Category: Baseball

Josh Hart was going through it on Saturday night.

The Knicks star, hoping his Yankees can repeat what he and his teammates did a few months ago, shared his roller-coaster of emotions during the Bombers’ 1-0 ALDS Game 1 loss to the Rays in which they recorded just one hit.

Hart was excited at the start, writing “Let’s go Yanks!” on X along with “Let’s get it 4-5,” referring to starting pitcher Gerrit Cole.

With Rays ace Drew Rasmussen mowing the Yankees down early, Hart tried to remain positive.

“Alright let’s put some hits together!” Hart wrote.

As the innings wore on, Hart appeared to be getting nervous that the Yankees would be on the wrong end of history.

“Please don’t get no hit,” he wrote.

And he said what every Yankees fan must’ve said when catcher Austin Wells finally broke up Rasmussen’s no-hitter with two outs in the eighth, only to get easily thrown out at third trying to stretch a double into a triple, ignoring third base coach Luis Rojas’ signal to stop at second.

“WHY ARE YOU GOING FOR THIRD??” Hart wrote in his final thought shared about the game.

Wells said after the game that he didn’t see Rojas’ signal until after he had passed second base, and he “was already committed” to trying to get to third.

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

The Yankees, who swept the Red Sox in the best-of-three wild-card round, will try to bounce back in Game 2 on Monday, when their soon-to-be Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler takes the mound.

Their Aaron Judge-less lineup will have to get more than one measly hit, though, to get back to The Bronx with a split.

Hart, meanwhile, is in the middle of training camp as the Knicks prepare to defend their first NBA championship in 53 years.

Choosing how much to take from a single game in the postseason is a challenge. Tarik Skubal did what you expect from baseball’s most talented pitcher. The Dodgers out-homered the Braves three to two with the superior offense. Kyle Tucker hopefully started his redemption tour with a homer in his first playoff affair for the Dodgers. And the Game 1 win came on a scorching-hot day in Los Angeles.

Traditionally, what might be described as a commanding win comes in a blowout result or with a team overcoming glaring obstacles. For this specific matchup, the Dodgers might have managed to secure one over the Braves without any of that, simply by materializing well-established facts regarding these two clubs.

Through the middle of the sixth inning, the Dodgers led by just one run after Sean Murphy delivered Atlanta’s first and only blow to Tarik Skubal with a solo shot. The Braves generated some action in that inning, but Skubal stranded a pair and helped the Dodgers maintain the lead. With all of their offense in the first half of this game coming from Teoscar Hernández’s two-run shot, punishing a mistake-breaking ball in the fourth, the Dodgers’ hitters were playing down to their competition.

The game had gotten shorter, and it was still close, but the moment it became dangerously close with Murphy’s homer and the subsequent trouble Skubal ran into, the Dodgers turned on the jets—giving themselves the cushion to eventually survive a ninth inning scare. Instead of a shutdown inning, the Braves saw the game slip from their hands, allowing a pair of homers in the bottom of the sixth.

The Braves made it close against Tanner Scott in the ninth with a two-run bomb by Ozzie Albies. Even then, it’s not as if Scott were the recipient of unwavering trust from Dave Roberts, a reflection of this bullpen’s depth. In fact, he didn’t even wait and see if Scott could finish the game without allowing the tying run to get an at-bat, bringing in Evan Phillips for the final out. Under normal circumstances, an elite closer has a little more faith than getting pulled because of a single bad pitch, but then again, it’s not a one-off occurrence.

With the scoreline showing 5-3, the prevailing sentiment is that Atlanta played as well as it could have against a dialed-in Skubal apart from one shaky inning, and it still wasn’t enough. While Mookie Betts reached base a couple of times, it was Hernández and the bottom of the order getting it done for Los Angeles. It’s the bottom of the order, but that’s only because someone has to be there, because we’re talking about the likes of Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy. It feels redundant at this point, but the depth to be able to reasonably hit Muncy — the franchise leader in postseason home runs — in the eighth spot is absolutely unparalleled.

Contrasting the depth of the two clubs, Murphy’s home run was the only hit recorded by a batter in the lower half of the Braves lineup. Scott’s troubles in the ninth will be a sticking point, but Skubal’s sixth-inning woes allowed for other bullpen names to come in and prove themselves in this setting. For this one, it was Brock Stewart and Alex Vesia contributing key outs, but for the next one, it could very well be Edgardo Henríquez and Kris Bubic, both of whom warmed up but didn’t enter this game—evidently trusted in high-leverage spots.

Today represents the first minor league recap of the Arizona Fall League, as the league got underway yesterday. The Braves action got underway with Briggs McKenzie returning from injury to make the start.

Salt River Rafters 9, Glendale Desert Dogs 4

• Briggs McKenzie, SP: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K
• Logan Samuels, RP: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Owen Hackman, RP: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
• Tyler LaPorte, RP: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Boxscore

Briggs McKenzie made his first appearance since June 25th and got off to a strong start, though his command was a bit scattered the entire time. In the first inning he got two strikeouts swinging with his fastball and changeup, and also a weak infield ground ball. In his second inning he got another strikeout and weak ground out, but allowed a run via two walks and two singles, though was taken out of the game as his pitch count for the inning approached 30. He did return for the start of the third inning, getting a pair of fly outs and a hit by pitch before leaving the game. In total he threw 49 pitches with 31 being for strikes.

Briggs was relieved by Logan Samuels, who allowed an unearned run on three hits and a walk with one strikeout. Tanner Bauman came in and allowed five runs (three earned) over a third of an inning. Owen Hackman pitched an inning and two thirds, allowing a hit and a walk. Tyler LaPorte went an inning and a third, allowing an unearned run on two hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

The first day of the Division Series is done and recency bias is working on me big time because I am struggling to see how any of the four 0-1 teams can overcome the deficit in these five-game series. I’ve always said the MLB playoffs are the best playoffs because it isn’t necessarily who has the best team, but who has the hot hand. “Momentum” is a vastly overplayed sentiment, but, I’ll be good and gosh darned if I can envision any of the 1-0 teams failing to advance. I do so love being wrong though.

Happy Sunday everyone. Go Hawks!

In Mariners news…

• Josh Naylor reflected on his first full season with the Mariners and admitted that he didn’t perform up to his own standard.

Around the league…

• I find myself in my day-to-day life remembering a specific phrase. It was a phrase that I’d certainly heard before I heard it in this specific context, but the way FilmJoy delivered “no one knows what they’re doing” cemented the notion very firmly in my brain. Some things remind me of it more than others. My service industry day job gets me thinking about it almost every day, but that doesn’t have the same meaning as it does when an entire industry of supposedly smart people are collectively wrong about one thing. That one thing was Munetaka Murakami, whose entire market was tanked by everyone whose job it is to see the forest getting Blair Witch level lost in the trees.
• What you’re seeing in the video below is footage of the only hit the Yankees had against Drew Rasmussen in yesterday’s game. It doesn’t take a ton of scrolling to find people on the timeline questioning Austin Wells’ decision to go for third, but all I can think about watching him hit second base is how base-rounding is a lost art. A perfect cut of the bag probably still wouldn’t have gotten him to third before the relay, but it certainly would not have hurt his chances. Am I forcing a narrative here? Maybe, but it’s my publication, leave me alone.

• Who could’ve foreseen that the best player traded at the deadline this season would be able to single-handedly swing a playoff game? Oh everyone could? That was the whole thing he was sold on? Got it got it got it.
• Unconfirmed reports of Padres fans carrying garden shears trying to attain access to the catwalks at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Stay tuned here for updates on the rumors I’m starting.

• Houston may have made the playoffs this season, but the Astros roster heading into 2027(?) leaves a lot of questions that a new general manager are going to have to answer, in addition to a potential manager vacancy.

Nick’s pick…

• This video makes me want to rewatch Jaws. I don’t know what that says about me, but it’s the truth.

The Yankees’ postseason run had seen them erupt for nine runs in both of their Wild Card Series wins over the Red Sox, but they were completely shut down by Drew Rasmussen in Game 1 of the Division Series. The Rays’ ace tossed eight shutout innings and had a no-hitter going through 7.2 innings before Austin Wells ripped a double down the line to finally break that up… only to get thrown out trying to extend it into a triple. Gerrit Cole took the hard luck loss allowing a solo homer to Jonathan Aranda in his five innings of work, and that was your ballgame.

Elsewhere, the Division Series kicked off across the league, so let’s see what the rest of the field accomplished on Saturday night.

AL Division Series Game 1

Chicago White Sox 3, Cleveland Guardians 0
(Chicago leads, 1-0)

Call it divine intervention, but these White Sox are looking to go on a deep run after sweeping the Astros in the Wild Card Series and they went out and stole Game 1 from Cleveland on the road. Parker Messick enjoyed a fabulous first full season for the Guardians, pitching to a 2.56 ERA in 186.1 innings, but his Postseason debut didn’t go as well. He managed to work around a pair of baserunners in the first inning and then cruised through the second and third, but in the fourth Miguel Vargas led off with a single bringing Munetaka Murakami to the plate. Messick gave him a first-pitch sinker up and in the zone, and Murakami deposited it 440 feet out to right field.

That would be all the run support Chicago’s pitching staff needed as they worked their second bullpen game of the playoffs well enough to shut Cleveland out. Hagen Smith was the opener and provided 2.2 innings, issuing three straight walks in the third to end his outing before Bryan Hudson entered and got him out of that jam. Jordan Hicks took over to start the bottom of the fourth and got two quick outs before issuing a walk of his own, passing the baton over to Anthony Kay. Travis Bazzana greeted him by ripping a double out to right field to put runners in scoring position, and Kay walked Austin Hedges to again load the bases with two outs before Brayan Rocchio bailed him out by flipping a middle-middle sweeper harmlessly into the glove of Braden Montgomery.

