The Baseball Buffet for 9/8/2025

Issue #391

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 165th day of the season featured a full slate of Sunday games:

• MIL 10, PIT 2 - Yes, he was facing the team with the best record in baseball. But Pirates’ prospect Bubba Chandler really struggled yesterday (2.2 IP, 9 H, 9 ER, 3 BB, 3 K), with I suppose the only silver lining being that none of the hits he allowed were HR. In fact, the Brew Crew had 14 hits in total, but no homers on the day, with Andrew Vaughn 4-5 with a double; Jake Bauers 2-4 with a double, a walk, and 3 runs; and Brice Turang 2-3 with 2 walks and 2 RBI. Suffice to say, Brewers’ rookie starter Jacob Misiorowski had a much easier time of it against the Bucs’ weak lineup (7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K).

• SEA 18, ATL 2 - Luis Castillo pitched well through six innings (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), and he got offensive support early as the Mariners jumped on Joey Wentz in the third inning (2.1 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). Overall they tallied 20 hits, including five HR from Jorge Polanco, Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suárez who had two ad now has 45 on the year, and naturally Cal Raleigh hitting his MLB-leading 53rd homer.

• CLE 2, TBR 1 - Carson Williams hit a HR in the fifth inning, but Cleveland rookie starter Parker Messick did well otherwise (6 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K). Drew Rasmussen pitched well for five innings (5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K), but then the Guardians scored two in the top of the sixth and that is all it took as three relievers kept the Rays off the board, including Cade Smith striking out three in the ninth for his 11th save.

• LAD 5, BAL 2 - Clayton Kershaw struck out 8 in 5.2 IP, notched another win running his record to 10-2 on the year (5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K). Meanwhile the Dodgers scored four runs early off Tomoyuki Sugano (3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K), including two HR by Shohei Ohtani, giving him 48 on the season, plus a solo HR by Mookie Betts.

• TOR 3, NYY 4 - The Yankees took this important series two games to one, reducing the Blue Jays lead in the AL East to only two. Ben Rice hit a 3-run HR in the bottom of the first off Max Scherzer, who then managed to strike out 8 over 4.1 innings. Max Fried gave up three runs in the first three innings (7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), but the Yankees scored one more in the bottom of the third and then both bullpens shut things down the rest of the way. David Bednar pitched the ninth for New York and secured his 22nd save.

• NYM 2, CIN 3 - The latest Mets rookie pitcher, Brandon Sproat, made his major league debut today. He struck out seven and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but the three runs he ultimately allowed was all it took to get tagged with the loss. Brett Baty had a HR early in the game, but that was the only hit that Hunter Greene allowed, as he was otherwise phenomenal, striking out 12 in 7 innings (7 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 K). Hot-hitting Juan Soto had a HR in the ninth inning, but Tony Santillan recovered and closed it out for his 5th save.

• CHW 6, DET 4 - Both teams scored in the first inning, and the game was 3-3 after three, including Lenyn Sosa hitting his 20th HR of the season. Down 4-3 after six, the White Sox came back and took the lead late, with Jordan Leasure and Mike Vasil pitching scoreless 8th and 9th innings, respectively.

• PHI 4, MIA 5 - Marlins’ shortstop Otto Lopez was the star of this one, going 3-4 with 2 HR and 4 RBI. Miami leveraged a bullpen day, with six pitchers sharing the load and doing well enough to get the win. Philadelphia’s Trea Turner hit his 15th HR.

• MIN 5, KCR 1 - Bailey Ober pitched well (5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), and four Minnesota relievers kept KC off the board the rest of the way, with Génesis Cabrera getting the final out for his first save of the year. Byron Buxton hit his 30th HR, and Kody Clemens hit his 16th.

• SFG 3, STL 4 - Kai-Wei Teng struck out 8 in 4 innings, but also gave up four runs. The Giants came back with three runs in the top of the sixth off Sonny Gray (5.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K), but it wasn’t enough as three St. Louis relievers silenced San Francisco the rest of the way, with Riley O’Brien notching his 3rd save.

