Category: MLB

The 2026 season is officially in the books for the New York Yankees. They were 93-68 in the regular season, swept the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Series, and then promptly got swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS. It’s the second straight year only going this far into the Postseason, both times getting bested by a rival that took the division by storm after sitting near or outright in the cellar the previous year, and it stings much like every elimination does even if it felt like a foregone conclusion heading into Wednesday night.

The actual game feels more like a backdrop to the opening dialogue of what will be a tedious and lengthy offseason, but let’s get through the facts of the matter first. Max Fried took the mound looking to extend his team’s season by one more day and instead took the loss as he kept surrendering the lead back over to Tampa Bay. The back-breaker came in the sixth as a two-out single rocketed just past Fried’s head to extend an inning where he finally looked in control, and moments later he coughed up a two-run shot to Victor Mesa Jr. Aaron Boone went out to collect his starter after that, but he got out of the dugout one batter too late to make it matter.

The offense was slow to get going against Nick Martinez, but they posted their best collective effort of the ALDS for what it’s worth. Ben Rice went 1-for-4 and knocked in the first of the Yankees’ three runs in the third inning, Spencer Jones walked twice and drove in the second run with a double in the fourth, and Anthony Volpe had a two hit night including a fly ball to the wall in left that a fan illegally brought over the fence briefly making us all think he’d tied the game. Volpe would have to settle for an RBI double after review, but it was nearly the biggest hit of the season and he deserves his flowers for showing up after Aaron Boone inserted him into the starting lineup looking for a spark of life. George Lombard Jr. also deserves to be in the positive side of the ledger after going 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored, rebounding well defensively after the disastrous Game 2 performance that he played a role in.

Unfortunately, the Yankees had no home runs in the cards compared to the Rays launching a pair of them, and the long ball was the difference maker last night. They also got nothing from the remaining five spots in the lineup: Luis Garcia Jr. had the only hit of the bunch, Austin Wells had a quiet 0-for-3 night after being one of the only bats alive in the Trop portion of the series, Cody Bellinger completed a dreadful ALDS showing with an 0-for-4 capstone, Jose Caballero didn’t find his footing with the two at-bats he got starting at third, and then there was Trent Grisham. The Yankee center fielder got placed in the leadoff spot by Boone ahead of Rice to work some tough at-bats and get potentially get on board for the team’s offensive MVP to have someone to drive in. Instead, mirroring the results he gave the team all season after accepting the qualifying offer over the offseason, he proved inadequate for the role he was suddenly given — 0-for-5 with three strikeouts including whiffing badly to end the game with the tying run on base and Rice standing in the on-deck circle.

I don’t want to be too harsh to Grisham in that spot specifically — he’d been out for all of September and clearly wasn’t adjusting well trying to jump back into the lineup. He probably shouldn’t have been given the task of leading off, but Boone felt he had to do something different after the offense minus Rice looked so atrocious in Games 1 and 2 and perhaps cooked too hard. Speaking of Boone, there will be plenty of discussion in the coming days about his performance this season and in October specifically and whether it is time to part ways. The manager remains an incalculable part of the equation in building a baseball team, but while the team and staff are clearly fans of his its hard to overlook the amount of disappointing results the Yankees have had under his stewardship. Many will say its time for a new voice if nothing else, and I can’t exactly argue against that even if I doubt it will come to it. The organization likes him, and they don’t see these failures as critically as those outside the org do. I can’t make a split second decision on how I feel about him — I thought he did a solid job guiding the team through one of the worst regular seasons they’ve had offensively in the Judge era, but the same flaws keep dooming them every postseason and they’ve just never looked capable of beating a team that they weren’t definitive favorites to beat. The possibility of losing Matt Blake should they part ways with Boone is very real though, and I think he’s one of the few coaches in the game that are genuinely game-changing to have on the staff.

There will be months and months to debate this and more about the Yankees, as they’re officially in offseason mode now. Several people said that the season really ended on May 31st, when Aaron Judge went on the IL with his rib injury, and they weren’t exactly wrong. The team nosedived offensively without him, and even though they were also rocking the best pitching staff they’d fielded in decades it wasn’t enough to balance the scales in the end. The me that watched this team throughout the summer probably would’ve been surprised they even won a round in the playoffs, but damn if I didn’t buy back in on fool’s gold with how they looked in the ALWCS. Boston was obviously a worse team than Tampa Bay, but the Yankees had torched Tampa’s bullpen in the season series as well and had found a winning formula wearing down Boston’s starters to get to that soft underbelly of a ‘pen. They couldn’t do the same here, getting worked over by Drew Rasmussen in Game 1 before failing to do much against the bullpen even after getting into it relatively early in Games 2 and 3.

It’s a bit maddening to say over and over again, but the Yankees’ season ends with them having tripped over their own shoelaces. Tampa was the better team this series, but I don’t think they looked unbeatable by any means. The prize was there for the taking, and they just couldn’t come close to rising to the occasion. Another ALDS flameout is in the books, and they’ll have to live with an extremely unsatisfactory showing being their lasting legacy.

Today the postmortem begins some closure as Peter provides the Player of the Game honor for Game 3, and then Kevin has the playoff roundup featuring the Dodgers and Brewers advancing to the NLCS. Jonathan covers Ping Bodie’s brief Yankees career on his birthday, and then Peter will return to go over how Gerrit Cole battled in his Game 1 start for the Sequence of the Week.

And you thought the bullpen was going to be the weakest branch.

In the four aces, you trusted. The Dodgers’ stellar starting rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow? A quartet who can strong-arm anyone.

And you probably figured Freddie Freeman would get it going. You had faith in playoff risers Max Muncy, Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández — and in the Dodgers’ playoff-proven offense overall.

You were not, however, so bullish on the bullpen.

Read more:'That's why he stayed in the lineup.' Andy Pages' clutch hit carries Dodgers back to NLCS

That was the proverbial, annual question mark entering the best-of-five National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, whom the Dodgers vanquished with a 4-1 victory Wednesday at Truist Park to set up an NL Championship Series rematch with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Edwin Díaz, the Dodgers’ purported closer, had a disastrous, injury-marred first season with the team — or he was having one.

That left Tanner Scott — last season’s purported closer — handling the bulk of the ninth-inning duties this season, and he finished with a career-high 25 saves. But you were going to have to see him sustain that in the postseason to believe in Scott, whose first season with the Dodgers also was so disastrous that he wasn’t even included on the playoff roster.

The Dodgers are paying Díaz $69 million and Scott $72 million. A steep price and a sign of how badly the team wants to avoid having to turn to starting pitchers to finish off important postseason games, as they have in the past with Julio Urías, Walker Buehler and, last season, Yamamoto.

But until now, the Dodgers haven’t had much but frustration to show for their investment in Scott or Díaz — who were two names among four, including Roki Sasaki and Evan Phillips, that manager Dave Roberts suggested could close games in the playoffs.

It was a tangled trust tree that needed lots of water.

Or how about champagne? Maybe ice-cold beer?

Because after Alex Vesia, Edgardo Henriquez, Scott and Díaz combined to get the final 13 outs of Game 4 without giving up a run, they helped lead the charge in the clubhouse afterward, dousing one another to celebrate.

In the series, the Braves went one for 23 (.043) with runners in scoring position. That, according to OptaStats, is the second-lowest such batting average in a postseason series in history — and it doesn’t happen without a bullpen being locked in; the Braves went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position against the Dodgers’ relief pitchers.

In the deciding Game 4, Vesia took the baton from Glasnow with two outs and two runners on in the fifth, got the inning’s final out on one pitch and came back out in the sixth. He gave up a double but got Drake Baldwin to line out before handing the ball to the hard-throwing Henriquez, who hit 100 mph or higher on 11 of his 15 pitches, retired five of six batters and earned his first postseason win.

Then Scott had the inning of his Dodgers career in the eighth — sitting down the Braves’ 3-4-5 hitters with a nasty array of sliders and fastballs. He punctuated his performance with a fastball on the corner that ended the inning and wound up costing Atlanta its final ABS challenge.

And, finally, in closing, Díaz.

He earned his second consecutive save with an efficient, eight-pitch, 1-2-3 inning. He isn’t the closer, not officially. But, darn, is he important: “For us to win the World Series,” Roberts said, “he’s got to be a relevant part of this equation … I’ve got to trust him.”

The way Díaz is dealing, why wouldn’t he? Díaz has given up just one hit in three postseason innings. And he’s feeling good.

“The last two nights it’s been amazing,” Díaz said. “That’s why I came here, to win games and close games like this one. So I’m really happy.”

Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, raved about Díaz’s resilience, referencing the roller coaster of a season that included an 8.68 earned-run average, neck and elbow injuries, a stint on the injured list and in triple A.

“He would say, ‘Hey, I’m ready to come back,’” Friedman said. “And it was like, ‘Hey, we need to see more, we need to see this really lock in.’ And at every turn, he said, ‘Whatever you guys need … anytime you want me to pitch, I’ll be ready.’

“It was never a question of the heartbeat and his ability to handle these moments. It was about just getting him right mechanically and getting back to the stuff that we’ve all seen over the years.”

Vesia is similarly impressed with his friend Scott’s resurgence.

Read more:Plaschke: He finally did it! Dodgers' Andy Pages ends two-year postseason slump at the perfect time

“Going back to last year with ups and downs and adversity and all that stuff, we definitely leaned on each other,” said Vesia, who missed the World Series after the October death of his newborn daughter, Sterling Sol.

“And, you know, for this year to watch [Scott] really take off and have a great year, it’s been awesome, you know? It’s really awesome. With the closing role being undefined and all that stuff, he stepped up. Every year, there’s always guys that step up.

“Now, we got eight more.”

Eight more wins to three-peat, and no weak links anywhere.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

As Dave Roberts delivered his victory address, dressed in a gray cap and a gray T-shirt that commemorate a triumph the Dodgers consider merely a speed bump on the road to the main event, the manager was not shy.

“There is no more talented team than the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Roberts told his players amid clubhouse floods of champagne and beer. “This is the best organization in sports, top to bottom. We’re smarter. We’re better. And we’re tougher.”

The Dodgers had eliminated the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series. For the three-peat, that’s one postseason party down and two to go.

“This one is going to be special,” infielder Miguel Rojas said. “We have the motivation of winning three times in a row. That’s all we can think about right now. It’s never going to be easy in baseball. You have to go through tough things. But this team showed it before, and it showed it in this series.”

Indeed it did. Rojas joked — or maybe he was not joking — that everyone expects the Dodgers to win every game by 10 runs. In this four-game series, they outscored the Braves by a total of six runs, and no game was decided by more than three runs.

Read more:'That's why he stayed in the lineup.' Andy Pages' clutch hit carries Dodgers back to NLCS

Now come the Milwaukee Brewers, the team that put up baseball’s best record this season, in a rematch of last year’s NLCS. The Brewers also put up baseball’s best record last season, and the Dodgers swept them in the NLCS.

Nothing is guaranteed in October, not even the Dodgers in the World Series. For the Dodgers, here are four positive signs and four warning signs:

Green flag

The Dodgers have the oldest group of position players in the league, so they cherished the bye that gave them five days off before the division series. By eliminating the Braves without needing the full five games, the Dodgers afforded themselves three days off, rather than one, before the league championship series.

“It is huge, to get us a little rest,” said shortstop Mookie Betts, who turned 34 on Wednesday. “We’re all old. So we need a little rest going into these postseason games. They’re a lot. They’re a lot more than what people think.”

Even better: Since the Dodgers did not need Tarik Skubal to start a Game 5 in the division series, they can start him in Game 1 of the NLCS, followed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2. The Dodgers need four victories in the NLCS, and that rotation clears the way for Skubal and Yamamoto to combine for four starts in the series.

Red flag

Hitting home runs is nice, but you’re unlikely to win a postseason series on home runs alone. In the first three games of the NLDS, the Dodgers scored all their runs on home runs.

In the series, they went one for 16 with runners in scoring position.

“It speaks to the multitude of ways we can win a game,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said, “but, from a quality of life perspective, it would sure help if we could cash some of those opportunities in. So that’s obviously something that stands out.”

Mitigating factor: The Braves went one for 23 with runners in scoring position.

Green flag

The Dodgers and Braves each hit 204 home runs this season. In the NLDS, the Dodgers outhomered the Braves, 8-2. Max Muncy hit three to do it all by himself.

The Braves scored eight runs in the four games, including one in each of the two games in their home ballpark, and collected a total of 18 hits. Michael Harris II had six hits in the series; none of his teammates had more than three.

The Braves batted .145 in the series.

“Let’s be real, right? Our postseason is going to rely on our pitching,” Muncy said. “It always is. It always will. You’re not going to go out there and get 15 hits a night in the postseason. You’re just not.

“So, if you can limit the amount of runs the other team is getting, you’re going to do a pretty good job. Our pitching staff was unbelievable this series. For us to continue on, it’s going to rely on the pitching staff.”

Red flag

Just as the Dodgers got to set their NLCS rotation by ending the NLDS early, so did the Brewers. So, just as the Dodgers get the chance to start Skubal, the Brewers get the chance to start flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski, the presumptive NL Cy Young Award winner.

Read more:Plaschke: He finally did it! Dodgers' Andy Pages ends two-year postseason slump at the perfect time

Misiorowski beat the Dodgers in his lone start against them this season, a 4-1 victory in which the Dodgers collected five hits — three by players who did not appear in the NLDS: backup outfielder Alex Call and backup catcher Hunter Feduccia.

Mitigating factors: Kyle Tucker and Will Smith did not play that day.

Green flag

Roberts has won more postseason games than any manager except Joe Torre — the man who managed the New York Yankees teams that were the last to three-peat (1998-2000).

This season was not smooth, but the NLDS displayed Roberts’ ability to integrate young players (Josue De Paula), long-injured players (Edwin Díaz, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow) and October players (Kiké Hernández) into key spots for a postseason series, as well as to get Shohei Ohtani to buy into batting as low as fifth after not batting lower than second in three seasons with the Dodgers.

It is not just about the “high-end talent,” as Friedman likes to say, or the money, as opposing fans like to say.

“Equally as important was the depth of talent we have,” Friedman said, “and the number of guys that had an impact on this short series, I think, speaks not only to the depth of talent but also to their level of preparedness and Doc’s willingness to use them in key spots, and the trust he instills in them.”

Red flag

The Dodgers got production from the bottom of their order in the NLDS: Tucker and Andy Pages came alive, the three home runs from traditional October hero Muncy, a home run from traditional October hero Hernández, even a clutch walk from rookie De Paula.

That still leaves a problem that cropped up time and again over the regular season and again in the NLDS: inconsistency atop the lineup.

Betts, Freddie Freeman, Ohtani, Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith combined for 13 hits in the series and a .176 batting average.

Green flag

In the month of July, Tucker never had a four-game hitting streak.

In the month of September, he had one.

In the four games of the playoffs, he has one!

Baseball!

That could be much more than a statistical oddity. This season, we heard more about his contract (four years, $240 million) than his home runs (17, a career low in a full season) his strikeouts (105, a career high) and his on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.715, just below Atlanta utility man Mauricio Dubón).

If Tucker sparkles in October, no one will remember the regular seasons, and Dodgers fans will remember him fondly forevermore. Ask Mickey Hatcher.

Red flag

The Dodgers still don’t know what to reasonably expect from Ohtani, gritting out the postseason despite discomfort in his left knee and right arm.

In 13 at-bats in the NLDS, Ohtani had two singles and struck out four times. He scored his only run of the series Wednesday, when he walked, stole second, took third on one error and scored on another error.

Ohtani still has not hit a home run since Aug. 18. The Dodgers prefer to say Wednesday’s game shows he can impact the game with his speed, and with his power threat.

“He’s the best player in the world,” Friedman said. “And at some point, it’s going to click for him, and the other team’s going to be in big trouble.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

CBS Sports | Mike Axisa: Another Yankees season has come to a disappointing end as the Rays swept them out of the ALDS, and the postmortem has already begun. There’s a whole host of questions to ponder about this team, ranging from the futures of Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman to where Aaron Judge slots back in on the field and how the offense around him can be improved. A lockout looms like a dark cloud on top of all of this speculation to boot.

FanGraphs | Davy Andrews: The Yankees were credited with four errors in their Game 2 5-2 loss at the Trop, but if you were watching the game, you’d know that the defense looked shoddy even beyond those four plays. Here, Andrews provides a holistic breakdown of the Yankees’ defensive performance for each position, including non-error misplays such as Luis Garcia Jr. failing twice to receive errant but catchable throws at first base. Warning: repeated viewings of this article may result in high blood pressure.

NY Post | Mark W. Sanchez: George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones looked like they might be long-term contributors against the Red Sox, but so far in the ALDS they’ve looked like rookies out of their depth. Lombard Jr. had a disastrous fifth inning when he failed to convert grounders from Chandler Simpson and Jonny DeLuca into outs. Jones was simply overmatched against Drew Rasmussen, going 0-for-3 with two Ks. One game is certainly far from enough to write these promising youngsters off, but there’s no denying that their first foray into postseason play has taken a turn for the worse.

The Athletic | Jayson Stark: ($) Finally, Jayson Stark has devoted the final section of his Weird & Wild column to discuss the historical significance of Yankees’ Game 2 error-palooza. Not to spoil it too much, but it turns out that committing that many errors that early in a game is quite rare in postseason history.

The cacophony had already started as Game 3 was ending Wednesday night – there were some audible chants of “Fire Boone” at Yankee Stadium as the Rays were plunging a dagger into what is another empty Yankee year.

Tampa Bay swept the Yanks out of the best-of-five AL Division Series and the Rays now head to the AL Championship Series. The Yankees wade into the uncertainty of a baseball winter while unpacking raw emotions, so disappointed by the loss that Aaron Boone talked of a “broken clubhouse” in his postgame press conference.

“It’s the worst,” Boone said. He repeated: “It’s the worst.”

It’s also the beginning of, right or wrong, the Boone watch. We live in an era of Blame Culture, after all, right? The manager has one more year remaining on his contract and while there are plenty of fans who make their feelings well known about his job performance – see the above chant or just search him on social media – it seems unlikely, at least in the immediate aftermath of the end of their season, that Boone won’t be the Yankee manager whenever the 2027 season begins.

That’s in part because of the looming labor negotiations that could very well result in a lockout and delay the season. If labor leaves teams idle while the lawyers negotiate, that means the offseason could be shortened. Managers can’t manage during the lockout, and a new guy couldn’t get to know his new players and how he should handle so many varied personalities. Can the expensive Yankees, presumably built to contend, really cram a new manager into a truncated winter as they try to get over their 17-year championship drought?

Plus, Boone probably did one of his finest jobs managing the Yankees this season. The end result wasn’t to the “standard” of a World Series title that the Yanks set every season – one they haven’t fulfilled since 2009, by the by. But they won 93 games while missing big names such as Aaron Judge, Max Fried, Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger for significant stretches. Then they won their Wild Card Series without Judge, too.

Whether fans like it or not, some of his players were happy to back Boone after the loss, too.

“He’s our manager,” Judge said. “He runs this ship. He puts us in the right position to go out there and succeed, especially in a season like this where I’m banged up, missing 100 games.

“For him to manage it the way he did and put us in the best position to get into the postseason and get an opportunity to win the World Series, he’s definitely had our backs.”

“He’s amazing,” added Cam Schlittler, who flourished into a likely AL Cy Young winner with Boone as his manager. “He’s someone who’s going to put his players first and I think that’s really important…There’s not a single day where I haven’t trusted him or a decision he’s made. I have a great relationship with him. I’ll back him up. I hope I’m playing here for a long time and he’s still the manager.

“He might take the blame for the way we perform, but, at the end of the day, it comes down to us and the expectation needs to be a little bit better.”

Of course, in a group so large, not everyone is going to be happy with the manager all the time. Jazz Chisholm Jr., who did not start Game 3 after a poor Game 2, seemed miffed about the benching – as is his right, certainly – afterward.

When asked about sitting, he replied, “No comment. Next.”

Chisholm, who later entered the game as a pinch-hitter and then went to second, also said he would have appreciated a conversation with Boone about not starting the game. So, yes, it seems impossible for a manager to satisfy every one of his charges.

Boone himself sounded like someone who expects to be back. “Yeah, of course,” Boone said when asked. Then he tried to steer the conversation back to the bitter moment of losing, not his job security. “That’s for another day,” he added. “Right now is about trying to reflect on this, trying to connect with guys right now as much as I can. Appreciative of a lot of things, but those conversations and things are for another day.”

No one is saying there aren’t legitimate gripes about the manager, either. When a team has a defensive collapse like Game 2, coming just two years after a similar defensive debacle in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, it’s fair to wonder if there’s a culture issue. No, the manager wasn’t the one bungling ground balls or sailing throws, but managers ultimately should answer for performance, too.

There are plenty of Yankee fans that believe not winning the World Series is a fireable offense and they forget all about the sustained success the Yanks have enjoyed. Boone, for instance, is one of three Yankee managers to reach the postseason in eight of their first nine seasons or better with the Yanks. Joe Torre and Casey Stengel, pretty good company, are the others.

