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Brice Turang is charging hard toward 100 RBIs on the season and he doesn’t appear ready to take no for an answer as he helped lift the Brewers to their 102nd win of the regular season.

Dustin May was making his final start of the regular season and his final opportunity to show the Brewers that he’ll be a trustworthy arm for them in October. He started off well in the first inning, getting a pair of strikeouts while touching 99 MPH. Then it slowly turned to a struggle from there.

In the 2nd inning, he gave up a pair of singles and a walk, which led to a run and a 1-0 Cardinals lead. The Cardinals would tack on one more against May in the 3rd inning when Alec Burleson lifted a mammoth home run that was 111 MPH off the bat. That made it a 2-0 Cardinals lead.

The Brewers would answer in the bottom half of the 3rd inning. Brandon Lockridge in his first AB back, taking the roster spot of Andrew Vaughn who was placed on the IL with an illness, ripped a ringing double to right. David Hamilton dropped down a bunt that got him to third and then Lockridge came around to score on Jackson Chourio’s single.

That still wasn’t going to be enough to keep May back out there as his night was done after just three innings. He did strike out five, but made a couple of mistakes as well.

Pat Murphy turned the ball over to Kyle Harrison after that, another pitcher who is pitching for his chance to be trusted in the postseason. Harrison’s outing went much better. He covered two innings, striking out four and the only baserunner he allowed was a hit by pitch. The fastball velocity was good and the vertical break on his fastball was much better, around his usual season average. Murphy said on Friday he was seeing signs that Harrison was improving but needed to see the results match.

On Saturday night, the results matched for Harrison, which could be a massive development for his confidence and what his role could be going forward.

“Harrison was sharp. He wasn’t thinking, he was just attacking. He was sharp, didn’t matter righty, lefty. The ball had the explosion to it that it had early in the season. His breaking ball was way more convicted. I was impressed.” Pat Murphy said.

Then the Brewers continued to answer at the plate. In the 5th, after Lockridge and Hamilton struck out, Chourio singled and then Brice Turang blasted his 21st homer of the season and brought in his 98th and 99th RBIs.

Turang is still one stolen base shy of a 20-20 season and is now one RBI shy of 100 for the first time in his career.

“Yeah, that’s special. He’s such a baseball kid. He responds so well. That’s the thing that’s most impressive about our group. Brice epitomizes this. He can go through a lull and he doesn’t get too down, he just knows how to respond.” Murphy said.

That gave the Brewers a 3-2 lead, one they would not relinquish.

JoJo Romero, Antonio Senzatela, and Aaron Ashby combined to close out the final four innings in order. The Cardinals did not get a baserunner after that Harrison HBP of Bryan Torres back in the 4th inning.

The Brewers secured their 102nd win of the season, further setting their franchise record. The Cardinals drop to 77-84. There’s just one game left in the regular season. So much is still to be decided in the playoff picture, but the Brewers have everything they control locked up.

Some more good news came out postgame that Joey Ortiz’s MRI came back “all good” and that he doesn’t have a bone bruise. There’s some swelling in the abdomen, but overall nothing concerning popped up. Ortiz will sit out Sunday’s game but is overall fine.

WHAT A GAME!!! WHAT A SEASON!!! The offense has completely bailed out the pitching staff the last couple weeks, and tonight was no different. We got contributions from just about everyone. Multi HR games from both Patrick Bailey and Brayan Rocchio is just a hilariously beautiful way to finish the regular season. We also saw 3 hit games from both Steven Kwan and Travis Bazzana and a HR from Chase DeLauter.

The main difference between this Guardians team and every Guardians playoff team since 2017/2018 is that this team is capable of hitting in the playoffs. This is the most offensive talent they have had in years, albeit most of it young and inexperienced. I’m super happy about the first round BYE and the fact that we only have to beat one of the White Sox or Astros to reach the ALCS, but I am a little worried about rust considering how hot this lineup has been of late.

This has been such an awesome season and it has been so much fun to watch the development of our young players, and I can’t wait to watch how they play in the playoffs.

