Browsing: playoff

The Seattle Mariners returned to the ALCS for the first time since 2001 with a 15-inning win over the Detroit Tigers to close out the ALDS on Friday night.

Seattle now has to hop on a plane to Toronto to face the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday in ALCS Game 1.

Toronto owns a very clear pitching advantage going into the series since Seattle maxxed out its arms just to stay alive in the postseason.

Seattle’s got a terrific set of arms and power bats that can combat what the Blue Jays can throw at it, but it faces an uphill climb at the start of the series.

Game 1: Sunday, October 12 (8:03 p.m. ET, Fox)

Game 2: Monday, October 13 4:38 p.m. ET or 5:03 p.m. ET (Fox)

Game 3: Wednesday, October 15

Game 4: Thursday, October 16

Game 5 (if necessary): Friday, October 17

Game 6 (if necessary): Sunday, October 19

Game 7 (if necessary): Monday, October 20

All games televised on Fox and live-streamed on FoxSports.com.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Toronto (-110; bet $110 to win $100)

Toronto has a clear advantage in Game 1 because it can set its rotation whichever way it wants.

The Blue Jays will likely throw Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage in Games 1 and 2 at home, just like they did in the ALDS against the New York Yankees.

Seattle’s pitching plan is up in the air. George Kirby started ALDS Game 5 on Friday. Luis Castillo and Logan Gilbert each pitched in relief. Gilbert threw two innings, while Castillo worked 1.1 innings and got the win.

Bryce Miller is the only completely fresh starter the Mariners have. He started Game 4 against Detroit on Wednesday. The Mariners likely won’t make that decision until they get to Toronto.

The Game 1 matchup as a whole favors Toronto because Seattle played 15 innings in a series clincher and now has to get on a cross-continent flight to Ontario.

Yesavage, who was just called up in September, has never faced Seattle. That will play into Toronto’s favor at the start of Game 2.

The Blue Jays won four of the six regular-season contests between the two sides, but those games took place in April and May, so it’s not a good barometer for where both teams are at the moment.

At minimum, the Blue Jays need to take Game 1 before the pitching advantage swings back into Seattle’s favor. The Mariners could easily throw Gilbert and Kirby twice each later in the series.

Toronto presents a different matchup for those pitchers compared to Detroit, though, as the Blue Jays had the second-lowest strikeout rate in the majors. The Tigers had the fifth-highest punchout rate.

Toronto’s ability to avoid the strikeouts and put the ball in play could end up as its top difference-maker in what should be a close series.

Prediction: Toronto over Seattle in 7.

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Image credit:
Trey Yesavage (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

College baseballâ€s reach didnâ€t stop when the regular season ended—it followed players straight into October.

After 293 schools produced at least one big leaguer during the 2025 regular season, 118 of them were represented again in the Wild Card and Division Series rounds, underscoring just how essential the college pipeline has become to the gameâ€s biggest moments.

Recent college draftees like Trey Yesavage (East Carolina) and Cam Schlittler (Northeastern) were among the postseasonâ€s early standouts, further proof of how quickly top college prospects are impacting the majors.

Boston College, East Carolina, Florida State, LSU, Miami and Virginia led all schools with three former players apiece on postseason rosters.

Below is the complete list of all 118 colleges with at least one former player on a postseason roster. Note that players who participated in the regular season for a team that reached the playoffs but were not included on their club’s 26-man postseason roster were ineligible for this study.

SchoolPLAYERS in the playoffsBoston College3East Carolina3Florida State3LSU3Miami3Virginia3Arizona2Cal State Fullerton2Fordham2Fresno State2Georgia Tech2Houston2Indiana2Iowa2LMU2Louisville2New Mexico2North Carolina State2Northeastern2Ohio State2Oregon State2Sam Houston State2South Dakota State2Stanford2TCU2Texas State2UAB2UCLA2Vanderbilt2Wake Forest2Alabama1Arizona State1Auburn1Ball State1Baylor1BYU1Cal Poly1Cal State East Bay1California1California State University, Monterey Bay1Central Michigan1Cincinnati1Clemson1Cloud County (Kan.) JC1Concordia1Connecticut1Creighton1Dartmouth1East Stroudsburg1Eastern Illinois1Elon1Florida1Florida International1Gardner-Webb1Georgia1Georgia State1Harvard1Hawaii1Hope International University1Indiana State1Jacksonville1James Madison1JC Of Southern Nevada1Kent State1Kentucky1Lafayette (Pa.)1Lake Erie College1Lenoir-Rhyne1Liberty1Lynn University1Maryland1McNeese State1Miami Dade JC1Michigan1Millersville University1Mississippi State1Nevada1New Jersey Tech1New Mexico JC1New Mexico State1Newberry College1Niagara1North Carolina1Oklahoma State1Ole Miss1Oral Roberts1Oregon1Point Loma Nazarene1Purdue-Northwest (Ind.)1Sacramento City College1Sacramento State1San Diego1San Diego State1San Jacinto (Texas) JC1Santa Clara1Seattle1South Florida1Southeastern Louisiana1St. John’s River (Fla.) JC1State JC Of Florida1Stephen F. Austin State1Stetson1Tennessee1Texas1Texas A&M1Troy1Tulane1UC Santa Barbara1UNLV1Utah1Virginia Military Institute1Virginia Tech1Washington1Washington State1Washington University (St. Louis)1Wichita State1William & Mary1Wisconsin-Milwaukee1

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The 2025-26 NBA season is here! We’re rolling out our previews — examining the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and win projections for all 30 franchises — from the still-rebuilding teams to the true title contenders.

