SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 28: A detailed view of signage on the field before National League Wild Card Series workouts by the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park on September 28, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s a late night in San Diego as the Padres host the Chicago Cubs in game 1 of the NL Wild Card series. According to MLB.com, LHP Matthew Boyd will start for the Cubs while the Padres will send RHP Michael King to the mound. First pitch scheduled for 9pm central time at Petco Park and the game broadcast for the Wild Card rounds will be handled by NBC/Peacock.
A year ago, the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs met in the National League wild-card series. What a difference a year makes.
The Padres are on almost the exact opposite trajectory now than they were in 2025: they're hitting the ball.
Fernando Tatis Jr, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill all rebounded from slow starts to help spark a remarkable mid-season turnaround in San Diego as they finished out the year 41-18 after sitting at 50-53 entering July 24. The offense, paired with the deepest bullpen in baseball and getting guys back in the rotation from the IL, not only re-inserted themselves into the wild card conversation but shot them straight to the top of it.
The Cubs won the regular-season series 5-1, but their last matchup was on July 1, weeks before the Padres got it together. Now, they'll have a chance to redeem themselves against a Cubs team that eliminated them at Wrigley Field last October – and this time, it'll be at home in Petco Park.
Here are three factors that will decide the NL wild card series between the Padres and Cubs:
The Padres offense needs to stay hot
In last year's wild-card meeting, the Friars slumped over the final month of the season before bowing out quietly in three games at Wrigley Field. This time around, no team in baseball has been hotter. The Padres sat three games below .500 entering July 24; since then, they finished the season 41-18 as the core of their lineup – Fernando Tatis Jr, Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill – all found their rhythm. Tatis, who didn't break through for his first home run of 2026 until May 30, finished the season with 25 deep balls and a .828 OPS. Sixteen of those home runs came over the last two months of the season as he slashed .296/.365/.613. Simply put, he started hitting like Fernando Tatis Jr. again.
That's the version of himself that will need to show up in this series.
Kevin Gausman's availability for the Cubs
Gausman injured his non-throwing shoulder on a diving tag at first base last Wednesday against the Miami Marlins. He threw a bullpen session on the final day of the regular season and is reportedly being monitored to see if he can pitch in either Game 2 or 3. Getting the 35-year-old right hander on the mound would be huge for the North Siders, who acquired him at the trade deadline with the expectation of what he brings in October.
Gausman was one of the key pieces of the Toronto Blue Jays' historic run to the World Series in 2025, carrying a 2.93 ERA and 0.91 WHIP with 26 strikeouts to just 11 walks across 30.2 innings in six outings. In Game 2 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he matched Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitch-for-pitch and retired 17 consecutive batters – second-most in Blue Jays postseason history – until giving up homers to Will Smith and Max Muncy in the seventh inning.
"Oh, man, Kev was really good," Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters at the time. "... They both had low pitch counts. It was kind of a classic pitchers' duel and they made a couple more swings."
How much length can the Padres get from their rotation?
The Padres have the deepest bullpen in baseball. If they can get to Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller with a lead, they can very well pencil in a win at this point. The rotation, however, has been a different story due to injuries. Michael King has been the steady presence as their ace all season and if he can give length in Game 1 to let his relievers get a bit of a reprieve ahead of Games 2 and 3, it could make all the difference.
Houston Astros Bryan King (74) reacts after hitting Los Angeles Angels Wade Meckler to a pitch during the fifth inning of an MLB baseball game in Houston, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (Photo by Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Just like that, the Astros are on the brink of elimination. White Sox 6. Astros 3.
What unfolded over the course of a late afternoon affair was a glaring contrast between the clubs going well beyond the final box score. Chicago’s core nucleus of young talent might be eventually as good as what Houston had back in 2015. The similarities of emerging from the doldrums are striking.
Munetaka Murakami brought in the game’s first run with an RBI Sac Fly, scoring Sam Antonacci. The Sox would increase their lead the following frame against Bryan King. Montgomery and Meidroth reached on singles and then Colston Montgomery was hit, loading the bases. Sam Antonacci once again produced, this time punching out a 2 run RBI single, making it 3-0. King faced 5 batters, allowed 4 hits and a HBP. The only reason there wasn’t more damage was due to a pair of K’s from Miguel Ullola who electrified the crowd with his velocity.
All told on the day, Houston would run through 8 different pitchers. AJ Blubaugh in a starting role was wild throughout the opening stages, administering three walks. He threw 27 pitches and recorded just 2 outs. Not exactly the result Brent Strom was looking for when lured out of retirement a month ago.
In the 4th, Colton Montgomery still smarting from the earlier HBP, launched a solo blast to center field making it 4-0 and you could feel the air and anticipation leave the ballpark. That would remain the score until the fifth when Chase Meidroth brought home Murakami.
Houston finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Nelson Velazquez homered to left, bringing home Lucas Spence. Chicago grabbed one of those runs back curtesy of a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the 8th, the Astros flirted with a comeback. Pena and Alvarez each singled and then Altuve reached on an error which was compounded by Murakami’s adventures in the outfield. That made it 6-3 and that would be your final.
