It’s a full slate of games, starting at 3 pm and likely running through midnight eastern time. Get hype!
Wrap up your work/school day early, flip on TBS, and strap in for nine hours of uninterrupted playoff baseball action. It is the final day of the year with more than two MLB games. Your boss will get their spreadsheet tomorrow. Your class project can wait a day. An opportunity like this cannot go to waste!
Guardians @ Tigers, 3:08 pm, TBS – Series tied 1-1
Starting pitchers: Alex Cobb (2-1, 2.76 ERA) vs TBD ( -.— ERA)
This is the first playoff game in Detroit since 2014. Readers of this blog will know exactly what happened in that most recent postseason game. While us Orioles fans will not be as joyous as we were that day, it will undoubtedly be a fun time in the Motor City. They don’t even care that they came into the day without a clear starting pitcher. Their pitching chaos has worked to this point. Former O’s flop Alex Cobb takes the hill for the Guardians.
Phillies @ Mets, 5:08 pm, FS1 – Mets lead 2-1
Starting pitchers: Ranger Suárez (12-8, 3.46 ERA) vs Jose Quintana (10-10, 3.75 ERA)
Suárez is playoff-tested. Across 33.1 career postseason innings the lefty has a 1.62 ERA and 0.900 WHIP. That is the ideal arm to have on the bump in a win-or-go-home game on the road. The Mets won’t need to lean on Quintana quite as much because of how good Sean Manaea was in Game 2, tossing seven innings. Their whole bullpen should be in good shape to help our their veteran starter if he wobbles.
Yankees @ Royals, 7:08 pm, TBS – Series tied 1-1
Starting pitchers: Clarke Schmidt (5-5, 2.85 ERA) vs Seth Lugo (16-9, 3.00 ERA)
The Royals are hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2015, when they won game two of the World Series en route to a championship. Home cooking has been important to Kansas City this season, particularly on offense. Their OPS was 62 points higher at Kauffman Stadium compared to their road games. The Yankees offense is potent regardless of the venue, but their pitchers have been better outside the Bronx. That includes tonight’s starter Schmidt, who had a .575 OPS against on the road. It was .769 at “The Stadium.”
Dodgers @ Padres, 9:08 pm, FS1 – Padres lead 2-1
Starting pitchers: TBD (-, -.— ERA) vs Dylan Cease (14-11, 3.47 ERA)
The Dodgers are going into a must-win tussle with the expectation of it being a “bullpen game,” according to manager Dave Roberts. That is not ideal, and it is an indictment of how thin their pitching staff has been for much of the season. Now, that might not matter anyway because the Los Angeles offense is the best in baseball, and they have already roughed up Cease in this series. But it is fair to say that you would rather be the Padres going into tonight, owning the momentum, hosting the game, and having a proven starter on the mound.