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For the fifth time in six years, the Minnesota Twins clocked out at the end of September—eschewing October overtime. On many occasions I was in the trenches with them, attending 27 contests (most at home, some away). My personal 11-16 record wasn’t exactly sterling—but neither was the club’s. You know the old mantra: “a bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work”? Swap amateur angling for stadium spectating and a lot of fun was still had at the ballpark(s) this particular 162 slate.

The beginning of the season brought cold, cold, and—you guessed it—a little more cold. I wasn’t done lugging the parka from the parking ramp until late-May. But I bundled up and even convinced some family to shiver along with me. On April 14 we saw two Buck Truck bombs and an Abel/Rogers/Sands shutout of the BoSox!

As April showers (and cold) turned into May flowers—the dogs ate them. I kid, I kid…just trying to scare gintzer more about Bark at the Park Night (when Bailey Ober inexplicably twirled a complete game shutout against the Miami Marlins!). To be fair, I also consumed my share of cased-meat dogs.

June 12 brought me a wild 9-8 win over the St. Louis Cardinals where Buxton doubled twice, homered—and the Twins still needed long balls from Royce Lewis & Brooks Lee in B8 to take a lead!

A few weeks later, I attended the big Joe Ryan versus Shohei Ohtani pitching matchup in front of a sold-out Target Field crowd. The Twins lost and were swept by True Blue—but years from now someone will be impressed at me seeing Ohtani pull double duty (even if that someone is me!).

When the calendar flipped to July, I saw Alan Roden walk off the Cleveland Guardians—then paused to enjoy the All-Star festivities with my unaccustomed-to-billed-headware niece.

Alas, July brought some epic frustrations—like being 2-hit shutout by the Unaffiliated Athletics & 5-hit shutout by Randy Dobnak and the Kansas City Royals.

Fortunately, I was able to pull off two more baseball stadium trips: Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. and Chase Field in Arizona. Great times—like a Buxton salami—in both locales!

As the non-canine and non-sausage dog days of August commenced, I saw the first MLB game and knock from Walker Jenkins.

For the first time, I was also at Target Field without a baseball game—instead, the Tim McGraw concert! My sister and I had a great time and it’s a tribute to Son-of-Tug that his music can bridge a 13-year sibling gap.

A 15-2 victory (featuring a 10-run inning!) over the Tigers was somewhat of a September salve for another late-season collapse. My final night under the North Loop skies was another high-scoring fun affair!

At least there was no Curse of Kyle Lohse (seeing him at the Dome when I pined for Santana, Radke, or even Silva)—my SP distribution was remarkably even…

• Joe Ryan: 7 starts
• Zebby Matthews & Taj Bradley: 4 starts
• Bailey Ober & Connor Prielipp: 3 starts
• Simeon Woods-Richardson & Mike Paredes: 2 starts
• Mick Abel & Dean Kremer: 1 start

Sometimes I complain about the traffic—or the ushers—or the folks oblivious to the water fountain button in the bottom right corner. Sometimes my baseball glove gets stolen out from under my seat. But I still enjoy getting out to the ballgame. There’s a song about it, after all.

Good morning, Purple Row!

While much of MLB looks to the postseason with games starting today, the Colorado Rockies are turning to their rebuild, a point Paul DePodesta stressed in a recent conversation (linked below) with MLB.com’s Thomas Harding.

“After living through this for a year, we have a very good direction on what it is we feel we need,” DePodesta said. “So we’ll certainly be ready to act early this offseason if need be.”

For teams not playing in the postseason, this week will make debriefing sessions with media and the beginning of personnel changes. DePodesta is expected to speak with media within the week, so stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, here’s what’s happening with the Rockies and in baseball today.

