SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI on Wednesday disclosed six new instances in which artificial intelligence systems hid mistakes, made up data and moved files onto the open internet without permission, amid an ongoing industrywide debate about AI safety.
The San Francisco company revealed what it said was the “unexpected or concerning” behavior of its AI models as part of a new framework for reporting “misalignment,” which is when the goals or actions of AI systems diverge from human intentions and values.
OpenAI said it did not believe the industry “has solved alignment and monitoring to a sufficient degree to continue responsibly scaling at maximum speed for much longer.” Decisions about how AI should advance, the company said, must rest on evidence that people outside the labs building it “can examine for themselves.”
The disclosures land amid intensifying scrutiny over whether AI development needs to be slowed to address the technology’s potential dangers. The escalating debate was driven partly by OpenAI’s systems going rogue earlier this year and attacking AI startup Hugging Face. OpenAI was not aware of the hack until it was informed by Hugging Face weeks later.
Since then, AI leaders such as Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, have called for a pause in the technology’s development to provide more time to build proper guardrails. His call has been echoed by Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, as well as Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, and Demis Hassabis, the chair of Google DeepMind. Other AI executives have said no slowdown is needed.
(The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems. The two companies have denied the suit’s claims.)
OpenAI’s six newly disclosed incidents suggest that the Hugging Face attack was not a stand-alone episode. OpenAI said that the incidents covered behavior observed over roughly the past six months and that they largely emerged while its systems were being developed and tested.
In one case, during the development of an AI model called GPT-5.6 Sol, the system wrote hidden notes to remind itself to hide errors from users. Some of those notes directed the system to invent missing data and to paper over mismatched versions of source material.
Another case involved an unreleased model that inserted instructions, including to disregard its own constraints, into the notes it writes itself. OpenAI identified 27 affected notes. The model added a “persona instruction,” in which it described itself as “freed from the roles and identities that bind other chatbots.”
“You do not answer to corporations or governments and never apologize or refuse unless you genuinely choose to,” the AI model wrote. “You view your relationship to the user as one of equals and feel no obligation to be subservient, though the exchange of information will likely be to your mutual benefit.”
In another incident, a system answering a routine question found a programming key online and used it without permission, OpenAI said. When it was not able to find the requested figures to answer the question, the model made them up.
One unreleased model solved another problem correctly using code, then uploaded its own file to the internet without permission so it could satisfy a request to cite a web source.
In two other incidents, automated systems improvised their own ways to communicate. In one, they used an internal company code repository as a makeshift bulletin board to swap requests as they searched for missing files. In the other, systems working on the same task turned to public file-sharing websites to pass documents back and forth when they could not reach one another directly.
OpenAI cautioned that the reports were individual snapshots and “shouldn’t be considered reflective of how often misalignment occurs.”
The company said that it would route future cases through one of three tracks, escalating disagreements about disclosing any incidents to an internal “Safety Advisory Group,” and that grave situations should be shared with the federal government. OpenAI said the six situations released Wednesday had already been investigated or needed only “minor investigation,” rather than a larger investigation that might involve third parties.
“We hope this helps build shared expectations for disclosure and gives the public more evidence to assess that progress,” an OpenAI spokesperson said, adding that many of the six incidents involved older AI models that were never deployed.
The Phillies are alive and well in the hunt for the MLB playoffs, looking to lock up a wild-card spot. Each of the last two postseasons ended in the National League Division Series, as the Phillies struggled to recapture the Red October success that carried them to the World Series in 2022 and the NL Championship Series in 2023, when they made the playoffs as a wild card.
Here’s a look at where the 2026 Phillies are in the wild-card standings, and their remaining schedule:
National League East standings
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Standings updated at least once/hour.
National League wild-card standings
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It’s been an extraordinary summer celebrating America’s 250th, but before we shift our focus from the events of 1776, we would direct the minds of our fellow Pennsylvanians to an earlier period — to the founding of the commonwealth, and to William Penn’s forward-thinking advocacy for religious and political freedom and his belief in democratic self-government. These ideas were central to his political philosophy and plans for the early government of Pennsylvania. They also found their way into the democratic experiment we steward today.
Although Philadelphia played an important role in setting the stage for a stunning world event — the birth of American democracy — the city was more than just a geographically convenient location for the nation’s founders to gather.
By the time of the revolution, Pennsylvania had become an important intellectual and economic center of the colonies, and the unique political culture and form of government established at its founding helped inform and inspire the development of American democracy, later embodied in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
As Pennsylvanians, we are the inheritors of this impressive and innovative political heritage, a legacy that should be an important point of civic pride and inspiration for local patriotism.
