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Three summers ago, George Lombard Jr. was a high school shortstop in Miami. Now he's 21, playing shortstop in October and part of the reason the New York Yankees still believe they can get past the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays won Game 1 of the American League division series 1-0 on Saturday. Drew Rasmussen struck out 10 and held the Yankees to one hit, the fewest in their 447 postseason games. Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-five series go on to win it about 73% of the time.

Monday night at Tropicana Field, the Yankees hand Game 2 to another one of their own picks. Cam Schlittler, a seventh-rounder out of Northeaster in 2022, led the AL with a 1.95 ERA. He went 14-6 and struck out 239 in 193⅔ innings. Only Spud Chandler in 1943 and Ron Guidry in 1978 posted a lower ERA for the Yankees as qualified starters.

Aaron Judge hasn't played since Sept. 16 because of a right calf strain. Without him, the Yankees have been winning with homegrown players. Ben Rice was a 12th-rounder out of Dartmouth in 2021. Spencer Jones went 25th overall out of Vanderbilt in 2022, the same draft as Schlittler. Lombard went 26th overall out of Gulliver Prep in 2023.

If the Braves are to come back against the Dodgers in this week’s National League Division Series, they will almost certainly need a dominant start from staff ace Chris Sale.

It won’t be coming in Game 2 on Sunday.

Instead, the Braves announced that they would be rolling with a second straight bullpen game for the second game of the best-of-five series, listing left-hander Ray Kerr as their opener coming off a 5-3 loss at Dodger Stadium in Saturday afternoon’s opener.

The decision was hardly unexpected.

Sale threw 95 pitches in a 6 ⅓-inning start in Game 1 of the wild-card series last Tuesday, then — in what has become a controversial move since — came out of the bullpen two days later for the final four outs of a winner-take-all Game 3, throwing 21 more pitches even though the Braves had a somewhat comfortable four-run lead against the Phillies. 

“At the end of the day, we want full-strength Chris Sale,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “Not sure you’re getting the best version of him pitching today.”

Entering the NLDS, the Braves had at least left the door open to Sale turning around and pitching again on Sunday — in what would have marked a third appearance within a six-day span for the 37-year-old former Cy Young Award winner.

In the end, however, they elected to give him a couple extra days of rest ahead of Game 3 on Tuesday, hoping their bullpen can keep them from falling into a two-games-to-none deficit before they get there.

“The deciding factor is always going to be how Chris is feeling,” Weiss said before Game 1. “To me, it’s not that big a deal when he pitches. He’s going to pitch in this series. Dodgers can’t win it in two. So he’s going to pitch. It really doesn’t matter when.”

While that might be true, delaying Sale until Game 3 does come with a potentially severe cost — and not only because he pitched a complete-game shutout against the Dodgers the last time he faced the Dodgers back in August.

If he started Game 2, he could have been ready for a potential Game 5 start on a normal four days of rest. Now, he will get just two days off if the Braves can force the series to go the distance, likely leaving him available for only a couple innings out of the bullpen if they get there.

Despite that, Weiss said he had “zero regrets” about riding Sale as hard as he did in the wild card round.

“We needed to win that series,” he said. “And that was our best chance to do it.”

In the meantime, the Braves will ask a lot out of their relief corps, as well, after its own heavy workload to begin the postseason.

Kerr, their Game 2 starter, threw 47 pitches in a 3 ⅓ inning outing at the start of Thursday’s Game 3 against the Phillies. He could be followed by bulk man Grant Holmes, who also pitched two innings on Thursday. Meanwhile, their highest-leverage arms — including closer Raisel Iglesias, left-hander Dylan Lee and hard-throwing set-up men Robert Suarez and Didier Fuentes — might also be called into action at least 2-3 times each over the rest of this series, after all pitching big innings of their own in the wild-card round.

“Certainly where their pitching is at, they’re going to have to rely on a lot of guys,” Dodgers manager Dave Robers said. “Which we’re prepared for.”

