As you may have heard, Pete Alonso returned with his new team to Citi Field tonight, and the Mets lost to the Orioles 2-1. Although Jonah Tong pitched admirably, the Mets could not capitalize on their six hits and left nine runners on base.
After Jonah Tong struck out Dylan Beavers to lead off the first inning, Alonso stepped up to thunderous applause, cheers, and chants of his name. He flied out to Carson Benge in right field, but that did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd. Tong then retired Gunnar Henderson as well for a 1-2-3 start to his day. In the bottom of the inning, Francisco Lindor walked to lead off, but Juan Soto popped out, and Bo Bichette grounded into a double play for the second and third outs to end the inning.
At the top of the second inning, Jackson Holliday looped a one-out single into right field. He reached second on a passed ball by Francisco Alvarez, which had popped out of Alvarez's glove. It proved costly when Heston Kjerstad drilled a double into right field past Brett Baty. The ball made a weird hop past Baty, and Holliday scored the first run of the game. When the Mets came to bat in the second, they loaded the bases with two outs. Marcus Semien drilled a single down the left-field line, and then A.J. Ewing and Baty walked. Unfortunately, they were all stranded when Alvarez struck out on a foul tip for the third out, and the second inning ended with the score Orioles 1, Mets 0.
Alonso drew a two-out walk in the third inning, but was stranded there when Tong struck out Henderson. At the bottom of the third, Juan Soto smacked a one-out single into right field. Benge sneaked a single past third base, but both runners were again stranded when Jared Young grounded out for the third out. At the top of the fourth inning, Holliday hit a ground ball straight to Semien, but Semien could not get it out of his glove in a timely manner, and Holliday made it to first base safely. He was stranded as well, though. At the bottom of the inning, Ewing drilled a home run into right field. Alvarez smacked a ground ball to third base that Coby Mayo initially fielded but bobbled, allowing Alvarez to reach base safely on an infield hit. However, he was also stranded when Lindor struck out, leaving the score Mets 1, Orioles 1, at the end of the fourth inning.
To lead off the fifth inning, Colton Cowser hit a single that Semien knocked down but couldn't get to first base in time. The next three batters went down in order. Soto walked to lead off the bottom of the fifth and, with two outs, stole second base. Young also drew a walk, but Semien grounded out to end the rally attempt there. Tong came back out for the top of the sixth inning and only needed six pitches to retire the three batters he saw. Josh Walker replaced Brandon Young for the Orioles at the bottom of the sixth, and he also worked a 1-2-3 inning. The score remained 1-1.

#field

Zane Smith escaped with no serious injuries following a violent crash in Sunday's Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The driver of the No. 38 suffered a brake failure in the closing laps of Stage 2, causing him to spin out and slam driver's side first into the outside retaining wall in turn 1.
As Smith climbed from his car, it was evident he was in pain. The 27-year-old was slow to get out of his battered Front Row Motorsports Ford and was leaning on two NASCAR safety workers as they helped him into the ambulance to take him to the infield care center.
Thankfully, Smith took to social media on Monday with a positive update on his condition.
Immediately after Smith careened with the outside wall following the brake failure, his spotter, Ryan Blanchard, tried to summon his driver over the radio to check on his condition.
"We lost brakes here. Let me know if you're OK. Really big hit. Talk to me when you can, please. Let me know if you're OK," he said.

#brake #failure #wall

The 2026 home campaign for the Salt Lake Bees (24-44/63-79) came to a close this week as they welcomed the Round Rock Express (Triple-A, Texas Rangers). Known as the "E-Train," the Lone Star side steamrolled their way to a dominant series victory, winning five of six. Outside of a 11-1 thrashing on Thursday, the Bees never held a lead in the other five contests. The Express (38-31/69-75) collected their first road series win in Salt Lake since 2021, when they swept the Bees in a six-game set.
Despite a quality start from Bees starter Ryan Costeiu, Round Rock earned a 5-1 series opening victory on Tuesday. The visitors scored in four different frames, while Niko Kavadas helped Salt Lake avoid a shutout with a fifth-inning solo blast. Wednesday was more of the same, as the Express tallied a 6-1 victory. MLB rehabber Josh Jung punctuated the win with a solo blast in the eighth, as the Bees were held to just a trio of hits for the second straight game.
As mentioned above, the Salt Lake bats came alive on Thursday with an 11-1 rout. The team tied their season-high with four homers, spotlighted by Kavadas' second multi-homer night of the campaign. The infielder's surge was part of a four-hit night, his first at any level since 2022. On the mound, Joel Hurtado turned in 6.2 innings of one-run ball, finally collecting his first Triple-A win in his eighth try. After falling behind 5-0 on Friday, the Bees nearly completed a comeback, coming up just short in a 5-4 defeat. Salt Lake got the winning run on base in the ninth, but ultimately fell short.
The final Saturday and Sunday at home in 2026 were near carbon copies of each other. Big first innings for Round Rock put them in the driver's seat, leading 6-0 and 4-0, respectively. Saturday's output was more than enough for the visitors as they added seven more runs over the course of the game to shutout the Bees 13-0. On Sunday's home finale, Salt Lake battled and answered every time the Express scored. They closed the gap to 6-4 before Round Rock gained some length with Aaron Zavala's two-run blast in the sixth, the only longball of the evening. The Bees did not go down without a fight, bringing the tying run to the plate in the ninth. A flyball was tracked down for the 27th and final out of the finale, completing the Express' 9-6 victory.
The 74th and final home game saw 7,853 fans come through the turnstiles of The Ballpark at America First Square — the largest crowd in ballpark history. Salt Lake finished 35-39 at home this season, winning or splitting nine of their 13 total home series. The Bees were victorious in at least one game against every opponent who came to South Jordan, avoiding a sweep for the second straight season as the hosts.

