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TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (75-73) and Tampa Bay Rays (88-59) play the 2nd game of this 3-game set tonight at Tropicana Field.

RHP Peter Lambert (8-8, 3.67 ERA) will start for the Astros as he takes on Rays LHP Ian Seymour (9-6, 4.33 ERA). Tonight will be Lambert’s 4th career app. vs. TB and his 2nd career start/app. at Tropicana Field.

ASTROS-RAYS: The Astros are 2-2 vs. TB thus far this season. HOU took 2 out of 3 games from the Rays when they met at Daikin Park earlier this season, July 3-5.

Astros-Rays History: The Astros are 45-50 all-time vs. TB in the regular season.

Postseason: The two clubs have met twice in the postseason, with the Astros defeating TB in the 2019 ALDS, 3-2, and the Rays topping the Astros in the 2020 ALCS, 4-3.

THE LAMBO: RHP Peter Lambert is making his club-leading 26th start of the season tonight. In his last start on Sunday vs. ARI, Lambert pitched 7.0 strong innings (3 ER) but took the loss in a 3-2 defeat.

Vs. The Rays: In 3 career app. (2 GS) vs. TB, Lambert is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA (2ER/12.2IP). Lambert defeated the Rays on July 5 of this season at Daikin Park, hurling 5.2 scoreless innings in a 2-0 Astros victory.

At The Trop: Tonight will be Lambert’s 2nd career start/app. at Tropicana Field. His other was on Aug. 24, 2023 while with COL (5.0 IP, 2 ER, ND in 5-3 loss).

100 CLUB: Tonight will be Lambert’s 100th career ML appearance and 61st ML start.

CAM CAN: Cam Smith is 6×14 (.429) on the current road trip with 3 HR and 4 RBI. He homered in all 3 games at PHI on the 1st stop of the trip. Smith is hitting .290 (9×31) in Sept. with a .998 OPS.

ROAD WARRIORS: Tonight is the 5th game (2-2 thus far) of a 6-game road trip for the Astros. Since going 1-9 on the first road trip of the 2026 season, the Astros have gone 37-26 (.587) on the road since April 14, which ranks 3rd in the Majors in that span. More recently, they are 21-14 (.600) on their last 6 road trips combined (includes current trip).

TOUGH DRAWS: Including tonight, in the last 4 games, the opposing starters that the Astros have faced have a combined won-loss record of 52-21. They are: LHP Cristopher Sánchez (17-5), RHP Zack Wheeler (12-5), RHP Drew Rasmussen (14-5), LHP Ian Seymour (9-6).

MEASURING UP: The Astros are 29-21 (.580) vs. teams currently at .500 or above. They own a .500 or better record vs. several clubs that are in the AL postseason hunt: 5-1 vs. BOS, 5-2 vs. CWS, 4-2 vs. CLE, 2-2 vs. TB, 9-4 vs. TEX, 3-3 vs. NYY, 3-3 vs. TOR.

NOTHING FINER THAN YAINER: C Yainer Diaz is hitting .367 (11×30) in the month of September with a .920 OPS.

Multi-Tasking: Diaz has tallied multiple hits in each of his last 5 starts, going 10×19 (.526) in that span.

THE HIT MAN:Jose Altuve collected his 2,500th career hit on Wed. night at PHI, becoming the 103rd player in ML history to reach this milestone. Freddie Freeman was the last player to reach 2,500 hits, which happened on June 9 of this year at PNC Park vs. PIT. Freeman (2,587) and Altuve (2,503) are the 2 active hits leaders in the Majors.

ON THE OFFENSIVE: The Astros are 2nd in the AL in HR (193) and SLG (.409), T-3rd in OPS (.724) and 6th in runs scored (663).

SLOW AND STEADY RECOVERY: Since starting the season with a 20-31 record after 51 games, the Astros are 55-42 (.567) in their last 97 games (since May 22). That is the 2nd-best record in the AL in that span, behind only the Red Sox.

STARTING STRONG: In the last 11 games, Astros starters have combined for a 2.73 ERA (17ER/56IP) . The Astros are 6-5 in that span. Additionally, the Astros are 10-7 in their last 17 games, during which the starters have posted a combined 3.13 ERA (29ER/83.1IP).

