Category: MLB

The Diamondbacks came into tonight with a golden opportunity. Several golden opportunities, actually, given that by the time our game against the Padres was underway, the Phillies were already well on their way to getting decimated by Tampa to the final tune of 12-1 Tampa. We had a chance to achieve our first 7-game win streak since 2017, we had the chance to go into the final game of the season needing only a last-game win or a loss by Philadelphia to punch our ticket to the postseason, we had a chance to secure a final series win, as well as the season series win against San Diego, with a game to spare. Walker Buehler was going for the Padres, which made things look pretty good on paper; it was a bullpen game for us, with Taylor Clarke opening for us, which also looked pretty good on paper. Alas, however, it was not to be.

Things didn’t start off great, with Buehler setting us down in order on 10 pitches to start things off, and then Clarke retiring Fernando Tatis Jr. for the first out before surrendering three straight singles and a hit batsman to give the Padres the early lead. He managed the second out on a popup on the infield, but Torey Lovullo replaced him after that with Jonathan Loaisiga, who ended the threat, but with us trailing. 1-0 San Diego

We started to make a bit of noise in the top of the second, thanks to a leadoff Geraldo Perdomo walk and a Corbin Carroll single to left to put runners on first and second. Then Padres catcher Ethan Salas tried to pick Carroll off first but threw the ball away down the right field line, which allowed Gerry to score and tie things up. 1-1 TIE

Loaisiga pitched a clean second, retiring the Padres in order, and the Diamondbacks took their first lead in the ballgame in the top of the third. Tim Tawa led off with the a single to left off the glove of shortstop Xander Boegarts, advanced to second one out later on a slow Ketel Marte groundout, and scored on a Gabriel Moreno single to right. 2-1 DBACKS

Johnny Lasagna couldn’t hold the lead though, allowing the Friars to take the lead back in the bottom of the frame thanks to a leadoff triple to center that Tim Tawa lost in the lights, followed after some extra foolishness by a slow grounder to first that scored the run. Kevin Ginkel came on to relieve Loaisiga, and promptly surrendered a Jake Cronenworth popup to shallow center that both Tawa and Perdomo lost track of and allowed to drop for an RBI double. 3-2 San Diego

But not to worry, the Diamondbacks were ready to take the lead right back themselves. With one out in the top of the fourth, Nolan Arenado was hit by a pitch with one out and was forced at second by a fielder’s choice groundout by Pavin Smith. James McCann stepped into the batter’s box and after getting ahead 3-0 on Buelher, deposited a middle-of-the-plate fastball just over the wall in pretty much straightway center field for a two-run homer:

So that was fun. 4-3 DBACKS

Sadly, however, that was the last fun we were going to have for awhile, as the bullpen cracked, and basically broke, in the next three innings. Jose Cabrera took the mound for the bottom of the fourth, put two runners on, and then watched Manny Machado go yard. 6-4 San Diego

Nevertheless, he came out for the fifth as well, because he was supposed to be our “bulk” guy today, but he gave up another longball, followed by two more base hits, which earned him the hook after four outs recorded. Juan Morillo came in and got the final two outs, but not before another run scored from third on a groundout. 8-4 San Diego

Dennis Santana came out for the seventh, and allowed two more runs to score, thanks to three singles and a walk. To be fair, he pitched the eigthth as well, and sat down the top of the Padres’ lineup in order, but things were pretty out of hand by then. 10-4 San Diego

Meanwhile, the Padres’ bullpen had gotten involved in the game in the top of the fifth, and while they allowed traffic in every inning, none of that traffic found its way home, as the Diamondbacks hitters were kept in check until, somewhat unexpectedly, San Diego closer Mason Miller came out to pitch the ninth. And he was not sharp.

Tim Tawa didn’t wait around, going oppo on the first pitch he saw for a line drive single into shallow right. That turned the lineup over for Lars Nootbar, who walked. Ketel Marte than lined a single to left to load the bases. Somewhat oddly, Torey Lovullo sent Adrian Del Castillo, newly up from Reno, to pinch-hit for Moreno, and ADC promptly struck out. I assume that Torey was playing the lefty-righty matchup there, but Moreno’s bat has been fire while Del Castillo has been languishing back at AAA for god knows how long at this point, and having the first MLB pitcher he’s faced in months be a flamethrower like Miller didn’t seem like it would go well. That said, we weren’t done yet, as Miller walked Perdomo to bring in a run. Corbin Carroll then rolled over to second for a fielder’s choice that scored Nootbaar. Nolan Arenado, with an 11-game hitting streak on the line, then singled to center to score Marte and advance Carroll to third. Ildemaro Vargas, who’d pinch-hit for Pavin Smith in the eighth, came to the plate as the tying run, but alas he struck out to end the ballgame. 10-7 San Diego FINAL

Loss Probability Added, courtesy of FanGraphs

A Whale of a Player: James McCann (4 AB, 1 H, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 2 K, +21% WPA)
King Salmon: Gabriel Moreno (3 AB, 1 H, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, +12% WPA)
Fish Food: Jose Cabrera (1 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 K, -45% WPA), Taylor Clarke (2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 HBP, -12% WPA)

