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MLB News & Moments You Should Know: 9/29/2024

NL Wild Card race heats up going into the last game of the season.

Steve Drumwright
MLB Morning News 9/29/2024

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

Baseball always finds a way to create its own drama. Fans fret from Opening Day about lineup combinations and who should be in the starting rotation or the bullpen. Shouldn’t the team call up that hot prospect? But what it comes down to is 30 teams playing 162 games. And after Saturday’s full slate of action, we enter Sunday with three teams still alive for two playoff berths. What theatrics will we see? Will there need to be games played Monday? That is why we watch. Tune in and see.

 

Today’s Headlines

 

Atlanta Wins, Mets, D’Backs Lose; Sunday Drama Awaits

There is no doubting that home runs play a key role when it comes to the postseason. Same can be said for deciding who gets to play in the postseason. Two of the three games involving the teams still hoping to make the playoff party were decided by ninth-inning long balls. But it was Atlanta that was the only one of those hopefuls feeling good following its walk-off win. The New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks both lost. Those results leave Atlanta with a one-game advantage over the Mets and D’backs, with Arizona playing its regular-season finale today. Atlanta needs a win or D’backs loss to clinch an NL Wild Card berth. The Mets need a win and a D’backs loss to clinch. The D’backs can clinch with a win and losses by the Mets and Atlanta. Those are the simple scenarios. Here are other details on how Sunday could go and what it means to Monday’s scheduled doubleheader that is a makeup from games postponed this week due to Hurricane Helene:

Atlanta 2, Royals 1: If you ever wonder why Travis d’Arnaud is in the lineup, it is for moments like this. The backup catcher known for his offensive pop hit a walk-off solo homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Atlanta its fifth straight victory. The former Mets catcher drilled a 2-0 pitch off left-hander Sam Long for his 15th homer this season. Reynaldo López returned to the mound for the first time since September 10 for Atlanta, allowing just a run on two hits while striking out nine. He finished the season with an ERA of 2.00 in 25 starts.

Brewers 6, Mets 0: Six pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout, and Joey Ortiz drove in three runs, including one during a four-run eighth inning, as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Mets for the second straight day. Brewers pitchers retired 15 of the final 16 Mets and struck out 11. Right-hander Tobias Myers pitched four innings following opener Jared Koenig’s scoreless first inning. Ortiz had a two-run single in the fourth inning that ended Mets left-hander Jose Quintana’s scoreless streak at 25.2 innings.

Padres 5, Diamondbacks 0: Trying to force as much meaning into Monday’s doubleheader, the D’backs have not been able to crack the Padres. Arizona came agonizingly close Saturday, only to experience hearbreak. Kyle Higashioka snapped a 0-0 tie with a two-run blast with one out in the ninth inning, while rookie Brandon Lockridge followed with his first career homer and Donovan Solano added a two-out, two-run shot for his fourth hit of the game as the Padres knocked off the D’backs for the second consecutive game. Padres right-hander Randy Vasquez took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and struck out four, while D’backs left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez tossed 4.2 scoreless. But Higashioka stole the headlines when he tagged D’backs closer A.J. Puk for his 17th homer of the season.

Playoff Seeding: Dodgers Clinch Best Record

They might have been the last team to win a division, but the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers will have home-field advantage throughout the postseason with the best record in MLB. That was clinched when the Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Washington Nationals 6-3. The NL East champion Phillies (94-67) will be the No. 2 seed, NL Central-winning Brewers (93-68) No. 3, and Padres No. 4. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees secured the No. 1 seed in the AL when the Cleveland Guardians fell to the Houston Astros. The Yankees, winners of the AL East, are 93-68, while the AL Central champion Guardians are 92-69 and will be the AL’s No. 2 seed. The Astros, who earned the AL West title, are the No. 3 seed at 88-73. As for the Wild Card spots, the No. 4 seed will be the Baltimore Orioles (90-71), while the Detroit Tigers (86-75) and Kansas City Royals (85-76) battle for the No. 5 and 6 seeds. The Royals hold the tiebreaker over the Tigers.

More History For Ohtani?

There are two pieces of history on the line for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, who has already set a bunch of records this season. MLB’s first 50-50 player sits two stolen bases short of 60 after stealing No. 58 (he had another steal wiped out by a balk call). Ohtani wraps up his historic regular season against the Colorado Rockies in Coors Field, trailing the Padres’ Luis Arraez .314 to .310 in batting average. Ohtani already leads the NL in home runs (54) and RBIs (130), so a batting title would give Ohtani the first NL Triple Crown in 57 years. This article explains the various scenarios in which Ohtani could surpass Arraez. For his part, Arraez is seeking his own piece of history. A batting title would be his third straight, all with different teams (Minnesota Twins in 2022, Miami Marlins in 2023).

