Isn’t that heavenly? :lol:
You know my motto “ABD.” Anybody But Dodgers, said the SF Giants fan.
I loved the Cardinal’s game!! I am so excited to have my Cardinals in the NLCS!
Nats tied at the end of 9! #STAYINTHEFIGHT!
Grand Slam
OMG Nats win! #STAYINTHEFIGHT!
Red Sox and Dodgers are out. Alright. This postseason is fantastic so far.
This post season would be better with the Indians in…and the Yankees out.
Locally, there’s always a discussion about Kershaw vs. Bumgarner, who are peers in this era of baseball, plus they’re both on the West Coast and friends. Kershaw’s legacy will be gilded to some degree due to his postseason failures. Wow, Dave Roberts is good manager, who made a bad decision.
They are also both lefties and the teams are bitter rivals..
Kershaw will always be regarded as a great regular season pitcher (3 Cy Young awards) who was a bust in the post-season.
Bumgarner has won 3 world series and has a 4-0 (win/loss) and an insane .25 ERA in WS games.
Kershaw has won zero world series and is 1-2 (win/loss) and a dismal 5.40 ERA in WS games. IMO, he is not worth $35 million per year.
Full disclosure, I grew up in the SF bay area but the numbers don’t lie : )
I figuratively grew up at Candlestick. I used to sneak into games and run around and catch balls beyond the left field fence, jumping down from the bleacher seats.
As a Giants fan, there are many great moments in the last decade (and 3 WS), but one of, if not the best moments, was Bumgarner coming out of the bullpen for five scoreless innings in relief in Game 7 of the 2014 WS on just two days rest. And retired 13 batters in a row at one point.
When he came out of the bullpen, you could hear an audible “oh no, not him again” from the Royals fans. I love that moment.
Kershaw won 3 Cy Youngs, but Bumgarner won the WS MVP. Anyway, back to this post season.
St. Louis fans are sorry not to be facing Kershaw in the playoffs. He brings out the best in the Cardinals.
But anything can happen in October, no predictions.
I’m so disappointed in the Dodgers. Ugh. Choke city.
Delirious Nats fan here! S2 is watching the games from overseas (+7 hours from East Coast time), so is feeling rather sleep-deprived. OTOH, we’ve been WhatsApp-ing during the games, so that’s fun.
The pitching just stuns me. Who wouldda thunk it?
I am with you @CountingDown! Amazing pitching from the Nats. #STAYINTHEFIGHT!
Almost afraid to type this - NATS! #STAYINTHEFIGHT! Holding our collective breath.
Before any Nats fans get too excited, the Yankees and Astros have 103 and 107 wins, respectively, and will have home field and DH advantage.
Glad to see the re-emergence of the workhorse ace starters vs pitching by committee. The game is long enough already without going through multiple pitchers starting as early as the second inning. There was some amazing stat on Verlander the other night on how the opposing hitters’ BA pretty much stayed flat, maybe even went down the second and third time facing him in the same game.
The Dodgers had 106 wins – pretty much exactly the equivalent of the Astros and Yankees – and home field advantage, and some pretty good players on their roster. And it didn’t keep the Nats from winning.
Of course, maybe the Dodgers would ultimately have prevailed in a seven-game series. We’ll never know. The Cards actually had a slightly worse record than the Nationals, so the Nats’ superiority doesn’t seem that shocking.
I, too, think that the Astros and the Yankees are better teams than the Nats, and that the winner of the ALCS ought to wind up as the World Series champion. But no one should sleep on the Nats. They – like practically every other team in the majors this season – were inconsistent, playing well in stretches and not so well in others. When they are “on,” especially their pitchers, they are a great team, and that’s the team that has won five consecutive playoff games.
It may help the eventual AL champion to have a tight series now. The Dodgers, the Astros, and the Yankees barely played a meaningful game after Labor Day, and I think it showed in the first round, at least with the Dodgers and the Astros.
I wouldn’t use the Dodgers as a comparison. They’ve choked for years and years. They haven’t won a WS since 1988. And as a SF Giants fan, I love it! The Yankees and Astros are legit.
Off topic, but I bet Bryce Harper was wishing he stayed with the Nats now. And taken the 10-year $300 Million deal the Nats reportedly offered early on. 