Category: Baseball

It was only fitting that Christian Yelich hit a ground ball to shortstop where Xander Bogaerts fielded the ball and completed an unassisted double play to help the San Diego Padres secure a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the National League Division Series at Petco Park on Tuesday night.

Bogaerts was instrumental at multiple points throughout the game. His diving stop deep in the hole at shortstop in the top of the fifth inning did not take away a hit, but it did keep the Brewers from scoring a run. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Bogaerts hopped over a ground ball off the bat of Miguel Andujar. Bogaerts also avoided the broken bat of Andujar which was right behind the ball. The play by Bogaerts combined with the distracting broken bat caused Milwaukee shortstop Cooper Pratt to throw short to first base. The ball skipped past Jake Bauers and went into foul territory. Andujar reached safely and Bogaerts slid into home to give San Diego a one-run lead on what proved to be the winning run.

ALL-OUT EFFORT pic.twitter.com/Z9Voo1evD4

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 7, 2026

Michael King took the mound in relief in the top of the eighth inning and got through the top half of the frame without much trouble. The Padres were unable to add to their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. On a night when San Diego did not have Mason Miller who was placed on paternity leave prior to the start of the game, and Adrian Morejon who seemed to be unavailable, King returned to the mound in the ninth and got the first two outs. He then allowed a walk to William Contreras and a walk to Bryce Tourang. Yelich came to the plate and on the first pitch after a mound visit from Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla, King got the Brewers captain to ground into a game-ending double play to help San Diego stave off elimination.

Xander Bogaerts turns the double play, Michael King locks down the save, and the @Padres live to see Game 4! pic.twitter.com/vYXcWkxjJ3

— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2026

Nick Pivetta started on the mound for the Padres and left the game after 4 1/3 innings with a 2-1 lead. There were runners at second and third base and Jason Adam was called on to try to strand them there. Adam induced a shallow fly ball to left field that was caught by Dustin Harris for the second out, but Pratt tested Harris and raced home and slid in safely well ahead of the throw to make the score 2-2. Jake Cronenworth changed that with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning which put the Padres back in front, 3-2.

Bogaerts was not the only San Diego player to make game saving plays on defense. Jackson Merrill took away extra bases when he ran deep into the left-center gap and made a sliding backhanded catch to take away extra bases from Jackson Chourio. Merrill followed that up with a play in the top of the third inning with a play in the right-center gap to take away an extra-base hit from Sal Frelick, prompting a response from Brewers manager Pat Murphy.

Goddamnit, he did it again. pic.twitter.com/4fmMjZ7vvQ

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 7, 2026

San Diego will face its second elimination game in as many days when the Padres and Brewers meet tonight at 7 p.m. for Game 4.

Padres News:

• The Padres had a disappointing weekend in Milwaukee and came back to Petco looking to avoid elimination.

• Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribunebelieves this series deserves at least a Game 4, if not more.

Baseball News:

• Yoshinobu Yamamoto recorded 10 strikeouts to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Atlanta Braves.

• Today is going to be a busy day for baseball.

The Arizona Fall League is only a few games into its five week schedule. The Tigers have some players to follow out there, including top prospects Bryce Rainer and Zyhir Hope, infielder John Peck, hard-throwing relief prospect Jalen Evans, along with starting prospect Win Scott. We’ll be updating their progress weekly throughout the Fall League season. However, the most interesting note from the fall developmental league is an unannounced experiment with defensive positioning for outfielders.

The Fall League is generally designed to provide competition and development for prospects who missed time during the regular season. At times, players will go out there even when they didn’t miss much time if there’s something specific, like a positional change, that they’re working on. The Fall League has also been used as a laboratory for a lot of rule changes the league has implemented over the last few years.

Banning extreme infield shifts started as a Fall League experiment, as did the pitch clock and the ABS challenge system. MLB uses it as a testing ground, and other rule changes, like checked swing challenges, have been tried but not implemented in the major leagues, or anywhere else in the minor leagues. At least not yet.

Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs is out covering the AFL and reported today that the league is experimenting this season with restricted positioning for outfielders this time around. You should read his full description, and the league’s response to his inquiries here. Essentially though, they seem to be experimenting with forcing corner outfielders to stay within a certain distance of their respective foul lines, while playing relatively shallow as well.

It was back in 2023 that MLB decided to limit shifts for infielders, requiring all of them to stand on the dirt until the pitch is delivered, and stopping the second baseman and shortstop from shifting to the other side of second base. These changes haven’t had any noticeable effect on ground balls going for hits.

One would assume that the league wouldn’t have implemented the shift limits if they didn’t at least work in the AFL, but that’s just an assumption, as it hasn’t changed the amount of ground balls going for hits in the big leagues. Perhaps teams simply positioned their first baseman a little more toward second base or slightly deeper to help make up the difference. Maybe they started favoring defensive ability as a bigger part of their first base equation. Whatever the league thinks up, teams and players are going to adapt.

The overarching issue the league can’t seem to solve to its satisfaction is the strikeouts. They would do well to stop bothering to try. Teams, notably the Tigers among them, have gotten a lot better at training batspeed with their hitters. With that is likely to come a greater emphasis on contact hitters. If you know you can build light hitting contact guys into major leaguers with at least average raw power, then contact is going to become a lot more valuable commodity in the draft, and that might be the only antidote to the reign of swing and miss stuff around the game. The Tigers already have Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark in this vein, and teenaged shortstop prospect Jordan Yost and others might follow suit in time.

Young players in top shelf high school competition and in college are already seeing velocity that would’ve blown the hair of major league hitters back years ago. It’s going to take time to see if the younger crop of hitters coming up is better suited to put more balls in play. Instead of drafting pre-fabricated sluggers with major swing and miss issues, teams might be able to take light-hitting young players with elite hand-eye coordination and bat control into more power threats, keeping power in the game while also getting some ways toward defeating the tyranny of the whiff.

My only point here is that everything the league does to manipulate outcomes and increase offense has failed, and the sharpest teams quickly adapt and exploit changes. Sticking outfielders close to the foul lines would certainly be a much more difficult change to deal with from a pitching and defensive standpoint. Of course, so would simply making outfielders play without gloves. You want old school? We can go all the way back. This kind of thing can get silly in a real hurry.

The shift bans did nothing of note. Forcing pitchers to abandon their sticky substance of choice didn’t help offenses. Nor did the pitch clock. Nor has the ABS system. The league says they want more offense, but since they dejuiced the baseball, they don’t want crazy home run numbers and a full, three true outcomes, style of game either. What they really want is fewer strikeouts, and nothing they’ve tried has been remotely successful. Trying to manipulate defenses to allow more balls in play to go for hits is just gimmicky in my book, but more importantly it just hasn’t done any good, and probably won’t unless they go to some real extremes.

So far, this is very much just the experimental phase of any changes to outfield positioning. Probably we’ll see them experiment with some different ideas in the next few years. Maybe nothing will ultimately come to pass. The question is still just what people actually want to see, and how any of these things can actually accomplish what the league seems to want to accomplish when so many competing changes are going on all at the same time. We’ve seen more stolen bases with the bigger bases in use, and stolen bases are great action plays. Won’t that lead to prioritizing catcher defense over offense? There’s always a reaction. We might add stolen bases, but cut into catcher offense due to greater demand for arm strength and accuracy.

Personally, I would like the league to just chill out for a while and see how teams and players adapt to the enormous amount of changes they’ve already made. Throw in the varying springiness of different batches of baseball, and the league has created all sorts of little mini eras over the last decade. Comparing say, Justin Verlander’s career to Cy Young’s, is already kind of impossible. In the future, all this artificial manipulation of game elements is only going to add more and more layers of complexity to those sorts of evaluations.

We’re only four seasons from the National League adopting the designated hitter full-time. Now we have shift bans, bigger bases, pitch clocks, sticky stuff checks, the three batter minimum rule for pitchers, the Pitchcom system, the ABS challenge system, and a planned checked swing challenge system coming soon. There was a time when replay was controversial. Rapidly changing rulesets have come fast and furious ever since.

