Worldwide Sports News

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were sent to Davy Jones’ Locker by the Columbus Clippers (Guardians), 10-5.

Andrew Wantz started and held the Clippers to just one run on three hits over four innings. Wants walked one and struck out three.

Gavin Hollowell pitched one inning in a rehab assignment and allowed one run on two hits and two walks. He did not strike anyone out.

Shelby Miller pitched on back-to-back nights for the first time in his rehab and got the loss. Miller was charged with four runs on two hits and two walks over two-thirds of an inning. He struck out two. However . . .

I should also mention that two of the runs charged to Miller scored after he left the game.

Left fielder Chas McCormick hit a solo home run in the second inning, his 13th on the season. McCormick was a perfect 3 for 3 before he left in the eighth inning after getting hit by a pitch.

Third baseman Owen Miller was 2 for 5 with one run driven in and one run scored.

Center fielder Justin Dean was 2 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base. He scored twice.

McCormick’s home run.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies blinded the Chattanooga Lookouts (Reds), 4-0.

Dawson Netz and Tyler Schlaffer combined on a three-hit shutout. Netz pitched five innings and got the win after allowing just two hits. He struck out nine and walked two.

Schlaffer finished the game with the four-inning save. Schlaffer allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out seven.

So yeah, the Smokies two pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts.

Right fielder Alex Ramírez went 3 for 4 with a two-run double in the fourth.

Left fielder Carter Trice hit an RBI double in the eighth inning. Then he stole third base and scored on a bad throw. Trice went 1 for 4.

First baseman Miguel Useche was 2 for 4.

All nine strikeouts for Netz.

Ramírez’s two-run double.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs detasseled the Cedar Rapids Kernels (Twins), 7-4.

Dominick Reid was strong in his High-A debut, giving South Bend four scoreless innings on two hits. Reid struck out four and did not walk anyone.

The win went to Pierce Coppola in relief. Coppola gave up a run in the eighth and a run in the ninth. His final line was two runs on seven hits over 3.2 innings. Coppola struck out two and walked no one, but he did hit two batters.

JP Wheat was summoned from the pen to get South Bend’s final out and pick up the save. Wheat faced two batters. He hit the first one and struck out the second, which sounds like a perfect Wheat outing.

Shortstop Angel Cepeda went 2 for 3 with a walk. He drove in one run and scored one run.

Center fielder Alexey Lumpuy was 2 for 3 with a bases-loaded walk and three steals. Lumpuy scored twice.

Right fielder Michael Gupton went 2 for 4 with a leadoff triple in the fifth inning. He was stranded there, but scored later on Lumpuy’s bases-loaded walk.

Second baseman Jose Escobar went 2 for 3 with an RBI double and a sacrifice fly for two total RBI.

Escobar’s double was a bit of a gift.

Lumpuy made a great catch in center field.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Rained out. As the season ends tomorrow and the game has no impact on playoff spots, it will not be made up.

The Braves bought themselves some margin for error in avoiding certain catastrophic outcomes by winning Friday’s opener of this four-game Philly series and the first of seven games against the division rivals in the next 10 for Atlanta. That said, they could still easily get themselves into trouble in the standings through these games against the Phillies. They still have a 4 game buffer with only 5 games left against Philly, and with a two game swing for each game effectively, even just winning another two of the five would be a perfectly fine outcome, maintaining a 3 game lead into mid-September. Anything less than that gets fairly dangerous, however, as going 1-4 in these next 5 games against Philly would leave them clinging to a 1 game lead in the division (assuming the teams perform equivalently in the interluding series. Sunday’s pitching matchup would be a good one for Atlanta to take advantage of, with Tyler Mahle having a bunch of success in an Atlanta uniform so far and Aaron Nola having a fairly middling season.

Braves News

Martin Perez dug the Braves a hole the offense couldn’t dig out of in a tight matchup against the Phillies.

MLB News

Bobby Miller was activated by the Dodgers, who will hope he can bolster their pitching staff down the home stretch and perhaps the postseason.

The Yankees are putting centerfielder Trent Grisham on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain.

On Harry Potter Night at Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies conjured enough magic to hang on for the win in a wizard’s duel against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Saturday night matchup had a number of trappings from recent games: A team struggling to find a single hit until, all of a sudden, an offensive outburst in the middle innings (this time, the Rockies were on the right side of that). Quick lead changes. Lots of errors (again, the Rockies were on the good side of this one.) A shrinking lead.

After all of the drama and mystery, things came together for the Rockies’ 55th win of the season.

The first-year, Mason Adams

After the sorting hat ceremony and picking up his supplies from Diagon Alley, the rookie Mason Adams is settling into his role as a first-year student of the game. Tonight marked his first Coors Field start.

His first two starts have been effective, low-scoring affairs. Across those two starts, he allowed eight total hits and three total runs. Despite the low scores, he hasn’t had much run support behind him and his first win has eluded him.

Adams struggled a little more tonight, relative to his other outings. He gave up eight hits and three runs tonight, matching those totals from his first two games combined. He still put together a strong performance, finding ways to work out of traffic, logging seven strikeouts, and limiting run damage.

After walking the first batter in the first inning, Adams bounced back for a quick out. After a wild pitch advanced the runner, he proved resilient and got two straight strikeouts to end the inning without any damage.

Joshua Báez took Adams deep in the second for a solo home run. He then allowed another runner who would steal second, but again, Adams worked his way out of the inning.

Adams would give up two more runs in the fifth inning before being pulled with St. Louis up 3-0. Despite the hiccups, Adams held his own and continues to grow into a strong starter.

Manager Warren Schaeffer praised Adams after the game: “The heater was good. Both breaking balls were good. A couple good hitters just got him there. But I thought he competed well and was efficient and did a nice job tonight for us. Another step forward for him.”

Accio runs!

A look at the final score wouldn’t tell you the full story of the Rockies offense. The bats donned an invisibility cloak and disappeared early in what felt like another long night for the bats.

Colorado started the game on the wrong side of three straight 1-2-3 innings with three strikeouts in that stretch. The Rockies didn’t get their first baserunner until the fourth inning on a Connor Norby walk. They didn’t get their first hit until the fifth inning, when Cole Carrigg kicked things off with a single and a steal.

Then, the Rockies cast a spell and summoned runs. Lots of them.

With Carrigg on second and one out, Troy Johnston singled and then advanced to second on a throwing error to make it 3-1 Cardinals. An Adael Amador single brought it to 3-2. Things got wild for St. Louis’ starter Matthew Liberatore with a ball four pitch in the dirt that got away, and the game was tied at 3-3.

Liberatore ended his day there at 4.1 innings pitched, five earned runs on four hits, two walks, and three strikeouts.

