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Two big innings in the early going, one for each team, set up a tie game for much of the night. The Royals got the key run in the 7th to get their second lead of the night, and it held up for a 5-4 victory.

Seth Lugo had a fairly easy first inning, which has not been the case a lot lately. Then he got a lot of support from his offense before he headed back out. Carter Jensen led the game off with a clean single to right. Bobby Witt decided a single looked nice and did the same with a grounder just to the left of second base. With Jensen at third, they decided to have Bobby move and probably prevented a double play when Cags hit a hard one right at first for a groundout, but getting it 2nd and 3rd allowed another single from Maikel Garcia to score two and get the Royals on the board. Vinnie Pasquantino was up next and ripped one down the third baseline for a double and another Royal run. That ended Bryan Hudson’s night, not ideal for your opener, and brought in “bulk man” Erick Fedde. He almost escaped the inning with no more damage, but a grounder to short from Michael Massey ended with a wide throw to first that allowed Vinnie to score and end the first inning 4-0.

The Royals managed to load the bases in the 2nd inning as well, and it looked like maybe they could just blow the White Sox out. It was not to be as Vinnie popped out to end the threat and Fedde escaped and gave his offense an opportunity that they did not waste. Lugo, after two clean innings, ran into a lot of trouble in the third. Chase Meidroth laid a pretty bunt single down to start the inning. Two batters later, Braden Montgomery singled as well and made it first and third with one out. Then Lugo loaded the bases by hitting Sam Antonacci with a pitch. Kyle Teel, Miguel Vargas, and Munetaka Murakami then had three hits in a row with two singles and capped off with a double. The game was tied up and Kansas City’s nice start nullified. A groundball to Pasquantino was played home to get Vargas trying to score before another hit by pitch loaded the bases yet again. Lugo threw over 30 pitches but did get Meidroth out his second time up in the inning to keep the game 4-4.

Lugo got into some more trouble in the 4th after Montgomery and Antonacci reached base again. This time it was back-to-back singles and that ended Lugo’s night. Anthony Gose came in with one out and runners on first and second. He walked the bases loaded, but he then got Vargas to hit a grounder to short for a double play and get out of the jam.

Fedde also failed to get through the fourth. He walked Isaac Collins to open the frame and was pulled before it wrapped back to the top of the lineup. A grounder for a double play kept it from ever materializing into any runs however. In fact, a GIDP ended three consecutive half innings, two of which were against the Royals. Both teams, after scoring their four-run inning, were settling into a long stalemate. Finally, in the 7th, the Royals got the lead back. It was again started by a Carter Jensen single, his third of the night. Bob hit into a fielder’s choice to get him out and take over first base. He moved to second on a Jac Caglianone ground out before Maikel hit a hard liner into the left field corner to bring Witt home and grab a 5-4 lead. Hat tip to Gose and Connor Thomas who were sharp through these middle innings for KC picking up a combined 3 2/3 innings with no runs allowed.

The 8th inning went to Lucas Erceg, who I guess is back to being a high leverage reliever after getting sent down to the minors for underperforming. He has looked much better since returning to the big leagues. He only needed 9 pitches to get all three batters he faced out and send the game to the ninth. Maybe the old Erceg is back. That would be very helpful going into an offseason where the bullpen needs significant retooling.

Steven Cruz came out for the 9th. It was his first time in a game since Saturday when he blew a save against Pittsburgh. He looked very in control in this one striking out the first two batters of the inning and then ending it with a flyout to center. He did surrender a single before the flyout, but it was a nice outing for Cruz who got the save.

So, the Royals keep Cleveland in first place for another day and have a shot to win the series against Chicago tomorrow.

The Atlanta Braves took on the Cincinnati Reds in what will be Chris Sale’s final start of the season. The Braves have already clinched their division and likely will not catch the two seed, but it was still going to be a fun game with Chris Sale trying to reach the two-hundred strikeout mark.

Chris Sale leads the NL in having the lowest HR rate against him with averaging 0.5 HR per nine innings. So, it was a bit of a shock to see him give up a leadoff HR to Brito. Sale settled in after that though and pitched an insanely good game. After the mistake he struck out both De La Cruz and ROY favorite Stewart. He then got Myers to fly out.

The Braves have struggled of late against SPs and made it up by destroying RPs. Today they struggled against Andrew Abbott who is having the worst season of his four year career. He has been walking hitters at a high clip, but the Braves have been walking at a very low clip. Matt Olson was able to hit a double in the first, but that was the only offense for the Braves.

If it was not clear already, Sale clearly wanted that two-hundredth strikeout. He struck out the side in the second on fourteen pitches. The Braves yet again could garner a walk against a high walk rate pitcher. Riley singled, but it was the only offense in the second.

In the third inning, Sale game up a single to Brito, the hitter that took him deep already, but that was the offense. Sale was able to strike out De La Cruz again on an overturned challenge for his sixth strikeout in three innings. Third inning for the Braves with more of the same. One hit and nothing else. This time it was a single from Dubón that was a slowly hit ball to second.

Sale struck out the first two hitters he faced in the fourth, but then struggled by his standards. He hit Suárez and then McLain singled. Fortunately, Baldwin gunned down McLain trying to steal to end the top of the fourth. The fourth ended the streak of getting one hit and nothing else for the Braves, but not in a good way. They were sat down in order.

In the fifth Sale gave up a double, but was able to prevent anymore damage and also picked up his ninth strikeout on the night. The offense for the Braves finally got a walk from Brewer Hicklen, but then he was picked off, so does it really count? That was the only offense for the fifth.

Chris Sale stayed in the game to pitch the sixth to try and get strikeout number two-hundred. De La Cruz flied out, but then Sale was able to do it on the next hitter when he struck out Sal Stewart for his tenth of the game and two-hundredth of the season. He was then replaced by Victor Mederos who was able to end the top of the sixth with a walk and a strikeout of his own.

2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣

Chris Sale finishes his last start of the regular season in style! pic.twitter.com/jctxbbJN5z

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 24, 2026

It looked like it was going to be another dud in the sixth inning when the Braves had two outs relatively quickly, but then Matt Olson did what Matt Olson does and hit a game tying dinger.

If you like dingers then this is the post for you pic.twitter.com/83UYpEhHfm

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 24, 2026

Spoiler alert, Riley does too, but that is later in the game. It looked like the Braves might take the lead in the sixth with an Albies single, but Harris flied out.

Robert Suarez made his long awaited return in the seventh, but it did not start off well. He gave up a leadoff triple to McLain. He was able to settle down a bit and force a ground out, a sacrifice fly to give the Reds the lead, and then a fly out. It should be noted that he faced the bottom of the order of a really bad offense, but it is a positive to see Suarez back pitching again.

The seventh is when Austin Riley hit the aforementioned HR to lead off. Unfortunately, that was the only offense. Dylan Lee came in to pitch the eighth and had a very encouraging appearance. He has struggled of late, but not tonight. He retired the side in order.

There were a few instances that looked like the Braves may get some momentum going in the eighth. Dubón walked on four pitches from new pitcher Ashcraft, but then Olson grounded into a double play. Albies was hit by a pitch, and then it appeared Harris beat out a throw to first for a single, but then it was overturned to end the inning.

Raisel Iglesias came in to pitch the ninth. He looked like prime Iggy, striking out the the side. This brought us to the bottom of the ninth. Former Brave Pierce Johnson came in to pitch and struck out Austin Riley. Dom Smith came in to pinch hit for Murphy in the DH slot, but also struck out. Yastrzemski came in to hit for Hicklen, but popped out. This led to extras.

Brent Suter, the Rick Devens of baseball, came in to pitch the tenth and struck out Cabrera, and recorded a ground out and fly out. This brought Ha-Seong Kim to the plate, and we saw an ancient art take place when he hit a sac bunt to move the runner to third (DaShawn Keirsey Jr. started the inning at second). Drake Baldwin was then hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners. Dubón then came in clutch once again and walked in off with a single that was a crazy chopper that could not have been better placed.

WALK 👏 OFF 👏#BravesCountrypic.twitter.com/afuxkCsX6j

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 24, 2026

The Braves once again got carved up by a subpar SP and came through against the bullpen, and Chris Sale was able to reach an impressive milestone with his two-hundredth strikeout of the season to include ten this evening.

The Braves will take on the Reds once more tomorrow at the same time and same place.

Game goes: the season is ending
With Prielipp and the glovemen defending.
Now Luke swings, and a homer is sending:
We are ahead.

So here we are in a year bizarre;
How to finish? Who can tell?
We’ve earned and reeled on the baseball field;
Overall, it wasn’t swell.
We’ll finish stronger at
Pac Bell.

