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Appropriately for a series with two struggling lineups and strong pitching staffs, the Yankees and Padres battled to the margins in Sunday afternoon’s rubber game. The contest could hardly have gone off to a worse start for the Yanks, as Gerrit Cole surrendered home runs to each of the first three batters he faced. The Yankee offense wasted a lot of good chances against old friend Michael King, and it seemed like a sleepy loss was in order.

New York, to their credit, made good on a rally in the eighth inning, but were foiled by Friday night’s walk-off hero. Padres catcher Luis Campusano, not long after giving San Diego a key insurance run with a solo shot of his own, threw out the would-be tying run attempting to steal second, and Mason Miller struck out Ben Rice representing the go-ahead tally in the ninth to turn the Bombers away at the door. Another close game slipped away from the Yanks along the margins.

The temperature at first pitch in San Diego was 81 degrees with cloudy skies—hardly the weather in which you would expect balls to fly out of the yard. And yet the Padres’ power bats were switched on from the jump. Leading off, Fernando Tatis Jr. took Cole the opposite way for his 20th home run of the season to strike the opening blow.

The next batter, Jake Cronenworth. stayed back on his fastball and got enough of a piece to line it to the opposite field. It had enough zip to stay fair and clear the wall for a second straight homer. Cronenworth had been mired in an 0-for-22 slump before that swing.

Then there was Manny Machado, who was responsible for the Padres’ lone run last night. Machado got better wood on his homer than either Tatis or Cronenworth, slamming it deep over the center field wall to make it back-to-back-to-back jacks for San Diego to begin their offensive effort. That this was a disorienting start to a Gerrit Cole start the way he’s been cruising lately is an understatement.

Ty France very nearly made it four consecutive with his own high fly all the way to the warning track in center, but it mercifully stayed in the yard. To Cole’s credit, he rallied from that stunning start, refusing to allow the deficit to expand, even when an ugly Jasson Domínguez error on a routine base hit to right put a runner on third base for free.

Meanwhile, the Yankees failed to make good on two great opportunities to score. In the second inning, they brought the tying run to the plate in the person of George Lombard Jr., who grounded into a force play. With the rally still alive, Ryan McMahon came up with two in scoring position, but King got him to roll over on the changeup to retire the side.

The Yankees wouldn’t get another good shot at getting on the board until the fifth, with a rally which began on a double to right field by Lombard. King managed to get to two outs before he started missing his spots, and before long he’d walked a pair of Bombers to load the bases for Cody Bellinger—just about the first guy you’d want in that particular spot if you’re Aaron Boone.

But Bellinger got overaggressive, swinging at the first pitch King threw, popping out to right to leave the bases loaded and allow their old friend to escape with no damage on his line. He would make it unscathed through the sixth to extend his personal scoreless innings streak to 21.2. I’ve always been fond of Michael King, and I’m happy to see him succeed, but the Yankees should have put up a couple of runs on him today at the very least. They failed to cash in their chances.

To be fair to the Yankees, they were also continually hitting into hard luck. Both Spencer Jones and Luis García Jr. hit wall-scrapers that died at the warning track. In the fourth, Jazz Chisholm Jr. lined a comebacker directly at King, who snagged the ball and easily doubled off García at first. Then in the sixth, Domínguez roped a line drive which threatened to extend a rally with Jones aboard, but Cronenworth made a slick diving catch to once again send the Bombers packing.

These near misses were particularly hard to swallow since the Padres’ greatest team strength is their bullpen.

Bradgley Rodriguez, for instance, entered action in the seventh with a 1.99 ERA. That’s a tough foe for the bottom of the order to solve while trailing 3-love. They didn’t. Rodriguez retired them in order on 11 pitches.

And if you thought a 3-0 deficit was going to be a tough ask to rally against, try 4-0.

Cole had performed brilliantly after the first-inning barrage, keeping his pitch count in control while doing his best to keep the Yankees within striking distance. But he finally coughed up one last mistake in the bottom of the seventh inning. Campusano slugged his second home run of the series out to left on a 2-1 fastball that caught far too much of the strike zone.

This game marked the first time in 11 starts that Cole allowed more than three runs in a start. He very nearly extended that streak even with the nightmare beginning. And that fourth run was about to start mattering real fast.

The Yankees lineup faced a tough lefty who reportedly saw interest from the Yankees this trade deadline: Adrian Morejón. But they were up to the task, quickly getting two aboard for the grooving Spencer Jones. Jones snuck a grounder just inside the third base bag for a double to finally get the Yankees on the board and put two more runners in scoring position. A solidly struck base hit would likely bring the Yankees back within a run.

Or, as it turned out, a very weakly struck base hit.

Amed Rosario came off the bench to hit for Jazz Chisholm Jr. and tapped a swinging bunt along the third base side. Morejón probably should have held onto the ball and cut his losses, but his vain attempt to record the out at first resulted in a low throw which skipped into foul ground, scoring both runners and thinning the margin down to 4-3.

José Caballero pinch-ran for Rosario and immediately decided to force the issue, racing toward second base with Domínguez at the plate. But Campusano, continuing to play hero for the Padres, gunned Caballero down at second to neuter the Yankee rally. Domínguez lined out to center to retire the side.

And not to beat a dead horse, but trailing by a run against Mason Miller is definitely not where you want to be. The best closer in baseball struck out Lombard, then a savvy ABS challenge by Campusano—enough of this guy—turned a ball into a strikeout of McMahon.

That set up two down with Austin Wells at the plate. Miller fell behind the Yankee catcher 3-0, then battled back to work the count full. The payoff pitch missed low and in, setting the stage for Ben Rice to take on the Reaper.

