ESPN | Jorge Castillo: From the man himself! Aaron Judge spoke on the record with ESPN ahead of last night’s game and said he intends to be in the lineup for next week’s Wild Card Series, and in the postgame, he sounded displeased with manager Aaron Boone describing his calf strain as “moderate.” For whatever it’s worth, Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network said on the telecast last night that this actually wasn’t all that dissimilar from what Judge was saying over the weekend in Arizona; the difference is that this came after Boone’s comments on Tuesday, when he said he wasn’t expecting Judge to return by then.

The Yankee captain is eligible to come off the IL in the season finale on Sunday versus Baltimore, but after the team spent most of the early part of the week downplaying expectations of him appearing in the first round of the postseason…both sides can’t be right.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The Yankees have a little under a week to round out how they want to approach the Wild Card Series, and the first two questions pertain to the roles of Anthony Volpe and Ryan McMahon seem to be getting slightly clearer. Volpe was taking grounders at third ahead of Wednesday’s game with the Rays, and Mac has gradually placed himself in the near-unplayable category (big night at the plate last night notwithstanding). Volpe’s never been at third before as a pro, and it’s fair to question whether he has the arm strength, but he’s hit better than McMahon since returning and the Yankees need runs.

Also in this article: Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t given up on contributing to the 2026 playoff run just yet. He and Trent Grisham were working out on the field at Double-A Somerset. Grisham’s eyeing the Wild Card Series to get back from his hamstring injury, but Stanton is at least trying to make himself a pinch-hit option.

New York Post | Matt Ehalt: Garrett Crochet has dominated the Yankees since coming over to Boston, but the lefty hasn’t appeared in an MLB game since April 25th of this year. The rehabbing southpaw is hitting 96 in bullpens though, and while he likely won’t start for the Red Sox in the Wild Card round, it’s entirely possible Boston has one of the more overpowering arms in baseball ready to go in the bullpen.

FanGraphs | Michael Baumann: The Yankees spent more of the year without Aaron Judge than with him, and will play at least the first round of the postseason without him as well. Losing the game’s best hitter would hurt any team but New York especially seems to struggle in a Judge-less offense, scoring a full run less per game when he’s IL’d against when he’s in the lineup. Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger now face outsized pressure next week, as often the only two representative hitters on the club should Judge not actually return.

CBS Sports | Todd Feurer: A melancholy happy trails to Don Cooper, best known for spending 33 seasons as a coach with the White Sox organization including 18 as the MLB pitching coach, up through 2020. Cooper also spent part of the 1985 campaign on the mound for the Yankees, and took home a World Series ring on the South Side in 2005. Don Cooper was 70 years old.

Cam Schlittler is on his way to the AL Cy Young, but that has not yet guaranteed him the start in Game 1 of the AL wild-card series next week.

As of Wednesday, the Yankees were still working through their plans for the rotation in the first round of the playoffs, with Aaron Boone only willing to go as far as saying Schlittler would pitch in one of the first two games.

Asked if the Yankees were lining up Schlittler, who is slated to start Thursday against the Rays, for Game 1 of the wild-card series, Boone said, “not necessarily,” reasoning that whoever starts Game 1 or 2 would still be able to pitch Games 2 and 5 of a potential ALDS.

“There’s like three or four different iterations of it, really, whether you go Cam or Max [Fried] Game 1 or 2, and then where you fit Carlos [Rodón] and Gerrit [Cole] in,” pitching coach Matt Blake said before the Yankees’ 9-2 blowout win over the Rays on Wednesday night at the Stadium. “There’s a bunch of different iterations of those four guys across three games that could make sense, depending on who you’re playing and what that means coming out of the rest here into potential rest in the next series. But obviously you got to win the wild card.”

Schlittler, who owns a 1.94 ERA, would be pitching on his fifth day if he started Tuesday’s Game 1, likely against the Red Sox. Cole, who started Wednesday night, would be on his sixth day, while Fried and Rodón would be on their seventh day.

Blake acknowledged that “in a vacuum,” the Yankees would prefer their starter to be going on his sixth day, “but I don’t think that would necessarily dictate where they throw necessarily.”

“Whatever makes sense strategically we’ll probably go with because they’ll all have adequate rest,” Blake said. “Cam would be on the shortest for Game 1, but reasonable.”

Cole, who returned from Tommy John surgery in May, picked up the win Wednesday night to finish his season with a 10-9 record and a 3.61 ERA.

Fried has a 2.80 ERA and just got to his full clip of pitches Tuesday in his fifth start back from the IL, while Rodón dominated the Rays on Tuesday to lower his ERA to 2.67.

