Category: Baseball

They endured an 85-game absence from Aaron Judge and rarely had their full complement of starting pitchers available. Yet, the New York Yankees ended up where they almost always do — the postseason.

The Yankees clinched their ninth playoff berth in 10 seasons — and 27th in the past 32 seasons — thanks to the Toronto Blue Jays' 6-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Monday, Sept. 14. Detroit locked down the victory shortly after the Yankees took a 7-2 eighth-inning lead over the Minnesota Twins; they'd go on to an 8-3 win, assuring the club did not back into the playoffs.

They still harbor hopes of winning the AL East, their victory at Minnesota pulling them to within 3 1/2 games of the Tampa Bay Rays, who clinched their own playoff berth Friday. Yet at 87-63, the Yankees have proven along with the Rays that they're the most consistent forces in a weak AL field this season.

This one had everything. Troy Melton struggled and got knocked out early, but the bullpen managed to bend without breaking. Meanwhile, the young Tigers hitters were centre stage as they fought back repeatedly with good at-bats late in this one to win their fifth game in a row. Kenley Jansen picked up his 496th major league save to wrap up the victory.

Monday night’s first of three at the Rogers Centre featured Melton against right-hander José Soriano. The Blue Jays have had almost as strange a season as the Tigers. Struggling through the first half, they moved long time top starter Kevin Gausman, but acquired Soriano at the deadline as well, and have kept themselves in the thick of the wild card race.

Things didn’t start off too well as the Tigers quickly went 1-2-3 in the first, and Melton immediately dug himself a hole. Brett Bateman led off by slashing a single the opposite way past a diving Hao-Yu Lee for a leadoff single. Bateman appeared to be thrown out stealing second on a pitch that was called a ball and incorrectly challenged by Dillon Dingler to walk George Springer. So everyone was safe, and after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded out to advance the runners, Alejandro Kirk singled home Bateman for a 1-0 lead.

Melton didn’t help his cause against Nathan Lukes by yanking a wild pitch to score Springer, but he retired Lukes and Kazuma Okamoto flew out to Clark to end the first inning. 2-0 Blue Jays.

A Dingler strikeout started the second inning, and Max Clark and Brett Callahan grounded out.

Andrés Gimenez singled in the bottom of the second, but Melton started finding his mark with his secondary stuff, striking out Josh Smith. Ernie Clement singled as well, but Melton froze Bateman with a perfect fastball on the bottom rail, but then he turned right around and walked Springer to load the bases with two outs. Melton then tied up Guerrero with a sinker in to get a ground out to McGonigle at shortstop, escaping the jam. He was living very dangerously, however.

The Tigers again went down in order in the top of the third, with Spencer Torkelson and Hao-Yu Lee striking out. Torkelson blew the Tigers last challenge on a called strike that was upheld in the process.

Melton’s faltering command continued in the third. He walked Kirk and surrendered a double to Lukes on a first pitch curveball as he tried to mix things up while he hunted for the handle on his slider, cutter, and changeup, none of which were sharp. Okamoto grounded out, and Gimenez whiffed on a sinker to strike out. The pitch count was soaring for Melton, but he was one out from escaping the jam. Instead, he walked Smith to load the bases, and that was the end of his night. Beau Brieske took over looking to get out of traffic, and he did so, getting a sharp ground out to McGonigle off the bat of Clement. So it was still 2-0 Blue Jays, but they had to be kicking themselves for not blowing this one open.

The Tigers continued to struggle with Soriano’s power sinker in the fourth. McGonigle flew out, Torres grounded out on a first pitch curveball, and Riley Greene grounded out on a sinker. There was a chance to take some momentum out of stranding a ton of runners in the second and third and turn this into a new ballgame, but they failed to do so, and now it was a battle of the Tigers’ middle relief core vs. Soriano, and you don’t love those odds.

Brieske got Bateman on a ground out to Torres to start the bottom half. Springer did a nice job fouling off Brieske’s new mid-80’s power curve in a 2-2 count, then fought off a pair of fastballs and another curve. Brieske turned to a perfectly located slider down and away, and Springer nearly fell over as he swung, lifting a pop fly to McGonigle. Guerrero got to a full count but then took a slider right at the bottom of the zone. It was called a strike, but challenged, and Guerrero drew the fifth walk issued by Tigers’ pitching. After a battle, Kirk grounded one to McGonigle, who stepped on second and then fired to first to record the fourth out in the inning.

Heads up, Kevin. The Jays had stranded eight runners to this point.

Frustration continued in the fifth. Dingler grounded out, and Callahan hit the sinker hard but back to Soriano, who made a nice snag for the second out. The power sinker continued to defeat the Tigers as Clark grounded out to send it to the bottom half. That was all 15 hitters retired in order for Soriano.

Brieske’s pitch count topped 30 as he fought through a long at-bat against Lukes. Tyler Holton was warming as Brieske finally blew Lukes away with a fastball pretty much right down the middle, but the right-hander was getting 18-19 inches of IVB in this one after averaging 17 inches thus far this season. Okamoto whiffed on another good heater for the second out, and that was good work from Mr. Brieske. Holton took over to battle Giménez. Holton got ahead with a good sweeper and finished with one that coaxed a routine grounder to Torres to send us to the sixth inning.

Soriano punched out Torkelson again as his fifth victim on the night, and remained perfect in the process. Soriano finally cracked a bit, falling behind against Zach McKinstry 3-1. He spotted a sinker just a hair off the edge to walk him, and Kirk surprisingly didn’t challenge that one. So, perfecto over, but Lee flew out to right field for the second out. That left it to McGonigle, who tapped one in front of the plate for the final out of the inning.

Myles Straw pinch-hit for Smith and flew out to Clark to start the bottom of the sixth. Clement made better contact but flew out to Clark as well. Bateman tried a bunt, but Holton pounced on it and threw him out for a snappy inning.

Soriano’s 70th pitch was a sinker for a strike to Torres, opening the seventh inning. The veteran second baseman finally drew a bead on the sinker and lined a solid single to centre field. That ended the no-hitter bid, drawing a little ovation from the Blue Jays faithful. Suddenly, the Jays had bigger concerns as Greene stepped in as the potential tying run in the game.