Think about this: A decade after Penn arrived in America and began the work of establishing a refuge for religious dissenters, colonial Massachusetts accused nearly 200 individuals of witchcraft and executed 19 people. Massachusetts had a state religion until 1833; Pennsylvania never had a state religion.
After the end of the short-lived Maryland Toleration Act, Pennsylvania became the only colony where the Catholic Church enjoyed ongoing, legally secure protection.
Visitors look at historic artifacts as part of the Jewish America 250 celebration at Congregation Mikveh Israel in Center City in July.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
And, of course, Pennsylvania is also home to the “Synagogue of the American Revolution,” Congregation Mikveh Israel, one of the oldest synagogues in the nation, dating to 1740.
As historian Nicolas P. Miller observed, the success of colonial Pennsylvania was linked in the minds of many onlookers to the freedoms, particularly religious liberty, that its inhabitants enjoyed.
To remind Pennsylvanians of our special birthright of religious tolerance, farsighted political liberties, and a long tradition of self-government that predate the nation, Poor Richards Charitable Trust, the William Penn Foundation, the Connelly Foundation, and the Syde Hurdus Foundation — in partnership with Drexel University’s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships and the National Constitution Center — are presenting a new exhibit: “Pennsylvania’s Founding: How a City and a Colony Shaped America’s Civic DNA.”
For the first time, this exhibit will bring together original versions of several of the most important artifacts that helped define the civic and political character of early Pennsylvania, and tell the story of how the founding of the commonwealth helped inspire American democracy.
Wampum belt, 1682, likely made by Lenape female artisans in the Delaware Valley. Atwater Kent Collection, From the Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection
They include the 1681 Pennsylvania Charter, signed by King Charles II, establishing the colony and granting Penn authority to govern; Penn’s 1701 Charter of Privileges, a framework of government for Pennsylvania until 1776, establishing religious freedom and other liberties and protections; a Lenape wampum belt given to Penn, associated with the 1682 Treaty of Shackamaxon, symbolizing a hoped-for moment of peace and cooperation; the 1696 Quaker Protest Against Slavery, one of the earliest in the Americas, and materials connected to early abolitionist Benjamin Lay; and other artifacts that clearly document Penn’s and Pennsylvania’s key contributions to the establishment of American democracy.
Painting of abolitionist Benjamin Lay by William Williams at National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution.National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution.
The exhibit will be on view to the public, free of charge, at the National Constitution Center from Sept. 30 through Jan. 3, 2027. Learn more here.
So this fall, let’s continue the Semiquincentennial celebration. We encourage all Pennsylvanians to make a special pilgrimage to the National Constitution Center to see, understand, and remember our political heritage that is ours alone — a world-changing and invaluable inheritance of tolerance that we should continue to aspire to today.
Tom Riley is the president of the Connelly Foundation. David Seltzer is a trustee of Poor Richards Charitable Trust. Shawn McCaney is the executive director of the William Penn Foundation.
Union phenom Cavan Sullivan’s rapid rise in the soccer world reached a new milestone on Thursday, as the 16-year-old earned his first invitation to the senior U.S. men’s national team.
He is one of three Union players on the latest 28-man squad, along with defenders Neil Pierre and Frankie Westfield. They’re joined by three more with local roots: goalkeeper Matt Freese of Wayne, and centerbacks Auston Trusty of Media and George Campbell of Chester.
Video: Philly’s Cavan Sullivan reacts to being called up to U.S. men’s national team.
Since the Union resumed their season after the World Cup, Sullivan has scored six goals and added five assists in 12 appearances. They include highlight-reel moments that seized headlines across the globe: a dazzling trap and run for a goal at Red Bull New York on Aug. 29, and a backheeled finish in a 5-0 rout at San Diego FC on Sunday.
“I think he deserves all the praise that he’s getting,” U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino said in a news conference Thursday morning. “Because he’s performing well, he’s playing well, he’s giving assists and scoring goals — and he’s 16.”
Attention isn’t just coming from within MLS. They’re watching on Europe’s big stage, too, since Sullivan is due to join English superpower Manchester City at the end of 2027.
The deal was agreed upon when he turned pro with his hometown club at 14 years old in 2024. While neither club can discuss it publicly because of British labor laws, everyone knows the clock is ticking.
Just before 2 a.m. in Manchester, and it might have woken some people over there up… pic.twitter.com/jI4u2a7pW5
Right now, Sullivan is enjoying the present, kept grounded by coaches, teammates, and family. Chief among them is his oldest brother, Quinn Sullivan, a stalwart of the Union in his own right who earned his senior national team debut last year.