2024-25 finish

• Record: 34-48 (13th in the West, missed playoffs)

Offseason moves

• Additions: Luke Kornet, Kelly Olynyk, Lindy Waters III, Dylan Harper, Carter Bryant, David Jones-Garcia

• Subtractions: Chris Paul, Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Kam Jones, Charles Bassey, David Duke Jr.

(Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

The Big Question: Is Victor Wembanyama ready to make his playoff debut?

Thatâ€s not exactly a mind-blowing shocker of a setup, Iâ€ll grant. San Antonioâ€s season will come down to whether or not its best player plays well enough to get the franchise back to the playoffs? Holy crap, dude — thanks for the scoop!

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What my framing lacks in surprise, though, it makes up for in, yâ€know, correctness. All the maneuvering thatâ€s taken place in the eight months since we last saw Wembanyama in live regular-season action — the signings, the draft picks, the hirings — only matters insofar as it allows the Spurs to maximize him and, in turn, allows him to maximize them. This whole revolutionâ€s only going as far as Wembanyama can push it.

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After a globetrotting side quest summer informed by the “traumatic experience†of being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder and his subsequent realization that “life isnâ€t forever,†it sure seems like the 7-foot-5 All-Star is eager to push it an awfully long way. What Wembanyama has described as a “brutal,†“violent†and “world-class†offseason of training that included instruction from legendary big men Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Garnett left him not only feeling ready for a return, but itching for one.

“I feel like I need to play basketball now,†he said at Spurs media day.

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As it turns out, watching him do that is still rad as hell …

… and inspires thoughts of the Spurs — fresh off maxing out trade-deadline acquisition Deâ€Aaron Fox, striking it rich in the 2025 NBA draft lottery with No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper, and opportunistically adding veteran helpers in free agency — advancing to the postseason for the first time in six years.

The path back to the playoffs starts on the defensive end, where the return of Wembanyama — whoâ€s led the NBA in blocks per game in each of his first two seasons, who finished fourth in defensive estimated plus-minus last year, and who was the odds-on favorite for Defensive Player of the Year before the season-ending blood-clot diagnosis — obviously looms exceptionally large.

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The Spurs allowed 112.4 points per 100 non-garbage-time possessions with Wembanyama on the floor last season — a top-eight mark in the league over the course of the full season. Without him, though, they gave up the store, conceding 121.6 points-per-100 in his absence — an abdication of resistance miles below what even the ghastly, league-worst Pelicans defense mustered. That 9.2 points-per-100 delta represented the second-largest on-court/off-court differential among defenders who logged at least 1,000 minutes last season, according to Cleaning the Glass, behind only Pascal Siakam in Indianapolis. Shoring up the defensive infrastructure around and, crucially, behind Wembanyama is Job No. 1 in San Antonio.

“This is non-negotiable,” Wembanyama told reporters on media day. “It’s not something you can’t do if you want to be part of our team. We are going to hold each other accountable. We know the coach is going to hold us accountable. It doesn’t matter your status — defense is non-negotiable.”

Thereâ€s reason for optimism that the surrounding talent can live up to the big fellaâ€s expectations. Though not considered an elite point-of-attack defender, Fox boasts quick feet and quicker hands, leading the league in steals two seasons ago. Oft-injured sixth-year swingman Devin Vassell (6-5, 6-10 wingspan) and reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle (6-6, 6-9 wingspan) both have the tools to take a step forward on that end. When heâ€s cleared after rehabilitating from thumb surgery, Harper (6-5, 6-10 wingspan) also brings great positional size and prospective defensive versatility in the backcourt — and enough bravado to predict a playoff berth at his introductory post-draft press conference.

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[Get more Spurs news: San Antonio team feed]

Free-agent signing Luke Kornet blossomed into one of the NBAâ€s most underrated players during his tenure in Boston, due in large part to his rim protection. Opponents shot just 52.2% at the basket last season when Kornet was the closest defender — a top-10 mark among players to contest at least 200 up-close tries, according to Second Spectrum tracking. A few spots above him on that list? Wembanyama, at 50% even.

Expect now-firmly-entrenched head coach Mitch Johnson to experiment some with two-big lineups featuring both Wemby and Kornet, which have the potential to turn everything below the free-throw line into a no-fly zone … and also make a little high-low magic on the other end:

Extension-eligible forward Jeremy Sochan was miscast as a point guard and has yet to find firm offensive footing through three pro seasons, but heâ€s developing into one of the leagueâ€s most dogged, physical and versatile point-of-attack defenders — one of a number of intriguing pieces for newly imported associate head coach Sean Sweeney, who helped construct top-10-caliber defenses in Milwaukee, Detroit and Dallas, to move around the chessboard. (Itâ€ll be interesting to see if first-round pick Carter Bryant, who profiles as a potential central-casting 3-and-D addition, pushes his way into the decision-making calculus, too.)

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Leaning on the defense might be the best course of action for a Spurs team that scored at a below-league-average rate of efficiency even with Wembanyama on the floor last season, that enters the new campaign with a roster with relatively few proven plus shooters — Vassell, veteran power forward Harrison Barnes, reserve wing Julian Champagnie, new additions Kelly Olynyk and Lindy Waters III — and that will be relying heavily on a gaggle of guards with iffy-at-best long-range strokes. How quickly and effectively Wembanyama and Fox can develop chemistry after playing just 120 minutes together across five games last season could go a long way toward determining the ceiling of San Antonioâ€s offense … which makes Foxâ€s media-day revelation that he expects to miss opening night recovering from an offseason hamstring injury at least a little bit concerning, especially with Harper likewise coming off surgery to his shooting hand. (If Johnson responds by moving Castle to the point, and the UConn product shines in a larger on-ball role, an exciting but already somewhat murky pecking order in the Spurs†backcourt becomes even more interesting.)