“Obviously you’re looking at the whole body of work, but the last month or so is pretty telling of where guys are at physically and what they’re capable of doing down the stretch,” Blake said. “But there’s also with Gerrit, it’s not just the month, it’s knowing who he is. Carlos is obviously throwing the ball really well, Gerrit’s an historically good pitcher, threw the ball well in Arizona.”

The 2026 season refuses to die.

Josh Naylor walked off the Astros 6-5 in the 10th inning on Wednesday to keep the Mariners longshot playoff hopes alive. The Mariners entered the bottom of the inning down a run, but drew three walks to force the Manfred Man across to make it 5-5. Naylor followed with a bloop single to secure the win.

The game was broadcast on national television because the series figured to have playoff implications way back when ESPN set their schedule. Technically, that wound up being true. The Mariners entered the day still in the race but facing elimination. They need to win out and for the Astros and Rangers to each lose out to force a three-way tie at 78-84, which somehow would give the division to the Mariners. What are the odds? Well, FanGraphs this morning said literally 0.0%, so certainly not high. Even with the win, they still need 12 consecutive results to go their way, in a season where absolutely nothing has gone their way. This made ESPN’s coverage feel less like a postseason preview and more like an autopsy of a living corpse, as their analysts interrogated every nook and cranny of failure that got the Mariners to this point.

George Kirby got the ball in his final start of the year. He imploded in the third, giving up four runs on a walk, a double, a single, a double, and a home run. It was the type of inning we’ve seen plenty from Kirby in 2026, where he’s cruising, showing great stuff, generating whiffs, then suddenly unravels at the first sign of trouble. It’s always on a weird play, too. The single in that sequence was a bizarre grounder down the line line that skipped over the bag and glanced off the umpires ankle and into left field for a run. I mean, if anything, this helped Randy Arozarena get to the ball quicker, so it was hardly a transgression. But flukey play you rarely see followed by extra bases and runs seems to how this year has gone.

It’s been a weird season for Kirby. Or “was” a weird season. It was surely his worst as a big leaguer. The “why” isn’t unclear. His repertoire hardly changed. His stuff hardly changed. I can’t find anything discernible in where he threw the ball. Batters just seemed to have him figured out, neither whiffing nor chasing, waiting to pounce on the occasional mistake left hanging over the plate. It’s surprising because he’d taken a notable step forward last year in the late summer after his return from the injured list. Like so many of his teammates, 2026 represents an inexplicable step back in an otherwise strong career. I guess we’ll see if he figures it out by next year, if he’s still in Seattle.

The Mariners, to their credit, got some runs back in the bottom of the third. Lazaro Montes led off with a walk, J.P. Crawford singled behind him, and Randy Arozarena walked to load the bases. Dominic Canzone followed with a 112-mph line drive single to right field to score a pair of runs. Julio picked up another run with a double to cut the lead to 4-3. 

They tied the game in the fifth inning on a Randy single, a Randy steal, and a Canzone single. That duo has made up so much of the offense this year, and they were the main reason the Mariners were in this game at all. 

The game sat tied for a while for a while form there. Jose Ferrer pitched a clean inning. So did Gabe Speier, Carlos Vargas, and Seranthony Domínguez. The Mariners bullpen was great in this one, racking up seven strikeouts over four scoreless innings in regulation. 

Then it was the bottom of the ninth. Dan Wilson called on Taylor Ward to pinch hit for Montes to face Josh Hader. This wasn’t a popular decision because Ward has been terrible since joining the team at the trade deadline. But platoons are platoons are platoons. Ward nearly ended the game with a hard line drive that went just foul. He followed it up by dropping a bloop single into right, briefly getting him off the hook. But it was all for not, as Hader picked him off at first to end the threat.

Ward couldn’t find any place to hide after that. In the 10th inning, with the Manfred Man on second, Yainer Diaz roped line drive to right. Ward ranged over and gave it a diving effort but couldn’t quite get there, allowing the ball to roll the fence for an RBI triple to give the Astros a 5-4 lead.

That brought the Mariners back up in the 10th with the Manfred Man on second. The Astros left Hader in the game despite having already thrown 19 pitches in the ninth. He walked Arozarena on seven pitches. He walked Cal on six to load the bases. He dotted Julio up and down and all around, but Julio battled, fouling off pitches eventually taking a tough slider out of the zone for ball four. The walk forced in a run and tied the game at five. Hader’s next pitch (number 44 on the night) was a sinker way up and out of the zone to Naylor, whopoked it into center for the game winning run.

Again, the Mariners are still technically alive entering the final weekend of play. They face the Angels at home for a four game series. The Astros face the A’s in Sacramento. The Rangers have one more against the Mets then go to Minneapolis. The Mariners need all 12 results to go their way.

