Francisco Lindor hit his 300th career home run on Sunday, Sept. 27 in the final game of the 2026 regular season, reaching the mark after being stuck on 299 for two weeks.

That's a milestone that the Mets needed right now. In fact, they need any bright spot they can find in this season.

The Mets missed the playoffs for the second year in a row in a season that failed to launch. Lindor's own numbers tell a lot of the story. He came into the game hitting .222 with 20 home runs, well off his usual pace, on a team that hasn't given him much to play for down the stretch.

But the milestone gives the Mets something to celebrate.

The first 138 home runs of Lindor's career came with Cleveland, which drafted the shortstop eighth overall in the 2011 draft and signed him for $2.9 million. It didn't take long before that looked like a bargain.

He hit .313 with 12 homers in just 99 games as a rookie in 2015, finishing second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, and by 2016 he was the shortstop carrying a young Cleveland team through the postseason, hitting .310 with 18 hits over 15 games on the way to a World Series.

The Dodgers are going for 100 wins and a sweep of the Giants in their regular-season finale.

Sunday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Giants
• Ballpark: Oracle Park, San Francisco
• Start time: 12:05 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The St. Louis Cardinals will wrap up their season Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee as Andre Pallante will face one of the NL’s most formidable pitchers, Jacob Misiorowski of the Brewers. First pitch is scheduled for 2:10pm central time at American Family Field and the final game broadcast of the year will be available via Cardinals.tv.

The Yankees are set to start RHP Cam Schlittler in Game 1 of this week's American League Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox, which begins Tuesday at 8 p.m.

LHP Max Fried is New York's starter for Wednesday's 8 p.m. Game 2.

If necessary, RHP Gerrit Cole is the Yankees' Game 3 pitcher for Thursday's 8 p.m. start.

"It's kind of been in the works here for probably the last month or so," manager Aaron Boone said Friday. "Obviously, tremendous rivalry -- a team that's had a resurgent season after a really difficult start. I think they're really good. I felt that way all year. Also real confident, if we play our game and pitch like we're capable of, we've got a good chance to move on. So, we've got to play our best starting Tuesday."

Schlittler, 25, went 14-6 with an AL-best 1.95 ERA in 193.2 IP over 33 starts during the Yankees' regular season. The AL Cy Young and MVP candidate has been historically dominant against the Red Sox.

The 32-year-old Fried was 5-5 with a 2.80 ERA in 112.2 IP over 20 regular-season starts while battling two IL stints for a left elbow bone bruise.

Cole, meanwhile, finished the regular season with a 10-9 record and 3.61 ERA. He made 22 starts in 127 IP during his first year back from March 2025 Tommy John surgery, activating May 22 and staying healthy.

The winner of the best-of-three series at Yankee Stadium subsequently faces the Tampa Bay Rays, who won the AL East, in the best-of-five ALDS.

Maybe it’s counterintuitive, but this is the happiest game thread I’ve written all year. You’d think there would be a bit of a letdown, going from what could have been the most dramatic Game 162 in team history to what amounts to a meaningless tune-up game.

That’s not the important part. My Sunday coverage meant that almost every regular game I did this year was the final game of a series, in one way or another. This is the last game thread of the last series of the last week of the 2026 season. Usually, that means one thing and one thing only.

But things are not usual, and with a feeling that would have been unimaginable six months ago, we can say for certain that this will not be the final game thread of 2026 on South Side Sox. And I can say for certain that I’ve never been close to this happy to write a preview of any Sox game in the month of September.

Not to sound too much like Bill Simmons, but in my head, I’m queuing up the great final battle scene of Return of the King and imagining Aragorn riding a horse rallying his troops. It’s the culmination of the ultimate comeback story. We’ve watched our protagonist move from among the last descendants of an ancient bloodline reduced to wandering in the wilderness, to the top of his old society. He was leading his army into near-certain death, sure, but goddamn if he wasn’t going out as the King of Gondor.

There will be a final game thread on South Side Sox. The ride will eventually end, whether we’ve enjoyed it or not. But it is not THIS day. I see in your eyes fear of a Houston Astros team currently in their Western Roman Empire phase and a Texas Rangers team that’s scored the fewest and allowed the most runs of any (potential) playoff qualifier. Maybe it’s justified, and the season will end by Thursday. But it is not THIS day, and when that day comes, they’ll go out as a playoff-caliber team.

“Wandering in the wilderness” is a truly generous way to describe the White Sox in recent years. When the Ancien Régime was finally deposed in 2023, we were dreadfully made to understand that the team’s next phase involved a competitive window opening in 2027, making it more than a decade of descending from “mired in mediocrity” to “mired in record-setting awfulness.” I was in such denial that I thought Luis Robert Jr. could still help form the nucleus of the next Sox team that would play meaningful September baseball.