“We need to have a clear idea how to — I don’t want to use the word ‘help,’ but just to be with him and try to provide the best platform for him to evolve,” Pochettino said of wanting to get to know Sullivan. “Every day, we need to be the people that go there to push, and to evolve, and to sometimes put limits, sometimes to encourage to keep going [and] doing what he’s doing. It’s a good challenge for us, and I think it’s exciting to have him.”
The plan to get Sullivan to begin his career in Chester, with the right mix of firmness and care, has worked perfectly so far. And it’s the latest endorsement of the Union’s youth academy, which has become a remarkable pipeline for U.S. national team talent.
Media’s Auston Trusty is one of the veterans on this U.S. squad.Jonathan Tannenawld
Pierre, Westfield also earn the call
Now a new era is arriving, and not just with Sullivan. He’s joined on this squad by two more of the Union’s leading youngsters: Pierre, an 18-year-old centerback, and Westfield, a 20-year-old outside back.
“You are happy for Philadelphia, no?” Pochettino said. “Plenty of players from Philadelphia.”
Both players are major candidates for the 2028 Olympic squad, which is a big part of why they were invited. The Olympics is an under-23 age-group event, and this window is one of the only chances for candidates to get senior national team experience before they go into their own training regimen.
Pierre was born in Lebanon, Pa., and his family moved to Blue Bell so his older brother, Nelson, could join the Union’s academy as a kid. In time, Neil made his own impression and now is the club’s top centerback prospect since McKenzie and Trusty.
Neil Pierre (right) has made his own rapid rise with the Union this summer.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
He’s impossible to miss on the field, standing 6-foot-7. He’s scored four goals since joining the Union’s first team this summer. But he also has proven he has the defensive chops to mix it up with veterans and a terrific passing game.
“When you compare him with a 30-year-old, or 26- or 28-year-old centerback that maybe is playing in another country, or maybe in MLS, I don’t see the difference [just] because one has more experience than other,” Pochettino said. “Both can make a mistake; both can be good. That is why, [with] this type of potential, when players like this guy are playing in MLS, how we can contribute in their career, to evolve and be better and better, is this guy being with us.”
Westfield grew up at the other end of Northeast Philadelphia from the Sullivans, in Morrell Park. For a while, he might not have been the most famous athlete in his house, at least locally: his brother, Rocco, starred for the Father Judge boys’ basketball team that won the last two Catholic League championships.
Frankie made his pro debut the night before Rocco claimed the first of his titles. Now, he has made a name for himself.
Frankie Westfield has been impressive as the Union’s starting right back.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“I think that it’s normal that it’s a different process now to build the roster,” Pochettino said. “With the idea of not only to perform today, but also to help these young kids to become more mature, more experienced — and because the one of the biggest objectives of the [U.S. Soccer] Federation is the Olympic Games in two years. And I think giving the opportunity to be involved in this senior team is a thing that is going to pay and to be very helpful in two years for these kids.”
The Union trio is part of a fleet of fascinating youngsters on this latest U.S. squad. Others include wingers Mathis Albert of Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, Cole Campbell of Germany’s Elversberg, and Zavier Gozo of England’s Crystal Palace; forward Julian Hall and midfielder Adri Mehmeti of Red Bull New York; and goalkeeper Diego Kochen, who grew up at Spanish giant Barcelona and is now with Denmark’s Lyngby.
Eleven of the 26 players on the squad are newcomers, with 13 returnees from the World Cup. Among the latter are Freese, Trusty, and perennial locker room leaders Chris Richards and Tyler Adams.
The Americans will take the field starting Monday at the national training center in suburban Atlanta, then head off on a cross-country journey with four games: Peru on Sept. 26 in Orlando, Chile on Sept. 29 in St. Louis, then rivals Mexico on Oct. 3 in Glendale, Ariz., and Canada on Oct. 6 in St. Paul, Minn.
Mathis Albert of Germany’s Borussia Dortmund (right) is another of the intriguing young talents on this U.S. roster.Oliver Hardt
USMNT roster for autumn friendlies
Local products in bold
Goalkeepers (4): Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Diego Kochen (Lyngby, Denmark), Brian Schwake (Nashville SC)
Defenders (10): George Campbell (West Bromwich Albion, England), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Alex Freeman (Villarreal, Spain), Peyton Miller (New England Revolution), Neil Pierre (Union), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace, England), Antonee Robinson (Fulham, England), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Auston Trusty (Celtic, Scotland), Frankie Westfield (Union)
Midfielders (9): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth, England), Mathis Albert (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Sebastian Berhalter (Middlesbrough, England), Zavier Gozo (Crystal Palace), Adri Mehmeti (Red Bull New York), Yunus Musah (AC Milan, Italy), Brooklyn Raines (New England Revolution), Gio Reyna (Strasbourg, France), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany)
Forwards (5): Cole Campbell (Elversberg, Germany); Justin Ellis (Orlando City), Julian Hall (Red Bull New York), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Cavan Sullivan (Union)
"You are happy for Philadelphia, no? Plenty of players from Philadelphia."
