8:17 PM ET CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs will send October warrior Jon Lester to the mound for their do-or-die wild-card game on Tuesday night after squandering a chance to win their third straight division title, losing to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central tiebreaker, 3-1, on Monday. They will face the Rockies on
MLB
8:01 AM ET This year’s rankings might have the illusion of consistency, because the Astros were No. 1 on Opening Day, and 26 weeks later, they’re No. 1. But in between, all three of our top teams took turns at the top spot. Before the Astros came back to win the last three weeks in
7:00 AM ET After Alex Bregman hit his 30th home run of the season in Boston in early September, he met with the media after the game, attired in a hoodie and backward Bleacher Report hat, and a reporter asked if he had ever envisioned hitting 30 home runs in the major leagues. His response:
5:39 PM ET By a wide margin, Americans would prefer a multigame series in baseball’s wild-card postseason round to the single-elimination game, the Seton Hall Sports Poll found. The multigame series was favored by 47 percent of those polled. Only 26 percent wanted to keep the one-and-done, with 27 percent saying they didn’t know. The
5:21 PM ET ESPN News Services The Arizona Diamondbacks mutually agreed to part ways with hitting coach Dave Magadan on Monday, ending his three-year stint in the desert. Arizona was one of baseball’s worst-hitting teams at .235 this season and has dropped its average each of the past three seasons. The rest of manager Torey
5:13 PM ET Los Angeles Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani underwent Tommy John surgery Monday, the team said. Angels general manager Billy Eppler said that Dr. Neal ElAttrache “is pleased with what he saw and feels confident in the recovery process.” After 19 seasons, manager Mike Scioscia says he won’t be back with the Angels
10:19 AM ET The Milwaukee Brewers have officially named Jhoulys Chacin as their starting pitcher for Monday afternoon’s NL Central tiebreaker game against the Chicago Cubs. Brewers manager Craig Counsell previously had not announced his pitching plan after Milwaukee’s victory Sunday over the Detroit Tigers. Chacin is 15-8 with a 3.56 ERA in 34 starts
11:44 PM ET With a double dose of tiebreaking action on tap on ESPN on Monday, the postseason picture hasn’t come entirely into focus just yet. But as we head into the high-stakes of Game No. 163 for four teams and the full playoff picture beyond, we asked our ESPN analysts what they expect to
11:14 PM ET First off, thank the baseball gods. Second, call in sick, skip class, take an extra long lunch break. Just find an excuse to get away from your regular Monday obligations. We have two tiebreaker games for the first time in MLB history. These will be the 11th and 12th one-game tiebreakers, and
CHICAGO — Thanks to an 11-8 head-to-head record against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago Cubs will get to host Game No. 20 between the teams Monday afternoon to decide the National League Central division winner. “It’s to our advantage and to their advantage,” Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said Sunday afternoon. “Whatever they’re going to