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    Ben Joyce gives up homer, blows save in ninth

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    LAA Relief Pitcher #44
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    Ben Joyce took a blown save after giving up a two-run homer in the ninth Thursday against the Twins.

    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.
AL Central and West division races heating up
John Fanta and Jay Croucher analyze the American League Central and West division playoff races as the MLB playoffs loom around the corner.

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  • LAA Relief Pitcher #44
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    With two outs, J.P. Crawford hit a liner down the first base line that might have gone for extra bases under normal circumstances. However, the Angels were playing the lines with the tying run on first base, and it turned into an easy grab for Vaughn Grissom. Joyce allowed single runs in his previous two appearances, resulting in a blown save Saturday. Still, he’s been fine in accruing a 3.38 ERA in 13 1/3 innings overall.
  • LAA Relief Pitcher #44
    Joyce was summoned to close out Saturday’s game against the Nationals in the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He issued a leadoff walk, then gave up the tying run on a base hit before closing out the inning to send the game to extras. The 25-year-old right-hander is 4-for-6 in save chances with a 3.65 ERA and a 15/7 K/BB ratio across 12 1/3 innings.
  • LAA Relief Pitcher #44
    Joyce was summoned to protect a three-run lead in the final frame and wound up being charged with a run after Nate Eaton tagged him for an RBI single following a one-out walk from Jarren Duran. The hard-throwing 25-year-old reliever appears to have a lock on the closing role in Los Angeles for the final few weeks of the season.
  • LAA Relief Pitcher #44
    Joyce isn’t charged with the blown save, if you’re looking for a positive, because he came in to pitch in the eighth, and all three runs were charged to him after he exited the game. So instead, he gets a loss and a hold. Weird sport. Joyce didn’t give up a hit, but he walked a pair and hit another with all three runners crossing on a grand slam by Edmundo Sosa allowed by Peralta. Joyce should continue to get save looks — the few the Angels will provide, anyway — but there’s just a lot of volatility in his profile because of his command problems.
  • LAA Relief Pitcher #44
    The Angels scored the automatic runner in the top of the 10th to make it a save situation. Joyce went on to retire the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the 10th, but he then gave up a game-tying double to Wyatt Langford. After an intentional walk of Brandon Nimmo (why?), Joyce gave up a hard shot down the third base line. Denzer Guzman made a nice grab, only to throw wildly to second base and allow the winning run to score. It was correctly ruled a single, but both runs ended up unearned. This shouldn’t hurt Joyce’s standing as the favorite for saves in the Halos’ pen.
  • LAA Relief Pitcher #44
    Joyce was summoned in the ninth inning with a two-run lead to close out the game against the Astros. He pitched a clean inning, striking out two batters to secure the win and record his third save of the season. Joyce now has each of the last three saves for the Angels, seemingly taking over the closer role.
  • LAA Relief Pitcher #44
    Joyce edged out Jacob Misiorowski for the hardest pitches of the night, topping out at 104.5 and 104.4 mph. Misiorowski couldn’t do better than a measly 104.2 mph. Expect Joyce to keep getting save chances for the Angels when things line up properly. However, they shouldn’t be using him on back-to-back days in his first month back from shoulder surgery, and they’re probably going to have only so many leads over the final six weeks.
  • LAA Relief Pitcher #44
    Joyce threw three pitches over 100 mph, including one that clocked at 103.4. The flamethrower has his first save of 2026, and while the Angels won’t provide a ton of chances for reasons that aren’t Joyce’s fault, it seems very likely he’ll see more over the final 40 or so games.
  • LAA Relief Pitcher #65
    Honestly, Fermin had no business coming away with this save. He faced five batters and let up three hits as the Marlins pushed him to the brink in the ninth inning. The key reason he escaped his own mess is because Jose Siri made a perfect throw to nail Javier Sanoja at home plate to end the game. This was Fermin’s first save of the season as Ben Joyce pitched the eighth inning in his second outing off the injured list, so pay attention to how this role develops.
  • LAA Relief Pitcher
    The left-hander has been lights out this year, with 38 strikeouts and an 0.88 WHIP in 25 innings pitched over 21 appearances. Ben Joyce pitched yesterday and the Angels would probably rather have Natera available for heavy left-handed parts of the order, but Natera is pitching so well that he might be the man to roster if Joyce can’t establish himself as the closer after a long layoff. Even right-handers are hitting just .152/.220/.304 against Natera.

