Tag: world series

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Pirates Morning Report: Yamamoto Shows It Can Be Done

Final Score: Dodgers 5 Blue Jays 1

Why The Dodgers Won: Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched his 2nd straight complete game. He gave up just 1 run on 4 hits. One of the hits was a pop-up that should have been caught. He struck out 8, walked none, and hit a batter. He got stronger as the game went on. In the 8th inning, he struck out the side on 14 pitches. He retired the last 20 batters in a row. He threw 103 pitches. Blake Snell threw 100 pitches in a little over 5 innings. Kevin Gausman almost matched Yamamoto pitch for pitch. At one point in the game, he retired 17 batters in a row. It was the top of the 7th that did him in. He gave up two solo home runs to Will Smith and Max Muncy that gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead that they never relinquished. They added 2 more runs in the 8th and won easily 5-1. The good news for the Blue Jays is that Yamamoto cannot pitch every game.

The Key Moments Of The Game: The tone of this game was set in the very 1st inning. The Dodgers scored a run on simple 2-out lightning. A double by Freddie Freeman and a single by Will Smith. In the bottom of the 1st, George Springer opened the inning with a double down the left field line that was scorched 106 MPH. On the very next pitch, Nathan Lukes fisted a little blooper into left field for a single, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. coming to the plate. The game could not have gotten off to a better start for the Blue Jays, especially coming off that offensive performance in game 1. In an at-bat that may be looked at as the turning point of the series, Yamamoto struck him out on 7 pitches. He threw 4 splitters in a row and finished him off with an 81 MPH curveball. Then the Dodgers got a little luck. Alejandro Kirk on a 2-1 pitch hit a soft liner but right at Freddie Freeman for the 2nd out. Yamamoto struck out Daulton Varsho, and the inning was over. The Blue Jays could not take advantage of a pop-up that was not caught in the infield in the 2nd inning. They put runners on 1st and 3rd with one out in the 3rd. They were able to tie the game but could not put up a crooked number. From that point on, Yamamoto mowed them down, not allowing a base runner the rest of the way.

Next Game: Tomorrow night in Los Angeles. The series switches to L.A. on Monday. This series has shaped up as expected, strength against strength. The Dodgers’ starting rotation against the Blue Jays’ foul ball, making contact offense. The Blue Jays won round one, knocking out Blake Snell in the 6th inning. The Dodgers won round two with Yamamoto pitching a complete game gem. The Blue Jays will need to win one in L.A. to get back to Toronto. The good news for the Blue Jays is that both Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani, while great starting pitchers, are not length guys. It will be surprising if either one goes over 6 innings. These next two games will really put that shaky Dodger bullpen to the test. The other big question is, does Max Scherzer have one more game left in the tank? Will Shane Bieber be effective is another big factor? The first two games were solid wins for both teams. There was not a lot of late excitement in either game. To me, this series is going to boil down to who is going to win that close, hard-fought one-run game. They are back at it tomorrow.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Blue Jays Way Prevails

Final Score: Blue Jays 11 Dodgers 4

Why The Blue Jays Won: After 3 and 1/2 innings, the Blue Jays trailed the Dodgers 2-0, but you still had to feel really good about the Blue Jays’ chances. They were playing Blue Jays offense They had made Blake Snell throw 56 pitches and struck out only 3 times in the first 3 innings. Over the next 2-plus innings, things would only get worse for Snell and the Dodgers. Snell would have to throw 44 more pitches and gave up a 2-run homer to Daulton Varsho. The bottom of the 6th was a complete disaster. The Blue Jays started the inning by getting the first 6 men on base. The first 3 against Blake Snell and the next 3 against reliever Emmet Sheehan. They took the lead 5-2. The Dodgers were able to get the first out with a force out at home. The bases were loaded with one out when Addison Barger was announced as the pinch hitter. The Dodgers countered with left-hander Anthony Banda. On the 4th pitch of the at-bat, Barger took an up-and-in slider and parked it in the stands for the first pinch-hit grand slam home run in World Series history. This game was history too. Both teams added 2 more runs for the final score of 11-4. The Blue Jays only struck out 4 times in the game. They hit 3 home runs. The Blue Jays played their game to perfection and blew the Dodgers away.

