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The first day of playoff action was dominated by aces — until it wasn’t. Plus: More manager news, as Ron Washington is out in Anaheim, and Ken spoke with David Ross about his desire to return to the bench. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
AL Wild Card: Tigers, Red Sox take 1-0 leads
There was a definite theme in the AL wild-card games yesterday: Aces get paid for a reason.
Tigers 2, Guardians 1: The Tigers out-Guards-ball’d the Guardians. Zack McKinstry scored Riley Greene on a sacrifice bunt to take the lead, and Detroit took a big step toward overcoming its historic regular-season collapse.
Tarik Skubal was brilliant for the Tigers, bouncing back from his recent disaster in Cleveland, going 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball and striking out a career-high 14 hitters. (The postseason record, by the way, is 17 by Bob Gibson in 1968.)
Gavin Williams only allowed two runs in six innings for Cleveland, but he wasn’t the problem. The September Cinderellas looked flat at the plate and in the field, and now Detroit can advance with a win this afternoon. It’ll be Casey Mize vs. Tanner Bibee at 1:08 p.m. ET on ESPN (stream the playoffs on Fubo — try it for free).
Red Sox 3, Yankees 1: Max Fried vs. Garrett Crochet was absolutely as good as advertised. Fried went 6 1/3 scoreless, while Crochet allowed just one run in 7 2/3 innings, walking nobody. His final pitch was 100 mph for his 11th strikeout.
But in the seventh inning, with the Yankees leading 1-0 and Fried at 102 pitches, Aaron Boone called on Luke Weaver, who immediately walked Ceddanne Rafaela. Nick Sogard — he of just 96 regular-season at-bats this year — hit a hustle double, testing Aaron Judge’s arm and winning.
Masataka Yoshida dealt the fatal blow, singling both home.
The Yankees threatened in the ninth, loading the bases with three consecutive singles against Boston closer Aroldis Chapman. But the southpaw slammed the door with two strikeouts, bookended around a shallow fly ball to right field by Jazz Chisholm Jr. (who was not happy about not starting the game).
Boston was the lone road team to win yesterday, and it could advance with another win tonight. It’ll be Carlos Rodón vs. Bryan Bello at 6:08 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Ken’s Notebook: David Ross wants another shot at managing
From my latest story:
David Ross fell asleep by 8 p.m. the night before Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer showed up at his door to fire him. Ross hardly ever goes to bed that early, but his Sunday had been full. He also had no reason to believe he was about to lose his job as Cubs manager.
When Ross awakened at his home in Tallahassee, Fla., he noticed a bunch of missed calls from Hoyer. He had scheduled a Zoom meeting with his coaches for that day, Nov. 6, 2023. He was also in the process of hiring a catching coordinator.
“I was busy working,” Ross said. “I was in the middle of it.”
He called back Hoyer, who asked him, “Are you home?”
Ross said he replied yes.
“Well, I’m at your front door,” Hoyer said.
“I was like, ‘I’m fired,’” Ross recalled.
The Cubs’ dismissal of Ross, coinciding with their signing of Craig Counsell to a record five-year, $40 million contract, was a shocking, humiliating turn for the club’s former backup catcher, who was carried off the field by his teammates after the Cubs won the 2016 World Series.
But two years later, Ross wants to hop right back on the managerial merry-go-round.
“Badly,” he said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “It’s an itch that hasn’t gone away.”
Ross, 48, said he was not called to interview for one of the managerial openings last offseason, when the Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox made changes. This offseason, four jobs (Texas, Minnesota, San Francisco, Los Angeles Angels) are already open. Three more (Baltimore, Washington, Colorado) could become available if those teams decline to retain their interims. At least two others (Atlanta, Houston) also might be in play.
More former managers: Bryan Price, who managed the Reds from 2014-2018, wrote an article about his time at the helm of a big-league club.
NL Wild Card: Cubs, Dodgers win Game 1s
While all four AL starters performed like aces, the NL had just one truly dominant start.