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  • SF Center Fielder #0
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    Drew Gilbert went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI in leading the Giants to a 5-2 win over the Twins on Monday.

    Gilbert seemed overmatched in his major league debut last season, but he’s more than held his own in hitting .237/.327/.396 with 11 homers in 384 plate appearances this year. It’s hard to see much upside beyond this unless he gains some bat speed, but he should remain in the Giants’ outfield plans for next year.
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    Trent Harris notched his second major league save with a perfect ninth Monday against the Twins.

    The 27-year-old Harris has a 2.14 ERA and a 27/7 K/BB in 21 innings since getting his first major league callup on Aug. 7. He’ll be off Tuesday after working the last two days, so Dylan Smith might get a save chance then.
  • MIN Starting Pitcher #52
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    Although he struck out nine, Zebby Matthews lost to the Giants after allowing five runs in five innings on Monday.

    The Giants had a nice little .538 BABIP against Matthews tonight, which doesn’t count Drew Gilbert’s homer in the fifth. Matthews has been pretty much all or nothing these last two months; he’s allowed one or no runs four times and four or more runs in the remainder of his nine starts. This leaves him 9-11 with a 4.90 ERA with likely one start remaining Sunday against Texas.
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    Ryan Jeffers went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts against the Giants on Monday.

    Jeffers has suddenly hit the skids, going 2-for-28 with no extra-base hits and 10 strikeouts in his last eight games. It’s dropped his OPS from .872 to .822, and it’s probably going to end up costing him a little money as a free agent this winter.
  • SF Relief Pitcher #46
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    Blade Tidwell left Monday’s game with elbow discomfort, manager Tony Vitello said.

    Tidwell allowed one run in 3 1/3 innings and struck out four before exiting. He’ll likely join 23 other Giants on the injured list prior to Tuesday’s game.
  • BAL 1st Baseman #25
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    Pete Alonso went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI on Monday, powering the Orioles to a 4-3 comeback win over the Blue Jays.

    Alonso took Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage deep in the opening frame before capping his multi-homer performance with a go-ahead two-run blast off reliever Tyler Rogers with two outs in the eighth, pushing him over the 40-homer threshold for the fourth time in his career. The 31-year-old run-producing force, who has homered six times in his last nine games, will finish his Orioles debut as a top-five fantasy option at first base and has delivered borderline first-round value overall, hitting .265/.359/.510 with 94 runs scored, 40 homers, 108 RBI and five steals in 157 games.
  • TOR Designated Hitter #4
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    George Springer went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Monday’s loss to the Orioles.

    There weren’t many bright spots for the Blue Jays as they squandered an early three-run lead to fall three games behind the White Sox for the final AL Wild Card playoff spot. Springer helped Toronto build their early advantage by delivering an RBI single into the left-center field gap against Orioles starter Shane Baz in the first inning.
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    Gunnar Henderson went 3-for-4 with his 24th home run of the season in Monday’s win over the Blue Jays.

    Henderson’s three-hit effort included a solo homer off Toronto rookie reliever Chad Dallas as he finished a double shy of hitting for the cycle. It’s been a down year relative to expectations for Henderson, especially in the stolen base department where he has just 10 thefts after reaching the 30-steal mark last year.
  • BAL Relief Pitcher #50
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    Rico Garcia struck out two in a perfect ninth inning against the Blue Jays to record his 10th save of the season on Monday.

    Garcia got the call to protect a one-run lead in the final frame after Pete Alonso’s go-ahead homer and needed just 17 pitches to slam the door. He’ll continue splitting the closing duties with Andrew Kittredge, and possibly Félix Bautista now that he’s back in the mix, over the final week of the season.
  • BAL Starting Pitcher #34
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    Shane Baz allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the Blue Jays on Monday.

    It was undoubtedly a positive sign to see Baz work deep into this one after taking a 105-mph line drive off his right arm during his previous start against the Mets last week. He struck out two and also issued three walks. It definitely didn’t seem like he was going to turn in a quality start when he surrendered three runs on three hits and a pair of walks in an ugly opening frame. However, he managed to settle in afterwards and silence the Blue Jays into the seventh inning. He’ll take the ball for the Orioles’ regular-season finale against the Yankees in New York on Sunday.