Well, in their quest to aid major-league history and prevent a sub-.500 team from winning their division, the Texas Rangers knocked the Twins around in a rain-delayed, 6-2 victory on Saturday afternoon. With the Houston Astros just underway, the Rangers improve to 80-81, and give themselves a fighting chance of claiming the West with another win tomorrow afternoon; if they do, they will at least guarantee that their ticket to the playoffs will come on the back of an even record.

For the first time since 2009, the Rangers hit four doubles in the same inning, a four-run second that summed up most of Bailey Ober’s day. Nicky Lopez, Evan Carter, Alejandro Osuna, and Brandon Nimmo each had a two-bagger in the inning, which saw Ober give up four of his six earned runs, and five of his ten hits — all with two outs in the inning and nobody aboard.

It closed the book on Ober for 2026, leaving him with a 7-7 record and 4.47 ERA. He added five strikeouts and one walk to his final marks.

The Twins were not as successful in getting to Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi, who did not make it through five frames after tossing 71 pitches and booking it. Luke Keaschall doubled and scored in the first, but only three other Twins would tag Eovaldi for a hit, and the only other Twins run came after the white-hot Keaschall tripled and scored on a Josh Bell single in the bottom of the eighth.

The book is nearly closed on all the members of the Twins roster, with Dean Kremer scheduled to start Game 162 and finish off this season for good. Minnesota currently sits at 76-85, dead even with the Detroit Tigers; a win and a Tiger loss tomorrow would leave the Twins alone in third place to end the season.

See you tomorrow for one last ride!

STUDS:

RF Luke Keaschall (2-for-3, 2 R, BB, 2B, 3B)

RP Travis Adams (2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 4 K)

DUDS:

SP Bailey Ober (5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, B, 5 K, 2 HR)

1B Royce Lewis (0-for-4, 2 K)

SAN FRANCISCO – Shohei Ohtani will play in the Dodgers’ regular-season finale, but why?

The Dodgers held out Freddie Freeman and limited Blake Snell to four innings in a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. They can give Ohtani a break on Sunday.

Four games into his return from a 15-day stay on the injured list, and Ohtani already doesn’t look right.

He is 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in two games at Oracle Park this weekend, the solitary hit being a ground-ball single on Saturday that went under the glove of Giants infielder Brett Harris, who could have been charged with an error on the play.

In his most recent game, Ohtani didn’t even swing the bat when he was on deck.

Is his right arm hurting again?

The Dodgers won’t acknowledge it, but Ohtani’s decline in form has to be a major concern for the organization, which not only has to figure out how to keep him healthy enough to withstand multiple rounds of the playoffs but also what it will do if he isn’t. 

Josue De Paula should remain on standby.

Ohtani still figures to be the designated hitter for the Dodgers in the National League Division Series, which will start on Oct. 3. As demonstrated by the caution exercised by the San Diego Padres when pitching to him earlier in the week, his presence alone is valuable.

But if the Dodgers advance to the next round, what happens then, especially if Ohtani continues to play the way he has in San Francisco?

He’s followed two promising games at Dodger Stadium with two games in which he’s once again looking like he did when he was in a crippling slump leading up to his IL stint.

For what it’s worth, manager Dave Roberts said he didn’t think any of this was health-related.

“I don’t see any wincing,” Roberts said.

Roberts blamed Ohtani’s approach.

“I thought there was just more chase today,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if he’s trying to get hits, find his swing, getting a little overanxious.”

Roberts also wondered aloud if Ohtani could be rusty after spending more than two weeks on the IL.

He is right on the point that Ohtani isn’t seeing the ball well.

In his second at-bat on Saturday, Ohtani challenged a first-pitch strike call.

The Automated Ball-Strike System confirmed what home plate umpire Nick Mahrley saw, which is that Matt Wilkinson’s changeup was comfortably a strike.

Ohtani is in the situation he is now because the Dodgers wanted to believe that he wasn’t as hurt as he looked. By listening to him instead of believing their eyes, they let him push his body to a point of no return.

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Their task now will be to salvage whatever can be salvaged of Ohtani.

In the five days the Dodgers have between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs, Roberts said preserving his health will be prioritized over improving his swing.

“Just manage his workload,” Roberts said. “I know Shohei is good about managing his work. He’s not going to overswing. He’s very well aware of what it’s going to take. I’m not too concerned about that.”