Sadly, due to some late afternoon discombobulation that left me in a diabetic low blood sugar fugue state for the first three innings or so, I never managed to stop by the penultimate Game Day Thread of the regular season, which made me sad. We seem to have had banner attendance, though, with a whopping 583 comments at time of
writing. I’m not quite sure what all was going on in the thread this evening, but the two top comments by popular acclaim both seem to be hitting the same theme, so rather than choosing between them, I’m going to split the CotG between Diamondhacks and onedotfive, for these two statements that I very much agree with:

Damn straight. It sucks to lose one-run games, but we win more of them than we lose, and it is indeed magical that, given where we were two weeks ago or a month ago or, really, coming into this season, that we’ll still playing to get into the postseason tomorrow, in game 162. Speaking of which.

So, About Tomorrow….

So, besides two essentially meaningless early games, first pitch for every single game 162 happens at the same time, which is 12:05pm AZ time. Michael Soroka is going for us, and the Padres, having clinched the home field advantage that comes with grabbing the top wild card spot, haven’t announced who’s going to be taking the mound for them. This is significant, because while San Diego has been playing for seeding position in the first two games, they have nothing whatsoever to gain or lose tomorrow, whatever happens in our ballgame. So we may very well see them resting all their starters, and most of their “A” bullpen, and running out a bunch of filler guys to go up against us while we’re going to be playing for our lives.

Meanwhile, the Phillies are going to be playing for their lives as well, hosting Tampa at what, by the weather forecasts, seems like it’s going to be a very waterlogged Citizens’ Bank Park. The Phillies are pretty much in the same boat we are, but the Rays are not. The Rays have already secured their top AL seed and their first-round bye. As such, they have no real incentive to rest starters or send out trash pitchers to the mound, because they’re going to have plenty of downtime during the bye and plenty of time to order their ALDS starters in whatever sequence they desire. So I’d say, in terms of opponents and opponent motivation tomorrow, it seems like it’s advantage Diamondbacks.

The kicker, of course, because we lost tonight, is that not only do we need to beat the Padres tomorrow, the Phillies also need to lose to the Rays. We lose, or the Phillies win, and they’re in and we’re out. So it really is for all the marbles tomorrow, and we will need a final dollop of help from the baseball gods to keep our wacky and improbable season going into October.

So please join us in the Gameday Thread, as we celebrate the final game of the 2026 regular season, and cheer our Snakes to help get them back to October baseball, and to just enjoy what might be the very last regular season baseball any of us might get to watch for some time to come. We hope to see you tomorrow!

If this is my last recap of 2026, so be it….it’s been an uneven season, but it’s always a pleasure to write up these recaps and share the triumphs and defeats of the Diamondbacks with the lovely denizens of the Snake Pit. As always, thanks for reading. And as always, especially tomorrow, GO DIAMONDBACKS!

Mariners 8, Angels 4

Good King: Cole Young, .25 WPA

No Way: Jose Ferrer, -.43 WPA

Game thread comment of the day:

Special double dose because I couldn’t choose

The Athletics faced the Houston Astros in the penultimate game of the 2026 MLB season. In a season full of blowout losses, how fitting that the A’s suffered another lopsided defeat, falling 13-2 as the team’s league-worst pitching staff once again failed to keep the ball in the ballpark.

Astros In Control Early

A’s starter Jack Perkins did not get through the first inning unscathed. With two outs, Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes hit his 25th home run of the season, a solo shot to left field that put the visitors ahead 1-0. Perkins rebounded to strike out the side in the second inning.

Houston increased its lead in the top of the third inning when shortstop Jeremy Peña’s 21st home run of the season, a two-run shot to center field off Perkins, made it a 3-0 game. Meanwhile, Astros right-hander Hayden Wesneski needed just 20 pitches to complete three scoreless innings. The A’s obsession with double-plays continued, as Wesneski induced a double play to end two consecutive innings.

A’s Comeback Begins

The Athletics generated their first scoring chance against Wesneski in the bottom of the fourth inning, loading the bases with one out. The hosts caught a break when Peña mishandled a potential inning-ending double-play grounder.

Zack Gelof hustled down the line for an RBI force out, bringing home Lawrence Butler for the A’s first run of the game. Peña made another mistake on that play, as his throw pulled the first baseman off the bag and allowed Gelof to reach safely. The A’s had a chance to score more, but Donovan Walton grounded out to strand runners at the corners.

The A's push one across in the fourth 😤 pic.twitter.com/CcfiNnYZqm

— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) September 27, 2026

Perkins Not Good Enough

Perkins failed to complete a shutdown inning in the fifth. With two outs and two runners on, Houston’s superstar designated hitter Yordan Alvarez hit his 42nd home run of the season, a three-run shot to right field that extended the visitors’ lead to 6-1.

One pitch before, A’s catcher Jonah Heim failed to challenge a pitch that appeared to clip the bottom of the strike zone. Instead Alvarez crushed Houston’s third home run of the night and the 10th allowed by A’s pitchers through the first 2 1/2 games of this season-ending series.

