All Activity

Photo Credit: HBO Max James Gunn gave Peacemaker fans some good news this week, revealing how long the Season 2 finale of the upcoming HBO series will be. How long is the Peacemaker Season 2 finale? In a recent reply to a fan on Threads, a fan told Gunn that they were disappointed about Peacemaker Season 2’s penultimate episode being only 33 minutes long. Gunn was quick to reply with a hopeful answer, revealing that Peacemaker Season 2’s finale will be over 57 minutes long, something that should please big fans of the show. “You’ll be happy to know next week’s episode is over 57 minutes long,” said Gunn. Peacemaker’s Season 2 finale, “Full Nelson,” is set to air on HBO on October 9, 2025. Peacemaker Season 2 largely follows the continued adventures of the character played by John Cena. However, the trailer for the HBO series did tease Peacemaker finding a new dimension in which he is actually a beloved hero. Alongside Cena, Peacemaker Season 2 stars Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., Tim Meadows as Langston Fleury, Michael Rooker as Red St. Wiold, Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo, Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase/Vigilante, Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Steve Agee as John Economos, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord, and more. Peacemaker Season 2 is currently airing on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. The first season, as well as The Suicide Squad, are available to watch on the streaming platform. Originally reported by Anthony Nash on SuperHeroHype. The post Peacemaker Season 2 Finale Is Series’ Longest Episode by a Lot appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

(Photo Credit: Republic Pictures) Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss is no stranger to the horror genre and now stars in a wild body horror movie called Shell. ComingSoon spoke with the talented actress about working with co-star Kate Hudson, one of her surprisingly difficult scenes, and more. Directed by Moss’ The Handmaid’s Tale co-star Max Minghella, Shell is out today in select theaters and on digital. “Desperate to reclaim her career, once-beloved actress Samantha Lake (Elisabeth Moss) is drawn into the glamorous world of wellness mogul Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson) —only to uncover a monstrous truth beneath its flawless surface,” says the synopsis. Tyler Treese: Elisabeth, you play an actress who isn’t at her peak, and we see a real vulnerability to Sam. What aspect of the character did you really find most interesting about this role to play into? Elisabeth Moss: I think the vulnerability of her. You know, I’ve played characters recently – especially on Handmaid – who are so strong and so heroic. This is a person that’s much more like every day. It’s much more kind of like us, like an everywoman, and like the most similar character I feel like I’ve played is maybe Peggy in that everywoman kind of sense. So for me that was really fun. It’s fun to be strong and it’s fun to be the heroine, but it was kind of a welcome break to be vulnerable and insecure and funny and goofy and not the strongest person in the room. That was fun for me. It’s also interesting because, as you were saying, you play this very vulnerable and grounded character, but this film gets very over the top and wild in a lot of ways. When you’re playing within a satire as this movie really embraces as it goes on, how do you approach that as an actor? When do you know when to lean into the ridiculousness and when is it funnier to just play it straight? You know, it’s very much written as if I was the straight man. That was kind of just what it was like. I didn’t have the crazy wild moments. Those were obviously reserved for Kate [laughs], which she does really. And she’s so out of this world, and I just think she’s doing like some of the best work of her career. I mean, I’m not the only person to say this. [It’s] universally acknowledged. So it was in the script that I was always the grounded [and] grounding force. Definitely, there are times where she’s like, maybe funny Sam, but funny in a very relatable, vulnerable way. And that was something that Max and I talked about before. [That] was the best thing probably for the movie because the movie is so wild and fun and entertaining and very camp like that I had to be the grounding force, otherwise it was gonna be just silliness all around [laughs]. One of the more over-the-top scenes you do have is when you’re projectile vomiting on just everybody around you. How was it filming that sequence? It was really hard. It was one of our hardest days because to do that, we needed to do it practically, like, and or we wanted to do it practically. I guess you could do anything via effects now, but we wanted to do it practically and it was really hard. It was really hard to project all vomiting because to hide the tube… it sounds so silly, but just doing things practical, it’s such an art, and special effects is such an incredible art form. It’s really difficult. Like blood rigs are some of the hardest things to do and to make look good and to operate, and those kinds of practical special effects are really difficult. And so this was hard. And just the literal, like, if you don’t mind being bored for a second, the literal placement of the tube next to my mouth. But without seeing it on camera, like the angle, but making the angle of my body and the angle of my head match the vomit coming out that was connected via a tube to like a guy with a tank [laughs]/ The timing of that and everything… I’m not gonna lie, it was really tricky, and it was one of our more frustrating days, trying to get that right. Obviously, there’s also the issue of once you projectile vomit on somebody, there’s a good 30-minute cleanup there. […] So we rehearsed it over and over and over and over again without the actual gag happening, pun intended. So we just tried to get it as close as possible. And of course, the first take didn’t work [laughs]. You eventually got it. It’s a great scene in the film. It is one of my favorites. So that hard work was worth it. Thank you. Kate Hudson has such an interesting role in this as well, and she brings a real magnetism to her character. How is it playing off her and feeding into that kind of allure that Zoe has over Sam at first, because she just has a cult of personality? Elisabeth Moss: Yeah, I remember saying to Max before we started, like, there is no sort of work I’m gonna have to do on how Sam feels about her character because this is about Zoe. This is how I feel about Kate. She’s an icon. She’s obviously an incredibly talented actress. She’s also like just an icon of beauty and of Hollywood. She’s somebody that has done… I’ve seen almost every single one of her movies. She’s somebody I’ve admired. We’re pretty actually close in age, but she was far more successful than I was, and so I watched all her movies and so I had this kind of like, and still do, I’m slightly in awe of her… well, more than slightly. And she’s just so cool as well. Like she’s kind of got that cool girl thing and she has this “it factor” she always has, right? Since Almost Famous, she’s always been that girl, and so it required zero acting. The first scene, when she comes up and talks to me, I did have that feeling of like, “Oh my God, Kate, she’s talking to me. She’s so cool.” She’s so fearless. Which is something I didn’t know like that. She’s very adventurous as an actor. She tries things, she loves to explore, she loves to try different things, and she’s constantly trying to make it better. She doesn’t phone it in by any means. She comes in and she wants to do it again, and she wants to try something else. Like you’d think, like you’re a movie star, you don’t really have to, you just have to show up. She does not feel that way. She is such a hard worker. The post Elisabeth Moss Was in Awe of Kate Hudson Filming Wild Body Horror Movie Shell | Interview appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

(Photo Credit: Sony Pictures) Star Wars vet Adam Driver and Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway have signed on for the leading roles in Amazon MGM Studios‘ upcoming film adaptation of Alone at Dawn, based on the 2019 bestselling novel by Dan Schilling and Lori Chapman Longfritz. The war drama will be directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ron Howard, who is no stranger to adapting true-life stories after previously helming Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and Thirteen Lives. What do we know about Alone at Dawn? According to Deadline, Alone at Dawn is inspired by the true story of Longfritz’s brother, Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman. During the war in Afghanistan, he sacrificed his life to save his comrades. The movie will follow an intelligence officer leading an investigation that helps prove why Chapman deserves to receive the Medal of Honor. Schilling, who was also a Combat Control Technician, will also serve as the movie’s military consultant. Howard will be directing the movie from a screenplay written by Michael Russell Gunn, with previous revisions by Erin Cressida Wilson and Amy Herzog. The adaptation will be produced by Kristy Grisham, William Connor, and Patrick Newall, with Gunn set as an executive producer. It is a production by Imagine Entertainment, The Hideaway Entertainment, and Thruline Entertainment. The novel’s official synopsis reads, “John Chapman’s subsequent display of incredible valor — first saving the lives of his SEAL teammates and then, knowing he was mortally wounded, single-handedly engaging two dozen hardened fighters to save the lives of an incoming rescue squad — posthumously earned him the Medal of Honor. Chapman is the first airman in nearly fifty years to be given the distinction reserved for America’s greatest heroes. Alone at Dawn is also a behind-the-scenes look at the Air Force Combat Controllers: the world’s deadliest and most versatile special operations force, whose members must not only exceed the qualifications of Navy SEAL and Army Delta Force teams but also act with sharp decisiveness and deft precision — even in the face of life-threatening danger.” (Source: Deadline) The post Adam Driver & Anne Hathaway To Star in War Movie Alone at Dawn appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Photo Credit: HBO Max James Gunn says that he cut a Hitler joke from the latest episode of Peacemaker Season 2. Peacemaker Season 2 premiered on HBO Max in August 2024. Created by Gunn, the DCU show sees John Cena reprise his role as Chris Smith/Peacemaker. The first seven episodes of Peacemaker Season 2 are now available to watch on the streaming service, while the finale is scheduled to arrive on October 9, 2025. In Peacemaker Season 2, Chris and the 11th Street Kids travel to an alternate world that is ruled by Nazis. Chris was initially ignorant of this fact, as he initially thought this reality would make a nice place to live before learning the truth about it at the end of Episode 6. What did James Gunn say about cutting a Hitler joke in Peacemaker Season 2? Speaking on Peacemaker: The Official Podcast With James Gunn, per ComicBookMovie, Gunn said that he cut out a joke that involves a number of A.R.G.U.S. employees donning Hitler-like mustaches. “They actually had a bunch of the guys shave Hitler mustaches, and they had to keep these on them for days while we were shooting,” Jennifer Holland, who plays Emilia Harcourt on the DC Studios and Warner Bros. Television show, said. Gunn added, “Harcourt says to Peacemaker, ‘You don’t notice the copies of Mein Kampf on every desk?’ And then she points to these guys standing next to the copier and says, ‘What about all those stupid little mustaches?’ And there are all these guys with Hitler mustaches. The lame little mustaches looked too cartoony for me, so I cut it.” While that joke didn’t make it into the final cut of Peacemaker Season 2, there are still plenty of other Hitler references scattered throughout Episode 7. Click here to read more about the episode. Originally reported by Brandon Schreur at SuperHeroHype. The post Peacemaker Season 2: James Gunn on Why He Cut a Hitler Joke From DCU Show appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures One rarely explored question in superhero stories is why someone would choose to work for a supervillain. The 2025 Superman movie briefly examined this, establishing the DC Universe LuthorCorp employees as “cultish acolytes” of Lex Luthor and his worldview. Peacemaker brought back one of these followers as a comic book character who proved even more evil than his boss. The penultimate episode of Peacemaker Season 2, ‘Like a Keith in the Night,’ continued the story of Lex Luthor teaming with General Rick Flag. In exchange for a transfer to a non-metahuman prison, Luthor agreed to help Flag with tracking the technology Peacemaker was using to travel between