It’s time for the next round of the 2025 MLB playoffs.
The American League and National League pennants will be decided in the coming days, with the Championship Series set to begin once the Division Series wraps up.
In the AL, the No. 1 Toronto Blue Jays locked up the first spot in the ALCS with their four-game victory over the No. 4 New York Yankees. Their opponent is yet to be decided, as the No. 2 Seattle Mariners and No. 6 Detroit Tigers head to be winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday.
So, while there are still three teams left to clinch their Championship Series berth, we do know plenty of details about the upcoming pennant fights.
From the matchups to the schedule and how to watch, here’s what to know about the Championship Series:
What are the 2025 ALCS, NLCS matchups?
Given the matchups in the Division Series, we are guaranteed to have non-divisional matchups in the Championship Series.
The AL East champion Blue Jays will have home-field advantage over the AL West champion Mariners or AL wild card Tigers. In the NL, home-field will be determined based on who advances — the NL Central champion Brewers will claim it if they can beat their division rival Cubs. If Chicago comes back, the winner of the NL East champion Phillies and NL West champion Dodgers will get home-field.
Here’s a full look at the bracket:
American League
No. 2 Seattle Mariners/No. 6 Detroit Tigers vs. No. 1 Toronto Blue Jays
National League
No. 2 Philadelphia Phillies/No. 3 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. No. 1 Milwaukee Brewers/No. 4 Chicago Cubs
How many games are in the ALCS, NLCS?
Following best-of-three Wild Card Series and best-of-five Division Series, the postseason moves to a best-of-seven format in the Championship Series and World Series. The higher seed hosts Games 1, 2 and, if necessary, 6 and 7.
What is the 2025 ALCS, NLCS schedule?
Here’s a series-by-series look at the Championship Series schedule:
American League
Mariners/Tigers vs. Blue Jays
Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 12, time TBA
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 13, time TBA
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 15, time TBA
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 16, time TBA
Game 5 (if necessary): Friday, Oct. 17, time TBA
Game 6 (if necessary): Sunday, Oct. 19, time TBA
Game 7 (if necessary): Monday, Oct. 20, time TBA
National League
Phillies/Dodgers vs. Brewers/Cubs
Game 1: Monday, Oct. 13, time TBA
Game 2: Tuesday, Oct. 14, time TBA
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 16, time TBA
Game 4: Friday, Oct. 17, time TBA
Game 5 (if necessary): Saturday, Oct. 18, time TBA
Clayton Kershaw reacts after giving up a two-run home run to Kyle Schwarber in the eighth inning. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
If Wednesday’s game proves to be the last one in a Dodgers uniform for Clayton Kershaw, it will do little to tarnish his legacy, said teammate Mookie Betts.
“He's gonna have a statue, so we have to kind of keep that in mind,” Betts said. “In the grand scheme of things, Kershaw is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, one of the best pitchers to ever do it.
“So if you let two innings kind of ruin that, then you don't know baseball.”
But, Betts confessed, Kershaw’s relief appearance in Game 3 of the National League Division Series was hard to watch. In those two innings he gave up six hits, five runs, walked three and did not strike out a hitter, turning a tight game into an 8-2 rout for the Philadelphia Phillies, who staved off elimination and extended the best-of-five series to a fourth game Thursday.
“He just didn't have a great slider tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Clayton pitches off his slider. He was working behind, too. The command wasn't there tonight.”
Clayton Kershaw bends over during a tough eighth inning. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Kershaw, who went 11-2 as a starter during the regular season, was left off the roster for the wild-card series and hadn’t pitched in nine days when he started warming up in the sixth inning Wednesday. He hadn’t gone that long between appearances all year.
“I did everything I could in between,” he said. “It's been a while but, you know, I threw [off] flat ground as best I could. It wasn't there tonight.”
That was obvious from the first batter he faced. Kershaw, who walked a batter every 3.2 innings during the regular season, threw three straight balls to Trea Turner before giving up a single. He would give up two more walks, one intentional, in the inning but escaped harm thanks to a poor baserunning decision by the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber and a nice catch by right fielder Teoscar Hernández.
But with Tanner Scott unavailable for personal reasons and Alex Vesia having already pitched twice in the series, Roberts had few other good options against the left-handed-heavy Phillies. So he sent Kershaw out for the eighth and that’s when things really got out of hand.
J.T. Realmuto led off the inning and drove Kershaw’s second pitch — a slider — over the wall in left-center. The Phillies would send eight more men to the plate in the inning, scoring four more times, with two of those runs coming on Schwarber’s second homer of the night.
Kershaw threw first-pitch strikes to just four of the 14 batters he faced and missed the zone with 26 of the 48 pitches he threw overall. That won’t stop the Dodgers from building a statue of him when he retires this fall but it didn’t move him any closer to a second straight World Series ring either.
“I wasn't throwing strikes, and it's hard to pitch behind in the count,” he said.
Kershaw said he felt fine physically but added, “I just wasn’t finding it.”
That wasn’t a problem for the top of the Philadelphia lineup, which found little success in the first two games of the series. The Phillies’ first four hitters — Turner, Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Alex Bohm combined for just three hits, all singles — in 27 at-bats, striking out 12 times. They matched that hit total against Dodger starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the span of 11 fourth-inning pitches Wednesday, with Schwarber homering off the roof of the right-field pavilion and Harper and Bohm following with singles.
They finished the night nine for 16 with five runs scored and five RBIs, with Schwarber’s two homers traveling a combined 863 feet.
“We just had a little quick meeting. Nothing crazy, but just focus on the game, win today,” Turner said. “We all know we were kind of pressing as a group in the first two games and wanting to win so bad.”