The Key Moments Of The Game: In the bottom of the first, Snell had just gotten out of a bases-loaded situation with no runs scoring. Blue Jay starter Trey Yesavage did not have his best stuff. He walked Will Smith to start the inning. After a force out, he gave up back-to-back singles, and the Dodgers took the lead 1-0. An infield single loaded the bases. Andy Pages worked the count to 3 and 2. He struck out on a slider that was down around the ankles. Shohei Ohtani grounded out to first base to end the inning. A potential big inning ended with just one run scoring. In the next inning, the Dodgers started out with 2 walks and a single to plate their 2nd run. Freddie Freeman was thrown out trying to go to third. Bo Bichette made a great play up the middle, on the left field side of 2nd base, and threw out the batter. That was the defensive gem of the game. It was Bichette’s first game in the Majors at 2nd base. So much for being a defensive liability. Max Muncy struck out to end the inning. Again, the Dodgers could score only 1 run. Yesavage retired the side in order in his last inning, the 4th, but what a line. He gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. It could have been so much worse. Then the Blue Jays did their thing in the bottom of the 6th, scoring 9 runs and essentially ending the Dodgers’ chances in game 1.

Next Game: Tonight, in Toronto. The Blue Jays put on a hitting clinic last night. It is something that Pirate fans can only dream about. Their two-strike approach was phenomenal. Game 2 will see if they can continue their kind of baseball. It looks like the layoff did affect the Dodgers somewhat. Blowout losses are not all bad. It is still just one loss. The Dodgers did not have to use any of their A-squad bullpen. There is no question that the Blue Jays have to be feeling really good right now. In the strength-against-strength showdown, the Blue Jays won the battle easily. The Dodgers should be worried.

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Pirates Morning Report: World Series, Rangers vs. Diamondbacks

The World Series is set to begin tonight and for the second year in a row the National League is sending the 6th seeded team to the fall classic. Last year it was the Phillies and this year the Diamondbacks. Unlike last year when the American League sent the No. 1 seed, the 4th seeded Texas Rangers will represent the junior circuit. I usually write about the playoffs, but due to travel commitments I really ran into a time crunch and failed to do so. I am glad now that I did not, because I would have wasted all this finger energy typing what I thought would happen. I was so wrong. Essentially, I thought the playoffs would go pretty much according to the seeding with the Orioles playing the Astros in the ALCS and the Dodgers facing off against the Braves in the NLCS. I thought if any teams would be the fly in the ointment, it would be the Phillies in the National League and the Rays in the American League. The Phillies were the only thing I was even close to being right about. Let’s look at some of the surprises and oddities of this 2023 playoff season.

The wild card series were all 2-game sweeps. The home team was swept 3 out of the 4 series with only the Phillies winning at home. With the exception of the Brewers, the losing teams simply could not hit. In the two games, the Blue Jays scored 1 run, the Rays 1 run, and the Marlins 2 runs. With that kind of offense, you are not going to beat anybody, even the Pirates. What I found most interesting was that the losing managers did not seem to have any sense of urgency in these short series. I felt they let their starting pitchers in too long and it cost them mightily. For all of their pitching prowess, the Brewers staff got lit up for 11 runs in the 2 games. The Brewers offense could not compete with that.

In the division series, the surprises continued with Orioles and Dodgers getting swept 3-0. The Orioles, although a surprise to me, was not a surprise to a lot of people. Fan Graphs had them has the team with the least chance of getting to the World Series. They turned out to be correct, but I was still mystified because they had the best record in the American League. The Rangers had no problem blowing them out of the playoffs outscoring them 21-11 in the three games. The Eastern Division of the American League, touted all year as the toughest division in baseball did not win a playoff game, let alone a series. Even more shocking was the Diamondbacks sweep of the Dodgers. From Clayton Kershaw only getting 1 out in the first inning in Game 1, to Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman getting just one hit between them in all three games, it was a total disaster for the Dodgers. The Dodgers could only score 2 runs in each game. You may be ablet to beat the Pirates doing that, but not too many other teams. Another hitting machine the Atlanta Braves could not muster an attack against the Phillies, as they scored only a total of 3 runs in the 3 games they lost. The Minnesota Twins held their own with the Astros splitting the first two games in Houston. When they came home their offense went to sleep scoring only 1 and 2 runs losing games 3 and 4. In 8 playoff series there was not an elimination game.

That changed in each leagues Championship Series. The ALCS saw Houston for the second time in the last 5 post seasons participate in a 7-game series where the visitors won every game. The Astros were on the losing end of both series, and this was only the 1st and 2nd time in the history of baseball that the this has ever happened. Going into the 6th game of NLCS the Phillies held a 3-2 lead, heading home where they had been unbeatable. Again, the home team went into a hitting funk scoring only 1 run in game 6 and 2 runs in game 7 to be sent reeling out of the playoffs. At one point, it looked like we would have a rematch of the 2022 World Series. The Diamondbacks and Rangers changed that scenario by winning games 6 and 7 on the road to top off a very surprising post season.

