LOS ANGELES — One minute he was burning through the top of the first inning with three flaming strikeouts.

Roar!

The next minute — literally — he was slugging through the bottom of the first by driving a ball 446 feet into the back of the right-field pavilion.

Roar! Roar!

Three innings later he was doing it again, striking out two ...Read more

SEATTLE — As Bryce Miller took a solitary stroll from the bullpen Friday, he did so with an anthem serenading his steps. It was 3:04 p.m., six minutes before the Mariners’ most massive game in recent memory. A sellout crowd at T-Mobile Park applauded his arrival. With a blond mustache and a gritty glare, the Texan looked like a lone outlaw, ...Read more

SEATTLE — Not since Boeing’s first plane took off from Lake Union 109 years ago has a flight had so many people in Seattle collectively holding their breath for so long.

The ball Cal Raleigh launched into the stratosphere at 5:48 p.m. Friday leading off the bottom of the eighth inning hung in the air for 6.7 seconds. It might as well have ...Read more

SEATTLE — Not since Boeing’s first plane took off from Lake Union 109 years ago has a flight had so many people in Seattle collectively holding their breath for so long.

The ball Cal Raleigh launched into the stratosphere at 5:48 p.m. Friday leading off the bottom of the eighth inning hung in the air for 6.7 seconds. It might as well have ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A smile started to form on the face of Dodgers closer Roki Sasaki as he described his disposition in the bullpen.

"Every time," Sasaki said, "I'm praying the starter will pitch a complete game."

The Japanese speakers in the Dodger Stadium interview room broke into laughter.

The overwhelming performance of the Dodgers in this ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani has done next to nothing in the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers could sweep their way into the World Series on Friday, with Ohtani as a footnote in the NLCS story, but baseball's best player has a flair for the dramatic.

Bring on the latest Babe Ruth comparison!

Baseball's contemporary two-way ...Read more

SEATTLE — The notion of clinching their first-ever berth in the World Series this week in front of their home fans ended Thursday evening. Any hasty plans for an overdone Champagne celebration at T-Mobile Park featuring Humpy the Salmon should have been incinerated after the drubbing they absorbed 24 hours earlier.

The now-questionable ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The smart money is on José Alvarado, Justin Crawford and Kyle Schwarber being part of the Phillies roster next season.

Max Kepler, Ranger Suárez and, yes, Nick Castellanos are a different story.

Dave Dombrowski didn’t offer many direct answers in his year-end news conference Thursday, but the Phillies president did provide...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Milwaukee Brewers have no chance.

Neither will the Seattle Mariners or Toronto Blue Jays.

The clear truth emerged from the Dodger Stadium shadows late Thursday amid a downtown-shaking roar of delight and disbelief.

This is ridiculous. This is simply ridiculous, how well the Dodgers are playing, how close the history books ...Read more

NEW YORK — With Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman hosting a postmortem press conference at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, the Yankees’ surgically repaired shortstop dominated the conversation.

Anthony Volpe, who underwent a left shoulder arthroscopic labral procedure on Tuesday after playing with a partially torn labrum for most of the 2025 season...Read more

NEW YORK — While the Yankees will be without Anthony Volpe on Opening Day after the shortstop had his left shoulder surgically repaired, a far more important member of the team’s lineup avoided the knife.

That would be Aaron Judge, who will not have his right elbow operated on this offseason after suffering a right flexor strain midway ...Read more

SEATTLE — As far as advice goes, this might be the most futile piece possible for Mariners fans to follow.

I'll give it a shot anyway.

Relax.

Fill those lungs to capacity and exhale. Lift those lips into a smile. Things are good right now — even if they don't feel like it.

Yes, your team just endured one of its most lopsided losses of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers aren't supposed to be making this look so easy.

From Day 1 in spring training, this was the season storyline: Can the Dodgers become the first major league team in 25 years to repeat as champions?

Easy to understand. Hard to do.

But a deeper look reveals a degree of difficulty beneath the storyline.

The New York ...Read more

SEATTLE — Game on, and on to Game 4.

The Toronto Blue Jays rocked George Kirby and the Mariners, 13-4, in Game 3 on Wednesday night, silencing a sold-out Seattle crowd and climbing back into this best-of-seven American League Championship Series in emphatic fashion.

Party-like vibes had taken over T-Mobile Park early Wednesday evening, after...Read more

LOS ANGELES — At 5:37 p.m. Wednesday, Michael Buble's "Feeling Good" blared from the Dodger Stadium speakers.

Shohei Ohtani came strolling to the plate with a bat in his hands.

There was no one in the stands, of course. Nor an opposing pitcher on the mound. The Dodgers, on this workout day after returning from Milwaukee, were still some 22 ...Read more

NEW YORK — After playing through a partially torn labrum for most of the 2025 season, Anthony Volpe underwent surgery on his left shoulder on Tuesday.

The procedure, reported by the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, was performed by Yankees team doctor Christopher Ahmad. The hope is that Volpe will be ready for the start of the 2026 season, ...Read more

CHICAGO — Four days after the Chicago Cubs’ season ended in the National League Division Series, team President Jed Hoyer reflected.

Hoyer, during his annual end-of-season news conference Wednesday at Wrigley Field, described how proud he felt of the team with its consistency, effort and connection to the fans while also acknowledging that ...Read more