The Month That Was in Baseball: September 2025

Monday, September 1

In a preview of a potential National League playoff series, the Philadelphia Phillies bounce back from an early 5-1 deficit and defeat the Brewers at Milwaukee, 10-8, with a pair of ninth-inning runs. Helping out for the Phillies is first base umpire Jim Wolf, upholding a check swing call for J.T. Realmuto—who escapes with a walk over strike three and thus adds to the game-winning rally. Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy, incensed at the call, barks at Wolf with just enough of the right words to get ejected. 

The loss whittles the Brewers’ home-field advantage for the NL postseason to 4.5 games over the NL East-leading Phillies.  

The San Diego Padres suffer two losses on the night. One is on the scoreboard as the visiting Baltimore Orioles take a 4-3 decision, knocking the Padres 2.5 games back of the idle Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West race. The other, more significant loss comes when reliever Jason Adam—having a terrific year as the Padres’ set-up man, ruptures his quad tendon while making an awkward attempt to snare a comebacker in the seventh inning. Adam will miss the rest of the season—and perhaps the start of the 2026 campaign as well. 

The Washington Nationals end an eight-game skid with a 2-0 home win over the Miami Marlins, as Andrew Alvarez becomes the first pitcher since the team’s move from Montreal to throw five-plus innings of shutout ball in his big-league debut. The 26-year-old southpaw is also just the second Nationals pitcher to earn a win in his initial start since Stephen Strasburg’s memorable debut back in 2010. 

The Houston Astros’ rotation, broken up for a number of years through multiple Tommy John surgeries, looks to be gelling itself back together. At home against the Los Angeles Angels, Luis Garcia makes his first appearance on the mound since undergoing the procedure over two years ago, picking up the win with three runs allowed on three hits, no walks and six strikeouts as the Astros prevail, 8-3. Contributing on offense for the Astros is slugger Yordan Alvarez, knocking out two singles with an RBI in his seventh game back after missing nearly four months of action himself. 

Tuesday, September 2

The Colorado Rockies suffer their 100th loss of the year, and it’s ugly. Just two batters into their game against the visiting San Francisco Giants, Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland blows a fuse and barks at Rafael Devers after the slugger takes a little bit of extra time admiring a towering two-run homer to right field. Devers profanely barks back, the benches clear, and shoves are exchanged; after a 13-minute delay, Freeland is ejected, along with Giants infielders Willie Adames and Matt Chapman, and Devers is finally allowed to complete his home run trot. The rest of the game will be tame by comparison, as the Giants ride four total homers to a 7-4 victory. It’s the 16th straight game in which the Giants have gone deep, the majors’ longest such streak this year and the longest by the franchise since moving to California in 1958. Meanwhile, the Rockies 100-loss season will be their third in team annals—all occurring consecutively. 

With Chapman ejected, Devers is forced to move to third base—the first time he’s played the position all season after being regularly stationed there during his first eight years with the Red Sox. He’ll be involved in a handful of plays and make no errors.  

Shohei Ohtani’s 46th home run of the year, in the Dodgers’ 9-7 loss at Pittsburgh, makes news on numerous fronts. It’s his 42nd homer hitting from the leadoff spot this season, breaking Ronald Acuna Jr.’s two-year-old MLB record; it’s the 100th Ohtani has hit since joining the Dodgers; and the exit velocity on his line-drive shot is 120 MPH, not only making it the hardest ball he’s ever hit, but the hardest hit by any Dodgers player in the Statcast Era. 

Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, age 22 and two months, becomes the fourth youngest player ever to hit 40 homers in a season—and later nails a two-run, tie-breaking double to make him the youngest to reach 100 RBIs since Alex Rodriguez in 1996—helping the Rays to a 6-5 home win over the Seattle Mariners. The three players who reached 40 at a younger age were Mel Ott, Eddie Mathews and Ronald Acuna Jr.; only Carlos Pena, with 46 dingers in 2007, has hit more homers in a season for the Rays. 

Wednesday, September 3

A day after losing exciting rookie Roman Anthony for the rest of the regular season, the Red Sox look clueless against the visiting Cleveland Guardians. Within the first two innings, the Red Sox allow seven runs on six hits and a walk, two wild pitches and two errors. After all of that, the Guardians will ease to an 8-1 win. The oblique injury suffered by Anthony—who was really beginning to rev it up—typically takes four-to-six weeks to heal, meaning his best-case scenario of returning to action will be at the start of the postseason. 

Pitching both great and lousy is displayed by the Padres in a 7-5 loss to the Orioles at San Diego. Starting pitching Nestor Cortes surrenders four home runs—a leadoff blast by Jackson Holliday in the first, followed by three consecutive shots from Colton Cowser, Coby Mayo and Alex Jackson in the third. Later in the eighth, reliever Mason Miller throws the second immaculate inning in Padres history, with sliders for all nine of his strikes. 

Cortes is the third pitcher ever to allow three homers in an inning three times during one season. The other two, according to stat hawk supreme and TGG friend Jessica Brand, are Chris Young (2016) and Jordan Lyles (2023). 

It’s official: The Arizona Diamondbacks will be staying at Phoenix and Chase Field through 2057. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, accompanied by DBacks management and local contractors, signs a bill passed earlier by the State Legislature to fund $500 million in renovations for the 27-year-old ballpark, most critically upgrading its air conditioning system—a rather important fix given Phoenix’s summer heat that constantly tops 100 degrees during the baseball season. The deal puts an end to a years-long saga in which the Diamondbacks threatened to leave town if Chase Field wasn’t upgraded. 

Thursday, September 4

The Chicago White Sox, trying hard to prevent a third straight 100-loss season, win their fifth consecutive game—their longest such streak since June 2023—by outlasting the Twins at Minnesota, 11-8. Two rookies feature for the White Sox; catcher Kyle Teel finishes a triple shy of the cycle and drives in four runs, while Colson Montgomery’s 454-foot homer, which caps the scoring in the ninth, is his 17th of the year—all of them since the All-Star Break. Only the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber has hit more in the season’s second half. 

All five of the White Sox’ victories in their current streak have occurred despite trailing at some point in each. 

The Phillies take a three-game series at Milwaukee, defeating the Brewers behind Ranger Suarez’s six shutout innings. In defeat, Brewers starter Freddy Peralta throws five shutout frames of his own before the bullpen folds; he’s the first pitcher in the modern era to throw at least five shutout innings, allowing three or fewer hits, in five straight starts. 

Friday, September 5

Davey Johnson, a sterling second baseman better known for managing multiple teams with successful results, has passed away at the age of 82. As a player, Johnson won three Gold Gloves for his work at second, made four All-Star rosters and produced 1,252 hits and 136 home runs—43 of them alone in a 1973 campaign with the Atlanta Braves, joining Hank Aaron and Darrell Evans as the first trio of teammates to each launch 40 homers in a season. (He never hit more than 18 in any other season.) Johnson won two World Series rings as a player, first as a rookie for the 1966 Orioles and, four years later, batting .407 with two homers in eight postseason games as the Orioles knocked off the Reds in the Fall Classic. 

In 1984, Johnson took on his first managerial role, an ultimate test of sorts as he presided over a New York Mets roster full of remarkable yet troublesome young talent (Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry), All-Star veterans (Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez), and some crazy characters in between (Lenny Dykstra, Roger McDowell), culminating with a wild, destiny-laden 1986 world title. He later piloted Cincinnati to back-to-back first-place finishes in the NL Central (1994-95), the Orioles to consecutive ALCS appearances (bowing in both), and in 2012 forged an emerging Washington Nationals team to its first postseason appearance seven years after relocating from Montreal. Johnson shrewdly managed to assert control without being bombastic, and was an early embracer of analytics. “A forward thinker with an old school soul,” former Nationals GM Mike Rizzo tells the Washington Post. 

In the Angels’ 10-4 home loss to the Athletics, Jose Urena throws five shutout innings of middle relief to keep the score from getting worse—and in the process ties a major league record by pitching for his fifth team this year. Urena had earlier worn the uniform of the Dodgers, Mets, Blue Jays and Twins; he now shares the mark of playing for five teams with Mike Baumann (2024) and Oliver Drake (2018). 