Game Notes:
Oft he previous 12 Wild Card matchups, 11 of the 12 teams to win game 1 of the series have won the series.
Grant Taylor struck out five of his seven outs to shut Houston down and snag Game 1 of the AL Wild Card. | (Troy Taormina-Imagn Images)
Postseason baseball never disappoints, and tonight’s game in Houston was no different. As both teams leveraged an opener for the first time in MLB playoff history, the South Side pitching won out in the end, as Chicago ends the day with a 1-0 lead over Houston in the AL Wild Card series after a 6-3 win. There were 15 combined runners left on base, 13 pitchers between both teams, 11 White Sox hits, and nine innings of anxiety-ridden baseball before the South Siders grabbed their first playoff win since 2021.
Astros opener AJ Blubaugh made his first appearance this season as a starter in today’s game, which would probably have stressed me out if that was how the White Sox approached today’s game. While lefthander Hagen Smith has only opened one other time this season, his vast experience as a starting pitcher and his success in that one open likely helped him settle in easier, and he looked solid in the first frame and kept it up through his entire, three-inning outing.
The White Sox got off to a hot start in the first inning, striking first after scoring a run with the assistance from Blubaugh and the Astros. Selectivity was key for the South Siders, as they drew three walks off of the righty, but a throwing error from Christian Walker on an unorthodox double-play attempt allowed Chicago to take an early 1-0 lead.
Sam Antonacci had led the game off with a walk to put the very first batter of the game on. He was able to reach third after Walker’s throw went into the outfield, setting up the perfect situation for a sacrifice fly. Once Antonacci reached third, I was pretty much just yelling “BALL IN AIR!” in my living room, and because Miguel Vargas walked, Munetaka Murakami was the one to come through in the clutch with a sacrifice fly out to right center to drive in the first run. Blubaugh walked Andrew Benintendi on the next at-bat, and that triggered Joe Estrada to go to the bullpen to bring in lefthander Bryan King.
King was able to strike out Tristan Peters to end the first, but he didn’t have the same success into the second inning. Back-to-back base hits from Braden Montgomery and Chase Meidroth began a hit parade, and King got into some trouble after hitting Colson Montgomery on a 1-2 pitch to load the bases and flip the lineup back to the top of the order. Already amped after reaching base earlier in the game, Antonacci ripped a two-run single into the left-center gap, tallying two insurance runs for the South Siders, 3-0. Once again the Astros quickly went to the bullpen to bring in righthander Miguel Ullola, who managed to escape the inning without any additional runs scoring after shutting the Sox down in order: Vargas grounded into a fielder’s choice that got Colson out on the force at home, and both Mune and Benny ended the inning with two straight strikeouts.
On the other hand, lefthander Hagen Smith was absolutely locked in for the first three innings. Outside of a two-out base hit from Isaac Paredes in the first, and another single from Cam Smith in the third, Hagen was able to hold his own with an excellent first career playoff outing. With a runner on third base and Alvarez coming up for the second time in the bottom of the third, Hagen came right at him and forced a weak ground out to end the threat and maintain the three-run lead.
Once Ullola was in the game for Houston, he settled things down a bit as he retired six straight White Sox batters, even stranding the bases loaded in the top of the second and shutting them down once again in the third. Finallythe South Siders got to Ullola in the top of the fourth. Well, Colson Montgomery did at least, blasting a solo, 432-foot bomb to dead center to extend Chicago’s lead to four, 4-0.
Will Venable decided to go to the bullpen after the three frames from Smith, who ended the day on 38 pitches (28 strikes) and seven swings-and-misses,which ended up tying his teammate Grant Taylor for the most in the game. I was fully expecting Venable to go with Erick Fedde as the bulk reliever, but it seems the plan changed a bit once they had a four-run lead and Smith delivered three scoreless frames. Righthander Jordan Hicks came into the game in the top of the fourth, which is a fairly strange time for him, as he is typically a later-inning or high-leverage guy. As long as they get outs, I suppose, does it matter? It’s probable that the Sox are hoping to save Fedde for later this series.
The South Side offense continued to put the ball in play, putting up five runs on eight hits through five while going 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position, though they left seven on base up to that point. Murakami walked to lead off the fifth, and despite Randal Grichuk lining out sharply to deep center while pinch-hitting, the Good Guys tallied three straight hits. The rally ended with Chase Meidroth driving in an extra run to put the game out of one-swing territory, and the 5-0 lead took some of the pressure off of the Sox.
Venable’s pitching plan worked out just fine, as Hicks worked seamlessly through four straight batters (1 1/3 IP) before lefthander Sean Newcomb was called upon with one out in the bottom of the fifth. The southpaw immediately let up a hit to Cam Smith, and the Astros went with Nelson Velázquez to pinch-hit in the 9-spot. A clutch two-strike, two-run home run over the high wall in left field scored the first runs of the game for Houston, cutting the Sox lead to three, 5-2.
Thankfully, Newcomb forced a pop out from Jeremy Peña to get out of that inning, but Velázquez’s clout certainly injected some life back into the Astros. It’s unfortunate that the fatigue of the season might have caught up to Newcomb at the worst time, but he’s posted a 7.36 ERA in his last seven games (7 1/3 IP), though he is also being asked to wear as many hats as possible and at a point he can’t do it all.
