September 21, 2021

1. Salvador Perez sets the all-time record for HRs by a catcher

Time to stand up and applaud, for the great Salvy Perez:

Here was Johnny Bench, the man whose record he beat — calling him a congratulatory “hombre muy fuerte!” last night on Twitter:

2. The catch of the night: Jesus Sanchez going barehanded

You don’t see this very often.

Here was the whole play, as it happened live:

3. The Cardinals continue their winning streak, and take over the N.L. Wild Card race

It’s unclear just how good the Cardinals are, whether they have a real shot in October, whether the hot streak is a fluke — but what’s now as clear as anything, they will be playing in the postseason. As a giant fork gets stuck, in the same moment, into the Phillies, the Reds, the Padres.

4. An update to the Wild Card races

In the American League, it’s one of the last dramatic down-to-the-wire stories left to watch in baseball — and here’s where we stand after last night:

And for what it’s worth, here’s the National League, even with the Cardinals sitting more than cozy in the catbird seat:

5. The ump show was at it again last night in the Blue Jays vs. Rays game

One of several awful calls going against Toronto in the ninth inning, when they were on the brink of coming back to win it late:

And then in the Braves game, the absolute reaction of the year from the home plate umpire — a must-watch gem of human interaction:

6. Jon Lester records his 200th career win

A very impressive milestone in this new era of maybe never seeing another pitcher reach #300 again.

7. The home run of the night: Adam Duvall

Deep. 483 feet. And the Braves bring home a much-needed win to keep their lead in the N.L. East:

8. The inspiring story of the day: Anthony Gose

Like the Rick Ankiel story, but in reverse — an amazing journey and reappearance last night in Cleveland:

Here he was pitching fireballs last night:

9. Shane Baz made a very good MLB debut for the Rays

Here was his first-career inning, the super prospect for this desperate-for-starting-pitching Rays — shutting down a dominant Blue Jays lineup:

5 innings pitched, 5 strikeouts, 2 hits, two earned runs (on two solo home runs), and here was Wander Franco to greet him after the game:

10. The Yankees finally re-activated Luis Severino

It’s been a long, long time on the IL, and we’ll wait and see if it’s too little too late for this Yankees team, in chase of the Blue Jays and Red Sox.

11. And lastly, the Rays’ third-base coach Rodney Linares made the error of the night

Wave him, wave him, wave him — STOP SIGN!!

And Kevin Kiermaier gets hung out to dry at the plate:

12. Oh wait, one more: This Yankees section throwing a foul ball back at the Blue Jays and rejoicing

The Yankees might not make the playoffs, but no one can say the fans have given up — they are dialed right in. Hilarious moment in last night’s game: