Roman Anthony suffered a finger injury in late May that led to a long road back to the big leagues.
Just two at-bats into his postseason, he’s injured again.
Anthony, who batted leadoff as the designated hitter for Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Yankees in New York, was replaced by Andruw Monasterio for his third at-bat, after striking out twice on check swings earlier in the game.
After the game — which New York won 9-0 — manager Chad Tracy said that Anthony suffered an injury to the same hand that kept him out for three months this season.
“The hand,” Tracy said. “He took a check swing and then another swing, and his hand flared on him, and it got uncomfortable. So we had to make a move there.”
Anthony’s initial injury back in May also came on a check swing, with the Red Sox initially diagnosing it as a minor wrist injury. It ended up being a torn ligament at the base of his ring finger, something that prevented him from being able to swing a bat for most of the season.
Tracy could not confirm whether or not the recent injury is on the same exact area, but indicated that Tuesday’s discomfort was a new situation for Anthony.
“He’s obviously coming off that [injury]. Like, you’ll get a zinger every once in a while where you feel something and then it’s fine and it goes away,” Tracy said. “But today was — obviously coming out of the game — today some stuff happened that was more serious and was uncomfortable.”
Anthony did seem to aggravate his hand on Sunday, when the Red Sox played the Cubs in Tampa in the regular-season finale, a game which he left in the fifth inning. If that was the source of this injury, Anthony would be the second Red Sox bat lost in that final regular-season series, after Mickey Gasper tore his biceps in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday.
Tracy didn’t rule out Anthony for Game 2, saying, “it’s hard to say right now,” given the information that was available postgame.
The fun all started with Tuesday’s 1-0 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL’s first game of the season.
Starring for the Panthers in his first game back with the franchise was veteran goaltender Jacob Markstrom.
He finished the game with 15 saves, playing a very steady role in net and not putting his defenseman in any bad spots with poor rebounds while keeping the Cats in the game long enough for Gus Forsling to find the game-winning goal with just over four seconds left in overtime.
GUSTAV FORSLING WINS IT WITH 4 SECONDS TO GO IN OVERTIME 🚨
Markstrom was also key in helping Florida's defensive-minded approach by constantly jumping out of the crease and playing the puck, cutting down Carolina entry attempts and dump-ins while also helping clear the puck out of precarious areas and blocking passes with his excellent stickwork.
In terms of stopping the puck, one particular sequence late during the second period stood out, with Carolina on the power play and pushing for the game’s first goal.
As Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho drove the net, Markstrom somehow kept the puck from going in, flashing his massive leg pads while maintaining strong positioning in the goal crease.
HECTIC sequence with multiple great chances for the Canes, but Markstrom and the Cats deny them 😳❌ pic.twitter.com/VKyKTlulgb
Of Markstrom’s 15 saves, four were considered high-danger shots, according to Natural Stat Trick.
He also stopped Carolina seven times during their six power play opportunities, though plenty of credit is also due to Florida’s penalty killers.
On defense, Aaron Ekblad, Niko Mikkola, Seth Jones and Forsling gobbled up the majority of the shorthanded minutes, while three forward duos – Sasha Barkov and Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, Garnet Hathaway and Lars Eller – were excellent when called upon.
With the 1-0 victory, Markstrom becomes just the third goalie in Panthers history to pick up a shutout win in a season opener, joining Roberto Luongo, who shut down the Atlanta Thrashers 2-0 to open the 2005-06 season, and Jose Theodore, who blanked the New York Islanders 2-0 to kick off Florida's playoff-bound 2011-12 campaign.
Next up for the Panthers will be another home opener, this time for the San Jose Sharks.
Puck drop from SAP Center is set for Thursday at 10 p.m. ET.
Photo caption: Sep 29, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA;FloridaPanthersgoaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) handles the puck during the first period against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory-Imagn Images)
Over the last two months of the regular season, no team had a more productive bullpen than the Dodgers.
And come the start of their postseason trek on Saturday, the team might be adding another key arm back to the group.
General manager Brandon Gomes announced on Tuesday that the club expects to have hard-throwing right-handed reliever Edgardo Henriquez available for its National League Division Series, an encouraging development after Henriquez missed the final couple weeks of the regular season with a strain in his back.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Edgardo Henriquez, right, embraces catcher Will Smith after defeating the Miami Marlins. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
Prior to getting hurt, Henriquez was emerging as one of the top arms in the Dodgers’ resurgent relief corps (which led all MLB bullpens in August and September with 4.3 combined wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs, and ranked fourth in that stretch in combined ERA at 3.20).
A 24-year-old former prospect who has started to routinely eclipse 103 mph with his fastball, Henriquez ranked fourth among the team’s relievers (minimum 20 appearances) with a 2.85 ERA this season. He also struck out 70 batters in 60 total innings and converted each of the ninth-inning save opportunities he received.
Henriquez had hit his stride in August and early September, allowing just one run in a 17-game stretch that featured 25 strikeouts and only two walks and seven hits allowed.
Edgardo Henriquez of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after striking out CJ Abrams of the Washington Nationals. Getty Images
Luckily for the Dodgers, Henriquez’s status has improved since then. He resumed a throwing during the team’s final regular-season homestand. He recently completed a session of live batting practice without feeling any lingering discomfort. And while Gomes said “we still got a few steps to go” before Henriquez gets the green light to return, every indication is that he should be available for the club’s best-of-five NLDS.
