NEW YORK — Aaron Judge hit a tying homer and drove in four runs during a clutch performance for the ages, and the New York Yankees staved off elimination by rallying from five runs down to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-6 on Tuesday night in Game 3 of their AL Division Series.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. launched a go-ahead homer in the fifth inning and the Yankees took advantage of two Toronto errors to avoid a three-game sweep. They scored eight unanswered runs and pulled to 2-1 in the best-of-five series, with Game 4 on Wednesday night in the Bronx.
“We need another one tomorrow,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ll enjoy this for about 10 minutes and get ready for tomorrow.”
Judge went 3 for 4 with an intentional walk and scored three times, also making critical plays with his glove and legs as fans chanted “MVP! MVP!” After struggling at the plate in previous postseasons, he is 7 for 11 in this series (.636) with five RBIs and three walks.
“Tonight was special, but there’s still more work to be done,” the Yankees' captain said. “Hopefully we have some more cool moments like this the rest of the postseason.”
With the season on the line, New York starter Carlos Rodón gave up six runs and six hits in 2 1/3 innings - but five Yankees relievers bailed him out as they combined for 6 2/3 scoreless innings. Tim Hill got four outs for the win, and David Bednar worked 1 2/3 perfect innings for his second playoff save as New York improved to 3-0 in elimination games this postseason.
It was the Yankees' largest comeback ever in an elimination game, and tied for its second-biggest in any postseason game.
Toronto hadn't lost all season when leading by at least four runs.
“Kind of just didn’t play our game, really,” manager John Schneider said. “Their bullpen did a really good job, and we just gave them extra outs.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit an early two-run homer and Ernie Clement had four hits for the AL East champion Blue Jays, who squandered a golden opportunity to put away the Yankees as Toronto tries to reach its first American League Championship Series since 2016.
Consecutive doubles by Trent Grisham and Judge to start the third began New York’s comeback from a 6-1 deficit. Later in the inning, Judge stayed in a rundown between third base and home plate long enough to allow Cody Bellinger to reach third. That became important when Bellinger scored on Giancarlo Stanton’s sacrifice fly against Toronto starter Shane Bieber, who lasted 2 2/3 innings.
Stanton also had an RBI single in the first after Blue Jays second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa committed a fielding error against his former team.
With the Yankees trailing 6-3 in the fourth, third baseman Addison Barger dropped Austin Wells’ wind-blown popup for another costly error with one out. Grisham walked, and right-hander Louis Varland was brought in to face Judge, who turned on an 0-2 fastball clocked at 100 mph off the inside corner and somehow kept it fair, launching a three-run drive that clanged high off the left-field foul pole.
“He made a really good pitch look really bad,” Varland said.
Judge tossed his bat aside and gestured to teammates on the bench as the sellout crowd of 47,399 burst into a frenzy.
“It's an amazing swing,” Boone said. “That’s shades of Edgar Martínez right there, taking that high-and-tight one and keeping it fair down the line. Manny Ramirez used to do that really well, too. But just a great swing on a pretty nasty pitch, obviously.”
The right fielder then made a diving catch with a runner at second in the fifth, drawing more “MVP" chants.
Chisholm gave the Yankees their first lead of the series with a solo homer off Varland in the bottom half. Amed Rosario doubled and scored on Wells’ two-out single to make it 8-6, and Ben Rice added a sacrifice fly in the sixth that scored Judge after he was intentionally walked with one out and nobody on base.
Call it the ultimate sign of respect. Or perhaps, fear.
Guerrero went full-out Superman while diving across home plate to score on Clement’s single in the third, and Anthony Santander’s two-run single capped a four-run inning that made it 6-1.
Rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler starts Wednesday night for New York, coming off a dominant performance in a winner-take-all Wild Card Series game against rival Boston last Thursday at Yankee Stadium.
Toronto will go with a bullpen game, using Varland as an opener and potentially left-hander Eric Lauer as the bulk reliever.
Aaron Judge still thinks that his first career home run, the one he hit way back on Aug. 13, 2016, off Matt Andriese of the Tampa Bay Rays, is the biggest one of his life. You finally make “The Show,” he explained, and you really have no idea if you’re good enough to stick around. If you aren’t, you can at least say that you hit one in the big leagues.
Fair enough. But Judge hit one Tuesday night that maybe should rate even higher than the first one and higher than No. 62 back in his record-setting 2022. With the Yankees staring at elimination and a five-run deficit against the Blue Jays, who battered them in the first two games of the AL Division Series, Judge smashed a tying three-run homer in a fashion no one else seemingly has – more on that later – to propel a comeback that might’ve tilted this best-of-five series.
Couple that with the constant background cacophony about Judge’s October resume and his towering shot off Louis Varland that clanged high off the left-field foul pole was not just a game-changer, but a narrative-changer, too.
Aaron Boone called the Yankees’ 9-6 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 3 “an awesome team win,” and the manager was right – in addition to Judge, the bullpen was huge, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a go-ahead home run and Giancarlo Stanton knocked in a pair. But, years from now, we probably won’t remember all that.
So how about this meatier, more lasting moniker for this one? “The Aaron Judge Game.”
Judge finished 3-for-4 with four RBI and three runs. He was a triple short of the cycle, made a sparkling diving catch in right field with a runner on second and worried the Jays so much they intentionally walked him in the sixth (he later scored). He even stayed in a rundown between third and home long enough for Cody Bellinger to grab an extra base in the third inning, and Bellinger eventually scored on a sac fly.
“It was a ‘best-player-in-the-game performance,’” Boone said.
Even ardent Yankee fans have wondered about Judge under the high-wattage lights of postseason baseball. His numbers are lower than the plaque-worthy stats he puts up in the regular season. As recently as the aftermath of Game 1 of this series, when he whiffed with the bases loaded and nobody out, an at-bat that could’ve changed the game, he was answering questions about being “overanxious” at the plate. Every one of his swing decisions is dissected, his playoff rep often lamented.
Yankeeland was waiting for Judge to wreck an October. Well, he’s 11-for-22 in six games so far with that homer, two doubles and six RBI. He has a 1.304 OPS in these playoffs.
Now you have to wonder if he is going to take over this series. Will the Jays even pitch to him again? Should they?
To be fair, Toronto is still ahead in the series, two games to one. But they commanded Game 3, too, and the Yankees took it away. Now the Jays are planning a bullpen game against Cam Schilitter, the Yanks’ rookie who was the breakout star of the Wild Card series.
Who blinks if the teams go back to Toronto for a winner-take-all game, the team that surged into a tie or the one who owned the series but lost two straight? Yanks haven’t won in Toronto, but narratives can evolve.
Just ask Judge.
The home run itself was fascinating. It came on an 0-2 pitch, right after Varland had thrown a 100-mile-per-hour fastball past Judge. “He blew my doors off on the pitch before,” Judge acknowledged. Judge added: “He’s got all the leverage. He’s probably in attack mode. You’ve gotta attack that head on.”
Varland’s next pitch was 99.7 mph, way inside. Judge kept his hands in and pulled it down the left-field line. According to Andrew Simon, a researcher for MLB, no one in the pitch tracking era (since 2008) had ever hit a home run on a 99-plus pitch that went as far inside as this one did. It was also the fastest pitch Judge had ever homered against. Boone said he’d only seen powerful righty hitters such as Edgar Martinez and Manny Ramirez hit balls like that.
