LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 18: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates a solo home run with Teoscar Hernández #37, to take a 1-0 lead over the San Francisco Giants, during the first inning at Dodger Stadium on September 18, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The NL West division champion Dodgers (94-60) were not hungover from the champagne celebrations and defeated the rival Giants (64-89) Friday night at Dodger stadium.
The 8-2 victory evoked memories of the “4+1” game on this date 20 years ago when the Dodgers clobbered four home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning including two sets of back-to-back jacks.
Mookie Betts has been locked in at the plate of late. Betts greeted Cesar Perdomo with a leadoff home run to give the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead. He would go on to hit a second home run in the eighth to give him 22 on the season, the most he has hit since 2023.
The Giants answered with a Jung Hoo Lee solo home run against Glasnow to tie the game at a run apiece.
Glasnow continued to miss with his fastball, and the Giants made him work. Two singles, a stolen base, and a walk gave San Francisco a 2-1 lead in the third. Although Glasnow’s fastball command wasn’t the sharpest, he struck out a season-high 10 batters on the night.
Betts got on base for the third time of the night with a single in the fifth inning. Mookie’s hit followed Josue De Paula’s first career hit at Dodger Stadium, a leadoff single. Teoscar Hernández drove in the tying run with the third single of the frame against the rookie left-hander Perdomo.
De Paula impressed in his Dodger Stadium debut. The young phenom drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning against the San Francisco bullpen with a ringing double to right field. He went 2-for-3 on the night with two hits and a walk.
The Dodgers put on a show with back-to-back home runs twice in the eighth inning. Max Muncy and Kyle Tucker started the homer fest with two booming back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the eighth against lefty Philip Abner.
The consecutive homers by the Dodgers harkened me back to the 4+1 game on this day in 2006. The Dodgers hit four consecutive home runs in the ninth inning, followed by a walk-off home run for a comeback win against the Padres. That was an electric game 20 years ago, and tonight’s win allowed us to both reminisce about the past and be excited for the upcoming postseason.
Betts hit the third home run of the inning for the Dodgers and the second of the night for the Dodgers shortstop. Then Will Smith followed Mookie with a solo shot of his own for the fourth long ball of the inning to make it 8-2 Dodgers.
It was a perfect opportunity to get Edwin Diaz in the game for the first time in a month. Diaz struck out two and capped off the 8-2 win with a scoreless ninth.
Friday particulars
Home runs: Mookie Betts 2 (22), Max Muncy (29), Kyle Tucker (17), Will Smith (8); Jung Hoo Lee (10)
The Dodgers and Giants battle again Saturday at Dodger Stadium (6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Tarik Skubal (10-7, 2.70 ERA, 0.955 WHIP) makes his final regular season start at Dodger Stadium before he pitches for the Dodgers in the postseason.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 18: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates a solo home run with Teoscar Hernández #37, to take a 1-0 lead over the San Francisco Giants, during the first inning at Dodger Stadium on September 18, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The NL West division champion Dodgers (94-60) were not hungover from the champagne celebrations and defeated the rival Giants (64-89) Friday night at Dodger stadium.
The 8-2 victory evoked memories of the “4+1” game on this date 20 years ago when the Dodgers clobbered four home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning including two sets of back-to-back jacks.
Mookie Betts has been locked in at the plate of late. Betts greeted Cesar Perdomo with a leadoff home run to give the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead. He would go on to hit a second home run in the eighth to give him 22 on the season, the most he has hit since 2023.
The Giants answered with a Jung Hoo Lee solo home run against Glasnow to tie the game at a run apiece.
Glasnow continued to miss with his fastball, and the Giants made him work. Two singles, a stolen base, and a walk gave San Francisco a 2-1 lead in the third. Although Glasnow’s fastball command wasn’t the sharpest, he struck out a season-high 10 batters on the night.
Betts got on base for the third time of the night with a single in the fifth inning. Mookie’s hit followed Josue De Paula’s first career hit at Dodger Stadium, a leadoff single. Teoscar Hernández drove in the tying run with the third single of the frame against the rookie left-hander Perdomo.
De Paula impressed in his Dodger Stadium debut. The young phenom drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning against the San Francisco bullpen with a ringing double to right field. He went 2-for-3 on the night with two hits and a walk.
The Dodgers put on a show with back-to-back home runs twice in the eighth inning. Max Muncy and Kyle Tucker started the homer fest with two booming back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the eighth against lefty Philip Abner.
The consecutive homers by the Dodgers harkened me back to the 4+1 game on this day in 2006. The Dodgers hit four consecutive home runs in the ninth inning, followed by a walk-off home run for a comeback win against the Padres. That was an electric game 20 years ago, and tonight’s win allowed us to both reminisce about the past and be excited for the upcoming postseason.
Betts hit the third home run of the inning for the Dodgers and the second of the night for the Dodgers shortstop. Then Will Smith followed Mookie with a solo shot of his own for the fourth long ball of the inning to make it 8-2 Dodgers.
It was a perfect opportunity to get Edwin Diaz in the game for the first time in a month. Diaz struck out two and capped off the 8-2 win with a scoreless ninth.
Friday particulars
Home runs: Mookie Betts 2 (22), Max Muncy (29), Kyle Tucker (17), Will Smith (8); Jung Hoo Lee (10)
The Dodgers and Giants battle again Saturday at Dodger Stadium (6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Tarik Skubal (10-7, 2.70 ERA, 0.955 WHIP) makes his final regular season start at Dodger Stadium before he pitches for the Dodgers in the postseason.
Josue De Paula reacts after hitting a go-ahead RBI double in the sixth inning of an 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
With eight games left in the regular season, the Dodgers already have ticked off the most important boxes on their to-do list for the postseason.
They clinched a playoff berth for a record-tying 14th straight season and won the division title for the fifth time in a row. And with Friday’s 8-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers (94-60) also have an outside shot at their fourth 100-win season in six years.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a lot of work to do between now and the playoffs — the most important task being determining exactly where and when they’ll open the postseason.
With Friday’s win and the Milwaukee Brewers’ victory in Baltimore, the Dodgers trail the Brewers by two games in the race for the league’s best record and home-field advantage that goes with it. They also lead the Atlanta Braves by four games for the second-best record, which would give them a first-round bye and an extra five days to get their sizable contingent of walking wounded healthy.
“To get one of these top-two seeds is important. And our guys understand that,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Winning the division is great, but I still think our best baseball is ahead of us.”
Achieving that, however, will require emptying an injury list that is almost as long as the starting lineup. If the season ended today, the Dodgers would have at least seven players who wouldn’t be ready to play.