dimensions. This help entailed using a scanner in Luthor’s command center and the aid of Sydney Happersen. (Image Source: DC Studios) Sydney Happersen was one of scientists who assisted Luthor in his war on Superman. A graduate of MIT, he was described as the leading expert on dimensional interconnectivity. Notably, Happersen refused to help Flag until the general threatened to tell Lex Luthor that Happersen was refusing to follow Luthor’s orders. Such is Luthor’s apparent hold on Happersen that, even with them both in prison, he was still ready to obey. Such slavish behavior is also typical of the comic book version of Sydney Happersen. Why is Sydney Happersen so deadly? Sydney Happersen first appeared in 1987’s Superman Vol. 2 #2. This version of Happersen was a medical expert, rather than a physicist. Lex Luthor chiefly employed him in various illegal enterprises involving cloning. It was Happersen who created the first clone versions of Bizzaro Superman. He was also responsible for creating a new clone body for Lex Luthor after Lex developed cancer from repeated Kryptonite exposure. Unfortunately, the clone body was unstable, and its deterioration made Luthor even more erratic. (Image Source: DC Comics) Happersen’s loyalty would prove to be his undoing. During the 1994 Fall of Metropolis storyline, a dying Lex Luthor decided to take Metropolis with him. He planned to destroy the city with a barrage of ultrasonic missiles. Superman appealed to Luthor’s vanity and what little reason he had left. The Man of Steel pointed out that Luthor would be remembered as a mass murderer rather than the man who built Metropolis. However, Sydney Happersen refused to let Luthor stand down in what he saw as a moment of weakness. He launched the missiles and ruined large sections of Metropolis despite the best efforts of Superman to stop them. (Image Source: HBO Max) The introduction of Sydney Happersen into the DCU does not seem to be a coincidence. General Flag is happy enough with Happersen’s aid in Peacemaker that he declares, “I may keep you around.” The trailer for the Peacemaker Season 2 finale confirms that Flag is good to his word, showing Flag and Happersen exploiting Peacemaker’s portal generator. It is possible that the DCU will follow the comics, with Happersen betraying Flag and ARGUS according to what he thinks Lex Luthor would want. This, in turn, could trigger the crisis at the heart of Man of Tomorrow. Originally reported by Matt Morrison on SuperHeroHype. The post Peacemaker’s Returning DCU Villain Is More Deadly Than Lex Luthor appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures The long-awaited Constantine 2 movie has finally received an exciting update from lead star Keanu Reeves. The project has been in development since 2022, with The Hunger Games franchise director Francis Lawrence attached to helm the sequel. What is Keanu Reeves’ Constantine 2 update? During a recent interview with Fandango, Reeves confirmed that Constantine 2 is still in the works, revealing that the creative team currently has a new draft for the screenplay. “Fingers crossed. Another draft of the script came in. We’re gonna take it to the studio and hopefully they like it too,” Reeves said. The untitled sequel will once again be directed by Lawrence, with producer Akiva Goldsman writing the script. In a previous interview, the filmmaker admitted that one of the reasons why the project is taking a long time to move forward is due to the “regime changes” that Warner Bros. and DC Studios have gone through this recent years. Earlier this year, the creative team received approval from DC Studios to go ahead with writing a script for the sequel. According to Reeves, the story will take place in the “same world” as the first installment, with the titular character set to be “tortured even more.” The 2005 movie was loosely based on the DC and Vertigo Comics occult detective character created by Alan Moore and Steve Bissette. It centered around John Constantine, a warlock and exorcist who helps people with supernatural problems. Besides Reeves, the adaptation also starred Rachel Weisz as Angela Dodson, Shia LaBeouf as Chas Kramer, Tilda Swinton as Gabriel, Djimon Hounsou as Papa Midnite, and Peter Stormare as Lucifer. (Source: Fandango) Originally reported by Maggie Dela Paz for SuperHeroHype. The post Keanu Reeves Gives Major Constantine 2 Update appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Last season, the Chicago Bulls finished with a 39-43 record. That was ninth in the Eastern Conference. Chicago has missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. Additionally, they’ve missed the postseason in seven of the last eight years. The Bulls are eager to get over the hump and become serious contenders in the East. That’s […] The post The Chicago Bulls exercised Matas Buzelis’ 2026-27 team option appeared first on Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News. View the full article

(Image Credit: Disney) The official Avatar 3 runtime has been revealed for 20th Century Studios‘ long-awaited threequel to 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water. The newest installment to the blockbuster action sci-fi franchise will arrive in theaters on December 19, 2025. What is the Avatar: Fire and Ash runtime? In a recent interview with Variety, while discussing the return of Jake’s Toruk in Avatar: Fire and Ash, acclaimed filmmaker James Cameron confirmed that the upcoming movie will be around three hours long. This isn’t surprising, especially since the 2022 sequel also had a total runtime of 3 hours and 12 minutes. “I got a big scoop here. It didn’t exist in Fire and Ash. And I went, ‘Oh, he’s got to go get the bird.’ Come on! I was saving it for a later film. I was like, ‘Fuck that! He should get the bird. Get the Toruk.’ There’s something in Jake’s destiny that requires it, right? So I just re-wrote it, and we went back and we shot two or three scenes around that concept, and I threw some stuff out and stuck that in,” Cameron shared. “And we’re at three hours, big surprise! But it works beautifully, and the actors were super-excited about that idea. It’s like, oh, okay, that feels right, you know?” In addition, Cameron also gave an update regarding the current progress of Avatar 3, revealing that they’re already in the final stages of finishing up the VFX. “We’re going through the finish of the VFX now [on Fire and Ash] — we have been, really, for the last two years, but we’re really coming down to the wire now,” He said. “And I want to be thematically consistent about the way music was used and underscore during dialogue scenes and things like that. So I have rewatched it. It’s a pretty good ride, I have to say!” Avatar: Fire and Ash is once again directed by Cameron, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. The ensemble cast includes returning stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion, Bailey Bass, Edie Falco, and more. Cameron previously said that the upcoming sequel will explore “different cultures from those I have already shown. The fire will be represented by the ‘Ash People.’ I want to show the Na’vi from another angle because, so far, I have only shown their good sides.” (Source: Variety) Originally reported by Maggie Dela Paz for SuperHeroHype. The post Avatar: Fire and Ash Movie Runtime Revealed by James Cameron appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