Soriano worked ahead of the Tigers’ slugger 0-2, then missed with a curveball away. Greene fouled off a splitter next, and Soriano missed twice to work the count full. Another sinker was rifled to centre field for a single that moved Torres to third. Dingler pounced on a first pitch curveball and pulled a single to left, scoring Torres to make it a 2-1 Jays lead. Just like that, Soriano was fading, Paul Sewald was warming in the pen, and Brett Callahan was in the box with a chance to tie things up.

Soriano fired three straight low 90’s splitters and Callahan took the first two and fouled off the third. Soriano missed away with a breaking ball, but in a 3-1 count a wayward splitter up in the zone was lifted to left for the first out of the inning. Now Soriano had to deal with Max Clark and quickly fell behind in the count. Clark slashed a sinker deep into the left field corner just fair, both runners scored, and Clark cruised into second with a two-run double. Torkelson pulled a sinker down the left field line as well, and Clark scored in first gear while Tork cruised into second. 4-2 Tigers.

That was the end for Soriano. So often when a no-hitter bid ends, the adrenaline dump seems to just fold up said pitcher quickly. Good job by the Tigers battling and breaking through. Paul Sewald came on to face McKinstry.

McKinstry popped out, leaving it up to Hao-Yu Lee to extend the inning. Lee smoked the first pitch he saw to deep left field, but Straw made a great running catch to rob him, and Lee could only laugh ruefully at that bit of defense. On to the bottom half, with the Tigers now leading 4-2.

Kyle Finnegan was next out of the Tigers’ pen, facing Springer to start the bottom of the seventh. Nine outs to collect. Springer pulled a hard grounder into the hole and McGonigle couldn’t quite pick it on the backhand. Springer was pushing to beat out the hit and came up a little gimpy. A first pitch slider to Guerrero got driven to centre, and the crowd got excited, but Clark cruised back and handled it easily. Calm down, Toronto.

Finnegan then dug himself a 3-0 hole against Kirk. He spotted a fourseamer for a strike, but the next one was a smoked one-hopper that ate up Torres and skipped into right centre for a single. So, first and second, one out, with Lukes coming to the dish as Dingler went out to chat with Finnegan. AJ Hinch had Drew Sommers simmering in the pen, but he wasn’t quite ready yet, so Finnegan battled the lefty. They fought to a full count, and Finnegan challenged him with two fourseamers up that got fouled off. A third heater in the zone got a routine fly out to Callahan in left.

Okamoto, as analyst Andy Dirks reminded us throughout this at-bat, is a very dangerous fastball hitter. So Finnegan spotted a breaking ball down for strike one. A slider on the outer edge was fouled off, and so, would it be a breaking ball expanding the zone away, or a heater up? It was a heater up and in with perfect location, but even so, Okamoto turned quickly and yanked it just foul. Instead of learning the lesson, Dingler called for a heater again and this one was over the middle and hammered to left for a three-run shot.

Bad pitch call there, and even worse location. Someone needs to talk to the Tigers catchers about getting too cute because they fear the best pitch to call is too obvious. This has been a late innings theme all year, but more to the point, these guys just don’t have any dominant pitches other than Sommers. 5-4 Blue Jays.

Old friend Joe Mantiply was out for the Blue Jays in the eighth. McGonigle greeted the lefty with a solid single to right field, trying to rally his team right back into this one. Torres flew out, but Greene smoked sinker in to right field for a single to get McGonigle to third. Mantiply was done with Dingler coming up and relief ace Louis Varland took over. He punched out Dingler on a nasty right-on-right changeup that drew the whiff. And so, it was up to Callahan. The left fielder is always aggressive, and he got a first pitch changeup away and dumped a blooper off the end of the bat down the left field line for an RBI single to tie the game 5-5. Max Clark took a tough strike one call and had no challenges to contest it. He then slapped a hard grounder to third for the final out, but hey we had a pretty fun back and forth game going at least.

Hinch turned to slider enthusiast Tyler Kinley in the bottom of the eighth. McGonigle retired the speedy Straw on a hard grounder to the backhand to start the frame. An 0-1 slider to Okamoto was hit to the warning track in left but Callahan was right there to catch it. Kinley got ahead of Bateman 1-2 and he grounded out to Torres to end the inning.

Varland was still on the mound in the ninth, and while Torkelson couldn’t handle his 99 mph, Varland walked him anyway. McKinstry bunted foul for strike one. A second attempt was fair but too firm, and Guerrero fired to second to get the lead runner. McKinstry was looking to make up for it by stealing second and he did so successfully, taking advantage of Kirk’s mediocre arm. Lee slapped a little grounder to Guerrero’s right, and his leading throw to Varland was dropped. McKinstry roared around third to score as Lee held at first. 6-5 Tigers.

They called it an error on Varland, but it wasn’t a very good feed from Guerrero either. McGonigle smelled blood in the water and ripped a single into the right centre field gap for his third knock of the night. Varland dusted Torres with 99 mph up and in, and so it was two on, two outs, for Riley Greene. Varland fell behind 2-0 with changeups away, then yanked a fastball that nearly hit him to make it 3-0. Varland got back into the count, and Greene lined out to Bateman in centre field.

So now, we were going to get Kenley Jansen trying to save a one-run game. Surely nothing would go wrong here…

John Peck entered the game at shortstop, moving McGonigle to third, and Lee to second base for defensive reasons. Jansen meanwhile fell behind 3-0 against Springer. He then called out the home plate umpire to examine the mound, and the groundscrew came out to repair the cavernous hole in front of the rubber. The Blue Jays faithful did not approve.

Jansen was satisfied with their efforts after a practice pitch, and the game resumed. He dotted a cutter at the top of the zone to make it 3-1, but then missed up to walk the leadoff hitter. Cool, cool. Charles McAdoo came on to pinch-run, knowing that Jansen is easy to steal on. Guerrero dug into the batter’s box, and Tigers fans chewed their nails.

After a first pitch strike, Jansen threw over twice, and that put up the green light for McAdoo, but he didn’t run as Guerrero swung out of his spikes trying to get a high cutter. Another one was fouled straight back, and another down in the zone went right by Vladdy for strike three. Kirk was up next, and tougher to beat up with the high cutter. A 1-1 slider drew a huge whiff as the catcher corkscrewed himself into the batter’s box. Good timing on that pitch. McAdoo really seemed uncertain about running, and he did not. Instead. Kirk grounded another slider into a 6-4-3 double play to put this one to bed.

Heck of an effort in this one. The kids came through again and again, as did Greene and Torkelson. Frankly, as scary as they are, the bullpen held up decently over six innings of work.

