Luis Severino (SP Athletics): Rostered in 32% of Yahoo leagues
Today’s recommended pickups are really just focused on next week only, and with a road start in Pittsburgh slated for Friday, Severino looks like the best bet of the one-start starters mostly unrostered in Yahoo leagues. That the outing is on the road is big; Severino is 5-2 with a 3.11 ERA in away games this year, compared to 1-9 with a 6.34 ERA in Sacramento. Both of his starts since returning from the IL have come on the road, and he’s allowed three runs while striking out 11 over 10 innings against the Cardinals and Angels.
The opponent is the real reason this looks like a strong play; the Pirates have scored the fewest runs in the leagues. Since the All-Star break, they have the third fewest runs scored and the third worst OPS. They’ll probably be throwing Bubba Chandler against the A’s, and while he could do just about anything, he’s probably only going to pitch about four innings before turning things over to the pen. It’s a situation ripe for a victory.
Luis Rengifo (INF Angels): Rostered in 16% of Yahoo leagues
The Marlins and Angels will face the Rockies in the final two series of the season at Coors Field this weekend. Most Marlins worth experimenting with are already rostered in the majority of leagues, though Otto Lopez wouldn’t be a terrible flier. Still, I’d take a chance on Rengifo first. Yoán Moncada is another option as a one-week pickup.
Rengifo has largely been a bust in his walk year. After averaging a 109 OPS+ and 2.1 WAR from 2022-24, he’s come in at just 76 and 0.4, respectively, in 135 games this year. Still, he has picked it up some in the second half, hitting .257/.333/.382 in 46 games, He’s also 8-for-8 stealing bases after going just 2-for-8 in the first half. That’s what gets him the nod over Lopez and Moncada here. If steals aren’t a priority, Lopez is probably the better choice in the other categories this week.
Jason Alexander (SP Astros): Rostered in 17% of Yahoo leagues
Alexander is the pick here for next week’s best, mostly available two-start pitcher. He’s facing contenders in the Rangers and Mariners, but that hasn’t seemed to pose any problems for him of late; he just pitched seven scoreless innings against the Blue Jays on Wednesday and he gave up a total of three runs in 11 innings in two recent starts against the Yankees.
A 32-year-old journeyman, Alexander’s only MLB action prior to this season came when he posted a 5.40 ERA in 11 starts and seven relief appearances for the Brewers in 2022. He has a 4.19 ERA in 10 starts and five relief appearances for the Astros this season. His low-90s fastball and sinker are well below average, and he’s not someone who should figure into the Astros’ plans for 2026. But for two starts against mediocre offenses this week, he ought to be good for one win and probably not much ERA and WHIP damage.
Waiver Wire Quick Hits
- Of course, with the Rockies having six home games, some of their hitters are worth trying as well. It hurts the likes of Mickey Moniak and Yanquiel Fernández that they’re due to face three lefties, but that makes Jordan Beck (19% rostered), Tyler Freeman (8% rostered) and Kyle Karros (1% rostered) better bets. Beck is hitting .315/.358/.491 at Coors Field this season, and he's been particularly productive against southpaws.
- Those feeling especially adventurous could take a flier on Sean Burke, who showed his best velocity of the season in his return to the majors Wednesday against the Rays. Burke is due to face the Orioles on Monday and Padres on Sunday, both at home. The White Sox have been surprisingly productive offensively of late, so maybe he’ll get a win.
Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and the rest of the Dodgers lineup increased their production this week. But, Betts admits, "for a little while, we were having just some bad at-bats." (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
To Andrew Friedman, something like this was a virtual impossibility.
“If you had said that we would have a six-week stretch where our offense would rank 30th in baseball, I would have said there was a zero percent chance,” the Dodgers president of baseball operations said last month.
“I would have been wrong,” he quickly added.
Over a five-week stretch from July 4 to Aug. 4, the Dodgers inexplicably ranked 30th (out of 30 clubs) in scoring. And though they’ve been slightly better in the five weeks since, questions about their supposed juggernaut lineup still abound.
In the first half of the season, the Dodgers boasted the best offense in the majors, leading the majors in scoring (5.61 runs per game), batting average (.262), OPS (.796) and hitting with runners in scoring position (.300) and went 56-32 over their first 88 games.
Since then, however, everything has flipped.
It started with a July slump that was as stunning as it was unforeseen, with the Dodgers averaging just 3.36 runs in a 25-game stretch commencing with Independence Day. Since then, there have been only marginal improvements, with the Dodgers entering Friday ranked 24th in scoring (4.21 runs per game), 25th in batting average (.237), 18th in OPS (.718) and 22nd in hitting with runners in scoring position (.245) over their last 58 games — a stretch in which they've gone 26-32.
“Not scoring runs,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said last week, “it's just not who we are.”
On the surface, the root causes seemed rather obvious. Much of their lineup was either on the injured list or scuffling in the wake of previous, nagging injuries. Healthy superstars were grinding through flaws with their swings. What little depth they had failed to compensate.
To that end, the team is hopeful it has turned the page.
Shohei Ohtani, after a midseason lull, is back to his MVP-caliber norms. Mookie Betts is back to looking like himself at the end of an otherwise career-worst season. Max Muncy and Tommy Edman have returned from injuries, providing the batting order with much-needed length. Significant playing time is no longer going to the likes of Buddy Kennedy, Alex Freeland, Estuery Ruiz or any of the other anonymous faces that populated the clubhouse during the campaign’s darkest days.