The Dodgers can win a World Series without Ohtani being the version of himself who homered 50-plus times in each of the last two seasons.

Mookie Betts has continued to produce. Andy Pages has looked dangerous since his return from the IL. Teoscar Hernandez and Kyle Tucker have shown signs of life. Kiké Hernández could be gearing up for another heroic postseason run, as his ninth-inning home run accounted for the winning run on Saturday.

In the two games Ohtani played earlier in the week at Dodger Stadium, his home-run strength looked more like warning-track power, but he reached base four times in 10 appearances.

Roberts said he would take that.

“All day long,” he said.

Roberts said before the Giants series, “I’ll take this version of Shohei all the way through October and on every result.”

If the Dodgers aren’t careful, they won’t even have that.

Emmet Sheehan is on the mound as the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets play the Rochester Red Wings for the Triple-A championship game.

Triple-A championship game info

• Teams: Oklahoma City (Dodgers) vs. Rochester (Nationals)
• Ballpark: Las Vegas Ballpark
• Start time: 7:05 p.m. PT
• TV: MLB Network
• Radio: 1340 The Game (OKC broadcast)

Things started off so well for the Royals, but one error led to a disaster second inning, and the Royals could never recover. They ultimately fell to the 2026 AL Central Division Champion Cleveland Guardians by a score of 11-5.

Michael Wacha faced only three in the first inning, and the offense went to work against Tanner Bibee in the bottom of the inning. Carter Jensen smoked another double leading off, then Bobby Witt Jr. singled to right. Carter had to hold at third, but scored one pitch later when Bobby stole second, and the throw went into center field. Jac Caglianone ripped a double down the first base line to score Bobby. Jac himself would score a few batters later when Michael Massey hit a single into right.

In the top of the second, Jo Adell hit a routine grounder to Bobby, but the Platinum Glove winner booted it. You can’t blame that on Wacha, but even though all four runs that would eventually score in the inning were ruled unearned, Wacha was giving up some loud contact. Travis Bazzana smoked a double to right center, and Nathaniel Lowe got a well-struck sacrifice fly. Wacha got Angel Martínez to foul pop out, and you began to think he might escape the inning. Then Patrick Bailey bounced a home run off the base of the right field foul pole to tie the game. That would have been bad enough, but Brayan Rocchio doubled, and Steven Kwan tripled to give the Guardians a lead they would never relinquish.

Wacha gave up a lead-off home run to Chase DeLauter in the third. He gave up a final run in the sixth. Quatraro sent him out for the seventh so he could call him off the field after a single out for another ovation. Anthony Gose finally gave up his first run of the season. The first charged to him, anyway, when Rocchio homered to left.

The Royals added a pair in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a Bobby double, a Jac double, and a Vinnie single. Patrick Bailey and Brayan Rocchio got the runs right back in the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back dingers off of Alex Lange. Bailey had 29 career home runs in 463 games prior to tonight. He had never hit two in a game before. At least Rocchio has a history of showing flashes of power, even if he was batting ninth tonight.

Lange and Spencer Bivens combined to give up two more runs. No one cares how, least of all myself. So we’ll leave it at that. It took the two pitchers 50 pitches to escape the top of the ninth.

If I were a Chicago White Sox fan, I think I’d be pretty annoyed at the Royals leaving a clearly gassed Wacha out there – his changeups were hanging all night – instead of making a serious effort to win the game. But such are the vagaries of late September baseball. And it’s not like the bullpen did any better. Plus, Chicago could have beaten the woe-begotten Rockies and forced the division to be decided tomorrow, but they didn’t.

The Royals have one last game to play. They’ve certainly seemed this week like a team that’s more than ready to call it a season, so I don’t think I’ll be sad to see them go. Daniel Lynch IV will get the start for the Royals. The Guardians haven’t announced a starter, but don’t expect them to risk any of their most valuable players in a game that has become meaningless to them. The game, as has become standard on the final day of the season, will start at 2:10 PM Central Time. There are a couple of teams that will start earlier than that, but only because of the nor’easter and the fact that those games don’t really matter, either.

The eve of the season’s end for the St. Louis Cardinals featured a matchup of a potential future rotation staple against the veteran that started the season wearing birds on the bat. Quinn Mathews squared off against former Cardinal Dustin May, but offense would be the real story of Saturday night’s game. Specifically, two swings by the Brewers would be the difference.

