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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ tone shifted slightly Friday, as he addressed Shohei Ohtani’s absence from the lineup for the second straight day.

After describing a stint on the injured list as “unlikely but not impossible” on Thursday, Roberts said Friday that he was “hopeful, but I wouldn’t say confident,” that Ohtani would avoid the IL.

Still considered day to day, Ohtani did not play in the Dodgers’ 5-3 win over the Washington Nationals.

There are a wide range of possibilities for Ohtani as he continues to deal with lingering pain in his right biceps. Though the Dodgers experimented earlier in the season with ways to manage his two-way workload — holding him out of the batting order on the day he pitched, giving him the day off after a start on the mound, or both — this is the first time he has missed two consecutive games. And he hasn’t pitched since July 3.

Read more:What Shohei Ohtani’s latest injury scare reveals about Dodgers' late-season plans

Roberts described Thursday as a “spa day,” meaning Ohtani rested, watched the game from the dugout and didn’t do any baseball activities. Roberts said Friday was a day to “start getting his body moving a little bit.”

“Let’s stay in communication, and let’s see when the time to give the green light is,” Roberts said.

Roberts said Ohtani has been “very agreeable” with the decision to rest him. Ohtani has declined multiple requests for comment over consecutive days through a team spokesperson.

“I think he wants to be out there, wants to play,” Roberts said, “but he’s understanding.”

An MRI scan of the area around his biceps and neck showed no structural damage, or as Roberts put it “nothing of note at all,” which is a promising sign. But Ohtani’s swings and body language Wednesday signaled that something was clearly wrong, affecting Ohtani’s play.

The fact that the Dodgers (84-57) have not put Ohtani on the IL yet doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll be out fewer than 10 days — it just means that they can’t rule out an earlier return. Teams can backdate IL moves up to three days. But that hasn’t traditionally served as a hard deadline for the Dodgers to make IL decisions. It isn’t expected to in this case, either.

Although having an injured player take up a roster spot for more than a few days isn’t ideal, it’s easier to cover for the designated hitter spot than other positions. And there is no obvious replacement on the 40-man roster pushing for a call-up through an extended period of outstanding play. Those factors mitigate the urgency to make a move.

In Ohtani’s absence, the Dodgers have started outfielder Alex Call at DH against left-handed pitchers, with Dalton Rushing available off the bench in the later innings.

The setup has afforded Rushing more regular at-bats than initially expected when the Dodgers activated him this week. Because Rushing (elbow) is still working through a throwing program, the original plan was to have him pinch-hit one at-bat per game until he was ready to return to catching duties.

The Dodgers also have not officially ruled out Ohtani’s return to pitching, seeing even one or two innings from him as a plus. But the longer he’s out, the less likely it’ll become.

Ohtani’s planned buildup from tossing live batting practice on Aug. 22, to preparing to possibly start a little more than a week later, instead ended with the Dodgers shutting him down from throwing. Ohtani hasn’t even gone through weighted plyo ball drills in “a few days,” according to Roberts.

Asked what that meant for Ohtani’s return-to-pitching timeline, Roberts said it “certainly pushes it back.”

The priority, however, is getting Ohtani back to himself on the offensive side before the postseason — whether that means a couple days off or more than a week.

Roberts described the two-day break from the lineup as not just a physical one, but also a mental reprieve for Ohtani. He recorded just two hits in his last six games (23 at-bats). And over the past four weeks, he has a .703 OPS — compared to his .903 OPS overall this season.

“With a lot of players, when they’re not feeling well physically it adds to the toll mentally and emotionally,” Roberts said. “So I think Shohei is like that, like most players. We’re just kind of balancing how many days is sufficient to then be worth the time to get back, versus running this play out of days off and it not being adequate.”

Back on track?

Coming off a series loss to the Cardinals, the Dodgers’ offense carried the momentum it found at the beginning of the week into Friday. Even slumping Kyle Tucker hit a solo home run against the Nationals — his first homer since Aug. 8 and his first at Dodger Stadium since June 15.

Blake Snell tossed six shutout innings, navigating the traffic of five hits and two walks while allowing only one baserunner past second base.

Reliever Seth Halvorsen gave up three hits without recording an out in the ninth, but the Dodgers had built up enough of a lead to weather a Washington (67-76) comeback attempt.

Read more:Why Tarik Skubal thinks Stan Kroenke could turn Angels into coveted home for free agents

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Death, taxes, and the Rays having a horrible time in Globe Life Field.

It’s been 4 years since the Rays last win in Arlington, Texas. On this night, they turned to a former Ranger to break the long losing streak. Nick Martinez has been the Rays stopper all season, and once again he answered the call.

6.1 IP 5 H, 2 BB, 4 Ks, and at his hand just a solo HR given up. Now his final earned run line looked a bit uglier thanks to Garrett Cleavinger, but make no mistake, Martinez was exactly the man the Rays needed to finally break the Globe Life curse. Well, the win and loss curse at least.

On the night when the Rays finally got their first win since June 2nd 2022 in Globe Life, it came at the cost of three of their key pitchers. Before the game Shane McClanahan and Manny Rodriguez were announced added to the 15-day IL. But it was the end of the game, with All Star closer Bryan Baker, in the midst of a an all time Rays season for a reliever, would leave the game wincing and twisting looking anything but comfortable. Hopefully precautions abound, but the Rays pen has been a struggle all season and they can ill afford to miss Baker for any amount of time.

Can’t wallow in the unknown, so back to what happened earlier on the field and Nick Martinez. More than anything, Martinez gave the Rays room to breathe a little. Just stay within a game and feel like they had a true punchers chance to take a game from Texas in Texas. He gave time for the bats to find ways to get the lead and extend a lead and hit with a lead. And he turned the ball over to the pen with only 8 outs to cover and 5 runs to protect. Hard to ask more than that from the ace of the Rays.