The Dodgers are hopeful left-hander Blake Snell, who came out of Wednesday’s game after an inning because of groin tightness, will be healthy enough for one more regular-season start.
Center fielder Andy Pages, who shares the team lead in RBIs with Shohei Ohtani despite missing a month because of a fracture in his left hand, is expected to be activated for the series against the San Diego Padres, which begins Tuesday, while backup catcher Dalton Rushing is swinging a bat and will hit against a pitching machine this weekend.
Roki Sasaki threw 48 pitches in a bullpen session Wednesday and could come off the IL next week, but Edgardo Henriquez, second among Dodgers relievers in innings and strikeouts, will miss the rest of the regular season because of a back strain. He could rejoin the team for the playoffs.
Then there’s Ohtani, the four-time most valuable player. He’s dealing with injuries to his left knee and right biceps. He has resumed taking batting practice and is eligible to come off the IL on Wednesday. Roberts hopes to get Ohtani 10 to 12 at-bats before the playoffs.
“I’m just really waiting to hear when he’s going to get on the field, let alone take live BP,” Roberts said. “He’s not there yet. But everything I’ve heard, it’s been a really productive last three to four to five days.”
One player who did return was closer Edwin Díaz. Limited by injuries to 16 appearances in his first season with the Dodgers, he was activated Friday and threw 17 pitches in the ninth, giving up a single and striking out two.
Dodgers reliever Edwin Díaz reacts after the final out of an 8-2 win over the Giants on Friday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
For Roberts, the last month has looked like an episode of “The Pitt,” with medical crises piling up, one atop the other. Yet that’s hardly slowed the Dodgers, who opened their final homestand of the season having won 11 of their last 14 games.
Now the focus becomes continuing that momentum while getting as close to full strength as possible.
“They can go hand in hand,” Roberts said. “We have a lot of good players that are more than capable of helping us win baseball games, at the same time making sure we try to get our best players to optimum health when the postseason starts.”
The Dodgers got a big lift Friday from rookie Josue De Paula, who didn’t figure in their regular-season plans — much less their postseason ones — until a week ago when he was called up to take Ohtani’s place. In his Dodger Stadium debut, De Paula singled and scored on a Teoscar Hernández single in the fifth, then roped a double to the wall in right-center an inning later, scoring Kyle Tucker to put the Dodgers ahead to stay.
Tucker, Max Muncy, Mookie Betts and Will Smith all homered in a five-run eighth inning, turning a nail-biter into a comfortable win. Betts also hit a solo blast in the first.
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the first inning Friday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s crossed my mind,” De Paula said with a smile when asked if he’s in the discussion for a playoff roster spot. “But I try to focus on the now while I’m here and I’m enjoying every moment.”
“Yeah, he’s in the mix,” Roberts confirmed. “He’s certainly doing a lot of things well.”
All of the scoring helped Tyler Glasnow (5-1) earn his second win since April 23. Glasnow gave up just three hits in six innings, striking out a season-high 10.
Hernández, who had two hits, is batting .368 with 17 RBIs in September; Tucker, who also had two hits, is hitting .424 with five home runs and 13 runs scored in his last 10 games; Betts has six hits in his last eight at-bats, lifting his average to a season-high .254.
That’s helped make up for Freddie Freeman’s struggles. Freeman, who went hitless in four at-bats Friday, striking out twice, has just six hits — and 13 strikeouts — in his last 48 at-bats.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Roberts said with a sigh before the game.
Josue De Paula reacts after hitting a go-ahead RBI double in the sixth inning of an 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
With eight games left in the regular season, the Dodgers already have ticked off the most important boxes on their to-do list for the postseason.
They clinched a playoff berth for a record-tying 14th straight season and won the division title for the fifth time in a row. And with Friday’s 8-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers (94-60) also have an outside shot at their fourth 100-win season in six years.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a lot of work to do between now and the playoffs — the most important task being determining exactly where and when they’ll open the postseason.
With Friday’s win and the Milwaukee Brewers’ victory in Baltimore, the Dodgers trail the Brewers by two games in the race for the league’s best record and home-field advantage that goes with it. They also lead the Atlanta Braves by four games for the second-best record, which would give them a first-round bye and an extra five days to get their sizable contingent of walking wounded healthy.
“To get one of these top-two seeds is important. And our guys understand that,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Winning the division is great, but I still think our best baseball is ahead of us.”
Achieving that, however, will require emptying an injury list that is almost as long as the starting lineup. If the season ended today, the Dodgers would have at least seven players who wouldn’t be ready to play.
The Dodgers are hopeful left-hander Blake Snell, who came out of Wednesday’s game after an inning because of groin tightness, will be healthy enough for one more regular-season start.
Center fielder Andy Pages, who shares the team lead in RBIs with Shohei Ohtani despite missing a month because of a fracture in his left hand, is expected to be activated for the series against the San Diego Padres, which begins Tuesday, while backup catcher Dalton Rushing is swinging a bat and will hit against a pitching machine this weekend.
Roki Sasaki threw 48 pitches in a bullpen session Wednesday and could come off the IL next week, but Edgardo Henriquez, second among Dodgers relievers in innings and strikeouts, will miss the rest of the regular season because of a back strain. He could rejoin the team for the playoffs.
Then there’s Ohtani, the four-time most valuable player. He’s dealing with injuries to his left knee and right biceps. He has resumed taking batting practice and is eligible to come off the IL on Wednesday. Roberts hopes to get Ohtani 10 to 12 at-bats before the playoffs.
“I’m just really waiting to hear when he’s going to get on the field, let alone take live BP,” Roberts said. “He’s not there yet. But everything I’ve heard, it’s been a really productive last three to four to five days.”
One player who did return was closer Edwin Díaz. Limited by injuries to 16 appearances in his first season with the Dodgers, he was activated Friday and threw 17 pitches in the ninth, giving up a single and striking out two.
Dodgers reliever Edwin Díaz reacts after the final out of an 8-2 win over the Giants on Friday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
For Roberts, the last month has looked like an episode of “The Pitt,” with medical crises piling up, one atop the other. Yet that’s hardly slowed the Dodgers, who opened their final homestand of the season having won 11 of their last 14 games.
Now the focus becomes continuing that momentum while getting as close to full strength as possible.
“They can go hand in hand,” Roberts said. “We have a lot of good players that are more than capable of helping us win baseball games, at the same time making sure we try to get our best players to optimum health when the postseason starts.”
