The loudest item in MLB betting news today came out of the Bronx, and it was a bat, not an arm. Ben Rice hit Nos. 40 and 41 in a 9-2 Yankees win over the Rays on Wednesday, which ties him for the American League home run lead and puts him two clear of the number his own manager set for him in spring training. Aaron Boone said 39 in March. That is either the best read a manager has made all year or the worst, depending on whether you grade for accuracy or ambition.
The part that matters beyond the box score: New York's lineup is trending toward whole at exactly the right moment. Aaron Judge said Wednesday he intends to be ready for Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium next Tuesday. Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham both took steps toward rejoining the club, with Stanton in line to come back for the playoffs after roughly five and a half months out with calf strains. A week ago the question in circulation was whether the Yankees were cooked without Judge. That question is aging fast.
What happened in MLB last night
The overnight finals, clean and short:
| Game | Final | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Yankees vs Rays | NYY 9-2 | Rice homers 40 and 41 |
| Diamondbacks vs Rockies | ARI 5-3 | Same two play again Thursday afternoon |
| Marlins vs Cubs | MIA 3-2 | One-run loss for Chicago at home |
| Nationals vs Tigers | WSH 4-2 | Morales homers, bullpen holds |
Yohandy Morales went deep for the second time in three games for Washington, and the Nationals bullpen did the rest. Late September, a team out of the race, a young bat finding the barrel. That is the quiet stuff I write down for next March.
Red Sox injury news: Rafaela leaves in his first game back
This is the one that stings. Ceddanne Rafaela returned Wednesday after being sidelined since Sept. 3 with a right quad strain, then left in the third inning with tightness in his right hamstring after running out a single. Boston hosts Cleveland on Thursday evening, and if Rafaela is unavailable the outfield defense behind the staff changes shape in a way that does not show up in a starter's ERA but absolutely shows up in run prevention. Hope the kid is fine. That is not a handicapping sentence, that is just a sentence.
Atlanta got the other side of the injury coin. Robert Suarez was activated after more than three months out with right elbow inflammation, with the plan being one appearance Wednesday and another Saturday to get him game-ready before October. Two outings is a thin runway for a set-up man who has not pitched since June. I want to see the stuff before I believe the role.
The day ahead on the MLB schedule
Twelve games, the majority of them in daylight. Cardinals at Pirates gets it started at 12:36 ET, and the Cubs host Miami at 2:21 after dropping a one-run game to the same club. Craig Counsell was quick to flag the scheduling disadvantage his team faces this weekend, with Sunday's game against Boston moved up to Friday on the weather forecast. Managers complain about schedules constantly. Managers complain about schedules that compress a pitching staff in the final week for a reason.
Rays at Yankees again at 7:06 ET, Reds at Braves at 7:16, and the nightcap is Padres at Dodgers at 10:11, with Shohei Ohtani back in the lineup after being activated off the IL Wednesday.
What I'm watching
Nothing cleared my number this morning. Twelve games, plenty of noise, and not one of them where my price and the market were far enough apart to be worth your attention. No qualifying picks on the board, and I am not going to manufacture one because the calendar says Thursday. The math says pass, and passing is a position.
What I am tracking into tonight: whether the Yankees rest anybody now that the Wild Card Series date is in view, whether Rafaela is in the Boston lineup, and how Suarez looks in his second look-see for Atlanta. And in Toronto, Max Scherzer said after Wednesday's game he will likely have something to say about his future in the next couple of days. I will be reading that one for the love of the game, not the board.