It’s September 24th and I’m typing the sentence “The Guardians are in first place.”
Alright!
24 hours ago, this was not the case. And Tarik Skubal was on the schedule for Tuesday night.
But some EXTREME small ball got to Skubal and convinced him it was time. Time for…
The Guardians scored 3 in their small-ball-sixth, and then added a pair of in-Schnee-ance runs in the 7th to win 5-2.
• Stephen Vogt cried for a half hour when he had to DFA Kolby Allard earlier in the season. But “when Kwan stayed, the team
rejoiced. And exhaled.”
• David Fry got hit in the face with a 100 mph fastball from Tarik Skubal while squaring to bunt (this was not Skubal’s fault and the pitcher clearly felt horrible, immediately). Fry was taken to Lutheran (top trauma center) and then transferred to Cleveland Clinic for overnight observation. I’m sure there will be an update on his condition today, but, sadly, he’s probably going to be out for a good stretch.
It’s easier to explain what happened around baseball
• ABS is officially coming in 2026.
• Josh Naylor cleared the bases to send the Mariners to the playoffs.
• Shohei Ohtani drew a walk, scored a run, and pitched 6 scoreless innings…
in a 5-4 LA loss to Arizona.
The Dodger bullpen remains atrocious.
• How are Arizona fans going to feel about dumping Josh Naylor if they miss the playoffs by 1 game?
• The Astros lost to the A’s and the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays. The Guardians are a game ahead of the Astros in terms of the third wildcard, plus they have the tiebreaker. At this point, aside from continuing to root for the fightin’ Sacramento Athletics, we should also root for the Blue Jays to get the next two if only to give the Red Sox something to play for when the Tigers come to town.
