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I remain amazed at how only two divisions are totally sewn up at this point in the season. Yeah, most of them are probably already set, but there’s enough time and head-to-head serieses left that things may change in a hurry. I’m very excited to watch these last week plus of games and see who gets hot at just the right time. But that also means only one more Wednesday for me to cover this regular season! Where does the time go?!
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Today’s Headlines
The Clinchin’ Cubs
The Cubs took down the Pirates by a score of 8-4 on Wednesday, which means they get to fly the W and the X as they clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2020:
Scenes from the Cubs’ celebratory postgame clubhouse:
— Meghan Montemurro (@mmontemurro.bsky.social) 2025-09-17T21:11:24.385Z
Chicago got out to an early lead, scoring four of their runs in the first inning. Their first run was the result of a balk from Johan Oviedo, letting Michael Busch waltz home:
Nico Hoerner has been with the Cubs for one other postseason trip, back in 2020. Given the COVID precautions the league was taking, they weren’t able to properly celebrate the achievement, unlike this time:
“We got to go to the playoffs in 2020, but doing it near the end of a true 162 [-game schedule] is totally different,” Hoerner said. “Baseball is such a game of persistence and camaraderie. Getting to celebrate like this is a really special thing. It’s obviously not our ultimate goal, but it’s still a huge milestone along the way.”
Anyone care for a midafternoon shower? 🍾 pic.twitter.com/k6SychT7vx
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 17, 2025
The NL Central isn’t entirely settled yet, as the Brewers’ Magic Number to win the division is six at the moment.
Houston Retains Silver Boot (and AL West Lead)
Everybody cares more about the Silver Boot, right? Or am I the only one who didn’t know about the literal silver cowboy boot that the Rangers and Astros trade between them depending on who wins the season series? Well, this year, it’s Houston that gets the right to keep the boot on display for another year. Because it is a literal boot. Made of silver.
If the (silver) boot fits…#Relentless pic.twitter.com/ewQIhBXWFH
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 7, 2024
(Yes, that’s from last year; this year’s post doesn’t have an actual photo of the boot.)
Ok fine, maybe more importantly, the Astros’ sweep of the Rangers means they retake a half-game lead over Seattle in the AL West. The game got off to a quick start on the scoring front, with Houston putting up a pair of runs in the first thanks to a bases-loaded single from Yainer Diaz. The Rangers tied the game up with a run in the first and second, coming from a Josh Jung double and a Cody Freeman single, respectively.
Then, in the bottom of the third, Jose Altuve hit a two-run homer out to left field, and the Astros were off to the races:
On the pitching side of things, it was a solid outing for Cristian Javier, who threw six innings of two-run ball, giving up six hits and a walk to go along with four strikeouts. He picked up the W and improved his record on the year to 2-3. Craig Kimbrel was the first guy out of the pen, and he threw a clean inning while notching one strikeout. It was a less solid outing for Jacob deGrom, who went for five innings but gave up all five Astros runs on six hits and a walk. I guess he managed to pick up a half-dozen strikeouts, which helps fantasy playoff teams a little bit?
Houston doesn’t have much time to sit around feeling good about themselves, though, as they start a series with Seattle on Friday that may end up being the difference in the division.
Other Playoff Movers And Shakers
⚾ The Yankees successfully beat the Twins without any major drama for the first time in this series, winning 10-5. The Red Sox walked off the A’s in the 10th inning, and the Jays fell to the Rays by a score of 2-1. The AL East remains tight, with Toronto holding onto a four-game divisional lead while the Yankees remain two games up on Boston.
⚾ Arizona’s late push for the WC took a hit as they lost 5-1 to the Giants in an 11-inning pitcher’s duel (more on that below.) The Mets lost as well, though, so Arizona remains only a game and a half out of the third Wild Card spot.
⚾ Cleveland shut out Detroit, bringing their win streak up to six games and their distance behind the Tigers to four and a half games, which is the closest the division has been since late May. The Guardians remain two and a half games out of the last WC slot for the AL, and their odds remain long, but what looked like the most settled AL division is suddenly quite dramatic.
ShOFhei?