• WAS 6, CHC 3 - The Cubs outhit the Nationals 8-7, but were only 1-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine guys on base overall. Carson Kelly hit two HR, and Chicago had a 3-1 lead through eight as Drew Pomeranz had pitched a scoreless first and Colin Rea did well as the long man (5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K). But then Daniel Palencia struggled in the top of the ninth (0 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 K) giving up a solo HR to Robert Hassell III and a 3-run HR to Josh Bell, his 17th of the year. Jose Ferrer then pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth for his 7th save.

• HOU 2, TEX 4 - Patrick Corbin did well (5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K), and Jake Burger hit a 2-run HR in the sixth. Robert Garcia and Shawn Armstrong kept Houston off the board in the final two innings, with Armstrong earning his 7th save.

• SDP 8, COL 1 - Dylan Cease did well over five innings (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), and three Padres’ relievers pitched four scoreless innings. San Diego had four HR from Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill, Gavin Sheets, and Ramón Laureano.

• ATH 3, LAA 4 - Jo Adell hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the first inning, his 35th of the season. Angels’ rookie Mitch Farris gave up HR to Willie MacIver and Tyler Soderstrom, but otherwise did well in this second major league start (6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). Kenley Jansen eventually came in for the ninth, securing his 26th save.

• BOS 7, AZ 4 - Brayan Bello pitched well enough over six innings (6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) and Aroldis Chapman eventually came in for the ninth and struck out four to secure his 29th save. Yes, Chapman needed to strike out four guys in one inning, since he struck out Ildemaro Vargas on a wild pitch that catcher Carlos Narváez couldn’t handle, thereby allowing Vargas to reach first. Ryne Nelson had pitched well through six (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K), but then Boston’s bats came alive and they scored three in the seventh and three more in the ninth.

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:

• With the Yankees win over the Jays, New York is now only two games back in the AL East.

• Only four games separate the Astros, Mariners, and Rangers in the AL West.

• Current Wild Card Leaders: In the AL it is NYY/BOS/SEA; in the NL it is CHC/SDP/NYM.

Today’s Trivia Question

As noted above, Cal Raleigh keeps hitting homeruns, adding his 53rd of the year yesterday. Given the relatively short history of the Seattle Mariners franchise, he is quickly rising up their all-time HR leaderboard. He currently ranks 9th with 146 HR… how many of their top five can you name?

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

• MIA LF Griffin Conine

• KCR SP Cole Ragans

• WAS SP Josiah Gray

• BAL RF Tyler O’Neill

🤕 Placed on the IL

• MIN C Ryan Jeffers - 7-day IL (concussion)

League Leaders

Cal Raleigh has hit a HR in each of last two games, maintaining his spot atop the HR leaderboard (* leads league):

• 53 - SEA Cal Raleigh*

• 49 - PHI Kyle Schwarber*

• 48 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

• 45 - SEA Eugenio Suárez

• 43 - NYY Aaron Judge

• 41 - TBR Junior Caminero

• 38 - NYM Juan Soto

• 35 - LAA Jo Adell

• 33 - NYM Pete Alonso

• 32 - DET Riley Greene

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 8…

• 1905: The Pirates knew how to get on base, but… “Pittsburgh tallies 15 hits and eight walks against the Reds, but the Pirates leave a still-standing National League record 18 men on base. The Reds win, 8-3.”

• 1916: First switch-hitter to hit a HR from both sides of the plate. “In front the smallest crowd in American League history, with 23 fans attending the game, A's catcher/outfielder Wally Schang becomes the first switch-hitter in major league history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game.”

• 1958: Roberto Clemente hits three triples. “Pirates RF Roberto Clemente hits three triples in a 4-1 win over Cincinnati.”

• 1965: Bert Campaneris plays all nine positions. “Against the Angels, A's Bert Campaneris becomes the first major leaguer to play all nine positions in a single game.”