TRIPLE THREAT: Yordan Alvarez, who is a solid candidate for the AL MVP Award, currently ranks 1st or 2nd in the AL in all three Triple Crown categories. He enters today leading the AL in batting avg. (.310), while ranking 2nd in HR (38) and RBI (96). Alvarez also leads the Majors in OPS (1.017), SLG (.590) and OBP (.427).

Rare Feat: Since Carl Yastrzemski won the AL Triple Crown in 1967, there has been just one Triple Crown winner in the Majors, Miguel Cabrera in 2012 (AL).

CHALLENGING STRETCH: The Astros are 6-5 thus far while in a stretch of playing 13 cons. games vs. opponents with winning records (CWS, ARI, PHI, TB). 2 of those opponents are leading their respective divisions (CWS, TB), one currently holds a WC spot (PHI) and another that is 0.5 game out of a WC spot (ARI).

BIG WES: Tomorrow’s starter, RHP Hayden Wesneski, is 3-0 in his last 4 starts with a 1.57 ERA (4ER/23IP). For the season, he is 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA in 8 starts (Astros are 7-1 in his starts).

DOWN ON THE FARM: The Fayetteville Woodpeckers have advanced to the Carolina League Championship Round after sweeping Fredericksburg, in their 1st round playoff matchup. Fayetteville will face the Charleston RiverDogs for the Carolina League championship in a best-of-three series, beginning on Sunday in Charleston. Games 2 and 3 are scheduled to be played at Fayetteville.

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY:2021 – Rookie OF Jose Siri gets his first Major League start and makes it one of the best ever, tallying 4 hits with 2 HR and 5 RBI in a 15-1 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field. Siri had 4 Major League at-bats but no starts prior to his big night.

2020 – At Dodger Stadium, the Astros erupt for 5 runs in the top of the 9th off Kenley Jansen for a dramatic, 7-5 win over the Dodgers. The Astros tally 6 hits in the 9th off Jansen, who does not record an out.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, September 12, 5:10 p.m. CT

Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL

TV: Space City Home Network

Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

Saturday evening’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers will likely include an odd feature not usually observed in Major League Baseball.

Reds pitcher Jose Trevino will potentially be unavailable. That’s Reds catcher Jose Trevino, who has pitched in each of the last two games in which the Reds have played.

Cincinnati wrapped up their series in Los Angeles mid-week with a 14-1 drubbing by the Dodgers. Then, they flew to Milwaukee just to find a way to play worse. Friday saw them completely dismantled at the hands of the Brewers to the tune of a 20-0 final score.

Cincinnati had multiple pitchers allow at least 8 earned runs. Milwaukee was up 17-0 so early that it was an honest conversation whether they should use a position player on the mound to save innings on their relievers with the game already so out of reach. Trevino, who allowed 3 ER in 2.0 IP, actually performed better than both Andrew Abbott and Luis Mey, even if he did so while leaning hard on his 22 mph eephus.

It was a game so embarrassing it wasn’t worth covering. That’s on the back of a game that was so embarrassing (and late) it wasn’t worth covering, either. That’s where this Cincinnati Reds club finds itself 147 games into this disastrous 2026 season, with the only thing left to see being whether they choose to pick themselves up off the mat or simply let it bleed out.

Something is woefully amiss within this organization. And if nothing changes yet again this winter, well, we’ll know it’s all by design.

With Carlos Correa getting closer to returning to the Astros, questions have arisen about how the team would formulate their lineup when he was ready to rejoin the team. While Correa has exclusively taken ground balls at 3B during his rehab and manager Joe Espada has stated that Correa would play 3B upon his return, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic had a report today that offered another idea:

The concept of Correa at 2B instantly leads to thoughts of “if he has a serious ankle injury he is returning from, wouldn’t playing 2B make him more vulnerable to another injury” immediately after the thought of “but Correa has never played 2B before”. While the first listed thought would seem to be true, the second one is definitely true.

Carlos Correa has never played 2B. He’s never played on the right side of the infield.

On recent editions of AREA45 on 95.7 The Fan, I have hypothesized of Carlos Correa potentially playing 1B after this season, with the Astros moving on from Christian Walker. While Correa would make a great target at 1B standing 6’3”, Correa is notably superior defender at 3B than Isaac Paredes, who does have experience playing 1B. Paredes stands 5’11”, the same height as Walker.