#lake #express

Quarterback Jayden Maiava and the USC Trojans host the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns at the LA Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Sept. 12.
The Trojans will have a chance to improve to 3-0 while Louisiana is looking to secure back-to-back wins to start the season.
It will be the final nonconference game for the Trojans before starting their Big Ten Conference schedule, with a game on the road against Rutgers next week.
Maiava is back for his fourth season of college football, his third with the Trojans. He's already completed 48-of-54 pass attempts for 635 yards and five touchdowns. He's only been sacked once this season and has yet to throw an interception.
Lunch Winfield saw the most time at quarterback for Louisiana in the blowout win over the Lamar Cardinals last week. Winfield completed 16 of 22 passes for 189 yards and two interceptions. He also contributed to the rushing attack with 84 yards and a touchdown. Darrell Smith also rushed for 84 yards and produced two touchdowns.

#louisiana #yards #game #week

Irish Premiership
Dungannon Swifts 0 - 1 Linfield FT
Linfield left it late at Stangmore Park but made it five league Irish Premiership wins on the bounce thanks to a Kyle McClean stunner.
McClean's strike from the edge of the box in the 82nd minute was enough to secure a 1-0 and all three points for the visitors.
Chris Johns made multiple saves in the first half to keep his side in the game, with Dungannon Swifts perhaps feeling hard done by on the night.

#irish #made

Jose Alvarado's appearance last night probably solidified what Don Mattingly is thinking in the playoffs. He and Alex McFarlane are going to be the bridges to Jhoan Duran. Jonathan Bowlan looks like he is struggling to handle to pressure as it continues to mount with each appearance that gets closer to September, so maybe those are the two that get leaned on.
On to the links.
Phillies news:
The Phillies have had a really good offensive approach since the All-Star break. Can they keep it up during the playoffs against better pitching ($)?
Bryson Stott is still considered the young guy on the infield, but he's pretty much a (good) finished product.

#appearance #playoffs #mattingly #alex

A bright pink sandpit and a pitch black infield. A brand new trophy and historic prize money.
The World Athletics Ultimate Championship is posed as something different in the sport, but some things stay the same - pole vault star Armand Duplantis taking centre stage.
As the inaugural competition's official song, which two-time Olympic champion Duplantis wrote and recorded, was played to a sell-out crowd of more than 20,000, all eyes fell on the Swedish 26-year-old as, yet again, it was just him against the world record.
Duplantis had already secured the ****** le of inaugural Ultimate champion in the event he has long dominated, and his $150,000 (£110,000) slice of the record $10m (£7.4m) prize pot on offer.
While he was unable to clear 6.32m and set the 16th world record of his remarkable career, an entertaining battle with Greek challenger Emmanouil Karalis had provided the blockbuster finale to the opening night of action in Budapest.

#record #prize #inaugural

Former Tennessee baseball star Andrew Fischer made history on Sept. 10, crushing his 47th home run of the season to break Ryan Howard's record for the most by a minor leaguer this century.
Fischer passed Howard, who hit 46 homers in 2004, with a solo shot to right field for the Biloxi Shuckers, the Milwaukee Brewers' Double-A affiliate. Fischer is the Brewers' No. 5 prospect and is hitting .272 with 113 RBIs between High-A and Double-A in 2026.
Fischer, a corner infielder, has hit the fifth-most home runs in a minor league season dating back to 1963, when the modern era began. He is eight home runs behind the all-time record of 55 home runs in a single season, set by Bill McNulty in 1974 with Triple-A Sacramento. That season, Sacramento played at Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College, which had a left-field wall only 233 feet away from home plate.
The most recent player to hit 50 home runs in a minor league season was Ron Kittle in 1982 with Triple-A Edmonton. Biloxi only has three regular season games left for Fischer to reach that mark.
Fischer has been on a tear since being called up to Double-A. His latest home run was his 27th in 69 games with the Shuckers — a 54-homer pace for a full 138-game Double-A season. He finished with the seventh-most homers in High-A (20) despite not having played there since June 13.

#runs #shuckers

One trophy, no medals. Ten million dollars. A red carpet. A black infield. Noah Lyles as MC. Armand Duplantis singing before eyeing another world record.
This athletics season was set to be the first since the pandemic which did not culminate in an Olympic Games or World Championships.
To bridge that gap, the sport's governing body has devised a new competition.
Introducing: The World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
Across three days of competition in Budapest, live on the BBC from 11-13 September, the world's top athletes will compete for record prize money and a new ***** le.

#games

Buffalo Bison 11, Charlotte Knights 4
The Charlotte Knights stumbled to an 11-4 loss to the Buffalo Bisons in a game that remained competitive for five innings before spiraling wildly out of control.
Adisyn Coffey took the mound as an opener for Charlotte, making just his third start of the season. It quickly became the Lenyn Sosa revenge game. The former White Sox infielder greeted Coffey with a leadoff solo shot in the top of the third. Coffey retired the next two hitters, but a single and an RBI double followed, giving Buffalo a 2-0 edge.
The Knights answered in the bottom half of the inning. Rikuu Nishida drew a two-out walk, and Riley Unroe brought him home with a triple to trim the deficit to one.
After Peyton Pallette got the final out of the third inning, Huascar Brazobán followed Coffey and turned in a successful inning of rehab work, surrendering only one hit in a scoreless fourth. Tanner McDougal took over in the fifth and faced the minimum, setting the stage for Charlotte to pull even in the bottom half when Junior Perez launched a solo shot to knot the score at 2-2.
Unfortunately, that was as good as the night would get for the Knights.

#buffalo #Third #inning #solo

Red Sox Prospect's Season In Jeopardy After Unfortunate Injury originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Kristian Campbell's bid to return to the Boston Red Sox took an unfortunate turn with little time remaining in the minor league season. The Worcester Red Sox placed Campbell on the seven-day injured list Thursday because of a left foot contusion, according to MassLive's Chris Cotillo. Infielder Max Ferguson was promoted from Double-A Portland to fill the open roster spot.
Campbell reportedly had been dealing with a sore toe before leaving Tuesday's game against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in the sixth inning. The timing makes the injury particularly frustrating. Worcester has only 10 games remaining before its season concludes Sept. 20, leaving Campbell with a limited window to return.
It also could eliminate whatever chance remained of Campbell joining Boston for its postseason push.
The 24-year-old has spent the entire 2026 campaign in Triple-A after struggling during his first major league opportunity. He batted .223 with a .664 OPS, six home runs and 21 RBIs across 67 games for the Red Sox in 2025. Campbell, once ranked as MLB Pipeline's No. 7 overall prospect, produced an encouraging opening month and earned American League Rookie of the Month honors after batting .301 with four home runs. His production dropped considerably afterward, however, and Boston optioned him to Worcester in June 2025.

#boston #return

So often pitchers' duels don't really stand up to the hype, but today's matchup between two former Stetson Hatters – the Mariners' Logan Gilbert and the Rangers' Jacob deGrom – delivered on all that promise and then some. The two pitchers combined for 23 strikeouts, and deGrom carried a perfect game through five innings. In true pitching duel style, it looked like the pitcher who blinked first would come out on the short end, but despite Logan Gilbert making a couple of mistakes, his offense was able to pick him up and deliver him the win. Bragging rights are fun; wins are better. (Gilbert also gets the honor of leading MLB in whiffs today: 24 to deGrom's 20, despite having one fewer strikeout than deGrom.)
This all being said, it was a slog for the Mariners early on. The best at-bat the first time through the order for the Mariners went to – surprise, surprise – Cal Raleigh, who battled deGrom for nine pitches before striking out on deGrom's fastest fastball of the day, a 99.6 mph heater (my campaign for decimal points on the ribbon board in the stadium, which read 100, continues unabated). But the Mariners did fight deGrom, getting themselves into good counts and forcing him into the zone; he finished the second inning at 37 pitches, compared to Gilbert's 24.
But it only took two pitches to offset that work in the third. Nicky Lopez was able to take 96 up and in from Gilbert and find a hole on the infield, and one batter later, with two outs, Joc Pederson jumped a first-pitch slider for a two-run homer. It wasn't a terrible pitch from Gilbert, away from Pederson but probably still too much on the plate; Gilbert had struck Pederson out on the slider in his first at-bat. The slider was particularly nasty today, with an eye-popping 75% whiff rate. He led with the pitch, throwing it 40 times, 12 times to start off an at-bat, which feels like a different sequence than he's used. Gilbert credits Cal for coming up with a good game plan, especially after he felt like he fell into some predictable patterns in his last time out against the A's.
"Like with Joc, we got him with the slider early, so he probably thought we were going to it next time," explained Gilbert. "But then also other guys, we went heavy spin, like with Duran, and then next time went three or four straight fastballs. So I think we did a good job there. They're trying to look at how we're probably scouting them, and then next time through, maybe pitch them different. I think Cal did a good job there."
But deGrom was just as tough on the other side. After striking out eight times in the first three innings, the Mariners hitters decided to try a different strategy the second time through the order. That also didn't work, as they let deGrom cruise through the fourth on nine pitches, keeping his perfect game intact.

