MLB Scores September 25, 2026: AL Central Race Stays Tight
Every MLB score and recap from September 25, 2026, as Cleveland and Chicago both won and Arizona rolled past San Diego.
Toronto Blue Jays stadium photographed by Tim Gouw. Used under the Unsplash License.
Cleveland and Chicago remained one game apart, Arizona erupted for 11 runs, and Boston swept a doubleheader from the Cubs.
The MLB scores from September 25, 2026, kept the American League Central race on a knife edge. Cleveland survived a slugfest in Kansas City, while the Chicago White Sox answered with a decisive home victory over Colorado.
Meanwhile, Arizona strengthened its late push with an 11-4 win at San Diego. Boston also swept a day-night doubleheader from Chicago, and Baltimore and New York split two games in the Bronx.
Below is an original capsule for every Friday game. Final scores, pitching decisions and records were verified against the official MLB scoreboard for September 25.
Detroit Tigers 8, Pittsburgh Pirates 7
Detroit built an eight-run cushion and then survived Pittsburgh’s five-run eighth inning. Spencer Torkelson drove the comeback from an early deficit with a two-run triple and later added his 28th homer, finishing a single short of the cycle.
In addition, Dillon Dingler supplied a two-run single during Detroit’s six-run fourth. Rafael Flores Jr. made the finish tense with a three-run homer for Pittsburgh, but Kenley Jansen secured the final outs.
Winning pitcher: Jackson Jobe (3-3)
Losing pitcher: Bubba Chandler (8-10)
Save: Kenley Jansen (22)
Tampa Bay Rays 2, Philadelphia Phillies 0
Freddy Peralta and the Tampa Bay bullpen combined on a shutout as the Rays moved to 97 wins. Jonny DeLuca opened the scoring with a first-inning RBI single, and Nick Fortes followed with a solo homer in the second.
However, Philadelphia starter Cristopher Sánchez kept the game close while striking out 10. Bryan Baker ultimately protected the two-run lead for his 41st save.
Winning pitcher: Freddy Peralta (10-11)
Losing pitcher: Cristopher Sánchez (18-7)
Save: Bryan Baker (41)
Washington Nationals 7, New York Mets 6
Washington scored six times in the first three innings and held off a late New York rally. CJ Abrams started the attack with a two-run single, while Daylen Lile and Keibert Ruiz helped expand the advantage.
Still, the Mets made it close behind home runs from Bo Bichette and Carson Benge. Benge became the first Mets rookie to post a 20-homer, 20-steal season, but Josiah Gray closed the one-run win.
Winning pitcher: Gus Varland (2-2)
Losing pitcher: Jonathan Pintaro (2-3)
Save: Josiah Gray (1)
Toronto Blue Jays 6, Cincinnati Reds 5
Toronto scored four runs in the seventh inning to erase a 5-2 deficit. Kazuma Okamoto delivered his second run-scoring double of the night, and Nathan Lukes followed with the go-ahead single.
Earlier, Elly De La Cruz had powered Cincinnati with a two-run double and his 30th stolen base, completing a 30-homer, 30-steal season. Nevertheless, Louis Varland retired the Reds in the ninth.
Winning pitcher: Brandon Fluharty (7-1)
Losing pitcher: Luis Mey (0-2)
Save: Louis Varland (35)
Miami Marlins 3, Atlanta Braves 0
Eury Pérez threw a one-hit complete-game shutout, becoming the first Marlins pitcher since Edinson Vólquez’s 2017 no-hitter to allow one hit or fewer in a complete game. Atlanta’s only hit was a Sean Murphy single.
After six scoreless innings, Joe Mack broke the tie with his 14th homer. Heriberto Hernández added an RBI single in the eighth, and Griffin Conine followed with his 18th home run.
Winning pitcher: Eury Pérez (8-11)
Losing pitcher: Grant Holmes (10-6)
Cleveland Guardians 12, Kansas City Royals 9
Cleveland won a back-and-forth slugfest to preserve its one-game AL Central lead. Angel Martínez drove in two runs in the first, and Austin Hedges homered in the second before the Guardians pulled away late.
