Category: Baseball

The Braves had a mountain to climb as heavy underdogs against Tarik Skubal and the Death Star Dodgers, with a bullpen game opened by Dylan Dodd on tap.

The story of the first couple innings was a horrid strike zone being called by home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz. There was a flurry of challenges and missed calls against both teams, but it was really an embarrassment for MLB on this big of a stage. Dylan Dodd matched Skubal with 3.0 scoreless innings on 4 strikeouts, throwing 46 pitches. That’s a massive performance from Dodd, following in Ray Kerr’s footsteps from Thursday.

Skubal continued to cruise through the fourth with a little bit of BABIP luck, while Victor Mederos took over for Atlanta. The Mederos experience did not go well, as he recorded one out before walking Freeman on four pitches and giving up a massive two-run homer to Teoscar Hernandez. He then allowed a bloop single to Tucker before giving way to Smith-Shawver. AJ did well to stabilize things, keeping it at 2-0 going into the sixth inning. Sean Murphy brought one back with a big solo homer off of a 99 MPH Skubal sinker at the top of the zone to lead off the sixth.

Ha-Seong Kim chipped in with a walk, following Murphy, driving up Skubal’s pitch count and giving them a baserunner for the top of the order. Baldwin and Acuna chopped out, but avoided the double play. Ozzie was able to draw a walk, with Skubal struggling for command a bit. Olson flied out after a decent AB to end the inning, but the Braves now were only down by 1 run and had Skubal’s pitch count up near 100. Unfortunately, AJ allowed a single and two homers to Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy, giving the Dodgers a strong 5-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth and giving Murphy’s homer right back and more. The decision to leave Smith-Shawver in long enough to see Tucker and especially Muncy is definitely a debatable one, given what was a close game coming into the inning.

The Braves offense didn’t have anything to offer against the first arm out of the LA bullpen and sent the game on to the bottom of the seventh. Brent Suter got the bottom of the inning, perhaps with an eye towards covering multiple innings in the absence of offense. Suter worked around a Freeman single to get the job done in a scoreless inning, but the Braves were running out of time to show up on offense. The offense instead put up another 1-2-3 frame in the eighth and Suter came back out for another frame and continued to do his job with a scoreless frame.

Ronald singled to lead off the ninth against Tanner Scott and Ozzie hit a homer swinging from the right side to give the Braves a glimmer of hope now down 5-3 with no outs in the ninth. Olson and Harris gave Scott two quick groundouts, but the Dodgers went to Evan Phillips to face Dubon for the platoon split out of the bullpen. Dubon drew a walk, making Austin Riley the tying run at the plate with two outs in the ninth. Austin took a hanging breaking ball at the start of his plate appearances and grounded out to end the game.

There are fair questions to ask about the lack of urgency in terms of bullpen management from Weiss, but 3 runs seems unlikely to win a game against the Dodgers in a bullpen game started by Dylan Dodd. Perhaps the Braves win this game with more aggressive bullpen management when they got within one run with Skubal departing, but we still need to see more from the offense for this season to be winnable. Two home runs from Murphy and Albies is an encouraging sign to that point. We also really need a better home plate umpire.

Join us again tomorrow at 8 PM ET for a critical Game 2 before the series heads back to Atlanta.

LOS ANGELES — It took a while for the Dodgers offense to get going, but they eventually did feast on the underbelly of the Atlanta Braves relief corps, backing a strong start by Tarik Skubal in a 5-3 win in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on a toasty Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

Injuries and ineffectiveness wreaked havoc on the Braves rotation down the stretch, and they needed the full three games to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the wild card game. So Saturday was always going to be a scramble for Atlanta.

“The advantage for us is we have an opportunity to not let their pitching staff come up for air, and how do you do that? You have to exhaust the starter,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday. “You have to get in their pen, and you have to have them deploy arms as soon as possible and get that carousel going and continue to beat starters. Then you can suffocate them.”

But the Braves got three scoreless innings and four strikeouts out of left-hander Dylan Dodd to open Game 1 against the Dodgers in what had to be a best-case scenario, similar to the 10-out shot in the arm provided by Ray Kerr on Thursday night to beat Philadelphia.

The suffocating began once Dodd left.

Freddie Freeman walked with one out in the fourth off right-hander Victor Mederos, then Teoscar Hernández smashed a two-run home run into the left field pavilion to open the scoring.

The home run by Hernández traveled 431 feet, long enough to satisfy a requirement for fans to sign up to receive a free soft drink out of the deal, as Dodger Stadium public address announcer Todd Leitz announced to the crowd during the pitching change shortly after Hernández’s (baja) blast.

Production from corner outfielders was a problem for the Dodgers for most of the season. But beginning with an August 30 home run in Detroit, Hernández ended his season on a hot streak, with 10 extra-base hits while hitting .352/.433/.582 with a 179 wRC+ over his last 25 games of the regular season.

Hernández also singled in the sixth inning off AJ Smith-Shawver, bringing up Kyle Tucker, who similarly came alive in September, hitting .262/.354/.536 with a 140 wRC+ and six home runs. Tucker also hit a two-run home run, just his sixth at Dodger Stadium all year compared to 12 long balls hit on the road.

Max Muncy added a solo shot, also in the sixth inning off Smith-Shawver, to widen the Dodgers lead. Muncy’s 17 postseason home runs are the most in Dodgers history, as are his 143 home runs at Dodger Stadium in the regular season and postseason combined.

Skubal’s first postseason start with the Dodgers — and the first time in seven career postseason starts that he pitched at home — was a good one, with seven strikeouts in his six innings.

“The biggest thing with him is just his presence of commanding the ball,” Game 2 starter Blake Snell said of Skubal on Saturday. “If he’s throwing it and he’s confident, it’s going to be a tough day for any offense.”

Atlanta got just two hits off Skubal, a single by leadoff batter Drake Baldwin in the first inning, then a solo home run by Sean Murphy to open the sixth. In between, Skubal retired 15 in a row. The sixth was the only truly taxing inning for Skubal, who had only one three-ball count in the first five innings but had three in the sixth inning, including walks of Ha-Seong Kim and Ozzie Albies.

Both were stranded, but the 28-pitch inning ended Skubal’s outing on a 100-degree day in Los Angeles, the second-hottest postseason game in Dodger Stadium history.

Skubal has lasted at least six innings in all seven of his career postseason starts, with a minuscule 1.97 ERA with 63 strikeouts (a 37-percent strikeout rate) against only seven unintentional walks in 45 2/3 innings. Pretty much exactly what the Dodgers hoped for when they traded for him in August.

Brock Stewart in the seventh and Alex Vesia in the eighth each pitched perfect innings. Tanner Scott ran into some trouble in the ninth, allowing a leadoff single to Ronald Acuña Jr. before Ozzie Albies hit a two-run shot to cut the Dodgers lead in half. Scott retired his next two batters before giving way to Evan Phillips.

Phillips, who has 46 career saves with the Dodgers and has never allowed a run in his now 13 postseason appearances, walked Mauricio Dubón before inducing an Austin Riley groundout to record his first postseason save.

Notes

• The Dodgers improved to 25-8 (.758) when hitting at least three home runs in a postseason game, including wins in their last six such games dating back to the 2024 World Series.
• Since 2013, the Game 1 winner in the Division Series has won 42 of 52 series (.808).

NLDS Game 1 particulars

Home runs: Teoscar Hernández (1), Kyle Tucker (1); Sean Murphy (1), Ozzie Albies (2)

WP — Tarik Skubal (1-0): 6 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts

LP — Victor Mederos (0-1): 1/3 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk

Sv — Evan Phillips (1): 1/3 IP, 1 walk

Up next

The Dodgers tapped another left-hander in Blake Snell to start Game 2 on Sunday evening (5:03 p.m., FS1). The Braves might go with ace left-hander Chris Sale, but after heavy usage this week might not decide that until Sunday morning to see how Sale feels, manager Walt Weiss said Saturday.

When the Dodgers won the World Series last year, three of their four starters pitched in relief in the playoffs. The other started a game on short rest.

Would Tarik Skubal be up for doing something like that this October if the situation called for it?

“Yeah,” he said. “Absolutely.”

In that case, Skubal should start mentally brace himself for the possibility.

Because while Skubal was spectacular in the Dodgers’ 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday in Game 1 of their National League Division Series, the bullpen looked as if it could be as combustible as it was last year.

After Skubal retired 15 consecutive batters and limited the Braves to a solitary run over six innings, manager Dave Roberts’ most-trusted reliever turned what should have been a comfortable win into a nerve-wracking experience.

Assigned to take down the last three outs of a four-run game, Tanner Scott reverted to his form from his disastrous first season with the Dodgers last year.

Scott started the inning by throwing a fastball over the middle of the plate to Ronald Acuña Jr., who singled to center.

The very next pitch delivered by Scott was also down the middle – this one a 97-mph fastball that Ozzie Albies blasted into the left-field pavilion.

Suddenly, a 5-1 lead was down to 5-3.

Scott collected himself and retired the next two batters, but Roberts didn’t want the left-hander to the right-handed-hitting Mauricio Dubón. 

Evan Phillips entered the game and made the one mistake he couldn’t make: He walked Dubón.

With former All-Star Austin Riley due up, the Braves were within a swing of leveling the score.

The nightmare scenario never materialized, as Riley grounded out to end the game, but the problem that was exposed by the inning remained.

Roberts said he “was not going to waver” on his thoughts of how to approach the ninth inning, but common sense indicates changes will be made. Roki Sasaki, who came out of nowhere to become the primary closer in the playoffs last year, figures to be next in line to get a shot at closing. 

Beyond that, the most likely choice figures to be displaced $69-million closer Edwin Díaz, who finished the season with a 8.68 earned-run average. 

The Dodgers could be forced to do what they did last year, which will be to have their starters pitch as many innings as possible, whatever the role.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto famously pitched the final 2 ⅔ innings of Game 7 of the World Series a day after making a six-inning start in Game 6.

The pitcher who covered the 1 ⅓ innings before Yamamoto entered that Game 7?

Blake Snell, who will start for the Dodgers on Sunday in Game 2 of this NLDS.

The Dodgers’ other starter in this postseason, Tyler Glasnow, was used as a reliever three times last October, including in Games 6 and 7 of the World Series.

Two-way player Shohei Ohtani, who won’t pitch in these playoffs because of right arm and left knee problems, started the final game of the World Series last year on three-days’ rest.

The Dodgers could soon be asking Skubal to make a similar sacrifice, even though he is a pending free agent who is expected to land a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Skubal embraced the October spotlight on Saturday.

Taking the mound in 100-degree heat, Skubal joked that he’d pitched in hotter environments before. Skubal grew up in Arizona.

“I played a Little League game in 127,” he said with a smile. “Lake Havasu, yeah.”

Skubal seemed unaffected, giving up a single to Drake Baldwin to open the game but proceeding to retire the next 15 batters.

He touched 101 mph with his fastball and struck out seven.

Skubal encountered a scare in the sixth inning, which he started by serving up a home run to Sean Murphy that reduced the Dodgers’ lead to 2-1.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner followed that up by walking the No. 9 hitter, Ha-Seong Kim.

“I can’t walk Kim there,” Skubal said.

He got a couple of force outs at second base, then fell behind in the count against Albies with a runner on first base. Liking his chances against the left-handed-hitting Matt Olson on deck, Skubal didn’t take any chances with Albies and walked him.

“Just understanding the situation,” Skubal said. “A walk isn’t the worst thing in the world there.”

Olson flied out to left field, and the Dodgers preserved their advantage.

That kind of thinking will serve Skubal well this month – whether he’s starting or pitching in relief.

The trap had been set.

A five-day layoff. A seemingly worn-down opponent. An afternoon start amid 100-degree temperatures. Empty seats littered throughout the blistering hot ballpark.

The Dodgers entered this October trying to keep a narrowed focus amid their quest for a World Series three-peat. They talked of ignoring the bigger historical stakes and suffocating outside expectations.

In Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday, that mindset was tested.

The result: A 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

“It all starts with winning Game 1,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I do think that momentum is certainly in our favor.”

On paper, Saturday was always a matchup the Dodgers should have won. They had a reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner on the mound in Tarik Skubal. They were facing a Braves team that was forced to grind through a three-game wild-card series against the Philadelphia Phillies this week –– while the Dodgers were enjoying a first-round bye –– and had no choice but to run a bullpen game in the best-of-five series opener.

Still, danger loomed.

Would their hitters still be in rhythm after their extended pre-NLDS pause? Would Skubal hold up during the hottest Dodger Stadium playoff game since the 2017 World Series? Would they be able to immediately flip the switch in search of a third-straight title?

The answers were resounding.

Yes, yes and yes.

“I thought guys were going out there, they were getting really good swings off, and that’s not always easy to do after you’ve had several days off and you haven’t been in game action,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “[You can’t replicate] just the emotion of playing in a postseason game. And to be able to see the aggressiveness out of the entire lineup, I think that was really big for us. I think it helped us out.”

Skubal was largely dominant over a six-inning, one-run, seven-strikeout start.

Teoscar Hernández produced his latest October highlight by crushing a two-run homer to open the scoring in the fourth.

And the Dodgers pulled away late behind more big flies from Muncy and Kyle Tucker.

Game 2 of this series will be back at Dodger Stadium on Sunday night at 5 p.m.

But already, the two-time defending champions passed their first big test of this postseason trek, side-stepping a potential trap game to strike first in the NLDS.

Playing before a generously listed, and heat-averse, crowd of just 50,194 –– the Dodgers’ smallest for a playoff game since 2016 –– it did take the club a few innings to find its way. 

Skubal’s command wasn’t crisp in the top of the first, as he worked around a leadoff single from Drake Baldwin by ultimately stranding him at second. The Dodgers’ lineup couldn’t get a bead on left-handed Braves opener Dylan Dodd, who gave the Braves three scoreless frames on a season-high 47 pitches.

The slow start, however, was snapped in a two-batter sequence in the bottom of the fourth, swinging the game in the Dodgers’ favor for good.

With Braves right-hander Victor Mederos on the mound, Freddie Freeman drew a four-pitch walk with one out in the inning. Then, Hernández stepped up to the plate and got a 1-1 cutter right down the middle.

The 431-foot drive was such a no-doubter, Hernández watched it all the way from the left-handed batter’s box, then flung his bat almost all the way back to the dugout with an authoritative underhand toss.

“It’s about what can I do in an at-bat, pitch by pitch, to help this team win ten more games this year,” Hernández said.

