Raisel Iglesias works scoreless ninth for Game 1 save

It’s the first start of the series for Smith, who has appeared as a pinch-hitter and struck out in each of the first two games. Mike Yastrzemski will also return to the starting lineup for Game 3 after sitting in Game 2. Sean Murphy and Ha-Seong Kim will open the game on the bench for the Braves. Here’s the full lineup that the Braves will deploy in a must-win game against Phillies’ right-hander Aaron Nola: Drake Baldwin (C), Ronald Acuña Jr. (RF), Matt Olson (1B), Michael Harris II (CF), Mauricio Dubon (SS), Mike Yastrzemski (LF) Austin Riley (3B), Ozzie Albies (2B) and Dominic Smith (DH)

Curley serves as the player to be named later to complete the deal from August 3 that sent Lars Nootbaar to the Diamondbacks. While the results weren’t great, the 23-year-old hurler did some nice things during his first professional season, posting a 5.28 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and a 130/34 K/BB ratio over 116 innings in 25 appearances (23 starts) between High-A Hillsboro and Double-A Amarillo. He’s likely to open the 2027 season at Double-A Springfield where he’ll function as extra rotation depth for the Cardinals.

Cornielle made one appearance for the Yankees during the final weekend of the season. He’ll become a minor league free agent.

Some thought the Diamondbacks would move on from Lovullo if they didn’t make the postseason, but he’s staying on a new deal that will expire alongside GM Mike Hazen’s following the 2028 season. Lovullo is 750-768 in 10 years at the helm for the D-backs. His teams have reached the postseason twice, losing to the Dodgers in the NLDS in his first year in 2017 and falling to the Rangers in the World Series in 2023.

Johnson, 27, went 1-for-16 in 16 games with the Reds this year before finishing the season in the minors. He hit .247/.354/.424 with 11 homers and 15 steals in 73 games while mostly playing second base and left field for Louisville.

Holderman said the wrist has been an issue for him for four years. He was quite good this season anyway, posting a 2.73 ERA in 54 appearances before going down. He’s due about $2.5 million in arbitration, which could make him a trade candidate.

The A’s previously fired pitching coach Scott Emerson in July. Cron had been with the A’s as a hitting coach since 2022. Jensen was part of the organization since 2007, becoming an assistant hitting coach in 2015 and the quality control coach in 2023.

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.