After both the Cardinals and Brewers went down 1-2-3 in the 1st inning, it was St. Louis that would score first. Jordan Walker led off the inning with a single and then stole second after Leo Bernal flew out to center. Nolan Gorman walked giving the Cardinals runners on first and second, but Bryan Torres struck out. Fortunately, Thomas Saggese came through with a 2-out RBI broken bat single scoring Walker giving St. Louis an early 1-0 lead.

St. Louis would add to their lead in the top of the 3rd inning when Alec Burleson unloaded on a 98 mph four-seam fastball launching it 432 feet into the right-centerfield stands for one of his longest home runs of the year doubling the Cardinals lead to 2-0.

The Milwaukee Brewers would cut into that Cardinals lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning as Brandon Lockridge led off with a double. Hamilton reached laying down a sacrifice bunt advancing Lockridge to third, but would be thrown out by a perfect throw by Leo Bernal. Lockridge would score on the next play when Jackson Chourio hit a ball off of the right field wall that ended up only being a single after Jordan Walker duped him into thinking it was leaving the park, but played the ball off of the wall and fired a strike to second base. That’s all the Brewers would get in the bottom of the third after Bernal successfully challenged a ball four call by the umpire resulting in a strikeout of Contreras. Cardinals lead was 2-1 after 3 innings.

Manager Pat Murphy took Dustin May out of the game after 3 innings and brought in Kyle Harrison in relief. Dustin May’s stat line for the night included just 3 innings surrendering 3 hits, 2 earned runs striking out 5 and walking 1. On the other side of the diamond, Quinn Mathews was cruising along for the Cardinals with a fairly efficient first few innings as he completed the bottom of the 4th inning throwing just 67 pitches. He looked like he’s cruise through 5 innings maintaining the Cardinals lead, but that went south with one swing. Actually, it was two swings. The first was a chopped single that died in the grass in front of home plate that Leo Bernal couldn’t get to quick enough. The second swing was from Brice Turang who blasted an 84 mph slider way over the centerfield wall for a 2-run homer and a 3-2 Brewers lead. Mathews night would end after 5 innings as he gave up 3 earned runs on 5 hits while striking out 7 and walking just 1.

The ghosts of Cardinals pitchers past would happen again in the top of the 6th inning when the Brewers sent JoJo Romero to the mound. He struck out Burleson, Walker and Bernal because of course he did.

The Cardinals bullpen would take over in the bottom of the 6th inning starting with Gordon Graceffo. Unofficially entering the game in the bottom of the 6th inning would be sloppy St. Louis defense. William Contreras led off the inning with a single to right followed by a flyout to deep center from Christian Yelich. After Graceffo struck out Lara, Pratt hit a double to center that should not have been a double. Nathan Church threw the ball errantly over second which was fortunately backed up by Bernal, but it gave Milwaukee runners and second and third threatening to break the game open similar to how the late innings got away from the Cardinals bullpen Friday night. Gordon Graceffo rose to the occasion to make sure that didn’t happen as he struck out Mitchell to end the Brewers 6th and keep St. Louis within a run going into the 7th inning. Graceffo would also tough his way through the bottom of the 7th before Cade Winquest was brought in to deal with the Brewers in the bottom of the 8th and he managed to escape with no runs scored despite two runners on and some additional sloppy defense behind him.

Would the Cardinals offense mount a rally late in the game? Well, they went down in order in the top of the 6th, 7th and 8th so there would have to be a 9th inning hero if St. Louis was going to be victorious. It would be up to the heart of the Cardinals order: Burleson, Walker and Bernal. They would have to manufacture a run or runs off of Brewers reliever Ashby. Alec started the inning by gently grounding out to first. Walker grounded out to second for the second out. Leo Bernal quickly fell behind 0-2 in the count as Ashby had him fishing for sinkers on the outside corner. He eventually struck out to end the game.

The St. Louis Cardinals will wrap up their season Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee as Andre Pallante will face one of the NL’s most formidable pitchers, Jacob Misiorowski of the Brewers. First pitch is scheduled for 2:10pm central time at American Family Field and the final game broadcast of the year will be available via Cardinals.tv.