Some of these changes have been positive, and some haven’t, and we might all have different views as to which is which. There’s nothing wrong with experimenting in the Arizona Fall League or in the independent leagues, looking for ways to improve the game. It would just be nice to have a moratorium at some point so we can actually let things play out. Give teams time to study things and adapt and innovate on their own. The Brewers more than anyone, but the Rays as well, started bunting way more often this year. Maybe that will be part of the equation as well. Baseball often provides its own adaptations and counter balances if we just give it time, but it still looks like the league intends to keep trying to manipulate the game to make it look the way some in MLB committees want it to look. We can only hope for a point at which the players are allowed to just play the same game for a few years. They might come up with better, or at least more organic solutions, but only if there is finally an era with some consistency.

Down two games to none to the Rays is the worst possible spot for the Yankees to be heading into Game 3 of the ALDS on Wednesday night. But there are a few positives – not with their play so far, obviously – that they can cling to as they try to save their season. 

They have lefties scheduled to start Game 3 and Game 4 (should they make Game 4 necessary, anyway). They’re at home and, let’s be honest, there’s really no chance they play as poorly as they did in Game 2’s flop fest. Right?

Right?!!?

Here are three things to watch in Game 3 as the Yankees try to prevent the Rays from a second big celebration in the Bronx, where they cliched the AL East last month: 

Friendly confines

Can the Yanks take advantage of home field and prove the resiliency they’ve been talking up since their Game 2 humiliation? The Rays had a clear advantage in the first two games at Tropicana Field – the speedy turf plays to their strengths, they know the backdrop the dome’s roof gives to fly balls, and they were awfully difficult to beat there, going 55-26 at home. 

The Yankees were 46-34 at Yankee Stadium this season, including 4-2 against Tampa Bay. So they weren’t as dominant a home squad as the Rays were. But they’re also built to thrive on the short right field porch. They hit the most home runs at home this season and had the eighth-best home OPS. 

Of course, the Yankee offense has been stymied by Rays pitching this series – Ben Rice and Austin Wells have two hits apiece, but the rest of the lineup is an unfathomable 1-for-46 (.022). The Rays are starting road warrior Nick Martinez, a Fordham product who had a 2.38 road ERA this year, including a 2.25 in two starts in the Bronx.

A loud, supportive crowd behind them should help. At least at first. Boot a few early, like Game 2, and that atmosphere will likely change. 

Fried factor

Homers are not really the Rays’ game, but it’s worth noting they only hit 36 of them against left-handed pitchers this season, tied with the Marlins for the fewest in MLB. Only five teams had a worse OPS against southpaws than Tampa Bay. The put-it-in-play Rays batted 15 points lower against lefties than righties during the regular season. Still, they’re so good that they were 31-17 in games started by left-handers.

And Max Fried, of course, is not your average MLB lefty. Neither is Game 4’s scheduled starter Carlos Rodón. Fried allowed one run in six innings in his start in the Wild Card Series and the Yanks could use a repeat in Game 3.

Tampa Bay likely will insert righty Ryan Vilade into the lineup – he hit seven homers and had an .818 OPS against lefties this year. Junior Caminero hits every kind of pitcher (eight homers, .916 OPS against lefties) and Yandy Díaz (eight homers, .780 OPS against southpaws), will be his usual challenge. 

Decisions, decisions!

Aaron Boone said on Tuesday’s off-day that he was "considering a couple of things" in terms of lineup changes. He’s used eight lefties and George Lombard Jr. so far in the series, but the huge platoon tilt has not worked. The Yanks have scored just twice, both on Rice solo homers, own a .369 OPS, and are striking out more than usual.

Oof!

They could use José Caballero at third instead of Ryan McMahon, who made an error on the first play of Game 2 and is 1-for-7 in the postseason. After Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s poor-judgment night at second base in Game 2, does he come out? Anthony Volpe could start there. 

With Fried -- a groundball pitcher -- on the mound, the Yanks need defense.

New York might be giving up a couple of supposed platoon edges by replacing two lefties with two righties against the righty Martinez, but it might be worth it. Martinez thrives on soft contact, so maybe Caballero’s speed translates into an infield hit that could jump-start an inning. 

MLB divisional series action Wednesday, Oct. 7 is headlined by the Tampa Bay Rays, who are just one win away from sweeping the New York Yankees in Game 3 and securing their spot in the American League Championship Series.

The Rays opened the series with a 1-0 victory, thanks to a masterful performance from Drew Rasmussen, who held the Yankees hitless until two outs in the eighth inning. Jonathan Aranda’s solo homer off Yankees ace Gerrit Cole proved to be the difference, giving Tampa Bay an early advantage and setting the tone for the series.

Game 2 saw the Rays capitalize on the Yankees’ defensive struggles, with Richie Palacios delivering a clutch two-run single in the fifth inning. The Rays won 5-2 for a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Now, the Rays have a chance to clinch a spot in the ALCS with a win, while the Yankees are fighting to avoid elimination and keep their playoff hopes alive.

More: White Sox, Dodgers, Rays, Brewers can all advance with MLB playoff wins today

What time is the Rays vs Yankees game?

The Tampa Bay Rays face the New York Yankees at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 7, in a decisive Game 3.

How to watch the Rays vs Yankees Game 3

Game 3 between the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees starts at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 7, and will air on TBS and truTV.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What time is Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Yankees Game 3?

Monday night was a brutal one for the Yankees as multiple defensive miscues and missed chances at the plate cost them Game 2 of the ALDS against the Rays. Now, they’ll have to return home and win twice just to get the series back to Tropicana Field for a decisive Game 5. At least in Yankee Fan Land, morale is low. The team, though, got Tuesday off for the travel day to go back to the Bronx, and hopefully they used it to get in a new mindset ahead of Wednesday’s Game 3.

However, the playoff still rolled on Tuesday, with both NL series in action. Let’s take a look at what went down on the other side of the bracket.

National League Division Series Game 3

Los Angeles Dodgers 3, Atlanta Braves 1
(Dodgers lead series 2-1)

The Dodgers snatched home-field advantage back in Game 3, thanks to a strong outing from Yoshinobu Yamamoto to outduel Atlanta ace Chris Sale, who succumbed to more playoff heroics from Enrique Hernández.

The marquee pitching matchup between Yamamoto and Sale mostly delivered. For LA, Yamamoto went seven innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk, while striking out 10. The difference between him and Sale came down to one inning where the Dodgers’ offense struck.

With the game still scoreless in the top of the fourth, Sale allowed a leadoff single to Andy Pages. While Sale got the next out, Hernández came up with another big playoff moment, homering to give the Dodgers the lead. Freddie Freeman hit a solo shot a couple batters later to add on to LA’s lead. The former Braves fan favorite had been robbed of a shot to left by Mauricio Dúbon earlier, but this one was out of reach of anyone in uniform.

The Braves got on the board themselves in the fifth when a run scored on a Drake Baldwin groundout. The issue with that was that Atlanta had the bases loaded with only one out, but that single run on the grounder ended up being the only one they scored from that spot — against Yamamoto or the Dodgers’ bullpen. Much-maligned relief signing Edwin Díaz nailed down the save for LA, which can advance to its fifth NLCS this decade with a win today behind Tyler Glasnow or on Friday with Tarik Skubal. The defending champs are now in excellent shape.

San Diego Padres 4, Milwaukee Brewers 3
(Brewers lead series 2-1)

Needing a win at Petco to keep their season alive, the Padres staved off elimination, albeit in a very close game that went down to the final at-bat.

The Padres jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but the Brewers clawed back those runs over the fourth and fifth inning to even things back up. However, San Diego answered back themselves, with Jake Cronenworth hitting a go-ahead homer in the bottom of the fifth. Then in the sixth, a costly error from Cooper Pratt — whose speed had helped Milwaukee tie the game up earlier — not only kept the third out from being recorded, but allowed Xander Bogaerts to race home, having started the play at second base.

Throughout the game, the Brewers had plenty of chances. They ended up outhitting San Diego 11 to six. However for the game, Milwaukee left 11 runners on base. Some of those came in the ninth as well.

In the late stages, the Padres turned to ace Michael King out of the bullpen, with Mason Miller on paternity leave and Adrian Morejon’s shoulder barking. He got through the eighth without much issue, but then walked two batters in the ninth, setting up Milwaukee with one last chance. However, King induced a game-ending double play out of Christian Yelich, allowing the Padres to keep the series alive. San Diego will try to do it again tonight to send the series back to Wisconsin for a winner-take-all Game 5.

The count drags on. Basic numbers revealing basic problems.

6 — Six wins against the Colorado Rockies. That number should be read with added emphasis: just six. Italics needed. The Giants had double-digit win totals against Colorado in 2025 and 2024, but in 13 confrontations in 2026 against the bottom dwellers of the division, of the Majors, the Giants were 6-7. It was San Francisco’s first losing record against Colorado since 2020.