The Dodgers got a big lift Friday from rookie Josue De Paula, who didn’t figure in their regular-season plans — much less their postseason ones — until a week ago when he was called up to take Ohtani’s place. In his Dodger Stadium debut, De Paula singled and scored on a Teoscar Hernández single in the fifth, then roped a double to the wall in right-center an inning later, scoring Kyle Tucker to put the Dodgers ahead to stay.
Tucker, Max Muncy, Mookie Betts and Will Smith all homered in a five-run eighth inning, turning a nail-biter into a comfortable win. Betts also hit a solo blast in the first.
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the first inning Friday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s crossed my mind,” De Paula said with a smile when asked if he’s in the discussion for a playoff roster spot. “But I try to focus on the now while I’m here and I’m enjoying every moment.”
“Yeah, he’s in the mix,” Roberts confirmed. “He’s certainly doing a lot of things well.”
All of the scoring helped Tyler Glasnow (5-1) earn his second win since April 23. Glasnow gave up just three hits in six innings, striking out a season-high 10.
Hernández, who had two hits, is batting .368 with 17 RBIs in September; Tucker, who also had two hits, is hitting .424 with five home runs and 13 runs scored in his last 10 games; Betts has six hits in his last eight at-bats, lifting his average to a season-high .254.
That’s helped make up for Freddie Freeman’s struggles. Freeman, who went hitless in four at-bats Friday, striking out twice, has just six hits — and 13 strikeouts — in his last 48 at-bats.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Roberts said with a sigh before the game.
In a tribute to Judge, who has fueled much of their first-inning damage over the years, the Yankees put up a five spot in the opening frame before Gerrit Cole took care of the rest in an important bounce-back start.
Coming into the day having allowed seven home runs over his last two starts, Cole gave up another but limited the damage to just one on the way to the Yankees’ 9-2 win over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
On a day that began with news of Judge going on the injured list with a right calf strain that very much threatens his availability for the postseason, the Yankees (89-64) inched within four games of the Rays for the division with nine games remaining, while staying 5 ¹/₂ games clear of the Red Sox for the top AL wild card.
“We’re obviously bummed for Aaron and Aaron’s probably bummed too,” Cole said. “But we’ve been in this position before this year, so unfortunately, it’s our reality at this point. We came out tonight with a good mentality and we played really good baseball and that’s a recipe for success, regardless of who’s in the lineup. Aaron’s a quick healer and a hard worker, and he’ll be back sooner than later for us. In his absence, we’ll hold the fort.”
Barring a Rays collapse, the Yankees will almost certainly be facing the Red Sox in the AL wild-card series, and Aaron Boone said before Friday’s game that he would expect Cole to make a start in that series despite getting roughed up of late.
Designated hitter Ben Rice lets a low pitch go as he earns a bases-loaded walk during the first inning of the Yankees’ 9-2 blowout win over Diamondbacks on Sept. 18, 2026 in Phoenix. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
Cole then took the mound and backed up that faith, tossing six innings of two-run ball in his penultimate start of the regular season.
The runs both came on Corbin Carroll’s two-run shot in the second inning, which came on a 97 mph fastball, the pitch that opponents have hit hard lately against Cole.
And though he still only generated four whiffs on 20 swings against his fastball, he found a way to minimize the damage and get back on track.
George Lombard Jr. celebrates while running the bases after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ win over the Diamondbacks. Getty Images
“I think a lot of people probably overreacted to a couple of outings that, frankly, are inevitable in a long season,” Boone said. “The reality is he’s having an outstanding season, he’s throwing the ball really well, and a great pitcher like him is going to be able to make some adjustments when you have a couple where they get to you.”
The veteran right-hander struck out six while walking none and scattering just four hits — all of which came off his fastball — against the Diamondbacks (80-74), who are on the outside looking in for the final NL wild card.
Boone said Cole “grinded pretty hard” between starts, which the former Cy Young winner indicated was about tightening up his delivery to create more deception.
“I don’t think we did a perfect job tonight,” Cole said. “I think we moved the needle in the right direction, but there’s still some meat on the bone there. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary. It’s the big leagues.”
Ben Rice celebrates with Spencer Jones after hitting a solo home run in the third inning of the Yankees’ win over the Diamondbacks. Getty Images
It helped that the Yankees gave Cole a 5-0 lead to work with before he threw a single pitch, as they made Diamondbacks All-Star lefty Eduardo Rodríguez throw 45 pitches in the top of the first.
Each of the first five batters reached base, as Paul Goldschmidt walked, Cody Bellinger singled, Heliot Ramos walked, Ben Rice walked and Amed Rosario singled.
One out later, George Lombard Jr. roped a two-run single up the middle to make it 5-0.
Gerrit Cole, who held the Diamondbacks to two runs over six innings and picked up the win, throws a pitch during th fifth inning of the Yankees’ road victory. Getty Images
Rice added a solo shot off Rodríguez in the third inning, for his 39th home run of the season — a number Boone insisted he predicted back in spring training — before Lombard knocked him out of the game in the sixth with a home run of his own that made it 7-2.
“Obviously we were missing [Judge] for a long time there, so this one is especially hard to swallow, him just being back for a brief period and now already gone,” said Rice, who added a triple and two walks. “But we have no choice but to keep playing hard, keep doing our thing.”
In a tribute to Judge, who has fueled much of their first-inning damage over the years, the Yankees put up a five spot in the opening frame before Gerrit Cole took care of the rest in an important bounce-back start.
Coming into the day having allowed seven home runs over his last two starts, Cole gave up another but limited the damage to just one on the way to the Yankees’ 9-2 win over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
On a day that began with news of Judge going on the injured list with a right calf strain that very much threatens his availability for the postseason, the Yankees (89-64) inched within four games of the Rays for the division with nine games remaining, while staying 5 ¹/₂ games clear of the Red Sox for the top AL wild card.
“We’re obviously bummed for Aaron and Aaron’s probably bummed too,” Cole said. “But we’ve been in this position before this year, so unfortunately, it’s our reality at this point. We came out tonight with a good mentality and we played really good baseball and that’s a recipe for success, regardless of who’s in the lineup. Aaron’s a quick healer and a hard worker, and he’ll be back sooner than later for us. In his absence, we’ll hold the fort.”
Barring a Rays collapse, the Yankees will almost certainly be facing the Red Sox in the AL wild-card series, and Aaron Boone said before Friday’s game that he would expect Cole to make a start in that series despite getting roughed up of late.
Designated hitter Ben Rice lets a low pitch go as he earns a bases-loaded walk during the first inning of the Yankees’ 9-2 blowout win over Diamondbacks on Sept. 18, 2026 in Phoenix. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
Cole then took the mound and backed up that faith, tossing six innings of two-run ball in his penultimate start of the regular season.