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (79-81) will continue their final road trip of the regular season with the third game of a four-game series against the Athletics (64-96) at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, CA.

RHP Hayden Wesneski (5-2, 3.50 ERA) will be on the mound for the Astros, opposite RHP Jack Perkins (3-12, 5.90 ERA) and the Athletics.

BIG WES: Tonight will be the 11th Major League start of the season for RHP Hayden Wesneski, who rejoined the Astros rotation on July 29 after missing 14 months while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Since his return, he’s been one of the Astros best starters, leading the club in wins (5) and ranking second in innings (54.0), while pitching through the 5th inning in eight of his 10 starts.

THE POSTSEASON CHASE: The Astros and Rangers are locked in a tight race down the stretch for the AL West with the two teams having the same record with two games left to play. The Astros own the tiebreaker over the Rangers with a season series victory (9-4 record).

CLINCH SCENARIO: The Astros can clinch the AL West division tonight with a win against the Athletics and the Rangers losing to the Twins.

VS. THE ATHLETICS: This is the final series between the Astros and Athletics this season, with the two clubs last seeing each other from Aug. 21-23 at Daikin Park.. The Astros have gone 5-6 vs. the Athletics this season. The Astros also own an overall regular season record of 125-112 against the Athletics, including a 60-61 record on the road.

ROAD WARRIORS: Tonight is the fourth game of a six-game road trip for the Astros. Since going 1-9 on the first road trip of the 2026 season, the Astros have gone 39-30 (.565) on the road since April 14, which ranks third in the AL in that span, behind the Red Sox (43-28) and the Yankees (42-30).

LAST NIGHT’S GAME: The Astros were defeated by the Athletics, 5-6, last night at Sutter Health Park. RHP Hunter Brown allowed two runs (one earned run) on two hits and four walks with four strikeouts in 5.1 innings. CYainer Diaz (2×4, 2B, RBI), 1B Christian Walker (1×3, HR, RBI) and RF Cam Smith (1×3, HR, RBI) each drove in a run for the Astros.

GOIN’ DEEP: The Astros have hit 220 homers as a team this year and have hit 200-plus homers in a single season for the 10th time in franchise history (last, 222 HR in 2023). The Astros rank second in the AL in home runs this season behind only the Yankees (223).

TWO-OUT MAGIC: The Astros lead the American League in two-out runs with 315 on the season, trailing only the Cubs (332) in the Majors. 3B Isaac Paredes leads this effort, as he holds the Major League lead with 45 two-out RBI, directly ahead of CHC Pete Crow-Armstrong,DET C Dillon Dingler and STL 1B Alec Burleson (44 RBI).

THE CASE FOR THE MVP: DH Yordan Alvarez is a solid candidate for the AL MVP Award. Alvarez leads the American League in OPS (1.037), slugging percentage (.599), OBP (.433), batting average (.315), total bases (334), walks (109), IBB (33), wRC+ (180), OPS+ (.190) and extra-base hits (75). He also ranks tied for second in home runs (41), second in RBI (102), second in hits (176),tied for third in doubles (33) and fourth in runs (102).

TRIFECTA: CF Lucas Spence went 3×4 with three home runs and five RBI on Thurs. night vs. the Athletics. He became the third player in Major League history to hit their first three career home runs in the same game, joining STL OF Joshua Baez (Aug. 15, 2026) and CWS C Seby Zavala (July 31, 2021). Spence is the second rookie in Astros franchise history to record a three-homer game, joining DH Yordan Alvarez (Aug. 10, 2019 at BAL). It was the first three-homer game by an Astro this season (last, IF Jose Altuve on Sept. 5, 2023 vs. TEX).

STRONG SEPTEMBERS: 3B Isaac Paredes has a .979 OPS this month to go along with a team-leading 20 RBI, which ranks tied for third in the AL. C Yainer Diaz is also having a strong September, as he’s hitting .351 (26×74) with four homers, 11 RBI and a .971 OPS in 21 games (18 starts) this month.

