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Mets roar back with five-run 8th inning to take Game 1 of NLDS in win over Phillies

Sports / Baseball /

PHILADELPHIA — Two Philadelphia Phillies fans walked around the Citizens Bank Park concourse on Saturday afternoon asking fans decked in red and powder blue, if they were ready to “smash the pumpkin.” Clearly, the “playoff pumpkin” displayed by Pete Alonso after the Mets‘ wild-card win is not welcome in enemy territory.

The pumpkin ...Read more

Robin Buckson/The Detroit News/TNS

Guardians' first-inning flurry helps bury Tigers, 7-0, in ALDS Game 1

Sports / Baseball /

CLEVELAND – From the very first time the Detroit Tigers deployed an opener ahead of a bulk-innings reliever, manager AJ Hinch warned, it’s not always going to be perfect.

It picked a bad time to be critically imperfect.

The Cleveland Guardians capsized the strategy Saturday with a five-run barrage in the first inning and seized control of ...Read more

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images North America/TNS

Anthony Rizzo won't make Yankees' ALDS roster, hopes to return later this postseason

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — The two broken fingers on Anthony Rizzo’s right hand no longer had a protective brace or a wrap around them when he spoke to reporters on Friday night, but that didn’t stop the first baseman from announcing that he will not be on the Yankees’ ALDS roster.

“I feel good. I feel a lot better than I did six days ago,” said ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Freddie Freeman says his ankle sprain is worst injury he's ever tried to play through

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — Freddie Freeman prides himself on his durability, the Dodgers first baseman having played all 162 games twice and 157 games or more six other times, a resolve that has required him to play through numerous injuries throughout his 15-year career, including a broken right-middle finger in August.

But Freeman has never fought ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Padres coy about how they plan to stop Shohei Ohtani: 'I'm not telling you'

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — The first laugh line of this National League Division Series came on Friday afternoon, when San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt was asked how his club planned to attack Shohei Ohtani.

“I’m not telling you,” Shildt responded with a chuckle, one reciprocated by the mass of media members before him at his pre-NLDS news ...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Bryce Miller: Sheel Seidler says late Padres owner wanted World Series with 'every cell in his body'

Sports / Baseball /

SAN DIEGO — Amid the rumble and roar of Petco Park after the Padres stiff-armed the Braves in a wild-card playoff series Wednesday, Sheel Seidler paused in a tunnel next to the dugout. The emotions hit in flashes, blurring into something unexpected, knotting up both her head and heart.

There was a complicated jumble of happiness, relief and ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Bill Shaikin: In yet another Dodgers-Padres NLDS matchup, Steve Garvey can't lose

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — You can buy an autographed baseball in a million places, but you can buy a $75 autographed baseball from a U.S. Senate candidate in one place.

The candidate, of course, is Steve Garvey, who is a household name in California not because of a life spent in politics, but because of a distinguished career for the Dodgers and San ...Read more

Sam Hodde/Getty Images North America/TNS

Yankees not sweating Michael Wacha's success vs. Aaron Judge before ALDS Game 1 vs. Royals

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — For most of the past decade, Michael Wacha has been a dependable MLB pitcher.

But against Aaron Judge, the Royals right-hander has been at another level.

Judge, the AL MVP favorite, enters the Yankees‘ ALDS matchup with Kansas City just 1 for 18 with 11 strikeouts and three walks in his career against Wacha, the Royals’ Game 1...Read more

Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Mets geared up to face Phillies ace Zack Wheeler in Game 1 of NLDS: 'It's supposed to be a battle'

Sports / Baseball /

PHILADELPHIA — Shockingly, J.D. Martinez has never faced Zack Wheeler.

Of the hundreds of pitchers Martinez has faced in his 14 years in the big leagues, Wheeler, the former Mets right-hander, isn’t one of them. That could change Saturday when the Philadelphia Phillies and the Mets begin the NLDS at Citizens Bank Park.

Wheeler, who signed ...Read more

Ron Jenkins/Getty Images North America/TNS

After 'season of perseverance,' Gerrit Cole leads Yankees into ALDS vs. Royals

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole flashed a smile.

On the eve of Game 1 of the ALDS, the Yankees ace considered his answer to a short, but not necessarily simple, question: What would winning the World Series mean to him?

