WILD CARD/NLDS/ALDS/RECAP: WHAT’S NEXT?

WILD CARD/NLDS/ALDS/RECAP: WHAT’S NEXT?

The wild card is now concluded, and the NLDS/ALDS (National League Divisional Series/American League Divisional Series) will begin tomorrow, October 4th. The NL matchups will be:

3Dodgers @ 2Phillies

4Cubs @ 1Brewers

In the AL:

6Tigers @ 2Mariners

4Yankees @ 1Blue Jays

I’m going to give a recap on the games that went on around the league over the last 3 days.

Yankees VS Red Sox

Game 1: Final Score: 3–1 Red Sox

The Yankees, (In my opinion) should have swept the Red Sox. In game 1 of the best of 3 lefty Max Fried pitched great allowing 0 runs through 6.1 innings with 6 strikeouts. After that the Yankees’ Bullpen blew the game, giving up 3 runs which resulted in a Yankees loss. Garret Crochet struck out 11 for the Red Sox in 7.1 innings with 1 Earned Run (ER). He got the win in that game. Masataka Yoshida pinch hit in the 7th and hit a two RBI single that gave them lead, which lead to their victory.

Game 2: Final Score: 4–3 Yankees

Game 2 went better for the Yankees in which they won through some great baserunning by Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the 8th inning off of an Austin Wells single, really showing his wheels as he scored all the way from 1st base. Ben Rice hit a homer for the Yankees in the 1st that gave them an early lead, and maybe some confidence that they could win the game, and they didn’t stop fighting all game, even when they were behind 2 innings later, on a Trevor Story RBI single, who played very well and got all the RBIs in the game for the Sox. Aaron Judge tied it up with a single in the 5th that scored Trent Grisham. Trevor Story stepped up to the plate next inning and hit a leadoff home run. Then Wells scored, and Bednar pitched for the Yankees and struck out 2 hitters and ended the game.

Game 3: Final Score: 4–0 Yankees, Yankees advance to ALDS

The MVP of this game for sure was Cam Schlittler, who pitched 8 innings and struck out 12 (which set a Yankees a postseason record) with no walks, and no runs, and only 5 hits. The Yankees scored all of their runs in the 4th with a series of singles, a walk, double, and fielding error. And because of how Schlittler was pitching, there was no chance for the Red Sox.

Tigers VS Guardians

Game 1: Final Score: 2–1 Tigers

In this low scoring 1st game of the postseason, it started right away with an RBI single for the Tigers in inning number one. Tigers pitching, Tarik Skubal strikes out 2 in the 1st. He kept playing that way, striking out 14 in 7.2 innings. Later, the Tigers came back from a tied game on the good old safety squeeze to win it.

Game 2: Final Score: 6–1 Guardians

The Guardians’ bats were ready to mash in this one, with 3 homers, and they started right away with a 411 foot one in the 1st. Bo Naylor hit a 3-run homer on a 7-pitch AB (At Bat). The Tigers tried in the 9th but couldn’t pull it off with runners on 2nd and 3rd.

Game 3: Final Score: 6–3 Tigers, Tigers advance to ALDS

The Tigers mostly just moved the chains to get this win, and it kind of turned out to be a pitchers duel for the first few innings and got tied at 1 in the 4th, a home run for the Tigers in the 6th, and a few RBI singles, just playing small ball, not swinging for the fences every time, and now they see themselves playing one step closer to the World Series.

Dodgers VS Reds

I wasn’t expecting too much from the Reds, but I expected more than what they did. They got utterly obliterated, especially in game 1.

Game 1: Final Score: 10–5 Dodgers

So, the Dodgers were either ready for the Reds’ pitching, or it’s too easy for such a stacked team. Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff home run to start the series, and after that, they hit 4 homers in the game, 2 solo, a 3-run, and a 2-run homer. The Dodgers would have won 10–2, but then things got ugly. The Dodgers walked batters, and did anything but throw strikes, and it seemed as if the Dodgers were ready to give the Reds the game for free. Somehow, they collected 3 outs, and shut them down the next inning to win it.

Game 2: Final Score: 8–4 Dodgers, Dodgers advance to NLDS

The Reds took advantage on an early error in the 1st, and scored 2 runs, but their pitching blew it again, giving up 4 runs in the 6th and 2 before that in the 4th. The Reds were the only team to not force a game 3, and they haven’t been to the Postseason for a while, so good job for finishing the season on a good run.

Cubs VS Padres

Game 1: Final Score: 3–1 Cubs

Not much offence in this one, but the Padres got an early lead in the 2nd on a double from Bogaerts. In the 5th Suzuki and Kelly hit back-to-back homers. 6 hits for the Cubs, 4 for the Padres in that game.

Game 2: Final Score: 3–0 Padres

All the scoring happened on 2 ABs! Jackson Merrill hit a sacrifice fly in the 1st that scored Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado hit a two-run bomb in the 5th, that scored Tatis Jr. again. It was a bullpen game for both sides, with Dylan Cease pitching 3.2 innings for the Padres, and 1 inning for the Cubs’ starter, Andrew Kitteredge, who usually is a relief pitcher!

Game 3: Final Score: 3–1 Cubs, Cubs advance to NLDS

Really, the Cubs just shut down the Padres, allowing just that one run. 7/9 hitters for the Cubs got a hit, so just not great pitching for the Padres. Michael Busch hit his first homer of the Postseason, and we’ll see how much he’ll do in the NLDS.

With the NLDS starting tomorrow, all the teams that got to bye the Wild Card have played scrimmages, with a visit from Ichiro Suzuki in the Mariners’ scrimmage playing right field.

How it works in the Divisional Series is the teams will alternate fields every 2 games in the best of 5, with the higher ranked team getting home field advantage first.

The series I’m really looking forward to is Cubs vs Brewers. They’ve gone back and forth this year for first place in the NL Central and it’s always fun to see division rivals play each other in the Postseason. I think the Brewers will win the series, but that the Cubs will put up a fight. The Brewers have a 60.7% chance to win game one. I think the Mariners will win the series vs the Tigers. The Mariners have put together a good year with lots of home runs, and they’re pitching has been pretty good as well. I think that the Dodgers will win vs the Phillies because everyone on the Dodgers is great, and they have some momentum moving forward, but on the flip side, they may not be ready after how easy it was to get past the Reds. And I think the Yankees will beat the Blue Jays, because of how their pitching mowed down the Red Sox last series.