Justin Verlander targeting final weekend for start

Stowers’ two-run shot off Kevin Gausman in the sixth inning broke a 0-0 tie and despite blowing their lead in the bottom of that frame, helped the Marlins to eventually win. A poor start and late season injury have hurt his final line, but Stowers is now up to 21 home runs and a .791 OPS through 120 games.

What is going on here? Alcantara leads the league with 213 innings pitched and weirdly, two have come in relief over the past week. With a save in each, Alcantara also became the first pitcher to alternate four outings with a start going at least five innings and a save since the save became an official stat in 1969. The first of those saves seemed like an act of desperation by the Marlins amidst bullpen issues and at the time, they were still alive in the playoff race. Now, they’re eliminated and still tried this for a second time. Since Eury Pérez has also come out of the bullpen in the past week, this feels like some sort of experiment. Regardless, these two surprising saves from Alcantara could have swung a few fantasy leagues.

Gusto was lights out for five innings here. To that point, he’d scattered four hits and hadn’t let up a run. Then, the Cubs got two quick hits in the sixth, he was pulled, and Michael Petersen let both inherited runners score. Still, Gusto with his strong fastball and deep seven-pitch mix turned in another fine start here. Six of those seven forced a whiff and it’s a repertoire that could lead to a potential rotation spot down the line.

Swanson’s two-out, two-run single in the sixth inning brought home the only runs the Cubs would score in this loss to the Marlins. It tied the game at the moment, but Chicago’s bullpen would blow it later on. Alas, Swanson has now gone 4-for-15 with three runs scored and three RBI in four games since being activated off the injured list.

Things went great for Gausman through the first five innings here. He’d held the Marlins scoreless, struck out seven batters, and forced a jaw-dropping 19 swings-and-misses with his splitter. That’s the second most whiffs Gausman has ever had with his splitter in a single outing. Then, that sixth inning came around and Kyle Stowers got him for a two-run home run to break what was a 0-0 tie at the time. To make matters worse, Gausman was injured just a few plays later after making a tremendous play beating Heriberto Hernández to third base with a full-extension dive and tagging him out. On that dive, Gausman tweaked his left shoulder. His status ahead of next week’s Wild Card series is very important to the Cubs’ playoff hopes.

Closing the season strong, Garcia paced the Royals in this win. He got the scoring started with a two-run single in the first inning and laced the game-winning double in the seventh. In the end, he never made an out and now has a .278/.366/.417 slash line in the second half.

Cruz righted the ship here after blowing the save and taking the loss in his last appearance. He went very fastball heavy, throwing it 13 times out of 15 total pitches, and it handled the bottom of the White Sox’s order in a one run game. It’s been a bit of a rocky road, but Cruz has eight saves in nine chances after taking over as the Royals’ closer in a part-time capacity during the second half.

Intending to play spoiler against the White Sox, Lugo did not do his part. His lineup spotted him a four run lead after the first inning, yet he could not hold it. Everything came crashing down in the third inning when Lugo let up five hits and hit a batter. That turned the Royals’ four run lead into a tie game. When he let up two more hits in the fourth, he was pulled. Struggling to miss bats all season, Lugo forced just three whiffs in this game and closed a disappointing season with a 5.17 ERA.

Attempting to avenge a mostly lost season, Teel got the White Sox comeback started here. After falling behind 4-0 in the first inning, Teel’s two-run single cut that lead in half and he came around to score the tying run two batters later. They’d wind up blowing the game later on, but it’d be a huge boost to this lineup if Teel could find his form.

Smith was one of three White Sox pitchers to go at least two innings in this game along with Erick Fedde and Sean Newcomb, but none lasted for three. It was a valiant, all-hands on deck effort though as they held the Royals to just one run after Bryan Hudson let up four in the first as an opener while recording just one out. Smith did give up the winning run on a double from Maikel Garica after he’d been lights out to start his big league career. He will remain in this swing man type role through the White Sox postseason push before hopefully reverting back to being a starter in 2027.