The World Series is almost over, and I haven’t spoken about it in a while. After the Indians’ Game 1 win, the Cubs roared right back with a 5-1 win. Highlighted by Kyle Schwarber’s two RBI’s game two was all Cubs. Kyle Schwarber hadn’t played since April prior to the World Series. In Game 3, the first World Series game at Wrigley since 1945, the only run was a Coco Crisp, seventh inning RBI, despite the strong wind blowing out. The wind was blowing in for Game 4, but somehow that game was more offensive. The Cubs scored first, but Carlos Santana hit a homer to tie it, in the second. Later in the inning Corey Kluber came to the plate, and the result of that at bat, you would have to see for yourself. http://m.mlb.com/video/v1210052583/ws2016-gm4-kluber-gets-infield-hit-on-32-count/?game_pk=487634

Later, with the score at 3-1 Cleveland, Jason Kipnis hit a three run bomb. The result of the game, 7-2, and a lot of nervous Cubs fans. If the Tribe wins tonight, the will win it all for the first time since 1948. The pitching match up for that game is Trevor Bauer, who had part of his pinky cut out by a drone and got the Game 2 loss, versus Jon Lester, who got the Game 1 loss. A lot is at hand tonight at Wrigley.

After 71 years, the Cubs are back in the World Series. They won the first Game of the NLCS in thrilling fashion, taking an early lead, but then losing it, but a grand slam secured it. They got shut out in the next two games. They dominated the next two, and returned to Chicago. They faced a pitcher that had won two Cy Youngs, and an MVP, but struggled in playoff games. Kershaw allowed five runs, as the Cubs won 5-0. Here is the final out. http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/94788780/v1208713183/must-c-clinch-cubs-celebrate-national-league-crown
In Game 1, they failed to produce against Korey Clubber, who struck out eight in three innings, which had never been done in Fall Classic history. The Cubs fell 6-0. Now however, Anthony Rizzo scored Kris Bryant on an RBI double, and the Cubs are winning 1-0 with Jake Arrieta on the mound. After the World Series, no matter who wins, I will do a post about the history of the two droughts that are on the line.

For the first time since 1997, Cleveland is in the World Series. With their 3-0 win over the Blue Jays in Game 5, the Tribe completed their 4-1 ALCS victory. Cleveland awaits the winner of the NLCS. The Cubs also won the pennant, but I am reserving an entire post for them. Corey Kluber will face Jon Lester in Game 1. Below is the final out of the ALCS, which is also pictured to the left.  http://m.mlb.com/video/v1207974683/this-indians-earn-a-trip-to-the-world-series/?affiliateId=clubMEGAMENU

         I have not blogged in awhile, so I will fill you in on the clinching teams. The Cleveland Indians clinched a spot in the ALCS on Monday with a 4-3 win against the Red Sox in what turned out to be David Ortiz’s last game. I will probably do a whole blog on him during the offseason. The Red Sox had many scoring opportunities, but the Indians prevailed. In Game 1 of the ALCS, Cleveland again took advantage of their opponent’s scoring opportunity failures by shutting out Toronto despite being out hit. Cleveland took a 2-0 lead by beating Toronto again, but they will have to play at the loud Rogers Centre.

                        The Chicago Cubs were down 5-2 in the ninth inning at San Francisco in Game 4 of the NLDS, but they came back to win 6-5 and advanced to the NLCS. Their opponents, the Los Angeles Dodgers, also won a hard fought battle. The Dodgers took Game 1, but Washington won the next two. The Dodgers forced a Game 5, in which they also won. The Nationals took an early lead, but the Dodgers stormed back with four runs. Washington made a little comeback, but Kenley Jansen preserved the lead. Then, Clayton Kershaw got his first career save, as the Dodgers advanced. The Cubs and Dodgers battled through Game One of the NLCS. The Cubs scored three runs in the first two innings, one of them on an accidental steal of home by Javier Baez, which you can see here.

http://m.mlb.com/video/v1206689783/nlcs-gm1-baez-steals-home-in-the-2nd-inning/?game_pk=487624

The Dodgers got even though, but that changed with Miguel Montero’s clutch eighth inning grand slam here.

http://m.mlb.com/video/v1206761683/nlcs-gm1-montero-belts-grand-slam-to-give-cubs-lead/?game_pk=487624

This is an exciting postseason with a lot of great teams, but I think the Cubs are the best out of the remaining four.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Blue Jays fans!The Toronto Blue Jays are going on to the ALCS. The Rangers have been eliminated with a 7-6 loss. They scored first, but the Blue Jays bounced back with home runs. This seesaw battle lasted until the tenth inning when, with runners on first and second, Russell Martin came to the plate. He grounded to the shortstop for one out, but Rougned Odor, who punched Jose Bautista in May, made a bad throw. Josh Donaldson, who was originally on second base, saw that the first baseman dropped the ball, and rounded third. The first baseman Mitch Moreland made a rushed throw, and the ball bounced out of the catcher’s glove, and the Blue Jays advanced. Congratulation to the Texas Rangers on their fantastic season, and for being in a tie for the second best record in baseball. Here is the play that will be remembered in baseball history. http://m.mlb.com/tor/video/v1204787183/textor-gm3-donaldson-hustles-home-clinches-alds/?tcid=mm_tor_vid&c_id=tor

   The Boston Red Sox, one of the most powerful teams in baseball, are on the brink of elimination. They will make up a rained out Game 3 of the ALDS. Both teams are very deserving. The Sox will try to come back at home, and they hope that this will not be David Ortiz’s last game.

  The San Francisco Giants also have their backs against the wall. If they lose, their even year streak will come to an end. This was not the first time a team had won the World Series in three straight even years. The ‘42, ‘44, and ‘46 Cardinals did the same thing. I think that the Cubs really deserve this win. It will not come easy though, because they face Madison Bumgarner. The Cubs however, have reigning Cy Young award winner Jake Arrieta.  

I have not Blogged in awhile, so I have a lot of catching up to do.The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 5-2. Jose Bautista hit a solo shot in the third, but the O’s bounced back with a two run homer hit by Mark Trumbo. The game went into extra innings after Toronto tied it. In the eleventh inning, Edwin Encarnacion hit a game winning, three run home run to send the Jays to Texas, where they blew out the Rangers 10-1. Here are both home runs in order of date. http://m.mlb.com/tor/video/topic/11493214/v1202715383/must-c-clinch-edwins-walkoff-sends-toronto-to-alds/?query=Edwin%2Bencarnacion%2Bwild%2Bcard%2Bgame

http://m.mlb.com/tor/video/v1203312383/tortex-gm1-bautista-makes-statement-with-long-homer/?tcid=mm_tor_vid&c_id=tor

Troy Tulowitzki hit a three run triple with the bases loaded in the third, and Jose Bautista hit a three run homer. Marco Estrada pitched a gem, allowing only 3 hits, one run, and striking out 6 in 8.1 innings. Game 2 is underway. Tulowitzki hit a two run homer in the second inning to make it 2-0 Blue Jays.

The winner of that series will play the winner of the Red Sox Indians series. The Indians won the first game by a score of 5-4. Boston took an early lead, but Cleveland came back. Then, Andrew Benintendi hit his first home run in his first postseason at bat, which you can see here.http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/94814812/v1203296983/boscle-gm1-benintendi-belts-a-solo-jack-in-the-3rd

Then, The Indians hit three solo homers in there half of the third. All of them, are also here.http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/94814812/v1203320883/boscle-gm1-tribe-launches-three-homers-in-the-3rd

Then, Mike Napoli hit a long foul that left the ballpark.http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/94814812/v1203308583/boscle-gm1-napoli-hits-towering-fly-ball-in-the-3rd

Sandy Leon and Brock Holt tried to get Boston back with home runs, but they weren’t enough. http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/94814812/v1203324883/boscle-gm1-leons-hr-makes-it-a-onerun-game-in-5th

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/94814812/v1203371783/boscle-gm1-holt-hits-timely-homer-to-cut-deficit

        On the National League side of the bracket, Madison Bumgarner and Noah Syndergaard had a duel for the ages. Bumgarner allowed no runs and four hits in nine innings, and Syndergaard allowed no runs, two hits, and struck out 10 in 7.2 innings. The difference, however, was that Jeurys Familia was not. He allowed a three run homer by Conor Gillaspie in the ninth, and the Giants punched their ticket to Chicago. http://m.mlb.com/nym/video/topic/94786332/v1203007283/statcast-of-the-day-going-going-conor/?c_id=nym

Tonight, the Giants will start their series against the Cubs. The matchup for that game is John Lester versus Johnny Cueto. Game One is at 9;00 eastern time. The Nationals and Dodgers also start their series today. At 5;00, Clayton Kershaw will face Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper. Here are my predictions. The Dodgers Nationals series will go the distance, with Los Angeles coming out on top. The Cubs Giants series won’t be as long, with the Cubs cruising to the NLCS. In that series, the Cubs will advance to the World Series by beating the Dodgers in six games. In the AL, the Sox will beat the Indians in four of five games, and the Blue Jays will stun the Rangers in three. The Red Sox will blow away the Blue Jays in the ALCS. The World Series will be very close, but the Cubs will win in six or seven hard fought games. What are your predictions?

October baseball is upon us. The playoff bracket is set. Tonight, the playoffs begin. The Orioles and Blue Jays have been battling all year for the division crown, and the top Wild Card spot. The Red Sox beat both teams in the division race, but the Blue Jays, after stumbling in the last week of the season, clinched the first spot. The Orioles will have Chris Tillman on the mound to face Marcus Stroman of the Blue Jays. The game, I think, will be a slug fest. It’s hard to pick a winner, but I think the Orioles have a good chance at winning. Who do you think will win?

Yesterday, the Mets clinched home field advantage in the National League Wild Card Game, which will be at Citi Field on Wednesday! The Cardinals and Giants are still fighting for that second spot. Both teams won yesterday, so the Cardinals remain one game behind the Giants, who are one game behind the Mets. This is the second time in Mets history where the Mets have reached the playoffs two years in a row. The first was in 1999 and 2000 when they won the Wild Card two years in a row. The second time, they made it all the way to the World Series, but lost to the Yankees. The Mets clinched by beating the Phillies by a score of 5-3. The Mets scored first, but Philadelphia tied the game with a Ryan Howard homer. The Mets bounced back with a two-run home run by James Loney. Both teams ended up scoring an extra run, but the Mets were still victorious. They then celebrated after Michael Conforto made a sliding catch, which you can see here. http://m.mlb.com/nym/video/topic/47078320/v1198807783/must-c-clinch-mets-take-top-nl-wild-card-spot/?c_id=nym

  The American League Wild Card Race is a lot more complicated. The Orioles and Blue Jays are locked in a tie for the first spot, the Tigers are one and a half games back, and the Mariners were just eliminated last night. If the Tigers can keep up, they might

have to make up a rained out game with the Indians. Depending on the outcome of that game, a number of tiebreaker scenarios are possible, and those tiebreakers could push the Wild Card games back, thereby messing up the entire postseason schedule. So, this last day of the season means a lot to certain teams. After today’s games, I will post another blog, explaining who’s in the playoffs, and who’s not.