“Our lineup, our team, looks more whole,” manager Dave Roberts said this week. "I think that we've all been waiting for our guys to come back to health, and see what we look like as the ballclub that we had all envisioned.”
Still, when asked whether the Dodgers’ second-half slump could just be pinned on personnel issues, Roberts and his players said it wasn’t that simple.
The Dodgers might not have been whole. But they weren’t doing fundamental things — like stressing opposing pitchers, driving up pitch counts, or executing in leverage situations — either.
“We'd lost sight of playing the game the way we're capable of playing,” Roberts acknowledged.
“For a little while,” Betts added, “we were having just some bad at-bats.”
This is the dynamic the Dodgers have honed in on fixing, hoping to turn their summer-long frustrations into a valuable learning experience as October nears.
In recent days, a renewed and deliberate emphasis has been placed on the importance of competitiveness at the plate. Daily hitters’ meetings have included film sessions reviewing situational at-bats from the previous night. In-game dugout conversations have centered on a more basic message.
“It’s more about your approach, your plan,” Freeman said. “That’s been the focus.”
This week, the team took what it hopes are important first steps, ambushing the Rockies with seven- and nine-run performances in which they advanced baserunners, capitalized on scoring opportunities and built the kind of big innings that been missing over the two months beforehand.
“We said a few games ago, ‘This needs to be like how we focus for the playoffs,’” Freeman said. “Focus on the little things that help win games.”
The Dodgers, of course, have seen what a broken offense looks like before.
And they know what happens when it doesn’t get rectified before the playoffs.
Late in 2022, as co-hitting coach Aaron Bates recalled this week, the team slipped into bad habits while nursing a massive National League West lead: “It felt like that whole month of September was swing camp, or spring training,” he said, “in the sense of guys working on their swings individually too much, as opposed to playing the game in front of them.”
The results then were costly: A four-game NL Division Series elimination to the San Diego Padres in which the Dodgers repeatedly failed with runners in scoring position.
The next year was more of the same: The team losing its identity while coasting down the stretch, before being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks in three listless games.
Last season, the Dodgers finally avoided such pitfalls. They batted .278 with runners in scoring position during their postseason run to the World Series. Their tying and go-ahead runs in the Fall Classic clincher came on a pair of productive at-bats in the form of sacrifice flies.
The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani has showed his MVP form in recent games, homering twice in Sunday's win against the Baltimore Orioles. (Eric Thayer / For The Times)
But this summer, after a first-half outburst that met every lofty expectation of their $400-million roster, more troubling patterns began to resurface again.
Betts’ slow start devolved into a career-worst slump, bottoming out with a .205 average during July. Freeman began to fade right alongside him, with his .374 season average at the end of May plummeting to .292 less than two months later. Edman and Teoscar Hernández struggled after returning from first-half injuries. Michael Conforto never found his footing while Andy Pages endured an extended sophomore slide.
When coupled with Muncy’s prolonged absence — he missed 48 of 56 games because of a knee injury and oblique strain — the Dodgers suddenly had a lineup of players either grinding to rediscover their swing, or struggling to make up for the firepower they were missing.
And as easy scoring dried up, their inability to work consistent “team at-bats” quickly became magnified.
“It happened incrementally, every day, little by little,” Bates said. “Where it’s like, you’re a little off, you want to see what’s wrong with your swing, and you don’t realize that it snowballs. Before you know it, you’re thinking so much about your swing, you’re off of the situations out there.”
It was a problem, Bates insisted, borne of good intentions. Most of the roster was battling swing flaws. Too much daily energy was spent on players trying to individually get their mechanics right.
It led to mindless swings that were wasted on bad pitches. It caused scoring opportunities to carelessly, and repeatedly, go frustratingly by the wayside.
“Guys just got so internal with their mechanics,” Bates said, “they weren’t able to shift their focus once the game starts to just competing in the box.”
Bates started sensing the trend while watching the team from afar, gaining a different perspective during a two-week medical absence in early August to address blood clots in his leg.
In the clubhouse, players began voicing similar observations after particularly puzzling offensive performances in recent weeks.
“I feel like a lot of swings that we took today weren't really good swings to get on base,” veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said after the Dodgers managed only one hit in six innings against Padres left-hander Nestor Cortes on Aug. 23. “We know we're more than capable of putting up better at-bats and more hits together to create some traffic.”
“We individually are trying to find ways on our own to make sure that we’re just hitting better than we are,” Ohtani echoed, through an interpreter, after the Dodgers’ one-run performance in a series opener in Baltimore last weekend. “But I think the side effect of that is, we’re a little too eager, and putting too much pressure on ourselves.”
Thus, this week, the team endeavored to make changes.
In their daily pregame hitters’ meetings, the club has started holding what fellow co-hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc described to SportsNet LA as “NFL-style” film sessions; in which players were asked to review situational at-bats from the night before, and analyze their ability to execute their plan of attack.
“The game rewards you for having those ‘team at-bats,’ ” Bates said. “So you just preach to them by holding each other accountable, talking about them after the fact, not shying away from it.”
Freeman added that, in the dugout, players have also made an effort to emphasize that message among themselves.
“Don’t get upset because your swing didn’t feel good,” he said. “Like, if you go 0-for-four but move a runner over four times, that’s a great game for us. It might not be for your stats. But you gotta throw that out the window. That’s what we’ve been trying to clean up.”
The hope is that this renewed focus will naturally help hitters sync up their swings.
On Monday night, for example, Betts moved a runner to third base with a fly ball in the sixth inning, before coming back to the plate and roping a tie-breaking two-run single with two outs in the eighth.
