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In the American League, the Cleveland Indians appear ready to rock their way to the World Series for the first time in nearly two decades. In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs seem prepared for a toss-up classic.

The Indians have raced out to a 2-0 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays, winning a pair of low-scoring nail-biters. Toronto’s high-powered offense has put up just one run over the first 18 innings; Cleveland had to be more than thrilled to see Josh Tomlin go 5.2 innings while giving up only a single run in Game 2.

Tomlin was not originally the scheduled starter but had his day moved up when Trevor Bauer suffered a non-baseball injury. Bauer cut his pinkie finger while working on a custom-built drone at his house Thursday. 

“Obviously you feel bad,” Bauer said, per Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal:

I want to go out and be able to make my start and help the team any way that I can. I was really looking forward to pitching on Saturday. Just one of those things, freak accident you can’t really control. And try to maintain a positive attitude the whole time. Literally I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to pitch at some point in the series. I got pretty lucky.

Bauer and the Indians say he should be fine to go in Game 3. The Blue Jays will hand the ball to Marcus Stroman, who gave up two runs in six innings of work in his Wild Card Game start against the Baltimore Orioles. He did not pitch in the ALDS.

The Jays pitching staff has done its job so far. Marco Estrada gave up just two runs over a complete-game loss in Game 1, while J.A. Happ only gave up a pair of runs over his five innings of work in Game 2. Having failed to produce a run in Game 2 despite racking up seven hits, the Toronto offense has to save the series.

Jays star Jose Bautista put some of the onus onto the umpires.

“All you gotta do is look at video and count how many times [Indians pitchers have] thrown pitches over the heart of the plate,” Bautista said, per Lewis. “It hasn’t been many. They’ve been able to do that because of the circumstances that I’m not trying to talk about because I can’t. That’s for you guys to do but you guys don’t really want to talk about that either.”

The Jays appear closer than ever to missing out on a World Series berth in the ALCS for the second straight year. Bautista‘s comments likely spell out an increasing frustration from the clubhouse more than an actual indictment of the umpires.

The NLCS is much harder to predict. Clayton Kershaw once again threw the Dodgers on his back in Game 2, going seven shutout innings to outduel Kyle Kendricks in a 1-0 win. Kershaw‘s heroics flips home-field advantage to Los Angeles, which will put Rich Hill on the bump for Game 3.

Acquired in a deadline deal with the Oakland Athletics, Hill’s time as a Dodger hasn‘t gone as expected. He was limited throughout the second half of the season due to recurring blisters on his pitching hand, and the Washington Nationals lit him up for four runs in 4.1 innings in his first NLDS start. He lasted all of 2.2 innings in his second before being pulled for a relief committee in Game 5.

The Cubs will use Jake Arrieta, who has become a near-automatic win over the last few years. Arrieta‘s 2016 was his worst full season as a Cub, and he posted a 3.69 ERA after the All-Star break. But he threw six solid innings in his lone NLDS start against the San Francisco Giants—though that turned out to be Chicago’s only loss of the series.

“We can’t win all of them,” Javy Baez said, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. “We know we’re the best. We’ve got the best team out there.”

The Cubs remain the favorites to not only win the NL but the whole thing. They’re the most complete team in baseball, equipped with a great pitching staff, an elite young lineup and arguably the best manager in the sport. If it weren’t for that nonexistent curse talk—curses do not exist, people—the idea of favoring any other team would be laughable.

And it still is. Baseball’s postseason tends to be wonky, so sometimes the best overall team doesn’t win. But these Cubs have been the class of MLB since the outset, and one loss against the best pitcher in the game doesn’t make them any less of a favorite. 

World Series prediction: Cubs over Indians in 6 games

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Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez confirmed Sunday that he refused to stay at Chicago’s Trump International Hotel and Tower with teammates during a May series against the Cubs.

“I didn’t stay there,” Gonzalez said, per JP Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. “I had my reasons.”

The Dodgers had long used the Donald Trump-owned hotel as their headquarters during Chicago road trips. They did not stay at the Trump Tower during their recent National League Championship Series trip to Chicago because the location required a non-refundable deposit.

Gonzalez refused to elucidate on the reasoning behind his decision.

“We’re here to play baseball, not talk politics,” he said.

Gonzalez was born in San Diego but raised in Mexico. He has played for the Mexican national team in the World Baseball Classic and has worked to build the game in his family’s native country. As Hoornstra noted, Gonzalez has donated to multiple Mexican charities and helped rebuild a Tijuana youth facility where he honed his game as a child.

Trump, the Republican nominee for president, has made a series of disparaging remarks about Mexicans during his campaign. He has consistently proposed the construction of a wall on the Mexican-American border aimed at keeping illegal immigrants out of the country. Trump has also accused Mexican immigrants of bringing drugs to the U.S. and of rape, among other crimes.

A recent NBC News poll showed Trump trails Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by 50 points among Latino voters.

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Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis left Friday’s ALCS matchup with the Cleveland Indians in the fifth inning with a knee injury. He has been ruled out for the rest of the postseason.

Continue for updates.

Travis Out for Remainder of Playoffs

Saturday, Oct. 15

Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reported Justin Smoak will take Travis’ spot on the ALCS roster.

Atkins Comments on Injury

Saturday, Oct. 15

“There’s enough information to suggest that the injury has changed and there is more of an injury than just the bone bruise,” general manager Ross Atkins told reporters.

Atkins said Travis suffered a separate knee injury that was in the same area but independent of his previous injury. 

Travis’ Injury Comes at Terrible Time for Blue Jays

Travis had missed Games 2 and 3 of Toronto’s ALDS win over the Texas Rangers with a bone bruise in his knee. 

Darwin Barney replaced Travis during the ALDS but went hitless in seven at-bats. Ryan Goins was added to the ALCS roster after not appearing in the ALDS because the Jays wanted an extra infielder in case of an injury.

With Travis out, Toronto will be without one of its most important offensive weapons. He hit .300/.332/.454 with 11 home runs and 50 runs batted in during the regular season, his first full MLB campaign.

With the Jays attempting to avoid falling short in the postseason, losing Travis is a crushing blow.

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The 2016 MLB playoffs get underway later Tuesday with the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles kicking off the first of two Wild Card games.

The AL East compatriots each clinched their spots without trouble, winning their regular-season finales Sunday to set up the head-to-head. Their series over the 162-game slog could not have been any closer. Toronto earned a 10-9 advantage and the right to host Tuesday night’s game.

“When you get to the point where there’s three or four or five, six teams in the race, it’s like every game is crucial,” Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin said, per Scott Mitchell of the Toronto Sun. “Everybody’s been in that playoff mindset for a while now, so we’ve just gotta keep moving forward.

“It felt like almost the last six or seven days we’ve been playing wild-card games all the way through, so, I think, that we’re ready for the next step. The next step’s a big game and we’re bringing it back to The 6 in front of our home fans. Hopefully, it’s going to be magical for us.”

The Jays appear to have the edge in most categories. They rank ninth in runs scored and sixth in on-base percentage, while Baltimore has perhaps the shakiest rotation of any playoff team. The Orioles have subsisted most of the season on their bullpen holding close games. Only the Rangers have a worse run differential among playoff teams.

Manager Buck Showalter noted he was proud of his team for making the playoffs despite being predicted by some to be the AL East’s worst team.

“Life is too short to have those emotions. Thank goodness people make predictions and think things like that,” Showalter said, per Jon Meoli and Carrie Wells of the Baltimore Sun. “We’ve used them very well. It’s kind of who we are, and the way we have to do it. There’s a real identity not only with our team, but with the city and everything.

“There’s just so much you can do with emotion. You have to have some skills and sometimes that gets overlooked with our guys. These are some talented guys, and they’re talented in their ability to be consistent.”

In a one-game format, though, all the Orioles need to do is crack an early lead and get it to the sixth inning. If they can do that, this unlikely bunch could continue its run despite being at a talent disadvantage and playing on the road.

The New York Mets and San Francisco Giants appear much closer to providing a nail-biting matchup. Both have built their playoff rosters around pitching. The Mets rank third in team ERA, the Giants are fourth. The Mets have 87 quality starts, the Giants 85. San Francisco is a better offensive team and has a 30-run advantage in differential, though, and came away with four straight wins to clinch a wild card spot.

“This is when our team plays best, when we have a sense of urgency, with our backs against the wall,’’ left fielder Angel Pagan said, per Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today. “We’re ready. We have good momentum going into the playoffs. I’ve got a good feeling, man.’’

“As a group, going through the ups and downs, it really is a trial,” reliever Sergio Romo said. “That grittiness, that willingness to fight, we just let it all hang. We wanted this bad. Now we get a chance to dance, and we like our chances.’’

The Mets have scraped together a playoff team despite losing third baseman David Wright and slapping together an everyday lineup that typically borders on abysmal. Their best midseason move on the field was a reunion with former star Jose Reyes, which drew critics following his MLB suspension. 

“With the talent we have, one thing, we never give up,” Reyes said, per Matt Ehalt of USA Today. “All the credit has to go to Terry to keep this team together. After all the injuries, what happened to us, we are still in this situation. This is unbelievable. We never doubted with the talent we had in this locker room.”

Odds are, this will come down to who can get one or two runs across the board first. The Mets will rely on ace Noah Syndergaard, who was 1-1 against the Giants during the regular season. He shut them out over eight innings in San Francisco during an August trip. Giants starter Madison Bumgarner won both of his starts against the Mets during the regular season.

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For all their successes in recent seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals enter their National League Division Series matchup as relative strangers. They have not met in the postseason despite combining for seven division championships in the past five seasons.

The Dodgers’ two NLDS battles against NL East champions came during the two campaigns (2013 and 2015) where Washington was sitting at home.

Both rosters enter the playoffs with their regular seasons defined by pitching excellence and injuries.

The Nationals rank in the top five in nearly every major pitching category, boasting perhaps baseball’s best and one of its most expensive pitching rotations. Per Odds Shark, Max Scherzer is the odds-on favorite to take home the NL Cy Young Award after posting a 20-7 record and striking out a career-high 284 batters. He’s the rare free-agent pitching acquisition who has actually gotten better since getting the money.

Washington has also gotten an excellent season from Tanner Roark, who has taken on Jordan Zimmermann’s old role of being the awesome guy no one talks about. Joe Ross has also been solid for most of the season and would have a legit claim to the third starter role likely occupied by Gio Gonzalez.

Missing? Stephen Strasburg, who has already been ruled out for the NLDS.

“Well, you won’t see [Strasburg] in the first series, and I don’t even know if you’ll see him, you know, maybe in the second series,” manager Dusty Baker said on McNabb & Custer on ESPN Radio (via ESPN.com). “You might see him in the World Series.”

Strasburg, himself heading toward a potential 20-win season, has not pitched since Sept. 7. He’s been dealing with a strained flexor mass in his right arm and has thrown just 2.1 innings since mid-August. His effectiveness had taken a steep decline over his final four starts, with Strasburg losing his last three decisions and upping his ERA by nearly a full run after beginning 15-1.

The Dodgers spent a chunk of their regular season dealing with injuries to ace Clayton Kershaw. The former Cy Young winner sat out more than two months with a back injury before returning in September. He’s been his typically brilliant self in working back into shape since, giving up four total runs in five appearances.

“It looked bleak there for a little bit. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to make it to this point,” Kershaw said, per Matthew Moreno of Dodger Blue. “Now that it’s here it’s exciting. But it’s only exciting if we win, so I’ll try to win Friday.”

Kershaw faced Washington once in the regular season, giving up one run and striking out eight in a June 20 win. He finished 2016 with an ERA of 1.69, the third time in four years he’s been under 2.00.

Co-anchoring the staff will be midseason acquisition Rich Hill, who has basically been put in playoff bubble wrap since coming over from the Oakland Athletics. He’s made just six starts since the trade, none of the last three going for longer than 5.1 innings. Hill has been dealing with finger blister issues for months, and the Dodgers have taken every precaution to ensure he’ll be available in October.

But L.A.’s real strength comes after the starters leave the mound. No team in baseball posted a better bullpen ERA, atoning for the Dodgers ranking 29th in quality starts.

Kenley Jansen is poised for a huge payday this offseason after setting a career high with 47 saves and striking out 104 batters in 68.2 innings. Joe Blanton has enjoyed a sudden return to form at age 35 as a setup man, fanning 80 batters in as many innings to lead the team in holds.

The Nationals are nonetheless sitting right behind the Dodgers in bullpen ERA. Mark Melancon was one of the sport’s best midseason acquisitions and might wind up a top-10 Cy Young finisher despite splitting his season with two teams. Blake Treinen and Shawn Kelley have been good in the back end despite not making many headlines.

The series will likely come down to which of these two questionable lineups can catch a little fire. The Dodgers won the season series 5-1. 

“We played fairly well against the Nationals in the regular season, and playoff baseball is a whole different animal,” Chase Utley said, per Doug Padilla of ESPN.com. “We’re going to do what we can to prepare for them and put a game plan together and we’ll see what happens.”

That success hasn’t carried over of late, with the Dodgers losing five of their last six regular-season games. The rival San Francisco Giants can thank their three-game sweep of L.A. over the weekend for their Wild Card berth. The Dodgers scored three runs or fewer in four of their last six games and ranked 14th in runs scored overall.