Speaking of the Rays hitters, a night after floundering without a hope or prayer vs Cal Quantril, they faired much better vs former 1st round Vanderbilt star Kumar Rocker. Rocker came in after an opener, which how it ended up mostly was academic as he entered to start the 3rd facing Rays leadoff hitter Yandy Diaz.

In terms of Rays hitters, perhaps nobody needed a big night more than Jonathan Aranda. Aranda has not been his normal self for several months, but the All Star level hitter is still in there, and tonight he was the engine that drove the Rays offense.

Aranda tied up the game in the 3rd greeting Rocker with a loud solo HR. The homer came the inning following the Rangers jumping out to an early lead the inning before on their own solo HR. Having that answer immediately showed some fight desperately needed vs a fellow playoff contender.

Richie Palacios would follow that up with a solo shot of his own to give the Rays a lead which somehow, and frankly unbelievably, they would not relinquish.

He would follow that up in his next at bat by doubling in Yandy Diaz who had a double himself to extend the Rays lead. Junior Caminero would have a double of his own, followed by more hits from Mesa, and Chandler, and even a productive albeit rally killing run scoring double play by Cedric Mullins, would all work to give the Rays a 6-1 lead.

But this is Texas and nothing is easy. Or fun. Or without agony.

After Nick Martinez was unable to get through the 7th to save the pen, Cash would call upon Garrett Cleavinger to try and clean up the mess.

Now, I have a strategy that I think could work well for the Rays: whoever Kevin Cash will call upon to get warm in a hurry and come in to clean up Cleavingers mess, just use that guy first instead.

Well, that bit of analytics has not made its way to the dugout yet, and instead Cleavinger would immediately walk the first batter he faced loading the bases. 9th hole hitter Elias Diaz would then hit a grand slam to bring Texas back within a run 6-5.

Cleavinger was given another batter to maybe try and get an out. Unfortunately, not gonna happen. After another single, Cleavinger would be replaced by Cam Booser would would clean up the mess and induce an inning ending double play vs Corey Seager to escape the inning with Martinez still the pitcher of record.

Garrett Cleavinger’s line tonight: 0 outs recorded, 2 hits 2 ER 1 BB

The rest of the way Cash used the few reliable high leverage arms he had. Kevin Kelly continued his great season, working a scoreless 8th.

In the 9th Baker would take the ball, and mentioned at the top, never quite looked right before departing. Two walks, no outs, and we wait with bated breath.

Tyler Wells would get the call to try and hang on to the win, and much like the rest of the Rays 2026 deadline, would deliver. Big save, huge win, and maybe just maybe now the Rays can take less than 4 years before their next win in Arlington.

Game Summary

Andrea Pallante pitched 5 stout innings to get the Cardinals started. Gorman, Saggese, Burleson and Walker drove in early runs to stake the Cardinals to an early 4-1 lead. Unfortunately, the Cardinal bullpen melted down yet again, with a disastrous debut by Hancel Rincon, allowing the Rockies to go up 6-4. But a late 3-run HR by Ivan Herrera bailed the team out, followed by an O’Brien save to close out a win, ugly, but a win.

The Cardinals have won 3 out of 4 on a tough road trip that spans 9 games in 3 cities. Anything can happen, right? Winning creates that opportunity.

Pre-game notes

• Greetings from Denver, Colorado. It’s a warm evening tonight, just under 90 degrees start. Weather won’t be a factor, other than I expect the ball to be flying.
• Pallante goes for the Cardinals. I’m curious how Coor affects his stuff.
• Feltner for the Rockies.
• Fernandez optioned to make room for Pallante. I assume that means Mautz to the bullpen and likely hot tonight.

The first innings

The Cardinals go quickly in the top of the first. Pallante walks the first guy on four pitches, McCarthy, who was a pain in the series back in St. Louis. A stolen base, ground out and a fly ball produce a quick 1-0 lead for the Rockies.

The Cardinals answer right back in the second. Walker leads off with a single and Bernal walks. A one-out RBI single by Gorman ties the game and a liner by Saggese that carooms off the pitcher into the outfield lands another run. Pallante works in and out of trouble in the bottom of the second, having trouble locating any of his pitches.

The Cardinals go quietly in the third, Burleson racks up another strikeout. He is on an awful streak. In the bottom of the third, Pallante continues to struggle with command, issuing two more walks, but working in and out of trouble. Cardinals up 2-1, in spite of Pallante with 4 walks and 0 K’s.

The middle innings

The top of the fourth is more of the same. The Cardinals ABs look like hitters who flew in late and didn’t get enough sleep. Feltner K’ed 5 through four innings. In the bottom of fourth, Pallante yet again dealt with traffic but a GIDP settled things nicely. I don’t think I’ve seen him land a 4-seam FB for a strike all night.

Rolling into the fifth inning (noting the game is barely an hour old), the Cardinals rally. Church and Torres lead off with a walk and a single. Herrera reaches on a ball whiffed by their SS Carrig. They gave him a hit, but he just screwed up a doubleplay ball straight up. Burleson singled in a run. Walker hit a SacFly that scored a second run, but a TOOTBLAN by Herrera resulted in an out at third on the play. Bernal promptly doubled, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd but the rally ended there as Baez grounded out. Cardinals leave the inning leading 4-1, but should have been more. Pallante did a good thing and comes out with a quick, clean bottom of the fifth. 72 pitches for him.

Feltner was lifted for Manfredi in the sixth. Cardinals went quietly. Rincon in for Pallante in the bottom of the sixth. After a quick out, things went sideways. Rumfield with a Coors triple on a ball not well played by Walker. An unsuccessful challenge by the Cardinals results in an umpire doing a jig after the replay supported the call. followed by a Rincon wild pitch to narrow the score. Carrig scores on a poor choice by Church who tried to leap and catch a ball 20 feet over his head, turning a double into an inside-the-park-homerun. A third hit ends Rincon’s debut outing, which felt a lot like Mautz’ debut the other night. Ugly. Bruihl in for Rincon. An automatic ball on a pitch timer violation adds drama and an Oli ejection. Not entirely sure what happened there, but suspecting the roots of this was the earlier challenge. A double and a single continue the avalanche, tying the game. A squeeze bunt gives the Rockie’s the lead, and no out is recorded. Runner looked out, but alas, no challenge remaining. The inning mercifully ends with the Rockies leading 5-4. Could have been much worse.

The decisive and bitter exhilarating end

The Cardinals offer no resistance to the vaunted Rockies pitching in the seventh. Burleson racks up another K. This is not going well. Bruihl remained in for the seventh. He gives up a HR to Rumfield and was promptly replaced by Winquest. He gets two quick outs, but the Rockies now up 6-4.

Herget replaces Winfredi in the eighth. Two quick outs followed by a Baez single chases Herget for Bernadino. Urias pinch hits for Gorman and pops out. Winquest remains in for the eighth and works through without drama.

In the ninth, Saggese leads off with a walk and steals second. A fly reduces the WPA for the Cardinals. Fermin gets on via error putting runners at second and third. Herrera crushes a 3-run HR to straight away center, dramatically changing the Cardinals’ WPA. For the record, WPA calc is unaware of the Cardinal bullpen situation.

O’Brien in to close. Leads out with a 3-pitch K. Goodman grounds out. A single and an ROB throwing error on a pick-off adds drama, but a K ends it quickly. Cardinals win 7-6.

Post-Game Notes

• This season has had some ugly losses. This one falls into the ugly win category.
• Be sure and check out “Tonight on the Farm – Friday 9.4” over at The Feed.
• Walker reached 100 RBI this game.
• Winquest with his first MLB decision…a win!
• Watching a game at Coors Field is indeed a pleasant experience. I wish the Cardinals played better here, but they don’t. It’s a weird place to play.

The Texas Rangers scored six runs but the Tampa Bay Rays scored seven runs.

Maybe the Rays go on to enjoy some success in October as the American League’s best team but baseball’s like 12th best team. Who knows.

What I do know is they’re the only team that has given up a grand slam to the Rangers in 2026.

However, in prime 2026 Rangers fashion, the only time they’ve hit a grand slam was in a game where they also lost and their chances of meeting the Rays again next month dropped by a few more percentage points.

Player of the Game: Down 6-1 in the bottom of the seventh after tonight’s starting pitcher Kumar Rocker was worked over despite being eased into the game with not one but two openers, catcher Elias Diaz stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded which is usually a death sentence for a team such as this.

Instead, Diaz drilled a laser over the left field fence to give Texas its first grand slam in 2026.

Suddenly the Rangers were back to within a run but the Rays added a ninth inning insurance run to tamp out the comeback bid that ended with Texas only getting one run back — via a Diaz sac fly — after the first two batters reaching in the bottom of the ninth and Tampa Bay’s closer Bryan Baker exiting early.

Up Next: More Rangers and Rays with RHP Jacob deGrom set to take the mound for Texas against RHP Drew Rasmussen for Tampa Bay.

The Saturday evening first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 6:05 pm CDT and you can watch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

Blue Jays 9 Royals 2

Let’s get the bad news out of the way off the start. Jameson Taillon came out of the game after the second inning with right elbow discomfort. Why is it always the throwing arm that gets the discomfort? Oh right, because they are doing something very unnatural with the throwing arm. Taillon gave up 2 hits, 1 earned run (on a Bobby Witt homer), with a strikeout.

John and Pete must be saying to each other, ‘When is it going to get easier?’

But, amazingly, the Jays are back to .500. 71-71,

Other than the injury, it was a great night. We scored four in the top of the first, and the game was never in doubt from there on out.

In that first inning, Brett Bateman was hit by the first pitch of the game. An out later, Vladimir Guerrero lined a single to right (101.7 mph). Then Kirk lined a single to left, scoring Bateman. Kazuma Okamoto singled in Vlad. An out later, Ernie Clement doubled in the last two runs of the inning.

We got one more in the second. Myles Straw started it with a single. Two outs later, Vlad singled (102.7 mph), and Kirk doubled in Straw.

There were three more runs in the sixth. Clement led off with a single, and Nathan Lukes singled, giving us runners on the corners. Straw put down a sac bunt, scoring Clement, making it 6-1. Bateman walked, and George Spinger doubled in both, 8-1.

And Sean Keys hit his second MLB home run in the ninth.

We had 13 hits, with 3 doubles and a home run. Vlad, Kirk, Clement and Straw had two each. Vlad had three balls hit at over 100 mph; the one he hit hardest was a 115.8 mph lineout to third. I don’t know how you catch something moving that fast. Springer also had two hits over 100, 108.4 and 110.7.

If we can continue to hit like that, we’ll enjoy the rest of the season.

The game became a bullpen day:

• Joe Mantiply threw two innings, allowing just 1 hit with a strikeout.
• Braydon Fisher pitched the fifth, allowing a walk.
• Brendon Little got the sixth, giving up a walk, getting a strikeout and throwing a ton of pitches (31).
• Michael Lorenzen threw the last three innings, getting a rare three-inning save. He allowed 3 hits and a run with two strikeouts. He saved us from using more arms, a good thing at this time of the season (he also put a bullseye on his back; the team might send him down since he won’t be able to pitch for a couple of days.

