St. Louis @ Pittsburgh

Cardinals @ Pirates
     Today the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in a double-header. If the St. Louis Cardinals win one game, they clinch the NL Central. Game 1 happened at 12:35pm central time and the result was an 8-2 Pirates victory. If the Pittsburgh Pirates win game 2 today, they only trail 2.0 games from the Cardinals to take the divisional title. The Pirates are in a do-or-die situation for the NL Central title.

User tony_iossi20's Postseason Predictions

Tony_Iossi20
     As we said earlier, please send in your postseason predictions. We will post them and compare them with ours. Today, user tony_iossi20 sent in his predictions based on the postseason picture as of today. He believed that "This is Our Year" for the Chicago Cubs to win it all. Although, I, Nick, am a Chicago Cubs fan, I don't see them getting past the St. Louis Cardinals as viewed in my post a month ago. The St. Louis Cardinals have the best record in baseball and always seem to do well in the playoffs. I do agree with the Toronto Blue Jays making it to the postseason just like tony_iossi20 did because the Blue Jays pitching has been amazing and their offense is too strong to handle on the defensive side. Furthermore, I could see tony_iossi20's postseason predictions happen. I, Austin, believe the Chicago Cubs won't even get past the wild card round against the Pittsburgh Pirates. I believe the St. Louis Cardinals will pass the Pittsburgh Pirates and take on the New York Mets. Although I am deferring tony_iossi20's national league picks, I agree for most part of the American League, especially the Toronto Blue Jays prediction on making the 2015 World Series.

User tony_iossi20's Playoff Prediction Bracket

American League West Update

AL West
     As you might have heard, the Houston Astros are currently out of the playoffs by 0.5 games. Less than 2 weeks ago they were on top of their division and now NOT EVEN in the playoffs. Last night, the Astros took on the Seattle Mariners on the road and lost 4-6. They were up 4-2 for most of the game until the bottom of the eighth when they came back. The Los Angeles Angels took on the Oakland Athletics at home and won 8-1. This caused the Angels to move up to second place and have the Astros drop to third in their division. There are currently 4 games left in the regular season. The Texas Rangers are on top but could fall to being OUT of the playoffs. The current standings go; Texas Rangers (--), Los Angeles Angels, (-2.0), Houston Astros (-2.5).

MLB Trivia

1. Which team has the most MLB World Series titles?

2. What year did the Toronto Blue Jays come into the American League?

3. What Texas Ranger led the team with 57 home runs in 2002?

4. What division was the Houston Astros in before the American League West?

5. When is the last time the Chicago Cubs won the National League pennant? (year)

Comment below or email us the answers! Give us an anonymous user name and we will post tomorrow about who was right and/or the first to get it correct!

Jake Arrieta's Outstanding Performance

Jake Arrieta vs. Pittsburgh Pirates:

     Jake Arrieta pitched last night against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a game many thought would be his SECOND no hitter on the season! He was pitching lights out until the 7th inning and had a home run himself! He passed Zack Greinke in the race for the Cy Young award. He is now leading the Cy Young race by 10 Cy Young points and is ranked the #1 pitcher in baseball of the year. Many people believe he will be the starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs in the wild card round since he dominated the Pittsburgh Pirates last night. 

Teams That Clinched the playoffs

     The first team to clinch a playoff spot was the St Louis Cardinals with a record of 97-56. The Pittsburgh Pirates were the second team to clinch a spot with a record of 93-60 and thy got there 10,000 win as a club. The third team to make it to the playoffs were the Kansas City Royal with the record of 89-63. The two best record teams are in the same division, only if they did the seeding by record and not division.

Playoff Bracket (Based on Today) 9-24-15

If the MLB playoffs were to start today, here is what it would look like:

20th win

    Jake Arrieta last night got his 20th win this year, that's the first pitcher this year with 20 wins. He is the 27th pitcher to reach 20 wins in the Chicago Cubs franchise and the first to do so since Jon Lieber back in 2001. Jake is having a fantastic year, pitching a no hitter and having 20 wins. Jake said that when he came out in the 9th inning to pitch last night that the fans were ready. The fans have been great!