(I don’t care that it’s been named Oracle Park for years; that doesn’t fit the rhyme or meter.)

San Fran gets a pair and is leading,
But young bats won’t be calmly conceding.
A three-bagger from Ross stems the bleeding:
We’re far from dead.

So here we are in a year bizarre;
How to finish? Who can tell?
We’ve earned and reeled on the baseball field,
And today’s a better spell.
We’ll finish stronger at

Then came the ‘pen to hold the mute Giants’ bats;
Walker again came through, and those fans said, “Rats!”
Morris the save despite any lingered dread;
The Comment of Game is Goose’s: now go to bed,
Yeah.

So here we are in a year bizarre;
How to finish? Who can tell?
We’ve earned and reeled on the baseball field,
And today was mighty swell.
We’ll finish stronger at
San Francisco’s

Park!
How to finish who can tell?
We’ve earned and reeled on the baseball field,
And today, the Twins played well.
We’ll finish stronger at
Pac Bell.

The Orioles closed out Camden Yards in fashion on Wednesday night, beating the Blue Jays 4-2 for the second time, completing a sweep of both the double-header and the series, while staving off playoff elimination for a least a few more hours.

Trey Gibson was called on to make the spot start, his first time back on a big league mound since June 30, when he was lit up by the White Sox. Whatever it was that he worked on down in Triple-A these last three months, it seemed to have done some good. The 24-year-old was dealing in this game, tossing 6.2 shutout innings and lighting up the radar gun early.

Gibson’s average fastball velocity in this game was 95.2 mph, which is actually slightly below his season average (95.4 mph). But he did hit 98.2 mph on the radar gun in the second inning, and it seemed like he was picking his spots on when to reach back and get a little extra when he felt that he needed it.

Ultimately, this was a performance that saw Gibson succeed because he limited hard contact rather than blew pitches past the opposition. His whiff rate in the game was only 14%, but he pounded the strike zone, allowed only two walks, and gave up just four hard hit balls all game.

Toronto never seemed all that close to scoring off of Gibson until he got into some trouble in an odd seventh inning. For a moment, it looked like the rookie had gotten through the frame without issue. Then, a challenge from the visitors dugout came in, alleging that Jeremiah Jackson had violated the shift rules by starting a pitch with his feet in the grass. That overturned the out he had recorded and sent Gibson back to the mound with a runner on first base and two outs.

Then, Gibson walked Davis Schneider to put two runners on. From there, Craig Albernaz went to his bullpen for the first time in the nightcap. Yennier Cano came on and walked the first batter he faced to load the bags before finally punching out Myles Straw to close the book on Gibson.

It was a triumphant return for the rookie. He looked really good. The velocity was impressive. He mowed through the Toronto lineup. And it has to give him such a mental boost going into the offseason, where he will likely have the goal of earning a spot in the Orioles’ Opening Day rotation.

Easing the rookie’s workload was the Orioles’ offense, which handed him an early lead to work with.

Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch with one out in the bottom of the first inning to become the first baserunner of the day. He moved to third on a Coby Mayo double into left field. And then Christian Encarncaion-Strand brought them both home with a line drive base knock. Colton Cowser kept the good vibes going with a weakly hit—but perfectly placed—double into shallow left field to push CES home as well to make it a 3-0 advantage for the good guys.

It took until the fourth inning for the Orioles to register another hit. It was a home run off the bat of Encarnacion-Strand to lead off the frame, his 11th of the season.

And that was it for the offense. They had no other hits after that point, and had just four hits in the entire game. It wasn’t the most brilliant of showings, but it was efficient. The Orioles went 1-for-2 with runners in scoring position and left just one runner on base.

The other key takeaway from this game was another appearance for Félix Bautista, his second since coming off of the IL. This one was a bit concerning. Bautista’s velocity was way down. After working 96-97 mph with his fastball in his previous appearance, he was down at 92-94 here. He also gave up a two-run homer to Schneider that just snuck beyond the outfield fence in the left field corner.

There are a lot of variables at work for Bautista right now. The guy is already one of the few pitchers to ever come back from major elbow and shoulder surgeries and return to the majors. The fact that he has gotten this far is impressive. It was never going to be perfect right out of the gate. You would imagine that the Orioles will be keeping close tabs on him this offseason. His velocity is likely to ebb and flow, but hopefully it will be closer to that 96-97 range as the 2027 season near. Otherwise he may need to rethink his repertoire and approach.

