<img alt="Milwaukee Brewers v Arizona Diamondbacks" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sJQpnM3B_R88XfCW1SwQMJfW-xI=/0x0:4852x3235/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73589174/2172253943.0.jpg">
Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images
The Mets lost, so there’s that. The Atlanta Braves may have flamed out in astonishing fashion to end last night’s game against the Dodgers but fret not, Braves fans — it wasn’t all bad news in the Wild Card race as far as yesterday is concerned. Sure, the Braves did lose and there were two other results that didn’t go Atlanta’s way but one other team suffered the same plight as the Braves did on yesterday. Let’s go ahead and talk about it.
Philadelphia Phillies (90-59) 2, New York Mets (81-68) 1
This one was an extremely tight and nervy affair, as David Peterson and Cristopher Sánchez engaged in a gripping pitchers due that didn’t see any runs scored until eighth inning. That was when Sánchez finally blinked and gave up a home run to New York’s Tyrone Taylor. Taylor’s seventh homer of the season broke the deadlock and put the Mets ahead by one. However, the good times didn’t last long for New York as the deadlock was immediately restored once the Phillies got their turn to respond. Weston Wilson led off Philadelphia’s half of the eighth with a double and then Buddy Kennedy (yeah, Buddy Kennedy) hit a double of his own to bring home Wilson in order to tie the game at one run apiece.
The game went to the ninth tied at one and José Ruiz ensured that New York would have to win the game in extras if it came to that after he retired the Mets in order. Extras weren’t needed, however, as the Mets went into the ninth inning minus Jesse Winker after he got thrown out to end their half of that frame. Edwin Díaz did manage to get two outs on the Phillies but Nick Castellanos made it to second on a stolen base where Alec Bohm struck out. Sure enough, that ended up being very important as J.T. Realmuto hit a gapper to walk it off and end the game for the Phillies. Savor this one, since that’s the only good news we’re gonna get from Sunday.
Arizona Diamondbacks (83-66) 11, Milwaukee Brewers (86-63) 10
Major bummer in Arizona as the Brewers coughed up multiple chances to put this one away. While Arizona did jump out to a 5-0 lead, the Brewers surged ahead in the fifth, sixth and seventh innigns with three, four, and one run scored in each inning, respectively. However, the D-Backs got those runs back quickly as they scored two runs to immediately respond in the seventh and then Eugenio Suárez hit a sacrifice fly to bring the game back to a deadlock. The game eventually went to extras and it sure looked like the Brewers were going to take this one after scoring a pair of runs in the tenth.
It was up to Jared Koenig to pitch a clean inning for the second time after he kept Arizona quiet in the ninth inning. Here’s how the bottom of the tenth proceeded to go:
Adrian Del Castillo single. 10-9, Brewers
Ketel Marte single
Corbin Carroll single
Christian Walker hit by pitch
Eugenio Suárez single. Diamondacks win
Devin Williams did not pitch in this game, despite warming up in the ninth inning. Here’s why:
Full quote from Pat Murphy on the decision in the 10th inning. More coming from Murphy and Williams. pic.twitter.com/oGuP5daQ7t— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) September 16, 2024
The Brewers still won this series but man, oh man, it would’ve been extremely lovely if they had picked up the sweep. Ah well.
San Diego Padres (85-65) 4, San Francisco Giants (72-78), 3
As expected, the Giants didn’t give the Braves much help this weekend as the Padres went into the Bay Area and picked up the weekend sweep. This was a close one, though, and Heliot Ramos of the Giants did deliver one of the coolest baseball moments of the weekend (and probably of the season, really) when he became the first right-handed batter in the history of Oracle Park to hit an opposite-field Splash Hit. It finally happened, folks.
Heliot Ramos did it! The first right handed hitter to ever hit a splash homer in San Francisco! pic.twitter.com/x2eX5vIvxA— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) September 15, 2024
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for the Giants in this one. It went to extra innings and David Peralta hit the go-ahead sing for San DIego and then Peralta scored on a play where Donovan Solano hit a grounder to third. Matt Chapman’s throw home had no chance of getting Peralta at home and I’d imagine that San Diego was more than happy to trade the out at first for the run. It ended up being crucial, as the Giants did score on a Michael Conforto sacrifice fly. That was all they could muster in the tenth and the Padres completed the sweep.
Here’s how the Wild Card picture looks after yesterday’s action (Playoff Odds from FanGraphs):
Padres 85-65, +3.5, 98.8% Playoff OddsDiamondbacks 83-66 +2.0, 89.6% Playoff OddsBraves 81-68 —, 66.9% Playoff OddsMets 81-68 —, 44.5% Playoff Odds
As far as today goes, the Braves still have one more game left against the Dodgers and it is absolutely imperative that they get the series win tonight. Meanwhile, the Mets are going to be hosting the Nationals and the Diamondbacks are traveling to see the Rockies while the Padres will have the day off. I’m not really looking to the Nationals for help (though they do have apparent all-world starter JAKE IRVIN starting tonight) and to be honest, the Rockies probably won’t be much help either. Still, anything can happen in Coors Field so it might be worth keeping an eye on if it’s close. If not, you’ll probably be best served just keeping your eyes on the Braves tonight.
