Return of Thor

It wasn't the hammer, but Thor brought some heat Saturday.

Noah Syndergaard, pitching in an MLB game for the first time since April 30, worked a scoreless inning in Saturday's loss to the Nationals. Syndergaard started the game and allowed a one-out single before inducing an inning-ending double play.

“One inning is all I needed to get my feet wet and go into the off-season healthy,” said Syndergaard after the game.

A partially torn right lat muscle ended Syndergaard's season virtually before it started, limiting him to five April starts before he hit the disabled list. He's thrown just 28 1/3 innings this year.

He is expected to make one more start this year before heading into the offseason, likely another one-inning appearance. The date of that start hasn't been finalized.


Santana, Segura Hurt On Same Play

It was a play that didn't even happen, technically, but one that might have an impact on two different stars during the season's final week.

A collision between Jean Segura and Carlos Santana after a throw made on a foul ball left Segura with a sprained middle finger and sent Santana for X-rays on his left shoulder. Segura is considered day to day, and Indians manager Terry Francona has already said Santana won't play Sunday.

The injury happened in the fifth inning when the Mariners were batting. Segura hit a bounding ball down the third-base line, which Giovanny Urshela played but which was determined near-simultaneously to be a foul ball by the umpire. Santana, playing first base, stretched to catch the wide throw, and Segura, running slightly inside the base line, made contact with Santana.

Santana went down instantly and stayed in the game, as did Segura, who left only after getting hit in the hand by a pitch in the ninth inning.

"I think it's his shoulder," said Francona. "We won't play him Sunday, but he's going to get an X-ray that's precautionary. But you could see the way he was swinging (after the collision) that he was letting it go pretty good."

Segura means a lot to the Mariners offense, but it's Santana, a key cog in a postseason-bound team, that's the greater concern here. The 31-year-old is hitting .259/.366/.464 with 23 homers, 78 RBI and 90 runs scored on the year while manning first base for the club.

The worst news, at least until we hear more from Santana's X-ray, is for fantasy owners. With a handful of games left in the regular season, even day to day injuries like that of Segura, and possibly Santana as well, could spell the end of the season for a guy. Fantasy owners, take note.

Brewers Keep Hopes Alive In Dramatic Fashion

The Brewers' season was slipping away with every close loss.

So Travis Shaw wrote a new ending, to Saturday's game and possibly the regular season for the Crew.

Down a run in the 10th inning and staring in the face another crushing defeat, Shaw took Cubs closer Wade Davis deep to left-center field for a two-run, walk-off home run that moved the Brewers to within a game of the Rockies for the second Wild Card spot in the National League. The Rockies lost 5-0 to the Padres on Saturday.

The Brewers had been on the wrong side of a few dispiriting losses in recent days, having lost three straight games by a total of five combined runs coming into Saturday's contest. Another loss would have meant not only losing even more ground to the Central-leading Cubs, but also failing to make progress in the Wild Card race on a day that both the Rockies and Cardinals lost.

As it is, the Brewers are in the thick of it with the two aforementioned clubs. With much of the drama having already been taken out of divisional and American League Wild Card races, the NL's three-horse race down the stretch of the regular season will be the one to watch this week.

National League Quick Hits: Bryce Harper (knee) made it through another simulated game Saturday without issue. MASN's Mark Zuckerman says Harper "sounds ready" to return to the active roster, but the Nationals will wait until Sunday to decide on the best course of action ... Ryan Zimmerman won't play this weekend due to general soreness. It's nothing major, but the NL East-champion Nationals want to be sure the veteran first baseman is rested and ready for the playoffs ... Giancarlo Stanton finished 3-for-6 with a double, a solo home run, two runs scored and four RBI in Saturday's victory at Arizona. Stanton is up to 57 homers for the season. The slugger has eight more games to reach the magical 60-homer mark, and three of those outings come at Coors Field in Denver starting on Monday ... Justin Turner (thumb) remained out of the Dodgers' starting lineup on Saturday. Turner suffered a right thumb contusion Thursday when he was hit by a pitch. X-rays turned up negative and he is still considered day-to-day ... X-rays turned up negative on Hyun-Jin Ryu's left forearm. Ryu was removed from his start Saturday night against the Giants after getting struck by a Joe Panik comebacker in the top of the third inning. He only suffered a contusion, but that contusion could keep him from making another start before the end of the regular season ... Jose Martinez has been diagnosed with a left thumb sprain. The good news is X-rays and an MRI exam revealed no significant damage, but the bad news is there is just one week remaining in the regular season and Martinez might not see much more action -- if any at all. The 29-year-old first baseman and corner outfielder has impressed to a .309/.376/.516 slash line in 2017 ... Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Braves have agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million contract extension with Kurt Suzuki. Mark Bowman of MLB.com had first reported that the two sides were close on an agreement. The 33-year-old backstop has had one of the finest seasons of his career this year, slashing .271/.343/.525 with a career-best 18 homers and 47 RBI in just 287 plate appearances.


American League Quick Hits: Miguel Cabrera will undergo an MRI on his back. Cabrera has been bothered by lower back discomfort for the last couple of months and he had to make an early exit from Saturday's game against the Twins after hitting a single in the bottom of the first inning. It sounds like an early shutdown could be in order for the 34-year-old slugger, even if the MRI shows no major damage ... Sean Manaea has been scratched from his scheduled start Saturday against the Rangers due to a back issue. Manaea called the issue "minor" and said he expects to make one more start before the end of the regular season ... Jose Abreu went 1-for-4 with two RBI in a loss to the Royals on Saturday. Abreu had an RBI single in the first inning and added an RBI ground out in the seventh, driving in both of the Sox's runs. The first baseman now has four consecutive 100-RBI seasons, and he's just the third player in MLB history -- along with Joe DiMaggio and Albert Pujols -- with four seasons of 100 RBI and 25 homers to begin their career ... Eduardo Rodriguez allowed just three hits while firing 7 2/3 scoreless frames in a 5-0 win over the Reds on Saturday. The Reds may not be a winning team but they can hit, and Rodriguez shut them down with ease in this one. He struck out six batters, walked two and surrendered just three harmless singles. The 24-year-old left-hander improves to 6-6 with a 3.91 ERA through 23 starts (plus one relief appearance). He has an excellent 148:48 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 135 2/3 innings ... Tigers' manager Brad Ausmus said Saturday that Mikie Mahtook is dealing with a grade 2 groin strain and is likely to miss the remainder of the 2017 season. It's a tough finish to the season for the 27-year-old who had a breakthrough season offensively. He presumably finishes the season hitting .276/.330/.457 with 12 homers, 38 RBI and six stolen bases. He should have a leg up on a starting job in the Tigers' outfield heading into 2018 ... Justin Upton cracked a pair of solo home runs during a loss to the Astros on Saturday ... Efren Navarro clubbed a pair of solo dingers during a loss to the Twins on Saturday. He didn't even start the game, coming in to replace the injured Miguel Cabrera in the second inning. He popped an Ervin Santana offering over the wall in the sixth inning and then victimized reliever Gabriel Moya in the ninth. The dingers were the first of the season for Navarro.