Author: MLB Baseball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

A game lost but another valuable experience for Sánchez originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The stroll to the outfield for his pregame warmups couldn’t have been any cooler for Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez. And neither could his reaction.

Sánchez, about to make his third playoff start in the first game of the NLDS against the defending World Series champion Dodgers, took his cap off and raised his long right arm to the frenzied, early-arriving crowd who were showering him with adulation.

Turns out, the red-clad fans were just practicing their cheering before Sánchez’ acknowledgment, because then it became deafening.

The sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park was never silent during a heartbreaking 5-3 loss to the Dodgers, who took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series with Game 2 scheduled for Monday night. Sánchez kept the powerful Dodgers silent for most of his outing, as he allowed just four hits and two earned runs during his 5 2/3 innings.

But that wasn’t good enough, as Los Angeles took the lead for good the next inning when Teoscar Hernandez bombed a three-run, two-out homer off reliever Matt Strahm to lead the Dodgers to the win.

While Sánchez stated his outing wasn’t good enough for the win, his performance will go a long way into his march as a top starter in this league, because he knows how to make that happen.

“We lost tonight so personally I don’t care about how I did individually,” he said after striking out eight. “If we lose then I don’t feel good. One pitch changed the game for us and for me personally.

“Individually, even if I perform well, or whatever I do, if we lose the game then I don’t feel good. We’re a team. If we win then we win together and if we lose then we all lose together. I don’t feel good about losing.”

And that’s where he is, personally and professionally, in a nutshell. He has grown as much mentally as he has in height the past few years, in which he sprouted to six feet, six inches tall. His pitching can be documented by stats. His growth as a leader and top pitcher in the league is seen a bit differently. Like Saturday night.

“He was, again, really good,” said Rob Thomson. “The strike throwing ability. The changeup was filthy tonight. 65 percent strikes, 18 whiffs, 17 out of 24, I think, first pitch (strikes). He was fantastic. He really was.”

You could really bottle those quotes from the manager and insert them after almost all of Sánchez’ starts this season. He’s become that good. Good enough that the national media, who don’t see him that often, were overly impressed throughout the park.

It was just the third playoff start for the 28-year-old and the first since being anointed the team’s ace after Zack Wheeler was shelved by a blood clot near his right shoulder that ultimately required surgery.

Sánchez has embraced the new role with the passion of a veteran, but with the understanding that you never stop absorbing the lessons in this crazy game of baseball.

“To learn and to always learn,” Sánchez said of what he could take from last night’s devastating loss. “There’s always new things that you can learn from everything that you get. Learn from those things on this outcome and I think there’s a lot of things that we have to improve but take the good out of it and learn from it.”

As much as a crowd like Saturday’s can give adrenaline to a player, the withdrawal can also be real. Perhaps a little of that hit Sánchez during his outing.

“Yeah, he looked great,” said catcher J.T. Realmuto. “I thought it looked like he got a little tired there that last inning. He started falling behind hitters, wasn’t quite commanding his fastball the same as he was early on. But other than that inning he looked his old self. He was great.

“It’s not that he was at a ton of pitches but there’s a ton of energy out there. These games are draining. I looked up one point in the fourth inning, and I was exhausted. I couldn’t believe it was only the fourth inning. I can’t imagine what a starting pitcher feels like. That’s just part of the playoffs and for me, I think just the command of his pitches was a little off there in that last inning.”

He left the game with two outs in the sixth, having given up those two runs. His demeanor was much different than it had been earlier in the night when he went to the outfield for that warmup session. His shoulders were slightly shrugged, the frustration readable on his face. But as he spoke to the media following the game, Sánchez was thoughtful about what had happened, honest with his performance and professing his belief of team first.

In the short term, it is a hard loss for this team in a playoff series against perhaps the best team in baseball right now. In the long term, an experience gained by their top pitcher.

Red October coverage on NBC Sports Philadelphia is sponsored by Toyota.

