeler extended his strikeout streak to seven by cutting down Luis Lara to open the top of the third inning.

The Phillies put together a two-out rally, and with two on and two out, Alec Bohn smacked his 29th double to drive in their third run of the game to extend their lead to 3-0.

With Wheeler in complete control, the Crew needed to put together one of their signature innings, but before they could get there, they used a Garrett Mitchell lead-off single. Brice Turang followed with a single by himself, which set up William Contreras to drive in the Brewers’ first run of the game to make it 3-1.

Kyle Harrison made his first appearance coming out of the bullpen this evening, throwing just one inning where he allowed a run on three hits, striking out one. Even in a short spurt, Harrison didn’t look comfortable, continuing to raise concerns as a reliable arm in the postseason.

After Harrison’s departure, that made way for Gordon to make his first appearance in a Brewers uniform, and what an unexpected outing the Brewers received. Outside Cooper Pratt’s fielding error, Gordon was flawless, retiring the Phillies in order. His showing allowed the offense to find their groove in the top of the sixth. A single from David Hamilton and a walk from Jackson Chourio set up the Crew for a productive inning. Contreras drove in both runners with a base hit into left field to tie the game at 3-3.

Then the bottom of the eighth inning happened, raising another question of whether Gordon should’ve faced this lineup a second time through. Gordon was able to get Trea Turner and Bryce Harper out quickly to begin the bottom of the eighth inning, but Luis Arraez and Alec Bohm followed with a pair of singles. Bryson Stott made it three straight singles to make it 5-3 Phillies, as Garrett Mitchell’s throw to third hit Bohm (who may have kicked it), allowing Bohm to score and Stott to advance to second. Marsh then added some insurance as he doubled to center field to drive in their final run of the evening and make it 6-3.

The Crew didn’t put up much of a fight in the top of the ninth as Contreras and Jake Bauers struck out to open the inning. Extending the game was Christian Yelich, who walked, advanced on defensive indifference, and scored on a Lara base hit to make it 6-4. The game would end there, though, as Pratt grounded out to end it.

Yes, the Brewers offense looked bleak tonight, and the defense made some unusual throws, but they did face a consistent Cy Young Award-caliber player. Despite the loss, good news came out of Atlanta as the Braves lost to the Reds to give the Brewers a first-round bye.

Tomorrow night, they’ll face the right-hander Aaron Nola, as Logan Henderson will take the mound for (likely) the final time this season. The Crew still needs two more wins to reach 100, but has five games left to go with good arms yet to throw this week.

The playoff-bound Dodgers face the likely-playoff-bound Padres. Brock Stewart starts a bullpen game.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Padres
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Start time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, TBS (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The Dodgers have Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell in the starting rotation.

But where will Tyler Glasnow fit in the team’s postseason plans?

“If it is the wild-card series, I probably wouldn’t start in one of those games. So, I’d probably be in the bullpen. And then the first series last year, we had four starters ,so I might be in that one,” Glasnow told Chris Rose.

“So I think it’s just going to be like a all-hands-on-deck situation, which I prefer.”

Glasnow played a versatile role for the Dodgers last October, sporting a 1.69 ERA in the postseason. He will likely be another multifaceted pitcher for the Dodgers in the playoffs.

Since his arrival to LA, the right-hander has never made it through a regular season without injury. While the 2026 season was no different, Glasnow is coming off a bounce-back start just before the regular season concludes.

The right-hander tossed six innings of two-run baseball with 10 strikeouts. It was a much improved performance from his previous start in Miami, where Glasnow allowed four earned runs in four innings.

With Shohei Ohtani’s absence in the rotation, Glasnow’s health is even more crucial heading into October. It appears the right-hander is feeling good and prepared to take on any role the Dodgers ask of him in the postseason.

“I think I feel relatively consistent. It’s just a matter of sometimes I’m not going to feel good, sometimes I will,” Glasnow said after his last start against the Giants.

“Today, I think it was a step in the right direction. I think it’s better than feeling really good for a long time before [the playoffs]. I’d rather kind of feel it, work through some stuff and have a good one right before [the] playoffs. So I think I’m in a good spot right now.”