“He said it in the hitter’s meeting [the next day],” Freeman relayed, “how that little positive thing of moving [a runner] over helped him build confidence going into his next at-bat.”
Little moments like that, the Dodgers hope, will help kick-start their offense as they come up on the playoffs. They might not have been able to envision the struggles of the last two months. But now, between better health and improving at-bat quality, they finally see a way to fix their ailing offense.
“Now, we're at least having good at-bats, getting a walk, extending innings, finding ways to manufacture runs,” Betts said.
“I do think that presently, the guys are engaged,” Roberts added. “Guys are playing as one right now."
NEW YORK — Aaron Judge hit his 361st career home run, tying Hall of Fame outfielder Joe DiMaggio for fourth place in New York Yankees history.
The two-time AL MVP went deep twice in the first three innings of a 9-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers, with at Yankee Stadium on the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
“Joe DiMaggio, Joe DiMaggio, it feels like that’s been there forever,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Joe DiMaggio in a lot of ways transcended baseball. So to be next to him on the list and as he’s going to be waving as he’s going by, it’s impressive and a bit of privilege having a front-row seat to that.”
“It’s just an important day for all of us to come together, so it’s just kind of a surreal moment, surreal day,” Judge said.
Judge launched homer No. 360 in the first inning, a 413-foot drive to left-center field off Tyler Holton that put New York up 1-0.
Judge matched DiMaggio in the third inning by driving a 1-0 fastball from Sawyer Gipson-Long to the back of the Tigers’ bullpen in left-center for his second homer of the game.
That solo shot gave New York a 4-1 lead. It had an exit velocity of 114.9 mph and traveled 434 feet.
It was Judge’s 45th career multihomer game, one behind Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle for second place in Yankees history. Babe Ruth’s 68 multihomer games are the most.
Judge reached 361 homers in his 1,129th game. DiMaggio played 1,736 games and hit his last homer on Sept. 28, 1951, at the end of a 13-year career that was interrupted for three seasons because he served in World War II.
Judge’s 46th homer of the season raised his major league-best batting average to .322, three points ahead of Athletics rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson.
“He’s probably the best player in baseball,” Yankees rookie pitcher Cam Schlitter said about Judge.
Holton and Gipson-Long became the 272nd and 273rd pitchers to allow a homer to Judge, who has six multi-homer games this season.
Judge, the Yankees’ captain, broke a tie with Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra for fifth on New York’s career list in a 12-2 loss when he hit a solo shot off Casey Mize in the first inning.
“Just two legends, greats in the game, all-time Yankees,” Judge said. “Pretty cool being on a list with them.”
Ruth (659 homers), Mantle (536) and Lou Gehrig (493) are the only players ahead of Judge on the Yankees’ career home run chart.
Giants third baseman Matt Chapman, in fact, will play against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night at Oracle Park.
Chapman’s status was in doubt as he awaited a ruling on his appeal of a one-game suspension handed down by MLB for his involvement in a benches-clearing incident against the Colorado Rockies.
“Matt Chapman’s one-game suspension was dropped as part of a settlement agreement with the Commissioner’s Office that will require him to pay a fine,” the team posted on X.
If the appeal had been rejected, Chapman would have served the one-game suspension Friday night.
So, Chapman’s only punishment for shoving Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland during the Sept. 2 altercation is an undisclosed fine from the league.
Chapman, Freeland and Giants shortstop Willy Adames all were ejected from the Sept. 2 game after the Rockies’ starter took exception to San Francisco star Rafael Devers admiring a home run.
Chapman, this season, is slashing .243/.352/.458 with 19 doubles, 21 home runs and 56 RBI.
As the Giants fight for an NL Wild Card spot, they need Chapman in the lineup, especially with three important games against the Dodgers this weekend. A couple of losses against their arch-rival could be devastating to their playoff hopes.
The Giants (74-72) enter Friday’s series opener 1.5 games behind the New York Mets for the final wild-card spot. The Cincinnati Reds are tied with San Francisco.
Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...
Mets Notes
Juan Soto is hitting .314/.455/.694 with 14 home runs, 32 RBI, 35 runs scored, and 15 stolen bases in 154 plate appearances over his last 33 games dating back to Aug. 6
Jonah Tong gave up just three hits in his last start, but they were all home runs, as he allowed four runs in 6.0 innings while walking four and striking out six
Jacob deGrom, in 109 starts at Citi Field, held opponents to a .191 average and a .536 OPS with 899 strikeouts to 162 walks with a 2.12 ERA over 696.2 innings. Friday will be his first start in Queens since Game 2 of the 2022 NLDS, 1,070 days ago, and first as a visiting player
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Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Rangers play a three-game series at Citi Field starting on Friday at 7:10 p.m. on SNY.
5 things to watch
Jacob deGrom's return
For the first time since leaving via free agency after the 2022 season, deGrom will face the Mets.
The 37-year-old, who had Tommy John surgery during the 2023 campaign, has been terrific this year -- but he's not quite at the same heights he was at in New York.
In 27 starts over 155.2 innings this season, deGrom has a 2.78 ERA (3.54 FIP) and 0.93 WHIP with 169 strikeouts (a rate of 9.8 per nine).
Before leaving via free agency, deGrom was coming off a pair of injury-riddled seasons, and the Mets seemingly didn't make much of an effort to bring him back. That decision felt prudent when deGrom threw just 41.0 innings combined during his first two years in Texas.
During his time in New York, deGrom wasn't just the best pitcher in baseball. He was an almost unbelievable force. From 2018 to 2021, he went on a run of excellence that was almost impossible to believe. In 91 starts over 581.0 innings, deGrom had a 1.94 ERA and 0.88 WHIP while striking out 774 batters. He won a pair of Cy Youngs (in 2018 and 2019) and was coasting toward a third in 2021 (1.08 ERA in his first 92.0 innings) before injuries derailed his year.
Where is the offense?
During their six-game losing streak, the Mets have scored just 15 runs -- an average of 2.5 per game.
As they were swept out of Philadelphia on Thursday, the Mets plated four runs in the first inning and then proceeded to do literally nothing for the rest of the game.
In the process, the Mets became the first team in the modern era to score four or more runs in the first inning, have no one reach base for the remainder of the game, and lose.
The only consistent presence in the lineup during this skid has been Juan Soto, who has remained hot. Otherwise, it's been lots of weak contact and strikeouts.
It's all on the kids in the rotation
One of the main culprits of the Mets' swoon since June has been inconsistent starting pitching.
Specifically, their veteran starters have been largely ineffective in terms of both run prevention and the ability to provide length.
A breath of fresh air has been provided by rookies Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat, and it's those three youngsters who will be leaned on to help the Mets rise from the doldrums against Texas.
Aug 29, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Jonah Tong (21) reacts after striking out Miami Marlins catcher Liam Hicks (not pictured) to end the top of the fifth inning at Citi Field. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Tong gets the start on Friday, followed by Sproat on Saturday and McLean on Sunday.
McLean has been especially impressive since making his debut, with a 1.42 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 31.2 innings.
The out of town scoreboard
When the Mets won the first game of their series against the Reds last weekend, it seemed that they were on their way to coasting to the playoffs.
For the first time since 2021, the Boston Red Sox are playing meaningful baseball past Labor Day. And Alex Bregman’s role in that development can’t be overstated.
The on-field stats are impressive enough. At 31 years old, Bregman is enjoying his best season since 2019, with a .279 batting average, 16 home runs and 57 RBI through 101 games. He leads all Red Sox regulars (minimum 90 games played) in on-base percentage (.362) and OPS (.862) while playing a Gold Glove-caliber third base.
But Bregman might be making a bigger impact off the field, where he’s served as an instrumental veteran leader for a young team that traded away its best player (Rafael Devers) in June and has thrust several recently-promoted prospects into key roles.
Not only has the two-time World Series champion served as a de facto hitting coach for younger players in the clubhouse, he’s also been feeding a steady stream of intel to Red Sox pitchers, which The Boston Globe’s Tim Healey highlighted in an excellent story Thursday.
“Bregman has a habit, according to teammates, of reaching out at all hours with some idea or tidbit geared toward Sox excellence,” Healey wrote. “Whereas almost all hitters are content to remain in their realm, Bregman finds time to — and takes pride in — pitching in with the pitchers.
“He studies opposing teams’ lineups to offer game-planning tips, converses one-on-one with hurlers about their repertoire and a hitter’s perspective on to maximize it, and serves as a ringleader encouraging hitter/pitcher cross-communication that, around the sport, is not common.”
Bregman’s contract includes opt-outs after each season, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported last week that the veteran third baseman is likely to opt out this winter to seek a more lucrative deal in free agency. While the Red Sox could prevent that scenario by agreeing to an extension with Bregman before the season ends, his agent, Scott Boras, shot down that idea this week.
“We’re at the point now where you wait until the offseason and see what transpires,” Boras told Audacy’s Rob Bradford. “Obviously, I think he’s very open about it. He has enjoyed it there. The team has more defined promise than it did a year ago. With free agency, you have to see how things go.”
Boras and Bregman will have plenty of leverage. According to Passan, Bregman likely will seek “the five-year-plus deal at an average annual value of $35 million-plus that eluded him last winter.” And the league’s big spenders — the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies — could be willing to open up their checkbooks after Bregman’s strong 2025 campaign.
So, should the Red Sox, who haven’t acted like a big-market team since Dave Dombrowski’s departure six years ago, really enter a bidding war for a third baseman who will turn 32 next March?
The short answer is yes.
Boston does have some leverage in that Bregman seems to be enjoying his experience at Fenway. The 10-year veteran recently told USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale that the 2025 Red Sox remind him of his “earlier years in Houston” — when the Astros were building a multi-time World Series champion — and added, “It’s a lot of fun to be in this environment.”
Even if Boras is hell-bent on taking the highest bid, however, the Red Sox still should be willing to pony up.
From young superstar Roman Anthony to recently-promoted hurlers Payton Tolle and Connelly Early, the Sox have a serious collection of young talent. And if Trevor Story doesn’t opt out of his contract this offseason, they’ll return essentially every core member of this year’s roster in 2026.
In short, these Red Sox are worth investing in — even if that means “overpaying” for the veteran leader who eventually could put them over the top.
With 15 games remaining in the regular season, the Mets are looking to hold off a handful of teams for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of play on Sept. 12.
