Category: Sports News

Rangers 4, Red Sox 2

• And that’s three in a row.
• Oh damn…just realized that this has gotten us to the much feared and hated one-game-under-.500 spot again.
• That’s been a bit of a stumbling block this season, hasn’t it?
• But that is the next game’s problem, not this game’s problem.
• This game featured some gritty gutty work from Jacob deGrom, who was originally scheduled to make his next start on Wednesday. But with the urgency of the Rangers’ current situation and Monday’s off day, the Rangers could move deGrom up a day and still have him start on regular rest.
• Doing so also means that deGrom would be slated to start in the Sunday series finale against the Blue Jays.
• Despite an ongoing groin issue which deGrom had to manage, he gave the Rangers five strong innings, with the blip being a two run Nick Sogard homer in the third inning.
• deGrom has now allowed just nine hits in his last four starts, and just 16 hits in his last six starts.
• Oh, and he struck out eight batters in the game, allowing him to pass Aaron Nola on the all time strikeout list.
• deGrom is now tied with Dazzy Vance for 86th on the all-time K list.
• There’s been not enough people named Dazzy in the world in recent years. Someone needs to look into that.
• Rangers hitters didn’t do a lot in the game, but they did enough, putting up a four run inning in the second, with all the runs coming with two outs, and with the broadcast feed not working, so none of us watching at home were able to see what was happening.
• I bet it was exciting, though.
• Also exciting? A bases loaded situation in the fifth, an inning that started with deGrom’s first hit by pitch of the season, and was followed by a catcher’s interference. With two outs and the bases full, a seven pitch Adley Rutschman at bat ended with a 3-2 ground out, and also ended deGrom’s night at 92 pitches.
• Meanwhile, in the eighth, an infield single, a fly out and a walk was followed by Robert Garcia being lifted for Jacob Latz, who was asked to get the final five outs. After a groundout moved the runners to second and third, Trevor Story was intentionally walked, leading to another lengthy at bat, this time by pinch hitter Andruw Monasterio, finally ending in a 3-2 swinging K.
• I can say now that those bases loaded jams were exciting because things turned out okay. I’d use a different adjective if things had turned out poorly.
• Corey Seager’s bloop single brought home the final two runs of the second inning for the Rangers. He was 2 for 4 in the game. Since returning from the injured list the first time in early June, he is slashing .280/.359/.511 in 206 plate appearances.
• That’s pretty good, I think.
• Cleveland won, so the Rangers are still a game and half back in the Wild Card race, and the Astros won so the Rangers are still a game back in the A.L. West. Toronto, however, lost, so the Rangers moved ahead of the Jays in the Wild Card chase, and now have no one between them and Cleveland.
• Oh, and Martin Perez won his 100th career game. That’s neat.
• Jacob deGrom topped out at 98.8 mph with his fastball, averaging 97.0 mph. Chase Silseth hit 97.3 mph with his fastball. Tyler Alexander touched 92.7 mph with his fastball. Robert Garcia’s fastball reached 92.1 mph. Jacob Latz maxed out at 97.5 mph with his fastball.
• Corey Seager had a 108.8 mph single. Brandon Nimmo had a 106.3 mph single. Ezequiel Duran had a 105.3 mph single. Danny Jansen had a 103.9 mph single. Jake Burger had a 101.9 mph groundout. Wyatt Langford had a 101.9 mph fly out.
• Eleven games to go.

Meet the Mets

The Mets lost to the Orioles 7-5 in the eleventh inning. The game winning runs were scored when Coby Mayo hit a ball just out of A.J. Ewing’s reach, which turned into a three-run inside-the-park home run.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Athletic

Pete Alonso’s return to Citi Field not only inspired rosy nostalgia, but caused the season-long anger some fans have held to bubble over.

While the end of the contract might still go poorly, the return of Alonso illuminates the difficulty of replacing Alonso in the present.

The Arizona Fall League rosters have been released, and eight Mets prospects will be playing in the autumn.

The Mets claimed infielder Christian Cairo from the Phillies, optioning him to Triple-A Syracuse.

Around the National League East

An investor in the Atlanta Braves believes now is the time to sell the team.

Jesús Luzardo has landed on the injured list in a big blow to the Phillies rotation in the midst of a playoff push.

Luzardo’s injury at such a critical point in the Phillies season has many possible ramifications.

The Phillies fell to the Nationals 6-3. Cristopher Sánchez had an uncharacteristically rough start, giving up fine runs in 6.1 innings, allowing eight hits and two walks while striking out five.

The Braves beat the Cubs 6-3 in Chicago. Ronald Acuña Jr., Drake Baldwin, and Ozzie Albies all drove in two runs each.

The Marlins beat the DIamondbacks 4-2 in eleven innings. Esteury Ruiz drove in the inning runs with a three run double in the top of the elventh inning.

Around Major League Baseball

MLB and the MLBPA have joined forces with multiple other major leagues to crack down on betting related harassment of players, coaches, and families and urged regulators to combat such harassment.

Pete Crow-Armstrong has joined an elite group in baseball history, with his season WAR passing 10.0.

It was Roberto Clemente Day yesterday, and the celebration has overshadowed MLB’s shrinking Puerto Rican player representation, with the number being just 27 this year, half of what it was 25 years ago.

Carlos Correa won’t be rejoining the Astros this season after his ankle surgery in May.

Reds manager Terry Francona was encouraged by the reports of the front office leaders being expected to stay put in Cincinnati.

The Milwaukee Brewers clinched their fourth straight National League Central title behind another great Jacob Misiorowski start.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

A Pod of Their Own released another episode.

Steve Sypa published the 25th edition of Mets Minor League Players of the Week for 2026.

This Date in Mets History

September 16th is a date with multiple Mets 20-count milestones, both for pitchers and hitters.

History was in jeopardy for a bit when the Twins came into the Bronx earlier in the season and won a series against the Yankees, but the timeline course-corrected as the team has traveled up to Minnesota and won the first two games of the rematch. The Bombers’ perpetual punching bag have fallen out of the still-bloated race for the third Wild Card spot and that point’s been driven home by the Yankees taking a second-consecutive win with eight runs scored, this time only allowing a single run in exchange and getting their offense going much earlier than the eighth inning.

With their business handled, New York’s eyes drifted across the league to see what their rivals managed to do on Tuesday. The Rays and Red Sox were both in action, and there was a battle going on between the two top teams in the Central to check in on.

Tampa Bays Rays (91-59) 2, Athletics (61-90) 1

After taking consecutive series against Atlanta and Houston, the temporarily-relocated Athletics weren’t expected to put up much of a challenge to Tampa. However, after allowing an unearned run in the second inning on a passed ball the A’s buckled down and prevented the Rays from extending their lead, Jack Perkins going 6.2 innings without any more runs crossing home plate under his watch. Meanwhile, the A’s offense wasn’t managing much against Griffin Jax but Kevin Cash pulled him after just 67 pitches despite it being his third start back from the IL. The Athletics took advantage and pounced on the new pitcher Ty Johnson in the sixth, stringing a pair of singles before scoring the lead runner on a wild pitch to tie the game.

The Rays couldn’t be stifled forever though, and in the ninth inning they finally broke through. Elvis Alverado was brought on to start the frame facing Junior Caminero, and after getting a generous high strike to get ahead in the count Alverado threw two pitches middle-middle. Caminero fouled off the first one, but he wouldn’t get cheated on the second and drove it 345 feet for the walk-off homer. The big hit prevents the Yankees from gaining any ground once more, as they remain 3.5 games behind Tampa with 11 games left to play.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (82-69) 2, Texas Rangers (75-76) 4: The Rangers blitzed Patrick Sandoval in the second inning for all four of their runs, Elias Díaz and Corey Seager getting the RBI base-knocks with a double and single, respectively. Nick Sogard got two of those runs back in the third, but that’s all they could manage against Jacob deGrom as he struck out eight over five innings and ended his night by performing a Houdini act to prevent any runs from scoring after letting the first two runners aboard in the fifth. The Rangers’ bullpen held serve with Boston’s, working themselves out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth to secure the win and move to within a game of .500. The Sox now fall to six games behind the Yankees for the top Wild Card seed, and with New York owning the tiebreaker it’s looking all but guaranteed that the Yankees will have home field advantage for whatever their opening round of the playoffs are.

Cleveland Guardians (77-75) 7, Chicago White Sox (77-74) 6: Chicago’s opener strategy backfired as Chris Murphy gave up three runs on a pair of homers in the first inning, only recording two outs before getting pulled. The White Sox clawed a couple of those runs back before charging out into a lead of their own in the sixth inning as they plated four. Travis Bazzana got one of those back immediately with his second homer of the night, but Cleveland entered the ninth inning down a run and in need of a rally. Nathaniel Lowe started it with a single to lead off, and Kyle Teel walked to put the winning run on two batters later. A groundout brought Cleveland down to their last out, but Brayan Rocchio stepped up and delivered a double just out of the leaping Sam Antonacci’s reach to walk it off. The Guardians erased the previous night’s loss and move to within a half-game of Chicago again for first place, setting up a critical rubber match later today.

AL Wild Card Rock Fight

Toronto Blue Jays (75-77) 1, Detroit Tigers (72-79) 10: The Tigers punished the Jays for running a bullpen game, dropping five runs on Michael Lorenzen before adding at least one more run against each of the next three Jays pitchers. Toronto’s only offense came in the eighth when Kyle Finnegan entered and promptly gave up several hits with Alejandro Kirk getting the RBI single, but he quickly exited and the outs resumed without further incident.

Houston Astros (76-75) 4, Kansas City Royals (66-85) 2: Two hitters did it all for Houston, Jeremy Peña hitting a pair of solo shots to put the Astros up early before Yordan Alvarez launched his 39th homer of the year for a two-run shot that wound up as the game-winning runs. Hunter Brown struck out 10 over six innings with just one run allowed to earn the win, and Josh Hader continued his sub-1 ERA run with another clean inning for his 26th save.

Baltimore Orioles (74-78) 7, New York Mets (69-82) 5 (11 innings): Down 3-2 in the ninth inning, Pete Alonso hit his 300th career home run against his former team to tie things up and force extra innings. The O’s got one across in the 10th on a wild pitch but could muster no more and got matched by a Marcus Semien RBI double, but they exploded for three runs in the 11th as Coby Mayo hit an inside-the park three-run homer that he initially stopped to admire before actually running the bases. Fortunately for him A.J. Ewing wasn’t able to turn around in time to come up with the grab near the wall and the ball caromed into no-man’s land deep in center field allowing him to race home easily.

The Atlanta Braves evened the series against the Chicago Cubs after Tuesday night’s 6-3 win.  Martín Pérez got the start, lasting six innings and allowing three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out four. Though a bit of a shaky start, Pérez ultimately got the win, the 100th of his career.

The Braves got some much needed insurance in the ninth, courtesy of Drake Baldwin’s two-run blast. Pérez kept the Braves in the game, the offense came through, and the magic number dwindled to 5.

More Braves News:

Right-hander Reynaldo López was placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation. Fellow righty JR Ritchie was recalled as a result.

Tate Southisene headlines the list of the eight Braves prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League.

The 2026 season has come to an end for the Columbus Clingstones, and here is a recap of the 64-68 season for the Double-A affiliate.

MLB News:

The Philadelphia Phillies placed left-hander Jesús Luzardo on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation. The move is retroactive to September 12.

Joc Pederson of the Texas Rangers is dealing with a small fracture in his left hand but is attempting to play through it. 

The Athletics placed left-hander Gage Jump on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement. The move is retroactive to September 13.

From the Feed:

Cast your vote for Braves Player of the Game here.

The Dodgers’ winning ways in September were briefly interrupted for two games against the Miami Marlins, but they have picked back up against the Cincinnati Reds, taking the first two games of a four-game set.

After Tarik Skubal shut down Cincinnati over seven innings on Monday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto continued the trend of marvelous results from the rotation with a seven-inning scoreless gem on Tuesday, working through a pair of lead-off walks while allowing just one hit while striking out seven. Yamamoto has amazed in his two most recent starts— both against the Reds— allowing just one run over 14 innings while racking up 17 strikeouts compared to just three walks.