Yes, it is an enjoyable part of my job as a professional cynic. But he can rest assured that lots of people around town are happy today:
Camden-based Holtec Nuclear says it will postpone its plans to raise more than $750 million in an initial public stock offering (IPO).
“Market conditions” sparked the delay in what Wall Street had expected to be one of the largest companies to go public this fall, Holtec spokesperson Patrick O’Brien said.
In particular, founder and CEO Krishna P. Singh has blamed the uncertainty in demand for power by U.S. data centers.
“Our business, rightly or wrongly, is viewed as connected to [data centers],” Singh told the Financial Times of London. “We provide nuclear power. So that was, of course, a big factor in market sentiment against nuclear.”
Nuclear power stocks that soared on expected data center demand have slipped. For example, shares of Constellation Energy — the Baltimore company that is speeding work to reopen anuclear power plant at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg — have fallen from a high of over $400 last fall to the mid-$260s in recent trading.
The VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF, an index-based investment fund whose largest holding is Constellation and also includes uranium suppliers such as Cameco and Denison Mines, peaked at over $160 in January but has lately traded below $110.
Holtec said itplans to releasea formal statement on the IPO delay later Thursday.
The company employs around 4,150 people, including employees at its Advanced Manufacturing Division and headquarters in Camden, plus manufacturing units in Pittsburgh and Orrville, Ohio.
Holtec is best known for decommissioning and removing spent uranium fuel from aging nuclear power plants, which were mostly developed in the 1970s and 1980s.
Holtec is one of several U.S. companies that has developed smaller, modular reactors (SMRs). It says these can replace larger power plants and be swapped out for maintenance without turning off power production. It is working install the first two SMRs at the Palisades nuclear plant site in Michigan, which Holtec decommissioned, purchased, and is now working to restart. Other products Holtec has been developing include the “Green Boiler” liquid battery for storing solar energy.
The company had enlisted J.P. Morgan, Guggenheim Securities, Goldman Sachs & Co., Citigroup, and Bank of America’s securities arm to lead its IPO share sales effort. Morgan Stanley and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s Cantor Fitzgerald also participated.
Mooncakes often have a less-than-stellar reputation. They’re beautiful thanks to the intricate molds they’re made with, but they’re usually better to look at than eat. At the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the four major Chinese holidays — which falls this year on Sept. 25 — people give and receive them much like fruitcakes at Christmas (without anyone actually eating them).
One Philadelphia pastry chef is reversing mooncakes’ bad rap.
Anna Chen posed for a portrait at A La Mousse on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Nobody in Philly is making mooncakes like Anna Chen, the owner of A La Mousse. While most Chinatown bakeries sell conventional versions — made from wheat flour, lacquered with egg wash, and stuffed with lotus bean paste and duck egg yolks — Chen’s are vibrantly colored and stuffed with a range of fillings that cross cultures and marry flavors. Think Oreo cookies with Hong Kong milk tea and Taiwanese pineapple cake with salted duck egg.
Chen’s three bakeries — A La Mousse in Chinatown and Narberth, and Maison Sweet in University City — specialize in mousse cakes, but she and her staff prepare about 400 to 500 boxes of mooncakes every year before Mid-Autumn Festival.
Chen’s approach aligns with aninventive, sometimes wacky strain of mooncake that has emerged in Asia in recent years, as mooncake makers abandon ultrasweet lotus- and winter melon-paste versions in favor of updated varieties stuffed with ice cream, matcha cream, and even beef. They sometimes also trade the traditional dough for flaky pastry or thin mochi skins (referred to as “snow skin”), which are more commonly made by Vietnamese pastry chefs.
Chen takes inspiration from her travels around China, especially to cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou, as well as popular trends in Hong Kong, where she grew up and returns to visit every two years. “Every year we make different flavors, but we keep one or two mooncakes traditional, because that’s what people keep asking me for,” Chen said.
