Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, postseason edition! We’ll keep you up to speed on everything you need to know every weekday throughout the 2025 MLB playoffs. Thanks for being here.

The Tigers and Guardians are going the distance.

Cleveland won Game 2 of its American League Wild Card Series this afternoon, 6-1. Guardians second baseman Brayan Rocchio, who hit only five homers in 344 at-bats during the regular season, delivered the big hit as he turned around a 99.9 mph fastball from Tigers reliever Troy Melton for a go-ahead dinger in the bottom of the eighth.

Outfielder Daniel Schneemann added an RBI double a couple of batters later, and catcher Bo Naylor blew the game open with a three-run homer to close the five-run frame. Before the eighth, Cleveland’s offense had mustered just two runs and one extra-base hit through the first 16 innings of this series.

The real star of the game for the Guardians, however, was their entire pitching staff. Starter Tanner Bibee and five relievers kept turning away the Tigers as they mounted threat after threat. The Tigers went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 15 runners on base, their most in any playoff game in franchise history and tied for the second-most by any team in a nine-inning playoff game. The most? Just one more runner left on base, by the 2009 Dodgers — in an NLDS game they won!

Detroit’s one run came on a Javier Báez single in the fourth inning, but an on-target throw from Guardians center fielder Chase DeLauter — making his MLB debut — made sure that rally ended right there. The Tigers stranded multiple baserunners in five of the final six innings and left the bases loaded in the ninth.

Now that the Guardians have forced a Game 3, will the Padres do the same? They dropped Game 1 of their NL Wild Card Series against the Cubs but currently lead 3-0 in the sixth inning at Wrigley Field. Tune in NOW on ABC.

— Brian Murphy

The 2025 MLB season started in Japan, with several homegrown stars leading the way, so it only seems fitting that some of the top performers on the first day of the postseason also hail from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Of course, no Japanese star shines brighter than Shohei Ohtani, regardless of where he’s playing. Ohtani not only got the Dodgers on the board with a leadoff homer in Game 1 off a 100.4 mph fastball by Reds ace Hunter Greene, he also added a 454-foot shot five innings later to establish a new franchise postseason record in the Stacast Era.

In Chicago, Seiya Suzuki continued his recent tear and sent the Wrigley Field crowd into a frenzy when he got the Cubs on the board and tied the game at 1 with a solo shot in the fifth inning. And in the Bronx, Masataka Yoshida came off the bench for a pinch-hit two-run single in the seventh to put the Red Sox ahead for good.

As we look ahead to tonight, in addition to the three Japanese stars mentioned above, Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the reigning NL Pitcher of the Month Award winner, will look to help L.A. advance with a strong start in Game 2 vs. the Reds.

— Ed Eagle

The Mets’ season ended much earlier than anyone in orange and blue could have imagined back in March. But just minutes after New York’s postseason hopes were dashed in a loss to the Marlins on Sunday, star first baseman Pete Alonso had already shifted his mindset to the offseason, saying he will opt out of his contract and become a free agent for the second straight year.

Alonso didn’t get the long-term deal he desired last winter, instead signing a two-year, $54 million contract in February to return to the only franchise he’s known in pro ball. But there are reasons to believe Alonso will land a more lucrative deal this time around. Namely, he was much more productive in 2025 than in ‘24, this year’s free-agent class doesn’t have as many top-tier power bats as last year’s class, and there are a bunch of clubs — the Red Sox, Phillies, Giants, Cubs, Mariners, D-backs and, of course, the Mets — that could be a good fit for the slugger.

However, there are some cons to go with those pros, too. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand has the full scoop on what the Polar Bear’s market could look like, along with insight from team executives around the league.

— Brian Murphy

Why does Garrett Crochet roll his uniform pants? It’s not a question we expected to be asking this morning, but everything gets a closer look under the bright spotlight of the MLB postseason, especially when you pitch like Crochet did last night.

As you can see every time he lifts his right leg for his distinctive delivery, Crochet keeps the ankle of his pants rolled in a tight cuff. Close observers would be quick to tell you that it’s actually not new; the cuff harkens back to summer ball after his freshman year at the University of Tennessee, when he was handed uni pants “that were made for an eighth grader,” as the lefty told the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast back in July.

“I just started doing it,” Crochet said. “I expected [head coach Tony] Vitello at Tennessee to tell me to kick rocks, but he didn’t, so I just kept doing it.

“[Now] I just feel really weird when my pants aren’t like this”

Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and it certainly ain’t broke for Crochet.

— Andy Werle

Until the Phillies know who they’re facing in the NLDS, the club is trying to keep the rust off by hosting a Red October On-Deck Intrasquad Gameat Citizens Bank Park tonight, but if you’re looking to make last-minute plans to attend, it’s unfortunately sold out.

More than 31,000 fans purchased tickets to attend the “Made for Red October” event, which starts at 6 p.m. ET and will run seven innings long.

And the Phillies’ 1993 World Series opponents are also opening up their stadium for fans to watch a pair of intrasquad games tonight and tomorrow as the Blue Jays prepare for their upcoming ALDS against either the Red Sox or Yankees. Tickets are available for those contests if you’re north of the border.

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