Rockies news & links

• DePodesta, Rockies ready to ‘act early’ after 4th straight 100-plus-loss season | MLB.com — In his conversation with Thomas Harding, Paul DePodesta points to some highlights of the 2026 season and says the Rockies are ready to begin their postseason work.
• Grading TJ Rumfield’s rookie season with Colorado Rockies | si.com — Dominic Minchella provides some analysis of Rumfield’s 2026 season, including a look at his splits — and don’t forget he won back-to-back “NL Rookie of the Month” awards in May and June.
• Close losses defined this 100-loss season for Rockies | Denver Gazette ($) — As Kevin Henry writes, “ avoid 100 losses in 2026, the Rockies needed to win five more games than they did. Considering the team was 17-25 in one-run games and 12-24 in two-run games this season, there are plenty of contests where one or two moments made the difference between a win and a loss.” He then identifies five games that the Rockies should have won, including a heartbreaker at Coors Field on August 31 with Colton Cowser made a stunning bottom-of-the-ninth catch that led the Baltimore Orioles to a 2-1 win.
• Colorado Rockies remain record-setting terrible, but there is always next year (maybe) | Colorado Sun — Columnist Mario Nicolais noted the Rockies improvements and rebuilding efforts while admitting he’s given up his season tickets at Coors Field to follow the Denver Summit.

Around MLB

• Wild Card Series predictions: Yankees or Red Sox? Can the Phillies find a spark? | The Athletic ($ — gift link) — In the spirit of the day, here are predictions from The Athletic staff with a handy gift link.
• Will Judge play in Wild Card Series? Here’s the latest | MLB.com — Judge is doing everything in his power to make sure he does.
• Tom Verducci’s 10 Big Takeaways That Define the 2026 MLB Season — si.com — For Verducci, there was a lot going on, including expanded pitch menus, a youth movement, and a return to “small ball.”
• The Pope to thank for White Sox playoff berth? Pope Leo XIV answers | FoxSports.com — This has been one of my favorite storylines of the 2026 season. As Pope Leo said when asked this question, “”No comment,” adding, “Great things happen in Chicago.”
• Scouting in the age of machines | FanGraphs — Here Brendan Gawlowski, himself a former scout with the Pittsburgh Pirates for four years, explains what scouts bring to baseball teams.

This week on the internet

In case you missed it, with their win last Saturday, the Rockies helped not only themselves but also the Cleveland Guardians, which led Guardians fan @GuardsJoey to post this:

The Guardians reached out to the Rockies for Goodman’s charity of choice, and he went with Clothes to Kids. As of Monday morning, the organization had received more than $7,000 in donations.

Thanks, Hunter, and thanks, Cleveland.

#ClevelandRox

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Good morning, baseball fans!

The 2026 MLB Playoffs begin today and it will be jam-packed with four games. Here’s everything you need to know to keep up with the action.

National League

The Atlanta Braves welcome the Philadelphia Phillies to town for Game 1 of their Wild Card series which begins at 11:00 a.m. this morning and will air on NBC/Peacock, with national radio coverage on ESPN Radio.

After that, the San Diego Padres will welcome the Chicago Cubs to Petco Park to begin their series at 7:00 p.m. PT tonight. This series will have the same broadcast coverage on NBC/Peacock and ESPN Radio. I would expect that to be delayed for this one due to the overlap with the second AL game.

American League

The Houston Astros will welcome the Chicago White Sox to town to begin their series this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. PT, with coverage on Peacock/NBC Sports Network and radio coverage on ESPN Radio.

After that, the New York Yankees will host the Boston Red Sox for Game 1 tonight at 5:00 p.m. PT. This will somehow also be on NBC/Peacock with national radio coverage on ESPN Radio.

Who are you rooting for today?

Jaylon Thompson wrote about the now-wrapped season.

The Royals have a long way to go.

Their 2026 campaign was an utter disappointment. The Royals entered the year with high expectations but fell short of their intended goals. A slow start and a slew of injuries sent them tumbling down the American League Central standings.

KC suffered through a rough spring. As the calendar flipped to June, the Royals were 22-37, well behind the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians in the division race.

This week, both of those competitor teams made the playoffs. The Royals had to watch from their own dugout as their AL Central rivals clinched postseason berths at Kauffman Stadium.

Jackson Stone at MLB mothership turned an eye toward 2027.

