It’s a bummer the Tribe hasn’t qualified, but last night’s game was entertaining ... Brewers had some poor timed pitching and defense to lose it 4-3

Up tonight: Rays at A’s

Good game last night. Credit to the Nats for coming back against one of the top guns in baseball.

Francona in my opinion should win the AL Manager of the Year. Just a great year when all the injuries are taken in to account.

I am a Braves and Tribe fan. So now I am riding the Braves.

The Braves have a very good balanced team. Outstanding lineup. No soft spots and can score from 1 to 8.

Keuchel will get the first start. Veteran stater who knows how to pitch especially in big games.

They have have five starters. None are super dominate but all are capable. Some are young like Soroka, Foltynewicz, and Fried. The veterans are Keuchel and Teheran.

They have a veteran pen. And a deep bench.

They have the kind of team that could win it all. Statistically the Astros, Dodgers, and Yanks are at the top. However, in post season it is all about who gets hot.

The Braves have shown they can beat the best pitchers in baseball including DeGrom, Schezer, Strasburg and Corbin.

I like their chances. At the same time baseball is a strange game and predictions are meaningless.

I definitely want the Braves to get into the WS over the Dodgers. I really don’t want to see LA vs Houston again

Go Stros!!!!

Rays on top 4-0 early ... A’s struggling

Final 8 set:

Twins-Yankees
Rays-Astros

Nationals-Dodgers
Braves-Cardinals


My prediction: It’ll be Astros vs Twins and Dodgers vs Braves

Of the teams still standing, the Twins are the only team I could get behind. I was hoping Oakland would beat Tampa.

I wanted the A’s as well .. they have had such poor luck/performances in the playoffs

I bet the Astros would rather the A's had won too, because Tampa has been playing out of their minds for the last month.

The Rays' mojo ran into a brick wall named Verlander today, and he threw 7 innings of 1-hit, shutout ball. They nicked the reliever for 2 runs in the 8th, but are now down 6-2 with one more chance in the 9th. I don't envy any team facing the Astros trio of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Zack Greinke to start any series against them.

By the way, thanks a pantload to MLB for making me search for their playoff games, and worse, for putting a game I was looking forward to (Minn vs NY tonight) on a subscription station (MLB Network) that I don't get. One thing about the NFL, at least you know where their playoff games are being broadcast.

I know it Dave ... it’s annoying that the Yanks/Twins will be on a channel that a lot of the country doesn’t get

Huge win today for the Braves after blowing a lead late yesterday.

It was the first time I saw Flaherty pitch. Very impressive pitcher. Went into the game with 19 consecutive scoreless innings and a sub 2.00 era.

Braves got a run in the first. Foltynewicz throws a 3 hit shutout for 7 innings.

National league, man of first 2 outs pitcher up. He is throwing lights out. Bullpen blew a lead the day before. Do you stay with the starter? Or do you bring a pinch hitter?

Manager brings up a pinch hitter with a one run lead. Duvall goes yard. Braves take a 3-0 and the guy who blew the save the day before gets the save.

Great baseball. Series tied.

I can breathe again.

"Joe, attendance is down across the board, the game is too long, attention spans are quickening and an entire generation seems to be oblivious to the national pastime... What should we do??"
"Hide all the games and make them pay extra for anything that used to be free once they find them."

Series update:

Braves 1 Cardinals 1
Dodgers 1 Nationals 1

Yankees 1 Twins 0
Astros 1 Rays 0

Well, I have a lot of relatives in the DC area, so count me in a a Nationals fan in the NL. I was born in New York City, and the Yankees haven't been to a World Series in a while, so I will cheer from them. I doubt either team will make it to the World Series

Yankees up on the Twinkies 7-0 in the 3rd. They own the Twins. How the hell does Minnesota start some guy named Dobnak in the playoffs at Yankee Stadium? Good grief, how did these guys run away with the AL Central with this kind of starting rotation?

Yeah, that was like feeding a shark some meat

Just saw that the Twins lost 15 consecutive postseason games. That's amazing.

And quite a few of them to NYY

Update:

Yankees 2 Twins 0
Astros 2 Rays 0

Cardinals 1 Braves 1
Dodgers 1 Nationals 1

What a game. Intense.

I need a shower. Rough on the nerves.

Great starting pitching. Clutch hitting in the ninth to take the lead.

Hold on for the save. Wainwright and Soroka were outstanding.

What a game. The drama was on.

Braves up 2-1 ... great game

<--Braves fan for yearsssssssssssssssssssss.

Congrats!!

MLB season is over for me.

Update;

Dodgers 2 Nationals 1
Braves 2 Cardinals 1

Yankees 2 Twins 0
Astros 2 Rays 0

MLB sucks.

I loved baseball growing up and have so many great baseball memories. But, they have ruined the game for "baseball" folks like me.

The game is about home runs and strikeouts now. I don't know if you can come up w/a more boring and intellectually inferior strategy than that. I loved the game that utilized things like bunts, hitting behind the runner, steals, sacrifices, decisions on pinch hitters for pitchers who were pitching well, making contact, spraying the ball to all parts of the field, etc, etc.

I can't even watch this brand of baseball anymore.

Update:

Astros 2 Rays 1
Yankees 2 Twins 0

Braves 2 Cardinals 1
Dodgers 2 Nationals 1

Anybody see the bang-up job the little cowboy, Josh Tomlin, did for the Braves today? 1-1/3 innings of pretty high leverage relief - 4 up and 4 down. Kid's a gamer. Kudos to Josh.

Yeah, that was a big spot for sure

Big win for the Cards

Update:

Braves 2 Cardinals 2
Dodgers 2 Nationals 1

Yankees 2 Twins 0
Astros 2 Rays 1

You could say the same thing about football, but I still love both games.

Go Yanks!!!!

My gut feeling is the Twins win tonight then lose game 4, but well see

I agree. You could say the same thing about basketball too. When was the last time you saw an NBA player called for traveling or a 3 second violation, not to mention the 3-point line that's barely even challenging for pro players. I can't speak for hockey, but MLB, NFL, and NBA have all sold out their games to accentuate and promote Offense in order to reel in the so-called "casual fans" whose attention span can apparently only be held by high scoring games. The sell-out is hardly the sole province of MLB.

I was born in Manhattn, so I agree!

Dodgers/Nats tied 2-2

Obviously, I disagree w/both of you. The homer/Strike out thing sucks ass. It's not what I want to watch and I won't. Many others feel the same way.

Yanks sweep Twinkies

Update:

Yankees 3 Twins 0
Astros 2 Rays 1

Dodgers 2 Nationals 2
Braves 2 Cardinals 2

Cards put up a 10 spot in the first inning lol

Update:

Yankees vs Astros/Rays

Cardinals vs Dodgers/Nationals

Amazing finish by the Nats last night... hard to not feel bad for Kershaw, dude is so dominant MOST of the time.. HRs on back to back pitches.. I can only imagine how crappy he has to feel this morning.

I dont know why it’s such a trend for him to pitch crappy in the playoffs, but thats the case every year

You go, sk8termom.

I just have one thing to say...

"THE BRAVES SUCK"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only in the first inning yesterday haha

Update:

Yankees vs Astros
Cardinals vs Nationals

Nats pitching has been lights out thus far

Update:

Nationals 2
Cardinals 0

Yankees 1
Astros 0

j/c...

What a game.

Heck of a game last night ... Stros eek it out. 1-1 now. This one feels like a 7 gamer

Looks like the Nats will be punching their ticket to the WS ... Cards are overmatched

So, we wait on the Astros/Yanks

I love watching the Cards lose, and the Yankees in the same night? Dream night to watch baseball.

Looks like it’ll be Stros vs Nats

I'm hoping Astros win but I wouldn't count the Yankees out yet

It seems to me like Houston’s pitching is overmatching the Yankees .. Cole/Verlander against Stasburg/Scherzer will be special

j/c...

Good for the Nats. Lost Harper to no detriment. Great young talent and tremendous pitching.

A WSH vs HOU World Series will/should be outstanding.

Side note, happy for Yan Gomes.

I would love to watch that. I am a huge fan of good pitching , tough defense and strategic offense - hit and run, stealing bases, bunts. Not a fan of home run or strike out baseball which the Yankees epitomize.

I agree, and the Yankees way is not the championship way IMO ... it doesn’t work in a series against good starting pitching

Game 4 PPD for tonight .. that means its a LONG weekend ahead:

Thursday - HOU at NYY (8:08)
Friday - HOU at NYY (7:08)
Saturday - NYY at HOU (8:08)
Sunday - NYY at HOU (7:38)

I'm pulling for the Nats, got a lot of good friends who like them and they are an easy team to root for.. They should make a commercial..

2017, lost the NLDS - Heartbreaking
2018, missed the playoffs - Frustrating
2019, going to the world series - Bryceless

That’s why I’m pulling for them over Houston as well ... that would be quite the kick to Harper’s ego

MLB Playoffs...

Son of a ......LeMahieu just had a hell of a clutch hit.

WOW!!!!