“I’ve been trying to do that for a long time,” Cole, 34, said with a laugh. “That would be great. That would be amazing. We�...Read more

Robin Buckson/The Detroit News/TNS

Who has the edge? A position-by-position breakdown of Tigers vs. Guardians in ALDS.

Sports / Baseball /

DETROIT — Here's a position-to-position breakdown of the Tigers-Guardians American League Division Series, which gets under way at 1 p.m. Saturday in Cleveland:

Catcher

If you haven't paid much attention to the Tigers, it's easy to dismiss catcher Jake Rogers, because of the barely .600 OPS. But he's a big part of the heart and soul of this ...Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Dylan Hernández: Dodgers have the same problem that derailed their last two playoff appearances

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — This time, they aren't overthinking. This time, they don't have a choice.

The Dodgers will start Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the opening game of their National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres on Saturday but not necessarily because they trust him more than Jack Flaherty.

In the regular season, Yamamoto never once ...Read more

Jason Hanna/Getty Images North America/TNS

Vahe Gregorian: Why Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes is a fan of Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.

Sports / Baseball /

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the Royals signed Bobby Witt Jr. to an 11-year contract worth nearly $300 million in February, the superstar shortstop noted that a “pretty fired up” team investor had texted him to say that he “can’t wait to see what you do for this city and what’s to come.”

Never mind that said investor, Patrick Mahomes, ...Read more

Greg Fiume/Getty Images North America/TNS

Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. says Derek Jeter 'was my guy' – despite Red Sox allegiance

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — As Bobby Witt Jr. talked to a room full of reporters at Yankee Stadium on Friday, a larger-than-life Derek Jeter, pictured in a blown-up Sports Illustrated cover hanging on the wall, smiled in the young shortstop’s direction.

As Witt spoke, he revealed that “Jeter was my guy” growing up, even though he rooted for the Red Sox ...Read more

Rich Storry/Getty Images North America/TNS

Mets' Kodai Senga named Game 1 starter vs. Phillies: 'He was the one wanting the baseball'

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — The Mets pulled yet another rabbit out of their hat.

In a stunning turn of events, manager Carlos Mendoza announced on Friday that Kodai Senga would be their Game 1 starter against the Phillies in the NLDS on Saturday. A team that seemingly can do no wrong at the moment just got their ace back.

The 31-year-old has thrown just 5 1/...Read more

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images North America/TNS

Twins part ways with general manager Thad Levine

Sports / Baseball /

MINNEAPOLIS — General manager Thad Levine is leaving the Twins, the team announced Friday.

Levine and Derek Falvey were hired eight years ago, and appeared together at news conferences regularly, appearing to work hand-in-hand.

But in recent seasons, Levine has been less visible, and Falvey was promoted from chief baseball officer to ...Read more

Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

David Murphy: OK, maybe the Phillies should be a tiny bit scared of the Mets ahead of their NLDS matchup

Sports / Baseball /

PHILADELPHIA — Every now and then, during the course of baseball history, there comes along a team that is so weird, so counterintuitive, so inexplicable, that the rest of the postseason field can’t help but fear it.

The Mets officially reached that status in the ninth inning on Thursday night. They were down 2-0 and down to their last ...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Padres' Joe Musgrove needs Tommy John surgery, won't pitch in NLDS

Sports / Baseball /

SAN DIEGO — Joe Musgrove’s elbow tightness will require Tommy John surgery, a procedure that likely bars him from pitching again until the 2026 season.

Padres President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller provided the medical update after manager Mike Shildt said Musgrove would not be available to pitch in the National League Division ...Read more

YONG KIM/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

'The Showman' owns the Bank stage. What does Bryce Harper have in store for another playoff run?

Sports / Baseball /

PHILADELPHIA — Twenty-one floors above the Las Vegas Strip, on a Saturday in January 2019, the Phillies made their first pitch to Bryce Harper.

John Middleton stressed his commitment to winning, a point the owner would hammer home a month later over dinner. Then-general manager Matt Klentak talked about the up-and-coming prospects in the ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Mookie Betts got 'lost in the process' this year. Can it lead to better playoff success?

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — Twice last month, teams intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to face Mookie Betts instead. Both times, the eight-time All-Star and former MVP emphatically reacted after making them pay.

There was an extra-inning home run on Sept. 3 against the Angels, a game-sealing, three-run blast in which Betts pointed at the sky, emotionally ...Read more