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The dominant Tampa Bay Rays lineup draws a dream spot against a struggling Robert Stock when the New York Mets visit Tropicana Field, with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. ET

Tampa is a heavy favorite at a 62% implied probability on the moneyline, and the pitching mismatch shapes my Mets vs. Rays predictions.

Read more in my MLB picks for Monday, Aug. 31.

Who will win Mets vs Rays today: Rays -1.5 (43%)

For help understanding probabilities, see our odds calculator.

Robert Stock gives the Tampa Bay Rays a clear path to winning by multiple runs, and at 43%, I prefer the Rays run line to paying 62% on the moneyline. Stock has been dreadful this season, carrying a 7.40 ERA while opponents hit .307 against him.

His 4.90 xERA suggests he’s pitched a bit better than that ugly number, but even the kinder mark leaves a wide gap behind a locked-in Ian Seymour and a Tampa Bay staff that has been dominant lately.

If Seymour and the bullpen keep the New York Mets around two or three runs, Stock hands the Rays a clean path to the 5-2 or 6-3 result we need. 

I’d play Tampa Bay -1.5 to 46%.

COVERS INTEL:  Ian Seymour has settled into a groove, posting a 3.20 ERA with 49 strikeouts across 39 1/3 innings over his last seven appearances.

Mets vs Rays Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (55%)

The Under at 8.5 is the play, built on the Rays’ pitching edge and a Mets offense that hasn’t done enough lately. New York is batting just .242 with 8.2 hits per game over its last 10, and while it has shown some pop, it hasn’t strung together the sustained scoring a big number requires.

The other side of the handicap is Tampa Bay’s own bats, which have cooled. The Rays are hitting .234 with a .347 slugging and 7.7 hits per game over their last 10, so something like five or six Rays runs is more likely than an eight-run outburst.

The market context is useful, too. The broader market has this game at 8.0 runs, so the 8.5 we’re getting is a meaningful extra half-run, especially when the likeliest Tampa Bay-winning scores are 5-2, 5-3, or 6-2.

I’d play the Under to 57%. At 8.0, I’d pass.

Mets vs Rays home run prediction: Junior Caminero (24%)

Junior Caminero hit his 37th home run on Sunday — pushing his hitting streak to 13 games — and he’s been Tampa Bay’s hottest bat, hitting .378 over his last 10 games. 

His contact profile backs the power, headlined by a 93.0 mph average exit velocity and a 13.1% barrel rate. Caminero can attack Stock’s cutter, four-seamer, and sinker, which make up roughly 79% of his arsenal.

At 24%, we’re paying for Caminero’s status as Tampa Bay’s premier power threat, but the matchup justifies making him the selection over a longer shot.

I’d play Caminero to 26% for a quarter unit.

Mets vs Rays weather

Tropicana Field is a fixed-dome ballpark, so weather is a non-factor tonight. 

Mets vs Rays odds

• Moneyline: Mets 39% | Rays 62%
• Run line: Mets +1.5 (56%) | Rays -1.5 (43%)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (46%) | Under 8.5 (55%)

Mets vs Rays trend

Tampa Bay’s pitching staff owns a 2.80 ERA over its last 10 games, a run of dominance that backs both the Rays run line and the Under. Find more MLB betting trends for Mets vs. Rays.

How to watch Mets vs Rays and game info

Mets vs Rays latest injuries

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With their 8-5 win over the Athletics on Sunday afternoon, the Orioles improved to just one game under .500 for the first time since April 30. The four months in between have included a tumble down the standings, a roster sell-off, and now a renaissance on the field. It remains to be seen whether the Orioles can come all the way back, earn themselves a winning record, and eventually a spot in the playoffs. But regardless, their recent form has at least given us a glimpse of what they were supposed to be all summer long.

Back at the end of June, the Orioles were 39-48, fives games back of the final wild card spot in the American League. They needed to leapfrog five teams in order to get back into a playoff position.