In general, it was a good day for the Orioles. They won two games, moved into fourth place in the division, and wrapped up the home portion of the schedule with a chance at the playoffs still mathematically possible. This team certainly has flaws, but they also have some fight in them.

Yes, as of this writing, the Orioles are still alive for the playoffs, though just by a hair. They now have an off day on Thursday before beginning their final series of the regular season with the Yankees in New York on Friday night. Those games may or may not matter for the Orioles once they roll around. It all depends on how the White Sox and Rangers fare over the next 24 hours.

---

Most Birdland Player

Here are a few players for your consideration for MBP in tonight’s win:

• Trey Gibson (win, 6.2 IP, no runs, three hits, two walks, seven stikeouts)
• Yennier Cano (got out of Gibson’s jam)
• Christian Encarnacion-Strand (2-for-3, homer, three RBI, two runs)

Scoring the bulk of their runs early on, the Yankees out-slugged the Rays in a 9-2 win, one that helped Gerrit Cole move above .500 with his tenth win of the season. However outdated that stat is to evaluate an individual performance, Cole certainly appreciates making it eight of eight winning seasons since leaving the Pirates.

Dominant and facing a team willing to run its starter into the ground, the Yankees had a small home run derby, averaging one homer per inning through the first four to set up this dismantling of the AL East champs. Rays starter Mason Englert saw his outing begin by allowing a milestone homer to Ben Rice — his 40th on the season — and come to an end in a fourth inning in which he also allowed a solo shot to Rice.

Instant Rice 🍚 pic.twitter.com/qe35C6tuh2

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 23, 2026

This was only Rice’s second multi-homer game this year, showing he has spread out his home runs quite nicely, but even more surprisingly, they both came against the Rays. Oh, and in the middle of Rice’s two solo homers, Englert allowed another six runs to put this game to bed before it could truly be a contest, five of them also coming via the long ball.

Playing with a point to prove hitting in the second spot in the order for the first time this season, George Lombard Jr. left the yard in the third. Later in that same inning, the Yankees loaded the bases for Ryan McMahon, normally not the most daunting of statements, but not the case tonight. The Yankees’ starting third baseman seized the opportunity and got ahold of one Joey Gallo-style with a 40-degree launch angle, keeping it fair for the Yankees’ third grand slam of 2026 — this from a team that, prior to the final month of the season, hadn’t hit one in 2026.

McGrandSlam 💥#RepBXpic.twitter.com/2WA5cy5au1

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 24, 2026

Initially, McMahon’s home run felt like your traditional Yankee Stadium special, but upon a visit to Baseball Savant, it actually would have gone out in 13 other ballparks, even more impressive than it looked. As far as this general power surge goes, while the Yankees were on fire, we’d be remiss not to mention Englert’s recent struggles to keep the ball in the yard — this being his second straight road outing against an AL East team with three or more home runs allowed.

Securing a massive lead after three frames, the Yankees set up an ideal platform for Gerrit Cole to attack the zone, but that’s not exactly what we saw. Cole kept the Rays in check with just two runs in 5.2 innings but ran a high pitch count with one of his lowest Zone% of the season, leaving the game with 105 pitches.

The Cedric Mullins Jr. solo shot aside, this approach — however intentional it was — paid off for Cole, with the Rays earning just three hits off the Yankees starter. Cole could’ve left the game with 90-plus pitches after five in a blowout, but Aaron Boone gave him at least the chance to start the sixth. Brent Headrick, John Schreiber, Tim Hill, Paul Blackburn, and David Bednar followed in that order to keep the Rays at just a pair of runs.

Touching base again on the lineup test, while Lombard certainly impressed with that solo shot, it must be noted he finished the game with a golden sombrero, striking out in his other four at-bats. Ali Sánchez looked set to be the only Yankee not to reach safely in this game, but a leadoff single in the eighth prevented that from happening.

Tomorrow is another day, bringing another starter/long reliever taking the ball for the Rays and an ace-caliber pitcher going for the Yankees. Lefty Ian Seymour and his impressive 29.0 percent K% in well over 100 innings will meet Cam Schlittler, putting the finishing touch on a Cy Young-worthy campaign. It’ll be the last time these two teams face each other in the regular season, but hopefully not in the year, as the Yankees must go through the Red Sox before an eventual date with the Rays in the ALDS.

