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

If Wednesday’s game proves to be the last one in a Dodgers uniform for Clayton Kershaw, it will do little to tarnish his legacy, said teammate Mookie Betts.

“He's gonna have a statue, so we have to kind of keep that in mind,” Betts said. “In the grand scheme of things, Kershaw is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, one of the best pitchers to ever do it.

“So if you let two innings kind of ruin that, then you don't know baseball.”

But, Betts confessed, Kershaw’s relief appearance in Game 3 of the National League Division Series was hard to watch. In those two innings he gave up six hits, five runs, walked three and did not strike out a hitter, turning a tight game into an 8-2 rout for the Philadelphia Phillies, who staved off elimination and extended the best-of-five series to a fourth game Thursday.

“He just didn't have a great slider tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Clayton pitches off his slider. He was working behind, too. The command wasn't there tonight.”

Kershaw, who went 11-2 as a starter during the regular season, was left off the roster for the wild-card series and hadn’t pitched in nine days when he started warming up in the sixth inning Wednesday. He hadn’t gone that long between appearances all year.

“I did everything I could in between,” he said. “It's been a while but, you know, I threw [off] flat ground as best I could. It wasn't there tonight.”

Read more:Plaschke: Dodgers blow surefire win in NLDS Game 3 vs. Phillies, and now they could blow the season

That was obvious from the first batter he faced. Kershaw, who walked a batter every 3.2 innings during the regular season, threw three straight balls to Trea Turner before giving up a single. He would give up two more walks, one intentional, in the inning but escaped harm thanks to a poor baserunning decision by the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber and a nice catch by right fielder Teoscar Hernández.

But with Tanner Scott unavailable for personal reasons and Alex Vesia having already pitched twice in the series, Roberts had few other good options against the left-handed-heavy Phillies. So he sent Kershaw out for the eighth and that’s when things really got out of hand.

J.T. Realmuto led off the inning and drove Kershaw’s second pitch — a slider — over the wall in left-center. The Phillies would send eight more men to the plate in the inning, scoring four more times, with two of those runs coming on Schwarber’s second homer of the night.

Kershaw threw first-pitch strikes to just four of the 14 batters he faced and missed the zone with 26 of the 48 pitches he threw overall. That won’t stop the Dodgers from building a statue of him when he retires this fall but it didn’t move him any closer to a second straight World Series ring either.

“I wasn't throwing strikes, and it's hard to pitch behind in the count,” he said.

Kershaw said he felt fine physically but added, “I just wasn’t finding it.”

That wasn’t a problem for the top of the Philadelphia lineup, which found little success in the first two games of the series. The Phillies’ first four hitters — Turner, Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Alex Bohm combined for just three hits, all singles — in 27 at-bats, striking out 12 times. They matched that hit total against Dodger starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the span of 11 fourth-inning pitches Wednesday, with Schwarber homering off the roof of the right-field pavilion and Harper and Bohm following with singles.

They finished the night nine for 16 with five runs scored and five RBIs, with Schwarber’s two homers traveling a combined 863 feet.

“We just had a little quick meeting. Nothing crazy, but just focus on the game, win today,” Turner said. “We all know we were kind of pressing as a group in the first two games and wanting to win so bad.”

Read more:Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dodgers quickly lose control in NLDS Game 3 loss to Phillies

If Turner and the Phillies win again Thursday, the series returns to Philadelphia and raucous Citizens Bank Park — where the Phillies had the best home record in baseball — for a decisive Game 5 on Saturday. If the Dodgers win, they move on to the NL Championship Series, where Kershaw could get a chance to end his career on a more sonorous note than the clunker he played Wednesday.

“That’s the great thing about baseball,” he said. “You get a new game every day."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Aaron Judge was still wearing his pinstripes, 45 minutes or so after the Yankees had lost to the Blue Jays Wednesday night, as he stood under an electronic sign in the Yankee clubhouse, doing interviews. The sign relayed prep details about Game 4 – the lineups, pitchers and such. 

But there was another item that stuck out, especially considering what had just happened on the field: It was the plan for a potential travel day Thursday, when the Yankees would fly to Toronto. Departure: TBA. 

Of course, the Yanks aren’t going to Toronto. There are no more tomorrows for the 2025 Yankees. There is no Game 5 in their ALDS because the Jays took the series in four games, punctuated by their 5-2 victory Wednesday that sealed another year in Judge’s prime that will go by without a World Series championship. 

“We didn’t do the job, didn’t finish our goal,” Judge said, a sentiment that was echoed in a somber Yankee clubhouse after the game. 

“It’s still kinda hard to process everything,” added Max Fried. 

Judge was not the only one still wearing his uniform. Some players walked around, sharing hugs or shaking hands. Clubbies put together boxes – the squeal of packing tape being applied to cardboard was background noise to multiple media scrums – to ship belongings to players at their offseason homes.

The Yankees have not won the World Series since 2009. They finally got back to the Fall Classic last year, lost to the Dodgers and then endured a dramatic winter. They did not re-sign Juan Soto, enacted a Plan B that made them believe they’d have a long October run and then persevered through a challenging season where their fundamentals wobbled and they squandered a division lead. But they got it together and, at the end, were convinced they were a real title threat. 

Then, abruptly, it was all over.

“Very disappointed,” Jazz Chisholm said. “You know, I feel like we all – everybody in here – believed that we had such a great team and, really, the team to beat. And we believe so much in each other. 

“It’s just heartbreaking.” 

“The ending’s the worst, right?” Aaron Boone said in his post-game press conference. “Especially when you know you have a really good group and a group of guys that really came together so well at the right time, the final couple months. 

“This was a team. It's a team that played for one another, did a lot of really good things, and we got beat here.

