MLB Notebook: Division Series Recaps

The Division Series round is in the books after yesterday afternoon, and it was a good one. No sweeps and two series going the full five. Our results were:

  • NY Yanks beat Kansas City 3-1
  • Cleveland beats Detroit 3-2
  • LA Dodgers beat San Diego 3-2
  • NY Mets beat Philadelphia 3-1

Here’s a concise look at the deciding factors and heroes of each series:

Yankees beat Royals 3-1
Kansas City’s pitching did so much of what they needed to do, but New York had enough to get over the finish line in a well-played series marked by close games. K.C. locked down Aaron Judge. And while Juan Soto had a good series (4 hits, 3 walks), he never really took it over. But Giancarlo Stanton stepped up. He had six hits overall, including the huge eighth-inning blast that broke a 2-2 tie in Game 3. It seemed as though all of Stanton’s hits were big ones. And the Royal bullpen wasn’t bad, but they reverted to their early season form just enough in Game 1 to lose a 6-5 thriller.

Meanwhile, New York pitching was locked in. Bobby Witt was held to two hits. The Yankees won both of Gerrit Cole’s starts—although in fairness, the Game 1 win was more in spite of Cole, then because of him. And the Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver duo were terrific in relief—they each pitched all four games, combined for 9 1/3 innings and didn’t allow a run. That’s the difference in a series where the final scores averaged out into roughly a 3-2 game.

This does have to be said in defense of the Royals. They were victimized by an inexcusably awful call in Game 1. A seventh-inning stolen base by Jazz Chisholm in a 5-5 game was allowed to stand, even though replay showed he was clearly out. Chisholm scored the game-winning run on a two-out hit. This could have been a very different series if replay had done its job.

Guardians beat Tigers 3-2
The Legend of Lane Thomas has taken its place in Cleveland baseball lore. A trade deadline acquisition from Washington, Thomas set the tone for this series with a three-run blast in the first inning of Game 1. Then he sealed it with a grand slam off presumptive Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal in Game 5.

In between Thomas’ heroics, it looked like Detroit was going to win this series and continue a surge that saw them go 34-19 over the season’s final two months. The Tigers contained Jose Ramirez. They were able to get to Cleveland’s great closer, Emmanuel Clase, when Kerry Carpenter hit a game-winning three-run blast in Game 2. Their pitching collectively delivered shutouts in both Games 2 and 3 and had the lead in the seventh inning of Game 4 at home.

But with their backs to the wall, the Guardians found contributors. David Fry hit a go-ahead two-run homer. Clase, a microcosm of his team, showed he could bounce back. He returned to form and closed out both Games 4 and 5. Steven Kwan hit throughout, consistently making contact, going the other way, and coming up with 11 hits over five games. Brayan Rocchio hit well, and also made a nice leaping catch at shortstop to prevent the tying run from coming to the plate late in Game 5. Ramirez might have been kept in check, but Cleveland, in the end, just had more depth than Detroit.

Dodgers beat Padres 3-2
Pitching has been the problem in Los Angeles all year long. When San Diego erupted for a six-run second inning in Game 3, it looked like that would be the predictable cause of the Dodgers’ demise. But something happened along the way to what would have been a third straight Division Series loss to an NL West rival. L.A. found pitching. While they did ultimately lose Game 3, they didn’t allow a single run after that second inning outburst. The bullpen was mostly the reason, with Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, and Michael Kopech combining for over 11 shutout innings in the five games. But a big hat-tip to Yoshinobu Yamomoto, who came up with five shutout innings to start Game 5.

San Diego had heroes. Yu Darvish was brilliant in his two starts, both of which were on the road. One of them came in Game 2, when he got a must-have game and gave his team some momentum that they looked ready to ride into the NLCS. And the Game 5 loss was no fault of Darvish, who allowed just one run. Fernando Tatis Jr. went 7-for-20 and hit three home runs. Not until he hit into a big double-play with two runners on in Game 5, did L.A. pitching finally solve him. In the end, that was the microcosm of this series—the Dodgers finding pitching just in time.

Mets beat Phillies 3-1
The one series were the higher-seeded team lost, these four games really underscored that Philadelphia has not been the same team for quite some time. I made them my World Series pick based on their year-long performance and balance. But in the end, a rather pedestrian record over the last two months proved more indicative. The bullpen was a mess, even in their Game 2 win. No one outside of Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos did anything at the plate. It served to waste starting pitching that was good enough to win.

In the meantime, Queens has its own legend—The Legend of Mark Vientos. The third baseman, already hot from the Wild-Card Round win in Milwaukee, just unloaded against the Phils. Nine hits in four games, and two significant home runs. Vientos essentially took over Game 1 late and flipped a game that Zack Wheeler had otherwise dominated on its head, and set the tone for the series.

Starting pitching has been an issue for the Mets this year, but Sean Manaera, David Peterson, and Jose Quintana all had excellent starts. Francisco Lindor keeps hitting. And Pete Alonso is on a power surge. The 6-seed is still the magic spot in the National League. The Phils went to the World Series out of this spot in 2022. The Diamondbacks did in 2023. And the Mets are still marching on in 2024.

League Championship Series play begins tonight with Mets-Dodgers, and Guardians-Yankees starts Monday night. Previews coming shortly.