We have the Diamondbacks vs Rangers in the 2023 World Series. The tale of the tape shows the Rangers leading the Diamondbacks in most offensive and defensive categories. Stolen Bases is the only area where the Diamondbacks have a decided edge. The Rangers scored more runs and prevented run scoring better than the Diamondbacks during the regular season. Alas, we are in the playoffs now and in my view the Diamondbacks are no fluke. In the playoffs, both the Rangers and Diamondbacks went through the 3 rounds with a record of 9-3. The Rangers scored 71 runs and the Diamondbacks 51 runs. The Rangers gave up 45 runs and the Diamondbacks 41 runs. The rule changes in baseball this year were meant to speed up the game and have the game return to the look and feel of the 1980’s. The Diamondbacks are the epitome of these rule changes. They steal bases, pitch well, play solid defense and do not hit a lot of home runs. The Rangers were the best hitting team in the American League. Only the Braves and Dodgers hit better than them. In the year of the playoff home runs, the Rangers led the American League in the long ball. Overall, the Rangers look very solid except in one very important area, the bullpen. With my track record, I am not even going to begin and try and make a prediction for this World Series. This will be a contrast in styles to say the least. The new rule Diamondbacks against the long ball Rangers. Being a National League guy, I will be rooting for the Diamondbacks. The way this playoff season has gone about the only thing I am sure of is that there will be plenty of surprises.

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World Series: Phillies Right on Schedule

The Phillies have started the World Series just like they started every non-Wild Card series with a split on the road, winning game 1 and losing game 2. The Phillies made the big comeback in game 1. They were able to do so because Dusty Baker left Justin Verlander in the game too long. This is not the regular season. If you have a 5 run lead and your starting pitcher is getting racked in the 4th inning, it’s time to make a move, even though he was dominant he was in the first 3 innings. The first 6 batters in the top of the 4th all hit the ball hard and the Astros were just lucky to get the second out. Verlander probably should not have come out for the 5th inning, but even if you want to give Baker the benefit of the doubt on that, the leadoff double should have been the knockout punch. Instead Verlander was left in the game to surrender the tying runs, and even finish the inning. For Houston, game 1 loss was due to poor managing. Game 2 was a typical Phillies loss where poor defense was a contributing factor. The Phillies made it interesting and if Kyle Schwarber hits a ball 6 inches to the left or about 3 feet farther, the Phillies would have been within 2 runs going into the 9th.

The Phillies will be at home for the next 3 games and in my view, it will be essential for them to win at least 2 of the games to have any chance of winning this series. I think their pitching staff is set up better than the Astros and that may make a difference. They have had bad games at the plate before and seem to be able to shake it off. It will be interesting to see if the Phillies can get right back on track with the home field advantage. It would seem very unlikely that they will sweep this Astro team, as they have in the previous two series. I think one of the key players for the Phillies will be Rhys Hoskins, not only with the bat but also on the field. He can be a real streaky hitter, but his defense leaves a lot to be desired. Another player who disappointed during the season but seems to be perking up a little bit in the post season is Nick Castellanos. He had one of hist worst seasons at the plate, but he has gotten a hit in 5 of the last 6 games and made the sliding catch in right field that kept the Astros from winning game 1, on 2 putrid bloops. Last, but certainly not least, the Phillies have to get better starting pitching. Nola and Wheeler both disappointed in the first 2 games. The good news is the Phillies won one of those games. That will be the game to remember, game 1, if the Phillies go on to win the series and beat the cheating Astholes, I mean Astros.

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Sports: The World Series

The World Series starts tomorrow in Houston, with the Astros taking on the Atlanta Braves. Thank God, the Braves were able to beat the L. A. Dodgers, or what a World Series that would have been. I was already to write about the series between the highest payroll team vs. the cheaters. Who would you want to win that one, like nobody. Even with the one feel good story, of Dusty Baker, having the chance to cap off a great managerial career, with his first World Series Championship, is not enough to keep one from hoping, that the Astros get destroyed. Atlanta is an easy team to root for, with all the things, that they have had to overcome, to get to the World Series. By playing the Astros, they will have a vast majority of baseball fans pulling for them. Houston will be favored, and has the home field advantage, but Atlanta definitely has what it takes, to pull off one more upset. What does Atlanta have to do in order to win the series. This is by far one of the easiest series to analyze.

