I would be madder about the Yankees losing if both teams didn't fight like the dickens to make sure it wasn't a simple game. I checked the score at like inning 7 and I was already going 'well if this is the one we lose then that's perfectly fair'. Matt Boyd was kicking our asses, and continuing his strong October [OUT OF NOWHERE], Manzardo took Schmidt yard, nobody was doing anything, then fine. Put it to rest, come back tomorrow.
Then the eighth inning happened.
Aaron Judge hitting a game-tying home run off of Emmanuel Clase is why playoff baseball is so good. And it seems like something this entire season was leading up to. Nobody could top Clase, and yet the Yankees had figured him out. Judge sends him yard, Stanton sends him yard. It was incredible. The game seemed lost, and the power couple decided it wasn't. Dugie added some insurance in the ninth, Weaver was up, it was looking good.
And...I will give the Guardians credit. Where most teams power down, they kept going. They stayed hot, all of them. The reason the Guardians won this game was that even in the ninth, with all hope basically lost, they kept chomping at the bit. They kept fighting. Volpe's dirty steal must have set them off goes, now J-Ram's pounding, Thomas is trying to go yard, everybody wants it. I think the second Jhonkensy Noel got up I kinda went...'oh crap'. And sure enough, bam.
The Yankees got so close on so many occasions to getting back to it, but it just wasn't gonna happen. The Yanks were fading as Cleveland was waking up. And so they had enough energy to fight to secure the win, while we just sort of sat dazed.
It's not the kind of loss that can kill our World Series dreams, but it's one that concludes that getting there isn't going to be as simple as we thought. Tomorrow, Luis Gil goes against Gavin Williams. Two young phenoms with serious drawbacks. Which one will crack first?
The Dodgers were always the better team than the Mets on paper. Now the Dodgers have the momentum, and that might be enough to seal their fate.
Again, tonight had everything the Dodgers had been hoping for. Betts, Ohtani and Muncy had power moments, Edman, Kiké and Smith made contact, Yamamoto found his postseason mojo and stuck with it, and barring Mark Vientos doing his thing, the Mets were silenced. Not only was it a win, it was a big win, and the Dodgers have the Mets exactly where they want them.
The Dodgers are going with Jack Flaherty tomorrow, and it's not clear currently who the Mets are going with. David Peterson? Senga again? Relievers? Either way, if Flaherty has as good of a game as he did in Game 1, the Mets will be waltzing right out of October.
A lot could happen tomorrow. Certainly a hell of an outcome's being set up. Let's see how it goes.
I think the Mets will start Senga, with Peterson to follow. Carlos Mendoza seems to be nothing if not loyal. Álvarez has been terrible, Iglesias has been slumping, Nimmo is hobbling, and Senga stunk last time out, and he keeps running them all out there, for better or for worse.
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