The Diamondbacks turned a night honoring their 2001 champions into another walk-off memory, and this one came with a playoff push still hanging in the balance.
After the pregame ceremony celebrating the franchise’s World Series-winning team, Arizona finished the job in dramatic fashion against the Yankees. Ildemaro Vargas worked a walk to put a runner aboard in the bottom of the ninth, then pinch-hitter Pavin Smith ended it with a two-run homer. The win locked the Diamondbacks into at least a .500 season, even though they remain four games out of a playoff spot with seven games left.
Across the league, Carson Benge kept making his own kind of history in New York. The Mets right fielder went 3-for-4 with a walk from the cleanup spot in yesterday’s win over the Phillies, and his second-inning homer got New York on the board.
He came through again in the eighth with a check swing dribbler that scored Francisco Lindor and pushed the Mets to their tenth and final run. That last hit was his 156th of the season, moving him past Pete Alonso for the most hits in a season by a Mets rookie.
Alonso, now with the Orioles, had held the mark with 155 hits in 2019.
Trey Mancini also had a notable day, though his moment was about closure rather than a box score line. He announced his retirement last month after parts of eight big league seasons, and yesterday he signed a ceremonial one-day contract with the Orioles so he could retire with the team he spent the most time with.
Baltimore drafted Mancini in 2013, and he played for the club from 2016-22. His Orioles run included his return from colon cancer in 2020, his comeback in 2021 that earned him AL Comeback Player of the Year honors, and a mid-season trade to the Astros the following year.
In all, he hit .270/.334/.463 with 117 home runs as an Oriole.
Out in the AL West, the Rangers grabbed control after the Astros stumbled again. Houston fell 6-3 to the Braves, and Texas answered with a 6-2 win over the Blue Jays to move into first place.
Jordan Montgomery picked up the victory with 3 2/3 scoreless innings of bulk relief, while the Rangers’ lineup tagged Jays starter José Soriano for six runs, five earned. The 77-78 Astros are now a game behind Texas in the division and two games back of the White Sox for the final Wild Card spot, which puts real pressure on their path to the postseason.
Both the Rangers and Astros have seven games left, and each still has two series coming against losing clubs.
In Other News...
Orioles Wasted Trevor Rogers Start In A Loss Fans Will Hate
Trevor Rogers gave the Orioles exactly the kind of start a team can build around, even if the scoreboard never caught up. He worked eight innings, allowed one run on three hits, walked one and struck out 10, yet Baltimore still walked away with a 1-0 loss to the Brewers after Robert Gasser matched the moment with seven scoreless innings of his own.
Milwaukee got all the offense it needed in the second inning, when Joey Ortiz tripled and Gary Sanchez brought him home on a groundout. From there, the Orioles could not break through, managing only three hits, which turned Rogers effort into the latest frustrating reminder that a dominant outing does not always keep a game from slipping away. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Face One Defining Question About Elias After Front Office Shakeup
The Orioles season has already taken on a familiar edge of unfinished business, and the latest front office moves only sharpened it. Baltimore dropped a 1-0 game to the Brewers on a day when the club was honoring Trey Mancinis retirement as an Oriole, a reminder of how much this organization still leans on its recent past even as it tries to map out what comes next. Executive Mike Elias said he and manager Craig Albernaz are expected back next season, but the personnel picture around them is shifting.
The bigger question now is how Elias reshapes the baseball operations group after a round of changes that includes the departure of director of player development Matt Blood and a title change for analytics executive Sig Mejdal. The Orioles are also reportedly looking for a new general manager with a player development background, which makes this more than a routine offseason adjustment. It is the kind of front office churn that can tell you a lot about where a club thinks it has been, and what it believes still needs fixing. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Wasted Trevor Rogers' Best Chance At The Worst Time
Trevor Rogers gave the Orioles exactly the kind of outing they needed, but the offense could not match it in a 1-0 loss to the Brewers. Baltimores left-hander allowed just one run on three hits and struck out 10, a performance that would normally be enough to tilt a game in the right direction, only for the night to turn on one costly defensive mistake and another frustrating missed opportunity at the plate.
Rece Hinds lost a fly ball in the sun after not wearing sunglasses, an error that opened the door to Milwaukees only run and left Rogers with almost no margin for error. For an Orioles club still trying to stay alive in the race, the defeat was a brutal one, dropping them four games back with seven to play and making every wasted start feel even heavier. [Read more 🡒]