LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 1, 2026: Dodger fans Haruya Shibata, left, and Yoshiko Shibata, visiting from Japan, wear towels on their heads for shade during he Southern California heat wave before the game against the Boston Red Sox at Dodger Stadium on August 1, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The San Diego Padres closed out their wild card series with a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night, completing a two-game sweep. That means the Padres will play the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series. It also clarifies the start time for the Dodgers NLDS Game 1 on Saturday, now a 1 p.m. PT start time at Dodger Stadium, televised by Fox.
The Dodgers in the NLDS will play the winner of Thursday’s wild card Game 3 between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies at Truist Park in Atlanta. That game will be played at 5 p.m. PT on Thursday, televised by NBC and streamed by Peacock.
Even late in the preseason, once it became an open secret that he’d made the team, Eklund didn’t let himself get caught up in it.
So when he was told he’d be with the Islanders as they opened the season on Wednesday here in Toronto with a 2-1 loss to the Leafs, he felt the full weight of the accomplishment.
Rookie Victor Eklund moves the puck up ice during the Islanders’ 2-1 season-opening loss to the Maple Leafs on Sept. 30, 2026 in Toronto. Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
“It was kind of a shock,” Eklund told The Post. “I just tried to play to my best every day. I didn’t feel like I was safe at any time.”
Ironic, given that less than an hour before that conversation, general manager Mathieu Darche had described the decision by calling it the obvious thing to do.
But while Eklund came into camp as an underdog to make the roster, his inclusion was the obvious move by the end of it. His play, combined with the spot opened up by Mat Barzal’s injury, made it so.
Eklund ultimately skated 11:38 in his first meaningful NHL minutes — his debut last year came in a meaningless Game 82 — getting thrown straight into the fire as Toronto coach Jim Hiller matched his top line of Auston Matthews, Kirill Marchenko and Jack Roslovic with Eklund’s line.
Unsurprisingly given that context, it took him some time to look comfortable, and Eklund sat the final 7:34 as Pete DeBoer cut down his bench. The Islanders’ coach, though, still had good things to say about the rookie’s performance.
“I thought he got better as the game went on,” DeBoer said. “… He had a couple looks too. He could’ve scored. I had no problem with his game at all.”
Mat Barzal (left kneecap) has made “really, really good progress,” according to general manager Mathieu Darche, and is expected to begin skating “early next week at the latest.”
Darche indicated the Islanders “took a step back” from the original timeline, which indicated Barzal would begin skating now, but continued to project optimism.
Once Barzal does start skating, the next step is to make sure his knee still has no inflammation, and the Islanders can move forward from there.
Long Island resident Nick Leopard, the founder and CEO of Accordion, an AI-focused financial consulting firm is the lead investor of the group that bought a 15 percent share in the team, The Post confirmed.
According to Sports Business Journal, which first reported Leopard’s identity, both he and David Shuman, whose minority stake was announced by the Islanders in late August, have been approved by the NHL.
Chris Fagan will return to Victoria after stepping down as Brisbane coach after securing a third AFL flag on the bounce with a stunning 2026 grand final triumph over Fremantle.
The 65-year-old told the Lions on Thursday he would not return for an 11th season at the helm, despite having a year to run on his contract.
PHOENIX, AZ - SEPTEMBER 24: The inside of Chase Field goes dark as the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants is interupted by a twenty-minute power outage in the seventh inning of a MLB game at Chase Field on September 24, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images) | Getty Images
How ya feeling?
Preston Salisbury: Unsurprised and also disappointed. The best this team has will never be good enough. That’s unbelievably frustrating.
samath: The Diamondbacks’ Game 162 was scheduled for 3am here in Singapore. I wasn’t planning on waking up for it, but when I did wake up naturally at 5am, I couldn’t fall back asleep as I wondered what had transpired. I turned on my computer in time to watch the top of the 9th in Philadelphia and then the rest of the Diamondbacks’ last game of the season.
It’s now 6am and while those were both disappointing results, I’m glad I managed to see them live with you all, something I haven’t had the privilege to do too much this year. Feeling a sense of finality with it all. And exhaustion — I’m going back to bed after writing this.
Spencer: Fine. I projected 79 wins on the year. So I’m just pleased the team over performed.
James Attwood: Frustrated and somewhat disappointed. But, they took the season all the way to Game 162, which greatly exceeds the expectations I had for this team, given the injury concerns and the payroll issues.
Makakilo: Unhappy. My definition of success is black and white: Did the Diamondbacks reach the playoffs? Perhaps, missing on the last day fo the season feels worse than missing by a mile.
1AZfan1: Wish I was getting ready to watch the Diamondbacks in the playoffs, so a little disappointed.
Ben: Disappointed. Frustrated by my disappointment. This is the third straight season they’ve missed the postseason by an agonizing margin and it feels a little like we as fans are the proverbial Charlie Brown with the postseason as the football and the rest of the league acting as Lucy.
ISH95: Disappointed. A little numb. I drank the Koolaid a lot this season, for some reason, and really thought they had a shot, but ultimately, the deficiencies we knew they had at the beginning of the season turned out to be true.
The Diamondbacks outperformed almost everyone’s preseason expectations. What went right to make this happen?
Preston Salisbury: Actually, very little went right. Gabriel Moreno was great and became just the fifth catcher to win a batting title. The emergency signing starting pitching was good. E-Rod finally earned his keep. But Marte, Carroll, and Perdomo all fell short of expectations, and the entire medical staff across the entire organization needs to be shown the door.
samath: ERod and the bullpen were amazing, better than we could have ever hoped.
