Category: Baseball

The Colorado Rockies only have 17 games left in the 2026 season. If they played football that would constitute an entire season. Instead, because they play the marathon that is baseball, these final 17 games may seem inconsequential.

It’s true that the Rockies are eliminated from the playoff race, so in a sense, the remaining games are inconsequential. If we’re being honest with ourselves, though, the Rockies have been realistically eliminated from postseason contention for the past half decade, and there have still been plenty of reasons to watch them play.

There may not be too many games left, but that doesn’t mean the final three weeks of the season won’t provide opportunity for some entertainment. Let’s take a look through the remaining schedule, series by series, to wring out every last inch of exciting baseball before the long offseason (and possible lockout) arrives.

The Detroit Tigers Series

I’m not going to lie: The existence of this series almost scuttled the premise of this entire article.

There’s very little specifically interesting about a late-season matchup between the Rockies and the Detroit Tigers. Both teams are outside of playoff contention, they aren’t division rivals, and the number of former Rockies on the Tigers is limited (unless you’re still a big Tyler Kinley fan).

The Tigers, while they may not have much connection to the current Rockies, do employ the clear frontrunner for American League Rookie of the Year. If the only baseball that you have time to watch is Rockies games, this series will be your one chance to see Tigers rookie shortstop Kevin McGonigle play before taking home the 2026 AL RoY award.

That being said, if you are afraid of how many times the broadcast booth may struggle to pronounce McGonigle, this would be the one series remaining that you wouldn’t be missing too much if you skipped.

The San Diego Padres Series

This four game series against the Padres is the Rockies best opportunity to play spoiler.

The Padres started off strong with an 18-7 April, struggled to stay around .500 in May through July, before turning things around with a 17-11 August. As things stand, the Padres are 78-68 just barely holding on to the third wild card spot in the National League with a half game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

They come to Denver hoping to keep their lead and reach the postseason for the fifth time in the past seven seasons. So far this year the Rockies have been beaten by the Padres in eight out of their nine games, making even a tie in this four-game set seem like a longshot. All that losing, however, would make it even more wonderful if the Rockies are able to eek out some wins against their division rival right at the end when it matters the most.

Besides, when these two teams play, anything can happen.

The Seattle Mariners Series

With their poor play since the All-Star break, it’s possible that by the start of this series, the Seattle Mariners will also be mathematically eliminated from the playoff hunt. Unlike the series against the Tigers, however, there are still some side stories to look forward to.

First and foremost, the Saturday game will feature the unveiling of Todd Helton’s statue outside Coors Field. As with the Larry Walker statue unveiling earlier in the year, Helton is expected to be in attendance for a pre-game ceremony. The club has not announced any other media appearances yet, but Walker was on the broadcast the night of his statue’s unveiling, so it seems likely that a similar appearance for Helton is in the cards.

Join us for a celebration and statue unveiling of Rockies Legends Larry Walker and Todd Helton!

ON SALE NOW ➡️ https://t.co/vwNVCiBM4Apic.twitter.com/vpnx8HqM3W

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) January 24, 2026

Additionally, the final Friday home game of the season means one last chance to see the Rockies play in the pastel colors of their City Connect uniforms. The previous green City Connects were only in use for three seasons and 2027 will be the third year of the current generation. Given the uncertain status of the 2027 MLB season, it’s entirely possible this is one of the last chances to see the sunset inspired jerseys donned in game.

The Arizona Diamondbacks Series

As with the Padres series, this could be a chance for the Rockies to play spoiler in the playoff race. Unlike the Padres, I have never gotten the sense that most Rockies fans hold much ill will towards the Diamondbacks.

More importantly, we’ll all get to see Nolan Arenado who is potentially on the cusp of his third trip to the playoffs since leaving the Rockies before the 2021 season. Seeing Arenado playing meaningful baseball this late in the season should provide a wistful well meaning bit of nostalgia all by itself.

That being said, the current season series between the Rockies and Diamondbacks sits 4-6 D-Backs. A Rockies sweep of this three game set would push them ahead in the season series. The Rockies have already won their season series against the San Francisco Giants, adding a second NL West team that they were able to best would be a nice consolation prize at the end of another long season.

The Chicago White Sox Series

In 2026, the Rockies have shown progress towards righting the ship after an abysmal 119 losses last year. It has, however, shown that the climb back up to being a competitive team remains steep. Ending this transitional season against the breakout Chicago White Sox, and getting to see Brenton Doyle for the first time since his mid-season trade, is perfect.

The White Sox represent hope in the form of an example that it is possible to quickly become an exciting baseball team again after a historically bad season. Even if, by the time of this final regular season series, the White Sox have dropped out of the lead in the AL Central or even the wild card race, seeing the turnaround the franchise has made since their 121 losses in 2024 is exactly what we as Rockies fans need.

The energy in the southside of Chicago, win or lose, will be a preview of what’s possible for the Rockies within the next few seasons. It will be the perfect hopeful send-off for the 2026 Rockies into a pivotal and uncertain offseason.

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On the Farm

Triple-A:Albuquerque Isotopes 8, Reno Aces 5

Jack Mahoney (No. 15 PuRP) started the game for the Isotopes and managed to get through four and two thirds innings with 87 pitches. Mahoney was pulled after allowing four runs on seven hits the final of which was a two-RBI line drive from Jose Fernandez. While it wasn’t a stellar performance on paper, given the running scoring environment of the Pacific Coast League and the fine performance from the Isotopes bullpen, it was enough to get the job done.

At the plate the Isotopes lineup took an early lead on an Edouard Julien two-run double in the first inning and continuously added to that lead throughout the rest of the game. All told the Isotopes scored in six separate innings on a whopping 13 hits and six walks. Five different Isotope hitters collected extra base hits but the star of the game were the aforementioned Julien, who reached base four times, and Sterlin Thompson (No. 16 PuRP) who was a triple shy of the cycle.

Double-A:Hartford Yard Goats 4, Somerset Patriots 0

Both Jose Quintana and Kyle Freeland set the tone for this game in rehab appearances. The Yard Goats as a whole followed their lead en route to their 65th win of the season.

Quintana started the game and threw two innings in which he only allowed a single and a walk. Freeland took over to start the third inning and threw three scoreless of his own. While Quintana only managed a single strikeout, Freeland collected five in his three innings of work. Connor Staine finished out the final four innings of the game while only allowing three hits and a walk but no runs.

At the plate the Yard Goats got things started early. Jared Thomas (No. 8 PuRP) was hit by a pitch as the first batter of the game and eventually came around to score after a Jacob Humphrey double and a fielder’s choice hit into by Braylen Wimmer. Hartford would rest on that one-run lead throughout the majority of the game until tacking on another couple in the eighth on a two RBI single from Roynier Hernandez (No. 29 PuRP). Thomas would go on to drive in a final unnecessary insurance run with a single in the ninth.