Mets: 76-71, 1.5 games up on Giants and Reds for third Wild Card
Next up: vs. Rangers, Friday at 7:10 p.m. on SNY (Jonah Tong vs. Jacob deGrom) Latest result: 6-4 loss to Phillies on Thursday Remaining schedule: 3 vs. TEX, 3 vs. SD, 3 vs. WSH, 3 @ CHC, 3 @ MIA Odds to make playoffs: 77.9 percent *Mets hold tiebreaker over Giants by virtue of winning the season series, while Reds hold tiebreaker over Mets
Reds: 74-72, 1.5 games back of Mets
Next up: @ Athletics, Friday at 10:05 p.m. (Brady Singer vs. J.T. Ginn) Latest result: 2-1 win over Padres on Wednesday Remaining schedule: 3 @ ATH, 3 @ STL, 4 vs. CHC, 3 vs. PIT, 3 @ MIL Odds to make playoffs: 12.6 percent
Giants: 74-72, 1.5 games back of Mets
Next up: vs. Dodgers, Friday at 10:15 p.m. (Justin Verlander vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto) Latest result: 5-3 loss to D-backs on Wednesday Remaining schedule: 3 vs. LAD, 3 @ ARI, 4 @ LAD, 3 vs. STL, 3 vs. COL Odds to make playoffs: 8.2 percent
Diamondbacks: 73-74, 3.0 games back of Mets
Next up: @ Twins, Friday at 8:10 p.m. (Brandon Pfaadt vs. Pablo Lopez) Latest result: 5-3 win over Giants on Wednesday Remaining schedule: 3 @ MIN, 3 vs. SF, 3 vs. PHI, 3 vs. LAD, 3 @ SD Odds to make playoffs: 1.9 percent
Cardinals: 72-75, 4.0 games back of Mets
Next up: @ Brewers, Friday at 8:10 p.m. (Andre Pallante vs. Quinn Priester) Latest result: 4-2 loss to Mariners on Wednesday Remaining schedule: 3 @ MIL, 3 vs. CIN, 3 vs. MIL, 3 @ SF, 3 @ CHC Odds to make playoffs: 0.8 percent
San Francisco will host the Sultanes de Monterrey, a Mexican League baseball team, for two games on Monday, March 23 and Tuesday, March 24 at Oracle Park. The Giants, as part of their ongoing commitment to celebrate and uplift the Latino community, per a press release from the team, also will debut a new Gigantes uniform during the series.
“We are honored to welcome the Sultanes de Monterrey to Oracle Park,” Giants chief marketing officer Rachel Heit said. “Baseball connects cultures and communities, and this series embodies the importance of honoring our diverse fanbase and the Latino community in San Francisco and beyond.
“Together with the Sultanes, we look forward to creating an unforgettable experience for fans of both teams.”
In addition to the games, festivities at Oracle Park will include the following:
Promotional Giveaway: Willy Adames T-shirt, presented by Coors Light. First 15,000 fans.
Performances in Willie Mays Plaza: Mariachi SF and La Explosiva Sonora MX
Pregame Performances: Ballet Folklórico Netzahualcoyotl and Mexican dance group from the Bay Area
Opening Remarks: Mayor of San Francisco Daniel Lurie
Jersey Exchange: President and CEO of the Giants Larry Baer, Embajador Gigantes and Forever Giant Sergio Romo and Sultanes owners Francisco González Albuerne and José Maiz Domene
Home Plate Ceremony: Recognition of the 2025 Roberto Clemente Award nominee
Honorary Captains: Mayor of San Francisco Daniel Lurie and Consul General of Mexico in San Francisco Marco Mena
National Anthem: Laura Bravo, Lima-born, Bay Area–based singer and vocal coach
Honorary First Pitch: Embajador Gigantes and Forever Giant Sergio Romo, accompanied to the mound by Sultanes owners Francisco González Albuerne and José Maiz Domene
Community Spotlight: Honoring organizations supporting the Latino community
7th Inning Stretch: Edú Bega, Bay area-based Dominican singer, songwriter and producer
Former Giants pitcher Sergio Romo, who currently is an analyst on NBC Sports Bay Area’s Giants pregame and postgame coverage, explained the significance of this series for him.
“As a Mexican American, this series is especially meaningful to me,” Romo said. “The Giants and Sultanes sharing the field at Oracle Park will showcase the unifying power of baseball and shine a spotlight on the passion our communities share for the sport.”
The Sultanes de Monterrey are equally as excited.
“We are thrilled to play the Giants and for our fans to enjoy the game at the highest level,” Sultanes de Monterrey co-president Ing. Francisco González Albuerne said. “Baseball is a sport that unites families and communities, and the Sultanes are committed to sharing beyond borders that baseball is much more than a game, it’s a lifestyle full of passion and hope.”
“For Sultanes de Monterrey, it is an honor to face the San Francisco Giants — a privilege we embrace with great enthusiasm and commitment,” co-president of Sultanes de Monterrey Pepe Maiz added. “This game is an opportunity to share with their fans the passion and tradition of Mexican baseball, which we have proudly represented for decades.
“I am confident it will be a historic occasion that brings our communities together and leaves a lasting memory for both clubs.”
Thursday saw a brutal loss by the Mets that capped off a brutal series.
Already in the midst of a five-game losing streak and dropping the first three games of their series to the Phillies, the Mets blew an early 4-0 lead and were ultimately swept by their division rivals. After putting up four first-inning runs on Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo, the southpaw shut down the offense over the next seven innings. Jhoan Duran struck out the side in the ninth to lock down the 6-4 win with Phillies pitchers retiring 25 straight batters.
"Whether you’re up four, down four, at the end of the day, you didn’t get the job done," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of the loss. "Frustrating, but nothing we can do about it now. We have to get back at it tomorrow, go back home and win some baseball games."
The Mets (76-71) are now losers of six straight games and hold a slim 1.5-game lead over the idle Giants and Reds for the final wild card spot. It wasn't too long ago that the Mets' spot in the postseason was inevitable, but going 5-10 over their last 15 games has hurt their chances of holding on.
When Mendoza was asked if he's worried about their wild card spot, the second-year skipper said he's not, but acknowledged there aren't a lot of games remaining.
