Category: Baseball

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.

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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!

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.”

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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.

The first thing we should do this offseason is appreciate an all-time great rookie season, and what seems certain to be an AL Rookie of the Year award. The only real question around the Tigers fresh-faced star is where to play him.

McGonigle played almost his entire, though certainly brief minor league career at the shortstop position. In his first season in 2024, he did get a little bit of time at second base, but otherwise he was a full time shortstop. In the 2025 Arizona Fall League, he finally started getting some reps at another position, but it was third base. He then split his time as a major league rookie hitting at an extremely high level while also juggling two difficult positions on the field.

As a prospect, I always graded him as a solid but slightly below average shortstop, mainly because of his arm strength. His hands are sound and he’s good around the bag but despite his quickness, his limited wingspan and arm strength cut into his effective range somewhat. Second base seemed the better fit for him, at least down the road. Instead, McGonigle put in the work last offseason and managed to improve at shortstop while playing a pretty solid third base as well. All the more reason to be impressed with him. He’s still quite young and keeps improving all parts of his game.

This season McGonigle played 644 innings at third base and 675.2 innings as a shortstop. Sports Info Solutions liked his defense just fine, crediting him with +8 defensive runs saved (DRS) at third base, and +2 DRS as a shortstop. That’s pretty good work.

Statcast’s player and ball tracking saw things differently. By outs above average (OAA), McGonigle scored a -2 OAA at third base, and a -1 OAA as a shortstop. Overall, Statcast gives him a -1 fielding runs value (FRV) as a third baseman, and a neutral 0 FRV at the shortstop position. Despite the technology, there is always some subjectivity in evaluating and projecting defense. The numbers guide you to a general range, and I tend to just mash them together to get a rough average.

Essentially, the takeaway is that Kevin McGonigle is already an average defender at both positions. With his bat, that’s plenty good enough, and his ability to handle the switch between positions is also big for the Tigers’ roster construction and flexibility. For the most part, they should just play McGonigle at shortstop to allow them to mix in all their other infield bats at second and third base. Based on his trajectory, steady improvement, and youth, there’s a good chance he’s going to keep getting better at the position until he physically starts losing a step, hopefully sometime in his late 20’s if we’re fortunate.

On the other hand, McGonigle’s average and max velocity on his throws were below average in comparison to all qualified fielders. That’s still a good argument for a long-term home at second base. It’s just that an upgrade at shortstop would be required to move him there right now.

They can always adapt as needed, because McGonigle has shown himself so able to adapt already. If John Peck hits and the Tigers like him slightly better at shortstop? Great, he can take some of the reps there, with McGonigle moving to third if needed. Maybe the Tigers can find a legitimate defensive upgrade at shortstop on the trade market, but that just doesn’t seem like a Scott Harris move. Otherwise? Just leave McGonigle at shortstop and let him work at the position until a plus full-time shortstop, hopefully top prospect Bryce Rainer, is ready to seize the reins in 2028 or so.

Kevin McGonigle did it all in his rookie season, and it’s going to result in the 2026 AL Rookie of the Year award. The attention is understandably on his bat and how much power production he’s going to develop with experience. There’s so much more to his game though, as he also showed off his speed, ran the bases well, and improved his defensive ability to produce solid work at both shortstop and third base. He can still move around in 2027, and maybe a bit of work at second base again becomes part of the equation, but for now? Leave him at shortstop and make someone else push him off the position.

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Look, it sucks that the Orioles aren’t in the playoffs. Their 2026 season was an abject failure. They were bad and they should feel bad. There’s no way to overcome that disappointment.

But in the absence of the Orioles, watching the Yankees fail miserably in the postseason provides at least some small measure of happiness for O’s fans. And the Yanks’ failure last night was nearly one for the record books. They almost became the victims of the fourth no-hitter in postseason history, as the Rays’ Drew Rasmussen came within four outs of a no-no in a simply dominant performance against a punchless Yanks lineup.

