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The Classic is in full swing as the playoff diamonds are flamin' hot after a noisy-noisy Wild-Card round set the bar. Three days of warfare; three days of noise. Reel yourselves in, and take a quick breather on this day off; the opening round showed that the flames are set to RISE even higher this weekend. Four teams moved on; now the top seeds are ready to join the fray.
What a wild opening three days to kickstart the dance. The two clubs that ended long droughts to get in? Well, both have a SERIOUS heatwave now, after going on the road and conquering upsets to advance. We saw San Diego get UP; Mets continue the comeback wave; a 20-year old electrify the October stage; and falling to the knees type of blown saves. Just pure mayhem that now sets us up for three LCS matchups between division rivals. First, lets recap those movin' on.
Brewers Stunned by Mets at home:
Another MLB Playoff, another early exit for the Milwaukee Brewers. Losing at home and in the fashion they did makes it sting even more. Brew-Crew looked to have put the GM-1 loss to the Mets in the dustpan by needing just three more outs to secure back-to-back dubs and a series advancement. Instead, perennial All-Star Devin Williams once again taints a great season by blowing it in the postseason. This time, it's the Polar Bear who makes him pay to SILENCE the 'Waukee faithful:
video via @ESPN//X
Brew-Crew now have consecutive Wild-Card exits with some large due thanks to Williams choking on the brightest stage. Last season, D-Will gave up two in the ninth to allow the Snakes to kill the hope in GM-1 of the WC, which then led Arizona to sweep the Brewers and well, you know the rest. This season, he just flat out throws away an elimination game and LCS opportunity. Rather tipping led to failure, or the cat not accepting the moment; Williams choked the game away for Milwaukee. A 93-win season turned to dust with a snap of the fingers, and one big-time Alonso nuke. A gutting way for the season to end for the Brewers. There is one brightside Brewers fans... Jackson Chourio is that DUDE.
The youngest big-leaguer Chourio, had himself a real-solid series that included a multi-homer game in the Brewers lone win. He sure is a brightside for the future. This season wasn't the season. Mets owned the moment, and look to take things even higher. What an unreal comeback in GM-3- the theme of the playoff run for New York (along with an AL club..). This type of series win is a mega confidence builder for the Mets after playing a double-header to get in, all in the same week. Mets are a dangerous contender, and won't be an easy out for the 2-seed Phillies. This Mets/Phils series is about to FEED baseball fans.
Lets get it going baby! One of three matchups between division rivals. Phillies and Mets have played over 1,100 regular season games; never have they gone toe-to-toe against one another in October... in the Classic. This has a crack at being the loudest series of the three intras. We all know how this Phillies team gets in October, and we all know how loud the Bank gets. Citi Field will ring off the same level of noise, with Francisco Lindor and the Polar Bear ready to bring the same level of energy as Bryce Harper and co. Get cho popcorn.
Gritty Tigers Keep Roaring:
The Cinderella story is not over folks! The gritty Tigers just keep on roaring as they went into H-Town and swept the most successful AL playoff squad since 2017. Detroit leaned on its superstar, Triple-Crown winning pitcher; rock solid bullpen GP; and late-game batting heroics to complete the upset. Skubal proved that his excellence this season has no boundaries, and that he has every intent to log-in one of the best pitching seasons ever (with a Mad-Bum esque playoff line). AJ Hinch showed his IQ. Tigers showed the grit. This is a playoff contender folks... rather you like it or not.
"You don't have enough talent to win on talent alone." One of my favorite sports quotes, from the legendary Herb Brooks of course. This Tigers team is special right now, and are set to be another example that a low-skill team can come together to look unstoppable for a given stretch. Detroit doesn't have a "Murderers Row", nor do they have a Altuve-Tucker-Álvarez trio (who they just beat). Tigers have no batter of that statue, but that doesn't matter. Not when they have a team as hot as a team can be. AJ Hinch has a system, and that system is working with the talent he has. The bullpen orchestration, and his ability to be able to pinch-hit at any time of the game; which is what clinched the GM-2 win with Andy Ibáñez comin' off the bench to activate pure CLUTCH:
video via @MLB//X
Ibáñez comes off the bench to burn the 3rd-highest paid reliever and household name Josh Hader. You just have to love playoff baseball. Tigers now return to the ALDS for the first time in a decade to face its arch-rival Guardians. Like the Mets/Phillies, this is a first. The two longtime opps have never played against each other in the postseason despite both being founding members of the AL in 1901, and having shared a division since 1969, playing more than 2,300 games against one another. What an atmosphere we have in store... in both locations. We know Cleveland can get loud, they created scenes in 2016, but Comerica is about to ROAR. Playoff baseball in its purest form.
