Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals, Cubs win series 3-1
Game 4: Jason Hammel (CHC) vs. John Lackey (STL) – Chicago 6, St. Louis 4
Jason Hammel was immediately hittable in the 1st inning, giving up a single and a home run to start the game and put the Cubs in a 2-0 hole.
He ended up only giving Chicago 3+ innings of work, but he was scoreless from then on and proved to be the biggest offensive difference-maker of the night. A career .134 hitter, Hammel came to the plate with 2 on and 2 out in the 2nd, still down 2-0. He took the first pitch from John Lackey and sent it back up the middle for a run-scoring base hit.
This brought up Javier Baez (from the 9-hole!), who only hit a 3-run homer to give Chicago a 4-2 lead.
Lackey just didn’t have his Game 1 stuff, and he too was pulled after just 3 innings. He was taken out in favor of Adam Wainwright, who retired 6 consecutive batters.
In the meantime, the Cardinals got to Travis Wood and Trevor Cahill (mostly Cahill) in the 6th, but Jorge Soler prevented the Cardinals from taking the lead, holding them to a 2-run inning with a great throw home from right field. 4-4.
Wainwright was replaced in the bottom of the 6th by Kevin Siegrist, who was great in the regular season but less so in the playoffs (to the tune of a 9.00 ERA). He gave up two solo home runs – one by Anthony Rizzo with 2 outs in the 6th:
And an absolute moonshot by Kyle Schwarber to lead off the 7th:
That ball is still on top of the scoreboard. I’m serious. Cubs win! Cubs win!
New York Mets vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, series tied 2-2
Game 4: Steven Matz (NYM) vs. Clayton Kershaw (LAD) – Los Angeles 3, New York 1
Clayton Kershaw went 7 innings for only the second time in his postseason career in a shutdown effort against the Mets to keep LA’s World Series hopes alive. He did this on 3 days’ rest. The Mets, however, chose to bring out Steven Matz, who is a promising young starter but is not Jacob deGrom. We’ll find out tomorrow night whether New York made the right decision in saving deGrom for Game 5.
The Dodgers’ damage came all at once, and, like the Cubs-Cardinals game, was brought on by a single by a pitcher. With 1 out in the 3rd, Kershaw singled, and he was later forced out at second for what might’ve been the third out of the inning if Matz had taken care of business against a .153 career hitter. Instead, Matz gave up two more singles and a double with 2 outs, and the Dodgers grabbed a 3-0 lead.
Daniel Murphy hit a solo home run off Clayton Kershaw for the second time in this series in the 4th inning to give New York a little bit of life. It was also the Mets’ first hit of the game.
But it wasn’t enough, and the Mets offense only mustered two singles and two walks the rest of the way. Mets lose! Mets lose!
Next game: Tomorrow, Thursday, 8:07 ET, in Los Angeles. Jacob deGrom (NYM) vs. Zack Greinke (LAD)
Today’s slate:
Texas Rangers vs. Toronto Blue Jays, series tied 2-2
4:07 ET, in Toronto. Cole Hamels (TEX) vs. Marcus Stroman (TOR) – Live right now!
Houston Astros vs. Kansas City Royals, series tied 2-2
8:07 ET, in Kansas City. Collin McHugh (HOU) vs. Johnny Cueto (KC)
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.
Oops…The office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted a congratulatory message to Astros when they were up, 6-2. pic.twitter.com/iwCDk5IhKu
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.
Arrieta vs. Wacha, Harvey vs. Anderson, and the Royals and Blue Jays both playing for their seasons. What a day.
Let’s dive right into what happened over the weekend in the MLB playoffs.
ALDS
Texas Rangers vs. Toronto Blue Jays, Rangers lead series 2-1
Game 2: Cole Hamels (TEX) vs. Marcus Stroman (TOR) – Texas 6, Toronto 4 (14 innings)
Both pitchers gave up 4 runs through 7 innings on Friday, and the game went another 7 innings before the Rangers got to LaTroy Hawkins with a barrage of singles in the 14th to take a 2-0 series lead.
Game 3: Martín Pérez (TEX) vs. Marco Estrada (TOR) – Toronto 5, Texas 1
Troy Tulowitzki, who’d had a notably quiet postseason through two games, walked with the bases loaded in the 4th inning to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead on Sunday night.
