MLB

7:33 PM ET MLB InsidersESPN It’s another busy day in the MLB playoffs, with all four division series in action — two series openers in the National League and two Game 2s in the American League. Here are the stars, turning points and takeaways from each of Tuesday’s games as they conclude. Key links: Ranking

8:13 PM ET If the Miami Marlins are the Cinderellas of this baseball postseason, they maybe should have considered how the fairytale would have turned out had the heroine taken off her glass slippers and hurled them at her stepsisters. Atlanta Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud and starting pitcher Max Fried might not have been reading

7:00 AM ET Sam MillerESPN.com Close ESPN baseball columnist/feature writerFormer editor-in-chief of Baseball ProspectusCo-author of “The Only Rule Is It Has To Work” The writer Kurt Vonnegut once took to a chalkboard to lecture on the simple shapes that most popular stories follow. In his first example — “Man in Hole” — a protagonist starts

2:57 AM ET Marly RiveraESPN Writer Close Marly Rivera is a writer for ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN.com. SAN DIEGO — All-Star slugger Giancarlo Stanton may have finally endeared himself to Yankees fans by having a signature postseason moment. Stanton lived up to his former National League MVP pedigree Monday night, hitting the first postseason grand slam

7:47 PM ET Associated Press PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins had Tommy John surgery on his left elbow last week, and the team says he is expected to return to play in four to six months. Hoskins injured his ulnar collateral ligament when his non-throwing arm collided with a baserunner on Sept.

7:00 AM ET And just like that, we’re down to eight playoff teams in the strangest Major League Baseball season in memory, with eight opponents left steaming over their 2020 MLB playoffs experience being so brief. But for these eight teams, there are no maybes or might-have-beens — they’re baseball’s elite eight. And that means

9:20 PM ET I don’t expect Fernando Tatis Jr. to hit a triple, slide into third base, get tangled up with Justin Turner and then pop up and try to punch Turner in the face, like what happened with George Brett and Graig Nettles in the 1976 American League Championship Series. I don’t expect the

6:55 PM ET Marly RiveraESPN Writer Close Marly Rivera is a writer for ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN.com. SAN DIEGO — Gerrit Cole‘s success in collaborating with New York Yankees backup catcher Kyle Higashioka continues to be closely dissected. But a simple gesture may offer a telling glimpse into the nature of their bond. More than a

2:00 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN The Tampa Bay Rays own the American League’s best record and the league’s No. 1 seed in the 2020 MLB playoffs. The New York Yankees were the AL’s favorites coming into the season before an up-and-down regular season netted them the No. 5 seed. After both swept their way through

5:29 PM ET For MLB teams that didn’t go far into the postseason — and those that didn’t get there at all — there’s only so much time to spend on reflection before starting in on identifying what they need to get done during the offseason. Whether it’s re-signing a key free agent, addressing a

10:40 PM ET MLB InsidersESPN The Los Angeles Dodgers are the National League’s No. 1 seed in the MLB playoffs after posting baseball’s best record during the regular season. The San Diego Padres won more games than any NL team not named the Dodgers to finish second in the West and secure the No. 4

11:24 PM ET If the outcome between the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins in their first-round Wild Card Series surprised you, then you haven’t been paying attention to either team. The Cubs made a predictably early exit from the postseason, due to a continued lack of offense, while the Marlins did what they always do

1:13 AM ET This is not how the San Diego Padres would have preferred to draw up their first postseason series victory since 1998. They played three games against the St. Louis Cardinals and their starting pitchers threw a combined six innings. They used eight pitchers in a Game 1 loss, used nine pitchers in

6:21 PM ET ESPN News Services CHICAGO — Garrett Cooper homered against Yu Darvish in a two-run seventh, hard-throwing rookie Sixto Sanchez dominated for five innings and the Miami Marlins won their first playoff series in 17 years, beating the Chicago Cubs 2-0 Friday to complete a two-game wild-card series sweep. Miami will face Atlanta

7:00 AM ET ESPN.com staff Just when it looked as if we might have only one game Friday after gorging on playoff baseball the past two days, Fernando Tatis Jr. happened and we have a postseason doubleheader: Game 2 of Marlins-Cubs and the winner-take-all Game 3 between Tatis’ Padres and the Cardinals. Here’s what you

2:49 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” You’re looking at the wrong thing. It’s understandable. A bat goes flying in the air, end over end, propelled into the night in a fit of passion, and it inevitably draws every

3:36 PM ET ESPN News Services ATLANTA — Ian Anderson dazzled in another shutout performance for Atlanta, and the Braves won a playoff series for the first time in almost two decades by sweeping the light-hitting Cincinnati Reds with a 5-0 victory Thursday. Ronald Acuna Jr. had three hits for the National League East champions,

7:00 AM ET ESPN.com staff The MLB playoffs frenzy turns up the heat Thursday with five (count ’em, five) elimination games. We’ve already said goodbye to the Twins, Blue Jays and Indians, and either the White Sox or A’s will be kicked off the American League island. In the National League, the Reds, Cubs, Padres