Perkins allowed six runs on five hits over five innings. He struck out nine, but that was offset by the three home runs he allowed.

Jonah Heim opts not to challenge a ball call on Yordan Alvarez that would have gone for strike three, setting a career high in K's for Jack Perkins.

The very next pitch, Alvarez demolishes a three-run homer. Baffling.#Athleticspic.twitter.com/NHeaTCU9Ep

— Uprooted (@uprootedoakland) September 27, 2026

Astros Cruising

Right-hander Scott Blewett entered out of the A’s bullpen to pitch the sixth inning. Blewett quickly found himself in a jam after the first two batters he faced recorded hits, putting runners on second and third with zero outs. Blewett struck out the next two Astros before left-hander Drew Rom replaced him and completed the houdini act.

With a five-run cushion, Wesneski cruised through six innings on 60 pitches. The Athletics plated a second run against Wesneski in the bottom of the seventh on first baseman Tommy White’s two-out RBI single.

A’s Relief Struggles Continue

Rom remained in the game for the seventh inning, allowing four singles and two more runs. With two outs, Lucas Spence’s RBI double brought home the third run of the inning, the Astros’ ninth, and sent Rom back to the dugout.

Right-hander Yunior Tur continued to look overmatched against major league hitters. In the eighth inning, Peña’s second home run of the night, a two-run shot, extended his team’s lead to 11-2. Two more hits made it a dozen runs for the Astros. The following inning, Spence hit his fourth home run of the series, this one off Tur.

With a double-digit lead, Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco pitched a scoreless final two frames, preserving the rest of his team’s bullpen for tomorrow’s high-stakes matchup.

The Athletics will look to win the season finale to earn a series split and potentially knock the Astros out of the playoffs. Right-hander Seth Johnson will serve as the Green and Gold’s opener, while the Astros have yet to reveal their starter.

It will come down to the final day of the season to decide the A.L. West, but Houston has inched closer.

Astros 13    A’s 2

The odd innings paid dividends all night for the Astros, as they’d score in the first, third, fifth and seventh and ninth, along with the eighth for good measure. Isaac Paredes started things with a solo shot to make things 1-0.     

In the top of the third, Cam Smith drew a walk and then came around moments later on Jeremy Pena’s 21st home run of the season.     

The fifth inning was the exclamation point of the night and on Yordan Alvarez’s MVP season. Alvarez launched his 42nd HR, a 3-run blast, making things 6-1. The lead expanded with three more runs in the seventh, highlighted by Jose Altuve’s 48th RBI.     

Aside from the offensive output, largely driven by long balls, the night was really about Hayden Wesneski, who earned the win. Since emerging from a 449-day rehab from Tommy John surgery in a victorious effort back on July 29th, Wesneski has been a vital cog in pushing Houston to the brink of their 9th post season berth in 10 years.  Saturday night marked his 11th start. Wesenski’s threw just 82 pitches, going seven innings with five strikeouts and 1 earned run.    It was the third time this season that he’d go seven innings.    

For good measure, Pena added to his impressive night, registering a fourth hit with his 22nd homer of the year. Pena has tied his career high. By the time 8th was completed, the Astros had 12 total runs on the board. Lucas Spence made it a baker’s dozen, hitting his fourth homerun of this A’s series in the 9th for the final run of the night.    

Pitching for the first time in almost two weeks, Ronel Blanco would come on and secure two innings of scoreless relief.    

Sunday will be a day of scoreboard watching. The Rangers will complete their season at Target Field, sending left hander MacKenzie Gore to the mound. With a win or a Rangers loss tomorrow, the Astros will host the White Sox on Tuesday at Daikin Park for the Wild Card round.     

Odds & Ends:

Yordan Alvarez now has 105 RBI on the season.   

The Astros now lead all of baseball with 225 home runs.    

Jose Altuve has moved into spot #100 on baseball’s all-time hit list with his pair of hits Saturday Night.    He can leapfrog Todd Helton next.   

The Mets play their last game of the 2026 season against the Nationals in Washington, D.C. on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. on SNY.

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Mets Notes

• Due to expected inclement weather, the start of Saturday's game was moved up from 3:05 p.m.
• Entering Sunday with 299 career home runs, Francisco Lindor gets one last chance this season to hit HR No. 300. He last homered on Sept. 12
• Carson Benge looks to put the cherry on top of his strong rookie campaign, hitting .429 over his last seven games

• New York owns a 38-42 record on the road this season 

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Today's Lineups

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Well Atlanta is positioned pretty well for the playoffs, with their seeding locked up for a while now and the ability to line up their pitching that comes with that. They managed Saturday’s game well, despite the injury to Martin Perez, with Brent Suter covering the first 3.0 innings and no blowups to disrupt plans in the bullpen. Meanwhile, the Phillies can’t quite finish the deal for their playoff spot, with a 1 game lead on the D-Backs, but losing the tiebreak to Arizona. They resorted to starting Aaron Nola on 2 days rest Saturday, which went very poorly for them. This could work out favorably for Atlanta if they end up facing the Phillies in the Wild-Card round, with the Phils having to pull out all the stops on their pitching staff just to get there, or they could even watch their division rivals flame out and miss the Wild-Card entirely, which is its own type of fun.

Braves News

The Braves beat the Marlins easily Saturday, with good pitching and a strong performance on offense.

MLB News

Justin Verlander made the final start of an easy Hall of Fame career and it was a respectable one .

Blake Trienen injured his shoulder warming up Saturday and will miss the remainder of the season and postseason for the Dodgers.

The Padres placed trade deadline addition Casey Mize on the IL with a sprained ankle.

The Rangers placed Josh Jung on the IL with a hand fracture as they hope to head into the postseason.

This game never stood a chance. Seeing a lineup posted that included putting Aaron Nola on the mound to begin the game on only two days’ rest meant this coaching staff had reached a level of panic they weren’t prepared for.

And that’s where I want to remain for this recap.

Nevermind the score, no one really cares. A loss is a loss and even as I write this with Arizona losing in the bottom of the fifth in San Diego, this game showed that major changes need to happen, either in personnel or in philosophy.

Thanks to a roster construction that borders on inept, the team had no real answers for an offense already in hibernation outside of switching Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner. This solution went 2 for 9. Yes, the minor league season ended a week ago and there really are no good options to help them on whatever taxi squad they have decided to patch together, but they still decided that a hobbled Luis Arraez, with no hope of playing in this game, remained on the active roster.

To me though, that’s not even the worst part.

Jonathan Bowlan last pitched on September 17. He has thrown multiple bullpens in the meantime, yet the team has continually decided that an injured list stint was not necessary. They have insisted that he will be ready for the wild card round even having not faced hitters since that date.

Yet in their most dire day, a day in which a panic had set in – if you are starting Nola on two day’s rest, you are panicking – they opted to pitch a bullpen game down one reliever thanks to Bowlan not being ready to face major league hitters.

To put it in a different light: they have willingly chosen to pitch for over a week, to have a bullpen game on a day where they badly needed a victory, where they were short one reliever.

How does that happen?

How does an organization that is in a complete and total freefall decide to have an active roster with three catchers on it and two guys that can barely walk and say they are ready to fight for a playoff spot? The hubris shown by the players in the lineup has been galling enough, but to seemingly taunt the fans with these rosters decisions that make absolutely no sense is insulting. Obviously we all want them to actually make the playoffs and they might fall ass backwards into doing so if this Arizona score holds and they are somehow able to cobble together runs tomorrow.

Yet with each passing day, each passing decision made by Don Mattingly, who quite frankly should never work again in major league baseball after this week’s debacle of what only he might call “major league managing”, each rolled over ground ball to the second baseman, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that a major shift in how this team is run, from the top of the chain down to the coaching in their Domincan academy.

This is just not getting it done.

The Minor League All-Stars have finally been unveiled for all of the affiliated levels, with the announcement of the Triple-A All-Stars capping off what’s been a bit of an extended rollout for these minor-league standouts. The Braves had a handful of All-Stars in Low-A and High-A, they had just one representative in Double-A and they once again will have a single representative at the Triple-A level.

Owen Murphy has been recognized as a Triple-A All-Star for his performances with the Gwinnett Stripers during the 2026 International League season.

Murphy earned a promotion to Triple-A pretty early on this season, as he made his debut with the Stripers on May 2. From that point forward, Murphy made 18 starts, pitched 117.2 innings and produced a 3.07 ERA (66 ERA-) along with a 4.23 FIP (90 FIP-) and a strikeout percentage of 24.2 percent. While Murphy’s still got a bit of a way to go before he can be considered a reliable big league hurler, he certainly appears to be on the right track based on how he performed for Gwinnett this season.

As Matt Powers’ season review for the Stripers noted, you could potentially give JR Ritchie an honorable mention for his efforts, as he threw 82.1 innings and produced a 3.17 ERA (68 ERA-) and a 4.35 FIP (93 FIP-) across 16 starts for the Stripers this season. I’d imagine that the fact that Ritchie didn’t clear 100 innings at the Triple-A level is what held him back from potentially getting the nod, as he did spend a fair amount of time helping out the big league Braves here in 2026.

Either way, congratulations are in order for Murphy on a job well done in the 2026 season. Hopefully we’ll see those results translate to the big league level at some point in the future!

The Colorado Rockies came together to work through the weekend on a high note. After a bleak August and September, the fight that this team flashed throughout the season was on display again tonight. With a strong opponent in the Chicago White Sox, playing for their division title, the Rockies held their ground and came away with a win. With several players facing off against their former teams on either side and with milestones being hit in the Rockies clubhouse, it was an emotional Saturday night game.

Blink and you’ll miss Davis Martin

Talk about a hot start for the Rockies.

Colorado has been on the wrong end of first- and second-inning beatdowns all season long. They flipped the script today and got the jump on the White Sox, ending starter Davis Martin’s day before the end of the first inning.