Even more deliciously embarrassing, when the Yankees finally did get their first hit — on an Austin Wells liner just inside the right-field foul line — he foolishly tried to get to stretch it into a triple and was thrown out by about the length of a football field, short-circuiting a potential rally. Never make the third out at third base! That’s Little League stuff. The Rays ended up with a 1-0 victory to secure the first game of the ALDS.

It was a pretty competitive night all around in the opener of every Division Series, as all four games were decided by three or fewer runs. The White Sox stormed into Cleveland and blanked the Guardians by a 3-0 score, while the Dodgers were annoyingly efficient in dispatching the Braves, 5-3. The Brewers and Padres ended the night with a 3-2 thriller that was decided when a would-be go-ahead ninth-inning homer by Ty France deflected off the roof of American Family Field and into the glove of left fielder Jackson Chourio, one of the unluckiest events you’ll ever see in a professional baseball game.

Today, only the National League is in action as the AL teams get a weird non-travel day off after just one game. The Padres and Brewers have the early game at 4:00, preceding the Braves and Dodgers at 8 ET. That means there won’t be any further embarrassment for the Yankees today. But there’s always tomorrow.

Links

Orioles legend Jim Palmer says manager Craig Albernaz ignored his advice – The Baltimore Sun

Just when you thought Albernaz’s managerial tenure couldn’t get any more infuriating, apparently he gave the cold shoulder to the best pitcher in franchise history. This guy is seriously the worst.

Details On The Yankees/Orioles Deadline Talks About Adley Rutschman – MLB Trade Rumors

If you thought trading Adley to the Red Sox was painful, consider how close the O’s came to trading him to the Yankees instead. Just think: Austin Wells could have been making terrible baserunning blunders for the Orioles instead of the Yanks.

Can a team have too many third baseman? – Steve Melewski

Notwithstanding the typo in the headline, it’s a valid point — the O’s seem overstocked at the hot corner with Jordan Westburg set to return and Coby Mayo, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and Blaze Alexander all worthy of regular at-bats. I guess you’d call that one of those good problems to have.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Five former Orioles were born on this day: right-hander Alec Asher (35), outfielder Drew Stubbs (42), utility man Mark McLemore (62), right-hander Dave C. Johnson (78), and the late outfielder Don Lenhardt (b. 1922, d. 2014), a St. Louis Brown who came over with the franchise to Baltimore in 1954.

The Orioles have played seven postseason games on this date in history. They won the first four and lost the last three. The losses were Game 3 of the Division Series in both 1996 and 1997, and the Wild Card Game in Toronto in 2016. We need not say any more about those. As for the wins:

In 1969, in the first-ever AL Championship Series game after the league split into two divisions, the O’s beat the Twins, 4-3, in a 12-inning thriller at Memorial Stadium. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, the Birds tied the score on Boog Powell’s leadoff homer against Twins starter Jim Perry. It was the Orioles’ third solo homer off Perry after Frank Robinson and the light-hitting Mark Belanger did so earlier in the game. In the 12th, the Orioles walked it off on Paul Blair’s bunt single that scored Belanger from third.

A year later, the O’s again beat the Twins in the ALCS, this time in Minnesota, with an 11-3 rout in Game 2. The Orioles held a meager one-run lead until the top of the ninth, when they erupted for seven runs, their second straight game with a seven-run inning. For the second straight game, every Orioles starter except Paul Blair had at least one hit. Frank Robinson and Davey Johnson each crushed a two-run homer, backing a complete game by Dave McNally.

On this date in 1971, the Orioles won Game 2 of the ALCS against the Athletics, 5-1. Mike Cuellar pitched a complete-game, one-run masterpiece to outduel Hall of Fame A’s righty Catfish Hunter. All five Orioles runs against Hunter came on homers: a pair of blasts from Boog Powell and solo shots by Brooks Robinson and Elrod Hendricks.

