Category: Baseball

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The Colorado Rockies visit the New York Yankees tonight, with New York a heavy favorite at Yankee Stadium. 

My Rockies vs. Yankees predictions and MLB picks for Tuesday, Sept. 8, aren't eyeing an upset in the Bronx, either.

The pitching matchup already leans strongly toward the Yankees, and now they get back multi-time MVP Aaron Judge for the stretch run. At long last for Yankees fans, the captain has been activated and is expected to appear tonight.

Who will win Rockies vs Yankees today: Yankees -2.5 (46%)

For help understanding probabilities, see our odds calculator.

I love the New York Yankees tonight. 

Cam Schlittler is the clearest edge on the field: His Statcast profile with a 94th percentile K rate, 88th percentile chase rate, and 77th percentile whiff rate reads like a nightmare for a Colorado Rockies team that ranks in the Top 5 in virtually any strikeout metric.

Gabriel Hughes' underlying contact numbers are better than his results, which is the one reason I’m not laying a bigger number on the Yankees. His 3.65 xERA and 28.9% hard-hit rate point to some positive regression, but his 18.9% whiff rate ranks in just the seventh percentile, while a 9.1% walk rate gives the Yankees opportunities to build innings. New York has enough power to turn those extra baserunners into a multi-run lead.

I’d play the Yankees -2.5 to 52%. The Bombers will easily be one of the Top-5 largest favorites of the season by first pitch, but it's not large enough.

Rockies vs Yankees Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (49%)

I’m taking a small Under position. Schlittler is Schlitter and cannot afford to have a bad outing while leading the Cy Young odds race. He gives the Rockies an offensive floor, while Hughes’ contact-quality numbers give him a better chance to survive than his 6.19 ERA suggests. 

The risk is his command. A few free passes can put the Yankees in position to score without needing hard contact, and the total can get away quickly if the Bombers gets to the middle innings early.

Still, this matchup is more likely to produce a controlled Yankees win than a full offensive shootout. I’d play Under 7.5 down to 51%. I see this being a 5-1 or 6-1 type of game.

Rockies vs Yankees home run prediction: Jazz Chisholm Jr (17%)

I'll roll with Jazz Chisholm Jr. at this price point. His 22.7% pull rate on airballs also gives him a clear path to turn a mistake into a short right-field porch shot.

Hughes’ low whiff rate means Chisholm should get a chance to put the ball in play, and one elevated fastball is enough for his power to take the righty deep in the friendly confines of Yankee Stadium.

Rockies vs Yankees weather

Rockies vs Yankees odds

• Moneyline: Rockies 35% | Yankees 75%
• Run line: Rockies +2.5 | Yankees -2.5
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Rockies vs Yankees trend

The Yankees have hit the run line in 12 of their last 19 games (+8.15 Units / 37% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Rockies vs. Yankees.

How to watch Rockies vs Yankees and game info

Rockies vs Yankees latest injuries

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In the midst of some frustrating games as the Guardians try to chase down a playoff spot, it’s important not to lose track of what Daniel Espino has done these past few days for Cleveland the journey he has taken to get to this point.

From the moment he was drafted in 2019, Guardians’ fans have been counting down the days to see Daniel Espino and his electric fastball, dynamic slider and devastating curveball in Cleveland. In 2022, Espino had knee surgery. He missed the 2023-2025 seasons almost entirely with two separate shoulder surgeries, returning to the mound with Columbus just as the season finished last year. And, here we are, on September 8th, with a legitimate chance for Espino to finish a full season of pitching professional baseball (knock-on-wood, etc).

Espino has thrown 49 innings this season, so far, eight in the majors and 41 with Columbus. It looks as if the dreams of him becoming a starter are no longer on the table, so it’s high leverage reliever that’s in his sights. In Columbus, he has a 3.68 ERA/3.27 xERA and with Cleveland he has a 3.00 ERA/2.61 xERA. He’s got a 12/5 K/BB/9 in Columbus and a 17/4 K/BB/9 in the bigs. His stuff absolutely plays (108 Stuff+ grade on his fastball, 107 on the slider and 120 on the curve!), and it is simply an issue of getting delivery, command and pitch mix refined to make this man into an absolute menace at the back of the bullpen. Look at his Baseball Savant and you will see a ton of red, with only his walk issue, some lack of chase and not getting enough groundballs being areas where improvement is needed.

Given this is his first full season of professional baseball in four years, I think Guardians’ fans should be optimistic that Espino – a known gym rat – is going to attack an offseason plan with vigor to make the improvements needed to reduce the walk rate and get more chases on his pitches. Of course, the stupid lockout will throw a slight wrench into this, but you can bet the team is working right now with him to make sure he knows exactly what he needs to do. If you haven’t read Zack Meisel’s story about Espino’s journey for the Athletic, including the passing of his father and all the injury travails, it’s a must-click.

There is a lot to be excited about for Espino in the future. But, for now, can we just appreciate what Espino is doing? I mean, look at this electric 102 mph fastball he used to strikeout Dillon Dingler in a game the Guardians’ absolutely had to have last Friday:

Behold, the fastest pitch Daniel Espino has thrown in the big leagues pic.twitter.com/e8AbW9ilrk

— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) September 5, 2026

Not only did Espino come into a crucial spot for the Guardians on Friday night (down 3-1 in the 7th), but he went TWO scoreless innings and struck out three batters, allowing one hit. He followed that up yesterday with a scoreless inning, allowing two hits, but striking out to two batters to get out of trouble.

I don’t know about you, but whatever else this season brings, I am excited to see Daniel Espino pitch for my favorite baseball team in this final stretch. He’s been through so much and is showing that the worst that can happen doesn’t have to be the final say in any situation if you’re willing to work hard and not give up. AND if you have an arm that sizzles with electricity. I will be rooting so hard for him to finish strong and set himself up as a high leverage option for the Guardians for the 2027 season and beyond.

This is the latest in a series focused on the 35th Anniversary of the 1991 Atlanta Braves, the team that reversed the franchise’s fortunes with an unforgettable season. Veteran first baseman Sid Bream recalls his decision to sign with Atlanta and the events that took an unproven team to Game 7 of the World Series.

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Looking back on the improbable nature of the 1991 season for the Atlanta Braves, the seeds of success were planted well in advance of their worst-to-first journey to the World Series. Drafting and developing a new generation of talent laid the foundation, but acquiring the right veterans to put the team over the top and on the path to contention was the next step in that progression.

When John Schuerholz took over as Atlanta general manager in the winter of 1990, his mandate was to elevate the entire operation. From the front office to the field and even the stadium conditions, Schuerholz sought to upgrade how Braves baseball was experienced.

For the team itself, this meant finding the right pieces to create a well-rounded roster. A host of young talent was already assembled, but experience was in short supply for the Braves. 

To complete the puzzle, Schuerholz targeted veterans from winning franchises who possessed both tangible and intangible value. That search brought former Pittsburgh Pirates Sid Bream and Rafael Belliard as well as longtime St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Terry Pendleton to Atlanta.

Bream, who reached free agency for the first time at age 30 in the winter of 1990, was coming off a trip to the National League Championship Series with Pittsburgh. Serving as the strong side of a platoon at first base for the Pirates, Bream appeared in 147 games and batted .270 with 15 home runs and 67 RBI in 389 at-bats, posting an .804 OPS in 1990.

