MLB Wild Card Series Day 2: Live Scores, Updates, and Analysis as Teams Fight to Survive

Wednesday - 01/10/2025 19:15
Which series will end today and which are headed for a win-or-go-home Game 3? We've got it all covered for you.
  • ESPN
Oct 2, 2025, 03:55 AM

Who is ready for some more MLB playoff action?

After the first day of the wild-card round featured close wins by the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox along with a strong showing by the Los Angeles Dodgers, it's time for the first potential elimination day of the 2025 postseason.

The Cleveland Guardians kicked off the action by slugging their way to a Game 3 against Detroit, followed by the San Diego Padres keeping their season alive with a shutout of Chicago.

Who else will stay alive and who will be sent packing?

We've got you covered with pregame lineups, keys to forcing Game 3, sights and sounds from the ballparks, and postgame takeaways as each Day 2 matchup ends.

Key links: Megapreview | Day 1 lessons | Bracket | Schedule

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Sights and sounds | Takeaways | Lineups

Sights and sounds

We've got you covered with all the best moments from the ballparks on the second day of the playoffs.

Red Sox at Yankees

Follow live for pitch-by-pitch coverage

Yankee Stadium explodes after a Ben Rice first-pitch home run

New York is ready for a must-win Game 2

Padres at Cubs

Mason Miller is bringing the HEAT

San Diego's star reliever struck out the side in the seventh inning with some impressive pitches:

  • Strikeout of Seiya Suzuki ended on a 102.7 mph fastball

  • Strikeout of Carson Kelly ended on a 104.5 MPH fastball, which is the fastest pitch Miller has thrown in his MLB career, the fastest pitch in a playoff game in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008) and the fastest strikeout pitch in the Statcast era (since 2015)

  • Miller's four-seam fastball averaged 103 mph, the highest average four-seam velocity in a playoff game in the pitch-tracking era

Miller's eight straight strikeouts in this series ties the MLB record for consecutive strikeouts in a single postseason (also done by Josh Hader in 2022).

Fernando Tatis Jr. jumps for joy after Manny Machado's blast

Facing elimination, the Padres strike early

Chicago stars are out at Wrigley

Tigers at Guardians

Bring on Game 3!

Guardians take the lead back and the crowd goes WILD

We've got a tied game in Cleveland!

Cleveland crowd is excited for top prospect's first MLB at-bat

Tanner Bibee gets out of a jam with three straight K's

Takeaways

San Diego Padres 3, Chicago Cubs 0

Series tied 1-1

Manager Mike Shildt couldn't have drawn up a better script for his Padres in a must-win game: Get a first-inning lead, have Dylan Cease shut down the Cubs for three or four innings, get a big home run from Manny Machado and turn the game over to your flame-throwing bullpen. Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller combined for four scoreless innings, with Miller once again lighting up the radar gun and sending helpless Cubs hitters back to the bench. In two games, he's recorded eight outs -- all on strikeouts. One of his pitches today: 104.5 mph, the fourth-fastest of the Statcast era. The hope for the Cubs, however, is that Morejon has thrown 42 pitches in two games, while Miller has 40. Will either be available for Game 3? -- David Schoenfield

Cleveland Guardians 6, Detroit Tigers 1

Series tied 1-1

After Game 1, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said that every game between his club and the Guardians was like this -- close, low-scoring, every run like squeezing blood from a turnip. Game 2 was more bullpen heavy than Game 1 but other than that, Hinch's observation held up. The Tigers had all kinds of traffic on the bases but could not get a timely hit, and even had a run taken away after a replay overturned the original call. Things got so desperate that Hinch pinch-hit for his best player, Riley Greene, hoping that Jahmai Jones could make contact against nasty lefty Tim Herrin with a runner on third base. Jones stuck out. Finally, the Guardians broke through against Troy Melton in the eighth, and we will have a Game 3. If Hinch knows anything, it'll be a lot like the first two games. -- Bradford Doolittle

If you've wondered how the Guardians reeled off 15 wins in 16 games in September despite a bad offense, their Game 2 win showed how: good enough starting pitching, great bullpen work, some timely hitting (in this case, three home runs, two of them in the eighth inning) and an odd play that went their way. In the top of the fourth, Javier Baez singled with two outs and the bases loaded, seemingly scoring two runs to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. Except Zach McKinstry got thrown out at third (after the replay overturned the original call), a split second before Dillon Dingler crossed home plate, so that second run didn't count. Certainly, a huge blunder by McKinstry, but credit center fielder Chase DeLauter, who made the throw. Oh, and to further show how unconventional this team is: This was not only DeLauter's first game in the majors after getting added to the postseason roster but his first game of any kind since July 11. Game 3, everyone! -- Schoenfield

Lineups

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

6 p.m. ET on ESPN

Red Sox lead 1-0

Game 2 starters: Brayan Bello vs. Carlos Rodon

What the Yankees need to do to force Game 3: The Yankees need Rodón to pitch deep into Game 3. For as well as Max Fried pitched in Game 1, the Yankees' bullpen immediately imploded upon his exit, and the offense couldn't recover against Garrett Crochet and Aroldis Chapman. The best way to avoid another letdown by the bullpen is to minimize its impact on the game, which would allow the group to rest up for a do-or-die Game 3. -- Jorge Castillo

Lineups

Red Sox

1. Rob Refsnyder (R) DH
2. Trevor Story (R) SS
3. Alex Bregman (R) 3B
4. Romy Gonzalez (R) 1B
5. Carlos Narvaez (R) C
6. Nate Eaton (R) RF
7. Jarren Duran (L) LF
8. Ceddanne Rafaela (R) CF
9. Nick Sogard (S) 2B

Yankees

1. Trent Grisham (L) CF
2. Aaron Judge (R) RF
3. Cody Bellinger (L) LF
4. Ben Rice (L) 1B
5. Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
6. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 2B
7. Austin Wells (L) C
8. Anthony Volpe (R) SS
9. Ryan McMahon (L) 3B

Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles Dodgers

9 p.m. ET on ESPN

Dodgers lead 1-0

Game 2 starters: Zack Littell vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto

What the Reds need to do to force Game 3: Well, not allowing five home runs is a good start. Look, this is going to be a difficult game against Yamamoto, who allowed just three runs over his final five starts of the regular season. The best hope for the Reds is a performance where Yamamoto struggles with his control, which rarely occurs but did happen in one September start when he walked six batters. That would lead to a high pitch count and a relatively early exit, allowing the Reds to get into the Dodgers' bullpen -- a unit that was certainly an issue for L.A. throughout the season and didn't distinguish itself in the late innings of Game 1. -- Schoenfield

Lineups

Reds

1. TJ Friedl (L) CF
2. Spencer Steer (R) LF
3. Gavin Lux (L) DH
4. Austin Hays (R) RF
5. Sal Stewart (R) 1B
6. Elly De La Cruz (S) SS
7. Tyler Stephenson (R) C
8. Ke'Bryan Hayes (R) 3B
9. Matt McLain (R) 2B

Dodgers

1. Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
2. Mookie Betts (R) SS
3. Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
4. Teoscar Hernandez (R) RF
5. Max Muncy (L) 3B
6. Andy Pages (R) CF
7. Enrique Hernandez (R) LF
8. Miguel Rojas (R) 2B
9. Ben Rortvedt (L) C

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