#mlb

#mlb

The Tigers and manager AJ Hinch quietly agreed to a long-term contract extension during the 2025 season, president of baseball operations Scott Harris announced today at his end-of-season press conference ( video link). Harris and Hinch did not specify the length of the contract, but Hinch ostensibly is now signed through at least 2027. Harris effused praise for Hinch, calling him one of the best managers in the sport and saying he hopes to continue working with him "as long as I can possibly work with him."

Pomeranz went 2-2 with a 2.17 ERA in 57 regular-season appearances, with 53 of them coming in relief. He has struck out five without allowing any hits or walks in five scoreless innings this postseason. He has pitched one inning in each of the last three games of this series. Pomeranz was the winning pitcher in Game 3 on Wednesday.

Note: Matchup odds come from Doolittle's formula using power ratings as the basis for 10,000 simulations to determine the most likely outcomes. Team temperatures are based on Bill James' formula for determining how "hot" or "cold" a team is at any given point; average is 72°. At last! Super-fans of 1977 expansion have been waiting for this LCS matchup since the early days of the Carter administration.

Mathematical probability, in a perfectly equitable distribution of championships, means each MLB team would win a World Series once every 30 years. That is not the world we live in, of course, so many franchises have experienced long title droughts that have stretched into multiple decades. There is even one that has never appeared in the Fall Classic.

"When seasons don't go the way you want them, it's never one person's fault. It's never one group's fault," said president of baseball operations Buster Posey on Monday. "But when they don't go the way you want, you can't, in my opinion, sit there and say, 'We're going to come back and do the same thing that we did this year for the next year. Having said that, that's part of why we landed where we landed."

NEW YORK -- The news spread like a flash of lightning on the night of Dec. 8. The New York Mets and free agent outfielder Juan Soto had reached an agreement on a jaw-dropping 15-year, $765 million contract that would be the largest in professional sports history once signed. That's larger than any deal global superstars such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or LeBron James have ever inked with any of their teams.

And now we start watching the Astros. The Cleveland Guardians, remarkably, have overtaken the Tigers for the AL Central lead. The Tigers are clinging on to the third Wild Card, one game below the Sox. And the Astros got shut down by secret agent Jeffrey Springs out in NorCal last night, dropping them out of the race for now. With the Sox owning the tiebreaker against the Stros, a combination of three Red Sox wins or Astros losses clinches a spot in the postseason.

It's been long awaited. It's been tested in Minor League Baseball at the Triple-A level. It was even used during the 2026 MLB All-Star Game here in Atlanta. Now, it'll be arriving across Major League Baseball starting next season. MLB has officially announced that the "Challenge System" is going to be used from here on out. Whether it's a spring training game, a regular season game or a Postseason game,

Wait ... what? That's right. The Astros, who have won seven consecutive full-season AL West division titles, are rightfully described as the underdog. How are they even in this position? They traded Kyle Tucker, lost Alex Bregman in free agency, have played most of the season without Yordan Alvarez, lost Jeremy Pena for over a month.

The 33-year old was taken No. 7 overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2011 MLB Draft. Most scouts presumed Bradley to become an elite starting pitcher out of his native Oklahoma. Instead, Bradley morphed into a very credible reliever over the course of what was a nine-year career. He featured mostly for Arizona - though his time in the big leagues also included stops with the Los Angeles Angels, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and the Miami Marlins.

Gray hit a tiebreaking solo drive off Tyler Alexander (5-14) in the seventh inning. It was Gray's third homer in 17 games since he was acquired in a July 26 trade with the White Sox for cash. Kevin Kelly (2-3) got one out for the win, and Pete Fairbanks handled the ninth for his 25th save in 30 opportunities. Tampa Bay returned to .500 with its 11th win in 16 games.

MIAMI - Josh Bell homered for the fourth time in three games, Mitchell Parker threw 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 7-5 on Tuesday night. Rookie Daylen Lile also went deep while CJ Abrams and James Wood doubled and singled each for the Nationals. Parker (8-15) retired 14 straight after allowing Joey Wiemer's solo homer in the second. The left-hander allowed four hits, struck out two and walked two.