The Braves got to work at the annual Winter Meetings, Schuerholz’s first at the helm.

On December 5, 1990, Atlanta signed Bream to a three-year, $5.5 million contract. That occurred just two days after inking Pendleton to a four-year, $10.2 million deal. Belliard was added a couple of weeks later, completing an infield revamp designed to provide a young pitching staff with proven veterans to make plays behind them.

“Our attempt in coming to these meetings was to make improvements in our club, not only ability, but makeup,” Schuerholz told the Associated Press at the time. “This certainly makes us stronger.”

Solving first base had proven quite difficult for the Braves prior to Bream’s arrival.

In the winter of 1989, they signed slugger Nick Esasky to a three-year, $5.7 million deal. Fresh off a 30-homer season with the Boston Red Sox, Esasky was limited to just nine games with Atlanta in 1990 and was eventually diagnosed with vertigo. That pressed rookie outfielder David Justice into action at first base, a position he would play for several months before the trade of long-time fan favorite Dale Murphy to the Philadelphia Phillies in August. That bittersweet move opened up right field and paved the way for Justice to earn Rookie of the Year honors.

The Bream signing brought some left-handed power, a steady glove, and leadership to Atlanta. But truth be told, he never intended to leave Pittsburgh. Bream grew up in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and enjoyed being back in his home state after starting his professional career with the Los Angeles Dodgers before coming over in a 1985 trade.

“I was a free agent, but the Pirates had told me at that point in time, after we lost to the Cincinnati Reds, ‘Sid Bream is our first priority to sign for the 1991 year,’” Bream said. “So, we weren’t even thinking about going anyplace else, truthfully. Then throughout negotiations, they didn’t even get close to the market price on me, let alone anything more for being their priority.”

The Pirates’ inaction opened the door for the Braves to add a player who quickly became a respected team leader. All that was left was for Bream to walk through that door.

“The market opened up and we opened ourselves up, not even thinking anything about it, truthfully,” Bream recalled of his family’s decision to explore new opportunities. “The Braves gave us a great offer, but even after that, I tried to stay in Pittsburgh. If they were to give me a no-trade clause, I’d have stayed there. But it didn’t happen. They said no to the no-trade clause. And I said, ‘Man, if I’m your first priority, then I’d hate to see what your last one is.’”

Bream arrived at his new baseball home motivated and with a fresh challenge in front of him. He was part of a young Pirates club that climbed from 98 losses in 1986, his first full season, all the way up to 95 wins and a trip to the postseason in 1990. While the Pirates played in the NLCS, the Braves wrapped up a 97-loss campaign.

It was fair to wonder how long it would take for Atlanta to follow a similar trajectory to Pittsburgh’s, and Bream was about to find out.

“We came down to Atlanta, not knowing what to expect other than the fact they had a lot of great young ball players,” Bream said. “John Schuerholz was bringing in some people that knew how to play the game and knew how to win (like) Terry Pendleton and Charlie Leibrandt. Raphael Belliard shored up shortstop but (we) all had some leadership in there. I had some winning underneath me, so it was a great fit. The young guys listened well. Bobby Cox and the rest of the coaching staff did a great job, and it got us to where we needed to be.”

Cox served five years as Atlanta’s general manager from 1986-1990, orchestrating trades and drafts to fill the organizational pipeline with young talent. With many of those players arriving in the major leagues, Cox stepped out of the front office and back into the dugout to resume a managerial career he’d put on hold after 1985.

With Schuerholz taking over Atlanta’s executive responsibilities after nearly two decades as the GM for the Kansas City Royals, Cox could now focus on getting the most out of the roster. In order to accomplish that, the need for proven veteran voices to help guide a youthful team was critical.

“One of the nice things about Bobby Cox – and you don’t find a lot of managers that allow this to happen – but Bobby Cox allowed Terry, myself, and Charlie to have team meetings without the coaching staff to be able to hash things out and talk things through,” Bream said. “We started to do that on a regular basis. Sometimes we got into some pretty good little spats, but we were trying to get the young players to understand what it was and what it meant to be a winner. But you could start to feel things starting to come together.”

Those meetings enhanced the accountability, but the shared experience of a pennant race brought the Braves closer together and closer to relevance than they’d been in nearly a decade.

A rivalry with the Dodgers would decide how the National League West was won. Atlanta rolled into the All-Star break at 39-40, their best record at the halfway point since 1984. The Braves even spent a week in first place from May 10-17, but they weren’t content to allow that to be the high-water mark for their season.

The second half was a magical ride for an Atlanta team that had finished in last place for three consecutive seasons and lost 90-plus games five times in the previous six years. The Braves came out of the break by winning 9 of 11 and trimming their division deficit from 9-1/2 games down to 2-1/2 games in just two weeks.

“It wasn’t until after the All-Star break that we put that winning streak together and it got us back into contention,” Bream said. “At that point in time, you started to feel things happening. Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium started to buzz and I think that’s when everything started to get to the place of, ‘Wow, we can do this.’”

As the momentum grew that summer, so did the crowds in Atlanta. With the rivalry reaching its crescendo down the stretch, there were 45,000 fans per game packing the stands to see the Braves and Dodgers square off. Trailing by a half game in the standings, Atlanta took 2-of-3 from Los Angeles in the first of two September series and moved into first place.

Bream delivered a grand slam in the first inning on September 15 as the Braves guaranteed their first winning season since 1983 with a 9-1 victory. They would trade first place with the Dodgers five times in the final 32 games before Atlanta finally clinched the division title on October 5, 1991, in Game No. 161.

“Seeing that they were in front of us but being able to go up against them and win ballgames to take the lead away from them was always a special time,” Bream said. “After the All-Star break we started to do that. Then you started to hear that tomahawk chop get going in the whole stadium. It was a very, very, very special time. I tell people the ‘91 season, for me, was probably the most special. Watching a team go from last place to first place and having a city adopt us the way that they adopted us, it was a very, very special time for us.”

The Braves headed to the NLCS against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a first for Atlanta, but Bream’s old team was once again attempting to reach the World Series. A classic seven-game series would follow, with the Braves winning the final two games on the road to clinch the NL pennant.

Waiting for Atlanta were the Minnesota Twins, another club that had gone from last place in 1990 to play for a championship just one year later. The Braves were a team just learning how to win together en route to their first World Series appearance since 1958. Meanwhile, the Twins won the World Series in 1987 but slipped in the standings before getting back on track in 1991 with future Hall of Famers Kirby Puckett and Jack Morris leading the way. 

The two teams squared off in a classic World Series battle, a seven-game epic in which each team won every game played in its home ballpark. The Twins went up 2-0 before the Braves brought the series home and won all three at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. 

Back in Minnesota with two chances to close it out, Atlanta was walked off twice in extra innings. First it was Puckett with a game-winning homer off Liebrandt in the 11th inning of Game 6, then it was Morris with a 10-inning shutout performance in the Game 7 clincher.

Just like that, the incredible season was over and the Braves came up just one game short. Even though they weren’t able to win the World Series, Bream recalls the exhilaration of playing on baseball’s biggest stage – a place no one expected the Braves to reach just six months earlier.

“I tell everybody that all of us want that opportunity, to be in those situations,” Bream said. “I go back and I look on the internet and see how many games were one-run or won in that last at-bat. They could’ve gone either way. It really, truly could have.”

The series was an instant classic, perhaps the greatest ever played. Five games were decided by one run with three going to extra innings.

Atlanta’s scoring chances in Game 7 remain a point of contention. The best opportunity came in the eighth. After Lonnie Smith’s lead-off single, Pendleton doubled to the gap in left center. On the play, Twins rookie Chuck Knoblauch faked a throw to second base, causing Smith to second-guess where the ball was. Rather than picking up third base coach Jimmy Williams for direction, Smith stalled rounding second and had to stop at third.

Knoblauch’s decoy proved to be a game-saving play for Minnesota. After Ron Gant grounded to first and the runners stayed put at second and third, Morris intentionally walked Justice before getting Bream to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Even after 35 years, those missed opportunities are still fresh on the minds of those who lived it.

“Terry had a guy on third base with less than two outs and he didn’t score (in the fifth inning),” Bream recalled. “And obviously, we know about the double with Lonnie (stopping) at second base. I know I had an opportunity with the bases loaded and one out in order to score runs in that last game. We had a lot of opportunities, but Jack Morris that night was just a little bit better. He got the job done. You’ve just got to tip your hat to him. We fought hard, but we just weren’t able to come home with it.”

Bream and the Braves were up to an encore in 1992.

After another magical season, they had an NLCS rematch against the Pirates. Bream’s Game 7 dash from second base to home plate sent Atlanta back to the World Series and still stands as one of the greatest moments in postseason history.

Atlanta ultimately fell to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games in the 1992 World Series. Bream split time with Brian Hunter in 1991 and 1992, but Fred McGriff’s arrival in late 1993 changed things at first base for the Braves.

Bream departed as a free agent and spent his final season as a reserve for the Houston Astros in 1994. He retired after a 12-year career during which he batted .264 with 90 home runs. 455 RBIs, and 50 stolen bases in 1,088 games for the Dodgers, Pirates, Braves and Astros.

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If you’d like to dive deeper into first-hand accounts from the ‘91 squad, check out Steve Avery’s retrospective on that fateful season.

Dodgers minor league infielder Oswaldo Osorio hit .500 last week for the playoff-bound Class-A Ontario Tower Buzzers, and for his efforts captured the final California League player of the week award of the 2026 season.

Osorio started at first base, third base, and designated hitter last week for Ontario, and in his five contests had nine hits in 18 at-bats with two doubles, two home runs, six runs batted in, six walks, and six runs scored against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. He hit a whopping .500/.625/.944.

The 21-year-old Osorio consolidated his efforts into three three-hit games, and drove in a pair of runs in all three of those contests. He also walked twice on Wednesday and Saturday, setting career highs by reaching base five times.

Signed out of Venezuela in 2022, Osorio struggled mightily in his first go-around in Class-A in 2025, hitting .138/.318/.233 with a 69 wRC+ and 34.3-percent strikeout rate in 48 games and 201 plate appearances. This with with Ontario, Osorio hit .255/.363/.511 with 13 home runs and a 116 wRC+ in 55 games and 223 plate appearances, and cut his strikeout rate to 25.6 percent.

Here’s a home run from two and a half weeks ago.

OHH MY OSWALDO OSORIO pic.twitter.com/gmkNLFUutL

— Ontario Tower Buzzers (@towerbuzzers) August 23, 2026

Tuesday schedule

• 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Tyler Gough) vs. Dayton, Game 1 of best-of-3
• 6:35 p.m.: Ontario vs. Lake Elsinore, Game 1 of best-of-3
• 4:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Cole Irvin) vs. Sugar Land
• 5:05 p.m.: Tulsa vs. Northwest Arkansas

The Augusta GreenJackets season has come to a close. The lowest level of full season ball in the Atlanta Braves organization has completed it’s season by going 70-61, and missing the playoffs by a couple of games. This article will highlight some of the successes and failures of the team’s season, as well as picking the team’s hitter and pitcher of the year.

Augusta Hitter of the Year: Conor Essenburg, OF

This came down to two guys, Conor Essenburg and Tate Southisene, and both had a fairly similar number of plate appearances in Augusta. Both of these guys were in their first professional seasons after being drafted out of high school last year, though Southisene came with the added advantage of getting a brief look at this competition level last summer. Still Essenburg was able to outdo Southisene at the plate, slashing .286/.427/.564 with 13 doubles, three triples, 14 homers, six steals, and 55 walks to 88 strikeouts over his 279 plate appearances. Southisene’s line was .297/.429/.500 with nine doubles, three triples, eight homers, and 36 steals with 37 walks and 51 strikeouts over 240 plate appearances. Both Essenburg and Southisene got on base at a high clip, though I gave the slight edge to Essenburg because of the power he has shown.

Augusta Pitcher of the Year: Davis Polo, RHP

This came down to the guy with the better stats (Ethan Bagwell) versus the guy with 30 more innings (Davis Polo). Polo got the win with his 3.25 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 106 strikeouts to 37 walks in 99.2 innings, allowing 6.6 H/9 as he was pretty dominant in the second half of the season after a solid, but mediocre start following missing last year with injury. Bagwell had a 2.78 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 69 strikeouts – but just 68 innings before being promoted to Rome.

Hitting

While 19-year-olds Essenburg and Southisene were the biggest stars, plenty of others stood out for the Jackets this year. Alex Lodise opened here after playing with Rome last year, and after a bit of a slow start to his year for expectations, he really turned it on prior to his promotion. For the year with Augusta he hit .256/.343/.483 with 16 doubles, three triples, and 21 homers – though did strike out 113 times in 435 plate appearances. Luis Guanipa was the other big standout in his third year here due to injuries, and he went on to break out by hitting .303/.365/.452 with 17 doubles, three triples, 11 homers, and 37 steals in 422 plate appearances.

Among the other bigger named prospects who spent a bunch of time here, Juan Mateo hit .250/.322/.351, Cody Miller posted a .727 OPS after a demotion from Rome, Michael Martinez had a .766 OPS with seven homers in 140 plate appearances before injury, and Nick Montgomery had a .708 OPS with eight homers in 207 plate appearances.

Then there were a group of prospects that weren’t here very long but still cracked the 100 plate appearance mark, including draft picks Parker Brosius and Caleb Klein, plus 18-year old shortstop Manuel Campos. Brosius had a .739 OPS, while Klein posted a .747 mark as both cleared that 100 plate appearance mark in the final week of the season. Campos managed a .694 OPS after a slow start following his promotion from the FCL.

With the prospects who were here but didn’t spend much time we had some mixed results. Jose Perdomo went hitless in six at bats before an injury in the second game of the season ended his season with injury. First round pick Carter Beck had a .980 OPS in 50 plate appearances before being promoted.

Guys who didn’t come with big prospect pedigree but stood out included some undrafted free agents from last year. Cooper McMurray started very slow, but ended with a .771 OPS and 11 homers. Catcher Tanner Smith posted a .749 OPS with 11 homers before being promoted to Rome. Infielder Yamvier Carrero had a .752 OPS as he split time between here and the FCL, while outfielder Caden Merritt had a .673 OPS. A guy who was drafted last year was Dallas Macias, and he went on to post a .738 OPS with six homers and 14 steals over 68 games before going to Rome.

Other guys who went over 100 plate appearances included Junior Garcia (.620 OPS), Joe Olsavsky (.565 OPS), Dalton McIntyre (.862 OPS in 115 PA), and Hayden Friese (.561 OPS).