Quinn Priester gets the Brewers, who’ve been wobbly of late, back on track as he nets a franchise-record 11th straight win with a 5-2 decision at Pittsburgh. The 24-year-old right-hander allows two runs over seven innings to improve to 12-2; he hasn’t lost in any of his last 15 starts and 19 overall appearances since May 13. 

Saturday, September 6

On the 30th anniversary of Cal Ripken’s record-setting 2,131st consecutive game, the Baltimore Orioles experience another memorable moment in Oriole Park at Camden Yards as Jackson Holliday’s solo home run with two outs in the ninth denies the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the year’s first no-hitter—rallying from there for three more runs in a shock 4-3 comeback win. After the departure of Yamamoto, who walks two and throws 112 pitches, neither Blake Treinen nor Tanner Scott can hold a 3-1 lead. Treinen is particularly off key, allowing a double, HBP, wild pitch and two walks to load the bases; Scott then allows a single to his only batter (Emmanuel Rivera) to bring home two runs and win the game for the Orioles. It’s Scott’s ninth blown save of the year, tying Ryan Helsley for the major league lead. 

In St. Louis, San Francisco pitcher Justin Verlander moves up another notch on the all-time strikeout list, passing #8 Gaylord Perry with 6 K’s to give him 3,536 for his career. It’s all part of an agreeable night for the future Hall of Famer, who throws six shutout innings allowing three hits and no walks—until the ninth, when he watches his and the Giants’ chance for a win go up in smoke as closer Ryan Walker can’t retire any of four St. Louis batters he faces, three of whom score in a 3-2 win for the Cardinals. 

Neither of the Giants’ two tallies come via the home run, ending an 18-game streak in which the team hit at least one. That streak falls one game short of matching the Giants’ all-time record, and is the longest this season in MLB. 

Next on the list for Verlander is Don Sutton, who’s 38 strikeouts ahead at 3,574. That will be a tall order for the 42-year-old Verlander, who likely has three (maybe four) more starts left to the season—though he’s made it clear he has no plans to retire. 

The latest embarrassment in the plague that is the use of position players as late-inning batting practice pitchers takes place at Anaheim. After an early exit for ineffective Angels starter Yusei Kukuchi—allowing seven runs over two innings to the A’s—the Angels waive the white flag by the eighth and bring in utility guy Scott Kingery to pitch the final two innings. Throwing nothing but high-arcing eephus pitches barely faster than 40 MPH, Kingery is predictably blasted for eight runs on 12 hits, two of them home runs, as the A’s extend the rout and laugh their way to a 17-4 win. 

The 12 hits allowed by Kingery set an Angels franchise record for a reliever—and tie the major league mark for any pitcher working no more than two innings. 

Seriously, Rob Manfred, you got to do something about this. 

Sunday, September 7

Another week, another fine debut for a rookie pitcher called up from the Mets’ farm system. First it was Nolan McLean, then Jonah Tang; on this day it’s Brandon Sproat, who takes a no-hitter one out into the sixth inning at Cincinnati before finally being touched with a Noelvi Marte single. Then, an Elly De La Cruz double, followed by an Austin Hays single. Sproat finishes the inning and the afternoon with three runs allowed on three hits, but the Mets are primarily nailed down by Hunter Greene (seven hits, one run allowed on one hit, 12 strikeouts) in a 3-2 loss. 

Sprout is the 45th pitcher used by the Mets this year, tying the major league record set last year by the Miami Marlins. 

The Yankees’ quest to overtake the first-place Toronto in the AL East by season’s end takes a positive step forward, as New York wins the rubber match of a three-game series with a 4-3 home victory over the Blue Jays. Ben Rice gets things started quickly with a three-run homer in the first off Max Scherzer; Max Fried, after a wobbly start of his own, settles in and pitches seven innings for his 16th win of the year (against just five losses). Aaron Judge features for the Yankees by walking three times, scoring twice—one on the Rice home run, after extending his arms outward off second base to let Rice know what Scherzer was about to throw him—while making a diving catch in the fourth to keep the Blue Jays from scoring a game-tying run.

Boston closer Aroldis Chapman extends his club-record streak of consecutive hitless appearances to 17 games, striking out the side—and then some—to preserve a 7-4 victory over the Diamondbacks at Phoenix. Chapman is credited with four K’s in the ninth, including one via a wild pitch that allows Ildemaro Vargas to reach first safely after swinging and missing at strike three. The Red Sox’ victory, the 600th for manager Alex Cora, keeps them 1.5 games behind the Yankees for the top AL wild card spot—and 3.5 ahead of Seattle for the third spot. 

Monday, September 8

For the second time in three games, the Dodgers take a no-hitter into the ninth inning—this time, an effort of multiple pitchers—and again fail to complete it. As opposed to their previous bid—a 4-3 loss at Baltimore—the Dodgers will get the win, topping the visiting Rockies, 3-1. Tanner Scott, who blew the save at Baltimore, gives up the Rockies’ lone hit to the first batter he faces (Ryan Ritter) in the ninth, drawing a chorus of boos from the Dodger Stadium crowd of 48,433. 

The loss for Colorado is its 104th of the season, breaking a franchise record set two years ago. The Rockies will need to win 10 of their remaining 18 games to avoid becoming the first National League team since the 1962 Mets to record fewer than 50 wins in a season. 

The NL East-leading Phillies open a crucial four-game series against the second-place Mets with a 1-0 victory at Philadelphia, thanks to a second-inning RBI single from Nick Castellanos and six shutout innings from Aaron Nola in his best start amid an otherwise forgettable campaign. The win pads the Phillies’ divisional lead to eight games—and they’ll need that cushion to overcome what’s expected to be the absence of sparkplug speedster Trea Turner until the start of the playoffs. Turner injured himself a day earlier running out a throw at first base and has been diagnosed with a Grade-1 hamstring strain. 

Mets rookie Nolan McLean allows just the one run in 5.1 innings of work but takes his first loss. He had won each of his first four assignments, the first-ever Mets pitcher to do so. 

Tuesday, September 9

The Phillies clobber the Mets, 9-3, extending their lead in the NL East to nine games on a day of personal milestones for both sides. Kyle Schwarber’s 50th home run of the year, a three-run shot in the seventh, puts the game all but out of reach; he’s the second Phillie, after Ryan Howard (with 58 homers in 2006) to collect 50 in a season. Meanwhile for the Mets, Juan Soto becomes the team’s fifth player to amass 30 homers and 30 steals in a season, reaching second with an eighth-inning theft. (Soto’s previous season high for steals was 12.) Picking up his 12th win for the Phillies is Ranger Suarez, who allows just one hit over six shutout innings while striking out a career-high 12 batters. 

Just called up from the minors, Boston’s Connolly Early ties a Red Sox record for a pitcher making his big-league debut by striking out 11 A’s in a 6-0 win at Sacramento. Unlike the pitcher he matches—Don Aase, who faced 38 batters in a complete-game effort in 1977—Early will only need to face 21 to collect his 11 K’s; of the other 10 A’s, only one of them reach via a hit. 

In just his second start after two years on the shelf for Tommy John-related issues, Houston pitcher Luis Garcia is forced to check out in the second inning at Toronto with discomfort in his throwing elbow. After his departure, the Astros hold the Blue Jays hitless into the sixth inning—and hold a 3-1 lead in the ninth when the Jays rally to tie the game against reliver Bryan Abreu, suffering his first blown save since taking over for injured closer Josh Hader. Toronto will then score the winning run in the 10th; its 4-3 victory increases its AL East lead to three games, while reducing the Astros’ advantage in the AL West to a single game over Seattle, 5-3 winners at home against St. Louis. 

Alas for Garcia, he’ll have to undergo yet another surgery—which will likely force him to miss the entire 2026 season. 

Wednesday, September 10

After blowing a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth at Sacramento, the Athletics rebound and score a 5-4 victory over the Red Sox on Lawrence Butler’s walkoff RBI single off Aroldis Chapman. It ends a Boston-record streak of 17 straight appearances in which the 37-year-old reliever had not allowed a hit, totaling 50 batters. The Athletics are boosted early with home runs by Shea Langeliers and rookie Nick Kurtz; for both, it’s their 30th of the year. Kurtz becomes the third rookie in franchise history—after the back-to-back introductions of Jose Canseco (1986) and Mark McGwire (1987)—to reach 30. 

