It’s that time of the year again! October Baseball! For the first time in Major League Baseball history, we had two division tiebreaker games to decide the NL Central and NL West on Monday afternoon. The Brewers and Dodgers emerged victorious in dominate fashion to secure themselves a playoff series. For the losers, it is now a do-or-die, must-win situation. It’s tough that two really talented teams will be headed into the offseason in the next two days but that’s the nature of the beast. In the NL, the Rockies have been hot, going 8-2 in their last ten. They’ll need to keep the bats rolling as they try to knock off the Cubs at Wrigley who lead the MLB in most comeback wins this season. The AL pits two teams that really shouldn’t be in the Wild Card round and instead should be waiting for the weekend to play with the 100 win Yankees and 97 win Athletics respectively. Who will advance to the divisional series? Let’s dive on in...
NL Wild Card Game: Colorado Rockies (91-72) at Chicago Cubs (95-68)
Win or go home! It’s the Rockies and Cubs for the right to play Milwaukee in the NLDS. The Cubs had a golden opportunity to take home-field advantage at Wrigley on Monday but fell to NL MVP candidate Christian Yelich and the Brew Crew by the score of 3-1. For Chicago, we’ll see veteran Jon Lester and for the Rockies, Kyle Freeland will take the mound. There was some speculation that Antonio Senzatela would get the start but that doesn’t seem likely now. Lester currently sports a 1.52 ERA in his last five starts whereas Freeland has maintained a 2.61 ERA within the last thirty days. The last time these teams matched up was May 2nd so there's no need to form any opinions on those early-season tilts.
The Rockies starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 5.04 which isn’t a great combination against the Cubs’ power lineup of Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Baez. If Freeland, off three days rest, struggles early, this could be a long night. Shortstop Trevor Story will need to be an integral part in driving in runs vs Chicago. Him along with Nolan Arenado can be a game-breaker as the Story's 37 home runs ranks in the top ten this season. For Colorado to pull off the win, they will need to take advantage of the Cubs mediocre bullpen. Pedro Strop will be out until the NLDS if the Cubs get that far so their best options for relievers remain Jesse Chavez and Carl Edwards Jr. One or two runs probably won’t be enough to beat Lester.
The Rockies have done well this year with back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time in club history. In addition, the heartbreak of last years thrilling contest against the Diamondbacks will be a motivating factor. However, the Cubs know how to win in clutch situations with their backs against the wall. Expect another gem out of Lester with enough support from Rizzo and Baez to power them to their fourth-straight NLDS.
X-Factors: Daniel Murphy, Cubs; D.J. Lemahieu, Rockies
PREDICTION: Cubs 4, Rockies 3
AL Wild Card Game: Oakland Athletics (97-65) at New York Yankees (100-62)
What a season for the A’s! If they were in the National League, they’d have home-field advantage. They slowly snuck up on the MLB, surpassed the Mariners and Rays for the second AL Wild Card spot and now look to shock the nation once again with an upset on the road. Like the NL Wild Card, both the Athletics and Yankees are tied in the season series with three wins a piece. The Yankees are the best team in the Wild Card game era as they are the only team with triple-digit wins and forced to play in this one-game elimination contest.
Coming into this matchup, Aaron Hicks has been the hottest hitter for the Yanks, hitting a .324 BA in the last 14 days. In addition, look for presumed AL ROY Miguel Andujar (.297 BA) to make a big splash in this one as well. The negative is that Gary Sanchez has been horrific. He has kind of wiggled out of a slump but a .186 is still a .186. They’ll need him to make a contribution depending on which A’s pitcher (presumably Liam Hendriks) starts if they hope to advance. Stephen Piscotty and Khris Davis are the players to watch here for the A’s. Davis, 2018’s home run king, can and will shine under the bright lights.
There is no question that the A’s can win this game. This team’s bats are hot, scoring at least five runs in the last five contests. If you believe in momentum, the Athletics have the most wins following the all-star break. Another highlight is that Oakland is second in the AL in terms of HR’s hit this season. Do you want to know who’s number one? The Yankees. This should be a seesaw type of game. Don’t be surprised to see this game head to extra innings either. When it’s all said and done, at home, the Yankees will edge the Athletics and set up a classic playoff series against the Red Sox.
X-Factors: Stephen Piscotty, Athletics; David Robertson, Yankees
PREDICTION: Yankees 6, Athletics 4
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