Only Boone and Dave Roberts have taken their first-ever managing job and made the playoffs eight times in their first nine years, too.

No, he hasn’t won it all, like Roberts. Or Torre. Or Stengel. He’s got to be better and so do the Yankees. Too many of these season-enders have felt the same.

But you might have to get used to the idea that he’ll be back. The injuries, the labor strife, all make that the easiest answer for the Yankees.

It's another season without a World Series championship for Aaron Judge. 

The Yankees captain, who most certainly will have his No. 99 retired soon after he calls it quits, will have to wait at least another year for his first chance to win gold. This postseason was especially hard for Judge, who had to sit out both the Wild Card Series and ALDS due to a calf injury. He was in the dugout as the Yankees offense mustered just five runs while being swept by the Rays at home in Game 3 of the ALDS.

"It's always tough," Judge said after the loss. "Anytime you're not the last team standing, and lose at home like that, three straight games, it's definitely difficult. It hurts. You want to be out there, all the rehab, all the work, coming here early, staying late. Any time you're banged up, you're trying to get back out there as soon as you can. Hurts not getting a chance to be out there and battling."

Despite not being in the lineup, Judge said he liked the 2026 Yankees' chances in the postseason, as he's said in years past. But this year, from the pitching staff anchored by likely Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler and rounded out by veterans Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, to young hitters Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr. stepping up, the three-time MVP felt there was enough in the clubhouse to go far.

So, why can't the Yankees get over the hump? While Judge didn't give specifics, he said he and his teammates were not satisfied with this result. 

Then Judge was asked directly about his thoughts on what he thinks the response from GM Brian Cashman and owner Hal Steinbrenner should be following another postseason loss, and the captain answered honestly. 

"We're the Yankees. I feel like they should go all-in and do what they need to do," Judge said. "If we've got holes, if it's finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, you got to go out there and get it. That's why I signed back here to play with the Yankees is to fight for a championship every single year and go all-in. That's what I do every offseason, is get ready to give this team and this city everything I got. And I expect them to do the same."

When he was asked if he felt they went "all-in," Judge said he will leave the moves to the front office and will control what he can control. But when a follow-up asked if he felt the front office went "all-in enough," Judge took a beat before responding.

"It's tough to say. I want to trade for everybody, sign everybody every single year, but I know that's not realistic," he said. "They give us a winning team every single year, but that's not good enough here in New York. We're the Yankees. You've got to go out there and expect championships and go all-in every year. I'm excited to see what they do."

Aaron Judge was asked if he thinks the Yankees' front office has gone all-in enough: "It's tough to say. I want to trade for everybody, sign everybody every single year, but I know that's not realistic. They give us a winning team every single year, but that's not good enough here in New York. We're the Yankees. You've got to go out there and expect championships and go all-in every year. I'm excited to see what they do."

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) October 8, 2026

Following a disappointing end to their 2026 season, the Yankees will take some time to reflect on what went wrong before eventually gearing up for another year to try and win a World Series.

Part of that preparation will come in the form of free agency, where New York will decide which players it wants to add or possibly run back for another go-around. In fact, the Yankees will have to make decisions on a few guys this offseason as players like Jazz Chisholm Jr., Paul Goldschmidt and Trent Grisham will all become free agents.

For Chisholm and Grisham, it will be their first time on the open market while the veteran Goldschmidt has been in this position before.

“I do hope to be back,” Chisholm said. “... This is where I want to be.”

The 28-year-old who joined the Yanks at the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline has had an up-and-down tenure in New York. Chisholm got off to a great start after being acquired and hit 11 home runs in 46 games – power he hadn’t exactly tapped into with the Miami Marlins – while playing third base, a position he was unfamiliar with but willing to play.

Chisholm fizzled offensively in the playoffs during the Yankees’ World Series run, but he returned in 2025 and had a career year with 31 home runs, 80 RBI and a 4.1 WAR to go along with 31 steals after 40 (18 with New York) the season prior.

After another no-show in the playoffs, Chisholm returned to the Yankees on a one-year, $10.2 million contract to avoid arbitration, but for the first time in New York, found some struggles. 

A disappointing season bled into a disappointing postseason, which culminated with manager Aaron Boone going with Anthony Volpe at second base over Chisholm in Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Rays to try and spark his offense -- a decision that Chisholm had "no comment" on following the loss.

“You guys thought I had a great year last year and I didn’t even feel like I had a great year. It was a decent year, but [I] definitely didn’t have my best year this year,” Chisholm said.

Still, the versatile infielder who can also play the outfield, including center field, expressed his adoration for playing in New York and wants to stay put, although he knows there’s a chance his days with the Yanks are done.

“I love it as a Yankee,” he said. “I grew up as a Yankee fan. Being from the Bahamas, watching Derek Jeter and those guys every day. It was a great time being a Yankee, I love my time as a Yankee, I had great years with the Yankees, had an All-Star year, had a Silver Slugger year; it was great. 

“I mean who doesn’t want to stay with the team that you’ve had such great times with and great years with? To see it maybe end here sucks, but it’s part of the business.”

Another player New York might let go is Goldschmidt, who had a resurgence this season as the team’s platoon first baseman a season after being the full-time first baseman in his first season with the Yanks.

Goldschmidt, now 39 years old, slashed .252/.313/.452 with 18 home runs in 345 at-bats and expressed his desire to keep playing next season. Whether that’s with the Yankees, somewhere else or at all will be determined during the offseason.

“I’d like to continue playing so we’ll see if that opportunity happens,” Goldschmidt said. “I had a lot of fun playing here and just wanted to enjoy playing and enjoy competing and try to be part of and impact a team and help us win and was able to do that somewhat, but not ultimately get us with the group of guys here to win. 

“So my mindset really hasn’t changed, hopefully be able to have a chance to do that again and hopefully win a championship.”

During his 16-year career, the seven-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, five-time Silver Slugger and 2022 MVP has never won a World Series.

As for Grisham, who accepted his qualifying offer last offseason for $22 million to be the Yankees’ everyday center fielder, he regressed heavily after a career year in 2025. 

Boone gave him an opportunity to get things started in Game 3 of the ALDS by moving him up to the leadoff spot, but Grisham finished 0-for-5 and made the final out of the game on a strikeout, which ended New York’s season.

“The only thing I can say on it is I love the people here,” Grisham said about his pending free agency. “I’ve loved playing here. It’s a joy to show up every day and pull on the same side of the rope and really go after winning every day. I’ve loved my time here.”

Aaron Judge has been here too many times before: watching another team celebrate in front of him at Yankee Stadium. 

“Just hating every single moment of it,’’ Judge said of his thoughts when he was sitting in the dugout after the Rays beat the Yankees 4-3 to complete a three-game sweep of the ALDS. “So I don’t forget it. I was thinking of missed opportunities this season and this series.” 

That may be what the 2026 Yankee season will most be remembered for, as Judge was forced to miss such a sizable chunk of the regular season due to a fractured rib that cost him over three months and then the strained calf that prevented him from playing in the postseason. 