Instead of the Blue Jays tying for the final Wild Card spot, the Tigers recaptured third place in the AL Central, and hilariously are still only 4.5 games out of the final spot themselves with 12 games remaining. No, this isn’t going to happen unless they win out or something, but it’s still evidence of what a bizarre season this has been, in the American League especially.

Tigers 6, Blue Jays 5: BOX SCORE

Both Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor entered tonight’s game with 299 career home runs, and both players left the game still in pursuit of the milestone number. Alonso received a hero’s welcome in his return to New York, but it was Gunnar Henderson that stole the show in the low-scoring affair.

Henderson launched a go-ahead home run in the top of the eighth to propel Baltimore to a 2-1 victory over the Mets at Citi Field.

Henderson stepped in to face Dedniel Núñez with two out and nobody on base. The shortstop took a pitch inside before getting a slider over the heart of the plate. Henderson launched his 23rd home run over the season to right-center field, and the Orioles bullpen closed out the game without any drama.

The blast marked some rare offense for either team. Both starters limited their opponent to only one run, but New York’s Jonah Tong was the more efficient of the two. Brandon Young needed a career-high 106 pitches to complete five frames. Young worked his way into several jams with five hits allowed and five free passes, but he kept finding ways to escape innings unscathed.

Young walked the first batter he faced before generating an inning-ending double play ball from Bo Bichette. He retired Carson Benge and Jared Young to start the second before loading the bases with a single and a pair of walks. Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez entered the game with brutal numbers with the bases loaded, and Young struck him out on four pitches to end the threat.

Young allowed singles to Benge and Juan Soto but still managed to post a zero in the third. Surprisingly, his only blemish came without any traffic on the bases. Young fell behind in the count to A.J. Ewing before leaving a curveball slightly above the knees. The rookie skied the ball over the right-field fence to even the score at one in the fourth.

Baltimore’s leader in wins needed to pitch at least five innings to have a chance at one tonight, but his pitch count climbed after walks to Soto and Jared Young. Marcus Semien stepped in with Young set to hit the century mark, and it became clear that Semien would be the last batter Young faced regardless of the result. The veteran infielder worked the count full before grounding out to end the inning.

The Orioles, on the other hand, struggled to solve Tong. The Birds needed a little help to pick up their only run against the 23-year-old. Jackson Holliday managed a one-out single in the second, and Heston Kjerstad laced a hard hit grounder toward first base. Brett Baty may have fielded the ball cleanly if it hadn’t perfectly hit the lip between the grass and the dirt. The ball took an awkward bounce as it skipped by Baty and into right field. Holliday raced home to score the first run of the game, and Kjerstad made his way to second with an RBI double.

That was it for the Birds against Tong. The baby-faced starter held Baltimore to only four hits and one walk over six innings. He struck out six.

Tong also deserved credit for navigating a challenging situation with Pete Alonso. The Mets crowd gave their former first baseman an extremely warm welcome and appeared to be rooting for the Polar Bear every time he stepped to the plate. The crowd awed as Alonso clobbered a ball to the left of the foul pole in his second at bat, but Tong avoided the type of fate that Young experienced in Adley Rutschman’s return to Baltimore. Alonso finished 0-for-3 with a walk.

Fortunately, Baltimore’s bullpen did its part. Josh Walker delivered a clean sixth and returned to record the first two outs of the seventh. Yennier Cano entered to get the third out of the inning, and Grant Wolfram worked around a leadoff single in the eighth.

The Henderson blast put Baltimore in a save situation, and Craig Albernaz turned to Rico Garcia. Garcia generated a harmless fly ball from Baty, a grounder from Alvarez, and a can of corn from Lindor to secure a 2-1 win for the Birds.

The win brought the Orioles to 73-78 on the season. The Guardians fell to 76-75 with a loss to Chicago this evening. Toronto and Texas remain in between the two teams in the wild card standings.

Gunnar Henderson delivered the go-ahead blast, but Josh Walker and Rico Garcia shined in relief. Make your pick for the Most Birdland Player of the Game in the comments below.

Odds are, Marcus Semien will be back with the Mets to begin next season because of the $46 million he is still owed. 

Odds are, Sean Manaea will be back with the Mets to begin next season because of the $25 million he is still owed. 

In each case, the Mets will want to see what the veteran has left to offer before viewing an established, expensive player as a sunk cost. 

But if and when the Mets move on from the second baseman and back-end starter, respectively, a couple top prospects who could further emerge as next in line for those jobs visited Citi Field on Monday. 

Infielder Mitch Voit and lefty starter Jonathan Santucci earned a step into the spotlight this season as the organization’s player and pitcher of the year. 

Voit was a first-round pick just last season who already has hit his way to — and nearly through — Double-A Binghamton. The infielder, who still sees some time at his more natural second base but has slid over and impressed Mets officials at shortstop, started his first full professional season without much promise. On May 23, he was hitting .210 with a .651 OPS with High-A Brooklyn. 

And then he went on a run that rivaled any minor leaguer, getting hot in Brooklyn and bringing that heat to Binghamton. From May 24 through the end of the season, he hit .300 with an .866 OPS, 32 of his 45 steals and just 58 strikeouts with 40 walks. 

The switch that flipped was more mental than mechanical, Voit reiterated while being honored before the Mets opened a series with the Orioles. The 21-year-old from the University of Michigan began learning where he liked the ball and which pitches to swing at. 

“I’m trying to figure out my strengths in the box and how do my strengths match up against this pitcher? And how can I maximize this at-bat to bring the most value in that moment?” said Voit, who is the club’s No. 4 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, and would have competition if the Mets decide they want to try out an internal upgrade for Semien (or someone else, given that Voit is a flexible infielder) next season. 

The Mets’ No. 1 prospect (Jefferson Rojas, acquired in the Clay Holmes-Tyrone Taylor trade) is a middle infielder. So is their No. 7 prospect (Sammy Stafura, swapped for Luke Weaver). Also No. 10 (Émilien Pitre, who came over in the Freddy Peralta package). Further down the system are top young shortstop prospects in Elian Peña and Wandy Asigen. 

But a torrid final four months of his season gave Voit an early potential avenue toward where he wants to be. 

“He’s somebody who can do a lot of impressive things on the baseball field,” said interim manager and former (and likely future) player development executive Andy Green, who highlighted Voit’s resilience. “He really can defend the field, run the bases.” 

In a minor league season in which the Mets have not seen enough breakthroughs, Voit stands out. As does Santucci, who has separated himself among a pitching prospect collection in which too many took steps back. 

In a season that has featured early struggles, periods of overwhelming excellence and a promotion to Triple-A Syracuse, Santucci has flashed some of the best stuff in the Mets system while pitching to a combined 3.99 ERA with 157 strikeouts in 119 ²/₃ innings. 

In velocity and movement, the power of the arsenal is better than that of fellow lefty Zac Thornton, who has forced his way to the majors and is thriving. At least according to Thornton himself. 

“His stuff is better than my stuff,” Thornton said of Santucci, whom he played with in Brooklyn and Binghamton. “Obviously he just throws harder and then his slider is a little bit tighter I’d say. I think he’s got way more swing-and-miss stuff than I do. 

“He can definitely compete here at the major league level.” 

Before this season, what largely held back Santucci — who dominated at Duke with a mid-90s fastball with good ride and biting slider — was the lack of a reliable third pitch. He has had a couple projects to work on in a curveball and changeup (especially helpful against righty batters), both of which have taken steps this season. 

Since his late July promotion to the highest minor league level, his curveball has been easily his best pitch, holding opponents to a .105 average with a 53.3 percent whiff rate. Further refining both those secondaries could be the difference between a promising major league reliever and a bona fide major league starter. 

“Knowing that my fastball and slider are good enough to get hitters out, but having multiple other options is going to be really good to be able to get through a big league lineup three times,” said Santucci, who this season is being held back by inconsistency — there are moments of brilliance and duds — and walks (4.74 per nine innings). 

With fellow top prospects such as Jonah Tong and Jack Wenninger not yet establishing themselves, there is a major league lane available for Santucci with a bit more growth. 

“His stuff is real,” Green said. “And for both [Santucci and Voit], there’s more of a mountain to climb out in front of them before this opportunity belongs to them. 

“But they’ve taken some amazing steps this year.”

On a night when the Mets fell 2-1 by the Baltimore Orioles with a faction of the fans in attendance buying their tickets solely to see Pete Alonso play his first game at Citi Field as a visitor, Jonah Tong showcased his skills on the mound with a largely spotless performance.

The rookie right-hander struck out six batters through six full innings, allowing a lone unearned run and just one walk, which Tong himself described as a "kind of cool" statistic.

Clearly, the 23-year-old holds himself to high standards.

Six strikeouts in six innings for Jonah Tong 💪 pic.twitter.com/fl3vVRqhhk

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 15, 2026

"He was filling up the strike zone," interim skipper Andy Green said of the young hurler. "His demeanor was outstanding."

Tong, in fact, threw 83 pitches. Fifty-seven of them were strikes, which is good for 68.6 percent and firmly above the 63.5 percent league average mark recorded in 2025.

Tong, of course, has spent most of this season in the minor leagues but is making the most of this late-season opportunity in the Mets' big-league starting rotation.

"There's a lot of times in life you're gong to struggle, and the best learning comes from that," Tong reflected on his mixed 2026 season. "I'm trying to learn as much as I can, trying to finish the year strong."

Green is proud of how Tong has battled through the turbulence and continued to improve on the mound.

"He's taken some real, major strides and it's fun to see," Geen said. "He deserves a lot of credit for all the work he's put in.

"He's earned the right to be here, to be in the rotation. He's pitching like he expects to win."

That competitive streak Tong possesses, alluded to by Green, was evident in the pitcher's postgame interview.

"I was trying to give the team the best chance to win," Tong said. "Every time I go out there, that's always my goal."

With the loss, the Mets were mathematically eliminated from the postseason for the second consecutive year. Yet, Tong's performance -- combined with the standout rookie seasons of Nolan McLean, Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing,and Zac Thornton -- brings hope in Queens that perhaps 2027 will see the team secure October baseball once again.

The Mets (69-81) were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles (73-78) by a score of 2-1.

Here are the takeaways...

-- It was a pitcher's duel in Queens on Monday night. Through five innings, the two teams combined for nine hits, with the score 1-1 thanks to Heston Kjerstad's RBI double and Mets CF A.J. Ewing's solo shot.

-- Mets rookie right-hander Jonah Tong made the seventh start of his career, and his second of 2026, following his recent outing seven days ago against the Miami Marlins. Tong was stellar, striking out six and allowing one unearned run - the aforementioned Kjerstad double, which scored Jackson Holliday, who advanced earlier in the inning on a passed ball - on just four hits and one walk through six full innings. Of his 83 pitches, 57 were thrown for strikes.

-- Pete Alonso made his long-awaited return to Citi Field, donning the black and orange of the Orioles and doffing his cap to the cheering Mets fans who will always be grateful for his time in New York. He went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.

-- The O's took the lead in the eighth inning on yet another solo homer, this one off the bat of star shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who cranked a hanging slider thrown by Mets reliever Dedniel Núñez over the right-center fence.

-- Kodai Senga worked out of a jam with one out and runners on the corners, keeping the Mets deficit at just one run entering last licks by striking out two batters in a row. In the bottom of the ninth, Orioles righty Rico Garcia shut the door by retiring the side in order, and the Mets lost 2-1.

Game MVP: Jonah Tong

Tong flashed the potential which made him such a touted prospect within the Mets organization during these past few years. He tunneled his fastball and changeup effectively all night, keeping Baltimore's batters off balance and off the basepaths.

Highlights

A standing ovation for Pete Alonso as he comes to the plate

The Citi Field PA played "Layla," his walk-up song last season pic.twitter.com/zH9nKLkI8u

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 14, 2026

Two strikeouts in the inning for Jonah Tong and he has six strikeouts in four innings pic.twitter.com/v8rgxA6ZZi

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 15, 2026

A.J. Ewing's 10th home run of the year! pic.twitter.com/xIlOFIhoeW

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 15, 2026

Three strikeouts in the 9th for Kodai Senga pic.twitter.com/RHFEBmAWdE

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 15, 2026

What's next

The Mets play the Orioles in the second game of the three on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. on SNY.

New York will send out Sean Manaea (4.79 ERA, 1.34 WHIP in 133.1 IP).

The O's are set to start Shane Baz (4.05 ERA, 1.33 WHIP in 169.0 IP).

