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When the Nats traded Luis Garcia Jr. to the Yankees, they were losing the NL leader in slugging and one of the more unique hitters in the game. Garcia’s combination of contact skills and power was thrilling to watch. However, the Nats decision to move Garcia might have made them a better team this season.

This is no knock on Garcia at all. He was having a great season and is a very good hitter. However, the Nats got multiple bullpen arms for Garcia while having an in-house replacement at first base. Right now, the Abimelec Ortiz and Andres Chaparro duo is making sure the Nats aren’t losing any production at first base.

This 1B platoon has driven in four of the Nationals six runs tonight. pic.twitter.com/TBQLqMQUaH

— Spencer Nusbaum (@spencernusbaum_) August 9, 2026

As you can see, both Ortiz and Chaparro are heavy hitters at first base. Both of them have the power and bat speed you want to see from that position. There is a high barrier for entry offensively at the first base position. However, both of these guys have the tools to mash.

Chaparro’s offensive explosion in the second half has been equal parts surprising and exhilarating. Even in the first half when Chaparro was not producing at all, some of his underlying numbers were still solid. However, seeing him mash the way he has is still shocking for a guy with a .167 average and .586 OPS in the first half. 

In the second half, Chaparro is hitting .318 with 5 homers and a 1.173 OPS in 18 games. With three righties on the mound this weekend, Chaparro did not make any starts, but he still had a huge impact. He pinch hit on Saturday and Sunday, driving in five runs on the weekend. These hits helped the Nats blow games open and secure comfortable victories.

While Chaparro has gotten the vast majority of his reps against lefties, he has looked comfortable against right handed pitching when given the opportunity. He is 7 for 17 with 2 homers and 12 RBI against righties and came up with a big knock against Tejay Antone yesterday. After missing a home run by inches, Chaparro ripped a 2-run double in the gap to put the nail in the Reds coffin.

CHAPPED 😬 pic.twitter.com/huK8emHvmh

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 9, 2026

However, Chaparro has been around for a while now and is the weak side of the platoon. Rookie slugger Abimelec Ortiz is the first baseman against righties, and he has been mashing. The Nats received Ortiz as part of the MacKenzie Gore trade, and the former Rangers farmhand has mashed in AAA this year. Despite an underwhelming .244 average, Ortiz had an .845 OPS and 18 home runs. Importantly, Ortiz also struck out under 20% of the time.

His skills are likely a reason why the Nats pulled the trigger on the Garcia trade. With the bullpen help they received and Ortiz waiting in the wings, the idea was that the Garcia trade would not really hurt them this season. So far, that theory is looking smart. Yovanny Cruz and Jake Bird both made impacts out of the bullpen while Ortiz had great at bats all weekend.

Ortiz is known for his power, but his pure hitting ability has been very impressive. He fell behind Chase Burns 0-2 before guiding a single the other way to drive in two runners. Against a strikeout artist like Burns, staying in that AB is so impressive, especially for a young hitter. The 24 year old is hitting .273 with an .895 OPS in 8 games so far. 

We saw the pure hitting ability on Saturday, but yesterday we got to see some of that big power. Ortiz drove a well placed sweeper to the opposite field for a home run off of Brady Singer. It was a pitch that was executed well, but Ortiz was able to drive it out of the ballpark anyways.

Abimelec Ortiz mashes his second career homer to extend the lead for the @Nationals 💪 pic.twitter.com/x0RBqKh4Ck

— MLB (@MLB) August 9, 2026

The results have been there, but the overall quality of the at bats have been even more impressive for me. He has not looked overmatched at any point in his big league career so far, even when he had to pinch hit against Jhoan Duran. It is too soon to say if he can completely make up for Garcia’s loss, but at the very least, he should be a solid piece in the Nats lineup.

When you think of elite first baseman, you envision the likes of Matt Olson, Pete Alonso or Freddie Freeman. However, the Nats have gotten that kind of production from the position without having a star player like that. The Nats have done a lot of platooning this season, but it has worked the best at first base. With Luis Garcia, and now Abimelec Ortiz hitting against righties while Andres Chaparro mashes lefties, it is a great formula.

