Neighbors, AL Central rivals Tigers and Guardians meeting in October’s postseason for first timeVideo
CLEVELAND — Midwest neighbors and mostly friendly division rivals, Detroit and Cleveland have played 2,326 times since their first game May 3, 1901. Never once have they met in the postseason in 123 years. That changes Saturday. “This will be the best commute in my playoff history,” joked Tigers manager...
Cincinnati Reds hire Terry Francona as manager
Terry Francona has been hired to manage the Cincinnati Reds, returning to the major leagues a year after he stepped down in Cleveland because of health reasons. A person familiar with the situation confirmed the move on Thursday night on condition of anonymity because the Reds had not announced the...
Pete Alonso’s 3-run homer in 9th helps Mets rally to oust Brewers in playoffsVideo
MILWAUKEE — Pete Alonso hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning and the New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2, on Thursday night to win their NL Wild Card Series. With their latest thrilling comeback in the decisive Game 3 against Milwaukee, the...
Padres finish off Braves, get set to face Dodgers
SAN DIEGO — Kyle Higashioka’s solo homer started a five-run rally against an ailing Max Fried with two outs in the second inning, and the San Diego Padres held on to sweep the Atlanta Braves with a 5-4 win in Game 2 of their NL Wild Card Series on Wednesday...
Mitchell hits tiebreaking HR in the 8th, Chourio goes deep twice and Brewers rally past Mets 5-3Video
MILWAUKEE — Jackson Chourio tied the score in the eighth with his second homer of the night, and Garrett Mitchell delivered a two-run shot later in the inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday that evened their NL wild-card series. The...
Bobby Witt gets another big hit to send the Royals into ALDS with a 2-game sweep of the Orioles
BALTIMORE — Bobby Witt Jr. beat out an infield single to drive in the go-ahead run and send the Kansas City Royals into an AL Division Series with a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday for a two-game sweep of their Wild Card Series. With two outs and...
Andy Ibáñez’s big hit lifts Tigers to win over Astros, sweep in AL Wild Card SeriesVideo
HOUSTON — Andy Ibáñez hit a tiebreaking three-run double in Detroit’s four-run eighth inning, and the Tigers swept the Houston Astros with a 5-2 victory in Game 2 of their AL Wild Card Series on Wednesday. Parker Meadows homered as Detroit ended Houston’s run of seven consecutive appearances in the...
Fernando Tatis Jr. hits 2-run homer, Michael King strikes out 12 as Padres beat Braves
SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a towering two-run homer on his first playoff swing in four years and Michael King struck out 12 in his first postseason start as the San Diego Padres beat rookie AJ Smith-Shawver and the Atlanta Braves, 4-0, in Game 1 of their NL...
Pete Rose found home in Vegas before nation embraced sports betting
LAS VEGAS — Betting on baseball got Pete Rose banned from the game, never to return while he was alive. But, perhaps appropriately, he found a home in the nation’s gambling capital — where acceptance wasn’t a problem. In choosing to live in Las Vegas, before the sport’s career hits...
Mets continue wild ride with big win over Brewers in playoff opener
MILWAUKEE — Mark Vientos hit a tiebreaking, two-run single during a five-run outburst in the fifth inning as the indefatigable New York Mets continued their thrilling week by beating the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-4, in an NL wild-card series opener Tuesday. The Mets didn’t earn a playoff berth until they rallied...
Bobby Witt Jr. leads Royals to open AL wild-card series
BALTIMORE — Bobby Witt Jr. made the most of his much-anticipated playoff debut, driving in the only run Tuesday to back Cole Ragans’ six sharp innings and help the Kansas City Royals return from a nine-year postseason absence with a 1-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in Game 1 of...
Tarik Skubal sensational in Tigers’ AL wild-card win
HOUSTON — Tarik Skubal kept up his stellar season with a sensational playoff debut and the Detroit Tigers got to Framber Valdez early in a 3-1 win over the Houston Astros in their AL wild-card series opener Tuesday. The Tigers, swept in the American League Division Series in their last...
