MLB playoff takeaways: AL home teams rise up to force decisive Game 3s

Jazz Chisholm's speed pays off for Yankees

In the Bronx, the New York Yankees had the right person on first base when it mattered most on Wednesday.

Taking off on the pitch, Jazz Chisholm Jr. scored all the way from first base on Austin Wells' single in the first inning, barely beating the throw home with what would be the game-winning run in a 4-3 nail-biter over the rival Boston Red Sox.

New York's much-maligned bullpen took over after 6.0 innings from starter Carlos Rodon and lived up to the challenge, with Fernando Cruz, Devin Williams and Jared Bednar each throwing a scoreless inning to keep the Yankees' season alive.

Miller, Machado make headlines as Padres stay alive

The San Diego Padres kept their 2025 season going on Wednesday thanks to a trade-deadline acquisition and a foundational piece of the franchise.

Manny Machado lifted a two-run homer in the fifth inning and four Padres pitchers limited the Chicago Cubs to just four hits in a 3-0 win at Wrigley Field. One of those pitchers was reliever Mason Miller, who struck out all five batters he faced in his 1.2 innings of work.

Miller, brought over from the Athletics before this year's trade deadline, has now struck out all eight of the Cubs batters who have challenged him in this series, helping the Padres force a Game 3 on Thursday. That run set a new MLB postseason record as no pitcher had ever struck out more than six consecutive hitters to begin their postseason career.

Yamamoto's strong start pushes Dodgers into NLDS

Los Angeles starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto shook off two unearned runs plated by the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning to show exactly why he will get plenty of votes in this year's NL Cy Young Award balloting.

After a Teoscar Hernández misplay of a first-inning Sal Stewart single allowed two Reds to score, Yamamoto dominated Cincinnati's lineup to give the Dodgers a chance to rally. The right-hander retired 13 consecutive Reds to shut down the visitors while the Dodgers pieced together enough offense to take the lead on a Miguel Rojas RBI single in the fourth.

Yamamoto's best work, however, came in the sixth as he worked his way out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam with a force play at home and a pair of strikeouts to keep the Reds off the board and preserve the Dodgers' lead.

Los Angeles then scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to blow the game open on the way to an 8-4 victory.

By sweeping the Reds out of the wild-card round, the defending world champion Dodgers move on to face the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS.