The San Jose Sharks hosted the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night. Much like in their game against Edmonton, this game seemed like it should be a barn-burner on paper, but oddly we ended up with one of the most unexpected goaltending duels of the season.
Colten Ellis saved all 24 of the Sharks' shots in route to a 2-0 shutout victory. At the other end of the ice, Yaroslav Askarov saved 38 of 39 shots. He likely deserved a better result, but a lack of goal scoring, and a considerable number of shots missing the net, caused the Sharks to drop a game they could've won.
Recap:
In an odd turn of events, both teams opted to start their fourth line. Nothing really came of it, but Collin Graf and Olen Zellweger had a bit of a shoving match in the opening minute. Louis Crevier gave the Sharks their first power play chance of the night after taking a delay of game penalty, but Josh Norris earned a breakaway and forced Mason Marchment to take a penalty of his own just 11 seconds later.
Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini had back-to-back scoring chances in the ensuing 4-on-4, but bother were denied by Buffalo netminder Colten Ellis. Early on, the Sabres were getting the majority of the chances, but it felt like the few that San Jose got were of higher quality. The Sabres did force Yaroslav Askarov to make some big saves though as the period progressed.
The Sharks got another power play opportunity later in the first when Ty Dellandrea was run over by Crevier, who looked like a freight train on the play, but again, nothing came of it.
Just 50 seconds into the second period, former Anaheim Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger was able to slot the puck past Askarov and into the net, giving the Sabres a 1-0 lead.
Askarov was forced to make a couple more big saves near the middle of the period, keeping his team within a goal.
The Sharks had a massive scramble in front of the net, but despite multiple attempts on the rush, they were unable to get it past the prone goaltender before Buffalo's defensemen piled into the crease. Less than a minute later, Ellis broke out the splits to make another massive save.
Ty Dellandrea was called for high-sticking with 8:51 remaining in the middle frame, giving Buffalo their first full power play of the night. On the power play, Buffalo nearly scored and a review was initiated by the official to see if the puck crossed the line at one point, but there was no conclusive evidence to overturn the call on the ice.
Luca Cagoni was taken down in the corner after taking a swinging high-stick to the face, but no penalty was called by the officials despite a clear dangerous play.
With just over 26 seconds remaining in the period though, Zach Benson was sent to the penalty box for holding, giving the Sharks an opportunity to tie things up.
The Sabres not only killed off that penalty, but earned a power play of their own shortly afterwards, as Adam Gaudette was called for holding Tage Thompson.
Ellis once again robbed the Sharks, this time Kiefer Sherwood, with just over four minutes remaining in regulation.
Zach Benson then scored his first goal of the year with just under a minute left in the game, scoring on the empty net to double Buffalo's lead.
The Sharks will be back in action on Thursday night as they'll host the Vancouver Canucks.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Filip Hronek scored a power-play goal with 11 seconds to go in overtime to cap a run of four consecutive goals by the Vancouver Canucks, who snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 6-5 comeback win over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.
The Canucks, who won for just the third time all season, trailed 5-2 after Anaheim's A.J. Greer scored his second goal of the game with 7:37 to play in regulation.
But Jamie Oleksiak pulled Vancouver within 5-3 just 31 seconds later.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki then scored twice less than a minute apart — the second with 1:57 left in regulation — to send the game into overtime.
In addition to his winning goal, Hronek also had an assist. Liam Ohgren and Brock Boeser also had goals for Vancouver, while Elias Pettersson added a pair of assists. Leevi Merilainen made 18 saves.
The Ducks jumped to a 4-1 lead after two periods. Greer scored in the first period, then Jeff Malott, Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson added second-period goals. Sennecke's came on the power play.
Jackson LaCombe had three assists for the Ducks and Lukas Dostal made 27 saves.
Through much of the first half of Tuesday night's contest against the Detroit Pistons, the Knicks found themselves still buried in the slump from the season's first three games: shoddy defense, missed baskets, and sluggish transitions. At one point in the first half, they fell 13 points behind.
Then came the third. New York outscored Detroit 60-47 in the final 24 minutes of play, holding its opponents to just 13 points in the third and eventually running away with a 111-97 lead by the time the clock wound down.
The effort was largely spearheaded by Karl-Anthony Towns. The 30-year-old center completely turned it around after the break, finishing with his fourth double-double in four games so far this season. His 57 percent shooting from the field was second on the team, only to Andre Drummond (5-for-7).
But it wasn't until a near-brawl with Pistons starting center Paul Reed midway through the third that Towns really stepped up; he finished the first half a minus-14.
Reed, who scored nearly one-third of Detroit's 50 first-half points (16) and finished with a team-leading 22 points and five offensive rebounds, got tangled with Towns as teammate Duncan Robinson cut New York's lead to 10 midway through the third quarter. The two instantly became heated, but the referees stepped in before things could escalate and dealt Reed a Flagrant 1.
Then came the shift. After making his two free throws from the flagrant — his only two free throws of the night — Towns exploded for 16 of his 27 total points and tacked on eight of his 20 rebounds, recording his fifth 20-20 as a Knick.
After the game, head coach Mike Brown commended Towns for the way he rebounded and said he had a very frank conversation with the center at halftime.
"KAT's a grown man. He's obviously a perennial All-Star. I just told him the truth: 'KAT, the guy is killing us on the glass, and when he gets a rebound, he's putting it back. Anything he gets in the paint, he's putting it back. If he catches on the perimeter, guard him,'" Brown said. "And he did those things. I've got to take my hat off to KAT because I thought his shift in his mindset was really big for us in the second half."
KAT gets tangled with Paul Reed https://t.co/A6NvVBwm2k
The clash between Towns and Reed ignited a fire inside the entire Knicks roster, serving as a catalyst for a more aggressive effort on both ends of the court.
It was just the boost New York needed to clinch their first win of the season after seemingly falling victim to a championship hangover.
"[Reed] played great in the first half. I think we were able to not let him loose on the offensive boards. He was really impacting the game," Jalen Brunson said after the game. "For [KAT] to step up as he did throughout the game was something that we needed."
Towns, however, credited the turnaround to the entire team.
"I thought we did a better job picking up our intensity and our physicality, and we just executed at a high level," he said. "... We've just got to worry about the controllables, which is us playing our best, executing at a high level, and bringing that physicality to the game."
