MLB playoffs live updates: Astros stun Mariners with walk-off home run, Phillies beat Braves
Phillies stunned the Braves in Game 1 with a 7-6 win, setting up a scary situation for Atlanta, who will face their two aces in the next two games – Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola.Alvarez smashed a walk-off three-run homer off Robbie Ray to steal Game 1 8-7 from the Seattle Mariners.
Stick with us as the other two games unfold for all the updates and insight you need to stay on top of today’s action.
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toppling Atlanta ace Max Fried in a 7-6 victory, one in which their No. 3 starter, Ranger Suarez, wobbled into the fourth inning but, like his bullpen mates, made a series of huge pitches with runners on base against the nearly peerless Braves lineup.
Now, it gets a little too real: Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola start the next two games, concerning in any scenario but horrifying when you consider they did not yield a single run to the powerful Cardinals and can eliminate you by Friday.
– Gabe Lacques
Mariners get to Justin Verlander, lead Astros 4-0
Seattle scored in the top of the first against Justin Verlander on Cal Raleigh’s RBI single and then added three more in the second inning with Julio Rodriguez’s two-run double and a Ty France RBI single. They lead 4-0 through two innings.
Phillies jump out to big early lead in Atlanta
The Philadelphia Phillies scored early and often against Atlanta Braves starter Max Fried to take an early 6-1 lead in their NLDS opener.
Nick Castellanos got the Phils on the board first with a two-out RBI single against Fried in the top of the first inning and Alec Bohm added another clutch hit to score a second run.
After Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud homered in the second to make it 2-1, Fried’s throwing error opened the door to a pair of unearned Phillies runs in the third. And Castellanos came through again in the fourth with a two-out, two-run single.
Fried (14-7, 2.48 ERA in regular season) exited with one out in the fourth after yielding eight hits and a walk. He was charged with all six runs, four of them earned.
After the Phils got another run on an Edmundo Sosa sacrifice fly in the fifth, d’Arnaud came through again for the Braves with a big hit — a two-run double to cut the deficit to 7-3.
Through the first six innings, Philadelphia is 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Atlanta is 1-for-7.
Eight most important players in the Division Series
It’s often not the biggest names that prove most indispensable once Major League Baseball’s playoffs arrive. After all, anyone can be pitched to, or ignored altogether.
It’s often the performance of the less heralded that matter most, and as the four Division Series get underway Tuesday, USA TODAY Sports examines the eight players most important to their team’s chances.
Leading the way is Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips, who will take on added responsibility with the team deciding not to include veteran closer Craig Kimbrel on its NLDS roster.
— Gabe Lacques
Veteran reliever off Astros ALDS roster after ‘off-the-field’ injury
HOUSTON – The Houston Astros left veteran relievers Will Smith and Phil Maton off their roster for the AL Division Series against the Seattle Mariners.
Maton suffered an “off-the-field” injury, general manager James Click said Tuesday, adding that Maton would be available later in the day to provide details. Click wouldn’t say whether the injury was the reason he was not on the roster.
According to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, Maton broke a finger when he punched his locker after the team’s final regular-season game.
Instead of Maton and Smith, the Astros put rookie right-hander Hunter Brown on a roster with 12 pitchers and carried an extra position player in rookie infielder David Hensley.
Padres get another shot at the Dodgers
For the first time since the first week of the season, the Padres and Dodgers are finally back even, starting at 0-0 in the best-of-five NLDS.
“I think it feels a little bit better now that we’re not looking at the standings,” Padres manager Doug Melvin said, “and 18 games behind, or 20 games, behind, whatever it was.”
Well, it was 22 games behind, but who’s counting?
“They handled us pretty well during the year,” said Padres center fielder Trent Grisham, who hit .184 during the regular season, and .500 in the wild card series, “but now everything is on the line. There’s a winner who goes on. And the loser goes home. Everything is on the line.”
– Bob Nightengale
the remaining World Series contenders, ranked by the likelihood they can reach – and win – the 2022 championship.
— Gabe Lacques
Strider on, Robertson off NLDS rosters
ATLANTA – Philadelphia Phillies reliever David Robertson will miss the NL Division Series after injuring his right calf jumping to celebrate Bryce Harper’s home run in their clinching wild-card victory at St. Louis.
The Phillies left Robertson off the roster for their NLDS opener at Atlanta on Tuesday. The defending champion Braves placed rookie right-hander Spencer Strider on their roster after he was sidelined since Sept. 18 with a sore left oblique.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said Strider will throw on the side before Tuesday’s matchup against Philadelphia but would not be available to pitch in Game 1.
Strider, signed Monday to a $75 million, six-year contract, could be used as a starter or a reliever, according to Snitker.
The Braves won’t have October hero Tyler Matzek for the NLDS as the left-handed reliever is dealing with a sore elbow and is being evaluated.
— The Associated Press
Yankees’ Gerrit Cole hopes to find postseason redemption
In last season’s AL wild-card game, Yankees starter Gerrit Cole got knocked out in the third inning against the Red Sox
“It took a long time to get over that,’’ Cole told USA TODAY Sports. “I hate losing. I just can’t stand it. I get frustrated. I get angry. I just kept thinking about it over and over.
“It was a terrible feeling. I was just sick to my stomach.’’
Cole, who the Yankees signed to a $324 million contract, gets the start in Game 1 against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday.
– Bob Nightengale
best-of-five division series starting Tuesday.winning a second World Series title in three years won’t be a cakewalk.
Here’s how USA TODAY Sports’ baseball reporters and editors see the postseason playing out:
- Four pick the Dodgers to win it all.
- One has the Astros over the Braves
- One has the Braves over the Astros
- And one has the Padres pulling off the huge upset