Category: Baseball

Good morning Birdland,

At this point in the season every single game is crucial, and the Orioles played like it on Tuesday night. They used an eight-run fifth inning and a stellar start from Chris Bassitt to crush the Cardinals 13-1 in the series opener.

The 2.5-game gap between the Orioles and the final AL wild card spot remains. The Guardians won again, their fifth in a row, and continue to occupy that last spot in the tournament. But several other clubs in the chase (Rangers, Twins, Blue Jays) lost. Only the Rangers (one game back) stand between the O’s and the Guardians. Having fewer teams to leapfrog in the standings is a good thing, especially since the Orioles still have a three-game series with those Guardians left on their schedule.

Pete Alonso, once again, was the star in last night’s win. He went 4-for-4 with a home run, a double, and four RBI. What’s a bit worrying is that he was removed from the game in the fifth inning and seemed to be bothered by his ailing calf again. In the moment, MASN’s Rob Long reported from his spot next to the Orioles dugout that Alonso asked the training staff to take a look at his calf right before manager Craig Albernaz removed him from the game. After the game, a cagey—and somewhat rude—Albernaz told the media that Alonso was fine and that the move was “precautionary”. When pressed again and asked “So nothing’s bothering him?” He told the reporter to not put words in his mouth, even though Albernaz himself had referenced Alonso’s calf just moments earlier.

Two things can be true at once. Alonso is fit enough to play, but the calf is probably still bothering him to some degree. It’s late August. Most players are dealing with something, big or small, at this point in the season. Alonso has said repeatedly how important is to him to be in the lineup every day. So you need to find ways to get him off his legs when possible. Removing him from a blowout game makes sense, but Albernaz doesn’t need to lie about the reality. Some transparency, especially with matters that we can all see plainly with our eyes, goes a long way.

We should probably expect Alonso back in the lineup tonight. Whether he plays first base or DHs will be interesting.

Links

Injury updates on Helsley, Alexander and more | Roch Kubatko
Blaze Alexander is on his way back. He played for Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday night, going 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout while playing third base in the 3-1 win. Ryan Helsley is much, much farther away. But he is throwing bullpen sessions of 15-20 pitches, so that’s something.

A new Holliday takes the field at Busch Stadium | MLB.com
Matt Holliday made his name in St. Louis. He is in town with the Orioles this week to watch his son take that same field as a big leaguer. The series opener went well for him! Jackson was 3-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Orioles prospect Caden Hunter’s fastball opened doors. Now he’s building the rest. | The Baltimore Sun
Hunter is another intriguing pitching prospect that the Orioles found a bit later in last year’s draft. A sixth round pick out of USC, Hunter has a 2.01 ERA across three levels this season and has earned a spot in some “Top 100” lists.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Tyler Wells turns 32 today. The Orioles picked the big righty from the Twins in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, and then over the six subsequent seasons used him in a variety of roles on their pitching staff. Earlier this month he was traded to the Rays for pitching prospect Michael Forret.
• Maikel Franco is 34 years old. Better known as a hot prospect in the Phillies system that never reached his ceiling, Franco came to Baltimore in 2021 as a stopgap solution at third base. It did not go well.

This day in O’s history

1962 – The Orioles beat the Yankees 2-1 thanks to home runs from Brooks Robinson and Jim Gentile as well as nine impressive innings on the mound from Robin Roberts. That win completes a five-game sweep of the Bombers

1966 – Down 2-0 in the ninth inning, Vic Roznovsky and Boog Powell hit back-to-back pinch-hit home runs to knot things up 2-2 with the Red Sox. The game goes to extras, where the Orioles prevail 3-2.

1973 – For the 13th straight game, the Orioles are victorious, beating the Royals 10-1. Paul Blair contributes to the effort with an inside-the-park home run.

2012 – The Orioles acquire pitcher Joe Saunders from the Diamondbacks in exchange for reliever Matt Lindstrom.

St. Paul Saints 8, Toledo Mud Hens 3 (box)

Sawyer Gipson-Long was mauled again, and the Hens couldn’t get much going offensively on Tuesday.

Gipson-Long surrendered three homers in this one, and gave up four runs in the bottom of the first. The first season after Tommy John can be tough, but it’s hard to believe the right-hander is going to hang onto a 40-man roster spot much longer.

In the third, Seby Zavala drew a leadoff walk. A Max Burt double got him to third, and a Cal Stevenson ground out scored him to make it a 4-1 game.

In the fourth, Max Anderson led off with a double and moved to third on a John Peck single in his first game back off a rehab stint. Peck drew an errant pickoff throw and Anderson scored, but that’s all they’d get. Gipson-Long gave up a solo shot in the fourth to make it a 5-2 game.

In the top of the seventh, the Hens closed the gap when Josue Briceño singled off the wall in right with two outs and Peck smoked an opposite field double to move him to third. Good to have Peck back. He’s going to be a factor in 2027. A wild pitch scored Briceño, but again they couldn’t sustain a rally.

Hayden Minton’s second outing as a reliever went poorly, as he surrendered two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Jack Little gave up a run in the eighth with help of a passed ball on Zavala, and that was that.

Peck: 2-3, 2B, K

Anderson: 2-5, R, 2B, K

Gipson-Long (L, 2-6): 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: It’s an 8:07 p.m.. ET start, because why be normal, in St. Paul on Wednesday.

Altoona Curve 7, Erie SeaWolves 6 (box)

Zyhir Hope hit an absolute nuke in this one, while Peyton Graham set a new single season stolen base record for Erie as he stole his 59th and 60th bases of the season. However, the pitching staff let them down late as the Curve walked this one off.

Woody Hadeen opened the game by drawing a walk and stealing second. Thayron Liranzo singled him in and took second on the play. Peyton Graham lined out, but E.J. Exposito singled him in for a 2-0 lead.

Carlos Peña got the start, and the lefty surrendered a solo shot in the bottom of the first, and then three runs in the second.

Hope got a run back with a moonshot over the batter’s eye in center field to open the third inning. Liranzo followed with a single but was stranded. Peña allowed one more run in the bottom of the fifth before his outing ended, and it was 5-2 Altoona.

In the top of the sixth, Roberto Campos singled with two outs and rode home on Seth Stephenson’s second homer of the year to tie the game.

In the top of the ninth, the SeaWolves seized control. Hadeen and Hope singled, and a sacrifice fly from Liranzo plated the go-ahead run. Unfortunately Graham struck out and Exposito popped out to end the inning.

Zane Barnhart entered the game, replacing Moises Rodriguez, and looking for the save. He got two quick outs, and then walked to hitters and gave up a single that tied the game, and Easton Carmichael stepped to the plate and lined a single to left to walk it off.

Hope: 2-5, R, RBI, HR, K

Liranzo: 2-4, R, 2 RBI

Hadeen: 2-4, 2 R, BB, 2 SB

Graham: 1-5, K, 2 SB

Pena: 4.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:00 p.m. ET start on Wednesday.

Peoria Chiefs 2, West Michigan Whitecaps 0 (box)

Rayner Castillo threw another good game and then just ran out of gas at the end of his outing, but it mattered little as the Whitecaps were held to just two hits.

Castillo punched out nine last time out and is really coming on strong late in the season as his breaking balls and changeup have been much sharper. The easy mid-90’s gas on the big right-hander’s sinker continues to be a little scarce compared to late 2024 and early 2025, but at least he’s finishing the season strong.

He cruised through five innings, before issuing a one-out walk in the sixth as he topped 80 pitches. A double followed to score the run, and a Samuel Gil error allowed the runner to take third. Logan Berrier took over and immediately gave up the RBI single. Beyond that, the ‘Caps bullpen was nails.

Doubles from Beau Ankeney and Cristian Santana were the Whitecaps only hits, and after leaving between the eighth and ninth innings of Sunday’s game, Bryce Rainer wasn’t in the lineup. Nothing really seemed amiss when he came out of the game, so I doubt it’s anything serious but we’ll have to wait and see.

Santana: 1-3, 2B

Strong: 0-2, 2 BB, 2 K, SB

Ankeney: 1-4 , 2B, K

Castillo (L, 2-10): 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Wednesday night.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 6, Clearwater Threshers 5 (box)

Caleb Leys struggled in his start, but the kids brought their hitting shoes and some serious pop to take the first of six in Lakeland on Tuesday.

The Flying Tigers had the lead early when Jordan Yost led off the bottom of the first with a single and then stole second base. Tigers 2026 second rounder Tyson LeBlanc was the DH in this one for his first pro at-bat and he grounded out. Jesus Pinto came through with a single to get Yost to third, and he scored on a grounder from Angel de los Santos that went for an error. Cris Rodriguez’s first A-ball at-bat did not go well either, as the center fielder grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Leys dug himself into a hole in the second, and a two-out error from Yost contributed as the Threshers came back with three runs. Leys bounced back with a better third inning, although a foul ball down the first base line was close enough to really irritated the Threshers, with an ejection of the manager to follow. LeBlanc spanked a single up the middle for his first pro hit in the bottom half, although that went nowhere. Leys was wild in the fourth and again dug himself a deep hole and couldn’t escape, while another error, this one from De Los Santos at second didn’t help the cause.

So it was 5-1 Clearwater, but at that point the Flygers pulled it together and began the comeback. In the fifth, Pinto singled but was forced on a De Los Santos grounder. That worked, as Rodriguez hammered a 423 foot shot to right center field for his first home run in full season ball.

Rodriguez’s strikeout rate in the Complex League really put me off my feed as far as his future. There aren’t any examples of players striking out 30 percent of the time against that level of competition and succeeding, even at age 18. But we’ll see if he can make signficant progress next year or not before getting too down on his chances.

In the sixth, Brady Ballinger doubled, and Javier Osorio blasted a 109 mph shot to left to tie the game. Between Pinto, De Los Santos, Anibal Salas, and Osorio, the Tigers have a really talented, athletic group down there alongside the better known names like Yost, Michael Oliveto, whose bat looks outstanding btw, and Rodriguez.

Frenny Grant, Jose Guzman, and Pedro Garcia did great work out of the pen to smother the Threshers offense. Finally, in the bottom of the eighth, Yost walked, and singles from Salas and Pinto plated the go-ahead run. Garcia locked it down to earn the victory.

Osorio: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR

Pinto: 4-4, BB

Yost: 1-3, 2 R, 2 BB, K, SB

Leys: 3.1 IP, 5 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Wednesday night.

A couple weeks ago, as the Yankees got decent injury news regarding their trio of injured sluggers, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton, I posed the question: what would Stanton in particular look like when returned? The idea was that among those recovering stars, Stanton was the player with the widest error bars. Anything, from a scorching hot late summer like the one he produced in 2025, to the tepid batting line he posted at the start of this season, to devastating re-injury, seemed possible.

Well, we know how that turned out. Stanton indeed re-injured himself, and his season is likely over. Bellinger has returned, leaving Judge as the last, and most important, domino to fall. So, with rumors swirling about a possible Judge comeback in the next two weeks: what should we expect from the Captain?

As Judge (hopefully) approaches a healthy return, I think it’s worth remembering just how excellent the 34-year-old still looked prior to his injury. Judge first suffered a rib fracture against the Astros on April 26th, and told reporters later that he may have aggravated the fracture when he crashed into the right field wall on May 3rd against the Orioles. Judge had a robust .264/.403/.628 slash line that day, good for a 1.037 OPS. His OPS actually peaked a few days later, at 1.067 on May 6th.

That, to me, is the best-case scenario. Judge was, prior to his injury, by all accounts still among the very best in game, if not the best. Homing in on that May 6th peak, Judge had a 190 wRC+, a .442 wOBA, and a .457 expected wOBA. For context, Judge had a .463 wOBA and .459 expected wOBA for the entirety of his sensational 2025 campaign. All of this is to say, Judge at the start of the season was still Aaron Judge.

But the rib injury obviously impacted Judge as he attempted to play through pain. He had an .888 OPS in 31 games post-injury, great but entirely non Judge-like. He struggled much more as time went on and the injury presumably worsened, running a paltry .665 OPS in the three weeks before he finally withdrew from the lineup on May 31st. That latter figure feels like an almost inconceivable outcome for Judge as long as he’s not seriously injured. The former figure feels more plausible as the kind of production Judge could provide if he is still somewhat compromised or rusty when he returns.

For what it’s worth, public projection systems paint an optimistic picture. ZiPS pegs him for a 173 wRC+, and 1.2 fWAR in 101 plate appearances. While it’s unlikely Judge actually eclipses 100 PA’s in the remaining regular season games, that WAR figure is noteworthy. ZiPS essentially forecasts Judge at this very moment to be worth over 8 WAR per 700 plate appearances, which is another way of saying that ZiPS still projects Judge, even after this absence, as the best position player in the world on a rate basis.

How realistic is such a forecast? Obviously, it’s hard to say from the outside, with so little information about Judge’s health and how much time he’ll need to get back up to speed after a three-plus-month layoff. But we can gauge expectations using the clues available to us. Judge struggled mightily when compromised, but was still positively incredible when health earlier this year. Even accounting for his time on the sidelines, projections give us a rosy forecast. What do you think? Can Judge be a world-beater when he gets back?

Tonight, the series with the Astros continues in the Bronx, and on the site this morning, John profiles a Yankee legend (?) in Jayson Nix, who turns 44 today. Also, Andrew runs through what you may have missed on Tuesday night, Josh analyzes Mark Walter and The Dodgers Of It All, and Maximo discusses the challenges that come with a top-heavy lineup.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros

Time: 7:05 p.m. EST

TV: Amazon Prime Video, Space City Home Network

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

it might be fragment time. we just watched baseball until 1:15 AM.

in the early innings of Tuesday night’s game, the Guardians loaded the bases with no outs and didn’t score any runs from it, and Gavin Williams got shelled.

game over, right?

NO!

Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez responded by running the bases for 3 consecutive hours and Kurt Suzuki got to sit in the dugout and watch Jose thrive. His least favorite activity.

The result?

Slade Cecconi is rehabbing in AAA.

CDL feels better and PH in this game.

Around baseball

• Byron Buxton got injured. Taj Bradley threw an immaculate inning. And the Twins lost.

• Biebs hit the IL with an injured shoulder. 🙁

• My ability to form sentences improved as this post went on.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The Yankees’ captain, Aaron Judge, is slowly working his way back from a rib fracture sustained in late April. He took a significant step towards returning in September on Tuesday, taking some swings against overhand pitching for the first time in months. He has been throwing at distances of 100 feet, running, shagging fly balls, and performing other baseball-related activities, including tee-and-toss drills.

SNY | Phillip Martinez: Yankees left-hander Max Fried, currently in the midst of his second bone bruise-related IL stint of the season, has a chance to return this weekend. The Bombers will have a busy schedule this week, including a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, and manager Aaron Boone suggested that we could see the southpaw that day. The veteran threw four innings, about 60 pitches, of live batting practice on Monday. “We’ll see where we are as the next couple of days unfold,” Boone said. 

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: With Ryan Weathers hitting the injured list, the Yankees needed some good news on the pitching front. They definitely got them on Tuesday: not only is Max Fried on the way back and potentially an option for the weekend, but Clarke Schmidt threw about 20 pitches, with velocity in the mid-90s range. Per the reports, as long as his arm and body recover well, he should start a rehab assignment in the coming days. The right-hander will return as a reliever this year.

Schmidt, recovering from Tommy John surgery performed last summer, posted a 3.32 ERA in 2025 after making playoff starts for the 2024 team’s pennant run.

Yankees PR: The Yankees made a procedural move early on Tuesday, selecting recently-signed reliever Justin Topa’s contract to the active roster. Joel Sherman had reported that this move would be made. To make room for him, the organization transferred DH/OF Giancarlo Stanton to the 60-day injured list after a recent setback seriously jeopardized his chances of returning this season.

Also of note: Triple-A prospect Elmer Rodríguez reportedly has a locker in the Bronx this week, and since tonight’s starter is TBD, that could very well be him in his fifth career appearance (or at least serving in a bulk role). Bradley Hanner is a candidate to be demoted after throwing 25 pitches last night.

Eighteen pitchers in Mets history have concluded their first 10 major league starts with a sub-3.00 ERA.

There have been rocket ships such as Tom Seaver (2.64), Nolan Ryan (2.80) and Matt Harvey (2.73).

There is at least the making of a promising arm in Nolan McLean (2.16).

There have been footnotes such as Masato Yoshii (2.25) and Charlie Puleo (2.94).

And now there is a curiosity who might be turning into something more because through his first 10 major league starts, Zac Thornton’s ERA is 2.88.

With the 2026 season unofficially over, the 2027 rotation is looking a bit more promising every time the lefty is given the ball.

Tuesday that meant Thornton holding down the Brewers — who entered as the fourth-highest-scoring offense in the sport — for six innings in which he allowed just one run during a 3-2 victory at Citi Field.

“I thought I did a fine job just kind of changing speeds on them, basically one through nine, kind of used all the pitches,” said the left-hander, who mixed in seven distinct pitches, six of which induced a swing-and-miss.

He did not issue a walk and threw 62 of his 89 pitches for strikes.

A pitcher known for guile had a bit more gas, maxing out at 95.4 mph and later acknowledging with a smile, “I’m definitely seeing those 95s up there.”

He would love to maintain that velocity, but it’s possible he was a bit fresher pitching on six days’ rest.

Whether he has the extra tick or not, he continues to impress for a club that might be beginning to pencil him in to the 2027 rotation.

“I think he is who we thought he was: a fearless competitor who doesn’t care who gets in the batter’s box,” said interim manager Andy Green, “who might give up a home run on the first pitch of the game, and the rest of the game, he’s going to do what he does.”

Thornton only allowed one fourth-inning run — which probably deserves an asterisk, William Contreras awarded a double when a soft ground ball took a strange turn away from Bo Bichette — and otherwise, the Brewers did not have an answer for Thornton’s kitchen sink.

Virtually no one has since Thornton debuted with a four-run, 4 ¹/₃ inning clunker in Washington, which is the last time he has allowed four earned runs in a game.

Luis Robert Jr. drilled his sixth home run in his past 14 games, red-hot during a span in which his OPS has risen from .606 to .737.

Carson Benge tallied three more hits and an intentional walk, slashing .303/.363/.466 since May 1.

How Green will handle the playing time of his catchers the rest of the season will bear watching.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

For a second straight game, Francisco Alvarez sat in favor of Luis Torrens, this time against Brewers lefty Kyle Harrison.

Sometimes against opposing righties Green has played both, but against the southpaw it was Eric Wagaman who served as designated hitter rather than Alvarez.

Alvarez has been the typically unquestioned starter when healthy since 2023, while Torrens has been among the game’s best backups since arriving in the 2024 trade.

Before going 1-for-4, Torrens — who is the superior defender — entered hitting .393 with six home runs and 13 RBIs over his past 10 games. Alvarez is in a 2-for-33 slide.

“I think we’re still going to see Alvy out there very consistently,” Green said. “I think both of those guys are continuing to see the field quite a bit as we wrap up this season.

“Alvy obviously has gone through a stretch where he hasn’t swung the bat the way he has traditionally, but he’s really received well.”

Green defended Alvarez’s “under the hood” defense, in which Statcast has believed him to be a roughly average framer, slightly above average at throwing out runners and poor at blocking.

The usually lighter-hitting Torrens excels at each defensive category.

“I still believe immensely in Alvy’s upside,” Green said of the 24-year-old, who has had nice seasons but not yet the breakthrough that reminds of his former No. 1-prospect-in-baseball pedigree. “He’s still going to get a lot of at-bats.”

Green said he had no real update on Juan Soto, who has been sidelined for over a month (since July 24) with a left calf strain, or Devin Williams, out since Aug. 7 with a right shoulder strain.

Green said the club still believes both will return this season.

Mark Vientos is “not particularly close” to being an option for the Mets, Green said.

Vientos has gone 0-for-8 with a walk in three games with Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse so far in his first action since fracturing his hand on July 9.

“We’ll let kind of his play, how he feels and kind of the progression in general be determined by what happens on the field a little bit,” Green said. “When you hurt your hand, you need to get some at-bats and get going.”

PHOENIX — Their star second baseman hasn’t shown his face in the Arizona Diamondbacks' clubhouse since he went AWOL a week ago, and has yet to publicly apologize to a single teammate.

Their manager has been privately mocked and scorned inside and outside the organization for his public response to Ketel Marte's disappearing act.

Their starting rotation is a patchwork job with only one current starter who has been on their opening-day roster this entire season.

Their closer was released.

And yet, here are the Diamondbacks, staying alive in the National League wild-card race, showing uncanny resiliency with their MLB-leading 40^th comeback victory of the season, winning 5-4 over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, Aug. 25, capped by rookie Ryan Waldschmidt’s pinch-hit, walk-off homer with two outs in the ninth inning.

The Mariners brought a dumper to a duel.