He added that with one win under its belt, the team has to shift all of its energy toward a second one rather than dwelling on Tuesday's success.
"Gotta get the next one — that's the only thing on the mind," he said. "... All year, it's going to be us improving, going through the ups and downs of the season. We just got to stay steady, keep believing in each other, keep pushing each other to another level."
TYLER KOLEK BEHIND THE BACK PASS! https://t.co/fyBK8WVtQn
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Once you got past the Semyon Varlamov of it all on Tuesday, there was the matter of the hockey the Islanders played in beating the Predators 4-3 in a shootout.
After coach Pete DeBoer went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen and essentially challenged his team following a loss in Dallas he said was their first poor performance all season, the Islanders responded in kind.
It wasn’t perfect — actually, it was nearly disastrous, as the Islanders fumbled a 3-0 lead, then failed to score with nearly four minutes at 4-on-3 in overtime — but DeBoer’s side had the qualities they’d lacked against the Stars.
Kyle Palmieri scores a goal in the shootout during the Islanders’ 4-3 win over the Predators on Oct. 27, 2026 in Nashville, Tenn. Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
They were up ice and physical, their passes crisp and their battle level high. The best example all night came at the start of the second period, when the Islanders passed the puck around the zone for nearly a minute without pause before Matthew Schaefer’s feed across gave Bo Horvat a one-timer to rocket past Juuse Saros and make it 3-0.
“We got back to our identity tonight,” Brayden Schenn said. “We know we have to play that way in order to be successful. It’s a gritty, hard-nosed game. Play good defense.”
Of course, that alone didn’t mean this was easy.
The Islanders let the Predators back in on Filip Forsberg’s power-play goal at 9:42 of the second, making it 3-1, and from there, things got hairy.
Just over three minutes later, off a rare Matthew Schaefer turnover when the defenseman got crossed up with Ondrej Palat trying to exit the zone, Alexander Kerfoot got the Predators within 3-2.
When the Islanders’ fourth power play of the night went nowhere — just as their first three had — the Predators wasted no time in making them pay. Daemon Hunt’s initial shot trickled through Varlamov’s pads before Ryan O’Reilly stuffed it in to tie the game at 4:16 of the third.
The Islanders were on their heels late in regulation, requiring a few scrambling defensive shifts to get the game to overtime, but they would eventually earn the extra point.
After Schaefer was tripped at the start of overtime, the Islanders exhausted the Predators for a ridiculous 1:45 on a delayed call before Nashville finally got a touch.
Still, somehow, the Islanders — opting to leave Schaefer, Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom out for well over four minutes of overtime, and Schaefer for all five — couldn’t convert on the power play itself. (Schaefer, who finished with a career-high 32:16 of ice, is the first player to go all five minutes of overtime in the post-lockout era.)
Shootout goals from Kyle Palmieri and Horvat sealed it anyway.
“I thought it was a great response, and I knew we would get that response,” DeBoer said. “I think the guys knew and came out and played great.”
After three straight defeats to open their title defense, the Knicks were looking to put together something more of a complete game when they hosted the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night.
When New York fell behind by 13 after the game's opening quarter, things looked bleak. But then the home side flexed a muscle that had been dormant during the first week as they dominated the middle quarters, outscoring Detroit 63-25, which meant the lackluster final stanza could be overshadowed by the 111-97 win.
"We talk about trying to string a game together… 48 minutes of basketball the way we know how to play, and we like to play,” head coach Mike Brown said after the win. “And we had some lulls where we weren't as physical as we should have been throughout the course of the game, but we had some really good moments.
“We had more good moments in this game in totality than we did in the first three games, and that's why we got the win.”
Overall, it was a positive step for the Knicks, who still know much more needs to be done to regain the feel of last year’s unit.
"We can have some hiccups,” Brown said of the early struggles. “That's what the [regular] season's for. It’s trying to correct it, so come playoff time, you're ready to go do what you need to do. So is it fixed? No, it ain’t fixed. Nothing's really fixed.
“What tonight shows us is we're more than capable if we put our minds to it. And that’s what we gotta continue to try to build off. And then if we do slip up, that we don’t slip up for eight minutes or 10 minutes. Maybe for a minute and a half, two minutes, and then we get back, regroup, and get back heading in the right direction again."
Karl-Anthony Towns, who had a 27–point, 20-rebound explosion, said the Knicks “looked more like ourselves from last year, but we still have a lot of room to grow.”
“We got to remember that Rome wasn't built in a day,” Jalen Brunson, who scored 23 points on the night, said in his on-court interview after the game. “This is a new year, new team. Adversity started early, so we just gotta fight back.”
“We have a long way to go, but obviously we want to learn from wins as much as we do from losses. Excited we came up with the win today.”
It is a long season, as the head coach was sure to point out, but positive signs were abundant.
“I still believe we took some really good shots,” Brown said. “I believe if we keep taking the shots that we're taking, they're going to start going in sooner than later. But our guys played an overall good game. On the offensive glass, defensively physically, offensively physically.”
The defensive performance shouldn't be overlooked. Brown pointed to the “hot players” the Knicks had keyed in on in the previous game against the Magic, Desmond Bane and Tristan da Silva,who shot a combined 9-for-18 from three, which “had a huge impact” in the 111-102 defeat.
“The guys that we labeled hot tonight, two of the guys were obviously Duncan Robinson and [Daniss] Jenkins, and they were combined 3-for-16,” Brown said. “So our awareness, our level of physicality, throughout the 48 minutes were a lot better on those two guys in the previous game.”
With no rest on the docket and a date Wednesday night in Chicago with the Bulls, the only thing on Towns’ mind after getting the first win of the season out of the way: “Gotta get the next one.”
“Build off of this game and continue to improve as a team,” Towns said. “All year it’s gonna be us improving, going through the ups and downs of a season. We just gotta stay steady, keep believing in each other, keep pushing each other to another level.”
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jonny DeLuca and pinch-hitter Ben Williamson singled home runs in a stunning 12th-inning rally, and the Tampa Bay Rays staved off World Series elimination with a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night that forced Game 5.
Cooper Pratt hit a tiebreaking home run off Ian Seymour in the top of the 12th for his fourth hit of the game as Milwaukee neared a sweep and its first World Series title.
