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Littell struck out three and walked one while inducing 10 whiffs on 40 swings for a 25 percent whiff rate and 29 percent CSW on the day. The only damage was a solo home run to Jon Singleton in the second inning. With the Rays trading away Zach Eflin and Aaron Civale, Littell’s rotation spot is secured, even with the rest of the Rays’ rotation getting healthy. He’ll take a 4.06 ERA into a tough start with the Orioles next week.

One imagines the Dodgers will be amenable to such a plan. After a rough first season back in Los Angeles, Rojas has hit .273/.328/.404 as a part-timer the last two years. He’s earned right around $5 million per year for five straight seasons now, and he should be in line for something similar at age 37.

Anderson, a .296/.350/.478 hitter between Double- and Triple-A this season, has primarily played second as a minor leaguer, but the Tigers got him some work at third this year and he’s started at the hot corner in both of his AFL games to date. He could be a factor at the position for Detroit sometime next year, assuming that the team doesn’t add a long-term solution in the offseason.

There were 48 runs scored in the three games Thursday, but none came on Hagaman’s watch. Hagaman, a 2024 fourth-round pick, was one of three prospects the Diamondbacks got from the Rangers for Merrill Kelly at the deadline. He’s pitching in the AFL after returning from elbow surgery to threw 42 1/3 innings in the minors this year.

White got to take part in the Futures Game this year, but the 2024 second-round pick had a somewhat disappointing 2025 season in hitting .275/.334/.439 between High-A and Double-A. He’s going to have a difficult time lasting at third base, and the A’s don’t exactly need help at first or DH at the moment, so he’s going to need to put up big numbers in order to force his way into the picture.

Happ snapped out of a prolonged postseason slump with a no-doubter to right field against Brewers ace Freddy Peralta with two outs in the opening frame to give the Cubs an early advantage. He had been 4-for-36 against Peralta in his career prior to the round-tripper. It was one of the biggest moments of his career and set the tone for a potential series-turning victory as Chicago forces a winner-take-all Game 5 showdown on Saturday in Milwaukee after dropping the first two contests of the best-of-five series.

Milwaukee had some scoring chances, but they were unable to mount a serious comeback effort after falling behind right away when Cubs outfielder Ian Happ connected for a three-run homer in the opening frame. Yelich was the lone Brewers hitter to reach base safely multiple times as they were shut out at Wrigley Field by Chicago starter Matthew Boyd and a quartet of relievers. They’ll need to get their bats going again in Saturday’s decisive Game 5 showdown in Milwaukee if they’re going to keep their season going.

Tucker’s first big fly of the postseason came off Brewers reliever Robert Gasser and gave Chicago a commanding five-run advantage in the late stages of the contest. The 28-year-old fantasy force has notched back-to-back multi-hit efforts after reaching base safely in four of his five plate appearances in this one.

It was a remarkable bounce-back performance from Boyd, who managed to work into the fifth inning of a do-or-die affair for the Cubs after allowing just two runs in the opening contest of the best-of-five series. The 34-year-old veteran southpaw struck out six and allowed just two hits and three walks in this one as he and four relievers — Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Brad Keller and Caleb Thielbar — combined on a three-hit shutout at Wrigley Field to keep Chicago’s postseason hopes alive.

Peralta coughed up a three-run homer to Ian Happ with two outs in the opening frame, which wound up being more than enough run support for the Cubs as Matthew Boyd and four relievers combined on a three-hit shutout. The 29-year-old ace’s clunker forces a winner-take-all Game 5 this weekend in Milwaukee.

It came down to an ice-cold Andy Pages with the bases loaded in the 11th, and he caught a massive break when Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering fielded a comebacker and uncorked an errant throw home instead of taking the easy out at first. The miscue brought home the winning run and sealed an improbable walk-off victory, sending the Dodgers to the NLCS, where they’ll face either the Brewers or Cubs early next week.