The Month That Was in Baseball: September 2026

Tuesday, September 1

After 23 tumultuous years of ownership, Arte Moreno agrees to sell the Los Angeles Angels for a reported $4 billion—the highest price yet for a Major League Baseball team, topping the $3.9 billion the San Diego Padres were sold for earlier this year. The buyer is hardly anonymous; he’s Stan Kroenke, the multi-billionaire who owns teams in virtually every other American pro sports league, including the NFL (Los Angeles Rams), NBA (Denver Nuggets), NHL (Colorado Avalanche) and MLS (Colorado Rapids). Kroenke also owns a majority stake in Arsenal, the reigning Premier League soccer champs in England.

Fans should be equally ecstatic and wary of the 79-year-old Kroenke. He is not afraid to spend money and could make the Angels, whose postseason drought of 11 years (going on 12) is MLB’s longest active, a major player once again on the free agent market. But he has also riled fans in St. Louis for breaking a lease to move the Rams back to Los Angeles, and those in Europe for his failed efforts to create a closed “super” league for top soccer teams there, resulting in a massive backlash.

At this point, any new owner will suit Angels fans just fine after Moreno’s devolving tenure. He inherited a World Series winner in 2003 when he bought the franchise for $183 million, remaining a contender under his watch for the next decade as the team consistently drew three million fans to Angel Stadium. But Moreno will be more remembered for the multitude of controversies, many of his own making. These include disastrous contracts to underperforming stars such as Josh Hamilton, Anthony Rendon and Vernon Wells; his desperate attempt to attach “Los Angeles” to the official team name; an ambitious plan to remake Angel Stadium and the surrounding area that collapsed under shady circumstances; and the tragic saga of late Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who died after being given opioids from front office staff. Moreno probably drove the final nail into his coffin earlier this year when he told reporters that Angels fans didn’t care about his team winning. It was a sentiment he apparently seemed to share.

Rosters for each MLB team are expanded to 28 players for the rest of the regular season, and some of the new arrivals make an immediate impact. At Boston, 21-year-old Cuban native Lazaro Montes becomes the first Seattle Mariner with multiple hits in his big-league debut since Ichiro Suzuki in 2001—and the youngest, ever, to belt a home run in his first game for the franchise. Montes’ solo blast in the fifth caps the scoring for the Mariners in their 9-6 victory over the Red Sox.

Also making for an impressive introduction is 24-year-old, Miami-born Yohandy Morales, who becomes only the ninth player in modern (post-1900) history to have a single, double and home run in his debut. His contributions boost the Nationals to a 9-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Washington.

The first-game homers for Montes and Morales raise the number of players going deep in their debuts this season to 15, a major league record.

Wednesday, September 2

The Cubs beat the Miz, but they do not beat the Milwaukee Brewers. In the third game of a thus-far raucous series between the NL Central’s top two teams at Chicago, top NL Cy Young candidate Jacob Misiorowski is knocked about for five runs over four innings, walking four and striking out five, before being removed. But he leaves with a lead—and the Brewers add three unanswered over the final innings to pull away with a 9-5 victory, extending their divisional lead over the Cubs to a season-high nine games.

Misiorowski’s bad outing ends a franchise-record streak of 26 straight starts in which he allowed three earned runs or less. The team’s third longest streak (19 starts) is an active one belonging to Logan Henderson—who gets the start tonight for Milwaukee in the series finale at Chicago.

Cam Schlittler, the leader in the clubhouse for AL Cy Young honors, fares much better against the Angels at Anaheim—but also can only manage a non-decision in the New York Yankees’ 6-3, 10-inning win. The second-year Schlittler works eight innings, allowing one run (a Vaughn Grissom solo homer in the seventh) on two hits, setting a Yankee season mark with his 19th outing allowing one or none runs. But he departs with the game tied at 1-1, in advance of a five-run rally by his mates in the 10th. Schlittler’s record remains 12-6, leading the AL in ERA (2.04) and innings thrown (171.2).

A three-run homer by Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. in a rain-interrupted, 9-0 beating up of the Nationals at Washington is the 200th of his career, becoming the fastest major leaguer (by games, at 904) to accrue both 200 homers and stolen bases each. The previous record holder was Alfonso Soriano, who needed 926 games to go 200-200.

The San Diego Padres drop a 7-3 decision to the Reds at Cincinnati, falling a half-game behind Arizona (1-0 home winners over Philadelphia) for the third and final NL wild card spot. But the game is noted as the major league debut for catcher Ethan Salas, who at 20 years and 93 days old is the youngest catcher to play in an MLB game since Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez. Salas will strike out twice in going 0-for-4 against the Reds.

In the Phillies’ 1-0 loss to the Diamondbacks at Arizona, Bryce Harper walks twice to reach 100 for the fifth time in his career. The pair of passes also enhances his on-base percentage to a NL-leading .394.

Thursday, September 3

Adley Rutschman returns to Baltimore one month into a disappointing tenure with the Boston Red Sox—and promptly hits home runs in each of his first two at-bats against the Orioles. The blasts prove crucial in a 6-5 victory over the Orioles. Rutschman came into the game batting just .170 with one homer over 53 at-bats for the Red Sox; he had one multi-homer game earlier in the season while playing for Baltimore—against the Red Sox.

Only one other player in the post-1900 modern era—Willis Otanez, in 1999 while also playing against the Orioles for Toronto—previously hit two homers in his first game against his former team in the same year he was traded.

Friday, September 4

The Cleveland Guardians double their pleasure, boost their wild card chances, and momentarily alleviate baseball’s potential embarrassment of seeing a team with a losing record make the postseason by sweeping a doubleheader against the visiting Tigers—with both wins coming in their final at-bat. Bryan Rocchio is the hero in the first game, a make-up contest won in 10 innings, 7-6. The 25-year-old shortstop, batting ninth, belts a grand slam in a five-run Cleveland fourth, then provides the walkoff hit with a solo homer. Rocchio is the sixth player ever to have a grand slam and, later, a walkoff homer, in the same game.

Rookie Travis Bazzana provides the drama for the Guardians in the originally scheduled night game, which also goes 10 innings. Entering in the sixth, Bazzana belts a game-tying, two-run homer in the eighth—then strokes an RBI single to bring home the winning run in the 10th, giving the Guardians a 4-3 victory and a 72-70 record, putting them in the driver’s seat for the third and final AL wild card spot.

The San Diego Padres retake the lead for the NL’s final wild card spot, and they have Luis Campusano to thank. The part-time catcher shoots down three Yankees attempting to steal bases—including Spencer Jones’ bid for third base in the 10th inning, after New York had taken a 2-1 lead—and then wraps it up with a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th to give San Diego a 3-2 home win.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Campusano is the first major leaguer to throw out three basestealers and add a walkoff homer in the same game since the Cubs’ Sammy Taylor in 1961.

It may be time to put Doug Eddings out to pasture, as the veteran umpire unfortunately makes himself front and center with a series of cringe-worthy moments in the sixth inning of a Cardinals-Rockies game at Denver. First, he orders St. Louis reliever Hancel Rincon—making his major league debut—to wear his cap straight, not tilted as other players have done in recent years. Perhaps rattled, Rincon gives up a triple, home run, and single with a wild pitch thrown in. He’s removed, and while replacement Justin Pruihl warms up on the mound, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol takes the opportunity to discuss the hat thing with Eddings—who uses the chat to charge Pruihl which a pitch-clock violation before his first pitch, infuriating Marmol to the point of being ejected. Adding ineffectiveness to insult, Eddings then declares the Rockies’ Troy Johnston safe on a Zac Veen bunt, though replays clearly show Johnston being tagged out; because the Cardinals are out of challenges, they cannot ask for a review. Down 5-4 at that point, the Cardinals are able to rebound later in the ninth on Ivan Herrera’s three-run, go-ahead homer in the ninth to defeat the Rockies, 7-6.

Eddings says after the game that a Colorado batter made the request to have Rincon straighten his cap, with most everyone focusing on power hitter Hunter Goodman being the requestor. Goodman will later flatly deny the accusation. A day later, Eddings will approach Rincon on the field and apologize for his actions.

The RedPocket Mobiles, who made news this week with a losing streak that has reached a professional baseball-record 40 straight games, finally snag a win as they rout the Billings Mustangs, 14-5. A purely road team playing in the independent Pioneer League and managed by former major leaguer Dmitri Young, the Mobiles take a 4-0 lead in the second inning and never look back; starting pitcher Adam Christopher goes the distance, throwing 139 pitches and improving his record with the Mobiles to 1-10.