“Credit to the Blue Jays and the year they've had. They beat us this series, simple as that. It doesn't make it any easier. It's a beat-up room in there (the clubhouse). They're still sharing with one another.”

Judge watched a little of the Blue Jays celebrating on the field at Yankee Stadium. It wasn’t easy. “Just showing respect,” he said. “Not happy about it. You don’t want to see somebody celebrate on your field.” 

This one should be hard to get over. It should sting. Boone has said several times this October that he believes this was the Yankee team in his tenure as manager that had the best chance to thrive in the playoff gauntlet. The Yankees improved during the season, added necessary pieces at the deadline and cleaned up their defense. And they got healthy. 

They still lost. Does that dim Boone’s hopes for a pinstriped title one day? “No,” he said. “I'm confident we'll break through, and I have been every year, and I believe in so many of the people in that room. 

“That hasn't changed. The fire hasn't changed. It's hard to win the World Series. Been chasing it all my life.”

Questions about Yankee feelings or mood weren’t the only ones that were asked. There were other potentially uncomfortable queries. Chisholm had to talk about a key error in Game 4, a ball he normally fields easily.

Boone was asked if he had any reason to believe he might not be managing the team next year – his job status is annual red meat for a certain segment of Yankee fans.

“No,” Boone replied. “I’m under contract, so I don’t expect anything.” 

Bellinger was asked about his potential free agency – he has an opt-out. “Obviously, things to discuss with family and the agent and the business side of it all,” he said. “But tonight, you know, I’m just gonna soak it all in and just be a part of the group one more time.” 

Judge lamented the idea that the Yanks had blown a chance to win with this particular group, since change is such a part of baseball’s winter cycle. 

“Just sucks for the guys that it might be their last time wearing pinstripes and not being able to have a long run with them,” Judge said. “Disappointed we let all those guys down.” 

Judge got let down, too. It feels like that’s an even bigger deal this year because he had such a huge playoffs, going 13-for-26 (.500) with two doubles, a homer and seven RBI. He had a .581 on-base percentage, a .692 slugging and a 1.273 OPS. For years, he’s been criticized for his postseason play; this year, he was an enormous reason the Yanks got as far as they did. His Game 3 homer was one for the ages, a breakthrough blast that helped key a huge comeback. 

Bellinger even acknowledged that the club wanted to go further, in part, for Judge, who will be 34 in April. The Yankees must capitalize on the prime of one of the greatest players in even their storied history. 

Judge sounds like he feels the urgency himself. What’s his off-season going to be like?

“I want to get back out there right now,” Judge said. “Wish spring training was in a couple of weeks.”

The Yankees' season a year ago ended because of their poor defense and it felt familiar in 2025.

While the offensive woes are largely to blame for the Yankees' season-ending 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays in Game 4 of the ALDS, one defensive play in particular helped Toronto blow the game open.

In the sixth inning, with the Blue Jays up just 2-1, starter Cam Schlittler allowed a one-out single to Ernie Clement before getting Andres Gimenez to hit a sharp grounder to Jazz Chisholm Jr. The ball skipped up on the second baseman and went into the outfield, putting runners on the corners with one out. Manager Aaron Boone brought in Devin Williams to try and get out of the jam, but after a George Springer strikeout, Nathan Lukes singles into left-center to drive in two runs.

Even though the deficit was just three runs, with just two Yankees hits against the myriad of Blue Jays relievers up to that point, it felt like 10.

“Didn’t think it would play the way it played and just missed it," Chisholm said of the play after the game. "Been thinking about it since the play happened, still thinking about it now, can’t get it out of my head. Got to move on eventually, have three months to move on. Will probably think about this when the season starts next year."

"Just ball hit sharply, but one he's going to turn all the time," Boone said. "Just missed -- it just kicked off. Sharply hit ball, but a one-hopper, one he's going to turn all the time. And it just looked like it skipped off his glove."

Although the Yankees played relatively clean baseball in the ALDS, against a team like the Blue Jays extra outs and mistakes -- allowing runners to take extra bags -- came back to hurt New York. When asked why the Yankees fell to Toronto, Aaron Judge pointed to those types of plays.

"It comes down to the little things. Making little plays, come up with the big hit. If you don't do that, give teams extra outs, they're going to capitalize on it." Judge said. "What a season for the Blue Jays. Doing their thing, winning the division, winning the DS. For us, we have to clean a couple of things up and come right back here."

Chisholm lauded this Yankees team as being the top in the American League, despite the ups and downs of the season. While he does still believe they were the best team, the Yankees infielder attributed their elimination to the Blue Jays outplaying them and baseball doesn't always reward the best teams.

"I wouldn’t say [we underachieved], we all thought we were the team to win the World Series, but baseball’s baseball," he said. "Baseball can take a turn in any way; baseball favors nobody. For us, we have to keep rolling with the punches."

 

Aaron Judge had yet another dominant season in 2025, taking home his first career batting title, recording his fourth career 50-plus HR season, and more than likely winning his third AL Most Valuable Player Award. 

But, just like the past 10 seasons of his career, he and the Yankees won't be celebrating a World Series title at the end of the year.

New York fell short again, getting eliminated by the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS on Wednesday after four games.

"It's tough to describe," Judge said of the team's feeling after the loss. "We didn't do our job, didn't finish the goal. Had a special group in here, lot of special players that made this year fun. But we didn't get the ultimate prize, so we came up short."

Judge did all he could against the Jays, hitting .600 (9-for-15) with one home run, six RBI, four walks, and five runs scored. Overall in the postseason, he went 13-for-26 (.500) with seven RBI in seven games. Still, it wasn't enough.

"I think once again it comes down to the little things," Judge said. "Making the little plays, coming with the big hit. If you don't do that, give teams extra outs, they're going to capitalize on it. What a season for the Blue Jays, doing their thing, winning the division, winning the DS.

