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MLB Notebook: Wild Card Round Recap

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We are officially through the first round of the MLB playoffs, and to say it was exciting would be an understatement. From historical homers to unlikely upsets, the MLB Wild Card round was everything we could’ve asked for and so much more.

New York Mets over Milwaukee Brewers (2-1)

The New York Mets can’t stop playing exciting baseball games and this series was no exception. In two of the three games, the winning runs would be scored in the eighth inning or later, and in every game, the team that won had to erase a deficit to win the game.

In the first game of the series, fresh off their doubleheader with the Braves, the Mets had a rocky start. The Brewers got off to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but that didn’t deter New York. Three runs in the top of the second, thanks to a Jesse Winker triple and a Starling Marte sacrifice fly saw the Mets take the lead and foreshadowed the theme of the series: no lead is safe.

All of the runs in game one were scored in four of the first five innings, with the Brewers regaining their lead in the bottom of the fourth. But the bats came alive in the fifth for the Mets, scoring five of their eight runs of the game. Runs from Jose Iglesias, Brandon Nimmo, Mark Vientos, and J.D. Martinez ran up the score to 8-4, with all five runs scored with two outs in the inning.

From there, Mets pitching shut the Brewers down. Milwaukee didn’t register a baserunner after conceding the lead as Luis Severino, José Buttó, and Ryne Stanek closed out the game in perfect fashion.

Game two also started hot, with teams trading runs in the first inning. Jackson Chourio would hit his first postseason bomb with his leadoff jack in the bottom of the first and Mark Vientos would score on a Brandon Nimmo single. Now, in Game Two, a similar story with new characters began to unfold. The Mets stayed hot in the second inning, cashing in two more runs to take a 3-1 lead. But of course, it wouldn’t be the team with the early lead that would walk away with the victory.

Thanks to a Brice Turang double and a Blake Perkins sac fly in the fifth, the Brew Crew were within one. Fast forward to the bottom of the eighth and cue the rookie… A lead-off home run from Jackson Chourio would tie the game and act as the catalyst for the Milwaukee Brewers. A Willy Adames single and a Garrett Mitchell home run would launch the Brewers past the Mets in the late innings and tie the series up at one. Brewers closer Devin Williams diced through the top of the Mets lineup in the ninth as Williams looked like that dominant closer we all expect him to be. *foreshadowing*

Game three was nothing like the first two games; the first run of the double-elimination game didn’t come until the bottom of the seventh inning as Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick would hit back-to-back homers off Buttó to put Milwaukee up by two.

After going three up, three down, in the top of the eighth, it looked like the end was nye for the Mets… Enter Edwin Diaz. Diaz would strike out Adames and Bauers while producing a groundout on Gary Sánchez, but there was still life in those pesky Mets.

Francisco Lindor would lead off with a walk and a one-out single from Nimmo would set the table for none other than Pete Alonso. In what many people were already crowning his final at-bat with the Mets amid a very public extension saga, and an already 0-3 game with a strikeout, somehow, Alonso was one of the last people Mets fans wanted to see at the plate. Alonso would work himself into a hitter-friendly 3-1 count when Devin Williams would hang a changeup on the outside half of the plate. Alonso throws his hands to the ball and sends it to the opposite deep right field. Sal Frelick would run out of room as he chased the ball to the wall before it eventually found its way into the club seats, and the Mets took the 3-2 lead.

Alonso’s homer was historic as his heroic home run would be the first go-ahead homer in the ninth inning of a winner-take-all game.

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Jesse Winker would also come into score later in the inning as the Mets took a stranglehold going into the bottom of the ninth. The Brewers wouldn’t make it easy on David Peterson, though, as a lead-off single from Sal Frelick brought some life back into the Milwaukee dugout. However, Joey Ortiz was unable to advance the runner as he struck out swinging at a high fastball, bringing Brice Turang up to the plate. Heading into the at-bat, Turang was an even .500 on the series with five hits in 10 at-bats, including two doubles. But the drama wouldn’t last long. Turang pushed the first pitch he saw from Peterson across to Francisco Lindor as he took it himself to the bag and threw out Turang to complete the improbable, impossible comeback.

It was a full team effort for the Mets to pull off their first series win in almost a decade. Every hitter on the team chipped in with an RBI, minus Tyrone Taylor. And even without cashing in an RBI, Taylor was still tied for the most runs on the team throughout the series. On top of the offensive production, the Mets’ pitching was fantastic when they needed it. Now, that didn’t come without some shaky moments. They obviously lost game two after allowing three runs late after Phil Maton self-destructed in his only appearance so far in the Postseason, and José Buttó’s two runs in the seventh inning of game three almost cost them their October lives, but still, their teammates picked them up and helped the Mets advance to the NLDS against the Phillies.