The previous mark for consecutive losses was 38, established in 1923 by the Class-C Muskogee Mets.

Saturday, September 5

Munetaka Murakami belts his 30th home run of the year for the White Sox, just one night after teammates Miguel Vargas and Colton Montgomery did the same. Despite Murakami’s homer and the 31st for Montgomery, the White Sox fall at home to the Twins, 6-4, but remain 2.5 games ahead of Cleveland (6-0 losers to Detroit) in the AL Central race.

This is the fourth time that three White Sox players have gone deep 30 times in the same season. It also happened in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

In Miami’s 6-5 home loss to the Cubs, Griffin Conine connects on his career-high 20th home run, joining his father Jeff Conine who in consecutive seasons (1995-96) also hit over 20 for the Marlins. The Conines are the ninth father-son duo to have each hit 20 for the same team.

The Toronto Blue Jays are above .500 for the first time since the season’s first week, as Kazuma Okamoto’s fourth hit of the night, a tie-breaking RBI single in the seventh inning, leads to a 4-3 victory at Kansas City. With the victory, the defending AL champions tie the Guardians for the third and final AL wild card spot.

While the Blue Jays are above .500 for the season, they’re right at .500 all-time, with a 3,927-3,927 record since their 1977 debut.

Sunday, September 6

For only the second time in Yankees history, a starting pitcher serves up home runs to first three batters he faces. The first time it happened, in 2022, it was Gerrit Cole pitching for the Yankees. The second time, today at San Diego against the Padres, it’s Cole again. The three homers off of Cole are belted by Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado. It’s only the second time that the Padres have started a game back-to-back-to-back; they also did it in 1987, which was the first-ever such occurrence in MLB history. Cole will settle down after the initial triple boom, but the Yankees can’t catch up against former Yankee pitcher Michael King (six shutout innings for the Padres) in a 4-3 loss.

The Padres’ win, along with two other interleague games won by National League teams, clinches bragging rights for the senior circuit in 2026. Pittsburgh’s 1-0 home win over the Angels and Arizona’s 3-2 victory at Houston give the NL a 348-300 advantage in head-to-head competition against American League opponents; the NL needed 346 to ice a winning record. The current .537 winning percentage, should it hold, would be the highest for either league since the NL won 55.3% of its interleague games in 2019.

Boston closer Aroldis Chapman becomes the ninth major leaguer with 400 saves, allowing a hit but striking out two in a scoreless ninth at Baltimore to preserve the Red Sox’ 3-1 victory over the Orioles. Chapman’s last pitch, a sinker to strike out Christian Encarnacion-Strand for the final out, is clocked at 101 MPH—a remarkable velocity for a 38-year-old pitcher.

The Phillies hate Ronald Acuna Jr.—and the Braves’ star outfielder is loving it. A day after razzing Philadelphia fans with a slow, showboating home run trot that drew the ire of fans and some Phillies players, Acuna does it again—this time with a game-tying three-run blast in the eighth that’s his 1,000th career hit; he includes a curtain call no Phillies fans asked for. The Braves will tip the score in their favor in the ninth on Austin Riley’s RBI triple off Phillies closer Jhoan Duran; the 5-4 result gives Atlanta no worse than a split in the four-game series against the Phillies, and extends its lead in the NL East to five games.

Pete Crow-Armstrong becomes the second major leaguer this season—and the first Cub since Derrek Lee in 2005—to hit 40 homers, smacking a fifth-inning solo shot at Miami against the Marlins. Though the round-tripper ties the game for Chicago, the Marlins will score seven unanswered runs afterward to run away with a 10-3 rout.

Joe Morgan, the interim manager (not the Hall-of-Fame second baseman) who jumpstarted the 1988 Red Sox to an AL East title and racked up a 301-262 record over three-plus seasons at Boston, passes away at the age of 95. A bench player for four seasons (1959-61, 1964) with five different ballclubs—batting a career .193 with two home runs over 88 games—Morgan found better success as a pilot, taking over for a fired John McNamara at Boston midway through the 1988 campaign and leading the Red Sox to the ALCS, where it bowed in four straight games to the powerful Oakland A’s. As for the confusion regarding Morgan and his more famous namesake, Morgan confessed that he would receive autograph requests in the mail from those thinking he was the other Joe Morgan—signing and sending them back anyway.

Monday, September 7

The Phillies finish a raucous four-game series at Philadelphia with a 1-0 victory over the Braves, as Jesus Luzardo throws a two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts in going the distance for the first time in his eight-year career. The game lasts one hour and 51 minutes, MLB’s fastest so far in the 2026 season. Supplying the game’s lone run to give Luzardo his 14th win of the year—while moving the Phillies back to within four games of Atlanta—is Kyle Schwarber, who blasts his MLB-leading 43rd homer with two outs in the eighth.

Schwarber ties two major league career records in the game. His solo shot is the fifth he’s hit in a 1-0 game, tying Ted Williams’ all-time mark. More dubiously, Schwarber reaches 200 strikeouts for the third time in a season, matching Mark Reynolds for the most ever.

Though it’s a mere formality at this point, the Angels are ensured their 12th straight season without reaching the postseason—baseball’s longest active drought—with a 5-2 loss at Boston. The loss drops the Angels to an MLB-worst 54-90 record; they need to win nine of their remaining 18 games to avoid the franchise’s first-ever 100-loss campaign.

It’s a scoreless standoff for the first nine innings between the Diamondbacks and Royals at Kansas City—followed by an explosion of runs in the 10th. Arizona opens up for five runs in the extra frame on veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel, who had not allowed an earned run in nine appearances since joining the Royals in mid-August. The Royals shout back in the bottom of the inning, plating four runs with the tying run at second base with one out; the next two batters are retired attempting to bring him home. The DBacks’ 5-4 win keeps them a half-game ahead of the Padres (3-2 home winners against Washington) for the third and final NL wild card spot.

According to MLB statmaster Sarah Langs, this is only the third game since 1969 that a 0-0 game was followed by nine or more combined runs in extras.

The Dodgers need just three hits to score six runs, defeating the visiting Cincinnati Reds, 6-3, for the fifth straight win. The Reds accommodate Los Angeles with six walks, a hit batter and two others reaching via error; three of those eventually score. It’s only the second time that the Dodgers have scored six-plus runs on no more than three hits; they also did it four years ago against the Cubs.

One of those going hitless for the Dodgers is Shohei Ohtani, who is 0-for-3 with a walk in his first appearance after four days of rest. Still banged up with a myriad of aches and pains, Ohtani confesses that he’s “not likely” to pitch for the rest of the year.

Tuesday, September 8

After missing the last 84 games due to a rib injury, Aaron Judge is back in the lineup for the Yankees, but does not figure in their 5-3 victory over the visiting Rockies. In fact, after going 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts, Judge is lifted for pinch-hitter Heliot Ramos—who smacks a three-run homer in the eighth inning, insurance that will prove crucial as Colorado scores twice in the ninth before running out of outs. On the mound, Cam Schlittler solidifies his AL Cy Young Award chances with seven solid innings, allowing a run on three hits with 10 strikeouts; he lowers his season ERA to a league-leading 2.01.

The victory clinches the 34th straight winning record for the Yankees, the second longest in major league history after their own 39-year streak from 1926-64.

Also returning to action after a long, long layoff is former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, who pitches three shutout innings for the Diamondbacks at Kansas City in his first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery early last season. As for the rest of the game, which bears a somewhat similar resemblance to their scoreless-in-regulation-turned-run-soaked finish of the day before, the DBacks turn a 0-0 contest in the eighth into a 2-0 lead by the ninth, lose that advantage on John Rave’s two-run, two-out homer in the bottom of the ninth, then exchange runs until the Royals can’t in the 11th, giving Arizona a 5-3 victory.

For the second time in a week, the Cubs overcome a Jacob Misiorowski start, take a late lead…and then blow it. Against the Brewers at Milwaukee, Chicago has a much harder time breaking down Misiorowski, who goes 6.1 innings with nine strikeouts and just one run allowed; the Miz leaves with the game tied at 1-1, and it stays that way until the ninth when the Cubs take the lead on a two-run double from pinch-hitter Carson Kelly. The Brewers counter; down to their last out, Jackson Chourio equalizes with a two-run homer off Chicago closer Jacob Webb, who blows his seventh save opportunity—and third over the last two weeks. In the 10th, Luis Lara will finish it up for the Brewers with a game-winning RBI single. The 4-3 victory is the Brewers’ MLB-leading 90th of the year, and reduces their magic number to win the NL Central to seven with 16 games to play.

Webb will decry his recent outings as “piss-poor,” adding, “I’m tired of letting the team down, to be completely honest. It’s pretty tough to watch every time I give up a homer.”

For those who’ve lost count, Misiorowski throws 46 pitches over 100 MPH against the Cubs. For the season, he’s thrown an astounding 1,010 deliveries at triple digits.

Having recently made Mariners history by becoming the youngest player in franchise history to go deep in his debut, Lazaro Montes breaks another mark with his second homer. In a 10-5 loss to Texas, the 21-year-old Cuban native smashes a ball 474 feet for the longest home run in Safeco Field/T-Mobile Park history. It officially outdistances a 2016 longball belted by Chris Carter by nine feet.

Montes’ tape-measure shot is just one more piece of evidence showing what a year it has been for MLB rookies piling up on the home runs. In Toronto’s 4-2 win over the A’s at Sacramento, Kazuma Okamoto becomes the third first-year player to hit his 30th homer, behind the Reds’ Sal Stewart and White Sox’ Munetaka Murakami. The three rookies with 30-plus bombs set an MLB record.

The Washington Nationals set an all-time season mark with their 38th blown save, squandering a 4-1 lead in the eighth and losing to the Padres at San Diego, 5-4. Erik Tolman is charged with the record-setting BS, but it’s not totally his fault; the first three runs in the four-run eighth are charged to Jared Simpson, who loads the bases on three walks to begin the inning. An Austin Hays sac fly and two-run Manny Machado single, both hit off Tolman, will bring them all home; Machado will score the go-ahead tally on a Luis Campusano single.

At season’s end, the Nationals will blow 42 of their 84 save opportunities.

Wednesday, September 9

Kyle Schwarber belts a grand slam for his MLB-leading 44th homer of the year despite otherwise striking out three times, and Cristopher Sanchez picks up his MLB-leading 17th win despite allowing six runs over six innings, as the Phillies survive the visiting Astros, 11-7. The victory moves Philadelphia within three games of the NL East-leading Braves (7-2 losers at home to Tampa Bay); both teams will face off in a crucial three-game series at Atlanta this coming weekend. For the Astros, whose AL West-leading record drops to 74-72, Jose Altuve knocks out a third-inning double for his 2,500th career hit. Among active players, only Freddie Freeman (2,587) has more lifetime hits.

Down 6-1 with two outs in the eighth—and playing without red-hot Rafael Devers, who’s given the day off—San Francisco punishes the visiting Cardinals for six runs on two doubles, two singles (one an infield hit), a walk and hit batter to take a 7-6 lead. More amazingly, the Giants—who’ve made an art form of blowing ninth-inning leads this season—hold on in the final frame to take their second three-game sweep of the year; their first, at Atlanta, started in June and finished on August 31 when the Giants returned to Atlanta to finish the job with a make-up engagement.

The day off for Devers ends his streak of 309 consecutive games played. Only Matt Olson (928) and Pete Alonso (563) have longer active streaks.

For the first time in their 65-year history, the New York Mets allow 14-plus runs—and win. At Miami, the Mets take an early 8-0 lead, watch it completely evaporate by the sixth, then rebound for six more tallies to retake the lead for good, holding off a late Marlins rally to survive, 15-14. It’s the fourth straight victory for the Mets, who are playing their best ball in an otherwise awful year; they’ve won 15 of their last 24 games and have escaped the NL East basement, now occupied by Washington (seven straight losses).

At 21 years and 99 days old, George Lombard Jr. becomes the youngest Yankee after Mickey Mantle to hit a grand slam, cleaning the bases in the third inning to give New York all the distance it needs to defeat the visiting Rockies, 6-1. The Yankees remain four back of the Rays in the AL East, but improve their standing as the top AL wild card seed over Boston by four games.

Thursday, September 10

The Dodgers finally cave and place Shohei Ohtani on the 15-day injured list after the megastar showed signs of gradually succumbing to numerous aches and pains—most specifically a right arm issue. In 13 games since hitting three home runs over a two-game stretch at mile-high Colorado in mid-August, Ohtani has batted just .122 (6-for-49) with no home runs and not a single run batted in. He has struck out 21 times during this span. Because Ohtani hasn’t played since September 7, his stay on the shelf will be retroactive to that date—meaning he’ll be eligible to return to action on September 23, giving him five games with the Dodgers to revive his groove before the postseason.

The Dodgers can afford to rest Ohtani; they have all but clinched the NL West, with the only suspense remaining as to whether they can overcome the Brewers for home field advantage throughout the playoffs and, likely, the World Series.

Friday, September 11

The Tampa Bay Rays are the first team to clinch a postseason spot and witness franchise history all at the same moment. Tied in the bottom of the ninth against the Astros, Junior Caminero launches a game-winning, two-run homer that’s his 40th of the year; he becomes the first Rays player with multiple 40-homer seasons, having also reached the mark last season with 45. (Only one other Tampa Bay player, Carlos Pena, has done it even once.)

The Rays’ victory keeps them three games in the AL East ahead of the Yankees, who defeat the Mets in the Bronx, 6-4.

Only Eddie Mathews has hit 40 homers in multiple seasons at a younger age than Caminero (23 years, 68 days).

Shortly after the Rays clinch, so do the Brewers—who do it with a bludgeon. For the second time this season, Milwaukee shuts out an opponent while scoring 20 or more runs, as the Brewers pummel the Reds at Milwaukee, 20-0. The Cubs are the only other team to win 20-0 or better twice in their history, in 1886 and 2022. The Brewers have done it three times—downing the Pirates 20-0 in a 2010 game. As with an earlier 22-0 rout of Seattle, the Brewers are greatly aided in the late innings by a position player masquerading as a major league pitcher. Not even the Reds, after a day off and having used five pitchers—with an expanded roster of arms in the bullpen—are inclined to stick with the professionals, throwing in back-up catcher Jose Trevino to pitch the eighth. Trevino allows the Brewers’ final three runs, all coming on a two-out homer from William Contreras on a 32-MPH eephus lob. With three more legit RBIs earlier in the game, Contreras knocks in a career-high six to lead the Brewers.

Arizona reliever Justin Martinez throws the fifth immaculate inning in Diamondbacks history, retiring the visiting Rangers on nine pitches and nine strikes in the sixth inning during a 9-1 victory. The DBacks’ offense adds to the sixth-inning excitement with five runs, capped by home runs from Corbin Carroll and Nolan Arenado.

Martinez’s immaculate frame is the second by an Arizona pitcher this season. Mike Soroka also threw one on March 30 against Detroit.

Saturday, September 12

The Phillies’ late-season quest to topple the first-place Braves and conquer the NL East is rapidly devolving into a pipedream. Even before the second game of a crucial weekend series begins in Atlanta, the Phillies scratch scheduled starter Jesus Luzardo—arguably the hottest pitcher in baseball, having thrown a two-hit shoutout of the Braves a week earlier—and are forced to bullpen their way through the game to follow. Starter Tim Mayza does his job, throwing three shutout innings; Brooks Raley and Grant Holman, the second and third pitchers, do not—combining to allow eight runs in the fourth. The Braves’ big rally, punctuated with a Ronald Acuna Jr. home run, puts them in cruise control for the rest of the night, ultimately taking a 12-2 victory. Winning the first two contests of the series, the Braves up their lead over the Phillies to six games with just 13 left to play in the regular season.

Luzardo has an MRI performed on a sore shoulder, although nothing serious is detected and he is listed as day-to-day, the pain will persist to the point that the Phillies decide to rest him up for the postseason—should they make it.

The Brewers pick up where they left off after unloading 20 runs on the Reds the night before, storming out to a 13-5 lead after five innings before somewhat sweating out an attempted Cincinnati comeback in a 13-9 victory at Milwaukee. The featured hitter for the Brewers in their latest offensive splurge is Garrett Micthell, who punches out four hits including a double and home run, knocking in four runs.

The 33 runs over two games are the most in Brewers franchise history; for the Reds, the 47 allowed over the past three losses—including a 14-1 defeat to the Dodgers on September 9—are the most they’ve given up in a three-game stretch since 1901.

The Dodgers’ season-best win streak of eight games is snapped in Miami by the Marlins, 4-3, but a statistical silver lining is achieved when Mookie Betts’ solo home run in the first inning is the 10,000th for the franchise since its 1958 move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Betts’ homer, his 20th of the year, is immediately followed by the 28th for Max Muncy—but the Marlins will erase the Dodgers’ early advantage in the second and never look back.