"For us, we got to clean a couple things up and we'll be right back here."

Manager Aaron Boone was asked similar questions regarding not winning a title with Judge and what he says to him after another special season.

"That's sports," Boone said. "It doesn't mean it's not going to happen, and he and I wholeheartedly believe that it will. Again, you keep working your tail off to get back to this position and punch through."

"Again, I don't take anything for granted in this game. Being in it my whole life, I know how hard it is to win in the end. I have too much respect for the sport and the competition of it for that."

Judge was asked if it gets harder as he gets older to not end the season in victory, saying he's ready to work even more in the offseason to accomplish that goal. The slugger called the 2025 team a "special group" and was upset to let them down, acknowledging the roster will look a bit different next season.

"Yeah, it's what you play for, you play to win. And when you don't win, it's not a good year," Judge said. "Just got to put in more work, review the season, see what I can keep doing to try to help this team, put them in the best position to win every single night."

He added: "I felt like we were a complete team, up and down the lineup... I liked our chances all year. It was a special group. Just sucks for the guys that might be their last time wearing pinstripes and not being able to have a long run with them and end it in the championship... disappointed we let all those guys down."

Among the potential free agents are Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham, who both had "incredible years" per Judge, adding he'd like to see them back in the Bronx. 

The team captain is still unsure what the team is missing to get over the hump, but is ready to "go back to work" and start spring training.

"That's tough to say right now," Judge said. "Once I'll review the season and go through it, I'm gonna have a better answer for you. We had our ups and downs. Tough couple weeks, tough couple months, good months. Just felt like we were just starting to get going here at the end and have a nice little postseason run, but it didn't go our way."

They had them down. They let them up.

They squeezed them down to their last gasps. They backed off and gave them new life.

In any ordinary five-game playoff series, a team leading two-games-to-none can lose a game and maintain a clear advantage. But the heavyweight happenings here between the Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies is no ordinary series. And by losing a potential clinching Game 3 Wednesday night at a stunned and boo-filled Chavez Ravine, the Dodgers are suddenly and dangerously close to blowing it.

The 8-2 defeat to the Phillies in the National League Division Series factually means the Dodgers still lead two-games-to-one with two more chances to close out their favored foe.

But realistically, the Dodgers now face a must-win Game 4 at Dodger Stadium Thursday, as a loss would return the series to Philadelphia Saturday for a deciding Game 5 at baseball’s toughest place to play.

Yes, the Dodgers won twice at Citizens Bank Park to start this series, but could they do it one more time? And, even with both Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell available, would they want to even try?

No, the season is realistically now riding on Thursday and Tyler Glasnow against Phillies' ace Cristopher Sánchez because, on a long and frustrating Wednesday night, the Dodgers couldn’t get it done when they should have gotten it done.

Afterward Dodger manager Dave Roberts preached calm.

“It's pretty close to being flushed already,” he said. “If you look back going into this series and said we'd be up 2-1, we would have banked it with Glas going in.”

He added, “I feel good with where we're at… And it's certainly flushed.”

But it was the Phillies who were supposed to be flushed. The Dodgers had every advantage. Their ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto was on the mound. Their offense was in full gear. The champagne was nearby. They even took a one-run lead after three innings on a Tommy Edman homer.

But Yamamoto blew up, and the Phillies blew past, and then Clayton Kershaw took the mound in the seventh inning and, sadly for the retiring star, things really got ugly.

Read more:Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dodgers quickly lose control in NLDS Game 3 loss to Phillies

By the time it ended, the once-unhittable Yamamoto had allowed three runs in four innings, the Hall of Famer Kershaw allowed four earned runs in two innings, and some notably struggling Phillies at the top of their order had gotten healthy.

Kyle Schwarber had two home runs including one that seemed to disappear off the right-field pavilion roof. Trea Turner had three hits. Bryce Harper had two hits. Two Phillies undercard pitchers, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez, allowed one run in seven innings.

Dodger fans were so upset with everything that many of them walked out after Kershaw got hammered in a five-run eighth inning.

It was ugly. It was awful. And now it’s a problem, because the once down-and-out Phillies are revived and refreshed and believing.

That’s trouble, that believing part, and before the game, two Dodgers warned about what happens when that happens.

“Obviously we want to finish this tonight, and we don't want to let anything slip away from us,” Max Muncy said. “That's one of those things, when you talk about momentum, if you don't finish it tonight, you feel like it's slipping away.”

Yeah, well, he’s right, now it’s slipping away.

Despite his postgame optimism, before the game Roberts warned of the same ominous signs.

“You have these guys on their heels, and you're at home,” said the Dodger manager. “We expect a great, boisterous crowd. We have one of our aces on the mound. So the way we're playing, we want to put these guys away and don't let them up for air.”

Oh, they gave them plenty of air, beginning in the fourth inning when Schwarber led off with a 455-foot homer off the roof of the right-field pavilion. Then the Phillies’ piled on, a Harper single, an Alec Bohm single that scored Harper on a bad throw from center fielder Andy Pages, then a run-scoring fly ball from Brandon Marsh.

The Phillies pitching held, but their lead was still 3-1 when Kershaw dramatically took the mound in the seventh and survived a wild rally for one inning.

The Phillies put two runners on base against Kershaw on a Turner single and Schwarber walk, but, with the crowd roaring with every pitch, Will Smith picked off Schwarber and Kershaw survived the threat.

Then, an inning later, he didn’t, as JT Realmuto led off with a home run and the inning didn’t end until Schwarber had also homered again, sandwiched around a walk, a botched grounder by Muncy, and a single.

And to think, it all started so sweetly.

