Lightning Recap: ALDS and NLDS Full Slate

Posted on October 13, 2015 in Game Recap, Random Stuff

We had a full slate of four games on Columbus Day, each game exciting and highlighted by compelling storylines. I can’t remember another divisional series round with such intrigue and drama, but maybe that’s just because I’m more plugged in to the games? Either way, I’m not complaining.

ALDS

Kansas City 9, Houston 6, Series tied 2-2

This one was wild. After a normal 6 1/2 innings, the Astros led the Royals 3-2. In the bottom of the 7th, 21 year-old Carlos Correa hit his second dinger of the game with Jose Altuve aboard, and Colby Rasmus followed that up with a solo job of his own to give the Astros a 6-2 lead.

Rasmus has been colossal for the ‘Stros thus far in the playoffs, posting a 2.161 OPS, including 3 home runs.

Everyone was feeling pretty good in Houston, especially the guy running Governor Greg Abbott’s official twitter feed.

To say this is where the wheels came off for the Astros would be like saying “this is where the wheels came off” when the Titanic hit that iceberg.

In the top of the 8th, the redoubtable Will Harris (he of a 1.90 regular season ERA) surrendered three straight hits to start the inning, which is where the action picks up here:

Tony Sipp’s reaction to the Correa error is one of the most emotional, demonstrative reactions you’ll ever see on a Major League baseball field.

Eric Hosmer added a two run homer in the top of the 9th to give the Royals a comfortable 9-6 win.

Quote of the game: “Baseball is crazy.” – Carlos Gomez.

Unappreciated: Lance McCullers’ great outing in a potential series-clinching win before the trainwreck began.

Strange: The bullpen phones went out late in this game, which meant that the dugout would yell to the outfielders, who would yell to the bullpen to say who they wanted to warm up. This added to the circus atmosphere … The win goes to Ryan Madson after giving up all those runs and owning a 9.00 ERA and the loss goes to Tony Sipp with a 0.00 ERA.

Toronto 8, Texas 4, Series tied 2-2

The Blue Jays jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead thanks to homers from Josh Donaldson, Chris Colabello, and Kevin Pillar.

The Jays tacked on three more in the top of the third to jump out to an early 7-0 advantage.

The real story line in this one was that David Price came on in relief of R.A. Dickey with two outs in the 5th. This was a do-or-die game for the Blue Jays, but with a 7-1 lead, you’d think they could piece together the second half of the game with their existing bullpen options, and keep Price available for the all-important Game 5. But Price got the call and wasn’t great, giving up three runs in three innings, but “earning” the win along the way.

The general consensus seems to be that the Jays wanted Stroman to pitch the winner-take-all game regardless, and by pitching Price yesterday in relief they were able to avoid all of the drama that would come along with that decision. This makes sense because the Rangers struggle with off speed stuff, and Price is more of a fastball/slider guy. He has also been awful in the playoffs in his career.

Both ALDS will play win or go home games on Wednesday. The two series have mirrored each other closely.

NLDS

Chicago 8, St. Louis 6, Chicago leads 2-1

The Cubs set a Major League record by becoming the first team to ever hit SIX home runs in a postseason game.

This offensive outburst backed a less-than-stellar Jake Arrieta, who surrendered four earned runs in 5.2 innings, but still managed to strike out nine men.

Something to keep an eye on: Addison Russell injured himself on a triple and had to leave the game. Could be big down the road, but Javy Baez isn’t a bad insurance policy to have.

New York 13, Los Angeles 7, New York leads 2-1

In the top of the second, Mets starter Matt Harvey surrendered three straight singles to load the bases with nobody out. This brought up Yasmani Grandal, who cleared the bases with a single and an error from Curtis Granderson.

Just about a worse-case scenario start for Harvey and the Mets, considering Matt needed to turn in a solid effort to make Mets fans forget about the whole innings limit debacle.

However, Granderson would redeem himself and Harvey in the next inning, when the Mets put together a little rally of their own, scoring one on a Lucas Duda RBI single, then loading the bases with one out. This brought up Harvey, who K’d, leaving the inning in the hands of the man who just committed the costly error.

4-3 New York after two.

In The bottom of the 4th, former Red Sox great Yoenis Cespedes hit a three run MISSILE to put the Met lead at 10-3, sparking a “we want Utley” chant from the delirious Citi Field crowd.

Both the Cubs and the Mets have a chance to clinch in today’s games, starting at 4:30 and 8 PM respectively.

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