In a bid to have Shohei Ohtani doing as much as possible at all times for the Dodgers (which is a perfectly understandable approach to roster construction,) it appears that they are exploring the possibility of having him play the outfield and come out of the bullpen:
Shohei Ohtani told Japanese media tonight that he's been having internal conversations with the organization about possibly playing the outfield in order to be used in relief.
— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) September 17, 2025
Ohtani was a full-time outfielder in Japan before he made the move to MLB, and even as his arm injuries have caused baseball writers to ask if he’s going to end up a full-time DH sooner rather than later, I have always thought the odds were that he’d end up back in the field rather than just stepping up to the plate. LA’s starting pitching has seemingly turned a corner of late, while their OF production and bullpen have been less than ideal. If Ohtani ends up playing a position and working out of the pen, it could help solve two of the more glaring issues for the team as they look to lock down the NL West. They did beat Philadelphia 5-0 on Wednesday night, which of course included this majestic Ohtani bomb:
Luzardo is left in to face Shohei a fourth time and Shohei makes him pay with his 51st dinger for insurance.
— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) 2025-09-18T04:09:39.611Z
Blake Snell was absolutely stellar for the Dodgers as well, throwing seven innings while only giving up a pair of hits and two walks (both came in the seventh inning!) while striking out a dozen.
Blake Snell dominates with 12 strikeouts over 7 shutout frames. He pushed it to the limit for 112 pitches to minimize the pen use when the Dodgers needed it most. A moment that a starter was allowed to revel in for once.
— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) 2025-09-18T04:30:04.400Z
LA remains two games up on San Diego.
Best Moments From Yesterday
Hard Pfaadt Loss
So a little more about that Arizona-San Francisco game: It went to 11 innings, and ten of them were scoreless. Both Brandon Pfaadt and Justin Verlander brought their best stuff of the year for a good old-fashioned pitcher’s duel.
Brandon Pfaadt tossed nine scoreless innings and threw 97 pitches. Had the D-backs won in nine innings, Pfaadt would have recorded a Maddux.Instead, Pfaadt becomes the first pitcher since Carlos Martinez in 2017 to throw nine scoreless innings and fewer than 100 pitches but not record a win.
— Brent Maguire (@bmags94.bsky.social) 2025-09-17T22:01:54.455Z
Pfaadt also only allowed one hit today in his nine scoreless innings and 97 pitches. The last time a pitcher pitched nine scoreless innings, only allowed one hit and threw fewer than 100 pitches in a game he didn't win was Ryan Rupe (Devil Rays) against the Angels in 1999.
— Brent Maguire (@bmags94.bsky.social) 2025-09-17T22:04:05.454Z
Pfaadt didn’t give up that hit until the sixth inning, and he only allowed two other baserunners: one walk and an error by Ketel Marte. He stuck out seven. Verlander wasn’t missing bats nearly as much, as you can see from his final line:
An incredible performance from Justin pic.twitter.com/bV94aTGQG0
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 17, 2025
…but seven shutout is still seven shutout. Arizona threatened in the ninth inning, with a one-out triple from Corbin Carroll going to waste, and then in the eleventh, the Giants blew things open:
Leaning Into Stereotypes
I don’t have much to say about this that’s not covered by the clip. Well, except to say that I can’t imagine just eating ranch dressing by the spoonful. No thank you.
"Sometimes when I'm hungry and I don't want to spoil my dinner dinner I just eat a spoonful of ranch dressing"Audra Martin when asked what her favorite thing to dip in ranch is after getting a custom made ranch bat
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ Royals pitcher Ryan Bergert felt some forearm tightness while throwing a bullpen Wednesday, which means that Michael Lorenzen will start on Friday (after pitching an inning in relief last night).
⚾ The Red Sox are moving Payton Tolle into the bullpen for the remainder of the season, with Kyle Harrison sliding into his spot in the rotation.
⚾ Texas is set to activate Tyler Mahle from the 60-day IL to start on Friday.
⚾ Milwaukee has placed Jose Quintana on the IL due to a left calf strain. The stint is backdated to September 15th, but obviously, this means he’s on the shelf for the rest of the regular season.
Articles You Should Read
Jhoan Duran and the One True Split-Finger Fastball – Mike Baumann, FanGraphs
On Robert Redford and the enduring power of ‘The Natural,’ a timeless baseball fairy tale – Tyler Kepner, The Athletic (sub req’d)
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