“If that all goes well, then yeah, the expectation is he’ll be on the roster,” Gomes said.
“Given the body of work, what he’s done, the unique skill set, that could be huge for us,” manager Dave Roberts added, before correcting himself: “Will be huge for us.”
Indeed, Henriquez would figure to occupy a high-leverage spot in the Dodgers’ postseason bullpen. He gives them not only a trustworthy right-hander option –– along with Roki Sasaki, Evan Phillips, Brock Stewart and the recently resurgent Edwin Díaz –– but also one of the biggest fastballs in the game.
Henriquez’s 100.7 mph average fastball velocity ranked second among MLB pitchers this season, behind only star Padres closer Mason Miller. The team’s next-hardest thrower is Sasaki, whose heater averaged only 97.9 mph this year (though could increase in the playoffs as he shifts to a bullpen role).
Last October, Henriquez was a mixed bag in the playoffs. In two of his appearances (Game 1 of the wild card series and Game 5 of the World Series), he failed to record an out while allowing a hit and two walks in both outings. But in the other (Game 3 of the World Series), he pitched two scoreless frames in the team’s marathon 18-inning win, becoming an unsung hero in their Fall Classic triumph.
This time, Henriquez is set for a prominent role, assuming he gets through one more session of live batting practice OK.
“[He would make a] huge impact,” Roberts said. “I think he’s one of those guys that getting the bye has really benefited.”
TORONTO — It’s easy to exercise cautious optimism after everything goes right in training camp. It’s harder to strike an appropriate tone when the last few days of preseason were rough enough that people in the organization started to feel uneasy.
“I will tell you, when I come into teams, it doesn’t happen immediately and it takes a while,” Islanders coach Pete DeBoer said Saturday night. “I can remember going into San Jose and us kinda taking one step forward, two steps back, probably till around Christmastime ’til we started playing seamlessly. … This is part of the process. And we’ve gotta be patient.”
This is not something you usually hear after a preseason game.
That was supposed to be the case Saturday against the Devils, but the vagaries of preseason roster rules combined with understandable caution meant that Matthew Schaefer, Brayden Schenn and Tony DeAngelo were all held out of the 4-1 loss.
New York Islanders head coach Pete DeBoer looks on during the first period of a game against the New York Rangers at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
Logan Stanley, who will line up next to DeAngelo on the third pair Wednesday, was signed the next day. Mat Barzal of course, won’t be in the lineup at all, and has yet to start skating on his own, though he did travel for the opener, which was preceded by a couple of days of team bonding over golf up in Lake Muskoka, Ontario.
With Schaefer playing 23-25 minutes every night, the Islanders will inherently be a faster team than they looked during the exhibition season. That said, it’s not just the speed of a back end that’s been labeled old and slow for a long time — often unfairly — which has looked like a problem.
The Islanders have been slow to pick up DeBoer’s system, often getting caught out of position in the defensive zone. Alexander Romanov and Ryan Pulock, who will form the second pair, have both looked like they’re still getting up to speed following surgeries, with Romanov having played just 15 games last season.
The plan to open a spot for Isaiah George, a lefty, by playing Schaefer on his off side hit a snag when George couldn’t win a spot in camp, and so Stanley — brought in at the last minute, having skated with his junior team in Kitchener, Ontario, instead of attending an NHL camp — will be in the lineup ahead of Mayfield or Matthew Kessel, both righties.
Scott Mayfield (24) of the New York Islanders moves the puck down ice during the second period at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
“Obviously there’s some new things we gotta tighten up,” Mayfield told The Post. “We’re learning the system. I think we’re trying hard to implement it. We’re working hard, I would just say we’re not working as smart as we can be. We need to close quicker and we just need to win those battles. It’s all that quick closure, pin the guy, second guy quick, stuff like that.”
This, too, was a highly unusual thing to hear after a preseason game.
“We don’t hit a panic button in here,” Mayfield said, asked about the level of concern. “You gotta stay even keel. You can’t be panicking. I don’t like the word concern about how we play.”
Just like every optimistic declaration that someone has come to camp in the best shape ever, all of that can be rendered silly and forgotten if the Islanders come out flying against the rebuilt Maple Leafs.
For all his rhetorical caution, DeBoer has an excellent history of first-year turnarounds. Schaefer is a superstar. Ilya Sorokin will give the Islanders a chance to win every night. Victor Eklund was one of the best performers in camp, underscoring a prospect core that was by far the biggest positive of the last couple of weeks.
New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer races for a loose puck while being checked from behind by the stick of New York Rangers right wing Taylor Raddysh in the second period of a game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR NEW YORK POST
There’s 84 games still to come, and everything that’s happened so far is only the prologue.
The first few chapters of the season need to have a different tone.
After spending almost 40 minutes Tuesday answering for a finish that was the fourth worst in franchise history, manager Tony Vitello had to find one positive to hang his hat on.
He chose the grass.
“The shape that field was in was incredible all year long,” Vitello said. “We just need to play better on it.”
San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello speaks during the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via APSan Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello speaks during the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
The Giants have a long way to go to do just that after completing a 97-loss campaign in which the only reason to tune in for the last two months was to see whether they would set the all-time record for the most players used in a season. (They only tied the 2025 Braves for the embarrassing spot in history, with 71, but it would have been theirs alone had they treated Zach Morgan with any semblance of respect.)
