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MLB News & Moments: Brandon Lowe, Wow!

Twins are Twinning, and a party crashing dinger.

Asher Dratel
MLB Morning News 7 Hours Ago

Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.

 

I haven’t mentioned it in my years here, but I am a big Peter Luger partisan when it comes to New York City steakhouses. Last night I got to try Delmonico’s and I gotta say, best non-Luger steak I’ve had, and their mushroom side is just flat out incredible. Peter Luger’s still the king of the steak and creamed spinach, though. So there’s my rapid food review for anybody looking to spend an irresponsible amount of money on a dinner while you’re in town. Glad to help.

 

Today’s Headlines

 

Blowe-n Save

The AL Wild Card race is some truly heinous stuff, with the Yankees and Red Sox holding the first two spots with a nine game and five-and-a-half game lead respectively. Then it’s the Twins currently in the third spot with a 63-65 record, and then behind them it’s the Rangers, Blue Jays, Guardians, Orioles (more on them below,) and Tigers all separated by a game and a half or less. That’s six teams all fighting for that third wild card with losing records. The 2026 AL, sheesh.

But that’s all to say the Tigers are playing meaningful baseball even after dealing Tarik Skubal at the deadline, so when they chased Paul Skenes from the game on Wednesday with only 4.1 innings pitched, and having given up three runs (all earned) they were probably feeling pretty good about their chances in Pittsburgh. Detroit was working with a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning when the Pirates brought in Rafael Flores Jr. to pinch-hit for Henry Davis, and I imagine nobody thought about it much at the time.

That dinger actually sets a stadium record for the Pirates at PNC Park:

I’m kind of amazed by that one, to be honest. I know PNC isn’t a hitter’s park, but it’s been open for 25 years now, and 20+ teams hit at least 82 dingers in their home park for the past three seasons, at least.

Anyways, the Pirates scored that one run in the seventh but the Tigers still had a lead going to the bottom of the ninth, with Kenley Jansen on the mound. He struck out Jake Mangum, and then it was Flores Jr. up again. You’ll never guess what happened.

Jansen got Spencer Horwitz to fly out and it looked like Detroit might at least force extra innings until Brandon Lowe stepped up and did this:

A walk-off homer is always pretty satisfying, but something about the fact that nobody was entirely sure if it was fair until you hear the incredibly loud DONK makes this one special.

Alonso Close, Yet Alonso Far

One state away (and several hours later), Pete Alonso was probably wishing he had hit his ball a little softer, or at least lower. But wait, let’s go back to the first inning and watch as the O’s execute a double steal of second and home to score their first run:

The Yankees took the lead in the next inning thanks to a Ryan McMahon RBI single and a George Lombard Jr. sac fly, and then added to their lead in the third on the longest home run of Ben Rice’s career so far:

431-ft Blast for Ben 🍚

— New York Yankees (@yankees.mlbbsky.com) 2026-08-19T23:25:48.000Z

Baltimore tied it back up with a pair of solo shots of their own, though. First it was Pete in the third:

And then Dylan Beavers in the sixth. Polar Bears, Beavers, Rice…big night for non-humans, I suppose.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, it looked like Pete had put the O’s back in front. This is that ball that he simply hit too high I mentioned before.

I picked this clip because even the YES booth was in disbelief that it was called foul and upheld. I don’t know if that replay angle is bad or what, but the ball looks very clearly fair. The fact that Alonso then struck out really just rubs some salt in the wound. Or maybe the salt is really how the Yankees retook the lead in the eighth:

Speed + a perfectly placed hit for George 👊

— New York Yankees (@yankees.mlbbsky.com) 2026-08-20T01:20:10.000Z

Jazz Chisholm Jr. added another run in the inning on a barely passed ball:

Heads-up base running from Jazz 🔥

— New York Yankees (@yankees.mlbbsky.com) 2026-08-20T01:22:14.000Z

And that 5-3 line would hold up for the final. All of that drama and the standings barely change given that the Rays also won, and every other non-Twins Wild Card-hunting team lost.

