Daily Dose: Storybook Farewell

It's rare that the narrative meets the reality, but that's exactly what we saw Thursday night at Yankee Stadium. The threat of rain ended up being a non-factor, so Derek Jeter played the final home game of his career as scheduled against the Orioles and he got to walk off the field as the hero. Hey, it's only appropriate.

Jeter began the night with a bang, blasting a pitch from Kevin Gausman off the left field wall for an RBI double in the first inning. He missed a two-run homer by just a few feet. After grounding into a fielder's choice in the second inning and striking out swinging in the fifth, Jeter came to the plate with the score tied and the bases loaded in the seventh. Facing Ryan Webb, he tapped a grounder to the left side of the infield, which resulted in a throwing error from J.J. Hardy and allowed two runs to score. Jeter was credited with an RBI on the play. It looked like that would be his last at-bat ever at Yankee Stadium, but the Orioles had other plans.

While Yankees fans were showing their appreciation to Jeter with various chants in the top of the ninth inning, Adam Jones and Steve Pearce both homered off David Robertson to stun the crowd into silence and tie the ballgame. This ensured Jeter of one more at-bat, as he was due up third in the bottom of the ninth. And wouldn't you know it, he came through. Jose Pirela had a leadoff single against Evan Meek before Brett Gardner bunted pinch-runner Antoan Richardson over to second base. Jeter then poked an opposite-field single which enabled Richardson to slide home just ahead of the tag for the game-winning run. No matter your rooting interest, it was hard not to get caught up in the drama of it all. That's storybook stuff.

This was Jeter's first walk-off hit since 2007. While the 40-year-old has really struggled for most of his farewell season, he hit .353 (12-for-34) with one home run, four doubles, and nine RBI during his final homestand. The future Hall of Famer is going out strong and really, we shouldn't have expected anything less.

Edinson Reinvented

After we saw successful reinventions with A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano over the past couple of years, Edinson Volquez might be Ray Searage's biggest success story yet.

Volquez dominated the Braves on Thursday night by striking out a season-high 10 batters over seven scoreless innings. The 31-year-old right-hander gave up just four hits and one walk while throwing 66 out of 95 pitches for strikes. Sure, the Braves are sleepwalking their way through September, but Volquez has been excellent for most of this month and will finish off the regular season with an 18-inning scoreless streak.

Many around the game were scratching their heads when the Pirates committed $5 million to Volquez over the winter. And why not, as he had an ugly 5.71 ERA over 170 1/3 innings last year between the Dodgers and Padres. However, something has clicked for him in Pittsburgh. Thursday's win moved him to 13-7 on the year and he'll finish with a 3.04 ERA and 140/71 K/BB ratio over 192 2/3 innings. His control has definitely improved, but he has also benefitted from a strong defense and a pitcher-friendly ballpark. Advanced metrics like xFIP aren't nearly as kind to him. Still, he figures to parlay his success into a multi-year deal as a free agent, whether it's in Pittsburgh or elsewhere.

David All But Done

David Ortiz isn't expected to play again this season due to left wrist inflammation, which isn't really a big deal since there are only three games remaining, but the nature of the injury is worth monitoring.

Red Sox manager John Farrell said prior to Thursday's game that the symptoms are similar to how Ortiz felt before he suffered a tear of the tendon sheath in his wrist in 2008, which ended up costing him nearly two months. The veteran slugger downplayed the situation in talking to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com after the game, but added that he's "not as stupid" as he used to be and that he's hopeful he caught the injury sooner than last time. Still, odds are he'll just sit out the weekend.

Assuming Ortiz is done for the year, he'll finish with a .263/.355/.517 batting line to go along with 35 home runs and 104 RBI. While those are his highest home run and RBI outputs since way back in 2007, his batting average has dropped 43 points from last season and his OPS has fallen from .959 to .873. His strikeout rate is only a smidgen higher that what we saw last year, so the drop in batting average can be attributed to a number of factors, including fewer line drives, more fly balls, and an increase in shifts used against him. Hopefully the wrist issue turns out to be minor, as he'll enter his age-39 season 34 homers shy of the 500-club.

AL Quick Hits: Derek Jeter won't play shortstop over the weekend against in Boston, but he is expected to pinch-hit and/or serve as the designated hitter … Miguel Cabrera launched his 24th home run of the season in Thursday's win over the Twins … Adrian Beltre slugged a walk-off solo home run in a win over the Athletics on Thursday … Victor Martinez went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a double Thursday against Minnesota … Max Scherzer won his 18th game of the season Thursday after allowing two runs in six innings against the Twins … Mookie Betts continued his hot hitting Thursday by going 3-for-5 with an RBI double against the Rays … Lorenzo Cain went 4-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI in Thursday's win over the White Sox … Logan Morrison homered twice and knocked in four runs Thursday against the Blue Jays to snap the Mariners' five-game losing streak … Rusney Castillo went 2-for-4 with his first major league home run against the Rays on Thursday … Refuting a previous report, Josh Willingham told Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press via text that he has yet to make a decision on retirement … Avisail Garcia left Thursday's game with lower back soreness and isn't expected to play Friday … An MRI on Yunel Escobar's left knee showed no tears or ligament damage … The Red Sox don't expect Mike Napoli (finger, toe, back) or Brock Holt (concussion) to return this weekend … Christian Vazquez went 4-for-4 with a two-run home run and an RBI double in Thursday's blowout win over the Rays … Trevor Plouffe will get a second opinion on his fractured left forearm before deciding on surgery … John Jaso (concussion) has been officially ruled out for the rest of the season … Jurickson Profar will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right shoulder on Friday …

NL Quick Hits: Gio Gonzalez struck out 12 batters and allowed just one hit over seven scoreless innings in a win over the Mets on Thursday night … Josh Harrison went 3-for-5 wit ha double and three runs scored in Thursday's win over the Braves … Russell Martin was back in the lineup Thursday after leaving Wednesday's game with hamstring tightness … Denard Span (knee) is expected to return to the Nationals' lineup Friday … Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said after Thursday's doubleheader that Travis d'Arnaud is dealing with a right elbow issue … Matt Garza was scratched from Friday's start against the Cubs due to right shoulder tightness and Jimmy Nelson will start in his place … Brandon Phillips went 2-for-5 with a homer Thursday and the Brewers while making his first start out of the leadoff spot since 2012 … Rickie Weeks went 2-for-3 with a solo homer and two runs scored Thursday against the Reds … Pablo Sandoval went 3-for-3 with four RBI in a win over the Padres on Thursday … Michael Morse (oblique) is not expected to play this weekend … Casey McGehee went 2-for-3 with three RBI in Thursday's win over the Phillies … Evan Gattis (kidney stone) went 0-for-2 in his return to the lineup Thursday … Curtis Granderson continued to finish strong by going 3-for-4 with a walk, a run scored, and three RBI in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader against the Nationals … Yasmani Grandal homered twice (including a grand slam) and knocked in five runs Thursday against the Giants … The Padres have ruled Odrisamer Despaigne (lat) and Everth Cabrera (hamstring) out for the rest of the season … The Diamondbacks announced Thursday that they have hired Dave Stewart as general manager and De Jon Watson as senior vice president of baseball operations …