2016 Playoffs
October 30, 2016
NATIONAL LEAGUE WILDCARD
Chicago Cubs 8, Washington Nationals 1
Cubs win series 1-0
Jake Arrieta and Max Scherzer both came out of the game after six innings with the Cubs leading 2-1 before the Nats bullpen imploded and allowed Chicago to put the game well out of reach. Addison Russell and Miguel Montero each went deep as the Cubs beat the Nationals for the seventh time in eight games this season.
AMERICAN LEAGUE WILDCARD
Toronto Blue Jays 12, Boston Red Sox 7
Blue Jays win series 1-0
No Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, no problem. The rest of the Jays lineup picked up the slack and clubbed four home runs including three against Boston starter David Price, who was knocked out of the game after just 2.2 IP. Troy Tulowitzki had a pair of homers and knocked in five runs.
NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
Gm 1: New York Mets 6, Chicago Cubs 3
Gm 2: New York Mets 5, Chicago Cubs 3
Gm 3: Chicago Cubs 2, New York Mets 1
Gm 4: Chicago Cubs 8, New York Mets 7
Gm 5: New York Mets 13, Chicago Cubs 1
Mets win series 3-2
The top-seeded Mets are moving on after winning the most entertaining series of the divisonal round. The home team won every game of this matchup and four straight exciting close games were followed by an absolute thumping in the finale. David Wright was named MVP of the series for hitting .500 with 3 HR.
NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
Gm 1: Los Angeles Dodgers 5, St Louis Cardinals 3
Gm 2: Los Angeles Dodgers 9, St Louis Cardinals 5
Gm 3: St Louis Cardinals 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 2
Gm 4: Los Angeles Dodgers 5, St Louis Cardinals 1
Dodgers win series 3-1
Super-ace Clayton Kershaw got the postseason monkey off his back by beating the Cardinals in game 1 and dominating them in game 4 without picking up a decision. St Louis pitcher Carlos Martinez took the loss in both of those games and his team couldn't recover. Joc Pederson was the series MVP (.429, 2 HR, 4 RBI).
AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
Gm 1: New York Yankees 5, Toronto Blue Jays 4
Gm 2: New York Yankees 2, Toronto Blue Jays 1
Gm 3: New York Yankees 3, Toronto Blue Jays 1
Yankees win series 3-0
Excellent outings from the Yankees' top three starters and three straight relief appearances from Andrew Miller (1 win, 2 saves) swept the wildcard Jays right out the door. The bottom third of New York's lineup went 0-for-29 in the series but their pitching was just too dominant. Outfielder Brett Gardner was the MVP of this one for getting on base at a .615 clip.
AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
Gm 1: Houston Astros 9, Kansas City Royals 6
Gm 2: Houston Astros 7, Kansas City Royals 4
Gm 3: Houston Astros 6, Kansas City Royals 5
Astros win series 3-0
History will not repeat itself this year as the Astros bounced the defending champion Royals in straight sets. Houston out-homered the champs 9-1 over the three game span and no KC starter could make it beyond the sixth inning. Young Carlos Correa took home the series MVP for his .385/.500/.692 slash line.
NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Gm 1: New York Mets 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 3
Gm 2: New York Mets 8, Los Angeles Dodgers 3
Gm 3: Los Angeles Dodgers 9, New York Mets 5
Gm 4: New York Mets 10, Los Angeles Dodgers 5
Gm 5: New York Mets 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 1
Mets win series 4-1
In a rematch of last year's NLDS, the Mets once again came out victorious thanks to their overpowering offense that was too strong even for Clayton Kershaw in the series finale. New York hit 9 HR in the series including 3 by series MVP Lucas Duda and now move on to their second straight World Series.
AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Gm 1: New York Yankees 5, Houston Astros 2
Gm 2: New York Yankees 2, Houston Astros 0
Gm 3: New York Yankees 4, Houston Astros 0
Gm 4: Houston Astros 12, New York Yankees 2
Gm 5: Houston Astros 9, New York Yankees 0
Gm 6: Houston Astros 11, New York Yankees 0
Gm 7: New York Yankees 5, Houston Astros 4
Yankees win series 4-3
It was nearly 2004 all over again for New York as they came this close to surrendering another 3-0 series lead. Houston absolutely destroyed the Yanks in their three wins but fell short in Game 7 when closer Luke Gregerson gave up two runs in the bottom of the 9th, his only inning of work in the series. Colby Rasmus was named series MVP in a losing effort (.400, 5 HR, 13 RBI) but it is the Yankees who will be moving on to the Fall Classic.
WORLD SERIES
Gm 1: New York Mets 9, New York Yankees 1
Gm 2: New York Mets 2, New York Yankees 1
Gm 3: New York Yankees 11, New York Mets 5
Gm 4: New York Mets 6, New York Yankees 4
Gm 5: New York Mets 2, New York Yankees 1
Mets win series 4-1
The rematch of 2000's Subway Series went the other way this time as the Mets vanquished the Yankees in five games to win their first title since 1986. The Yanks just couldn't get anything going against the Mets' brilliant rotation, including World Series MVP Noah Syndergaard who went 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA and 14 K in 15 IP.
The Mets celebrate their first World Series title in 30 years