Aaron Judge missed on a big chance, two Yankee bullpen cogs wobbled and Alejandro Kirk homered twice Saturday as the Blue Jays routed the Yankees, 10-1, in the opener of their ALDS at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Toronto also got a much better outing from their starter, Kevin Gausman, than the Yankees did from Luis Gil,who was yanked after only 2.2 innings. The Jays scored four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to wreck a tight game.

The Yanks will try to even up the series Sunday in Game 2. They were the second-best road team in MLB this year, but that has not translated to Toronto. They are now 1-7 at Rogers Centre this year.

Toronto’s Game 1 victory was the Jays’ first postseason win since Game 4 of the 2016 AL Championship Series. Toronto had been mired in a seven-game playoff losing streak. 

Here are the takeaways...

- The baseball world has been waiting for Judge, who took a .212 postseason average into Saturday, to have a breakout October and he had a key opportunity in the sixth inning of Game 1 with the Yanks down, 2-0. The inning started when Anthony Volpe swatted a ball off the left-field wall for a leadoff double. Austin Wells followed with a single and Trent Grisham walked, loading the bases and bringing up Judge, who entered the game with a career average of .354 against Gausman and six home runs. After a tense, eight-pitch battle, Judge struck out, swinging and missing at a Gausman splitter that dove out of the strike zone. Gausman set up the outside pitch by throwing a 97-mph fastball inside to Judge, who fouled it off. The Yankees scored when Gausman threw four straight balls to Cody Bellinger, but they could not tack on. Gausman retired Ben Rice on a popup for the second out and then Toronto manager John Schneider replaced Gausman with righty Louis Varland. With Giancarlo Stanton up and a 1-2 count, Varland threw a 101-mph fastball past Stanton’s hard cut for the final out of the inning.

- Judge has been hitting so far this postseason -- he was 2-for-4 in Game 1 with a single and a double and is batting .400 this October with a .905 OPS.

- Except for the bases-loaded walk, Gausman was excellent for Toronto, getting quick outs and using his mid-80s splitter to generate whiffs. The Yankees swung at the pitch 17 times and missed 10 of them, according to Baseball Savant. Overall, Gausman allowed one run and four hits in 5.2 innings, striking out three and walking two. He had only 50 pitches after five scoreless innings, but the Yankees made him work in the sixth inning and though he got Judge in a big spot, the Jays went to the bullpen for the final out of that frame.

- Yankee starters were mostly excellent in the first round victory over Boston, fashioning a 1.33 ERA and delivering 20.1 innings in three games. But that ended quickly in the ALDS. Gil lasted only 2.2 innings and gave up two runs and four hits. He struck out two and walked none. He gave up two early home runs and the Jays looked pretty comfortable against him. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered in the first inning and Kirk slammed a 392-foot homer in the second. Gil is generally adept at suppressing home runs – he allowed 0.8 per nine innings this season and his career mark is around one per nine.

- Guerrero’s homer was a solo shot and his first longball since Sept. 5, a span of 90 plate appearances. It was also Guerrero’s first career playoff homer and perhaps a start at altering the October perception of him – he came into the game with a career average of .136 and a .422 OPS in his first six career postseason games, all losses. Guerrero also made a terrific defensive play at first in the second inning, a diving, backhand snare of a Ryan McMahon liner that he took to the first-base bag for an unassisted double play. He finished the day 3-for-4 with two RBI.

- Luke Weaver’s woes this postseason continued when he came in to start the seventh, an inning that devolved into a four-run bonanza for Toronto. Weaver walked Daulton Varsho leading off and then gave up a single to Anthony Santander. The lone glimmer of that particular play came when Judge threw the ball all the way to third, perhaps lessening some of the concerns about his injured elbow. But with first and third against Weaver, Andrés Giménez singled through a drawn-in infield to drive in an insurance run and put Toronto up, 3-1. Weaver has faced six batters so far in the playoffs and all of them have reached base. He was removed in favor of Fernando Cruz. But, one out later, Cruz allowed a two-run double to Nathan Lukes and a sac fly to Guerrero, ballooning Toronto’s lead to 6-1. According to the Fox broadcast, the Jays were 71-4 when scoring five-plus runs, the best such mark in MLB.

