Happy birthday, Kyle Bradish. Now go out there and get another win for the Orioles, what do you say?

The Birds delivered exactly what they needed in last night’s opener in Toronto, erupting for five runs in the second en route to a 7-4 win. Unfortunately, the victory didn’t draw them any closer in the wild card race, because the Guardians also won in Minnesota, maintaining their three-game lead over the Orioles (which is essentially a four-game lead, since the Guardians hold the tiebreaker in case they finish with the same record as the O’s).

Orioles fans should also be keeping an eye on the AL Central race, where the Guardians are only a half game back of the swooning White Sox. If Cleveland takes over first place in that division, it’ll be Chicago that the O’s need to catch for the third wild card. The Orioles do hold the tiebreaker against the White Sox, so they would only need to finish with the same record as Chicago to punch their ticket to the playoffs. Of course, that also assumes that the Blue Jays, currently two games off the pace, get eliminated from contention before then.

That’s where the Orioles can do their part. With five games remaining against Toronto, they have every opportunity to knock the Jays off the pace for good. Today it’s Bradish, on his 30th birthday, who will try to secure the series win. Bradish has shown real signs of fatigue lately and hasn’t thrown a quality start in his last four tries. In his most recent start, he lasted only four innings and gave up three runs, though they were all unearned after a Gunnar Henderson error preceded a home run.

The Blue Jays, instead of using ace Dylan Cease on normal rest, are giving him an extra day, so he’ll start the finale tomorrow. For today they’ll go with a bullpen game, starting with Spencer Miles. Miles has been an opener on eight other occasions this year and sometimes can eat a few innings, but his season high is 4.1, so the O’s should be seeing a lot of Jays relievers today. The Orioles will use eight of the same nine hitters from last night’s productive lineup, including Heston Kjerstad, but Samuel Basallo is getting a day off before he catches Trevor Rogers in tomorrow’s finale.

Orioles lineup:

LF Dylan Beavers
1B Pete Alonso
2B Jackson Holliday
DH Coby Mayo
SS Gunnar Henderson
3B Christian Encarnacion-Strand
RF Heston Kjerstad
CF Colton Cowser
C Carlos Narváez

RHP Kyle Bradish

Blue Jays lineup:

CF Brett Bateman
DH George Springer
1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
C Alejandro Kirk
RF Nathan Lukes
3B Kazuma Okamoto
2B Josh Smith
SS Andrés Giménez
LF Rudy Martin Jr.

RHP Spencer Miles

The Dodgers and Marlins conclude their 2026 business on Sunday afternoon at loanDepot Park in Miami.

The Dodgers haven’t listed a starter, but Emmet Sheehan is in line to pitch bulk innings after his stellar Monday start at home. Justin Wrobleski was previously listed as the Sunday starter, perhaps as an opener, as the left-hander was also warming up to potentially pitch on Friday night in relief in Miami. There’s also when the Dodgers decide to activate Roki Sasaki off the injured list to consider.

Right-hander Eury Pérez starts for Miami.

Sunday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Marlins
• Ballpark: loanDepot Park, Miami
• Start time: 10:40 a.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Friday’s victory over the Miami Marlins was the Dodgers’ 90th win of the season, a mark that has long been seen as a sign of success in baseball and has amazingly become the floor for the Dodgers for 14 years running.

The Dodgers have won at least 90 games in each of the last 13 full seasons, dating back to 2013. During the truncated 2020 campaign the Dodgers were 43-17, which was the best record in baseball. Thirteen full seasons in a row with 90 wins is more than any other MLB team in history.

From 1947-58 the New York Yankees won at least 92 games every year for a dozen years in a row, a streak even more impressive because it was under a 154-game schedule instead of the modern 162. The 1946 Yankees won 87 games, the equivalent of 91.5 wins over 162 games, so it’s far to say these current Dodgers are at least spiritually even with those dominant Yankees teams.

The Yankees from 1946-58 had a .626 winning percentage, 29 points ahead of the next-best team during that time (Brooklyn at .597). Since 2013, the Dodgers have a .610 win percentage, 46 points ahead of the next-best team, the Yankees at .564.

There’s no question the Dodgers’ financial largesse has made it easier for them to compete, but money doesn’t always guarantee winning. The New York Mets, for instance, have spend well over $300 million last season and this year with no postseason to show for it. The Yankees, who have spent the second-most behind the Dodgers since 2013, have won 90 games seven times in that span, and will add an eighth 90-win season with only five more victories this year.

That’s still five full seasons for the Yankees with under 90 wins during that time, despite the heavy spending.

Cleveland is the only other team with even seven 90-win seasons since 2013. The Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, and St. Louis Cardinals have six such seasons, including this year for Milwaukee. The Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Brewers have five such seasons with an excellent chance to also win 90 games this year.

But to win 90 games in all 13 full seasons is a remarkable accomplishment, no matter how you slice it.

