Los Angeles Dodgers v Atlanta Braves (Braves lead 2-0)
The Dodgers came into Wednesday’s matchup with the Braves down 2-0 but feeling like they gained some major momentum after almost coming back and stealing game two on Tuesday from the Braves. The Dodgers killed the Braves, scoring 11 runs in the first inning. The game was over; the Dodgers won 15-3 and are heading into game four.
The Braves couldn’t seem to get anything right as a team. Starting pitcher Kyle Wright (.2IP 5H 7ER 2BB 0K 1L) couldn’t make it through an inning before the Braves had to pull the plug on him. The team overall walked a total of eight batters, and the Dodgers finally pushed those free passes through on Wednesday.
The Dodgers rode that first inning to get a win in the NLCS. Overall, the team had 16 hits, four of them home runs. This was the offense that got the Dodgers to be the best team in baseball. OF Joc Pederson and SS Corey Seagar went 7-10 4R 6RBI 2HR.
The Dodgers have now arrived in this series, and it will be interesting to see how the Braves react to this beatdown on Thursday.
Tampa Bay Rays v Houston Astros (Rays lead 3-0)
The Rays were looking to bring a swift end to the Astros’ revenge tour in the ALCS. They sent out Tyler Glasnow to send them to the World Series for the second time. The Astros matched Glasnow with their own big game pitcher Zach Grienke.
Glasnow (6IP 8H 4ER 2BB 5K 96PC 1L) was not his normal dominant self, but he was the first Rays’ pitcher to get past five innings. He gave up four runs, the most for this series, and the bullpen pitched two more shutout innings, but the Rays’ offense wasn’t able to come back. The Rays did start to rally in the 9th inning when SS Willy Adames doubled home a run to cut the lead to 3-4, but Adames stayed stranded on second base.
The Astros finally had a game with no errors, and one of their starting pitchers finally got a win. Grienke (6IP 5H 2ER 1BB 7K 93PC 1W) was exactly what the Astros needed in an elimination game. 2B Jose Altuve and OF George Springer combined to go 5-8 2R 4RBI 2HR, as they lifted the offense on their shoulders and brought it home for the Astros. I don’t think any LCS player needed a big game more than Altuve. His errors have been blamed for the past two losses. His errors really caused the team to fall in game two and three. Still, on Wednesday, he was able to come up big for his team in the biggest game.
After three losses, the Astros finally looked like they belonged on the same field as the Rays and didn’t make any huge mistakes as they were able to stave off elimination as they won 4-3.