And on this day in 1979, the O’s outlasted the Angels in Game 2 of the ALCS, 9-8. The O’s seemed on their way to an easy victory by storming out to a 9-1 lead after three, but the Angels kept chipping away at the lead in the late innings, eventually putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position in the ninth before Don Stanhouse induced a bases-loaded groundout to end the game. Had ‘em all the way. Eddie Murray homered for the Orioles and leadoff man Al Bumbry reached base four times.

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers will turn to Blake Snell in Game 2 of the National League Division Series, throwing another southpaw starter against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night at Dodger Stadium.

Snell, like Skubal, has won two Cy Young Awards in his career. But for Snell, his two Cy Young years (2018, 2023) are the only two times in his 11-year career he’s reached even 130 innings in a season. Snell has only started 20 times in the regular season in the first two seasons of his five-year, $182 million contract with the Dodgers.

But he made an impact last postseason, with a 3.18 ERA in five starts plus one relief appearance, with 41 strikeouts (a 31.5-percent strikeout rate) and 13 walks in his 34 innings. In his career, Snell has a stellar 3.27 ERA in 18 postseason appearances, including 15 starts, with 102 strikeouts and 36 walks in 82 2/3 innings.

“If you want to be a Hall of Famer, if you want to be a legend in the game, I think it all happens in October,” Snell said Saturday. “The regular season sets you up in a lot of ways, but the postseason definitely is what could cement you, stamp you as a Hall of Famer is how you pitch in those games.”

After Saturday’s NLDS opener was televised by Fox, Game 2 on Sunday will be on FS1.

Reggie Smith, who was inducted into the Legends of Dodger Baseball this August, will throw the ceremonial first pitch before Game 2, and saxophonist Mike Phillips will perform the national anthem.

NLDS Game 2 info

• Teams: No. 2 seed Dodgers vs. No. 3 seed Dodgers
• Series: Los Angeles leads, 1-0
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Start time: 5:03 p.m.
• TV: FS1 (Joe Davis, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal)
• National radio: ESPN Radio (Dave O’Brien, Jessica Mendoza)
• Local English radio: AM 570 (Charley Steiner, Rick Monday)
• Local Spanish radio: KTNQ 1020 AM (José Mota, Luis Cruz)

I’m still processing all my feelings over here, and having gone through the Wild Card Series itself already, I find myself back at September’s regular-season games. We saw them go 12-12 on the month, as Chad Tracy allowed players to rest and conserve their energy for the postseason. I am starting to see their September fade not just as a slump, but as a trap they collectively bought—or fell—into.

In these days of three Wild Cards, conventional wisdom basically says all you have to do is get in, use your best two or three reliable starting pitchers for this short playoff round, and get hot at the right time. Conventional wisdom also says that anything can happen in the postseason, but the Sox liked their chances, particularly due to the strength of their top three starters. This was a rotation built to handle a three-game sprint, which was consistently mentioned in predictions prior to the series. (This was true even when the edge was actually given to the Yankees; MLB’s positional breakdown is one example.)

In fact, speculating about who would pitch the crucial Games 1 and 2 in the Wild Card Series became a main focus in September as fans, the manager, and the team turned their attention to the playoffs. With a postseason berth assured and no real chance to take over the division, the Red Sox paced themselves by resting their starters and other players, to ensure they were ready.

Tracy said about Willson Contreras, ““DH’ing yesterday [instead of playing first base] was strictly to manage the load.”

After three losses in a row (to the Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays), he said: “I told the guys before, we earned the right to be in position to be able to line things up.”

What Tracy meant is prioritizing rest and conserving energy ahead of the postseason. I hear some entitlement in this and that doesn’t sit well with me. They drifted through a completely uninspired September because they “earned the right” to do it that way. Where’s the grit? Where’s the burning desire to compete and win?

At one point, I remember Lou Merloni saying that the way Tracy handled the roster down the stretch (shuffling lineups, resting players, and experimenting with matchups and platoon roles) reminded him of a spring training evaluation period instead of a September playoff push.