If Turner and the Phillies win again Thursday, the series returns to Philadelphia and raucous Citizens Bank Park — where the Phillies had the best home record in baseball — for a decisive Game 5 on Saturday. If the Dodgers win, they move on to the NL Championship Series, where Kershaw could get a chance to end his career on a more sonorous note than the clunker he played Wednesday.
“That’s the great thing about baseball,” he said. “You get a new game every day."
DETROIT — Riley Greene and Javier Báez homered in a four-run sixth inning and the Detroit Tigers kept their season alive with a 9-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday in Game 4 of the American League Division Series.
The Tigers forced a Game 5 by winning at Comerica Park for the first time in more than a month. They went 0-8 after Tarik Skubal’s 6-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 6, including Seattle's 8-4 win on Tuesday.
The decisive game of the series will be Friday in Seattle, with Skubal facing George Kirby.
“One of the easiest and most exciting things I get to do is hand the ball to the best pitcher in baseball,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “We're getting on a plane across the country with a lot of optimism because of Tarik Skubal.”
The Tigers’ nine runs are their most in a postseason game since scoring 13 in Game 6 of the 1968 World Series.
After Detroit tied the game with three runs in the fifth, Greene gave the Tigers a 4-3 advantage with a leadoff homer off Gabe Speier in the sixth. The 454-foot homer was the second-longest home run of Greene's career, regular season and postseason, and longest at Comerica Park since a 453-foot shot by Gleyber Torres on Aug. 29, 2023.
“That felt great,” Greene said of his first postseason homer. “I hadn't hit a ball like that in a while.”
Spencer Torkelson followed with a double and scored Detroit's fifth run on Zach McKinstry's single before Báez made it 7-3 with his sixth postseason homer.
Gleyber Torres became the third Tigers All-Star to homer when he led off the seventh with a shot to right before Báez's eighth-inning groundout brought in Detroit's ninth run.
“They were able to get to our bullpen today, but those guys have bounced back all season,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “There's no better place to do that than back at home on Friday.”
Troy Melton, Detroit's Game 1 starter, picked up the win with three scoreless innings of relief.
The first 4 1/2 innings looked like another Tigers disaster.
Casey Mize allowed one run while striking out six batters in the first three innings, but needed 54 pitches to do it. That may have played a part in A.J. Hinch's decision to send lefty Tyler Holton to the mound for the fourth inning.
The decision didn't work - Holton faced three batters and left with the bases loaded and no one out. Hinch brought in set-up man Kyle Finnegan, who got Victor Robles to ground into a run-scoring double play before J.P. Crawford popped out.
The Mariners, though, got to Finnegan in the fifth. Randy Arozarena led off with a single, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Cal Raleigh's single - his seventh hit of the series. That made it 3-0, increasing the booing from an angry home crowd.
“I've heard boos my whole career, so I don't mind them,” Báez said. “That's just showing the passion of our fans.”
Dillon Dingler's RBI double got the Tigers on the board with one out in the fifth - the first run Detroit had scored against Mariners starter Bryce Miller in 23 1/3 innings.
Speier came in, but Jahmai Jones lined his first pitch down the left-field line for a pinch-hit double to make it 3-2 before Báez tied the game with a base hit.
LOS ANGELES — Kyle Schwarber homered twice, his first towering shot clearing the right-field pavilion in a three-run fourth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies avoided a sweep with an 8-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of their NL Division Series on Wednesday night.
It was the first Schwarbomb of the postseason for the NL's leading home run hitter and the first allowed by the Dodgers in these playoffs. Schwarber snapped an 0-for-8 skid in the NLDS, slugging a 96-mph fastball from Yoshinobu Yamamoto 455 feet.
“It’s ridiculous how far that ball went,” Phillies shortstop Trea Turner said. “Sometimes it’s hard to create your own momentum, and you’ve got to build off things like that. No better way than the ball leaving the stadium.”
Schwarber became just the second player to homer over the pavilion, joining Pittsburgh's Willie Stargell, who did it in 1969 and 1973. Fans standing near the back railing pointed as the ball went out.
“I didn't even see where it landed,” Schwarber said. “I was looking in the dugout, trying to get the guys going.”
Schwarber's 23 career postseason homers rank third all-time and are the most among left-handers.
Game 4 of the best-of-five series is Thursday at Dodger Stadium, with the Dodgers clinging to a 2-1 lead.
“It’s pretty close to being flushed already,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I feel good with where we're at.”
After Philadelphia's Aaron Nola pitched the first two innings, Ranger Suárez came in and allowed one run and five hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked one.
“Ranger did a fantastic job,” Schwarber said. “Kept everyone right there for us to eventually crack through and have a beginning.”
The Phillies tacked on five more runs in the eighth - including a solo shot by J.T. Realmuto and a two-run drive by Schwarber - off three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw in his first postseason relief appearance since 2019.
Six of the Phillies' 12 hits came off Kershaw in his 18th and final season with the Dodgers before retiring at season's end.
“I was battling command,” Kershaw said. “It's hard when you're trying to throw strikes in the postseason to get people out.”
Yamamoto retired nine of his first 10 batters before the Phillies jumped on him in the fourth. Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm followed with singles and Harper scored on center fielder Andy Pages' throwing error. It skipped away from third baseman Max Muncy and into the Dodgers dugout, moving Bohm to third. He scored on Brandon Marsh's sacrifice fly to left for a 3-1 lead.
The Phillies chased Yamamoto with back-to-back singles by Bryson Stott and Turner in the fifth.
Reliever Anthony Banda came in and worked out of a bases-loaded jam. He struck out Schwarber after Stott and Turner's double steal. Harper flied out and Bohm was intentionally walked before Banda got Marsh on a swinging strikeout to end the threat.
The Dodgers led 1-0 on Tommy Edman's homer on the first pitch by Suárez leading off the third.