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Yankees may regret trading TJ Rumfield, who ‘absolutely’ knew he could star for Rockies | The Athletic ($)

As the Rockies were preparing to visit Yankee Stadium earlier this week, Brendan Kuty of the Athletic was reflecting on the offseason trade that brought TJ Rumfield to Denver from New York. Rumfield himself appears to have been surprised by the deal at the time as he was, at the time, focused on forcing his way onto the Yankees roster despite knowing that he was blocked by incumbent first baseman Ben Rice.

Strike 2: Manager Don Baylor knew why avoiding 100 losses mattered | Mile High Sports

The Rockies attempt to avoid a fourth straight 100 loss season will come down to the final few weeks of the year. Mark Knudson reflects on the Rockies first manager, Don Baylor, and why keeping the fledgling expansion team from reaching that mark was a key focus of his.

Breaking Down the WPBL Playoffs | Baseball Prospectus ($)

In non-Rockies baseball news: The WPBL regular season came to an end this past weekend! Bradley Woodrum did a deep dive on all four teams as they entered the postseason on Wednesday. There’s been a lot of good narrative writing about the WPBL so far in it’s inaugural season but this piece applies a level of numerical analysis we, as baseball fans, have grown accustomed to having access to. Very worth the read whether you’ve been watching the WPBL or not.

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Well, Foster Griffin did not show why the Guardians got him last night. After a disastrous, eight run, third inning the Guardians fell too far behind the Orioles to be able to rally a comeback. The Guardians fell 5-9 to the Orioles. At least Chase DeLauter hit a home run in his first game back.

Uh, yeah. Welcome back, Chase DeLauter.#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/hfJEyXx3WF

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 9, 2026

Thankfully both the Blue Jays and the Rangers also lost, keeping the Guardians spot in the Wild Card race secure for another day.

The Yankees hit their first grand slam of the season last night.

Bobby Witt Jr. hit his 18th homer last night, which was the difference in a 5-2 win over the Diamondbacks

In the fifth inning, D-backs reliever Michael Soroka left a 94.9 mph sinker over the heart of the plate in a tie game. It seemed like a customary get-me-over fastball after Soroka walked Carter Jensen on six pitches.

Soroka looked for strike one. Instead, Witt was ready as he belted a three-run homer over the left-field wall. It was his 18th home run as the Royals took a 5-2 lead and never looked back in Wednesday’s series finale. They won by the same score. The Royals (65-82) finished their nine-game homestand on a high note. The offense scored early after being limited the previous two nights.

Royals rookie Carter Jensen also had a big night. He blasted his 23rd homer and now sits one shy of matching Bob Hamelin (24 homers in 1994) for the club’s rookie record.

Tony Gonsolin made another rehab start last night for Omaha, and it went really well.

Tony Gonsolin tossed five scoreless innings in his third rehab outing for Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday night, another step in what the Royals hope is a path back to the big leagues by the end of the year.

Gonsolin worked around three hits and a walk and struck out two, needing 64 pitches (42 strikes) in Omaha’s win. His next start is scheduled for Sunday with Triple-A, and then the Royals will evaluate whether he’ll continue his rehab or potentially slot in Kansas City’s rotation with two weeks left of the season.

“We’ll see how that one goes,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Obviously, Monday will be a day off across the board for them, and we have that day off as well [in Houston]. We’ll be able to see what happens at that point.”

Angeibel Gomez is predicted to be the Royals top prospect in 2028.

In an ideal world for Kansas City, this is a tough call for the club by 2028 with Gomez and 18-year-old righty Kendry Chourio each having legit claims to their prospect throne. Signed for $2.9 million in January, Gomez is on a rocket ship after hitting .361/.467/.653 with nine homers and a 19/28 K/BB ratio over 47 games in the Dominican Summer League in his debut season. His power has played in games quicker than most 17-year-olds, and his bat-to-ball skills from the right side have been better than advertised. Gomez could jump several dozen places in the Top 100 by ‘28 if this level of performance carries over stateside.

With record setting heat all throughout the Royals 9-game homestand, Anne Rogers of MLB.com talked about how the Royals players handled it.

Carter Jensen won AL Player of the Week

Mike Gillespie of Royals Keep talks about how good David Shields has been this season.

Kevin O’Brien of Royals Keep ponders how Nick Loftin fits in with the 2027 Royals.

Quad Cities is up 1-0 in their best of 3 playoff series against the South Bend Cubs, with game 2 being played Thursday night.

The Brewers beat the Cubs to clinch their 4th straight NL Central division title.

The Pirates and White Sox had a benches clearing incident.

George Lombard Jr. of the Yankees hit a grand slam last night, making him the youngest to do so for the Yanks outside of Mickey Mantle

The Tampa Bay Rays are on the doorstep of getting back to the playoffs for the first time since 2023.

Elly De La Cruz homered for a 5th straight game.

Jose Altuve recorded his 2,500-career hit.

The Orioles rallied to beat the Guardians in a huge AL Wild Card race contest.

Jackson Merrill had a huge game for the Padres as they battle for the final NL Wild Card spot.

Drake Maye threw 3 interceptions, as the Patriots lost 13-10 to the Seahawks in Super Bowl rematch to kick off the NFL season.

Here is your song of the day: Highland Cathedral by The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Today’s Reflections

The gripes are legitimate. But there has to be something positive out of these last two days of back-to-back 4-3 losses, and losing the year-long series to the Brewers.

That is — for these two games, the Cubs proved they can hang with the Brewers. The Team Up North was taken to the brink of defeat each time, with the same Achilles heel occurring against the Cubs.

In both games, the team had taken the lead TWICE against the mighty Brewers, only to come up short at the latest point in each game.

In the latest example of “THE DECISION” since LeBron’s, first, second, third (?) time, Craig Counsell Monday had to decide, without either a closer or a dependable eighth-inning reliever, which way to go: Let an exhausted Matthew Boyd, with his fastball having dropped around three miles per hour, go back out to mound in the eighth; let Boyd only face one batter max, or start the inning with Zeferjahn. Zeferjahn had been building confidence in his last few outings, and putting “Z” in at the top of the inning would have given him a fresh start instead of a tremendous increase in leverage. The latter occurred, “Z” crashed and that rolled into Webb also entering in a poor situation.

It was being stuck between a rock, a hard place, and being encased in amber. Probably the only spot we would be in agreement with is that Boyd went a batter too long. However, what were the better options? They aren’t there. Nevertheless, when he left the game, Boyd pitched an excellent game, leaving with the lead, 2-1, having scattered seven baserunners and struck out seven.

The levers were pulled correctly (as best possible) Tuesday. David Peterson did not have a great game (4.1 IP, nine baserunners with four strikeouts). But he somehow did leave the game with the game locked at 1-1 against Jason Misiorowski. After Peterson left after a single and a walk, Trent Thornton provided a strikeout, then was backed up by the defense with a strike from Seiya Suzuki to nail Jackson Chourio at the plate.

After two innings from Aaron Civale, Ryan Rolison had a rough go of it, but the Cubs went into the ninth with the score still tied. After the Cubs took a 3-1 lead, they gave it back. Jacob Webb was in to close the game and was one strike away from chalking up a Cubs win, but to give up a game-tying, two-run home run to Chourio. The Brewers won in the 10th.