The Sox finished the final month of the regular season with the fewest runs scored in all of Major League Baseball: a measly 71. The team above them, the spiraling Phillies, scored 89. The Brewers scored the most for the month, with 146. I would argue that when the Sox coasted their way through September, they didn’t conserve energy—they atrophied.

They “earned the right” to glide their way through September, operating under the delusion that momentum can be toggled on and off at will and that the postseason stage would automatically trigger their best selves. There’s that “just get in” mentality.

The Red Sox wrote a hell of a story in 2026. So why didn’t they treat the postseason as the action-packed continuation of that page-turner? Instead of continuing to build toward the climax of that story, they slowed down the pace and gave us an anticlimactic month of baseball. Even off the field, in the last week of the regular season, the front office celebrated prematurely when they handed Tracy a three-year deal and picked up both of Craig Breslow’s contract options. All before the postseason even began. The timing was odd.

The team spent a month resting on the field, with the really unfortunate result of turning their playoff run into an epilogue—a few extra words tacked onto the end of a story that had already said all it needed to say. When they were outscored 18-2 and swept by the Yankees, it was a heartbreaking ending, for sure, but it wasn’t a plot twist. It was the punctuation mark on a sentence they started writing weeks prior.

Behind Tarik Skubal's brilliance and three home runs, the Los Angeles Dodgers took Game 1 of the National League Division Series against Atlanta and the two teams are right back in action on Sunday, Oct. 4 at Dodger Stadium.

The back-to-back World Series champions will another send two-time Cy Young winner, Blake Snell, to the mound in the second game of the best-of-five series. When the series heads back to Atlanta for Game 3, last year's World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the mound.

"We could have deployed our starters any way we wanted, but to have Blake going (Sunday) to follow up with what Tarik did (Saturday) and knowing that you got Yamamoto in the holster for Game 3, we're in a good spot," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters. "It all starts with winning Game 1."

Stealing a game in Los Angeles would be huge for Atlanta, with Games 3 (Tuesday) and 4 (Wednesday) at Truist Park in Cobb County, Georgia.

Where to watch Dodgers vs Braves: TV channel, streaming

• Time: 8 p.m. ET
• TV channel: FS1
• Streaming: Fubo and Fox One

Watch Dodgers-Braves on Fubo

Dodgers vs Braves predictions

• Bob Nightengale: Dodgers in 4
• Gabe Lacques: Dodgers in 4
• Kristie Ackert: Dodgers in 4
• Jesse Yomtov: Dodgers in 5

Dodgers vs Braves NLDS schedule

• Game 1 (Saturday, Oct. 3): Dodgers 5, Braves 3
• Game 2 (Sunday, Oct. 4): At Los Angeles, 8 p.m. ET
• Game 3 (Tuesday, Oct. 6): At Atlanta, 6 p.m. ET
• Game 4 (Wednesday, Oct. 7)*: At Atlanta, 6 p.m. ET
• Game 5 (Friday, Oct. 9)*: At Los Angeles, 8 p.m. ET

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where to watch Dodgers vs Braves today: Predictions, NLDS Game 2 time and channel

Our editors independently choose our recommendations. Some content is produced with paid support from a third party, however our editorial decisions remain independent. If you buy through our links, the USA TODAY Network may earn a commission. Prices and availability may change.

“Kevin, can you pick up the Player of the Game for Game 1 of the ALDS?”
“Sure… I hope I can write about Gerrit Cole going eight shutty.”

Baseball can be a cruel sport. I suspect we all would have signed up for five innings of one-run ball from Gerrit Cole at The Trop Saturday night. That’s the kind of thing that the vast majority of the time would have put the Yankees in great position to steal home-field advantage from the Rays.

The above is exactly what we got from Cole. Unfortunately, on the other side Drew Rasmussen was basically untouchable, toying with a formerly hot Yankee offense. Cole being merely excellent was therefore not enough. But on a night when nary a hitter was worthy of being honored, Cole’s sterling five innings makes him the Player of the Game, albeit in a losing effort.