The Dodgers had the potential tying runs on first and second in the sixth but Max Muncy grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Kershaw allowed three runners in the seventh, but none scored. Another left-hander, 89-year-old Dodgers great Sandy Koufax, was on his feet applauding as Kershaw jogged to the mound.
Dodgers sluggers Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman were a combined 0 for 8 with three strikeouts. Mookie Betts tripled and singled in four at-bats.
LHP Cristopher Sánchez, who started Game 1 of the series, goes for the Phillies on Thursday against Dodgers RHP Tyler Glasnow, who pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief in Game 1.
The Los Angeles Kings suffered an embarrassing loss last night in their season opener against the Colorado Avalanche.
Every aspect played out last night on the ice, both offensively and especially on defense; Los Angeles looked very weak and out of it. So, coming into a back-to-back, the Kings were looking to avoid a 0-2 start desperately.
But, tonight, against another Western Conference contender in the Vegas Golden Knights, who introduced Mitch Marner and recently signed Jack Eichel to an 8-year extension, Los Angeles looked very good early on, until their power play defense and penalties let them down, ending in a high-scoring thriller with the Kings scrapping by a 6-5 win.
After the tripping call was made on Golden Knights center William Karlsson, who gave the Kings a power play opportunity.
The Kings responded with a 1-0 lead in Vegas, capitalizing on the power play opportunity. Andrei Kuzmenko buried the goal five minutes into the period off the assist from Anze Kopitar.
Vegas struggled to generate any goals against Anton Forsberg under the net, stopping every shot that came at him.
The Golden Knights' best look came when Quinton Byfield was called for that unsportsmanlike conduct midway through the first period, but Los Angeles remained strong and didn’t let it get in their heads like last night.
Just a few minutes later, Quinton Byfield extended the lead with an unassisted goal, giving LA a 2-0 lead. Despite Vegas having control of the puck for most of the possession and winning faceoffs, Los Angeles stayed ready and strong on the ice.
The period ended with the Kings holding a 2-0 lead, energized by their early intensity on both defense and offense, which enabled them to take an early lead. However, Vegas remained a threat heading into the second period despite trailing.
Second Period: Golden Knights Dominate the Power Play
The Kings extended their lead to 3-1 early in the second period against the Vegas Golden Knights. Joel Armia put up his first goal as the newly acquired Los Angeles King from the middle of the ice against a solid amount of traffic in front of him.
Vegas managed to get back in the game in the second period, scoring three goals, including one by Pavel Dorofeyev on the power play and a fast break earlier in the period, to tie the game 3-3.
One glaring weakness in the Kings' last two games was their power play defense and ability to execute fast break plays. The defense just doesn’t look strong in the closing moments when the game starts to get tight and close, reminiscent of the choke job against the Oilers in the last playoffs, when they blew a 2-0 series lead.
The Golden Knights were one of the best power plays ever, finishing second in the NHL, and in this game, they looked much better when they were in the power play, whipping the puck around the zone against what should be a Penalty kill.
This period wasn’t a good one for the Kings. From what looked like a commanding 3-1 lead and a different team committed to bouncing back from the ugly loss at home last night, they got outplayed entirely by one man on the other side of the ice in one period.
Third Period: Kings Battle Back
The third period was looking like it was going to be a big meltdown for the Kings, with another disappointing loss and back-to-back embarrassing games.
Early in the third period, the Golden Knights were dominating the puck and scoring off the Kings' foolish penalties, but were getting outplayed in the power play, trailing 3-5 early in the period.
The story of the game was looking like the Kings were repeating the same old things from last season, blowing leads and failing to capitalize on close, competitive games that came down to the wire.
However, Los Angeles battled back thanks to Trevor Moore and Brandt Clarke, both of whom notched a goal to tie the game 5-5, sending it to overtime.
Clarke, Byfield, and Kuzmenko were especially impressive, showcasing their toughness and grit, executing in the big moments when called upon.
All three players were reliable for the Kings in the clutch and, in overtime, gave some big minutes on the ice to help scrape by the Golden Knights.
In overtime, LA squeaked by with a 6-5 win in a much-needed game that was theirs for the taking all game. It certainly would’ve been a horrible loss for the Kings, given the lead they had and how poorly their defense performed against the Golden Knights' offense for the rest of the game.
But give credit to the Kings' ability to respond to adversity and capitalize on key moments that will be crucial as they continue their push for a Stanley Cup.
Fans can look forward to more exciting matchups as the Kings aim to build their momentum against Winnipeg on Saturday, Oct 11 at 1:30 p.m. EST.
Aaron Judge was still wearing his pinstripes, 45 minutes or so after the Yankees had lost to the Blue Jays Wednesday night, as he stood under an electronic sign in the Yankee clubhouse, doing interviews. The sign relayed prep details about Game 4 – the lineups, pitchers and such.
But there was another item that stuck out, especially considering what had just happened on the field: It was the plan for a potential travel day Thursday, when the Yankees would fly to Toronto. Departure: TBA.
Of course, the Yanks aren’t going to Toronto. There are no more tomorrows for the 2025 Yankees. There is no Game 5 in their ALDS because the Jays took the series in four games, punctuated by their 5-2 victory Wednesday that sealed another year in Judge’s prime that will go by without a World Series championship.
“We didn’t do the job, didn’t finish our goal,” Judge said, a sentiment that was echoed in a somber Yankee clubhouse after the game.
“It’s still kinda hard to process everything,” added Max Fried.
Judge was not the only one still wearing his uniform. Some players walked around, sharing hugs or shaking hands. Clubbies put together boxes – the squeal of packing tape being applied to cardboard was background noise to multiple media scrums – to ship belongings to players at their offseason homes.
The Yankees have not won the World Series since 2009. They finally got back to the Fall Classic last year, lost to the Dodgers and then endured a dramatic winter. They did not re-sign Juan Soto, enacted a Plan B that made them believe they’d have a long October run and then persevered through a challenging season where their fundamentals wobbled and they squandered a division lead. But they got it together and, at the end, were convinced they were a real title threat.
Then, abruptly, it was all over.
“Very disappointed,” Jazz Chisholm said. “You know, I feel like we all – everybody in here – believed that we had such a great team and, really, the team to beat. And we believe so much in each other.
“It’s just heartbreaking.”
“The ending’s the worst, right?” Aaron Boone said in his post-game press conference. “Especially when you know you have a really good group and a group of guys that really came together so well at the right time, the final couple months.
“This was a team. It's a team that played for one another, did a lot of really good things, and we got beat here.
“Credit to the Blue Jays and the year they've had. They beat us this series, simple as that. It doesn't make it any easier. It's a beat-up room in there (the clubhouse). They're still sharing with one another.”
Judge watched a little of the Blue Jays celebrating on the field at Yankee Stadium. It wasn’t easy. “Just showing respect,” he said. “Not happy about it. You don’t want to see somebody celebrate on your field.”
This one should be hard to get over. It should sting. Boone has said several times this October that he believes this was the Yankee team in his tenure as manager that had the best chance to thrive in the playoff gauntlet. The Yankees improved during the season, added necessary pieces at the deadline and cleaned up their defense. And they got healthy.
They still lost. Does that dim Boone’s hopes for a pinstriped title one day? “No,” he said. “I'm confident we'll break through, and I have been every year, and I believe in so many of the people in that room.
“That hasn't changed. The fire hasn't changed. It's hard to win the World Series. Been chasing it all my life.”
Questions about Yankee feelings or mood weren’t the only ones that were asked. There were other potentially uncomfortable queries. Chisholm had to talk about a key error in Game 4, a ball he normally fields easily.
Boone was asked if he had any reason to believe he might not be managing the team next year – his job status is annual red meat for a certain segment of Yankee fans.
“No,” Boone replied. “I’m under contract, so I don’t expect anything.”
Bellinger was asked about his potential free agency – he has an opt-out. “Obviously, things to discuss with family and the agent and the business side of it all,” he said. “But tonight, you know, I’m just gonna soak it all in and just be a part of the group one more time.”
Judge lamented the idea that the Yanks had blown a chance to win with this particular group, since change is such a part of baseball’s winter cycle.
“Just sucks for the guys that it might be their last time wearing pinstripes and not being able to have a long run with them,” Judge said. “Disappointed we let all those guys down.”
Judge got let down, too. It feels like that’s an even bigger deal this year because he had such a huge playoffs, going 13-for-26 (.500) with two doubles, a homer and seven RBI. He had a .581 on-base percentage, a .692 slugging and a 1.273 OPS. For years, he’s been criticized for his postseason play; this year, he was an enormous reason the Yanks got as far as they did. His Game 3 homer was one for the ages, a breakthrough blast that helped key a huge comeback.
Bellinger even acknowledged that the club wanted to go further, in part, for Judge, who will be 34 in April. The Yankees must capitalize on the prime of one of the greatest players in even their storied history.
Judge sounds like he feels the urgency himself. What’s his off-season going to be like?
“I want to get back out there right now,” Judge said. “Wish spring training was in a couple of weeks.”
The Yankees' season a year ago ended because of their poor defense and it felt familiar in 2025.
While the offensive woes are largely to blame for the Yankees' season-ending 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays in Game 4 of the ALDS, one defensive play in particular helped Toronto blow the game open.
In the sixth inning, with the Blue Jays up just 2-1, starter Cam Schlittler allowed a one-out single to Ernie Clement before getting Andres Gimenez to hit a sharp grounder to Jazz Chisholm Jr. The ball skipped up on the second baseman and went into the outfield, putting runners on the corners with one out. Manager Aaron Boone brought in Devin Williams to try and get out of the jam, but after a George Springer strikeout, Nathan Lukes singles into left-center to drive in two runs.
Even though the deficit was just three runs, with just two Yankees hits against the myriad of Blue Jays relievers up to that point, it felt like 10.
“Didn’t think it would play the way it played and just missed it," Chisholm said of the play after the game. "Been thinking about it since the play happened, still thinking about it now, can’t get it out of my head. Got to move on eventually, have three months to move on. Will probably think about this when the season starts next year."
"Just ball hit sharply, but one he's going to turn all the time," Boone said. "Just missed -- it just kicked off. Sharply hit ball, but a one-hopper, one he's going to turn all the time. And it just looked like it skipped off his glove."
Although the Yankees played relatively clean baseball in the ALDS, against a team like the Blue Jays extra outs and mistakes -- allowing runners to take extra bags -- came back to hurt New York. When asked why the Yankees fell to Toronto, Aaron Judge pointed to those types of plays.
"It comes down to the little things. Making little plays, come up with the big hit. If you don't do that, give teams extra outs, they're going to capitalize on it." Judge said. "What a season for the Blue Jays. Doing their thing, winning the division, winning the DS. For us, we have to clean a couple of things up and come right back here."
Chisholm lauded this Yankees team as being the top in the American League, despite the ups and downs of the season. While he does still believe they were the best team, the Yankees infielder attributed their elimination to the Blue Jays outplaying them and baseball doesn't always reward the best teams.
"I wouldn’t say [we underachieved], we all thought we were the team to win the World Series, but baseball’s baseball," he said. "Baseball can take a turn in any way; baseball favors nobody. For us, we have to keep rolling with the punches."
Aaron Judge had yet another dominant season in 2025, taking home his first career batting title, recording his fourth career 50-plus HR season, and more than likely winning his third AL Most Valuable Player Award.
But, just like the past 10 seasons of his career, he and the Yankees won't be celebrating a World Series title at the end of the year.
"It's tough to describe," Judge said of the team's feeling after the loss. "We didn't do our job, didn't finish the goal. Had a special group in here, lot of special players that made this year fun. But we didn't get the ultimate prize, so we came up short."
Judge did all he could against the Jays, hitting .600 (9-for-15) with one home run, six RBI, four walks, and five runs scored. Overall in the postseason, he went 13-for-26 (.500) with seven RBI in seven games. Still, it wasn't enough.
"I think once again it comes down to the little things," Judge said. "Making the little plays, coming with the big hit. If you don't do that, give teams extra outs, they're going to capitalize on it. What a season for the Blue Jays, doing their thing, winning the division, winning the DS.
"For us, we got to clean a couple things up and we'll be right back here."
Manager Aaron Boone was asked similar questions regarding not winning a title with Judge and what he says to him after another special season.
"That's sports," Boone said. "It doesn't mean it's not going to happen, and he and I wholeheartedly believe that it will. Again, you keep working your tail off to get back to this position and punch through."
"Again, I don't take anything for granted in this game. Being in it my whole life, I know how hard it is to win in the end. I have too much respect for the sport and the competition of it for that."
Judge was asked if it gets harder as he gets older to not end the season in victory, saying he's ready to work even more in the offseason to accomplish that goal. The slugger called the 2025 team a "special group" and was upset to let them down, acknowledging the roster will look a bit different next season.
"Yeah, it's what you play for, you play to win. And when you don't win, it's not a good year," Judge said. "Just got to put in more work, review the season, see what I can keep doing to try to help this team, put them in the best position to win every single night."
He added: "I felt like we were a complete team, up and down the lineup... I liked our chances all year. It was a special group. Just sucks for the guys that might be their last time wearing pinstripes and not being able to have a long run with them and end it in the championship... disappointed we let all those guys down."
The team captain is still unsure what the team is missing to get over the hump, but is ready to "go back to work" and start spring training.
"That's tough to say right now," Judge said. "Once I'll review the season and go through it, I'm gonna have a better answer for you. We had our ups and downs. Tough couple weeks, tough couple months, good months. Just felt like we were just starting to get going here at the end and have a nice little postseason run, but it didn't go our way."
Dodger players look on from the dugout as Game 3 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium winds down. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
They had them down. They let them up.
They squeezed them down to their last gasps. They backed off and gave them new life.
In any ordinary five-game playoff series, a team leading two-games-to-none can lose a game and maintain a clear advantage. But the heavyweight happenings here between the Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies is no ordinary series. And by losing a potential clinching Game 3 Wednesday night at a stunned and boo-filled Chavez Ravine, the Dodgers are suddenly and dangerously close to blowing it.
The 8-2 defeat to the Phillies in the National League Division Series factually means the Dodgers still lead two-games-to-one with two more chances to close out their favored foe.
But realistically, the Dodgers now face a must-win Game 4 at Dodger Stadium Thursday, as a loss would return the series to Philadelphia Saturday for a deciding Game 5 at baseball’s toughest place to play.
Yes, the Dodgers won twice at Citizens Bank Park to start this series, but could they do it one more time? And, even with both Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell available, would they want to even try?
No, the season is realistically now riding on Thursday and Tyler Glasnow against Phillies' ace Cristopher Sánchez because, on a long and frustrating Wednesday night, the Dodgers couldn’t get it done when they should have gotten it done.
Afterward Dodger manager Dave Roberts preached calm.
“It's pretty close to being flushed already,” he said. “If you look back going into this series and said we'd be up 2-1, we would have banked it with Glas going in.”
He added, “I feel good with where we're at… And it's certainly flushed.”
But it was the Phillies who were supposed to be flushed. The Dodgers had every advantage. Their ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto was on the mound. Their offense was in full gear. The champagne was nearby. They even took a one-run lead after three innings on a Tommy Edman homer.
But Yamamoto blew up, and the Phillies blew past, and then Clayton Kershaw took the mound in the seventh inning and, sadly for the retiring star, things really got ugly.
By the time it ended, the once-unhittable Yamamoto had allowed three runs in four innings, the Hall of Famer Kershaw allowed four earned runs in two innings, and some notably struggling Phillies at the top of their order had gotten healthy.
Kyle Schwarber had two home runs including one that seemed to disappear off the right-field pavilion roof. Trea Turner had three hits. Bryce Harper had two hits. Two Phillies undercard pitchers, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez, allowed one run in seven innings.
Dodger fans were so upset with everything that many of them walked out after Kershaw got hammered in a five-run eighth inning.
It was ugly. It was awful. And now it’s a problem, because the once down-and-out Phillies are revived and refreshed and believing.
That’s trouble, that believing part, and before the game, two Dodgers warned about what happens when that happens.
“Obviously we want to finish this tonight, and we don't want to let anything slip away from us,” Max Muncy said. “That's one of those things, when you talk about momentum, if you don't finish it tonight, you feel like it's slipping away.”
Yeah, well, he’s right, now it’s slipping away.
Despite his postgame optimism, before the gameRoberts warned of the same ominous signs.
“You have these guys on their heels, and you're at home,” said the Dodger manager. “We expect a great, boisterous crowd. We have one of our aces on the mound. So the way we're playing, we want to put these guys away and don't let them up for air.”
Oh, they gave them plenty of air, beginning in the fourth inning when Schwarber led off with a 455-foot homer off the roof of the right-field pavilion. Then the Phillies’ piled on, a Harper single, an Alec Bohm single that scored Harper on a bad throw from center fielder Andy Pages, then a run-scoring fly ball from Brandon Marsh.
The Phillies pitching held, but their lead was still 3-1 when Kershaw dramatically took the mound in the seventh and survived a wild rally for one inning.
