ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 29: Austin Riley #27 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after a three-run home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the eighth inning in game one of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park on September 29, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s game 2 of the National League Wild Card series as the Atlanta Braves will try to eliminate the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday afternoon. LHP Cristopher Sánchez will make the start for the Phillies while the Braves will hope RHP Tyler Mahle can help them dispose of Philadelphia. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00pm central time and the Wild Card series broadcasts are being handled by NBC/Peacock.
MILWAUKEE — Joey Ortiz believes he’s healthy enough to play in Milwaukee’s NL Division Series opener, but the Brewers are remaining careful with the 28-year-old infielder who underwent an MRI on his right knee.
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy limited Ortiz’s participation in a workout as the Brewers prepare to face the winner of the NL Wild Card Series between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres. Ortiz left Milwaukee’s victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth inning and didn’t play in the Brewers’ final two regular-season games.
“His knee, his abdomen, there’s still concern,” Murphy said. “He won’t tell you about it.”
Murphy had indicated that Ortiz’s MRI results turned out well. Ortiz hurt his right knee while trying to make a play on a foul ball in Philadelphia.
“It’s all good,” Ortiz said regarding his health. “We’re good.”
Ortiz then went into a little more detail regarding his preparation to make sure he’s healthy as possible for the start of Milwaukee’s playoff run.
“The goal is to make sure that I’m ready to play and compete at 100% during the postseason,” Ortiz said. “That’s going to be the goal. At this point in the season, everyone’s dealing with something. So you’ve just got to stay on top of it and just make sure you can play.”
Ortiz, who alternates between third base and shortstop, is primarily known for his exceptional defense. But he also emerged as one of the Brewers’ hottest hitters late in the season while bouncing back from a miserable start at the plate.
He was hitting .188 with a .518 OPS at the end of May, but recovered to finish the regular season with a .270 batting average, .328 on-base percentage, .402 slugging percentage, nine homers and 47 RBIs in 134 games.
Over his last 61 games, Ortiz batted .333 with a .378 on-base percentage, .531 slugging percentage, seven homers and 28 RBIs.
He’s eager to help the Brewers chase their first World Series title in franchise history. The Brewers won a franchise-record 103 games this season to earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“The biggest reason for optimism for our ballclub is we know how to win,” Ortiz said. “I think our competitive level is extremely high and we want to win every ballgame. It doesn’t matter what the score is at any point, we always feel like we can win. I think we’re going to make a great run and win the World Series.”
In other Brewers news, Murphy essentially confirmed the obvious by saying he likely would start Jacob Misiorowski in Game 1 and Logan Henderson in Game 2 of the NLDS, though he immediately backtracked on that remark. Misiorowski (16-5) posted a 1.80 ERA and struck out 252 batters during the regular season to lead the major leagues in both categories. Henderson went 11-3 with a 2.47 ERA in his rookie season.
“It’s obvious they’re our two top starters right now, so it will probably be the way that we go,” Murphy said. “Subject to change, you never know how things will go.”
New York, NY - September 29: The Boston Red Sox played the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the 2026 Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium on September 29, 2026. (Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
We have four game again. Same order as yesterday. The games were good yesterday.
2:00 Eastern: Phillies @ Braves. Braves won game one.
Today it is Cristopher Sánchez (18-7, 2.91) vs. Tyler Mahle (7-10, 3.99)
The lineups are posted already:
Today’s Lineups
PHILLIES
BRAVES
Trea Turner – SS
Ronald Acuna – RF
Kyle Schwarber – DH
Drake Baldwin – DH
Bryce Harper – RF
Ozzie Albies – 2B
Bryson Stott – 2B
Matt Olson – 1B
Alec Bohm – 1B
Mauricio Dubon – LF
Brandon Marsh – LF
Austin Riley – 3B
Edmundo Sosa – 3B
Michael Harris – CF
Justin Crawford – CF
Sean Murphy – C
J.T. Realmuto – C
Ha-Seong Kim – SS
C. Sanchez – LHP
Tyler Mahle – RHP
5:00 Eastern: White Sox @ Astros. White Sox won game one, I thought it was the best game of the day.
Sean Burke (11-7, 3.34) vs. Hunter Brown (6-4, 3.19).
