The Padres are suddenly stacking wins at exactly the right moment, Bryan Baker just hit a major milestone in Tampa, and Cincinnati’s pitching staff is taking a beating that’s showing up in the record book.
San Diego survived a late push from the Giants on Saturday and still walked away with a 7-6 win, thanks to Mason Miller’s perfect ninth inning for his 36th save. That made it six straight victories for the Padres, and the timing couldn’t be much better for a club grinding through the wild card race. San Diego is now 1.5 games ahead of the Diamondbacks in the battle for the final NL wild card spot, 1.5 games behind the Cubs for the second wild card slot, and 2.5 games back of the Phillies for the top wild card position and homefield advantage in the Wild Card Series.
In Tampa, Baker kept rolling. Rays closer Bryan Baker, the Major League saves leader, locked down the final four outs in Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Astros to become the seventh pitcher in Rays history to reach 40 saves in a season.
The right-hander, acquired from the Orioles in July 2025, has settled in as Tampa’s primary late-inning weapon this year, putting together a 1.54 ERA with a 27.1% strikeout rate and a 9.2% walk rate over 58 1/3 innings. The numbers behind the numbers are a little less clean - a .200 BABIP, 87% strand rate, and 3.36 SIERA suggest some good fortune has been involved - but Baker has also earned his share of it with a 36.4% chase rate and a 96.4mph fastball that has been one of the most effective pitches in the sport.
Cincinnati, meanwhile, is in the middle of a brutal run and the damage is piling up fast. The Reds have spent the last two weeks facing only playoff teams, and the schedule has started to wear down the staff.
They’ve dropped five in a row and have been outscored 47-10 over their last three games. According to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon, it’s the first time since at least 1900 that the Reds have allowed at least 13 runs in three straight games.
After being swept by the Dodgers and losing the first two games of a three-game series with the Brewers, the Reds aren’t getting much relief soon. Monday brings another four-game set with the Dodgers, then three-game series against the Cubs and the NL East-leading Braves.
In Other News...
Padres Infield Plans Just Got More Interesting With One Star Linked
The Padres are already expected to chase starting pitching in the 2026-27 offseason, but a new layer has crept into the conversation around their roster plans. CBS Sports analyst Mike Axisa has floated San Diego as a potential landing spot for Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., whose mix of athleticism and left-handed pop has kept him on the radar while he plays the 2026 season on a one-year deal in New York.
For a Padres club that always has to balance urgency with long-term fit, Chisholm is the kind of name that naturally changes the way people look at the infield picture. He has been productive enough offensively and solid enough defensively to draw attention beyond the Bronx, and San Diego is not the only club in the mix, with the Texas Rangers also mentioned. The real question is whether the Padres want to make room for another impact infielder while they are also sorting out their pitching priorities. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Pivetta Just Made The Padres' October Rotation Decision Much Harder
Nick Pivettas return in September has given the Padres exactly the kind of late-season pitching problem teams hope for, even if it is a tricky one to sort out. San Diegos Opening Day starter was out for most of the 2026 season with a strained right flexor in his elbow, but he came back with a strong outing against the Nationals and immediately reinserted himself into the October conversation.
Now the Padres have more viable starters than rotation spots to comfortably hand out, and that puts some pressure on recent additions Robbie Ray and Casey Mize after uneven stretches with the club. Michael King and Walker Buehler are also expected to be part of the postseason mix, which leaves the Padres weighing form, health and trust at the exact moment when every start matters most. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Keep Making The Wild Card Race Feel Way Too Stressful
The Padres made it look comfortable early, then turned the back half of Wednesdays game into another reminder of how tight the National League wild card picture has become. San Diego got long balls from Rafael Devers and Jackson Merrill, plus a safety squeeze from Jake Cronenworth, to build enough cushion against the Giants and keep control of a game that mattered just as much for the standings as it did in the box score.
Fernando Tatis Jr. also chipped in with a solo homer in the sixth to help stretch the margin before the Giants started to chip away. Even after the late push, the Padres were able to hang on and keep their spot in the third wild card race, which is where every win feels like it can change the mood of the week. [Read more 🡒]