The Phillies put two runners on base against Kershaw on a Turner single and Schwarber walk, but, with the crowd roaring with every pitch, Will Smith picked off Schwarber and Kershaw survived the threat.
Then, an inning later, he didn’t, as JT Realmuto led off with a home run and the inning didn’t end until Schwarber had also homered again, sandwiched around a walk, a botched grounder by Muncy, and a single.
And to think, it all started so sweetly.
The evening began when World Series hero Steve Garvey threw out the first pitch and then, during the traditional pregame greeting, added an adjective by saying, “It’s time for Dodger championship baseball.”
The Phillies seemed rattled. The Dodgers looked confident. And the Chavez Ravine crowd was excitedly smelling blood.
Early in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday, the Dodgers had all the momentum. They’d already taken each of the first two games of this best-of-five set in Philadelphia. Their best pitcher this season, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, had started his night with three scoreless innings. The Phillies, most of all, appeared to be pressing, with Trea Turner leading the game off with a curious bunt and Brandon Marsh misplaying a ball in the bottom of the first with an over-aggressive dive that gifted Mookie Betts a triple.
Then, after a questionable pitching change from Phillies manager Rob Thomson in the bottom of the third, Tommy Edman greeted newly inserted left-hander Ranger Suárez with a leadoff home run to open the scoring.
As Edman rounded the bases, and Dodger Stadium erupted around him, the Dodgers looked well on their way to an NL Championship Series berth.
In postseason baseball, however, momentum can be a fickle thing. Every new inning brings the potential for a plot twist. Every at-bat carries the threat of a turning point. And every single pitch can prove to be the difference.
“You never know in the playoffs,” Kiké Hernández said before the game, “which pitch is going to win you a game.”
On Wednesday, in the Phillies' come-from-behind, elimination-staving 8-2 victory, the pitch that swung the Dodgers’ loss came with no outs in the fourth.
Just moments after Edman had put the Dodgers in front, slumping Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber answered with a statement — clobbering an elevated Yamamoto fastball for a staggering 455-foot home run that went bouncing off the roof of the right-field pavilion.
“It's ridiculous how far that ball went,” Turner said.
“[It] just sort of woke everybody up and got a lot of energy going in the dugout,” Thomson added.
With one titanic swing, Schwarber had given the flat-lining Phillies a breath of new life.
And with the score tied 1-1, their previously dormant offense quickly opened the floodgates.
Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber celebrates after hitting a home run in the fourth inning against the Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLDS on Wednesday night. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Phillies scored twice more off Yamamoto in the fourth, then ambushed Clayton Kershaw in a five-run eighth inning that put the game away.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, could never mount a response offensively, failing to even get Phillies closer Jhoan Durán into the game.
Now, the dynamics of this series have shifted, with the Phillies — who will start their ace, Cristopher Sánchez, in Game 4 on Thursday — needing just one more win to get the NLDS back to home soil for a decisive Game 5.
“Obviously there’s still a lot of pressure on us, but pressure is a privilege,” Betts said. “We’re going to do what we always do. Tomorrow is a new day.”
Wednesday was certainly a new kind of day in the context of this series, serving as a complete reversal from Games 1 and 2.
For the first time in the matchup, the Phillies' star hitters outshone their Dodger counterparts.
Schwarber’s game-altering blast was his first hit of the series (snapping an 0-for-9 skid), and his first of two home runs on the night. Turner tripled his NLDS hit total in a three-for-five, two-RBI showing. Bryce Harper also reached base twice while drawing a walk.
Ohtani, meanwhile, went hitless in five at-bats to fall to one for 14 in the series with seven strikeouts. And while Betts had two hits, including his first-inning triple, the duo behind him couldn’t take advantage, with Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman going a combined 0 for 7.
“We definitely had a chance and we didn’t capitalize on it,” said third baseman Max Muncy, who had two hits but also rolled into a double play that ended one of the Dodgers’ best threats in the sixth inning. “That was kind of the story of the night — we had a lot of chances, and we didn’t get the big hit to come through.”
In an unexpected development, the Phillies’ pitching plan also proved to be better; silencing the pregame criticisms of their decision to start Aaron Nola (who had a career-worst 6.01 ERA this season) and use Suárez in relief.
Nola pitched two scoreless innings, striking out Hernández and Will Smith (who made his first start of the playoffs after recovering from a hand fracture) to strand Betts at third in the bottom of the first.
And though Suárez’s night started with the home run by Edman (the switch-hitter who was able to flip to his stronger right-handed side with the southpaw on the mound), he settled down for 15 scoreless outs after that, working around four more hits and a walk to get through the seventh.
Yamamoto, on the other hand, lost control following Schwarber’s mammoth home run to lead off the fourth — which came in a 2-and-0 count that forced Yamamoto to throw a fastball over the plate.
“My plan was to stay away, outside, but I fell behind,” Yamamoto, who lacked feel for his secondary pitches Wednesday, said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda. “So I went in a little bit, and then I paid the price.”
Harper immediately followed with a single on a hanging splitter. Alec Bohm did the same on an inside sinker, sending a grounder up the middle that got through the infield. Andy Pages fielded the ball in center, but short-hopped his throw to third base in an effort to gun down Harper. When Muncy couldn’t block it, the ball bounced into the dugout to allow Harper to score and Bohm to advance to third. Marsh added insult to injury with a sacrifice fly in the next at-bat.
Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto stands on the mound after giving up a home run to Kyle Schwarber in the fourth inning. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Things didn’t get much better for Yamamoto from there. He gave up a double to J.T. Realmuto later in the fourth. Back-to-back singles to begin the fifth chased him from the game.
