Atlanta Braves v Miami Marlins
Like in the American League, the National League sports two divisional rivalries. Both of these matchups started up on Tuesday with the Braves/Marlins kicking it off. The Marlins were coming in as a massive upset against the Chicago Cubs while the Braves were coming off of blanking the Reds in their first-round matchup. Both teams were flying high, but only one could come out on top.
The Marlins went with their game one starter from the wildcard series, Sandy Alcantara (6IP 8H 5ER 1BB 8K). They might have regretted that decision after the Braves roughed him up, although it didn’t stop once he went out. The Braves also hit one of the Marlins’ best relievers, Yimi Garcia (.1IP 3H 3ER 0BB 0K). Their bats were going super hot at the bottom of the 7th inning and won 9-5.
The Braves pitched their number one starter, Max Fried (4IP 6H 4ER 0BB 4K 70PC). He wasn’t on his game, luckily for him, their bats were on fire. C Travis d’Arnaud (3-3 1R 4RBI 1HR 2BB) was on base every plate appearance in this game and hit a three-run home run in the 7th inning that put the Braves up for good. The bullpen was a huge help and held the Marlins to one run for the last five innings.
Oakland Athletics v Houston Astros (Astros lead 1-0)
The Athletics scored the first run of the game, which would be the only time they held the lead. SP Sean Manaea (4.1IP 5H 4ER 1BB 2K 1L 65PC) didn’t look fantastic despite the long break. The Astros were all over him for the four innings he was in. They easily took the game, 5-2.
The Astros revenge tour is now at 5-0. SP Framber Valdez (7IP 5H 2ER 1BB 4K 103PC 1W) was terrific today and kept the offense from having to do as much as they did in game one. Valdez also saved the bullpen for the closeout game on Wednesday. As of now, most of the bullpen will be fresh as they look to move on to the ALCS.
The Athletics needed a big shot of adrenaline for game two after their disappointing loss to the Astros in game one. Instead, they had an even flatter performance. It’s hard to see any arm in the Athletics’ arsenal stopping the Astros’ offense, which means the Athletics’ bats have to make it up to win this series.
Tampa Bay Rays v New York Yankees (Yankees lead 1-0)
The Rays needed a big performance from their starting pitcher, Tyler Glasnow. Having to win three in a row against the Yankees is tough, and with how hot the Yankees have been hitting in the postseason, it’s even tougher. Glasnow was up to the task, and the Rays won 7-5.
The Rays got precisely what they needed from Glasnow. He (5IP 3H 4ER 3BB 10K 93PC 1W) was on fire, and the only Yankee who figured him out was Giancarlo Stanton. Glasnow only went five innings, but his pitching left the Yankees so off-kilter that when the pen came in, they just couldn’t find their swings. The pen struck out eight Yankees in four innings of work. The Rays’ offense chipped in four home runs to take the game.
The Yankees DH Giancarlo Stanton (2-4 2R 4RBI 2HR) did all he could to help the Yankees, but other players on this offense just fell flat on their faces. OF Aaron Judge and C Gary Sanchez went a combined 0-9 with 6K. It was uncharacteristic of the Yankees to have two of their best sluggers perform this poorly.
Los Angeles Dodgers v San Diego Padres
The two teams with the best records in the National League faced each other in what seemed to be an incredible pitching matchup on paper. Walker Buehler took on Mike Clevinger; unfortunately, Clevinger could only make it through one inning. He had to come out of the game due to injury. This loss put the Padres in a pitching bind, and they struggled to keep the lead. The Dodgers won 5-1.
The Padres made a huge trade at the deadline to get Clevinger but to run him out on Tuesday was irresponsible since he was still recovering from a bad injury. He should not have been pitching game one of this series. I think this has hurt the Padres going into game two after being forced to use nine pitchers. The offense wasn’t much better. They had a total of three hits.
The Dodgers didn’t play great in Tuesday’s game, but they took advantage of the Padres’ mistakes. For instance, in the 2nd inning, Buehler loaded the bases with walks but struck out the last two batters, escaping the inning with no runs. This allowed the Dodgers to gain confidence as the Padres couldn’t capitalize on the Dodgers’ mistake.
The Dodgers were down in the 5th inning but were able to scratch across the tying run on a throwing error by 2B Jake Cronenworth to tie the game at 1-1. This gave the Dodgers all the momentum they needed to score four more runs in the 6th inning.