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We’re down to eight teams in the 2022 postseason after four were eliminated this past weekend in MLB’s first-ever wild-card series weekend. Now it’s on to the league division series: four series, best-of-five, first team to win three advances.

The Philadelphia Phillies will battle the defending champion Atlanta Braves in the first game of the division series round, followed by two AL West rivals, the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners, facing off. The New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians will duke it out in the second ALDS, and, finally, an intradivision showdown between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the second NLDS caps off a jam-packed Tuesday.

How will the four survivors fare against the top squads?

Follow the action below all day long with start times, pitching matchups and starting lineups as they’re announced, followed by in-game updates and takeaways after each game is concluded.

More: Everything you need to know about the 2022 MLB playoffs | Previewing LDS matchups | Could this be the greatest postseason … ever? | Bracket, results and more


Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves (1:07 ET on FOX)

Series tied 0-0

Phillies starter: Ranger Suarez (10-7, 129 K, 3.65 ERA)

Braves starter: Max Fried (14-7, 170 K, 2.48 ERA)

Starting lineups:

PHILLIES

TBD

BRAVES

TBD

How they match up against each other: This is a division rival matchup between original 16 teams — both franchises date back to the 19th century — but the Phillies and Braves have met just once in the postseason: In the 1993 NLCS, when the Phillies upset the Braves in six games. The Braves are trying to become the first team to secure back-to-back World Series titles since the 2000 Yankees won three in a row and they’re riding the wave of stealing the NL East from the Mets in the final week, going 78-34 since June 1 — the best record in the majors over that span.

The Braves won the season series 11-8 and while the Phillies ended up outscoring the Braves 88-85, the Braves took three of the four one-run games. Austin Riley hit .351 against the Phillies, but with just one home run in 19 games; Matt Olson hit five home runs against the Phillies, but hit just .191. The Phillies will be at a disadvantage since they’ll go with No. 3 starter Suarez in the opener after playing in the wild-card series, but Suarez had a solid 3.21 ERA in five starts against the Braves. Keep an eye on Zach Eflin: The Phillies used the former starter to finish off both wins against the St. Louis Cardinals, including his second career save in Game 2. — David Schoenfield


Seattle Mariners at Houston Astros (3:37 ET on TBS)

Series tied 0-0

Mariners starter: TBD

Astros starter: Justin Verlander (18-4, 185 K, 1.75 ERA)

Starting lineups:

MARINERS

TBD

ASTROS

TBD

How they match up against each other: After their dramatic wild-card series win over the Toronto Blue Jays, the Mariners are now assured their first home playoff game since 2001. The question: Can they avoid a sweep and play a second home game? Their biggest obstacle will be figuring out Houston’s Game 1 starter, Justin Verlander — who would also line up to pitch a second game in the series. Not only did he allow no hits in three of his final six starts of the season, Verlander dominated the Mariners in 2022, going 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA.

The Astros won the season series 12-7 with a small plus-8 run differential, so the teams were pretty even in the non-Verlander games, but, to advance, it feels like the Mariners will need to beat Verlander at least once. While moving on would be huge for Seattle, it’s World Series or bust for Houston. With 106 wins — their fourth 100-win season since 2017 — the Astros have a chance to put a “dynasty” stamp on this era with a second World Series title in six years. — Schoenfield


Cleveland Guardians at New York Yankees (7:37 ET on TBS)

Series tied 0-0

Guardians starter: Cal Quantrill (15-5, 128 K, 3.38 ERA)

Yankees starter: Gerrit Cole (13-8, 257 K, 3.50 ERA)

Starting lineups:

GUARDIANS

TBD

YANKEES

TBD

How they match up against each other: This is a very different Yankees team than the one the Guardians faced during the season. New York is more hobbled with injuries, especially in the bullpen, and the New York offense has struggled with consistency in the second half. Cleveland has great potential to upset New York in this series given the Yankees’ inconsistencies on both sides of the ball. In order to move onto the ALCS, the Yankees will need strong performances from the rotation to take pressure off an inconsistent and injured bullpen.

On the flip side, this is not the same Guardians team that New York squared off against early in the season. This is a group that has been really strong in the second half and has seen emerging stars up and down the roster, from Steven Kwan to Andres Gimenez to Triston McKenzie. — Joon Lee


San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers (9:37 ET on FS1)

Series tied 0-0

Padres starter: Mike Clevinger (7-7, 91 K, 4.33 ERA)

Dodgers starter: TBD

Starting lineups:

PADRES

TBD

DODGERS

TBD

How they match up against each other: Padres owner Peter Seidler, appearing on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball in August, referred to the Dodgers as “the dragon up the freeway that we’re trying to slay.” That dragon has often seemed insurmountable. The Padres have spent these last four years doing everything they can — stripping the farm system bare, pushing the payroll to unforeseen levels — in an effort to take down the team that resides 125 miles to the north. But the Dodgers have dominated the Padres in every facet, winning their last nine games against them last year and scoring nearly twice as many runs as them in this year’s season series.

The Padres played the Dodgers tough in the 2020 NLDS, but they had Fernando Tatis Jr. then. They don’t now. What they have is Juan Soto. In order to have a chance this week, Soto and Manny Machado need to do the heavy lifting for the offense, Josh Hader needs to dominate in the back end of the bullpen and the starting pitchers — the Padres’ one true advantage, if they have one — need to do what they did in Queens. But you have to wonder about the Padres’ confidence going into a series like this. They are very much the little brother in this dynamic, and they keep getting bullied. — Alden Gonzalez

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New team, new timeline? What to expect out of Ritchie, Minten, other traded NHL prospects

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New team, new timeline? What to expect out of Ritchie, Minten, other traded NHL prospects

The 2025 NHL trade deadline featured some major players on the move and vaulted both the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars to the top of the Stanley Cup contender conversation.

Close behind them are the Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes and Winnipeg Jets. Many of those teams moved high-end prospects to bolster their lineup, meaning some less-competitive teams got key pieces for their future.

How will those prospects impact their new teams? When will they play meaningful minutes at the NHL level? Teams and their fans are asking all those questions. Here are scouting notes on eight of the most prominent, including Calum Ritchie, Fraser Minten and Brendan Brisson.

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Fights, penalties fill wild 3rd in Sabres-Wings

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Fights, penalties fill wild 3rd in Sabres-Wings

DETROIT — Buffalo‘s Alex Tuch and Detroit captain Michael Rasmussen were the first to drop the gloves in the fight-filled third period of the Red Wings’ 7-3 victory Wednesday night.

They weren’t even among the 11 players assessed 10-minute misconduct penalties in the final frame. Six were from Buffalo, the other five from Detroit.

The final tally from the third: 136 of the game’s 150 penalty minutes, all but two of those either roughing, fighting or misconducts.

The scuffles, including a near-brawl with multiple simultaneous fights, overshadowed the fourth five-point night of Patrick Kane‘s 18-year career in the highest-scoring game of the season for the Red Wings, who stopped a six-game losing streak. Kane had two goals and three assists.

The Detroit lead was 6-3 when Tuch and Rasmussen faced off with eight minutes remaining. They posed with their fists raised for almost as long as the fight lasted, which was only a few seconds.

Less than a minute later, Detroit’s J.T. Compher and Jordan Greenway of Buffalo got tangled up. After the whistle, their scrum was very brief — but bad enough that both went to locker room with game misconducts. Greenway gave officials an ear full on his way off the ice.

The other nine misconducts came at the 16:51 mark, punctuated by one of the referees announcing a roughing penalty for Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson before saying, “All the other guys are going to have a misconduct.” The list included Edvinsson.

Buffalo had just five players on the bench by game’s end after Beck Malenstyn was sent off for roughing in the final minute along with Detroit’s Moritz Seider.

“There was a lot of emotion out there,” the Sabres’ Tage Thompson told reporters. “And we had a lot of frustration with how things had gone during the game.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Rantanen happy in Dallas, denies ex-coach’s claim

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Rantanen happy in Dallas, denies ex-coach's claim

FRISCO, Texas — Newly acquired Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen says he’s pleased with where he landed while denying his former coach’s claim that he gave Carolina a list of teams he preferred in a trade, and the Hurricanes weren’t on it.

Rantanen addressed reporters after his first practice with the Stars on Wednesday. He played two games in Canada on a four-game road trip interrupted at the halfway point by a four-day break.

The star forward had a goal and an assist in a 5-4 loss to Edmonton on Saturday, then scored again on an empty-netter in a 4-1 victory in Vancouver the next night.

The Stars play at Central Division-leading Winnipeg on Friday before a Sunday visit to Colorado. Rantanen was abruptly traded by the Avalanche to Carolina on Jan. 24, then moved again with the Hurricanes worried they would lose the 28-year-old in free agency without getting anything in return.

Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour told a radio station in Raleigh, North Carolina, this week that Rantanen told the front office he was only willing to sign his next contract with four teams, and Carolina was not on that list.

“I saw some things were said that I had a list of teams ready when I went (to Carolina), but that’s false,” Rantanen said. “Obviously, it was a big shock to leave Colorado, but I went (to Carolina) with an open mind and tried my best on the ice.”

The Dallas deal came together the morning of the trade deadline Friday, after Stars general manager Jim Nill went to bed the night before believing the sides wouldn’t be able to agree on a contract extension to complete the deal.

Rantanen signed an eight-year, $96 million contract with Dallas as part of the trade. The Hurricanes acquired promising young forward Logan Stankoven along with two first-round picks and two third-rounders.

“When I put the jersey on there, I tried my best and just decided just a little bit before the deadline that Carolina would probably get a better return for me if I would do a sign and trade,” Rantanen said. “That it would be better for their team rather than me being a rental and going somewhere to play. So that was the decision. I want to make it clear that I was open-minded in Carolina and really thought about staying there.”

Rantanen will have to wait to see how fans react to his return to Colorado. The 10th overall pick of the 2015 draft spent his first nine-plus seasons with the Avalanche, getting 681 points (287 goals, 394 assists) in 619 regular-season games. He has 101 points (34 goals, 67 assists) in 81 playoff games.

“Colorado was always where I wanted to stay, but I understand it’s business and they made a decision,” Rantanen said. “I tried my best in Carolina and I’m here now and I’m so happy to be here, locked in for eight years with a good team and with good coaches. I’m thankful for Dallas to have the trust in me.”

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