The sound alone gave a jolt to the ballpark.

For too long, Dodger Stadium hadn’t heard anything like it.

In his return from the injured list on Wednesday night, Shohei Ohtani came up in the bottom of the seventh inning and put a charge into a ball that went soaring through the late-summer night sky. 

Ohtani had squared it up, connecting on a 99 mph fastball from San Diego Padres right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez. He sent it scorching off his barrel, recording an exit velocity of 103.4 mph.

For a brief moment, Chavez Ravine roared in anticipation.

But then, Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill settled under it. The 384-foot drive died at the warning track.

In the Dodgers’ eventual 5-1 loss to the Padres, the swing was a reflection of where Ohtani finds himself at the moment: By all accounts, much improved from the visibly diminished state he was in before going on the injured list with right arm and left knee injuries; but also, still not back to his completely normal self with the start of the playoffs less than two weeks away.

“He certainly feels way better,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said pregame. “I think just getting as many at-bats as he can and that rhythm and timing back before we head into October is going to be really helpful.”

In his comeback game, Ohtani got four trips to the plate. He singled in the first inning on a 99 mph line drive to right. He drew a six-pitch walk in the third, showing improved plate discipline than he had during a dismal couple weeks leading up to his IL stint. 

But he also struck out with the bases loaded in the fourth, squandering the Dodgers’ best chance to erase an early deficit by fanning on a full-count sinker from Padres reliever David Morgan (after having what initially appeared to be a run-scoring walk earlier in the at-bat overturned on an ABS challenge).

Then, after his flyout in the seventh, he went down swinging again against Padres closer Mason Miller in the ninth to wrap a 1-for-4 showing.

“He looked good,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It just felt like he wasn’t sped up at all, and I think he came out of it pretty well.”

The most encouraging thing, of course, was the way Ohtani looked.

He wasn’t shaking out his arm. He didn’t have any awkward one-handed finishes with his swing. And while his drive in the seventh didn’t clear the fence, it still marked the hardest contact he had made with a ball in almost six weeks (when measured by exit velo).

“I think if you look back at the last couple weeks when he was active, he wasn’t really getting to that pitch,” Roberts said. “I think tonight showed that he’s in a good spot physically.”

The question now is how much more Ohtani can improve before, and then throughout, October –– with the Dodgers remaining cautiously optimistic that the worst of his season-long health saga is finally behind him.

“There’s no question [his injuries] affected him,” Friedman said. “And I think the fact that he feels as good as he does right now is certainly encouraging. Now, it’s about making sure that holds.”

Indeed, before going on the IL, Ohtani was a shell of himself offensively.

He had gone 6-for-his-last-52 before finally being shut down. He was showing visible signs of pain and subtle deficiencies in his swing mechanics. Any flickering hopes of him returning to pitching this season were also finally blown out.

“A few weeks ago,” Roberts said, “you could see that he couldn’t hit a fastball, he was underneath everything, and that it was a slower swing.”

For one night, at least, the Dodgers saw progress.

But that doesn’t mean Ohtani is back to 100%.

Roberts was careful to temper expectations before the game, noting that “it’s been a while since he’s played.” 

Friedman also highlighted some of the lingering uncertainties surrounding the 32-year-old slugger, saying the Dodgers would closely monitor how Ohtani feels after taking “game-intensity at-bats” again.

“These aren’t things that there’s a clear answer to,” Friedman said when asked what version of Ohtani the Dodgers anticipate seeing in the playoffs. “I think everyone, this time of year, is dealing with some stuff.”

That might be true. But two weeks ago, Ohtani was clearly in a worse-than-normal spot.

That’s why he went on the IL. It’s why he missed six of seven games even before that. It’s why Wednesday felt like such an important test, with only five games remaining in the regular season for him to find “some rhythm and timing” with his swing entering the playoffs, as Friedman put it.

“It’s go-time for all of us,” Roberts said beforehand. “I can’t really speak to if he’s going to hit a homer tonight, but I do think that there’s going to be a heightened focus. So I think he’s in a good spot.”

For now, the Dodgers will take him simply looking better.

Astros 5, Mariners 6

Mariners Win: Julio Rodríguez, +0.46 WPA
Rewrite: George Kirby, -0.18 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day

Shohei Ohtani’s swing was a little out in front of a slider delivered by Padres left-hander Robbie Ray. But Ohtani held back his hands long enough to extend them to the pitch and shoot it through the right side of the infield.

It wasn’t flashy. But considering it was his first at-bat in more than two weeks, in a tough matchup no less, it was a promising sign.