Asked how close he was to being activated for the ALDS after missing the wild-card series win over Boston, Judge said, “We’re talking hypotheticals. If I was on the roster or not, guys were out there fighting and I had all the faith in them. I like our chances whether I’m out there or not.” 

He said he was “feeling great,” but the lineup certainly missed Judge’s presence — just as it did during the regular season. 

“It definitely hurts,’’ Judge said. “You want to be out there. You try to get out there as soon as you can. It hurts not to get a chance to get out and battle.” 

Now, the Yankees have to watch the rest of the postseason play out without them and then head into an offseason filled with uncertainty, with a lockout likely in December. 

Judge was asked what the team needs to do to get better and avoid being in this situation again, as they have every year of his career. 

“We’re the Yankees,’’ Judge said. “I feel like [the front office] should go all in and do what they need to do. If we’ve got holes, if it’s finding certain players, whatever we need.” 

He praised the contributions of young players like Cam Schlittler, George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones and said he was impressed with how Anthony Volpe bounced back after being sent down to the minors. 

None of it was enough to get the Yankees back to the top of the baseball world. 

Judge said “a lot of things” need to happen for that to change. 

“I control what I can as a player,’’ Judge said. “They give us a winning team every year. That’s not good enough in New York.” 

And it resulted in a division rival clinching an ALDS win over the Yankees in The Bronx, with the Blue Jays doing it a year ago. 

“I don’t like that, other teams celebrating at our place,’’ Judge said. “If you don’t like it, you’ve got to play better.”

Box Score

The Brewers are heading back to the NLCS. An all-around strong game by the Brewers led them to a 3-1 win over the Padres, ending the series in four games and setting up a rematch from last season.

The game started out looking rough for the Brewers. In the top of the first, Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, and William Contreras went down on six pitches. Meanwhile, the Padres put the pressure on right away. After Fernando Tatis popped out on the first pitch Robert Gasser threw, Jackson Merrill hit a one out single to right-center. Manny Machado then surprised everyone with a bunt, and it was perfectly placed for a single.

Next up was Ty France, and he hit what looked like a double-play ball to Joey Ortiz. He took the out at first himself, but did not throw to first. It’s not clear why he didn’t go for it, but it was the second out of the inning. Gasser then walked Austin Hays on five pitches, loading the bases for Xander Bogaerts. However, Gasser recovered and got Bogaerts to pop out, ending the inning.

Both teams traded scoreless second innings. Jake Bauers drew a one-out walk, but Cooper Pratt grounded into a double play to end the inning. Meanwhile, Gasser recovered with an efficient inning, retiring the side on 12 pitches while striking out one.

In the third, Brewers’ baseball was on full display. Sal Frelick led off the inning with a single that Jake Cronenworth managed to knock down and keep in the infield. Frelick then stole second, and Garrett Mitchell brought him in with an RBI single to center. For the first time in the series, the Brewers scored first, leading 1-0.

They had a chance to add on more, but Ortiz grounded into a double play for the first two outs of the inning. Chourio drew a two-out walk after that, but Yelich grounded out to end the top of the inning.

The lead wouldn’t hold up long, unfortunately. Tatis Jr. led off the bottom of the third, and hit the fourth pitch he saw 429 feet out to center field, tying the game at 1-1. Gasser recovered by retiring the next three batters he saw, keeping the game tied.

The Brewers kept the pressure on in the fourth. Contreras singled to start the inning, which ended Walker Buehler’s day. He pitched 3+ innings and allowed just the one run, allowing three hits and two walks with no strikeouts. Robbie Ray was first in out of the bullpen for the Padres. He allowed a one-out walk to Bauers, but that was it as he got out of the inning.

Gasser got one more inning for the Brewers, and despite an error by Pratt that allowed Campusano to reach, he got out of the inning without issue. Gasser gave the Brewers four strong innings, allowing just one run, three hits, and a walk while striking out three.

Mitchell started out the fifth inning with a big hit for the Brewers, tripling to right to give the Brewers a leadoff runner for the third straight inning. This time, the Brewers would not strand him. After Ortiz grounded out, Chourio hit a single to center and brought in Mitchell. The Brewers had the lead back, 2-1. Yelich added a single in the fifth, that was it.

Aaron Ashby was the first reliever out of the bullpen for the Brewers in the bottom of the fifth. He didn’t run into any issues, retiring the side in order on nine pitches. He also got some help from Pratt, who recovered from his earlier error with a nice play to get Tatis Jr.

Meanwhile, the Brewers offense kept going. Bauers led off the sixth with a single, the fourth straight inning where the Brewers had their leadoff man on. Pratt then kept up his redemption his a hard-hit ball down the left field line, which bounced out over the wall for a ground-rule double. Frelick was up next, and hit one deep to left, but remained in the park. It was more than deep enough to score Bauers, and the Brewers added a critical insurance run, making it a 3-1 game.

Ashby remained in the game for the sixth, and despite allowing a walk to Ty France, a double play made it a 1-2-3 inning, with Ashby just needing 12 pitches in that inning. The Padres chose to go to Mason Miller in the seventh inning as the top of the Brewers’ lineup was due up. He started out strong with a line out of Chourio and strikeout of Yelich — the first strikeout by a Padres’ pitcher in the game. Miller faltered after that, allowing back-to-back singles to Contreras and Turang. Bauers then drew his third walk of the game, reaching base for the fourth time and loading them. Pratt had a chance to do some damage, but he lined out to center to end the inning. He also burned the Brewers’ last ABS challenge in the at-bat.

In a surprise move, Ashby remained in the game for the seventh inning. He had thrown just 21 pitches through two innings and was still in good shape. He got Bogaerts to ground out and Campusano to strike out for the first two outs of the inning. He then walked pinch-hitter Miguel Andujar, bringing up Samad Taylor. Ashbe froze Taylor with a four-pitch strikeout, finishing up three excellent innings for the Brewers’ bullpen.

After the Brewers went down in order against Joe Musgrove in the eighth, it was Abner Uribe for the ninth with the top of the lineup due up. The inning did not start out well with Tatis Jr. drawing a walk in an at-bat that Contreras wanted to challenge a couple pitches, but could not because the Brewers were out. Uribe recovered with a strikeout of Merrill, bringing up Machado. On the second pitch, Machado hit a ball to deep center field that was going to leave the park for a game-tying home run. However, Mitchell denied him, making a leaping grab to rob Machado and keep the Brewers ahead.

France popped out after that and morale for the Padres was at a low for the series. The Brewers were three outs away from the NLCS.

They couldn’t tack on in the top of the ninth, though they did have another scoring chance. Yelich was hit by a pitch hit one out, and stole second base. Turang sent one to deep left field, but it wasn’t deep enough and the inning ended.

Trevor Megill came in for the ninth inning to close the game out. Jacob Misiorowski was also throwing in the bullpen just in case. Megill began with a four-pitch strikeout of pinch-hitter Ethan Salas. Bogaerts was up next and worked the count full, but ended with a groundout to Ortiz for the second out. Gavin Sheets was called in as a pinch-hitter with two outs and the Brewers needing one more out. Megill started with two balls, came back with two strikes, then got Sheets to strike out looking and end the game, sending the Brewers to the National League Championship Series.