While the years wandering east of 2021’s Eden have been disappointing, there’s a significant difference between 80 and 65. That difference can be explained by looking at the head-to-head record against Colorado. The 2024 and 2025 Giants certainly weren’t the Rockies. The 2026 Giants…well, if you lose more often than you win against a bad team, you probably are one as well.

7 — Seven ejections for first-time manager, Tony Vitello. TV bagged that league-leading lucky number in the 3rd inning of game 162. 

Home plate umpire Ryan Blakney took exception to Vitello taking exception to not getting a strike call on a Mookie Betts check-swing. Upon review, Vitello was pretty animated. Upon review, he was justified. Betts should’ve been ruled out, he wasn’t. The Giants manager made his frustrations known on the matter, and his offseason started early for it.

One last Tony Vitello ejection on the last day of the season

He led MLB with 7 ejections in his first year as a major league manager pic.twitter.com/VKosW5LLT5

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 27, 2026

Ejections are all about messaging. Managers argue because they want to show their players that they have their back. When they spew expletives at umpires, they’re really holding each player to their chest and whispering: Listen to my heart, it beats for you.

For Vitello, the “losing control” was one of the only things he could control. Six of his seven ejections came after July 1st. The Giants season was half-way done and fully lost — but obviously there were still relationships to foster and maintain with many of the players that will be returning in 2027. No matter how bad the team is, how meaningless the outcome, it’s the manager’s job to try and win that game. While we’re still iffy on the in-game decisions, Vitello seemed at ease with the performative bluster of spitting into an umpire’s mouth. So he huffed and he puffed, making himself an easy target for those boys in blue.     

8 — Eight players that started the 2026 season at the Double-A level or lower. By September, a more accurate name would’ve been the San Francisco Giant Flying Squirrels.

Jonah Cox initially made the leap on May 31st, flying over Sacramento entirely to reach San Francisco from Richmond. Yunior Marte similarly hurdled the River Cats with the Giants selecting his contract in late-August. Three months prior he was playing A-ball in Eugene.   

Pretty much everyone else climbed the developmental ladder one rung at a time. Drew Cavanaugh got called up to Sacramento on May 12th and a month and a half later, he was in San Francisco to fill in as a back-up backstop.  Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson, started the year in the Guardian’s AA-affiliate Akron and then moved to Richmond in the Patrick Bailey trade. He was in San Francisco for good by the end of August. Turner Hill, Cesar Perdomo, Scott Bandura, and Bo Davidson all debuted in the final month, month-a-half of the season.  

Jumping two farm levels from A to Triple-A in a single year isn’t all that crazy, but it’s definitely less common to hurdle from the middle Minors to the Majors. To have eight players start their year as Flying Squirrels (or an Emerald if you’re Marte) and end the year as Giants is quite the transformation. While we should applaud the grit of some, who not only floated but even swam after being thrown in the deep end, the fact that the top-tier of the organization had to reach so deep into their pockets to fill out a roster says a lot about how the year went.    

This also complicates things in the near future. With the Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire December 1st, and a potential lock-out looming, adding some of these players to the 40-man meant they’ll be directly affected by the fall-out. They’ll be unable to play for the minor league affiliates, locked-out of team facilities, and barred from communicating with coaches, trainers, and other team officials. 

9 — Nine innings in a baseball game. Nine Giants positioned on a baseball field. Nine games played before San Francisco emerged victorious against the Diamondbacks, which brings me to… 

10 — Ten total losses to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Giants were 3-10 against them. Good for a dismal .231 win-percentage — San Francisco’s  lowest win-% in a season against Arizona since their formation in 1998.

2026 was the Giants’ fifth straight season with a losing records against AZ, but this one easily takes the cake in terms of embarrassment. The D-Backs swept them twice. They lost eight in a row before winning their first. Ketel Marte single-handedly beat them on multiple occasions. Arizona body-slammed them into the dust early on, and the Giants decided it was best to just lie there, bedded in the desert, baking in the impossible Phoenix heat.   

While inter-division performance isn’t as weighted as it once was on this newish schedule. When the two-divisions were introduced to each league in 1969, the Giants played 90 games against the five other teams in the west  —  still nearly a third of their games are against the Dodgers, Padres, Rockies and D-Backs. 13 games each, and the Giants had a losing record against every one of them. A 17-35 spread over. Their  32.7 win-%  good for another low, San Francisco’s worst in the Divisional era. 

11 — eleven times swept in a series. Compare that to their one (1) sweep mentioned in a previous post. They were held winless in five different series against NL West teams (2 ARI, 2 LA, 1 SDP, and lost two of three twice to Rockies). 

12 — a dozen different relievers with a blown save. That’s tied for the most in franchise history in a single season. This probably doesn’t shock you considering the merry-go-round that was the Giants bullpen. 2025 trade deadline sales and offseason roster construction pretty much ensured that San Francisco’s back-end would be a wishy-washy closer-by-committee / who’s-rested/ who’s hot/ who drew the short-straw. Unsurprisingly, this arrangement didn’t work out. 

The trials and tribulations of the 2026 Giants bullpen have been well-documented. They will live on in infamy. As a team, the Giants recorded 27 blown saves in total, logging a low 52.6 Save%, which was the fourth lowest in Majors. 

12 is also the number of pitchers who recorded a save for the Giants, which was the third most of any team this year, and the most in their franchise history (dating back to 1969 when Save stat became official). 

To be clear, these are not the same 12. Eight of the relievers who recorded a save also blew one, which means there were four arms who recorded a save and didn’t screw one up, and four arms who screwed one up and never made a save. That’s 16 different pitchers tasked with seeing a lead through to the final out. Employing the throw it at the wall and see what sticks methodology is less than ideal when it comes to bullpen managing — but can you blame Tony Vitello for employing it? 

I vaguely remember him announcing Caleb Kilian would be the closer in mid-June, but the opportunities to actually save a game were few and far between. Kilian secured the save in his first opportunity. The next game he surrendered four in the 9th to the Athletics. He then bagged a couple more saves…then got lit up for three in the 9th against the Rockies…then he couldn’t maintain a tie in the 9th against Kansas City… Ten days later he was playing for the Phillies.  

Vitello tried it all. He played the crappy hand he was dealt.

13 —  Thirteen times the Giants were shutout by an opponent. To be fair, that’s not a particularly egregious amount. Seven other teams were held scoreless in more games this past season. In terms of California-era club history, 13 other (hey, another 13!) Giants teams were shutout in more games, the most being 18 in 1992. 

I guess this number stands out more when you consider the hopes we had for the Giants offense. The 2019 Giants were shutout 19 times. The 2010 team, 16; and 2014, 15. On paper, this 2026 line-up was supposed to have more punch. They did, and they didn’t. They were as tempermental as a motel shower’s temperature control — red hot one day and ice cold the next. It took them forever to get going. They were 21 innings deep into the season before they scored their first run. By the first day in May, they had already been shutout six times. 

14 — Fourteen players logged at least one defensive inning in left field.

Now, the number 14 isn’t particularly relevant or important. Is that a lot? Probably, but I just want to talk about what happened in left field; or, the real reason this Giants season was doomed from the jump. 

This has nothing to do with roster construction, or below-average performance, or injuries — this goes back to one little decision made at the start of the year: the decision to start Heliot Ramos in left field. Perhaps an innocent, even obvious, decision for rookie manager Tony Vitello then, but a fatally myopic one in hindsight. When Ramos trotted out to position himself in the left corner of the diamond he became the first Giants player since Barry Bonds’s departure after 2007 to start consecutive Opening Days in left field. I was salty (in a cheeky way) about it at the time. I’m good-naturedly ticked-off now. It’s clear that the “curse” is bona-fide  — a curse without quotation marks added. Respect wasn’t given where respect was due. Bonds required an offering. For just one day, one inning even, a player should have been sent out as an oblation. 

Instead Ramos defiled sacred ground…and where is he now?      

15 — Fifteen different lead-off batters. 15 different names penciled in at the top of the lineup to start a game. The tip of the Giants spear. Some teams had Pete Crow-Armstrong, or James Wood, or Shohei Ohtani — clear-cut lead-off leaders, no-brainers for the manager. Wake-up, and before even their first cup of coffee, write their name, in Sharpie, thick-tip and all-caps, it’s never going to change. 