Kay would get through the fifth without further incident, turning the ball over to Grant Taylor to start the sixth. Taylor delivered on some postseason magic, pitching four shutout innings to more than earn the save going deeper into a game than he had all season by more than a full inning. Taylor struck out six along the way and allowed just a pair of hits, a double and a single in the sixth and seventh respectively. Along the way, his offense gave him some more breathing room as Kyle Teel walked in the seventh and Colton Montgomery doubled to bring him home and make it 3-0. Taylor had it well in control though, ending his marvelous appearance by striking out the side in the ninth.

NL Division Series Game 1

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Atlanta Braves 3
(Los Angeles leads, 1-0)

The two-time defending champs opened up their October with Tarik Skubal on the mound, and their deadline acquisition delivered six strong innings of one-run ball. Sean Murphy was the only one able to do any damage to the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, launching a home run to lead off the sixth, but despite a couple of walks issued after his at-bat the rest of the Braves couldn’t rally to hang a crooked number on Skubal. They needed a bigger spark too, because LA was already up when Skubal closed out his night and the lead was about to grow further.

Atlanta chose to go with a bullpen game after needed to go three games deep to best the Phillies in the Wild Card Series, and Dylan Dodd was their choice for the opener. Dodd was one of their best relievers this year, pitching to a 2.54 ERA in 49.2 innings, and he gave them a shot to go toe-to-toe with the champs by tossing three shutout innings. Unfortunately, the pitchers that followed him couldn’t say the same. Victor Mederos was tasked with the fourth inning once Dodd’s day was done, and after getting Will Smith to fly out he walked Freddie Freeman on four pitches bringing Teoscar Hernández to the plate. Hernández got a cutter over the middle of the plate and punished it, putting the Dodgers up 2-0.

After Atlanta answered with their run, the Dodgers were back at it in the bottom of the sixth. Hernández singled ahead of Kyle Tucker, playing his first postseason game for Los Angeles after a season to forget following his massive four-year, $240 million contract in free agency. Tucker got hot in September though, and he started his October off with a two-run bomb to extend the lead. Max Muncy stepped up two batters later and got involved in the home run parade with a solo shot to make it 5-1 Dodgers.

The game wasn’t over yet, however, as Atlanta gave Dodgers closer Tanner Scott their best shot. Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the finale frame with a single and Ozzie Albies crushed the first pitch he saw for a two-run blast to bring the Braves within two, but Scott calmed down from there. He recorded two consecutive outs before Dave Roberts went back to his bullpen and got Evan Phillips to face Mauricio Dubón. Phillips tossed every pitch he knew down and away to Dubón but he laid off enough to work a lengthy walk and took second base on defensive indifference. Phillips finally closed out the game by getting Austin Riley to ground out, securing the 1-0 series lead for LA.

NL Division Series Game 1

Milwaukee Brewers 3, San Diego Padres 2
(Milwaukee leads, 1-0)

The Brewers were heavy favorites for their opening game of the postseason with Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski on the mound, but The Miz wasn’t his usual sharp self in his first career postseason start. The Padres struck first with three straight singles in the second inning to plate the first run of the game, and brought home another as Jake Cronenworth grounded out to first for a fielder’s choice with the throw home coming late.

Milwaukee had their ace’s back though, getting those runs back in the third inning. Facing Robbie Ray, the Brew Crew got a leadoff single ahead of Jackson Chourio, who launched one for a game-tying two run blast. After a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases, the Padres were forced to pull Ray after just 2.2 innings, but Milwaukee couldn’t convert any more as Bradgley Rodriguez escaped the jam with a groundout.

Misiorowski only lasted four innings in this game, but the Brewers’ bullpen held firm despite needing to get 15 more outs. Milwaukee used five relievers to get it done, and they allowed a fair bit of traffic to exist with three hits and three free passes, but the Padres couldn’t convert going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position overall. Meanwhile, in the seventh inning facing Adrian Morejon with two outs William Contreras brought the crowd to their feet with a long ball to straightaway center.

The two home runs were just barely enough for Milwaukee to take this one, Trevor Megill coming on for the four-out save, but both sides had to draw deep into their bullpen to try and take the opening game.

After a wild opener, the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres are back in action for Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Sunday, Oct. 4.

Milwaukee overcame a 2-0 deficit in Game 1 to win 3-2 after William Contreras’ go-ahead solo homer in the seventh inning at American Family Field.

Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47 ERA) starts for the Brewers while right-hander Michael King (12-10, 3.21 ERA) goes for the Padres.

“It always feels good when Michael's on the mound,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “We felt good when he's on the mound all season. He's definitely been our leader on the pitching staff.”