At Sacramento, the Mariners stomp all over the Athletics with a position-player/batting-practice-pitcher-aided 19-1 victory, setting a franchise mark for their largest winning margin. The record is clinched with three runs in the ninth against A’s outfielder Carlos Cortes, making his ninth appearance of the year on the mound. Overall, the bottom three batters in the Seattle order does most of the damage against Cortes and the four more legit A’s pitchers before him. Cole Young, Michael Arroyo and Weston Wilson combine for 11 of the Mariners’ 23 hits—including five from Wilson, batting ninth.

Over 9.1 innings this year, Cortes has allowed 12 runs on 15 hits (four of them home runs) and eight walks, striking out one.

The A’s 6.25 home ERA is the majors’ worst—yes, even worse than Colorado (5.82). They’ve allowed 10 runs in 21 games this year, which is also tops in the majors; 16 of those games have taken place at Sutter Health Park, the A’s interim minor-league home.

Sunday, September 13

It took 70 games, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally has his first home run of the season at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. Guerrero’s solo shot in the fifth, the middle blast in a back-to-back-to-back sequence also involving homers from George Springer and Kazuma Okamoto, helps break a 1-1 tie as the Blue Jays score seven unanswered runs to finish off the Orioles at Baltimore, 8-1.

Payton Tolle begins his latest start for Boston on fire, pitching the ninth immaculate inning in Red Sox franchise history against the Royals at Fenway Park. The rookie southpaw will strike out seven total batters over six shutout innings, but he’ll be denied credit for a 4-1 victory as the 1-0 margin he departs from is erased in the seventh on an RBI single from Kansas City rookie Carter Jensen. The Red Sox immediately break up the tie with three runs over the seventh and eighth innings to grab the win.

Tolle is the first pitcher to throw an immaculate frame (three outs on nine pitches, all strikes) in the first inning since Rich Harden in 2008. Incidentally, all nine of the Red Sox’ immaculate innings have come since 2002, when Pedro Martinez also achieved the feat in his first inning of work.

Jensen’s single snaps a Royals-record streak of 12 straight extra-base hits.

The Yankees ride a pair of solo homers from Ben Rice and Austin Wells, and another excellent start for Cam Schlittler, in a 2-0 home victory over the crosstown Mets. Schlittler throws six shutout innings to lower his season ERA to 1.95—just a hair ahead of the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski for the MLB lead—but his last pitch of the night is a painful one, a Bo Bichette line drive off his hamstring that turns into a ground out. At 94 pitches, Schlittler was likely done for the day anyway; after the game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone states that Schlittler will be “okay.”

In the midst of his hottest hitting stretch of the season, Rafael Devers is shut down by the Giants due to a core muscle injury that will require surgery. The 28-year-old slugger has been playing through pain for much of the year, despite missing just one game (last week). For the season, Devers batted .258 with 37 home runs—easily the most hit by a Giant since Barry Bonds in 2004—with an MLB-leading 36 doubles and 98 RBIs.

Without Devers, the Giants—basically reduced to second-team status with many of their regulars already done for the year due to injuries—finish getting swept by the visiting Padres, 6-4. The win for San Diego increases its winning streak to seven games—putting the Friars 2.5 games ahead of Arizona for the third NL wild card spot, and 1.5 behind the Phillies and Cubs for the top wild card.

Monday, September 14

The NL West-leading Dodgers clinch a postseason spot for the 14th straight year, matching the all-time record held by the Braves from 1991-2005 (excluding the strike-decapitated 1994 season) in a 4-1 victory over the Reds at Cincinnati. Leading the way for Los Angeles is Tarik Skubal, who throws seven shutout innings, and home runs from Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernandez, two of just three hits on the night for the Dodgers. With another postseason assured, the Dodgers’ magic number to win their 13th divisional title within those 14 straight playoff seasons is down to just three with 12 games to play.

The Yankees become the fourth team this year—and the first not leading a division—to also stamp their ticket for October, muscling up late to defeat the Twins at Minneapolis, 8-3. Trailing 2-1 going into the eighth, the Yankees pile up six runs—three of them on Aaron Judge’s first home run since May 24—to pull away.

It’s the 61st time since 1921 that the Yankees are extending their campaign beyond the regular season.

In the initial matchup of an important three-game series between the AL Central’s top two teams, the White Sox notch a 7-3 victory at Cleveland to extend their lead over the Guardians to 1.5 games. The key moment occurs in the sixth inning, with the contest still scoreless; Cleveland ace Gavin Williams, having just given up his first hit on Andrew Benintendi’s infield single, is worn down by Tristan Peters in an exhausting 18-pitch at-bat that ends in a walk. Already at 113 pitches, Williams is removed; out of the bullpen, Tim Herrin offers no relief as the White Sox pile up four runs over the five batters he faces; rookie Daniel Espino next takes over and serves up a two-run homer to Miguel Vargas, capping a six-run rally for Chicago.

The 18-pitch at-bat for Peters is the longest seen in an MLB game since 2020.

Tuesday, September 15

The Brewers wrap up their fourth straight NL Central title behind five scoreless innings from Jacob Misiorowski, who strikes out seven and lowers his season ERA to an MLB-best 1.89 in a 5-1 victory at Pittsburgh. With 11 regular season games to play, Milwaukee remains two games ahead of the Dodgers for NL home field advantage—and 3.5 games ahead of Tampa Bay for home field in the World Series, should the Brewers get that far.

In his second game back at Citi Field since departing the Mets for Baltimore, Pete Alonso launches a one-out solo homer—the 300th of his career—in the ninth to force extra innings against his old team. After the Orioles exchange a run in the 10th with the Mets, they bolt away with a 7-5, 11-inning victory on a three-run, inside-the-park home run from Coby Mayo.

No home run from a visiting player at the Citi (and Shea Stadium before it) has likely generated more cheers than the one from Alonso, who remains so popular among Mets fans that he answers a curtain call from them. The response could also be interpreted as a big F-U to Mets front office head David Stearns, who has been heavily criticized for letting Alonso go while bringing in players who have largely disappointed amid a league-leading payroll. To that point, the Mets’ loss to the Orioles is their 82nd—ensuring a losing record for 2026.

Wednesday, September 16

For the first time in nearly three months, the White Sox are no longer on top of the AL Central standings. Taking over are the Cleveland Guardians, who win the rubber match of a three-game series with a 6-3 victory over Chicago. The White Sox erase an early 2-0 lead on a three-run homer in the fifth inning from 38-year-old Tommy Pham—playing for his fourth organization this season, having been previously employed for nine games with the Mets before brief minor league stays with Philadelphia and Baltimore—and participating in just his second game with the White Sox. But the Guardians respond an inning later, as rookie Petey Halpin uncorks his own three-run shot to put Cleveland in front for good. AL Rookie of the Year candidate Parker Messick strikes out eight over six innings in picking up his 12th win of the season with a 2.57 ERA.

There’s nothing like mile-high Coors Field to break you out a hitting funk. With just one hit in his first 17 at-bats since his arrival in San Diego, 20-year-old catcher Ethan Salas cranks out his first two career home runs, driving in three to give the Padres a 9-3 victory over the Rockies. Salas becomes the youngest catcher to go deep since Ivan Rodriguez in 1991.

The Padres’ win creates more breathing room between them and Arizona for the third NL wild card spot, as the Diamondbacks suffer a 4-3 home defeat to the Marlins. Preserving the victory for Miami is ace Sandy Alcantara, making his first relief appearance since 2017 and recording his first career save with a scoreless ninth. Alcantara’s appearance comes just two days after throwing 101 pitches over five innings in the Marlins’ 8-7, extra-inning loss to the DBacks on Monday. The loss drops the DBacks 3.5 games behind the Padres for the final wild card spot; their final regular season series will be in San Diego.

Alcantara will make two more saves in the final week of the season, mixing in one more start; he’s the first pitcher since Jerry Reuss in 1980 to accrue three saves while throwing over 200 innings.

Thursday, September 17

Three days after ensuring a spot in the postseason, the Dodgers take it one step further by clinching their 13th NL West title in 14 years with an 8-2 victory over the Reds at Cincinnati. Ironically leading the way for Los Angeles is Kyle Tucker, who has awakened back to anticipated form of late after enduring through a highly underwhelming campaign. The $240 million man enjoys a four-hit night with a single, two doubles and his 16th homer of the year.

The AL West tips back in favor of the Astros, who move a game in front of Texas with a 6-2 victory over the visiting Royals. A season-high five home runs power the Astros, including a career-high 40th for Yordan Alvarez, whose chances for a triple-crown year remain quite possible with an incremental lead in batting average (.311) over Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson while barely trailing the Rays’ Junior Caminero (41 home runs) and the Orioles’ Pete Alonso (102 RBIs, to Alvarez’s 99).