The evening began when World Series hero Steve Garvey threw out the first pitch and then, during the traditional pregame greeting, added an adjective by saying, “It’s time for Dodger championship baseball.”

Read more:Dodgers have no answers for Kyle Schwarber and Phillies in Game 3 loss

Spoke too soon?

The game’s honored veteran was 100-year-old World War II vet Jimmy Hernandez, and the standing ovation was one of the night’s loudest.

The ensuing game only felt like it lasted 100 years.

And now the Dodgers season has been rudely whittled to two more days.

Actually, one.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Phillies seemed rattled. The Dodgers looked confident. And the Chavez Ravine crowd was excitedly smelling blood.

Early in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday, the Dodgers had all the momentum. They’d already taken each of the first two games of this best-of-five set in Philadelphia. Their best pitcher this season, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, had started his night with three scoreless innings. The Phillies, most of all, appeared to be pressing, with Trea Turner leading the game off with a curious bunt and Brandon Marsh misplaying a ball in the bottom of the first with an over-aggressive dive that gifted Mookie Betts a triple.

Then, after a questionable pitching change from Phillies manager Rob Thomson in the bottom of the third, Tommy Edman greeted newly inserted left-hander Ranger Suárez with a leadoff home run to open the scoring.

As Edman rounded the bases, and Dodger Stadium erupted around him, the Dodgers looked well on their way to an NL Championship Series berth.

In postseason baseball, however, momentum can be a fickle thing. Every new inning brings the potential for a plot twist. Every at-bat carries the threat of a turning point. And every single pitch can prove to be the difference.

“You never know in the playoffs,” Kiké Hernández said before the game, “which pitch is going to win you a game.”

On Wednesday, in the Phillies' come-from-behind, elimination-staving 8-2 victory, the pitch that swung the Dodgers’ loss came with no outs in the fourth.

Just moments after Edman had put the Dodgers in front, slumping Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber answered with a statement — clobbering an elevated Yamamoto fastball for a staggering 455-foot home run that went bouncing off the roof of the right-field pavilion.

“It's ridiculous how far that ball went,” Turner said.

“[It] just sort of woke everybody up and got a lot of energy going in the dugout,” Thomson added.

With one titanic swing, Schwarber had given the flat-lining Phillies a breath of new life.

And with the score tied 1-1, their previously dormant offense quickly opened the floodgates.

The Phillies scored twice more off Yamamoto in the fourth, then ambushed Clayton Kershaw in a five-run eighth inning that put the game away.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, could never mount a response offensively, failing to even get Phillies closer Jhoan Durán into the game.

Now, the dynamics of this series have shifted, with the Phillies — who will start their ace, Cristopher Sánchez, in Game 4 on Thursday — needing just one more win to get the NLDS back to home soil for a decisive Game 5.

“Obviously there’s still a lot of pressure on us, but pressure is a privilege,” Betts said. “We’re going to do what we always do. Tomorrow is a new day.”

Wednesday was certainly a new kind of day in the context of this series, serving as a complete reversal from Games 1 and 2.

For the first time in the matchup, the Phillies' star hitters outshone their Dodger counterparts.

Read more:Plaschke: Dodgers blow surefire win in NLDS Game 3 vs. Phillies, and now they could blow the season

Schwarber’s game-altering blast was his first hit of the series (snapping an 0-for-9 skid), and his first of two home runs on the night. Turner tripled his NLDS hit total in a three-for-five, two-RBI showing. Bryce Harper also reached base twice while drawing a walk.

Ohtani, meanwhile, went hitless in five at-bats to fall to one for 14 in the series with seven strikeouts. And while Betts had two hits, including his first-inning triple, the duo behind him couldn’t take advantage, with Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman going a combined 0 for 7.

“We definitely had a chance and we didn’t capitalize on it,” said third baseman Max Muncy, who had two hits but also rolled into a double play that ended one of the Dodgers’ best threats in the sixth inning. “That was kind of the story of the night — we had a lot of chances, and we didn’t get the big hit to come through.”

In an unexpected development, the Phillies’ pitching plan also proved to be better; silencing the pregame criticisms of their decision to start Aaron Nola (who had a career-worst 6.01 ERA this season) and use Suárez in relief.

Nola pitched two scoreless innings, striking out Hernández and Will Smith (who made his first start of the playoffs after recovering from a hand fracture) to strand Betts at third in the bottom of the first.

Read more:'You get a new game every day.' Clayton Kershaw tries to put Game 3 debacle behind him

And though Suárez’s night started with the home run by Edman (the switch-hitter who was able to flip to his stronger right-handed side with the southpaw on the mound), he settled down for 15 scoreless outs after that, working around four more hits and a walk to get through the seventh.

Yamamoto, on the other hand, lost control following Schwarber’s mammoth home run to lead off the fourth — which came in a 2-and-0 count that forced Yamamoto to throw a fastball over the plate.

“My plan was to stay away, outside, but I fell behind,” Yamamoto, who lacked feel for his secondary pitches Wednesday, said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “So I went in a little bit, and then I paid the price.”

Harper immediately followed with a single on a hanging splitter. Alec Bohm did the same on an inside sinker, sending a grounder up the middle that got through the infield. Andy Pages fielded the ball in center, but short-hopped his throw to third base in an effort to gun down Harper. When Muncy couldn’t block it, the ball bounced into the dugout to allow Harper to score and Bohm to advance to third. Marsh added insult to injury with a sacrifice fly in the next at-bat.

Things didn’t get much better for Yamamoto from there. He gave up a double to J.T. Realmuto later in the fourth. Back-to-back singles to begin the fifth chased him from the game.

Yamamoto’s final line: Four-plus innings, three runs, six hits, one walk and only two strikeouts. It was the shortest start from the Dodgers’ rotation this postseason, tied Ohtani’s Game 1 outing in this series for the unit’s most runs allowed, and was Yamamoto’s first time with more hits allowed than strikeouts since July 7.