Cubs 3, Padres 1: Matthew Boyd was good enough, allowing just one run over 4 1/3 innings, but the Cubs bullpen — led by Daniel Palencia — combined to go 4 2/3 no-hit innings. Back-to-back home runs by Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly flipped a 1-0 Padres lead to 2-1 Cubs in the fifth inning.
Up to that point, Nick Pivetta had looked great for San Diego, allowing just one base runner through the first four innings. He struck out nine (and walked none), but the Cubs got their first playoff win since 2017, and now the Padres are facing elimination this afternoon.
Chicago will use opener Andrew Kittredge (who pitched an inning yesterday) in Game 2 against Dylan Cease, starting at 3:08 p.m. ET on ABC.
Dodgers 10, Reds 5: After three pitching-dominant games, Hunter Greene vs. Blake Snell seemed destined to stay on theme. But Greene allowed five runs, exiting after just three innings.
Snell, on the other hand, kept the Day of Aces rolling. Finally given a chance to work deep into a playoff game, he came up huge: seven innings, four hits, two runs, one walk and nine strikeouts. Meanwhile, the Dodgers hit five home runs, including two each from Teoscar Hernández and Shohei Ohtani.
For a minute, it appeared the Dodgers would need all of that to stave off another bullpen collapse. In the eighth inning, the Reds scored three runs, and the bases were loaded when Ke’Bryan Hayes popped out — on the 53rd Dodgers pitch of the half-inning.
The Dodgers can move on to face the Phillies with a win tonight. It’ll be Zack Littell vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, starting at 9:08 p.m. ET on ESPN.
🐔💩: Washington (and Montgomery) out in Anaheim
Yesterday, we told you about three teams that were moving on from their managers. We’re up to four now: Ron Washington is leaving the Angels.
The Angels were 36-38 this year before Washington missed more than three months, undergoing quadruple bypass surgery. While he was out, Ray Montgomery took over and went 36-52 over the rest of the season.
Neither will return as manager. The 73-year-old made it clear in his interview with Sam Blum that it was not a decision based on his health, but on the team’s performance.
That story also features the most Ron Washington quote ever:
“You know, when you’re a competitor, and you’re in charge, none of that (roster construction) stuff comes into play. Sometimes you’ve got to make chicken salad out of chicken s—.”
Things are just not great in Anaheim right now. They’re embroiled in an embarrassing civil suit over the death of Tyler Skaggs, Mike Trout is in decline, Anthony Rendon still has a year (and over $38 million) left on his contract and they haven’t won a playoff game since 2009.
And look, it’s not the most egregious thing the Angels organization has done over the last *choose your own timeframe,* but did they really need to make it appear on social media that Wash died?!
Even more managers (and executives):
Handshakes and High Fives
Jayson Stark watched 11 hours and eight minutes of wild-card baseball yesterday to deliver you his favorite weird and wild moments.
He’s 52. He’s a Hall of Famer. And Ichiro Suzuki still maintains his workout routine. Why? Partially so his participation in a national girls’ baseball showcase in Japan can be an on-field role, rather than just coaching.
Rough year for Ken Griffey Jr. After Cal Raleigh broke Junior’s Mariners single-season home run record, Shohei Ohtani is coming for another mark: the player with the most PSA-graded cards in the world.
Will Sammon says the Mets will have to rethink their approach to pitching if they want to avoid a repeat performance of this year’s monumental collapse.
Pop quiz answer: You probably Googled it, but the NL leader in stolen bases this year — well, it was a tie. Oneil Cruz stealing 38 bases is not really quiz-worthy. Tied with him atop the leaderboard? Juan Soto! Juan Soto (co-)led the NL in stolen bases! What a world.
On the pods: On “Rates & Barrels,” the crew has the rest of their predictions for the postseason.
Most-clicked yesterday: Our Wild Card Series predictions.
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(Photo: David Dermer / Imagn Images)