The Rangers fall behind Houston—and back below the .500 mark, at 76-77—blowing a 3-1 lead in the eighth when Trevor Story launches a three-run homer that will ultimately represent the winning blow for the Red Sox in a 4-3 decision.

Friday, September 18

Aaron Judge goes back on the shelf, less than 10 days after coming off it, in a potential blow to the Yankees’ quest of snatching the AL East title away from the first-place Rays. This time, it’s a calf issue that’s bothering the three-time MVP; he’s officially out until the end of the regular season. In seven games since returning from a rib injury that kept him out for 84 games, Judge had four hits (including a home run) in 22 at-bats with 13 strikeouts.

Without Judge, the Yankees roll over the Diamondbacks at Phoenix, 9-2. Ben Rice goes deep for the 39th time, adding a triple, while Gerrit Cole collects his 162nd win—the most by a pitcher picked first in an amateur draft, surpassing Mike Moore. Safely positioned as the top AL wild card seed, the Yankees close to within four games of Tampa Bay—with a four-game series looming between the two sides at Yankee Stadium early next week.

After missing out on the playoffs last year, the Braves clinch their return to October with a 6-2 win at Houston. Matt Olson reaches the 40-homer mark for the second time in his career (he hit 54 for the 2023 Braves) while a reborn Tyler Mahle—with a 1.28 ERA in eight starts for Atlanta after a terrible start with San Francisco—allows a run over six innings. The loss for the Astros drops them back to .500—tying the Rangers (7-1 victors over Toronto) for first place in the AL West.

With 88 RBIs, Olson will eventually become the third player in franchise history to finish a season with less than 100 despite belting 40 or more homers. The other two are Hank Aaron (1969 and 1973) and Dave Johnson (also in 1973).

Cade Cavalli is being rewarded for his breakout 2026 campaign in Washington with a four-year extension worth $47 million; a 2031 team option would add $23 million to that total. Proving his worth, Cavalli throws five shutout innings, striking out six, in the Nationals’ 9-1 roasting of the Cardinals at St. Louis. The victory improves the 28-year-old pitcher’s record to 13-5, while lowering his ERA to 3.02. Offensively for the Nationals, Cal Abrams steals his 30th base to become the third player in Montreal-Washington history to go 30-30 in a season. The other two are Alfonso Soriano (who went 40-40 in 2006), and Vladimir Guerrero (2001-02).

Shohei Who? The Dodgers show they have plenty of talent—and power—while their two-way megastar sits it out on the IL. Against a San Francisco roster primarily consisting of late-inning Spring Training scrubs, the Dodgers break a close game open in the eighth with four homers bringing in five runs. That’s the most round-trippers ever collected in a single inning by the Dodgers against their long-time archrivals—and it comes 20 years to the night of another, more memorable outburst when the team smacked four consecutive homers in the ninth-inning against the Padres—adding a fifth in the 10th to prevail, 11-10.

Saturday, September 19

A pair of home run records fall in the Pirates’ 6-5 win over Kansas City at Pittsburgh. The Royals’ Carter Jensen goes deep in the third for his 25th homer, breaking Bob Hamelin’s team rookie record from 1994. Kansas City takes a 5-4 lead into the eighth, but the Bucs’ Brandon Lowe undoes it with a two-run shot in the eighth, the 96th of the year at PNC Park to establish a franchise mark for most home runs hit at home in one season. (The Pirates have already set an overall team mark for homers in 2026, with 179.) The 6-5 win puts the Pirates back over the .500 mark at 78-77; though they’re all but eliminated from postseason contention, they at least can boast of a silver lining with their first winning season since 2015.

Houston loses again to Atlanta, 6-3, in the process clinching a losing home record at Daikin Park with their 41st loss. Should the Astros manage to win the AL West, they’ll have done it for the second time in four years despite a below-.500 mark at home; the last team other than the Astros to win a division with a losing home record is the 2001 Braves.

The Astros’ odds of winning the West are made a little tougher, as up the road in Arlington the Rangers defeat the Blue Jays, 6-2, to take a one-game lead. Texas starter Cal Quantrill leaves after just 12 pitches with lat tightness, but he’s relieved by veteran pitcher Jordan Montgomery, working his way back into the major league jet stream after missing much of the last two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. In his 10th appearance of the year—all since August 9, all out of the bullpen—Montgomery throws three shutout innings and is credited with his first win since May 2024.

Sunday, September 20

The Brewers reach one of two expected milestones heading into the final week of the regular season, setting a franchise record with their 98th win of the year, 3-0 over the Orioles at Baltimore. Jacob Misioroswski allows a hit with four strikeouts in a planned short outing of three innings, while Jackson Chourio steals two bases to give him 21 on the year—joining Bobby Witt Jr. and Julio Rodriguez as one of three players in major league history with 20 homers and 20 steals in each of their first three seasons.

With six games to play before the postseason, the Brewers only need two wins to record their first-ever 100-win record in their 58-year existence.

The game marks the return of Baltimore closer Felix Bautista from his latest long-term injury, missing the last 14 months after undergoing shoulder surgery; he also missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery. Pitching in the seventh, Bautista strikes out two batters but also allows a run on two hits and a walk.

Boston loses at Tampa Bay, 5-1—reducing the Rays’ major number to conquer the AL East to two—but in defeat, the Red Sox clinch the second AL wild card after the AL West-leading Astros finish getting swept at home against Atlanta. It’s the third time in the last eight years that the Sox will make it into October—each time as a wild card. For the Rays—who have a shot at their second 100-win campaign—Griffin Jax throws five shutout innings, while Chander Simpson ties Washington’s Nasim Nunez for the MLB stolen base lead with his 46th. With a .309 batting average, Simpson trails only Houston’s Yordan Alvarez (.313) in pursuit of the AL batting title.

The Cubs technically take the lead for the top NL wild card spot—they own the tiebreaker against the Padres, who have the same (87-69) record—behind the latest big day for likely NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong (single, double, home run, stolen base) in a 9-1 win at Cincinnati. But the moment everyone is talking about occurs in the fourth inning when Alex Bregman, standing in front of the on-deck circle a good 10 feet closer to home plate than he should, can’t react fast enough to a sharp foul grounder from teammate Michael Busch—striking him just under his left eye. Stumbling painfully toward the dugout with both hands clasping his face, Bregman quickly heads for the clubhouse; he is later sent to the hospital, where he’s told he’s suffered multiple facial fractures. A selfie later taken by Bregman doesn’t tell a pretty story.

Monday, September 21

Toronto ace Dylan Cease dodges a big-time bullet as an MRI finds nothing serious in his sore pitching shoulder. Though Cease likely won’t win the AL Cy Young Award—it’s basically Cam Schlittler’s to lose at this point—he will avoid major injury as he has for all of his eight-year career, an impressive achievement in the present environment of fragile pitchers pushing the limits of speed and spin like never before.

The odds of Cease and the Blue Jays prolonging their season into October take a hit at Baltimore, where the Orioles’ Pete Alonso powers out two home runs including a two-run, come-from-behind blast in the eighth inning for a 4-3 victory. The Blue Jays drop 3.5 games behind the idle White Sox, who hold the third AL wild card spot; the Orioles are 4.5 back. Both teams have only five games left to the regular season. (Can you say “mathematical?”)

Tuesday, September 22

It takes two tries at Yankee Stadium, but the Tampa Bay Rays clinch the AL East title with a 6-1 victory over the Yankees in the second game of a weather-created, day-night doubleheader. The Rays fail to nab the divisional crown in the first game, losing 2-0 to the Yankees and Carlos Rodon (eight shutout innings) in a make-up of a May 23 contest postponed by rain. But in the originally scheduled night game, Drew Rasmussen takes over for the Rays, no-hitting the Yankees through six innings before Heliot Ramos’ leadoff double in the seventh. Rasmussen will depart the game after retiring two batters later in the frame, having thrown a career-high 113 pitches—and improving his record to 16-5 in a 6-1 victory.

Among pitchers who’ve thrown a minimum of 500 career innings for the Rays, Rasmussen is #1 in ERA (2.71) and winning percentage (.682).

What looked more than reasonably avoidable back in mid-August becomes painful reality for the Colorado Rockies, who suffer their 100th loss and extend a streak of consecutive seasons with triple-digit loss totals to four. The 7-2 loss to the visiting Diamondbacks is the Rockies’ 26th over their last 33 games since August 16; they’re the first team to reach 100 defeats this season.