Rice battled valiantly, working the count full, but Miller snuck a slider past him which landed directly on the outside edge to secure the strikeout and dash the Yankees’ hopes of a comeback. A tough loss to swallow.

The Rays lost to the Rangers, but the Red Sox won in Baltimore. The Bombers have struggled mightily to gain any ground in the divisional hunt—they’ll have to content themselves with a 3-3 split of the final West Coast trip (excluding the Arizona detour next week), and get ready to fly home.

Enjoy Labor Day tomorrow, everyone! The Yankees will have the day off as they return to their native time zone, then they’ll host the Rockies and Mets in the upcoming homestand. Cam Schlittler will face fellow righty Gabriel Hughes on Tuesday at 7:05pm ET.

Box Score

The Rockies scored early and late, but ran into a buzzsaw of Cooper Hjerpe making his MLB debut in the middle. Kyle Leahy was chased after 2.2 innings, but it didn’t matter. And as they do, they attempted to battle back late. Jake McCarthy broke through in the eighth with a solo homer, and he drove in two runs in the ninth, but ultimately Rockies pitching (and defense) gave up too many runs to overcome. 17 of the 18 combined runs scored on two outs.

Tanner Gordon dealt with traffic

After a rain-shortened outing on Monday, Tanner Gordon was a bit up-and-down in his start. He dealt with some early traffic but had a 1-2-3 third and clean fourth.

In the first inning, he gave up a leadoff single to Bryan Torres but then got Iván Herrera to ground out to second. But then Alec Burleson hit a ball to right field that Troy Johnston laid out to catch.

Initially, it was called a catch. But the Cardinals successfully challenged, and that put runners on first and third with one out. Luckily, though, Gordon sat down Jordan Walker and Leo Bernal to end the inning.

Things didn’t get better in the second, however. Gordon recorded two quick outs of Joshua Báez and Nolan Gorman, but then Thomas Saggese doubled and Nathan Church singled to score him (eventually reaching second himself). But then Gordon struck out Torres to end the inning with minimal damage.

Things really fell apart in the fifth, though, in part due to questionable defense (more on that later). Gordon once again got two quick outs, but then Herrera singled, Burleson doubled, Walker walked and Bernal singled to score two runs. And with that, Gordon’s night was over with two men still on base.

“I thought TG was good,” manager Warren Schaeffer said after the game. “The main issue of the day was the inability to put hitters away. (There were) a ton of two-strike counts. The Cardinals scored nine runs with two outs. That six-run inning was two outs with nobody on, two strikes on the hitter, and then six runs later… So you have to learn from that and be able to put hitters away when you get two strikes. Give it to TG, he got a head ahead in a great way, but you’ve got to give credit to that team.”

5th inning defensive adventures

This series has not been a defensive showcase for either team. Unfortunately, it was on the Rockies’ end today. In the first inning, there was the non-catch by Johnston and he struck again in the fifth.

As noted above, after two quick outs, Herrera singled and then Burleson doubled. Jordan Walker then walked, and Leo Bernal singled to Johnston. He laid out again, but the ball went under his glove, allowing Herrera and Burleson to score.

Two batters (and two runs) later, Jimmy Herget replaced Gordon with two men on base. He immediately gave up a single to Joshua Báez, but an error by Cole Carrigg in center field allowed Báez to reach third (though the two runs were earned and charged to Gordon).

The biggest damage came on the next batter, though, as Nolan Gorman smacked a 426-foot home run to put the Cardinals up 7-5.

Six of their 10 runs came with two outs in the fifth, and all of their 10 runs in the game came with two outs.

The offense scored early and late, but not in the middle

The Rockies offense scored early and often, but they ran into a buzzsaw in Cooper Hjerpe making his MLB debut and didn’t record a hit (or a run) while he was on the mound.

To kick things off, Jake McCarthy singled and advanced to second on an error by Torres at second base. Then, Troy Johnston and Cole Carrigg struck out back-to-back, but TJ Rumfield doubled to score McCarthy. Moniak then singled to score Rumfield, but Adael Amador struck out to end the inning.

Fast forward past a 1-2-3 second inning, and the bats came out with two outs in the third. McCarthy flew out to center and Johnston struck out again, but Carrigg and Rumfield singled back-to-back to set the stage for Mickey Moniak, who smashed his 22nd home run of the year 436 feet to center field, putting the Rockies up 5-1.

That chased Kyle Leahy from the game, and Cade Winquest got Amador to ground out to end the inning.

After that, Hjerpe came in to start the fourth and did not allow a single baserunner across four innings. He became the second reliever in the Modern Era with 4+ perfect innings in his MLB debut (the other being some other guy named Max Scherzer in 2008). Hjerpe also struck out six of the 12 batters he faced, on top of Leahy’s six. In total, the Rockies struck out 15 times today and did not walk once.

“That guy was nasty,” Schaeffer said of Hjerpe. “The sinker was really good. It was just a tough angle and deception. We had a lineup full of lefties today, so it was tough on those guys. But he was great. That’s a great first outing for that guy. We had no answer for him.”

Luis Gastelum replaced Hjerpe in the eighth inning, and McCarthy took full advantage — launching a 435-foot homer into the second deck in right field to cut the lead to 10-6.

That was the first Rockies run to come with less than few outs.

“You name it, Jake does it,” Schaeffer said of his leadoff man. “He’s been fantastic for us this year, and I wouldn’t be more proud of him because last year wasn’t good for him. It’s a great bounce-back year for him, and he’s a leader behind closed doors. Everything you want in a baseball player, Jake McCarthy gives it to you.

And McCarthy stayed hot in the ninth, scoring two runs with two outs and two strikes to cut the lead 10-8. Hunter Goodman — who entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh — was hit by a pitch and then pinch hitter Zac Veen singled to center and advanced on defensive indifference.