It felt like the South Siders were going to get something going as Antonacci reached base for the third time of the game by getting hit by a pitch — shocking, I know — but the momentum was quickly killed by Kyle Teel grounding into a double play. Vargas ended the inning by flying out, and aside from walking in the first, the All-Star third baseman was cold at the plate.
Newcomb came back out to face Alvarez in a lefty-lefty matchup, and won the battle with a ground out to second for the first out of the inning. As Paredes stepped up to the plate, the South Siders went to the bullpen once again, and though the righthander typically starts, David Sandlin was excellent in relief and quickly navigated the final two outs with five pitches.
The Sox offense snagged one of those Houston runs back in the top of the seventh, after Murakami and Grichuk began the frame with back-to-back base hits. To put both runners in scoring position, Peters laid down a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt down the third-base line. Naturally, Chicago didn’t even score the run with a base hit after this, but lefthander Bennett Sousa struggled to control his slider and Mune scored on one of two wild pitches to make it 6-2, White Sox. In Sousa’s defense, the South Siders were whiffing on Sousa’s slider like crazy, but Yainer Diaz wasn’t able to wrangle it on his end behind the plate.
In a wild turn of events, Grant Taylor was called upon quite early in the bottom of the seventh, and while he did secure the final out of the inning, he ended up with a massive workload that he probably was not anticipating.
In the eighth, Taylor had 9-1-2 in the order, which was one of the biggest challenges the Chicago pitching staff faced. Velázquez stared at strike three on a 99 mph fastball down the middle, but Peña and Alvarez poked back-to-back hits to put runners on first and third with one out. Taylor buckled down and was able to strike out Paredes in a tense situation, bringing José Altuve up to bat. With two outs, Altuve tapped a soft grounder to third base, and while the throw barely beat the runner, it was off-line for an error, as Mune wasn’t able to hold onto first while stretching to catch the ball. The third run of the game scored for the Astros, cutting the lead in half, 6-3, bringing the tying run up to bat.
If we’re all being honest with each other, I felt like I was going to throw up for the next at-bat. It would be so Houston to hit a Mickey Mouse, three-run home run to tie the game, but Taylor was not going to let that happen on his watch. Working Diaz to a full count, Taylor slung a disgusting curveball that crossed-up the batter, as Diaz was likely looking for a fastball. By the time he was able to process the pitch, he had already struck out looking to end the inning.
Broadcast called out that the South Siders had mashed their 10th hit of the day off of left-handed pitching as Randal Grichuk slapped a hard-hit, two-out base hit, which was also Chicago’s 11th hit of the game. All this to say: The White Sox struggled against righthanders Ullola and Bryan Abreu, and thus weren’t able to make anything else happen in the ninth.
Into the bottom half, Venable shifted into video-game mode by letting Taylor finish out the game, looking to make a seven-out save with a three-run lead. The first at-bat nearly put me (and probably all of you) into panic mode, as he walked Christian Walker to lead off the inning. Taylor locked in like never before, and he struck out the next two batters to put the win with one out. In a stressful final at-bat, Taylor manufactured a ground out on his 54th (!) pitch to end the game and take a one-game lead over Houston. That was A LOT of outs to ask of Taylor in the playoff opener, but the righty rose to the occasion and struck out five in the process.
You read that right: WHITE SOX WIN!
The bats were hot all throughout the game, though they left nine on base as a team and hit .363 (4-for-11) with runners in scoring position, but if they could have driven in at least a couple more insurance runs, perhaps that game wouldn’t have been so stressful. Due to Hagen’s short open, Hicks wound up with the win — the first of his career in the postseason. If you forgot he pitched after all of that, I don’t blame you, but Sandlin also recorded a hold with his 1 1/3 innings of elite relief work, which is only a testament to how ability to get the job done when needed.
In Wild Card Series history, teams that win the first game of Wild Card Series have advanced to the LDS 15 out of 16 times, so the White Sox are now in the catbird seat to advance. We’ll be back again Wednesday with full coverage on Game 2, with Sean Burke projected as the starter.
MVP Grant Taylor: 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, R (0 ER), BB, 5 K
Runners-Up Hagen Smith: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, K Sam Antonacci: 1-for-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, HBP Jordan Hicks: 1 1/3 IP, 0 H, K, WIN David Sandlin: 1 1/3 IP, 0 H, BB, Hold Munetaka Murakami: 1-for-3, 2 R, RBI, BB, 2 K, SF Colson Montgomery: 1-for-3, R, RBI, HR, GIDP, HBP
Cold Cat Sean Newcomb: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, HR
Runners-Up Miguel Vargas: 0-for-4, BB, K, E Andrew Benintendi: 0-for-1, BB, K, left 2 RISP Tristan Peters: 1-for-4, SAC, K, left 1 RISP
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 26: The San Diego Padres mascot The Swinging Friar waves a Padres flag after the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Petco Park on September 26, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Chicago Cubs (0-0) at San Diego Padres (0-0), September 29, 2026, 7:00 p.m. PST
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Sep 29, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley (27) reacts after hitting a three run home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the eighth inning during game one of the Wildcard round for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
No one needed a clean slate more than Austin Riley.