If the stupid Tigers could have held on to a lead in either game of their doubleheader, we would be in a tie for the last spot. But we are one game back.

There was a cute moment, went Sal Perez was caught between first and second and he and Vlad hugged it out. Vlad had a very good day with the glove.

Jays of the Day: Kirk (0.15 WPA) and Clement (0.13).

No one gets the Other Award.

Tomorrow we have a rare weekend night game. 7:00 Eastern. Max Scherzer, who was amazing in his last start, vs. Seth Lugo (6-8, 5.03).

Yankees center fielder Trent Grisham exited Friday's game against the San Diego Padres early due to right hamstring discomfort, the team said.

Grisham appeared to have trouble running in for a bloop single that scored a run in the second inning, and immediately went to the trainer in the dugout at the end of the frame. 

He did not return to the field in the bottom of the third inning, as Heliot Ramos came in to play right field with Spencer Jones sliding over to center.

Grisham had walked in his lone at-bat prior to leaving the game against his former team.

The 29-year-old dealt with a right hamstring strain earlier this season, missing nearly three weeks from June 13 to July 2. 

Overall across 121 games, Grisham has hit .211 with a .703 OPS, 18 home runs, and 59 RBI.

SAN DIEGO — Perhaps this will settle the problem of whether the Yankees should start Trent Grisham or Spencer Jones in center field — and how to open a roster spot — once Aaron Judge returns. 

Grisham exited Friday’s game against the Padres in the bottom of the third with right hamstring discomfort — the same hamstring that landed him on the injured list earlier this season, though he indicated it was in a different spot — an inning after he was unable to come up with a fly ball in front of him that landed for an RBI single. 

The center fielder will likely undergo imaging to determine the severity of what he is dealing with, but it could ultimately land him back on the injured list with three weeks left in the regular season. 

“It seems like an injury,” manager Aaron Boone said after a 3-2 loss in 10 innings at Petco Park. “Not sure yet if it’s an IL or not, but certainly could be.” 

Grisham said he first felt the hamstring when he was caught stealing in the top of the second. But after he could not get to the ball in the bottom of the frame, he returned to the dugout, tapped director of sports medicine and rehab Mike Schuck on the back and headed down the stairs with him toward the clubhouse. 

“It’s disappointing, for sure,” said Grisham, who insisted the hamstring had not bothered him since he came off the IL in early July. “But that’s part of the game. We know what we’re signing up for. Hopefully it’s nothing too problematic.” 

When the Yankees took the field again in the bottom of the third, Heliot Ramos entered the game in right field, with Jones moving to center — the arrangement they would likely go with if Grisham needs an IL stint, at least until Judge gets back as early as next week. Jasson Domínguez could be in play if they need a stopgap outfielder to take Grisham’s roster spot in the interim. 

Grisham had been scuffling at the plate lately, coinciding with a surge from Jones, creating questions of who would play center field once Judge returns. Depending on the results of his tests, that may ultimately be moot.

Game Summary

The Diamondbacks are nothing if not consistent. Unfortunately, D-Backs fans would perhaps prefer a different sort of consistency. The Snakes scored 1 run for the 4th game in a row have gone hitless with RISP for just as many games. This is their longest streak of RISP ineptitude this season, breaking a tie with 2 other streaks of 3 games.

The offense felt like they were a step behind Houston starter Cristian Javier from the jump and they never could climb out of the hole. The team struck out 13 times, blowing away their previous season high of 8 Ks in a single game, but they also drew 7 walks which is their new season high in that metric. To be honest, though, it didn’t feel like the walks were great at bats by the hitters. They weren’t battling in the box and taking close pitches or fouling off a bunch of balls in the shadow zone, the D-Backs were simply not swinging at pitches way out of the strike zone on those particular plate appearances.

Gabriel Moreno was the top offensive contributor on the night, with a pair of walks and homer on his box score, but he also had the most negative plays if WPA actually calculated events outside the batter’s box. Gabi’s whiff on a throw home from Max Kepler that would have prevented the third Astros run from scoring was the first blemish on his night and then an absolutely epic TOOTBLAN put a nice bow on his Jekyll and Hyde evening.

The pitching staff did well again, but not well enough to let a single run by the offense stand up. Merrill had one rough inning, but other than that was almost completely spotless. Outside of the 3-run third, Merrill didn’t allow an Astro to reach 2nd base. The bullpen did well, too, with JMart looking awesome outside of his incredibly poor ABS challenge. Martinez averaged over 102mph on his Sinker and 4-seamer! Merrill’s second straight good start is key if this is what we can expect down the stretch. Hopefully his month-on-month-off season continues through September.