Unfortunately, Troy Johnston recorded a golden sombrero to end the threat (and the game).

“I think the biggest thing is to be prepared as a pinch hitter,” Schaeffer said of Veen’s clutch hit. “He’s nonstop with his head in the iPad, talking with (Brett Pill) and (Jordan) Pacheco, getting ready for every single reliever that he could potentially face that night. He’s not pouting when he doesn’t play. He’s accepting his role, and I think there’s really something to that. And he’s been big for all three games. He’s always doing something good to help the team, and he’s been playing really good defense. I’m really happy with the place that Veener’s in right now.”

Up Next

The Rockies head out east one final time to take on the New York Yankees after an off day tomorrow. It’ll be a battle of young right-handers, as Gabriel Hughes is scheduled to face Cam Schlittler. First pitch on Tuesday is at 5:05pm MT.

See you then!

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For the second time in less than two weeks, the Brewers are set to face off with the Cubs. The two squads split a four-game set at Wrigley last week, and Milwaukee will play host for three games this week, the final regular-season showdown between the teams this year. Milwaukee is 6-4 against Chicago this season, though just 1-2 at home.

Since their last matchup, the Brewers dropped two of three to the Reds in Cincinnati, while the Cubs took two of three from the Marlins in Miami.

No big injury or roster updates on either side, though Chicago outfielder Ian Happ is considered day-to-day with left knee discomfort, and pitcher Javier Assad was recalled from Triple-A to replace Tyler Ferguson, who was optioned. Milwaukee’s lone roster move is a waiver move, as Joel Kuhnel, who was DFA’d last week, was claimed by the Giants on Friday.

Just to remind you of what these two teams bring to the table offensively and on the mound, here’s a quick rundown of both squads.

Milwaukee is hitting .256/.339/.400 (.739 OPS ranks fifth), with 133 homers (last), 726 runs scored (third), and 140 steals (tied for fourth). The Cubs are hitting .252/.340/.431 (.771 OPS ranks first), with 201 homers (first), 768 runs scored (first), and 102 steals (10th). Two high-scoring offenses, two very different ways of doing it.

On the mound, Milwaukee ranks second in the majors with a 3.54 team ERA, including a 3.69 starter ERA (fifth) and a 3.36 bullpen ERA (fourth). They’ve struck out 1,379 batters (second) over 1,284 2/3 innings. Chicago ranks 19th with a 4.21 team ERA, including a 4.37 starter ERA (19th) and a 3.99 bullpen ERA (13th). They’ve struck out 1,111 batters (26th) over 1,286 2/3 innings.

Probable Pitchers

Monday, September 7 @ 1:10 p.m.: LHP Robert Gasser (4-5, 4.57 ERA, 4.37 FIP) vs. LHP Matthew Boyd (8-3, 4.05 ERA, 4.57 FIP)

We’ll get to see three pitching rematches from last week’s four-game set. First up is Gasser vs. Boyd. Gasser is 4-5 with a 4.57 ERA and 4.37 FIP this season, striking out 82 batters over 86 2/3 innings. He took a no-decision in what was a pretty “meh” game against Chicago last week, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits and a pair of walks, striking out four in Milwaukee’s eventual 9-4 victory. For his career, he’s totaled 10 1/3 innings against Chicago, with a 1.74 ERA and 11 strikeouts.

Boyd, who is 8-3 with a 4.05 ERA, 4.57 FIP, and 79 strikeouts across 102 1/3 innings this year, took a no-decision last week against Gasser and the Crew, allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out three over 5 1/3 innings before his bullpen faltered late. Boyd has made six career starts against Milwaukee, with a 2-2 record, 8.26 ERA, and 22 strikeouts over 28 1/3 innings.

Tuesday, September 8 @ 6:40 p.m.: RHP Jacob Misiorowski (14-5, 1.97 ERA, 2.27 FIP) vs. LHP David Peterson (7-8, 5.39 ERA, 4.17 FIP)

Misiorowski, still the NL Cy Young favorite, is coming off his worst start of the year against Chicago, as he allowed five runs on five hits and four walks, striking out five over just four innings as the Cubs got to him early and often. Even so, the right-hander has a sub-2.00 ERA and leads the league with 227 strikeouts and a 0.794 WHIP. For his career, Miz is 2-1 against Chicago, with a 4.13 ERA and 33 strikeouts over 24 innings.

Peterson, who has turned his season around quite a bit with the Cubs after struggling early with the Mets, is 7-8 this year, with a 5.39 ERA and 4.17 FIP over 28 appearances (19 starts) between the two teams. He took the loss against Miz and the Brewers last week, allowing six runs on seven hits and four walks, striking out four over just 3 2/3 innings. Prior to that one, though, he had plenty of success against Milwaukee, winning four consecutive starts over the last four seasons, allowing just four runs (three earned) and striking out 19 over 25 1/3 innings.

Wednesday, September 9 @ 6:40 p.m.: RHP Logan Henderson (9-3, 2.48 ERA, 3.28 FIP) vs. RHP Kevin Gausman (9-11, 4.38 ERA, 3.58 FIP)

Despite having the best start of last week’s series against the Cubs, Henderson got pinned with a loss as he was outdueled by Kevin Gausman in Thursday’s series finale. Henderson went seven solid frames, allowing just two runs (on a two-run homer by Pete Crow-Armstrong) on three hits and no walks, striking out seven in Milwaukee’s 2-1 loss. Henderson is quickly turning into a clear No. 2 behind Miz for the postseason, as he’s now 9-3 with a 2.48 ERA, 3.28 FIP, and 93 strikeouts across 83 1/3 innings this year. This is Henderson’s second career start against Chicago.

