Category: Baseball

The Yankees are still playing to keep their World Series title hopes alive, but whenever the offseason does officially arrive for Brian Cashman and company, the club will have 14 arbitration-eligible players.

Those players are: INF Jazz Chisholm Jr., RHP David Bednar, RHP Mark Leiter Jr., RHP Clarke Schmidt, RHP Camilo Doval, RHP Jake Cousins, RHP Ian Hamilton, RHP Luis Gil, RHP Scott Effross, RHP Jake Bird, INF/OF Oswaldo Cabrera, RHP Fernando Cruz, SS Anthony Volpe, and INF Jose Caballero.

Once a player is offered arbitration, the team and that player's agent have until a set date -- usually at some point in February -- to come to terms on a new contract. If that doesn't happen, both sides submit salary proposals and the player's salary is determined by independent arbitrators at a hearing.

A team can also offer arbitration to a player and then trade that player.

According to the MLB Trade Rumors algorithm that "looks at the player’s playing time, position, role, and performance statistics while accounting for inflation," here's what the Yankees' arbitration-eligible players are projected to make in 2026...

• Jazz Chisholm Jr.: $10.2 million
• David Bednar: $9 million
• Mark Leiter Jr.: $3 million
• Clarke Schmidt: $4.9 million
• Camilo Doval: $6.6 million
• Jake Cousins: $841,000
• Ian Hamilton:$941,000
• Luis Gil: $2.1 million
• Scott Effross: $800,000
• Jake Bird: $1 million
• Oswaldo Cabrera: $1.2 million
• Fernando Cruz: $1.3 million
• Anthony Volpe: $3.9 million
• Jose Caballero: $1.9 million

Tendering contracts to all 14 of those players, based on the projections, would add roughly $47.7 million to the Yankees' 2026 payroll. While players like Chisholm, Bednar, Volpe, and Gil are locks to be offered arbitration, pitchers like Cousins (coming off Tommy John surgery), Hamilton, Effross, and Bird, while relatively inexpensive, could be non-tender candidates.

As of now, the Yankees currently have about $166.2 million on the books for 2026, including Aaron Judge's $40 million and Gerrit Cole's $36 million -- the club's two highest salaries.

Adding the full $47.7 million to that number would put the Yanks' 2026 payroll just under $214 million, but that's without including any potential free agent signings, with the Yankees having internal FAs like Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham, and Devin Williams, among others. 

The Yanks' 2025 end-of-year payroll was just under $300 million, and it's likely that they'll be right around that number again in 2026.

The Mets have nine players eligible for salary arbitration this offseason.

Those players are David Peterson, Francisco Alvarez, Tyrone Taylor, Tylor Megill, Luis Torrens, Reed Garrett, Huascar Brazoban, Max Kranick, and Nick Madrigal. 

Once a player is offered arbitration, the team and that player's agent have until a set date -- usually at some point in February -- to come to terms on a new contract. If that doesn't happen, both sides submit salary proposals and the player's salary is determined by independent arbitrators at a hearing.

A team can also offer arbitration to a player and then trade that player. So the Mets can tender contracts to players who might not be in their plans.

According to the MLB Trade Rumors algorithm that "looks at the player’s playing time, position, role, and performance statistics while accounting for inflation," here's what the Mets' arbitration-eligible players are projected to make in 2026...

David Peterson: $7.6 million
Tyrone Taylor: $3.6 million
Tylor Megill: $2.6 million
Francisco Alvarez: $2.4 million
Luis Torrens: $2.2 million
Reed Garrett: $1.4 million
Nick Madrigal: $1.35 million
Huascar Brazoban: $1.3 million
Max Kranick: $1 million

If the Mets tender contracts to all of the above players and they receive salaries similar to the projections, it would add roughly $23.5 million to the payroll.

However, Tylor Megill is in his second-to-last year of arbitration and is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery. So he could be a non-tender candidate. The same can be said for Nick Madrigal, whose 2025 season ended in spring training due to a shoulder injury. Madrigal is entering his final year of arbitration, and might not be a great roster fit given the Mets' plethora of infield options. 

As things currently stand, the Mets -- if Edwin Diaz opts out as expected -- have roughly $206 million committed to the payroll for 2026. That figure will rise a decent amount once arbitration raises and money owed to zero-to-three players who are tendered contracts is added in.

As the Mets embark on an offseason that could include some needed shakeups, it can be argued that the most important thing they have to do is reshape the starting rotation.

It was the rotation more than anything else that resulted in the Mets going from 45-24 in June to out of the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.

Transforming the starting staff will be a bit complicated considering the amount of options already under contract for 2026, but it has to be done.

And the biggest part of that transformation should be adding a legitimate top of the rotation starter to the group.

Who should the main targets be?

The free agent crop

A bunch of pitchers with elite talent will hit the open market in about a month. 

While signing one of them would be the easiest way for the Mets to address their need at the top of the rotation, huge deals in terms of both years and dollars for older pitchers rarely work out.

For an example of that, look at the Diamondbacks' signing of Corbin Burnes last offseason. Ahead of his age-30 season and with warning signs when it came to his declining strikeout rate, they inked Burnes to a six-year deal worth $210 million. He was pitching extremely well until June, when Tommy John surgery ended his season. It's possible Burnes misses the entire 2026 season, too.

There are some long-term signings to older pitchers that have worked, though, including the seven-year deal Max Scherzer inked with the Nationals ahead of his age-30 season in 2015.

But there are no Scherzers out there now. Instead, the top of the free agent market features Framber Valdez, Michael King, and Ranger Suarez.

Valdez, who turns 32 in November, has been a workhorse over the last four seasons, posting a 3.21 ERA across 767.2 innings. While he's never been an advanced stats darling, there is some serious cause for concern there. There was also a troubling moment in September, when Valdez seemingly intentionally crossed up his catcher in order to hit him with a pitch.

King, who will be entering his age-31 season in 2026, was tremendous for the Padres in 2024 as he transitioned from relieving to starting. But he made just 15 starts in 2025 as he dealt with a nerve injury in his throwing shoulder and a knee injury.