8:00 Eastern: Red Sox @ Yankees. Yankees crushed the Red Sox yesterday. Always happy to see the Red Sox get thumped, but then it was the Yankees.
Sonny Gray (18-5, 2.72) vs. Max Fried (5-5, 2.80). If they can figure out a way for both to lose, I’d appreciate it.
10:00 Eastern: Cubs @ Padres. Padres won game one.
Kevin Gausman (9-12, 4.51) vs. Nick Pivetta (3-2, 2.86). Go Kevin Go.
I am going to cheer for all the teams that lost yesterday, so we get more baseball, other than the Yankees/Red Sox game, I can’t cheer for either of those teams.
ATLANTA – If Alec Bohm is indeed in his final days with the Phillies, he’s going out with a bang.
Bohm, who’ll soon be a free agent, smacked a solo home run with two outs in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Phillies to a dramatic 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park on Wednesday afternoon.
The best-of-three series is tied at a game apiece. A winner-take-all Game 3 is set for Thursday. Aaron Nola, the longest tenured Phillie, will make the biggest start of his career.
Bohm’s homer was one of three that the Phillies hit against the Braves’ bullpen in the late innings. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper hit back-to-back shots in the top of the eighth inning to tie the game at 3-3.
Harper’s game-tying homer came moments after he misplayed a ball in right field in the seventh inning that paved the way for the Braves to score two runs and break a 1-1 tie.
The Phillies’ beleaguered bullpen got a huge lift from rookie Andrew Painter. He did not allow a run over the final three innings and got the win. He struck out Dominic Smith looking with two men on base to end the game. The final pitch was initially ruled a ball but overturned by ABS.
Starting pitchers Cristopher Sanchez and Tyler Mahle hooked up in a tight pitchers’ duel.
Atlanta’s Mahle pitched seven innings and allowed just one run. The run came in the first inning as the Phillies stroked three hits. He put up zeroes the rest of his day.
Sanchez went 6 2/3 innings and gave up just three runs, two of them after his defense collapsed in the seventh. He threw a career-high 116 pitches.
It was a 1-1 game entering the bottom of the seventh. The Phillies’ defense betrayed them in the inning. One inning after making an excellent play to start a 3-2-3 double play, first baseman Bohm could not get an out on a bunt as the Braves put runners on first and second. With one out, Harper then misplayed a ball in right field – it was generously scored a double — that allowed the Braves to score the tie-breaking run. Matt Olson followed with a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-1 game.
With a two-run lead, the Braves went to lefty Dylan Lee in the top of the eighth. He allowed back-to-back homers to the first two batters he faced, Schwarber and Harper, as the Phillies tied the game.
Bohm’s homer in the 10th came against right-hander Didier Fuentes. Bohm has RBIs in both games of the series. He had 88 RBIs during the regular season. None were as big as Thursday’s. It helped the Phils live for another day.
The Chicago White Sox' Sam Antonacci is hit by a pitch in the sixth inning against the Houston Astros in Game 1 of an A.L. Wild Card series at Daikin Park on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, in Houston. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
We have a second day of Wild Card games today, and you can talk about them here.
The Braves host the Phillies at 1 p.m. in a game that will be played on NBC. Atlanta is up 1-0 in the series.
The Astros, down 1-0, deal with the White Sox at 4 p.m. in a game that is on Peacock and NBC Sports Network.
Boston plays New York at 7 p.m. on NBC in a series where the Yankees are up 1-0.
And the Padres, up 1-0, play the Cubs in San Diego at 9 p.m. on a Peacock/NBC Sports Network game.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 29: Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres reacts after scoring a run on a throwing error by Carson Kelly #15 of the Chicago Cubs during the seventh inning in game one of the National League Wild Card Series at Petco Park on September 29, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The first day of the 2026 playoffs was a good one across the board. The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies battled back and forth before the Braves took a crucial lead in the bottom of the eighth to win 5-3. The Chicago White Sox then rolled into Houston to defeat the Astros 6-3. Then, in the primetime matchups, the New York Yankees shut out the Boston Red Sox 9-0 while the San Diego Padres shut out the Chicago Cubs 8-0.
It’s a crucial day as Tuesday’s winners look to wrap up the series and move on to the division round while the losing teams try to stave off elimination.