With the San Diego Padres trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 in the top of the ninth inning, Ty France stepped to the plate with one on and one out facing Brewers closer Trevor McGill. France connected on what looked like a sure two-run home run, which would have put the Padres in the lead, but the ball hit one of the roof trusses and deflected into the field of play where it was caught by Milwaukee left fielder Jackson Chourio. The play was ruled an out, and after a couple of umpire meetings and a replay review, the call was confirmed and San Diego was down to its final out. Jackson Merrill hit a well struck line drive to right field, but the ball was caught by Luis Lara and the Padres suffered a 3-2 loss to the Brewers in the series opener of the National League Division Series.

Milwaukee took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when the San Diego bullpen faltered. Adrian Morejon took the mound in the bottom of the seventh and recorded two outs against the first two batters he faced. William Contreras stepped to the plate and battled Morejon before he eventually won the at-bat when he connected on a solo home run on the sixth pitch of the plate appearance which gave the Brewers the lead. Morejon then allowed back-to-back singles before he got the final out on a strikeout.

The Padres had an opportunity to tie the game in the top of the eighth with runners at the corners and two outs. McGill who came in to face Fernando Tatis Jr. was able to get out of the inning with a three-pitch strikeout of one of the hottest hitters in the San Diego lineup. The Padres returned to the plate in the top of the ninth and Dustin Harris led off with a single to right field. Manny Machado followed and like Tatis against McGill, he went down on a three-pitch strikeout to set the stage for the dramatic plate appearance from France.

San Diego had plenty of opportunities to add to its two-run lead that came up empty. The Padres left 12 runners on base and finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position in the game.

San Diego will try to draw even in the series when Michael King takes the mound against Milwaukee today at 1 p.m.

Padres News:

• Xander Bogaerts is trying something new, although he is reluctant to talk about it. His new split-grip approach at the plate has been paying dividends for him and the Padres over the final month of the season.

• Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball said the Padres hitters needed to carry the momentum from their Wild Card Series into the NLDS against the Brewers. San Diego did that, outhitting Milwaukee 9-7, but two home runs handed the Padres the loss.

• All the talk before the game was how the Padres would handle Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski and truth be told, they acquitted themselves quite well, scoring two runs off the flamethrower and forcing him out of the game after four innings.

• The Padres announced their roster prior to the NLDS opener against the Brewers and it was unchanged from the roster they had against the Chicago Cubs in the NL Wild Card Series. After the roster was released San Diego announced Walker Buehler was headed to the playoff paternity list and Randy Vasquez was being added to the roster in his place.

Baseball News:

• Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen dominated the New York Yankees en route to a shutout win.

• Tarik Skubal led the Los Angeles Dodgers to a series-opening win over the Atlanta Braves.

• The Chicago White Sox remained hot and opened their series against the Cleveland Guardians with a win.

The Dodgers secured their first postseason game of the year on Saturday, powering three home runs to back a strong start from Tarik Skubal in a 5-3 win over the Atlanta Braves.

It was the first time that Skubal was able to pitch at home in a postseason starts, as all of his four playoff outings had come on the road during his time with the Detroit Tigers. Skubal’s lone blemish on Saturday came via a Sean Murphy home run in the top of the sixth inning, but he went on to strike out seven hitters over six innings of one-run ball.

He did this while also battling a heat wave that struck Los Angeles, but the weather didn’t play a factor into how he addressed his Game 1 start, notes Sonja Chen of MLB.com.

“It’s hot. No denying that,” Skubal said. “Every team’s playing in it, right? They’re playing in the same conditions we are. It doesn’t really matter. 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.”

The 2026 regular season wasn’t too kind to Teoscar Hernández, as a hamstring injury cost him a month’s worth of time while having his power zapped until a torrid September. Now that the real test has begun, Hernández has found his October-self yet again, crushing a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning on Saturday to start the scoring.

Hernández spoke with announcer John Smoltz about his ability to switch gears in October and be the guy to get the big hits in key situations.

“I think the focus is different. In the regular season, you try to have a good game in three at-bats. I think in the playoffs, it’s just pitch-by-pitch. For me, it doesn’t matter what I do in the at-bats before, I will try to focus on the one I’m taking.”

Max Muncy continued to etch his name in the company of Dodgers greats, as he crushed his 17th career postseason home run on Saturday, setting a new franchise record for home runs in the postseason, writes Thomas L. Murray of the California Post.

Kyle Tucker was a disaster when playing at home this season, but he started to rectify his Dodger Stadium struggles with a two-run home run that made the difference in Saturday’s win. Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times notes in his latest column that Tucker has a chance of becoming the unlikely hero of the NLDS.

Now that the St. Louis Cardinals season is over, it is now fair to look at the entire year together and evaluate the team’s performance rather than grading the season with games left to play. According to basically every respected outlet that produces baseball content, the Cardinals and their fans should be ecstatic for how this season went.