The idea of Correa playing 2B would require Yordan Alvarez to be the everyday LF and Jose Altuve to become the team’s regular DH.

While it may not be tenable for a full season, it could certainly be a working plan for the final week of the season and the playoffs.

Jose Altuve is having a career-worst season both offensively and defensively. Altuve is a -11 OAA (Outs Above Average). For comparison, last season Altuve was a 0 OAA, making him league average. -11 OAA grades Altuve as the worst defensive 2B in MLB. It is a sharp fall defensively for the Astros aging icon.

Correa’s athleticism should allow him to play the position well, but an occasional misplay by being out of position should be expected for playing someplace he has never played before.

The Colorado Rockies appeared to have this one in hand.

Last night, the Rockies outhit the Tigers 10-5 but managed to lose 6-2 because those hits were all singles. Today, the Rockies found a little more firepower, logging 12 hits including two home runs and some extra-base hits.

Unfortunately, it was a classic Colorado loss where the bats are working but the pitching isn’t. The Rockies surrendered 11 runs on 18 hits to Detroit. The Rockies held the lead for the majority of the game, but a whirlwind eighth inning swung the game seven runs, from a three-run Rockies lead to a four-run deficit.

After a wasted opportunity to stop the losses from piling up, the soundtrack to today’s game in Motown was, ultimately, a sad one.

“Higher Ground”

Tanner Gordon came into the game looking like a road warrior yet again, piling up a couple of strong innings to start things off. Through the first two innings, he allowed some traffic but kept things scoreless. Gordon allowed a quick single to Kevin McGonigle to begin the game but fired off two strikeouts in the inning as well. After an Eduardo Valencia double and a Spencer Torkelson single put runners on the corners, Gordon gave up a walk, which is uncharacteristic for his 4% walk rate, to load the bases. A clutch double play kept zeroes on the board.

For their part, the Rockies offense kept on trying ‘til they reached their highest ground, taking a 3-0 lead to give Gordon some early run support.

After stranding runners on second and third in the first inning and a 1-2-3 inning in the second, the Rockies got to work in the third. Jake McCarthy was hit by a pitch and Connor Norby singled to put runners on the corners. No more small ball would be needed, however. A Hunter Goodman home run — his 38th of the season — brought everyone home.

“Reach Out (I’ll Be There)”

The three-run cushion didn’t last long. McGonigle, the American League Rookie of the Year favorite, got a solo shot to left field off of Gordon to cut into the lead. Gordon responded with two outs, but couldn’t escape the inning. A trio of singles from Riley Greene, Valencia, and Max Clark were good enough to score a run and make it a 3-2 ballgame.

Things nearly got much, much worse. With Clark and Valencia on first and third, Torkelson nearly launched a three-run homer that would have given Detroit a 5-3 lead. McCarthy tracked it down, timed his leap, reached out, and committed a robbery.

The defensive play absolutely stopped the momentum from swinging too far in Detroit’s direction. Colorado parlayed that into growing the lead in the fourth. Jordan Beck took first with a bunt and was brought home by an Adael Amador double to make it 4-2 Rox.

“War”

As Edwin Starr sang: “War! Huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.”

By the middle innings, the game had turned into a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, which was no good for the Rockies who were trying to hold onto their lead. The Tigers would not go quietly, fighting back to tie the game and threatening to jump ahead.

Brett Callahan doubled to kick off the fourth inning, but Gordon held his own for the moment, striking out the next two batters. Gordon worked in his off-speed pitches effectively, getting John Peck to strike out swinging on a changeup low and inside, and catching McGonigle looking at a curveball right at the bottom of the zone.

Unfortunately, two-out runs were Gordon’s kryptonite today. Hao-Yu Lee doubled to score Callahan and was brought home himself on a Colt Keith single to tie the game at 4-4. Gordon was replaced by Juan Mejia in the bottom of the fifth, ending his day with 4.0 innings pitched, a whopping 10 hits, four earned runs, and five strikeouts to a lone walk.