Gausman is 4-1 with the Cubs across his six starts since being acquired at the deadline, with a 4.37 ERA, 3.84 FIP, and 38 strikeouts over 35 innings. He had one of his better outings since joining Chicago last time out, allowing just one run over seven innings on five hits (a solo homer by Andrew Vaughn) and a walk, striking out nine in the victory. Gausman has now made nine appearances (seven starts) against Milwaukee, with a sterling 1.89 ERA and 55 strikeouts over 47 2/3 innings.

How to Watch & Listen

Monday, September 7: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Tuesday, September 8: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Wednesday, September 9: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Prediction

The Brewers and Cubs looked very evenly matched last week, and I’d expect the same thing to happen this time around. I’ll take the Crew to win two of three with home-field advantage.

Game Summary

The Cardinals, down by four, exploded for six runs. Led by Nolan Gorman’s 3-run blast, offense was found up and down the line-up. Kyle Leahy started out sharp, but finished with a thud, giving up 3-run HR on his last pitch.

Cooper Hjetpe’s MLB debut was very promising. 4 no-hit innings with 6 K will do that. Ultimately, the Cardinals scored a lot of runs and won two of three. Could be worse.

Pre-game notes

• Greetings from Denver, Colorado. It will be warm! day today.
• Leahy goes for the Cardinals. Expecting Hjerpe to follow.
• Gordon for the Rockies. He seems to be their new hope.
• Same lineup as last night. It’s the best they have.
• no crooked hats, expecting Rincon was optioned for Hjerpe
• Good crowds this weekend, a little sparse today.

The first innings

A lead off single and a successful challenge put runners at first and third with one out, but a Jordan pop out and Bernal ground out quelled the uprising. Lead off single in the bottom half led to a throwing error. After 2 K appeared to bring the inning under control but a dying quail falls in front of Baez for an RBI, followed by an RBI single. Another K. Rockies went up 2-0. We are reminded that the pitching relies heavily on sharp D.

In the second, Baez and Gorman add two more pop outs to the shady too high count. Hitters liking the slower Velo but unable to square up. Having said that, Sags doubles and Church drives him on, taking second on the throw. A K on Torres ends to inning. Cardinal cut the deficit to 2-1. An adventurous pop out to right and 2 Ks by Leahy resulted in a quick second. As he nears a strikeout per inning rate, he begins to make a strong case to be Opening Day Starter 2027, no?

Two K and a deep fly make for a quick top of the third. Hjerpe warming . He has used up a lot of nervous energy pacing already. A can of corn, another K, a single, another single and a long 3-run HR end Leahy’s afternoon. Man, innings sure go sideways fast here. Winquest in to get last out. Rockies now up 5-1.

The middle innings

In the fourth, Bernal lands another pop out. Baez about kills the first baseman with a shot for a single. Gorman and Sags ground out. In the bottom, Hjerpe makes his MLB debut. A ground out, a K and a fly out. One can already see he will be very tough on LH batters.

In the fifth a K followed by a ground prelude a sleepy inning. Herrera singers and Burly doubles brings up Walker, who has been spidered to death this series, but he works a walk to load the bases for Bernal who promptly drills a liner to right for 2 RBI, ending Gordon’s afternoon. Herget in. Baez about kills the CF with a liner, clearing the bases and tying the game. Baez ends up at third. Gorman then launches a moon shot to the Rockies bullpen. Funny how innings can change so fast here. Sags K. Inning over, Cards now up 7-5. A clean inning by Hjerpe continues the good momentum.

In the sixth, Manfredi relieved Herget, allowing only a two-out oppo single to Ivan. Hjerpe buzzed through the bottom of the inning, starting to line up goose eggs. Pitch count very manageable.

The decisive and bitter delightful end

In the seventh, Mejia in for Manfredi. Three backwards K is undone when Baez successfully challenges and trades an inning ending K for a walk, but then gets picked off.

Hjerpe back out for the seventh at 42 pitches. Back in at 53 pitches. 4 Ip no hits, 6 K. Attention getting for sure. He stays .

For the eighth, Frasso in to pitch for Colorado. Gorman skied out. Sags battled for a nine pitch single. Church K. Fermin singled. Herrera drills one into the RF corner for two RBI. When did he become an oppo hitter? Burly drills a single to right for another run, another explosion inning and another rockies’ reliever. Castano in. Walker grounds out. Cardinals now up 10-5. In the bottom, Gastelum in. Oli trying to set the bullpen up for the SF series. Look for a Graceffo opener. But back to the now, which has a way of intruding on future plans that can be annoying. McCarthy launches Gastelums first pitch into the Silver Bullet Bar. Wow! Impressive even by Coors Field standards. The rest was quiet. Cards now up 10-6.

For the nerve wracking ninth. Herrera walks and gets picked off. Mysterious. Scott II pops out. Gorman dribbles out. For the bottom, we see Ryne Stanek trotting in. With the new pitcher comes new positioning cards for each outfielder. Pop out for a good start. An HBP adds drama. A pitch over the head of the next batter adds more. A K. A single and Oli has seen enough. Soriano now in. Things could get exciting. The fireworks guy is reloading! An 2-RBI, with two strikes, single tightens things.

Cards win 10-8.

Post-Game Notes

• Be sure and check out “Tonight on the Farm – Sunday 9.6” over at The Feed.
• Making mental note of all the recent explosion innings. The Cardinals played from behind a lot this series.
• Can already see that Baez’ initial read/jump needs a lot of work. He doesn’t get to much out there.
• On to San Fran after this game. Tomorrow will be a very early evening start.
• Watching a game at Coors Field is indeed a pleasant experience.

