October 4, the NL Wild Card Game:
Yes that's former Rays starter Marc Wagner getting the win for Washington. He finally returned to action after missing 2 years with Tommy John surgery that didn't quite take the first time around, and surprisingly was back to his old form, striking out 164 in 115 innings and turning in a 3.05 ERA, meaning Washington's gamble of a 6/115 contract extension while he was rehabbing paid dividends for them this year. Of course we were never going to pay him 8 figures while he rehabbed for 2 years with an uncertain outcome, which is why we traded him along with Joe Barker in the offseason before last. Barker meanwhile took advantage of the juiced ball to lead MLB with 56 homers this year. Our return for those two was Michael Valdez, still an excellent CF prospect ranked about #60 overall who played this year with A+ Charlotte but had some slightly disappointing numbers. He's still only 21 and highly regarded by the scouts but right now Washington got the better end of that deal, not that it's set us back or anything.
October 5, the AL Wild Card Game:
So it will be the Angels once again. We faced them several times in the playoffs during the 2020s, although the last time they upset us in the 2027 ALCS so there's some unfinished business there. We'll also be seeing Jon Hayes and Christian Little, who'll be no fun to try to advance against, although we'll only see Little once since had to pitch the wild card game, and pitch it well he did. Of course the Angels will be the sentimental favorite here as most of the country wants to see 42-year-old Mike Trout get a ring with the closest he came having been in 2027 when they lost to St. Louis in the World Series. Trout can still play (ok, DH) - although he only hit .210 he had 24 HR to bring his career total to 725 and still drew 114 walks.