The Baseball Buffet for 9/26/2025

Issue #409

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 183rd day of the season featured a partial slate of Thursday games:

• PIT 1, CIN 2 - Nick Lodolo was outstanding, striking out 12 in 6.1 innings (6.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 K). Cincy’s batsmen tallied 10 hits, scoring two runs in the fifth. Pittsburgh got one in the top of the eighth, but then Emilio Pagán shut things down in the ninth to earn his 30th save.

• TBR 5, BAL 6 - The Rays outhit the Orioles 15-9, but in the end came up short. They had 13 singles and two doubles, whereas Baltimore had homers from Ryan Mountcastle, Coby Mayo, and Dylan Beavers, who hit the game-winner in the bottom of the ninth.

• LAD 8, AZ 0 - The Dodgers scored all eight of their runs in the first four innings, with Freddie Freeman hitting 2 HR, Andy Pages hitting his 27th HR of the year, and Shohei Ohtani slugging his 54th. Meanwhile, Yoshinobu Yamamoto did well per usual (6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) and three Dodgers relievers threw scoreless innings to combine for the five-hit shutout.

• MIN 4, TEX 0 - Byron Buxton once again led off the game with a HR, but then Tyler Mahle settled in and did fine over five innings (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). Buxton hit a 3-run HR later in the eighth, giving him 34 homers on the year. Bailey Ober was solid (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K), and three Minnesota relievers pitched scoreless innings to combine for the 3-hit shutout.

• HOU 11, ATH 5 - The Astros scored five run in the first two innings, added another four in the middle frames, and then Christian Walker hit a homer late as well. Jose Altuve was 2-3 with a double, a walk, 2 runs, and 2 RBI, and Isaac Paredes was 2-3 with a double and 2 RBI. Framber Valdez did very well (7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K), with the only damage being a HR by Nick Kurtz in the sixth. Kurtz added a 2-run HR in the 8th, giving him 35 homers on the season. Athletics’ catcher Shea Langeliers went 4-5 with a double, but overall the team couldn’t score enough runs as they were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 guys on base in total.

• MIA 0, PHI 1 - Walker Buehler pitched five scoreless innings (5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K), and three Philadelphia relievers combined for a 5-hit shutout, including veteran David Robertson who notched his 2nd save of the year. Janson Junk did fairly well in a short start (4.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K), but the one run he allowed in the first inning is all it took.

• DET 4, CLE 2 - The Tigers took an early 4-1 lead, roughing up rookie Parker Messick (5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) with three HR by Jahmai Jones, Wenceel Pérez, and Riley Greene, his 36th of the year. Cleveland scored one run in the bottom of the eighth, but then Will Vest struck out three in the ninth for his 22nd save.

• CHW 3, NYY 5 - Michael Taylor hit a 2-run HR in the top of the fourth to put the White Sox up 3-1. But in the bottom of the fifth, Giancarlo Stanton hit a bases-loaded double to give the Yankees the lead. Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, and David Bednar each hurled scoreless relief innings, with Bednar securing his 26th save of the year.

• BOS 1, TOR 6 - The Blue Jays went with a bullpen day and used seven pitchers to limit the Red Sox to just four hits, with one run crossing in the seventh. Meanwhile, Toronto’s batsmen had done all of their damage in the sixth, with Daulton Varsho hitting a grand slam, and George Springer adding a 2-run HR, his 31st of the year.

• NYM 8, CHC 5 - The Mets tagged Shota Imanaga with eight runs (5.2 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 3 K), including Francisco Lindor hitting a solo HR in the third and Brett Baty hitting a 3-run HR in the fourth. Rookie Nolan McLean struck out 11, but the Cubs finally got to him as the game went along (5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 11 K), with Seiya Suzuki hitting two homers, giving him 29 on the season, and Dansby Swanson connecting for his 24th HR. Four New York relievers kept Chicago off the board the rest of the way, with Edwin Díaz recording his 28th save.

• KCR 9, LAA 4 - Vinnie Pasquantino got things going with a 2-run HR in the top of the first. Michael Lorenzen struck out 9 in 5.2 innings, but also gave up solo homers to Jo Adell and Nolan Schanuel. Mike Trout connected for a 2-run HR in the eighth, to bring the Angels within one at 5-4. But then the Royals scored four in the top of the ninth off Sam Bachman, and Luinder Avila struck out two in the bottom of the ninth to close it out.

• COL 2, SEA 6 - Emerson Hancock struck out 7 over 4 innings (4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K), and the Mariners tallied 10 hits with Eugenio Suárez connecting for his 49th HR of the year. The win was Seattle’s seventh in a row, maintaining their momentum with the playoffs coming up.

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 Yankees won their fifth in a row, but the Blue Jays also won, so they remain tied atop the AL East. However, Toronto has the tie-breaker advantage (head-to-head this season).

