October is for baseball
October is for baseball. Beginning in March, 30 Major League Baseball teams have been playing and working towards one common goal – making it to the postseason. Of those 30, 10 teams now remain representing the American League and the National League. They have battled through the regular season to get to this point and it is now game time.
The race to the World Series began Tuesday, October 1st in Washington, D.C. as Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals took on the Milwaukee Brewers. Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer had a spectacular year on the bump with a 2.92 ERA and 243 strikeouts. He isn’t done yet. Scherzer went five full innings giving up four hits and striking out six. With a strong pitching performance and a clutch 2 RBI double by the 20 year old sensation Juan Soto, the Nationals won 4-3. The Brewers played well, and the popular opinion is if they had Christian Yelich they would have won. Yelich was a leading candidate for the Most Valuable Player award until he had a season ending knee injury. Yelich had a final batting average of .329 with 44 home runs and 97 runs batted in. The All Star has been missed by many fans of baseball and he was missed even more on Tuesday. The player taking over for Yelich missed a ground ball hit by Juan Soto which allowed not only one run, but two. It was definitely a disappointing loss for the Brewers as the Nationals now face the LA Dodgers.
The Houston Astros entered this postseason with the best team record in baseball, finishing 107-55.
They are facing the Tampa Bay Rays, who destroyed the Oakland Athletics in a Wild Card game last Wednesday night. The Astros easily have the best pitching rotation in the league, combined with the big bats in the lineup make them the best team in the league. Fans, opponents, and, quite frankly, anyone who watches them play, wonders who can stop them. The Tampa Bay Rays are going to try to defeat the mighty Astros in the first round of the playoffs. The Rays also have two top tier pitchers in the league in Blake Snell and Charlie Morton. They are also a scrappy team that gets contributions from everyone on the squad, starters and bench players alike. It should make for an interesting series.
The American League is full of talented teams. While people say the Astros control the AL, they could be sleeping on the New York Yankees. The Yankees are going to take on the Minnesota Twins in another AL playoff series. The winner of this series will take on the winner of the Astros and Rays series for the right to represent the AL in the World Series. Heading into this season, people thought that this year’s Yankees lineup could be the best team ever assembled. The Yankees roster includes big names like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, Gary Sanchez, and Didi Gregorious in the batting line up. They had a great pitching staff with Domingo German, Luis Severino, Aroldis Chapman, and the veteran, CC Sabathia. Everything looked great after opening day when they clobbered the Orioles, until the injuries happened. This season, star players and substitutes all did time on the injured list: Stanton, Hicks, Judge, Gregarious, Sanchez, and Severino, as well as Miguel Andujar, Troy Tulowitzki, Greg Bird, and Luke Voit. This meant players like Brett Gardner, Gio Urshela, and questionable off season pick up DJ LeMahieu had to step up and lead this team. After hitting .330 and seemingly getting clutch hit after clutch hit, popular opinion is that DJ LeMahieu is the best pick up to ever happen. The Twins have been a surprise team this year, setting an MLB single record for home runs. They are looking to keep their season going.
The Nationals are feeling like kings after their big win over the Brewers, but that feeling will not last long when they face the LA Dodgers. The Dodgers are a great team with the offense led by Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, and Joc Pederson, and the all-star pitching rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, and Hyun-jin Ryu. They are looking to win it all this year after they lost to the Red Sox last year in the World Series. Bellinger, an all around stud, is looking to carry his team to winning it all while winning an MVP award on the way. Many believe that starting pitching will be the difference in this series. Whichever team’s starting pitchers gets off to a better start will win that game. If there is a game where Hyun-jin Ryu vs Max Scherzer are on the mound, it will be a pitching duel for the ages. This is a series worth watching.
The last series is the Atlanta Braves vs St. Louis Cardinals. The Braves have a fantastic infield while the 
Cardinals have a great outfield. The Braves are full of young talent, but have a great group of veterans as well. The Cardinals are set to start Miles Mikolas (9-14, 4.16 ERA) who had success in his latest start as he gave up 1 earned run in 7.2 innings against the Chicago Cubs. Mikolas had success in his only start against the Atlanta Braves during the 2019 season as he gave up 3 earned runs in 7 innings. This will be a very exciting series to watch because it is showing great talent and it is going to give us a glimpse of the future of the league.
Links:
https://www.google.com/search=dj+lemahieu&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS848US848&sxsrf=ACYBGNSc4M3Q63OzXXnpEySIEGii07_yZg:1570621137239&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSsNjXi4_lAhXizVkKHX8dAEQQ_AUIEygC&biw=1368&bih=802&dpr=2#imgrc=RFc98LoOXcyfZM:
https://www.google.com/searchq=juan+soto&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS848US848&sxsrf=ACYBGNQZqbI7V40ww4i2_i0B47uP4ukPjw:1570621356512&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiz-p_AjI_lAhVEqlkKHXhiATkQ_AUIEygC&biw=1368&bih=802&dpr=2#imgrc=ij4saRq_PoeDbM:
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https://www.google.com/searchq=Clayton+Kershaw&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS848US848&sxsrf=ACYBGNSnruQOmombAQPyBwIQyUVoc4qlzw:1570621480600&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjp0LX7jI_lAhWIzlkKHRxzAEsQ_AUIEygC&biw=1368&bih=802#imgrc=XnqjAe1ghtiXwM:
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