The Buzz — Wednesday, September 30

Cam Schlittler

The take Schlittler blanks rival Sox again, Cy Young ace hype

The 1.95 ERA led the league in his first full season, and what he did to the Red Sox last night was the same story he has told them all year. Six and a third scoreless, two hits, ten strikeouts on 117 pitches. In six career starts against Boston he is 4-1 with a 0.47 ERA and 49 strikeouts over 38 2/3 innings. Boston has not solved him, and there is no evidence they are about to.

He is the first Yankee with multiple 10-strikeout, scoreless postseason outings, and the sixth pitcher in history with two. The Cy Young was settled before the first pitch — 14 wins, 239 strikeouts, the best ERA in baseball. The MVP chants as he walked off are the crowd arriving at a number that was already true.

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Austin Riley

The take Riley's clutch 3-run HR wins Braves Wild Card Game 1

Riley hit .219 with a franchise-record 201 strikeouts this season, and none of that matters in the eighth. Down 3-2, two outs, he jumped on Duran's first pitch after a review delay — a 99.9 mph fastball — and sent it 385 feet at 104.6 mph off the bat. Three of his six career postseason home runs have come in the eighth or later, tying the MLB record. A bad regular season does not erase a documented October habit, and the crowd is right about this one.

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Fernando Tatis Jr.

The take Tatis first-pitch leadoff HR, baserunning spark Padres rout

The first leadoff home run in Padres playoff history came on the first pitch — a changeup from Boyd that left at 405 feet — and what followed was not a solo shot floating over a close game. San Diego won 8-0, Tatis scored three times, and by the seventh he was sliding headfirst past a tag to manufacture the last one. Two hits, a walk, three runs, a stolen base.

The leadoff blast set a tone. The baserunning confirmed it. The crowd sees a spark, and the line says it was the whole offense in one night — power, on-base, aggression, in a shutout where the Cubs managed three hits total. Every part of the game, working at once.

Fernando Tatis Jr. cards on eBay →(paid link)

Jhoan Duran

The take Duran early entry yields Riley walk-off HR; pen, skipper blasted

This one is on the roster, not the arm. Duran converted 33 of 35 saves in the regular season and allowed two home runs in 61 appearances. His fastball to Riley sat 99.9 mph — the velocity held. What gave way was the margin, because Mattingly asked him to cover the seventh and eighth with a 3-2 lead, something he had done once all year.

The plan was forced by depth. Raley left off the roster, Bowlan unavailable, the circle thin enough that an interim manager used his closer for two innings for only the second time all season. Duran retired the first five. Then an infield single, a hit-by-pitch on a 3-2 curveball, and a first-pitch fastball middle-in that Riley put in the seats.

Mattingly said he lived with it. Harper called it a dagger. The number the crowd already knows: since Game 3 of the 2023 NLCS, the Phillies bullpen is 2-7 with a 5.94 ERA and eight blown saves in eight tries. This is the third straight postseason the pen has blown a Game 1. The criticism sounds loud, but the pattern is structural — a roster too thin for October, exposed the same way again.

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Pete Crow-Armstrong

The take PCA MVP 40/40 fuels Cubs playoff talk after shutout

The 40-40 season is settled — 45 home runs, 41 stolen bases, the seventh player in history, the first Cub. A .280/.372/.570 line, 107 RBIs, 119 runs, and the heavy NL MVP favorite. But last night the Cubs were blanked 8-0, PCA went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, and King took a no-hitter into the seventh. The milestone does not erase one bad night, and one bad night does not erase it. The crowd is right to keep the MVP talk live — and right to worry about Game 2.

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