Pitching

Polo and Bagwell weren’t the only pitchers to stand out for Augusta. Daniel Brooks opened in the FCL, moved here to pitch out of the pen, and eventually moved into the rotation before being promoted. In 27.2 innings he recorded a 0.65 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, and 46 strikeouts with a dominant slider and fastball that also gets whiffs. Derek Vartanian, who like Polo missed last year, posted a 4.20 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and 105 strikeouts in 113.2 innings, while Zach Royse had a 4.42 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 62 strikeouts in 59 innings in his first year as a professional.

In the bullpen Logan Forsythe, Adiel Melendez, Carter Lovasz, Aiven Cabral, and Cristobal Abreu were the top performers. Forsythe went 56 innings with a 4.02 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, and 63 strikeouts. Melendez, an undrafted first year lefty, had a 2.42 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and 61 strikeouts in 52 innings. Lovasz split time between the pen and rotation before a promotion, posting 2.54 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and 41 strikeouts in 49.2 innings. Cabral also got promoted in season after posting a 3.56 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 55 strikeouts over 48 innings. Abreu had a 3.00 ERA, 2.20 WHIP, and 22 strikeouts in 30 innings, showing both electric stuff and a rough feel for command.

Three more pitchers played big roles in this Augusta season. Landon Beidelschies posted a 5.97 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, and 79 strikeouts over 86 innings after being the team’s sixth round pick last year. Luis Arestigueta struggled early on to earn a demotion to the FCL, but did pitch better towards the end of the season and posted a 6.50 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, and 60 strikeouts in 62.1 innings. Kendy Richard had a 6.40 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, and 41 strikeouts over 57.2 innings.

Excluding a rehabbing AJ Smith-Shawver and Herick Hernandez, as well as a since traded Carter Holton, the other prospects of note who appeared for Augusta this season are led by Briggs McKenzie, who struck out eight over five scoreless innings in his lone appearance before promotion. Recent third round pick Wil Libbert had a two good appearances totaling 6.2 innings, while John Damozonio made one and undrafted Will Holmes made two appearances. Jeremy Reyes struggled for 10 innings here after a demotion, before ending up injured.

Other pitchers to hit 20 innings for Augusta includes Styven Paez (5.49 ERA), Lewis Sifontes (5.06 ERA), Kade Woods (6.46 ERA), Ryan Heppner (7.65 ERA), and Brody Fowler (6.41 ERA).

Game Recaps

D-backs throw 9 scoreless innings before offense erupts in the 10th by Robert Falkoff [MLB]

On paper, it shaped up as a daunting task for the Diamondbacks. Arizona was going with a bullpen committee approach against the Royals on Monday, and facing reigning American League Pitcher of the Month Noah Cameron.

Thanks to a herculean effort by the bullpen, the D-backs pulled it off.

The Arizona relief corps shut out the Royals for nine innings before the D-backs’ offense got busy in the 10th, scoring five runs to boost Arizona to a 5-4 victory at Kauffman Stadium.

Diamondbacks edge Royals after all 9 of game’s combined runs come in 10th inning [Arizona Sports]

Arizona’s Lars Nootbaar had a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning then the Diamondbacks followed with four more runs and held on for a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals Monday.

The Diamondbacks plated four two-out runs in the 10th, including two on a single by Geraldo Perdomo, one on a single by Gabriel Moreno and one on a single by Nolan Arenado.

The Royals had the tying run at the plate with no outs in the bottom of the inning. Salvador Perez hit a bases-clearing double to draw the Royals to within 5-4, but the tying run was stranded at third.

Diamondbacks News

Geraldo Perdomo returns to Diamondbacks lineup after being hit by line drive by Douglas Santo [Arizona Sports]

Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo is back in the Arizona Diamondbacks starting lineup Monday after leaving Sunday’s game with a head contusion.

Perdomo was struck in the helmet between first and second base by a line drive off Ketel Marte’s bat, sending the shortstop to the ground.

After taking a few minutes to recover, Perdomo was able to walk off on his own power, seemingly in positive spirits.

Diamondbacks Officially Confirm Reports About Corbin Burnes’ Return by Alex D’Agostino [SI]

It’s been the Arizona Diamondbacks’ worst-kept secret for a little while, but the confirmation fans have been waiting for regarding the return of injured ace Corbin Burnes was finally given.

Torey Lovullo, speaking to D-backs.TV’s Todd Walsh on the postgame broadcast, confirmed that Burnes would be Arizona’s starter for their game two matchup with the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City on Tuesday evening.

Around the League

32-year-old journeyman throws first individual perfect game in Minors since 2017 by Manny Randhawa [MLB]

Thomas Pannone accomplished something on Monday that hadn’t been done in nearly a decade in the Minor Leagues: he threw a perfect game.

The 32-year-old left-hander, whom the Brewers signed in 2024, blanked Durham in Triple-A Nashville’s 3-0 victory at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Pannone struck out eight in the perfecto, needing just 94 pitches (61 of which were strikes) in the effort. 

The perfect game is the first by a single pitcher in the Minors since 2017, when the feat was accomplished twice — Tyler Mahle did it for Double-A Pensacola on April 22 of that season, and Domenic Mazza did it for Class A Augusta just three days later.

Aaron Judge, out since May 31, activated by New York Yankees by Jeff Passan [ESPN]

The captain is back. And with it the New York Yankees‘ status as American League favorites.

Three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge was activated from the injured list Monday night, paving the way for his return against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday after sitting out more than three months because of a fractured rib.

The 34-year-old, who broke his first right rib making a diving catch in late April, tried to play through the injury but was shut down May 31. Though the Yankees have gone 45-39 in his absence and maintained a firm hold on the AL’s top wild-card playoff spot, they’re hopeful Judge’s return will revitalize an offense that ranks 26th in runs scored since he was put on the injured list.

Shohei Ohtani Not Likely To Pitch Again In 2026 by Mark Polishuk [MLB Trade Rumors]

Ohtani is hitting leadoff as the Dodgers’ designated hitter in today’s lineup against the Reds, Roberts told SportsNet LA and other media.  Roberts again declined to totally rule Ohtani out as a pitcher, but “he’s not going to be on the mound in the foreseeable future” and “we have no timetable for when he’s gonna pick up a baseball.”

I see a lot of discussion on this one. Craig Counsell has hit the point where he’s deciding between two less than optimal options. The Cubs had to decide between a tiring starter or a bullpen that has not even one lockdown arm out there. The closest thing they’ve had to a lockdown arm has both struggled recently and suffered an injury that has kept him out of action. When they finally did use relievers, Ryan Zeferjahn allowed a single and a walk to three batters faced and Jacob Webb allowed a walk and a sacrifice fly. As it is, Matthew Boyd ended up throwing exactly 100 pitches in the game.

If the Cubs are going to go deep this year, something that seems less likely all of the time, I envision something akin to the White Sox World Series run with the starters carrying an awful lot of the weight. The Cubs don’t have a Dodgers-level elite starting rotation, but the Cub rotation is light years beyond the bullpen. My formula involves the Cub starters going deep, the offense scoring 5+ runs in every win and the bullpen having very short outings in low to medium leverage spots (ignoring the upgrade every situation gets for the playoffs).

