Worldwide Sports News

Blue Jays 6 Guardians 3

That was an interesting game in a lot of ways:

• José Soriano was not good, but when he left the game, the Guardians only had one run. He gave up 6 hits and 3 walks, and yet when he left after 4.2 innings, the Jays were up 5-1. There was some luck involved. Some good defense and some ‘getting the out when you needed the out’.
• Mason Fluharty came in with two on and two out in the fifth, with a lefty due up. The Guardians pinch-hit a right-hander, David Fry. Mason got to 1-2 strikes and then walked him. Next batter, Austin Hedges, singled home two (going on Soriano’s tab). Fluharty finally got the third out on a strikeout, but it was 5-3.
• Vlad and Soriano combined on two 3-1 putouts at first. Both times, great job by Soriano to get to the bag in.
• One of the hits against Soriano, I would have called an error. Pop fly to center; Brett Bateman made a nice run and slide, but had the ball come off his glove. It didn’t cost us, even with a double following it, because José got a groundout, pop-out, pop-out, and strikeout.
• We got our first run in the fourth. Vlad walked. Jesús Sánchez grounded one right at the shortstop, but Vlad got to second fast enough that they just went 6-3 on the putout. Then, Sean Keys singled him home.
• And four runs in the fifth. Both Ernie Clement and Brandon Valenzuela walked (both after winning a challenge; Brandon’s would have been a strikeout without the challenge). Brandon got another challenge right in the ninth, getting a strikeout on a challenge. Anyway, two on and Bateman beats out a bunt single, dropping it straight down, so it bounced high. Nathan Lukes doubled home two. And Vlad hit a sac fly, bringing in another. Sánchez singled home our fifth run (pop fly to center, that Steven Kwan just about caught). Keys reached on yet another Guardians error and Smith walked, but a Giménez strikeout and a Clement pop-out ended the inning.
• And one more in the ninth: With two outs, Smith walked, Giménez singled him to third (and then stole second). And Clement singled home, Smith. 6-3.
• We should have had another run in the eighth. With one out, Valenzuela walked. An out later, Lukes doubled. Valenzuela (with two outs) slowed at second for some reason (John said after the game that he forgot the number of outs. This is why there are base coaches). Perhaps he lost where the ball was, but with two outs, you gotta be going for third. At the very least, if you are unsure where the ball is, look for the third-base coach. He really should have scored on the play, but in the end we didn’t need it.
• Spencer Miles got the last out of the sixth (after Fluharty got two pop-outs). And pitched a quick seventh.
• Tyler Rogers pitched a quick eight (with a hit batter in there).
• Louis Varland got the ninth: Ground out, single, strikeout (with a Valenzuele challenge), a walk (bringing the tying run to the plate) and a strikeout. Save 32 for Varland. Miles gets the win (6-2 now). Rogers gets hold #30.
• There was a weird play: Guardians’ pop-up short of third base; Smith was playing towards short, couldn’t get there in time for the catch, but the ball had a lot of spin and bounced foul—one of those strange moments.

We had nine hits, but only one extra-base hit, Lukes’ double and six walks. Bateman had 3 hits, Lukes 2. Vlad was 0 for 3 with a walk and the sac fly. Smith was 0 for 2 with 3 walks. Valenzuela was 0 for 3, with 2 walks.

Jays of the Day: Bateman (0.11 WPA), Keys (0.11), Miles (0.10), Soriano (0.09) and Rogers (0.09).

Other Award: Giménez (-0.11).

That puts the Jays just half a game back of the Guardians. Tomorrow, the Jays are in KC to play the Royals. 8:00 start time, Eastern. Jameson Taillon (6-2, 5.68) is expected to be the starter or maybe the bulk guy. Daniel Lynch IV (4-4, 3.06) for the Royals. I’d make fun. of the IV, but I’m the 5th (the Vth?) Tom Dakers of my line.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are probably goners with respect to reaching their first MLB postseason since 2015. They entered Thursday action 5.5 games back of Arizona for the final wild-card spot and had just a 1.5% chance of advancing, according to Fangraphs. 

The club might yet be able to save its general manager’s job, though. If manager Don Kelly and Co. can slip over the .500 mark to complete a winning season for the first time since 2018, then his boss, Ben Cherington, can still credibly point to progress toward another step in 2027 after six consecutive losing campaigns to start his tenure since his late 2019 hiring. 

Results have improved lately. With a 5-2 win against the San Francisco Giants on Sept. 3, the Pirates have won five of their past series to break a skid of seven consecutive series losses coming out of the All-Star break. 

Required reading: Pirates' lineup gets a boost with Oneil Cruz set to return vs. Tigers

They’re also getting healthier at some key spots. Power-hitting centerfielder Oneil Cruz returned from an extended injured list stint Aug. 18 and has hit well since returning with a .306 average, two homers and 10 RBIs in 13 games entering Thursday. 

Rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin is back in Pittsburgh, too. He’s been out since July 5 with a finger injury but is expected to be in the lineup Friday night against the Los Angeles Angels after a rehab stint in the minors. 

"It's been driving me nuts watching the games on my phone," said Griffin, the organization’s former top prospect who signed a lucrative extension with the club early in the year. "It'll be fun to finally be back in there competing."

Ryan O’Hearn could soon join them. He’s been in Pittsburgh as well this week, so a rehab assignment is the natural next step back from a quad injury that’s had him out since July 31. He’s been a key piece of Pittsburgh’s offensive surge this season with 17 home runs and 69 RBIs. 

The Pirates sit three games back of .500, so a winning season is still eminently achievable with relatively good ball between now and the Sept. 27 season finale against Detroit. 

The question for owner Bob Nutting is whether that should be enough for Cherington to hold on for an eighth season. 

The highwater mark for his tenure so far was 76 wins in both 2023 and 2024. His teams have finished either four or fifth in the NL Central in each of his six full seasons in Pittsburgh so far, and in each of his last eight full seasons overall. He oversaw two last-place teams with the Boston Red Sox following a 2013 World Series victory. 

Ownership also did not soft pedal expectations in the offseason.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs. Period. Full stop,” president Travis Williams said in January. “That is the expectation of this organization."

Not meeting that goal after such a long track record of losing should come with consequences in most circumstances. That said, the circumstances facing the sport as a whole are exceptional. 

Many observers expect a lock out of the players for some portion of 2027. Owners are known to desire a salary cap system, and that’s especially true in a market like Pittsburgh. The Pirates are often facing teams with double and triple their payroll, so fans and ownership alike want a more equal playing field from a revenue perspective. 

