MLB News Out of Bounds: Bad Blood

Good morning I guess it's a good morning if you're a Mets or Padres fan. I'm assuming you know the results of these games from yesterday, so I won't link to game recaps. I'll link to the excitement that took place during Game 2 at Dodger Stadium.

Heck, we had a whole postseason drama in just three games of the Padres/Dodgers series.

• I found this explanation for why Machado's piece was legal.

• Game 3 of the Phillies/Mets series wasn't nearly as dramatic. But there was a major storyline, as Mets starter Sean Manaea picked up a win after allowing one run over seven innings, just hours after learning that a beloved aunt had died. Tom Verducci reports.
• Leo Morgenstern puts more emphasis on Manaea's performance and puts more emphasis on his pitching than his heavy heart.
• Evan Drellich reports on how both the Mets and McDonald's are benefiting from the whole Grimace mascot thing. (The athlete sub. req.) Yes, I don't understand it either. But I guess you don't question a lucky charm.
• The Tigers evened their series with the Guardians when Kerry Carpenter hit a three-run home run off Emmanuel Clase. Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru has seven facts and figures about Carpenter's home run.
• Michael Rosen managed a pitch-by-pitch breakdown in Carpenter's at-bat, ending with the game-tying home run.
• Ryan Ford writes that Tarik Skubal is having one of the most dominant postseasons ever for a Tigers pitcher. Ford goes back to the 1907 series against the Cubs.
• Gabe Lacques writes that the specter of an early playoff exit looms after the Yankees' Game 2 loss to the Royals. He also writes, “These $310 million Yankees just aren’t very good.”
• Lex Pryor writes that Aaron Judge will seal his legacy as the Yankees' all-time legend when he leads the team to a World Series title. He'd better start doing that.
• Mike Axisa argues that both the Padres and Yankees won the Juan Soto trade.
• Melanie Martinez-Lopez explains how veterans Salvador Perez, Yuli Gurriel and Tommy Pham provide stability to the young Royals.
• Michael Baumann examines the hot streak that Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia is on and how unconventional it is?
• The playoffs have been wild so far. Ben Clemens shows how wild the past weekend was.
• Anthony Castrovince has had five turns so far in the playoffs.
• David Schoenfield looks at how players who had a great regular season fared in the playoffs. (ESPN+ sub. required)
• On to other news. We received the sad news that legendary Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant has died at the age of 83. Tiant is the all-time leader in wins by a Cuban-born pitcher and also pitched for the Indians, Twins, Yankees, Pirates and Angels.
• And there's bad news, as former number one pick and reliever Matt Bush was arrested for driving while intoxicated, evading arrest and crashing with injuries. Bush has a long history of alcohol-related crimes, including serving nearly three years in prison after nearly killing an elderly man after riding a motorcycle drunk.
• Daniel Kramer has five questions for the Mariners this winter.
• I like Rockies manager Bud Black, but wow. The Rocky Mountains is an organization like no other. What do you have to do to get fired in Colorado? The Rockies extended Black's contract for the upcoming season after Colorado lost 100 games in two consecutive seasons.
• To protect pitchers' arms, Rangers doctor Keith Meister has suggested eliminating the two-strike foul ball rule. Yes, that won't happen.

• MLB will produce broadcasts of the Twins, Brewers and Guardians starting next season.

• Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler had an expensive watch stolen at a horse track last month.
• And finally, in celebration of the four games being played today, Will Leitch has put together all the storylines for you to follow.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.