Hendriks strikes out two in AAA debut for Cubs

The team concluded the season with Williams pitching Saturday and Messick going Sunday, but the order will be reversed now. Vogt didn’t announce anything beyond Game 2. It’s the AL teams with an extra day off between Games 1 and 2 this year, so they’ll only need three starters and Messick would be able to come back and start Game 4 on four days’ rest.

The plan is for Grant Holmes to operate as a bulk reliever, but it will be Kerr who opens the game. The left-hander pitched to a 1.47 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, and 11/2 K/BB ratio in 18 1/3 innings for the Braves this season. Lefties hit .174 off of him with just one extra-base hit in 26 batters faced, so his job will be to keep Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper from doing damage in the first inning.

Buxton underwent hip surgery on September 18th, so about three months of exclusive rehab makes sense. From that point on, he will begin baseball activities and start preparing for the season, if there is one. Buxton aggravated his hip injury in the middle of May and revealed later that his hip has been bothering him since 2021. He said doctors reassured him that his hip won’t be an issue for the rest of his career going forward, and he believes he will be ready for the start of spring training, but we’ll check back in after the new year to see how his rehab is progressing.

Feinstein said that the team spoke with Medina about “potentially creating a program for him this winter that will enable him to give more length. Whether it’s as a starter, or something we can figure out next spring.” Medina missed all of 2025 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but was out of minor league options coming into 2026, so the team opted to keep him on the big league roster as a reliever. He posted a 3.08 ERA in 73 innings. Athletics manager Mark Kotsay noted that Medina would need to improve his 12.3 percent walk rate if he had any chance of earning a rotation spot, but he could be a pitcher to watch in spring training.

Gray seems to have plenty left in the tank as he approaches his 37th birthday in November, but it’s not the first time he’s hinted that he doesn’t see himself going the Justin Verlander route. He was also especially frustrated with the way his final start ended, suggesting that manager Chad Tracy should have trusted him to get more outs instead of pulling him in the fifth. “I don’t know what the future holds for me,” Gray said. “I do know that I walked off that mound with my chest back and my chin up, and I can definitely be proud that I left it all out there until the ball was taken out of my hands.” Gray will be eligible for free agency this winter, likely by opting out of his contract after the Red Sox pick up their portion of a $30 million option.

The Padres will face the Brewers in the NLDS. Sheets didn’t start tonight because Austin Hays was 7-for-14 with two homers against Kevin Gausman in his career. However, right after Gausman was pulled in the fourth, Sheets was asked to hit against Daniel Palencia and turned around a 100.8-mph fastball. It was his second homer in seven career postseason games. Prior to Tuesday, he had the White Sox’s most recent postseason homer, taking Lance McCullers Jr. deep in the 2021 ALDS.

Pivetta and Kevin Gausman both got 10 outs, but Pivetta allowed two fewer runs, mostly because of the bullpen support; Gausman’s one runner left on base came around to score after Daniel Palencia entered the game, but Bradgley Rodríguez stranded both runners he inherited. Pivetta figures to start again in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Brewers.

He gave up a double to Nico Hoerner, but he retired the other three batters he faced. After 88 regular-season saves, this is Miller’s first in the postseason. He pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings as a setup man for the Padres in front of Robert Suarez in the Wild Card loss to the Cubs last year.

Gausman allowed two runs in the second, which led to Daniel Palencia getting up in the Cubs pen. Gausman survived that inning and pitched a scoreless third, but Palencia went on to replace him after a one-out double in the fourth. Palencia then gave up a two-run homer to Gavin Sheets to give the Padres a 4-1 lead. Gausman, who turns 36 in January, hasn’t committed to continuing his career after finishing up his five-year, $110 million deal, but there will certainly be interest in him, even after a down year. He might not even have to take a paycut.

Crow-Armstrong did draw a walk in Game 1, but he went 0-for-7 with four strikeouts as the Cubs’ leadoff hitter in the series. Alex Bregman went 0-for-8 in the two hole behind him. Crow-Armstrong also didn’t help matters tonight by wasting a challenge during the very first at-bat of the game. It’s definitely not how he was looking forward to completing his MVP campaign. However, through 10 career postseason games, he’s 5-for-34 with no extra-base hits and a 16/2 K/BB ratio.