Yamamoto held the Reds to just a 1-21 clip after walking his first two hitters of the game on Tuesday, and the right-hander managed to take a page out of Skubal’s playbook for his dominating efforts, notes Sonja Chen of MLB.com.

Yamamoto was able to learn from how the Reds approached Skubal the night before, and Snell was no doubt gathering similar information on Tuesday.

“That kind of encouraged me to be aggressive and attack the hitters,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.

The pitching has managed to hold their end of the bargain against Cincinnati this week, and Blake Snell looks to keep that trajectory in motion. On the offensive side of the ball, Teoscar Hernández has fortified the offense at Great American Ball Park, as the right-hander has crushed a pair of two-run home runs that put both games out of reach.

Hernández has once again found his stride that fans saw during spring training this year, and the Dodger outfielder’s recent success is the brainchild of hitting coach Aaron Bates, allowing Hernández to have a “twister tap” in his stride to the ball, per Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times.

“It was a great meeting we had,” Bates said. “We all talked about it, and then he felt comfortable enough to do it, and then the rest is to his credit. He’s just been who he is.”

“When Teo’s hips are loose that way, and his front leg looks like an Elvis knee, it’s a good sign for us,” Bates said. “Because that means that he can open and close it without his upper body going with it.”

Update on Shohei Ohtani

It’s an unusual feeling watching the Dodgers without Shohei Ohtani in the everyday lineup. So far, rookie Josue De Paula has filled in at DH to a small degree of success in limited time (.143/.368/.429, 19 PA) while the reigning two-time NL MVP recovers from multiple nagging issues.

Jack Harris of the California Post notes that Ohtani was able to take batting practice on Monday, and the team is optimistic that he can potentially return from the injured list before the end of the regular season.

“Today was positive,” Roberts said, “and hopefully we can just keep building towards that.”

As the calendar turns to September, every Major League Baseball team deals with fatigue. Pitchers are pushing past their workload caps, arms are heavy, and the grueling 162-game slate takes its toll. But in Colorado, the September decline is hitting differently.

There isn’t just one simple thing to point the finger at for the team’s struggles over the last few weeks. Hitting has cratered in the clutch, and the defense hasn’t been up to standard. One of the constant question marks for the Rockies has been the approach to pitching this season. It’s still a mystery to understand exactly what they are trying to build on the mound, but the performance has been inconsistent at best throughout the season.

Rockies’ pitching has run into a proverbial brick wall of late and has been a significant factor as to why 100 losses have become an unescapable reality. Over the past few weeks, the pitching staff hasn’t just shown signs of fatigue—the bottom has completely fallen out. What was already a thin, heavily-taxed unit has cratered down the stretch, turning late-season games into painful endurance tests for the bullpen and starting rotation alike.

The Rockies, unsurprisingly, have the highest team ERA in the league this season at 5.59, just ahead of the Athletics, who play in a Triple-A ballpark and spent a horrid week in Las Vegas early in the season. The team has a 6.13 ERA from the starting pitchers, worst in baseball, while the bullpen has been solid for most of the season, albeit with an inflated 4.97 ERA, which is the fourth-highest in the league.

As the season winds down, let’s take a look at where things stand and why the Rockies are struggling so badly on the mound.

The starters

Let’s start with the starting rotation.

The rotation has been a struggle for the Rockies all season between injuries and lackluster performances. After a promising start to the year with a 4.60 ERA in April, the Rockies haven’t posted a rotation ERA under five since, including four months with an ERA over six.

September has been brutal, to the tune of a 6.47 ERA, which is the third-highest in baseball. There isn’t anything new as to why the rotation is struggling. They have allowed the sixth-most runs (43) on the third-most hits (71) while ranking 18th in strikeouts (51). They have also thrown the 10th-fewest innings (57.0).

Pitches fill up the strike zone, but the Rockies are generally in the middle of the pack when it comes to contact rates. It’s often death by a thousand cuts as the team deals with an abundance of traffic, foul balls, and elevated pitch counts.

The first time through the order, the Rockies’ rotation has a 5.56 ERA in September. Digging down further, the Rockies have a 3.75 ERA in the first inning that inflates to a 10.50 ERA in the second inning and a 9.00 ERA in the third. Despite an excellent ERA in the fourth, the team struggles in the fifth inning as well.

