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One of the hottest races in MLB this season is not between teams fighting for a playoff spot but between Aaron Judge and Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh for the AL MVP award.

Both players have had masterful seasons, but the Yankees' win over the Orioles on Friday showed why Judge could win his second consecutive MVP award. The slugger went 1-for-3 with a walk, but his go-ahead two-run shot led to the Yankees' 8-4 win over the Orioles on Friday night. It was a pivotal moment for New York, which is trying to catch the Blue Jays for the AL East crown, after starter Will Warren gave up the team's early lead, Judge gave the lead right back.

Judge's night puts his batting average at an AL-high .330, and he is en route to winning his first batting title. Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked after Friday's win if the feat would surprise him. But in the midst of answering, the longtime skipper made a proclamation about the AL MVP race.

"Nothing Aaron Judge does surprises me; to me, he's the clear-cut MVP," Boone said. "Batting title, feel like he's been on base seven times a day the last week. Whether they don't pitch to him, pitch to him, hitting it out of the ballpark. Made a really good play in right field to open the game, you see his athleticism out there. I don't put anything past 99. He's playing like an all-time great."

While Judge's overall season numbers are extraordinary, he's doing it down the stretch as the team gets ready for a postseason run. He's hitting .374/.543/.802 (34-for-91) with 33 runs, three doubles, 12 home runs (eight in his last 15 games), 18 RBI, 33 walks (seven intentional) and four stolen bases over his last 28 games. 

Overall, Judge has reached base safely in 134 of his 150 games this year, while batting .330/.458/.687 with 135 runs, 30 doubles, two triples, 52 home runs, 111 RBI, 124 walks (36 intentional, a new AL record) and 12 stolen bases.

In comparison, Raleigh has set records for what a catcher can accomplish as a hitter. His 60 home runs are a record for catchers and switch-hitters and are threatening Judge's AL home run record (62). He's also leading a Mariners pitching staff that is one of the best in the league, while captaining the AL West champs.

All while playing good defense and staying available for his team. 

Perhaps, the race will come down to the final two games as the Yankees and Mariners fight for seeding and positioning, and Raleigh and Judge look to pad their stats before the writers make their decision.

The MVP award will be announced sometime in October.

"Nothing Aaron Judge does surprises me, to me he's the clear-cut MVP"

- Aaron Boone pic.twitter.com/HPcWrJMJgM

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) September 27, 2025

It's getting late early for the Mets.

After Friday's 6-2 loss to the Marlins and the Reds' 3-1 win over the Brewers, the Mets are no longer in control of their own destiny for the final NL Wild Card spot. But the team could have given itself a better shot if they didn't implode in the fifth inning of Friday's loss.

Leading 2-0 in the fifth, the Marlins began to get to young starter Brandon Sproat. While the pesky Marlins hit into some luck, dumping balls just inside the foul line and tying the game, the Mets' pitching and defense did not do themselves any favors and let the inning get out of hand. Pete Alonso, after making a nifty stab at a grounder to him, looked back the runner at third for the first out. Jakob Marsee followed by essentially doing the same thing on the drawn-in Alonso, but the first baseman could not pick the ball cleanly, allowing the go-ahead run to score. 

Now, with Gregory Soto in for Sproat and a runner at first with two outs, the southpaw did not account for Agustin Ramirez, who promptly stole second without a throw. Inexplicably, Ramirez stole third, but not because Soto didn't check, but Ronny Mauricio -- a defensive replacement for the injured Brett Baty -- did not cover the bag. Instead of getting out of the inning down just one, Ramirez would score on an Xavier Edwards single, then Connor Norby hit the two-run blast to cap off the six-run inning.

"We continue to make those mistakes and it’s costing us games," Mendoza said after the loss. When he was asked why they haven't been cleaned up, considering they are in September, the second-year skipper didn't have an answer.

"That’s a good question," he said. "It’s on me, it’s on all of us. We continue to make the same mistakes and it’s costing us games." 

Mendoza called the steal of third base an "inning-changer," while Alonso wished he had fielded the liner to him cleanly to try and get the runner out at home. 