Game one against Philadelphia goes on Saturday in Philly.

Detroit Tigers over Houston Astros (2-0)

The hottest team in baseball heading into October, the Detroit Tigers, did not exactly pull the easiest draw in their first Postseason appearance in 10 years. The Houston Astros have appeared in every ALCS since 2016 with a couple of World Series titles sprinkled in there, as all signs pointed to the Cinderella run abruptly coming to an end… Not so fast.

Similar to the Mets, the Tigers started out hot, scoring three runs in the top of the second to stun the Astros crowd. It also didn’t help the Astros that Detroit rolled out the man who will probably win the AL Cy Young Award this season, Tarik Skubal, as Skuby did Skuby things. Skubal went 6.0 innings, striking out six batters, walking only one guy and leaving five runners on base. Skubal was not going to allow Houston to score a run. And neither was the Tigers bullpen, evidently, as the Astros would not register another baserunner until the bottom of the ninth inning. Will Vest would strike out four of the five batters he would face and Tyler Holton would get Kyle Tucker to ground out as he would retire the only batter he faced in game one… *foreshadowing.*

Now Houston did make it interesting; a Yordan Alvarez lead-off the inning with a double to left field and a single from Alex Bregman put runners on the corners with none out in the bottom of the ninth. Then, while down 0-2 in the count, Yanier Diaz would sneak one through the infield as Alvarez would score the first run of the Postseason for the Astros… but it wasn’t done yet, with none out and runners on first and second, up comes 2022 World Series legend, Jeremy Peña lays down a perfect bunt to move the runners up 90-feet. A line-out from Victor Caratini brought the Astros to their final out, but, despite their backs being up against the wall, Chas McCormick would force a walk and load the bases as Jason Heyward would head to the plate with the bases loaded. In the bottom of the ninth, down two runs, tying run on second, and winning run on first, Heyward would work himself into a 2-2 count. Beau Briskie tosses a middle-in changeup to the vet and Heyward cranks it… right into Torkleson’s glove at first base and the Tigers win game one.

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Now, heading into game two, the Tigers didn’t have an announced starter. Instead, they opted to go down the opener route, pulling out Tyler Holton, to start the evident bullpen game for the Tigers. Holton had no issues. The Astros would go down in order against Holton, including a strikeout from Kyle Tucker, setting the tone for the rest of the game. On the Astros side, it would be Hunter Brown who would get the start in game two, and he was phenomenal. Brown struck out nine Tigers in his 5.2 innings until Parker Meadows would break the stalemate, homering on an 0-1 inside fastball, kicking this game into overdrive.

While the bullpen game had been going well for the Tigers heading into the bottom of the seventh, it would be top prospect, Jackson Jobe, who was making his postseason debut, who would spoil it for the Detroit pitching staff. After hitting Victor Caratini and allowing two singles, Jobe worked the bases loaded, and it didn’t end well. Despite a wicked diving effort from Spencer Torkleson, catcher Jake Roberts would be unable to corral the bouncing throw, dropping the force out at the plate and allowing the tying run. Jose Altuve would then follow up with a pop-up sac fly, scoring Pena and finally taking their first lead of the series. Sean Guenther would relieve Jobe and retire the side, limiting the damage to only two… Cue the most exciting team in baseball.

Austin Meadows would strikeout to begin the inning, but a pair of singles from Kerry Carpenter and Matt Vierling put runners on the corners, putting the pressure on the Astros. This pressure was evidently felt by Ryan Pressley, as a wild pitch from Pressley would allow the game-tying run to cross the plate and Vierling to advance to second. Pressley would get the second out of the inning, striking out Riley Greene, but a walk to Colt Keith would end his night with two runners left on base. Despite the runners, you would have to think that with Josh Hader, baseball’s highest-paid closer, entering the game, it was basically game over, right? Wrong. Hader would walk Torkleson to load the bases as the oldest player on the Tigers playoff roster, Andy Ibáñez, steps up to the plate. Down 1-2 with two outs, Ibáñez shoots the ball down the third base line, cashing in all three runs and giving the Tigers a two-run lead.

That would be all Detroit would need as Guenther and Vest did the rest, shutting down the Astros’ offence in the eighth and ninth innings and clinching the Tigers’ first series win since 2013. Detroit will now head to Cleveland to face the AL Central Champs, the Guardians, as that series kicks off on Saturday.

