The wild card series is down, and the partition series is here. Major League Baseball’s 12-team playoff lineup has been whittled down to eight contenders. Now, the top two seeds in each league will join the fray. The Astros, Yankees, Dodgers and Warriors will take on the challengers after byes directly into their ALDS and NLDS seats.
This means ace on the mound. The day started with Warriors’ Max Fried, AL Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander continued up the hill in Houston, Gerrit Cole started for the Yankees and ended with NL ERA leader Julio Urias receiving for the Dodgers. Their opponents, fresh from a grueling wild-card victory, will use the No. 3 starter and hope to get the ball rolling toward a frustrating victory.
All four series started baseball on a busy Tuesday.
The Dodgers lead early, sticking with the Padres
Baseball’s best team doesn’t look unfamiliar after all. The 111-win Dodgers held a five-point lead against division rivals the Padres and gave the challengers a 5-3 lead in Game 1 of the NLDS.
Trea Turner homered Los Angeles in the first inning and the rest of the lineup piled up in the third. NL ERA champion Julio Urias started and allowed a 3-pointer in five innings for the win. Relief ace Evan Phillips escaped the trickiest of situations by inducing a double from Wil Myers in the sixth inning when the Padres tied at the bases.
Game 2 will be a matchup between Padres’ Yu Darvish and Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw.
Yankees rode Gerrit Cole to win Game 1 vs. Guardians
Guardians batted first, but Gerrit Cole And the Yankees got the last laugh in Game 1 of the ALDS. The Yankees ace gave up an early homer but then settled down to strike out over 6 1/3.
Shortly after Cleveland’s Steven Kwan opened the scoring, New York got a home run from Harrison Budd to tie the game. In a strange fifth inning Josh Donaldson was thrown in a near-home run mess, Jose Trevino ended up giving the Yankees the lead with a sacrifice fly. Anthony Rizzo’s massive homer ultimately gave the Bronx a 4-1 victory.
Finally, on a day when the other top seeds saw their front-line starters struggle, it was Kerr’s trump card after a long layoff. Aaron Boone will give the ball to Nestor Cortes Jr. — who led the team with a 2.44 ERA in the regular season — in Game 2 . Crush Dream Mariners Game
For 26 games into the first game of the ALDS, Julio Rodriguez’s legend and arid young Mariners looked stronger than Justin Verlander’s legend. But it’s no stronger than the legend of Jordan Alvarez.
The mammoth slugger smashed an off-field 3-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, sending Houston crowd into a delirious, shock homer . sailors.
The day started with the young Mariners skipping AL Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander. Led by Rodriguez — who tallied two extra hits and threes — the Mariners threw 10 hits and sixes to Verlander in four innings. But the Astros have something to offer here. Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman homered in later innings to bring the Astros to within two innings.
Then, in the ninth inning, Mariners relief Paul Sewald hit David Hensley and gave up Jeremy Pena’s single. With Alvarez already on the court with two RBIs on the day, Mariners manager Scott Servius turned to left-handed starter Robbie Ray to finish the final. It didn’t work.
Alvarez’s .306/.406/.613 lines make him the second-best hitter in baseball this year behind Aaron Judge, who fouled a fastball and then sent down One by one into the orbit.
Seattle’s fate couldn’t have gotten any steeper. With one win, they could have taken a 1-0 lead on the road and sent dominating ace Luis Castillo to the mound in Game 2 with a chance to take the series lead. Instead, the Astros will clinch their sixth straight ALCS win.
Phillies stay ahead, hold on to win over Warriors in Game 1
Do you like rallying? You might like the Phillies. Just after entering the playoffs, the Phillies are on a three-game winning streak — sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals and now in Game 1 of the NLDS against the 101-win Atlanta Braves. Tuesday’s series-changing win came down to a string of hits.
Nick Castellanos leads with 3 hits and 3 RBIs as the Phillies knock Atlanta ace Max Fried out of the game early and then hold on tight. Rangers Suarez started for the Phillies, allowing 1 run in 3 1/3 innings before handing it over to the Phillies bullpen, who used six pitchers to finish. Despite the Warriors’ fiery comeback attempt in the ninth, newly-appointed closeout Zach Evelyn held on for Philadelphia to win.
You can follow all the action on Yahoo Sports.
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