George Kirby outpitched Aaron Nola on Tuesday in the Mariners electric 4-1 win over the Phillies. Kirby struck out nine over 7 2/3 innings and turned in his best outing of the year. Cal Raleigh smacked another homer, giving him four on the series. And the rest of the lineup scratched and clawed a few more runs late to give the Mariners an impressive, all around, and fun win. That’s back-to-back series victories over the top two Wild Card teams in the National League.

It’s been a weird season for Kirby, something I feel I’ve written a dozen times in the last five months. He’s walked a lot of batters (relative to himself) and struck out very few (relative to everyone). He survived the early part of the season by keeping the ball on the ground, but that’s no longer the case and he’s since been getting crushed. He’s often seemed to nibble at the edges of the zone, unable to get chase out of it, and unable to get whiffs in it. He gave up 11 runs in his last two starts, making early exits in both.

But Kirby on Tuesday looked like the near-ace level pitcher of the past. He attacked the zone relentlessly with his four-seamer, ripping upper-90s fastballs with his best velocity of the season (97.9 mph). When he did expand the zone with the slow and bendy stuff, he got chase 49% of the time. Kirby generated 21 whiffs on Tuesday — the second most in a game for his career. He was aggressive, sharp, and borderline unhittable.

It was obvious right from the jump that something was special for Kirby. He led off the game throwing three pretty much middle-middle fastballs to Kyle Schwarber, each greater than 98 mph, and Schwarber swung through them all. “I knew I had it today,” Kirby said of the four-seamer after the game. He then got ahead of Trea Turner with a few more fastballs registering 99 mph, before finishing him off with devastating sweeper away.

One of my favorite Kirby’s nine strikeouts came in the third. He painted a fastball low and away to Bryson Stott for a called strike, then threw a sweeper that made Stott swing at his shoes. Kirby ramped up and blew 99 mph past him on a pitch way up and out of the zone. It’s the sort of pinpoint power pitching that Kirby was once known for.

The Phillies did get to Kirby once in the second. A ground ball single, a bloop single, and a line drive single made it 1-0. It was a pretty weak run. Kirby followed it up by retiring 15 consecutive batters from the fourth inning until the eighth inning, when Bryce Harper picked up a two-out single that knocked Kirby out of the game. José Ferrer made quick work of Luis Arraez to escape the inning unscathed and preserve the Mariners 4-1 lead.

Four runs didn’t seem likely for the Mariners early. They couldn’t touch Aaron Nola for most of this one. I gotta admit: I love watching Nola pitch. I’m a huge fan of the Phillies Ace Factory of the last 15 years, from Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, and Cole Hamels, to Nola and Zack Wheeler, to the more contemporary choices of Jesús Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez (one might even give Ranger Suarez a nod for his performance last year).

Nola is a fun variation on the ace formula, an early adopter of “pitching backwards” approach — he throws his curveball as a primary pitch, and then has a trio of fastballs (plus a changeup) to attack each quadrant with precision. He’s the rare righty who’s never averaged better than 93 mph on his four-seamer but posts tip-top strikeout numbers regardless. There’s no such thing as a Hall of Fame pitcher these days, but Nola is right there as an inner-circle, Hall of Very Good pitcher, and I’ll be sad when he hangs it up.

Now, it’s fair to say Nola is a bit past his prime. He entered the day with a 5.12 ERA and 4.92 FIP over 26 starts. He’s still proven capable of missing bats, but he’s had a pesky walk issue and a peskier home run issue that seems to be getting worse with age. He’d given up 31 homers this year when he took the mound Tuesday, the most in the majors.

And he gave up homer number 32 in the second inning when Cal Raleigh stepped to the plate for the time. It was Cal’s fourth home run of the series after he clobbered three — yes, three —in Monday’s series opener. It seems, after five months of misery, Cal is finally breaking out. His teammates greeted him the dugout with borderline disbelief. 

But Nola was otherwise dominant. He got some nice chase and whiff on that biting curveball. He dotted up the Mariners for 20 called strikes, including 15 on the fastball and sinker. It’s not often a team watches that many fastballs for strikes, but snarky “Mariners” grumblings aside, he was getting tons of arm-side run Tuesday that froze batters on the black. He even broke out the cutter, which he uses like a slider, on the third time through the order. I mean, look at this at bat against J.P. Crawford, who was playing in first game after a month-long trip on the IL. (If you want to see what that called strike three look like, it’s the third clip in this pretty filthy highlight package wrapping up Nola’s day).

The Mariners did finally scratch another run across in Nola’s sixth and final inning. Julio hit one of his classic slow choppers to the left of second base and beat the throw to first. He got himself into scoring position with a steal of second. And then he came around to score when Josh Naylor hit a rope back up the middle. Julio has been in a bit of a slump the last few weeks, but his speed hasn’t, and sometimes that’s all he needs to create a run.

It was the pressure the Mariners put on Nola in the sixth that finally chased him from the game. Orion Kerkering got the ball for the Phillies in the seventh. He got a quick groundout, then loaded the bases by plunking Taylor Ward, giving up a seeing-eye single to Crawford, and walking Brock Rodden The moment felt right for a Randy Arozarena grand slam, but he swung way out of the zone and popped out.

That compelled Don Mattingly to bring in Brooks Raley , apparently unaware of the Mariners longstanding history of winning games against Brooks Raley. He tried catch Dom Canzone on the low-and-away quadrant with a sweeper, and Canzone stayed right on it, slapping a hard liner the other way for a clutch two RBI single to extend the Mariners lead to 4-1.

Canzone said he was going over the game plan as the inning unfolded, knowing Raley was warming up in the bullpen to face him.

“When he’s warming up, probably about four or five batters deep, just trying to develop a plan with Seitzer, especially with runners on,” Canzone said. “I had an idea he was probably going to try to spin me to death, as they’ve been trying to do all series. So just trusting in that process and just trying to stay behind it. Just trying to stay through the middle of the field, keep it simple as possible.”

The hit gave Andrés Muñoz a bit of cushion for the ninth. It wasn’t the coziest inning, with a pair of walks to put the tying run at the plate. But after pumping a pair of triple-digit heaters, Muñoz spun a brilliant slider low and away that Bryan De La Cruz couldn’t touch for strike three. The Mariners won 4-1, taking the series from the Phillies.

The Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Angels faced off in game two of a three game series. Cleveland had the Big Rig Gavin Williams on the mound and were expecting a typical, incredible performance from the ace.

Things did not turn out as expected. Every starting pitcher, especially this late in the season, are liable for a stinker. Gavin Williams chose to cash in his one free stinker coupon for tonight’s game. He didn’t even make it out of the second inning. Gavin gave up five runs on six hits and a walk and threw 62 pitches in the process. It made for a bullpen game, and the bullpen showed up.

Matt Festa finished the second and pitched the third, only walking a batter. Craig Yoho gave up a hit but kept the fourth scoreless. Logan Allen threw three innings, gave up a solo home run, and struck out two. Colin Holderman came on in the eighth. He kept it scoreless in his inning of work, with Angel Martínez robbing Mike Trout of a two-run home run to retire the side.

I’m sure plenty of fans turned off the game, expecting the worst, when it was 5-0 going into the fourth. At that point in the game, the Guardians had already left four runners in scoring position and blew two bases loaded situations. It was looking like what many fans have come to view as the norm for this team’s offense.

In the fourth inning, catcher Patrick Bailey drew a lead off walk and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. With two outs, Steven Kwan singled to third to put runners on the corners. Travis Bazzana slapped the first pitch, a four-seamer, to center for an RBI double.

José Ramírez followed up with a double of his own to score two and bring the Guardians within two.

The fourth inning marked the start of the Guards mounting a comeback and a back and forth battle with the Angels. In the bottom of the fifth, three singles gave the Guards one more run with two outs thanks to a Brayan Rocchio RBI single. Steven Kwan singled on a ground to right scoring Petey Halpin to tie the game.

The Angles came back, but Cleveland had an answer in the top of the eighth. Steven Kwan lead off the inning with a single to center. José hit a one-out RBI double to left to tie the game at six runs each. Erik Sabrowski came on in the ninth to try and push the game into extras. He looked about as sharp as he has this season, with three strikeouts to retire the side and give the offense a chance to take the lead.

In the top of the tenth, Steven Kwan singled to right, moving the ghost runner (Brayan Rocchio) to third. With one out, José hit his third double of the night, scoring both Rocchio and Kwan to give the Guardians the lead for the first time this game.

Cade Smith came on in the tenth, looking for this 35th save of the year. Smith hit the first batter and a sac bunt put the tying run in scoring position. That didn’t matter for Cade. He struck out the next two batters, extending the win streak to six games.

This game felt like a pivotal moment for this team. At any other point in the season, this would have been a wash and a loss. The offense rallied together to pick up their starting pitcher and still pull off a win. Steven Kwan went 5-for-5 with a walk, three runs, and an RBI. José Ramírez went 3-for-6 with three doubles and five RBIs. He also stole his 30th base on the season in tonight’s game.

Cleveland will finish off this series tomorrow with a 4:07 PM EDT start with Joey Cantillo on the mound. With tonight’s win, the Guardians are sitting back above .500 and in second place in the AL Central.

Mark Grace perhaps said it best in the postgame show when he said, “Im not sure we have seen a more unlikely Dbacks win the season”

The almost Dback Clay Holmes shut this Dbacks offense down for 7 innings. The Dbacks had a deal in place for Holmes per multiple reports but the deal fell through at the last minute due to medicals. The fact that he was almost a Dback made the first 7 innings of this game sting all that much more, especially given the current status of this rotation.

Brandon Pfaadt was pretty good today pitching into the 7^th inning tonight and allowing 4 runs while keeping his team within striking distance. The Cubs have the 2^nd best offense in the league and Pfaadt did a decent enough job of keeping them in check. His first 3 innings were pretty easy getting lots of soft contact, however he gave up a 3 run HR in the 4^th inning on a hanging curveball to Ian Happ. Most importantly however, like I mentioned earlier, he was able to settle back in after the home run and give his team 6.2 innings against a red hot offense.

The Dbacks offense finally woke up in the 8^th inning as they were able to finally get on the board with 3 runs due to some linked up at bats with a couple of walks and a huge double from the red hot Gabi Moreno and a single from Geraldo Perdomo. When this offense has been clicking this season, it seems as though it is starting with the bottom of the order getting on base for the top of the order.

The story of the game however was Ryan Waldsschmidt who for the second time this season hit a walkoff home run off of a contending team’s closer. This time it came as a pinch hitter with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9^th with Jose Fernandez pinch running at first base for Tim Tawa. The Dbacks were inches away from losing this game as Jose Fernandez was narrowly able to steal 2^nd base and get into scoring position down 4-3. Then Waldschmidt got a hanging slider and did not miss it! What an electric moment and perhaps the biggest swing of the season thus far considering that the Dbacks were able to gain a game on both the Padres and the Phillies tonight on 1 single swing. What a great moment for this team!

