Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.
Today’s Headlines
Phils in the Field, Eye the East
The Philadelphia Phillies clinched a spot in the playoffs with a 12-2 destruction of the New York Mets. The NL East leaders gave the Mets a two-run lead, tied the score by the third, and put up a six-spot in the fourth. Alec Bohm went 4-for-5 with a three-run homer and a memorable “slide.” The club had champagne on ice on Wednesday and left most of that uncorked after last night’s victory. Manager Rob Thomson gave a postseason pep talk to his squad, clad in blue “October Ready” t-shirts (did somebody not get the Red October memo?), while players calmly held cups of champagne. Another win over the second-place Mets will give the Phillies their first division crown since 2011 and would probably set off a wilder clubhouse scene. They’ve still got one more clincher after that since they’re tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top seed in the NL with eight games to go. Philadelphia won the season series over Los Angeles 5-1. The Mets remain two games up in the race for the final wildcard spot because Atlanta lost to the Miami Marlins 4-3.
Phillies fans will get a kick out of this …
ALEC BOHM LEAVES THE YARD pic.twitter.com/c6G5ANDJRR
— MLB (@MLB) September 21, 2024
The Phillies tie the game but Alec Bohm is thrown out at home trying to score on a wild throw
(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/n6ZKyYrwCm
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 21, 2024
The West Contenders Win
The San Diego Padres are the final NL playoff contender with the Chicago White Sox on their schedule. They can’t let these get away but came close on Friday night. Up 2-0 with two outs in the ninth, San Diego gave up a game-tying homer to Lenyn Sosa. Two singles set San Diego up for a walk-off in the ninth, but Luis Arraez’s liner went right to Gavin Sheets for an unassisted double play. Arraez went to second to start the bottom of the tenth, and Fernando Tatis Jr. sent the second pitch of the inning to the gap in right-center to bring Arraez home. The Padres have a three-game lead in the wildcard race.
WHO ELSE BESIDES EL NIÑO?! pic.twitter.com/JS8QNoxR0w
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 21, 2024
The Arizona Diamondbacks kept up the pace behind San Diego with a 7-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Lourdes Gurriel Jr came back from the IL and hit the decisive home run in the sixth. The D-backs are a game ahead of the Mets. A week from today, we could be focusing on the opener of a Padres-Diamondbacks series to determine wildcard spots.
PIÑA POWER IS SO BACK. pic.twitter.com/uW5N9VBGMo
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 21, 2024
The Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 6-4 and Shohei Ohtani reached 52/52. They remain four games up in the NL West. We’ll keep the words simple here. Just play the video and listen to the sound of the ball of Ohtani’s bat.
SHOHEI OHTANI
HOME RUN NO. 52
FOR THE LEAD 🤯 pic.twitter.com/kIfpUGO8iA— MLB (@MLB) September 21, 2024
Shuffling the AL Wildcards
Remember when the Pittsburgh Pirates hit so many homers they ran out of fireworks? Last night, the Baltimore Orioles out-homered their homer hose. Anthony Santander went yard in the first. Colton Cowser hit a pair. James McCann added two. The celebratory hydration ritual couldn’t handle the onslaught. The 7-1 win over the Detroit Tigers brought the O’s magic number to make the postseason down to three. Detroit now has eight games to sneak back into the AL wildcard places.
We've hit so many home runs that the Hydration Station broke. pic.twitter.com/XsCrJCOYdZ
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) September 21, 2024
The Minnesota Twins took the third spot with a 12-inning, 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. The Twins pen struck out 14 Sox in 7 innings of work. The Kansas City Royals lost 2-1 to the San Francisco Giants, so the Twins pulled within one game of the second wildcard.
BULLPEN. HELD. IT. DOWN. pic.twitter.com/tNpt3eDIW1
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) September 21, 2024
The Seattle Mariners kept hope alive with a win over Jacob deGrom and the Texas Rangers. The Texas ace struck out five in three innings, but the Mariners offense lit up Jack Leiter for seven runs after the fifth inning. The M’s are the bottom team in a wildcard scrum of four teams separated by three games. What a setup for the last week of the season!
Texas two (home runs) step. #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/o7xNn74mUh
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) September 21, 2024
Best Moments From Yesterday
Verlander Appreciation Day
Justin Verlander gave up six runs in 4.2 innings but left to an ovation from Houston Astros fans who honored his body of work.
“For them to have that ovation after such a difficult day, yea it touched me,” Justin Verlander said of the ovation he received from #Astros fans.#Relentless pic.twitter.com/hvqEQWtNFs
— Lorenzo (@lorenzodelgad0) September 21, 2024
Soto Returns Safely
After scaring New York Yankees fans with a sliding catch on Thursday, Juan Soto came back to pinch hit and provide heroics last night in Oakland. After a season of so many injuries, let’s hope we get healthy stars for the postseason.
Juan Soto comes off the bench and INSTANTLY makes his mark! pic.twitter.com/K0ngElib3C
— MLB (@MLB) September 21, 2024
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ Atlanta second baseman Ozzie Albies returned to the lineup. The switch hitter will be batting right-handed due to lingering discomfort in his left-handed swing.
⚾ The San Francisco Giants placed righthander Jordan Hicks on the IL, ending his season.
⚾ Rafael Devers will undergo an MRI on his shoulder. He struggled with throws to first and was removed after 10 innings last night.
Articles You Should Read
Of Course This Is How Shohei Ohtani Makes History — Ben Clemens, FanGraphs
How the Tigers got creative to get back in the race — Mike Petriello, Affiliation
Stock Watch: Biggest success, failure for all 30 MLB teams — Bradford Doolittle, ESPN
Fantasy Baseball Coverage