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The Mets and Yankees took the field last night on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. The Bombers ended up getting the better of the Amazins, as Nolan McLean surrendered five runs in five innings en route to a 6-4 loss.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, NY Post, Daily News, North Jersey, MLB.com

The Mets made a swap in their bullpen, with Jack Weisenburger returning to the majors from Syracuse and Chris Devenski getting optioned.

Yesterday brought a lot of reflection on the aftermath of the attacks—including Mike Piazza’s famous home run in the first game back in New York.

Andy Green has educated many of his younger players on the impact of 9/11.

While Brett Baty sat last night following an injury scare with his knee earlier in the week, he was reportedly available off the bench.

Zac Thornton is hoping to play spoiler against the Yankees this weekend.

Around the National League East

The Braves and Phillies began a crucial three-game series last night, and Atlanta won in dramatic fashion by coming back from one-run deficits in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh innings—finally winning on a walk-off double from Drake Baldwin.

As if losing in heartbreaking fashion wasn’t bad enough, the Phillies also announced that Jesús Luzardo is being scratched from his scheduled start today due to left shoulder stiffness.

The Marlins continued their rough stretch with a 6-2 loss to the Dodgers.

The Nationals staged a late-inning comeback to defeat the Angels 4-3 and snap a seven-game losing streak.

Around Major League Baseball

Two teams punched their ticket into the postseason last night, with the Brewers clinching a spot in October for the eighth time in nine years and a walk-off homer securing the Rays’ first trip to the playoffs since 2023.

The Padres won their fifth straight game as they continue to fight for a wild card spot.

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki could keep his job beyond this year despite being on an expiring contract and the Angels being the Angels.

Byron Buxton’s season is over, as the Twins outfielder is undergoing hip surgery.

The Cubs are hoping that Dansby Swanson will return from his oblique injury next week.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Vasilis Drimalitis previewed round two of the 2026 Subway Series.

Joe Sokolowski provided the latest installment of This Week in Mets Quotes.

This Date in Mets History

Shea Stadium may have been the Mets’ stadium, but the New York Jets also called it home, and they played their first game there on this date in 1964.

The Detroit Tigers won their second game in a row for the first time since early August with a 6-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Comerica Park on Friday night. Riley Greene’s 3-for-4 performance fueled the good guys on offense and dodged danger on several occasions for a quality start while earning his 10th win of the 2026 campaign.

On Saturday afternoon, left-hander Andrew Sears will try to make it three in a row while clinching the team’s second straight series win. The 24-year-old put up a fine performance last time out, tossing 5 1/3 frames of one-run ball against the Guardians in Cleveland on four hits and two walks while striking out four and hitting a batter for a no-decision in an eventual 4-3 loss in extras.

For the Rockies, right-hander Tanner Gordon will make his 10th start of the 2026 campaign, having bounced back and forth between a starting and relieving role this summer. Over the 28-year-old’s last four appearances — all starts — he has posted a 3.63 ERA and a 3.96 FIP, but gave up five runs in two of those games and just one run in the other two.

Gordon allowed 18 hits (two home runs) and three walks while striking out 10 across 17 1/3 innings over that stretch, plus a balk. Will the Tigers see the good or bad version of the former sixth-round pick? Find out on Saturday afternoon.

Detroit Tigers (68-79) vs. Colorado Rockies (55-92)

Time (ET): 1:10 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:Purple Row
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 148: LHP Andrew Sears (0-1, 4.38 ERA) vs. RHP Tanner Gordon (1-4, 5.40 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Sears	3	12.1	15.7	5.9	25.6	3.83	0.2
Gordon	21	93.1	18.7	4.2	34.6	4.45	0.7

SEARS

GORDON

Once the Red Sox lost the final game of the four game set at Yankee Stadium in late August, the team found themselves in a strange state of affairs. Four games behind the Yankees (five if you include the tiebreaker), they pivoted to getting healthy for October. The team is without six significant players who should be available for the postseason: Willson Contreras, Ceddanne Rafaela, Curtis Mead, Tyron Guerrero, Justin Slaten, and Garrett Crochet.

In the meantime, all of September feels like a second Spring Training. Losing two of three against the Mariners and Angels, and the first game against the Royals, all of which are at home, feels a bit anticlimactic after witnessing separate win streaks of fifteen and nine games in the months of July and August. And yet there is no concern of losing out on a playoff spot as Boston is seven games clear of Toronto (the first team out of the playoffs), and five games ahead of Cleveland for the second Wild Card spot. At the end of the day, we are somehow still 17 days away from the next relevant baseball game for the Boston Red Sox.

So, how concerned are you about these performances at home over the past two weeks? Is it a case of prioritizing health, or are you seeing any bad habits from the hideous first half of the season starting to creep in? Discuss in the comments, and be good to each other.

If you missed last game, where were you? Let’s fast forward to the bottom of the eleventh in a tie game with two outs, with Ozzie Albies on second base and Ha-Seong Kim at the plate.

Kim has come alive in September to help push the Braves over the line. Let’s look at this again. First of all, this is a pretty standard 106.3 MPH off the bat for a .670 xBA in left field. Pretty standard for most people not named Kim, however. Second of all, Ozzie’s helmet didn’t come off. That feels like a party foul, but I’ll allow it.

But have a look at this. Hang it in the Louvre already.

So much going on here. You have Kim with the smooth finish. You have tense moments in the crowd.

Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on here.

We have neutrals making scouting reports and taking it all in.

Kim? Hit the ball?

How good does that feel? After the last six months? My. Word.

Then you have the winning hit to bring Kim home.

This is your standard 101.2 MPH off the bat and .490 xBA for a double. Only not so standard for a week period for Drake Baldwin, I guess. He went from August 30th to September 6th without a pulled fly ball or line drive. They’re starting to come back now, even after reaching across the plate to reach this one.

Bullpen is waving them home before this double lands.

All right, the batting helmet is off five steps after hitting second base. This is just good technique. 11/10 no notes.

And the hair is flying. This is what you want to see.

Get down lol jk.

Come at me with that bubble gum.

Wait, where’s Kim?

There we go.

Y’all, we’re almost home. This feels like the Braves are right there and able to put this to bed by the middle of September. Almost there. And Ha-Seong Kim is just getting started.

Walt Weiss on Ha-Seong Kim: “All the stuff he’s been through, then you fast forward into later in the season and he has two of the biggest hits of our season. You love when guys persevere and the game rewards them for it.”

— Gabe Burns (@GabeBurnsAJC) September 12, 2026

In these next few weeks, as the season winds down and playoff teams are put into their proper place in the bracket, a lot of words will be spoken about home field advantage. Our own John Stolnis will be talking about this in a little bit and you have probably already seen some things pop up regarding the Phillies and holding the advantage once their playoff season begins.

The question is: do you really even care about it?

Does home field advantage really matter to you as much as it may matter to others? The players probably prefer to have it, but the Phillies haven’t exactly set the world on fire when playing in Citizens Bank Park of late in October. There are probably a bunch of reasons for this, so maybe having the ability to bat last in a game isn’t truly that big a deal.

Maybe it is, I don’t know, but what do you think about it?

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 5, Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) 3

The Tides used a late comeback to win this one, tying the game in the eighth on a Bryan Ramos RBI single and then scoring two in the top of the ninth on a Creed Willems sac fly and Payton Eeles single. Nearly every Tides hitter contributed to the victory, led by Enrique Bradfield Jr. atop the order, who had two hits, stole a base, and scored two runs. Jud Fabian homered for the third time in the last two days. The Tides’ lineup was facing Cardinals prospect Jurrangelo Cjintje, who was drafted as a switch-pitcher but now appears to be exclusively right-handed.

Cade Povich turned in a quality start for the Tides — six innings, three runs — and the bullpen followed with three scoreless frames. The 27-year-old righty Jake Dykhoff was summoned all the way from High-A Frederick to Norfolk, and he responded by throwing two scoreless innings in his Triple-A debut. Left-hander Andrew Magno worked around two walks in the ninth to notch his 10th save.

Box score

Double-A: Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants) 1, Chesapeake Baysox 0

As usual, a Baysox starting pitcher turned in a stellar performance. Right-hander JT Quinn twirled five scoreless innings in his final start of the year, allowing six baserunners and striking out three. He finished the season with a 1.96 ERA in five starts for the Baysox after a 3.75 mark in 20 starts at High-A.

Unfortunately, Quinn’s effort went criminally unsupported by the Baysox offense, which managed only four hits (all singles) against three Richmond pitchers. Wehiwa Aloy had one of them. Vance Honeycutt went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Left-hander Jacob Bresnahan, the Giants’ #9 prospect, worked seven shutout frames. The game’s only run came on a solo homer by Gavin Kilen, the Giants’ #6 prospect, off Baysox reliever Brandon Downer in the sixth.

Box score

High-A: Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pirates) 7, Frederick Keys 5

Sadly, the Keys’ playoff run has come to an end. After winning Game 1 of the best-of-three North Division Series, Frederick dropped the last two, including a heartbreaker in this win-or-go-home finale. The Keys carried a 5-4 lead into the top of the seventh before Greensboro rallied for three runs against relievers Twine Palmer and Braeden Sloan. The Frederick offense couldn’t respond in the final three frames, and the Keys’ magical season is over.

Jaiden Lo Re contributed a pair of hits in the game, and Andrés Nolaya powered a pinch-hit homer. Ty Head went 0-for-2 but drove in a run on a squeeze bunt. Enddy Azocar took an 0-for-4. Starter Christian Rodriguez gave up four runs (two earned) in 3.1 innings, giving up two home runs to Pirates #5 prospect Wyatt Sanford.

Box score

Saturday’s scheduled games:

• Norfolk: at Memphis, 7:05 PM. Starter: Trey Gibson (3-6, 4.04)
• Chesapeake: at Richmond, 7:05 PM. Starter: Patrick Reilly (0-2, 3.97)

The Palestinian flag-waving idiot who sprinted onto the field at Yankee Stadium during the 9/11 25th Anniversary game after posting an unhinged rant about the terrorist attack is a self-described “revisionist-Marxist,” according to his OnlyFans page.

Kelly Marcucci, of Long Island, is facing misdemeanor charges for interference with a professional sporting event and trespassing, according to the NYPD.

Marcucci, 38, allegedly jumped from the stands onto the baseball field, cops said.

He charged the field in the seventh inning of the Yankees-Mets Subway Series game in The Bronx on Friday at exactly 9:11 p.m. — before quickly getting tackled in centerfield by security, video showed.

Fans immediately broke out into chants of “USA!” when the man was brought down onto the grass.

Just hours before the stunt, around 4:30 p.m., Marcucci posted an unhinged, rambling rant on Facebook.

He went off on a nonsensical tirade about capitalism, Zionism, Saudi Arabia and 9/11, mentioning a string of high-profile people including President Trump and Joe Rogan.

Marcucci also posted a brief video of himself at the baseball game before he allegedly stormed the field, showing off his personalized “K. Marcucci” jersey from the stands. 

The front of the shirt reads “No Kings,” a widespread anti-Trump sentiment. 

Marcucci is a self-described journalist and “spiritual tactician” who graduated from Stony Brook University, according to his social media accounts.  

His Instagram is flooded with bonkers conspiracy theories, posts about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and reposts of videos of political commentators such as Candace Owens. 

In one absurd post, Marcucci appeared to spiritually analyze Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani ahead of the 2025 mayoral election. 

“It’s not just about left vs right. It’s not just about two candidates. It’s about what kind of energy is being installed over New York City,” he wrote in his bizarre caption. 

His Instagram account also links to an inactive OnlyFans profile, where Marcucci claimed to have made the page “as a joke.” 

“Politically, I identify as a revisionist-Marxist, and the core values of this expression are very important to me,” the bio reads.

Marcucci and representatives for the Mets and Yankees did not immediately return requests for comment.

The Yankees went on to beat the Mets 6-4 during Friday night’s Subway Series matchup. 

