Category: Baseball

I went to game two of the ALDS today by myself.

I am a Guardians Season Ticket Holder, but in my 10-12 games a year, I always take 1-2 of our kids (ages 7, 6, almost 4, and 2). So, today was different. I got a scorecard because keeping score controls my emotions and competitive anxiety. I sat down and started talking to the older gentleman on my left who tolerated my various insights into the game very kindly.

On my right, I allowed a White Sox fan to sit in my assigned seat so he could sit next to his friends. White Sox fan person (a “boss” of some sort) was not profane or abusive. But, he very clearly had only started paying attention the past two weeks, at most. Yet, there he was, standing and screaming in joy as the team I live and die with daily failed to secure a crucial victory. His joy did not appear to be any less than mine would have been despite my significantly superior emotional investment. So… why am I bothering?

At some level, it has to be that I get joy from this. Seeing Anthony Kay spike a throw and allow two runs was joyous. 11 strikeouts from Gavin Williams was a thrill of hope for a weary world to rejoice in. Jo Adell gave me an electric moment where I thought he had deposited one in the bleachers. I do truly revel in the feelings these events produce.

But, at another level, it’s a longing to be part of something bigger and to succeed. Is Cleveland going to be a good place for me and my family to live? That’s a group project. Are we going to survive the threats of A.I., climate change, resurgent fascism, persistent totalitarianism, biological warfare and the billionaire oligarchs that profit from it all as a society? That’s a group project. I’m rooting for us. Watching my baseball team win gives me just a little glimmer of hope that winning the actual important games is possible. It makes me a believe a collection of wildly diverse people with their own special talents and roles can do impossible things when the Guardians beat the Angels on a Wednesday night.

But, the Guardians did not win tonight. The baseball Sabrowski threw to a hitter with a 19 wRC+ vs LHP caught an inch too much of the plate and landed just 36 inches fair. The ball Kwan hit to left field was almost misplayed by Antonacci and landed just inches within his glove. The ball that seemingly hit Jose was just half an inch from being obviously a hit and resulting in two runs when Adell hit his smash… glorious victory just inches away… leaving me with crushing defeat.

When I got home, our three-year old, Zalee, asked me if the Guardians won. I said, “No, but Onion won the hot dog race!” And she squealed in delight. Her primary interest in the game is if Onion wins the hot dog race. When we go to games, she is as disappointed if Onion loses as I am if the Guardians Lose.

In the big scheme of things, is my joy really that much more significant than hers? Is my disappointment more crushing? If I had to guess, I’d assume the opposite is true. Seeing her felt-covered hero of condiment fame triumph is a more significant epochal milestone for her than a World Series title would be in my 43 years on this globe.

But, I suppose I will be successful in teaching her to love this wonderful, awful, joyous, soul-crushing sport like I do (if the aformentioned billionaires let us watch it again next season, of course). Someday, Zalee will cheer, cry, thrill, deflate, and scream like I do. And, the reason that’s ok is that it will be something that reminds her and me that we are in this thing together. That we don’t win without the other feeling joy and pride, and we don’t lose without the other feeling pain and humiliation. And, that’s life. And that’s humanity.

The Guardians didn’t win today. But, Onion did. She swung her purse at the last second and broke the finish line by inches before Ketchup. So, rejoice, Zalee. It’s a good night, after all.

I hate Tropicana Field. I know many of you do too. If you are not a Yankees fan and are doing what I am also guilty of doing—reading the reactions of salty fans after playoff losses—grab your popcorn. This is the good stuff you’re probably looking for.

It blows my mind that baseball games in 2026 are played at places like this. It honestly blows my mind even more that this place was destroyed by an act of God two years ago, was rebuilt despite plans to replace it in the near future, and is being used for big playoff games. The roof is baseball-colored; there is statistical proof that teams other than the Rays struggle defensively here due to a lack of experience; the turf leads to weird hops that cause more errors to be committed against the Rays than any other team in baseball. It’s the strangest home-field advantage in baseball, and one that the Rays ran roughshod over to take advantage of a Yankees team that was just not focused from the jump tonight—and one that, to be clear, absolutely deserved this atrocious loss, even if it was played in the baseball version of Elysian Fields.

Alright, enough of my anger-filled soapbox. The Yankees set the tone for this one with three brutal first-inning errors, played shoddy defense the rest of the night, and just got Rays’d. Any opportunity they had to use their speed or slap hitting, they used it. The Yankees were not prepared. Aside from two home runs from Ben Rice and an oh-so-close deep flyout from Cody Bellinger with the bases juiced, the offense was dead again in a 5-2 loss that puts the season on the brink.

When you get no-hit for nearly eight innings the game before, you desperately want to get the monkey off your back early the next night. The quality of contact was good in that first inning against Freddy Peralta, with a Ben Rice warning-track flyout and a scorched lineout from Cody Bellinger, but the Yankees went quietly in the first before the utter chaos of the bottom half.

On just Cam Schlittler’s second pitch of the game, Yandy Diaz hit a soft Trop chopper to Ryan McMahon, which he promptly booted after misreading the hop. Jonathan Aranda then lined a single up the middle for the one real hit in the inning. Needing a double play, Schlittler got Junior Caminero to spike a ball into the turf that was snared by George Lombard Jr. for a brilliant flip for a forceout. Unfortunately, Jazz Chisholm Jr. decided to throw the ball into the dugout with no chance to turn two, giving the Rays the early lead.

The defensive inning from hell continued when a three-pitch strikeout from Liam Hicks was overturned into a catcher’s interference. Awarding a batter a base for a check-swing catcher’s interference is dumb, and I will forever believe that. The speedy Chandler Simpson ripped a ball to second for what looked like a tailor-made double play, but an awful throw from Chisholm pulled Lombard off the bag. The rookie shortstop somehow managed to tap the bag after to avoid a fourth error in the inning, and Cam survived the inning from hell with only one run allowed.

We got more Trop shenanigans when Spencer Jones hit a ball a mile high off the C-ring in center field, which was caught by Victor Mesa Jr. Objectively, almost every other team drops that ball because of their lack of experience reading fly balls here, but the Rays caught it, naturally. Two more quick outs had Peralta rolling through two.

