The Baseball Buffet for 9/13/2025

Issue #396

The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 170th day of the season featured a full slate of Friday games:

• TBR 4, CHC 6 - The Rays scored in the top of the first with a 3-run HR by Christopher Morel. But then the Cubs came back with five against Shane Baz in the next two innings (2.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), and Ian Happ added a solo HR in the fourth, his 21st of the year. Four Chicago relievers pitched scoreless innings, including Andrew Kittredge who notched his 4th save.

• PIT 5, WAS 6 - A 2-run HR by Spencer Horwitz put the Pirates up 3-0 in the fifth inning. The Nationals finally got to Mitch Keller in the sixth (5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), including a HR by Brady House. They then scored four in the bottom of the seventh, including Dylan Crews hitting a 2-run HR. Pittsburgh rallied in the top of the ninth to come within one, but it wouldn’t be enough.

• KCR 2, PHI 8 - Walker Buehler did well in this first game with the Phillies (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K), while Philadelphia beat up on Michael Lorenzen (3 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K), including Bryce Harper hitting his 26th HR of the year. Bryson Stott added a 2-run HR in the seventh.

• BAL 1, TOR 6 - The Orioles scored first with a run in the third inning, but Toronto’s Chris Bassitt otherwise did well (5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and five Jays’ relievers didn’t allow any runs over four innings. Trevor Rogers once again had a good game through five innings (5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K), but the Baltimore bullpen allowed five runs after that. George Springer was 1-3 with 2 walks and 2 runs; Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was 3-3 with two walks and an RBI; and Miles Straw was 2-3 with a double and a SB.

• TEX 8, NYM 3 - The struggling Mets fell again, as rookie starter Jonah Tong couldn’t get out of the first inning (0.2 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 K). Jacob deGrom gave up three runs, including a solo HR by Francisco Alvarez, but otherwise did well through seven (7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K). Dylan Moore had a pinch-hit 2-run HR in the seventh, and Josh Smith, Josh Jung, and Michael Helman were each 2-4 with a double on the day.

• CHW 0, CLE 4 - Tanner Bibee was outstanding in pitching a 2-hit shutout (9 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K). The Guardians spread four runs across four different innings, with solo homers from David Fry and Angel Martínez.

• DET 2, MIA 8 - In a matchup up of former Cy Young Award winners, Sandy Alcantara (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K) bested Tarik Skubal (3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K). Riley Greene had his 34th HR for Detroit, but Miami had homers from Augustín Ramírez, Heriberto Hernández, and Joey Wiemer. Eric Wagaman also contributed for the Marlins, going 2-4 with a double and 2 runs.

• NYY 4, BOS 1 - The Yankees won this battle at Fenway, as Luis Gil threw a no-hitter through six innings (6 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K) but came out after his pitch count reached 93. Boston rookie Nate Eaton hit his first career HR in the seventh, but then Devin Williams pitched a scoreless eighth, and David Bednar struck out two in the ninth for his 23rd save. Aaron Judge hit a HR in the first inning, his 47th of the year, and the 362nd of his career, moving him past Joe DiMaggio for sole possession of fourth place on the all-time Yankees HR leaderboard.

• HOU 11, ATL 3 - After seven good games, Braves’ rookie starter Hurston Waldrep finally had a bad outing (4.2 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 4 K). Houston’s Zach Cole had a great game in his major league debut going 3-4 with a 2-run HR (in his first at-bat) and 4 RBI. Jose Altuve went 2-4 with a HR; Christian Walker was 3-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI; and Jake Meyers was 2-3 with a walk, 2 runs, and 2 RBI. The Braves scored three runs late from a solo HR by Ronald Acuña Jr. and a 2-run HR by Eli White, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

• AZ 8, MIN 9 - This was a wild one. Pablo López did well in his second start back from the IL (5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K), while Arizona’s Brandon Pfaadt gave up nine hits in less than five innings (4.2 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). Geraldo Perdomo hit a 2-run HR in the seventh, but the D-Backs were still down 6-4 at that point. Gabriel Moreno hit a 3-run HR in the top of the ninth to give them a 8-6 lead. The big hitter for Minnesota in this one was Kody Clemens who was 4-4 with three HR and five RBI, including a solo HR in the bottom of the ninth to bring the Twins within one. Minnesota then loaded the bases from a single, a HBP, and a walk, with Trevor Larnach then drawing a walk to drive in Ryan Fitzgerald to tie it up. With still no outs, Luke Keaschall hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Byron Buxton for the comeback victory.

• STL 2, MIL 8 - Brewers’ starter Quinn Priester did well, finally giving up two runs in the sixth (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). Three Milwaukee relievers kept the Cardinals off the board the rest of the way, as St. Louis was only 2-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 guys overall. Meanwhile the Brewers scored four in the third off Andre Pallante (5 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 0 K), and Christian Yelich hit a 2-run HR in the seventh, his 28th of the season.

• COL 4, SDP 2 - Manny Machado hit a solo HR in the first inning, but Tanner Gordon otherwise did very well (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K). JP Sears struck out eight but also allowed four runs (4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K), all from a 3-run HR by Blaine Crim, the first of his career, and a solo HR by Kyle Farmer. Victor Vodnik gave up two hits, a walk, and a run in the ninth, but closed it out for his 8th save.

• CIN 0, ATH 3 - J.T. Ginn did well in a short start (4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K), and four Athletics’ relievers combined for the shutout, including Sean Newcomb striking out three in the ninth for his 2nd save of the year. Lawrence Butler hit his 20th of the year in the first inning, and Carlos Cortes was was 2-3 with two solo homers.

• LAA 1, SEA 2 - Luis Castillo did well over six innings (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), and three Seattle relievers pitched scoreless innings, including closer Andrés Muñoz who struck out two in the ninth for his 35th save. Yusei Kikuchi had done well over six innings (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K), but then with the game tied 1-1, Mitch Garver hit a go-ahead solo HR in the bottom of the seventh. Cal Raleigh was 2-4 with 2 doubles and a run on the day.

• LAD 1, SFG 5 - The Giants scored one in the bottom of the first, but Yoshinobu Yamamoto was outstanding otherwise (7 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K). Veteran Justin Verlander also did well (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K), finally giving up a solo HR to Michael Conforto in the seventh which tied the game 1-1. The game eventually went into extras, and LA failed to score in the top of the tenth. In the bottom of the frame, with one out, Tanner Scott intentionally walked Casey Schmitt to load the bases to set up a force out at every base and a double-play possibility. But then catcher Patrick Bailey hit a dramatic walk-off grand slam HR for the win.

Standings

I am providing current standings as part of The Baseball Buffet, with the image being a modified version of the text-based standings at Plain Text Sports. Here also is a link to the official standings at MLB.com.

Notes:

• The Mariners have now won seven in a row, but Houston also won so they remained tied atop the AL West. With Texas also winning, the Rangers remain just two games back.

• The Mets have now lost seven in a row, and are now only a half game ahead of the Giants for the final NL wildcard spot.

• Current Wild Card Leaders: In the AL it is NYY/BOS and then HOU and SEA are tied in AL West; in the NL it is CHC/SDP/NYM.

Today’s Trivia Question

Kody Clemens’ big day yesterday was the 14th 3-HR game in Minnesota Twins history. Can you name any of the three Twins’ players who have had two 3-HR games each? (Hint: Remember that the Twins set a record one year for the most HR in a season.)

Who’s on the move?

In this section I won’t list 26th-man moves, or every time a team shuttles relievers back and forth to AAA to keep a stock of fresh arms in the bullpen. I’ll focus on the biggest, more impactful demotions, promotions, and injury list changes (for a full list, see all the latest MLB transactions).

➕ Sent a Rehab Assignment

• BAL 3B Jordan Westburg

• TEX RP Danny Coulombe

• DET CF Matt Vierling

• TEX CF Sam Haggerty

🤕 Placed on the IL

• ATL RP Daysbel Hernández - 15-day IL (right shoulder inflammation)

• BOS RP Brennan Bernardino - 15-day IL (left lat strain)

• SDP RP David Morgan - 15-day IL (right shoulder inflammation)

• LAA RP Andrew Chafin - 15-day IL (left triceps inflammation)

• MIN RP Justin Topa - 15-day IL (left oblique strain)

• PHI RP José Alvarado - 15-day IL (left forearm strain)

• HOU SP/RP Lance McCullers Jr. - 15-day IL (right hand soreness)

League Leaders

Not a big year for doubles it seems, though overall they are thus far being hit at exactly the same rate as in 2024. Last year there were seven players with 40+, and the overall leader was Jarren Duran with 48.

• 44 - TOR Bo Bichette

• 41 - KCR Bobby Witt Jr.

• 40 - ATH Brent Rooker

• 39 - BOS Jarren Duran

• 37 - LAD Freddie Freeman

• 37 - NYM Pete Alonso

• 36 - ATL Matt Olson

• 36 - KCR Maikel Garcia

• 36 - WAS James Wood

• 35 - CHC Pete Crow-Armstrong

• 35 - PIT Bryan Reynolds

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.

