Good eye, good eye, everybody.

You knew Shohei Ohtani wasn't right. You could see it.

And what do you know now that Ohtani has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list?

He's back, but is he back?

After the second of a five-game snippet to find his rhythm and timing before the Dodgers play Game 1 of the National League Division Series on ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The Phillies lost. The Cubs lost twice.

All the Padres regular position players volunteered to play Friday, a night after clinching a playoff spot and celebrating heartily.

A video montage from the previous evening’s postgame festivities had just played on the video boards at Petco Park. The Padres had taken the field. The ...Read more

CHICAGO — Sean Burke wasn’t too worried about the Chicago White Sox bouncing back after celebrating clinching a playoff spot Thursday.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who went to college on this team,” the starting pitcher said. “We know how to turn it up at night and then turn it back the next day.”

The Sox responded with a 6-1 victory...Read more

KANSAS CITY -- For 58 years, Kansas City Royals broadcaster Denny Matthews welcomed generations of fans with his dulcet voice across radio airwaves.

From his catbird seat, Matthews had seen it all.

Matthews, 83, opened the doors to Kauffman Stadium in 1973. He later narrated the Royals’ 1985 and 2015 World Series titles.

If that wasn’t ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Orioles’ game Friday night might have been their last of the season.

A nor’easter will soon pummel New York City and make it difficult for the Orioles and Yankees to play their regular season finale Sunday. The storm is so bad that the teams made the rare move to have a Friday doubleheader, featuring a 10-2 Orioles win in ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — It didn’t matter that Tarik Skubal’s heater zipped across the middle of the plate, belt high to San Francisco Giants rookie Bo Davidson. The Dodgers left-hander had been unhittable all inning, and the 100-mph fastball he reached back for to end the fourth was no exception.

It was just the third time Skubal had touched 100...Read more

MILWAUKEE — As if the first 100-win team in Milwaukee Brewers history needed any help getting to 101 wins, the Cardinals were there for them in the eighth inning Friday.

For the second time in as many days, a throwing error on the infield led directly to a Cardinals loss, but unlike in the series finale at Pittsburgh, the ragged play did not...Read more

BOSTON — Wilyer Abreu has been one of Boston’s most impactful all-around players, but lately the talented right fielder has been stuck in a serious rut.

Over the past few weeks Abreu has seen his offensive production fall off a cliff. Coming into the day he was batting .177 with a .546 OPS and four extra-base hits over his last 17 games ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins wanted to play spoiler against the Texas Rangers this weekend, a team vying to win the American League West division, and they did more than spoil Jacob deGrom’s start.

The Twins wanted to play spoiler against the Texas Rangers this weekend, a team vying to win the American League West division, and they did more ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Come to the ballpark; you might see something different every day.

Friday night, it was four wild pitches in one inning, two of which came in a span of three pitches and scored two runs. Then there was a double steal.

The Mets used an opener, left-hander Jefry Yan, and four pitchers behind him, more than one of whom had trouble ...Read more

DETROIT — It wasn’t lost on anyone that 24-year-old right-hander and former first-round pick Jackson Jobe was on the mound on the night the Tigers celebrated the career of Justin Verlander.

They aren’t comparable, really, given Verlander is ticketed for Cooperstown and Jobe’s journey is just starting, but a 24-year-old Verlander would ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The Rays rotation for the American League Division Series that begins Oct. 3 will start with Drew Rasmussen, that much is clear if not yet publicly confirmed.

Nick Martinez will be in there as well.

But if the Rays opt to use only three starters for the best-of-five matchup that is played over eight days (with off-days after ...Read more

BOSTON — With a nor’easter barreling down on New England, the Red Sox are getting out of dodge.

The Red Sox announced Friday that their regular season finale against the Chicago Cubs, originally scheduled for Saturday at 7:15 p.m. at Fenway Park, is being relocated to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The team’s final game will ...Read more

Miguel Vargas perfectly signifies where the Chicago White Sox were and where they are now.

The Sox acquired the third baseman from the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-team trade in July 2024. He hit .104 in 42 games that season with the Sox, a team that lost a modern-day record 121 games.

Vargas is tied for the team lead in home runs ...Read more

Don Mattingly tried to downplay it at first, but even he was unable to hold the poker face.

“I mean,” he said, “it was a regular bullpen.”

Everyone knew there wasn’t anything “regular” about the 30-ish pitches that Jesús Luzardo threw in the Phillies’ bullpen Thursday, the first time he pitched from a mound in 13 days because ...Read more

LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t win a game Thursday. But they got something far more valuable before even taking the field for their 4-2 loss to the San Diego Padres.

With the Atlanta Braves’ loss to the Cincinnati Reds earlier in the day, the Dodgers clinched the second seed in the National League playoffs and the first-round ...Read more

SEATTLE — While the rest of his teammates headed into the clubhouse ready to wash another loss away in a season filled with them, Bryan Woo remained in the dugout, staring at the field — the handheld scoreboard reading a 6-4 loss to the Angels in the distance.

“Last game,” he said quietly. “If you can use the season and use this time ...Read more

NEW YORK — In his final start of a historic regular season, Cam Schlittler put the finishing touches on what is all but certain to be an American League Cy Young Award campaign.

The Yankees ace allowed two runs (one earned) in three innings with five strikeouts on 70 pitches in Thursday night’s 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in the Bronx. ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — For the second straight night, the Phillies had an opportunity to close in on a playoff spot. And for the second straight night, the Phillies laid an egg.

A stagnant offense and yet another late bullpen collapse doomed them in a 5-1 loss to the Brewers on Thursday night. Milwaukee secured its 100th win of the season, setting a ...Read more