(Photo Credit: HBO Max) An HBO Max feature is being removed despite the streaming service’s upcoming price increase. Last month, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference that he believes HBO Max is “underpriced.” While he didn’t name any specific details or a timeline, he said that the streaming service will be raising its prices at some point in the future. “The fact that this is quality — and that’s true across our company, motion picture, TV production, and streaming quality — we all think that gives us a chance to raise price,” Zaslav said, via Quartz. What HBO Max feature is being pulled? Despite this, HBO Max has now announced that, starting on November 17, 2025, the CNN Max live news feed will no longer be available. “You will continue to have access to select CNN Originals, including award-winning documentaries and series, available as part of your subscription,” the company said in an email. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this decision comes as CNN plans to launch a “direct-to-consumer streaming offering later this fall, and with CNN among the cable channels set to be cleaved off from WBD next year in the company’s split.” “Most live sports programming on HBO Max is also expected to leave the platform at some point as well, with Discovery Inc. developing plans for its own sports offering,” the article notes. CNN’s Alex MacCallum said in a statement, “CNN has benefitted tremendously from its two years of offering a live 24/7 feed of news to HBO Max customers. We learned from HBO Max’s large base of subscribers what people want and enjoy the most from CNN, and with the launch of our own new streaming subscription offering coming later this fall, we look forward to building off that and growing our audience with this unique, new offering.” The post Beloved HBO Max Feature Being Pulled Despite Upcoming Price Increase appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Class of 2026 senior guard Junior County told ESPN’s Jeff Borzello and Paul Biancardi on Thursday that he has committed to UConn. County chose the Huskies over Arizona, Indiana, Maryland, and Purdue. Junior County Wanted To Play For UConn Coach Dan Hurley After visiting each of his other finalists, County took his final trip to […] The post UConn Basketball Lands 4-Star Recruit Junior County appeared first on Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News. View the full article