Spencer: Eduardo Rodriguez. Michael Soroka. Rookies like Waldy, Fernandez and Lawlar having month(ish) stretches of great production (and the team sitting then when necessary).
James Attwood: Mike Hazen’s haul of pitching from the last two seasons, plus a few savvy flyers being taken led to the Diamondbacks having a mostly dominant bullpen. As the season wore on, the cream rose to the top and they largely carried the team for two months.
Makakilo: During the preseason, my last prediction was 85.1 wins. Instead they had 86 wins. Their wins were very close to my preseason expectation.
1AZfan1: The buy-low, bullpen volatility strategy Hazen’s been chasing for a decade finally hit and we had a competent bullpen. That and E-Rod, Soroka and Pfaadt hit in a big way alongside the shrewd trade for future Hall of Famer Nolan Arenado.
Ben: Both Michael Soroka and Eduardo Rodriguez turning back the clock to look like co-aces, Gabriel Moreno having the best single-season performance as a catcher in franchise history (https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/bzNwP), and having an excellent bullpen for probably only the second time in the Mike Hazen era.
ISH95: Well I think the biggest thing is that Eduardo Rodrgiuez got to talk to a different pitching coach at the WBC and figured some stuff out. Shout out Johan Santana. Beyond that, Soroka living up to the top of his expectations, and bullpen volatility bouncing our way for once.
On the flip side, the Diamondbacks missed the playoffs by a single game for the second time in three years. What went wrong?
Preston Salisbury: Nothing, really. They just aren’t good enough. They’ll never be good enough.
samath: Zac Gallen turned into a pumpkin. Merrill Kelly aged as we might have expected. Corbin Burnes didn’t manage to contribute positively in his return.
Spencer: Two games I think technically right? [Ed. Note this is correct. Left the question as was, however, as that is what people had answered] Gallen and Kelly. Carroll had a “down” year. Perdomo also wasn’t quite as impactful as you’d have hoped after 2025. Being forced to rely on the likes of Pavin, Tawa, Vargas, Fernandez and McCann for long stretches.
James Attwood: Unlike 2025, there is not one incident I would point at. Last year there was one decision that changed everything. This year, the team let plenty of games they should have won, slip away. On the flip side, they stole some games too. What went wrong? I would say the team’s health record for the season was a primary contributor to at least a dozen of their losses this year. Even bigger though, what went wrong for Arizona is that San Diego went 18-6 in September, with AZ hanging one of those losses on them. This was simply the Padres’ year for being hot down the stretch, not really any different than 2017’s Rocktober.
Makakilo: As an optimist, my article on Tuesday was a rare look at the dark side. It walked through 11 reasons, and concluded four reasons dominated. Link to the article follows: https://www.azsnakepit.com/e/98076
1AZfan1: Technically 2 games, but we were alive in Game 162 so point understood. This is a tough question because you could look at this at the micro-level or the macro-level. The micro view would zoom in on particular games that were given away. The failures of the last homestand against Texas/Miami stand out alongside that Boston series where we looked dead in the water after Ketel no-showed.
On the macro-level, our failure to field a replacement-level 1B through the ASB was fairly maddening. Not having a consistent 4th starter behind E-Rod/Soroka/Pfaadt was another fairly big failure. Gallen was downright awful, Merrill was inconsistent, and Ryne was nowhere near his previous levels of success (when he was even healthy). I think I mostly fall in line with the macro view of the roster construction/player failures than the singular failures of a certain game.
1AZfan1: No because we didn’t even make the playoffs. Still, I’d rather have 3 straight seasons like our ’24-’26 than the last 3 seasons that the Rockies or Giants have had.
Ben: There are plenty of reasons, ranging from the individual (Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly taking serious steps back) to the macro (going a terrible 1-5 against the mediocre Marlins). It doesn’t help that Corbin Carroll had a miserable second half, Geraldo Perdomo regressed from an unsustainable 2025, and there were injuries that severely hampered several players the team expected to get back in the latter half of the season.
ISH95: Injuries. That’s the biggest thing. I don’t think anyone expected Gallen to be an ace, and Kelly finally aging a little can’t exactly be a surprise, but the ongoing onslaught of injuries that this team faces year in and year out is eternally holding us back. Ken Crenshaw has been the Director of Sports Medicine and Performance for nine years now, and that’s after he held the role of Head Athletic Trainer for 12 before that. It seems pretty obvious to me that it’s time for a new voice in that role.
Was the season a success?
Preston Salisbury: No. Only one team get to succeed in a season, and that’s going to be the Dodgers yet again
samath: Yes. They gave us entertaining baseball (led all of MLB in comeback wins with 47), keeping playoff hopes alive right down to the wire (controlled their own destiny in game 161, eliminated while playing game 162).
Spencer: I am disappointed. But yes the season was a success. The team over performed more than they under performed. Moreno is now definitively the best catcher in baseball. For the first time in a few years we have a lot of money leaving the books (Gallen, Gurriel, Soroka) without the need to replace too many pricey positions. While that last part is a non-factor for fans, it helps Kendrick and/or his replacement.
James Attwood: Yes. By pretty much every measure, they exceeded expectations. They also exceeded the underlying numbers and beat their Pythagorean win number. The team should still be playing baseball in October this year, but they drew the short straw of odd circumstances.
