MLB Player News

Judge went 2-for-4 with a walk and a three-run home run in Wednesday's 9-7 loss to the Orioles.

He made things interesting by taking Matt Bowman deep in the ninth inning, but the Yankees' magic number for clinching an AL East title remains stuck at 1. Judge has homered in four straight games, pushing him up to 56 on the year, and over his last 15 contests he's slashing .360/.508/.780 with six long balls, 11 runs and 17 RBI. With four games left on the schedule for the Yankees, Judge's late-season surge has kept open the possibility that he'll reach 60 homers for the second time in his career.

Soto went 2-for-4 with a walk, a home run, two runs scored and three RBI in Wednesday's 9-7 loss to the Orioles.

The 25-year-old slugger took Zach Eflin deep for a two-run shot in the fifth inning, but the Yankees were already in an 8-1 hole at that point. Soto's 41 homers on the season continues to add to his career-best total, and he sits just two RBI short of tying the career-high 110 he racked up in 2019 with the Nationals.

Stroman (10-9) took the loss Wednesday, coughing up six runs on 10 hits over 3.1 innings as the Yankees fell 9-7 to the Orioles. He struck out one without walking a batter.

The veteran right-hander's contact-heavy approach betrayed him, as the O's began the game with six straight singles and grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first inning that they would never relinquish. Stroman is limping to the finish line on the regular season, posting a 6.59 ERA, 1.87 WHIP and 21:6 K:BB over his last six appearances and 27.1 innings, and he seems likely to get shifted to the bullpen in the playoffs.

Mullins went 3-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and two stolen bases in Wednesday's 9-7 win over the Yankees.

The veteran center fielder tied his season high in knocks, with his last three-hit effort coming back on Sept. 2. Mullins has turned things around over the final month of the regular season, slashing .270/.357/.500 through 20 games in September with five homers, 12 runs, 13 RBI and a perfect 7-for-7 showing on the basepaths.

Duffy started at third base and went 0-for-2 with two walks in Wednesday's 5-1 win over Oakland.

Duffy was added to the roster this week after the Rangers placed Josh Jung (wrist) on the 10-day injured list and Ezequiel Duran landed on paternity leave. Those two transactions open up third base for the righty-hitting Duffy, who got the start against a lefty Wednesday, Josh Smith and Jonathan Ornelas.

Akin recorded the final two outs of Wednesday's 9-7 win over the Yankees to record his first save of the season.

It's the third career save for the southpaw, with the prior two being of the three-inning variety and not traditional save situations. The Orioles didn't look like they would have one of those either Wednesday, heading into the ninth inning with a 9-3 lead, but Matt Bowman made a mess of things and Akin got the call to retire Austin Wells and Giancarlo Stanton, giving Baltimore's high-leverage options like Seranthony Dominguez and Yennier Cano an extra day of rest ahead of the playoffs. On the season, Akin sports a 3.13 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 96:19 K:BB through 77.2 innings, but those career-best ratios have led to only three wins and six holds in addition to Wednesday's save.

Eflin came away with a no-decision in Wednesday's 9-7 win over the Yankees, giving up three runs on four hits and five walks over 4.2 innings. He struck out one.

The Orioles staked Eflin to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and were ahead 7-1 by the top of the fourth, but the right-hander's control issues prevented him from lasting the required five innings to qualify for an easy win. The five free passes were a season high for Eflin, and equaled the total from his six prior starts combined. He wraps up the regular season with a 10-9 record, 3.59 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 134:24 K:BB through 165.1 innings.

Walters tossed 1.2 scoreless innings and did not factor into the decision in Wednesday's 5-2 win over the Guardians.

Walters served as the opener in a bullpen game and retired all five batters he faced while throwing 13 of 20 pitches for strikes. The 23-year-old has not surrendered a hit or earned run through his first 7.2 major-league innings while posting a 6:4 K:BB.

Garcia went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in Wednesday's win over Oakland.

Garcia singled in his first trip to the plate before swatting a two-run homer in the third to extend the Rangers' lead to four runs. It marked the second-consecutive two-hit effort for the outfielder and his sixth multi-hit performance this month. Although he's batting just .235 in September, Garcia has gone 11-for-33 (.333) over his last eight games with two long balls, eight RBI and four runs scored.

Langford went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and a stolen base in Wednesday's win over the Athletics.

Langford cracked a two-run shot off Brady Basso in his first at-bat to put the Rangers on the board and later added a single in the fourth before swiping his 17th bag of the campaign. It marked the seventh multi-hit performance for the outfielder this month, where he's now batting .306 with six homers, 17 RBI, 20 runs and five stolen bases. Langford has also homered in two of his last three games, collecting five RBI over that stretch while scoring three times.