MLB

7:00 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Just like that, the fastest, weirdest, pandemickiest baseball season ever has come and gone. Mathematics holds that a 60-game schedule is shorter than the standard 162, but the 2020 season has whistled

7:00 AM ET ESPN.com Staff As we enter the final week of the regular season, the playoff field is taking shape, as are ESPN’s Power Rankings. After a period where they slipped out of our top five (and nearly slipped out of a playoff berth), the Yankees righted the ship and have looked like the

6:02 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The higher seeded team reaching the World Series will have last at-bats in Games 1 and 2 and if needed Games 6 and 7, not necessarily the team with the best record. The specification was contained in the July 23 agreement between Major League Baseball and the

9:14 PM ET ESPN News Services SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres are returning to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years after beating the Seattle Mariners 7-4 Sunday with a three-run rally in the 11th inning that included a go-ahead double by newcomer Mitch Moreland. The clincher came in the finale

11:55 PM ET CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber was pulled from Sunday’s game after he played a double into a triple off the bat of Minnesota Twins center fielder Jake Cave. “I think the guy shouldn’t have gotten to third base there,” a repentant Schwarber said after the Twins’ 4-0 win. “It

9:30 PM ET ESPN News Services Two days after his ejection at home plate, Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson lashed out at Major League Baseball’s umpires, saying there’s “no accountability” with the group and that the umps “don’t care.” “[If] the umpire consistently isn’t doing [his] job correctly, that’s affecting our careers, that’s affecting

7:00 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN With the 2020 MLB season hitting the home stretch (already!), ESPN has a Sunday doubleheader with four teams hoping to make some noise in October. The Giants and A’s get things going at 4 p.m. ET, followed by Twins-Cubs at 7 p.m. ET. To get you ready for the twin

5:15 PM ET Associated Press DETROIT — Ron Gardenhire mostly maintained his jovial demeanor this season. As recently as Friday night, he was needling a reporter while discussing a strategic decision from the late innings. Less than 24 hours later, Gardenhire announced his retirement. This year was taking more of a toll on the 62-year-old

4:55 PM ET It’s a miracle the ligaments in Justin Verlander‘s right elbow lasted this long. He has thrown 48,822 pitches in the Major League Baseball regular season, another 3,109 high-intensity pitches in the postseason, numerous more deliveries in spring training and bullpen sessions and then all the ones in high school, college and his

1:26 AM ET ESPN News Services OAKLAND, Calif. — An AL West title will mean so much more than simply clinching a playoff berth given how the past two seasons have gone for the Oakland Athletics. Then, the A’s might let loose and celebrate a little. But not just yet. They secured a third straight

11:14 PM ET ESPN News Services ANAHEIM, Calif. — Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols passed Willie Mays for fifth place on the career home run list, hitting No. 661 on Friday night against Texas. The 40-year-old Pujols connected for a solo homer with one out in the fifth inning. He sent Wes Benjamin‘s fastball

10:05 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — The Yankees hit five home runs in an inning for the first time in their history. Brett Gardner, DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit homered on consecutive pitches in the fourth inning from Toronto’s Chase Anderson on Thursday night. Voit’s home run was his major league-leading 20th.

6:37 PM ET Associated Press CHICAGO — The White Sox clinched their first postseason berth since 2008, rallying to beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 Thursday as Eloy Jimenez hit a tiebreaking double that capped a two-run rally in the seventh inning. Chicago (33-17) opened a three-game lead over the second-place Twins (31-21) in the American

4:00 PM ET ESPN.com Staff Major League Baseball has announced the schedule for the unique 16-team 2020 MLB playoffs, which are set to open with the wild-card round beginning Tuesday, Sept. 29, and continuing through the first neutral-site World Series in MLB history scheduled from Tuesday, Oct. 20 through Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Globe Life

3:12 PM ET The Padres‘ three-game series against the Mariners, originally scheduled to begin Friday in Seattle, has been moved to San Diego’s Petco Park due to air-quality issues in Washington. The Mariners will be the home team for all three games. The West Coast wildfires have caused air-quality woes in the Seattle area this

7:00 AM ET Fun fact: Once the 16 playoff teams are determined, there will be 64 potential World Series matchups. Right now, there are even more series in play, given the tight nature of the National League playoff race standings. Of course, all matchups are not created equal from an interest standpoint. Thus, here is

8:06 PM ET ESPN News Services SAN DIEGO — The Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to clinch a playoff spot in the pandemic-shortened season, beating the San Diego Padres 7-5 Wednesday behind Dustin May‘s gutty effort out of the bullpen and home runs from AJ Pollock and Chris Taylor. The Dodgers are heading

4:22 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The New York Yankees activated All-Star right fielder Aaron Judge on Wednesday before a game against Toronto and have all their regulars healthy and active for the first time since Aug. 8. Judge has been out since Aug. 26 after re-aggravating a strained right calf and landing