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.