Admittedly, there were plenty of times during the season that the Cardinals were upsetting or disappointing, even when they were playing well above preseason expectations. The team sat at nine games over .500 multiple times but could never hit that double digit, the trade deadline left some to be desired, and their September performance made it easier to check out than I had hoped. Even with this, the Cardinals kept me engaged, entertained, and hopeful by the end of the 162-game season.

The Cardinals surpassed 2026 expectations and set a solid foundation for the future

Since the season is over, I decided to go back and find any preseason predictions built around the Cardinals team and see if expectations met reality. Based on what I could find, I would say that even with me expecting them to surpass the atrocious 68.5 win total given at the start of the year, the Cardinals did indeed surpass what I was hoping for. It was fun to check things out from early in the season, especially opening weekend when I wrote about blown leads and comeback wins. Sounds like the first three games of the year really set the tone.

Every year over at Redbird Rants, Josh Jacobs asks the team to put in their preseason predictions around Team MVP, breakout players, and bold predictions. Looking back at my own thoughts, it looks like the Cardinals played exactly like I expected but there was still some meat on the bone. Starting with Team MVP, I decided to go with DJ Burly Biscuits as my choice. In my write up, I spoke to his consistency, continued trend of improving, and being the leader of the team. I predicted .275 with 25 homers and 80 RBIs and I think we all would have taken that from Alec Burleson. Instead, he decided to go out and surpass all those numbers AND lead all of baseball in RBIs. I’ll count this prediction as a big, fat W for me.

Moving on to breakout players, I think I am officially taking Masyn Winn off of my players to watch list but still believe in him as a main fixture for the Cardinals organization. For the third year, I predicted Winn to put it all together and hit a dozen or so homers, swipe a few more bags, and bring that batting average back up to .270 or so. As much as I nailed the Burly prediction, this one was well on the other side. I do not know what to expect from Winn next year, but I have jumped ship on my 20/20 predictions and am now just hoping for .250 with 10 homers and to stop playing through injury.

Pitching wise, I think I hit the nail on the head but still think I expected a bit more in order to call it correct. I decided to roll with Dustin May as my breakout pitcher even with him being a lock to be traded at the deadline. For May, I wrote that “it is unfortunate that we are only going to see him for a few months, but this could be the season that May fans have been waiting for”. Well, we did only get to see him for a few months and he did put together a decent season before getting dealt to Milwaukee. The second half of my prediction was that he would be a difference maker for whoever acquired him (netting the Cardinals a nice return), so I will say I was close but no cigar in total.

My bold prediction was indeed bold… I went back to the well with Masyn Winn while also putting faith in Victor Scott II, which I never had in general for him. I predicted that these two and JJ Wetherholt would combine for 100 stolen bases after the team finished near the bottom of the league in that category for too long. All three players stole bases in the season’s first week and had me feeling good. But then reality set in for VSII, Winn was unable to consistently get on base and run, and Wetherholt was too busy hitting homers or getting driven in that he did not steal as much as I had hoped. It may not be these three again, but I do need the Cardinals to get more aggressive running the bases.

Finally, it went to record and final standings. I will again give myself a passing grade because not only did I nail the 77-85 record on the head, I also was correct in my fourth place finish in the division. Where I missed was saying the rest of the division was mediocre and the Brewers were the best team in baseball with the Cubs getting to make a cameo in the postseason. Adding on that the Pirates finished above .500 and the NL Central was one of the better divisions in the game.

As I was looking for my predictions, I also found a couple stories from the year as it progressed relating back to the beginning of the year expectations. Early in April, I asked the question if the Cardinals would improve the bullpen if they continued to compete. The team continued to compete but they definitely did NOT address the bullpen that was doomed from the start. A month later, I then asked if we were allowed to be disappointed by the Cardinals this year. In the quarter checkpoint of the year, the Cardinals remained competitive but definitely had some holes that continued to be an issue throughout the season.

Now that the dust has settled on the Cardinals season, how did they do compared to your preseason thoughts? Did you expect them to be the worst team in the majors like the experts or were you one of the few optimstic ones?

Thanks as always!

Meet the Mets

“I was happy over there. Obviously I wasn’t in the spot that I wanted to be with my numbers…but this is baseball,” said Freddy Peralta to the media of his journey from New York to Tampa Bay after Game 1 of the ALDS. “Everything changed when I got traded. I’ve been treated here as a king, and I feel really good about it. They work on me really well here. For me, and my family, this is a great opportunity to be the pitcher for the second game of the ALDS.”

Mets prospect Cole Mathis—one of the many players the Mets acquired at this year’s trading deadline—is debuting a new hitting stance in the Arizona Fall League.

There is no greater disconnect between fanbases in New York than the one between the two New York baseball teams, writes Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post.

Around the National League East

The Braves’ bullpen game strategy fell short, as the Dodgers took Game 1 of the NLDS 5-3 behind six innings of one-run ball by Tarik Skubal.

