Browsing: Bracket

The New York Yankees are heading to the American League Divisional Series for the third time in the last four seasons following a decisive Game 3 victory over Boston in the Wild Card round Thursday.

Rookie pitcher Cam Schlittler pitched eight innings of shutout baseball, striking out 12 in just his 15th start. He was brilliant and the Red Sox had no answer for him as he sat them down one-by-one, setting up David Bednar to tally three strikes and send the home team to the next round.

Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, Amed Rosario, and Jazz Chisolm Jr. all scored on a night where the outcome was never in doubt after the fourth.

Up next for the Bronx Bombers is a best-of-five series against the Toronto Blue Jays, a team it knows all too well and who could very well spoil the Pinstripes’ hopes of a 28th World Series title.

New York Yankees (-101; bet $100, win $199)

Toronto Blue Jays (-120; bet $100, win 183.33)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

The Blue Jays won eight of the 13 meetings with the Yankees this season. In those wins, Toronto outscored its rivals 59-31. New York scored the most runs in baseball in 2025, with 849, but in their matchups against the electric Jays hitters, they found it difficult to keep pace.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, and Bo Bichette were outstanding, though the latter remains sidelined due to injury, with no clear return date.

Toronto led the big leagues in 1461 hits. They were fueled by their offense and its ability to put up runs against all opposition. They had to be, thanks in large part to a starting rotation that entered the postseason as one of the worst among playoff squads. Even with the potential return of Chris Bassitt.

A shaky bullpen does not do much to inspire confidence, either, placing the championship aspirations of the league’s top-seeded team on the shoulders of the offense.

That could be problematic if the Yankees’ rotation shows up.

Max Fried will have to be better than he was in the regular season against Toronto, when he gave up 11 earned runs in four starts. Carlos Rodón was 2-3 with a 4.72 ERA against the division champs. Schlittler, the star of Thursday’s series-deciding win, gave up six earned runs to the team in his two appearances.

If they can muster dominant performances and halt the Blue Jays’ offense, there is potential for the Yankees to beat up on a shaky rotation and bullpen and advance to their second consecutive ALCS.

Aaron Judge is the best hitter in baseball. Stanton can mash, Bellinger has excelled on the grandest stage in baseball, and Chisolm Jr. recorded a 30-30 season. They have the tools to put up crooked numbers. The question is whether they can keep pace and if they have the pitching to hold the opposition.

If Toronto continues to score, seemingly at will, New York’s dominant Game 3 performance is for not and Yankees fans will continue to cling to the successes of dynasties long gone.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers set up what could be an epic NLDS matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies with their wild-card round sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.

The Dodgers and Phillies have represented the National League in three of the last five World Series. They’ve been two of the most consistent franchises in that span, and in 2025, they possess some of the biggest superstars in the sport.

For as often as both teams have been in the postseason lately, the NLDS meeting is the first time the Dodgers and Phillies square off in the playoffs since the 2009 NLCS.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Los Angeles Dodgers (-130; bet $130 to win $100)

Philadelphia (+110; bet $100 to win $110)

The Dodgers enter the NLDS off a two-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.

Los Angeles scored 18 runs in the series, and most importantly, it saved Shohei Ohtani’s arm for the series opener in Philadelphia. Roberts confirmed after Wednesday’s game that Ohtani would start Game 1.

The Dodgers threw Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Games 1 and 2, but with how the NLDS schedule breaks, both hurlers can pitch on regular rest early in the series.

Ohtani was a huge part of the Dodgers’ wild-card success at the plate. He had two home runs, as did Teoscar Hernandez, in the opener against the Reds. Mookie Betts had four hits in the series-clinching Game 2.

The Phillies won the NL East with the second-best record in the majors. They were incredibly successful at Citizens Bank Park, where they posted a 55-26 record.

The best home record in the majors should translate to the postseason, which is one of the many reasons why the Phillies are projected by many to make a deep run in October.

Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Trea Turner can match what the Dodgers’ big bats produce at the top of the order. Schwarber is coming off an incredible power season, but Harper is the player to watch in the Phillies order.

Harper owns a .280 postseason average and hit six playoff home runs in the last two seasons.

Philadelphia’s pitching staff may not have the stars, like the Dodgers, but Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez have been as effective as any starters in 2025.

Sanchez, the Game 1 starter, owns a 1.94 ERA at home. He should be a tone-setter for the Phillies in Saturday’s opener.

The Dodgers have all the star power in the lineup and rotation, but their bullpen comes into the NLDS as the unit with the most concerns.

Los Angeles gave up seven runs in the final three innings against the Reds. It still won those games, but the mid-to-late innings might be rough for the Dodgers.