Yamamoto’s final line: Four-plus innings, three runs, six hits, one walk and only two strikeouts. It was the shortest start from the Dodgers’ rotation this postseason, tied Ohtani’s Game 1 outing in this series for the unit’s most runs allowed, and was Yamamoto’s first time with more hits allowed than strikeouts since July 7.
“If I could have minimized the damage in that [fourth] inning,” Yamamoto said, ”I think maybe the result might have been a little bit different."
Instead, the Dodgers’ slim hopes of a comeback were dashed with Kershaw on the mound in the eighth.
Making his first appearance of the postseason, Kershaw had skirted trouble in the seventh before being sent back out for a second inning of work (in part because the Dodgers were without left-hander Tanner Scott, who was not at the ballpark Wednesday because of a personal situation, Roberts said).
Hoping to keep the game close, and force the Phillies to use the warming Durán for a six-out save, Kershaw was instead pummeled, giving up a leadoff home run to Realmuto, a two-run single to Turner and another two-run homer to Schwarber that bounced off the top of the right-field wall.
With that, a crowd that was anticipating a sweep in the early innings of Wednesday’s game somberly filed to the exits — trudging toward Game 4 with the Dodgers still leading this series, but knowing all their momentum had suddenly evaporated.
“Going into tomorrow, we want to keep pressure on any way possible,” Schwarber said. “Go out there, play great defense, take great at-bats, [play] 27 outs, and go from there.”
Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger, who has a player option for the 2026 season, is welcome to return to the Bronx after the team was eliminated in Game 4 of the ALDS.
After the Yankees' 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday, ending their season, the outfielder was asked if he is planning to exercise his player option.
"Obviously, things to discuss with family and the agent and the business side of it all," Bellinger said. "Tonight, I'm just going to soak it all in and be a part of the group one more time."
Bellinger, 30, slashed .272/.334/.480 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI in 152 regular season games this year, helping the Yankees make it back to the postseason. While there, the former NL MVP performed well, despite his less-than-stellar numbers. In the seven playoff games this year, Bellinger slashed .214/.258/.393 with an OPS of .651. He hit one home run, two doubles and drove in four runs while playing very good defense.
Unfortunately, in Game 4, while Bellinger made a terrific sliding catch to prevent runs from scoring in the first inning, he went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts, including striking out swinging in the ninth inning to end the game.
While the season didn't end the way Bellinger and the Yankees wanted, the 31-year-old looked fondly on his time in the Bronx and with his teammates.
"I had an unbelievable time putting on this uniform. Yankee Stadium, the fans, the organization, the culture that these guys have created in this locker room," he said. "It really is special. It's such a fun group, a fun group to be a part of. We came up short and that part stinks for sure because we had a really really good group here."
Manager Aaron Boone was asked about Bellinger and Trent Grisham -- who is set to be a free agent this offseason -- and whether he hopes they return to the Yankees in 2026.
"The thing I'll say about them is they're a big reason why I was so excited about this club down the stretch and at this point. Just really proud of who those guys were and are and what they became as players, as driving forces for our team," Boone said. "But in those two cases, the two people those guys are in the room every single day and what they brought to the table as teammates every single day, I appreciate that. And I'm grateful to get to have managed those two guys. Who knows? Hopefully, in both cases, I get to keep doing it."
New York acquired Bellinger and $5 million in cash considerations last December through a trade with the Chicago Cubs for right-handed pitcher Cody Poteet.
He originally signed with the Cubs on a one-year contract entering 2023, including a mutual option for 2024, which saw him slash .307/.356/.525 while hitting 26 home runs and 97 RBI over 130 games. It was his best season since 2019. That year, his age-23 season, Bellinger's career-best campaign included a .305/.406/.629 slash line with 47 home runs and 115 RBI in 162 regular season games.
After the 2023 season, Bellinger declined his mutual option and became a free agent. He re-signed with the Cubs in February 2024 on a three-year, $80 million contract that included opt-out clauses after the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Bellinger slashed .266/.325/.426 with 18 home runs and 78 RBI over 130 regular-season games in 2024 for the Cubs.
"I get business," Bellinger said last December while discussing Chicago's decision to trade him after he opted into his clause for 2025. "Very good at separating the business and the baseball, and I'm the baseball player and there's business in this game, so I just want to prepare and play the best baseball that I can play."
Cody Bellinger says he'd welcome a return to the Yankees if he opts out of his contract:
"I had an unbelievable time putting on this uniform. Yankee Stadium, the fans, the organization, the culture that these guys have created in this locker room. It's special." pic.twitter.com/Ov93n3eGjF
Full disclosure: the Buffalo Sabres aren't particularly interested in the NHL's individual awards. But who's kidding who -- you always like to perform well, and that's somthing the league de facto acknowledges by handing out end-of-season honours.
But where are the true individual award front-runners in Buffalo? There are some outside possibilities for Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin to win the Hart Trophy, and for Dahlin to also take home the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman.
After that, there's pretty much no other Sabres players who will be in the mix for an individual award this coming season. For instance, there's not going to be a Vezina Trophy-winner from the Sabres. Their small army of goaltending options -- including Ukko-Peka Luukonen, Alex Lyon, veteran Alexandar Georgiev -- and in net does not inspire you to imagine Buffalo will have the best netminder in the league this season.
Meanwhile, the Sabres don't have a true front-runner to win the Calder Trophy as the league'stop rookie. And imagining Buffalo will have a leader in the Art Ross Trophy is stretching the bounds of credulity. This Sabres team probably won't have a player who proves they're a top-10 talent in the league, and that will be reflected in the league's individuals.
In a best-case scenario, Thompson will raise the bar for himself and begin challenging in the Maurice 'Rocket' Richard race as the best goal-scorer in the game. Toronto Maple Leafs star center Auston Matthews will be the front-runner to win this year's goal-scoring race, but if Thompson can score 50 goals and 100 points, the Sabres are going to be thrilled.