Makakilo: No
Ben: Yes, as frustrating as it is to miss the playoffs again, there was some excellent development of several young players including Ryan Waldschmidt, Tommy Troy, and Jordan Lawlar. That doesn’t mean there aren’t holes in the roster that need to be addressed for next season, but it does give me some hope on player development moving forward.
ISH95: What even is success? Is it something that can be clearly defined, or in the words of a specific Supreme Court ruling “I’ll know it when I see it”? The goal for every team is to win the World Series. Yes. Obviously, only one team will do that though, so it seems a very absolutist way of looking at things, and I am no Sith. Red doesn’t go well with my complexion. So based on what this team actually set out to do this season, which was survive with a massacred pitching staff and a bullpen with enough question marks to make the Riddler jealous, I’d say the season was a massive success. However, next season, those will not be the starting points of the season, so success has to look different.
What will be your favorite moment from this season looking back?
Preston Salisbury: Right now I’m still in “what was the point?” mode. Maybe the Nootbaar slam in SF since it flew right over my head?
samath: Here are a few:
Ryan Waldschmidt’s two walkoff homers in August, against the Dodgers on August 7 and the Cubs on August 25.
Ildemaro Vargas’s blazing start to the season, capped off by going 4-for-4 on May 1 to push his batting average to .404.
The two consecutive sweeps of the Giants in May, highlighted by Marte’s walkoff 3-run homer with 2 outs on May 19.
Sweeping the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium to end the first half.
Spencer: I don’t have a single moment off the top of my head. So I’ll be generic and say having a meaningful game to watch at 162. It’s not common and it was fun!
James Attwood: In a season like this one, with so many come from behind victories, there are too many candidates to choose just one. But, if I am going to pick something that really stood out and changed the outlook of the season for a bit, it would be the debut of Jose Fernandez and his crushing two long balls after just arriving as an injury replacement.
Makakilo: With two games left in the season, I made a screen shot of the Wild Card race. The Diamondbacks had 86 wins and the Phillies had 87 wins. I imagined three paths to the playoffs for the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks were riding a 6 game winning streak, while the Phillies had a 3-game losing streak. I felt optimistic!
1AZfan1: Jose Fernandez epic debut with a walk-off homer is the moment that sticks out the most to me right now.
Ben: I think I’ll choose the game on August 9th when the D-Backs won the series against the Dodgers to secure the season series against them. It’s their best record against the Dodgers since 2018.
ISH95: Sweeping the Dodgers was beautiful. I told a coworker that it was my world series, and it turns out it sadly was correct.
Three hours before David Bednar struck out Caleb Durbin to end the series, Cody’s father, Clay, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to his son before Game 2. The elder Bellinger played for the Yankees from 1999 to 2001 and was part of two World Championship teams.
"I definitely appreciate it. I'm able to appreciate it in the moment," Bellinger said. "That was a cool moment, just a great game. Happy I was able to contribute, and we've got a lot more work to do. So obviously enjoy the moment, understand how cool it is, but keep on going."
2x World Series Champion Clay Bellinger threw out tonight's ceremonial first pitch to his son, Cody Bellinger! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/mSy10CwbfJ
After grounding out in his first two at-bats, Bellinger singled in the fifth to score Austin Wells, extending New York’s lead to 2-0.
The next inning proved to be a death knell for the Red Sox as Garrett Whitlock, the fourth Boston pitcher, began his 35-pitch meltdown by giving up a sacrifice fly to Wells, scoring one run, and allowing Jazz Chisholm to score another on Ryan McMahon’s ground out. After Game 1 hero Ben Rice, the team’s home run leader and another left-handed nuisance for Boston, was intentionally walked, Bellinger came up to the plate, looking to put the game away.
The scouting report on Bellinger is straightforward. He hit 17 home runs and drove in 73 runs this season. The 2019 NL MVP likes the ball down, feasting on breaking pitches and posted a .555 slugging average on that pitch in 2026.
Bellinger, who has a career .268 average against left-handed pitching, said there isn't a formula to his success against southpaws.
"No secret sauce. For me, just take it as another at-bat. Felt like when I was playing baseball coming up, didn't hear too much about the match-ups. I was just playing baseball," Bellinger said.
Whitlock’s first pitch was a slow changeup that landed outside, but instead of coming back with something different, he threw the same pitch again. This time, his changeup didn’t break and landed right in the middle of the plate, letting Bellinger turn on it and drive it 360 feet to right-center field, sending the New York dugout and the sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium into a frenzy. All four of Bellinger’s RBIs on Wednesday came with two outs.
"I think with where we were at in today's game, we pretty clearly knew who we were going to throw," Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said. "Those are the best ones we have to offer. So it was pretty obvious that we were going to be aggressive in using that group. Like I said, they swung the bats. Didn't work out. They swung the bats extremely well, so got to give them credit, it was frustrating."
Before Game 2, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he was going to take an “all-hands-on-deck" approach against Red Sox starter Sonny Gray, who lasted only 70 pitches before Tracy went to his beleaguered bullpen to try to stop the bleeding they couldn’t in Game 1.
"We have some guys that are good left on left. Some of their guys aren't necessarily lefty specialists. There are a couple that were really tough that we had some success against," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
"I think the experience of playing against that so much this year – they faced so many guys for months there where we were very left-handed where in the fifth inning every day it was one lefty and then another one because that's how they attack us. So I'd like to think some of that familiarity and reps and all that prepared us well."