Jonny DeLuca golfed an 0-2 curveball in the dirt for a leadoff double in the second, but was stranded on a trio of groundouts surrounding a two-out walk. The bottom of the order went down quietly as well, giving Peralta a perfect game through three innings just one night after Rasmussen’s brilliance. At this point, I’m not sure the vibes could get much worse.

Schlittler continued to grind through the third, allowing singles to Caminero and Simpson, but got out of a jam after a 108.5 mph scorched grounder from DeLuca was fielded cleanly by Lombard to end the threat. Just one batter later, with the Yankees entering their 13th inning of the series with just one hit, Rice allowed everyone on the team and in the fanbase to breathe for a second, smashing a leadoff home run in the fourth to tie the game at one.

Bellinger followed with a single, but was stranded by the next three hitters. Schlittler responded to the desperate gasp for a shutdown inning, retiring the Rays in order with help from a surprisingly solid play by Trent Grisham in center field. Peralta seemed to be cruising again after retiring the first two in the fifth, but things got interesting after a bullet double by Austin Wells and a gritty walk by Ryan McMahon. The ever-aggressive Kevin Cash pulled him for Cam Booser, betting on his lefty specialist to neutralize the best hitters on the team.

He walked Rice on five pitches to bring up Bellinger with the bases loaded. This was the moment. This was where the Yankees could show who they were. For a brief second, it seemed like they would. The All-Star left fielder absolutely pummeled a bad 0-2 fastball to deep center field. 102.9 mph, 405 feet. In 12 ballparks, it’s a grand slam. In some others, it’s off the wall. Unfortunately, as has happened all too many times in the postseason in the Judge era, the big hit fell just a few inches short, landing harmlessly in the glove of DeLuca.

It’s the type of gut punch that takes the air out of a fan, and maybe it took the air out of the team. It’s not how baseball works, but maybe it is. Schlittler allowed a bullet single (that Jones maybe should’ve caught?) and a bullet double from Caminero to set up second and third with nobody out. Usually, a team’s cleanup and five-hole hitters wouldn’t be conducive to 55 and 65 mph choppers that bounce two feet in front of home plate in RBI opportunities, but these are the Rays. Both runs scored on back-to-back Baltimore chops that the Yankees had no chance of getting an out at the plate on, even if Lombard had defended the latter cleanly. That gave the Rays a 3-1 lead.

The frustration didn’t end there. After Brent Headrick entered and struck out Mesa, we got another Trop chop grounder to Lombard. Due to the bounce the ball took and the speed of DeLuca, he had to rush the throw, which forced a long stretch from Luis García Jr. If the play was made cleanly, DeLuca would’ve been out by an eyelash, which tells you how perfect they had to be, but García couldn’t squeeze the throw, and everyone was safe. Another error. One batter later, Richie Palacios hit a two-run single to effectively ice this one, making it 5-1 Rays.

We then hit a weird point in the game. Ian Seymour came in for the Rays as a lefty bulk reliever, but Aaron Boone elected to keep his righties in the dugout. As a fan who was resigned to the outcome after the Palacios single, it seems like nothing, but damn, that’s pretty rough of your manager to be so apathetic in this spot. The lineup had no pulse against him in some rough matchups.

Playing out the string, John Schreiber tossed a scoreless sixth, Ryan Weathers and Paul Blackburn combined for the seventh, and Blackburn and David Bednar combined for the ninth. For the offense, all they had left was another home run for Rice, who continues to have a postseason to remember while his teammates give him no help, like 2018 LeBron.

Bryan Baker got the save in the ninth, 1-2-3, to solidify Game 2 for the Rays. If the Yankees want to win this series and get to the ALCS, they must win three straight against a team they’ve struggled against all year and win a game at Tropicana Field on Saturday after going 2-7 there to start this season, Bleak, I know.

There will be baseball played on Wednesday. After that, it’s up to the Yankees to decide. Game 3 will be at Yankee Stadium at 8 pm EDT. It’s Max Fried (pending the birth of his child) against a pitcher to be determined, but it will likely be Nick Martinez.

Box Score

For the second time in three years, the Yankees had a disastrous defensive game in the postseason and it cost them again, this time in a 5-2 loss to the Rays Monday night in Game 2 of the AL Division Series.

The Yanks made four errors in the loss, leading to three unearned runs, and they now teeter on the brink of elimination, down two games to none in the best-of-five series. Game 3 is set for Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Two years ago, the Yankee defense collapsed in Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers and they were eliminated. But even that game only featured three Yankee errors – in the box score, anyway. 

Monday’s debacle was only the fifth time the Yankees have made four errors in a single postseason game. The last time was in the 2019 ALCS against the Astros. 

The Yankees have scored only twice so far in the series, on two solo home runs by Ben Rice Monday night. No Aaron Judge, who is out with a calf injury, certainly doesn’t help.

Here are the main takeaways...

-- Yankee starter Cam Schlittler was not nearly as brilliant as he’s been in his previous postseason outings. He lasted just 4.1 innings and allowed seven hits and four runs (only two earned). He struck out just two and didn’t have a strikeout until the fourth inning and got only seven swings-and-misses. He also walked one. His career postseason ERA rose from 0.87 to 1.44. 

-- The Yankees defensive implosion started in the very first inning and set a dubious club record for errors in a single postseason frame – three. The Yankees had never had three errors in one October inning and this is the 61st postseason appearance in the Yankees’ existence. The Yanks last committed three errors in an inning in any game on Aug. 21, 2025 against the Red Sox. The last time it happened in any postseason game was Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS when the Rangers did it in a loss to the Blue Jays. 

-- Ryan McMahon, who has a fine defensive reputation, though he has not had his best season with the glove, made the first miscue when the leadoff hitter, Yandy Díaz, hit a topspin bouncer to him that McMahon muffed. Jonathan Aranda followed with a single and then Junior Caminero hit what could’ve been a double-play grounder to short. George Lombard Jr. made a not-that-graceful flip to the bag and Jazz Chisholm Jr. grabbed it and threw wildly to first. Díaz scored and Caminero went to second. 

Then it seemed like Schlittler had Hicks struck out, but, upon replay review, Austin Wells was called for catcher’s interference – his mitt was clearly in the path of Hicks’ bat. That was the third error of the inning. They nearly had a fourth – Chisholm fielded Simpson’s grounder but threw high to second base, pulling Lombard off the bag. But Lombard got back in time for a force out. Schlittler got a grounder from Victor Mesa to mercifully end the inning. The Yankees only allowed one run, but all the gaffes forced Schlittler to endure some tense moments and extra pitches.

-- The Rays scored four runs in the fifth inning and knocked out Schlittler. They got some weak contact and used their speed to exploit it. Poor Yankee defense helped, too. Aranda started the inning with a single and Caminero followed with a ringing double. With the infield mostly in – Chisholm was further back than the rest of the infielders – Liam Hicks hit a grounder that was slow enough to allow Aranda to score. 

Chandler Simpson later hit a soft grounder to short that Lombard couldn’t backhand and another run scored. The scoring on that play was changed several times, but it was ultimately scored a fielder's choice. But Lombard then made a throwing error to further prolong the inning and Richie Palacios added a single after an eight-pitch bout with reliever Brent Headrick that scored two more runs. 

-- The Yanks went nine up, nine down the first time through their batting order as Rays starter Freddy Peralta looked sharp. But Rice tied the score at 1 with a 372-foot drive over the right-field fence. Rice connected on the fourth of four consecutive changeups from Peralta. Rice also homered in the eighth inning, giving him four home runs in four games this postseason.

-- In the fifth, the Yanks had a big chance with two outs, but could not cash in. Wells lashed a double into the right-field corner that looked a lot like the ball he hit in Game 1 and got thrown out trying to stretch into a triple. He wisely stopped at second this time. McMahon then worked a walk in a tough, seven-pitch at-bat. He was the last batter that Peralta faced. He came out with Rice coming up to the plate. 

Rice worked another walk against southpaw Cam Booser, which brought up Cody Bellinger, who was 11th in MLB this season with a .340 average with runners in scoring position. Bellinger hit a deep fly ball to the warning track in center that held some hope, but it was caught. 

-- Peralta, the former Met who got his pitching together in Tampa Bay, lasted 4.2 innings and allowed one run and three hits. He struck out three and walked one. The outing lowered his career postseason ERA from 4.32 to 4.03. 

Highlights

BEN RICE! The Yankees finally have their first run of the ALDS! https://t.co/b7uVHF7PeQ

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) October 6, 2026

Trent Grisham makes the catch on the run! https://t.co/vrbDPqfkGp

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) October 6, 2026

Ben Rice’s second homer of ALDS Game 2 cuts it to 5-2 https://t.co/uH1lw1LAes

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) October 6, 2026

What's next

The Yankees return home to New York with Game 3 of the ALDS against the Rays on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.

How important is the second game in a five-game series? Sarah Langs from MLB.com reminds us that winning the first two games of a five-game series is a significant leg up:

New York apparently did not get the memo the way they booted and threw the ball around for several innings in this contest. The bottom of the first inning saw three errors made on the infield with Ryan McMahon booting a routine hopper from Yandy Diaz to lead off the game followed shortly by a throwning error by Jazz Chisholm Jr and one more still when Austin Wells interfered with a swing by Liam Hicks. Despite the extra outs and the traffic on the bases, the sole run came on the errant throw allowing Diaz to score:

The second and third inning for the Rays was more traffic on the bases, but Cam Schlittler once again buckled down and stranded everyone. Through those first three innings, the Rays were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position in this game and 0 for 13 in the series. Ben Rice made the Rays regret the lack of production with a homer to lead off 4th inning on a poorly located changeup:

That home was quickly followed up by a line drive single by Cody Bellinger just past a diving Taylor Walls, but Peralta buckled down to strand him getting Spencer Jones (more on him shortly) and inducing an infield flyout to George Lombard Jr. The Rays went down somewhat quietly in the 4th with both Palacios and Walls striking out before Yandy Diaz scalded a baseball to the right center gap that Trent Grisham gracefully ran down. That batted ball was 103 off the bat with a .540 expected batting average, but more importantly, it was the loud contact that had mostly been absent in this contest the first two times through the batting order.

The fifth inning was the key moment of this contest, for both teams. In the top of the fifth, the Yankees mounted a two-out rally when Austin Wells hit nearly the same type of ball he did in Game 1, but did not have the same delusions of grandeur. That double was followed by walks to Ryan McMahon and Ben Rice before Cody Bellinger came very close to a grand slam. His 405-foot flyball would have been a home run in 12 parks, but Tropicana Field was just big enough to hold it in:

This Cody Bellinger shot was a home run in 12/30 ballparks

Analytically, Yankees up 5-1 pic.twitter.com/vHhHhIhNMi

— Peter Appel (@PeterAppel23) October 6, 2026

The Yankees would need about five minutes to regret how the top of that inning played out. The inning would begin with Aranda singling on a ball hit 109.1 MPH with a .650 expected batting average, but also looked very catchable in the moment by Spencer Jones. As it turns out, the data agreed as Jones had a terrible jump on the ball and let it play him rather than making the aggressive play like we saw Chandler Simpson do in his moment of game 1:

That hard hit was followed by a harder 112.4 MPH double to the right-center gap by Junior Caminero giving the Rays three consecutive 100+ batted ball events off Schlittler, but it would be the softest hit of the night that would drive in the first run of the inning. Liam Hicks would get absolutely tied up by a cutter, but the 55.1 MPH ground ball to second was perfect for the contact play with Aranda running because Chisholm Jr was the only infielder not up on the infield seam:

That event was followed by a fielder’s choice contact play by Simpson driving in Caminero. That would chase a frustrated Schlittler for the evening birnging in Brent Hendrick to strike out Victor Mesa Jr before the fourth error of the game by the Yankees extended the inning allowing the Rays to plate two more runners after both Simpson and DeLuca stole second base around the Mesa Jr strikeout on a Richie Palacios single that came after him swinging at ball 4 in a 3-0 count:

That would be the last hit with a runner in scoring position on the evening as the only other run in the contest would come on Ben Rice’s second solo home run of the evening.