Rockies starter constantly laboring through four or five innings while digging a hole the team has a hard time getting out of isn’t a recipe for success. Two solid innings mean nothing when the surrounding ones are so catastrophic. Opposing teams are slashing .305/.355/.502 against the rotation in September and have faced just 256 total batters, one of the lower totals across the league. That would be a positive number by itself it wasn’t coupled with the other stats.

Aside from Mason Adams, the Rockies rotation hasn’t had much to celebrate this month and has to be one of the major points of focus in the offseason, heading into 2027.

The bullpen

Throughout the season, the bullpen has been one of the strong points for the Rockies. Tasked with taking on a heavy workload because of the failings of the rotation, they have thrown 609 total innings, the sixth-most in baseball.

They haven’t been without their bumps in the road; May and June were rough as the bullpen had an ERA over six those two months, but they have otherwise been solid overall.

Well, until September happened.

September has been the worst month for the bullpen by far.

Holding a 7.66 ERA, the Rockies’ arm barn trails only a historically bad Washington Nationals bullpen this month. They have thrown just 47 innings this month, good for 17th in the league, while allowing the most runs (42).

The inability to prevent runs has been most detrimental for the Rockies as a whole. It seems at time that the starting pitchers and offense at least keep the game close, or even work with a lead, only to see the bullpen immediately give things away.

In Detroit, Adams had a strong start through five innings, leaving the game with a 1-1 tie. The Rockies bullpen proceeded to give up four runs in the sixth inning and the team went on to lose 6-2. On Monday, the Rockies battled back and forth with the San Diego Padres, but ultimately fell 8-7 after the bullpen gave up runs in the seventh and eighth to put the game just out of reach 8-7.

A major issue for the pen has been the surge in walks as the Rockies have issued 30, third-most in baseball. Meanwhile, they have 41 strikeouts and opponents are .278/.378/.492 with eight home runs and 12 doubles. The abundance of traffic given up by the bullpen has led to devastating mistakes that have put too many games out of reach. The bleeding hasn’t been stopped, or they simply open up the wound.

Perhaps fatigue could be the reason for the bullpen’s struggles. Perhaps it could be overexposure. Perhaps it could be a lack of talent. Or perhaps, it’s all of the above. Either way, the way the bullpen has fallen flat in the final month of the season has been a major disappointment after everything they had accomplished this season.

Going forward

I hope that the new pitching minds at 20th and Blake have learned some valuable lessons this season about pitching in Colorado. It’s definitely frustrating to see everything collapse at once down the final stretch, but good teams have to be able to compete for all 162 games. There is plenty of talent and potential along with promising developments, but the Rockies have to find a way to win in the margins of pitching and take the next step forward to being a competent and competitive team.

September has proven the team still has a long way to go in that department.

On the Farm

Triple-A: Salt Lake Bees 7, Albuquerque Isotopes 5 (F/10)

The Albuquerque Isotopes took an early 4-1 lead in the second inning, but ended up falling 7-5 in extra-innings of the opener of their final series of the year. Edouard Julien hit a two-run double in the bottom of the second inning, followed by a two-run home run by Chad Stevens to take the lead. However, the offense couldn’t add on until Charlie Condon contributed an RBI single in the seventh inning. Unfortunately, due to costly errors, Parker Mushinski ended up giving up four runs on the top of the eighth to tie the game 5-5. Evan Shawver eventually took over the 10th inning, giving up a double and a triple to put the Bees up by two. The Isotopes threatened in the bottom half of the inning, but couldn’t score any more runs.

Double-A:Reading Fightin Phils 21, Hartford Yard Goats 4

It was a forgettable night for the Hartford Yard Goats as they kicked off their playoff series with a devastating 21-4 loss. Connor Staine made the start and threw a scoreless first inning, and the Yard Goats then took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. Unfortunately, things went downhill after that; Staine gave up six runs on six hits without recording an out in the second inning.

He was replaced by Bryson Hammer, who recorded two outs but gave up another six runs on three hits with three walks. Fisher Jameson then tossed 2.1 innings, but allowed another four runs on six hits. After a few scoreless outings from other relievers, Nathan Blasick was tagged for another five runs, three earned, in the seventh inning. The pitching staff gave up 16 hits while walking 12 and striking out six. Oddly enough, they only gave up one home run.