They called up the 26-year-old who grew up about two hours east of Oracle Park twice to their taxi squad in an otherwise-meaningless final month but never allowed him to make his MLB debut — just one more family given every reason to call itself former fans after this season.
The Giants weren’t just bad. They were embarrassing. Until they sank even lower: irrelevant, which is the position they’ve occupied for the better part of the past three months.
Yet, there was Buster Posey behind a microphone in the bowels of Oracle Park, flanked on either side by his handpicked manager and second-in-command, Zack Minasian.
From left, San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello, president of baseball operations Buster Posey and general manager Zack Minasian are seen during the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via APSan Francisco Giants president and chief executive officer Larry Baer arrives for the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
The second-year president of baseball operations confirmed that the same leadership responsible for the disaster that was this season will get the chance to do it again next year.
“I don’t think there will be a ton of changes,” Posey said, besides the possibility of “a couple” on Vitello’s coaching staff that the front office plans to discuss this week.
The same leadership decided to fire Bob Melvin and make wholesale changes to its coaching staff after going 81-81, 16 games better than they finished this season. There wasn’t another MLB team that had a larger drop-off in its final record from the previous year.
And yet, somehow Posey came to a different conclusion.
The grand experiment to hire a coach straight from the college ranks was a gigantic failure in Year 1. So why not run it again and see if it produces a different result?
“If you’re asking if I think we can contend next year, I do,” Posey said.
San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey speaks during the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via APSan Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello speaks during the team’s media availability in San Francisco, Tuesday, September 29, 2026. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
Posey said he saw Vitello grow from a coach into a manager over the course of the season (an adjustment period they maybe should have had the foresight to see coming). But when Vitello was asked if he felt he had command of the clubhouse, he said that he “still see[s] myself as a teammate.” That doesn’t bode well for his chances to earn their respect in Year 2.
Likewise, Vitello was only able to muster the same platitudes about better communication when posed a question about how to avoid another debacle like the Pride Night fiasco.
“Ultimately, I need to voice my opinion probably almost as loud as anybody,” Vitello said, “at least everybody that’s downstairs [in the clubhouse].”
Almost as loud? If Vitello isn’t comfortable being the loudest voice in a room of major-league ballplayers after a full season at helm, is there any chance he ever will?
The Giants played like a team built by an executive with no prior experience and run by a manager who had never spent a second in a professional dugout.
They were about as allergic to winning at the margins as they were to winning four games in a row (something they didn’t do once all season). They committed the most errors in the field and would have had many more than 108 if mental mistakes counted, too.
Even stuff as basic as knowing which plays to challenge from the dugout was too complex for Vitello’s staff, which only got 17 calls overturned in 46 tries, MLB’s lowest success rate.
Posey said “things just started to compound,” while Vitello suggested that the team’s confidence never rebounded from its season-opening sweep. They were nine games under .500 after only 37 games and didn’t finish a day with a winning record.
San Francisco Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers (16) watches the action from the dugout during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, Saturday, September 12, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
They stand no chance of building early momentum next year if Rafael Devers doesn’t find a way to thaw out of his ice-cold starts that have plagued him the past two seasons. By the time he started slugging like he was capable, the Giants had already dug too deep of a hole.
At least Devers eventually showed that he still had something left in him. That’s more than the Giants can say about the shortstop they still owe $130 million over the next five seasons.
And, yes, Posey confirmed, the Giants still view Willy Adames as a shortstop, even after a season of dismal defensive metrics and persistent back pain.
Not like there’s any history of back injuries being chronic issues or players’ production slowing down when they reach their 30s, as Adames and Matt Chapman have and Devers will next month.
Willy Adames of the San Francisco Giants watches a hit against the Boston Red Sox during a game at Fenway Park in Boston, Sunday, August 23, 2026. Getty Images
Still, Posey said the Giants have “a ton of belief” in their position players — even Harrison Bader, who Posey confirmed was still in their plans for next season after his first season in San Francisco went up in flames when he rode his scooter into the back of a firetruck.
Posey took accountability for the failure to build a bullpen, acknowledging that he “probably overestimated some of the guys that we had in the ‘pen.” He admitted that they need to adjust their offensive philosophy to draw more walks and for their pitchers to issue fewer of them.
“There is a lot of work to be done, for sure,” Posey said. “There’s deficiencies that we know we have to address or attempt to address.”
He said he wants his pitchers to “own the zone,” which sounds nice. But what was stopping them this year? In reality, it’s only going to be harder next season, with the Giants down four starters rehabbing from elbow surgeries and a bullpen that has to be rebuilt from scratch.
San Francisco Giants catcher Andrew Knizner (19) walks to the pitcher’s mound to meet with starting pitcher Logan Webb (62) during the first inning of a game against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Posey was given multiple chances to answer how he planned to address the Giants pitching, only made more complicated by a lockout looming Dec. 1, but didn’t give any reason to believe it will be any different from last offseason, when they faced the same questions.
“It’s the normal avenues,” Posey sighed. “We’ll look at free agents, we’ll have trade discussions and we’ll weigh internal options.”
It was obvious from the bags under Vitello’s eyes to the tone Posey took in many of his answers that the way this season went off the rails didn’t sit well with anyone at Third and King. But it wasn’t so clear that the people in charge had any idea about how to fix it.
There’s at least one piece of good news about a sixth straight season without postseason baseball on the shores of McCovey Cove. The playing surface will stay in pristine shape.
