Rangers In Control, Twins Get Split

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Unnecessary hand wringing over the postseason format

The Braves, Dodgers, and Orioles all won 100+ games this season. All won their division and were awarded a first-round bye. The Orioles are now on the brink of elimination, having lost the first two games of the Division Series to the Rangers, at home. The Dodgers and Braves lost Game 1 at home, thereby ceding the home-field advantage to their opponents.

LA and Atlanta lost with their “aces” on the mound, although Kershaw looked anything like an ace. Spencer Strider was very good, but not dominant and the Phillies won. Strider did strikeout more batters this season than anyone in baseball, but his ERA was a run higher than in 2022, partly because he gave up more home runs this season.

Games were played on the field and not on a spreadsheet and the “better” team lost because in those games, the winning team’s players outperformed the losing team’s players. This happens every day during the season and has happened many, many times in the MLB postseason. Say hello to the 1993 and 1998 Atlanta Braves, 2001 Seattle Mariners, the 2019 Minnesota Twins, and the 2021 San Francisco Giants, for example.

But now, there’s all sorts of hand wringing in the national media that the current format—in which the best division winners get a bye in the first round—somehow disadvantages them because the players lose their edge by going nearly a week without major league competition.

There are plenty of possible fixes if this is really a problem. Let the best division winners choose whether to have a bye or play in the first round. Go back to the one-game Wild Card Game instead of a best-of-three Wild Card Series, which would shorten the layoff for the best teams. Re-seed the teams after the Wild Card round, so the teams with the best record in the regular season play the teams with the worst record in the regular season.

But let’s not pretend this is something new or make drastic changes just because the Braves and Dodgers are on the brink of elimination in the Division Series for the second year in a row. The Dodgers have won the NL West every year since 2013 except 2021 and were knocked out in the Division Series in 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2022. The Braves have won the NL East every year since 2018 and were knocked out in the Division Series in 2018, 2019, and 2022.

Some teams are built for the marathon of the full season and some are built to peak in October. Some times injuries happen at the worst possible time. Some times players wilt under the pressure of the postseason, while others come up clutch once the calendar turns to October. That’s baseball. It’s always been baseball.

Twins Beat Astros At Their Own Game, Tie Series 1-1

Thanks to the Minnesota Twins, we are guaranteed at least one Game 4 in the Division Series. Thanks Twins! Minnesota beat the Houston Astros 6-2 behind a spectacular start from Pablo López and timely hitting and excellent defense from former Astros shortstop Carlos Correa. Correa’s revenge game is strong and he made no effort to hide his emotions in helping the Twins beat his former team.

López was magnificent. He scattered 6 hits, struck out 7, walked 1 and didn’t allow a run in 7 innings. López throws five pitches—a 4-seam fastball, curveball, sinker, sweeper, and changeup. He changes speeds, he changes location, he changes spin rate, and he changes looks to the batter. Not surprisingly, he kept Astros hitters off balance all night.

Just look at this pitching overlay of López throwing a 95mph sinker and a 96 mph 4-seam fastball, tweeted Rob Friedman (@pitchingninja).

Because he plays for the Twins, and the Twins play in the weakest division in baseball, López pitches outside the national limelight. After tonight’s performance—and his excellent start in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series—López won’t pitch in obscurity much longer. Nor should he. He’s one of the best pitchers in the league right now.

The Twins’ offense gave López all the run support he needed. Correa led the attack with 2 doubles, a single and a walk. Correa knocked in 3 of the Twins’ runs, bringing his career postseason RBI total to 63, tying him with David Justice. With those 63 postseason RBI, Correa passed Derek Jeter and David Ortiz, who both ended their careers with 61 postseason RBI. In his postgame interview, Correa had a hard time believing that he’d passed Jeter and Ortiz.

Correa also played great defense Sunday night. He ended the game with a flourish by going deep into the hole throw out Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña. The Astros choose not to re-sign Correa after the 2021 season because they had Peña waiting in the wings. Correa to the Astros Sunday night, “How you like me now?”

Game 3 will be played Tuesday at Target Field in Minnesota, starting at 4:07 EDT/3:07 CDT/1:07 PDT on Fox. Christian Javier will start for the Astros. Sonny Gray will take the ball for the Twins.

Rangers destroyed Orioles’ pitching, head home up 2-0

The Texas Rangers are in a groove. The offense is revving in high gear like it did much of the season. The pitching can be shaky, but when the Rangers are knocking the ball around the yard like they are now, it tends to work out just fine.

The Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles 11-8 on Sunday by staying patient and getting timely hits. Baltimore pitchers collectively issued 11 walks; 6 of those runners scored. The backbreaker was a grand slam by Rangers’ DH Mitch Garver off O’s reliever Bryan Baker after Baker walked the bases loaded.

It wasn’t just Baker who stumbled. Baltimore starter—rookie Grayson Rodriguez—wiggled out of jam in the 1st inning but gave up 5 runs in the 2nd inning on 4 singles, 1 double, and 2 walks. After that barrage, O’s manager Brandon Hyde lifted the Rodriguez for Danny Coulombe, who got the last out of the inning. Hyde used 8 pitchers on Sunday and only three—Coulombe, Tyler Wells and Cionel Pérez—didn’t allow a run. The rest of the bullpen fell victim to the Rangers’ offensive onslaught.

The Orioles did get into the Rangers’ bullpen earlier than in Game 1 and scored off relievers Cody Bradford and Brock Burke. Maybe that will pay dividends in Game 3. Or maybe Bruce Bochy’s magic bullpen fairy dust is just too strong in the postseason.

Game 3 will be played at Globe Life Field in Texas on Tuesday at 8:03 pm EDT/7:03 pm CDT/5:03 PDT (Fox). Nathan Eovaldi will start for the Rangers. The Orioles haven’t announced a starter yet.