Suarez, who turned 30 in August, might be the safest bet -- but he's also the least imposing. He has allowed 8.6 hits per nine during his eight-year career (he gave up 154 in 157.1 innings in 2025), is not a big strikeout guy, and has never thrown 158 innings or more in a season.

Translation? The Mets should look to the trade market, where these pitchers could be available...

Sandy Alcantara

It's true that the Marlins -- who finished 79-83 this past season and have a strong group of starting pitchers -- should be aiming higher than that in 2026.

It's also true that they dangled Alcantara at the trade deadline.

And it's safe to say that he has more value to them via trade this offseason than he does as an expensive member of a starting rotation that has tons of young talent -- including Edward Cabrera, Eury Perez, and Ryan Weathers.

Alcantara is under contract through the 2026 season, when he'll earn $17.3 million. Miami also has a club option for 2027 that's worth $21 million. For reference, the Marlins' entire Opening Day payroll in 2025 was $67.2 million ($86 million when taking CBT purposes into account).

So it stands to reason that Alcantara will be available this winter -- and the Mets should have tons of interest.

After shaking off the rust this season following his return from Tommy John surgery, Alcantara had a 3.13 ERA in 77.2 innings over 12 starts from July 23 through the end of the season -- tossing 7.0 innings or more on seven occasions.

Joe Ryan

Ryan had the best season of his career in 2025, posting a 3.42 ERA and 1.03 WHIP while striking out 10.2 batters per nine in a career-high 171.0 innings.

He has always missed lots of bats (his career strikeout rate is 10.1 per nine) and his four-seam fastball (which he uses about half the time) has graded out as one of the best in baseball each of the last four seasons.

The big question here is whether the Twins would trade Ryan, who has two more years of arbitration remaining and will be very inexpensive (he made just $3 million in 2025).

In the midst of an incredibly disappointing 2025 season, Minnesota had a fire sale, trading 10 players from the big league roster. That included Carlos Correa, Griffin Jax, and elite closer Jhoan Duran, who -- like Ryan -- has two more years of arbitration remaining and will be wildly inexpensive in 2026 (he made just $1.3 million this past season).

The Twins can definitely get a haul for Ryan this offseason, and it would behoove them to cash in as they embark on some form of a rebuild.

Tarik Skubal

Skubal is set for free agency after 2026, so the Mets -- and any other team expecting to contend next season -- should be on the Tigers' case about him.

Would it be surprising if Detroit traded the best pitcher in the American League fresh off back-to-back Cy Young seasons? Perhaps.

But what makes this intriguing is that when the Tigers attempted to extend Skubal, it was reportedly a non-competitive offer. And owner Christopher Ilitch gave a bit of a weird answer earlier this month when asked about a possible Skubal extension. The 28-year-old left-hander is repped by Scott Boras.

Even with just one year left on his deal, it would likely take a King's ransom to pry Skubal from Detroit.

And if the Tigers determine that they're all but certain to lose him after 2026, trading him could be in their best interest.

Paul Skenes

This wouldn't just be a moonshot. It would be like attempting to land on Mars.

But until the Pirates show that they're serious about spending enough to build a winning team around Skenes, the idea of them trading him won't end.

Given Skenes' ability, age, and contract situation, the cost would be astronomical.

He has four years of team control remaining, won't be arbitration-eligible until after the 2026 season, and made just $875,000 in 2025.

In a world where Pittsburgh makes Skenes available, the Mets -- with one of the best farm systems in baseball -- would possibly have as good a shot as any team to land him.

The Toronto Maple Leafs had a lot to talk about on Monday.

Not only is the club now one day away from the start of the regular season, but the team attended Game 2 of the MLB's American League Divisional Series (ALDS) between the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon.

Toronto defeated New York almost commandingly and took a 2-0 series lead at home before the series shifts to the Yankees' diamond on Tuesday. The Jays hit five home runs, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sending a grand slam into the bleachers in the bottom of the fourth.

"Yeah, it was an unreal vibe in the city," John Tavares said on Monday. "Obviously, the way the boys played, it was an unbelievable atmosphere. With Trey (Yesavage) doing what he was doing on the mound, and then when Vladdy hit the Grand Slam, it was pretty cool.

"Obviously, it put them in a pretty good spot in the series. So it was a lot of fun to be a part of, go as a group, and get to enjoy it."

TORONTO PASSION!!! @bluejayspic.twitter.com/3BfZz30al3

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 5, 2025

The Maple Leafs had their own box for the postseason matchup. It's the perfect team-bonding experience ahead of what's going to be a busy regular season.

"I think that's exactly what you want this time of year, right?" Max Domi said. "Guys are starting to get excited, be together, spend as much time as possible off the ice. We're all champing at the bit to get going here."

Domi posted a photo on his Instagram ahead of the Blue Jays' first game of the postseason. He's pictured alongside his father, Tie, on the field of the Rogers Centre, playing catch with one of the then-Blue Jays.

What does he remember about that moment?

"Sweaty palms. I was so nervous," he smiled. "But I forget who I was playing catch with before. I'll have to ask my pops. But I got a nice little warm-up, got the arm going. It's a good time."

Although Toronto went up for a few days to Muskoka earlier in camp for a team-bonding trip, this outing is a bit different. Going to a game of that magnitude will allow players to connect more, but it also gives the team's newly acquired players (Dakota Joshua, Matias Maccelli, etc) a view of what the city is like during the playoffs.

"You know, you take it in from a different perspective, right? Going in and enjoying the game and being a fan, yeah, it gives you a different perspective," Tavares said.

"I think it's just great to be together as a team, especially when we're at home, which at times — everyone with families and different things going on — can be more challenging when you're on the road. But it's just a great way to kind of finish off training camp and enjoy the playoff baseball.

"So really good to spend some time together. And whether you're younger or you're older, a lot of experience, not much experience, just a great way to come together and to enjoy the city and enjoy how much Torontonians love their teams."