That said, Buffalo isn't going to win the Jim Gregory Award as the best GM in the game, and Lindy Ruff isn't going to win the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's best coach. It's possible in theory both Ruff and GM Kevyn Adams find ways to get the Sabres into the post-season, but is it probable? No, this writer believes Buffalo will struggle to climb the ladder, both in an individual manner and as a group.
And this writer believes the Sabres won't make the playoffs -- leading to be changes next summer or sooner. Adams and Ruff have their future wrapped up with one another, and there's no question their lack of success running the Sabres will keep them in job limbo at this time next year.
When you look at the league's top teams, you see that most, if not all teams that are high-end playoff teams have elite players who contend for individual awards all season long. And the Sabres' lack of high-end, superstar performances is one of the reasons Buffalo is looking like a long-shot of making it into the playoffs.
It's accurate that the Sabres do have talent -- they just don't have enough of it. And somehow, some way, they need to figure out a way to squeeze into the playoffs by any means neccessary.
Jack Roslovic, one of the top NHL UFAs left, signed a one-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers late Wednesday.
The news of the $1.5-million deal came during the Oilers' season opener against the Calgary Flames.
Roslovic, 28, recorded 22 goals and 17 assists for 39 points in 81 games with the Carolina Hurricanes last year. He added another goal and three assists in nine playoff games. He's had two 22-goal seasons and passed 40 points twice in parts of nine NHL seasons.
The center, who can also play right wing, had a one-year, $2.8-million contract last season, so his cap hit is $1.3 million less on his new deal. Before that, he had a two-year contract with a $4-million cap hit.
Edmonton is Roslovic's fifth NHL team and fourth in the past three seasons. The Winnipeg Jets drafted him 25th overall in 2015. The Columbus Blue Jackets traded for him and Patrik Laine in January 2021. In 2023-24, the New York Rangers acquired Roslovic at the NHL trade deadline, and he signed with Carolina that summer.
In 526 career games, Roslovic has 102 goals, 158 assists and 260 points while averaging 14:12 of ice time. He also has three goals and 17 points in 45 playoff games, including eight points in 16 games during the Rangers' run to the Eastern Conference final in 2024.
With Roslovic, the Oilers are now over the salary cap ceiling by about $2.8 million, according to PuckPedia. With left winger Zach Hyman on long-term injured reserve for at least October, the Oilers can exceed the cap ceiling by up to Hyman's $5.5-million cap hit.
Edmonton recalled forwards David Tomasek and Isaac Howard on Tuesday. Tomasek has a $1.2-million cap hit, while Howard's is $950,000. Those two, along with Matthew Savoie ($886,666), are exempt from waivers in case the Oilers want to avoid the waiver wire when clearing cap space upon Hyman's return. Noah Philp is also on the Oilers' roster, and he's on a two-way contract that typically goes to players in the system.
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There are a lot of new faces populating the Pittsburgh Penguins' roster this season, especially on the left side of the Penguins' blue line.
And one of those players is settling into his role quite nicely so far - which could be revelation for the Penguins and their top blueliner.
Defenseman Parker Wotherspoon - who signed a two-year, $2 million deal this summer - has been paired with Erik Karlsson since the beginning of training camp, and the early returns on the Penguins' new top pairing have been promising.
Wotherspoon, 28, was selected in the fourth round (112th overall) by the New York Islanders in 2015, and he spent the last two seasons with the Boston Bruins. In 55 games last season, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound defenseman registered one goal and seven points to go along with 75 hits.
But the beauty in Wotherspoon's game is in its simplicity. The steady, stay-at-home blueliner plays such a low-event style of hockey that lies in stark contrast to his partner, who is one of the most high-event players in the league.
And maybe that contrast is why the pairing has worked well so far - and why they showed so well in the Penguins' season-opening 3-0 shutout win against the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
"I thought we played good," Wotherspoon said. "I thought we moved the puck pretty well, got up ice, defended well. I don't think we spent too much time in our d-zone, so, it was a good start. There's still some things to grow on. It's a long season, but I think we did a good job handling it for the most part.
"He's such a good player. It makes it easier to just get him the rock, and he'll make a good play. So, it's been good."
Karlsson, 35, is and has been a good player for a very long time. And that's why the Penguins acquired him in the summer of 2023 - following a 101-point Norris-winning campaign - but it's been a bit of a mixed bag ever since.
It's not easy to tandem with a high-risk offensive talent like Karlsson. He requires a partner who is almost entirely risk-averse, and that partner could very well be Wotherspoon. Karlsson is at his best when he's activating and noticeable, and Wotherspoon is at his best when he's virtually unnoticeable.
And that's what came to fruition on Tuesday. Setting aside a second-period shift that included a turnover from each of them, the pairing played some really good hockey. They had a 62.1 percent expected goals share, and they allowed only two high-danger chances against the entire night.
Wotherspoon is aware of what his role is and what the strengths of his game are. And he wants to use those strengths to allow Karlsson to play to his own - which is something that he's still working on.
"Just watching him in the o-zone, he's got his head up, he's looking for a screen... he's seeing the play come before it even happens," Wotherspoon said. "That's one thing I've got to get a little bit better at... Just get that head up, make those plays, wait for it to come, and just have that patience on the blue line like he does with the puck. He's so phenomenal with it."
Of course, it's still very early, and a lot can happen during the long season. But, for now, the Penguins' new top pairing - featuring two players who couldn't be more different - looks as though it could be a pretty formidable one.
And Karlsson hopes that he and his newfound defense partner can continue to get better and better.
"I think it's been good," Karlsson said. "He's a good skater, a good puck-mover, and he's got some experience. So, hopefully, we can continue to find some chemistry."
