Four games? The calendar turns to September, a hint of crispness fills the air and the playoffs suddenly seem near and tangible and all we get are four games? Gee whiz, MLB, clean it up!
Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Braves 9, Padres 6: Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer and walked with the bases loaded for a third RBI. Freeman, if you haven’t noticed, is having a fantastic season. He’s hitting .289/.389/.553 and, though he toils in relative anonymity on one of baseball’s worst teams, he’s one of the best players in the NL this season.
Marlins 6, Mets 4: The Marlins’ five-game skid comes to an end thanks in part to Christian Yelich’s four RBI night. He also stole two bases and he made a run-saving diving catch with the bases loaded and two outs to save some runs. The Marlins are three back in the Wild Card after a crappy August. I don’t watch too many Marlins games if I can help it, so wake me up when September ends to see if they’re back in the race.
Cubs 5, Giants 4: Addison Russell hit a two-run single with the bases loaded in the seventh inning to bring the Cubs back from behind and to start their September right where their 22-6 August left off. Jeff Samardzija returned to Wrigley Field and only made it through four innings, needing 87 pitches to do even that. Cubs starter Mike Montgomery only went four innings himself, but Chicago got five scoreless frames from its bullpen.
Twins 8, White Sox 5: The 13-game losing streak is no more! Byron Buxton returned to the bigs with a three-run homer. Trevor Plouffe added a two-run bomb of his own. Jose Quintana, who led the AL in ERA coming into the game, was rocked for seven runs on seven hits in five innings and saw his ERA rise from 2.77 to 3.05. He’s now fourth behind Aaron Sanchez, Cole Hamels and Danny Duffy. What a night.