MLB Player News

Mitch Keller retired Pujols in each of his first two plate appearances, but in the sixth inning he hung a curveball and the future Hall of Famer lined it over the left-field wall for a two-run shot. Pujols had been tied with Babe Ruth on the all-time RBI list but now is in the No. 2 spot by himself with 2,216. He’s gone deep in back-to-back games and his 16 homers since August 14 are more than anyone else in baseball (yes, including Aaron Judge’s 15).

He’ll likely finish the year in El Paso now, with Martin Perez brought off the paternity list to make room.

Pérez is back after missing three days with the new addition. Tom Cosgrove is sent back to Triple-A to make room on the roster.

Scherzer is back to make a start Saturday against Seattle. The 40-year-old hasn’t gone very deep in his rehab outings, so it’s likely he’ll have a similar workload to Jacob deGrom in this first outing back.

Garabito’s services are no longer required with Max Scherzer coming off the injured list Saturday. Garabito will need an IL stint for another member of the Texas staff if he’s going to return in 2024.

Walker came in after Kolby Allard was ineffective in his three innings, and did a nice job; even without picking up a strikeout. He allowed just three hit and kept Philadelphia in the game; allowing them to come back for a 6-4 win. Walker has been awful in 2024 with a 6.29 ERA and lost his rotation spot, but maybe this effort is enough to give him another shot with Allard, Tyler Phillips and Seth Johnson all not pitching well in their chances.

Marte drove in two runs with a two-run triple that gave the Mets a 4-0 cushion in the third. The Phillies would score the next six runs. Still a nice day for Marte, who also drew a walk with the bases loaded in the first. Marte hasn’t been anything close to elite in 2024, but his 15 steals in 82 games help compensate for a so-so line of .271/.320/.399.

Harper hadn’t homered since August 9. He decided to make up for lost time with the multi-homer game, and he’s up to 150 homers as a member of the Phillies. The 31-year-old still has 28 homers on the year despite that month-long power drought, and his .290/.377/.537 slash has been just fine without the roundtrippers. That being said, fantasy managers sure won’t complain if Harper wants to go on a hot run of dingers to end the season.

Estevez allowed one hit, but he worked around it to secure the win for the Phillies. That’s the 26th save of the season for the 31-year-old, and six of those have come since he was traded from the Angels to Philadelphia near the deadline. He’s also put up a solid 2.22 ERA and 78/31 K/BB in the 2024 campaign.

All of the runs allowed were on homers to Bryce Harper, who hadn’t homered since August 9 prior to Saturday. He took Severino for a solo blast and then a two-run shot, and while he was fine outside of that, the Mets’ bullpen wasn’t good enough to protect a 4-3 lead after he left. He walked one and struck out five in a solid if unspectacular effort. Severino is scheduled to face the Phillies again Thursday.

Allard gave up a two-run triple to Starling Marte in the third and two more runs in the first. The left-hander was called up for the start Saturday in hopes he could give them more than Tyler Phillips and Seth Johnson have, and it was more of the same. It remains to be seen whether Allard will get another chance to pitch in the rotation.