#degrom #like #pitch

It really just feels like each series the Atlanta Braves have been in lately has been like them leaving a snake pit for a lion's den only to realize that they've stepped into a piranha's pond and escaped that just to find out that the dry land was quicksand. "I don't know how much more battle-tested we need to be," quipped Walt Weiss when he was asked by the media during Tuesday's pregame press conference about the tough schedule that the Braves have been dealing with as of late — and still have to navigate going forward.
Indeed, one of the takeaways from this patch is that the Braves will have faced some of the toughest teams that baseball currently has to offer once they eventually reach the Postseason and they should be more-than-ready to handle whatever's in front of them. With that being said, the Braves had to deal with another serious test in the form of the Tampa Bay Rays and once the smoke cleared, it was less about acing the test and more like simply doing enough to pass the test. Did Atlanta manage that? Let's get into it.
This one was competitive for two innings, as the Braves matched Junior Caminero's two-out dinger off of AJ Smith-Shawver in the first inning with a run of their own in the bottom half of that frame. The deadlock didn't last long at all, as the Rays made the third inning a long one for Smith-Shawver. AJSS was one out away from potentially putting two outs on the board against the Rays in that inning. Instead, Liam Hicks sent one flying into the Georgia night sky for a two-run shot. Smith-Shawver was one out away from keeping it at 3-1 before Victor Mesa Jr. hit a bouncer that eluded the glove of Ozzie Albies and dribbled into the infield for an RBI single that made it 4-1.
AJ Smith-Shawver was only able to make it through 3.1 innings with those four runs allowed, but credit is due to Brent Suter for going 3.2 innings while only giving up a single run while he was out there. Elieser Hernández wasn't as fortunate, as he surrendered two runs across his two innings of work and then got the DFA treatment once the next morning rolled around. It really felt like the Rays were either ****** ing and dunking or hitting moonshots, there was no in-between in this one.
Meanwhile, a nasty trend for the Braves was emerging while they were on the mound. It's not particularly shocking that Freddy Peralta ended up going six innings with just one run allowed since he'd done pretty well in two previous starts against Atlanta with the Mets. It wasn't shocking either to see the Rays bullpen clamp down on the Braves they did on Tuesday, either. What was shocking is that the Braves came out of this game with 11 batted ****** that were at least 95-mph that ended up turning into outs. Folks, that's tough!

#Braves #smith #shawver #going

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Jeff McNeil legged out an infield single to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Monday night after blowing a four-run lead.
Henry Bolte homered and scored three times from the leadoff spot for the A's, who have won five of six following a five-game losing streak. The rookie drew three walks and stole three bases.
Andrés Giménez hit a tying solo homer in the ninth for the Blue Jays (72-73), who remained a game behind Cleveland for the last American League wild card. Alejandro Kirk also went deep but Toronto ace Dylan Cease gave up five runs — four earned — in five innings.
___
See AP's full MLB coverage here

#toronto #blue #game

At this point in the season, the San Francisco Giants languishing near the bottom of the NL West and less than three weeks remaining during the season, Logan Webb could have opted to skip a start after some checkered outings.
He's consistently at or near the lead for MLB innings pitched, so a slightly early end to the season wouldn't be amiss for the team's workhorse. Instead, Webb came out with honed mechanics Monday and snapped back into his usual form in a game the Giants won 5-4 in 11 innings, with Shay Whitcomb's little bouncer to short sending in placed runner Nate Furman from third.
The ninth unraveled enough to cost Webb a win, though, with the Cardinals reaching on two infield singles to kick things off against Dylan Smith, working in his second inning. St. Louis then took the lead in the 10th when Leo Bernal's bloop to right off Jason Foley scored placed runner Alex Burleson.
But Bryce Eldridge was a busy man Monday night, and tied the game with a single in the bottom of the 10th inning. Foley held the Cardinals scoreless in the 11th with an ******* ist to Eldridge for a great scoop to end the game.
Webb gave up just three hits one run, on Burleson's two-out homer in the sixth, in what became Webb's final inning. His eight strikeouts matched his season high, and he got 19 swinging strikes, six of them with his sweeper. His pace was brisk working with veteran backup catcher Andrew Knizner. He's also more than comfortable at his longtime home; he has a 3.26 ERA at Oracle Park this season, against 5.29 on the road.

#season #eldridge

MOOSIC, PA(WBRE/WYOU)— The RailRiders first place push is much in thanks to the MiLB International League Player of the Week Anthony Volpe leading off its lineup. Volpe won the weekly award after a stellar series against the Worcester Red Sox.
Volpe finished the week 11 of 21 from the plate, hitting .524 against Worcester. The RailRiders infielder hit three doubles, and three home runs in six games. Volpe drove in six runs and scored eight times of his own. He stole five bags over the six-game set, on top of three base on ******* .
Since his returned to the RailRiders lineup Volpe has blasted 10 home runs in a month's time back in Triple-A. His return has aided Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's chase for the second half playoff push. SWB is currently a game out of first place behind Rochester.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to 28/22 News.