Hits were at a premium with both sides combining for seven, and the Dodgers made the most of theirs, out-homering the Reds two-to-one and relying on Tarik Skubal’s best performance as a Dodger to secure a 4-1 win. While Reds starter Nick Lodolo was responsible for all four runs in his seven innings, it doesn’t necessarily reflect just how effectively he held down this potent Dodgers lineup for large periods of the game—especially dealing with such an ungrateful task.

It didn’t take more than a couple of hitters to find out, or at least get a glimpse of the type of performance Skubal was about to bring to the mound. Facing Cincinnati’s most dangerous hitter, Elly De La Cruz, Skubal was down 3-0 in the count following two bad misses, remembering that De La Cruz took him deep last week. The Dodgers’ starter not only got back in the count and punched out De La Cruz, but almost as impressively, he did so in a manner of simply imposing his will that few starting pitchers can even hope to accomplish. Skubal threw three straight heaters, none of them particularly dotted, two up and one down, almost as if indicating that today he’d do as he pleased and the Reds were mere spectators to it.

That initial at-bat against De La Cruz was also indicative of the approach that Skubal would carry into this game. Whether due to a lack of feel for a particular off-speed pitch or, more likely, from an adjustment after seeing the Reds’ swings against the four-seamer, Skubal went to that pitch far more often than he normally does—throwing it 44 percent of the time across seven scoreless innings, needing just 90 pitches to do so.

The first and only time the Reds managed to put multiple players on base against Skubal came in the fifth inning, when Juan Brito singled, and J.J. Bleday walked, later moving to second and third on a wild pitch. In a nine-pitch at-bat, Hector Rodríguez would go down on a four-seam fastball, this one up and well outside the zone. In fact, each of Skubal’s first seven punchouts came on heaters.

Offensively, the Dodgers made the most of their rare hits count, securing just three in seven innings against a dialed-in Nick Lodolo. Unfortunately for the Reds starter, both of the hits he allowed were home runs, first a solo shot to Kyle Tucker in the second and, a couple of innings later, a two-run bomb to Teoscar Hernández.

Although with different levels of frustration, Tucker and Hernández share the sentiment of not having nearly the individual campaign they wanted heading into the year. But their potential ability to turn it on over a prolonged period between now and the end of the playoffs is part of what makes this lineup so dangerous to anyone.

The Dodgers’ fourth RBI came on a Kiké Hernández single in the seventh against a by-then-laboring Lodolo. Earning the start against a left-hander, Josue De Paula reached base in one of three plate appearances, once again showcasing his quality eye by earning a walk and stealing a base—one of three SBs for the Dodgers in this win.

A particularly comical moment came in the top of the ninth inning when Hernández forgot his place in the order and tried to leapfrog Tucker in the cleanup spot to lead off the frame. Since he homered in the game, though, we’ll let him get away with that one.

Lastly, De La Cruz emphasized how impressive what Skubal did against him earlier in the game was when he destroyed a baseball against Evan Phillips in the bottom of the ninth. De La Cruz’s mammoth solo shot put the Reds on the board and continued to solidify his early case as a Dodger killer, but it was too little, too late for an impact on this game.

Although it feels like a given at this point, we should note that with this win, the Dodgers clinched a return to the postseason as they aim for a third straight title. Still, there is plenty to accomplish between now and the end of the regular season.

Monday particulars

Home runs: Kyle Tucker (15), Teoscar Hernández (14), Elly De La Cruz (27)

WP — Tarik Skubal (10-7): 7 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts

LP — Nick Lodoto (3-5): 7 IP, 3 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts

Up next

Coming off back-to-back seven-inning starts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto faces the Reds lineup for the second week in a row, opposed by Rhett Lowder on Tuesday (3:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). It’s tough to envision a worse time for Lowder against the Dodgers than the seven runs he allowed in a blowout 14-1 loss last week.

CINCINNATI –– There was no champagne shower. No dogpile on the mound. No raucous celebration of what, for most other clubs, would be a triumphant accomplishment.

Instead, on the day the Dodgers officially clinched a playoff berth for an MLB-record-tying 14th-straight season, they simply strolled out of the dugout for routine high-fives on the field in the wake of a 4-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, then shared a brief toast in the locker room to recognize the moment.

 “It’s not a given, we don’t take it for granted,” veteran third baseman Max Muncy said. “But it is the expectation here.”

Indeed, getting to the playoffs was never the goal for the two-time defending champions.

And over the rest of the regular season, there is more work to do to bolster their three-peat bid.

First and foremost is locking up the National League West division, something the Dodgers could do this week with their magic number now down to three.

While that will come with a more formal clubhouse party, the even bigger priority is securing a top-two NL playoff seed and a bye through the best-of-three wild card round to open the playoffs.

Though the club navigated that elongated path last year, an extra week of rest will be paramount for the team now.

Already, the Dodgers’ lineup has been without Shohei Ohtani, Andy Pages and Dalton Rushing on the injured list. This week brought renewed uncertainty to the health status of Freddie Freeman (who missed his third game in the last week Monday with a right knee injury) and Miguel Rojas (who aggravated a shoulder injury on a diving play Sunday, but was able to play through soreness on Monday).

On the pitching side, more questions abound, especially after breakout right-handed reliever Edgardo Henriquez hit the injured list on Monday with a back problem, and $69 million closer Edwin Díaz suffered a five-run implosion during a triple-A rehab outing this weekend that put his chances of making the playoff roster in doubt.

“I mean, it’s always helpful in the sense of giving your guys a break to reset,” manager Dave Roberts said when asked of the importance of getting a first-round bye this year. “But given all the tax and where our guys are health-wise, to get that week would be huge. So we still got to play well to finish out the season to get to that point.”

Monday was a positive step in that direction, at least, with the Dodgers rebounding from a frustrating series defeat in Miami over the weekend.

Tarik Skubal turned in his best (and first scoreless) start with the club since arriving at the trade deadline, blanking the Reds over seven dominant innings with only three hits allowed and nine strikeouts.

“It’s different than anything I’ve experienced, for sure,” Skubal joked of the Dodgers’ subdued postseason celebration. “But I think it just speaks to the people in this room and what they expect out of this team.”

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

Kyle Tucker, meanwhile, continued his slow but increasingly steady late-season turnaround by opening the scoring with a solo home run in the second, his fourth long ball in the last 10 games.

Teoscar Hernández kept up his resurgent September performance by following a walk from Tucker in the fourth with a two-run blast to give the Dodgers some breathing room.