Box score

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers get their guy back just ahead of October.

Shohei Ohtani was activated from the injured list and will bat second in the lineup against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, Sept. 23, the team announced. He'll have five games to find his footing again after lingering issues with his left knee and right bicep led him to miss the last 13 games.

Ohtani will have the added luxury of doing so in relatively low-stakes games ahead of the postseason, as the Dodgers clinched the NL West while he was out and are one game away from securing a first-round bye.

"It's go time for all of us," manager Dave Roberts said. "I can't really speak to if he's going to hit a homer tonight, but I do think that there's going to be a heightened sense of focus. I think he's in a good spot."

Josue De Paula was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in the corresponding move, which Roberts explained was the original thought all along within the organization. The breakout rookie is still in serious consideration to make the playoff roster.

"He's a part of the conversation. He's earned that," Roberts said. "And that's what I told him last night. We have some other guys that need to play that we got to put eyes on and, to be quite frank, there's just not a lot of (at-)bats to go around now that Shohei's back."

The back-to-back National League MVP is back, but Roberts doesn't expect fireworks right away. Padres starter Robbie Ray is a tough matchup for lefties, which is part of the reason Mookie Betts stayed put in the leadoff spot. Roberts just wants Ohtani to take at-bats, especially considering he didn't face live pitching in his hitting progression.

Both Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman are confident in Ohtani's health and acknowledged that while nobody is 100% in October, the six-time All-Star is feeling and looking much better than he did when he slashed .122/.295/.184 with 21 strikeouts and zero homers in the 13 games before he hit the IL on Sept. 8.

According to Friedman, Ohtani may have underplayed how much his ailments were bothering him because they never rose to the level of needing to see a doctor. He was focused on pushing through so that he could help the team win, which isn't uncommon among high-level competitors and has happened before with numerous other players in the Dodgers clubhouse.

Friedman added that the first step is Ohtani feeling better now, but next they have to see how he feels once he gets back into his normal workload and intensity. Whether Ohtani plays in all five remaining games, or four of five, depends on how feels, but the goal is just to get him as many at-bats as possible.

"What he's doing, it was unprecedented. And it takes a real toll," Friedman said. "As we get over, I think us just being very dialed is going to be really important. We certainly had a lot of communication with him throughout the year and worked together really well in terms of how to go about this."

Ohtani doesn't need to be a world-beater for these last five games. He might not even need to be one in the postseason with how hot the bats have been in his absence. But just his presence alone in the lineup positions the Dodgers that much more as they chase World Series history.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani activated from IL: What to expect from Dodgers superstar

Watching your favorite team lose to one of your least favorite teams is never truly enjoyable, but it goes down a bit easier when the regular season prize is already in the bag. The only downside to this loss is the Rays must now win out to get to 100 wins on the season, but that was always a stretch goal. They have already exceeded their projected win quota by plenty and were granted the bonus of home field advantage in the playoffs while sitting out the wildcard round, so the priority the rest of this week is keeping the roster healthy. The Yankees, meanwhile, were able to pad their precious run differential a bit more in this meaningless contest, so they have got that going for them, which is nice.

To that point, organizational solider Mason Englert was asked to out there and soak up some innings before handing the ball off to whomever was in the best shape in the pen after last night’s celebration. Englert labored into the 4th inning allowing 8 earned runs which included a grand slam to Ryan McMahon and three solo homers, two from Ben Rice before giving way to the pen to record the final 12 outs.

Kevin Cash got creative with the lineup putting Victor Mesa Jr in the leadoff spot to provide Yandy Diaz with a much-needed game off as the two 2-RBI hits in the division-winning victory Tuesday evening were his first two in quite some time. Chandler Simpson and Taylor Walls were also granted the evening off. Simpson still hold a three-steal lead on Bobby Witt Jr for the American League stolen base title, but came into today one steal behind Nasim Nunez for the overall lead. It is doubtful the Rays want Simpson risking anything these final few games, so he and the fans may just have to be happy with the AL title. It would not be surprising to see both Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero to get a day or two off over these final four games unless Caminero has a goal to match the 162-game totals posted by Aubrey Huff in 2003, Delmon Young in 2007, and Evan Longoria in 2014. It was nice to see Cedric Mullins break out of a slump and hit a home run as he had not homered since August 28th and had hit just .159/.284/.222 in his previous 75 plate appearances coming into this contest.

