MLB

Collier’s performance is notable because he missed so much time this season after tearing the UCL in his left hand. The first-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Collier was a standout in 2024 before the injury. However, he was able to salvage a bit of a lost season by hitting .337/.425/.452 in his final 27 games of this season. A strong AFL showing should put his development right back on track.

Taillon draws the starting assignment with Chicago needing a victory on Wednesday evening at Wrigley Field to keep their season alive after dropping the first two games of the best-of-five series. The 33-year-old veteran right-hander was excellent down the home stretch of the regular season and tossed four scoreless innings last Thursday in a Wild Card Series start against the Padres. This will be one of the bigger starts of his career so far.

Priester gets the ball with a chance to propel Milwaukee into the NLCS where they would face either the Dodgers or Phillies. The 25-year-old right-hander, who didn’t end up pitching during the Brewers’ Game 2 win over Chicago, was outstanding in his Brewers debut during the regular season and will be making his first career playoff start on Wednesday evening at Wrigley Field.

The highest-profile name by a considerable margin in the fall circuit, McGonigle enters next season among the top handful of prospects in the fantasy landscape after posting a .991 OPS with 52 extra-base hits, including 19 home runs, and more walks than strikeouts this past season in 88 games across three minor-league levels. The 21-year-old middle infielder isn’t much of a base-stealing threat, but he’s emerged as the top pure hitting prospect in the game and should make a significant fantasy impact once he ascends to the majors.

The Brewers scored all of their runs on homers, with Andrew Vaughn hitting a three-run blast in the first and William Contreras following with a solo shot in the third. Chourio then gave the Brewers a 7-3 lead in the fourth, and that was it for the scoring tonight. The Brewers will go for a three-game sweep of the series Wednesday in Chicago. They still have both Quinn Priester and Jose Quintana available to start after using neither tonight. Jameson Taillon figures to get the ball for the Cubs.

The runs came on Seiya Suzuki’s homer in the first. Ashby was a surprise starter tonight, getting the nod over Jose Quintana and Quinn Priester and not simply serving as an opener in front of one of those two. With his curveball mostly missing in action, he got just one missed swing on 43 pitches before being replaced by Nick Mears.

The Brewers used eight pitchers tonight, with only Misiorowski, the third man in, completing two innings. Misiorowski averaged 101.5 mph with his 35 fastballs, topping out at 104.3 mph, and finished up with a nice 35% CSW. One imagines he’ll be a factor again in Game 5 if the series goes the distance.

If Matthew Boyd had made it out of the first on Saturday, maybe the Cubs would have pulled Imanaga after two tonight. Instead, they stuck with him and watched him give up his second homer of the game in the third. Dating back to Aug. 28, he’s given up 16 homers over 41 1/3 innings in eight starts.

Thompson added that Nola will be followed by lefty Ranger Suárez out of the bullpen. It’ll be an all-hands situation for the Phillies as they attempt to stave off elimination on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium after dropping the first two games of the best-of-five series.

With the victory, Los Angeles takes a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, which now shifts to Dodger Stadium for Game 3. Smith delivered the key blow in the Dodgers’ four-run seventh inning, lining a two-run single to left-center off Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering with two outs in the frame. The veteran backstop entered as a pinch-hitter in the sixth after Ben Rortvedt started behind the plate, as the Dodgers continue to monitor his workload following an extended absence due to a right hand fracture.