Another recent, impressive run of pitching comes to an end as Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta has a streak of 30 consecutive scoreless innings stopped by the first of two homers from the Rangers’ Jake Burger, as Texas rolls to a 6-3 victory. It’s the first time the Brewers have been swept in a series of three or more games since their season-opening series at New York against the Yankees. 

Peralta’s 30-inning streak was the second longest in franchise history, bettered only by Teddy Higuera’s 33.1-inning run in 1987. 

It’s another rout for the Tigers against the Yankees at New York, scoring nine times over the final three innings to run away with an 11-1 victory. This follows a 12-2 thumping the day before; it’s the first time ever that the Yankees have suffered consecutive home defeats by 10 or more runs. 

Thursday, September 11

The Blue Jays’ Kevin Gausman throws the majors’ first nine-inning complete game and shutout in 50 days, allowing just two hits and a walk with nine strikeouts in a 6-0 home win over Houston. It’s the fourth CG and second shutout of Gausman’s 13-year career; 79 of his 100 total pitches are strikes, the highest percentage (79%) of strikes ever thrown by a Blue Jays pitcher in a complete-game effort. 

Houston drops back into a first-place tie with Seattle in the AL West, as the Mariners go deep into extra innings for a second straight night and come out with their sixth straight win, 7-6 in 12 innings. In defeat, the Angels’ Mike Trout ends a career-long drought of 126 plate appearances without a home run by going deep in the fifth inning. Trout is certainly hoping his next homer doesn’t take as long to be hit, as it will be the 400th of his Hall-of-Fame career. 

Just days after passing Yogi Berra for fourth on the Yankees’ all-time home run list, Aaron Judge smacks two more over the fence to tie Joe DiMaggio (361) for third place in New York’s 9-2 home win over Detroit. Judge’s first home run occurs in the first inning, the 18th he’s hit this season in the opening frame—tying an MLB record set by Alex Rodriguez in 2001 and tied last year by Judge himself. 

The Phillies virtually enter coast mode for the rest of the regular season, sweeping a four-game series from the visiting Mets and extending their lead in the NL East over New York to a near-insurmountable 11 games with 15 to play. The Mets jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first on Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo, but fail to get a single runner on base the rest of the way against Luzardo (who completes eight innings) and closer Jhoan Duran, who strikes out the side in the ninth. For the Mets, the bigger issue isn’t catching the Phillies but to avoid sinking further and missing out on the postseason altogether. Losing their sixth straight game, the Mets are now just 1.5 games ahead of San Francisco and Cincinnati for the third and final NL wild card slot. 

Friday, September 12

Aaron Judge unleashes a 468-foot monster over Boston’s Green Monster, Luis Gil throws six no-hit innings before being pulled on 93 pitches, and the Yankees defeat the Red Sox at Fenway Park, 4-1, to take a 1.5-game lead over Boston for the top AL wild card seed. The titanic blast from Judge is his 362nd career shot to pass Joe DiMaggio for third on the Yankees’ all-time home run list; it’s also the 19th he’s belted in the first inning this season—setting a major league mark. 

The win for New York is its 82nd of the year, ensuring a 33rd straight winning record—the second longest in MLB history, after the 39-year run of the Yankees from 1926-64. 

Life continues to be rough for New York’s other team. The Mets face Texas pitcher Jacob deGrom, returning to Citi Field for the first time since leaving the ballclub after the 2022 season—and deGrom says “it’s good to be back” in the form of seven innings, with three runs allowed on four hits, in the Rangers’ 8-3 victory. It’s the seventh straight loss for the Mets—their longest skid since 2018. 

The Mets’ lead for the third and final NL wild card spot is reduced to a mere half-game over the resurgent Giants, who prevail over the Dodgers at San Francisco in 10 innings, 5-1. The winning blow is a grand slam from switch-hitting catcher Patrick Bailey, belting his first home run batting right-handed since 2023 (a span of some 200 at-bats); he’s the first major leaguer to have both a walkoff grand slam and walkoff inside-the-park homer in the same season. 

Fans of the Detroit Tigers hold their breaths after ace Tarik Skubal—who currently has a good shot at a second straight AL Cy Young Award—departs 3.1 innings into his start at Miami with tightness in his left oblique. Skubal shrugs off the pain after the game—an 8-2 loss to the Marlins—saying there’s “some tightness” and that he’s “optimistic” it’s nothing serious. Until being removed, Skubal was having his worst outing of the year; he lasts 3.1 innings (his shortest start since 2021) and allows four runs. 

Kody Clemens accomplishes something his legendary father Roger never could: Hit three home runs in a game. The 29-year-old first baseman has the Twins’ first hat trick of homers since 2021, with his third tater igniting a three-run, game-winning rally as Minnesota topples the visiting Diamondbacks, 9-8. It’s the 10th three-homer game by a Twins player over the last 10 seasons; in the 115 years before that, there were only six such occurrences. 

The Nationals’ James Wood is having an impressive first full year at the major league level, but he unfortunately goes into the wrong side of the franchise record book, surpassing Adam Dunn’s 2010 record of 199 season strikeouts with two whiffs to total 200 on the year. On the positive side, Wood doubles twice and scores two runs as the Nationals edge the visiting Pirates, 6-5. 

In Atlanta, the Astros get a boost from outfielder Zach Cole in his major league debut. He possibly robs the Braves’ Matt Olson of a home run in left field in the first inning, then in the third homers on the very first pitch he sees; he’ll add two singles and total four RBIs—a record for a Houston player making his MLB debut—as the Astros drill their way to an 11-3 victory. Cole is the fifth Houston player to go deep in his first at-bat—and the second, after Mark Saccomanno in 2008—to do it on the very first pitch. 

Saturday, September 13

The Milwaukee Brewers become the first team to clinch a spot for the postseason, getting the news before yet another walkoff win, 9-8 over the visiting Cardinals in 10 innings. The spot is secured after the Mets’ eighth straight loss out in New York, dropping a 3-2 decision to the Rangers; it’s the seventh time in the past eight seasons that Milwaukee will make the playoffs. 

Proving once again that no lead is safe against the Brewers, the Cardinals hold a 6-2 lead going into the bottom of the eighth—but give up two runs in the eighth, three in the ninth (after St. Louis had notched a run in the top of the inning), and two more in the 10th to wrap up their 11th walkoff win of the year. Andrew Monasterio delivers the game-winning hit on a one-out single. 

Nick Kurtz adds another highlight to his AL Rookie of the Year résumé, smashing the majors’ longest home run in two years with a soaring grand slam driven 493 feet well past center field at Sacramento, putting an exclamation point on the Athletics’ 11-5 victory over Cincinnati. It’s the longest home run by an A’s player in the 11-year Statcast Era, and the longest during that same time period by a rookie outside of two slightly longer shots (496 and 495 feet) drilled by Aaron Judge during his 2017 campaign. 

Salvador Perez’s 1,700th career hit is his 300th home run, also bringing in his 1,000th RBI, but that combination of nice, round numbers—and another homer hit earlier in the game—isn’t enough as the Royals succumb to the Phillies at Philadelphia, 8-6. The loss drops Kansas City below the .500 mark at 74-75, further diminishing their chances of returning to the postseason for a second straight season. 

Perez is the third Royals player, after George Brett and Hal MacRae, to knock in 1,000 runs; only Brett has more home runs, with 317. 

Sunday, September 14

Cal Raleigh ties Mickey Mantle’s all-time season record for home runs hit by a switch-hitter, clocking his 54th of the year in the first inning to ignite an 11-2 rout of the visiting Angels. The AL MVP candidate also sets a record for the most homers (43) in a game in which he’s played catcher; his other 11 jacks have come while playing either as a DH or pinch-hitter. The Mariners’ victory is their ninth straight, giving them sole possession of first place in the West by a game after Houston suffers an 8-3 defeat at Atlanta. 

In losing four straight games at Seattle, the Angels set a dubious team record by striking out 62 times over a four-game span. 

Monday, September 15

The Phillies clinch their second straight NL East title with a thrilling 6-5, 10-inning win over the Dodgers at Los Angeles. A chance to win the game outright in nine innings is ruined when closer Jhoan Duran—having an outstanding time in Philadelphia since being traded by the Twins—gives up a one-out home run to Andy Pages that ties the game. The Phillies rebound on J.T. Realmuto’s sac fly in the 10th; the Dodgers fail to respond and fall six games back of the Phillies for the NL’s #2 postseason seed—while their NL West lead over idle San Diego is whittled down to two games. 

