The visiting Baltimore Orioles continue a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday in a matchup of two last-place teams.

While the clubs may be far removed from playoff contention, both are viewing every remaining game as an opportunity to build momentum toward next season.

Baltimore (70-80) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory on Monday behind center fielder Colton Cowser, who hit a three-run blast for his second homer in as many games and 15th of the season.

Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday had two hits and is batting .373 (22-for-59) during a career-high 16-game on-base streak.

Baltimore reliever Dietrich Enns struck out four over three perfect innings for his second save. The left-hander has emerged as a key piece of the team’s bullpen since being acquired from the Detroit Tigers on July 31.

“(When) we got the call that we got Dietrich Enns, I probably didn’t really get that excited at the time, but boy am I excited right now,” Baltimore interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “He’s really good, and I think he’s definitely kind of forcing his way onto this thing going forward. He’s been tough.”

The Orioles have won 10 of their past 11 meetings against the White Sox (57-94), who struck out 15 times in the Monday defeat.

Chicago has lost four straight and will need to win six of its final 11 games to avoid a third straight 100-loss season.

With another last-place finish looming, White Sox manager Will Venable is focused on wrapping up the team’s encouraging second half on a high note.

“We talk about how meaningful these games are for us,” Venable said. “We know that we don’t have playoff implications, but we certainly have a lot of things internally that are important to us.”

Chicago will send Shane Smith (6-7, 3.78 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday. He tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.

The 25-year-old right-hander improved to 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in 44 1/3 innings over eight starts since returning from an ankle injury last month.

“To start out so well and in the middle of the year (have to) find himself again, and to finish strong here, he’s somebody who finds ways to be effective even when he doesn’t have his best stuff,” Venable said.

Smith will be making his first career appearance against the Orioles.

Baltimore will counter with right-hander Dean Kremer (9-10, 4.43 ERA), who exited his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 5 after three hitless innings due to right forearm discomfort.

Kremer, 29, was cleared for the Tuesday start after completing a successful bullpen session on Friday.

“All the checkpoints have gone really well, so we have zero concern where he’s at medically,” Mansolino said. “If there were any concern at all, he wouldn’t be going out there.”

Mike Tauchman is 3-for-8 with a home run against Kremer, who is 2-0 with a 1.02 ERA in three career starts vs. the White Sox. He allowed one run over six innings in a 4-2 win over Chicago on May 31.

–Field Level Media

An intriguing pitching matchup highlights a late-season day-night doubleheader between the visiting Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.

Atlanta (67-83) rolled to an 11-3 victory in the series opener on Monday.

The Tuesday nightcap will feature Atlanta veteran left-hander Chris Sale (5-5, 2.52 ERA), who will be opposed by 26-year-old MacKenzie Gore (5-14, 4.14).

Both left-handers have missed time this season due to injury.

Sale sustained a left rib cage fracture on June 18, 2025, during a diving play in his start against the New York Mets. He returned on Aug. 30 and is 0-1 with a 2.55 ERA in three starts since coming back. Last time out, he allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings in a loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. He struck out nine and walked one.

The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner likely will finish with 21 starts this year, and he recently speculated how this season could have gone had he stayed healthy.

“I was just kind of sitting at my locker and wondering, ‘What if I didn’t get hurt? What if I was able to stay upright this whole year?'” he said.

Sale is 0-2 with a 3.42 ERA in six games (four starts) against the Nationals. He has not faced them this season.

Gore landed on the injured list on Aug. 30 (retroactive to Aug. 27) because of left shoulder inflammation. He returned on Thursday and allowed two runs on four hits over five innings in a game the Nationals (62-88) lost 5-0 to the Miami Marlins. He fanned four, walked two and retired seven of the last eight batters he faced.

“I thought we were fine,” Gore said. “Able to get through five. We knew we were going to stay around 75 (pitches). Just move forward from this. I felt much better than the last time out.”

Gore continues to endure a lack of run support. He has received just 3.27 runs per nine innings this season, among the lowest figures in the major leagues.

Gore is 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA in seven career starts vs. Atlanta. He has not faced them in 2025.

The Braves had not announced a starter for the day game. Right-hander Jake Irvin (8-12, 5.70 ERA) will start for the Nationals.

Irvin has not won since July 27. He has lost his past seven decisions, including each of his past five starts. On Wednesday, he allowed four runs (three earned) in five-plus innings during an 8-3 loss at Miami.