The cure for whatâ€s ailed the offense, of course, could just wind up being an even stronger application of That Gigantic French Guy. NBA.comâ€s John Schuhmann noted that a mere 37% of Wembanyamaâ€s field-goal attempts last season came inside the paint — a function of Big Vicâ€s determination to explore the outer limits of his unicornic abilities, but also perhaps a misappropriation of 7-foot-5-inch resources. Redistribute some of those looks to the interior, where he can show off some of the hard-won gains of that “brutal,†“violent,†“world-class†offseason …

… and the Spurs†overall shot quality and offensive efficiency will probably start to tick up no matter who else is on the court. Pair that with continual advancement as a playmaker off the dribble — Wembyâ€s already talking about turning down “a shot I could make with my eyes closed […] to get one of my teammates a shot he could make in his sleep†— and the Spurs might have the recipe for their first above-average finish in points scored per possession in a half-dozen years.

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Pair that with the sort of defensive ascent that Wembanyamaâ€s demanding, and we could be talking about a team poised not only to return to the playoffs, but to be an absolute bear to deal with once they get there.

Best-case scenario

Wembanyama stays healthy for the full season, muscling his way onto the MVP ballot and All-NBA First Team. Fox finds his flow alongside the big fella, returning to the All-Star team and providing San Antonio with the battery of a top-10 offense. Castle cements himself as the kind of 16-game two-way player with which the Spurs will need to surround Wemby; Harper wows enough in a limited role to keep everybody convinced heâ€s the right long-term running buddy, and that whatever issues the Spurs have to navigate in the backcourt are high-class, champagne problems. San Antonio builds on last seasonâ€s 12-win jump, surging to 50 wins and home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs, making it abundantly clear to all parties that the future is here, and itâ€s French.

If everything falls apart

The expected reinforcements donâ€t keep the wheels from falling off when Wembanyama hits the bench, drastically lowering San Antonioâ€s ceiling. Foxâ€s jumper and fit alongside Vic look shaky, leading to no small amount of grumbling over whether that 30% max mightâ€ve been a tad hasty. None of the young perimeter pieces look quite ready for prime time, leaving fans wondering just how many bona fide blue-chippers theyâ€ve actually got on hand. A season that begins with postseason expectations ends with another sub-.500 finish shy of the play-in tournament, and with the hotly anticipated coronation of the next big thing stalled once again.

2025-26 schedule

• Season opener: Oct. 22 at Dallas

An 11-win leap feels like itâ€d require neither Wembanyama nor Fox missing significant time and Fox returning to All-Star level after an up-and-down 2024-25. Thatâ€s certainly the bet that the Spurs have made; in what looks like, to borrow Vicâ€s phrasing, a brutal, violent and world-class Western Conference, though, Iâ€m not so sure thatâ€s where Iâ€m willing to put my chips down just yet.

More season previews

East: Atlanta Hawks • Boston Celtics • Brooklyn Nets • Charlotte Hornets • Chicago Bulls • Cleveland Cavaliers • Detroit Pistons • Indiana Pacers • Miami Heat • Milwaukee Bucks • New York Knicks • Orlando Magic • Philadelphia 76ers • Toronto Raptors • Washington Wizards

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West: Dallas Mavericks • Denver Nuggets • Golden State Warriors • Houston Rockets • Los Angeles Clippers • Los Angeles Lakers • Memphis Grizzlies • Minnesota Timberwolves • New Orleans Pelicans • Oklahoma City Thunder • Phoenix Suns • Portland Trail Blazers • Sacramento Kings • San Antonio Spurs • Utah Jazz

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The Philadelphia Phillies avoided elimination with an 8-2 road win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

Kyle Schwarber starred, hitting two home runs and going 2-of-4 at the plate with three RBI.

Trea Turner went 3-of-5 with two RBI, while Brandon Marsh and J.T. Realmuto each added a RBI, with Realmuto also hitting a home run. Bryce Harper went 2-of-4 at the plate with one run scored.

Meanwhile, Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw, pitching in relief, struggled, allowing four earned runs over 2 innings, giving up two home runs on six hits and five runs, posting an 18.00 ERA. Starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched four innings, allowing three earned runs and one home run, with a 2.53 ERA.

Schwarber and the Phillies uplifted fans by avoiding a sweep and forcing a Game 4.

The Dodgers struck first with a Edman home run in the bottom of the third, but the Phillies quickly halted their momentum, scoring eight unanswered runs.

Schwarber launched a 455-foot homer in the fourth to spark the rally, followed by an RBI from Bohm and another from Marsh that brought Bohm home.

Philadelphia piled on in the eighth with two more home runs — a 407-footer from Realmuto and a 368-foot two-run shot from Schwarber. Turner added a two-run RBI as the Phillies built a commanding 8-1 lead after eight innings.

Dodgers second baseman Edman drove in his second RBI in the bottom of the ninth to score their second run, but a Shohei Ohtani flyout to right field sealed the game, marking all three wins in the series on the road.

The National League Championship Series is set to feature the victor of the Dodgers and Phillies matchup against the winner of the Chicago Cub and Milwaukee Brewers showdown. Milwaukee currently holds a 2-1 edge in its series.

The series will remain in Los Angeles for Game 4 on Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 6:08 p.m. ET.

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We’re one week into the 2025 MLB playoffs, with two games having now been played in all four division series matchups.

