Division Series' Night Two: Two Shellackings and a Standstill

You know...of all four division series, I expected certain teams to be up 2-0...but of all eight, I did not expect the Indians to be this hot off the beat. They're 2-0 over the Red Sox with one game left to win, and the pitching that I worried so much about is working the magic, in comparison to David Price and Rick Porcello. This Indians team that took the whole season to get hot is now finally retaining momentum, even after I feared they'd lost it.

Problem is they're going back to Boston for at least one game, and Fenway will be booming, I'm sure of that.

 Meanwhile, how about the Dodgers proving the naysayers that they've still got it. With some home runs over Max Scherzer and a pretty dominant Clayton Kershaw performance, they've made a huge power move with a first win over the Nats. Not sure at this state whether or not they'll be able to fashion a stronghold, but...I'm optimistic.

Then there's the Cubs-Giants game, which for eight innings was just a duel between Jon Lester and Johnny Cueto. And it was ferocious, like neither one was letting anyone get a word in edgewise, which is definitely gonna sum up this series.

Thankfully, Javier Baez turned in a run finally, and the Cubs snuck out with the win, but it's proved how tricky this series is gonna be, even if the Cubs are what they are.

Fantastic day of playoff baseball. Tomorrow, the madness continues in the NL.

The Toronto Conundrum

Always nice when things I didn't want to happen end up happening worse than I thought.

I didn't want the Blue Jays in the playoffs at all. It was great that the Cardinals were out, but the Jays were even peskier, and...it would have been a lot easier if the Orioles took them out when they had the chance. They...they didn't.

Now, thanks to Kevin Pillar, Troy Tulowitzki, and John Gibbons figuring out how the Rangers' rotation ticks, the Jays are up two on the best team in the AL, and are in position to advance to the ALCS and terrorize the Indians or Red Sox for 7 games and flirt with getting a World Series.

I...did not...want this.

Worst part is the odds are against the Rangers to win 3 now, because...stats are a thing. They COULD, but...again, the Blue Jays have momentum, which is the most powerful weapon to have in the postseason. I fear the Giants could have a shit-ton of momentum too, but that's for another post. If the Blue Jays are building out momentum NOW, not only does it not reflect what they did during the regular season (which...is the whole point of BEING in the playoffs), but it's incredibly dangerous going through the rest of the playoffs, where most teams usually have trouble keeping momentum going.

Look...I'm fearing that the Blue Jays might win the World Series. I just hope that the ALCS will be a little tougher on the Jays- I've been waiting all season for someone to smack these guys.

Food for thought. On with the playoffs.

ALDS Update: This May Be Tricky Edition

I did expect a huge Toronto showing right off the bat...but not like this.

The Jays killed the Rangers, and absolutely shellacked Cole Hamels, to the point where it looked like Heidi was the responsible one in that family (yes, that was a Survivor reference). Marco Estrada pitched a gem and didn't let many Jays get by, which is very nice.

I'm very worried that the Blue Jays are just gonna absolutely dominate the playoffs like they did last year, so I hope the Rangers will be able to pick themselves back up and actually combat these guys so I can have an enjoyable time this October.

Meanwhile, in friendlier pastures...

Man, aren't the Indians happy they plucked this guy from New York? He damn near saved the game for them.

Yes, Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor were the ones that tore up Cy Young candidate Rick Porcello, but the win was thanks to Andrew Miller absolutely shutting down the Boston offense. This game made me a bit more confident that the series will be evenly matched, and not just a Boston blowout like I, and everyone, previously thought.

It'd be great if the Indians could rebound from being the injury-plagued washouts we all thought.

Tomorrow the playoffs continue, now with the NLDS'. That'll be fun.

ALDS: Let the Games Begin

In one corner, the behemoth from Boston...

In another, those Comeback Kids from Cleveland.

This one's gonna be a lot of fun, and I'm probably gonna enjoy it a bit more than the other one, because these two are some likable, fun teams.

Now...the other matchup...

The Dominators from Dallas, going up against...

Those Troublemakers from Toronto.

Again, I would have preferred the Orioles here, but that doesn't mean some fun, cool baseball isn't gonna go down.

Alright boys...give us some division series' to be proud about.

Welp...Here We Go Again...

The Giants have entered the postseason. So...if you're expecting them to lose from here on out, you may be disappointed.

In all seriousness, no matter how unstoppable the Giants have been in the past in October, this is a year with teams like the Cubs, Dodgers and Nats that are a bit more well built than them. I think the possibility of the gold is still there, but it's not as likely as it was in the past.

Still, nice to see the Giants jumping ahead, although...

These guys I'm gonna miss a bit.

They may have been underdogs, and it may not have been completely likely for them to take a win away from SanFran, but they were fun, and they were routable. So I'm gonna miss that factor with the Mets. No matter how many setbacks they had, they kept soldiering on.

Next year they'll probably be a bit better with chances to heal and regroup.

Still...the Giants are in, and the stage is set. This postseason will be absolutely insane.

NL Wild Card: Inevitability vs. The Underdogs

The story so far- one Wild Card game has been played, and the good guys have lost. Onto the next one.

This is really a tale of two teams. The Mets had no business being here, but managed to sneak in at the last second and build on a really nice September, with some replacement players and aspects they never thought would work. the Giants...were gonna be here. Their ticket to October was punched in April. It's just that, since they're never the greatest in September, they're going in as a Wild Card favorite rather than the NL West champs.

Two teams that are at different stages.

However...one of those teams are playing Madison Bumgarner, and it's not the Mets.

Madison Bumgarner has an unbelievable playoff success rate, and is practically untouchable when it comes to these do or die situations. Going up against the Mets tonight...things could get pretty nasty.

Let's see how this goes down.

The Outcome I Didn't Particularly Want

Well, crap. Turns out the Blue Jays were actually a playoff team after all this year.

Again, I wish the Orioles won it so that I had more people to root for here, but Edwin Encarnacion sealed their fate. The Blue Jays are going on to play the Rangers, where they're probably gonna be even tougher to beat than the Orioles would have been, and cause some shenanigans that I didn't especially want to get into.

oh, what fun.

Still, Stroman pitched a great game, and the Blue Jays will probably have some nice moments over the course of the ALDS. I'd just prefer them to lose is all.

Also, I should point out the departing heroes here...

Yeah, the Orioles lost, but this was a fantastic season, and they got a ton done where people said they couldn't succeed. I would have preferred they go a little farther into the postseason, but maybe that's being saved for next season. Still very proud of them.

Tomorrow, we get to break some hearts in the NL. And maybe this one will be a little easier to predict.