Seeing that platoon not really miss a beat with Ortiz thrown in the fire has also been great to see. If Ortiz stays hot, that Garcia trade could honestly help us this season. Yovanny Cruz looks like an electric arm and has helped stabilize the bullpen. Also, Jake Bird looked good in his first outing. He struggled with the Yankees, but he had some solid seasons with the Rockies and there are plenty of examples of players who just can’t make it work in pinstripes.

The Luis Garcia Jr. trade looked like a huge blow for the offense, but right now the machine is rolling on. They are not household names, and were never really big name prospects, but the duo of Abimelec Ortiz and Andres Chaparro looks like a productive first base platoon. Those two certainly played a massive role in the Nats first sweep since April.

The Rays swept the Seattle Mariners with death by a thousand cuts on Sunday, dominating the Mariners who had the look of a team ready to go home, tallying 14 hits on a sunny day in the pacific northwest.

Hicks proved his worth when the Rays had runners on the corners in the sixth inning and the Mariners opted to intentionally walk Junior Caminero to load the bases and hope for an easy groundball. Normally this might expose the small-ball elements of the Rays offense, but with Hicks hitting fourth there is protection in a way the AL leaders in wins did not have before the deadline.

Hicks sliced it the other way, scoring two as former Rays star Randy Arozarena seemingly jogged over to the ball.

Ian Seymour, in his fourteenth career start, settled in against the Mariners, allowing one early run but otherwise cruising through six full innings, taking the burden off the bullpen that had to cover for Griffin Jax’s elbow injury before yesterday’s game, and allowing him to overcome the blemish from July 12 where hi allowed six runs and only picked up ten outs.

With those demons excised, Seymour struck out seven:

Since stretching into a starter’s workload on June 20, Seymour has a 3.46 ERA and 3.09 FIP with a 31.1% strikeout rate and 5.3% walk rate. That amounts to a contribution of 1.3 fWAR, which is 15th highest among all pitchers as of that same date, and his K-BB% ranks ninth.

Cam Booser, Casey Legumina and veteran Steven Matz — who picked up the save! — cruised through the final nine outs, allowing just one hit combined. Matz worked his sinker more than 70% of the ninth, needing only an occasional change to cruise through his second day of relief work in a row on 14 pitches.

Other Notes:

• Yandy Diaz had his fourteenth career four-hit game, listen to his post-game interview here.
• Rays No. 14 Chandler Simpson also picked up four hits on the day, with his only missed opportunity to get on base coming just before Caminero’s intentional walk in the sixth
• Your moment of zen: Simpson lives rent free

Josh Naylor, doing headsy stuff again to get the speedy Chandler Simpson off the bases. pic.twitter.com/BtqPN1F0x1

— Josh Kirshenbaum (@J_Kirshenbaum) August 9, 2026

Good morning.

Shawn McFarland writes about what we’ve learned about the Texas Rangers over the last week as they climbed their way back to .500.

Jeff Wilson writes that the Rangers couldn’t complete a sweep of Baltimore on Sunday but they enjoyed a successful homestand to remain contenders.

Evan Grant writes that it was a mental lapse that started Kumar Rocker on the path to a bad outing in Sunday’s finale loss.

Kennedi Landry writes that the Rangers are hoping to ride more positive vibes as they take on a couple of AL West rivals this week.

Grant writes about the Rangers making a couple of roster moves on Sunday in the hopes of having a more balanced bench.

Grant notes that despite being placed on the 60-day IL, Jack Leiter is eligible to return soon and might do so in the bullpen.

And, McFarland writes about Texas’ first-round draft pick Gio Rojas and his family’s vision for the young left-hander.

Have a nice day!

I don’t know if this weekend actually had an unusual volume of extra-inning games, but with the Braves engaged in two, it sure felt like it.

The free runner extra inning rules have never sat all that well with me. To the extent that long extra-inning games were a problem, there were more than a handful of other solutions I’d have preferred. But, I think everyone involved generally prefers this form of aggressive shortening, so it’s probably not going anywhere in the near term. That creates its own weird discontinuity given that the rule suddenly disappears in the playoffs, but this doesn’t seem to perturb MLB, so it is what it is.

My question is whether you think that we’ll ever get to a point where the current extra-inning “rule” goes away. On the one hand, never say never. On the other hand, I’m not really sure what would force anyone’s hand regarding extra innings. What do you think?

