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Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Paul Sullivan: Will a day off help the Cubs? NLDS takeaways while looking for playoff fever in Milwaukee.

Sports / Baseball /

MILWAUKEE — Looking for Brewers Fever in downtown Milwaukee on a beautiful October Sunday was a pointless exercise, but it beat watching the NFL games on the first of three potential off days in the National League Division Series.

Other than a “Magic Brew” banner on a few buildings, there was no evidence the city is obsessed with the ...Read more

Tyler Skaggs' family and the Angels face off in a wrongful death civil trial worth millions

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — More than four years after the family of deceased Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs filed a wrongful death suit against the Angels, jury selection began Monday in Orange County Superior Court.

Skaggs' widow Carli Skaggs and parents Debra Hetman and Darrell Skaggs stated in a court filing that they seek at least $210 million in lost ...Read more

Stephen Brashear/Getty Images North America/TNS

Bill Shaikin: Clayton Kershaw isn't first Hall of Fame-bound pitcher to finish career in Dodgers bullpen

Sports / Baseball /

PHILADELPHIA — As Clayton Kershaw completed his pregame routine the other day and walked off the field at Citizens Bank Park, I asked him about his postseason debut. That was 17 years and 39 playoff appearances ago, and yet Kershaw remembered it so well that he got his answer out before I got all of my question out.

"I was in the 'pen," ...Read more

HYOSUB SHIN/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Ken Sugiura: In Braves' manager search, Anthopoulos' trust in background work bodes well

Sports / Baseball /

ATLANTA — The Braves’ search for Brian Snitker’s successor has at least two advantages in its favor.

One is that the roster is much more ready to win than many of the other teams that are also looking for managers.

Another is that president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos brings an intelligent approach to the ...Read more

Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times/TNS

Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez deliver in Mariners' thrilling Game 2 victory over Tigers

Sports / Baseball /

SEATTLE — Cal Raleigh cruised home for the go-ahead run and Julio Rodríguez coasted into second base, jumping and danced upon his arrival in the middle of the infield, a celebration matched in style and in intensity by the 47,371 fans inside T-Mobile Park on Sunday evening.

In their biggest game of the year, the Seattle Mariners’ two ...Read more

Mark Blinch/Getty Images North America/TNS

Yankees back on the brink after Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage dismantles Bombers in Game 2

Sports / Baseball /

TORONTO — As the Yankees prepared for Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage before Game 2 of the ALDS on Sunday, the only hitter on the team who had faced him chimed in.

“He’s kind of deceptive,” J.C. Escarra told his teammates during a pregame hitters meeting. The third-string catcher, who struck out twice against Yesavage in a Triple-A game ...Read more

Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images North America/TNS

Max Fried falters in ALDS Game 2 loss as Yankees' pitching crumbles again vs. Blue Jays

Sports / Baseball /

All year long, Max Fried was the New York Yankees’ stopper.

In 16 regular-season starts that followed a Yankees loss, Fried went 11-1 with a 1.82 ERA. The Yankees won 12 of those games.

But Fried faltered in Sunday’s Game 2 of the ALDS, delivering his worst start in nearly two months in a 13-7 loss to Toronto Blue Jays that leaves the ...Read more

Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Bill Shaikin: 'I try to put it in the trash.' How Teoscar Hernández's mindset delivered October magic.

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — Teoscar Hernández does not lack for emotion. He plays with joy, with exuberance, with delight.

The Dodgers know he can hit. We all do. If the emotion dissipates, so can the performance.

Hernández could have been the goat Saturday night, in what would have been the Dodgers' first loss in this postseason. Instead, he hit the ...Read more

Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

David Murphy: Red October has officially lost its magic. Blame the big guns, not the ballpark.

Sports / Baseball /

PHILADELPHIA — Remember the “Find the Snow Leopard” picture that made the rounds on the internet a while back? The next time you look at it, check to see if the top half of the Phillies batting order is hidden there, too. They’ve officially gone missing. And they’ve taken the Red October magic with them.

There was a lot of second-...Read more

Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Shota Imanaga gets the Game 2 start as the Cubs look to even the NLDS against Brewers

Sports / Baseball /

MILWAUKEE — Left-hander Shota Imanaga has an opportunity to help the Chicago Cubs even the National League Division Series.

Imanaga will start Game 2 Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field, manager Craig Counsell announced Sunday before the team’s off-day workout at the ballpark. Imanaga allowed two runs and three ...Read more

Yong Kim/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Phillies get encouraging news on Harrison Bader; status uncertain for Game 2

Sports / Baseball /

PHILADELPHIA — Standing in the quiet clubhouse after the Phillies’ Game 1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Harrison Bader was optimistic that he would be able to return for the rest of the National League Division Series.

And further imaging he underwent on Sunday confirmed that Bader had not suffered a tear or major strain of his groin, ...Read more

Alika Jenner/Getty Images North America/TNS

McKinstry drives in winner, Tigers take Game 1 in 11 against Mariners

Sports / Baseball /

SEATTLE — If you think about it, in one sense, the Detroit Tigers were playing with house money Saturday.

The Seattle Mariners, who won their first division title since 2001, sat and waited for a week as the wild-card series played out, letting the anticipation and anxiety build for Game 1 of the American League Division Series.

On top of ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Dodgers show their resiliency again in NLDS Game 1 comeback win over Phillies

Sports / Baseball /

PHILADELPHIA — Two innings into Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday night, the Dodgers had been punched in the mouth.

The Phillies had scored three runs off Shohei Ohtani in the bottom of the second. Citizens Bank Park was shaking on the scale of a small earthquake. And the Dodgers’ offense was doing nothing against ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Dylan Hernández: Dodgers save Shohei Ohtani, not the other way around, in monumental Game 1 NLDS win

Sports / Baseball /

PHILADELPHIA — Want the unexpected?

What about Shohei Ohtani nearly self-destructing in the second inning of his first-ever postseason start as a pitcher?

Praying for late-game heroics?

What about Teoscar Hernández lofting a three-run homer over the wall in right-center field to silence the notoriously hostile crowd at Citizens Bank Park? ...Read more

Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Cubs Game 1 notebook: Aaron Civale saves the bullpen with effective relief outing in loss

Sports / Baseball /

MILWAUKEE — Chicago Cubs pitcher Aaron Civale had the mindset of “get as many outs as you can” when he entered in the second inning of Game 1 of the National League Division Series.

“The bullpen was huge in that wild-card series, a lot of guys pitching multiple games,” Civale said. “So at that point it’s try to get as many outs as...Read more

Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images North America/TNS

Yankees can't put Rogers Centre woes behind them as bats, arms flop in loss to Blue Jays

Sports / Baseball /

TORONTO — With the bases loaded, nobody out and Aaron Judge up at the plate, the Yankees finally looked like a threat in Game 1 of the ALDS.

Kevin Gausman had been effective and economical through the first five innings, requiring just 50 pitches with the help of some dazzling defense and impatient at-bats from the Bombers. But with Anthony ...Read more

Paul Sullivan: First-inning flop leaves Matthew Boyd in good company in Cubs' postseason history

Sports / Baseball /

MILWAUKEE — After Game 2 of the 1935 World Series, Chicago Cubs manager Charlie Grimm walked inside the clubhouse and let out what the Chicago Tribune reported as a “blood-curdling yell.”

The Cubs had lost 8-3 to the Detroit Tigers, and starter Charlie Root failed to retire a hitter before being removed after putting the team in a 4-0 ...Read more

Michael Reaves/Getty Images North America/TNS

Cubs lose to Brewers, 9-3, allowing 6 runs in 1st inning in Game 1 of NL Division Series

Sports / Baseball /

MILWAUKEE — For roughly 15 minutes Saturday afternoon at American Family Field, the Chicago Cubs were riding great vibes.

Michael Busch’s sixth leadoff home run this year gave the Cubs a quick lead against the Milwaukee Brewers and right-hander Freddy Peralta. The faction of Cubs fans among the crowd of 42,678 made themselves heard.

If ...Read more

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images North America/TNS

Mariners ace Bryan Woo left off ALDS roster

Sports / Baseball /

SEATTLE — The Mariners will begin their playoff push against the Detroit Tigers without their young ace.

Bryan Woo, out for the past two weeks with pectoral inflammation, has been left off the Mariners’ 26-man roster for the American League Division Series, MLB sources with knowledge of the club’s plans told The Seattle Times.

The ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

'Better late than never.' How Mookie Betts salvaged the worst season of his career.

Sports / Baseball /

PHILADELPHIA — In hindsight, Mookie Betts made the mystery of his worst career season sound rather simple.

Looking back on it now, the reasons were right there all along.

There was the stomach virus at the start of the year, which caused him to lose 20 pounds and develop bad swing habits while overcompensating for a decline in physical ...Read more