Category: Baseball

The Mets beat the Rangers for the second straight night, defeating Texas 7-2 at Globe Life Field to secure the series victory and play the role of spoiler. Nolan McLean retired the Rangers in order in every inning he pitched except one and earned his 12th win in his final start of 2026. Three home runs—one from Juan Soto to get the Mets on the board, a go-ahead solo shot from Marcus Semien, and a pinch-hit grand slam from Brett Baty that sealed the deal—were responsible for all seven of the Mets’ runs.

The first inning was rather uneventful except for the fact that right after Gary Cohen mentioned that Rangers first baseman Jake Burger was on the precipice of breaking a Rangers club recrod for consecutive errorless games, he made an error on the very next play on a Bo Bichette grounder that went right between his legs for the game’s first base runner. Nothing came of it, however, as Mark Vientos flew out to end the inning.

The Mets did not record a hit until the third inning, thanks in part to a couple of nice places early in the game by Wyatt Langford in the outfield. But finally Francisco Lindor broke through against Cody Bradford with a two-out single up the middle and Juan Soto followed with a 429-foot blast to put the Mets on the board. Given a 2-0 lead to work with, Nolan McLean made quick work of the Rangers early and was perfect through four innings. The Mets squandered a golden opportunity in the fifth when the first two runners reached base, but did not score. Francisco Alvarez singled to lead things off and then A.J. Ewing dropped down a bunt intended to be a sacrifice, but he ended up reaching first base safely because the catcher Danny Jansen went to field it, but Bradford got in his way and the Rangers were unable to make the play. Nick Morabito then failed to execute a sacrifice bunt and struck out. Not taking any chances in a game that is crucial for their playoff hopes, the Rangers brought in Tyler Alexander to face the top of the order. Francisco Lindor flew out to center and not wanting to allow Soto to beat them again, Alexander intentionally walked Soto to load the bases. The move worked; Bo Bichette grounded out to end the inning.

Meanwhile, the Rangers did all of their damage against Nolan McLean in one inning in the bottom of the frame. Brandon Nimmo led off with a single for the Rangers’ first hit. Ezequiel Duran then grounded out for the second out, but Nimmo advanced into scoring position on the play. Jake Burger then smacked a single to plate the Rangers’ first run. As often happens with McLean, the base runners came in bunches; Nicky Lopez singled to advance Burger to second and Danny Jansen walked to load the bases still with only one out. But McLean did good to limit the damage to just one additional run. Evan Carter hit a grounder to second on which the Mets could not turn a double play, recording only the out at second base as the tying run came home. Carter stole second base, but McLean induced an inning-ending popup off the bat of Wyatt Langford to stop the bleeding.

McLean bounced back with a very quick 1-2-3 inning in the sixth and the Mets’ half of the seventh inning played out almost exactly like their missed opportunity in the fifth. Chase Silseth took the mound for the Rangers and Francisco Alvarez greeted him rudely with a sharp single up the middle—the first time in his career he’s had four straight multi-hit games. A.J. Ewing followed with a walk and then Nick Morabito once again failed to bunt the runners over and bunted a two-strike pitch foul for strike three. Desperate to keep this important game tied, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker turned to his closer Jacob Latz to get the final two outs. Francisco Lindor made a bid for home run number 300, but the ball was caught on the warning track for the second out. The Rangers then intentionally walked Juan Soto to load the bases for a second time and for a second time it worked; Bo Bichette flew out to right field to end the inning.

Nolan McLean finished his night on a high note, retiring the Rangers in order to keep the game tied. Marcus Semien rewarded McLean’s brilliant work by putting him in line for the win in the top of the eighth with a two-out, go-ahead solo homer off his former team. Devin Williams made his first appearance back from the injured list in relief of McLean in the eighth and recorded a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout of Wyatt Langford to cap it off. Jordan Montgomery took the mound for the Rangers in the eighth and Morabito redeemed himself somewhat with a one-out hit—his first big league hit off a left-handed pitcher. He advanced to second on a Lindor dribbler in front of the plate for the second out. The Rangers then—you guessed it—intentionally walked Juan Soto yet again. It marked the first time a Met has been intentionally walked three times in a game since David Wright in 2009. Montgomery then made way for righty (and former Met) Trevor Williams to face Bo Bichette, who this time finally made the Rangers pay by drawing an unintentional walk to load the bases. Brett Baty then pinch hit for Mark Vientos to face the righty and dealt the decisive blow—a towering grand slam to extend the Mets’ lead to 7-2 and break the Rangers’ hearts.

Cionel Pérez was tasked with the ninth inning by now-official manager Andy Green and worked around a one-out single to Josh Jung to complete the victory and give Nolan McLean the win in his final start of 2026. The Mets will go for the sweep at Globe Life Field tomorrow afternoon.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Juan Soto, +28% WPA
Big Mets loser: Bo Bichette, -15% WPA
Mets pitchers: +29% WPA
Mets hitters: +21% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Marcus Semien’s go-ahead home run in the eighth, +29.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jake Burger’s RBI single in the fifth to drive in the Rangers’ first run, -10.9% WPA

The Mets secured a series win against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night, winning by a score of 7-2.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- In his final start of his rookie season, Nolan McLean looked like he was on his way to something special after retiring the first 12 batters he faced on just 43 pitches. However, a Brandon Nimmo single to lead off the fifth inning put history to rest.

-- A groundout advanced Nimmo to second and a single by Jake Burger ended McLean’s shutout bid and cut New York’s lead to 2-1. After finding an opening, the Rangers did not let up and loaded the bases on the right-hander following a single and a walk.

With his back against the wall, McLean got Evan Carter to ground one to second base, but the Mets couldn’t turn the double play thanks to Carter’s speed and Texas tied the game. Still in trouble, McLean finally ended the inning with a popout, leaving two runners in scoring position.

-- The rocky fifth inning took McLean 26 pitches to complete and came out of nowhere. In fact, before the game manager Andy Green was asked about the rookie’s season and talked about wanting McLean to work on limiting those innings where he’s forced to work a ton.

