Category: MLB

The MLB playoffs are inching closer to the World Series as the National League Champion Series continues with Game 2 on Monday, Oct. 12.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the defending champions and are one of the winningest franchises in all of baseball with nine World Series titles.

The Dodgers are taking on the Milwaukee Brewers, a mid-size market team that doesn't have quite a storied history. The Brewers' biggest claim to fame is baseball trail blazer and former home run king Hank Aaron. Other star players like CC Sabathia, Rollie Fingers, Don Sutton, Robin Yount and Paul Molitor have helped bring the club success and accolades.

After winning the first game of the NLCS, the Brewers are three victories away from reaching the World Series. They got here as the No. 1 seed in the National League with a 103-59 record. Milwaukee earned a bye in the wild card round and then beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 in the National League Division Series.

Have the Brewers won the World Series?

No, the Brewers have not won the World Series in their 57-year history. The club was established in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots, but moved to Milwaukee and rebranded as the Brewers the following year after the Milwaukee Braves relocated to Atlanta.

The Brewers have reached the postseason 12 times, including this year. Their first playoff appearance was in 1981 when they made it to the American League Division Series. They had a postseason drought from 1983 to 2008 when they reached the National League Division Series.

They switched from the American League to National League in 1998.

Baseball icon Hank Aaron played for the club in 1975 and 1976 before they reached the postseason.

How many times have the Brewers reached the World Series?

Milwaukee has played in the World Series one time. The Brewers faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1982 World Series, which went to seven games.

That 1982 Brewers team featured x players who would eventually be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Rollie Fingers, Don Sutton, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and Ted Simmons.

With Simmons batting cleanup and five hits from Molitor, the Brewers started the series strong and won the first game 10-0. The Cardinals responded by winning the next two games to go up in the series. The Brewers took the next two matchups, but the Cardinals won the sixth game 13-1 before winning the championship 6-3 in the final game.

Catcher Darrell Porter was named the World Series MVP in his second season with the Cardinals after he replaced Simmons as the backstop in St. Louis.

The Brewers reached the World Series by beating the then-California Angels in the American League Championship Series 3-2.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Have Brewers ever won the World Series? A look at Milwaukee's playoff history

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who’s been a force to be reckoned with in the postseason just had the shortest playoff outing in his career.

Yamamoto went 2 ⅔ innings while throwing 75 pitches, and gave up three runs, four hits, two walks, and had one strikeout in Game 2 of the NLCS on Monday night.

Before Monday, Yamamoto’s shortest outing happened in his playoffs debut against the San Diego Padres in 2024.

In the third inning of a tied 1-1 ballgame, the Brewers figured out the reigning World Series MVP as they were heavily working the count against him.

Before facing Christian Yelich as his final batter, Yamamoto had a 12-pitch battle against Jake Bauers.

Jake Bauers' 12-pitch walk against Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the most pitches any batter has seen in a plate appearance against Yamamoto in his career pic.twitter.com/rDCD0IWS9I

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 12, 2026

Facing a 3-2 count, Bauers fouled off six pitches in a row until a ball was thrown in the dirt, which resulted in him being walked and loading the bases. According to the FOX broadcast, it was longest at-bat of Bauers’ career.

The war with Bauers came before he threw a combined 22 pitches to David Hamilton, Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, and William Contreras during the inning.

With Hamilton, Turang, and Bauers still on the basepaths, Yamamoto gave up a two-RBI single to Yelich, giving the Brewers an early 3-2 lead.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts then came out and pulled Yamamoto from the game. Afterward, Roberts was asked why he pulled his postseason legend so early.

“For me, I felt we had to stop the damage right there.”

Lefty specialist Alex Vesia replaced Yamamoto, and did his job admirably, stopping the Dodgers’ bleeding by striking out Garrett Mitchell to end the inning.

Los Angeles quickly responded to the deficit by tacking on two runs following an errored throw by Logan Henderson in the fifth inning.