Since then, the team is 29-21, outscoring opponents by 20 runs in total, and closing the gap in the wild card race to just one game. Nine of the 25 games left on their schedule will come against the Guardians and Blue Jays, the two teams closest to them in the standings, placing the Orioles firmly in control of their own fate. That alone is a surprising accomplishment given where they once sat in the junior circuit hierarchy.

Just about every aspect of this Orioles team has turned around in the last two months, starting with the lineup.

The team’s 104 wRC+ in that time is sixth in MLB, which has been helped by the 68 home runs (sixth in MLB) they have hit. Pete Alonso has been one of the sport’s best hitters, leading the team with a 168 wRC+ and 13 home runs. Coby Mayo may have turned the corner, boasting a 147 wRC+ with nine home runs. And Christian Encarnacion-Strand has been a lifesaver with his 122 wRC+ and seven homers. Slight improvements from Gunnar Henderson (103 wRC+) and Colton Cowser (101 wRC+) have also helped, as has Craig Albernaz’s openness to switching up his lineup with more regularity in recent weeks. The offense is more dynamic, less predictable, and generally more productive.

Looking at August alone, some of the individual performances have been even more impressive. Alonso (193 wRC+), Cowser (148 wRC+), Mayo (143 wRC+), and Henderson (140 wRC+) have been on fire, as has Dylan Beavers (128 wRC+). But the overall offense has been slightly worse (101 wRC+) due to dips in form from Encarnacion-Strand and Jackson Holliday, among others.

The 2026 Orioles were built with an expectation that the offense would carry the load most days. That has not come to fruition, not even with their improved recent play. But, if Alonso and Henderson continue to play up to their expected level, Mayo, Cowser, and Encarnacion-Strand can be quality depth, and the likes of Holliday, Beavers, Samuel Basallo, and Blaze Alexander can rediscover some of their earlier form, then this is going to be a lineup that is tough to beat the next four weeks.

Meanwhile, the pitching staff is also rounding into form, both in the rotation and the bullpen.

Since the start of July, Orioles starting pitchers are 12th in MLB in fWAR (4.3), 18th in ERA (4.18), 13th in FIP (3.97), and ninth in xFIP (3.84). Those numbers are not incredible, but they are competent. That’s exactly what a wild card hopeful needs down the stretch.

More crucially, if the Orioles are going to be a playoff team, is that they have three or four starting arms that you feel comfortable turning to for at least five innings a pop. That seems to be the case right now. Shane Baz (2.60 FIP since July 1), Trevor Rogers (3.36 FIP), and Kyle Bradish (3.92 FIP) each have Cy Young upside that they have flashed on occasion. Not to be forgotten, Brandon Young (3.72 ERA since July 1) consistently turns in solid outings, and is tied for the team lead in wins.

There are certainly better rotations out there, including some of the teams that the Orioles will be battling for a playoff spot down the stretch. But this team’s depth in the starting staff is enviable and puts them in position to be a tough out should they get to the playoffs.

What could act as a multiplier for the rotation is their support staff in the bullpen. Somehow, the Orioles have built out one of the hottest relief groups in baseball. Since the start of July, they rank in the top four of MLB in ERA (3.10), xERA (3.13), and FIP (3.50). The key to their success has been keeping the ball in the park. Their 0.59 home run per nine inning rate is the best in MLB since July 1.

It’s an unconventional group. With both Ryan Helsley and Félix Bautista on the mend, as well as the trading away of Tyler Wells in the beginning of August, the Orioles lack an obvious closer. Andrew Kittredge has stepped into the role most often, but Cam Sanders, Rico Garcia, Yennier Cano, Grant Wolfram, and Alex Hoppe each have at least one save in recent weeks.

A club that can throw so many different arms at you in late innings can be a tough one to match up against. Opposing teams can’t be sure of which reliever they will get in a given scenario. Albernaz has committed to riding the hot hand and finding favorable matchups. Lately that has meant an outsized role for someone like Hoppe or the recently-recalled Anthony Nunez, but nothing is written in stone.

The potential returns of Helsley and Bautista add another wrinkle. Should they be deemed ready, it won’t necessarily feel right for the Orioles to anoint either one as the unquestioned ninth inning arm. But being able to turn to two proven, veteran closers late in games isn’t something that many other bullpens have the option of doing.