In a series where the margins could be extremely thin, the Dodgers’ relievers might be the reason they lose.

Conversely, Philadelphia has a strong bullpen, led by close Jhoan Duran, that can do the exact opposite of what the Dodgers did over the last two nights.

The Dodgers certainly have the bats to make up for any pitching deficiencies, but going into the series, the Phillies own the overall edge in pitching in a matchup where the lineups are even.

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After missing the playoffs, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen broke his silence and addressed the team’s disappointing finish to the 2025 season.

Cohen posted a lengthy apology to Mets fans, admitting, “We didn’t do our part,” and calling the end result “unacceptable.”

After having the best record in MLB earlier this season at 45-24, the Mets bottomed out and finished with an 83-79 record. The team would’ve made the playoffs with a win in Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Miami Marlins but disappointingly lost 4-0.

Cohen did all he could to try to build the Mets into a World Series contender, signing star slugger Juan Soto to the richest contract in sports history this offseason. Adding him to a team that made a surprising run to the National League Championship Series a year ago initially looked like it paid off, but it turned into another chapter of disappointment for New York.

The Mets now face multiple questions entering the offseason, most notably regarding impending free agent Pete Alonso, who has been the face of the franchise for years. Cohen has never been afraid to spend big, but it’s clear that the team needs a different strategy if it hopes to win a World Series for the first time since 1986.

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Six experts from Yahoo Sports predicted the postseason, and their strongest hunch was no different than the CBS crew: Phillies over the Mariners in the final round. They did take things a step further and predicted World Series MVPs, pointing to three different winners for Philadelphia: Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Cristopher Sánchez.

One more expert picked the Phillies to make the final round, only to fall to the New York Yankees in six games. In a bit of a surprise, this prediction pegged Giancarlo Stanton as the World Series MVP. It’d be interesting to know, though, whether that pick had more to do with Stanton’s play style or Aaron Judge’s career struggles in the postseason (.205/.318/.450 slash line over 58 outings).

For the non-math majors in the audience, that leaves two predictions on the board, and they both featured the same champion: The Milwaukee Brewers. That feels more notable than it should for the Major League-leader in both wins (97) and run differential (plus-172), but this is a franchise that has only reached the World Series once and never won it.

The Brewers aren’t built around household names, and the MVP predictions here reflect as much. One went with Brice Turang, a third-year player with a career .257/.325/.368 slash line. The other crowned Andrew Vaughn, a former top prospect who fizzled out with the Chicago White Sox and was traded to Milwaukee at midseason for journeyman starter Aaron Civale and cash.

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With wild-card matchups set, there are a few things fans should know before the action gets underway. The first is that the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers will all have opening-round byes. Their first playoff action won’t come until Saturday, October 4.

Secondly, each league’s third division-winner and top wild-card teams will have home-field advantage throughout the wild-card round. That’s one reason why the Cleveland Guardians’ late-season surge to an AL Central title was so huge.

The Guardians, who were 15½ games back in early July, won the division via tiebreakers over the Detroit Tigers—whose collapse was nearly as epic as Cleveland’s comeback.

Detroit still had a 10-game lead in early September before a miserable month. At least, the Tigers will have a shot at redemption against their division rivals this week.

“This familiarity can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how you look at it,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said, per Evan Woodberry of MLive. “So we’re going to have to turn over every rock and make sure we’re prepared.”

The Guardians will now be at home for all three (if necessary) games against the Tigers in the wild-card round. The Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs will also hold home-field advantage this week.

Once the divisional round begins this weekend, teams will engage in five-game series with the top division winners holding home-field advantage. Those series will follow a 2-2-1 home-field format. The ALCS, NLCS and World Series are all best-of-seven series following a 2-3-2 format.

The MLB playoff bracket does not feature reseeding, so the No. 1 seed will never face another division-winner ahead of the League Championship Series.

The Blue Jays will play the winner of the Yankees and Boston Red Sox wild-card matchup, while the Brewers will face the winner of the San Diego Padres and Cubs matchup.

The team with the better regular-season record will have home-field advantage in the ALCS, NLCS and World Series.

In last year’s playoffs, three of the top four seeds made it to the League Championship Round—along with the sixth-seeded New York Mets. Both No. 1 seeds, the Yankees and Dodgers, faced off in the World Series.

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The New York Mets were one of the biggest disappointments in baseball this season, failing to reach the postseason after losing 4-0 to the Miami Marlins on Sunday.

Big changes are likely coming to Queens, but perhaps not at manager.

Andy Martino of SNY reported Sunday that, “According to sources with direct knowledge, the Mets have no plans to fire Carlos Mendoza. A change would require a series of events that was not at all in motion as the Mets finished off their collapse on Sunday evening. You should, however, expect notable and perhaps widespread changes to the coaching staff. This feels like the biggest news to watch in the immediate aftermath.”

