Category: MLB

Like me, no doubt, you feel as though you just had the most wonderful, awful, stressful and joyous 2.5 hours of your baseball fan life.

The actual recap can be quick.

The Rays got five hits. Kudos to Palacios and Hicks for hitting doubles, both of which bounced off the right-center wall just feet away from leaving the park. But they were stranded, as were Diaz and Mesa who hit singles, and Hicks and Caminero, who walked (Cami walked twice).

But only one hit actually resulted in a run; that was Jonathan Aranda’s third inning home run.

So thanks, Johnny, for that!

But otherwise the story of the game was Drew Rasmussen (with assists from some good fielding and a very bad mistake by Yankee catcher Austin Wells).

I have no words to describe Rasmussen’s night. He gave up one hit and two walks while striking out ten, that’s good for sure.

But the numbers don’t do this performance justice. To be focused, efficient, and dominant like this IN A PLAYOFF GAME with no margin for error. To be so efficient that Kevin Cash lets you pitch eight innings, during 7.2 of which the Yankees recorded no hits at all.

To generate TWENTY-THREE (23!) whiffs.

To get major league hitters to do this:

The only hit for the Yankees came with two outs in the eight, and it actually ended in an out. Austin Wells hit the ball well, but for….reasons….the Yankee catcher was so determined to turn this into a triple that he never even looked up to see his third base coach signaling for him to hold at second base.

It took an outstanding throw from Victor Mesa Jr. in right field and a sharp relay from Taylor Walls, of course, but did the Yankees expect any less? So the Yankees only base runner was wiped out at third base to end the eighth inning.

This reminded me a bit of the famous 2019 ALDS relay — Kiermaier to Adames to d’Arnaud. That was more impressive in that there was more distance to cover (deep center field to home), but this one was more significant because of the tight score.

Bryan Baker then polished off the Yankees in the ninth inning, adding two strikeouts of his own.

To be sure, this game was a bit frustrating on the offensive side. Gerrit Cole didn’t seem particularly sharp yet the Rays couldn’t capitalize on the base runners they had (not many strikeouts but lots of weak contact). With the Yankees set to bring out two much better starters on Monday and Wednesday, it would be nice to have some confidence that the Rays hitters were swinging well.

In a five game series, however, winning the first game is a huge boost, and we can celebrate. Until the anxiety starts all over again on Monday.

Heroes, zeros and the inside pitch from the Yankees’ 1-0 loss to the Rays in Game 1 of the ALDS in St. Petersburg, Fla:  

Hero 

If the Yankees are going to win the series, they probably will have to figure out Drew Rasmussen. A Yankee killer all year, the righty took a no-hitter into the eighth and bulldozed a powerful lineup. 

Zero 

Mere seconds after providing the most promising moment of the night for the Yankees, Austin Wells provided the least. The catcher smacked a hit down the right field line to break up Rasmussen’s no-hitter, then was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. 

Unsung hero 

The Rays did little against Gerrit Cole and a trio of Yankees relievers apart from Jonathan Aranda, who crushed a home run to deep right-center for the only run-producing swing of the night. 

Key stat 

1: Hit by the same Yankees team that collected 26 in two games against the Red Sox. 

Quote

“You have to take risks. But in that situation, obviously the risk was wrong.” 

— Austin Wells

Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen nearly made postseason history, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning, and Jonathan Aranda smacked a solo home run Saturday night as the Rays beat the Yankees, 1-0, in Game 1 of the Division Series at Tropicana Field.

Rasmussen, the Rays’ ace, threw eight shutout innings, allowing only one hit. He struck out 10 and walked two.

The Yanks had a chance to get to Rasmussen when they finally got a hit against him with two outs in the eighth inning. But Austin Wells tried to stretch an easy double into a triple and was thrown out by a large margin.

Gerrit Cole threw five good innings for the Yankees. But even coming off an offensive splurge in the previous series against Boston, the Yanks couldn’t get anything going. Aaron Judge might’ve helped, but he is still managing that calf injury and is not on the roster for the Division Series.

Here are the takeaways...

-Wells, who had a terrific Wild Card Series against Boston, finally got the first hit off Rasmussen, with two outs in the eighth inning. But the play ended in a way that’s sure to be dwelled upon, at least by Yankee fans. Wells laced a ball that just stayed fair down the right-field line for an extra-base hit. But Wells tried to stretch a gimme double into three bases but was easily thrown out at third. The Rays’ really sharp relay went from right fielder Victor Mesa to shortstop Taylor Walls to Junior Caminero at third.

-Rasmussen will get another chance to pitch in this series, which could be alarming news for the Yankees. Saturday, he got 23 swings-and-misses all told, including 10 on 18 cuts at his baffling changeup. Rasmussen, who boasts an arsenal similar to Cam Schlittler in that he, too, uses three fastballs, averaged 96.2 miles per hour on his four-seam fastball and also featured a cutter and sinker. He threw 101 pitches, 69 for strikes and had retired 15 straight before Wells’ hit.