Asked why he liked the pitch, Judge perhaps alluded to the questions he faced earlier in the series.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I get yelled at for swinging out of the zone, now I’m getting praise…It looked good to me.”
Still, it was unclear whether Judge’s drive would stay fair. Boone noticed the flags in left had stopped flapping, a hopeful sign that no wind would push it too far left. The manager leaned in the dugout – using “body English” – to will the ball fair. Judge stood at the plate, watching, then tossed his bat after the ball hit the pole. Later, the slugger wondered if Yankee Stadium ghosts had any influence on where the ball ended up.
Whatever the case, Judge authored a significant October moment in the midst of a remarkable game. It helped save the Yankees’ season.
It should quiet the noise that Judge is never quite himself in the postseason, too.
In a must-win game, when their starter didn't have it, the Yankees bullpen came up clutch. Maybe not Aaron Judge clutch, but they were close.
After Carlos Rodon gave his team just 2.1 innings, and put his team in a 6-1 hole, five relievers combined to get the final 20 outs on Tuesday night to help the Yankees stave off elimination in the team's eventual 9-6 win over the Blue Jays in Game 3 of the ALDS.
"They were awesome," manager Aaron Boone said of the bullpen after the win.
Fernando Cruz was the first man out, getting the final two outs of the third inning before getting an out into the fourth. Camilo Doval continued his recent streak of effective outings by getting the next three outs. Tim Hill picked up the final out in the fifth inning, stranding a runner on second base, before pitching a 1-2-3 sixth inning. Devin Williams picked up four outs and David Bednar locked down the five-out save.
"Cruz coming in and kind of settling things, Camilo continuing to really throw the ball incredibly well," Boone said. "Tim Hill coming in and getting that final out and then going back out knowing he's got to face [George] Springer, but we then added to the lead a little bit. So the fact he was able to get two guys out there and then that kept him in play to face [Davis] Schneider. The add-on run that we had and him getting the first two outs of that inning was really big because then you could afford to -- Schneider puts a pretty good swing on it but then flies out to left. And that allowed us to shorten things with Devin and Bednar finishing the last three innings in a shared situation. Really good job by all the pen guys and doing it efficiently, too."
The bullpen's 6.2 shutout innings -- allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out nine batters -- helped the Yankees complete their largest comeback win in a postseason game since the 2010 ALCS against the Rangers, also a five-run deficit. It also marked only the third time in franchise history that Yankees relievers tossed at least 6.2 scoreless innings in a postseason game.
"Proud of my boys," Hill said of his bullpen mates. "We did what we’re supposed to do."
"You want those shutdown innings, especially after the offense gets some you momentum," Bednar said. "Just keep handing the ball over. We have a really good group down there, just keep trusting everyone."
"Incredible effort by everyone," Williams said. "Everyone stepped up and got as many outs as you could tonight. It was a great performance tonight and gotta go do it tomorrow."
Devin goes beyond
While all the Yankees relievers were spectacular, Williams' was notable as he went and pitched more than an inning for the first time all season. Williams said Boone didn't ask, just told him he was going to go back out there to get Ernie Clement. While he allowed a single, Clement's fourth hit of the game, Williams bounced back to strike out Anthony Santander before being lifted for Bednar.
"This is the time when you're going to need it every now and then," Boone explained of the decision to keep Williams to pitch a second inning. "He was efficient in his inning in the seventh there. So I knew for sure I wanted him to go out and face Clement. And then if he was efficient, Wellsy and I kind of talked about giving him Santander too. And the fact that Clement gets another hit, but he's able to make a couple of really good pitches to get the strikeout of Santander, which was big. That shortened it a little bit for Bednar."
"I was expecting to go further than I did, but it’s all hands on deck right now," Williams said.
Tuesday was Williams' sixth postseason appearance, and the first of at least four outs in his career. The trust Boone has in Williams right now is sky high, and for good reason. Entering Game 3, Williams had allowed just two baserunners (one hit, one walk) in two innings of work. If you want to include just the regular season, since allowing four runs in 0.2 innings back on Sept. 3, Williams has not allowed a run (12 IP).
"He’s a hard worker," Hill said of Williams. "Devin’s always putting in the work no matter what. I saw that from the beginning. Everyone goes through struggles in this game. His work never changed, he stayed the course and that’s why you’re seeing what you’re seeing at this point."
"[He's been] Lights out," Bednar added. "It’s been fun to watch playing in the [NL] Central getting to watch him from the other side and now getting a front seat. It’s been a lot of fun to watch. It’s been very impressive."
Despite the up-and-down first season in the Bronx, Williams says he's kept the same mindset but ist just getting the results he wants now. Once Boone took the ball from him in the eighth, the Yankee Stadium crowd gave the often-maligned reliever a standing ovation for his efforst.
"It’s awesome, nice to feel appreciated sometimes. It was definitely a lot better than what I heard from most of the year," Williams said with a grin.
The Yankees will hope to get the same performance from the bullpen in Wednesday's must-win Game 4. With Cam Schlittler on the mound, Boone may not need many relievers, but they are ready to try and send the series back to Toronto.
Carlos Rodón understood his assignment and the stakes. What he needed to give the Yankees in a must-win Game 3 of the ALDS against the Blue Jays was what two teammates couldn't deliver in Games 1 and 2 over the weekend -- quality length as a starting pitcher.
But fans' long-standing fears about Rodón's reliability in October were once again realized on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, since he, too, didn't meet the job's demands. While the Yankees miraculously staved off elimination with a thrilling 9-6 comeback victory, Rodón was responsible for the necessity of a huge rally, as he gave up six runs and failed to complete three innings.
"All year since we've played them, the miss is just not really there," Rodón said after the win. "Just trying to force weak contact. They put some good swings. Obviously, I made some pitches that could've been way better. They force the issue. They make us play defense. Up and down the lineup, they have pretty good at-bats. The chase isn't really there, and they just put the ball in play."
The signs of trouble for Rodón appeared almost immediately. After allowing a one-out walk in the first inning, he left a soft changeup in the middle of the zone to the red-hot Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who clobbered it into the left field bullpen for a two-run blast. The superstar slugger became the first player in Blue Jays history to start the playoffs with a homer in each of the first three games.
Rodón worked around a leadoff infield single and a two-out hit-by-pitch in the second, but that inning turned out to be his easiest. The wheels fell off in the third, and his mess began with a leadoff double to Davis Schneider that was followed up by an intentional -- and sensible -- walk to Guerrero.
With one out, Rodón gave up a single to Dalton Varsho that brought Schneider home due to a botched Yankees relay. Then, sharp singles from Ernie Clement and Anthony Santander doubled the Blue Jays' run total to six and extended their lead to five. Rodón's eight-pitch bout with Santander was his last -- he was pulled with one out at 67 pitches (44 strikes). He struck out only two.
For a third straight game, the Yankees didn't see their starter record 10 outs. The combination of Luis Gil, Max Fried, and Rodón allowed 15 runs on 18 hits (four homers) for a ghastly ERA of 16.88. And by the time of Rodón's exit, Yankees pitchers had given up a whopping 29 runs, the most allowed in any three-game stretch within a single postseason in franchise history (h/t Katie Sharp).