In the small-sample-size world of October baseball, it might seem like that means we’ve seen enough to know a lot. But the reality for a sport that combines 162-game seasons with the chaos of short playoff series is: Things can change in a hurry this time of year.

As we do early in every MLB regular season, we asked our MLB experts to go all-in on one thing they’ve noticed by giving us their boldest prediction for the rest of the postseason based on what they’ve seen so far.

Some of our predictions are quite bold, whereas others took a milder approach. But all of them have a chance of becoming smokin’ hot by the time the World Series trophy is raised this month — or ending up freezing cold.

The themes that we’ll all be talking about

All four division series will go five games

Editor’s Picks

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The division series was introduced 30 years ago, and only once, in 2012, did all four of them go the distance. It’ll happen again this year — even though three of the four have already begun with a 2-0 lead.

The gap among the eight remaining playoff contenders feels smaller this year than it has in quite a while, especially with arguably the two best, the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers, squaring off so early. The New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs are perfectly capable of winning back-to-games at home. The series between the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners, which began with a split in Seattle, seems primed to extend into a fifth game. And though the Phillies have their backs against the wall, coming off two straight losses in Philadelphia, they have the ability to take two in a row at Dodger Stadium — heck, they did it less than a month ago. — Alden Gonzalez

One pitch will decide October

The team that wins the World Series will be the team that has the best differential in performance between throwing splitters and hitting them. Do I know if this will happen? Definitely not! But the proliferation of splitters so far in the postseason has been staggering.

TruMedia has pitch-type data going back to 2008. The percentage of pitches classified as splitters has ranged from 0.2% (2016) to 3.1% (2023). So far this year: 5.7%. The leading practitioners: the Toronto Blue Jays, by far, at 25.9%, mostly thanks to Kevin Gausman and the amazing Trey Yesavage. Incidentally, they were also by far the best-hitting team against splitters in the regular season (.346 WOBA). Guess this means the Jays are going to win it all. — Bradford Doolittle

The success of the splitter this October will make it the most-talked-about pitch in the spring

The eye-opening postseason performances of Trey Yesavage, Kevin Gausman and Roki Sasaki will serve as jet fuel for the rising popularity of the split-fingered fastball. There was already growing interest in the splitter throughout the 2025 season, thanks to the success of the likes of Hurston Waldrep. Then, along came Yesavage and Gausman and their diving splitters, neutralizing the powerful Yankees: In the first two games of the ALDS, New York was 0-for-22 with 13 strikeouts in at-bats ending with a splitter. The Yankees swung at splitters 39 times and missed 24 times. In a copycat industry, you can bet a ton of pitchers will be tinkering with splitters before next spring, just as hundreds of pitchers adopted cutters because of Mariano Rivera. — Buster Olney

The stars who will shine all postseason

Cal Raleigh will outhomer every other 60-home run hitter in the postseason — combined

The Mariners’ star slugger just became the fifth player to reach the postseason on the heels of a 60-homer season. The others?

The Big Dumper … and some magic?

Seattle has never won a World Series. Or even an American League pennant. Could a little bit of alchemy change that? Alden Gonzalez »

1927 Babe Ruth: 2 HR in 4 games
1961 Roger Maris: 1 HR in 5 games
1998 Sammy Sosa: 0 HR in 3 games
2022 Aaron Judge: 2 HR in 9 games

Raleigh didn’t leave the yard in the first two games of the ALDS against Detroit, but he did collect four hits while Julio Rodriguez, batting behind him, supplied the power. Given Seattle’s balance, depth and October path, it’s easy to envision a long run — and with it, at least half a dozen blasts from the Big Dumper. — Paul Hembekides

Jackson Chourio will become the 10th player to win both LCS and World Series MVPs

Why doubt the Milwaukee Brewers now? They’ve enjoyed a magical run to this point and have looked great at the onset of the division series. Chourio has been quite the table-setter — he had three hits in two innings in Game 1 — and he’s one of the game’s budding superstars. This October is his breakout party. — Tristan Cockcroft

Roki Sasaki, Jhoan Duran and Andres Munoz will post nothing but zeros

This trio — two relief aces and a starter-turned-closer for the playoffs — won’t give up an earned run in either the LDS or LCS. Munoz and Duran were two of the top relievers in the sport this year, and Sasaki started looking like one in the past couple of weeks, which my colleague Jeff Passan broke down in his dive into how the Dodgers fixed their flamethrower. — Kiley McDaniel

Roki Sasaki Clayton Kershaw will record the final out of the 2025 World Series

As Dodgers manager Dave Roberts goes game to game in the postseason trying to figure out exactly which relievers he can trust in a big moment, how about this for the ultimate scenario: Kershaw, in his final pitch in the majors, gets that final out. Maybe it’s a save. Maybe it’s a blowout. Maybe the game goes extra innings. Maybe it’s an act of desperation after Roberts uses Roki Sasaki — who’s looking more and more like Roberts’ closer — earlier in the game. And that final pitch? A big, looping 72 mph curveball. — David Schoenfield

The teams that we’ll be watching all October

The Blue Jays will average 10 runs per game in the playoffs

Well, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and pals are certainly off to a great start, but why stop after two blowout wins over the Yankees? The Blue Jays hammered Luis Gil, Max Fried, Will Warren and Luke Weaver. Will Carlos Rodon, Cam Schlittler (maybe, if the series goes to Game 4) and whichever pitchers other remaining teams throw at the Blue Jays do better? Probably, but Vlad Jr., Daulton Varsho, Alejandro Kirk, George Springer, Ernie Clement and eventually Bo Bichette are ready to make history! — Eric Karabell

Toronto won’t lose a game until the World Series

One-stop shop for 2025 MLB playoffs

We have everything you need to keep up with all the action this October. Schedule, bracket, more »

The Blue Jays have enough pitching to win every game on the way to the World Series. So much so that Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt weren’t even needed in the ALDS and were left off the roster. They might be in the ALCS, but even then, Toronto will have choices to make for its rotation. The emergence of rookie Trey Yesavage has changed the calculus for the Jays on the mound, giving them more options than most teams at this time of year.

Add in the potential return of Bichette, Toronto’s great home record (tops in the AL) and a potential long series between the Tigers and Mariners on the other side of the AL bracket, and the Blue Jays are set up for a potential undefeated run to the Fall Classic. Their smoking hot offense might get them there on its own. — Jesse Rogers

The Yankees will send the ALDS back to Toronto

As underwater as they look, the Yankees have a pathway back into this series despite a 2-0 deficit. Shane Bieber, the Blue Jays’ Game 3 starter, is going to fill up the strike zone — and has been homer-prone in recent starts. And with the short porch in right field calling, the Yankees’ left-handed bats will answer. Getting to Game 4 brings Cam Schlittler, who, in his first postseason start, threw eight shutout innings and punched out 12 without walking a batter. Although the Blue Jays are ball-in-play merchants, Schlittler’s stuff is overwhelming enough to quiet them and make for a Game 5 for the ages at Rogers Centre. — Jeff Passan

The Dodgers are going to 2019 Washington Nationals their way through the postseason

Washington rode five starting pitchers and three relievers all the way from the do-or-die wild-card game through its World Series Game 7 victory over the heavily favored Houston Astros. Led by starters Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez, eight pitchers combined to pitch 141â…” of the Nationals’ 153 playoff innings. Joe Ross, who got a spot start in Game 5 of the World Series, was the fifth starter Washington used.

Those Nationals happened to topple the Dodgers in the NLDS.

This year’s Dodgers, like those Nationals, boast a deep rotation and a shaky bullpen. Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Emmett Sheehan, Roki Sasaki and Alex Vesia should absorb the bulk of the October workload. Of those eight pitchers, only Vesia was primarily a reliever during the regular season. The Nationals proved a version of the formula can work. Six years later, it’s the best recipe for the Dodgers to win a championship. — Jorge Castillo

The Dodgers will sweep their way to a repeat

How the Dodgers fixed Roki Sasaki

After a disastrous MLB debut, L.A.’s new ninth-inning man has unleashed jaw-dropping stuff in October.
Jeff Passan »

With 10 hitters who hit double-digit home runs during the regular season, the Dodgers simply don’t have to worry about that one bat going cold. And outside of Yamamoto, none of their pitchers has thrown over 125 innings — but they have such a depth in their rotation that they’ve been able to push some of their starters to the bullpen in October.

It’s all hands on deck in any game they need it. — AJ Mass

The 2025 World Series champion won’tcome out of the Dodgers-Phillies NLDS

Ever since the bracket for this postseason was set — even before the Dodgers advanced out of the wild-card series to make the meeting official — there has been a thought percolating that Los Angeles vs. Philadelphia was this year’s true World Series (or at least NLCS) playing out in the division series round. Well, I’m here to tell you that is not a foregone conclusion.

Yes, the Phillies and the Dodgers possess the most talent of any teams in the sport — but that didn’t stop the Brewers from going a combined 10-2 against Philly and L.A. during the regular season. And how about those Blue Jays (the team two of my colleagues predicted very big things for above), or the Mariners, who definitely have the it factor on their side, or the Tigers, who have the best pitcher on the planet (excluding at-bats vs. Jorge Polanco) on theirs.

I’m going to play the percentages here and say someone other than the Phillies or Dodgers will be the last team standing. — Dan Mullen

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<img src="https://6up.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Its-The-Calm-Before-The-Storm-For-Sabres-As-Buffalo.jpeg" alt="Lindy Ruff (center) — (Timothy T. Ludwig, USA TODAY Images)
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For the Buffalo Sabres, itâ€s the calm before the storm. The NHLâ€s 2025-26 regular-season is about to commence, and with the new season comes a new set of expectations for the Sabres. And with this seasonâ€s Sabres, the expectation is urgent – this Buffalo team is either going to end the Sabres†14-year playoff drought, or there are going to be changes throughout the organization, including the firings of GM Kevyn Adams and coach Lindy Ruff.

Itâ€s really that simple in Buffalo this year. Come Hades or high water, the Sabres need to make the playoffs. And itâ€s not going to matter what their excuses may be this season. There may be injuries; there may be bad puck luck; and there may be players who underachieve. None of it will make a lick of difference for Buffaloâ€s players, coaches and management if they fail to make the playoffs. No player will be safe. No coach will be, either. And the changes will start at the top.

That means Adams clearly will be the first to go if things donâ€t go according to plan in Sabres Land. Adams has had five years on the job, and if he canâ€t do something of positive consequence in his sixth season, it will be Adams†last year running things in Buffalo. Adams has had more kicks at the can than many hockey executives, and without the type of results that will reward their fan base for continuing to support this Sabres team, Buffalo management is spinning its wheels and going nowhere.

The same thing goes for Ruff. Heâ€s entering Year 2 of his second go-around as Sabres coach, and nothing short of Buffalo earning a playoff spot will assure Ruff of being Sabres coach at this time next year. These days, the first person to be thrown overboard in an under-performing hockey team is more often than not the coach. Itâ€s the easiest way to try to re-set things, and in some rare cases, it works as a motivator of players. So Ruff could be the first to go if things go wrong early this season.