Yogi Berra Dies at Age 90

     I woke up this morning and checked my Twitter when I was devastated by the news of Yogi Berra's passing. He died at the age of 90. Yogi Berra is arguably one of the greatest players to play the game of baseball. He mainly played for the New York Yankees in the 1940's-1960's. He ended up finishing his career as a New York Met. He managed the Yankees and Mets as well. He ended up becoming the coach for both teams and eventually with the Houston Astros. Yogi was an 18x all star, 13x world series champion, and a 3x AL MVP. Yogi Berra joined WWII to help out our country and later returned to play baseball again. He served as a gunner's mate on the D-Day invasion. One of his most famous sayings is, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Below is a video of Yogi Berra and his highlights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cDabcSfIZA

Home Run Leaders!

     As the season is coming to a close with 15 games or below left, we decided to post about the league leaders in home runs currently in the MLB. There is a 3-way tie in fourth between Josh Donaldson, Mike Trout, and Nolan Arenado with 39 a piece. Sitting at the 3 spot is Bryce Harper, debate-ably the NL MVP, with 40 home runs. Nelson Cruz has 42 home runs and is behind the first place leader by one home run. The league leader in home runs is Chris Davis with 43 home runs!

Are The Astros Done?

What are the Astros doing? They gave up a 7 game lead to the Rangers. The young Houston Astros, were 4th in runs batted in up till the all star break. In August they were 25th and in September they were 16th. Now they are second in the Wild Card on 1.5 games ahead on the Twins. Will the young players be able to make a turn around and keep being in the playoff picture? What team will take advantage of the mistakes of the Astors?  

Chicago Cubs @ Pittsburgh Pirates

Cubs @ Pirates:
     The Cubs have been playing the Pirates at PNC Park the past few days. Today is the last day of the 4 game series with the Cubs leading 2-1. Last night, The Cubs and Pirates went into extra innings. The outcome of the game was a 3-2 Cubs win with some key plays in the game as well. These games matter so much since the season is coming to a close. For the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning this game today would help them creep up to first, being 3 games back if the Cardinals lose too, in the division while the Cubs are trying to hold their wild card spot and possibly contend for the NL Central title. Will the Cubs take the series 3-1 or will the Pirates tie it at 2 a piece?

Link to the Cubs double play:

http://m.mlb.com/video/v484312483

Link to the Pirates throw from left field:

http://m.mlb.com/video/v484479983

Rangers Take the Lead in the AL West

Astros @ Rangers:
      The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers have faced off twice in a four game series. Last night, the The Rangers started off hot scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Astros responded quickly to score 3 runs in the top of the second inning. Further on the game became tied at 5 a piece. In the bottom of the ninth, the Rangers scored the winning run by a sacrifice fly ball! The Texas Rangers now lead the AL West!

Predict the Winner for each Award!

Pick one player for each league and vote for each category! Send it to nickaustin532@gmail.com

Rookie of the Year:  
AL-                  
NL-

CY Young:  
AL-    
NL-

MVP:          
AL-
NL-

THIS COULD BE POSTED ONTO OUR BLOG!!!

Cy Young Race

Cy Young Race:
    The race for the Cy Young Award is very close in the National League while the American League basically has it's winner, Dallas Keuchel, since he is nearly 50 projected points above Felix Hernandez. In the National Leauge, Zack Greinke leads with 198.7 projected points with Jake Arrieta, 10 points away, and Clayton Kershaw only behind 20 points. The National League holds many great pitchers than the American League. Zack Greinke leads the NL Cy Young Race with a 17-3 record, 1.61 ERA, 182 K, 36 ER, and has pitched 200.2 innings. The AL Cy Young Race leader, Dallas Keuchel, is leading with a 17-7 record, 2.22 ERA, 192 K, 51 ER, and has pitched 206.2 innings.

Send us an email about your opinions and we could post them onto our blog.

AL West Update

This week is a big week in the AL West, the Rangers are .5 games behind the Astros. The Ranger host the Astros tonight and the Astros will have their aces on the mound the next night too. But can the Rangers be able to perform like they did last night and beat the Astros?  But last night the Rangers got the win. With Prince Fielder's two run bomb to break up the tie gave the Rangers just enough runs to beat out the Astros. The Astros manager said “ We aren’t just battling for the AL West, we are battling for the best team in Texas.” Will the Astros pitching be able to slow down the Rangers bats? We will see in this 4 game series!