But the Rays, also seeking their first championship, rallied in the bottom half after a throwing error by third baseman Joey Ortiz on Junior Caminero’s leadoff grounder against reliever Antonio Senzatela.
Liam Hicks singled off Shane Drohan, who relieved in his first appearance since Oct. 15, and DeLuca’s single to center drove in pinch-runner Cedric Mullins to tie the score at 3.
Chandler Simpson’s single loaded the bases and Milwaukee employed a five-man infield with the infield in.
Williamson, who had been 1 for 15 in the postseason, hit a chopper over first baseman Jake Bauers and into right field.
Game 5 will be Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay became just the fifth of 26 teams that fell behind 3-0 in the World Series to win Game 4. The previous four lost Game 5.
Of 43 teams to trail 3-0 in any best-of-seven postseason matchup, the only one that rebounded to win was the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series.
Tampa Bay ended an eight-game winning streak by the Brewers, who were bidding to become only the second team to sweep a League Championship Series and the World Series.
David Hamilton also homered for the Brewers. Jackson Chourio had a single and double, improving to 10 for 20 in the Series.
Pratt, a 22-year-old rookie whose go-ahead hit sparked the Brewers to a 5-4 win in Game 2, drove a slider into the left-field seats against Seymour. Pratt had tied the score at 1 with an RBI double in the second.
Milwaukee players bounded out of the dugout to greet Pratt, who debuted in June and became the first rookie to hit an extra-inning homer in the World Series.
Seymour had allowed Frelick’s tying homer in Game 2.
Milwaukee fans in the crowd of 40,514, many waving yellow towels and some wearing cheeseheads, brought a Badger State feel to Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay returned to its white home jerseys, a day after playing in Devil Rays throwbacks.
Simpson hit an RBI double off starter Dustin May in the second, but Milwaukee tied the score in the fourth against Griffin Jax when Frelick hit a two-out single and came around on Pratt’s double.
Caminero singled leading off the bottom half to chase May and advanced on a groundout. DeLuca hit a hard grounder to Hamilton and Caminero twisted toward the grass to avoid the third baseman’s tag, then came home when Hamilton bounced his throw past Bauers for an error.
Hamilton, Milwaukee’s No. 9 hitter, drove an 0-2 fastball at the letters from Jax into the right-field seats for his second home run of the postseason — half his regular-season total and just his second since June 6.
Veteran could add to 95 caps as he returns aged 37
Ramm and Thomas to also join Australia’s spring tour
Veteran playmaker Kurtley Beale has been summoned for the Wallabies’ spring tour of the UK in a massive development ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Beale on Wednesday answered an SOS call from coach Les Kiss to join the squad for next month’s three Tests against England, Scotland and Wales before the inaugural Nations Championship finals in the UK from 21-23 November.
ST. LOUIS -- Let's just call Tuesday night what it was: a goalie win for Jacob Fowler.
The Montreal Canadiens goalie was in the St. Louis Blues' kitchen the entire night, particularly the second- and third-periods of the Canadiens' 2-0 win at Enterprise Center.
Fowler made a career-high 46 saves, including 24 in the third period when the Blues (5-6-1) outshot the Canadiens (7-3-2) 24-3.
"There was definitely a lot of good looks and sometimes you've got to tip your cap to their goalie," Blues forward Robert Thomas said. 'He made a lot of good saves; we've go to find a way to bear down a little bit more and put those in the net. There's a lot of things to like about tonight."
That was a hard thing to do even on a night where the Blues had shot volume (80-49), plenty of net front traffic and tons of O-zone time.
But in the end, it's the second straight shutout loss after a 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, extending their shutout streak to 123:55.
"We had a lot of opportunities tonight, a lot of shots," Blues forward Dylan Holloway said. "... I thought we deserved a couple there, but credit to Fowler there in net. He was on fire tonight."
As a result, the Blues were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 17-19, 2019 (4-0 in a loss to the San Jose Sharks and 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings) in what turned out to be Mike Yeo's final game as Blues coach before they hired Craig Berube in the Stanley Cup-winning season.
It's the second-most shots on goal in a shutout loss since Jan. 25, 1986 in a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers:
* Lots of shots, lots of chances, lots of traffic ... too much Fowler -- As was mentioned, sometimes you have to tip the cap to the other guy tending the net.
Fowler was exceptional.
I think if the Blues play this game 10 times, they win nine of them.
They did everything but score. Pucks were loose in the crease and they had several bodies there, they got to several rebounds and Fowler was there on every one.
Jake Neighbours hit the post from the slot in the opening period, and Cam Fowler (no relation) hit the post on a seeing-eye shot from the left point.
When things are going well, even good fortune can be your best friend.
But make no mistake, the Blues just got goalie-d, and those nights happen.
"Fowler was too hard to beat tonight,“ Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "… Fowler, he was incredible tonight. Several spectacular second saves. I didn’t think we shot it in him. I thought he made the saves.
"We had plenty of both (volume and net front chances). Are we still a little too perimeter? Yeah, maybe at times, and that's something we can improve upon, but if we keep getting that many looks, there's going to be nights where you get seven, eight (goals)."
Jacob FOWLER (21) 🇺🇸 chytil 46 střel St. Louis 👀
Nejvíc zásahů nováčka u čistého konta v historii Montrealu.
Šestá výhra v řadě, čímž se také řadí ve svém věku k legendám.
Těžký test pro Kubu DOBEŠE 🇨🇿, hrdinu letošního play off.
Fowler was simply masterful, and his team relied on him heavily, and I mean heavily in that third period.
* Bolduc bites former mates -- Let's not forget Jordan Binnington, who didn't see the shot volume (20 shots) that Fowler did, but the Blues goalie also made some really good saves when the Canadiens had the jump in the early going, but in a 0-0 stalemate, there weren't going to be many opportunities to beat these goalies.
Former Blue Zack Bolduc did the honors three seconds after a Canadiens power play had expired with a rifle of a snipe from the bottom of the right circle, and it was going to take a shot like that to beat either one of these guys tonight:
Montreal goal!
Scored by Zachary Bolduc with 11:23 left in the 2nd. Assisted by Mike Matheson and Alexandre Texier.
I thought the call on Thomas for holding at the time was soft, and the Blues' kill, which technically was 3-for-3 in the game, suffered off it when Montreal was able to hold the zone and keep this play alive for the icebreaker at 8:37 of the second period.
