Daily Briefing: Card Streak

The FanGraphs Newsletter, September 24, 2021 [READ IN BROWSER]( By Jeffrey Bellone - September 24, 2021 CARD STREAK: Paul Goldschmidt launched two home runs and the St. Louis Cardinals overcame a five-run deficit to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8–5, on Thursday. The victory extended St. Louis' winning streak to 12 games, the longest for the franchise in 39 years. []( CLINCHED: The Chicago White Sox clinched the American League Central title after defeating Cleveland, 7–2, on Thursday. The White Sox were given a 32.2% chance of winning the division in the preseason. []( THE WILD WEST: The Los Angeles Dodgers received a rare, poor start from Max Scherzer, but overcame a 5–3 deficit against the Colorado Rockies by scoring runs in the eighth and ninth innings, before prevailing in the 10th. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants also played into the 10th on Thursday. Their first-place lead over the Dodgers in the National League West dropped to one game. []( COMEBACK KINGS: The Philadelphia Phillies became the first team in the modern era to win by more than six runs after trailing by more than six wins twice in the same season. The latest seesaw victory coming on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Ballpark. The Pirates built a 6–0 lead in the third inning before the Phillies battled back to win 12–6. []( RIVALS MEET: The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox meet for a critical three-game series in Boston over the weekend. Entering play today, the two teams are set to face each other in the American League Wild Card play-in, but Boston, New York, Toronto and Seattle are only separated by a maximum of four games. []( This newsletter is made possible due to the generous support of our members. If you are reading this email or use FanGraphs in your daily baseball routine, please consider supporting us. [BECOME A FANGRAPHS MEMBER]( PICKOFF ARTIST: [Ryan Weathers]( a 21-year-old rookie for the San Diego Padres, leads all of baseball in pickoffs this season with nine. Runners have only stolen two bases off of him and he hasn’t been called for a balk yet. His pickoff proficiency has been historic, as he has retired those nine runners in only 89.2 innings, or 127 baserunners allowed. On a per baserunner basis, Weathers is having one of the best pickoff seasons of all time 👉 [Baseball's Newest Pickoff Artist, by Luke Hooper]( ONE OF THE BEST: [Sandy Alcantara]( has taken the next step. Already one of baseball’s [better groundball-inducers]( Alcantara has added the strikeout to his game in the second half of this season. In the process, he’s transformed from an above-average starter into one who is knocking on the door of ace status. 👉 [Sandy Alcantara Is Becoming One of Baseball's Best Pitchers, by Devan Fink]( 📚 RECENTLY PUBLISHED [LaMonte Wade Jr. Has Been a Difference-Maker]( by Jay Jaffe [Bullpen Report: September 24, 2021]( by Jon Becker [Roto Riteup: September 24, 2021]( by Justin Mason 🎧 [Chin Music, Episode 31: An Absolute Abomination]( 🎧 [FanGraphs Audio: Talking Pitching With Collin McHugh and Kyle Boddy]( ⚾️ ROSTER REPORT For the latest roster information, please visit our [RosterResource]( pages. [State of the AL wild-card race: What matters with 10 days to go, and who can win it when they get there]( by The Athletic ($) [The Long and Trout-less Road]( by Carlos Marcano, Pitcher List [The Three-Batter-Minimum Rule Hasn’t Changed Much]( by Robert Arthur, Baseball Prospectus ($) Francisco Lindor’s journey from Puerto Rican prodigy to MLB’s only Latino with a signature shoe, by Aaron Dodson, The Undefeated [These 30 prospects have eye-opening stats]( by Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo, MLB Pipeline [@fangraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [RSS]( [FORWARD]( [SUBSCRIBE]( Copyright © 2021 FanGraphs Inc, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the FanGraphs Newsletter. Our mailing address is: FanGraphs Inc 1200 N Hartford St. Apt 312Arlington, Va 22201 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](