Make it nine victories in a row. Anthony Rendon, who was scheduled to have a day off, came to the plate as a pinch-hitter and singled home the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to help the Nationals edge the D-backs, 3-2, at Nationals Park on Wednesday night.

They filled the seats and both levels of the outfield berm, a crowd more than 34,000 strong that included Major League Baseball’s Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred and hundreds of signs bearing the nation’s hottest first name: Mo’ne. And this was her Mo’ment. Alas, all the lead-up to young Ms. Davis’ latest Little League World Series endeavor at Howard J. Lamade Stadium on Wednesday night could not surmount the inevitable ups and downs of the sport.

It was no coincidence that Rob Manfred’s first major public appearance as Commissioner-elect came not at a Major League game, but here in the shadows of the Susquehanna River at the Little League World Series at Howard J. Lamade Stadium on Wednesday night. That he showed up on the night Sports Illustrated cover girl and national sensation Mo’ne Davis was pitching was probably no coincidence, either.

In “Ted Williams, My Father,” Claudia Williams demonstrates that she is very much her father’s daughter. She has written a memoir that is tender and tough, poignant and heartbreaking, sweet and raw. And so honest that at times it feels like peeping into a stranger’s window.

Christian Yelich spent the first nine games in August batting .200 (7-for-35), but he turned it around when Miami returned home with hits in eight straight games entering Wednesday.

Though Dustin Ackley has been swinging a hot bat of late, Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon gave the outfielder a day off Wednesday to rest a sore back and also take advantage of Thursday’s off-day.

The Rangers see Derek Holland making progress in his recovery from offseason knee surgery. They still don’t see him ready to return to the Major Leagues.

Although the Pirates dropped their season-worst seventh straight Tuesday, they did get reigning NL MVP Award winner Andrew McCutchen back from the DL, and the Bucs are still very much in position to make a run at an NL Wildcard spot.

The disease that became known around the world because of one Major League Baseball superstar in New York is now front-and-center in public attention, and on Wednesday morning the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was taken up outside the MLB central headquarters by Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred, Joe Torre and 167 staffers in Midtown Manhattan.

Every lineup, every day, as they are made public by the clubs.

Hisashi Iwakuma fanned 11 in eight scoreless innings and picked up his 12th win on Tuesday. He and Felix Hernandez are on pace to become the third set of teammates in the live-ball era to each finish the year with a sub-1.00 WHIP.

It’s tough to define “great athlete.” We think we know how to identify the qualifying traits, but we also know we can be surprised. So who are the best all-around athletes in baseball today? It’s pretty subjective and open for extensive social media debate, we’re sure. MLB.com’s Doug Miller takes a look at 10 of the leading contenders.

Top prospect from the Rangers’ and Padres’ organizations will meet in Texas League matchup on Wednesday when Joey Gallo and Double-A Frisco take on Austin Hedges and San Antonio.

Baseball, as a competitive proposition, has been headed in the direction of inclusion for some time. Still, it would be difficult to grasp a postseason that contained neither the Red Sox nor the Yankees. You take a notion like this and it doesn’t really fit into any conventional baseball source material. Maybe a better fit would be “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.”

Curt Schilling said Wednesday that he believes his use of smokeless tobacco led to oral cancer that required radiation and chemotherapy. Schilling revealed the type of cancer he had while speaking on WEEI Radio during the Boston station’s annual fund-raising broadcast for the Jimmy Fund.

The Wrigley Field grounds crew encountered difficulty during Tuesday’s game between the Cubs and Giants, leading to a four-hour, 34-minute delay that ultimately led to the game getting called early because of unplayable field conditions.

Aaron Harang went 8 1/3 strong innings and Justin Upton led the charge with five RBIs as the Braves pushed their win streak to five with an 11-3 rout of the Pirates on Tuesday at PNC Park.