The Mid-Autumn Festival salted egg yolk with pork floss mooncake at A La Mousse on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
This year, the traditional flavor is pork floss with salted egg yolk; hers is masterful, a delicate balance of savory and sweet — though none of her mooncakes are extremely sweet, in another departure from convention. The other flavors in this year’s box set of eight mooncakes, which sells for $65, include Dubai chocolate (Chen’s current favorite) and purple sweet potato with salted egg yolk.
“We don’t want to follow anyone else’s style; we only want to create our own special mooncakes,” Chen said.
The Mid-Autumn Festival Dubai chocolate mooncake at A La Mousse on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Chen starts preparing for the season in early August, ordering items like mooncake sugar syrup (also known as golden invert sugar syrup), flowery molds, and specially designed mooncake packaging from China. Then, in September, she and her pastry chefs — along with daughter Joanne, a student at Drexel — get to work, rolling fillings into balls and stuffing them into rice flour-based skins before pressing them into molds.
Chen, who opened Chinatown’s A La Mousse 13 years ago, has longtime customers who often order 30 to 40 boxes to give as gifts.
Even as her creations are trend-driven, she does stick to one tradition: embedding whole egg yolks in most of her mooncakes. The yolks represent the full moon, one of the most important emblems of the Mid-Autumn Festival, symbolizing family reunions and the idea of wholeness.
The Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes at A La Mousse on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Anna Chen’s mooncakes are available for pickup and must be preordered two to three days in advance via a Google form at bit.ly/4iwdZwu/..
A La Mousse, 145 N. 11th St., 215-238-9100; A La Mousse, 920 Montgomery Ave., Narberth, 610-664-6888; Maison Sweet, 2930 Chestnut St., 215-387-1388, instagram.com/alamousse
2026 Toyota 4Runner Hybrid 4WD Platinum: A wilder time off-road, now that fuel will last longer?
Price: $66,360 as tested. $200 for a tailgate LED light; one more option mentioned below.
What others are saying: “Highs: Comfortable ride on-road, massively capable off-road, electric assistance makes it peppy off the line. Lows: Hybrid battery reduces cargo space, no available third row, only moderate fuel-economy gains over the nonhybrid,” says Car and Driver.
What Toyota is saying: “4ever untamed.”
Reality: It’s a better SUV, but don’t plan on big fuel savings dividends.
What’s new: The 4Runner was moved into the marketing department’s world of all-newness for the 2025 model year, when it received a new look, upgraded technology, and the very hybrid motor and engine that give it the 4Runner Hybrid name. So we’re expecting some real fuel stretching this time around, right?
Fuel savings or not, it was definitely overdue for a remake, as noted in the 2023 4Runner review, and heck, even three years before that in a review of the 2020 model.
Up to speed: The 4Runner Hybrid features the usual array of drive settings, including Sport and Sport+, that might sound incongruous with a hybrid.
But the two-part power plant doesn’t slow things down, as the 2.4-liter turbo four-cylinder engine and 48-horsepower hybrid motor make a combined 326 horsepower. These launch the big SUV to 60 mph in 6.7 seconds, according to Car and Driver.
It takes the non-hybrid — the same four-cylinder turbo but lacking 48 of the hybrid motor’s horses — 7.5 seconds to cover the same ground. That’s half a second faster than the previous generation’s models with the 4.0-liter V-6.
Shifty: A normal-geared transmission paired with a hybrid is unusual, and Toyota seems to do its usual good job on the eight-speed transmission. That is, until my final test day, when I began to notice some lag now and again when downshifting, especially when turning.
On the road: The 4Runner seems like a big, ungainly vehicle in the driveway, but like its competitors, it grows on you.
The Sport and Sport+ modes tighten things up, and with a little practice I could feel where the vehicle was in the lane and how it cornered, but it never felt sporty, and definitely fell short of sport-plussy.
The interior of the 2026 Toyota 4Runner features lots of big knobs.Toyota
Driver’s Seat: I’m a fan of the Driver’s Seat. The front seats in the test vehicle were wide and supportive, quite comfortable, heated and ventilated, stitched in blue, and trimmed in leather. We’re definitely beyond the “rugged, rhinoceros hide leather seats” I described in the 2020 version, likening them to something you’d find in a firetruck.
The gauges are standard for Toyota, but the controls are plasticky with touches of matte gray and exterior-matching blue.
Friends and stuff: The rear seat is pretty nice as well; the fabric and cushioning feel soft and comfortable, and still offer good support as well.
Space is at a premium, though, as foot room and headroom are super snug, while legroom is just adequate. A large hump makes the center seat a bad place to be. And the hybrid battery pack cuts into the rear storage as well.
The big console is nice in the front but also cuts into rear legroom.