The Dodgers are forcing the Braves to make a tough decision about Chris Sale; will Atlanta start him in Game 2 after he was deployed on Thursday for the final four outs of the Wild Card Series or will they save him for Game 3?

Evan Macy of PhillyVoice reviews ten things the Phillies must change this offseason.

The city of Washington DC is looking at legislation to authorize bonds to generate $380 million for an “extensive” renovation of Nationals Park, per reporting by the Washington Business Journal. It is unclear how much the Nationals would contribute to the project.

Around Major League Baseball

Aaron Judge’s lingering calf injury has kept him off the Yankees’ ALDS roster.

The Yankees certainly could have used Judge’s bat, as Drew Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in front of a sold-out Tropicana Field to put the Rays ahead 1-0 in the ALDS.

Game 1 of the AL Central ALDS matchup also was a shutout, as the White Sox blanked the Guardians 3-0.

The Brewers won a nail-biter in Game 1 of the NLDS, defeating the Padres 3-2. The Padres took an early 2-0 lead off Jacob Misiorowski, who only managed to record 12 outs, but Jackson Chourio tied the game with a two-run homer in the third inning and William Contreras went deep off Padres setup man Adrian Morejon for the decisive blow in the eighth. This game truly had everything, as a potential go-ahead home run in the ninth off the bat of Ty France struck a cable running across the roof of American Family Field and redirected itself into Jackson Chourio’s glove like an act of divine intervention by the home ballpark.

Will Leitch of MLB.com reviewed one storyline for each of the four playoff National League teams ahead of Game 2 of the NLDS.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 1999, the Mets beat the Reds in a decisive Game 163 behind a two-hitter by Al Leiter to send the club to their first playoff series in 11 years.

Remembering the Blue Jays’ Wild Card Walk-Offten years ago today.

In the 11th inning of the Blue Jays’ Wild Card matchup, Edwin Encarnacion delivered a dramatic one-out home run, sealing a thrilling 5-2 walk-off victory over the Orioles.

In the 11th inning, with the Orioles best reliever sitting in the bullpen (Buck Showalter was a genus), the Orioles brought in Ubaldo Jimenez into the game. With one out, we got singles from Devon Travis and Josh Donaldson. At this point, I was sure Zach Britton would be coming into the game. But Showalter left Jimenez in there.

Then, the unforgettable moment unfolded:

Buck Showalter certainly deserves a thank you—perhaps a nice fruit basket.

Earlier in the game, offense was limited. Jose Bautista hit a solo home run in the second, and Ezequiel Carrera brought home Michael Saunders with a single in the fifth.

We grounded into three double plays, despite only putting seven runners on base all game. According to the recap:

The one that hurt the most was in the 9th inning, Josh Donaldson (off a leadoff double) and Edwin Encarnacion (intentional walk) on first and second with one out (Bautista strike out on a check swing) when Russell Martin ground one straight at third for an easy 5-4-3 double play.

Marcus Stroman pitched six strong innings, his only blemish being a two-run homer allowed to Mark Trumbo.

The bullpen was outstanding—Brett Cecil, Joe Biagini, Jason Grilli, Roberto Osuna, and Francisco Liriano combined for five scoreless innings.

From the recap:

Jays of the Day: Edwin (.126 WPA, I thought it would higher), Liriano (.214), Osuna (.195, please don’t be hurt), Grilli (.106), Donaldson (.284).

We won, so I’m not giving any suckage awards, but if I did: Travis (-.240), Martin (-.296), and Tulo (-.134).

I remember thanking Showalter for the assist, and someone on Twitter telling me, “If you put Britton in there, who gets the save?” I was amazed that people still thought managing for the save stat was a priority.

Edwin left as a free agent after the season, finishing with 239 regular season home runs (third in Jays history) and four postseason homers for Toronto. After that, he played for Cleveland, the Yankees, Mariners, and the White Sox. Over those four years, he posted a .241/.344/.489 line with 114 home runs. This past year was tough: he hit just .157/.250/.377 with 10 homers for the White Sox.

The Jays went on to sweep the Rangers in the ALDS, taking all three games.

Toronto then fell to Cleveland in five games in the ALCS—a series defined by outstanding pitching. Cleveland’s hitters managed just .168/.215/.329, while the Blue Jays hit .201/.251/.283.

LOS ANGELES — After a four-game Saturday, the National League has Sunday to itself with a pair of Games 2 of the NLDS first in Milwaukee and then in Los Angeles.

After winning Game 1 in 100-degree heat on Saturday afternoon behind Tarik Skubal, the Dodgers turn to Blake Snell for Game 2 in trying to attack the Braves with another left-handed starting pitcher. The Dodgers have the evening game on Sunday, with a 5 p.m. start on FS1.