Offensively, Cole Messina led the way with two hits, but Braylen Wimmer’s double was the only extra-base hit. The Yard Goats drew seven walks against 10 strikeouts, but went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Rockies Reacts Survey: How many walks will TJ Rumfield take by the end of 2026?

Affected by Altitude Episode 225: The Proverbial Wall | Rocky Mountain Rooftop

This week, Evan Lang and I discuss the struggles of the Rockies’ offense and defense over the last week. We then talk about the excellent play of Adael Amador since his call-up.

Here are the 2026 Arizona Fall League rosters | MLB.com

The Rockies will be represented by eight players and two staff members on the Salt River Rafters squad in the Arizona Fall League.

The prospects behind Double-A Hartford’s playoff run | MLB.com

Thomas Harding gives a rundown of the prospects that helped propel the Yard Goats to the playoffs.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Tuesday was Roberto Clemente Day in MLB, celebrating one of the most outstanding humans to ever play baseball, and annually it is used as an opportunity to honor both Latin players and also the humanitarian and charitable efforts of players on every team by nominating a candidate for the season’s Roberto Clemente Award. It’s a good day to remember all the good that Clemente did, but also all the good he continues to inspire.

We will also look at some more controversial topics, like whether or not it’s time for the Braves to consider selling the team, or if it’s time for Shohei Ohtani to give up pitching for good. Plus, is Gerrit Cole putting too much blame on the ABS system for his pitching woes?

There’s all that and more below, so let’s get right into it!

• Dan Szymborski wonders if Gavin Williams is a legit ace.
• Arizona Fall League rosters have been revealed. (MLB)
• A look at some other players who have managed to have a 10 WAR season. (MLB)
• Ryan Phillips thinks it’s time that Shohei Ohtani give up pitching for good.
• Evan Drellich explains why one Braves’ investor thinks now is the time to sell the team. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• On Roberto Clemente Day, Jorge Castillo takes a deep dive into the declining numbers of Puerto Rican players in MLB.
• Aaron Judge got his first home run after his return from the IL, and helped the Yankees clinch a postseason berth. (AP)
• Jim Bowden assesses what is and isn’t fair in the CBA negotiations from the perspective of a former exec. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• This is a crazy at-bat.

• David Laurila talks to the delightful Sean Doolittle about pitching.
• Does height really matter? In baseball it sure does, and Davy Andrews explains why.
• With 14 straight, the Dodgers have tied the record for consecutive playoff clinches. Story by Sonja Chen.
• Andy Demetra shares the story of a banned minor leaguer who changed his name to sneak back into the majors.
• Terry Francona seemed relieved by reports that there would be no major changes in the Reds’ front office. (AP)
• Tom Verducci explains why Gerrit Cole can’t blame the ABS for his pitching woes.
• Pete Alonso was touched by the crowd’s welcome in his return to Citi Field. (AP)
• Tyler Kepner bemoans the Mets’ loss of Alonso and their inability to replace him. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Your 2026 Roberto Clemente Award nominees.

• Jay Jaffe checks in on the Cy Young races and the leading candidates for both leagues.
• Jared Greenspan also checks in on the likely (and possibly unanimous) Cy Young winners.
• Ben Clemens talks to Noah Cameron about how his worst pitch actually made him better.
• Kiri Oler checks in on how the San Francisco Firebells are dominating the WPBL postseason.
• Ian Browne looks at what the return of Garrett Crochet could mean for the Red Sox.
• Karl Rasmussen rounds up some milestones that could be set in the final weeks of the season.
• David Purdum looks at the rising threat of angry bettors as sports betting continues to grow.
• The biggest success and disappointment on each MLB team. Story by Bradford Doolittle.
• Sam Blum revisits Yasiel Puig’s conviction and wonders why he has yet to be sentenced. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• A good reminder on Roberto Clemente Day.

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

The San Francisco Giants wrap up this three-game road series against the St. Louis Cardinals later this morning.

As of the time this is being written, the Giants are once again going with the element of surprise (aka haven’t announced a starting pitcher yet.) But you can check down in the comments for more up to date information.

