<img alt="Atlanta Braves v Cincinnati Reds" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wJiiZwljU_r1sjt4azGSaewAwi8=/0x0:5633x3755/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73593805/2172743433.0.jpg">
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Atlanta’s choke job pushes them further back Tuesday’s action wasn’t a total loss for the Atlanta Braves, with three of the four teams in the wild card picture taking losses, but their unfortunate late-inning collapse now looms large with such small margins. The Mets kept rolling, lengthening the Braves chase to earn a spot back into the playoff picture.
Colorado Rockies (59-93) 8, Arizona Diamondbacks (83-68) 2
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The brightest spot in Tuesday’s action was the Arizona Diamondbacks once again struggling to take advantage of the altitude, scoring only two runs to drop a second straight game against the lowly Colorado Rockies. The D’Backs went into battle with their worst starter — Jordan Montgomery — for his first start since a late August move to the bullpen, and it went about as well as you would imagine. Montgomery gave up three early runs and after a middle inning stalemate the Rockies got into the middle of the Arizona bullpen and were able to pull away late in the game. Colorado opened with two runs in the second inning, then for the second straight game it was Ezequiel Tovar who provided the lumber for the Rockies, leaving the yard in the third inning to put the Rockies up 3-0. This was all Ryan Feltner would need, as the breakout starter’s fantastic September continued into the seventh inning with him allowing only one run.
Tovar would again provide support as his single capped off a two-run sixth inning, and Colorado added on from there. The Diamondbacks got a Christian Walker home run in the eighth inning to add to their total, but the Rockies kept adding with two more runs in the bottom of the frame to put the game well out of reach. It was truly a team affair as every Rockie either scored or drove in a run, with Tovar’s three-hit, two-RBI day leading the charge. This result is huge for Atlanta, as they certainly couldn’t have expected for the Diamondbacks to lose this series, though unfortunately the Braves haven’t yet given us a chance to celebrate Arizona’s struggles.
New York Mets (83-68) 10, Washington Nationals (68-83) 1
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I have never felt such sadness at seeing an Acuna go deep, but Luisangel’s big day at the plate — including his first career home run — contributed to the dismantling of Washington’s pitching staff in this game. Nationals starter Mitchell Parker has had significant home/road splits this season, posting a terrific 2.81 ERA and 17.5% K-BB% at home. On the road however he has allowed a 6.61 ERA and seen his K-BB% cut to 9.8%, and this difference showed up as the Mets stomped over Parker behind their supporters in Citi Field. Tylor Megill was terrific for New York, but Washington was able to jump out to an early lead when Acuna missed a poor throw over to second base and saw it kick off of his foot allowing all runners to advance safely. A ground out brought home a run, but the Mets got that run and more back and pulled away quickly.
It took just one half inning for Acuna to make up for his mistake, as he laced a 109.5 mph double into the gap to tie the game in the bottom of the third inning. The Mets followed him up to load the bases still with no outs in the inning, and a jam shot bloop behind first base from Pete Alonso scored two runs to put the Mets up 3-1. A sacrifice brought home the fourth run of the inning but New York just kept piling runs on. Francisco Alvarez obliterated a hanging changeup for Parker for a solo home run in the next inning, and the bullpen fared no better. New York had the seven highest exit velocities in this game and a total of 12 over 100 mph, including Pete Alonso’s sixth inning home run. Finally it was time for Acuna to get back in on the fun, launching a low sinker 414 feet for his third hit of the game and his first career home run. The Mets are now 12-4 in September, and will send out Jose Quintana in the next game who has allowed only one earned run across his past 25 innings.
San Diego Padres (86-66) 3, Houston Astros (82-69) 4 F/10
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This was a terrific game, and that evaluation certainly is helped by the team Braves fans wanted to win coming through in extra innings. Both sides pitched well in this one, but San Diego Padres starter Michael King was on another level, extending out his string of dominance that dates back to the start of June. In 18 starts since then he has been one of the best in baseball, with a 2.37 ERA and FIP, and he was one of the best pitchers in action on Tuesday as he covered seven innings of two run ball. King got into a bit of trouble in the first inning after a leadoff bunt single from Jose Altuve and a walk to Yordan Alvarez had him facing off against the middle of the Astros lineup, but he locked in to force a weak line out and two strikeouts and rolled through nine straight outs before the Astros got to him in the fourth. Kyle Tucker led off with a 101 mph single, and though King would luck out as a Yainer Diaz fly ball fell dangerously into the glove of Jackson Merrill, a Bregman single and an oops double from Jon Singleton brought home a run to score. Houston would add on another on a Jeremy Pena ground out, but their lead couldn’t hold as King would again settle and retire 11 of the final 12 batters.