And yet, here they are. A playoff team, arriving on the big stage somehow even earlier than expected despite a less-than-24-month-old nadir of a depth that shocked even our greatest cynics. If the White Sox are Aragorn, they’ve got their army, and they’re marching on Mordor. Even if it’s minuscule, there’s always a chance that Frodo could still make it to the top of the mountain. Ceiling be damned, the important thing at this point is that they’re there.

The 2026 White Sox: So remarkable that there is, in fact, a there there.

I almost forgot that a game is still happening. Here are nine guys that may or may not be looking forward to playing baseball this afternoon:

Here are nine more guys who may or may not be relieved that this is the last time they have to play baseball for about 120 afternoons:

Kyle Freeland is like if Jordan Lyles became a local legend instead of the great journeyman of the 2010s. First pitch is at 2:10 p.m. CT from Rate Field (in what could, however, be the last home contest of the year). Standard broadcasts will be available on CHSN (TV) and ESPN 1000 AM (radio). We’ll see you there!

This is a Braves-Marlins game thread, but also one for…

• Cubs @ Red Sox (neutral site game in St. Petersburg)
• Rays @ Phillies
• Diamondbacks @ Padres

Because we know y’all are haters scoreboard watchers. So have at it!

Game Notes

Pitching preview

Lineups

Wild Card schedule revealed

Maybe it’s counterintuitive, but this is the happiest game thread I’ve written all year. You’d think there would be a bit of a letdown, going from what could have been the most dramatic Game 162 in team history to what amounts to a meaningless tune-up game.

That’s not the important part. My Sunday coverage meant that almost every regular game I did this year was the final game of a series, in one way or another. This is the last game thread of the last series of the last week of the 2026 season. Usually, that means one thing and one thing only.

But things are not usual, and with a feeling that would have been unimaginable six months ago, we can say for certain that this will not be the final game thread of 2026 on South Side Sox. And I can say for certain that I’ve never been close to this happy to write a preview of any Sox game in the month of September.

Not to sound too much like Bill Simmons, but in my head, I’m queuing up the great final battle scene of Return of the King and imagining Aragorn riding a horse rallying his troops. It’s the culmination of the ultimate comeback story. We’ve watched our protagonist move from among the last descendants of an ancient bloodline reduced to wandering in the wilderness, to the top of his old society. He was leading his army into near-certain death, sure, but goddamn if he wasn’t going out as the King of Gondor.

There will be a final game thread on South Side Sox. The ride will eventually end, whether we’ve enjoyed it or not. But it is not THIS day. I see in your eyes fear of a Houston Astros team currently in their Western Roman Empire phase and a Texas Rangers team that’s scored the fewest and allowed the most runs of any (potential) playoff qualifier. Maybe it’s justified, and the season will end by Thursday. But it is not THIS day, and when that day comes, they’ll go out as a playoff-caliber team.

“Wandering in the wilderness” is a truly generous way to describe the White Sox in recent years. When the Ancien Régime was finally deposed in 2023, we were dreadfully made to understand that the team’s next phase involved a competitive window opening in 2027, making it more than a decade of descending from “mired in mediocrity” to “mired in record-setting awfulness.” I was in such denial that I thought Luis Robert Jr. could still help form the nucleus of the next Sox team that would play meaningful September baseball.

And yet, here they are. A playoff team, arriving on the big stage somehow even earlier than expected despite a less-than-24-month-old nadir of a depth that shocked even our greatest cynics. If the White Sox are Aragorn, they’ve got their army, and they’re marching on Mordor. Even if it’s minuscule, there’s always a chance that Frodo could still make it to the top of the mountain. Ceiling be damned, the important thing at this point is that they’re there.

The 2026 White Sox: So remarkable that there is, in fact, a there there.

I almost forgot that a game is still happening. Here are nine guys that may or may not be looking forward to playing baseball this afternoon:

Here are nine more guys who may or may not be relieved that this is the last time they have to play baseball for about 120 afternoons:

Kyle Freeland is like if Jordan Lyles became a local legend instead of the great journeyman of the 2010s. First pitch is at 2:10 p.m. CT from Rate Field (in what could, however, be the last home contest of the year). Standard broadcasts will be available on CHSN (TV) and ESPN 1000 AM (radio). We’ll see you there!

It’s a common misconception that we can’t see the stars during the day because the Sun is too bright, the relative luminosity of our proper-noun Sun overpowering the distant, cold light of the rest of the galaxy’s stars. It seems intuitive – the human eye is limited in the range of the light spectrum it can distinguish at once, and exceptionally good at adjusting to levels of ambient light. You can’t see a candle if it’s in front of a spotlight, for example, and our pupils contract and dilate in the dark and the light.

The difference is slight, but it’s a different concept – it’s actually the sky that washes out the stars until night falls. The Sun’s light hits the atmosphere, the layers of gas that makes our planet inhabitable, and it scatters, creating a strong, cohesive blanket of diffused light that hides the stars from us.

The overall suckiness of this 2026 Mariners team has felt like a relentless sun beating down on us, meeting and scattering across the atmosphere of a unyieldingly and increasingly foul discourse. To be clear, I can’t say that I 100% blame The Discourse – between players playing hurt, underperformance from stars, performance from reinforcements, concussions, managing decisions, on and on and on, there has been plenty of fuel for the fire. But this year, it’s felt like the little moments of joy, the stars of this season, have felt few, far between, and hard to see.

In the final weekend of the season (for Seattle, at least), both the Mariners failure to make the playoffs and the farewell festivities for Rick Rizzs have shone brightest. The fact that this is likely our farewell to J.P. Crawford, Mariner, has felt a little bit lost in the scatter.

We got to go to the game last night in person, only our second game of the year (I once again publicly manifest a high-speed rail between Bellingham and Sodo), and as we sat down, I realized that more likely that not, this was the last time we’d see J.P. Crawford play as a Mariner, in person.

I had the same thought as he came to the plate in the seventh inning and tapped it with his bat: this was the last J.P. AB we would get. I hoped it would be a good one.

When he launched that ball, into the right field stands a couple of sections over from us, deep into the night sky, it felt for just a moment like he was launching us out into space, above the atmosphere, where we could still see the stars, where we could still feel joy at a ballgame, where baseball could feel like this again. He brought us one last moment of magic in a mundane season. He, like he has since 2019, made Seattle baseball fun.

The time for full J.P. tributes will come. But today, I’m still basking in the joy of that perfect home run.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Last October, Cam Schlittler ended the Red Sox's season. On Tuesday night, the Wapole, Mass. native gets the first crack at doing it again.

The Yankees will start Schlittler in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, manager Aaron Boone announced Sunday. Max Fried starts Game 2 on Wednesday. Gerrit Cole pitches Game 3 on Thursday if the series gets that far.

The Yankees took their time getting here. For most of the last week, they debated holding Schlittler for Game 2 to go easier on his arm, with Fried or Cole opening.

Schlittler went 14-6 with a 1.95 ERA this season. He struck out 239 in 193 ⅔ innings over 33 starts and held hitters to a 0.92 WHIP. No Yankees pitcher had posted a lower ERA since 1978. He's the favorite for the AL Cy Young Award.

Boston has already seen what he can do in this series. Last October, he struck out 12 over eight scoreless innings in the deciding game in the Bronx. That was Game 3. The Yankees needed it because Fried lost Game 1, and they came back behind Carlos Rodón and Schlittler.

Our starting pitchers for the Wild Card Series: #RepBXpic.twitter.com/ZksaF8SH0t

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 27, 2026

This time Fried pitches second. Injuries have broken up his season, and he hasn't thrown more than 100 pitches in a game since May. Rodón (7-3, 2.67 ERA) is left out of the wild card rotation. That could line him up to open the AL Division Series, and he could help out of the bullpen before then.

The winner gets the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Schlittler said after his last regular-season start that he wanted Game 1. So did everyone else.

"Who wouldn't want to start the first game?" he said. "I feel like the whole pitching staff deserves it."

The Red Sox hadn't named their starters as of Sunday. Chad Tracy said before Boston's finale in St. Petersburg that he had a decent idea of his plan.

"But we're not going to reveal it just yet," he said.

Get Yankees-Red Sox playoff tickets

Francisco Lindor has added another milestone to his already impressive resume. 

The Mets' star shortstop smacked the 300th home run of his career, going back-to-back with Ronny Mauricio in the top of the second on Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park. 

Lindor has seemingly been pressing since toeing the mark after cracking two as part of a monster game a couple of weeks ago in the Subway Series, but he was finally able to reach it on the final day of the season. 

He used a September power surge to get there, lifting seven in the final month of the year. 

Of his 300 career dingers, 292 have come as a shortstop, with the other eight coming while serving as the DH. 

The only two players in MLB history with more home runs as a SS are Cal Ripken Jr. (345) and Alex Rodriguez (344). 

"We know how rare [300 HR's] is in baseball, but even how rarer it is as a shortstop," manager Andy Green recently said. "We know what he’s battled through in the times where he hadn’t performed up to expectation in his own mind, and he always comes back and performs no matter what.

"You look up at the end of the year, and that’s exactly what Francisco Lindor does -- we’re well past a decade in his career right now, and it’s really, really special what he’s been able to do at this level."

300 HOME RUNS FOR FRANCISCO LINDOR! pic.twitter.com/k5Y8v3fuNf

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 27, 2026