<img alt="Milwaukee Brewers v Arizona Diamondbacks" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sJQpnM3B_R88XfCW1SwQMJfW-xI=/0x0:4852x3235/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73589174/2172253943.0.jpg">
Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images
The Mets lost, so there’s that. The Atlanta Braves may have flamed out in astonishing fashion to end last night’s game against the Dodgers but fret not, Braves fans — it wasn’t all bad news in the Wild Card race as far as yesterday is concerned. Sure, the Braves did lose and there were two other results that didn’t go Atlanta’s way but one other team suffered the same plight as the Braves did on yesterday. Let’s go ahead and talk about it.
Philadelphia Phillies (90-59) 2, New York Mets (81-68) 1
This one was an extremely tight and nervy affair, as David Peterson and Cristopher Sánchez engaged in a gripping pitchers due that didn’t see any runs scored until eighth inning. That was when Sánchez finally blinked and gave up a home run to New York’s Tyrone Taylor. Taylor’s seventh homer of the season broke the deadlock and put the Mets ahead by one. However, the good times didn’t last long for New York as the deadlock was immediately restored once the Phillies got their turn to respond. Weston Wilson led off Philadelphia’s half of the eighth with a double and then Buddy Kennedy (yeah, Buddy Kennedy) hit a double of his own to bring home Wilson in order to tie the game at one run apiece.
The game went to the ninth tied at one and José Ruiz ensured that New York would have to win the game in extras if it came to that after he retired the Mets in order. Extras weren’t needed, however, as the Mets went into the ninth inning minus Jesse Winker after he got thrown out to end their half of that frame. Edwin Díaz did manage to get two outs on the Phillies but Nick Castellanos made it to second on a stolen base where Alec Bohm struck out. Sure enough, that ended up being very important as J.T. Realmuto hit a gapper to walk it off and end the game for the Phillies. Savor this one, since that’s the only good news we’re gonna get from Sunday.
Arizona Diamondbacks (83-66) 11, Milwaukee Brewers (86-63) 10
Major bummer in Arizona as the Brewers coughed up multiple chances to put this one away. While Arizona did jump out to a 5-0 lead, the Brewers surged ahead in the fifth, sixth and seventh innigns with three, four, and one run scored in each inning, respectively. However, the D-Backs got those runs back quickly as they scored two runs to immediately respond in the seventh and then Eugenio Suárez hit a sacrifice fly to bring the game back to a deadlock. The game eventually went to extras and it sure looked like the Brewers were going to take this one after scoring a pair of runs in the tenth.
It was up to Jared Koenig to pitch a clean inning for the second time after he kept Arizona quiet in the ninth inning. Here’s how the bottom of the tenth proceeded to go:
Adrian Del Castillo single. 10-9, Brewers
Ketel Marte single
Corbin Carroll single
Christian Walker hit by pitch
Eugenio Suárez single. Diamondacks win
Devin Williams did not pitch in this game, despite warming up in the ninth inning. Here’s why:
Full quote from Pat Murphy on the decision in the 10th inning. More coming from Murphy and Williams. pic.twitter.com/oGuP5daQ7t— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) September 16, 2024
The Brewers still won this series but man, oh man, it would’ve been extremely lovely if they had picked up the sweep. Ah well.
San Diego Padres (85-65) 4, San Francisco Giants (72-78), 3
As expected, the Giants didn’t give the Braves much help this weekend as the Padres went into the Bay Area and picked up the weekend sweep. This was a close one, though, and Heliot Ramos of the Giants did deliver one of the coolest baseball moments of the weekend (and probably of the season, really) when he became the first right-handed batter in the history of Oracle Park to hit an opposite-field Splash Hit. It finally happened, folks.
Heliot Ramos did it! The first right handed hitter to ever hit a splash homer in San Francisco! pic.twitter.com/x2eX5vIvxA— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) September 15, 2024
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for the Giants in this one. It went to extra innings and David Peralta hit the go-ahead sing for San DIego and then Peralta scored on a play where Donovan Solano hit a grounder to third. Matt Chapman’s throw home had no chance of getting Peralta at home and I’d imagine that San Diego was more than happy to trade the out at first for the run. It ended up being crucial, as the Giants did score on a Michael Conforto sacrifice fly. That was all they could muster in the tenth and the Padres completed the sweep.
Here’s how the Wild Card picture looks after yesterday’s action (Playoff Odds from FanGraphs):
Padres 85-65, +3.5, 98.8% Playoff OddsDiamondbacks 83-66 +2.0, 89.6% Playoff OddsBraves 81-68 —, 66.9% Playoff OddsMets 81-68 —, 44.5% Playoff Odds
As far as today goes, the Braves still have one more game left against the Dodgers and it is absolutely imperative that they get the series win tonight. Meanwhile, the Mets are going to be hosting the Nationals and the Diamondbacks are traveling to see the Rockies while the Padres will have the day off. I’m not really looking to the Nationals for help (though they do have apparent all-world starter JAKE IRVIN starting tonight) and to be honest, the Rockies probably won’t be much help either. Still, anything can happen in Coors Field so it might be worth keeping an eye on if it’s close. If not, you’ll probably be best served just keeping your eyes on the Braves tonight.
Link to original article