Kansas City repeatedly answered, including a two-run Carter Jensen homer and run-scoring hits from Jac Caglianone. However, Cleveland’s offense produced the final decisive rally, and Hunter Gaddis earned the relief victory.
Winning pitcher: Hunter Gaddis (6-3)
Losing pitcher: Nate Pearson (2-4)
Chicago White Sox 6, Colorado Rockies 1
Munetaka Murakami homered twice as Chicago stayed directly behind Cleveland in the AL Central. His first-inning blast gave the White Sox an early cushion, and his second shot in the seventh supplied insurance.
Meanwhile, Sean Burke limited Colorado to TJ Rumfield’s solo homer. Miguel Vargas and Kyle Teel also produced sacrifice flies as Chicago methodically widened the lead.
Winning pitcher: Sean Burke (11-7)
Losing pitcher: Tomoyuki Sugano (12-12)
Milwaukee Brewers 8, St. Louis Cardinals 4
Milwaukee scored in five different innings and reached 101 victories. Brice Turang doubled home the first run, while Jake Bauers and Jackson Chourio helped the Brewers build a 4-1 advantage by the fifth.
St. Louis briefly drew even on Iván Herrera’s 19th homer and later threatened again. Yet Milwaukee’s late offense restored the separation, and Abner Uribe collected the win in relief.
Winning pitcher: Abner Uribe (6-3)
Losing pitcher: Luis Gastelum (5-4)
Minnesota Twins 10, Texas Rangers 2
Minnesota scored seven runs across the second and third innings, then cruised behind Joe Ryan. The Twins finished with 12 hits and won their third consecutive game.
Texas answered only once in the third and once in the eighth. As a result, the Rangers missed an opportunity to move ahead of idle Houston in the AL West standings.
Winning pitcher: Joe Ryan (7-10)
Losing pitcher: Jacob deGrom (11-11)
Athletics 6, Houston Astros 5
The Athletics built a 6-3 lead and survived Houston’s two-run ninth-inning rally. Jacob Lopez worked into the middle innings effectively enough to earn his seventh victory.
Houston brought the tying run into play late, but Hogan Harris recorded the final outs for his 17th save. Therefore, the Astros remained tied with Texas at 79-81 atop the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Jacob Lopez (7-5)
Losing pitcher: Hunter Brown (6-4)
Save: Hogan Harris (17)
Arizona Diamondbacks 11, San Diego Padres 4
Arizona turned only eight hits into 11 runs and broke the game open with a six-run seventh inning. The Diamondbacks scored in four consecutive frames from the fourth through the seventh.
San Diego collected 10 hits but could not keep pace after Arizona’s late surge. Brandon Pfaadt earned the win, while Casey Mize took the loss for the Padres.
Winning pitcher: Brandon Pfaadt (8-3)
Losing pitcher: Casey Mize (6-10)
Los Angeles Angels 7, Seattle Mariners 5
The Angels scored five runs through six innings and then withstood Seattle’s late comeback. Los Angeles added a valuable insurance run in the ninth before the Mariners scored three times in the bottom half.
Even so, Seattle’s rally stopped two runs short. Reid Detmers earned his seventh victory, and Bryce Miller was charged with the loss.
Winning pitcher: Reid Detmers (7-8)
Losing pitcher: Bryce Miller (4-10)
Los Angeles Dodgers 2, San Francisco Giants 0
Tarik Skubal and two relievers combined on a three-hit shutout. Los Angeles scored both runs in the second inning, and the pitching staff made that early margin hold.
San Francisco did not commit an error, but it never advanced a sustained threat. Finally, Tanner Scott finished the ninth for his 24th save.
Winning pitcher: Tarik Skubal (12-7)
Losing pitcher: Yunior Marte (0-2)
Save: Tanner Scott (24)
Boston Red Sox 4, Chicago Cubs 3 — Game 1
Boston rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win the opener of the doubleheader. The Red Sox scored twice in the fifth, tied the game in the seventh and pushed across the winning run in the eighth.