Changing the direction of baseball operations while facing those headwinds and possible wholesale changes to the economic system could be more disruption than this franchise needs, if it can show some upward trajectory. 

That “if” is why the month ahead remains important, even if most Pittsburgh eyes will soon be diverted to the Steelers’ day-to-day across the proverbial parking lot at Acrisure Stadium. 

What fans will most want to see is the continued growth of starter Braxton Ashcraft and a return to form from rotation mate Paul Skenes. 

The former hit a rough path in the same portion of the schedule that tripped up the team as a whole in July. In August, however, he got back on the track that earned him an All-Star nod with a 2.13 ERA. The Pirates won five of his six starts, so a strong finish would make a statement that he can be every bit the building block that Skenes has been seen as. 

Speaking of him, the NL’s reigning Cy Young, is off to an inauspicious start to September after allowing five runs in 4.2 innings against the Giants this past Tuesday. His ERA has ballooned from 3.10 at the end of June to 3.97 through the end of August. 

If there is a 2027 for the sport, he’ll have to be much better for the Pirates, so a strong finish would be the encouraging sign Nutting may need to give Cherington one more chance to return this franchise to the sport’s biggest stage.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Pirates have gotten hot, and just might save GM Ben Cherington's job

Thursday notes…

• THURSDAY UNDER THE LIGHTS: This will be the Cubs’ 100th night game at Wrigley Field on a Thursday. They are 54-45 in the first 99. The Cubs have hosted by far the most games under the lights on Tuesday, 342, followed by Monday, 236, and Wednesday, 182. They have played far fewer on other days: Sunday, 62; Saturday, 52; and Friday, just 14. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• FOUR-GAME SERIES: Tonight’s game will be the Cubs’ sixth finale of a four-game series this year. They have won each of the previous five: at home vs. the Phillies and Reds, on the road at Pittsburgh, New York vs. the Mets and St. Louis. This is their first fourth game following a win and two losses. The Cubs were 3-2 in fourth games last season, including wins in their only two at home, over the Pirates and Brewers. They won their final two fourth games at home two years ago as well, so they take a six-game home winning streak into tonight. Their last fourth-game loss at Wrigley Field was to the Pirates, 3-2, on Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• SIXTY-THREE AND FIVE: Last night’s loss was just the Cubs’ 13th of the season when they have scored at least five runs. They have won 63 such games. They are 9-6 with five runs, 10-2 with six, 12-3 with seven, 8-2 with eight and a combined 24-0 with nine or more. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• THE HOT BREGMAN: Alex Bregman, last 25 games since Aug. 6: .320/.383/.738 (33-for-103) with four doubles, 13 home runs, 33 RBI and 22 runs scored.

Cubs lineup:

Brewers lineup:

Kevin Gausman, RHP vs. Logan Henderson, RHP

Kevin Gausman has been up and down since his acquisition at the trade deadline. Last week he had a great start against the Diamondbacks, then not so much against the Reds.

He allowed three runs in five innings to the Brewers April 14 in Milwaukee, including a home run by Jake Bauers. Tonight will likely have to be better than that.

Current Brewers are batting .198 (20-for-101) against Gausman with 32 strikeouts.

Logan Henderson has had an under-the-radar really good year for the Brewers, even while missing some time earlier this year with a back strain. He doesn’t walk guys — 4.9 percent walk rate — so Cubs hitters should look to put the ball in play.

This will be his first career start against the Cubs, so I hope the team has a good scouting report on Henderson.

Today’s game is on Fox-TV (regional — coverage map). A reminder that if you subscribe to MLB.TV or MLB Extra Innings, you can watch this game via those services even if it’s not on the Fox affiliate in your market.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. If you do go there to interact with Brewers fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

It was September 6th, 2017. The Diamondbacks completed a sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles with a 3-1 victory, Taijuan Walker getting the win and Adam Rosales hitting a go-ahead double in the seventh inning. It was, remarkably, Arizona thirteenth victory in a row, a franchise record which still stands. But what’s more remarkable is that, in the close to nine years since that date, the D-backs have not had a winning streak which has reached half of that length. Yes: that was the last time Arizona won more than a very modest winning streak of six games in a row. Indeed, it has now been more than two years since they even reached that, in late August 2024.

Seven-game winning streaks are not exactly rare. On the same day the D-backs won their 13th and final contest, they were one of three teams with an active 7+ game winning streak. The Astros racked up their seventh win that day, and the Cleveland Indians were winning their 14th in a row. They were on the way to a winning streak which would end at a staggering twenty-two games, the longest of any team in the live ball era. Fun fact: that was the only date in recorded baseball history, that two teams have simultaneously been on winning streaks of thirteen games or more.

The great drought

Between then and the end of 2017, the Athletics and Cubs would also post seven wins in a row. Every other team in the majors would follow suit. Since the end of the D-backs last such streak, there have been no fewer than 206 times where a team has gone seven or more unbeaten. It’s just that none of them are by Arizona. The chart below shows the number of 7+ game winning streaks for each team since the start of 2018 (203 in all).

The two branches of the Evil Empire, on the East and West coasts, have each got to enjoy no fewer than eighteen separate winning streaks of 7+ games, since the last time the Diamondbacks had one. The sense of entitlement is strong. I mean, it makes sense in that, at the time of writing, the only team to have won more games than the Yankees are the Dodgers. Most of the teams high up the chart above are similarly high up the overall win rankings from 2018-26. The most obvious exception are the Red Sox, who rank =3rd for win streaks, but only come in ninth for overall wins.

On that basis, the D-backs do have good reason to feel hard done by. They rank 18th in wins, and a similar position for win streaks would have given them five over the past nine seasons, rather than zero. I mean, hell, even the Colorado Rockies – dead last in wins, by twenty, over this time-frame – have enjoyed a pair of seven-game streaks, and a pair of eight-game streaks. You would think Arizona would have simply lucked into a lengthy winning streak, just by chance. I mean, we’re talking over 640 wins. You would think they might have bunched together at some point in nine years.

What are the odds?

It’s actually a non-trivial task to figure this out. [Those who are not a mathematical bent might care to skip this section, or at least scroll down to the conclusion, which I’ll put in bold] If you know the chances of winning a single game, it’s quite easy to calculate the basic odds of winning seven in a row. x^7, where x is the chance of winning a single game. This presumes the odds are the same for each game, but if we go down the rabbit-hole of figuring out different probabilities for each contest, we’ll never get anywhere. However, if you are looking for the odds of a 7-game streak over a season, things get complex, but results are no longer independent.

For a single baseball season, there are 156 different points at which a seven-game streak could start. If you reach game 156 without one and lose, there’s not enough time thereafter for such a streak. But they overlap: a single loss in, say, game 100, will eliminate streak #94 through #100 from consideration. So it gets complex. If you should be interested, The Hardball Times has all the information you could possibly want, in their 2019 article called The Probability of Streaks. Though it’s too much math, even for me.

Should we treat each season as separate. Does winning the last three games then the first four the next year count? Not that the answer either way would help the D-backs. At this point, heading towards a decade, I would take any good, long winning streak. But let’s start with the odds of a .500 team winning seven in a row, within a single season. Google AI does a good job of explaining the math, involving Markov chains and recursion. Turns out an average team has about an average chance – 47% – of a seven-game winning streak in a season. For better teams, the odds are higher. A .550 team has around a 68% shot. Conversely, a .450 team has only a 28% chance.

Now, for the D-backs. They have played 1,357 games since the last time they won seven in a row, going 656-701 for a win percentage in that time of .483. The math tells us there is a 98.79% chance a seven-game winning streak would happen at least once, so the odds of Arizona avoiding it entirely, as has actually happened, is just 1.21% – roughly a one in 83 chance. Heck, there’s a better than 60% chance of a 10-game win streak. We can also calculate that the a team with that win percentage would be expected to have enjoyed 4.28 separate winning streaks of seven or more games over that span, rather than the zero which have actually happened.

So close, and yet…

While it hasn’t happened for a while, the Diamondbacks have been on the edge of a seven-game winning streak on multiple occasions. Appropriately enough, they have had seven six-game winning streaks, only to go 0-7 when they attempted to win a seventh game. What’s the closest they’ve come? Here are the seven games which ended the six-game streaks:

• Sept 1, 2019 – 3-4 vs. LAD. This defeat was particularly annoying, because the D-backs would go on to win the next five games in a row. Had they prevailed here, it would have given them a 12-game streak. They led 3-2 in the ninth inning, but Cody Bellinger hit a home-run off Andrew Chafin, and we lost in 11 innings. Peak WP: 91%
• Aug 19, 2020 – 1-4 @ OAK. Having skunked the A’s 10-1 the previous day at Chase, as part of a home-and-home series, hopes were high. But Merrill Kelly gave up two runs in the first inning, and two more in the third. The D-backs never threatened, and this kicked off an 8-game losing streak for Arizona. Peak WP: 50%
• June 3, 2023 – 2-5 vs. ATL. The Diamondbacks had squeaked out a one-run win to take the series opener, but the Braves chipped away at Ryne Nelson, with single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings, building a lead which couldn’t be overcome, while Spencer Strider held Arizona to three hits over his six frames. Peak WP: 61%
• June 13, 2023 – 3-15 vs. PHI. Arizona quickly got back on the horse, and a 5-0 road trip through Washington and Detroit, was followed by a 9-8 win against the Phillies at Chase, rallying from 5-1 down. The next day though.. Zach Davies gave up four runs in the first, and it went downhill from there. Josh Rojas pitched the ninth. Peak WP: 50%
• Aug 26, 2023 – 7-8 vs. CIN, The third streak of 2023 begin with a double-header sweep in San Diego, and die as Arizona couldn’t keep a late lead. They were 4-1 up with two outs in the eighth, and still had a two-run lead with one out in the ninth, but Paul Sewald – remember him? – was unable to hold it. The Reds prevailed in 11. Peak WP: 95%
• Aug 16, 2024 – 4-5 @ TBR. Live by the walk-off, die by the walk-off. The six games leading up to this had seen Arizona walk off against both Philadelphia and Colorado. But they were on the other side of it in Tampa. The D-backs scored two in the ninth to tie the game, but an ugly Jake McCarthy error let the Rays win. Peak WP: 79%
• Aug 27, 2024 – 3-8 vs NYM. There was another six-game winning streak later in the month, starting immediately after the D-backs were swept by the Rays. Impressively all six victories came on the road, sweeping Miami and Boston. But a six-run fifth off Brandon Pfaadt ended all hopes of making it to seven. Peak WP: 50%

So it has been more than two years, and 334 games since the last of these, with a .503 W%. Even the lack of a six-game streak in that time is quite unlikely, with a 94% chance of one showing up. It’s worth noting that since the end of 2017, the D-backs have had about what would be expected in terms of losing streaks of seven or more. There have been six of those, peaking with those terrible, seventeen consecutive losses in June 2020.

I guess all of the above could make you think that the D-backs are overdue, though that feels like a classic example of the gambler’s fallacy. But with the team currently in a dog-fight (albeit one feeling of the “Pekinese vs. Chihuahua” variety!) with the Padres for a wild-card, there’s no denying this month would be a particularly good time for the streakless streak to end.

Not many Minor League Baseball roundups are left in the 2026 season, sadly. But all four of the San Francisco Giants A-ball affiliates played on Wednesday, so let’s dig into the action.

Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.

News

A few transactions. There were a pair of promotions, with RHP Logan Martin moving from AA Richmond to AAA Sacramento, while catcher Onil Perez jumped from High-A Eugene to Richmond. Sacramento catcher Adrián Sugastey landed on the 7-Day IL, as did Low-A San Jose RHP Trey Seeley, which was no surprise after Seeley left Tuesday’s start in the 1st inning, and fairly emotionally distraught.

Catcher Charlie Muniz was signed out of an independent league and assigned to Eugene.

Some exciting hardware to hand out, as Sacramento outfielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) was named the Player of the Month in the Pacific Coast League, while Richmond LHP Jacob Bresnahan (No. 11 CPL) was named Pitcher of the Month in the High-A Northwest League, which he dominated before a recent promotion.

And some fun video for you! Shortstop Joniel Hernandez, the extremely exciting 17-year old that the Giants acquired from the Padres at the trade deadline, has made his way to the states following the conclusion of the DSL season. He’s getting into some bridge league games.

AAA Sacramento (75-56)

Sacramento River Cats beat the Salt Lake Bees (Angels) 3-1
Box score

It’s been notable that in recent weeks the Giants have called up LHPs Matt Wilkinson and Cesar Perdomo from AAA, and even RHP Yunior Marte (No. 25 CPL) straight from AA, while leaving LHP Joe Whitman (No. 26 CPL) in the Minors. I’ve noticed it. You’ve noticed it.

And you know who else has surely noticed it? Joe Whitman.

But perhaps a chip on the shoulder is precisely what Whitman needed, because he’s been pitching very well lately. Wednesday was a particularly impressive performance for Whitman, a compensation round pick in 2023. The Kent State alum, who turns 25 later this month, went 8 innings in this game (!!!), giving up just 6 hits and 0 walks, while striking out 5 batters. 5 of the 6 hits he gave up were singles, but the 6th was a home run, which put the lone run on the board for the Bees.

If memory is serving me correctly, it’s the 1st time this year that a Giants prospect has pitched 8 innings in a game, and to do it in the Pacific Coast League only makes that feat more impressive.

Whitman hasn’t been great in AAA, as he has a 4.23 ERA and a 4.94 FIP, but he’s really started to find his rhythm and adjust to the level. In his last 4 starts, Whitman has pitched 24 innings, and allowed just 23 hits, 3 walks, and 6 earned runs, while striking out 21.

With Marte, Perdomo, and Wilkinson in the Majors, Whitman becomes arguably the most difficult Rule 5 protection choice for the Giants. Southpaws in AAA with prospect pedigree who are starting to figure things out will look juicy to another front office … but the Giants also currently have 31 pitchers and 53 total players on the 40-man roster.

Yet despite the brilliant game, Whitman was, tragically, in line for a loss. The River Cats had been shut out for 8 innings, and after RHP Alex Carillo pitched a scoreless top of the 9th (with a hit and a hit batter allowed), Sacramento went into the bottom of the 9th trailing 1-0.

And then magic struck. Left fielder Will Brennan, who continued his recent hot streak by hitting 2-4, opened the inning with a double. Designated hitter Diego Velasquez (No. 31 CPL), who hit 1-3, followed it up with a walk.

That brought up first baseman Charlie Szykowny. The recently-turned 26-year old was playing in just his 5th game with Sacramento, following a recent promotion that accompanied all of the roster shuffling going on in the Majors and at the top of the Minors. Szykowny, a 9th-round pick in 2023, has looked pretty comfortable in AAA, though he was 0-3 on the day.

But, given a chance to save his starting pitcher from the rare PCL Caining, Szykowny sprung into action, and launched a splendid walk-off home run for his very 1st AAA home run. Talk about a swing that he will never, ever forget!

The rest of the offense struggled, as you can predict given the fact that it was held scoreless before that final swing. The star trio at the top of the lineup continued their recent struggles, as they all seem to be leaking oil a little bit: center fielder Scott Bandura hit 0-3 with a walk, third baseman Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL) went 0-2 with 2 walks and a strikeout, and right fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) went 1-4 with a strikeout and a caught stealing. For Harber, it continued a tough hit drought: he’s now 1-26 with 4 walks and 9 strikeouts over his last 7 games.

AA Richmond (73-53)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 13-4
Box score

Not the most interesting game for the Squirrels, who gave up 13 runs a night after allowing 12 (though they won that game). Despite the high run total, it was an encouraging performance from the starting pitcher, RHP Miguel Mendez.

Mendez, a recently-turned 24-year old who came over in the Robbie Ray trade, made his 3rd appearance with Richmond, and made it through 4.1 innings, giving up 4 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs, while striking out 5 batters. Mendez is still brushing off the dust after some time on the IL, but through 9 innings with the Squirrels, he’s struck out 12 batters while allowing just 3 walks, and that’s pretty nice.

The 6’2 righty, who is from the Dominican Republic, is on the 40-man roster, and while I doubt we see him in San Francisco this year, he could definitely be a big factor in the team’s 2027 plans.

Mendez’s overall line could have been better than it was, as only 1 of his 2 runs scored while he was in the game. He left with 1 out in the 5th and a runner on 3rd, but the inherited runner scored when LHP Jack Choate (No. 37 CPL) proceeded to walk the 1st 3 batters that he faced. After a decent stretch, Choate has really been roughed up in his last 2 outings, and has a 4.47 ERA and a 4.20 FIP on the year, in his 3rd pass through the level.

Then all hell broke lose. RHP Manuel Mercedes gave up 6 baserunners and 5 runs while recording just 2 outs, before handing things off to RHP Marty Gair, the flame-throwing reliever the Giants acquired in the Luis Arráez deal. Gair was making his AA debut and was dealt a tough lesson in the quality of the Eastern League offense, as he ceded 4 hits, a walk, and 4 runs in an inning of work.

Funnily enough, with the game out of hand, the Squirrels handed the 8th and final inning to catcher Onil Perez, who had just been brought up from High-A Eugene, and hadn’t yet had a chance to play his actual position.

The offense, meanwhile, did very little. The lone bright spot was designated hitter Sabin Ceballos (No. 43 CPL), who went 2-4 and smacked a 2-run home run.

If you read this space regularly, you’re probably aware of Ceballos’ deal. A year after hitting just 6 home runs while spending the whole year in AA, Ceballos — who turned 24 a few weeks ago — is up to 17 in his repeat of the level. But, despite striking out just 18.0% of the time, Ceballos is still running a miserable .227 batting average, which has led to a mediocre .750 OPS and 106 wRC+, despite the power and the 14.0% walk rate.

High-A Eugene (76-51)

Eugene Emeralds lost to the Hillsboro Hops (D-Backs) 5-2
Box score

It’s the time of the Minor League season where there are a lot of kind of funny assignments and rosters, as teams need to fill holes that are being left late in the year. That was certainly on display in this game. One of Eugene’s primary catchers, Onil Perez, has been promoted to AA to patch a catching hole there, but the result was a catching hole in High-A. So the Giants signed 24-year old right-handed hitting catcher Charlie Muniz from the Pioneer League and assigned him to Eugene.

Muniz made his professional debut on Wednesday and, unfortunately, learned the hard way that High-A ball is a different beast than the indy league where he had posted a .361/.470/.656 line over 85 games. Muniz’s introduction to affiliated ball was rough, as he struck out in all 4 of his at-bats, while also committing an error and allowing a passed ball.

Can only go up from there, Charlie! And now you can call yourself a pro baseball player, and that’s pretty awesome.

It wasn’t a very interesting game save for that tidbit. Left fielder Jose Ramos continued his somewhat funny destruction of the Northwest League, as he went 1-2 with a solo home run, 2 walks, a stolen base, and a strikeout. On the one hand, Ramos, a 23-year old right-handed hitter who signed in 2019 from Colombia, is running through the league, with an .865 OPS and a 139 wRC+ through 29 games. On the other hand, much of it is due to a comical 20.3% walk rate, and he had a .592 OPS and a 52 wRC+ through his 13-game stint in Low-A this year, which adds some cold water context to his current heater. But hopefully he keeps this up!

Center fielder Jose Ortiz has really been struggling since returning from the IL and getting placed in High-A for the first time, but he had a solid game in this one, going 2-4 with a strikeout, though he was caught stealing. Shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL) wasn’t electric, but he did reach base twice, hitting 1-4 with a walk and a stolen base, though he struck out twice and was caught stealing. He just keeps chugging along, and now has an .849 OPS and a 122 wRC+ through 66 High-A games. Not bad for a 19-year old switch-hitting middle infielder!

The Emeralds rotation is missing some key pieces, as in the last week they lost LHP Jacob Bresnahan (No. 11 CPL) to a promotion and RHP Ramon Marquez to injury. And so Eugene turned to RHP Ubert Mejias for this one, with Mejias making his first start of the season. That wasn’t too tall of a task for the 25-year old Cuban, as Mejias has largely been working in bulk innings (he’s tossed 76.1 innings in 28 appearances this year).

He handled the assignment well, ceding 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run in 3.2 innings, while striking out 2 batters. It’s been an odd year for Mejias. He has done a decent job getting strikeouts and a great job limiting walks, but he’s just far too hittable. Between Low-A and High-A he has 77 strikeouts to just 15 walks in 76.1 innings … but has allowed 84 hits, including 12 home runs. He’s particularly struggled with Eugene, where he has a 7.00 ERA and a 5.08 FIP in 15 appearances.

Nothing really notable from the bullpen. LHP Hayden Wynja continues to try to work his way back into form, after about 1.5 years on the sidelines with injury. The 27-year old gave up a hit, a walk, and an unearned run in 2 innings of work.

Low-A San Jose (76-52)

San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies) 6-2
Box score

This was a brutal offensive game, but apparently that memo didn’t make its way to center fielder Andy Polanco. The 21-year old speedster, who was taken in the 11th round of the 2024 draft, collected singles in all of his at-bats, finishing the game 4-4 with a stolen base, though he was also caught stealing once.

4-4 is a great day to begin with, but it looks even more impressive when you compare it to what his 8 teammates in the lineup did: 3-29 with 1 walk and 9 strikeouts.

Polanco’s numbers aren’t very good in his first year of full season ball, as he has a .729 OPS and an 83 wRC+. Even his biggest statistical strength, his 37 stolen bases, is negated a little bit by the fact that he’s been thrown out on 13 different occasions. But Polanco, who is an excellent defensive player, has found some rhythm late in the year, as he posted a 1.049 OPS in August. In his last 18 games, he’s hit 30-70 with 8 extra-base hits, 3 walks, and just 13 strikeouts.

No one else to talk about on offense. A quiet day from the notable prospects, as neither shortstop Luis Hernández (No. 6 CPL) nor outfielder Peyton Bonds has returned to the team, while shortstop Josuar González (No. 2 CPL) had an extremely rare bad day, going 0-4 with 2 strikeouts.

Unfortunately, González wasn’t the only big-name prospect to struggle, as RHP Argenis Cayama (No. 13 CPL) had arguably his worst game of the year. Cayama set down the side in order to open the game, and needed just 8 pitches to do so. But the 2nd inning proved to be a very forgettable one. Here’s how it went for poor Cayama:

Single
Single
Walk
Triple
Sacrifice fly
Home run
Strikeout
Single
Single

With that, Cayama’s day was done. 1.2 innings pitched, with 7 baserunners, 5 runs, and just 1 strikeout. It’s unfortunate because that is his final start of the regular season, as San Jose wraps things up on Sunday. But he’ll certainly be a part of the Baby Giants’ postseason rotation, so he’ll get a chance to end the year on a high note, even if his season stats are set: 4.87 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 11.5 strikeouts per 9 innings, and 2.7 walks per 9. Odd year.

LHP Ricardo Estrada saved the day though, as he took down the middle chunk of the game easily. The 24-year old handled 4.1 innings while allowing just 1 hit, 1 walk, and 0 runs, and striking out 4 batters. It was a remarkably efficient outing, as Estrada threw 42 of 59 pitches for strikes. He has just a 4.12 ERA and a 5.79 FIP, but has impressed at times.

Home run tracker

17 — Sabin Ceballos — [AA]
15 — Charlie Szykowny — [1 in AAA; 14 in AA]
3 — Jose Ramos — [2 in High-A, 1 in Low-A]

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: 6:45 p.m. PT vs. Salt Lake (SP: Seth Lonsway)
Richmond: 3:35 p.m. PT at Akron (SP: Niko Mazza)
Eugene: 6:35 p.m. PT vs. Hillsboro (SP: TBD)
San Jose: 6:50 p.m. PT at Fresno (SP: TBD)

Reminder that almost all MiLB games can be viewed on MLB TV

The Milwaukee Brewers are continuing their NL Central road trip this weekend, as they’ll visit Cincinnati to take on the Reds for three games beginning Friday evening. Milwaukee, who enters Thursday night’s series finale with the Cubs at 87-53, owns the best record in baseball and, with a win on Thursday evening, will secure their sixth consecutive series win (and ninth out of their last 10 series). The Reds, on the other hand, sit in last place in the NL Central at 67-73, though they are coming off a pair of series wins over the Cubs and Padres, their first series victories since early August.

Milwaukee’s injured list includes only pitchers, including Bryse Wilson (mid-September), Brandon Woodruff (potential postseason return), Rob Zastryzny (TBD), Brian Fitzpatrick (out for season), Quinn Priester (out for season), and Angel Zerpa (out for season).

The Reds are without infielders Spencer Steer (likely done for season), Ke’Bryan Hayes (September), and Michael Toglia (out for season), as well as outfielder Blake Dunn (out for season). On the mound, Graham Ashcraft is currently on a rehab assignment after missing the last three-plus months with a UCL sprain and Hunter Greene is done for the season and maybe even all of next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The Brewer offense is led by Jake Bauers, Jackson Chourio, Andrew Vaughn, Garrett Mitchell, William Contreras, and the recently hot Christian Yelich. Brice Turang and Gary Sánchez have been on the struggle bus for the last several weeks, but Joey Ortiz, Sal Frelick, Cooper Pratt, Luis Lara, and David Hamilton have all contributed nicely to make up for it. Bo Naylor rounds out the team as the 14th man for September. As a team, the Brewers are hitting .257/.340/.400 (.740 OPS ranks fourth), with 130 homers (tied for last), 704 runs scored (third), and 136 steals (sixth).