His final line: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

At the end of the day, Cole made one mistake all night, in the third inning – a 2-2 changeup middle-away to Jonathan Aranda that the Rays lefty turned around and drove out to right center for a solo home run, the lone run either team scraped across Saturday. I don’t even hate that location. Just have to tip your cap to Aranda to a certain extent.

Otherwise, Cole gave the Yankees everything they could have asked for, other than perhaps more length. Though the venerable ace was only sitting at 82 pitches through five innings, so likely could have come back out for another frame if needed. But with a fully rested bullpen in a one-run game, it made sense for manager Aaron Boone to be aggressive. To give the skipper his due, his moves worked, and the ‘pen held Tampa scoreless for the remainder of the game.

Much was made coming into Game 1 about the increased induced vertical break (IVB) on Cole’s four-seam fastball at The Trop versus in outdoor environments, where the wind can mess with it. Reportedly, the way Cole’s stuff plays indoors was a key reason for going with him in Game 1.

Since joining the Yankees, Cole’s heater has averaged 19.3 inches of IVB inside Tropicana, compared to 17.7 inches at Yankee Stadium. Saturday, it averaged 17 inches of IVB, down considerably from his average while pitching in Tampa. Despite that drop, the pitch remained effective nonetheless.

Cole got seven whiffs on 27 swings at his heater, and averaged 96.8-mph with it, maxing out at 98.8-mph. Three of his five strikeouts came on the offering, including a 96-mph fastball to Victor Mesa, Jr. that looked like it was still rising as Mesa swung through it.

The curveball was Cole’s secondary weapon Saturday, especially against lefties (he threw the pitch 27% of the time when facing the platoon disadvantage). He racked up his other two strikeouts with the pitch, including one up in the zone that turned Junior Caminero’s knees to jelly.

Cole’s outing on Saturday moves his career playoff ERA since joining the Yankees down to 2.85 in 72.2 innings. Hopefully, he’ll get to appear again this postseason, whether later in this series against the Rays or against an AL Central foe in the ALCS, to bring that already nice ERA even lower.

The Dodgers are better than you. They’re smarter than you. They’re richer and deeper and more popular than you. You know it, they know it, there’s no point pretending otherwise.

So, yes, they went into the National League Divisional Series looking past the threadbare Atlanta Braves and thinking about the National League Championship Series.

Who does that? In the playoffs?

Your two-time World Series champions with the world’s best starting pitching rotation and a 1-0 NLDS series lead, that’s who.

The way the Dodgers did the math, it made sense to save their ace of aces, Yoshinobu Yamamoto — who last postseason went 5-1, had an ERA of 1.45 and 33 strikeouts in six appearances and won the World Series MVP — for Game 3 of the NLDS.

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

Not for the tone-setting Game 1 and, potentially, Game 5 on regular rest.

But Game 3.

Because to the Dodgers, that’s not even much of a calculated risk. It was a math problem specific to them, before they beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3 in Game 1 in 100-degree heat Saturday afternoon.

They figured they’d be able to throw two consecutive left-handers at the lefty-averse Braves lineup, starting Saturday with recently acquired two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, followed Sunday by Blake Snell, also a two-time Cy Young winner.

Additionally, this way they could have Yamamoto pitch Tuesday on the road, where his ERA is 1.77 instead of at home, where it’s 3.13. And where he’s given up 14 home runs compared with six on the road, where he’s made four fewer starts.

But mostly the Dodgers’ calculus was that having Yamamoto pitch Game 3 means it will line up so that they’ll have him for Game 2 in the NLCS and, if necessary, Game 6 against the Milwaukee Brewers or San Diego Padres. (Or, if you really want to plan ahead — and the Dodgers with their leaky bullpen absolutely should not — for Game 1 of the World Series.)

“That just sets up the rotation and Yamamoto better looking forward,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained before Saturday’s game.

“Not discounting this series, because you’ve got to win this series first, but you start from the fact that they’re all going to pitch — the three [Skubal, Snell and Yamamoto] are going to pitch for sure ... and then what sets them up going forward.”