No matter which way you look at it, Game 1 between the Red Sox and Yankees was about one person and one person only: Cam Schlittler.
The soon-to-be Cy Young winner was dominant, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out 10 Red Sox over 6.1 innings. He looked like a man amongst boys, and the Red Sox — who were dominated by Schlittler in last year’s playoffs and again in the regular season this year — had no answers.
Perhaps, then, it’s trivial to dissect and linger on anything else from the game. Wipe the slate, move on to a must-win Game 2, and see what happens.
But … that’s not how postseason baseball works. And the Red Sox didn’t make the playoffs by accepting defeat.
So it’s only fair to look back at a decision made by manager Chad Tracy in his first postseason game that immediately backfired.
It came in the bottom of the fifth, with starter Payton Tolle at just 83 pitches. Tolle had just retired Paul Goldschmidt on one pitch for the second out of the inning. He wasn’t dominating, but he was rolling, only allowing one run while working around five hits and a walk.
Tolle threw more than 83 pitches 20 times during the regular season. Yet Tracy decided on this night, in this spot, it was time to take out the man that he chose to be the Game 1 starter in the postseason.
It was a puzzling decision in the moment, one that you figured would at the very least come back to bite Boston later in the game when they had run out of their top bullpen arms early.
Yet as it turned out, it backfired immediately.
Tracy opted to replace the lefty Tolle with … the lefty Erik Miller, the Marcelo Mayer trade return who got off to a great start in Boston but fizzled significantly late in the year. Miller posted a 12.46 ERA and a 2.538 WHIP over his final five outings in the regular season, clearly losing whatever effectiveness he had when he first arrived in Boston.
And it only took three pitches for that to become clear, as Ben Rice — the man Tracy selected for Miller to erase in the fifth — clobbered a 97 mph fastball, sending a solo homer to straightaway center field.
The pitch was at the belt and split the plate in half.
It's ultimately going to feel like a moot point, but it would have been impossible for Erik Miller to have thrown a worse pitch to Ben Rice. pic.twitter.com/AciyjHw2mQ
The solo shot doubled the Yankees’ lead, and while Schlittler was in the midst of a special pitching performance, that extra cushion gave him an added margin for error in a game where the Red Sox really couldn’t afford to give him any more advantage than he already had.
What would have happened if Tolle had stayed in the game to at least get through the fifth and perhaps into the sixth (on a night when his counterpart set a career high with 117 pitches and made it into the seventh), nobody can say for sure. But the Red Sox certainly would not have been turning to career minor leaguer Alec Gamboa in the bottom of the seventh. (And the 29-year-old would have been spared from earning himself an ERA of infinity.)
In a season that was at times quite charmed, this decision by Tracy was distinctly the wrong one.
And in what is perhaps a perfect picture of how vastly things have changed in Boston, Tracy was asked nine questions before facing the obvious one: Why did you take Tolle out of the game?
“Not necessarily just the pitch count, but you’re trailing already, you’re moving through [the lineup for] the third time. [Ben] Rice had already hit a double in the gap off of him, and you have a nice lane there for for Miller. And obviously, he got him,” Tracy said. “So, just felt like it was a time to go.”
One of the main reasons Tolle was given the Game 1 start over Sonny Gray was his emotional disposition. Giving him the hook with nobody on and two outs in the fifth was deflating in and of itself. The homer that followed felt like a knockout blow.
Here’s everything we learned from the Yankees’ 9-0 win over the Red Sox in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series.
Roman Anthony got hurt
Despite an unimpressive and injury-plagued season, the Red Sox turned to Roman Anthony as the leadoff man for the playoffs. That postseason lasted all of two at-bats before he left due to injury.
Anthony struck out on a check swing in the first inning, and he struck out on another check swing in the third inning. He didn’t come out for his next at-bat, instead replaced by Andruw Monasterio.
Tracy confirmed postgame that Anthony got hurt on a check swing, injuring the same hand that kept him out of the lineup all summer. Anthony landed the injured list this year due to a check swing in Detroit in late May, tearing a ligament at the base of his ring finger that kept him out until Aug. 30.
Tracy said the hand “flared” on Anthony “and it got uncomfortable.” Tracy added that Anthony has felt occasional shots of pain in that injured hand but in this case, “some stuff happened that was more serious and was uncomfortable.”
He batted .245 with a .735 OPS in 55 regular-season games this year. Still, the Red Sox — who started Nick Sogard, Trevor Story and Jarren Duran in Game 1 — can’t afford to lose any bats, even if those bats are more about potential than production at this point in time.
Cam Schlittler used curveball to keep Red Sox guessing
Cam Schlittler is going to win the Cy Young this year, and it’s not because of his curveball usage. Schlittler primarily used his fastball, his cutter, and his sinker this season, using the curveball as his fourth pitch. It wasn’t all that successful either, with batters hitting .250 on the curveball. (They hit .162 on his fastball, by comparison.)
But in Game 1, Schlittler was using his curveball at an unheard of rate, and doing so with effectiveness. Schlittler threw his curveball 27 percent of the time in Game 1, compared to 10 percent on the regular season, with a 50 percent whiff rate when the Red Sox swung (8-for-16).
It was a wrinkle that allowed Schlittler to simply dominate Boston bats. The Red Sox mustered just two singled and a walk in 6.1 innings from Schlittler, who struck out 10 batters while setting a career high with 117 pitches.
Schlittler has owned the Red Sox since first facing them in the playoffs last year, and he utilized a secret weapon of sorts to keep that going in Game 1.