View the full article

View the full article

Diddy Apologizes To Women Who Accused Him Of Abuse In Letter To Judge! View the full article

1 On 1 Fight At The Gym Ends With Respect! View the full article

Angry Man Gets Heated With NYC Doorman, Calls Him The N-Word And Breaks His Phone! View the full article

Big Girl Tries To Join In And Defend Her Man From A Fight! View the full article

Lawd: Forget The Sport, Them Milkers Are Bouncin' View the full article

He Had A Death Wish View the full article

Via Coi Leray, Shoreline Mafia | Act Like You Know on YT View the full article

View the full article

Duke men’s basketball head coach Jon Scheyer has been extended through the 2030-31 season, the school announced Thursday. The extension adds two years to his current deal that was previously through 2028-29. Scheyer last received a contract extension in 2023. Duke Coach Jon Scheyer Entering Fourth Season Last season, the Blue Devils finished 35-4, captured […] The post Duke Extends Basketball Coach Jon Scheyer Through 2030-31 Season appeared first on Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News. View the full article

Photo Credit: ABC General Hospital has made some big character changes in the past weeks, but it seems that there is one particular character that most fans want gone from the show. In a discussion on Facebook, a fan asked which character should be killed off next on General Hospital, and most fans said in unison, “Drew!” General Hospital Fans Really Want This Character To Die The discussion of killing off a character started when a fan asked on the General Hospital Fans page on Facebook about who the show should kill off next. “If you were the head writer at General Hospital, which character would you kill off?,” the original post read. While one would expect many names to be thrown into the hat, it seemed that the most recurrent name was Drew. “I think we can all agree, Drew,” one user answered to this post, while another said, “Drew. Sonny. Alexis. Kristina.” Yet another user said, “Drew, Portia, Willow, Alexis, and Anna.” So it seems that many fans have named others like Alexis, Sonny, and Willow, amongst others, but Drew is still the name on top of everyone’s list. The majority of this hatred for Drew comes from his controversial actions, which have been more and more frequent in the past months. His interference in Willow’s life has had a huge negative impact on her. Drew’s schemes have also caused a lot of harm to others all around. With this response, it seems clear that fans now want him gone from the show. Few villains in recent months have had the impact that Drew did. His hateful actions have indeed been a driving force on General Hospital, and hence, the writers may keep him for some time longer. But if this is the reaction that stays constant, he will inevitably meet his end in one or another. There will be more arcs surrounding Drew soon. The post General Hospital Fans Really Want This Character To Die appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