Of course, the Yankees were lucky that dormant bats finally woke up in the Bronx to not only bail out Rodón, but also to force a do-or-die Game 4 on Wednesday night. The bullpen deserves ample praise, too, as five relievers kept the relentless Blue Jays in check by providing 6.2 scoreless innings.
"They were incredible," Rodón said of the bullpen. "They didn't give up a run. They covered 21 outs and were really impressive. They shut them down and won us the game there, too."
By the numbers, Rodón's efforts weren't the worst among the Yankees' three starters, but the timing of his clunker was disastrous. There was little reason -- maybe even no reason -- to believe the team was capable of summoning eight unanswered runs en route to stunning survival when the veteran left-hander walked off the mound.
Whether or not the Yankees overcome the series deficit to the Blue Jays and advance to the ALCS, the topic of Rodón's struggles under the bright postseason lights is sticking around. The 32-year-old southpaw has a 9.72 ERA across 8.1 innings (two starts) this month.
Rodón seemed poised to put that narrative to bed, too. He produced the second 200-strikeout campaign of his career, while logging career-high marks in both innings (195.1) and starts (33). For extended stretches, he performed near ace level, living up to his high-priced salary.
Luckily for Rodón, the postgame conversations weren't centered on him this time. The massive weight of the season now rests on other shoulders.
Aaron Judge hit a huge home run Tuesday night to help the Yankees rally from a big deficit and stave off elimination in Game 3 of their ALDS against the Blue Jays.
Judge, often maligned for his October play, slammed a game-tying three-run homer in the fourth inning and Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered in the subsequent frame to give the Yankees the lead for good in a 9-6 win in front of 47,399 at Yankee Stadium. It was the third time in these playoffs that the Yankees won a game in which a loss would’ve ended their season.
The Yankees had trailed by five runs after the top of the third inning. Toronto was 71-4 when they scored at least five runs in a game during the regular season and had won the first two games of this series while scoring five-plus, too.
The teams resume the series Wednesday night in the Bronx, and the Yankees will still be trying to avoid elimination -- the Jays still lead the best-of-five affair, two games to one.
Here are the main takeaways...
-- The Blue Jays got a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning after Carlos Rodón issued a one-out walk to Davis Schneider, bringing up Yankee-slayer Vlad Guerrero Jr. Guerrero smashed his third home run of the series, a 427-foot shot to left center that left his bat at 110.5 mph. Guerrero, who entered the game 10-for-17 with a homer and three doubles lifetime against Rodón, is the first Blue Jays player to homer in three consecutive playoff games. Not surprisingly, when Guerrero batted against Rodón in the third inning with first base open, Aaron Boone ordered an intentional walk.
-- After a terrific regular season, Rodón has been mostly a disappointment in the playoffs. He could not get out of the third inning against Toronto and wound up allowing six runs and six hits in 2.1 frames. He walked two, one intentionally, and fanned two. In two starts, he’s mustered a 9.72 ERA.
-- Overall, Yankees starters have failed them badly in the series, allowing 15 earned runs and 18 hits in just eight total innings of work. Rodón’s start was the shortest of all, but the worst might have been ace Max Fried in Game 2, when he gave up seven runs in three innings. Overall, their starters have a 16.88 ERA in the series.
-- Schneider started the third inning with a double and the Yankees put on Guerrero. One out later, Daulton Varsho blooped a ball to left field that Cody Bellinger dove for, but could not snare. Schneider had slowed at third, but when he saw that Trent Grisham, who backed up the play, threw the ball to second, he bolted for the plate and beat Chisholm’s throw easily to give the Jays a 3-1 lead. Ernie Clement followed with a single to left and Guerrero whirled around second and sprinted for home, barely beating a strong throw by Bellinger. Varsho and Clement each moved up a base on the throw, which became key when the next batter, Anthony Santander, hit a two-run single to right for a 6-1 Toronto lead. Judge did not try to throw home on the play and the Jays seemed to be prepared to exploit that. Judge has been dealing with an elbow issue.
-- The Yankees kept chipping away, though. They scored twice in the third inning, which started when they challenged a non-call with Grisham up, hoping it would result in catcher’s interference. It did not, but the result of Grisham’s at-bat was better, anyway -- he doubled to right. Judge followed with an RBI double to left. After Bellinger singled to center, Ben Rice hit into a fielder’s choice, in which Judge was put out in a rundown between third and home. But the Yankees weren’t done scoring -- Stanton brought the crowd to its feet with a deep drive to center, but Varsho ran it down and the Yankees had to settle for a sac fly to move to within 6-3. After Chisholm walked, Boone used Amed Rosario, who hits lefties well, to pinch-hit for Ryan McMahon against lefty reliever Mason Fluharty. Fluharty got Rosario to foul out.
-- Judge’s big homer in the fourth inning was set up in part because the Blue Jays made another error. With one out, Austin Wells lofted a catchable fly ball beyond third base. Addison Barger went back for it, but the ball glanced off his glove for a two-base error. Fluharty walked Grisham, bringing up Judge. With the crowd chanting “M-V-P, M-V-P,” Judge fell behind hard-throwing reliever Louis Varland, 0-2. The second pitch was 100 mph heat that blew right by Judge. But he smashed a high parabola down the left-field line on Varland’s next offering, a 99.7 mph fastball off the plate, and it struck high up the foul pole, 373 feet away, for an enormous three-run homer.
-- The Yankees, seemingly dead an inning earlier, were dead even. It was the 17th career postseason homer for Judge, first this year. According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, it was Judge’s sixth home run in the postseason when facing elimination, matching David Ortiz for the most in MLB history.
-- -Before Chisholm’s go-ahead homer in the fifth inning, which landed in the second deck in right field, he had been just 3-for-17 (.177) in the playoffs. His blast off Varland was the third postseason home run of his career. The Yankees pushed their lead to 8-6 in the same inning when Rosario doubled and scored on a single by Wells. In the sixth, Rice tacked on with a sac fly, scoring Judge after his intentional walk.
-- The Yankees' bullpen, viewed as a potential trouble spot during these playoffs, was terrific after Rodón gave up six runs and couldn’t get out of the third inning. Fernando Cruz, Camilo Doval, Tim Hill, Devin Williams and David Bednar combined to allow no runs and three hits in 6.2 innings of work. Williams had not gotten more than three outs in any appearance all season, but provided four across the seventh and eighth innings and allowed only one hit. This would’ve sounded crazy at points during the season, but Williams got a standing ovation from fans. Bednar got the final five outs in a row.
-- -With multiple miscues, including a pair of fielding errors, the Blue Jays looked more like the mistake-prone midsummer Yankees than their usually-efficient selves. Even plays in which they weren’t charged with an error -- like Santander’s ill-advised dive on a Bellinger liner in the sixth -- weren’t smooth. Santander missed and Bellinger reached second with a double.
Game MVP: Aaron Judge
Judge singled and scored in the first, doubled in a run in the third, homered in the fourth and was intentionally walked and then scored in the sixth. He grounded out in the eighth to finish 3-for-4 with four RBI and three runs and finished a triple shy of the cycle. He even made a sweet catch in right field. Judge is 11-for-22 this postseason (.500) and has already set a career-best for hits in a single October.
DETROIT — The Seattle Mariners are on the brink of a spot in the AL Championship series for the first time in 24 years.
Cal Raleigh hit a two-run homer, Eugenio Suarez and J.P. Crawford had solo shots and Seattle beat the Detroit Tigers 8-4 on Tuesday night to take a 2-1 lead in the AL Division Series.
The Mariners are within a win of their first AL Championship Series since 2001. Their first chance to advance is on Wednesday afternoon in Game 4 at Comerica Park and if necessary, another opportunity awaits on Friday back in Seattle for a decisive Game 5.
"The Seattle Mariners deserve where we’re at right now," Suarez said.
Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said not to count his team out after it showed resolve following a historic collapse in the regular season and bounced back by eliminating Cleveland in an AL Wild Card series, then won Game 1 against Seattle.
“We’ve had to play more and more back-against-the-wall-type games,” Hinch said. “I know our guys are going to be ready.”
Seattle’s Logan Gilbert gave up one run on four hits while striking out seven and walking none over six innings.
“Can’t say enough about what Logan did," Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. "Just an incredible outing. He had everything going.”
Raleigh, who had a major league-high 60 homers during the regular season, hit a 391-foot, two-run homer to left-center in the ninth to make it 8-1.
The offensively challenged Tigers were limited to four hits and one run through eight innings before suddenly generating some offense in the ninth against Caleb Ferguson, who allowed three runs on three hits and a walk without getting an out.
Spencer Torkelson hit a two-run double and Andy Ibanez followed with an RBI single.
All-Star closer Andres Munoz entered with one on and no outs and ended Detroit's comeback hopes with a flyout and game-ending double play.
Detroit's Jack Flaherty lasted just 3 1/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and three walks.
Seattle scored two runs in the third after starting the inning with three hits and a walk.
Victor Robles led off with a double and scored on an error, which was credited to left fielder Riley Greene for an errant throw that could have been fielded on a bounce by catcher Dillon Dingler.
“A little bit of a breakdown all the way around,” Hinch said.
Randy Arozarena's RBI single put the Mariners ahead 2-0 in the third.
Suarez sent a 422-foot shot to left in the fourth to make it 3-0. Raleigh's two-out RBI single in the inning gave Seattle a four-run cushion.
The Tigers were hoping their first home game in two-plus weeks might make them more comfortable at the plate, but it didn't help and they lost an eighth straight at Comerica Park.
Detroit finally scored in the fifth on Kerry Carpenter’s fielder's choice on what was potentially an inning-ending double play. Crawford’s throw from second base pulled first baseman Josh Naylor off the bag and he didn’t secure the ball in his glove, allowing Dingler to score.
Crawford's homer in the sixth restored Seattle's four-run lead.
The Tigers allowed the Mariners to score a second unearned run in the eighth inning after Carpenter dropped Victor Robles' fly in right field, allowing Luke Raley to advance to third and to score on Crawford's sacrifice fly.
Detroit RHP Casey Mize and Seattle RHP Bryce Miller are expected to start Game 4 on Wednesday.
Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki throws late in the ninth inning against the Phillies Monday during Game 2 of the NLDS in Philadelphia. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
If all things had been equal, it’s likely that Roberts would have turned to Sasaki to start the inning. In just two weeks since returning from a shoulder injury and being moved to the bullpen, the converted rookie starter has become the club’s most dominant relief option.
But, for as much of a revelation as the 23-year-old right-hander had been in that time — posting four scoreless outings with a 100-mph fastball and unhittable splitter — the team remained conscientious about managing Sasaki’s workload, which included one appearance in Game 2 of the wild card series, then another in Game 1 of the NLDS just days prior.
Thus, with Roberts feeling confident enough in Treinen (the veteran right-hander coming off a career-worst season but also some recently improved outings) to protect a three-run cushion that felt relatively comfortable, he left Sasaki sitting in the bullpen despite the save situation.
He tried to take advantage of an opportunity to give his ace reliever rest.
“He hasn't gone two out of three [days] much at all,” Roberts said after the game. “So I didn't want to just kind of preemptively put him in there. I felt good with who we had.”
That plan, of course, almost backfired in disastrous fashion. Treinen gave up two runs without retiring a batter. Alex Vesia needed his defense to turn a wheel play on a Bryson Stott bunt to limit the damage from there. And in the end, Sasaki entered the game anyway to record the final out.
Moving forward, Roberts confirmed on Tuesday, Sasaki is “definitely the primary option now” for any future save situations — the closest the team will come to calling him their outright closer, since they could also choose to use him in high-leverage spots before the ninth.
“Obviously what Roki has done, has continued to show, has been very encouraging on a lot of fronts,” Roberts said.
The question, however, remains exactly how hard the Dodgers can ride him the rest of these playoffs; and how delicately they’ll have to balance the burden they place on a young pitcher who has never before pitched in a relief role.
“He's not going to close every game, it's just not feasible,” Roberts said Tuesday. “This is something he's never done. And you're expecting to go a few more weeks [in the postseason]. So all that stuff has to play in, that a lot of people don't have any appreciation for.”
The deeper the Dodgers go in the playoffs, the more tricky this calculus will get.
For now, the team’s preference would be for Sasaki to have at least one day of rest before each of his outings. And while Roberts didn’t rule out using him back-to-back days, he described it as “the next graduation point” for the offseason Japanese signing (who had made only eight MLB starts at the beginning of the season before initially getting hurt and missing the next four months).
“There's no guarantee what the stuff's going to be like [in a back-to-back sequence],” Roberts said, adding that any potential usage of Saskai on consecutive days would require conversations beforehand with pitching coaches about how Sasaki looked in pregame catch sessions.
“I would love to have Roki throw every single day if he could, but that's just not feasible,” Roberts reiterated. “Again, we have a lot of conversations, and then I make my decision.”
In other words, Sasaki will get the majority of save opportunities moving forward. But he likely won’t be the only one to handle such spots.
Sheehan responds in set-up role
Emmet Sheehan reacts after closing out the eighth inning against the Phillies in Game 2. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
After a promising regular season in which he posted a 2.82 ERA in 15 outings, the Dodgers looked to Emmet Sheehan to be a multi-inning set-up man for their beleaguered relief corps.
His first playoff outing was troublesome: Giving up two hits and two walks while recording only one out in Game 2 of the wild-card series against the Reds.
But on Monday night, he bounced back with two innings of one-run relief to keep the Dodgers’ lead intact entering the ninth.
The biggest moment of Sheehan’s outing (in which he retired the side in the seventh, before giving up a down-the-line triple to Max Kepler and RBI single to Trea Turner in the eighth) came after he’d yielded that lone run. The Phillies had left-handed sluggers Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper due up next. The Dodgers had Vesia, their top left-handed option, warming in the bullpen.
For a brief moment, as pitching coach Mark Prior came to the mound and Sheehan fidgeted with his PitchCom device during an extended pause, it appeared the Dodgers were just stalling for Vesia to get warm.
But Roberts ultimately stayed put and let Sheehan pitch to the Phillies' star duo. His faith was rewarded with two outs that ended the inning. Sheehan struck out Schwarber with a 97.6-mph fastball on the inside corner, tied for his third-hardest pitch for a strikeout this season. Then he got Harper to fly out on a changeup, pumping a fist into his mitt as he skipped off the field.
“I think it just showed some adjustments that I made compared to that previous game [against the Reds],” Sheehan said.
The biggest one?
