MLB Wild Card Game 2 Live Playoff Updates, Results, Highlights From Every Game

The 2026 MLB postseason is officially underway following Tuesday's Wild Card Round action, and the abbreviated best-of-three format means four potential elimination games are on tap for Wednesday.

The Phillies managed to stave off elimination in the first game of the day. Can the Astros (vs. White Sox), Red Sox (vs. Yankees) and Cubs (vs. Padres) follow suit and force a Game 3?

Scroll down for updates on results, highlights and anything else worth knowing during another jam-packed day of action.

Jahmai Jones and Nate Eaton are in, Roman Anthony and Jarren Duran are out as the Red Sox face lefty Max Fried in Game 2.

For those keeping score at home, that's eight left-handed hitters and George Lombard Jr. for the Yankees in Game 2.

Luis García Jr., Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon were all on the bench to start Game 1 with lefty Payton Tolle on the mound for Boston.

The Red Sox have made their move to replace Roman Anthony on the roster, which means he'll also be ineligible should they advance to the ALDS.

Jahmai Jones gets the start at DH tonight with lefty Max Fried on the mound, but Mead could be a candidate to start in Game 3 if they survive tonight and the Yankees give the ball to Gerrit Cole.

With one swing of the bat, Chase Meidroth erases all the progress the Astros had made clawing back into the game.

Houston now has 12 outs to come up with a response.

White Sox Wriggle Out of Trouble in 5th Inning

The White Sox summoned Anthony Kay out of the bullpen with two on and one out to face Yordan Alvarez, and he managed to escape the inning unscathed.

He got Alvarez to line out to left field, walked Isaac Paredes and then induced an inning-ending fly out from Jose Altuve with the bases loaded to preserve the one-run lead.

Only change for the Cubs is Matt Shaw getting the start at third base after Pedro Ramírez was at the hot corner in Game 1.

Rookie Ethan Salas makes the start behind the plate for the Padres, with Dustin Harris also moving into the starting lineup after he entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Samad Taylor yesterday.

Not only did his solo shot to the Crawford Boxes cut the Astros' deficit to 4-3, but it also pulled Jose Altuve within one home run of tying Manny Ramirez for the most in MLB postseason history.

Here's the updated leaderboard, courtesy of Sarah Langs :

Manny Ramírez: 29 Jose Altuve : 28 Kyle Schwarber: 24 George Springer: 23 Bernie Williams: 22 Derek Jeter: 20

Pretty elite company for Yankees starter Max Fried as he takes the ball for Game 2 and tries to end the rival Red Sox's season.

Ah, the many moving parts of playoff baseball scheduling.

After a solo shot from Jeremy Peña got the Astros on the board in the bottom of the first inning, Cam Smith added a towering shot of his own in the second inning to cut Houston's deficit to 4-2.

Starting to feel like four runs isn't going to win this game...

Ethan Salas became the youngest player to catch in a big league game since Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez when he debuted in September, and tonight he adds even an more impressive distinction to his resume.

Looking Ahead to Phillies at Braves, Game 3

Series: Tied 1-1 When: Thursday, 2 p.m. ET (tentative)

Aaron Nola (Phillies) and Grant Holmes (Braves) are the most likely starting pitchers for the win-or-go-home Game 3 matchup, though Zack Wheeler is also an option for the Phillies on short rest after pitching on Sunday, while the Braves could opt to use Holmes in a bulk role behind an opener.

The Braves won the season series 9-4 with a plus-23 run differential, so the Phillies pulling out a Game 3 victory would qualify as an upset on multiple fronts. They also dropped Game 1, which has generally been a death sentence in these best-of-three series.

While the Phillies were wrapping up a thrilling extra-inning victory to keep their season alive, the White Sox were busy jumping all over Astros starter Hunter Brown, chasing him in the top of the first inning.

Brown's final line: 0.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 36 pitches

A pair of Astros errors didn't help his cause, but a brutal outing when he was expected to chew up innings following a Game 1 where Houston used eight different pitchers.

Home runs from Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 victory for the Phillies, but there is a serious case to be made that Andrew Painter was the hero of the game.

It's clear the Phillies don't trust their relief corps outside of closer Jhoan Durán, and Painter delivered three scoreless innings in relief to close out the victory. As the No. 5 starter, he can be a weapon out of the 'pen all postseason.

With so many pitchers boasting triple-digit fastballs these days, this is genuinely surprising, even if he's not a perennial 30-homer guy.

While the Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper home runs earlier were no-doubters, Alec Bohm's looked like a routine fly ball off the bat that just kept carrying on its way to squeaking over the wall.

Is Jhoan Durán available for the bottom of the 10th?

Lineups for White Sox vs. Astros, Game 2

Same lineup as Game 1 for the White Sox, just with Chase Meidroth and Braden Montgomery flip-flopped. Astros plug Nick Allen in at third base, shift Isaac Paredes to designated hitter and Yordan Alvarez to left field, and move Taylor Trammell to the bench.

Both teams also have legitimate starting pitchers on the mound after dual bullpen games in Game 1.

The Red Sox got 55 games out of Roman Anthony in what many expected to be a breakout season for the 22-year-old. Now his playoff debut ends after one game and with the season hanging in the balance. Brutal.

An absolute bomb off the bat of Kyle Schwarber cut the newly-minted Braves lead in half to lead off the eighth, and Bryce Harper followed with a solo shot of his own to quickly erase the memory of his miscue in the top half of the inning.

It certainly looked catchable off the bat, whether Bryce Harper got a bad read on it or lost it in the sun, but it reads as an RBI double in the box score.

The Braves tacked on a insurance run with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Matt Olson, putting the Phillies six outs from elimination.