A 30-30 performance. First-time walk offs. The Dodgers and Red Sox erupt.
Monday's MLB action provided all that and much more. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: What a game between the White Sox and Cubs, who are both vying for a postseason spot. This one got started with a run out of the gate, as center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a home run on the first pitch he saw.
The White Sox would end up with the lead after DH Randal Grichuk launched a three-run shot, but it wouldn’t be for long. Shortstop Nico Hoerner made it a 4-3 game by driving in two with a single, and a throwing error got him to second. In the eighth, Andrew Benintendi entered as a pinch-hitter, and he went yard to give the White Sox the lead once more, 5-4.
With one out in the ninth, the Cubs were still down, but then third baseman Alex Bregman walked and was replaced with pinch-runner Tyrone Taylor — he would score when Hoerner once again delivered, sending this one to extras. The White Sox failed to score in the top of the 10th, which gave Pete Crow-Armstrong — who already had three hits, an RBI and a run on the day — an opportunity to drive in the winning run. And he did that and more: PCA’s second homer of the day made it a 7-5 Cubs victory.
This was the first career walk-off home run for PCA, and also got him his second consecutive 30 home run, 30 stolen base season. He’s the 18th player in MLB history to have multiple 30-30 seasons in his career — that’s a short list, and the 51 total players who have pulled it off was already a short one, considering how many have put on a uniform for an MLB game over the years. And that’s on top of managing a first pitch homer and last pitch homer.
What a day for PCA. Shohei Ohtani hasn’t been a two-way superstar for the Dodgers of late, since knee problems have kept him off the mound since July 3. He shared that his knee was feeling good after a recent bullpen session, however, so maybe it won’t be all that long before he gets back to pitching.
If not, though? Well, there’s always the bat, and as he reminded on Monday with his performance against the Rockies, it’s some bat. Ohtani would log four hits against Colorado, starting with a single in the third, and then in the fifth he launched his 28th homer of the season, a 428-foot blast that made it 6-1, Dodgers.
In Ohtani’s next at-bat, in the sixth, he went yard again, this time sending an 84 mph sweeper 452 feet back to center. Also going deep was third baseman Max Muncy, who crushed a three-run, 461 footer, the longest homer by any Dodgers player in 2026. Los Angeles’ offense has been scuffling a bit of late — as have multiple aspects of this team — but nothing heals an ailing offense like a trip to Coors Field.
One runner thrown out at the plate can be a big deal. Three runners in what ends up being a one-run game? Well, that’s what the Mets pulled off against the Padres on Monday to open up that series.
Right fielder Carson Benge had two different outfield assists to get the runner at home, both in the first inning. First, it was second baseman Jake Cronenworth tossed out at the plate when first baseman Ty France singled, and then center fielder Jackson Merrill singled with Benge tossing third baseman Manny Machado out at home. Center fielder A.J.
Ewing got in on the action in the second, once again off the bat of Cronenworth on a would-be RBI single. This time it was shortstop Xander Bogaerts failing to make it home — that was three runs saved in two innings, and with the Mets winning 2-1, each of those was huge on its own. The Padres didn’t lose their hold on an NL wild-card spot despite the L, though, and that’s thanks to the Red Sox.
Nice and easy segue right there. The Red Sox crushed the Diamondbacks, who started the day one behind the Padres for the last NL wild-card and ended it there, too. Boston dropped 11 runs on Arizona while giving up just the one, and in the process every single Red Sox batter drove in at least one run.
The only player who didn’t was Anthony Seigler, who came on as a defensive replacement… but also didn’t come to the plate. He can be excused. Center fielder Cedanne Rafaela, on a three-hit day, logged his 30th double of the season to make it a 4-0 game in the fourth.
For all the RBIs, there weren’t many homers — first baseman Willson Contreras got the big one, with his 25th dinger of the season a Monster shot that also served as a career-best mark. And then DH Mickey Gasper highlighted one of Fenway Park’s other structural features with a home run to right, wrapped around Pesky’s Pole. Boston used an opener, Alec Gamboa, for 1 ⅓ innings, before handing the ball off to Brayan Bello.
The righty would then go 4 ⅓ allowing just three hits and one run before the bullpen took over once more, and kept the D-backs scoreless the rest of the way. This is a big series for both Boston and Arizona: the Red Sox need to get back on track, and the Diamondbacks can’t afford to let an opportunity slip while the Padres face the — it’s hard to believe but it’s true — surging Mets, who are 14-7 since avoiding a sweep against the Dodgers back on July 26. The Reds are still fighting for their lives, trying to get into wild-card contention.
The Cardinals are doing better, but nothing is assured for St. Louis, either. Which made Monday’s loss to Cincinnati as much of a problem for the Cards as it was great for the opposition.
St. Louis built a 4-1 lead in the sixth, and while Cincinnati worked back to a tie in the bottom of the inning, the Cards went back up 5-4 in the eighth. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Peter Strzelecki on the mound, Dane Myers came on to pinch-hit.
He ended up taking a low-and-inside sinker and driving it 396 feet to left-center to tie the game. The Cardinals failed to score in the 10th, bringing Cincinnati up again with a runner on second to start. Shortstop Elly De La Cruz was the first to bat, and he worked a six-pitch at-bat before taking a low sweeper and turning it into a game-winning single.
That was De La Cruz’s first-ever walk-off hit, and the timing couldn’t be better: the Reds managed a win on a night that the Padres, Diamondbacks, Marlins and Pirates all lost, and by defeating the Cardinals. Cincinnati is still six games back of San Diego, but it did pick up some ground on everyone between the two in the standings. Speaking of the Pirates’ losing, that happened thanks to the Tigers.
Rookie third baseman Kevin McGonigle had two hits in six trips to the plate, but he made them count. McGonigle made it a 4-0 game with his 13th homer of the year… …and would end up scoring another run in the sixth thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Hao-Yu Lee: Detroit’s second baseman went 3-for-3 with a run, two RBIs and two walks on the day. The dub put the Tigers in a three-way tie with the Orioles and Rangers for the final wild-card spot in the AL: Baltimore holds the tiebreaker so it’s officially the O’s wild-card at the moment, but all three clubs are 61-64 with 37 games left on the schedule to break that tie.
The Orioles lost thanks to the Rays, who managed to avoid being swept in the four-game series that carried over into Monday. It was a narrow victory, too: first baseman Coby Mayo crushed a ball 468 feet in the second to put Baltimore up 1-0… …and from there, the Rays tied, the O’s went back ahead, Tampa Bay took the lead, Baltimore tied it once more then added another two runs thanks to a homer from third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand, but then Tampa Bay came back, again. First baseman Jonathan Aranda cut the lead to one with an RBI single to score Taylor Walls, who had reached base on a pinch-hit single to begin the frame.
Third baseman Junior Caminero then singled to load the bases, bringing up pinch-hitter Jonny DeLuca to face new reliever, Josh Walker. The platoon advantage worked in Tampa Bay’s favor — a hopper over the infield defense drove in what would be the game-winning run. The Rays got their 75th win of the season — Tampa Bay is the third MLB team and first AL one to reach that mark this year — while Baltimore dropped into a three-way tie for that last wild-card spot in defeat.
Before the Phillies defeated the Marlins, 6-5, DH and leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber had some non-game activities to attend to. There was a child to corral, and Schwarber can do that, too. Just treat kids more gently than you treat a baseball, it’s easy.
Schwarber, by the way, had just one hit against Miami, but he drove in a run in what ended up being a one-run game, helping to create some separation between Philadelphia and San Diego for that second wild-card spot.