Please go take our survey, and send you're opinions to our email nickaustin532@gmail.com

New York Mets Winning Streak

New York Mets:
Yet again, the New York Mets have made our blog. The Mets have been unstoppable lately. Since they have acquired Yoenis Cespedes, they have been 30-11. Last time we blogged about the New York Mets was 12 days ago when Cespedes hit his 10th home run as a New York Met. Today he has 17 home runs with them. That’s right…He has hitten 7 in the past 12 days! The New York Mets are now on top of the NL East by 9.5 games making it a tough challenge for the Washington Nationals to come back and take the division title. The Mets have won 8 in a row and been 9-1 in the past 10 games! Talk about a team red-hot team!

Here is a video about Yoenis Cespedes Home Run Swing:

http://m.mlb.com/video/v480051583

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Weekend Review

    Well it wasn’t the biggest weekend in baseball but it was for the Pirates. This weekend the Pirates swept the Brewers and the Cardinals went 1-2 against the Reds. That means that the Pirates are 2.5 games back from the Cards. This Week the Pirates play the Cubs if they manage to stay hot maybe we could see a change in the division lead. The games between the Cubs and Pirates should be a great pitching match up with all their best pitchers pitching. But what team will have the bats to pull out the win? Another big thing that happened this weekend was David Ortiz hit his 500th career home run. CONGRATS BIG PAPI!!!!!!!!!!  


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF3CZxV5J1Y

Showdown in the AL East

   The New York Yankees host the Toronto Blue Jays in a 4-game series. These games matter for both teams considering the Toronto Blue Jays are only 1.5 games above the New York Yankees in the AL East. If the Yankees sweep the Blue Jays this weekend then they will take the lead in the AL East. The Yankees have to go up against David Price, R.A. Dickey, Marco Estrada, and Marcus Stroman. The Blue Jays have a dominant pitching rotation for this weekend. While the Blue Jays have to face off against Ivan Nova, Luis Severino, Michael Pineda and Mashairo Tanaka. Both teams are looking forward to winning this weekend more than this entire season since these games could affect the outcome of the division champion.

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Cubs vs. Cardinals

     The past three days the Chicago Cubs have taken on the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. This match-up is one of the key match-ups for both teams. In game 1, it was a duel between Dan Haren and Lance Lynn. Dan Haren went seven innings and gave up seven hits while Lance Lynn gave up seven hits but was pulled in the second inning. The Cubs were hitting very well and ended up receiving the W by the score of 9-0. In game 2 of the series, Jason Hammel and Michael Wacha went head-to-head in a pitching battle. Austin Jackson for the Cubs played extremely well. He had two hits with two runs to add to it. The Chicago Cubs were winning 8-0, scoring 17 straight runs, but in the seventh inning, the Cardinals went off. They scored 5 more runs and gave St. Louis fans hope. Nothing happened after that, giving the Cubs a win 8-5. In game 3, Jonathan Broxton and Clayton Richard were the starting pitchers. In the fifth inning, Coghlan made a SportsCenter top 10 play by diving into the stands! The Cubs were up 3-1 for most of the game 'till the bottom of the eighth when the Cardinals scored 3 runs. If you are a Cubs fan, you saw that coming since the bullpen always seems to let up in late innings. The Chicago Cubs travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania today with Jake Arrieta as pitcher. The St. Louis Cardinals go up against the the Reds in Cincinnati, Ohio with Jaime Garcia.

Chris Coghlan's Catch in the Fifth Inning of Game 3 (9/9/15):

http://m.mlb.com/chc/video/topic/135309324/v466985883/?c_id=chc

Labor Day Match ups

Labor Day Weekend:

• Twins @ Astros- The Houston Astros host the Minnesota Twins in a AL battle. The Twins are battling for the wild card and the Astros are trying to hold on to the AL central division lead. The Houston Astros are hope that Collin McHugh can carry over his success from August and for Dallas Keuchel to stay hot this year. If the Twins can get 3 big wins it would help them move up in the Wild Card. But Miguel Sano is going to have to keep having a great rookie year and lead the Twins to the Wild Card. Will Collin McHugh and Dallas Keuchel be able to take down the very talented rookie?

• Pirates @ Cardinals-  The St. Louis Cardinals are hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates in a NL Central battle. This series is very important to the Pirates since they are 6.5 games back from the Cardinals. If the Pirates could possible sweep or just not split the series it would be to catch back up. The Pirates have two hottest pitchers on the mound for them for two games in the series. But will it be hot enough to slow down Yadi Molina and Matt Carpenter?

 

• Rangers @ Angels- The Los Angeles Angels are taking on the Texas Rangers in a three game series at Angel Stadium. The Texas Rangers stand in place as the second wild card team and are only 2.0 games back from the AL West behind the Houston Astros. The Los Angeles Angels sit in third place in the AL West by 5.5 games and are 3.5 back from the Rangers for the second wild card spot. The Texas Rangers need to win this series to keep their placement in the wild card race and maybe take over the division depending on the Astros-Twins series. The Los Angeles need these wins to make the wild card spot come closer towards them. Prince Fielder can help the Rangers this weekend considering be bats .500 against Rougned Odor and Josh Hamilton has been cleared now for a few weeks. But it looks like the Angels have a better chance of winning this series considering it’s at home and they are 8-4 against the Rangers this year. Shane Victorino can lead the Angels to victory this weekend since he is 1.000 against Perez.

• Rays @ Yankees-The New York Yankees host the Tampa Bay Rays in an AL East rivalry. The New York Yankees are in second in their division behind the Toronto Blue Jays by 1.5 games. The Tampa Bay Rays are in third place but in a deep hole being 10 games behind the division leader, Toronto. The Yankees hold the first wild card spot while the Rays need to get on a winning streak since they are 4.5 games back to take the second wild card spot. These two teams go head-to-head in a three game series this Labor Day weekend. The New York Yankees are heading towards a long stretch against other AL East teams which are key for them to make the playoffs. Stephen Drew will be a great help for the Yankees this weekend. He has been batting .750 in the past four games with two home runs and nine RBI’s. Other known players that can help the Yankees get the wins this weekend are Carlos Beltran and Greg Bird. Beltran has a long hitting streak going at home and Greg Bird has seemed to show that he is worth starting at first base. For the Tampa Bay Rays, they need to sweep the Yankees in New York to really help them qualify for the playoffs. Players such as Evan Longoria and Logan Forsythe can benefit the Rays for this weekend. Longoria has been cranking home runs and Forsythe has been batting 0.786 in the past four games. Overall, this weekend can affect these teams for the better and the worse.

Toronto Blue Jays Update

Toronto Blue Jays:  

As you may know the Blue Jays had one of the best trade deadlines in history of MLB baseball. Before the trade deadline the Blue Jays were 50-50, now they are 76-57, that's 26-7 since the deadline. The last two times the Toronto Blue Jays reached a point of a 76-57 record, they went on to win the 1992 and 1993 World Series. They were 7.0 games behind the Yankees in their division, now they are 1.5 ahead of the Yankees. The Blue Jays got David Price, Troy Tulowitzki, and Ben Revere out of the trade deadline. The Blue Jays pitching rotation ERA is 1.87 in August. Last night, (9-2-15)  RA Dickey pitched a complete game and only gave up one run, he is 7-0 since the trade deadline. The Blue Jays have 153 home runs in the season that's the most in the MLB as a team, 76 of those home runs came from Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Donaldson, or Jose Bautista. You could say the Blue Jays are one for the hottest teams in the MLB right now.   

New York Mets Update

Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Mets:

The New York Mets hosted the Philadelphia Phillies last night in an extraordinary game. In the bottom of the second, Ruben Tejada lines one into right field. The Phillies right fielder, Domonic Brown attempts to stop the ball but flips over the fence allowing Ruben Tejada to score an inside-the-park homerun. In the bottom of the third, Michael Conforto hit a home run to opposite field as he continues his hot streak. Later on in the game, Yoenis Cespedes hits his tenth home run as a New York Met in style. The New York Mets went on to win easily 9-4. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the New York Mets go deep in the playoffs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o_2i5bxc0M

