Yordan Alvarez wins the AL MVP

Game of the Night: Obregon 5, Hermosillo 6 (LMP, walk-off)

• Drama Index 4.60 ★★★★★ · 1 lead change · peak leverage 5.37 (bottom 9th)
• Top WPA: Dylan Jasso +0.34 (batter) · Marco Vargas +0.24 (batter) · Nestor Rios +0.20 (batter)
• Bottom WPA: Odrisamer Despaigne -0.29 (pitcher) · Samuel Zazueta -0.25 (pitcher) · Sebastián Elizalde -0.24 (batter)

Watch: Gameday (MLB.com)

Inning	Matchup	Result	Win probability	WPA	LI
Top 8th	Nestor Rios vs. Matt Foster	Single	OBR 30% → 50%	+0.20	3.18
Top 9th	Luis Urías vs. Colten Brewer	Grounded Into DP	OBR 58% → 40%	-0.19	3.43
Bot 9th	Nick Solak vs. Samuel Zazueta	Double	HER 64% → 80%	+0.17	2.22

Stat Lab Fundamentals · Lesson 6: How a run scores

Hermosillo won by a single run, 6-5. All the hits, strikeouts and outs of that game mattered only through one thing: how many runners made it home.

The idea. A run scores when a runner touches first, second, third and home plate, in that order, before the third out of the inning. He can do it in one swing, on a home run, or over several plays: a walk, a steal, a ground ball, a fly ball. The team with more runs when the game ends wins, whatever the hits, outs or errors say. One exception matters: no run scores on a play that ends the inning with a force out, or with the batter put out before he reaches first base.

The math. 6 + 5 = 11 runs in 9 innings, or 1.22 runs an inning with both teams together. The winning margin was 6 − 5 = 1. Hits are not runs: Hermosillo scored 6 on 12 hits and Obregon scored 5 on 12 hits.

The scale. Runs are the only thing that wins. Hits, strikeouts, even home runs matter only through them. A run can score without a hit: on a walk with the bases loaded, a wild pitch, a balk, an error or a sacrifice fly. The batter is credited with a run batted in, an RBI, for some of these, such as a bases-loaded walk or a sacrifice fly, but not for a wild pitch, a balk or a double play.

What it doesn’t tell you:

• Touching home is not enough on a force play. If the third out is a force out, or the batter is out before he reaches first base, no run scores on that play, even if a runner crossed the plate first.
• On a tag play it is different: if the runner touches home before the tag for the third out, the run counts.
• Runs and hits are separate counts. Runs can score on walks, wild pitches and errors, and a hit often scores nobody.

Try it. Follow one inning of a game and write down every run: who scored, and what moved him around, a hit, a walk, a steal or an error.

Go deeper: MLB Glossary: run · MLB Glossary: runs batted in · MLB Glossary: force play

Transaction Wire

Continued from page 1

• Nationals: released RHP Kyle Nicolas
  Age 27 · 2026: 7.1 IP, 8.59 ERA, -14.3% K-BB · -0.2 WAR

News

• Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong unanimously wins NL MVP — BBWAA
• Aidan Miller will be given a shot to fill one of Phillies’ needs in ‘27 — Yahoo Sports
• Cease, Smith, Varland named to All-MLB Teams — Canadian Baseball Network
• Astros’ Yordan Alvarez unanimously wins AL MVP — BBWAA

Transactions & Rumors

• Latest On Jazz Chisholm’s Market — MLB Trade Rumors
• Yankees news: Corey Seager in trade rumors — Yahoo Sports
• KBO’s Ja-Wook Koo Interested In Potential MLB Move — MLB Trade Rumors

Analysis · Prospects (5)

Analysis

• What Will It Take for the Brewers To Run It Back in 2027? — Just Baseball
• Complete Agreement — Baseball Musings
• How Emilio Pagan Impacts the Tigers’ Offseason Plan — Just Baseball
• Cup of Coffee: November 12, 2026 — Cup of Coffee (subscription)

Prospects

• 2026 New York Yankees Org Prospect Team — Prospects Live