Offishial news, 10/1/23: October baseball

Saturday's Games

Marlins Podcast Episodes

• With their 84th win of the 2023 regular season, the Marlins punched their ticket to the MLB postseason. Jazz Chisholm Jr. drove in each of their first two runs. Jon Berti continues to be the hottest hitter on the club, reaching base safely four times. Eight different pitchers patched things together, constantly working under duress but limiting the Pirates to 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Tanner Scott sealed the deal by striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth.

• Although it's only been three years since Miami's last postseason berth, several members of the organization agree that pulling this off under normal circumstances is a "far superior" feeling. Enjoy Chisholm's livestream of the champagne celebration in the Marlins clubhouse.

• The 43-year-old Skip Schumaker is by far the youngest manager to ever lead the Marlins to the postseason. Kim Ng is the first woman to reach this milestone as an MLB general manager and it only adds to the leverage she'll have in contract extension negotiations.

• Listen back to our postgame Twitter Space, nearly two hours of jubilation about the clinch and trepidation about what lies ahead in October and beyond.

• NL Wild Card race updates: the Cubs and Reds have both been eliminated. The Marlins hold the second Wild Card spot, half a game ahead of the Diamondbacks.

• Elsewhere around the majors, the full 12-team postseason field is set. All that's left to determine is seeding. Felix Bautista (Orioles) will undergo Tommy John surgery, likely sidelining him for the entire 2024 season. The Rockies signed Charlie Blackmon to a one-year, $13 million contract extension. That covers what will be his 14th big league season (all of those spent in Colorado). The Reds extended Nick Krall and promoted him to president of baseball operations.

• All of Sunday's MLB games will begin during the 3 p.m. ET hour. No clue who's pitching for the Marlins, but they'd be wise to stay away from anybody with a prominent role in their postseason plans.

• Join us for a new State of the Fish after the final out! As usual, speaking priority goes to our loyal Super Subscribers. Please consider signing up for as little as $3 per month to help us deliver the best possible Marlins postseason coverage.

• The suspended game against the Mets will not be resumed on Monday as scheduled, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale. The Marlins obviously prefer to have an off day instead and fortunately the result of the game isn't necessary to determine a postseason berth. Regardless of whether Miami's next opponent is the Phillies or Brewers, that series opener will be on Tuesday.

• On this day 20 years ago, the Marlins took NLDS Game 2 from the Giants. Huge performance from Juan Pierre (4-for-5, 3 RBI).

• Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic goes in depth on the 2003 campaign, highlighting the team's biggest personalities and most important inflection points.

Photo courtesy of Miami Marlins