Category: MLB

Now that we’re in the offseason, it’s time to shift our focus to a possible event on the horizon that may be even more daunting than the MLB postseason.

The collective bargaining agreement between the league and the MLB Players Association expires on December 1st, and if the two sides don’t reach an agreement by then, a lockout will ensue. What does this mean? Well, it means that no games will occur until both MLB and MLBPA find a way to make it work. I recently had the opportunity to ask a former ballplayer about the subject, and he was happy to share his take on the situation.

There have been a few lockouts over the course of MLB history, but the longest was in 1994, when a player strike halted regular season and postseason games for 232 days. Ryan Howard, Phillies legend and 2008 World Series Champion, spoke with Pinstripe Alley on the matter and shared his perspective on the impact the lockout could have on the game and league as a whole.

“When it comes to that, you want what’s best for the game,” Howard told Pinstripe Alley. “When you look back at the lockout back in ‘94, I think the game was in such an amazing place. Then once that happened, it hurt the game.”

To Howard’s point, the game is in a similar spot as it was in 1994, where viewership is trending in the right direction. Fox Sports reported that it averaged 3.2 million viewers for the first two games of the NL Division Series involving the Braves and Dodgers, as well as the Padres and Brewers, according to Front Office Sports. Fox Sports also reported that the network set a 10-year viewership high during last year’s AL Division Series between the Yankees and Blue Jays as well as the Tigers and Mariners.

Howard also shared that he doesn’t believe there will be a lockout, and that both sides will have to make concessions to move forward with the 2027 regular season as scheduled.

Despite the Yankees exiting earlier than anticipated, we might as well enjoy this MLB postseason while it lasts. Who knows, but we should all prepare for the possibility of a lockout and seeing silence on the diamond come March 24th.

In the NLCS, tonight we have Game 2 between the Dodgers and Brewers. Last year’s WS MVP, Yoshinobu Yamamoto goes for the Dodgers, and rookie stud Logan Henderson pitches for the Brewers.

In the second game of the slate, we get the first ALCS game between the Guardians and Rays. Former Royal, Foster Griffin, will match up for the Guardians with the Rays’ ace Drew Rasmussen.

A double-bill of championship series, so enjoy it. Might only be one more this year, on Thursday. We start off with the National League, where the Dodgers will seek to even the series after losing the opener 2-1 in Milwaukee. A good start for the Brewers, but things won’t be any easier for them today: Yoshinobu Yamamoto isn’t much of a downgrade from Tarik Skubal. Meanwhile, the bargain basement American League Championship Series gets under way. All those who complain about Arizona fans not showing up, should look at Cleveland. They have now made the postseason eight of the last eleven years, but their HIGHEST attendance is only 2,051,360. They’ve been below the D-backs every year in that time, bar the weirdo 2021 season. In 2026, the gap was 287,000.

Here’s what’s on offer today:

• Los Angeles Dodgers @ Milwaukee Brewers (0-1): 2 pm, FOX/FOX One
• Cleveland Guardians @ Tampa Bay Rays (0-0): 5 pm, TBS/HBO Max

Waiting all day for Monday night.

With respect to Monday Night Football, it’s still baseball season. The final four teams will be in action tonight with Game 2 of NLCS and Game 1 of the ALCS on the docket. The Dodgers and Brewers will play Game 2 after kicking off their series last night, while Cleveland and Tampa Bay will begin the ALCS later this evening.

Of the teams remaining, three qualify as “small market” teams. The Dodgers, on the other hand, have spent more than the other three teams combined. Will the Dodgers secure another World Series title on the way to a lockout, or will one of the little guys prove that they can succeed under the current agreement?

NLCS Game 2: Dodgers at Brewers, 5:00 PM. FOX/FS1

RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. RHP Logan Henderson

It’s difficult to compete with Skubal vs. Misiorowski, but the NL teams will give us another quality pitching matchup tonight.

ALCS Game 1: Guardians at Rays, 8:00 PM. TBS

LHP Foster Griffin vs. RHP Drew Rasmussen

The Orioles were an incredibly flawed baseball team, but they were capable of beating both of these teams on any given night. Baltimore finished 8-5 against Tampa Bay and 3-4 against Cleveland. It’s difficult to comprehend that either of these teams will be playing for a World Series title, but that’s how it goes.

The ALCS gets underway this evening at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, and it’s a rather surreal moment for not just the fans of the Rays and Guardians (who are both starving for a championship), but for the Red Sox, the AL East, and the sport as a whole.

With the owners getting ready to make their most aggressive push for a salary cap in a generation — Something John Henry has wanted for a long time now — it’s kind of astounding that the last, dying breath of baseball under this current CBA is being played in some of the smallest markets the sport has to offer. We already went over the weight the NLCS between the Brewers and Dodgers might carry in the upcoming labor war over the weekend, but on the AL side of things, the small market takeover is already complete, and we should take a moment to reflect on it.