The pitching staff was the star of the game. Their four pitchers held the Padres to one run, three hits, and four walks. They also struck out nine. After Tatis Jr.’s home run, the Brewers did not allow another hit in the game. Gasser pitched four innings and allowed one run, Ashby had three scoreless, and Uribe and Megill each had a scoreless inning each. The big assist goes to Mitchell, who robbed Machado of a home run and two runs on the board.

Meanwhile, the Brewers’ offense was balanced, recording ten hits and four walks. Contreras and Mitchell had two-hit days. Bauers reached base in all four of his plate appearances. The only Brewer that did not reach base was Ortiz.

The Brewers now get a few days off before the NLCS starts on Sunday. The opponent will be the Dodgers, once again. The Dodgers won the series against the Braves in four games earlier today. This will be the third time in the last nine years the teams face off in the NLCS. First pitch on Sunday is at 7 p.m. on FOX, and you have to expect that the starter will be Jacob Misiorowski.

SAN DIEGO — Well, here we go again, it’s the Milwaukee Brewers against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Small market vs. big market.

David vs. Goliath.

The Brewers earned their second consecutive National League Championship Series date against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night, winning the best-of-five NL Division Series, 3 games to 1 at Petco Park.

The victory snapped the Brewers’ 12-game postseason losing streak in road games dating back to 2018, tied for the longest in MLB history. It was just their second victory on the road in a clinching game in franchise history.

The fact that the Brewers were able to secure the Division Series victory without needing a Game 5 could be huge for their hopes to unseat the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers.

They now will be able to line up Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski in Game 1 Sunday at American Family Field, meaning that he will be on a week’s rest Sunday, and can come back and start a potential Game 5 or 6.

And unlike a year ago, when they were emotionally spent after knocking off the rival Chicago Cubs, and were swept without leading a single inning, they’ve got four days to sober up, and prepare for the Dodgers.

The Brewers, who have become postseason regulars, are more than ready, trying to return to the World Series for the first time since 1982, and win their first championship in franchise history.

“I think these guys feel a responsibility to the city, to the fans, to the state,’’ Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I think they've taken on all that, and they've heard enough chatter. I've said it from the beginning, and I'm not making an excuse, the postseason is crucial, but it can be a crapshoot sometimes as we've witnessed. …

“Sometimes it's daunting when you have a young club and you have a club that has taken on those expectations. It's also kind of fun to see them come through it."

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On this night, once they began their celebration on the field, they just needed to exhale.

Until Wednesday, every game this series was decided by just one run, with no team having a lead larger than two runs. The Brewers outscored the Padres by a combined 13-10.

Every game was decided in the ninth inning, and even on this night, Manny Machado came within just a foot or two of hitting a game-tying home run in the eighth inning that was snared over the center-field fence by Garrett Mitchell.

“Just the level of play, the level of intensity for each pitch, and just the quality of baseball,’’ Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick said. “It just felt like it was back-and-forth, respond, respond, respond. It's fun playing that kind of baseball."

If the Dodgers are going get back to the World Series to finish off their third consecutive championship, they’ll have to travel the same path as in 2025 to complete their trek through the National League. The Dodgers will play the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS beginning Sunday night, October 11 at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

The Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the Division Series on Wednesday night in Atlanta, then a few hours later in San Diego, the Brewers did the same with a win over the Padres at Petco Park.

Milwaukee had the best record in baseball in 2026, winning a franchise-record 103 games, and had baseball’s best run differential, outscoring their opponents by 214 runs. The Dodgers had the second-best record at 100-62 and were also second in run differential, outscoring their foes by 201 runs.

That means the NLCS will begin in Milwaukee for the second year in a row.

Last year, the Dodgers lost all six games in the regular season to the Brewers, but then swept them in the NLCS, allowing exactly one run in all four contests. For a sweep, it was a fairly close series, with the Dodgers scoring only 15 runs in the four games.

This regular season, the matchups were much closer, with the Dodgers winning two of three in Milwaukee from May 22-24, then the Brewers took three out of four at Dodger Stadium to win the season series four games to three.

This marks the fifth time the Dodgers are playing the same team in the NLCS in consecutive years.

Dodgers repeat NLCS matchups

• 1977-78 vs. Phillies (both wins)
• 2008-09 vs. Phillies (both losses)
• 2016-17 vs. Cubs (loss, win)
• 2020-21 vs. Braves (win, loss)
• 2025-26 vs. Brewers (win, TBD)

This marks the fourth time the Dodgers and Brewers will meet in the postseason, also including the 2018 NLCS (Dodgers won that series too, including Game 7 in Milwaukee) and 2020 wild card round (2-0 LA sweep at Dodger Stadium).

Fox Sports will televise the NLCS, though the exact channel placements (Fox and/or FS1) haven’t yet been announced. Major League Baseball hasn’t yet announced start times for the League Championship Series just yet, but on Sunday, Game 1 of Dodgers-Brewers is the only baseball game going so expect that to start in the evening. An earlier start time for Game 2 on Monday in Milwaukee also seems likely, since Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on TBS will probably get the nighttime slot that is usually reserved for Games 1 in this round.

In the wake of his team’s National League Division Series defeat of the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was asked who he preferred to face in the NL Championship Series.

Brewers or Padres?

The beer-soaked executive smiled.

“I just want chaos,” he said.

Alas, Friedman’s wish wouldn’t be granted.

Hours after his team booked its place in the NLCS, the Brewers did the same by winning Game 4 of their NLDS in San Diego –– avoiding a potential Game 5 that would have worn down both teams’ pitching.

Instead, this year’s NLCS will be a rematch of last season’s one-sided affair, with the Dodgers and Brewers meeting again after the Dodgers’ pennant-clinching sweep last year.

This time, the storylines will be similar: The Brewers trying to vanquish the defending champions. Trying to negate the near $300 million disparity between the two teams’ payrolls. And trying to turn their regular-season success (having led the majors in wins for a second-straight year with a 103-59 record) into October glory.

The Dodgers, of course, will be favored.

They will be pegged to return to the World Series in search of an historic three-peat.

Game 1 is set for Sunday at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

In the meantime, here is a look at how the clubs match up ahead of the best-of-seven series:

At the plate

Getting on base

The Dodgers did most of their damage in the NLDS via the long ball. But they also kept the Braves’ pitching staff under constant stress; taking competitive at-bats, driving up pitch counts, and creating a string of opportunities that they finally started to cash in.

Their 1-for-16 mark with runners in scoring position wasn’t good.

But that’s also part of the reality of postseason baseball (case in point, they held the Braves to 1-for-23 in such situations).

The good news: Practically every regular in the lineup besides Shohei Ohtani (2-for-13 in the NLDS) and Will Smith (1-for-16) had a big moment in the opening round of the playoffs. 

After the offense’s slump through much of the second half of the season, most of their key hitters seem to be in a good place with both their approach and their swing.

The Brewers, of course, also pride themselves on grinding out at-bats, putting opposing pitchers (and defenses) under stress, and manufacturing consistent offense.

In the regular season, Milwaukee led the majors with a .258 team batting average (one point better than the Dodgers), a .341 on-base percentage (three points better than the Dodgers), and a 10.6% walk rate (half a percentage point better than the Dodgers), trailing only the Cubs as the majors’ highest-scoring offense.

