Oct 20

ALCS Game Five and NLCS Game Four, 2023

Houston at Texas, 2:07 PM PDT, TV: FS1 The series is tied at two games apiece.

RHP Justin Verlander (1-1, 1.42 ERA postseason) pitches for the Astros and LHP Jordan Montgomery (2-0,2.08 ERA postseason) takes the ball for the Rangers.

Philadelphia at Arizona, 5:07 PM PDT, TV: TBS. Philadelphia leads the series two games to one.

LHP Cristopher Sánchez (0-0, 0.00 ERA postseason) pitches for the Phillies and LHP Joe Mantiply (2-0, 9.00 ERA) goes for the D-Backs.

Today in baseball history:

  • 1964 Three days after resigning as manager of the World Champion Cardinals, Johnny Keane replaces Yogi Berra as the Yankees’ field boss. The new skipper of the Bronx Bombers will not fare well next year, leading the aging team to their first losing season since 1925, finishing 27 games behind the Twins with a 77-82 record.
  • 1964 Albert “Red” Schoendienst, a favorite former player, is named the Cardinals’ new manager, replacing Johnny Keane, who resigned the day following the team’s Game 7 Fall Classic victory over New York. Red will compile a 1,041-955 record for the Redbirds during 12 full seasons and two stints in 1980 and 1990 as interim skipper, capturing a World Championship in 1967 and an NL pennant in 1968.
  • 1988 The Dodgers become World Champions when Orel Hershiser limits the opposition to four singles in Game 5 of the World Series and beats the A’s, 5-1. The right-hander, who also won Game 2, is named the Most Valuable Player of the Fall Classic.
  • 1994 Receiving all 28 first-place votes, Raul Mondesi (.306, 16, 56) is named the National League’s Rookie of the Year. The Los Angeles right fielder, who easily outdistanced Astros’ hurler John Hudek and Braves’ outfielder Ryan Klesko, is the third consecutive Dodger to win the award.
  • 2004 After dropping the first three decisions, the Red Sox win their fourth consecutive ALCS game to win the American League pennant, beating the Yankees in the Bronx, 10-3. Johnny Damon’s two home runs, including a grand slam and Derek Lowe’s solid pitching performance, help Boston join the 1942 Maple Leafs and the 1975 Islanders as the only teams in the history of professional sports to overcome a 3-0 series deficit to win a seven-game series.
Oct 18

ALCS Game Three, 2023

Houston at Texas, 5:07 PM PDT, TV: FS1

RHP Cristian Javier (1-0, 0.00 ERA postseason) pitches for the Astros and RHP Max Scherzer (0-0, 0.00 ERA postseason) takes the ball for the Rangers for the first time in the playoffs after sitting out a month with shoulder issues.

Today in baseball history

  • 1950 After spending half a century managing in the major leagues, Connie Mack retires as skipper of the A’s. The 87-year-old manager, who has the most wins and losses in the game’s history, will be replaced by Jimmy Dykes, after compiling a 3731-3948 (.486) record during his 50 years in the dugout.
  • 1960 “Resigned, fired, quit, discharged, use whatever you damn please. I’ll never make the mistake of being seventy again” – CASEY STENGEL, announcing his dismissal from the Yankees for being too old to manage.
    Five days after losing to the Pirates in Game 7 of the World Series, the Yankees fire Casey Stengel, believing he’s too old to manage. During his twelve-year tenure with the Bronx Bombers, the ‘Old Perfesser’ compiled an 1149-696 (.623) record while capturing ten AL pennants and seven World Championships.

  • 1977 After homering in his last at-bat yesterday and drawing a walk in his first at-bat, Reggie Jackson hits three more on each first pitch he sees in the Yankees’ 8-4 victory over the Dodgers in the Bronx, giving him three homers on three consecutive pitches off three different pitchers. “Mr. October’s” heroics in Game 6 of the Fall Classic assure the team of their twenty-first World Championship and first since 1962.
  • 2004 After 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 471 pitches, the Red Sox outlast the Yankees, 5-4, in Game 5 of the league championship. Boston’s DH David Ortiz, who is the first player in baseball history to hit two walk-off home runs during the postseason, ends the longest game in ALCS history at 1:22 a.m. with a two-out single into center scoring Johnny Damon from second in the 14th inning at Fenway Park.
  • 2012 At Comerica Park, the Tigers win their second American League pennant in seven years when they beat the punchless Yankees, 8-1, to complete a four-game sweep. The contest marks the first time the Bronx Bombers have failed to win a game in a best-of-seven series since they dropped four straight to the Reds in the 1976 Fall Classic.
Oct 18

ALCS Game Three, 2021

Astros at Red Sox, 5:07 PM PDT, TV: FS1

RHP Jose Urquidy (8-3, 3.62 ERA) pitches for the Astros and LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (postseason 0-1, 5.40 ERA) goes for the Red Sox.