Here’s the schedule for today:
Philadelphia Phillies @ Atlanta Braves on NBC/Peacock at 12:00 pm MDT
Chicago White Sox @ Houston Astros on Peacock/NBC at 3:00 pm MDT
Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees on NBC/Peacock at 6:00 pm MDT
Chicago Cubs @ San Diego Padres on Peacock/NBC @ 8:00 pm MDT
We’ll add lineups as they become available.
Philadelphia Phillies (0-1) at Atlanta Braves (1-0) — 12:00 pm MDT
The Cubs and Padres will again be the last of the four Wild Card Series to get underway today. That game will begin at 9 p.m. CT and I will have the usual game preview up at 6:30 p.m. CT.
In the meantime, there are three other Wild Card games today, so this is an all-purpose game thread for you to discuss the baseball action this afternoon and early evening.
The Braves, White Sox and Yankees can wrap up their series by winning today, as well as the Padres over the Cubs later tonight.
Here are all the details for those three games.
1 p.m. CT: Phillies at Braves (Braves lead series 1-0)
TV: NBC. Announcers: Matt Vasgersian, John Kruk, C.J. Nitkowski, Joey Votto
The Atlanta Braves are looking to secure a Wild Card series win today behind Tyler Mahle. Mahle only allowed one earned run against the Phillies in thirteen innings against them earlier this month.
Cristopher Sánchez is pitching for the Phillies. Overall he has had a fantastic season, but has an ERA north of five this past month. He also has struggled mightily against Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuña, and Austin Riley.
On paper the Braves have the slight edge. Follow along in the comments as we root for a series win today.
The curious case of Roman Anthony’s 2026 season is, in all likelihood, over.
Red Sox manager Chad Tracy announced prior to Game 2 of the Wild Card Series that Anthony had been sent back to Boston for further imaging on his injured hand the previous night, and that the results were not good.
“[The imaging] showed additional damage to some muscles in his wrist that weren’t there before,” Tracy said.
Tracy shared that the Red Sox had “paperwork in” to replace Anthony on the roster, which would by necessity keep him out for the Wild Card Series and the ALDS, if the Red Sox make it that far. Based on Tracy’s report on the injury, it did not sound like a return at any point in October would be realistic.
“He’s a really good player,” Tracy said of Anthony. “Certainly not something that we wanted to happen.”
Per multiple reports, the Red Sox replaced Anthony on the roster with infielder Curtis Mead. The team acquired Mead via trade in late July but he played just one game for Boston, breaking his wrist in his debut. He batted .253 with an .851 OPS in 88 games for Washington prior to the injury.
A torn ligament at the base of Anthony’s ring finger — originally diagnosed as a minor wrist injury by the Red Sox — ended up costing Anthony nearly four months this season. He returned to the Red Sox at the end of August and played through the end of the season, but a check swing in Game No. 162 appeared to aggravate his injury, and two check-swing strikeouts in Game 1 against Cam Schlittler of the Yankees ended his playoff debut early.
The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported that Anthony’s “issue predated” Game 1, with Andruw Monasterio being told before the game that he may be needed to pinch-hit for Anthony at some point.
Tracy said that it’s “not necessarily” a recurrence of the same injury, and also that it’s too soon to know if surgery will be required.
Anthony was limited to just 55 games this year, hitting .245 (down from .292 last year) with a .735 OPS (down from .859 last season). Interestingly, due to the timing of his injury, Anthony missed out on most of the Red Sox’ winning this year.
The team was 14-21 when he suffered the injury in Detroit on May 4. When Anthony returned on Aug. 30, the team was 74-62, having gone 60-41 in his absence. The team went 13-13 after Anthony’s return.
Anthony also missed last year’s Wild Card Series after suffering an oblique strain in early September.
“He’s upset. Mentally going through it, he wants to be out there. He wants to be out there with the guys,” Tracy said, noting that Anthony was traveling back to New York to be with the team. “It’s grinding on him for sure. He’s upset. He wants to be out there with the guys. And obviously, everything he’s gone through this year, dealing with these different things, it’s tough for him. There’s no question from anyone on our side of things, we love the kid, love the player, fantastic player. He’s just dealt with hardships this year, and this is the next in line with that.”