Indeed, that dynamic should work to the Dodgers’ benefit.

Their veteran lineup has made a habit of adjusting to opposing relievers the more they’ve seen them in recent postseasons (just ask Jeff Hoffman).

They also already held the pitching advantage in this series thanks to their star-studded rotation; which will have Blake Snell going in Sunday’s Game 2, Yoshinobu Yamamoto facing off with Sale in Game 3 and Tyler Glasnow lined up after that for Game 4.

If there were to be a Game 5, the Dodgers could start Tarik Skubal (who spun six dominant innings in Game 1) and bring Snell and Yamamoto out of the bullpen behind him.

All those factors made it tempting for the Braves to start Sale as soon as possible.

Alas, they are rolling the dice on their bullpen — both on Sunday and the rest of the series — and hoping to get the best version of their ace when the series returns to Atlanta.

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The NLDS continues tonight with Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Game 2.

The Dodgers took Game 1 yesterday, 5-3. Los Angeles’ trade deadline acquisition Tarik Skubal delivered as their Game 1 starter, striking out seven across six innings, and the Dodgers powered past the Braves thanks to home runs by Max Muncy, Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernandez.

After today’s game, the series will move to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4 and with a win today, the Dodgers could take a 2-0 lead into the second part of the series.

Historically, per MLB, teams that take a 2-0 lead in any best-of-five series have gone on to win that series 89% of the time (83 of 93), while teams that lose Games 1 and 2 on the road have recovered to win the series just three times in 36 chances.

Here’s how to tune in to the Game 2 of the NLDS without cable.

Braves vs. Dodgers time

Game 2 of the Braves-Dodgers NLDS is scheduled to begin today, Oct. 4, at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET.

How to watch Braves vs. Dodgers NLDS Game 2 for free

If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the ALDS for free.

DIRECTV is our favorite service for trying live TV for free. Right now, you can take advantage of a five-day free trial before saving $30 on your first month. We recommend the Choice plan, which includes FS1 as part of its 125+ channel options.

Braves vs. Dodgers NLDS schedule

• Game 1: Dodgers 5, Braves 3
• Game 2: Oct. 4, 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET (FS1)
• Game 3: Oct. 6, 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET (FS1)
• Game 4: Oct. 7, 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET (FS1)*
• Game 5: Oct. 8, 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET (FOX)*

*if necessary

Why Trust Post Wanted by the New York Post

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Yesterday’s games certainly had their share of drama, with the Rays edging the Yankees 1-0. But the biggest talking point is undeniably Ty France’s out in Milwaukee, the ball glancing off the roof for an out. That is, undeniably, the rule. Should it be? A fair question, though most neutral indications are, it might well not have left the ballpark, given the velocity and launch angle. Me, I’m thinking (ok – hoping) that might be the moment the Padres’ late-season magic evaporated, and as a result, they’re about to do likewise from the playoffs. We might get an idea after today’s rematch.

The AL gets a day off, so it’s just the two games on the Sunday, with the NL home teams having taking both openers. The Braves are going with pseudo-opener Ray Kerr, who went 3.1 innings in the Wild-Card Series. Won’t be easy for them facing Blake Snell, Atlanta having struggled against left-handers this year, with a .696 OPS in the regular season.

• San Diego Padres @ Milwaukee Brewers 1:00 pm (0-1), FS1
• Atlanta Braves @ Los Angeles Dodgers 5:00 pm (0-1), FS1

How many of you utilize the MLB app? In addition to the new SB Nation app, the MLB app is a daily stop for me. Unfortunately, the app opens with the final Orioles game showing as canceled.

If you navigate over to the scores tab, you’ll see two NLDS games on the docket for today. The canceled game feels like a dark omen for 2027. Let’s enjoy the baseball while we still can.

Padres at Brewers, Game 2, 4:00 pm. FS1

RHP Michael King (12-10, 3.21 ERA) vs. RHP Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47)

Manny Machado and his Padres were on the wrong end of a brutal ground rule incident last night. San Diego will look to put the bad break behind them and even the series this afternoon.

This is the type of game the Padres had in mind for Michael King when they signed him to a three-year, $75 million deal last December. Will the Orioles add a starter like that this winter? We’ll see.

Braves at Dodgers, Game 2, 8:00 pm. FS1

TBD. vs. LHP Blake Snell (4-1, 1.90 ERA)

The Braves had yet to announce a starter as of Sunday morning. Chris Sale could make an appearance if things go as planned for the Braves.

The Dodgers will continue their march to another World Series crown with Blake Snell taking the ball today. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is scheduled to start Game 3 in Atlanta.

Saturday marked the first day of the divisional series, a round the Red Sox have not reached since 2021. For those tuned out of the playoffs since Boston’s exit, there are still plenty of storylines to watch. If you’re on team “I root for the Red Sox and whoever is playing the Yankees” you likely had a good day yesterday.

White Sox 3, Guardians 0 (BOX SCORE)
(CHW leads 1-0)

Munetaka Murakami is electric to watch this postseason already. The series opener in Cleveland was pretty devoid of much offense, but Murakami’s two-run shot was the defining point of the game among the White Sox using six pitchers, including Jordan Hicks, for a combined three-hit shutout. This includes Chicago’s 24-year-old Grant Taylor recording a twelve-out save in which the 3-0 lead never felt in jeopardy.

Dodgers 5, Brewers 3 (BOX SCORE)
(LAD leads 1-0)

This is why, if you’re the Dodgers, you go out and grab the reigning Cy Young winner at the trade deadline if you have the chance. Skubal didn’t disappoint in his first postseason start as a Dodger. He went six strong innings allowing just two hits. Although one of those hits was a solo shot to Sean Murphy in the sixth, he finished his last inning strong with a 3-1 lead (thanks to a Teoscar Hernandez home run) and Kyle Tucker answered that Murphy shot with a home run of his own to bring the lead back to three. Max Muncy would get one of his own also in the sixth to put it on ice.

Rays 1, Yankees 0 (BOX SCORE)
(TB leads 1-0)

Those calling the Yankees’ lineup hapless without Aaron Judge were justified, but it simply took until the divisional series for that retort to have any land legs. And, wouldn’t you know, Drew Rasmussen took his second no-hit bid in as many weeks far into an outing against the Yankees in Game 1. Rasmussen was flirting with history Saturday night before Austin Wells got to him, but that lead was held steady because, in case you think baserunning errors are exclusive to the Red Sox, Wells inexplicably ran to third on a ball he was clearly going to be thrown out on. That ended the inning and, effectively, any threat for the Yankees to win Game 1 even with Gerrit Cole pitching a great five innings of his own despite giving up the game’s only run, a Jon Aranda homer.

Brewers 3, Padres 2 (BOX SCORE)
(MIL leads 1-0)

In Jacob Misiorowski’s first playoff start (and fourth overall appearance) he looked a bit shaken early as he let guys into long counts and neared 60 pitches through two innings. He even let folks respect the offspeed pitches, as he “slowed down” to 98-99 during his fourth inning. Still, he made it through four innings and struck out six. Jackson Chourio hit a mammoth two-run shot to ease Misiorowski’s struggles and make it so that he left the game in a tie, but the defining moment of perhaps the entire day came on William Contreras’ late go-ahead homer.

The 2026 season was an interesting one for James Wood. On one hand, he hit 30 home runs, posted an .891 OPS and hit the ball harder than anyone in the league. However, he hit his last homer of the season on July 26th and was bad after the All-Star break for a second straight season.

Wood had a better season than last year, but he still leaves you wanting a little bit more. I wanted to break down his season and look at the good and the bad. James Wood is an exceptional talent and still only 24 years old. He can also be frustrating though.