Caleb Durbin’s redemptive double play in fourth keeps game close
Through all of his ups and downs at the plate this season, Caleb Durbin has played an excellent defensive third base. It was peculiar, then, when he charged a George Lombard Jr. chopper in the fourth and whiffed. The ball took a dead hop off the dirt, and Lombard reached with a leadoff infield single.
Durbin got redemption later in the inning in a big way, though, when he caught a weird infield popup from Spencer Jones and then fired to second base to double up Lombard to end the inning.
The game was a bit shaky at that point, as Tolle walked Amed Rosario after the Lombard single. Erik Miller and Alec Gamboa both got to work in the bullpen, as the game was in danger of being broken open. Durbin’s play — aided by Lombard making a bad read on Jones’ contact — helped keep it a one-run game.
Later in the game, Nick Sogard started a spectacular 4-6-3, albeit when the game felt like it was already slipping away for the Red Sox.
Red Sox’ offensive woes are not Schlittler-specific.
Cam Schlittler shut the Boston bats down, of course, but that’s not necessarily a rare occurrence.
Over their final 21 games, the Red Sox averaged just 2.7 runs per game. They were shut out once, scored a single run five times, and scored two runs in four of those games.
So an offensive dud in this spot — against an elite pitcher or otherwise — certainly did not come out of nowhere.
The Red Sox managed to deliver just three hits in this one: A first-inning bloop single by Adley Rutschman, a seventh-inning single from Wilyer Abreu, and a double from Trevor Story with two outs in the eighth inning, the first and only time the Red Sox reached second base all game.
Brayan Bello had a chance to prove something; he did not
In what’s been a weird season for the Red Sox, nobody’s season has been weirder than Brayan Bello. He was an ineffective starter, he required an opener, he spent an extended time in Triple-A, and he was tremendously effective for a stretch.
When he entered a 4-0 game in the bottom of the eighth inning, the game was well in hand. Still, he had an opportunity to show he could be trusted to get outs in an adverse environment. He didn’t pass the test.
Bello entered the game with the bases loaded and one out, after Wyatt Olds loaded them up with a single and two walks. Needing to get a double-play ball to keep it close, Bello surrendered a sacrifice fly to No. 9 hitter Austin Wells.
A sacrifice fly wasn’t the end of the world, as the score was still somewhat manageable at 5-0. But Bello then walked Paul Goldschmidt before serving up a no-doubt-about-it grand slam to Ben Rice.
A once-competitive game turned into a laugher in a hurry, and Bello’s mystifying season added yet another sour chapter.
Speaking of Ben Rice …
Ben Rice killed the Red Sox in Game 1, going 4-for-5 with six RBIs.
He had three of the hardest-hit balls of the night, as he was all over just about everything he saw — right from the jump, too. His double in the first inning was the hardest-hit ball of the entire game at 110.3 mph. His grand slam had an exit velocity of 108.6 mph, and his solo homer was at 108.0 mph. Rice’s other hit — a single — had an exit velocity of 106.4, harder than all but one ball hit by the Red Sox all night.
So while Schlittler was the Red Sox’ biggest problem in Game 1, Rice was a very close second — and he’s someone the Red Sox will actually have to deal with in Game 2, when their season hangs in the balance.
Wilyer Abreu off the mark with second-inning throw to plate
What the Red Sox lack in offensive oomph they somewhat make up for in outfield defense, as Ceddanne Rafalea and Wilyer Abreu are two of the best outfielders in all of baseball.
Abreu, who will win the Gold Glove for a third straight year, flunked his first chance to show off his defensive prowess in the second inning. Austin Wells singled cleanly through the right side with Lombard on second base. Abreu was able to charge the ball, field it cleanly, and fire home. But his throw sailed up the third base line, allowing Lombard to score easily.
A great throw would have gotten Lombard easily. A good throw would have gotten him, too. Even a decent throw would have had a chance. Unfortunately for Abreu, he simply threw a bad one.
Payton Tolle carries quote from his late mother on glove
Payton Tolle lost his mother to colon cancer in 2024, and he honored her on Tuesday night with one of her quotes stitched into his glove: “You’re so pretty.”
That message is always on Tolle’s glove — it was a message his mother would say to him when he pitched in high school in order to keep him loose — but Tuesday’s start gave it some national attention.
History not on Red Sox’ side
As has been mentioned many times before, only once since the new Wild Card format was adopted in 2022 has the loser of Game 1 gone on to win the best-of-three series. The Red Sox know that history all too well, as they were the lone Game 1 winner to go on to lose the series a year ago in New York.
At the very least, though, they know that losing Game 1 is not a death sentence for the season. And the Sonny Gray-Max Fried matchup is a bit of a fairer fight than anyone vs. Cam Schlittler.
Fried pitched eight shutout innings with nine strikeouts against the Red Sox at Fenway in late April, but he allowed a run on three hits in 3.2 innings in his other start against the Red Sox in late August — his first start after spending time on the IL.
Gray faced the Yankees twice in June, allowing 3 runs in 6.1 innings at Yankee Stadium and pitching 7.1 shutout innings back at Fenway later that month.
Last year’s playoffs might have only been an appetizer.
The postseason brought out a new version of the Knicks offense — one that fueled a historically dominant championship run. But it was born out of desperation, a change made on the fly after they fell to a 2-1 series deficit in the first round against the Hawks. Now, the Knicks have a full training camp and preseason to practice and experiment with it.
