After a week or so of compelling division series matchups, the first round of the playoffs was capped off by a Dodgers in game 5 against the Nationals. Beyond the obvious winners and losers, however, here are my offbeat takeaways from the divisional round match-ups:
Why are the NL games on Fox Sports 1?
This is a new level of ridiculous! For college students, hotel guests, and pretty much anyone else who does not pay for advanced cable, National League playoff games between the Cubs vs. Giants and Dodgers vs. Nationals were off-limits. Let me reiterate: it’s the PLAYOFFS!
Does anyone else think that this is a baseball specific thing? All of the other three major sports organizations in America (NBA, NFL, NHL) have their postseason games televised on national stations available to anyone who owns basic cable. Baseball fans, however, are out of luck because Rob Manfred, and whoever runs the MLB’s media division, has decided to allow Fox to air the games on FS1.
Outrageous. I had to get that one off my chest.
Wow, I was so wrong.
I felt so strongly headed into this postseason that it was going to be Texas’s year. Three games later, the Rangers are back at home getting ready for golf season while the Blue Jays will head to Cleveland for the ALCS. Against my conscience (as a Yankees fan), I have to admit the Jays might have something special working. Texas, almost undoubtedly the best team in the AL headed into the postseason, found themselves overwhelmed by Toronto is just about every facet of the game. Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish, two of the game’s best, had abysmal starts against a high-powered Jays’ offense. Although they picked it up in the last few games, the Rangers’ bats simply could not keep up with the output of their opposition. To add to the list, the Texas bullpen got torched through the three games in which they performed.
So wow, I was really wrong about that prediction.
Francisco Liriano
Did anyone else see him get drilled in the head by a Carlos Gomez line drive and absolutely wear it? For those who didn’t, here it is:
The exit velocity on that ball was measured at 102 mph. Imagine that! I am not sure what my first thought would be if I took a ball, traveling at that speed, to the back of my unprotected head, but it certainly wouldn’t be to run and back-up an overthrow to home. He was later taken to the hospital for tests and was diagnosed with a concussion, but talk about toughness! I have a new level of respect for Liriano after that.
Wild Game 5
The battle between the Dodgers and Nationals last night was one for the history books. In a series that set records for combined pitching changes (>50) and hit batsmen (11), game 5 certainly matched the quirkiness of the previous four. Aside from how exciting a game it was, the numbers are even crazier.
A seventh inning that featured six different Nationals’ pitchers lasted an hour and six minutes, playing a major role in the fact that the game itself was the longest nine inning playoff game in history (4:32). Kenley Jansen, the Dodgers closer, shattered his previous career high (42) when he threw 51 pitches over 2.1 innings of work. As for Clayton Kershaw, he was brought in to get the last two outs of the game and earn his first career save just two days after throwing 110 pitches in game 4. When all was finally said and done, the Dodgers were headed to Chicago.
The Price is STILL Wrong
When he said that he was saving all his playoff wins for the Red Sox, he must not have meant this year. Just 3.1 innings, 5 runs, and a 13.50 ERA later, he still had not earned his first career playoff win. One of the game’s most disappointing postseason performers, the Red Sox inked David Price to a long-term, big money deal with the hopes that the perennial Cy Young contender could turn around his October struggles. If he still wants to garner a playoff win, however, he will have to wait until next season.