“Definitely controlling your emotions,” Sheehan acknowledged. “It’s a big piece of coming out of the bullpen. I’ve talked to a lot of guys about that, especially after Cincinnati where I wasn’t as comfortable out there.”
That Reds outing, of course, was a major red flag for the Dodgers’ bullpen plans. Given the struggles from the team’s traditional relievers entering the playoffs, Sheehan was supposed to essentially be a set-up man out of the bullpen capable of bridging the gap from the starting pitcher to the ninth.
Sheehan said, in that wild-card outing, he felt he was “trying to do a little too much, trying to be a little too fine with my pitches at the corners.”
“That’s not really my game,” he said in hindsight. “So I think just getting back to the approach and the game plan that’s been working for the past couple months was big. Trying to just go right at them and attack in the zone.”
Roberts gave Sheehan the leash to do that Monday, and will likely keep calling upon him in high-leverage spots moving forward, perhaps making Sheehan and Sasaki his preferred combination to close out the final innings of games.
“I just felt that his stuff was still real good [and that] he wasn't going to run from those guys at the top,” Roberts said Tuesday of letting Sheehan face Schwarber and Harper (who are a combined one for 14 in the NLDS with two walks and eight strikeouts).
“I trusted him. I felt in that moment he was the best option. And it proved to be right.”
Treinen lacking ‘edge’
At the other end of the reliever trust spectrum is Treinen, who not only failed to retire any of the three batters he faced in Game 2 but also, at least in Roberts’ estimation, also didn’t look like someone confident in their stuff.
“I just didn't see that edge last night,” Roberts said Tuesday, “that I know I've seen it many times over.”
Indeed, Treinen was the Dodgers’ most trusted reliever during their World Series run last year, when he was credited with three saves, two holds and two wins and punctuated his October with 2 ⅓ scoreless innings of relief in Game 5 of the World Series.
This season has been a different story, with Treinen stumbling to a career-worst 5.40 ERA after missing much of the first half with a forearm problem.
Despite that, Treinen had entered Monday on more of a high, after striking out three batters in his regular-season finale before making two scoreless appearances in the wild-card series.
The Phillies, however, took advantage of his inability this year to get as much swing-and-miss, fanning on just one of eight swings while stringing together a single and two doubles (the last one on a half-swing from Nick Castellanos against Treinen’s trademark sweeper).
“I felt that he was getting some momentum before that last one, so I'll check in on him,” Roberts said. “But there's ways of how you go about an outing, successful or not successful, and how a player carries himself matters to me.”
On Monday, Treinen didn’t check that box. And whether he will be thrown into such a high-leverage situation his next time out remains to be seen.
Prior to Game 3 of the ALDS between the Yankees and Blue Jays on Tuesday, manager Aaron Boone spoke about a variety of topics...
Dance with who brung ya
If the Yankees survive elimination and force a must-win Game 4 in the Bronx on Wednesday, they'll do so with the same exact lineup that placed them in a daunting 0-2 series hole this past weekend.
With veteran right-hander Shane Bieber slated to start for the Blue Jays, the Yankees decided to leave their batting order untouched. For a third straight game, they'll trust Trent Grisham in the leadoff spot, Ben Rice batting cleanup at first base, Giancarlo Stanton hitting fifth as the designated hitter, and Austin Wells handling catching duties.
When asked about deploying an identical lineup and weighing lefty-righty matchups, Boone didn't mince words. He wants his best hitters in the box right away, even if some metrics recommend a shuffling.
"I'm putting out there what I think has the best chance to be successful against Bieber," Boone said. "I understand in the short time at the back-end of this season, he's been a reverse-split. Throughout his career, he's been very neutral -- some years, one way or the other... But the people they have in their bullpen, the lefties are very lefty specialist-type guys. Having the threat of a couple of our righties is a presence I like to have."
One of the righty bench options will be Paul Goldschmidt, who, in a tiny six at-bat sample, has three hits off of Bieber. He and Stanton (3-for-15) happen to be the only Yankees players with multiple knocks against the former AL Cy Young winner. Aaron Judge is a measly 1-for-13 with eight strikeouts.
Boone still prefers Rice over Goldschmidt at first, and based on the power potential, the choice makes sense. But the rookie infielder hasn't exactly posed a threat since ripping a home run in Game 2 of the Wild Card series against the Red Sox. He looked wobbly at the plate in Toronto, striking out four times with no luck against off-speed pitches.
"He's just been more than a dangerous hitter, especially here down the stretch," Boone said of Rice. "He kind of killed the ball all year against right-handed pitching. He's just a real threat in the middle of the order. Goldy has that presence looming over there. Hopefully, I can get him into a good matchup and even better than that, I'm putting him in late because we have a lead and he's playing defense at first."
With no margin for error, the Yankees can ill afford to fall behind early and look off-balance. They were held scoreless through five innings in Games 1 and 2 at Rogers Centre, and their swing-early-and-often approaches to starters Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage were fruitless.
The Yankees also must buck the strikeout trend. They've already whiffed 21 times in the series, and with 50 total punchouts in five playoff games this season, they're once again resembling an offense that can't deliver hits in bunches under bright October lights.
Running out of time
History has shown that 0-2 LDS deficits aren't death sentences -- 10 teams have defied the odds and advanced to the LCS, and the most recent instance came in 2017, with the Yankees' three-win comeback over the then-Indians.
But the Yankees' pair of road losses eight years ago weren't lopsided and humiliating like their latest road letdowns in Toronto. The Blue Jays flexed their muscles with home-field advantage, scoring a whopping 23 runs on 29 hits.
As if there wasn't enough pressure on the Yankees' bats to adequately produce, Carlos Rodón is tasked with do-or-die stakes on the mound against a lineup -- from top to bottom -- that causes fits. The trick will be containing a red-hot Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who's hit a lifetime .308 (203 plate appearances) at Yankee Stadium and .588 (21 plate appearances) against the veteran southpaw.
"I think we'll respond well," Boone said. "We've handled adverse situations well all year, navigated that. It's a group that's very close together. They trust in one another. That's important this time of year... But it all comes down to playing well, and I feel like our guys are in the right frame of mind to go do that."
While both teams finished the regular season tied atop the AL East with 94 wins, the head-to-head tiebreaker favored the Blue Jays, who thumped the Yankees with 10 wins in 15 meetings. Only time will tell if some home cooking keeps the Yankees' hopes alive for at least one more day.
LOS ANGELES – So here’s the situation that is facing the Phillies now, some of them known, maybe some not.
They are down two games to none in this best-of-five National League Division series against Los Angeles with Game Three to be played Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.
In order to keep themselves alive in this series, the Phillies will have to start getting some offense from the top of the lineup and receive continued good pitching from their starters. Next up: Aaron Nola.
The part that wasn’t so well known but now has seem to come to light a little bit more is that Harrison Bader probably won’t be a major participant for the rest of this series in now what we know is a hamstring strain.
The frustration in Bader’s voice was as noticeable as the purplish bandana holding back his long locks as he described his injury and the struggle to get himself to be 100 percent. The feeling is, he just isn’t going to get there before this series is over, whether that be on Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday back in Philadelphia. Pinch-hitting appears to be the only chore his body will allow at this time.
Asked how close to normal he felt in Game Two when he hit a pinch-hit single in the ninth before being pinch run for, Bader said, “If normal is not having a hamstring strain, it felt abnormal. You do your best. It’s the playoffs and I’ll just give whatever I can to help the team. In that moment it was just getting off an at-bat. Hopefully I can certainly do more tomorrow because it’s really bothering me not being out there.”
