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Before we get to the baseball, let’s talk about another ball sport that’s currently taking up a lot of my concentration: tennis! It’s US Open season which means I am watching a truly ridiculous amount of sports all day while I work, given that the matches kick off at 11:30 AM, but it’s also a great time to let everybody know that the crankiest man on tour, Daniil Medvedev, is a huge fan of the Cincinnati Reds:
.@DaniilMedwed loves baseball and specifically the @Reds ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/vNApwMKpz4
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 2, 2026
I can only imagine the absolute histrionics that he’d get up to as a manager when it was time to get tossed from a game. Also sorry, while you’re here and I have your attention, I need you to check out the incredible tan line on the forehead of Lucky Loser and potentially my new favorite player, Yunchaokete Bu:
I am immediately reminded of Jake Burger’s issue with the mesh spring training caps from back in 2022.
Today’s Headlines
Les Mizérables
The NL Central isn’t really still in play at this point, but that has never stopped a Cubs-Brewers rivalry game from feeling like everything is on the line, right? Milwaukee sent Jacob Misiorowski to the bump, looking to extend his 25-game streak of allowing three or fewer earned runs, while Chicago looked to…not do that. And indeed they did. By the end of the second inning the score was 5-3 in favor of Chicago, and Alex Bregman had driven in four of them:
(The fifth run came on a Tyrone Taylor RBI single immediately prior to Bregman’s second appearance, there.)
Unfortunately for the Cubbies, that would be all the run production they would get for the day while the Brew Crew added four more runs on top thanks to a Brice Turang sac bunt and a quartet of RBI singles from Andrew Vaughn, William Contreras (both in the fourth inning), Cooper Pratt (in the seventh), and Joey Ortiz (in the ninth). I feel like that kinda sums up the Brewers this year, right? You can rough up their ace, yet they’ll still beat you, and pretty soundly, and they’ll do it with only one home run (a solo homer from Jackson Chourio) and only two other XBH (doubles from Chourio and Christian Yelich.)
While Bregman certainly seemed to have Miz’ number on Wednesday, Jacob did manage to gut it out through four innings, although he gave up five hits, four walks, five runs (all earned) with five strikeouts to show for it. It’s a testament to his incredible year that I nearly said “only” five Ks. Those ER and walk numbers match his career worst, which…well, I feel like a lot of guys have definitely done worse. The Brewers hold a nine-game lead over the Cubs in the division, but the Cubs are still four-and-a-half games up over Arizona holding onto the second WC spot.
I do also want to show you all this incredible catch from Nico Hoerner:
Nico Hoerner WHAT A CATCH 😱
Late Night El Mago
It was see-saw games all over the Midwest yesterday as the Tigers took an early lead over the Twins and then saw it into a 5-5 tie in the eighth inning thanks to a three-run inning on the back of a bases-loaded walk to Victor Caratini and a two-run single from Royce Lewis:
Lewis has been hitting .264/.321/.455 since getting called back up on June 6th this year; it’s been very nice to see him bounce back from what looked like it might have been a career-ending swoon to start the season. The game remained knotted at 5 until the 11th inning, when each team scored their Manfred Man to force a 12th. That’s when Detroit figured it was time to go home, I guess. Spencer Torkelson gave the second pitch he saw a ride deep into the bleachers in left field:
I need somebody to let Jason Benetti know it’s actually a “Tork Bork” and not a “Tork Bomb,” though. 8-6 is still a minor deficit, and Tommy Nance did get two quick outs following the homer…but then the wheels came off. Ben Malgeri singled, Max Clark was intentionally walked, and John Peck got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Enter Javier Báez to hit a booming, bases-clearing double. Wait sorry, did I say booming? I meant…whatever onomatopoeia you think would best describe this:
Minnesota went down in order in the bottom half of the inning to seal the win 11-6 for Detroit. With that loss the Twins fall to 3.5 games out of the third WC slot, although they have three teams ahead of them. The Tigers are six games back with five teams ahead of them.
Five In The First? No Problem
Wednesday got off to a pretty good start for Miami as they scored two in the top of the first inning thanks to an Otto Lopez RBI triple (with a slight assist from John Rave):
Lopez came around to score on a Kyle Stowers single one batter later to get the fish out in front.
Then things got bad for the Marlins, as the Royals put up five runs in the bottom of the inning. Carter Jensen got things going with a franchise record-setting solo shot, and KC kept it coming:
Things calmed down a tiny bit after that, as both teams traded solo shots in the third and fourth innings, first from Stowers:
And then from Jensen, hitting his second of the afternoon:
Don’t sleep on that great barehanded grab by the Royals’ bullpen coach on that one.
