There are only two weeks, four series and about 13 games left in the 2024 MLB regular season. Much has already been decided (the White Sox are not making the playoffs), but many questions remain unanswered.
Each game, at this point in the year, carries added importance for the teams trying to play autumnal baseball. Sunday was also Roberto Clemente Day around MLB, featuring a host of meaningful tributes to the legendary, trailblazing Puerto Rican outfielder.
Here’s everything you need to know from the weekend.
Judge exhilarates, Cole perplexes in Yankees series win over Red Sox
In the Bronx, it was an eventful, jubilant weekend. The Yankees took three of four from the Red Sox to (1) open up a three-game lead over Baltimore atop the AL East and (2) effectively end Boston’s postseason hopes by pushing the Red Sox 4.5 games adrift of a wild-card spot.
On Friday, Aaron Judge delivered the defining moment of his club’s season to date. With the bases juiced in the seventh and the Yanks down three, the AL MVP front-runner clubbed a go-ahead grand slam for his 52nd long ball of the year. Yankee Stadium lost its collective mind. Judge’s teammates hurdled over the dugout railing like children. It was, as many noted, one for the DVD.
Before that blast, Judge had been mired in the longest homerless stretch of his career. He went yard again on Sunday. The Paw Patrol Curse is officially dead.
But Judge’s stirring slam was overshadowed a day later by the Intentional Walk Heard ‘Round The Eastern Seaboard.
It’s no secret that Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers crushes Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. Cole admitted as much during a media conference last week. The numbers — 13-for-39 with eight homers before this weekend — are loud. Still, the baseball world was perplexed when a cruising Cole, his team up 1-0 in the fourth with the bases empty, threw up the four fingers himself. A confused Devers made his way to first and, eventually, home as Boston plated three off Cole that inning. They scored four more an inning later.
The moment was more bizarre than it was impactful. Cole’s track record of dominance makes it difficult to call into question his competitive fire. This is a future Hall of Famer, not some random schlub. Yet Cole’s decision to sidestep Devers in such blatant fashion only strengthens the prevailing narrative that Devers owns Cole.
Luckily for the Yankees, it’s unlikely the two will face off again this season.
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Dodgers rotation loses yet another arm
‘Twas a rough few days in Atlanta for the Los Angeles Dodgers and their increasingly infirmed group of starting pitchers. On Friday, rookie Landon Knack allowed five runs and recorded just six outs. A day later, deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty fared little better, getting jumped by Atlanta’s offense for four runs in three innings. Then things got even worse.
On Saturday, injured righty Tyler Glasnow was preparing for a simulated game when he felt discomfort in his already affected right elbow. The Dodgers later announced that Glasnow, who has made just four starts since the All-Star break, has a sprained elbow and is “highly unlikely” to pitch again this season.
That leaves Los Angeles with a projected postseason rotation of Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler and a bullpen hodgepodge game started by either Landon Knack or Bobby Miller. Yamamoto looked sensational in his first start back from injury last week, and Buehler carved against Atlanta in L.A.’s 9-2 win on Sunday. But unless Gavin Stone or Clayton Kershaw (both on the IL) can heal up quickly, the Dodgers’ October outlook on the mound is pretty dreary.
The Dodgers and Braves will play one more game Monday. A win for Atlanta, which remains tied with the New York Mets for the final NL wild card, would be a massive boost after Sunday’s bullpen clunker. The Braves’ dynamite starting pitching gives them a chance to win practically every night, but do they have enough healthy hitters to outlast the Mets? The three-game set between the two NL East clubs during the final week of the season looms large.
Mets lose two heartbreakers and potentially Francisco Lindor
After a statement win Friday in which they clobbered Philly starter Aaron Nola, the Mets were riding high. Then, as it so often goes for the Blue and Orange Sadness Machine, things fell apart.
After allowing just two hits through 5 2/3 innings, Mets starter Luis Severino coughed up a two-run bomb to Bryce Harper in the sixth that trimmed New York’s lead to one. The Phillies edged in front an inning later on a two-RBI double from Cal Stevenson, who was making just his third start of the season. An inning later, Stevenson robbed what would’ve been a game-tying homer off the bat of J.D. Martinez. The Mets lost 6-4.