Irvin is 2-1 with a 3.09 ERA in six career starts against the Braves. He gave up three runs in six innings during a no-decision at Atlanta on May 12.

Matt Olson had four hits, including a three-run homer and two doubles, and knocked in four runs during the Braves’ win on Monday. Drake Baldwin added a homer and two singles, driving in four runs. Ronald Acuna Jr. also homered.

Daylen Lile, who homered and singled for Washington, has reached base in 15 consecutive games. He is hitting .427 (24-for-56) in that span. The Nationals saw their September record fall to 9-5.

“We didn’t hit today,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “They just hit better than us today. They were better. They beat us.”

The day game on Tuesday is the makeup of a game rained out on May 21.

–Field Level Media

The opener of Tampa Bay’s seven-game homestand was a prime example of why the Rays will come up short in their efforts for a playoff berth for the second straight season.

The Rays will try to get the bats going after a brutal night at the plate when they face the American League East-leading Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

Tampa Bay (73-77) managed just one hit from the second through the 10th innings and had only four total while losing 2-1 in 11 innings. The hosts struck out a season-high 18 times, including three times in the final frame with the potential tying run at third base and the potential winning run at first.

Reliever Braylon Fisher locked down the fifth straight win for Toronto (88-62) with consecutive whiffs of Brandon Lowe, All-Star Junior Caminero and Josh Lowe.

“We had every opportunity, just weren’t able to make the most of it,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said.

A punchless offense has been the fourth-place club’s nemesis for most of the season despite Caminero nearing franchise history, needing three homers to break Carlos Pena’s single-season record of 46.

After appearing to be done for the season due to fatigue and skipping a start, Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot (11-10, 3.59 ERA) will return to the mound on Tuesday.

Over two career starts against the Blue Jays, Pepiot is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA. He took the loss after going six innings on May 14 in Toronto’s 3-1 home win, allowing all the runs on Alejandro Kirk’s three-run homer. Eleven days later, he fired seven shutout innings in a 13-0 victory over the visiting Blue Jays.

Winners of six of their past seven games, the Blue Jays were impressed the major league debut of top prospect Trey Yesavage on Monday. He allowed one run on three hits and two walks in five-plus innings. He fanned nine, showing a split-finger fastball that got 11 swing and misses.

Yesavage, 22, set a team record by a pitcher for total strikeouts in his debut.

The right-hander also produced a 52.8 percent whiff rate, the highest by any Blue Jays starting pitcher since tracking began in 2009. In that span, it was the highest by any starting pitcher in a major league debut featuring at least 60 pitches.

With his newness an asset against competition that hasn’t faced him, the powerful Yesavage, who features an unusually high, over-the-top delivery, will almost assuredly slot into the team’s postseason.

“We’ll see, it’s one outing,” manager John Schneider said. “But he’s shown he can go through an order multiple times. I think the biggest driving force or factor in our decision was the amount of swing-and-miss he can generate, too. It’s really beneficial for us going forward to see how we use him.”

Toronto right-hander Jose Berrios (9-5, 3.99 ERA) will make his 30th start of the year on Tuesday. It is the fourth straight season reaching he has reached that number in his five campaigns with the Blue Jays, who lead the AL East by five games over the New York Yankees.

During September, Berrios has two no-decisions and a 4.91 ERA in two starts.

In 15 career starts against the Rays, Berrios is 4-7 with a 4.77 ERA. He faced Tampa Bay twice in May, going 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA.

–Field Level Media

J.T. Realmuto hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper each hit home runs and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies clinched the National League East title with a 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.

Weston Wilson also hit a home run for the Phillies, while right-hander David Robertson escaped a bases-loaded jam with one out in the 10th to earn his first save as Philadelphia improved to 14-4 since Aug. 28. Jhoan Duran (7-6) earned the win.

After he gave up a single earned run over his last four starts, Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez gave up three runs on seven hits over six innings. In winning their second consecutive division title, the Phillies moved 5 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers in the chase for the second-best record from an NL division winner and a bye through the wild-card round of the playoffs.

Max Muncy, Mookie Betts and Andy Pages hit home runs for the Dodgers , who lost to the Phillies for the third time in four games this season. Dodgers left-handers Anthony Banda, Jack Dreyer and Alex Vesia combined to give up four runs over 2 1/3 innings. Blake Treinen (1-5) was charged with the loss.