Don Quixote has dismounted his donkey.

The dream is over.

Shohei Ohtani is expected to return to the Dodgers’ lineup on Monday for the start of a three-game series against the Reds, but he will come back as a one-way player.

Based on what manager Dave Roberts said, Ohtani will almost certainly remain a one-way player for the remainder of the year.

No more pitching for Ohtani.

No chance of him replicating his three-homer, 10-strikeout game from the playoffs last year.

No possibility of him making up for his disastrous start in Game 7 of the World Series.

The Dodgers resisted accepting this reality as long as they could, gaslighting general manager Brandon Gomes refusing to say as recently as Thursday that Ohtani wouldn’t pitch again this season.

Eventually, the calendar won out.

Ohtani hasn’t been “officially” shut down as a pitcher, Roberts said on Sunday, but with only three weeks remaining in the regular season, he doesn’t have sufficient time to build up the necessary arm strength required to take the mound in the postseason.

Ohtani hasn’t pitched in a game since July 3.

“Obviously, if you’re looking at the calendar, how much he’s thrown in the last week, I think we can all do the math,” Roberts said.

But doesn’t he still have enough time to prepare himself to pitch an inning or two as an opener?

“That’s unlikely,” Roberts said.

So that’s that.

Ohtani started this season as a two-way player, the first time he’d done so in his three seasons with the Dodgers.

The last time he attempted to hit and pitch for an entire season was in his final year with the Angels, in 2023. That effort lasted until August of that year, when Ohtani blew out his elbow, requiring him to undergo Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career.

Ohtani was 29 then. He is 32 now.

The physical demands of shouldering a two-way workload at this age proved to be considerable. 

Ohtani was spectacular on the mound, maintaining a sub-1.00 ERA through his first 10 starts. His performance on the mound, however, came at the cost of his hitting.

His ERA was 0.74 on June 3. On that day, he had only 10 home runs in 61 games, well off the pace from his two previous seasons. Ohtani homered 55 times last year and 54 times the year before.

From that point on, Ohtani was suddenly hittable. Over his next four starts, his ERA was 4.38.

His left knee flared up.

He later revealed that he was experiencing discomfort in his right biceps.

He skipped his final start before the All-Star break, and every attempt to return to the mound since then was aborted.

With Ohtani’s status as a pitcher uncertain, the Dodgers acquired two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal a couple of days before the trade deadline. The addition of Skubal has given the Dodgers a rotation that can withstand Ohtani’s absence. Besides Skubal, the Dodgers have three other Cy Young-caliber pitchers in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.

The question now is whether Ohtani is healthy enough to contribute offensively. Following a four-strikeout game on Wednesday in which he shook his arm during and after his final at-bat and looked incapable of generating his trademark power with his lower body, Ohtani was kept out of the lineup for the next four games, including the finale of a three-game series against the Nationals on Sunday.

Ohtani has six hits in his last 46 at-bats and has only one home run in his last 21 games played outside of Coors Field in high-altitude Denver.

In what sounded like an effort to divert blame from the front office for not placing Ohtani on the injured list or at least shut him down from pitching, Gomes tried to argue that it was “too hard to say” that he was slumping because of his injuries.

Gomes better be right.

Because the Dodgers won’t have Ohtani available to pitch for them in October, and they now might not have a productive version of him hitting for them.

The Texas Rangers scored eight runs while the Tampa Bay Rays scored six runs.

We had ourselves a certified Gore Inning (TM) today and it was a particularly bloody one as Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore was disemboweled for four runs in the top of the second inning.

The Rays loaded up on singles and let the Rangers make some questionable defensive decisions to collect their early lead. Up big early, it seemed like the Rangers were destined to another loss against Tampa Bay which would have sealed a series defeat to the AL’s top club. However, Jake Burger had other ideas.

The Rangers first baseman hit a solo home run to get the Rangers on the board and following another Rays run in the top of the third, Burger smacked his second homer, a two-run shot this time, to pull Texas to within a couple of runs.

MacKenzie was run out of the game after just three innings, which put a lot of pressure on the bullpen to work through some innings. They were mostly up to the task with latest arm Trevor Williams tossing two scoreless, Chase Silseth pitching in for a scoreless inning, and Tyler Alexander working out of a jam having allowed a run.

By the time Alexander allowed Tampa Bay’s sixth run, the Rangers had fully rallied and overtaken the Rays. In the same inning following Burger’s second dong, the Rangers got a few on base and Justin Foscue fought off a two-strike pitch to sneak a ball on the fair side of the line for a two-out, two-run double that tied the game.

The next inning Burger started a rally with a walk and after a Logan O’Hoppe single, the Rangers took the lead for good via an Elias Diaz single that scored Burger. The Rangers weren’t done there, though, as following the inning’s second out, Ezequiel Duran singled to drive in a run and give Texas a bit of a cushion.

After Alexander allowed Tampa Bay’s sixth run in the top of the seventh, the Rangers turned to Jacob Latz in the eighth inning with the top of the Rays’ lineup due in a one run game. The Rangers had been burned in some games recently waiting for their chance to use Latz in a traditional closer situation. Today they switched things up and used Latz in a set up role when things looked most dangerous.

After pitching two innings yesterday, Latz worked around a single and got through the eighth scoreless on 18 pitches. The Rangers opted to go with Jakob Junis for the save after Corey Seager reinvested in some insurance with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth. With a two run lead in the ninth, Junis nailed down the victory and the Rangers finished off the series with a split despite the big early deficit today.

All in all, a series win would have been preferable but the Rangers were competitive against the league leaders all weekend and remain in the hunt for one of the playoff spots in the American League with three weeks left in the season.