The runs both came on Corbin Carroll’s two-run shot in the second inning, which came on a 97 mph fastball, the pitch that opponents have hit hard lately against Cole.
And though he still only generated four whiffs on 20 swings against his fastball, he found a way to minimize the damage and get back on track.
George Lombard Jr. celebrates while running the bases after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ win over the Diamondbacks. Getty Images
“I think a lot of people probably overreacted to a couple of outings that, frankly, are inevitable in a long season,” Boone said. “The reality is he’s having an outstanding season, he’s throwing the ball really well, and a great pitcher like him is going to be able to make some adjustments when you have a couple where they get to you.”
The veteran right-hander struck out six while walking none and scattering just four hits — all of which came off his fastball — against the Diamondbacks (80-74), who are on the outside looking in for the final NL wild card.
Boone said Cole “grinded pretty hard” between starts, which the former Cy Young winner indicated was about tightening up his delivery to create more deception.
“I don’t think we did a perfect job tonight,” Cole said. “I think we moved the needle in the right direction, but there’s still some meat on the bone there. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary. It’s the big leagues.”
Ben Rice celebrates with Spencer Jones after hitting a solo home run in the third inning of the Yankees’ win over the Diamondbacks. Getty Images
It helped that the Yankees gave Cole a 5-0 lead to work with before he threw a single pitch, as they made Diamondbacks All-Star lefty Eduardo Rodríguez throw 45 pitches in the top of the first.
Each of the first five batters reached base, as Paul Goldschmidt walked, Cody Bellinger singled, Heliot Ramos walked, Ben Rice walked and Amed Rosario singled.
One out later, George Lombard Jr. roped a two-run single up the middle to make it 5-0.
Gerrit Cole, who held the Diamondbacks to two runs over six innings and picked up the win, throws a pitch during th fifth inning of the Yankees’ road victory. Getty Images
Rice added a solo shot off Rodríguez in the third inning, for his 39th home run of the season — a number Boone insisted he predicted back in spring training — before Lombard knocked him out of the game in the sixth with a home run of his own that made it 7-2.
“Obviously we were missing [Judge] for a long time there, so this one is especially hard to swallow, him just being back for a brief period and now already gone,” said Rice, who added a triple and two walks. “But we have no choice but to keep playing hard, keep doing our thing.”
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - SEPTEMBER 18: George Lombard Jr. #96 high fives Austin Wells #28 of the New York Yankees after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the sixth inning at Chase Field on September 18, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The two starting pitchers entered this game trending in opposite directions. Gerrit Cole had just allowed the most home runs (seven) in a two-start span in his career, while Eduardo Rodriguez is in the midst of a career year with a 2.62 ERA. One of those trends remained — Cole giving up another home run on a fastball — but fortunately the other trend was momentarily halted, the Yankees scoring five in the first off E-Rod to give themselves enough of a cushion to weather Cole’s continued home run woes.
Cole settled down after the Carroll dinger to give the Yankees six innings, by which time the offense all but put this game out of reach. They kept the pressure on, scoring a further four runs including solo home runs by Ben Rice and George Lombard Jr., to cruise to a series-opening victory in the desert, 9-2.
Rodriguez came into this game with an ERA above six in the first inning and an ERA right around two for the subsequent innings combined. That made it imperative that the Yankees find a way to do damage before the home team had a chance to come to bat, especially with the rate Cole is giving up the long ball. They did just that with a clear disciplined approach not to expand the zone against E-Rod’s curveball.
Paul Goldschmidt drew a leadoff walk, Cody Bellinger followed with a single, and Heliot Ramos also walked to load the bases with no outs. Rice drew the Yankees’ third walk in the first four batters to plate Goldschmidt and open the scoring, Goldy, Ramos, and Rice all working full counts before taking the free pass. Amed Rosario then fought off a cutter that handcuffed him up and in, muscling it to the opposite field perfectly between center and left fielder to plate Bellinger as the runners went station to station. A wild pitch allowed Ramos to score and Rice and Rosario to move up to second and third. This set up a two-run ground ball single from Lombard that just got by Geraldo Perdomo’s diving attempt to atone for his defensive misplay in the 13th that allowed the Twins to walk off the Yankees on Wednesday.
Rodriguez struck out Volpe to end the inning giving him three strikeouts in the frame, but the damage was done. The 45 pitches he threw were the most he’s thrown in the first inning in his career. 33 of those pitches fell out of the zone, but only eight induced a chase.
It’s a good thing they hung such a crooked number, because Cole immediately gave two of those runs back. He gave up a leadoff single to Perdomo before yanking an 0-1 four-seamer right into Corbin Carroll’s nitro zone, the three-time All-Star obliterating it to right for a two-run bomb to reduce the Yankees’ lead, 5-2. Rice made sure to immediately tilt the momentum back in his team’s favor. After falling behind 0-2, he stayed back on an elevated heater from E-Rod riding it out the other way and over the fence in left-center for a leadoff bomb, his 39th of the year, to give Cole some more of his cushion back, 6-2.
Cole settled down to work a scoreless third and fourth, helped in part by a sharp uptick in slider usage at the expense of some four-seamers as well as an impressive sliding catch in left-center by Spencer Jones in the third. He finally began dialing the fastball command to the corners in the fifth, striking out Tim Tawa and Lars Nootbaar on four-seamers to end the frame after Jesús Sánchez singled with one out. This allowed Lombard to restore the Yankees’ five run lead in the sixth, the rookie punishing a hanging curveball from E-Rod by lining the solo shot down the line it left and into the bullpen for his fourth of the year and third RBI on the night.
The four-seamer was the prime culprit for Cole in his previous two starts with a 68.2-percent hard-hit rate and just six whiffs, and that remained the case tonight. However, I believe it is Cole’s rustiness with his secondaries that is leading his four-seamer to get barreled. The fastball still has plenty of velocity — at 97 mph it’s a full tick above last season. I will grant that he has missed location in the zone on numerous occasions which hasn’t done him any favors.
However, after his last start, Cole identified a lack of chase and whiff against his secondaries as the reason his fastball is getting crushed. Hitters being able to lay off those chase pitches forces Cole to overuse the fastball in counts that favor the softer stuff, which in essence gives them the opportunity to hunt the heater when they should be defending against the breaker. When you can hunt a fastball in any count, chances are you are going to do damage when Cole misses his spot in the zone, the high velocity not much of a weapon when hitters’ bats are preemptively sped up.