• 1993: Darryl Kile throws a no-hitter. “Houston's Darryl Kile no-hits the Mets, winning by a score of 7-1. He fans nine and walks one. Mets 3B Butch Huskey becomes the third player in history to make his major league debut on the losing end of a no-hitter. Byron Browne and Don Young of the Cubs did so in Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Buck Leonard (1907)

• Hall of Famer

• 14-year major league career, spanning from 1935-1948, in the Negro Leagues

• Led league in HR three times, triples three times, doubles two times, batting average two times.

• All-Star in 11 seasons

• .346/.453/.593 slash line and 180 OPS+ (based on the 604 games currently available at baseball-reference.com)

Gerrit Cole (1990)

• Drafted first overall in 2011 by the Pirates

• 12 years in majors so far, 2013-2024 (injured in 2025), with the Pirates, Astros, and Yankees

• Led league in ERA twice and strikeouts twice, including with 326 in 2019

• 6-time All-Star

• 2023 AL Cy Young Award

• So far has a 153-80 (.657) record, a 3.18 ERA, a 130 ERA+, and 2,251 K in 1,954 IP.

Ken Forsch (1946)

• 16-year major league career, spanning from 1970-1986, with the Astros and Angels

• Was a starter early on, then a reliever, then back to a starter again

• All-Star with the Astros in 1976 with 19 saves and 2.15 ERA, then again in 1981 with Angels as a starter with 2.88 ERA over 20 games

• 114-113 career record, 51 saves, 3.37 ERA, 106 ERA+

• Pitched a no-hitter for the Astros on April 7, 1979.

Currently active players who were born on September 8 include STL Lars Nootbaar, SEA Leody Taveras, HOU Brandon Walter, and CHW Dan Altavilla.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have a partial slate of Monday games (11), as some teams are travelling or otherwise have the day off. Some games and pitchers that jump out to me are:

• NYM vs. PHI is interesting as an NL East matchup, even though the Phillies are up by seven games. Mets’ rookie Nolan McLean (1.37 ERA, 28 K in 26.1 IP) has been good in his first four major league starts, while the Phillies’ Aaron Nola (6.78 ERA, 72 K in 69 IP) appears to be still trying to right his 2025 ship going into the postseason.

• MIL vs. TEX is game one of a tough series for the Rangers who need a surge to catch the Mariners for an AL wildcard spot. Pitching today are Jose Quintana (3.72 ERA, 83 K in 121 IP) and Jacob Latz (3.15 ERA, 62 K in 68.2 IP).

Also on the hill today are CHC Shota Imanaga, SEA Bryan Woo, SFG Logan Webb, and BOS and Garrett Crochet.

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, 18-55 (.327) with 6 HR and 3 doubles vs. PHI Aaron Nola

• SEA Eugenio Suárez, 9-19 with 4 HR and a double vs. STL Miles Mikolas… that is pretty good!

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:

• AZ Corbin Carroll, 7-17 vs. SFG Logan Webb

• SEA Victor Robles, 4-10 vs. STL Miles Mikolas

• ATL Ozzie Albies, small sample but is 4-6 with a HR vs. CHC Shota Imanaga

• LAA Zach Neto, small sample but is 3-3 with a HR vs. MIN Simeon Woods Richardson

Who is streaking?

Active HR streaks

• 2 - LAA Jo Adell

• 2 - SEA Josh Naylor

• 2 - SEA Cal Raleigh

• 2 - SEA Eugenio Suárez

• 2 - COL Hunter Goodman

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, 3-22 with 5 K vs. SFG Logan Webb

• NYM Brett Baty, 0-9 with 3 K vs. PHI Aaron Nola

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The Seattle Mariners’ top-5 all-time HR leaderboard is:

• 417 - Ken Griffey Jr.

• 309 - Edgar Martinez

• 307 - Jay Buhner

• 242 - Kyle Seager

• 189 - Álex Rodríguez

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.

• These are some of the best stretch-run performances ever, by Jason Foster at MLB, 9/7/2025

• Davey Johnson was Never Surprised, by Joe Posnanski at JoeBlogs, 9/6/2025

• 5 Baseball Cards with Deep (Hobby) Roots, at Wax Pack Gods Newsletter, 9/7/2025

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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