It’s a night of news both good and rotten for the Astros. They pull to within a half-game of the idle, AL West-leading Mariners with a 6-3 win over the visiting Rangers—themselves lurking not too far behind in the divisional standings—but also lose slugger Yordan Alvarez for what could be significant time as he turns his ankle crossing home plate in the first inning. Alvarez, who’s already missed a good chunk of the season and was finally getting back into a nice groove with a .392 September batting average, leaves the clubhouse on crutches and wearing a boot; he will miss the rest of the season, having played only 48 games. 

Trey Yesavage, tearing up the minor leagues this season with 160 strikeouts over 98 innings, makes his major league debut for the Blue Jays and strikes out nine Rays in just five innings of work. The 22-year-old right-hander otherwise allows a run on three hits and two walks, contributing to the Blue Jays on a night they prevail in 10 innings, 2-1. The nine K’s by Yesavage are the most ever by a Blue Jays pitcher making his big-league debut. 

Tuesday, September 16

At Kansas City, the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh belts his 55th home run to break Mickey Mantle’s season home run mark by a switch hitter—then hits his 56th to tie Ken Griffey Jr.’s season franchise mark, as Seattle tramples over the Royals, 12-5. Raleigh’s historic multi-homer game, his 10th of the year, warrants enough headlines to shadow not only a three-homer performance from Seattle DH Dominic Canzone, but also the fact that the Mariners win their 10th straight game—keeping them a half-game ahead of Houston (6-5 winners over Texas) in the AL West. 

While it’s a big night for a big-time AL MVP candidate, it’s also a pretty impressive one for the NL’s likely repeat winner. At Los Angeles, Shohei Ohtani throws five no-hit innings on 68 pitches—seven of which reach 100 MPH—and later crushes his 50th home run to add his name to a list of 11 other major leaguers who’ve produced multiple 50-homer seasons. But after Ohtani departs from the mound with a 4-0 lead over the Phillies, the Dodgers’ bullpen squanders the lead as Philadelphia racks up nine runs over the final four innings to prevail, 9-6. 

Of the 12 players with at least two campaigns hitting 50 homers, Ohtani is one of seven to do it in back-to-back campaigns. 

Could it be the Curse of Anaheim? Ohtani’s former team, the Los Angeles Angels, clinch their 10th consecutive losing record—the longest active streak in the majors—by getting pounded by the Brewers at Milwaukee, 9-2. It’s interesting to note that the decade-long drought began just after the Angels dropped the “of Anaheim” from the official team name, sticking solely since with “Los Angeles.” 

A planned series between the Yankees and Blue Jays in London next June has been called off by MLB for a pair of reasons—and soccer is to blame for both. The games were scheduled at London Stadium, but England’s Premier League set a home game on the 2025-26 season’s final weekend on May 24 at the same venue for West Ham United; the three-week turnaround would not be enough time for officials to adequately convert the soccer pitch into a baseball configuration, used in three previous MLB campaigns. The date also makes it difficult for Fox to broadcast the game, given that the network will be knee-deep in expansive World Cup soccer coverage during that time. 

Wednesday, September 17

The Chicago Cubs officially clinch their first postseason spot since 2020—and their first in a full season since 2018—finishing off a three-game sweep at Pittsburgh with an 8-4 win. Three runs in the sixth inning, capped by a pinch-hit RBI single from 40-year-old Justin Turner, breaks a 4-4 tie. 

The Mets lose wild card ground on the Cubs by getting beat up by the visiting Padres, 7-4. Manny Machado’s grand slam in the fifth off New York starter David Peterson breaks a 2-2 tie and puts the Padres ahead for good. Reliever Dominic Hamel, taking over for Peterson in the sixth, becomes the 46th Mets pitcher this season—breaking the MLB record set just last year by the Marlins. In one inning of work, Hamel will load up the bases on three hits—but allows no runs. 

The Mariners see an end to their 10-game win streak—tied for the third longest in franchise history—by bowing to the Royals at Kansas City, 7-5. Cole Ragans’ first start in over three months lasts 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on a hit while striking out four—including three in the first inning on nine swinging strikes. In the ninth, Royals closer Carlos Estevez nets his MLB-leading 40th save, despite allowing a run on three hits. 

The Red Sox tie the Mariners for the #2 wild card seed by defeating the Athletics at Boston in 10 innings, 5-4. After stroking an RBI single in the sixth to tie the game, the Red Sox’ Trevor Story steals his 31st base in 31 tries this year, setting an AL record for the most swipes without being caught to start a season. But two innings later, he’ll be caught stealing on a 32nd attempt—ruining his chance to finish a season with the most steals without getting tagged out. That record will remain the property of Trea Turner, who went 30-for-30 in 2023 for the Phillies. 

The woe-be-way-gone Rockies, in losing once again, 8-4 to the visiting Marlins, reach a dubious mark by seeing their run differential drop to -402. If that figure is sustained (or worsened) over their remaining 10 games, Colorado will become the first modern-era team to finish a year allowing 400 more runs than they score; even if the Rockies outscore the opposition the rest of the way, they’ll likely set the season record of -349 set in 1932 by the 43-111 Red Sox. 

Thursday, September 18

Clayton Kershaw, arguably the greatest pitcher in Dodgers history—we certainly think so—announces that this will be his last season. He’ll make two final regular season starts, guaranteeing that Kershaw (222 career wins, 96 losses) will retire as the only pitcher since 1900 to win over 200 games while losing less than 100. The résumé on Kershaw is certainly Cooperstown-worthy. He’s won four Cy Young awards, the 2014 NL MVP, five ERA titles—four of them consecutively (2011-14)—two World Series rings, and has made 11 All-Star rosters. With 3,039 strikeouts, he’s the all-time franchise leader, and his 18 seasons logged with the team are tied for the most in franchise history, along with Bill Russell and Zack Wheat. 

Kershaw is eligible for selection into the Hall of Fame in 2031. He’ll most certainly get there on the first ballot. 

With Kershaw watching, six Dodgers pitchers combine on a one-hit, 2-1 victory over the Giants—despite walking 10. Starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto allows the lone hit, a second-inning single from Patrick Bailey, and walks six. The Dodgers increase their lead in the NL West to three games over idle San Diego with nine to play. 

Only twice before had a team walked 10 or more batters while allowing no more than a hit and run. 

Look out—here come the Guardians. A team that looked dead in the water just a couple of weeks ago sweep the first-place Tigers with a 3-1 victory, giving Cleveland its 12th win in its last 13 games. The Guardians are now just 3.5 back of the Tigers—and they’ll have three more games against them next week at Cleveland. Not even Tarik Skubal, back on the mound after oblique pains in his last start, can overcome the Guardians despite a good effort (six innings, one run allowed, nine strikeouts). It’s his replacement, Troy Melton, who gives up a two-run homer to Jose Ramirez in the seventh that provides the difference for the Guardians. 

In their 12-1 run, the Guardians’ team ERA is 1.56. 

Friday, September 19

In what may be his final start ever at Dodger Stadium, Clayton Kershaw labors through 91 pitches over 4.1 innings, but holds the visiting Giants to two runs before being all but ceremoniously removed by manager Dave Roberts, exiting to teammates’ hugs and a standing ovation from the crowd of 53,000. The Dodgers will go on to win, 6-3, clinching a postseason spot for the 13th consecutive season—just one short of the MLB record held by the 1991-2005 Braves (omitting the incomplete 1994 campaign). Propelling the Dodgers at the plate is Shohei Ohtani, whose 52nd home run in the fifth, a three-run shot, puts Los Angeles ahead to stay. 

Four solo homers are all the Mariners need to topple the Astros at Houston, 4-0, in the first game of a crucial three-game series between the two teams fighting it out for the AL West title. The round-trippers include a first-inning shot by Julio Rodriguez, and the 47th of the year from Eugenio Suarez, as Seattle takes a one-game lead over the Astros. One area of concern for the Mariners is the status of pitcher Bryan Woo, sharp for the first five innings as he allows only a hit and walk; going out for the sixth, Woo experiences pectoral pain and is removed. After a later MRI, the Mariners are optimistic that he’ll be ready for the postseason—if they get there. 