Latest stories:

Maple Leafs 2025-26 Season Opening Roster Revealed

'No Decisions Have Been Made': Why It Looks Like Easton Cowan Is On The Outside Looking In For Maple Leafs’ Opening Night Lineup

Why The Maple Leafs Claimed Cayden Primeau And Sammy Blais Off Waivers

Why arbitration deadline should be quiet for Buster Posey, Giants' front office originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Buster Posey’s second offseason in charge should be a busy one, and not just because it’s starting with a search for a new manager, which in turn will lead to the hiring of several new coaches and possibly other changes. Posey also needs to fill out most of his bullpen and sign multiple starting pitchers while addressing several minor needs on the position player side.

One thing he won’t have to do, however, is worry too much about arbitration. 

The Giants in recent years have had several key players — Mike Yastrzemski, Tyler Rogers, LaMonte Wade Jr. etc. — come up for arbitration every offseason, but this year’s class will be a small one. Camilo Doval was set to be their most expensive player in arbitration for the 2025-26 offseason, but he was traded in July. Patrick Bailey and Ryan Walker had both hoped to qualify for “super two” status, but they likely will just miss. 

That leaves just three players, according to MLB Trade Rumors’ yearly projections, which are generally extremely accurate in terms of salary guesses. Catcher Andrew Knizner and pitchers Joey Lucchesi and JT Brubaker are all arbitration-eligible, and it would be a shock if the Giants brought that whole group back. 

Lucchesi had the best season in San Francisco, taking over as the top lefty in the bullpen after Erik Miller went on the IL. He posted a 3.76 ERA and 3.97 FIP in 38 appearances and at times pitched late in games for Bob Melvin after the trade deadline and injuries decimated the bullpen. 

MLB Trade Rumors projects that Lucchesi will make $2 million in arbitration, and he would certainly fill a need if he’s back. Miller was fully cleared by the end of September, but the only other lefty option this past year was Matt Gage. It’s not an area where the Giants have a lot of depth in Triple-A, either, particularly with Reggie Crawford sidelined by a second shoulder surgery. 

Knizner, projected to make $1.3 million, was Bailey’s backup for the final four months of the season. He hit .221 with a .598 OPS and one homer. The Giants will need better catching depth next spring, but they could have an in-house backup for Bailey already in Jesus Rodriguez, who was acquired at the deadline and spent the final week on the taxi squad so he could learn the big league staff. 

Brubaker made five appearances down the stretch for the Giants, allowing six earned in 12 2/3 innings. He also made 12 appearances for the New York Yankees earlier in the season. He’s projected to make $2.1 million if he goes through arbitration. 

Bailey and Walker would have gotten nice raises had they reached arbitration early. They arrived at Oracle Park on the same day in May of 2023 and haven’t gone down since, but both are expected to miss the “super two” cutoff — which allows a small group of players to reach arbitration before accruing three years of service time — by just a few days when MLB makes the list official.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Even Dodgers fans steeped in the lore of Kirk Gibson might not remember the name of Mel Didier.

Didier was the scout who had issued this warning to the 1988 Dodgers: If you’re facing Dennis Eckersley, the mighty closer for the Oakland Athletics, and the count runs full, he’s going to throw a backdoor slider.

Eckersley threw it, Gibson hit it for a home run, and the Dodgers went on to win the World Series.

If these Dodgers go on to win the World Series, no one will struggle to remember the name of Mookie Betts, of course. On Monday, however, Betts pushed the Dodgers to within one win of the National League Championship Series — not with his bat and not with his glove, but with memory and aptitude to rival Didier.

“His mind is so far advanced,” Dodgers coach Dino Ebel said of Betts. “That was the ballgame right there.”

With the tying run at second base and none out in the ninth inning, he was the calm in a screaming madhouse. As the Dodgers infielders gathered at the mound and Alex Vesia entered from the bullpen, Betts thought back to a play he had participated in once, in an August game against the Angels. Miguel Rojas had taught him the so-called "wheel play."

“All he had to do was tell me once,” Betts said. “To me, that was like a do-or-die situation. Them tying the game up turns all the momentum there. If we can find a way to stop it, that would be great.

“I just made a decision and rolled with it.”

On the mound, amid the bedlam, Betts put on the wheel play. It’s a bunt coverage: with a runner on second base, the third baseman and first baseman charge home, with the idea that one would field the bunt and throw out the runner at third.

In any previous decade, the Dodgers would have practiced this play in spring training, repeatedly.

“We don’t really even practice the wheel play, with pitchers not hitting any more,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “There’s very few times where you’re 100% sure that a guy is going to bunt.”

Read more:Hernández: The Phillies are done, and the Dodgers' path to the World Series looks clear

This was the time. The Phillies had opened the ninth with three consecutive hits, including a two-run double from Nick Castellanos.

The Dodgers led, 4-3, with none out and Castellanos on second base. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he wanted to play for the tie and take his chances to match his team’s bullpen against the Dodgers bullpen in extra innings.

And for the “never bunt” crowd: the chance to score one run is slightly higher with a runner on third base with one out than with a runner on second base and none out. The Phillies had the bottom of the order coming up — starting with infielder Bryson Stott, whom the Dodgers had evaluated as a good bunter.

Betts remembered how he had asked Rojas when to run the wheel play.

“In a do-or-die situation,” Rojas had told him.

So Betts took charge and put on the play.

“I don’t know if it was very comfortable, but somebody’s got to do it,” Betts said.

“I figured, if there was ever a good time to make a decision and roll with it, that was the time.”

Muncy would charge and, if the ball was bunted to him, would throw to Betts covering third base. First baseman Freddie Freeman then said he would charge and, if the ball was not bunted to him, would cover second base so Stott could not advance there, since second baseman Tommy Edman would be covering first. Later, on his PItchCom, Vesia said he heard an order to cover second base.

By the time Dodgers manager Dave Roberts got to the mound, the infielders said the play was on.

“When Doc came out and made the pitching change, we talked to him about it and he was all on board,” Muncy said. “I am going to credit Mook. It was his idea.”

Said Betts: “That was one of times where Doc called on us and said, you guys figure it out — in a very positive way. And we did.”

