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For a good stretch of this season, I felt like I was always bringing a Pete Crow-Armstrong highlight or another Cal Raleigh homer on Saturday morning for you. PCA did hit his 28th home run, so he’s inching closer to that 30/30 season. Raleigh continued his quieter stretch in the second half, so no news on the catcher home run record. The new norm has become paying attention to whatever is going on in Milwaukee. It seems like the Brew Crew City Connects come out, and the team finds another way to keep the magic going weekend after weekend. Wild Bill took care of that last night, so here we go.
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Today’s Headlines
Wild Bill Caps Wild Win
William Contreras capped a rollercoaster evening for the Milwaukee Brewers with a walk-off home run, stealing the spotlight from former Brewer Willy Adames’s two-homer game. Adames started the scoring with a solo homer in the first, and Luis Matos added a homer to put the San Francisco Giants up 2-0. After the Brewers took a 4-2 lead, Adames made it 4-3 with his second blast in the eighth, and Matos scored on a Trevor Megill wild pitch to tie it in the ninth. But Uecker Magic brought up Contreras with two outs in the ninth. The Milwaukee catcher lofted a fly ball toward the cheering Johnsonville sausages beyond the left field wall. Contreras accepted the post-game cooler bath with open arms, a great way to celebrate his first walk-off homer and his team’s 17th win in August.
Padres Win Snell’s Return
Blake Snell threw seven innings on 97 pitches in his return to Petco Park, but the former San Diego Padres Cy Young winner picked up a loss in a tight matchup at the top of the NL West. Yu Darvish, also facing a former employer, threw six innings and gave up Alex Freeland’s first major league home run. Snell allowed an RBI single to Manny Machado and a Xander Bogaerts sacrifice fly in the fourth. Jason Adam, Mason Miller, and Robert Suarez put on a playoff-caliber bullpen performance to keep the score 2-1 and pull the Padres even with the Los Angeles Dodgers at 73-56.
Bello, Sox Outduel Fried, Yanks
Connor Wong ripped a double down the left field line to bring home Nathaniel Lowe to score the only run either the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees could muster in a pitchers’ duel to continue their weekend series. Max Fried pitched six shutout innings and struck out seven for the hosts. Brayan Bello kept the Yankee bats from repeating their recent home run barrage with seven scoreless innings. Aroldis Chapman earned his 24th save. The 1-0 win gives Boston a half-game advantage over New York in the AL wild card race.
Reds Let One Slip
The Cincinnati Reds have been chasing down the New York Mets in a bid for the third NL wild card, but they let an 11th-inning lead turn into a 6-5 loss while the Mets won big. In the 10th, Cincinnati got a gift when John Curtiss pounced on Jose Trevino’s sacrifice bunt to the third base side of the mound and awkwardly threw the ball past first. Auto runner Ke’Bryan Hayes scored on the play. Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno combined to keep the score 5-4 with a spectacular catch and tag double play, and singles by Ketel Marte and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stole a win for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Five Mets collected three or more hits, and the team tallied 21 in total, during New York’s 12-7 win against Atlanta. Juan Soto hit New York’s only homer as part of a 3-for-4 night with two walks, two runs, and four RBIs. Brett Baty went 4-for-6 with three runs scored. Francisco Lindor and Tyrone Taylor each went 3-for-5. Nolan McLean prevented Atlanta from catching up for seven innings, allowing two runs and striking out seven in his second career start. Reed Garrett and Ryan Helsley allowed Atlanta to close the margin by giving up five earned runs in the final two innings. New York holds a 1.5-game edge on Cincinnati at the bottom of the NL playoff pile.
Time for Bubba
Bubba Chandler earned a four-inning save in his major league debut, and the Pittsburgh Pirates shut out the Colorado Rockies 9-0. It’s not often that a long reliever grabs the headlines in a blowout, but the No. 1 pitching prospect in baseball threw the 13 fastest pitches in Friday night’s game, topping out at 100.4 mph. Braxton Ashcraft tossed five scoreless innings and earned the win. The rookies kept the Rockies off the scoreboard, and veteran Andrew McCutchen led the Pirates’ offense with two doubles and four RBIs.
Povich Reveals Disgusting Fan DM
Do the people who send messages to players and their families see stories like this and get embarrassed at the complete lack of human decency in their actions? Does the sudden swell of coverage about messages like the one Baltimore Orioles pitcher Cade Povich revealed on Friday night give the story enough weight to influence those who choose to type this out and hit send? What will it take for this not to be a thing?
Cade Povich shared a disgraceful message from a fan to his wife on social media. Do not do this to anyone.
— Andy Kostka (@afkostka.bsky.social) 2025-08-23T05:02:46.183Z
Best Moments From Yesterday
Atlanta Honors ’95 Champs
Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz threw out first pitches. Bobby Cox made a rare ballpark appearance. Fred McGriff, David Justice, John Schuerholz, and many other members of the 1995 World Series champions came back to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the franchise’s first championship in Atlanta. The ’95 team went 90-54 in a strike-shortened season under Cox’s leadership, claiming the sole ring in a run of 14-straight division titles.
#Braves legend Bobby Cox honored here at Truist Park during the 1995 World Series 30th anniversary celebration. pic.twitter.com/QyLlWRBhn7
— Aaron Schmidt (@ASchmidtSports) August 22, 2025
Mound Visit (Part 1)
Can we get a screenplay inspired by this moment between Fried and a squirrel on the Yankee Stadium mound? I want to watch this baseball movie. What would they talk about? Is the squirrel trying to get Fried to go for the hidden ball trick?
Does this count as a mound visit?
— Dan Chibnall (@bookowl.bsky.social) 2025-08-23T00:39:59.442Z
Mound Visit (Part 2)
Bello did not appear to expect his battery mate to appear to talk strategy on the mound. Boo!
https://bsky.app/profile/caseydrottar.bsky.social/post/3lwzsc3olkc2b
‘I’m a Belieber’
Shane Bieber made his Toronto Blue Jays debut on Friday night. The newly-acquired and healthy right-hander struck out nine, giving up two hits and a run over six innings. John Schneider, his new manager, joined the fan club after the game.
"I've got Bieber fever, I'm a Belieber."
John Schneider sums up Bieber’s debut with one line 😂 pic.twitter.com/xRU5P1Svl3
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 23, 2025
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ The Red Sox will move Walker Buehler to the bullpen. The silver lining for this move is that Buehler did well in relief at the end of the 2024 World Series. The move doesn’t come with immediate clarity on who will take Buehler’s spot in the Boston rotation.
⚾ Craig Kimbrel signed with the Houston Astros after the team placed Bennet Sousa on the 15-day IL with left elbow inflammation.
⚾ The Brewers’ stellar defense took a hit with Joey Ortiz being placed on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain. Ortiz played after fouling a ball off his knee this week, but left Thursday’s game early due to the low-grade strain.
⚾ Jen Pawol is back in the major leagues for the Colorado-Pittsburgh series this weekend.
⚾ The Orioles signed catcher Samuel Basallo to an 8-year, $67 million extension on Friday. The deal could reach up to $88 million with escalators. It’s the fourth-largest deal in team history. He’s 21 and played four MLB games.
Articles You Should Read
Kenny Lofton helps remember Black baseball’s Cleveland Buckeyes — Justice B. Hill, Andscape (ESPN)
The Metronomic Bryan Woo — Michael Baumann, FanGraphs
What Samuel Basallo extension with Orioles means for franchise mainstay Adley Rutschman’s future in Baltimore — R.J. Anderson, CBS Sports
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
