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After the other three MLB wild-card series ended in sweeps, all eyes are on Milwaukee, where the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers will meet in a Game 3 showdown on Thursday night. The winner gets a National League Division Series date with the Philadelphia Phillies — and the loser goes home.

Which side has the edge? We’ve got you covered with predictions, keys, lineups, live updates and analysis as the games are played, followed by our takeaways after the final pitch.

Key links: MLB playoff preview | Bracket | Picks | Watch on ESPN

New York Mets at Milwaukee Brewers, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

Pitching matchup: Jose Quintana (10-10, 3.75 ERA) vs. Tobias Myers (9-6, 3.00 ERA)

What is the key to Game 3 for the Mets?

David Schoenfield: A key will be how manager Carlos Mendoza strategizes the late innings. He didn’t bring in closer Edwin Diaz for a six-out save in Game 2 like he did Monday against the Braves, but Diaz now has two days off after throwing 40 pitches in that game and 26 the day before. Phil Maton blew the lead in Game 2; he’s pitched four times in five days and hasn’t looked good his past two outings (especially after serving up the two home runs Wednesday). The trust factor may be low with him, which will force Mendoza to consider his other relievers or even starter David Peterson (who last pitched on Sunday).

Bradford Doolittle: The Mets need to find some long-ball power. They’ve done a tremendous job of stringing together rallies and hitting with runners in scoring position. But they haven’t gone deep and it’s hard to imagine them winning again without homering in one of baseball’s most homer-friendly venues.

Jesse Rogers: Which version of Quintana shows up? Is it the one who produced a 5.63 ERA in August or the one who finished the season strong, compiling a 0.72 mark in September? You can be assured that if he’s starting an elimination game, the Mets believe the most recent version is the real Quintana. Watch his curveball. If it’s on, the Mets may advance.

What is the key to Game 3 for the Brewers?

Schoenfield: The Brewers need to try to turn this into a bullpen game — which means trying to work up Quintana’s pitch count if possible. Quintana has a below-average walk rate and a below-average strikeout rate, so he’s a guy you can have a patient approach with at the plate and not worry about him blowing you away with pure stuff. The Mets’ pen is running a little bit on fumes given the push just to get in, so that can work to Milwaukee’s advantage the earlier you knock out Quintana. For the Brewers, it will be the same pitching strategy as Wednesday: Don’t expect starter Tobias Myers to go very deep and trust the bullpen that has been so good all season. And use Devin Williams for more than three outs if needed.

Doolittle: The Brewers need to play a clean game. They’ve been one of baseball’s elite defensive teams all season, but the Mets leveraged a key lapse into a five-run inning in Game 1 and scored what might have been a decisive run on an error in Game 2. If the Brewers can keep it clean and get into the middle innings, they can roll out their A-bullpen and let their athletes go to work on the basepaths. They just need to avoid rally-starting mistakes.

Rogers: Bullpen, bullpen, bullpen. Since the fifth-inning implosion in Game 1 — aided by some shoddy defense — the Brewers’ pen has pitched a complete-game shutout. It went 4⅓ scoreless innings to end Tuesday’s game then 5⅓ shutout innings Wednesday. It’s clear that manager Pat Murphy isn’t going extend his starters past three or four innings as evidenced by his early hooks of Freddy Peralta and Frankie Montas so the pen is going to be huge one way or another in Game 3.

Who will move on to the NLDS?

Schoenfield: The Mets have overcome adversity all season — the slow start, the injury to Kodai Senga, almost blowing that game to the Braves on Monday before the dramatic Francisco Lindor home run. I’m a little worried about their late-game bullpen situation, but I still believe in this offense. The Mets win 4-3 and move on to face the Phillies in a big NL East showdown.

Doolittle: This is the Brewers’ time. Milwaukee has too many bullpen weapons and more ways to win on offense. We started to see those differences surface Wednesday. If the Mets don’t get off to a quick start in Game 3, I think the Brewers will win … and Milwaukee’s starter, Myers, has been outstanding.

Live updates

Tune in at game time for live updates and analysis of Game 3.

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

The San Francisco Giants are acquiring All-Star slugger Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday evening.

The Giants are sending starter Jordan Hicks and 23-year-old lefty Kyle Harrison, among others, to Boston in exchange, sources said.

Devers, 28, is in just the second season of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract he signed to stay in Boston in January 2023, however his relationship with the team suffered a significant blow after the star third baseman was reportedly blindsided by a move to designated hitter in the spring.

Tensions flared again last month after Devers refused an offer from the team to move him to first base after starting first baseman Triston Casas was ruled out for the season with a knee injury.