“If I could have minimized the damage in that [fourth] inning,” Yamamoto said, ”I think maybe the result might have been a little bit different."

Instead, the Dodgers’ slim hopes of a comeback were dashed with Kershaw on the mound in the eighth.

Making his first appearance of the postseason, Kershaw had skirted trouble in the seventh before being sent back out for a second inning of work (in part because the Dodgers were without left-hander Tanner Scott, who was not at the ballpark Wednesday because of a personal situation, Roberts said).

Hoping to keep the game close, and force the Phillies to use the warming Durán for a six-out save, Kershaw was instead pummeled, giving up a leadoff home run to Realmuto, a two-run single to Turner and another two-run homer to Schwarber that bounced off the top of the right-field wall.

With that, a crowd that was anticipating a sweep in the early innings of Wednesday’s game somberly filed to the exits — trudging toward Game 4 with the Dodgers still leading this series, but knowing all their momentum had suddenly evaporated.

“Going into tomorrow, we want to keep pressure on any way possible,” Schwarber said. “Go out there, play great defense, take great at-bats, [play] 27 outs, and go from there.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger, who has a player option for the 2026 season, is welcome to return to the Bronx after the team was eliminated in Game 4 of the ALDS. 

After the Yankees' 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday, ending their season, the outfielder was asked if he is planning to exercise his player option.

"Obviously, things to discuss with family and the agent and the business side of it all," Bellinger said. "Tonight, I'm just going to soak it all in and be a part of the group one more time."

Bellinger, 30, slashed .272/.334/.480 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI in 152 regular season games this year, helping the Yankees make it back to the postseason. While there, the former NL MVP performed well, despite his less-than-stellar numbers. In the seven playoff games this year, Bellinger slashed .214/.258/.393 with an OPS of .651. He hit one home run, two doubles and drove in four runs while playing very good defense. 

Unfortunately, in Game 4, while Bellinger made a terrific sliding catch to prevent runs from scoring in the first inning, he went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts, including striking out swinging in the ninth inning to end the game.

While the season didn't end the way Bellinger and the Yankees wanted, the 31-year-old looked fondly on his time in the Bronx and with his teammates.

"I had an unbelievable time putting on this uniform. Yankee Stadium, the fans, the organization, the culture that these guys have created in this locker room," he said. "It really is special. It's such a fun group, a fun group to be a part of. We came up short and that part stinks for sure because we had a really really good group here."

Manager Aaron Boone was asked about Bellinger and Trent Grisham -- who is set to be a free agent this offseason -- and whether he hopes they return to the Yankees in 2026.

"The thing I'll say about them is they're a big reason why I was so excited about this club down the stretch and at this point. Just really proud of who those guys were and are and what they became as players, as driving forces for our team," Boone said. "But in those two cases, the two people those guys are in the room every single day and what they brought to the table as teammates every single day, I appreciate that. And I'm grateful to get to have managed those two guys. Who knows? Hopefully, in both cases, I get to keep doing it."

New York acquired Bellinger and $5 million in cash considerations last December through a trade with the Chicago Cubs for right-handed pitcher Cody Poteet.

He originally signed with the Cubs on a one-year contract entering 2023, including a mutual option for 2024, which saw him slash .307/.356/.525 while hitting 26 home runs and 97 RBI over 130 games. It was his best season since 2019. That year, his age-23 season, Bellinger's career-best campaign included a .305/.406/.629 slash line with 47 home runs and 115 RBI in 162 regular season games.

After the 2023 season, Bellinger declined his mutual option and became a free agent. He re-signed with the Cubs in February 2024 on a three-year, $80 million contract that included opt-out clauses after the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Bellinger slashed .266/.325/.426 with 18 home runs and 78 RBI over 130 regular-season games in 2024 for the Cubs.

"I get business," Bellinger said last December while discussing Chicago's decision to trade him after he opted into his clause for 2025. "Very good at separating the business and the baseball, and I'm the baseball player and there's business in this game, so I just want to prepare and play the best baseball that I can play."

Cody Bellinger says he'd welcome a return to the Yankees if he opts out of his contract:

"I had an unbelievable time putting on this uniform. Yankee Stadium, the fans, the organization, the culture that these guys have created in this locker room. It's special." pic.twitter.com/Ov93n3eGjF

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 9, 2025

Phillies perfectly execute game plan to keep season alive for another day originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

LOS ANGELES – With one swing of the bat, Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber went a long way (455 feet, to be exact) into helping his team capture a must-win game, prolong a season and probably squash a lot of sports radio talk calling for his manager’s ouster.

And after that, the Phillies throttled the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-2, to cut the deficit in this best-of-five Divisional Series to 2-1. Game Four will be Thursday 6:08 p.m. ET.

Manager Rob Thomson held true to his pre-game promise that Aaron Nola would be his starter and lefty Ranger Suarez would be his piggyback. It was just the strange way in which it happened that had many in the Delaware Valley probably scratching their weary heads.

Though he struggled through two base runners and 22 pitches in the first inning, Nola got the Dodgers out in order in the second, the last a strikeout of pesky Andy Pages. That had Nola at 31 pitches, 21 for strikes, one hit and three strikeouts. It also got him a seat on the bench.

Thomson called on Suarez to start the third and his first pitch to nine-hole hitter Tommy Edman, a 93 MPH fastball, landed five rows deep in left for a 1-0 Dodgers lead. You could almost hear the Philadelphia groans all the way on the West Coast.

But Schwarber then silenced both sides of the country, including the sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium, by hitting his monster home run almost out of the historic venue to tie the game the very next inning, starting a three-run blitz in the fourth that propelled the Phillies to the win.

