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Phillies erupt for 6-run inning, collect another series win over Dodgers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

LOS ANGELES – There certainly was a built-in excuse for the Phillies’ play against the Dodgers on Tuesday, a day after they clinched their second consecutive National League East title. After all, there were candles lit in the clubhouse before the game to try and help smother the smell of many celebratory beers and cigars.

If there were any lingering cobwebs from the previous night’s fun, no one around the Phillies was going to admit as much, and maybe being no-hit in the first five innings was just a coincidence. Or perhaps the better reasoning was that Shohei Ohtani was on the mound.

Excuses weren’t needed as the Phillies, again, came back from an early deficit and defeated the Dodgers, 9-6. Backup catcher Rafael Marchan blasted a three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning for the thrilling win. The Phillies improved to 91-61, their first time being 30 games over .500 this season.

“He had good at-bats all night,” said manager Rob Thomson of Marchan. “He’s done a great job for us all year. He plays once every fifth day, once every sixth day and as prepared as he is not only behind the plate but offensively, too. He’s just done a fabulous job. Really has.”

When Ohtani was removed after his five innings, either the espresso that was so popular in the clubhouse before the game kicked in or this resilient bunch just showed their true colors of late as they erupted for six runs in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead.

“We thought that he was pretty good,” Thomson deadpanned about Ohtani. “Seeing the shapes of his pitches, just seeing it live, it should help a little bit (should there be a playoff meeting).”

The long ball hurt Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez early as the Dodgers plated three in the second inning on a solo home run by Alex Call and then a two-run shot by Kike Hernandez. They added another run in the fourth on singles by Tommy Edman and Andy Pages before a sacrifice fly by Hernandez.

Sanchez, whom manager Thomson said would be his Game 1 playoff starter, wasn’t at his sharpest but typical of everyone on the team lately, battled through.

“I feel great for him,” said Sanchez of Marchan. “He’s a tremendous catcher. The only thing is he’s backing up J.T. right now, but he’s a tremendous catcher. I’m just really happy that he’s showing out for the team.

“I felt good today. I was attacking the hitters and I was throwing strikes. The only bad thing about it was maybe they got me with a couple of pitches that I left in the zone, but I felt good overall and we got the win, which is the most important thing.”

Marchan broke the no-hit seal for the Phillies in the sixth and then the flood gates opened. Harrison Bader and Kyle Schwarber followed with singles to load the bases off Dodgers reliever Justin Wrobleski. Bryce Harper then doubled, scoring two, before Brandon Marsh obliterated a slider into the right-center seats for a 5-4 lead. Edgardo Henriquez replaced Wrobleski and gave up a home run to Max Kepler down the rightfield line as the Phillies batted around in the inning.

With a two-run lead and having already thrown 89 pitches, Thomson sent Sanchez out for the seventh inning in what could be his last normal workload before the playoffs. He easily shut down the Dodgers in that frame and finished his night with 102 pitches, 75 of them strikes and allowed seven hits, four earned runs and struck out six to improve to 14-5 on the year.

“He’s going to have one more start, maybe two,” said Thomson of Sanchez. “Our pen was a little bit light today, so we pushed him a little bit further than we normally do. In the sixth he was really good and he was 96, 97 in the seventh. The one thing early in the game, everything seemed to be leaking back to the middle of the plate on right-handed hitters and they had some pretty good swings. He grinded and he did a great job.”

Ohtani led off the eighth with a home run to right off David Robertson that completely left the stadium. Teoscar Hernandez chased Robertson after he doubled. Tanner Banks then gave up a walk to Freddie Freeman and a single to Tommy Edman to load the bases. Alex Call hit a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game.

In the ninth, Weston Wilson laced a two-out double to left off Blake Treinen. Bryson Stott was then intentionally walked before Marchan smashed a 3-1 pitch just over the short fence and into the Phillies bullpen for the deciding runs.

“We knew if we could keep the score close (against Ohtani) then we’d have a chance,” said Marchan. “I was excited. I’ll just try to enjoy it as much as I can, but the way that we are winning is more important. I know he was trying to be around the strike zone and I just wanted him to come to me and give me the best chance to put my best swing. I hit the ball well. I was ready for that.”

Jhoan Duran pitched the ninth and picked up his 31st save of the season.

The Phillies remain 1.5 games behind Milwaukee for the top seed in the National League as the Brewers beat the Angels Monday. Philadelphia also expanded their lead over the Dodgers to 6.5 for the second seed. The top two seeds receive byes in the postseason.

“They’ve been huge because they’ve been great games,” said Thomson of the two wins against the Dodgers. “Fell behind tonight 4-0 and it kind of looked like we were dead in the water. All of the sudden we have that big sixth inning, Marsh home run and Kepler home run and in the ninth it all started with two outs. Just a really good team win.”