To put in further perspective, prior to this streak of 13 full seasons in a row with at least 90 wins, the Dodgers won 90 games 18 times in their first 55 seasons in Los Angeles, roughly once every three years.

Tyler Mahle has been great for Atlanta and will look to play executioner. With a massive win secured on Friday, they can put another nail in the coffin on Philly’s division hopes with a win tonight.

Jesus Luzardo had been scheduled to start tonight’s game, but the Phillies scratched him with shoulder soreness after the game Friday night. That feels like a bit of a white flag move from them, as the shoulder ailment seems to have been a running issue. Regardless, the Phillies will have their work cut out for them to patch innings together after using five relievers Friday night in an 11-inning thriller, even with Nola pitching into the seventh inning somehow. The Braves offense should take advantage of missing Luzardo, who dominated them last week, and give Mahle some run support early and often tonight.

Tyler Mahle continues to have success as almost a two pitch pitcher since joining Atlanta, focusing on his four-seamer and sinker with the cutter just to keep hitters off-balance. Mahle has pitched 6.0 innings in 5 of his 6 starts for the Braves and has allowed 2 runs only once, with 1 or no runs allowed in his other starts. Tyler is tracking to be the game 2 starter for Atlanta behind Sale in the playoffs and will hope to cement that status tonight.

Game Info

Game Time: Saturday, September 12, 7:15 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

Watch: BravesVision

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

After the San Diego Padres scored seven unanswered runs in the beginning of Friday night’s game, it felt like the game was already over. It wasn’t even close to that. Robbie Ray pitched well for four innings, giving up just one run. Then, in the fifth, he loaded the bases with two walks and a single before Rafael Devers got ahold of a pitch well below the zone for a grand slam. That made the game interesting for the final four innings.

Despite some base traffic in the final four frames, the Padres and San Francisco Giants traded zeroes. The key point came in the bottom of the ninth. After getting two quick outs, close Mason Miller walked Nate Furman, allowed Jonah Cox to single and walked Devers (though that was due to a bad ball call that would have been overturned had the Friars not been out of ABS challenges). Thankfully, Miller punched out Bryce Eldridge to end the drama.

Taking the mound

Cesar Perdomo (SF) v. Michael King (SD)

Perdomo has only begun to get his feet wet at the big-league level. The left-hander has thrown just 10 innings between two appearances. But, in that time, he’s surrendered just one run. His strikeout numbers are low (8), but his command is fantastic. He’s given up just two walks in his time in San Francisco.

Perhaps Perdomo’s biggest strength is the Padres’ lack of experience against him. The young lefty may very well be able to limit the Friars if they can’t solve him quickly enough. San Diego was all over starter Anthony Molina last night. They’ll need the same kind of production form their lineup in order to win the series.

King is on the verge of lowering his season ERA below 3.00. He currently sits at a perfect 3.00 ERA with 144 strikeouts through 168 innings. King has been the Padres’ ace this season. He’s anchored the rotation and strongly aided this club in their postseason aspirations.

His biggest problem hasn’t even been his own. King has been one of the least supported pitchers in all of baseball. For whatever reason, the lineup dies when King takes the mound. The Padres have gotten some of their best pitching from the right-hander, but their lineup will need to follow suit this afternoon .

Batter up!

The Padres have won five straight games now, mostly due to some incredible offense. In those five games, the Padres have scored 5.6 runs on average. That’s well above the average runs scored by MLB teams (4.48). If the Friars keep that up, it’ll be difficult for anybody to stop their march to the postseason.

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
2. Jake Cronenworth, 1B
3. Manny Machado, 3B
4. Luis Campusano, C
5. Jackson Merrill, CF
6. Austin Hays, DH
7. Xander Bogaerts, SS
8. Samad Taylor, LF
9. Dustin Harris, RF

With Ty France on the paternity list for the next few days, Cronenworth remains the likely option at first base with Tatis shifting to the keystone position. That should remain that way until France returns, but could change with infielder Mason McCoy being recalled from Triple-A.

Relief corps

After Ray struggled in the first inning, it seemed certain that he would repeat the command problems he dealt with in his last start versus the New York Yankees. He definitely did, though Ray worked through them well. Until the ill-fated grand slam, Ray surrendered just one run.

Additionally, making it through five innings allowed the Padres’ bullpen to get some rest. Unfortunately, the grand slam made it so that the Friars needed their high-leverage relievers. Yuki Matsui, Adrian Morejon, Bradgley Rodriguez and Mason Miller covered the remainder of the game. That leaves San Diego with Griffin Canning, Kyle Hart, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta and Randy Vásquez once King departs.

I hate calling games ‘must win’, mostly because it is way over used. I remember, last year, Buck telling us games in June were ‘must wins’ and I wonder what happens after they don’t win. Do they not play the last 90 odd games.

