Ceceilia Melvin '30

by Ceceilia Melvin '30 on October 8, 2026

With the playoff lights shining brightly on the MLB’s Wild Card round, some teams chose to shine under the lights, while other teams cowered away from them. Three out of the four series this week ended in sweeps, while the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves needed all three games to decide the winner of their series. The New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox,  Braves, and San Diego Padres are all advancing to the Division Series round of the playoffs. 

The Braves will face the Los Angeles Dodgers after defeating their divisional foes, the Phillies, in three games. In the first game, the Braves defeated the Phillies 5–3, thanks to Austin Riley’s three-run home run in the eighth inning to win the game. In game two, the game went into extra innings, and an Alec Bohm go-ahead home run in the top of the 10th inning gave the Phillies the boost they needed to win the game and avoid the series sweep. However, the Braves’ offense proved to be too much for the Phillies’ pitchers to handle, and the Braves ended up clinching their spot in the National League Division Series with a 6–2 win, which included home runs from Matt Olson, Michael Harris III, and Ozzie Albies.

The White Sox, armed with the power of Pope Leo XIV on their side, swept the Houston Astros, outscoring them 13–6. The White Sox offense was too hot for the Astros’ pitching to handle and took early leads in the top of the first inning in both of their games. Chicago had a combined 19 hits throughout the two games, while Houston had only 11.

Pete Crow-Armstrong might be the favorite for the National League MVP, but he was nowhere to be found in the Chicago Cubs’ series versus the Padres. “MVPete” went 0–7 at the plate with four strikeouts and one walk. Chicago’s lack of an outright starting pitcher proved to be their Achilles’ heel, as the team was practically dogwalked by the Padres throughout the entire series. The Padres are considered one of the most dangerous teams in the postseason, having won 19 out of their last 22 games. Despite all the hype around the Cubs’ offense this season, it failed to produce anything when their season was on the line.

In the highly anticipated rivalry series between the Boston Red Sox and the Yankees, American League Cy Young favorite, Cam Schlitter, dominated in game one, giving up just two hits and walking one batter through the 6.2 innings that he pitched. Even though their best offensive player, Aaron Judge, was sidelined during this two-game series, the Yankees proved that they can rack up hits even without their superstar, which broke the hearts of Providence College students around campus.