sports – RJ Hamster

Monday, September 08View Online Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Thanks for being here. Another near miss, another reminder: MLB is still searching for its first no-hitter of the season.

Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto became the latest pitcher to fall just short on Saturday night at Camden Yards, losing his bid for a no-noagainst the Orioles with two outs in the ninth inning on Jackson Holliday’s wall-scraping solo homer to right-center field. As if that wasn’t enough, Yamamoto didn’t even get the win — the right-hander exited after Holliday’s dinger and watched the bullpen cough up three more runs in the O’s 4-3 walk-off victory.

A no-hitter from Yamamoto on Saturday would have been particularly notable, considering only two Japanese-born hurlers — Hideo Nomo twice and Hisashi Iwakuma once — have done it. Coincidentally, Nomo threw the only no-no in the history of Camden Yards (which opened in 1992) while pitching for the Red Sox in 2001.

It’s now been more than a year since MLB’s last no-hitter — a combo effort by the Cubs on Sept. 4, 2024. The last solo no-no came on Aug. 2, 2024, when Blake Snell (now Yamamoto’s teammate on the Dodgers) accomplished the feat for the Giants against the Reds.

In 2025, we’ve seen nine pitchers carry a no-hit bid through seven innings, and three of those pitchers — the Reds’ Nick Martinez on June 27, the Guardians’ Gavin Williams on Aug. 6 and Yamamoto on Saturday — have completed eight innings with their no-no intact. But no one has been able to finish the job.

Baseball fans have been spoiled in recent years when it comes to no-hitters, with 39 no-nos (including 10 combos) taking place across MLB since 2015. As our own Theo DeRosa details here, this would be the first season without a no-hitter in 20 years, and just the fifth such season in the Divisional Era (since 1969). Of course, the season isn’t over yet. The clock is ticking, but there’s still time left for someone to end the drought. — Thomas Harrigan

GAMES OF THE NIGHTRoyals at Guardians (6:40 p.m. ET, FREE on MLB.TV): Just a half-game separates these AL Central rivals entering a key four-game set in Cleveland that could throw a wrench into the Wild Card chase. The Royals have a minuscule edge in the standings, but the Guardians lead the season series, 5-4, with just these four remaining. Royals rookie Ryan Bergert, picked up from the Padres at the Trade Deadline, has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his six starts with K.C.Mets at Phillies (6:45 p.m. ET, MLB.TV and MLB Network): The Phillies may have a comfortable lead atop the NL East, but the Mets have had their bitter rival’s number since Francisco Lindor’s slam ousted them from last year’s postseason. New York has won seven of nine meetings this year and hands tonight’s start to its most dependable starter from the last few weeks, rookie Nolan McLean. NL hits leader Trea Turner (right hamstring strain) and Alec Bohm (cyst in left shoulder) are headed to the IL for the Phils as they enter a stretch of 10 straight games against contenders.D-backs at Giants (9:45 p.m. ET, MLB.TV and FS1): Post-Deadline runs have vaulted both of these clubs into the NL Wild Card picture, but only the periphery; the loser of this three-game set may find itself looking ahead to 2026. Corbin Carroll has fueled the D-backs’ push with a career-best 24-game on-base streak, while the Giants have won five of Logan Webb’s last six starts. Webb, who has paced the NL in innings each year since 2023, will swipe the Major League lead from Tarik Skubal with a couple frames tonight. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT• Edwin Díaz was teetering on the edge: bases loaded, one out in the ninth, a one-run lead to protect and Elly De La Cruz at the plate. Then he realized what was wrong. He had to change his shoes.

• Rich Hill tied Edwin Jackson’s MLB record by pitching for the 14th teamof his long career earlier this year, but they might soon have some company. José Ureña has pitched for five teams this year alone (all in different divisions!), tying another MLB record, and bringing the grand total for his career up to 11. The righty only turns 34 on Friday, so he’s certainly got some more runway to catch up.

• Don Sutton, you’re on notice. The Hall of Famer is next in Justin Verlander’s march up the all-time strikeout list after the 42-year-old passed Gaylord Perry on Saturday to claim eighth place with 3,536 K’s. Does he have 39 more punchouts in him over the next three weeks to pass Sutton?

• Speaking of Hall of Famers with records about to fall, Mickey Mantle’s 64-year-old mark for homers in a season by a switch-hitter is in serious jeopardy after Cal Raleigh pulled one shy of the Mick with his 53rd dinger yesterday in Atlanta. A day earlier, Big Dumper hit his 42nd big fly of the year while in the lineup at catcher, tying the MLB record set by Javy Lopez in 2003. LOOK OUT BELOW!After taking two of three from the Braves over the weekend, the Mariners have a more comfortable grip on the final AL Wild Card spot, but multiple teams have positioned themselves as comeback candidates in the race. The Rangers have won eight of 11 and enter tonight just 1 1/2 games behind Seattle in the Wild Card standings, while the Royals sit two back after winning three of their past four. The Guardians, meanwhile, are 2 1/2 back after having won four of five. But which of these teams has the best shot to earn that final Wild Card spot? Let’s rank ’em. Mariners: The bats erupted over the weekend, outscoring the Braves 28-4 over their final two games thanks to TWO five-homer showings. The Mariners seem to have regained their footing after a four-game losing streak had their fans preparing for a late-season letdown. Seattle is back home this week for series against the Cardinals and Angels. Royals: Kansas City is 15-10 since Aug. 11, MLB’s second-best winning percentage in that stretch. But the biggest reason they can make noise is because they’re the only one of these Wild Card chasers still with games left vs. Seattle. The Royals host the Mariners from Sept. 16-18, an excellent opportunity to make up ground. Before that, though, they have four in Cleveland and three in Philadelphia this weekend. Rangers: Texas got back into the race with a six-game winning streak from late August into September but is just 2-3 since. Things don’t get much easier from here for the Rangers: They open the week with a three-game home series against the powerful Brewers, then visit the Mets and Astros before their schedule lets up considerably. Guardians: Despite some modest winning streaks this year, the Guardians’ best month came in April, which they finished 15-11. Since then, they haven’t ended any month better than 14-12. Should they win or sweep their series with the Royals, perhaps it can be the beginning of a run that pushes them over the hump. — Jason Foster REMEMBERING DAVEYLeading the legendarily talented and volatile 1986 Mets to a World Series title might be what Davey Johnson was best known for, but it really only scratches the surface of how much the brilliant tactician and vastly underrated player brought to the game.

The slick-fielding second baseman, who won three Gold Gloves and two World Series with the Orioles and once set a record for second basemen with 43 homers in a season, passed away Saturday at the age of 82.

As a manager, Johnson had few peers when it came to turning around ballclubs, but he was decades ahead of his time analytically even as a player. In 1969, while taking a grad school course, he used computers at Johns Hopkins University to come up with the Orioles’ optimal batting order.

For more on Johnson’s legacy and accomplishments throughout the game, read Joe Trezza’s obituary here. — Ed Eagle DAILY DEALSEver really want to score a cool promotional giveaway but you just can’t make it that night, or all of them end up with other lucky fans before you get there? Happens to the best of us.

But the Mariners have a solution for Pacific Northwest fans: A 3-Day Giveaway! From tonight through Wednesday, the first 10,000 fans can take home a Logan Gilbert POP! Collectible before each game of the Cardinals-Mariners series.

And by the way, this is the young Seattle right-hander’s first-ever Funko POP – and he appears to be pretty amped about it! You have three cracks to join Gilbert in adding it to your collection this week.

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