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MLB News & Moments You Should Know: 9/14/2024

Judge ends home run drought; Tigers miss combined no-hitter

Scott Appleman
MLB Morning News 9/14/2024

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

At dinner last night, my daughter asked me who the best team is right now. I said the team with the most wins is the Philadelphia Phillies, but it’s hard to tell who is best. The Phillies had a terrible July, but they’ve righted the ship. The hot teams charging up the NL West standings after the All-Star Break have settled down. The team playing great since Grimace and deploying an MVP candidate at shortstop is still fighting for a Wild Card spot. The team with a potential 50/50 player has an unknown playoff rotation. The squad with an all-time great slugging duo and the best run differential can’t decide who will start and who will relieve. Maybe the best team is one of those. Maybe it’s another playoff contender. I’m looking forward to all the jostling wrapping up and giving us a playoff bracket in three weeks so we can let the games decide.

 

Today’s Headlines

 

Judge Ends Home Run Drought in Grand Style

Down 4-1 in the seventh to the Boston Red Sox, Aaron Judge launched a grand slam that swung momentum back to the New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers held on to their 5-4 lead and took a second straight game from their rivals. Home run No. 52 on the season was No. 1 in Judge’s Paw Patrol era. It snapped a 16-game homerless streak since cartoon Judge’s appearance on the animated children’s show. He’s still the league leader and the only player to reach 50 this season. The Yankees gained a little breathing room at the top of the division and the league. They’re three games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles and two up on the Cleveland Guardians.


Tigers Quartet Outduels Orioles

Four Detroit Tigers pitchers kept the Baltimore Orioles hitless for 26 outs. Opener Beau Brieske got four outs, then turned the game over to Brant Hurter. Hurter struck out eight over 5.2 innings. He walked Adley Rutschman, then turned the game over to Brenan Hanifee for a clean eighth inning. Tyler Holton came on for the save and gave up a two-out triple to Gunnar Henderson. With only a 1-0 lead and Anthony Santander at the plate, the no-hitter was gone and the game was in danger. Santander chased up and away. Combined no-hitters aren’t as exciting as the solo version, but this one, with the pressure of maintaining a slim lead against a playoff lineup, kept the plucky young Tigers hanging around the edge of the Wild Card standings.

 

Rundown of the Races

We’ll round out last night’s games involving the American League playoff field before heading over to the Senior Circuit.

The Kansas City Royals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-3. Alec Marsh struck out 11 in 5.1 IP and Salvador Perez went 2-3 with a home run. The Royals picked up a game on the Cleveland Guardians, who lost 3-1 at home to the Tampa Bay Rays. They also gained a game against the Minnesota Twins after the Cincinnati Reds won 8-4 at Target Field.

Another Yusei Kikuchi start, another Houston Astros win. Kikuchi evened his record at 9-9 with seven innings and six strikeouts against the Los Angeles Angels. The win was No. 5000 for the Houston Colt .45s/Astros franchise.

Over in the National League, the New York Mets hit four home runs and blew out the Philadelphia Phillies 11-3. Francisco Alvarez, Brandon Nimmo, Harrison Bader, and Pete Alonso all went deep in the first of seven September matchups between the NL East rivals. Despite the big win, the game came with a big concern for the Mets. Francisco Lindor left the game in the seventh after fouling a ball off his foot and running awkwardly into second. The margin on the scoreboard played a factor, with Lindor saying after the game he would’ve pushed to stay in if it was closer.

Atlanta kept up with New York in the wildcard standings with a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gio Urshela hit his first home run since signing with Atlanta, and Marcell Ozuna got his 1500th hit. For the first time in a month of Saturday updates, I have no Shohei Ohtani 50/50 progress for you.

The Arizona Diamondbacks took a 1-0 lead on a Pavin Smith sacrifice fly in the first. The Milwaukee Brewers took it back with a two-run homer from Rhys Hoskins. Both pitching staffs held the opposing offenses in check from there. The Brewers are two games behind the Dodgers for a bye, and the D-backs are currently in the second Wild Card spot by a half a game.

The San Diego Padres held on to the top Wild Card spot with a 5-0 win over the San Francisco Giants. Dylan Cease struck out 10 in six innings, including the 1000th K of his career. Luis Arraez went 3-for-4 with a walk and a run. He pushed his strikeout-less streak to 129 plate appearances.

 

Best Moments From Yesterday

 

#MaxStrong

Freddie Freeman will always be part of the Atlanta community. His former employers gave him and his wife Chelsea a donation to the GBS/CIDP Foundation in Max Freeman’s name. Freeman missed time earlier this year to be with his family while Max underwent treatment for Guillan-Barre Syndrome.


Return of deGrom

Happy Jacob deGrom Day to all who celebrate. The Texas Rangers are outside the playoff hunt a year after claiming the World Series title, and they eventually lost this game to the Seattle Mariners, who scored five runs in the seventh and eighth. But Rangers fans got 3.2 innings of deGrom to raise their hopes for next year.

 

Injuries and Other Moves

 

⚾ The Texas Rangers announced that they signed Chris Young to a contract extension and promoted him to President of Baseball Operations.

⚾ Marcus Stroman will pitch out of the bullpen for New York Yankees‘ next rotation cycle. Nestor Cortes will take his turn in the rotation.

⚾ The Cleveland Guardians scratched left fielder Steven Kwan on Friday night with body fatigue.

⚾ Tyler Glasnow was supposed to pitch a simulated game on Friday, but the right-handed starter stopped because of elbow discomfort.

⚾ The New York Mets are calling up infielder Luisangel Acuña from Triple-A. He may get to see his older brother near the end of the season.

 

Articles You Should Read

 

I love going to FanGraphs to grab articles to share with you all here, and I hope you enjoy clicking over there if you’re not already checking the site. Please read the first link for perspective on the site’s new direction and consider supporting their continued efforts.

Why We’re Moving Our Articles to a Metered Paywall — David Appelman, FanGraphs

Sophomore Slumps Aren’t a Thing — Dan Szymborski, FanGraphs

Here’s how Arraez has gone on his historic no-strikeout streak — David Adler, MLB.com

 

Fantasy Baseball Coverage

 

Starting Pitcher Roundup

Hitter Performances

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Starting Pitcher Streamers

Scott Appleman

Scott Appleman is a utility infielder with a master's degree in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure, a JV MVP award and two career home runs. He writes Thrill Shot, a Substack newsletter about champions and contenders.

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