Gerrit Cole was not exactly sharp as the Rays still forced him to use over 90 pitches to get through five innings. Despite the six-run lead, Aaron Boone allowed Cole to come back out in the 6th inning. The Yankees bullpen was rather well-rested coming into this game, so it was a bit suprising to see Cole put in the unnecessary work. Boone did finally take the ball from Cole at 105 pitches after a two-out four pitch walk to Liam Hicks, who was left stranded on second. Boone would end up using the entirety of his A-bullpen in this blowout, which could lead to Cam Schlitter putting a bow onto his AL Cy Young Award in tomorrow’s contest.

The highlight for the Rays, aside from the Mullins homer, was the inning by Brody Hopkins. He led off the inning getting the impatient Ali Sanchez to line out to center and then chose to walk Ben Rice after watching how he treated Englert in this context. That brought George Lombard Jr to the plate who was late on a 102-mph heater, fouled off a 101-mph fastball, and then swung over an 89-mph breaking ball for a three-pitch strikeout. Hopkins then proceeded to dispose of Luis Garcia Jr, but needed seven pitches to do so. Hopkins generated four whiffs on seven swingsHopkins is going to be a weapon in the postseason when Cash is looking for someone to come in and get the strikeout as long as Hopkins can get ahead with the heat and put hitters on the defensive with the breaking stuff.

Fans can expect more maintenance efforts such as this game with the club simply trying to stay healthy and sharp before a long layoff watching the wildcard round play itself out. The Rays could play spoiler to the Phillies to exact some revenge for 2008 this weekned if Philadelphia drops their series to Milwaukee and Arizona sweeps the Rockies before heading to San Diego. Just enjoy watching these games for what they are and save your stress levels for Troptober.

The Mariners play the Astros on Wedne- ah who cares.

Lineup

How To Watch

First pitch: 7:10 p.m
TV: ESPN
Radio: Ol’ Reliable

The Yankees smashed four home runs, including a Ryan McMahon grand slam, to bludgeon the Rays, 9-2, on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Here are the takeaways...

-Gerrit Cole pitched his second consecutive quality start, limiting the Rays to two runs.

One run came in the fourth when Jonny Deluca hit a two-out double that dropped between Heliot Ramos and Jazz Chisholm Jr. in right field. The ball bounced away from Ramos, allowing the runner to score all the way from first. 

Cole then gave up a solo shot to Cedric Mullins in the fifth, the fourth consecutive start the right-hander has allowed at least one long ball. 

The right-hander pitched into the sixth, but after walking a batter with two outs, he was pulled. 

Cole allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out eight across 5.2 innings. He threw 105 pitches, the most he's thrown since undergoing Tommy John surgery.

-Ben Rice got the offense started with a moonshot on the first pitch he saw to lead off the first. Rice now has 40 home runs, just the second Yankees draft pick to reach that mark (Aaron Judge, who did it four times) (H/T Sarah Langs). 

Rice wasn't done, though. He led off the fourth with a solo shot to give him 41 on the season. It's the fifth multi-homer game of his career, and the second this season (7/9 against Rays). He finished 3-for-4. 

-A Spencer Jones leadoff double was cashed in by McMahon's two-out single in the second. George Lombard Jr. added on in the third with a leadoff solo shot, and McMahon capped the inning with a grand slam, the third of his career. 

Ramos' sac fly in the eighth accounted for the Yankees' ninth and final run. The right fielder went 2-for-4 with the lone RBI. 

-With the Yankees locked into the first Wild Card spot, manager Aaron Boone gave Austin Wells and Cody Bellinger the night off. Jose Caballero started in left and finished 0-for-3 with a walk while Ali Sanchez went 1-for-4. 

-Before the game, Boone said he wanted to give his high-leverage relievers work Wednesday to set them up for the Wild Card series early next week. Brent Headrick allowed a hit in his 0.1 innings pitched, while Paul Blackburn allowed a hit in a scoreless inning.

David Bednar came on to wrap up the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. 

-Lombard Jr. was moved up in the lineup to the two spot. The infielder went 1-for-5 with four strikeouts. He also committed his ninth error of the season when he couldn't handle a grounder. 

Game MVP: Ryan McMahon

McMahon drove in five runs and made a case to be on the Wild Card roster.