It’s a night of record-setting performances—the bad kind—for Toronto pitchers at Kansas City. Starter Max Scherzer is clobbered for seven runs on seven hits (including two homers) over just 0.2 innings, the worst start of his (likely) Hall-of-Fame career. By the seventh inning, down 10-1, the Blue Jays waive the white flag and send out back-up catcher Tyler Heineman for batting practice pitching. Over the next two innings, Heineman will get four outs—but the Royals will otherwise tee off on him, collecting 10 runs on 13 hits as they romp to a 20-1 victory. It’s the most hits allowed by any pitcher, ever, in less than two innings of work; the 27 total hits by the Royals set a team record. 

Another pitcher having a really awful night is the Tigers’ Charlie Morton. At Detroit against the Braves, the 41-year-old Morton faces off against his former mates and is battered for six runs on five hits over 1.1 innings; he also walks two and hits the 200th batter of his career—making him only the fifth pitcher, and the first since Walter Johnson, to plunk 200+. The Tigers have no fight in them for a comeback and end the night losing, 10-1. Combined with Cleveland’s 6-2 win at Minnesota, the Tigers’ once-indomitable lead in the AL Central shrinks to just two games. 

Morton will be designated for assignment by the Tigers two days later—and will be quickly brought back onto the Atlanta Braves’ roster. 

Saturday, September 20

The slow-moving seismic shift at the top of all three AL divisions continues, with three teams holding once-considerably sized leads now each holding on for dear life with barely a week to go in the regular season. 

At Houston, Cal Raleigh belts his 57th home run—breaking Ken Griffiey Jr.’s Seattle season record—and Victor Robles makes a sensational game-saving catch in the ninth to dramatically cut short a late comeback bid by the Astros and give the Mariners a 6-4 win. Seattle is now two games up in the AL West over the Astros, who barely more than two weeks ago were up by four.  

In the AL Central, the improbable matching up of the Tigers and Guardians at the top of the standings is edgingly close to fruition. Detroit blows a 5-4 lead in the ninth as the visiting Braves rally for a pair of runs and hand the Tigers a 6-5 defeat, their fifth straight and eighth in their last nine attempts. It’s the first time all season that the Tigers have lost a game in which they led after eight; Kansas City remains the only MLB team to be undefeated in such a manner. 

The loss for the Tigers, whose lead in the Central was a very comfortable 10 games just a couple of weeks earlier, is now down to just one as the second-place Guardians snare a pair in a doubleheader sweep at Minnesota. Slade Cecconi throws seven shutout innings in a 6-0 first-game victory, followed by eight from Luke Allen in an 8-0 nightcap win. It’s the fifth shutout victory of the month for Cleveland and 10th straight victory overall—the Guardians’ longest since setting an AL record with 22 in 2017. 

In the East, the Blue Jays lose their fifth straight, 2-1 at Kansas City, as their once pleasant lead of five games just six days ago is now down to two over the Yankees. Royals rookie standout Noah Cameron locks down the Jays for 6.2 innings, allowing a run on three hits; Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino supply the offense with solo homers in the fourth. 

The Yankees close the gap on the Blue Jays with a 6-1 triumph at Baltimore. Aaron Judge belts his 49th homer while Giancarlo Stanton cranks the 450th of his career; Carlos Rodon throws seven sharp innings to record his 17th win of the year, trailing only teammate Max Fried (18) at the top of the MLB leaderboard. 

It took a little longer than expected, but Mike Trout reaches a milestone with his 400th home run, a 485-foot blast at Coors Field as the Angels shut down the Rockies, 3-0. It’s only Trout’s second homer over his last 43 games; he’s the first Angel to hit 400. On the mound, Kyle Hendricks throws seven shutout innings to pick up the win, while 38-year-old veteran Luis Garcia—in his third tour of duty with the Angels—earns the save as Kenley Jansen is sidelined for the series due to an ongoing heart condition that makes it difficult (if not dangerous) for him to perform in thin, mile-high Colorado air. 

Exactly half of Trout’s 400 homers have been hit on the road. 

The man who catches Trout’s 400th returns the ball to him after the game, not asking for money, balls or bats; he only asks that he can play catch with the future Hall of Famer. Trout happily obliges. 

The loss for the Rockies ensures that they’ll be the first NL team since the expansion 1962 Mets to finish a full year with less than 50 wins.  

The Dodgers make it three in a row over the Giants at Los Angeles—and in the process break a 1,287-1,287 tie in the all-time collection of matchups between the two archrivals, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Shohei Ohtani goes deep again, his 53rd of the year to tie the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber for the NL lead; in a stat that just doesn’t read right, Ohtani’s 53 homers come with just 99 RBIs. (Yes, there’s a reason for that: He’s a leadoff hitter.) 

While the Dodgers’ win and a four-game lead (with seven to play) over second-place San Diego in the NL West is good news for the team, there’s also bad news; All-Star catcher Will Smith has a hairline fracture in his hand, endangering his postseason availability. 

Sunday, September 21

Eight days after clinching a postseason spot, the Brewers secure their eighth divisional title—and their third straight— despite a 5-1 loss at St. Louis. With Philadelphia bowing at Arizona, the Brewers manage to maintain a three-game lead for home field advantage throughout the postseason. Trouble may be on the horizon for the Brewers, however, as it’s revealed that pitcher Brandon Woodruff could miss a significant part (or all of) the postseason with a lat strain—joining fellow rotation mate Jose Quintana, recently placed on the IL with a left calf issue. In 12 starts this season after missing nearly two full years to injury, Woodruff is 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA. 

It’s worse news for the Mets, once the NL East divisional leaders—but now in danger of missing the postseason altogether. In New York’s home finale, the Mets are defeated by the Nationals and center fielder Jacob Young, who makes two sensational catches: One a fifth-inning catch in which he uses his foot to keep the ball from hitting the ground, the other an over-the-wall grab in left -center to steal a game-tying homer from Francisco Alvarez.  

If the playoffs were to begin today, the Mets would be out. That’s because the Reds take a 1-0 victory—their fifth straight—over the visiting Cubs, matching Cincinnati with the same record as the Mets (76-72); the Reds own the tiebreaker, as they won four of six games head-to-head against New York this season. 

With a week left to the regular season, somebody finally clinches a postseason spot in the American League. That somebody is the Toronto Blue Jays, who end a four-game slide and defeat the Royals at Kansas City, 8-5. A two-run rally in the eighth, capped by Andres Gimenez’s RBI triple, gives the Jays insurance after the Royals cut the lead to one. The Blue Jays remain ahead of the Yankees (7-1 winners in 10 innings at Baltimore) in the AL East by two games with six to play. 

The Mariners take control of the AL West, expanding their lead to three games over the Astros as they finish a three-game sweep at Houston. In a 7-3 Sunday Night victory, Seattle scores all of its runs in the second inning, highlighted by Cal Raleigh’s 58th home run and a grand slam from J.P. Crawford. The Mariners finish off their regular season with six home games—three against the 43-113 Rockies, followed by three against the (likely) resting-up Dodgers; the Astros, meanwhile, hit the road with three-game series against the A’s and Angels, the West’s two worst teams. 

Corbin Carroll becomes the first player in Diamondbacks history with a 30-30 campaign, swiping his 30th base to go with 31 home runs as Arizona takes care of the visiting Phillies, 9-2. The fourth-year outfielder is the fourth player this year to go 30-30, joining Juan Soto, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Jose Ramirez. 

The Dodgers have drawn three million fans in more years (36) than any other MLB team, but they’ve never drawn over four million—until this season. In their home finale against the Giants, the Dodgers bring in a crowd of 46,601 to finish the 2025 home schedule with 4,012,470. The home fans are treated to a disappointing finish, as the Giants rally after the departure of Eddie Sheehan (seven shutout innings, one hit allowed and 10 strikeouts) to score three times off struggling reliever Blake Treinen in the eighth and hold from there for a 3-1 victory. 

It’s the first time that an MLB team has drawn four million fans in a season since 2008, when the Yankees and Mets both closed out, respectively, the original Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium. Two other teams previously attracted over four million: The Blue Jays and Rockies. 