Astros vs Nationals

Give me Houston in 6

Nats up 2-0 ... Stros are in trouble

As a Braves fan this is painful.

The Braves took charge of the division in the second half.

They maintained the lead over the Nats. Every time the Nats played the Braves in the second half with the Nats trying to close ground the Braves took the series.

The key was play them tight till the 7th. Destroy their pen. The starters are good the pen horrible.

In the playoffs the starters have been used in key situations out of the pen.

The surprise has been their offense getting to Cole and Verlander.

I agree ... flash back a few months and the nationals were the butt of jokes. They were an after thought. Now they’re 2 games from the title

Baseball is so crazy.

A game dominated by analytics. Every stat that can be thought of is crunched.

Yet when they step on a field to play a game all that goes out the window. The playoffs prove it every year.

There are no favorites. That becomes a toy stat.

There is no explaining how players get hot or go cold.

Cole looked invincible. Nats got to him.

Baseball has fascinated me my whole life. I love the game.

The contrast is the craziest aspect. The regular season is "around the world in 80 days", the post season is a top-fuel funny car revving for the quarter-mile.

Some good analogies there Fate.

I have always looked at the regular season like a soap opera. A daily dose of what will happen next?

All kinds of "small things" happen daily. They get lost in the grind of 162 games. Managers are forced to pace the team.

Once the playoffs start. Every pitch is drama loaded.

My first introduction to sports was boxing. Second was baseball. Once I started playing. I could not get enough of the game. Hours meant nothing to me. I loved being on the field.

The game has gone through many changes over it's history. Yet somehow it feels the same.

I am in agreement with Ted Williams. The single hardest thing in sports is hitting major league pitching.

The Nats are a fun team to watch.. The fact that they have racked up 17 runs in the first 2 games against Cole and Verlander is astounding... the most runs in the first 2 games of a WS since 1960 when the Yankees did it to the Pirates.

The good news for the Astros? The Yankees still ended up losing that WS...

Momentum in baseball means very little. You really are only as hot as your next starting pitcher. Right now the Astros are reeling, but they have a ton of talent and it would only take a few swings of the bad early in game 3 to put together a 4 run inning and suddenly all of that gets forgotten...

Baseball teaches stern lessons.

It is never over till it is over.

It's not like the Astros can't come back. They are a great team. They have a complete lineup and a very good pitching staff.

The Nats are confident. They will be going home. Astros need game three bad.

Finally we're getting a close game in this series.

Outstanding performance tonight by Strasburg.

The bats came alive tonight for the Nats as well. Soto is a hell of a young talent.

No more flashers like in game 5.

So it goes to Game 7 now, where Houston will have home-field disadvantage.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a series where the visiting team has won every game this late into it

You haven't. The most road games won in a world series is 5 according to Mad Dog Radio.

Thanks. I remembered the Yanks/Braves series in 96 was 5 games

Painful memory. Braves won the first two games in NY. Andrew Jones was a 20 year old rookie and hit two HR in his first two at bats.

They came back to Atl and lost three straight.
I was sick.

Look forward to tonight.

Yeah, that was really a series of momentum ... a strange series indeed ... Leyritz with the big HR

Game 7 tonight should be fun

j/c:

I'm not much into baseball but this game 7 is pretty darn good.

Nats might want to look into getting the bullpen going and getting Scherzer out while it's still a one run game.

It looks like I'll have to stay up past my bedtime to watch the whole game.

Same here but it is a hell of game 7, worth staying up for.

And the Washington Nationals are your 2019 World Series Champs.

Good series. Plenty of exciting moments all throughout.

2 weeks ago ... hey Nats fans, you'll get to the World Series, but you won't even win a home game.

Pretty exciting game ... I was rooting for the Nats, but the series was weird and entertaining

Wow. Congrats to the Nats.

Win two on the road. Lose three at home. Win two on the road again. A wild card, what a ride.

The whole second half they trailed my Braves. Every time they played head to head with the Nats trying to close the gap: Braves took the series.

Now they win the title. Go figure.

Baseball driven by analytics. Yet when it comes to a post season playoffs? All that goes out the window.

Who gets hot takes the cake.

And to think, Kendrick’s HR stayed fair by a foot. It literally won them the title

Shocked the Nationals won but Congratulations to them

Was kind of rooting for the Nats just because I have a number of friends and it was a compelling story. Very entertaining series that highlighted two of my most hated rules in baseball.

1. Running down the line to 1st you should not have an obligation to avoid contact (or the ball) if it gets into the base path.. that should be on the first baseman to avoid.

2. If you slide into a base and lose contact with the base for a millisecond because of the momentum of your slide, you should not be out.