Gordon has been susceptible to hits in many of his starts as he was today, but he did his part to work out of jams and keep the game competitive. While not in line for a decision, he held his own in key situations and kept the Rockies in it.

“You Keep Me Hanging On”

After the scoring flareups from Detroit in the third and fourth innings, the bullpen kept Colorado hanging on to the lead, albeit with some scattered drama.

When Mejia took over in the fifth, he immediately allowed the basepaths to become crowded. He got behind the count against Valencia after throwing three straight balls. After strikes on the next two pitches, Mejia walked Valencia. Clark doubled as the next batter up, forcing a mound visit to calm Mejia down. It did the trick as Mejia locked in for three straight outs.

Mejia attempted to start the sixth but was replaced by Brennan Bernardino after issuing two straight walks on 14 pitches. Bernardino worked out of the inherited jam masterfully, continuing to be such an important piece of the Rockies’ bullpen. He logged three straight outs, including a strikeout to prevent any damage done in the sixth, maintaining the Rockies two-run lead. Bernardino allowed a couple of hits in the seventh but prevented any runs.

An Ezequiel Tovar solo shot in the top of the eighth helped the Rockies grow their lead to three. The home run was right near the foul pole and close to being called for fan interference, but a review called it good, putting Colorado up 7-4.

“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”

Unfortunately, no mountain or lead was high enough for the Tigers to overcome. Despite the three-run lead and several scoreless innings from the bullpen, a disastrous eighth inning would be all it would take for the Rockies’ fortune to crumble. This one couldn’t have been any worse.

Jaden Hill came in to relieve Bernardino. Unfortunately, it was Hill’s worst outing since a five-run catastrophe against the Milwaukee Brewers back in June.

Hill immediately surrendered back-to-back doubles to Lee and Gleyber Torres, making it a 7-5 game rather quickly. Greene singled to bring it to 7-6. The Rockies began warming up Jordan Romano, but they couldn’t get Hill out of the game fast enough. Hill gave up a single to Valencia and walked Clark, setting the stage for Roman with the bases loaded and no outs. Hill’s day ended at 0.0 innings pitched as he faced five batters but couldn’t record an out. He gave up five runs on four hits.

Manager Warren Schaeffer talked about Hill’s performance, noting that Detroit jumped on him with a good game plan: “Four hits and a walk with very little pitches. They had a good plan. They went out there and put the bat on the ball early in the count. And (we) just couldn’t get any outs.”

Romano didn’t fare much better after inheriting a terrible situation. After a pitch clock violation awarded an automatic ball, he walked Torkelson to walk in a run and tie the game. He next walked Ben Malgeri on seven pitches to push another run home and give Detroit their first lead of the game at 8-7.

A Peck sacrifice fly extended it by one, but the real damage was done on a Lee triple that scored two more. Romano managed two strikeouts but gave up two runs on a hit and two walks. The Tigers went into the final frame with an 11-7 lead and closed the game out there.

“Tracks of My Tears”

Cue some Smokey Robinson, because this was a sad, jarring loss for this Rockies team.

Even though they’re a young, developing team, it’s hard to see them squander games that should have been in the bag. This game often turned on a dime, partially because the Rockies’ pitchers weren’t able to close out innings — a problem that haunted them throughout the game. Colorado has still struggled to get their bats and pitching to work at the same time.

Schaeffer pointed to “positives all through this game” for a growing team, highlighting Amador’s big at bats, Tovar’s home run, Rumfield’s three-hit game, and Bernardino’s strong six outs.

The end of season woes continue to grow for the Rockies. They’ve now lost six games in a row, nine straight on the road, and 19 of their last 23.

Up Next

The Rockies take on the Motor City Kitties for game three of the series. Detroit swept Colorado at Coors Field in 2025. The Tigers will try to treat the home fans at Comerica Park to the same result with a sweep on the line in Sunday’s matchup.

Colorado will start Gabriel Hughes, currently winless on the season. Hughes is 0-7 in 11 starts with a 5.81 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and 48 strikeouts.

While there has been some rotation shuffling in recent days for Detroit, they are expected to start Jackson Jobe as of now. Jobe has a 1-2 record across six starts with a 4.45 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and 26 strikeouts.

We’ve got morning baseball on deck with a 10:10 a.m. MT first pitch.