Loss Probability and Box Score

Outside the Box Score

• Geraldo Perdomo made a slick play at short to record the first out of the game for Merrill Kelly. The Astros speedy leadoff hitter hit a chopper to short and Gerry made an excellent backhand on a short hop before gathering and firing quickly to first for the out.
• Ketel’s first action at 2B since returning from the Restricted & Injured Lists was a little shaky. Ketel fielded the ball on the far side of second base, planted and threw but the ball went several feet to the home plate side of first base. Fortunately the Astros hitter wasn’t hustling up the line and Tim Tawa could cooly apply the tag to record the out.
• Perdomo got a 2-out walk in the 3rd and then stole second. His jump didn’t appear to be too great but the throw to second was way short and the fielder opted to come up to catch the ball rather than wait on the hop.
• Merrill Kelly gave up a homer to Yainer Diaz to lead off the 3rd on a hanging slider that was in the middle of the strike zone. Diaz blasted it at 100mph EV into the Crawford Boxes.
• Merrill have up an RBI double to Isaac Paredes in the 3rd that landed within a foot of the left field foul pole. Really close to being nothing more than a strike, but even if it was foul, there was a definite them of hard contact against Merrill in the 3rd: 101, 100, 69, 102 were the EVs to start the inning. The 69mph hit belonged to Yordan Alvarez. Go figure.
• Jose Altuve was credited with a sac fly in the third, but it was very nearly an inning-ending double play. Altuve popped it into shallow left right along the left field line by the wall and the stands, a pretty tricky spot. Kepler made a running, shoe string catch then threw home as Yordan Alvarez tagged and went for home. Kepler’s throw bounced a couple times but it was on target and well ahead of the runner, but Gabi whiffed the catch and Alvarez slid home safely for a 3-0 lead.
• Gabi got that run back that he allowed with his whiff of Kepler’s throw home when he tattooed high cutter into the Crawford Boxes for a leadoff homer in the 4th. Exit velocity was, to this point, a game high 105.1.
• The D-backs young players have seemed very hesitant to challenge, but Waldy broke the trend, at least for now, by challenging a called strike 3 that was actually off the outside corner. Unfortunately, it only flipped the box score from ꓘ to K as he struck out swinging on a pitch even further outside the strike zone a couple pitches later.
• Ketel Marte’s double in the 6th was about the luckiest double this he’ll have this year. A high pop up into shallow left field (almost exactly where Altuve hit his sac fly to Kepler earlier in the night) land just inside the fair line as the left fielder overran it and then had to reach back and whiffed the catch. The ball then bounced high into the air and landed in the stands along the left field line for a ground-rule double.
• The Astros catcher whiffed on both his challenges, giving Houston a rare (to my understanding) ofer in the challenge department. 
• Justin Martinez foolishly challenged a pitch in the 7th. The official ruling confirmed the ball landed more than 3” off the plate inside. Yikes.
• Gabi got a leadoff walk in the 8th, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. They gifted the DBacks a runner in scoring position and Gabi threw it away with a horrible TOOTBLAN. Ketel hit a grounder up the middle between Gabi’s secondary lead and second base. Gabi froze, then decided to try and run back toward second. The Astros SS charged and fielded the grounder and made the quick tag of Gabi before throwing to first to complete the double play. TOOTBLANs are inherently ridiculous (getting out like a nincompoop is ridiculous) but that version was way more nincompoopish than what is standard.

Comment of the Game

A fairly average showing tonight in the GameDay Thread with a total of 271 comments at time of publishing. Only a single comment crossed into Sedona Red territory and that was a greeting rather than commentary on the game so no COTG winner this evening.

Coming Up

The Diamondbacks face the ’Stros tomorrow at 4:15pm televised nationally on FOX. Brandon Pfaadt (7-2, 3.49 ERA) will get the ball for the good guys and young right-hander Ethan Pecko (1-0, 6.23 ERA) will get the ball for Houston.

Scoreboard Watching

• Cubs beat the Marlins to keep the Fish 3 games back of AZ.
• Padres are tied with Yankees 1-1 at home after 7 innings. Currently tied with AZ pending the results of their game.
• Cardinals won in Colorado 7-6. They are very much back in the hunt at 3 games behind AZ.

Iowa right-hander Andrew Wantz was activated off the temporarily inactive list.

Iowa second baseman Hayden Cantrelle went to the development list.

Knoxville right-hander Brody McCullough went to the development list.

Knoxville right-hander Luis Martinez-Gomez comes off the 7-day injured list.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were broadsided by the Columbus Clippers (Guardians), 7-1.

Braxton Garrett wasn’t bad tonight, allowing two runs on three hits over 4.2 innings. Both runs scored on a third-inning home run. Garrett struck out five and walked three. Garrett still got the loss.

Edward Cabrera had a rough relief appearance in a rehab assignment. Cabrera gave up four runs, three earned, on three hits over two-thirds of an inning. His defense did him no favors, but he didn’t do any favors for his defense either. Cabrera walked two and struck out one.

Iowa had just two hits tonight and second baseman Ben Cowles had both of them, going 2 for 4 with an RBI double in the third inning.

Cowles double.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies got in the eyes of the Chattanooga Lookouts (Reds), 8-3. The win moved the Smokies back in to a tie for first place in their division with 8 games to play. Of course, the Smokies have already clinched a playoff spot from winning the division title in the first half.

Luis Martinez-Gomez came off the IL and went three innings. He allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits. He walked two and struck out three.

Grayson Moore allowed one run on two hits over 1.2 innings and got the win. Moore struck out one and walked no one.

Right fielder Alex Ramírez hit a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning, his 14th on the year. Ramírez went 1 for 5.

Shortstop Alex Madera was a perfect 4 for 4 with a double. He drove in two and scored two. Madera also stole a base.

DH Andy Garriola doubled twice in a 3 for 5 night. Garriola scored two runs.

Madera’s home run.

Highlights from a three-run sixth inning.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs creamed the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins), 14-3.

Starter Alfredo Romero allowed two runs on three hits over 3.1 innings. One run was unearned. Romero walked three and struck out four.

Cole Reynolds took over for Romero and got the win because Romero didn’t go five innings. Reynolds pitched 3.1 innings and gave up one run on four hits. He struck out three and walked no one.

The Kernels literally could not get center fielder Alexey Lumpuy out, as Lumpuy was a perfect 5 for 5 with three doubles and a stolen base. Lumpuy drove in four runs and scored once.

