Colson Montgomery made unwanted history on Thursday, striking out 223 times to set an AL record in a season and tie Mark Reynolds for the all-time mark.
That milestone came on a day packed with playoff movement, and Milwaukee made the loudest statement of all. The Brewers rolled past Philadelphia 5-1, riding a strong combined effort from Shane Drohan and four relievers, who held the Phillies to one run on four hits.
Andrew Painter matched that level of sharpness for Philadelphia, but the game turned in the eighth inning when Milwaukee broke through against the Phillies’ bullpen. The win pushed the Brewers to 100 victories for the first time in franchise history, and it also secured the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
Thursday also cleared up a lot of the postseason board elsewhere. The White Sox, Cubs, and Guardians all punched their tickets to the playoffs.
The Dodgers dropped their game to the Padres, but still wrapped up a first-round bye because the Braves also lost. Chicago and Cleveland remain locked in a race for the AL Central, with the Guardians holding a one-game edge over the White Sox.
For Chicago, the trip to the postseason marks a major turnaround after the club endured 100-loss seasons in each of the previous three years.
The most crowded race left is in the AL West, where the Astros and Rangers are sitting at identical 79-80 records. Texas won earlier in the day, then Houston found itself in trouble against the Athletics before rookie Lucas Spence took over.
He put the Astros on the board with the first home run of his career, then flipped the game with a go-ahead shot in the seventh. Spence wasn’t done, adding another solo homer in the ninth.
That made him the third player in MLB history to hit the first three home runs of his career in one game, joining Joshua Baez earlier this year and Seby Zavala in 2021, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.
In Other News...
Astros Just Found Late Season Bullpen Help In A Huge Spot
Miguel Ullola kept the Astros on track in a key win over the Athletics, turning in 3.0 scoreless innings at a time when Houston needed someone to settle the game down. The call-up from the minors has quickly gone from emergency depth to a real bullpen option, and his recent work has given the club a useful arm as the season tightens.
Through 10 appearances, Ullola has posted a 2.30 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 15.2 innings, a solid stretch for a pitcher asked to handle meaningful late-season work. For Houston, the bigger question now is whether this outing was a one-night boost or the latest sign that the bullpen just found another pitcher it can trust when the games start to matter most. [Read more 🡒]
Astros Fans Will Have Strong Feelings About Ryan Pressly's Exit
Ryan Pressly spent years as one of the most trusted arms in the Houston bullpen, the kind of reliever who seemed to show up whenever the games mattered most. His postseason work in 2022 and 2023 helped cement that reputation, and he was part of the clubs run of combined no-hitters, making him a familiar name to Astros fans who watched him handle big innings under the brightest October lights.
So the way his exit developed this offseason is bound to leave a sting. Pressly learned he was losing the closer job to Josh Hader, and the communication around that decision reportedly came poorly from former Astros GM Dana Brown. For a pitcher who had given so much to the organization, Presslys dissatisfaction with how the situation was handled adds another layer to a departure that already feels personal for a fan base that remembers what he meant when the pressure was highest. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Huezo Is Forcing An Astros Prospect Debate
Anthony Huezo has become one of the more intriguing names in the Astros farm system, and not just because of the raw tools that showed up when Houston drafted the 20-year-old outfielder in 2023. He has taken a clear step forward in the minors, putting together a season that has paired real power with impact speed and put him in rare company among minor leaguers.
Even so, the wider industry still has him pegged as more of a mid-tier prospect, with Baseball America slotting him No. 23 in the Astros system. That gap between what he has produced on the field and where he sits on the prospect lists is now part of the conversation, especially after he joined a small group of minor league players to clear the 20-homer, 40-steal mark in 2026. [Read more 🡒]