"Teams are right behind us," he said. "The way you look at it is, we’re still in control of the situation, we’re still in control of the ultimate goal. We just have to go out and do it."
"Gotta play better. Simple as that," David Peterson said after his start on Thursday. "We’ve seen what this group can do. We got 15 [games] left, we have to take care of business. Past is the past, and we have to let it go and play better. It's as simple as that."
Peterson was solid, giving the Mets five innings while allowing three runs before the bullpen -- led by Reed Garrett -- gave up the lead in a three-run sixth. A part of that bullpen implosion was the misplay of Jeff McNeil in center field that led to the go-ahead run. The longtime Met didn't show concern about the team's standing in the playoff picture when asked after the game because of his teammates.
"Got a bunch of great guys in here. We’ve been through a lot this year. Right now, we’re still in a playoff spot," he said. "Could be worse. We’re going to come tomorrow, tough game tomorrow, and be ready."
After a 10-game road trip, where the Mets went 3-7, the team returns home for nine games. The Mets are 45-27 at home this season, the fourth-most in the NL this year, so perhaps going back to Citi Field could cure what ails them.
Mendoza said it's "always nice to go home," but repeated that it comes down to the Mets playing better and winning games. When asked how the Mets can "reset," he put the inenviable task on himself.
"I’m responsible. I’m the manager, it’s my job to get these guys going and I will," he said. "I have a lot of confidence in myself, my coaches and the players. It’s not easy right now. We are all frustrated, but we still got an opportunity here to achieve our goal."
He later added, "As bad as it looks right now, as bad as it’s been, we’re still in control. But we got to play better, that’s the bottom line."
Carlos Mendoza was asked if there's anything he could do to reset the Mets:
"I'm responsible. I'm the manager. It's my job to get these guys going and I will" pic.twitter.com/uk8XGuKTPD
Aaron Judge smacked two home runs and the Yankees knocked around the visiting Detroit Tigers for 14 hits in a 9-3 win Thursday night in The Bronx.
The Yanks avoided the sweep and kept their hopes of winning the American League East alive as they improved to 81-65 on the season (44-31 at home) and are now 3.0 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays, who won earlier in the day to improve to 84-62.
Here are the takeaways...
- Judge put the Yanks ahead in the bottom of the first, crushing a 3-2 pitch into the visitor’s bullpen for a solo home run when a Tyler Holton cutter found the middle of the plate and it got smoked: 413 feet, 110.1 mph off the bat.
In his very next at-bat, Judge launched his second homer of the game to nearly the exact same spot, this time belting it 21 feet further, for a 434-foot solo shot to lead off the third. This one, off righty Sawyer Gipson-Long, was 114.9 mph off the bat and was the slugger’s 361st career home run, leveling him with Joe DiMaggio for fourth on the all-time Yankees home run list. He now has 46 home runs and 100 RBI for the season.
His hardest-hit ball (115.6 mph) came on a single up the middle to start the sixth. He finished 3-for-4 with a hit by pitch, but struck out looking on a 3-2 pitch to leave the bases loaded to end the seventh.
- Yanks’ starter Cam Schlittler retired the first four batters with three strikeouts before allowing back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners with one out in the second. Schlittler jammed Dillon Dingler on the 11th pitch of the at-bat but was able to muscle it into right to level the score. After an early mound visit from Matt Blake, a strikeout and groundout got the righty out of the jam.
Again pitching with a lead, Schlittler allowed a leadoff double in the third, but a lineout doubleplay set up six straight retired to get the next seven outs. That came to an end with Parker Meadows’ single to right with one down in the fifth. After back-to-back two-out walks, the Tigers had the bases loaded, and Blake was out for another visit. But on a fifth straight fastball, Schlittler got Riley Greene swinging at a 98 mph heater at the top of the zone to leave ‘em full.
A quick sixth finished the day for the 24-year-old, his final line: 6.0 innings, one run, five hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts on 95 pitches (62 strikes). His ERA stands at 3.05 on the year. Schlittler tossed first-pitch strikes to 17 of 24 batters he faced.
- With one out in the third, Giancarlo Stanton got a 3-2 hanging breaking pitch and smacked it 429 feet into left field stands (108.9 mph off the bat). It was his 20th home run of the year, giving the Yanks seven players with 20 or more on the season, which ties a franchise record. Stanton now has 449 in his big league career. He finished 1-for-5 with three strikeouts and bounced into a 5-4-3 twin killing.
- Jazz Chisholm opened the home half of the second inning by cracking a two-strike single to right before stealing second with one out, his 28th steal of the season. Chisholm came around to score on Ben Rice’s double to the right field corner for his 55th RBI of the year.
Jose Caballero, playing short for the second straight game as Anthony Volpe had a cortisone shot on Wednesday, kept the line moving with an RBI single to left and immediately stole second for his 44th steal of the year, but was left stranded there.
- Rice cracked another double down the right field line to start the fourth and was moved to third on a single slapped into right by Caballero, who then stole second with one out. Austin Slater, batting leadoff and starting for the first time since August 4, was hitless his first two times up, but cracked a single against a drawn-in infield for an RBI. After Judge was hit on the elbow pad to load the bases, the Tigers brought in Bailey Horn, who promptly allowed an RBI single to Cody Bellinger. With two down, Chisholm muscled a broken-bat two RBI single to right to make it a 9-1 game.
Chisholm finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and a walk. Rice went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk.