The Houston Astros have played 10 post seasons games. There has been only one game, where they did not score at least 5 runs, and in that game they scored 3. There were 7 games that they got 10 or more hits. Contrast that with the Braves who in 10 games, only scored 5 or more runs 4 times with 3 of those games being 5 on the number. They only got double digit hits in 4 games. The Astro lineup has been hitting throughout the playoffs. The simple key to this World Series, will the Astros keep on hitting. As was proven in the post season, hitting can quickly come and go. This post season has been highlighted by teams crushing the ball for one or two games, and then seeing their bats go south, for the next game or two. The only consistent hitting team, up to this point, is those cheatin Houston Astros. The Atlanta bullpen has been superb, but will it run out of gas, the way Tampa Bays did, in last years World Series. The Braves hitting has been up and down all year, but should be able to have a good DH in Jorge Soler, who does seem to be hot right now. From a statistical point of view the matchup is very even except in one area. Defensive efficiency rating, The Astros were .713, the Braves .708, a dead heat. In OPS+ the Astros were 2nd in all of baseball with 113, while the Braves were 96 which placed them 15th, giving a big edge to the Astros. In ERA+ both teams are exactly the same at 114. It is those Astros bats at the basic statistical level, that make them the favorite to win it all. During the regular season, the Astros had one stretch of 7 games where they did not score more than 4 runs per game, and once they were shut out 2 games in a row. It will boil down to how long the Astros can keep on hitting, and whether or not Atlanta can stretch the series to go 6 to 7 games, which will increase the chances, of the Astros bats, cooling off. Let’s hope the Braves can do it, to make things right in the world again. Well, I don’t know if that will make everything right in the world, but I would like to see it happen, anyway.

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Sports: The World Series

The World Series starts tomorrow, with the Houston Astros hosting the Washington Nationals.  Since the middle of May,  they have been the two best teams in baseball.  The Astros go into the series as heavy favorites.  This is the biggest odds differential since the 2007 series, when the Red Sox were big favorites over the Colorado Rockies.  That series went according to plan, as the Red Sox swept the Rockies in 4 games.  The Rockies were red hot going into that series having an unbelievable finish to the season going 21 and 8 and sweeping both the division series and N.L.C.S. going 7 and 0.  The oddsmakers knew something, making the Red Sox big time favorites, and they came through just as predicted.   This Series has a similar feel, with the Nationals coming off a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, and upsetting the favorite L. A. Dodgers in the division series.  Yet again, the Astros are considered the overwhelming favorite.  Will the oddsmakers be right again?  I am not too sure.  There are some things in the Nationals favor, that says this should be a tight well played series, that will go 6 to 7 games.

You never know  how a team is going to perform from series to series in the playoffs but so far the Astros are just not hitting.  They have four players with an OPS under 600.  Alex Bregman has walked a lot out of respect but is hitting only .257 with one home run.  You have to wonder if Washington will challenge him more.  One reason the Astros beat the Yankees is that they hit worse.  Even the bullpen game did not produce a lot of runs between these so called offensive juggernauts.  I am not to sure a team can get hitting healthy against the Nationals starting rotation.   The Nationals have a good DH line up for a National league team.  Howie Kendrick seems like the perfect DH and the Nationals will be better defensively for the games in Houston.  The Nationals starting rotation stacks up well against the Houston big three.   If  Anabel Sanchez can continue to pitch the way he has, then it is certainly deeper.  For whatever reason the Astros seem to make things hard on themselves.  When they won in 2017, both the N.LC.S. with the Yankees and the World Series against the Dodgers  were hard fought and went 7 games.   As great as this  team always looks on paper, you could argue that if they had not acquired Justin Verlander on August 31st at 11:59 pm, they would not have been World Champions.

Will the Astros prevail?  Yes, I think they will, but just barely.  They have 2 advantages.  One is Garrit Cole.  He is has been the most dominant pitcher in baseball, not just for this post season, but for about the last 5 months. There are not too many sure things in life, but he looks like he will continue to be excellent  for the next 7 days.  There is more pressure on the Nationals starting pitchers to perform because of the weak bullpen of the Nationals. This could finally take its toll.  Even the bullpen members that have performed reasonably well, like Daniel Hudson and Sean Doolittle could easily wilt under the pressure. There is no question, the Achilleas heel of the Nationals is that darn bullpen, and  you have to wonder if they can manage to get through one more series against a quality opponent.   There is one interesting strategy situation  that might determine the final outcome.  Is Houston going to go with the 3 man rotation, with the starters then going on short rest, or will game 4 be a bullpen game again.   In my view, as good as the three starters for Houston are, trying to pitch them on short rest could be the big mistake of the Series. Cole has never pitched on short rest and the one time they did it with Verlander it was a failure.  Of course if they win the first 3 games it won’t make any difference.   However if Houston decides to go with that 3 man rotation, then I am really liking the Nationals.  Can’t wait to see what happens as another fall classic begins.