Category: Baseball

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In 1969, the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers — who were the Seattle Pilots for one season — were founded as MLB expansion teams.

Now, 58 short years later, the perennial National League contenders are meeting in the postseason for the first time.

On Saturday, Oct. 3, the best-of-five NLDS will get underway at Milwaukee’s American Family Field with the Brewers’ ace and Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski (16-5, 1.80 ERA) on the hill.

Following a two-game stint in the Cream City, the series will move to SoCal for a pair of contests at San Diego’s PETCO Park. They’re slated to take place:

Game 3Tuesday, Oct. 6

Game 4Wednesday, Oct. 7

If you’d like to be there, tickets are available for both high-stakes hypothetical San Diego showdowns.

At the time of publication, the lowest price we could find on tickets for either game was $121 including fees on Vivid Seats.

Prices start at $99 including fees for the three potential meetings in Milwaukee.

Before this series, the Padres got revenge against the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card round, sweeping MVP hopeful Pete Crow-Armstrong’s club at home after losing to them in three games to open the playoffs last year.

“They’re playing great baseball right now,” San Diego manager Craig Stammen said about his club.

Next up, they have a tall task taking on MLB’s winningest team in 2026.

Oddsmakers project the Brewers are -180 favorites going into the NLDS.

Yet, it should be factored in that San Diego took four of their six meetings over the course of the regular season including a clutch 4-3, eleven-inning victory on Aug. 12.

Is this the year that one of these two clubs finally gets over the hump and returns to the World Series?

While we can’t say for certain we do know that their first-ever postseason meeting with some of the game’s hardest flamethrowers in Misiorowski and Mason Miller should be downright electric.

Don’t miss this one. We just might have an instant classic on our hands.

For more information, our team has everything you need to know and more about the Padres vs. Brewers 2026 NLDS below.

What do tickets cost to see the Padres at home in the 2026 NLDS?

All hypothetical Padres home game dates at PETCO Park and links to the cheapest tickets available are listed here:

How much are tickets for Brewers 2026 NLDS games in Milwaukee?

A complete calendar of all potential Brewers home games at American Family Field and the lowest-priced tickets can be found below.

Are Padres tickets available for later rounds?

Starry-eyed fans looking to get ahead of themselves can procure potential NLCS and World Series tickets before the NLDS even begins.

To grab seats for the game of your choosing, all hypothetical Padres playoff tickets can be found here.

How to watch the Padres in the 2026 playoffs

Fans that prefer to watch on the tube, you can catch Padres playoff contests on FOX, which can be found on DIRECTV.

Huge 2026-27 San Diego shows

The Yankees aren’t the only huge attraction in America’s Finest City these next few months.

Here are just five of the biggest acts headed to San Diego in the near future.

• Metallica

• Don Omar

• Gorillaz

• Los Tigres del Norte

• Teddy Swims

Who else is out and about? Take a look at this list of all the biggest artists coming to the Pechanga Arena these next few months to find the show for you.

Why you should trust ‘Post Wanted’ by the New York Post

This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change.

In a year where the (not particularly inspiring) tagline for playoff baseball is “No Time Like October”, only one out of four Wild Card series made it to today, the actual first day of the month. Aren’t we so lucky that it was Braves vs. Phillies? /s

Two games into the postseason and three sweeps later, the Padres, Yankees, and papally-blessed White Sox have punched their tickets to the next round. The swift eliminations of the Cubs, Red Sox, and Astros means the singular scenario for a night game at Truist Park has come to fruition.

Tonight’s winner-take-all game will decide which NL East team will board the plane to Los Angeles for the weekend to play in the National League Division Series, aiming to deny the two-time defending World Series champions their shot at a three-peat.

Doesn’t it feel like it was always destined to come down to this? A pair of divisonal rivals, with fanbases that passionately hate each other, both trying to dispel a miasma of past playoff failures. Apparently, this makes for tremendous baseball for those without a specific rooting interest or stake in it.

Unfortunately, we here at Battery Power are rooting very hard for the home team. And we would do pretty much anything to trade exciting and entertaining baseball for easy and comfortable victories. But if you’ve been following the team this season, you know they like to do things the hard way. So here we are.

The Atlanta Braves will send Ray Kerr to the mound to start for Game 3. Kerr returned to the majors on August 16 after missing two years due to Tommy John surgery and long rehab process. The lanky lefty is capable of multiple innings and had a 1.47 ERA and .600 WHIP in nine games.

Kerr faced the Phillies for a solid third of his 18.1 innings pitched in the regular season. His two outings were as follows:

• September 5: 3.1 innings of one-hit ball (a single by Kyle Schwarber) and one strikeout
• September 13: 3.0 innings of one-hit ball (a double by Bryce Harper) and four strikeouts

In the latter game, Kerr relieved starter Grant Holmes. The roles will reverse today; we can expect Holmes to follow for the bulk of the innings. A Braves bullpen unit that has been so strong all year faltered yesterday afternoon, but it is likely that all hands will be on deck to get all 27 outs tonight.

The Phillies are in the same mode and will counter with right-hander Aaron Nola. He is their most-rested option, but Zack Wheeler, Game 1’s starter Jesús Luzardo, and yesterday’s winning pitcher Andrew Painter are all also on the table. Closer Jhoan Duran was unavailable yesterday, and his status for tonight is not yet known.

The Braves are very familiar with Nola, of course. He has a 4.50 ERA in three starts against the team in 2026. He last pitched in Saturday for the pentultimate game of the regular season on short rest, lasting one inning after allowing three runs on four hits on 21 pitches.

It would be great to see the team in the home uniforms be the ones to Let It Fly – the leaders in home runs off Nola are Austin Riley with 7, Matt Olson with 5, and Ronald Acuña Jr. with 4.

Welcome to October. Who will shine brightest under the Truist Park lights?

Game Info

Game Time: Thursday, October 1, 8:00 pm EDT

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

Watch: NBC/Peacock

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM, ESPN Radio

Although the box score doesn’t reflect an intensely competitive game, tempers flared in the stands at Yankee Stadium Wednesday night.

A big fight broke out in the upper deck during the Yankees’ 9-2 Game 2 win over the Red Sox, which swept Boston out of the playoffs.

A viral video of the brawl captured a Yankees fan wearing black shirt throwing punches left and right on a Red Sox fan, who was wearing a yellow Boston jersey.

Another Red Sox fan, wearing a red jersey and who appeared to be with the fan in the yellow jersey, ended up getting in a blow to the Yankees fan’s head.

It knocked the fan backwards into the stairs of the section and gave the Red Sox fan in the yellow jersey enough time to gather himself and retaliate.

The fan got in a few punches before the Yankees fan stood back up and began fighting back again.

