The third day of the league division series took place on Wednesday with four games – two per league. The day saw a pitcher duel, a furious comeback to avoid elimination, and lots of fireworks during the day.
MLB playoff results
FINAL: Braves, 2 Marlins 0 (Box Score) – Atlanta leads the series 2-0
FINAL: Athletics 9, Astros 7 (Box Score) – Houston leads the series 2-1
FINAL: Rays 8, Yankees 4 (Box Score) – Tampa Bay leads the series 2-1
LIVE: Padres vs Dodgers (FS1) – Los Angeles leads the series 1-0
Rays surpass Yankees, take over the series leadership
The story of the playoffs through Tuesday night was the Yankees forgetting their opponents, stud pitchers, and everyone with their mighty offense. The Bronx Bombers nickname was alive and well. The Rays were set up a bit better in Game 2 and have even expanded their power play to the series. They followed up with a similar medicine in Game 3, beating the Yankees 13-7 while returning to the Yankees three times.
Many game balls that pass out from the Tampa Bay (San Diego) dugout, such as:
- Charlie Morton allowed only two runs (one of which was earned) in five innings against this Yankees offense, which had scored 36 runs with 43 hits in the four previous playoff games this year.
- Randy Arozarena is now 8 for 12 in the series with a home run in all three games.
- Kevin Kiermaier and backup catcher Michael Perez of the 8-9 places in the order of the Rays scored four hits, including a home run each, and six RBI.
The Rays are now trying to close down the Yankees and not see Gerrit Cole in Game 5. If so, it would be the second trip to the ALCS in franchise history and the first since 2008.
Oh, there’s more of Game 3 …
Yankees frustrated by strike zone … again
For the second straight year, the Yankees took an exception from the strike zone in Game 3 of their ALDS matchup against Tampa. On Tuesday, the Yankees became unhappy with the calls from CB Bucknor. On Wednesday, her anger turned to Mark Carlson, who made some questionable calls during the third and fourth innings of Game 3.
The Yankees’ beef with Carlson started when he called a pair of border attacks from Charlie Morton in a crucial attack against Luke Voit with loaded bases:
In the next half that ball, which was counted in full from Masahiro Tanaka to Willy Adames, scored two bishops and eliminated a double game with strike-em-out, throw-em-out:
Kevin Kiermaier then scored and gave the Rays a 4-1 lead.
Of course, analyzing a referee’s calls from the couch or press box is easy, but context is important here. The Yankees felt they were wrong on Tuesday, which resulted in a loss, so Wednesday seems more of the same. Whether or not this is a fair evaluation depends on the interpretation. However, if you accept the premise as valid, this is an understandable answer.
A stays alive, franchise ties a record 5 HRs in the playoff game
On Wednesday afternoon, the Oakland Athletics kept their 2020 season alive with a 9-7 box score win over the Houston Astros. The Astros lead the best-of-five series 2-1. Oakland avoided eliminating thanks to a franchise record that combined five home runs in Game 3, but kicked off in the eighth inning via a sacrificial fly.
Despite their streak deficit, Oakland has set a franchise record for the most home runs in a postseason streak, with 10 explosions so far:
- 10 HR – 2020 ALDS
- * 9 HR – 1989 World Series against Giants
- 8 HR – 2002 ALDS vs. Twins
The Astros hit eight homers in the series.
Oakland faced the Astros in Game 3, thanks to solo homers from Tommy La Stella, Mark Canha, Matt Olson and Marcus Semien. All of these homers came from Astros starter Jose Urquidy, who got the nod in Game 3 because Zack Greinke had an arm pain.
Urquidy ended his night after 4 1/3 innings, where he gave up four earned runs and five hits while hitting three and leaving one. Left A’s Jesus Luzardo won and scored a line similar to Urquidy after putting in 4 1/3 innings of work in which he gave up four deserved runs and five hits while hitting two and walking two.
A fifth inning of five runs from Houston seemed to end the game and the streak – their odds of winning after that inning were 89.3 percent – but the A’s didn’t go quietly. After Astros reliever Josh James gave up two straight singles in the seventh inning, he gave up a triple home run on A’s third baseman Chad Pinder to finish the game 7-7.
Surprisingly, the starting shot was not given at a home run. Oakland got a run on the board in the eighth inning with a sacrificial fly. They later added an insurance run for another sack fly in the inning.
Houston threatened again in the eighth inning, but left two runners in goal position. Oakland reliever Liam Hendriks had prize hitter Josh Reddick swing on a fastball at 98.2 mph for the final. Hendriks was excellent in his 37 pitch relief outing and ended up with the following line: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 K, 0 BB.
In total, athletics and astros have (so far) completed 18 home runs in this division series. That’s 18 homers in just three games. Most home races in a single Division Series took place during the 1995 ALDS between the Yankees and Mariners, in which the two clubs defeated 22 homers. Most home runs in a single postseason series are 26; from the 2008 ALCS between the Red Sox and Rays.
Eleven of the 16 runs of the A ran over Homer. That’s not just a trend for this series. In fact, we see that most of the runs for this year’s postseason come from home runs.
D’Arnaud goes deep for Braves again
The Mets released Travis d’Arnaud last May, and he became one of the best catchers in baseball almost instantly. I know it’s a cliché to choose the mets, but good sauce. That doesn’t happen to any other franchise. D’Arnaud hit .263 / .323 / .459 for the Rays last year, then .321 / .386 / .533 for the Braves this year and hit a huge triple home run in NLDS Game 1 on Tuesday.
On Wednesday he added another home run. D’Arnaud brought Pablo Lopez down to give the Braves a 2-0 lead that held up as the end result. About the action footage:
Dansby Swanson hit a solo home run early in the game to get the Braves on the board. D’Arnaud now has five post-season home runs – he has two in this streak plus three with the Mets 2015 – along with Yasmani Grandal and Salvador Perez as the second most active catcher. Only Gary Sanchez (7) has more.
D’Arnaud does more than just hit the ball over the fence. He helped rookie Righty Ian Anderson drive excellent scoreless innings in Game 2 5 2/3. Anderson knocked out eight marlins early in the game, including four in a six-stroke course. He was a godsend for a team in dire need of rotation.
The Braves knocked out the Marlins in Game 3 – Sarah Langs from MLB.com The Braves join the 1905 Giants and 1966 Orioles as the only teams to have three shutouts in their first four postseason games – to take the lead in the 2-0 series. Historically, teams with a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five series win the series more than 91 percent of the time.
