Worldwide Sports News

In our Wild Card prediction thread, two people got three of the four series correct: Ritzkiss and Rancy. In the ‘how many games will the series go, Rancy was off by just two games, so he’s the winner. I’d like to say there is a prize, but you have my congratulations Rancy. That and $2.95 will get you a coffee at Starbucks. Not a fancy coffee, but a coffee.

If you are wondering about the picture above, I’m just absolutely amazed that anyone would celebrate anything with Budweiser beer.

Tomorrow the Division Series start, they are a best of five. There are four games tomorrow:

• White Sox @ Guardians: 1:00 Eastern start time. White Sox list TBD. Guardians have Parker Messick (12-9, 2.56 ERA).
• Braves @ Dodgers: 4:00 Eastern. Both teams list TBD.
• Yankees @ Rays: 6:30 Eastern. Gerrit Cole (10-9m 3.61) vs.Drew Rasmussen (16-5, 2.68).
• Padres @ Brewers: 8:30 Eastern. TBD vs. Jacob Misiorowski (16-5, 1.80).

Sunday we have the NLDS games at 4:00 Eastern (Padres @ Brewers) and 8:00 Eastern (Braves @ Dodgers).

Monday it is the ALDS games. 5:00 Eastern (White Sox @ Brewers) and 8:00 Eastern (Yankees @ Rays).

So make your predictions. Let’s just do winner and number of games.

I’ll take the White Sox in 5 games, because it is hard to beat a team backed by the Pope.

Dodgers in four. I’ll be cheering for the Braves, but shutting off the sound when that chant starts.

Yankees in five. I’ll cheer for the Rays.

Brewers in five.

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers set their trade deadline sights on one big target and landed him in Tarik Skubal. The two-time Cy Young Award winner will get the call to start Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday at Dodger Stadium against the Atlanta Braves.

Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic was first to report Skubal getting the call in Game 1.

Skubal started two Games 1 with the Detroit Tigers, and in six postseason starts over 2024-25 has a 2.04 ERA with 56 strikeouts against five unintentional walks in 39 2/3 innings, and has lasted at least six innings in all six starts.

When the Dodgers acquired Skubal from the Tigers on August 2, president of baseball operations noted the team’s singular focus at this year’s trade deadline.

“We were of the mind to be aggressive for one player, and fortunately we were able to line up,” Friedman said at the time. “As we’ve talked about a lot, whenever there’s a star-level player available who can really shift championship odds, those are the moments we’ll be more aggressive.”

Yoshinobu Yamamoto started Game 1 of the 2024 NLDS, and is coming off one of the best postseasons in MLB history, 5-1 with a 1.45 ERA in 37 1/3 innings. That included consecutive complete games in the NLCS and World Series, and he won all three of his appearances in the Fall Classic, including getting the final eight outs of Game 7 one day after starting and pitching six innings to win Game 6.

Blake Snell has five career starts in Game 1, including twice for the Dodgers last year in the wild card round and NLCS. Tyler Glasnow, with four career Game 1 starts, rounds out the rotation.

“To be honest, we can kind of really put all four guys in a hat, and run them out there,” manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday.

“Our pitching staff is pretty special, in my opinion,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “We got four number ones rolling out there, with Yama, Snell, Skubs, and Glasnow.”

Skubal has been just about everything the Dodgers could have wanted when they traded for the two-time Cy Young Award winner on August 2. In 10 starts with Los Angeles, the left-hander had a 2.61 ERA and 2.84 xERA with 70 strikeouts and 13 walks in 62 innings.

By the time you’re reading this, the Atlanta Braves will either be on the plane to Los Angeles to face off against the Dodgers in the NLDS or already touched down in the City of Angels to meet their opponents in the Divisional Series. Either way, it’s certainly been a whirlwind 24-hour period for the Braves where they essentially had to lock back in after a night of rapturous celebrations following their big victory in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Despite the quick turnaround, the Braves are still feeling upbeat and positive and are looking forward to what awaits them in LA. In a press conference call earlier today, asked manager Walt Weiss about what he’s looking forward to when it comes to challenging the two-time defending World Series champions and he continued to reiterate just how good this team has been in 2026 when the odds are stacked up against them.