Married couple Brielle Saracini and Sean McGuire, who both lost their fathers on 9/11, threw the ceremonial first pitches. 

The jersey-wearing pair met at a camp for children whose parents were killed in the attacks. 

Saracini shares a special bond with Yankees legend Derek Jeter, who was also at the game. After her father, Victor Saracini, a pilot of one of the hijacked flights, was killed, she wrote a letter to Jeter. 

Jeter invited the then-10-year-old to the stadium to meet the team and feel a sense of normalcy amid the devastation.

“When we invited her to the stadium, you really don’t know what to say,” Jeter said during a news conference.

“So I don’t even know if I said ‘I’m sorry’ or anything like that. I just tried to make her day feel special…and you just try to make her feel as comfortable as you possibly can.”

The Yankees kicked off the Subway Series with a win, scoring six on the Mets and managing to hold on despite the anomaly that was Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick both struggling on the same night. David Bednar came in for the five-out save and got the job done, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the eighth before getting a game-ending double-play out of Juan Soto in the ninth. While they were handling business in the Bronx, they were also scoreboard watching with several key games going on simultaneously — so let’s see what the result of those out of town scores were.

Tampa Bay Rays (88-59) 3, Houston Astros (75-73) 1

The Rays looked like they could’ve slipped up and lost this game ceding some ground to New York, but they came around to walk it off instead. Houston had their chances against Drew Rasmussen, scattering eight hits against the Rays’ ace, but the only run they managed to score came in the fourth inning when Isaac Paredes doubled with one out and Daulton Varsho singled to put runners on the corners. Yainer Diaz hit a ball hard to second base, and while Ritchie Palacios made a fantastic play on the ball flipping it to the shortstop quickly enough for the force out keeping the potential double play alive, Diaz managed to beat the throw letting the run count. However, several other innings were cut short by double plays that did get converted, and the Rays tied the game back up in the fifth when Victor Mesa Jr. launched a home run to lead off the inning.

Things stayed quiet until the bottom of the ninth, when the Rays got the winning run aboard on an Aranda double before Junior Caminero stepped up to the plate. Bryan Abreu chose to start him off with a fastball up in the zone and Caminero made him pay, ripping a walk-off two-run shot to left.

The win not only kept the Rays three games ahead of the Yankees in the standings, but it clinched a playoff spot for Tampa Bay — the first team to secure a spot in the 2026 Postseason. The Brewers would join them a little later in the night with a blowout win on their part, but the Rays are, for now, the only American League team holding a ticket to the dance.

Other Games

Boston Red Sox (80-68) 2, Kansas City Royals (66-82) 3: The Yankees did gain some ground on Friday, as the Red Sox fell behind early to Kansas City and couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole. Carter Jensen led off the game against Sonny Gray with a double and later scored on a Salvador Perez single to left, and then the Royals added to their lead in the third as Isaac Collins and Jensen hit back-to-back doubles followed by a Vinnie Pasquantino RBI single. Mickey Gasper got Boston on the scoreboard in the fifth with a solo shot, and after Adley Rutschman walked Wilyer Abreu doubled him in to cut the lead to 3-2. The Sox struck out from there though, and Boston would get just one hit the rest of the way stranding a Trevor Story double in the eighth.

Chicago White Sox (75-72) 3, St. Louis Cardinals (73-75) 7: The White Sox are squandering their advantage in the Central, losing their fourth straight game. The Cardinals scored a run in each of the first three innings, but they delivered the knockout punch in the fifth as Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, Joshua Báez, and Leo Bernal chained consecutive hits to drive in three runs. The Cardinal bullpen dealt with some traffic on the basepaths but managed to limit Chicago to just one run in the final 4.2 innings. Chase Meidroth showed up for the Southsiders, launching two home runs to briefly keep them within arm’s reach of St. Louis.

AL Wild Card Rock Fight

Cleveland Guardians (75-73) 5, Minnesota Twins (69-78) 2: Chicago’s faltering opens the door for Cleveland, who moved to within a half-game of first place after taking this one against the Twins. The game was tied at two in the ninth when a wild pitch and a two-run double from Brayan Rocchio put them up three in a heartbeat. Cade Smith entered looking for the save and got the job done quickly with a double-play ball to erase a one-out single from Trevor Larnach.

