October: the month of fall, Halloween and, more importantly, the MLB playoffs.
The playoffs have already featured a variety of wild and interesting matchups, starting with the Wild Card round. In the American League (AL), the Toronto Blue Jays lost both games in a tough series against the evenly-matched Minnesota Twins. The Twins won 3-1 in Game One thanks to a heroic effort from third baseman Royce Lewis. Lewis led the way with two home runs in the victory. Game Two saw new stars emerge. Starting pitcher Sonny Gray threw five shutout innings and had six strikeouts. Big ticket free agent signing Carlos Correa came up clutch for Minnesota with an RBI single and an incredible tag on a pick-off play to keep Minnesota’s playoff hopes alive. With the win, the Twins sealed a date with Correa’s former team, the defending champion Houston Astros. The Texas Rangers also beat the Tampa Bay Rays in another 2-0 sweep. Pitcher Jordan Montgomery threw seven scoreless innings to lead the Rangers to a 4-0 win. This was followed by another dominating 7-1 victory in Game Two to clinch the series win for the Rangers.
In the National League (NL), the Philadelphia Phillies beat the division rival Miami Marlins in a 2-0 sweep in the Wild Card. The Phillies easily slid by the Marlins in 4-1 and 7-1 victories, respectively. Zack Wheeler had a strong pitching performance in Game One and Aaron Nola followed it up by pitching seven shutout innings in Game Two. This was all supported by standout hitting from the Phillies’ star hitters, including Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Bryson Stott. The underdog Arizona Diamondbacks showed they belonged by sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 in the Wild Card round. The Diamondbacks hit well against Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes in Game One and then were helped by their own star pitcher Zac Gallen.
The Divisional Round is when things really got interesting. In the AL, the red-hot Rangers upset the Baltimore Orioles in a 3-0 sweep. Despite injuries to star pitchers Max Scherzer and Jacob DeGrom, the Rangers pitching held up well against the top-ranked Orioles. Even when the Orioles hitting got going in Game Two, the Rangers were able to outpace them. In the third inning of Game Two, backup catcher Mitch Garver hit a grand slam, driving in four runs. The Rangers seem to be a team that can find ways to win no matter what.
In the NL, the other number-one seed also fell victim to an upset, as the Atlanta Braves were defeated by the Phillies. The Phillies had consistent pitching throughout the series, and the big bats again came through when it mattered the most. Turner, Castellanos and Harper all contributed with key hits throughout the series. The two-seed Los Angeles Dodgers also found themselves a victim of an upset. The Diamondbacks held their own defensively throughout the whole series and were able to create runs. This was emphasized by a four home run inning in Game Three, which was all they needed offensively to complete the upset.
Looking at the landscape of the rest of the playoffs, it truly is wide open. With the early favorites in the Dodgers, the Orioles and the Braves all eliminated, all four of the remaining teams could win the World Series. The Astros look to be the best team on paper and have the playoff experience to back up their claim. The Rangers have been the most well-rounded team this playoffs and have started the League Championship series with a bang, winning both of the first two games on the road against Houston. However, my personal favorite to win is the Phillies. They’ve got the perfect combination of talent on paper and recent success on the field to make a run deep into the playoffs. They’ve also won their first two games in their League Championship Series, putting them just two games away from making the World Series.