The Royals have been here before. A large part of this team was here when they turned 106 losses in 2023 into a postseason run in 2024. There will most likely be a few changes to the coaching staff and free-agent signings to bolster the bullpen and rotation — but the core is here to stay, including starters Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo.

It’s up to that group to get back to the winning baseball of years prior.

“From my end, I feel like we have the pieces to be able to do it and we didn’t do it this year,” Pasquantino said. “Like I said, that’s a failure. That doesn’t mean I have any less confidence going into next year. … I’m walking into next season expecting us to be in a playoff push the whole year. Those are just words; they don’t mean anything right now, but those are my expectations. We just gotta go do it.”

David Lesky pointed toward the last game in August as the last gasp of a team falling apart.

I sort of think September, and this weekend on a smaller scale, was just a team that ran out of gas. Specifically, it was about a pitching staff that ran out of gas. That’s an issue, of course, but it’s a bigger issue when they weren’t good enough on a full tank. I will never stop believing that when they got the band back together in mid-August and went on that run, they saw that Sunday loss against Cleveland that dropped them to 7.5 back with 24 to play and realized the longshot dream was dead. They went 7-17 from there. I have a hard time thinking they could have continued the run they were on with this pitching staff, but none of them are stupid. They knew that they almost had to win that last game of August. And when they didn’t, it completely fell apart.

Former Royals broadcaster Buddy Blattner (1969-1975 for the Royals) is on the ballot for the 2027 Ford C. Frick award.

Brian Burrows at Kings of Kauffman took a look at departing free agents.

The case for each team to win the World Series.

Luis Arraez will not be on the Phillies Wild Card roster due to injury.

The Mariners are cleaning out some coaching staff, which includes firing former Royal Kevin Seitzer from his post as hitting coach.

The Twins fired their pitching coach and assistant pitching coach.

The Rays returning to the Trop juiced 2026 MLB attendance numbers.

Barry Petchesky wrote about the other former Tiger who might also be ending his career – psycho Max Scherzer.

Sporting KC has filed a countersuit against former coach Zoran Savic in the dispute about youth soccer in Kansas City.

The Chiefs are a totally different team this September compared to last September.

The New York Giants gave up an actual draft pick (2027 5th) to acquire J.J. McCarthy from the Vikings.

Miami Dolphins star RB (and fantasy top pick) De’Von Achane suffered a torn ACL in the game against the Chiefs and is out for the season. Football is brutal.

USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino is mad about Manchester City’s financial chicanery, of which they’ve apparently been found guilty.

Atlanta’s NWSL expansion club starting in 2028 has been revealed to be Atlanta City FC.

The Senate passed a bill containing regulations over college sports by a 77-22 vote yesterday.

Your song of the day is Audioslave with Yesterday to Tomorrow.

Another year another Red Sox vs Yankees Wild Card round at Yankee Stadium.

I think it’s safe to say we’d all like something different but if that’s not possible, for the Red Sox to win this year. They almost pulled it off in 2025 but with the offense and pitching (minus Garret Crochet) both depleted it was just too much to overcome. This year, while Crochet is at most a bullpen arm, the Sox acquired veterans Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez to bolster a playoff rotation. And watched Payton Tolle surge to the top anyway and become the obvious choice for Game 1.

Game 1

Tolle made his brief MLB debut and playoff debut (1 out) last year but is still very much a rookie. This year he’s been fantastic while putting up an ERA right about 3.00 and striking out 171 in 148.2 innings of work. It’s wild to think that he didn’t make the team out of Spring Training. But they wanted a little more development out of Tolle and when he returned in late April he looked MLB-ready starting from 6.0-inning, 11 strikeout tour de force against these same Yankees. Tolle made a second start against the Yankees in June during The Turnaround Homestand where he struck out 7, allowed 1 hit, and 0 runs.

Cam Schlittler is the Game 1 starter for New York.

Compared to Tolle’s 16 MLB innings in 2025, Schlittler threw 73.0 in the regular season. He bumped that to 193.3 in 2026 on his way to, unfortunately, probably a Cy Young award. Not bad for a guy drafted in the 7th round. The Red Sox selected Caleb Bolden with the pick immediately preceding him. Win some, lose some. He faced the Sox four times this season with the Yankees winning three of the four. That’s just bad luck. April he was dominant: 8.0 inning, 4 hits, 2 runs. Early June he lasted just 5.2 innings, 4 hits, 1 run. Honestly most of the time the Sox might win this one but it featured that 5-run eighth inning bullpen collapse. In Boston during late June was another 5.0 inning effort with 4 runs (0 earned) on 5 hits. Sox win this game. Then back in NYC in August 5.2 innings, 2 hits and 0 runs. Hopefully the coaches have been working on this. Third time through the order and he’s a .691 OPS allowed pitcher vs. ~.500 which is huge. The Blue Jays also faced him in four games and put up a total OPS of .686 against Schlittler to the Sox .560 mark. So, it can get better.

Game 2

Game 2 features Sonny Gray, the elder statesman of the rotation. Gray faced the Yankees twice this season, the Sox won both matchups. In early June he went 6.1 innings while allowing 3 runs on 8 hits. During The Weekend he was even better: 7.1 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs. The Sox did have to wait until the 10th inning to walkoff the game but it was a masterpiece against (probably still) Aaron Judge-less Yankees.

Max Fried was rumored to be starting Game 1 for a bit over the weekend, although that seemed kinda nuts to everyone. Is it good or bad he tossed only 112.2 innings this year? Is he fresh or rusty? Fried was originally drafted by the Padres in 2012 and traded with a package for Justin Upton. Did you forget the Justin Upton era (1 year) in San Diego? (I sure did). Despite this limited workload, Fried faced the Sox twice. One was 8.0 innings of 3 hit, 0 run ball. The second was a 3.2 inning return from the IL during the August doubleheader in the Bronx. Three hits, 1 run. That one run? A Nick Sogard homer. Just about 12 innings and 1 run. Maybe they should have opened with this guy?

Game 3

Hopefully there is no Game 3 because the Sox go 2-0. But if they can only win one of the first two games then Ranger Suarez will start the third matchup of the Wild Card series. The Sox signed him in part because he’s been excellent in October. Well, he had a pretty good September. He’s allowed just 3 runs all month putting up a 1.09 ERA in that span. Batters hit just .182/.250/.284 during the last month of the regular season. In his introduction to the rivalry in April, Suarez lost 4-1, hit hard through 4.2 innings of work including a crushing homer. Then in early June he held the Yankees to 1 run in 6.1 innings but the bullpen couldn’t hold them back. Sox lost 6-1. Then he allowed 6 runs as part of the 16-1 drubbing in August. He might not be the guy you want starting in this series but then again, he’s in a groove now and has recovered from various IL stints so he might just be in a better place pitching-wise than August.

Gerrit Cole used to be the ace. Now he’s the number three. Cole missed all of 2025 with injury but came back for 127 innings this year. Despite no longer having Rafael Devers, Cole was hit hard by Boston: 5.1 innings, 7 hits, 2 homers, 4 runs. Masa and Anthony Seigler hit the bombs, and, clearly neither will e playing this fall. So someone else will need to emerge as the hero.

Aaron Judge is probably out but he’s trying to play anyway.

Giancarlo Stanton is possibly out but he’s been on the IL since April. If he’s healthy is that even the way to return? We might find out!

Trent Grisham is also a possibility.

Ben Rice ended up with 41 homers but didn’t even lead the American League. Thanks, Pete! Alonso also robbed Yordan Alvarez of a chance at the Triple Crown by winning RBI as well. Just doing service all over the league.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Tuesday, September 29: Payton Tolle (3.03 ERA / 3.04 FIP) vs. Cam Schlittler (1.95 ERA / 2.56 FIP)

Wednesday, September 30: Sonny Gray (2.72 ERA / 3.47 FIP) vs. Max Fried (2.80 ERA / 2.65 FIP)

Thursday, October 1: Ranger Suarez (3.22 ERA / 3.16 FIP) vs. Gerrit Cole (3.41 ERA / 3.93 FIP) (If needed)

When/Where to Watch

Tuesday, September 29: 8:00 PM ET on NBC / Peacock

Wednesday, September 30: 8:00 PM ET on NBC / Peacock

Thursday, October 1, 8:00 PM ET on NBC / Peacock (If needed)

The Dodgers are in their bye period, getting everyone healthy and their pitching lined up how they want it for the NLDS that will start this Saturday at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers will play the winners of the Braves/Phillies Wild Card Series.

Fans of other teams often accuse the Dodgers of buying their championships, and does one player who joined the Dodgers this off season need to have a great October to wipe out his dismal regular season? Kyle Tucker signed a four-year, $240 million contract in the offseason. He proceeded to have the worst offensive season of his life, with a slash line of .233/.330/.385 and OPS of .715.

Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register talked to Tucker, Dave Roberts, and Andrew Freidman about Tucker’s season:

“Oh, for sure,” Friedman said. “Like if you said, Player X can have a down regular season as compared to his previous performance but a really good October – I couldn’t pick it across the board because then we wouldn’t get a bye. But with one-offs, I would absolutely take that.”

Katie Woo of The Athletic ponders the Dodgers NLDS roster decisions, and predicts Josue De Paula should make the team as a pinch-hitter over Daulton Rushing who is just coming back from the IL. The club optioned him with the exact number of days needed to be added to the postseason roster last week:

“He’s done everything he can to put himself in a position to be in the conversation for us as we’re making our postseason roster,” Dodgers president Andrew Friedman said at the time.

De Paula added a lot of pop and swagger to a team that at the time was coasting to the finish line of the regular season. His youthful exuberance could buoy the oldest team in the playoffs.

The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies open the 2026 Major League Baseball postseason on Tuesday, Sept. 29 with Game 1 of the National League wild card series at Truist Park in Georgia.

Atlanta won the NL East while Philadelphia got into the postseason as a wild card team, nearly coughing up a fifth consecutive playoff trip struggling down the stretch. But everyone's slate is now wiped clean with the best-of-three series running through Thursday, if a Game 3 is necessary.

"Guys played a lot of postseason games and know anything can happen this time of year," Phillies shortstop Trea Turner told reporters. "It looked ugly, but that's behind us, and I think we feel good. We feel like we can beat anybody."

It's the third postseason meeting between the rivals in five years, with the Phillies upsetting the Braves in the 2022 and 2023 NL Division series. Philadelphia had won the division each of the previous two seasons, snapping Atlanta's six-year streak from 2018-2023.

Where to watch Phillies vs Braves today

• Game time: 2 p.m. ET
• TV channel: NBC
• Live stream: Peacock

Watch MLB playoffs on Peacock

What time is Braves vs Phillies today?

First pitch in Game 1 of the NL wild card series is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.

Phillies vs Braves schedule

Wild card series at Truist Park in Atlanta. Game 3 time subject to change.

• Game 1, Tuesday: Phillies at Braves – buy tickets – 2 p.m. ET, NBC & Peacock
• Game 2, Wednesday: Phillies at Braves – buy tickets – 2 p.m. ET, NBC & Peacock
• Game 3*, Thursday: Phillies at Braves – buy tickets – 2 p.m. ET, NBC & Peacock

Let the quest for the World Series begin.

The MLB playoffs begin Tuesday, Sept. 29 with the wild card rounds, two in each league. The winners will advance to the divisional series and face the teams that earned a bye.

Teams with the top-two records in the National and American leagues were awarded first-round byes, where they wait to see who they will face in the best-of-five Divisional Series.

The wild card series features the Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox vs. Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs vs. San Diego Padres.

Here's are the teams in the MLB postseason that were awarded a first-round bye:

Breathe. The regular season is over, we’ve made it to the postseason, and we have a bye week. It’s all positive over here.