As the chaos went on, many fans around the fight didn’t take action.

Instead, many watched and recorded the incident on their phones.

The Red Sox fan in the red jersey eventually pushed the Yankee fan away, towards the exit, but he didn’t go quietly.

The fan said “F–k you” toward the Boston supporters while flipping them the bird before putting their Yankee hat back on and leaving.

Since, the Yankees knocked out biggest rivals for the second consecutive season in the wild-card round, there was bound to be some tension and outbursts during the series.

The upper deck battle wasn’t the only notable altercation of the night in The Bronx.

Before the game, Spike Lee found himself in the middle of an intense scene with a fan, who asked the famous director for a selfie and requested that he say “F–k Palestine” while inside the Legends Suite.

An angry Lee immediately stood up and sought out security. The unidentified fan was kicked out of the suite.

Boston was alarmingly outscored 18-2 overall throughout the two games.

The Yankees hit the road to take on the Rays in Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday, with Game 2 in St. Petersburg on Monday.

Games 3 and 4 will be in The Bronx and Game 5 would be back in Florida.

The Phillies are turning to a starter with a 5.14 ERA in his last 50 starts.

The Braves are opening with a reliever who has pitched nine times since the end of the 2024 season.

Welcome to Desperationville.

The only wild-card series to go the distance will feature the Phillies starting veteran Aaron Nola over ace Zack Wheeler on short rest, per The Athletic, and the Braves countering with southpaw reliever Ray Kerr, who went 26 months between major-league appearances before his Aug. 17 season debut.

Neither NL East squad has to be loving its current situation, with the Phillies surely kicking themselves for stumbling late in the year and the Braves’ lack of pitching depth looming large.

In an ideal world, the Phillies would have had Wheeler available for a start in this series but they had to burn him Sunday against the Rays to secure their playoff spot.

Rather than turn to Wheeler on three days rest, they will be going with Nola on regular rest.

Nola had a chance to ensure Wheeler could start in this series when he faced the Rays last Saturday, but he lasted one inning and allowed three runs on four hits.

He finished the regular season with a 7-12 record and a 4.67 ERA.

The Athletic noted that Wheeler could serve as a reliever, along with Game 1 starter Jesus Luzardo, but he’s made just one relief appearance out of 323 career MLB outings, including the postseason.

Wheeler tossed 1 ⅔ innings in relief in the 2023 NLCS in a 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks.

The Braves, meanwhile, are likely using Kerr to limit how many times Grant Holmes — a starter — has to face the Phillies’ lineup, per The Athletic.

Holmes allowed an .886 OPS to opposing batters when facing them a second time, compared to a .590 OPS the first time through.

Kerr, meanwhile, only joined the team in August after last pitching for the franchise in 2024.

He only made his major-league debut at 27 in 2022 after previously working at 7-Eleven.

“It’s really surprising to just see him go from 7-Eleven and us working together at IMAX theater,” Kerr’s brother Richard Kerr told The Athletic for a piece published in September.

“Him furthering his career was such an eye-opener for a lot of people.”

The Yankees are on their way to Tampa after making quick work of the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series. It’s only fitting that their next hurdle takes the form of the team that edged them for the division title—just like last year. The Tampa Bay Rays own the Junior Circuit’s top regular season record and likely represent the Yankees’ most significant hurdle for returning to the World Series.

Unsurprisingly, the Yankees fed off terrific starting pitching to sweep Boston. Cam Schlittler continued his superlative season (and his ownership of their arch rival) in Game 1, then Max Fried followed with an understated yet still stellar six innings of his own. But Aaron Boone’s club didn’t need to rely solely on the starters. In both games, the Yankee offense exploded in the latter half of the game to make the late innings as comfortable as a California King after a long day on the road.

With all that in mind, the Yankees are entering this tilt with the Rays looking like a well-oiled machine. They’ll need to keep it up to handle a pesky, modular, and cerebral Tampa Bay team that thrives on the margins.

On offense, this year’s Rays are not unlike the Blue Jays who ended the Bombers’ season in 2025, marking a departure from more power-focused, high-whiff lineups of past iterations. Like that Toronto team, they are extremely difficult to strike out—both their K rate and whiff rate were lowest in the league. They have plenty of contact-oriented bats: Yandy Díaz led the AL with 180 hits, and Chandler Simpson is the ultimate throwback, hitting over .300 with 46 steals and zero homers. Jonathan Aranda blends contact skills and pull power to right field. But they also have their own equivalent to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the heart of the order: All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero, whose 42 homers match the total Ben Rice put up this year. Their 104 team wRC+ was tied for fifth in MLB with the ALDS-bound White Sox.

As ever, the Rays’ pitching staff is loaded for bear—one of the few staffs that can compete with the Yankees. They throw tons of different looks at you, from the relentless top-down attack of ace Drew Rasmussen to the bouncy, crafty stylings of veteran Nick Martinez. Trade deadline addition Freddy Peralta is pitching like Freddy Peralta again, and they’ve got Griffin Jax and Ian Seymour as additional options.

For a five-game series, I anticipate Rasmussen (already listed as the Game 1 starter), Martinez, and Peralta in a three-man rotation, with Seymour as their designated long man out of the bullpen. Jax, who converted to starter this year after a fruitful stint in Minnesota’s bullpen, took a comebacker off his back in the penultimate game of the season. Indications from the team are that he’ll be good to go and could potentially reprise his late-inning role or be a “leverage guy.” Manager Kevin Cash demurred when asked for more details on his strategy—no surprise for a team that likes to keep their cards close to the chest.

Then there’s the bullpen, which could add Jax or Seymour to an already talented crew. Closer Bryan Baker, once an inconsistent middle-inning arm for Baltimore, has blossomed into an intimidating closer with triple-digit heat and a nasty changeup. Kevin Kelly has been among the league’s best setup men with a 2.44 ERA in 73.2 innings. Reports indicate that the Rays could welcome back Tyler Wells and Garrett Cleavinger, both of whom have missed time with injury. Add lefty Cam Booser to the mix, and you have a good idea of some of the arms the Yankees will see in the later innings.

The fruits of dispatching Boston early are borne in how the Yankees can set up their staff for this series. Gerrit Cole was the presumptive Game 3 starter for New York—he’ll likely start Game 1. There will then be a day between Game 1 and Game 2, giving an additional day of rest for Schlittler and Fried, who I expect to be deployed afterward. Since there will be a full four days between Game 1 and a hypothetical Game 4, the Yankees could start Cole again if they so choose and reserve Carlos Rodón for a piggyback role in case a starter can’t go deep.