- Kirk hit his second homer of the game, leading off the eighth inning, connecting against Paul Blackburn. Including his homer flurry at the end of the regular season, Kirk has five home runs in his last three games.

- Perhaps the Yankees could’ve kick-started their offense early against Gausman, but they came out on the wrong side of a quirky play. Grisham seemed to foul a ball off his toe leading off, but umpires did not see it, and Yankee arguments did not sway them. The ball went to Guerrero for a 3-unassisted, giving Gausman an easy, first-pitch out.

Game MVP: Alejandro Kirk

Kirk, who became the fourth player in Blue Jays history to have a multi-homer game in the playoffs.

Highlights

Cody Bellinger walks in the first Yankees run! pic.twitter.com/BM5B3cOz1c

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 4, 2025

What's next

The Yankees and Blue Jays continue their best-of-five series on Sunday. First pitch is set for 4:08 p.m.

New York will send ace Max Fried to the mound with Toronto countering with Trey Yesavage. 

Bader brings energy, edge to Phillies' championship push originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

From the moment Harrison Bader slipped on a Phillies uniform, it just made sense.

The energy. The defense. The all-out style of play.

Since arriving from the Twins at the Trade Deadline, Bader has injected Philadelphia with exactly the kind of spark that wins in October.

A veteran of nine seasons on his sixth club, Bader joined a crowded outfield mix that already included Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler.

Before the swap, he was putting together a solid season in Minnesota, tallying 25 extra-base hits in 96 games with a .778 OPS. His bat was red hot in July — five homers, a .914 OPS and 11 RBIs in the month.

Three weeks after the trade, Castellanos told reporters that Bader had been frustrated with his playing time, understandable for a guy swinging the bat well before the trade. His first few weeks in Philly were rough, hitting just .171 in his first 41 at-bats.

Then came August 20th against Seattle, when Rob Thomson gave him the nod, and Bader took off. From that point on, he slashed .346/.390/.522 with 15 extra-base hits to close out the regular season.

His impact went far beyond the numbers. Bader, who primarily played left field with Minnesota, immediately stabilized center field for Philadelphia. His 85th-percentile sprint speed was on full display, flagging down balls gap-to-gap from Monty’s Angle to the bullpen — complete with his trademark crab-walk backpedal.

When Trea Turner landed on the injured list in late September, Thomson moved Bader into the leadoff spot, and the results spoke for themselves. Over 13 games atop the order before the final homestand, he hit .339, sparking an offense that notched nine wins, including a sweep of the Mets and a statement series victory in Los Angeles.

“Winning baseball is a universal language,” Bader said. “We all come from different places, but the goal’s the same. The only focus for me was taking advantage of the opportunity to help this team win.”

That mindset made him an easy fit in a clubhouse full of veterans who’ve lived the highs and lows of Red October.

“There are no cliques here,” Bader said. “It’s about doing your job and executing. You gain respect by playing winning baseball.”

It’s the same approach that made him a postseason hero in the Bronx. In 2022, Bader homered five times in nine playoff games for the Yankees — experience that fuels his confidence now in Philadelphia.

“You can’t play hero ball,” he said. “It’s about having a good at-bat, passing the baton, doing the little things that win a series.”

Bader has worked tirelessly to evolve as a hitter. After an injury in 2023, he spent last offseason reworking his mechanics with a biomechanist in Tampa.

“I didn’t want to go back to who I was — I wanted to be someone new,” he said. “The game’s about evolving.”

He certainly evolved. This mechanical change has allowed Bader to exhibit strong offensive production against right-handed pitchers.

Coming into 2025, Bader posted a career .775 OPS versus left-handers and a .670 against righties.