Will anyone hit 74 homers? Even Aaron Judge thinks MLB season record is ‘a little untouchable’
What used to be one of baseball’s most magical numbers — 61 home runs — now sits buried, eight lines deep, in the Major League Baseball record book. The number now at the top of that record book — 73 home runs — is steeped in a steroid-addled purgatory, but...
Shohei Ohtani looking to top himself in his 1st playoff appearance with Dodgers
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani was already a superstar with his hitting and pitching accomplishments over six years with the Los Angeles Angels. Yet every October, Ohtani vanished, with the Angels having a losing record and never making the playoffs. Coming up Interstate 5 to the Los Angeles Dodgers seemingly...
Major League Baseball mourns death of all-time hits leader Pete Rose
On the field, Pete Rose will be remembered as an all-time great. His resume is nearly unparalleled: 17-time All-Star, three-time World Series champion, World Series MVP, National League MVP, NL Rookie of the Year, three-time batting champ and two-time Gold Glove winner. He became MLB’s all-time leader with 4,256 hits...
Pete Rose, baseball’s banned hits leader, has died at age 83
Pete Rose, baseball’s career hits leader and fallen idol who undermined his historic achievements and Hall of Fame dreams by gambling on the game he loved and once embodied, has died. He was 83. Stephanie Wheatley, a spokesperson for Clark County in Nevada, confirmed on behalf of the medical examiner...
Braves salvage playoff berth with 3-0 win over the Mets, who win thrilling opener 8-7 to clinch
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves bounced back from a stunning loss in the first game of a makeup doubleheader, claiming the last postseason berth with a 3-0 win over the Mets in the nightcap Monday after New York clinched a playoffs trip with an 8-7 victory in the opener. With...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Move is what’s best for business for A’s
The A’s played their last-ever game in Oakland on Thursday. Oakland Coliseum was packed: 46,889 creating an atmosphere both celebratory and (mostly) funereal. It was sad. But the A’s will finish dead last in MLB attendance. Under a million. They also finished last in 2023 and ‘22. Second-last in 2021....
MLB’s .300 hitters become endangered species in era of dominant pitchingVideo
NEW YORK — A .300 hitter has become an endangered species, a victim of increased velocity as 100 mph heaters are no longer rarities. “When I got in the league, I’d still see a lot of guys throwing 89, 91,” Baltimore Orioles All-Star slugger Anthony Santander said. Not anymore. The...
MLB’s postseason is rapidly approaching with NL playoff race shaping up for tight finish
The Major League Baseball playoffs are approaching and a Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge matchup in the World Series looms as an enticing October possibility. While the rooting interests of baseball fans vary widely, there’s little doubt MLB and television executives are drooling over the potential matchup between two of...
Shorter games, more running, more action. 2 years in, MLB’s rule changes have provided a joltVideo
Two years ago, it looked as if Major League Baseball was having an existential crisis. To many inside the game, it certainly felt like one as a sport built on its timelessness careened toward a future hellbent on speeding things up. Pitch clocks. Defensive shift bans. Bigger bases. Fewer throwovers....
As an era ends, the city that was home to the Oakland A’s comes to grips with their departure
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Athletics had long ago carved out a Jekyll-and-Hyde legacy as one of Major League Baseball’s most successful — and sad-sack — franchises. Under their belts: nine World Series titles and 19 seasons of futility punctuated by 100 or more losses. This, though, is different. Now, legions...
White Sox left to ponder the magnitude of their record-tying 120 lossesVideo
SAN DIEGO — The Chicago White Sox had a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday, and then history struck. That tenuous lead disappeared in the span of four San Diego Padres batters, and the White Sox went on to their 120th loss, tying the post-1900...
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani becomes 1st member of 50-50 club in styleVideo
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani keeps showing a flair for the dramatic during his historic first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Japanese superstar became the only player in major-league history with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases, doing so with a slew of firsts. Ohtani had the...
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani becomes 1st player with 50 HRs, 50 stolen bases in same yearVideo
MIAMI — Shohei Ohtani became the first major league player to exceed 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season during the most spectacular game of a history-making career for the Los Angeles Dodgers star, going deep three times and swiping two bags on Thursday against the Miami...