Player of the Game: Burger was responsible for Texas’ first three runs via a couple of home runs which helped the Rangers claw their way out of an early hole. Burger also scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth.

Up Next: The Rangers have Mondays off every week this month, including tomorrow. They will venture up to Seattle to take on the scuffling Mariners beginning on Tuesday night.

The White Sox are set to conclude their season series against the Minnesota Twins under the bright lights of Sunday Night Baseball. Bryan Hudson will be the opener for the Sox, his eighth time appearing in the role this year. He’s been largely effective to this point, allowing three earned runs over eight innings leading off a game, with five of those seven stints being scoreless.

It’s a selection of opener that would seem to indicate a confidence in him beyond the simple platoon advantage, as the Twins 2-3-4 hitters will all be facing Hudson from the right side. Manager Derek Shelton is alternating his lefties and righties at the bottom of the lineup, so given that José Urquidy lines up as today’s logical bulk man despite being on somewhat short rest, it might not be surprising to see Will Venable try to stretch Hudson for two innings to start things out against this lineup:

Venable counters with the team’s A-lineup, so to speak, against soft-tossing righthander Bailey Ober. He’s found a solid level of success against the Sox in the past, holding them to two runs (one earned) over five innings just last week, and running an overall 3.56 ERA in 16 starts countering the Pale Hose, the most he’s ever seen of one team. Chase Meidroth and Colson Montgomery have both notched homers against him, so having already connected on homers in consecutive games, a hope for what has already seemingly become a patented homer binge from Montgomery may be alive and well.

This is a Sox lineup that has zero postseason experience beyond platooner Andrew Benintendi and, if you want to count it, Munetaka Murakami in his native Japan. Playing in prime time on national TV doesn’t exactly have the same caché in baseball as the prestige of being featured on Sunday or Monday Night Football, but NBC’s decision to flex the Sox to this game should be taken with some pride. Does anyone care to guess the date of the last time the South Siders played a) on Sunday night b) at home c) while in first place?

At least we’ll have a friendly face in the booth. While I certainly wouldn’t want Jason Benetti to push the boundaries of his professionalism, there is a real part of me that wants to judge, by his approach to tonight’s game, whether we have any long-term hope of what would probably be the most joyous Chicago sports reunion since the words “I’m back” hit the newswires.

First pitch will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock at 5:20 p.m. CT. though Len Kasper and Darrin Jackson will be there with their usual radio broadcast on WMVP AM 1000. See you in the comments!

First Chuck: 5:20 PM (new anthem each week!)

The Tube: NBC/Peacock

The Dial: Treasure Island Baseball Network

Spies ‘R Us: South Side Sox

A few weeks ago, this contest was flexed into NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball—something that doesn’t often happen with matchups that aren’t LA/SF, BOS/NYY, or CHI/STL. Hey, at least someone somewhere said “we want to see the Twins in primetime” as late as the month of September—perhaps a win in and of itself!

This got me thinking about MN performance under the fluorescents versus in the glory of the planet Sol. A few stats on the subject (2010+ because in the Metrodome it was of course all Teflon all the time)…

Night Games

• 41-44 this season
• Best: 66-37 (.641) in 2019
• Worst: 36-62 (.367) in 2013
• Since 2010: 779-836 (.482)

Day Games

• 27-30 this season
• Best: 35-24 (.593) in 2019
• Worst: 19-37 (.339) in 2012
• Since 2010: 480-537 (.472)

Though nowhere near statistically significant, the Twins have fared slightly better under artificial lighting than the real deal. Hopefully that bodes well for the visitors this holiday weekend night (kinda—what a weird 5:20 PM start) within the AL Central as they try to take the series from the Sox.

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Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo left a Sunday, Sept. 6 game against the Houston Astros when he was hit by a teammate's line drive while on the basepaths.

Perdomo singled in the top of the third inning, and the next batter, Ketel Marte, hit an 93 mph line drive. Perdomo tried to get out of the way and covered up but was hit on the helmet. He dropped to the ground and was looked at by a trainer then eventually was helped up and left under his own power.

He was ruled out because he was hit by a batted ball. Nolan Arenado hit a two-run home run in the inning to give Arizona a 3-1 lead. The Diamondbackswon 3-2.

Perdomo was replaced at shortstop by Ildemaro Vargas, and Tim Tawa took Vargas' spot at first base.

Arizona's Geraldo Perdomo was struck in the head by a 93 mph line drive off the bat of teammate Ketel Marte and was down a few minutes before walking off the field without assistance. pic.twitter.com/3ig1cNyrug

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) September 6, 2026

Geraldo Perdomo injury update

The Diamondbacks announced Sunday that Perdomo suffered a head contusion on the play.

"He will continue to be monitored today and into tomorrow," the team said.

After the game, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters he believes Perdomo will be his starting shortstop on Monday.

"He is not in the concussion protocol," he said. "He's just in the observation stages. We feel like we dodged a bullet."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diamondbacks' Geraldo Perdomo hit in head by line drive, exits game

In just a few weeks, Pete Crow-Armstrong is expected to join Ernie Banks in a select group: Chicago Cubs players who have won National League Most Valuable Player honors.

Yet PCA has already one-upped Mr. Cub in one category.

Crow-Armstrong became the youngest player in franchise history to hit 40 home runs, reaching the honor on Sunday, Sept. 6 with a low line drive just inside the right field foul pole at loanDepot Park, a game-tying fifth-inning shot off Miami Marlins right-hander Tyler Phillips.

While the Cubs would go on to lose the game 10-3, there's little to stop the Summer of PCA.