This season, Bader’s splits are reversed, which can be beneficial as you generally face more right-handed pitching. His OPS against righties is .845 (344 AB), while it’s .689 versus southpaws (157 AB).

Off the field, Bader’s personality has become just as impactful as his play. He actually inspired teammates to join his “crop top” pregame routine during the summer heat.

“I’d never tell another grown man to wear a crop top,” Bader laughed. “But it shows how together this group is.”

And then there’s his appreciation for the city itself.

“The fans here make this place special,” he said. “They share the same passion we do. I’m grateful to compete in front of that energy.”

In just two months, Bader has become everything the Phillies could have hoped for, and he’s a reminder of what makes this group so dangerous in October.

He’s been here a short time, but in every sense, Harrison Bader already feels like a perfect fit for Philadelphia.

‘You either win or you don't': How will Phillies respond to bye? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

So, push has now come to shove. Figuring out how to spend a bye week, like the Phillies just completed, was the biggest task presented them this week as the Los Angeles Dodgers were disposing of the Cincinnati Reds in a National League Wild Card Series.

The Phillies handled their week with work. After a day off on Monday, there was a fundamental-based practice on Tuesday, followed by an intrasquad scrimmage on Wednesday in front of 31,000 fans. A couple more days of staying sharp and now it’s here – Game One of the National League Division Series, with Dodgers righty Shohei Ohtani facing Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez.

The week off is as much mentally challenging as it is physically. Taking time off during a season just isn’t the norm, except for the All-Star Break. And if there’s anything baseball players and managers don’t like, it’s having their routine disrupted. Add in all the talk about whether it’s good or not to spend some days away from the diamond at this point of the year, and it probably becomes more of a dilemma than it really needs to be.

“It’s an advantage if you win the first series and it’s a disadvantage if you don’t,” said Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

In essence, the Phillies have already won a series with the bye, while the Dodgers made quick work of the Reds, finishing them off in two games and outscoring them by a combined 18-9. During that series, Dodgers starters Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto worked 13 2/3 innings and allowed just eight hits and two earned runs while striking out 18.

How the Phillies hitters fare in this series against the Dodgers starters is going to be a huge factor. In their three-game series in Los Angeles in the middle of September, the Phillies were no-hit during Ohtani’s five innings, got two hits, no runs and struck out 12 times in Snell’s seven innings and were able to garner only one hit and one run in Emmet Sheehan’s 5 2/3 innings.

Should the Phillies get shut down by the Los Angeles starters to begin this series, you just know the airwaves are going to be filled with talks about the disadvantages of the bye.

Said Trea Turner: “I say it till I’m blue in the face. It’s just an excuse one way or the other. You’ve got to show up and you’ve got to win. You either win or you don’t.”

And Nick Castellanos had some thoughts, saying: “Obviously (like having) the bye because we’re closer to the World Series. But I think if there was a way to play competitive baseball, not have the outcome knock us out, we get the bye no matter what, I think that’s personally what I wish could happen. I just know how important rhythm is and consistency is to a game like baseball because of how difficult it is.”

For manager Rob Thomson, the week couldn’t have gone any better. Now it’s time to see if that pays off or not.

“I’m telling you, the intrasquad game just put it over the top, with all these people here,” he said. “It really did. Case in point, it was, I forget what inning it was, and there was a runner on first and Nick (Castellanos) hit a ground ball. Double play and he ran hard all the way through the base. Whereas, if there’s nobody in the stands, probably doesn’t happen. Those are the little things that I look at and say that was worth it.”

Time will now tell.

When Clayton Kershaw was left off the Dodgers’ roster for the best-of-three wild-card round against the Cincinnati Reds, it marked the first time since his 2008 rookie season that he didn’t pitch in one of the team’s playoff series when healthy.

But on Saturday, ahead of Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers decided to add Kershaw back in the mix, ensuring he will likely get the chance to take the mound at least one more time before entering retirement this offseason.