Shortstop Angel Cepeda went 3 for 4 and was hit by a pitch. Cepeda scored three times and drove in one.

Third baseman Matt Hallbach was 2 for 3 with two walks. He scored four runs and had one run batted in.

Right fielder Leonel Espinoza went 2 for 4 and scored once.

Everyone in the starting lineup had at least one hit except catcher Justin Stransky, but Stransky had a big night anyway, going 0 for 1 with a bases-loaded walk and three sacrifice flies for four total RBI. I can’t remember anyone getting four RBI without a hit.

Here are highlights from a four-run first inning.

A three-run double from Brennan Hudson, who was 1 for 5.

Lumpuy’s fifth hit and third double drove in a run.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans caught the Columbia Fireflies (Royals) in a jar, 7-2.

Riely Hunsaker pitched the first five innings and surrendered two runs on four hits. One of the two runs was unearned. Hunsaker struck out four, walked two and hit one.

Luis Mata pitched the next two innings and got the win. Mata gave up no runs on no hits, but he did walk one while striking out one. Mata also hit a batter.

DH Juan Tomas hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, his first for Myrtle Beach and sixth overall. Tomas was 1 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.

Catcher Jose Silva went 2 for 4 with a stolen base. He scored once.

Highlights.

At Citi Field on Friday was a team that had been dismantled at the trade deadline, clearly a shell of the postseason threat it aspired to be and a club that might not mind the losses mounting considering the draft implications. 

That team faced the Mets, who have played their cleanest baseball in garbage time. 

The Giants sold at the trade deadline, batted a player named Turner Hill cleanup in the series opener and are still bottoming out, 10-19 since offloading every piece they could. 

The 2026 Mets have been a similar and different team, respectively: a big-money bust that threw in the towel, wiped itself off and now is emerging as fresh-faced and competitive. 

In a September matchup featuring two disappointments that are trending in opposite directions, the Mets used five home runs — two from Francisco Alvarez — and a gritty night from Nolan McLean to hold off the Giants, 10-6, in front of 29,377 who have been cheering for a team with more life since Aug. 3. 

The Mets (64-77) are 13 games under .500 but 17-11 since unloading nearly the entirety of their bullpen plus Clay Holmes, Freddy Peralta and Tyrone Taylor. 

Each victory brings them a bit closer to possible offseason frustration: Their first-round draft pick would be docked 10 spots (as it was last year) unless they are bad enough and lucky enough to land a top-six selection. 

David Stearns would argue each victory brings them closer to the team they want to be. 

“I am encouraged by what we’ve seen,” the president of baseball operations said before the game. “We’ve seen continued progression from a lot of players who are going to be here next year and for many years beyond. 

“And that is very encouraging for me and I think lifts the organization as a whole as we head into an offseason and, ultimately, construct our team for ’27.” 

Somewhere in the front of their rotation next season will be McLean, who clearly has the stuff to be an ace but showed Friday that he can be effective without his top execution. The National League Rookie of the Year contender — who acknowledged he wants the award but is not focused on it — battled through six innings in which he somehow allowed two runs while letting up six hits and walking four. 

“Lucky” was how McLean described his night after managing just two 1-2-3 innings — the second and sixth, the latter of which he punctuated with a fist-pump upon getting Christian Koss looking at strike three — and in each other frame he had to survive, the biggest struggle coming in the fifth. 

The Giants loaded the bases without an out, were a swing away from making a lopsided game interesting, but watched McLean strike out Jung Hoo Lee and induce a ground ball double play from Drew Cavanaugh on a play that Marcus Semien made a nice sliding grab and shovel pass to Francisco Lindor. 

“The thing about him that I have always appreciated,” interim manager Andy Green said, “is he can put himself into some nasty jams and then he finds a ridiculous amount of confidence to work his way out of it.” 

The Mets bullpen bent, notably when Rafael Devers clubbed a three-run home run against Austin Warren in the eighth. 

But they had a cushion because the Mets’ attack racked up more home runs (five) than singles (four). 

Mark Vientos — reminding that even in a season plagued by injury and inconsistency, he can still crush lefties — continued his strong work off the injured list with a three-run shot against Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson in the first inning. 

Alvarez and Bo Bichette added a pair in the second to help capsize Wilkinson. 

Lindor added a two-run shot in the sixth and Alvarez tacked on with his 15th of the year in the eighth. 

“I just want to go out there and finish in the best possible way as I can, both offensively and defensively,” Alvarez, who is still trying, said through interpreter Alan Suriel.

The Mets are giving Jonah Tong his chance.

Interim manager Andy Green told reporters Friday night after the team's 10-6 win over the San Francisco Giants that Tong will be called up and start on Monday when they face the Marlins in Miami.

Green was asked about the decision to bring in Robert Stock to pitch in the eighth inning, leading him to share the plan to have Tong rejoin the rotation.

"I think we kind of rearranged our rotation coming out of the off-day," Green said. "We knew the three guys that were going to go this series. We have, we'll say it now, Jonah will start the first game against Miami. Sean [Manaea] will start the next one and then we'll figure out where we are on that last day in Miami, which gave Robert a long time down and us the opportunity to use him in that capacity."

Green had hinted at Tong being considered for the opportunity earlier in the week, and now the 23-year-old will get prove he deserves it.

Tong last pitched in the majors on June 2 against the Seattle Mariners, allowing four earned runs on five hits in bulk relief (3.1 IP). In his brief stint with the Mets earlier this season, he went 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA over 10.0 IP (all in relief).