The Rockies join the 1909-12 Braves, 1938-42 Phillies, 1961-64 Washington Senators (now the Rangers) and 1962-65 Mets as the only teams who struggled over an equal (if not longer) span.

It’s a frustratingly fitting, likely final appearance at Coors Field for Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, who lasts just three innings and allows five Arizona runs on nine hits. In 10 seasons with the Rockies, Freeland—a homegrown product who the team hoped would develop into its first true long-term ace—has made more starts (256) than any other Colorado pitcher, but has also the most losses (101). Freeland could activate a $17 million salary for 2027 if he reaches 170 innings this year—but in order to do that, he’ll need to throw 38.2 innings in his final scheduled start this Sunday against the White Sox at Chicago.

The Phillies’ Zack Wheeler strikes out the first seven Milwaukee batters he faces—setting a team record—with the third of those giving him 2,000 for his career. Wheeler will go on to total 11 K’s over 5.2 innings of work, improving his record to 13-5 in Philadelphia’s 6-4 victory. In the race for the NL’s top wild card spot—and home-field advantage for the postseason’s opening round—the Phillies tie the Cubs and Padres (both of whom lose) with an 87-70 record.

Two interim managers—one who oversaw a remarkable rebound by his team, the other who kept things from falling apart—are rewarded for their duties with three-year extensions. At Boston, Chad Tracy is retained after taking over for a fired Alex Cora in April and guiding the Red Sox to a 74-56 record and wild card postseason spot. Meanwhile in New York, Andy Green—who’s stabilized the high-priced Mets with a .500 record since assuming managerial duties—is similarly blessed with a three-year extension.

Wednesday, September 23

Unless you’re the Dodgers, success can be a fleeting notion these days. Ask the Toronto Blue Jays, who drop a pair of games to the Orioles at Baltimore by identical scores of 4-2, giving them 82 losses on the year. Not only does it badly imperil what little chances the Jays have of sneaking into the postseason as a wild card, it clinches a losing season a year after winning the AL pennant. In fact, they join the Seattle Mariners, their ALCS opponent from the year before, as the first two teams since the 1986 Red Sox and Angels to play an ALCS one year, then finish below .500 the next.

Jacob Misiorowski may be rightfully hogging the spotlight in Milwaukee, but don’t forget about Logan Henderson. The 24-year-old Houston native allows a run through five innings in the Brewers’ 4-1 victory at Philadelphia, extending his streak of starts to begin a career allowing three or fewer runs to 23—tying Zac Gallen’s record from 2020. After being sidelined with back issues for a good chunk of the season’s first half, Henderson is 9-2 with a 2.39 ERA and an opposing .173 batting average since July 9.

Thursday, September 24

Four teams clinch spots in the upcoming postseason, with two of those nabbed by both Chicago teams just minutes apart from one another.

At Wrigley Field, the Cubs stamp their ticket for a second straight season as a wild card with a 2-1 victory over the Marlins. Additional suspense is taken care in the first inning when Cubs star (and likely NL MVP) Pete Crow-Armstrong steals his 40th base—making him the seventh player to collect 40 homers and steals each in one season. Nico Hoerner’s RBI single in the sixth will break a 1-1 tie and represent the winning hit for the Cubs, while Matthew Boyd picks up his 10th win in 22 starts, allowing a run over seven innings.

At virtually the same time the Cubs are wrapping up a playoff spot, the crosstown White Sox are doing the same in Kansas City. Second-year catcher Kyle Teel, missing for much of the year due to injury, reaches base five times on a single, home run, walk and two HBPs, scoring three times to lead the Sox to a 9-1 victory over the Royals. With their 82nd victory, the White Sox become the first team ever to secure a winning record after suffering 100-plus losses in each of the previous three seasons—and the first ever to make the playoffs after at least two 100-loss campaigns.

The White Sox have one goal before October, and that is taking the AL Central title, but they remain a game back of Cleveland, which also punches its ticket to the playoffs for the eighth time in 11 seasons with a 1-0 win over the Red Sox at Boston. The lone run is credited to Angel Martinez, who belts a second-inning home run; Joey Cantillo, taking over for opener Daniel Espino, throws five shutout innings to pick up the win for the Guardians.

The second NL wild card spot is grabbed late in the evening by the San Diego Padres, who reach the postseason for a team-record third straight year with a 4-2 victory at Los Angeles over the Dodgers. It isn’t easy for the Padres; they don’t get their first hit until the sixth against Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow, breaking the ice with a Dustin Harris sac fly. They then open things up in the seventh with three more runs.

Yordan Alvarez will certainly be the season MVP for the Astros (and very likely the AL) as they pursue the AL West title and a winning record all at once, but Lucas Spence is the MVP for a night in a critical 7-5 victory over the Athletics at Sacramento. The rookie center fielder, homerless in 45 career plate appearances entering the contest, goes deep three times—two of them go-ahead homers—with five RBIs to boost the Astros to victory. Houston remains tied with Texas atop the West—albeit with a 79-80 record—as the Rangers defeat the Mets at Arlington, 3-1.

Spence is the third major leaguer to hit his first three home runs in the same game, joining Seby Zavala (2021) and Joshua Baez, who did it in his very first game back in August.

The Brewers reach 100 wins for the first time in their 58-year history with a 5-1 road win over the Phillies. Four late runs—with Jackson Chourio adding the exclamation point with his 25th homer in the ninth—gives Milwaukee all the cushion it needs. For the Phillies, the final score isn’t the only loss of the night; Luis Arraez, contending for a fourth batting title with his fourth different team, suffers a sprained ankle while attempting to avoid a tag at first base. Arraez will not only miss the Phillies’ remaining three regular season games, but likely a first postseason series for the Phillies.

Friday, September 25

Given the lengthy splurge of strikeouts in baseball, it seems rather amazing that Mark Reynolds’ season record for batting K’s (223) has lasted 17 years. Tonight, that mark is broken. The dubious new owner is second-year White Sox slugger Colson Montgomery, who strikes out once in a 6-1 win at Colorado to snap Reynolds’ longstanding mark. Adding insult to awfulness, Montgomery drops his season average to .199.

Montgomery will finish the season hitless in his final 24 at-bats, reducing his average further to .197; three more strikeouts over his final two games will up his record total of whiffs to 227.

For the first time in major league history, a team will enter the playoffs in a full season without a winning record. The Astros and Rangers, tied for first place in their struggle to win the AL West, both lose to drop their records to 79-81. The Rangers and pitcher Jacob deGrom (eight runs allowed in four innings) are beat up by the Twins at Minnesota, 10-2, while the Astros melt down in Sacramento with the opposing A’s plating all of their runs in the sixth inning to triumph, 6-5.

A day after hitting his 30th homer of the year, the Reds’ Elly De La Cruz steals his 30th base in a 6-5 loss at Toronto. De La Cruz becomes the fourth player in Reds franchise history to go 30-30 in a season, joining Eric Davis (1987), Barry Larkin (1996) and Brandon Phillips (2007); he’s the third player in MLB this season to reach the milestone, along with Pete Crow-Armstrong and Cal Abrams.

Miami’s Eury Perez pitches the majors’ 21st and last complete game of the 2026 season, throwing a one-hit shutout over the visiting Braves. The 23-year-old, 6’8” Perez strikes out eight batters and walks one on 105 total pitches.

The 21 complete games will easily reset the low bar for the fewest in a season, with the previous nadir being 28 in 2024.

Saturday, September 26

In just his second start of the 2026 season—and the last of his 21-year career—Justin Verlander allows two runs over 5.1 innings with six strikeouts, getting a no-decision in a 4-3 Detroit victory over the Pirates settled in the bottom of the ninth on Eduardo Valencia’s two-run walkoff homer. After retiring Brandon Lowe on a foul pop-up to start the sixth, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch walks out of the dugout and, before signaling to the bullpen, signals to the first row of the Detroit dugout—and out onto the field runs Verlander’s seven-year-old daughter, running to her dad on the mound for a full embrace as he begins shaking and sobbing. A long walk off the mound also includes a hug from his wife, supermodel Kate Upton, and high-fives/hugs from Verlander’s teammates and coaches.

Verlander finishes his career with a 266-159 record, a 3.33 ERA, 3,560 strikeouts (good for eighth on the all-time list), three Cy Young Awards and the 2011 AL MVP. He’s a first-ballot shoo-in for the Hall of Fame.

