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A lot to get to on 9/11 between pregame ceremonies, honorary first pitches, and more. Please, check out some memorable clips from the ‘Best Moments From Yesterday’ section below. There were nine games played on Thursday, with six of them having a serious playoff impact on the rest of the league. Let’s get right to it.
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Today’s Headlines
Gausman Dominates Astros
It’s truly been a seesaw type of year for Toronto Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman. He got off to a lousy start in April, turned it on in May, went 1-2 with a 5.46 ERA in June, cut that earned run average in half with a 2.51-mark in July, was solid in August, and now after Thursday’s complete game shutout against the Astros, is 2-0 with a 0.53 ERA in the final month of the regular season. So what happened? I’ll tell you.
Toronto went ahead 2-0 in the first inning of their rubber game versus Houston, courtesy of two run-scoring doubles by Nathan Lukes and Addison Barger. Outfielder Davis Schneider tacked on another run in the second frame via a 360-foot solo homer to left, and added a sac fly in the third to give Gausman way more run support than he needed on this day.
The only damage allowed by Gausman (and by damage, I mean base hits) came in the fourth inning when he surrendered a pair of singles to Jeremy Peña and Carlos Correa, respectively. That was it. After Correa’s knock, Gausman retired the next 15 batters before walking Pena with one out in the ninth and his team ahead 6-0. The 34-year-old ended the contest by inducing back-to-back groundball outs off the bats of Yordan Alvarez and Correa. In a game that lasted only two hours and seven minutes, Toronto’s ace finished with a line of 9 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 9 K, 1 BB, and 100 pitches thrown. A true masterpiece. Final score: Jays-6, Astros-0. Gausman is 10-10 on the year with a 3.44 ERA.
The Mariners Take Advantage of Houston’s Loss
With Houston’s loss to Toronto earlier in the day, the Seattle Mariners had a chance to pull even with the ‘Stros in the AL West with a series-opening victory at home versus the Angels. Seattle jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after J.P. Crawford and Julio Rodríguez each delivered two-run doubles in the second frame. Starting pitcher Bryce Miller struck out four of the first six batters he faced, and looked well on his way to a dominant outing until a Logan Davidson homer put the Angels on the board in the third inning. Los Angeles added two more runs in the fourth to cut the deficit to one before Mike Trout unloaded for his 399th career tater on a game-tying solo shot to center off Miller.
From there, both bullpens took over, with neither allowing a run until a single in the top half of the 11th by Angels left fielder Taylor Ward ended the five-inning scoreless drought. With the visiting squad ahead 5-4 in the bottom half, Angels reliever Sammy Peralta gave up a game-tying RBI single to Crawford before striking out Josh Naylor to get out of a bases-loaded jam and send the contest to the 12th. Once again, the Angels went ahead by a run, this time courtesy of a go-ahead single by Matthew Lugo to score Sebastián Rivero from third. However, Mariners reliever José Castillo escaped the 12th without further damage after getting Trout to ground into a double play and inducing an inning-ending groundout off the bat of Yoán Moncada.
In the bottom of the 12th, Jorge Polanco tied the contest at six apiece with a leadoff double to left, scoring Naylor from third.
Peralta intentionally walked Eugenio Suárez to set up a first and second situation with no outs. After Victor Robles moved the runners over on a bunt single, 22-year-old rookie pinch-hitter Harry Ford stepped to the dish looking for his first career knock. Ford had two career at-bats coming in, and on a first-pitch changeup from Peralta, he lifted a lazy fly to shallow right, allowing Polanco to score the winning run from third on a late throw home.
Even though Ford is still hitless in his brief big league career, he can still tell his friends and family that his first RBI came on a walk-off sac to put the Mariners into a first-place tie with Houston atop the AL West. Final score: Mariners-7, Angels-6. Heading into Friday’s action, the AL West is the tightest race going. The Mariners and Astros are 79-68 and are two games ahead of the Texas Rangers in the division.
Judge Ties DiMaggio as Yankees Avoid Sweep
After the Detroit Tigers outscored the Yankees by a combined 20 runs over their two victories leading up to Thursday’s series finale, the visiting club decided to go with a bullpen game. That backfired quickly after New York pounced on opener Tyler Holton and reliever Sawyer Gipson-Long for nine runs over the first four innings. Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton went deep with his 20th homer of the campaign in the third, but the story everyone in attendance will remember is the one involving MVP-favorite Aaron Judge. The Yankees captain began the scoring with his 45th homer in the first on a solo shot to center. Judge followed that up with No. 46 in the third on a four-seam fastball down and in to tie the legendary Joe DiMaggio for fourth on the Yankees’ all-time home run list with 361.