-There have only been three no-hit games in postseason history – Don Larsen’s perfect game for the Yankees in the 1956 World Series, Roy Halladay’s Division Series no-no for the Phillies in 2010 and a combined no-hitter by the Astros in the 2022 World Series.

-The Rays did not have Rasmussen, who’s had three arm surgeries in his career, start the ninth, instead choosing closer Bryan Baker. Baker converted 41-of-44 save chances during the regular season, including a streak of 30 in a row and had a 1.44 ERA. He faced pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton, who had not played since April because of injury. Baker struck out Stanton for the first out of the inning, caught Ben Rice looking at a changeup for strike three and Cody Bellinger grounded to first.

-Cole threw five strong innings, allowing only that one run on Aranda’s homer, and gave up five hits while striking out five and walking one. He threw 58 of his 82 pitches for strikes and got 11 swings-and-misses. There were a couple of moments of loud contact beyond Aranda’s homer – Richie Palacios missed a home run by only a few feet in the second inning. His drive to right-center hit the top of the wall, good for a double. Liam Hicks doubled off the right-center wall one out after Aranda’s homer, but Cole stranded him. Cole had an entertaining battle with Caminero to end the fifth inning, a dramatic 12-pitch encounter that resulted in a strikeout as Caminero looked at a breaking ball. That was Cole’s last batter.

-Cole has a 2.73 ERA now in 23 career October starts and has allowed one earned run or less in 11 of those outings. In five career postseason starts against Tampa Bay, Cole has a 1.69 ERA.

-Aranda’s home run was his first career hit in the postseason and it traveled 417 feet and left his bat at 107.1 miles per hour. Aranda had been 2-for-10 lifetime against Cole before the tater.

-Ryan Weathers, who had not pitched since Aug. 22, relieved Cole and threw a scoreless sixth inning, getting three groundouts to first base. Paul Blackburn threw 1.2 scoreless frames and Brent Headrick got the final out of the eighth for the Yankees.

-How vital can an ABS challenge be? One might have helped the Yankees get out of a sticky second inning. Wells challenged a 1-2 pitch to Chandler Simpson that was called a ball with two runners on base. It was reviewed and overturned, resulting in an inning-ending strikeout that stranded two. During the regular season, Wells was successful 82 times in 131 challenges, or 62.6 percent. Overall in MLB, catchers succeeded on 59 percent of their challenges. Only two catchers had more successful challenges than Wells.

Game MVP: Drew Rasmussen

He’s now the owner of the longest no-hit bid in Rays postseason history and was really never in trouble. He brought a career 1.81 ERA against the Yankees into the start and was even more remarkable than usual against them. 

Highlights

On the Yankees’ first hit of the night, Austin Wells is thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple pic.twitter.com/drWf58P2Bg

— SNY Yankees (@snyyankees) October 4, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Rays continue their best-of-five series Monday at 8 p.m.

Cam Schlittler will take the mound while Tampa has yet to announce a starter.

It was so hot at Dodger Stadium on Saturday...

How hot was it?

It was so hot a team that averaged nearly 50,000 fans for occasionally meaningless regular-season games beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3 in its first postseason game before thousands of empty seats — some of which were literally too hot to sit in.

It was so hot the Dodgers set up pallets of bottled water near the gates and anyone brave enough to enter the stadium was given a plastic 16-ounce Dasini bottle. Gatorade also set up a cooling tent under the right-field pavilion.

Read more:'He's a competitor.' Tarik Skubal's dominant outing stakes Dodgers to NLDS Game 1 win

It was so hot Nicolas Gonzalez, a fan sitting in the shade of the reserved level, saw a stadium attendant, overcome by heat, stretchered before the game even started. She wasn’t the only one. By the later innings, other fans on the reserved level were reportedly seeking medical attention on the concourse.

The Dodgers declined comment.

So how hot was it?

The game started 45 minutes after the National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning, cautioning against “extremely dangerous heat conditions” as the temperature reached 100 degrees at first pitch. By the third inning, the temperature reading atop the left-field scoreboard peaked at 103 degrees, matching the highest first-pitch temperature at 64-year-old Dodger Stadium.

“I’ve been coming to games my whole life and this is easily the hottest game I’ve ever been to,” said Gonzalez, 38, of Culver City. “Having a game in these conditions feels like we’re flying too close to the sun, both literally and figuratively.”

Around him, fans tried to cool themselves by waving makeshift fans. It didn’t work.

