October 4, 2024 4:30 am
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pete Alonso hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off All-Star closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning and the New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 to win their NL Wild Card Series. With their latest thrilling comeback in the decisive Game 3 against Milwaukee, the Mets advanced in the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2015 National League pennant. They move on to a best-of-five Division Series beginning Saturday in Philadelphia against the NL East champion Phillies. It will be the first postseason meeting between the heated rivals.
October 4, 2024 4:32 am
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 condition of anonymity because the Reds had not announced the decision. Francona is replacing David Bell, who was fired by Cincinnati in the final days of his sixth season. Bell had a 409-456 record with the Reds. Francona, who turns 66 in April, played for Cincinnati in 1987. He hit .227 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 102 games.
October 3, 2024 4:24 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington says the team needs to get better faster following a last-place finish in the NL Central. The Pirates posted a 76-86 record in 2024, the same mark the club had in 2023. Cherington fired hitting coach Andy Haines and bullpen coach Justin Meccage after the Pirates struggled to hit and close out games during a second-half freefall. Cherington says manager Derek Shelton will return in 2025 and that both he and Shelton know it’s their job to build around a young pitching rotation that includes NL Rookie of the Year candidate Paul Skenes.
October 3, 2024 4:26 am
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jackson Chourio tied the game 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 that evened their NL Wild Card Series. The teams will play a decisive Game 3 on Thursday night. The Brewers will attempt to become the first team to rally win a best-of-three Wild Card Series after losing the opener since MLB went to this expanded playoff format in 2022.
October 3, 2024 4:25 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Kyle Higashioka’s solo homer started a five-run rally against 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. Manny Machado added a two-run double with the bases loaded and Jackson Merrill, a top contender for NL Rookie of the Year, followed with a two-run triple as the sellout crowd of 47,705 — the largest in Petco Park history — roared. The Padres advance to face Shohei Ohtani and the NL West rival Dodgers in a National League Division Series beginning Saturday evening at top-seeded Los Angeles.
October 3, 2024 4:28 am
BALTIMORE (AP) — The Kansas City Royals endured two seven-game losing streaks in the final month of the season. The second of those ended with a well-timed joke from a three-time World Series winner. Now they’re in the AL Division Series against the New York Yankees after opening the playoffs with a two-game sweep of Baltimore. Kansas City’s approach allowed a team that lost 106 games last year to turn things around in a hurry. It will be a bigger challenge for AL batting champion Bobby Witt Jr. and Co. to keep it going.
October 3, 2024 4:27 am
HOUSTON (AP) — 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. Parker Meadows homered as Detroit ended Houston’s run of seven consecutive appearances in the AL Championship Series. It was a sweet moment for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who led Houston to a championship in 2017 and was fired in the aftermath of the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. Next up for the wild-card Tigers is a trip to Cleveland to take on the AL Central champions in a best-of-five AL Division Series. Game 1 is on Saturday.
October 3, 2024 4:36 am
Pete Rose still isn’t going into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The career hits leader’s banishment from baseball 35 years ago was often referred to as a lifetime ban, and his death this week led some to believe that would end. But Rose was actually declared permanently ineligible by Major League Baseball rules for betting on the game. As in forever unless there is a formal reinstatement. Since players or officials on MLB’s ineligible list can’t be considered for election into the Hall of Fame, Rose’s status didn’t change when he died Monday at age 83.
October 2, 2024 4:28 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh quarterback Russell Wilson’s calf injury is improving, but Justin Fields will get the start when the Steelers host the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5. Coach Mike Tomlin says he expects Wilson to take on a heavier load in practice as he recovers from a calf issue he aggravated just before the season opener. Tomlin says the 35-year-old Wilson will need to show he has full mobility before being given “serious consideration” to return. Fields has played well over the first month and had 367 yards of total offense in a Week 4 loss to Indianapolis.
October 2, 2024 4:31 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) — 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 Wild Card Series. Tatis’ 415-foot shot landed in the second deck in left field at Petco Park and sent the towel-waving, sellout crowd of 47,647 into a frenzy. The 25-year-old star missed just more than 2 1/2 months this season with a stress reaction in his right thighbone. Meanwhile, in 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. The Mets didn’t earn a playoff berth until they rallied late from a three-run deficit to win the opening game of a makeup doubleheader Monday in Atlanta, one day after the regular season was supposed to end. Now they’re one win from heading to Philadelphia for an NL Division Series. Milwaukee has lost 10 of its last 11 playoff games, a stretch that began with its Game 7 home defeat against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 NL Championship Series.