http://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Daniel-Palencia-Cubs-NLWCG3.jpgDavid Banks-Imagn Images They say that in order to thrive in stressful and uncertain times, the key is to focus on the things you control. And who are “they” exactly? Mostly people who traffic in self-help cliches on the internet. But cliches are cliches for a reason. They’re rooted in some measure of truth. And in a decisive Game 3 on Thursday, the NL Wild Card Series between the Cubs and Padres was ultimately decided by control — in nearly every sense of the word. The type of control that refers to whether a pitcher can find the strike zone, the type of control a manager exercises over bullpen usage, and the type of control exerted over batted ball outcomes when lockdown defense becomes a critical component of a team’s identity. In a 3-1 Cubs victory over the Padres, neither team looked dominant, but Chicago dominated the variables within its control, while San Diego seemed to be pulling blocks from a Jenga tower on an inning-by-inning basis and hoping to stay upright until its offense could break through with a few runs. But things got wobbly early for the Padres. Coming off his age-38 season, Yu Darvish got the start for San Diego. He made multiple trips to the IL during the regular season with elbow inflammation, and despite Darvish’s return to the active roster, in his postgame comments to the media, Padres manager Mike Shildt implied the pitcher was never fully healthy. As a result, Darvish posted a career-low strikeout rate to go along with a career-high home run rate and ERA, while totaling just 72 innings pitched. On Thursday, Darvish opened up the first inning leaving fastballs over the heart of the plate and missing the zone badly with his breaking pitches. He did not seem in control. He made it through the first inning despite allowing a leadoff single to Michael Busch on a middle-middle cutter. Nico Hoerner rolled over a low slider. He snuck a couple of fastballs past Ian Happ for a strikeout, and then catcher Freddy Fermin cut down Busch attempting to steal second. In the second inning, Darvish allowed back-to-back hits to start the frame. Then with his four-seamer leaking over the plate and his cutter failing to miss bats regardless of location, he opted for sinkers against Cubs catcher Carson Kelly. The first missed low, the second induced a swinging strike despite missing inside, and the third rode even further inside, hitting Kelly and loading the bases for Pete Crow-Armstrong. After how poorly things went with the sinker, Darvish went back to his curveball, but spiked it in the dirt. In the hole 1-0, and likely looking for a strike, he attempted another four-seamer, which again caught too much of the plate. Crow-Armstrong dropped the pitch into center field for a single, plating a run in the process. With Darvish lacking both control and command of his pitches, Shildt attempted to regain control and made a call to the bullpen. But when Jeremiah Estrada entered with no outs and the bases loaded to face shortstop Dansby Swanson, he opted to stay away from his 97-mph fastball, and instead threw Swanson five sliders and two splitters. Swanson swung at the only three offerings in the zone, fouling off a slider and a splitter. The other four pitches missed badly, so Estrada walked in a run on the first batter he faced. Given the situation, choosing to spam sliders and splitters cedes too much control, even if those pitches are designed to generate whiffs outside the zone. Swanson remained disciplined, controlling what he could control and swinging only when needed. Estrada struck out the next batter on three straight fastballs and wound up throwing two innings without allowing any more runs. Shildt then got an inning each from Michael King, Wandy Peralta, Robert Suarez, Adrian Morejon, and David Morgan. And when rattled off like that, it sounds as though Shildt executed a nice, tidy, controlled game plan. The Cubs only scored once more, but despite the results, Shildt’s bullpen management featured difficult-to-follow logic and unnecessary risks. For instance, why was Estrada first out of the bullpen, when his performance in August and September had dropped off significantly relative to his numbers in April and May (a 5.19 ERA compared to a 2.49 ERA)? Why did he stay in the game for two innings when he’d only been asked to get six outs once all season? If King, a former reliever, was going to be available out of the bullpen anyway, why not let him provide some length rather than Estrada? And when King did eventually enter the game, why only use him for one inning? There’s an argument for wanting to secure a favorable matchup for the left-handed Peralta with several of Chicago’s lefty hitters due up, but why not let Peralta catch Busch, the switch-hitting Happ, and Kyle Tucker the next time through the order? As it played out, Busch next came to the plate in the seventh with Suarez on the mound to start a second inning of work. Like Estrada, Suarez has not been called upon to pitch more than one inning very often. He’s only needed to sit down and then get back out there and warm up again four times this year. And in this instance, Suarez was sitting for a while. The top half of the inning included both a Cubs pitching change and a challenge attempting to overturn a successful steal of second by Xander Bogaerts. When Suarez finally did toe the rubber against Busch, he threw four straight changeups, then piped a fastball down the middle that Busch deposited in the right field bleachers to extend Chicago’s lead to 3-0. Surely Shildt entered an elimination game with a backup plan for this year’s less reliable version of Darvish, and he certainly has more detailed information on the status of his pitching staff than we do, but the way the game script unfolded did not give the appearance of a measured and carefully plotted deployment of pitching resources. By contrast, Cubs manager Craig Counsell had five innings to cover with his bullpen, and his strategy was fairly straightforward to decode. But before he needed to make the call to the pen, starting pitcher Jameson Taillon — who like Darvish is currently a somewhat diminished version of his former self, but still possesses a vast arsenal of pitches to work with — navigated four scoreless innings with less-than-overwhelming stuff by strategically mixing and locating six distinct pitch types. And unlike Darvish, Taillon was able to locate his pitches well enough to control the narrative throughout his outing. Then Counsell finished out the game by setting up his best right-handed relievers to face the formidable (and righty-heavy) top of San Diego’s lineup and dropping in his left-handed relievers, or rather, his relievers who fare better against left-handed hitters, to face the pocket of lefties at the bottom of the order (Ryan O’Hearn, Gavin Sheets, and Jake Cronenworth). And though none of O’Hearn, Sheets, and Cronenworth own significant splits against left-handed pitching, Counsell’s strategy was clearly designed to play to the splits and strengths of his staff, rather than trying to contort his roster to exploit opponent weaknesses. And Counsell’s tact worked. Right up until the top of the ninth, when reliever Brad Keller, in his second inning of work, completely lost his feel for where the baseball was going and plunked both O’Hearn and Bryce Johnson (who entered the game to play left field after Jose Iglesias pinch-hit for Sheets in the sixth) in consecutive plate appearances. But according to Counsell’s plan, that was the place in the lineup where a lefty killer is meant to enter the chat anyway, so in came Andrew Kittredge (a righty with reverse splits) to close things out for Chicago. Though sound pitching strategy is important — and even if Darvish had gone toe-to-toe with Taillon, and Shildt had used his bullpen in a more sensical manner — none of it matters if the team doesn’t score runs. And the Padres were held scoreless until a ninth-inning home run from Jackson Merrill. But Chicago’s excellent pitching wasn’t the only reason for that. San Diego made some solid contact, the type that normally goes for a hit, only for that contact to be swallowed up by the Cubs defense. Some might call that bad batted ball luck, but I’m not sure luck had much to do with it. Rather, the Cubs purposely assembled a roster with Dansby at shortstop, Hoerner at second, and Crow-Armstrong in center. So as the final exhibit of Chicago taking control of this decisive Game 3, let’s run through some defensive highlights. PCA set the tone in the first inning with a sliding grab for the first out. In the fourth, Swanson leapt to snag a line drive, couldn’t quite hold on, but managed to ignore his chain falling off and recovered in time to make the throw to first, in part, because the batter (Luis Arraez), knowing Swanson’s reputation, assumed the shortstop made the initial catch. Then in the sixth, Swanson opened the inning with a sliding play on a grounder, and followed that up by showcasing some lightning fast footwork to start a 6-3 double play. In the seventh, Hoerner got in on the action with a leaping grab of his own, followed by a quick-release throw to second, that didn’t succeed in doubling off Bogaerts, but remains worthy of oohs and aahs. The Cubs now move on to face the Brewers in the Division Series starting on Saturday in Milwaukee. Source View the full article