“I feel like we can do a lot more, do a lot of different things,” Jalen Brunson said after the first Knicks practice of the season Tuesday. “I think we unlocked something last year in the playoffs at a time of need and it worked. It’s gonna be fun to kind of integrate it from the beginning of the season, too.”
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson speaks at a press conference when the New York Knicks practiced Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, at the Madison Square Garden Training Center in Greenburgh, N.Y. Robert Sabo for NY Post
The most important change was the well-documented decision to alter how they used Karl-Anthony Towns in the offense — having him serve as a “hub” at the elbows and facilitate with the ball in his hands. It allowed Brunson to play a bit more off the ball and took some of the playmaking burden off his shoulders. It amplified Towns’ prowess as a passer — in turn dragging opposing centers out of the paint — and also allowed OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges to thrive as cutters and screen setters around Towns. The Knicks’ offensive efficiency exploded as a result.
That role for Towns will continue to be a focal point going into this year, with a few potential new twists.
“Obviously playing with KAT at the elbow a little bit more than what we did [in the regular season last year],” coach Mike Brown said Tuesday. “Being with this group for a year now, you get a better feel of what players can do what. Like I didn’t know if OG could be as effective as he was in the pick-and-roll game. Same with Mikal. So to try to continue to find ways to get those guys involved at the top of the floor is something that we’ll take a look at.
“We have great cutters that have tremendous size. We’ll continue to mix that in, and we all know that KAT is a really good facilitator at the elbow. Maybe Andre [Drummond] is too? I don’t know. Maybe we move OG to the five a little bit more than what we did last year. So there are a lot of different ways we can go with the team on both ends of the floor. The biggest thing is knowing that nothing’s set in stone.”
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during practice on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, at the Madison Square Garden Training Center. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Those potential new roles for Anunoby and Bridges are particularly interesting. Brown’s system for most of last year emphasized Anunoby and Bridges staying in the corners for kick-out 3-pointers — or as Brown calls them, “sprays.” Bridges and Anunoby led the NBA in corner 3-point attempts during the regular season last year, taking 199 and 198, respectively, per the league’s official tracking stats. It was a core tenet of the Knicks offense.
But both grew as ball handlers and slashers — creating their own shots — during the playoffs. Anunoby, in particular, at times carried the offense, showing an ability to score off the dribble and delivering some of the best production of his career.
Maybe letting him spend time away from the corners and in the middle of the floor can help bring out the best version of him — an All-Star-caliber version. The idea of increasingly using Anunoby as a small-ball center is also notable given Drummond is the only backup center behind Towns that is a lock to make the roster.
“There’s a lot that will carry over for this year. We’ll also experiment with some new things here and there, but the stuff that we had in the playoffs may not work during the regular season. So we have to be ready to evolve or pivot as the year goes along and hopefully come close to playoff time, we’re trending upwards so that we feel we’re in a pretty good spot with the confidence needed to take off from there.”
That ability to adapt is critical. It only happened because a veteran-heavy group was willing to come together and adjust their own roles for the greater good. It hinged on a close-knit team’s ability to communicate honestly and openly.
New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby shoots around during a practice at Frost Bank Center, Thursday, June 4, 2026, the day before Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Jason Szenes for The New York Post
“I think as a group, we figured out that we need each other to win, obviously, and we need each other to be on the same page,” Brunson said. “You never know when things are going to turn for you, when things are gonna click for you. But as long as you keep putting the work in every single day, you keep tapping the rock, tapping the rock, eventually it’s going to break.”
It’s hard to imagine a better version of basketball than the playoff finish by the Knicks: 13 wins in the final 14 games — several in utterly dominant fashion.
But as the encore got underway this week at the Tarrytown practice facility, coach Mike Brown twice pumped the brakes on the idea that the steamroll will persist. At Monday’s Media Day, he cautioned that adversity is inevitable.
And after Tuesday’s first practice, the championship coach acknowledged the impossibility of maintaining the near perfection of the playoffs.
“We’re not playing at that level for 82 games,” Brown said. “You know, we played at a pretty high level, and … that’s not going to happen over 82 games. You know, for me, the 82-game season is about trying to find your way.”
New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown speaks at a press conference at the Madison Square Garden Training Center in Greenburgh, N.Y., Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Indeed, the Knicks aren’t predicted to smash any regular-season records. The East is too good and the veteran Knicks have clearly learned about pacing toward a sprint finish. A year ago, the young Thunder were coming off a championship and quickly threatened 70 victories (amid injuries, Oklahoma City finished with a 64-18 record). New York’s Over/Under for wins this season is in the low to mid-50s, depending on the sportsbook.
Part of the early adjustment will be trying to recapture the efficiency of an offense with Karl-Anthony Towns as the hub, a strategy that will become more difficult to implement when the opposition studies enough film to counter. The Knicks benefited from the element of surprise during the playoffs. They also weren’t dealing with tense contract negotiations — a reality facing the Knicks now, as extensions for Towns, Josh Hart and Miles McBride remain unoffered or unsigned.
“You don’t want that trickling into the season. Because whenever there’s uncertainty, there’s gonna be a lot of questions, there’s gonna be a lot of rumors,” Hart said. “At a human level, sometimes that can wear people down, and it can affect how you go out and handle business on a day-to-day basis.”
