The Buzz — Tuesday, September 1

Alex Bregman

The take Bregman 3-HR night powers Cubs record 9-HR rout

He hit three home runs last night for the Cubs — his second three-homer game this month after never having one before in his career. The depth is what he has sustained. In his last 33 games, Bregman is hitting .328/.388/.701 with 13 home runs — second in the majors in home runs and WAR over that span behind only teammate Pete Crow-Armstrong.

The Cubs hit nine home runs in a 17-3 rout of Milwaukee, a franchise single-game record tied for second-most by any MLB team since at least 1900. They finished August with 62 — a franchise record for a calendar month, second-most in MLB history. Chicago sits atop MLB in total home runs, and Bregman's 23 on the season anchor a surge that arrived when a contender needs one.

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Ketel Marte

The take Marte returns after no-show, list stints, boos, frustration talk

The boos at Chase Field last night were the crowd's verdict on Aug. 17, when Marte failed to show up at Fenway Park and landed on the restricted list — unexcused, without pay, scrambling a lineup in a pennant race. The team later moved him to the injured list with inflammation in his left knee, the same joint that was sore before the no-show.

He owned it, telling media through an interpreter that the morning of Aug. 17 his body was in pain and he could not react — that no one made the decision for him, he did. He apologized to Torey Lovullo and said teammates accepted it. He returned as the designated hitter batting cleanup, went 1-for-3 with a single and a walk in a 2-1 loss. The club went 7-6 without him. He is hitting .249 with 21 home runs and 67 RBIs. The boos were earned; the bat is still needed.

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Colton Cowser

The take Cowser's leaping catch robs walk-off HR, O's hit .500

Two outs, runner on second, bottom of the ninth at Coors Field. Jake McCarthy drove a ball to deep center, to the right of the 415-foot sign — the kind that ends games. Colton Cowser raced back, jumped, banged into the wall, and pulled it back from behind the fence. He crash-landed on the warning track, glove up. The Orioles won 2-1.

The play ended the game, and it reached a milestone four months in the making. Baltimore is 69-69 — .500 for the first time since April 30 — with four straight wins and six of seven. A club that spent the summer under .500 is now within a half-game of Cleveland for the last AL wild-card spot. One result flips the standings.

He drove in the go-ahead run, too — a fielder's choice in the seventh, overturned on challenge, after a 98-minute rain delay. He scored the run that gave Baltimore the lead and made the catch that kept it. At Coors Field, where the air carries and the fences do not lie, robbing a two-run walk-off is the hardest play a center fielder can make on the hardest night to make one. The manager called it the best he has seen in person. The Orioles needed one win to reach .500. They got it because Cowser would not let the ball leave.

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Junior Caminero

The take lengthy recent hit streak and elite power production

The hit streak is the noise; the leaderboard is the signal. He is batting .385 over his last seven games and .282 with 37 home runs and a .905 OPS on the season — first in the American League in home runs, second in OPS. In late June he homered in six straight games, tying the Rays franchise record and becoming the youngest player since at least 1900 to do so. The streak will end. The production will not, because it has not stopped since June.

Junior Caminero cards on eBay →(paid link)