Rojas called Betts “an extension of the manager on the field.”

Said Rojas: “I’m happy that he called it right there on the field. Because it was the right play with the right runner, knowing the guy was going to bunt.”

All of this speaks well of Betts’ intuition and intelligence, but the postseason is not the time for “trust the process” blather. The postseason is the time when the right call is the one that actually works.

For Stott or anyone else, Thomson said, a batter that sees the wheel play in motion should forget about the bunt and swing away, given the holes left by two infielders charging the plate and the other two rushing to cover a base.

Stott bunted.

The first problem for the Phillies was that they had no one available to pinch-run for Castellanos. Aside from a backup catcher, they had two position players left: Harrison Bader, playing with a sore groin, and Weston Wilson, whom the Phillies had to save to run for Bader.

The second problem for the Phillies was that the Dodgers had only run the wheel play once this season, so even the best advance scouts could not have been warning the Phillies to beware.

“It’s something we have under our sleeve,” Rojas said.

The third and most critical problem for the Phillies was that Betts had lingered close to second base, shadowing Castellanos. By the time Stott could have seen Betts take off for third, it was too late.

“Mookie did a great job of disguising the wheel play,” Thomson said.

Muncy fielded the ball cleanly, and Betts beat Castellanos to the bag by so much that Betts had time to drop his knee and block the bag before tagging out Castellanos, holding onto the ball even as Castellanos upended him.

“Those guys executed it to perfection,” Roberts said. “It was a lot tougher — they made it look a lot easier than it was. And for me, that was our only chance, really, to win that game in that moment.”

If Muncy did not field the ball cleanly or did not make a good throw, or if Betts did not beat Castellanos to the bag or tag him out, the Phillies would have had the tying run at third base and the winning run at first base with none out.

But they did not, which meant the ensuing single did not tie the score. Two batters later, the Dodgers had won.

Read more:Dodgers showcase the capabilities of their battle-tested roster in Game 2 win over Phillies

The play would be difficult enough for a lifelong shortstop. Betts is in his first season as a full-time shortstop.

“It shows his intuition in the game,” Muncy said. “It’s second to none out there. It doesn’t matter what position you put that guy at — he knows what’s going on. It’s honestly really impressive.”

Said Ebel: “He’s obsessed with being a great player. And he’s still learning. He’s still going to get better. That’s the scary thing about it.”

As the Dodgers headed for a happy flight back to Los Angeles, Betts offered this game a five-star review.

“I’ll take off my Dodgers hat and just put on a fan hat,” he said. “I think that was a really dope baseball game.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Citizens Bank Park brings out the emotions for Phillies players, both good and bad  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Once again, those in attendance were ultra-boisterous, the fireworks blasted during the national anthem, the red towels waved (though the rally part of them didn’t do much) and the chants drowned out everything at Citizens Bank Park during the Phillies’ Game 2 against the Dodgers in this National League Division Series.

It has been the recipe for four years now during Phillies home playoff games, making CBP the toughest place for visitors to compete in a playoff game.

But guess what? It isn’t just tough on the opposition. It can be quite draining on the home team also. And the sellout crowd on Monday had to be wondering that as the Phillies didn’t get their first hit of the game until second baseman Edmundo Sosa’s bloop single to right on the 72nd pitch by Dodger starter Blake Snell.

The Dodgers went on to win the game, 4-3, while holding the Phillies scoreless for the first seven innings. The big bats at the top of the lineup aren’t hitting, Los Angeles is getting the timely hits, and with that loss on Monday, the Phillies are now 3-7 in their last 10 postseason games at CBP.

So, what gives?

No Phillies players, nor the manager, nor those in the front office will ever complain about the atmosphere that CBP provides during playoff time. In fact, the reaction to the bedlam seems to garner more gratitude each time it happens. But still, something is amiss.

How could it be the Phillies lost the final two World Series home games to the Houston Astros back in 2022, including a no-hitter in Game 4? Can you explain losing two in a row to the Arizona Diamondbacks at CBP after coming home with a 3-2 lead in the NLCS in 2023? Then there was Game 1 against the Mets last season in the NLDS when the Phillies gave up five runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to New York in a 6-2 loss.

And now, two straight losses to the Dodgers to begin this year’s NLDS.

This veteran group of Phillies doesn’t make excuses for losses. That really isn’t their nature. And, again, they crave playing in front of this frenzied crowd whenever they can. But the task is harder than any of us can imagine. Because when the good is good, it is a tidal wave of emotion. But so is the bad.

J.T. Realmuto said after Game 1 that he looked up at the scoreboard at one point and couldn’t believe it was only the fourth inning. He said he was exhausted. Simply because the amount of emotion thumping through that stadium can be as draining as exhilarating.

“I think there are some big spots where I think you’re trying so hard that it just gets you,” third baseman Alec Bohm said. “Everything is so heightened and you’re so hyper-focused that you see something, and you don’t even know why you swung. It just happens. That’s the part of the game where you gotta try to slow it down and stay within yourself. Everybody just wants to help the team win.”

The want is there, no doubt. The effort, too. But when things begin to get pressurized, CBP can be a bit of a difficult place to play for the home team.

“I think that the stadium is good on both sides,” Nick Castellanos said. “When the game is going good, it’s wind at our back. When the game is not going good, it’s wind at our face. So, the environment can be with us, and the environment can be against us.”

Don’t sneer at that quote as an excuse. Instead, think about it. As a fan, you feel the anxiety you have with winning runners on base, two outs and your team trying to tie a playoff series. The heart and head pound. Hands clench and emotions run high. Now think about being a player in that spot. He has to perform. He has the same emotions but has to try to contain them while 45,000-plus rain down their feelings on that player.

“I wouldn’t say that it drains but it can definitely take you out of your center,” Castellanos added. “It’s super stimulating and euphoric if everything is going for us. But then it’s a very uphill climb when you can feel that everything is amplified negatively, like if you do something bad, you’re going to get a negative response. So, it makes it harder to play freely. If everything is going good, and we’re rolling, it’s a b—h to play here if you’re an opposing team because the environment is amazing. But if we roll into adversity and the tide shifts, we’re playing more tight because we don’t want to be reprimanded for something bad and playing becomes more difficult.”

