Oct 08

ALDS Games Two, 2023

Texas at Baltimore, 1:07 PM PDT, TV: FS1

LHP Jordan Montgomery pitches for the Rangers and RHP Grayson Rodriguez goes for the Orioles. Texas has a 1-0 lead in the series.

Minnesota at Houston, 5:03 PM PDT, TV: FS1

RHP Pablo López takes the mound for the Twins and LHP Framber Valdez does so for the Astros. Houston leads the series 1-0.

Today in baseball history:

  • 1908 In a make-up contest necessitated by Fred Merkle’s baserunning blunder on September 23, Three Finger Brown outduels Christy Mathewson, 4-2, as the Cubs win the National League pennant by one game over the Giants in one of the most dramatic pennant races of all time.
  • 1929In front of 50,000 fans at Wrigley Field, surprise starter Howard Ehmke establishes a new World Series record, striking out 13 Cubs en route to a 3-1 A’s victory in Game 1 of the Fall Classic. The mark will last 34 years until Dodger hurler Carl Erskine fans 14 Yankees in 1953.
  • 1939 In the top of the tenth, Yankee outfielder Joe DiMaggio scores from first base when Reds’ catcher Ernie Lombardi lies in a daze at home plate after being run over by ‘King Kong’ Charlie Keller. The Bronx Bombers score three runs thanks to ‘Lombardi’s Swoon,’ winning the game, 7-4, to complete the World Series sweep and become the first club to win four consecutive Fall Classics.
  • 1956 Don Larsen pitches the first perfect game in World Series history, defeating the Dodgers, 2-0 in Game 5 of the Fall Classic at Yankee Stadium. The 27-year-old right-hander, who had a poor start in Game 2 because of a lack of control, throws only 97 pitches, striking out pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell looking for the final out.
  • 1957 Club President Walter O’Malley makes it official, announcing the Dodgers will play in Los Angeles next season. The club’s departure from Brooklyn corresponds with the massive social shift in the borough that finds many of its former residents leaving for the suburbs of Long Island.
  • 1966 The Orioles collect only three hits off Claude Osteen, but Paul Blair’s fifth-inning 430-foot home run proves to be the difference when Baltimore beats the Dodgers in Game 3 of the World Series, 1-0. Wally Bunker throws a six-hitter, winning the first Fall Classic game ever played in Baltimore.
Oct 08

NLDS Games One, 2021

Game One: Braves at Brewers, 1:37 PM PDT, TV: TBS

RHP Charlie Morton (14-6, 3.34 ERA) pitches for the Braves against the Brewers’ Cy Young candidate RHP Corbin Burnes (11-5, 2.43 ERA).

Game Two: Dodgers at Giants, 6:37 PM PDT, TV: TBS

The Dodgers send out another of their Cy Young candidates, RHP Walker Buehler (16-4, 2.47 ERA) to face the Giants’ RHP Logan Webb (11-3, 3.03 ERA).

Today in baseball history in 1939 Joe DiMaggio scored from first as Reds catcher Ernie Lombardi “swooned” at home plate, Don Larsen pitched the only World Series perfect game in 1956, Walter O’Malley announced the Dodgers would move to Los Angeles in 1957, and the Dodgers defeated the White Sox 9-3 in Game Six of the 1959 World Series to win the whole shebang, among many other things.

Lineups when available.

Braves:

Brewers:

Dodgers:

Giants:

Oct 08

ALDS Game Four, 2020

Athletics vs Astros, 12:35 PM PDT, TV: TBS

The Astros lead the series 2-1.

The As give the ball to RHP Frankie Montas. The big (6’2″, 255 lbs) rightie threw two innings of two-hit one run ball against the White Sox in Game Three of the Wild Card Series and picked up the win. The Astros haven’t named a starter as of 9:00 PM HST Wednesday.

The second game will be the Rays vs Yankees, 4:10 PM PDT, TV: TBS

The Rays lead the series 2-1.

The Rays plan to use RHP Ryan Thompson to start, but not for very long. LHP Ryan Yarbrough is expected to come in and pitch the middle innings. I don’t understand this move, since Yarbrough started nine of the eleven games he was in this season. Why not just hand him the ball in the first inning? The Yankees will counter with LHP Jordan Montgomery, who was 2-3 with a 5.11 ERA in the regular season and has never made a postseason appearance until now.

Ernie Lombardi’s 1939 “swoon” took place on this date in baseball history, as did Don Larsen’s 1956 perfect game and the brawl between the Mets’ Bud Harrelson and the Reds’ Pete Rose in 1973.

Oct 08

ALDS Games Three, 2017

This applies to both of today’s games: Teams with 2-0 leads have won the series 66 times and lost nine.

First game: Astros at Red Sox, 11:30 AM PT, TV: FS1

The Astros try to close out the Sox today, sending RHP Brad Peacock (13-2, 3.00 ERA) to the mound to face the Red Sox’ RHP Doug Fister (5-9, 4.88 ERA). Peacock beat the Sox in his only appearance against them on September 28. He’s had no prior postseason experience. Fister lost to the Astros in his only start against them on September 29. He’s made eight postseason starts but none since 2014 with the Nats.

Second game: Indians at Yankees, 4:30 PM PT, TV: FS1

RHP Carlos Carrasco (18-6, 3.29 ERA) takes the hill for the Indians in the Bronx tonight. He’ll face the Yankees’ RHP Masahiro Tanaka (13-12, 4.74 ERA). Carrasco has had the best year of his career, but what’s even more germane is that on the road as he’ll be tonight he’s 11-2 with a 2.65 ERA and a .210/.266/.336 opponents’ slash line. Similarly, Tanaka is 9-5 with a 3.22 ERA at home in Yankee Stadium, far better than on the road.

Today in baseball history: It’s the anniversary of Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game Five of the 1956 World Series. It’s also the date of Ernie Lombardi’s “Swoon” in 1939, when the Reds’ catcher was run over at home plate by Charlie Keller of the Yankees and was so dazed that Joe DiMaggio was able to score all the way from first before he recovered. And in 1959 the Dodgers beat the White Sox in Game Six to win the World Series. More at National Pastime.