Cincinnati’s offense is led by rookie Sal Stewart, who is hitting .266/.336/.485 with 31 homers and 105 RBIs, putting him firmly in the conversation for NL Rookie of the Year. Elly De La Cruz, Eugenio Suárez, JJ Bleday, and Tyler Stephenson have all been solid contributors (I know Suárez is hitting only .206 but he still has 20 homers). Matt McLain, Dane Myers, and Héctor Rodríguez round out the other regulars, with TJ Friedl, Ivan Johnson, Juan Brito, Edwin Arroyo, Jose Trevino, and Will Banfield also in the mix. As a team, the Reds are hitting .228/.307/.396 (.703 OPS ranks 23rd), with 186 homers (fourth), 581 runs scored (24th), and 94 steals (tied for 15th).

On the mound, Milwaukee’s top bullpen group of Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, and Trevor Megill are all playing well, and Chad Patrick, JoJo Romero, and DL Hall are also serving in important roles. Grant Anderson and Antonio Senzatela round out the group. As a staff, the Brewers have a 3.48 team ERA (second), including a 3.61 starter ERA (fifth) and a 3.32 bullpen ERA (third). They’ve struck out 1,340 batters (second) over 1,251 2/3 innings.

Emilio Pagán anchors Cincinnati’s bullpen as the closer as he’s 20-for-23 in save chances, though he has a 4.08 ERA. Brock Burke leads the team with 69 appearances, pitching to a 2.58 ERA over 66 1/3 innings. Tony Santillan (6.56 ERA over 35 2/3 IP), Pierce Johnson (4.46 ERA over 40 1/3 IP), and Sam Moll (4.55 ERA over 55 1/3 IP) all have ERAs over 4.00, while Tejay Antone (3.74 ERA over 45 2/3 IP), Julian Garcia (3.32 ERA over 38 IP), and Luis Mey (3.75 ERA over 24 IP) have been solid. As a staff, the Reds have a 4.64 team ERA (26th), including a 4.65 starter ERA (27th) and a 4.65 bullpen ERA (25th). They’ve struck out 1,129 batters (21st) over 1,242 innings.

Probable Pitchers

Friday, September 4 @ 5:10 p.m.: LHP Shane Drohan (7-5, 3.75 ERA, 3.42 FIP) vs. RHP Rhett Lowder (6-8, 5.14 ERA, 4.64 FIP)

Drohan has made 27 appearances (16 starts) this season, with a 3.75 ERA, 3.42 FIP, and 110 strikeouts over 110 1/3 innings. He picked up the win in his last outing, going five frames with one run allowed on six hits and a walk, striking out six as he continues to do his job of eating innings as part of Milwaukee’s six-man rotation. Drohan has made a pair of starts against the Reds here in his rookie year, totaling 10 innings with two runs allowed (1.80 ERA) and 12 strikeouts.

Lowder, 24, is in his second MLB season after being taken No. 7 overall in 2023. After a solid debut across six starts in 2024 (1.17 ERA, 3.10 FIP, 22 K over 30 2/3 IP) he’s struggled mightily this season, making 24 appearances (21 starts) with a 5.14 ERA, 4.64 FIP, and 88 strikeouts across 112 innings. He’s been solid over his last seven starts though, allowing three or fewer earned runs in six of those seven games for a 4.05 ERA, 4.70 FIP, and a 3-1 record (the Reds are 6-1 in those games). Lowder has made three career starts against Milwaukee, including two this season. He’s 0-3 with a 6.28 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 14 1/3 innings in those games.

Saturday, September 5 @ 5:40 p.m.: RHP Dustin May (6-9, 4.69 ERA, 3.49 FIP) vs. LHP Andrew Abbott (6-10, 4.49 ERA, 4.80 FIP)

May hasn’t had much success in a Brewer uniform through five starts. Across 19 2/3 innings with the Crew, he has a 6.41 ERA, 5.43 FIP, and 16 strikeouts over 19 2/3 innings. He took the loss on Sunday against the Rangers, allowing four runs on six hits and three walks, striking out four over 4 1/3 innings. May’s lone appearance against the Reds came back in July of this season, when he allowed one run and struck out eight over six innings while with the Cardinals.

Abbott, who was one of the better pitchers in the NL last year en route to an All-Star selection and eighth place NL Cy Young finish, has also had some troubles this year in his fourth big-league season. Across 28 starts, he’s 6-10 with a 4.49 ERA, 4.80 FIP, and 115 strikeouts over 148 1/3 innings. He’s been hit hard in each of his last two outings, allowing 11 runs on 15 hits and four walks across nine innings in losses to the D-backs and Cubs. A very familiar opponent for Milwaukee, Abbott is 3-4 with a 3.73 ERA and 47 strikeouts across 50 2/3 innings through nine career starts against the Crew. That includes a no-decision against them in July, when he went five frames, allowing two runs and striking out three.

Sunday, September 6 @ 11:10 a.m.: LHP Kyle Harrison (10-4, 3.45 ERA, 3.90 FIP) vs. RHP Brady Singer (5-13, 4.83 ERA, 5.06 FIP)

Harrison, who has a solid 3.45 ERA, 3.90 FIP, and 130 strikeouts over 107 innings this season, has had issues with a few blow-up outings. That was on full display in Monday night’s drubbing at the hands of the Cubs, as he allowed nine runs on 10 hits (five homers) and a pair of walks, striking out three over 3 2/3 innings in an eventual 17-3 loss. All three of Harrison’s starts against Cincinnati came while with the Giants in 2023 and 2024, as he totaled 15 innings with nine runs allowed (5.40 ERA) and 20 strikeouts, going 0-1 with a pair of no-decisions.

Singer, 29, is another pitcher on the struggle bus, as he leads the league with 13 losses this year. Across 27 starts, he has a 4.83 ERA, 5.06 FIP, and 117 strikeouts over 141 2/3 innings. He’s allowed at least three runs in each of his last eight starts, and he hasn’t picked up a win since late July. In five career starts against Milwaukee, Singer is 2-2 with a 3.51 ERA and 27 strikeouts across 25 2/3 innings. That includes seven innings of shutout baseball against the Crew back in June, when he struck out seven in a no-decision (Milwaukee would go on to win 2-1 in extra innings).

How to Watch & Listen

Friday, September 4: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Saturday, September 5: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Sunday, September 6: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Prediction

These two teams have gone in completely opposite directions since the end of April, and that’s been especially true in recent weeks. I’ll take the Crew to win another series 2-1.

As we all know, the Nationals bullpen has been a mess. They have cycled through so many different options, with most being ineffective. The unit has blown a ludicrous 35 saves and their 5.02 bullpen ERA is the third worst in baseball. However, there are three relievers who have established themselves as keepers entering 2027.

Orlando Ribalta, Brad Lord and Will Dion should all feel relatively safe going into 2027. Lord and Dion have established themselves as effective multi-inning relievers. They have solid stuff and a lot of deception. Meanwhile, Orlando Ribalta has become a reliable late inning arm who has a knack for getting out of jams.

The first pitcher I want to dive into is Ribalta because he is the only true late inning arm of the bunch. Ribalta is not some elite high leverage arm, but he has proven that he is solid and is not scared. Those are two qualities that are hard to come by in the Nats bullpen. I wrote about how he was a keeper about a month ago and those words continue to ring true.

For the season, Ribalta has a 3.77 ERA, but it has felt better than that. A big reason for this feeling is because a lot of his struggles have come in lower leverage situations. His biggest blowup outing of the season, which saw his ERA go from 3.20 to 4.05 came against the Rockies in a game that was already lost.

Since then, the big right hander has responded well. In his last two outings, he fired a scoreless 10th against the Marlins and shut the door against the Braves following some drama in the 8th. When the Nats need to get out of a tough spot, Ribalta is usually their best option. He is not perfect, but he is good enough to be a contributor in a solid bullpen.

He also has the stuff for high leverage as well. Ribalta averages nearly 97 on his fastball and has two nasty secondary pitches to go with it. His slider is his most used pitch and it generates a lot of chase. Ribalta uses his bugs bunny changeup to put away left handed hitters.

There are actually several advanced metrics where Ribalta performs very well. His 84.6 MPH average exit velocity and 36.7% chase rate both rank above the 95th percentile. In a perfect world, Ribalta would be a 7th inning guy, but right now he is the Nats best high leverage relief option.

 The next pitcher I am going to discuss is the ultra-reliable Brad Lord. Over the last couple years, Brad Lord has been thrown in just about every role you can imagine. He has started some games and he has also been used in high leverage roles at times.

However, I think his best role is as a 2-3 inning bridge pitcher. This sort of role is becoming a lot more popular around the league, and the Nats seem to be really leaning into it. It is something teams like the Brewers use a lot and they are having a ton of success.

Lord’s best role is similar to Chad Patrick, who has had a lot of success in Milwaukee the past two seasons. You can use Lord either as a multi-inning opener like the Nats did yesterday or use him as a long man, but in medium to even higher leverage spots.

When Lord is on his game, he can just abuse hitters with his fastball. The low slot and horizontal movement makes it a tough pitch to pick up. Lord’s fastball run value of 13 is elite and he is doing this with two different fastballs. 

His 4-seamer has run but also some ride as well. It gets on hitters and gets a surprising amount of whiffs. Lord actually generates a higher whiff percentage on his 4-seamer (25.2%) than any other pitch. His sinker works very well off of the 4-seamer getting a ton of run which generates ground balls at a high clip.

Lord absolutely deserves a roster spot next year and is a valuable contributor for this pitching staff. However, his inability to develop an above average secondary pitch likely relegates him to solid but not spectacular. We saw him try to mix in his slider and sweeper more, and his results suffered. Lately, he has gone back to his bread and butter of just pounding 4-seamers and sinkers.

For the year, Lord has a 3.58 ERA across 73 innings with 70 strikeouts. Those are not superstar numbers, but they get the job done. Not everyone on the roster has to be a star. You need quality role players like Brad Lord on your team.

The last pitcher who should have a job locked up has a similar role but a very different pitching style. When the Nats traded Foster Griffin, I saw the return as underwhelming. I still think there is not a ton of upside in it, but Will Dion has already established himself as an effective big league arm.

He has by far the smallest sample size of the three, but I think he has done enough to earn himself a spot on the 2027 team. For the season, Dion has a 3.38 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 37.1 innings. However, in 17.2 innings with the Nats, that ERA sits at only 2.04.

Despite only averaging 91 MPH on his fastball, Dion’s heater is very effective due to the 20 inches of IVB it generates. Hitters are consistently swinging under the heater due to that carry. Dion’s fastball actually gets a 26.9% whiff rate. His outing against the Mets was a masterclass in how to dominate with a low velocity heater.

Since coming to the Nats, Dion has really bumped up his changeup usage and it has worked. After throwing it around 15% of the time in Cleveland, he threw it 37.6% of the time in his first month with the Nats. The pitch generates whiffs at a 42.1% clip and the 13 MPH gap between his fastball and changeup really fools hitters.

Overall, Dion is an effective multi-inning arm who can be used in a number of different roles. Dion and Lord are two really nice bridge arms who can cover a lot of innings while being solid. That is a very important thing to have in modern baseball.

Ribalta, Dion and Lord are the three arms I see as locks, but there are a couple other names who could join them with a strong September. Erik Tolman is certainly trending towards being in the 2027 bullpen, but I just want to see him perform for a little bit longer before calling him a lock.

Clayton Beeter has been good at times and I think he likely will be on the roster. However, I have my doubts about Beeter. His control is poor even for a bullpen arm. Despite a sub-4 ERA, his FIP is 5.30, which is very bad. I just think he is too shaky to trust. Beeter being on the Opening Day roster would not be the end of the world, I just think he has more to prove.

Outside of that, there are a lot of roster spots up for grabs. This month will be key in seeing who has what it takes to last. Jared Simpson is another guy who has made a strong impression, but it has only been one outing.

I actually think the bullpen depth is in decent shape. There are pieces in the minors that intrigue me such as Yovanny Cruz, Ben Grable, Joe Glassey and the recently promoted Riley Cornelio. The priority this offseason should be getting that one lockdown option. If the Nats can figure out the 9th inning, I actually think everything else falls into place quite nicely.

Texas Rangers lineup for September 3, 2026 against the Tampa Bay Rays: starting pitchers are Cal Quantrill for the Rangers and Shane McClanahan for the Rays.

Texas looks to start a new winning streak today after winning two of three against the A’s. Tampa is in town for four games. It would be a good thing if the Rangers won three of four in this series.

The lineup:

Duran — CF

Seager — SS

Langford — LF

Nimmo — RF

Foscue — 2B

Burger — 1B

O’Hoppe — DH

Freeman — 3B

Diaz — C

7:05 p.m. Central time. Rangers are +110 underdogs.

The Yankees have plenty of talent in their minor league affiliates, so much so that young outfielder Yostin Peña, arguably the hottest hitter in the entire organization, isn’t yet ranked in MLB Pipeline’s top 30 prospects.

Peña, signed last December after issues regarding his age documentation surfaced and scuttled his deal with the St. Louis Cardinals, made quick work of the Dominican Summer League, slashing a robust .375/.457/.646 with eight homers, 27 stolen bases, and a 150 wRC+ in 37 games, before earning a promotion to Single-A.

