Cubs search for a Win

Cubs vs Mets:
    The Chicago Cubs are down in the series 2-0. Tonight, they host game 3 and look forward to receiving a win. If the Cubs lose, they will be sitting in a 0-3 hole in the series which by MLB research, many teams don't come back. On the other hand, the Mets look forward to taking the series at Wrigley by winning 2 of these next 3 at least.

Blue Jays vs Royals

Game 3:
     The Toronto Blue Jays took on the Kansas City Royals in Toronto for game 3. The Royals came into the first inning with hits. They started on top 1-0. Heading into the bottom of the 2nd, the Blue Jays started rallying and got 3 runs. The Royals answered back with a run their-selves in the top of the third. In the bottom of the 3rd, the Blue Jays bats were on fire scoring 6 runs! The score was now 9-2 with the Blue Jays lead. Skipping a few innings and heading into the 9th, the Royals were down 11-4 but didn't give up yet. They scored 4 runs but it came to an end with the result being 11-8 Blue Jays win! The series is now 2-1 Kansas City with game 4 tonight in Toronto.

ALCS; NLCS

     The Chicago Cubs have went up against the New York Mets twice over the weekend. The Cubs are 7-0 against the Mets in the regular season but so far they are 0-2 this postseason against them. The outcome for those games were wins for the Mets. Many believed with Jake Arrieta on the mound, the Cubs would've gotten a W. In this case, Jake Arrieta gave up 3 runs in the first inning; not the typical Arrieta. These two teams battle tomorrow at Wrigley Field for game 3.
    On the other side, the Kansas City Royals match up against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Royals have a 2-0 series lead and battle tonight in Toronto for game 3. The Blue Jays and Royals were down 0-2 in the ALDS so the Blue Jays know what to do to come back in this series.

Pitching Battle For Game 5

    Everyone knew this game would have been a pitching battle, oh boy it was. Both pitches gave up runs in the first inning, but deGrom gave up 2. Greinke sat on that lead until the 4th inning when the Mets used good base running to score on a sac fly to tie the game. Now both pitchers preforming well not wanting to give up a lead. But in the 6th inning Murphy went yard and now the Mets have the lead 3-2. Once the 6th was over the Mets decide that deGrom was done for the day, 6 innings 7K. Greinke was pulled in the same inning he gave up the home run to Murphy. He went 6 2/3 innings with 9K. The Mets will now play the Cubs in the NLDS.  

Two more move on!

   With the Texas Ranger having a 2-0 lead in the series everyone thought that they would win the series at some point. But the Toronto Blue Jays never gave up forcing a game 5, oh boy was game 5 a wild one. Texas was winning until the 6th inning when Encarnacion went yard to tie the game up at 2. That was the 1st game tying home run in a winner take all game in the 6th inning or later since 2003 ALDS game. The 7th inning was a wild one for both teams filed with errors. The Rangers were the first to score in the 7th on a very hard call on a error on the throw back to the pitcher. Then the Rangers had 2 big errors to start the 7th leaving the base loaded, with Josh Donaldson up. He hit a bloop single to score one, but the guy at second was out, up next was the powerful Joey Bautista. He hit a moon shot 3 run home run, the crowd was going nuts! There was a 5-10 minute delay in the game because fans were throwing things on the field. The fans were so loud after the home run that the camera was shaking to make the picture on the TV shake. The Blue Jays went on to win the game 6-3 and move on to the American League championship. 

Another series that a team was up 2-0 and ended up losing, the Houston Astros loss a 2-0 lead in the series to the Kansas City Royals. The Astros were the first team to strike with a two run home run in the second, that put the Royals fan in a nervous mode. But the Royals didn't go down without a fight. In the 4th inning Hosmer hit a solo shot to cut the lead in half. In the 5th  Rois hit a double to score 2 and grab the lead, Zobrist hit a sac fly to score Rois. After the 5th inning the Royals never looked back on there lead. Scoring 3 more runs off a Morales 3 run home run. The Kansas City Royals are moving on the face the Blue Jays in the American League championship. 

Kershaw does it

      The Los Angeles Dodgers were in a lose and done game last night against the New York Mets. All the Dodgers had to do was give a lead the best pitcher in the league and they did. In the 4th inning Gonzales singled to shallow center scoring Hernandez, then Turner doubled to left scoring Kendrick and Gonzalez. That's all the runs Clayton Kershaw needed. But the Murphy hit a solo shot off Kershaw, that was the only run he gave up. After that home run he was mowing batters down. Clayton Kershaw went 7 innings, 3 hits, and 8 K's. The next game for the Dodgers Greinke will get the start vs deGrom and the Mets. He did enough to provide the Dodgers to stay in the playoffs and force a game 5. 

THE CUBS WIN!!!!!!