- Ryan Yarbrough was the first man out of the bullpen and surrendered a homer to Dingler down the line in left on the third pitch he threw. He allowed a two-out walk in the seventh and a two-out walk and single in the eighth, but no further damage. Javier Báez drove a triple off the wall in center with one out in the ninth before scoring on a groundout before the Tigers' 27th out. But Yarbrough's three innings of work were enough to earn him the save.
Game MVP: Judge
Judge entered the game batting .319, the lowest his average had been since he started 1-for-4 on Opening Day. He fixed that with his three hits, bringing it back up to .322, and raising his OPS to 1.112 for the year.
Highlights
Aaron Judge launches his 45th homer of the season to get the Yankees on the board first! pic.twitter.com/tO2KozW75O
New York, with a half-game lead over the Red Sox for the top Wild Card spot, heads to Boston for a three-game set at Fenway Park, starting with Friday night's 7:10 p.m. first pitch.
New York has yet to name starting pitchers for the series. Boston is sending out right-hander Lucas Giolito for the first game, with RHP Brayan Bello and LHP Garrett Crochet following.
The Mets got off to a roaring start, but the bats fell asleep and the bullpen gave up the lead in New York's 6-4 loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia on Thursday night.
Philadelphia completed the four-game sweep and the Mets have now lost six games in a row. With the loss and the Giants and Reds idle, the Mets' lead for the final wild card spot is now at 1.5 games.
Here are the takeaways...
-The Mets' offense has struggled mightily during this losing streak, but broke out early in this one. Back-to-back singles from Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, to go along with a double steal, gave the team an early scoring chance. Pete Alonso struck out looking before Mark Vientos stung an RBI single to right field. Brandon Nimmo followed with a single to drive in the game's second run. Starling Marte then crushed a double off the top of the left field wall to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.
But that's all the offense would get on Jesus Luzardo, who retired 22 straight batters, not allowing a baserunner since that four-inning first. It's the first time a Phillies pitcher has allowed four runs in the first inning and gone eight innings since Steve Carlton in 1977.
Luzardo allowed four runs across eight innings (97 pitches/68 strikes), on five hits, no walks and 10 strikeouts.
-Down just two runs in the ninth against closer Jhoan Duran, Soto (strikeout), Alonso (strikeout), and Vientos (strikeout) were retired in order to end the game with 25 straight Mets batters retired.
-David Peterson worked in and out of trouble early on, allowing the leadoff hitter in the first two innings to reach, including two who reached scoring position, but the young lefty pitched out of it. In the fourth, Otto Kemp jumped all over a first-pitch hanging slider for a two-run shot to get the Phillies back in the game. It's the second homer Kemp has hit in this series. An RBI double from Bryce Harper in the fifth cut the Mets' lead to 4-3, but Peterson would get through five innings.
Peterson's final line: five innings pitched (86 pitches/61 strikes), three earned runs on seven hits, one walk, while striking out eight batters.
-Reed Garrett was the first arm out of the 'pen, and allowed back-to-back doubles to lead off the sixth and tie the game at 4-4. Jeff McNeil, starting at center, misjudged the Kemp liner that allowed Nick Castellanos to score. After getting two batters out, with a walk sandwiched in between, Harrison Bader singled to give the Phillies the lead.
Brooks Raley came in to try and get the final out of the sixth, but a walk to Kyle Schwarber and a Harper single put a cap on the three-run inning before J.T. Realmuto flew out to put an end to the frame.
Tyler Rogers and Edwin Diaz pitched a perfect inning each.
-Bader went 2-for-5 with an RBI and is now 19-for-36 in nine games against his former team.
Game MVP: Jesus Luzardo
Although he struggled early, the southpaw shut down the Mets' offense and allowed the Phillies to come back.
No matter the situation throughout the season, whether during their current hot streak or when they lost three in a row in New York against the Mets a couple weeks ago, manager Rob Thomson rarely misses the opportunity to remind people how resilient his group is.
Oh, how that sweep by the Mets seems so long ago now as the Phillies climbed out of an early deficit to pin a devastating 6-4 loss on New York and improved to 87-60 on the season, while increasing their lead to 11 games in the National League East. They have won 11 of 14 since that ugly Mets series.
Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo had a first inning against the New York Mets that he’d soon like to forget. But he’ll fondly recall his next seven innings in which he was, literally, perfect.
The visitors racked up four runs on five hits in that opening inning on Luzardo, who needed 23 pitches to get through.
Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto led off the game with consecutive singles and put runners on second and third when they executed a double steal. Singles by Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo each drove in a run before a double by Starling Marte plated two more and before everyone had a chance to settle into their seats.
All Luzardo did after that was retire the next 21 batters he faced.
After striking out Lindor to end the eighth, not only did Phillies fans give him a standing ovation, catcher J.T. Realmuto waited for him on the field for a hug with the whole dugout up and clapping. Luzardo finished the night with 10 strikeouts, no walks and threw only 74 pitches over those last seven perfect innings.
“The whole game was probably as impressive a win as we’ve had all year,” said Rob Thomson. “Luzardo gives up the four in the first, up in the zone a little bit, behind in the count a little bit and then he just settled right in and gave us eight strong. It’s really unbelievable. The offense kept coming. They just didn’t quit. It was just a great win overall.”
One that may not have come had Luzardo not done a complete turnaround after that first in improving to 14-6 on the season.
“The mentality kind of stayed the same of just keep making good pitches,” said Luzardo of his reaction after the first inning. “I felt like I made some good pitches in the first but they found some holes, put some good swings on it. Just understanding their approach, they’re going to swing early, attack and try to get in and out of at-bats quick. Just kind of use their aggression against them.