The points are — I’ll be positive and say that there is no consistently effective bullpen work. Or I can be real and also just drop the work “consistently”; and there’s a big gap up-and-down the line between the two bullpens. However, this is what the Cubs have and they still kept pace with the Brewers in these two games. There can be some blame on Counsell for the execution of Monday’s game (and I hate going to this easy scapegoat), but the blame is on Jed Hoyer expecting all the bullpen cards would have fallen into place by this point. They still may, but time is almost out and there’s not much that can be done about it.

The offensive stars are PCA, who not only picked up his 41st homer, but added three more stolen bases to improve his chase numbers to 41/36. Pedro Ramirez was 2-for-6 with two runs scored and a solo home run. And Carson Kelly had a huge pinch-hit two-RBI double in the ninth Tuesday to put the Cubs up, 3-1.

Complimentary Starting Pitcher Solo Home Run*

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*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.

Tuesday’s Game Stories:

• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune {$}): A strike from victory, bullpen issues cost Chicago Cubs in a 4-3 loss to Milwaukee Brewers in 10 innings. “Holding on for the win would have moved the Chicago Cubs above the Philadelphia Phillies for the first wild-card spot in the National League.”

• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): Webb takes ownership of latest blown save, is ‘tired of letting the team down’. “The sting of what just took place on the field remained in the few, blunt words (Jacob Webb) offered, but the Cubs’ reliever was not going to avoid accountability.”

• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Another Cubs bullpen meltdown has manager Craig Counsell searching for answers. “Cubs relievers have contributed to two straight back-breaking losses, bringing up uncomfortable questions for their manager.”

• Jeff Agrest (Chicago Sun-Times): Jacob Webb blows another save before Brewers walk-off Cubs in 10 innings. “No one is walking through the Cubs’ clubhouse door to save the bullpen. “These are our guys,” manager Craig Counsell said. “They’re the guys we’re going to rely on. We’ve got to figure it out.”

Jacob Webb's last 3 save chances:

2-run walkoff HR (2 outs in 9th)
2-run walkoff HR (2 outs in 9th)
2-run game-tying HR (2 outs in 9th)

He's the only MLB pitcher to allow a game-tying or go-ahead HR w/ 2 outs in 9th in 3 straight save opps (since saves became official in 1969). pic.twitter.com/PdsS8SNgE3

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 9, 2026

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Monday’s Game Stories:

• Sean Holland (Cubs Insider): Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (9/7/26): Brewers 4, Cubs 3 – Late Lead Slips Away. “With the bullpen’s struggles, Craig Counsell tried to squeeze one more inning out of his starting pitcher.”

• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): PCA slides closer to 40-40, but Cubs drop season set to Brewers. “With the loss, the Cubs dropped to 4-7 on the year against the Brewers, giving the season series to Milwaukee.”

• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Enhanced Box Score: Brewers 4, Cubs 3 – September 7, 2026. “Terrible loss. Again.”

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Assorted Pitching Stories:

• North Side Baseball: Panic Time For Cubs Bullpen? “With the postseason around the corner, where’s the concern level with the Cubs bullpen?”
• Jordan Campbell (Cubbies Crib): One ugly stat exposes why the Cubs can’t seem to solve their never-ending Brewers problem. “It seems the Cubs finally ran out of time to fix this issue.”
• Casey McAleer (DaWindyCity): Chicago Cubs waste another strong Matthew Boyd start in painful Brewers loss. “The veteran left-hander carried a one-run outing into the eighth, but Chicago’s late-game problems erased another dependable performance.”
• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): Craig Counsell’s Mystifying Monday Screwup Continues a Troubling Trend. “Ryan Zeferjahn failed in the clutch on Monday afternoon, costing the Cubs a game they needed and had a chance to win. But the more worrisome mistake was made by his manager, before the righty could even take the mound.”

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Assorted Hitting/Team Standings Stories:

• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Dansby Swanson’s Oblique Recovery Continues on Schedule. “If Swanson is able to play in a couple rehab games early next week, it’s at least conceivable he could return at some point during next weekend’s Reds series in Cincinnati.”
• Jeff Agrest (Chicago Sun-Times): Cubs have no animosity toward Brewers, even with another 2nd-place finish looming. “Hot take: The White Sox-Brewers rivalry in the early days of the American League Central was much hotter than the Cubs-Brewers rivalry of today.”
• Elias Schuster (Chicago Cubs): Cubs Hold Crucial Advantage as NL Wild Card Race Tightens. “The Chicago Cubs are hoping to outright secure the top Wild Card spot, but thy can find some comfort in knowing they have already clinched a few tiebreakers.”
• Jordan Campbell (Cubbies Crib): NL Wild Card standings prove Cubs are getting sickeningly familiar Brewers reminder. “Not great.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune {$}): Column: This Cubs-Brewers series could have been key for NL Central. Now it’s just another bump in the road. “In this MVP season for Pete Crow-Armstrong, very little of his “MVPing” has been at the expense of the Milwaukee Brewers.“

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Assorted Stories:

• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Who Was Jiggs Parrott, ‘Worst’ Player in Cubs History? “With Pete Crow-Armstrong chasing down Rogers Hornsby‘s 1929 11.0 fWAR in 1929 as the best single season in Cubs franchise history, I got an itch to see who has the worst season on record.”
• Sophie Sherry (Chicago Sun-Times): White Sox beat Cubs 56-48 — in Chicago ballpark arrests in recent years. “Fans have mostly been charged with battery and trespassing, the Sun-Times found. One man ran onto both Wrigley and Rate fields, in one case holding a sign that read “Jesus is Lord.” Another man started a brawl outside of a Sox game after he was caught urinating on a car.“
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): A Loss That Sticks to Your Ribs, Achievements and Entertainment, Vaughn, Ohtani, and Other Cubs Bullets. “Every loss this time of year for a Cubs team in a race is gonna stick with you a bit.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): PCA reconnects with young fan, trades him a signed bat. “The sign read: “Hey Pete! I’m your biggest fan from the Smokies! I have a Javi Báez auto 1/1, I want to give it to you. Want to trade ‘4’ a bat? GO CUBS GO.”“
• Ken Rosenthal (The Athletic {$}): Kevin Gausman’s trade-day drama, Muncy’s redemption and the Brewers’ historic run. ““I kind of knew at that point. I’ve never been called up to the front of the plane before,” said Gausman, a 14-year veteran.“

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Food For Thought:

Williamson’s first recording session took place in 1951 for Lillian McMurry of Trumpet Records, based in Jackson, Mississippi. It was three years since the death of John Lee Williamson, which for the first time allowed some legitimacy to Miller’s carefully worded claim to being “the one and only Sonny Boy Williamson”. When Trumpet went bankrupt in 1955, Williamson’s recording contract was yielded to its creditors, who sold it to Chess Records in Chicago. He had begun developing a following in Chicago beginning in 1953, when he appeared there as a member of Elmore James’s band. During his Chess years he enjoyed his greatest success and acclaim, recording about 70 songs for the Chess subsidiary Checker Records from 1955 to 1964.