Sunday, September 27

On the final day of the regular season, the Houston Astros manage to squeeze out a shred of honor within a truly awful AL West by defeating the Athletics at Sacramento, 9-0, capturing the divisional title with an 81-81 record. In doing so, the Astros avoid the shame of being the first major league team to enter the postseason in a non-shortened season with a losing record—but it still underscores the hideousness of a quintet of teams that finishes with a combined 336-447 record (206-317 against teams outside of the division) and a deplorable -471 run differential. Six Houston pitchers group to shut out the A’s on five hits, while Yordan Alvarez finishes the 2026 season leading all major leaguers in batting average with a .316 mark; only the Orioles’ Pete Alonso keeps him from winning the triple crown of batting, hitting more home runs (43, to Alvarez’s 42) and driving in more runs (113, to Alvarez’s 106).

The loss for the A’s is their 98th of the year, but they’re not the ones bringing up the rear in the West. That dishonor goes to the Los Angeles Angels, who with a 7-3 loss at Seattle tags them with 100 defeats for the first time in their 66-year existence. The Angels are the last of the 30 current MLB teams to suffer their first 100-loss campaign.

The Mariners’ season-ending victory isn’t enough to save Seattle manager Dan Wilson, who after two-plus years is let go by the club. Wilson piloted the Mariners to a 187-171 record and an appearance in last year’s ALCS, coming within one game of their first-ever World Series appearance.

The last remaining available postseason spot in the NL is grabbed by the Phillies, and not a moment too soon. Zack Wheeler pitches six superb innings, and four early runs boost the Phillies to a 7-3 home win over the Rays, ending a four-game skid and grabbing the third and final wild card spot. It will be Philadelphia’s fifth straight year in the playoffs; they’ll take on the NL East-winning Braves in the best-of-three Wild Card Series at Atlanta.

The Phillies’ win ends a last-gasp effort by the Diamondbacks, who lose their second straight game after winning six in a row with a 9-4 loss at San Diego. The DBacks are without Gabriel Moreno, who’s scratched before the first pitch with a bad hamstring; his absence, however, does ensure his standing as the NL batting champ, edging out the Phillies’ Luis Arraez (also out of action on the day with a sprained ankle suffered earlier in the week) by less than a batting point. Moreno is the fifth-ever catcher to win a batting title.

Ketel Marte appears in his 1,195th game with Arizona, setting a team record previous held by Luis Gonzalez. Given his unpredictable and often distracting off-field behavior, it may be the last contest he plays with the DBacks.

The Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski puts a terrific coda on his all-but-assured Cy Young Award-winning season with 5.1 shutout innings in a 6-4 victory over the visiting Cardinals, the 103rd win of the year for Milwaukee. Misiorowski finishes with a 16-5 record and MLB bests in ERA (1.80), strikeouts (252) and a 0.80 WHIP (walks and hits per inning) that’s the best by an NL hurler in a modern-era, non-shortened season. Additionally, the Miz’s 96 hits and .157 batting average allowed are both the lowest totals by any ERA-qualified major leaguer in a full season since 1900.

Pitching what may be his final game on three day’s rest, Max Scherzer saves one of his best performances of the year for last as he allows a run over seven innings and 114 pitches with seven strikeouts in Toronto’s 5-1 home win over the Reds. No potential Scherzer finale would be appropriate without the 42-year-old future Hall-of-Fame barking at his manager (John Schneidler) to beat it back to the dugout; he’ll more gracefully exit as he takes the mound for the eighth, entering the first row of the seats near the Toronto dugout to hug his children.

Scherzer’s ends his career with 3,557 for his career—good for ninth on the all-time list, and just three K’s behind Justin Verlander, who pitched his final game the day before.

The Dodgers need 10 innings to get past the depleted Giants at San Francisco, 5-1, notching their 100th victory of the season. It’s the sixth year in triple-digit territory for Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts, tying the all-time record also held by Joe McCarthy and Bobby Cox. (Roberts might be at seven were it not for the COVID-19 pandemic shortening the 2020 season.)

The big attraction on the day for Giants fans is a postgame ceremony honoring long-time team broadcast analyst Mike Krukow, who’s stepping down after 37 years in the booth—the vast majority of them spent with his loyal partner and former San Francisco teammate Duane Kuiper, who will continue as the team’s play-by-play voice. That is, if his health allows; Kuiper recently announced that he’s been diagnosed with throat cancer, but says he’s confident that he’ll overcome it. 

Baseball will badly miss the Kuiper-Krukow tandem; if the Hall of Fame was smart, it would allow the two to enter the Hall’s broadcast wing together as a duo.

A game with nothing on the line is noted for its sudden change of scenery. The Cubs defeat the Red Sox, 6-2, in the third and final game of a series that began at Boston’s Fenway Park—but ends at Tropicana Field, home of the Rays, as a severe Nor’easter storm belts the East Coast. Starring for the Cubs is Alex Bregman, who lashes two homers and a double among four hits in his second game back after suffering facial fractures while on the on-deck circle a week earlier at Cincinnati.

Despite the sudden move of the game 1,200 miles away from Boston, a crowd of 20,411 shows up in St. Petersburg; that’s nearly 3,000 more than the average crowd attending games with the AL-best Rays on the field.

Monday, September 28

MLB attendance inched upward for the fourth straight season, reaching a paid gate of 29,540 spectators per game. The small and steady gains still leave baseball well short of its all-time average high of 32,696 in 2007—and a looming work stoppage threatens to reverse the momentum as fans may turn briefly away from the game, as it did following the 1994-95 strike. The Dodgers lead all teams, bringing in just over four million fans for the second straight year with a franchise record-setting 4,034,219. They are followed by San Diego (3.347 million), Toronto (3.339 million), the Yankees (3.297 million) and Philadelphia (3.230 million). At the bottom of the list are the Athletics, drawing 799,240 in their second of a planned three seasons at 14,014-seat Sutter Health Park in Sacramento before resettling in Las Vegas. Miami is the next lowest at 1,231,018, following the Tampa Bay Rays—who can only attract 1,414,975 at a fixed-up Tropicana Field despite recording the AL’s best record.

The numbers are also in for baseball’s first year using the Automatic Balls and Strikes (ABS) system, allowing batters, catchers and pitchers to challenge pitches they believe were erroneously called by umpires. A total of 10,557 challenges—an average of 4.3 per game—were made, with 5,686 (54%) of them leading to an overturn of the original call. By far the busiest player calling for a review was Milwaukee catcher William Contreras, who challenged 186 pitches—getting the call overturned on 105 of them; Cincinnati catcher Tyler Stephenson was second with 136. Reds hitters fared better with the system; rookie Sal Stewart led the majors in both calls challenged (51) and those overturned (28), while Matt McLain had the most challenges overturned (six) without losing one. On the flip side, Miami catcher/DH Agustin Ramirez lost all eight of his challenges while batting. According to umpscorecards.com, Andy Fletcher—one of five umpires stepping down after accepting a buyout from MLB—had the highest percentage of overturned challenges among full-time arbiters, with 66% of his original calls changed after further review.

In the wake of its successful endeavors in hosting regular season games in corn fields (Iowa) and race tracks (Bristol, Tennessee), MLB has a new, more ambitious thought: Setting up a temporary ballpark to play a contest inside a national park. According to the Washington Post, the league is seeking the approval of the U.S. Department of Interior to play a future game within one of America’s 63 national parks—with discussions centered on two sites within Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. In responding to the report, the White House says that the idea of a game at a national park “is not a Presidential directive, nor is it being directed by the White House (or) driven by the Department of Interior. Therefore, this is not a White House or Administration priority.”

We love baseball, and we love national parks. We don’t, however, love the idea of an MLB game being played inside a national park. From Acadia to Zion, the parks should be used only for those beholding and preserving the lands’ pristine, awe-inspiring and often fragile landscapes. Leave the circus—even if it’s in the guise of a ballgame—outside their borders.

Tuesday, September 29

Cam Schlittler continues to be the Red Sox’ Kryptonite, whether it be the regular season or the post. In the opening game of the Yankees’ Wild Card Series against Boston at New York, the likely AL Cy Young winner confounds the Sox—as he did last year in the postseason—with 6.1 shutout innings, striking out 10 on a career-high 117 pitches. Despite the absence of Aaron Judge—out for at least the first-round series—Schlittler will get plenty of offensive support in a 9-0 victory. Much of the damage comes courtesy of Ben Rice, who crushes two homers including an eighth-inning grand slam on a four-hit night; his six RBIs tie a Yankees postseason record.

In six career games pitched against Boston—four in the regular season, two in the playoffs—Schlittler has allowed two runs over 38.2 innings with 49 strikeouts. In both of his postseason games against the Red Sox; he’s struck out 10 without allowing a run; the only pitcher who’s done that in more playoff starts—regardless of opponent—is Justin Verlander, who did it three times.

