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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What does he remember about that moment?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So Betts took charge and put on the play.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stott bunted.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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

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

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

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

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

So, what gives?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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