Whoever it ends up being will face off against Cardinals left-hander Matthew Liberatore, who enters this morning’s game with a 5.53 ERA, 4.71 FIP with 146 strikeouts to 52 walks in 143.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Cardinals’ 7-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday, in which he allowed two runs on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks in four and a third innings.

Game #153

Who: San Francisco Giants vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

When: 10:15 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

Congratulations to the Quad Cities River Bandits on an undefeated postseason run, ending woth a 2026 Midwest League Championship!

Blake Mitchell had the go-ahead blast for Quad Cities, giving them the lead late against the Dayton Dragons.

Royals President of Business Operations Brooks Sherman talked about some of the public’s concerns regarding funding for a downtown baseball and mixed-use development.

“Whether there is a vote or not for us, for this Royals stadium, that’s not up to us,” Sherman said. “We’re following the city’s process for an economic development project.”

Sherman pointed to elected leaders who have voted in favor of the project.

“We do have elected leaders who have overwhelmingly voted in favor of this project,” he said.

When asked whether a public vote would change the Royals’ position or its approach to the deal, Sherman again said the decision was not up to the team.

ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle named the biggest success and disappointment for all 30 MLB teams, and both facets for the Kansas City Royals should be familiar to fans.

Biggest success: The Royals aren’t far away from having a contention-level lineup in place. It starts with the progress made by young hitters Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen. Caglianone has become of the game’s more dangerous hitters even as he still has plenty of room to refine his pitch recognition. Jensen, a year from now, might be viewed as the AL’s best catcher. The Royals can reasonably bank on 2027 bounce-backs from injury-plagued Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino, who had a down season after driving in 113 runs in 2025. Bobby Witt Jr. is the linchpin and the cornerstone player of the franchise. It didn’t quite come together in 2026, but the Royals’ offense isn’t far away.

Biggest disappointment: Even if the rotation had stayed healthy and the offense had come together, this season would have come apart because of a yawning chasm of a bullpen. On paper, it shouldn’t have been so bad. Then closer Carlos Estevez was hurt in spring training and got into just one regular-season game. Matt Strahm was a proven leverage lefty who collapsed this season. Lucas Erceg wound up in the minors. The group finishing the season in the Kansas City bullpen is completely different — and better — than the one that began it. Some of these things were hard to foresee, but if there is one area for the front office to examine, it’s here. Was there enough depth? Were the Royals too slow to cycle through different pitchers in different options? Building bullpens is tough, but things should never get as bad as they were for the Royals as they fell out of contention during the first half.

FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens looks at how the cutter has revitalized Royals pitcher Noah Cameron’s arsenal in 2026.

It seems to me that Cameron is instead creating deception with his changeup via horizontal separation. He pounds the low-away corner against righties, where the unexpected amount of horizontal movement plays at its best. Instead of making batters pick high vs. low, which they expect to do against someone with his release point (and against someone with the rest of his arsenal, which is very vertical), he makes them pick inside vs. outside the zone horizontally. He furthers the bind by tossing a ton of cutters to righties. If you’ll recall from earlier, his cutter and changeup live on a similar east/west plane; the low-away changeup and inside-edge cutter look very similar out of his hand. His changeup has accounted for 93 whiffs against righties this year; his cutter is the only other offering to hit even half of that amount.

As Corbin Young noted earlier this year, this increased focus on sliders, cutters, and changeups is an all-year trend for Cameron. He’s set a new monthly high in cutter usage in each of the past three months. Meanwhile, he’s down to around 20% four-seamers in the second half of the season, by far a career low. The cutter/slider and cutter/changeup pairings are ascendant, and they’re working so well for him that he’s cutting down on so-so fastballs to fit in more of the bendy stuff.

The Royals are once again in the bottom five of The Athletic’s latest power ranking, but there is no denying Johnny Flores Jr.‘s pick for the team’s best thing to happen this season.

A mid-season call-up in 2025, Caglianone had one of the worst debuts you could imagine, posting minus-1.6 fWAR in just 62 games. Of the 1,470 players to qualify, Caglianone had the second-worst season in 2025.

However, from the World Baseball Classic in March through the 2026 campaign, Caglianone has turned the conversation around. He’s posted 2.3 fWAR, with a 125 wRC+. Though strikeouts and swing-and-miss continue to be a concern, Caglianone’s batted-ball data ranks at or near the top in nearly every category — the hallmark of a slugger that can help extend a lineup alongside Bobby Witt Jr.

While it’s been a lost season in Kansas City, it’s been everything but that for the former No. 6 pick.

Baseball America’s Josh Norris breaks down the Surprise Saguaros’ roster for the fall, with plenty of Royals prospect power.

The clear highlight of Surprise’s roster is Zion Rose, the sixth overall pick from the 2026 draft who joins Jac Caglianone as recent Royals first-rounders who’ve spent part of their first pro seasons in the AFL. The Louisville slugger spent all of his official minor league time at High-A Quad Cities, where he hit his first professional home run and posted a .727 OPS over 19 games. Ranked by BA as the No. 23 prospect available in the 2026 class, Rose has a chance to be an above-average hitter with average defense and plus speed.

Rose’s fellow Royals on the Saguaros include righthander Justin Lamkin, who was on an upward trajectory this summer before an injury shelved him for the rest of the year. If he can show the same form from the regular year, he’ll jump right back into the Top 100 conversation this winter. Infielder Austin Charles is another rejuvenated Royal. After a tough 2025, he showed signs of life this season at High-A Quad Cities, where he smacked seven home runs in 45 games while striking out less than 20% of the time. 

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden analyzes the current labor proposals ahead of MLB’s upcoming CBA expiration.

The current CBA works best for the owners, the biggest-market teams who have smart front offices, the highest-paid players and the agents who represent them. However, it really doesn’t work well for the teams in the bottom half of the league in revenue, first-year players and other players who are not-yet-arbitration (or free-agent) eligible, players who reach free agency in their 30s, and the bullpen and bench depth players who get shuttled back and forth to the minors all season.

MLB would argue they’re trying to remedy these issues, starting with the proposal of a salary floor and cap. Under a floor-and-cap system, small-market teams would be forced to carry a minimum payroll, which would bring them closer to the biggest spending teams, who would be capped on what they can spend. The NBA, NHL and NFL currently have floor-and-cap systems.

Sports Illustrated’s Brian Sparks checks the stock for Royals players heading into the Houston Astros series.

Outfielder Jac Caglianone is one of the premium players to hunt for in the 2026 Topps Update, dropping Oct. 14.

MLB Trade Rumors updates its Super Two cutoff estimate as the 2026 season winds down.

One of the Atlanta Braves’ largest shareholders believes the franchise should be sold after a pair of record-setting team sales on the West Coast.

The New York Mets packed Citi Field Monday not for the home team, but for the one that got away, Baltimore Orioles’ Pete Alonso.

ESPN’s Jorge Castillo marks Roberto Clemente Day by looking at the dwindling number of Puerto Rican-born major leaguers.

From domination to dormancy, Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Edwin Diaz is in danger of not making the team’s postseason roster.

Former MLB slugger Yasiel Puig is still awaiting sentencing after a jury found him guilty of obstruction of justice and making false statements to investigators in February.

The Cincinnati Reds are expected to retain their front office leadership following a down 2026 season, and that brings comfort to veteran manager Terry Francona.

Former MLB closer and now Washington Nationals assistant pitching coach Sean Doolittle chats with FanGraphs about pitching and the organization.

NFL players prefer playing on grass compared to turf. In other news, fork found in kitchen.

Seth Keysor analyzes a dominant team debut for Kansas City Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III.

NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, and NHL and their respective player associations sent a letter to gambling regulators regarding “protections for players and staff who face threats and harassment from sports bettors.”

Coming back to the PGA Tour is going to be hard for many LIV golfers after the latter filed for bankruptcy last week.

The Chicago Blackhawks make 21-year-old Connor Bedard their second-youngest captain in franchise history.

Here is where a $16.4 million infusion into Kansas City’s Housing Trust Fund is going to.

The Park at Forest Green neighborhood used homeowner association funds to save their ash trees from a devastating pest.

Today’s song of the day is I’m in a Hurry by Alabama.