The Pittsburgh Pirates fired pitching coach Ray Searage and bench coach Tom Prince Thursday. The 64-year old Searage had been with the team since 2010. The Pirates had a 5.18 team ERA this past season, fifth-worse in franchise history.
The New York Mets became the seventh major league team looking for a new manager when they let Mickey Callaway go. He was 163-161 over his two seasons with the team. Callaway had led the Mets to a 46-26 record following the All-Star break and back into the National League Wild Card race. Despite a slow start this season, the Mets were nine games better than 2018.
Major League Baseball Playoffs:
–The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Braves 7-6 last night in Game One of their National League Divisional Series. The Cardinals pounded former Pirates closer Mark Melancon for four runs on five hits on their way to scoring six runs over the final two innings. The Braves scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Game Two is this afternoon at 4:37pm in Atlanta.
–The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Washington Nationals 6-0. Walker Buehler tossed six scoreless innings for the Dodgers. He allowed just one hit and struck out eight. Game Two is tonight at 9:37pm in Los Angeles.
Both National League games will be televised on TBS today.
The American League Divisional Series begin today.
–The Houston Astros host the Tampa Bay Rays in Game One of their best-of-five series at 2:05pm. Former Pirate Tyler Glasnow will start for the Rays. Justin Verlander will start for the Astros. The game will be televised on FS1.
–The New York Yankees host the Minnesota Twins at 7:07pm. That game will be shown on the MLB Network.