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

Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung and pitcher Nathan Eovaldi have been activated from the injured list, the team announced today. To make room for them on the active roster, the Rangers have optioned pitcher Adam Macko and DH/catcher Logan O’Hoppe to AAA Round Rock.

Jung had been in the midst of his best season prior to going on the injured list in mid-July, slashing .294/.361/.441. Jung originally was thought to potentially miss just a day or two with a calf issue that ended up sidelining him almost two months. He has been on a rehab assignment with AAA Round Rock, and played third base each of the last two games.

Eovaldi last pitched on August 7, throwing 5.1 innings of one pitch ball against the Orioles. He went on the injured list after that with an elbow issue. He has not gone on a rehab assignment, and it remains to be seen what his role will be now that he is activated, although it would seem likely he will be used out of the bullpen initially.

Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:

For the Braves:

Let’s talk about it.

The Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960, coming from Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, which led to the team’s name. The Dodgers, who arrived in town two years earlier, have made Los Angeles the land of 10,000 home runs.

That’s how many homers the Dodgers have hit since moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958. No. 10,000 was courtesy of Mookie Betts, who hit a solo home run with two outs in the first inning on Saturday against Miami Marlins right-hander Tyler Phillips.

Max Muncy followed Betts with another solo shot for back-to-back home runs and now 10,001 home runs in Los Angeles Dodgers history.

It’s a fitting duo surrounding the milestone, with Muncy’s 237 home runs the fifth-most for in franchise, and Betts at 172 homer runs broke a tie with Pedro Guerrero for 11th place. Since moving to Los Angeles, Muncy is second in home runs and Betts is seventh.

Dodgers team historian Mark Langill wrote about the approaching home run milestone for the Dodgers, with a focus on infielder Dick Gray, whose two-run shot against the San Francisco Giants at Seals Stadium in San Francisco on April 16, 1958, in the teams’ second game on the west coast, was the first home run hit by a Los Angeles Dodger.

Gray hit 11 of his 12 career home runs with the Dodgers, and as Langill points out also homered on April 18, 1958 at the Los Angeles Coliseum, making Gray the first player to hit both the first home and first road home runs in LA Dodgers history.

Betts has four home runs in September, and 20 on the season, his ninth career season with at least 20 home runs. When he crossed the plate in the first inning on Saturday scored a run in his 11th consecutive game. That’s just one game shy of an LA Dodgers record, shared by Betts himself (May 13-24, 2022) and Rafael Furcal (June 24-July, 2010).

This was one of the wilder games of the season. There were baserunners aplenty, missed chances, stirring rallies followed by disappointment, only to do it all over again. The Tigers came back in this one repeatedly, and a huge rally in the eighth inning was the difference maker as they snatched victory from the jaw of defeat and took down the Rockies 11-7 at Comerica Park on Saturday.

Right-hander Tanner Gordon took on rookie left-hander Andrew Sears in Saturday’s matchup. Keider Montero went on the paternity list to open the spot for the southpaw. Sears got a quick wake-up call when Jake McCarthy lined one right off of him as the first batter of the game. Kevin McGonigle got the ricochet and threw McCarthy out anyway. Sears walked Hunter Goodman with two outs, and TJ Rumfield doubled to left, but they had to hold Goodman at third. Sears punched out Cole Carrigg on a good fastball up to end the inning unscathed.

Kevin McGonigle led off the bottom half with a single back through the box, but Hao-Yu Lee was locked up for strike three, Colt Keith lined out to center, and Riley Greene went down swinging.

Sears tossed a 1-2-3 second inning, striking out Jordan Beck on a another good fastball, and touched 96 mph in the inning. The Tigers missed a chance in the bottom half when Eduardo Valencia led off with a double. Max Clark flew out, but Spencer Torkelson singled and Brett Callahan walked to load the bases. Unfortunately, a double play ball off the bat of John Peck ended the inning.

Sears got into trouble with one out in the third as he hit McCarthy and then gave up a single to Connor Norby. Hunter Goodman stepped in, worked a full count, and managed to turn on a Sears fastball that was actually inside off the plate. He pulled it out to left for a three-run shot, and it was 3-0 Rockies.