The Braves as of Saturday night still haven’t yet decided whether to start ace Chris Sale in Game 2 Sunday after starting Tuesday and getting four outs in relief on Thursday in the wild card series. The alternative for Atlanta is a second straight bullpen game.

The Brewers took a tight opener over the Padres in Game 1, a contest that was not without controversy. Ty France hit a ball that looked like it might have had the distance for a go-ahead home run, but hit the roof in Milwaukee before being caught in deep left field.

San Diego and Milwaukee have the early slot on Sunday, with both NLDS games on FS1.

Sunday Division Series schedule

1 p.m. PT: Padres at Brewers
Milwaukee leads, 1-0
NLDS Game 2: Michael King vs. Logan Henderson
FS1 (Adam Amin, Adam Wainwright, A.J. Pierzynski)

5 p.m.: Dodgers vs. Braves
Los Angeles leads, 1-0
NLDS Game 2: Blake Snell vs. TBA
Fox (Joe Davis, John Smoltz)

Home run totals from yesterday’s games:

Dodgers 3, Braves 2 – Dodgers win

Rays 1, Yankees 0 – Rays win

Brewers 2, Padres 0 – Brewers win

White Sox 1, Guardians 0 – White Sox win

That’s pretty much all you need to know. When the top 6 in your order go 0 for 18 and do not hit a homer, you are going to lose a playoff baseball game.

Now, an off-day to regroup and remember how to hit. The shadows of the afternoon sun were an issue which should only be a problem for the opening of game two. We will see if that enables the Guardians to hit the White Sox bullpen… or, gulp, the White Sox to hit our relievers.

Drew Rasmussen threw seven scoreless, hitless innings against the Yankees which was an all-time performance. Yankee Austin Wells hit a two-out double off Rasmussen in the eighth but was thrown out trying to get to third and I just hope the Guardians were taking notes on what not to do because they make way too many outs at third base. Don’t make the first or third out of an inning at third should be way more of an involiable rule than it is.

The 2026 Major League Baseball regular season is officially one week in the rearview mirror with the Colorado Rockies finishing with a 58-104 record. With the Division Series of the MLB playoffs starting this weekend, the rest of the league—as well as the teams eliminated in the Wild Card round—find themselves in the same place as the last-place Rockies: preparing for the long off-season.

For most teams, the first part of the off-season is a given. The end-of-season post-mortem press conference by team ownership and the front office is an expected part of the transition between the season and the off-season. However, it has been something Rockies fans have not regularly seen this decade.

Since Dick Monfort infamously suggested he could “fire himself” following a losing 2021 season that saw the departure of franchise third baseman Nolan Arenado, Rockies fans have become used to radio silence. Perhaps they would get a quick interview with the GM in the waning weeks of the season. Maybe they would get a “letter to the fans” from a member of the organization discussing how things didn’t go as planned this season yet again. A true media availability session to kick off the off-season, though, was rarely part of the process.

That’s what makes it all the more refreshing that the Rockies have already announced a press conference and media availability session at 20th and Blake. On Tuesday, October 6th, Rockies president Walker Monfort and president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta will address the press.

Not only is this a much-needed return to normalcy for one of the league’s oddest ducks, it also represents the continuation of a trend started last November when the Monfort scion, DePodesta, and Rockies CEO and majority owner Dick Monfort took questions from the media after announcing a new front office.

Since then, the Rockies have been much more open to the fans and the media. Explaining their thought processes and plans regularly throughout the season despite another long year and another losing record.

The Rockies may have lost 100 or more games for the fourth consecutive season—a feat that will land them once again in dubious baseball history—but at the very least the organization is willing to talk about it out in the open.

With that being said, here’s what our staff here at Purple Row had to say this week:

To Read: Scaling the Rocks

• Monday:The 2026 Rockies season is over | Sam Bradfield
• Tuesday:Rockies PBO Paul DePodesta plans for the offseason | Renee Dechert
• Wednesday:Cole Carrigg and TJ Rumfield provide hope for the Rockies | Skyler Timmins
• Thursday:A time for reflection | Cory Cohen
• Friday:Remembering Rocktober | Joelle Milholm
• Saturday:Bring on the Division Series | Sam Bradfield

To Read: Rockpiles

• Monday:Zach Goodman reflects on his first season behind the mic for the Rockies | Sam Bradfield
• Tuesday:Should MLB build a ballpark in Grand Teton National Park? | Renee Dechert
• Wednesday:he optimistic improvement of the 2026 Colorado Rockies | Skyler Timmins
• Thursday:The Rockies offseason shopping list | Cory Cohen
• Friday:A ‘Swiss Army knife,’ Owen Cuffe plays critical role for ACL Rockies | Joelle Milholm
• Saturday:Tommy Tanous discusses the Rockies draft and adjusting to baseball at elevation | Renee Dechert

To Read: Ranking the Rockies, 2026

• HM:Kris Bryant | Skyler Timmins
• No. 54:Tyler Freeman | James Riggenbach
• No. 53:Michael Lorenzen | James Riggenbach
• No. 52:Edouard Julien | Skyler Timmins
• No. 51:Jordan Beck | James Riggenbach

To Read: News

• Rockies news:Cole Carrigg selected as NL Rookie of the Month for September | Sam Bradfield
• Pebble Report Spotlight:Arizona Fall League preview | Sam Bradfield

Weekly Discussion Topics

This week’s press conference marks the official start of the off-season for the Rockies. What would you like to hear from Walker Monfort and Paul DePodesta on Tuesday? Let us know in the comments!