Today in baseball history in 1950 Connie Mack retired after 50 years of managing in the big leagues, Casey Stengel was fired for being 70 years old and losing the 1960 World Series to the Pirates on Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run, Reggie Jackson homered in three consecutive at-bats in the 1977 World Series, and David Ortiz singled in Johnny Damon in the 14th inning of Game Five of the 2004 ALCS to beat the Yankees.

Lineups when available.

Astros:

Red Sox:

Oct 18

ALCS Game Five, 2018

Red Sox at Astros, 5:09 PM PDT, TV: TBS

Backs to the wall, the Astros send ace RHP Justin Verlander to the mound to stop the Red Sox. The Sox counter with LHP David Price. Verlander gave up two runs on two hits in six innings in Game One of this series, while Price went 4 2/3 innings in Game Two, giving up five hits and four runs. The Sox scored five in the first three innings and were never caught, so for the first time in Price’s career his team won a postseason game he’d started.

Today in Red Sox history:

  • 1971 Dick Williams is named the Associated Press American League Manager of the Year after guiding the A’s to their first playoff appearance since the franchise faced St. Louis in the 1931 Fall Classic. The 42 year-old skipper also copped the honor for piloting the Red Sox during the team’s Impossible Dream season in 1967.
  • 1999 The Yankees win their record 36th pennant when the team beats the Red Sox, 6-1, in Game 5 of the ALCS. Orlando Hernandez blanks Boston into the eighth inning with Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada providing the offense punch with two-run round-trippers, respectively in the first and ninth frames of the Fenway Park contest.
  • 2004 After 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 471 pitches, the Red Sox outlast the Yankees, 5-4, in Game 5 of the league championship. Boston’s DH David Ortiz, who is the first player in baseball history to hit two walk-off home runs during the postseason, ends the longest game in ALCS history at 1:22 a.m. with a two-out single into center scoring Johnny Damon from second in the 14th inning at Fenway Park.
  • 2008 The Red Sox, scoring in each of the last three innings, erase a seven-run deficit in the seventh to beat the Rays, 8-7, in Game 5 of the ALCS. The Philadelphia A’s, who rallied after trailing 8-0 to beat the Cubs, 10-8, in Game 4 of the 1929 World Series, are the only team to have made a bigger comeback in the postseason.

Today in Astros’ history:

  • 2001 Larry Dierker, who left the Astros’ broadcast booth to take over the dugout duties as the team’s skipper in 1997, resigns as Houston manager (448-362, .553, four divisional titles), despite tying the Cardinals for the best record in the National League (93-69) and winning the Central Division. The team failed to win a playoff series in his five-year tenure, going 2-12 in postseason action.
  • 2017 Masahiro Tanaka pitches seven innings of three-hit ball and the Yankees shut out the Astros in Game Five of the ALCS to take a 3-2 lead in the series. The Astros won the next two games and moved on to the 2018 World Series for the second time in team history (2005).

Lineups when available.

Oct 20

ALCS Game Six, 2017

Yankees at Astros, 5:00 PM PT, TV: FS1

The Yankees have two games in which to win one, while for the Astros this is an elimination game. It’s a rematch of Game Two’s starting pitchers.

In Game Two, the Astros’ RHP Justin Verlander threw that most rare of things in this era, a complete game, holding the Yankees to one run on five hits and striking out 13. His opponent will again be RHP Luis Severino, who was pulled from that game after just four innings “for precautionary reasons.” Before he left he’d given up just one run on two hits to the Astros.

Today in baseball history:

  • 1988 The Dodgers become World Champions when Orel Hershiser limits the opposition to four singles in Game 5 of the World Series and beats the A’s, 5-1. The right-hander, who also won Game 2, is named the Most Valuable Player of the Fall Classic.
  • 2004 After losing the first three games of the ALCS, the Red Sox win four consecutive games to win the American League pennant, beating the Yankees in the Bronx, 10-3. Johnny Damon’s two home runs, including a grand slam in the fourth, and Derek Lowe’s solid pitching performance help Boston to join the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders as the only teams in the history of professional sports to overcome a 3-0 series deficit to win a seven-game series.