Blue Jays 2, Rays 1 (10 innings)

George Springer’s two-strike, two-out, RBI single in the 11th inning lifted Toronto to its fifth straight victory, a decision over host Tampa Bay to open a four-game series.

After challenging for catcher’s interference and failing, Toronto took its first lead when Springer ripped the next pitch, an 0-2 offering from Kevin Kelly (2-4), to left for a 2-1 lead. The Blue Jays saw their American League East lead over the second-place New York Yankees increase to five games.

Braydon Fisher (7-0) pitched out of a first-and-third, no-out jam in the bottom of the 11th by whiffing Brandon Lowe, Junior Caminero and Josh Lowe. In his major league debut, Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage pitched five-plus innings and allowed one run and three hits. Yandy Diaz had a perfect showing at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two walks for Tampa Bay.

Astros 6, Rangers 3

Zach Cole and Jesus Sanchez came up big after an injury to Yordan Alvarez, and Houston rallied for a win over visiting Texas in the opener of a three-game series with major postseason ramifications.

Alvarez had to leave after he slipped on home plate while scoring a first-inning run, spraining his left ankle. The run, one of two that resulted from a throwing error by Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter (9-9), gave Houston a 2-0 lead. Cole launched a two-out, two-run homer off Leiter in the fifth, putting the Astros on top for good at 4-3.

The Astros ended the night three games up on the Rangers in the race for the third and final American League wild-card position. Houston is now a half-game back of the idle Seattle Mariners, who lead the AL West. Josh Jung hit a two-run homer for Texas, which has lost two straight following a six-game winning streak.

Twins 7, Yankees 0

Austin Martin doubled and drove in four runs, Simeon Woods Richardson struck out a career-high 11 over six scoreless innings, and Minnesota pulled away for a shutout win over New York in Minneapolis.

Brooks Lee went 2-for-4 with a homer, a double and two RBIs for Minnesota. Luke Keaschall also drove in a run. Woods Richardson (7-4) posted his best outing of the season. The right-hander gave up two hits while seeing his ERA drop from 4.58 to 4.31.

Jose Caballero doubled for the Yankees’ only extra-base hit. Aaron Judge went 0-for-1 and drew three walks for New York, which collected only two hits and dropped five games behind the American League East-leading Toronto Blue Jays. New York also saw its AL wild-card lead cut to one game over the idle Boston Red Sox.

Diamondbacks 8, Giants 1

James McCann hit a two-run homer in a six-run sixth inning, Zac Gallen threw six strong innings and Arizona beat San Francisco in Phoenix to leapfrog the Giants in the National League wild-card race.

McCann homered for the second straight game and Ildemaro Vargas had a two-run single to ignite the sixth-inning rally against Matt Gage (0-1) and two other Giants relievers. Geraldo Perdomo singled, doubled, tripled, walked twice and drove in two runs for the D-backs. His triple capped the big sixth, and he doubled home the final run in the eighth. Gallen (12-14) gave up two hits and one run.

The D-backs won their fourth game in the past five and closed within 1 1/2 games of the idle New York Mets for the third NL wild-card spot. The Giants lost their third straight and dropped into a tie with the Cincinnati Reds, two games back of New York. Giants rookie starter Kai-Wei Teng kept his team in the game, giving up two hits and an unearned run in four innings.

Cubs 4, Pirates 0

Jameson Taillon threw six shutout innings to lead visiting Chicago to a win against Pittsburgh in the opener of their three-game series.

Taillon (10-6) allowed just two hits, struck out three and walked two. The right-hander was activated from the 15-day injured list last Wednesday after being sidelined with a strained groin. He also missed all of July and half of August with a calf strain.

Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled, homered and scored twice and Michael Busch also homered for the Cubs, who have won five of six. Pirates rookie right-hander Braxton Ashcraft (4-3) went four innings, allowing three runs and six hits. Bryan Reynolds singled and walked for the Pirates, who have lost nine of the past 10.

Reds 11, Cardinals 6

Tyler Stephenson drove in three runs as visiting Cincinnati snapped its three-game losing streak by defeating St. Louis.

Sal Stewart went 3-for-5 with a homer, three runs and two RBIs as the Reds moved within two games of the New York Mets for the final National League wild-card slot. Matt McLain drove in two and scored twice. Reds starter Zack Littell allowed four runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Alec Burleson drove in two runs for the Cardinals, who have lost six of seven games and are 4 1/2 games behind the Mets. Willson Contreras went 2-for-3 with an RBI before exiting with right bicep tightness. Matthew Liberatore allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits in six innings.

Braves 11, Nationals 3

Matt Olson had four hits including a three-run homer, Spencer Strider allowed one run over seven innings and visiting Atlanta beat Washington.

Drake Baldwin added a homer and two singles, driving in four runs for Atlanta, which had 16 hits in winning its second straight game. Ronald Acuna Jr. also homered. Olson added two doubles and a single and had four RBIs. Strider (6-13) allowed one run on four hits.

Daylen Lile had two hits including a home run for Washington and has reached base in 15 consecutive games. Mitchell Parker (8-16) gave up six runs on 10 hits in five-plus innings.

Orioles 4, White Sox 1

Colton Cowser hit a three-run homer and Kyle Bradish pitched five strong innings for his first win in 15 months as visiting Baltimore defeated Chicago.

Bradish (1-1) allowed one run and fanned nine in his fourth start of the season. He underwent Tommy John surgery soon after earning his last victory on June 8, 2024. Dietrich Enns threw three perfect innings for his second save.

The Orioles snapped a three-game losing streak while the White Sox dropped their fourth straight. Chicago reliever Steven Wilson (2-2) got one out and took the loss when Cowser went deep off Tyler Alexander.

–Field Level Media

A premier pitching matchup is set for Tuesday when young right-handers Paul Skenes of the host Pittsburgh Pirates and Cade Horton of the Chicago Cubs duel in the second game of the three-game series.

Skenes, 23, was the National League Rookie of the Year last season after going 11-3 in 23 starts with a 1.96 ERA.

Horton, 24, is a strong candidate to win the award this season, as he owns a 10-4 record and a 2.70 ERA through 21 appearances, including 20 starts.

“It’s a really special opportunity to be in the chase,” Horton said. “So, yeah, just stacking good days, and keep playing ballgames.”

Horton didn’t make the Opening Day roster for Chicago. Instead, he was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on May 10 and won his first two outings.

“Impacting a major league club has been really fun and special,” Horton said. “Those guys are great competitors. I love playing with them and having them behind me. They make a lot of plays for me, so just being able to go to work with them every day has been really fun, and just seeing all their hard work come to fruition has been really cool.”

Horton has been exceptional following the All-Star break, when he had a 4.45 ERA. Six times since then he has thrown at least five scoreless innings, including on Sept. 3, when he threw five no-hit innings against the Atlanta Braves before departing after 75 pitches in a game the Cubs eventually lost 5-1.

As a first-year pitcher for the NL wild-card leading Cubs (86-64), Horton is aware of his limitations.

“Just knowing, I’m kind of like, at that 75-pitch limit, it almost makes me scale down the moment,” he said. “It’s like, all right, let’s just go out there today and get 15 outs and do it as efficiently as possible.”

Horton and Skenes (10-9, 1.92 ERA) went head-to-head on June 13 in Chicago and neither gave up a run in a 2-1, 10-inning Pirates win.

Horton blanked Pittsburgh (65-86) on three hits over 5 2/3 innings, and Skenes fired five shutout innings.

Skenes, who will look to help the Pirates even the three-game set, also has produced six starts since the All-Star break in which he blanked the opponent for at least five innings — including his past two outings.

He threw six shutout innings in a 5-3 home win against Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 4, and another five scoreless on Wednesday in a no-decision against the host Baltimore Orioles.

Skenes struck out eight in his most recent performance, giving him 203 on the season — second in the NL.

“Punching out hitters is one of the reasons that we pitch,” Skenes said. “Always good to get strikeouts. Two hundred is cool, I guess, but hopefully not going to stop there.”

Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly lauded Skenes’ consistency over his first two seasons.

“To be able to rack up strikeouts like that, that’s something that’s at an elite level,” Kelly said. “He’s going to be able to do it for a long time.”

Horton will attempt to emulate the outing turned in Monday by teammate Jameson Taillon, who fired six shutout innings in Chicago’s 4-0 win. Michael Soroka, fresh off the injured list, followed with two hitless innings before Porter Hodge and Brad Keller (second save) navigated the ninth.

Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong homered as the Cubs won for the fifth time in six games. Pittsburgh took its ninth loss in 10 games.

–Field Level Media