The Orioles still have a lot of work to do. They have dug themselves quite a hole, and there is no guarantee that they will successfully dig all the way out it. But their turnaround is not confined to this recent 7-2 stretch that has seen them win series against the Rays, Cardinals, and now Athletics. It goes back two months, seen them survive a disappointing trade deadline, and come out on the other side with a little more swagger and the chance to right all of the wrongs they have dealt with throughout the regular season. You can’t ask for much more from a season that, at one point, seemed like it was headed off a cliff. Instead, these Orioles will be playing meaningful baseball deep into September at least.

Since acquiring Luis Arraez in a deadline day trade with the Giants, the Phillies have played really well. There was a patch of lethargy of course, but for the most part, Arraez has seemingly been exactly what they needed in the lineup.

Even the defense has been good!

While the season is still in progress, we have to at least ask the question as the calendar begins to flip to September: should the Phillies re-sign Arraez once the season ends? There are different machinations that would have to happen and the length of the deal would be a key aspect of it all, but the team does look like a better version when he is in the lineup.

I have strong feelings about this that will be its own separate post at some point, probably this week. But, what do you think? We’re five-sixths-ish of the way done with the season on a calendar month basis, and the Braves are very good in terms of record… but the way they’ve gotten there has been somewhere between bizarre and absurd. It’s like getting the right answer on an algebra test by doing everything kinda wrong, in some ways… but not in others.

Would you describe this team as particularly weird? And if so, why?

Good morning.

MLB dot com’s Zach Sweet writes about Ezequiel Duran leading the way for the Texas Rangers in Sunday’s series finale victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Evan Grant ponders not just Duran’s standing as the Rangers’ best player this season, but where he stands in the AL MVP race.

Grant writes about relievers Carter Baumler and Robert Garcia getting back on the mound for rehab assignments after being out since April.

And, for no particular reason, check out Sebastian Walcott’s fifth Double-A dinger in basically a month’s worth of playing time since his season debut:

Have a nice day!

It’s becoming clear again that Cubs left-hander Shōta Imanaga is not going to be able to be trusted with a start in a postseason game.

Imanaga has had his moments on the North Side, to be sure, but Sunday night’s game was not one of them, unless you are a Reds player or fan. Imanaga served up three home runs to the Reds and that turned out to be enough for a 7-5 Cincinnati win.

The game began 25 minutes late due to a late-afternoon round of rain, and in fact, it rained lightly for the first two innings. Raise your hand if you’ve had enough of the rain in Chicago this summer — one of the rainiest I can remember.

The Cubs, though, had the first homer of the game — yet another leadoff blast from Pete Crow-Armstrong [VIDEO].

That ball was crushed! [VIDEO]

Leadoff homer fact from BCB’s JohnW53:

PCA’s homer was the ninth of his career in the first inning with nobody on and nobody out, tying him with Brian McRae for the fifth most by a Cub.

Alfonso Soriano hit 22; Rick Monday, 17; Dexter Fowler, 12; and Ian Happ, 11.

All of PCA’s have come this season, six of them since Aug. 5.

Soriano hit 12 in 2007; Monday, eight in 1976; and Fowler, seven in 2016.

Soriano’s 12 in 2007 is the franchise record for a single season. The MLB record for such things is 15, set by Kyle Schwarber in 2024. Who knows?

The Cubs put another run on the board in the second. Ian Happ led off with a single and advanced to second on a single by Nico Hoerner. Hoerner was forced at second by Pedro Ramirez, with Happ taking third.

This single by Michael Conforto scored Happ [VIDEO].

Imanaga had breezed through the first three innings, but got himself in trouble with a one-out walk in the fourth. One out later, Matt McLain singled and Hector Rodriguez smashed a three-run homer to give the Reds the lead.

The Cubs tied the game up in the bottom of that inning. Happ led off with a walk and went to second on Hoerner’s second hit of the game.

Then this happened [VIDEO].