Finally, the same thing goes for Sabres players. It doesnâ€t matter who weâ€re talking about – nobody should feel safe in Buffaloâ€s dressing room if the Sabres miss the playoffs again. Either management will want to shop them around, theyâ€ll ask to be traded, or both. Thus, Buffaloâ€s lineup will look significantly different in the 2026-27 campaign if the Sabres prove theyâ€re not worthy of the investment in the ‘25-26 campaign.

Early Injuries To Key Sabres Players Can’t Be An Excuse For Buffalo To Fail This Season
We said it earlier this summer, on more than one occasion – if the Buffalo Sabres intend on ending their Stanley Cup playoff drought at 14 years, they canâ€t afford to let the injury bug take a major bite out of their roster. Obviously, thatâ€s something that only the Hockey Gods can control, but the Sabres simply donâ€t have the organizational depth to withstand the damage if someone meaningful is sidelined for a notable stretch of time.

The biggest problem for the Sabres may be that theyâ€ve exhausted their fan base with year after year of sub-par play. Indeed, since 2012-13, Buffalo hasnâ€t finished higher than fourth place in its division. And theyâ€ve finished as high as fifth place only three times in that span. The rest is year-after-year of 6th, 7th and 8th-place finishes. That basically takes a blow torch to your fan base. Nobody wants to be associated with a perennial non-factor of a team. You start to shrink your customer total rather than increase it.

Meanwhile, there are so many good things that winning does for a team. You walk around with a legitimately rightful sense of pride in what youâ€ve been able to achieve. You generate genuine hope in an otherwise-cynical populace. You give people reasons to believe.

This is as clear-cut a make-or-break situation as exists in the NHL right now, and Buffalo has clear paths to two roads – one that leads to more excuses, more anguish, and more dismay; the other leads to a promised land of sorts. A place where other teams fear to tread. Right now, thatâ€s not Buffalo.

Sabres Should Be Looking Into Trading For One Of These Maple Leafs Forwards-On-The-Block
The Toronto Maple Leafs are about to finish their 2025-26 training camp, and as it happens, the Maple Leafs are very deep at every position — but certainly, the most depth they’ve got is on the wings. And as we’ll exploain, we’re telling you this because the Buffalo Sabres should be looking into acquiring into one of a few veteran Leafs wingers in particular: right winger/center Calle Jarnkrok, and left-wingers David Kampf and Nick Robertson.

If they canâ€t deliver their fans to the promised land of a playoff position – the bare-minimum when it comes to achievements as a team – the Sabres will be at a crossroads. Team ownership will have to know a 15th-year without playoffs cannot be met with the status quo. Bringing the same group of coaches, management members and players back next season without a playoff appearance this coming year would make the Sabres a laughingstock.

This is a zero-sum industry the Sabres are in. If you want to have stability and happiness, the only way you do that is by being on a winning team. And think, thereâ€s now an entire generation of Buffalo hockey fans whoâ€ve grown up not knowing what a Sabres playoff game looks like. Thatâ€s unacceptable, and thatâ€s why the consequences have to be extreme if Adams, Ruff & Co. canâ€t get the job done.

The Sabres know full well they have to make the playoffs this year, or all bets will be off. Theyâ€re going to be under a giant microscope all season long, and they have a clear target all season long. If they donâ€t hit that target, Buffalo will see sweeping change across all areas of the organization. And everyone involved with the team will have only themselves to blame.

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That was the home playoff game Seattle was waiting for.

One day after their series-opening disappointment in extra innings, the Mariners faced a tall task: Beat the Tigers with Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal on the mound, or face an 0-2 ALDS hole as the series moved to Detroit. They chose the former in a 3-2 victory in Game 2, their first home playoff win in 24 years.

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Skubal looked as dominant as ever — except when he faced Mariners second baseman Jorge Polanco. The MLB veteran took the ace deep twice to give his team the lead.

Those homers would have been enough, had the Tigers not rallied in the eighth inning when a pair of mistakes — a walk and a Josh Naylor error — put two runners on base, and then both scored on a Spencer Torkelson double. That turn of events left T-Mobile Park quiet, at least until the bottom of the inning.

Franchise cornerstones Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez hit back-to-back doubles to put the Mariners back ahead in a classic postseason moment for the franchise.

That was the offensive side. On the mound, the Mariners sent out Luis Castillo, who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning but got pulled after his first base hit allowed. Andrés Muñoz closed out the ninth after recording six outs in Game 1. All told, the Seattle pitching staff allowed one earned run while striking out 10 and allowing three hits.

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The series now heads to Detroit, where Logan Gilbert and Jack Flaherty are on track to face off in Game 3 beginning at 4:08 p.m. ET Tuesday.

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SEATTLE — This place has been waiting to erupt for 24 long years, way back to when Julio Rodríguez was still in diapers in the Dominican Republic and eons away from his baseball journey that would bring him to the moment that Seattle has been starved for on Saturday night.

And the palpable anticipation was fittingly delivered by the player whoâ€s become a true showman of sports in this city.

Rodríguez emphatically put Seattle on the board with a 413-foot solo homer in the fourth inning that broke a scoreless tie in Game 1 of the American League Division Series vs. the Tigers. He then ripped a game-tying RBI single in the sixth that eventually pushed the game to extras, but the Mariners came up short in a 3-2 loss in the 11th.