In the early 1960s he toured Europe several times during the height of the British blues craze, backed on a number of occasions by the Authentics, recording with the Yardbirds (for the album Sonny Boy Williamson and the Yardbirds) and the Animals, and appearing on several television broadcasts throughout Europe. Around this time he was quoted as saying of the backing bands who accompanied him, “those British boys want to play the blues real bad, and they do”. In 1963 while in London, on one or possibly more occasions he recorded 2 songs in front of a live television audience for the UK regional television folk and blues music series Hullabaloo, presented by the Scottish folksinger Rory McEwen. Sonny Boy took a liking to the European fans, and while there had a custom-made, two-tone suit tailored personally for him, along with a bowler hat, matching umbrella, and an attaché case for his harmonicas.

HOT DOG ASSEMBLY COMPLETE 🌭 pic.twitter.com/H3fJoVtmme

— MLB (@MLB) September 6, 2026

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.

Yesterday, the Red Sox made what I consider to be a rather significant announcement in setting up their rotation for the upcoming weekend series against Kansas City:

Red Sox rotation versus the Royals this weekend…

* Friday: Sonny Gray
* Saturday: Ranger Suarez
* Sunday: Payton Tolle

Gray and Suarez get flipped, with Suarez pitching eight days after his most recent outing.

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) September 9, 2026

This matters because the Red Sox now have exactly 15 games left. That’s three perfect trips around the rotation when coupled with off days scheduled on the 14th, 21st and (if they make the playoffs) 28th. In other words, the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 starters this weekend align perfectly to be the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 starters for the Wild Card series with an off day each trip around the rotation also baked in.

So while nothing is official, the Red Sox going Gray, Suarez, and Tolle during the next three games kind of feels like them writing down their initial playoff starters in pencil. One one hand, I get it: Gray has been their most reliable starter all year, Suarez has a career 1.48 ERA in 42.2 career postseason innings, and Tolle feels like the logical remaining choice from there.

But what do you guys think? Do you worry about potentially handing the ball to such a young, inexperienced pitcher in Game 3 of the Wild Card series for the second year in a row? Does Ranger Suarez stumbling against both the Yankees in that game in New York on August 30th and against Japan in the World Baseball Classic in March make you question his ability to still automatically turn it on when the postseason starts?

Talk about this and whatever else you’d like on this well deserved Red Sox off day (they’ve played 54 times in the last 56 days), and, as always, be good to one another!

On Tuesday night, the Brewers pulled together another come-from-behind victory, this one in dramatic fashion, and they then completed a sweep of the Cubs on Wednesday evening. With the sweep, the magic number to clinch the NL Central is down to five. The magic number for a postseason berth is down to four, though it is effectively lower since the two teams currently fighting for the last spot (the Diamondbacks and Padres) still have games remaining against each other. It’s just a matter of time now before those spots are clinched. While there’s still work to do, the team can also start setting themselves up for the postseason. Let’s take a look at what they can do in these next couple of weeks.

Remaining Schedule

Unlike last season, when the Brewers were playing opponents who were fighting for a playoff spot in the last week of the season, the Brewers have it a bit easier this time around. With the season series against the Cubs done, here are their remaining five series (all three-game sets):

• vs. Reds (8.5 GB NL wild card three)
• @ Pirates (5.5 GB NL wild card three)
• @ Orioles (3 GB AL wild card three)
• @ Phillies (Currently NL wild card one, 3 GB in NL East)
• vs. Cardinals (6.5 GB NL wild card three)

The Reds, Pirates, and Cardinals are nearly out of the playoff race, barring a massive winning streak. The Orioles could still have a chance at an AL wild card spot, but their chances are also fading. The Phillies are the one team that will almost certainly be fighting for their postseason seed when the Brewers come to town. While there are not any easy wins, the schedule is very manageable.

This does not mean that the Brewers can take any of these series lightly. They only have a two-game lead for the top record in the NL and in all of MLB, but they do hold the tiebreaker over the second-place Dodgers. They also have a 5.5-game lead over the Braves, though that tiebreaker would come down to intradivision record since the two teams split the season series 3-3. There’s still business to take care of until that postseason seed is decided.

Prepping the Rotation

One important piece of preparation for the postseason is lining up the postseason starters so they are ready to go. The good part of this is their likely top two starters (Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson) are already in position to line up for the start of the postseason. With off days plentiful over the last couple of weeks, shifting them to a five-game schedule becomes easier, especially with some other questions developing in the rotation. Here is how they would line up if they pitched every fifth game:

Jacob Misioroski

• September 15 @ Pirates
• September 20 @ Orioles
• September 26 vs. Cardinals

Logan Henderson

• September 16 @ Pirates
• September 22 @ Phillies
• September 27 vs. Cardinals

This would allow both to pitch right until the start of the postseason. Both can make starts through the end of the regular season, and then be ready to pitch the opening games of a National League Division Series. It’s not set at all, though. They still need to secure a first-round bye, but for now, keeping them pitching on a regular schedule is the best way to secure that. The schedule also allows for a bit of flexibility. Misiorowski or Henderson could move up a day and still pitch on regular rest, or get extra rest and skip the last series if necessary. The Phillies series could also affect these plans if the Brewers don’t want the Phillies to get an extra look at these starters, but that is less likely because their playoff seed may not be locked in until the last series of the regular season.

The main question for the rotation is what the Brewers will do after those two starters. There’s not an easy answer here right now. The other starters in the rotation all have question marks heading into the last weeks of the regular season. Kyle Harrison has struggled badly in his last three starts and may be heading to the bullpen. Shane Drohan is hitting his innings limit and also could be in the bullpen. Dustin May had two rough starts, and while he appeared to be pitching better in his last one against the Reds, rain cut it short, and we didn’t get a full look at him. Robert Gasser has stepped up in his recent starts, but he may be more suited for short starts in the postseason. Brandon Sproat is back on the roster for now, but has been pitching shorter starts in the minors and once again struggled with his command late in Wednesday night’s win out of the bullpen. Brandon Woodruff is the wild card, still not in a position to count on in the postseason, but could become a factor later on if his throwing goes well.

What this could mean is the Brewers will deploy these starters in shorter bursts in the postseason. They could use two starters in a game and have them pitch two to three innings, not pitching through the lineup more than once. To effectively do this, they could split up Misiorowski and Henderson in the rotation. Use Misiorowski in game one and Henderson in game three, then piggyback two starters in games two and four. They can also mix openers in as well when needed. It’s not the traditional postseason rotation, but the Brewers can make it work. It would be similar to what they did last postseason, where they used openers and deployed Misiorowski as a long reliever. What the Brewers need to see in these next few weeks is where each starter is at. Each one will get a couple more starts before the postseason, at best. They have plenty to prove in those starts, especially if it’s the difference between making the postseason roster and sitting on the bench.

Resting Injured Players

It’s deep in the season, and players are dealing with the aches and pains of a long schedule. The Brewers have been dealing with their share of injuries, and making sure the team is as healthy as possible will be a major focus.