Treinen has been charged with each of the Dodgers’ last five losses—a major league, modern-era first. 

Monday, September 22

Stu Sternberg’s 20-year reign as lord of the Tampa Bay Rays is over as MLB approves the sale of the franchise to Jacksonville real estate magnate Patrick Zalupski for $1.7 billion. Sternberg will retain 10% of team ownership, but Zalupski will clearly call the shots—including the seemingly eternal effort to find a new ballpark to replace Tropicana Field, which is undergoing repairs after being battered by Hurricane Milton nearly a year ago. According to the Tampa Bay Times, six of the 24 replacement roof panels have been installed at the 37-year-old facility. Meanwhile, the Rays finished their 2025 home schedule drawing 786,750 fans to 10,000-seat Steinbrenner Field, the team’s temporary home; they are hoping to return to the Trop for the start of the 2026 season. 

The Padres are the fifth NL team to reserve a postseason spot, defeating the visiting Brewers in 11 innings, 5-4. Freddy Fermin’s RBI single brings home the gift runner, after both teams notch a single run in the 10th. San Diego’s win leaves just one wild card spot open, with the Reds, Mets and Diamondbacks weighing in as the prime contenders. 

Tuesday, September 23

It’s official: The automatic strike zone will be in play for the 2026 MLB regular season. Voted by the league’s competition committee, the ABS system will be used in much the same way as it was this past March when tested during Spring Training games. Teams will get two challenges per game to overturn a ball/strike call from the home plate umpire—who will remain in charge of making the initial calls—with additional challenges should the game go into extra innings. Part of what made the spring training ABS trial a success was the swiftness in which challenges were called and resolved, as the pitch location was immediately shown for all to see—not unlike in/out calls promptly reviewed at tennis matches. 

One side effect of the ABS’ presence will likely be the number of ejections over disputed balls-and-strikes calls, which currently make up roughly 60% of all ejections. They’re still likely to occur due to the limited quota of ABS challenges—but the testosterone levels may dip a bit on the field. 

The Cleveland Guardians, 12.5 games behind Detroit just four weeks ago, have caught up with the Tigers. In the first contest of a crucial three-game series at Cleveland, the Guardians take a 5-2 victory over Detroit and ace Tarik Skubal—who goes through a harrowing, game-defining sixth inning after throwing five scoreless frames to start. In that sixth, Skubal achieves the cycle of pitching blunders by committing an error, balk, wild pitch, and a hit batsman—a harrowing moment when the Guardians’ David Fry, squaring up to bunt, takes a 99-MPH Skubal fastball straight to the face. Fry is carted off and sent to the hospital with a broken nose and other facial fractures—but will not need surgery. (Skubal’s reaction to the pitch is one of anguish, as he drops both his glove and cap to the ground.) The Guardians will end up scoring three runs on the inning—with not one ball leaving the infield—and never look back. The rally also deservedly earns a win for Cleveland starter Gavin Williams, who tosses a career high-tying 12 strikeouts over six innings. 

The Guardians not only own a share of first-place in the AL Central, they clinch the season series against the Tigers with their seventh win out of a scheduled 13 games—thus giving them the advantage in case of a season-ending tie in the standings.  

The Yankees clinch their 60th postseason appearance with a walkoff 3-2 victory over the visiting White Sox, but they have bigger and better things on their minds. The next item they hope to check off their list is the AL East title, as the win moves them within a game of first-place Toronto (4-1 losers to Boston). The two-run, ninth-inning comeback over Chicago is very atypical of the Yankees—a small-ball rally consisting of three singles and two walks. Jose Caballero strokes the game-winning hit with two outs and two strikes, on the ninth pitch of the at-bat against Steven Wilson. 

It took almost the entire season, but someone finally surpasses 200 innings in the pitching log. Not surprisingly, it’s modern San Francisco “workhorse” Logan Webb, on his way to leading the NL in innings pitched for the third straight year as he totals six against the visiting Cardinals, allowing three runs. But Webb’s bid to match a career high in wins (15) is spoiled by an ineffective Giants bullpen, as four relievers combine to concede six runs over the final three innings to give St. Louis a 9-8 comeback victory. Brendan Donovan contributes with an MLB record-tying four doubles, the second time that’s been achieved this year (the Rockies’ Ezequiel Tovar, August 1)—and the 52nd such occurrence since 1900. 

For the second straight year, there will be no 100-game winners in the majors. The Padres see to that by handing the visiting Brewers a 7-0 defeat, dropping Milwaukee to 95-63—and ending the Brewers’ bid for their first-ever 100-win season. Seven shutout innings from Randy Vasquez silence the Brewers. 

In his final pitching tune-up before the playoffs, Shohei Ohtani tosses six shutout innings, striking out eight and walking none, as the Dodgers build up a 4-0 lead at Arizona. But the Los Angeles bullpen, so awful of late, once again can’t hold it; the Diamondbacks score three runs in the seventh, then notch two in the ninth off beleaguered closer Tanner Scott—suffering his MLB-high 10th blown save of the year—to grab a 5-4 victory. The win keeps Arizona’s late-blossoming playoff hopes alive, trailing the Mets by a single game for the third and final NL wild card spot. 

Wednesday, September 24

Two of the three AL divisions have dramatically flipped in the last week—and the third is on the brink of doing the same. 

One overturn is completed, accompanied with a thundering achievement. The Seattle Mariners clinch their first divisional title since their impressive 116-46 campaign from 2001, with Cal Raleigh reaching the rarified air of 60 home runs previously accomplished in the AL by Babe Ruth, Roger Maris and Aaron Judge. In other words, he’s the first American Leaguer not playing for the Yankees to hit 60 in a season. It’s also his 11th multi-homer game of the year—tying the major league season record held by Hank Greenberg, Sammy Sosa and Judge. Seattle’s 9-2 home win over Colorado, clinching the West, is their 10th straight home win—one short of the club record held, yes, by the 2001 team—and their 16th overall win through their last 17 games. 

Raleigh has four games remaining to hit two homers and tie Judge’s 2022 AL season record—and three to break it. 

The Guardians take a one-game lead in the AL Central over Detroit by winning their second straight against the visiting Tigers, 5-1. Tanner Bibbe throws six solid innings, while Cleveland hitters gradually ramp up the score after an early two-run homer from George Valera. It’s the Tigers’ eighth straight loss—five of those to Cleveland. 

The one-game lead for Cleveland is really a two-game advantage, because the Guardians hold the tiebreaker advantage. 

Meanwhile, the AL East is up for grabs as the Yankees win their fourth straight, while the Blue Jays lose their second straight—and sixth of their last seven—to force a tie at the top. The Yankees’ 8-1 home win over the White Sox is powered by two Aaron Judge homers, giving him 51 on the year; he thus ties Ruth, Sosa and Mark McGwire for the most seasons (four) hitting 50-plus. Judge is also one of four players this season to reach 50, tying the record for the most in one season (also done in 1998 and 2001); Eugenio Suarez, hitting his 48th in Seattle, could make it a record-breaking five. 

The loss is the 100th of the year for the White Sox, clinching their third straight triple-digit loss campaign; in 122 seasons before the dubious streak began, they had only lost 100 or more in four seasons. 

The good news for the Blue Jays, who are beaten up by the Red Sox at Toronto, 7-1: They hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Yankees.

The Phillies hit a team-record eight home runs in thrashing the visiting Marlins, 11-1, ending Miami’s seven-game win streak. Three of the jolts come from Edmundo Sosa, while two others are drilled by Kyle Schwarber—giving him a NL-best 56 on the year. In the eighth, Schwarber has a chance for a hat trick himself, against outfielder/exhibition pitcher Javier Sanoja—but settles for a single. 

Schwarber’s first homer is hit off Miami southpaw starter Ryan Weathers, his 23rd hit by a left-handed batter against a left-handed pitcher. It breaks the MLB season mark co-held by Stan Musial (1949) and Matt Olson (2021). 

The Braves’ not-too-little but way-too-late streak of 10 straight wins comes to an end at Atlanta as they bow to Washington, 4-3. It was the Braves’ longest streak since winning 14 in a row in 2022. James Wood stars for the Nationals with a pair of homers, giving him 30 on the year. 