RACKING UP K’S: RHP Bryan Abreu has posted 528 career strikeouts, which ranks fourth among relievers in Astros history. He’s closing in on third-place RHP Dave Smith (529), needing only one strikeout to match the Astros reliever from the 1980s. LHP Billy Wagner (694) and RHP Brad Lidge (557) sit atop that all-time list.

THE FIREMAN: LHP Josh Hader has converted 26 consecutive save chances to open his season, which is the Astros record. Should Hader finish the season without a blown save, he would become the seventh pitcher in MLB history to post 26-plus saves without a blown save. The last Major Leaguer to do so was RHP Ken Giles in 2018 (26 SV)

TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY:1986 – RHP Mike Scott clinches the NL West Division title for the Astros in historic fashion by hurling a 2-0, no-hit victory over the Giants in the Dome. Scott, who tallied 13 strikeouts in the win, would go on to win the NL Cy Young Award later that season, finishing with an 18-10 while leading the Majors in both ERA (2.22) and strikeouts (306).

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, September 25, 8:40 p.m. CT

Location: Sutter Heath Park, West Sacramento, CA

TV: SCHN

Radio:  KTRH 740 AM; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

The Texas Rangers scored six runs while the Minnesota Twins scored two runs.

Earlier this month, the Rangers saw their leadoff hitter and most potent bat against right handers go down with a broken wrist. A few days later, their best and most reliable starting pitcher over the second half hit the shelf for the rest of the year. Last night, Texas’ most clutch and consistent hitter broke his wrist as well, ending his season.

Today, on a rain slick Target Field in Minneapolis, creaky veteran Brandon Nimmo slipped or tripped and limped to his position. Substitute infielder Nicky Lopez later spent a half inning trying to work out the kinks from an awkward landing trying to beat out a bunt. He was later lifted.

Jake Burger was kicked off the team for refusing to shave his goatee. Corey Seager developed gigantism due to overindulging on nerve tonic. Poor Danny Jansen succumbed to radiation poisoning as a result of working a side gig at an experimental data center. Cursed with toxic narcissistic tendencies, Wyatt Langford missed the team flight after playing hero trying to save a neighbor’s possessions from a burning house. Evan Carter disappeared after making a visit to the Duluth Mystery Spot tourist trap. Jacob Latz fit the description of a wanted murderer and now awaits justice in a St. Paul jail cell. Ezequiel Duran was knocked out debating historical English politics at a bar in Shakopee. Trying to shake bouts of confidence issues, Jacob deGrom was hypnotized into believing he’s a chicken by a quack team psychologist.

As you can see, a lot has gone wrong for Texas this season and especially of late. But here’s another interesting factoid: As of this very moment, the Rangers lead the American League West by half a game.

After scoring four, two-out runs in the top of the second, and after getting the usual courageous outing from Nathan Eovaldi, the Rangers turned a 1-0 first inning deficit into a pretty easy win to accomplish the modest goal of ensuring that every game this season will have mattered.

Of course, that ultimately only really matters for the purposes of extending this season into the playoffs as the first non-winning team to ever earn a division title if Houston loses at least one more game and the Rangers win tomorrow (assuming the Astros don’t just lose their final two games, which I suppose is possible given this season in this division).

Considering the Rangers will also be playing to end this year with a .500 record, it would at least be a fitting finish.

Player of the Game: They could never make me hate you, Nathan Eovaldi. Limited in the number of bullets in the chamber today, the Rangers legend tossed 4 1/3 innings of one run ball on four hits and couple of walks. After allowing a first inning run, Eovaldi buckled down for 71 serviceable pitches to help get the Rangers to game No. 162 with a shot.

Also, Danny Jansen drew my ire often during his first season in Texas, but today he had two RBI hits, including a home run and also the two out blooper that started the string of scoring during the Rangers’ four-run second inning rally that broke open the game and allowed the Rangers to coast to victory.

Up Next: The final game of the regular season will be played with the Rangers still clinging to postseason hopes. Texas hasn’t announced a season finale starter but perhaps it will be LHP MacKenzie Gore. Minnesota will counter with RHP Dean Kremer.

The Sunday afternoon first pitch from Target Field is scheduled for 2:10 pm CDT and the Rangers Sports Network will carry it one last time this year.

Make that seven in a row. 

After the Giants came up a run short in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Dodgers, San Francisco has now dropped seven consecutive games against their rivals this year.  

