Chris McCosky talks to AJ Hinch and Dillon Dingler about Thursday’s series-clinching win in Cleveland.
Chris McCosky talks to AJ Hinch and Dillon Dingler about Thursday’s series-clinching win in Cleveland.
New York – Rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler struck out 12 as he shut down Boston with 100 mph heat, and the New York Yankees took advantage of a pair misplays in a four-run fourth inning to beat the Red Sox 4-0 on Thursday night for a 2-1 AL Wild Card Series win and a Division Series matchup against Toronto.
New York became the first team to lose the opener and advance from the expanded first round, which began in 2022. The Yankees start the best-of-five Division Series on Saturday at the AL East champion Blue Jays.
A 24-year-old right-hander who debuted July 9, Schlitter grew up a Red Sox fan in Walpole, Massachusetts, but said he wanted to play for the Yankees. He had pitched against the Red Sox only once before – as a freshman at Northeastern in a 2020 spring training exhibition game.
He outpitched Connelly Early, a 23-year-old left-hander who debuted on Sept. 9 and became Boston’s youngest postseason starting pitcher since 21-year-old Babe Ruth in 1916.
Schlittler struck out two more than any other Yankees pitcher had in his postseason debut, allowing five singles in eight innings and walking none. He threw 11 pitches of 100 mph or higher – including six in the first inning, one more than all Yankees pitchers had combined before previously since pitch tracking started in 2008.
Schlittler threw 75 of 107 pitches for strikes, starting 22 of 29 batters with strikes and topping out at 100.8 mph. David Bednar worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth as the Red Sox failed to advance a runner past second.
Bucky Dent threw out the ceremonial first pitch on the 47th anniversary of his go-ahead, three-run homer for the Yankees at Fenway Park in an AL East tiebreaker game, and the Yankees went on to dominate their longtime rival the way they used to.
New York won its second straight after losing eight of nine postseason meetings with Boston dating to 2004 and edged ahead 14-13 in postseason games between the teams. The Red Sox cost themselves with a defense that committed a big league-high 116 errors during the regular season.
New York’s rally began when Bellinger hit a soft fly into the triangle among center fielder Ceddane Rafaela, right fielder Wilyer Abreu and second baseman Romy González. The ball fell just in front of Rafaela, 234 feet from the plate, as Bellinger hustled into second with a double.
Giancarlo Stanton walked on a full count and with one out Amed Rosario grounded a single into left, just past diving shortstop Trevor Story, to drive in Bellinger with the go-ahead run.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s single loaded the bases, and Anthony Volpe hit an 86 mph grounder just past Abreu, who had been shifted toward second, and into right for a RBI single and a 2-0 lead.
After a catcher’s interference call on Omar Narváez was overturned on a video review, Austin Wells hit a potential double-play grounder that first baseman Nathaniel Lowe tried to backhand on an in-between hop. The ball glanced off his glove and into shallow right field as two runs scored.
Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon made the defensive play of the game when he caught Jarren Duran’s eighth-inning foul pop and somersaulted into Boston’s dugout, then emerged smiling and apparently unhurt.
Up next
RHP Luis Gil (4-1, 3.32 ERA) or RHP Will Warren (9-8, 4.44) likely starts the Division Series opener Saturday against Toronto, expected to go with RHP Kevin Gausman (10-11, 3.59) or RHP Shane Bieber (4-2, 3.57).
Cubs advance to NLDS against Brewers
Chicago – Pete Crow-Armstrong hit an RBI single off a shaky Yu Darvish, and the Chicago Cubs shut down Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres for a clinching 3-1 victory in Game 3 of their NL Wild Card Series on Thursday.
Backed by a raucous crowd of 40,895 at Wrigley Field, Chicago used its stellar defense to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2017. Michael Busch hit a solo homer, and Jameson Taillon pitched four shutout innings before manager Craig Counsell used five relievers to close it out.
After Brad Keller faltered in the ninth – allowing Jackson Merrill’s leadoff homer and hitting two batters with pitches – Andrew Kittredge earned the save by retiring Jake Cronenworth on a bouncer to third and Freddy Fermin on a flyball to center field.
Next up for Chicago is a matchup with the NL Central champion Brewers in a compelling Division Series, beginning with Game 1 on Saturday in Milwaukee.
Counsell managed the Brewers for nine years before he was hired by the Cubs in November 2023, and he has been lustily booed in Milwaukee ever since he departed.
It was a disappointing finish for San Diego after it made the postseason for the fourth time in six years. The Padres forced a decisive Game 3 with a 3-0 victory on Wednesday, but their biggest stars flopped in the series finale.
Tatis went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, including a flyball to right that stranded runners on second and third in the fifth. Machado, who hit a two-run homer in Game 2, bounced to shortstop Dansby Swanson for the final out of the eighth, leaving a runner at third.
Darvish also struggled against his former team. The Japanese right-hander was pulled after the first four Cubs batters reached in the second inning, capped by the first of Crow-Armstrong’s three hits.
Jeremiah Estrada came in and issued a bases-loaded walk to Swanson, handing the Cubs a 2-0 lead. Estrada limited the damage by striking out Matt Shaw before Busch bounced into an inning-ending double play.
Taillon allowed two hits and struck out four. Caleb Thielbar got two outs before Daniel Palencia wiggled out of a fifth-inning jam while earning his second win of the series. Drew Pomeranz handled the seventh before Keller worked the eighth.
