MIAMI — This one will leave a mark.

A double by Wenceel Perez in the top of the 11th broke the 3-3 tie. But the Tigers had the bases loaded and no outs and didn't push another run across.

And they paid for it. Troy Johnston ended the game in the bottom of the 11th with a home run off Rafael Montero.

Final score, Marlins 6, Tigers 4.

The ...Read more

CHICAGO — Saturday was looking like another one of those kinds of days for the Tampa Bay Rays.

They rallied from an early three-run deficit only to see arguably their best reliever, Garrett Cleavinger, give up a two-out homer in the seventh to Michael Busch.

Then, after Junior Caminero got them even by hitting his 43rd homer to lead off the ...Read more

Six months ago, before Kyle Schwarber went for his first lap around the bases this season, his agents had talks with the Phillies about a contract extension.

“Obviously,” Schwarber said in July, “they didn’t progress.”

So, the Phillies slugger did what most professional athletes do when they’re going into the last year of a ...Read more

To Andrew Friedman, something like this was a virtual impossibility.

“If you had said that we would have a six-week stretch where our offense would rank 30th in baseball, I would have said there was a zero percent chance,” the Dodgers president of baseball operations said last month.

“I would have been wrong,” he quickly added.

Over a...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Before first pitch Friday night, the San Francisco Giants’ in-game stadium host made a declaration.

“This,” he informed the crowd in a scoreboard address, “is the most important game at Oracle Park this season.”

In a 5-1 walk-off win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Francisco Giants certainly played that way, ...Read more

SEATTLE — Their run of unexpected hitting heroes and their win streak continued again Friday night.

Two nights ago it was Leo Rivas with the unlikely walkoff homer to beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the bottom of the 13th inning. Less than 24 hours earlier, rookie Harry Ford hit a walkoff sac fly in his fourth MLB plate appearance to beat the...Read more

MILWAUKEE — For a team that admits it must play detailed-oriented and hiccup-free baseball to have a chance to win, the Cardinals proved that point Friday night.

They did not play that precision game.

And, as a result, they weren’t as close as the score wound indicate.

On their way to a seventh playoff berth in the past eight years, the ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Kody Clemens hit three homers and drove in five runs, almost singlehandedly carrying the Twins offense Friday, and yet he wasn’t the guy who teammates piled onto after a zany 9-8 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After Trevor Larnach drew a tying bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning, Luke Keaschall drove in the winning ...Read more

TORONTO — Trevor Rogers was once again delivering an excellent start, making it through five innings without allowing an earned run Friday night against the Blue Jays.

But during that fifth frame, his velocity was noticeably down. Instead of averaging 93 mph, Rogers’ fastball was sitting 90.5 mph, including several below 90 mph. He got ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Walker Buehler gave the Phillies exactly what they wanted Friday night, notably five solid innings and a fifth day of rest for each of their other starting pitchers.

But Bryce Harper supplied more of what they need.

Harper slugged a two-run home run in the third inning to break a tie in an 8-2 thumping of the Royals — and, ...Read more

BOSTON — Aaron Judge continued his ascent in the Yankees’ record books on Friday, as he crushed the 362 nd home run of his career in the first inning of the team’s series-opener at Fenway Park.

The solo shot off Red Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito gave Judge sole ownership of fourth place on the Bombers’ all-time home run list, as he had...Read more

MIAMI — Friday’s pitching matchup between the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara and Tigers’ Tarik Skubal promised to be something special.

After all, it marked only the second time in Marlins history that a pair of former Cy Young Award winners faced each other in a game, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The duel didn’t deliver as ...Read more

CHICAGO — It has been a while since Chicago Cubs fans had to figure out the magic number, a flashback to the late 2010s that disappeared around the same time Kyle Schwarber was nontendered.

But it’s time to brush up on those math skills again.

The magic number for the Cubs to clinch a postseason spot was down to seven by late Friday ...Read more

Winning has been a struggle as of late for the Pirates, and Friday’s game was no different.

Entering the bottom of the seventh inning with a one-run lead, Pittsburgh’s bullpen allowed the game to get away. The Nationals rallied to score four runs, paving the way for a 6-5 Pirates loss Friday evening at Nationals Park.

“It’s frustrating...Read more

There is no such thing as The Team to Beat in the major league playoffs. The Phillies have seen both sides of that coin. They were that team in 2010 and 2011. They beat that team in 2023.

Come October, there are only hot teams, hotter teams, and everybody else. Regular-season records have little correlation with which teams fall into which ...Read more

Of the five relievers to pitch for the Yankees on Wednesday night, only one managed to deliver a scoreless outing:

Austin Slater.

Slater, of course, is a veteran outfielder who was pressed into mop-up pitching duty in the ninth inning of the Yankees’ 11-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

It’s been that kind of week for the Yankees’ bullpen. ...Read more

After Walker Buehler was released from the Boston Red Sox two weeks ago, he fielded many calls from other teams checking in on his status.

But none of those teams put their general manager, manager, and pitching coach all together on the call to entice him to sign. None, that is, except the Phillies.

“I think a lot of the times the (...Read more