I hope you have already started to do your work on Tuesday, because you better finish everything early. Today there are two games of the Championship Series and each one arrives with great anticipation and excitement.
Games start early, so try to get as fast as you can now.
The most exciting thing about baseball’s postseason is that every game, every inning, and every pitch offers a world of possibilities. Everything you thought you knew about something in particular can vanish in a matter of seconds.
That said, what is at stake today? We have two games on Tuesday and each team arrives with a particular story.
Here we present them:
SCLN GAME 3: Braves visit Dodgers, Atlanta leads series 2-0
Braves: Can Charlie Morton put the Dodgers against the wall?
Look, the Braves are up 2-0, but let’s be honest: As much as it hurts (and probably will) Braves fans to read this, most “experts” still believe the Dodgers will win the series. That, for two reasons. First, Los Angeles won 106 games in the year and Atlanta 88 (represents the same difference between the Braves and Cubs). Second, and perhaps most important, we already saw the Dodgers overcome a similar deficit last year.
But, one important thing; no one thinks the Dodgers can bounce back if they go down 3-0. The Braves will have their best starter to put Los Angeles in that position. Morton was a mainstay for the club throughout the year and has shone this postseason against the Brewers. Now he comes in with enough rest time to pitch at Dodger Stadium for the first time since securing the World Series against them in 2017 with the Astros.
Dodgers: Can they finally land productive hits?
Last year, the Dodgers faced three elimination games against the Braves and won all three. They’ve already had two this year, against the Cardinals and Giants. But it seems they are in a more dire situation now. Not just because they lost the top two in Atlanta, but because of how they did it – almost exactly, squandering early leads, squandering opportunities against the Braves bullpen and, worst of all, being left on the field both times.
The most important thing is to start producing. They are 18-2 with men in scoring position, which explains why they are down in the series despite having a perfect 6-6 on stolen bases. They’ll finally have a rested Walker Buehler on the mound, and considering they used Julio Cesar Urías in Game 2 and will likely need him for Game 4, they’ll likely require their ace to cover a fair amount of innings.
SCLA GAME 4: Astros visit Red Sox, Boston leads series 2-1
Astros: Who is left to pitch?
The Astros named their starter for Game 4 at the last minute, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. At this point, they go with whoever is available. The pitching body was already in trouble for the beginning of the series, considering the injury of Lance McCullers Jr. Then, the Venezuelan Luis García injured his knee (although it seems that he could return in this series) and Jake Odorizzi had to throw a lot of pitches in that game. But it doesn’t end there, they had to use five pitchers after Mexican José Urquidy covered just 1.2 stages on Monday. Zack Greinke wasn’t scheduled to throw more than 40 pitches in Game 4, but manager Dusty Baker said he has no choice.
The Astros are in a difficult position. Desperate to win and with limited pitching against a team that is really hot.
Red Sox: How many more grand slam will they hit?
Just kidding, at a certain point. Grand slams don’t just happen out of nowhere, you have to do a lot of other things right and boy have Boston hitters been doing it. Puerto Rican Kike Hernández is at a historic level, but in reality everyone has looked good in recent days. They are clearly wearing down the Astros, who are running out of pitching.
The Red Sox have some deficiencies in their defense and pitching, but if they keep hitting that way, nothing else will matter.
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