But Tony Vitello and the Giants, it wasn’t who’s on first, but who’s batting first? As the season progressed, it became another task completed by a committee based on a variety of variables. Overall, there wasn’t a ton of production from the spot. Their 96 wRC+ from their lead-off hitter ranked 25th in the league. The .296 on-base percentage — one of the more important metrics for a player averaging the most plate appearances in a game — ranked last.  

Willy Adames and Luis Arraez both logged 31 games hitting first, tied for most on the team. Drew Gilbert, who fell into the role later in the season and served surprisingly well out of the top-spot, logged twenty starts exclusively against right-handed starters. Gilbert matured a lot over the year as he rose to the top spot. He hit .286 with a .557 slugging percentage and .378 OBP (82 PA). Arraez, Ramos, Adames, Lee — nobody was anywhere close to those numbers. 

16 — Sixteen players on the  60-day injured list by season’s end. That’s just…crazy. It’s also created quite a headache for the front office now that those 16 names have been put back on the 40-roster.  As of writing this, there are 56 names on a 40-man list — those numbers aren’t mathin’. 

17 — Seventeen big league debuts, Seventeen debut patches. Seventeen sets of family and friends clustered in the stands, hanging on every pitch thrown as their son or brother or nephew or partner realizes their life-long dream. The Giants led the Majors in those moments. That’s kind-a cool. Also kind-a connected to the health issues that tore the roster to shreds.   

71 — Seventy-one is seventeen but backwards, so it fits. Seventy-one is also the amount of  players to represent the Giants in a baseball game during the 2026 season, tying a record set by the 2025 Atlanta Braves. The Giants reached this height in the second to last game of the season, with a familiar face in Camilo Doval. 

Doval pitching in the 9th inning of a tie game against the Dodgers was not on my Giants’ season bingo card. Nor was a guy named Tugboat striking out Shohei Ohtani. But much like the 17 debuts, or 8 Double-A call-ups — the 71 different jerseys is a dubious honor, and an illustrative one. Teams don’t reach this kind of number if things are going according to plan. It wasn’t the plan to know the names Shay Whitcomb or Ryan Borucki or Jason Foley. I wasn’t dying to watch Andrew Knizner play baseball again. But by year’s end, what were we left with? What choice did we have? The roster churn generated some serious white water, and while the rapids were rough, they carried the rickety Giants raft down river.

It’s become an annual ritual for the Orioles front office. Every offseason, when fans are clamoring for the O’s to sign a top-tier ace pitcher, Mike Elias inevitably says “no thanks” and instead throws some money at an aging, back-of-the-rotation veteran. It’s a tried-and-true formula that Elias continues despite the fact that it basically never works.

Oh, sometimes the veteran will eat up innings and provide clubhouse leadership, like Kyle Gibson in 2023. But more often than not, the pitcher will show his age and get absolutely torched, like, well, Kyle Gibson in 2025. This past winter, after the O’s again failed to land a frontline starting pitcher, Chris Bassitt became the latest grizzled vet to engage in the Orioles’ yearly tradition. He signed a one-year, $18.5 million deal with the Orioles on Feb. 13, nine days before his 37th birthday.

It wasn’t much consolation for Orioles fans who’d had visions of the team landing a true #1 starter, but the signing of Bassitt made some sense. The former All-Star was an experienced AL East pitcher, spending the previous three seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and posting an above-average 109 ERA+. And he said all the right things after joining the club, insisting that he signed with the O’s because he thought they had the talent to win the World Series.

Orioles fans, scarred by the team’s previous forays into the old-guy starting pitcher market, asked one thing above all of Bassitt: don’t be the next Charlie Morton. The O’s had been burned a year earlier when they handed a $15 million deal to Morton to coax him away from retirement, only for the 41-year-old righty to implode with a 5.42 ERA before being jettisoned at the trade deadline. You wouldn’t think it would be a high bar for Bassitt to clear. And yet, he crashed right into it.

Bassitt made a lousy first impression on Orioles fans when he coughed up four runs in 4.1 innings in his team debut, then got blistered for six runs in two innings his next time out. He didn’t even pitch five innings in an outing until his fourth start, a scoreless performance against the Guardians, but then went right back to stinking. After 10 starts in an O’s uniform, Bassitt’s ERA was 5.51 — even worse than the dreaded Morton mark. The Orioles, despite Bassitt’s bold claims, were nowhere close to winning a World Series, and Bassitt himself was a big reason why.

On June 3, Bassitt left his start at Fenway Park after three innings, and not just because he was struggling again. He exited the mound with low back discomfort, an ailment that landed him on the IL for more than two months. Ineffective and injured, Bassitt’s tenure with the Orioles was shaping up to be one of the worst in recent team history.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the end of his story. Bassitt returned to the Birds in mid-August and showed significant improvement in his second act, going 5-1 with a 3.74 ERA. The Orioles won six of his eight starts. Those numbers aren’t dominant, but they’re much more in line with the pitcher the O’s thought they were getting when they signed him. One wonders if the back injury was affecting Bassitt long before the Boston start. Whatever the case, the two months of rest served him quite well.

Bassitt’s overall season stats — a 9-5 record, 4.59 ERA, and 1.0 fWAR — weren’t as dreadful as they were shaping up to be during his awful first half. Still, time comes for us all, and nearly all of Bassitt’s numbers at age 37 were his worst in a decade, including his ERA+ (89), WHIP (1.549), H/9 (10.6), and K/9 (6.5). Bassitt wasn’t fooling many batters, ranking in the eighth percentile in K% and just the fifth percentile in chase percentage.

He wasn’t Charlie Morton bad, and certainly not 2025 Kyle Gibson bad, but Bassitt wasn’t worth $18.5 million. Based on FanGraphs’ general principle that 1 WAR is worth about $8 million in free agency, Bassitt’s performance merited less than half of the salary he got. The Orioles shouldn’t and won’t re-sign him, unless they’re convinced that the second-half Bassitt is the version they’ll get for a full season. We can only hope that’s not something they’ll talk themselves into.

I’ll say this about Bassitt: as a clubhouse presence, he provided the veteran leadership the Orioles badly needed. It wasn’t enough to transform the O’s into a good team, of course, but Bassitt was candid and forthright about the many flaws with the Orioles and what needs to be done to fix them. In The Baltimore Banner’s 2026 Orioles postmortem, Bassitt spoke about the need to address fundamentals up and down the organization.

“I think the most impactful and important changes for this organization going forward is the people like Shane Baz, [Kyle] Bradish, Pete Alonso, Gunnar Henderson to walk into a room next year with the entire minor league system, especially coming from Gunnar, who’s been through this minor league system, and say, ‘Hey, I know what we’ve done in the past. But what we’ve done in the past is not good enough. And we are about to make some small changes, some major changes, some things that are non-negotiables, some things that are not going to be tolerated anymore.’”

Bassitt emphasized that the Orioles need to focus on “all the little things. Rules off the field, rules on the field. Baserunning rules, hitting rules, your work, your game preparation, your lifts. Whatever it may be. Pick the subject, there’s rules for it.” Bassitt added, “I think players in this room have got to grab the reins and responsibility of what it takes to be a big leaguer who really wants to win.”

You know, I’m starting to think the Orioles should re-sign Bassitt after all — to be their new manager. (I’m kidding. Well, sort of. But Bassitt’s comments were more insightful and enlightening than anything I’ve ever heard Craig Albernaz say.)

In all likelihood, Chris Bassitt’s tenure in Baltimore was one year and done. But if the Orioles hope to pull themselves out of the malaise they find themselves in, they’d be well served to heed his advice for the future.

Two days ago, we asked who your top free agent target was. Today, it’s time for the reverse. Very few free agent possibilities meet with unanimous agreement; there’s always reason to believe that a player might not pan out, or that they might not be worth the price they’ll command. It’s more fun to dream of a new signing being that long-awaited missing piece than to dread them being a mistake, but you can’t always be positive.

Today’s question is: Are there any free agents you’d prefer the Phillies steer clear of?

Two questions for the (zero) price of one. Backs against the wall, the Braves can only end tonight in one of two ways (I guess there could be a freak rain delay?): force a winner-take all Game 5, or bow out of their 2026 campaign.