“I don’t think we’ve been able yet in the season to [have] the whole group healthy and performing the way we know we can perform,” Hernández said. “But at the same time, it’s baseball. Things like that are going to happen. So just have to support each other the way we’ve been doing this year, the past year, in the hard moments, and just keep going.”

Roberts echoed similar sentiments in his postgame address to the team.

“The message was, ‘We haven’t come close to playing our best baseball yet,’ and here we are with 12 games left, getting a ticket to the postseason,” he recounted. “That says a lot about this entire organization … To do it every single year when you’re expected to do this says something about the entire organization.”

Just getting, of course, won’t be enough.

And to maximize their chances of a deep run, the Dodgers will have to lock up a No. 2 seed for which they currently hold a 3-1/2 game lead over the Braves.

“It’s hard to say it ever feels routine,” Muncy said, “but it is the expectation here.”

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks have made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ active roster remains at 28 and the 40-man roster is now at 40.

• Claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays: OF Jesús Sánchez

Interesting move. He has played 99 games for the Blue Jays this year, with a decent slash of .260/.318/.416 for a .734 OPS, and an OPS+ of exactly 100. The overall value this year has been underwhelming at -1.0 bWAR, because his defensive metrics completely cratered. Over more than two thousand PAs previous to this season, he had a dWAR of -0.2. This year, in 299 PA, it’s -1.5 dWAR. He’s probably best known for a bizarre incident in May where a ball thrown from the stands by a young fan hit him in the wrist, causing him to have to leave the game.

It’s possible this could be my last recap of 2026. There’s no game next Monday, and neither the NL Wild-Card nor Division Series play on that day either. The next potential Monday would be Game #2 in the NLCS. While I’d love to recap that, the odds of Arizona reaching the post-season have basically been cut in half by the losses over the weekend. After Friday’s win, they were 48.8% (per Fangraphs). Now? Just 26.6%, the lowest they have been since July 19th. Still, I may not be clocking out yet: there may or may not be more cider-fueled Friday recaps to come. You have been warned. 🙂

As boilerbobco noted, Lourdes Gurriel became the latest player DFA’d by the D-backs this year, including seven who were on the Opening Day roster. However, it turns out there were a few more than he thought, with another four I found who had appeared for Arizona at the MLB level this year. That makes 15 in all. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at those players, what happened to them after Arizona let them go, and how they have performed (if at all) in the majors since.

• Carlos Santana (1B). Released June 26. Picked up by Atlanta two days later, but released by them on August 17, after 27 games in Triple-A
• Alek Thomas (OF). Dealt to the Dodgers for 17-year-old outfielder Jose Requena. Batted .211/.250/.263 over 7 games for LA (.513 OPS, -0.1 bWAR). DFA’d on September 5, cleared waivers, assigned to Triple-A.
• Jorge Barrosa (OF), Selected on waivers by Houston, September 6. Called up to the Astros last week, has gone 1-for-4 with a double so far.
• Pavin Smith (DH/1B). Cleared waivers, sent to Triple-A, but re-added back to the 40-man roster in place of Adrian Del Castillo on Saturday. One PA so far, driving in a run with a single.
• Max Kepler (OF). Released September 8. Currently unemployed, and given his .565 OPS and -0.7 bWAR, unlikely to be picked up at this point in the season.
• Lourdes Gurriel (OF). Designated for assignment yesterday. Will likely pass through waivers and become a free agent. Not impossible he may find a job, since has some track record. Just not lately…
• Luken Baker (1B). Released on June 15, after appearing three times for Arizona. Signed on the 30th with the Kansas City Monarchs of the indie ball American Association.
• Aramis Garcia (C). Has been DFA’d twice by the D-backs this year, on May 1 and June 12. Cleared waivers on both occasions and was re-assigned to Triple-A Reno.
• Paul Sewald (P). Picked up by the Blue Jays, and has performed very well for them in middle relief. In 12 games covering 10.1 innings, he has allowed one run on five hits and three walks, with seven strikeouts.
• Andrew Hoffmann (P). Selected off waivers by the Phillies on August 20. He was on the MiLB injured list at the time, but has started pitching again. Two appearances in A-ball and one in Triple-A, all scoreless.
• Joe Ross (P). Released May 18, he signed with the Rangers four days later. Made five relief appearances in June, with a 4.50 ERA across 8 IP. They released him on July 1, only to sign him again on the 3rd.
• Philip Abner (P). Claimed on waivers by the Giants, August 19. Called up last week, currently on the active roster. Has pitched three innings, allowing an unearned run on a hit and a walk with one K.
• Zack Littell (P). Released on August 26, sixteen days after signing with the Diamondbacks as a free-agent. Remains a free agent.
• Taylor Rashi (P). Pitched 3.2 innings for Arizona, before being bought by the Twins on June 8. Was then chosen on waivers by the A’s on August 9, and made one appearance for them on August 20, with 2 IP.
• Yilber Diaz (P). One disastrous appearance here, allowing seven earned runs for two outs. Selected of waivers by the Tigers on June 26. Currently on their active roster, with a 6.75 ERA across 5.1 innings.

The Dodgers with their win over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night at Great American Ball Park are back in the postseason, just as they have every year dating back to 2013. They tied a major league record by making 14 postseasons in a row.

That’s every full season of Guggenheim Baseball Management owning the team. The president and CEO, Stan Kasten, was president of the Atlanta Braves for all but two of their 14 postseasons in a row from 1991-2005. Atlanta’s postseason run was interrupted only by the 1994 strike, during which the postseason and World Series were canceled. When the 1994 season ended on August 12, the Braves had the second-best record in the National League at 68-46, but trailed the best-in-baseball Montreal Expos at 74-40 in the National League East.

Last week I asked Kasten to compare his pair of 14-postseason franchises in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

“The eras were different. Our game was really different. Our managers were different guys, they have very different styles. What’s interesting to me that I think is far is that team won in different ways over different years” Kasten said. “One year they had great pitching, another year they had great hitting, another year they had great defense. This team is the same. It changes its formula to win.

“We had an aggressive use of all forms of acquiring talent. That is to say we drafted, we traded, and we signed free agents. We did all that, we utilize the same tools here. We started out with a very low payroll, but by the time it was over we had a very high one because the guys got good and we kept them all together.”