To McLean’s credit, he did manage to keep what could’ve been a big inning to just two runs and then went back out in the sixth inning and needed just five pitches to get through the frame. The right-hander ended his outing by retiring the side in order in the seventh inning on just eight pitches. 

-- Overall, McLean allowed two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out five on 82 pitches (52 strikes). Aside from the fifth inning, the youngster pitched six perfect innings in what was another fantastic start and ends his season with a 3.16 ERA in 31 starts.

-- McLean left in a tie game but his teammates picked him up as Marcus Semien made the right-hander the pitcher of record on the long side (12-10) with a solo home run with two outs in the eighth against his former team which put New York ahead, 3-2. 

The Mets’ only other offense prior to that came in the third inning off the bat of Juan Soto who demolished an 0-1 changeup from Cody Bradford for a two-run shot. 

-- The Rangers learned their lesson after that and intentionally walked Soto three times later in the game, twice to load the bases – seldom seen. Both times it worked, though, as Bo Bichette ended the inning by making an out. 

The last time, however, came back to bite Texas. With New York up by a run in the top of the ninth and a runner on second with two outs, the Rangers intentionally walked Soto and then walked Bichette after a tough at-bat. With the bases loaded, pinch-hitter Brett Baty, who has been on a tear to end the season, hit a no-doubt grand slam off Trevor Williams that went 455 feet and blew the game wide open.

Over his last 30 games, Baty is slashing .348/.439/.609 (1.048 OPS).

-- Devin Williams made his first appearance since re-joining the team from the IL, entering in the eighth inning of a one-run game at the time and pitching a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Game MVP: Nolan McLean

Baty's grand slam will capture the headlines, but McLean showed his mettle and ended his rookie season on a high note.

Highlights

Nolan McLean gets a pair of strikeouts looking in the first inning pic.twitter.com/bu5iPEGG8Q

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 24, 2026

Juan Soto 2-run shot!

His 27th homer of the season! pic.twitter.com/QMbSYwdDcC

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 24, 2026

Marcus Semien homers back in Texas!

The Mets lead 3-2! pic.twitter.com/1NBGM7XtG1

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 24, 2026

PINCH-HIT GRAND SLAM BRETT BATY! pic.twitter.com/yjXtWnYYlV

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 24, 2026

What's next

The Mets and Rangers close out their three-game series with a Thursday matinee starting at 2:35 p.m. on SNY.

LHP Zac Thornton (5-5, 3.40 ERA) will pitch for New York while Texas has yet to announce a starter.

The Texas Rangers scored two runs but the New York Mets scored seven runs.

Oh. So baseball games are telling jokes now, huh?

With their season hanging very much in the balance, Texas went until the first batter of the fifth inning before their first time on base all night and by that point, they were already trailing 2-0 and had committed another couple of defensive miscues in what had swiftly devolved into a mistake-filled series at quite literally the worst time for it.

The Rangers did make there first hit of the game matter as they finally worked a rally against Mets starter Nolan McLean that eventually plated the tying runs, but they also had a bases loaded, one out scenario after scoring their first run and they only managed to tie the game out of it and only just barely as Evan Carter beat out a would-be double play.

Instead of breaking through and taking the lead, the Rangers didn’t get another baserunner on against McLean or any other Mets hurler for that matter until there was one out in the ninth. Meanwhile, sensing the season was definitively on the line, Skip Schumaker called in closer Jacob Latz earlier than usual when the Mets threatened with two on in the seventh inning in a tied game.

After Latz wiggled out of that jam, he remained in for the eighth where, after a couple of outs, he allowed a solo home run to former Ranger World Series winner Marcus Semien. You know, the guy the Rangers traded away over the winter in an attempt to rinse off the stink of a couple of lost seasons that is nearing a third, now perhaps punctuated by Semien as the grim reaper.

Kind of funny, all things considered.

Not quite as funny, but at least relieved us of the last vestiges of hope for this one, with two outs in the top of the ninth, Brett Baty hit a pinch-hit grand slam to slam the door in Texas’ face.

The Rangers aren’t eliminated just yet but their path is exceedingly perilous now as they’ve dropped this series to the lowly Mets, their first home series loss in over two months.

Player of the Game:

Up Next: The Rangers close out this series against the Mets trying to avoid a sweep. They haven’t announced a starting pitcher but it’s probably RHP Kumar Rocker. New York will counter with LHP Zac Thornton.

The Thursday afternoon first pitch in the final home game of the season is schedule for 1:35 pm CDT and you’ll find it on the Rangers Sports Network.

The Cleveland Guardians lost, 1-0, to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night. All the White Sox had to do was beat the Kansas City Royals to reclaim first place in the AL Central.

Instead, they lost, 5-4. Apparently, taking control of your own destiny sounded a little too easy.

Bryan Hudson’s opening assignment was to get through the top of the Royals’ order. That plan lasted five batters. Carter Jensen and Bobby Witt Jr. opened with singles. After Jac Caglianone grounded out, Maikel Garcia drove in two runs with a base hit and Vinnie Pasquantino doubled home another.

Having seen enough, skipper Will Venable called for bulk reliever Erick Fedde. The veteran punched out Salvador Perez before Kansas City tacked on an unearned run on a bad throw by Colson Montgomery to take a 4-0 lead. Fedde finally got out of the inning by getting John Rave to fly out. The opener strategy works considerably better when the opener gets more than one batter out.

Seth Lugo retired the South Siders in order in each of the first two innings, and Fedde needed an escape act to keep the Royals from adding to the lead in the second. Then the Sox remembered they were allowed to hit.

Chase Meidroth opened the third with a bunt base hit. Braden Montgomery singled, Sam Antonacci took one for the team and Kyle Teel delivered a two-run single. Miguel Vargas followed with an RBI knock, and Munetaka Murakami doubled to tie it, 4-4.

Chicago batted around in the inning and had a chance for more, but Meidroth popped out with the bases loaded to end the frame.