The Phillies found themselves in two extra innings games over the weekend, and they seemed to deploy a new strategy. Multiple times in yesterday’s contest, Don Mattingly elected to have his players attempt to bunt the ghost runner over to give the Phillies a chance to score the run without needing a base hit.

The first attempt came in the bottom of the tenth, when Bryson Stott successfully bunted what would have been the winning run in J.T. Realmuto to third base after the Blue Jays stranded their ghost runner in the top half of the inning. This is despite Stott coming into the game as one of the hottest Phillies hitters, hitting .409 since the start of August with a 1.185 OPS. He did his job moving the runner over with the bunt, but Toronto then elected to intentionally walk Brandon Marsh to face Alec Bohm who has struggled with hitting into double plays. He didn’t do that here, but he didn’t get the run in either, as Bohm popped out to foul territory. Then with two outs, Derek Hill lined out to strand the runners.

The Phillies attempted another bunt in the 11th inning in a similar situation. Their bullpen held the Blue Jays scoreless in the top half of the inning again and gave them another chance to win the game by scoring the ghost runner. Kyle Schwarber was intentionally walked to begin the inning to put runners on first and second and Trea Turner attempted a bunt. His was not as successful as Stott’s, as it was popped back to the pitcher Braydon Fisher. However, Fisher dropped the ball but recovered enough to throw Hill out at third, essentially having the Phillies waste an out to have the same scenario they had before the bunt but with one out. Bryce Harper then drew a walk to load the bases before Luis Arraez hit a shallow fly ball to right fielder Jesús Sánchez who gunned down the pinch runner Garrett Stubbs at home for a double play to end the inning.

Finally, the Phillies bunted again to lead off the 12th, this time down a run after their bullpen could not keep Toronto’s ghost runner off the board. This was the most successful of the three, as Realmuto’s bunt ended up being a base hit that put runners on the corners with no outs. Stott then singled in the tying run before Hill drove in the game winning run three batters later.

Bunting with the ghost runner has its own positives and negatives. If you are successful, it allows you to score the run without a base hit. However, even if you are successful in sacrificing, it essentially gives you one less chance to score because you are giving away an out. So, what do you think about bunting the ghost runner over in extra innings?

The road to the MLB playoffs is more crowded than ever as the sprint to October picks up.

While division leaders continue to jockey for position, the biggest drama is unfolding in the wild card races, where contenders are fighting for the last of the postseason berths. Several clubs remain separated by only a handful of games, which makes every series crucial.

Here's the latest playoff picture, updated with MLB wild card standings and the teams on each side of the postseason cut line heading into action on Monday, Aug. 10.

MLB playoff picture: Who would make playoffs if season ended today?

American League playoff field

• 1. Tampa Bay Rays (East leader) — 71-46
• 2. Chicago White Sox (Central leader) — 61-56
• 3. Houston Astros (West leader) — 60-59
• 4. New York Yankees (No. 1 wild card) — 66-52
• 5. Boston Red Sox (No. 2 wild card) — 64-53
• 6. Texas Rangers (No. 3 wild card) — 59-59

National League playoff field

• 1. Milwaukee Brewers (Central leader) — 74-44
• 2. Atlanta Braves (East leader) — 71-47
• 3. Los Angeles Dodgers (West leader) — 70-48
• 4. Chicago Cubs (No. 1 wild card) — 69-50
• 5. Arizona Diamondbacks (No. 2 wild card) — 63-56
• 6. Philadelphia Phillies (No. 3 wild card) — 63-56

Current matchups in American League

• Rangers at Astros; Red Sox at Yankees
• Rays and White Sox would have byes to AL division series

Current matchups in National League

• Phillies at Dodgers; Diamondbacks at Cubs
• Brewers and Braves would have byes to NL division series

American League wild card standings

Top three wild card teams make the postseason:

• New York Yankees — 66-52 (+7.0 games)
• Boston Red Sox — 64-53 (+5½ games)
• Texas Rangers — 59-59 (—)
• Detroit Tigers — 58-50 (1 game back)
• Minnesota Twins — 58-61 (1½ games back)
• Cleveland Guardians — 58-61 (1½ games back)
• Baltimore Orioles — 57-61 (2 games back)
• Seattle Mariners — 56-63 (3½ games back)
• Toronto Blues Jays — 56-63 (3½ games back)

National League wild card standings

Top three wild card teams make the postseason:

• Chicago Cubs — 69-50 (+6 games)
• Arizona Diamondbacks — 63-56 (—)
• Philadelphia Phillies — 63-56 (—)
• San Diego Padres — 62-57 (1 game back)
• Miami Marlins — 60-59 (3 games back)
• St. Louis Cardinals — 59-59 (3½ games back)
• Washington Nationals — 59-61 (4½ games back)
• Pittsburgh Pirates — 58-62 (5½ games back)
• Cincinnati Reds — 56-61 (6 games back)

MLB wild card tiebreaker rules

Ties between two teams, per MLB.com:

1. Head-to-head record
2. Intradivision record
3. Intraleague record
4. Last half of intraleague games: These are the records from intraleague games after the All-Star break.
5. Last half of intraleague games plus one: Previous intraleague game on the schedule before All-Star break is used and process is repeated until tie is resolved.

When do MLB playoffs start?

The first day of the MLB postseason is expected to be Tuesday, Sept. 29, two days after the regular season ends. The dates for the division series and championship series have yet to be determined, but the World Series is set to begin Friday, Oct. 23. If necessary, Game 7 of the World Series will be on Halloween (Saturday, Oct. 31).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB wild card standings: Which teams hold final playoff spots?

Orioles 10, Rangers 5

• Well that was unpleasant.
• Kumar Rocker had an outing that felt very 2025 from Rocker.
• A mental error leading to runs, a pair of homers allowed, the hook coming out early in the game.
• Its so frustrating, because every time you think Rocker has turned the corner, one of these games occurs.
• Rocker should have been out of the first with no runs allowed.
• After a Pete Alonso single and Jackson Holliday double put runners at second and third with one out in the first, Rocker got Tyler O’Neill swinging. Dylan Beavers followed with a hard hit grounder down the line at first that Jake Burger made a nice play on.
• It should have been an inning-ending 3-1 putout…only Rocker, once again, did not cover first. So instead of being out of the inning it was an RBI infield single, with Leody Taveras following with a double to make it 2-0 Baltimore.
• Two homers the next inning, accounting for five runs, made the game somewhat lopsided and un-fun from then on.
• We did get to see the 2026 debut of Jordan Montgomery. The concerns about his velocity continue to be borne out, as Montgomery averaged 90.4 mph with his fastball and 89.5 mph with his sinker in the 79 pitch appearance. As a point of reference, he averaged 92.1 mph and 91.8 mph on his fastball and sinker, respectively, in 2024, and 93.2 mph and 93.3 mph in 2023.
• I want Jordan Montgomery to make it back and succeed, but if he’s throwing 3 mph slower than he was in 2023, he’s got questionable value even as a long man.
• Montgomery gave up three runs in four innings of work, including a pair of homers, one of which scored the Kumar Rocker walk that Montgomery inherited. Honestly, it felt a little fortunate Montgomery only allowed three.
• Cole Winn pitched the final two innings and didn’t do much to make you feel good about how he’s going, as he walked three and allowed two hits, walking in a run, and avoiding more damage by getting two Ks and a fly out to escape further damage in a bases loaded, no one out situation in the ninth.
• Texas had some chances early — there were two on with one out in the second, and a Brandon Nimmo two out, three run homer in the third shifted momentum and seemingly got the team back into it before Baltimore piled on more runs. They put a pair on in the fourth and in the sixth but didn’t score, until finally scraping across a couple of runs in the ninth on a Cam Cauley walk, a Nicky Lopez triple, and an RBI groundout.
• Too little, too late, with too many wasted opportunities. 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one being the Nimmo homer.
• Unfortunate.
• On the plus side, Houston lost, so Texas is just a half game back in the West. Cleveland and Minnesota also lost, keeping them 1.5 games back in the Wild Card chase, though Detroit won, and so the Tigers are now just a game back of Texas.
• Kumar Rocker hit 96.8 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.1 mph. Jordan Montgomery’s fastball hit 91.6 mph. Cole Winn touched 97.2 mph with his fastball.
• Brandon Nimmo had a 107.1 mph home run. Justin Foscue had a 104.1 mph single. Ezequiel Duran had a 102.4 mph groundout. Jake Burger had a 100.8 mph single.
• Let’s start a new winning streak in Anaheim.