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

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Analysis of Jed Hoyer’s press conference:

• Vinnie Duber (Chicago Sun-Times): Four offseason questions facing Jed Hoyer, Cubs, who have pitching at top of lengthy to-do list. “The Cubs’ expectations won’t change for 2027; this will still be a team with World Series goals. But Hoyer’s front office has a lot to do to make next year’s team better equipped than the one that was rapidly bounced from the playoffs.”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune {$}): 3 Chicago Cubs takeaways from Jed Hoyer’s end-of-season news conference, including his ‘poor job’ building pen. “Chicago Cubs President Jed Hoyer on Friday took responsibility for the bullpen’s shortcomings and addressed the need to improve the pitching staff.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Jed Hoyer: Pitching Must Improve, Home Playoff Games Are Good. “Jed Hoyer held his annual postseason press conference on Friday afternoon, which the Cubs’ media release somewhat hilariously listed as October 1, and the content was just about as exciting as wet cardboard.”
• Vinnie Duber (Chicago Sun-Times): After 2026 letdown, Cubs picking up pieces as sights turn to 2027: ‘It feels like we let something slip away’. “For months, the Cubs were thrilled by what went right. But just two days into October, Jed Hoyer was left explaining how everything went so wrong so quickly and focusing on the offseason much earlier than hoped.”

Off-Season Remarks:

• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Cubs Have Decisions to Make on 12 Arb-Eligible Players. “The threat of a lockout might have players and agents feeling a little more amenable to early deals for the sake of security, but it could also mean teams are looking to low-ball players even more than usual.
• Brian Kelder (North Side Baseball): Was the 2026 Chicago Cubs Season a Success or a Failure?. “Or is it something in the middle? (And don’t say the obvious one.).”
• Russell Dorsey (Yahoo!Sports): What went wrong for the 2026 Chicago Cubs? And where do they go from here?. “Chicago’s offense went cold at the worst possible time, and its lack of pitching was exposed against San Diego in the wild-card round.”

Ian Happ Discussions:

• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): ‘He is the Chicago Cubs’: Happ reflects on career after what may have been last game with team. “Ian Happ kept his small tradition going during the Cubs’ final home game of the regular season.”
• Aldo Soto (Sports Mockery): How Much of a Pay Cut Is Ian Happ Willing to Take to Stay with the Chicago Cubs? “Ian Happ will become a free agent for the first time in his pro career after his three-year, $61 million contract extension with the Chicago Cubs expires.”

Stats and Feelings:

• Chris Pownall (DaWindyCity): One brutal statistic sums up the Cubs’ embarrassing playoff exit. “The Chicago Cubs spent six months building one of baseball’s most dangerous offenses. It took the San Diego Padres two nights to make all of it look completely irrelevant.”
• Jon Conahan (Sporting News): Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong makes honest admission about struggles in NL Wild Card against Padres. “Crow-Armstrong has never been the type of guy to beat around the bush and say he didn’t do what was needed on both sides of the ball.”

Cubs’ MiLB Prospects for 2027:

• Doug Schwamb (Chicago Cubs On SI): Prospects That Should Immediately Be on the Cubs’ 2027 Radar. “The Cubs have holes to fill on the Major League roster, but there may be some prospects ready for a call-up.”

Food For Thought:

Clint & The Cosmic Wake is a Texas based blues rock band with an eclectic foundation marrying the group’s collective influences of gospel, blues, metal, and Southern rock. Clint Echols (vocals, lead guitar) began playing live in the ‘90s with seasoned musicians in places like the “Chinkapin” in Uncertain, TX. Citing influences such as David Gilmour, Dimebag Darrell, SRV, Alan Fox, and Donnie Pendleton, Clint’s riffs initially manifested in the hard rock/metal bands Goodwill Ammunition and Merciful Pete. Clint eventually paired up with rhythm master “Flute Man” Greg McDonald (drums), who began drumming 40 years ago playing in his father’s Country band between sermons at church. Dan Giddens (bass) spent nearly a decade playing bass guitar in metal bands before adding his dark spice to the crew. April Echols contributes crafty harmonies, rhythm guitar, and writes unhinged lyrics to melodies you cannot fit in a box. The band has a singular style of songwriting evident in their wildcard originals and Texas blues rock riffs.

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.