“The fans were definitely really loud out there,†Rodríguez said. “They were bringing it. They were really bringing it.â€

The homer marked the Mariners†first run at T-Mobile Park in a postseason game since Game 2 of the AL Championship Series on Oct. 18, 2001 — when Rodríguezâ€s manager (Dan Wilson) was the teamâ€s catcher and his longtime mentor (Ichiro Suzuki) was that yearâ€s AL MVP.

Rodríguez — who was born on Dec. 29, 2000 — was not even 1 year old at the time. But such are the stakes for a player determined to turn the tides for a franchise whose unflattering playoff history over the past two decades has been rooted in their organizational fabric.

“The way I think about it is, just because we haven’t done it doesn’t mean that we can’t do it,†Rodríguez said recently, in the leadup to the playoffs. “I feel like that’s how I see it, and I feel like that’s at least for myself, and I just hope for the team, too, that we will bring that mentality. Just because somebody hasn’t done it doesn’t mean that we can’t do it.â€

The Mariners†most recent playoff contest in Seattle — the infamous 18-inning marathon in Game 3 of the 2022 ALDS — was a 1-0 loss to the Astros. And unfortunately for them, Saturdayâ€s game featured similar offensive shortcomings, as Rodríguez went 3-for-5 and drove in both of the Mariners†runs, but the rest of the lineup went a combined 3-for-33.

“Today is over,†Rodríguez said. “Gear up for tomorrow, get ready for the new game. Come with the same mentality, to come and attack and be ready to compete. Thatâ€s how weâ€ll bounce back from this; thatâ€s how weâ€ve done it in the past.â€

On Saturday, Rodríguez connected on a 2-2 fastball from Tigers starter Troy Melton — who was dynamite up to that point — and sent it just to the right of the batterâ€s eye beyond straightaway center, the type of landing spot that only elite right-handed hitters can reach, leaving his bat at 109.2 mph.

“That’s what we needed,†Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suárez said. “That was a big homer right there, and then we had the momentum.â€

The big blast came one week after Rodríguezâ€s most recent game action, when he achieved his second career 30/30 season upon stealing his 29th and 30th bases before resting in the regular-season finale. He finished the year with 32 homers, tied for his career high set in 2023.

Rodríguez earned his third career All-Star selection this season but opted not to go due to the need for a mental and physical reset. That decision, coincidentally, came in the Mariners†most recent meeting with the Tigers — a three-game sweep at Comerica Park from July 11-13.

It was that series that represented a turning point to his season, because he homered in all three games then put together one of the sportâ€s most productive stretches, leading MLB with 3.8 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, the rest of the way.

Rodríguez had hit 112 career homers entering these playoffs — but Saturdayâ€s was his first in the postseason. The Mariners could certainly use more of them if theyâ€re going to rebound and advance.

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David Ortiz certainly has a bias toward the Boston Red Sox, but that doesn’t preclude him from acknowledging a great pitching performance even if it comes from a member of the New York Yankees.

After Cam Schlittler ended Boston’s season with a dominant performance in Game 3 of the American League Wild Card series (starts at :30 mark), Ortiz told TMZ Sports he could tell the Yankees had an “ace” on their staff the first time he saw him.

“He’s got it, bro,” Ortiz said of Schlittler. “He’s got it. He’s got it.”

Schlittler, who made just 14 starts in the regular season after being called up on July 9, was tasked with taking the ball for the Yankees in a winner-take-all Game 3 against the Red Sox on Thursday.

The 24-year-old responded with a historic performance that saw him rack up 12 strikeouts without allowing a walk and giving up just four singles in eight innings.

Of the 107 pitches Schlittler threw against the Red Sox, 64 were at least 98.0 mph. This is just two years after his fastball averaged 90.0 mph when he was in A ball.

The combination of Schlittler’s development and the Yankees molding his arm into what it is right now has given them an opportunity to make a deep playoff run.

Instead of worrying about who his No. 3 starter would be after Max Fried and Carlos Rodón as it appeared he might when the postseason began, Yankees manager Aaron Boone suddenly finds himself with three pitchers he can trust in a big spot.

Making matters worse for the rest of the AL looking ahead to 2026 and beyond is Schlittler doesn’t really have a secondary pitch yet. He used his fastball 55 percentof the time in the regular season, but opposing hitters only had a .281 slugging percentage against it in 160 plate appearances.

Schlittler still has some work to do before elevating into the top tier of a starting pitchers, but the initial returns suggest he is on that track. If he helps the Yankees reach the World Series again this season, he will become a folk hero in the Bronx.

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PHILADELPHIA — Though itâ€s been a while since the Phillies and Dodgers squared off on the gameâ€s biggest stage, thereâ€s no shortage of postseason history — or iconic moments — between the two storied franchises.

This yearâ€s matchup in the National League Division Series marks the first time the Phillies and Dodgers have faced each other in the postseason since 2009. Itâ€s the sixth meeting overall, with each of the previous five coming in the NL Championship Series.

Though the Dodgers won the first two meetings, the Phillies have won each of the past three.

Hereâ€s a closer look at each of their previous postseason showdowns:

This one started off with a classic Game 1 pitching matchup between Cole Hamels and Clayton Kershaw — but it turned into a bit of a slugfest with the Phillies ultimately winning 8-6. Game 2 proved to be the pitchers†duel most expected in Game 1, with Pedro Martinez throwing seven scoreless for the Phils and Vicente Padilla tossing 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball for the Dodgers. But with the Phillies leading 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth, they watched it slip away behind an infield single, a bunt single, a throwing error that allowed the tying run to score and a pair of walks, including Andre Ethier drawing a go-ahead bases-loaded free pass that proved to be the difference.

