With the Rays out of it I'm not going to daily LCS posts so the entire round will be in this post.
Game 1 of the ALCS:
I guess Touki Toussaint proved you
can pitch well against the Blue Jays. Maybe I'll try and trade for him.
Game 2 of the ALCS:
Kyle Lewis' grand slam off Anthony Kay in the 3rd inning was the key hit as Seattle goes 2-0 up (and 5-0 overall in the playoffs) in the series heading back to Toronto. Marco Gonzales kept Toronto off the board until the 6th (giving Seattle pitching 14 consecutive shutout innings), and was dominant until he ran out of gas in the 9th and gave up a 3-run HR to Rowdy Tellez but the game was long decided before that.
Game 1 of the NLCS:
Brusdar "Babe Ruth" Graterol did it all against Atlanta in Game 1 of the NLCS, going 6 4 1 1 2 9 for the win and slugging a homer in the 6th. By then the Dodgers had chased Atlanta ace Mike Soroka, scoring 6 runs off him in 4 innings. Daniel Murphy, playing for Cleveland's AAA affiliate in mid-summer, had a 2-run HR and a double to lead the Dodger offense. Ozzie Albies in a losing cause had 5 RBI for Atlanta including a 9th inning grand slam but that only made an 8-1 game an 8-5 one.
Game 2 of the NLCS:
Big win for the Braves as Robbie Ray goes 8 3 0 0 4 7 to outduel Clayton Kershaw (who went 8 himself) and HRs from Acuna and Cal Raleigh were all the offense he needed to get the series on even footing as it's starting to shape up as another great one like 2020. With Raleigh homering here, it's nice to see a trade really benefit both teams as he was acquired from Seattle for Tooki Toussaint, who's been lights out with Seattle in this playoff. Perhaps they meet in the WS to see who really wins the trade.
Game 3 of the ALCS:
Wow. Perhaps I didn't give Jordan Romano enough credit when he beat the Rays in Games 1 and 5 of the ALDS as he did the same thing to Seattle today, dealing the Mariners their first loss of the postseason and pulling the Jays back into the series. He went 6 3 1 1 3 5, only allowing a Mike Brosseau (remember him?) HR that tied it after Lourdes Gurriel Jr took Justin Dunn deep in the 3rd. Rowdy Tellez (that guy again) had a 2-run shot off Dunn in the bottom of the inning to provide the winning runs.
Game 4 of the ALCS:
The Mariners had the best pitching in the AL this season and they continue to show why as 4th starter Justus Sheffield, not needed in the ALDS, came through with a complete-game 9 6 1 1 3 9 performance to put the Mariners one win away from their first-ever trip to the World Series. Mike Brosseau's 2-run HR and Kyle Lewis's 4th blast of the postseason (the most in MLB) paced the offense until Daulton Varsho broke it open with a 3-run shot in the top of the 9th.
Game 3 of the NLCS:
An epic series needs an epic game, and that's what we got as the Dodgers beat the Braves in 12 innings to take a 2-1 series lead. Jorge Soler and Corey Seager went back-to-back off Jasseel De La Cruz in the 12th to give LA the win. The homer was Soler's 2nd of the night to go along with a pair hit by Cody Bellinger that helped get it to extras. The Dodgers bullpen threw 7 shutout innings and Kenley Jansen got the win.
Game 5 of the ALCS:
Congratulations to the Seattle Mariners for making their first-ever World Series! Mike Brosseau went 4-5 with a HR and 2 RBI and was named the MVP of the ALCS to lead the way. I'm declaring the early-2021 Poche/Brosseau for Austin Adams/Haniger deal a clear win for the Mariners even though Adams brought me back Gio Gallegos and Haniger brought Seth Beer (and intriguing power prospect Franyel Baez). I mean, look who's still playing and look who isn't. One scare for the M's, however: Tooki Toussaint had to leave in the first inning with what turned out to be a back injury. Turns out it's minor, though, so he should be good to go in the Fall Classic. Aaron Fletcher and Logan Gilbert had to pick up the slack and pick it up they did with 6.1 innings of 1-run ball combined. Also congrats to the Jays on getting as far as they did, especially considering they lost Nate Pearson and Elvis Luciano from their rotation.
Game 4 of the NLCS:
Maybe this won't be another epic series between these teams after all as the Dodgers won again in Atlanta to go up 3-1. Sean Newcomb could not repeat his heroics against the Mets and was hit for 4 runs in 3 innings to put the Braves in a hole (including Cody Bellinger's 3-run HR in the 1st), but they came back to get within 5-4 on a Christian Pache 2-run shot off Julio Urias, starting in place of the injured Alex Wood. But they could get no closer as Mitchell Verburg and Liam Hendriks shut them down over the final 3.1 innings as we're on the cusp of an all-west coast World Series.
Game 5 of the NLCS:
Mike Soroka had been far from his ace-pitcher self this postseason but came through with a vengeance when the Braves needed him most, staving off elimination and sending this series back to LA with a complete-game 9 5 1 1 2 4 performance that evoked memories of Greg Maddux. Atlanta got to Game 1 hero Brusdar Graterol for 3 runs in 4 innings and had their way with the Dodger bullpen. Ronald Acuna Jr led the offense, going 3-5 with 2 RBI including a triple and added a stolen base, and Cal Raleigh's 2-run HR broke a 1-1 tie in the 4th.
Game 6 of the NLCS:
Looks like we're having another epic series between these teams after all, as Freddie Freeman's second HR of the game off Clayton Kerhsaw broke up a 2-2 tie in the 6th and the Braves went on to a 6-3 win to force a winner-take-all Game 7 tomorrow night. Robbie Ray loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning and got out of it, bearing down from there to go 6.2 5 2 2 3 10 and go to 3-0 for the postseason. Mookie Betts followed Freeman's 6th inning blast with one of his own against his 2020 WS-winning teammates while Cody Bellinger went deep for the Dodgers, giving him an MLB postseason-leading 6. It's Folty against Buehler for a date with Seattle tomorrow.
Game 7 of the NLCS:
Well an epic series needs an epic Game 7, and that's what we got as the Dodgers beat the Braves in a game where the teams kept exchanging the lead until Braves closer Will Smith melted down in the 8th inning with 5 walks to lead to 3 Dodger runs in a 7-5 LA win that sends them up against Seattle in the 2022 World Series. The winning run was a bases-loaded walk by Will Smith to.....Will Smith of the Dodgers, which probably broke the space/time continuum. No word on whether the Fresh Prince was in attendance. Before that there was plenty of drama as the game went 2-2 to the 7th. Christian Pache homered off Jack Little to give Atlanta a 3-2 in the top of the 7th, but Max Muncy took Ian Anderson deep for a 2-run shot to make it 4-3 Dodgers in the bottom of the inning. No problem, in the top of the 8th Freddie Freeman doubled in a run to tie it off Liam Hendriks and Cal Raleigh, who had homered earlier, had a sac fly to put the Braves back up 5-4. But then Will Smith happened, he went walk-single-walk-walk forcing in the tying run-walk forcing in the winning run-strikeout-shallow fly ball-walk to force in another run. Caleb Ferguson came on for the Dodgers in the ninth and struck out the side around a 2-out walk to nail down the win. So the Braves in 3 straight NLCS appearances now have 2 7-game losses to the Dodgers and a WS loss to the White Sox to show for it. So now will the Dodgers win for the second time in three years or will the Mariners take their first-ever championship? Stay tuned in the next post.