Four more wild-card games are on Wednesday’s slate as the postseason continues. Atlanta, Chicago (AL), New York (AL) and San Diego all hold 1-0 series leads heading into Game 2, with pregame lineups listed as TBD and coverage noting sights, sounds and postgame takeaways for each matchup.
Philadelphia at Atlanta — Atlanta leads 1-0, 2 p.m. ET. Game 2 starters are Cristopher Sanchez for the Phillies and Tyler Mahle for the Braves. According to Kiley McDaniel, Philadelphia’s ace-sized outing in Sanchez gives the Phillies a mound advantage; Sanchez averaged more than six innings per start this season. McDaniel noted Philadelphia has shown timely offense, citing J.T. Realmuto’s triple in the seventh of Game 1 and Austin Riley’s three-run homer in the eighth for Atlanta.
Chicago White Sox at Houston — Chicago leads 1-0, 5 p.m. ET. Houston will hand the ball to Hunter Brown in Game 2. Bradford Doolittle wrote the Astros need crisper at-bats and better command from their pitchers to force a Game 3. Doolittle also pointed out that Houston’s key relievers Josh Hader and Bryan Abreu worked just one inning each in Game 1, while White Sox reliever Grant Taylor threw 54 pitches.
Boston at New York — New York leads 1-0, 8 p.m. ET. Game 2 starters are Sonny Gray for Boston and Max Fried for the Yankees. Jeff Passan wrote Boston must find offense — the Red Sox scored just 71 runs in 24 September games, last in that span — and suggested Gray replicate his 2023 wild-card outing, when he threw five scoreless innings for Minnesota. Passan also mentioned situational items such as pitch location and matchups cited in the preview.
Chicago Cubs at San Diego — San Diego leads 1-0, 10 p.m. ET. The Padres have Nick Pivetta scheduled for Game 2 while the Cubs starter was listed as TBD. The preview noted Michael King’s strong Game 1 start limited San Diego’s need to use Adrian Morejon or Mason Miller, who will be available on regular rest for Game 2. The Cubs, who led the majors in runs scored this season, were urged to score early and get production from top-of-the-order hitters Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman.