And while Jackson Chourio is their only true star hitter –– batting .291 in the regular season before producing a memorable walk-off single in Game 2 of the NLDS against star Padres closer Mason Miller –– the Brewers have nothing but tough outs behind him.

Edge: Brewers

Power

So much for all those concerns about the Dodgers’ inability to hit for power during the second half of the season.

In the NLDS, the club looked like it did early in the year, when it led the NL with 118 home runs from March to June (before ranking 11th with just 86 the rest of the way).

Their eight home runs against the Braves gives them the most of any team in this year’s playoffs thus far. That included three from Max Muncy (the franchise’s all-time postseason home run leader), two from Freddie Freeman (after he had hit just one over the final 66 games of the regular season) and one apiece from Teoscar Hernández, Kiké Hernández and Kyle Tucker.

Even with Ohtani still struggling, and most of their regulars on the wrong side of 30, they offered a reminder that they still possess plenty of pop at the plate.

The Brewers, on the other hand, are one of the least-dangerous home run-hitting teams in the majors, finishing with the second-fewest during the regular season this year. Left-handed-hitting slugger Jake Bauers topped the club with 26 long balls. Chourio added 25, Brice Turang had 21 and William Contreras’ 18 made him the only other with more than a dozen.

That proved to be a problem in last year’s NLCS, when the Brewers hit just one home run while getting shut down by the Dodgers’ star-studded pitching staff.

And while they don’t rely on big flies, whether or not they can slug more consistently against the Dodgers this year could be key to the rematch.

Edge: Dodgers

On the mound

Rotation

The Brewers have the presumptive Cy Young Award winner in Jacob Misiorowski leading their staff, with the flamethrowing right-hander coming off a breakthrough regular season in which he had a 16-5 record, 1.80 ERA and MLB-most 252 strikeouts.

After him, however, their rotation is more of a question mark.

Rookie right-hander Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47 ERA) is their next-best option. Ex-Dodger Dustin May was added at the trade deadline, but had an ERA of 5.65 in his 10 Brewers starts. Robert Gasser is their only other healthy starter who had an ERA under 4.00.

Even more disconcerting: Misiorowski hardly looked dominant in Game 1 of the NLDS, needing 88 pitches to get through four innings in a two-run, four-hit, six-strikeout start.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, boast the best rotation in baseball. 

Tarik Skubal (six innings, one run, seven strikeouts) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (seven innings, one run, 10 strikeouts) both threw gems in the NLDS. And though Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow walked five batters each against the Braves, they still combined for 8 ⅓ innings and only two runs allowed.

Edge: Dodgers

Bullpen

The Dodgers are feeling good about their relief corps, which gave up only four runs in 14 ⅔ innings during their NLDS defeat of the Braves.

They might have finally identified a closer in Edwin Díaz, who closed out both Games 3 and 4 of the series. Tanner Scott bounced back from a home run he allowed in Game 1, cementing himself as the primary set-up man. And all their other leverage options –– from Alex Vesia to Evan Phillips to Edgardo Henriquez and Brock Stewart –– have entrenched themselves as trustworthy options.

It might not be quite as strong a group as the one that carried the Dodgers to their 2024 World Series championship. But, for now, it at least looks reminiscent.

Still, few teams were as dominant out of the bullpen as the Brewers were this year.

Their 3.40 reliever ERA in the regular season was best in the NL. The group was excellent again during their NLDS defeat of the Padres.

Closer Trevor Megill was 30-for-33 in save opportunities this year with a 2.63 ERA and minuscule 0.89 WHIP. Hard-throwing setup man Abner Uribe was equally effective, with a 1.97 ERA in the regular season. And beyond them, Milwaukee has answers for almost any matchup problem, from left-handers Aaron Ashby (3.12 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 89 ⅓ innings) and DL Hall (1.91 ERA, fourth-lowest among southpaw relievers in the majors), to right-handed swingman Chad Patrick (3.40 ERA).

Edge: Brewers

In the field

Defense

Another pillar of Milwaukee’s sustained success over the years has been its defense. This year was no different.

The Brewers ranked fifth as a team in defensive runs saved, eighth in outs above average and seventh in overall fielding percentage –– placing comfortably above the Dodgers in all but the latter category.

Turang is their best overall glove at second base. Chourio and Garrett Mitchell fly around in the outfield. And at almost every other position, they boast athleticism and speed. 

The Dodgers, meanwhile, saw shaky defense cost them multiple times in their NLDS triumph; including in a Game 2 loss when the decisive run scored on a misplayed fly ball from Teoscar Hernández and a wild pitch.

Edge: Brewers

Base-running

No surprise, but the Brewers are dangerous on the bases, as well.

Their 162 steals were fifth-most in the majors (albeit with only a 75% success rate that was below league average). They were led by third baseman David Hamilton, who was 30-for-37 on the year.

The Dodgers, conversely, didn’t have anyone swipe even half that amount.

Edge: Brewers

Manager

The Brewers have the two-time reigning NL Manager of the Year in Pat Murphy, who could be contending for a three-peat after leading Milwaukee’s low-budget roster to the most wins in the majors again this season.

But in the playoffs, no one has been better in recent years at pushing the right buttons than Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts.

During this week’s NLDS, he moved past Tony La Russa for second-most career postseason wins all-time (72). He now only trails Joe Torre’s record mark of 84.

Edge: Dodgers

Intangibles

No franchise consistently gets more out of its roster than the Brewers. But, come October, no team is more experienced or better-equipped to handle the stress of playoff baseball than the Dodgers. This week’s NLDS was a reminder of that, as the team grinded out three close wins. That also proved to be the case a season ago, when the Dodgers prevailed in enough little moments against the Brewers to complete only the fourth NLCS sweep in the last 20 years.

Edge: Dodgers

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres spent the final two months of the regular season playing like a team of destiny. On Wednesday night, destiny delivered another cruel reminder that October doesn’t care what you did in August and September.

The Milwaukee Brewers silenced Petco Park, suffocated San Diego’s offense and eliminated the Padres with a 3-1 victory in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, advancing to the NLCS for the second consecutive season.

For the Padres, it was another October obituary written far too early. For Milwaukee, the celebration was merely an appetizer. The main course awaits in their rematch with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Brewers, owners of baseball’s best regular-season record, will now face the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers in the sequel to last year’s NLCS.

But before Milwaukee could book its return trip to the championship series, it had to extinguish one final flicker of hope in San Diego.

That hope arrived in the third inning, courtesy of Fernando Tatis Jr.

With the Padres trailing 1-0, Tatis launched a solo home run off Brewers starter Robert Gasser, sending the Petco Park faithful into a frenzy. The Dominican superstar punctuated the blast with a towering bat flip, as if he could launch San Diego’s postseason fortunes into orbit along with the baseball.

For one fleeting moment, the Padres looked alive again as the sold out crowd of 47,712 at Petco Park erupted.

Unfortunately, that would be the last time they would celebrate as the offense went mostly silent over the next six innings. 