#runs #place

If the St. Louis Cardinals are going to make a playoff push, it has to start in San Francisco. That's why Monday's game against the Giants was so vital. It didn't start well for Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy as the Giants grabbed an early lead. Cardinals bats would eventually claw their way all the way back by the 9th inning, but it wasn't quite enough to secure a crucial victory.
There are few batters in baseball more on a tear than Rafael Devers of the Giants. After Turner Hill walked to leadoff the bottom of the 1st inning, Devers turned on an 84 mph Michael McGreevy curve and drove it off the huge wall in right for a RBI double and a 1-0 San Francisco lead.
The Giants added to their lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Christian Koss reached on an infield single that glanced off of McGreevy's glove and then advanced to second after Michael flipped the ball over Burleson at first. Koss advanced to third on a groundout by Hill and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Bryce Eldredge to double the San Francisco lead to 2-0.
Rafael Devers would kickstart a two-out rally in the bottom of the 5th inning when he smoked another double. Bryce Eldredge followed that with a double that scored Devers giving the Giants a 3-0 lead.
The St. Louis Cardinals didn't get their first hit off of Giants starter Logan Webb until the top of the 3rd inning. They didn't get their first run of the game until the top of the 6th inning, but it was a dramatic one. Alec Burleson gave a 92 mph sinker a bath as he launched it 431 feet into the bay cutting into the San Francisco lead making it 3-1.

#inning #cardinals #devers #michael

NORMAN — Oklahoma softball landed a 2028 commitment on Monday evening.
Moore High School product Braylyn Saenz announced her commitment to the Sooners via Instagram. Saenz is ranked as the No. 41 overall prospect in the class by Softball America.
"I have decided to commit to the University of Oklahoma to further my academic and softball career," Saenz wrote.
Saenz is also ranked as the No. 13 ranked middle infielder and No. 3 player in Oklahoma.
The Sooners will begin their fall Battle Series games on Sept. 30.

#oklahoma #Sooners #norman

NORMAN — Oklahoma softball landed a 2028 commitment on Monday evening.
Moore High School product Braylyn Saenz announced her commitment to the Sooners via Instagram. Saenz is ranked as the No. 41 overall prospect in the class by Softball America.
"I have decided to commit to the University of Oklahoma to further my academic and softball career," Saenz wrote.
Saenz is also ranked as the No. 13 ranked middle infielder and No. 3 player in Oklahoma.
The Sooners will begin their fall Battle Series games on Sept. 30.

#saenz

On a stormy Sunday night in September, the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals, winning the finale 7-5.
Both Justin Wrobleski and Nationals southpaw Andrew Alvarez kept the ice frozen until the bottom of the third inning, as a Max Muncy double and Tommy Edman infield single allowed Mookie Betts to bring home Muncy on a groundout to give the Dodgers their third consecutive early lead.
After three scoreless innings without six strikeouts, the Nationals struck back in the top of the fourth with a lead-off home run from CJ Abrams— his third in seven at-bats against Wrobleski— evening the score at one. Brady House immediately followed with a single, and a double from Daylen Lile put two men on, still with no outs. Teoscar Hernández was unable to track down a fly ball to left from Harry Ford, plating both baserunners and giving Washington a two-run lead. Jacob Young carried the frenzy with a single to center to plate four, ending the night for Wrobleski.
The second half of the regular season has not been kind to Wrobleski, as he has a 7.55 ERA across 31 innings over seven appearances (six starts). His three complete innings on Sunday were the fewest in any start this season.
Brock Stewart managed to clean up the mess made by Wrobleski, and Blake Treinen made his first appearance since June 19, working a scoreless fifth inning to keep the deficit at three runs. The Dodgers responded with a rally against Alvarez in the bottom half, as a Tommy Edman double plated Max Muncy to cut the deficit in half. Brad Lord came in relief and got Mookie Betts to ground out for the first out, but the Dodgers sprayed three consecutive singles to knot the game even at 4.