In what has been a gradual fall-off since his three straight top-10 NL MVP finishes from 2021-23, the Braves third baseman bottomed out this season. Not only was the power still diminished —a third straight season with less than 20 homers after he hit a combined 108 over the prior three seasons — but the average took a nose dive to a career-worst .219, a 41-point decline from last season.
In year four of a 10-year, $212 million contract, Riley hit sixth (32 games), seventh (40) and eighth (35) comfortably more times than he hit fourth (22) in the Braves batting order.
His Statcast profile was, frankly, a mess.
But the months of frustration that Riley has drawn from the Braves fanbase may have evaporated in a matter of seconds during Atlanta’s postseason opener
Because if one swing can negate a season’s body of work, Riley accomplished that when he jumped on a 100-mph fastball from Jhoan Duran and took it over the right-center field fence at Truist Park to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s Game 1 NL wild-card series win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
“Man, it felt good, no doubt. Just trying to get something over the plate. Duran is a really good pitcher. He’s got some really good stuff,” Riley said after the game. “For me, it’s like, you try to just get something to push it out a little bit and I was able to and put a good swing on it. I felt really good.
“Everybody knows kind of how my season went, not the way I wanted it to. But that’s the beauty of the postseason. You kind of get a clean slate and go out there and try to do something for the boys and for this city. It’s definitely a good start.”
Chris Sale may have better summed up Braves Country’s reaction to the moment.
“I don’t think I’ve screamed that loud in a very long time,“ Sale quipped.
Braves manager Walt Weiss said he remained confident through Riley’s season-long struggles that he would find his form of old, when he was a rising star who seemed poised to be a face of the franchise for years to come.
It happened in moments but Riley never had a batting average better than .264 in any month.
“I think throughout the season, I always felt like virtually every time he got in the box, this is when it’s going to turn around,” Weiss said. “At times, it did. But he’s worked, obviously, all year for this moment, and good for him.”
Weiss raved about Riley’s character in his postgame press conference and spoke of how thrilled he was that, through the struggle that was Riley’s 2026 season, he still delivered probably the biggest moment of the campaign to date.
“I’ve seen him really good for a long time, and I see the work behind the scenes. I know the person. You bet on the person,” Weiss said. “Obviously a very talented guy. But you couldn’t tell this year if he was the leading MVP candidate in the National League or if he was struggling. I mean that. He’s the same guy every day. Stuff like this doesn’t happen if you ride that roller coaster of emotions as a player, this probably doesn’t end up happening. But he kept his head about him, kept doing the work, and has a great moment.”
“I think you try to be as even-keeled in this game as possible, never try to get too high, never try to get too low and just try to put one foot in front of the other and trust your work, trust your routines,” Riley added when asked about managing a season like this. “Once you get out there, when the game starts, everything, all your work and stuff is done, and you’ve just got to go out there and play the game.
“That mentality, that attitude of just trying to show up each and every day and try to get 1% better. Whether it was 0-for-4 or 4-for-4 the night before, whatever the case may be, you try to callous your mindset leading into the postseason.”
For whatever it’s worth, Riley’s postseason track record is strong. He now has six homers and 19 RBIs in 37 career postseason games.
And if the Braves get one more win in the next two days against the Phillies, he’ll have more chances to put his 2026 regular season in the rear-view mirror.
While Tolle has at least partially reverse splits, his dominant fastball might overwhelm Chisholm, who has gone from crushing fastballs a year ago to performing meekly against them this season. And former shortstop Anthony Volpe has been too effective down the stretch for Yankees manager Aaron Boone to roll with Chisholm.
Boone's perspective? It will take all 26 men to defeat the Red Sox in this best-of-three sprint.
"My expectation is he'll be ready to go and could play a crucial role as early as tonight," Boone said Tuesday to Yankees beat reporters before his nightly press conference.
Chisholm struck a confident tone a day earlier, telling reporters Monday in New Yor that he would be "ticked off" if he didn't start Game 1.
"Yeah, who wouldn't be?" he said. "As a competitor, who wouldn't be? It's the playoffs. You want to play."
Chisholm has a .170 batting average, three homers and a .607 OPS in 24 career playoff games. Volpe is at .252 with no homers and a .728 OPS in 21 career playoff games.
Eight teams will compete for an opportunity to advance to the Division Series. Wild Card teams facing each other in the American League include the Houston Astros against the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox taking on the New York Yankees.
The Wild Card round is a best-of-three. Winners go on to the next round in a best-of-five Division Series.
Here's a look at the MLB Playoffs Division Series schedule:
MLB Playoffs Division Series
See the full schedule for the Division Series during the MLB Playoffs including what-if scenarios for each Wild Card team.
* = if necessary
All times are Eastern Standard
Saturday, Oct. 3:
If the Cubs advance:
Chicago White Sox/Houston Astros winner at Cleveland Guardians, Game 1 at 1 p.m. (TBS/truTV/HBO Max)
SITE NOTE: NBC says the first pitch of this game should happen around 9:10 p.m. CT. The BCB “live” thread will post tonight at 8:30 p.m. CT.