But we are getting closer to ‘must win’ territory following. Falling three games back would be a tough hill to climb. With 14 games left, no team is going 14-0 the rest of the way. Or, if they do, we just tip our caps. But catching up three games would be very tough.

Anyway, today’s lineup. Rudy Martin gets into his first MLB game. I can’t imagine the feelings that will be going through him.

This surprises me…..a few days ago they were saying all the right stuff about limiting Spencer Miles’ innings and now. My wife’s mom used to say ‘needs must’ and that kind of fits. But Spencer going from basically zero to 90 odd innings is taking a chance with his arm.

On the flip side, he was a Rule 5 pick and we had no reason to expect near this much from him, so, if his arm falls off we aren’t exactly losing someone we were counting on for the future. And who’s really to say that 90 innings is safe but 100 innings isn’t. Likely the cut off point was likely a lot lower than that.

Diamondbacks News

Diamondbacks Stars Step Up
The Diamondbacks’ offense erupted on Friday in a blowout win over the Rangers.

Justin Martinez Throws Franchise’s Fifth Immaculate Inning
The young reliever is making quite the statement to move back into the closer role for Arizona.

Diamondbacks Preparing to Face Rotation Dilemma
Corbin Burnes, Zac Gallen, and Michael Soroka have all returned. Ryne Nelson is not far off. If everyone remains healthy, there will be some tough decisions to be made soon.

Ryne Nelson Checking Final Boxes Before Return to Roster
Ryne Nelson has another rehab appearance to clear. If he does so, he likely returns to the 26-man roster afterward.

Diamondbacks, Padres Set for Play-in Series
As the teams continue to swap places in the standings from day-to-day, the more likely it is looking that the playoff fates for Arizona and San Diego will be sorted in the final series of the season.

Other Baseball News

Is the Decline of Starter Innings Bad for Baseball?
Merrill Kelly is among the high innings pitchers to give his take on this particular evolution of the game.

Breaking Down the Candidates for the Next MLB Expansion
MLB has been teasing expansion for over a decade now. It seems that the next CBA is possibly the last hurdle to be cleared before two new teams are finally announced.

Jesus Luzardo Scratched from Start
While Arizona is finally getting some pitchers to help them down the stretch, Philadelphia is now dealing with losing some.

Brewers Clinch Playoffs with 20-0 Rout
The owners of the best record in baseball have officially punched their ticket to the playoffs and are now coasting toward a first round bye.

The Chicago Cubs today reinstated right-handed pitcher Edward Cabrera from the 15-day injured list. In a corresponding move, right-handed pitcher Trent Thornton has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a left ankle sprain.

Cabrera was placed on the injured list on August 17 with a right middle finger blister. In 15 starts with the Cubs this season, Cabrera is 5-5 with a 5.68 ERA (48 ER/76.0 IP) and 67 strikeouts. The righty made three rehab appearances with Triple-A Iowa, allowing six earned runs in 3.2 innings with four strikeouts and two walks.

Thornton is 5-5 with three saves, a 3.35 ERA (18 ER/48.1 IP) and 31 strikeouts in 48 relief appearances with the Cubs this season.

Detroit Tigers (68-79) vs. Colorado Rockies (55-91)

Time/Place: 1:10 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site:Purple Row
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Andrew Sears (0-1, 4.38 ERA) vs. RHP Tanner Gordon (1-4, 5.40 ERA)

It’s been an emotional couple of days for the Yankees, with the storybook return of Anthony Volpe on Thursday almost immediately balanced by the weight of yesterday’s 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. If nothing else, the Yankees won both those games, and stand a good Gerrit Cole start away from likely taking another game, and another series, this afternoon taking on the Mets.

Cole really has one job today — do not give up four home runs. One of the strangest starts you’ll ever see came last weekend in San Diego, where the veteran righty did just that against the Padres, and while they were all solo shots (with a back-to-back-to-back to begin the game), that fateful fourth allowed in the seventh made an ultimately-doomed comeback attempt impossible. Cole’s walk rate is Mars-class, and part of that tradeoff is often pitches in-zone that can be driven with authority, but he’s got to turn those fly balls into outs rather than free handouts to fans. If he does that today, I’m comfortable every time he takes the mound.

Zac Thornton counters for the Mets, a player I’m unfamilar with overall but having quite a solid rookie turn in MLB. A 3.53 ERA is undercut but a FIP almost a full run higher, largely driven by the 2023 fifth-rounder’s low strikeout rate and a high HR rate that xFIP at least believes will be cut down a bit. The Yankee offense is looking a little more professional in recent days, but we’ve also seen how seemingly unknown lefties can torment them in 2026.

Aaron Judge gets a half day off today, as he’ll DH facing the southpaw. This opens right field up for Heliot Ramos and his adventures on defense, while Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario man the corners of the infield. Austin Wells has the catching duties even after playing in last night’s game.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium — The Bronx, NY

First pitch: 1:35 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, SNY

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App 92.3 HD2 (NYM)

Online stream: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

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