First let’s start with the positives. When Wood is on his game, he is a top 5 hitter in baseball. He has shown that over long stretches in each of the past two seasons. Even with his tough finish, Wood had the 9th highest wRC+ in all of baseball and the 5th highest OPS. 

Wood’s average exit velocity, barrel rate and hard hit rate all sit in the 100th percentile. When it comes to quality of contact, nobody does it better than James Wood. It is why he has back to back 30 home run seasons despite not pulling the ball like most power hitters. His opposite field power is legitimately jaw dropping.

In the first half, we saw that power on display consistently. He hit 28 homers before the All-Star break. That legendary first half was a big reason why the Nats were pushing for a Wild Card spot deep into the season. When Wood got hurt and then struggled, you could really feel that impact. The lineup is not the same when he is not rolling.

The run that Wood went on from the start of July until the All-Star break was wild. In those games, Wood went 15 for 33 with 7 homers. Talk about putting a team on your back. That is exactly what James Wood does when he is at his best.

Runs like that are why Wood had a 4.1 WAR season despite missing a month and struggling down the stretch. The talent is so apparent with him. That natural ability can make it frustrating when he isn’t clicking though. In each of the last two seasons, Wood has really struggled after the All-Star break. 

After running into massive strikeout issues in the second half of 2025, I was curious to see if he could hold up in the second half of this year. From the second play resumed after the break, Wood just looked like a different player. He had a brutal road trip to start the second half, and that just set the tone.

Wood did have a monster series against the Diamondbacks, but his impact was muted. Then he went down with an oblique injury at the start of August. The Nats hoped Wood would return quickly, but his recovery took a little while.

However, after a month, Wood was back on the field. Despite being out there, it did not feel like Wood was 100% healthy. He has never been a high energy player, but he was not playing with much intensity at all when he got back. There were a few times where he did not run balls out, and even got benched by Blake Butera. I wonder how much of that was effort related and how much was Wood not trusting his body.

His swing also seemed a little bit off after he came back. Wood did not hit any home runs in September. He still hit a lot of balls hard, but his ground ball rate was 68%. Before September, Wood was elevating the ball more than ever before. That spike in ground ball rate tells me something was off mechanically with his swing and it might have something to do with his injury.

I actually wrote about Wood’s power outage. Unlike last year, Wood’s strikeout rate did not balloon to a crazy level. The reason for his .650 second half OPS this year was just a lack of power. That is weird to say about a guy who has the highest average exit velocity in the league, but it is true.

James Wood does not pull the ball in the air and sell out for power like other sluggers. That is part of what makes him special and unique. However, it also leads to him falling into some homerless runs. As he develops, I hope we see more consistency.

Even though it was not a perfect season and the second half fall off was disappointing to see, the good still outweighed the bad. James Wood remains one of the best young players in the sport. After the season, Wood said there was a lot of meat left on the bone for the team and himself. I absolutely agree with him there.

He is already a very good player, but if he can string together a full season of excellence, he will be an MVP candidate. I still have faith that the monster full season will come. James Wood is a blue chip talent, but he still needs to figure out his second half woes if he wants to reach his ceiling.

Season Grade: A-/B+

After a dramatic Saturday night showdown in Milwaukee won by the Brewers, it’s game two of the NL Division Series Sunday afternoon. RHP Michael King will try to help the San Diego Padres draw even while the Milwaukee Brewers will give the ball to RHP Logan Henderson. First pitch is scheduled for 3pm central time and the game broadcast is available via Fox/FS1.

The first games of the second round are in the books. The young and upstart White Sox came away with a win, as did the low-payroll Rays, the reigning champion Dodgers, and the #1 seed in the playoffs the Brewers. Another win from these two teams puts them one win away from the Championship series and makes it nearly certain they’ll win the series.

We got two games today, both in the NL.