Chicago had jumped ahead with one run in the first and two in the second. However, the Cubs did not score again, and Rainel Burgos protected Boston’s one-run advantage.
Winning pitcher: Zack Weissert (4-2)
Losing pitcher: Aaron Civale (6-8)
Save: Rainel Burgos (2)
Boston Red Sox 2, Chicago Cubs 0 — Game 2
Boston completed the sweep with a four-hit shutout in the nightcap. After seven scoreless innings, the Red Sox finally broke through for two runs in the eighth.
The Cubs collected seven hits but could not convert them into a run. Consequently, Wikelman Paez earned the victory and Chicago fell to 88-73.
Winning pitcher: Wikelman Paez (1-1)
Losing pitcher: Javier Assad (6-2)
Baltimore Orioles 10, New York Yankees 2 — Game 1
Baltimore scored eight runs over the final three innings to turn a close opener into a rout. The Orioles collected 12 hits and kept New York scoreless until the ninth.
Albert Suárez earned the victory for Baltimore, while Brennan Beck took the loss. The result briefly denied the Yankees a chance to close ground on Tampa Bay.
Winning pitcher: Albert Suárez (3-0)
Losing pitcher: Brennan Beck (0-2)
New York Yankees 6, Baltimore Orioles 3 — Game 2
New York answered in the nightcap, scoring five times across the second and third innings. Baltimore trimmed the margin with three runs in the fifth, but the Yankees added insurance in the eighth.
Will Warren delivered the winning start as New York secured a doubleheader split. Meanwhile, Mitch Young absorbed his sixth loss for Baltimore.
Winning pitcher: Will Warren (11-6)
Losing pitcher: Mitch Young (9-6)
September 25 MLB Scores at a Glance
- Detroit Tigers 8, Pittsburgh Pirates 7
- Tampa Bay Rays 2, Philadelphia Phillies 0
- Washington Nationals 7, New York Mets 6
- Toronto Blue Jays 6, Cincinnati Reds 5
- Miami Marlins 3, Atlanta Braves 0
- Cleveland Guardians 12, Kansas City Royals 9
- Chicago White Sox 6, Colorado Rockies 1
- Milwaukee Brewers 8, St. Louis Cardinals 4
- Minnesota Twins 10, Texas Rangers 2
- Athletics 6, Houston Astros 5
- Arizona Diamondbacks 11, San Diego Padres 4
- Los Angeles Angels 7, Seattle Mariners 5
- Los Angeles Dodgers 2, San Francisco Giants 0
- Boston Red Sox 4, Chicago Cubs 3 (Game 1)
- Boston Red Sox 2, Chicago Cubs 0 (Game 2)
- Baltimore Orioles 10, New York Yankees 2 (Game 1)
- New York Yankees 6, Baltimore Orioles 3 (Game 2)
MLB Division Standings Through September 25, 2026
The records below reflect every game completed Friday and match the official MLB division standings.
American League
East
- Tampa Bay Rays: 97-63
- New York Yankees: 93-68
- Boston Red Sox: 87-74
- Baltimore Orioles: 79-82
- Toronto Blue Jays: 78-82
Central
- Cleveland Guardians: 84-76
- Chicago White Sox: 83-77
- Minnesota Twins: 76-84
- Detroit Tigers: 75-85
- Kansas City Royals: 68-92
West
- Houston Astros: 79-81
- Texas Rangers: 79-81
- Seattle Mariners: 74-86
- Athletics: 64-96
- Los Angeles Angels: 62-98
National League
East
- Atlanta Braves: 93-67
- Philadelphia Phillies: 87-73
- Miami Marlins: 79-81
- Washington Nationals: 76-84
- New York Mets: 73-87
Central
- Milwaukee Brewers: 101-59
- Chicago Cubs: 88-73
- Pittsburgh Pirates: 81-79
- St. Louis Cardinals: 77-83
- Cincinnati Reds: 74-86
West
- Los Angeles Dodgers: 98-62
- San Diego Padres: 89-71
- Arizona Diamondbacks: 86-74
- San Francisco Giants: 65-95
- Colorado Rockies: 57-103
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