Another potential early hurdle, at least for the start of the season, is a rusty Jalen Brunson. The star point guard is coming off left wrist surgery that disrupted his typical summer routine.
“I don’t want to say I’m catching up,” Brunson said. “I feel good, but also I know that it wasn’t just my normal summer.”
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during a team practice Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, at the Madison Square Garden Training Center in Greenburgh, N.Y. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Surgery to his left hand two years ago — after he fractured it in Game 7 of the 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Pacers — was less of a hindrance because the rehab started earlier in the offseason (his procedure was in May). This time, Brunson didn’t know surgery was necessary until July.
“I was shooting earlier [two years ago] than I was this time. I was in a cast longer this time than I was before when I broke my hand,” Brunson said. “Plus it was a little bit earlier, I think I got surgery right after it happened [two years ago]. I didn’t get surgery for my wrist until like three weeks later because I didn’t know it was a necessity.”
It was also a once-in-a-lifetime type of summer for Brunson, who didn’t shy from the off-the-court limelight and opportunities that come with ending a 53-year title drought. He found it hard to relax.
“It exceeded expectations, honestly,” Brunson said about being a champ in NYC. “Winning in New York was no joke. It was a really cool experience. … Have I decompressed at all? Not really. I’m gonna be honest with you, not really. But I’ve had times where I had time to relax. I enjoyed that. I spent time getting away from everything. Most times, it was rehabbing. Once I was out of the cast and cleared, I had obligations I had to go through, so I did all of that. But I feel good. And I know where to go to get to my happy place. I know where to go when I need to decompress. I’m good.”
Brunson was obviously more than “good” in the playoffs. He was extraordinary. So were the Knicks. But they’re not making that the regular-season baseline.
“We’re gonna face new challenges throughout the course of the year. We’re gonna hit adversity, which, you know I said this last year, we’re gonna embrace it,” Brown said, “but we’re gonna hit adversity in an 82-game season.”
Four Giants pitchers protested the team’s annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community on June 12. Months later, the team declined to answer whether it intends to continue sporting the rainbow-colored “SF” hats on Pride Night next season.
Ryan Walker of the San Francisco Giants pitches at Oracle Park on June 12, 2026. Getty Images
Sam Hentges chose to wear the Giants standard baseball cap, rather than the custom hat for the event. JT Brubaker, Landen Roupp and Ryan Walker added a Bible verse to the side of their rainbow-colored caps.
Giants president of baseball operations Bustery Posey speaks during the team’s press conference. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via APSan Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp with a Bible verse on his Pride Night hat. AP Photo/Scott Marshall
“MLB agreed to allow them to utilize the hats/uniforms with the emblems provided that no player or uniformed staff would be required to wear them, and that the team would speak to the players to make sure they were comfortable with the apparel,” Manfred wrote.
“Unfortunately, this year the Giants’ communication with players was inadequate and not clear. Some players apparently did not understand that they had the option to wear their normal uniform and elected to add messages to their hats bearing the pride logo as a result. The Giants players were allowed to wear the hats with the biblical references for the entire game. After the game had concluded, my office issued a routine oral warning about the uniform policy violation – unfortunately it was issued before we became aware of the Giants’ lapse in communication.
“The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be.”
While Tolle has at least partially reverse splits, his dominant fastball might overwhelm Chisholm, who has gone from crushing fastballs a year ago to performing meekly against them this season. And former shortstop Anthony Volpe has been too effective down the stretch for Yankees manager Aaron Boone to roll with Chisholm.
Boone's perspective? It will take all 26 men to defeat the Red Sox in this best-of-three sprint.
"My expectation is he'll be ready to go and could play a crucial role as early as tonight," Boone said Tuesday to Yankees beat reporters before his nightly press conference.
Chisholm struck a confident tone a day earlier, telling reporters Monday in New Yor that he would be "ticked off" if he didn't start Game 1.
"Yeah, who wouldn't be?" he said. "As a competitor, who wouldn't be? It's the playoffs. You want to play."
Chisholm has a .170 batting average, three homers and a .607 OPS in 24 career playoff games. Volpe is at .252 with no homers and a .728 OPS in 21 career playoff games.
EL SEGUNDO, CA - SEPTEMBER 28: Austin Reaves #15 and Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers pose for a portrait during NBA Media Day on September 28, 2026 at UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The hole left by LeBron James’ departure is a wide-stretching one within the Lakers.
On the court, the team will have to replace roughly 20 points, six rebounds and five assists per game along with the intangible impact he had on a nightly basis. Off the court, and perhaps more to that point about the intangibles, the leadership void will likely be the biggest.
No matter what his role or status was during games, LeBron was The Guy for the Lakers. He was the star around which all others orbited. Even if the team was moving into the Luka Dončić era, LeBron was still, at the very least, a leader of the team.
His departure, then, leaves a massive leadership void that the pair of Luka and Austin Reaves will be tasked with filling this season. For Luka, it’s a role he’s very familiar with. For Austin, it’s unchartered waters.
“People lead in different ways,” Austin said on Monday at Media Day. “I’m not someone that’s going to sit out here and scream at people. I like to talk to people one-on-one, have a real conversation. That way, people will never feel like I’m trying to embarrass them in front of people.
“If it’s practice, whenever we have a down period of time, pulling people to the side, talking to them about what I see, what I think they can do better. Just trying to give everybody my input and how I see things to help them moving forward.”