Padres at Brewers (4:00 PM EDT)

Yesterday’s game was arguably the most entertaining. It had everything, from home runs to late blown leads to some ninth-inning controversy. In the end, the league’s #1 seed Milwaukee Brewers came away with the win in front of their home crowd. What will round 2 look like this afternoon?

The Brewers will be sending right-hander Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47 ERA) to the mound for his first career playoff appearance. The rookie has done nothing but impress in his time with the big league team. After a successful cup of coffee at the end of last year, Henderson established himself not only as one of the Brewers’ best pitchers, but one of the best young arms in the entire sport. Much of today will depend on if Henderson is ready for the big stage that is the playoffs. He’s had plenty of time to prepare for this.

The Padres do not want to go down 0-2. It wouldn’t be the end of the world since they’re heading back to San Diego after today, but you still don’t want to be in that position. They’ll be asking their top starter in Michael King (12-10, 3.21 ERA) to play stopper for them and help even this series. The 31-year-old will be taking the ball for the second time this postseason after he fired off seven shutout innings of one-hit ball against the Cubs. They’ve got to feel good about who they have on the mound today.

Here’s how Milwaukee stacks up this afternoon:

And here’s the Padres’ starting nine:

Braves at Dodgers (8:30 PM EDT)

The Dodgers were clearly the better team yesterday as they dominated in every fashion of the game. Maybe some of that has to do with the near-record heat at first pitch, when it was over 100 degrees on the field. It’s not going to be much better today, but at least for them the start time is a little later so it should be much cooler. Does that benefit the Braves more than the Dodgers?

The reigning champions will be sending postseason ace Blake Snell (4-1, 1.92 ERA) to the mound for his first October start this season. The left-hander has missed most of the season thanks to injuries but one has to wonder if he was really all that banged up. While the Dodgers were able to cruise to another top seed in the playoffs, Snell was able to rest and prepare for this moment, this month. We could be about to see another vintage playoff Snell performance. The Braves will need their right-handed bats to show up tonight.

While the Dodgers know their starter tonight, the Braves are keeping things a bit closer to the chest. As of this posting they have still not revealed their plans for who takes the ball to start this critical game 2. All indications are pointing towards another bullpen game. That didn’t work out so well for them yesterday so if I’m a Braves fan I’m not too confident asking six to eight pitchers to be perfect today. Ideally for them it’d be left-hander Chris Sale getting the ball but the Braves seem to be cautious with him. October is no time for caution. It’s time to lay it all on the line.

Do the Brewers and Dodgers both win today and more or less wrap up their series’? Or do the Padres and Braves have some fight left in them and manage to even the series before heading back to their own homes? Much will depend on today’s outcomes. Don’t you just love postseason baseball?

We have a pair of NLDS games today…

In the early game, Milwaukee looks to go up 2-0 on the Padres. Its a 3:00 p.m. start on FS1.

In the late game, the Dodgers try to make it two in a row against the Braves. 7:00 p.m. start, also on FS1.

Talk about them here.

Day two of the divisional round, with the National League playing both games today.

At 3 o’clock central time, the Brewers and Padres meet once again, man what a game that was last night. Royal killer Ty France almost did something special, but the pesky roof caused some “controversy”. I put that in quotes because it is the ground rules, so the umps got it right. Is it unfortunate? If it was someone other than Ty France, I might agree with you.

Anyways, Michael King starts for the Padres. He was awesome in game one of their Wild Card series against the Cubs. Logan Henderson, a right-hander, who was awesome for the Brewers this season will start for them. That game can be watched on FS1.

The night cap is the Braves at the Dodgers. Starting at 7 o’clock central time. All 8 runs scored in that game yesterday was via the long ball. Blake Snell starts for the Dodgers, Ray Kerr, who started game three of the wild card series against the Phillies, starts today for Atlanta. That game can be watched on FS1 as well.

Who are you rooting for today? And why?