There has been a lot of talk about Dana Brown over the last week and rightfully so. He is on the chopping block and what was done or not done at the deadline will go a long way in determining whether he will be back in 2027 or not. I already commented about the issues he had to deal with at the deadline. However, I have tried to remain as even-handed as possible.

All trades have to be evaluated on a number of different levels. We now know that the Astros also got 1.7 million dollars in addition to getting Daulton Varsho. Essentially, that kept them from surpassing the tax threshold and depending on how you feel about Spencer Arrighetti’s future, the deal looks like a win. If you believe that Arrighetti had no real future in the organization then you were getting something for nothing. Those are always wins in the strictest sense.

However, that is not the only way to evaluate a trade. Another way to evaluate a trade is to ask what could have been possible at the same price. Supposedly, the Astros could have had Dylan Cease for Arrighetti and three prospects the previous season. How good were those prospects? Would that have been a better haul? Could Arrighetti been involved in another deal for another outfielder this season? We will never know the answer to those questions.

One of the charges that we did not address in the last piece was Brown’s preoccupation with specific players and specific profiles. His crusade for a lefty bat has been long documented, but it could also be said that he targets specific players. He admitted to scouting Lamont Wade Jr. for three years. He also alluded to the fact that he had been in on Varsho for awhile as well. Sometimes, we can be blinded when we become obsessed with certain players. In both cases, you could claim that their best days were behind them. Obviously, Wade has done some good things in Houston and the book has not been written yet on Varsho.

However, in this piece we will look at the obsession with getting a lefty bat. Is that really what the Astros outfield needed? We know Yordan Alvarez famously hits both righties and lefties. Those hitters are rare and they are paid top dollar for that ability. Most hitters struggle against one or the other. We can look at splits for this season and for their career. There are positives and negatives to focusing on one over the other.

When we look at this season we are looking at the here and now. One of the points I have made is that I start to look at numbers around Memorial Day. Each season exists on its own as a living and breathing thing and managers get burned when they focus on the “back of the baseball card.” Yet, some of these players have limited plate appearances. For instance, Wade has fewer than ten plate appearances against lefties this season. So, looking at those splits for him should be taken with a grain of salt. So, we will focus on career numbers. We will start against righties and then move to lefties. Pay close to attention to what these numbers say.

SLASH numbers against righties

	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Cam Smith	.227	.293	.348	.641
Jake Meyers	.227	.296	.341	.637
Taylor Trammel	.256	.343	.442	.785
Daulton Varsho	.220	.294	.436	.730
Brice Matthews	.204	.261	.358	.619
Zach Dezenzo	.204	.250	.265	.515
Joey Loperfido	.249	.308	.406	.714
Laont Wade Jr	.241	.349	.409	.758

The Astros have no shortage of outfielders and most of their outfielders are capable of playing multiple positions. The good news is that this allows them to mix and match to put the optimum group out there both offensively and defensively. Obviously, some of it works both ways. Smith is a Gold Glove level right fielder, so even though his OPS against righties is worse than most, you do get some positive value from putting him in the game. Still, if the league average OPS is .720 (as it is this season) then the Astros are capable of putting four guys out there that are close to or above the league average in OPS.

Wade cannot play in center, but the other three can play all three outfield positions. Wade can play in left field, right field, or first base. So, if you are looking strictly for offense then some combination of those four outfielders should be in the game against right handed pitching. Naturally, that means sitting Cam Smith on most nights, but every team has these choices. It represents the difference between perception and reality and it goes to evaluating whether a manager is really putting his best nine out there often enough. Let’s see what happens against lefties.

SLASH numbers against lefties

	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Cam Smith	.236	.333	.444	.777
Jake Meyers	.257	.312	.407	.719
Taylor Trammel	.115	.207	.192	.399
Daulton Varsho	.256	.308	.372	.680
Brice Matthews	.171	.215	.341	.556
Zach Dezenzo	.196	.286	.304	.590
Joey Loperfido	.203	.267	.253	.520
Lamont Wade	.195	.292	.252	.544

So, you have two guys here producing at a league average clip or better in their careers against lefties. Varsho isn’t terrible considering he is left-handed, but it seems like the Astros outfield is a little heavily slanted to the left side already. So why were we continuing to look for left handed hitters? I mentioned the concept of opportunity costs earlier. Maybe you cannot acquire multiple guys with the assets you had. Maybe you were only able to acquire one outfielder. Let’s compare Varsho above with Taylor Ward that went from the Orioles to the Mariners.

The Mariners traded two prospects and a relief pitcher. Both prospects were outside of the Mariners top 30 according to MLB.com. Obviously, we have no way of knowing whether they would have had any interest in Arrighetti. However, if we assume he is more valuable than the reliever that went the other way then we could surmise that the Astros could have made such a deal while throwing in one prospect outside their top 30. Let’s look at the career numbers for Ward.

	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Against RHP	.235	.326	.412	.738
Against LHP	.280	.363	.462	.825

The numbers aren’t quite as good this season against righties, but has been as good against lefties as the career numbers would indicate. Plus, he leads the league in walks so he would be a more appropriate player to put towards the top of the order than Varsho. However, Brown had to get his white whale. He had to get his lefty bat even if that wasn’t what the Astros really needed.

The best way to characterize the criticism of Brown is not to criticize what he did. The vast majority of his moves either worked out or made overwhelming sense at the time they were made. Varsho is likely more positive than negative as well. However, he clearly has failed to do things he said himself that he wanted to do. He also has failed to address deficiencies because he has been hyper-focused on the wrong things. This outfield needed a righty bat to balance it and the numbers above demonstrate that.

Sigh. Cam Schlittler goes seven innings, allows only one run to a pretty potent Braves lineup, the bullpen gets six scoreless outs, and the Yankees lose. “You can’t predict baseball, Suzyn.“ Also though. Baseball can be profoundly dumb sometimes.

To make matters worse, the Rays won again. That puts the Yanks 5.5 games back of first in the AL East. And even though the Red Sox lost on Sunday—a surprising Fenway series loss against a bad team—objects in the rear view mirror are closer than they should be considering how awful they were for all but 37 games or so this season. The Beantown Boys lurk 1.5 games behind New York in the Wild Card race. Awful, awful turn of events on the whole.

Tampa Bay Rays (71-46) 4, Seattle Mariners (56-63)

Oh Seattle. What happened to you? Sunday, the M’s managed to get on the board first, thanks to a Taylor Ward triple and an RBI single from Cole Young. But it was all downhill from there. Rays starter Ian Seymour completely shut down the Seattle offense, going six innings and allowing the lone run on his ledger.

Offensively, Chandler Simpson wreaked havoc for Tampa Bay. Not your grandpappy’s No. 3 hitter, Simpson held down that spot in the lineup today. Four hits later, he raised his season average to .304. Considering his .850 OPS in the last 30 games, it’s hard to argue with that lineup placement. Simpson was not alone either. Yandy Díaz notched a quartet of knocks of his own. All told, the top three hitters in the Rays lineup went 9-for-15 on the day. Runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings gave Tampa the lead and they cruised to the win. As an aside, “Mariners Memes” has to be one of the saddest accounts on social media. Be kind to your Mariners fans friends. They are going through it.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (64-53) 3, The Athletics (47-71) 4: A hearty “thank you, kindly” to the lowly A’s, who went into Fenway this weekend and took a series from the incandescently hot Red Sox. Sunday, it was a late comeback that got the job done. Trailing 3-2 in the eighth with two outs, Jonah Heim stepped to the plate for the A’s. His double to left field knotted the score and set the stage for heroics. In the ninth, with old “friend” Aroldis Chapman on the mound and a runner on, Max Muncy clubbed an RBI double of his own. That scored what ended up being the winning run, handing Boston what is a rare loss these days. You love to see it.

Houston Astros (60-59) 2, San Diego Padres (62-57) 7: With Seattle stuck in the mud at seven games under .500 and four games back, the AL West looks to be shaping up as a two-horse race between the two Texas clubs. Houston’s loss Sunday keeps them a mere half-game up on the Rangers, who also fell to the Orioles. Former Yankee Randy Vásquez, sent to the Dads in the Trent Grisham trade, started for San Diego and other than surrendering a two-run home run to Daulton Varsho in the first pitched very well. Meanwhile, it was home run derby at the dish for the Padres, with four different hitters going yard. Fernando Tatis Jr. provided the key blast, with his three-run shot giving San Diego a lead they never surrendered.