The Sox got another gift-wrapped opportunity in the fourth. Back-to-back singles from Braden and Antonacci chased Lugo, and Anthony Gose walked Teel to load the bases with one out. Vargas grounded into a double play. Four runs in the third, bases loaded in the fourth and somehow that was the end of the offense.

Fedde gave the Sox a chance after the ugly start, allowing no runs on four hits and two walks over 2 2/3 innings. Sean Newcomb got Chicago out of trouble in the fourth by striking out Jensen and getting the speedy Witt to ground into a double play. Hagen Smith handled the sixth with two strikeouts.

But Kansas City broke the tie in the seventh off Smith. Jensen singled, Witt reached on a force out and Garcia doubled him home for a 5-4 Royals lead. That one run held up with alarming ease.

Lucas Erceg needed just nine pitches to retire the Sox in the eighth. In the ninth, Royals manager Matt Quatraro called on Steven Cruz to close it out. He struck out Meidroth on three pitches, and Colson Montgomery went down on five. Unfortunately, with that K, he’s now tied Adam Dunn’s White Sox single-season record with 222 strikeouts. That total also leads all of MLB this season and puts him just one shy of Mark Reynolds’ all-time record of 223, set in 2009. Two more punchouts would give him the record outright. With four games left, it seems almost inevitable that the crown will be his.

Braden tried to get something going with two outs and did manage a single to give Antonacci one last shot. He flew out to end it.

The Royals played spoiler, but the Sox did plenty to help them. Chicago wiped out a four-run deficit, stranded a bases-loaded chance and then offered little resistance when it mattered most. Cleveland left the door wide open. The South Siders walked right past it.

MVP
Kyle Teel: 1-for-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K

Runners-Up
Braden Montgomery: 3-for-4, R
Munetaka Murakami: 1-for-4, RBI, 2B, K
Miguel Vargas: 1-for-4, RBI
Chase Meidroth: 2-for-4, R, K
Erick Fedde: 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K
Sean Newcomb: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Cold Cat
Bryan Hudson: 1/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER)

Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-4, 3 K, E
Tristan Peters: 0-for-3
Hagen Smith: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 K, L

It’s the end of another week here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. We’re always glad to see you. We’ll waive the cover charge for you. The dress code is casual. There are still a few tables available. Bring your own beverage.

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

Last night I asked you for your pick for the Vedie Himsl Cubs’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Many of you lamented the paucity of good performances by Cubs pitchers, but I will once again remind you that offense was up by about 30 percent this year in all minor league levels below Triple-A.

In any case, you went with Brooks Caple, who got 50 percent of the vote. Dawson Netz came in second with 24 percent and Jackson Brockett was third with 18 percent.

Here’s the part with the music and the movies. Please join us. But you don’t have to.

It was 100 years ago today in Hamlet, North Carolina when we were blessed with the birth of the great saxophonist John Coltrane.

We’ve already listened to parts of A Love Supreme as our tribute and I’m pretty sure we will get to “My Favorite Things” when Christmas time rolls around. So tonight I thought we’d finish off with another one of the Coltrane performances that most of us are familiar with already. I had a hard time deciding between “Blue Train” and “Giant Steps.” So I decided to give you both of them.

Here is “Blue Train” from 1958. It features Lee Morgan on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on double bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums.

Two years later, Trane released the album Giant Steps. The title track featured here, written by Coltrane, is often cited as one of the most complex series of chord progressions on any song.

This one also has Chambers on bass, but Art Taylor is the drummer and Tommy Flanagan on piano.

I think I owe you an essay on director Robert Altman’s 1973 Neo-noir The Long Goodbye, starring Elliot Gould as Raymond Chandler’s iconic detective Philip Marlowe. Chandler’s novels were notoriously difficult to adapt to the screen, so Altman, Gould and screenwriter Leigh Brackett just use the book as a general guide and create a crime film that’s delightfully perverse in its own right.

I read the novel The Long Goodbye about 20 years ago. What I remember about it was Chandler’s vivid prose, his memorable characters and a plot that was complicated and nonsensical even by Chandler’s standards, which is saying a lot. I went into this film remembering the characters but only vaguely remembering what happened to all of them.

About 30 years earlier, Brackett was tasked with adapting Chandler’s novel The Big Sleep to the big screen with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Back then, she had to worry about the Production Code as well as pumping up Bacall’s part after Bogart and Bacall became front page tabloid news. Here, Brackett deals with Chandler by dealing with the spirit of the novel rather than the actual details. 

My first impression was that no matter what his character’s name was, Gould was not playing Philip Marlowe. Gould’s Marlowe is more low-key and easygoing than Chandler’s. His catchphrase is “It’s all right with me,” which is a huge change because nothing was all right with Chandler’s Marlowe. Marlowe in the novels was almost always angry. Even when Gould’s Marlowe is angry, he generally does everything he can to not show it and to de-escalate. 

Also, not to spoil the plot, but Gould’s Marlowe does things that Chandler’s Marlowe never would. 

But what Altman and Brackett did was make Marlowe a “man out of time.” The story is moved up to the 1970s, but Marlowe is still a man of the fifties. He drives a 1948 Lincoln Continental. He wears a white shirt, a tie and a jacket, even while he lives next door to a group of women hippies who dance around topless on their balcony constantly. 

The film starts with Ball Four author Jim Bouton playing Terry Lennox, a friend of Marlowe’s. We quickly find out that Lennox has stole a bunch of money from mobsters and has been accused of murdering his wife. Lennox commits suicide and the mobsters think that Lennox left the money with Marlowe. 

Meanwhile, Eileen Wade (Nina Van Pallandt) hires Marlowe to find her alcoholic and famous author husband Roger Wade (Hayden Sterling). He’s in a rehab clinic under the control of the manipulative Dr. Verringer (Henry Gibson, of all people).

Marlowe eventually comes to believe that the deaths of the Lennoxes is connected to the Wades. Meanwhile, a sadistic mobster (Mark Rydell) comes after Marlowe looking for his money.