Schwarber’s first home run of the night ignited the team that had lost two close games at home, his second was a direct kill-shot on the Dodgers, a two-run blast that gave the Phillies an 8-1 lead and closed out a five-run, eighth inning off Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw.

If this game was written out as a plan by Thomson, it couldn’t have gone any better, beginning with the starting pitching situation.

“They pretty much did exactly what we wanted,” said Thomson of Nola and Suarez. “We wanted to use those guys as close to (closer Jhoan) Duran as we could to save some of the bullpen for tomorrow if we won. Nola was really good. The plan was to go one time through the lineup and Ranger was on (leadoff hitter Shohei) Ohtani. Ended up with (Tommy) Edman leading off the third. He’s 1-for-20 with nine strikeouts against Ranger, and he hit the first pitch out of the ballpark. But, they executed perfectly.”

So did the Phillies in all aspects of the game throughout the cool Southern California night.

After Schwarber’s first homer, Bryce Harper singled and then so did Alec Bohm to center. Harper aggressively went from first to third, drawing a throw from Dodger centerfielder Andy Pages. The ball and Harper arrived about the same time, but the ball got through third baseman Max Muncy and went into the Los Angeles dugout. That allowed Harper to get home and gave Bohm third. Brandon Marsh followed with a sacrifice fly to left and the Phillies had life in a 3-1 lead.

“Yeah, big swing,” Harper said of Schwarber’s first home run. “It’s pretty cool to be able to watch him do that. Seen him do it all year. Never seen a ball go up like that, especially in L.A. at night. Super impressive. I’m glad we got on the board early. Noles threw the ball great. Ranger threw the ball great. Took a commanding lead and were able to hold it.

“It’s good anytime you go first to third and make something happen. It’s a really hard throw to make in any game. Trying to go from first to third there, make something happen, and I was able to do that. Scored and then Marsh hit a ball to the outfield and scored Bohmer there. Big time getting up 3-1 there. That’s still a really good team over there. We’ve just got to come in here and do our job and understand that we’re a really good team as well and just try to go 1-0 again tomorrow. I said it the other day, the first of three and not worry about anything else. Got to come into tomorrow and win that game and get back to Philly.”

Patience was preached as the proper approach for the Phillies offense in facing Dodger starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Wednesday. If the Phillies were trying to bluff their strategy, they didn’t do a very good job of it as the first four hitters of the game swung at the first pitch with no success. But that would certainly come later. Especially in the form of Schwarber.

“I’ve been very fortunate to be in a lot of postseason games in my career and it’s just a testament to baseball,” said Schwarber, now with 23 postseason home runs, which is third all-time. “It doesn’t matter if you’re hitting .100 or hitting .500. Did you win the game at the end of the day? That’s all that matters. That’s why it’s such a fun format. You’re just grinding and find a way to win a baseball game and sometimes it’s going to work out and sometimes it’s not going to work out.

“I think just trying to get back there and respond after they scored a run is a big thing for us. We’ve done a really good job, during the course of my time here, we’ve done a really good job of responding whenever something goes against us. You can look back at the first couple of games. We were in striking distance every single time, there in the ninth inning, too, in Game Two. We responded. That’s something that we have a knack for here. It’s just nice to get the answer back and then a great at-bat and we just kept it going.”

And it all started with the unorthodox, but followed plan, of Thomson to have Nola get through the lineup once and then go to Suarez, who hadn’t seen an inning yet in these playoffs.

“He didn’t tell me how long it was going to be, he only told me that it was going to be a piggyback start,” said Suarez, who gave up five hits and one run in his five innings. “But my mentality was to go as deep as I could in the game, obviously win, which was the most important thing, and then just keep the score as close as I could so I could give the guys a chance to win tonight’s ball game. And after that first pitch homer that I gave up, I just kind of settled down and that was the rest of it.”

Had this been a boxing match, the Phillies had the Dodgers on the ropes multiple times, but failed to deliver that knockout blow early, leaving two runners on base in both the fifth and seventh innings. They finally did deliver the haymaker in the eighth when they sent nine batters to the plate and gathered nine hits.

Trea Turner, Schwarber and Harper, who entered the game 2-for-21 with 11 strikeouts in the series, sparked the Phillies offense by going 7-for13 on Wednesday with four runs scored and five RBI.

Everything just seemed to work out the way it was planned.

“It’s the postseason and I’d do anything I can to help the team,” said Nola. “I knew what the situation was and loved watching Ranger go out and dominate those five innings he threw. Really kept us in the game guys exploded with the bats. That’s Kyle, man. He’s the best and he stays under control all the time. Never gets too high or too low. Comes up with big hits when we need them and he did again tonight.”

He was a savior on Wednesday, for sure.

Wednesday was the second time this postseason the Yankees leaned on rookie flamethrower Cam Schlittler to save their season. And while the young right-hander did just that in the Wild Card series, there would be no repeat result in Game 4 of the ALDS against the Blue Jays.

But that's not for a lack of trying on the part of Schlittler.

Schlittler gave the Yankees their best outing from their starter in this series. He threw 88 pitches (69 strikes) through 6.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits and no walks. For most teams, that's enough to win, but the offense fell flat against Toronto's bullpen game as New York fell 5-2.

"Schlitt was good tonight," manager Aaron Boone said after the game. "Didn’t have the dominant swing-and-miss stuff. I thought pitched really effectively, was filling up the strike zone. I thought he made a lot of key pitches when he needed to, mixed well. Gives up a run in the first inning but doesn't flinch. I thought he was really efficient with obviously a good offensive club. I thought he threw the ball really well tonight. Not the dominant one that he came off of, but he gave us a really good chance to win a baseball game."