Kershaw and fellow left-handed pitcher Anthony Banda were the only two changes the Dodgers made to their NLDS roster Saturday, swapping them in on an 11-man pitching staff in place of multi-inning left-hander Justin Wrobleski (who didn’t pitch in the wild-card series) and rookie right-hander Edgardo Henriquez (who walked two batters and gave up a hit while recording no outs in Game 1 against the Reds).

Read more:Shohei Ohtani to start Game 1 of NLDS for Dodgers — this time, without set restrictions

The Dodgers made no changes to their 15-man position player group from the wild-card round, once again keeping three catchers on the roster (as Will Smith continues to recover from a fractured hand) as well as speedy defensive specialists Justin Deal and Hyeseong Kim.

Kershaw’s return had been expected, even before manager Dave Roberts officially confirmed on Friday that the future Hall of Famer would be on the roster for the NLDS.

First and foremost, the Dodgers will need added left-handed pitching depth to combat a Phillies lineup that includes left-handed threats such as Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott. That’s why Banda was included as well.

But Kershaw, who went 11-2 this season with a 3.36 ERA, also gives the Dodgers a steady veteran presence out of the bullpen (where he is expected to pitch).

Here’s your 26-man roster for the NLDS. pic.twitter.com/LRFPKU9Aug

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 4, 2025

They missed that in the wild-card round, when a string of younger pitchers struggled to consistently find the strike zone while pitching in relief.

Thus, they will be hoping their 18-year veteran can provide it, in what would be his final career postseason series if the Dodgers don’t advance.

The only other major roster question facing the Dodgers entering this series is at catcher. Roberts said Friday that Smith “will be available to catch” in this NLDS, but was unsure if he’d be able to start right away in Game 1. Smith, who has taken only live at-bats in the last week while nursing his injury, did not appear in the wild-card series despite being on the roster. He took more live at-bats during the team’s Friday night workout at Citizens Bank Park.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Yankees won't see some familiar faces when they take on the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2025 American League Division Series.

Toronto announced its roster for the playoff series on Saturday morning, ahead of Game 1 at 4:00 p.m., and star shortstop Bo Bichette is not on it.

Bichette, 27, has been out since Sept. 6 with a knee injury. 

The SS finished the 2025 regular season tied for second in hits with 181 (along with Padres' Luis Arraez), just three less than the Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. over 18 less games (139 played by Bichette). He also finished second in the AL in batting average at .311 behind Aaron Judge's .331 mark.

Bichette hit .281 with nine hits, including a home run, six RBI, and five runs scored over nine games against the Yanks in the regular season.

He would be eligible to be added to the ALCS roster if the Blue Jays were to advance.

Additionally, Toronto left veteran pitchers Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt off the ALDS roster, as well as 1B Ty France. The club decided to go with Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage as their starting pitchers, plus Eric Lauer, who started 15 games in the regular season and pitched in another 13 out of the bullpen.

Scherzer went 5-5 over 17 regular seasons start, pitching to a 5.19 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. He gave up four runs on 10 hits across 5.0 IP in his last start on Sept. 24 against the Red Sox.

Bassitt owned a 11-9 record with a 3.96 ERA over 32 games (31 starts). Like Scherzer, he also struggled down the stretch, allowing three runs on eight hits over 4.1 IP against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sept. 18.

As for the Yankees, no major changes were made to their ALDS roster compared to the Wild Card series. Luis Gil, who's starting Game 1, was added to replace Mark Leiter Jr.

Doctor details how Bryce Eldridge's left wrist injury could impact his batting originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Bryce Eldridge‘s road to recovery officially is underway after undergoing surgery Thursday on his left wrist to remove a bone spur.

His recovery is estimated to take eight weeks, and the Giants’ No. 1 prospect should be good to go come 2026 spring training.

Stanford Medicine’s Amy Ladd, M.D., spoke to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Tristi Rodriguez more in-depth about Eldridge’s injury and further broke down the different ways in which a bone spur can develop.