When the Braves started their postseason run in 1991, they had young pitchers Tom Glavine and John Smoltz atop the rotation, and were joined by free agent signing Greg Maddux two years later. Those pitchers combined to win six Cy Young Awards for Atlanta and are all in the Hall of Fame. They started 32, 27, and 27 postseason games, respectively, for the Braves.

The Dodgers’ lone rotation constant was Clayton Kershaw, with his three Cy Young Awards, an MVP, and 30 postseason starts since this current postseason streak started in 2013. But Kershaw didn’t make a start in either of the last two postseasons, injured in 2024 and used sparingly in relief in 2025. During the Dodgers’ first 13 straight postseason runs, Walker Buehler (18 starts) and Rich Hill (11) are the only other pitchers to make at least 10 postseason starts, though Yoshinobu Yamamoto will join them with his first start this October.

“The game was just different. Best example is starting pitching. We had three guys [in Atlanta] who didn’t miss a start in 10 years, virtually, and here we can’t go two weeks without someone going on the injured list,” Kasten said. “It’s because of a difference in medical procedures and evaluations, and it’s also a difference in style. We had different bullpens in that you didn’t need any kind of depth in the bullpen. Also, we had deeper benches offensively.

“It’s a 30-year difference, but I think the 30 years that has really made a difference in how the game has changed.”

The Dodgers have adapted based on the available arms at the time in recent postseasons. After winning a championship in 2020, they ran out of healthy starting pitchers in 2021, 2022, and 2023. In 2024 they basically had two and a half starting pitchers in Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty, and a shaky Buehler coming off his second Tommy John surgery. They rode a dominant bullpen (and a resurgent Buehler) that October to a title.

In 2025 the Dodgers bullpen was much shakier, but they had an incredibly stable rotation with Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani. That quartet made every start last postseason and combined for a 2.55 ERA and 28.8-percent strikeout rate over 113 innings in 17 games, accounting for 68.5 percent of the team’s innings. That group was the closest the Dodgers had to a rotation like those old Braves teams.

“Those pitchers dominated the whole decade of the 1990s, right? We don’t have the same kind of style dominating this, so I don’t know how to compare them,” Kasten said. “I just think both teams had a fierce dedication to maximizing all the tools available at the time.”

Kasten in July was in Cooperstown for the induction of longtime Braves center fielder Andruw Jones into the Hall of Fame. Jones is the eighth member of those Braves teams from 1991-2005 in the Hall of Fame, along with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones, Fred McGriff, manager Bobby Cox, and general manager John Schuerholz.

“One interesting thing is we had a GM and a manager [in Atlanta] that both went to the Hall of Fame,” Kasten said. “I think we have that here [in Los Angeles], too.”

The Braves won the division — first in the NL West, then the NL East after realignment — for all 14 of their postseason appearances. The Dodgers won the division in 12 of the last 13 years, and won 106 games in the year they didn’t win it. This year, the Dodgers are up 9 1/2 games on the Padres in the NL West and a magic number of three to claim yet another division title.

In the first three division titles for the Braves (1991-93) there was no Division Series, which meant winning the division meant straight into the NLCS. The current Dodgers era has included the wild card game plus the wild card series in addition to the Division Series. Atlanta from 1991-2005 played 125 games in their 14 postseasons, with nine trips to the NLCS and five pennants. The Dodgers in their first 13 postseasons of this run have played in 136 games, with eight NLCS trips and five pennants.

The Braves won one championship during their dominant stretch, and were eventually overshadowed by the New York Yankees, who won four titles during that same period. The Dodgers were in the same boat of “only one” championship just two years ago, before becoming the first MLB team to win back-to-back titles in a quarter century and shedding that proverbial weight.

Championships are the ultimate goal, but sustained excellence isn’t easy, and should be appreciated. For instance, from 1991-2005 while the Braves made the postseason 14 times in 14 tries, the Yankees with 11 playoff trips were the only other team to make the postseason more than six times.

In the current Dodgers stretch of 14 playoff years in a row, the closest teams to them are the Yankees, Braves, and Houston Astros, who if they each make it this year will have 10, 10, and nine postseason berths in the last 14 years.

In other words, even in their worst seasons during these stretches, the Braves and Dodgers always made the playoffs, while every other team had several seasons watching the postseason from home. Baseball is a daily grind for eight or nine months every year, from the start of spring training through the postseason. Consistent excellence should be rewarded.

“We did go to the World Series five times in one decade. That’s extraordinary, and I was unbelievably proud of that,” Kasten said of his time with the Braves. “Im unbelievably proud of the five times we’ve gone here. The 162 is just so much more difficult than people appreciate, and it remains a truism in baseball that our postseason in baseball is a crapshoot. I’m sorry if you don’t like it, that’s the truth.

“That I think it’s a good thing for all of us in baseball because whenever you say — like last year, I had to discuss this a lot when people said we were ruining baseball, what I’d point out was our system. We have the firewall, which is our postseason. No matter what you do, you still have to contend with short series, and short-term injuries. Anything can happen.”

How the Dodgers perform in October will determine their fate this postseason, just like every year. But the fact is, they already did much of the heavy lifting, earning yet another ticket to the dance, however it ends.

“You don’t appreciate the winning without a certain amount of losing. It’s the adrenaline you get from both extremes. It’s what makes our game special,” Kasten said. “There’s no question that there’s nothing like winning it all.

By one measure, these Los Angeles Dodgers stand shoulder to shoulder with the great Atlanta Braves teams of the 1990s.

The Dodgers clinched their 14th consecutive playoff berth Monday, Sept. 14 by defeating the Cincinnati Reds, 4-1. That victory ensured the Dodgers (91-59) would stretch their playoff streak to 14 years, tying the Braves for the longest consecutive postseason run in Major League Baseball history.

Thirteen of the Dodgers' postseason trips have come by winning the National League West; their lone wild-card berth in this stretch came in 2021, when they won 106 games, one fewer than the San Francisco Giants. The 1991-2005 Braves won 14 consecutive NL East titles — the 1994 strike-shortened season crowned no champion — under Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox.

Yet the Dodgers have three World Series titles — 2020, 2024 and 2025, and working on a fourth — while the Braves' lone championship came in 1995.

CINCINNATI –– The Dodgers were hoping Edwin Díaz would be back from the injured list by now.

Instead, continued poor performances have left his postseason roster chances in doubt.

A day after the team’s $69 million closer suffered his latest setback during a triple-A rehab assignment –– allowing five runs in ⅔ of an inning while giving up two hits, three walks and hitting one batter –– manager Dave Roberts made no guarantees about the three-time All-Star’s place on the club’s potential postseason roster, marking the latest disappointing twist in his disastrous debut season with the team.

“He needs to pitch better,” Roberts said, while announcing that Díaz will make at least one more minor-league appearance on Wednesday in his ongoing rehab stint. “It hasn’t been good.”

That became even more true a few hours later, when the Dodgers suffered their latest health-related surprise by putting hard-throwing reliever Edgardo Henriquez on the injured list with low back discomfort.

That move will rule Henriquez out for the rest of the regular season, since the minimum 15-day stint will extend past the team’s finale. And while the severity of his issue wasn’t immediately clear –– nor was his potential postseason availability –– it only adds to the headache the Dodgers are facing in the bullpen, where Henriquez had helped compensate for Díaz’s absence by posting a 2.85 ERA in 61 appearances.

For now, the Dodgers find themselves suddenly short on trustworthy right-handed relief depth. Blake Treinen, Evan Phillips and Brock Stewart represent their most experienced options, but each have battled injuries and inconsistency throughout the season.

Roki Sasaki could eventually provide another alternative. But the Dodgers are still hoping to use him as a starter, at least initially, when he returns from a blister that has forced him on the injured list.

In the meantime, getting something out of Díaz only figures to become more paramount.

“I think the world of him. And the [back of the] baseball card looks great,” Roberts said. “But it’s like, where we’re at, there’s got to be something for us to be able to hang our hat on. And he knows that.”

Díaz has made only 16 appearances with the Dodgers this year because of loose bodies in his elbow (which required a surgical procedure in April that sidelined him for three months) and a neck inflammation problem (which landed him back on the IL last month).

And even when he has pitched, his performances have been shockingly ineffective, with the 32-year-old suffering an 11.85 ERA and only seven successful saves in 11 attempts.

The Dodgers identified flaws in Díaz’s mechanics –– which likely arose as a result of his injuries –– that they hoped he’d be able to fix during his current rehab assignment.

Instead, he has battled more command problems, walking seven batters in his four appearances. He hasn’t limited damage, letting Sunday’s outing spiral out of control by plunking one batter with the bases loaded before walking another. 

And on Monday, Roberts gave an ominous answer when asked about his chances of making the postseason roster, despite the mounting issues the team is facing elsewhere in the bullpen.

“Yeah,” he said when asked if the marquee offseason signing could be left off the team. “I mean, we have to go with our best pitchers, as far as performance, talent, all that stuff. So my bet is that he will be [on it]. But again, there’s got to be some kind of evidence or something for us, again, to sort of bet on.”

As awful as yesterday’s game was—the torture only exacerbated by it being a brutally long game—there’s reason for optimism today. The Mariners are 5-3 in games after getting walked off. Maybe that doesn’t strike you as a sterling record, but it compares quite favorably to how other teams have fared after being walked off by the Mariners: 3-8 (as in, the Mariners have won 8). In addition, those five Mariner wins after getting walked off have included some of the best games of the year, including Hancock’s 7 innings and 8 Ks in Houston, Laz’s debut, and Saturday’s historic 19-1 win.

The Mariners attempt to bounce back today will require overcoming Reid Detmers, who, despite being an Angel, is having a phenomenal year. He’s in the top 20 in WAR, whether you’re going by FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, or Baseball Prospectus. He’s basically keeping all the gains he made from last year’s temporary conversion to a releiver. His wipeout pitch is his slider, which breaks so much that it’s practically an 86-mph curveball, except that he’s got a legit curve too that drops an impossible 68 inches. He’s one of the many recent positive developments for Anahiem that are, like, not ideal.

Lineups

• Kade Day! Be sure to read Kate’s profile of him from earlier today.
• Michael Arroyo gets rewarded for his multi-hit day Saturday and three walks yesterday with another start this evening.
• Kade Day and Cole In The Graphic Day on the same day. It’s like it’s my birthday.

Still with the Mike Trout.

Game Info

First pitch: 6:38 PDT
TV: Mariners TV
Radio: Old Reliable

Fun Fact

The Roberto Clemente Award nominees were announced today. Anaheim’s is shortstop Zach Neto. Combined with the A’s Zack Gelof, this is the first time I could find with multiple nominees names Zach/Zack. Seeing how mad people get about my self-indulgent inclusion of this as a fun fact is really just my way of deterimining how many people actually read the previews.

The Mariners’ nominee is Julio.

Of all the parts of the 2026 season that went sideways for the Mets, perhaps the most predictable was Luis Robert Jr. having another injury-filled season after being acquired from the White Sox in the offseason. 

And while Pete Alonso was treated as a conquering hero in his return to Citi Field on Monday with the Orioles, the injured Robert, not surprisingly, fell far under the radar. 

Robert’s brief Mets tenure included a carefully planned schedule designed to help him avoid the leg injuries that affected him the previous two seasons in Chicago, followed by a rocky first month of the regular season. 

A nearly three-month absence due to lumbar spine disc herniation followed. 

When he finally began to produce, putting up an OPS of 1.061 in an 18-game stretch in August, A.J. Ewing had already established himself as the everyday center fielder. 

Robert — on the IL again with Baltimore after being claimed off waivers in a move that saved the Mets $5 million — said there was regret with how his brief tenure in Queens worked out. 

“It was difficult,” Robert said through an interpreter about his time with the Mets, during which he appeared in just 58 games. “We had the talent to be a playoff team and get where we wanted to, but injuries and other stuff happened and it didn’t turn out that way.” 

Instead, the Mets sold at the Aug. 3 trade deadline — although they couldn’t find a taker for the high-priced and injury-prone Robert. 

His prolonged absence, coupled with a lack of production, helped lead to Ewing’s emergence in center, which the Mets hope will serve as a silver lining as they look to the future. 

“I wanted to be able to return from my injury sooner and then when I didn’t get traded [at the deadline],” Robert said, “I wanted to contribute as much as possible and stay healthy.’’ 

The Mets, though, had enough of the experiment and placed him on waivers Aug. 31. He was picked up by the Orioles. 

“What happened, happened,’’ Robert said of the move. “You can’t control that.” 

After just three games with Baltimore, Robert landed back on the IL with left hamstring discomfort. 

“It’s not what I wanted to happen, but I think I’ll be back,” Robert said.