Tuesday notes…
GAME 1: The Cubs were 27-26 this year in first games of series. On the road, they were 12-14. Two of the wins were on the West Coast, at Los Angeles and San Francisco, as were two of the losses, at San Diego and Seattle. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
ON THE ROAD: The Cubs won the first two games of seven road series, including at San Francisco. They won the first and lost the second of five, including at Los Angeles. They lost the first and won the second of eight, including at San Diego. They lost the first two of six, including at Seattle. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
PITCHING IS GETTING GOOD, PART 1: Cubs pitchers allowed a total of 12 runs in their last five games, with a high of four. That tied for the sixth-fewest runs in any five-game span of the season. They gave up 10 three times, the last of them April 18-22, and 11 runs twice, most recently July 29-Aug. 2. They yielded 12 runs in three earlier spans, the last July 31-Aug. 4. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
PITCHING IS GETTING GOOD, PART 2: In the first nine innings of games, the Cubs have given up only 17 runs in their last eight games. They surrendered six runs in the 12th inning of one of the eight. The 23 total runs in eight games tied for their seventh fewest of the season. They gave up 19 runs July 28-Aug. 4; 20, April 14-22; 21, July 27-Aug. 3; and 22 three times, all between July 24 and Aug. 6. They gave up 23 twice earlier, April 15-23 and July 27-Aug. 5. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Here is how important winning Game 1 of a Wild Card series is:
In the history of the best-of-three Wild Card Series, teams taking a 1-0 lead have gone on to win the series 21 of 24 times (88%), including 17 two-game sweeps. Home teams have won all nine series in which they have gone ahead 1-0, including eight sweeps.
He made two starts, then missed three weeks with a bicep injury. He came back and threw pretty well, then hurt his knee playing with his kids (nominee for Weird MLB Injury of the Year!) and missed about six weeks.
Most important for right now is that he’s thrown well over his last six starts: 3.28 ERA, 1.121 WHIP, only one home run in 35.2 innings — and that ERA is in part the victim of a bullpen that allowed some of his inherited runners to score.
Boyd allowed three runs in five innings to the Padres June 30 at Wrigley Field, including home runs by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. Hold those two guys down and this could be a good game for Boyd.
Perhaps of note: Boyd has a 1.66 ERA in seven postseason games (six starts) covering 21.2 innings. He has never allowed a postseason home run.
Michael King is the Padres’ best starter and by bWAR (4.3) this was his best MLB season, though his K rate was down a bit from last year.
In his three years and 77 starts with the Padres, though, he has never made a regular season start against the Cubs. His only appearance vs. the Cubs as a Padre was one inning of scoreless relief in Game 3 of last year’s Wild Card Series. He struck out Dansby Swanson, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matt Shaw.
In looking up various batter vs. pitcher matchups, small sample sizes are always caveats. I was, however, struck by the fact that Alex Bregman is 7-for-8 with two doubles and two walks against King. That’s not nothing. Perhaps it will mean something tonight.
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The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.
You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.
The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.
You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
Cam Schlittler, pitches in the fourth inning, Monday, May 4, 2026, at Yankee Stadium. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co
After the 162-game marathon that is the baseball regular season, we have now reached the sprint that is the baseball postseason. Tonight, the Yankees will begin their quest to add another championship to their illustrious history. As always, the road there will be tough, and there’s an added element to this year’s opening series.
For the second-straight season, the Yankees will host the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Series. Last year, the Yankees won the matchup in a decisive Game 3, thanks to a humungous effort from pitcher Cam Schlittler. This time around, they’ll be relying on him in Game 1.
After a season that has him as the favorite for the AL Cy Young Award, the Yankees will give the ball to Schlittler for Game 1. In last year’s aforementioned Game 3, he threw eight shutout innings, allowing just five hits as the Yankees advanced. One thing to note about Schlittler’s 2026 is that he has been worse at home — 2.98 ERA vs. 1.16 ERA on the road — but he has shown a knack for big moments over his young career.
Facing a lefty opposing starter, the Yankees have gone with their lefty-hitting lineup, including the likes of Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario while Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ryan McMahon go to the bench. There’s no Giancarlo Stanton or Trent Grisham in the lineup following their addition to the roster, while Anthony Volpe gets the nod at second base.
For Boston, they’ll give the ball to Payton Tolle. While not as dominant as Schlittler, Tolle has also been very good as a young pitcher, putting up a 3.03 ERA and a 3.04 FIP in 26 starts. He’ll likely be in the AL Rookie of the Year race. He was very good in his two starts against the Yankees this season, allowing just one run in 13 innings. While the Yankees are playing their lefty lineup, that’s been an issue they’ve had this season, exemplified by those two Tolle outings.
The big news in the rest of Boston’s lineup is that Willson Contreras is in there. Contreras missed a good chunk of the end of the regular season with a right hand injury, and only made a brief appearance in the final game of the regular season.
We hope that you’ll come join us in the game thread as we kick off another postseason matchup between these two historic rivals!
