Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Lots of sweeps in Wild Card weekend, with three of the series wrapping up on Saturday. We had one interminable game, one insane one, one bittersweet affair, and one series that is still to be determined. Let’s take a look.
Gonzalez walk-off ends Guardians/Rays marathon
In the first game of the day, nobody felt like scoring, until the bottom of the 15th inning (that’s right, the FIFTEENTH INNINING!). In that one, rookie Oscar Gonzalez pulverized a pitch from former Cleveland ace Corey Kluber to break a scoreless tie and complete the two-game mini-sweep of the the Tampa Bay Rays. The Guardians now get to head to NYC for a date with the Yankees, the AL #2 seed.
Mariners storm back to take the series from Jays
You have to hand it to the Seattle Mariners. When you’re down 8-1, it’s pretty damn easy to roll up the tent and save your bullets for the next day. Nobody would have blamed them. But somehow, everything fell Seattle’s way, and through a combination of bad breaks for the Jays and clutch hitting from the M’s the Mariners came all the way back to tie the game in the 8th inning. Then, in the 9th, Cal Raleigh and Adam Frazier both hit doubles to score the game’s final run and provide the margin of victory. It was a 10-9 game that had everyone exhausted by the time the last out was recorded. Having won one series as the underdog, the Mariners now will take on their AL West rivals the Houston Astros*, the best team in the American League this year.
Cards fall in Tío Albert’s last game
The big Cardinal bats, Goldschmidt and Arenado were pretty much silent the entire series, and the Phillies were able to ride two great starts from Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola to a sweep of the Redbirds. In what turned out to be former Dodger Albert Pujols‘s last game, the soon-to-be Hall of Famer went 2-for-4. In hist last at-bat, Pujols scalded a ball down the third base line for a single that kept the Cardinals hopes alive. But Siranthony Dominguez got strikeouts of both Goldy and Nolan to end the inning. The Cards threatened again in the 9th (this time with a hit in Yadi Molina’s last at-bat), but again couldn’t push anything across. They lost 2-0, and scored a total of two runs over 18 innings of playoff baseball. So long, Tío. Vaya con Dios. The Phillies now have the unenviable task of trying to take down the Atlanta Braves.
Mets put together big inning to knot series
And finally, in the game Dodger fans were watching most closely, the New York Mets staved off elimination with a big 7-3 win over the Padres. Jacob deGrom was good, not great, in his start (giving up 2 ER on five hits over six innings), but he left the game with a 3-2 lead, thanks to a tie-breaking solo home run from Pete Alonso in the bottom of the fifth. Then the Padres pen sort of imploded to give the Mets a four spot in the seventh to put the game away. That means it will be Joe Musgrove vs. Chris Bassitt for all the marbles on Sunday night. And whoever wins, Dodger fans will be happy to know that it took a lot of effort on either side. Bring on the winner!