📅 On September 13…

• 1845: Alexander Cartwright codifies some of the basic rules. “Alexander Cartwright presents the first set of baseball rules, 20 in total.”

• 1902: Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance gets started. “Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance play their first game as a SS-2B-1B combo for Chicago. Germany Schaefer is at 3B as Chicago clips St. Louis, 12-0.”

• 1909: Ty Cobb wins AL HR crown without hitting any out of the park. “Ty Cobb clinches the American League home run title with his ninth round-tripper. It is an inside-the-park drive against the Browns. In fact, all his nine home runs this season are inside-the-park, including two on July 15th. Only Sam Crawford (12 in 1901) has hit more inside-the-park homers in a year than Cobb.”

• 1925: Dazzy Vance throws a no-hitter. “Brooklyn's Dazzy Vance narrowly misses back-to-back no-hitters over Philadelphia, pitching a 10-1 no-hitter five days after a 1-0 one-hitter. The Phils' lone run is scored by Chicken Hawks, who reaches second base on an error. Five days earlier it was Hawks' 2nd-inning single that ruined Vance's no-hitter. On June 17, 1923, Vance lost a no-hitter with two out in the 9th. In the second game, the Phils win, 7-3, behind Hawks' grand slam.”

• 1936: 17-year old Bob Feller strikes out 17. “Indians teenage pitching phenom Bob Feller ties the major league record and sets a new American League record by striking out 17 batters as he two-hits the A's, 5-2. After the season, "Bullet Bob" will return to his Van Meter, Iowa home to graduate from high school.”

• 1938: The Hall of Fame honors Alexander Cartwright and Henry Chadwick. A special committee names Alexander Cartwright to Baseball's Hall of Fame for originating the sport's basic concepts. Henry Chadwick, inventor of the box score and the first baseball writer, is also honored.

• 1942: Lennie Merullo commits four errors in one inning; names son Boots. “Chicago Cub SS Lennie Merullo makes a major league record four errors in the 2nd inning of the nightcap against the Boston Braves. Merullo's son is born today and is named Boots. The Cubs win, 12-8, after losing the first game, 10-6.” Also of note, Lennie Merullo is the grandfather of Matt Merullo who played six seasons in the majors spanning from 1989-1995.

• 1969: Bobby Bonds becomes the fourth member of the 30/30 club. “In a 6-4 defeat to the Reds, Bobby Bonds becomes the fourth player in major league history steal at least 30 bases and hit at least 30 home runs in the same season. The other members of the 30/30 club include Ken Williams (1922), Willie Mays (1956 & 1957) and Hank Aaron (1963). Bonds will have four more 30-30 seasons during his career.”

• 1991: Joe Carter gets 100+ RBI for third year in a row, with three different teams. “Toronto OF Joe Carter drives in a run in the Blue Jays' 7-6 victory over the A's, becoming the first player in history to reach the 100 plateau in three consecutive seasons with three different teams. Nine players had collected 100 RBI with three teams, but none consecutively.”

• 1995: Whitaker and Trammell set a record. “Tigers Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell set a new American League record for joint appearances - 1,915 games.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Bernie Williams (1968)

• 16-year major league career, spanning from 1991-2006, as a CF for the Yankees

• Five-time All-Star; won four Gold Glove Awards

• Scored 100+ runs eight times and had 100+ RBI five times

• Hit 20+ HR seven times and had 15+ SB four times

• Led AL with a .339 average in 1998

• Overall had 287 HR, 1,366 runs, 1,257 RBI, 147 SB, a .297/.381/.477 slash line, and a 125 OPS+

Eddie Rommel (1897)

• 13-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1920-1932, all with the Philadelphia Athletics

• Led the AL in wins with a 27-13 record in 1922 and a 21-10 record in 1925

• One of the early adopters of the knuckleball

• A fairly capable batsman for a pitcher, with a .199 average, and got better over time with a .253 mark over his last five seasons

• Overall had a 171-119 (.590) record, 3.54 ERA, and 121 ERA+

Rick Dempsey (1949)

• Played in the majors as a catcher for parts of 24 seasons, spanning from 1969-1992, though was up and down with the minors through 1973

• Started with the Twins and Yankees, then played 12 seasons with the Orioles

• A generally light hitter (.233 career average), he had 10+ HR in three seasons late in his career

• A good defensive catcher, he twice led his league in caught stealing percentage, and later twice led in fielding percentage

• World Series MVP in 1983 after going 5-13 with a HR and four doubles

Rickie Weeks (1982)

