Woof anyone who simply roots for more playoff baseball games are biting their nails going into these two games. Both series are on the brink of elimination, one a potential sweep by the Astros in 4 games with the other in 5 games by the Phillies. Based on their current play, these two teams leading the charge don't seem anywhere close to slowing down. But boy do we have quite the slate of pitching matchups today in both games.
After seeing 4! pitchers in just the first inning of last night's Padres Phillies game, and 9 more total from the depths of each team's bullpen, we'll get quite a different scene in this one. Each team's number 1 starter, Yu Darvish and Zack Wheeler, are on the bump and both have been their typical lights out selves over this postseason. Wheeler had the upper hand in Phillies game 1, 2-0 win with 7 innings of 1 hit shutout baseball, while Darvish made two bad pitches resulting in solo home runs to Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.
Those two haven't slowed down since, leading the charge in the Phillies recent offensive explosion. Schwarber has home runs in back to back games, while Harper is riding a 9-game hit streak with multiple hits in 6 of those since going hitless in his first postseason game. Now Darvish will try to tame the Fightin' Phils' offense and bring this series back home to San Diego to fight for another day in front of their loyal fans.
The pitcher who looked most like an ace last night was Astros 25 year old Cristian Javier, not the 10-year veteran Gerrit Cole. Javier completely shut down the lineup of the Yankees. On a whole the Yankees could only muster up 1 hit through 8 innings before getting 2 more meaningless ones in the 9th. That gives them 40 hits in their 8 postseason games, or a pedestrian 5 hits per game. With 11 of those hits being home runs, they relied completely on them to get past the Guardians and nothing has changed to their approach in this series.
Something is going to need to change if the Yankees want to be the second team to comeback from a 3-0 series deficit. They have probably their best starting pitcher and this year's team ace, Nestor Cortes, on the mound so that's a positive start. But the Astros counter with Lance McCullers Jr., who since his post injury late season start in August, has been nothing short of number 1 starter material. In his 9 starts including one last round agaisnt the Mariners, he has only given up more than 2 runs once and that once was 2 months ago in only his second start. The key for the Yankees will be to change their approach and focus more on getting on base and moving runners along. A far cry from their bread and butter power stroke they've relied on up to this point, but it's safe to say at this point, it's time to try something else unless they want to add a series sweep to their resume. How many brooms will we see tonight at Yankee stadium?
We know you'll be watching, so add some extra entertainment. Six Props below and one tiebreaker if needed for each game. All of our Props have nearly an even chance of happening, so anyone can play. Grab some friendly competition and see who can get the most correct!
San Diego Padres @ Philadelphia Phillies, Game 5
2 or more hits combined in the 1st inning:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Team to score first:
[ ] Padres
[ ] Phillies
Yu Darvish to pitch 6 complete innings (18 outs):
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Kyle Schwarber to score 1 Run or more:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Padres Total Runs at end of game to be:
[ ] Odd
[ ] Even
Phillies Total Runs at end of game to be 4 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)
New York Yankees @ Houston Astros, Game 4
2 or more hits combined in the 1st inning:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Team winning after the 5th inning:
[ ] Astros
[ ] Yankees
McCullers Jr. to allow 2 Earned Runs or more:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Aaron Judge to score 1 Run or more:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Astros Total Runs at end of game to be 4 or more:
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Yankees Total Runs at end of game to be:
[ ] Odd
[ ] Even
Tiebreaker: Guess the Total Runs scored by both teams combined, closest to the result wins! (Currently estimated to be around 7)
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