The Opener: Mitchell’s Catch, Volpe’s Non-Homer, Pages

The White Sox weren’t able to clinch a playoff series at home for the first time since 1906. They’ll get another chance today. The Guardians will send ace Parker Messick to the mound for Game 4. Chicago is expected to counter with a bullpen game. 1. Mitchell saves the day The Padres came up just short in all three losses in the NLDS, falling by a combined four runs. Each game had a critical play that went against San Diego. The Game 4 edition was Manny Machado’s deep drive to center field in the eighth inning. The would-be game-tying blast was snared at the wall by Garrett Mitchell (video link via MLB on X). He jumped into a sea of eager Padres fans and emerged with the out. “We had talked about that, with the short wall, if you can get to it, you can cover a lot of area over the top of it,” Sal Frelick said (h/t Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). “I’m just happy he wasn’t mauled by a fan.” 2. Volpe comes up short Yankees infielder Anthony Volpe also just missed a game-tying home run. His drive toward the left field wall in the sixth inning was initially ruled a homer. Replay review overturned the call due to fan interference (video link via MLB on X). Volpe had to settle for an RBI double, which cut Tampa Bay’s lead to one. Spencer Jones struck out to strand Volpe. The Yankees wouldn’t get another hit the rest of the way. They managed just five runs in the sweep. 3. Dodgers finish off Braves Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages had struggled at the plate in the postseason, so much so that manager Dave Roberts recently addressed the skid. Roberts gave Pages a vote of confidence, but did drop him to ninth in the lineup yesterday. Tyler Mahle held L.A. to one run heading into the seventh inning. He was removed after a one-out single. Didier Fuentes got the second out, but walked two. Pages then came through with a two-RBI single to break the 1-1 tie. “Nobody doubted him,” Kiké Hernández said (h/t Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). “That’s why he stayed in the lineup. And I’m really happy that he was the one who won us a series.” Photo courtesy of Denis Poroy, Imagn Images View Comments (7)