The runners Liberatore allowed before being pulled were scored, as an error gave the Rockies’ their fourth run and a Norby single notched their fifth. TJ Rumfield doubled to score another.

From no hits to six runs in the blink of an eye, a whirlwind of solid hits and St. Louis errors gave the Rockies a three-run lead.

“Yer a wizard, Brennan!”

After a few runs allowed by Zack Agnos, Brennan Bernardino and the rest of the Rockies bullpen locked in and did their part.

Agnos entered in the fifth inning with a runner on first and two outs. He got the final out to hold the Cardinals’ lead at 3-0. The sixth inning didn’t go as well.

Agnos yielded back-to-back singles to start the inning, and a mound visit couldn’t calm him down, as he allowed a Nolan Gorman double that scored a run, bringing the game to 6-4. He allowed another run on a sacrifice fly before being pulled.

Bernardino was on a streak of eight consecutive appearances without allowing a run. Entering tonight’s game to replace Agnos, he did well despite inheriting a bit of a mess with one out and one on.

He first battled José Fermin for seven pitches before getting him to ground out. Ramón Urías met the same fate next, grounding out to end the inning. Bernardino had a quick, hitless, scoreless night and extended his streak to nine games.

Schaeffer gave a ton of credit to Bernardino for swinging the game.

“Bernie’s been huge all year, tonight was no exception,” he said. “What’s impressive with that is you know they’re going right-right, and it doesn’t matter to Bernie. He can get right-handers out, too, which is a testament to what he’s been doing all year. That was huge. That was a game changer.”

Jaden Hill had a great night as well, posting a flawless 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts. Nick Frasso was not to be left out of the clean inning fun. After getting Leo Bernal to fly out, he notched back to back strikeouts to work through the eighth.

Do they serve taco’s at Hogwarts?

A big bottom of the seventh put the Rockies into (and beyond) seven run taco territory. Colorado carried a 6-5 lead into the inning and were able to grow it quickly, taking it to Hancel Rincon.

After giving up a single to Tovar to start the inning, Rincon fell apart quickly. He next walked McCarthy on five pitches and then hit Norby with a pitch to load the bases. A Goodman line drive to left scored two and chased Rincon at 8-5.

Brycen Mautz got the first out, but gave up an RBI single to Carrigg and a sac bunt to Veen to make it a 10-5 Rockies lead when all was said and done.

Book Nine: Colorado Rockies and the inning of suspense

Yesterday’s game was one that got away. Colorado’s five-run lead going into the ninth inning felt like it should be good, but leads disappear quickly at Coors. Juan Mejia entered to close things out and, unfortunately, broke the nice scoreless momentum the bullpen had going.

Mejia walked Thomas Saggese, who was brought home faster than the Hogwarts Express can get you from King’s Cross to Hogsmeade after a Fermin double scored him from first to make it 10-6.

César Prieto pinch hit and grounded out, moving Fermin to third. Iván Herrera singled to score Fermin to give the Cardinals their seventh run. Jordan Romano replaced Mejia there.

Romano ran into some speedbumps of his own before getting the job done. Herrera moved to second before a Jordan Walker strikeout turned into trouble as a dropped third strike put runners on the corners. Leo Bernal hit a sharp line drive to right that Mickey Moniak tracked down for the win.

Up Next

The Rockies and Cardinals meet on Sunday afternoon for the final game of the series and their last meeting of the season. The Cards lead the season series 3-2.

Tanner Gordon is expected to start for the Rockies. Gordon is 1-4 through 14 starts and 20 total games, with a 5.18 ERA, a 1.40 WHIP, and 72 strikeouts.

Kyle Leahy is slated to go for St. Louis. Leahy brings a strong 10-4 record into the game through 26 starts, with a 3.13 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP, and 118 strikeouts.

First pitch is 1:10 p.m. MT.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks! 

There’s no way to guarantee Sonny Gray will pitch well when he takes the mound for the Red Sox in a postseason game at the end of the month. However, giving him extra rest going into the September stretch run and seeing him respond by pitching fantastic against a good lineup on the road fighting for their postseason lives certainly feels good right now.

It took Gray just 92 pitches to spin his silky, seven shutout frames this evening, and while the Orioles did manage a few opportunities with a runner in scoring position (they went 0-8), it never felt like Gray was in any real trouble.

If you want to know part of what makes Gray so good and how he keeps guys off balance, look no further than our own Jake Roy, who broke down Gray’s two early strikeouts to Encarnacion-Strand (a guy who had a 1.020 OPS in his last 11 games coming into tonight).

But tonight wasn’t just about Gray, it was about what was fueling him and the entire Red Sox clubhouse.

Last night, Blaze Alexander got very animated following an incident in which he reached out to grab Nick Sogard on an eighth inning double play. The Sox took exception in the moment as both benches cleared, and they apparently took that umbrage into the clubhouse overnight and brought it back today as a little extra motivation to extinguish whatever fading playoff hopes Baltimore has left.

“We want to bury those guys, especially after what that dude was trying to do last night,” Gray said after the game — Illustrating that even after two wins in 25 hours since that spicy moment, it was still fresh on everybody’s mind.

But we didn’t need to wait until after the game to know how the Sox felt on that front, because following Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s seventh inning double, he had a celebration aimed directly at the source of last night’s brouhaha:

It’s not just Kiner-Falefa either. Notice Nick Sogard (the target of Friday’s perceived attack on the pack) and Roman Anthony at the very tail end of the clip. They are loving it!

These guys absolutely had extended words about what went on during yesterday’s game in the clubhouse and rallied around it to draw even closer as a group. The smiles on their faces when Kiner-Falefa mocked Alexander in the middle of the diamond tells you everything you need to know about the chemistry inside those walls.

Want to know something else that’s great for team chemistry? A different guy contributing every night. Saturday’s game included a lineup that was missing Willson Contreras, Ceddanne Rafaela, Caleb Durbin, and Adley Rutschman, and also saw Roman Anthony go 0-5. So what happened? The bottom four guys combined to knock in all five runs in the game. When it’s a different guy every night, the whole group wants to take a sword for one another.

Again, there’s no way to guarantee what happened tonight will matter in a postseason game in a month, but it sure feels good right now.

Studs

Sonny Gray: Seven shutout innings is pretty much an automatic ticket here. He now has 17 wins on the season and a 2.69 ERA.

Eli White: He only had one hit, and it was just a single, but when White came to the plate with the bases loaded and two out in the top of the sixth, neither team has scored since the top of the first inning yesterday when Mickey Gasper homered. White’s hit here broke the stubborn seal, and gave the Sox a lead they would not relinquish.

Trevor Story: Three more hits tonight. He’s got at least one hit in all six games since returning, including multiple hits in four of those games. Please keep serving the crow! I’ll gladly eat it!

Duds

Roman Anthony: It was an unusually rough night for our boy, going 0-5 with three strike outs from the top spot in the lineup.

Jovani Moran: Came into the game in the eighth inning to face three batters and only got one of them out. Greg Weissert had to clean up his mess and prevent the high leverage guys from being needed in this game.

Play of the game:

It’s Kinder-Falefa’s double and him mocking Blaze Alexander at the end of it. Here’s one more look, this time with the clips from both nights shown together:

If you had told me before Saturday night’s game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies that Matthew Liberatore would have a no-hitter going into the 5th inning, I would have probably called you crazy. That’s exactly what happened as Liberatore defied Coors Field tendencies and came out of the gate firing strikes. Then, the 5th inning happened and some other later innings weren’t great either thanks to poor defense play.

Before we get to Matthew’s potential masterpiece (until the 5th inning), the Cardinals scored first and fast. By fast, I’m referring to the speed that the ball left the bat of Joshua Baez and cleared the left field fence at Coors Field for a laser beam home run in the top of the 2nd inning giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

St. Louis ALMOST added to their lead in the top of the 5th inning when Thomas Saggese led off the inning with a hustle double where he barely got into second while avoiding the tag. That theme would flip-flop on the next play when Nathan Church singled to right and Saggese tried to score from second. He thought his hand reached home plate before the tag was applied, but was called out and the challenge upheld the call which means no soup for Sags. St. Louis would still get some satisfaction with two outs and Iván Herrera slammed a 443 foot shot over the centerfield wall for a 2-run homer giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. It looked like a repeat of his game-winning shot from Friday night. BOOM!

No, Matthew Liberatore did not throw a no-hitter at Coors Field as that would have glitched The Matrix. He did give up a leadoff single in the bottom of the 5th inning to Cole Carrigg for the first Rockies hit of the night. Carrigg would steal second and eventually score on a one-out single from Johnston. Jordan Walker’s throw to home would sail through that Rocky Mountain air way over home for an error with allowed Johnston to move up on the play which would prove costly when Amador singled to left scoring him and reducing the Cardinals lead to just one run at 3-2. Two wild pitches later and the St. Louis lead was gone as runners advanced on both throws tying the game at 3-3. That would end Matthew’s night which looked so promising, but then the 5th inning happened. A story we’ve all lived through before this season. It would get much worse before it got better. Luis Gastelum came into the game and McCarthy who had walked stole second. For some reason Leo Bernal decided to throw to second with Tovar on third. Bernal’s ball skipped into centerfield allowing Tovar to score giving Colorado their first lead at 4-3. Norby followed that with a single of his own scoring McCarthy and upping the Rockies advantage to 5-3. But, wait, there’s more. Rumfield hit a sinking shot to center which Nathan Church dove for, but couldn’t catch allowing Norby to score and giving Rumfield a double as the score now stood at 6-3 Colorado. MAKE IT STOP! Fortunately Carrigg struck out for the final out as the Rockies batted around in the 5th.

After a very sloppy error-filled bottom of the 5th, the resilient Cardinals came roaring back in the top of the 6th inning when Leo Bernal and Joshua Baez started the inning with back-to-back singles. Nolan Gorman then lifted a moonshot that hit high off of the centerfield wall which scored Bernal making it 6-4 Rockies.

Baez advanced to third on the play and would score on a sacrifice fly from Thomas Saggese reducing the Colorado lead to just 6-5. That’s all St. Louis would get though after pinch-hitter Urias and Fermin both grounded out to end the Cardinals 6th.

Hancel Rincon, who was in the middle of the ridiculous tilted hat controversy Friday night handled the Rockies without issues in the bottom of the 6th. He stayed in the game after St. Louis failed to score in the top of the 7th, too. The 7th didn’t go as smoothly, though, as he gave up a leadoff single to Tovar and then walked Jake McCarthy. Rincon then plunked Connor Norby to load the bases with no outs. To quote Charlie Brown, “Good grief”. That brought up the dangerous Hunter Goodman who singled in two runners giving Colorado their 3-run lead back at 8-5. That ended Rincon’s night as manager Oli Marmol brought in Brycen Mautz to try and put out the fire. He got a groundout out of Rumfield as Nolan Gorman made a nice play on the ball and threw him out without allowing the runner at third to score. Gorman really flashed some nice glovework earlier in the game, too. The same cannot be said of the Cardinals outfield as balls were thrown too high for cut-off men and, in the case of Joshua Baez, misread a flyball from Carrigg and was unable to recover as it dropped for a single in front of him and another Rockies runner scored making it 9-5 Colorado. Veen followed that below-average defensive effort with a sacrifice bunt that turned into a single as Alec Burleson tried to flip the ball to Bernal at home, but it wasn’t in time and the Rockies lead was suddenly double-digits at 10-5. A double play fortunately ended the hemorrhaging of runs.

There was a decent St. Louis Cardinals defensive play in the late innings as Leo Bernal picked off a runner at first after the safe call was successfully challenged. Nolan Gorman’s diving play in the bottom of the 4th on a ball hit by Rumsfield was a Sportscenter highlight also as he threw him out from the ground so it’s not like all of the Cardinals glovework stunk up Coors Field Saturday night.

The Cardinals final hope in the top of the 9th inning would start with the bottom of the order starting with Thomas Saggese. He drew a leadoff walk to try and get something started. José Fermín was next and he drove a ball to the wall in right-center for a double which scored Saggese making it slightly more interesting at 10-6. Pinch-hitter Prieto grounded out to second for the first out as Thomas advanced to third base. Iván Herrera’s inside-out swing chopped a ball down the right field line for a single which scored Saggese making it 10-7 Colorado. That inspired the Rockies to go to their bullpen for Romano who hoped for a bounce-back effort after he gave up the go-ahead home run Friday night to Herrera. Alec Burleson was the first Cardinal he faced, but he lined out to first which was almost a game-ending double play, but Herrera got back to first in time. Jordan Walker barely extended the game by striking out, but Rockies catcher Goodman couldn’t handle the ball which allowed Jordan to get to first base. Leo Bernal came up as the potential tying run, but he lined out to right to end the Cardinals night. Hard to not view Saturday night’s game as one that should have been won if not for the many Cardinals misplays.

The St. Louis Cardinals wrap up their Colorado vacation against the Rockies Sunday afternoon at Coors Field. Kyle Leahy will pitch at least the first couple of innings for the Cardinals while the Rockies give the ball to RHP Tanner Gordon. First pitch set for 2:10pm central time and the game broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.

Some of the Mets top prospects were in action on Saturday. Here's how they did...

2B Emilien Pitre, Triple-A Syracuse

Pitre finished 2-for-5 with a home run, his first for Triple-A since getting promoted, and two RBI. His homer, a solo shot in the seventh, tied the game at 7-7 before  Syracuse allowed seven runs in the eighth inning to lose 14-9. 

Either way, Pitre, who came over from Tampa Bay in the deal that sent Freddy Peralta to the Rays, has done well in 13 games with Triple-A, slashing .277/.346/.426. Unfortunately, he was also picked off first base in the bottom of the first after reaching base on an error.

INF Jefferson Rojas, Double-A Binghamton

The newest No. 1 prospect in the organization had another good day at the plate for the Rumble Ponies, going 1-for-4 with a home run.

The home run was Rojas' 23rd of the season and eighth in 25 games since joining the Mets after being acquired from the Chicago Cubs for Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor.

The 21-year-old is hitting .260 with a .891 OPS with Binghamton.

OF Aiden Robbins, High-A Brooklyn

It's been a disappointing season for the Cyclones, but they've had lots to cheer about since Robbins was promoted from Low-A St. Lucie to High-A Brooklyn. 

Robbins, the 92nd pick in this year's draft, had another strong game at the plate, going 2-for-5 and improving his batting average to .316 in six games with the Cyclones. Overall, the 21-year-old is hitting .281 in his first professional season with five home runs.

INF Colin Houck, High-A Brooklyn

Houck, the Mets' first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, has had a tough season for Brooklyn but he hit a two-run home run for the Cyclones on Saturday that, at the time, gave Brooklyn a 3-2 lead.

In 98 games, the 21-year-old is hitting .208 with nine home runs and 40 RBI as he struggles to find his footing in New York.

The crooked cap saga continued on Saturday, Sept. 5 when the St. Louis Cardinals showed solidarity with rookie pitcher Hancel Rincón.

A handful of players wore their caps tilted on top of their heads in the dugout ahead of their matchup against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

The MLB's Cardinals broadcast team pointed out the caps and said that members of the Rockies were joining in the "silent form of protest" and wearing their hats tilted, too.

Brad Thompson says that Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer had words with Doug Eddings prior to the game. Eddings told pool reporters that Hunter Goodman asked about Rincon's hat last night.

"And some of the Rockies players on their dugout bench had their caps turned sideways as… pic.twitter.com/HbAZ7p2tYj

— bill durham (@BDurhamSports) September 6, 2026

Also before first pitch, umpire Doug Eddings had a small conversation with Rincón where the two nodded at each other. The Cardinals broadcast team suggested Eddings apologized for his role in the events a day prior when Rincón's cap was a subject of scrutiny in his MLB debut.

Credit where it's due to Doug Eddings. #stlcardspic.twitter.com/MfhXRRSOvT

— bill durham (@BDurhamSports) September 6, 2026

Rookie's hat causes polarizing ejection

On Friday, Sept. 4, St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol was ejected from the Cardinals' 7-6 win over the Rockies. He was arguing with Eddings, who was the home plate umpire, about whether Rincón's cap was improperly tilted.

Eddings said after the game that a Rockies batter asked him if Rincón could wear his hat tilted. The Cardinals broadcast team said Eddings identified Hunter Goodman as the batter to a pool reporter.

Goodman denied being the one to call out Rincón.

“I never once mentioned the hat,” he said, per MLB.com. “It doesn’t matter who’s pitching. I don’t care how they wear the hat. I’m trying to find out where the ball is coming out, and I’m trying to worry about what I’m doing in the box. I’m not worried about how his hat looks."

He commented on how being brought into the controversy has affected him.

“I’ve been getting online stuff about me that I didn’t appreciate for something I didn’t say," he said.

Regardless of how the hat was brought to Eddings' attention, he waited until a few batters after Goodman to do anything.

While Cole Carrigg was up to bat in the sixth inning, Eddings had Cardinals catcher Leo Bernal ask Rincón to straighten out his hat. Bernal lifted his mask and shouted the directive to the pitcher, who shimmied his hat to comply.

After Rincón allowed a triple, an inside-the-park home run and a single, he was taken off the mound and replaced by Justin Bruihl.

I’ve never seen anything like this…

This ump stopped the game & made Cardinals rookie Hancel Rincon straighten his hat, saying nobody will wear it like that on his field. Quickly followed up by the worst revenge call I’ve ever seen.

Suspend him now @MLBpic.twitter.com/wgov05ubXy

— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) September 5, 2026

Marmol chirped at Eddings, who then gave St. Louis a pitch clock violation. The manager's emotions flared even more and he walked up to the umpire and started moving his cap around on his head, implying he was upset about the situation with Rincón's hat.

"I had an issue with Doug," Marmol said after the game. "Just Doug. He took it upon himself to tell our rookie pitcher the kid's 'not going to wear his hat on my field that way.' You got Dontrelle Willis, CC Sabathia, Pedro Strop – plenty of guys that have worn it way more tilted. I have an issue with that. That's just a power-hungry move, in my opinion."

Eddings noted that Rincón did not necessarily break a rule with his cap, but the umpire spoke up to prevent distractions.

"I guess it's a little unwritten rule," he said. "They can't wear (their cap) backwards like a catcher. If it's a distraction, like anything on the field, like a glove or something, and someone makes you aware of it, then you kind of address that."

- Contributing: Cesar Brioso

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: St. Louis Cardinals show solidarity with Hancel Rincón after hat debacle

SAN DIEGO — If the Yankees are going to have success in the postseason — especially if they are going to meet the Red Sox in an American League wild-card series — they are going to have to find a way to beat lefty starters.

Saturday was an encouraging day in that regard.

Even without Aaron Judge, who may be just days away from making his long-awaited return to the lineup, the Yankees knocked left-hander Robbie Ray out of the game in the third inning on the way to a 5-1 win over the Padres at Petco Park. 

Ray’s lack of command helped them out, offering four free passes, but the Yankees stayed patient and then attacked to race out to a 5-0 lead before hanging on late as Carlos Rodón and the bullpen combined for a three-hitter.

Ben Rice led the way, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances by going 3-for-3 with two walks while fellow lefty slugger Spencer Jones, in his homecoming series, roped a pair of hits with an RBI off Ray on his first day as the full-time center fielder again after Trent Grisham landed on the injured list.

And Cody Bellinger, the Yankees’ best left-on-left hitter, lived up to it by capping off a four-run second inning with a two-run single.

“Good to see that because, obviously we know we’re going to see our share of lefties, and those lefties [hitters] at different times are going to have to face them,” manager Aaron Boone said. “So good to get some results there.”