The staggered scheduling of games promises to redound to the benefit of both pitching staffs, who likely won’t run their bullpens ragged with the first three games taking place across five days. As such, the focus in the series to me will be the lineups. Which team can snatch the initiative and give their pitchers a lead with which to work? Who can put up a crooked number—like the ones the Yankees pasted onto Boston—to dent opposing morale?

It’s with that question that we address the Aaron Judge of it all. Judge was vocal about his desire to play in the Wild Card Series, but ultimately was left off the roster. Instead, Giancarlo Stanton was given a spot, though he went unused. The full nature of Judge’s quad strain is still a little iffy, but bringing him back was wishful thinking against Boston, and I believe will be wishful thinking against Tampa, too. At any rate, this lineup has been clicking—which gives Boone every excuse to wait until they’re confident Judge can be his fully healthy self, rather than the limited version which probably couldn’t play the outfield as it stands. I expect the Yankees will not bring Judge onto the ALDS roster—and if they do, he will see limited playing time, if any.

For the best-of-three series with Boston, the Yankees got aggressive with their roster, constructing a super-bench and bringing only ten pitchers. With a best-of-five series on the horizon, the Yankees will probably add another arm or two, but I expect them to continue to carry a deep bench, especially if Judge remains sidelined. Boone was able to roll out two very different-looking lineups against Boston, and both produced. Just as the Rays thrive on changing things up and preventing their opponent from getting comfortable, the Yankees can and should continue to weaponize their depth in the same way.

Whose lineup is better? On paper, you can make a compelling argument for either side. One thing I’ll note, though, is the relative inexperience in the postseason for Tampa Bay as compared to the Yankees, who feature plenty of guys who have become postseason mainstays. Caminero has two postseason plate appearances in his career—Aranda has one. Richie Palacios and Victor Mesa Jr., two toolsy bats whom the Rays have relied upon for much of the latter half of the year, are playing October ball for the first time. Cedric Mullins appeared on two Orioles teams that combined to win zero postseason games.

The only hitter with an extensive October resumé is Díaz—who has a .561 OPS in 26 career playoff games. Past results don’t predict future outcomes, but we have seen plenty of teams with minimal collective postseason appearances flame out quickly. There will be lots of pressure on Tampa to prove they can hang.

One last thing: the last time New York faced Tampa in the postseason, they did so during the pandemic, in an absolutely vacant Petco Park in San Diego. This year, the series starts in Tropicana Field, where a healthy contingent of Yankee fans has always made their presence felt. This could undercut the Rays’ home-field advantage and give the Bombers an important energy source to siphon in the first two games. The Trop is not a beloved building in these pages, but if the Yankees can make it a second home field, the Rays will need to be that much more perfect.

For those reasons, I believe the Yankees will win this ALDS in four games. I think it could stand as another example of how participating in the Wild Card Series can help a team more than a first-round bye—provided they ace the test, which the Yankees did. From my perspective, New York’s pitching staff has more talent, and their lineup more experience. I think these factors will prevent us from seeing the complacent, often sluggish Yankees who bowed out early last October and were vanquished by the Dodgers in the previous Fall Classic. So long as they continue to cash in on their opportunities and mitigate mistakes, they’ll be able to unseat the AL’s top seed.

But you know what they say: you have to play the games. Game 1 of the Divsion Series is slated for Saturday, with coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. EST.

Welcome to the 2026 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2026. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.

No. 52, Edouard Julien (-1.0 rWAR)

The modus operandi for the new front office of the Colorado Rockies entering the 2026 season was to raise the talent level and improve contact abilities. The free-swinging nature of the Rockies’ lineups of the past was an issue that the new leaders were hoping to rectify.

The Rockies made two trades near the end of January that seemed to focus on this goal and then some. One of those trades brought over TJ Rumfield from the New York Yankees, while the other brought back pitcher Pierson Ohl and infielder Edouard Julien from the Minnesota Twins. Ohl ended up as a non-factor in 2026 because of Tommy John surgery, but Julien spent significant time with the big-league club.

A strong start but a sharp decline

Julien’s time in Minnesota was disappointing. After a strong rookie campaign in 2023, Julien’s production declined rapidly over the next two seasons at the plate. Sure, he played well enough in Triple-A, but with other rising talent options for the Twins and his lack of minor league options, he became expendable for the Twins.

The Rockies hoped Julien’s elite contact and on-base skills could rebound and translate to a change of scenery, while providing defensive versatility at two open positions: first base and second base. The 27-year-old made a strong first impression in spring training, slashing .300/.417/.533 in 30 at-bats with 10 strikeouts and six walks over 11 games. It was certainly better than his .158/.304/.211 slash line during the World Baseball Classic with Team Canada, where he still drew four walks against eight strikeouts.

The trade appeared to be even more of a steal as Julien took off in April. By the end of the first month of the season, he was slashing .304/.396/.443 with two home runs and 12 RBI in 91 plate appearances over 27 games. Notably, Julien was doing quite well out of the leadoff spot, and it looked like the Rockies had found a quality option to get on base and get the offense started.

Then the wheels fell off.

Julien hit just .083 in May, going 5-for-61 while making 16 starts. He endured a 12-game hitless streak from May 10 to May 27, going 0-for-34 with 12 strikeouts and two walks. As he struggled, he was moved toward the bottom of the lineup as Jake McCarthy started to really take off.

He rebounded nicely in June, however, slashing .288/.422/.365 and showing off the plate discipline that made him intriguing in the first place. In 64 plate appearances, he drew 12 walks while striking out just 15 times. Unfortunately, he declined sharply again in July, going 5-for-38 across 14 games.

He played just three games in August, going hitless and drawing four walks, before he was designated for assignment and outrighted to Triple-A Albuquerque, where he finished out the season batting .263/.394/.375 with 20 strikeouts against 16 walks in 99 plate appearances. As for his line with the Rockies, Julien batted .208/.322/.292 in 88 games.

The good and the bad at the plate

Up until getting sent to Triple-A, Julien was a regular piece for the Rockies. He and Willi Castro split the majority of the time at second base as Castro bounced around the diamond at multiple positions.

The reason that Julien got so much playing time was that the on-base factor was so important for the Rockies. His 14.1% walk rate was the highest it had been since the 15.7% he recorded in 2023, and his 25.7% strikeout rate was the lowest of his career. Despite playing in just 88 games, Julien’s 39 walks were the fifth-most on the team this season.

He was also making more contact than he ever had before, at a rate of 78.0%. On pitches inside the strike zone, Julien had an 86.3% contact rate on a 62.5% swing rate. However, it also meant that he was making a lot of contact on pitches outside of the strike zone, with a 49.5% contact rate on an 18.6% swing rate. The ability to control the zone and exhibit elite discipline is what the Rockies hoped he could do on the regular, and they saw the impact it could have in two separate months. Unfortunately, the wild swings in the opposite direction showed that the contact didn’t always yield results.

Julien has been a groundball machine during his career with a 48.6% groundball rate. In 2026, Julien posted a career-high 50.3% groundball rate. Despite a career-high hard-hit rate of 49.7%, Julien just wasn’t finding results. See, he was elite at making contact on a lot of pitches, but that accounted for a lot of foul balls and weak balls put into play. When he would smoke a ball, it was on the ground half the time and playable for opposing defenses.

He also didn’t benefit much from the platoon system facing right-handed pitching, batting .214/.324/.307 in 84 games.

Julien definitely has the potential for more power in his bat; he hit 16 home runs during his rookie campaign, after all, but he couldn’t tap into that with the Rockies. Of the 49 hits he had this season, he had just nine doubles, a triple, and three home runs.

Offensively, the potential was there for Julien to thrive, especially looking at his Baseball Savant batting metrics, but the reality is that he just couldn’t take his game to the next level like a lot of other players were able to do this season at the plate. It feels as though his offensive stats are hollow outside of being able to draw walks and sometimes get a groundball single.

Defensive woes

As for the defensive side of things, that’s where Julien’s struggles really came to light. Initially, it was believed he would be a main option to man first base before Rumfield made that position his own. The Rockies were also committed to using Castro everywhere they could, particularly at third base and shortstop, to spot struggling players. That left second base primed for Julien to play the majority of his time there.

Unfortunately, it was not a pretty sight most of the time.

There were concerns about Julien’s defense in Minnesota and that is why he got bumped from spots multiple times. He didn’t do much to dispel those concerns in Colorado. In 467.1 innings at second base, Julien recorded -7 Defensive Runs Saved and was worth -4 Outs Above Average and -3 Fielding Run Value.

He could still throw out some highlight-reel plays here and there, but Julien’s defensive tenure at second base was not a pretty sight. His range and arm were not good, and there was a reason that his defensive playing time diminished as Kyle Karros solidified third base, allowing Castro to play at second base more regularly, and Julien served as the designated hitter and pinch hitter more often.

Au revoir?

The intentions behind the acquisition of Edouard Julien were well placed by the Rockies this season. Having a player capable of controlling the strike zone and drawing walks is something that will work for the crew at 20th and Blake. For brief moments, Julien did a great job showcasing that idea.

Unfortunately, his entire batting profile and lack of a defensive home made it more difficult to justify him staying around as the season entered the final stretch. Rumfield also ended up exhibiting the approach so much better over the course of the season as well.

In all likelihood, Julien will be made a free agent when the offseason begins. There is a world where you keep him on as a minor league depth piece, but ultimately he doesn’t bring enough to the table to justify keeping him around. Hopefully he can find an opportunity elsewhere, because there is some sort of potential, but the best thing he did for Colorado was show what a disciplined approach can do for a ball club.

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Kate Upton has seen enough.

She will be giving up America’s pastime and admitted as much while on the “Today” show on Wednesday just days after husband Justin Verlander retired from his 21-year MLB career.

“I’m so excited. I’m never watching another baseball game again,” the 34-year-old model admitted while sitting next to Verlander when asked about her feelings about his retirement by co-anchor Savannah Guthrie.

“It was tears of joy for me,” Upton added as laughs filled the room.

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Verlander, 43, was honored at Comerica Park on Friday night before taking the mound for the last time on Saturday against the Pirates in what was a 4-3 win for Detroit.

Before his last start, the three-time Cy Young winner and two-time World Series champion also caught the first pitch thrown by his 7-year-old daughter, Genevieve, who threw a strike and then gave her dad a big hug in what was adorable moment.

“It’s been awesome. We’ve been practicing,” Verlander told reporters before the game. “She’s all pumped up about it. We actually came out here to the field and practiced off the mound one day. I asked her, ‘Where do you want to go? You want to go to the mound? And she’s like, ‘The mound.’ I’m like, that’s my girl.”

Another emotional moment came when Verlander was pulled in the top of the sixth inning.

He began to shake with tears as Genevieve, who was wearing her dad’s Tiger jersey, sprinted out to give him a hug following his last MLB pitch. Verlander gave his daughter the ball and said goodbye to his teammates before walking off the diamond to a standing ovation while holding Genevieve’s hand.

Upton, dressed in an orange sweater and Tigers hat, was watching with their 1-year-old son, Bellamy. The family of four hugged before leaving through the team’s dugout.

Verlander gave up five hits and two runs with six strikeouts. He finished the season with a 7.00 ERA.

His 266 career wins rank 36th all-time — tied with Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey — while a total of 3,560 strikeouts are the eighth-most ever.

“There’s no script,” he said afterwards. “I want to go as long as I can. I skipped about a month’s worth of rehab to be able to do this, but I also don’t want to just go out there and throw 20 pitches. I think everybody feels comfortable with 20 pitches, and then after that, we’re kind of in a who-knows zone.”

Verlander and Upton met while filming a commercial for “Major League Baseball 2K12” in 2013. The two became an official couple in 2014 and Upton posted a photo of her with the major leaguer at Fenway Park.

The two got engaged in 2016 and tied the knot in 2017 in Tuscany, Italy just days after Verlander won the World Series with the Astros.

It was always inevitable that Cam Schlittler would continue his feud with Red Sox fans and Boston-based media outlets.

Following the blowout 9-2 win on Wednesday night that clinched the Yankees’ slot in the ALDS, Schlittler was easy to find in the comments on the Yankees’ celebratory social media post. The Walpole, Massachusetts native had some choice words in response to some earlier comments made about his career stats against the Red Sox.

Schlittler’s comment, “Wat the 4’s gotta say now,” is a clapback at some personalities from New England sports media personality Jared Carrabis’ podcast ‘Section 10.’

To provide a bit more context, Rusey, one of the personalities on the podcast, previously called Schlittler ugly and essentially useless, even after dominating Boston in the final rivalry matchup of the regular season. He could’ve taken the high road in celebratory fashion on Wednesday night, but he seemingly found that choice too boring and let the fans stay mad.

Schlittler had an outstanding performance to completely shut down Boston in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday night. Pitching through six and a third scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, the Yankees’ ace has accumulated a 0.47 ERA in his first six career starts against the Red Sox. He’s the fourth pitcher in MLB postseason history with two 10-strikeout games before turning 26.

The Yankees’ postseason run hasn’t seen the last of Schlittler, as he will likely take the mound for the second game of the best-of-five Division Series against Tampa Bay, with a chance to start in Game 5 as well should it go the distance. Securing the Wild Card Series in two games allows for an extra day of rest before the Yankees travel down to face the Rays.

Coverage for Game 1 of the ALDS begins Saturday at 6:30 p.m. EST.