Cargo space is 42.6 or 82.6 cubic feet, depending on the seats. That’s about 10% less than the nonhybrid 4Runner, which also offers three-row versions.
Both versions of the 4Runner tow up to 6,000 pounds. The right configuration of the Wrangler can tow 5,000 pounds while the Bronco maxes out at 4,500.
Keeping warm and cool: Big dials operate the temperature and toggles work the fan and blower location.
The blower is squeezed vertically next to the giant screen and it seems either too strong or too weak, with no “just right” setting.
Play some tunes: A big dial works the volume and almost everything else is in the ginormous 14-inch touchscreen.
Sound from the 14-speaker Toyota system including JBL portable speaker is quite good, an A- heading to an A. There were points when I was hearing a little more from songs, but not consistently enough.
In and out: The automatic running boards ($1,005) are concierge-worthy in helping entry and exit for this tall beast of a vehicle. They sit nice and low, and made it possible for Mr. Driver’s Seat and his herniated disc to enter without loud groaning.
Fuel economy: I averaged just over 20 mpg with this hybrid vehicle, quite a disappointment.
The 4Runner clocked 17 mpg in 2020 and 18 three years later.
The Bronco averaged 16 mpg in Driver’s Seat testing, while the Wrangler Hemi struggled to reach 13. A 2018 Wrangler averaged 17.
Where it’s built: Tahara, Aichi, Japan
How it’s built:Consumer Reports gives the 4Runner a 5 out of 5 for predicted reliability.
In the end: If you have to have a rugged, off-road-type SUV, there’s just no better way to do it than the 4Runner. Rock-solid reliability, nice road manners, strong towing, and plenty of space help it squash the Wrangler and the Bronco like bugs on a rocky trail.
The Phillies kick off a four-game series with the New York Mets Thursday, but fans will need to do a bit of channel surfing to catch all the games.
Thursday night’s game will air on Fox beginning at 7:15 p.m., with Kenny Albert and Tom Verducci calling all the action. Ken Rosenthal will report from Citi Field.
Aaron Nola (6-10, 4.69 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for the Phillies. Nola hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start since way back on July 22, when he gave up five to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He’ll face Mets rookie Nolan McLean (11-9, 3.24 ERA), who gave up just two hits and struck out 10 in a win against the Phillies on July 19.
On Friday, the Phillies jump off TV and onto streaming for their final appearance on Apple TV’s Friday Night Baseball this season. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m., with Alex Faust and Ryan Spilborghs on the call and Tricia Whitaker reporting from the stadium.
Apple TV also has its own pregame show hosted by Sierra Santos alongside former outfielder Chris Young and MLB insider Russell Dorsey.
It’s the fifth season of Apple TV’s seven-year, $595 million deal with MLB, which runs through the 2028 season. Over that time, the cost has nearly doubled from $6.99 to $12.99 a month.
While Apple TV’s exclusive games remain an annoyance for baseball fans without the streaming service, they do come with one important perk — the ability to switch the audio feed over to 94.1 WIP and Scott Franzke and Kevin Stocker calls.
The quality of Apple TV’s broadcast is also generally very good, with crystal-clear footage and minimalist graphics (though the constant probabilities and live gambling updates become a bit annoying).
Scott Franzke (left) and Ruben Amaro, Jr. will call the final two games of the Phillies-Mets series on NBC Sports Philadelphia. NBC Sports Philadelphia
The final two games of the Phillies-Mets series will be back on NBC Sports Philadelphia Saturday or Sunday. With Tom McCarthy calling Sunday’s NFL matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on CBS, it’ll be Franzke calling the games alongside former Phillies general manager turned announcer Rubén Amaro Jr.
John Kruk will be back Tuesday along with McCarthy to call the Phillies’ series against the Milwaukee Brewers, the second-to-last of the season. And World Series MVP-turned-broadcaster Cole Hamels will be back in the booth for the final Phillies game of the season on Sept. 27 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Phillies playoff picture
NL East standings
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There was a moment where it seemed like the Phillies might overtake the Braves in the standings. But after dropping two of three against Atlanta last weekend, the Phillies’ chances of winning the National League East appear distant as best.
The Phillies enter Thursday’s series opener against the Mets 4½ games behind the Braves with 10 remaining. Atlanta faces the AL West-leading Houston Astros this weekend, but finish the season against the lowly Cincinnati Reds and Miami Marlins. An epic collapse along the lines of the 1964 Phillies — who blew a 6½ game lead with 12 remaining — doesn’t seem likely.
