MLB News
It is Friday evening.
The Orioles have beaten the Yankees in the first game of a single admission doubleheader, winning a 10-2 blowout. Pete Alonso hit two homers in the game to increase his season homer total to 43 and RBIs to 113, Dylan Beavers blew the game open with a grand slam, and Jeremiah Jackson added an inside-the-park homer just to make things fun. Five Orioles had multi-hit games.
There is still another one to play on Friday, but for now,
YOU KNOW WHAT MUST BE DONE.
What a game. What a series. What a season. What a way for the San Diego Padres to clinch their spot in the 2026 postseason. The Friars sealed a series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night, earning a Wild Card berth and maintaining a one-game lead over the Chicago Cubs for the top spot in the NL Wild Card.
Despite being no-hit by Tyler Glasnow through 5 1/3 innings, the Padres quickly got to work with back-to-back singles before the first run crossed home plate on a Dustin Harris sac fly. Nick Pivetta worked in and out of trouble through 4 2/3 scoreless innings before turning it over to the bullpen. The Friars’ offense kept it going with a three-run seventh, capping off a huge series win with major playoff implications.
San Diego now returns home to Petco Park for the final series of the 2026 regular season. They’ll play the Arizona Diamondbacks with Wild Card seeding on the line. The Padres need to win every game to ensure that they retain the top Wild Card spot. The Dbacks, meanwhile, are playing their way into the playoffs. They’re two games back of the Philadelphia Phillies for the last spot.
Pfaadt has had a resurgent year with Arizona this season. He recorded a 5.25 ERA in 2025 but has pitched to a 3.72 ERA this year across 128 1/3 innings. He missed most of June after being demoted to Triple-A to figure out his mechanics and it worked. Since coming back on June 30, Pfaadt owns a 2.79 ERA (90.1 IP).
The right-hander has faced the Padres three times this season and gotten the better of them twice. After tagging Pfaadt for four runs in three innings on April 25, the Padres haven’t scored an earned run against him since. They’ll need to reverse that in order to notch a win in the series opener tonight.
Mize is scheduled to make his final start of the regular season tonight. It’s hard to understate just how much he has struggled since joining San Diego. It’s tanked his stock as an impending free agent as well as any ability to trust him as a playoff starter. That said, Mize has a great track record in the postseason and could shove when the lights are brightest.
The righty is coming off of one of his roughest outings, surrendering five runs to the Miami Marlins last Saturday. Thankfully, the Padres managed to come out with the win in extra innings. Since joining the Friars, Mize has pitched to a 6.64 ERA (40.2 IP), surrendering three or more runs in six of those outings. He’ll need to turn the tables tonight to restore some faith in his pitching.
The offense cooled off a bit in L.A., but that didn’t stop the Padres from scoring. After being shutout in the series opener, San Diego scored nine runs in the final two games. Against a pitching staff like the Dodgers’, that’s fantastic production. They’ll need their lineup to keep that up against Arizona if they are to retain their current seeding.
Salas has turned into an incredibly potent hitter in the last few weeks. In his last seven games, he’s recorded a blistering .389/.421/.722 slash line with five RBIs and a walk. He’s raking his way to a spot on the postseason roster, and could see plenty of time behind the dish this weekend.
After Pivetta’s stellar (albeit short) outing on Thursday night, Yuki Matsui, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller nailed down the final 4 1/3 innings. Adam, in his long-awaited return from the injured list, pitched a perfect frame on just five pitches. Miller struck out Tommy Edman to end the game, but the pitch was so filthy that the ball got away from Salas, allowing Edman to reach first. Miller ended the game shortly thereafter despite allowing a run to cross on a Shohei Ohtani double.
Tonight, San Diego can breathe a sigh of relief as they hope to give their high-leverage arms some rest in anticipation of the coming playoff series on Tuesday. The Friars will have Kyle Hart, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta, Bradgley Rodriguez and Randy Vásquez available out of the ‘pen tonight. Adam will likely be available as well given his low pitch count last night.
Three games. That’s it.
The Rockies have reached the final weekend of the 2026 season, and after the way the last two months have gone, I am very much looking forward to the offseason and what comes next — pending lockout notwithstanding.