    As you may know its always been opposite for the Cardinals, it's usually them advancing to the NL championship. But last night it changed for the cards. The Chicago Cubs beat a very good St. Louis Cardinals 6-4. The Chicago fans were going crazy, its there first time since 2003 that the Cubs are moving on the the NL championship. It's the first time in franchise history that the Cubs have won a finishing series game at home. With Hammel giving up that two run home run in the first, the Cubs were in the hole early. But once again Chicago wasn't going to go down without a couple home runs form  Rizzo, Schwarber, and Baez. Those home runs were huge for Chicago and the fans loved it. Yelling, screaming, standing, and whistling, that's what the Cubs fans were during the game and it helped. The fans last night were LIT after the game."The fans deserve this" said Anthony Rizzo.

Dinger City

The Cubs, Mets, Cardinals, and the Dodgers combined 12 home runs! That is incredible the Cubs had 6 as a team that is most by a team in a game in the post season.

  The Cubs are the team shocking the world.The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-6 with the hot bats of the first 6 batters in the Cubs order. The Chicago fans are playing a big role in this playoff run bigger loud and FLYING the W after every win. The dream has finally came true beating the Cardinals in the postseason. They are up 2-1 in the series and they play tonight at Wrigley field. Can the Cubs hit like they did last night and finally put a stop to this slump? Will Jason Hammel be able to shut down the Cardinals and move on?  GO CUBS GO!!

The Mets came out hot and ready to fight for Ruben Tejada. The fans had signs that said win for Ruben. Even though the Dodgers didn't play Chase Utley, the Mets fans didn't like the slide. The Mets didn't give up the lead every since they scored. Matt Harvey was wheeling and dealing on the mound , 5 innings pitched with 7 K's. The Mets offense brought there bats last night and are ready to take the game tonight. Will Clayton Kershaw be able to shut out the Mets fans and get W on the mound tonight?

To Stay Alive In The AL

    The Astros vs  Royals this was a big game for both teams, lose or go home for the Royals. They were both even at 2 until the 5th inning when the Astros scored 1. But then a big 3 run 7th inning from the Astros put all the Royals fans on the edge of there seats. The Royals were not ready to end the year. With the bases loaded in the 8th for the Royals. Cain strikes with a single up the middle scoring one, now Hosmer singles scores one again. Morales grounded into a fielders choice but an error on the short stop scores 2, its tied. Dee Gordon grounded out to second with a RBI scoring Hosmer. In the 9th inning Hosmer hit a two run home run just to secure the lead. The Kansas City Royals survive and win 9-2.

    The Blue Jay vs Rangers was a lose and go home for the Blue Jays and they played like that. The Blue Jays scored a quick 3 runs in the 1st inning, but they weren't done. Toronto scored 7 runs before the Rangers even scored 1 run. Only if the Blue Jays could play like all the time.This game was a blow out win for the Blue Jays 8-4, and force a game 5.

  

All FOUR Teams Play tonight

American League:
     The defending American League Champions Kansas City Royals are in trouble down 2-1 to the Houston Astros. With Yordano Ventura on the bump for the Royals, he already has a loss in the series. Lance McCullers is going to be on the bump for the Astros, he hasn't pitched at all this post season, but he was 6-7 during the year. With Houston having amazing offense during the playoffs and only need a win to move on. Will Yordano be able to slow it down and force a game 5?

     The Toronto Blue Jays take on the Texas Rangers in an elimination game for them. Last night, the Blue Jays knew they needed to bring their A game on the road. They took the game 5-1 and are down 2-1 in the series. Tonight, they are looking forward to doing the same and bringing the series finale to Toronto. R.A. Dickey goes up against the Rangers and Derek Holland pitches for the Rangers.

National League:
     A 1-1 series Dodgers (Brett Anderson) @ Mets (Matt Harvey). With the Dodgers being steamed about Chase Utley slide that broke Ruben Tejada's right leg. It could be a brawl tonight to get back at Utley for that horrible slide. Will the Dodgers be able to get past the high heat of Harvey? Will Brett Anderson be able to pitch good enough for the win?

     Probably the most hyped game for tonight is the Cardinals @ Cubs! The Chicago Cubs are hosting their first postseason game since 2008. It'll be a showdown between Jake Arrieta and Michael Wacha. The series is tied at 1 a piece. The Chicago Cubs are arguably the hottest team in baseball right now. The Cubs are looking forward to taking their first series lead in which they haven't done since 2003.

UPSET in the postseason already?!

   With both road teams and lower seeds winning last night, that means that's a up set baby! David Price got the start for the Blue jays, he was on a 6 game win streaking coming into the game. But hes made 6 career playoffs starts but is 0-6. David Price is now 0-7 with a loss to the Texas Ranger, in the 5th David hit a batter then gave up a home run to seal the lead for the Rangers. But then got a insurance run in the 7th to win 5-3.