Indeed, once he started commanding his slider and knuckle curve to the shadow of the zone in the middle innings, the hard contact against the fastball dried up. Having pitched a strong fifth and sixth and with his pitch count at 90, Boone saw no reason to overextend Cole and ended his night after six with his best innings freshest in mind. He finished night having pitched six innings, allowing two runs on four hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
Despite possessing one of the stingiest bullpens in baseball, the Diamondbacks decided that a five-run deficit in the seventh was too steep to justify using their high leverage arms. So, Zac Gallen made his first career relief appearance, the former All-Star in the midst of am injury-plagued, below-replacement-level campaign. He allowed a leadoff single to Goldschmidt and walked Ramos and Rice — again, both in full counts — to load the bases with one out. Aaron Boone sent out Ryan McMahon to pinch-hit for Rosario, and he hit a sharp grounder to first that Pavin Smith gloved but airmailed the underhand toss to Gallen covering first as all the runners were safe and a run scored on the error. Spencer Jones then appeared to ground into the inning-ending double play, but his hustle out of the box and down the line just beat the throw to pick up an RBI and make it 9-2.
Ryan Yarbrough pitched 1.1 innings in relief of Cole and worked himself into and out of trouble in the seventh. Arizona put runners on second and third as Nolan Arenado singled and Carroll doubled with one out. However, Yarbrough struck out Jose Fernandez and Tawa to strand the pair in scoring position. Rice smoked his fourth triple of the year in the ninth but was stranded at third by a McMahon strikeout. Michael Fulmer and Luis Gil recorded the final five outs of the game without allowing a baserunner to seal the win, 9-2. With the Rays having lost to the Red Sox earlier in the evening, the Yankees’ deficit is back to four games in the division, making that looming four-game set against Tampa in the Bronx even more high stakes.
Cam Schlittler looks to cement his AL Cy Young case tomorrow after Dylan Cease suffered his shortest start of the season on Friday. The Yankees ace will face off against Brandon Pfaadt with a slightly more reasonable game start time. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 pm ET with the broadcast remaining on YES.
The Yankees' offense scored five first-inning runs, en route to a 9-2 victory over the Diamondbacks on Friday night in Arizona.
With the win and the Rays' loss earlier in the evening, the Yankees are 4.0 games behind Tampa for first place in the AL East.
Here are the takeaways...
-The Yankees got to Eduardo Rodriguez early, loading the bases (walk, single, walk) with no outs in the first. Ben Rice worked his way back from a 1-2 count to walk and force in the game's first run. Amed Rosario, starting at third base, blooped a single to drive in a run. Spencer Jones struck out before a passed ball allowed Heliot Ramos to score from third. George Lombard Jr. followed up with a two-run single to give the Yankees a 5-0 lead.
-Gerrit Cole, after allowing seven home runs in his last two starts, had a shutdown 12-pitch first inning after the Yankees gave him that five-run lead. However, the longball would bite Cole in the second, when Corbin Carroll launched a two-run shot to put Arizona on the board.
But that's all Cole would give up in six strong innings. He allowed those two runs on four hits, no walks, while striking out six, a great bounceback performance from the right-hander.
-Rice smashed his 39th home run of the season off the southpaw Rodriguez in the third. The homer went 390 feet over the left center field wall. He now has five homers in his last 22 games. Rice finished 2-for-3 with the home run and a triple.
Lombard's productive day wasn't done either, as the rookie launched a solo shot in the sixth to knock Rodriguez out of the game.
-The Yankees pushed across two more runs in the seventh off former ace Zac Gallen, making his first career relief appearance after he was moved to the bullpen after a terrible 2026, thanks to an error and a failed double-play attempt.
-In relief of Cole, Ryan Yarbrough, Michael Fulmer and Luis Gil got the final nine outs. Yarbrough worked out of trouble after giving up two hits in the seventh and Gil worked out of an inning where he allowed two baserunners.
-With Aaron Judge on the IL for the foreseeable future, the rest of the Yankees outfield's production will be under a microscope. Cody Bellinger (1-5), Jones (0-4, RBI) and Ramos (0-2, 2 BB) combined to go 1-for-11.
Jones, in particular, is struggling. He went hitless again and struck out two more times. He's now struck out nine times in his last four games.
Game MVP: Gerrit Cole
The Yankees and the right-hander needed this start, to instill confidence that Cole has not lost it. He also helped give the bullpen a rest after the 13-inning game on Wednesday.
The last couple of seasons have not been kind toMark Vientos.
The young Mets slugger, after a breakout 2024 -- especially in the postseason -- was primed to become a building block for the team's future. But after a down 2025 and a miserable 2026 filled with injuries and poor performance, Vientos' future in Queens may not be so clear-cut.
“Do I want to be a New York Met? Of course I want to be a New York Met,” Vientos told MLB.com's Anthony DiComo this week. “This is the team that I got drafted by and I have so many great memories with. But it’s whatever life has in store for me.”
The Mets have a decision to make this offseason. Vientos is arbitration-eligible for the first time, but he's also a non-tender candidate. As DiComo notes, Vientos will receive a significant raise in salary if the Mets tender him a contract through the arbitration process. If they non-tender him, Vientos' time with the Mets will be up.
New York could also tender a contract and try to trade Vientos, or tender him and cut him in spring training, which he will be just 27 by then.
All of this seemed impossible just a couple of years ago when Vientos, 22 years old at the time, batted .266 with 27 home runs before hitting .327 with five more homers in the Mets' magical 2024 postseason run. However, he slashed .233/.289/.413 (.702 OPS) with just 17 home runs in 121 games the following season when he was given the keys to an everyday job.
This season has been more of the same. In 82 games, Vientos is slashing .218/.267/.405 (.672 OPS) with 13 home runs.
“After '24, I had expectations,” Vientos said. “When those expectations don’t come, you start to wonder, ‘What do I need to do?’ … I believe what I did in '24, that’s me.
“I feel like these past two years were just learning experiences that I really appreciated. And I think it’s going to help me for sure.”
Vientos landed on the IL with a hand fracture in July and returned Aug. 31, but did not see immediate playing time.
Interim manager Andy Green was upfront with Vientos when he went on his rehab assignment that he would have to earn playing time.
"I was very forthright with him when he started the rehab assignment that a lot of that will be dictated by how others perform and also by how he performs," Green said at the time. "Still think there’s a very bright future for him out there if he wants to grab a hold of it. That’s on him."
Vientos told DiComo that he doesn't know what his future will hold, but will "go with the flow." In the meantime, he's content with the playing time and Green has applauded Vientos' approach to this situation and being a good teammate when he's not in the lineup.
Vientos was in Friday's lineup as the DH and went 1-for-3 with a walk. With the season-ending injury to Jared Young, Vientos could see more playing time as the DH and at first base.
He will try to use the final eight games to show what he's capable of, and let the chips fall where they may this offseason.
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 18: Lazaro Montes #99 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates his go-ahead solo home run with third base coach Carlos Cardoza #57 in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on September 18, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Colorado Rockies spent most of Friday night finding ways to create offense.
They piled up 15 hits. They stole five bases. They recovered from an ugly first inning, erased a three-run deficit and eventually took the lead.
They also left 12 runners on base, failed to score with runners at the corners in the eighth, and erased their final chance with a baserunning mistake in the ninth.
Seattle made those misses hurt.
Lazaro Montes crushed a go-ahead home run off Jordan Romano to open the ninth, and the Seattle Mariners held on for a 5-4 win at Coors Field.
The loss dropped the Rockies to 56-98, while Seattle improved to 72-82. Carlos Vargas earned the win to improve to 2-0, Romano took the loss and fell to 0-4, and Andrés Muñoz recorded his 28th save.
Hughes settles in after a brutal start
Gabriel Hughes’ night could hardly have started worse.
J.P. Crawford opened the game with a seven-pitch at-bat. Hughes jumped ahead 0-2, but Crawford worked the count full before turning on an 84.9 mph slider and sending it 421 feet to right at 104.5 mph.
Randy Arozarena followed with a six-pitch double. Hughes had again gotten ahead 0-2, but Arozarena worked his way back and lined a 92.2 mph four-seamer into center at 100.3 mph.
Then, Dominic Canzone attacked immediately.
Hughes threw an 85.6 mph sweeper with his first pitch and Canzone drove it 406 feet at 102.7 mph for another double.
Three batters. Three extra-base hits.
Hughes finally stopped the momentum by winning a pair of long at-bats.
Cal Raleigh went eight pitches before Hughes got him to swing through an 87.9 mph slider.
Julio Rodríguez followed with a seven-pitch battle before Hughes froze him with a 91.9 mph four-seamer.
Josh Naylor still got Seattle two more runs with a ground-ball single to right before Hughes finally escaped the inning.
Seattle led 3-0.
Then Hughes looked different.
His demeanor changed. He started working with noticeably more energy and purpose and, more importantly, started getting outs.
Hughes returned for a 1-2-3, 13-pitch second inning, striking out Brock Rodden and Crawford. He retired the side again in the third, finishing it by striking out Raleigh for the second time, then needed only seven pitches to get through the fourth.
He also started getting more out of his full arsenal. Hughes leaned most heavily on his four-seam fastball, throwing it 38% of the time at an average of 92.4 mph, but mixed six pitches overall. He used his curveball 21%, sinker 17%, slider 13%, sweeper 9% and changeup 2%.
The four-seamer did most of the strikeout work, accounting for five of his six strikeouts, while the sweeper produced his best swing-and-miss rate among the secondaries. Hughes finished with 14 whiffs and 15 called strikes, and his velocity held steady even after the 34-pitch first inning.
By the time Lazaro Montes went down looking to begin the fifth, Hughes had retired 11 straight Mariners.
The streak ended when Rodden walked. Crawford lined out, but Arozarena reached on an infield single and Hughes’ night was over.
Mark Manfredi entered and walked Canzone to load the bases, but struck out Raleigh to leave all three runners stranded.
Hughes finished with three runs allowed on five hits over 4.2 innings. He walked one, struck out six and threw 95 pitches.
Bryan Woo did not have much trouble getting Colorado to swing.
The Rockies were aggressive early in counts throughout the night, with plenty of plate appearances ending after only two or three pitches.
They also hit him.
Connor Norby singled with one out in the first, Hunter Goodman added another single and Cole Carrigg lined an RBI single to right to get Colorado on the board.
Mickey Moniak opened the second with a triple, but Colorado could not bring him home.
Norby and TJ Rumfield opened the third with consecutive singles. Goodman forced Rumfield at second, then Carrigg hit a fielder’s choice that resulted in Norby being thrown out at the plate. Kyle Karros lined out sharply to center to end another scoreless inning.
Colorado finally got another run in the fourth.
Ezequiel Tovar doubled with two outs, and Jake McCarthy followed with an RBI single to right to cut Seattle’s lead to 3-2.
McCarthy stole second, and Norby walked, but Rumfield struck out to end the inning.
Norby’s walk stood out.
Moniak had seen two pitches. Adael Amador saw two. Tovar doubled on the first pitch and McCarthy singled on the second. Woo faced those four hitters with only seven pitches combined.
Norby matched that total by himself, fouling off two-strike pitches and eventually drawing a seven-pitch walk.
Woo leaned even more heavily on his fastball than Hughes. His four-seamer made up 53% of his pitches and averaged 96.5 mph, with the sweeper serving as his primary secondary.
The Rockies were willing to attack both.
Woo’s sweeper still missed bats, producing four whiffs on six swings, but Colorado repeatedly squared up the harder stuff. He allowed 13 hard-hit balls, including seven against the four-seamer, while his sinker was also hit hard when the Rockies put it in play.
The velocity held into the sixth, but Colorado never really let him settle into an easy rhythm. The Rockies swung aggressively in the zone, hit plenty of balls hard and kept forcing him to pitch with traffic.
The Rockies broke through in the sixth.
Tovar singled with one out, ending Woo’s night.
Seattle brought in left-hander Gabe Speier.
Tovar immediately stole second.
McCarthy then worked a six-pitch at-bat before driving a 94.2 mph sinker to center for his 12th triple of the season. Tovar scored and the game was tied.
After McCarthy forced Speier through six pitches, Norby attacked the first one he saw, lining a 94.3 mph four-seamer into center to score McCarthy and give Colorado a 4-3 lead.
Norby stole second and moved to third on Rumfield’s groundout.
Goodman flew out to finish the inning, but the Rockies had finally turned all of their traffic into a lead.
The lead does not last
Manfredi worked a scoreless sixth before Brennan Bernardino took over in the seventh.
Seattle tied the game without doing much damage after the first batter.
Michael Arroyo pinch-hit for Rodden and attacked Bernardino’s first pitch, driving a 76.6 mph curveball at 99.5 mph for a double.
Crawford bunted him to third.
Bernardino hit Arozarena.
Canzone lifted a sacrifice fly to center.
Tie game.
Bernardino then struck out Raleigh looking, giving Raleigh his fourth strikeout of the night.
Jaden Hill followed with a clean eighth.
The biggest play came against Naylor, who drove a ball 396 feet to straightaway center at 105 mph. Carrigg broke back immediately and chased it down just in front of the warning track.