That they’re in this place isn’t surprising given that they have A) allowed homers, and B) not hit many homers. They stole one game of the series while getting outhomered, but asking them to steal multiple that way is an even tougher sell than a single win. The Braves have been out-homered 7-2 in three games, and well, allowing seven homers in three games is basically a nightmare, especially for a team whose main claim to 90-plus wins was having relievers who didn’t allow key homers late.

While they’ve faced good pitching, the Braves have a .245 wOBA and .251 xwOBA in the Division Series so far; the Dodgers are at .309 and .339, respectively. So, something’s gonna need to change, or something very wacky is going to need to happen for the Braves to live to fight another day… or series.

Who’s going to be responsible for one or the other? Have at it.

Meet the Mets

The Mets announced a partial shakeup of their coaching staff yesterday. Director of Major League hitting Jeff Albert, quality assurance coach Danny Barnes, and bullpen pitcher Kevin Mahoney will not return to the coaching staff next season. They could end up remaining in the organization, but have been given freedom to speak with other clubs. The rest of the coaching staff will return in 2027. According to reporting by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, the Mets intend to interview multiple hitting instructors with various levels of experience and one of them may take the role vacated by Barnes or it is possible a new hire could slot below hitting coach Troy Snitker in the club’s hitting hierarchy.

Bruin Agbayani—son of Benny Agbayani acquired for AJ Minter at the trade deadline—was assigned to the Arizona Fall League and will be the second-youngest player on the roster.

SNY continued their Stay or Go series by evaluating whether the Mets should bring Mark Vientos back in 2027.

Around the National League East

Yoshinobu Yamamoto outdueled Chris Sale in Game 3 of the NLDS, striking out ten batters as the Dodgers defeated the Braves 3-1 to go up two games to one in the series.

A sore right knee limited Ronald Acuña Jr. to DH duties in yesterday’s game and it is unclear whether the knee will continue to hinder his ability to play in the field in the postseason.

Kenny Albert called the game between the Dodgers and Braves yesterday in place of Joe Davis, who is sick and had lost his voice.

Alex Cora has once again rejected the Phillies as they tried to pursue him for their managerial vacancy. This now forces the Phillies to either conduct a wider search for their next manager, retain Don Mattingly, or consider another internal candidate.

Around Major League Baseball

The Padres hung on to beat the Brewers 4-3 in Game 3 of the NLDS and stave off elimination to force a Game 4. Two days after he pitched five innings in Game 2, Michael King recorded the final six outs of the game for the Padres in a gutty relief effort.

The Padres deny Mason Miller was tipping his pitches in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the NLDS. As he breezed through his first inning of work, they are considering a strategy of limiting him to one inning per appearance. However, he was not available for yesterday’s game, as he was placed on the paternity list.

Amidst the postseason fanfare, the Dodgers mourned Fred Claire—the former Dodgers GM who oversaw the 1988 World Series Championship team—who passed away on Monday at the age of 91.

Similarly, as the Guardians continue their series against the White Sox, they mourn the loss of Sam McDowell—six-time All Star whose post-career sobriety served as the inspiration for the Sam Malone character in “Cheers.” McDowell passed away on Monday at the age of 84.

There was some uncertainty surrounding Max Fried’s ability to start for the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALDS today, as his girlfriend is due to give birth. But he confirmed that he will pitch. “I’ve got a really supportive family that that understands that this is my job, and it’s not going to affect what happens tomorrow,” he said.

Matthew Leach of MLB.com reviewed five reasons why the Yankees could pull off a comeback in the ALDS. They are currently behind two games to none in the series against the Rays.

All four division series games feature a matchup between one team trying to advance to the Championship Series and the other team facing elimination. MLB.com runs down one storyline from each game.

The Orioles have laid off more than two dozen people in roles ranging from ticket sales to graphic design, per reporting by Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic. The employee that serves as the Oriole Bird mascot and popular in-game entertainer Mr. Splash were among those let go.

Major League Baseball is piloting experimental outfield positioning rules in the Arizona Fall League that limit where outfielders are permitted to stand, per Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

In a new episode of A Pod of Their Own, we announce a new date for our annual Dollars for Dingers fundraiser (October 17!), chat about the playoffs, and do an extra long Mensch of the Week segment.

Steve Sypa continued his series reviewing the 2026 season for all of the Mets’ minor league affiliates with the St. Lucie Mets.

This Date in Mets History

The Mets swept the Dodgers in the NLDS on this date in 2006.

The Dodgers are just one win away from securing their third consecutive NLCS appearance after a fierce duel between Chris Sale and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

During Tuesday’s contest, Miguel Rojas made an off-balanced throw over to first to get Ronald Acuña Jr. for the final out of the bottom of the sixth inning. While batting in the top of the eighth inning against left-hander Dylan Lee, Rojas fouled a pitch off and began to grimace after his follow-through. Rojas would exit in the middle of the at-bat, requiring Tommy Edman to pinch hit and man second base for him.

Rojas spoke with Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA following the Dodgers’ 3-1 Game 3 victory, noting that his back began to tighten on that throw to first while feeling good enough to prepare for Game 4.

“The tightness started to happen after the play at second base when I kind slid right there with the grass,” said Rojas. “I wasn’t able to bounce back from what I was feeling on my hip, and my lower back tied up… I’m looking forward to be ready to go tomorrow if they need me.”

Rojas also expressed praise for Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s brilliant performance against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday, as the right-hander tossed seven innings allowing four hits, one earned run and one walk while striking out 10 hitters, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.

“He’s becoming one of the best pitchers in this stage,” said Miguel Rojas, who exited with lower back pain in the eighth inning. “Obviously he hasn’t won a Cy Young here or hasn’t been the best pitcher in the league, but we feel like every time he takes the mound, he’s the best pitcher for us. … And I know he will do whatever to help us out.”

October Kiké Hernández came out to play on Tuesday, as in his second at-bat against Chris Sale on Tuesday, he launched a two-run home run— his 17th career postseason home run— which ultimately made the difference in a 3-1 win. Hernández described his mentality when facing Sale the second time around, per Courtney Hollmon of MLB.com.

“My mentality was to grind out an at-bat, get a good pitch to hit, and if not, just be patient,” Hernández said. “He doubled up on the changeup. So he showed me where the changeup was going to start for a ball, and then the next pitch my eyes recognized, it popped. I’m lucky that I put a good swing on it.”

SAN DIEGO ― All-Star closer Mason Miller warned the San Diego Padres before the season began that this day was coming.

Maybe it wouldn’t be exactly on Oct. 6.

Maybe it would be during an off-day.

Maybe the Padres’ season would already be over.

Never, ever, did he imagine he’d be delivering the news Tuesday, less than 90 minutes before the biggest game of the Padres’ season.

Just before he was about to drive to Petco Park, with the Padres needing a victory to keep their season alive, he called his bosses.

His wife, Jordan, was going into labor. Their baby was coming. Sorry, he didn’t think he’d be able to make it to the game.

"We wanted to give him enough time in case the baby comes really quick, or it goes the other way," Padres manager Craig Stammen said, "and he could come to the game. We gave him the opportunity. We waited until an hour and a half, an hour before the game time, to make the final call. …

"He decided that he needed to stay with his wife."

Ther was instantaneous joy for Miller, who was about to become a father for the first time.

And then, sheer panic.

The Padres secretly knew that All-Star setup man Adrian Morejon was dealing with shoulder fatigue and would be unavailable to pitch in the game.

So, in a matter of minutes, they now would be without the best closer in baseball, the best setup man in baseball, and would be facing the powerful Milwaukee Brewers with their season on the line.

"It was hard to map out from the beginning," Stammen said, "just because both of those guys are unavailable, and we'd relied on them so much throughout the year."

By the end of the night, they somehow, someway, miraculously lived to tell about it, with a performance that will be remembered for generations in Padres’ history.

The Padres survived, beating Milwaukee, 4-3, with their ace Michael King, who had just started two days ago, throwing 72 pitches, coming in relief to record the final six outs and save the Padres’ season.

"He just threw two days ago, and to do that," Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts said, "was just unbelievable. Shocking, really. He’s not only pitching one inning, but two innings? I remember after he pitched Game 2, he made a comment that he’d be available in the bullpen. We’re like, “Yeah, whatever.’ Even when he went to the bullpen, I still didn’t think he was going to pitch.

"It’s just crazy to see what he did."

Stammen, a former reliever himself, was convinced it was possible simply because King was so adamant in his desire to pull it off.