The next day, another gutpunch. A pitchers’ duel between New York’s David Peterson and Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sanchez saw the Mets carry a 1-0 lead into the eighth. Yet again, an unlikely hero stepped forward for the rip-roaring Phils. Local kid Buddy Kennedy, making his second start of the season, lofted a game-tying double down the right-field line. J.T. Realmuto walked it off with a sharp single an inning later, when Mets closer Edwin Díaz left an 0-2 fastball over the plate.
But those two Mets losses, rough as they were, pale in comparison to the concern regarding Francisco Lindor. The superstar shortstop, likely to finish in the top two of NL MVP voting, tweaked his back Friday while overrunning a base. He sat out Saturday’s game and tried to play through the discomfort Sunday but was removed after just two innings. His status is absolutely crucial for the October-hungry Mets, who have relied on their talisman all season.
The Phillies, meanwhile, are cruising again. Their magic number in the division is six. They’re likely to clinch their first NL East title since 2011 this weekend in Queens. It’s all about October for them now, as they prioritize rest for their banged-up regulars. That has created opportunities for players such as Kennedy and Stevenson, who won’t come close to the playoff roster but have made their mark all the while.
Tigers flex on Orioles
The Detroit Tigers and their dominant band of anonymous relievers are just 2.5 games back of the final AL wild-card spot after taking two of three from a scuffling Orioles team. An unlikely combo of *looks at boxscore* Beau Brieske and Brant Hurter carried a perfect game into the eighth inning Friday. A gentleman named Keider Montero tossed five scoreless on Sunday. Besides a poor appearance from Kenta Maeda on Saturday, Tigers pitchers allowed just three earned runs across 27 innings against Baltimore.
Detroit’s playoff pipe dream has never been more real. After selling at the deadline — Jack Flaherty to L.A., Mark Canha to San Francisco, Andrew Chafin to Texas — the Tigers are in the postseason mix with two weeks left. They still need help from the free-falling Twins, but there’s a runway for some magic here.
Baltimore, on the other hand, has been squarely mediocre for months now. The O’s have not won a series against a team currently over .500 since July 4. Since then, their vaunted offense is 18th in MLB in runs scored. Thanks to their hot spring, the Orioles are not at risk of dropping out of the playoff picture, but an AL East title is looking increasingly out of reach.
Brewers and Diamondbacks battle
The Brewers took the first two in the desert. They won small on Friday behind a brilliant Freddy Peralta start, and they won big on Saturday after scoring eight in the first two innings. Arizona battled back on Sunday, winning 11-10 in one of the most wonky, off-the-rails, back-and-forth games of the entire season.
With his club up two in the bottom of the 10th, Brewers manager Pat Murphy opted against using all-world closer Devin Williams. The Snakes then pounced upon lefty Jared Koenig for three straight hits in his second inning of work before Eugenio Suarez walked it off.
It was a crucial win for Arizona. With a loss, the D-backs would’ve been just a game up on New York and Atlanta for the second NL wild card. The Brewers, meanwhile, are really, really good, even if they won’t chase down Los Angeles for a playoff bye.
A historic homer in San Francisco
The Padres swept the Giants to further lock up the first NL wild card, but San Francisco outfielder Heliot Ramos made even bigger history with his ninth-inning home run Sunday.
Oracle Park in San Francisco has been open, under a multitude of names, since 2000. Beyond the waterfront ballpark’s right-field fence sits McCovey Cove, which over the years has become a trademark landing spot for many a home run. Any ball smashed into the Cove is a “splash hit.” Barry Bonds, obviously, has hit the most. Every game, canoes, kayaks and other watercraft paddle around for souvenirs.
Before Sunday, in the 24-year history of the park, no right-handed hitter had ever gone the other way for a splash hit. But with his team down a run in the ninth, Ramos improbably lofted one deep and wet for an all-time homer. History is what you make of it.