Setting up a rubber game Sunday, with Gerrit Cole on the mound against former teammate Michael King, the Yankees (81-61) kept pace with the Rays and remained four games back for the division and 3 ¹/₂ games clear of the Red Sox for the top AL wild card with 20 games left.

After escaping some early trouble, Rodón settled in to toss five innings of one-run ball — the first time he has completed five innings in four starts back from the injured list.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

The left-hander walked three but struck out seven, his most in a game since June 17.

“Obviously, there’s some things I’d like to refine and be more crisp in the zone and just get ahead, especially with that kind of lead, but we win and that’s what matters,” said Rodón, who only gave up a solo shot to Manny Machado in the fourth inning.

The Yankees wasted chances to fully break the game open, stranding 12 men on base, but Michael Fulmer, Brent Headrick, John Schreiber and Tim Hill combined to keep the Padres (74-68) at bay in relief of Rodón.

A day after mustering just one run through nine innings of a 3-2, 10-inning loss, the Yankees wasted little time getting going against Ray, who entered the game with a 3.14 ERA.

On the heels of a three-hit game Friday night, Rice led off the second inning by lining a single to right field and later scoring on a two-out double from Jones, who finished the day batting .400 in 45 plate appearances against lefties this season.

José Caballero, Austin Wells and Paul Goldschmidt followed by each drawing walks on full counts, the last one forcing in a run to make it 2-0.

Bellinger then came through with another left-on-left single, driving in two more runs to put the Yankees ahead 4-0.

Ray finally escaped the inning before any more damage was done, though not before the Yankees forced him to throw 42 pitches in the frame.

“[Ray] is a tough matchup,” Bellinger said. “Just a lot of good at-bats. … It was nice to break through.”

Rice led off again in the third inning and drew a walk before taking off on a hit-and-run with Heliot Ramos, who singled to put runners on the corners. Lombard then cashed in a run by hitting a sacrifice fly to the warning track, scoring Rice for the 5-0 lead.

In two games this series, Rice has now reached base in eight of nine plate appearances while batting .388 with a 1.006 OPS over his last 12 games.

“I told him he was doing his Tony Gwynn imitation, watching him slash it all over the field, too,” Boone said.

Rice was more impressed by Jones, both in the way he has been hitting of late (.365 with a .951 OPS over his last 18 games) and handling all that comes with playing in your hometown.

“Definitely can be a lot — it can be overwhelming at times,” Rice said. “But I think he’s handled it really well. It speaks to who he is. He keeps looking like just a mature big leaguer out there doing his thing and really slows it down well.”

Christian Koss is a little guy. He’s 185 pounds with rocks in his pockets. The graph illustrating how he compares to the rest of the league in terms of contact quality is as blue as Lake Tahoe. His .368 slugging percentage in 2025 has somehow found the space to drop even lower in 2026, falling to .261 with just six extra base hits (1 HR) in 138 at-bats.

I could count his career home run total on one hand.  

Not anymore. Now, nowI needtwo hands, ‘cuz Christian Koss is a bad-a** mutha-f***a who powered-up in Saturday’s 9-5 win over the Mets. He went wild with a pair of taters, his first multi-homer game of his career, and came up a couple feet shy of a third in the 9th. 

His 2-run shot in the 3rd used the elevation of a shoulder-high fastball from starter Zac Thornton to gather altitude and just clear the wall in left. At a hair over four feet off the ground, it was the second highest pitch hit for a home run in the Majors this year, and turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead for San Francisco. 

The next pitch Koss saw, two innings later, was dealt a similar fate.

The kid had turned into a killer. Gone was the lovable nerd, annihilated in two strokes of his battle axe. Boss Koss was born. Cold-blooded and hot-headed. Smoke billowed out of his ears as he rounded the bases.

He spit fire as he entered the dugout, licked his lips with his forked tongue, lusting for more power more praise more violence. 

He held each of his teammates in his blood-glazed gaze and demanded homage.

Bow. Bow to the Boss. 

All city was brought to its knees as legion followed suit. Young, often hapless position players reforged themselves in the image of Koss, becoming all barrels and blasts. Utility infielder Oslevis Basabe hooked one off reliever Jefry Yan in the 8th, his fifth of the year. String-bean Grant McCray tanked one 420 feet to right-center in the 9th for his second in 2026.

And yeah, this guy named Rafael Devers, as both prophet and Koss acolyte, got his licks in his as well.

Devers’s solo shot in the 1st inning off the lefty Thornton (just the second homer the pitcher had surrendered to a left-handed batter all year) heralded Koss’s imminent arrival. 

He echoed Koss’s second in the 5th as well. With the score at 4 to 2, Jonah Cox singled to keep the inning alive for Devers who got a first-pitch breaking ball from Thornton, and like Koss, flipped it over the left field wall for his third multi-homer game this year and 24th of his career. Devers is now at 35 homers on the year, matching his 2025 mark and putting him well-within reach of his first career 40-HR season.

The Mets took the Giants to task with five homers Friday night, and San Francisco returned the favor with six on Saturday. The offense brought the fireworks, and nearly made Anthony Molina’s stellar performance on the mound redundant. As Koss and co. were bashing the baseball around Flushing, Molina held the Mets to just one hit over 5 innings pitched while striking out 6. That solitary knock, a 2-out homer in the 2nd, went in the books unearned after Devers’ fielding error (the slouch) — though it didn’t seem to rattle the right-hander. A walk in the 5th would be the only New York batter to reach base until the 7th.  

That inning brought the only real stress of the game for San Francisco’s pitching.

The Mets notched just their second and third hits of the evening with a one-out flare off Reiver Sanmartin and infield single off debut Giant Joel Kuhnel. Kuhnel then walked the bases loaded before getting Alvarez with a gutsy, disappearing sinker in a 3-2 count. Acting skipper Jayce Tingler (Tony Vitello was ejected in the 2nd for not liking the decision of an umpire review) brought on Carson Seymour who, as is customary for any Giants reliever entering a game, walked the first batter he faced, pushing in New York’s first earned run of the game. Seymour would limit the damage by getting Francisco Lindor to ground out to end the inning. 

Any worry of a late-game meltdown were promptly assuaged by more power balms. Late-game tanks from Basabe and McCray got back that run and then some, helping put Saturday’s contest out of reach and impervious to some more minor bullpen nonsense in the 9th.

Of course, I jest about Koss. He had a great day — but all awe and praise goes to Devers. He’s now homered 6 times and walked 7 times in his last six games. According to Sarah Langs, only two prior Giants players, Barry Bonds (2004) and Willie Mays (1958), have put on such a display in a week. He’s slugging 1.148 over his last seven games (27 AB), and .895 over his last 14 (57 AB). This excess of power oozing from his pores is clearly contagious, affecting anyone who comes in contact with him in the San Francisco dugout. He’s creating monsters. Today it’s Boss Koss. Who will it be tomorrow?