“We as hitters…I think everybody else is the ones that are talking about it,” said Howie Kendrick, per Padilla. “As far as us as players, you just do your best every day, whether it’s a lefty or a righty. I don’t think we go up and try to [think] any differently against a lefty or a righty, we just haven’t hit them this year for whatever reason. Whether that’s good or bad, we can’t really focus on that going into the postseason.”

The Nationals were a much more consistent eighth in runs scored, but they were 17th in batting average and struggled for extended stretches against good pitching. Their staff being better from a righty standpoint also fares well for the Dodgers, who have struggled all season against left-handed pitching.

Essentially, this series is as close to a push as you can get. 

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For the second time in his career, Rick Renteria will try his hand at managing in Chicago. The White Sox announced the 54-year-old as their next manager Monday, a day after Robin Ventura said he would not return for a sixth season.

Renteria served as Ventura’s bench coach in 2016. He previously managed the Chicago Cubs to a 73-89 record in 2014 before being fired in favor of Joe Maddon.

The hire had become one of baseball’s worst-kept secrets in recent days. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday that a replacement plan was already in place, though Ventura and Renteria refused to comment on the matter before the regular season ended.

Ventura, whose contract expired after 2016, went 375-435 in his five seasons with the franchise. The White Sox have not made the playoffs since 2008 but were expected to compete near the top of the AL Central this season. Instead, they went 78-84 to record their fourth straight losing campaign.

“We came up short, and I feel like that falls on me,” Ventura said while noting the organization needed a new voice, per Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. “You just do what you can do and [control] how you conduct yourself. It’s not like they’re going to be putting a statue out on the concourse [of me]. You do what you can, and that’s all you can really do.”

A baseball lifer who spent his playing and managerial careers scraping his way through and hoping for a big league shot, Renteria’s lone chance at MLB management was a bit of a fiasco. He was a placeholder on the 2014 Cubs, a roster laden with pieces that weren’t yet ready to be put into a puzzle.

The Cubs enacted their sweeping plan to be contenders after firing Renteria that winter, hiring Maddon in his place, signing big-ticket free agents and calling up a swath of elite young talent. In a statement announcing Renteria’s firing, Cubs president Theo Epstein said the manager “deserved to come back for another season.” Maddon’s sudden departure from Tampa Bay simply proved too tempting.

Renteria should get a more legitimate shot next season, although it’s an interesting call to promote from within. It wouldn’t have been a surprise to see the White Sox completely clean house after starting 23-10 and then falling apart.

Instead, they’ll roll the dice on Renteria and hope the managerial instincts he showed in 2014 carry over. 

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Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez was one of three people declared dead Sunday after a boating accident. 

He was 24.

“The Miami Marlins organization is devastated by the tragic loss of Jose Fernandez,” a team statement said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time.”

Sunday’s game at Marlins Park against the Atlanta Braves has been canceled.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred also released a statement:

All of baseball is shocked and saddened by the sudden passing of Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez. He was one of our game’s great young stars who made a dramatic impact on and off the field since his debut in 2013. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, the Miami Marlins organization and all of the people he touched in his life.

The Miami sports community was quick to offer condolences. According to NFL.com, the Miami Dolphins will have a moment of silence in remembrance before their game Sunday and sent out a tweet:

The Miami Heat shared a similar message:

The news also created a ripple effect across baseball, with a number of former teammates, teams and other prominent figures reacting:

Adam Peterson of Purple Row reminisced about Fernandez’s talent and infectious joy:

ESPN.com reported on Tuesday that “a bag of baseballs autographed by [Fernandez] washed ashore on Miami Beach on Monday, according to law enforcement officials.”

A Cuban defector who made multiple life-threatening attempts to leave the country to pursue his baseball dream, Fernandez saved his mother from drowning during their successful trip to the United States.

In 2014, Fernandez’s grandmother saw him pitch for the first time since he left the country. Just last year, he became a United States citizen. 

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Tim Tebow‘s baseball journey began Monday, as he was issued his jersey and reported to the New York Mets’ instructional league team.

Majestic Athletic, the uniform provider for MLB, posted a picture of Tebow’s No. 15, while Jerry Crasnick of ESPN shared a photo of Tebow’s batting practice bats.

SportsCenter posted a picture of Tebow’s arrival, while the New York Times‘ David Waldstein provided another of Tebow on the diamond:

Tebow signed autographs prior to his workout, with one child asking Tebow if he knew Peyton Manning, per Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal.

Once Tebow took the field, he accidentally “airmailed” a throw from 45 feet, per Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball, who said it went “over his throwing partner and [the] fence.” Heyman later shared a photo of Tebow in uniform:

Afterward, Tebow spoke to the media, saying he had “no interest” in returning to the NFL.

“I’m ready for that grind,” Tebow said of the lifestyle of a minor league baseball player, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. “I think a lot of people for some reason think of my life that would be hard for me. Two months ago, I was in the Philippines for three weeks (on a Christian mission), taking bucket baths…hiking mountains to villages where nobody has been before.”

Tebow told Anthony Rieber of Newsday last week:

I’m excited about it. I really am. I’ve loved the game of baseball. Hitting a baseball is one of my favorite things to do in sports. I’m excited about the journey, the challenge, the difficulties, all of it. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and it’s something that’s definitely exciting for me.

Tebow’s foray into baseball has drawn a number of skeptics. He hasn’t played baseball competitively since high school and is entering at an age when he’ll have little developmental time. He last played in the NFL four years ago, and it would have been perhaps more realistic had he made this attempt in 2012.

Tebow was nevertheless impressive enough in his well-publicized August tryout to draw interest from multiple teams before he settled on the Mets.

Ian Levin, the Mets’ director of minor league operations, told Crasnick:

Development comes from all different areas. There’s on-field development that comes from the coaches and playing games, and there’s off-field development from your peers and the environment. I haven’t spoken to Tim yet, but from everything I’ve seen about him, he’s a very positive person and obviously a hard worker who’s become successful in his own right.

It’s unclear how much playing time Tebow will get during the short schedule. The Mets are slated for just five games against other teams in the instructional league, though they will have intrasquad scrimmages as well. But as long as Tebow is on the roster, rest assured more eyes will be watching than ever before.

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The Toronto Blue Jays announced the hiring of former Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington as their new vice president of baseball operations Wednesday.

Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet received word from the team. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet noted Cherington’s role will focus on player development.

Cherington, 42, had been out of Major League Baseball since resigning as the Boston Red Sox general manager in August 2015. His departure was part of an organizational shuffle that saw Dave Dombrowski take over Boston’s baseball operations.

The Red Sox won the 2013 World Series under Cherington’s watch but were in the midst of back-to-back last-place finishes when he resigned.

The team made the playoffs just once during his tenure. However, he acquired a majority of the young stars who are leading Boston’s playoff push in 2016.

“I don’t mind talking about my own shortcomings, my mistakes,” Cherington told the Boston Globe‘s Alex Speier. “I think there is plenty we did right over time. I don’t mind talking about the things that we didn’t or that I didn’t—even things I would do differently. In that sense, I’m fine being in the dunk tank.”

Cherington began his career in 1998 with a short scouting stint with the Cleveland Indians. He then spent more than a decade in the Red Sox organization, working his way up.

Cherington joins a Blue Jays front office that has seen its fair share of shuffling over the last year. Ross Atkins joined as the general manager in December following a lengthy stint with the Indians. He replaced Alex Anthopoulos, whom the team let go after a half-decade of up-and-down performances.

With the team sitting at 79-66 entering play Wednesday, it wouldn’t seem Atkins’ job is in jeopardy. But having two cooks in the kitchen could create an interesting dynamic. Even if Cherington’s job is mostly on the player-development side—where he has a strong resume—there’s always a risk in adding someone else with a World Series ring and GM experience.

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Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson was dealing with a hip injury that caused him to miss three games; however, he is ready to return. 

Continue for updates. 

Donaldson Active vs. Angels

Thursday, Sept. 15

Donaldson was listed in Thursday’s lineup batting second as the designated hitter, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

Donaldson to Undergo Testing

Wednesday, Sept. 14

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins told reporters Donaldson will undergo an MRI on his hip, adding the injury has not “significantly” responded to treatment, and there is no timeline for his return.

Donaldson Vital to Jays’ Playoff Push

In his second full season in Toronto, Donaldson is in the midst of another brilliant campaign. He’s hitting .284/.400/.552 with 34 home runs and 92 runs batted in. While it’s an uphill battle for him to win two straight MVPs, Donaldson remains optimistic about the possibility. 

“I feel like it’s kind of hard to do that back-to-back,” Donaldson said, per Steven Loung of Sportsnet. “You don’t see a lot of guys run the ship back-to-back. Look, Manny [Machado’s] having a great year, [Jose] Altuve’s having a great year. Fact of the matter is there’s time.”

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