“So, a bone spur is an extra piece of bone, and it can either come from a bone because you were born with it –sometimes you can have little ‘pebbles’ as you might call them, which are extra bones adjacent to a normal bone you’d expect, and sometimes they exist because of traction,” Dr. Ladd said. “Traction is pulling, so if there’s a tendon or a ligament that’s been pulling on it from a chronic tendinitis, for example, or there’s been an injury where there’s kind of a pull-off of a bit of a bone and it creates in its wake a little spur, a little extra bone.”

Dr. Ladd also explained the stages Eldridge will go through after the surgery that will lead up to him eventually being cleared to return to the field.

“Probably what will happen is the bone spur will be removed, and he will be immobilized,” Dr. Ladd said. “He’ll be in some sort of a splint for a few weeks with progressive range of motion, but not strengthening, not resistance training. And that [strength training] usually happens in month two, so somewhere between four and eight weeks is strengthening and return to play.

“And that latter part is reproducing motion, throwing, catching, fielding, etc. would be in that rehab leading up to the eighth week.”

Eldridge missed the first month of the 2025 season in the minors with a left wrist injury that occurred during spring training. But he was lights out upon his return, playing 34 games at Double-A before being promoted to Triple-A, where he finished with 18 home runs in 66 games.

After much anticipation, the former No. 16 overall draft pick finally joined the big-league roster in mid-September in an effort to help San Francisco make a late postseason push. But the 6-foot-7 first baseman struggled with his bat during his short-lived majors debut campaign as he finished the season with a .107 average in just 10 games played.

Dr. Ladd also discussed the possibility of Eldridge, who bats left and throws right-handed, potentially reinjuring or reaggravating his left wrist.

“So, it may be somehow that the batting is the most aggravating,” Dr. Ladd said. “I don’t know the details, but any time you put a wrist or a finger or something in an extreme position, then you’re more likely to, what we call ‘impingement,’ to impinge, to kind of catch. So, if there were a crowding from a bone spur, that’s where you’d probably see it.

“So, batting may be more of an issue. So, he bats left-handed, which would mean he puts extreme wrist motion on the left hand. And he throws right-handed, so he catches with his left hand. So, same kind of impact in catching.”

The Giants will hold their breath during Eldridge’s recovery, and keep their fingers crossed for two months.

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After two months, the Dodgers have found a closer, in the rookie from Japan. Roki Sasaki mowed down the Reds in order in the ninth inning. Now, the Dodgers have a facsimile of a bullpen as they play the Phillies.

Wayne Muramatsu
Cerritos

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Dylan Hernández commented on the Dodgers' unreliable bullpen. The Dodgers have their closer right in front of their big Blue nose: Kiké Hernández. No one can throw a 45-mph fastball like Kiké.

Brent Montgomery
Long Beach

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All bullpen issues aside, after brushing aside the Reds, the Dodgers are looking mighty formidable. So my big L.A. fan brother-in-law asks me, "Would YOU want to have to play the Dodgers ?" Me: "With a minimum MLB salary of $760,000, of course I would!'

Joe Kevany
Mount Washington

Tears of joy

The greatest pitcher of our generation, Clayton Kershaw, throws 5 1/3 scoreless innings. One last strikeout. One last win. One class act taking the ball from another class act one last time. Witnessing that, if your eyes didn't well up just a bit you're not a Dodgers baseball fan. Thanks for the memories, Clayton.

John Tsutsui
Hurricane, Utah

Boiling point

My blood pressure can’t take watching Trojan football as it is today. In my lifetime of watching we’ve had some truly great teams and great head coaches such as John McKay, John Robinson and Pete Carroll. Currently, and for the last 16 years (since Carroll), we’ve had misfire after misfire as head coach. It’s unfortunate our current $10-million-a-year head coach is too expensive to fire.

Robert J. Gagliano
Palos Verdes

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You guys are being too tough on Lincoln Riley. I mean, he's probably already established
an NCAA record — for blowing fourth quarter leads!

Jack Wolf
Westwood

Super blunders

Talk about a lack of will — the Rams came out like lambs against the 49ers. The defensive game plan was poorly conceived and stubbornly inflexible. No push from the defensive front. No press coverage against the Niners' dink-and-dunk game. The offense was thin and predictable. Not one screen. Not one jet sweep. Fourth and one with a predictable call.  The kicking game was once again woeful. Fumbles. Critical mistakes. Senseless penalties. Being sloppy and ill-prepared is not how you get to the Super Bowl.

David Griffin
Westwood

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While watching the Rams-49ers game Thursday they showed Rams owner Stan Kroenke. I guess as the owner you’ll just keep counting your money while looking at all the 49er fans in the building. I realize you gotta pay your athletes and all the teams you own, but I find it disgusting that all home games end up being a road games for the Rams. How about lowering ticket prices so the average fan can maybe afford season tickets or even a few games?

Phillip Trujillo
Ontario

Trading places

Regarding last Sunday's loss to the Giants: It's official, the Charges are the Clippers of the NFL.

Jesse Guevara
Pico Rivera

Low standards

Bill Shaikin’s analysis of the Angels could not have been more accurate.

There is no way this organization can succeed under Arte Moreno and his incompetent sycophants (we’re looking at you, John Carpino). You had your opportunity as owner, Arte, for many years, but your batting average says it all.

Jim Fredrick
Manhattan Beach

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I read where Angels manager Ron Washington was told he was being let go for “performance-related reasons.”

By that standard, how is it that GM Perry Minasian and owner Arte Moreno are still employed?

Bob Kargenian
Yorba Linda

Was that a typo?

When I saw UCLA’s game against Penn State was being designated a “Blue Out,” I figured it had to be a typo. Surely, you meant blowout, right?

Steve Ross
Carmel

Bigger than Sports

Bill Plaschke has now written two marvelous columns related to Parkinson’s Disease and his experience with it. These articles should be in a more general section, not just Sports. There are readers of the paper who may not read the Sports section. Everyone should read these articles.

Alice King
Sacramento

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The Los Angeles Times welcomes expressions of all views. Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. They may be edited and republished in any format. Each must include a valid mailing address and telephone number. Pseudonyms will not be used.

Email: sports@latimes.com

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Red October revival: Phillies, Dodgers NLDS preview originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Red October has touched down once again at Citizens Bank Park.

The Los Angeles Dodgers face the Phillies in the National League Division Series tonight at 6:38 p.m. ET. Grab your popcorn.

Game 1

Cristopher Sánchez (13-5, 2.50 ERA, 32 GS) takes the ball in Game 1, making his third career postseason start. The left-hander put together a masterful 2025, becoming just the third southpaw in Phillies history to post a sub-2.50 ERA with 200-plus innings and 200 strikeouts.

At home, he was even sharper: a 1.94 ERA across 15 starts with 115 punchouts in 97 ⅔ innings.

He’ll be opposed by Shohei Ohtani (1-1, 2.87 ERA, 14 GS), making his long-awaited postseason pitching debut in his eighth big league season. After starting his season in an opener role, Ohtani has recently stretched out — three of his last four starts went five innings or more.

This best-of-five series marks the first Phillies-Dodgers playoff meeting since 2009. The defending champions arrive looking to extend Philadelphia’s 16-year title drought.

Who are the Dodgers, anyway?

Los Angeles finished 93-69, capturing its 12th straight NL West crown. Their offense led the league in runs per game (5.09), homers (244), RBIs (791) and OPS (.768).

At the center of it all: Ohtani, who crushed a career-high and franchise-record 55 homers. He’s all but assured of his fourth MVP in five years.

Around him are two more MVPs — Freddie Freeman, who at 36 still slashed .295/.367/.502, and Mookie Betts, who turned around a sluggish first half (.657 OPS through August 4th) to hit .317 with an .892 OPS during the final stretch.

Will Smith (.901 OPS), Andy Pages (27 HR), Teoscar Hernández (25 HR) and Max Muncy (.846 OPS) round out one of baseball’s deepest lineups.

Their pitching was not as fabulous. The Dodgers sat middle-of-the-pack in ERA and WHIP, but their arms led the MLB in strikeouts per nine (9.40).

On Wednesday, they swept the Reds in the Wild Card Series — their 13th straight Division Series appearance.

The numbers game: How do the Phils beat L.A.?

Obviously, limiting the damage when Ohtani steps in gives the Phillies a great shot, but it’s more complicated than that — and the stats back it up.

Don’t lengthen L.A.’s lineup.

Last October, the Dodgers’ top four hitters carried the load, producing a combined .878 OPS and 16 homers in 16 playoff games. Their 5-9 hitters, meanwhile, hit just .211 with a .653 OPS.

But in this year’s Wild Card round, Cincinnati couldn’t buy an out at the bottom of the order. Dodgers hitters 5-9 combined to hit .400 with three homers and a 1.130 OPS, as Tommy Edman, Enrique Hernández and Miguel Rojas all did damage.

If the Phillies do pitch around the stars, they’ll need to attack the rest of the order or risk the same fate as the Reds.

Limit the free passes.

The Dodgers’ patience is elite: they led the NL with a 9.4% walk rate.

But Phillies pitching may have the answer. Philadelphia ranked second in the league in walks per nine (2.72), and their bullpen issued the fewest free passes (189).

The difference shows in the splits. In hitter’s counts (1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1), L.A. slugged a league-best 75 homers and posted a 1.164 OPS.

Stay ahead, and the Phillies can keep this lineup in check.

Turn the page, sorta.

The Phillies went 4-2 against the Dodgers this season, including a series win in Los Angeles three weeks ago. 

But Dodgers starters dominated that set: Emmet Sheehan (followed the opener), Ohtani and Blake Snell combined for 17 ⅔ innings of one-run ball with 24 strikeouts.

Ohtani’s five no-hit frames stood out, but the Phillies still managed to crack LA’s bullpen to take the series.

And that could be key again. Since Sept. 5, Dodgers relievers own the fourth-worst ERA in baseball (5.08) with the most walks allowed (54).

Who are the X-factors?

In many playoff series, there is a player that sticks out more than the rest and oftentimes, it’s someone who flies under the radar.

Dodgers: Roki Sasaki

After missing five months with a shoulder impingement, the 23-year-old flamethrower has been lights out in relief.

In three appearances since returning — including his postseason debut Wednesday — he’s thrown three scoreless innings with six strikeouts.

Whether Dave Roberts keeps him in one-inning bursts or expands his role, Sasaki could be LA’s stopper.

Phillies: Nick Castellanos

Amid outfield rotation questions after the trade deadline, Castellanos looms as a potential difference-maker. He hit .333 with RISP in September and capped the season with a walk-off sac fly.

Since the start of the 2023 postseason, he’s hit six homers with a .594 slugging percentage in 17 games.

Entering what could be his final October in Philadelphia, Castellanos has the chance to add to his legacy.

Final thoughts

Utley, Rollins, Ruiz and Victorino.

What do they all have in common?

They wore Phillies red before donning Dodger blue — and in 2008, they helped take down Los Angeles on the way to the franchise’s second World Series title.

Now it’s 2025, and Philadelphia is still searching for its first championship since.

Many believe the Phillies’ window is closing. With a veteran-heavy roster, they might be right.

Of all the Phillies teams since Rob Thomson took over, this might be the strongest. They’ll miss Zack Wheeler, but the bullpen is deeper than at any point in recent memory.

The Phillies and Dodgers stand as the two heavyweights in The Show, and whoever emerges from this series will be favored to win it all.

Thomson is likely to lean on his trio of lefties — Sánchez, Ranger Suárez and Jesús Luzardo — to challenge L.A.’s lineup. Each has shown poise under the lights before, and they’ll need to do it again in the NLDS.