Don’t get me wrong, there was real progress this year. Colorado had stretches where it looked much more competitive and gave some reason to believe things were moving in the right direction.
But August and September have been rough.
The Rockies are 14-35 over the last two months, including 5-16 in September, and come into Chicago on a four-game losing streak. They closed the book on Coors Field by getting swept by Arizona, falling 7-2, 5-3 and 12-8.
So yes, I am ready for the offseason. Ready to start sorting through the roster, the rotation, what worked, what didn’t and what comes next.
Six months of watching this team every day is about to stop all at once, and as ready as I am to turn the page, I know I am going to miss watching these guys play when suddenly there is no game to turn on.
Before that happens, it would be nice to see the Rockies close the season on a positive note against a quality opponent. The playoff-bound White Sox still have something to play for, entering the weekend just one game behind Cleveland in the AL Central.
Tomoyuki Sugano gets the first chance to help make that happen tonight, probably for the final time as a Rockie.
Sugano enters 12-11 with a 5.36 ERA over 147.2 innings. A win tonight would give him 13, making him the first Rockies pitcher to win 13 or more games in a season since 2018, when Kyle Freeland won 17 and Germán Márquez won 14.
The second half has been difficult, but Sugano is coming off one of his better recent starts after holding Seattle to one run on one hit over five innings with five strikeouts.
Recently, the biggest issue has been avoiding the big inning.
Sugano has shown he can still navigate a lineup when he keeps the damage contained, but several starts have gotten away from him quickly when mistakes begin stacking together.
He continues to work with a deep seven-pitch mix led by his split-finger, four-seam fastball and sinker, with a sweeper, cutter, slider and curveball mixed in. The splitter remains his best bat-missing pitch.
Sean Burke will make his final regular-season start for Chicago after putting together a strong year.
The right-hander enters 10-7 with a 3.40 ERA, 178 strikeouts and a 1.20 WHIP over 167 innings. Burke leads with a four-seam fastball around 95 mph and pairs it with a knuckle curve around 79 mph, creating a sizeable velocity gap. He fills the space between with a slider and cutter while also mixing in a sinker. The changeup is barely used at all.
The exact combination changes with handedness. Lefties see more four-seamers and curveballs, while the slider becomes a bigger part of the plan against righties. Left-handed hitters have produced a .233/.305/.405 line against Burke, compared with .217/.302/.339 for righties.
Burke doesn’t have pinpoint command and can give up some hard contact in the air, but he has enough stuff to miss bats. He has also pitched well down the stretch outside of one ugly start in Pittsburgh. In his other three September outings, Burke has allowed just one earned run over 16.2 innings.
On offense, there are a few milestones worth tracking over the final weekend. Hunter Goodman is sitting on 39 home runs, one away from 40, while T.J. Rumfield is batting .297 with a chance to finish his first major-league season at .300. Jake McCarthy is also two triples shy of 15, which would give him at least 15 doubles, 15 triples, 15 home runs and 15 stolen bases on the year.
So, can Sugano avoid the big inning and pick up win No. 13 while the Rockies find a way through Burke and open their final weekend with a win?
The details…
First pitch: 5:40 p.m. MDT
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
White Sox SB Nation:South Side Sox
Lineups:
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Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site:Bucs Dugout
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Jackson Jobe (2-3, 3.98 ERA) vs. RHP Bubba Chandler (8-9, 4.34 ERA)
| Player | G | IP | K% | BB% | GB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobe | 8 | 40.2 | 25.0 | 8.1 | 46.8 | 4.55 | 0.3 |
| Chandler | 30 | 151.1 | 21.0 | 11.6 | 38.9 | 4.21 | 2.0 |
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Game One of the last series of the season.
Not surprisingly, there was a roster move: CJ Van Eyk was optioned to Buffalo and John Klein has been recalled. So we only have two more days of roster moves let.
And Vlad apologized for his comment. People that are mad about it all aren’t going to care about the apology.
Anyway, today’s lineup. As Dan has said, George Springer will likely play in the outfield on Sunday so that John can take him out of the game to allow the fans to give Springer a well deserved ovation. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t get an ovation in every at bat.