It feels like a faux pas, to be that forward-thinking, and to be saying the quiet part out loud!

“If you can kind of line it up in such a way to give guys ample rest, it puts you in a better position for more options down the road,” Roberts said. “That’s kind of some of the math we had.”

I mean, it adds up. And for these Dodgers — whose fourth starter, Tyler Glasnow, was a key cog in last year’s World Series-winning rotation — it’s a fair assessment.

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

Though it’s nice of Roberts to pay enough lip service that he’s not totally discounting the best-of-five current series they’re in.

Predictably on Saturday, Skubal, who previously had a 2.04 ERA, a 0.73 WHIP and 56 strikeouts in 39⅔ playoff innings for the Detroit Tigers, brought his own October heat.

The 29-year-old from Kingman, Ariz., gave up just one run and two hits, walked two and struck out seven — giving him 64 in the postseason, the second most in his first seven postseason appearances behind only Bob Gibson (74), per MLB’s Sarah Langs.

Skubal retired 15 consecutive, hit 101 on the radar gun in the second inning and didn’t have a three-ball count until the fifth inning.

“We knew,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said, “it was going to be a rough ride.”

But Weiss did not know, immediately after Saturday’s loss, when he’d be able to deploy his sole ace, 37-year-old Chris Sale, the 10-time All-Star who just pitched in the Braves’ Game 3 wild-card closeout.

“To me it’s not that big a deal when he pitches,” Weiss said. “The Dodgers can’t win it in two.”

A true statement and a matter of fact: The Dodgers can’t win in two, but they’re not shy about expecting to win.

Read more:Shaikin: Dodgers are forcing Braves to make tough decision about Chris Sale

“It’s prudent to kind of map out potentially how they could line up,” Roberts said Friday. “And that’s just doing your due diligence.

“We are very fortunate because we have four guys essentially that you could really kind of pick through to figure out what’s the best way to deploy all four starters, that’s the exercise. But it starts with having four talented guys.”

Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, reveled in the notion that his club might actually be disproving the rule that you can never have enough pitching — at least when it comes to their elite quartet of starters.

And that, Friedman said, “is very impactful for quality of life.”

And the Dodgers aren’t afraid to say it.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Turns out that maybe pursuing Munetaka Murakami may have been the right idea for the Phillies after all. His first career playoff home run led the White Sox to victory and showed other teams yet again that they made a mistake in not going harder after him.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• There are a lot of questions the team needs to answer this offseason. Where Trea Turner plays is at the top of it ($).
• Don Mattingly got a lot of praise from his team for how he handled this season. It might not matter when it comes to his job ($).

MLB news:

• Joe Espada saw his general manager fired with a few weeks left in the season, but he hopes to remain on as Astros manager.
• Apparently, the Yankees had a chance to top the Red Sox’ final trade package to acquire Adley Rutschman from the Orioles.
• What do these insiders think Tarik Skubal will be making once he enters free agency? More important is the who will sign him.

Entering the playoffs, the Yankees knew they’d have to win their share of tight, low-scoring games if they wanted to advance deep into the playoffs. You know, the type of games that became their trademark during the second half of the season, as the offense floundered without Aaron Judge but the team still surged in the standings thanks to a fistful of 3-2 and 2-1 victories.

That was the kind of the game the Yankees had to win last night. Instead, the Rays staff executed just a hair better, and New York will turn to their ace in Game 2 hoping to stabilize in this series rather than take a commanding lead, having missed a massive opportunity to put Tampa on the backfoot.

It’s the kind of missed chance that will sting so much because of how well the Yankees’ pitching strategy for this game worked out. Gerrit Cole wasn’t at his sharpest, but he wasn’t bad either, managing to hold the Rays to just one run over five innings. Aaron Boone then did good work leveraging his bullpen (as he’s done for much of this season), tabbing Ryan Weathers for his postseason debut, and bringing in Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick at opportune moments, getting three no-hit innings from the trio. 