The Dbacks will look to win the series tomorrow night and in the postgame interview Torey Lovullo insisted that Jordan Lawlar will be in the lineup tomorrow which is tremendous news for this team and for a guy that has had such unfortunate injury luck in his early career. So all is right in the desert tonight and what a tremendous boost for this team as the Dbacks will go into tomorrow 1 game out of a wild card spot!

As the race for the National League Rookie of the Year heats up, Carson Benge continues to make his case, and he did so again on Tuesday.

Going up against the MLB-best Brewers, the Mets outfielder went 3-for-4 with a walk in the team's 3-2 win. But it's that walk that's particularly interesting.

With the ghost runner on second with one out in a tied game in the 10th, the Brewers elected to intentionally walk Benge. Of course, the outfielder had three hits already in the game, but the Brewers felt it was necessary to walk the rookie in this key situation. As interim manager Andy Green sees it, the move was a sign of respect.

"I wish they pitched to Carson," Green said after the win. "When you’re sitting on the top step of the dugout wishing they’d pitch to your guy, it’s pretty shrewd they don’t pitch to your guy. Fairly straightforward there, just a really good contact hitter with a runner on second and a base open in the 10th. I get what they were thinking on that side.

"It’s a little bit of a declaration to the league that this guy is a really good hitter."

And Benge has shown that, especially of late. 

Tuesday was Benge's 11th game this season with at least three hits, which is the most by a rookie in Mets history and tied for the ninth-most in the majors this season, per Elias. 

He's hit safely in each of his last five games and has recorded multiple hits in four of them. His 134 hits this season are tied for the seventh-most in franchise history with Lee Mazzilli. 

And while the Reds' Sal Stewart may have an edge in the offensive department and the Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt on defense, Green sees Benge as having the best of both worlds.

Before the game, the Mets skipper was asked whether Benge has a legit case to be named NL Rookie of the Year, and he said he does for that reason.

"Well-rounded players that impact the game are what every manager wants, and you want that every single time and Carson has been that," Green explained. "When you look at where he’s come from the start of the year to where he is now, it’s fun to see him take steps forward."

In August, Benge is batting .359, the fifth-best in the majors this month, with a 1.015 OPS.

Since May 1, he is slashing .303/.363/.466 with an .829 OPS. In the majors over that span, he ranks fifth in hits and seventh in average among qualifiers.

The offense continued to sputter to begin the road trip and wasted another encouraging effort from Aaron Nola as the Philadelphia Phillies (73-60) dropped their second straight against the Seattle Mariners (64-69) on Tuesday night.

Mariners’ starter, George Kirby, kept the offense in check most of the night but allowed the first run of the game in the second inning as Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh and Justin Crawford strung together a trio of one-out singles.

After registering his first three-homer game last night, Cal Raleigh tied the game with a solo shot to begin the bottom of the second for his fourth home run in as many at bats.

Nola conceded the tie in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Josh Naylor following a one-out single and a steal by Julio Rodriguez.

Aside from the two runs on three hits and three walks, Nola looked to still be in command of his stuff entering the seventh inning with 92 pitches. Don Mattingly opted to give way to Orion Kerkering who, after getting a ground out to start the inning, loaded the bases on a hit by pitch, single and a walk. Kerkering induced a pop out by Randy Arozarena for the second out and Mattingly went to Brooks Raley to face the lefty, Dominic Canzone. Raley left a 1-1 sweeper over the plate that Canzone laced to left for a two-RBI single to effectively put the game away.

In Kerkering and Raley’s defense, the offense had no answers for Kirby & Co. Kirby begrudging left the game two outs into the eighth after allowing a hit to Bryce Harper but the minor threat was quickly erased by Jose Ferrer on a Luis Arraez ground out.

Jonathan Bowlan pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth and Alec Bohm and Crawford worked a pair of walks against Mariners’ closer, Andres Munoz, to create a two-out threat in the ninth, but a pinch-hitting-for-Garrett-Stubbs Bryan De La Cruz struck out on four pitches to close it out.

The Phillies will try to stave off the sweep tomorrow afternoon as Jesus Luzardo faces off against Bryan Woo.

Both teams came out swinging tonight, combining for 25 hits and 18 runs, but the White Sox (69-63) beat up on Jacob deGrom and outlasted the Rangers (66-67), 11-7. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous getting through this one, but this was a huge win for the South Siders coming off a blowout loss, and at the very least they will still hold a 2 1/2-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians.

The South Side offense snapped back to life Tuesday and absolutely dominated deGrom, plating six in the bottom of the first after batting around, sending Anthony Kay into the second with plenty of run support. It’s clear that deGrom wasn’t on his A game, but the Good Guys were much more selective and patient at the plate, striking out just twice against the righthander while walking five times. It marked the second time in just a few weeks that the veteran walked five batters in an outing.

Things got out of control fairly quickly for the former Cy Young Award winner. Sam Antonacci led off the game with a double, and deGrom subsequently walked Munetaka Murakami to put two aboard for the hot-hitting Miguel Vargas. The Rangers didn’t record an out until Chase Meidroth popped out to first baseman Jake Burger in foul territory with the bases loaded, but the White Sox had already pushed across two runs. Vargas hit a single to left, while a throwing error by Wyatt Langford allowed Antonacci to score and moved Mune to third. Braden Montgomery followed with a line-drive base hit to left that brought home Murakami and made it 2-0.