Happ was advancing to third on Ramirez’s deep fly to right, but Rodriguez’s throw got away and Happ scored, making it 3-3.

That lead lasted about five minutes, because Dane Myers led off the fifth with a homer. An infield hit and an out later, Tyler Stephenson smacked a two-run homer to make it 6-3 Reds.

The fifth inning was it for Imanaga; he allowed eight hits and six runs, and the three homers gave him 33 allowed for the season, a career high. He also now leads MLB in home runs allowed. This was after Craig Counsell flipped Imanaga and Kevin Gausman in the rotation to give Shōta an extra rest day. To me, it’s an open question as to what to do with Imanaga the rest of the way, never mind the postseason.

Facts about the three homers surrendered by Imanaga from John:

This was the 24th game of the season in which the Cubs surrendered at least three home runs. They had 26 such games a year ago, 19 in 2024, 21 in 2023, 25 in 2022 and 31 in 2021.

Those 31 are the team record, ahead of 29 in 2000 and 28 in 1999.

The 24 this year are the third most by any team, behind the Athletics’ 30 (including one Sunday) and the Nationals’ 27.

Another not-so-fun fact about all the Imanaga homers:

So the Cubs are down three heading to the sixth. They had the first two runners on in that inning thanks to another Reds error with Alex Bregman batting, and a single by Happ. But the next three Cubs went down in order.

Trent Thornton threw the seventh and retired the first two Reds easily before presumptive NL Rookie of the Year Sal Stewart homered, the Reds’ fourth of the game, to make it 7-3. More dismaying home runs allowed facts from John:

The Cubs now are tied with the Athletics for the most home runs allowed, 208. Both have played 137 games.
They are on a pace to give up 246, which would be the 13th most in any season, two behind the 2017 Reds and 2019 Yankees, tied for 10th.

The record is 305 by the 2019 Orioles, then 270 by the Rockies, 267 by the Angels and 260 by the Mariners, all also in 2019.

The Cubs’ high is 235, in 2021, followed by 231, in 2000, and 221, in 1999.

As you can see, the three seasons in which the Cubs allowed the most home runs were all very bad years. Only the very good Cubs offense — leading MLB in runs with 725, on pace for 857 — has prevented this year from being like that.

The Cubs did attempt to mount a comeback. Bregman led off the eighth with a double. He advanced to third on a ground out and scored on this sac fly by Hoerner [VIDEO].

Aaron Civale and Jacob Webb had kept the game (relatively) close with scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth. The first two Cubs went down quickly in the ninth.

And then PCA delivered one last thrill [VIDEO].

The five home runs in consecutive games tied the MLB record for such things. You can see all the players who have done that here. As for Cubs doing that, from John:

Pete Crow-Armstrong is just the fifth Cub to hit a total of five home runs in back-to-back games.

Cap Anson did it Aug. 5-6, 1884 (two and three); Billy Williams, Sept. 8 and 10, 1968 (two and three); Dave Kingman, July 27-28, 1979 (two and three); and Dansby Swanson, June 30-July 1 this year (three and two).

Fun, though too little too late, and Seiya Suzuki flied out to end the game.

PCA now has 38 home runs. It’s worth noting that puts him very close to a pair of Cubs milestones. First, it has been 21 years since any Cub has had a 40-homer season — Derrek Lee hit 46 in 2005. Also, only one Cubs left-handed hitter has ever had a 40-homer season — Billy Williams, who hit 42 in 1970. That’s how special this season is for the Cubs center fielder, whose WAR figures now sit at 8.5 (baseball-reference) and 9.3 (Fangraphs).

Also, he’s also a strong candidate for NL Player of the Week after batting .321/.345/.893 (9-for-28) with a double, the five home runs, eight RBI and six runs scored — and also NL Player of the Month, having batted .283/.372/.726 (32-for-113) in August with six doubles, a triple, 14 home runs, 28 RBI and 28 runs scored, with one game remaining this month.

You’re watching a special season from PCA, one of the greatest years in Cubs franchise history. Savor every moment. One more PCA fun fact:

Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame remarks [VIDEO].