With the score still 2-0 in the 6th, Tulo came up again with 2 out and 2 on. At this point, he was still 0-11 in the series. He amended that with a 3-run home run off Chi Chi Gonzalez to bust the game open and drive Toronto to its first win of the playoffs.
Next game: Today, Monday, 4:07 ET, in Texas. Derek Holland (TEX) vs. R.A. Dickey (TOR)
Houston Astros vs. Kansas City Royals, Astros lead series 2-1
Game 2: Scott Kazmir (HOU) vs. Johnny Cueto (KC) – Kansas City 5, Houston 4
The Astros, and especially Colby Rasmus, jumped on Cueto early. Rasmus drove in George Springer with a double in the 1st to give Houston a 1-0 lead.
Rasmus also hit a solo shot in the 3rd to bump the Astros’ lead to 3-1.
But the Royals eventually got to both Kazmir and the Astros’ bullpen, and Ben Zobrist drove in the game-winning run on a single in the 7th off Will Harris (he of the 1.90 regular season ERA).
Game 3: Dallas Keuchel (HOU) vs. Edinson Vólquez (KC) – Houston 4, Kansas City 2
Dallas Keuchel did Dallas Keuchel things against the Royals on Sunday afternoon, holding the Royals to a single run (on a Lorenzo Cain solo home run) over 7 innings.
Houston’s offense meanwhile, just did a better job of capitalizing on its baserunners than Kansas City. A 5th inning, 2-run single by catcher Jason Castro (in the 9-hole) gave the Astros a 2-1 lead, and they never looked back.
Next game: Today, Monday, 1:07 ET, in Houston. Lance McCullers (HOU) vs. Yordano Ventura (KC)
NLDS
Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals, series tied 1-1
Game 1: Jon Lester (CHC) vs. John Lackey (STL) – St. Louis 4, Chicago 0
Chicago mustered 3 hits (all singles) the entire game, and two of them were by Kyle Schwarber. After Lackey left (with 7.1 shutout innings under his belt), Kevin Siegrist and Trevor Rosenthal got each of the final five outs by way of the K.
The Cardinals manufactured a run early before getting to Lester in the 8th inning. Thomas Pham (5 home runs in 153 regular season at-bats) hit a solo shot to make it 2-0.
Lester walked Matt Carpenter before giving way to Pedro Strop, who didn’t exactly put out the fire – he gave up a two-run shot of his own to Stephen Piscotty, and that was all she wrote.
Game 2: Kyle Hendricks (CHC) vs. Jaime García (STL) – Chicago 6, St. Louis 3
Kyle Hendricks gave up a solo shot to Matt Carpenter in the 1st inning to start things off on a sour note for Chicago.
But he settled down for a few innings while, in the meantime, Jaime Garcia came completely unraveled for St. Louis. A would-be double play became a fielder’s choice and an error, and Garcia was looking at men on the corners with 1 out when Kyle Hendricks laid down a sacrifice bunt. It did not go well for the Cardinals.
It turns out that García had stomach problems that had started a couple nights before. I don’t blame him for playing poorly with poop in his pants, but it was pretty poor form to only tell Matheny about it an hour before the game started. Seeing the way the previous play had gone, Addison Russell also laid down a squeeze bunt with a runner at third, scoring another run. 2-1, Cubs.
An infield single later, Jorge Soler hit a 2-run home run to center to put Chicago up 5-1.
Hendricks, for his part, was fairly sharp, giving up only 4 hits. But 3 of those 4 hits were home runs, and when he gave up back-to-back shots in the 5th (to Wong and Grichuk), he got the early hook. Joe Maddon turned it over to former starters Travis Wood and Trevor Cahill to carry the Cubs to Hector Rondón in the 9th.
Next game: Tonight, Monday, 6:07 ET, in Chicago. Jake Arrieta (CHC) vs. Michael Wacha (STL)
New York Mets vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, series tied 1-1
Game 1: Jacob DeGrom (NYM) vs. Clayton Kershaw (LAD) – New York 3, Los Angeles 1
Clayton Kershaw continued his career legacy of being only okay in the playoffs, losing to New York to fall to 1-6 in his postseason career. He was cruising until he gave up a no-doubter solo home run to David Murphy in the 4th inning to break a scoreless tie.
