Considering that they do not have to play in either of the two Wild Card Games, which act as play-in games into the respective Division Series, this speaks a lot of how little faith odds makers have in the team. Our pastime would be played by more people online than on the field. The AL and NL playoffs just don’t compare this year, folks. He pitched a complete game shutout, giving up two hits and striking out seven as the Mets cruised to a 5-0 win. Unfortunately for every other playoff team, Wainwright is set to return for the playoffs.
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Closely looking at the tale of the tape, you see an intriguing matchup between the Yankees and Astros to begin the American League postseason. Plus Adam Wainwright is back too. No problem. No Carlos Martinez? Can Jose sneak in two more? But it would be downright unfair if Martinez wasn’t shut down for the year with a shoulder injury and Wainwright wasn’t limited to the bullpen, coming off Achilles surgery.
Prediction: I’m going with Joe Maddon’s Chicago Cubs to prevail here. Let that simmer for a minute. Jake Arrieta has another no-hitter going against the Pirates, and only Walker, literally throwing his body into the baseball stands between their ace and a flawless Wild Card game. Tanaka’s workload was administered to have only 24 starts and 154 innings, which should prove beneficial if the Yankees can advance and make a playoff run. They aggressively traded for David Price and Troy Tulowitzki this summer in hopes to increase their playoff chances. It should be exciting and possibly the best we’ve seen in years.
So about that dominant pitching duo…
Since acquiring pitcher Cole Hamels on July 30th, the Rangers have posted a record of 39-22; a record which lead them to a division title. Cole has a career record of 7-1 against the Cubs and a very solid 2.88 ERA.
Pick your poison, Los Angeles. Rookie right-hander Noah Syndergaard goes in Game 2, followed by Matt Harvey in Game 3 back home at Citi Field. Only the Colorado Rockies blew more saves this season. Out of these 750 players, how is it even possible to choose just 30 of them as these are the greatest players in the world?
Johnny Cueto went 2-7 down the stretch and bailed on an appearance at a barbecue restaurant in a city that deeply cares about its barbecue and baseball.
Prediction: In my opinion, New York will beat Houston but I don’t think they’ll get past Ned Yost and Kansas City. And so if there is any one pitcher that you would consider riding deep into this game and not treated as a – what you would call a bullpen game, it could be Arrieta. So I’d say a few combination of Pirates-Mets-Cubs v Astros-Rangers-Blue Jays-Yankees. One game from each series will air on Major League Baseball Network. Luis Valbuena and Evan Gattis are among those guys, and they are two players who can make or break this game for the Astros.
Does anyone know how the Rangers got into the playoffs? The Jays went 40-18 to close the season, and have established themselves as the best team in the AL and perhaps all of baseball. After finishing last in the NL Central four out of the last five years, Cubs fans are finally seeing the fruits of general manager Theo Epstein’s analytical approach to team building.
The offense isn’t overwhelming, but it’s evenly spread.
With the Yankees presenting a lineup without Mark Teixeira and with clearly diminished bats like Alex Rodriguez and Brian McCann, I’m picking the Astros to take advantage of their healthy and young offense to overcome the lore of Yankee Stadium and the hard times they went through in September.
Alas, it could become a story of what might have been for the Yanks. Seeing the success of wild card teams in the past, the victor of this game could have a great shot at making a run at the World Series.
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According to a 2013 study from Harvard University, MLB produces the most random champions out of the four major US sports since 1995 – the year the MLB wild card debuted. The Yankees have hit 212 home runs this season and Yankee Stadium is a park where there are plenty of long balls. For a sport that barely allowed four teams in as recently as 1995, that would be a failure for baseball.
