Braves infield ties mark; Giants rely on relievers
Atlanta Braves
The Braves became the second team in history with four infielders who hit 25 or more home runs when 2B Ozzie Albies reached 25 on Sept. 4.
Albies joined 1B Freddie Freeman (28 through Sept. 5), SS Dansby Swanson (26) and 3B Austin Riley (29). The only other team to do it was the 2008 Miami (then Florida) Marlins.
❚ RHP Charlie Morton (13-5, 3.47 ERA) received a one-year, $20 million contract extension. LHP Drew Smyly, who had a 6.08 ERA in five August starts, was moved to the bullpen.
Miami Marlins
3B Brian Anderson, limited to 67 games this season because of injuries, sought more medical opinions to determine how best to deal with a left shoulder subluxation that has resulted in two trips to the injured list.
Anderson, on the IL for most of June and July, went back on it after he aggravated the injury diving for a ball Aug. 31 against the New York Mets.
❚ LHP Trevor Rogers returned to the rotation Sept. 4 after a one-month absence in which both of his grandfathers died and both parents tested positive for the coronavirus. His mother spent several days on a ventilator.
New York Mets
Despite winning six games in a row, the Mets added more bad news: Acting general manager Zack Scott was placed on administrative leave Sept. 2 after pleading not guilty to driving while intoxicated.
Two days later, OF Brandon Nimmo went on the injured list because of a right hamstring strain that could cost him the rest of the season.
❚ The Mets added LH reliever Brad Hand, who began the season with the Washington Nationals, was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in July and then was designated for assignment.
Philadelphia Phillies
The rotation was rearranged to line up RHP Zack Wheeler for the opener of a three-game series against the Braves on Sept. 28-30 at Atlanta.
Wheeler then would be on schedule to pitch the final game of the regular season against the Marlins at Miami or start the first postseason game should the Phillies qualify.
❚ The Phillies received more bad news about their rotation when RHP Zach Eflin’s knee injury flared up and then he tested positive for the coronavirus.
Washington Nationals
Front office adviser Bob Boone told The Washington Post he is leaving the organization rather than get the COVID19 vaccine. Boone, 73, has been with the Nationals since 2005.
Several other scouts and coaches are expected to leave the Nationals, who told all nonplaying employees they must be vaccinated by Sept. 15 or their contracts would be terminated.
❚ CF Victor Robles, a starter when the Nationals won the World Series in 2019, was sent down to Class AAA Rochester (New York) on Aug. 31. He had a .209 batting average in 159 games since the start of 2020.
NL CENTRAL Chicago Cubs
Manager David Ross and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer could be away from the team through the end of the week after testing positive for the coronavirus. Though both were asymptomatic, Ross and Hoyer were required to go into quarantine after the results came back Sept. 3.
❚ Bench coach Andy Green is running the team in Ross’ absence and was ejected in his first game as acting manager. Green managed the San Diego Padres from 2016 to 2019.
Cincinnati Reds
OF Aristides Aquino, who has struggled since bursting onto the major league scene in 2019, hit a three-run homer to power the Reds to a win over the Detroit Tigers on Sept. 4.
Aquino hit 19 homers in 56 games as a rookie but had gone deep just 11 times in 90 games over the last two seasons while hitting .181.
❚ IF/OF Nick Senzel, out since May 18, has been slow to recover from left knee surgery and likely won’t return this year.
Milwaukee Brewers
SS Willy Adames went on the injured list Sept. 5 because of a strained left quadriceps.
IF Luis Urias shifted from third base to shortstop to replace Adames. IF Eduardo Escobar took over at third.
❚ 1B Daniel Vogelbach’s “ultimate grand slam,” a walk-off slam in which the batter is the winning run, on Sept. 5 against the St. Louis Cardinals was only the 28th in major league history.
Pittsburgh Pirates
RHP JT Brubaker’s status for the remainder of the season was unclear after he exited his start against the Cubs on Sept. 4 at Chicago because of shoulder discomfort.
Brubaker had ended a ninegame losing streak in his previous start by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks.
❚ The Pirates set a modern major league record Sept. 1 by playing their 175th consecutive game without being charged with a passed ball. The previous mark was set by the Montreal Expos in 1978-79.
St. Louis Cardinals
RHP Adam Wainwright and C Yadier Molina formed the Cardinals’ starting battery for the 300th time Sept. 3 in a win over the Brewers at Milwaukee.
That ranks Wainwright and Molina fourth on the MLB alltime list. The record is held by Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan, who formed the Detroit Tigers’ starting battery for 324 games from 1963 to 1975.
❚ RHP Ryan Helsley (elbow) will not pitch again this season. He finished the year with a 4.56 ERA in 51 relief appearances.
NL WEST Arizona Diamondbacks
RHP Luke Weaver missed nearly four months before starting against the San Diego Padres on Sept. 1 and giving up just one run on four hits over six innings. The Diamondbacks are contemplating whether to offer arbitration in the offseason to Weaver, who was 5-12 in his first two seasons with Arizona and is 3-3 this year.
❚ RHP Taylor Widener will finish season as a reliever to manage his innings.
Colorado Rockies
Raimel Tapia was moved to center field Sept. 3 when he returned from a toe injury because the Rockies wanted to have LF Connor Joe remain in left. But then Joe injured his right hamstring that night, and Tapia was back in left Sept. 4-5.
Joe hit .305 with seven homers over a 31-game stretch.
❚ The Rockies could be the fourth team ever, and second in franchise history, to win 50 games at home and lose 50 on the road.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers’ outfield depth was tested when OF AJ Pollock was sidelined by a hamstring injury. He’s not expected back until the season’s final week.
Struggling CF Cody Bellinger, often benched against lefthanded starters, will get more at-bats. The same goes for rookie OF/IF Zach McKinstry and OF Billy McKinney.
❚ The Dodgers had been blanked five times this season through Sept. 6. Four of the shutouts were at home.
San Diego Padres
RHP Jake Arrieta rebounded from a rocky Padres debut and a hamstring injury to go from desperation signing to a regular member of the rotation as the Padres struggled to stay in the wild-card race.
Arrieta returned Sept. 3 and allowed three runs in five innings in a loss to the Houston Astros. His ERA for the season is still an unsightly 7.04.
❚ OF Tommy Pham has more pinch-hits this season (eight through Sept. 5) than he had in his career (six) before the season.
San Francisco Giants
The loss of RHP Johnny Cueto (elbow) and LHP Alex Wood (COVID-19) meant Giants relievers will have to do some heavy lifting in the final month. They had two bullpen games in their big series with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 3-5 and won the second one to take the series two games to one.
Cueto, 35, is 7-7 with a 4.09 ERA in the final season of a sixyear, $130 million contract.
❚ The Giants’ first winning record since 2016 means they still have never had five consecutive losing seasons in their 138year history.