Kevin Cash employed four pitchers on the evening: Freddy Peralta, Cam Booser, Ian Seymour, and Bryan Baker and it could be said Seymour was the best one of the evening. Peralta fought through 4.2 innings of work despite not having his best changeup. Peralta had 12 whiffs on the evening, but just three of those came off his changeup. Cash made the decision to pull Peralta at 66 pitches rather than allow him to face Rice a third time. Booser ended up walking Rice before getting the close-call from Bellinger before giving way to Seymour. The starter turne reliever worked three innings striking out 4, walking none, and the second Rice solo shot was the only blemish and baserunner of the appearance. Baker then came in for the 9th to secure the save with a 1-2-3 appearance.

Cam Schlitter came into this game talking about how games at Tropicana Field feeling like a home game because theRays don’t have a strong home atmosphere. For one inning, Schlitter’s statements were validated as that top of the 5th was quite loud on the broadcast but the air fell out of the visiting fans just as Bellinger’s flyball fell short of the wall. Aaron Boone needed to use five relievers behind Schlitter, whose defense did him no favors asking the young pitcher to throw more stressful pitches earlier than he or the pundits expected before the contest. Yankee fans have the thousand yard stare wondering how their road field advantage slipped through their fingers heading back to The Bronx with as many runs as they have losses to show for their efforts in Tropicana Field in this series.

I have been a St. Louis Cardinals fan for more than five decades and I have lived through many different eras of losing seasons, championships and everything in between. I can’t recall any of them being more unclear about what the expectations should be for an upcoming season than the one that will hopefully begin in the Spring of 2027.

I think it’s safe to say that most of us were pleasantly surprised by the 2026 St. Louis Cardinals. The results of a poll that I shared after the final game of the season seems to back that up as a vast majority gave the team a B grade or better for the 2026 season.

Only 7% of those who voted gave the Cardinals a grade less than C for the 2026 season. Why? I think most of us had a realistic understanding that the roster would be full of young players being given the opportunity to either prove they belong or proving they don’t. Along the way, we saw a remarkable comeback season from Jordan Walker including an iconic and unexpected Home Run Derby victory. We also saw JJ Wetherholt establish himself as one of the game’s best defensive second basemen with a big potential offensive upside. Alec Burleson muscled up and led the league in RBI’s and Joshua Baez had one of the greatest Major League debuts with his 3 home run introduction against the Cubs. The late season appearance of Leo Bernal had many of us believing we were witnessing the new St. Louis Cardinals catcher for years to come.

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses, though. Nolan Gorman regressed and may very well be on his way out of the organization. Matthew Liberatore struggled. The bullpen was a train wreck during the second half of the season. While Jordan Walker’s season was a positive, there are legitimate concerns about his swing decisions late in the season starting to resemble 2025. However, all things considered I think that most of us felt like the Cardinals season went at least slightly better than we expected. When all was said and done, a 77-85 record wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.

What are your expectations for the 2027 St. Louis Cardinals season?

I have so many questions about what the Cardinals should do this offseason. Based on what Chaim Bloom said during his end-of-season press conference, I think he’s anticipating that many fans are not going to understand what phase this rebuild is in.

“This is a dangerous time…especially during the summer, when we were playing well, I heard plenty of comments about how we were back on track, or maybe ahead of schedule. We may have exceeded some other people’s expectations, but in my view, there’s nothing that happened this year that should tempt us to lose focus on our goals.”

Will Chaim Bloom continue to acquire more prospects or will he start adding to the Major League roster? I expect it will be a combination of both. A majority of our community said that the bullpen should be the priority in 2027 and I don’t necessarily disagree. I’d expect at the very least that the Cardinals will add some arms to eat the middle innings. What about third base or centerfield solutions? Will St. Louis trade from their catching depth to fill one of those voids?

There are many current roster questions, too. Will the St. Louis Cardinals continue to give Ivan Herrera opportunities behind the plate or is he a trade candidate? What about Alec Burleson? The Cardinals have 2 more years of control with two seasons of salary arbitration remaining. He said he’s “all ears” if the team wants to talk extension. Should they lock him up and make him a part of the emerging Cardinals core or consider trading high on his performance this year? What about the Cardinals starting rotation? My expectation based on the post-season press conference is they plan for Matthew Liberatore to be a starter again in 2027. Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy and Kyle Leahy should be locks for the starting rotation and hopefully Leahy will not be limited to a smaller number of innings like he was in 2026. I’d prefer that the Cardinals find a reliable starter or two and have Liberatore return to a middle innings solution, but I highly doubt the team is considering that as an option.

I have watched Chaim Bloom’s post-season presser multiple times and I feel like he’s struggling with messaging about what the 2027 St. Louis Cardinals season will look like. I understand that he’s likely not done rebuilding the farm system with prospects, but will the larger part of the fanbase support another season of rebuilding without additions to the Major League roster from outside of the organization from trades or free agent signings? I’m hopeful that there will be some combination of both. I think that many believe the St. Louis Cardinals to be at least a .500 team in 2027, but does that include the front office? It will be interesting what else is said by Chaim Bloom during the offseason to manage those expectations. More importantly, what he DOES before Spring Training 2027 will tell us even more.

As the Dodgers mull potential lineup changes for Game 3 of the National League Division Series, manager Dave Roberts said he is “open” to moving Shohei Ohtani lower in the batting order.

In his three seasons with the Dodgers, Ohtani has batted first or second in every game he has started. However, as he has admitted he is trying to “manage” in the aftermath of knee and arm injuries, and as Roberts has acknowledged Ohtani is “not 100%,” the lack of success could compel the manager to replace him at the top of the lineup with a more productive hitter at some point.

“I would,” Roberts said Monday. “I would. I think it’s something that, you know, I think moving him from 1 to 2 — but going further than that? I’m open to it.

“And it’s something that if I do, I would obviously have the conversation with Shohei to explain why. And at the end of the day every conversation I’ve had with him is whatever’s best for the team, he’s all-in on. So I know that undoubtedly.”

Read more:Swanson: Ailing Shohei Ohtani providing only a wasted at-bat for Dodgers in NLDS

The Dodgers are batting .215 through the first two games of the NLDS, with the Atlanta Braves scheduled to pitch left-handed ace Chris Sale in Game 3 on Tuesday. If the Dodgers lose, they would need to win back-to-back elimination games to advance beyond this series.

Roberts said the lineup changes he would consider include starting Kiké Hernández and Miguel Rojas, both of whom hit well against left-handers. That could mean infielders Max Muncy (0 for 7 against Sale, with five strikeouts) and Tommy Edman (0 for 11 against Sale) might not start.

Center fielder Andy Pages, who batted so poorly last October he was benched for the final three games of the World Series, is hitless in seven at-bats in this series, with four strikeouts.

“I’m gonna continue to give Andy leash,” Roberts said. “I believe in him. I feel that for us to win the World Series this year, we’re gonna need him to be an active part of our team.

Roberts said he did not envision benching catcher Will Smith, who is 0 for 8 in the series. The Dodgers’ backup catcher, Hunter Feduccia, is a career .205 hitter with no postseason experience.

But, even with the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup, the spotlight shines brightest on Ohtani.

Ohtani has not homered since Aug. 18. He hit .157 between then and the end of the regular season, striking out in 41% of his at-bats. In this series, he has two hits and two strikeouts in eight at-bats, and his inability to refrain from swinging at pitches outside the strike zone has become a glaring weakness.

“He’s not 100%,” Roberts said. “But, at the end of the day, he can still do a better job of staying in the strike zone.”

Ohtani hasn’t given the Braves a reason to challenge him within the strike zone.

“Everything orbits around Shohei, in the sense of his talent,” Roberts said. “And the Braves are going to enter with caution. And, so, knowing that, they’re going to continue to expand as long as we keep giving that to them. So until we show some discipline, they’re going to continue to kind of use that playbook.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The New York Yankees' Spencer Jones hit the ball into the roof at Tropicana Field in the second inning of Game 2 of the AL Division Series on Monday night. It came down in a glove. 

That's an out at the Trop, even after it hits the ceiling. 

Four catwalks ring the inside of the dome, labeled A through D from highest to lowest. They hold up the roof, along with the lights and speakers, and the hang over the field. 

The ground rules split them in two. A fair ball that hits either of the lower rings, C or D, is a home run. A fair ball that hits either of the upper rings A or B is in play. If it drops, it's a live ball. If a fielder catches it, the batter is out. 

That's what happened to Jones. It hit the B ring and Victor Mesa Jr. caught it. 

Spencer Jones' flyout hits the catwalk pic.twitter.com/a6eDNHob10

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 6, 2026

This time, there was little hubbub, a stark difference from Game 1 of the NL Division Series, when the San Diego Padres' Ty France hit the roof of Milwaukee's American Family Field with one out in the bottom of the ninth, a runner on and the Padres trailing the Brewers 3-2. The ball ricocheted off a beam and was caught by left fielder Jackson Chourio for the second out.

The Padres moderately protested, but the ruling was in line with ground rules in Milwaukee, leaving it a mystery whether France's 105.3 mph fly, hit at a 49-degree launch angle, would have been a home run had it completed its flight unimpeded.

In this ALDS, there was no controversy. At least not for now.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yankees hit the roof at Tropicana Field - and it's just another out

Gavin Williams brought the heat. The White Sox eventually ran up the bill.

For five innings, the Cleveland righthander made Chicago’s lineup look mostly overmatched, piling up strikeouts while the South Siders strung together missed opportunities. But Williams’ pitches had an expiration date, and when he finally handed the ball over in the sixth, the Sox were ready to collect.

Braden Montgomery’s two-run double flipped the game, Chase Meidroth supplied a crucial insurance run and Sean Burke provided the record-breaking pitching performance Chicago desperately needed. The result was a 4-3 victory and a 2-0 lead in this best-of-five ALDS, with a chance to finish the job Wednesday in front of the home crowd.

Pack the bags. Bring the brooms. Maybe leave the opener strategy in Cleveland.

Williams came out firing fastballs at 100-plus mph, retiring Sam Antonacci on a grounder he nearly beat out before striking out Kyle Teel. Teel took a questionable strike two but wisely kept the challenge in his pocket. Miguel Vargas worked a four-pitch walk, only to be stranded when Munetaka Murakami went down looking. A 15-pitch first inning wasn’t going to get Williams out of this game. Chicago needed to make him work considerably harder.

First, though, the Sox had to survive their own pitching plan.

Anthony Kay opened and immediately started playing with matches. Steven Kwan singled past Meidroth, who appeared to have a chance at the grounder, and José Ramírez walked. Chase DeLauter’s ground out moved both runners into scoring position, and skipper Will Venable had already seen enough.

Enter Sean Newcomb —along with considerably more chaos.

After two balls to Jo Adell, the Sox finished the plate appearance with an intentional walk. Nathaniel Lowe followed with a high chopper that gave Newcomb a tough play, and his throw sailed past first, allowing two runs to score.

One hit. One ball out of the infield. Two Cleveland runs.

October baseball: occasionally beautiful, occasionally whatever that was.

Newcomb struck out Angel Martínez and Travis Bazzana and then retired Cleveland in order in the second. Meanwhile, Williams was carving up White Sox hitters like a Thanksgiving turkey, striking out the side in the second as Chicago chased just about everything on the menu.

Both teams also burned an early challenge, leaving each with only one for the later innings. Thankfully, it didn’t come back to bite.

Colson Montgomery managed a walk in the third, but Antonacci erased it with a double play. Newcomb struck out DeLauter in the bottom half before Venable turned to Burke, who struck out the next two hitters.

That pitching change would age considerably better than the first one.

The Good Guys finally broke through in the fourth. Kyle Teel ended the no-hit bid with a leadoff single, Vargas drew another walk and Mune turned an 0-2 count into a full count before slapping an RBI single to right.

That was the approach. Take pitches. Extend at-bats. Make Williams earn every out.

Unfortunately, the rest of the inning offered a different instructional video.

Andrew Benintendi struck out on three pitches, Tristan Peters flied out and Braden Montgomery struck out, leaving two runners stranded. Chicago wasted another leadoff single in the fifth when Meidroth reached and Colson, Antonacci and Teel followed with strikeouts.

Williams had 11 Ks. He also had 91 pitches. The latter number was about to matter much more.

Stephen Vogt sent Williams back out for the sixth, and Vargas greeted him with another full-count battle before singling to left. Finally, Cleveland’s starter was done.

The South Siders had spent much of the evening losing individual fight, but still managed to wear down the guy throwing the punches.

Southpaw Erik Sabrowski took over and got Murakami to ground out, moving Vargas to second. Pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk drew a four-pitch walk, and a wild pitch to fellow pinch hitter Tommy Pham advanced both runners.

Pham popped out to shallow left, putting Chicago one out away from wasting another golden opportunity.

But have no fear: Braden is here.

The rookie jumped on the first pitch and drove an opposite-field double down the right-field line, bringing home Vargas and Grichuk for a 3-2 lead. Meidroth kept the line moving with an RBI single to right, then advanced to second on an errant throw to first.

Just like that, the Sox had four runs, and Cleveland had a problem.

Burke made sure it stayed that way. After working through a 19-pitch fourth, he retired the Guardians in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh. While Chicago’s offense went quiet again, the righthander kept putting zeroes on the board.

He retired a White Sox postseason-relief record 13 consecutive hitters before DeLauter’s two-out single in the eighth brought Venable back out for the hook.

Grant Taylor entered, and Adell promptly drove his first pitch to left-center for an RBI triple that came uncomfortably close to leaving the yard. Suddenly, that fourth run looked less like insurance and more like the entire policy.

Taylor got Lowe to fly out on his next pitch, preserving the 4-3 lead.

Cade Smith needed only five pitches to retire the Sox in the ninth. Taylor apparently liked that efficiency and matched it, setting Cleveland down in order on five pitches to finish the win.

It wasn’t tidy. It wasn’t comfortable. For long stretches, it wasn’t even particularly encouraging.

But the Sox made Williams throw enough pitches to open the door, Braden kicked it in and Burke gave them the innings to make it count.

Now the South Siders head back to Chicago one win from the ALCS.

Wednesday would be a lovely time to get it.

---

MVP
Sean Burke: 5 1/3: 1 H, 1 R, BB, 6 K, W

Runners-Up
Braden Montgomery: 1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 K
Munetaka Murakami: 1-for-4, RBI, K
Chase Meidroth: 2-for-4, RBI, K
Grant Taylor: 1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, S

Cold Cat
Anthony Kay: 1/3 IP, 1 H, 2 R (1 ER), BB

Runners-Up
Sean Newcomb: 2 IP, 1 H, BB, 3 K, E
Sam Antonacci: 0-for-4, K
Colson Montgomery: 0-for-3, BB

With Chicago leading the series 1-0, the Cleveland Guardians desperately needed to win today’s Game 2 to split the series.

Gavin Williams showed up looking to win today. After leading the AL in strikeouts, he immediately started adding to his playoff strikeout tally with two strikeouts in the first inning. Gavin walked a batter, but got out of the inning having only thrown 15 pitches.

The Big Rig racks up a pair of Ks to start and the fans are loving it.#GuardsBall | #StandGuardpic.twitter.com/q0g2wD77i2

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) October 5, 2026

Anthony Kay was tapped to be the White Sox opener for this game. He threw 17 pitches, gave up a single to Steven Kwan and a walk to José Ramírez. With only one out and runners on second and third, Will Venable was forced to go to his bullpen early. Sean Newcomb replaced Anthony Kay and threw two balls to Jo Adell before getting the signal from the dugout to intentionally walk Adell. With bases loaded, Nathaniel Lowe popped it high in the infield. The pitcher caught the ball but committed a throwing error to first, allowing Kwan and José to easily score. Two strikeouts on Angel Martínez and Travis Bazzana ended the inning but not before Cleveland was able to take the lead.

Gavin ramped up his pitching in the second, touching 100+ mph in multiple pitches, keeping his pitch count low, and struck out the side in order. He had five strikeouts in 31 pitches thrown. In the third inning Gavin added his sixth strike out, but walked the next batter. His pitch count started creeping up, but Sam Antonacci grounded into a double play to retire the side.

Gavin Williams, Vicious 90mph Sweeper. 😤

5th K thru 2. pic.twitter.com/qA2EJ2k6mU

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 5, 2026

The White Sox got on the board in the fourth inning. Gavin still held on, striking out two more, throwing over 100 mph on eight pitches but getting his pitch count up to 75. He struggled putting runners away, giving up a lead off single, a walk, and another single before recording an out. But Gavin and the Guards got out of the inning while maintaining the lead.

Gavin Williams, Angry 91mph Sweeper…and Sword. ⚔️

8th K thru 4 pic.twitter.com/XA11KR0WJv

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 5, 2026

The Guardians forced another pitching change and had one baserunner, via a Chase DeLauter single in the third, but wasn’t able to capitalize on it. A similar story for the bottom of the fourth inning, with Travis Bazzana being the sole base runner via a walk.

In the top of the fifth, Gavin gave up a lead off single, but recorded his ninth strikeout of the game for the first out of the inning. With his pitch count eclipsing 90 pitches thrown, Gavin Williams dug in and struck out the next two to retire the side and give himself 11 strikeouts.

Most strikeouts by a CLE pitcher in a playoff game:

12: Charles Nagy, 1996 ALDS Game 4
11: Gavin Williams, today
Bartolo Colon, 1999 ALDS Game 1
10: Bartolo Colon, 2001 ALDS Game 1

— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) October 5, 2026

Gavin came back out to start the sixth inning but gave up a single to end his night. Gavin’s final line reads 5.0 IP, 2R, 4H, 3BB, and 11Ks. Erik Sabrowski came on to face the middle of the order. Sabrowski got the first out, but a walk and wild pitch put Chicago runners on second and third. With two outs Sabrowski gave up a two run double along the first base line to give Chicago the lead. It was at this point that all of the work that Gavin put in to keep Cleveland in the lead was absolutely lost. Hunter Gaddis came in and gave up an RBI single then gave Chase Meidroth a free base with a wild throw in a pick off attempt. Hunter got the final out, but the tides turned with the White Sox going into the bottom of the inning with a two run lead.

Gaddis tightened up in the top of the seventh, getting two outs. Angel Martínez had another incredible play in left that kept Cleveland in it.

Stephen Vogt opted for the match up with Miguel Vargas and called for Shawn Armstrong. Armstrong got the final flyout to retire the side in the seventh. He went 1-2-3 in the eighth with a strikeout to give things to Cleveland to take back.

The Guardians stuck in it in the bottom of the eighth, bringing the team within one. With two outs, Chase DeLauter hit a single to left. After another pitching change, bringing in Grant Taylor, Jo Adell finally got his first post season hit with a RBI triple to left to score CDL. Nathaniel Lowe flied out for the final out, but he swung on a good pitch and just missed squaring up for a homer.

Cade Smith came in for the ninth and threw five pitches for three outs. The defense made three easy plays to make for a very quick inning.

Unfortunately the Guardians couldn’t make anything happen. Angel Martínez hit into a groundout. Travis Bazzana hit a long flyout. and Patrick Bailey hit a fly ball that was caught at the wall.

The Guards fall 0-2 in the series as the team heads to Chicago where they can hopefully avoid being swept by the White Sox. Its not known at this time who will be starting Game 3 for Cleveland.

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres may catch waves on the beach in their free time, down some fresh home-made margaritas in Old Town and watch the sights on the boardwalk, but they’re not naive, and certainly not stupid.

They know what’s up.

They know that they trail the Milwaukee Brewers 2 games to 0 in the best-of-five National League Division series, and the odds are severely stacked against them. Since 1969, only 10 of 93 teams (11%) have lost the first two games and come back to win a best-of-five series. The Padres not only have to win three games in a row, beginning Tuesday, Oct. 6 at Petco Park (9:30 p.m. ET, FS1), but they’re going to have to do it against the same team that won more games than any team in baseball this year.

The Brewers won a franchise-record 103 games this season, including seven victories in a row, and 17 of their last 20. They haven’t lost three games in a row since, well, being swept by these same Padres in August.

So, you’re saying there’s a chance?

This is why the Padres refuse to cower in fear.

This is why they won’t be intimidated.

This is why they won’t back down.

And this is why they still believe.

They won’t need bulletin board material to hype them up, almost laughing at Hall of Famer David Ortiz mocking them on TV saying they are done.

Maybe, the Padres say, Big Papi forgot that he was on that Boston Red Sox team in 2004 that came back from a 3-0 deficit to the New York Yankees, when everyone said they were done, and won the ALCS.

Maybe folks forget that the San Diego Padres were down 2-games-to-0 in the best-of-five NLCS in 1984, losing the first two games in Chicago, and came back to win the National League pennant.

Please, it’s not as miraculous a comeback as if they lost 121 games two years ago, and made the playoffs, like some team they know on the south side of Chicago.

“Listen, man, sports is a crazy game," Padres veteran third baseman Manny Machado said. "A lot of crazy things could happen, especially this time of the year ... It's been done before, '84, Big Papi, right, down 3-0, impossible.

"It's sports, right? It's sports. Anything is possible in this game. You've just got to go out there and leave it on the field, compete. This group has been doing it all year, and we're going to continue to do it. I believe in the group that we have in there. They're a resilient group that loves to fight, that loves to compete.

“We're going to leave it out there until we can't anymore."

While no one outside the 619 area-code is giving the Padres a shot, few gave them much of a chance to be in the postseason in the first place. They were muddling along with a 50-53 record in mid-summer with a 7.4% chance to make the postseason, according to FanGraphs. Their starting rotation consisted of Michael King, tape, gauze, and different relievers each week. They were fighting for their lives until the final week of the season just to qualify for the postseason.

“Fuel, we knew what type of group we had," Machado said. “We knew what type of baseball we were playing, which was not great, but we knew we were better than that. The outside noise: 'We're not going to make it. You’re not going to do this. The Padres suck.’ …It's been all year from everyone.

“We knew that was all fake and not reality. As a group, we just took that to fuel, and we ran with it, and we got better. We performed. We stepped up, and here we are today. It's nothing different.’’

The Padres will turn to veteran Nick Pivetta, whose season looked as if it would be over in mid-April when he went down with a right elbow flexor strain, but he came back in August, and will be making his sixth start Tuesday to save their season. He hasn’t gone longer than five innings, and lasted just 3 1/3 innings in his postseason start against the Chicago Cubs, but relishes the opportunity.

“I think if you look back at it, when I was really grinding on my rehab process and wondering if I was going to be able to pitch again this year," Pivetta said, “I look forward to these moments. I'm very grateful to be able to be the pitcher out there, to do this, to start it off...

“I'm never going to shy away from the moment or shy away from what's at stake. Like I said, I'm just grateful to be in these moments, and try to help us accomplish our goal.  To be able to pitch in these moments is very special to me."

The Padres could badly use a starter to give their bullpen a breather. They had the day off Monday, but still, their heavy workload has worn them down. It was left-handed reliever Adrian Morjeon, perhaps the best left-hander in the game, who coughed up a game-winning homer to William Contreras in the seventh inning of Game 1. And it was Mason Miller, perhaps the best closer in the business, who blew the save in the ninth inning of Game 2 on Jackson Chourio’s two-out, two-strike, two-run single, while trying to record a six-out save for only the third time this season. Miller was left in to throw a season-high 40 pitches.

“I never second-guess myself," Stammen said. “That's for everybody else to do."

More: Brewers may be World Series favorites. Beating Mason Miller showed why | Opinion

The rookie manager has been second-guessed most of the season when they were battling for their lives, so it’s nothing new. Besides, every time the Padres were counted down and out, they kept battling back, a trait that has defined the Padres’ character.

“We've been resilient all year," Stammen said. “We've had our backs against the wall several times. Players individually have had their backs against the wall. For us, it's just another day in Padres Land.

“But it’s an exciting challenge.’’

So, fatigue or not, the Padres aren’t going to change their game-plan now utilizing their high-leverage relievers. They will still count on Morejon for multiple innings. They still might ask Miller to go longer than an inning. It’s October. They’ll have all winter to rest.

And, perhaps one last time Tuesday, the Padres will try to silence the critics who believe it’s impossible to overcome their deficit, and beat the powerful Brewers for a trip to the NLCS.

“Not the ideal position you want to be in," Machado said, “but these boys, this group, we've been up against the wall all year. A lot of people didn't think we would be in this position to begin with, and here we are. We've overcome a lot as a group, and we've learned a lot throughout the season.

“To believe in a group that could overcome this are the 26 guys in there that fought all year to be in this position.’’

The Padres will play hard. They’ll play loud. They’ll have a packed house at Petco Park behind them.

