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If this is what the League Championship Series is going to deliver us, buckle up because we are in for a ride. With the NL Championship Series beginning, we saw a fantastic game with a phenomenal outing by a starter, a play unlike any other in MLB history and late comeback attempt. Meanwhile, the AL Championship Series is been controlled by one team. Let’s dive into the action.
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Dodgers Overcome Weird DP, Hang On For Game 1 Win
Final score: Dodgers 2, Brewers 1
Series: Dodgers lead 1-0
Next game: Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Brewers RHP Freddy Peralta, today, 8:08 p.m. at American Family Field (TBS)
Yeah, baseball isn’t boring. Game 1 of the NL Championship Series was a doozy, with a never-before-seen double play, a near-perfect pitching performance and a ninth-inning rally by the team that had been stymied the entire game. Thanks to the dominant outing by left-hander Blake Snell, the Dodgers managed to withstand hitting into that bizarre double play and escaped in the ninth for a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. It was a scintillating opener to the series between the reigning World Series champion Dodgers and the Brewers, who were the best team in MLB this season.
Where to start? Let’s begin with the play that no one has ever seen before. With one out and the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Max Muncy hit a 1-0 pitch from Brewers reliever Quinn Priester deep to center field. Sal Frelick, a Gold Glove right fielder playing center for the first time since the second game of an Aug. 19 doubleheader, sprinted back to the wall and lept to rob Muncy of a grand slam. Only Frelick didn’t catch the ball. Instead, he deflected it and had it bounce off the top of the wall, then snared it and fired it to shortstop Joey Ortiz, who threw a strike to catcher William Contreras for a force out at home just before Teoscar Hernández slid into home plate. With chaos on the bases due to the uncertainty of whether Frelick actually caught the ball on the fly, Contreras then jogged to third base and tagged the bag for a double play as the runner at second, Will Smith, stayed put at second until realizing to late he should be on third. A replay review confirmed the way the play went down and the first 8-6-2 grounded into a double play in MLB history — with the ball never touching the ground and the catcher, Contreras, recording both putouts on a GIDP that was fielded 404 feet away from the plate. One key to the whole play was left field umpire Chad Fairchild immediately signaling no catch was made.
Once that was sorted, the Brewers had escaped the fourth inning unscathed. That is when the attention turned to Snell. The two-time Cy Young Award winner, who has an excellent track record in the postseason with a 2.92 ERA in 14 career appearances, turned in the finest game of his career. Snell allowed a leadoff single to Caleb Durbin in the second inning (was was then picked off), then proceeded to retire the next 17 batters, inducing nine groundouts while also striking out 10 while not issuing a single walk. Combined with his six innings of one-hit ball in the NL Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Snell became the first pitcher in MLB postseason history with multiple starts of six or more innings with zero or one hit allowed. With the pickoff of Durbin, Snell faced the minimum 24 batters in his postseason-best eight innings. Before this postseason, his first with the Dodgers, Snell had never finished the sixth inning of a game, including famously being pulled after 5⅓ innings in Game 7 of the 2020 World Series while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays against the Dodgers. In his three starts so far, he has gone seven, six and eight innings.
Maybe that is what the Brewers were waiting for to get going. Trailing 2-0 on a Freddie Freeman homer in the sixth inning and a bases-loaded walk to Mookie Betts in the top of the ninth, the Brewers were able to finally mount a rally in the ninth. Fully baffled by Snell for eight innings and 103 pitches, the Brewers faced rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki to begin the bottom of the ninth. Sasaki, a starter who spent much of the season on the injured list or at Triple-A, has blossomed in the closer role he assumed in the postseason. In four games, he had a 0.00 ERA with two saves in 5⅓ innings with one hit, no walks and five strikeouts. But that string of success was snapped as the Brewers got a one-out walk from Durbin and a ground-rule double from pinch-hitter Jake Bauers. Jackson Chourio’s sacrifice fly to right-center pulled the Brewers within 2-1. Christian Yelich drew a full-count walk to chase Sasaki in favor of right-handed Blake Treinen, who has struggled mightily the entire season. Contreras also got a walk on a full count to load the bases for Brice Turang. But Treinen got out of the jam by getting Turang to chase a high 2-2 four-seamer for the strikeout and his first save since April 9.