Blues fans should know all too well about these types of shots from Bolduc having seen them in the past.
* Questionable second goal -- It came early in the third with Florian Xhekaj getting his first NHL goal on a tip, what appeared to be his second tip of a Mike Matheson wrister to the net.
It appeared Xhekaj directed the puck downward on the initial shot, it deflected off Binnington and behind him, and Xhekaj was able to poke it in for a 2-0 lead at 2:17 of the third period.
The play was reviewed and upheld, with the league's response being:
"It did look like it, but I don't know if he touched it there or not," Montgomery said. "But they get really good looks at it from Toronto. If they didn't think it was, we're not going to double down on it on a challenge. It's a hard thing to see but he does cross-check our defenseman down to the ice. If that doesn't happen, the defection never happens."
From there on, the Canadiens were able to sit back and defend and rely on their goalie, which they did, holding a two-goal advanatge despite the Blues throwing the kitchen sink at the Montreal goal.
* Puck movement was sloppy early -- The Blues were able to absorb the Canadiens' forecheck more times than not early, but their puck transition was not clean, and opportunities for odd-man rushes were thwarted because of it either with a bad puck touch or bad pass.
A lot of it stemmed from puck movement through the neutral zone where things didn't look clean for this group.
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Third baseman Joey Ortiz bounced the throw, and the ball glanced off first baseman Jake Bauers’ mitt for an error.
One of the most stunning rallies in World Series history started to unfold.
Liam Hicks, Jonny DeLuca, Chandler Simpson and pinch-hitter Ben Williamson followed with consecutive singles in a 15-pitch span against rookie Shane Drohan, and the Tampa Bay Rays staved off elimination Tuesday night with a 4-3 win that forced Game 5.
“Sometimes the game tests you. Sometimes the game makes you want to dig deep,” Brewers captain Christian Yelich said. “It’s all part of the journey, all part of the experience, and that’s part of our story.”
Milwaukee rookie Cooper Pratt hit a tiebreaking home run off Ian Seymour in the top of the 12th for a 3-2 lead, sending the Brewers sprinting out of the dugout in excitement as they sensed completing the first Series sweep since 2012.
Milwaukee’s bullpen, led by seven outs from Aaron Ashby, had combined for seven straight scoreless innings, before Caminero reached against Antonio Senzatela.
Ortiz grimaced.
“I’ve got to make that play,” he said. “Just no excuse about it.”
Caminero appeared to hurt his left foot but stayed in the game. Brewers manager Pat Murphy brought in Drohan, a 27-year-old left-hander who had not pitched since a one-inning start in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Oct. 15.
With Pratt shifted toward second for the left-handed batter, Hicks hit an opposite-field grounder through the vacated shortstop hole and into left field as Caminero slid headfirst into third.
“For just regular D, that’s right at Coop,” Drohan said of the defensive alignment.
Pinch-runner Cedric Mullins replaced Caminero before DeLuca, who had made sparkling catches to deny Yelich in the third and William Contreras in the fourth, hit a grounder past the mound as Drohan tried in vain to make a behind-the-back snag. The ball bounced into center as Mullins tied the score at 3.
Nick Fortes ran at second for the slower Hicks. After missing a bunt attempt and pulling back another while taking a called strike, Simpson lined a single into center, loading the bases.
Sal Frelick moved in from left to form a five-man infield, with three defenders on the left side and everyone playing in.
Williamson, who had been 1 for 15 in the postseason, batted for Victor Mesa Jr.
Cam Booser reacts after striking out Sal Frelick to end the 11th inning of the Rays’ Game 4 season-saving win over the Brewers. MLB Photos via Getty Images
“It’s what you dream of as a player to be in that spot,” Williamson said.
On the game’s 367th pitch, he hit a chopper that kicked up chalk from the foul line 7 feet from home plate. The ball bounded high over Bauers and onto the grass in short right field. Fortes sprinted across the plate with the winning run, then headed toward first to join his jumping teammates in foul territory.
“That was totally what I told him to do,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said, drawing laughs.
Drohan walked off, his head bowed.
“Definitely hard. I’m human,” he said softly. “I knew what I was walking into. I just didn’t do the job there.”
Tampa Bay became the fourth team in World Series history to avoid elimination with an extra-inning comeback, according to OptaSTATS, joining the 1912 Boston Red Sox, 1986 New York Mets and 2011 St. Louis Cardinals — who all went on to win titles.
Ben Williamson (15) celebrates with teammates after hitting an RBI single during the 12th inning to lead the Rays to a 4-3 season-saving victory over the Brewers in Game 4 of the World Series on Oct. 27, 2026 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. Getty Images
“We’ve got a lot of fight in us. We’re never going to shy away,” Simpson said. “We were going to keep fighting until the end — the last inning, the last out, the last play, the last pitch.”
Tampa Bay became just the fifth of 26 teams that fell behind 3-0 in the World Series to win Game 4. The previous four lost Game 5.
Of 43 teams to trail 3-0 in any best-of-seven postseason matchup, the only one that rebounded to win was the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in the 2004 AL Championship Series.
“It just shows the resiliency of this group,” Williamson said. “We continue to fight, and that’s been the motto this series and this full season, is just fight.”
Caminero was replaced by Mullins at third base and hobbled off the field with an ailing left foot. But the All-Star slugger said he’ll definitely play Wednesday night.
“He’ll play tomorrow on one leg. I’ll make sure of it,” Cash said.
Cooper Pratt celebrates after belting a solo home run during the 12th inning of the Brewers’ Game 4 loss to the Rays. AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
Tampa Bay ended an eight-game winning streak by the Brewers, who were bidding to become only the second team to sweep a League Championship Series and the World Series.
“I feel like today we’ve just been playing so free,” DeLuca said. “It’s a pretty cool position we’re in and it’s a special opportunity that we have.”
David Hamilton also homered for the Brewers. Jackson Chourio had a single and double, improving to 10 for 20 in the Series.
“When you’re achieving something like this, it’s going to have its adversity,” Murphy said. “We had some things go our way yesterday. They had some things go their way today. That’s the way it is.”
Pratt, a 22-year-old who debuted in June, drove a slider into the left-field seats against Seymour to become the first rookie to hit a World Series extra-inning homer. His go-ahead hit sparked the Brewers to a 5-4 win in Game 2 after Seymour allowed Frelick’s tying home run.