Joey Votto is just a good guy.
With 159 games down, there are just three left in the Atlanta Braves’ 2026 regular season.
Those final three will be played at Miami, starting Friday at 7:10 p.m. EDT, before the Braves return to Truist Park to host a best-of-three wild-card series against a TBD team starting next Tuesday.
But first, Atlanta has a three-game set against the Marlins which has minimal stakes with the Braves locked into the No. 3 seed in the National League. The Braves are kicking off their time in South Florida with a bullpen game started by left-hander Ray Kerr.
Let’s all enjoy some rare innings of (relatively) stress-free baseball this weekend before the impending dread that is postseason baseball descends next week.
When the Milwaukee Brewers were last at American Family Field, they still had not yet clinched the NL Central. Today, they return back home, not only division champions for the fourth consecutive year, but they also clinched a bye to the NLDS, clinched the best record in all of baseball and clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs, including the World Series.
There is, quite literally, nothing left to play for in the standings. Whether the Brewers win or lose, it will have no bearing on the outcome of the regular season or what their postseason path would look like.
However, that doesn’t mean these games aren’t important. Mentally, it’s important for the Brewers to keep their foot on the gas and stay locked in, because if they lose that focus, it can be extremely difficult to get it again in the postseason.
The St. Louis Cardinals, meanwhile, have nothing to play for but pride. The Cardinals are going to have a losing season regardless, as they already have 82 losses on the season. They are essentially locked into a 4th place finish in the division.
There were a slew of roster moves from the Brewers prior to the game. Bryse Wilson was reinstated from the injured list with Lyon Richardson being designated for assignment to make room. Also Andrew Vaughn was placed on the 10-day IL with an illness. Outfielder Brandon Lockridge was recalled from Triple-A to take his roster spot.
The Brewers will have Robert Gasser on the mound as he makes his last push for a postseason rotation job. Gasser massively helped his cause his last time out against Baltimore, throwing seven shutout innings en route to a 1-0 victory. If Gasser can continue to climb that trust tree, he could very easily be in play to start Game 3 of the NLDS.
“Gas[ser] has been confident. He’s starting to understand his stuff and how it works…and he’s taking that step, when you see the confidence and then you see the consistency, that’s what fires you up.” Pat Murphy said.
The Cardinals will have right-hander Michael McGreevy on the mound. McGreevy has had a solid season, making 30 starts for St. Louis with a 3.84 ERA.
The lineup going against McGreevy tonight will have Garrett Mitchell, Brice Turang, and William Contreras atop the order. Jake Bauers, Christian Yelich, and Joey Ortiz form the middle of the order with Ortiz holding down shortstop. Cooper Pratt is sitting today because he’s “not feeling well”, per Pat Murphy. Luis Lara, Sal Frelick, and David Hamilton round out the bottom of the order. Lara is in right field while Frelick is in left field. Jackson Chourio is sitting once again today, but will likely be the first man off the bench. Murphy is trying to strategically give a few of his starters rest days here and Chourio is one of them.
The Cardinals lineup against Gasser will have JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, and Jordan Walker leading things off. Leo Bernal, Jose Fermin, and Thomas Saggese form the middle of the order. Then Masyn Winn, Pedro Pages, and Victor Scott II round out the bottom of the lineup.
There’s nothing left to clinch, but the Brewers still have to play their way and are looking to finish off the regular season on a high note.
The end is truly near now. It is time for the final series of the season. The Nats square off against the Mets this weekend for their last games of 2026. With one more win, the Nats will secure not being in last place. This should be a fun series to watch.
James Wood will be the DH for the Nats in this one. That means the outfield will consist of Daylen Lile, Jacob Young and Dylan Crews. CJ Abrams is at shortstop, meaning Jorbit Vivas will be playing second base and Brady House is at third. Keibert Ruiz is behind the dish tonight. Andrew Alvarez has been pitching well, but hopefully he can finally be rewarded with a win tonight.