During a September that will be defined by development and not by victories, Monday looms as a large day for the Mets.

With far less fanfare and expectation than each previous call-up, Jonah Tong will get another try.

The righty top prospect who has finally reached a high of a roller-coaster season that has had too many lows will get the ball in Miami for his first major league appearance since June 2.

“Everybody grows up at different rates,” interim manager (and former and future player development executive) Andy Green said before Saturday’s 9-5 loss to the Giants at Citi Field.

Tong tried to grow up quickly last year, when he was the best pitcher in the entire minors leagues and rocketed all the way to the majors, where he was mostly hit hard (7.71 ERA) in five starts.

He returned to Triple-A Syracuse this year experimenting with different arm slots — his straight-over-the-top delivery made for a unique look last year — and a different pitch mix (adding a cutter while trying to be less dependent upon his fastball and changeup) — and has been a different, lesser pitcher.

As recently as July 18, Tong — then the team’s No. 1 prospect, now No. 5, according to MLB Pipeline — the 23-year-old’s Triple-A ERA was 5.83.

But Tong has pitched well in six of his past seven outings, a span in which he has owned a 2.00 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 36 innings while walking 17.

“Been really impressed with the way he’s rebounded in the second half of the season and the outings he’s strung together,” Green said of Tong, adding that part of the bounce back can be credited to Tong rediscovering a changeup that was so effective for him last year. “For him, I think it’s not the season he would have asked for, but it’s the season he can stand on to get to his next step forward.

“For us, I think you just look for encouraging trend lines, and there’s been a number of them here lately.”

Tong will get a shot, and not just Monday.

“He’s going to be with us,” Green said, “he can take the ball and continue to take the baseball.”

A.J. Ewing, who received a two-day “reset” amid a deep slump that meant he did not play Friday, responded by reaching base three times — the first time he had done so since Aug. 7 — including drilling his first home run since July 8.

“It’s all about just sticking to a plan and an approach,” said Ewing, who golfed his two-run home run off Anthony Molina in the second inning. “When good things happen, it’s not switching your plan and trying to do more. It’s just staying on it.”

Brett Baty (bases-loaded walk, two-run double in the ninth) recorded at least three RBIs in a game for the sixth time this season.

Green had no meaningful update on Devin Williams, who continues to throw but not off a mound.

The Mets are still hoping that the closer, who has been out since Aug. 7 with a shoulder strain, will return this season.

Dozens of mascots from around baseball were on the field before the game to honor Mrs. Met, who has become the first female mascot to be elected to the Mascot Hall of Fame.

Decisions come with consequences.

In the 10th inning, the Texas Rangers made the decision to intentionally walk Yandy Diaz to face Jonathan Aranda. Aranda launched a three-run homer into right-center-field, propelling the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-3 victory at Globe Life Field.

The late game heroic swing rescued a game that the Rays led three different times and preserved the strong start from Drew Rasmussen, who held Texas to one run across seven innings. This is just business as usual as Saturday night’s game extended the Rays winning streak when Rasmussen takes the mound to nine.

Junior Caminero got the party started on this Saturday night.

Jacob deGrom retired the first two Rays hitters in the first before Caminero stepped to the plate and lined his 38th home run over the center-field wall. It was the Rays only hit in the inning, but enough for a 1-0 lead early.

Rasmussen was not giving the Rangers much to feel good about early. He struck out Joc Pederson and Corey Seager as part of a clean first inning and then retired the side in order in the second and third innings.

To the Rangers credit, they kept fighting to keep the game in range. Ezequiel Duran made a diving stop to retire Chandler Simpson in the second inning, then Evan Carter threw out Victor Mesa Jr. on an attempt to stretch a single into a double. Taylor Walls drew a one-out walk in the third, but Diaz grounded into a double play.

Seager broke up Rasmussen’s run of 10 consecutive outs with a one-out single in the fourth inning. Victor Mesa Jr. stopped any potential run by the Rangers by running down Wyatt Langford’s line drive in right before Brandon Nimmo grounded out to end the fourth inning.

The Rays added to their lead in the fifth inning. With two outs, Richie Palacios sent a deGrom pitch over the right-field wall for his eighth home run of the season extending the Rays lead to 2-0.

Pederson cut the margin in half with a solo homer in the sixth inning, but Rasmussen responded by striking out Seager and Langford to end the inning. He retired the side in order in the seventh to finish with three hits allowed, no walks, ands seven strikeouts.

The Rays had an opportunity to add more runs to their lead in the seventh. Mesa and Cedric Mullins collected consecutive singles with two-outs, then executed a double steal to move into scoring position. Then, Ryan Vilade entered as a pinch hitter for Palacios.

The Rays ultimately got their insurance run an inning later. Again, with two outs, Aranada singled to left and was followed by Caminero. Caminero hit a single to right, advancing Aranda to third before a single from Liam Hicks game the Rays a 3-1 lead.

The lead only lasted three batters.

Carter greeted Kevin Kelly with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the eighth inning. Danny Jansen added a single and Kevin Cash brought in Cam Booser. Justin Foscus hit a pinch-hit-double to center allowing pinch-runner Cam Cauley to score and tie the game.

Booser was able to hold Foscue at third. Tyler Wells worked around an error from Walls in the ninth to send the game into extra innings.

Walls opened the 10th by bunting Jorge Mateo to third. Then Texas made the decisions to intentionally walk Diaz with the hopes of creating a double play. Instead Aranda made the strategy an instant regret when he sent his 19th home run of the season over the wall in right-center and put the Rays back up, 6-3.

Wells finished from there by striking out Cody Freeman and Elias Diaz before getting Foscue to groundout and secure the second straight win and their first season-series victory over the Raners since 2022.

These teams will close out the series tomorrow with a first pitch scheduled for 2:35 PM ET.

If you skipped the game thread text tonight, first of all, shame on you, our staff busts their knuckles prepping game previews for you. But second, I am your host tonight, channeling several of our writers who are tonight, together, at the ballgame. (Did they invite me? I’ll never tell. No, of course they did. Are they happier I’m not there? I’ll never tell.)

Each inning will be a new writer, with a link to their SSS writing at the end, so you can get a taste of their work and/or test how well I did.

So, I was late into the park, my shift went long and I found myself on the train getting from here to there thinking about the biggest moon shot home run I’d ever seen at Sox Park. Jim Thome, maybe? Probably. There was no Statcast back then, but I swear he hit one against the Angels that is still hovering over the ballpark. I’d position myself out by the Fan Deck tonight if I thought we had enough humidity to finally knock it down, but then, it might end up in a parking lot, it was hit so hard.