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY
First pitch: 8:00 p.m. ET
TV broadcast: NBC
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | WEEI 93.7, WCCM 1490 AM (SP), WESX 1230 AM (SP) (BOS) | ESPN Radio (national)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - SEPTEMBER 22: Payton Tolle #70 of the Boston Red Sox walks through the dugout before a game against the Cleveland Guardians on September 22, 2026 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Bregman, who began taking ground balls the past few days after suffering the injury Sept. 20 when a foul ball by teammate Michael Busch hit him in the face while standing near the on-deck circle, tried to convince Cubs manager Craig Counsell that he was good enough to play third base with the swelling in his face dramatically reduced.
Yet, Counsell said that Bregman’s bat is too valuable to take the risk of Bregman being back in the field.
“I played it safe, I'll be honest with you," Counsell said. “I just think this is a man seven days off of facial fractures, and I want his at-bat. I think his at-bats are the most critical thing for our team is that he gets his at-bats this series. That's what's most important.
“I feel like this is a better way to guarantee that he gets these at-bats. There's just more risk playing the field. Could it go fine? Yeah. Does he want to play the field? He does. This is just a safer way to go to make sure he gets all his at-bats."
Still, just the fact that Bregman is back in the lineup so quickly, his teammates say, is a huge boost for their morale, much less their lineup, where he’ll bat second.
“That fires you up,” Cubs MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “Knowing him and how wonderfully crazy he is, just about his work and how much he loves the game, it’s not really surprising. Not to put a damper on how cool it is that he’s coming back after facial fractures and whatnot, I’m just not that surprised.
“He lives for this kind of baseball. Most importantly, I’m glad he’s healthy enough to do what he loves. …Simply put, Alex Bregman makes our lineup better. So, it’s huge that he’s getting himself game ready.”
Certainly, he proved in the Cubs’ season-finale that his bat is just fine, going 4-for-4 with two home runs.
“I’ll do whatever it takes,’’ said Bregman, who finished his first year with the Cubs hitting .265 with 28 homers, 93 RBI, and an .819 OPS in 155 games. He had a sensation second half, producing a 1.010 OPS compared to a .696 OPS before the All-Star break.
Now, he becomes the 11th player in MLB history to play in 10 consecutive postseasons with the advent of the wild-card.
“He's the man, to be honest,’’ Cubs reliever Jaco Webb said. “That's tough to do. That's really cool and shows the kind of character that he has going through such a crazy injury.
“I mean, you're putting your career on the line at that point, but he knows what he's doing. The biggest thing is he wants to be here. He wants to win."
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 29: Austin Riley #27 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates with manager Walt Weiss #22 after winning Game One of the National League Wild Card Series presented by AbbVie between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Tuesday, September 29, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
How’s that for a curtain-raiser on this Postseason run for the Atlanta Braves? The best way that I can describe how that first game went down is to paraphrase a quote from my favorite professional wrestler of all time. The only thing that’s for sure about the Postseason is that nothing’s for sure.
That’s the only proper way to explain what happened with the two biggest hits of this game from both sides. J.T. Realmuto coming through with a go-ahead triple for the Phillies in the seventh inning, despite having finished the final month of the regular season with a wRC+ of 8 (eight) across his final 21 games and 79 plate appearances. Austin Riley delivering a go-ahead, opposite-field homer after the wretched game and rough series that he had been having.
It’s the Postseason, folks. You’ve just got to expect the unexpected!
“That’s how it usually goes when these two teams play each other,” explained Weiss when he started off the press conference. “Just goes to show you that when the playoffs start, everything starts at zero. Nothing that happened in the regular season really matters and it’s a clean slate. Austin Riley has been a great player in the Postseason play.”
Obviously, the star of the show on this particular day was Riley, himself — though Chris Sale did draw a laugh out of the presser by playfully lamenting that he’d been asked the majority of the questions (and Riley fist pumped in response). When I asked Riley about what he was looking for in that particular moment against Jhoan Duran (especially with the shadows in play), he figured that he just needed to be ready for any potential mistakes and as it turned out, he got one (100-mph heat notwithstanding) right in the middle of the plate.
“You just try to push him out and push him up,” explained Riley. “You’re not going to get very many mistakes against those back-end guys. It was definitely tricky. You typically only get one [mistake] an at-bat and you can’t miss it and I was fortunate enough to put a good swing on it.”
This was yet another example of the Braves coming through in a late-game, high-leverage scenario at the plate. They’ve done it a ton of times this season (especially at home) and the fact that the Braves were able to come through in late in the contest was perhaps the least surprising development. I asked Walt Weiss a bit of a follow-up question to Matt Olson’s remarks on Workout Day about how the team has woven the late-game heroics “into their DNA” and Weiss agreed with Olson’s sentiments.
“I’ve said this before: I feel like when the stakes are highest and the challenges are the toughest, that’s when we’ve been at our best,” explained Weiss. “It’s been that way all year long. Whether it’s looking like we’re going to give away the division and then going on a run again, facing a rough road trip, coming back home and having to play the Dodgers and sweep ‘em, even going into Philly with the division on the line, we played well in those two series late in the season.”