So the plot of the movie The Long Goodbye makes more sense than the plot of the novel, but it’s still not exactly easy to follow. But Chandler was all about the vibes and Altman smartly recreates the aura of Chandler and not the plot and characters. The scene is corrupt and violent. Truth is hard to come by. In both the book and the movie, Marlowe sees himself as someone who swims above the culture of corruption that permeates Los Angeles, both in 1953 and 1973. 

Despite the film being in color, Altman creates that noir feel by using desaturated colors, He takes camera angles where parts of the scene is obscured by things in the foreground. Then, of course, there is the famous Altman overlapping dialogue that muddies up what is being said. 

Gould does a great job of creating a detective that’s all his own, even if I don’t think that character is Marlowe. Hayden’s performance stands out as the angry, alcoholic Roger Wade, a character that Chandler based on himself. Gibson throws himself into the part of a doctor who cares more about money than his patients. Jim Bouton is a retired ballplayer trying to act, but at least he looks the part.  Nina Van Pallandt could be one of Hitchcock’s “icy blondes.”

Also, there’s a moment in the second half of the film where Marlowe is being threatened by the mobster over the missing money and in the background there’s a non-speaking extra with his shirt off playing one of his thugs. At that point, you can say “Hey! That’s Arnold Schwarzenegger!” 

The Long Goodbye is only a Raymond Chandler movie is spirit. That’s probably a good thing. The movie version of Dorothy B. Hughes’ novel In A Lonely Place has almost nothing in common with the book and they’re both fantastic. The Long Goodbye, both the novel and the book, aren’t that good. But it’s an interesting and engaging spin on a Neo-noir that only an accomplished director like Altman could have pulled off in 1973. 

Here is the trailer for The Long Goodbye.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

The talk of the Cubs right now is the weather. In particular, the weather in Boston this weekend. Major League Baseball and the Red Sox have already announced that the Cubs and Red Sox will play a doubleheader in Boston on Friday and there will be no game on Sunday. Saturday’s game is still scheduled to go on as scheduled.

The problem is that while the two teams will probably be able to get the doubleheader in on Friday (although that’s not guaranteed), Saturday’s forecast is as bad as Sunday’s. There seems to be no way to play that third game in Boston except on Monday.

I imagine that MLB is simply hoping the weather forecast for Saturday is wrong or that the 162nd game of the season won’t end up mattering and it can simply be canceled. We here at BCB have long advocated that the series be moved elsewhere, most likely St. Petersburg, but understandably the Red Sox aren’t too keen about that. I understand that the Red Sox don’t want to have to refund all that money to fans who bought tickets and they probably also have some end-of-the-year ceremonies planned for this weekend.

But Mother Nature doesn’t care about the Red Sox box office. The games are also completely meaningless to Boston, who is locked in to a Wild Card-round matchup with the Yankees in New York. But the games are very meaningful to the Cubs. Home field advantage is on the line as the three Wild Card teams are all tied for the three Wild Card spots as I write this.

To be clear, MLB should move game 162 to either St. Pete or Houston now. But in fairness to them, they still have a few days to do that, as long as they are preparing for that possibility right now. But if they wait until the last minute and Saturday’s game gets rained out like we all expect, there may only be one possibility and that’s playing game 162 on Monday in Boston.

To be clear, such an outcome would be awful for both the Cubs and Red Sox. Except maybe the Red Sox business side that then wouldn’t have to refund anyone’s money. But it would mean that the Cubs and the Red Sox would have to play Monday afternoon and then Boston would have to fly to New York to play again on Tuesday.

That’s not good for the Red Sox, but it’s not terrible. For one, Monday’s game would be meaningless to them and they’d just play their subs. They also have a short flight to New York after the game that would definitely be played in prime time, giving them a decent amount of down time before Tuesday’s game.

But for the Cubs, it’s a disaster. For one, they’re playing for home field. If they win, they’d have to fly back to Chicago after that game and likely play a day game on Tuesday, although perhaps they could get the late 8:10 pm start since there aren’t likely to be any West Coast teams hosting Wild Card games if the Cubs are hosting.

But if they lose that game, things get even worse. I suppose a flight to Philadelphia wouldn’t be too bad. But a trip to San Diego after a day game in Boston would be bad. At least they’d almost certainly get the last TV slot of the night in San Diego.

There is another option if the Cubs have to play on Monday—forfeit and go on the road for the Wild Card round on three days rest. This isn’t going to happen. MLB would put incredible pressure on the Cubs to play if they even considered it and Tom Ricketts wants his gates for the Wild Card series anyways. The Cubs would be heavy favorites in any game on Monday anyways.

But I am going to ask you what is the worse outcome for the Cubs—going on the road for the Wild Card series or playing at home after playing on Monday? Would you rather the Cubs fall out of home field for the Wild Card if that meant not having to play on Monday?

Again, let’s hope sanity comes to MLB and they schedule Sunday’s game in Tampa or Houston if necessary. But if they mess this up, is it worse that the Cubs have to start the Wild Card at home without an off day or that they start the Wild Card on the road?

Thank you for stopping by tonight. Please get home safely. Tell your friends about us. Don’t be a stranger. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.

The regular-season portion of Gerrit Cole’s comeback from Tommy John surgery is complete.

Now it is up to the Yankees to figure out where to slot him into their plans for the AL wild-card series next week.

On a night when neither team had anything to play for in terms of playoff positioning, Cole turned in a solid finale while throwing a season-high 105 pitches in a 9-2 win over the Rays on Wednesday at a brisk Yankee Stadium.

In a start that pitching coach Matt Blake indicated was “important” for deciding where Cole might figure into the Yankees’ pitching plans, the veteran right-hander scattered two runs on three hits and three walks across 5 ²/₃ innings while striking out eight. He finished the season with a 3.61 ERA and largely looked like his old self, even with some bumps in the road earlier this month.

“I feel ready to go [in the playoffs],” Cole said. “The progression from the surgery and phasing back into playing every day has gone about as well as you could hope. It’s allowed us the ability to make some adjustments along the way, continue to fine-tune things and hopefully continue to pitch well here over the next month or so.”