It’s not necessarily a natural role for Austin, who has spent much of his basketball career scrapping for his spot even before entering the league. Rarely are former two-way players ever looked upon as leaders, but it’s even rarer for two-way players to earn the nearly max deal that Austin Reaves got this summer.
Big contracts bring big expectations. Reaves can no longer be The Other Guy on a roster, hiding behind Luka or LeBron.
“I think he improved a lot,” Luka said of Austin’s leadership. “He talks more to a lot of people. Obviously, the new players, they’re going to look up to him, asking things. I think he took a big step forward.”
As for Luka himself, while this is a new role for him in the purple and gold, it’s one he’s very familiar with. Not only was he the leader in Dallas from an early age, but even his time in Europe as a teenager saw a lot placed on his shoulders.
“I was in this position in my career a lot of times, so it’s not new to me,” Luka said. “But I feel great. I feel excited and, like I said, I’m ready to go. It’s been a long time since I’ve played basketball so I’m ready.”
The often-goofy, always-competitive duo might not be seen as natural leaders, but the Lakers are banking on that competitiveness to be the driving force.
“Obviously, together, they’re immature,” Jarred Vanderbilt said. “But the maturity level, I’ve seen it rise since I’ve been here and seen both of them together. They know that there’s a lot that comes with the position that they’re in.
“I think with both of them, they’ve done a great job of, in their own rights, cultivating the culture and showing the new guys the way.”
Eight teams will compete for an opportunity to advance to the Division Series. Wild Card teams facing each other in the American League include the Houston Astros against the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox taking on the New York Yankees.
The Wild Card round is a best-of-three. Winners go on to the next round in a best-of-five Division Series.
Here's a look at the MLB Playoffs Division Series schedule:
MLB Playoffs Division Series
See the full schedule for the Division Series during the MLB Playoffs including what-if scenarios for each Wild Card team.
* = if necessary
All times are Eastern Standard
Saturday, Oct. 3:
If the Cubs advance:
Chicago White Sox/Houston Astros winner at Cleveland Guardians, Game 1 at 1 p.m. (TBS/truTV/HBO Max)
SITE NOTE: NBC says the first pitch of this game should happen around 9:10 p.m. CT. The BCB “live” thread will post tonight at 8:30 p.m. CT.
Tuesday notes…
GAME 1: The Cubs were 27-26 this year in first games of series. On the road, they were 12-14. Two of the wins were on the West Coast, at Los Angeles and San Francisco, as were two of the losses, at San Diego and Seattle. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
ON THE ROAD: The Cubs won the first two games of seven road series, including at San Francisco. They won the first and lost the second of five, including at Los Angeles. They lost the first and won the second of eight, including at San Diego. They lost the first two of six, including at Seattle. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
PITCHING IS GETTING GOOD, PART 1: Cubs pitchers allowed a total of 12 runs in their last five games, with a high of four. That tied for the sixth-fewest runs in any five-game span of the season. They gave up 10 three times, the last of them April 18-22, and 11 runs twice, most recently July 29-Aug. 2. They yielded 12 runs in three earlier spans, the last July 31-Aug. 4. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
PITCHING IS GETTING GOOD, PART 2: In the first nine innings of games, the Cubs have given up only 17 runs in their last eight games. They surrendered six runs in the 12th inning of one of the eight. The 23 total runs in eight games tied for their seventh fewest of the season. They gave up 19 runs July 28-Aug. 4; 20, April 14-22; 21, July 27-Aug. 3; and 22 three times, all between July 24 and Aug. 6. They gave up 23 twice earlier, April 15-23 and July 27-Aug. 5. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Here is how important winning Game 1 of a Wild Card series is:
In the history of the best-of-three Wild Card Series, teams taking a 1-0 lead have gone on to win the series 21 of 24 times (88%), including 17 two-game sweeps. Home teams have won all nine series in which they have gone ahead 1-0, including eight sweeps.
He made two starts, then missed three weeks with a bicep injury. He came back and threw pretty well, then hurt his knee playing with his kids (nominee for Weird MLB Injury of the Year!) and missed about six weeks.
Most important for right now is that he’s thrown well over his last six starts: 3.28 ERA, 1.121 WHIP, only one home run in 35.2 innings — and that ERA is in part the victim of a bullpen that allowed some of his inherited runners to score.
Boyd allowed three runs in five innings to the Padres June 30 at Wrigley Field, including home runs by Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. Hold those two guys down and this could be a good game for Boyd.
Perhaps of note: Boyd has a 1.66 ERA in seven postseason games (six starts) covering 21.2 innings. He has never allowed a postseason home run.
Michael King is the Padres’ best starter and by bWAR (4.3) this was his best MLB season, though his K rate was down a bit from last year.
In his three years and 77 starts with the Padres, though, he has never made a regular season start against the Cubs. His only appearance vs. the Cubs as a Padre was one inning of scoreless relief in Game 3 of last year’s Wild Card Series. He struck out Dansby Swanson, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matt Shaw.
In looking up various batter vs. pitcher matchups, small sample sizes are always caveats. I was, however, struck by the fact that Alex Bregman is 7-for-8 with two doubles and two walks against King. That’s not nothing. Perhaps it will mean something tonight.
Please visit our SB Nation Padres site Gaslamp Ball. If you do go there to interact with Padres fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.
You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.
The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.
You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - SEPTEMBER 22: Payton Tolle #70 of the Boston Red Sox walks through the dugout before a game against the Cleveland Guardians on September 22, 2026 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