He went on to say what his workout plan was for Tuesday, including some running, fielding and batting practice. But with a long travel day that started early in the morning, the Phillies cut their time on the field very short. Bader was seen doing a couple of 60-foot semi-sprints before leaving the field.
A betting man would certainly take the money that he’s not going to be manning center any time soon. And you can see it’s killing Bader to not be able to be out there.
“Your body has limits to it and trying to take that first step out of the box, even though it wasn’t necessarily a sprinting play, you still feel a little bit limited,” said Bader about his pinch-hitting duty. “But I can swing. It’s better than it was at two days ago. Just assess it realistically and go through whatever we can do today, and I have a full day to recover and come back tomorrow and hopefully it will be better. It’s certainly progressing better. It really is minor. It’s a strain, certainly. It’s affecting me from being 100 percent out there, but I don’t have to be 100 percent to go out there and help this team win. I’m just going to do whatever I can to my limit to just try be effective.”
Effective is not what the Phillies’ offense has been against the Dodgers in this series so far and now they will face Los Angeles starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has given up a total of five earned runs in his last seven starts for a 0.96 ERA in 46.2 innings.
“Pitching’s been good, on both sides of the ball,” said Bryce Harper, who is 1-for-7 in the series with a walk and three strikeouts. “I don’t think, there’s maybe two guys that have kind of played well on both sides. It’s always tough in the post season. You get into it, you’re excited, you’re ready to go and then you run into the juggernaut of pitching. That’s our team and that’s their team as well. I think those are two really good matchups, the first two matchups, two of the better ones in baseball, all through. I expect tomorrow night to be the same thing. Obviously, we need to do a better job of hopefully hitting the long ball or making things happen anywhere, any way we can.”
Particularly at the top of the order. Harper, leadoff hitter Trea Turner and No. 2 Kyle Schwarber have combined to go 2-for-21 with 11 strikeouts and left12 on base so far in this series. But Harper insists it’s nothing you can dwell on.
“I think the postseason you got to flush it as quick as possible because any at-bat can change the course of a game or change the course of a series,” he said. “Any time you go up there if you get out you’ve got to flush is as quick as possible because that at-bat has no merit on what your next one is going to be. You just got to go up there and get the pitches that you can. I don’t let an at-bat like that affect me any way. Especially this time of the year you can’t let that happen. You just have to let the game come to you a little bit and go from there.”
Aaron Nola will be the somewhat surprise starter for the Phillies, coming off a phenomenal outing his last start of the season when he allowed two hits and one earned run in eight innings against the Minnesota Twins. He’ll be followed closely by Ranger Suarez.
“He’s more comfortable starting,” Thomson said of having Nola start. “You’re going to see Ranger tomorrow. I would be shocked if you don’t see Ranger. The numbers on their lefties are very similar, Ranger versus Nola. And the trust factor. I have trust in both of them, don’t get me wrong, but Noles has pitched some really big games for us. I regret having either one of those guys not pitch in this series.”
What Thomson didn’t regret was the bunt he called for Bryson Stott to execute in the ninth on Monday that ultimately got Nick Castellanos thrown out at third for the first out of the inning.
“I just think they made a great play,” Thoms said. “Mookie Betts did a great job by breaking very late so the hitter can’t adjust (to slash at the ball) and it’s tough for Nick to get a proper secondary (lead) or bigger secondary because Betts is sitting right behind him. At the end of the day, they made an aggressive play and they made it work. It was a good play.”
NOTES: The Phillies will wear their powder blue uniforms for both games of the series, something they decided about 10 days ago, according to Thomson. He said the players just like them and wanted to wear them on the road in the playoffs… Harper, who grew up in Las Vegas, professed his early childhood love of the Dodgers, which went directly against his dad who was a Cincinnati Reds fan… The early morning cross-country flight didn’t involve a lot of baseball talk, Harper said. “Played a lot of cards, so that was fun.”
Steven Gerrard says he has "unfinished business" in management as Rangers await confirmation over whether he is interested in a return to Ibrox.
The former England skipper was previously in charge at Rangers for three years from 2018, winning the title in his final season.
With Rangers seeking a successor to the sacked Russell Martin, would you welcome Gerrard back for a second spell as manager? Is he the man to revive the club's fortunes?
NEW YORK — Wanting to cap Toronto’s season with a title, Jeff Hoffman suggested changing hats.
Six losses in seven games had dropped the Blue Jays into a tie with the New York Yankees for the AL East lead. That prompted the 32-year-old reliever to send Scott Blinn, Toronto’s director of major league clubhouse operations, scrambling to find those retro caps with white panels in the style the Blue Jays wore when they won the 1992 World Series.
Toronto is 5-0 in the historical headgear over the past two weeks as it takes a 2-0 lead into Game 3 of the best-of-five AL Division Series against the Yankees.
“I didn’t pack another hat,” manager John Schneider said with a smile.
Following a 7-1 loss to the Red Sox at Rogers Centre on Sept. 24, Hoffman suggested to Binn a switch to the 1992 headgear, which was used during Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame weekend promotion from July 25-27 — not because he’s superstitious, but because he liked the look. Wearing the white panels, the Blue Jays had taken two of three at Detroit to finish a four-game series.
“`We need a new combo. What should we wear?’” Hoffman said, recounting the player discussion. “And I said, `I know what we should wear. We should wear the blues, the blue jerseys with the white-panel hat.’ And they all kind of like perked up because they didn’t know I knew about them.”
Blinn found the caps in a Rogers Centre storage room. Toronto beat Boston 6-1 on Sept. 25, wearing blue alternate jerseys and the white-panel chapeaus. The next night, a Friday, the Blue Jays were required to wear Nike Connect uniforms topped by pitch-blue caps, suggested by Lake Ontario at night. They beat Tampa Bay 4-2 to remain tied with the Yankees.
On most days, players get to decide which uniforms to wear. Given that option for the final weekend of the regular season, the Jays stuck with the blue jerseys and white-panel hats. They closed with 5-1 and 13-4 wins over the Rays to win the division on a tiebreaker over New York.
Toronto finished the season 58-45 in blue caps, 20-17 in the two-tone hats with powder blue visors and navy crowns that were launched with the return of powder blue alternate jerseys in 2020, 8-3 in Nike Connect games and 5-1 in the white-panel throwbacks. They were also 1-2 in Armed Forces caps with beige camouflage crowns and olive visors from May 16-18, 1-0 in red for Canada Day on July 1 and 1-0 in light blue crowns and red visors for July 4.
The Blue Jays stayed with the white-panel caps and blue jerseys in the first two games of the Division Series, romping over the Yankees 10-1 and 13-7.
“I just wear what’s in my locker. I just will wear what we’re told to wear,” four-time All-Star outfielder George Springer said, spurning superstitions.
Toronto wore caps with white panels for all games from its inception in 1977 through 1990 — with white jerseys at home — then switched to all blue caps for road games in 1991. The Blue Jays dropped the white panel at home on July 6, 1991, in the midst of a five-game losing streak, going with all blue, and beat the visiting Chicago White Sox 5-1 behind six shutout innings from Dave Stewart.
“I’m not sure what the blue caps were all about,” Stewart said after the game, his 150th career victory. “But we won, so maybe we’ll wear them again.”