• Detroit beat Cleveland, so they are now tied in the AL Central. But the Guardians hold the head-to-head record tie-breaker.

• The Mariners won their seventh in a row, while Houston is one game behind the Tigers for the third AL Wild Card spot.

• The Mets and Reds both won, so New York retains the one-game margin for the final NL Wild Card spot, with Arizona also lurking just two games back.

• Current Wild Card Leaders: In the AL it is NYY, BOS, and DET; in the NL it is CHC, SDP, and NYM. See MLB’s 2025 Postseason Watch for the current bracket and more.

Today’s Trivia Question

Francisco Lindor’s HR yesterday was his 30th of the year. He already had 31 SB, and so joined teammate Juan Soto in the 30/30 club this year. Which two teams have also had two 30/30 HR/SB club members in the same season, and who were the players?

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).

🤕 Placed on the IL

• MIN 2B Luke Keaschall - 10-day IL (left thumb sprain)

• TOR SP José Berríos - 15-day IL (right elbow inflammation)

League Leaders

With 3 days to go, we have a dozen pitchers with 200+ K this season:

• 255 - BOS Garrett Crochet

• 241 - DET Tarik Skubal

• 216 - PHI Jesús Luzardo

• 216 - PIT Paul Skenes

• 216 - SFG Logan Webb

• 215 - SDP Dylan Cease

• 206 - HOU Hunter Brown

• 204 - PHI Cristopher Sánchez

• 203 - NYY Carlos Rodón

• 201 - STL Sonny Gray

• 201 - MIL Freddy Peralta

• 201 - LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto

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 26…

• 1908: Ed Reulbach throws two shutouts in a doubleheader. “Ed Reulbach pitches two shutouts on the same day, whitewashing Brooklyn, 5-0, on a five-hitter and 3-0 on a three-hitter. The entire doubleheader is played in less than three hours. Big Ed allows five hits in the a.m. game, and is even stingier in the afternoon, yielding three hits and a walk. Kaiser Wilhelm and Jim Pastorius are the losing pitchers. Reulbach is the only pitcher in major league history to have performed this particular feat.”

• 1932: Chuck Klein leads the NL in both HR and SB. “In a doubleheader split with the Giants, Chuck Klein of the Phillies is 0 for 8 but closes the season with 38 home runs and 20 stolen bases to become the only player of the lively-ball era (1920 and after) to lead his league in these two departments. Klein also finishes second in RBIs (137), while teammates Don Hurst (143) and Pinky Whitney (124) finish first and third, respectively. In this century, only the 1915 Tigers and 1928 Yankees have had the top three RBI producers in a season.”

• 1954: A very close batting title race. “Going into the last day of the National League season, Don Mueller leads in hitting with .3426; Duke Snider is second at .3425, followed by Willie Mays at .3422. The Giants win in 11 innings over the Phillies' Robin Roberts, as Mays garners a single, double, and triple in four at-bats. He finishes at .345 while Mueller slips to .341, the same as Snider.”

• 1961: Roger Maris ties The Babe. “In New York's 159th game, Roger Maris rips a Jack Fisher fastball into the right field seats at Yankee Stadium for his 60th home run. New York beats Baltimore, 3-2. There are fewer than 8,000 fans on hand to view this historic event.”

• 1981: Nolan Ryan throws his fifth no-hitter. “At the Astrodome, Astro Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher to throw five no-hitters, defeating the Dodgers, 5-0. Ryan had shared the record of four with Dodger great Sandy Koufax, but had not pitched a no-hitter since June 1, 1975. The 34-year-old Ryan strikes out 11 and retires the last 19 batters in a row while lowering his league-leading ERA to 1.74.”

• 1983: Bob Forsch throws his second no-hitter. “The Cardinals' Bob Forsch pitches his second career no-hitter, 3-0 against the Expos. Forsch allows just two baserunners while becoming the first Cardinal and 25th pitcher overall to throw more than one no-hitter.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Bobby Shantz (1925)

• 16-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1949-1964, mostly with the Athletics and Yankees

• Was a starter early on, including in 1952 when he won the AL MVP Award after leading the league in wins with a 24-7 record, to go with a 2.48 ERA

• Led the AL with a 2.45 ERA in 1957

• Three-time All-Star, Shantz was good defensively on the mound, taking home eight Gold Glove Awards—interesting, most came after he had shifted to being a relief pitcher in the second half of his career

• Overall had a 119-99 (.546) record, 48 saves, 3.38 ERA, 119 ERA+

• At now 100 years old, he is the last living member of the Philadelphia Athletics, the oldest MLB MVP, and the last surviving MLB player who played in the 1940s

Chris Archer (1988)

• 10-year major league pitching career, spanning from 2012-2022, mostly with the Tampa Bay Rays

• Two-time All-Star

• Posted 230+ strikeouts in three consecutive seasons, with a high of 252 in 2015

• Career 3.93 ERA and 102 ERA+

Sean Doolittle (1986)