The stark contrast is that Rice and Bellinger, the two big left-handed bats in the lineup, had more RBIs combined than the Red Sox had all series, where New York scored 90% of the total runs in the two-game beatdown.
Boone was surprised by the margin of victory against their AL East rivals.
"As I said, kind of all year but even going into this series, that was a scary team to us, especially as well as they pitch. So for us to have the offensive outbreaks that we had here these last two nights and late, credit to those guys," Boone said.
"That was very satisfying to play that well in these two games. And that's what it was. They played great and beat a really good team that deserves a lot of credit for, was down and out in the middle of the season and fought their way back to being a no-doubt into the playoffs by the end."
With the team down in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Yankees and Sonny Gray on the mound, Tracy pulled his AL Cy Young contender and it immediately backfired.
Gray had only thrown 70 pitches through 4.2 innings when the Red Sox skipper came out of the dugout. Down 1-0, the right-hander had just given up a single to Ben Rice, putting runners on the corners with two outs. Tracy went to left-hander Erik Miller to handle the left-handed Cody Bellinger.
Miller replaced Tolle in Game 1 and gave up a solo shot to Rice that energized the Yankees' offense. On Wednesday, Miller allowed an RBI single to Bellinger, once again putting the Yankees up 2-0 and energizing the offense.
"We're trailing. We're struggling to score runs. And when you get in spots where struggling to score runs and you're already trailing, you feel like you've got to be aggressive and go," Tracy explained after the 9-2 loss. "So they're getting back to the top part of the lineup. They get a couple of hits against them. See if you can put it out. And if you can put it out, you know, kind of lined up to where we want it to go. And that just didn't work."
Tracy said he was aware of Bellinger's reverse splits -- Bellinger batter .274 against lefties as opposed to .259 against right-handers -- but he reiterated his confidence in his bullpen's ability after a stellar season.
"With [Garret] Crochet, [Garret Whitlock] and [Aroldis Chapman] towards the back end there, and they were able to string a bunch of hits and we couldn't stop the bleeding there," he said. "It was pretty obvious that we were going to be aggressive in using that group. Like I said, they swung the bats. Didn't work out."
After the Red Sox escaped the fifth being down just two runs, Crochet and Whitlock imploded, allowing seven runs across the next two innings, including a six-spot in the sixth that put the game out of reach.
But the strongest sentiments surrounding Tracy's decision came from Gray himself.
The veteran right-hander was visibly frustrated with the move and voiced it after the game.
"I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order a third time. That’s a fact," Gray said. "I would have liked to have lived or died in that moment. But that’s the competitor that I am. You can ask the guys and they felt the same way. I felt strong. I felt confident, felt convicted. What can you do, you know?"
Reporters did ask Gray's teammates, including Willson Contreras, who didn't give a response when asked his thoughts about Gray being pulled. The first baseman simply did a zipped-mouth gesture.
But had plenty to say when asked how the team could be better next season.
"It's not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or computers that are telling you what to do. This is baseball," Contreras said. "The data is here to help us...but you need experience and to bet on the guys to win games."
The 36-year-old had an incredible regular season. He finished with an 18-5 record and a 2.72 ERA.
He had retired nine of his first 11 batters before surrendering a go-ahead solo homer to Luis García Jr. in the fourth inning. And although he bent a bit in the fifth, he felt he could have gotten out of the inning.
"I would have liked to have been trusted in that moment," he said.
"I'm the best pitcher in the American League going through the order for a third time. I would've liked to live or die with me in that moment...ask the guys in here if they felt the same way. I felt strong, confident."
The Yankees’ offense needed to get something going in Wednesday's Game 2.
While they carried their lead over the Red Sox heading into the bottom of the sixth, Boston had just cut the deficit in half and was turning things over to ace Garrett Crochet in relief.
The left-hander showed no ill effects making his first appearance since April 25 due to shoulder inflammation, setting Spencer Jones down on a nasty sweeper out of the zone.
That breaking ball danced far enough away from catcher Adley Rutschman, though, allowing Jones to book it down the first base line.
Rutschman took too long to get the ball and first baseman Willson Contreras caught it on the back, rather than the front, part of the bag, allowing Jones to beat out the bang-bang play (after review).
Jones continued causing havoc on the bases from there, as he quickly stole second and then made his way over to third on a poor Rutschman throw into shallow center.
Fellow rookie George Lombard Jr. singled him home a few pitches later.
“Across the game there are errors, there are things you can’t control, ” Crochet said. “You choose how you respond -- I got behind 2-0 to Lombard, I came back in the count, didn’t put him away but executed the pitch, that’s kind of the game.”
From there, the Yanks quickly loaded the bases and ended the left-hander's return.
New York manufactured two more runs before Cody Bellinger delivered the big blow, lifting a three-run shot over the right-center fence to make it a 7-1 ballgame.
While it goes down as a K in the books, it was Jones’ wheels that got the Yanks going, en route to the sweep-clinching commanding victory.
“That was great hustle,” Bellinger said. “Baseball is such a crazy game, anytime you can get on base, that was really impressive and really lit a fire in our dugout, for sure.”
García, who had spent his career with the Nationals until the trade deadline and had never played a postseason game before pinch hitting Tuesday, earned the start a night later and immediately demonstrated why he always is in the lineup against opposing right-handers.
The ice-breaking swing of what would become a 9-2, going-away blowout of the Red Sox to clinch the wild-card series belonged to García, who made sure his first trip to October (or technically late September) would be memorable.
In a scoreless game in the fourth inning with former Yankee Sonny Gray dealing, García stepped to the plate and stepped up. He got a 1-2 sweeper that was not poorly located — right at the bottom of the strike zone — but showed off a violent swing and rare power, clubbing the pitch 387 feet into the bleachers in right-center to begin another strong night for the Yankees offense.
When the Yankees traded for García, the fit did not look natural. He was another first baseman on a team that had two (Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt) or maybe a DH on a team that was awaiting a return from its DH (Giancarlo Stanton).
New York Yankees first baseman Luis García Jr. reacts as he rounds the base on his solo home run in the fourth inning during Game 2 of the Wild Card against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. Robert Sabo for New York Post
But a swing like García’s, which produced 30 total homers this season and seven after the trade, will be shoehorned into lineups regardless. And further injuries, such as another calf strain to Stanton, ensured García would be a factor either way.
While sitting against lefty Payton Tolle on Tuesday, García looked around and breathed in an atmosphere he had never experienced before.
New York Yankees first baseman Luis García Jr. rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning of Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“The experience is very different, actually — just seeing the atmosphere around the ballpark, the fans standing from pitch one all the way to the end, very different,” García said Wednesday afternoon through interpreter Marlon Abreu. “At the same time, very exciting. You can feel the excitement in the air.”
Also in the air was a home run and a pair of singles in the fifth and sixth innings, including a rare left-on-left knock against Erik Miller on a play that ended with Ben Rice gunned down at the plate.
Given a chance — a first in the series and a first in his career — García did some of everything to ensure he would have more playoff chances this weekend.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. didn’t play in Game 1 of the wild-card series against the Red Sox, the latest setback in what’s been a trying year for the second baseman.
But as with any player, the narrative of a season can change quickly this time of year, and Chisholm is looking to do just that.
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“We’re moving on,’’ Chisholm said after the Yankees beat Boston 9-2 in Game 2 on Wednesday in The Bronx to clinch a spot in the ALDS against the Rays.
“I didn’t care if I played or not today, as long as we win,’’ Chisholm said. “[Aaron] Boone’s done a great job. I always think my manager has done a great job, especially when we’re winning.”
Chisholm did his part after a year in which he put up career-worst numbers at the plate, had mental lapses in the field and was part of the infamous Blow Pop controversy while playing second base in a June game in Detroit.
Flemming later apologized, but Chisholm doesn’t seem to have forgotten, as he capped his productive return to the lineup by running wild on the bases again in the seventh inning of a lopsided win.
New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. celebrates with first base coach Dan Fiorito after hitting a single in the sixth inning of Game 2 of the American League wild-card series against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“I just wanted to keep things going,’’ Chisholm said. “No lead is safe in baseball and I’m just here to win. If [Flemming] wants to hate, he can hate.”
On this night, though, Chisholm had bigger goals, like advancing in the postseason.
After seeing Anthony Volpe get the nod at second Wednesday, Chisholm had a fantastic catch in shallow center — with his back to the infield — to rob Adley Rutschman of a hit in the sixth.
New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. hits a single in the sixth inning of Game 2. Robert Sabo for New York Post
“I practice that play almost every day,’’ Chisholm said.
And then he contributed to a rally in the bottom of the inning with a single, his second on a 2-for-3 night.
And with the game well in hand in the seventh, he walked, swiped second base standing up, then swiped third and scored on an Austin Wells single.
Before the game, Boone said he debated starting Volpe and Chisholm in each of the first two games before splitting them.
“Both days, I’ve considered it, absolutely,’’ Boone said. “Anthony’s come up and done a really good job. He did a really good job when he went down [to the minors] of just getting to work and creating that versatility for himself. He’s come up and performed well and played well. But I also feel like Jazz is an important part of this, especially moving forward. And we’re going to need both guys to win big. Ultimately, that’s where I fell on it.”
There were some people in the organization who preferred Volpe’s steadiness over Chisholm’s potential explosiveness.
And over his final 18 games of the regular season — which was interrupted by an injured-list stint because of a sprained right thumb — Chisholm heated up at the plate, with a .939 OPS.
He also led the Yankees with 41 stolen bases this year.
Chisholm showed his value in the postseason last year, when he didn’t start in Game 1 of the wild-card series but responded by scoring from first base on a Wells single in Game 2 and adding a pair of hits in the Game 3-clinching win.
With the Yankees headed to the ALDS to face Tampa Bay, Boone will have plenty of lineup decisions to make.
Few will likely be more impactful than second base, where Volpe has looked solid despite a lack of experience at the position, but Chisholm offers more offense against righty pitching.
It’s not a position battle many would have seen coming as recently as three weeks ago, when Volpe made his first start in the majors at second.
New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. celebrates on the field. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
But this is not your ordinary Yankees team, not with Aaron Judge out with a calf injury, and rookies at shortstop and in center field.
The word on the street coming out of the islands is Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr spent the first day of camp in Laie, Hawaii, drilling transition defense. He called the live work controlled, with possessions going up and back maybe three times max. Let’s hope that live work translates because anybody who sat through last season watching this team give up layups like they were handing out free samples at Costco wants this defense to snap out of the funk it’s been in over the past handful of seasons.
Most of the optimism this fall belongs to a coach. Frank Vogel came over as associate head coach and he will run the Warriors’ defense. His pitch for why he took the job was simple. “You want your defense to have teeth,” he told the SF Chronicle, and then he explained that Draymond Green used to scare the hell out of him every time he played the Warriors:
“I don’t know how much I want to say about it publicly, but I have a lot of confidence in what’s ahead of me, when the time comes,” Vogel continued. “But it’s very important to me that, your piece — that’s for when it happens. I am not hunting it. I’m excited about being in this role, for this team, and supporting Steve, and helping Steph and Draymond get another chance at a ring.”
Vogel will have to implement a new defensive system without two key wing defenders in Butler and Moody, who are both rehabbing knee injuries. Still, he sees a path. That starts with Green, the nine-time All-Defensive supercomputer who Vogel said was a “big reason” he took the job.
#Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton said GSW’s defense will have “teeth” under Frank Vogel.
Said at media day Golden State’s goal is to have a top-3 defense. Asked him why that’s a realistic goal.
“We got more size at positions that we needed it.”
Bad defense was something I long associated with the Warriors of my youth, run and gun teams that would try to score 120 but give up 135. When Kerr got asked years ago how he turned the Warriors into a defensive team, he refused the credit. “I didn’t; Mark Jackson did,” Kerr said, remembering how bad Golden State’s defense looked from the broadcast booth before Jackson arrived.
The last two Jackson seasons tell the story. In 2012-13 the Warriors allowed 105.5 points per 100 possessions, 14th in the league and basically average. One year later they were at 102.6 and 4th overall. Ten spots in one season is an astronomical jump. He drilled connectivity, grit, and consistency and had the personnel to make it happen. With Andrew Bogut patrolling the paint, Andre Iguodala locked in, and a young fireball named Draymond Green coming off the bench learning how to be a problem, the pieces were all there.
Then Jackson got fired, Kerr walked in, and the 2014-15 Warriors posted a 101.4 defensive rating. That was No. 1 in the NBA and Kerr said he didn’t change one thing defensively. I believed him, and kudos to him for letting another coach’s ingrained philosophy continue on.
Steve Kerr talks about Frank Vogel:
"Frank is running the defense obviously, so we're using some of his transition defensive drills, some of his rebounding drills. We've been watching tape of Dallas' training camp from last year, the drill work that Frank did with them. Frank… pic.twitter.com/njGLOGNj7z
Now I’m sure everybody remembers the threes the Dubs rained down like hellfire during the dynasty. But I absolutely remember the stops that came right before them.
That’s how the dynasty worked. Draymond would blow up a pick-and-roll, somebody would poke the ball loose, and four seconds later Steph was pulling up from 30 while the other team was still arguing about the switch. The defense lit the fuse on every fireworks show.
The one that surprises people is 2022. After two years of lottery tickets and injury reports, the Warriors allowed 106.9 per 100, and returned to No. 1 overall. Relative to its era, the “nobody believed in us” team had the nastiest defense of all four champions. Kevon Looney was everywhere, Andrew Wiggins clamped on the opposing stars like a pitbull, and Draymond still lorded over the defense barking out rotations and stymieing opposing gameplans. That was the most maniacally dogged version of the whole thing, and I mean that as the highest compliment I can give a basketball team.
Since then, the defense has been predominantly mid. After that last title, the Warriors have ranked 17th, 15th, 7th, and 17th in defensive rating. The only season with some bite was 2024-25, when Jimmy Butler showed up and the Warriors finished 2.8 points better than average and 7th overall. Average those four post-title finishes and you land on 14th, something Pastor Mark Jackson would have lost his mind over. For a franchise that built its identity on making opponents miserable, 17th feels like a team losing its identity and relying on offensive pyrotechnics to bail them out. Let’s recap, courtesy of Basketball Reference:
With Butler and Moses Moody unable to play as they nurse themselves back to health from injury, the team has lost their two primary wing defenders for the time being. Can the Dubs survive the early part of the season without them on the defensive end?
Steph Curry and Draymond Green are the last two people in that gym who heard Coach Jackson preach defense in 2013. Everything Vogel is selling, they already bought once. What nobody in Laie can answer yet is whether a 38-year-old and a 36-year-old can sell it to Lendeborg, Melton and Brandin Podziemski fast enough for that old magic to come back in time for ring #5.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 29: Trea Turner #7 of the Philadelphia Phillies is picked off and caught stealing second base against Ha-Seong Kim #7 of the Atlanta Braves during the third inning in game one of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park on September 29, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Edward M. Pio Roda/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Well it’s here, the terrifying game 3 to decide whether the Braves’ season is over and against a division rival. They’ll have to go into it facing likely Zack Wheeler and without a true starting pitcher of their own. It is expected that Grant Holmes will play a major role and that Ray Kerr will have a role to play as a good matchup for the lefties at the top of Philly’s lineup before the back of the bullpen can take over. A lack of offseason/trade deadline starter additions plus a plague of injuries and prospects not taking the leap led us here to the Braves having no answer for a game 3 starting pitcher despite having the luxury of lining their staff up for this series. If they win this issue won’t go away and if they lose it will be discussed for months of what could be a long offseason. Buckle up. Meanwhile, their one big starter addition in Tyler Mahle has given them more than they could have reasonably expected with two months of great pitching after the deadline and 7.0 innings of one run ball in game 2. He might be a good one to bring back to Atlanta.
The Padres are leading the Cubs at the time of writing, but their result will determine the timing of the Braves’ game 3. A Padres win send the Braves and Phils to primetime, but a Cubs win relegates them to their typical 2pm timeslot for this Wild-Card round.
Flash back one year ago, and the Pittsburgh Penguins put on a clinical performance against the New York Rangers in a 3-0 win on opening night. They played just about as flawlessly as they possibly could have on both sides of the puck.
It may not have been fair to expect another near-flawless performance from them to open the season this time around.
But, as it turns out, they dialed it up by 100.
On Wednesday, the Penguins routed the cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 7-0, and there was, really, no point in the game that felt particularly close. Goaltender Arturs Silovs earned the shutout in a 19-save effort, which is the second consecutive season he allowed zero on opening night, and Nick Robertson had two goals en route to the win.
The Penguins got off to a fast start in this one, registering the first five shots on goal and clicking early on. With 12 and a half to to in the first, captain Sidney Crosby took a big mid-ice hit in the offensive zone before covering for a pinching Trevor van Riemsdyk. Crosby got the puck on the wall and fed it across to Letang, who found Robertson off-angle from the net down low for an impressive, Crosby-like redirection to give the Penguins the 1-0 lead.
Then, with a little more than four minutes to go in the first, the Penguins caught the Flyers on a bad line change. Defenseman Sam Girard found a breaking Ville Koivunen with a stretch pass, and Koivunen went in alone with a nasty deke to beat Flyers' goaltender Dan Vladar five-hole and make it 2-0.
The onslaught continued in the second period. Hendrix Lapierre and Evgeni Malkin were involved in a give-and-go during an early power play, and eventually, Lapierre found Malkin in the right spot in the slot, where he one-timed a rocket past Vladar for the team's third goal. A little more than two minutes later, Filip Hallander - who had three points on the evening - made a nice little play in the neutral zone to get the puck to Lapierre for a two-on-one with Koivunen, and Lapierre buried it to put the Penguins up by four.
Another two minutes later, that same line was cycling in the offensive zone, and Girard got the puck to the net, where Hallander fought to put home the rebound to make it 5-0.
The Penguins kept up their total domination in the third period. Past the midway point of the final frame, they were on the penalty kill, and Robertson used his speed to cut down the left side and bank the puck off the back wall. The puck bounced right back to Vladar at the net, hit his skate, and went in to give the Penguins a six-spot.
Finally, on a late power play, Erik Karlsson threw the puck at the net, and Egor Chinakhov deflected it for his first of the season to deliver Pittsburgh to the 7-0 victory.
Here are three takeaways from this one:
1. This is a well-coached team
One can spot a well-coached team. And, folks, this is a well-coached team.
Not only did the Penguins get to their game very early on in this one, they were prepared for puck drop. And, after the puck dropped, they executed systemically to near-perfection. There were a few odd-man breaks in the first period that the Flyers couldn't take advantage of, but other than that, they played cohesively and very well within their system, which is not something you see every day in a team's first game of the season.
There are plenty of new faces in this year's opening lineup, but you never would have known it by watching them. There is so much buy-in from everyone on this team, new or returning, and that's full credit to Dan Muse and his coaching staff.
I thought the blue line was especially good, which is a crazy thing when you consider that three of them are brand-new and one of them arrived seven months ago. Girard and van Riemsdyk stood out.
Remember when everyone - myself included, at times - was going on about the Penguins potentially having too many guys?
Well, then injuries happened. Then, THIS happened.
Without their planned third line of Andrei Kuzmenko, Ben Kindel, and Bryan Rust in this one, the Penguins had a third line of Hallander, Lapierre, and Koivunen, and they were the team's best line against the Flyers, outchancing them 8-0 at five-on-five. The first line of Robertson, Crosby, and Rakell was also outstanding, and Robertson looks like he fits right in.
When healthy, this team looks like it, easily, has five NHL lines. And that's not even counting guys like Rutger McGroarty, Justin Brazeau, and Avery Hayes, all of whom could slot in NHL lineups right now.
If the third line in particular - especially since none of these guys were penciled in before the injuries - continues to play at this level, I genuinely have no idea what they're going to do when everyone is healthy.
Of course, at the end of the day, this is game one of 84 this season. The Penguins could look like world-beaters in this one then completely lose the plot against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday in their home opener.
It's important not to overreact to a one-game sample, but it's also fair to notice how connected this team is playing from the jump. This team's main issue last season was surrendering too much, and the Penguins didn't give up much of anyting in this one. They outshot the Flyers 38-19, and Silovs didn't have to work particularly hard.
If they come out and play this way against a much better team Saturday, then do it again the next time, and the next time, then we can start having conversations about this team. Remember, they began the season 8-2-2 last year, and their start made all the difference in qualifying for the playoffs.
These early games matter as much as the late ones, and the Penguins are off to a roaring start.
Everybody loved Murakami's interview when the White Sox clinched a spot in the MLB playoffs a week earlier, so the 26-year-old took it to a new level in the alcohol-soaked clubhouse in Houston, answering questions in English while declaring himself – and his interpreter – to be drunk.
Murakami hit 35 home runs in the regular season after coming over from Japan, an incredibly impressive rookie campaign for the slugger and went 1-for-8 with two runs in Chicago's wins over the Astros.
The White Sox will face the Cleveland Guardians in the best-of-five AL Division series beginning on Saturday.
When you're celebrating a MLB Postseason victory 21 YEARS in the making, who needs a translator? ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/MoRtoLbZid
With the Yankees clinging to a two-run lead, Jones led off the bottom of the sixth against Garrett Crochet, one of the game’s premier lefty pitchers, just coming back from a five-month absence because of a shoulder injury.
