The Yankees blew a late lead and chance to sweep the lowly Chicago White Sox, who scored three unanswered runs in the second half of Sunday's 3-2 final at Rate Field.

Takeaways

1. RHPLuis Gil's August ends with a solid outing but disappointing finish. He threw 98 pitches (63 strikes), yielded two runs on four hits, struck out seven and walked two in 5.1 IP. Gil's sixth-inning solo home run allowed to Colson Montgomery was costly, though, squandering New York's 2-1 lead with one out in the sixth inning and leaving the bullpen to sort through the final few frames. In six starts this month as he made his season debut and return from injury, Gil went 2-1 with a 3.75 ERA and 1.60 WHIP over 24 innings -- a welcome sign for the Yankees (76-61), but Sunday's finish should leave a sour taste into September.
2. CaptainAaron Judge's second home run in as many days, a first-inning solo shot that put New York on the board, ties him with legendary catcher Yogi Berra among all-time Yankees at 358 career home runs. Judge's 3-for-5 afternoon, which included his third-inning double and fifth-inning single, sees him slashing .324/.443/.674 with 43 home runs and 97 RBI in 127 games this season. He flew out with one out and Trent Grisham on first base in the ninth inning while New York trailed 3-2, which is unfortunate for him, but he otherwise showed up on a day where the Yankees only managed six hits.
3. LHPTim Hill allowing the go-ahead home run, a solo shot by Lenyn Sosa, with two outs in the eighth inning was the turning point for New York's late-game collapse. Hill (2.93 ERA, 1.09 WHIP), who allowed a run on three hits in this past Friday's 10-2 win, is trending the wrong way.
4. The Yankees' win streak snaps at seven games, and the recent victorious trend closed the gap with the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East, but these are ones that New York must have if it wants to play its way out of the wild card. Chicago (49-88) was dead in the water and now the Yankees are three games behind the Blue Jays (79-58) entering a three-game series at the AL West-leading Houston Astros (75-61). New York is 37-37 against teams over .500 this season.

Who's the MVP?

Sosa, who stepped up with the game on the line.

Highlights

ALL RISE!

Aaron Judge ties Yogi Berra for the fifth most home runs in Yankee history 👏 pic.twitter.com/ZpxHQwhwPN

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 31, 2025

Cody Bellinger brings home Aaron Judge 💪 pic.twitter.com/Nh8gSHgTyB

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 31, 2025

What's next

The Yankees have Monday off before they finish the second leg of their seven-game road trip with the Astros. New York LHP Max Fried (14-5, 3.06 ERA) is set to start Tuesday's 8:10 p.m. opener.

The Mets (73-64) fell to the Marlins (65-72) on Sunday afternoon by a score of 5-1, with Miami taking three of the series' four games in New York.

Here are the key takeaways...

-- Kodai Senga has struggled since coming off of the IL in July, and Sunday was much of the same. Senga had a tough time throwing first-pitch strikes, and consistently falling behind hitters ultimately hurt him. Senga allowed a run in the first on some Marlins small ball, and then hung a breaking ball toAgustín Ramírez in the third, as the Marlins catcher lined a bullet two-run homer over the wall in left to put Miami up 3-0.

Miami would tack on additional runs in the fourth and fifth, and Senga's afternoon came to an end after 4.2 innings, as the right-hander allowed five earned runs on seven hits, striking out six and walking two. Senga threw 75 pitches, with just 43 going for strikes.

-- Former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara has had an up-and-down season for the Marlins, but he was back in All-Star form on Sunday, keeping the Mets off the board for his first six innings. Alcantara ended up going seven innings, allowing one earned run on four hits while striking out six and walking one.

-- There was a bit of a fracas in the bottom of the seventh, when Alcantara came inside and hit Mark Vientos with a pitch. Vientos and Alcantara shared some words, and the dugouts and bullpens emptied, but that's as far as things escalated. Both teams were warned after cooler heads prevailed.

-- It wasn't a day to remember for Mets hitters, but Jeff McNeil had a good one at the dish, recording two knocks against Alcantara. One of those was a seventh-inning single where McNeil later scored the Mets' first run of the game on a Cedric Mullins force-out.

All five Mets hits came from the first five in the order (Francisco Lindor,Juan Soto,Brandon Nimmo, and McNeil).

-- Tip of the hat to Brandon Waddell. Called up just before the game, the lefty saved the Mets' bullpen, following Senga by pitching 4.1 scoreless innings of relief. Waddell allowed just three hits, striking out four and walking two.

Game MVP

Alcantara, who stifled the Mets.

