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MLB News & Moments: Edwin Diaz is Redeemed

The full Edwin Diaz experience.

Pablo Figueroa
MLB Morning News 9 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.

Today’s Headlines

 

Diaz of our Lives

In game two of the battle of NL heavyweights, the Dodgers were able to avenge Thursday’s traumatic loss, taking a 3-1 victory that still featured heavy drama. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was his usual dominant self, earning his 12th win of the season with six innings of one-run ball, versus nine strikeouts. While Mookie Betts continued his hot week with an RBI single in the first, the deciding blows came from Andy Pages and Tommy Edman solo homers, as LA opened a 3-1 lead heading into the ninth. With the same two-run advantage as Thursday, manager Dave Roberts showed his earlier statement about trusting Edwin Díaz as closer was for real, handing him a chance to redeem himself. Diaz was just as shaky as he was the night prior, hitting the first batter he faced and sandwiching two walks around two outs, as the bases were loaded with Joey Ortiz trying to be the hero. On a 1-1 count, a perfectly placed fastball produced a soft grounder from Ortiz, as the remaining fans at Dodger Stadium could breathe a collective sigh of relief, with the Dodgers barely escaping with a 3-1 win.

Fly the Early W

As the Cardinals and Cubs renewed their rivalry in Chicago, a rare pitching duel emerged between Matthew Liberatore, entering the game with a 5.15 ERA, and Clay Holmes, making his second start since arriving at the Friendly Confines. Both starters were stellar, keeping the game scoreless through five. Holmes was particularly impressive, retiring the first 16 batters he faced before José Fermin recorded a single to spoil the magic. While Holmes recovered, his effort was rewarded in the bottom of the frame, with a clutch three-run blast from Seiya Suzuki that accounted for all the scoring. The 3-0 win kept the pressure on Milwaukee, as the Cubs have now won eight of their past ten and stand only three games behind the Brewers atop the NL Central.

So You’re Saying There’s a Chance

The same Blue Jays who have been essentially discounted for most of 2026 are now only a game back of the AL’s final wild card, albeit as part of a seven-team scrum that will go down to the wire. In a week that included a commanding 3-1 series win over Boston, the Jays started the weekend’s set versus the Yankees with an impressive 3-1 win as Shane Bieber outdueled Gerrit Cole. Both hurlers spun nothing but zeroes through five, but a solo homer from Trent Grisham led off the sixth and appeared to give the Yankees a great chance to complete the job. Instead, an unfortunate sequence that included two errors on the same play led to an unearned run and a quick turnaround for Toronto, who took a 2-1 lead to the seventh. Toronto’s bullpen was dominant and completed the final three frames, while an Alejandro Kirk solo blast added insurance for the 3-1 victory. Toronto still has eight straight games against the top teams in the AL East, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. needed concussion protocol after last night’s contest, but it looks as if everything is finally coming together for the reigning AL champs.

That Was Pfaadt

As the Padres have upped their game and the Phillies won’t go away, Arizona is essentially in a three-team battle for the final two NL wild card spots. With a tough series in Atlanta looming, especially so facing Chris Sale, the Dbacks may have just had their best combined pitching performance of 2026, as they held Atlanta to three measly singles and no runners even reaching second base. Brandon Pfaadt was the star of the show, with seven stellar frames and seven strikeouts, but with an offense that could only score once and clung to a 1-0 lead, Arizona’s bullpen also needed to step up. The tandem of Juan Morillo and Brandyn Garcia added a couple of Ks apiece to close the contest, as a ninth-inning solo homer from Tim Tawa added a key insurance run to secure the 2-0 victory. The Diamondbacks now stand tied with Philadelphia and one game behind the Friars.

Burning Red

With Chase Burns having an amazing season and Sandy Alcantara in the middle of a 20-inning scoreless streak, everything hinted at a great pitching matchup in Cincinnati. This kind of hype tends to produce letdowns, but not this time in the Queen City, as Burns and Alcantara engaged in an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel, with both trading zero after zero. Burns, usually burned by walks, refused to give the Marlins any free passes, limiting Miami to four hits over seven frames while striking out eight. Sandy saw plenty of traffic, allowing four walks and three hits, with a run finally breaking through in the sixth. The 1-0 final was a rarity for Great American Ballpark, but this kind of throwback could not have ended in any other way. Cincinnati is now 17-6 in games started by Burns, while being 42-56 in all other contests.

 

By The Numbers

 

9 In the White Sox’s big 9-5 win over Detroit on the strength of four homers. Two of them came from Munetaka Murakami and Miguel Vargas, making this the ninth game in 2026 in which both homered. This is one short of a franchise record, shared by three Sox pairs of teammates, most recently Luis Robert Jr. and Jake Burger in 2023.

1,500 After driving in the first run of a game that eventually ended 1-0, Cincinnati’s Eugenio Suárez was not only the hero, but he also reached a significant milestone. Suarez is now the 23rd active player with at least 1,500 hits, and will likely be the last one to do it in 2026. The next-closest is J.T. Realmuto, who needs 68 hits to join the list.

6 With the Yankees and Red Sox comfortable at the top of the AL Wild Card standings, there is only one available spot left to decide. Six teams are within 1.5 games of that spot, with the Tigers entering the weekend as the best bad team in that mix.

 

Best Moments From Yesterday

 

Walk, Don’t Run

As one of the most underrated players of the past decade, it is easy to overlook Christian Walker. At age 35, he has now reached his fifth straight season with at least 20 homers, while always being good enough to post an above-average batting line and play solid defense at first. Last night, he added a nice exclamation point to his list of accomplishments, getting the first walk-off homer of his career, while also capping a dramatic comeback for the Astros. After Houston’s bullpen blew a 5-2 lead and sent the game to extras, the Mariners appeared to be in control of a game they absolutely needed to win, scoring twice in the tenth and sending closer Andres Muñoz to lock things down. Muñoz allowed the ghost runner to score but recorded two outs, just as his issues in 2026 continued. A clutch Daulton Varsho single tied things at seven, setting up Walker’s heroics, as a 1-0 lazy slider was demolished for the 10-7 final score. Despite being just 3.5 games behind the AL’s last playoff spot, every day it looks as if the Mariners are simply not good enough.

Game of Inches

During Friday’s closest and best-pitched contest, things could have broken open earlier, when Cincinnati’s Tyler Stephenson crushed a fly ball that looked certain to clear the fences. However, a light breeze flew through Great American Ballpark from right to left field, gradually pushing the ball to the very corner of fair territory. As left fielder Heriberto Hernández positioned himself for a possible catch, the ball finally decided to choose its final destination, bouncing against the wall a mere inch wide of the yellow line that would have made it a homer. Instead, it was probably one of the most dramatic fly balls you will ever see, perfectly captured by a photo that shows the cruel vagaries of this game.

Miller Lite

In a game that included a massive Fernando Tatis Jr. homer, a nice comeback from the Padres, and a rare bad outing from Gavin Williams, the most significant moment may have come because closer Mason Miller was not available. With the all-world closer out after pitching four times over the past week, San Diego had to rely on 22-year-old Bradgley Rodriguez, who has also been a nice cog in the team’s elite bullpen. Rodriguez’s early jitters saw him allow a lead-off double in the ninth, but he would retire the next three batters, including two strikeouts to finish the job. Rodriguez recorded his first career save, as the 7-5 victory made the Padres winners of six straight.

 

Injuries and Other Moves

 

⚾ The White Sox have placed starter Davis Martin on the 15-day IL with a blister issue in his right middle finger. This comes after Martin was ejected from Thursday’s game against the Reds, in which the righty was ejected following a couple of close pitches facing Sal Stewart. In his place, Chicago recalled veteran José Urquidy. 

⚾ The Brewers placed setup man Abner Uribe on the 15-day IL with a flexor strain. The move is retroactive to August 11 and could represent a significant setback for Milwaukee, as Uribe has been among the best relievers in baseball over the past two seasons. Initial imaging suggests that the IL stint should be short, but Uribe’s eventual health status could become quite relevant as the Brewers fight to stay atop the NL Central.

⚾ Arizona’s Ketel Marte exited last night’s game versus Atlanta with left knee soreness. The injury happened early on defense, and Marte is considered day-to-day for now. Expect to have more information on his availability throughout the weekend.

 

Articles You Should Read

 

The Quest for a Roy Oswalt Perfect Game (in MVP 05) — Matt Monagan, MLB.com

Let’s Put Skubal Back on the Tigers — Ben Clemens, Fangraphs

 

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Pablo Figueroa

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Pablo Figueroa is a Baseball Writer here at Pitcher List, with experience as a writer since 2013. He lives in Aguascalientes, Mexico - proud home of Los Rieleros. When he´s not thinking about baseball , he's a husband, owns two dogs, watches random episodes of The Sopranos , plays padel, and works on his day job to pay the bills.

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