Fernando Tatis Jr.'s suspension for a drug violation represents "a blow" to the San Diego Padres, but the team are still confident they can make the World Series.
Tatis was banned for 80 games on Friday after testing positive for Clostebol, a performance-enhancing substance.
The star shortstop said he had taken a medicine containing Clostebol to treat ringworm.
It means the Padres will not see Tatis for the rest of this year or for the first 32 games of the 2023 season.
San Diego had been eagerly awaiting the return of the two-time Silver Slugger Award winner following a broken wrist sustained during the MLB lockout.
Manager Bob Melvin had revealed prior to Friday's news that Tatis could have made his season debut as soon as next week.
Now, the team – who occupy the third NL wild-card berth – will have to make do without him, meaning Melvin is relieved they went all out at the trade deadline with a blockbuster move for Juan Soto among a number of signings.
"This is a blow for us. We'll have to move on," Melvin said.
"I'm glad we made the moves we did at the deadline. We feel like we have a really good team still, and sometimes you have to deal with some adversity as a team."
Indeed, Tatis' team-mate Manny Machado sees no reason why the Padres should adjust their aims in light of the suspension.
"He hasn’t been part of the team all year," the third baseman said. "We've gotten to this point so far without him.
"We were waiting for him to get back and hopefully for him to be a spark plug for the team.
"We have the guys to get where we want to be. Obviously, with the trade deadline, what we did there, we reinforced the team and made the team a lot better.
"We still have the same goal, which is to try and make a World Series and bring a championship to San Diego. That's what we're going to try to do."
Mets even NLCS, Yankees take Game 1 of ALCS
Francisco Lindor ended the Los Angeles Dodgers' streak of 33 consecutive scoreless innings with a lead-off home run, and Mark Vientos had a grand slam later on as the New York Mets evened the National League Championship Series with Monday's 7-3 Game 2 victory.
New York, the sixth and lowest seed in the NL play-offs, also received five-plus effective innings from Sean Manaea to bounce back from a 9-0 loss to the top-seeded Dodgers in Sunday's series opener.
Los Angeles entered Game 2 off three straight shutout victories to tie the 1966 Baltimore Orioles for the longest run of consecutive scoreless innings in a post-season in MLB history.
Lindor quickly prevented the streak from going any further, however, as he blasted a pitch from opener Ryan Brasier into the right field seats to begin the contest. The Mets then broke the game open with five runs off Landon Knack in the second inning.
Starling Marte started the second with a single for his first of three hits on the day, and Knack walked Jesse Winker before surrendering Tyrone Taylor's one-out double that plated Marte for a 2-0 lead.
After Lindor was intentionally walked to load the bases with two out, Vientos extended the margin to 6-0 with his third homer of this post-season.
Manaea kept the Dodgers off the board until Max Muncy's solo homer in the fifth, though the left-hander departed after issuing back-to-back walks to Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez to start the bottom of the sixth.
After an error by Mets second baseman Jose Iglesias loaded the bases, Tommy Edman drove in Betts and Hernandez with a single off Phil Maton to bring Los Angeles within 6-3.
The Dodgers threatened again in the eighth by putting two on with two out, but New York closer Edwin Diaz got Enrique Hernandez to fly out and protect the Mets' three-run cushion.
After Marte singled in Pete Alonso in the top of the ninth for the Mets' final run, Diaz worked out of another jam in the bottom of the inning by striking out Betts, Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in succession with two runners on.
The Mets will now host the next three games of this best-of-seven series, with Game 3 to take place Wednesday.
Rodon pitches Yankees to 1-0 lead over Guardians in ALCS
New York's other team also came out a winner on Monday, as the Yankees opened the American League Championship Series with a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians behind six sharp innings from Carlos Rodon.
Rodon struck out nine without a walk and held Cleveland to one run on three hits to help give the Yankees the early upper hand in this clash between the AL's two best teams of the regular season. The left-hander did not permit a run until Brayan Rocchio led off the top of the sixth with a solo homer.
Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton backed Rodon's gem with solo homers, and the Yankees also capitalised on seven walks and five wild pitches thrown by Cleveland hurlers.
Top-seeded New York will attempt to take a 2-0 lead behind ace Gerrit Cole on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, with the Guardians slated to throw 12-game winner Tanner Bibee.
Soto started the scoring with a lead-off homer off Alex Cobb that ignited a three-run third inning for the Yankees. Cobb would issue three walks before departing with two out in favour of Joey Cantillo, who uncorked a pair of wild pitches that enabled Aaron Judge and Stanton to score.
Cantillo threw two more wild pitches after walking Gleyber Torres in the fourth, which set up Judge's sacrifice fly that brought in Torres for a 4-0 lead.
Rocchio's homer in the sixth got Cleveland on the board, but the Yankees countered in the seventh on Stanton's 13th career post-season homer.
The Guardians made a bid to get back in it in the eighth with three singles off reliever Tim Hill, including Steven Kwan's hit that knocked in Andres Gimenez and trimmed the deficit to 5-2.
New York then summoned closer Luke Weaver, who struck out pinch-hitter Will Brennan and retired All-Star Jose Ramirez on an inning-ending groundout to strand two runners.
Weaver recorded three more strikeouts in the ninth to end the game and earn his fourth save of the post-season.
Dodgers blow out Mets in Game 1 of NLCS
The Los Angeles Dodgers tied an MLB post-season record for consecutive scoreless innings by opening the National League Championship Series with Sunday's 9-0 rout of the New York Mets.
Jack Flaherty allowed just two hits through the first seven innings before relievers Daniel Hudson and Ben Casparius finished off the three-hit shutout to extend Los Angeles' streak of scoreless innings to 33, matching the longest run in a post-season set by the Baltimore Orioles during the 1966 World Series.
The top-seeded Dodgers have now won their last three games by shutout, having blanked the San Diego Padres in Games 4 and 5 of the NL Division Series to advance after losing two of the first three matchups.
Los Angeles also got plenty of offence to take a 1-0 lead in this best-of-seven series. Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman each had two hits and a run batted in, while Mookie Betts knocked in three runs with a double in the eighth inning.
Ohtani did have a streak of 36 straight successful stolen base attempts come to an end when he was thrown out in the second inning, the NL MVP favourite's first time caught stealing since July 22.
The Dodgers had a 3-0 lead at that point after taking advantage of control issues from Mets starter Kodai Senga, who was making just his third MLB appearance in 2024 after missing extensive time with shoulder and calf injuries.
Senga walked Betts, Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez in succession as the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the first. Two batters later, Max Muncy singled to center to drive in Betts and Freeman for a quick 2-0 advantage.
Los Angeles extended the margin in the second after Gavin Lux drew another walk off Senga to begin the bottom of the inning. Tommy Edman followed with a sacrifice bunt in front of Ohtani's single to center that plated Lux for a 3-0 lead.
Senga lasted just 1 1/3 innings while surrendering three runs, two hits and four walks.
The Dodgers piled on further with three runs in the fourth. Edman drove in Enrique Hernandez with a single and later scored when Mets right fielder Starling Marte misplayed Ohtani's base hit to allow both runners to take an extra base. Freeman sent Ohtani home with a single two batters later to put New York at a 6-0 deficit.
Flaherty, meanwhile, did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and retired the final eight batters he faced in a dominant performance. The mid-season trade acquisition finished his night with two walks and six strikeouts.
Betts capped the scoring in the eighth with a double that cleared the bases after the Dodgers had loaded them on a Hernandez single, an error and a walk to Ohtani.
The sixth-seeded Mets, who previously knocked out two division winners in the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies during this post-season, will attempt to rebound in Monday's Game 2 at Dodger Stadium. Sean Manaea will start for New York against Los Angeles' Walker Buehler.
MLB: Guardians beat Skubal, Tigers to advance to ALCS
Lane Thomas hit a grand slam off Tarik Skubal and Cleveland beat the Detroit Tigers 7-3 on Saturday in Game 5 of their AL Division Series, moving the Guardians into another postseason matchup against the Yankees.
Cleveland will meet New York in the AL Championship Series, setting up another playoff matchup between two teams that have crossed paths six previous times in October. They last met in 2022, with the Yankees taking their ALDS in five games.
Game 1 is Monday in the Bronx.
Thomas had five RBIs for the Guardians, who weren't expected to contend this season. But they won the tough AL Central under first-year manager Stephen Vogt, and Cleveland is still alive with a chance to end a World Series title drought stretching to 1948.
The Guardians had to take down Skubal, the front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award, to keep it going. The left-hander had not given up a run in 24 consecutive innings - 17 in this postseason - before the Guardians tagged him in the fifth for five runs, tying the most he allowed in 2024.
Cleveland had three singles in the inning – one on an infield roller – to load the bases before Skubal hit Ramírez on the left hand to force in a run.
That brought up Thomas, who hit a three-run homer in Cleveland's 7-0 win in Game 1.
The center fielder connected on Skubal's first pitch, sending it just over the 19-foot-high wall in left-center field.
When the ball touched down, the Guardians' dugout emptied and the screaming, red-clad Progressive Field crowd erupted in celebration.
As has been the case all season, Vogt leaned on his MLB-best bullpen, which showed some wear and tear.
After Thomas hit his homer, the Tigers threatened in the sixth, scoring a run on a single by Jake Rogers and loading the bases with two outs. But Hunter Gaddis struck out Kerry Carpenter, who won Game 2 with a three-run homer in the ninth.
The Tigers, though, kept clawing and closed to 5-3 on Colt Keith's one-out RBI double in the seventh. Eli Morgan came in for Cleveland and struck out both batters he faced.
Thomas hit an RBI single in the eighth to put the Guardians up by three, and that's when Vogt turned to All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, the AL's saves leader, to put the Tigers away.
Throwing one 100 mph fastball after another, Clase got the final six outs. When he retired Keith on a routine grounder to first, the Guardians could finally exhale and plan for their first ALCS visit since 2016.
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