Heriberto Hernández hit an automatic double to get Miami back within two runs in the fifth, and the tied things up in the sixth on a Griffin Conine pinch-hit RBI single and Jared Serna sac fly. Hernández hit another double (this one stayed in play) to put the Marlins on top 7-6. They would add two more runs in the ninth thanks to back-to-back solo homers from Javier Sanoja and Jacob Marsee:
Griffin wasn’t the only Conine in the house, as his dad Jeff was in attendance. Hopefully not wearing one of those split jersies, though. Whatever his sartorial choices were, Griffin showed off at the plate and in the field, making two separate fantastic grabs out in RF, the first to save a run on a Vinnie Pasquantino line drive with a cool .560 xBA:
And a mere inning later, stealing an extra-base hit from Michael Massey:
Offensive and defensive highlights were the order of the day as it was a day not to remember for either starting pitcher. Eury Pérez only made it 4.2 innings, giving up nine hits and three walks, six runs (all earned), and only striking out three. Noah Cameron had a better day, although 5 IP, five hits, one walk, and four runs isn’t anything to get overly excited about. He did record seven strikeouts, at least! That win puts the Marlins at 71-69, and they’re only two and a half games behind Arizona for the third NL wildcard spot right now, with just the Padres between them.
There’s A First Time For Everything In LA
The Dodgers have lost six of their last eight games, and last night’s 8-6 defeat at the hands of St. Louis also saw them lose their first extra-innings game in 2026. It didn’t look like things were headed that way when the game got underway, though! Yoshinobu Yamamoto made quick work of the Cards in a 1-2-3 top of the first, and Freddie Freeman gave the Dodgers a three-run lead with a single swing in the bottom:
That would be all the run scoring for a while, as Yamamoto threw five no-hit innings until José Fermín hit a single to kick off the top of the sixth. The no-hitter was gone, and then Thomas Saggese ruined the shutout:
Mookie Betts gave the Dodgers back some breathing room with a two-run homer of his own in the bottom of the inning:
But the Cards got right back within a run thanks to the first MLB home run from Leo Bernal, which also scored Jordan Walker:
The Cardinals would manage to tie the game on an Alec Burleson sac fly and the Dodgers were unable to break the deadlock despite a one-out Teoscar Hernández double in the bottom of the ninth (they would end up 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position). Things went poorly for Brock Stewart in the top of the 10th as Saggese struck again, although this time with just a single:
Joshua Báez got a grounder past a diving Max Muncy down the left field line to bring home two more runs:
The Dodgers got one back in the bottom of the 10th off of Riley O’Brien thanks to a passed ball and a groundout, but he was able to lock down the win and pick up his 38th save of the year. Even with their extended period of mediocrity, the Dodgers are still nine games up over Arizona in the NL West, although they’ve fallen down to the fourth-best record in baseball.
By The Numbers
19 starts for Cam Schlittler this year with one or fewer earned runs, which is a new Yankees single-season record.
6 games without more than one run of run support this year for Cam. Four of them have come since August 9th.
Best Moments From Yesterday
200/200 Club, And Step On It!
The team immediately in front of LA in the overall standings is Atlanta, who won their game over Washington on Wednesday by a score of 9-0, with three of those runs coming on a Ronald Acuña Jr. dinger:
That gives him 200 career home runs to go with his 200 career stolen bases, marks he hit in a mere 904th career game, which is 25 games faster than previous record-holder Alfonso Soriano. It’s a reminder of what a game-changing talent Acuña is, even though he’s spent so much time on the IL.
Hold The Cucumber
Have a little bonus from the Tigers-Twins game courtesy of everybody’s favorite commentator:
— Asher in five (@asherball.bsky.social) 2026-09-03T02:26:28.358Z
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ The Dodgers made a pitcher swap on Wednesday, placing Eric Lauer on the IL due to elbow inflammation and activating Blake Treinen from the 60-day.
⚾ Simeon Woods Richardson signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners, although their MLB rotation is currently full.
⚾ San Diego has slowed the timeline for Joe Musgrove’s return, and his pitching at all this season is now in serious jeopardy. The team describes it as issues with his recovery, and specifically arm and elbow fatigue.
⚾ Michael Massey came off the IL yesterday for the Royals, and Drew Waters was DFA’d as the corresponding move.
⚾ Washington activated James Wood off of the IL for Wednesday’s game, he went 1-for-4 with a strikeout. Tom Cosgrove was DFA’d as the corresponding move.
Articles You Should Read
Psst, Position Player Pitching Is Proliferating – Jay Jaffe, FanGraphs
Ex-Angels Players, Coaches React to Arte Moreno Selling Team: ‘This Needed to Happen’ – Sam Blum and Chris Kirschner, The Athletic (gift link)
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