The Yankees pushed Cole beyond where he had been since undergoing elbow surgery last year, with his 105 pitches marking only the second time he has entered triple digits in 22 starts this season. Aaron Boone said Cole wanted to “touch that” territory so he would be in a position to get there again if needed in October.

“Just preparing for what may lie ahead,” said Cole, who still did not generate a ton of swings and misses, recording nine whiffs on 46 swings (four in 25 swings against his four-seam fastball), but got weaker contact than he had in his last few starts.

Ben Rice crushed his 40th and 41st home runs of the season, while the struggling Ryan McMahon hit a grand slam and had five RBIs.

Before Cole’s penultimate start of the season Friday in Arizona and again Wednesday, Boone said he would expect Cole to make a start in the wild-card series, which is likely to come against the Red Sox (still not officially). But which game the former AL Cy Young winner takes remains to be seen.

Boone indicated before Wednesday’s game that the Yankees were “not necessarily” lining up presumptive AL Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler for Game 1, only stating he would pitch one of the first two games. Schlittler, who owns a 1.94 ERA, will pitch his regular-season finale Thursday, meaning he would be starting on his fifth day in Tuesday’s Game 1.

If the Yankees wanted Cole for Game 1, he would be pitching on his sixth day, and while Blake acknowledged that “in a vacuum,” they would prefer their starter to be going on his sixth day, “I don’t think that would necessarily dictate where they throw necessarily.”

Max Fried, whom Blake mentioned as a candidate for Game 1 or 2, would be pitching on his seventh day for Game 1, as would Carlos Rodón, who has been terrific of late.

“There’s a bunch of different iterations of those four guys across three games that could make sense depending on who you’re playing and what that means coming out of the rest here into potential rest in the next series,” Blake said. “But obviously you got to win the wild card.”

Earlier this month, Cole had back-to-back clunkers against the Padres and Mets in which he gave up a combined seven home runs. He gave up another solo homer Wednesday to Cedric Mullins, but Blake indicated they would take into account the overall body of work and more.

“With Gerrit, it’s not just the [last] month, it’s knowing who he is,” Blake said.

And in his last appearance before the playoffs, Cole looked more like that version again.

“Still maybe a little disappointed we didn’t accomplish our ultimate goal for the division,” Cole said, “but we have a chance to do something special in October, so we’re excited for the first matchup.”

Two big innings in the early going, one for each team, set up a tie game for much of the night. The Royals got the key run in the 7th to get their second lead of the night, and it held up for a 5-4 victory.

Seth Lugo had a fairly easy first inning, which has not been the case a lot lately. Then he got a lot of support from his offense before he headed back out. Carter Jensen led the game off with a clean single to right. Bobby Witt decided a single looked nice and did the same with a grounder just to the left of second base. With Jensen at third, they decided to have Bobby move and probably prevented a double play when Cags hit a hard one right at first for a groundout, but getting it 2nd and 3rd allowed another single from Maikel Garcia to score two and get the Royals on the board. Vinnie Pasquantino was up next and ripped one down the third baseline for a double and another Royal run. That ended Bryan Hudson’s night, not ideal for your opener, and brought in “bulk man” Erick Fedde. He almost escaped the inning with no more damage, but a grounder to short from Michael Massey ended with a wide throw to first that allowed Vinnie to score and end the first inning 4-0.

The Royals managed to load the bases in the 2nd inning as well, and it looked like maybe they could just blow the White Sox out. It was not to be as Vinnie popped out to end the threat and Fedde escaped and gave his offense an opportunity that they did not waste. Lugo, after two clean innings, ran into a lot of trouble in the third. Chase Meidroth laid a pretty bunt single down to start the inning. Two batters later, Braden Montgomery singled as well and made it first and third with one out. Then Lugo loaded the bases by hitting Sam Antonacci with a pitch. Kyle Teel, Miguel Vargas, and Munetaka Murakami then had three hits in a row with two singles and capped off with a double. The game was tied up and Kansas City’s nice start nullified. A groundball to Pasquantino was played home to get Vargas trying to score before another hit by pitch loaded the bases yet again. Lugo threw over 30 pitches but did get Meidroth out his second time up in the inning to keep the game 4-4.

Lugo got into some more trouble in the 4th after Montgomery and Antonacci reached base again. This time it was back-to-back singles and that ended Lugo’s night. Anthony Gose came in with one out and runners on first and second. He walked the bases loaded, but he then got Vargas to hit a grounder to short for a double play and get out of the jam.

Fedde also failed to get through the fourth. He walked Isaac Collins to open the frame and was pulled before it wrapped back to the top of the lineup. A grounder for a double play kept it from ever materializing into any runs however. In fact, a GIDP ended three consecutive half innings, two of which were against the Royals. Both teams, after scoring their four-run inning, were settling into a long stalemate. Finally, in the 7th, the Royals got the lead back. It was again started by a Carter Jensen single, his third of the night. Bob hit into a fielder’s choice to get him out and take over first base. He moved to second on a Jac Caglianone ground out before Maikel hit a hard liner into the left field corner to bring Witt home and grab a 5-4 lead. Hat tip to Gose and Connor Thomas who were sharp through these middle innings for KC picking up a combined 3 2/3 innings with no runs allowed.

The 8th inning went to Lucas Erceg, who I guess is back to being a high leverage reliever after getting sent down to the minors for underperforming. He has looked much better since returning to the big leagues. He only needed 9 pitches to get all three batters he faced out and send the game to the ninth. Maybe the old Erceg is back. That would be very helpful going into an offseason where the bullpen needs significant retooling.

Steven Cruz came out for the 9th. It was his first time in a game since Saturday when he blew a save against Pittsburgh. He looked very in control in this one striking out the first two batters of the inning and then ending it with a flyout to center. He did surrender a single before the flyout, but it was a nice outing for Cruz who got the save.

So, the Royals keep Cleveland in first place for another day and have a shot to win the series against Chicago tomorrow.