• Was a late first-round draft pick by the Athletics in 2007

• 11-year major league career as a reliever, spanning from 2012-2022, mostly with Oakland and Washington

• Two-time All-Star

• Posted 20+ saves four times, including in 2018 when he posted 25 saves with an impressive 1.60 ERA

• Overall had 112 saves with a 3.20 ERA and 130 ERA+

Today’s Matchups

Today we enter the final weekend of the regular season, and have a full slate of Friday games. Some games and pitchers that jump out to me are:

• DET vs. BOS is game one of an important final series for both teams, as they are battling for wild card spots. Casey Mize (3.91 ERA, 131 K in 142.2 IP) will face Kyle Harrison (3.58 ERA, 32 K in 32.2 IP), who did well in his first start for Boston his last time out.

• CIN vs. MIL is an interesting NL Central series to close out the year, as the Reds are currently one game behind the Mets for the third NL wild card spot—and New York’s final series is against the less daunting Marlins. This game will have Zack Littell (3.86 ERA, 127 K in 182 IP) go against Quinn Priester (3.25 ERA, 128 K in 152.1 IP).

• LAD vs. SEA is a very intriguing inter-league series to end the regular season for these two teams. Who would have predicted at the beginning of the year, or even a month ago, that these two teams would be sitting here with identical 90-69 records? 25-year old Emmet Sheehan (2.86 ERA, 86 K in 72.1 IP) has been great lately, while as of the time of this writing Seattle’s starter hasn’t been announced yet.

Also on the hill today are MIN Joe Ryan, BAL Trevor Rogers, TOR Shane Bieber, and KCR Noah Cameron.

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:

• CHC Pete Crow-Armstrong, 6-7 with 4 HR and a double vs. STL Mile Mikolas… even though he is fast too, maybe just intentionally walk him?

• SFG Matt Chapman, 5-12 with 3 HR and a double vs. COL Germán Márquez

• SFG Willy Adames, 3-9 with 2 HR, COL Germán Márquez

• ATL Ronald Acuña Jr., 7-18 with 3 HR vs. PIT Mitch Keller

• AZ James McCann, 4-12 with 2 HR and a double vs. SDP Yu Darvish

• AZ Corbin Carroll, 8=17 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. SDP Yu Darvish

• NYM Cedric Mullins, 4-9 with 2 HR vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

• CHC Michael Busch, 5-13 with 2 HR vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• NYM Starling Marte, 5-16 with a HR and 2 triples vs. MIA Sandy Alcantara

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:

• SFG Wilmer Flores, 7-16 with a HR and a double vs. COL Germán Márquez

• TOR Alejandro Kirk, 6-9 vs. TBR Adrian Houser

• ATL Matt Olson, 5-10 with a double vs. PIT Mitch Keller

• SDP Ryan O’Hearn, 5-11 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. AZ Zac Gallen

• BOS Jarren Duran, 4-8 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. DET Casey Mize

• HOU Jesús Sánchez, 4-10 with a HR and a double vs. LAA Kyle Hendricks

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 13 - SDP Luis Arraez

• 11 - SEA Josh Naylor

• 9 - STL Alec Burleson

• 9 - COL Blaine Crim

• 8 - STL Brendan Donovan

• 8 - ATL Drake Baldwin

• 8 - CLE José Ramírez

• 7 - LAA Taylor Ward

• 7 - CHW Colson Montgomery

Active HR streaks

• 2 - MIN Byron Buxton

• 2 - LAD Andy Pages

• 2 - SEA Eugenio Suárez

• 2 - NYM Francisco Alvarez

• 2 - PHI Otto Kemp

• 2 - LAA Taylor Ward

• 2 - WAS James Wood

• 2 - SDP Jose Iglesias

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:

• AZ Geraldo Perdomo, 1-16 with 7 K vs. SDP Yu Darvish

• TBR Brandon Lowe, 1-10 with 6 K vs. TOR Shane Bieber

• NYY Austin Slater, 0-10 with 5 K vs. BAL Trevor Rogers

• CHC Carson Kelly, 1-10 with 3 K vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• STL Nolan Arenado, 1-13 though only 1 K vs. CHC Colin Rea (if pitching, TBD)

• TOR Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1-11 though only 1 K vs. TBR Adrian Houser

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The Mets this year join the 1996 Rockies (Ellis Burks and Dante Bichette) and the 1987 Mets (Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry) in having two players in the 30/30 HR/SB club in the same season.

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.

• Ready for a wild final weekend? Here's everything at stake, by MLB writers, 9/25/2025

• 5 reasons why this could be the Mariners' year, by Will Leitch at MLB, 9/25/2025

• Mattingly Deserves To Be In the Hall of Fame, by Scott Morganroth at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 9/26/2025

• Ellis Burks couldn’t stay healthy enough to be a HOFer, by Mark Kolier at Almost Cooperstown, 9/26/2025

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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