Saturday offered a full slate of Division Series action and three elimination games. Philadelphia took care of business at home, while Houston needed 18 innings to finish Seattle.
Philadelphia wins series 3-1
WP: Brad Hand
LP: Charlie Morton
The Philadelphia offense has been running on all cylinders. They slugged their way to an easy Game 4 elimination victory on their home turf. Brandon Marsh did the most damage with his three-run homer in the 2nd inning. J.T. Realmuto added insult to injury by becoming the first catcher to hit an inside-the-park home run in MLB postseason history.
J.T. Realmuto hit the 18th inside-the-park home run in MLB postseason history.
He became the first catcher as well as the first Phillies player on the list. pic.twitter.com/RXk0hC4m4I
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 15, 2022
Atlanta has been eliminated and will not repeat as World Series champions.
Houston 1, Seattle 0
Houston wins series 3-0
WP: Luis Garcia
LP: Penn Murfee
Game 3 was Seattle’s first home playoff game since the 2001 American League Championship Series. Recent Mariners great Félix Hernández was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The contending teams honored “The King” by failing to score for 17 innings, breaking the record for the longest scoreless postseason game set just one week ago by Tampa Bay and Cleveland.
The numbers on an unforgettable Game 3:
-1st game in postseason history to be scoreless through 15+ innings
-Tied for the longest game by innings in postseason history (4th to go 18 innings)
-3rd-longest game by time in postseason history (6 hours and 22 minutes) pic.twitter.com/HO1QlF6L9U
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 16, 2022
Joke’s on you MLB, Mariners are playing in primetime after all
— Mike Lefko (@MikeLefko) October 15, 2022
Seattle had a good chance to walk it off in regulation to stay alive in the 9th inning with two on and one out. Ryan Pressly struck out Carlos Santana swinging and retired Adam Frazier with a flyout to end the Mariners threat and take the game to extra innings.
Jeremy Peña‘s home run in the 18th inning proved to be the eventual game-winner.
JEREMY PEÑA BREAKS THE ICE IN THE 18TH! #postseason pic.twitter.com/4EkefQ91U3
— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2022
Cleveland leads series 2-1
WP: Eli Morgan
LP: Clarke Schmidt
This series blessed us with another dramatic late-game comeback in the American League bracket. The Yankees held a 5-3 lead going into the 9th inning, but Schmidt allowed four Cleveland singles with one out, allowing one run and loading the bases for Josh Naylor. Naylor whiffed, but the rookie Oscar González supplied another walkoff hit for Cleveland with a two-run single to center field.
most CAREER go-ahead hits in 9th inning or later, postseason history:
Oscar Gonzalez: 3
Pete Rose: 3
David Ortiz: 3
J.D. Drew: 3
Carlos Correa: 3
Cody Bellinger: 32022 Gonzalez & 2004 Ortiz are the only ones to have 3 in a single postseason https://t.co/Mh778MfkEO
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 16, 2022
The Cleveland comeback is all the more remarkable considering the Yankees’ past postseason perfection with multi-run leads.
Prior to tonight, the Yankees were 167-0 in postseason history when leading by multiple runs entering the ninth inning.
They are now 167-1.
— Kendall Baker (@kendallbaker) October 16, 2022
San Diego wins series 3-1
WP: Tim Hill
LP: Yency Almonte
S: Josh Hader
The Dodgers took struck first on Freddie Freeman‘s two-run double in the 3rd inning and added an insurance run with Will Smith‘s sacrifice fly in the 7th. LA had a chance to pile on in the 7th after a double steal gave them runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out. Hill struck out Max Muncy and induced a groundout from Justin Turner to retire the side.
The momentum from limiting the Dodgers damage carried over to the bottom of the inning. Jurickson Profar‘s leadoff walk was the start of a five-run rally which stunned the Dodgers and gave the home team a two-run lead heading into the closing frames. Juan Soo delivered the game-tying single, and Jake Cronenworth‘s two-out single to score Ha-Seong Kim and Soto drove in the go-ahead and insurance runs.
The view from the Crone Zone = ? #CaptureTheMoment pic.twitter.com/AB3uJfqDas
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 16, 2022
This loss will be incredibly demoralizing to the Dodgers fanbase given their regular-season dominance of the league with 111 wins, and the Padres with a 14-5 season series.
The Padres win, 5-3. They won three straight NLDS games, the last one in epic, come-from-behind fashion, and have slayed the dragon up the freeway. They’ll have home-field advantage in the unlikeliest of CS matchups vs the Phillies. The Dodgers and their 111-win season are done.
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) October 16, 2022
This year’s National League Championship Series will feature a matchup between two Wild Card teams starting on Tuesday. With three teams eliminated, there will be only one game on Sunday – Game 4 between New York and Cleveland at 7:07 PM ET. Cleveland will look to advance behind Canadian Cal Quantrill. Gerrit Cole will take the ball for the Yankees as they seek to force a decisive Game 5.
Featured Image: Jake Cronenworth with the San Diego Padres exiting the playing field in between innings during a game in June 19, 2021 by Ryan Casey Aguinaldo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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