I will say this, I firmly believe that Craig Counsell should and will be a finalist for Manager of the Year. That said, I do think it is always fair to question the decisions made. You can be very good at your job and not get everything right. I love that years later Joe Maddon can concede that he probably should have gotten Aroldis Chapman out earlier in Game 6 and that the planning around Jon Lester’s relief appearance in Game 7 got away from him a bit. Both moves had a nexus in good decision making and then the game shifted radically and it turned out that different decisions might have been better. We’ll never know if done differently, they would have worked better. We do know that with the decisions he made, the Cubs won a World Series. There are always decisions that with the benefit of hindsight we can tell were wrong. But are they as easy with foresight?

Sadly, for the second straight day a Pete Crow-Armstrong homer becomes a footnote in a Cub loss. We are witnessing one of the best baseball season’s ever and he is inching closer every day to the single greatest season in Cubs history. It really is amazing and a whole lot of fun to watch. He had his 34th and 35th steals and 41st homer. A combined 76 and he is closing in on the largest combined total in franchise history. He is just the eighth player in baseball history to have a 40/35 season. There are just so many amazing ways to slice up the stats and highlight what he’s done — for example, 97 runs driven in, almost entirely out of the lead off spot. The second-most homers by a lefty in franchise history. I definitely do not want this season to end for fear that we’ll wake up out of the dream and he’ll revert to “only” being a star and not one of the greatest players alive.

The Cubs have lost all of their cushion. It’s going to be a dogfight to the end with the Phillies. The Cubs have to survive the rest of this series, recharge and then really get after it. Every game matters. I for one would like to see this season get at least as far as last season did and that’s going to greatly be facilitated by a home playoff series again in the Wild Card round. I still believe they can get there, but the road ahead is a rocky one. I’ve been using Fangraphs as my proxy for most likely outcomes and they have the Phillies finishing about one game better than the Cubs. That’s exactly what they need to do to get home field. So it’s that close. Let’s see about stealing a game or two in this series to help that out.

Three Positives:

• Matthew Boyd allowed one run on four hits and one walk in seven innings of work. He allowed a walk and a double in the eighth and both scored after he left. Terrific outing against an offense that typical thrives at home.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong had a single and a homer, got hit by a pitch, stole two bases and scored twice. He is a menace.
• Alex Bregman had two hits and drew a walk. He drove in a run.

Game 145, September 7: Brewers 4, Cubs 3 (81-64)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Alex Bregman (.194). 2-3, BB, RBI
• Hero: Tyrone Taylor (.080). 1-2, 2B
• Sidekick: Pedro Ramirez (.079). 1-4, HR, RBI, R

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Ryan Zeferjahn (-.202). 0.1 IP, 3 BF, H, BB, R
• Goat: Nico Hoerner (-.201). 0-4
• Kid: Matt Shaw (-.120). 0-3, SH

WPA Play of the Game: Joey Ortiz’ double off of Matthew Boyd with a runner on first in the eighth inning, the Brewers down one. (.285)

Cubs Play of the Game: Alex Bregman’s single with runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh, giving the Cubs a one run lead. (.203)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 144 Winner: Pete Crow-Armstrong received 36 of 47 votes.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Alex Bregman +29
• Pete Crow-Armstrong +26.5
• Michael Conforto +14
• Ben Brown +13.5
• Javier Assad +12
• Jameson Taillon -13
• Seiya Suzuki -15
• Nico Hoerner -17
• Dansby Swanson -17
• Caleb Thielbar -17.5

Scoreboard Watching: Dodgers win (up 6.5 on Cubs). Braves lost (4.5 up on Cubs) to the Phillies (0.5 games up on Cubs). Diamondbacks beat the Royals (four back). Brewers win (8 up). Padres win (5.5 back). Four teams across baseball with more wins than the Cubs and two tied with them.

Up Next: Game Two Tuesday night. David Peterson (7-8, 5.39) vs. Jacob Misiorowski (14-5, 1.97). The Cubs actually hit him pretty well in Chicago last week. But Peterson got pounded. As always, not a great matchup on paper. But the Cubs win a good number of those.

Nick Pivetta took the mound for the San Diego Padres for the first time in a major league game since the second week of April. No one was quite sure what to expect from the right-hander, but when his day was complete he had pitched five scoreless innings and earned a win as the Padres topped the visiting Washington Nationals, 3-2 at Petco Park on Monday.

Pivetta wasted no time re-acclimating himself to the major leagues. He faced the minimum three batters in four of his five innings. Pivetta allowed just two hits and recorded two strikeouts without allowing a walk. He was efficient in his return, needing just 63 pitches to completed his day. The San Diego offense did just enough, scoring three runs in the first three innings of the game, allowing Pivetta to walk off the mound in line for the win.

The Padres scored a run in the first inning, thanks in part to a misplayed ball in right field by Nationals outfielder James Wood. Manny Machado hit a fly ball to the warning track and Wood appeared to lose it in the sun. The ball dropped just beyond his glove and it allowed Machado to reach second base on what was ruled a double. Ty France followed with a two-out walk and Jackson Merrill put San Diego on the board with a line drive into right field, which allowed Machado to score from second to put the Padres up, 1-0.

San Diego added to its total in the bottom of the third after Fernando Tatis Jr. singled to open the inning. Jake Cronenworth reached on a fielder’s choice to second base when Washington second baseman Jorbit Vivas flipped a ball to second that was not in time to force out Tatis. Machado brought Tatis home with a single to left that gave the Padres a 2-0 lead. France then grounded into a 5-3 double play but Machado was still on second base with two out. Merrill collected his second RBI of the game with a line drive to center field, which scored Machado and bumped the San Diego lead to 3-0.

The Padres bullpen was good despite one pitch left up over the plate by Kyle Hart. Nationals left-fielder Dylan Crews connected on a two-out, two-run home run to left field that pulled Washington within a run of San Diego at 3-2. Bradgley Rodriguez and Adrian Morejon covered the seventh and eighth innings to get to Mason Miller in the top of the ninth.

It appeared the Padres were going to add to their total before Miller came into the game. San Diego loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning and Xander Bogaerts hit a line drive into left field that would have allowed Merrill to tag up and score. However, Luis Campusano had wandered too far off the bag at second base and was thrown out trying to get back before Merrill could cross home plate to end the inning. Miller came into the game with a one-run lead and locked down the win and his 34th save of the season, allowing the Friar Faithful to take a collective sigh of relief after the base running mistake.

San Diego resumes it’s series with Washington today at 6:40 p.m.

Padres News:

• The Padres had to make some roster moves to add Nick Pivetta before the game against the Nationals. Jhony Brito was sent down to Triple-A and catcher Blake Hunt was designated for assignment to open up a spot on the 40-man roster.

Baseball News:

• Aaron Judge is set to make his return to the New York Yankees.

• Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over the Atlanta Braves, 1-0.

• Pete Crow-Armstrong moved closer to a 40/40 season but the Chicago Cubs lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds to give them their fifth consecutive win.

• The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Kansas City Royals needed extra-innings to score the first runs of the game, but the Diamondbacks did just enough to get the win.

Happy Tuesday A’s fans!