Really, what do they got to lose?

“Here we are once again with our backs against the wall,’’ Machado said. “We've overcome it once, and we can do it again.

“And we are going to do it again."

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Padres believe comeback is still possible despite 2-0 hole vs. Brewers

The playoff format in baseball is quite unforgiving, isn’t it? In a season where you play 162 games, the Yankees ended a team’s season in about 28 hours last week, but now they stare down the barrel of theirs being in serious danger if they happen to lose consecutive games at Tropicana Field to the Rays, a usual House of Horrors for them.

While the saying goes, “A series doesn’t start until the home team loses”, simple math will tell you that the team without home-field advantage can’t exactly rely on that (for obvious reasons). So while the Rays winning tonight would simply mean holding serve, that doesn’t quite work in a five-game series. In the 30-plus years of the Division Series, only eight teams have ever come back from 0-2 — including the 2001 and 2017 Yankees. But after an unsuccessful comeback last year, the 2026 Yanks certainly don’t want to have to try and be the ninth.

Fortunately, they have their ace on the bump to try and send the series to the Bronx tied. Cam Schlittler will unanimously win AL Cy Young and finish top five in MVP voting, but his real brilliance is shown in October. Two of his three career postseason starts have been scoreless brilliance against Boston, but he did also pitch into the seventh in Game 4 of the ALDS last year against a Blue Jays team that provided a similarly pesky challenge to this Rays team.

In the regular season against the Rays, it was a mixed bag. Schlittler struck out eight, but allowed three runs in five innings in a loss on April 12th at Tropicana Field, but he came back to throw eight innings of one-run ball in early July in one of his best starts of the season. The third and final meeting was limited to just three frames to manage his pitch count ahead of the postseason, but the Rays made him throw 70 pitches in that abbreviated outing in a meaningless late September start. Expect them to try to grind him out of the game as they did that day.

After getting absolutely dominated by Drew Rasmussen on Saturday, the Yankees hope their bats will fare better against star deadline acquisition Freddy Peralta, the former longtime Brewer who was saved from a disastrous season in Queens at the Trade Deadline. The pending free agent has been much better since the trade, pitching to a 3.22 ERA (131 ERA+) and 3.93 FIP in 55.1 innings, albeit with just 43 strikeouts. He closed the regular season by allowing just three runs in his last 34 innings to win AL Pitcher of the Month honors. For the optimists, a look under the hood shows he’s due for regression. For the pessimists, his stuff plays well at the Trop.

What’s changed with Peralta since the trade? He’s throwing considerably more changeups, especially against right-handed pitching, and will lean on that and his mid-90s four-seamer tonight, while mixing in a sweeper and a curveball. As you might expect, his fastball has gotten much more ride and has added a tick since getting to play in the Trop, so expect a much different pitcher than the one you may have seen wearing blue and orange. He’s only made two career starts against the Yankees: Opening Day 2025 with Milwaukee, and allowing three runs in five innings against them in May 2026.

It’s the exact same lineup for the Yankees, and I can’t really blame them. The options on the bench aren’t great for a tough righty like Peralta, and it was the same unit that crushed the Red Sox in Game 2 last Wednesday. The Rays are doing the same despite only scoring one run on Saturday, batting the exact same nine that usually have success against right-handed pitching.

How to Watch:

Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL

First Pitch: 8:00 p.m. EDT

TV broadcast: TBS, TruTV, Univision

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), WDAE 95.7 FM, WQBN/1300AM (TB) | ESPN Radio (National)

Online Stream: HBO Max

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Ready for Game 2. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/ebI3DAlYvA

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 5, 2026

Game 2 crew

👀: TBS/HBO MAX
👂: 95.7 WDAE pic.twitter.com/d78UTt8Giw

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 5, 2026

Happy Monday, all. How are we faring after last night’s split?

The National League Division Series has had its fair share of drama. While we were hand-wringing about Chris Sale and the prospect of a bullpen game (where we need not have worried, because Ray Kerr is a hero?), Brewers/Padres has been unreal. A potential game-tying home run in Game 1 foiled by… the closed roof (but maybe not, as the analytics say it only would’ve been a homer in Houston).

And a two-out, two-strike, two-RBI walkoff single off Mason Miller to bring the series back to San Diego with the Friars down 0-2. Gut punches, for sure. There truly isn’t anything like postseason baseball stress.

The AL is back in action tonight with the White Sox up 1-0 over the Cleveland Guardians. The Rays one-hit the Yankees and only needed a Jonathan Aranda home run to take their lead in the series.

I will leave you with this interview Brent Suter did with former Brave Kevin Pillar and co-host Cody Allen. He chats about the team, the “ace of all aces” in Chris Sale, how underratedness of Matt Olson, and much more.

The comments are yours. Have at it!

Aaron Boone is sure Cam Schlittler is built for moments like getting the start against the Rays in the ALDS.

During his conversation with the media ahead of Game 2 on Monday, the Yankees’ skipper responded to comments about Schlittler’s confidence when the lights are brightest. The Division Series was a bit bumpier for him in 2025 than the Wild Card Series showdown with Boston, so he’ll look to put that behind him. The 25-year-old righty will be making his second career ALDS start and will look to continue his current postseason hot streak as New York faces Tampa Bay.

“You never know a result is going to be in a given game, but he’s certainly equipped to handle it,” Boone stated. “He’s got a ton of confidence and is fearless in these spots.”

Aaron Boone full pregame presser ahead of Game 3 pic.twitter.com/OhXH6eeLrd

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 5, 2026

During his previous postseason outing, Schlittler barred the Red Sox offense from gaining an edge in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, throwing six and a third scoreless innings and racking up 10 strikeouts. It’s no surprise that he showed up and shelled out, following the discourse behind his rivalry with New England fans and media outlets.

The Yankees will have the opportunity to head back to the Bronx, with hopes of a split series, and have Max Fried take the mound for the Game 3 start against Tampa Bay. Boone also announced that Carlos Rodón would get the nod in a possible Game 4 at Yankee Stadium, which New York would very much like to force tonight rather than waiting until Wednesday.

You won’t want to miss a second of Schlittler’s outing as the Yankees face off against the Rays in Game 2 of the Division Series Monday at 8 p.m. EST.