The Buzz — Monday, September 14

Lawrence Butler

The take Butler's 2-HR walk-off sinks Mariners in thriller

The noise is all walk-off highlight, and the swing earned every frame — 402 feet off a 101.1 mph pitch, the fastest any Athletic has taken deep under pitch tracking. What the clip undersells is the inning that made it matter: Seattle led 6-2, the A's tied it with a four-run seventh, Arozarena put the Mariners back ahead in the eighth, and Butler ended it in the ninth with his first walk-off homer at any level.

But the standings are the verdict. The A's are already eliminated; the Mariners are five back in the West with 12 to play and six behind for the last wild card. It was a genuine thriller — and it landed on a fading team the A's have now beaten five of seven. The highlight is real. The stakes were not.

Lawrence Butler cards on eBay →(paid link)

Payton Tolle

The take Tolle opens with immaculate inning then six shutouts

Nine pitches, nine strikes, three strikeouts of Loftin, Witt Jr., and Caglianone — that is an immaculate inning to open a start, the rarest efficient frame in the game, and only Pedro Martinez and Chris Sale had done it in the first inning for Boston before him. What makes it a signal is what followed: six scoreless, four hits, one walk, seven strikeouts in a 4-1 win that clinched a winning record. He sits at 9-6 with a 3.02 ERA across 25 starts. One immaculate inning is a highlight; a full season at that line is a rotation piece.

Payton Tolle cards on eBay →(paid link)

Manny Machado

The take Machado homer sparks Padres' seventh straight win

Manny Machado's two-run shot — his 27th — was part of a second inning that built an early lead the Padres never gave back, and the crowd is right that San Diego is rolling. Seven straight wins, a sweep of the Giants, sole possession of the third NL wild-card spot, 2 1/2 games ahead of Arizona — that is a team getting hot at the exact moment a team needs to.

What the Machado homer undersells is that the lineup around him did the heavy lifting. Fernando Tatis Jr. had three hits, scored twice, drove in two. The Padres blitzed the Giants early and let the bullpen and the lead do the rest. Machado's blast was part of a broader attack, not a one-swing rescue. The streak is the story; the homer was a brick in it.

Manny Machado cards on eBay →(paid link)

Pete Crow-Armstrong

The take PCA's 40-30 season drives MVP buzz as Cubs host Braves

He is the first Cub ever to reach 40 home runs and 30 steals in a season — and only the fourth player 24 or younger in MLB history to do it. That is not a projection; it is already in the books, with a .939 OPS and 98 RBI alongside it. The MVP poll backs the buzz: 177 points and 29 first-place votes from 37 experts put him ahead of Ohtani. The Braves arrive at Wrigley starting September 14 with the NL East lead, and that series is where the buzz gets its real test.

Pete Crow-Armstrong cards on eBay →(paid link)

Cam Schlittler

The take Dominant start grabs MLB ERA lead, cuts Yanks magic number, fuels Cy Young

1.95. That is the number — the lowest ERA in baseball among qualified starters, a hair below Jacob Misiorowski's 1.952, and it belongs to a 14-6 Yankees right-hander who has now allowed one run or fewer in 21 of his starts this season. That is a franchise record, and seven of those have come in his last seven outings. The consistency is not a hot streak; it is the season.

Yesterday's line — six scoreless, one hit, two walks, eight strikeouts in a 2-0 win over the Mets — was business as usual for a pitcher who has become the clearest Cy Young favorite in the American League. He leads the AL in innings at 184 2/3 with 228 strikeouts, the combination that wins the award: volume, efficiency, and bats missing. Aaron Judge said he has his Cy Young vote. Aaron Boone said he might be MVP too.

The MVP talk is the only reach here. Pitchers rarely win it, and the ballot is built for everyday players. But the Cy Young is not a debate anymore — it is a question of whether anyone in the league can spend the last three weeks making it close. The magic number is 1. The ERA lead is his.

Cam Schlittler cards on eBay →(paid link)