Thursday, September 25

The Tigers finally snap out of their funk, ending an eight-game skid with a 4-2 win at Cleveland—avoiding a three-game sweep and clawing their way back into a first-place tie in the AL Central. Jahmai Jones’ leadoff homer in the first sparks the Tigers, who score all four of their runs within the first four innings off Guardians starter Parker Messick, ending a streak of 19 straight games in which Cleveland starters had allowed no more than two runs—one short of the record held by the 1917 White Sox. A late RBI double by the Guardians’ Jose Ramirez is the 726th extra-base hit of his career, breaking Earl Averill’s franchise mark. 

The Yankees and Blue Jays remain tied for first in the AL East as they head into the regular season’s final weekend. Toronto finally generates some offense—and a win—by defeating the visiting Red Sox, 6-1. Daulton Varsho’s grand slam sparks a sixth-inning rally in which all of the Blue Jays’ runs are notched. Meanwhile in New York, the Yankees finish off a three-game sweep of the White Sox with a 5-3 victory. Carlos Rodon picks up his 18th win, while Aaron Judge draws two intentional walks to give him 36 on the year—breaking Ted Williams’ official AL-record total of 34 from 1957. (We say “official,” as both retrosheet.org and baseball-reference.com have Williams garnering 33 that season.)

The Mets maintain their hold of the third NL wild card spot with an 8-5 victory at Chicago over the Cubs. Francisco Lindor launches his 30th homer, clinching his second 30-30 campaign; he’s the second player (after Juan Soto) to achieve the feat this year, and the fifth throughout baseball—setting a season record. 

The Reds stay a game behind the Mets for the final wild card spot, and they have right fielder Noelvi Marte largely to thank. With one out in the ninth and the bases empty, the Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds belts a drive to deep right—and Marte snatches the ball above the wall, saving the win. (He’ll make a much easier catch for the third out.) “Under the circumstances,” Reds manager Terry Francona says afterward, “that is one of the best plays I’ve seen.”  

The Dodgers clinch their 12th NL West crown over their last 13 years with an 8-0 whitewashing of the Diamondbacks in Phoenix. Shohei Ohtani drills his 54th homer of the year—tying the Dodgers’ season mark he himself set last year—while starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws six scoreless innings to check out his regular season account with a 12-8 record and 2.49 ERA, the latter figure represented as the NL’s second best. 

Friday, September 26

The regular season’s final weekend begins with two AL divisions remaining a toss-up. 

The Yankees win their sixth straight game against the visiting Orioles, 8-4, on the strength of two home runs from Giancarlo Stanton (who knocks in five) and the 52nd of the year from Aaron Judge. Stanton’s first shot is the 48th hit by New York this year in the first inning—setting an MLB record. 

The Blue Jays stay even with the Yankees atop the AL East with a 4-2 home triumph over Tampa Bay. Nathan Lukes’ two-run homer in the fifth unlocks a 2-2 tie and makes Toronto starter Shane Bieber a winner for the fourth time in seven starts since being acquired from Cleveland. The Guardians fail in their chance to retake a one-game lead (plus tiebreaker advantage) in the AL Central by falling at home to Texas, 7-3. The Rangers’ Jack Leiter Jr. keeps the Cleveland offense in check with seven solid innings, including 10 strikeouts. 

Meanwhile in Boston, the Tigers can’t capitalize on the chance to retake the AL Central lead, unable to hold an early lead and losing to the Red Sox, 4-3. Single runs in the final three innings put the Red Sox over the top, with Ceddanne Rafaela’s RBI triple in the ninth as the game-winner. With the victory, the Red Sox clinch a wild card spot, leaving only two teams battling for the third and final AL spot: Houston, and whoever finishes second in the AL Central. 

In the National League, the Mets fall into a tie with the Reds for that circuit’s final wild card slot, dropping a 6-2 decision to the Marlins at Miami. The Reds equal things up with a 3-1 win at Milwaukee against the Brewers, ending a 19-game unbeaten streak when pitcher Quinn Preister (16 starts, three relief appearances) is active in the game. 

The Mariners have two winning streaks ended as they bow at home to the Dodgers, 3-2. A two-run homer from Los Angeles’ Kiké Hernandez in the third sets the tone for the rest of the evening, stopping Seattle’s seven-game win streak—and an 11-game run at home, tied for the longest in team history. 

You can add one more player to the record total of those with 30 homers and 30 steals this year. In Chicago, the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong cranks out his 30th homer, to go with 35 steals, in a 12-1 drubbing of the Cardinals. Crow-Armstrong joins Sammy Sosa as the second Cubs player to go 30-30.  

In a matchup of baseball’s two worst teams outside of the Rockies, a two-run homer in the ninth from rookie Colson Montgomery—his 20th of the year, all since the All-Star Break—gives the White Sox a 10-9 victory over the Nationals at Washington, ending their five-game slide. The defeat for the Nats comes despite a three-homer game from Luis Garcia Jr., with shots in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings; he’s the 12th player in franchise history with a hat trick. 

Saturday, September 27

Going into the regular season’s final day, only one playoff spot remains available: That of the NL’s third wild card spot, up for grabs between the Mets and Reds. Both teams enter the day with 83-78 records, but the advantage is with Cincinnati—who own the tiebreaker having won the season series head-to-head against New York. 

The Reds pick a terrific time to end a streak of 13 straight series losses to Milwaukee, winning their second straight game against the majors’ best team (by the record), 7-4. A six-run outburst in the second inning, consisting of a double, two singles (one an infield hit), two walks and two errors, sets the tone for the rest of the game. The Reds could sew up the wild card in their regular season finale with a win, regardless of what the Mets do in Miami—but they’ll have to get past Freddy Peralta, the Brewers’ best pitcher (17-6, 2.68 ERA). 

The Mets stay alive with a 5-0 win over the Marlins, fueled by Pete Alonso’s 38th homer of the year and six shutout innings of one-hit ball from Clay Holmes. Juan Soto, though hitless in five plate appearances, walks twice—giving him 126 on the year to break John Olerud’s 1999 team record. 

The American League’s final two playoff spots are secured by the AL Central’s two top teams. The Tigers clinch at Boston with a 2-1 victory, while the Guardians—despite being under .500 for the majority of the season—grab the final postseason spot in a most unusual way, as CJ Kayfus is hit by a pitch with the bags loaded to bring home the game-winning run in a 3-2 victory over the visiting Rangers. Eliminated are the Houston Astros, who will miss the postseason for the first time since 2016. 

Now comes the question of who, between the Tigers and Guardians, will win the AL Central. The bigger question is, will they care? Tarik Skubal is scratched from Detroit’s season finale against the Red Sox, because the Tigers want to save him for the first game of the postseason—prioritizing his availability over the chance to win the division and have 100% home-field advantage in the first round. The risk, understandably, is that Skubal skips the finale, the Tigers could lose and wind up playing the first round on the road with Skubal unavailable until Game Three—on three days’ rest. Blessed is the wild card. 

The Phillies’ bid to snatch home-field advantage throughout the postseason from the Brewers is denied, thanks to their first-round pick from 2020. Mick Abel, who had a few shining moments for the Phillies before being traded to the Twins at the end of July, takes on his former team and shines again, allowing three hits and a walk over six shutout innings with nine strikeouts as the Twins prevail, 5-0. It’s the first time this season that the Phillies have been shut out at home. In his previous six outings going back three months, Abel was 0-3 with a 15.63 ERA. 

The record list of major leaguers going 30-30 this season increases to seven, as Julio Rodriguez becomes the latest member of this year’s club with his 29th and 30th stolen bases in Seattle’s 5-3 loss to the visiting Dodgers. It’s the second time in his four-year career that Rodriguez—who has 32 homers this year—has gone 30-30; the only other Mariners player to do it even once was Alex Rodriguez in 1998. Cal Raleigh is hitless in four at-bats with three strikeouts, remaining two homers behind Aaron Judge’s 2022 AL season home run record of 62. 

In a 6-5 loss at Washington, White Sox pitcher Sean Burke—who’s been mostly a starter this season—comes in from the bullpen and sets a franchise record for a reliever with 10 strikeouts over 4.1 innings. Burke does allow two runs but leaves with Chicago up, 4-2—before the Nationals rally to win. 