It wasn’t enough, in large part thanks to a superlative performance from Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen. Though the Yankees’ bats showed poorly in this game and made a couple key mistakes (more on that later), the story of this game is Rasmussen. The right-hander carried a no-hitter into the eighth, ultimately shutting the Yankees out over eight innings while allowing one hit, two walks, and striking out ten.

Rasmussen adjusted adeptly facing the lefty-heavy Yankee lineup, ramping up the usage of his cutter and changeup. The cambio in particular devastated the Yankees, the Bombers swinging 18 times at the change and whiffing ten times. Rasmussen’s changeup is a power one, diving beneath hitters’ bats at 89-90 mph, and the Yankees had no chance when he located it well:

He also showed deft control of his heaters, painting the corner to generate a number of called strikes with his cutter and sinker:

The Yankees didn’t do enough to make Rasmussen uncomfortable, only occasionally working deep counts and finding trouble squaring up the ball when they did make contact. But ultimately, Rasmussen is a very good pitcher who turned in the game of his life when the lights were brightest. The Yankees needed someone to break through and make a play, on a night where stringing together a rally against the opposing pitcher was a tall task. Austin Wells tried to be that someone when he roped the line drive down the right-field line that broke up Rasmussen’s no-no, attempting to stretch a double into a triple with two outs in the eighth:

It was an inexplicable decision regardless of the result. Using some back-of-the-napkin win probability math, Wells advancing to third there would’ve raised the Yankees’ chances of winning by roughly one percentage point, while getting thrown out reduced their odds by something like seven or eight percent. To justify going for it, Wells needed to feel he had a nearly 90 percent chance of advancing, something he very clearly didn’t have as Victor Mesa Jr. gathered to throw from right.

This series is far from over after one game, but the Yankees had a real chance to put the Rays in a bind here. They limited the Rays to one run on five hits, a scenario they surely would’ve taken before the game had it been presented to them. Any sort of offense would have resulted in New York taking a 1-0 lead in Tampa Bay, with the presumptive AL Cy Young winner ready to take the ball and bury the Rays in Game 2. Instead, Cam Schlittler will need to shove just to keep his team from falling into a 2-0 ALDS hole for the second consecutive season.

Schlittler will be up for the job, and the Yankees may very well find themselves back in the series come Monday night. But this is a tough, solid Rays squad, one that will be to hard to crack. The Yankees could’ve given themselves a chance to break them, but Rasmussen had other plans.

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On the site today, Kevin discusses the (Yankees) player of the game from Game 1, Gerrit Cole. Also, Madison recaps the rest of the action from a busy day of playoff baseball yesterday, and John spins through the week in Yankees social media, while Matt’s entry in our Yankees Birthday series highlights Frankie Crosetti.

Today’s Matchup:

Offday.

Newsday: The Yankees dropped Game 1 against the Rays on Saturday night. The story of the game was Tampa Bay starter Drew Rasmussen, who completely shut down the Yankees, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: The Yankees ended up sticking with Gerrit Cole to start game one of the ALDS, despite his struggles at points this season and despite Carlos Rodón’s impressive run to end the season. However, the reason they ended up going with Cole was that they plan on using all four starters during the series and they liked Cole in Tropicana Field and believe his “stuff” would play up better there. While he wasn’t perfect, Cole was hardly the reason the Yankees lost Game 1, allowing one run in five innings.

New York Post | Jon Heyman: Speaking of pitching, Matt Blake’s contract is reportedly up after the 2026 season. After leading the league in ERA this past season and having a pretty stellar pitching staff in general, the Yankees are unsurprisingly hoping to retain him.

MLB Trade Rumors | Mark Polishuk: There’s nothing that can be done at this point, but we did get some intel on the Yankees’ trade deadline, specifically around catcher Adley Rutschman, who ended up going from the Orioles to the Red Sox. Baltimore reportedly would’ve accepted a Yankees’ trade package, but the sticking point on the Yankees’ end was around prospect Yostin Pena, who rocketed onto the scene this past season.