This moves him to within two of Schwarber for the NL lead. Twenty-two behind the AL leader.

Rotoworld:

09.24: Pete Alonso clubbed his 38th home run of the season on Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't enough to lead the Mets to victory over the A's in Oakland. (Alonso smacked his 38th homer of the year off rookie Ken Waldichuk in the
first inning of Saturday's contest against the A's -- giving the Mets an
early 3-0 lead. That would be one of the only bright spots for the Mets
as the AL West basement dwellers, A's, destroyed the Mets in a 10-4
victory Saturday. The 27-year-old is hitting .265/.346/.506 with 38
homers and 123 RBI. He needs just two more RBI to become the Mets
single-season leader in driving in runs.)

Sadly (because I'm an NL only guy), he signed a 5 (or 6) year deal with the Mariners for $108M (133 if the 6th year vesting option kicks in).  Glad for Luis. Total professional.

The Mets are in Oakland to play the A's so that's where we'd expect him to be.

This is really the last year, right? I mean there has to eventually be a last year. still wouldn't be terrible to go out on a $15 last year.

Main change from last year is the BABIP is .302 instead of the .260-ish it's been the past couple of seasons.

I was a bit too clever with some of my pitching picks and am dragging along in 16th. Doesn't help that I have six hitters hurt or not in the majors (Tatis, Votto, Sanchez, Beer, Alex Dickerson, etc). Wow, looking at my picks I'm actually kind of surprised I'm as high as 16th out of 20.

I merged him with a dupe and still no stats. With luck we'll get them tonight.

Can you investigate how/why no stats again?

Albert Pujols	Adley Rutschman	Rhys Hoskins	Dean Kremer	Jose Quintana

Sep 23, 2022 Top Performers

Pitchers:

Dean Kremer (BAL): 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 83 GmSc

Jose Quintana (STL): 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 K, 70 GmSc

Aaron Nola (PHI): 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 K, 69 GmSc

Brady Singer (KCR): 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 69 GmSc

Braxton Garrett (MIA): 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 K, 64 GmSc

View All of Yesterday's Pitchers at Baseball-Reference.com

How much credit does he get for the Orioles' pitching? Probably more than a little.

Albert Pujols	Adley Rutschman	Rhys Hoskins	Dean Kremer	Jose Quintana

Sep 23, 2022 Top Performers

Batters:

Albert Pujols (STL): 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 R

Adley Rutschman (BAL): 3-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 SB

Rhys Hoskins (PHI): 3-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 R

Taylor Ward (LAA): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Lars Nootbaar (STL): 3-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R

Alec Bohm (PHI): 3-4, 1 RBI, 2 R

Stone Garrett (ARI): 2-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Jack Suwinski (PIT): 1-1, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 SB

Bryan Reynolds (PIT): 2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Alex Verdugo (BOS): 2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R

View All of Yesterday's Batters at Baseball-Reference.com

Rotowire:

Yesterday's Debut

2B Ji-hwan Bae (PIT)

Born: July 26, 1999 (Age: 23-059d)

Debut: 1-3

Others

• Ezequiel Tovar (COL), SS, 21-053d

Yesterday's Biggest Play

Batter: Alex Verdugo (BOS)

Pitcher: Gerrit Cole (NYY)

Situation: Top 6th, 2 out, 2-2 count, Runners On 1st and 2nd

Score:  NYY 4, BOS 1

Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF-RF)
3 runs scored on the play, and BOS's win probability increased 32% points, to 44%
NYY went on to win the game, 5-4

View the full game Boxscore at Baseball-Reference.com

I'm ahead of the Mob but no one's catching LVW.

Maybe Mike Puma is in Oakland. (Eduardo Escobar comment)

OAKLAND, Calif. — Francisco Lindor’s mission isn’t complete, with the NL East race still undecided and the postseason ahead, but he has every reason these days to enjoy his baseball life.

A year after hearing boos in his home ballpark, Lindor is arguably the best player on the first Mets team to be headed to the playoffs since 2016.

“I would like to finish on the top step, but so far right now we are in a good spot,” Lindor said Friday before going 1-for-5 in a 9-2 series-opening win against the Athletics. “The job is not done and I have been healthy, just thanking God everything is going well. I had the broken finger [in June] and it didn’t keep me from playing so I can’t complain. If I start complaining I am an idiot.”

The shortstop entered play with a .271/.344/.454 slash line, 25 homers and 99 RBIs. Over his previous 14 games, he owned a 1.035 OPS, which included a go-ahead grand slam on Tuesday in Milwaukee that provided the Mets with their winning runs.