This one wasn’t a hard pill to swallow though. Maybe it’s because after six months and 161 games, I’m pretty numb to the pains of Giants’ baseball; or it’s the fact that wins–and-losses are besides the point right now; or it’s knowing that coming up short against one of the better teams in baseball history is not a particularly shameful occurrence — but most of all, I think this actually turned out to be a decent game.

First of all, this didn’t feel like a postseason soft launch for Blake Snell. Giants hitters weren’t milling about the field as underpaid caterers serving canapés while Dodger pitchers snacked and schmoozed for nine innings. They only managed to plate one run off him, but they kept the infamously sensitive starter from getting comfortable. Snell needed 77 pitches to record 12 outs — two pitches more than Tarik Skubal needed to record 21 on Friday.  A Giant had an at-bat with a runner in scoring position in each of the first three frames. He allowed five hits, recorded just three strikeouts, and broke one necklace over four innings. 

Jonah Cox led off the 3rd with a lead-off double against Blake Snell and promptly stole third to put himself in a position to score on Turner Hill’s sacrifice fly. 

A 7th inning line change by the Drews of Gilbert and Cavanaugh cut LA’s lead down to one and seemed to turn the tide in the Giants favor. Gilbert worked a lead-off walk against Brock Stewart before scoring from first on Cavanaugh’s first career triple off the bricks in deep right center. He also put the tying run in scoring position in the 9th with a two-out, two-strike double to left off Tanner Scott.  

Hill then led off the 8th against right-handed reliever Evan Philips by banking a double off the wall in Triple’s alley. With one-out and two strikes to Bo Davidson, a spiked breaking ball allowed Hill to take third, and Davidson capitalized on the gift by punching a fly ball just deep enough to center to score Hill and claim his first career run batted-in.

Two pitches into LA’s 9th, that hard-earned run was nullified by Enrique Hernández homer. A bucket of ice water that broke the 3-3 tie the Giants had just scratched and clawed for over two innings. Disappointing in the moment, especially for Trent Harris, who hadn’t allowed an earned run since August 21st (15.1 IP) — but we got over it pretty quick. LA was always going to win this game — it would have been embarrassing for them if they hadn’t.

What wasn’t guaranteed was the San Francisco offense erasing two deficits, or the bullpen working through (self-inflicted) trouble to keep the game from completely spinning out of control, as they have done in the recent past.

These are objectively embarrassingly small victories to applaud — stolen bases and sac flies and advancing the runner and one-off strikeouts — but that’s exactly what this iteration of the 2026 Giants are playing for. Opportunities, experience, footholds and feelings and tiny hooks to hang their hat on, however briefly. 

Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson will certainly strut into the off-season with a feeling. The southpaw backed up his last outing against LA with another solid, though abbreviated start. Wilkinson allowed just one hit, a Mookie Betts solo shot in 3rd, over three innings of work. He’s officially a rivalry legend, allowing just one earned run on four hits over eight IP across two games against the Dodgers.

Add three-pitching Shohei Ohtani to that short but spectacular CV as well.

And sometimes you play for perspective. Camilo Doval, after two trades and two teams and being DFA’d and claimed again, took the field as a Giant once again. The reliever became the 71st Giants player of the season, tying the Major League record set by the 2025 Atlanta Braves, and how ironic and maybe beautiful that the froth of that insane roster churn has spit an old friend back on San Francisco’s shores. A new number, possibly a new man? Who knows if we can expect more, or if this was just a one-off — all I know is seeing him out there on the mound felt good. I think he felt it too, fanning both Betts and Ohtani on his way to striking out the side in the 7th.

Tranquilo.

We’re down to our final two games of Athletics baseball this year! After the first couple months of the season, it seemed like the A’s had the ability to remain competitive in the American League (AL) West. However, injuries coupled with a league-worst pitching staff resulted in the team’s second consecutive midseason collapse and fifth straight losing season.

The A’s have embraced the role of spoiler over the past few weeks. They will have two more opportunities to do so against a Houston Astros club fighting for the division title and a playoff berth. Depending on the results tonight and tomorrow, either the Astros or Texas Rangers will make history as the first team to reach the playoffs without a winning record.