Walker Buehler, making his first postseason appearance since closing out the 2024 World Series for the Dodgers, opened with a six-pitch first inning. But Milwaukee struck first when Sal Frelick singled, stole second and scored on Garrett Mitchell’s RBI single.

It was the first time the Brewers had scored first in the series, and an ominous sign for a Padres team already fighting for its postseason life.

Buehler lasted into the fourth before allowing a leadoff single to William Contreras. With four left-handed hitters approaching in Milwaukee’s next five batters, Padres manager Craig Stammen pulled his starter and summoned Robbie Ray, who had started Game 1 of the series.

The maneuver bought San Diego some time, but not salvation.

Mitchell opened the fifth with a triple down the right-field line, putting the go-ahead run 90 feet away. Jackson Chourio followed with an RBI single, giving Milwaukee a 2-1 lead it would never surrender.

The Brewers added insurance in the sixth after Jake Bauers singled off Jason Adam and Cooper Pratt hammered a ground-rule double that bounced off the Western Metal Supply building.

Frelick delivered a sacrifice fly, extending Milwaukee’s advantage to 3-1.

That would be all Milwaukee needed as the Brewers bullpen took care of the rest, Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, and Trevor Megill combined to pitch five shoutout innings of relief, turning the late innings into a slow, agonizing countdown to another Padres postseason funeral.

To make matters worse, in the bottom of the 8th inning, with the tying run at first base, Manny Machado appeared to hit a game-tying homer to right-center, but Brewers outfielder Garrett Mitchell snatched San Diego’s hearts out when he leapt above the wall to rob the Padres and keep Milwaukee’s lead intact.

The Padres had the talent, the star power and the momentum. They entered October believing this was finally the team capable of ending the franchise’s championship drought.

Instead, when the season demanded its biggest hits, the bats went silent.

San Diego’s pitching gave the Padres a fighting chance Wednesday. Its offense couldn’t deliver the knockout punch, or even enough body blows to make Milwaukee uncomfortable.

The Padres didn’t lose this series because they lacked talent. They lost because they couldn’t consistently turn that talent into runs when the stakes were the highest.

And now, another promising season ends with the same bitter taste.

What it means

For Milwaukee, the victory validates a 103-win regular season and sends the Brewers back to the NLCS with unfinished business against the Dodgers.

For San Diego, the defeat raises uncomfortable questions about a championship window that keeps opening just wide enough to slam shut.

The Padres were baseball’s hottest team during stretches of August and September, but October remains their cruelest adversary.

San Diego is still searching for its first World Series championship, and another season of enormous expectations has produced nothing more than an early winter yet again.

Turning point

Garrett Mitchell’s leadoff triple in the fifth changed everything.

With the game tied 1-1, Mitchell ripped a ball down the right-field line off Robbie Ray. Jackson Chourio followed with the go-ahead RBI single, restoring Milwaukee’s lead and draining the electricity from Petco Park.

Did you see that?

Holy bat flip, Batman!

Fernando Tatis Jr. didn’t just admire his game-tying homer in the third inning. He launched his bat skyward in a celebration worthy of a postseason highlight reel.

Unfortunately for San Diego, the bat traveled higher than the Padres’ postseason ceiling.

Up next

Hollywood gets its sequel.

The Brewers and Dodgers will meet in the NLCS for the second consecutive season after Los Angeles swept Milwaukee in four games last October.

Much of the cast returns, but both clubs feature different rotations and new supporting pieces.

Milwaukee owns baseball’s best record. Los Angeles owns the last two World Series trophies.

Now the Brewers get another opportunity to dethrone the defending champions and prevent the Dodgers from becoming the first National League franchise to win three consecutive World Series titles.

And for the Padres? Another October spent watching someone else chase the championship they thought would finally be theirs.

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Garrett Mitchell might have snatched the last of the San Diego Padres' postseason hopes at the Petco Park center field wall on Wednesday.

The San Diego Padres were down to their final five outs trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1; Fernando Tatis Jr. stood on first base, so Manny Machado stepped up to the plate as the tying run in the bottom of the eighth. Brewers reliever Abner Uribe worked his sinker at the bottom of the zone, but Machado barreled the second one right at his knees, sending it 406 feet to right center field − right in the spot of the ballpark where the marine layer is at its cruelest to baseballs − for what looked to be a game-tying home run ... until Mitchell reached back over the fence and plucked the ball out of the sea of fans' hands for the second out.

San Diego was this close to a game-tying homer 😱 https://t.co/s8XhTJZUq6pic.twitter.com/VvR7jMLhwQ

— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2026

Machado was visibly upset after the play, grabbing his helmet off his head in frustration. The Padres headed into the bottom of the ninth with one last chance at keeping their season alive but the Brewers' Trevor Megill got the save.

Milwaukee heads to an NLCS rematch with the Dodgers.

"Oh, it's going to be LOUD"

Garrett Mitchell and the Brewers are excited to return to Milwaukee for the #NLCS! pic.twitter.com/3p4sBquJIw

— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2026

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Garrett Mitchell robs Manny Machado home run, preserves Brewers' lead vs. Padres

NEW YORK — It was a microcosm of this American League Division Series.

During the bottom of the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium in Game 3, the sellout crowd of nearly 49,000 sat eerily quiet, waiting for something, anything, to happen as their beloved team trailed the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2.

Until then, in nearly three games of action, New York had scored four runs, but with two outs, the Bronx Bombers had a rare runner on base after George Lombard Jr. walked on five pitches.

Anthony Volpe came up to the plate with two outs and drilled a 95 mph sinker from Rays reliever Griffin Jax that came in on the middle of the plate and went to left field, where Victor Mesa, Jr., who later provided the winning margin with his two-run home run in the top of the inning, went back to the wall trying to make the catch. 

Instead, fans got flashbacks to 1996. Mesa’s attempt went awry after a fan reached over the fence to catch the ball and was later escorted out of the stadium for his efforts. In that year's American League Championship Series, 12-year-old Jeffrey Meier reached over the right-field wall to catch a ball hit by Derek Jeter, much to the dismay of Baltimore Orioles outfielder Tony Tarasco.

It’s too bad that video replay would not come to MLB for another 12 years, as New York went on to a five-game series victory and then went on to win the World Series.

There would be no such luck this time, because as soon as the ball went over the fence, the umpiring crew huddled and immediately sought help from Major League Baseball’s Replay Operations Center, located about 11 miles from Yankees Stadium.

Volpe came around the bases, touched home plate, and entered the dugout, congratulated by teammates, only to be called back to second base moments later after an umpire’s review ruled spectator interference. Lombard, Jr. scored on the play, but the Yankees never got any closer than the final score.

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“After viewing all relevant angles, the replay official definitively determined the spectator interfered with the ball over the field of play. The ball would not have left the playing field nor would it have been caught,” the MLB replay center later said in their explanation.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he had no issue with the call and felt the umpires got the call right.

Game 3 reeked of desperation from the moment Boone announced their lineup. Jazz Chisholm was benched, and Trent Grisham took the leadoff spot.

In the eighth inning, still trailing by one run, oft-injured Giancarlo Stanton was called upon to try to add a spark, making his second appearance since April 24 after a calf injury. But he struck out swinging in his only at-bat of the night.