Four games today, and the Washington – St. Louis one will be special if you care about the broadcasters. It’s on the MLB Network at 1:00PM Eastern, and Bob Costas and Jim Kaat will be in the booth. It’s been a long time since Costas last did a playoff game (for NBC in 1999), and the multiple Emmy-winning sportscaster has since moved to the MLB Network. This will be the first post-season game he’s done since that ’99 one. Kaat’s an Emmy-winning broadcaster in his own right. Oh, and if that’s not enough history, it’s the first postseason game in Washington since 1933.
The pitchers will be ex-Dodger, ex-Ray, ex-Tiger, ex-Diamondback, ex-White Sox, ex-Cardinal Edwin Jackson for the Nationals (10-11, 4.03 ERA) against Chris Carpenter (0-2, 3.71 ERA). Carpenter’s comeback from thoracic outlet syndrome is quite a story all of itself. He had surgery to repair it on July 19, yet here he is three months later pitching in the big leagues. The series is tied 1-1.
The second game of the day also starts at 4:00PM Eastern at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. It’s Game Four of the Giants – Reds series, and the Reds lead two games to one. The Giants will start Barry Zito with the entire bullpen in reserve for this must-win game. The Reds haven’t yet announced a starter. Game One starter Johnny Cueto is still injured, and it appears their options consist of Mat Latos on short rest or Mike Leake. Neither one is ideal. Latos pitched four innings in relief in Game One, and Leake was 8-9 with a 4.58 ERA for the season and would have to replace Cueto on the roster, meaning Cueto would be ineligible for the NLCS if the Reds get that far.
The third game of the day is Game Three between the Yankees and Orioles at Yankee Stadium, starting at 7:30PM Eastern. The starting pitchers are old friend Hiroki Kuroda (16-11, 3.32 ERA) for the Yankees and Miguel Gonzalez (9-4, 3.25 ERA). The two teams have played 20 times this season and each has won ten games.
The last game of the day is in Oakland at 9:30PM Eastern, where the Athletics play the Tigers in a do-or-die game. The Tigers lead the series two games to one. The As will trot out yet another rookie pitcher, A.J. Griffin (7-1, 3.06 ERA), while the Tigers counter with Max Scherzer (16-7, 3.74 ERA).