The Phillies now own the tiebreaker against the Dodgers so would have home field advantage should the two meet in the playoffs.

“It’s huge,” Thomson said. “It doesn’t matter what team it is I think we play better at home than we do on the road and I think a lot of it has to do with our fan base and everybody is comfortable at home. Getting home field advantage is crucial.”

Not only are the wins happening often for the Phillies, they are also happening in extremely enjoyable ways for them.

“I was ready to run on the field like we were in the bottom of the ninth,” said Marsh of Marchan’s home run. “It was a whole lot of fun. Really good at-bat, weight off the back foot. It was a professional at-bat and we needed it. Big time.”

Jose Iglesias was the sparkplug that led the 'OMG' Mets last season, and the team honored their former infielder ahead of Tuesday's series opener against the Padres.

Prior to first pitch, the big board at Citi Field showed a highlight package of Iglesias' best moments in Flushing. Take a look at the tribute video below.

OMG

Jose Iglesias gets a tribute video at Citi Field 🧡💙 pic.twitter.com/0ftPe7MWwh

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 16, 2025

The veteran infielder's locker room chemistry and on-field play helped the 2024 Mets overcome an 0-5 start to the season all the way to the NLCS after he was called up from the minor leagues.

In 85 games with the Mets, Iglesias slashed .337/.381/.448 with an OPS of .830 to go along with his Gold Glove caliber defense. He struggled a bit in the postseason, but hit .227 with three RBI in 12 games.

Iglesias held out hope over the offseason that he would re-sign with the Mets after becoming a free agent, but New York decided not to bring him back. Iglesias would eventually sign with San Diego, and while he hasn't provided the offense he did a year ago, he has given bench depth for the postseason-bound Padres.

In 106 games this season, he has slashed .227/.297/.273 with an OPS of .569 to go along with 32 RBI.

Fundamentals fly out the window in Giants' ‘frustrating' fourth straight loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

For much of this season’s final stretch, the Giants have had their sights on the New York Mets and the National League’s third and final wild-card spot, and they were one win away from overtaking them just a few days ago.

But things have taken a drastic turn since then, and San Francisco now sits three games behind the Mets — with the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks between them — after a 6-5 walk-off loss Tuesday night at Chase Field.

All manager Bob Melvin could do was repeat his exasperation after the Giants’ fourth consecutive loss, which came after San Francisco failed to record a hit past the third inning and committed two errors against their NL West opponent.

“It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating,” Melvin told reporters after the loss. “All these games we lose like that are frustrating, especially against a lefty we’ve had trouble against, and had a tough time with him last time. To be able to score four in the first, get another one in the third. After that, [it] didn’t even feel like we got a base runner.”

For all of the trouble they’ve had with left-handed pitching this season, the Giants jumped on Diamondbacks southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez early with a four-run first inning.

Wilmer Flores, who started at first base with top prospect Bryce Eldridge on the bench, tagged the lefty for another run with a solo homer in the third for his second RBI of the night.

But after that, Melvin was right — the Giants didn’t even reach base. Tristan Beck made his first start of the year and surrendered three earned runs in three innings before the Diamondbacks scored two off Trevor McDonald in the fifth.

All of the sound defense that has contributed to San Francisco’s late-season playoff push flew out the window in the loss. Flores didn’t touch first base on a would-be double play in the seventh, and José Buttó committed a throwing error in the eighth; while neither impacted the score, the infield oddities foreshadowed the game’s end result.

On another peculiar play in the ninth, Jung Hoo Lee didn’t run down the line on a groundout to first base after he thought the ball hit his foot.

And then, in the bottom of the ninth, Ryan Walker gave up a single and a walk before Casey Schmitt failed to touch first base on a sacrifice bunt by Diamondbacks third baseman Blaze Alexander, which loaded the bases. Jordan Lawlar then tapped a soft ground ball past Walker for the walk-off win.

“All these losses are frustrating,” Melvin said. “To lose like that where a ball doesn’t … even leave the infield, it’s really frustrating. We’ve got to step on the bag at first. Got to make a cleaner play. You know, as far as going by [Walker], it’s just, yeah …

“There’s a lot of new things for Casey at second base, but one of them is he’s got to get on the bag. And obviously he didn’t, and that was huge part of the inning right there.”

With the loss, the Giants now are back below .500 at 75-76. With less than two weeks left, nothing is impossible, but the confidence that helped them surge up the wild-card standings and saw them celebrating after a walk-off grand slam last Friday appears all but submerged.

They have 11 games to find it.

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Why Cora pulled Red Sox rookie Connelly Early despite success vs. A's originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Boston Red Sox left-handed rookie Connelly Early ran through the Oakland Athletics — again.