But the weather didn’t just affect the way the game was watched. It affected the way it was played too. The cloudless skies made every pop-up an adventure and the warm, dense air reduced drag, allowing batted balls to travel farther. As a result, the teams combined for five homers, accounting for all eight runs.

“That’s probably one of the hottest games that we’ve ever had here. And so shout-out to the Dodger fans; they were amazing,” said Max Muncy, who hit one of those five homers.

“My feet were hot. Really hot.”

The Dodgers wound up with an early afternoon game in the middle of a historic heat wave because MLB and the TV networks — in this case Fox and TBS — set conditional start times for the four Division Series games before the teams and matchups were known. When the San Diego Padres eliminated the Chicago Cubs in the wild-card round, Saturday’s early NL game went to the Dodgers.

Left-hander Tarik Skubal, who gave up just a run on two hits in six innings to get the win in his Dodger postseason debut, said he didn’t really notice the heat until he came out of the game.

“I walked back into the dugout, and I asked — I forget who, I think it was [Blake] Snell — I was like, ‘has it been this hot all game?’ It’s amazing what your brain can do in certain circumstances and moments,” he said.

“I actually didn’t think it was horrible when I was pitching.”

But then Skubal pitched in much hotter conditions as a kid growing up in northern Arizona.

“I played a Little League game in 127 [degrees]. Lake Havasu,” he said. “[Saturday’s] up there with as hot a baseball game that you can play in.

“Every team’s playing in it, right? They’re playing in the same conditions we are. It shouldn’t really impact how you are mentally or how it’s going to impact how you pitch. Just go out there and play baseball and try to drink water. That’s really it.”

At least Skubal got to drink his water in the relative cool of the dugout between innings. Umpire Roberto Ortiz, wearing 10 pounds of protective gear and a black-and-gray uniform, got no such relief. He had to stand behind the plate for 2 hours, 44 minutes and all 290 pitches, one of which smoked him in the seventh inning.

Read more:Plaschke: Kyle Tucker becomes unlikely NLDS hero with Dodgers poised for series sweep

That’s why his five fellow umpires made a point of patting him on the back or shoulder before jogging to their positions for the first pitch.

“He stayed tough,” Dodger catcher Will Smith said of Ortiz. “I’m sure he’ll rehydrate and be ready for tomorrow.”

Speaking of tomorrow, the Dodgers, Braves and the umpires will all get some relief for Game 2. At first pitch Sunday afternoon the Weather Channel is forecasting a temperature of just 97 degrees.

“The dark silver lining,” Gonzalez, the heat-weary fan said in a nod to global warming, “is this might be the coolest October of the rest of our lives.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Austin Wells spared the Yankees the infamy of being no-hit in Game 1 of the ALDS. 

What he did next was almost worse and all but guaranteed that Saturday night still ended miserably for the Yankees. 

Wells recorded the Yankees’ first hit off Drew Rasmussen with two outs in the top of the eighth, but then was thrown out easily trying to stretch a double into a triple, delivering one more gut punch on the way to a 1-0 loss to the Rays and a 1-0 deficit in the best-of-five series in front of a rowdy sellout crowd of 40,542 at Tropicana Field. 

“We didn’t really have much going on there in the game, so every 90 feet matters,” Wells said in a quiet visiting clubhouse. “I was committed to being there and thought I had a good chance to get there. Can’t hang your head too much. They pitched incredible tonight and just trying to make something happen.” 

The Aaron Judge-less Yankees lineup that beat up on the Red Sox for 18 runs in the wild-card series went missing in the first game of the series against their other divisional rivals. Their bats might as well have, too, because they could hardly touch Rasmussen. When they did, the balls found gloves every time. 

With the Yankees four outs away from becoming the fourth team in postseason history to be no-hit, Wells got them off the schneid, ripping a line drive that landed on the right field line. He thought he saw the ball kick off the wall more than it did and was just over halfway to second base when third base coach Luis Rojas threw up a stop sign. But by the time Wells saw him after he passed second, “I was already committed,” he said. The slow-footed catcher was thrown out easily at third base on a relay from right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. to shortstop Taylor Walls to third baseman Junior Caminero. 

“Just obviously not a good decision there,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But the biggest issue is just Rasmussen shutting us down. Obviously, a handful of guys hit some balls on the screws, Austin being one of them a couple times there. But we just didn’t generate enough, obviously.” 

Instead of Ryan McMahon, or possibly a pinch hitter, coming up with a man on second base — which would have been only their second at-bat all night with a runner in scoring position — the inning was over, and soon the game was, too. 

The play sent the packed house — unlike plenty of games here against the Yankees, the Rays fans actually drowned out the swaths of visiting fans — into a frenzy, as Rasmussen continued his dominance of the Yankees with a whale of a game: eight shutout innings, 10 strikeouts and two walks. 