The Yankees won 9-3 to avoid the sweep. Rookie SP Cam Schlittler allowed one run over six frames and picked up his third career win for New York. Entering Friday, the Yanks are a half-game ahead of Boston for the top AL wild card spot, and three games behind Toronto for first place in the AL East.
Judge talked after the game about honoring 9/11.
Guardians Take Series Finale Versus Royals
The Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians entered Thursday on the outside of the current playoff picture. Cleveland won two of the first three contests and called on right-hander Gavin Williams to help clinch a series win at home. The 26-year-old allowed a first-inning two-run homer to Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino.
It was Pasquantino’s 30th homer of the season, and for most of the contest, the two runs he provided appeared to be enough for KC to hold on for a series split. Starting pitcher Stephen Kolek cruised through 6.2 innings, allowing three hits and one run before being replaced in the seventh with his club ahead 2-1. However, in the bottom of the eighth, Royals RP John Schreiber yielded a leadoff single to Bo Naylor, followed by a go-ahead two-run homer to nine-hole batter C.J. Kayfus. It was the rookie’s third career long ball.
Guardians closer Cade Smith shut the door in the ninth by striking out two and collecting his 13th save of the year. More importantly, the 3-2 victory and series win for Cleveland kept them 3.5 games behind Seattle, and now Houston, for the final AL wild card position. The loss for KC dropped them five games off the wild card pace with a record of 74-73.
Phils Complete Four-Game Sweep of Struggling Mets
The NL East race was all but over after Philadelphia won the first three games of this four-game set versus their division rivals, the New York Mets. The Metropolitans entered the series finale on a five-game losing streak, and even though they continued to hold a two-game advantage over the idle Reds and Giants for the final NL wild card position, a loss on Thursday could be costly.
It looked promising early on for the visitors after scoring four times in the opening frame off Phillies southpaw Jesús Luzardo. But that lead would only last for a bit after the Phils scored six unanswered runs between the fourth and sixth frames. Leadoff man Harrison Bader drove in the go-ahead run as part of a three-run sixth inning, and continued his impressive stretch since joining his new team at the trade deadline. Bader went 2-for-5 and is hitting .339 over 35 contests with Philadelphia.
Back to Luzardo. It’s not often you see a starting pitcher give up four in the first, and then coast the rest of the way. However, on this day, Luzardo flipped the script and retired the next 22 batters he faced, and finished the contest with eight innings pitched, five hits allowed (all in the first), and struck out 10 while walking none. Luzardo claimed his 14th win of the year as the Phillies held on for a 6-4 victory to complete the series sweep.
Entering the weekend, the Phils have a commanding 11-game advantage in the NL East; by far the largest division lead in MLB. Meanwhile, the New York loss allowed San Fran and Cincy to gain a half-game in the wild card race without suiting up.
Best Moments From Yesterday
9/11 Remembrance
It’s a day our nation will never forget. It’s a day MLB always remembers. Here were some touching pregame ceremonies and more from around the majors in memory of September 11, 2001.
Francisco Lindor also wore this glove to honor the 9/11 first responders 👏 https://t.co/aQJdFU6Rmd pic.twitter.com/C48Xn8CLfI
— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2025
Fermin Fouls Cover Off Ball
According to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary (a book I have sitting in my home office), to knock the cover off the ball means “To hit the ball with such great force that the ball, figuratively, unravels.” Well, Padres catcher Freddy Fermin had different ideas of how to knock the cover off the ball in the seventh inning against the Rockies. Instead of unloading with great force, Fermin hit a weak nubber into foul territory; good enough for the ball to unravel.
He ripped the cover off the ball 😯 pic.twitter.com/X1sdt4WDxc
— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2025
Vasquez Leads Padres to Victory Over Colorado
Padres starting pitcher Randy Vasquez tossed six scoreless innings and struck out a career-high nine batters en route to his fifth W of ’25. San Diego won the series-opener 2-0 and trail the Dodgers by 2.5 games in the NL West entering Friday.
There was also a highlight catch in the first inning by San Diego’s Ramón Laureano in left field foul territory. Definitely worth a gander.
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ The Blue Jays sent outfielder Anthony Santander on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Buffalo. Santander has been out with a shoulder injury since May 29.
⚾ The Washington Nationals activated LHP MacKenzie Gore from the 15-day IL. Gore had been out with shoulder inflammation and took the loss against the Marlins on Thursday after allowing two runs over five innings.
Articles You Should Read
Injured lists across MLB look like All-Star rosters as health issues mount in September — Chad Jennings, The Athletic
Caglianone finds clarity during injury and reset — Anne Rogers, MLB.com
6 veterans turning back the clock in the playoff race — Jared Greenspan, MLB.com
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