We wake the morning after finishing Game #162, with no idea if we’ll be in the post-season…
When was the last time a MLB team finished its schedule and still didn’t know its own fate the next morning? That’s where we stand, hoping for whoever wins Game 1 to also prevail in Game 2. Part of me thinks it likely there’s going to be a Disgrace of Gijon situation. Not particularly due to any explicit agreement, but just that whoever wins Game 1, really won’t need to try in Game 2. On the other hand, can you imagine us playing the Dodgers in the same situation – wouldn’t it be highly appealing to end the season of a division rival? So, we’ll see. We can use this as a Gameday Thread for both contests as appropriate. Both games are being shown on ESPN2.
- Mets at Braves, 10:10 am.
- Mets at Braves, 1:40 pm.
Game recaps
[Burn City Sports] Diamondbacks keep season alive with 11-2 win over Padres – Said Torey Lovullo in the postgame coverage on DbacksTV. “We had only one option, go out and play the type of game we ended up playing. This is exactly who we are. It sucks, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We made this bed, we got to sleep in it, but we’re going to hope for the best. I know there are two great franchises, they have two great managers, and I don’t think either have the gene of laying down in either one of those games. That’s my gut feel knowing the players on the teams, knowing the manager, and knowing the franchises. In my gut, they’re going to do it the right way and play their 18 best innings.”
[AZ Central] Diamondbacks beat Padres in season finale; now they wait to learn playoff fate – The Diamondbacks broke open their game Sunday with a six-run fourth inning, an outburst capped by a monstrous, two-run homer by Ketel Marte, whose drive landed in the first row of the second deck in left field, a few rows in front of the restaurant. The best offense in baseball, which appeared to be pressing for most of the week, erupted for 16 hits, seven for extra bases. Eugenio Suarez reached a pair of round numbers, notching his 100th RBI in the fourth, then reaching 30 home runs in the seventh. Suarez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jake McCarthy had three hits apiece.
[SI] Diamondbacks Beat Padres 11-2, Now They Wait – Kete Marte hit his 36th homer of the year in a six-run fourth. Prior to that the D-backs were losing 1-0, despite the fact Pfaadt was pitching very well. Eugenio Suarez, Jake McCarthy, and Gabriel Moreno all had RBI hits before Marte’s long ball. Suarez hit his 30th homer of the year in the seventh inning, and finished with 101 RBI for the season. The Diamondbacks have a $15 million team option on the veteran third baseman, or a three million buyout. Randal Grichuk capped off a strong September with his 12th homer of the year. Grichuk has a mutual option for $6 million and is almost certain to decline his end in pursuit of a multi-year deal.1
Team news
[Arizona Sports] Will the gods keep Diamondbacks and their fans from another Arizona sports gut-punch? – It’s been a rough decade. The Diamondbacks lost a World Series. The Suns lost the NBA Finals, imploded in two other postseason performances, and lost their iconic voice, Al McCoy. Arizona State’s football program was caught cheating during the pandemic and penalized by the NCAA. And we lost our NHL team to Salt Lake City. Now, the Diamondbacks need a big assist. Or they will join our long list of what could’ve been and what never was. “Yeah, it sucks,” Lovullo said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it. We made this bed. We’ve got to sleep in it. But we’re going to hope for the best.”
[Dbacks.com] D-backs preparing for various playoff travel scenarios – The most challenging scenario for the D-backs would be if they don’t know their postseason fate until the conclusion of the Mets-Braves makeup doubleheader on Monday. If it comes down to that, the D-backs will likely gather at Chase Field for a workout in the afternoon, and the clubhouse staff may head to the airport to load the gear onto the airplane. “If we get to, like, the seventh, eighth inning, and [we] know that we’re going somewhere, then we’ll go ahead and start going to the airport and sit on the plane to the final out,” Riley said. “And then we’ll tell the pilot where we’re going.”
And, elsewhere…
[MLB] Here are your 2024 stat leaders – In just a few days, the 2024 postseason will be here. Before we prepare for the memorable month of playoff baseball, let’s look at the players who led their respective leagues in notable statistics in the regular season. From home runs to strikeouts to barrels, here’s a look at your 2024 league leaders. [With some asterisks for Chris Sale of Atlanta, who may or may not pitch tomorrow!]
[AP] Chicago White Sox offer no excuses for ‘failure’ of a season – Chicago finished 8-6 and won five of its last six games. That included taking two of three in Detroit against the hottest team in baseball. Those two losses cost the Tigers the second American League wild card and a first-round date with the Baltimore Orioles instead of the AL West champion Houston Astros. “It isn’t just the record, it is the way the guys competed in the last couple of weeks, even the last two months,” Sizemore said. “The guys kept fighting, putting the work in and trying to get better.
The last of Charlie Blackmon. Only three players have appeared in more games against the D-backs, with Brandon Crawford the only active one. Farewell to The Beard.