The Atlanta Braves took on the Cincinnati Reds in what will be Chris Sale’s final start of the season. The Braves have already clinched their division and likely will not catch the two seed, but it was still going to be a fun game with Chris Sale trying to reach the two-hundred strikeout mark.

Chris Sale leads the NL in having the lowest HR rate against him with averaging 0.5 HR per nine innings. So, it was a bit of a shock to see him give up a leadoff HR to Brito. Sale settled in after that though and pitched an insanely good game. After the mistake he struck out both De La Cruz and ROY favorite Stewart. He then got Myers to fly out.

The Braves have struggled of late against SPs and made it up by destroying RPs. Today they struggled against Andrew Abbott who is having the worst season of his four year career. He has been walking hitters at a high clip, but the Braves have been walking at a very low clip. Matt Olson was able to hit a double in the first, but that was the only offense for the Braves.

If it was not clear already, Sale clearly wanted that two-hundredth strikeout. He struck out the side in the second on fourteen pitches. The Braves yet again could garner a walk against a high walk rate pitcher. Riley singled, but it was the only offense in the second.

In the third inning, Sale game up a single to Brito, the hitter that took him deep already, but that was the offense. Sale was able to strike out De La Cruz again on an overturned challenge for his sixth strikeout in three innings. Third inning for the Braves with more of the same. One hit and nothing else. This time it was a single from Dubón that was a slowly hit ball to second.

Sale struck out the first two hitters he faced in the fourth, but then struggled by his standards. He hit Suárez and then McLain singled. Fortunately, Baldwin gunned down McLain trying to steal to end the top of the fourth. The fourth ended the streak of getting one hit and nothing else for the Braves, but not in a good way. They were sat down in order.

In the fifth Sale gave up a double, but was able to prevent anymore damage and also picked up his ninth strikeout on the night. The offense for the Braves finally got a walk from Brewer Hicklen, but then he was picked off, so does it really count? That was the only offense for the fifth.

Chris Sale stayed in the game to pitch the sixth to try and get strikeout number two-hundred. De La Cruz flied out, but then Sale was able to do it on the next hitter when he struck out Sal Stewart for his tenth of the game and two-hundredth of the season. He was then replaced by Victor Mederos who was able to end the top of the sixth with a walk and a strikeout of his own.

It looked like it was going to be another dud in the sixth inning when the Braves had two outs relatively quickly, but then Matt Olson did what Matt Olson does and hit a game tying dinger.

Spoiler alert, Riley does too, but that is later in the game. It looked like the Braves might take the lead in the sixth with an Albies single, but Harris flied out.

Robert Suarez made his long awaited return in the seventh, but it did not start off well. He gave up a leadoff triple to McLain. He was able to settle down a bit and force a ground out, a sacrifice fly to give the Reds the lead, and then a fly out. It should be noted that he faced the bottom of the order of a really bad offense, but it is a positive to see Suarez back pitching again.

The seventh is when Austin Riley hit the aforementioned HR to lead off. Unfortunately, that was the only offense. Dylan Lee came in to pitch the eighth and had a very encouraging appearance. He has struggled of late, but not tonight. He retired the side in order.

There were a few instances that looked like the Braves may get some momentum going in the eighth. Dubón walked on four pitches from new pitcher Ashcraft, but then Olson grounded into a double play. Albies was hit by a pitch, and then it appeared Harris beat out a throw to first for a single, but then it was overturned to end the inning.

Raisel Iglesias came in to pitch the ninth. He looked like prime Iggy, striking out the the side. This brought us to the bottom of the ninth. Former Brave Pierce Johnson came in to pitch and struck out Austin Riley. Dom Smith came in to pinch hit for Murphy in the DH slot, but also struck out. Yastrzemski came in to hit for Hicklen, but popped out. This led to extras.

Brent Suter, the Rick Devens of baseball, came in to pitch the tenth and struck out Cabrera, and recorded a ground out and fly out. This brought Ha-Seong Kim to the plate, and we saw an ancient art take place when he hit a sac bunt to move the runner to third (DaShawn Keirsey Jr. started the inning at second). Drake Baldwin was then hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners. Dubón then came in clutch once again and walked in off with a single that was a crazy chopper that could not have been better placed.

The Braves once again got carved up by a subpar SP and came through against the bullpen, and Chris Sale was able to reach an impressive milestone with his two-hundredth strikeout of the season to include ten this evening.

The Braves will take on the Reds once more tomorrow at the same time and same place.

Game goes: the season is ending
With Prielipp and the glovemen defending.
Now Luke swings, and a homer is sending:
We are ahead.

So here we are in a year bizarre;
How to finish? Who can tell?
We’ve earned and reeled on the baseball field;
Overall, it wasn’t swell.
We’ll finish stronger at
Pac Bell.

(I don’t care that it’s been named Oracle Park for years; that doesn’t fit the rhyme or meter.)

San Fran gets a pair and is leading,
But young bats won’t be calmly conceding.
A three-bagger from Ross stems the bleeding:
We’re far from dead.

So here we are in a year bizarre;
How to finish? Who can tell?
We’ve earned and reeled on the baseball field,
And today’s a better spell.
We’ll finish stronger at

Then came the ‘pen to hold the mute Giants’ bats;
Walker again came through, and those fans said, “Rats!”
Morris the save despite any lingered dread;
The Comment of Game is Goose’s: now go to bed,
Yeah.

So here we are in a year bizarre;
How to finish? Who can tell?
We’ve earned and reeled on the baseball field,
And today was mighty swell.
We’ll finish stronger at
San Francisco’s

Park!
How to finish who can tell?
We’ve earned and reeled on the baseball field,
And today, the Twins played well.
We’ll finish stronger at
Pac Bell.

The Orioles closed out Camden Yards in fashion on Wednesday night, beating the Blue Jays 4-2 for the second time, completing a sweep of both the double-header and the series, while staving off playoff elimination for a least a few more hours.

Trey Gibson was called on to make the spot start, his first time back on a big league mound since June 30, when he was lit up by the White Sox. Whatever it was that he worked on down in Triple-A these last three months, it seemed to have done some good. The 24-year-old was dealing in this game, tossing 6.2 shutout innings and lighting up the radar gun early.

Gibson’s average fastball velocity in this game was 95.2 mph, which is actually slightly below his season average (95.4 mph). But he did hit 98.2 mph on the radar gun in the second inning, and it seemed like he was picking his spots on when to reach back and get a little extra when he felt that he needed it.

Ultimately, this was a performance that saw Gibson succeed because he limited hard contact rather than blew pitches past the opposition. His whiff rate in the game was only 14%, but he pounded the strike zone, allowed only two walks, and gave up just four hard hit balls all game.

Toronto never seemed all that close to scoring off of Gibson until he got into some trouble in an odd seventh inning. For a moment, it looked like the rookie had gotten through the frame without issue. Then, a challenge from the visitors dugout came in, alleging that Jeremiah Jackson had violated the shift rules by starting a pitch with his feet in the grass. That overturned the out he had recorded and sent Gibson back to the mound with a runner on first base and two outs.

Then, Gibson walked Davis Schneider to put two runners on. From there, Craig Albernaz went to his bullpen for the first time in the nightcap. Yennier Cano came on and walked the first batter he faced to load the bags before finally punching out Myles Straw to close the book on Gibson.

It was a triumphant return for the rookie. He looked really good. The velocity was impressive. He mowed through the Toronto lineup. And it has to give him such a mental boost going into the offseason, where he will likely have the goal of earning a spot in the Orioles’ Opening Day rotation.

Easing the rookie’s workload was the Orioles’ offense, which handed him an early lead to work with.

Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch with one out in the bottom of the first inning to become the first baserunner of the day. He moved to third on a Coby Mayo double into left field. And then Christian Encarncaion-Strand brought them both home with a line drive base knock. Colton Cowser kept the good vibes going with a weakly hit—but perfectly placed—double into shallow left field to push CES home as well to make it a 3-0 advantage for the good guys.

It took until the fourth inning for the Orioles to register another hit. It was a home run off the bat of Encarnacion-Strand to lead off the frame, his 11th of the season.

And that was it for the offense. They had no other hits after that point, and had just four hits in the entire game. It wasn’t the most brilliant of showings, but it was efficient. The Orioles went 1-for-2 with runners in scoring position and left just one runner on base.

The other key takeaway from this game was another appearance for Félix Bautista, his second since coming off of the IL. This one was a bit concerning. Bautista’s velocity was way down. After working 96-97 mph with his fastball in his previous appearance, he was down at 92-94 here. He also gave up a two-run homer to Schneider that just snuck beyond the outfield fence in the left field corner.

There are a lot of variables at work for Bautista right now. The guy is already one of the few pitchers to ever come back from major elbow and shoulder surgeries and return to the majors. The fact that he has gotten this far is impressive. It was never going to be perfect right out of the gate. You would imagine that the Orioles will be keeping close tabs on him this offseason. His velocity is likely to ebb and flow, but hopefully it will be closer to that 96-97 range as the 2027 season near. Otherwise he may need to rethink his repertoire and approach.

In general, it was a good day for the Orioles. They won two games, moved into fourth place in the division, and wrapped up the home portion of the schedule with a chance at the playoffs still mathematically possible. This team certainly has flaws, but they also have some fight in them.

Yes, as of this writing, the Orioles are still alive for the playoffs, though just by a hair. They now have an off day on Thursday before beginning their final series of the regular season with the Yankees in New York on Friday night. Those games may or may not matter for the Orioles once they roll around. It all depends on how the White Sox and Rangers fare over the next 24 hours.

Most Birdland Player

Here are a few players for your consideration for MBP in tonight’s win:

• Trey Gibson (win, 6.2 IP, no runs, three hits, two walks, seven stikeouts)
• Yennier Cano (got out of Gibson’s jam)
• Christian Encarnacion-Strand (2-for-3, homer, three RBI, two runs)

Scoring the bulk of their runs early on, the Yankees out-slugged the Rays in a 9-2 win, one that helped Gerrit Cole move above .500 with his tenth win of the season. However outdated that stat is to evaluate an individual performance, Cole certainly appreciates making it eight of eight winning seasons since leaving the Pirates.

Dominant and facing a team willing to run its starter into the ground, the Yankees had a small home run derby, averaging one homer per inning through the first four to set up this dismantling of the AL East champs. Rays starter Mason Englert saw his outing begin by allowing a milestone homer to Ben Rice — his 40th on the season — and come to an end in a fourth inning in which he also allowed a solo shot to Rice.

This was only Rice’s second multi-homer game this year, showing he has spread out his home runs quite nicely, but even more surprisingly, they both came against the Rays. Oh, and in the middle of Rice’s two solo homers, Englert allowed another six runs to put this game to bed before it could truly be a contest, five of them also coming via the long ball.

Playing with a point to prove hitting in the second spot in the order for the first time this season, George Lombard Jr. left the yard in the third. Later in that same inning, the Yankees loaded the bases for Ryan McMahon, normally not the most daunting of statements, but not the case tonight. The Yankees’ starting third baseman seized the opportunity and got ahold of one Joey Gallo-style with a 40-degree launch angle, keeping it fair for the Yankees’ third grand slam of 2026 — this from a team that, prior to the final month of the season, hadn’t hit one in 2026.

Initially, McMahon’s home run felt like your traditional Yankee Stadium special, but upon a visit to Baseball Savant, it actually would have gone out in 13 other ballparks, even more impressive than it looked. As far as this general power surge goes, while the Yankees were on fire, we’d be remiss not to mention Englert’s recent struggles to keep the ball in the yard — this being his second straight road outing against an AL East team with three or more home runs allowed.

Securing a massive lead after three frames, the Yankees set up an ideal platform for Gerrit Cole to attack the zone, but that’s not exactly what we saw. Cole kept the Rays in check with just two runs in 5.2 innings but ran a high pitch count with one of his lowest Zone% of the season, leaving the game with 105 pitches.