Basking in the afterglow of a Phillies victory over the Braves on Wednesday, I kept going back to something over and over. Yes the in game redemption arc of Bryce Harper was probably the dominant storyline of the game, as was the Alec Bohm home run. Cristopher Sanchez carried them on his back for 6+ innings until he could literally not do it any more, sending the game to the bullpen. That’s when Don Mattingly pulled the Andrew Painter card to help him get through the game.

It turned out: the Phillies may have another pitcher with an elite pitch on their staff.

If we look at the Phillies’ starting rotation and tried to name the elite, 80 grade pitches that are there, one might determine these ones, in no particular order:

• Sanchez’s changeup
• Jesus Luzardo’s sweeper
• Zack Wheeler’s splitter
• mayyyyyyyyyybe Aaron Nola’s knucklecurve (if you’re feeling generous)

But did Painter’s changeup also just join the list? After only one game, one could be tempted to call it elite, especially since it was in a playoff setting when the leverage index was well over one. I’m not sure that I am there yet, but boy did that pitch look elite.

It wasn’t just one pitch that made me consider this over and over. I cannot get over the pitches that he threw to Dominic Smith. To have the absolute stones to throw the changeup as the first pitch is impressive. It ended up being middle-middle, not exactly where one wants to put it, but Smith was likely so amped up about getting a first pitch fastball that he’s miss the changeup by a mile.

Then to back it up with another changeup, this one down in the zone?!?!?!?!

Heavenly lord that pitch is illegal in about four countries.

In that moment, the tying and winning runs on base, seeing Painter rely on that pitch means that the trust he has in it is sky high at the moment. The coaching staff probably has more, better data on the pitch that suggested throwing it to Smith in that moment was the correct call. It perfectly set up his third strike, the ABS challenge that, quite honestly, should have never needed a challenge in the first place. There was quite literally nothing that Smith was going to be able to do with that well placed of a fastball.

I’m still thinking about it today.

Well that’s how you win a playoff series! The Yankees swept aside an inferior Red Sox squad, outscoring their opponents, 17-2, in two games in the Bronx. They are set for a date with the Rays in what should be a thrilling ALDS. However, before we get to that, we get to introduce our first Sequence of the Week of the postseason, Cam Schlittler setting the tone in Game 1 for the eventual sweep of Boston.

We join Schlittler in a packed house at 161st St. and River Ave., the Yankees ace set to throw the first pitch of this seventh playoff meeting between eternal foes. He is the best pitcher in the AL, the presumptive Cy Young winner after posting the third-lowest ERA (1.95) by a starter in a season in franchise history. He owns the Red Sox in his young career and is looking to author another chapter in his postseason biography after tossing eight scoreless innings and striking out a dozen to eliminate the Red Sox in Game 3 of last year’s AL Wild Card Series. The Red Sox offense may have been hobbled by injury in September, but they are not a group to be trifled with, starting with leadoff hitter Roman Anthony. Anthony missed most of the season with a torn finger ligament but returned at the end of August to post a 119 wRC+ in his final 25 games.

Schlittler certainly wants to declare a statement of intent from the first batter he faces, particularly the face of the Boston franchise. Everybody in the stadium and watching the broadcast knows a heater is coming first pitch, the only question is how fast.

We have our answer. Schlittler throws one of the fastest pitches of his season, dotting this 101 mph four-seamer on the corner away and at the knees for strike one. If anyone had any doubts whether Schlittler would be amped up for this start, this pitch is a resounding yes.

With the adrenaline coursing through his veins, it looks like Schlittler has access to a couple more mph on his fastball. He looks to take advantage of this fleeting boost in velo with another four-seamer to Anthony, convinced that he can throw it by the dangerous Boston lefty.

This one comes in at *just* 100 mph. Austin Wells sets a target up and in and Schlittler doesn’t miss his spot by much, tugging this pitch just a few inches inside. It starts as a ball out of his hand and never really deviates toward the zone, making for a pretty straightforward take by Anthony.

After two pitches, it appears Schlittler’s release is better aligned for that outside lane than to the glove side. Anthony showed zero interest in offering at the first pitch fastball called for a strike, so Schlittler and Wells go back to that well.

Schlittler throws almost an identical copy of the first pitch of the game, dotting another 101 mph four-seamer low and away. Same pitch, same result. Anthony is clearly hunting something up and on the inner half. It wouldn’t make sense for him to be guarding against the breaking ball below the zone considering Schlittler threw a fastball roughly 90-percent of the time during the regular season.

It’s been a slightly different approach from Schlittler to start the game, as he generally likes to live up in the zone with all three of his fastballs. That partially helps to explain Anthony’s passivity against the two in-zone four-seamers low, however that approach now has him in the hole, 1-2. There’s no subtlety to the following pitch selection, Schlittler looking to bully Anthony into submission with another heater over the plate.

This is Schlittler’s third four-seamer at 101, though this one catches way more plate than the other two. All the same, Anthony still can’t catch up despite knowing exactly what’s coming, his late swing slashing the pitch foul back to the screen.

Following that foul ball, Schlittler introduces his first wrinkle of the AB. After finally establishing his four-seamer in the zone but above the knees, Schlittler has the situation perfectly set up to get Anthony to chase a curveball in the dirt.

You might wonder why an MLB hitter would swing at a pitch that bounces in front of home plate. However, out of the hand this curveball looks exactly like the four-seamer in the zone that immediately preceded it. Because he has to stay geared up for 101, Anthony is almost forced into starting his swing before that curveball’s downward break kicks in, leaving him no chance to check his swing in time. I’ll admit I was shocked to see Schlittler throw a curveball this early in the game. I was expecting a diet of purely fastballs in the first inning and maybe even the whole first time through the order before using the curveball later in the game as a change of speeds and change of look.

Here’s the full sequence:

This outing was vintage Schlittler against Boston, but with an extra twist that could vault the Yankees ace into truly untouchable territory this postseason. He threw a career-high 32 curveballs to the tune of a gaudy 50-percent whiff rate. It surely confounded the Red Sox game plan against him and they were helpless against the Uncle Charlie for the entirety of his outing. Even if he ups the fastball usage in subsequent starts, the curveball usage rate in this game plants the seed of doubt in the mind of anyone attempting to game plan for Schlittler. Don’t be surprised to see his calling card elevated heater rack up whiffs in bunches now that hitters have to be mindful of the hook.

Though not quite as stratospherically dominant as last season’s Wild Card start against the Red Sox, Schlittler still found a way to silence Boston without his A-1 fastball command. He threw a career-high 117 pitches across 6.1 scoreless, striking out ten to join Bob Gibson as the only other pitcher in MLB history with multiple scoreless starts with double-digit strikeouts against the Red Sox in the playoffs. Needless to say, we are excited to see what brilliance he cooks up next.