Speaking of staying hot, Tristan Peters came through in the clutch yet again, mashing a broken-bat double that put two more runs on the scoreboard and stretched the lead to 4-0. With Peters and Colson Montgomery on second and third, Brenton Doyle kept the hit train rolling, singling up the middle to drive in both runners and make it 6-0.

deGrom walked his final two batters to put two aboard in the bottom of the fourth. Although he induced a ground ball, the Rangers couldn’t complete the double play, prompting Skip Schumaker to turn to the bullpen to stop the bleeding. Immediately after Cole Winn replaced him, Colson and Meidroth mashed back-to-back RBI singles to tack on two more insurance runs, both of which were charged to deGrom. The veteran righthander ended his 3 2/3-inning outing with eight runs allowed on six hits, raising his ERA to 4.21.

Lefthander Anthony Kay looked sharp for most of his outing, allowing only one run through the first four frames: a solo homer by Jake Burger to center. But a switch flipped in the top of the fifth, and Kay surrendered three more runs before Jordan Hicks replaced him with two outs. It was a wild sequence after four innings of solid work: Cody Freeman singled, a wild pitch moved him to second, Danny Jansen blasted a two-run homer, and Kay hit Justin Foscue with a pitch. It was the 25th batter Kay has hit this season, the most among major league pitchers.

Kay recorded two big outs by striking out Corey Seager and Brandon Nimmo, though he walked Langford between the two strikeouts, moving Foscue into scoring position. Ezequiel Duran then ripped an RBI single to left, and that was the last straw for Will Venable, who turned to Hicks to shut Texas down. Kay ultimately allowed four runs on six hits — including two home runs — with two walks and four strikeouts, raising his ERA slightly to 4.09. The move to Hicks worked perfectly, as he struck out Burger to end the inning and prevent any additional runs from being charged to Kay.

The good news for the White Sox was that the offense kept rolling, getting two of those three runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Drew Romo walked to lead off the frame, and Antonacci smashed a triple into the right-field corner as the next batter, scoring Romo all the way from first. Although he still should not be part of the White Sox’s future catching plans, Romo has stepped it up offensively over his last seven games, posting a much more respectable .222/.364/.389 slash line with a .753 OPS. Vargas mashed his second hit of the night to drive in Antonacci for the South Siders’ 10th run, restoring their six-run lead at 10-4.

In the blink of an eye, the Rangers offense made things uncomfortable again. After scoring three runs in consecutive innings, Texas had trimmed the lead to 10-7 and put the game within striking distance. Hicks fell apart in the sixth, allowing a pinch-hit single to Joc Pederson before Jansen doubled him home. Justin Foscue then blasted a two-run homer to turn the game into a full-fledged slugfest.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Good Guys answered back. They didn’t get all three runs back, but Peters provided one with a solo bomb — his fourth home run in as many games. Peters has been on a tear lately, slugging .909 over his last seven games with a double and four homers, good for a 1.309 OPS. The homer was Peters’ third hit of the night, leaving him a triple shy of the cycle.

Peters came up once more in the bottom of the eighth with Meidroth on first after his third hit of the night, but former White Sox pitcher Tyler Alexander didn’t want to give him anything to hit. Alexander issued him a four-pitch walk, allowing Peters to reach base for the fifth time in the game.

Both bullpens surrendered three runs after the starters departed, but lefthanders Bryan Hudson and Hagen Smith were able to pick up Hicks over the next three innings. Hudson came in to put out the fire in the sixth, then worked a 1-2-3 seventh to halt the momentum Texas had built. Smith was set to handle the final two innings, and the lefty was excellent in the eighth despite allowing a double to Justin Foscue for his second hit of the night. The Rangers couldn’t build on it, and Smith struck out Seager to end the inning. Foscue’s double was just the second hit Smith had allowed since being called up to the big leagues, showing how nasty he can be when he commands his pitches.

Unfortunately, Smith couldn’t maintain that command and made things a little too interesting in the top of the ninth. He walked three batters to load the bases with two outs, putting the Rangers one swing away from tying the game at 11-11 — and one swing away from potentially giving me a heart attack. Venable wasn’t taking any chances with Smith’s inconsistency, so he called on Grant Taylor to shut things down and record the final out. Taylor did just that. With two pitches, the righty secured his eighth save of the season and a much-needed win for the South Siders.

As of publication, both the Twins and Guardians are losing, so it would be lovely for the White Sox to gain a full game on both teams. The Sox need to keep their heads down, take it one at-bat at a time and play their game. When they play loose like they did tonight, they can do plenty of damage at the plate. It’s time to take care of business, focus on what they can control and show up tomorrow ready to close out the series with a win.

MVP
Tristan Peters: 3-for-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2B, HR in fourth-straight game

Runners-Up
Sam Antonacci: 2-for-4, 3 R, RBI, BB, K, 2B, 3B
Chase Meidroth: 3-dor-5, RBI, K
Miguel Vargas: 2-for-4, R, RBI, BB, K
Brenton Doyle: 2-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 K, SB

Cold Cat
Jordan Hicks: 1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 K, HR

Runners-Up
Anthony Kay: 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HR, WP, HB
Munetaka Murakami: 0-for-4, R, BB, K
Drew Romo: 0-for-4, R, BB, 2 K