MLB Notebook: League Championship Series Recaps

Another edition of the League Championship Series is in the books. One of them went the full seven games. The other ended in a sweep. The Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers are going to the World Series. Let’s break down why each series went the way it did.

ALCS: TORONTO OVER SEATTLE (4-3)

A COLLAPSE THAT WILL HAUNT SEATTLE

This is a series that will haunt Seattle and, quite frankly, it should. The Mariners, as Fox Sports’ broadcast team repeatedly reminded us, became just the fourth team to win the first two games of a best-of-seven series on the road and then go on to lose the series. It’s the first time it’s ever happened at the LCS level (the World Series in 1985, 1986 and 1996 being the previous instances).

That alone is reason for being haunted. We also have to look at the fact that the Mariners also failed to cash in favorable pitching matchups in the crucial Games 3 & 4 that the Blue Jays won to get back in the series. George Kirby didn’t have it in Game 3 and lost to Shane Bieber. Even more surprising was the way Max Scherzer woke up the echoes in Game 4 and despite a long layoff and mediocre season, pitched effectively into the sixth inning. On that same night, Luis Castillo had nothing for Seattle and got rocked.

Even though the Mariners won Game 5 in dramatic fashion, I still look at Game 4 as where this series really swung to Toronto’s favor. It was the game that assured the Blue Jays they would at least go back home, something that seemed very unlikely after getting blown out in Game 2. It was the game that Toronto won a pitching matchup that was stacked against them. Even when they were behind 3-2 in the series, it seemed like the Jays had the momentum from that point forward.

For Seattle regrets, we also have to look at the way Game 7 was handled. Kirby was making the most of his chance at redemption, pitching four solid innings and giving up just one run. He seemed to be gaining steam, with the third and fourth inning being his best. Yet that was the point manager Dan Wilson opted to pull him and go with Bryan Woo—one of the team’s best starters all year, but also one who had been limited by injuries coming down the stretch. It was an unnecessary risk too early in the game.

Even so, the Mariners held a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning. They had one of the game’s great closers, Andres Munoz in reserve. The fact so many games in this series had been blowouts meant Munoz was fresh. Had Seattle held that lead to the eighth, Munoz would surely have come in. Why then, after Toronto put runners on second and third with one out, not just bring Munoz in then? Instead, Wilson opted for Eduard Bazardo, who got taken deep by George Springer. And that, for all practical purposes, was your ballgame.

In the middle of the series, Seattle let Toronto back up off the mat when homefield and pitching was in their favor. At the end of the series, the Mariners voluntarily chose to get beat with someone other than their best. That’s the formula for a series that will live in infamy.

VLADDY LEADS THE JAYS

In focusing on Mariner mistakes, we shouldn’t forget to give rightful credit to the many heroes on the American League champs in Toronto. Vladdy Guerrero Jr. continued his terror run through the postseason, hitting three homers and finishing with a .484 OBP/.846 slugging percentage over these seven games. He was your 2025 ALCS MVP and deserved it. Vladdy particularly came through in the aforementioned Games 3 & 4 when the series pivoted.

Ernie Clement continued his own hot hitting and Nathan Lukes, batting in the 2-hole right ahead of Guerrero, hit .333. Isiah Kiner-Falefa didn’t play every game and only had 15 at-bats, but the infielder delivered five hits and one of those was instrumental in Game 7’s decisive seventh-inning rally.

The iconic image of this series will be Springer’s blast, kindling memories in Toronto of how Joe Carter won the 1993 World Series. And it was, indeed, a magical moment. But the stage was set days earlier by Seattle’s missed chances.

The League Championship Series has been a stage for some of baseball’s most defining moments since 1969.For readers who love the roots of modern October our LCS Chronicles, Vol. 1 (1969–80) free download tells the full story of how it all began.

NLCS: LA DODGERS OVER MILWAUKEE (4-0)

OHTANI’S SHOW FOR THE AGES

This series will be defined in history by what Shohei Ohtani did in the clinching Game 4—hitting three home runs on the same night he pitched six shutout innings. He continues to be a phenomena unlike anything we’ve seen before. The only two people to compare him to are Babe Ruth and Roy Hobbs–and one of those is fictional. The Babe did it in a smaller baseball world, before racial integration opened the game to its full talent pool. And Hobbs…well, he’s the protagonist in the 1984 movie The Natural played by the late Robert Redford. Otherwise, Shohei stands alone. Ohtani’s Game 4 show alone made him the 2025 NLCS MVP.

THE BREWERS PITCH BUT CAN’T HIT

Even though this series ended in a sweep, the first three games were all compelling baseball. Milwaukee pitched well. They held the powerful Los Angeles lineup to 15 runs for the series, something you would have expected would be good enough to get a win. Or even two wins and get the series back to the Midwest. Until Ohtani unloaded in Game 4, he had been held in check. Young flamethrower Jacob Misorowski acquitted himself admirably for the Brewers, throwing five strong innings in Game 3, in a desperate attempt to get his team back in the series.

But to say Milwaukee’s own bats were held in check understates the case. They had just 14 hits for the entire series. In other words, the Brewers had fewer hits than the Dodgers had runs.

Was it Los Angeles pitching or Milwaukee hitting that should be the story? When dominance of this extreme happens, the right answer is usually to say both. While it might sound like a cop-out, it probably has the virtue of being true, and it’s backed up by what happened in the Division Series round—Dodger pitching also shut down a good Philadelphia Phillies lineup. And Milwaukee’s own bats had been slumping for the final three games against the Chicago Cubs, even if the Brewers did survive a tense winner-take-all Game 5. Hot Dodger pitching and cold Brewer hitting just rolled right into the NLCS.

WHAT MAKES A SERIES MVP?

When Ohtani was named NLCS MVP I had bit of a resistant reaction. He had a game for the ages. But, as noted, his series overall had been quite lackluster prior to that. In the meantime, Tommy Edman had a hit in every game and batted .333. Blake Snell threw eight dominant innings in Game 1, every one of which was needed by his team to pull out a 2-1 win in spite of some ninth-inning bullpen hiccups. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was even better in Game 2, throwing a complete-game gem that put the Dodgers in firm control of the series.

Ohtani’s Game 4 was magical, but the series was already effectively put to bed by then. I’d have probably voted for Snell.

THE STAGE IS SET

Now, we are moving on to the World Series. The Dodgers and Blue Jays will begin play on Friday night north of the border in Toronto. We will be back here in this space that same day with our preview. Bookmark us and check back.