"He came in the office today," Stammen said, "and said, 'I'm available to pitch. I'm available to pitch the next day, and I'm available to pitch Game 5.'

"He's got an attitude of I'll do anything to help the team win, feel healthy and ready to go."

The bullpen gate swung open in the eighth inning, and there was King, running onto the field – with the sellout crowd of 47,708 at Petco Park going bonkers – to make his first save appearance since he was a reliever with the New York Yankees in 2023.

"I know that I have bullets in my arm that I don't want to save," King said. "I felt like it needed to be the right time. I think that it all aligned with Mason going on paternity. Even if he was available, I was still going to be up and ready to go in whatever situation that presented itself."

It didn’t matter that he was on the mound 48 hours earlier.

It didn’t matter that he can be a free agent after the season, and was risking potential injury.

None of it mattered except that the Padres were down 2 games to 0, and if they lost this night, there were done for the year.

"If you're in an elimination game," King said, "you want everybody to be all in on it. I feel like not just me, we have a bunch of dogs down there that are all in."

So King, the Padres’ fifth pitcher of the game, came in for the rescue.

"When you have Michael King out there, what he’s capable of, and he is your best arm," Padres pitching coach and associate manager Ruben Niebla said, "you know we felt pretty good about it.’"

King quickly recorded the first two outs, gave up a single to pinch-hitter David Hamilton, but no further damage when he induced a groundout from dangerous Jackson Chourio.

"It wasn’t my best at-bat," said Chourio, the hero in Game 2 with his two-out, two-strike, two-run walk-off single. "I think I could have had a better at-bat. I think I’ll be able to come a little bit more calm (in Game 4), and be ready for it."

Then, came the ninth.

"I was trying to tap back into that bullpen mentality I used to have," King said, "of saving my best bullets for game time."

He struck out Jake Bauers, and suddenly, began showing fatigue. He walked William Contreras, who homered in the fourth inning, in a grueling nine-pitch at-bat. He then walked Brice Turang on six pitches, with the final two pitches missing badly. Next up was Christian Yelich, who already had two hits in the game.

Niebla came to the mound for a quick chat, giving King a breather, while veteran starters Robbie Ray and Joe Musgrove were hurriedly warming up. They discussed the sequence of pitches to Yelich, and what to throw him on the first pitch. King had his idea. Niebla had his. So they compromised, with King starting him off with an 84.2-mph slider on the outside part of the plate.

Yelich swung, and smoked the ball, 107.1-mph off his bat. Bogaerts ranged to his left, gloved it, ran to the bag to beat Turang, and threw to first base for the double play.

The crowd screamed, and so did King, who broke into a smile that could be seen clear to Tijuana.

Just like that, the Padres are still alive, and suddenly, they believe they can actually overcome a 2-0 deficit in a five-game series and advance to the NLCS, a feat accomplished just 11 times out of 92 (11%) in the wild-card era.

They also are buoyed with confidence that not only Miller, but Morejon, should be available out of the bullpen Wednesday, Oct. 7, in Game 4, according to Niebla. If they have the lead after six innings, they can shut it down, just as they’ve done most of the season.

"I think you look at the situation we've been in for, shoot, over half the season," said Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth, who homered in the fifth inning. "It's kind of been our backs against the wall. We've been fighting since before the trade deadline to survive.

"The mentality of the group is we're 0-2, but we've kind of been 0-2 the entire year. I think no team's more battle tested than we are right now."

The Padres are expected to start Walker Buehler, who missed the first two games of the series on paternity leave, in Game 4.

And if there’s a Game 5, back in Milwaukee on Friday, King, who threw 40 pitches, has already volunteered to make the start.

"Michael is willing to do anything for the team," Stammen said. "It's pretty awesome to have someone like that, star player, be able to articulate that to me, the manager, and the coaching staff, and then go out and do it."

The Padres now will be back at full strength Wednesday. They don’t know if Miller will have gotten any sleep. They don’t know how emotionally drained he’ll be. But he’s expected to walk through the door, bring in baby pictures, and pass around cigars.

"We’re thrilled for him," Padres veteran reliever Jason Adam said. "I mean, there’s nowhere else he should be than with his wife right now, having his baby. We’re honored to have the opportunity to cover those innings for him tonight.

"Mason’s done it all year, and he’ll do it again. And when he comes back as a dad now, I can’t wait to watch that … I’m excited. I want to meet this baby."

The Padres hope to keep winning, only now, to do it in conventional style.

"Nobody buys the boring books," Adam said, "so a little adversity is good for the boys."

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Padres navigate a baby, a sore arm and adversity as Michael King saves season

What was your favorite moment of the season?

Wilyer Abreu’s go-ahead home run in the seventh inning against the Rays just after the All-Star break. The team went into the break red hot, but at that point they were still only one game over .500, and being a playoff team was far from cemented. When the ball left the park, it was a real “this team might actually be magic” moment, and watching the games stopped feeling like a chore.

— Jacob Roy

Roman Anthony’s absolutely stunning slide into home plate on August 31 against the Mariners. It tied up the game, setting the table for the Sox to walk it off in the next inning—but that’s not what I love about it. It is beautiful in its own right. It’s so precise, it could be ballet. It’s tight and complete, like a perfect poem: if you add or subtract anything, it doesn’t work anymore. It’s hypnotic; I almost go into a trance when I watch it. It brings me somewhere else and it’s amazing to me that the human body can do things like this.

— Maura McGurk

It was the dramatic White Sox game on August 6. The team looked so down and out and I was texting folks throughout the broadcast stating “you know, it’s okay to lose a game, they just don’t have it tonight.” Then came the runs in the 9th inning, and then the 10th, 11th and 12th. The hottest version of this team simply did not say die.

— Dean Roussel

Opening Day. There was a certain level of buzz, excitement and expectation about the future of the team I don’t think we’re going to see again for a long, long time. The Sox won 3-0, Garrett Crochet tossed six scoreless innings, Roman Anthony went 3-4 with a walk and seemed poised to have a gigantic season off his .920 OPS in the World Baseball Classic, and Marcelo Mayer had a pinch hit double and scored the winning run. The future seemed set, a division title seemed possible, we didn’t quite know how bad the rift was between Alex Cora and the front office, and playoff baseball at Fenway Park in 2026 felt likely. [Sigh]

It would be unfair to say the season was all downhill from there as it contained many wild ups and downs; but, just like a roller coaster, the top of all the other hills never reached the heights that preceded the first drop at the beginning of the ride. And, unfortunately, I think the Red Sox are worse off as a club moving forward because of it.

— Matthew Gross

The first thing I did on the Game 15 / Game 16 winning streak doubleheader day was grab a ticket to what would have been history. I’ve never been to a playoff game but I felt like the atmosphere at that game and the eruption at the Rafaela walkoff against the Rays in June 2025 must be what it’s like to witness some of those great moments. People cheering the team after they lost game two and didn’t extend the winning streak to 16 was magical. With the way the season ended I hope that isn’t forgotten. 2026 was a special team, even if that didn’t mean playoff glory.

– Mike Carlucci 

Collectively, the four-game sweep of the Yankees at Fenway Park in late June. For about the 10th time in two months, we went into that series knowing that “if they don’t turn it on now, the season will be over,” and even that felt impossible when you did the math at 32-46. From Caleb Durbin popping his pinky back into place to take Cam Schlittler deep in the opener, to the Red Sox lineup picking up Wilyer Abreu’s defense in extra innings in the finale, there were four TEAM wins in a row that embodied who they were for a 32-5 stretch this summer that I will never forget.

– Bob Osgood

Seeing that wild walkoff (and review!) against the Giants in August was one of the coolest endings to a game I’ve ever seen at Fenway. Maybe it was the fine domestic beverages I had that evening talking, but after that victory I thought that we might’ve had some special devil magic that could’ve helped us come October. I thought we might’ve had the Mandate of Heaven.

– Fitzy Mo Peña

What was your least favorite moment of the season?

Besides the end, probably losing Garrett Crochet for the season. His last outing (besides the postseason) came on the day Alex Cora was fired, and vibes were at an all-time low. I still can’t help but think about how differently the season might have gone if he were healthy.

— Jacob Roy

Well the end, obviously, but outside of that, it was the pelvic thrust hit celebration from March and April.

— Maura McGurk

For sure the hitting woes the team faced in Colorado, of all places. If I were to name one game, the game that seemed thoroughly in hand up 2-0 before the offense laid an egg and Aroldis Chapman seemingly caught the yips and couldn’t record an out. Luckily, something pretty special followed that soon thereafter, and Chappy was awesome down that stretch.

