After last night, the NL division series are all squared at 1-1. Meaning we will at least get game 4s. The more guaranteed baseball the better, nobody likes a sweep. Let's hope the same can happen again today!
We are back for the game 2s of the American League division series with some additional fun as you watch. Pick a side with our Props and see how many you can get correct competing against friends, family, partners, roommates, really anyone. All our Props have nearly even chances of happening, so it doesn't matter how much you know, all can play.
Seattle Mariners @ Houston Astros
Well it's sure going to be tough, maybe impossible, to top the last game between these two. But if anything, it continued to prove the Mariners won't shy away from anything. Although the game ended in heartbreak, it can't be overlooked that the M's bats have come alive. After back-to-back games with 13 hits and 7+ runs, including tagging this year's future and past years' Cy Young winner, Justin Verlander, for his worst postseason outing of his career (6 ER on 10 hits), the Mariners should be confident that they can hang with anyone. Now they get their ace, Luis Castillo, going in game 2 who has been nothing short of brilliant in his postseason starts and has not faced the Astros yet this season which should give him an advantage. There is still a lot to be optimistic about for the Mariners as they try to steal one before taking the series back to Seattle.
If it wasn't the case before, all eyes are now on Air Yordan Alvarez. I don't know about y'all but he is really starting to give me postseason hero David Ortiz vibes. And no, it's not just that he's a tall, strong, Hispanic, lefty hitting stud, he's starting to accumulate the postseason stats, hardware (MVP from last year's ALCS), and clutch heroics on his resume to make the case. At only 25 years old, coming off the second best hitter season this year in the majors (trailing only Aaron Judge), the baseball world is his oyster. I have a feeling this was just the start of the Air Yordan postseason take over. Can the Mariners somehow cool him off?
Castillo to pitch 6 full innings (18 outs) or more:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Astros to be winning after 5 innings:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Julio Rodriguez to have 1 Single or more:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Air Yordan to have 2 or more Total Bases (hits only):
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Astros to score 4 Runs or more:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Tiebreaker: Guess the Total Runs scored by both teams combined, closest to the result wins! (Currently estimated to be around 7)
Cleveland Guardians @ New York Yankees
We outlined the differences between these two clubs in our game 1 preview, and those were on display in game 1. The Yanks relied on 2 big home runs for 3 of their 4 runs, and even while out hitting the Yankees 6-5, the Guardians couldn't get the timely hit or scrape through runs as they usually do. In part because Gerrit Cole delivered massively for the Yanks. This was a big spot for Cole, his first postseason start since last year's wild card loss to their main rivals Red Sox, where he gave up 3 runs off 2 HRs in only 2 innings pitched before being pulled. Redemption I am sure feels good, but there is still a lot of work left to be done. The Yankees will need to score runs in ways outside of the homer if they want to make a deep postseason run.
We are at the point where the Guardians need to dump some water on their bats in an effort to wake them up. Having only scored 4 runs in their last 3 postseason games, it's going to be next to impossible to win three games against these power hitting Yankees in all low scoring games. They may need to get creative at the plate and take some risks on the bases in order to score more runs. They will turn to the top of their pitching rotation in Shane Bieber for game 2, can he keep the Yankees to a low run count to give his team a chance?
Two Hits or more in the first inning:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Aaron Judge to have 2 or more Total Bases (hits only):
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Jose Ramirez to have 1 Single or more:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Guardians Runs at end of game to be:
[ ] Odd
[ ] Even
Guardians to score 3 or more Runs:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Tiebreaker: Guess the Total Runs scored by both teams combined, closest to the result wins! (Currently estimated to be around 7)
Comments