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The White Sox (84-78) got off to a great start to the postseason with a 6-3 victory, and they hold a 1-0 series lead over the Astros (81-81).

Sean Burke, 26, will start on the mound for the South Siders. Burke posted a 3.36 ERA and a 3.62 FIP in 172 1/3 regular season innings. Burke accumulated 3.2 fWAR to lead the White Sox pitching staff in the regular season. The talented right-handed pitcher had two starts against Houston in the regular season, and he performed admirably against them, only allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits in 11 2/3 innings. The Astros posted a slash line of only .125/.239/.150 against Burke, but the Astros managed to win one of those games.

Hunter Brown, 28, is a right-handed starter who will be challenging for the White Sox to solve. Brown posted a 3.19 ERA and a 3.77 FIP in 107 1/3 innings, resulting in an accumulation of 1.9 fWAR this year. Brown made two starts against the South Siders, and those games went exceptionally well for him, as he only allowed two runs on eight hits in 13 innings. The White Sox slashed just .174/.208/.174 against Brown, so it is no surprise that the Astros won both of those games.

Here are this afternoon’s starting lineups:

This game is available on NBC Sports Network and Peacock, and we have further details in our broadcast guide. The first pitch is scheduled to take place at 4:00 p.m. CT. Will the South Siders complete a sweep for their first postseason series victory in 21 years? Let’s enjoy these exciting moments together.

Jazz is back, and so is a left-handed heavy Yankee lineup.

After sitting in favor of Anthony Volpe against Red Sox lefty Payton Tolle in Tuesday’s Game 1 win, Jazz Chisholm Jr. returned to the lineup for Game 2 on Wednesday against right-hander Sonny Gray as the Yankees looked to sweep the AL wild-card series.

Trent Grisham also entered the starting lineup in center field, batting seventh and bumping Spencer Jones to right field after the rookie had manned center almost every game during Grisham’s three-week IL stint for a hamstring strain.

And Ryan McMahon, who entered Game 1 in the fifth inning as a defensive replacement for the right-handed hitting Amed Rosario, is getting the start at third base against Gray.

Rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr. is the only right-handed hitter in the entire lineup, with the Yankees stacking the deck with lefties against Gray and a right-handed heavy bench awaiting the lefties in the Red Sox bullpen.

Upon informing him that he would not be in the lineup for Game 1, Aaron Boone said he texted Chisholm to tell him to be ready, because “you might be the most important person in the building tonight.”

Ultimately, that opportunity never came as the Yankees ran away with a 9-0 win, which Chisholm watched all of from the dugout.

But the second baseman will have a chance to make his mark on Wednesday against Gray, trying to send the Yankees into the ALDS against the Rays with an extra day off.

White Sox sweep Astros for first playoff series win in 21 years, Guardians next originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

For the first time in 21 years, the Chicago White Sox have won a playoff series, dispatching the Houston Astros with a 7-3 win on Wednesday.

Coincidentally, their last series win had been the 2005 World Series against the Astros, and just like that series, it ended with a sweep in Houston as they used big games from Chase Meidroth and Andrew Benintendi to triumph over the Astros.

The White Sox wasted zero time getting off to a big start, chasing Astros starter Hunter Brown from the game in the first inning with four runs.

Kyle Teel lashed an RBI single to right field to score Sam Antonacci to start the rally, then Andrew Benintendi hit a broken bat single to center field to score Teel. A throwing error allowed Miguel Vargas to score, then Tristan Peters hit an RBI single to right to give Chicago a 4-0 lead after one half inning.

Trying to avoid elimination, the Astros started to slowly chip away at the Chicago lead, with Jeremy Pena, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve all hitting solo home runs to trim the advantage to 4-3 after four innings of play.

The White Sox leaned on their bullpen to keep the game close in the coming innings, and Meidroth landed a huge blow in the fight, hammering a home run to left field that scored three more runs and extended the Chicago lead to 7-3, bringing the team ever closer to their first playoff series win in more than 20 years.

The team’s bullpen shone brightly in the final innings, with Huascar Brazoban, Anthony Kay, Jordan Hicks and Erick Fedde combining for five shutout innings of relief to send the White Sox to the American League Division Series, where they’ll face the Cleveland Guardians.

NEW YORK — The good vibes engendered by the Boston Red Sox's stirring second-half run are in danger of vanishing for good. 

And the New York Yankees are poised to set themselves up in near-optimal position for an American League Division Series battle against the division champion Tampa Bay Rays. 

First, though: Game 2 of the AL wild-card series, with the Yankees getting two shots to eliminate the Red Sox beginning Wednesday, Sept. 30 at Yankee Stadium. 

Sonny Gray anticipates getting a loud and not particularly polite greeting from fans in the Bronx as he starts Game 2 trying to keep the Red Sox alive. The right-hander who pitched for the Yankees in 2017 and 2018 said upon the Red Sox acquiring him late last year that it was "easy to hate" the Yankees. 

MORE: Sonny Gray must save Red Sox season in Bronx, where he couldn't stop 'snowball'

He'll find out just how easy that sentiment can be reciprocated. 

Meanwhile, left-hander Max Fried will try to pitch the Yankees into the ALDS and should he and the bullpen succeed, the club is in great shape against the Rays: Right-hander Gerrit Cole will be ready for Game 1, Saturday, followed by an off day that lines up ace Cam Schlittler, with an extra days' rest, to boot. 

New York is aiming to eliminate Boston in this round for the second consecutive season. 

Follow along: 

Where to watch Yankees vs Red Sox: Channel, live stream

First pitch between the Yankees and Red Sox is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 30.

• TV:NBC
• Streaming:Peacock

Watch the MLB Postseason on Peacock

The 2026 Dodgers regular season is over, and we already looked at the final week of the season and the final month. Now let’s look how the season played out in thirds, in increments of 54 games.

The offense took a dip in the final third of the season, but was buoyed by a bounce back from the pitching staff. Just two games into the final 54 games, the Dodgers started their longest losing streak of the season, dropping seven games in a row, but recovered to win 32 games over the final third of the campaign, a 96-win pace.

Let’s delve into the offense first, beginning with the catchers.

For the second year in a row, the Dodgers found themselves without both Will Smith and Dalton Rushing for extended periods, and once again Ben Rortvedt was involved in the cleanup mission. This time, both Rortvedt and Hunter Feduccia were reacquired at the trade deadline and handled catching duties for most of August before Smith returned in September and was back to his normal production level in the final month.

Rushing didn’t catch after August 1, suffering a partially torn UCL in his right elbow, and then aggravated the elbow during throwing drills in the first week of September, limited to just eight plate appearances over the final eight weeks of the season.

Shohei Ohtani didn’t hit a home run after August 18 and landed on the injured list in September, Andy Pages was productive but missed four weeks after getting hit by a fastball on his left hand. Freddie Freeman played nearly every day but hit like Expos-era Pete Rose with only one home run over the final third of the season, and played through a right knee injury in September.

Conversely, Mookie Betts found his stroke again and paced the offense, with Max Muncy continuing his steady production. Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker had upturns over the final month especially.

Tommy Edman, Kiké Hernández, Miguel Rojas, and Alex Call all struggled in the final third of the season, while Josue De Paula excelled in his two-week runway after making his debut.

Now, the pitching.

This is a bit of a mishmash, as it includes relief appearances by Justin Wrobleski, Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan, and Eric Lauer in the totals. Shohei Ohtani did not pitch at all in the final third of the season, but the Dodgers traded for Tarik Skubal and got Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow back to go with Yoshinobu Yamamoto to set the team up for October. Those four combined for a 2.49 ERA and 30.3-percent strikeout rate in 33 starts over the final 54 games, including 21 quality starts. That’ll play

The Dodgers bullpen found their way once again over the final third of the season, with the big four of Tanner Scott, Edgardo Henriquez, Alex Vesia, and Jack Dreyer buoyed by a now-healthy Evan Phillips and Brock Stewart, who look like October contributors after missing last postseason after surgeries.

That is our look at the 2026 Dodgers season, 54 games at a time.

Some controversy around Don Mattingly’s use of his closer in yesterday’s NL Wildcard game vs. the Braves should provide some opportunity for conversation for the Guardians leading into their American League Division Series beginning this weekend.

Entering the bottom of the seventh inning with a 3-2 lead, Mattingly brought Jhoan Duran in to face numbers 9, 1 and 2 in the Atlanta Braves’ order. He then brought him out again in the eighth to get hitters 3, 4 and 5 in the order. The internet is now full of folks calling Mattingly’s decision to go to his closer earlier a mistake because Duran ended up giving up a 3-run, go-ahead homer to Austin Riley in the 8th after the 5th and 6th hitters reach (via infield hit and a hit-by-pitch). But, I don’t think that’s quite fair to Mattingly… or to Duran… or to any team that might take a similar strategic path.

Duran came in with a narrow one-run lead and got five straight outs from the most dangerous hitters in the Atlanta lineup. He then gave up incredibly weak contact that unluckily resulted in a hit. At this point, someone should have been warming and getting ready as quickly as possible. Said pitcher would have had six pitches and a potential mound visit to start to get ready before the fateful Riley at-bat. However, I suspect Mattingly had a longer leash on Duran than optimal because the Phillies’ bullpen as a whole is not great.

I would argue that Mattingly’ process – despite the bad result – was sound. The most important thing to do in a playoff game in which you have a lead in the 7th or later is make sure that your best reliever throws meaningful pitches against your opponent’s best hitters. He accomplished this and got 5 out of 6 hitters out. At that point, I think it would have made sense to have the next best option ready to come in the game and remove Duran, not only because it was an unfamiliar situation for their closer but because there were two outs and you’re asking for one more out with a runner on first. Additionally, no one other than the six hitters who have faced him gets a rep against Duran to help them later in the series (though Atlanta is very familiar with the Phillies).

I hope Stephen Vogt can have conversations with his bullpen about similar situations. If the Guardians had the exact same situation, going to Cade Smith there makes perfect sense and guarantees he sees the best hitters at the end of the game with a lead. Smith also has experience going multiple innings and being the “fireman” in the past. The off days of the series should also allow the Guardians to be aggressive with Smith and their other best arms as they will have time to recover in-between appearances. Erik Sabrowski, Daniel Espino, Shawn Armstrong, a healthy Colin Holderman and even on a good day Tim Herrin are more than capable of getting a batter to end the 8th… or you let Tanner Bibee or Foster Griffin throw the kitchen sink at a hitter.

I do not mean to dismiss the importance of reliever comfort and role establishment. If the team truly believes that Smith being jarred from the role of pitching the 8th into the 9th would negatively affect his mental status, don’t do it. However, from everything we know of Cade, I doubt this is the case. The one thing to avoid at all costs is losing a lead in the 7th or later without Cade Smith facing your opponent’s greatest threats. Mattingly made sure to avoid it yesterday and I hope the Guardians will as well in the series to come.