The Mets had the best record in baseball on June 12 (45-24), but since that date played like one of the worst teams in the sport:

Mendoza, 45, took blame for the epic collapse.

“I take responsibility. I’m the manager,” he told reporters. “It starts with me, and I’ve got to take a long look here—how I need to get better. That was a message to the whole team as well. This is unacceptable.”

Despite the team’s struggles since June, the Mets had a chance to reach the postseason after the Cincinnati Reds lost on Sunday. A win would have secured the final Wild Card berth for the Mets, but they were shut out by the Marlins.

“It’s hard to describe,” Mendoza told reporters. “I just got done addressing the team and there’s no word to describe what we’re going through. It’s pain, it’s frustration—you name it. Came in with a lot of expectations and here we are, going home. Not only we fell short, we didn’t even get into October. And this is a team that is built not only to get to October but to play deep into October. And again—pissed, sad, frustrated, you name it.”

In two seasons as New York’s manager, Mendoza has led the team to a 172-151 record and a postseason berth last season. The Mets reached the NLCS last season after a magical late-season run, losing to the eventual champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

This season, however, the team seemed to have the opposite of magic. With a Wild Card berth ripe for the taking, the Mets went 9-15 in September. The sequence that foreshadowed the heartbreak to come was an eight-game losing streak between Sept. 6-13, which included a pair of losses to the Reds (securing the head-to-head tiebreaker for Cincy) and a four-game sweep against the Philadelphia Phillies (basically sealing the NL East crown for Philly).

The Mets have some work to do to move on from the disappointment of 2025. It appears that Mendoza will be tasked with leading the effort.

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For the first time since the 2021 season, the Boston Red Sox are heading to the MLB playoffs.

The Red Sox punched their postseason ticket with Friday night’s walk-off victory over the Detroit Tigers.

There was a lot of optimism coming into this season after the Red Sox traded for Garrett Crochet and signed Alex Bregman. Those additions proved to be huge difference-makers in ending Boston’s four-year playoff drought.

Projected NL Playoff Matchups (Based on Current Standings)

Projected AL Playoff Matchups (Based on Current Standings)

NL Wild Card (Top 3 Teams Make Playoffs)

*Denotes clinched playoff spot

There was tremendous pressure on the Red Sox entering this season coming off three consecutive years in which they finished .500 or worse.

President of baseball operations Craig Breslow took a huge swing by trading four prospects, including two in MLB.com’s top 100, to the Chicago White Sox for Crochet and giving him a six-year, $170 million contract after just one season in which he threw more than 60 innings at the MLB level.

The Red Sox also waited out Bregman’s free agency by getting him to sign a three-year, $120 million deal in February. Both deals turned out to be crucial in elevating the club back to prominence in the AL East.

Crochet made his second straight All-Star team and will likely finish second in AL Cy Young voting to Tarik Skubal. Bregman had his highest OPS+ in a season since 2022.

Four years after signing Trevor Story to a huge contract, the deal paid off in a big way this season. He had his best season by FanGraphs’ WAR since 2019. Aroldis Chapman turned back the clock in a big way with one of the best seasons of his career at the age of 37.

The Red Sox also found a long-term franchise building block in Roman Anthony. He was on track to win AL Rookie of the Year before an oblique injury suffered in early September ended his regular season, though the team is hopeful he can return in the playoffs.

In the midst of all that positive buzz, the Red Sox made a bold move during the season by trading Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants. The decision came with criticism that ownership and the front office were playing things cheap again and putting a potentially successful season at risk.

Instead, the Red Sox took off after the trade with a 34-18 record in July and August. They have many of the components needed to make a deep playoff run. They have start talent in the lineup, though it’s not a deep group of hitters.

Outside of the Detroit Tigers with Skubal, Crochet is arguably the best No. 1 starter on any AL team. Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito are quality starters. The bullpen goes five players deep with Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, Greg Weissert, Brennan Bernardino and Justin Wilson.

In a year where the entire AL looks wide open, the Red Sox have as much top-level talent as anyone as they look to get back to the World Series for the first time since 2018.

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The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury grabbed a 2-1 series lead over the No. 1 seeded Minnesota Lynx after an 84-76 victory at home on Friday.

Both teams got off to a strong start, trading baskets in a fast-paced opening quarter. The Lynx held a 22-19 lead after one, led by five points from Napheesa Collier and seven from Williams.