Again, not an excuse, just the reality of something we as observers will never feel.

“Everything in an environment like this is amplified,” Castellanos said. “One run could seem like more than it actually is. When it’s going good, you’re on the expressway. When it’s going bad, it just takes something to take the ball rolling.

“Besides (Jesus) Luzardo, because pitching was phenomenal, as far as an offense we had two times that momentum was being built. So, when those dominoes start to fall, that’s important. Just like on the other side here. When good things start to happen, it’s like a snowball effect.”

No one can imagine saying that getting away from Citizens Bank Park may be a good thing for the Phillies in this series. But right now, it just may be. Not because of the fans’ reaction, but because of the reaction the team is causing with their play. The players know that.

So now, the almost unimaginable task of winning two at Dodger Stadium is right in the Phillies’ face.

“Got nothing to lose now,” Trea Turner said. “It’s not over. … It’s not over and we’re not going to quit until they tell us to go home. We got a great team. We’ve won three games in a row before, we’ve swept good teams. We’ve played good baseball. We got to find that. We’ve got to find it quick. I feel like we’ve played pretty decent these last two games, we just haven’t had enough to get the win. I don’t feel like we’re really beating ourselves. We’re playing good defense, we’re getting some hits here and there. It just doesn’t seem like enough each step of the way.”

If they get two wins in Los Angeles, no doubt Citizens Bank Park will be an atmosphere the players will crave.

Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo had set down 17 batters in a row going into the seventh inning of Monday’s National League Division Series game. The Dodgers hadn’t had a hit or a baserunner since the first.

And it didn’t look like they’d get another.

“Luzardo,” said Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman, “was amazing.”

Yet it was Freeman who brought Luzardo’s masterful night to an end and pushed the Phillies’ season to the brink, keying a 4-3 Dodger win that sends the best-of-five series to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Wednesday with Philadelphia a loss away from spring training.

“It's huge. It's absolutely huge,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the two-game sweep on the road. “Guys are really stepping up.”

Especially in the seventh, when the Dodgers batted around, producing the kind of inning they rarely managed in the regular season, one that featured aggressive at-bats, smart baserunning and three two-out RBIs.

“All that coming together; just really good at-bats up and down the lineup,” Roberts said.

Read more:Hernández: The Phillies are done, and the Dodgers' path to the World Series looks clear

Teoscar Hernández got it started with a single to center. Freeman followed with a hit off the end of his bat into the right-field corner, a single he turned into a double when he refused to stop at first, surprising outfielder Nick Castellanos.

“I was trying to keep things going, put pressure on them,” Freeman said. “I just wanted to push the envelope in that situation since we hadn't had anything going on since the first inning.”

Luzardo had given up one hit through six innings; now he’d given up two in the span of five pitches.

“He retired 17 in a row. He had 72 pitches. He's pitching great,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.

But after Freeman’s hit he was done, with Thomson summoning reliever Orion Kerkering. The Dodgers, however, were just getting started, and an out later Hernández put them ahead to stay, breaking smartly from third on Kiké Hernández’s slow roller by the mound, then sliding to the back of the plate to beat shortstop Trea Turner’s wide throw home.

Pinch-hitter Max Muncy followed with a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Will Smith, whose two-out single on the first pitch he saw drove in two more runs.

“In that situation, it's very easy to try to want to do too much,” Muncy said. “You have a chance to drive in a couple runs. It's very easy to chase a pitch. But you’ve just got to be diligent with what you're trying to do up there and just pass the baton to the next guy.”

The Dodgers' rally had been built around a double that should have been a single, a run-scoring fielder’s choice that barely passed the mound, a walk and Smith’s one-hop single to left, the hardest-hit ball of the inning. When Shohei Ohtani grounded a single by diving second baseman Edmundo Sosa, the Dodgers led 4-0.

“Obviously some huge two-out hits by Will and then Shohei. Great play by Teo getting his foot in,” Freeman said. “A lot of good things happened in that seventh inning.”

The inning also silenced the sellout crowd of 45,653, which minutes earlier had been louder than a rock concert during a NASCAR race. When Matt Strahm, the third pitcher of the inning, finally got Mookie Betts for the third out, the fans booed the Phillies off the field.

The crowd came alive again in the ninth, when Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen once again melted down on the mound, gave up three hits and two runs without getting an out to let the Phillies back in the game. But Roki Sasaki then took them out again, retiring Turner on a groundball with the tying run on third, earning his second save in as many games.

Read more:Dodgers showcase the capabilities of their battle-tested roster in Game 2 win over Phillies

When it was over the Phillies, who had the best home record in the majors this season, had lost consecutive games at home for the first time since June 1. And the Dodgers, unbeaten this postseason, were a win away from the NL Championship Series.

“Lots to unpack in that one,” Roberts said.

Freeman managed to put it all in perspective.

“We were just sitting at our lockers and Kiké said, ‘we just took two here’,” he said. “This is a hard place to play. Incredible fan base. It's loud here.

“We obviously put ourselves in great position going into Wednesday.”

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

It was quintessential October baseball.

Two starting pitchers dominating two helpless lineups.

A low-scoring contest in which every stranded baserunner felt like a monumental missed opportunity.

A nail-biting affair decided by one team cashing in a rare scoring chance, and the other failing to do the same.

In the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies had two aboard with one out, but came up empty.

In the next half-inning, the Dodgers faced the same situation, but came away with four runs.

That was the difference in the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory at Citizens Bank Park, giving them a commanding 2-0 lead in a best-of-five series that will shift to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Wednesday.

For most of Monday night, a crowd of 45,653 in South Philadelphia sat anxiously in anticipation, waiting for the dam to break in an old-fashioned pitchers' duel.