Leadoff hitter Jake McCarthy reached on an error by Martin before being moved to third on a Cole Carrigg single. Hunter Goodman struck out and it felt for a moment like Chicago might escape with Colorado running into their familiar problem of stranding runners. That worry proved to be unfounded, with TJ Rumfield hitting an RBI line drive to right.

Connor Norby drew a walk on five pitches that weren’t close to the zone, prompting a mound visit and showing the short leash for the starter. An Adael Amador single drove in two runs for a 3-0 Rockies lead.

With the AL Central on the line and the Sox feeling like Martin just didn’t have it today, he was pulled quickly after recording just two outs on 25 pitches and allowing three runs on three hits with a walk and a strikeout. Noah Schultz entered in relief to grab the final out before the Rockies recorded a 1-2-3 inning.

Winding down the season on some happy notes

Given that this year marked the Rockies’ fourth-straight 100-loss season, things were — obviously — not sunshine and rainbows. But with a marked improvement in their record compared to 2025 and a swath of fun, young players on the roster, there were plenty of good times to be had. The Rockies added to that list today.

Rumfield has been hitting well and hitting often this year. His RBI single in the first inning put his average at the .300 mark on the season. With that, manager Warren Schaeffer rewarded him with a nice early break to protect that number. Connor Norby shuffled to first base to replace Rumfield defensively, while Kyle Karros entered the game to bat fourth in Rumfield’s place.

The Rockies and White Sox traded some long ball blows in the early innings. In his first at-bat against his old team since the trade, Brenton Doyle hit a solo home run to put Chicago on the board. Luisangel Acuña would add another solo dinger for the White Sox in the bottom of the third inning.

But the biggest home run among them came for the Rockies in the top of the third. Goodman hit his long-awaited 40th home run of the season.

With the 381-foot shot to left field, Goodman joined a list of just seven other times a National League catcher has hit 40+ homers, joining the likes of Johnny Bench, Roy Campanella, and Mike Piazza. It’s the last 40-home run season for Colorado since Nolan Arenado reached that mark in 2019. Goodman caps off the best offensive season by a Rockies catcher in franchise history.

Starter José Quintana had an emotional day as well, facing off against the club where he spent nearly the first decade of his career. After a season of injuries, Quintana pitched a strong first and put the Rockies in a position to win before exiting after three innings of work, giving up two solo home runs as his only two hits allowed, alongside three strikeouts.

Ezequiel Tovar has found some good moments late in the season after a brutal start. He added a solo homer of his own in the fourth inning as he continues to rediscover his rhythm at the plate.

As the Rockies went up 5-2, the Cleveland Guardians led 5-3 in their matchup across the AL Central, making the situation more dire for the White Sox.

Steady as she goes through the seventh

After the early flurry of runs, both bullpens kept things where they were through the next few innings with little action.

Ryan Feltner entered for Quintana and immediately logged a 1-2-3 inning, including a four-pitch strikeout of Kyle Teel. He allowed a hit and a walk in the fifth, but remained unscathed, getting Randal Grichuk to pop up for the third out. His biggest challenge came in the sixth inning. After getting the first two outs, he allowed a single to Teel and grew frustrated after another single to Sam Antonacci. He responded with a strong strikeout of Colson Montgomery.

After Martin and Schultz, the various White Sox pitchers held their own, too. Jordan Hicks worked a scoreless, hittless fifth inning, before Sean Newcomb pitched a shutout sixth inning. Newcomb got the first two outs of the seventh, but a double by Carrigg led to a move to the bullpen for Huascar Brazobán, who worked out of the inning.

The offense flared back up in the bottom of the seventh inning. After a walk to Miguel Vargas, a ball got by Amador putting runners on the corners. Grichuk grounded for the second out, scoring a run in the process to bring the Sox within two at 5-3. Feltner was pulled there for Brennan Bernardino. Things got dicey, as the always dangerous Munetaka Murakami came up to bat. He hit a deep fly ball to the warning track that was, thankfully, just short.

With eyes on the scoreboard at Rate Field, the Guardians held an 8-5 lead heading into the ninth inning, putting the White Sox’ division hopes on the brink.

Closing time

The White Sox wouldn’t go down without putting another scare in the Rockies. Chase Meidroth entered the game to replace Braden Montgomery and kicked off the eighth inning with a double. A Teel single put runners on first and third with no outs and the White Sox still just down two.

Bernardino went into his bag for another clutch inning, one of many he’s put up this year. He logged the first out with a three-pitch strikeout on Antonacci, getting him to swing at a curveball outside. Next, he was fired up after getting Colson Montgomery to ground into a double play on one pitch.

As the Guardians extended their lead to 11-5 out in Kansas City, the Rockies picked up some insurance of their own and told the White Sox faithful, “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

Colorado started to close things out with some small ball. Jordan Beck doubled, before being moved to third on a Brett Sullivan sacrifice bunt. Tovar flew out for the second out, but McCarthy drew a walk on six pitches to keep things alive. Carrigg delivered a single to put the Rockies up 6-3.