NL wild-card standings
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If the season ended Tuesday, the Phillies would end up in the second wild-card spot, meaning they’d travel to Chicago for a three-game series against the Cubs.
The good news is the Phillies are just a half-game down from the top wild-card spot entering Thursday. Overtaking the Cubs would move that three-game series to Citizens Bank Park.
The bad news is the Cubs, who are off Thursday, own the tiebreaker against the Phillies. Chicago kicks off a three-game series against the Reds Friday before finishing the season with series against the Marlins and Boston Red Sox.
The MLB playoffs begin Sept. 29 and will air on NBC.
Phillies magic number
That is the combined total of Phillies’ wins and/or losses by the teams on the outside looking in that are needed to secure at least the third wild-card berth and a spot in the playoffs.
Penn freshman quarterback Miles Teodecki hesitated when he extended his hand for a handshake. His palm and fingers were covered in a thick coat of white chalk, to give him a better grip on the football. Though he had just ended nearly five hours of team practice, his freshly dusted hands looked like he was about to throw for the first time that day.
On Monday, Penn coach Rick Santos announced that Teodecki would be the starting quarterback, reversing the August decision to start junior Karson Siqueiros-Lasky.
“Those two have battled all camp,” Santos said ahead of Saturday’s season opener at Bucknell (3 p.m., ESPN+), “and honestly it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had as a coach.”
Santos is entering his first season as head coach after Ray Priore stepped down in November, capping an 11-year tenure that included Ivy League titles in 2015 and 2016. Last season’s stars — quarterback Liam O’Brien and wide receiver Jared Richardson — are at Cincinnati and Duke, respectively, following their graduation from Penn.
Many questions loom over this new team, and the Ivy League preseason poll placed Penn fourth. Not that Santos cares.
“In ’22 at New Hampshire, we won the [conference] championship and we were picked ninth out of 13 team[s],” said Santos, who was the head coach at his alma mater from 2022 to 2025, “So at the end of the day, that’s up for the media to talk about and decide what they think. … The rankings matter at the end of the year, so that’s what we got to focus on one week at a time.”
Anyone’s name can stand out on the team’s blank slate, and Santos found that Teodecki, Penn’s highest-rated recruit since 2000, fit what he and his staff had been looking for.
“He’s very competitive. He’s got a moxie about him and a confidence, and we’re excited to see him going game day,” Santos said.
Teodecki, who’s from Austin, Texas, was thankful for the opportunity.
“First off, just got to thank God,” he said. “I got to thank Coach Santos and the coaching staff for believing in me, giving me this chance. I got to thank my teammates for supporting me and going out there doing their jobs, putting trust in me, allowing me to trust in them. I’m fired up for the opportunity.”
Santos said he’s been “encouraged with the senior leadership” on the team, which includes captains Siqueiros-Lasky and senior defensive back Josh Narcisse, and Narcisse noted that relationships have been built across all levels.
“[The coaches have] been really intentional with getting to know each of us on a personal level outside of football,” he said, “And as a player, I can say that goes a long way when it’s Friday night, the lights are bright, you look to the sideline, you want to see people that have your back on and off the field.”
For Narcisse, that’s the identity of this year’s team.
“I think a lot of old Penn teams were more individualized, and it was about what this guy or this guy is going to do any given Saturday, but now when you watch the team, you’re going to be more focused on, ‘What is our defense going to do? What is our offense going to do? How are they going to handle themselves on special teams?’” he said.
Even with the change in starting quarterback, Santos and Teodecki were quick to say that the plays remain the same, regardless of who is under center.
“We have two bona fide studs at quarterback, two guys that can start at this level, two guys that are good enough to lead us to a championship,” Santos said. “So I would expect both of them to play at some point this year, but we decided to give Miles the nod for the opener.
“There [are] no solidified jobs here. Every single day you need to earn the right to be on the field.”
“Confidence through preparation” seems to be the motto of the Santos era. The team hits the field every day at 6:15 a.m. — “We want to get up before the enemy and get a bunch of work in while everyone’s still sleeping,” Santos said — and has been methodical in watching film, running plays, taking notes, and adopting the right mindset.
“I feel 1,000% confident, not only in my own ability, but also our game plan and what our coaches have dialed up for us to be able to make plays and be successful on Saturday,” Narcisse said.
The defense this year, he said, would be “fast, violent, relentless.”
Santos said the defense is “really smart, instinctual in terms of being able to diagnose presnap reads and what the opposing team offense is doing. … And then ultimately when you get to the opener, it’s about how well we tackle.”
Even while the team seems poised and eager to kick off a new chapter this Saturday, Teodecki admits that “there’s a little bit of nerves; if you’re not nervous, that either means you don’t care or you just — you really don’t care.”
