#playoffs

#playoffs

We're in the midst of a quiet stretch for the Atlanta Braves, with not a ton of news coming out of the organization. Rumors have begun to swirl around the league, but the Braves are keeping things pretty still for the most part. We are in a bit of a lull, so for now it's your turn to make offseason predictions.

Most importantly: What if the deciding game in question NEVER FUCKING ENDED? Because on Friday night, fans of the Seattle Mariners-a team that has never gone to a World Series, much less won one-were run through this exact gauntlet. Fifteen innings against the Detroit Tigers. Five hours. Four hundred seventy-two total pitches thrown, each one more sphincter-clenching than the last.

Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Brady Singer, Nick Martinez, Zack Littell, and Chase Burns had a whole lot to do with it. Those seven arms combined to start 152 of Cincinnati's 162 games, pitching to a 3.69 ERA (84 ERA-) in 832 innings. Their collective 16.4 FanGraphs WAR and 8.64 Win Probability Added as starters helped the Reds finish with the second-best rotation fWAR and third-best WPA in the sport.

"I think it's great, I love being in a market where there's so much passion," he said. "I can't imagine wanting to be in a different place where you wouldn't want to win. I really appreciate the passion; it's ingrained in everybody's blood here. I see bumper stickers all the time. I see kids with jerseys at school and I absolutely love it. Wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

The opening match will be broadcast by ABC at 3 p.m. ET and will feature the two teams that met in the championship of the first season -- the Atlanta Drive GC and the New York GC ( Atlanta was the first champion). Earlier in the year, the league announced that the Motor City Golf Club, representing Detroit, will be its first expansion franchise in 2027.

A whole generation of Toronto Blue Jays fans grew up emulating Joe Carter's 1993 World Series heroics in backyards and neighborhood ball diamonds. Unfortunately, fans young and old who were lucky enough to watch the back-to-back championship teams of the early 90s on that moment of playoff glory for more than two decades. Then it was José Bautista and Edwin Encarnación who came along to give us more franchise-defining postseason moments. Now, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Blue Jays' current franchise icon, wants to give a new generation of Canadian baseball fans a new playoff moment to hang their hats on this October. If there's anyone who can do it, it's Guerrero.

Crochet - set to make his first playoff start of his MLB career a little over 24 hours later - instead opted to make a bold proclamation for his anticipated outing against the Yankees. "He was like, 'Tomorrow you're gonna make one call to the bullpen,'" Cora said of Crochet's message to him. "I said, 'Maybe two.' "He's like, 'No, no - one. It's gonna be straight to [closer Aroldis Chapman].' Like, okay, I'll take that."

It seems like it's not as bad as we thought in the beginning, but we're still gathering information,

My focus has been on the top four. Finishing in the top four will give us a better chance than last season in the playoffs. We've still got some work to do now to get there. We have to win games, we know that. We are playing against opposition now that probably don't have so much to play for, but there are new head coaches. They will be looking to show them what they are all about for the beginning of next season.

I've never brought a single dime to any race team, so really, all I can bring is myself. If you're not performing, and all you can bring is your helmet, it makes it really easy for them to go in another direction. It's why you have to perform and show your worth. Yeah, we've been fortunate enough to do that this year, but I've always felt my back is against the wall, and that's what's always driven me.

Thiago Martins captained the side and shifted from right to left center back. Justin Haak moved to center midfield to make room for the new Brazilian signing, Raul Gustavo, to make his home starting debut at right center back. In only two and a half minutes, Gustavo made an instant impact, picking Alonso Martinez with a lovely flighted through ball that put Martinez through on goal.