As for the Cubs? They should not be losing series at home to the Cincinnati Reds, but here we are. They are now tied with the Phillies for the top wild card spot, for which, thankfully, they have the tiebreaker. It will certainly be an interesting stretch run, with 25 games remaining.

And it won’t get any easier beginning tonight at Wrigley Field, when the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers come to town to start a four-game series. At eight games behind, the Cubs can probably forget about winning the NL Central and just focus on winning games to keep that top wild card spot. For Monday’s series opener vs. Milwaukee, it’ll be Clay Holmes against Kyle Harrison. Game time is 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Very little has gone right for Detroit’s bullpen this year. The three veteran closing options have all underwhelmed, or in Will Vest’s suffered injuries, and many of the optionable depth arms they’ve relied on in the past have struggled, too. Amidst those struggles, one surprising candidate has emerged as perhaps AJ Hinch’s most reliable option: Drew Sommers.

Acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays for a DFA’d Mason Englert two winters ago, the pre-season book on Sommers was fairly common: big lefty with a good fastball, a quality slider, and poor command. His low arm angle and huge extension helped the fastball get past minor leaguers, but mediocre strike throwing and inconsistent secondaries seemed to limit him to a likely low leverage role. That’s certainly how his brief 3-inning debut in 2025 looked, and he was pretty buried on the 2026 depth chart to begin the year.

The 2026 season looked to be a bit more of the same early on, as the big lefty really struggled with his command. He was called up on May 28th due to Kenley Jansen’s groin injury and showed off both his contact-suppression skills and bouts of wildness. From the time he debuted through the end of June, his 34.3% K rate was the highest on the team, but his 11.4% walk rate was behind only Jansen’s 11.5%. He wasn’t perfect, but he was good enough to hang onto while other lefties like Brant Hurter were injured and the bullpen as a whole started to crumble.

Since July 1, though, Sommers has been a different beast. Over his last two months of games, Sommers has pushed that strikeout rate from good to elite at 38.0%, 5th best in the league among relievers with 20 innings or more. At the same time, his walk rate has dropped down toward average at 9.9%. He’s also allowing fewer home runs and running a groundball rate almost 50% higher than he was in May and June, two of the best things you can do to prevent a big inning.

How’s he doing this, you might ask? He’s throwing harder, basically.

I don’t mean to oversimplify things, but really, that’s the biggest thing I can see in terms of tangible changes to his stuff. His velocity has trended up all year from about average for a lefty reliever at 94 to up above 95, touching 97, which he just was not doing in May and June. Of course, with velocity comes confidence, and vice versa.

Certainly it’s not just the added velocity alone, but the ability to miss more bats in the zone and get away with a few more mistakes has been good for his heart rate on the mound. His zone percentage was 50 percent with a first pitch strike rate of 54.3percent from the beginning of the season to June 30. Since that point, he’s thrown 48.5 percent of pitches in the zone, but the Tigers have gotten him to attack the zone early in counts, with a whopping 69.8 percent first pitch strike rate.

When a young pitcher starts trusting their stuff, good things happen. Sommers’ velocity boost has made him more fearless in attacking the zone and getting ahead of hitters. Once he’s ahead, it’s easier to get hitters to expand the zone to chase heaters off the plate or his sweeping slider. Young pitchers are always trying to repeat their mechanics consistently, but that focus on trying to repeat your delivery is often counterproductive. Finding a way to relax and just attack the zone more is the path to better strike throwing, and often to unlocking a little more velocity as well. Sommers knows he can trust his heater at the major league level now, and with that added velocity he’s been able to pound the zone with sinkers and fourseamers early in counts with a lot less fear of failure. As they say, the most important pitch in baseball is strike one.

As a lefty who is still fairly inexperienced, Sommers doesn’t really profile as a future closer type at the moment. He certainly may handle some save chances, and with the season basically over from a competitive standpoint, it would probably be a good idea to put him in that spot a couple of times if possible to acclimate him. Even so, his profile probably works best as a lefty fireman, coming in to get groundballs and whiffs in tight spots. However they deploy him, it’s been a few years since the Tigers found an exciting high leverage relief option. Drew Sommers looks like that guy right now, and for a team that badly needs an overhauled and fortified bullpen, his emergence could be a big piece of the puzzle for 2027 and beyond.