Why stop there? Goodman added to the history books with his second home run of the night, his 41st of the year. The three-run shot put the Rockies up 9-3. Bernardino swung the game with 1.1 innings pitched and no runs allowed on two hits. In tandem with the Guardians result, it slammed the door on the AL Central divisional race.

The extra insurance paid off, as Jordan Romano struggled to end things. A wild pitch that would have been a strikeout for out number one instead put a runner on. Romano then walked Vargas, setting up a three-run homer from Andrew Benintendi to make it a 9-6 game. Romano settled down after that for three straight outs to put the game to bed.

Final thoughts

The Rockies came together as a team for a strong, well-rounded victory, one of their best over the last few months of the season.

In the postgame discussion, the emotion of the game was present. Goodman gave props to his team for not calling it quits this late in the year and continuing to fight and try to get better every day. He dished out compliments to Rumfield, Quintana, Feltner, and the rest of the bullpen for big nights all around.

Goodman himself deserves heaps of praise. His two-home run game pushed him past Johnny Bench for the most road home runs by a catcher in NL history. Schaeffer called it “an incredible feat by an incredible guy.”

Schaeffer spoke to the resilience of the team. “I thought there was redemption there.”

He pointed to Amador responding by getting a double play after a fielding error, to Quintana and Feltner battling, to Bernardino for locking down a double play after a rough start to the inning, and to Tovar finding his swing and finishing the year strong offensively.

Above all, Schaeffer pointed to the model that tonight’s opponent laid out. After dropping 100 games last year, the White Sox are a playoff team this year.

“It can happen. Nobody’s saying it can’t happen, and we feel like we’re on the right trajectory. It’s on the right path.”

Up Next

We bid farewell to another season of Rockies baseball with Game 162 on deck Sunday afternoon.

Kyle Freeland (4-11 in 25 starts, 6.58 ERA) is set for perhaps his last game as a Rockie as an unrestricted free agent. Anthony Kay (9-9 in 30 starts, 4.53 ERA) is the probable pitcher for the White Sox.

The Rockies and White Sox wrap up the series and the season with a rubber match scheduled for a 1:10 p.m. MDT first pitch.

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Brice Turang is charging hard toward 100 RBIs on the season and he doesn’t appear ready to take no for an answer as he helped lift the Brewers to their 102nd win of the regular season.

Dustin May was making his final start of the regular season and his final opportunity to show the Brewers that he’ll be a trustworthy arm for them in October. He started off well in the first inning, getting a pair of strikeouts while touching 99 MPH. Then it slowly turned to a struggle from there.

In the 2nd inning, he gave up a pair of singles and a walk, which led to a run and a 1-0 Cardinals lead. The Cardinals would tack on one more against May in the 3rd inning when Alec Burleson lifted a mammoth home run that was 111 MPH off the bat. That made it a 2-0 Cardinals lead.

The Brewers would answer in the bottom half of the 3rd inning. Brandon Lockridge in his first AB back, taking the roster spot of Andrew Vaughn who was placed on the IL with an illness, ripped a ringing double to right. David Hamilton dropped down a bunt that got him to third and then Lockridge came around to score on Jackson Chourio’s single.

That still wasn’t going to be enough to keep May back out there as his night was done after just three innings. He did strike out five, but made a couple of mistakes as well.

Pat Murphy turned the ball over to Kyle Harrison after that, another pitcher who is pitching for his chance to be trusted in the postseason. Harrison’s outing went much better. He covered two innings, striking out four and the only baserunner he allowed was a hit by pitch. The fastball velocity was good and the vertical break on his fastball was much better, around his usual season average. Murphy said on Friday he was seeing signs that Harrison was improving but needed to see the results match.

On Saturday night, the results matched for Harrison, which could be a massive development for his confidence and what his role could be going forward.

“Harrison was sharp. He wasn’t thinking, he was just attacking. He was sharp, didn’t matter righty, lefty. The ball had the explosion to it that it had early in the season. His breaking ball was way more convicted. I was impressed.” Pat Murphy said.

Then the Brewers continued to answer at the plate. In the 5th, after Lockridge and Hamilton struck out, Chourio singled and then Brice Turang blasted his 21st homer of the season and brought in his 98th and 99th RBIs.

1 BIG SWING of the bat from Brice flips the scoreboard ⚡️ https://t.co/XTFCWUFLFBpic.twitter.com/ygMVAzJg7D

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 27, 2026

Turang is still one stolen base shy of a 20-20 season and is now one RBI shy of 100 for the first time in his career.

“Yeah, that’s special. He’s such a baseball kid. He responds so well. That’s the thing that’s most impressive about our group. Brice epitomizes this. He can go through a lull and he doesn’t get too down, he just knows how to respond.” Murphy said.

That gave the Brewers a 3-2 lead, one they would not relinquish.

JoJo Romero, Antonio Senzatela, and Aaron Ashby combined to close out the final four innings in order. The Cardinals did not get a baserunner after that Harrison HBP of Bryan Torres back in the 4th inning.

