The penultimate day of the 2019 regular season has arrived. All 10 postseason spots have been claimed but the final seeding is not yet final. Here's a breakdown of what's still on the line this weekend, and here is everything you need to know about Saturday's 16-game MLB slate.
Select games can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here.
Who wins every MLB game? And what underdogs can give you a huge victory tonight? Visit SportsLine now to see the exact score of every MLB game, plus get full player stat projections, all from the model that simulates every game 10,000 times.
Baseball schedule/scores for Saturday, Sept. 28
- FINAL - Orioles 9, Red Sox 4 (box score)
- FINAL - Twins 4, Royals 3 (box score)
- FINAL - Blue Jays 4, Rays 1 (box score)
- FINAL/Game 1 - White Sox 7, Tigers 1 (box score)
- FINAL - Dodgers 2, Giants 0 (box score)
- FINAL - Nationals 10, Indians 7 (box score)
- FINAL - Phillies 9, Marlins 3 (box score)
- FINAL - Mets 3, Braves 0 (box score)
- FINAL/Game 2 - Tigers 4, White Sox 3 (box score)
- FINAL - Cubs 8, Cardinals 6 (box score)
- FINAL - Rangers 9, Yankees 4 (box score)
- FINAL, 10 innings - Rockies 3, Brewers 2 (box score)
- FINAL - Diamondbacks 6, Padres 5 (box score)
- FINAL - Astros 6, Angels 3 (box score)
- FINAL - Reds 4, Pirates 2 (box score)
- FINAL - Athletics at Mariners (box score)
Alonso breaks rookie HR record
Mets fans don't have much to be excited about in this weekend's final homestand, seeing as they were officially eliminated from postseason contention earlier this week. But at least, fans can celebrate their rookie slugger, Pete Alonso.
During Saturday's game against the Braves, Alonso hit the 53rd homer of his rookie year, a solo shot in the third inning off Braves starter Mike Folynewicz. With the dinger, Alonso overtook Yankees' Aaron Judge for the most home runs in a rookie year. Here's more on Alonso's record-breaking homer.
Verlander joins 3,000 strikeout club
Saturday night, Astros right-hander Justin Verlander recorded his 3,000th strikeout to become just the 18th pitcher in MLB history to reach the milestone. He entered Saturday's game needing six strikeouts to hit the 3K mark, which he managed before the end of the fourth inning. Here's more on Verlander's Hall of Fame worthy accomplishment, which wasn't exactly perfect.
Astros clinch best record, home-field advantage
To go along with Verlander's aforementioned milestone was even more exciting news for Houston. With their franchise-best 106th win on Saturday, the Astros clinched home-field advantage throughout the entire postseason. When playing at Minute Maid Park this season, the Astros (106-55) were 60-21.
Nationals clinch hosting Wild Card Game
With the Washington Nationals 10-7 win over the Indians on Saturday, the Nationals clinched home-field advantage for the NL Wild Card Game. It was the club's season-high seventh straight win. The Nats offense has been red-hot as of late, with Gerardo Parra leading the way. As part of a nine-run second inning for Washington, Parra crushed a grand slam.
The Nats will send Max Scherzer to take the mound in the winner-take-all game on Tuesday.
Dodgers' Ryu locks up NL ERA title
In his final start of the regular season, Dodgers' Hyun-Jin Ryu put forth a strong final effort to clinch the National League's ERA title. The lefty posted seven scoreless innings against the Giants in the Dodgers 105th victory to lower his season ERA to 2.32. The ERA comes in 182 2/3 innings across 29 starts.
Ryu leads the league with 10 starts with at least seven scoreless innings and no walks. Mets' Jacob deGrom is the reigning NL Cy Young winner and favorite to take home the honors again this offseason, but Dodgers' Ryu puts together a compelling case to be the frontrunner instead.
Cards division title pursuit continues
The St. Louis Cardinals NL Central division championship celebrations were postponed once again. The division will still be up for grabs in the season finale on Sunday. The Cards dropped their fourth straight game with Saturday's loss (box score) to the Cubs, but held their first-place spot in the standings.
St. Louis leads the Brewers by one game after the Rockies walked off to beat Milwaukee in 10 innings (box score) on Saturday. If the Cardinals lose and the Brewers win on Sunday, St. Louis will host a Game 163 NL Central tiebreaker on Monday. The 10 postseason teams are set but that doesn't meaning the bracket is complete, here's what's still on the line on the final weekend of the regular season.
Soler takes over AL home run lead
How good is Angels superstar Mike Trout? So good that he came into Saturday tied for the American League home run lead despite not playing since Sept. 7. He's been out with a season-ending foot injury.
Trout is no longer tied for the AL home run lead, however. On Saturday, Royals slugger Jorge Soler hit his 46th home run of the season, taking over sole possession of the league lead. He added his 47th homer later in the game. Here's the milestone blast:
Soler and Trout came into Saturday with 45 homers. Alex Bregman was a distant third in the home run race with 41 bombs. Nelson Cruz is the only other American Leaguer with 40 homers. With the season ending Sunday, Soler is very likely to become the first Royals player to lead the league in home runs.
Earlier this month Soler set a new franchise single-season record with his 39th home run, breaking the record held by Mike Moustakas. Soler had not homered since Sept. 16 prior to Saturday.
Highlight of the day: McCann and Albies snag Rosario
Braves catcher Brian McCann nabbed Mets' Amed Rosario on an attempt to steal second base for the final out of the second inning. Gotta give Ozzie Albies a bit of credit for the nice tag, as well.
BMac ➡️ @ozzie = He gone.#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/mo7UrJZngH
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 28, 2019
Quick hits
- The Nationals said RHP Max Scherzer will start the NL Wild Card Game. "All hands will be on deck," though, which could mean RHP Stephen Strasburg and/or LHP Patrick Corbin will pitch in relief.
- RHP Charlie Morton will start the AL Wild Card Game for the Rays. The Athletics have not picked a starting pitcher yet. Billy Beane indicated it will be either LHP Sean Manaea or RHP Mike Fiers.
- Yankees OF Aaron Judge said there is "no better person to share" the rookie home run record with than Mets 1B Pete Alonso. Alonso has two games remaining to hit his 53rd homer and set a new rookie record.
- Rays DH Yandy Diaz will rejoin the team Sunday, reports MLB.com. He's been out since July 22 with a foot injury. Diaz will be limited to pinch-hitting and DH duties, and could be on the postseason roster.
- The Blue Jays have shut down SS Bo Bichette, reports TSN Sports. He's been in concussion protocol since taking a pitch to the head Sept. 19. Bichette has resumed baseball activities but won't play this weekend.
- Red Sox 1B Steve Pearce is considering retirement, reports MassLive.com. He's missed most of this season with back and knee injuries. The 36-year-old lefty masher was MVP of the 2018 World Series.
- The Yankees activated RHP David Hale off the injured list, the team announced. He was very good as a long man before going down with a back injury in July. Hale could be in the postseason roster mix.