FORTYYYYYYYY pic.twitter.com/V6iTmOOkcZ

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 6, 2026

He's now second in the major leagues with 40 homers, trailing only Philadelphia DH Kyle Schwarber's 42, and his 8.6 WAR leads all position players. At 24 years, 165 days old, Crow-Armstrong is 49 days younger than Banks was when the Hall of Famer hit his 40th home run in 1955, the first of his eight consecutive All-Star seasons.

Banks would win NL MVP honors in 1958 - hitting a career-best and major league-high 47 homers - and 1959. He's one of 11 Cubs players to win the award.

Crow-Armstrong, with his .946 OPS, 33 stolen bases and defensive metrics that lap his rival center fielders, is expected to supplant the currently idled Shohei Ohtani, who won the past two NL MVPs.

For now, though, Crow-Armstrong has banked 40 homers for a club firmly entrenched in an NL playoff position.

"Forty homers, it's a hard number to get to," Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters in Miami. "And the season's not over."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong hits 40th home run to boost NL MVP case

Jays 1 Royals 6

This one, well, it was a great game to watch. Right from the first inning. Brett Bateman was hit by a pitch to start the game, but Nathan Lukes hit into a double play, and Vladimir Guerrero grounded out.

And the bottom of the inning went single (roller down the first base line, and by the time Spencer Arrighetti got to the ball, it was a single (not that he didn’t throw to first, wide, but no harm; no foul). Next batter walked, and Vinnie Pasquantino homered. 3-0 before we got an out. After that, there were three quick outs, horses and barn doors and all.

The Royals got two more in the third, on a Salvador Perez home run. And one more in the fifth, on a walk, hit-by-pitch, and single.

Arrighetti went 4.2 innings with 6 hits, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. The unfortunate thing is that we don’t have enough starting pitchers; Arrighetti will have to figure it out.

The bullpen threw 3.1 innings of 1-hit ball, with 4 walks and 5 strikeouts. Braydon Fisher (0.1 innings), Ricky Tiedemann (1.2 innings) and Joe Mantiply (1.1 innings) all pitched.

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Offensively, we ended up with 8 hits, one more than the Royals, but the Royals had two homers to our one. Josh Smith put up our only run on a home run.

Bateman had 3 hits. Lukes, Straw, McAdoo, Smith and Springer each had one hit.

But several went hitless: Vlad, Sanchez, Okamoto, Keys, Gimenez and Valenzuela.

Jay of the Day? No one had the number, but let’s give one to Bateman (0.07).

Other Award: Arrighetti (-0.29) and Lukes (-0.09).

Two of three with the Royals is good. Three of three would be better, but we want it to be exciting.

The Jays are flying off to Las Vegas (no, no), Oakland (nope), Sacramento to play the A’s. Tomorrow, Dylan Cease and Jacob Lopez are the starters. It is a late start, 10:00 Eastern. Let’s win another series.

The Diamondbacks came into the game looking for a series win, and with a little bit of luck, putting some more space between their competition for the final NL Wild Card spot. Having Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound was a point in their favor, but the offense still RVSP’d maybe when invited to the game.

The Diamondbacks were quiet in the top of the first, with the only baserunner being a Geraldo Perdomo hit by pitch, and that allowed the Astros to strike first. E-Rod got Jeremy Pena to ground out, but Yordan Alvarez absolutely clobbered one for a solo home run. That was the first indication that Rodriguez didn’t have his best stuff today, but the next few batters hammered that home, even if there wasn’t much damage done. He walked both Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker, but alternated those walks with a line out from Jose Altuve and got out of the jam with a Nelson Velasquez strike out. 0-1 Astros

This, of course, did raise some concerns amongst the faithful about the early need to score more than one run. That’s been a challenge for the Diamondbacks, last night’s four run outbreak aside. The offense decided to do some to assuage those fears, but did not manage to score multiple runs right away. Corbin Carroll started off the second inning with a double, advanced on a sac bunt from Tommy Troy, and then scored on a sac fly from James McCann. Illdemaro Vargas tried to keep things going with a two out single, but Lawler was unable to step up and ended the inning with a line out to third. Tied 1-1

Rodriguez issues with command continued right away in the bottom of the second, walking Dalton Varsho. Never a good idea to walk someone like him, as he showed when he stole second to get into scoring position two outs later. Too late for it to matter, though, as Jeremy Pena only saw three pitches and flew out to end the inning.

The third inning was… something. Perdomo singled to lead off the inning, bringing Ketel Marte to the plate. Marte got an 86 MPH changeup down and away and turned it around for what looked like an easy single. The only with that is the ball also acted as a heat seeking missel straight to Perdomo’s helmet. He hit the ground immediately and quickly found himself surrounded by trainers from both teams. Eventually he left under his own power to a nice ovation from the Houston crowd, as one does.

The official scoring on the play was a single for Marte, and Perdomo was out on runners interferrence. So one out, Marte at first. Gabi, playing as the DH today, popped out for the second out, bringing Nolan Arenado to the plate. A 2-2 count set the table, and the player with the second most home runs became tied for first. Arenado put one in the seats and just like that the Diamondbacks had scored more than one run for the second game in a row. 3-1 Diamondbacks

Great pitchers can make it work without their best stuff. Rodriguez clearly did not have his best stuff today, but frankly got better as the game went on, even with that limitation. The third inning saw him take the mound with a lead, and he did not waste it. He gave up a single in the third, but nothing else. He sat down the side in order in the fourth and fifth, while facing 1-5 of the Astros line up in the process. After throwing 25 pitches in the first, one would be forgiven for wondering how far Rodriguez would go in the game, but he went out for the sixth anyway. He didn’t quite have a third 1-2-3 inning, but worked around a one out single to end his day. Final line 6 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, and 1 HR.