After a hard-fought and ultimately successful four-game series with the Red Sox, winning three of four and securing the tiebreaker between the two teams, the Yankees head west to take on the dreadful Angels. Perhaps the most dysfunctional organization in baseball, which is saying something, Arte Moreno already cleaned house earlier this year firing longtime GM Perry Minasian, but the problem may be Moreno himself. On pace to lose 101 games, the Angels have wasted one of the likely last strong years of Mike Trout’s career, as well as a season where a number of pitchers proved themselves valuable.

All of this is to say, this isn’t a trap series exactly, but it’s almost a trap series. After the endorphins of a good series against Boston wear off, the Angels are still a major league team, and anyone can beat anyone two out of three times. This is a series the Yankees should win, almost have to win to keep up the pressure on the Rays, but we’ve seen how those kind of circumstances can go awry in the past.

Monday — Elmer Rodríguezvs. Mitch Farris (9:38pm Eastern)

With Ryan Weathers on the IL, ERC will get at least two more chances to show off within the MLB rotation, his fourth stint with the team this year. His last outing was the longest of his young big league career, throwing six innings against the hated Astros, allowing a trio of runs and striking out a batter per inning. He looks to be beginning to find a handle on his pitch mix — the stuff has popped since his debut, but he’s shown a struggle with his control that seems to be improving. This is a pretty ideal setup for a young pitcher, as the Angels boast the third-worst offense in baseball.

The Angels are a fascinating group because a man named Mitch Farris is expected to get the ball on Monday night. Farris has not started a game for the Angels this year, used in a variety of bullpen roles, and will be called on to give an abbreviated beginning. The left-hander features a slowwwwwww changeup that’s probably his best offering, but his fastball gets clobbered and the Yankees are in a bit of a lefty-slugging mood lately.

Tuesday — Gerrit Cole vs. Walbert Ureña (9:38pm Eastern)

In a season with so many incredible pitching stories, Gerrit Cole’s may be the second-most impressive after only Cam Schlittler. The veteran has hardly missed a beat in coming off of Tommy John surgery, already eclipsing his innings total from the 2024 season, throwing the ball harder than that year as well. His 3.19 ERA is backstopped well by a 3.37 FIP, and even if he’s slightly overperforming his HR-allowed baseline, what you’ve seen from Cole this year should mostly be believed.

Walbert Ureña has looked like a real pitcher in his rookie season, throwing 118 innings of 2.94 ERA that might just net him some downballot Rookie of the Year votes if anyone is paying attention to Orange County. He doesn’t strike many out, and he walks a few too many, but in a ballpark that surrenders a lot of home runs he keeps it in the yard.

Wednesday — Cam Schlittler vs. Grayson Rodriguez (9:38pm Eastern)

It’s #CamBumpDay and with Cam tied with Dylan Cease at 5.1 fWAR, a big performance against a bad team could give him a slight edge in a dynamite AL Cy Young race. The added benefit for Cam is the game coming on the road, where eagle-eyed viewers have noticed a bit of a home/road split for the young righty:

On paper, everything is set up for the youngster to pull just a bit ahead of Cease, but execution is still everything in this game.

Rodriguez, the white-hot hope of the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles’ rotation, has flatlined in his first season with LA. Worth just half a win, a 6.04 ERA actually belies a FIP that’s stronger, but Grayson finds himself with poor results with an organization not known for improving performance, whistling past the proverbial baseball graveyard.

Meet the Mets

Continuing their first place gauntlet, the Mets more or less did what was expected of them against Houston.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, Newsday, New York Daily News, New York Post

Down on the farm in Syracuse, Mark Vientos hit three home runs in his rehab and six pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter.

If you have a curiosity deep down in your soul as to what Singles Night at Citi Field was like, Laura Albanese has the answers to every question you need and those you don’t.

In a totally lost season hitting its final weeks and days, giving Jonah Tong another go-around up in the big time isn’t the worst plan.