In Game 3 against the Red Sox, Schlittler had one of the best postseason pitching performances by a Yankee, striking out 12 batters. On Wednesday, he could only get two outs via K, as the contact-heavy Blue Jays fouled pitches off and put the ball in play constantly. Again, as Boone said, Schlittler pitched well enough to win, but the sting of the loss is not lost on the team or the 24-year-old.

"It’s frustrating. I’ve only been here for three months, can’t imagine how some of the guys feel who have been here the whole season," Schlittler said of the feeling in the locker room after the loss. "You have to learn from it and didn’t feel like we were in an elimination game, I felt like we were playing good ball. Fuel for next year."

Schlittler went 1-1 with a 1.26 ERA and 14 strikeouts in his two postseason starts. If you combine the regular season and postseason, including Wednesday's start, Schlittler allowed two or fewer runs in 12 of his 16 starts. 

In the first three games of the ALDS, Luis Gil, Max Fried and Carlos Rodon allowed 15 runs across eight innings pitched. Schlittler was the only one of the four to record an out in the fourth inning. While it didn't go New York's way, the future seems bright for Schlittler who broke out to the baseball world in this postseason. 

Schlittler, who was called up in July, said he developed as a player, person and teammate while with the Yankees and that he will use this postseason loss to fuel him going into 2026.

"The end goal is the same. Just try to fuel the fire and take it into your offseason training and get ready for spring training and get ready for next season," he said. "It’s not the way we wanted to end, but I didn’t feel like our backs were against the wall. A lot of people cherished their time here, that’s the greatest thing about the Yankees, we are so close and we developed as teammates. It’s not going to be easy, the game is going to always take from you. Have to learn from it and take it into next season."

"Foundationally, we are excited about Cam and his future and what he can become in our rotation moving forward," Boone said of Schlittler's future. "He had a phenomenal season and finished strong tonight."

If Schlittler can take that next step, the Yankees will have a formidable rotation heading into October. A returning Gerrit Cole will anchor the rotation that will feature Fried, Rodon and Schlittler. There may not be another team with a better starting quartet than that.

The Yankees’ run of wins in elimination games came to an end Wednesday night and so did their season. They dropped Game 4 of the ALDS to the Blue Jays, 5-2, at Yankee Stadium. 

Toronto won the best-of-five series, three games to one, and took the deciding tilt by throwing a bullpen game against Cam Schlittler. Schlittler, the Yankee youngster who was a revelation in his first postseason start last week against Boston, was good again, though not quite as good as he was against the Red Sox. But it wasn’t enough. 

The Yankees were outhit, 12-6, and missed on several late chances. Jazz Chisholm Jr. made a key error in the seventh inning that led to two crucial insurance runs. In the series, the Jays outscored the Yankees, 34-19.

Before Wednesday, the Yanks had won three consecutive elimination games this October.

The Jays now head to the ALCS while the Yankees head into the winter wondering what might have been. And what might happen now.

Here are the main takeaways...

-- The Jays scored in the first inning of every game of the series and took a 1-0 lead in this one on an RBI single by Vlad Guerrero Jr. Guerrero knocked in George Springer, who had led off the game with a double off Schlittler. Addison Barger followed with a single and the inning couldn’t become worse trouble, but Schlittler rebounded with help from Cody Bellinger. First, Schlittler retired Alejandro Kirk on a foul pop and then Bellinger raced over to catch a bloop by Daulton Varsho down the left-field line, sliding to make the grab. 

-- In the second inning, Anthony Volpe made a terrific running catch, one so good it might make some Yankee fans forget his defensive woes earlier in the season. With his back to the plate, he sprinted into left field to snare a flare, catching it over-the-shoulder style. A few fans chanted Volep’s name in appreciation, though he also got booed later after striking out for the third time in the game. Volpe was 5-for-26 with 16 strikeouts this postseason.

-- Ryan McMahon connected for his first career postseason home run in the third inning, knotting the score at 1 after a terrific at-bat. McMahon, who hit 20 home runs during the regular season (16 for the Rockies, four for the Yanks), fell behind 0-2 against lefty Mason Fluharty, but worked the count full. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, he swatted a sweeper on the outside corner over the right-field wall. The Stadium crowd, a tad sleepy early, got back into the game after the home run. 

-- Schlittler retired eight straight hitters before Barger led off the fourth with a double. But then he got three consecutive outs, stranding Barger at third. In the fifth, the Blue Jays got consecutive singles to start the inning from Ernie Clement, who came into the game batting .636 in the series, and Andrés Giménez to put runners on first and third. 

Springer hit a sac fly to give Toronto a 2-1 lead, but Schlittler got the next two outs, including catching Guerrero looking at a 3-2 sinker on the outside corner, to end the frame. His whiff of Guerrero was just his second strikeout of the game, sort of illustrating the different way he got outs against the Blue Jays after striking out 12 in eight scoreless innings against Boston in the Wild Card series. 

-- Schlittler started the sixth with 67 pitches and got through the inning with only 10 more, which perhaps put him in line to at least start the seventh. He threw 107 against Boston, his season high, in his last start. Barger started the sixth with a 47.2-mph squibber down the third-base line that went for an infield single because McMahon was positioned way toward second base. 

Aaron Boone went to the mound and some fans booed, thinking the manager was going to yank the pitcher, but Boone spoke for a few moments and then headed back to the dugout. The crowd cheered then. Schlittler coaxed a double-play grounder out of Varsho to end the inning and the righty then got to start the seventh inning, too. 

-- The Yankees had cleaned up some of their defensive issues over the last few months of the season, but an error by Chisholm hurt them in the seventh inning. The first out of the inning came on a remarkable catch of a foul pop by McMahon, who appeared to slip while pursuing the ball, but reached for it and caught it anyway. 

Then, after another single by Clement, Giménez hit a grounder to Chisholm that could have turned into an inning-ending double play. But Chisholm couldn’t handle the bouncer and the Jays had runners at first and third. That ended Schlittler’s night. Devin Williams came in and struck out Springer, though Giménez stole second on the play. And then Nathan Lukes stroked a two-run single to increase Toronto’s lead to 4-1. 

-- Schlittler was charged with two unearned runs in the seventh, so his final line was 6.1 innings, four runs (two earned) and eight hits. He struck out two and walked none, throwing 88 pitches, 69 for strikes. It was another impressive outing for the rookie, who, through two postseason starts, had a 1.26 ERA over 14.1 innings. He did not walk a single batter.

-- The Yanks left two runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings and stranded the bases loaded in the eighth. The Jays intentionally walked Judge with one out in the sixth and, one out after that, Giancarlo Stanton worked a walk. But Chisholm grounded out. In the seventh, Paul Goldschmidt drew a leadoff walk and pinch-hitter Amed Rosario hit a two-out single. But Trent Grisham popped out to end the threat. 

With two out in the eighth, Stanton singled and Chisholm and pinch-hitter Ben Rice walked. But Austin Wells flew out against Jays closer Jeff Hoffman. Overall, the Yankees were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

-- The Jays piled on an additional run in the eighth when Kirk led off with a double and scored on a single to right by defensive replacement Myles Straw for a 5-1 lead. 

-- Judge went 2-for-4 in Game 4 with two singles, an RBI and an intentional walk. He finished his playoff run with some gaudy numbers, going 13-for-26 (.500) with seven RBI in seven games. 

Game MVP: Toronto's bullpen

Seven relievers allowed two runs over 7.2 innings. You can extrapolate it to two runs over nine innings if you want to include reliever Louis Varland, who started as an opener and got the first four outs. 

Highlights

What a catch from Cody Bellinger to end the inning 🤯

(via @MLB) pic.twitter.com/MuZVAaOd0g

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 8, 2025

Nice grab by Anthony Volpe 👏 pic.twitter.com/cwLzHpMNOf

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 8, 2025

Ryan McMahon ties it! 🚀

(via @MLB)
pic.twitter.com/956f86hUQ6

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 8, 2025

Cam Schlittler’s first strikeout strands the runner at third and keeps the game tied! pic.twitter.com/rC76H6ZN7e

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 9, 2025

Instant Observations after Phillies' offense finally wakes up to force Game 4 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

LOS ANGELES — The Phillies needed to fight to see another day and packed so much punch, it sucked the life out of Dodger Stadium.

They’re not done yet and an offensive explosion reinstated the Phillies’ confidence for an 8-2 win over the Dodgers to force a Game 4 Thursday.

A change of scenery. An early pitching change. A home run that still hasn’t landed. They’re not done yet.

That was apparently the recipe to finally come out on top. Let’s see if they have at least two more wins in them. Or 10 … but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

Here are a few instant observations off the win.

•It’s hard to not be amazed every time Kyle Schwarber demolishes a baseball. In the fourth inning, he squashed a 455 foot home run and it nearly left Dodger Stadium. It may not have even landed at this point. Schwarber now has five 450+ foot home runs in the playoffs during the statcast era. No other player has more than two. That one swing might’ve reminded the Phillies of the damage they’re capable of offensively. Heck, it reminded Schwarber of it so much, he hit another home run in the eighth inning. It’s his second-career multi-home run game in the playoffs. Good things happen when Schwarber goes yard.

•Aaron Nola pitched two scoreless innings but Rob Thomson saw enough to pull him for Ranger Suarez. The whole Game 3 starter situation has been a bizarre one, having Suarez available from the pen for the first two games and then handing the ball to Nola when the series turned to Los Angeles. We’ve seen preemptive pitching changes from Thomson in the past that have come back to bite him in the playoffs. And after Suarez gave up a first-pitch home run to Tommy Edman, the immediate thought was “Oh boy, here we go again.” Luckily, for all parties involved, they got through it.

•Not only did Ranger get through it, he completely dominated. The Phillies’ starters have been phenomenal in this series and it’s unfortunate to look back at the first two games knowing they couldn’t squeak out a win with Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo on the mound.

•Confidence on the base paths goes a long way. A double steal getting runners to second and third with no outs was a huge opportunity to swing the momentum even more in favor of the Phillies. Even up the two runs, you want to add against the Dodgers because you never know when they’ll wake up. Kyle Schwarber wound up getting picked off at first base in the seventh inning. Base running can change the trajectory of a game. Thankfully, it didn’t come back to bite the Phillies. This time.

•The bunt heard round the tri-state area in the ninth inning of Game 2 can probably be put to rest now. Was it a decision loved by many or most?

•Harrison Bader really has quickly made his mark on the Phillies. There’s been a hole in the lineup since he was pulled from Game 1 with a hamstring injury. Alec Bohm was intentionally walked twice to have Brandon Marsh face off against left-handed pitchers. It ended in the Dodgers’ favor both times, with Marsh striking out and lining out to right field. Bader was available to pinch hit but wouldn’t have stayed in the game, so the decision wouldn’t have just been for one at-bat, but also shifting the defense in the outfield. Thomson opted for the defense.

•Citizens Bank Park brings an energy unlike any other, especially in the postseason. But with it also comes undeniable pressure to perform well. A change of scenery might’ve been what the club needed. If the Phillies fight to bring this series back to Philadelphia for a Game 5, expect a different energy. Not from the fans, from the players.

•Only 10 teams have crawled back from a League Division Series down 0-2. The Phillies dealt with numerous injuries up and down the lineup and lost their ace in Zack Wheeler and still went on to win the division. Even though the Dodgers took the first two games of this series, now it’s a first to three. Crazier things have happened.