For a moment, the 2-0 lead felt almost insurmountable. 

Skubal was looking so dominant –– retiring 15 batters in a row after Baldwin’s game-opening single –– a group of fans in the left-field pavilion passed the time in the top of the fifth by doing an impromptu roll call (Yankee Stadium-style) for all the Dodgers fielders on defense.

Alas, trouble would arise in the sixth. Braves catcher Sean Murphy jumped on an elevated two-strike sinker to send a leadoff home run to center. Walks to light-hitting No. 9 hitter Ha-Seong Kim and infielder Ozzie Albies followed later in the inning, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Mark Prior as the Dodgers’ bullpen began to stir.

The Dodgers, however, acquired Skubal at the trade deadline for moments like this.

And even with the Braves’ best hitter, first baseman Matt Olson, at the plate, the superstar left-hander didn’t waver, getting Olson to fly out to left field to cap off his 94-pitch start.

“We’re up 2-1 there, and I’m doing my best to keep it there as we come in,” Skubal said. “To be able to get out of the inning with just one run was huge.”

Minutes later, the Dodgers would pull away.

After hitting just five home runs in the entire regular season at Dodger Stadium, Tucker continued his recent turnaround by launching a two-run blast to right off AJ Smith-Shawver. Two batters later, Muncy also left the yard, padding his lead as the Dodgers’ all-time postseason home run leader with the 17th long ball of his October career.

Leading 5-1 at that point, the Dodgers turned to the bullpen. Brock Stewart and Alex Vesia provided a couple perfect innings in the seventh and eighth. Tanner Scott then created a brief scare in the ninth, giving up a two-run homer to Ozzie Albies, before settling down with a couple groundouts and turning things over to Evan Phillips to put the game away.

In the end, despite the heat and the bye-week and the trap-game circumstances, the Dodgers prevailed.

It was a decisive first step toward adding to their dynasty.

One win down. Ten more to go.

Today marks Dave Winfield’s 75th birthday.

Winfield enjoyed a remarkable 22-year Major League Baseball career, earning a spot in the Hall of Fame and playing a memorable season with the Blue Jays.

In 1992, at age 40, Dave joined the Blue Jays as a free agent. The team was strong but lacked a designated hitter, a role Winfield filled exceptionally well. He hit .290/.377/.491, producing 26 home runs and 108 RBI. Batting cleanup behind Devon White and Roberto Alomar—who frequently reached base—Winfield was in a prime position to drive in runs. Notably, he batted .303/.419/.545 with runners in scoring position.

Winfield emerged as a vocal leader for the team. In 1992, when Jays fans were seen as too quiet and polite, he famously encouraged them to make more noise—a moment later written about by Minor Leaguer.

Winfield, along with Joe Carter, once played a practical joke on rookie Derek Bell by pretending to give away his car as a prize on Fan Appreciation Day.

Winfield developed a reputation for struggling in the playoffs. George Steinbrenner dubbed him ‘Mr. April,’ a play on Reggie Jackson’s ‘Mr. October’ nickname. Winfield notably struggled in the 1981 World Series, going just 1-for-22 during the Yankees’ six-game loss to the Dodgers.

With the Blue Jays, Winfield performed better in the postseason. He hit .250/.357/.542 with 2 home runs in 6 ALCS games against the A’s. In the World Series against the Braves, he hit .227/.292/.273 with 3 RBI, and ultimately earned his only World Series ring.

Over his career, Winfield hit .283/.353/.475 with 465 home runs across 2,973 games. He was an excellent defensive right fielder, possessed good speed (stealing 223 bases), and was always entertaining to watch.

Happy birthday, Dave!

Today is Darrin Fletcher’s 60th birthday.

Darrin spent 14 seasons as a Major League catcher, including five with the Blue Jays and six with the Expos.

Fletcher joined the Blue Jays as a free agent prior to the 1998 season. In 1997, the team’s catcher, Benito Santiago, hit .243/.279/.387, highlighting the need for an upgrade.

The left-handed hitting Fletcher batted .276/.318/.434 with 61 home runs in 540 games as a Blue Jay. His best season came in 2000, when he posted a .320/.355/.514 line with 20 home runs. The following year saw a decline, as he hit .226/.274/.353 with 11 homers. He played 45 games in 2002 before retiring.

Over his career, Fletcher hit .269/.318/.423 with 124 home runs in 1,245 games.

He was regarded as a solid hitter but a below-average defensive catcher, particularly due to his weaker arm. It’s difficult to assess how well he handled his pitchers.

Fletcher also worked as a TV analyst for Jays broadcasts. I thought he did a good job, perhaps in part because he wasn’t on air for 150 games a year—so we never had a chance to tire of him.

Happy birthday, Darrin!

Today is Junior Felix’s 59th birthday.

Well, perhaps he’s turning 59—rumours circulated that Felix was older than he claimed. In those days, fake birth certificates were common in the Dominican Republic. Younger prospects had an advantage: a 17-year-old with the physique and skills of a 22-year-old would be seen as having greater growth potential, whereas at 22, teams expected less development.

Some believe he could have been as much as ten years older than his reported age.

So, today might be his birthday—or it might not.

Regardless…

Junior Felix was an outfield prospect for the Jays. After the team traded Jesse Barfield to the Yankees for Al Leiter in April, opening up a spot in the outfield for Felix.

In 1989, Felix hit .258/.315/.395 with 9 home runs, 8 triples, and 18 stolen bases over 110 games, primarily in right field. The Jays made the playoffs that year, and Felix went 3-for-11 in the three-game series loss to the A’s.

The next season, Felix hit .263/.328/.441 with 15 home runs and 13 stolen bases in 127 games. At just 22 years old—or so it was believed—I thought we had a promising outfielder for the future. It’s funny how quickly a player can become a favorite.

After that season, the Jays traded Felix and Luis Sojo to the Angels for Devon White, Willie Fraser, and Marcus Moore. I recall not being thrilled with the move. At 28, White had hit .247/.295/.389 over six seasons with the Angels, and despite his defense and speed, I didn’t see him as an upgrade. I was mistaken.

Felix played four more MLB seasons, batting .266/.313/.408 with 31 home runs in 348 games. Meanwhile, White won two World Series rings with the Jays. In hindsight, it’s safe to say the trade worked out well.

Happy birthday, Junior!

Here’s your thread for the two Division Series night games today.

5:30 p.m. CT: Yankees at Rays

TV: TBS, truTV, HBO Max. Announcers: Brian Anderson, Jeff Francoeur and Lauren Shehadi.

Gerrit Cole, RHP vs. Drew Rasmussen, RHP

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com preview

7:30 p.m. CT: Padres at Brewers

TV: FS1. Announcers: Adam Amin, Adam Wainwright, A.J. Pierzynski (analyst) and Tom Verducci.

Robbie Ray, LHP vs. Jacob Misiorowski, RHP

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com preview

The Yankees will kick off the Division Series from Tampa, with Gerrit Cole on the mound and Ben Rice leading off as the Bombers look to continue the chase for 28.

Going with yet another lefty-heavy lineup, the Yankees are going with Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second, Spencer Jones in right field, and Luis García Jr. at first over Paul Goldschmidt. The veteran first baseman may appear as a pinch-hitter, as may Giancarlo Stanton, who is on the roster again but won’t start.

Drew Rasmussen will get his second career postseason outing for the Rays, looking for a hot start to the series in Tampa Bay. The 31-year-old righty had a 2.67 ERA in 30 starts during the regular season. He’s posting a 2.86 ERA against the Yankees this season, allowing 14 hits and giving up seven earned runs in 22 innings.

We hope that you’ll come join us in the game thread as we kick off another postseason matchup as the Yankees race for the American League!

How to watch

Location: Tropicana Field – St. Petersburg, FL

First pitch: 6:30 p.m. ET

TV broadcast: TBS/TruTV

Streaming: HBO Max

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | 95.7 FM / 620 AM, WESX 1230 AM (TB) ESPN Radio (national)

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax made an appearance at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 3.

The Dodgers were taking on the Atlanta Braves in the first game of the National League Division Series.

Koufax was among those in the crowd to watch the game up close with a seat in the second row despite the brutal heat in Los Angeles. The 90-year-old has frequently attended postseason games and the World Series in recent years. The Dodgers have an opportunity to complete a World Series three-peat this year.

It was 102 degrees, according to AccuWeather, during the bottom of the fifth inning in Los Angeles. There was a RealFeel of 106, with a wind gust of nine MPH.

The temperature was just under the record-high 108-degree day set in 1987. AccuWeather notes that the "extreme heat can be dangerous for outdoor activities."

There were times Friday, manager Aaron Boone admitted, when he thought that Aaron Judge was going to be on the division series roster. 

In all likelihood, it would have been just as a pinch hitter, possibly with a chance to be a full player later in the best-of-five series against the Rays if his right calf allowed. That was all part of the discussion when Boone sat down with Judge and director of sports medicine and rehab Mike Schuck in his office at Tropicana Field after Friday’s workout. The manager then asked for an hour to think it through even more before ultimately coming to the decision to leave Judge off the roster for the second straight round. 

“In the end, I just feel like he’s not quite ready to do it,” Boone said Saturday in that same office before the Yankees fell 1-0 in the series opener. “He wanted to be on and was willing to do anything, but I just felt like for us to win a World Series — and fully acknowledging with him, and I understand this, obviously there’s no guarantees. We could be home in a week. 

“But for us to potentially have a [good] version of Aaron back, I feel like he needs this week to continue to hit, continue to ramp up the running and moving and all those things. So it was very close for me … but I just felt like this was the right decision.” 

Judge, who has been doing everything in his power in the 17 days since he strained his right calf to get back as soon as possible, took the news “OK.” 

“I think he’s disappointed, because I think he wants to be on, but I think he understands, too,” Boone said. 

And so the three-time MVP was back at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees spring training home in Tampa, Saturday morning to continue his buildup in hopes of joining the Yankees for the ALCS if they can get there without him. 

Judge has taken multiple rounds of live batting practice over the last five days and started his outdoor running progression Tuesday, a few hours before Game 1 of the AL wild-card series against the Red Sox, though he has still not advanced to running the bases. So despite making progress and looking better, it was still not enough to defy the odds and return this quickly. 

“The reality is he just hasn’t run a lot yet or started to move a lot,” Boone said. “It’s one thing to be able to go out there and manage. It’s another thing to do it [for] three hours. I just feel like that volume part of it would have been a real challenge. And if we kept him on [the roster] in Giancarlo [Stanton’s] role, in that pinch hitting role, I feel like that would have stripped away the ability to have some really good days and be in a better position five, seven, nine days from now.” 

The ALCS begins Oct. 12, nine days away from Saturday. 

The Yankees considered carrying Judge on the roster with the thought of not using him until later in the series, like once they got back to New York for Game 3 or 4, but opted against it. 

“I just felt like we probably needed a little more time for that to be a realistic thing,” Boone said. 

Boone also indicated that the turf at Tropicana Field — which can be troublesome for players dealing with soft-tissue leg injuries — was not a major factor in leaving Judge off the roster. 

“If we were at home, he wouldn’t be playing right now,” Boone said. “The turf always factors in, but it wasn’t in the immediate right now anyway. If he would have been on, it would have been in a pinch hitting role only.” 

The Yankees withstood Judge’s absence in the wild-card series without a problem, crushing the Red Sox in a two-game sweep. But trying to take down the Rays without him may prove to be a more difficult task. 

“It would be a blessing to have Aaron,” Spencer Jones said Saturday. “But at the same time, there’s games ahead that we’ve got to win with or without him. I think we’re set up, in a way, in a good position to win with the guys we’ve got.”

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers have struck first in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves.

The bats were kept quiet for most of Braves opener Dylan Dodd's three innings pitched as he managed to keep pace with Tarik Skubal on the opposing mound, but the Dodgers offense wasted no time in getting after Victor Mederos once the 25-year-old righty checked into the game in the bottom of the fourth.

Freddie Freeman worked a four-pitch walk, the first of the game by either team, before Teoscar Hernández jumped on a cutter down the middle, flipped his bat high in the air and admired the ball as it sailed a towering 431 feet halfway up the left-field pavilion seats at Dodger Stadium for a two-run home run.

ALL EYES ON TEOSCAR. pic.twitter.com/JCf9KweGs8

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 3, 2026

Kyle Tucker followed Hernández up with a base hit, after which Mederos was pulled from the game after throwing just 11 pitches.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Teoscar Hernández's dramatic home run puts Dodgers up on Braves

Teoscar Hernandez kicked off the scoring for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS as the California heat wave is taking its toll on baseball fans at Dodger Stadium.

Hernandez hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning off of Braves reliever Victor Mederos to bring home Freddie Freeman who was on first after a walk.

Dodgers ace Tarik Skubal shined in first five innings of his start, allowing no runs and one hit until Braves catcher Sean Murphy blasted a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning to bring the score to 2-1. Skubal was pulled from the mound after six innings of work.

The Dodgers big offseason acquisition Kyle Tucker made his presence felt with a two-run blast of his own in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the same inning, Max Muncy hit a solo homer to extend LA’s lead 5-1.

With Saturday being the first day of a heatwave that’s expected to linger through mid-October, the fans are certainly feeling the effects of the triple-digit temperatures.

As fans started to enter the gates of the stadium, journalist Arash Markazi reported that they were being greeted with complimentary Dasani water bottles and were also being given free Gatorade as a way to keep them hydrated.

Markazi continued to post more videos of fans trying to cool off as they were gathering in front of large fan misters and were also purchasing personal-sized ones for $28. Before first pitch, he posted a video of the fans gathering under the shaded area behind center field, doing their best to cool off.

As the game was about to begin, the live broadcast showed the fans trying to avoid the sun beating down on them by stashing the complimentary towels they were given underneath their hats while covering their necks. They were also seen waving themselves with personalized fans.

Video journalist Steve Saldivar reported that during the pregame flyover, the temperature was already at a scorching level of 102 degrees.

But still, the harsh conditions weren’t enough to keep the Dodgers fan base from soaking up the sun.

On X, the account @MooneyOwnsYou posted a video of a shirtless Dodgers fan soaking in the heat, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and flip-flops, with two empty Dos Equis beer cans next to him.

@SoCalEricLittle posted photos on his X account of the Dodgers fans enduring long traffic lines to enter the stadium, while finding their seats during pregame.

When the game officially started, it was already starting to look like a packed house, as fans were seen filling in the outfield and the shaded areas in the stadium.

