Month: October 2015

Mets Win NLCS, Prove Back to the Future II Wrong

Posted on October 22, 2015 in Game Recap

Him? What, is he funny or something? (Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports)

Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets, Mets win series 4-0

Game 4: Jason Hammel (CHC) vs. Steven Matz (NYM) – New York 8, Chicago 3

There’s not much to say for the Chicago Cubs. They were doomed from the start. Or, more accurately, they were doomed AT the start, because they started Jason Hammel. I feel for the guy, but after a frisky April-to-June stretch, he was downright bad from July on. Why? I’m sure that there’s a litany of reasons, but his lousy performance in the 1st inning was risk factor #1.

For the duration of 2015, Hammel’s 1st-inning ERA was 5.23, and he allowed batters faced in the first frame to rack up a .921 OPS. In all other innings, he put up a respectable ERA of 3.42. And his OPS against was all the way down at .664. Does he take a while to get going? Does he just have trouble against the top part of a lineup the first time through? You tell me, but the Cubs paid for Hammel’s deficiencies last night, no matter the cause.

The game was effectively over in the top of the 1st. Hammel gave up a single to Curtis Granderson and a 2-out walk to Yoenis Cespedes to bring Lucas Duda to the plate, and Duda made him pay.

Before Cubs fans could pick themselves up off the floor, Travis d’Arnaud took Hammel deep again to make it 4-0.

The Cubs pulled Hammel after he walked David Wright with 1 out, and the Mets added two more runs against Travis Wood on an RBI double by Duda. Chicago, meanwhile, didn’t record its first hit until the 4th inning, when a Jorge Soler double started the Cubs’ first attempt at a rally on the night. The bases were eventually loaded with no outs, but only Soler scored. 6-1, Mets.

Just when things couldn’t get worse for Chicago, Daniel Murphy remembered that he had history to make.

Kris Bryant also hit a 2-run shot in the 8th inning to bring the deficit back to 5 runs, but people didn’t seem to care as much about his as they did about Murphy’s.

This was now all a lie:

And that’s a darn shame. Mets win, 8-3, and advance to the World Series.

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Kansas City Royals, Royals lead series 3-2

Next game: Tomorrow, Friday, 8:07 ET, in Kansas City. David Price (TOR) vs. Yordano Ventura (KC)

Playoff Lightning Recap: Royals 14 Blue Jays 2, Mets 5 Cubs 2

Posted on October 21, 2015 in Game Recap, Random Stuff

ALCS

Royals 14 Blue Jays 2, Royals lead Series 3-1

The Royals put a quick four on the board in the top of the first off of Blue Jays’ knuckleballer R.A. Dickey:

After going quiet for the middle third of the game, the Royals offense came back to life, and they just. kept. coming. They scored 14 runs on 15 hits — only two of which went for extra bases. You’re good at math so you know that means KC hit 13 singles, and they also drew 5 walks. That’s a whole lot of “keeping the line moving.”

Royals’ starter Chris Young went only 4.2 innings and allowed two runs, but that was enough given the strength and depth of their bullpen. Four relievers combined for 4.1 innings of shutout ball, topped off by old friend Franklin Morales in the 9th.

Kansas City has a chance to secure their second consecutive trip to the World Series starting this afternoon at 4 on FS1. Endison Volquez vs. Marco Estrada. This didn’t work out too well for Toronto the first time around.

NLCS

Mets 5 Cubs 2, Mets lead Series 3-0

This one was a little more exciting than the ALCS game. The Mets jumped on Cubs’ starter Kyle Hendricks right away thanks to a David Wright single and a Yoenis Cespedes double.

In the bottom of the first, the Cubbies evened things up on this opposite field job by Kyle Schwarber, which also set the Cubs franchise record for home runs in a single postseason.

That pitch is legitimately 10″ off the plate and up. Incredible display of power by the 22 year old.

Speaking of records and incredible, have you heard about this guy Daniel Murphy?

In the bottom of the 3rd he goes yard, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead and ties Carlos Beltran’s record of homering in five straight postseason games. He has six homers in eight postseason games.

Bottom 4 with the Cubs now trailing by a run, Jorge Soler absolutely cranks a 3-1 Jacob deGrom fastball out to right-center.

He must’ve been sitting middle-away because that is an absolutely gorgeous swing on a ball on the outer half. 2-2 ballgame.

deGrom had a similar outing to his Game 5 start against the Dodgers — a little shaky early but composed himself and turned in an impressive performance.

PITCHERS IP  H  R ER BB SO HR ERA
deGrom (W, 1-0) 7.0 4 2 2 1 7 2 2.57

In the top of the 6th, Cespedes hit a leadoff single, Duda sacrificed him over to second, d’Arnaud grounds out, but not before Cespedes swiped third with relative ease. This left Yoenis at third with two outs and Michael Conforto batting. Cubs’ pitcher Trevor Cahill struck him out on a nasty breaking ball in the dirt. Maybe a little too nasty:

New York would add a couple of insurance runs in the 7th, and guess who was in the middle of it all?

The poor Cubs. Obviously some of this damage was self-inflicted, but there were a couple of bad breaks mixed in there as well.

The Mets will go for the series sweep tonight at 8PM on TBS. Steven Matz vs. Jason Hammel. I’d say this one is a toss-up simply because the Cubs will use anyone and everyone out of the bullpen if Hammel gets into trouble.