“Keeping us in the game was huge. At the end of the day all we can control is the pitches we make and the outcomes we can’t control. I didn’t really soak it in. I was trying to get one more out of Topper but he shot it down pretty quick. I couldn’t tell you (last time I threw seven perfect innings). Maybe in high school but it definitely wasn’t after giving up four in the first. I found out after. I knew it’d been a while (since allowing a baserunner). In the eighth the first was already kind of a blur.”
Otto Kemp cut New York’s lead in half in the fourth inning when he belted a two-run home run to center, scoring Nick Castellanos who had walked before him. They added another in the fifth on a two-out double to right to score Weston Wilson. An inning later, everyone had a chance to hit as the Phillies batted around and scored three runs for a 6-4 lead.
“That first inning he gives up a couple runs and you know it’s just that he needs to settle in a little bit and it’s cool to see him get a couple of those innings quickly and for us to try and turn the momentum on our side,” said Kemp, who finished the game with two hits, two runs scored and three RBI. “I think there’s just no panic. It’s early and we had nine innings to do our work and just put together good at-bats. Eventually, you look up in the ninth and you’re up by two.”
Because a game like that needed an ending only Jhoan Duran can provide, he did his part by striking out the side in the ninth to pick up his 29th save of the season and his 13th with the Phillies.
“I’ve been saying the last three or four starts, my body has just hit a second gear, and I feel really good, the arm feels good and I feel like my stuff and my velocity is the best it’s been all year,” said Luzardo.
Those final seven innings are sure proof of that.
He also had some help from his defense as Harper made a great diving stop at first for an out, Castellanos made one of his running, sliding catches out in right and Edmundo Sosa gobbled up a slow grounder in the eighth and made a strong throw against his body for another out.
“We did a lot of really good things tonight,” said Thomson. “Just all around, just a great effort. They’re excited tonight, it was a big series, and we have another one tomorrow and we can’t let down. We’ve got to keep battling, keep grinding. But I think because of the experience on the club, everybody just kind of stays even keel and understands that we’ve got to go get it again.
“We have goals that we still have to achieve. You can’t think about feelings right now, you just got to keep playing. They just don’t quit. They’re very resilient.”
The Mets have set a date for Kodai Senga's first minor league start since his option.
Manager Carlos Mendoza said ahead of Thursday's series finale against the Phillies that Senga will pitch for Syracuse on Friday after pitching bullpens the last week or so.
The Mets skipper said that Senga was working on mechanics during those sessions, but the real process begins Friday.
"Facing competition tomorrow and a lot of times the hitters will tell you, he’ll tell you," Mendoza said. "We’ll get the feedback from him. We’ll watch videos and things like that, and we’ll get the report. He feels good and feels like he’s in a good spot. Make some adjustments with his mechanics, and he has to go out there now and he has to see it."
Senga, 32, has struggled since returning from the IL in July. He's pitched to a 0-3 record with a 5.90 ERA in nine starts. This season, he's 7-6 with a 3.02 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in 22 starts over 113.1 IP.
SNY's Andy Martino reported that the plan is for Senga to make at least two starts with Syracuse.
Updates on Luis Torrens and others
During Mendoza's pregame availability, he was asked for updates on a number of injured players, including Luis Torrens, Tylor Megill, and Tyrone Taylor.
There was no update on Megill, who has been dealing with an elbow issue and is seeking a second opinion, while Torrens is doing "better" as the swelling in his forearm is down.
"He’s trending in the right direction," Mendoza said.
As for Taylor, who was placed on the IL in early September with a hamstring strain, his potential rehab assignment was pushed back so he could be with his family as they welcome a child.
Coming from the Carolina Hurricanes in the sign-and-trade involving K’Andre Miller, Scott Morrow is trying to etch his mark with the New York Rangers.
Morrow is one of the most intriguing prospects to participate at rookie camp, and on Thursday, he got a chance to open up about his move from Carolina to New York.
While the trade came as somewhat of a shock to Morrow, as someone from New York, the idea of returning to The Big Apple excited him.
“I would say a surprise,” Morrow said of the trade. “I obviously didn’t hear anything about it beforehand, but the first emotion is when you hear the New York Rangers, it’s a very special organization.
“I’m from around here, and it would mean a lot to have success here. It was obviously super cool. A little bit of disappointment leaving Carolina because it’s such a great organization, but I’m super pumped to be here, and it is definitely more exciting.”
The Rangers also specifically sought to acquire Morrow in this sign-and-trade instead of letting the Hurricanes offer-sheet Miller.
That means a lot to Morrow, and it’s certainly something he hasn’t forgotten.
“I mean, it’s pretty cool that they traded a really good player and I was a part of the return,” Morrow said. “Obviously, K’Andre was a big part of the team here, so if they value me enough to want me back in a package like that for a player that that good, then you know, it shows that they think somewhat highly me. I just want to prove them right for including me in that. It would be pretty cool for people to look back and think that was a great move.”
The 22-year-old defenseman has NHL experience as he played 14 regular season games and five playoff games with the Hurricanes last season.
He is now tasked with the challenge of proving at both rookie camp and training camp that he’s worthy of making the Rangers’ opening-night roster.
However, Morrow is determined to stay patient, and he hopes to just stay on his development path regardless of whether he makes the Rangers’ roster or not.
“Honestly, I'm not focused on the outcome of camp as much as just the process of, you know, being in my second year pro now, trying to show how much I’ve grown, trying to show this brand new organization what kind of player I am. Obviously, they traded for me, so obviously, they see something in me. I just want to make the best first impression that I can.”