Around the National League East

The Nationals bullpen did, once again, what it has done best this year by blowing a lead in spectacular fashion, turning what could’ve been a 2-0 win into a 6-2 loss to the Marlins in one inning.

Matt Olson was the walk-off hero for the Braves in their sweep-clinching 3-2 win over the Rockies.

Technically it can’t be called a late comeback since they already had the lead, but the Phillies gave the Angels one more late-game ass kicking as they scored four times in the final three innings on their way to a 5-2 win.

Around Major League Baseball

One of many things that needs to happen to open the slightest door for Nolan McLean and Carson Benge in the Rookie of the Year race took place as the Cardinals placed J.J. Weatherholt on the 15-day injured list.

Now 42 years old, Max Scherzer had at least one more vintage Max Scherzer outing in his arm as he struck out ten Mariners to jump Gaylord Perry for ninth place on the all time strikeout list.

Curaçao took down the Las Vegas little league team 11-2 to clinch their second Little League World Series Championship in the country’s history.

Laid off by ESPN earlier this Summer, Karl Ravech said his final goodbyes at his last Little League World Series broadcast after 20 years.

Cover your eyes, Pete Crow-Armstrong is hitting at a pace that can only be described as Lucas Duda Having a Particularly Good Weekend.

Sometimes when the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry seems dead, you just need a broadcaster to suggest hitting Austin Wells and fighting Jazz Chisholm to get things going.

The Yankees then scored 16 times against the Red Sox, so maybe it didn’t quite work as intended.

Sometimes the only way to defeat Mason Miller is to have his outfielder drop a ball over the fence and onto a buffet table for a home run.

Whatever he’s coming back from, Ketel Marte will be with the Diamondbacks today.

For the truly dedicated and insane, Saturday provided the rare opportunity for some to attend three major league baseball games in one New York day.

This Date in Mets History

Happy birthday to Mets legends Ramon Ramirez and Hideo Nomo.

The Mets (61-76) open a three-game series on the road in Tampa Bay against the AL East-leading Rays (82-54) at 6:40 p.m. on SNY.

Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...

Mets Notes

• Robert Stock makes his sixth start, looking to rebound from a tough outing against the Brewers on Aug. 26 (seven earned runs in 4.0 IP)
• Carson Benge has posted an impressive August, hitting .320 with five HRs, three doubles, a triple, and 13 RBI over 97 at-bats
• A.J. Ewing recorded his 22nd steal of the season Sunday (most among rookies), moving him into a tie with Lee Mazzilli for the second-most steals by a rookie in franchise history. He now only trails Mookie Wilson's 24 steals from the 1981 season
• Francisco Lindor moved past Dave Kingman for sixth-most HRs in franchise history (155 HRs) with a leadoff blast Sunday, his second leadoff homer of the season and the 33rd of his career 

Today's Lineups

What channel is SNY?

Check your TV or streaming provider's website or channel finder to find your local listings.

How can I stream the game?

The way to stream SNY games is via the MLB App or MLB.tv.

In order to stream games in SNY’s regional territory, you will need to have SNY as part of your TV package (cable or streaming), or you can now purchase an in-market SNY subscription package via MLB or Amazon. Both ways will allow fans to watch the Mets on their computer, tablet or mobile phone.

How can I watch the game on my computer via MLB?

To get started on your computer, click here and then follow these steps:

• Log in using your provider credentials. If you are unsure of your provider credentials, please contact your provider.

• Link your provider credentials with a new or existing MLB.com account.

• Log in using your MLB.com credentials to watch Mets games on SNY.

• Select the SNY Mets game you wish to view from the Multimedia Center.

How can I watch the game on the MLB App?

MLB App access is included for FREE with SNY. To access SNY on your favorite supported Apple or Android mobile device, please follow the steps below.

• Download the free MLB App.

• Open “MLB” and tap on “Subscriber Login” for Apple Devices or “Sign in with MLB.com” for Android Devices.

• Type in your MLB.com credentials and tap “Log In.” 