Blue Jays equipment manager Jeff Ross thought of the change “just to see how it looks with the white uniform.”
“It had nothing to do with the losing streak,” Ross said at the time. “We’d been doing so well at home so I didn’t want to do it while we were going well. This was the time to do it. It looks great after a win.”
Toronto went on to win its second straight World Series title in 1993, and the all-blue caps remained for most games. The Blue Jays brought back the white panels on Aug. 16, 2015, for a “Turn Back the Dial” promotion honoring the 30th anniversary of the team’s first AL East title, and beat the Yankees 3-1. Toronto then used the white panels at least once per season and as many as 27 times in 2018 and 24 the following year, according to uniformlineup.com, but then decreased its frequency.
The team hadn’t worn them since Aug. 27, 2022, before they returned this year for MLB’s Hall of Fame weekend promotion.
“We’ve been playing well since we’ve been wearing them, which is hard for my argument of, hey, it doesn’t matter what hat we’re wearing guys, like, we just need to play good,” Hoffman said.
And even Springer’s disdain for superstition only goes so far. For instance, he won’t think of stepping on a foul line.
MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Quinn Priester has experienced postseason baseball at Wrigley Field before, only from a much different perspective than the one he’s about to have.
Priester grew up in the Chicago area and was in Wrigley Field’s stands for Game 5 of the 2016 World Series. The 25-year-old right-hander will be back at Wrigley for Game 3 as he continues his breakthrough season by trying to pitch the Brewers into the NL Championship Series.
“I was in the last row in the nosebleeds,” Priester said about that 2016 experience. “My mom and I had our backs against the chain-link fence up there drinking hot chocolate because it was late October in Chicago and it was freezing.”
Priester watched the Cubs beat Cleveland 3-2 that night to begin their rally from a 3-1 series deficit that earned them their first World Series title since 1908. Now he wants to make sure the Cubs don’t start a similar comeback.Milwaukee carries a 2-0 lead into Game 3 of this best-of-5 NL Division Series.
This start will mark Priester’s postseason debut. Jameson Taillon is starting for the Cubs.
Priester went 13-3 with a 3.32 ERA during the regular season while winning 12 straight decisions at one point. According to Sportradar, that was the longest streak within a single year by any pitcher since Gerrit Cole won 16 consecutive decisions for Houston in 2019.
Until the Cincinnati Reds beat Priester 3-1 on Sept. 26, the Brewers had won 19 straight games in which Priester had pitched. That stretch included 16 starts and three appearances in which he had followed an opener.
“He’s been sensational for us,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
The Brewers needed starting pitching due to multiple injuries on April 7 when they acquired Priester from the Boston Red Sox for minor league outfielder Yophery Rodriguez, the 33rd pick in the 2025 draft and minor league pitcher John Holobetz.
Priester, the 18th overall selection in the 2018 draft, had a 6-9 record and 6.23 ERA in 21 career appearances with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Red Sox at the time of the trade.
“I had followed him for years,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said. “Obviously when guys come up to the big leagues, especially as pitchers, they don’t always have success immediately, but we thought there were some really good ingredients there.”
Priester quickly warmed up to the idea of pitching in Milwaukee.
“I was really surprised,” Priester said. “I felt like I was kind of in the mix for the rotation in Boston. I certainly felt like I had a shot at it. When I did get traded, I was super excited for the opportunity. Being close to home was super exciting for me and my fiancée, being able to see family. And obviously, being in Pittsburgh, every year, you’d see how well the Brewers seemed to play.”
Priester wasn’t as familiar at the time with the Brewers’ reputation for getting the best out of pitchers who hadn’t encountered much success before arriving in Milwaukee. He’d develop into the latest example.
The turning point came against the team he next faces.
Priester gave up seven runs over 4 1/3 innings in a 10-0 loss to the Cubs on May 2, raising his ERA to 5.79. That immediately followed a start in which he allowed five runs over five innings in a 6-5 loss at St. Louis.
“That was the kind of the moment when I felt things needed to change,” Priester said. “What I was doing, it’s not like I wasn’t trying, but what I was trying just wasn’t working. And so I started to write some things down every day, came in with some goals, talked to all of our guys, started to go about the lineups a little bit differently.”
Priester pitched 24 more times the rest of the regular season and allowed more than three runs in just two of those appearances.
“The Cubs blistered this guy, and he wanted to continue pitching and his competitive nature came out, and actually the last couple innings of that outing he was pretty darned effective,” Murphy said. “I think that failure, if you will, for him, like, launched him into open ears, ‘OK, how do I figure this out?’ And we got the best version of him because of his competitive nature, and we got the best version of him going forward, and it’s been miraculous.”
Priester added a cutter this year that he now throws about 20% of the time to complement his sinker and slider, while he abandoned his four-seam fastball. Priester averages less than one strikeout per inning, but he has a knack for inducing ground balls and weak contact while working quickly.
He understands the raucous atmosphere he’s going to encounter. When Priester was in the stands for that 2016 World Series game, Priester recalled how “Kris Bryant hit a homer and I thought the stadium was going to collapse.”
But he also enters this game with the confidence that comes from spending the last few months living up to all the expectations that accompanied his draft selection.
“I think it was just kind of a ticking time bomb waiting for a year like this to happen for him,” Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick said. “I’m super happy we got him when we did because I just kind of knew it was coming for him.”
MILWAUKEE — Jacob Misiorowski rediscovered the form that earned the flamethrowing rookie so much acclaim in the first few weeks after the Milwaukee Brewers called him up from the minors.
He was throwing heat. More importantly, he was throwing strikes.
Misiorowski fired three innings of scoreless relief while reaching at least 100 mph on 31 of his 57 pitches during the Brewers’ 7-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs in Game 2 of their NL Division Series. He struck out four while allowing one hit and two walks.
It was the type of performance that showcased how much of an impact Misiorowski could make if the Brewers have a long postseason run.
“Miz stepped up,” manager Pat Murphy said. “You guys get all enthralled with MPH. I’m enthralled that he wasn’t giving up free bases, kept his composure with runners and that type of thing.”
Those have been the issues for Misiorowski during his eventful rookie season.
The right-hander garnered so much attention for his overpowering fastball that he was selected an All-Star after making just five starts. In two of them, he won head-to-head pitching matchups with NL Cy Young Award favorite Paul Skenes and three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.
But he’s dealt with plenty of obstacles ever since.
Misiorowski went on the injured list with a bruised left tibia in early August. He returned later that month but allowed 23 runs (22 earned) over 32 2/3 innings from that point on.
His late slide pretty much assured that Misiorowski wouldn’t be part of the Brewers’ starting rotation for the playoffs, but his pure stuff demanded that he be included in Milwaukee’s postseason plans.
He entered Game 2 with the score tied 3-all in the third inning. Each of his first eight pitches registered at least 102.6, including a top velocity of 104.3.
“I think I was so fired up, adrenaline pumping,” Misiorowski said. “You know, I didn’t really know where my feet were, but we landed, so it was fun. It was a lot of fun.”
When Misiorowski has struggled, he generally has either lost control of the strike zone or struggled to maintain his poise amid adversity. But he managed to balance showing his emotion while also maintaining his focus in Game 2 as he helped the Brewers grab a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Misiorowski issued a one-out walk to Seiya Suzuki in the third inning but struck out Ian Happ and then got Carson Kelly to hit a grounder back to him.
“We needed to get him before he settled in, and he made some pitches to strike out Happ,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “If Ian gets on there, then there’s some pressure on him immediately.”
Misiorowski was so excited after Kelly’s grounder that he ran all the way from the pitcher’s mound to first base himself to retire the batter before pumping his fist repeatedly. Misiorowski said afterward he handled the play unassisted because he was worried about overthrowing first baseman Andrew Vaughn.
Even so, Murphy used the moment to offer a reminder to the 23-year-old.
“You’ve got to let him express himself, but then you’ve got to watch and see if he comes back to where he needs to be,” Murphy said. “It’s hard. He came off the mound in the (third) inning and he was ranting and raving and I gave him a little, like, ‘OK, stay with it.’
“He’s here at the highest level for a reason, and he’s been through some ups and downs. I think he’s pretty aware and pretty on high alert.”
Misiorowski walked Matt Shaw with two outs in the fourth and gave up a leadoff single to Nico Hoerner in the fifth, but didn’t let either runner advance beyond first base and ended up as the winning pitcher.
“I think the whole thing was just staying fired up, staying with that adrenaline pumping, and keep going at what I was doing before in (my) first inning,” Misiorowski said.
MILWAUKEE — The Chicago Cubs’ hitters aren’t putting enough balls in play, and their pitchers aren’t keeping balls in play.
That combination has the Cubs heading back home on the brink of elimination.
Chicago gave up three homers and mustered just one hit after the second inning of a 7-3 loss at Milwaukee that gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five NL Division Series.
The Cubs must win two straight in Chicago to send the series back to Milwaukee for a deciding Game 5. Teams falling behind 2-0 in a best-of-five postseason series have won just 10 of 90 times.
“It’s simple,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ve got to just win pitches. We’ve got to win moments. You’ve got to stay with your process and your routines. It’s simple as that. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but it’s done by winning one pitch at a time and succeeding one pitch at a time.”
They haven’t won nearly enough pitches thus far.
The Cubs have struck out 23 times in this series — 12 in a 9-3 loss in Game 1 and 11 more in Game 2. Meanwhile, Chicago allowed nine runs in the first three innings in Game 2 and gave up seven runs in the first four frames in Game 1.
“It’s not a surprise that they’re going out there and throwing their best arms and all their guys seem to be locked in,” said Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in Game 2. “It’s our job to execute. I know I haven’t done that. It’s a pretty simple idea here. If you put more balls in play, you’ll probably score more.”
Seiya Suzuki hit a three-run homer off Aaron Ashby to put the Cubs ahead 3-0 in the top of the first inning of Game 2, but Shota Imanaga allowed a three-run homer to Andrew Vaughn in the bottom half. Chicago never led again.
Imanaga also allowed a solo shot to William Contreras in the third, marking the sixth time in his last eight appearances that he’s given up multiple homers.
“I ruined the game, so there’s a lot of frustration within myself,” Imanaga said through an interpreter.
Daniel Palencia took over for Imanaga and gave up a three-run homer to Jackson Chourio in the fourth. Milwaukee ranked just 22nd in the majors in homers during the regular season.
Chicago hasn’t gotten much from either of its starting pitchers so far. Although he didn’t give up any homers, Matthew Boyd yielded six runs — two earned — and got just two outs in Game 1. The Brewers scored all nine of their runs in the first two innings that day.
The Cubs will turn to Jameson Taillon (11-7, 3.68 ERA) in Game 3, while the Brewers plan to start Quinn Priester (13-3, 3.32).
Suzuki’s homer suggested the Cubs would take charge early in Game 2, but their lineup got silenced the rest of the way.
Chicago had runners at first and second in a tie game in the second inning when Nick Mears retired Nico Hoerner on a fly to right. The Cubs didn’t get another runner beyond first base the rest of the night.
“We had two at-bats with runners in scoring position,” Counsell said. “That’s a pretty good sign that we’re not creating enough pressure.”
The Cubs believe they can still turn it around.
They won seven of 13 regular-season meetings with Milwaukee. They already staved off elimination at Wrigley Field just last week when they won a decisive Game 3 in a Wild Card Series matchup with the San Diego Padres.
Now they just need to deliver at home again.
“We’re in the same spot we’ve been in when we’ve had our backs against the wall,” Crow-Armstrong said. “We’re always looking forward to playing more baseball at Wrigley. That’s why you’ve got to win three (games). So we’re definitely looking forward to going home, playing in front of our home crowd, working to win two and bring it back here.”
MILWAUKEE — Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio had a simple solution for making sure he didn’t aggravate his hamstring injury.
Trotting around the bases after a home run doesn’t require much exertion.
Chourio returned to the lineup and hit a three-run homer to help Milwaukee beat the Chicago Cubs 7-3 in Game 2 of their NL Division Series after tightness in his right hamstring caused him to exit the opener.
The 21-year-old phenom has three homers in five career postseason games. He has gone 5 for 7 with six RBIs to help the Brewers take a 2-0 lead in this best-of-five series after going 5 of 11 at the plate last year in a Wild Card Series loss to the New York Mets.
“I really just like playing in these moments,” Chourio said through an interpreter. “I think you could say it helps me play at the maximum level that I’m able to do so. And thanks to God that I’ve had the ability to play in these moments that are important and meaningful, and get some of these big hits whenever they’re needed, but also do some of the little things whenever they’re needed.”
Chourio hurt his right hamstring while running to first base on an infield single in the second inning of Game 1. He had missed a month of the regular season after straining the same hamstring this summer.
After undergoing a postgame MRI and doing some light running during a workout, Chourio was back in the leadoff spot and playing left field in Game 2.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy acknowledged before the game that he was sure Chourio wasn’t feeling 100%, but the outfielder showed no signs of discomfort. The game started with Chicago’s Justin Turner hitting a flyball in his direction. He also chased down a flyball in foul territory in the fourth.
“I feel like I’m in a really good position to go out there and compete, so I’m going to go out there and give it the best that I can,” Chourio said. “I felt like I was able to do that today and go out there and make all the plays I needed to make and continue to play the game pretty normal.”
His production at the plate in his brief postseason career has been anything but normal.
Chourio hit two homers in the Brewers’ Game 2 victory over the Mets in last year’s Wild Card Series. He went 3 for 3 with three RBIs in Milwaukee’s 9-3 Game 1 victory, becoming the first player ever to have three hits in the first two innings of a playoff game.
In the fourth inning of Game 2, Chourio connected on an 0-2 pitch from Daniel Palencia and sent a 419-foot shot over the center-field wall. His three-run homer produced the game’s final three runs.
“Unbelievable,” Murphy said. “He’s 21 years old and doing the things he’s doing in the first couple games here, in the environment, just know that’s special. That’s special. We all wish we could have that — have that it factor the way Jack-Jack does.”
Chourio followed that up with an infield single in the sixth inning that improved his career postseason batting average to .556.
“He’s a star,” teammate William Contreras said through an interpreter. “For me, I think he’s the best player that we have here, but I like the way that we go about it. No one feels like they’re better than the other, and everyone is here focused on doing their job. He’s got an incredible future ahead of him and an incredible talent with what he does out on the field, and I love watching him go out there from the very first pitch and give it everything he has.”