Chicago White Sox (61-56) 5, Cleveland Guardians (58-61) 3: It’s early August and the Chicago White Sox are still atop the AL Central. Who woulda thunk it? Sunday, they really did themselves a favor taking down divisional foe Cleveland. A prolonged rain delay (2:23) meant this became a battle of the bullpens. The ChiSox were up to the task. They bookended the contest giving up a lone run in the first and ninth innings. But that was all. And in the third, Colson Montgomery provided all the thump Chicago needed with a three-run home run, his 26th of the season.

Perhaps most surprising of all about the wacky AL Central: second place is not occupied by Cleveland or even Minnesota; they’re both four back of Chicago. In fact, it’s the now the Tigers, who despite throwing in the towel by trading not only Tarik Skubal but also Casey Mize have suddenly won seven of nine and trail the Pale Hose by 3.5 games. Detroit is also the closest team to the Rangers for the last Wild Card spot, one game behind (for those curious, the Yanks are seven ahead of Texas). Could they be channeling the Tigers club from two years back in going from deadline sellers to a last-minute playoff berth? In this underwhelming American League field, why the hell not?

Meet the Mets

Having resigned themselves to the inevitability of loss and anguish for 2026, the Mets have suddenly stopped losing.

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

Prior to Sunday’s victory, the Mets demoted their honorable innings eater Xzavion Curry to Syracuse and called up Jack Weisenbuger in his place.

To close the game, the Mets turned to Jack Weisenburger with his family in attendance to make his major league debut.

Fresh out of the Bigelow Tea Broadcast Booth, Newsday’s Laura Albanese recapped her series calling games on the radio with Keith Radd.

Despite his rough Saturday on the mound in Pittsburgh, Andy Green indicated that Robert Stock will stick in the Mets rotation for the time being.

Around the National League East

Leading up to the Field of Dreams game, the Phillies had a quartet of phantom ballplayers throw out the first pitch on Sunday.

Will Dion recorded the first win of his big league career and eight different Nationals recorded a hit in a 7-1 win over the Reds.

It took 12 innings and 210 minutes, but the Phillies eventually ended their weekend with a walkoff win against the Blue Jays in a 7-6 ballgame.

Up against Cam Schlittler, the Braves left the Bronx with their only win of the series against the Yankees, grabbing a 2-1 win in 10 innings.

The Marlins absolutely bludgeoned the Angels on Sunday, taking a 12-3 contest on the strength of a pair of Griffin Conine homers.

In a Hall of Fame-level display of red-assery, Chris Sale was ejected prior to Sunday’s Braves-Yankees game for continuing a balk argument from the prior day’s game.

Kyle Stowers left Sunday’s game early with what the Marlins describe as left hamstring discomfort that’ll be evaluated in the coming days.

People are spending a lot of time and energy looking at Zack Wheeler’s foot for a surprisingly good reason.

Around Major League Baseball

Jacob Misiorowski reached the 200 strikeout mark at a quicker pace than anyone in the history of baseball not named Spencer Strider.

On the all-time list, Max Scherzer (depending on which website you consult) surpassed Walter Johnson on the strikeout leaderboard to crack the top-10 in baseball history.

North Carolina’s Johnston County Little League came ahead victorious in the Little League Softball World Series, defeating Kentucky 2-0.

Jeff McNeil of the [CITY NAME UNAVAILABLE] Athletics recorded the 1,000th hit of his career.

Closing out a series in Texas, Pete Alonso connected for his first multi-homer game as a member of the Baltimore Orioles.

After a pair of games in Worcester, Adley Rutschman’s rehab assignment is apparently completed to the Red Sox’s satisfaction as the newly-acquired catcher is said to be making his team debut this week in Toronto.

Continuing his process of Rich Hillification, Craig Kimbrel signed a major league deal with the Kansas City Royals, soon to be his 12th team.

Jacob Wilson surpassed the record of old friend Mike Bordick with his 111th consecutive errorless game at the shortstop position.

In the span of eight hours, outfielder Austin Hays signed a deal with the Padres, made it to the stadium, and connected for a pinch-hit home run in his first at bat with San Diego.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 1993, Bret Saberhagen admitted to spraying bleach on reporters.

Welcome to week 20 of our 2026 NL Central Power Rankings — let’s rank some teams!