Royals Slay Orioles in Camden Yards:
Orioles have now lost six playoff games in a row as they face a sweep for consecutive seasons in the Classic. 192 regular-season wins just to result in zero playoff wins. Gutting. The fact the O's lost both games by a combined 1-3 score is even more gutting. The fourth-highest scoring club in the regular season completely went absent at home, in the playoffs; when it mattered the most. Royals took advantage, ridin' the bullpen and superstar Bobby Witt Jr. to sweep the Birds out of the Classic. The drought now dates back to 2014 (three playoff appearances) for Baltimore.
How about those Royals. KC was ridin' a 7-game losing skid, looking at the possibility of missing the playoffs nearing the final week of the season; they go and flip a switch to win 4 out of 6 to get in, and now have the sweep in the WC. What a rollercoaster ride for the Royals. The pitching is feeling good, the bullpen is feeling mighty good, and the team has a special spark building up. The perfect team to throw at the 1-seed Yankees.
We get to watch the likely 1-2 in AL MVP voting go toe-to-toe with a shot to advance to the ALCS on the line. Yankees took 5 of the 7 regular season meetings, but also haven't played a game in five days. This should be a solid series if the Royals play like they did against the Orioles. It's hard to guess if we see a ton of offense, or the opposite. I assumed offense with the Royals/O's, and it was the complete opposite. I am intrigued to see how this ALDS matchup goes.
Padres Leave No Doubt; Set For Clash with LAD:
San Diego made quick work to sweep the Braves despite a close GM-2 finish. Padres had a perfect GM-1 shutout headlined by Tatis bat flippin' & Michael King barkin' at Cashman with a 12-K masterpiece. Pads became the first club in MLB history to have a 15-K shutout with zero walks in a postseason game. They followed it up with a solid GM-2 win that was powered by a 5-run second inning. Padres sailed to the NLDS from there. The rook is the one who broke things open to send Petco Park into a frenzy:
video via @MLB//X
This Dodgers/Padres series is going to feed baseball fans. A rematch of the 2020 NLDS that saw the Dodgers use a sweep of the Pads to lift them to a World Series winning run. I have goosebumps just thinking about this rematch, especially after seeing the Padres organization restrict ticket sales to certain counties near/in the San Diego area. Padres won the season series 8-5, but the Dodgers won the last two meetings to secure its NL West crown (11th in 12 seasons). Both stadiums will be rockin', and both squads should be locked-in. We finally get to experience Ohtani in October, and Tatis Jr. is ready to seek revenge.
Tatis has marveled in the playoffs outside of that '20 NLDS (two other trips - 5GP). You already know he is ready for this rematch series after he went nuclear on Tuesday:
video via @MLB//X
Tatis has a game-breaker that can alter games the way he sends a crowd into a frenzy. Dodgers have one of those too... and some others of course. This series is going to be nuts (please be nuts). Yoshinobu is back and slated for GM-1 on the bump for the Dodgers, which means the Pads better roll out Darvish to duel against him!
Wild-Card round brought the noise; we can only hope the LDS will follow suit. The slate can't be written any better with three wars between divisional rivals on the docket. No real mismatches either as long as the Tigers and Royals stay true. A full slate of Saturday action will have all four series in action. I'm going to be in heaven; so don't try to bother me. I am salivating looking at the sports schedule for the weekend. Including preseason hoops and puck, damn near every sport is rolling besides big-time boxing. I can't contain myself. Let's go! Here are my picks:
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