— Dean Roussel

The bludgeoning at Yankee Stadium to end the season is the cop-out answer. But guess what? It’s also the correct one. Not just because getting your brains beat in by the most unlikeable team in sports by a combined score of 18-2 sucks, but because all the components that surrounded it also sucked and have the potential to be long lasting.

• The Sox spent the entire month of September with their foot off the throttle supposedly getting ready for that series and then got outclassed in every way. Doesn’t bode well for the DNA of the team in future playoff series without significant internal growth.
• Chad Tracy and Craig Breslow each got extensions just before it and then flunked the exam. We’re now stuck with them.
• Roman Anthony’s season-long battle with a hand injury reemerged at both the worst time and potentially in the worst way possible. Is this something that’s going to screw up the ceiling on his career? God I hope not!
• Garrett Whitlock got knocked around again in a playoff game. Just like he did last year at Yankee Stadium, and just like he did in the ninth inning of the WBC in March. Is this a guy you can trust going forward in these moments?

Best case scenario is the disaster somehow ends up contained to those two nights and doesn’t prove to be a harbinger for pretty much anything in the future.

— Matthew Gross

That final loss to the Rockies before things turned around. It felt like the last game (19 inning walkoff loss) before the All-Star Break in 2006 against the White Sox. We didn’t know at the time, but that was the beginning of the end for the 2006 team. This year was already turning into a lost cause and that felt like the tipping point – getting wiped out by a team that is supposed to be bad and seeing that worse team is the one from Boston. Glad to be wrong!

– Mike Carlucci

When the Red Sox took their foot off the gas on August 31st, after losing three of four to the Yankees. Fenway Park had collectively taken their tarps off and supported the squad with relentless enthusiasm for months, but suddenly the games felt inconsequential. I was in attendance at “The Jedixson Paez Game,” and I’m still waiting for a refund. Once they did that, we all knew that the next game(s) that truly mattered would be a month later on the road, and they were never able to get the car back into “Drive”.

– Bob Osgood

Not gonna say the obvious answer, although of course my least favorite part in earnest was the Wild Card loss. Besides that, I gotta say it was that Brayan Bello implosion against the Braves back in May. Five early runs for Atlanta prompted me to start asking existential questions to myself about Bello, who does deserve his flowers for eventually bouncing back following his stint in AAA. Still, that was the moment where I officially thought we’d be in for a loooooooooooooooooong season.

– Fitzy Mo Peña

Who was your favorite player?

I’ve been Payton Tolle’s biggest supporter, but even I wasn’t expecting him to improve as much as he did year over year. Even more important than his numbers, he’s just an absolute joy to watch with his on-field antics.

— Jacob Roy

Willson Contreras, the heart and soul of the team for a lot of the season.

— Maura McGurk

Mickey Gasper. I liked him when he was playing in Worcester. He was dreadful in his first time up, failing to get a hit in 18 tries, went to the Twins and performed, well, sub-optimally, came back on a minor league deal, lit the world up down there, came up and struggled, and then hit like Mickey Mantle for the hot streak. The team all ran cold at the same time, but when they were mostly hot and Gasper found the ball, you really did believe.

— Dean Roussel

For 2026 specifically, Caleb Durbin. He fought back from an absolutely miserable first couple of months (he was batting .190 as late as June 16th), grinded through injury, played excellent defense, got his uniform dirty pretty much everyday because he has to play that way to survive in this league, and made a huge impact in that 15-game winning streak. He’s never going to be a superstar, but I think he fits in well somewhere on a championship roster.

— Matthew Gross

Ceddanne ‘Nuf Cedd Rafaela. Catch after catch after catch. We’ve been lucky to watch some really good center fielders in Boston but sometimes he’s on another level.

— Mike Carlucci

Payton Tolle. His ability to combine incredible talent with a genuine love for playing baseball is what everyone should strive for. From the second he sent the Red Sox off to the WBC with USA shaved into his chest hair, I knew he was a real one.

– Bob Osgood

We have a guy who can become our first legitimate homegrown ace since Jon Lester. For this year, for the stuff he’s done on and off the field, it’s gotta be Mr. Tolle.

– Fitzy Mo Peña

Who was your least favorite player?

I appreciate that Patrick Sandoval was able to make it back on the mound after several injuries, but the guy just doesn’t have it anymore. There were players who were worse than Sandoval, but he was the most frustrating guy to watch on the mound.

— Jacob Roy

Marcelo Mayer. I wasn’t sorry to see him go.

— Maura McGurk

It’s been 10 for me for three of the last four years, but this year, it’s 16. I will say this with a precursor that fans get too belligerent with players and that I’m mindful and empathetic of Duran’s mental health struggles. However, the early iteration of this team suffered too many distractions due to Duran chirping back at guys he already beat by simply being on a Major League diamond, and his slash line of .207/.266/.361 simply shouldn’t be good enough to be a starting outfielder of a playoff contender. Never mind that he’s not even that good in the outfield. And also, the public lambasting of a teammate that is FAR outperforming him on not tagging up on a ball he would’ve clearly been thrown out on was dreadful. I mean, this has to be the worst season a guy who’s stolen 20 bases and hit 20 home runs has ever had, right?

— Dean Roussel

Jarren Duran. He represents too much of the missed opportunity and threat of decay that seems to be hanging over this franchise. The doubles and triples that were once a staple of his game evaporated in 2026, and I’m beyond tired of seeming him do absolutely nothing every time this team goes into Yankee Stadium (he has the most at bats by any left hander in Yankee Stadium without a home run). It’s time to move on.

— Matthew Gross

Adley Rutschman. Yeah, it was fun when he hit from both sides in the home run derby. That was years ago. Hopefully he has a big 2027 if there’s a season.

—Mike Carlucci

Marcelo Mayer. It wasn’t a coincidence that he went on the IL at the start of the Yankees series in late June and what happened to this Red Sox team in the weeks that followed. His attitude, work ethic, and hesitance to play through minor bumps and bruises were never going to survive in Boston.

– Bob Osgood

Duran. Not worth repeating everything already said. You’ve seen the numbers. Next.

– Fitzy Mo Peña

Overall, the 2026 Red Sox season made you feel…

The more seasons that go by, the less I care about winning the World Series. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to get drunk on Boylston Street as duckboats meander by as much as anyone, but not winning it all doesn’t ruin a season for me anymore. The remarkable, improbable, unexplainable run in July and August was a blast. Fellow Bryant Bulldog Mickey Gasper becoming the best hitter on the planet for a span was electrifying. The end of the season was a damper, but the team rescued summer and gave me a reason to keep watching. I don’t think I answered the prompt, but it was a fun season.

— Jacob Roy

Right now I’m still angry at the way they closed the season—from September through the embarrassing Wild Card series. Maybe those rough edges will smooth out with time and perspective, who knows. What I do know: there were high highs, and low lows. Those highs were amazing, while the lows were the worst. As I continue to process, it’s hard to distill into one feeling so I guess I’ll say like I was on a rollercoaster.

— Maura McGurk

Highs and lows. I realized how truly bad this team can be when everyone just stops performing. Those moments bookended how good a team made of scrappy platoon guys and a few decent hitters like Abreu and Contreras was. And this was without their ace, even if they seem to have found another top-of-the-rotation stud. Through it all, there were some coaching inconsistencies that I feel confident will peter out as Tracy simply learns the ropes.

— Dean Roussel

Flabbergasted! My head is still spinning from all the shocking moments. I can’t believe things took such an ugly turn from where we were on Opening Day. I can’t believe the club managed to salvage the season from 32-46 with the 15-game winning streak while they were mostly injured. I can’t believe they were so unprepared for the Wild Card Series. I can’t believe how bad the injury stuff got. I can’t believe how messy the Alex Cora stuff got. And honestly, I can’t believe how different of a place we’re in from seven months ago. It’s going to take a while to grab our bearings after that whirlwind.

— Matthew Gross

I don’t think every year needs to be “World Series or bust” to be successful but almost eliminated from the idea of playoffs in June is mind-boggling. Were they ever as good as the streak made them look? No. But late June, July, and August was one of the best (and most fun) stretches I’ve ever watched. And there wasn’t a guy massively overachieving. I mean, Gasper, but it’s not like it was a full season with 60 homers out of nowhere. Chandler Simpson on the Rays hitting zero homers is more unlikely than a career minor leaguer coming up and hitting 10. I had a fun season and clearly so did a lot of the team. If they lost 2-0 and 4-2 to the Yankees, which is not an unreasonable take with slightly better pitching (the bats didn’t show), people wouldn’t be nearly as upset right now.