By now you’ve seen the quotes. After another ugly night at Yankee Stadium, a number of Red Sox veterans expressed their frustration not only with the way they played, but with certain on and off-field decisions.

First and most notably there was Sonny Gray, who didn’t mince words when it came to his thoughts about being lifted after having thrown just 70 pitches in an elimination game. “I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order a third time. I think that’s a fact,” Gray said. “I would have liked to have been trusted in that moment.” (ESPN)

Making matters worse, Chad Tracy’s decision to lift Gray in favor of Erik Miller seems to have soured the pending free agent on the organization as a whole. Gray was asked a variation on a question that every veteran has been asked dozens of times throughout their career: “Are the Red Sox a destination you’d want to return to?” It’s a softball question that, 99 times out of 100, would be answered with pablum about enjoying his time here and wanting to explore his options, and doing what’s best for his family, yadda, yadda, yadda. But in the heat of the moment, Gray offered something else:

Earlier this season, in the midst of one of the hottest stretches in baseball history, Willson Contreras made it clear that he wanted to finish his career in Boston, saying that he had “found my family.” But in the clubhouse last night he didn’t hold back in criticizing the organization’s decision-making “It’s not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or you have computers telling you what to do, because this is baseball,” he said. “The data is here to help us, but at the end of the day, you’re going to need experience and veteran guys to win games. There’s a lot of stuff that I would like to say, but I’ll stay (with) that.” Asked further about accounted for the Sox’ swing from mid-summer brilliance to fall failure, Contreras demurred in eyebrow-raising fashion: ”I’m not going to answer it because I don’t want to give my honest answer.“ (Justin Leger, NBC Sports)

So what was Chad Tracy’s explanation for the quick hook? “We were trailing, we’re struggling to score runs, and you have to when you get in spots where you’re struggling to score runs and you’re already trailing, you feel like you’ve got to be aggressive and go,” he said. “They’re getting back to the top of the lineup, they got a couple hits against them, you see if you can put it out. And if you put it out, you’re kind of lined up to where we wanted to go. That just didn’t work.” (Tara Sullivan, Boston Globe)

While Tracy’s quick hooks are garnering a lot of attention, the Red Sox weren’t going to win much of anything with the way they were hitting. “Obviously, we didn’t score enough runs,” said Sox Trevor Story. “That’s kind of what it comes down to. We weren’t really swinging it real hot at the end of the season coming into the postseason.” (Steve Buckley, The Athletic)

Naturally, it’s even harder to score runs without Roman Anthony. The Red Sox have struggled to get a handle on Anthony’s injury all season long, and that appears to still be the case today. “We’re still trying to figure out exactly what happened and what the prognosis will be,” Craig Breslow said, while Anthony himself sounded devastated: “I feel sick to my stomach. I haven’t slept much. It doesn’t really feel real, to be honest,” he said. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)

LOS ANGELES — The television broadcast for every single Dodgers game this postseason, however long they last, will feature a familiar voice for those in and around Los Angeles. Joe Davis will call the Dodgers National League Division Series for Fox Sports, which begins on Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers in the NLDS will play either the Atlanta Braves or Philadelphia Phillies, with that wild card series getting decided on Thursday night (5 p.m. PT, NBC) in Atlanta.

Davis will call the NLDS alongside John Smoltz for Fox Sports, with reporter Ken Rosenthal. That’s the No. 1 MLB crew for Fox, which will also televise the National League Championship Series and World Series. In other words, Davis will call every Dodgers game on television this October, no matter how long they last, just like he did in 2024.

Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday will begin at 1 p.m. at Dodger Stadium and will be televised by Fox, with Game 2 on Sunday evening a 5 p.m. game that will be on FS1.

Davis called 88 Dodgers games on SportsNet LA this season, right in line with recent years — he called 87 games in each of 2023, 2024, and 2025 — in addition to five regular season Dodgers games on Fox Saturdays. This is the fifth season Davis is on the No. 1 MLB broadcast crew for Fox.

On the local radio side for the Dodgers, Charley Steiner will call Dodgers home games alongside Rick Monday for AM 570 this October, with Stephen Nelson teaming up with Monday on all postseason road games.

How will the 2026 Red Sox be remembered? Reflecting on a bizarre season originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

After falling to the New York Yankees in the 2025 Wild Card Series, the Boston Red Sox took the scenic route to the same destination in 2026.

Boston’s rollercoaster season ended with another devastating Wild Card Series loss at Yankee Stadium. This one was even worse, with the Red Sox being outscored 18-2 in a two-game sweep. Again, Yankees ace Cam Schlittler asserted his dominance. Again, Boston’s offense looked lifeless. And again, managerial and defensive miscues proved costly.

The ugly series sets us up for a fascinating offseason for Craig Breslow and Co. But before we turn the page to what should be another eventful winter, let’s take a moment to reflect on all that transpired over the last eight months. What will come to mind when we look back on the 2026 Red Sox season? Did their midseason turnaround make it a success, or does another early playoff exit make it a failure?

Here’s what we’ll remember about the 2026 Red Sox:

Alex Cora out, Chad Tracy in

The 2026 Red Sox started their season 10-17 before Craig Breslow decided enough was enough. Boston’s chief baseball officer cleaned house, firing longtime manager Alex Cora along with most of his staff, including game-planning coordinator Jason Varitek, hitting coach Pete Fatse, bench coach Ramon Vasquez, and third base coach Kyle Hudson.

Breslow’s surprising move ended Cora’s eight-year tenure with the organization. He finished with a 620-541 record as manager and a World Series title in 2018.

“By acting today, it gives us 135 games ahead of us,” Breslow said in his press conference following Cora’s firing, “so we’ve got almost a full season’s worth of run to take advantage of this fresh start and ultimately to compete for a division and deep postseason run in the way that we talked about it and envisioned and believed heading into spring training.

“We believe in the group of players that we have in the clubhouse, down the hallway, and we believe that a new direction is warranted, new voices, and something that enables us to take a fresh start.”

Triple-A Worcester manager Chad Tracy took over for Cora as Boston’s interim skipper.

A historic stretch

The 2026 Red Sox will forever be remembered as the club that started 32-46, won 32 of its next 37, and clinched an improbable playoff berth. Their incredible turnaround included a franchise-record-tying 15-game win streak.

Boston looked dead and buried on June 24. Craig Breslow’s firing felt like a foregone conclusion. Then, the impossible happened.

The Red Sox went 77-58 with Tracy leading the charge. The club’s turnaround under his leadership was eerily reminiscent of what his father, Jim Tracy, accomplished as interim manager of the 2009 Colorado Rockies. He propelled Colorado to a 74-42 record after taking over in May and won the National League Manager of the Year award.