The Cubs supported their bullpen with another solid day in the field. Swanson made a slick play on Luis Arraez’s leadoff grounder in the sixth, and then turned an inning-ending double play following a walk to Machado.
Crow-Armstrong, who went 0 for 6 with five strikeouts in the first two games of the series, robbed Machado of a hit with a sliding catch in center in the first.
Up next
Chicago went 7-6 against Milwaukee this season, outscoring the Brewers 60-56. The NL Central rivals last played in August, when the Cubs won three times in a five-game series.
Ross ready to manage again
Atlanta – David Ross, the former Atlanta catcher and Chicago Cubs manager, said Thursday he’s ready to manage again and said returning to the dugout with the Braves “would be amazing.”
Even so, Ross declined to say much about his interest in the Braves in an interview with The Associated Press without knowing if he’ll be on the list of candidates to replace Brian Snitker.
Ross, a native of Bainbridge, Georgia, was 262-284 in four seasons managing the Cubs from 2020-23. Under Ross, the Cubs won the NL Central in 2020.
Snitker, 69, announced Wednesday he will not return after 10 seasons as the Braves’ manager.
Ross, who played for the Braves from 2009-12 in the middle of his 15-year career, was included in early speculation about possible candidates to replace Snitker. Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos did not identify any candidates at Wednesday’s news conference to announce Snitker’s decision.
Ross said Thursday “I’d love to manage again.”
“Obviously, Atlanta would be amazing, but there’s nothing to really elaborate on,” Ross said, adding he realized he has been mentioned in speculative lists. I don’t want to talk about something that doesn’t have any legs yet. Hopefully, my name pops up but we will wait and see on that.”
Ross began his playing career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2002. He was a career .229 hitter and had some of his most productive seasons as a part-time starter in Atlanta. He hit .273 with seven homers in 2009 and .289 the following season.
Ross was a respected leader in the Braves’ clubhouse and said Thursday “I loved my time there.”
Snitker led the Braves to the 2021 World Series championship as the highlight of almost a half-century with the organization. He will remain with the organization in an advisory role and will be inducted into the team’s hall of fame in the 2026 season.
Snitker led Atlanta to 811 wins, six NL East division titles, one wild-card berth and the 2021 World Series championship in his 10 seasons as manager.
The Braves finished 76-87 this season, the final year of Snitker’s contract.
Braves chairman Terry McGuirk presented Snitker with keys to a new truck at Wednesday’s news conference and announced the team was sending Snitker and his wife, Ronnie, on a vacation to Hawaii.
The Braves had two coaches on Snitker’s 2025 staff with experience as a manager. Bench coach Walt Weiss is Colorado’s former manager. Third base coach Fredi González is a former manager with Atlanta and the Marlins.
Among other possible candidates are former Braves infielder Mark DeRosa, Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty and former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker.
Sasaki’s debut filled with ups and downs
Los Angeles – Roki Sasaki dazzled in his postseason pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers, closing out their sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with a perfect ninth inning in the NL Wild Card Series on Wednesday night.
The youthful looking rookie from Japan celebrated with a beer in his hand and goggles on in the team’s batting cage after their 8-4 victory advanced the Dodgers to the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
The Dodgers partied in the cage, lit up like a surgery center, rather than their remodeled clubhouse featuring high-tech screens that could be ruined by sprays of beer and Champagne.
Sasaki got Spencer Steer and former Dodger Gavin Lux on swinging strikeouts – with 100-mph pitches – before retiring Austin Hays on a lineout to shortstop that started the celebration.
The Dodgers went without a designated closer during the regular season. Did the 23-year-old from Japan earn the role for the postseason?
“I trust him, and he’s going to be pitching in leverage,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So the more you pitch guys and play guys, you learn more. I don’t think the moment’s going to be too big for Roki.”
It appeared to be too big for Sasaki early in the season. He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in January, receiving a $6.5 million signing bonus because he was under age 25 and subject to international signing bonus pool rules. Sasaki spent the last four seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball League
Expectations were high for the pitcher who’s been a dominant force at every other stop in his fast-rising career.
Sasaki made his major league debut with the Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo, where he walked five in three innings while throwing just 25 strikes among 56 pitches.
His Dodger Stadium debut on March 29 ended in the second inning he again struggled with his control. He issued four walks and got only five outs while throwing 61 pitches to just 12 batters.
Sasaki came off the 60-day injured list on Sept. 24 and made his first career relief appearance against Arizona. It was his first appearance in the majors since May 9 because of a shoulder injury. All eight of his previous MLB outings were starts, though he did make a few relief appearances during his stint at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Playoffs schedule
Wild-card round
(Best-of-3; x – if necessary)
American LeagueDetroit vs. Cleveland
(Detroit wins 2-1)
Tuesday: Detroit, 2-1
Wednesday: Cleveland, 6-1
Thursday: Detroit, 6-3
New York vs. Boston
(New York wins 2-1)
Tuesday: Boston, 3-1
Wednesday: New York, 4-3
Thursday: New York, 4-0
National LeagueChicago vs. San Diego
(Series tied 1-1)
Tuesday: Chicago, 3-1
Wednesday: San Diego, 3-0
Thursday: Chicago, 3-1
Los Angeles vs. Cincinnati
(Los Angeles wins series 2-0)
Tuesday: Los Angeles, 10-5
Wednesday: Los Angeles, 8-4
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