Toronto Blue Jays (73-75) 4, Baltimore Orioles (72-76) 7: The O’s jumped out to a 6-0 lead in this game, scoring five in the second inning with two-run hits from Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers leading the procession. Toronto had a rally in them in the ninth, scoring two runs on a Brett Bateman homer before George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit singles to bring the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately for Toronto this all came with two outs, and when Baltimore went back to their ‘pen summoning Rico Garcia to pitch he managed to get Alejandro Kirk to ground out to end it.

Texas Rangers (72-76) 1, Arizona Diamondbacks (79-69) 9: Two innings were all Arizona needed to put up a nine-spot on Texas in a rematch of the 2023 World Series. A trio of doubles in the fifth led to four runs scoring for the Diamondbacks, followed by Corbin Carroll and Nolan Arenado launching back-to-back homers in the sixth to drive the dagger home. Justin Martinez had the highlight of the night for the pitching staff, tossing an immaculate inning in the top of the sixth shutting the door on any potential response from Texas after Arizona took the lead.

The Mets and Yankees continue the Bronx-half of the Subway Series on Saturday at 1:35 p.m. on SNY.

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Mets Notes

• A.J. Ewing is hitting .316 with a .355 OBP and .829 OPS over his last 15 games
• Zac Thornton has pitched to a 3.53 ERA and 1.19 WHIP during his rookie campaign
• Thornton is looking to rebound after allowing six earned runs against the Giants his last time out
• Gerrit Cole has a 3.41 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 19 starts since returning from the IL

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Today's Lineups

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Somehow, some way, the Guardians find themselves a half game out of first in the AL Central.

The Guardians won 5-2 over the Twins last night as covered here by Jakhob. Today they will do a bullpen game with Daniel Espino opening and Joey Cantillo and Slade Cecconi pitching at some point. The Twins will open with Connor Prielipp and use Bailey Ober as their length guy. Then, tomorrow is Tanner Bibee vs. Joe Ryan who will be on a pitch limit. The Guardians would actually have to sweep this series to take the season series from the Twins. How is this team still in position to win a division and even get a first round bye, again??

They need to go get someone from Triple-A to take at-bats from Jo Adell vs. RHP. It’s not working but I also understand he’s currently the best option Vogt has on the roster.

The Guardians also have a two-game lead for the third AL Wildcard. What a pathetic American League this year.

Around MLB:

The White Sox, Astros, Rangers and Blue Jays lost, and the Orioles won.

A.J. Ewing has had to battle through ups and downs during his first big league season, like any rookie would.

The young slugger recently endured a dreadful two-month slump at the plate that saw him uncharacteristically expanding the zone, leading to an uptick in strikeouts. 

As he’s done throughout this terrific campaign, though, Ewing appears to have found his way out the other side.   

He has been spectacular for the Mets thus far during the final month of the season, and that continued in Friday night’s Subway Series opener in the Bronx. 

Like everyone else in orange in blue, the lefty was set down pretty easily by Carlos Rodon, but he was able to break through later in the ballgame against the Yankee bullpen. 

Ewing delivered a big two-out RBI single against former Met Paul Blackburn, keeping a rally going and cutting into the deficit in the top of the seventh. 

He then led off the ninth by jumping all over a first pitch fastball from star closer David Bednar, crushing it high over the bleacher creatures into the second-deck in right.  

The Mets still ended up dropping the opener, 5-3, but it’s been encouraging to see the 22-year-old rounding back into form down the stretch in the regular season. 

Ewing’s blast was his second during his five-game hitting streak, and he’s also added nine RBI during that span. 

Looking further, he’s hitting .316 with a .355 OBP and .829 OPS over his last 15 games.

“I’m just trying to win pitches right now,” Ewing said. “Not trying to do anything more that the plan I have -- that’s the mental side of baseball, it’s difficult to not try to chase results, but just trying to stick to the plan pitch-by-pitch.”