Mike McCann's Field of Fotos

It was an emotional and tasteful farewell Saturday night , as David Wright lowered the curtain on his playing days. Years of injuries, a spinal condition and several difficult surgeries cut short a career that might have been on a Coopertown track. For one final night, the Mets captain returned to Citi Field, batting third, playing 3rd base and feeling the love from a sellout crowd of more than 43,000. Below, it's his final at-bat, in fact, his final swing as he lifts a Trevor Richards pitch into foul territory down the right field line. Wright follows its path, hoping it will reach the seats. Instead, Miami 1st baseman Peter O'Brien grabs a few feet from the seats. And the frustration of knowing that there would be no storybook ending as a batter. Back in the field one final time, standing next to Jose Reyes, who came to the majors at virtually the same time as Wright. They went onto start the most games of any pair of Mets players ever -- a run ended when Reyes...

Friday was a milestone night for Mike Foltynewicz . The Braves righthander struck out nine Phillies over five innings -- giving him 202 for the season. He joins John Smoltz (1992, '93, '96, '97 and 2006), Phil Niekro (1977-79), Greg Maddux (1998), Kevin Millwood (1999) and Javier Vazquez (2009) as Atlanta pitchers who've had 200 strikeout seasons. The righthander -- the key piece who came to the Braves for Evan Gattis -- has really blossomed in his fourth major league season, lowering his ERA by two runs a game, and holding opposing batters to a combined .195 average. He joins Julio Teheran and rookie Sean Newcomb as the top starters for the surprise 2018 NL East champs. ( My image is from last night's Braves/Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park .)

The Rays commemorate their 20th anniversary with this special logo. It's been on their uniforms all season and on the field behind home plate at the Trop. Despite playing in a middle of the pack TV market in an oft-criticised dome and drawing poorly, the Rays have made the post-season four times in their history, including winning the 2008 American League pennant. And they did it with a very tight payroil which often forces them to trade away their top players before they reach free agency. Thanks to my longtime baseball travel pal Dennis Murray, who was on hand to capture this during Thursday's game between the Rays and Yankees.

The last two nights, Jacob de Grom (above) and Max Scherzer (below) showed why they're the leading contenders for the NL Cy Young Award. Wednesday, in what was likely his final start of the season, the Mets ace threw eight innings of two-hit shutout ball. That lowered his ERA to 1.70. His 10 strikeouts helped him reach 1000 for his career. And thanks to just enough hitting support from Domonic Smith and Michael Conforto, De Grom earned the victory to finish 2018 with a winning record at 10-9. Scherzer made his statement Tuesday night, when he won his 18th and became the fifth pitcher this century to reach 300 strikeouts in a season. Though he's giving up a half-run a game more than de Grom, the three-time Cy Young winner has been just as dominant, while pitching with more consistent support. Two division rivals contending for the league's most coveted pitching award -- and doing it on otherwise-disappointing teams. ( My image of de Grom is from the May 18th Mets/Di...

Yankee fans are crossing their fingers that's the case for Gary Sanchez . Widely criticised for his trouble blocking pitches in the dirt, and a shockingly sub-.200 batting average, the Yankee catcher was one of the team's standouts Tuesday night. Stuck in a 1-for-28 slump, Sanchez smacked a three-run homer at Tropicana Field to cap a seven-run 3rd inning. Later, he added an RBI single and tagged out onetime Yankee Ji Man Choi at home plate to halt a Tampa Bay rally. It was Gary's first four-RBI game since April. Of greater importance, his pitch calling and framing helped Luis Severino win his 19th. With the Yankees heading to the Wild Card game next Wednesday night -- and thanks to the Mariners extra-inning win over the A's, mostly likely in the Bronx -- the best news for Sanchez is, that like everyone else, the post-season starts with a fresh stat sheet. Everyone comes in with blanks (or zeros) across the board, so that.190 average and the league-worst total o...

Monday night's most noteworthy game took place in St. Louis, where the two top contenders for the National League Wild Card met. Let's zoom in on Lorenzo Cain . The Brewers' top of the order sparkplug contributed three hits and scored a run in Milwaukee's 6-4 win that moved them closer to locking in a post-season spot -- as well as their real goal, catching the Cubs in the NL Central. Cain brings post season success to the Brew Crew -- he played in consecutive World Series with the KC Royals -- and in 31 October and November games, has a lifetime .295 batting average and .377 on-base percentage. Those numbers helped draw him to Milwaukee, where he's delivering as promised. There'll be two more games with the Cards, before the Brewers return home for the final weekend of the season, where they'll face the very beatable Tigers. Keep in mind, the Brewers are trying to break a six-year post-season drought; in the club's 48 year Milwaukee history, they...

Didi Gregorius ' head-first dive into home plate to claim the Yankees winning run on Saturday came at a very expensive price. Sunday, we learned that on the play, the Yankees dynamic shortstop tore cartilage in his right wrist. The injury definitely kept him out of yesterday's game, which they lost to the Orioles. And we know he had a cortisone shot to less the pain. Now locked into a game with the A's a week from Wednesday, the Yanks still haven't clinched the home field advantage -- their magic number for that clinch is five. But first the Boone Crew needs to get through a difficult week on the road against the scorching Tampa Bay Rays and the already-division-champion Red Sox. And they'll likely have to play those seven games with their dynamic shortstop, whose power, defense and leadership make him as indispensible as anyone in pinstripes these days. You bet Aaron Boone, Brian Cashman and 24 other teammates are hoping that rest, meds and good luck enable D...