7:00 AM ET IN AN ANONYMOUS office complex amid the Meadowland sprawl of northern New Jersey, Rick Probstein tears through a standing vault in search of his most prized treasure. With wire-rim glasses and incandescent red hair, Probstein oversees his dimly lit five-room unit like Richard Branson on “MTV Cribs.” He’s earned it. EBay’s preeminent
MLB
2:49 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” You’re looking at the wrong thing. It’s understandable. A bat goes flying in the air, end over end, propelled into the night in a fit of passion, and it inevitably draws every
12:36 AM ET ESPN News Services SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. and Wil Myers each hit two home runs and Manny Machado also connected for the San Diego Padres, who rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11-9 Thursday night to force a deciding Game 3 in their National League Wild Card Series. San
7:00 PM ET MLB InsidersESPN For fans outside of Houston, this MLB playoffs matchup will be a clear case of 2020’s baseball villains — the Houston Astros — against an Oakland Athletics team with as much animosity toward them as anyone in baseball — yes, even the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. It’s
6:28 PM ET Associated Press HOUSTON — Astros ace Justin Verlander had Tommy John surgery on Wednesday. General manager James Click announced Thursday that Verlander had the procedure a day earlier and estimated his recovery time at about 12-14 months. That means the earliest Verlander could pitch would be in the 2022 season and it
11:57 AM ET ESPN News Services Miami Marlins center fielder Starling Marte will be available to pinch run or play defense in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series against the Chicago Cubs, manager Don Mattingly told SiriusXM Radio. Game 2 had been scheduled for Thursday, but it has been pushed to Friday
6:33 PM ET Associated Press The recent deaths of baseball greats Lou Brock, Tom Seaver and Al Kaline got Johnny Bench thinking about the future and the prospect of unloading memorabilia from his Hall of Fame career. He had seen Bob Gibson and Ozzie Smith sell their collectibles. Bench checked out items from Hall of
7:30 PM ET MLB InsidersESPN It’s win or go home time across the MLB playoffs Thursday on a day that could see as many as four teams sent packing — or set the stage for a wild Friday of winner-take-all matchups. From the day’s opening Cincinnati Reds–Atlanta Braves matchup to the late-night Milwaukee Brewers–Los Angeles
7:52 PM ET ESPN News Services OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics ended 14 years of postseason futility, riding Chad Pinder‘s go-ahead, two-run single in the fifth inning and repeated costly walks by Chicago’s relievers to rally past the White Sox 6-4 on Thursday and win the decisive third game of their AL wild-card round
3:36 PM ET ESPN News Services ATLANTA — Ian Anderson dazzled in another shutout performance for Atlanta, and the Braves won a playoff series for the first time in almost two decades by sweeping the light-hitting Cincinnati Reds with a 5-0 victory Thursday. Ronald Acuna Jr. had three hits for the National League East champions,