The Nats have rarely seen Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto in the lineup at the same time this season. That will change tonight though. The two stars are at the top of the Mets order. Ironically, this is the healthiest the Mets have been in a while. We will see a newer face in Christopher Morel at the bottom of the order. The eccentric Jefry Yan will be the opener for New York.
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Game Info:
Stadium: Nationals Park
Time: 6:45 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
This has been a step forward season for the Nats, who now have 75 wins. With one more, they will avoid last place, which I think is a big deal. Even with just three games left, there is plenty to play for in DC. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!
After playing a pair of games at Fenway Park Friday, Sept. 25, the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox will pack their bags and beat a hasty path out of Beantown to the warm embrace of climate control.
Hello, St. Petersburg, Florida.
Both playoff-bound clubs will finish their regular seasons in a most unexpected place − Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. That contingency edged closer to reality as a nasty Nor'easter is expected to pummel the Northeast this weekend, prompting the clubs to move Saturday's game to a Friday doubleheader at Fenway.
The Sunday finale was a wait-and-see situation − but Major League Baseball had seen enough by Friday afternoon and moved the game before the weather turned.
It is a somewhat ironic twist: Tropicana Field was rendered unplayable by a hurricane in October 2024, prompting the Rays to play their 2025 home schedule at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. This time, the Trop will provide a safe haven for the Cubs and Red Sox, who each have little at stake.
The Red Sox locked themselves into the No. 5 seed in the American League playoffs by beating the Cubs 4-3 in Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader. That means once the teams contest Game 162 in central Florida − game time 3:05 p.m. ET Sunday − the Red Sox will hop a plane to New York for their best-of-three wild card series against the Yankees.
While the Red Sox (86-74) have locked in their AL seeding, they could be playing for some World Series home field ramifications against certain NL squads. The Cubs entered Game 2 Friday with an 88-72 record and hold the tiebreaker over both the San Diego Padres (89-70) and Philadelphia Philies (87-72). They could still land on any of the Nos. 1-3 wild card spots, which would mean hosting a three-game series, traveling to the No. 1 wild card or traveling to NL East division champ Atlanta.
The AL East champion Rays are concluding their season with a three-game series at Philadelphia, and have a bye to the AL Division Series. That means if the Red Sox win their series at New York, they'll turn around and head back to Tampa Bay to start the best-of-five ALDS against the Rays Saturday, Oct. 3.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cubs vs. Red Sox season finale moved to Florida's Tropicana Field due to storm
Both the Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds entered the 2026 season with high hopes. Toronto was fresh off a 2025 campaign that saw them win 94 games and come damn close to taking down the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series, while the Reds managed to actually win more games than they lost – for them, a true feat of strength.
Nothing close to that has gone to plan in 2026, however.
Toronto finally got bounced from the murky AL Wild Card chase earlier this week to officially end their postseason dreams, while the Reds have been dead in the water for months now. Sadly, that makes this weekend’s final series of the season completely meaningless in the grand scheme even if there are a few personal milestones certain players are attempting to reach.
Elly De La Cruz mashed the 30th homer of his season last night and now sits a steal away from joining the 30/30 club. Sal Stewart is still firmly in the mix for the major league lead in RBI (while also trying to keep his season OPS beginning with an 8), and the Reds as a whole are trying to see if they can finish the season last in each of wRC+, FIP, and DRS.
Yay!
Nick Lodolo gets his final start of the season looking to finish strong in Friday’s series opener, while Jose Soriano will go for the Jays. First pitch is set for 7:07 PM ET.
Here’s how both clubs will line up to start:
NEW YORK (AP) — CC Sabathia saw many ceremonies honoring former players during 11 seasons with the New York Yankees and never envisioned he would be an honoree.
Sabathia became the 24th player or manager to get his number retired and the Hall of Fame left-hander was honored with a plaque in Monument Park during a ceremony before a doubleheader opener against Baltimore on Friday.
Sabathia joined Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada as the fifth member of 2009 World Series champion Yankees with a retired number and plaque.
“I never envisioned myself going into Monument Park and I think that was the reason why I was so scared to come here is because you don’t ever think you’re going to win the Yankee fans over or the city over,” Sabathia said. “So to be able to be sitting here now, playing here 11 years is an incredible feeling and that’s why I’ve said the last couple of weeks, this feels bigger to me than the Hall of Fame because I know what was at stake when I came here.”