Sunday, September 28

It’s become a September tradition: The collapse of the New York Mets. On the regular season’s final day, the Mets—who on June 12 had the majors’ best record, at 45-24—blow their chance to enter the postseason, getting shut out 4-0 at Miami. The Reds, who had earlier lost at Milwaukee, 4-2, had given an opening for the Mets to sneak past them, but the Mets are 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position against the Marlins—including a loud line out by Pete Alonso with the bases loaded to end a fifth-inning threat. “It is unfathomable,” says Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen moments after the loss, “that this collection of talent winds up outside of an expanded playoff system.” 

The Reds’ 83-79 record is the worst by a team making the postseason since the 2005 Padres won the NL West with an 82-80 record. 

The Blue Jays conquer the AL East with a 13-4 drubbing of the visiting Rays. While the Jays finish in a 94-68 tie with the Yankees, they get the nod due to an 8-5 record against New York during the season. Alejandro Kirk’s grand slam in the first propels Toronto to an early lead; he’ll add a two-run shot—giving him a career-high six RBIs—in the fifth to pad the margin after the Rays had cut it to one. 

The Guardians emerge as champions of the AL Central, finalizing the largest September comeback to top a division or league in major league history. Though they finish a game ahead of Detroit with a comeback 9-8, 10-inning home win over Texas, the division is clinched beforehand, after Detroit’s 4-3 loss at Boston (with Tarik Skubal sitting it out) eliminates the Tigers from first place per a tiebreaker. 

Eleven games back of Detroit on September 4, Cleveland finishes the season with 19 wins over its final 23 games. 

Clayton Kershaw makes his final regular season start, throwing 5.1 shutout innings with seven strikeouts and a walk against the Mariners before being pulled, departing to a standing ovation from Seattle fans. His 223rd victory—against just 96 losses—is fueled by three home runs, including the 55th of the year for Shohei Ohtani to break his own Dodgers season record from the previous year. For Seattle, Cal Raleigh fails to go deep in his last game of the regular season, finishing with 60 homers as the Mariners fall, 6-1. 

Kershaw will not be part of the Dodgers’ first-round playoff roster, for good reason; his start at Seattle would likely not allow him to rest up in time to be available for the best-of-three series against Cincinnati. Do look for him in the second round—if the Dodgers advance—but it’s still murky as to whether he would be used as a starter or reliever. 

It’s finally over for the Colorado Rockies, as a 4-0 loss at San Francisco completes a downright ugly 43-119 season that includes modern-era records for the worst run differential (-424) and worst starting pitcher ERA (6.65); their .263 winning percentage is the third worst in NL annals since 1900, ahead of only the 1935 Boston Braves and 1962 Mets. For the Giants, Willy Adames is placed in the leadoff spot to get as many at-bats as possible to become the first San Francisco player to hit 30 homers since Barry Bonds in 2004. Adames only needs one at-bat—and one pitch, crushing McCade Brown’s first delivery over the center-field fence. Rafael Devers will later belt his 35th homer of the year—20 of those for the Giants—as he becomes the majors’ first player since 2008 to log 163 games in a season due to his midseason trade from Boston. 

Back in the lineup after a three-week absence, the Phillies’ Trea Turner goes hitless in two at-bats but wins the NL batting crown with a .304 average in a 2-1, 10-inning home win over Minnesota. No other NL player finishes the 2025 season batting over .300; Turner’s league-leading figure is the lowest ever recorded in the senior circuit. 

There will be no no-no thrown in the majors for the first time since 2008, though the White Sox’ Shane Smith gives it a good shot. The 25-year-old rookie takes a perfect game one out into the sixth when the Nationals’ Brady House singles off him to end the bid. Three Chicago relievers will take over through the final three innings and complete the one-hit shutout, 8-0 at Washington. 

Monday, September 29

A day after finishing the 2025 regular season with another .500-ish record, the Giants relieve manager Bob Melvin of his duties. Melvin, who turns 64 in October, led the club for two years after managing four other teams over a 20-year period, winning three Manager of the Year awards—one shy of the major league mark. In letting go of Melvin, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey says that the team needs “a different voice that can take us in a different direction.” 

Also sent packing is Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli, who led the Twins to their worst finish (70-92) during his seven-year tenure with the team. The Twins ran hot and cold in 2025, peaking with a 13-game winning streak in early May before crashing in the second half after a front office-forced exodus of nearly half the active roster. That, along with the team’s iffy financial situation, likely made Baldelli feel handicapped for much of the year. In his seven seasons managing the Twins, Baldelli finished with a 527-505 record, making the postseason three times but never advancing past the second round. 

In a more amicable decision, Bruce Bochy and the Rangers have agreed to part ways after three seasons—the first resulting in his fourth world title as manager. In the two years since, the Rangers finished around the .500 mark. The 70-year-old Bochy is offered a front-office position at Arlington, but rumor has it that he may reunite with the Giants, for whom he won three World Series during the early 2010s. (Posey will later deny the rumor.)

One manager is staying put—and to the surprise of many, it’s the Mets’ Carlos Mendoza. Like the Twins, the Mets started hot but collapsed from late July on, winning only 21 of their final 56 games and losing out on a wild card spot on the season’s last day. Unlike the Twins, the Mets had more than a few pennies to pinch; their $342 million payroll was MLB’s second highest, right behind the Dodgers ($350 million). Yet Mets front office head David Stearns confirms that Mendoza will return for 2026. “I think he’s a very good manager,” Stearns says, “and I think he’s going to demonstrate that.” 

Tuesday, September 30

Returning to Cleveland and the scene of the crime where, a week earlier, he imploded in the sixth inning, Detroit ace Tarik Skubal dominates in his rematch with the Guardians, striking out a career-high 14 in a 2-1 Game One victory as the first-round Wild Card Series begins. A safety squeeze bunt in the seventh from Zach McKinstry breaks a 1-1 tie and scores the go-ahead (and eventual game-winning) run for the Tigers, giving Skubal the opportunity to earn the win; he pitches 7.2 innings, allowing a run on three hits. 

Skubal’s 14 K’s tie the Tigers postseason record held by Joe Coleman in the 1972 ALCS. 

In the sixth postseason series featuring long-time archrivals in the Yankees and Red Sox, Boston ace Garrett Crochet makes his first playoff outing a memorable one, allowing a run on four hits through 7.2 innings in the Red Sox’ 3-1 Game One win at Yankee Stadium. Crochet retires the last 17 Yankees he faces, and throws a career-high 117 pitches—with the last one being the fastest he’s thrown all season, a 100-MPH called strike to retire Austin Wells. Taking over for Crochet is closer Aroldis Chapman, who’s asked to earn his first four-out save of the year; he gets into big trouble to start the bottom of the ninth as the Yankees’ first three batters load the bases on singles. Impressively, the 37-year-old Chapman gets out of it; he strikes out Giancarlo Stanton, induces an innocuous fly out from Jazz Chisholm Jr., then gets Trent Grisham to whiff for the final out, securing the win. 

In Chicago, the Cubs squeak past the Padres, 3-1, on the strength of back-to-back homers in the fifth from Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly to take the first game of their Wild Card Series. Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, so good (12-1) at Wrigley Field this year, is lifted after just 58 pitches, having allowed a run over 4.1 innings; what seems at first to be a head-scratching moment turns out to be solid strategy from manager Craig Counsell, as four Chicago relievers will group together and retire all 14 San Diego batters they face. 

It’s the fifth straight game in which Suzuki has gone deep, going back to the end of the regular season. While that matches the franchise mark shared by five other players, Suzuki’s five won’t count because one of the homers took place in a playoff game. However, he could still officially tie the mark if goes yard in his first game of the 2026 season. 

In the one Wild Card Series opener that isn’t a taut thriller, the Dodgers clobber the Reds at Los Angeles, 10-5, behind five home runs—including two each from Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez. Ohtani’s first blast, leading off the first, is a 117-MPH launch off a 100-MPH fastball from Cincinnati starter Hunter Greene—who gives up three homers overall among five runs over three short innings of work. 

The Angels will not bring back either manager Ron Washington—who left the ballclub in July to undergo triple bypass surgery—or his interim replacement Ray Montgomery for the 2026 season. The 73-year-old Washington, who earlier led the Rangers to back-to-back AL pennants in 2010-11, was in the midst of his second year at the helm with the Angels when he stepped away; at the time, he did not reveal the reason for his departure.