Jones whiffed, but Crochet badly bounced the third strike, and it got away from Adley Rutschman.
Jones hustled down the line, and after initially being ruled out, reached first when the call was overturned.
“When he gets it going, he can really go,’’ Aaron Boone said.
The 6-foot-7 Jones then attempted to steal second, and Rutschman’s throw went into center, allowing Jones to get to third.
“Speed is something I’ve always had,’’ Jones said. “I’m glad it worked out. It was a fun night.”
Spencer Jones steals second base and moves to third on a throwing error in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ 9-2 AL wild card series-clinching win over the Red Sox on Sept. 30, 2026 at the Stadium. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
There have been a few of those lately for the 25-year-old, who has contributed in numerous ways down the stretch after getting off to a 4-for-24 start with 12 strikeouts in his first 10 games in the majors.
When Jones returned to The Bronx later in the season, he had improved his approach at the plate and showed he could hit in the majors.
Jim Hendry, special assistant to GM Brian Cashman — who was among the Yankee scouts who evaluated Jones while he was at Vanderbilt — said the fast development shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
“Big guys like that, it takes them longer to adjust,’’ Hendry said prior to the game. “Sure, they’re gonna strike out a lot. They’ve got more holes to figure out how to fix. But you know when they do, they can be special.”
As Hendry noted, the Yankees “have always liked big players.”
Still, there aren’t many examples of players Jones’ size hitting well, with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton being two exceptions.
Right fielder Spencer Jones is safe at first base after striking out on a wild pitch during the Yankees’ Game 2 series-clinching win over the Red Sox. JASON SZENES FOR NEW YORK POSTSpencer Jones steals second base and moves to third on a throwing error in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ Game 2 series-clinching win over the Red Sox. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Jones is trying to become another, and the Yankees have seen some promising signs in the second half of the season.
As they’ve dealt with the lengthy absence of Judge because of rib and calf injuries, multiple injuries to Trent Grisham, as well as another disappointing season from Jasson Domínguez, Jones has been thrust into an important role.
He had a pair of solid at-bats against Tolle, and Aaron Boone said Wednesday that he considered having Giancarlo Stanton pinch hit for Jones to lead off the bottom of the seventh against another southpaw, Alec Gamboa.
Instead, Boone stayed with Jones, who singled.
Among the reasons Boone stuck with Jones was the success he’d had versus lefties in the majors — just part of what’s developing into a well-rounded game for the former first-round pick.
“It’s hard in the modern game to hit when you’re 6-foot-7,’’ Hendry said. “But when you do it well, you don’t have to worry about launch and other things. When you’re that big, the ball lifts itself. He’s still got a lot of work to do, but he’s becoming a good player already.”
There were reasons for Cody Bellinger to feel disrespected, even if he publicly shrugged off both.
The Red Sox wanted to pitch to a slugging outfielder who had been signed to a $162.5 million contract this winter. With two outs in the sixth inning and Trent Grisham on second base, Boston intentionally walked Ben Rice to take its chances with Bellinger.
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And after Bellinger reached out and got just enough juice behind a Garrett Whitlock changeup for a three-run home run, he slowly trotted around the bases in a fashion that hinted he may have noticed Boston’s Willson Contreras had done the same in the top of the inning.
Regardless of the motivations, Bellinger’s execution was flawless in turning a close game lopsided, his blast the last that mattered in what became a 9-2 smacking of the Red Sox to clinch the wild-card series Wednesday in The Bronx and earn a date with the Rays in the ALDS.
Chad Tracy and the Red Sox had reason to prefer facing Bellinger in what was then a game they trailed, 5-1, simply because Bellinger was not Rice. A night earlier, the Yankees first baseman/DH was unstoppable in going 4-for-5 with a pair of home runs and six RBIs. And in his previous at-bat Wednesday, Rice had stroked a single through the right side.
New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger (35) hits a three-run home run in the sixth inning during Game 2 of the wild-card series against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Robert Sabo for New York Post
And so it was Bellinger whom the Red Sox chose, though the veteran said he did not take the decision personally.
“I had a feeling that they might do that,” Bellinger said in a clubhouse filled with puddles of beer. “I think when you hit behind [Aaron] Judge so often, you just get used to it.”
If he were not especially inspired, he instead was just himself: a good hitter who got under the Whitlock changeup, lifting it high enough that there was no doubt it would be a home run or an out at the wall. He did not know if he got enough.
He did, with an assist to Yankee Stadium, the only ballpark in which that ball would leave the yard.
New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger reacts as he rounds the bases on his three-run home run in the sixth inning. Robert Sabo for New York PostNew York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger is greeted by Trent Grisham after scoring on a three-run home run. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“I enjoyed it. That was a cool moment,” said Bellinger, who enjoyed an unusually slow trot around the bases.
He walked, then slow-jogged to first, saw it land in the stands 360 feet away just beyond the reach of Wilyer Abreu, and then saw no reason to speed up.
Just a few minutes earlier, Contreras had popped a home run for the Red Sox’s first run of the series and ran as if he wanted Boston to savor every moment of the drought-stopper. The trot was officially clocked at 30.09 seconds.
“I didn’t even see [Contreras’ trot],” said Bellinger, sidestepping any notion of pettiness.
Regardless, in a series in which the Yankees beat the Red Sox in every way imaginable, this possible battle of pettiness went to the Yankees too: Bellinger slogged around the bases absorbing the cheers just a bit longer at 31.29 seconds.
