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My first full season with the Pitcher List team wraps up with good news for a player who made a lot of noise early but faded down the stretch. I mentioned Pete Crow-Armstrong as 30/30 possibility in Thursday’s newsletter. He was the closest back when I first noted the power-speed combos back in August. Several players surged past him to reach 30/30 (including Juan Soto’s charge towards 40/40) while the last few homers eluded PCA. I was happy to see that the chase ended on Friday afternoon at Wrigley.
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Today’s Headlines
Fenway Green Light for October
The Boston Red Sox clinched a postseason berth when Ceddanne Rafaela lofted a fly ball to deep center and Romy González scored from first to walk off the Detroit Tigers. But maybe they won it when they donned their Fenway Greens, the 2025 City Connects with magic woven into the Monster-hued jerseys. They spotted the reeling Tigers a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth — almost like they were setting up the narrative of another Friday night walk-off. Masataka Yoshida singled in Alex Bregman in the bottom of the fourth. Yoshida scored on a Nathaniel Lowe sacrifice fly in the seventh. Boston got to the buzzsaw portion of their bullpen to keep the lead to a single run. Garrett Whitlock struck out the side in the eighth, finishing by winning a nine-pitch battle with Javier Báez with a high fastball. Nate Eaton pinch ran for catcher Carlos Narváez, stole second, and took third when the throw ricocheted into left center. Jarren Duran singled him home, and the Sox brought in Aroldis Chapman for the ninth with the score 3-3.
Chapman has been nearly unhittable, and the Red Sox were wearing those magic green uniforms, so the leadoff double by Justyn-Henry Malloy went against the expected narrative. Chapman induced a groundout and struck out the next two hitters. The walk-off was on. Gonzalez singled, and Rafaela hit a ball just high enough to avoid the outstretched glove of Parker Meadows. Dejected Tiger outfielders retrieved the ball while Rafaela chased Gonzalez around the bases for a rare walk-off triple. The Red Sox are going back to the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Reds Rising
The Cincinnati Reds are in if they win. The New York Mets need help. If the Reds take two more from the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend, they will claim the third National League wild card slot. Cincinnati took the series opener 3-1 in Milwaukee, while the Mets lost 6-2 to the Miami Marlins. The Reds ended the streak of Brewers’ wins in Quinn Priester’s starts at 19. Cincinnati got 2-for-4 days from Gavin Lux and Miguel Andujar. Milwaukee is hunting a franchise-record 97th win and trying to stay ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies for the top playoff seed, so the remaining games should be among the most tense of the weekend.
Juan Soto stole two bases to bring his season total to 38, but the possible 40/40 performance from the offseason’s marquee free agent signing may not be enough to earn a postseason spot. Sandy Alcantara lasted seven innings on 100 pitches, and the Mets managed just a pair of extra-base hits.
Photo Finish in the AL
The Tigers lost, but the Cleveland Guardians couldn’t take advantage. They dropped their opener against the Texas Rangers 7-3. Cleveland controls their playoff destiny due to claiming the tiebreaker against Detroit during the week. Both teams are 86-74, and there’s a chance that all this divisional drama leads to a wild-card matchup hosted by whoever earns the No. 3 seed by winning the Central crown.
This would require the Houston Astros to falter against the Los Angeles Angels, which they did on Friday night. Mike Trout hit two home runs, including the go-ahead shot that completed the Angels’ comeback from 3-0 down to a 4-3 win. Houston announced that Yordan Alvarez would be out for the remainder of the regular season. The Astros are a game behind the Tigers and Guardians, so they need the Red Sox and/or Rangers to win to snag the third AL wild card.
The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2, and the New York Yankees kept pace with an 8-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles. The Bronx Bombers light up the night with home run performances from their top sluggers (two for Giancarlo Stanton plus Aaron Judge’s 52nd). The Jays are almost 100 runs behind in the run differential column, but they own the tiebreaker for the division and possibly the top AL seed.
Potential World Series Preview
The only series of the final weekend that matches up playoff teams from the AL and NL kicked off in Seattle. The matchup between the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers and AL West champion Seattle Mariners brought us a play that should help us prepare for the playoff microscope. They say it’s a game of inches, and Cal Raleigh didn’t score in the bottom of the third because his foot was inches above home plate when Andy Pages and Enrique Hernández combined to nab Josh Naylor at third to end the inning. The game ended 3-2 with the bases full of Mariners (cue the exasperation at the Dodger bullpen for fans, or the exasperation at the Dodgers fixing weaknesses for opposing fans). If this play happened in October, we would have a spiritual successor to Slide, Jeremy, Slide.
Best Moments From Yesterday
PCA, Suzuki Reach 30 Homers
Pete Crow-Armstrong hit his first homer since September 15 and his second of the month to become a 30/30 player. His fourth-inning two-run shot to right center, which included a bat flip from the opposite batter’s box, gave the Chicago Cubs a 2-0 lead that eventually ballooned to a 12-1 blowout victory. The only other Cub to reach 30/30 was Sammy Sosa in 1993 and 1995. Seiya Suzuki also hit his 30th home run, a grand slam in the seven-run seventh.
Slam Diego
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a no-doubter into the Petco bleachers. The grand slam gave the San Diego Padres a 5-2 lead. The Padres trail the Cubs by two games in the race for the top wild card spot and the right to host the opening round. They’re guaranteed to play each other, and we’ll find out where this weekend. The Padres own the tiebreaker but need help to get back to Petco after Sunday.
Hot Corner, Young Sluggers
Junior Caminero launched a rocket to right field for his 45th home run. The Tampa Bay Rays‘ third baseman is the second-youngest player to reach that level. Fellow third baseman Eddie Mathews did it with Milwaukee with 47 in his second season. He hit 40+ three more times, including 46 in 1959. Caminero and the Rays would love to see a similar career trajectory.
Youngest players with 45+ home runs in a season (by age on final day of szn):1953 Eddie Mathews: 21y 349d (47 HR)2025 Junior Caminero: will be 22y 85d (45)h/t @EliasSports
Nola No. 2
Aaron Nola struck out nine hitters over eight innings in his best start of the season. His K of Edouard Julien put him at No. 2 on the Phillies’ career strikeout list. Philadelphia beat the Minnesota Twins 3-1 and has a chance of passing Milwaukee for the top seed. That’s a surprising feat for a version of the Phillies that doesn’t feature prime Nola or Zack Wheeler.
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ Atlanta claimed Alek Manoah off waivers and optioned him to Triple-A. They moved Ozzie Albies to the 60-day IL to make room for the former Blue Jay right-hander. The new Atlanta reclamation project is under team control for two more seasons.
⚾ Brett Baty left Friday’s game against the Marlins with right side soreness. The team will check in with him today and see how it feels for the final two games
Articles You Should Read
Name a Third Guardians Position Player — Michael Baumann, FanGraphs
How Guardians made epic run into AL Central, MLB playoff races — Jesse Rogers, ESPN
Kyle Harrison Is a Different Pitcher in Boston Than He Was in San Francisco — David Laurila, FanGraphs
Seattle Mariners might have the mojo to finally win it all — Alden Gonzalez, ESPN
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