“I feel like he was just not giving in,” said Jazz Chisholm Jr., who walked and stole second with two outs in the second inning but was stranded there when Trent Grisham struck out looking at a changeup, a pitch that fueled Rasmussen’s big night. “He didn’t miss his spots today, he was all over the corners, he didn’t leave much pitches middle.” 

Boone gave Giancarlo Stanton a chance for a dramatic moment in the top of the ninth, pinch hitting him for McMahon against righty closer Bryan Baker for his first at-bat since April 24. But Stanton struck out on five pitches, as Baker retired the side in order to finish the one-hit shutout. 

The Yankees will try to rebound in Game 2 on Monday, with Cam Schlittler on the mound, though their ace won’t matter much unless their bats wake up. 

Gerrit Cole gave them a chance to win in Game 1, allowing only a solo shot to Jonathan Aranda across five innings before Ryan Weathers, Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick combined to keep it a one-run game the rest of the way. But other than a handful of hard-hit balls — two on deep flyouts by rookie George Lombard Jr. — the Yankees’ offense was nonexistent, save for Wells’ double that was instantly erased by his baserunning blunder. 

“That wins and loses games,” Wells said. “You have to take risks, but in that situation, obviously the risk was wrong.”

And now we present the forecast for the Atlanta Braves, brought to you by Yogi Berra: It gets late early out there.

The Dodgers can cloud the outlook for anyone. The Braves left Dodger Stadium in an uneasy spot Saturday, with one big decision to make: Do they risk putting themselves in the uncomfortable position of facing three consecutive elimination games without using their best pitcher in the first two games of this National League Division Series, or do they start Chris Sale on Sunday?

“We’re expecting to see him,” Dodgers infielder Tommy Edman said.

The Dodgers have four aces. The Braves have one.

“We’ve got the ace of all aces in Chris Sale,” Braves pitcher Brent Suter said.

So why were the Braves publicly noncommittal about using him?

Read more:Plaschke: Kyle Tucker becomes unlikely NLDS hero with Dodgers poised for series sweep

The Braves deployed him Thursday, for the final four outs of the deciding game of the wild-card round. He started and pitched into the seventh inning on Tuesday.

The four days between starts is traditional — as is throwing once between starts, albeit generally in a pregame workout — but the 37-year-old Sale has not done that since April.

“The deciding factor is always going to be how Chris is feeling,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “When we came in the other night, the first words out of his mouth were ‘I feel amazing.’ If he were to come in [Sunday] morning and say ‘I feel amazing,’ there’s a chance he pitches.”

Sale, a 10-time All-Star, posted a 2.16 earned-run average this season, trailing only projected Cy Young winners Jacob Misiorowski and Cam Schlittler. In two appearances against the Dodgers, he posted a 1.13 ERA, with no walks and 18 strikeouts in 16 innings.

“He’s the ace over there, and we’re ready to see him two times this series, regardless of whether he is starting or coming out of the bullpen,” Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas said. “We all know he is going to be out there at some point.

“If it’s [Sunday], we will be ready. If it’s Game 3, we will be ready. If it’s [Sunday] out of the ‘pen, we will be ready.”

Weiss should be concerned. If he is, he would not publicly admit to it.

“To me, it’s not that big a deal when he pitches,” Weiss said. “He’s going to pitch in this series.

“Dodgers can’t win it in two.”

The Braves risk overthinking this. If Sale starts Sunday, he also could start on traditional rest in a potential Game 5. If the Braves hold him back until Game 3, he presumably would not start a potential Game 5 on two days’ rest.

So, if the Braves get that far, would they want to limit Sale to, say, four outs?

“Even if he throws Game 3, I think he’s still available for Game 5 in some way, shape, or form,” Weiss said.

The Dodgers could push Yoshinobu Yamamoto to Game 3 because they had Tarik Skubal and Blake Snell to start the first two games. Money buys you the best of options.

The Braves’ most likely options for Game 2, if Sale does not start: a second consecutive bullpen game, or Grant Holmes, 30, a Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2014, and three years later, part of a three-prospect package sent to the Oakland Athletics for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick.

Read more:'He's a competitor.' Tarik Skubal's dominant outing stakes Dodgers to NLDS Game 1 win

The way Weiss looks at it, he can win three out of the next four games with his top two starters (Sale and Tyler Mahle) yet to be used, and all his high-leverage relievers fresh.

The way we look at it, who says the series extends to four or five games? The Braves either try to win with Sale on Sunday, or risk needing to sweep three games started by Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Skubal, in that order. Wouldn’t be prudent.

“We know Sale is their best pitcher,” Rojas said. “So we are ready for him, at some point.”

That point should be Sunday, a little after 5 p.m.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL − Austin Wells saw the hands go up. He kept running anyway.