There, the 18-year-old phenom has posted a brilliant .355/.419/.605 line with five round-trippers, seven thefts, and a 161 wRC+ in 18 games through Tuesday. Between the two levels, the dynamic talent has 13 dingers, 34 steals, and a 154 wRC+.

Peña has some of the most exciting raw tools you will see in the low minors, and an incredible frame for such a young prospect: he is 6’4” and is listed at 205 lb. Evidently, speed and athleticism are both plus, as is his raw power.

What has the industry said about him recently? In a fantasy baseball roundup, the folks at Baseball America said that Peña is ‘the highest-ranked hitting prospect still in Low-A. With excellent power for his age, a better-than-average in-zone contact rate and 15-to-20 stolen base potential, Peña is a fascinating blend of power, speed and fantasy upside.’

That’s nice for our fantasy baseball community, but what about as a real-life report? Sam Dyksra and Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline recently reviewed the hottest hitter in each team’s farm system, and of course Peña’s name came up when they discussed the Yankees. Here’s what they wrote on August 26:

At 18 years old, Pena was a bit on the older side for the Dominican Summer League, where he opened the season, but on July 28, he skipped the FCL to get a promotion to Single-A Tampa and hasn’t looked back since. The 6-foot-4 right-handed slugger has hit .358/.389/.597 with four homers in his first 15 games with the Tarpons. (Three of those four dingers have come in the last week alone.) His big-time power (113.6 mph max exit velocity, 108.2 90th-percentile EV in the FSL) is his most intriguing asset, though a high chase rate brings some cause for concern as he sees more full-season pitching.

As you can see, those are some impressive exit velocities. Considering that he can still fill out his frame with muscle and thump, his raw power potential is very scary. It’s important to remember that he is still very young and raw, and given his contact issues and propensity to chase pitches out of the zone, he probably won’t be a fast riser who will get to Triple-A in the first half of 2027.

Speaking of his high chase rate, Peña’s 39.7 O-Swing% is quite high. Additionally, he has a 16.1 SwStr%, also elevated. Both marks would rank near the bottom of the league in the majors, and this is against Single-A pitching. Stats don’t actually mean much since it’s just 18 games, but it’s something to keep an eye on. Amazingly, his 17.4 percent strikeout rate in those 18 Single-A games is not that bad, but that look under the hood suggests it could be much worse.

Despite his less-than-ideal approach and contact profile, Peña is an exciting prospect, indeed. Those who have seen him play believe he has superstar potential, but he needs to conquer some demons first. It’s nothing uncommon when talking about a prospect his age, though. The range of outcomes is broad here, but if Peña hits his lofty ceiling, watch out.

Chad Tracy ascended to Interim Manager of the Boston Red Sox in Baltimore. Tonight, he returns to the scene as a favorite for AL Manager of the Year.

Once again the Red Sox are in a bit of chaos. The pitching has given up 8 runs a game or a stretch, former Oriole Adley Rutschman hasn’t made the impact that was expected, but Roman Anthony and Trevor Story returned to great success. Boston is 4.5 games up on Cleveland for the third Wild Card and 6.0 above the Orioles, generally. If the O’s sweep they’ll be right in the playoff mix and Boston could be in trouble. But they need that sweep.

Jake Bennett will have something to say about the O’s chances. Since his struggles entering August, Bennett has found a second wind. His game was the only win against the Yankees in New York with 6.0 shutout innings and 7 strikeouts against zero walks. This is a guy who handled the Dodgers lineup and has been impressive in almost every start since his callup. He held the O’s to 3 runs in 5/2 innings back in July. Righty Brandon Young started the infamous Friday April 24 game against the Sox. This is the night that probably ended Alex Cora’s career. Brayan Bello was shelled for 8 runs in 3.1 while Young allowed 3 runs in 5.2, which would be all the Sox could score. Batters have improved against Young ever month of the season and finished August with a cumulative .295/.362/.486 against him.

What is Ranger Suarez at this point? An ugly 6-run performance against the Yankees reset some of the progress he had been making. His start kicked off a five-game stretch of the pitching allowing at least 8 runs per game. The Mariners don’t even have Pete Alonso. The O’s haven’t seen him yet this year so maybe that will help. This is Shane Baz’s third start against Boston and he’s held them to 6 runs (3 earned) in 13 innings. He has’t had to deal with the Roman Empire so far.

Sonny Gray hopefully just needed as skipped start. It did wonders for Bennett to have extra rest. Fingers crossed that’s all because the Sox need Gray at his best the rest of the way. He too hasn’t faced the Orioles in 2026. Chris Bassitt faced Boston way back on June 3 and then missed two months, He allowed 3 runs in 3.3 innings on the way to a Sox 8-1 victory. He allowed 5 runs to the A’s last time out. As we’ve seen the A’s can play very well.

The series closes with Payton Tolle. Hopefully the split is already secure here. Tolle got into some trouble against the Mariners and after 5.2 innings and, well, the bullpen couldn’t get one out. The Sox rallied around Mass Pike to win 9-8 in 10 innings. The previous start featured Jarren Duran’s 11th inning grand slam. And before that was a 7-6 loss to the Dbacks in 10 innings. Maybe score him runs early this time? Kyle Bradish was the losing pitcher in Chad Tracy’s debut back on April 26th. He closes out the series on another Sunday. In 11 innings he’s allowed 4 runs to Boston while striking out 7 and walking 5. He missed most of 2024 and 2025 so now at just about 150 innings it’s possiuble he’s wearing down. Batters posted an OPS just under .900 against him in August and he lost to the Rockies last time out.

Famously traded starting catcher Adley Rutschman.

Gunnar Henderson just finished a .245/.377/.447 August representing his season turnaround. He’s always dangerous.

Pete Alonso is at 32 homers.

Old friend Tyler O’ Neill is back on the IL.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Thursday, September 3: Jake Bennett (3.27 ERA / 3.16 FIP) vs. Brandon Young (3.38 ERA / 4.32 FIP)

Friday, September 4: Ranger Suarez (3.64 ERA / 3.10 FIP) vs. Shane Baz (4.01 ERA / 3.36 FIP)

Saturday, September 5: Sonny Gray (2.82 ERA / 3.35 FIP) vs. Chris Bassett (4.97 ERA / 4.61 FIP)

Sunday, September 6: Payton Tolle (3.23 ERA / 3.28 FIP) vs. Kyle Bradish (4.01 ERA / 4.10 FIP)

When/Where to Watch

Thursday, September 3: 7:15 PM ET on FOX

Friday, September 4: 7:05 PM ET on NESN

Saturday, September 5: 7:05 PM ET on NESN

Sunday, September 6: 1:35 PM ET on NESN