• To access live or on-demand content, tap on the "Watch" tab from the bottom navigation bar. Select the "Games" sub-tab to see a listing of available games. You can scroll to previous dates using the left and right arrows. Tap on a game to select from the game feeds available. 

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The calendar is just about ready to flip to September, which means the stretch run in Major League Baseball has arrived.

Except for the American League West, the division races all seem to have strong favorites. But the real intrigue surrounds the three wild-card spots in each league. It will be hard to knock off the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the AL, but seven teams still have at least a puncher's chance to round out the field.

Over in the National League, the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies appear comfortably ahead of their pursuers. But the final spot seems to change hands on an almost-daily basis.

Here's a look at the latest in the MLB playoff race:

Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires on 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 1, and the owners will almost certainly lock out the players the moment the CBA expires, just as they did in December 2021 before eventually coming to an agreement in March 2022.

This time around, a salary cap and competitive balance have been the driving forces behind the owners’ talking points, in both the foreground and background of their known offers to the players. That was the case on Thursday, when MLB owners proposed the idea of a quiet period for signings, limiting free agent movement to only a few weeks in December. From Ronald Blum of Associated Press:

MLB proposed extending the quiet period until noon Eastern on the Monday of the winter meetings, usually held in early December. Management said the additional time would be needed for revenue and salary cap figures to be finalized ahead of the business season.

MLB would allow negotiations during the quiet period but would not permit any contracts to be finalized.

Free agents could sign through 5 p.m. Eastern on Dec. 21 and then wouldn’t be allowed to until noon Eastern on the first Monday in February, just ahead of spring training.

Another aspect of the league’s proposal included a tweaking of the injured list, instead of the current 10-day stint for position players and 15 days for pitchers. From Evan Drellich at The Athletic:

The current 10-day minimum stay for position players would be replaced with a one-week designation, and the 15-day pitcher injury list would become a two-week designation.

But that doesn’t mean “seven days” and “14 days,” respectively. Instead, teams would have to count Mondays.

Position players would have to stay on the IL for at least one full Monday-to-Monday span, with pitchers spanning two of those stretches.

For example: If a position player goes on the IL on Wednesday, he still has to stay on the IL for the entirety of the following week, Monday-to-Monday.

The 60-day injury list would change to 12 weeks and would still free up a 40-man roster spot.

While active rosters would still be capped at 26 players, teams could carry 14 pitchers, up one from the current allowance.

Also from last week, Drellich at The Athletic answered many labor questions in a mailbag.

That every MLB proposal thus far has been contingent on the players accepting a salary cap and floor shows that the negotiations won’t get serious until after the owners lock out the player in December, writes Marc Normandin of Baseball Prospectus:

Would it be wonderful if there was less sitting around and more player transactions during the offseason, with the bulk of them happening sooner than later? Absolutely—making players wait until the spring to sign isn’t great for whatever excitement the league is trying to generate, or the players who still don’t know where they are going to spend their next season when February, and sometimes even March, hits. This doesn’t actually solve that, though, especially since it just removes the awkward middle part where teams and players are in a staredown and fast-forwards to the end. It’s kind of like how MLB doesn’t bargain quite as seriously as it should before the CBA expires, but then once the lockout hits it rushes everything to a forced conclusion. Hey, I’m paraphrasing Rob Manfred’s own justifications for a lockout here, don’t shoot the messenger.

Michael Baumann at FanGraphs wrote this in his lengthy analysis of the proposal:

My position on the general shape of this CBA negotiation remains unchanged: Only one Big Four sports league has imposed a salary cap on its union in the 21st Century. The NHL got its salary cap, and severe salary rollbacks, but not until it broke the union. And that took canceling an entire season, which damaged the sport in ways from which it still has not recovered 20 years later.

It’s going to take at least one lost season to break the MLBPA, maybe more, and I have no idea whether the owners have the stomach for that intense a fight. I’m not sure the owners themselves know at this point; that’s the kind of thing we won’t be able to get a read on until next February or March at the earliest. Until then, we can treat any proposal that’s contingent on a cap-and-floor system as DOA.