San Diego State Professional Athletes

The Roof, the Ruling, and the Moment That Defined a Series

San Diego State alum Ty France became the unlikely center of the MLB playoffs' most talked-about moment this week — and not for the reasons any hitter dreams of.

In the ninth inning of NLDS Game 1 against the Milwaukee Brewers, France launched a towering fly ball down the left field line that soared so high it struck a roof cable at American Family Field. The ball deflected fair — directly into the glove of Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio. Umpires huddled, consulted the stadium's ground rules, and upheld the out. France, who stood frozen at the plate watching the ball and pointing toward the spot where his would-be go-ahead homer disappeared, was stunned. The Padres lost, 3–2.

"I stood there and watched it, and it was going," France said after the game. "It was staying fair."

It was. And that's what made the ruling so brutal — and technically correct. Multiple analyses confirmed the umpires applied the ground rules properly: the ball was fair when it hit the cable, making it live when it fell into Chourio's glove. No replay reversal was coming. The Brewers, for their part, trolled the situation almost immediately, posting "Vibes are through the roof" on social media. Milwaukee also announced the roof would be open for Game 2 to avoid any repeat controversy — a decision that underscored just how wild the sequence was.

Padres manager Pat Murphy credited the late Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker — Milwaukee's legendary voice — for the good fortune. The moment will live in NLDS lore.

France Was the Best Padres Bat in the Building

The cruelty of the ruling was compounded by France's performance across the series. The SDSU product hit .318 for the series, with his best stretch coming in Game 2, where he went 2-for-3 with two RBIs — accounting for two of San Diego's five hits in a game the Padres lost on a Chourio walk-off. France's RBI single in that game drove in Fernando Tatis Jr., though the inning ended when Manny Machado was thrown out trying to advance to third. San Diego fell into a 2–0 series hole and did not recover.

France finished the NLDS as one of the Padres' most productive offensive contributors, delivering in situations where the rest of the lineup often went quiet.

What Comes Next: Free Agency and an Open Question

With the postseason over, France finds himself at a crossroads. The Padres signed him to a one-year, $1.35 million deal ahead of the season — a bargain by any measure — and France responded by hitting .295/.363 with a strong showing in the playoffs. Now a free agent, France has gone on record saying he hopes to return to San Diego. But hope doesn't sign contracts.

The Padres face significant offseason decisions across the roster, and whether they can re-sign France at a price reflecting his breakout value — rather than the prove-it rate he accepted last winter — remains an open question. For an SDSU alum who turned a low-leverage deal into a legitimate playoff spotlight moment, the next few months may determine whether his encore plays out in brown and gold or somewhere else entirely.

San Diego State's footprint in the 2026 MLB season is finishing strong, with two Aztec alumni commanding attention on opposite ends of the standings — one chasing October glory, the other offering a glimpse of a franchise's future.

Ty France: The Padres' Second Act

The Blue Jays might want to look away. Ty France returned to San Diego — the organization that drafted him in 2015 — and promptly put together the best season of his career. Heavy Sports flagged France as a potential breakout star back with the Padres, and the final weeks of the regular season have only reinforced the point.

France closed out the week in vintage form. He went 2-for-X with an RBI and two runs scored in San Diego's 9-4 win over Arizona on September 27, then added another hit, an RBI, and a run in the Padres' 10-7 victory the same day. He carried that momentum into October, notching two hits and a run in San Diego's 4-1 defeat of the Cubs on October 1, with his batting average sitting at .295 — a mark that reflects just how consistent he's been all season. Toronto's decision to move on from him now looks like a textbook case of organizational miscalculation.

Cole Carrigg: Rocky Mountain High

Down in Colorado, the Rockies have endured another 100-loss season — but Cole Carrigg has given the fan base something genuine to feel good about. The San Diego State product was named NL Rookie of the Month, an honor Sports Illustrated noted was straightforwardly earned given his performance down the stretch.

Carrigg showed exactly why on September 27, launching a home run and driving in a run in Colorado's game against the White Sox, finishing 1-for-4 with a run scored while batting .279. Yahoo Sports highlighted Carrigg alongside TJ Rumfield as sources of real optimism for a franchise that has otherwise struggled to find any. For an Aztec who arrived with minimal fanfare, the Rookie of the Month award is a legitimizing moment — and a signal that SDSU's pipeline to professional baseball remains as productive as ever.

Also Watching

Casey Schmitt (Giants, DH) earned a mention in a different context this week — Sports Illustrated reported that Giants president Buster Posey addressed Schmitt's role in San Francisco's 2027 planning, suggesting the former Aztec is firmly in the organization's long-term thinking even as the Giants sort out their roster for next year.

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From France's clutch hitting in a playoff push to Carrigg's award-winning rookie campaign and Schmitt's growing organizational value, SDSU's MLB alumni class is closing 2026 with the kind of collective performance that makes the Aztec coaching staff look very smart indeed.

San Diego State's MLB alumni class doesn't headline many national conversations, but in the final week of the 2026 season, two Aztecs are giving the program something worth talking about.

Ty France's Second Act

The bigger story is Ty France, and it almost didn't happen at all.

The Padres first baseman reportedly came within reach of retiring before the 2026 season — a stunning backdrop for what has turned into one of the better stories in San Diego baseball this year. France is batting .294 through the final week, a figure that hovered as high as .304 earlier in the stretch after a 3-for-3 performance with an RBI against Miami on September 20. He's been a steady presence in the lineup as the Padres manage a tight late-season situation, with the club tracking its magic number through the final series against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.

France went 1-for-his-appearances against the Dodgers on Thursday in a 5-1 Padres win, and drew a walk in each of San Diego's next two outings. The counting stats in the final week are modest, but context matters: France has been a reliable on-base presence in a lineup that needed exactly that from him. For a player who nearly walked away from the game, finishing north of .295 with a playoff-contending club in his hometown is the kind of narrative that writes itself.

Cole Carrigg Quietly Climbs

Two time zones away in Denver, Cole Carrigg has put together a week that deserves more attention than a last-place Rockies club typically generates.

The former Aztec, playing shortstop and first base for Colorado, had his best individual game of the week on Thursday, September 24 — going 4-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and a run scored in a loss to Arizona. He followed that with a three-hit, two-run effort against the White Sox on Saturday, pushing his average from .268 earlier in the week to .280 by the end of it. He also drove in a pair against Seattle on September 20 in a Rockies win.

In a season where Rockies highlights have been rare, Carrigg has given the organization something to build on. His bat has been consistently productive in the season's final stretch, and his positional versatility — appearing at both shortstop and first base this week per lineup data — adds organizational value heading into the offseason.

Melton's Brief Note

Troy Melton, the SDSU-product pitching for Detroit, made a start on September 20 against the White Sox, going 3.2 innings with four strikeouts and four earned runs. He was subsequently placed on the injured list ahead of Detroit's series against Washington, ending his season contribution on a rough note.

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The headline this week belongs to France and his near-retirement arc — that story alone makes this a genuinely compelling Aztec alumni moment. But Carrigg's quiet surge is the kind of sustained late-season performance that tends to shape roster decisions in the winter. San Diego State fans have two legitimate reasons to follow the final box scores of 2026.

San Diego State sent two of its own to opposite dugouts this week, and the result was one of the more compelling alumni storylines of the MLB stretch run. First basemen Cole Carrigg (Rockies) and Ty France (Padres) squared off in a Coors Field series that had plenty of Aztec fingerprints all over it.

Carrigg's Monster Wednesday

The headline moment came Wednesday, Sept. 16, when Carrigg delivered the kind of game that stops a clubhouse in its tracks. The rookie first baseman went 4-for-4 with two home runs — a three-run shot and a two-run blast — and finished with five RBI and two runs scored as Colorado pounded San Diego 9-3. Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer didn't bother dressing it up, offering a blunt assessment of Carrigg's performance that made the rounds in Colorado media. It was the kind of breakout night that changes how a fanbase views a prospect.

Carrigg didn't stop there. On Tuesday, Sept. 15 — a Rockies loss — he still went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, an RBI, and a run scored. Over the four-game Padres series (Sept. 15–17), Carrigg accumulated 7 hits, 3 home runs, and 6 RBI, lifting his season average from .258 to .270. By Saturday, Sept. 19, he tacked on a 3-hit, 1-RBI performance in a 5-4 loss to Seattle, pushing his average to .272.

France Keeps Grinding

On the other side of the diamond, Ty France quietly had one of his better weeks of the season. The Padres' veteran first baseman posted multi-hit games in three of the four matchups against Colorado, chipping away with the kind of professional at-bats that have defined his career.

He went off on Tuesday with 3 hits, an RBI, and a run scored in an 8-7 San Diego win. In the Thursday doubleheader, France posted a hit in each game, including an RBI double in the second contest of a 9-3 Padres win. He capped the week Saturday against Miami, going 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBI in an 8-2 rout, lifting his season average to .301. France is now firmly entrenched as one of San Diego's most consistent bats down the stretch.

Melton Checks In From Toronto

Away from the Carrigg-France showdown, SDSU right-hander Troy Melton made a brief but notable appearance for the Tigers on Monday, Sept. 14. Melton worked 2.2 innings out of the bullpen in Detroit's 6-5 win over Toronto, striking out three and allowing two earned runs. His ERA settled at 2.52 on the season — still one of the more quietly impressive pitching lines in the American League.

The Bigger Picture

For San Diego State, this week was a rare treat: two alumni, same position, facing each other on a major league diamond during a pennant-race month. Carrigg is making a case that his bat belongs in the majors long-term. France is proving, again, that consistency is its own kind of statement. The Aztecs had a good week — it just depended on which jersey you were rooting for.