Meanwhile, it's been an up-and-down year for Tong in Triple-A, as he's gone 5-6 with a 4.54 ERA with 126 strikeouts across 23 starts. But he has impressed recently, pitching to a 0.84 ERA with 23 strikeouts over his last four starts, including a seven-inning one-hitter on Aug. 29.

New York has been patient with Tong's development this year after he was rushed to the big leagues at the end of the 2025 season and struggled.

This game was out of control for KC very quickly. Daniel Lynch IV made his fifth start as a Royal, and the broadcast played an interview with manager Matt Quatraro who said, “I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him as a starter, yet.” I’m more afraid we haven’t seen the worst; the Royals ultimately lost 9-2.

Honestly, you could blame almost any position group for this loss. Lynch was obviously bad. He allowed five runs in five innings, the first time he’s pitched that deep into a game. And perhaps there’s something to be said of the recovery that actually saw him record 10 straight outs to finish his outing. But he also allowed 7 hits, 1 walk, and struck out no one. So.

Nolan Hoffman came on in relief for the sixth inning and immediately gave up three more runs to make sure the Royals didn’t even consider coming back in this one. He pitched a second scoreless inning, and Easton McGee had a scoreless inning but allowed a run in the ninth to finish the game off. Neither of them are considered among the Royals’ best current relievers, but both are supposed to be competing for a role in next year’s ‘pen. It isn’t going well.

The offense seemed like it might have something going in the first inning against Jameson Taillon. Carter Jensen struck out looking, but Bobby Witt Jr. smoked a home run at 106.7 MPH. Jac Caglianone lined out to second at 110 MPH. Salvador Perez lined out to third at 104.5, they were obviously seeing Taillon well. Or so it seemed. The Royals didn’t get a runner to second base again until the bottom of the eighth when Carter Jensen doubled off of old friend Michael Lorenzen. Taillon also only pitched two innings, leaving with an injury after the completion of the 1-2-3 second on nine pitches.

Vinnie tacked on a solo shot with two outs in the ninth, which probably felt good because he has slumped a little in his last six games after the hot start off the IL.

It was just a bad night for Royals’ baseball all around. Tomorrow might be better, but perhaps don’t hold your breath. Seth Lugo (5.03 ERA, 4.56 SIERA) will go for the Royals. Max Scherzer (6.16 ERA, 5.03 SIERA) will go for the Blue Jays. Scherzer’s numbers look bad, but he was absolutely fantastic his last time out against the Mariners. The game will start at 6:10 PM Central.

There are a lot of games left to be played. There is no doubt that one win at this point of the season won’t decide anything. With that being said, Friday night went a long way for a Chicago White Sox team that has been floundering in the deep end for a few weeks now.

When teams fall on tough times, it’s usually due to their stars falling flat, and the White Sox have been no different. Munetaka Murakami has been looking like Bob Uecker the player, and nobody else has really picked up the slack offensively. The team had scored just 14 runs over the last six games heading into Friday night, which is a big reason why the team has gone 2-4 during that time.

To this point in the season, the stars of the South Siders have shown up when they’ve been most needed, and tonight was no different. Sure, Murakami still looks more lost than Chuck Noland in Castaway, but everyone else pulled their weight.

A win would set the tone, and the tone was set loudly in the very first inning. Miguel Vargas was just the second batter in the game when he took a pretty decent fastball out to right center field to put the White Sox on the board first:

In the second inning, the second batter again did some damage once again. Braden Montgomery smoked a cutter out to right-center to double the lead, again setting the tone that their offense would not be standing pat again:

Say what you want but I’ve seen enough, I’m calling Braden Montgomery a star now.

In the fourth inning, the White Sox escaped a bit of a jam when faced with a possible turning of the tides, as Erick Fedde wriggled out of a first-and-third jam with two outs. The White Sox rewarded him by putting the Twins away courtesy the other Montgomery, who clubbed a two-run homer to double the lead to four.

Inasmuch as the game was not even halfway through, we all knew the Twins were going to wilt. They always have, and always will.

The biggest spark of the night didn’t come from the power bats, but the arms on the mound, led by one Mr. Erick “Fightin’” Fedde. If he keeps pitching like he did on Friday night, even the Pope will soon be wearing his jersey. Sure the Twins stink, but five innings of three-hit ball with no runs allowed is a great stat line no matter the opponent.

With an exhausted bullpen, Hagen Smith came up big once again, covering two innings and also not allowing a run. With just two games left until a crucial day off before a 13-game stretch without a break ahead, the ability to rest most of the bullpen arms tonight was certainly a welcome sight.

Of course, Grant Taylor had to mess around in the ninth and not only lose the shutout, but see the tying run come to the plate. Luckily, he was able to bow his neck and coax a fly out from Luke Keaschall, keeping a dangerously-placed sinker in the park to end the game on a high.

Tonight, the White Sox looked much more like the team that fans have fallen in love with by just refusing to quit and continuing to attack each and every inning. Tonight’s win brought may have brought more of a sigh of relief than jubilation, but a win’s a win and the magic number is down to at least 19.

As adamant as our fearless leader Brett Ballantini is that the Cleveland Guardians are a trash team who have no shot at coming back, they are not eliminated yet. A loss would’ve pushed the division lead down to just two games and with a series in Cleveland next week, it would certainly have brought out the nervous nellies of Chicago.

Instead, we can all take a deep breath and thank our lucky stars the Minnesota Twins are in our division.

MVP
Erick Freakin’ Fedde: W, 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BBs, 2 Ks

Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery: 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBIs, R, 2 Ks
Braden Montgomery: 1-for-3, R, HR, RBI
Tristan Peters: 2-for-3
Hagen Smith: 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K, 19-of-26 strikes

Cold Cat
Munetaka Murakami: 0-for-4, K

Runners-Up
Chase Meidroth: 0-for-3, E
Kyle Teel: 0-for-3, 0-for-1 CS

It wasn’t Nolan McLean’s sharpest outing, but the Mets gave him enough run support in a 10-6 victory over the Giants in this opening game of the series that it didn’t matter and McLean managed to battle his way through six innings.