But things really went downhill in the 7th, when he walked three batters and got pulled for righty reliever Pedro Báez. There were 2 outs at this point, and even though Kershaw was losing control, it feels like Mattingly made the wrong move. Because Pedro Báez is not as good as Clayton Kershaw, and Pedro Báez gave up a 2-run single to make it 3-0. Game, blouses.
Game 2: Noah Syndergaard (NYM) vs. Zack Greinke (LAD) – Los Angeles 5, New York 2
You’ve likely heard about this game by now because of the slide heard ’round the world. But before that, the Mets went up 2-0 in the 2nd inning on a pair of solo home runs off Zack Greinke.
Consecutive Dodger doubles to lead off the 4th inning cut the lead to 2-1. But the shit hit the fan for the Mets when Syndergaard (four walks on the night) walked Enrique Hernández with 1 out. He stole second and advanced to third on a single by Chase Utley (pinch-hitting for Greinke). Bartolo Colón came in to face Howie Kendrick, and you’re probably familiar with what happened next.
Not only did the tying run score, but the umpires eventually SOMEHOW awarded Chase Utley second base. He came around to score on an Adrian Gonzalez double, serving as the go-ahead run. The Mets did not recover. I think it’s pretty obvious that the umpiring crew got this about as wrong as they could’ve got it, and nobody paid the price worse than Ruben Tejada – Chase Utley broke his fibula on the play. What a scumbag. Not that I wanted to be his friend too much before, but I definitely don’t want to now. I’ll leave that to Mac.
Next game: Tonight, Monday, 8:37 ET, in New York. Matt Harvey (NYM) vs. Brett Anderson (LAD)
As you’ve most likely heard by now, David Price is now 0-6 in his career in games he’s started in the playoffs.
Pitchers
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
HR
ERA
Price (L, 0-1)
7.0
5
5
5
2
5
2
6.43
The Rangers’ eight and nine hitters Rougned Odor and Robinson Chirinos each went deep, with Odor also getting plunked twice, scoring three of the Rangers’ five runs, and turning in a couple of nice plays in the field. He seemed to be at the heart of everything big that happened in this game.
Yovani Gallardo was good enough, limiting Toronto’s high-octane offense to two runs over five.
A lot of key injuries in this one, as Adrian Beltre strained his back early in this one, and had to leave after hitting a bullet up the middle for an RBI single. He’s tough as nails, but not playing in today’s game.
For the Jays, likely MVP Josh Donaldson got kneed in the head by Odor while breaking up a double play, and had to leave with concussion-like symptoms.
Jose Bautista also left the game with hamstring tightness. Both are in the lineup for Toronto today.
Red Sox Spin:
-Not so sure I’m crazy about throwing a long-term deal at Price. I know that given his body of work, Price is bound to have playoff success at some point. But the way things stand now, I don’t want him anywhere near my playoff roster.
-Mike Napoli was 0-3 with two strikeouts and a walk.
Astros Win 5-2, Up 1-0 in ALDS
Quintessential Collin McHugh in this one, going six, allowing two runs, and only striking out one, but inducing a lot of weak contact. However, both of the runs McHugh surrendered were solo home runs by the Royals’ Kendrys Morales, neither of which qualified as “weak contact.”
The Astros’ flavor of offense similarly surprised no one. They got three hits from Jose Altuve, slugged a pair of dingers, and struck out FOURTEEN times.
Homers from George Springer, who had a great game:
And Colby Rasmus, who for the second time in two games, ambushed an unsuspecting pitcher by going deep on the first pitch he sees from said pitcher.
Springer’s homer came off Chris Young, who entered in relief for Royals’ starter Yordano Ventura in the top of the third after a long rain delay. He struck out six straight Astros at one point, and the announcing crew couldn’t get over how tall he is (6’10”). When he faced Altuve it was apparently the biggest height discrepancy in playoff history.
Today:
-March Madness style slate of four back-to-back-to-back-to-back games today. Great one going on right now in the Jays-Rangers series.