McGonigle led off the bottom of the third with a solo shot, his 17th homer of the season. Lee and Keith flew out, but Greene lined a single to center, and Valencia lined one to left to put two on for Clark. The center fielder came through with a single through the right side to score Greene. Torkelson flew out to end the inning as McCarthy pulled one back that looked like it would’ve cleared the fence into the visitor’s bullpen, but it was 3-2 Rockies.

Sears gave up a one-out single to Jordan Beck in the fourth, and Adeal Amador doubled him in. Sears outing was teetering, but he bounced back, striking out Ezequiel Tovar and popping up McCarthy to end the inning. 4-2 Rockies.

The Tigers kept fighting back in the bottom half, once again getting the leadoff man on. Callahan hammered a double to left to start things off. Peck struck out and McGonigle followed suit, taking a called strike three. Lee came through with an opposite field double to score Callahan, and Keith singled in Lee to tie the game 4-4.

Keith wasn’t done either, stealing second base. However, Greene struck out and we were on to the fifth.

Sears gave up an automatic double to Norby to start the fifth, but bounced back to whiff Goodman. Rumfield singled, and that was the end of the day for Sears. Not a good outing for the rookie, but Goodman’s three-run shot was just a really good piece of hitting and Sears didn’t shy out of the zone. Tyler Kinley took over and popped up Carrigg and Kyle Karros to strand the runners. Nicely done by the veteran there.

Juan Mejia took over from Gordon in the bottom half. He walked Valencia, putting the leadoff man on for five straight innings, and Max Clark smoked a ground ball up the middle and hit the afterburners as Valencia took the turn and got to third, and Clark followed him to second with a double.

Once again, the Tigers frustrations with runners in scoring position continued as Torkelson flew out, Callahan struck out, and Peck flew out in foul territory to strand them both.

Kinley pulled a nice escape in the fifth, but then he walked Beck and hit Amador to open the sixth inning. Tovar dropped down a bunt to move the runners, making the first out. AJ Hinch went to Drew Sommers at that point, but McCarthy got a 1-2 sinker over the middle and singled to left, scoring both runs. 6-4 Rockies.

Norby followed with a hard hit line drive for a single, but Goodman grounded one back to Sommers, who fired to Peck and on to first for an inning ending double play.

As was their custon, the Tigers then put two men on immediately and couldn’t score them either. McGonigle and Lee walked to start the bottom of the sixth, but the Rockies turned to lefty Brennan Bernardino. Hinch hit Gleyber Torres for Keith, but he took a called strike three. Greene flew out to center, and Valencia grounded out to strand everyone.

Sommers gave up a leadoff single to Rumfield in the seventh. A sac bunt from Carrigg followed, getting Rumfield to second. Beau Brieske took over from a somewhat struggling Sommers. He gave up a single, but then he whiffed Beck on a perfect slider, and Amador grounded out to end the frame.

Max Clark caught the Rockies napping with a nice bunt single to start the bottom half. They knew how to get on base early in an inning. Scoring the runners remained the issue. Torkelson popped out in foul territory, Ben Malgeri hit for Callahan and took a called third. Peck game through with a hilarious swinging bunt that stayed true down the third base line and hit the bag while Karros waited for it to rumble foul. It just never did. It also didn’t matter much because McGonigle smoked a drive to center field, but it was caught by Carrigg to again frustrate the Tigers.

Brieske was still on the mound in the top of the eighth. A 1-1 slider to Tovar got yanked deep down the left field line for a leadoff solo shot. A fan got his paws on the ball as it was close to hitting the base of the foul pole, and the whole thing looked sketchy, but after review the call on the field was confirmed. Truly the ball looked like it was going to miss on the foul side of the pole, but presumably it was a Tigers fan getting involved there so -1 WAR for the crowd in my opinion. Brieske cleaned up the rest of the inning with no issues, but it was 7-4 Rockies.

Would the Tigers get the leadoff man on in the eighth? They would! Hao-Yu Lee led off against new reliever Jaden Hill with a double to left, and Torres followed suit with an RBI double. Riley Greene ripped a single through the right side, scoring Torres, and suddenly it was 7-6 Rockies, and no outs in the inning. Zach McKinstry pinch-ran for Greene, which was interesting, and with the outfield playing him to pull, Valencia placed a drive into right center field for a single, and McKinstry went first to third.