‘Stros starter Hunter Brown matched and exceeded King throughout most of his start, as the Padres could not figure him out the first two times through the order. Brown allowed only one hard hit ball through five innings, but the Padres were making plenty of contact and the switch flipped the third time through the order. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off in the sixth inning with a 112 mph single, and in the blink of an eye Manny Machado tied it up by depositing a hanging curveball in the second row in left center field. It was a new ball game, and that game belonged to two fantastic groups of relievers.
Houston drew deadline acquisition Jason Adam in the eighth inning, and Houston was certainly glad to no longer contend with King. Yordan Alvarez roped a 112 mph double to create some danger early, and Adam would shoot himself in the foot with mistakes. A balk advanced Alvarez over to third base, putting him into position to score on a curveball that skipped past Elias Diaz who was brought in as a sub at catcher at the start of the 8th inning. Houston could now lean on the big guns in the bullpen, but Tatis met Ryan Pressly rudely with a 109 mph leadoff double. Pressly would get a ground out from Jurickson Profar and a key strikeout of Machado to get close to ending the inning, but was pulled for Josh Hader to try to take advantage of a left on left matchup. Hader got the out, but on his very first pitch skipped a slider to the backstop that tied the game right back up. Jeremy Pena led off in the ninth inning with a double, but Jose Altuve was called out on a controversial play to end the inning, leading to an egregious display of toes and an ejection of the Astros star. It would not matter in the end, as Kyle Tucker punched an RBI single to left in the top of the tenth inning to give Houston the lead. Hector Neris struck out Tatis with two runners on in the ninth inning, then with bases loaded Grae Kissinger snagged a rocket from Manny Machado to end the game.
And here are your up-to-date NL Wild Card standings (Playoff Odds via FanGraphs):
Padres 86-66, +2.5, 99.5% Playoff Odds (no change)
Diamondbacks 83-68, —, 78.0% Playoff Odds (-5.7%)
Mets 83-68, —, 71.0% Playoff Odds (+14.9%)
Braves 81-70, -2.0, 51.5% Playoff Odds (-8.9%)
It’s a significant loss for the Braves and their biggest single-day hit to playoff odds this season, though the struggles for Arizona have kept them from falling too deeply.
<img alt="Atlanta Braves v Cincinnati Reds" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wJiiZwljU_r1sjt4azGSaewAwi8=/0x0:5633x3755/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73593805/2172743433.0.jpg">
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Atlanta’s choke job pushes them further back Tuesday’s action wasn’t a total loss for the Atlanta Braves, with three of the four teams in the wild card picture taking losses, but their unfortunate late-inning collapse now looms large with such small margins. The Mets kept rolling, lengthening the Braves chase to earn a spot back into the playoff picture.
Colorado Rockies (59-93) 8, Arizona Diamondbacks (83-68) 2
box score | savant | highlights
The brightest spot in Tuesday’s action was the Arizona Diamondbacks once again struggling to take advantage of the altitude, scoring only two runs to drop a second straight game against the lowly Colorado Rockies. The D’Backs went into battle with their worst starter — Jordan Montgomery — for his first start since a late August move to the bullpen, and it went about as well as you would imagine. Montgomery gave up three early runs and after a middle inning stalemate the Rockies got into the middle of the Arizona bullpen and were able to pull away late in the game. Colorado opened with two runs in the second inning, then for the second straight game it was Ezequiel Tovar who provided the lumber for the Rockies, leaving the yard in the third inning to put the Rockies up 3-0. This was all Ryan Feltner would need, as the breakout starter’s fantastic September continued into the seventh inning with him allowing only one run.
Tovar would again provide support as his single capped off a two-run sixth inning, and Colorado added on from there. The Diamondbacks got a Christian Walker home run in the eighth inning to add to their total, but the Rockies kept adding with two more runs in the bottom of the frame to put the game well out of reach. It was truly a team affair as every Rockie either scored or drove in a run, with Tovar’s three-hit, two-RBI day leading the charge. This result is huge for Atlanta, as they certainly couldn’t have expected for the Diamondbacks to lose this series, though unfortunately the Braves haven’t yet given us a chance to celebrate Arizona’s struggles.