The Phillies bounced back in a big way in Game 3, scoring four runs in the first and two in the second to knock out Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda after just 1 1/3 innings. Every Phillies starter reached base and scored a run, including starting pitcher Cliff Lee, who also struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings in an 11-0 rout.

Game 4 provided one of the more iconic moments in Phillies postseason history. Trailing by one in the bottom of the ninth, Jimmy Rollins stepped to the plate with two on and two outs against Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton. Rollins ripped a ball into the right-center-field gap for a walk-off two-run double that sent CBP into a frenzy. One night later, the Phillies won their second straight NL pennant with a 10-4 victory. Ryan Howard took home NLCS MVP honors after going 5-for-15 (.333) with two homers, eight RBIs and six walks.

This was the Dodgers†first NLCS appearance since winning the 1988 World Series. For the Phillies, it was their first NLCS appearance since winning the â€93 World Series. The Dodgers jumped out to an early lead when Manny Ramirez ripped an RBI double off Hamels in the top of the first inning of Game 1. L.A. took a 2-0 lead into the sixth, but Chase Utley quickly tied it with a two-run homer and Pat Burrell added a go-ahead solo shot two batters later to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead they wouldnâ€t relinquish. In Game 2, the Phillies scored four runs in the second and added four more in the third — and it was starting pitcher Brett Myers who played a key part in each rally. He had an RBI single in the second and a two-run single in the third as part of a 3-for-3, three-RBI night as the Phillies won an 8-5 decision.

The Dodgers jumped all over the Phillies when the series shifted to L.A. for Game 3, scoring five runs in the first en route to a 7-2 victory. They then seemed poised to even the series one night later when they took a 5-3 lead into the eighth inning — but the Phillies had other ideas. Shane Victorino hit a game-tying two-run homer off Cory Wade, who later gave way to Jonathan Broxton with one on and two outs. The Phillies sent up pinch-hitter Matt Stairs, who silenced the Dodger Stadium crowd with a go-ahead two-run blast that proved to be the game-winner.

Rollins set the tone in Game 5, crushing a leadoff home run on the eighth pitch of the at-bat against Chad Billingsley. The Phillies chased Billingsley after just 2 2/3 innings, while Hamels tossed seven innings of one-run ball to earn the pennant-clinching victory — and lock up NLCS MVP honors in the process.

The Dodgers dominated the Phillies during the 1983 regular season, winning 11 of the 12 meetings and outscoring them 49-15 along the way. L.A. shut out Philadelphia in five of those 12 games.

But the Phillies flipped the script in the postseason, starting with a shutout of their own in Game 1. Mike Schmidt hit a first-inning homer off Jerry Reuss that held up as the only run of the game as Hall of Famer Steve Carlton threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings before Al Holland recorded the final four outs in a 1-0 game. The Dodgers bounced back in Game 2 behind an eight-inning gem from Fernando Valenzuela, but it was all Philadelphia in Games 3 and 4.

The Phillies won each of the final two games of the series by a score of 7-2, with Gary Matthews (NLCS MVP), Schmidt and Pete Rose leading the way offensively.

In a rematch from one year earlier, the Dodgers came out swinging in Game 1 en route to a 9-5 victory in Philadelphia. Steve Garvey led the way with a pair of home runs as part of a 3-for-5, four-RBI effort. In Game 2, it was all about pitching as Tommy John tossed a four-hit shutout to stake the Dodgers to a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series as it shifted to Los Angeles. With the season on the line, Phillies ace Steve Carlton put the team on his back in Game 3. He not only grinded his way through a complete game, but he also hit a three-run homer to give himself an early four-run cushion and — after the Dodgers had trimmed the lead to one — added an RBI single to again open things up.

Though Carltonâ€s heroics extended the series, the Dodgers would wrap it up one night later in walk-off fashion. After Tug McGraw retired the first two L.A. batters in the bottom of the 10th, Ron Cey worked a walk before Dusty Baker flared a fly ball to center field that appeared as if it would end the inning. But Phillies center fielder Garry Maddox, who was in the midst of the fourth of his eight Gold Glove-winning seasons, dropped the ball to extend the inning. It proved costly, as Bill Russell followed with a walk-off single up the middle to send the Dodgers back to the Fall Classic.

The first postseason meeting between these two franchises featured a pair of teams with very different backgrounds. The Dodgers were seeking their sixth World Series appearance in just 20 seasons since relocating from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. The Phillies, meanwhile, were simply looking to win their first postseason game since Game 1 of the 1915 World Series.

In Game 1, Greg Luzinski hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Philadelphia looked poised to cruise behind a stellar Carlton. But with the Phillies leading 5-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Cey smashed a game-tying grand slam off Carlton. The game remained that way until the top of the ninth, when Schmidt hit a go-ahead RBI single and Larry Bowa scored on a balk one batter later to pad the lead. McGraw pitched a 1-2-3 frame in the bottom half to secure Philadelphiaâ€s first postseason victory in 62 years.

But that would be the Phillies†only win of the series. Baker hit a grand slam to key the Dodgers’ 7-1 victory in Game 2. Things werenâ€t nearly as easy in Game 3, as the Phillies had a 5-3 lead with two outs and nobody on in the top of the ninth. But the Dodgers staged a furious two-out rally, plating three runs for a 6-5 victory and a 2-1 series lead.

In Game 4, it was once again Baker providing the early spark, this time with a two-run homer off Carlton in the second inning. John outdueled Carlton the rest of the way in a 4-1 pennant-clinching win.

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