#wrobleski

Christopher Bell — winner: "It's been too ***** long. Oh my gosh, man. I'm just so, so proud of all these guys. All this No. 20 car. All the mechanics. All the pit crew members. They deserve it more than anyone. This has been a long time coming. Darlington has been one that I've always wanted to win since I got into the sport. This is the ultimate driver's track. I knew we'd able to win it. We can win any week. It just hadn't happened yet. But yes, when I was sitting in the infield care center at Michigan, I thought my season was over. I thought I was going to be out a couple of weeks. I thought I wasn't going to make the Chase. We're still in it, baby."
Ty Gibbs — second: "Well, I think it's just goes back to where we started. They had a pretty squirrelly metric, and we started 28th ranked in the fourth seed. Hopefully we can fix that for next time. I feel like the Toyota Camry was great. Yeah, I don't know. I'm glad Christopher won. I'm happy for him and the 20 team. We just missed it a little bit and had some issues happen a little bit. But appreciate all the effort from everyone on my team."
Tyler Reddick — third: "We just had a little hiccup on the left front on one of those green-flag cycles in Stage 2. The guys did a great job catching it. That could have been catastrophic in the first pit stall. Good job the boys not making a mistake much worse. Just lost a little bit of track position at a critical time. I think for us, where our car went was just track position. We got where it needed to be for that final restart. It was a little tough at the end, but we know where we need to be at the end of this race and years to come. Good day for the Chase. Really want to win this race bad and one day we will. It's good to be in contention every year."
WILL BE UPDATED

#thought #christopher

After weeks focused on his fledgling career, Keon Johnson caught up with family. The Houston Astros had the 18-year-old infielder and recent draft pick and his family attend Sunday's game at Daikin Park, with Johnson arriving from their minor-league facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., late Saturday.
"It was a pretty surreal moment to finally see them again," Johnson said. "Once I got to see them, it was like pretty much all the weight finally got back off my shoulders again."
The Astros selected Johnson in the third round in the July draft, with the No. 93 overall pick, out of First Presbyterian Day School in Macon, Ga. They signed Johnson, who was committed to play at Vanderbilt, for a reported over-slot $2 million bonus. Slot value for the No. 93 pick this year was $846,900.
A shortstop listed at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Johnson was selected as the Gatorade Georgia high school player of the year as a junior in 2025. Astros director of amateur scouting Cam Pendino deemed him an "unbelievably impressive kid" with an "exciting blend of bat-to-ball and pitch recognition" after the draft.
"We think our hitting instruction can really help unlock the contact quality here," Pendino said in July. "But when you have a guy with a special blend of bat-to-ball and approach - and really specifically bat-to-ball and pitch recognition as an 18-year-old kid with really good actions in the middle of the diamond on the dirt - it's an awesome recipe."

#year #july

Ethan Pecko entered his fifth inning Saturday unscored upon but with a reliever warming behind him in the Houston Astros' bullpen. Three batters later, his outing ended. Tim Tawa cued an infield hit into an open right side. Pecko pounced on a Ryan Waldschmidt tapper before Lars Nootbaar lined a clean single.
Nootbaar occupied the leadoff spot in the Diamondbacks' lineup and was facing Pecko for a third time in the game. His single put the potential tying run on base, brought manager Joe Espada out to remove his starter and reinforced an issue within Houston's rotation with 19 games left in a postseason race.
Two of five starters the Astros are deploying - Cristian Javier and Pecko, the right-handed prospect - are under tighter reins, with Houston hesitant to have them face opposing lineups a third time. Javier hasn't faced more than 19 batters in any of his past four outings, one of which he pitched in bulk relief.
Having three starters who will work deeper - Hunter Brown, Peter Lambert and Hayden Wesneski - can mitigate that usage somewhat. But it puts added pressure on those starters to cover innings and protect the bullpen, and on the bullpen to shoulder a significant workload at least two out of five (or six) days.
How sustainable that is down the stretch, for a club with a three-game division lead and 19 games left in the regular season, is a question. The bullpen has been arguably the Astros' biggest strength, yet it's also at less than full capacity, even with expanded rosters offering an extra spot on the pitching staff.

#starters #javier #right

Second-year safety Zack Harden was the talk of the town for Gophers football in the offseason. He played just 14 defensive snaps last season as a true freshman, but the departure of Koi Perich left a golden opportunity for a young player to ******* ume a bigger role. Harden was getting plenty of hype in the spring and summer, and he showed why on Thursday night against Eastern Illinois.
Harden started at safety alongside Kerry Brown. He played 12 snaps at strong safety, six at slot cornerback and nine at free safety. He produced with four total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and three quarterback hurries. Pro Football Focus (PFF) gave him a 79.2 defensive grade, which was the best in Minnesota's secondary.
Sep 3, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive back Zack Harden (4) celebrates during the second half against the Eastern Illinois Panthers at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Hailing from Covington, Georgia, Harden was heavily pursued as a high school prospect. He was just a three-star recruit, but he held notable top offers from programs such as Auburn, USC, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and many more. He was the Gophers' 11th-highest-rated signee in their 22-player class in the 2025 cycle, according to the 247Sports Composite, and he has hit the ground running.
Minnesota has had a long history of producing elite safety talent since P.J. Fleck arrived at the school in 2017. Antoine Winfield Jr., Tyler Nubin, Jordan Howden and Koi Perich have all produced at an elite level. Brown has established himself, but Harden has all the traits to be the next star at the position.

#safety #minnesota #brown

Twenty-one years ago, the White Sox swept the Astros in the World Series to end an 88-year championship drought, bringing baseball jubilation to the south side of Chicago. Occasional regular-season interleague series followed until 2013, when Houston made the move from the NL Central to the AL West, inviting the possibility that the two franchises could meet far more frequently in October. But that has occurred just once in the years since, with the Astros eliminating the White Sox in the 2021 ALDS en route to the pennant and sending the White Sox spiraling into a dark period for the franchise while Houston was in the middle of its golden era.
Five years later, the White Sox have emerged from their deep rebuild, and the Astros are desperately trying to keep their competitive window open. And in an ultra-weak American League (particularly outside the AL East), an unlikely race has surfaced between the White Sox and Astros, the current Central and West leaders, to claim the No. 2 seed and the valuable first-round bye that comes with it. As such, this week's four-game series at Daikin Park carried a ton of weight with October fast approaching. The Astros took advantage of the opportunity, taking three of four to close the gap with the White Sox to just 1.5 games.
Here are five takeaways from this week's series in H-Town.
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When a team moves on from a general manager, it's natural to reflect on their tenure and contemplate how the moves they did and didn't make impacted the trajectory of the organization. Without question, the most significant transaction recently fired GM Dana Brown executed during his three-plus years leading the Astros' front office was trading outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Cubs in exchange for three players: infielder Isaac Paredes, then-top prospect and recent first-round pick Cam Smith and right-hander Hayden Wesneski. While Brown experienced several other successes and missteps during his time as Houston's baseball ops leader, that trade — and how much these three players end up contributing to the Astros — will define his tenure.

#series #years

Oklahoma City and USA Softball have broken ground on the Choctaw Nation Fieldhouse, a new indoor softball practice facility at Devon Park.
The 30,000-square-foot, split-level brick building is expected to help secure Devon Park as the home of the NCAA Women's College World Series beyond 2035, according to a news release
The facility will include two indoor practice infields, team locker rooms, and areas for sports medicine, player development and administration. An enclosed, climate-controlled connection will link the fieldhouse to the stadium, allowing staff, coaches and players to move between the buildings without exposure to weather.
The $21 million project is funded through the OKC 2025 Bond. The Oklahoma Department of Commerce contributed $8 million for stadium improvements, including new chairback seating, improved practice fields, upgraded sound system and protective features.
"This will be a premier softball performance training facility that continues to grow the softball community nationally," Public Works Director Debbie Miller said in a news release. "Our goal is for this to be designated as a United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee training site and to help secure Oklahoma City as the home of the NCAA Women's College World Series beyond 2035."

#park

After a 5 run first inning, Kansas City had a multi-run lead for over half the game. The Marlins kept chipping away inning after inning to eventually win 9-6.
It was a very exciting beginning to the game tonight, though it was both the good and bad type of exciting. Noah Cameron had a breaking ball hit the back foot of the leadoff hitter to start the game. Then Otto Lopez hit a hard groundball down the third baseline and into the corner that John Rave misplayed into a triple and an RBI. Kyle Stowers was up third and the infield was in. He immediately hit a little single up the middle to make the game 2-0. Cameron started to settle in after that and got out of the first. In the bottom half the Royals decided to show Miami that anything they could do KC could do better. Carter Jensen led the game off by pulling a solo home run and cutting the lead in half. Bobby Witt managed to reach base with a single before Jac Caglianone mirrored the triple in the top half of the inning only down the first baseline and into the corner for a double. It was enough with Witt's speed to tie the game up 2-2. That was not enough for Salvador Perez however, so he also turned on a ball and hit his 18th bomb of the year to score two and give the Royals the lead. After which Vinnie Pasquantino flew out, Nick Loftin worked a walk, and the newly returned Michael Massey drove a double to right center for a 5-2 lead.
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That was a long inning for Eury Perez ending with 34 pitches thrown, and the Marlins even got the bullpen moving a bit before the end of the initial frame. It was a great start after the last two games where the Royals got blown out, but the crazy first was a long way from the end of this one. Cameron, after those first three batters, took down the next 8 in a row before Miami got to him in the 3rd. With two outs and no one on, Stowers got his second RBI knock of the night by hitting a solo homer to left center. It looked like he may have struck out on a check swing the pitch before the home run, but it was called no swing on appeal.
In the bottom of the 4th, with Eury still hanging in there, Carter Jensen tagged another mistake and lined it 110mph into the Royals bullpen. It was his second multi-homer game of his career and brought him to and then above the 20 homer mark. Not bad for your first full season in the bigs. Royals lead 6-3.

#lead #homer

The Mets (63-77) took the rubber match of their three-game road series against the Tampa Bay Rays (83-56), 10-4 the final score.
-- The Amazins wasted no time taking an early lead over Rays right-handed starter Griffin Jax. Juan Soto reached base on a single up the middle, but was retired on a fielder's choice groundout by Bo Bichette. Carson Benge walked to put runners on first and second with two outs, and Jared Young capitalized with an RBI single. Tampa catcher Liam Hicks couldn't hold onto the ball when applying the late tag on Bichette, and the ball skittered away, the error allowing Benge to score and Young to move up to second base on the play as well. Marcus Semien added to the damage with a double down the left field line to bring Young across home plate, and the Mets were up 3-0.
-- The Mets engineered another two-out rally in the third inning. They loaded the bases after A.J. Ewing hustled out an infield single, and Brett Baty capitalized with a big opposite-field swing which ricocheted off the very top of the wall in left-center field, clearing the bases and knocking Jax out of the game.
-- 29-year-old righty Justin Hagenman was called on to make the start for the Mets on Wednesday, marking his first MLB appearance of the season. He threw 46 pitches, allowed two hits, walked one batter, and allowed one earned run while striking out two over three full innings.
-- Right-handed reliever Chris Devenski came in for Hagenman, and had a nightmare outing. After recording two outs in the fourth inning, Devenski unraveled, allowing three earned runs on three hits, including a two-run homer off the bat of Richie Palacios. Taylor Walls extended the inning with a double to force Mets interim skipper Andy Green to call on Dedniel Núñez to strand the runner in scoring position and hold the Mets' 6-4 lead.

#single #field #bichette

Outhomering the Dodgers five to zip, the Cardinals had no trouble controlling this game right from the jump in a 13-8 blowout win. For the first time since joining the Dodgers, Eric Lauer delivered a bad enough start at home that helps illustrate why he was available in the first place, ready to be scooped up by one of baseball's strongest teams. Lauer ran into all kinds of issues, first crushed by the long ball and then dealing with a massive rally courtesy of nothing but singles, walks, and an HBP.
The bottom of the Cardinals' order first gave Lauer problems, with Ramón Urías and Thomas Saggese demolishing fastballs in the middle to upper part of the zone to leave the yard in back-to-back at-bats in the second. Saggese, in particular, was on an inspired night, later also crushing his second homer in the game to triple his total (1) before the start of play. Equally not known for his pop, Urías hit what was only his fourth long ball this season.
Still, both of those were solo shots, and only trailing 2-0, Lauer had a path to find himself once again, but in the third inning, it all quickly unraveled for the veteran southpaw. Six of the inning's first seven hitters reached safely; a little later, Nathan Church drove in the Cards' seventh run on an infield single—the runner from first was thrown out trying to go to third on the play, ending the inning with the score 7-0.
A seven-run deficit is a daunting challenge to overcome, but with six innings still to go, the Dodgers had nothing but time, and for a brief moment it looked like they'd get back into it. Back-to-back walks by Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman loaded the bases with two outs in front of Mookie Betts. And probably with more luck than skill, Betts cleared the bags on a fly ball to right that likely should've been caught but was aberrantly misplayed by the Cardinals' defense. The scoring in that inning stopped there, and as much as the end product was promising, you couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated at the lack of thump—by the end of three frames, the Dodgers had three runs and just two hits.
Understanding full well who they were going up against, the Cardinals made it so that the Dodgers weren't able to gain much momentum by scoring two of their own in the following frame to make it 10-3. Looking to get in on the fun alongside the bottom of the order, Jordan Walker took Alex Vesia deep in the fourth for a two-run shot, as Lauer got the hook after three dreadful innings of work.

#Dodgers #saggese

The St. Louis Cardinals did not forget to ship their bats to Dodger Stadium as they began their west coast trip Tuesday night. I know this because the sound of Cardinals bats hitting **** was everywhere in Los Angeles as they hammered the Dodgers mercilessly, but LA didn't roll over and just let the Cardinals walk off with the game either.
The Cardinals offense announced its presence in the top of the 2nd inning when Ramón Urías and Thomas Saggese hit back-to-back homers to give St. Louis an early 2-0 lead.
The top of the 3rd inning was even more fun for the Cardinals. José Fermín led off with a single to left and then stole second base. He scored the Cardinals third run when Ivan Herrera singled to center making it 3-0 St. Louis. Jordan Walker then singled giving the Cardinals runners at first and second with **** ody out. After Alec Burleson flied out to left, Joshua Baez was barely grazed on his elbow guard by a pitch which loaded the bases for Leo Bernal making his Major League debut Tuesday night. He showed everyone why he's now in the big league lineup as he lined a solid two-run RBI single to left-center scoring both Walker and Herrera and giving the Cardinals an impressive 5-0 lead.
Thomas Saggese followed that with a sacrifice fly to left scoring Baez making it 6-0 Cardinals and they weren't done yet. When Nathan Church reached on an infield single, a hustling Bernal scored before Urias was tagged out at third which gave St. Louis a commanding 7-0 lead.
The Dodgers reminded the Cardinals their work wasn't done in the bottom of the 3rd inning when they scored 3 runs on a play that St. Louis blundered. With the bases loaded, Mookie Betts lifted what looked like an inning-ending pop-out to right, but Jose Fermin and Jordan Walker nearly collided trying to catch it as the ball bounced away from them scoring all runners cutting into the Cardinals lead at 7-3 after 3 innings.

#louis #walker #single #making