“You can call it David and Goliath and all that stuff, but you’ve got to go through the Dodgers if you want to get to the top of the mountain. You’ve got to go through them at some point. So it’s going to be a great challenge for us,” said Weiss. “Like I said all along, our guys have responded really well to some really tough challenges this year. This will just be another one. I’m expecting our guys are going to step up again.”

The catching duo of Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy also took questions in the conference call and they both appeared to be focused on the task at hand. “Having some success against them early is always nice. We’ve seen some of their pitchers, seen some of their arms, and gone up against a good team. So I think it’s just kind of going out there and playing our game and knowing that, if we play our game, that we can compete with them and beat them,” responded Baldwin when he was asked about what the focus needed to be on ahead of this series.

Murphy was also pretty confident as well — he stated that his confidence level is a “10” when he was asked about it and when he was asked about what he respected most about the Dodgers, he kept his response respectful while still expressing confidence in himself and his surrounding squad.

“I think they pitch pretty well. Obviously they have some phenomenal hitters in their lineup, but I would say we have the same strengths,” stated Murphy. “At the end of the day, it’s baseball. We’ve got to win 3 games out of 5, and I’ll take us over everybody.”

Meanwhile, we did get some updates about various Braves players who are currently missing due to injury and when we can expect them to come back. I asked Weiss about Bryce Elder’s status after throwing the Live BP and while Elder won’t be eligible for the NLDS roster, Weiss appears bullish on Elder’s chances of being available for the NLCS if the Braves can get past the Dodgers. “We’re hoping, if we advance, that Bryce is in that conversation,” explained Weiss. “He looks really good. It’s pretty amazing how far along he is after his surgery. We’re hoping to get through this round, and then that’ll be a topic of discussion.”

The same goes for Martín Pérez, who Weiss also stated that they’re hoping that they can get him back for the NLDS. Meanwhile, Lane Thomas was seen taking BP before both Game 2 and Game 3 of the Wild Card Series and the good news there is that Thomas could potentially be in line to return for the Dodgers series as a valuable right-handed hitting option.

“There’s a chance for Lane. He’s responded very well to treatment. We’ve upped his workload, and he’s passed all the tests,” said Weiss when he was asked about Lane’s chances of getting onto the NLDS roster. “He’s certainly in the conversation for this next round, which would be great because he’s a threat against left-handed pitching, and the Dodgers are loaded with left-handed pitching in the rotation and in the bullpen.”

There was also some good news concerning Tyler Mahle after he had what turned out to be a pretty big injury scare before Game 2 of the Wild Card Series. Apparently his abdominal is feeling good and he should be fine for the NLDS.

“Tyler’s doing well. The fact that he felt that thing in the first inning and ended up throwing seven innings that day and seven really, really good innings makes me feel good about the abdominal thing that he felt,” stated Weiss. “Getting treatment for it and all that stuff, but we feel pretty good about Tyler.”

The Braves still have some work to do in order to formulate a pitching plan that could once again neutralize the Dodgers lineup but as you can imagine, the team as a whole is feeling prety confident about their chances to not just do that but to perform at an all-around high level. The next step of the Postseason is here and while the Braves have a massive challenge ahead of them, Sean Murphy is right when he says that this team can hang with anybody.

Happy Friday one and all.

The Arizona Cardinals are traveling to New Jersey to take on the New York Giants on Sunday morning, let’s not forget about that, as Barry so graciously spelled out for us:

The early game, the backup quarterback, the Arizona Cardinals being road favorites? None of it makes you comfortable ahead of this one.

Let’s take a look at some of the best bets for the Arizona Cardinals matchup with the New York Giants, with odds courtesy of our friends at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Jacoby Brissett Over 1.5 passing touchdowns (+122)

One thing we know, the Cardinals are going to throw the football. So, take Brissett’s overs as long as you can, it won’t always hit, but they are usually a plus value and the Giants have allowed 2+ passing touchdowns in two of their three games.

Cam Skattebo and Jeremiyah Love to Combine for 200+ Rushing Yards (+600)

The Cardinals ability to stop the run, and the Giants ability to stop the run are both bad. So, let’s take a big swing on this one, as a combined number could be anything, but we can hope Love has his full breakout and if you bet it, that the Cardinals continue to struggle to stop the run.

Cam Skattebo, Jeremiyah Love, and Trey McBride to Combine for 4+ TDs (+550)

I am not sure how the Giants will do on offense, but if they can move the ball, it’ll be against the Arizona Cardinals. Meanwhile, again between Trey McBride and Jeremiyah Love, I want to see one of them have a big day.

