Having a tough time following along with the MLB postseason? Just want to relive the best moments?
Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball:
Mariners go up 2-0
A whole lot could change in the American League Championship Series, but through two games, the Blue Jays are in trouble. The Mariners won the first two games of the series, and are now two more victories away from reaching the franchise’s first-ever World Series.
Things went sideways for Toronto out of the gate. The first batter of the game, Randy Arozarena, was hit by a pitch, then Cal Raleigh walked. Rookie Trey Yesavage did not correct whatever was wrong with him in time, as the next batter, Julio Rodriguez, hit a 3-run homer, giving Seattle a lead before the Jays could record an out.
Toronto would get two runs back in the bottom of the inning, thanks to RBI singles from Nathan Lukes and Alejandro Kirk, and then Lukes would single in another run in the second to tie things up. The problem for Toronto is that their offense stopped there — it was all Seattle the rest of the way.
Jorge Polanco came up in the top of the fifth with Arozarena and Raleigh on base again, and hit his own 3-run dinger, giving the Mariners a 6-3 lead.
In the sixth, J.P. Crawford would add on with an RBI single, and then Josh Naylor put a charge into one in the seventh to score Polanco — Naylor’s first homer of the postseason.
Crawford would add a sac fly to make it an even 10 runs, and the Mariners would cruise to a 10-3 victory and 2-0 ALCS lead. The series will now shift to Seattle, where George Kirby will start for the Mariners against trade deadline acquisition and former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber.
Good thing that net was there
It’s pretty easy to see how this could have been terrible in a different time and place, but instead it’s just a little embarrassing.
Well that was weird
Eugenio Suarez was sitting at the top step of the Mariners’ dugout in the fifth inning, when he was struck by an errant throw, sending the ball out of play.
The Jays challenged the ruling on the field, believing that it was still in play when it hit Suarez, and therefore he is the reason it went out of play. FOX’s Tom Verducci explained a bit about what was even going on during the broadcast, as the umpires checked on the challenge.
The call was upheld — Suarez was sitting out of play when it hit him, so he was not at fault for anything — but that one was weird. Luckily nothing else strange happened for the rest of the day in MLB that required a perplexing, lengthy review to sort out.
A Tale of Two Blakes
Blake Snell was on in Game 1 of the NLCS. He ended up throwing eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts while allowing just a single baserunner on one hit. The only reason he was pulled at all is because he was already at 103 pitches after eight, and he might be needed for a Game 5 depending on how the game goes. Plus, if the ninth ended up a disaster, a reliever has to come in without it being a clean inning to start — something the Dodgers’ bullpen can’t exactly be relied upon to solve at this stage.
He didn’t get very much help from his teammates in this one, though, Freddie Freeman did hit a solo shot to break a 0-0 tie in the top of the sixth.
Meanwhile, Snell just mowed down Brewers left and right. He retired the first six Brewers in order, gave up a hit, and then sat down the next 17 of them in a row.
Snell would come out for the ninth, to be replaced by Roki Sasaki, who has been saving the Dodgers’ bullpen to this point in the postseason. Monday night did not work out quite as well: Isaac Collins walked, Jake Bauers hit a ground-rule double and then Jackson Chourio drove in a run on a sac fly to cut Los Angeles’ lead in half.
Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts put Blake Treinen in to put out this fire, which of late has been a lot like pouring gasoline directly onto flames. He walked Christian Yelich then William Contreras, loading the bases with two outs for Brice Turang. On a 1-2 count, Treinen nearly allowed the Brewers to tie the game with even more wildness, as he came impossibly close to hitting Turang with a pitch.
Turang’s survival instinct is all that saved Treinen from blowing it there. He would then swing at a pitch up high to strike out, allowing the embattled reliever and the Dodgers to escape with a Game 1 dub in the NLCS. The two will play Game 2 on Tuesday at 8:08 p.m. ET, when Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes on Freddy Peralta.
A very normal GIDP
The Dodgers did at least try to give Snell some run support. But then a real strange thing happened. It’s not often that you see an almost grand slam become a double play instead. But the fun about baseball and its chaotic nature is that now you have. Observe.
To recap: Max Muncy came up with the bases loaded, and hit what was going to be a grand slam to put the Dodgers up 4-0. Instead, Brewers’ center fielder Sal Frelick pulled the ball back in, but failed to make the grab. Since the ball hit the wall after popping out of his glove, catching it in the air wasn’t enough — the wall is the same as the ground, as far as these things go. The Dodgers’ baserunners didn’t know whether it was a catch or not, though, and that’s where things went off the rails. Thanks to Frelick’s relay to shortstop Joey Ortiz, Teoscar Hernandez ended up out at home, and then the Brewers caught Will Smith at third base, as well. The result? An 8-6-2 double play, scored as a GIDP by MLB even though the ball was never actually on the ground and traveled a couple of inches shy of clearing both the wall and Frelick’s glove. It just took a lot of umpire review and explanation for something so simple to be known by everyone involved.
For even more details and additional imagery and footage, check out FOX Sports’ writeup from Monday night. You know you can’t get enough of this one, anyway.
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