Skenes’ Finale: A Broadway Smash

When Paul Skenes walked off the mound after throwing his final pitch of the 2024 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie right-hander had that familiar smirk. He only pitched two innings in the Pirates’ 9-4 victory over the New York Yankees, yet retired all six batters he faced. Two of those came back-to-back against two of the best hitters in MLB, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Skenes, a frontrunner for NL Rookie of the Year along with Jackson Merrill of the San Diego Padres, finished with an incredible set of stats: 23 starts, 133 innings pitched, 11-3 record, 1.96 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 170 strikeouts, 32 walks. Skenes is the only rookie in the live-ball era with at least 20 starts to have an ERA below 2.00. Including the dead-ball era, he is one of four below 2.00 and the second-lowest. His workload was managed by the Pirates this season, his first full year in pro ball. Skenes would seem to be primed for an Opening Day start and no restrictions in 2025. Can you imagine the numbers he will put up?

Ramirez Nears 40-40

We know that the 50-50 club had never been entered before Ohtani did it this year, but how many times has there been a season with another player having a 40-40 season, a third player having a 30-30 year, and a fourth with 20-20? Cleveland Guardians superstar José Ramírez, who has 41 steals, hit his 39th homer in the first inning against the Houston Astros. Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals already has a 30-30 year and Jackson Chourio of the Brewers is the youngest player to ever get 20-20. For the record, 40-40 (Ronald Acuña Jr.), 30-30 (Witt, Julio Rodríguez, Francisco Lindor), and 20-20 (Corbin Carroll, among others) seasons were done last year, but how many times before that?

 

Best Moments From Yesterday

 

Is This Goodbye?

The end of the season brings so many unknowns for players in the last year of a contract, especially those who have underperformed and still hold a big place in the hearts of the team and fans based on other accomplishments. Kyle Hendricks made what is likely his final start for the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. It was a classic, too, as Hendricks pitched 7.1 scoreless innings in a 3-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Hendricks is the last player on the roster who also played for the historic 2016 Cubs team that broke a 108-year World Series drought. He finished the season 4-12 with a 5.92 ERA.

Want To Throw Out The First Pitch?

The San Francisco Giants do a lot of things right when it comes to how they treat their fans. This is just one of them:

Practice Bat Toss

We have seen bats go flying following vicious swings at a nasty pitch. But just watch the Pirates’ Nick Gonzales take a practice swing before stepping into the box against Yankees right-hander Luis Gil. (It did appear to be at least misting in New York, so that could be part of the reason.)

Silence Is Golden

There is nothing like hitting your first MLB home run, trotting around the bases thinking about your journey to this point, and returning to the dugout for … silence? That was what Nathan Lukes of the Toronto Blue Jays experienced.

Lucky Teammate

When Baltimore Orioles reliever Cionel Pérez isn’t on the mound, he is in the bullepn … and likely catching a home run.

 

Injuries and Other Moves

 

⚾ Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo could miss some or all of the postseason after fracturing two fingers while being hit by a pitch. Rizzo broke the ring finger and pinkie on his right hand on a pitch from Pirates right-hander Ryan Borucki.

⚾ Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick has a bone bruise on his left hip. Frelick was injured Friday and had more testing and imaging done Saturday. The Brewers are unlikely to make a roster move with Frelick this late in the season. Frelick could miss the NL Wild Card Series and return for a potential NL Division Series should the Brewers advance.

⚾ Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim (right shoulder inflammation) will not play in the postseason. Kim has been sidelined since injuring his shoulder diving back into first base on August 18. While he has been able to hit, his throwing has not reached an acceptable level. Kim said that he will have surgery.

 

Articles You Should Read

 

‘This will bother me forever’: Inside the Twins’ collapse — Bobby Nightengale, Minnesota Star Tribune

ESPN’s Passan could switch sports, become NBA insider — Andrew Marchand, The Athletic

Where do the White Sox rank among worst teams in any sport? — Rustin Dodd, Zack Meisel and Andy McCullough, The Athletic

 

Fantasy Baseball Coverage

 

Starting Pitcher Roundup

Hitter Performances

Reliever Ranks

Starting Pitcher Streamers

 

Steve Drumwright

Steve Drumwright is a lifelong baseball fan who retired as a player before he had the chance to be cut from the freshman team in high school. He recovered to become a sportswriter and have a successful journalism career at newspapers in Wisconsin and California. Follow him on Twitter and Threads @DrummerWrites.

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