Tovar popped out to start the bottom of the eighth before McCarthy once again used his speed to create something.
He hit a liner back toward José A. Ferrer that ricocheted off the pitcher’s glove and rolled toward short. McCarthy was already at first by the time Cole Young recovered the ball.
Norby followed with a high chopper to short. The second bounce took heavy topspin and shot past Young.
Runners at the corners.
One out.
This was the chance.
Rumfield went down on three pitches, although the final one initially was called a ball before Seattle challenged and had the call overturned to strike three.
The Mariners went back to the bullpen for Goodman.
Goodman battled.
He also nearly took McCarthy out with a foul ball that hit him square in the shin near third base. McCarthy laughed it off.
Then Goodman grounded out to short.
Colorado had runners at the corners with one out in a tie game.
They got nothing.
One swing changes the ninth
Closer Jordan Romano entered for the ninth.
Montes greeted him immediately.
Romano left an 83.9 mph second-pitch slider where Montes could do damage, and Montes knew it as soon as he hit it.
Romano recovered from there. He struck out Arroyo, got Crawford to fly out, allowed an Arozarena single and retired Canzone to keep the deficit at one.
Colorado still had a chance.
Carrigg led off the bottom of the ninth with a single against Andrés Muñoz.
Then he took off.
Carrigg stole second with a headfirst slide on a play close enough for Seattle to challenge. His outstretched hand reached the base, started to come off, and his foot slid onto the bag almost simultaneously.
The Rockies had the tying run at second with nobody out.
Karros went down looking at a 100.1 mph fastball at the bottom of the zone.
Then Carrigg pushed too far.
He broke early for third, Muñoz stepped off, and Carrigg was caught in a brief rundown back toward second.
Out.
The speed that had helped Colorado all night finally cost it.
Moniak struck out to end the game.
Final thoughts
The Rockies had plenty of offense.
McCarthy went 3-for-5 with a triple, two RBI, a run and a stolen base.
Norby went 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI, a run and a steal.
Carrigg went 3-for-5, drove in a run and stole two bases while also making one of the defensive plays of the night in center.
Tovar had two hits, including a double, stole a base and scored twice.
Hughes recovered from three straight extra-base hits to start the game and retired 11 straight Mariners.
There was a lot to like.
There was also a leadoff triple that never scored. Two runners aboard with nobody out in the third that produced nothing. Runners at the corners with one out in the eighth that produced nothing. And finally a runner at second with nobody out in the ninth who never made it home.
Colorado’s speed was a factor all night, with the Rockies stealing five bases and repeatedly using their legs to create pressure — even if one final aggressive decision ended up costing them in the ninth.
The Rockies finished with 15 hits, and 12 runners left on base.
Up next
The Rockies and Mariners continue their three-game set Saturday night at Coors Field, with first pitch scheduled for 6:10 p.m. MDT.
Seattle will send right-hander Bryce Miller to the mound. Miller is 4–9 with a 4.19 ERA and 106 strikeouts this season. The Rockies have not yet announced their starter.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 18: Jose Rodriguez #64 of the Toronto Blue Jays throws a pitch against the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning of his MLB debut at Globe Life Field on September 18, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Blue Jays 1 Rangers 7
There is an ancient Chinese proverb about how it is hard to win a game if you only score one run.
The unfortunate thing is that they beat the horse (by horse, I mean pitching staff) hard in August to get us back in the race. There is only so long you can beat a horse until it is dead. It amazes me when people try to complain about Schneider, saying he should have pulled a pitcher earlier. Does anyone really think we should be using more relievers?
Anyway, Dylan Cease didn’t have ‘it’. He’s been ridden hard. Too hard obviously. He gave up four runs in the second inning and that was about it for the game. Cease only made it through 2.2 innings, giving up six walks. Only one of four runs against was earned (there was an Ernie Clement throwing error in there, speaking of players ridden hard), but he had a really rough time. Not that any manager wouldn’t have ridden him hard considering lack of innings we’ve gotten out of other ‘starters’.
We used five relievers. I enjoyed watching Brendan Cellucci (who got four outs without allowing a run) and Jose Rodriguez (who got five outs, giving up just a hit, with two strikeouts). Brayden Fisher, Brendon Little (we really didn’t have much imagination when naming kids around the turn of the century), and Joe Mantiply each gave up a run, though Little’s wasn’t earned as the run scored because of a Kazuma Okamoto error.
Offensively, we didn’t do much. Five hits. Two by Straw (who had the lone RBI), and one each from Vlad, Kirk, and Okamoto. Even Brett Bateman went hitless.
As one of the talking heads said ‘when a team isn’t hitting it looks listless’.
Jay of the Day: Straw (0.10 WPA).
Other Award: Cease (-0.28), Bateman (-0.12, I want to go back and check see if that is his first ‘other award’, but, at the moment, I’m tired of baseball), and Clement (-0.10).
Tomorrow we have José Soriano (12-7, 3.56) vs Cal Quantrill (9-5, 2.90). It is a 7:00 Eastern start. Jose, we are really going to need some innings out of you.
New York Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio reacts after striking out swinging against the Washington Nationals to end the ninth inning at Citi Field in Queens, New York, Thursday, April 30, 2026.
Ronny Mauricio will get another chance, if a brief one.
With the year winding down, the former Mets top prospect was called up for a fourth time this season Friday in the wake of Jared Young’s season-ending injury.
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Now 25, Mauricio is finishing up another season in which he has not asserted himself at the major league level and another season in which injury set him back.
Mauricio’s first chance at extended playing time this year, in late April following Francisco Lindor’s strained calf and when the club needed a shortstop, ended after just eight games because of a fractured left thumb that forced him out for nearly two months.
He returned but has spent the majority of his season with Triple-A Syracuse, with whom he has been solid — owning a .795 OPS with 18 home runs and 12 steals in 71 games while playing second base, third base and shortstop — but not enough to earn major league run even on a team playing for next year.
“We’ll get him out there for sure,” interim manager Andy Green said before a 6-3 over the Phillies at Citi Field, after which the Mets have just eight games left. “Ronny’s had a nice Triple-A season. We’ll find a way to get him some at-bats.”
New York Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio reacts after striking out swinging against the Washington Nationals to end the ninth inning at Citi Field in Queens, New York, Thursday, April 30, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
As recently as 2023, Mauricio was the club’s No. 3 prospect behind Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty, according to MLB Pipeline, before he tore his ACL during a Dominican Winter League game, which wiped away his 2024 campaign and delayed his 2025.
