MLB

2:05 PM ET Associated Press HOUSTON — Justin Verlander will start Game 1 of the American League Division Series for the Astros on Tuesday. It was a forgone conclusion the AL Cy Young Award front-runner will start that game, and manager Dusty Baker made it official Saturday. The worked out at Minute Maid Park as

7:00 AM ET MLB’s first-ever wild-card series weekend is in full swing. And as many as four teams could be sent packing today. As the playoff field expands to 12 teams for the 2022 postseason, four best-of-three series will determine which teams will advance to the ALDS (against either the Houston Astros or the New

1:07 AM ET NEW YORK — The dreams of Mets fans were supposed to come true on Friday night. When Max Scherzer signed a three-year, $130 million contract with New York, the wild-card series opener was the type of game Mets fans imagined the future Hall of Famer would dominate, an important moment setting the

1:36 AM ET NEW YORK — The fate of the New York Mets‘ season now weighs on the arm of Jacob deGrom. Following the Mets’ 7-1 loss to the San Diego Padres in Friday night’s NL wild-card opener, manager Buck Showalter announced that deGrom would take the ball for Game 2 as New York faces

9:02 PM ET Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Minor league baseball teams combined to draw 30.9 million fans this year, down from 41.5 million in 2019, the last season before COVID-19 and before Major League Baseball cutting affiliates. Teams averaged 3,910 this season for 7,908 games, down from an average of 4,044 for 10,262

8:09 PM ET ST. LOUIS — Jean Segura‘s career spanned 11 seasons and 1,328 games before he finally reached the postseason, the longest active streak in the major leagues. On the morning of his first playoff game, the Philadelphia Phillies‘ second baseman barely slept. He awoke at 7 a.m. “with adrenaline in my body.” Friday

7:01 PM ET Associated Press ARLINGTON, Texas — Interim manager Tony Beasley was the first candidate interviewed in the Texas Rangers‘ managerial search that general manager Chris Young hopes to wrap up in three to four weeks. Young said Friday that Beasley would be the only internal candidate for the job, but didn’t say who

2:46 PM ET Associated Press CLEVELAND — Jose Ramirez connected for a two-run homer, Shane Bieber dominated Tampa Bay for 7 2/3 innings and the young Cleveland Guardians played with poise in their postseason debut, beating the Rays 2-1 in the wild-card opener on Friday. Ramirez’s shot off Shane McClanahan in the sixth inning helped

12:32 PM ET NEW YORK — When the Mets kick off their playoff run against the San Diego Padres on Friday night, Starling Marte and Francisco Alvarez will be on the roster. Marte has not played for the past month and has been working his way back from a fractured middle finger. Mets manager Buck

7:00 AM ET MLB’s first-ever wild-card series weekend is here. As the playoff field expands to 12 teams for the 2022 postseason, four best-of-three series starting today will determine which teams will advance to the American League Division Series (against either the Houston Astros or the New York Yankees) and National League Division Series (against

7:00 AM ET The 2022 MLB playoffs begin Friday afternoon, debuting a new format with 12 teams hoping to raise this year’s World Series trophy. The Dodgers — who enter October with MLB’s best record and a franchise record number of wins — look to add another title to prove their 2020 championship was no

11:51 PM ET St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols said he almost called it quits this summer before going on a tear that helped him become just the fourth player in major league history to reach 700 career home runs. Pujols told MLB.com in a story published Thursday night that he contemplated an early retirement

7:12 PM ET ESPN News Services Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani has already agreed to a $30 million contract for 2023, his final campaign before free agency, and the club believes it has a shot to keep the two-way talent long term. “I think it’s step one,” general manager Perry Minasian said of Ohtani’s

7:46 PM ET NEW YORK — As Max Scherzer prepares to start Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series against the San Diego Padres, New York Mets manager Buck Showalter did not want to reveal his hand too soon about who will start Game 2 for the club. When asked if the Game 2

3:22 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Ted Barrett, Alfonso Márquez, Jerry Meals and Jeff Nelson will be the crew chiefs for baseball’s new wild-card series, which start Friday, and Mark Carlson, Marvin Hudson, Dan Iassogna and Bill Miller will be crew chiefs for the division series next week. Barrett will work the AL

6:19 PM ET ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals will start left-hander Jose Quintana in Game 1 of their National League wild-card series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, manager Oliver Marmol announced Thursday. Miles Mikolas will start Game 2 of the best-of-three series for St. Louis, and Marmol is undecided about who would start a

4:20 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — The average time of a nine-inning major league game dropped for the first time since 2018, likely helped by the introduction of the PitchCom electronic device to signal pitches. The average this season was 3 hours, 3 minutes, 44 seconds, the commissioner’s office said Monday. The

3:32 PM ET Associated Press PHOENIX — Even with the homer heroics of sluggers like Aaron Judge and Albert Pujols, Major League Baseball wasn’t able to coax fans to ballparks at pre-pandemic levels this season, though attendance did jump substantially from the COVID-19 affected campaign in 2021. The 30 MLB teams drew nearly 64.6 million