On offense, the key injury right now is to Jake Bauers. He’s been the team’s main power threat for most of the season, and they will need him for a postseason run. However, he’s been more limited while he’s been recovering from shin splints. While he played in four straight games before getting the day off on Wednesday, he only started one of them. In the other three, he entered the game later as a pinch-hitter. This is going to be one of the primary injuries to watch in the next few weeks. An IL stint could be considered, though the Brewers appear to favor workload management for now.

Brice Turang is another player to watch over these next few weeks. He has been dealing with a knee injury, though it has not kept him out of the lineup. In the last four series (going back to the Rangers series), he has started every game except one. The good news for Turang is that he’s starting to look better again. In his last six games (five starts plus a late-game replacement), he has eight hits and six walks in 25 PA. He has bounced back from a rough August and is hopefully strong again.

There are also a few relievers on the IL. Grant Anderson (right biceps inflammation) and Bryse Wilson (low back strain) are currently on the IL. Wilson is expected back in mid to late September, but Anderson’s status is still up in the air. Rob Zastryzny is also back on a rehab assignment after multiple setbacks. Zastryzny has not pitched a game for the Brewers yet this season, though he was on the active roster for a couple of days. He is another wild card for the postseason. He is not eligible to come off the 60-day IL until next week, and at best might get a week on the major league roster before the postseason. Would the Brewers put him on a postseason roster despite not pitching in the majors at all so far this season?

Conclusion

The Brewers have made it clear that they will not take anything for granted when it comes to a postseason spot. While they have something to play for, they will give their full effort and take care of business. There’s still plenty to play for in these last few weeks. While they will continue to fight for their spot, they also have enough of a lead to start thinking about the postseason. They can start looking at some adjustments to make sure they are ready when the postseason begins.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:W, 4-1 (7) at Rochester Red Wings — all tied up again atop the International League standings

LF Jarred Kelenic 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 SB
SS Max Schuemann 1-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 K — Volpe was scheduled to play short before the Jazz injury news
C J.C. Escarra 2-3
2B Marco Luciano 0-2, 1 BB, 1 K
DH Yanquiel Fernández 0-3
3B Tyler Hardman 0-3, 2 K — inserted into the lineup after Schuemann shifted over to short
1B Ernesto Martinez Jr. 0-2, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SB
RF Kenedy Corona 0-3, 1 K, assist
CF Duke Ellis 2-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 K, 1 SB

Brendan Beck 5.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K (win) — 2.74 ERA in 24 starts, setting up for a larger role in the majors next year
Bradley Hanner 0.2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB (hold)
Yerry De los Santos 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K

To the MAX 🔋📈

413 ft. | 106.6 mph#RepBXpic.twitter.com/gmHNvRA0Oh

— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) September 10, 2026

Double-A Somerset Patriots:L, 0-4 vs. Hartford Yard Goats

CF Jace Avina 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 CS
SS Core Jackson 0-4
2B Roderick Arias 0-4, 2 K, fielding error
C Omar Alfonzo 0-4, 3 K, throwing error
RF DJ Gladney 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
3B Coby Morales 2-3, 1 BB, 1 K
DH Manuel Palencia 0-4, 2 K
1B Josh Moylan 1-3, 1 K
LF Cole Gabrielson 0-3

Dom Hamel 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K (loss)
Clarke Schmidt 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 K — fourth appearance in rehab assignment, second straight scoreless outing
Yerry Rodriguez 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 BB
Trent Sellers 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Clarke Schmidt fanned TWO batters in a scoreless inning on @MLB rehab! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/8l2Kp4mCBq

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) September 10, 2026

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades: Season over

Low-A Tampa Tarpons: Off-day, Florida State League Division Series resumes with Game 2 today

Florida Complex League Yankees: Season over

Dominican Summer League Yankees: Season over

Dominican Summer League Bombers: Season over

Hello, friends.

The Orioles yet linger, never quite doing enough to fully drop out of the picture and never quite doing enough to remain in the inner reaches of the race either. Wednesday’s 9-5 win over the Guardians meant the O’s got the series win against Cleveland, the team they’re chasing for the wild card. They probably needed a sweep to really, truly have much hope, but, as the cliche goes, it ain’t over til it’s over, and for now it ain’t over. Check out Tyler’s recap of the game for more of the lovely totals.

Both the Orioles and their next opponent, the Blue Jays, have the day off today. Each of these teams will resume their wild card quests in Toronto on Friday. The Orioles sit three back of the Guardians with 15 to play. The Jays are a mere one game back. There will be another series between these teams a week and a half from now. Those six games will go a long way towards determining whether one more AL East team can get into the picture.

At a minimum, the Orioles need to go 4-2 to keep their hopes alive. They might need to go 5-1. 4-2 gets them tied with the Blue Jays, and gives them the head-to-head tiebreaker against Toronto for the season. However, there’s still the Guardians to get past, and the Rangers too (1.5 games back). There’s nothing left that the Orioles can do except hope those teams lose. Texas concludes a series against the Mariners today, then heads to play the Diamondbacks. The Guardians will be playing the Twins this weekend.

Whatever the Orioles try to pull off, they’re going to have to do it without Blaze Alexander, who hit the injured list yesterday with back soreness. Alexander is not only the only .300 hitter on the team, he’s also the sole .270 hitter around. It’s also not yet certain how many days the day-to-day status for Gunnar Henderson will last. Manager Craig Albernaz said of Henderson before yesterday’s game, “He’s pretty banged up.” Disappointing though Henderson may be this season, the lineup is not improved by having Jackson Holliday at shortstop and Jeremiah Jackson at second base.

We’re running a poll this week asking how far you think the Orioles will be from the postseason when all is said and done this year. Have you voted yet? I’ll make it easy for you and embed it right here:

It is still hard to know what to make of these guys. Maybe they’ll play well enough to get close enough that each and every one of the frustrating, stupid losses that they have racked up through this year will hurt. Maybe they’ll hang around about where they are now. Maybe they’ll fall farther out. Maybe they’ll pull off the miracle. Any of the above could happen! Some seem more likely than others.

We’ll find out how the story continues on Friday night. Chris Bassitt is the scheduled starter for the Orioles in the 7:07 game. As of this writing, the Jays have not listed a starter.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Part of Samuel Basallo’s learning curve? Dealing with failure. (The Baltimore Banner)
Another baseball cliche is that it’s a game of failure, and how a player handles that is going to say a lot about what kind of player they are.

Albernaz on Mayo: “Coby is the one I’m most proud of” (Steve on Baseball)
What Coby Mayo is doing against lefties this year is really something. If he wants to start doing better against righties too, that would be great. He homered off a righty last night, which is certainly a nice way to do better.

What happened to Merv Rettenmund? (Baltimore Baseball)
In the ongoing Orioles history series by longtime Baltimore sports scribe John Eisenberg, he considers an oft-overlooked player, Merv Rettenmund, who once seemed like he might be on a star trajectory and didn’t end up going that far.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2021-2024 pitcher Mike Baumann, 2011 outfielder Matt Angle, and 2007-09 reliever Danys Báez. Today is Báez’s 49th birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: voodoo legend Marie Laveau (1801), baseball Hall of Famer George Kelly (1895), golfer Arnold Palmer (1929), actor Colin Firth (1960), baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson (1963), and ballerina Misty Copeland (1982).