   Now it is time to talk about the Royals and the Astros, the Astros came out hot in the first inning getting a quick 2 runs in the first. Then in the 2nd Altuve singled to right to score one more, he is having a great post season so far. But then Kendry Morales hit two jacks in the game, one in the 2nd and another one in the 4th. But that wasn't enough to stop the Astros high powering offense, hitting two home runs one in the 5th (Spranger) and another one in the 8th (Rasmus). 

    

Astros and Cubs Advance!

     As you may know already, the Houston Astros advance to take on the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS and the Chicago Cubs take on the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS. The Houston Astros vs. New York Yankees was a great game for the Astros because of their offense. The Astros continued to hit well and that showed in the outcome of the game. The Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates game was crazy! Jake Arrieta pitched a complete game allowing only 4 hit and had 11 strikeouts! Things got heated up in the seventh inning when Jake Arrieta was hit by a pitch which caused benches to clear. Overall, the Cubs power hitting and dominant pitching led the win for them as they take on St. Louis in a tough battle.

Cubs @ Pirates

As you may know Nick is a Cubs fan and Austin is a Pirates fan. It is going to be a wild night, texting back and forth and bragging to each other.
 Once again another wild card game for the Pirates that have both times in the wild card round the past two years. But for the Cubs its the first time in the playoffs since 2008. These teams are going to come out battling, its going to be a pitching performance Cole vs Arrieta. These two pitches can be related to the best pitchers in the MLB, both are nominees for the CY young. For Cubs to win they are going to need Arrieta to at least get to 7 innings and need the high powering rookie Kris Bryant to continue his tremendous year. On the other hand the Pirates need to keep Cole on the bump for 7 or 8 innings. Also the all star center fielder Andrew McCutchen needs to play a big role on defense and offense. This is going to be a vary tight game. Battle of the National League Wild Card.       

Astros @ Yankees

Tonight's the first wild card game Houston Astros (Keuchel) @ New York Yankees (Tanaka). We really think this game is going to come down to the team that can score just one run. The two pitchers are incredible, the long they stay in they better chance that team can win. The Astros have been in a real slump towards the end of the year, hopefully they can turn around and provide good offense. Also Kuechel is pitching on a very short rest. Will that make the Astros fall short? The Yankees don't really have a good pitching rotation, but they can hit. We will find out the winner of the wild card tonight @8:00 ET.

MLB Playoff Bracket is Set

MLB Playoffs:
     The MLB playoffs are set in stone! The Houston Astros will take on the New York Yankees on Tuesday the 6th and the Chicago Cubs will play at PNC park on Wednesday, the 7th. The Cubs and Pirates have the 2nd and 3rd best records and whoever wins that wild card game will take on the best record team, St. Louis Cardinals. Many people believe this is wrong considering the Dodgers and Mets have worse records but deserve a series. Below are pictures of our playoff predictions from September 2nd. Nick predicted EVERY single team and seed # in the playoffs a month ago even when the Texas Rangers were down 6 games to the Astros. Austin got the entire American League right but was wrong in the National League.

The Playoff Bracket:

Nick's Predictions:

Austin's Predictions:

AL Wild Card Race

 Right now the Houston Astros have the second wild card sport, but it is not yet clinched. The Angels and the Twins are one game back, but the Twins play the Royals the last 3 games. The Angels have the Rangers the lead of the AL West and clinched birth to the playoffs. Our prediction has the Angels getting the second wild card spot and bumping the Twins out and making the Astros out of the push by a half game. The Astros are just not developed team yet, the Angels have a team that have not good pitching but offensive they are good. Our prediction have the Yankees and the Angels getting the Wild Card spots.

Battle for the Wild Card Spots in the AL

American League:
     Congratulations to the Toronto Blue Jays for clinching their division for the first time in 22 years. The Kansas City Royals have clinched the AL Central as well. Now there is a huge battle for the wild card with only 3-4 games left of the season. The New York Yankees have the 1 spot by 2.5 games and the Houston Astros have the 2nd wild card spot by 0.5 games. The Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota Twins are still in the race as well. Although the Texas Rangers are not in the wild card spot BUT winning their division, they still aren't guaranteed a playoff spot being only 2.5 games above the Houston Astros.

National League Postseason Bracket

National League:
      The National League Postseason Bracket is set in stone. The St. Louis Cardinals have clinched the National League central and the best record in the league causing home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Chicago Cubs will be taking the Pittsburgh Pirates most likely at PNC Park. The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets will face each other in the NLDS but now it's just to see who has home field in Game 5 in that 5-game series.

BIG night for the CARDS

    It would be a dream come true to get 100 wins, clinch the NL central, and Clinch home field advantage. This big win now knocks down the Pirates to 1 seed in the wild card, they will face the Cubs. But the Cardinals are big favorites to take the NL title home. Now that they have Adam Wainwright back, but Cardinals manager said he will be coming out of the bullpen and won't rush him back in. The bad thing is for the Cards is the Carlos Martinez got placed on the 60 day DL. I wish the best of luck to the Cardinals and the rest of the teams in the playoffs.