The Brewers secured their 102nd win of the season, further setting their franchise record. The Cardinals drop to 77-84. There’s just one game left in the regular season. So much is still to be decided in the playoff picture, but the Brewers have everything they control locked up.

Some more good news came out postgame that Joey Ortiz’s MRI came back “all good” and that he doesn’t have a bone bruise. There’s some swelling in the abdomen, but overall nothing concerning popped up. Ortiz will sit out Sunday’s game but is overall fine.

WHAT A GAME!!! WHAT A SEASON!!! The offense has completely bailed out the pitching staff the last couple weeks, and tonight was no different. We got contributions from just about everyone. Multi HR games from both Patrick Bailey and Brayan Rocchio is just a hilariously beautiful way to finish the regular season. We also saw 3 hit games from both Steven Kwan and Travis Bazzana and a HR from Chase DeLauter.

The main difference between this Guardians team and every Guardians playoff team since 2017/2018 is that this team is capable of hitting in the playoffs. This is the most offensive talent they have had in years, albeit most of it young and inexperienced. I’m super happy about the first round BYE and the fact that we only have to beat one of the White Sox or Astros to reach the ALCS, but I am a little worried about rust considering how hot this lineup has been of late.

This has been such an awesome season and it has been so much fun to watch the development of our young players, and I can’t wait to watch how they play in the playoffs.

Well, in their quest to aid major-league history and prevent a sub-.500 team from winning their division, the Texas Rangers knocked the Twins around in a rain-delayed, 6-2 victory on Saturday afternoon. With the Houston Astros just underway, the Rangers improve to 80-81, and give themselves a fighting chance of claiming the West with another win tomorrow afternoon; if they do, they will at least guarantee that their ticket to the playoffs will come on the back of an even record.

For the first time since 2009, the Rangers hit four doubles in the same inning, a four-run second that summed up most of Bailey Ober’s day. Nicky Lopez, Evan Carter, Alejandro Osuna, and Brandon Nimmo each had a two-bagger in the inning, which saw Ober give up four of his six earned runs, and five of his ten hits — all with two outs in the inning and nobody aboard.

It closed the book on Ober for 2026, leaving him with a 7-7 record and 4.47 ERA. He added five strikeouts and one walk to his final marks.

The Twins were not as successful in getting to Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi, who did not make it through five frames after tossing 71 pitches and booking it. Luke Keaschall doubled and scored in the first, but only three other Twins would tag Eovaldi for a hit, and the only other Twins run came after the white-hot Keaschall tripled and scored on a Josh Bell single in the bottom of the eighth.

The book is nearly closed on all the members of the Twins roster, with Dean Kremer scheduled to start Game 162 and finish off this season for good. Minnesota currently sits at 76-85, dead even with the Detroit Tigers; a win and a Tiger loss tomorrow would leave the Twins alone in third place to end the season.

See you tomorrow for one last ride!

STUDS:

RF Luke Keaschall (2-for-3, 2 R, BB, 2B, 3B)

RP Travis Adams (2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 4 K)

DUDS:

SP Bailey Ober (5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, B, 5 K, 2 HR)

1B Royce Lewis (0-for-4, 2 K)

SAN FRANCISCO – Shohei Ohtani will play in the Dodgers’ regular-season finale, but why?

The Dodgers held out Freddie Freeman and limited Blake Snell to four innings in a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. They can give Ohtani a break on Sunday.

Four games into his return from a 15-day stay on the injured list, and Ohtani already doesn’t look right.

He is 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in two games at Oracle Park this weekend, the solitary hit being a ground-ball single on Saturday that went under the glove of Giants infielder Brett Harris, who could have been charged with an error on the play.

In his most recent game, Ohtani didn’t even swing the bat when he was on deck.

Is his right arm hurting again?

The Dodgers won’t acknowledge it, but Ohtani’s decline in form has to be a major concern for the organization, which not only has to figure out how to keep him healthy enough to withstand multiple rounds of the playoffs but also what it will do if he isn’t. 

Josue De Paula should remain on standby.

Ohtani still figures to be the designated hitter for the Dodgers in the National League Division Series, which will start on Oct. 3. As demonstrated by the caution exercised by the San Diego Padres when pitching to him earlier in the week, his presence alone is valuable.

But if the Dodgers advance to the next round, what happens then, especially if Ohtani continues to play the way he has in San Francisco?

He’s followed two promising games at Dodger Stadium with two games in which he’s once again looking like he did when he was in a crippling slump leading up to his IL stint.

For what it’s worth, manager Dave Roberts said he didn’t think any of this was health-related.

“I don’t see any wincing,” Roberts said.

Roberts blamed Ohtani’s approach.

“I thought there was just more chase today,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if he’s trying to get hits, find his swing, getting a little overanxious.”

Roberts also wondered aloud if Ohtani could be rusty after spending more than two weeks on the IL.

He is right on the point that Ohtani isn’t seeing the ball well.

In his second at-bat on Saturday, Ohtani challenged a first-pitch strike call.

