Butler walks off Mariners with second homer

Meckler plated Zach Neto after Mike Trout previously singled to tie the game. The 26-year-old Meckler has a nice .294/.370/.381 line through 299 plate appearances, and unless the Angels go on a major spending spree this winter, one imagines he’ll get a chance to remain the team’s left fielder against right-handers to start 2027.

Ureña managing to retain mixed-league value pretty much all year long in a situation as bad for pitchers as the one in Anaheim is one of the top accomplishments from any rookie this year. Not even just rookies, really. Ureña departed with a 3-0 lead tonight, but it failed to hold up, keeping him 9-10 with a 2.74 ERA. He’ll probably make just one more start Wednesday against the A’s.

Joyce did strike out three of the five batters he faced tonight, but in between were a single and a homer. It’s his third blown save in eight tries, though one of those was because of two unearned runs in extras. He still figures to finish out the year as the Angels’ closer. He might, however, be less likely to keep that role in 2027 with the pending sale of the Angels.

Bradley was outpitched by Walbert Ureña, but he matched Ureña’s nine strikeouts and walked just one. He’s now just one away from 200 strikeouts for the year. With the Twins essentially done at this point, he’ll probably pitch only once more next week against the Giants.

If the Twins had it to do over again, one imagines they would have stuck with Jeff Hoffman in the 10th after he got one out in the ninth. Instead, they went back to Gómez, who threw 10 pitches Tuesday and 24 on Wednesday. He walked one and gave up a game-tying hit while getting one out before being replaced. Kody Funderburk then surrendered a game-winning single to Wade Meckler. Gómez was 22-for-22 saving games this season prior to Wednesday’s affair. However, he’s now sporting a 7.54 ERA since the beginning of August.

Of course, velocity data doesn’t go back all that far. Still, we’re guessing Jenkins set some sort of record for greatest velocity difference on pitches hit for a player’s first two major league homers. Jenkins’ first came off a 37.4-mph “other” from Tigers infielder Zach McKinstry in an Aug. 31 blowout. Tonight’s, however, saw him turn around a 100.9-mph fastball from one of the game’s hardest throwers. The three-hit game made Jenkins 7-for-49 as a big leaguer.

It just keeps getting more difficult imagining Lewis in a Twins uniform next year, even though it probably wouldn’t cost more than $4 million to keep him in arbitration. Going 3-for-32 in his last nine games has dropped him down to .226/.290/.381 for the season. That’s a .671 OPS, which is also what he finished at last season. Brooks Lee has overtaken him at third base, and he just hasn’t recently shown the kind of bat to justify a starting job at first.

Chapman hadn’t pitched in four days and wasn’t previously reported as injured, so it was pretty stunning to see him not out there against the Rangers. Still, Garrett Whitlock successfully closed in his place. Chapman is listed as day-to-day for now.

While Green noted that Young is still exhibiting concussion symptoms, his CT scan came back negative and he has feelings in all of his extremities. Green also added that Young is “showing really good signs right now”. He’ll remain in the hospital overnight for observation. Expect the Mets to provide another update on his status prior to Friday’s game.

The 34-year-old slugger was removed from Thursday’s game against the Rangers after he was hit by a pitch in the eighth inning. Fortunately, he appears to have avoided any structural damage. He’s still a bit sore though, so it may depend on how he’s feeling on Friday before the Red Sox determine his availability for the weekend.