“Nobody said this was going to be easy,” Pratt said.
Milwaukee fans in the crowd of 40,514, many waving yellow towels and some wearing cheeseheads, brought a Badger State feel to Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay returned to its white home jerseys, a day after playing in Devil Rays throwbacks.
Simpson hit an RBI double off starter Dustin May in the second, but Milwaukee tied the score in the fourth against Griffin Jax when Frelick hit a two-out single and came around on Pratt’s double.
Caminero singled leading off the bottom half to chase May and advanced on a groundout. DeLuca hit a hard grounder to Hamilton and Caminero twisted toward the grass to avoid the third baseman’s tag, then came home when Hamilton bounced his throw past Bauers for an error.
Hamilton, Milwaukee’s No. 9 hitter, drove an 0-2 fastball at the letters from Jax into the right-field seats for his second home run of the postseason — half his regular-season total and just his second since June 6.
Six scoreless innings followed before the late drama in a 4-hour, 20-minute game that ended at 12:28 a.m. with the first Series walk-off pinch hit in extra innings since Gene Larkin’s single won Game 7 for Minnesota in 1991.
“You play Wiffle ball in the backyard with your friends and you’re dreaming of hitting a walk-off ball in the World Series,” Williamson said.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 27: Members of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrate after Ben Williamson #15 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits a walk off single in the 12th inning to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers during Game Four of the 2026 World Series presented by Capital One at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, October 27, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
In 2011, Dan Shaughnessy famously counted the Rays out when they were down 7-0 to New York in Game 162 while the Boston/Baltimore game was in a rain delay. Shortly thereafter, the magic happened propelling the Rays into the postseason. It took 12 innings and 4 hours and 15 minutes of baseball for the magic to happen as the Rays avoided being swept with a 4-3 comeback win.
Griffin Jax got the Rays through four innings, but the lift was a lot harder than the line score looked. Jax had nine batted ball events with exit velocity of at least 96 MPH and expected batting averages of at least .770, but early on, only an opposite field line drive single by Jackson Chourio with one out in the 3rd inning safely found the synthetic surface. That changed in the 4th when a two-out single by Sal Frelich, which was 104.4 off the bat, was quickly followed by a 98.9 MPH double by Cooper Pratt to tie up the game. The Brewers put nine balls in play off Jax and only a Brice Turang groundout had an exit velocity below 96.0 MPH. Their offense, overall, made outstanding contact despite the low-scoring affair:
By the bottom of the 4th, the Rays did something they could not do in Game 3, and that was plate a second run. It was more a bad process-good outcome type of play though as Junior Caminero should not have been moving on contact to the left side from second base, yet somehow avoided the tag and being called out the baseline to score on an errant throw by David Hamilton to get a hustling DeLuca. DeLuca would be eliminated on a fielder’s choice groundout by Chandler Simpson, who himself would soon be eliminated after getting picked off by JoJo Romero.
That 2-1 lead lasted all of three pitches when Jax’s final pitch of the evening came in at a game-low 93.4 MPH and Hamilton yanked that 0-2 pitch into the stands to tie the game and make up for his throwing error:
The pen was once again asked to get 15 outs, which has not gone well in previous events this series, this month, and this season. Kevin Kelly got the first three while stranding a two-out walk to Christian Yelich in front of William Contreras. Jax’s outing overall was effective by the measures, but not the overall outcome. The PitcherList report card even says as much, and the results went from B+ to C+ with that last swing by Hamilton:
Nick Martinez came in of relief for Kevin Kelly and had a similar path of stranding a two-out baserunner. Martinez would go on to work two innings in relief before handing it off to Bryan Baker in the 8th. A well-rested Baker looked sharp with his changeups and threw a 95.7 MPH fastball to jam Brice Turang to record the final out of the 8th. The 9th inning was eventful with Pratt reaching base for a third time and attempted a steal of second base with Andrew Vaughn at the plate with two outs, but Pratt was nullified by a hairline tag by Palacios after receiving a perfectly placed throw from Liam Hicks. Tyler Wells came on in the 10th with a 1-2-3 inning while he and Cam Booser combined to the the Rays through 11 innings. Martinez, Kelly, Baker, Wells, and Booser did all they could to keep the Rays in this contest, but the offense once again, offered little support. Ian Seymour came in for the 12th inning and allowed the go-ahead home run to Cooper Pratt while stranding Jackson Chourio at second base to give the Rays one last chance in this contest. Seymour has now allowed 4 post-season home runs, but he did limit the damage in the 12th to give the team one final chance.
The Rays looked like they might mount a rally in the bottom of the 6th after a leadoff single by Yandy Diaz, but that was followed by a 108.1 MPH liner right to Brice Turang allowing him to double off Diaz at first. Aranda’s rocket had an .890 expected batting average, and the double play changed the complexion of the entire inning. Instead of Caminero coming to the plate with two on, he came up with the bases empty. He quickly got ahead 2-0, then chased a slider out of the zone, before Dan Bellino once again decided a Rays hitter fully swung despite questionable supporting media:
That was the last serious offensive threat mounted by the Rays over the first nine innings as they failed to get a runner to second base in any of the final three innings. In fact, neither team had a runner reach second base after the Hamilton home run in the 5th inning until Jorge Mateo stole second base in the 11th inning. Mateo would be stranded after Jonathan Aranda flew out to right field. Milwaukee went into the bottom of the 12th with a lead but had exhausted their best relievers to get to this point and left the ball in the hands of Anthony Senzatela to bring home the franchise’s first ever World Series.
Caminero started off the inning and reached on a throwing erorr by defensive wizard Joey Ortiz. Pat Murphy opted to bring in Florida native Shane Drohan for the first time in this series to force Liam Hicks to hit against a lefty or have a cold Nick Fortes step in for this game. Drohan allowed 14 regular season home runs, all to righties, but Kevin Cash opted to leave in Hicks and not bring in the righty Fortes. Hicks would single through the left side setting up first and third with nobody out. The extra base was costly though as Caminero left the game limping, but was also noticably limping after reaching first on the throwing error. The drawn-in infield allowed for a Johnny DeLuca groundball to sneak through the middle to tie the game at three. Simpson then came up with the job of bunting over the two baserunners but did not execute a bunt with two strikes but rather hit a two-strike single back through the middle to load the bases with nobody out. Ben Williamson was brought in to pinch hit for Victor Mesa Jr with nobody out and Milwaukee implementing a five-man infield to prevent another ball to sneak through the infield. The suspense would last one pitch as Williamson would hit the fourth consecutive single of the inning to plate Cedric Mullins with the winning run.
Both managers were forced to use young left-handed relievers in key moment because of how long the game went. Seymour has struggled throughout the month of October while Shane Drohan saw things snowball on him with four consective singles from Hicks, DeLuca, Simpson, and Williamson to allow the Rays to out-Brewer the Brewers for the first time in this series. The final inning of this game was the first time since the first inning of game two where the Rays had multiple positive events putting a crazy bow on a game which was extremely well-pitched through 11 innings.
Later today is a new day, and the Rays have a few hours to figure out how to piecemeal a pitching plan for Game 5. They will need to come up with an approach to limit the hard contact the Brewers made in this contest as they had 12 of the 13 hardest hit balls of the game:
If anything, it was refreshing to see the team hang around and come back just a night after getting embarrassed in front of the home town fans and national audience. Let’s hope the image of Junior Caminero limping off in the 12th inning was a Willis Reed moment and not him being too hurt to play in Game 5.
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 27: Jonny DeLuca #21 of the Tampa Bay Rays hits an RBI Single during the twelfth inning against Shane Drohan #55 of the Milwaukee Brewers in game four of the 2026 World Series at Tropicana Field on October 27, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Despite a 12th-inning home run from Cooper Pratt, Shane Drohan and the Brewers couldn’t hold off the Rays in the bottom half. The Rays won 4-3 on a walk-off single by Ben Williamson, cutting Milwaukee’s series lead to 3-1 and sending the World Series to Game 5.
Milwaukee immediately threatened, putting runners on the corners in the top of the first thanks to two walks by Rays starter Griffin Jax and a throwing error by catcher Liam Hicks. Brice Turang had a chance to give the Brewers an early lead, but he grounded out to short to strand both runners.
Tampa Bay couldn’t get anything going against Dustin May in the bottom half of the frame, as he capped off a 1-2-3 first by striking out Junior Caminero looking. The second inning went less smoothly. Hicks led off with a single, and Jonny DeLuca followed with a grounder to Turang at second that nearly became a double play, but the speedy DeLuca beat the relay to first.
That brought up Chandler Simpson, who took a strike, fouled off a couple more pitches, then laced a double down the right-field line to score DeLuca from first.
Chandler Simpson breaks the ice in Game 4!
He brings home Jonny DeLuca for the game's first run as Tampa looks to avoid elimination 👀
With Simpson, one of the fastest players in the game, standing on second, the inning looked like it might snowball, but May bore down. He got Ryan Vilade to ground out to second, then got Richie Palacios to wave at a high fastball for the third out.
Simpson’s double gave the Rays a quick lead, but they wouldn’t hold it for long. With two outs in the fourth, Sal Frelick grounded a single through the right side, and Cooper Pratt followed with a double down the left-field line and into the corner. Frelick scored without a throw (though he slid headfirst anyway) to tie the game 1-1.
After a wild pitch from Jax moved Pratt to third, Garrett Mitchell had a chance to give the Brewers the lead, but he chased a high fastball for strike three.
Dustin May allowed a leadoff single to Caminero to start the bottom of the fourth, at which point Pat Murphy went to lefty JoJo Romero to face the left-handed Hicks. Hicks grounded out but moved Caminero to second. Jonny DeLuca then hit a grounder to third baseman David Hamilton, who tried to tag Caminero, but Caminero swerved onto the infield grass to avoid him. Hamilton nearly fell lunging for the tag, then threw the ball away trying to get DeLuca at first, and Caminero scored to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.
Junior Caminero avoids the tag and scores on the errant throw!
Tampa takes the lead in a back-and-forth contest 👀
Whether a runner left the base path isn’t reviewable, so Milwaukee instead challenged whether Hamilton had tagged Caminero… and lost. Luckily for the Brewers, Romero escaped without further damage, getting Chandler Simpson to ground into a force-out for the second out, then picking him off first for the third.
Hamilton, due up first in the top of the fifth, immediately made up for his error: crushing a home run into the right field stands to tie the game back up.
And then, after runs in three straight half-innings, the game slowly settled back into a stalemate. Abner Uribe kept the Rays scoreless through the fifth and sixth innings, with some help from a beautiful play by Turang at second:
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay brought out Game 1 starter Nick Martinez to pitch the sixth and seventh innings, and he delivered with two scoreless frames before Bryan Baker pitched a scoreless top of the eighth.
DL Hall relieved Uribe and pitched a shutout seventh, then got two quick outs in the bottom of the eighth. With with the right-handed Diaz coming up, Pat Murphy went to his closer, Trevor Megill, who delivered with a strikeout to send the tie to the ninth inning.
With one out in the top of the ninth, Pratt grounded a single through the left side to put the go-ahead run on base. Mitchell then lofted a high fly ball to right field that didn’t quite have the legs to leave the ballpark, and Chandler Simpson ran it down with a leaping catch up against the wall.
With two outs and Pratt still on first, Murphy called on Andrew Vaughn to pinch-hit for Hamilton. Vaughn took a strike on the first pitch, and Pratt took off for second on the next one. He slid in ahead of the throw and was initially ruled safe, but Rays manager Kevin Cash challenged the call. Replays showed second baseman Richie Palacios’ tag may have grazed the back of Pratt’s hand as he slid in, and although none of the angles seemed conclusive, the call was overturned, ending the inning.
Brewers-Rays Game Is Being Held Up Due To This Review.
Instead of Megill, Aaron Ashby came out for the ninth and retired the heart of the Rays’ order — Jonathan Aranda, Caminero, and Hicks — in order to send the game to extra innings.
n the top of the tenth, Tyler Wells replaced Baker and retired the side in order, although Jake Bauers made things interesting with a seven-pitch at-bat before striking out. Ashby again set down the Rays in order in the bottom half, finishing the inning off it with a strikeout of Victor Mesa Jr.
Wells got Christian Yelich to pop up to third and William Contreras to fly out to open the eleventh. With lefties Turang and Frelick due up, Cash went to his bullpen for Cam Booser, who gave up four hits and four earned runs without recording an out in last night’s game. Booser walked Turang on four pitches, the last coming after time was called and the grounds crew came out to repack the mound.
Up next was Frelick, who quickly fell behind 0-2 before time was called again, this time because Booser was having issues with his PitchCom device. Frelick took ball one, then fouled a pitch off his knee as Turang took off for second. Turang went again on the next pitch, which bounced in the dirt, but Frelick couldn’t check his swing, sending the game to the bottom of the eleventh.
Ashby came out for a third inning and kept rolling, striking out Palacios on five pitches. But with Ashby at 31 pitches, Murphy pulled him in favor of Antonio Senzatela. Senzatela struck out Taylor Walls for the second out, then lost the strike zone against Díaz, walking him on four pitches to put the winning run on base. Jorge Mateo came in to run for Díaz.
Aranda quickly fell behind two strikes, and Mateo took off for second on the third pitch of the at-bat. Senzatela pitched out, but Contreras didn’t transfer the ball cleanly and didn’t attempt a throw. With the winning run now in scoring position, Aranda flew out to Frelick to end the eleventh.
Cooper Pratt, who was already 3-for-4 on the night, led off the bottom of the twelfth. Pratt worked the count to 2-2, then demolished a sweeper up in the zone for a go-ahead home run. No moment is too big for this kid:
Despite a Jackson Chourio double with two outs, the Brewers weren’t able to add to their lead any further. With only Kyle Harrison, Shane Drohan, and Brandon Woodruff left in the bullpen, Senzatela came back out for the top of the twelfth with a one-run lead.
Junior Caminero led off with a soft ground ball to third, but Joey Ortiz, who’d come in to play third after Vaughn’s pinch-hit at-bat, bounced the throw to first, and Bauers couldn’t dig it out. Caminero pulled up limping, but stayed in the game.
With the left-handed Hicks coming up, Murphy went to Drohan for his first appearance of the series. Hicks worked the count to 2-2, then grounded a single through the left side. Caminero got on his horse and made it to third without a throw, then limped off the field in favor of pinch-runner Cedric Mullins.
The next batter for the Rays was Jonny DeLuca, who grounded a single up the middle to score Mullins and give the Rays runners on first and second with nobody out and Chandler Simpson coming to the plate. Simpson smoked a line drive up the middle for a single, but Nick Fortes — who had come in for Hicks — stayed at third.
Ben Williamson, pinch-hitting for Mesa Jr., bounced the next pitch through the right side for a single to send this series to Game 5.
With Nick Martinez having pitched tonight, tomorrow’s pitching matchup is presumably Jacob Misiorowski against Drew Rasmussen. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m.
The Rays, down to their final three outs, pulled off a zany 4-3, 12-inning comeback over the Brewers to stay alive.
The Rays are still in deep trouble, trailing the Brewers 3-games-to-1 in the best-of-seven series.
But, oh, they are alive.
The Brewers, leading 3-2 after 22-year-old rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt’s homer, opened the floodgates when third baseman Joey Ortiz, known for his defense, threw Junior Caminero’s routine ground ball by first baseman Jake Bauers. Then, the bullpen, which had pitched eight consecutive scoreless innings, melted down.
Catcher Liam Hicks slapped a single to left field off reliever Shane Drohan, with pinch-runner Cedric Mullins scampering to third base. Jonny DeLuca followed with a single up the middle past a drawn-in infield, tying the game. Chandler Simpson, after trying to bunt, then slapped a single to center, loading the bases.
And pinch-hitter Ben Williamson became the hero slapping ball to right field for the game-winner, with the majority of Brewers’ fans that filled Tropicana Field groaning.
It was the fourth game in World Series history that a team staved off elimination with an extra-inning victory.
“These are the two best teams left in baseball,” Game 4 starter Griffin Jax said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been playing the cleanest baseball for the last three games. No secret there. You can tell by the three losses we have that we’ve been giving them a lot of extra chances, and you can’t do that against the Brewers. They’ve taken advantage of everything.
“There’s no rewriting the script. No changes in who we are."
But this time, they re-wrote the script.
They now are only the fifth team in World Series history who trailed 3-0 in a Series to even force a Game 5, which will be played Wednesday night, possibly with ace Drew Rasmussen on the mound.
“Obviously, we want to play well. Everybody in this clubhouse wants to play well,” Caminero said. “I don’t even think it’s been a matter of necessarily playing bad. I think a lot of credit goes to Milwaukee. They’ve just been playing exceptionally well.
“Earlier, I told (Brewers catcher William) Contreras, you know, you have my blessing. You know, I wish you the best in this series. But now, it’s kind of like, well you’ve played a little too well. Things are what they are now. Credit to Milwaukee. Things just haven’t unfolded our way necessarily.”
Well, up until this night, ruining the Brewers’ party.
There were a horde of Brewers’ fans that into town for the game, staying everywhere from Tampa to Clearwater to Sarasota, and seen everywhere from bars to restaurants to coffee shops, certainly made their presence known. They actually drank popular Ferg’s Sports Bar and Grill, located just outside Tropicana Field, dry.
Jake Ferguson, owner of the bar, said they actually had to call in an emergency shipment of beer after selling 1,000 cases of Miller Lite and Coors Lite in one day, the normal supply for an entire month.
Now, for at least a night, they’ll be drinking in their sorrows, while the wait for a World Series title continues for at least another day.
“That's a really talented group," said Rasmussen, who was beaten in Game 2. “In all honesty, they've outperformed us in all three facets of the game.
“I think they've pitched better than us. I think they've done better offensively. And I think they've played better defense than we have. It’s a really talented group. Their decision-making is off the charts.’’
But not this night.
It belonged to the Rays, in the unforeseen way imaginable.
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored his NHL-leading 14th goal of the season and added an assist, Jesper Wallstedt stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Utah Mammoth 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Maxim Shabanov also had goals while Quinn Hughes had two assists for the Wild, who have won three straight and went 3-1-1 on a five-game road trip.
Utah's Logan Cooley scored with 1:21 to play to spoil Wallstedt's shutout bid.
Kaprizov scored on the power-play just 48 seconds into the second period to give the Wild a 2-0 lead. He has multiple points in three consecutive games and has scored a goal in eight of his last nine games.
Kaprizov is also tied with Alexander Ovechkin for the fifth-most goals scored in October in NHL history.
Eriksson Ek also scored on the power play with less than five minutes to play in the first period and has eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last seven games.
Karel Vejmelka made 27 stops for the Mammoth, who have lost three of their last five games.
Up next
Wild: Return home to face the New York Islanders on Thursday night.
Mammoth: Open a six-game road trip at Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
SAN ANTONIO, TX -OCTOBER 27: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs grabs a rebound over a host of Sacramento Kings players in the first half at Frost Bank Center on October 27, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After the San Antonio Spurs’ road win over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, head coach Mitch Johnson was less than pleased with his team’s performance through the first week of the season. He challenged them and pushed them to be better and play like he knows they are capable of.
Tuesday night saw the Spurs answer the call.
A 41-point second quarter effectively put the game away as the Spurs rolled to the 130-107 victory over the shorthanded Sacramento Kings at the Frost Bank Center, securing their second consecutive win.
“Every game has gotten a little bit better,” Johnson said after the game. “We made a few more shots tonight… commitment to the process is real and I thought they came to play tonight.”
Victor Wembanyama had 29 points and 10 rebounds, his best numbers of the young season so far. Julian Champagnie added 26 points on 8-for-13 3-point shooting, while Dylan Harper added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.
San Antonio’s offense was better, hitting their shots on a 54 percent clip, while hitting 17-of-37 shots from beyond the arc for a season-best 46 percent.
“We felt today what we were supposed to do and what we weren’t,” Wembanyama said. “And we actually showed progress through the game. So, I think, I hope, we can stick to the good stuff we did.”
All five Spurs starters were in double figures in their highest offensive output of the season. San Antonio’s bench had 40 points as San Antonio finished with seven players in double figures.
Sacramento was shorthanded, but led by Domantas Sabonis, who posted 20 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in a losing effort. De’Andre Hunter added 24 points and Zach LaVine had 22 points for the Kings, who remain winless on the season (0-4).
“Whether the ball goes through the hoop or not, our standard stays the same,” Champagnie told reporters after the game. We came out and did exact what we’re supposed to do and played how we want to play. Hopefully we can continue to build on this.“
Games Notes
With so many injuries around the NBA a week into the season, no one give the Spurs ojo. Light some candles for these guys!
In all seriousness, San Antonio has a golden chance to get to the top of the standings thanks to a lighter schedule and teams dealing with huge injuries. As Shams Charania reported, the Minnesota Timberwolves will be without Anthony Edwards when the Wolves visit San Antonio on Saturday.
I didn’t think Harrison Barnes could still get up like that. What a dunk!
Devin Vassell had his best outing of the season with 14 points and eight assists.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 17: Steven Kwan #38 of the Cleveland Guardians hits a Single during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in game four of the American League Championship Series at Progressive Field on October 17, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s Tuesday here at BCB After Dark: the boppin’ home base for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in out of the fall air. There’s no cover charge. If you’ve got a coat, we can check that. There are still a couple tables available. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last night, I asked you if the Cubs should make a change to the pitching coaches. I think Tommy Hottovy and Casey Jacobson are glad you’re not running the team, because 42 percent said “yes” and 38 percent of you said “no.” The other twenty percent said it didn’t make a difference either way.
On Tuesday nights, I don’t do any movie stuff. But I always have time for jazz and that time is now.
So I sort of lied when I said there would be no movies tonight, because I do have a clip from the 1936 film Pennies from Heaven. The film starred Bing Crosby, but the clip we have here is Louis Armstrong and his band performing “Skeletons in the Closet.”
So here’s a good classic to get you in the holiday mood. There’s a little Bing Crosby in here too.
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music.
So I was going to wait until the World Series was over to post tonight, but I don’t think this Brewers/Rays game is never going to end. I guess it doesn’t make much difference because even with a Rays win, the Brewers are overwhelming favorites to win it all.
So I thought I’d ask you about a trade candidate. The Cubs are looking at losing both of their corner outfielders to free agency, so they need to pick someone up to play right and left field if Ian Happ and/or Seiya Suzuki don’t return. The problem is that there aren’t a lot of good free agent outfielders out there and the Cubs may prefer to stay away from making a major commitment to one anyways as Josiah Hartshorn and Kane Kepley are two of their best prospects and both may be knocking on the door for a major league job in 2028. Behind them are Caden Sorrell and Ethan Conrad, both of whom could also be good starting outfielders soon enough.
So maybe the trade market is the way to go. I found this article by Mark Feinsand on MLB dot com from last month and one name struck me as intriguing—the Guardians Steven Kwan. Kwan doesn’t have much power. He had 14 and 11 home runs in 2024 and 2025, but he managed just three home runs last year and a .349 slugging percentage. However, Kwan does a lot of other things well. He makes a ton of contact and gets on base. Last year he had a career-high on-base percentage of .382. His strikeout percentage last year was a ridiculously low eight percent. He’s an excellent defensive left fielder. He runs the bases OK, stealing ten bases in 13 attempts last year.
Looking at Kwan’s Statcast page, you can see it’s a matter of extremes.
Terrible bat speed, slugging and exit velocity. Elite launch angle, chase, whiff and walk rates. Elite defender.
So why would the Guardians want to trade Kwan? Simple. He’s a free agent after this upcoming season. With this upcoming season in doubt, it makes sense for Cleveland to get something for Kwan rather than lose him to free agency. For the Cubs, that works out as Kwan wouldn’t be blocking any of the Cubs outfield prospects.
It’s hard to say what it would take for the Cubs to trade for Kwan. They definitely want someone cheap with years of control. Would it be worth it for the Cubs to trade Matt Shaw for him? Shaw has been disappointing, but he’s still young and he still has room to grow. He’s also very versatile and that’s pretty valuable. But with the emergence of Pedro Ramírez, maybe the Cubs can afford to part with him more than a prospect like Harsthorn or Owen Ayers.
So if there was a proposed trade of Matt Shaw for Steven Kwan, who says no?
If you think Shaw is too much for Kwan, then propose your own deal in the comments.
Thank you for stopping by tonight. Let’s hope we have more baseball soon. Get home safely. If you checked anything, let us get it for you now. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for more BCB After Dark.