The Rays aren’t just in the ALCS, they’re in the AL East. They beat both the Red Sox and Yankees over 162 games, and then they went out and swept the Yankees in lobsided fashion, right after the Yankees swept the Red Sox in lobsided fashion. This was a total beatdown! The Rays were clearly and repeatedly the best team in the division in 2026, and even though they’ve been good and competitive for many years, it feels like we’re reaching some kind of tipping point with both the Red Sox and Yankees proving to be nothing more than Wild Card fodder for two years in a row.

The Red Sox specifically have been accused of trying to be too much like the Rays for many years now, and it increasingly seems like we’re getting the worst of both worlds. On one hand, if it’s true, the Red Sox were right about “this” being the way to run your team in 2026, but they’re also not anywhere near as good as the Rays in getting all of their assets to work together as a cohesive unit. Instead, the Sox appear to be caught in-between, where they spend much more on payroll than teams like the Rays and Guardians, but not enough to dominate the landscape and fill their biggest needs (where is our a stud power bat?). And then, the front office also can’t get the pieces they do invest in to be as situationally productive as the Tampa manages to do over and over again.

It’s a very, very awkward situation.

So, where does this leave us going forward? The Red Sox have spent the last handful years acting very much like a team that believes a salary cap is going to be imposed in a specific window very soon while also failing to get above third place in the division during that time (five straight years and counting). If you want to be optimistic, you might argue this will leave them more prepared than other big market teams if or when a salary cap is imposed. But here’s the problem: They also seem to be less prepared than the small market teams who are nailing it right now. So the situation kind of sucks no matter what, and Rays and Guardians being in the ALCS underscores this in a bizarre, humbling and underwhelming way.

The Red Sox should be flexing their financial muscle. They’re not! Then, in a world where the Red Sox are not flexing their full financial muscle, they should also be further along in getting things right after trying to adopt the cost effective strategies used by teams like the Rays, Guardians and Brewers for the better part of a decade. Again, they’re not! About the only thing they seem prepared to do is enter a post lockout world with a salary cap imposed somewhere around their current payroll. However, if we get an all small market World Series, who knows if they’re even going to get that prediction correct?

The more I look at the landscape, the harder it is to find an October outcome that’s going to make me less angry in the coming months. The Red Sox won four championships in 15 years powered by a financial engine that got its fuel from a dedicated and passionate fanbase willing to pay high prices for Fenway tickets and NESN subscriptions if it means getting a solid product in return. Not only have the Red Sox not held up their end of the bargain throughout the 2020s, but they intentionally thrown it away while now getting beat by teams with less resources who they’re supposedly trying to emulate. I find this so disgusting, and I have little to no confidence there’s anywhere near enough motivation on Jersey Street to find a proper solution.

Use this thread to talk about both LCS games tonight, what it might mean for the Red Sox going forward, and as always, be good to one another.

It’s game 2 of the NLCS in Milwaukee Monday afternoon as Yoshinobu Yamamoto will try to pull the Dodgers even while the Brewers will ask Logan Henderson to give them a 2-0 advantage. First pitch scheduled for 4pm central time and the game broadcast will be available via Fox/FS1.

Last night, the National League (NL) Championship Series began with Game 1 between the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers.

Last year, the Dodgers swept the Brewers in this best-of-seven series before defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series. Hoping for a different outcome this fall, the Brewers got off to a good start, rallying for a 2-1 win in front of their frenzied home fans. Milwaukee’s bullpen prevented the Dodgers from retaking the lead after starter Jacob Misiorowski failed to complete five innings.

Today, the Dodgers will attempt to even the series against the Brewers, while the Tampa Bay Rays host the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of the American League (AL) Championship Series.

Dodgers at Brewers (5:00 PM EDT)

Seeking to avoid returning to Los Angeles trailing 0-2 in the series, the Dodgers will turn to right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was named World Series MVP last year after throwing 2 2/3 innings of relief on zero days’ rest to help his team win Game 7 in extra innings.

Following another strong regular season, Yamamoto remains Los Angeles’ postseason ace. He earned the win in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves, allowing one run on four hits over seven innings while striking out 10. This evening, the Japanese right-hander will look to record his second consecutive quality start.

Today's #NLCS Game 2 Dodgers lineup at Brewers: pic.twitter.com/re1NTN8Ni0

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 12, 2026

The Brewers will counter with rookie right-hander Logan Henderson, who has considerably less postseason experience than his counterpart. Henderson earned the No. 2 spot in Milwaukee’s playoff rotation after finishing the regular season with an 11-3 record and a 2.47 ERA in 18 starts.

He took the mound in Game 2 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres and received a no-decision after allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits over five innings. It will be interesting to see how Henderson fares this afternoon against the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup.

Bring that same energy

📺: FOX
📻: WTMJ#WinOurWaypic.twitter.com/vPo2NdAcoV

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 12, 2026

Guardians at Rays (8:00 PM EDT)

In Tampa Bay, the AL East champion Rays and AL Central champion Guardians will square off for the AL pennant.

The Rays are rested and ready after sweeping the New York Yankees in the Division Series, while the Guardians’ heavily taxed pitching staff had just one day off following a comeback victory over the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland won the final three games, including two in Chicago before clinching the series at home in a winner-take-all Game 5.

Tampa Bay’s ace right-hander Drew Rasmussen will make his second start of the postseason, looking to pitch as well as he did in his team’s playoff opener. Rasmussen was nearly perfect in that outing, holding the New York Yankees to one hit over eight innings while striking out 10. Pitching at home against a Guardians offense that often struggles to score, Rasmussen could once again set the tone for the Rays with a dominant performance.

#Rays lineup vs. #Guardians for ALCS Game 1: pic.twitter.com/oIeN6PTcCp

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) October 12, 2026

With both Parker Messick and Gavin Williams unavailable after starting the final two games of the previous round, the Guardians will turn to left-hander Foster Griffin.

The southpaw, who the team acquired from the Washington Nationals at the trade deadline, will make his first career postseason start. Griffin pitched once in the Division Series, earning the win in Game 3 after allowing one run over 2 2/3 innings of relief.

Vibes are good, hbu?#GuardsBall | #StandGuardpic.twitter.com/x7VzC6TCbd

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) October 12, 2026

Which teams will move a step closer to the World Series tonight?

The last early start time of the year for the Dodgers, trying to even things up with the Brewers before heading home to Los Angeles.

Today's #NLCS Game 2 Dodgers lineup at Brewers: pic.twitter.com/re1NTN8Ni0

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 12, 2026

Milwaukee added three left-handed batters to their lineup for Monday, with Christian Yelich at designated hitter, Sal Frelick in right field, and David Hamilton at third base, in place of Andrew Vaughn, switch-hitter Luis Lara, and Joey Ortiz, respectively.

Bring that same energy

📺: FOX
📻: WTMJ#WinOurWaypic.twitter.com/vPo2NdAcoV

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 12, 2026

NLCS Game 2 info

• Teams: No. 2 seed Dodgers at No. 1 seed Brewers
• Series: Milwaukee leads, 1-0
• Ballpark: American Family Field, Milwaukee
• Start time: 2:03 p.m. PT
• TV: Fox (Joe Davis, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal, Tom Verducci)
• National radio: ESPN Radio (Jon Sciambi, Doug Glanville)
• Local English radio: AM 570 (Stephen Nelson, Rick Monday)
• Local Spanish radio: KTNQ 1020 AM (José Mota, Luis Cruz)

We have a pair of LCS games for your viewing pleasure today.

In the early game, the Brewers, up 1-0, host the Dodgers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto goes for the Dodgers, with Logan Henderson pitching for the Brewers. It is a 4 p.m. Central start on Fox.

In the evening game, the Rays and Guardians kick off their series, with Foster Griffin for the Guardians going up against Drew Rasmussen for the Rays. It is a 7 p.m. Central start on TBS.

The MLB playoffs are rolling along, and today is the first day the Championship Series for both leagues will be on the field.

Both League Championship Series are in action to start the week 😤

Game 2 of the NLCS starts us off before the ALCS gets underway with Game 1 #NoTimeLikeOctoberpic.twitter.com/x8uJo56ozY

— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2026

In a pitching showdown that pitted two of the best — Tarik Skubal vs. Jacob Misiorowski — against each other, Game 1 of the NLCS came down to the bullpens for the Dodgers and Brewers on Sunday. The relievers for both teams combined to pitch 7.2 scoreless innings, and it was Milwaukee that took Game 1 2-1 after Skubal gave up two earned runs, including a Brice Turang solo homer.

Today, another pitching duel is on tap for Game 2 of the NLCS as Milwaukee’s Logan Henderson will face off against L.A.’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Henderson gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits with three walks and four strikeouts in five innings on Oct. 4 in his lone 2026 postseason appearance against the Padres. Yamamoto surrendered only one run on four hits, while striking out 10 in seven innings.

Meanwhile, in Tampa Bay, the Rays will host the Guardians in Game 1 of the ALCS. The Rays haven’t played since Oct. 7 when they completed their sweep of the New York Yankees in the ALDS. Cleveland, on the other hand, rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the White Sox in their ALDS series.

Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 2) at Milwaukee Brewers (No. 1) — 3 PM MDT

Pitching Matchup: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0, 1.29) vs. Logan Henderson (0-0, 1.80 ERA)

TV: FOX/FOX ONE

Radio: ESPN Radio

SB Nation Sites:Brew Crew Ball, True Blue LA

Lineups:

Today's #NLCS Game 2 Dodgers lineup at Brewers: pic.twitter.com/re1NTN8Ni0

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 12, 2026

Bring that same energy

📺: FOX
📻: WTMJ#WinOurWaypic.twitter.com/vPo2NdAcoV

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 12, 2026

Cleveland Guardians (0-0) at Tampa Bay Rays (0-0) — 6 PM MDT

Pitching Matchup: RHP Nick Martinez (15-6, 3.10 ERA) vs. LHP Max Fried (5-5, 2.80 ERA)

SB Nation Sites:DRaysBay, Covering the Corner

Radio: ESPN Radio

Pitching Matchup: Foster Griffin (1-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. Drew Rasmussen (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

TV: TBS/HBO Max

Stay tuned for lineups.

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Two games today:

• Dodgers at Brewers, Game 2: 5:00 pm
• Guardians at Rays, Game 1: 8:00 pm

Let’s talk about them.

The Brewers took a low-scoring Game 1. With the pitchers going in Game 2, that’s also likely to be low-scoring.

And the ALCS begins this evening. One discussion thread for both games today.

4 p.m. CT: Dodgers at Brewers (Brewers lead series 1-0)

TV: Fox-TV. Announcers: Joe Davis, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP vs. Logan Henderson, RHP

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com preview

7 p.m. CT: Guardians at Rays

TV: TBS. Announcers: Brian Anderson, Jeff Francoeur, Ron Darling and Lauren Shehadi.

Foster Griffin, LHP vs. Drew Rasmussen, RHP

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com preview

The star studded pitching matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers Jacob Misiorowski and the Los Angeles Dodgers Tarik Skubal turned out to be a bit of a dud on Sunday night. Both were overpowering at points, but neither produced anything close to a dominant start. Ultimately, Skubal took a bit more damage, the Dodgers veteran bats looked overmatched at times, and the Brewers held on to a slim lead to take Game 1 of the NLCS.

They’ll be back at it tonight, while the ALCS matchup between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Guardians also gets underway in Tampa Bay.

The Dodgers will send their ace, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0, 1.29 ERA) against the Brewers young right-hander RHP Logan Henderson (0-0, 1.80 ERA) at 5:00 p.m. ET on FOX. It’s too early for either side to think about a short series, but the Dodgers would obviously do well to even things up before the series moves to LA.

The Guardians will go with LHP Foster Griffin (1-0, 3.38 ERA) as he takes on RHP Drew Rasmussen (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who was absolutely brilliant in his lone start against the Yankees this postseason. The Rays will be well rested, but the Guardians will hope to catch them a little flat-footed early on. The ALCS will be broadcast on TBS, with Monday night’s game at Tropicana Field set for an 8:00 p.m. ET start.

Both League Championship Series are in action to start the week 😤

Game 2 of the NLCS starts us off before the ALCS gets underway with Game 1 #NoTimeLikeOctoberpic.twitter.com/x8uJo56ozY

— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2026

Dodgers at Brewers

Brewers lead, 1-0

First pitch: 5:00 PM EDT
TV: FS1/FOX ONE
Probable pitchers: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP (LAD); Logan Henderson, RHP (MIL)

Guardians at Rays

Series tied, 0-0

First pitch: 8:00 PM EDT
TV: TBS/HBO MAX
Probable pitchers: Foster Griffin, LHP (CLE), Drew Rasmussen, RHP (TB)

After a series facing plenty of left-handers against the Braves, the Dodgers offense will see a second right-handed starter in Milwaukee. Although the scoring output was disappointing in Game 1, Dave Roberts sticks with his approach of righty-lefty throughout the lineup, but there are a couple of changes.

Tommy Edman, who was on the bench for Game 1, gets the starting nod over Kiké Hernández in the ninth spot, playing second base. This is Edman’s first start since Game 2 of the NLDS, having appeared off the bench in each of the Dodgers’ last three games. More notably, perhaps, Will Smith drops to the fifth spot in the order, with Teoscar Hernández moving up to bat third, rewarded for his two-hit performance in Game 1.

It’s been no secret that Smith has been the worst Dodgers hitter this postseason; however, his at-bats in the first game of the series provided a bit of hope that he can bounce back and be a real factor in this NLCS. The Dodgers’ starting catcher had more hard-hit balls than any other player in a 2-1 defeat—it just happened that they were all outs.

Mixing and matching late in games, expect either Josue De Paula or Kiké Hernández to be ready for an impact off the bench against a Brewers reliever, depending on which reliever is on the mound late in the game. De Paula in particular has impressed with key walks in this postseason.

Today's #NLCS Game 2 Dodgers lineup at Brewers: pic.twitter.com/re1NTN8Ni0

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 12, 2026