Month of MLB: Day 21

Well, I had to do a lot of travel last week, and while I was gone there was all kinds of MLB drama.  In the National League, the Dodgers used their strong starting pitching to destroy the Brewers' lineup.  For some time, I've thought that teams were not getting as much out of their starters as they could be doing, and the Dodgers have applied that theory to these playoffs.  Look at what happened in the N.L.C.S.:

Game One:  Dodger starter Blake Snell gave up one hit and zero runs in eight innings.  The Brewers clawed back a run in the bottom of the 9th against the Dodgers' shaky bullpen, but they left the bases loaded to end the game.  Dodgers 2, Brewers 1

Game Two:  Dodger starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up three hits and one run in nine innings, as he pitched the first complete game in an LCS since 2017.  Dodgers 5, Brewers 1

Game Three:  Dodger starter Tyler Glasnow gave up three hits and one run in five and two-thirds innings, and for once the Dodger bullpen pitched well.  Dodgers 3, Brewers 1

Game Four: With the Brewers on the brink, the Dodgers rolled out Shohei Ohtani to pitch Game Four.  Last year, Ohtani's first with the Dodgers, they didn't pitch him at all.  But this year, they gave him 14 starts -- usually pulling him after a few innings.  He only threw 47 innings all year, but he was ready to go in the playoffs.  He beat the Phillies in Game One of the Divisional Series, and he was great against the Brewers on Friday night:  two hits and zero runs in six innings.  He walked three and struck out 10.  But of course, Ohtani is not just a pitcher -- he bats leadoff for the Dodgers.  This time, he led off the bottom of the first with a home run.  In the fourth inning, he blasted a home run over the right field pavilion and completely out of the stadium -- only the ninth time in the history of Dodger Stadium that a home run has left the building.  And finally, in the 7th, he homered to left-center field -- his third home run of the game.  Dodgers 5, Brewers 1.  It's one of the most amazing games played in the history of baseball -- and underscores the fact that only Babe Ruth can seriously be compared to Ohtani in terms of all around baseball talent.  There literally has never been anyone else like him, and he was rightfully named the N.L.C.S. MVP.  But it shouldn't be lost that once again, the Brewers' offense was completely stymied by Dodger pitching.  When it was all over, the top of the list of National League Pennant Winners during the World Series Era looked like this:

1.  Dodgers:  23 (8-14 in the World Series)

2.  Giants:  20 (8-12)

3.  Cardinals:  19 (11-8)

4.  Cubs:  11 (3-8)

5.  Braves:  10 (4-6)

6.  Reds:  9 (5-4)

7.  Phillies:  8 (2-6)

8.  Pirates:  7 (5-2)

Meanwhile, over in the American League, the Blue Jays rolled into Seattle down two games to zero.  Unlike Milwaukee, however, Toronto's bats woke up on the road.  In Game Three, the Blue Jays hammered out five home runs and 18 hits in a 13-4 laugher.  In Game Four, they tacked on two more homers (and 11 more hits) in an 8-2 win.  So by Friday night, the series was tied at two games apiece.

The stakes for Game Five -- potentially the last game of the year in Seattle -- were enormous for both teams, and the game itself was excellent.  Seattle took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 2d, but the Blue Jays pushed across runs in the fifth and sixth to take a 2-1 lead.  In the bottom of the 8th, with the Mariners still down 2-1 and facing the prospect of being swept at home, Cal Raleigh came up to the plate.  Raleigh is the star of this Mariners team -- the only switch-hitting catcher to ever hit 60 home runs in a single season.  Now the huge crowd at T-Mobile Park pleaded for him to save their season.  Remarkably, he did -- golfing a low pitch in a huge parabola into the left field seats and tying the game.  Smartly, Seattle went for the kill after that -- a few batters later, the bases were loaded for Eugenio Suarez, who already had a solo homer in this game.  Suarez settled the game with a Grand Slam to right, sending the Seattle fans into well-deserved ecstasy.  The Final Score was Seattle 6, Toronto 2 -- and if that turns out to be the last game of the year in Seattle, at least the Mariner fans had an evening of joy.

But, of course, the American League title has not yet been decided.  Seattle leads three games to two, and both teams are now back in Toronto for the wrap up.  The Mariners can win the pennant tonight with a victory, or the Blue Jays can win and force Game Seven.  Here are the lineups:

Seattle Mariners (90-72):

1.  Julio Rodriguez, CF (.267, 32 HR's, 95 RBI's)

2.  Cal Raleigh, C (.247, 60, 125)

3.  Jorge Polanco, DH (.265, 26, 78)

4.  Josh Naylor, 1B (.295, 20, 92)

5.  Randy Arozarena, LF (.238, 27, 76)

6.  Eugenio Suarez, 3B (.228, 49, 118)

7.  J.P. Crawford, SS (.265, 12, 58)

8.  Dominic Canzone, RF (.300, 11, 32 in 243 AB's)

9.  Leo Rivas, 2B (.244, 2, 9 in 90 AB's)

Starting Pitcher:  Logan Gilbert (6-6, 3.44 ERA in 25 starts)

Toronto Blue Jays (94-68):

1.  George Springer, DH (.309, 32 HR's, 84 RBI's)

2.  Nathan Lukes, LF (.255, 12, 65)

3.  Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., 1B (.292, 23, 84)

4.  Alejandro Kirk, C (.282, 15, 76)

5.  Daulton Varsho, CF (.238, 20, 55 in 248 AB's)

6.  Ernie Clement, 3B (.277, 9, 50)

7.  Addison Barger, RF (.243, 21, 74)

8.  Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS (.262, 2, 40)

9.  Andres Gimenez, 2B (.210, 7, 35)

Starting Pitcher:  Trey Yesavage (1-0, 3.21 ERA in three starts)

Yes, you saw that correctly:  the Blue Jays are starting a pitcher who had only three MLB starts in the regular season.  Yesavage is a rookie who began the year with the Dunedin (Fla.) Blue Jays in Low-A baseball.  After striking out 55 batters in 33 1/3 innings, he was promoted to the Vancouver Canadians in High-A baseball in May.  In Vancouver, he had 33 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings over four starts.  So he went to the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, where he had 46 strikeouts in 30 innings.  So they moved him up to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons.  There he had an ERA of 3.63 and 20 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings.  So they brought him up to the Big Club, and he bedeviled the Yankees in the Divisional Series, striking out 11 and allowing no runs in 5 1/3 innings pitched as the Blue Jays rolled to a 13-7 victory.  He was not so successful in Game Two of this LCS -- giving up four hits and five runs in four innings of Game Two, as the Mariners rolled to an easy 10-3 win.  So it's a risky move starting the 22-year-old in this game, and you have to think that the Blue Jays will have him on a short leash tonight.

One more point:  the Mariners are the only team in MLB that has never appeared in the World Series.  In 1995, they reached the ALCS but were beaten by the Indians.  In 2000 and 2001, they had awesome teams, but lost back-to-back ALCS's to the Yankees, who had one of the greatest teams of all time.  This is the first time the Mariners have ever won three games in the ALCS, so this is the closest to the World Series they have ever been.  On the other hand, the Blue Jays haven't been to the World Series since 1993, so their fans will be very pumped up tonight.  It should be a great game.