"If I fielded it cleanly, I would have thrown it home, but I’m happy to get an out there," Alonso said of his misplay. "If you don’t get an out, things could have gone way worse. I wish I could have got the out at home."

But the fifth inning wasn't the only reason the Mets fell to the Marlins. After scoring two first-inning runs off of Sandy Alcantara, the Mets could get nothing on the Marlins' starter or the bullpen. But they had their opportunities.

New York finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. The biggest opportunity they had was in the second, when Francisco Lindor hit a liner with two runners on that looked destined for a double over the head of Troy Johnston, but the Marlins' first baseman snatched it out of the air and stepped on first base to complete the inning-ending double play.

"When you’re facing elite pitching there, whenever you get chances, you have to be able to punch," Mendoza said of the lack of offense. "We had good at-bats in those first four innings, we had our opportunities."

"Sandy’s an ace. And he did what aces do and bunker down and made adjustments," Alonso said. "It’s unfortunate because he did bunker down and we gave up six runs. As a squad, we just have to stay hungry and do whatever we can and lock in. We did a good job early, but we have to find a way to get Sandy out of the game." 

With two games remaining, the Mets will need some help. They are tied for the final spot with the Reds, but Cincinnati holds the tiebreaker. The Mets will need to win one more game than the Reds over these final two games to make it back to the postseason.

"We put ourselves in this position," Mendoza said. "Here we are, we got to come back tomorrow and the next day. We have to win the next two and see what happens. We did it to ourselves." 

Alonso said the team is playing with a "high sense of urgency," and while it's unfortunate they lost on Friday, he knows they have to put it in the past and think about winning on Saturday. When asked if the reality of potentially missing the postseason has sunk in yet, the Mets' slugger dismissed the notion.

"Good thing it’s not over yet," he said. "We’ll figure that out later on. Hopefully, we can win tomorrow and not face that reality. For now, we just got to do what we can to win tomorrow."

The Mets will look to Clay Holmes to keep the Marlins down and their season alive when they play on Saturday afternoon.

There was no way of knowing how Brandon Sproat would handle high-stakes pressure and responsibility with the Mets' postseason hopes hanging in the balance. But what the rookie right-hander offered in the opener of a season-altering series didn't lower the panic meter.

With sole possession of the NL's third wild-card spot on the line, Sproat found himself in the midst of growing frustrations on Friday night, as he couldn't complete his second turn through the Marlins' lineup in the Mets' lifeless 6-2 loss at LoanDepot Park. The letdown dropped them to 82-78 and into a tie with the Reds, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

"We've put ourselves in this position," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "Here we are, we've got to come back tomorrow and the next day now. We've got to win the next two now and see what happens. But we did it to ourselves."

The disheartening outing from Sproat didn't start on a sour note. He cruised through the first four innings with a 2-0 lead, and while he plunked two and walked one before giving up his first hit in the fourth, there weren't any warning signs of a meltdown. But the Mets' fears were soon realized.

Sproat fell apart in the fifth, allowing back-to-back singles and then a disastrous game-tying triple. He shook off the brutal sequence by inducing a pair of groundouts, but a two-out single knocked him out of the game, and then Gregory Soto threw gasoline onto the fire by allowing an additional three runs.

"The fastball had been working all night. That inning, they just found a couple barrels," Sproat said. "It's kind of something you learn from... You've got to be present every single inning. I was still present there. They put a couple of hits together, and it didn't go my way. That's baseball, that's the game."

In a critical game, Sproat fell short of a quality appearance. He struck out a season-low two across 4.2 innings (61 pitches), and with four runs charged to his ledger, he wrapped up his first September in the majors with a 4.79 ERA and 1.21 WHIP over four appearances (20.2 innings).

Sproat fell victim to some hard contact, and shoddy defense from his teammates contributed to the fifth-inning implosion. But the Mets needed length and efficiency from the youngster -- even if the request seemed unfair to someone with little big league experience.

The Mets will enter Saturday in must-win mode -- another loss and a Reds win would seal fates and knock them out of playoff contention.