On one side, Blake Snell was dotting his fastball up in the zone and to both parts of the plate, giving the Phillies little to hit while setting them up to flail at his dominant arsenal of secondary weapons. Through four innings, he retired 12 of 14 batters with only two walks allowed. He had gotten whiffs on each of the first 11 non-fastballs he threw. And not until there were two outs in the fifth did he give up his first hit.

Opposite him, Jesús Luzardo was equally effective. After stranding runners on the corners in a shaky first, the left-hander locked in and made the Dodgers look silly with a barrage of sweepers and changeups that dipped below the zone. Where he needed 24 pitches in the first, he completed the next five on just 48 throws. In that time, he retired 17 in a row and let only two balls even leave the infield.

Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, the narrative began to change.

The Phillies generated the game’s first big opportunity, after Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber walked in back-to-back at-bats against Snell with one out. It was the first time all night their lineup had gotten a runner past first. And it happened as two-time MVP Bryce Harper came strolling to the plate.

Read more:Hernández: The Phillies are done, and the Dodgers' path to the World Series looks clear

Snell’s plan of attack against Harper was simple. His first pitch was a slider in the dirt. His next was another one up in the zone Harper fouled off. Two more sliders followed, with Harper fanning on the first and fouling off the next. Then, after one change-of-pace curveball was buried in front of the plate, Snell went back to the slider one more time. It darted below Harper’s swing for a strikeout. Citizens Bank Park groaned.

The inning ended a batter later, when Alec Bohm chased a 2-and-0 changeup and hit a ground ball to third base. Miguel Rojas fielded it behind the bag, clocked the speedy Bohm racing toward first, and decided to go the short — albeit risky — way instead, sprinting to third base and beating Turner to the bag with a head-first slide.

That ended the inning. This time, frustrated boos rained down from the stands.

Minutes later, the Dodgers would be in front. Unlike the Phillies, they didn’t squander their one opportunity for runs.

Teoscar Hernández led off the top of the seventh with a single. Freddie Freeman followed with a line drive to weak-fielding Nick Castellanos (who was drawn into the Phillies’ lineup following an injury to Harrison Bader in Game 1) in right, getting on his horse to leg out a hustle double.

That knocked Luzardo out of the game. And in a move that would soon be second-guessed, Phillies manager Rob Thompson opted for right-handed reliever Orion Kerkering instead of dominant closer Jhoan Duran.

Kerkering got one quick out, striking out Tommy Edman.

But then Kiké Hernández hit a cue-ball grounder to Turner at shortstop. After a slight hesitation, Teoscar Hernández broke for home hard. As Turner fielded the ball and fired to the plate, Hernández chugged in with a feet-first slide. Catcher J.T. Realmuto’s tag was a split-second too late.

The Dodgers had opened the scoring — and would only keep adding on.

With two outs in the inning, Will Smith (who, like in Game 1, entered as a mid-game replacement as he continues to work back from his fractured hand) hit a two-run single to left. Shohei Ohtani, who had been hitless in the series and 0 for 3 earlier in the night, tacked on another with a ground ball that got through the infield.

By the time the dust settled, the Dodgers had surged to a 4-0 lead.

They would need every bit of it.

Emmet Sheehan followed Snell’s six-inning, one-hit, nine-strikeout gem with two innings of relief, retiring the side in the seventh before limiting damage in the eighth, when he gave up one run after a Max Kepler triple and Turner RBI single but retired the side on a strikeout of Schwarber and a fly ball from Harper.

Read more:Shaikin: Clayton Kershaw isn't first Hall of Fame-bound pitcher to finish career in Dodgers bullpen

The real trouble came in the ninth, when the Dodgers turned to Blake Treinen — and not recently ascendant bullpen ace Roki Sasaki — to close the game.

Treinen couldn’t, giving up a leadoff single and back-to-back doubles to J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos to bring home two runs and put the tying runner at second.

Alex Vesia entered next and got two outs (one of them, a crucial play from third baseman Max Muncy to field a bunt and throw out Castellanos at third as the lead runner). Then, Sasaki was finally summoned to face Turner with runners on the corners.

He induced a ground ball to second baseman Tommy Edman. Edman spiked his throw to first, but Freeman picked it with a sprawling effort. And once again, the Phillies had failed to completely cash in on a scoring chance — leaving the Dodgers one win away from advancing to the NL Championship Series.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

This is over.

Or, from the perspective of the Dodgers, this is just starting.

Because the Dodgers are returning to the World Series.

Technically, they still have to close out their National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. They still have to win the NL Championship Series.

But they will.

Read more:Dodgers survive ninth-inning scare to defeat Phillies and take commanding lead in NLDS

They will because they won’t blow the two-games-to-none lead they have after their 4-3 victory over the Phillies on Monday in Game 2 of their best-of-five series.

They will because the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs don’t have the firepower necessary to take down these Dodgers in the next round.

The Phillies were to the Dodgers this year what the San Diego Padres were last year. They were their greatest obstacle. The road back to the World Series is almost cleared.

The Dodgers can officially eliminate the Phillies on Wednesday, and they should.

Game 3 will be played at Dodger Stadium.

Their best pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, will be on the mound.

Call in a priest — or a padre. The time has come to read the Phillies their last rites.

The Dodgers didn’t come close to winning 120 games, and they were underwhelming in the regular season, which explains why they were unable to secure either of the first-round byes that were claimed by the Phillies and Brewers. They entered the postseason with an alarmingly untrustworthy bullpen, and that bullpen nearly blew a four-run lead in Game 2.

But in stealing two wins at Citizens Bank Park, the Dodgers demonstrated they still have that championship something that no other team in baseball has.

That something emerged on Monday night in the six scoreless innings pitched by Blake Snell, the run-scoring slide by Teoscar Hernández on a slow roller by Kike Hernández, the two-run single by Will Smith that broke open the game, the insurance run driven in by Shohei Ohtani. That something was reflected in the two innings contributed by converted starter Emmet Sheehan, and game-saving defensive plays made by Miguel Rojas, Max Muncy and Mookie Betts.

The Phillies don’t have that something, and the championship window that was opened by the likes of Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber might now be closed. They certainly recognized this, which is why Phillies manager Rob Thomson made no effort to downplay the importance of Game 2.

