Morning Edition

September 28, 2026

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The final two MLB playoff spots were clinched on a wild and wet Sunday, and now the postseason is set. It’s a field that includes marquee teams, small-market upstarts—and the worst playoff team in MLB history.

—Eric Fisher

First Up

The NFL’s crackdown on taunting worked, as several players hit with surprise fines toned down their celebrations in Week 3.
MLB attendance grew for the fourth straight year, but there’s a bitter labor fight around the corner.
With Donald Trump on hand, the U.S. team completed the biggest comeback in the history of golf’s Presidents Cup.
A Cowboys-Ravens thriller took center stage after a week of conversations about the field in Rio de Janeiro.

New-Look MLB Playoff Field Is Now Set

Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

After a tumultuous final day of the 2026 regular season, MLB will enter the playoffs with a series of marquee teams, upstart small-market clubs, and the league’s worst postseason entrant.

The Astros won the AL West on the season’s final day, edging out the Rangers with a 81–81 record. That mark represents MLB’s first-ever full-season playoff team without a winning record, and surpasses the 2005 Padres that reached the postseason with an 82–80 record. Even with that mediocre record, the Astros will host the White Sox in the Wild Card series. Chicago is back in the postseason after three straight 100-loss seasons and a 41–121 record in 2024 that is the worst in modern MLB history.

The other of MLB’s 12 playoff spots clinched on Sunday went to the Phillies, who narrowly averted disaster following a September slide and were able to hold on to the NL’s final Wild Card slot and No. 6 seed. Philadelphia will head to Atlanta to face the Braves in a first-round matchup beginning Tuesday.

The rest of the Wild Card series include:

The Yankees will host the rival Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. New York and Boston will meet in the playoffs for the seventh time. A major question surrounding that series is the status of Yankees captain Aaron Judge, battling a calf strain. Last week, New York manager Aaron Boone said the club was planning on Judge not being involved in the Red Sox series, but the slugger says he is still aiming to play.
The Cubs will travel to Petco Park to face the Padres. The Padres are back in the postseason for the third straight season and fourth time in five years, but for the first time under new owners José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones, who are seeing immediate returns from their $3.9 billion purchase of the team.

The Rays are the AL’s top seed, despite a $113.9 million luxury tax payroll that is the fourth lowest in the league, and have a bye to the Division Series. The Guardians, with MLB’s second-lowest spending at $92.5 million, also have a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed. The Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox—which have the AL’s three best records—are on the same side of MLB’s fixed postseason bracket.

The Brewers, playing in MLB’s smallest media market, are the top team in the NL, while the two-time defending champion Dodgers are the No. 2 seed, and both will have first-round byes.

NBC Sports and Peacock have exclusive rights to the entire Wild Card round as part of the network’s new MLB rights agreement. The Red Sox–Yankees and Cubs-Padres series hold the featured primetime slots.

Weather Woes

The nor’easter storm that hit the Northeast over the weekend continued to wreak havoc on MLB’s schedule.

The Cubs and Red Sox departed Boston to play the finale of a scheduled series at Fenway Park at the Rays’ Tropicana Field instead. That marked a rare move by MLB of a game to a neutral-site field, and culminated a week’s worth of concern surrounding that series. The contest ended up not mattering in playoff seeding, though, with the teams each having already clinched the No. 5 seeds in their respective brackets before Sunday.

A Sunday game in New York between the Orioles and Yankees, meanwhile, never happened amid steady rain in the area and won’t be rescheduled. Several other games, including ones in Philadelphia and Washington, also grappled with wet conditions throughout Sunday afternoon.

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ONE BIG FIG

Washout

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

$11

That was the final get-in price for Sunday afternoon’s Giants-Titans matchup in New Jersey, according to TicketData, making it among the cheapest Giants home games this century. Demand had already dipped after the news that New York quarterback Jaxson Dart was out for the rest of the regular season, but prices collapsed after the region was hit by a nor’easter on Saturday and Sunday. The Giants hung on for a 12–7 win in Jameis Winston’s first game as the starting QB.

DAILY SPORTS TRIVIA

Can you rank the top five NFL teams by most total playoff games played?

LOUD AND CLEAR

USC Fallout

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

“Seeing a player injured like that is incredibly serious, and my reaction in the moments afterward was completely inappropriate and inexcusable.”

— USC linebacker Desman Stephens II, who apologized for both his late hit on Oregon quarterback Dante Moore on Saturday and for what he did immediately after: taunting opponents and laughing on the sideline. USC announced Sunday that Stephens was suspended for its next game against Washington.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning called the hit a “disgusting play,” and the Ducks went on to win 41–27 behind backup Dylan Raiola. Moore was widely viewed as a Heisman contender and potential No. 1 NFL Draft pick before the season. He was carted off the field and taken to a local hospital; Lanning said after the game that Moore was able to move.

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STATUS REPORT

Three Up, One Push

Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Angel Reese ⬆ The Atlanta Dream forward was announced as the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year on Sunday morning, and had 13 points and 12 rebounds in a critical Game 1 win over the Mystics on Sunday night.

Cam Schlittler ⬆ The Yankees pitcher grew up a Red Sox fan in Walpole, Massachusetts and pitched for Northeastern, but became a villain in New England after a dominant outing in a series-clinching win over Boston last year. New York manager Aaron Boone said Sunday that Schlittler would start Game 1 of their Wild Card Series against their hated rivals.

Commanders ⬆ Washington’s season appeared to be on the brink after two straight losses and a serious elbow injury—again—for Jayden Daniels. But backup quarterback Marcus Mariota rallied the team to a 33–31 win over the Seahawks. It was the first loss for the Super Bowl champions since Nov. 16, 2025.

Tigst Assefa ⬆⬇ The Ethiopian runner won the Berlin Marathon on Sunday morning in 2:11:04, the third fastest marathon ever run by a woman. But she was on track to break the world record before limping in the final mile with what was later reported to be a serious Achilles injury.

FOS NEWS

Draymond Green on Why Basketball Lost Its Purity

FOS graphic

NBA champion Draymond Green joined Front Office Sports to discuss filming his new VR docuseries, Open Season, to break the therapy stigma; why he believes basketball has lost its purity; thinking often about retirement without considering it yet; and his take on LeBron James’s Polymarket deal and the salary-cap debate.