Highlights

Kodai Senga strikes out the side in the 2nd! pic.twitter.com/zn2eE9ek75

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 31, 2025

The benches and bullpens cleared after Sandy Alcántara hit Mark Vientos pic.twitter.com/A9JXpeFII3

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 31, 2025

Upcoming schedule

The Mets hit the road for a 10-game road trip, starting with three games in Detroit.

Sean Manaea will face veteran Charlie Morton with Monday's first pitch set for 1:10 p.m. on SNY.

So far, so good for Francisco Alvarez.

The Mets catcher continued his rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday, catching and hitting third in the order. Alvarez played all nine innings behind the plate in a 3-0 win, going 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders did not attempt a stolen base against him.

According to manager Carlos Mendoza, Alvarez, who went 0-for-4 as the DH for Syracuse on Saturday, came out of that game feeling fine and is still moving in the right direction towards a return to the big leagues.

Alvarez will now have the day off on Monday with the rest of the Syracuse team, and then the team will have a decision to make about what comes next.

Could the next step be a return to the big leagues this week?

“At this point, nothing is going to surprise me or all of us in here,” said Mendoza. “It’s pretty remarkable what he’s doing. So, yeah, we’ll see how it goes today. Pretty sure he’s off tomorrow and then we’ll see what the next day is going to look like. But again, having him catch real games and how he’s going to feel afterwards is the biggest test.”

Alvarez has had a string of bad injury luck of late, all involving his hands. After tearing the UCL in his right thumb while sliding into second base earlier this month, Alvarez then broke his pinky finger in his left hand after getting hit by a pitch during his rehab assignment on Wednesday.

As Mendoza said, hitting doesn’t seem to be an issue for Alvarez at this point, but his ability to receive the ball with that fractured left pinky will determine how quickly he can get back in the Mets’ lineup.

Justin Verlander gives Giants vintage performance with gutsy win over Orioles originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – After getting plenty of swing-and-misses from the Baltimore Orioles through the early part of his outing Sunday, Giants starter Justin Verlander opted to pitch more to contact as his afternoon was ending.

With a pitch count that had risen like a good tech stock, Verlander didn’t have much other choice.

“Toward the end there I was really just making pitches and trying to put the ball in play, and still got a lot of foul balls,” Verlander said after throwing 121 pitches over five scoreless innings in a 13-2 win over Baltimore in the final game of San Francisco’s homestand at Oracle Park. “You could definitely tell there was a little hit of fatigue setting in, but overall everything felt fine physically. Just tried to tone things down a little bit and tried to force some contact.”

Verlander looked a lot more like the pitcher with three Cy Young Awards at home rather than the guy whose first Giants season has had more ups and downs than an elevator.

Against the Orioles, Verlander had a day for the record books.

With 10 strikeouts, the 42-year-old became the oldest pitcher in franchise history to reach double-digit K’s, a title formerly held by Giants great Vida Blue.

Verlander also is the oldest pitcher in MLB to have 10 strikeouts and go five innings or longer since Roger Clemens did it with the Houston Astros in 2005.

The last pitcher in MLB to achieve that milestone was one-time Giant Randy Johnson, who was 18 days away from his 45th birthday when he did it for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008.

Giants manager Bob Melvin didn’t sound surprised at all by what he saw from Verlander.

“In a day when you feel like you’re penalizing somebody if they throw 100 pitches, to throw 120 in five innings … he didn’t want to hear anything about coming out,” Melvin said. “Here we are knocking on the door in September, and to do it like he’s doing it now, and throw that many pitches, it’s hard work. There’s a competitiveness to him that very few have.”

That same competitiveness probably is why Verlander didn’t make a big deal about his day.

The high pitch count and short outing was a bigger concern.

“It’s hard for me. The old school in me is like, ‘It was only five innings,’ ” Verlander said. “I’m not sure I’ll go home and say that was a great start.”

It might not have been great, but it definitely was vintage Verlander for much of the afternoon.

He gave up just three hits, pitched out of jams in the first two innings and overcame four walks. His fastball clocked in faster than it has been in recent games, and he generated a season-high 23 swing-and-misses out of the Orioles’ lineup.

It’s the first time this season that Verlander has won back-to-back starts, and it certainly sparked renewed belief from Giants fans.

San Francisco already has a solid one-two punch atop the rotation with Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. Verlander now is firmly locked in as the No. 3 starter, which could give teams all kinds of problems if the Giants make it to the MLB playoffs.

Beyond the boxscores, Verlander’s season has been a good example for some of the Giants’ other pitchers.

Despite an arsenal of accolades that surely will land him in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Verlander suffered through some rough times earlier in this season but stayed committed to what he knew.

He didn’t flip out when things got tough and stuck to his process of trying to improve.