If anything, Thomson emphasized how critical the game was by saying before the game that Ranger Suarez and Aaron Nola could pitch in relief.

Suarez and Nola were two candidates to start Game 3.

“This is a big game tonight,” Thomson said. “We talked all year long about winning series and how the first game is important. Well, the second game is pretty important when you get to a five-game series or seven-game series because it’s a swing game.”

Thomson was prepared to deploy Suarez in a high-leverage situation. He was ready to call on Nola if the game went into extra innings.

“And we’ll figure out Game 3,” Thomson said.

The home fans comprehended the stakes. Citizens Bank Park was a madhouse in Game 1, but the crowd for Game 2 was comparatively toned down.

The nervous tension in the stadium quickly morphed into unbridled frustration, as the Phillies lineup was unable to do anything against Snell.

There were boos when batting champion Trea Turner struck out in the third inning. There were boos when Brandon Marsh was caught stealing on a pickoff by Snell to end the inning. There were more boos when Alec Bohm struck out for the final out of the fourth.

The first hit Snell gave up was with two outs in the fifth inning, a flare single to center field by Edmundo Sosa. The very next batter, Marsh, grounded out. More boos.

How nervous were Phillies fans? When a warning on the public-address system about streaking was followed by a bare-chested Philly Phanatic running across the outfield before the sixth inning, they offered no reaction. Baseball’s most iconic mascot was completely ignored.

Up to this point, the Dodgers were equally unproductive against the Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo. Betts singled and Teoscar Hernández walked in successive at-bats in the first inning, only for Luzardo to retire the next 17 batters in a row.

The Phillies threatened Snell for the first time in the sixth inning when Turner and Kyle Schwarber drew successive one-out walks. Up next: Harper, a two-time NL most valuable player.

In almost any other postseason, this is where manager Dave Roberts would have instructed one of his coaches to phone the bullpen. But Roberts wasn’t about to replace Snell, not at this stage of the game, not with the combustibility of his relievers.

Read more:Dodgers lean on big seventh inning to defeat Phillies and take 2-0 NLDS lead

Snell struck out Harper and made Bohm ground into a force out. The game remained scoreless.

Teoscar Hernández singled and Freddie Freeman doubled to start the seventh inning, forcing Thomson into the position Roberts was in the previous inning. Thomson made a mistake but not because he removed Luzardo. His error was in the pitcher he chose to replace him. With closer Jhoan Duran available, Thomson went with Orion Kerkering.

With runners on second and third, Tommy Edman was struck out by Kerkering for the first out. But Kike Hernández hit a slow roller to short and Teoscar Henández beat Turner’s throw home for the first run of the game. Rojas walked to load the bases, setting up a two-run single by Smith. Ohtani, who was hitless in his previous seven at-bats of this series, singled to right field to drive in a valuable insurance run.

The Dodgers were on their way.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Phillies have nothing left to lose going to Los Angeles in NLDS originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

A broken bat roller in the seventh inning just to the right of the pitching mound was almost fittingly the biggest batted ball of the evening for the Phillies Monday night. Game 2 of the NLDS was a steamy pitching duel between Jesús Luzardo and Blake Snell.

More hits were to be had by the Dodgers and Phillies, but that broken-bat play broke the seal for the Los Angeles as they went on to a 4-3 win to go up 2-0 in this NLDS. Game 3 is scheduled for Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers batted around in the seventh inning, after Teoscar Hernandez chased Jesús Luzardo for a single and Freddie Freeman’s double. It was only the second and third hits given up on the night by Luzardo, who certainly deserved a better fate—just like Cristopher Sánchez did in Game 1.

Orion Kerkering replaced Luzardo and, after striking out Tommy Edman, sawed off Kike Hernandez with a 97 MPH sinker. Trea Turner charged and threw home, but the throw was to the first base side and J.T. Realmuto’s tag was late. The Dodgers grabbed a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

At the time, it was just a run. And even when Kerkering walked the bases loaded with two outs, he was about to face the nine-hole hitter and able to see his way out of a big inning. But pinch-hitter Will Smith lined a first-pitch single to left-center for two more runs and Shohei Ohtani singled in another.

The excitement in Citizens Bank Park deflated like a day-old helium balloon.

The Phillies got the thrill in the air again in the ninth inning by scoring a couple of runs on a two-RBI double by Nick Castellanos, but a failed sacrifice bunt, a fielder’s choice and a groundout by Turner ended the game. Another game closer to ending the series. The Phillies are now 3-7 in their last 10 home playoff games.

And that’s been the problem in these first two games of this series, the Phillies just don’t seem to have enough air to breathe some life back into themselves when they get down. The top of the order, or any part of the order for that matter, can’t come up with big hits.

The relievers haven’t come close to being shut down ones and there has been little hope and whole lot of disappointment, like in the sixth inning Monday, when Bryce Harper stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and one out against Blake. It seemed so ripe for it to be a Harper moment, for him to generate some much-needed electricity through his team. Instead, he struck out swinging on a nasty slider from Blake.

“We’d like those guys (at the top of the order) to be swinging the bats, but I do like what we’re doing at the bottom part of the order,” said Rob Thomson. “Snell was good again today. I thought our bats were better against him tonight than they were in L.A. I don’t think we got out of the zone as much as we did in L.A. You have to have confidence that those guys will get it going.

“I think those guys are trying to do a little bit too much right now. Instead of just being themselves and looking for base hits and the power will come.”

The two biggest surprises from the Phillies thus far are these: That without Zack Wheeler their starting pitching is still the biggest strength of this team and that this veteran-laden lineup struggles so mightily of late come playoff time.

“I’ll have a little meeting with them on Wednesday,” said Thomson. “I love the fight in the eighth and ninth inning. We fought like hell and hopefully that carries over into Wednesday. But this is a resilient group, our backs are against the wall. Just got to come out fighting.”