Arizona Cardinals -2.5 (-106) and over 43.5 total points (-118) parlay for +230

I think the Cardinals get their second win of the season, they are 2-0 against the Harbaugh’s and that they score and the Giants move the ball better than they have with Jameis Winston.

Cardinals 27
Giants 24

When the Dodgers acquired left-hander Tarik Skubal at the trade deadline, they expected him to be a big part of their postseason plans. But they didn’t necessarily pencil him in as their Game 1 starter.

After mulling over their options this week, the Dodgers are expected to announce Friday that Skubal will take the mound in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, confirmed a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Their plans for a sweltering 1 p.m. start Saturday against the Braves were first reported by the Athletic.

The rest of the Dodgers’ rotation order was not immediately clear, but right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto — who had seemed a strong option for Game 1 after his World Series heroics last year — pitched to batters during the Dodgers’ workout Wednesday. If he takes his usual five days of rest, that would line him up to pitch Game 3 in Atlanta on Tuesday. So, left-hander Blake Snell could pitch Game 2 Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

“To be honest, we can kind of really put all four guys in a hat and run them out there,” manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday. “But I think there is going to be more thought behind it.”

Skubal, who the Dodgers acquired from the Tigers for three prospects, has posted a 2.61 ERA in 10 starts for Los Angeles. He finished his regular season with a gem against the Giants last week: seven three-hit innings on just 75 pitches.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Last week, Alex Vesia made sure to take in the scene.

A full month of baseball, he and the Dodgers hope, still lies ahead this October. Their game last Thursday was nothing more than a regular-season home finale, with the club set to open its postseason back at Dodger Stadium on Saturday in the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves.

Still, Vesia couldn’t help but feel sentimental as he traversed the clubhouse that afternoon, and sat out in the bullpen with several longtime teammates that night.

For the last six years, this has been home for the left-handed reliever.

As a pending free agent this offseason, it might not be much longer.

“I sent a text in our family group chat that was like, ‘I potentially could have played my last home game as a Dodger, in the regular season,’” Vesia recounted to the California Post this week. “And it was just like, damn.”

Vesia might not be one of the biggest stars of the Dodgers’ modern-day dynasty. But few players have been more important, or reliable, in their ascent to superteam status.

Since arriving as a little-known trade acquisition in February 2021 (acquired from the Miami Marlins, along with Kyle Hurt, in exchange for Dylan Floro), Vesia has been a stalwart in the Dodgers’ bullpen.

He has made 367 appearances for the club, a whopping 150 more than any other Dodgers pitcher in that span (Evan Phillips is next closest at 232). He has posted a 2.66 ERA and 5.7 wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs (ranking fifth among all left-handed relievers in the majors in that latter category during that period).

It was a rise that required personal reinvention, with the former 17th-round draft pick raising his arm slot and cultivating one of baseball’s most deceptive fastballs with the help of the organization’s highly-touted pitching department.

It was a road full of glorious highs, including two World Series championships, and gut-wrenching lows –– both on the field, like when he was optioned to the minor leagues for part of 2023, but especially off of it, after the unimaginable loss he and his wife experienced last October when their newborn daughter passed away during the Fall Classic.

That ordeal has changed the 30-year-old, in ways he still can’t fully verbalize yet.

“It’s been an extremely hard year,” Vesia said, with a set of pink-accented gloves honoring his late daughter resting in his locker behind him.

It has also altered his perspective during what might be his final ride in Los Angeles, making every little moment something to cherish ahead of an uncertain future.

“I’ve learned, especially over the last year, there’s certain moments in life that you need to stop and take it in,” he explained.

Vesia, of course, would love to be back with the Dodgers next year, and beyond. His consistent production and energetic mound presence have made him something of a fan favorite at this point; so much so, a local artist recently unveiled a mural of him in Burbank.

“I’m very thankful to have spent the last six years here,” he said. “I’ve learned so much about myself and the game, just what it takes to be a champion. That’s really, really, really special.”

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Still, this lockout-threatened winter raises even more unknowns than usual.

Thus, even though he noted that “there’s still so much in front of us” this postseason, Vesia has allowed some nostalgia to creep in too.

“Even with Miggy and his sort of goodbye to baseball,” Vesia said, referencing likely-to-retire teammate Miguel Rojas, “some of the stuff that he has said about this team, I also resonate with. Like, it hits me too.”

Entering this October, Vesia’s bonds in the clubhouse and, especially, the bullpen –– a group he was first to nickname “The Dawgs” during their heroic contributions to the team’s 2024 title –– have never felt stronger.

Since the beginning of the season, he has been effusive in describing the ways they have supported him in the wake of last year’s tragedy.

In recent weeks, he has felt the unit’s performance collectively click into place, too, with the Dodgers’ relief corps emerging as a potentially underrated strength in their bid for a World Series three-peat.

“It was just like, guys got out of certain innings where … you could just see them start to trust their stuff,” Vesia said. “It’s definitely exciting. I think our guys in the bullpen are catching strides at the right time.”

Per usual, Vesia has been a key part of that resurgence. He posted a 2.64 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 58 innings on the season. More importantly, he improved his previously faulty command down the stretch, walking just one batter in 11 appearances during September.

Now, he’s hoping it sets up a storybook ending to what has been an emotional campaign –– and potentially his impactful Dodgers career.

“The way I view things are a little bit different. The way I go about my business is a little bit different. The way I’m motivated is a little bit different,” he said, while reflecting back on a traumatic 12 months that have made his connections in the organization all the more meaningful. 

“Ultimately, I know the job that I have to do,” he added. “But yeah, my motivation for this month is different.”

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers won a championship in 2024 with a decimated starting rotation and dominant bullpen, then flipped the script with a stellar rotation buoying a shaky bullpen to win another title in 2025. This year the Dodgers might have melded the two heading into October.

“We have a lot of really talented arms,” general manager Brandon Gomes said Tuesday. “I think this is about as deep of a pitching staff as we’ve ever had. There’s a lot of really good options to work through as a group.”

For now, we’ll focus on the rotation, which looks just as strong this year as it did last October, even though Shohei Ohtani hasn’t pitched since July 3 and will not pitch this postseason. The Dodgers filled that slot with a two-time Cy Young Award winner, trading for Tarik Skubal on August 2.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto was again the rock of the starting rotation, making every start for the second year in a row. Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow each missed multiple months with a long injured-list stint in season, then returned with enough of a runway to get ready for October. All four put up solid numbers this season.

“To be honest, we can kind of really put all four guys in a hat, and run them out there,” manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday.

Last year, Yamamoto, Snell, Ohtani, and Glasnow combined to start all 17 postseason games, and put up a collective 2.55 ERA in 113 innings, with 127 strikeouts and a 28.5-percent strikeout rate. All four of them pitched in Game 7 of the World Series, including Yamamoto getting the final eight outs one day after winning Game 6 as the starter. Yamamoto last October pitched the Dodgers’ first two postseason compete games since 1988, and Blake Snell had starts of eight and seven innings as well.

Quality starts are a bit crude, but criticism tends to focus on the minimum requirements — at least six innings, with no more than three earned runs allowed. But across MLB this regular season, teams went 1,094-484 (.693) in games when they got a quality start, with a collective 1.74 ERA from the starters in those games.

This season, the Dodgers led the majors with 83 quality starts, eight more than the next-best team, the Philadelphia Phillies. Those 83 quality starts by the Dodgers this year were their most since 2015, when they got 95 quality starts from a rotation that included the second- and third-place finishers in National League Cy Young Award voting (Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw). They were 60-23 (.723) when getting a quality start in 2026.

Dodgers starters last postseason had 10 quality starts, more than any pitching staff since the 2013 Detroit Tigers. Those 10 quality starts in 17 games were one more than the Dodgers had in their previous five postseasons combined, totaling 53 games.

Last postseason, the Dodgers won all 10 of the games in which they received a quality start, with zero or one run allowed by the starter in seven of those games. Two of those quality starts were by Ohtani, but he’s replaced in the rotation by Skubal, who last postseason posted three quality starts in his three tries, totaling 36 strikeouts and four runs allowed in his 20 2/3 innings for the Detroit Tigers.

“Watching Tarik Skubal pitch in the playoffs last year was must-see TV. I was in awe, watching the energy, the dominance he exhibited there,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said in August after trading for Skubal. “I can’t wait to see it on our club.”