PHILADELPHIA — Fire Topper, break up the team, and do it before it’s too late for this $250 million payroll to win a World Series.

Right? Wrong.

Losing to the Mets in the NLDS last week might sting today, but tomorrow looks as bright as ever for the Phillies. Zack Wheeler might be their best pitcher ever, and Aaron Nola’s not far behind....Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ten minutes after baseball’s most unlikely playoff team vanished from the postseason, its manager, Matt Quatraro, didn’t have much interest in recognizing or appreciating the surprise of it.

The Royals won 30 more games this season than the previous one, a stunning single-year turnaround that prompted their first ...Read more

NEW YORK — When the NLCS began, the Mets had an obvious edge over the Los Angeles Dodgers when it came to starting pitching. The Dodgers have 10 pitchers on the injured list, including three starting pitchers, while the Mets have a deep rotation full of starters who have been pitching deep into games.

But some bad habits came back to haunt ...Read more

NEW YORK — A bad night for the Mets became much, much worse as Shohei Ohtani sent a ball into orbit.

The superstar slugger punctuated the Dodgers’ 8-0 win in NLCS Game 3 with an exclamation point on Wednesday when he pummeled a belt-high cutter from Tylor Megill well above the right-field foul pole and halfway up Citi Field’s second deck....Read more

NEW YORK — This was the script the Dodgers were envisioning.

An early lead from the lineup. A solid, albeit short, outing from their starter. And then a parade of scoreless innings from the bullpen.

It might not be an orthodox October plan, but it’s the one best suited to the Dodgers’ banged-up pitching staff and short-handed starting ...Read more

CHICAGO — Chicago White Sox fans who chanted “Sell the team” at Guaranteed Rate Field this summer might get their wish after all.

According to a report Wednesday in The Athletic, Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has changed his stance about keeping the team he has owned since 1981 and is in “active discussions” with a group led by Dave ...Read more

NEW YORK — Despite a disastrous start in Los Angeles, the Mets are ready to use Kodai Senga in the NLCS once again. The right-hander is scheduled to pitch Friday in Game 5 against the Dodgers, but the Mets are still discussing how they want to use him.

“At what capacity? We’ll see,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday ahead of the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The auction and sale of Shohei Ohtani's 50th home run ball will proceed as planned.

The historic ball, which made the Dodgers superstar the first MLB player to have 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season, is already on its way to fetching almost $2 million.

It remains to be seen who will pocket all that cash.

The ...Read more

NEW YORK — As Aaron Judge lofted a fly ball to deep center field in the seventh inning on Tuesday night, Gleyber Torres made a mistake.

The second baseman, unsure just how far the ball would travel on a windy night at Yankee Stadium, tagged up at first base. He wasn’t alone in the error, as Yankees first base coach Travis Chapman also ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — It’s too bad Yu Darvish won’t pitch again this postseason.

For baseball fans who enjoy a creative type of pitching that’s a fading art, he will be missed.

In the recent National League Division Series, the Padres’ 38-year-old starter had strong outings in Games 2 and Game 5 against the top-seeded Dodgers despite lacking ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — When the bats turned from torches to ice picks in a span of five games last October, the Phillies’ remedy was to coach up a bunch of aggressive hitters to swing at fewer pitches out of the strike zone.

A year later, after a playoff ousting one round earlier, the issue remains.

So, what now?

“The reality is,” Dave ...Read more

NEW YORK — Anthony Rizzo‘s place on the ALCS roster was far from a sure thing. It remained to be seen just how much the first baseman could contribute with two fractured fingers.

The Yankees took a gamble and trusted the word of their veteran that he was good to go, and they are reaping the benefits. It wasn’t even a guarantee that the ...Read more

NEW YORK — With the Yankees looking to take a 2-0 ALCS lead over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday, Gerrit Cole lacked his best stuff for the second time this postseason.

While the ace twirled a dominant clincher in Game 4 of the ALDS, he also allowed four runs (three earned) over five innings in Game 1 of that series against the Kansas City...Read more

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge is on the board.

The slugger smashed his first home run of the postseason in the Yankees’ 6-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night in the Bronx, delivering a two-run dagger in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.

Judge flashed a smile as he rounded the bases after his 414-foot blast off of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — It's a cyclical thing, and the cycle has come back around to the tired lazy narrative. The teams with the three largest payrolls are three of baseball's final four. Those three teams play in New York or Los Angeles. Baseball is doomed.

But think back to this time last year. There was a narrative last October too.

Tony Clark, ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — There’s a saying in the construction business. The first 90% of a job takes 90% of the effort, and the last 10% of a job takes 90% of the effort.

That feels like where the Phillies are at right now. It took them 10 years to build a roster capable of winning a World Series. Yet they are no closer to winning the darn thing than...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers did not take their best shot at winning. The baseball gods hate that.

If neither the Dodgers nor the New York Mets sweep the next three games, the National League Championship Series will return to Dodger Stadium, and the Dodgers might just run another bullpen game. Their season could be on the line that day, and ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani was staring at his phone when I approached him in front of his locker in the wake of the Dodgers' 7-3 defeat to the New York Mets on Monday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

He glanced up.

We were alone, as the other reporters were in other parts of the clubhouse interviewing other players.

I ...Read more

DETROIT — When you change perceptions, you also change expectations.

That’s the challenge the Tigers are facing now, as the euphoria surrounding their late-season playoff charge fades away and the reality of what comes next starts to set in.

But that’s hardly an unsettling thought for manager AJ Hinch, who has been through these stages ...Read more