Nicks' Postseason Prediction

     Nick's Prediction- 
          National League: Once the season is over, I believe that this is what the playoff bracket will look like. In the National League, I agreed with Bleacher Report and chose the St. Louis Cardinals as the number one seed. The reason why I agreed is because the St. Louis Cardinals have the best record in baseball by 4.5 games. Also, the St. Louis Cardinals have been 8-2 in their past ten games and have a 47-19 record at home which is the best home record. All in all, the St. Louis Cardinals have been red hot than any other team which allows them to take the number one seed. Furthermore, in the National League West I had the Los Angeles Dodgers winning their division and holding a better record than the New York Mets. The reason of this being is because Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw pitch lights out. Many people have the thought of the New York Mets having a great pitching rotation, which they do, but I still don't see their pitching as good as the duel of Greinke and Kershaw. Bleacher Report had the same idea of what seeds either team would get. To conclude the National League playoff picture, I had the Pittsburgh Pirates playing the Chicago Cubs in Pittsburgh. Since the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs are two teams with the top four records in the MLB, following the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals, I believe it will be a great matchup not only because of their records but because they both are rivals in the National League Central. The reason why I chose the Chicago Cubs over the Pittsburgh Pirates is because I believe the Cubs will come with Jake Arrieta as pitching. Jake Arrieta is an unstoppable pitcher with a record of 17-6. Also, the Chicago Cubs have so much young talent like Kris Bryant for example. In the National League Divisional round, I have the Chicago Cubs going up against the St. Louis Cardinals in a best of five game series. The St. Louis Cardinals are the best team in baseball so I chose them to beat the Cubs easly, even though I'm a Cubs fan. In the other NLDS game, I have the New York Mets going against the Los Angeles Dodgers which I believe the New York Mets will take it because of their pitching rotation and I feel there will be an upset somewhere in the playoffs. To conclude the National League, I have the New York Mets going against the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cardinals coming out with the W in best of 7 game series.

    American League: In the American League side, I believe the Kansas City Royals will take the one seed since they are the best team in the AL. I don't see them going ice cold later on in the season. For the two seed, I got the Toronto Blue Jays because they have been ON FIRE! After their pickups of David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, their team has been unstoppable. Their offense is very powerful now, even before the Tulowitzki pickup. Even though the Houston Astros are winning the AL West, I feel the Texas Rangers can make a comeback with Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli leading the way. For the wild card, I got the New York Yankees as the first wild card team making it, since they always seem to find a spot in the postseason. For the second wild card team, I believe the Houston Astros will still make it since they have a great record so far this season. The New York Yankees will beat the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium easily with Alex Rodriguez being as hot as he has been this season. In the ALDS, the number one seed Kansas City Royals will take the four seed New York Yankees. I have the New York Yankees, yes the New York Yankees, upsetting the Kansas City Royals! I believe the Kansas City Royals are still a great team but don't have the capability of going further in the playoffs like last season. On the other side of the bracket is the #2 Toronto Blue Jays taking on the #3 Texas Rangers. The Toronto Blue Jays have a better offense and defense so I believe they will take it easily. In the ALCS the Toronto Blue Jays will play the New York Yankees and like I said, the Toronto Blue Jays are still the best team since the All Star break so I have them in the World series as well.

   World Series: In a close battle between the St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays I got the Toronto Blue Jays winning the world series in game seven! First of all, the Toronto Blue Jays are very good at hitting and have one of the best team chemistry in baseball, in my opinion. Plus, who doesn't like to see an upset? The St. Louis Cardinals have been in three World Series in the past ten years. The Toronto Blue Jays haven't been in the World Series since 1993. Overall, the Toronto Blue Jays will take the World Series ring this year.

Bleacher Report's Playoff Picture

     Unfortunately we were not able to find Bleacher Report's filled out bracket but we did find numerous articles of what they believe the playoffs will look like when the season is finished.

Austin's Postseason Predictions

    Austin Prediction- I choose the Pittsburgh Pirates as the 1 seed in the National League because I believe they can catch the St. Louis Cardinals with there hot pitching. I have the Pittsburgh Pirates losing in the NLDS because the past few years they've made the playoffs, they've lost first round they place. I have the Mets winning the pennant because they have the best pitching starting line up in the MLB. In the American league no one will take over the one seed from the Kansas City Royals. But I do believe that the Kansas City Royals are going to choke in the post season, because they don't look like the same team as last year. The Astros are going to clinch the Wild Card, and lose in the American league championship. I believe the Toronto Blue Jays will win the pennant and the World Series because of their trade pickups of Troy Tulowitzki and David Price. The Toronto Blue Jays have been one of the hottest teams since the All Star break as well. (Click on photo below to view).