Mauricio did not return with the same speed and has jumped back and forth from the minors to the majors since, never sticking at the highest level.
This is the final year Mauricio can be optioned to the minor leagues without being exposed to waivers, and this offseason will be the first in which the Mets will have a choice of whether to tender him a contract.
Juan Soto (3-for-5) launched a three-run home run in the sixth for his 100th hit of the season and 26th dinger in 103 games.
Carson Benge (2-for-3 with an RBI single) has 153 hits this season, two shy of Pete Alonso’s single-season franchise rookie record set in 2019.
New York Mets right fielder Carson Benge (3) hits an RBI single during the first inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, at Citi Field in Queens, N.Y. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Dedniel Núñez recorded a four-out save, his first save of the season and second of his career.
Without Young, who was officially placed on the injured list with a concussion, Brett Baty got the start at first base against lefty opener Tim Mayza and expected bulk pitcher and righty José Urquidy.
Green said he expects Baty and Mark Vientos, who served as DH, to see time at first as well as Christopher Morel.
On Saturday, the Mets will induct Carlos Beltrán into the team’s Hall of Fame and retire his No. 15 in an on-field ceremony prior to the game.
New York Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio reacts after striking out swinging against the Washington Nationals to end the ninth inning at Citi Field in Queens, New York, Thursday, April 30, 2026.
Ronny Mauricio will get another chance, if a brief one.
With the year winding down, the former Mets top prospect was called up for a fourth time this season Friday in the wake of Jared Young’s season-ending injury.
Access the Mets beat like never before
Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.
Now 25, Mauricio is finishing up another season in which he has not asserted himself at the major league level and another season in which injury set him back.
Mauricio’s first chance at extended playing time this year, in late April following Francisco Lindor’s strained calf and when the club needed a shortstop, ended after just eight games because of a fractured left thumb that forced him out for nearly two months.
He returned but has spent the majority of his season with Triple-A Syracuse, with whom he has been solid — owning a .795 OPS with 18 home runs and 12 steals in 71 games while playing second base, third base and shortstop — but not enough to earn major league run even on a team playing for next year.
“We’ll get him out there for sure,” interim manager Andy Green said before a 6-3 over the Phillies at Citi Field, after which the Mets have just eight games left. “Ronny’s had a nice Triple-A season. We’ll find a way to get him some at-bats.”
New York Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio reacts after striking out swinging against the Washington Nationals to end the ninth inning at Citi Field in Queens, New York, Thursday, April 30, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
As recently as 2023, Mauricio was the club’s No. 3 prospect behind Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty, according to MLB Pipeline, before he tore his ACL during a Dominican Winter League game, which wiped away his 2024 campaign and delayed his 2025.
Mauricio did not return with the same speed and has jumped back and forth from the minors to the majors since, never sticking at the highest level.
This is the final year Mauricio can be optioned to the minor leagues without being exposed to waivers, and this offseason will be the first in which the Mets will have a choice of whether to tender him a contract.
Juan Soto (3-for-5) launched a three-run home run in the sixth for his 100th hit of the season and 26th dinger in 103 games.
Carson Benge (2-for-3 with an RBI single) has 153 hits this season, two shy of Pete Alonso’s single-season franchise rookie record set in 2019.
New York Mets right fielder Carson Benge (3) hits an RBI single during the first inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, at Citi Field in Queens, N.Y. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Dedniel Núñez recorded a four-out save, his first save of the season and second of his career.
Without Young, who was officially placed on the injured list with a concussion, Brett Baty got the start at first base against lefty opener Tim Mayza and expected bulk pitcher and righty José Urquidy.
Green said he expects Baty and Mark Vientos, who served as DH, to see time at first as well as Christopher Morel.
On Saturday, the Mets will induct Carlos Beltrán into the team’s Hall of Fame and retire his No. 15 in an on-field ceremony prior to the game.
When we needed them most, David Sandlin and the pitching staff were nowhere to be found.
Seriously what is even left to be said at this point? The White Sox were spotted SIX UNEARNED RUNS IN THE FIRST INNING! The South Siders were up, 8-2, going into the fifth with a starter on a low pitch count. How hard is it to simply not completely blow the game from that point? I get the offense didn’t have a pulse after the third inning but how many runs do you possibly need?
Tonight’s collapse, culminating in a five-run eighth inning by Detroit that turned things around to the eventual 11-8 final, was gutting. All the White Sox needed to do was not completely flame out — but that’s exactly what happened. I know nobody expected these guys to be here, competing for the AL’s No. 2 seed in the last two weeks of the season, but that doesn’t make this embarrassment OK in the slightest.
This team had a pitching problem as big as any in the league, and GM Chris Getz failing to see where the arms were heading in the stretch resulted in an underwhelming trade deadline, where prospect hoarding or simple hubris prevented Chicago from adding anything more than Luis Castillo (embroiled in the first horrible season of his career) to the rotation. Everybody in the league could see it was a cause of concern. The failures of the whole bunch brought in at the start of August, including Castillo, Huascar Brazobán and Brenton Doyle, has seemed ton infect the rest of the roster.
The worst thing about a game like tonight is that it was all so avoidable. You can’t tell me there isn’t a pitcher in Charlotte who can’t be a better starter than Castillo, who gives up six runs every three innings. You can’t tell me there isn’t a reliever that can handle more than one clean inning in a row.
Actually, the worst thing about a game like tonight is Tristan Peters’ injury, which will reduce him to day-to-day at best. But knowing the White Sox, rather than ending Peters’ regular season by shelving him and calling up Rikuu Nishida or another specific-skill(s) player to be ready on the bench, the club will play hamstrung for at least the rest of this Detroit series:
Suddenly, a team with the luckiest path to the ALCS in recent memory is now looking down the barrel at possibly missing the playoffs entirely. The only question is whether or not the White Sox have anything left in the tank.
The sun will rise again tomorrow — and Mother Nature offered a gift by rolling in night rain that has pushed tomorrow’s game up to 1:10 p.m. — but will the White Sox? Only time will tell.
MVP Colson Montgomery: 2-for-4, 3 RBI, R, 2 K
Runners-Up Miguel Vargas: 2-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, R, K Hagen Smith: 1 IP, BB, 3 K
Cold Cat Sean Newcomb and Bryan Hudson: 1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, BB
Runners-Up Chris Murphy: 1 IP, 2 H, ER, K David Sandlin: 4 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, BB, 4 K
Sep 18, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Seattle Mariners left fielder Randy Arozarena (56) reacts from second on a double in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Mariners 5, Rockies 4
Sicko ball: Andres Muñoz, +.25 WPA; Lázaro Montes, +.22 WPA