If the Red Sox are to rebound and win Game Two—avoiding a quick elimination to their comeback season—they may have to do it without DH Roman Anthony, who injures the same hand that kept him out for a big chunk of the year while attempting to check a swing.

Rookie Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr., 21 years and 119 days old, is the youngest American Leaguer to collect three hits in his postseason debut. All three hits are singles; he scores twice.

At Atlanta, the Phillies are feeling fairly good through the seventh-inning stretch against the homebound Braves; Jesus Luzardo has kept Atlanta bats quiet for five innings in his first start in three weeks, and 35-year-old J.T. Realmuto rips a two-run, go-ahead triple in the top of the seventh for a 3-2 lead. Perhaps worried over a bullpen that had the majors’ worst September ERA, Philadelphia manager Don Mattingly turns to closer Jhoan Duran—who has never pitched more than two innings in a game—to churn out a three-inning save. But Duran can only get in two of those frames; after getting the first two batters out in the eighth—followed by a hit batter and infield single—Duran folds, surrendering a three-run homer to Austin Riley. Raisel Iglesias, asked by the Braves to do the more common duty of snaring a three-out save, does so to preserve a 5-4, Game One victory.

Riley had a miserable regular season, batting .219 with 19 homers and a career-low .654 OPS. But he had recent success against Duran, lashing out a go-ahead triple in the ninth back on September 6 at Philadelphia.

The game is played before a crowd of 30,127 at Atlanta’s Truist Park—some 5,000 under the regular season average—with much of the upper deck unoccupied. Some blame a mid-week afternoon first pitch, but c’mon—this is the playoffs, and these are the dates and times that have been used since the onset of the World Series back in 1903. Mass swathes of empty seats should not be a thing in this day and age.

The attendance situation is worse in Houston, where Daikin Park looks to have even fewer fans showing up for the 81-81 Astros’ first game against the White Sox. Those who do show are not in a happy mood with their home team; they boo through the first two innings as two Houston relievers—opener A.J. Blubaugh and Bryan King—combine to allow three runs on four hits, three walks and a hit batter. Miguel Ullola, the Astros’ third pitcher, stabilizes the situation—but it’s already too little, too late. The White Sox will add three more runs, one on a solo homer from Colson Montgomery, and five Chicago pitchers will hold off various small Houston rallies for a 6-3 win.

At least the Braves are honest in their turnstile accounting; the Astros clearly are not. The announced crowd at Houston is 34,011, which looks inflated by at least 10,000. After the game, Astros players return the love given to them by irate Houston fans. First baseman Christian Walker: “We’re here, we’re playing at home. We need cheers. We need energy. We don’t need boos. What purpose does that serve in that moment?…for our guys to get booed, it’s frustrating.” Reliever Bennett Sousa was quicker—and sharper—with his comments: “I’m not going to lie to you,” he says, “I was pretty pissed.”

The Chicago Cubs won five of their six regular season games against the Padres—one by a 23-3 score—but the past is not prologue in Game One at San Diego. Leadoff batter Fernando Tatis Jr. scores the Padres’ initial run with a homer on the first pitch he sees in the first, then scores the last in the seventh when he steals second base—and scampers 180 more feet home as an errant throw goes wildly past the bag. While the Padres rack up the runs—eight in all—Michael King keeps the Cubs quieted by taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Chicago will eventually gather three hits against King and two relievers, but fail to score as Joe Musgrove, making his first appearance in two full years after major elbow surgery, wraps up an 8-0 shutout in the ninth for San Diego.

Likely NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong has a frustrating opening game for the Cubs. He walks and steals a base, but strikes out in his other three at-bats—twice on check swings called a third strike by third-base umpire Bill Miller, leaving Crow-Armstrong profanely peeved.

Wednesday, September 30

It’s two-and-out for the Red Sox, Cubs and Astros, while the Phillies and Braves head to a decisive third game in Atlanta in the postseason’s first-round, best-of-three stage.

At New York, the Yankees once again turn a tight game into a romp in the late innings, easily dispensing of the archrival Red Sox, 9-2, to advance to the ALDS against Tampa Bay. Max Fried throws six sharp innings for the Yankees, while Cody Bellinger’s three-run homer in the sixth caps a six-run rally. For Boston, starter Sonny Gray isn’t on the mound to experience the Yankees’ sixth-inning onslaught; the pitcher who won an MLB-high 18 games with a 2.72 ERA in the regular season is pulled after 4.2 innings and just 70 pitches, having allowed two runs. (Gray, after the game: “I would have liked to be trusted in that moment.”) The bullpen takes over and, once again, crashes; not even 2025 ace Garrett Crochet, making his first appearance in over five months, can save the pen—allowing four runs on three hits without recording an official out. (He does strike out Spencer Jones to start his outing, but it’s on a wild pitch that allows Jones to reach first base safely.)

For the series, Boston relievers allow 15 runs on 15 hits and seven walks over just 6.2 innings. But as awful as the pen is, the Red Sox’ offense does no favors. Willson Contreras’ sixth-inning solo homer ends a postseason drought of 27.2 straight scoreless innings going back to last year—all of them against the Yankees.

The Yankees’ +16 run differential in the two-game sweep is the largest in a best-of-three series since the current postseason format began in 2022. It’s also the largest in October by the Yankees over back-to-back games since Games Two and Three of the 1960 World Series.

The Padres looked locked, loaded and ready for the top-seeded Brewers as they finish off an easy two-game sweep of the Cubs with a 4-1 victory at San Diego. In the process, the Padres limit the majors’ highest scoring team during the regular season to a single run on eight hits—four of them by Nico Hoerner, who drives home the Cubs’ lone run on a fourth-inning single. Two early runs for the Padres include a sacrifice fly from 20-year-old Ethan Salas, who makes history as the youngest catcher to start a postseason game. Gavin Sheets’ two-run homer in the fourth provides an exclamation point in what turns out to be the last scoring of the night for either team.

As good as the 103-59 Brewers have been this season, they’ll need to be wary of a Padres team has won 20 of their last 23 games as the two sides ready to meet in the NLDS.

A spirited White Sox team has it easy once more against the listless Astros, who clearly have no business being in the postseason. A 7-3 victory gives the White Sox their first playoff series win since 2005, when they won it all in the World Series—also against the Astros, also winning the final game at Houston.

A day after a disastrous attempt to go all-bullpen against Chicago, the Astros turn to qualified starter Hunter Brown. But the ace is debased by the White Sox, matching the shortest outing of his career with four runs allowed in the first inning before being removed with two outs. The Astros fight back and close the Chicago lead to a run in the fourth on the 28th career playoff homer for Jose Altuve, leaving him one behind Manny Ramirez for the most all-time. But two innings later, Chase Meidroth provides a defining blow with a three-run blast to left-center, and Meidroth lets everyone knows how happy he is about it, screaming for joy around the bases. The Meidorth homer will cap the scoring of the evening; the White Sox move on to play the Guardians, who edged Chicago out for the AL Central title.

Like Crow-Armstrong for the Cubs, the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez—the likely AL MVP—is ineffectual in the series, netting a mere single in eight at-bats.

Another bogusly-inflated crowd of 36,000 at Daikin Park witnesses the Astros’ ninth straight home playoff loss. Perhaps that’s why they keep booing their team.

Lame-duck Houston manager Joe Espada can forget about using the Wild Card Series as an attempt to lobby the Astros’ front office to change its mind about firing him.

The lone first-round series to go the distance continues after the Phillies fight back to take a 4-3, 10-inning victory over the Braves at Atlanta. After exchanging a run in the first, the game’s two starting pitchers settle in; the Braves’ Tyler Mahle, briefly questionable before the first pitch with an abdominal issue, recovers and looks excellent over seven innings, while Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez holds his own for 6.2 innings and a career-high 116 pitches. But Sanchez gets cursed in the bottom of the seventh when Bryce Harper misjudges Drake Baldwin’s routine fly ball to right, giving the Braves a 2-1 lead. After upping that lead to 3-1 on a later sac fly, the Braves remove Mahle (95 pitches) for the eighth—and his replacement, Dylan Lee, serves up home runs to the first two batters he faces, Kyle Schwarber and a vindicated Harper, to erase the lead.

Moving into extra innings with (blissfully) no gift runner in play, Alec Bohm puts the Phillies ahead with a two-out solo homer; Andrew Painter, pitching his third shutout inning in relief, pins the Braves down to seal the win.