Unlike Game 1 of this NLCS, this game is going to be a marathon decided by the bullpens.

Go Rays!

The Los Angeles Dodgers took a 2-1 lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the top of the third inning in Game 2 of the NLCS on a pair of defensive lapses by the home team.

Tommy Edman led off the frame with a single. Mookie Betts followed with a grounder to short that could've been a double play, but the ball deflected off the heel of Cooper Pratt's glove and found grass in shallow left field to put the first two runners on.

Freddie Freeman came dangerously close to bringing them both home when he barreled a low changeup from Brewers starter Logan Henderson 106.1 mph over Sal Frelick's head in right field for what looked to be a surefire extra base hit, but Frelick – a Gold Glove winner in 2024 – made an incredible catch, leaping up and reaching behind him to pluck the line drive out of the air for an out. Edman was able to tag up and reach third, which proved to be crucial for what came next.

With Betts on first and second base open, he suddenly represented a threat to steal with one out in the inning. Henderson attempted to pick off the eight-time All-Star, but spiked the ball in front of first baseman Jake Bauers. The ball rolled deep into foul territory, giving Edman more than enough space to score the go-ahead run from third.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers take advantage of Brewers' defensive lapses, retake lead in wild inning

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s what’s on offer today:

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

Waiting all day for Monday night.

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

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

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

RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. RHP Logan Henderson

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

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

LHP Foster Griffin vs. RHP Drew Rasmussen

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

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

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

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

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

It’s a very, very awkward situation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dodgers at Brewers (5:00 PM EDT)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bring that same energy

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

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 12, 2026

Guardians at Rays (8:00 PM EDT)

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

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

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

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

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) October 12, 2026

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

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

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

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) October 12, 2026

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

The details of what’s inside Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s notebook are a mystery. And it appears it’ll stay that way.

As Yamamoto prepares to take the mound in Game 2 of the NLCS on Monday, his catcher, Will Smith, revealed that he doesn’t even know what’s inside it.

“We’re talking constantly, so it’s probably the same stuff,” Smith said. 

Another reporter immediately followed up with Smith, asking if he ever writes, “I smoked this guy,” after striking them out, to which Smith shrugged it off with a laugh and said, “No.”

Will Smith speaks on Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s viral notebook that he goes to during his starts in the dugout.

He also confirmed Yamamoto does not write “I smoked this guy” in it pic.twitter.com/ZqPRIH9g41

— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) October 12, 2026

Since Yamamoto joined the Dodgers two years ago, he’s regularly been spotted writing in his notebook and taking notes in between innings.

According to former professional pitcher Robby Rowland, the reason Yamamoto writes in a notebook instead of utilizing an iPad is that he has drawings of the strike zone.

Rowland believes that inside the drawings, he features pitches that are circled with different numbers – which could indicate which pitches batters swung at. He also added that writing down the pitches in the notebook helps more with his memory than utilizing modern technology.

During the World Series last year, Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated reported that Yamamoto will sit down with his interpreter and Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior in between innings and will use the notebook as his own personal scouting report and will review the next three or four hitters he’s set to face.

Last year, his method elevated him to winning the World Series MVP after he made two starts and appeared in three games last year, where he pitched in 17.2 innings, with a 1.02 ERA, and struck out 15 batters.

The Dodgers are hoping their MVP rises to the occasion in Game 2 as they’re coming off a brutal 2-1 loss to the Brewers on Sunday night.

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

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

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

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

Bring that same energy

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

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 12, 2026

NLCS Game 2 info

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— MLB (@MLB) October 12, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

TV: FOX/FOX ONE

Radio: ESPN Radio

SB Nation Sites:Brew Crew Ball, True Blue LA

Lineups:

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

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

Bring that same energy

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

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 12, 2026

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

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

SB Nation Sites:DRaysBay, Covering the Corner

Radio: ESPN Radio

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

TV: TBS/HBO Max

Stay tuned for lineups.

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