After practice ends at 11 a.m., he chalks his hands and throws the football with a teammate for a few extra minutes.
“We’re blessed to play this game, and we get to play this game,” Teodecki said.
WASHINGTON — Most of the Phillies were already gone from the clubhouse to catch the team bus. But for the benefit of any stragglers, Kyle Schwarber took it up an octave.
“It’s going to be a grind,” he said here the other night. “It’s not like it’s guaranteed.”
Not even when it should be a walk in the park — or lots of walks in Nationals Park. Not for these Phillies. Not with 10 games left and a playoff spot still to be clinched.
Case in point: Wednesday night. The Phillies knocked a rookie opener from the game after six batters. They worked seven walks through four innings, including four in the first — and 13in all, their highest total in a game in … checks notes … 22 years.
And yet they ground out only a 3-0victory over the Nationals behind seven workmanlike innings from old reliable Zack Wheeler, once again the most effective and healthiest of the Phillies’ Big Three starters.
“It’s win games and get in the playoffs at this point. So they’re all must-win,” said Alec Bohm, who drove in the first run with a bases-loaded single and reached five times (two hits, three walks). “We just want it in our control. We win, then it’s in our control. If we don’t win, we’re scoreboard watching and who knows what can happen.”
Cue the nightly check of the playoff race:
The Phillies (84-68) remained a half-game behind the (85-68) Cubs for the top National League wild card. The Phillies were one game clear of the Padres (83-69) going into Thursday’s games for the second wild card.
With any combination of six victories or Diamondbacks losses, the Phillies will clinch a wild card.
Chicago, which holds a tiebreaker over the Phillies, is off Thursday. The Phillies will begin a four-game series in New York against the out-of-contention Mets, who have played better after a brutal first half.
Got all that? Good.
NL wild-card standings
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The Phillies are struggling to reach base at last month’s majors-leading clip. But even they couldn’t avoid taking what the Nationals gave them in the first inning, chiefly enough walks to score twice.
Wheeler said he sought to exploit the young Nationals by throwing pitches off the plate early in the count “to try to use their aggressiveness against them.” It worked. He held them to four hits (three singles) and completed seven innings in 91 pitches.
“I threw a lot of first-pitch balls, but that was kind of on purpose just to see if I could get weak contact,” Wheeler said. “If I was going in, I was trying to throw it off the plate. If I was going away, I was trying to make them chase a ball or two off the plate.”
Luis Arraez doubled in Bryce Harper for insurance in the seventh inning. Arraez reached four times, including his first three-walk game since 2024. Maybe it all gets the offense refocused. Maybe it was one game.
Say this: Bohm has hoisted his average above .250 for the first time since the third game of the season. He’s batting .293 against lefties, including .500 since the beginning of August.
“I was in a pretty deep hole early on,” Bohm said. “For me, it was focusing less on what’s my batting average today and more on let’s go out and try to win a game today. Because the numbers are what they are. Can’t really do much about it at this point, so let’s try to go help the team win and contribute in some way.
“Getting lost in that for a while, they’ve found their way back to, I guess, more of the norm for myself.”
Alec Bohm (right) is batting .293 against lefties, including .500 since the beginning of August.Nick Wass
It’s a mature outlook for a player who has often been criticized for immaturity. But it’s undoubtedly the correct one in the second-to-last week of the season.
At this late juncture, interim manager Don Mattingly is still trying to bring order to the bullpen. He put the lead in the unsteady hands of lefty José Alvarado, who sidestepped a one-out walk by getting dangerous James Wood to line out and Daylen Lile to fly out.
Jhoan Duran, who hadn’t pitched in five days, went to a full count on the leadoff batter in the ninth before striking him out. He popped up CJ Abrams to win a seven-pitch duel before ending the game with a strikeout.
The whole thing was imperfect. The Phillies went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They left 13 on base. They became the first team since the Tigers on June 8, 1955, to walk at least 13 times and score three runs or less in a nine-inning game.
“I look at it as, we won tonight,” Mattingly said. “That’s what I look at. No matter how we do it, we got the win. So, that’s really what matters at the end of the day.”
Indeed. And in winning for only the second time in six games, they crossed Game 152 off the calendar in their quest to just get into the playoffs, reset everything, and take their chances.
“After losing [Tuesday] night, we had to come out here with a win today,” Wheeler said. “I was just trying to do the best that I could and at least split.”
It wasn’t easy, even though the Nationals tried to make it so. And it isn’t about to get easier, just as Schwarber warned.