Max Clark flashed bunt to keep the Rockies on their toes and they proved shaky. Hill missed with three straight. Clark was taking all the way on the a 3-0 fastball down the middle, but Hill missed away with a changeup to walk him and load the bases. Mr. Clark is looking extremely pro out there at this point, doing a whole lot of little things to go with the more obvious skills.

Couldn’t help noticing in Friday night’s victory that after scoring on a wild pitch from Nick Frasso, Clark didn’t go bouncing into the dugout like an excited rookie. He scored and went straight to the next hitter, Zach McKinstry, to share some intel on the pitcher before going into the dugout to celebrate.

As you might imagine, that was it for Hill. Veteran right-hander Jordan Romano took over against Torkelson.

Romano got a pitch clock violation and fell behind against Torkelson 3-1. A foul toward the tarp on the first base side saw Rumfield crash into it trying to catch the ball. He failed, misjudging how much room he had, and then Romano missed 3-2 to walk Torkelson, score McKinstry, and tie the game up 7-7.

There were still no outs in the inning as Malgeri stepped into the batters’ box. Romano just couldn’t find the controls, and he walked Malgeri as well. Three straight walks, two of them of the RBI variety. That scored Valencia, gave the Tigers an 8-7 lead, and there were still no outs. Peck was up and he drove a ball into the right center field gap. Carrigg made the play, but Clark tagged and scored to make it 9-7.

McGonigle smoked a line drive right to McCarthy in left for the second out, but the Tigers weren’t done in the inning yet. Romano just started spamming sliders to Hao-Yu Lee and got ahead of him, but Lee fought off everything Romano was throwing. The rookie wisely took a break 2-2 and went and got more stick’em for his bat, giving himself time to think. Then he went back to fouling off everything Romano could throw. Eventually, Lee broke Romano’s spirit on the 12th pitch of the at-bat. The right-hander came with a high fastball and Lee hammered it off the right field wall. Beck got turned around or he could’ve caught it, but instead two runs scored, and Lee came flying into third base with a triple.

As you’d imagine, Lee was fired up, roaring at his teammates in the dugout, slapping himself in the face, and generally hyping the whole stadium to the nines. Awesome stuff. What a professional at-bat that was. 11-7 Tigers, and suddenly they just needed to close this one out. Quite the turn of events.

Kenley Jansen was on in the ninth, but the Tigers had broken open to the point that it wasn’t a save situation anymore. He whiffed Rumfield on a nasty cutter, and Carrigg hit one hard, but to Clark for the second out. Against Karros, Jansen missed first pitch and the Tigers challenge was unsuccessful. A good slider was yanked foul, but at that point Hinch and the training staff came out to check on Valencia. He stayed in anyway, though Dillon Dingler was getting his gear on. Finally, a slider backed up from Jansen and clipped Karros on the hand. So, it was down to Beck, and neither team had a challenge remaining. OLD SCHOOL!

Jansen fell behind 2-0 to Beck, then coaxed a foul ball to make it 2-1. A whiff on a high cutter made it 2-2, and a miss high worked the count full. A cutter down the middle was popped foul and out of play. Another one was fouled tipped into the glove, and just like that the Tigers had won 11-7 for their third straight victory and a chance at the sweep on Sunday.

Great to see the rookies so productive in a back and forth game like this. Lee, Clark, and Valencia all had three hits, with McGonigle and Greene each collecting a pair. Callahan, Malgeri, and Peck all contributed as well.

It’s an early start on Sunday, as RHP Jackson Jobe takes on RHP Gabriel Hughes at 12:10 p.m. ET on Sunday.

BOX SCORE

The 2026 Mets season has been a pretty terrible one, and nothing that happens in this final stretch of the season can change that. Hell, one can make the argument that their decent play over the past month or so has only furthered the disappointment of the season, given the negative effects it’s had on the team’s draft odds. But sometimes in a season like this, you just gotta enjoy the good times that do come along. And the Mets hitting six home runs today to deliver a 12-2 defeat over their crosstown rival Yankees? Well, disappointing season or not, that sure is an enjoyable thing to watch. So let’s recount the fun we witnessed in the Bronx today, shall we?

