By: BHS Sports Staff
October 17, 2024
All of the divisional matchups have wrapped up, and the ALCS and NLCS are well underway with the Guardians and Yankees moving on in the AL and the Dodgers and Mets moving on in the NL. But first, we have to give a rundown of each series before getting to where we are today.
Starting in the NL, with the #2 seed Philadelphia Phillies facing the #6 seed New York Mets. In game one, Phillies starter Zack Wheeler shut down the Mets for seven innings as they held a 1-0 lead. However, the Mets rallied for six unanswered runs in the final two innings, taking game one, 6-2. Game two was back-and-forth with both teams trading big hits and big homers in the late innings. In the end, Nick Castellanos hit a walk-off RBI single to give the Phillies a 7-6 win, evening up the series.
With the series heading to Queens, the Mets cruised to a 7-2 victory in game three with homers from Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker, one win away from a championship series appearance. In game four, the Phillies jumped in front on an infield RBI single in the 4th, but in the 6th, former Indians star Francisco Lindor hit a go-ahead grand slam to power the Mets to their first NLCS appearance since 2015.
As for the other divisional series in the NL, this one was between the #4 seed San Diego Padres and the #1 seed Los Angeles Dodgers. In game one, it was back-and-forth in the early innings, but the Dodgers pulled through with their bullpen, shutting down the final six innings en route to a 7-5 win. However, it was all Padres in game two as they hit six home runs in a 10-2 win to even up the series.
The Dodgers struck first in game three, but the Padres quickly diminished that with a six-run second inning. The Dodgers answered back in the 3rd with a grand slam from Teoscar Hernandez, but that wouldn’t be enough as the Padres took a 2-1 series lead with a 6-5 victory. The L.A. bullpen shut out the Padres in game four, and the Dodgers hit three home runs to even up the series.
In a win-or-go-home game five, the Padres hitting continued to struggle, and all it took was two solo homers from Kike Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez for the Dodgers to move on to the NLCS.
Switching gears over to the American League, with the #1 seed New York Yankees facing the #5 seed Kansas City Royals. In game one, Alex Verdugo came up big for the Yankees in the 7th with a go-ahead RBI single, giving the Yankees a 6-5 win. However, the Royals bounced back with a four-run 4th inning in game two to help them secure a 4-2 win to even up the series, heading back to Kansas City.
The Yankees ran away with this series winning games three and four, with a go-ahead home run from Giancarlo Stanton in the 8th inning of game three, and a dominant pitching performance from Gerrit Cole to send the Yankees to the ALCS.
Last but certainly not least, the final ALDS matchup between the #2 seed Cleveland Guardians and the #6 seed Detroit Tigers. Game one was an offensive splurge in the first inning with the Guardians scoring five runs before the Tigers could record an out. This would power them to a 7-0 shutout victory. Game two was a pitching duel until Kerry Carpenter hit a go-ahead, three-run shot to break the scoreless tie in the 9th to even up the series.
The Guardians’ bats continued to struggle in game three, as three runs were enough to give the Tigers a 2-1 series lead. With their backs against the wall, the offense came alive in game four, highlighted by a David Fry go-ahead, two-run shot in the 7th to send this series back to Cleveland for a decisive game five.
Game five started as a pitching duel between Tarik Skubal and Matthew Boyd, but Lane Thomas spoiled this with the biggest swing of his career, blasting a grand slam to put the Guardians up 5-1. This would give the Guardians enough breathing room to hold off a Tigers rally, winning 7-3 and giving Cleveland their first trip to the ALCS since their World Series run in 2016.
Now, each league championship series is in full gear. In the NLCS, the Dodgers currently lead the series over the Mets, 2-1. Game one was another dominant shutout victory by the Dodgers 9-0, but the Mets bounced back in game two led by a Mark Vientos’ grand slam to secure a 7-3 victory. Once again, the Dodgers bats’ were alive last night in game three, and the pitching staff shutout the Mets, en route to an 8-0 win. The series will resume tonight with game four at 8:08 on FOX.
As for the ALCS, the Evil Empire took advantage of Cleveland’s costly mistakes and currently own a 2-0 series lead. Game one was a struggle for the Guardians pitchers early as the Yankees scored two runs on wild pitches, and the bats could not get going in a 5-2 Yankees win. Game two was much of the same as the Guardians made a few costly mistakes, and Cleveland hitters left 11 runners on base in a 6-3 loss. The Guards will look to bounce back tonight for game three back in Cleveland with the first pitch at 5:08 on TBS.
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Let’s go, Guards!
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