In Los Angeles, they’re lining up multi-Cy Young Award winners and a World Series hero named Yoshinobu Yamamoto, ready to hang zeroes for the Dodgers. Over in the other dugout, Chris Sale lurks, a future Hall of Famer giving the Atlanta Braves a chance.

In St. Petersburg, the visiting New York Yankees are so pitching-rich that Gerrit Cole didn’t even need to pitch in the wild-card round, while he and presumed Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler will square off against a pair of Tampa Bay Rays All-Stars in Games 1 and 2 of their American League Division Series.

In Milwaukee, The Miz towers over this entire postseason, a 6-7 fireballer who has learned to stretch his 102-mph Dairyland cheese across six innings.

And in Cleveland, the American League strikeout leader and a dominant rookie left-hander made the Guardians prohibitive favorites in their ALDS.

The Chicago White Sox also showed up. With five relievers in a trench coat, impersonating a starting pitcher.

And the formula remains perfect so far in this postseason.

Forget the Pope. Papal power is no match for one booming home run from Munetaka Murakami and a fantastic pitching plan, executed perfectly by manager Will Venable. And in Game 1 of this ALDS Saturday, Oct. 3 at Cleveland’s Progressive Field, the White Sox showed they were for real-for real in this playoff field, recording a 3-0 victory over their Central rival Guardians.

This was a fantastic ballgame, befitting a pennant race that saw the 85-77 Guardians eke ahead of the 84-win White Sox at the end.

No biggie. The White Sox lost 121 games just two years ago, 102 last year. Now?

It feels like anything’s possible.

How could it not? This game ended with Grant Taylor, the White Sox’s sometimes-closer who never pitched more than 2⅔ innings this season, logging a four-inning save, striking out six and walking nobody.

The White Sox have now played three playoff games. They have never trailed. Nor has one of their starting pitchers recorded more than 12 outs.

Their winning pitchers? Relievers Jordan Hicks, Anthony Kay and Bryan Hudson, two of them earning Ws thanks to “scorer’s discretion.”

The Milwaukee Brewers host the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday night, opening the best-of-five clash.

Milwaukee won 103 games in the regular season and had the best record in Major League Baseball – earning a bye to this round – while San Diego swept the Chicago Cubs in the best-of-three wild card series to reach the NLDS.

"I think both teams are probably trying to play the same game – get out to an early lead and let the bullpen handle it the rest of the way," Padres manager Craig Stammen told reporters. "They have a great one from the last guy to the first guy that's how we feel about our bullpen too. It will be a tough series. It will probably be a lot of close games because of that."

The Padres and Brewers are two of the five MLB organizations that have never won a World Series title, along with the Colorado Rockies, Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners. San Diego last made the Fall Classic in 1998 and the Brewers' only appearance came back in 1982.

Where to watch Padres vs Brewers today: TV channel, live stream

• Game time: 8:30 p.m. ET
• TV channel: FS1 and Fox Deportes
• Live stream: Fubo and Fox One

Watch Padres-Brewers on Fubo

Padres vs Brewers prediction

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

Brewers vs Padres schedule

• Game 1 (Saturday, Oct. 3): At Milwaukee, 8:30 p.m. ET
• Game 2 (Sunday, Oct. 4): At Milwaukee, 4 p.m. ET
• Game 3 (Tuesday, Oct. 6): At San Diego, 9:30 p.m. ET
• Game 4 (Wednesday, Oct. 7)*: At San Diego, 10 p.m. ET
• Game 5 (Friday, Oct. 9)*: At Milwaukee, 4:30 p.m. ET

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brewers vs Padres score, LIVE updates, where to watch NLDS Game 1 today

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Cleveland ace Parker Messick made one mistake, hanging a sinker to Munetaka Murakami on the first pitch of his at-bat in the fourth, with Miguel Vargas on base, and 111 mph and 440 feet later the White Sox had a 2-0 lead. It’s definitely a moment worth savoring:

That would turn out to be all the offense the Sox would need, thanks to excellent bullpen work and lousy Guardians hitting that left the bases loaded in both the third and fourth and didn’t get anyone on base with fewer than two outs until the seventh. Sox pitchers deserve great credit, of course, but it was the team with playoff experience (and the overwhelming favorite in the series) that in the later innings took to swinging at anything thrown between first and third base and bounced fewer than three times.

Hagen Smith was cruising through his second open of the playoffs, retiring the first eight batters he faced while striking our four. But with two outs in the third inning the southpaw suddenly lost control completely, walking three in a row on 16 pitches. In came Bryan Hudson to get Chase DeLauter to hit a soft liner to end the threat (and pick up an improbable win, because he faced his one batter at the right time).

Next inning it was Anthony Kay coming to the rescue of Jordan Hicks in the same, bases-loaded, two-out situation, getting Chicago nemesis Brayan Rocchio to line to right.