The Yankees catcher ripped the team's first hit of the night with two outs in the eighth inning Saturday. It was a liner that stayed just fair down the right-field line and ended Drew Rasmussen's no-hit bid. Then Wells tried to turn a sure double into a triple. He ran through the stop sign thrown up by third-base coach Luis Rojas.

A perfect relay from Victor Mesa Jr. to shortstop Taylor Walls to third baseman Junior Caminero easily cut him down at third base.

"After I was passing second base, I saw his hands up," Wells said, "but I was already committed."

The Yankees' best scoring chance, with slugger Giancarlo Stanton ready to pinch hit, was cut down there. The Rays held on to win Game 1 of the American League Division Series 1-0 and take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Mesa protect this house #ForTampaBay | #Postseasonpic.twitter.com/v7surKX3lV

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 4, 2026

Replays showed Rojas' arms up well before Wells turned at second and Yankees manager Aaron Boone did not dress it up.

"Just obviously not a good decision there," Boone said.

Wells knows the rules as well as anybody. You don't make the third out at third base. With two outs and a runner on second, a player usually scores on a single anyway − and Stanton was ready to step in there.

He didn't argue that playing it safe was the better play there.

"I mean, yeah, that's probably a smart approach there," Wells said. "But in the moment, us being aggressive, like I said, we didn't really have much going on there in the game, so every 90 feet matters."

He was not wrong there. The Yankees were without Aaron Judge, who was left off the ALDS roster with a calf strain, and they were shut down for 7⅔ innings by Rasmussen. They did need a spark, but Wells lit the whole thing on fire.

"I can't tell you if I would go again, because the situation will be different," he said. "But obviously, took the risk and it didn't work out.

"I was committed to being (at third) and thought I had a good chance to get there," Wells continued. "So, can't hang your head too much."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Austin Wells breaks up no-hitter but baserunning blunder hurts Yankees: What happened?

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Luis Rojas raised his arms straight up to form the universal sign for “stop.” Stop signs are irrelevant, though, if they are not seen in time. 

Austin Wells only picked up his third base coach when he had rounded second base and was “already committed,” he said, which turned the best moment of the Yankees’ night into the worst within seconds. 

Wells broke up Drew Rasmussen’s no-hitter with two outs in the eighth, only to get thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple in the type of mistake the Yankees simply cannot make in October, which helped lead to a 1-0 loss to the Rays in Game 1 of the ALDS at Tropicana Field. 

“Just obviously not a good decision there,” manager Aaron Boone said of the overaggression from the normally heady Wells, who saw the Yankees lineup was inept against Rasmussen and tried to take a risk that backfired. 

Entering the at-bat, Rasmussen had retired 23 Yankees and only let two reach base on walks. He had struck out 10. He was about as dominant as a pitcher can be. A one-run deficit, on the strength of a Jonathan Aranda home run, felt insurmountable. 

And then Wells stepped up and provided life, energy and joy — for all of about 10 seconds. 

The Yankees catcher blistered a rare Rasmussen miss, a sinker that cut across the middle of the plate, 107.8 mph down the right field line and kept it fair by maybe a foot. The ball pinballed from a wall in foul territory to another facing of the wall in fair territory. 

“I thought it kicked off [the wall] more than it did,” said Wells, who may have underestimated the arm of right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. 

The owner of one of the most potent cannons in the majors, Mesa threw a strike to cutoff man Taylor Walls, who did not even have to rush a throw to third: He threw, but did not fire, to third baseman Junior Caminero, who had plenty of time to tag Wells. 

Baseball traditionalists will scoff at a player making the third out of an inning at third. Scouts will tell you not to test Mesa or a solid Rays defense. 

Wells will tell you the Yankees lineup had done nothing all game, so he was going to try something different. 

“Two outs there, trying to make something happen, be aggressive with not much going on in the game,” said Wells, who added that the biggest benefit to being on third rather than second would be scoring without question on a single, important especially at a ballpark with slick turf that helps singles reach the outfielders faster. “You have to take risks. But in that situation, obviously the risk was wrong.” 

Wells remained on the dirt for a few seconds, and it would have been understandable if he dug a hole and remained there for the rest of a game in which the Yankees would not record a second hit.

Heroes, zeros and the inside pitch from the Dodgers’ 5-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the National League Division Series:

Hero

The Dodgers have had plenty of key contributors during their run to back-to-back World Series titles the last couple years. Few, however, have delivered big swings as consistently as Teoscar Hernández.

The first game of this October’s postseason was no exception.

After three quiet innings to begin the day from the Dodgers offense, Hernández flipped the momentum in the bottom of the fourth inning, belting a two-run home run to give the Dodgers the lead.

The veteran slugger now has nine home runs in the playoffs the last three years (second-most on the Dodgers after Shohei Ohtani) and 27 RBIs in 34 games (most on the team in that stretch).

“Teo is good in big moments because he’s not afraid to fail,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think he has a short memory in the sense of, if something doesn’t go well, he has a way to just kind of reset, recalibrate. I think he just focuses a little bit more.”

Hernández had to have a short memory a lot this year, slumping so bad after returning from a hamstring strain that the club at one point considered platooning him in left field.

“I was fighting for my life,” he said, “just to help this team to win games.”

Down the stretch, however, he rediscovered his swing, hitting .341 over his final 11 games. And now, he has added to his long list of big postseason moments.

“I always want to be the guy to be in those moments,” Hernández said. “I worked really hard for it, and I think the bigger the moment, the more focused I get.

Zero

Roberts didn’t name a designated closer entering the playoffs. But he had Tanner Scott’s name at the top of the list.

Whether that remains the case going forward is now to be seen, after Scott flirted with disaster in the top of the ninth inning by giving up a home run to Ozzie Albies that cut the Dodgers’ 5-1 lead in half, and was later removed with two outs in the inning.

Roberts did defend the left-hander –– who was 25-for-29 in save opportunities as the de facto closer during the regular season –– by insisting Scott’s “stuff was good” and that his trust in the southpaw is “not going to waver.”

But after the former $72 million signing missed all of last year’s playoffs because of poor performance and a medical procedure, Saturday was not the postseason Dodgers debut he had in mind.

It leaves the bullpen potentially unsettled, as well.

Unsung hero

Tommy Edman had a quiet day at the plate, going 0-for-2 with a walk. But he made a couple key plays defensively at second base, including a diving stop on a Ronald Acuña grounder in the fourth inning during a streak of 15 consecutive batters retired by starting pitcher Tarik Skubal.

“His defense today was outstanding,” Skubal said. “Just to keep those balls in the infield is one thing, but to get outs, that’s huge.”

Key stat

101.1: That was the velocity on one of Skubal’s fastballs in the second inning, marking the hardest he has thrown a pitch all year. 

“I think I was just trying to match the temperature out there,” Skubal joked, after pitching in 100-degree heat for most of the day. 

“I think the juices flow a little bit different in postseason games,” he added.

Quote of the night

Skubal was later asked if Saturday was the hottest game he’s ever played in.

“I played a Little League game in 127 [degrees] in Lake Havasu,” the Kingman, Arizona native quipped. 

So then, this must have been nothing, right?

“Well,” he laughed, “[this was] a little bit different game.”

LOS ANGELES — Kyle Tucker hit one of the Dodgers three home runs in Saturday afternoon’s 5-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium, carrying over his strong September play into October.

“I’m just trying to swing at good pitches, trying to put the barrel on the ball, having competitive at-bats, and keep the line moving,” Tucker said on Saturday, after hitting his seventh home run in his last 23 games. “Our pitching staff has done a good job all year long giving us opportunities to win games, so we’re just trying to do our part.”

The home run came in the sixth inning, two innings after Tucker singled and stole second base.

Power and speed have been a part of Tucker’s game throughout his career, averaging 27 home runs and 21 stolen bases in his previous five seasons before signing with the Dodgers in January, including three years with at least 22 home runs and 25 steals.

Even with the strong finish to his season, Tucker finished with 17 home runs in 154 games, his lowest power output since 2020. He was more opportunistic when running, stealing only 12 bases but was never caught trying.

In 73 career postseason games, Tucker is up to 10 home runs and eight steals now, but Saturday was his first time in the playoffs doing both in the same game.

“It’s been well talked about, the struggles he had this year. I give him a lot of credit for grinding through it, not running from it, always posting and kind of getting to the other side of it,” manager Dave Roberts said of Tucker. “Obviously for us it’s about winning a championship. Our fans, they really remember what you do in the postseason. So this is certainly a way to change the story for a season in 2026.”

Hitting a home run and stealing a base has only been done 14 times in Dodgers postseason history, from Wes Parker in Game 4 of the 1965 World Series to Freddie Freeman in the 18-inning marathon Game 3 of the 2025 World Series, and now Tucker.

Davey Lopes and Max Muncy are the only Dodgers with two postseason games with a home run and steal. Lopes did it in Game 4 of the 1977 World Series and Game 6 of the 1978 World Series. Muncy did it in Game 1 of the 2018 NLDS and Game 2 of the 2024 NLCS.

Twelve of the 14 Dodgers homer/steal postseason games have come at Dodger Stadium, and four were against the Braves, including Muncy and Kiké Hernández in the same contest, Game 1 of the 2018 NLDS.

This season I have probably watched more Braves baseball than any other season. And one of the recurring themes of this season and some of the previous seasons is the idea of “punting”. It’s saving your best pitchers, or designating which three of four of the bottom end of the bullpen will only pitch that particular game. It rubs many of you the wrong way.

