Kirk homers, drives in two in win over Yankees

It’s been obscured by his injuries, but Cruz has a very impressive .280/.367/.489 line in his 95 games this season. That’s a big step up from his career line of .233/.309/.425. He’ll probably try for at least one more steal this weekend, as he currently has 29 of those to go along with his 20 homers.

The lone run came on Alec Burleson’s homer in the first. Skenes would have been done after six innings and 90 pitches today, but he was at 199 strikeouts. He returned for the seventh and immediately got No. 200, with Leo Bernal somehow just watching two fastballs down the middle go right by him for strikes two and three. Skenes was then lifted from the 1-1 game, keeping him 10-11 with a 3.82 ERA for the season. He has some adjustments to make next year, assuming the 1.5 mph he lost on his fastball isn’t coming back, but it’d be a bad idea to count him out. The poor defensive support he received accounted for much of his decline this year.

Montgomery has won some fantasy leagues with his 10 saves and a victory in his 11 appearances this month. Today’s outing put him at 102 strikeouts in 67 innings.

Leahy was 10-4 with a 3.24 ERA after his last fairly traditional start on Aug. 18. With his workload greatly curtailed since, he’s allowed 13 earned runs in 17 2/3 innings over six starts, leaving him 10-5 with a 3.66 ERA overall. The restrictions made sense, given that he spent the previous three years as a reliever. Of course, now they’ll probably be held against him as he enters super two arbitration eligibility (assuming the CBA doesn’t make changes there). Leahy showed enough this season to go into a 2027 as a fifth or sixth starting option in mixed leagues.

Peña could miss the start of next year with the injury he sustained on a steal attempt of third base. One of the game’s top prospects, the 19-year-old Peña hit .296/.380/.415 in 70 games this season. Most of those came in High-A, but he was moved up to Double-A before getting hurt.

Schmidt had a setback in his return from Tommy John while warming up for his second relief appearance last week. The decision to place him on the IL will take him out of consideration for the Wild Card and the ALDS.

Hanner has been lit up for four homers and seven runs in 5 1/3 innings out of the Yankees pen this season.

The Phillies have kept Bowlan on the active roster since he left his appearance a week ago. Manager Don Mattingly indicated that Bowlan could still be on the Wild Card roster even if he doesn’t get into another regular-season game.

If Luzardo’s shoulder is feeling good, he’ll face hitters this weekend and then be included on the Wild Card roster, probably with the idea that he’s throw at least a couple of innings in a potential Game 3.

Woodford, who was signed to a minor league deal this month, will be pitching for his third team this year, assuming that he gets into a game. He had a 7.18 ERA in 26 1/3 innings for the Brewers and Cubs. At this point, it’s between him and Hunter Feduccia (Rays and Dodgers) for the player with the best chance of getting a World Series ring this year (assuming the World Series winner is feeling generous).