But while those were momentary successes, the heavy lifting was done by Grant Taylor, who came in to start the sixth and just never left. Taylor achieved the seldom-seen (first in the playoffs since 2017) four-inning save, with two hits, no runs and six strikeouts, most of those on pitches that had Guardians flailing at pitches not even in the same area code as home plate.

Oh, yes — the White Sox did score another run, one more in the way of good fortune than good skill. Kyle Teel walked in the seventh and with two outs Colson Montgomery blooped an opposite-field dribbler against a shift that Statcast gave a 5% chance of being a hit. Teel got waved home and was thrown out easily — except Austin Hedges forgot to catch the ball:

That lousy D help from the Guardians helped make up for an excellent theft of a Tommy Pham homer in the sixth by Angel Martinez that led to a double play, with Vargas getting doubled off of first on a play right in front of him:

Today’s win means the White Sox have not trailed at any point in the postseason, and have not even been tied (beyond 0-0) over 27 innings of play.

The Sox have stolen home-field advantage in the series, with Game 2 not until 4 p.m. Central on Monday due to MLB’s inordinate fear of the NFL. The White Sox are not yet saying who will start, though Sean Burke is expected to do the heavy work.

MVP

Grant Taylor: 4 IP, 2 H, 6 K, SAVE, 34-of-42 strikes, 22% WPA

Runners-Up

Munetaka Murakami: 2-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K, two hardest hits of the game, 17% WPA

Anthony Kay: 1 ⅓ IP, BB, K, 10% WPA

Miguel Vargas: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB, terrible baserunning getting doubled off of first, 9% WPA

Cold Cat

Brenton Doyle: 1-for-4, K, GIDP, –10% WPA

Runners-Up
Chase Meidroth: 0-for-4, 2 K, GIDP, -9% WPA

Tommy Pham: 0-for-2, BB, K, LIDP, -8% WPA

The Yankees' decision to not put Aaron Judge on the ALDS roster did not come lightly.

Manager Aaron Boone told the media Saturday, ahead of Game 1 against the Rays, that he met with the team captain after Judge's workout on Friday to talk it through. After what the Yankees skipper called a "good conversation," he mulled over the decision for an hour or so before making the final call.

"He’s made really good progress here over the last couple of weeks. Has worked incredibly hard to be an option and wanted to be on the roster," Boone said of Judge. "Ultimately, I decided keeping him off was the best thing. Again, I feel like he’s getting close. But I feel like for us to get a version of Aaron back, and to win a World Series, this week’s important for him to continue to work towards getting back. 

Boone said Judge just started running and took at-bats for a few days already, but the team believes the reigning AL MVP could use more time to build up the endurance before he becomes a legit option for the ALCS and beyond.

The endurance part of the progression was hit on a few times by Boone. The manager admits that the superstar could likely get through a game, but it's unclear how Judge would bounce back for the next game or the one after. That's especially the case if they want to use him in right field, since Judge himself said it would be better for the team if he could play the field instead of clogging up the DH spot.

That all went into the calculation for Boone and the Yankees when making the decision. They even considered just carrying Judge to take an at-bat off the bench, like how they handled Giancarlo Stanton in the Wild Card Series. But ultimately, making sure Judge was as healthy as possible was the way they went.

"I think he’s ready to take an at-bat. But in the end, I felt like the best chance to get a good version of Aaron is to get a good 5, 6, 7 days of building up his running," Boone said. "Building up his endurance, taking BP every day. Those kind of things. Yeah, we considered it all." 

Of course, Boone knows the team is not guaranteed to make it past the AL East champion Rays -- who won the season series -- but this decision "was the right thing to do" to get the Judge that can help this team win a World Series back.

And despite being without Judge, Boone remains confident the team is good enough to beat anyone when they are playing well, like how they handled the Red Sox in their two-game sweep earlier this week.

"We know if we play well, we can beat anyone," Boone said. "We understand how good the Rays are. We’re playing this game here tonight [in Tampa] because they’ve been the best team in the American League. We have to play well, but we also have a lot of confidence that if we play well, we can win and beat anyone. Hopefully, we can go out there and prove that."

Why Ryan Weathers was added to roster

Aside from Judge being left off the ALDS roster, the Yankees replaced Amed Rosario with LHP Ryan Weathers.

The southpaw starter will be used out of the bullpen, and while Boone didn't say he would use Weathers for more than one inning, he did talk up Weathers' health heading into this series.

"I’m excited to get him back. Going into the Wild Card Series, he had thrown one live and then I had him throw another one the day before the series," Boone said. "Physically, he was ready to be on, but I felt that second live was important."

Boone said Weathers' situation is a little similar to Judge's. While Weathers could have been used in the Wild Card Series, the team would have had to be mindful and protective of the lefty after he was on the IL with a left forearm flexor strain. Now that he got through his second live without an issue, he can be used in a way the Yankees are more comfortable with.

"He’s ready to go now, and to play a real role for us," Boone said.