The Cedric Mullins Jr. solo shot aside, this approach — however intentional it was — paid off for Cole, with the Rays earning just three hits off the Yankees starter. Cole could’ve left the game with 90-plus pitches after five in a blowout, but Aaron Boone gave him at least the chance to start the sixth. Brent Headrick, John Schreiber, Tim Hill, Paul Blackburn, and David Bednar followed in that order to keep the Rays at just a pair of runs.

Touching base again on the lineup test, while Lombard certainly impressed with that solo shot, it must be noted he finished the game with a golden sombrero, striking out in his other four at-bats. Ali Sánchez looked set to be the only Yankee not to reach safely in this game, but a leadoff single in the eighth prevented that from happening.

Tomorrow is another day, bringing another starter/long reliever taking the ball for the Rays and an ace-caliber pitcher going for the Yankees. Lefty Ian Seymour and his impressive 29.0 percent K% in well over 100 innings will meet Cam Schlittler, putting the finishing touch on a Cy Young-worthy campaign. It’ll be the last time these two teams face each other in the regular season, but hopefully not in the year, as the Yankees must go through the Red Sox before an eventual date with the Rays in the ALDS.

Box score

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers get their guy back just ahead of October.

Shohei Ohtani was activated from the injured list and will bat second in the lineup against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, Sept. 23, the team announced. He'll have five games to find his footing again after lingering issues with his left knee and right bicep led him to miss the last 13 games.

Ohtani will have the added luxury of doing so in relatively low-stakes games ahead of the postseason, as the Dodgers clinched the NL West while he was out and are one game away from securing a first-round bye.

"It's go time for all of us," manager Dave Roberts said. "I can't really speak to if he's going to hit a homer tonight, but I do think that there's going to be a heightened sense of focus. I think he's in a good spot."

Josue De Paula was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in the corresponding move, which Roberts explained was the original thought all along within the organization. The breakout rookie is still in serious consideration to make the playoff roster.

"He's a part of the conversation. He's earned that," Roberts said. "And that's what I told him last night. We have some other guys that need to play that we got to put eyes on and, to be quite frank, there's just not a lot of (at-)bats to go around now that Shohei's back."

The back-to-back National League MVP is back, but Roberts doesn't expect fireworks right away. Padres starter Robbie Ray is a tough matchup for lefties, which is part of the reason Mookie Betts stayed put in the leadoff spot. Roberts just wants Ohtani to take at-bats, especially considering he didn't face live pitching in his hitting progression.

Watching your favorite team lose to one of your least favorite teams is never truly enjoyable, but it goes down a bit easier when the regular season prize is already in the bag. The only downside to this loss is the Rays must now win out to get to 100 wins on the season, but that was always a stretch goal. They have already exceeded their projected win quota by plenty and were granted the bonus of home field advantage in the playoffs while sitting out the wildcard round, so the priority the rest of this week is keeping the roster healthy. The Yankees, meanwhile, were able to pad their precious run differential a bit more in this meaningless contest, so they have got that going for them, which is nice.

To that point, organizational solider Mason Englert was asked to out there and soak up some innings before handing the ball off to whomever was in the best shape in the pen after last night’s celebration. Englert labored into the 4th inning allowing 8 earned runs which included a grand slam to Ryan McMahon and three solo homers, two from Ben Rice before giving way to the pen to record the final 12 outs.

Kevin Cash got creative with the lineup putting Victor Mesa Jr in the leadoff spot to provide Yandy Diaz with a much-needed game off as the two 2-RBI hits in the division-winning victory Tuesday evening were his first two in quite some time. Chandler Simpson and Taylor Walls were also granted the evening off. Simpson still hold a three-steal lead on Bobby Witt Jr for the American League stolen base title, but came into today one steal behind Nasim Nunez for the overall lead. It is doubtful the Rays want Simpson risking anything these final few games, so he and the fans may just have to be happy with the AL title. It would not be surprising to see both Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero to get a day or two off over these final four games unless Caminero has a goal to match the 162-game totals posted by Aubrey Huff in 2003, Delmon Young in 2007, and Evan Longoria in 2014. It was nice to see Cedric Mullins break out of a slump and hit a home run as he had not homered since August 28th and had hit just .159/.284/.222 in his previous 75 plate appearances coming into this contest.

Gerrit Cole was not exactly sharp as the Rays still forced him to use over 90 pitches to get through five innings. Despite the six-run lead, Aaron Boone allowed Cole to come back out in the 6th inning. The Yankees bullpen was rather well-rested coming into this game, so it was a bit suprising to see Cole put in the unnecessary work. Boone did finally take the ball from Cole at 105 pitches after a two-out four pitch walk to Liam Hicks, who was left stranded on second. Boone would end up using the entirety of his A-bullpen in this blowout, which could lead to Cam Schlitter putting a bow onto his AL Cy Young Award in tomorrow’s contest.

The highlight for the Rays, aside from the Mullins homer, was the inning by Brody Hopkins. He led off the inning getting the impatient Ali Sanchez to line out to center and then chose to walk Ben Rice after watching how he treated Englert in this context. That brought George Lombard Jr to the plate who was late on a 102-mph heater, fouled off a 101-mph fastball, and then swung over an 89-mph breaking ball for a three-pitch strikeout. Hopkins then proceeded to dispose of Luis Garcia Jr, but needed seven pitches to do so. Hopkins generated four whiffs on seven swingsHopkins is going to be a weapon in the postseason when Cash is looking for someone to come in and get the strikeout as long as Hopkins can get ahead with the heat and put hitters on the defensive with the breaking stuff.

Fans can expect more maintenance efforts such as this game with the club simply trying to stay healthy and sharp before a long layoff watching the wildcard round play itself out. The Rays could play spoiler to the Phillies to exact some revenge for 2008 this weekned if Philadelphia drops their series to Milwaukee and Arizona sweeps the Rockies before heading to San Diego. Just enjoy watching these games for what they are and save your stress levels for Troptober.