Now 46, Sabathia signed a $161 million, seven-year contract before the 2009 season after being convinced by general manager Brian Cashman following an initial meeting in December 2008. The contract was the largest at the time for a free-agent pitcher.
Sabathia went 19-8 with a 3.37 ERA in 34 starts for the Yankees in his first season. He earned the AL Championship Series MVP Award, going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in a six-game win over the Los Angeles Angels and started Games 1 and 4 as the Yankees beat Philadelphia for their 27th title.
Sabathia went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, during 19 seasons with Cleveland (2001-08), Milwaukee (2008) and the Yankees (2009-19).
During 11 seasons in New York, Sabathia was 134-88 with a 3.81 ERA and 1,700 strikeouts. He ranks fourth in franchise history in strikeouts, seventh in starts, 10th in wins and 11th in innings.
Sabathia was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2025, receiving 86.8% of the vote. He was inducted with Billy Wagner and Ichiro Suzuki, a former Yankee teammate from 2012-14.
“That ceremony was incredible, surreal,” Sabathia said. “I was saying out there I have so many famous teammates whether it’s Mo, Derek, Andy. So I’ve been at the ceremony a bunch of times but to have that ceremony be for me is special and to have my family out there was cool.”
The Yankees’ ceremony began with video messages from Jeter, Paul O’Neill, Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams, and Sabathia unveiled the plaque with his wife Amber, two of his children, two friends and his mother, Margie.
After video highlights, Sabathia waved to fans from a golf cart along the warning track. He was presented with a blue blazer, a framed version of his plaque and retired number along with a ring commemorating his career from general manager Brian Cashman — who was booed by fans.
After the ceremony, Sabathia threw out the ceremonial first pitch to his son Carsten, a Milwaukee minor league first baseman.
It's been another frustrating year for Ronny Mauricio.
Now 25 years old, Mauricio is wrapping up another season where injuries robbed him of an opportunity to establish himself as a regular at the big league level.
His biggest shot came earlier this year when the Mets lost Francisco Lindor to a calf injury, but Mauricio was forced to the IL himself after just seven games due to a fractured thumb.
The young infielder would miss a couple of months, and upon returning, found himself once again glued down at the Triple-A level where he was tearing the cover off the ball.
Mauricio was called back up to the majors last week following Jared Young’s scary injury at first base, but he has appeared in just one game since then.
Mauricio is expected to work his way into the lineup for Saturday’s middle game against the Nationals, but still won’t log more than 20 games in the big leagues this season.
With no more minor league options remaining heading into next year, Andy Green was asked about the former top prospect's outlook moving forward.
“He missed a lot of time, that was a nasty knee injury,” the skipper said. “He’s come back and the athleticism has returned. I don’t see any residual effect from that -- from my vantage point, people come back from injuries all the time.
“Does it make life harder? Sure. Does he have every opportunity to still turn this into a good career? Sure, he does. The path forward for him is to impact the baseball consistently, and if he can, minimize the chase.”
Mauricio certainly was able to do that again in Triple-A this year, hitting .261 with 18 homers and a .793 OPS.
Francisco Lindor – SS
Juan Soto – LF
Bo Bichette – 3B
Mark Vientos – DH
Carson Benge – RF
Francisco Alvarez – C
Marcus Semien – 2B
A.J. Ewing – CF
Christopher Morel – 1B
SP: Justin Hagenman – RHP
James Wood – DH
Andres Chaparro – 1B
Brady House – 3B
Dylan Crews – RF
CJ Abrams – SS
Jacob Young – CF
Daylen Lile – LF
Keibert Ruiz – C
Jorbit Vivas – 2B
SP: Andrew Alvarez – LHP
First pitch: 6:45 PM EDT
TV: WPIX
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
Baseball's most iconic rivalry returns once again for the Wild Card Series, with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees officially set to clash for the second straight year in the best-of-three series on NBC, Peacock and NBCSN. While times for first pitch are still yet to be determined, the dates are set with plenty to review ahead of next week's action.
Fans can look forward to all four Wild Card Series exclusively on NBC, Peacock and NBCSN, with Red Sox-Yankees set as the first official matchup of this year's postseason. Dive in below for TV/live stream information, key storylines and how to watch the entire Wild Card Series on NBC and Peacock.
The Red Sox and Yankees will officially begin their Wild Card series on Tuesday, September 29 at Yankee Stadium. Game 2 will follow the next day on Wednesday, September 30, with a potential Game 3 set for Thursday, October 1.
Fans can watch every single Red Sox-Yankees Wild Card game exclusively on NBC, Peacock and NBCSN.
Game 1:
Game 2:
Game 3 (if necessary):
All three games will be played at Yankee Stadium.
Probable pitchers are TBD with the regular season heading into its final weekend. The Yankees will likely utilize Cam Schlittler and Max Fried for Games 1 and 2, with Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole looming as potential Game 3 starters. Red Sox manager Chad Tracy is expected to lean on a combination of breakout rookie Payton Tolle, veteran Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez.
Both teams played incredibly close ball against one another all season long, with the Yankees just barely edging out the season series (7-6). New York went 4-2 against Boston at home this season.
2025 AL Wild Card Series: The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 2-1 in the series to advance to the ALDS, where Cam Schlittler delivered an all-time pitching performance in Game 3 (Eight scoreless innings, 12 strikeouts).
2021 AL Wild Card Game: The Red Sox won 6-2 behind Nathan Eovaldi's eight strikeouts over 5.1 innings, while Gerrit Cole lasted just two innings.
2018 ALDS: Boston took the series with ease in 3-1 fashion before eventually defeating the Dodgers to win the World Series.
2004 ALCS: Terry Francona's squad made history by becoming the first team in MLB history to come back from a 3-0 deficit, where the Red Sox won four straight games to stun the Yankees on the road to their first World Series title since 1918.
2003 ALCS: Before the Red Sox made history in 2004's ALCS, they fell to the Yankees in a tight series (4-3) before New York lost in the World Series to the Marlins.
1999 ALCS: New York took care of business with a 4-1 series win en route to a World Series sweep over the Braves.
1978 AL East tiebreaker game: Also known as the 'Bucky Dent game,' this matchup added plenty of fuel to the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, where New York won 5-4.
All four Wild Card Series are best-of-three matchups, with the higher seeds earning home-field advantage for the entire series. The Wild Card Series will take place across a three-day stretch from September 29 to October 1, with potential Game 3s falling on October 1.
NBC, Peacock and NBCSN are the home for this year's MLB Wild Card Series. You can sign up for Peacock here, available to enjoy on a variety of devices. View the full list of supported devices here. Wild Card games on NBC will also be available on Peacock. NBCSN is available on YouTube TV, Fubo and Xfinity.
It’s been rumored for several days, but now it’s official: Game 162 for both the Cubs and Red Sox will be played Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. Central time at the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Red Sox had already moved Sunday’s scheduled game to Friday afternoon, where the teams played at Fenway Park and the Red Sox won 4-3. So technically this is Saturday’s scheduled game, moved to the Trop and it will be played at the same time all the other Sunday games will take place, in the 3 p.m. Eastern time hour.
The teams got lucky that the nor’easter that is going to make a washout of the Boston-area weekend held up long enough for them to play two games at Fenway Park on Friday. Honestly, they should have just moved the entire series to Florida — this forced the Cubs to take flights on consecutive days. The teams were given Saturday off because their flights from Boston were both scheduled to arrive at the Clearwater airport well after midnight. (MLB teams going to play the Rays generally fly to Clearwater and stay in that area as it’s closer to the Trop than the Tampa airport is.)
If you’re in the Tampa Bay area and want to go to this game, you can buy tickets at this link.
Thus the Cubs will have a rare off day Saturday. I’ll have some content posted here during the day Saturday and I’ll also post a game thread so all of you can follow Rays/Phillies (6:15 CT) and D-backs/Padres (8:40 CT).
We still don’t know, as of the time of this post, where the Cubs will be playing Tuesday or who their Wild Card opponent will be. As always, we await developments.
Eric Samulski