Highlights

Leadoff shot from Ben Rice - his 40th of the season! pic.twitter.com/P2Pz0B7XJC

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 23, 2026

An RBI knock for Ryan McMahon! pic.twitter.com/TPAV0T5Hxx

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 23, 2026

George Lombard Jr.’s turn! pic.twitter.com/4YIRdlXmXG

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 23, 2026

RYAN MCMAHON GRAND SLAM! pic.twitter.com/6pJL5nlgDp

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 24, 2026

Make it 41 homers on the season for Ben Rice! pic.twitter.com/gznQIqQ5e5

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) September 24, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Rays wrap up their four-game series on Thursday night. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto faces Robbie Ray and Shohei Ohtani returns from the injured list on Wednesday.

Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. Padres: pic.twitter.com/SyL3INJl9z

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 23, 2026

WEDNESDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Padres
• Stadium: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

Box Score

There’s no slowing down for the Brewers this season. With the first 100-win season in franchise history on the horizon, and the Dodgers close behind them in the race for the best record, the Brewers still have work to do. They kept up the pace tonight, earning their 99th win of the season in a 4-1 victory over the Phillies.

The Brewers didn’t take long to get on the board. With two outs in the first inning, Brice Turang hit his 20th home run of the season, 108.4 mph and 406 feet out to right-center field. It’s his first 20-homer season, and he’s one stolen base away from a 20-20 season.

Sweet No. 20 for @BRiCEcTuRANGhttps://t.co/Y6511lYOvMpic.twitter.com/j5KZQKk6zE

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 23, 2026

Meanwhile, Logan Henderson had to work a bit to get through his first inning. He got Kyle Schwarber to a full count before striking him out, then got Trea Turner to ground out. Bryce Harper worked a full count before drawing a walk, but Luis Arraez popped out to end the inning. He needed 21 pitches to get through the first.

Nola came out strong in the second with strikeouts of Jake Bauers and Joey Ortiz. Up next was Christian Yelich, and he hit what was hopefully a slump buster. He hit an inside cutter out to right field, with a 106.1-mph exit velocity. It traveled 378 feet for Yelich’s 12th home run of the season.

Zero doubt about it@ChristianYelichhttps://t.co/TJq2OWmpRdpic.twitter.com/QElsQVkqzM

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 23, 2026

Meanwhile, the Phillies threatened to take the lead in the second inning. The first three batters — Alec Bohm, Bryston Stott, and Brandon Marsh — all reached base thanks to a single, double, and walk. With the bases loaded and no outs, Henderson had his work cut out for him. On the next pitch, J.T. Realmuto hit a ground ball hard, but right to Turang. It was a bit too slow to turn a double play, but Turang got the out at first. Bohm scored, and the lead was cut to 2-1.

Henderson recovered from there. He kept the ball on the edge of the strike zone and got Justin Crawford to fly out to shallow right, not deep enough for Scott to try to score (though it might have been a close play at the plate). Schwarber was up next, and Henderson didn’t throw a pitch in the strike zone, but fooled Schwarber well enough. On a 1-2 count, he grounded out to Turang to end the inning and preserve a 2-1 lead.

With the lead down to one, the Brewers got some insurance the next inning. David Hamilton drew a walk to start the inning, but Mitchell replaced him after he grounded out. After Chourio struck out, Turang doubled to put runners at second and third. That brought up William Contreras, who hit a ground ball through the gap between second and third for a two-run RBI single. That extended the lead to 4-1.

Big-time answer from Wild Bill pic.twitter.com/NZuy319MEQ

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 23, 2026

From there, both pitchers locked in for the next two innings. Henderson got his pitch count back in control with a 1-2-3 third inning. Nola followed that with a 1-2-3 inning of his own for the first time in the game. In the bottom of the fourth, Stott doubled to give the Phillies another scoring opportunity, but he was stranded there.

After the Brewers went down in order again in the top of the fifth, Henderson had to work his way through another jam. Crawford singled, and Schwarber walked to put two runners on base with no outs. Turner moved Crawford up to third with a flyout. Next up was Harper, who hit a fly ball into foul territory, and Hamilton ran it down near the tarp, keeping Crawford at third. Arraez then flew out to Chourio for the third out, holding the lead at 4-1.