The Automated Ball-Strike System confirmed what home plate umpire Nick Mahrley saw, which is that Matt Wilkinson’s changeup was comfortably a strike.

Ohtani is in the situation he is now because the Dodgers wanted to believe that he wasn’t as hurt as he looked. By listening to him instead of believing their eyes, they let him push his body to a point of no return.

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Their task now will be to salvage whatever can be salvaged of Ohtani.

In the five days the Dodgers have between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs, Roberts said preserving his health will be prioritized over improving his swing.

“Just manage his workload,” Roberts said. “I know Shohei is good about managing his work. He’s not going to overswing. He’s very well aware of what it’s going to take. I’m not too concerned about that.”

The Dodgers can win a World Series without Ohtani being the version of himself who homered 50-plus times in each of the last two seasons.

Mookie Betts has continued to produce. Andy Pages has looked dangerous since his return from the IL. Teoscar Hernandez and Kyle Tucker have shown signs of life. Kiké Hernández could be gearing up for another heroic postseason run, as his ninth-inning home run accounted for the winning run on Saturday.

In the two games Ohtani played earlier in the week at Dodger Stadium, his home-run strength looked more like warning-track power, but he reached base four times in 10 appearances.

Roberts said he would take that.

“All day long,” he said.

Roberts said before the Giants series, “I’ll take this version of Shohei all the way through October and on every result.”

If the Dodgers aren’t careful, they won’t even have that.

Emmet Sheehan is on the mound as the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets play the Rochester Red Wings for the Triple-A championship game.

One final game of the 2026 season.

HOW TO WATCH TONIGHT'S GAME…
9:05 PM CT
MLB Network
Bally Sports Livehttps://t.co/dAgzxyhMI5 + the MLB App pic.twitter.com/0aA4KRUzsE

— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) September 26, 2026

Triple-A championship game info

• Teams: Oklahoma City (Dodgers) vs. Rochester (Nationals)
• Ballpark: Las Vegas Ballpark
• Start time: 7:05 p.m. PT
• TV: MLB Network
• Radio: 1340 The Game (OKC broadcast)

Things started off so well for the Royals, but one error led to a disaster second inning, and the Royals could never recover. They ultimately fell to the 2026 AL Central Division Champion Cleveland Guardians by a score of 11-5.

Michael Wacha faced only three in the first inning, and the offense went to work against Tanner Bibee in the bottom of the inning. Carter Jensen smoked another double leading off, then Bobby Witt Jr. singled to right. Carter had to hold at third, but scored one pitch later when Bobby stole second, and the throw went into center field. Jac Caglianone ripped a double down the first base line to score Bobby. Jac himself would score a few batters later when Michael Massey hit a single into right.

In the top of the second, Jo Adell hit a routine grounder to Bobby, but the Platinum Glove winner booted it. You can’t blame that on Wacha, but even though all four runs that would eventually score in the inning were ruled unearned, Wacha was giving up some loud contact. Travis Bazzana smoked a double to right center, and Nathaniel Lowe got a well-struck sacrifice fly. Wacha got Angel Martínez to foul pop out, and you began to think he might escape the inning. Then Patrick Bailey bounced a home run off the base of the right field foul pole to tie the game. That would have been bad enough, but Brayan Rocchio doubled, and Steven Kwan tripled to give the Guardians a lead they would never relinquish.

Wacha gave up a lead-off home run to Chase DeLauter in the third. He gave up a final run in the sixth. Quatraro sent him out for the seventh so he could call him off the field after a single out for another ovation. Anthony Gose finally gave up his first run of the season. The first charged to him, anyway, when Rocchio homered to left.

The Royals added a pair in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a Bobby double, a Jac double, and a Vinnie single. Patrick Bailey and Brayan Rocchio got the runs right back in the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back dingers off of Alex Lange. Bailey had 29 career home runs in 463 games prior to tonight. He had never hit two in a game before. At least Rocchio has a history of showing flashes of power, even if he was batting ninth tonight.

Lange and Spencer Bivens combined to give up two more runs. No one cares how, least of all myself. So we’ll leave it at that. It took the two pitchers 50 pitches to escape the top of the ninth.

If I were a Chicago White Sox fan, I think I’d be pretty annoyed at the Royals leaving a clearly gassed Wacha out there – his changeups were hanging all night – instead of making a serious effort to win the game. But such are the vagaries of late September baseball. And it’s not like the bullpen did any better. Plus, Chicago could have beaten the woe-begotten Rockies and forced the division to be decided tomorrow, but they didn’t.

The Royals have one last game to play. They’ve certainly seemed this week like a team that’s more than ready to call it a season, so I don’t think I’ll be sad to see them go. Daniel Lynch IV will get the start for the Royals. The Guardians haven’t announced a starter, but don’t expect them to risk any of their most valuable players in a game that has become meaningless to them. The game, as has become standard on the final day of the season, will start at 2:10 PM Central Time. There are a couple of teams that will start earlier than that, but only because of the nor’easter and the fact that those games don’t really matter, either.