To be honest, to me a punted game in May is disappointing but somewhat expected. To survive a 162-game season over 6 months, you need to reserve your strength. You don’t have to major in it as was done in 2024, and have it bear no fruit fruitlessly in the penultimate game. But it’s a cost of doing business. To survive, you may have to utilize you 12th or 13th best pitcher on your roster more than you would like. Or in some cases, 17th and 18th best. We at Battery Power are aware of this because we write up every roster move.

But Walt, this isn’t May, June, or even September.

What is this?

Or this? Why is objectively your 12th best pitching option serving meatballs in a NLDS game?

We can’t have this. This game deserved Dylan Dodd for three, Brent Suter for three, and perhaps AJ Smith-Shawver if necessary for three hitters or less. Then you see where you are in the seventh. If you are down, maybe downshift. If it’s remotely close then upshift.

Because for exactly this reason here.

The only excuse for today would be if Chris Sale cannot pitch Game 2. If he can’t, today could make sense. If he can, it’s absolutely infuriating and completely unnecessary. You saved your premium options only for Chris Sale to possibly go into the eighth inning tomorrow.

I am going to tell you that I really like AJ Smith-Shawver. He should not lose heart. He should absolutely be ready to mow down three hitters right now and break into the starting rotation in 2027. I love Victor Mederos. I think he’s been a revelation and I love his enthusiam. But we scrimp and save for seven months just for the opportunity to get into the Postseason. The Braves should spend their options lavishly and perform with their best players when we get there. If Sale is available tomorrow, I don’t want to hear it.

Weiss told reporters that “today was going to be tough for us to chase from behind because of how we emptied the tank on Thursday night.” I don’t know, Walt. if it was so tough, why pursue it with Brent Suter for two innings in the eighth? Walt did reveal later, “Look, you’ve got Sale and Mahle still. Tomorrow a much more rested bullpen. Yeah, I don’t have any worries about … having enough pitching. We’ve got plenty of pitching.” And also, “We weren’t going to pitch Fuentes from behind. It would have been 4 out of 5. Then he’s at risk tomorrow in a game that we’re up. Suarez was down because of the elbow, missing three months. We weren’t going to use him at all.” It rather sounds as if he approached this game as if Sale would not pitch, and the punt was on.

It’s been hard enough for Atlanta in the Postseason as it is. It’s harder when you don’t have your best options available, or decline to use them.

Max Muncy continues to thrive in October.

During the Dodgers’ 5-3 NLDS Game 1 victory against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, Muncy extended his team postseason home-run record to 17 after blasting a solo shot to the right-field bleachers in the sixth inning.

Muncy originally became the team leader for home runs in the postseason during Game 1 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers last year, surpassing Corey Seager, who was previously tied with Muncy for the team record at 13.

In the postseason, Muncy now has a career batting average of .217, with 38 RBIs and 57 hits.

“It’s awesome,” Muncy told Ken Rosenthal during a postgame interview on Fox. “It means a lot to me. The thing about that, that means the most to me is it means I’ve had a lot of opportunities to play in October, and that’s obviously what this is all about, is you want to have a chance to win the World Series.”

Muncy’s solo shot came just after his teammate Kyle Tucker knocked a two-run shot to give them a commanding 4-1 lead. Teoscar Hernandez was the first player on the team to homer with a 2-run blast in the fourth inning.

Like Muncy, Tucker has also built a reputation for thriving in baseball’s postseason, as he is a former World Series champion with the Houston Astros in 2022.

Both Muncy and Tucker have a combined 27 home runs in the postseason.

The Atlanta Braves have opened up this five-game series on the short-end of the stick to start things off, as they took a 5-3 loss on the chin against the Los Angeles Dodgers to begin the 2026 NLDS.

It’s a bit of a flattering result, since Tarik Skubal spent most of the game in complete control and the Braves were down by as much as four after AJ Smith-Shawver gave up a pair of dingers that really gave the Dodgers serious control of the game.

As far as the questions go about who did or didn’t pitch for the Braves today, it’s clear that Walt Weiss had bullpen load management in mind with some of the decisions that he made today. “It’s a challenge. Even today was going to be tough for us to chase from behind because of how we emptied the tank on Thursday night,” said Weiss when he was asked about how the bullpen is looking for the rest of the series.“

“We weren’t going to pitch Fuentes from behind. It would have been 4 out of 5. Then he’s at risk tomorrow in a game that we’re up. Suarez was down because of the elbow, missing three months. We weren’t going to use him at all.”

