October 17:
Mike Soroka was Mike Soroka (7 4 1 1 0 9), and Mookie Betts backed him up with 2 HRs as Atlanta took Game 1 of the NLCS over Jack Flaherty and the Cardinals. Soroka drove in what proved to be the winning run with a single in the 5th.
October 18:
The Rays won a Game 1! For only the second time in their postseason history in this save (going back to 2020), the Rays are not staring at an 0-1 deficit (the only other time was the 2023 World Series, which they swept). Tyler Glasnow returned to dominant form and the offense hit on all cylinders in a 12-2 pasting of Shohei Ohtani and the Angels. After a scoreless first they went to work in the 2nd with Hunter Bishop's RBI double getting them on the board and Alec Bohm's sac fly making it 2-0. A Keibert Ruiz sac fly made it 3-0 in the 3rd and then they really broke it open in the 4th on Nick Gonzales' RBI double and a 2-run HR by Vidal Brujan which chased Ohtani. They didn't stop scoring after that and as you can see from the line score above they scored in every inning but the 1st and 8th as they banged out 15 hits which included 8 doubles and 2 HRs, the other being from Keston Hiura to cap off the scoring. Bishop ended up 3-4 with a 2nd RBI double, Bohm had an RBI double of his own and everyone in the lineup had at least 1 hit except Spencer Torkelson who had an RBI groundout. Glasnow was rolling and although he faded a bit allowing runs in the 5th and 6th, he ended up an excellent 6 5 2 2 2 10 to pick up the win while Dustin May pitched 3 shutout innings to get his first postseason save. Shane McClanahan will try to give the Rays a 2-0 lead tomorrow against Garrett Williams, one of the league's toughest lefties.
And in the NLCS:
A great duel between Noah Syndergaard and Ian Anderson ended up going the Braves' way when they rallied for 2 in the bottom of the 9th. First, pinch-hitter Drew Waters took the Cards' Seranthony Dominguez deep to tie the game and then after Christian Pache doubled with two out, Jose Ramirez singled him home to give the Braves a shock 3-2 win and a 2-0 lead in the series.
October 19:
It was the Hunter Bishop show again as the Rays lit up the scoreboard for the second straight night in an 11-5 win over the Angels to take a 2-0 ALCS lead. Bishop put the Rays in front in the 2nd with a 2-run HR, and then repeated the feat as part of a 5-run 4th inning. Bishop's second blast followed a 2-run Alec Bohm triple as the Rays jumped all over Garrett Williams and the Angel bullpen. Shane McClanahan got the start and was great through 4 innings before the wheels fell off in the fifth. He loaded the bases and allowed a couple to score and then with 2 men on he gave up a lefty-on-lefty homer to Alex Verdugo to turn a laugher into a close game at 7-5. He got Mike Trout but couldn't retire Shohei Ohtani, another lefty, so he was pulled one out short of qualifying for a win. Liam Hendriks got the final out, and the Rays put 3 more up in the bottom of the 5th when James Sherfy lost the strike zone and walked Bishop and Brandon Marsh with the bases loaded around a Nick Gonzales RBI single. Austin Meadows added HR #4 of the postseason in the 6th to give us the final score. Hendriks, who picked up the win, hung around for a 1-2-3 6th and he was followed by Aaron Ashby, who struck out 5 straight Angels as part of 2 perfect innings. Mitchell Verburg had a 1-2-3 9th to finish the game as the Rays bullpen continues to dominate. Despite what it says above, Matt Manning will take the ball in Game 3 and will hopefully deliver a quality start. That's something the Rays have only gotten twice in their seven playoff games so far, but thanks to the offense (54 runs in 6 games since being shut out in Game 1 of the ALDS) and the bullpen they're 5-2 and 2 wins away from their 3rd consecutive World Series.
October 20:
The Cardinals only managed 2 hits on the night but they were both homers as they pulled to within 2-1 in the NLCS. After Willson Contreras homered off Ross Stripling to tie the game, Josh Stowers hit a 2-run shot after a Jose Ramirez error kept the inning alive. Mike Clevinger got the win with 5 strong innings, whiffing 8.