McLean worked around a walk to Rafael Devers in the first and it was already clear he was missing arm side early; it was the first of four free passes McLean would issue on the night. Meanwhile, the Mets got started against Tugboat Wilkinson right away in the bottom of the frame. Francisco Lindor led things off with a single and then with one out, Bo Bichette walked to advance Lindor to second. Mark Vientos then belted an opposite field three-run homer to get the Mets out to an early lead and set the tone for what was to come.

Staked to a three-run lead, McLean retired the Giants in order in the second. The Mets piled on and added to their lead in the bottom of the second. With one out, Francisco Alvarez launched a solo homer to extend the Mets’ lead to 4-0. Nick Morabito then drew a walk and Wilkinson’s nightmares continued as he balked Morabito over to second. The Giants definitely did not pitch well, but they were not helped out by their defense either. Francisco Lindor reached on a fielding error by shortsotp Christian Koss to prolong the inning and then Juan Soto grounded into a force out at second that plated Morabito to give the Mets a 5-0 lead. Soto promptly stole second and then Bo Bichette socked a ball over the fence in left field right into the outstretched hands of an elated fan for the Mets’ second homer of the inning and third of the night. Mark Vientos then also hit a ball hard, but right at the shortstop Koss who fielded it this time. But the Mets had opened up a massive 7-0 lead for McLean to work with.

The Giants got on the board against McLean in the top of the third. McLean struck out the first batter he faced, but then walked Christian Koss. Drew Gilbert followed with a single to advance Koss to third and then Rafael Devers—who provided most of the firepower for the Giants this evening—laced a double into the gap in right center to score both runners and cut the Mets’ lead to 7-2. McLean bounced back to strike out Bryce Eldridge (his fourth strikeout on the night), but then he walked Turner Hill to prolong the inning. Marcus Semien helped McLean out with a nice play on a Jung Hoo Lee grounder to end the inning.

Both teams took a brief break from scoring during the middle innings. Wilkinson lasted just three innings and Yunior Marte came in the game in long relief for the Giants in the fourth and worked around a walk to pitch a scoreless frame. The Giants loaded the bases against McLean in the fifth on a Rafael Devers double, a walk by Bryce Eldridge, and a single by Turner Hill. But McLean escaped the jam by striking out Jung Hoo Lee and inducing a double play grounder off the bat of Drew Cavanaugh; Semien made another really nice play on this ball, flipping it to Lindor as he fell and Lindor made a nice turn to keep the Giants off the board in the inning. McLean came back out for the sixth and was pushed to a career-high 105 pitches. He ended his night with an exclamation mark, striking out Christian Koss for the third out and screaming in triumph as he walked off the mound toward the dugout. It was not smooth sailing for McLean; he had to battle, but he navigated his way through a quality start to ultimately earn his eleventh win of the season.

The Mets once again stretched their lead to seven runs in the bottom of the sixth in Marte’s third inning of relief. Jared Young walked to lead off the inning and then Marte bounced back to retire the next two batters, but then Francisco Lindor sent an absolute no-doubter into the upper deck down the right field line for the Mets’ fourth long ball of the night.

The Giants scratched out a run against Jefry Yan in the top of the seventh. Jonah Cox, pinch hitting for Drew Gilbert, singled to lead off the inning. Yan then leapt into the air after striking out Devers, but walked Bryce Eldridge to advance Cox to second. Turner Hill then notched an RBI single to chip away at the Mets’ lead. Yan logged a second strikeout in the inning and then the Giants pinch hit Andrew Knizner for catcher Drew Cavanaugh, prompting Andy Green to turn to Austin Warren. Warren came though, striking out Knizner to end the inning.

The Mets threatened to extend their lead again in the bottom of the seventh, once again due to some shoddy Giants defense. Bo Bichette blooped a single to lead off the inning and then Mark Vientos hit a sharp grounder to third that hit off Osleivis Basabe’s bare hand and trickled away, allowing everyone to reach base safely. Marte managed to escape the inning unscathed (or at least not further scathed than he was already), but Basabe did not. He was pinch hit for in the top of the eighth by Grant McCray, who Warren struck out looking. Warren retired the next batter he faced as well, but the Giants mounted a two-out rally against him. Christian Koss and Jonah Cox hit back-to-back singles and then Rafael Devers turned on an inside pitch from Warren and hit it a long way, giving the Mets a taste of their own medicine and cutting the Mets’ lead to a much more manageable 9-6. Andy Green then yanked Warren from the game before this game that had been well in hand could get away, bringing in Robert Stock to make his first appearance of the season in relief. Stock gave up a double to Eldridge and Turner Hill hit one on the nose as well, but luckily his liner made its way into Carson Benge’s glove to end the inning with the Mets’ lead still in tact, earning Stock his first hold of the season.

Francisco Alvarez provided one last bit of cushion with his second homer of the night in the top of the ninth—a solo shot and his 15th of the season to push the Mets’ run total into double-digits. Kodai Senga worked around a two-out walk to pitch a scoreless ninth to polish off the dinger-fueled victory for the Mets at Citi Field.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Mark Vientos, +21% WPA
Big Mets loser: None!
Mets pitchers: +12% WPA
Mets hitters: +38% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Mark Vientos’ three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, +21.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Turner Hill’s single to load the bases for the Giants in the fifth, -5.8% WPA