Twins Killing

Ok so I suppose that I should give the Twins their due here, since I have been giving them backhanded compliments for two whole subsections now. On Wednesday they completed a sweep over Atlanta, which is how they find themselves in wild card position. They scored their first run on a Byron Buxton fielder’s choice that resulted in no outs, and it wasn’t even Buxton who really beat out the throw!

Atlanta tied things up in the fifth on a Ronald Acuña Jr. RBI single, but a Josh Bell walk and a Kody Clemens double brought three more Minnesota runs home in the bottom half of the inning.

Kody keeps it goinggg

— Minnesota Twins (@twinsbaseball.bsky.social) 2026-08-19T19:12:05.000Z

The sixth inning got a bit hairy, as Atlanta tied things up on a Lane Thomas single, Ozzie Albies sac fly, and most fun: a balk!

But things swung back to the Twins in the seventh as Kody Clemens once again drove in a run on a single, and was in turn driven in two batters later by a Brooks Lee single. 6-4 was the final score, and in other fun stuff, Kaelen Culpepper went 3-for-4 with a run. He’s batting .314 so far this year.

 

Nobody Sets Offensive Records Against Seattle Twice In A Row!

Tuesday was a historic disaster for the Mariners that turned their subreddit into, well, something else, but they bounced back on Wednesday, getting to new Brewer Dustin May in a hurry.

Right off the jump, Brendan Donovan and Randy Arozarena singled back-to-back and were both driven in by a Dominic Canzone double:

Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor made two quick outs before Seattle loaded the bases on a pair of walks, and then drove in another two runs on a Taylor Ward single:

Seattle got their fifth run in the second on a J-Rod sac fly followed by a Naylor RBI single. Hey, not a bad turnaround from the first!

But for as much as Seattle looked to return the 22-0 favor, we all must remember that it is the Brewers who have the best record in baseball and they started to claw back, scoring five unanswered runs over the next seven innings. Four of those runs were driven in by Joey Ortiz, who is also known in some corners as “Jortz” which I find simply delightful.

Not pictured: His totally routine sac fly to right field. You can imagine it. Or watch it if you’d like, just doesn’t seem embed-worthy.

 

Best Moments From Yesterday

 

Just Playin’ Catch With Dad

Sawyer Strosnider, the Brewers second-round draft pick from this year kicked off his professional career with a triple a week ago, and he hit his first professional home run on Wednesday. Which is cool to begin with, but he managed to hit it directly to his father who was watching from the outfield:

Well, he was “watching” in that he crashed a private party out there and then proceeded to correctly call the shot.

 

Injuries and Other Moves

 

⚾ The Phillies have signed Nestor Cortes Jr. to an MLB deal. I would imagine he’ll be with the team and on the mound shortly. Nasty Nestor is back!

⚾ There was a whole flurry of injury updates from the Cubs on Wednesday, but the headline is that Daniel Palencia will be activated from the IL on Friday.

⚾ Jorge Polanco is done for the season, as he’s set to undergo ankle surgery.

⚾ We got something of a non-update on the status of Ketel Marte, with Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen saying he is “hopeful” he will return this year.

 

Articles You Should Read

 

The Derek Hill All-Stars – Michael Baumann, FanGraphs

Kyle Tucker is Unwell – Maddie Landis, Baseball Prospectus (sub req’d)

 

Fantasy Baseball Coverage

 

Starting Pitcher Roundup

Hitter Performances

Waiver Wire Picks

Starting Pitcher Streamers

Asher Dratel

Follow the author on Bluesky

Asher hails from Brooklyn, wears a 2008 Joba Chamberlain jersey to every Yankees game he attends, and pronounces BABIP funny. Appreciator of Beefy Lad dingers and beers. @asherd.xyz on Bluesky.

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