Early, who threw five scoreless innings when he made his Major League debut against Oakland last week, started his first-ever game at Fenway Park on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, it didn’t end the way he might’ve hoped as Boston took a 2-1 loss in the series opener.

Early, though, did his part.

“The kid did an amazing job,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters of Early, who allowed one run on five hits with seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings.

The 23-year-old scattered four hits during the first five innings, retiring the side in the second and third frames. He returned to the mound in the sixth but allowed a lead-off single on a ball that never left the infield. Early rebounded and struck out Oakland’s No. 3 hitter, Nick Kurtz, for the first out of the frame.

He was a double-play ball away from throwing six strong in front of the Fenway Faithful.

Cora, however, had other plans. He opted to go to the bullpen with Early at 80 pitches (55 strikes) and Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker stepping to the plate for a third time. Hooker ripped a single to right field when he faced Early in the fourth inning.

“It’s about the guy that is hitting,” Cora said of the decision to pull Early. “The game will dictate that we do. That’s a good big leaguer that hits lefties really well. The other guys have to do their job.”

But the others didn’t.

Cora went with right-handed reliever Greg Weissert against the right-hander Hooker. Weissert struck Hooker out, but wasn’t able to close the door and get the final out of the inning. Instead, Weissert allowed an RBI double to the second batter he faced, walked the third, and allowed a two-out RBI single to the fourth. Weissert, who threw just 12 of his 22 pitches for strikes, was credited with the loss.

“We lose that game because I can’t do my job,” Weissert said. “Early pitches an unbelievable game and I go in there and do that (expletive). It sucks.”

The Red Sox, in the thick of a playoff race, host the Athletics in the middle game of the series Wednesday.

The Mets enter the final two weeks of the regular season on the cusp of missing the postseason, a fact that was once unthinkable just a few months ago.

On June 12, a victory over the Nationals put the Mets at 45-24, the best record in all of baseball, and led the Phillies by 5.5 games in the NL East. Since then, the Mets have plummeted, going 32-49 entering Tuesday's series opener against the Padres. Only the Rockies and Twins have had worse records.

At just 77-73, the Mets hold onto a 1.5-game lead for the final wild card spot, and president of baseball operations David Stearns is just as surprised as the rest of baseball at what has become of the Mets' season after such a hot start.

"When you’re sitting where we were in mid-June, we didn’t expect to be in this spot, there’s no question about that," Stearns told the media ahead of Tuesday's game. "We’ll have time to evaluate and diagnose and do all that stuff. For right now, my focus is from here forward what can we do to win as many games as possible. That's in the regular season and the postseason."

Heading into Tuesday, the Mets still have a 79 percent chance at making the postseason with 12 games to go. For Stearns, a big reason the Mets have overcome the highs and lows of the 2025 regular season has been manager Carlos Mendoza. After Mendoza led the Mets to an improbable postseason berth to the NLCS as season ago as a first-time manager, the skipper has been under fire for how a talent-laden, $300-million team has underachieved.

Stearns praised Mendoza and the coaching staff for guiding this year's team despite that.

"We’ve remained consistent as a group," he said. "As a coaching staff, we’re putting in the work and doing our best to prepare our players. And that’s where our focus is."

Stearns later added, "Mendy has done a very good job. He's been a positive leader, a consistent leader, and he's done what he can to get our group going. I think he's going to continue to do that."

Stearns open to using starters in bullpen

One reason for the 2025 Mets' inconsistencies has been the volatility of the starting rotation and bullpen. Veterans Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga have struggled, while Clay Holmes is entering uncharted territory with the number of innings that the converted reliever is undertaking. Then recently-acquired relievers like Ryan Helsley have contributed to the Mets' bullpen woes this year.

While Stearns has supplemented the rotation with three youngsters (Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat), the Mets will have to lean on their veteran starters in the postseason. Even if that means using them in the bullpen.

"I wouldn’t take any of that off the table right now," Stearns said of potentially using Senga or Holmes in the bullpen. "With 12 games left in our season, we’re going to do what we need to do to win as many games as possible, and if that means asking pitchers to take on slightly different roles for various turns through our rotation, that’s what we’re going to do."

Holmes is the most experienced of the bunch, pitching in the postseason. Holmes has appeared in 19 playoff games in three different seasons with the Yankees, with last year's campaign seeing him pitch deep into October. He pitched to a 3-1 record and a 2.25 ERA across 13 appearances (12 IP).

While Holmes pitching out of the 'pen in the playoffs is a possibility, it will still be a conversation the team will have as they look to mix and match against their opponent.

"It’s still a transition for him to do that," Stearns said of potentially moving Holmes to the bullpen. "It’s as much of what the matchups say, who we’re facing, how the rest of the pitching staff as a group is performing and then holistically trying to make the best decisions as you can."