“It’s been a while since he’s played in a game, but it just felt like he wasn’t sped up at all,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 5-1 loss to the Padres. “And I think he came out of it pretty well.”

The good news quickly dried up for the Dodgers after that, as they missed a chance to clinch a first-round bye with a win. But Ohtani’s return was still significant, and the success of his end-of-season tune-up will have playoff implications.

Ohtani did not address reporters Wednesday and has only done so once in the last five weeks, despite multiple requests.

The Dodgers activated Ohtani, who went one-for-four Wednesday, from the 15-day IL before the game and optioned rookie Josue De Paula to Triple A. De Paula is still under consideration for the National League Division Series roster as a bat off the bench.

“This was the original thought, that once Shohei gets back, we’re going to send him out,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We had a runway to give him, which we gave him and he performed more than admirably. This also, as far as the timing, just gives us an opportunity to potentially have him back for the postseason. He’s a part of the conversation, and he’s earned that, and that’s what I told him last night.”

Read more:The Dodgers’ Josue De Paula can hit. Now he’s out to prove he can play defense, too

De Paula joined triple-A Oklahoma City for Game 2 of the PCL Championship on Wednesday. And Ohtani slid into the Dodgers lineup, hitting second in the batting order for the first time this season, with Mookie Betts leading off against the Padres southpaw.

“I know Shohei, Mookie, they’re always on board with whatever I decide to do,” Roberts said. “I think it just makes it tougher to navigate versus left. There’s a Mookie tax [to get to Ohtani]. If you want to get to Freddie [Freeman], there’s a Will Smith tax. I like that. And versus a right-hander, I like kind of flipping those two for the same reasons.”

Ohtani, welcomed back in his first at-bat by a partial standing ovation, walked in his second plate appearance. And with two out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning, he appeared to have walked again.

Then Padres catcher Ethan Salas tapped the top of his head to challenge the ball call. And an ABS review showed the fastball had clipped the top of the strike zone. Ohtani fouled off the next two pitches before whiffing on a sinker to end the inning.

That missed opportunity rolled right into a sloppy fifth inning for the Dodgers defense.

Starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto had given up a two-run homer to Manny Machado the previous inning but had otherwise avoided damage.

To open the fifth, he induced Salas to hit the ball on the ground, but it got away from second baseman Tommy Edman as he dove up the middle, for a single.

Yamamoto then got a soft grounder out of Fernando Tatís Jr. But it was too soft, giving Tatís time to reach first before third baseman Max Muncy could get off a throw.

With runners on first and second, Yamamoto had a chance to contribute on defense, fielding Dustin Harris’ comebacker bunt. But Yamamoto’s throw to third sailed wide, allowing a run to score. Machado then made it a 4-1 game with a sacrifice fly.

Ohtani came up to the plate again in the seventh inning and put Dodgers fans on the edge of their seats by sending a long fly ball to straightaway center field. But the cheers died down as it fell shy of the fence.

“I think if you look back at the last couple weeks when he was active, he wasn’t really getting to that pitch,” Roberts said of the high fastball. “I think there might have been one pitch late that he squared up to left field that was at the top of the zone. But outside of that it was hard for him to catch up. I think tonight showed that he’s in a good spot physically.”

The top of the Dodgers order got one last chance to start a rally in the ninth inning, against star closer Mason Miller. Only Will Smith reached base, on a walk, and advanced to third on defensive indifference. Ohtani struck out on a slider.

“[Ohtani] certainly feels way better with the rest,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said before the game. “The biggest thing with five games to go is get him as many at-bats as we can, some rhythm and timing.”

Ohtani could get a day off in that span, Friedman said, but the Dodgers will make those decisions based on how he’s feeling.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani to return from IL Wednesday, but Dodgers still have unanswered questions in final week

“Just getting as many at-bats as he can and that rhythm and timing back before we head into October is going to be really helpful,” Friedman said.

Ohtani was not in rhythm before he landed on the IL. In the last three weeks before the Dodgers finally shelved him, he had a .130 batting average. And he only had two hits in his last seven games (26 at-bats) before the move.

“You end up making subconscious adjustments where you’re protecting yourself,” Friedman said, “and there’s just slight degradation as that’s happening that compounds over time.”

Though the Dodgers downplayed the correlation before Ohtani landed on the IL, they now hope that Ohtani’s improved health will go hand-in-hand with better performance.

“Shohei says he feels back to where he was earlier in the year, which is great, which is a good start,” Friedman said. “As they are coming back, it’s important for them to feel that way … now the question is, as you start to load on real games and that intensity and that workload, it’s making sure that what we’ve done keeps guys in position to be at their best.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.