— Guardians 6, White Sox 3
Petey Halpin’s three-run homer was the big hit.
Cleveland is in first place for first time since July 3rd.
White Sox have lost 12 of their last 17 games.
— Royals 5, Astros 2
Michael Massey went 3-for-5, scored two runs.
Daniel Lynch gave up two hits in five shutout IP.
Houston is 76-76, leads AL West by half a game.
— Rangers 7, Red Sox 3
Texas scored three runs in the bottom of 7th inning.
Nathan Eovaldi threw 4 shutout IP in relief, got the win.
Willson Contreras homered for the Red Sox.
— Orioles 7, Mets 1
Pete Alonso homered against his old team for the 2nd night in a row.
Baltimore hit four home runs; they swept this three-game series.
Orioles are 2.5 games out of the AL’s last playoff spot.
— Phillies 3, Nationals 0
Zack Wheeler gave up four hits in his 7 shutout IP.
Phillies drew 13 walks, were only 1-10 with RISP.
Nationals lost for only third time in their last 12 games.
— Cubs 8, Braves 4
Pete Crow-Armstrong homered twice, has 44 homers this year.
Alex Bregman went 3-for-4, had four RBI.
Cubs are 85-68, have magic number of 6 to clinch a playoff spot.
— Blue Jays 5, Tigers 1
Max Scherzer gave up three hits and a run in 5 IP.
Loss ends Detroit’s six-game winning streak.
Toronto is 45-15 when they score 5+ runs.
— Famous birthdays, September 17th:
Phil Jackson, 81
John Franco, 66
Kyle Chandler, 61
Mark Brunell, 56
Dan Haren, 46
Marcus Semien, 36
Jose Ramirez, 34
Patrick Mahomes, 31
Jaylen Watson, 28
Dillon Dingler, 28
Brandon Sproat, 26
James Wood, 24
— Analytics vs human scouts is san argument that goes back to the Moneyball era, 25 years ago; the ideal thing is a balance of the two, but still……
argument for analytics: Computers analyze what has already happened.
argument against analytics: Scouts try to see what will happen next. How do you assign a number to courage? What is the formula for recovering from failure?
You can’t assign a number to everything; it takes thought, conversation, common sense.
— Wednesday, on August 16, Tommy Pham started his first game for the White Sox this year; he hit a three-run homer in their 6-3 loss. Pham has played for 10 different major league teams but it reeks of desperation that he batted cleanup in his first start of the season.
— A reminder that in January 2025, 20 months ago, gas had an average price of $3.11 a gallon. Today, 20 months later, gas is $4.32 a gallon. That’s not good.
— LSU QB Sam Leavitt has a sore right (throwing) shoulder and is doubtful for Saturday’s game at Ole Miss. LSU’s backup quarterbacks have very little experience.
— Minnesota Vikings RB Jordan Mason broke his thumb, is on injured reserve; he gained 59 yards on 15 carries in the Vikings’ Week 1 win over Green Bay.
— Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur is 7-0 ATS in Week 2 NFL games. His Packers are -3.5 over the Jets in New Jersey Sunday.
— As far as pitch challenges go, pitchers/catchers have been between 55-60% other challenges every month this season. Hitters have been under 50% every month except August (52%).
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Rays, Guardians, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, White Sox
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres
