“Whoever heard of the Chicago Cubs losing a game they had to win?” –Frank Chance, Cubs player/manager, 1908 The quote above from Frank Chance would become laughable in time, but in the early 20th century it rang true. Are we about to enter another new phase of Chicago Cubs history where they start taking care […]
The city of Houston has endured its share of baseball heartbreak and they look poised to add another chapter. Yesterday, after back-to-back home runs gave the Astros a seemingly insurmountable 6-2 lead going into the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals—and a ticket to the American League Championship Series—the Houston bullpen completely fell part […]
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 Los Angeles Dodgers are the first team into the League Championship Series round, the St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays staved off elimination in thrillers, and the Oakland A’s put themselves in control. TheSportsNotebook’s MLB coverage takes a quick tour of the four games that went down on Monday…
The American League Division Series each have two games under their belt as the opening sequence of games completed tonight in both Boston and Oakland. Here’s some thoughts on how both are unfolding…
The MLB playoffs are two days in and the National League has completed the first two games of each series. In both cases, the road teams–the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates–found ways to get one win and take homefield advantage as the teams now shift venues for the middle games on Sunday and Monday.
The Oakland A’s and Detroit Tigers meet in the American League Division Series for the second straight year, and for the third time in the playoffs since 2006. TheSportsNotebook’s MLB coverage breaks down the series by comparing each team in the key areas of getting on base, hitting for power, starting pitching and the bullpen. Then we’ll conclude with some historical context and make a prediction.
We’ll compare each team in the four key component parts of the game, from ability to get runners on base, to hitting for power, to starting pitching to the bullpen. Then we’ll conclude with some historical context and make a pick.
We’ll compare each team in their four key component parts–the ability to put runners on base, power hitting, starting pitching and the bullpen. Then we’ll close with some historical context and a prediction.
The most storied franchises of each league won decisive Game 5s on Friday, as the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees broke baseball hearts up and down the Beltway. One was a taut pitcher’s duel, the other dominated by offense and marked by a wild finish, but what they had in common was that both games were fitting conclusions to a Division Series round that’s a runaway winner for best week of playoff baseball ever. Let’s recap the games as we wrap up the first full round of the MLB playoffs…
Comebacks were the story of the day in the MLB playoffs yesterday. The Oakland A’s were three outs from going home before they rallied to beat Detroit. The New York Yankees trailed in the ninth inning, before making what will surely be one of the most celebrated pinch-hit decisions in baseball history and then winning a 12-inning game over Baltimore. And the San Francisco Giants won their second straight elimination game on the road and forced a decisive fifth game in Cincinnati.
We’ll run down all four games from yesterday, including St. Louis’ win over Washington, and look ahead to another quartet today…
If you wanted to watch hitting, then Tuesday night in the MLB playoffs wasn’t for you. There were a combined 16 hits in the two games, and 15 of them were singles. But no one in San Francisco or Oakland was complaining, as the Giants beat the Reds, the A’s beat the Tigers and both teams averted sweeps in Game 3 of their respective Division Series matchups. Let’s look back on Tuesday and ahead to Wednesday’s all-day quadruple header…