The Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles took control of their American League Division Series, while the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants grabbed openers on the road on the National League side.
Here’s some thoughts on all four games. I’ve broken each game down into two segments—my own personal reflections on each game, which range from the strategic to the more general, then a celebration of the heroes of each game….
The St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers are familiar with each other when it comes to October baseball. They met last year in the National League Championship Series and they met in the Division Series round in 2009 and 2004. They meet for the fourth time in the past eleven years starting later this afternoon, and here’s a few thoughts on the latest installment of the Cardinals-Dodgers Division Series.
How much does raw talent count for against October intangibles? That’s the question that will decide the series between the San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals that begins this afternoon in the nation’s capital (3 PM ET, Fox Sports 1). The Nats have the talent. The Giants have the pedigree. Here’s a few thoughts on the Giants-Nationals Division Series matchup.
A left-handed hitting third baseman hits a clutch home run for the Kansas City Royals. The Baltimore Orioles win a postseason game with pitching and home runs. Somewhere upstairs, George Brett and Earl Weaver were smiling (though in Brett’s case “upstairs” just means his box at the game, with Weaver’s reference being eternity-based). Baltimore started the Division Series round by beating Detroit 12-3, and then Kansas City won the nightcap at the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 in 11 innings.
The Los Angeles Angels are a hefty (-185) betting favorite to beat the Kansas City Royals in the American League Division Series that starts later tonight (9 PM ET, TBS). The Angels bring the best record in baseball, at 98-64 and some World Series cache in the persons of first baseman Albert Pujols and manager Mike Scioscia. The Royals bring the momentum of their comeback in the AL wild-card game. Let’s take a look at the key issues that decide the Royals-Angels Division Series matchup.
The Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles begin the Division Series round for all of MLB this afternoon at 5:30 PM ET, with the cameras of TBS upon them. Detroit is a (-140) betting favorite to win and advance to the American League Championship Series, in spite of Baltimore holding homefield advantage and the second-best record in all of baseball. The reason is simple and that’s the shadow the top three Tiger starters cast over any short series. Here’s a few thoughts on the Tigers-Orioles Division Series matchup…
The NL wild-card game wasn’t quite the dramatic affair that its American League counterpart was, a sentence that falls in the category of massive understatements. The San Francisco Giants rolled past the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0. Madison Bumgarner looked unhittable, throwing a complete-game four-hitter and Brandon Crawford hit a grand slam in the fourth inning that took the air out of PNC Park early.
…the Indians are still breathing in the wild-card discussion. They’re 4 ½ games back of the Seattle Mariners for the final playoff spot. Cleveland joins the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays as teams that are holding on by their fingernails, and all three also have to pass Detroit on the way to catching Seattle. Here’s nine points that are affecting the Tribe’s playoff chances—past, present and future and for better and for worse.
…the stakes are high for the NL Central’s power trio. The Notebook Nine will focus on the Brewers, Cards and Pirates, with three pertinent thoughts for each team as we head into the homestretch…
The American League wild-card race has five teams vying for the final spot in the playoffs. Assuming that the runner-up in the Oakland A’s/LA Angels race for the AL West title will be in the wild-card game, that leaves five more teams within five games of each other for the last spot. Those teams are, in order of the current standings, the Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians. Here’s nine thoughts on that race as it heads into the homestretch…
The National League has baseball’s best division race and two red-hot races for individual awards. Here’s nine thoughts on the NL landscape with 6 ½ weeks to go in the regular season…
The MLB regular season has 6 ½ weeks left as we go into Friday night’s games. Here’s nine thoughts on the state of the American League, from the race for playoff spots to individual awards…