Here are three things to keep an eye on as we head into the weekend… 1. Division Series begin in both leagues: MLB’s Wild Card round capped off yesterday when the Tigers toppled the Guardians on the strength of some late offense, while the Cubs edged past the Padres — but not before some ninth-inning drama put everyone on the edge of their seats. In the nightcap, Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler delivered a historic performance when he held the Red Sox scoreless and punched out 12 hitters over eight innings as New York advanced. There are no games today, but the NLDS and ALDS are both slated to kick off tomorrow. Action begins when the Cubs head to Milwaukee, where they’ll be greeted by Brewers ace Freddy Peralta. Chicago has yet to formally name a Game 1 starter. Javier Assad would be on full rest, or they could turn to Colin Rea, who tossed 1 2/3 innings in relief on Wednesday and would presumably be able to go multiple innings to open a de facto bullpen game. The Yankees will be in Toronto for Game 1 of the ALDS later on Saturday. Neither club has announced a Game 1 starter. New York is deciding between Luis Gil and Will Warren, per SNY’s Andy Martino, with a current lean toward the former. The Blue Jays will go with Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber in Games 1 and 2 but haven’t yet tipped their hand on which order they’ll be deployed. The Dodgers will be at Citizen’s Bank Park on Saturday in the only of the four matchups where both starting pitchers have been publicly revealed. Shohei Ohtani (2.87 ERA, 33 K%, 4.8 BB% in 47 regular season innings) will be on the bump for Los Angeles opposite Phillies southpaw Cristopher Sanchez (2.50 ERA, 26.3 K%, 5.5 BB%, 202 innings). The final game on Saturday’s slate will see the Tigers head to Seattle. If Detroit wants to avoid using ace Tarik Skubal on short rest, they’ll likely need to go with Keider Montero or Chris Paddack to open the series. The Mariners are hoping that Bryan Woo will be ready to go after being down nearly three weeks due to a pectoral injury. He threw a bullpen session yesterday and will be further evaluated today. If not Woo, the Mariners can choose among Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and Luis Castillo to kick things off at home. 2. Rangers press conference today: The Rangers announced yesterday that president of baseball operations Chris Young and general manager Ross Fenstermaker will address the media this morning at 10am CT for their end-of-season press conference. The team’s two top baseball ops executives will surely take questions on Bruce Bochy’s departure from the organization, the subsequent managerial vacancy created by his exit, the 2025 season and where it went wrong, and the direction for the team moving forward. End-of-season pressers like this typically offer vital insight into what shape the offseason could take — particularly for hopeful contenders that miss the playoffs. 3. All quiet in Anaheim: It’s another story entirely in Anaheim, where the Angels missed the playoffs for an 11th straight season and have not yet held any media availability. As Sam Blum of The Athletic points out, general manager Perry Minasian had previously indicated that he would address the media this week, but those plans seem to have changed. Blum adds that team sources confirmed to him Minasian is still employed at this time — there’s been speculation about his job status after the club announced a managerial change — but it’s unclear when or whether anyone from the team will take questions about the 2025 season or the upcoming offseason. Press conferences of this nature on a just-wrapped season are standard practice for all teams in MLB, and the fact that Minasian had broadcast a forthcoming media session only to pull back is rather strange. No one from the Angels has publicly commented on whether Minasian will be back for the 2026 season. He signed a two-year extension covering the 2025-26 seasons (with a 2027 option) in Aug. 2024. Minasian conducted an end-of-season press conference following each of his first four seasons as the team’s GM — including a post-2024 session that was conducted exactly one year ago yesterday. View the full article

On Thursday, October 2, the 76ers and Knicks were in Abu Dhabi for a preseason matchup. New York won 99-84, and the teams will meet again this Saturday. For that first game, New York was without one of their normal starters. O.G. Anunoby reportedly suffered a sprained hand at practice on Wednesday. He was not […] The post Knicks’ O.G. Anunoby missed their preseason opener due to a sprained hand appeared first on Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News. View the full article