MLB Playoffs pics 2022: Top topics and top storylines for the October 15 schedule
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Three of MLB’s four divisional series could be concluded on Saturday. 
The San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies won at home on Friday, 2- 1 ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Closing the series with two NLCS contestants from the past two years will be a Tough task as teams rotate deeper. San Diego seems to be in better shape than Philly for sending Joe Musgrove up the hill Participate in the fourth game. Philly opens with Noah Syndergard. In the AL, the Houston Astros have a chance to sweep the Seattle Mariners, but in 20 years A home win over Seattle in its first playoff game might be asking too much. The New York Yankees and Cleveland Guards go into Game 3 with one each field, which could be the second of four games in four days due to Thursday’s rain. Cleveland taxed some of its top bullpen weapons at Yankee Stadium on Friday while manager Trevor Lancona may not have to use many relief pitchers in Triston McKenzie against Luis Severino.
Atlanta-Philadelphia should be the highest scoring game
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Both Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies start pitching over . Atalanta take Max Freed, Kyle Lai in Game 1-3 Teresa and Spencer Stryder returned from injury, while Philadelphia fought back with Rangers Suarez, Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nora. Game 4 could turn into a bullpen battle, Charlie Morton and Noah Hind Gard can only enter in average form at best.
Morton has dropped nine runs on 15 hits in his past two regular-season starts, That includes giving up six times to Philadelphia in September. He has scored four or more times in four of his last seven appearances.
Atlanta’s right-hander has been flagged for at least four of his five meetings with the Phillies Six hits. Philadelphia could ride the offensive wave created by the home runs of Reece Hoskins and Bryce Harper in Game 3. Syndergard scored 6 times in 7 of 10 appearances in Philadelphia or more hits. He didn’t give up more than five points in any of his starts, but the high percentage receded was a concern that Atlanta’s lineup could score in a row.
Both Morton and Syndergard have the potential to go deep into the game, but their recent performances suggest the bullpen will be massive participate. Relief pitchers on both sides can be asked to clean up the mess created by the starters.
Both teams are willing to let Morton and Syndergard play five innings because most of the high leverage The reliever wasn’t used in Game 3, but even that seemed wishful thinking as Philly’s bat was on fire and Atlanta needed to fight back early on the Phillies’ Game 3 outburst.
Seattle will win home playoff return
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The Seattle Mariners have shown little fear in four playoff games against some of the best pitchers in the American League.
Hits from Alek Manoah, Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez should help Mariners against Lance McCullers Jr.
McCullers has been consistent since returning to Houston’s rotation in August. He finished the regular season with four straight games of six or more innings.
McCullers and the Astros will get into the cauldron of emotion Saturday in Seattle. The Mariners should feed on that and win their first playoff home game in two decades. Philly and San Diego benefited from the same emotional boost at home, as well as strong pitching , won their third game in their respective series on Friday. George Kirby may not be a household name, but he could make his own in a national audience on Saturday imprint.
Kirby has only dropped 2 or fewer in 7 of his last 8 home games Score. He also reached the sixth inning in seven of his 13 home games.
Kirby may not be Luis Castillo or Logan Gilbert, but his domination at home The force was enough to match their performance on the mound in Game 3. The Seattle rookie could be helped by another first-year player and an early surge in the Mariners’ offense. Julio Rodriguez and Co. played eight of their nine games in the first four innings against the Astros. Mariners did it without needing to blow out six in one inning like Philly did on Friday , but if they can jump two or three early runs on McCullers, they can ride Kirby and their top bullpen arm for a home win. 
Yankees, Guardians will continue to run at a premium
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The bat has yet to wake up in the New York-Cleveland series thanks to all the incredible arms on display. The low-scoring trend of the first two games should carry over into the third game, Luis Sevey Reno and Triston McKenzie will go head-to-head in Game 3. MacKenzie was great in his playoff debut. He hit eight hitters and gave up two hits in six innings against the Tampa Bay Rays a week ago. McKenzie has produced a 2.77 ERA inside Progressive Field and has had a 2.77 ERA since Aug. 2 His home park didn’t give up more than 3 winning runs.
The Cleveland right-hander gave the Yankees lineup problems on July 3rd when he was at home gave up a hit in seven innings.
Severino pitched 7 innings without a hit in his final regular-season appearance on Oct. 3 . He gave up five hits in 16 innings in three starts since returning from injury in mid-September. Severino started three playoff games in his career, he Has the potential to match McKenzie’s performance every inning.
A low-scoring game is the most predictable outcome of Game 3, and possibly both teams Most welcome result.
Last thing for the Yankees when the series may be left Two games into play, all the Guardians want to do is spend their bullpen weapons in game three.
Dodgers keep championship hope alive in San Diego
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The Dodgers weren’t completely beaten by the Padres. Both teams have 23 hits in three games, and the Padres are only outscoring them NL West opponents one more point. LA has more extra hits and better OPS in the series, So all hope isn’t lost for Dave Roberts’ team.
Dodgers score seven times over Joe Musgrove in three regular-season matchups , 4 of which took place in Santiago on September 11. Musgrove shut down the Dodgers at Petko Park 17 days later, but at least some confidence was flowing in Los Angeles’ dugout.
Los Angeles will feel some pressure in the game 4, but the pressure will be more e asking San Diego to close the NLDS at home, to prevent a return to Dodger Stadium for Game 5.
Tyler Anderson doesn’t have the playoff experience of other throwers on the Dodgers roster, but he Limited San Diego to 2 of 5 hits in the final 13 innings against the Padres. Considering how strong the two bullpen is, it only takes one to go in Game 4 Two runs can make a difference. Anderson should at least be able to match Musgrove’s output on the mound if the Dodgers once again Entering Musgrove, the southpaw could stop the Padres from forcing a Game 5 on Sunday.