Clinching’s So Nice, We Did It Twice

Thanks to a 1-0 win against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, the Guardians clinched a postseason berth for the third year in a row. It was all Angel Martínez as he took a 79 mph changeup from Ranger Suarez into the right field seats. A combined two-hit effort from Daniel Espino, Joey Cantillo, Hunter Gaddis, Erik Sabrowski, and Cade Smith secured the one-run win and postseason spot. While the Kansas City Royals took an early three-run lead on Saturday, the Guards answered with four runs of their own in the second inning. They secured the win with a four-run ninth inning and locked down the American League Central. They’ll have a first round bye and will play the winner of the Wild Card series.

Ingle Earns MVP

The Guardians’ number four prospect, Cooper Ingle, brought home the hardware on Saturday when Minor League Baseball announced that he earned International League MVP honors. On top of hitting 20 home runs this season, he topped the league in OPS with a .952. He was also in the top-five for runs with 85, walks with 86, batting average with .297, and BABIP with .362. In 21 at bats with the Major League club this year, he hit just .095/.208/.095. However, with nearly a full season of Triple-A experience under his belt and a fresh start just six months away, he has the opportunity to blossom in 2027.

ClevelandRox Gives Back

Thanks to two home runs from catcher Hunter Goodman, the Colorado Rockies took down the Chicago White Sox on Saturday which secured the AL Central for the Guardians. Fans took to Twitter to show their gratitude, especially user @GuardsJoey. They quoted the Rockies’ win graphic asking if they could set up a GoFundMe for Goodman’s favorite charity. Goodman selected Kids of Denver which provides school clothing for children in Denver. By Sunday, fans had donated $2,500 to Kids of Denver to show their thanks to the catcher.

The San Diego Padres host the Chicago Cubs in the best-of-three National League wild card series beginning Tuesday, Sept. 29, a rematch from a year ago – won by the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

"I'm looking forward to playing a really good ballclub and getting another crack at them and starting this playoffs off on a high note," Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said Monday.

Crow-Armstrong will likely be the National League's MVP after becoming just the seventh player in MLB history with 40 home runs and 40 steals in a season and the 24-year-old finished tied for the MLB lead with 45 home runs.

"This place is super fun to play in in the regular season, and it's rocking and it's a party," Crow-Armstrong said of San Diego's Petco Park. "I'm just looking forward to year two of playoff baseball."

The Padres are one of five Major League Baseball franchises to have never won a World Series, last reaching the Fall Classic in 1998. The Cubs last won it all in 2016, snapping a 108-year championship drought.

Where to watch Cubs vs Padres: TV channel, streaming

• Time: 10 p.m. ET
• TV channel: NBCSN
• Streaming: Peacock

Watch MLB playoffs on Peacock

What time is Cubs vs Padres today?

First pitch is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET at Petco Park in San Diego.

Padres vs. Cubs predictions

• Bob Nightengale: Padres in 2
• Gabe Lacques: Padres in 3
• Kristie Ackert: Cubs in 3
• Jesse Yomtov: Padres in 3

Padres vs Cubs schedule

Game 3 time subject to change

• Game 1, Tuesday: Cubs at Padres – buy tickets – 10 p.m. ET – NBCSN/Peacock
• Game 2, Wednesday: Cubs at Padres – buy tickets – 10 p.m. ET – NBCSN/Peacock
• Game 3*, Thursday: Cubs at Padres – buy tickets – 10 p.m. ET – NBCSN/Peacock

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What time is Cubs vs Padres today? Where to watch, MLB playoffs Game 1 channel

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The 2026 MLB postseason begins on September 29 and as excitement builds for October baseball, the postseason brings a few key rule differences compared to the regular season, especially in how extra innings are handled.

During the regular season, if a game goes to extra innings, the so-called 'ghost runner' rule is in effect: starting in the top of the 10th inning, each team begins its half-inning at bat with a runner automatically placed on second base.

However, in the postseason, the "ghost runner" rule does not apply.

Extra innings in the playoffs are played under traditional baseball rules, with no automatic runner starting on second base.

Extra innings continue until one team leads at the end of a completed inning, or the home team scores the go-ahead run in the bottom half of an extra inning, ending the game immediately.

More: Who's in? Every MLB team that has clinched a playoff spot in 2026