Feb 18, 2026; Peoria, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta (27) during spring training photo day. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 01: A television camera lens is shown before the start of the game as the New York Yankees host the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on September 1, 2017 in New York City. The Red Sox won 4-1. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) | Getty Images
According to Wikipedia, comic relief is defined as, “the inclusion of a humorous character or scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious or dramatic work, often to relieve tension.” We were treated to some unexpected comic relief during the first game of the American League Wild Card Series, thanks to NBC’s production team.
Last night was a complete disaster for the Boston Red Sox, no doubt. It’s hard to find anything funny about a game where you:
-Lost 9-0 at your biggest rival’s yard,
-Saw your manager make some questionable decisions,
-Saw your starter fail to go five innings (though he left with the game in tact),
-Collected just three hits compared to approximately 38,000 whiffs,
-Hit the ball into the outfield on, like, five occasions,
-Saw one of your franchise players leave early due to (what I can only assume is at the time of writing) an injury, and
-Your bullpen got knocked around all over the place.
Not much joy to be found there whatsoever. However, I gotta call a spade a spade: The music situation that NBC/Peacock had on their hands during the top of the fifth inning—before everything really turned to shit—was hysterical in my book.
Peacock is currently playing elevator music in the middle of Yankees vs Red Sox? What the hell is going on
In case you missed it: NBC’s broadcast showed a replay of Caleb Durbin’s double play (one of the few bright spots for Boston on Tuesday) coming out of the break and into the start of the fifth. Typical network stock music was playing underneath it, nothing out of the ordinary. The highlight stopped, but the music kept going…and going…and going…and going…
Commentary be damned, action on the field be damned, the band played on. I wish I had a full replay of the broadcast to time exactly how long it was playing for, but it had to be for at least two minutes. Two minutes isn’t a lot of time in the wild ride we call life, sure, but when generic TV bed music is playing nonstop during a tense playoff game when you aren’t expecting it, two minutes feels like an eternity.
Hey everyone, happy to announce that I was recently hired as NBC Sports’ music production manager! Today’s my first day, wish me luck!
I know someone—or some people—were probably scrambling behind the scenes to get that music turned down so that we could hear the expert musings of Joe Girardi clearly, but funny’s funny. That, in my book, was a hysterical moment. What a way to cut the tension of a stressful postseason night: some unintentional comedy. It played out like a “Family Guy” cutaway sketch, where the fact that it went on for so long only made it that much more hilarious.
I’m not ashamed to admit that it got to the point where I had tears in my eyes laughing. I don’t know if the moment was just so ridiculous, I don’t know if my sense of humor is just so stupid at this point, I don’t know if it was because of how the snafu happened right in the middle of a high-intensity game where the chips were on the table for the Sox, and I don’t know if it’s a combination of all of those things. Honestly, I don’t care. That was a nice, brief moment of levity before I promptly went back to having a heart attack.
Sometimes, you just gotta laugh, right? Just for your own sake? I’m sure you woke up in a bad mood after last night’s loss; I’m none too pleased either, and things are looking dire for the 2026 season. Our backs are officially against the wall, and that’s an awful feeling to have. But a wise son of a son of a sailor said it best: “If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.”
To even bring it back into the game itself, Ben Rice’s late grand slam was even kind of funny! At that point, that might as well have happened, right? Hit a granny to make it 9-0, who cares? We were cooked anyways, might as well make it a laugher! I have to laugh or else I’d lose my marbles!
So thank you, NBC production team, for you inadvertent DJ set in the middle of Game One. It was a great piece of comic relief during an otherwise tense evening. I hope no one lost their job over it—and if any NBC heads are reading this for some reason, please don’t can anyone over that. I appreciate that I was given at least one thing to be happy about during that disastrous display at Yankee Stadium.
Now it’s time to wipe that smile off my face and continue to mope about how much of a clusterfuck that game was.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 29: Trea Turner #7 of the Philadelphia Phillies is picked off and caught stealing second base against Ha-Seong Kim #7 of the Atlanta Braves during the third inning in game one of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park on September 29, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Here are the lineups for game 2 of the NLWC series in Atlanta. Let’s discuss!