• Drafted in the first round (2nd overall) by the Brewers in 2003

• 14-year major league career, spanning from 2003-2017, mostly as a 2B with Milwaukee

• Had 20+ HR three times with a high of 29 in 2010, and had 15+ SB five times with a high of 25 in 2007

• Overall had 161 HR, 132 SB, a .246/.344/.420 slash line, and a 103 OPS+

Currently active players who were born on September 13 include HOU Taylor Trammell and Jhonathan Díaz.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have a full slate of Saturday games (15), so there are lots of possibilities. Some games and pitchers that jump out to me are:

• NYY vs. BOS is always an interesting series, and today’s matchup is between Max Fried (3.02 ERA, 163 K in 176 IP) and Brayan Bello (3.12 ERA, 114 K in 152.2 IP).

• STL vs. MIL features a fun matchup with veteran Sonny Gray (4.45 ERA, 179 K in 163.2 IP) against rookie Jacob Misiorwoski (4.09 ERA, 77 K in 55 IP).

• LAD vs. SFG has a nice pitching matchup in Clayton Kershaw (3.27 ERA, 69 K in 99 IP) and Logan Webb (3.12 ERA, 201 K in 184.2 IP).

Also on the bump today are TBR Drew Rasmussen, TOR Max Scherzer, MIN Joe Ryan, HOU Hunter Brown, SDP Dylan Cease, SEA Bryan Woo, and CIN Hunter Greene.

HR Watch

Predicting who might hit a HR on any given day is a challenge. But here are a few to consider based on opposing SP past performance:

• NYM Pete Alonso, 17-49 (.347) with 5 HR and 3 doubles vs. TEX Patrick Corbin

• NYM Francisco Lindor, 13-44 with 3 HR and 2 doubles vs. TEX Patrick Corbin

• LAD Max Muncy, 9-30 with 3 HR and 2 doubles vs. SFG Logan Webb

• LAD Mookie Betts, 15-40 (.375) with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. SFG Logan Webb

• BOS Trevor Story, 4-13 with 2 HR and a double vs. NYY Max Fried

• BAL Colton Cowser, small sample but is 2-4 with 2 HR vs. TOR Max Scherzer

• NYY Cody Bellinger, small sample but is 3-8 with 2 HR vs. BOS Brayan Bello

• LAA Jo Adell, small sample but is 4-6 with 2 HR and a double vs. SEA Bryan Woo

Hits Watch

If you play MLB’s Beat the Streak mobile game, or otherwise bet on/parlay players to collect hits, I’ll try to provide some good options in this section. In addition to the HR Watch guys listed above, here are some others to consider based on opposing SP past performance:

• MIL Brice Turang, 6-13 with a double vs. STL Sonny Gray

• KCR Salvador Perez, small sample but is 5-5 with a HR and a double vs. PHI Taijuan Walker

• NYM Mark Vientos, small sample but is 4-8 with a triple and 3 doubles vs. TEX Patrick Corbin

• LAD Kiké Hernández, small sample but is 4-7 with a double vs. SFG Logan Webb

• NYY José Caballero, small sample but is 4-7 vs. BOS Brayan Bello

Who might struggle today?

Betting against any given player to not get a hit is tough, as guys in the starting lineup get at least one hit in a game more often than not. That said, here are some guys who clearly have struggled against their opposing SP today:

• NYY Aaron Judge, 2-20 with 8 K vs. Brayan Bello

• BAL Dylan Carlson, 2-15 with 6 K vs. TOR Max Scherzer

• KCR Jonathan India, 1-10 with 3 K vs. PHI Taijuan Walker

• BOS Jarren Duran, 0-10 with 5 K vs. NYY Max Fried

• LAA Taylor Ward, 0-10 with 3 K vs. SEA Bryan Woo

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

Three Minnesota Twins players have had two 3-HR games: Eddie Rosario (2017 and 2018), Max Kepler (2016 and 2019), and Nelson Cruz (twice in 2019).

Kody Clemens yesterday joined the following Twins players who each have one 3-HR game while with Minnesota: Miguel Sanó, Tony Oliva, Justin Morneau, Harmon Killebrew, Brian Dozier, Bryon Buxton, and Bob Allison.

Good Reads

Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

• Introducing the 2025 Non-All-Star All-Star Team, by Anthony Castrovince at MLB, 9/13/2025

• Pitchers With Wild Home/Road Splits, by Allen Settle at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 9/12/2025

• I hate catcher's interference, by Mark Kolier at Almost Cooperstown, 9/12/2025

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.

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