“Our guys just rise to the occasion,” continued Weiss. “It’s a good group — I’ve been talking about the group all year. It’s a great room and this is what you get when you have that kind of heart and that kind of culture.”
Had the Braves not come through with some more heroics, the big talking point likely would’ve been Chris Sale being taken out in the seventh inning with one out and runners on the corners in favor of Didier Fuentes. When he was asked about it by the media, Weiss defended the decision.
“I thought Sale was outstanding,” started Weiss. “There in the seventh inning, I felt like [Sale’s] tank was emptying there and we had our best reliever [Fuentes] ready to go so I went and got Chris. [Fuentes] ended up giving up the two runs but I take [Didier] in that spot every time.”
When he was further pressed on what he saw during Sale’s final inning, Weiss continued to defend the decision. “I saw the stuff start to tick down a little bit,” explained Weiss. “The near-home run from [Bryce] Harper, the knock from [Bryson] Stott, the velocity was down and we had our best reliever ready to go for the bottom of their lineup.”
“I take [Didier] 99 times out of 100. Believe me: I give the longest leash for good reason. I’ve let him go this year and usually to the point where he’s got to give up the runs before I take him out but I just saw with my eyes that the stuff was ticking down and that the tank was empty.”
For what it’s worth, Chris Sale was totally behind the decision that his manager made in that moment. “We have faith and trust in each other,” explained Sale when he was asked by the media about being taken out for Fuentes. “Didier’s the right guy for that situation. I don’t think there’s anybody that’s watched our team play a single game this year that wouldn’t agree with that.”
“He felt bad about [giving up the run] and I said ‘Hey man, sometimes we need help too. That’s why this is a team game.’ That’s why you never feel out of it and you never point fingers. He’s saved this team countless times and when he gave up that run he was like ‘Man, my bad.’ I just said ‘Listen man, this is baseball, this is the Postseason, this is sports. Sometimes we need some help too.’
Sale himself was busy finding some serious heat while he was on the mound, as he once again reached 100-mph on the radar gun during this contest. It’s incredible to see him reach that mark during this season like he’s been doing recently — which is funny because all the way back in March, he stated that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d thrown that hard. I asked him about how it felt to be able to reach abck and find that at this stage in his career and as usual, Sale was effusive towards his personal supporting cast.
“I pride myself on my work ethic and determination,” started Sale. “I’ve said countless times and I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face: This isn’t me on my own. I have an incredible team in my corner. From the guys in the weight room to our training staff, the pitching coaches, the catchers — it takes a lot for that to happen. I’m just thankful to be in that position to be able to do that but again, there’s a lot of people propping me up to be able to accomplish that.”
As Sale mentioned earlier, it’s all about the team and it’s clear that this team is pulling in the same direction from all corners of the squad. Weiss mentioned during his press conference when he was asked about Riley’s makeup behind-the-scenes that “you couldn’t tell if he was the leading MVP candidate in the National League or if he was struggling. He’s the same guy everyday.” That’s the type of mentality that you need to succeed in such a mental marathon of a sport as baseball and clearly, it was Austin Riley’s turn to make a strong kick towards the finish line in this particular game.
There’s still one more win that the Braves need to nail down before they can start packing their bags for Los Angeles but at least they now have two more chances to do it — and to do so in front of their home crowd, no less. We’ll see what twists and turns pop up during Game 2 but for the time being, the Braves can rest easy on this particular even in knowing that they managed to snatch the upper hand out of nowhere. You never know who’s going to be a Postseason hero and it’ll be exciting to see who comes up big for Atlanta going forward during this playoff run.
Only one of these two still holds a big-league job and it’s not the one on the right | Getty Images
Yesterday brought sweeping changes to the Mariners coaching staff on the heels of a disappointing 2026 season. Jerry Dipoto, in meeting with the media, described the need for a “culture reset” in the organization, noting specifically the sense that the big-league club had gotten away from organizational principles preached in the minor leagues.
“The performance on the field this year has made us question a lot of the things that we are doing at the major league level, and I will say multiple of our major league players who came through our system have referenced what they learned in player development that that got abandoned in the big leagues this year. And not just the players who came up for the first time, but we have a host of players who’ve come through our system, and they saw a difference. We need to get back to to what we believe is a Mariners baseball process.”
Dipoto expressed particular consternation about the defense – with reason, as the Mariners were the worst defensive team in baseball from wire to wire, never improving – not just as violating the vision of “crisp, efficient Mariners baseball” but also because of the additional strain the poor defense put on the pitching.
“A starting pitching staff who attacks the strike zone and has the ball put in play is harmed by by the lack of range and positioning of our team,“ said Dipoto.
Perhaps this is why the pitching coaching staff escaped the ax that fell on many of the other coaches, as the organization cleaned house so the new manager will be able to install a hand-picked staff. Pitching coaches Pete Woodworth and Trent Blank will both return, despite a pitching staff that also underachieved this year – as the offense started to turn things around late in the season, the rotation fell apart, posting the worst WAR in baseball down the stretch. But despite the setback, Dipoto still believes in the Mariners pitching philosophy and in Woodworth and Blank’s ability to enact that vision with the big-league club. In answering a question about why those two remained on staff, Dipoto cited past performance, specifically their “goodness over time” and the “unquestionably awesome” nature of the quality of the pitching programs which has allowed all 13 members of their pitching staff at any given time to succeed.