Role players step up

Willson Contreras, Wilyer Abreu, and Ceddanne Rafaela were the stars of the 2026 Red Sox season, but the team’s historic turnaround doesn’t happen without the key contributions of several role players.

Depth infielder Andruw Monasterio had a 1.044 OPS in July. Fellow ex-Milwaukee Brewer Anthony Seigler notched a .959 OPS in June and added an unexpected emotional spark to the dugout. Tsung-Che Cheng played great defense in 14 appearances at shortstop and saved Boston’s win streak with a spectacular catch.

Mickey Gasper and Nick Sogard weren’t huge factors while the Red Sox won 32 of 37, but they were enormous from August on. Gasper put up Barry Bonds-like numbers for a 12-game stretch and became one of Boston’s most reliable bats. Sogard shook off his reputation as a “4A” player and served as a perfect utility infielder with solid offensive numbers down the stretch.

Lefty masher Jahmai Jones, acquired from the Detroit Tigers in July for a player to be named later, had four homers and a .993 OPS in 37 games with Boston. Most of his damage was done in August, when he hit .474 with three homers and a 1.284 OPS.

A bold Craig Breslow trade deadline

Say what you will about Craig Breslow, but he hasn’t shied away from making bold, uncomfortable moves as Red Sox CBO. That was especially the case at this year’s trade deadline.

His most notable move was sending Carlos Narvaez and four top prospects — Anthony Eyanson, Kyson Witherspoon, Enddy Azocar and Harold Rivas — to the Baltimore Orioles for All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman. The deal was widely considered an overpay, but Breslow deserved credit for doing whatever it took to add a difference-maker to the big-league roster.

Breslow also parted ways with former top prospect Marcelo Mayer, who struggled mightily in his second season with the club. He was sent to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for left-handed reliever Erik Miller.

Promising rookie left-hander Connelly Early was shipped to the Washington Nationals for infielder Curtis Mead, who suffered a season-ending wrist injury during his second plate appearance with Boston. He brought in Jones and speedy outfielder Eli White in under-the-radar deals that helped the Red Sox over the final two months.

Injuries, injuries, and more injuries

The Red Sox persevered through a number of injuries in 2026. Here’s a breakdown of each:

• Ace left-hander Garrett Crochet made only six starts during the regular season due to a shoulder injury suffered in April.
• Former top outfield prospect Roman Anthony played in only 55 regular-season games because of a torn ring finger ligament. He exited Game 1 of the Wild Card Series vs. the Yankees and was removed from the playoff roster after experiencing more hand/wrist issues.
• Offseason addition Johan Oviedo made only one start before missing the season with a flexor strain.
• Trade deadline addition Curtis Mead suffered a fractured wrist on a hit-by-pitch in his second Red Sox plate appearance and did not return for the rest of the season.
• Outfielder/DH Masataka Yoshida suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in August.
• Reliever Justin Slaten missed time throughout the season due to an elbow injury that flared up again before the playoffs, forcing him off the postseason roster.
• Breakout slugger Mickey Gasper was left off the playoff roster because of a torn biceps tendon.
• Deadline addition Eli White missed the end of the regular season and the playoffs with a foot injury.
• Utility man Anthony Seigler went down with a foot injury at the end of the regular season, missed the playoffs.
• Breakout reliever Tyron Guerrero was left off the playoff roster due to a shoulder issue.
• Outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela (quad/hamstring) and Willson Contreras (hand) were both banged up just before the playoffs.
• RHP Kutter Crawford and 1B Triston Casas missed the entire season.
• RHP Tanner Houck made just one appearance (Game 162) after rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

It’s no excuse for how their season ended, but it certainly impacted their ceiling in 2026.

Craig Breslow and Chad Tracy get rewarded

On Sept. 22, the Red Sox removed Chad Tracy’s interim tag to officially make him the 49th manager in franchise history. He signed a three-year contract through the 2029 season with a club option for 2030.

Breslow was also rewarded, with his contract options being exercised through 2030.

At the time, committing to Tracy and Breslow made sense as they pulled the right strings to get Boston back into the playoffs after an abysmal start. But after what transpired in the Wild Card Series, it’s fair to wonder if there will be some buyer’s remorse.

The downfall of the “Big Three”

Marcelo Mayer was traded at the deadline. Kristian Campbell remains in Worcester with no clear path back to the majors. Roman Anthony can’t swing a bat without injuring himself.

The former top prospect trio was once hyped as the “Big Three.” While the Red Sox failed to clinch a playoff berth from 2022-24, they could at least hang their hat on the impending arrivals of three potential franchise cornerstones.

Now, there’s a real chance we’ll look back at 2026 as the year the “Big Three” dream died. Of course, Anthony and Campbell still have a chance to be difference-makers in Boston.

Different season, same result

The 2026 Red Sox gave us a fun summer. They will be remembered for winning 32 of 37 games — including a 15-game win streak — and clinching a playoff berth to complete a miraculous midseason turnaround. Besides that, they will largely be forgotten.

Red Sox fans don’t look back fondly on seasons that end with anything less than a deep postseason run. Even the 2021 Red Sox, who exceeded expectations with a trip to the ALCS, are an afterthought.

Don’t be fooled by the midseason surge. This was a club that entered the 2026 campaign as one of the favorites in the wide-open American League. They failed to match that expectation, marking the year as another failure for the organization.

The Dodgers did not need Tarik Skubal to win the National League West. They traded for him to help them win a third consecutive World Series.

Their legacy is at stake. So is his.

That could be hyperbole. Skubal turns 30 next month, already the winner of two Cy Young awards, one of them unanimously. He could sign the largest contract of any pitcher in major league history this fall. His career might be only at its halfway point, and already we can say he’ll be remembered as a star.

So I asked him if his career would feel somehow empty if he did not win a World Series. No one in Anaheim thinks any less of Mike Trout, and no one in San Diego thinks any less of Tony Gwynn, because neither Hall of Famer won a World Series.

Read more:Dodgers' Miguel Rojas soaking up possible last hurrah: 'I wouldn't play for another team'

Skubal thought about it. Yes, he said, his career would feel diminished without a championship.

“I think winning is the most important thing, so I think that’s fair to say,” Skubal told me.

“If I retire and I don’t have one, that will definitely be something that I don’t know when I will live it down.”

The Dodgers imported him for five or six starts in October, the first of them this weekend. I wasn’t sure of the right noun to use to capture his feelings: Excitement? Pressure? Responsibility?

“I think all of those things,” he said.

How so?

“I’ve grown to appreciate expectations from teammates, from fans, from organizations,” he said. “I’ve come to appreciate pressure. Early on in my career, there wasn’t much of that. It was more just kind of finding my footing, which I’m grateful for. It helped me learn a lot about myself.

“Having the expectation of being a team that is going to win the World Series, and me being a part of that, is something that I’ve come to really appreciate. I’ve come to appreciate all that stuff. As much as they can be looked at as negative things, or stress-inducing things, I’ve come to really appreciate those things, because I haven’t had that for my entire career.”

As soon as the Dodgers traded for Skubal two months ago, he was delighted to receive a text message from a pitcher who wore the weight of expectations throughout his career.

When his Detroit Tigers opened last season at Dodger Stadium, Skubal asked teammate Jack Flaherty to arrange a meeting with Clayton Kershaw.

“Honestly,” Skubal said, “I wanted to get a jersey from him.”

They talked pitching too, of course, and stayed in touch. When the Dodgers landed Skubal, Kershaw’s welcome text led to him sharing advice not just about the team itself but about navigating the notorious L.A. roads to Dodger Stadium, and various neighborhoods that Skubal, his wife and two young boys might enjoy.

For Kershaw, the postseason was a widely publicized menace throughout the previous decade. In 2019, after he inherited a two-run lead in the deciding game of the division series, Kershaw gave up home runs to Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto.

After the game, Kershaw said, “Everything people say is true right now about the postseason.”

In 2024, the Tigers were five innings from the American League Championship Series, leading 1-0 in the deciding game of the division series, with Skubal on the mound. Three singles, a hit batter and a grand slam later, the Tigers trailed for good.

“I felt pretty responsible for the season ending,” Skubal said.

Kershaw earned his redemption in 2020, winning both of his World Series starts as the Dodgers won their first championship since 1988. That title lifted the postseason burden off Kershaw, and I wondered whether Skubal might feel the same way if he leads these Dodgers to a parade.

Skubal rejected the premise.

“I don’t really buy into that narrative with Kersh, the postseason struggles,” Skubal said.

Kershaw’s 41 postseason appearances include four starts on short rest and nine relief outings. In 2013, he pitched a combined 259 innings between the regular season and playoffs. In 2015, that number was 246 innings.

“It takes a superhuman to be held to the standard he was being held to, in the biggest of moments,” Skubal said. “I think he was great. He did everything he could for his team. He wore it out there sometimes. Chasing box scores and stuff is kind of unfair to judge guys on, because I’m sure he was pitching through some stuff and grinding through some stuff.

“But he had to do it, because he was Clayton Kershaw.”

Kershaw’s postseason earned-run average: 4.62. For Skubal, in six postseason appearances, all of them starts: 2.04. In that one five-run inning, he gave up more runs than he has in the other 38-2/3 innings of his postseason career.

After he gave up those five runs, he returned for one more inning and retired the side in order.

Read more:The Dodgers have an old roster. But that isn't necessarily a drawback in October

“That moment solidified who I thought I am, in terms of how I responded to that failure, how I responded to that adversity,” he said. “It’s weird to say and it’s probably weird to portray, and I don’t know how many people it’s going to resonate with, but that’s what I feel.”

Right time, right place: If Skubal wants to win a World Series, where else would he rather be?

“For him?” pitcher Blake Snell said. “There’s no better time for anybody than right now.”

The Dodgers acquired infielder Tommy Edman from the St. Louis Cardinals at the 2024 trade deadline. For Edman, that’s two Octobers and two parades.

“In St. Louis, I think we were hovering around .500,” Edman said. “I found myself traded here and I was like, ‘OK, all of a sudden I’m on the team with the best record in baseball right now, going for a ring just about every single year.’

“That’s the expectation we have here. There’s definitely a level of excitement.”

Dave Roberts, the Dodgers’ manager, said he could see the joy in Skubal on the day the Dodgers celebrated the division title.

“There’s also a difference between being on a team like the Tigers — and nothing against that organization — where the goal really isn’t to win the World Series. It’s the hope,” Roberts said. “But being here and seeing the standard that we have and it’s like: ‘I’m here to win the World Series. This team has the best chance to win the World Series, and I get to be a part of it.’

Read more:Shaikin: Will his health allow Dodgers' Freddie Freeman to deliver another postseason signature moment?

“So I fully see him, now that he is completely immersed into our culture, where the first month was trying to feel his way: ‘Where do I fit in? I’m this hired gun.’ And now it’s like he’s one of the guys.”

Skubal insists that he has not really thought about his free agency, that his focus is on the here and now, and on each start as it comes. That means this month could be his last in Dodger blue, and that means this really might be his best chance to win a World Series.

“I don’t really know if I like the verbiage of that, thinking I must win this year,” he said. “I don’t think that’s fair.”

Fans of the other 29 teams didn’t necessarily think it was fair that the Dodgers got Skubal. Owners of the other 29 teams are trying to stop them, or at least slow them down, by demanding a salary cap. No matter. One of the co-owners of Skubal’s current employer has a saying about this here and now: It’s winnin’ time.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

With the Postseason run on the line, the Atlanta Braves are now in a situation where they’ll likely be leaning on their bullpen to get them through to the Divisional Series over the Philadelphia Phillies. There was an open question as to whether or not Grant Holmes would get the start or if they’d go with a bit of a strategy for the final game of this series and as it turns out, there will be some tactics at play.

The Braves have announced that Ray Kerr will be on the mound to start tonight’s game for the Braves.

From a personal standpoint, it’s an amazing story for Kerr as he’s gone from missing the entirety of the 2026 season to returning to the bullpen a couple of months ago, making the Wild Card Series roster and now getting the call to make a start. Perseverance matters and Kerr is full of it.

From a tactical standpoint, it makes sense. Kerr has gone three innings in four different occasions so far this season and he actually did so against the Phillies back on September 13. That was when he pitched three scoreless innings and struck out four batters while only giving up one hit and zero walks. I’d imagine that Atlanta would be thrilled with a repeat of those results in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series.

Kerr’s last appearance on Septmeber 25 was similar in that he went three innings (all scoreless) and only gave up two hits and a walk while he was out there. He’s perfectly capable of eating multiple innings in effective fashion and the Braves are going to need every bit of it in order to stay alive in this one.

As for what’s happening afterwards, I’d imagine that Grant Holmes could come in for relief after that and if he gets three innings then that’ll get the Braves through to the sixth and then they can start to really use some of their big arms out of the ‘pen. I’d say it’s an open question as to whether or not both Didier Fuentes and Dylan Lee make appearances in this one but everybody else in the bullpen would appear to be available.

So there you have it, folks: It’ll be Ray Kerr vs. Aaron Nola to start out the Winner-Take-All Game 3 of the Wild Card Series. What do y’all make of this?