Kansas City Royals over Baltimore Orioles (2-0)

Heading into this series, you would’ve had to think the Orioles had the upper hand. One of the best teams in all of baseball, led by almost entirely homegrown talent, and nearly coming out of the toughest division in all of baseball, this series seemed like a warm-up for Baltimore… That couldn’t have been further from the truth.

The two teams would combine for four total runs throughout the series, including a 1-0 result in game one. The only run in game one came off a Bobby Witt Jr. single because, of course, it was Bobby. Small ball would reign supreme in this series, and in game one, as the run scored from the Royals materialized from a Maikel Garcia walk, stolen base, and a Michael Massey ground-out. In fact, the only long ball in the entire series game off the bat of Cedric Mullins in game two… The only run scored by the Orioles during the Wild Card series.

The lack of offence from the Orioles is concerning. Their stars like Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Anthony Santander only accumulated two hits between the three of them in 25 at-bats.

Now, the pitching was excellent, on both sides: 36 strikeouts between the two teams over the two games and only four extra-base hits made this series a pitching battle, but a pitching battle the Royals won. That’s not exactly the headline you would expect between these two teams. But, Cole Ragens and Seth Lugo stole the show, whiffing 14 batters between the two in their two starts.

Now Kansas City is on their way to the Bronx as they will face off against the best team in the American League during the regular season, the New York Yankees. If the Royals want to be successful, they will need to get pitching performances similar to what they received in Maryland and their bats will need to find their groove. While 14 hits over two games are sustainable and productive, KC will need to cash in on their opportunities and score more than three runs in a series.

The ALDS between the Kansas City Royals and the New Yankees will also kick off on Saturday.

San Diego Padres def. Atlanta Braves (2-0)

Finally, the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves. This series was to determine who would head to Hollywood and face the best team in baseball from the 2024 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers and it wasn’t really close until the closing innings of game two.

The Atlanta Braves handed the ball to rookie and top prospect, AJ Smith-Shawver, to start the game in San Diego. Unfortunately for Atlanta, Smith-Shawver wouldn’t make it out of the second inning, allowing three runs on four hits, including a two-run shot from Fernando Tatis Jr. and a sac fly from Kyle Higashioka.

The Braves bats couldn’t get anything going all game, as Michael King, one of the pieces included in the Juan Soto deal from the Yankees, absolutely diced. King threw 7.0 shutout innings, striking out 12 Atlanta Braves and not walking a single batter before handing it over to his bullpen to close out the game. Jason Adam would strikeout the side in the bottom of the eighth as Robert Suarez would shut the door, plus a late-inning homer from Higashioka would give the Friars a 1-0 lead in the series.

Game two started in a similar fashion, despite the Braves throwing out former Cy Young runner-up in 2022 and two-time All-Star Max Fried. That wasn’t the Max Fried who showed up, though. While the Braves would score the first run of the game in the top of the first, each of the Padres’ first three batters reached base as an Arraez single, Tatis single, and a Profar fielder’s choice would load the bases for Manny Machado. However, a Machado strikeout, a Merrill force out, and a Bogaerts ground out would get Fried and the Braves out of the inning unscathed.

But that’s about where it would end for Fried and the Braves. Kyle Higashioka’s second homer of the series and his third RBI would kick it off for San Diego as a double from Manny would plate two more and a triple from Jackson Merrill would score two more, suddenly the Padres were up 5-1.

Padres starter Joe Musgrove was cruising after allowing a run in the first inning, striking out four and retiring 11 consecutive batters. Musgrove was dealing… until he felt something in his elbow. After 3.2 innings, Musgrove was out with elbow tightness. With Musgrove off the mound and the Padres forced into a bit of a bullpen game, the Braves began to chip away. A Jorge Soler homer in the fifth brought a little hope back into the Braves dugout but it wouldn’t be until the eighth inning that the Padres would begin to sweat.

Jason Adam, who struck out the side in game one, did not have the same fate in game two. A lead-off single from Orlando Arcia, followed up by a Michael Harris homer, brought the game within a run. But that would be as close as the Braves would get as Adam would retire the next three batters he faced and Robert Suarez would put away Atlanta in the ninth, advancing the Padres into the NLDS.

San Diego will now get the team they always wanted to face in October, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in what might be the best series of the playoffs. L.A. knocked off the Padres in their final home series at Dodger Stadium to clinch the division after the Padres turned the first-ever walk-off triple play in MLB history in game one. After beating the Braves, the Padres stadium displayed “Beat L.A.” on the score clock as the fans chanted from the stars. This series is about to feed families and it all kicks off on Saturday night as the Padres head to Chavez Ravine, looking to punch their ticket to the organization’s second NLCS in the last three years.