Fighting is a given. They are not going to give up on at-bats, nor fail to hustle after batted balls. They just don’t seem to land the punches enough when there seems to be openings to do so, which granted, have been few and far between. And it certainly doesn’t help that Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Harper are a combined 2-for-21 in this series.

Sure, the Phillies have faced two terrific starters in this series in Ohtani and Snell. But the Dodgers have also faced Sánchez and Luzardo and have figured out answers with timely hitting being chief among them. They also figured out a way to solve their biggest problem, which was their bullpen, by using back-end starters like Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki in Game One and Emmet Sheehan in Game Two. While Thomson flirted with using Ranger Suarez in these games and maybe even Aaron Nola, the proper situation, to him, never came about and now he finds his team in the deepest of holes.

Nola now becomes the Game Three starter, Thomson announced after the game, with Suarez ready to piggy-back if needed. Thomson again professed his trust in Nola, and now he’ll make his biggest start of the season.

“I’m going to compete as best as I can,” Nola said. “Going into L.A, we got to, obviously, got to get a win and take it inning by inning and pitch for pitch. You have to take it one game at a time. You can’t get three wins in game three, right. So, you got to take it one game at a time.

“I’ve been feeling pretty good lately and my body’s all healthy. I think it’s (the ball) coming out pretty well. So, keep that going and hopefully have a good start.”

It’s not time to write the obituary on this season just yet, or maybe even this era. But you also have to wonder how much of this core group is going to be returning as Suarez, Realmuto and Schwarber will all be free agents after the season.

Perhaps it won’t be just an end to a season with their next loss to the Dodgers, it just might be the end of an era. One that certainly doesn’t appear to be going out with a bang, if that is the case.

Not due to any fault of Luzardo, who allowed just three hits during his six innings. Consider that during his time in the game, the Phillies didn’t get their first hit off Snell until he threw his 72nd pitch with two outs in the fifth inning and Edmundo Sosa blooped it to center for a single.

And when a big hit was needed, again, in the ninth, the Phillies just couldn’t find it after Castellanos’ double. That put him on second with nobody out and his team trailing 4-3. He was then thrown out at third when Stott’s bunt was controlled perfectly by the Dodgers on a wheel play. Harrison Bader then singled to put runners at first and second with one out, but neither Max Kepler nor Turner could drive in anything and the Phillies now go to Los Angeles on the thinnest of ice.

Luzardo's effort buried by Phillies' silenced bats in Game 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Jesús Luzardo gave the Phillies everything he had.

They came into Monday needing nine complete innings on both sides of the baseball. Luzardo did his part.

Making his first start in 12 days, the first-year Phillie looked completely unfazed. The lefty followed up a 32-start, double-digit win regular season with one of the sharpest outings of his 2025 campaign — and easily his best on the postseason stage.

That hadn’t always been the case. As a rookie with the Athletics, Luzardo threw three scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the 2019 AL Wild Card Game against Tampa Bay. But since then, his postseason record had been rough: three starts, 11 ⅔ innings, and 10 earned runs — including a loss at Citizens Bank Park in 2023.

He cleaned that slate almost entirely.

After a 24-pitch first inning, Luzardo locked in. His next five frames were flawless — 48 pitches, no hits, no walks and four strikeouts. He retired 17 straight Dodgers, the second-longest streak in franchise postseason history.

“The first was bumpier than expected,” Luzardo said. “But after we got out of that, it felt pretty smooth. Me and J.T. had a good mix, kept guys off balance, used a good amount of offspeed and fastballs in certain counts. Keeping them off balance was the key.”

The only issue? Blake Snell was just as dominant.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning. By the time his night was over, Snell had tossed six one-hit innings with nine strikeouts, generating 23 whiffs — the second most by a Dodgers left-handed pitcher in a playoff game during the Pitch-Tracking Era (2008).

“I thought our at-bats were better tonight than they were in L.A. [against Snell three weeks ago],” Rob Thomson said. “We didn’t chase as much. But Snell was really good again. We just have to keep grinding — those guys will get it going.”

And it was only a matter of time before Los Angeles’ lineup broke through.

With just 72 pitches, Luzardo returned for the seventh. Teoscar Hernández, who’s been unconscious this postseason, lined a leadoff single. Then Freddie Freeman did what Freddie Freeman does — lacing a double down the right-field line to move Hernández to third.

Rob Thomson made the walk to get his starter.

“I mean, he retired 17 in a row,” Thomson said. “He had 72 pitches and was pitching great. You’d be asking me why I took him out [before the seventh] if I did.”

Orion Kerkering entered in a tough situation — second and third, no outs. He struck out the first batter he faced, but a broken-bat Enrique Hernández grounder brought home a run. Then Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pressed the right button again.

Will Smith came off the bench and delivered a two-run single. Shohei Ohtani followed with an RBI knock off Matt Strahm to make it 4–0 Dodgers.

Two of the runs were charged to Luzardo, who left to a standing ovation from over 45,000 fans. His line — six-plus innings, three hits, five strikeouts — hardly tells the story.

“He was really fantastic,” Thomson said. “He was about 70 percent strikes. The slider was good, the changeup was good, the fastball had life. He battled and then just rolled from there.”

Bryce Harper liked what he saw from the southpaw, as well.  “Yeah, I thought he did a good job mixing it up on both sides of the plate,” Harper said. “He’s been like that for us all year long — threw the ball really well tonight. We just didn’t get it done for him.”

In the end, his outing will be remembered only as the one that got away.

The Phillies scraped together a run in the eighth and two in the ninth but couldn’t complete the comeback, falling 4-3 and heading to Los Angeles down 0-2 in the series.

“I thought we fought like hell in the eighth and ninth,” Thomson said. “Hopefully that carries over. Our backs are against the wall, and we’ve got to come out fighting.”

Luzardo expressed that same mindset. “Obviously you never want to go down 0–2,” he said. “But this is a really resilient and scrappy team. We’ve got a lot of faith in everybody in this clubhouse. Wednesday’s a new game, and we just have to go out and take it inning by inning.”

Without run support, even the best pitching performances can vanish. Luzardo deserved better — and now, the Phillies need answers fast.