Rotoworld MLB Daily Dose: Wednesday 10/03/2018

[Download the Rotoworld App for the latest fantasy player news on the go]( [Rotoworld.com]( has all the tools you need to win your fantasy Baseball league. [Check out Rotoworld.com Season Pass]( To read this article on Rotoworld.com [click here]( [Player News]( | [Columns]( | [Injuries]( | [Transactions]( | [Depth Charts]( | [Scoreboard]( | [Tickets]( Postseason Dose: Rock On - 10/03/2018 BY Drew Silva [NBC Sports Live]( LATEST FANTASY BASEBALL HEADLINES [- Freeland brilliant as Rockies take WC Game]( [- Wolters drives in go-ahead run, Rox to NLDS]( [- Holliday in LF, hitting 5th in Wild Card Game]( [- Zobrist batting leadoff for Cubs in WC Game]( [- Twins officially fire manager Paul Molitor]( [- Foltynewicz starting Game 1 of NLDS vs. LAD]( [- Strop on Cubs' roster for NL Wild Card Game]( Follow [@drewsilv]( and [@Rotoworld_BB]( on Twitter. [Kyle Freeland]( worked 6 2/3 scoreless frames and unlikely hero [Tony Wolters]( plated the go-ahead run on an RBI single in the top of the 13th inning as the Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 in the National League Wild Card Game on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. It was the longest sudden-death game in Major League Baseball history, surpassing two prior 12-inning affairs: the 2014 American League Wild Card Game between the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics and Game 7 of the 1924 World Series between the Washington Senators and New York Giants. “This is going to go down as a classic … it’s definitely something we’ll never forget,” Rockies manager [Bud Black]( told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt in a quick postgame chat on SportsCenter. Freeland was brilliant despite starting on short rest, reaching new heights with his fastball velocity and dropping in countless nasty sliders to keep the host Cubs off balance throughout the early part of the evening. The 25-year-old out-dueled the more experienced [Jon Lester](, who allowed a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning before finding his form. Lester struck out nine batters and gave up just four total hits over six strong innings. Chicago tied the game in the bottom of the eighth when [Javier Baez]( laced a double to left-center to drive in pinch-runner [Terrance Gore](, but that’s the only scoring the boom-or-bust Cubs offense could muster. They were also limited to one run in Monday’s National League Central tiebreaker against the Brewers, a 3-1 loss, and had to watch a second team in as many days celebrate a clincher on their home turf. Wolters, who served as the gridlock-breaker for Colorado in this one with his 13th-inning drive through the middle of the Cubs' infield, finished with a .170 batting average in the regular season, ranking 374th among the 379 major league hitters with at least 150 at-bats. October baseball never fails to surprise. The Rockies will need more magic in their upcoming best-of-five National League Division Series matchup against the Brewers. Freeland, who delivered a 2.85 ERA in 202 1/3 regular-season innings, including a remarkable 2.40 ERA in the thin air of Coors Field, probably won’t be available again until NLDS Game 3. But the words of [Bud Black]( ring true … this 2018 NL Wild Card Game won’t soon be forgotten. Previewing The AL Wild Card Game Yankee Stadium will play host to the American League Wild Card Game for the third time in the last four years. The winner of this year’s loser-goes-home tilt between the Yankees and Athletics will advance to play the Red Sox in the best-of-five American League Division Series. Here’s what else we know … The A’s are starting reliever [Liam Hendriks]( in what figures to be a full-on bullpen game. [Mike Fiers]( was an option, but he has been told that he will not be on the roster. [Edwin Jackson]( will make the squad and potentially work multiple innings behind Hendriks or some other relief pitcher. This is the state of the Oakland rotation -- the club has lost 10 starters to 13 different injuries since the beginning of spring training, with four requiring Tommy John surgery and [Sean Manaea]( undergoing a major shoulder procedure on September 19. The bullpen has been a big strength for the Athletics all year, and they’ll hope to ride it to a deep postseason run. The Yankees will go with a traditional starter in [Luis Severino](. He got lit up in last year’s American League Wild Card Game against the Twins and mostly struggled in the second half of the 2018 regular season before delivering three strong outings to close out the month of September. If Severino gets into trouble early, expect a quick hook from manager [Aaron Boone](. Yankees relievers registered a combined 3.38 ERA this season, ranking fourth among all major league teams, and they finished second in total strikeouts behind the Rays, who are a bit of an outlier on that leaderboard because of their extreme bullpen usage. The projected lineups for each team … Oakland Athletics LF [Nick Martini]( 3B [Matt Chapman]( 2B [Jed Lowrie]( DH [Khris Davis]( 1B [Matt Olson]( RF [Stephen Piscotty]( CF [Ramon Laureano]( SS [Marcus Semien]( C [Jonathan Lucroy]( Chapman broke out in his first full major league season, batting .278/.356/.508 with 24 home runs and 42 doubles in 145 games while playing elite-level defense at third base. He ultimately [ranked seventh in the majors]( in FanGraphs’ version of WAR. Davis led all big leaguers in home runs with 48 and has averaged 44 homers and 112 RBI per year over the last three years, since the Brewers traded him to the A’s in February 2016. This might not be the most star-studded lineup, but it is deep and dangerous. Oakland hitters posted the lowest groundball rate (39.7 percent) in the bigs this season and finished third in total home runs with 227. New York Yankees LF [Andrew McCutchen]( RF [Aaron Judge]( CF [Aaron Hicks]( DH [Giancarlo Stanton]( 1B [Luke Voit]( SS [Didi Gregorius]( 3B [Miguel Andujar]( C [Gary Sanchez]( 2B [Gleyber Torres]( The Yankees rotated leadoff men down the stretch, but we’ll venture a guess that it’s going to be McCutchen, who posted a .421 on-base percentage in 114 plate appearances with New York after getting picked up from the Giants at the August 31 waiver deadline. That will allow Hicks to hit third in front of Stanton and Voit to bat fifth. Voit went nuts over the final five weeks of the regular season, slashing .351/.426/.763 with 14 home runs and 31 RBI over his last 32 games. Sanchez has been brutal behind the plate defensively this year and his bat has also been inconsistent, but the 25-year-old possess the raw power to change a game with one swing. Quick Hits: Twins fired manager [Paul Molitor]( … MLB commissioner [Rob Manfred]( said Tuesday there should be a resolution "shortly" on the [Addison Russell]( domestic violence investigation … [Hyun-Jin Ryu]( will start Game 1 of the NLDS for the Dodgers on Thursday against the Braves, with [Clayton Kershaw]( pitching Game 2 on Friday … Astros manager [A.J. Hinch]( said on MLB Network Radio that [Justin Verlander](, [Gerrit Cole](, and [Dallas Keuchel]( will start the first three games of the ALDS against the Indians … A hand expert who examined [Nomar Mazara]('s right thumb determined that the outfielder will not need offseason surgery … [Mike Foltynewicz]( will start Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers on Thursday … Red Sox manager [Alex Cora]( said [Nathan Eovaldi]( will be available out of the bullpen for Game 1 of the ALDS … [Mike Clevinger]( will start Game 3 of the ALDS against the Astros … [Brian Johnson]( will not be on the ALDS roster for the Red Sox … Cardinals general manager Michael Girsch indicated Sunday that [Harrison Bader]( should open 2019 as the team’s regular center fielder … Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Tuesday that the club is still mulling over [Yangervis Solarte]('s option for 2019 … Indians infielder [Erik Gonzalez]( has been cleared from the MLB concussion protocol … White Sox sent catcher [Dustin Garneau]( outright to Triple-A Charlotte. 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