Ronald Acuna Jr. gave Phillies fans plenty to boo about on Sunday night, then made sure he heard every bit of it. The Braves outfielder tied the game in the eighth with a home run, took a curtain call in Philadelphia, and followed it up with a blunt line afterward: “I love it when they boo me,” Acuna said.
Elsewhere, Cleveland kept finding ways to finish off Detroit. Daniel Schneemann delivered the walk-off single in the 10th inning to give the Guardians another win, and it was their third walk-off of the four-game set.
Detroit never once held a lead in the series, yet still left having dropped three of four. The loss, combined with a Blue Jays defeat, pushed Cleveland back into sole possession of the final AL Wild Card spot.
The Guardians head to Baltimore on Monday for another big series, while the Orioles come in having dropped six straight and now sit four games behind Cleveland.
The Dodgers also had a late surge of their own. Washington was four outs from avoiding a sweep in Los Angeles before the game flipped in the eighth.
Alex Call poked a two-out single, Tommy Edman worked a walk, and Mookie Betts stepped in and blasted the go-ahead homer. That gave Los Angeles the finish it needed, and it left the Nationals with 37 blown saves, matching the all-time record.
Shohei Ohtani was available to pinch-hit for Call, but Dave Roberts stuck with the right-handed bat against lefty Will Dion. Ohtani has missed four straight games, though Roberts said, “My expectation is that he’ll be in the lineup tomorrow,” according to Dylan Hernandez of the California Post.
On the pitching side, Nick Pivetta is set to rejoin the Padres on Monday. The right-hander is expected to come off the 60-day IL and start against the Nationals after being sidelined since April with a flexor strain.
His elbow flared again after his first rehab outing in early August, but he worked back through it and made two more minor league appearances. He reached 64 pitches with Triple-A El Paso on August 30, so his first few big league outings are likely to come with some workload limits.
Randy Vasquez is headed to the bullpen and could be asked to handle innings behind Pivetta.
In Other News...
Dodgers May Have A Postseason Bullpen Option Nobody Saw Coming
The Dodgers added Tarik Skubal and Kris Bubic ahead of the trade deadline, and the bigger question now is how each fits when October arrives. While Skubal brings obvious front-line value, Dave Roberts also singled out Bubic as a name to watch, noting both his experience and the progress he has made in his rehab work after landing on the injured list in mid-May.
Bubic has been working back through assignments and has shown enough along the way to keep his postseason path open. For a Dodgers club that always wants as many usable arms as possible in the playoffs, the possibility of turning a rehabbing starter into a bullpen option is the sort of depth move that can matter late, even if the final answer is still to be determined. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Could Soon Cut Short One Young Infielders Opportunity
Andy Pages is starting to work his way back from the fractured left hand he suffered Aug. 21, and the first encouraging sign for the Dodgers is that he has begun hitting off a tee without pain. While Pages has been sidelined, Los Angeles has patched together the outfield and infield with a mix of Alek Thomas, Tommy Edman and Alex Freeland, a reminder of how quickly one injury can ripple through the roster and create opportunities in a hurry.
Freeland has been the name to watch in that shuffle, even if his bat has not given the Dodgers much reason to slow down the next move. Because he still has minor league options left, his place on the roster looks especially vulnerable once Pages is ready to return, and the front office may not have much choice if it wants to restore the lineup and keep its defensive alignment where it prefers it. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Hand Emmet Sheehan A Big Late Season Opportunity
With Eric Lauer headed to the injured list, the Dodgers are turning to Emmet Sheehan for an important late-season chance against the Reds. The right-hander was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City and is now getting a big-league assignment at a time when Los Angeles is still fine-tuning its pitching mix for October.
Sheehan has earned the look with his recent work in the minors, and the Dodgers are clearly hoping that form carries over when the games start to matter most. For a club already thinking ahead to the postseason, this start offers both a chance to stabilize the rotation and a reminder that there is still room for one more arm to make a case. [Read more 🡒]