Month of MLB: Day Twenty

The Rays and Guardians were rained out on Friday night, and then Tampa Bay rolled to a 7-3 victory last night that tied the A.L.C.S. at two games apiece.  Today, Game Five of the A.L.C.S. will start at 4:08 P.M. Central Time on TBS.  That will give you time to finish watching the noon NFL games, and you'll still get to watch the second half of the Packers and the Cowboys in the evening, so I'm really happy with this timing.

Also, today we get the new AP College Football Poll, and I am really curious to see what they do after yesterday's craziness.  But we would be remiss not to point out that the University of Kentucky is tied for first place in the SEC in October, and I don't think that has ever happened before in my lifetime.  The Cats are 4-1.  They lost to Alabama, but they have beaten Texas A & M, South Carolina, Louisiana St., and Oklahoma.  Just amazing stuff.

Month of MLB: Day Eighteen

For the second year in a row, the N.L.C.S. ends in a sweep.  Last year, the Dodgers swept the Brewers.  This year, the Brewers swept the Dodgers.  After falling behind 4-0 thanks to a three-run homer by Shohei Ohtani, the Brewers stormed back for a 6-4 victory.  Milwaukee, which dominated Los Angeles from beginning to end, captures its first pennant since 1982, when the Brewers were still in the American League.  This will be Milwaukee's fourth trip to the World Series, after the visits by Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and 1958, as well as the Brewers' appearance in 1982.

In the American League, Cleveland leads Tampa Bay 2-1.  They will play Game Four tonight in Cleveland at 7 PM Central.

Month of MLB: Day Seventeen

The Brewers have absolutely dominated the Dodgers in the N.L.C.S., and last night was no exception.  A double from Will Smith gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead going into the seventh, and the Brewers responded with a walk and back-to-back home runs.  That was all Milwaukee needed, and the Brewers rolled to an easy 6-2 win.  Here are the totals after three games:

Milwaukee:  15 runs, 27 hits, 2 errors

Los Angeles:  7 runs, 15 hits, 2 errors

It's a complete mismatch.  The Brewers are plainly the best team in the National League, and they will likely wrap up their first pennant since 1982 tonight.

So, we turn our attention to Cleveland, where the locals will be hosting the Rays in a noon Central game today.  That's our best chance for drama now.

Month of MLB: Day Sixteen

These days, really good baseball teams just don't play that many important games.  The Brewers, Dodgers, and Rays have known for months that they were going to the playoffs, and none of them had too much trouble in the Divisional Series.  But now, after two games of the League Championship Series, they (along with Cleveland) are very close to winning the World Series -- but, of course, they are also very close to being eliminated.  Milwaukee, for example, has a 2-0 lead in the N.L.C.S., but the 1985 Dodgers could tell them that this means they are just a four-game losing streak from seeing their season come to an end.  Meanwhile, over in the American League, Cleveland and Tampa Bay are tied at one win each -- which means that they are basically playing a best-of-five series for the pennant.

Up to this point, the games themselves have been pretty dull, because most of the time there is very little scoring.  For that matter, there aren't often a lot of people on base.  The Brewers' bullpen has pitched 9 2/3 innings so far against the Dodgers, and the Dodgers have zero runs and only two hits.  But from this point on, even a game that's dull in and of itself will still carry some interest because we are so close to having a new champion.

Latest odds to win the World Series:

Milwaukee:  +110

Tampa Bay:  +320

Los Angeles:  +350

Cleveland:  +550

Since Tampa Bay and Cleveland are traveling today, the only game today will be Game Three of the N.L.C.S.:

7 P.M.:  Milwaukee at Los Angeles (Fox Sports One) (Milwaukee leads 2-0)

Month of MLB: Day Fifteen

Cleveland really surprised me yesterday -- they came roaring back from behind and pounded the Rays 7-3 to take a 1-0 lead in the A.L.C.S.

In 2016, the Cubs and the Indians played one of the great World Series of all time -- but since that year, no team from the NL Central or the AL Central has won the pennant.  That could change this year.  The Brewers are up 2-0 in the N.L.C.S., and Cleveland is up 1-0 in the A.L.C.S.  Both the Dodgers and the Rays are facing serious adversity for the first time all year, and we will see if they can fight back or not.

It's a travel day in the N.L.C.S., so the only game today will be Cleveland and Tampa Bay at 7 PM Central on TBS.  Enjoy!