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 26: Mason Miller #22 of the San Diego Padres prepares to pitch during the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Petco Park on September 26, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The first day of playoff baseball was fun. We saw a couple close games and a couple blowouts. Now four teams are one win away from advancing to the second round of the playoffs. Conversely, four squads are one more loss away from beginning their offseason earlier than expected. Teams that win the first game of the series in the Wild Card round are 15-1 so everyone should be in desperation mode at this point. That just means better baseball for us.
Phillies at Braves (2:00 PM EDT)
Atlanta took the first game yesterday thanks to a late three-run home run from third baseman Austin Riley. Former Athletic Jesus Luzardo pitched well for the Phillies while former A’s All-Star Matt Olson went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Atlanta won the NL East and showed why yesterday with a well-rounded win against their division rivals.
Now Philadelphia has their backs up against the wall and need a win to keep their season alive for at least one more day. They’ll ask left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (18-7, 2.91 ERA) to help keep their season alive for one more day. He’s arguably their best pitcher and as good as any option for them to turn to, The Braves meanwhile have mid-season acquisition Tyler Mahle (4-1, 1.99 ERA)* taking the ball for them today. Since his trade from San Francisco at the deadline Mahle has looked like a completely different pitcher, providing the Braves with ace-like production. Does that run out today in the playoffs against a tough opponent?
*with Atlanta, not counting his stats with the Giants.
The bullpen game did not work out great for the Astros, predictably. Now they’re down in the series to the young and upstart White Sox who just won their first playoff game in five years. Houston will now turn back to their starting rotation and send their ace in right-hander Hunter Brown (6-4, 3.19 ERA) out there. Brown missed some time earlier in the year but he’s healthy now and looking strong. In fact, his last start was against the A’s in the final series of the season. He pitched into the sixth, allowing just one run on two hits and four walks. He’ll need to be sharper than that if Houston lives to see Thursday.
Chicago meanwhile has one of their top young arms going for them with a chance to send them to the next round. Right-hander Sean Burke (11-7, 3.34 ERA) is getting the ball this afternoon looking to make a name for himself on a larger stage here in the playoffs. He’s coming into this game on a roll: in his last three starts he’s allowed just two runs, walking six compared to 16 strikeouts in 16 1/3 frames.
Red Sox at Yankees (8:00 PM EDT)
New York won in convincing fashion last night, whooping their long-time rivals 9-0. They had everything going for them yesterday, from a dominant start from their likely Cy Young Award-winning starting pitcher, to their offense showing up even without their superstar leader in Aaron Judge. That’s put them one win away from not only moving on to the next round, but also knocking out their hated rivals and moving ahead in the all-time postseason series between these two (currently tied 3-3).
New York has their high-priced lefty on the mound in Max Fried (5-5, 2.80 ERA) tonight. This is exactly the game that Fried was signed to his massive deal for so pressure is high on him in this one. Boston meanwhile has former Athletic Sonny Gray (18-5, 2.72 ERA) going for them in this one and that should make them feel better. Gray has had a resurgent season and he’ll be getting some Cy Young votes himself this coming award season. He’ll also be going up against his former Yankee squad, and it’s known he did not enjoy his time in New York. This should be a good one.
Cubs at Padres (10:00 PM EDT)
We wrap the day back in California with the Padres looking to move onto the next round with one more win over the Cubs. San Diego pummeled Chicago last night, beating their NL Central foes 8-0. Like New York it was a well-rounded win as their offense provided 13 hits including three home runs. That was more than enough for Padres ace right-hander Michael King, who had a no-hitter going into the seventh.
Down but not out, Chicago will have a grizzled and playoff-tested veteran on the mound for them in Kevin Gausman (4-2, 4.83 ERA)*. This is the game that the Cubs acquired him for and they’ll be hoping to see the Gausman from last year’s playoffs with Toronto. San Diego meanwhile has righty Nick Pivetta (3-2, 2.86 ERA) going for them in this one. There’s never really been any doubt about his talent but moreso about his ability to stay healthy. Well, he’s healthy, and pitching well coming into this one. The Cubs offense needs to score some runs if they want to survive one more day.
*with Chicago, not counting his stats with the Blue Jays
What happens today? Do we see four eliminations? Or do all four teams that lost yesterday win today to set up an epic Thursday with four winner-take-all games? More likely somewhere in the middle but let’s all root for Game 3’s!
ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 27: Tony Mansolino #89, Michael Harris II #23, Ozzie Albies #1 and Walt Weiss #22 of the Atlanta Braves celebrate in the fourth inning during the game against the Kansas City Royals at Truist Park on March 27, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hot off the heels of winning Game 1 in dramatic fashion, the Atlanta Braves will have another big challenge on their hands if they’re planning on finishing off this series in two games against the Philadelphia Phillies. Cristopher Sánchez is getting the ball for Philadelphia to start Game 2 and as such, the Braves have switched up their lineup a bit in response to the starting pitcher.
Game 1 hero Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies have both moved up in the lineup and while both of them did perform in Game 1, they’ve moved p because of their performance against Sánchez in the past as well. “I leaned a little bit on the personal history today, which you don’t typically do unless there’s a big enough sample,” stated Weiss when he was asked about the his lineup choices today.
“I’ve hit Ozzie third against lefties a lot this year, over 180 ABs, I think, in that spot against lefties. So nothing major there,” continued Weiss. “But with Michael [Harris II], Michael has had tough history. I think the two times we faced Sanchez this year, I gave Michael the day off. We had Lane Thomas at the time too, so a little different. And Michael is swinging the bat good, and I feel good about him being in there. But just move him down a few spots.”
It’s a bit of an astute move for Weiss to recognize that even if Harris has been performing lately, he’s got to take the recent history into consideration. Harris has only gone 2-for-15 with 10 strikeouts against Sánchez over the course of his career. Again, you don’t want to take Harris’s bat out of the lineup considering how well that he’s been going and how much of an impact player he is but it also makes sense that they don’t want to give Sánchez as many chances as possible to get one over on Harris again.
Despite the move down the lineup, Harris himself is still feeling pretty confident heading into this one. He also spoke with the media before Game 2 and when he was asked about what’s gone into the consistency that’s been a hallmark of his 2026 season, he went all the way back to the halfway point of 2025 to find a turning point.
“Yeah, it all just went back to All-Star break of last year,” stated Harris. “Once I made the change with my hands or whatever, just kind of maintaining that and making sure I keep the mechanics polished over the offseason. And then coming into Spring Training, seeing pitchers, making sure everything is still good, and then trusting it over 162. I think that’s pretty much all I did.”
It’s been working out for Harris so far here in the 2026 season and in the Postseason as well, as he picked up three hits and scored two runs in Game 1. He (along with the rest of the lineup) will have a tall task on his hands dealing with Cristopher Sánchez, who has proven to be a pretty solid Postseason performer, himself. We’ll see if Weiss’s lineup tweaks and Harris’s renewed focus will be able to play a role in today’s contest as the Braves look to close this one out.
Houston fans made their frustration clear to the Astros after a 6-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card, as boos echoed throughout Daikin Park.
Despite returning to the playoffs after missing out last season, the Astros drew a sparse crowd, just 34,011 attendees in a park that seats 40,963, on Tuesday afternoon. Fans were not pleased, booing the home team’s performance as Houston fell behind 3-0 after just two innings.
"It's extremely frustrating as a home player," first baseman Christian Walker told The Athletic. "We're here, playing at home; we need cheers. We need energy. We don't need boos. What purpose does that serve in that moment?”
He added that, regardless of how fans may feel, the players have battled and given their all throughout the season to earn this opportunity, and being booed in this moment is especially disheartening.
Walker wasn’t the only player to voice his displeasure with the crowd. Astros reliever Bennett Sousa told reporters he was “pretty pissed off” when fans began booing in the seventh inning, emphasizing how tough it was to hear negativity from their home supporters during such a crucial game.
"The fans here are definitely spoiled with a lot of ALCS and World Series runs, and we have to earn that right to bring this team back to that position,” Sousa said. “That being said, when this team was in their first (playoff) series 10 years ago, Minute Maid Park was probably packed. It makes a big difference. If we were in Chicago, it'd probably be loud as s---."
With the victory, the White Sox now hold a 1-0 lead over the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card series, putting added pressure on Houston to respond in Game 2.