Apologies if it seems like I’m moving through the game without talking much about the offense, but after that Arenado home run they took an extended break from the game. From the final out of the third, Peter Lambert sat down 12 in a row, including just a six pitch sixth inning, into the seventh inning. It took another hit by pitch for that streak to be broken (Naturally Jordan Lawler, because of course it was). Would of been nice if they had made something of that, and for a moment it looked like they might when it was followed by a Tim Tawa single.

The bottom of the seventh was interesting, especially if you like gamesmanship in your baseball. Juan Morillo came in to relieve Rodriguez, and ended up putting two on with two outs. Yordan Alvarez was due up, and Brandyn Garcia was trying to warm up in the bullpen to face him, but wasn’t quite ready. The entire team went into hard core buy time mode. First Kaplan came out for a mound visit, then when that finished they waited as long as would be allowed before a pitch clock violation before McCann went out for a second visit. They milked that as long as they could, and the Astros fans were loudly getting restless. That broke up, they waited some more, then Morillo took a disengagement. The Astro fans got very upset at that one. That finally bought enough time and Lovullo made the expected move.

That wasn’t the end of the drama, however. Brandyn Garcia still needed to face the presumptive AL MVP in a big situation for the second game in a row. As Josh Collmenter mentioned several times on the broadcast, Garcia is really blossoming into a great reliever for this team, and he showed it once again today. Alvarez only saw three pitches, then popped up harmlessly to end the inning, and the lead remained.

The Astros weren’t finished putting pressure on the Diamondbacks bullpen. Next up was Johnathan Loaisiga. He gave up a one out double to Altuve, his 2,499th career hit. He moved to third on a bloop single from friend-turned-enemy Christian Walker, putting runners on the corners. Another softly hit single, this time from LaMonte Wade Jr. brought Altuve home on another bloop single. Another friend-turned-enemy came to the plate, this time Dalton Varsho. Loaisiga struck him out on four pitches to get the second out, and so very close to getting out of the inning with a lead. Taylor Trammell hit the Astros’ third bloop hit, but this time Marte was able to chase it down in the outfield grass for the final out. 3-2 Diamondbacks

The bottom of the lineup was due up for the Dbacks in the top of the ninth. McCann lead things off with a single, and Vargas hit a very loud, very deep out to right center field. Lawler struck out, and then Tim Tawa flew out to Varsho in center to end the inning.

Kevin Ginkel got the call to close out the game. He would face Yanier Diaz as a pinch hitter to start, lead off hitter Pena, and then, once again, Yordan Alveraz. It started well with a strikeout… and then another strike out. It was the ideal situation, facing Alvarez with the bases empty, but I think I speak for all Diamondbacks fans when I say the nerves were there for sure. Ginkel, however, was unphased. He went right after Alvarez and struck out his third straight batter to end the game. Final

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During the game, the team did give an update on Perdomo. They’re currently calling it a head contusion, but specified that he would continue to be monitored for the rest of today as well as tomorrow. That seems to rule him out for the first game of the Royals series, at the very least, and quite possibly more depending on what those evaluations show. Of course, we’re all sending good vibes his way, following a scary moment such as that.

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I don’t think anyone will find it surprising that Eduardo Rodriguez lead the way with 25% WPA, nor that Nolan Arenado’s home run gave him the highest offensive WPA% at 15%. Marte was the other end of the spectrum at -12%, but no one else swung the needle too far in either direction.

COTD to gzimmern for accurately describing today’s game. They did, in fact, have to score more than one run

Great day looking up in the standings, with both the Cubs and Phillies losing. Below us, we aren’t getting much relief. The Marlins were the team that beat the Cubs. St. Louis is winning in Coors, and the Padres started their game off with three straight home runs off Gerrit Cole, not a sentence you hear often. Just need to keep winning.

Day game tomorrow, with the holiday. No word as of yet who will be the starter, and there is a good chance it ends up being a bullpen game. They’ll have high standards to live up to after their last outing. Until tomorrow!

An early 3-run home run from Vinnie Pasquantino and a 2-run home run from Salvador Perez put the Royals up 5-0, and they never looked back as they knocked off the Blue Jays 6-1 on Sunday.

After a couple nice plays in the top of the first inning, allowing Randy Dobnak to face the minimum, the Royals jumped out in front of the Blue Jays in the bottom of the frame.

John Rave, batting leadoff reached on an infield single, moved to second on a walk to Bobby Witt Jr., which cleared the way for Pasquantino, crushing a 3-run dinger, his 11th on the season, a 406-foot shot to right.

Hot start! 🔥

Vinnie Pasquantino has us off and running with a three-run blast! pic.twitter.com/7kXiLHxzxr

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) September 6, 2026

Fast forward to the bottom of the third inning, Jr. led off with a rocket of a double to left field, 112.5 mph off the bat, his 30th of the season. The Captain, Salvador Perez launched his 19th homer on the season, just over the wall in left center. 5-0 Royals on Salvy’s 322nd career homer.

The Captain sends one out! 🫡

A two-run shot for Salvador Perez! pic.twitter.com/8ql75oyMzN

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) September 6, 2026

Nick Loftin had an infield RBI single in the 5th to make it 6-0, but the story the rest of the way was the good pitching and defense the Royals played. Countless good plays along the infield helped Dobnak and the bullpen hold the Jays down.

Dobnak finished the day going 6 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 run, striking out 3. Anthony Gose, Jose Cuas, Connor Thomas and Nolan Hoffman had scoreless outings to preserve the win.

The Royals drop the series but split the season series with Toronto. They are 64-80 on the season now. They open a 3-game series tomorrow afternoon against the Diamondbacks to close out the homestand. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. CT.