On this day in history…

In 1547, English and Scottish forces numbering over 50,000 combined fought the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, a decisive English victory that proved to be the final full-scale battle between these powers before they eventually united.

In 1813, the British fleet on Lake Erie was defeated by the American navy in the Battle of Put-in Bay, which kept the lake in American control for the remainder of the War of 1812.

In 1943, Nazi forces occupied Rome after its allied Italian government entered into an armistice with the Allies days previously.

In 1977, convicted torturer and murderer Hamida Djandoubi was executed by guillotine, the final time that method of execution was employed in France.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on September 10. Have a safe Thursday.

Well, last night was certainly one of the weirdest Phillies wins of the season. It appeared at times as though both teams were actively trying to lose through the first six innings. But then as it so often happens, Kyle Schwarber put things on the right track with a monumental home run, this time a rally-capping grand slam.

It can’t possibly be weirder today. After all, the Phillies always play perfectly normal mid-week afternoon baseball games.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Recent baserunning mistakes have once again brought a weakness of the Phillies to the forefront: losing on the margins. ($)
• The Inquirer has created a handy one stop shop for all your Phillies postseason race needs, including updated magic numbers. ($)
• It’s time to end Orion Kerkering’s high leverage innings.

MLB news:

• Aaron Judge may have just returned from injury, but he’s already frustrated with the Yankees plan of easing him back into action.
• Speaking of the Yankees, they placed Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the injured list yesterday with a sprained thumb.
• Denzel Ward of the Cleveland Browns has joined Travis Kelce as a minority investor in the Cleveland Guardians. ($)
• Hope is slipping in for Angels fans after the news of Arte Moreno finally selling the team. But it likely won’t last. ($)

BALTIMORE – This time, they don’t need a miracle. Just a semblance of consistency.

This time, the Cleveland Guardians aren’t 15 ½ games out of first place 90 games into the season, or 12 ½ back on Aug. 25, or 11 out on Sept. 4 before a stunning 19-4 finish claimed the American League Central title on the final day of the season.

Yet so much is similar.

These Guardians entered play Wednesday, Sept. 9 with a 74-72 – nearly identical to the 74-71 mark they sported one year ago. A youthful core somehow marching through its third September playoff run is showing an even younger group of newcomers the pennant-stretch ropes, a Guards Ball tradition, if you will.

And, thanks to the weird and chaotic and, some might say, feeble state of the American League this season, the Guardians are already in playoff position, holding a one-game lead for the No. 3 wild card with 14 to play; they’re also just two games behind the Chicago White Sox for the division lead.

But the Guardians need not apologize for anything.

They are fighting for their third consecutive playoff berth in as many years under Stephen Vogt, who may not three-peat as AL Manager of the Year. Then again, the club he’s nurtured seems to get more strident with each passing year.

“This group knows how to come up clutch when they need to. This group knows how to play with its back against the wall,” says Vogt. “We have the same exact record as a year ago. But this time, we’re in it. We’re not nine games back. We can control our own destiny.

“The experience of having to win every night and needing someone to lose every night – now we know it’s in our control. So we’re going out and relaxing and playing and I’m really proud of these guys.”

Oh, it’s not easy. A couple hours after Vogt’s musings, starter Foster Griffin retired the first six batters he faced – then was peppered for eight hits and eight runs in the third inning of a 9-5 loss to Baltimore.

Gone was a chance to build their wild-card lead to two games over Toronto and 2 ½ over Texas and five over the Orioles. Then again, it wouldn’t be September in Cleveland without the Cardiac Guards.

Paying it forward

Cleveland’s insistence on doing business like a small-market club and its penchant for excellent scouting and pitching development creates the impression that the club will always skew young.

But these guys have more than a few stripes on their uniform.

The Guardians advanced all the way to the 2024 ALCS, taking the Yankees to five games before Juan Soto abruptly sent them home for the winter. Four regulars on that team – leadoff batter Steven Kwan, third baseman and potential Hall of Famer Jose Ramírez and part-time DH David Fry – hold similar roles on this team, as do reserve infielder Daniel Scheeneman and backup catcher Austin Hedges.

Starting pitchers Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams and Joey Cantillo were Guardians then, and  far more prominent now. And after Emmanuel Clase’s ignominious departure, the bullpen’s holy trinity of Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Tim Herrin are intact.

Smith and Williams, in particular, are some dudes.

One year after leading the majors in walks, Williams now tops the AL with 228 strikeouts, doubling his strikeout-walk ratio from 2.08 to 4.30. Smith, 27, has converted 35 of 40 save chances, strikes out 13 batters per nine innings and nearly 36% of batters he faces.

He debuted on Opening Day in 2024 and by October was pitching in the highest-leverage situations. Now, it is Smith who guides the bullpen.

“The opportunities I have to share things I’ve experienced with guys who are younger than me, I will gladly do it,” says Smith, who made his first All-Star team this season. “That’s what makes us special. We can share things that we’ve learned without the young guys having to go through the difficult experiences of learning it themselves.”

Seems like everyone’s listening down in the bullpen. The unit ranks third in the AL with a 3.61 ERA and No. 1 in the majors with 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings. They are responding to the September pressure, posting a 1.83 ERA over 44 innings this month, the best mark in baseball.

They, too, are benefiting from 2025’s September to remember.

“Every game was do-or-die,” says Smith. “There was a decision that we’d finish strong and see what could happen over the next six weeks and what kind of position we would be in, knowing that if we did our job and played our game and finished strong, we could be content with the outcome.

“To be able to go through that experience as a group, to rally together and make the push, make the comeback and make it into the playoffs – that’s the most valuable experience.”

A devilish fastball

It certainly was for Parker Messick.

The left-hander was summoned to Cleveland for his debut on Aug. 20, 2025. The club lost its sixth consecutive game that night, falling 12 ½ games behind the Detroit Tigers.

They’d go 24-8 after that. And Messick, who made seven starts down the stretch, got a quick lesson in the valleys and, yes, the peaks in this game.

“It was an incredible experience,” says Messick, now 25. “To be on that run we were on last year as a team - I got the taste of what it feels like to be in a locker room on a losing streak right away and what it feels like to heat up.

“You take those experiences with you. Winning’s way more fun. An incredible way to start my career, honestly. To go on that run and reach the playoffs. I got to prove to myself that my stuff played at the big league level.”

Now, he dominates.

Messick’s fastball has a run value of 34, ranking in the 99th percentile in the major leagues, according to Baseball Savant. He has a 2.53 ERA, an adjusted mark of 161 and leads all Guardians with 5.4 WAR.

“I feel like I was prepared last year to come in and do my job. This year was just, proving to myself I could do it,” he says. “Just thank the Lord, just try to honor him in all I do and I feel like he’s helped me out in that regard.”

'The expectation is we're going to win'

There’s no shortage of helping hands within the Guardians clubhouse. Backup catcher Hedges remains the bulwark of clubhouse chemistry, and he’s batting a career-best .253, to boot, as he chases his fifth consecutive postseason appearance.

Kwan, the subject of trade rumors the past couple years, is batting .351 in the second half and along with Ramírez remains the exemplar for professionalism.

Meanwhile, they just keep getting younger behind them.

Travis Bazzana, the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, debuted on April 28 and, while riding the ups and downs of a rookie hitter, provides more than frequent explosiveness via his speed and power.

The second baseman has 32 extra-base hits in 108 games and 18 steals while keeping his .735 OPS above league average and his head on a swivel.

“I look to him to learn,” Bazzana, 24, says of the 29-year-old Kwan. “I feel like I’m still learning. But just trying to be the most consistent version of myself mentally. I’ve had my ups and downs throughout the season – everybody does – but just learning how to flush things quicker.

“Be back to the best competitor I can be the next at-bat or the next day when things aren’t going my way.”

Bazzana, an Oregon State product, is running his first pennant race. Though he wasn’t around for the 2025 comeback bacchanalia, he need only look around the dugout and clubhouse to know what’s going on.

“It’s the kind of baseball you’ve always wanted to be a part of and play for,” says Bazzana. “The feeling inside the dugout to make it happen: Everyone knows what time of year it is. I think it’s a spark where we feel like we’re making the most of it right now.”

Says veteran DH Nathaniel Lowe: “I don’t think there’s anybody in this room that feels we’re incapable of doing it. And the collective is, we’re just going to stay positive and keep going.”

That’s kind of their whole thing, even as they grow older yet add youth and accrue pressure experiences. Who knows where it will lead this season?

At the moment, that would be the playoffs. Even if the route’s a little more linear this tie.

“We’re built with two veterans and a bunch of in-betweens and some rookies,” says Vogt. “The common denominator, the leadership group in this clubhouse, the expectation is we’re going to win.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cleveland Guardians have 'do-or-die' pedigree with MLB playoffs in in sight

The Yankees have had a decent start to September, winning five of the seven games they’ve played thus far as they secured series wins over the Angels and Rockies while losing a series on the road to the Padres. The standings haven’t shifted much over that span, however, as they’ve continued to inch back and forth around the four-game gap that they currently have in front of themselves and the Rays for first place as well as behind them and the Red Sox attempting to chase down the top Wild Card spot.

That’s been the status quo for a while now, give or take a game as one team will slip up one night just for another team to give it back a day or two later. The end of the regular season is fast approaching, as the Yankees have just 17 games left to play before they’ll know who and where their October journey will go through. With roughly the same distance between first and third place in the division holding firm for this long, is the Yankees’ fate all but set as the top Wild Card team already?

Obviously, anything can happen in baseball. Leads can appear and disappear in an instant, and a cold streak can hit out of nowhere for someone just as another team lights on fire — we saw it over the summer as the Sox revived their season and thrust themselves into this race after all. The Yankees had the advantage of the easiest schedule of the three teams entering September, but after going through the two weakest teams in the Angels and Rockies there hasn’t been any movement even as the Rays have had to take on one of the top teams in Atlanta at the same time. There’s the four-game penultimate series of the season-sized elephant in the room that could make or break the year, but outside of an outright sweep in New York’s favor the Rays should take the season series, and if the gap doesn’t look much different before that matchup arrives then that’s the only result that could truly shake things up.

Personally, I think I’ve been resigned to the Wild Card Round for a while now with the slightest of hopes that the Yankees could pull off some late season magic. The decisive three out of four series win the Yankees earned at the end of August over Boston gave them the tiebreaker they needed to feel comfortable with the lead they hold for that race, and likewise I expect the Rays are sitting pretty with what they’ve got going on with two-plus weeks left. The chaos of the other divisions and the final Wild Card slot are going to make for entertaining drama, and perhaps inspire some discussion over whether the modern baseball postseason arrangement requires some re-seeding after the opening round with how stacked certain divisions have become, but I don’t think there’s going to be many eyes on the AL East standings unless all hell breaks loose over the next week. Do you feel differently, does every passing game still feel like it could be the start of a run to change the course of the season? Or has the Yankees’ place in second settled in and convinced your eyes to drift towards October?

---

The finale of this series against the Rockies awaits, but before that we’ve got a decently-full schedule on the site. Jonathan starts us off with a look at what Michael Fulmer and John Schreiber are offering the Yankees down the stretch as they fill in the trenches of the bullpen. Matt covers the Rivalry Roundup as the aforementioned Rays managed to cut down the Braves again, and then Andrés goes into Roger Maris’ historic career and the impact that 61 in ‘61 left on him as his birthday is celebrated. Scott gives us the latest pulse down on the farm as Scranton stares down a crucial series in their chase for first place up in Rochester and then Peter has the Sequence of the Week featuring Will Warren’s latest foray into the bullpen.

Today’s Matchup:

New York Yankees vs. Colorado Rockies

Time: 7:05 p.m. EST

TV: YES Network, Rockies.TV

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

Toledo Mud Hens 7, Iowa Cubs 3 (box)

River Ryan’s debut in the Tigers organization went well, and the Hens won pretty comfortably on Wednesday.

Ryan is working back from a right hamstring injury that he aggravated in trying to return with the Dodgers too soon. So the Tigers have understandably taken their sweet time getting him back on the mound. He only went two innings this one, but he proved the stuff is as electric as ever. He allowed two soft hits, at least one of which should have been an out, and struck out two without a walk. The fastball topped out at 98.2 mph and averaged 97.1, and Ryan mixed in all six of his pitches during the outing.

The Hens started to build a lead in the top of the second. Corey Julks led off with a walk but was caught stealing. Seby Zavala singled, and after James Outman struck out, Justice Bigbie singled as well. Veteran catcher Carlos Pérez stepped in and cracked a three-run shot to left for a 3-0 lead.

In the fourth, Outman led off with a walk and Pérez came through again with an RBI double to make it 4-0.

Carl Edwards Jr. took over from Ryan in the bottom of the third. He cruised through his first three innings, striking out the side swining in the fifth.

In the sixth, Outman doubled and Bigbie singled him to third. A Pérez double play ball got the run home for a 5-0 lead.

Finally in the bottom half, Edwards faltered a bit, allowing two run, but he pitched into the seventh with no more issues. Ty Madden got the final out in the seventh.

Outman singled in Julks in the top of the eighth, stole second base, and scored on a Bigbie single to make it 7-2.

Madden handled the eighth, and Nic Sandlin tossed a scoreless ninth to wrap it up.

Perez: 2-3, R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR

Outman: 2-3, 3 R, RBI, 2B, BB, K, SB

Cruz: 2-4, 2B, BB

Ryan: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K

Edwards Jr. (W, 6-10): 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:38 p.m. ET start on Thursday.

Reading Fightin Phils 11, Erie SeaWolves 3 (box)

Lucas Ellisalt was knocked around in this one, and the SeaWolves bullpen struggled even more as the Phils crushed them on Wednesday.

Things got off to a promising start in the top of the second as E.J. Exposito singled and then rode home on a Chris Meyers blast to left center field. 2-0 Erie.

Chris Meyers lofts a 2-run homer to left center to give Erie an early lead. pic.twitter.com/huhqX7SvVk

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 9, 2026

Elissalt was cruising early on, but started to struggle to get ahead of hitters and paid for it. He gave up a run in the third, and walked two batters after that before managing to escape an further damge. He wouldn’t be so lucky in the fourth. He fell behind Aroon Escobar and came back with a 3-1 fastball that got launched for a solo shot. Another solo shot off a hanging slider in the inning made it a 3-2 Reading lead and they wouldn’t look back.

Elissalt gave up two singles and a walk to start the fifth, and that was it as Colin Fields took over. He allowed two of those runners to score, and it was 5-2 Reading.

Fields got into trouble of his own in the sixth, and Yoniel Curet took over only to surrender a three-run shot and then a solo homer.

A solo shot from Thayron Liranzo was the only bright spot the rest of the way as the Fightin Phils contined to add on.

Rough night for Erie, but Thayron Liranzo gets them slightly closer with a solo homer to right center. It’s his 17th home run of the year. pic.twitter.com/4dvocPxw0C

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 10, 2026

Meyers: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, K

Hadeen: 2-4, 2B, K

Elissalt (L, 0-2): 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6: 45 p.m. ET start on Thursday night.

Korean-Japanese baseball legend Isao Harimoto, who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, has died in Tokyo at the age of 86.

Harimoto, known as the Hit Machine, recorded the most hits in Japanese baseball history - with 3,085 hits during his 23-season caree. He is the only player in Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB) history to reach 3,000 hits.

He also hit 504 home runs and stole 319 bases, making him the only player in NPB history with at least 500 homers and 300 stolen bases.

Only three players in Major League Baseball history have achieved the same feat: Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.

The 18-time all-star player helped the Toei Flyers win their first Japan Series in 1962, and was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990.

"All members of the Meikyukai express our deep respect and gratitude for Mr Isao Harimoto's many years of great achievements, and we sincerely pray for [following] his passing," the Golden Players Club - one of Japanese baseball's two halls of fame - said in a statement.

Harimoto - whose birth name was Jang Hun - overcame significant obstacles to achieve greatness.

He was born in Hiroshima in 1940 to Korean parents who migrated to Japan during the country's rule of Korea. Though he lived in Japan his entire life and adopted a Japanese name, he did not receive citizenship until later in life.

As a young child, he was involved in an accident that left him with severe burns on his right hand.

With limited mobility in his thumb and forefinger and his middle three fingers frozen into a curled position, he was forced to become a left-handed thrower and hitter.

On his curled right hand, he wore a custom glove that allowed him to catch the ball.

Yet he could have easily never had the opportunity to play baseball.

A year after his accident, Harimoto was in Hiroshima on 6 August, 1945, when the United States detonated an atomic bomb over the city during the final days of World War Two.

The five-year-old survived unharmed - in 2011 he explained that his mother used her body to shield him and his sister after the flash of the bomb exploding. Another sister did not survive.

Harimoto went on to enjoy an outstanding career, joining the Toei Flyers in 1959 with whom he spent 16 years before later representing the Yomiuri Giants and the Lotte Orions.

He won seven batting titles, including four in a row from 1967 to 1970, a feat equalled several decades later by Ichiro Suzuki. He retired in 1981 after playing 2,752 games.

Harimoto helped launch South Korea's KBO baseball league in 1982 before embarking on a career in baseball commentary and punditry.

In 2025, The Pittsburgh Pirates had the third-worst record in the National League at 71-91. They were only behind the Washington nationals and the Colorado Rockies who had the worst record in baseball. 

In 2026, the Pirates surpassed those 71 wins with still 17 games left in the season. The Buccos had a 72-73 record after a 9-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox Tuesday night and have since won another, giving them their third straight win and a .500 record. They also have a chance to surpass the amount of wins they had in 2024 which was 76. 

The last time the Bucs finished a season with a record of .500 or more was in 2018 when they went 82-79. Even if the Pirates can’t make it to the playoffs this season getting to a above .500 season would give them great momentum heading into next year. 

Their last playoff appearance was in 2015 where they lost to the Chicago Cubs in the Wild card round. Pittsburgh right now is 5 games out of a wild card spot in the National League.  

The reason for getting more wins this year has to be because of the offense. This season, the Pirates are fourth in the Majors in batting average at .253 and are fifth in RBIs with 670. They are also racking up hits as they are third in the league with 1,263 hits. 

2025 was a completely different story as the Buccos were dead last in home runs with only 117 and last in RBIS with 561. They also ranked 28th in the majors in hits with 1,244.

The additions of Ryan O’hearn and Brandon Lowe has made this more of a power hitting team this year. The young rookies like Esmerlyn Valdez and konnor Griffin have also made this a lethal offense that is explosive and fun to watch. 

Although the pitching might not be as dominant as they were last year, the hitting being this dominant is a great sign for the future of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

The Athletic | Ken Rosenthal ($): Even though his October reputation isn’t the best, the Yankees need a healthy Aaron Judge if they’re going to make any noise in the playoffs. In order to do that, the Yankees have to be careful with Judge, who skipped a rehab assignment after missing more than three months with a rib injury. The last thing they want to do is overexert him and have him reaggravate the injury. So they must be careful with him to keep him in the lineup and then unleash him in October, even if he gets upset when they take him out.

FanGraphs | Dan Szymborski: In case it wasn’t obvious, Aaron Judge brings a lot to the table. He’s arguably the best right-handed hitter ever and if the Yankees are going to try and make a run at the AL East crown, Judge gives them the best chance to do that. While the Rays refuse to fully go down or even regress to the mean, the projection systems still like the Yankees’ chances now that Judge is back in the mix. In case you wanted to know more about just how good Judge is, he’s literally better than everyone else.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Shockingly but also maybe unshockingly, the Yankees finally hit their first grand slam of the 2026 season last night off the bat of George Lombard Jr. It’s a little shocking that it took this long but grand slam opportunities don’t happen every day and to say the offense had been sputtering the last few months, especially with Judge out of the lineup, would be an understatement. With the grand slam, though, Lombard becomes the second-youngest Yankee to hit a grand slam, only older than Mickey Mantle who accomplished the feat twice in his age-20 season (and a mere three days apart at that).

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Jazz Chisholm Jr. is expected to officially be placed on the 10-day injured list today with Anthony Volpe getting the callup as the corresponding move. While just a few weeks ago this wouldn’t have been a very inspiring choice, Volpe “became Barry Bonds all of a sudden” once he got to the minors, at least according to his teammate Jasson Domínguez but also according to his numbers.

"He became Barry Bonds." 🔥

Anthony Volpe has earned double the honors, as both the Electric City Trolley Museum and @MiLB's International League Player of the Week.

🔗: https://t.co/ncK5zpHEoipic.twitter.com/glrprutdc8

— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) September 7, 2026