The Mets will really want to take care of business in this game, because they could be looking at Lester in Game 5, Arrieta in Game 6, and be forced to play a Game 7, which is always a crapshoot.

Lightning Recap: Blue Jays Take Must-Win Game 3

Posted on October 20, 2015 in Game Recap, Random Stuff
blue jays take must-win game 3

It looks like Kris was Medlen with the wrong guy. Sorry. (Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Kansas City Royals, Royals lead series 2-1

Game 3: Marcus Stroman (TOR) vs. Johnny Cueto (KC) – Toronto 11, Kansas City 8

In what amounted to a must-win game (they’d have been down 3-0 in the ALCS with a loss), Toronto’s sluggers finally delivered after scoring a combined 3 runs in the series’ first two games.

Neither starter was sharp, but Cueto had an especially forgettable performance, lapsing into a reenactment of his late August/early September blues. By the time the bottom of the third came around, Stroman and Cueto had already surrendered 8 combined hits, and the score was 3-2, Toronto. But Cueto chose this moment to completely fall to pieces.

He gave up a leadoff single to Edwin Encarnacion and walked Chris Colabello on four pitches before paying dearly for those mistakes on a high fastball that Troy Tulowitzki took deep to center for a 3-run home run.

Cueto apparently later complained that the Blue Jays were stealing signs (a familiar storyline in Toronto), but got no sympathy from teammate Edinson Volquez, who said, “Johnny said [that] last night, but that’s your fault. You’ve got to hide the ball and have better communication with the catcher giving you signs when you’re pitching.”

Anyway, the bad times kept rolling for Cueto, who gave up a walk and an RBI double before getting pulled for Kris Medlen, who got 2 outs before giving up an absolute BOMB on a breaking ball to Josh Donaldson.

With a 9-2 lead, Stroman could coast a bit, and he did, giving 2 runs back in the top of the 5th before Ryan Goins gave the lead another boost with a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning.

Tulowitzki struck out in the bottom of the 7th and was thrown out of the game in bizarre fashion for arguing balls and strikes as he came out to play defense in the top of the 8th.

The Royals actually made it look closer than it was with a 4-run 9th inning that included a 2-run shot by Kendrys Morales off closer Roberto Osuna.

But it was too little, too late, and the Blue Jays get a chance to even the series at 2 wins apiece this afternoon.

Next game: Today, Tuesday, 4:07 ET, in Toronto. R.A. Dickey (TOR) vs. Chris Young (KC)

Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets

Tonight, Tuesday, 8:07 ET, in Chicago. Kyle Hendricks (CHC) vs. Jacob deGrom (NYM)

Lightning Recap: Both LCS at 2-0

Posted on October 19, 2015 in Game Recap, Random Stuff

ALCS – Royals lead Blue Jays 2-0

Game 1: Royals 5 Blue Jays 0

On Friday night Edinson Volquez spun 6 shutout innings thanks to a lively two-seam fastball. He didn’t always know where it was going (4 walks in those 6 innings) but neither did the Blue Jays’ hitters, who managed only two hits and struck out five times against Edinson.

The Royals offense was led by Alcides Escobar’s two doubles and two runs scored. This must really stick in the craw of noted L7 Weenie Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk (Correction: It was Puliot, not Calcaterra. But Crag is still a weenie) since earlier this postseason he bashed Escobar and Kansas City manager Ned Yost for batting him leadoff. Escobar has an OPS of .867 this postseason.

Game 2: Royals 6 Blue Jays 3

Poor David Price. Similar to Clayton Kershaw in last year’s NLDS, for awhile it looked like this was going to be the start that silenced all of the naysayers. After surrendering a leadoff single to Escobar, Price was dominant, retiring the next 18 men in a row.

The Blue Jays offense had also done their part, building a 3-0 lead in support of their ace. Alas, a miscommunication on a Ben Zobrist pop up was all it took for Price’s outing to come crashing down:

Once the Royals bullpen is handed a lead after the 7th, they’re not going to give it back. Royals take a 2-0 series lead heading into tonight’s game in Toronto.

NLCS – Mets lead Cubs 2-0

Game 1: Mets 4 Cubs 2

Daniel Murphy is the greatest baseball player of all time. He opened the scoring in this one with a first inning solo shot off of John Lester.

Travis d’Arnaud added a solo shot off of the apple in dead center field, and Matt Harvey allowed only two runs in 7.2 innings, striking out nine and walking two on just 97 pitches. This was obviously huge for Harvey. Given the innings limit controversy, every start is under a microscope and the Mets fans will either love him or hate him before it’s all said and done. I think it’s pretty obvious how they feel after this one.

Oh yeah, this is how this game ended:

Game 2: Mets 4 Cubs 1

Have I mentioned that Daniel Murphy is playing well right now?

For those keeping score at home, in his last four postseason games, Murphy has homered off of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, John Lester, and Jake Arrieta. I’ll repeat my earlier claim: he is the greatest ballplayer of all time.

Thor was on the mound for the Mets and was dominant, but had to leave after 5.2 innings due to a high pitch count. In that time he allowed one run and recorded nine strikeouts. He got a little help from Curtis Granderson in the top of the second when he robbed Chris Coghlan of a homer:

The Mets take a 2-0 series lead into game three in Chicago tomorrow night.

Both home teams took care of business in the LCS but, at least in basketball, they say it’s not a series until somebody loses at home.