It wasn’t Henderson’s best day, but he held the Phillies to just one run. Over five innings, he allowed four hits and three walks, striking out three. It was his 23rd game allowing three or fewer runs in a start, tying an MLB record held by Zac Gallen.

A picture of consistency to start his career pic.twitter.com/61TQjllAyb

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 24, 2026

Nola was sharp with his strikeouts tonight, recording eight strikeouts in his six innings. However, the Brewers got to him early and scored four runs in his first three innings. Nola did retire the last 10 Brewers he faced in order, but the damage was done. In six innings, he allowed four runs on four hits and one walk. The Brewers only had one at-bat with runners in scoring position, which was Contreras’ two-RBI single.

DL Hall was first out of the bullpen for the Brewers. In the sixth, he allowed a one-out walk to Stott, but nothing else. Two excellent plays — a leaping catch from Hamilton and a diving stop and throw from Ortiz — aided him that inning. He got into some trouble in the seventh, hitting Schwarber with a pitch before allowing a single to Turner. That was it, as he stranded both runners with two ground balls to get out of the inning.

Tanner Banks took the seventh for the Phillies and allowed a single to Ortiz to start. Yelich tried to bunt him over but failed, with an easy throw to second to get the lead runner. Frelick then grounded into a double play to end the inning. Banks followed that up with a scoreless eighth, working around a two-out single from Jackson Chourio.

With the bullpen rested, Abner Uribe got the call in the bottom of the eighth. He got two quick groundouts, but Bryan De La Cruz hit a ground-rule double to give the Phillies another runner in scoring position. Uribe struck out Realmuto to strand him there, keeping it a 4-1 game.

Max Lazar pitched the top of the ninth for the Phillies. Contreras gave the Brewers a lead runner when he reached first after Bohm threw wide and completely missed Lazar. That was all the Brewers could muster, as Bauers struck out and Ortiz grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Going for his 30th save, Trevor Megill took the ninth. He didn’t face any trouble, pitching a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout of Turner to end it. He secured the save and the Brewers’ 99th win.

The Phillies had their scoring chances, but the Brewers did not break. The Phillies had six hits — three of them doubles — along with four walks and a hit batter. However, the Brewers’ pitching staff stranded almost all of them. The Phillies went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.

Meanwhile, the Brewers had six hits and one walk, but made their chances count. Solo home runs from Turang and Yelich put them on the board, and Contreras gave them some insurance with his two-run single. Turang was the lone batter on base twice tonight, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

With the win, the Brewers are now one win away from their first 100-win season in franchise history. They also lower their magic number for the top seed in the National League and best record in baseball to three, pending tonight’s Padres-Dodgers game.

They will go for the series win tomorrow night. The Phillies will send out Andrew Painter. Meanwhile, the Brewers have yet to announce a starter, but Bryse Wilson is reportedly a possibility. First pitch is a little earlier at 5:05 p.m.

The offense was already in post-season form as the Philadelphia Phillies (87-71) were stifled by the Milwaukee Brewers (99-59) on Wednesday night in the middle stanza of their penultimate series of the regular season.

Aaron Nola was responsible for all four of the Brewers’ runs, surrendering solo home runs to Brice Turang and Christian Yelich in the first and second innings and a two-run single to William Contreras in the third.

Brice Turang has his first career 20-HR season!

His 5.3 fWAR leads all primary second basemen 🍻 pic.twitter.com/zMgfiZ4VZD

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) September 23, 2026

Christian Yelich goes yard 💪 pic.twitter.com/7nJwFUvSc8

— MLB (@MLB) September 23, 2026

Big-time answer from Wild Bill pic.twitter.com/NZuy319MEQ

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 23, 2026

The Phillies loaded the bases with no outs against Brewers’ starter, Logan Henderson, in the bottom of the second but came away with just one run on a ground out by JT Realmuto.

11 Phillies reached base on six hits, four walks and a hit-by-pitch against Kyle Schwarber but were 0-12 with runners in scoring position, their worst mark of the season.

Though he accounted for the lone RBI, Realmuto is mired in the worst hitless streak of his career, which reached 26 at-bats.

The magic number remains at two but could be down to one tomorrow pending tonight’s results in Colorado and Los Angeles.

Milwaukee is slated to throw a bullpen game tomorrow in pursuit of their first ever 100 win season as the Phils turn to Andrew Painter to win the series and potentially punch their ticket to the playoffs.