It reached a point where Red Sox owner John Henry met with the disgruntled star, making a rare trip to meet the team on the road and smooth things over after Devers’ pointed comments about the request to switch positions again.

Hicks and Harrison give a pitching-starved Red Sox team more depth on their staff while Devers provides a huge boost to a middling Giants offense.

Devers has more than 200 career home runs to his name and has a .894 OPS for Boston this season.

The deal was first reported by Fansided.

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Ohtani’s pitching return might be coming soon

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Ohtani's pitching return might be coming soon

Shohei Ohtani‘s pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers might be quickly approaching.

Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday that Ohtani would throw another simulated game in the coming days that could “potentially” be his last one, and a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney that Ohtani should join the Dodgers’ rotation “sooner rather than later,” potentially within the week.

Ohtani took a big step forward during his most recent simulated game at Petco Park on Tuesday, throwing 44 pitches over the course of three innings against a couple of lower-level minor league players. Ohtani’s fastball reached the mid- to upper-90s, and he exhibited good command of his off-speed pitches in what amounted to his third time facing hitters. Afterward, Roberts said there was a “north of zero” chance Ohtani could join the rotation before the All-Star break.

Because of his two-way designation, the Dodgers can carry Ohtani as an extra pitcher, which means he can throw two to three innings and have someone pitch after him as a piggyback starter. At this point, it seems that is the Dodgers’ plan.

The Dodgers’ pitching staff has again been plagued by injury, with 14 pitchers on the injured list, including four starting pitchers the team was heavily counting on for 2025 — Blake Snell, Tony Gonsolin, Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow.

If Ohtani returns in July — the likely outcome at this point — he will be 22 months removed from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament.

The update isn’t as optimistic for Sasaki. He paused his throwing program and is set for a lengthy layoff. Sasaki has not pitched in a game since May 9 and is not part of the team’s long-term pitching plans this season.

“I think that’s what the mindset should be,” Roberts said. “Being thrust into this environment certainly was a big undertaking for him, and now you layer in the health part and the fact he’s a starting pitcher, knowing what the build-up [required to return] entails … I think that’s the prudent way to go about it.”

Sasaki, 23, went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts after joining the Dodgers from the Pacific League’s Chuba Lotte Marines, averaging less than 4⅓ innings per start. He walked 22 and struck out 24 in 34⅓ innings, and his fastball averaged 95.7 mph, down 3-4 mph from his average in Japan.

Roberts said Sasaki was pain free when he resumed throwing in early June, but the pitcher was shut down after feeling discomfort this past week. Sasaki recently received a cortisone injection in the shoulder; Roberts said no further scans are planned.

“I don’t think it’s pain,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it’s discomfort, if it’s tightness, if he’s just not feeling strong, whatever the adjective you want to use. That’s more of a question for Roki, as far as the sensation he’s feeling.

“He’s just not feeling like he can ramp it up, and we’re not going to push him to do something he doesn’t feel good about right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

BOSTON — Aaron Judge blamed himself for swinging at pitches outside the strike zone as the New York Yankees were swept in a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.

“You got to swing at strikes,” Judge said after going 1-for-12 in the series, which Boston completed with a 2-0 victory on Sunday.

Judge struck out three or more times in three straight games for only the third time in his major league career.

“That usually helps any hitter when you swing at strikes,” Judge added. “Definitely some pitches off the edge or off the edge in, you know, taking some hacks just trying to make something happen.”

Judge had a tying solo homer in the opener Friday night but struck out nine times as the Yankees were swept in a series for the first time this season.

New York scored only four runs in the three games, matching its fewest in a three-game series at Fenway Park, on June 20-22, 1916 and on Sept. 28-30, 1922.

“It’s very hard,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of facing Judge. “He’s so good at what he does. We used our fastballs in the right spots, we got some swing and misses.”

“Throughout the years we’ve been aggressive with him,” Cora added. “Sometimes he gets us, sometimes we do a good job with that. It’s always fun to compete against the best, and, to me, he’s the best in the business right now.”

Judge’s major league-leading average dipped to .378.

“I don’t think much of it,” teammate Ben Rice said. “If I could have that guy hitting every single at-bat even if he’s not at his best, I would do it. I’m sure he’ll bounce back. He’ll be all right.”

Judge faced Garrett Whitlock with two on in the eighth Sunday and bounced into an inning-ending double play.

“He’s one of the greatest hitters in the world,” Whitlock said. “It’s special to watch him play and everything. We tried to execute and had some execution this weekend.”

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