—Mike Carlucci

Stagnant. Despite the numerous twists and turns — and I have to say there were more of them this year than any season I can remember — we’re right back where we were one year ago. With a similar record, the same seed in the playoffs, losing to the same team, and with the same offensive struggles and lack of power hitters that we saw a year ago. With the same GM saying the same (robotic) things that don’t really feel like answers at the end of the season. 

– Bob Osgood

The entire spectrum of emotions. At one point or another, this team made me feel something—and it was something different each and every time. I went from optimistic to apathetic before the All-Star Break. Delusion turned into delirium over the course of 15 straight wins in the summer. Ambitious dreams in August made way for tempered anticipation for a postseason berth in September. All of that led to anger, sadness, and—frankly—exhaustion by the time it was all said and done last week in the Bronx. Now, with a potential lockout looming and no Red Sox emotional rollercoaster to be had, I don’t know what I feel.

– Fitzy Mo Peña

The Orioles gave up two productive veterans at the 2025 trade deadline, and Boston Bateman was the main reason why. One year later, the towering lefty looks like a smart bet and one of the most intriguing arms in Baltimore’s system.

Back in 2024, the Padres took Bateman with the 52nd pick in the draft out of Adolfo Camarillo High School in California and signed him for $2.5 million. Last July, San Diego agreed to part with the 6-foot-8, 240-pound southpaw, shipping him to Baltimore as part of the eight-player deal that saw Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano become Padres. That summer, Bateman made two starts at Delmarva after the trade, and three more at High-A Aberdeen, posting a 3.93 ERA over 75.2 innings across both levels.

The Orioles started Bateman at Frederick in 2026, and he settled in quickly. He was named the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Month for May after posting a 0.89 ERA over 20.1 innings. His best start that month came on May 20 against Greenville, when he threw 5.2 scoreless innings with six strikeouts. By early summer, Bateman had struck out 59 batters in 45.1 innings with a 3.38 ERA.

The second half was bumpier. A hip issue after the All-Star break led the Orioles to limit Bateman’s innings as a precaution. The big lefty still finished strong, with five consecutive scoreless starts over the month of August, and a 3.65 ERA over the regular season, striking out 117 batters in 86.1 innings and walking 48. That’s 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings, and he gave up only five home runs all year.

Bateman saved his best outing for last. He struck out a career-high 10 batters over five innings in Game 1 of the South Atlantic League North Division playoffs on September 8, and the Keys routed Greensboro 13-1. The Grasshoppers won the next two games to end Frederick’s season, but Bateman had made an entrance.

Anthony Eyanson, Joseph Dzierwa and Caden Hunter grabbed most of the pitching headlines on the farm this summer, and all three finished the year at Double-A. Bateman’s season got less attention, but it’s worth remembering that he’s a year or two younger than that trio and still learning how to command a very big frame.

MLB Pipeline ranks Bateman as Baltimore’s 11th-best prospect, and Baseball America has him at No. 10. He hasn’t joined Booth, Eyanson, Dzierwa and Hunter on Pipeline’s Top 100 yet, but a strong start to next season in the upper minors could change that quickly.

Bateman’s arsenal is very interesting. His fastball averaged 95.4 MPH early in the season, sat in the upper 90s and touched 100. His slider is his best secondary pitch, and he also throws a curveball and changeup. Said current Frederick manager Collin Woody, then of Delmarva, “Oh my God, the stuff is super legit.” One of the more encouraging signs from 2026 was that Bateman relied less on his fastball. He threw the slider and changeup more often and got more chases and whiffs as a result.

The walks are the obvious problem. Bateman averaged five walks per nine innings—not unusual for a pitcher his size, as tall pitchers often take longer to repeat their mechanics. Bateman has said that consistent pitch shapes and a repeatable delivery are his priorities. If the control improves even to average, the strikeout stuff gives him a real chance to start.

He’ll likely open 2027 in Chesapeake’s rotation. MLB.com estimated this spring that he was about two years from a big league debut, so 2028 is a more realistic target than next season. That timeline works fine for Baltimore. The Orioles need left-handed starting pitching, and Dzierwa, Hunter and Luis De León are all in line ahead of Bateman. Having another high-ceiling lefty a level behind them gives the organization depth and options as the rotation takes shape.

Bateman will finally face some adversity at Double-A, where advanced hitters will lay off pitches out of the zone. He’ll have to throw strikes to get by there in a way he didn’t always have to in A-ball.

Orioles fans know pitching prospects don’t always pan out. Unlike Hunter, Bateman will carry some expectations as the main return for two popular veterans. He doesn’t seem bothered by that. “Failure is no longer in my vocabulary,” he said this summer, and in August he added that “we’ll be getting a ring in Baltimore.”

That’s a bold prediction from someone who just turned 21, and Bateman shouldn’t be considered a can’t-miss prospect yet. But a big lefty who throws close to 100 and has improving secondary pitches is exactly the kind of prospect who can jump up the rankings in a hurry.

High drama is afoot in the MLB postseason, which is always a delightful thing to see unfold. Whether it’s Shohei Ohtani’s unexpected postseason slump (or was it really unexpected considering he’s been battling injuries the latter half of the season?), or Mason Miller tipping pitches (he claims he wasn’t!), or the Yankees just dropping the ball throughout their series against the Rays, it has been a very interesting week of postseason ball.

We’ll get into all that and more below, so let’s just jump right into it.

• Michael Baumann looks at how badly the Yankees dropped the ball in their recent outing against the Rays.
• Will Sammon explains how the Rays are dominating the Yankees in October. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Andy Nesbitt looks at how Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s postgame comments just made his on-field errors look worse.
• Sonja Chen tries to determine what’s behind Shohei Ohtani’s NLDS struggles.
• Jackson Chourio is becoming a postseason hero, writes Tom Verducci.
• Some hot takes after the first week of the postseason. (ESPN)
• This might be right up there with “game in a National Park” as the dumbest idea MLB has had this season.

Parents spend months trying to get their baby’s first word to be ‘Mama’ or ‘Dada.’ This book is for parents with bigger dreams.

I’m proud to be partnering with @MLB for YOUR BABY’S FIRST WORD WILL BE YANKEES and YOUR BABY’S FIRST WORD WILL BE DODGERS (words by me, art by Miguel… pic.twitter.com/ZGzZUwCJuN

— Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) October 6, 2026

• Matthew Roberson tracks the White Sox continued dream run through the postseason.
• Anthony Castrovince looks at how the Garrett Crochet trade is paying off for the White Sox now.
• How did things come together so quickly for the 2026 White Sox? Story by Anthony Castrovince.
• Jon Becker shares postseason report cards for the managers of the Astros and Red Sox.
• Dan Gartland looks at how hard it is, historically, for teams to come back from a 0-2 start to the postseason.
• Tim Britton reports that Josh Naylor and Cal Raleigh have both undergone offseason surgeries. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Not ideal…

Mason Miller was absolutely tipping his breaking ball in the Padres' NLDS Game 2 loss to Milwaukee: pic.twitter.com/P20JyKhmWT

— Sillyam Contreras Enjoyer (@Turang_FC) October 5, 2026

• Mason Miller, for his part, insists he was not tipping pitches. (MLB)
• Ben Clemens tries to make sense of the Braves’ go-for-broke approach to the postseason.
• Ty France can’t carry the Padres all on his own, writes Jay Jaffe.
• Anthony DiComo has five questions that will define the Mets’ offseason.
• Karl Rasmussen explains the glaring weakness that is sinking the Guardians.
• The Red Sox deny they are relying too heavily on analytics. (AP)
• Former Dodgers’ GM Fred Claire has passed away. (AP)
• Sam McDowell, the All-Star who inspired a character on “Cheers,” has passed away. (AP)
• Tim Britton and Sam Blum look at how broadcasters deal with accusations of bias in the postseason. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Absolutely love stuff like this.

The Atlanta Braves got 19 outs from a former 7-Eleven employee and a 21 year old rookie to beat the billion dollar Dodgers.

Baseball is a beautiful sport.

— Trent (@Trenciarte) October 5, 2026

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.