Athletics right-hander Jack Perkins will make his final start of 2026. The 26-year-old enters his 37th appearance and 17th start of the season with a 3-12 record, a 5.90 ERA, a 1.45 WHIP and 131 strikeouts over 116 innings.

Perkins started the season in the bullpen before moving into the rotation in June. The right-hander looks to be ending the season on a high note. He has gone 1-3 with a 2.62 ERA in his last seven games, pitching at least six innings while allowing just one run in each of his last two starts.

The talented right-hander, making his third appearance against the Astros this season, will look to end his campaign on a strong note and position himself for a spot in next year’s rotation. Will Perkins make it three straight quality starts, or will his inconsistency resurface and force the Athletics to turn to their bullpen earlier than expected?

Here’s the A’s Saturday night lineup:

The Athletics are rolling with the same starting lineup that scored six runs last night. Center fielder Henry Bolte will look to serve as the spark plug once again, setting the table for Lawrence Butler, Shea Langeliers and Zack Gelof.

These final two games are important for Tommy White, whose aggressive swing-at-everything approach has held him back in his first taste of MLB action. With injured sluggers Nick Kurtz and Brent Rooker set to return next year, White could fall out of the team’s plans unless he improves his approach or unlocks the power he displayed in college baseball. Meanwhile, looming free-agent catcher Jonah Heim needs to put together a strong finish to the season if he hopes to attract suitors on the open market.

The A’s offense will face Astros right-hander Hayden Wesneski this evening. The 28-year-old, who returned from Tommy John surgery in late July, enters his 11th and final start of the season with a 5-2 record, a 3.50 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP and 41 strikeouts over 54 innings.

Wesneski aims to continue his dominance against the Green and Gold tonight. He is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA and 11 strikeouts in two career appearances against the Athletics. Nearly a month ago, the right-hander earned the win after allowing just one hit over five scoreless innings when these teams met in Houston.

And the Astros’ starting nine shapes up like this:

All the Astros regulars are playing, including Thursday’s unlikely hero, rookie Lucas Spence. The A’s have mostly kept AL MVP front-runner Yordan Alvarez and star second baseman Jose Altuve quiet this series, something that will have to continue if the hosts want a second straight win today. Left fielder Taylor Trammell is the only newcomer in the visitors’ lineup as he makes his first start of the series.

Time to hand Houston’s division-winning hopes a crushing blow and secure at least a split of this season-ending series. Let’s go, A’s!

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WASHINGTON — Brett Baty added a sixth starting position to his toolbox Saturday with a cameo at shortstop. 

Citing the flexibility it could give the team next season when Francisco Lindor needs days off, manager Andy Green said Baty has the skill set to handle the position. 

“I think some of the things we’re doing in these last couple of days gives us a look at those things and to look at different possibilities,” Green said before the Mets’ 7-1 victory over the Nationals in which Baty committed a ninth-inning fielding error at shortstop. “These games don’t have playoff implications for either team. We don’t feel like we’re necessarily shorting the industry by doing it at this point in time and it serves our purpose for the future.” 

Baty, who has been among the team’s most productive hitters since the All-Star break, has also started games this season at first, second and third base in addition to left and right field. 

Green said the experimentation with Baty at shortstop will likely carry into spring training next season. 

“I’ve had the privilege of coaching a lot of really good big league infielders,” Green said. “[Bench coach] Kai [Correa] has as well, and [third base coach] Tim Leiper has too, and we all see in him the athleticism necessary to defend the field there, not on a regular basis, but on a step-in and fill-in basis. Brett is incredibly athletic.” 

Green considers Baty’s versatility an asset, along with a bat that began play with an .890 OPS since July 10. 

“You look around baseball, and the best teams have someone like this who has the athleticism to do all of these things,” Green said. 

Ronny Mauricio started at second base and delivered homers from both sides of the plate in what might have been his Mets farewell. The 25-year-old infielder, who has underperformed in his limited chances with the major league club (and spent significant time on the injured list) is a non-tender candidate this winter. 

“He’ll have an opportunity to compete to make a team next year, and Ronny has a ton of athleticism,” Green said. 

Sunday’s start time has been moved up to 1:05 p.m. because of weather concerns.