“From 2021 until mid-season of 2026, we’re one of the three or four best pitching staffs, one through 13, in MLB. We don’t want to take three months and and use that as the criteria to ruin a program that has been the backbone of what we’ve done for for a decade.”
The key to the pitching core’s success, beyond programs that work, is their communication with players. Dipoto spoke extensively about communication issues in the organization, from the breakdown in expectation of standards in the front office to how it was borne out in the clubhouse and on the field. Personally, Dipoto took responsibility for his own breakdown in communication with the pitchers regarding how the “piggyback” strategy was implemented – while pointing out it was actually a success on the field, he spoke with regret about the failure of how it was communicated to the players, and how that breakdown in communication was indicative of a larger organizational failure.
“The way [the piggyback strategy] was communicated, the way it was received, and the drama around it was part of what I think was a bag that we were carrying around with us all year and couldn’t shed, and the piggyback is one piece of that. I could come up with 10 other things that were contributing factors, but we need to communicate more clearly. And we talked about this with the players during that piggyback period, that we handled the kickoff of that as poorly as you possibly could from a leadership standpoint.”
One exception to that organization-wide communication issue is and has been the pitching staff, which is why the piggyback drama stood out so starkly. But Dipoto reasserted his full-throated support behind Blank and Woodworth as messengers.
“Those guys communicate incredibly well,” said Dipoto. “Our pitchers love them for what they what they provide. Trent has all the TLC in the world and the ability to keep guys healthy and moving forward. And Woody is as good a messenger as exists in that clubhouse space.”
That doesn’t mean there isn’t work to do to get the pitchers back on track, however. Cal Raleigh, in his season postmortem, talked about how Mariners pitching might have gotten too predictable, noting how aggressive he saw teams – even ones that aren’t usually aggressive – in attacking the first pitch, and saying pitchers have to do a better job of executing strike one and less thinking about throwing strike one.
“It’s not not necessarily all the time about winning your 0-0s, your 1-1s. It’s about executing a pitch and how can we get this guy out,” said Cal.
For Dipoto, the problem wasn’t necessarily with strike one, but with strike three. Over the course of the season, Mariners pitching took a moderate step back in strikeout percentage and strike-to-walk ratio this year, but if you isolate it to just the last two months of the season, Mariners pitching fell to middle of the pack in K% percentage and 28th in average allowed – only the A’s and Rockies were worse.
“We’ve had a culture of relentless filling of the strike zone. That’s what we do. We get ahead, we stay ahead, we work ahead,” said Dipoto. “Where we struggled this year was we struggled in our two-strike execution, particularly in the second half of the season. It’s something our pitchers are aware of. All of them have talked about it openly in private discussion, and we know that’s an area we need to focus on moving forward.”
But Dipoto views this as a fixable problem, not a systemic one, echoing almost exactly what Cal Raleigh said about an over-focus on winning the counts and losing the bigger picture.
“It’s something that kind of happened over time. We got so focused on winning our 0-0s and winning our 1-1s that we forgot that was only a proxy for the greater goal, which was finishing the at-bat. Our prompt became the goal at times, and and that’s not what we were ever intending. And again, we let it get away from us. And perhaps you know, new eyes, new voice, new thoughts can stop that from happening the next time.”
So it sounds like the new manager will also have the job of working with a pitching staff already steeped in the organizational culture and help them refocus. Add it to a long list of tasks for whoever that person might be.
After Chicago's Sam Antonacci grounded out to Jose Altuve in the fourth inning, Venable argued the Astros second baseman violated the shift rules, which require infielders to be on the dirt when the pitch is delivered. The video shown on the broadcast made it hard to tell if Altuve's cleat was touching the grass. The call stood.
"So that comes from the replay – (Bryan Johnson) and the replay center who is aware of all those things and looking closely at all those things. With two challenges, we talked about it before the game, before the series, that we want to go ahead and be aggressive. And so he noticed something immediately, that Altuve was on the grass to start," Venable said after the game. "The problem with it is it's just a really hard call to get overturned, but worth it with two challenges there. So I thought it was a really good challenge, really good pickup by BJ, and it just didn't go our way."
The rules, part of the 2023 package that also brought the pitch clock and bigger bases, require two infielders on each side of second base, with all four on the infield dirt when the pitch is delivered. Teams can't slide a fielder onto the outfield grass for a better angle.
This was very odd 🤨
The Chicago White Sox challenged whether Jose Altuve's heel was on the outfield grass before the pitch, which would make him ineligible to field the ball.
Players adjusted quickly. There were 26 violations in the rule's first season, two in 2024 and one in 2025.The penalty got tougher along the way. It started as an automatic ball. Since 2025, if the violating fielder makes the first play on the ball, the batter gets first base, runners advance and the fielder is charged with an error.
According to MLB's official count, there were only two challenges in the 2026 regular season for shift restriction violations.