Which brings me to Munetaka Murakami, down 1-2 in the count and seemingly down 0-for-forever with his megaslump. Let’s check in on how that’s going:

Mune drove a 2-2 splitter on the edge of the edge of the zone approximately 1,000 feet in the air, where it hung and utterly confused Twins left fielder Gabriel Gonzalez, finally dropping straight down and about an inch over the fence to give the White Sox a 2-0 lead:

Do you realize how strong a hitter has to be to take a pitch at the edge of the zone and seemingly flip it out of the park at 103.6 mph and 346 feet?

Colson Montgomery followed with a solo screamer out to right field to add a tally to the White Sox lead, all of which was aided by some massive hustle by Miguel Vargas earlier in the inning to beat a double play. Or, perhaps Miguel’s mitts were still swelling red after stopping a hot grounder to open the game. — Malachi Hayes

[Fade in on a White Sox fan base settled into seats for the second inning, inexplicably uneasy about the flaccid club trailing them in the standings, nervous glances darting from field to nearby friends to concession food to … scoreboard. That brutal mistress, capable of delivering joy or sorrow. And on a bad night, joy and sorrow.]

LEONARD GORE: Tigers up 2-0, dad.
PAPA GORE: Just don’t look.
LG: Hey, the Guardians are spent. We have a 2 ½-game lead. We’re in the Catbird Seat.
PG: Don’t Hawk Harrelson me, son. I taught you better than that.
LG: Still, I’m just saying …
PG: Don’t say, son. How many years have you been a White Sox fan?
LG: All my life, Pops.
PG: Enough said.

[Papa Gore takes an emphatic bite of hot dog.]

LG: Dad?
PG: [A bit annoyed, mid-bite.]
LG: Tigers are up, 6-0.

— Leonard Gore

Honestly, I’m happy the White Sox are ahead but I am distracted by a question I posed to both my mother and myself a few days ago, down in Springfield, watching the WPBL: What if baseball had been an option to play for us? Going back to when my mother played Division I softball, that’s decades of time that could have seen some player development not just into more viable professional women’s play … but women in the majors. There are now, and have always been, dominant players in baseball who aren’t 6´5´´, 250. Unlike some other sports that might prove hard for both genders to make an equal impact, baseball is not one of them. Maybe the success of the WPBL will roll out some different sorts of dreams for today’s young women players.

If you figured my mind was wandering a bit because the fast White Sox start had slowed in the third inning, you’re right. Anthony Kay pitched around a Vargas error in the top half, and the bottom saw a 1-2-3 inning that ended on yet another Murakami K. I can only hope this White Sox offensive stall doesn’t stick for several more innings. — Allie Wesel

So wait, I do all this work for South Side Sox and I organize this outing for us to the park, and I get the inning with the bases full and one out? I want to talk to the manager.

Well, we can’t have good things, right? So a 3-0 lead that seemed to come in a sneeze, before I could even get my finance bro vest zippered up as the sun fell, melts to 3-2. Kaelen Culpepper got the top of the fourth started with a single. I’m glad the White Sox have some young bats making noise, but where did all these Minnesota hitters come from? What don’t we get any Kaelen Culpeppers? After a Kay K, Josh Bell lumbered into second with a double, pushing Culpepper to third. Guess who slid on the play? No, not any Twins, but our left field ragamuffin Sam Antonacci, going feet-first to cut the ball off before it gapped itself to the wall. Second and third, nobody out, Twins.

After a walk, Kay coaxed a 4-6-3 double play that left off the 3, with Minnesota’s first run coming across. Then Brooks Lee doubled to left, which is the only way the Twins were gonna score the hulking Bell from third. Yet another ground out to third, Vargas’ third such play already in the game, got Kay out of trouble.

But suddenly, what seemed to be a runaway has now got Sox fans sweating a bit. Me, more than most. — Melissa Sage-Bollenbach

So, my mom turns to me at the game and said I’ve got the fifth inning to write up for this game. And I was like, you can’t do that. You’re not my boss, Brett is.

Yeah OK, so then she gave me that look and here I am getting us through the fifth. The White Sox have gone down like nothing for more than a full turn through the lineup, as Taj Bradley has retired 10 in a row now. And as fast as you can say “keeping pace with the Guardians,” who by the way have now lost, 6-0, and are three games back, Minnesota has rallied for three runs courtesy of this abuse of a baseball by Ryan Jeffers:

This is where I shoot a look at my mother that says why did you do this to me?

But maybe I’ll take it back, as Chase Meidroth led off the Sox half with a single and made a scrappy read on a wild pitch to advance to second base. After a walk to Antonacci, Vargas ripped a two-out single to left, Chase chased home and tightened the game to 5-4. It would have been even more perfect if my guy, Murakami, would have hit another big and tall fly ball, but he struck out. Don’t worry, though, the tide is turning back. We got this. — Sage Bollenbach

OK, we can be honest here: I’m not a fan of the Twins. Why would anyone be, I know. But long before I was even born, there was good reason: Cal Griffith, a racist owner who relocated his team from Washington D.C. to Minneapolis because, he said, he was pleased by how overwhelmingly white Minnesota was. And arguably even worse, Griffith ran the best player in Twins history, Rod Carew, out of town by mocking him as a fool for signing with the Twins for less than his market value.

It’s an entirely new Twins ownership now, but even as a team seven games back of the White Sox, they’re pretty easy to dislike. And with them messing now with increasing our lead in the AL Central to 3 1/2 games, I’m really not a fan.

The sixth inning featured a couple of back-crack outs. First, it was short king Meidroth ending the top half of the inning on a 105.8 grounder he snagged in self-defense:

And in the middle of the White Sox half came a smash by Colson that fooled most in the park, as off the bat it seemed he had dropped his second ball of the night over the fence. Alas, no. We’re getting into short time, hoping there’s another White Sox miracle rally ahead. — Dante Jones

I want to spend all my time writing about the White Sox and a winning effort, but before I can even settle into my keyboard in the top of the seventh, the irritating Twins put another run up on a leadoff Luke Keaschall single and a double from new White Sox killer Culpepper.

Listen, I got a win last night, a magic wand, plus a ringside seat to see my guy Kyle Teel warming up for his first action back from injury:

This is not how I’m going out tonight.

Now, in my inning, Teel finally gets into tonight’s game, pinch-hitting for Jake Rogers against righty Jeff Hoffman. Unfortunately, after Tristan Peters had slapped a double down the right field line with one out in the bottom half of the seventh, Teel got ahead in the count, 2-1, before cutting through two strikes and failing to advance the runner. Antonacci grounded out, and Chicago’s dry spell carried on toward the eighth. You know, I could be at home, learning the guitar. — Chrystal O’Keefe

Because the White Sox couldn’t push though with a lead, it was stopgap Tyler Schweitzer entering the game out of the arm barn for the White Sox, and he got a gift right away. After the dreaded leadoff walk to Kody Clemens, Lee lined out to center and Peters caught Kody dancing off of first base too long and gunned him down for the double play. In the bottom half automatic doubler Randall Grichuk landed on second base with two down, but Colson waved at a pitch at his eyes and tightened the White Sox’s chances to three final outs. — Kristina Airdo

We are out of writers, so I guess it’s left for me to bring it on home. Plus, I don’t want anyone in attendance to be too shocked at having to cover YOENDRIS GÓMEZ AS TWINS CLOSER. Yet there he was, closing out what was looking like a very disappointing finish.

Disappointing it was, as the White Sox went down, 1-2-3, with a K to Meidroth standing out as a particularly galling plate appearance. Unlike my game thread hunch and the power-packed beginning of this game for Chicago, the White Sox offense continues to flounder. A spark is needed, as none of the return of Teel or temporary resurgence of Munetaka and slightly more sustained thump of Colson seems to be locking the team in.

And tomorrow now may be trouble, as in an effort to (likely) maneuver the rotation so that Sean Burke-Davis Martin-Kay face the Guardians, Will Venable has pushed Burke back a day and is shifting tomorrow’s starter to TBD.

U-G-H, the division isn’t won yet and if you’re up five games by next week, that “big” series matters a lot less.

And finally, a reminder that tomorrow’s game has been pushed back toward primer time, and kicks off at 5:20 p.m. Central.

MVP
SSS crew at the ballpark

Runners-Up
Detroit Tigers
The Railyards
Sam Antonacci: The only two walks of the game for the White Sox, usual rascal hustle

Cold Cat
White Sox Offense: tasty power, but two walks against 12 Ks

Runners-Up
Weird fan takeover chants by the tarps-off jagbags
FINANCIAL BRO VESTS
Anthony Kay: 5 ⅓ IP, 6 H, 5 ER, BB, 3 K, HR, LOSS (9-8)

It’s kind of funny that once Manny Machado’s 25th homer of the season landed in the seats in the fourth inning, we could have just fast-forwarded to the end of the game. That big fly made the score 5-1, and that’s where this game ended. While the Yankees missed a few chances to add to their lead, but the bullpen completely iced out the Padres, and this series is knotted up at a game apiece.

I was a little bit worried about Carlos Rodón’s start, as the southpaw struggled with his control in the first inning. He put two Padres aboard, one via a single and one a walk before working his way out of the jam, albeit throwing 26 pitches to do it. Then, the Yankees rewarded him with an offensive surge over the next two innings, and he delivered shutdown frames in the home half of the second and the third, exactly what you look for from a good starter.

Manny Machado tagged him for a solo shot in the fourth, the only earned run Carlos allowed on the day, and the control problems blossomed again in the fifth. Sixteen pitches, and a big two-out walk issued to Fernando Tatís Jr. ended up pushing Rodón past where the Yankees wanted him to be, and Aaron Boone went to the bullpen to start the sixth.

This is kinda what I mean when I talk about Carlos Rodón. Five innings, two hits, and one run allowed is not a bad start. The 7:3 K:BB ratio is fine, not great, but when the runners don’t come around to score you can’t really get mad at anything. But like tonight, and a frighteningly disproportionate number of his starts, it feels like he left an inning, a couple more outs, something on the table. I can’t say he pitched poorly, but he could have pitched better, despite surrendering just the one run.

Let’s talk about the offense, who kicked around Robbie Ray to the tune of that lefty’s second-worst start of the season. He pitched a dazzling first, needing just seven chucks to retire the first three Yankees of the night. And then…

Ben Rice singled and moved to second on a soft groundout off George Lombard Jr.’s bat. After his big hit against Mason Miller in extra innings last night, Spencer Jones stayed hot and opened the scoring:

Ray then walked three consecutive Yankees, including the 8-9 hitters, and Paul Goldschmidt’s free pass brought Jones in from third. Still, the team needed one big hit, and Cody Bellinger gave it to them:

Rice continued to be the straw that stirs the drink for the club lately, walking to lead off the third inning, including an ABS challenge to change the count from 2-1 to 3-0. In motion with Heliot Ramos swinging, Rice went to third base on the outfielder’s single, and scored the fifth Yankee run on Lombard’s sac fly a batter later.

Five runs in the first three innings of a game felt like manna after some of the stretches of offensive offense we’ve seen this year, but then it started to feel like not enough. Machado’s home run and needing relievers from the sixth on meant that it was just a four-run game, and a couple baserunners paired with another big hit can make a lead like that disappear quickly.

Yet, despite being in the tack-on portion of the game from the third on, they couldn’t really tack-on. After that fifth run scored, the Yankees loaded the bases with one out, and Austin Wells scorched a liner that became a double play. The first two batters of the fifth, Rice and Ramos again, reached and were left stranded. They loaded the bases in the sixth, just to see pinch-hitter Luis García Jr. watch strike three to end the threat.

Then in the SEVENTH the Yankees put the first two runners on in strange fashion, with a challenge-assisted hit by pitch giving first base to Lombard, and a challenge-assisted catcher’s interference letting Spencer Jones on. José Caballero gave himself up with a sacrifice bunt to move both men into scoring position…and that’s where they stayed. Wells didn’t slam a line drive, instead a soft fly ball that wasn’t deep enough to score even the speedy Lombard, and Goldschmidt went down swinging. You’d rather have a four-run lead than a four-run deficit of course but man I would have liked another run or two or six given the potential of what I described above.

Then again, the Yankees really only used one of their high-leverage relievers today (though David Bednar warmed up in the ninth) and the Padres managed just a single hit after the fourth inning. Michael Fulmer didn’t look good, putting two men on before Brent Headrick had to throw a single pitch to end the sixth, but it was pretty academic from there. I would have liked the team to make this one more of a laugher but you score five runs, with this pitching staff, that’s going to be enough most nights. I don’t know who John Schreiber even is but he got four outs without allowing a baserunner; what a team!

Unfortunately the Rays took care of business against the Rangers, making tomorrow’s series finale in San Diego even more important. We have a banger of a pitching matchup, with Gerrit Cole tapped for New York and facing his former teammate in Michael King. This is a really big series ahead of playing the Rockies, and taking it while on the road would go a long way to reassuring some of the concerns I have with this team, so go to it. First pitch on Sunday comes at 4:10pm Eastern, back on YES.

Box Score