“It’s inspiring,” Carson Seymour toldNBC Sports Bay Area. “The best players, especially Justin, they’re always working on something, always trying to get better. That’s why he’s had the career he’s had.”

Verlander had to change things up to get this win. Normally heavily reliant on his fastball, the veteran pitcher went to his off-speed and breaking pitches to dazzle Baltimore’s hitters.

Even then, his pitch count kept steadily rising.

“They really battled [and had] a lot of foul balls,” Verlander said. “I’d rather not throw 120 in five innings. I’d rather it be seven, eight or nine.”

On Sunday, it didn’t really matter. It was the type of game that Verlander and all Giants fans have been hoping for since the day he signed with the team.

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Walker Buehler signing highlights busy Sunday of transactions for Phillies originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies signed veteran right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler to a minor league contract.

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced the move prior to Sunday night’s game against the Braves.

The plan is for Buehler to start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley next Saturday before starting for the Phillies on September 12 against the Royals, at which point the Phillies will go to a six-man rotation.

The Phillies had planned to go to a six-man rotation in mid-August to give their starters extra rest. But the team abandoned that plan following Zack Wheeler’s season-ending injury.

“We’re very excited to have him,” Dombrowski said of Buehler. “We think he makes us better.”

Dombrowski was asked what specifically he likes about Buehler.

“A lot of things,” he said. “He’s been a very successful major league pitcher, he still has a good arm, has a variety of pitches at this point. This year hasn’t been as good for him as other years but we still like a lot of his stuff. We think we see some things that can hopefully help him.”

The 31-year old Buehler was released by the Red Sox on Friday after posting a 5.45 ERA in 22 starts and one relief appearance this season.

“He’s willing to work with us,” Dombrowski said. “We have a very good pitching coach in Caleb (Cotham). We spent some time on a zoom visit with him going over those things (that he can improve).

“You don’t have to worry about him being concerned about any type of anxiety in pitching in a postseason game if we get to that point.”

Signing Buehler before September 1 means he will be eligible for the postseason roster. He has vast postseason experience, sporting a 3.04 ERA in 19 career postseason games, including 18 starts. He recorded the final out of the 2024 World Series for the Dodgers.

This is a low-risk, potentially high-reward move that will cost the Phillies less than $1 million for the rest of the season.

Buehler signed a one-year deal worth more than $21 million with Boston prior to the 2025 season after spending the first seven years of his career with the Dodgers.

Buehler was one of the best starting pitchers in baseball earlier in his career. He was selected to the National League All-Star team in 2019 and 2021, finishing in the Top 10 of the Cy Young voting each of those seasons.

Phillies announce Tim Mayza signing

It was a busy Sunday for the Phillies front office. The club claimed left-handed reliever Tim Mayza off waivers. To make room for Mayza on the 40-man roster, the Phillies transferred Wheeler to the 60-day injured list.

Mayza will be added to the Phillies active roster on Monday when MLB rosters expand to 28 players.

“In the Mayza case, a couple things happen,” Dombrowski said. “One is that (Jose) Alvarado cannot pitch in the postseason. If (Mayza) pitches as we anticipate, he’s in a position where it could give us three left-handers in the bullpen.”

Mayza would potentially join Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks as the three left-handers in the Phillies’ postseason bullpen.

“In the past we talked about moving one of our starters (to the bullpen in the postseason),” Dombrowski said. “But without having Wheeler, I’m not sure how that’s going to mesh. So we have the potential to use the three left-handed starters (Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez and Jesus Luzardo) in addition to (Aaron Nola) being our big four (in the postseason). That’s all just looking ahead, I don’t what’s going to happen in that regard.”

The 33-year old Mayza posted a 2.89 ERA in seven appearances for the Pirates this season. He went on the injured list in mid-April with a lat strain and has not pitched in the big leagues since.

Mayza had a 1.93 ERA in four rehab appearances before Pittsburgh placed him on waivers Sunday morning.

Mayza has a 3.85 career ERA in eight MLB seasons. He’s an Allentown native who attended Upper Perkomien High School and Millersville University.   

The return of Garrett Stubbs

Dombrowski announced that Garrett Stubbs will also join the Phillies roster on Monday.  The Phillies want to add a third catcher to give Rob Thomson the flexibility to use J.T. Realmuto as a pinch hitter in games that Rafael Marchan starts.

The 32-year old Stubbs hit .265 with eight home runs, 50 RBI and a .754 OPS in 71 games in Triple-A this season.

Stubbs was Realmuto’s backup catcher from 2022 through 2024. He has a .222 batting average with a .628 OPS in 141 career games with the Phillies.