Last night, the Athletics kicked off their penultimate homestand of the season with a 6-5 walk-off victory against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The A’s ability to cobble together a competent pitching staff was the team’s biggest concern entering the season, and boy, has that come to fruition. The team has the worst ERA in baseball, and unlike last season, it is not as if the A’s are only pitching badly at home. Their 4.58 road ERA is bad, yet it pales in comparison to the team’s 6.33 ERA at Sutter Health Park. Making matters worse, the Green and Gold have allowed an unfathomable 135 home runs in 70 home games, as opposing teams have teed off at the minor-league ballpark.

The Athletics’ bullpen has been a major problem, blowing countless leads. However, that unit has started to turn things around recently, thanks to strong performances from the likes of Scott Blewett, Chris Roycroft, Brady Basso and Seth Johnson.

Those four pitchers could be strong contributors next year, along with the mostly solid duo of Luis Medina and Hogan Harris. Nevertheless, it would behoove the team to add a proven late-inning reliever via free agency or trade. The A’s also desperately need a veteran starter to stabilize a rotation that has been too inconsistent this year.

The team’s defense has not helped its pitching staff. According to DRS, they’re the fourth-worst defensive team in the majors. While Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz have shown improvement at shortstop and first base, respectively, Lawrence Butler has been inconsistent in right field, and Carlos Cortes has been an abject disaster at both outfield corner positions. Yet, it is important to remember that the main core of this team has hardly played together this year because of injuries. With all the starters returning at full health, the team’s defense has a strong chance to improve in 2027.

How should the Athletics approach the rest of this season and the upcoming offseason? What adjustments need to be made to spur this team back into contention?

A’s Coverage:

• A’s Walk Off Blue Jays 6-5
• Mariners Defeat A’s 2-0 in Road Trip Finale
• “Fast Movers” Might Be Key To Contention
• Bi-Polar Performance Arcs Make Evaluation Difficult
• A’s Escape Texas With A Win, Beat Rangers 9-2
• A’s Designate José Suarez For Assignment
• White exits with back tightness as A’s injury woes continue
• It’s Been a Bummer Summer in Sacramento
• The A’s valuation rises with sales of 2 MLB clubs as Las Vegas move looms
• Your 2026 Hacktastic A’s
• Athletics Considering James Click For GM Vacancy
• Daejon Love case brings back Eric Byrnes’ bizarre story of an A’s bat boy impersonation
• Get the best of Athletics Nation on the new SB Nation app
• How defensive whiz Clarke’s return will impact A’s
• How A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell brought taking a knee to MLB and what happened afterwards
• A’s Plan to Test Top Pitching Prospect Jamie Arnold at Next Level
• Separating The Wheat From The Chaff Not So Easy
• Amidst The Despair: The Position Player Talent Is There
• What Are The Next Steps For The A’s? ($)
• Where Each A’s Player’s Contract Stands Entering Offseason
• Why Athletics Will Have Scary Offense in 2027
• Red-hot Bolte looking to build on lessons from rookie season
• Underdog Athletics prospect Cole Conn playing like a big dog for Aviators
• Behind the Plate, the A’s Face an Offseason Reckoning
• Why The New GM Needs To “Clean House”
• A Seemingly Rock Bottomless Glass
• MLB Trade Grades: A’s Have Quiet Trade Deadline
• This key change(up) could unlock big success for A’s prospect
• Fustercluck 2026: The Real Reasons For A Disappointing Season

MLB News and Interest:

• MLB players on salary cap, CBA talks, potential lockout, more
• Previewing the top MLB free agents for the 2026-2027 offseason
• Judge is back! Yanks activate captain after 3 months on IL
• 250 for 250: Top 10 individual seasons
• 32-year-old journeyman throws first individual perfect game in Minors since 2017
• Luzardo K’s 12 in 1st career shutout as Phils earn pivotal split with Braves
• Umpire Doug Eddings apologizes to Cardinals pitcher Hansel Rincon after MLB reportedly reprimanded him for telling rookie to straighten crooked cap
• MLB hot seat: Which managers and execs have jobs on the line this month?
• Rookie of the Year races in AL, NL coming to conclusion as favorites pull away
• Cheers, then TWO homers! Rutschman makes memorable Camden return
• New Rays Owner: Stadium Deal Should Lead To Significant Payroll Increase
• Each team’s hottest pitching prospect right now
• Ranking the 10 most impactful Trade Deadline moves, one month later
• Mike Trout on ‘needed’ sale of Angels: It’s a ‘fresh start’
• Angels Notes: Stadium, Trout, Front Office
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Congrats to the Athletics’ Single-A affiliate Stockton Ports. They will join the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators as the A’s minor league affiliates headed to the postseason.

PORTS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS pic.twitter.com/vO0BSdi0en

— Stockton Ports (@stocktonports) September 6, 2026

Worth a listen if you want to catch up on developments across the A’s farm system.

🏆 THE SEASON FINALE OF LUGNUTS WEEKLY HAS ARRIVED! 🏆and is now up on https://t.co/cFSoPxDwLE wherever you listen to your podcasts Podbean: https://t.co/Rik0wFyA9t

After an entire season spent digging deeper than prospect rankings and stat sheets, Booney and Lansing Lugnuts… pic.twitter.com/LZuqIve3Gk

— The House Always Wins Media Network/Las Vegas A's (@lasvegasaspod) September 7, 2026

The A’s released their 2027 spring training schedule a few days ago despite the possibility that an offseason CBA lockout could lead to a delayed or cancelled season next year.

Spring is set 🏜️

🔗 : https://t.co/Nk38mfxdiFpic.twitter.com/wjZGBMPfrK

— Athletics (@Athletics) September 4, 2026

The Yankees were one of a handful of teams that didn’t play on Labor Day, but not many top American League contenders were in action. The Rays, White Sox, Astros, and Rangers all joined the Yanks in taking a breather on the offday. At least Aaron Judge is officially back! So call that a notable exception to the absence of action.

Here’s what the teams that were active were up to on Labor Day.

Boston Red Sox (80-65) 5, Los Angeles Angels (54-90) 2

I hope no one actually had any real expectations of the hapless Angels going into Fenway and doing much of anything. Brayan Bello needed 103 pitches to get through five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, but again, these are the Angels. They didn’t do much with their opportunities, and they were put in a 5-0 hole in a hurry anyway.

Erstwhile Orioles prospect Grayson Rodriguez was terrible, inflating his season ERA to 6.28 in 17 starts when both Jarren Duran and Adley Rutschman homered off him in the second. His old batterymate’s dinger high off the Pesky Pole was a three-run blast and proved to be a crushing blow.

The Angels’ only real chance late came when Moisés Ballesteros chipped away at the Boston lead. He hit a solo shot off Wyatt Olds in the sixth and then doubled Wade Meckler to third in the eighth. Christian Moore brought in Meckler with an RBI grounder, and Denzer Guzmán pinch-hit for Josh Lowe with the tying run on deck. He lined out to shortstop for the final out, and the Halos went down in order against Garrett Whitlock in the ninth.

The Red Sox trail the Yankees by two games in the Wild Card and the Rays by six in the AL East. New York does have the head-to-head tiebreaker over Boston, though since they’re an even 5-5, Tampa Bay’s is contingent on a three-game set at the Trop from September 18-20 (just before the Rays’ big four-game set in the Bronx).

AL Wild Card Rock Fight

Baltimore Orioles (70-75) 6, Cleveland Guardians (73-72) 4: After a six-game losing streak that included back-to-back losses to the Rockies and a four-game mop at home at the hands of the Red Sox, Baltimore couldn’t afford to lose yet another one at Camden Yards, especially with a new team in town that holds the last Wild Card spot. It’s more likely that they’re still toast than not, but they did get that W over Cleveland, Trevor Rogers firing 7.1 brilliant innings of one-run ball while two homers and three ribbies from Coby Mayo propelled the O’s offense. A three-run shot by Nathaniel Lowe in the ninth made it interesting, but Angel Genao and Patrick Bailey were retired to end it. The Guardians lead the Jays by a game, the Rangers by a game and a half, and the O’s by three.

Toronto Blue Jays (72-73) 5, The Athletics (58-87) 6: Dylan Cease suffered a misstep in his battle with Cam Schlittler for the AL Cy Young Award, and it cost Toronto a chance at tying Cleveland in the Wild Card race, too. You take a pitcher like Cease against the dismal A’s every time, even in the bizarro zone of West Sacramento. Nonetheless, a Zack Gelof double in the first quickly got the A’s on the board following Henry Bolte’s leadoff walk, and a bad throw by Kazuma Okamoto on a later grounder made it 2-0. Bolte’s single and two steals set up another Gelof RBI in the third, and the A’s continued to run wild on Alejandro Kirk with Gelof swiping second and third before scoring on a Carlos Cortes single.

Bolte later homered off Cease to make it 5-1, but Toronto didn’t throw in the towel. Okamoto went yard off Jacob Lopez to lead off the seventh, and three consecutive hits tallied another when Andrés Giménez doubled. Josh Smith’s sacrifice fly cut the deficit to one, and two outs away from a loss, Giménez came through again, clubbing a curve from Hogan Harris 415 feet to tie it at 5-5 in the ninth. Like Cease though, a rare standby in this long Jays season faltered. It wasn’t the mightiest rally off Louie Varland, as it was bookended by infield hits, but he did himself no favors by walking Bolte and Donovan Walton. Jeff McNeil beat out a slow grounder to short, and that was all she wrote at The Sut.

Hello and happy Tuesday, folks. Hope you enjoyed your holiday.

Today’s a regular day, and it’s one where our beloved Red Sox take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of North America of Planet Earth. First pitch at Fenway is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

Here’s a question for ya, as we now sit on the brink of officially avoiding a losing season while maintaining a strong hold on a wild card spot: Where is the line between resting players ahead of postseason play and pushing for better playoff positioning?

We’re technically two games behind the Yankees as things currently stand, but that’s effectively a three-game deficit since New York holds the tiebreaker over us. Still, that’s not an insurmountable lead with just over two weeks to go in the regular season. Should the Sox put more chips on the table to contest for the top wild card seed, thus the right to host a three-game series?

As tempting as that is, the guys are probably gassed. Sure, everyone in baseball is tired after nearly 150 games, but there’s something to be said for getting fully revved up for do-or-die time, even if it means that you have to go on the road for the wild card series. Guys like Ceddy and Contreras are already on the IL, while someone such as Caleb Durbin could maybe benefit from a few extra off days.

Maybe some more consistent time off will do the clubhouse some good. On the other hand, you don’t want the guys to get rusty. On the other other hand, the schedule in front of the Sox in the coming days—paging the Angels and Royals—does not exactly feature the greatest teams the sport has ever seen. Perhaps that gives Chad Tracy a chance to get guys off of their feet. On the other other other hand, you have to respect every opponent in front of you. On the other other other other hand, Baseball Reference has us at a damn near lock to qualify for the playoffs with 17 games to go, competition be damned. On the other other other other OTHER hand, do you really want to mock the almighty Baseball Gods by tempting fate?

Well……..that’s all for me to ask and for you to answer in the comments below.

Be good to each other and go Sox.

The first four games of this pivotal stretch for the Phillies against the Atlanta Braves are over. It didn’t go quite the way Philadelphia could’ve hoped, as they were only able to split the series. They are now still four games behind the Braves with three games in Atlanta coming next weekend and 18 games remaining overall. 

As the even result may hint towards, it was a competitive series throughout. The Phillies starting pitching, particularly Aaron Nola and Jesús Luzardo, looked prepared for primetime Their offense cooled off from their previous torrid stretch, but were only outscored 12-11. The biggest problem that revealed itself was the bullpen, as the Phillies blew a three-run eighth inning lead on Sunday and allowed a 3-2 game to turn into a 5-2 deficit on Friday. The rotation has rounded into peak form, but the bullpen, especially the set-up men ahead of Jhoan Duran, still do not inspire much confidence.

The division isn’t necessarily out of reach, but it’s quickly becoming a math equation. The Phillies now have to make up four games with 18 to play, a difficult feat considering their September schedule. Luckily for the Phillies, they at least have a somewhat comfortable cushion for a Wild Card spot, even if that is not guaranteed yet. But still, this series with the Braves offered the chance for the Phillies to measure themselves against the likes of competition they will face in October after having a relatively light schedule in the month of August. Some parts of their play were encouraging while some older, familiar problems still rose their ugly head. 

So, what did we learn from this Phillies-Braves series? 

Yeah, I could’ve phrased this as a question and had the same post body anyway, but why bother when I can just make a post? After the Braves split their big series on the road against the Phillies, I have three big picture thoughts, two of which were prompted by their dramatic comeback win in Game Three.

Why is everyone, including Ronald AcuñaJr., obsessed with going the other way?

In this series, the Braves’ most common ball in play was a grounder up the middle, followed by a ball in the air hit the other way. For the Phillies, it was fly balls to center, followed with a tie between pulled and opposite-field fly balls. The Braves managed a .180 wOBA and .167 on their 19 opposite-field fly balls in the series; they managed an .809 wOBA and .665 xwOBA on their 15 pulled fly balls.

This isn’t really surprising because yes, pulling fly balls in the air is great. But, maybe target it a bit better? Here’s the pitch plot of fly balls the other way by lefty batters:

This looks okay-ish at first glance, there’s maybe one pitch that was weirdly inside-outed, and it was Matt Olson against Cristopher Sanchez. There were some elevated balls you’d hope guys would pull, but it is what it is. And then you get the right-handed batter plot:

That’s a fair bit of basically middle-ish pitches hit the other way.

On the season, the Braves are 15th in pulled fly ball rate, but seventh in the rate of hitting fly balls the other way. But this obscures a lot of inconsistency:

• Through April: 10th and 14th, respectively
• May: 26th and 4th
• June: 26th and 15th
• July: 4th and 24th
• August-onward: 17th and 1st

You get the idea. What’s the obsession with going the other way? By the way, while being first in that last bullet, the Braves have a .302 wOBA and .297 xwOBA on those balls. That’s actually ranked pretty high — their opposite-field fly balls are better than other teams’, but… those are terrible on-contact marks in general.

Acuña is an interesting case here. The first pitch of the series was a sinker a little bit away but squarely in the zone, and he hit a hard double into the right-center gap. Okay, he executed a clear plan there. The next time he got a pitch anywhere on the outer half was two PAs later, and that one turned into a hard groundout to second. He pulled a similar pitch but from a different pitcher (Alex McFarlane, his later victim) and turned it into an infield single.