When Weiss was asked about whether or not the Braves have enough pitching to make it through this series, Weiss remained bullish about the pitching staff. “Look, you’ve got [Chris] Sale and [Tyler] Mahle still. Tomorrow a much more rested bullpen,” stated Weiss. Yeah, I don’t have any worries about that, about having enough pitching. We’ve got plenty of pitching.“

Speaking of Chris Sale, his potential availability for the Los Angeles portion of this series has been a big question. Obviously, the Braves would like to steal one on the road and gain home field advantage for the rest of the series and it’ll be a big question as to whether or not Sale can or will be fully effective since he’s already taken on a heavy workload here in the Postseason.

Weiss was asked directly about his pitching plan for Game 2 and whether it involved Chris Sale started and he explained that it’s too soon to figure it out. “We still haven’t decided yet. The game just got over,” said Weiss. “We’ll have some conversations about this. So not sure who’s going to start. That’s where we’re at right now.”

I’d imagine that they’re going to think it over and wait until tomorrow afternoon to announce who the starter is. If it’s Sale, then I’d imagine that it’d be a similar case to what happened the morning of Game 3 where Sale barges into Weiss’s office and tells him that he’s good to go. If it happens, it’ll be very intriguing to see how long he goes and how effective he’ll be. It’ll certainly be one of the future Hall-of-Famer’s biggest tests of his career — and doing so at age-37, no less.

Either way, it’s tough to win games when the offense lies dormant for most of it and that was the case for the Braves. All of the runs today were scored via the long ball, but Atlanta was unable to really do much of anything to Tarik Skubal while he was out there (outside of Sean Murphy’s homer) and then only Ozzie Albies’s ninth-inning dinger kept the score respectable in the end. The offense will have to be more consistent — easier said than done, I know, but it’s the Postseason. The job’s gotta get done.

Either way, Weiss tipped his cap to Skubal and the performance he put on against Atlanta’s lineup today. “[Skubal] looked like he was in top form today. He’s obviously a really good pitcher. Yeah, he was tough,” said Weiss when he was asked about Skubal’s start. “We knew it was going to be a rough ride, but yeah, he did a helluva job.”

It’s not going to get much easier going forward considering the quality of LA’s pitching staff but again, there’s no choice but to execute and the lineup has to get better going forward. Momentum is a bit overrated in my opinion but hopefully what the Braves were able to do in the ninth inning of Game 1 will carry over to Game 2. Otherwise, Atlanta might be in a hole once they return to Cobb County. We’ll see what happens, folks.

After a well-deserved week of rest, the Milwaukee Brewers are finally set to start their postseason action. A week filled with preparation, simulated games and workouts all leads up to the Crew’s first ever postseason matchup against the San Diego Padres.

The Brewers will have their ace on the mound in Jacob Misiorowski. The leading NL Cy Young contender, Misiorowski led the league in ERA (1.80) and strikeouts (252). The Padres will have the veteran left-hander Robbie Ray on the bump. Ray pitched to a 3.59 ERA this year, making 30 starts. He was a deadline acquisition from the San Francisco Giants. In Ray’s nine starts with the Padres, he had a 5.02 ERA.

The Padres used their two best starters to get through the Cubs in the Wild Card series. We’ll see just how deep into the game the Padres are looking to have Ray go against this Brewers lineup.

Even though there’s a left-handed starter on the mound, Pat Murphy elected to not put Andrew Vaughn in the starting lineup and went with Christian Yelich as the DH. When asked for the calculus as to why, Murphy said “I don’t think there’s calculus involved in that one.” Referring to Yelich’s body of work over his career as a large factor in the decision.

Murphy went on to say that Jake Bauers is still dealing with the toe and shin injuries and that if Bauers were 100% healthy, that he could have been an option in the outfield and put Vaughn at first. But the “risk of less defense” led him to keep Bauers at first base and put Lara in right.

That wasn’t the only interesting lineup decision from Murphy for Game 1. Cooper Pratt is batting 6th in the starting lineup, marking the first time in his young career that he has started higher than 7th. Pratt has been hitting .315 with a .794 OPS over the last 28 days, so he’s on a hot streak.

“You’re considering the other team, your own team, your individual player, his psyche, the options it gives you later, the mindset of who’s pitching” Murphy said. “We feel like with what we’re facing, Cooper is the best option there and letting Joey [Ortiz] hit down in the order.”

Brandon Woodruff also shared an update pregame that he will start throwing off a mound soon, though he does not have an exact date. The earliest he could possibly return would be if the Brewers made it to the World Series.

The Padres are staggering four lefties throughout their lineup against Jacob Misiorowski: Dustin Harris (2nd), Jackson Merrill (5th), Ethan Salas (7th) and Jake Cronenworth (9th). But mixed in between are some heavy hitters with Fernando Tatis Jr, Manny Machado, Ty France, Xander Bogaerts, and Luis Campusano.

Game 1 is here. The Brewers have their ace on the mound and need him to set the tone. We’ve seen Misiorowski step up in big moments before, and the energy of the playoffs will light up the radar gun.