Lindor’s durability is also appreciated. He has missed just one game this season, playing a demanding position. But when Lindor evaluates the total picture, he might be most impressed with his overall consistency, having avoided what he considers a prolonged slump. Lindor did endure a production drop-off in June (he had a .617 OPS for the month) after getting his hand caught in sliding doors in a hotel suite and breaking the tip of his right middle finger, but he said that didn’t fall into the realm of a slump.

“People count slumps as 0-for-15 or 0-for-20 or whatever,” Lindor said. “For me a slump is when I go games that I can’t concentrate: I have a plan and approach and as soon as I step in the box I forget it or the game speeds up on me. That is a slump for me.”

Lindor estimates he has endured two or three such slumps this season, but none that lasted more than two games.

“I was like, ‘Damn, I just can’t focus on what I want to do’ and then it goes away,” Lindor said. “I have had those times I am 0-for-10, but those to me are not as concerning as when I can’t mentally focus. Last year, it happened a lot. Life was fast for me. I would step in the box, I would have an approach, have a plan and he throws one pitch and then I am trying to refocus and the next thing I know I am in the dugout.”

Mike Puma in the Post. Are you really in Oakland, Mike?

OAKLAND, Calif. — Eduardo Escobar resembled a free-agent misfire for the Mets for most of this season, but he may have earned his keep in September alone.

The veteran third baseman continued his torrid play Friday night, hitting a grand slam that helped deliver the Mets a seventh victory in eight games, 9-2 over the Athletics at RingCentral Coliseum.

The win left the Mets with the most breathing room they have enjoyed since Sept. 2, a 2 ½-game lead in the NL East, following Atlanta’s third straight loss.

After a sluggish stretch against teams with losing records, the Mets have begun beating up on such opponents. The victory Friday was their fifth straight over a sub .500 team since the Mets were swept in three games by the hapless Cubs at Citi Field on Sept. 12-14.

Escobar’s grand slam was the Mets’ second in three games. Francisco Lindor launched one Tuesday that gave the Mets their go-ahead runs in a victory at Milwaukee. The homer was Escobar’s seventh this month. He entered play with a 1.062 OPS in September, which followed a stint on the injured list because of an oblique strain. Escobar arrived before the season on a two-year contract worth $20 million.

Rotoworld:

09.24: Braves placed RHP Spencer Strider on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 21, with a left oblique strain. (Strider
will not be eligible to return from the injured list until the final
day of the regular season on October 5. The electrifying 23-year-old
right-hander was expected to have his next start pushed back a few days
due to left oblique soreness, so the move doesn't come as a total
surprise. However, it likely means that he won't return for the Braves
until the postseason.)

Rotoworld:

09.24: Sean Manaea lasted just 3 2/3 innings and allowed three runs against the Rockies on Friday. (Manaea was decent last week in his return to the rotation after skipping a start, but this was another poor showing for the free-agent-to-be. He
gave up six hits, walked three and struck out just two in seeing his ERA
rise to 5.23. Over the last month, he's given up 19 earned runs in 18 innings.)

Rotoworld:

09.24: Spencer Steer went 1-for-4 with a run scored on Friday in his return to the Reds' lineup. (Steer was back at first base and batting second on Friday evening following a two-game absence due to an eye infection. It doesn't sound like he's
going to wind up missing any additional time over the final week-plus of
the regular season.)

Rotoworld:

09.23: Mariners placed OF Julio Rodríguez on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain. (No word yet on exactly what the Mariners found in the 21-year-old's MRI, but it had been expected all along that they would play things
cautiously and place him on the injured list. He'll be eligible to
return for the Mariners' final  four-game series of the regular season
against the Tigers if he's recovered by then.)

New York Post:

Albert Pujols’ name is in the history books, alongside Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds.

The Cardinals slugger homered twice against the Dodgers on Friday, the 699th and 700th long-balls of his 22-season MLB career.

Pujols joined Ruth (714), Aaron (755) Barry Bonds (762) in the ultra-exclusive club.

Pujols joined Ruth (714), Aaron (755) Barry Bonds (762) in the ultra-exclusive club.

In the top of the third inning, the 42-year-old sent a pitch from Los Angeles’ Andrew Heaney 434 feet into the stands for a 2-0 Cardinals lead and his 20th homer of the season.

The wait for No. 700 didn’t take long.

Pujols’ milestone home came one inning later, a three-run shot off reliever Phil Bickford for a 5-0 St. Louis lead.