1. Milwaukee Brewers (74-44); 5-2 this week; 100.0% chance to make postseason (FanGraphs)

The Brewers went 5-2 at home this week, taking three of four from the Pirates before winning two of three against the Twins.

Jackson Chourio anchored the offense with four homers and seven walks this week, driving in five. Andrew Vaughn led the team with six RBIs while also homering, and Brice Turang led the team with eight hits, driving in five.

Kyle Harrison made the best start of the week in his return from the IL, totaling five scoreless with 10 strikeouts before being removed due to cramps. Aaron Ashby added to his win total with five scoreless innings over four appearances this week, striking out 11, while Trevor Megill, Chad Patrick, Garrett Stallings, Abner Uribe, and Bryse Wilson also had scoreless weeks.

Milwaukee now heads back to California, as they’ll face the Padres for three games and the Dodgers for four games over the next week.

2. Chicago Cubs (69-50); 6-1 this week; 98.9% chance to make postseason

The Cubs had a solid week against some solid opponents, sweeping the Dodgers at home, beating the Blue Jays in a makeup game on Thursday, and winning two of three against the Royals in Kansas City over the weekend.

Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ both slugged a pair of homers this week, with PCA and Michael Busch (who also homered) tying for the team lead with 10 hits apiece. Eight other Cubs had a homer this week, too.

Just about every starter with the exception of Clay Holmes had a good week, as Matthew Boyd, Kevin Gausman, Javier Assad, Shota Imanaga, and David Peterson went a combined 4-0 with 11 earned runs across 37 1/3 innings (2.65 ERA). Tyler Ferguson, Ryan Rolison, Trent Thornton, Jake Woodford, and Jacob Webb all had scoreless weeks for the bullpen, with Webb picking up a pair of saves.

After an off day on Monday, Chicago will take on the Nationals for three games in Washington before returning home to host the Cardinals over the weekend.

3. Cincinnati Reds (56-61); 3-3 this week; 0.5% chance to make postseason

The dropoff between the Brewers and Cubs and the rest of the division has only gotten more drastic as the season has gone on. The Reds had an OK week, as they swept the A’s at home before being swept by the Nationals in Washington for a .500 week overall.

Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and Eugenio Suárez each slugged a pair of homers, while Sal Stewart had a team-high six hits, including a homer.

Rhett Lowder turned in the best start of the week, going six solid innings with two runs allowed and three strikeouts. Pierce Johnson, Zach McCambley, Luis Mey, and Emilio Pagán totaled seven scoreless innings with nine strikeouts for the bullpen.

Cincinnati gets a day off on Monday before they play the White Sox for three games in Chicago. They’ll then return home to host the Marlins over the weekend.

4. St. Louis Cardinals (59-59); 4-2 this week; 6.7% chance to make postseason

The Cardinals won two of three against both the Yankees and Rockies for a 4-2 week.

Alec Burleson had five hits this week, including a team-high four homers, as he also doubled and drove in seven. Iván Herrera led the team with 10 hits, including a homer and three doubles, driving in four, while Jordan Walker, Jimmy Crooks, and Nathan Church also homered.

Andre Pallante turned in the best start of the week, going 5 1/3 innings with one run allowed and four strikeouts to earn the win. Kyle Leahy (five innings, two earned runs) and Justin Bruihl (4 2/3 innings, one earned run) also had solid weeks, while Caleb Ferguson, Gordon Graceffo, and Riley O’Brien all had scoreless weeks for the bullpen, with O’Brien picking up three saves.

St. Louis now hosts the Phillies for three games before an off day on Thursday. They’ll then head to Wrigley to take on the Cubs over the weekend.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates (58-62); 2-5 this week; 8.2% chance to make postseason

The Pirates had another rough week, losing three of four in Milwaukee before dropping two of three to the Mets over the weekend.

Brandon Lowe and Endy Rodríguez each slugged two homers this week, while Jake Mangum led the team with eight hits, including three doubles and a homer.

Bubba Chandler was the sole bright spot in the rotation, picking up two wins with just three runs allowed (two earned) over 11 2/3 innings, striking out 10. Camilo Doval, Mason Montgomery, Yohan Ramírez, and Luke Weaver combined for 10 1/3 scoreless innings for the bullpen, striking out 15.

After an off day on Monday, the Pirates will visit the Marlins for three games before returning home to host the Red Sox over the weekend.