New York Mets (83-68) 10, Washington Nationals (68-83) 1
box score | savant | highlights
I have never felt such sadness at seeing an Acuna go deep, but Luisangel’s big day at the plate — including his first career home run — contributed to the dismantling of Washington’s pitching staff in this game. Nationals starter Mitchell Parker has had significant home/road splits this season, posting a terrific 2.81 ERA and 17.5% K-BB% at home. On the road however he has allowed a 6.61 ERA and seen his K-BB% cut to 9.8%, and this difference showed up as the Mets stomped over Parker behind their supporters in Citi Field. Tylor Megill was terrific for New York, but Washington was able to jump out to an early lead when Acuna missed a poor throw over to second base and saw it kick off of his foot allowing all runners to advance safely. A ground out brought home a run, but the Mets got that run and more back and pulled away quickly.
It took just one half inning for Acuna to make up for his mistake, as he laced a 109.5 mph double into the gap to tie the game in the bottom of the third inning. The Mets followed him up to load the bases still with no outs in the inning, and a jam shot bloop behind first base from Pete Alonso scored two runs to put the Mets up 3-1. A sacrifice brought home the fourth run of the inning but New York just kept piling runs on. Francisco Alvarez obliterated a hanging changeup for Parker for a solo home run in the next inning, and the bullpen fared no better. New York had the seven highest exit velocities in this game and a total of 12 over 100 mph, including Pete Alonso’s sixth inning home run. Finally it was time for Acuna to get back in on the fun, launching a low sinker 414 feet for his third hit of the game and his first career home run. The Mets are now 12-4 in September, and will send out Jose Quintana in the next game who has allowed only one earned run across his past 25 innings.
San Diego Padres (86-66) 3, Houston Astros (82-69) 4 F/10
box score | savant | highlights
This was a terrific game, and that evaluation certainly is helped by the team Braves fans wanted to win coming through in extra innings. Both sides pitched well in this one, but San Diego Padres starter Michael King was on another level, extending out his string of dominance that dates back to the start of June. In 18 starts since then he has been one of the best in baseball, with a 2.37 ERA and FIP, and he was one of the best pitchers in action on Tuesday as he covered seven innings of two run ball. King got into a bit of trouble in the first inning after a leadoff bunt single from Jose Altuve and a walk to Yordan Alvarez had him facing off against the middle of the Astros lineup, but he locked in to force a weak line out and two strikeouts and rolled through nine straight outs before the Astros got to him in the fourth. Kyle Tucker led off with a 101 mph single, and though King would luck out as a Yainer Diaz fly ball fell dangerously into the glove of Jackson Merrill, a Bregman single and an oops double from Jon Singleton brought home a run to score. Houston would add on another on a Jeremy Pena ground out, but their lead couldn’t hold as King would again settle and retire 11 of the final 12 batters.
‘Stros starter Hunter Brown matched and exceeded King throughout most of his start, as the Padres could not figure him out the first two times through the order. Brown allowed only one hard hit ball through five innings, but the Padres were making plenty of contact and the switch flipped the third time through the order. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off in the sixth inning with a 112 mph single, and in the blink of an eye Manny Machado tied it up by depositing a hanging curveball in the second row in left center field. It was a new ball game, and that game belonged to two fantastic groups of relievers.
Houston drew deadline acquisition Jason Adam in the eighth inning, and Houston was certainly glad to no longer contend with King. Yordan Alvarez roped a 112 mph double to create some danger early, and Adam would shoot himself in the foot with mistakes. A balk advanced Alvarez over to third base, putting him into position to score on a curveball that skipped past Elias Diaz who was brought in as a sub at catcher at the start of the 8th inning. Houston could now lean on the big guns in the bullpen, but Tatis met Ryan Pressly rudely with a 109 mph leadoff double. Pressly would get a ground out from Jurickson Profar and a key strikeout of Machado to get close to ending the inning, but was pulled for Josh Hader to try to take advantage of a left on left matchup. Hader got the out, but on his very first pitch skipped a slider to the backstop that tied the game right back up. Jeremy Pena led off in the ninth inning with a double, but Jose Altuve was called out on a controversial play to end the inning, leading to an egregious display of toes and an ejection of the Astros star. It would not matter in the end, as Kyle Tucker punched an RBI single to left in the top of the tenth inning to give Houston the lead. Hector Neris struck out Tatis with two runners on in the ninth inning, then with bases loaded Grae Kissinger snagged a rocket from Manny Machado to end the game.
And here are your up-to-date NL Wild Card standings (Playoff Odds via FanGraphs):
Padres 86-66, +2.5, 99.5% Playoff Odds (no change)
Diamondbacks 83-68, —, 78.0% Playoff Odds (-5.7%)
Mets 83-68, —, 71.0% Playoff Odds (+14.9%)
Braves 81-70, -2.0, 51.5% Playoff Odds (-8.9%)
It’s a significant loss for the Braves and their biggest single-day hit to playoff odds this season, though the struggles for Arizona have kept them from falling too deeply.
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