Francisco Lindor started off the game with a classic Yankee Stadium cheapie, hitting a solo homer to the short right field porch to give the Mets an early 1-0 lead against Gerrit Cole. One inning later, they struck against the former Cy Young winner again. Jared Young led off the frame with a single, and after Cole retired the next two batters, Luis Torrens struck with a two-run homer to left field to put the Mets up three. And were they done with the long-balls? No, sir, not even close. Carson Benge hit the third bomb in as many innings against Cole with a one-out solo shot to right-center field, making it a 4-0 ballgame.

Meanwhile, Zac Thornton took the mound for the Mets attempting to rebound from what was arguably his worst start as a big leaguer last weekend against the Giants. He came out of the gate strong, tossing three perfect innings with three strikeouts to start. He finally stumbled slightly in the bottom of the fourth, surrendering a leadoff double to Paul Goldschmidt and then a one-out single to Cody Bellinger to give the Yankees their first run of the afternoon and making it 4-1 Mets. But Thornton rebounded to get the next two outs without any further damage, and the Amazins turned right around and got the run back in the following inning. After Cole finally put up a zero in the fourth, he surrendered a leadoff double to Juan Soto to start the fifth, and then with one out Benge got his second RBI of the game—this time on a single to center to bring Soto home from second. That would prove to be the end of Cole’s afternoon, and the mighty Mets had given him a statline—4.1 innings, 9 hits, and 5 earned runs—to forget.

Meanwhile, Thornton continued to pitch efficiently. He surrendered a second run in the bottom of the sixth inning—this one on a two-out solo homer from Bellinger to cut the lead down to 5-2—but nevertheless still made it through six innings on just 66 pitches. And once again, right after surrendering seeing their lead cut, the Mets immediately turned around and got the run right back—this time via a long Soto bomb with two outs in the top of the seventh off lefty Tim Hill, who had just entered the game specifically to face the $765 million star. That put the lead back at four runs.

Thornton faced more trouble in the bottom of the seventh, as the young lefty allowed two one-out baserunners on a single and a walk, respectively. But he hunkered down and induced a groundball double play off the bat of Anthony Volpe to get out of the inning unscathed. Thornton was as jubilant as we’ve ever seen him coming off the mound, and for good reason. That would prove to be the end of his afternoon, and it was a quality bounceback start for the rookie—7 inning, 5 hits, 4 strikeouts, 1 walk, 2 earned runs, all the while outdueling a Cy Young winner and likely future Hall of Famer.

The Mets then completely blew the game open in the top of the eighth, as Hill came back on and retired the first two batters before allowing two baserunners on a single to Marcus Semien and a walk to A.J. Ewing. Bradley Hanner then came out of the bullpen to try to get the Yankees out of the inning, but Torrens—following his homer earlier in the game—instead got his second extra-base hit of the afternoon, this one a double which scored Semien from second to bump the lead up to 7-2. Nick Morabito then walked to load the bases, and Lindor followed that by providing the dagger: a grand slam to right field (his second homer of the day) to give the Mets five runs in the inning—all after two outs!—and a comfortable 11-2 lead.

Tobias Myers came on to relieve Thornton, and he put up a scoreless eighth—aided by another sterling diving catch from Benge in right field off the bat of Aaron Judge. The Mets then decided to add one more for good measure, as Jared Young hit a two-out solo bomb in the top of the ninth for the team’s sixth homer of the day and giving them a double-digit lead. Myers came back on for the bottom of the inning and tossed a second scoreless frame to end the ballgame and give the Mets the 12-2 victory.

The Mets will still be sitting at home in October, and the Yankees won’t be. The ass-kicking today certainly doesn’t change that. But after winning the first Subway Series of the year back in May, the Amazins now have the chance to take the season series over their New York counterparts with a win tomorrow. So like we said at the top, let’s just enjoy the small victories as they come, shall we?

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Zac Thornton and Luis Torrens, +18% WPA
Big Mets loser: Marcus Semien, -6% WPA
Mets pitchers: +18% WPA
Mets hitters: +32% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Luis Torrens two-run homer in the second, +17.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Cody Bellinger solo homer in the sixth, -5% WPA