Four Clubs Are One Game Away from Advancing in Baseball Playoffs

At the end of play on October 6th, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees were one victory away from winning their best of five American League Division Series and advancing to the American League Championship Series while the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers were one victory away from winning their National League Division Series and advancing to face each other in the National League Championship Series.

American League

The Houston Astros have the best overall starting pitching in baseball, starting with Justin Verlander (21-6, and a 2.58 ERA) and Gerrit Cole (20-5, 2.50). These two were the only 20 game winners in the majors in 2019, and their ERAs were 1st and 2nd in the American League. Cole also led the majors in strikeouts with 326 while Verlander was 2nd with 300. Verlander started Game 1 of the Astros and Tampa Bay Rays LDS and pitched seven innings, allowing no runs, just one hit, and three walks while striking out eight in the 6-2 Astros victory. Not to be outdone, Cole started Game 2 and pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing no runs, four hits, and one walk while striking out 15. The Astros won 3-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

The New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins were known for power hitting and scoring runs this season. The Twins led the majors with 307 home runs, and the Yankees were 2nd with 306. New York led the majors with 943 runs and the Twins were 2nd in the majors with 939. But in the first two games of the Twins–Yankees series, the Yankees were doing most of the scoring. In Game 1, D.J. LeMahieu drove in four runs and Gleyber Torres drove in a pair in the Yankees’ 10-4 victory. The Twins did hit three homers, but all three were solo shots. In Game 2, the Yankees scored seven runs in the third inning, including four on Didi Gregorius’ grand slam, and took a 2-0 lead in the series with an 8-2 victory. The Twins have now lost 15 straight post season games, including 12 straight to the Yankees.

National League

The Atlanta Braves scored three runs with two out in the top of the ninth in Game 3 of their series with the St. Louis Cardinals for a come from behind 3-1 win. Atlanta took a 2-1 lead in the series with the victory. The Braves dropped Game 1 to the Cardinals 7-6, but shut out St. Louis in Game 2 3-0 behind seven shutout innings by righthander Mike Foltynewicz.

The Los Angeles Dodgers also took a 2-1 lead in their series with the Washington Nationals. The Dodgers shut out the Nationals 6-0 in Game 1, but Washington used its two ace starting pitchers–Stephen Strasburg starting, Max Scherzer in relief–to take Game 2 4-2. In Game 3, the Nationals turned to #3 starter Patrick Corbin in relief, but this time it did not go well Corbin game up six earned runs in just 2/3 of an inning, part of a seven run sixth inning in which all the scoring occurred after two were out. The Dodgers won 10-4, to move to within one win of advancing to the NLCS for the fourth year in a row.