The @Dodgers push across a big insurance run! #NLCS
Chourio's sac fly makes it a one-run game
— Talkin’ Baseball (Bot) (@talkinbaseballbot.bsky.social) 2025-10-14T02:52:24.000Z
Blake Treinen strikes out Brice Turang, and the @Dodgers survive in the 9th! #NLCS
Mariners Power-Up To Take 2-0 Advantage
Final score: Mariners 10, Blue Jays 3
Series: Mariners lead 2-0
Next game: Blue Jays RHP Shane Bieber vs. Mariners RHP George Kirby, Wednesday, 8:08 pm. ET at T-Mobile Park (FS1)
Who knows what fumes the Seattle Mariners are playing on right now. Whatever it is, they should can it and sell it. Julio Rodríguez, Jorge Polanco and Josh Naylor each homered, with Polanco driving in five runs, as the Mariners pulled away from the Toronto Blue Jays for a 10-3 win in Game 2 of the AL Championship Series at the Rogers Centre to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. By winning the first two games on the road, the Mariners have put themselves in prime position to advance to the first World Series in franchise history. The Mariners are the only current MLB team not to play in the Fall Classic.
Seattle jumped on Jays rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage, who was making just his fifth MLB start but struck out a franchise-record 11 in his last outing in the AL Division Series, right away in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Randy Arozarena was hit by a 3-2 four-seamer and Cal Raleigh walked, also with a full count. Yesavage got Rodriguez into a 1-2 hole, but left a splitter up in the zone and J-Rod drilled it out down the line in left field for a quick 3-0 Mariners lead. The Jays came back in the bottom of the first with RBI singles by Nathan Lukes and Alejandro Kirk to trim the deficit to 3-2. Lukes, who left Game 1 after fouling a ball off his right knee, tied it in the third with a two-out run-scoring single.
In the fifth, the Mariners started to separate themselves from the Jays. Arozarena reached on a leadoff error that put him on second and Raleigh was intentionally walked. That was it for Yesavage, with right-hander Louis Varland coming in. Rodriguez struck out, but Polanco continued his superb postseason when he crushed a three-run homer to center to give the Mariners a 6-3 lead. Pinch-hitter Mitch Garver had a leadoff triple in the sixth and scored on J.P. Crawford’s single. The Mariners put this one out of reach with Naylor’s two-run homer and Crawford’s sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it 10-3.
Meanwhile, the Mariners kept the Jays quiet after the first two innings. The Jays did get their runs off Mariners right-handed starter Logan Gilbert, who pitched two innings of relief in Friday’s 15-inning AL Division Series clincher, went just three innings. Right-handers Eduard Bazardo, Carlos Vargas and Emerson Hancock each pitched two innings, with Bazardo giving up the lone hit.
Alejandro Kirk pulls another run back for the @BlueJays!#ALCS
By The Numbers
⚾ The Mariners are the 28th road team to take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series. Only three road teams have come back to win the series, all coming in the World Series.
In postseason history, teams taking a 2-0 lead in any best-of-seven series have gone on to take that series 78 of 93 times (83.9%)In series with the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning both Games 1 and 2 on the road have prevailed in the series 24 of 27 times (88.9%)
⚾ Freddie Freeman’s solo homer gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. It was his 10th go-ahead homer in his postseason career, tying Jose Altuve for the most in MLB history.
⚾ The Blue Jays have just eight hits in the first two ALCS games after reaching double digits in three of the four AL Division Series games against the New York Yankees, with the other game being nine hits.
Best Moments From Yesterday
Our Thoughts Exactly
Not even Sal Frelick was sure what happened on that wacky double play — and he was part of it.
My mentions on that play in Milwaukee are all some form of Sal Frelick
Ex-Catcher Speed
How does a former catcher get a triple in a playoff game? Ask the Mariners’ Mitch Garver.
How It’s Done
Dodgers TV announcer David Vassegh famously had a bad time trying out Bernie Brewer’s slide at American Family Field a couple years ago. Another Dodgers TV personality, Stephen Nelson, decided to show off his sliding skills for Vassegh.
@stephennelsontv Coming in hot, Milwaukee! POV: going down Bernie Brewers’ slide (back in 2018). Fired up for what should be an epic NLCS 🤙 • • • #ITFDB #NLCS #postseason
Noteworthy News
Shildt Steps Down As Padres’ Manager
Citing the grueling baseball season that has “taken a severe toll on me mentally, physically and emotionally,” Mike Shildt resigned as manager of the San Diego Padres with two years left on his contract. It is not clear whether the 56-year-old is retiring from baseball or just walking away from the Padres. In his two seasons with the Padres, Shildt’s teams went 93-69 and 90-72, both times finishing second in the NL West to the Dodgers. The Padres lost to the Chicago Cubs in an NL Wild Card Series in a decisive Game 3 this season after losing to the Dodgers in the NL Division Series in 2024. This stint came after managing the St. Louis Cardinals for 3½ seasons, compiling a 252-199 record. Shildt made the announcement in a letter to the San Diego Union-Tribune. There had been speculation about Shildt’s job status at the end of the season, but sources told the Union-Tribune that this decision was Shildt’s alone. The Padres make eight current managerial vacancies (Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta), with two others already filled. The Pittsburgh Pirates hired interim manager Don Kelly full time and the Texas Rangers hired Skip Shumaker.
Minor Moves For NLCS Rosters
There were no major changes for the two NL Championship Series teams as they set their roster before Game 1. The Brewers swapped right-hander Tobias Myers, who has starting experience, for right-handed reliever Nick Mears. The Dodgers, with starter Will Smith healthy, dropped third-string catcher Dalton Rushing in favor of right-hander Ben Casparius. Myers and Casparius give both bullpens added length for the seven-game series.
Alomar Sr. Dies At 81
Sandy Alomar Sr., who played for six teams over 15 seasons and was the father to two major-leaguers, died at the age of 81. The Puerto Rico native, just three days shy of turning 82, was an infielder who was a 1970 All-Star with the California Angels. He put up a career slash line of .245/.290/.288 with 13 homers, 282 RBIs and 227 steals. Alomar had two sons who played in MLB. Sandy Alomar Jr. played 20 years as a catcher, winning the 1990 AL Rookie of the Year with Cleveland. Roberto Alomar played 17 years as a second baseman, winning two World Series, earning 12 All-Star nods, winning 12 Gold Gloves and four Silver Sluggers, going into the Hall of Fame in 2011.
Extra Bases
⚾ Jays left fielder Anthony Santander was scratched from the Game 2 lineup due to lower-back tightness. Davis Schneider started in his place.
⚾ Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch had his contract extended during the season, general manager Scott Harris said.
⚾ Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson will return in 2026, the final year of his contract.
⚾ Angels pitcher Kyle Hendricks is expected to retire this offseason. Hendricks spent 11 seasons with the Chicago Cubs and was on the 2016 World Series championship team.
Articles You Should Read
How Dodgers’ Sasaki rediscovered his “Monster of Reiwa Era” sizzle — Fabian Ardaya, The Athletic
Orioles hope Mayo’s late success can turn into consistent production — Andy Kostka, Baltimore Banner
2025 MLB farm system Statcast pitching rankings — Dylan White, Baseball America
The Imanaga contract decisions are more complicated than you think — Michael Cerami, Bleacher Nation