In Game Two, he started stuff by pulling an outer-edge fastball from Zack Wheeler for a hard single. Then he homered off a Wheeler knee-high splitter also towards the outer half of the plate. The next outer-portion pitch he saw was a non-strike in both dimensions from Aaron Nola, a knuckle curve he dropped into right field for a double. But then, he got a hanging changeup down the middle on 2-2 from Nola and could only hit it weakly to right for a sac fly. Then, it was his homer against McFarlane. In the finale, Jesus Luzardo didn’t really throw him stuff outside he could poke; even his one fly to right came from basically an inside-out effort on a pitch inside. So, Acuña isn’t really the guy to pick on here, he’s at least wrapping his bat around pitches away from him sometimes.

Still, even he has a .320 wOBA / .227 xwOBA on balls in the air the other way since the start of August, compared to an absurd 1.053 wOBA / .877 xwOBA on pulled balls in the air in that span. I’ll keep hoping for some realignment in this regard.

Acuña did something amazing anyway

The pitch Acuña homered on was a four-seamer nearly bisected by the outer edge of the zone at 100.5 mph. Acuña got around it and pulled it into left field for a massive homer, both in terms of distance and effect on the game (and the series). This season, the highest-velocity pitch on an outer edge homered on by a right-handed batter was 98.6 mph (Pete Alonso). Acuña basically skipped two ticks relative to anyone else.

In fact, in the entire Statcast era, only one right-handed batter has homered on a pitch on the outer edge that was harder than what Acuña did on Sunday: Avisail Garcia, who took a 100.7 mph pitch from Ryne Stanek in 2017 and hit it the other way for a longball. So, there you go: Acuña turned around the hardest righty outer-edge pitch to a righty batter for a pulled homer that we know of.

This series had the Braves doing what they do best

The Braves weren’t favored to win any of these games. Two games — and in fact, the two games they lost — had some of the lowest pre-game odds the Braves have faced all season.

The Braves posted a matching .260 wOBA and xwOBA in this series. The Phillies were cut down by some poor fortune and good defense en route to a .284 wOBA and .327 xwOBA. Does that seem like it should be a series split? Okay, fine, that’s a little unfair, because wins aren’t awarded after the entire series finishes.

• Game 1 (win): Braves .303 wOBA / .269 xwOBA | Phillies .266 wOBA / .281 xwOBA. Some combination of defense and luck bails out the Braves.
• Game 2 (loss): Braves .248 / .266 | Phillies .352 / .355. Yeah, a blatant loss.
• Game 3 (win): Braves .350 / .326 | Phillies .278 / .334. A reprise of Game 1, except the Braves actually hit okay.
• Game 4 (loss): Braves .107 / .160 | Phillies .224 / .334. It’s miraculous this was a 1-0 game.

It amuses me that the Phillies compiled 0.7 more fWAR than the Braves in these four games, yet both teams won two games. But that’s par for the course. The Braves are now 85-59, and have just 73 WAR-wins based on fWAR. While there is probably some assumption that over time, a team’s record would trend closer to its WAR-wins record just due to adding extra sample that aligns… the Braves are once again defying the odds in this regard, pulling further away. There isn’t really enough time in the season for any of this to be “fixed” unless they hit basically a gigantic September collapse, and I don’t expect it to be “fixed” because the team itself is fine. It’s just… weird. And they used that weirdness to split with the Phillies.

I continue to be amazed that the Braves have avoided the bottom dropping out despite whammying themselves into stupid (stupid-bad, not stupid-good) offense after July, but it is what it is.

If this were a question post, I guess I’d ask what takeaways you had from this series split. Feel free to drop those in the comments, I guess.

Good morning.

Shawn McFarland writes that the Texas Rangers need to go on a heater in the season’s final weeks if they want to extend their season into the cooler months.

Kennedi Landry writes that Jack Leiter and Nathan Eovaldi are hoping to pitch again this month, but there probably isn’t time to ramp them back into the rotation.

McFarland notes that Robert Garcia is back as reinforcement for a bullpen that has been shaky in the middle innings over the last few weeks.

The MLB dot com folks predict the eventual Gold Glove winners with a month to go and hand Ezequiel Duran some presumptive hardware as the AL’s top utility fielder.

Have a nice day!

Meet the Mets

The Mets’ bats continued their impressive Labor Day weekend by pounding out 16 hits and scoring nine runs in a 9-4 victory over the Marlins. Jonah Tong, who was called upon for his first start of the 2026 season, earned a win by striking out seven over five innings.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, Daily News, NY Post, Newsday, ESPN, Faith and Fear in Flushing

The Mets optioned Justin Hagenman to Triple-A to make room for Jonah Tong on the roster.

Jon Heyman explained that the Mets’ trifecta is giving the team hope that this can be a $365 million learning experience.

Abbey Mastracco wrote about ‘Beat It’ becoming Citi Field’s answer to a lost season.

On the latest This Week In Mets, Tim Britton explored how the team can better prepare for underperformance.

Around the National League East

The Phillies blanked the Braves 1-0 to earn a much-needed split in the Labor Day weekend series. Jesus Luzardo struck out 12 and earned the first complete game shutout of his career, as the game lasted just one hour and 51 minutes. Kyle Schwarber hit a solo homer in the eighth, which was the lone run.

The Nationals fell 3-2 to the Padres, which actually helped the Mets fall into a statistical tie with Washington for fourth place in the NL East.

Around Major League Baseball

The Cubs broke in to the top five in the latest MLB Power Rankings.

The MLB.com staff predicted the 2026 Gold Glove Award winners.

ESPN made some September predictions regarding the playoff race and stats leaders.

The Padres and Diamondbacks could end up deciding the final Wild Card round in the National League, and with the two clubs squaring off at Petco Park in the final weekend of the regular season, it could essentially serve as an additional playoff round.

Mike Lupica explained how Aaron Judge’s impending return could turn the tide in the Yankees’ favor. Judge was officially activated from the IL yesterday, which was an offday for the Yankees.

Shohei Ohani officially returned from a four-game injury absence, though he will focus on hitting moving forward and is unlikely to pitch again this season.

The Brewers placed Grant Anderson on the IL with right biceps inflammation and called Brandon Sproat back up.

The ‘totally different’ Blue Jays feel that they are primed for a late-season playoff push.

The Red Sox topped the Angels 5-2. Brayan Belo made his first start since June 4 for the Red Sox and picked up where he left off.

The Orioles ended their losing skid with a 6-4 win over the Guardians.

In a game that entered extra innings tied at 0-0, the Diamondbacks prevailed 5-4 in 10 innings over the Royals. Arizona’s bullpen shined in the win to help keep the D’Backs in a Wild Card spot.

The Brewers scored three in the eighth to top the Cubs 4-3, as some amazing robberies rescued the Brew Crew from the Cubbies’ late comeback attempt.

The Tigers held off the Twins 5-4. The Twins activated Joe Ryan from the IL to make the start against Detroit, and he was his vintage shelf in his comeback performance.

The Giants outlasted the Cardinals 5-4 in 11 innings.

The Dodgers doubled up the Reds 6-3.

The Athletics walked off the Blue Jays 6-5.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

I previewed the Mets’ series against the Marlins.

Linus Lawrence provided a Monday Stat Party.

This Date in Mets History

The Mets scored six runs in the seventh to come back and tie up their game against the Nationals, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis’ solo homer in the eighth put New York ahead for good on this date in 2015. The win helped New York secure a series victory in Washington DC en route to a sweep and an eventual NL East crown.