Kahleah Copper and the Mercury responded in the second quarter, closing the gap and taking a 48-44 lead into halftime. Copper led all scorers with 17 points at the break, while Alyssa Thomas added 10. For the Lynx, Collier finished the half with 13 points, and Natisha Hiedeman chipped in 11.

The Lynx put together a dominant third quarter, with Hiedeman scoring six straight points down the stretch to help Minnesota take a 67-63 lead into the final frame.

Despite a 7-0 run by the Mercury to open the fourth quarter, the Lynx regained their rhythm, sparked by a timely scoring burst from Maria Kliunditkova. The teams traded leads down the stretch in a back-and-forth battle, with Satou Sabally catching fire late for Phoenix.

Minnesota trailed by four with under 30 seconds left when Thomas came up with a clutch steal and layup, extending Phoenix’s lead to 82-76 with 21 seconds remaining. A furious Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve was ejected after picking up a technical, along with assistant Eric Thibault. The Mercury capitalized and held on for the win.

Sabally led the Mercury with 23 points. Thomas added 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Copper finished with 21 points, as Phoenix took a 2-1 lead in the series.

Game 4 will remain in Phoenix on Sunday, with tipoff set for 8 p.m. ET, as the top-seeded Lynx look to keep their playoff hopes alive on the road.

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For the first time since 2001, the Seattle Mariners are kings of the American League West.

After clinching their first postseason berth since 2022 earlier this week, the Mariners secured the AL East title on Wednesday with their win over the Colorado Rockies.

With the Mariners now having clinched the division, here’s a look at the updated playoff bracket and standings.

Projected NL Playoff Matchups (Based on Current Standings)

Projected AL Playoff Matchups (Based on Current Standings)

NL Wild Card (Top 3 Teams Make Playoffs)

*Denotes clinched playoff spot

Three years ago, the Mariners snapped a 21-year postseason drought and advanced to the NLDS, and it seemed like they were on their way to being a consistent playoff team.

But they failed to keep their momentum going, and missed the playoffs in 2023 and 2024.

Now, Seattle is back in the postseason mix and is a legitimate contender.

Much of their success this season can be attributed to an MVP-caliber campaign from catcher Cal Raleigh. The star switch hitter has reached the 60-homer milestone with two more on Wednesday night. He is also slashing slashing .248/.361/.598. He has already broken the record for home runs hit by a primary catcher and by a switch hitter.

But the success doesn’t end with Raleigh.

Center fielder Julio Rodriguez has been tremendous with 32 home runs and 95 RBI, Randy Arozarena has collected 27 home runs and 28 stolen bases, and Jorge Palanco has added 25 home runs.

As a team, the Mariners have hit the second-most home runs (236).

While their offense is one of the best in the majors, they haven’t been quite as elite on defense, as Seattle ranks 11th in team ERA (3.87).

The Mariners have some inconsistency on the mound, but they make up for it with a great offense. They’ll look to rely on their high-powered offense in the postseason.

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For the second consecutive season and 26th time in the past 31 years, the New York Yankees are in the postseason.

The Yankees punched their ticket to the MLB playoffs with Tuesday’s win over the Chicago White Sox.

New York has now made the postseason seven times in eight seasons with Aaron Boone as manager. The club will be looking to get back to the World Series after losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in last year’s Fall Classic.

Projected NL Playoff Matchups (Based on Current Standings)

Projected AL Playoff Matchups (Based on Current Standings)

NL Wild Card (Top 3 Teams Make Playoffs)

*Denotes clinched playoff spot

The Yankees have endured a series of highs and lows throughout the 2025 campaign. This season started on a down note with Gerrit Cole undergoing Tommy John surgery in March, ending his 2025 campaign before it even started.

Aaron Judge was on a historic pace to start the year, hitting .342/.449/.711 with 37 homers through July 25.

A strained flexor tendon in his right elbow landed Judge on the injured list for 10 days. He has hit well upon returning, but it’s not quite at the Barry Bonds level he was at prior to the injury.

The top of New York’s roster is as strong as it has been in any season since Judge debuted. Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger turned back the clock to play at an All-Star level. Jazz Chisholm had a 30-30 season. Trent Grisham hit more homers in 2025 than he did in the previous two years combined.

Starting pitching figures to be a strength for the Yankees in October. Max Fried, who signed an eight-year, $218 million contract as a free agent last offseason, has slid into the role of the No. 1 starter with Cole out.

Carlos Rodón had his best season since signing with the Yankees in December 2022. Cam Schlittler is a very promising rookie who has posted a 3.27 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 66 innings.

This is still a flawed roster that has frequently made mistakes running the bases and is prone to defensive lapses that could come back to haunt them, as was the case in last year’s postseason, but the offensive ceiling is so high that the Yankees are a real threat to represent the AL in the World Series once again.

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