October baseball is in full swing with the NL and AL Division Series recently wrapping up. As a result, four teams now stand one step closer to a World Series berth.
American League Division Series
#1 Toronto Blue Jays vs. #4 New York Yankees (TOR wins series 3-1)
The Blue Jays are headed back to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2016, taking down the Yankees in four games to win the American League Division Series 3-1.
Toronto’s offense exploded throughout the series, led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who drove in multiple key runs and launched two home runs in the series, including a grand slam in Game 2. Blue Jay’s catcher Alejandro Kirk, made history in Game 1 when he became the first Mexican-born player with a multi-homer postseason game.
Rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage looked unfazed in his playoff debut in Game 2, throwing 5.1 no-hit innings with 11 strikeouts.
“This has got to be cloud nine,” Yesavage said in his postgame press conference. “I couldn’t imagine a better feeling right now.”
The Blue Jays’ bats stayed hot, with outfielders George Springer and Nathan Lukes adding clutch hits as Toronto built commanding leads early in the series, threatening to sweep New Yorkin three games. The Yankees staged a dramatic 9-6 comeback in Game 3 after trailing 6-1 after the top of the third inning.
Yankees captain Aaron Judge delivered a 3-for-4 night, including a towering three-run homer to tie the game at six in the fourth inning. Infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. gave the Yankees the lead after hitting a solo homer, and New York overcame their largest-ever comeback in an elimination game.
Toronto would not be denied a trip to the ALCS, however. In Game 4, Guerrero, Springer, and Lukes all drove in runs to give the Blue Jays a 5-2 lead. Eight Blue Jays pitchers combined to dominate the Yankees in the series clincher and ended New York’s bid for a repeat American League pennant.
#2 Seattle Mariners vs. #6 Detroit Tigers (SEA wins series 3-2)
The ALDS between the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers delivered a whole lot of drama throughout, culminating in a 15-inning finale, the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history.
Throughout the series, outfielder Julio Rodriguez, catcher Cal Raleigh, and infielder Jorge Polanco powered the Mariners’ offense. Each player delivered clutch hits in narrow wins in Games 2 and 3, with Polanco homering twice off the reigning AL Cy Young Tarik Skubal in Game 2.
For Detroit, it was outfielder Kerry Carpenter and shortstop Javier Báez delivering the big-time hits, with Carpenter blasting the go-ahead two-run home run in Game 1, and Báez driving in four runs in Game 4, pushing the series to a fifth and final game.
After splitting the first four games of the series, the decisive finale turned into an instant classic. Both pitching staffs were lights out in Game 5, as Detroit ace Tarik Skubal struck out thirteen batters in six innings, giving up one run, and four Seattle pitchers, including starters Luis Castillo and Logan Gilbert, combined for 5 scoreless extra innings.
Every inning brought tension, with missed chances and clutch defense for both teams, including Seattle getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the 12th.
Finally, in the bottom of the 15th with the bases loaded,Polanco lined an RBI single into right field off of Tommy Kahnle to walk it off, sending Seattle to their first ALCS since 2001, and one step closer to making their first-ever World Series.
National League Division Series
#2 Philadelphia Phillies s. #3 Los Angeles Dodgers (LAD wins series 3-1)
The Los Angeles Dodgers advanced to their second straight NLCS with a 3-1 series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in a tightly contested NLDS.
Teoscar Hernández delivered a three-run homer in the 7th inning of Game 1 to give Los Angeles a 5-3 lead and eventually the win. Pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani got the win on the mound, striking out nine batters through six innings despite striking out at the plate four times himself. Alex Vesia escaped a bases-loaded situation in the eighth, and Rōki Sasaki earned his first postseason save.
Pitcher Blake Snell followed with a dominant performance for Los Angeles in Game 2, allowing just one hit over six innings and striking out nine, as the Dodgers fended off the Phillies’ rally in the 9th to win 4-3 and take a 2-0 series lead.
Philadelphia responded in Game 3 as designated hitter Kyle Schwarber hit two homers, including a 455-foot blast clearing the right field pavilion. Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez combined for seven strong innings, and the Phillies tacked on five runs in the eighth off Clayton Kershaw to get the series to 2-1.
Game 4 and the series itself came to an end with a stunning final play, as Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering’s wild throw past home allowed Hyeseong Kim to score in the eleventh inning, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 win and clinching their spot in the NLCS.
Kerkering immediately hung his head, and Phillies manager Rob Thomson discussed the moment to ESPN postgame: “He just got caught up in the moment a little bit. I feel for him because he’s putting it all on his shoulders.”
Dodgers pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts and four hits in Game 4, securing the series win and getting the Dodgers one step closer to back-to-back World Series appearances.
#1 Milwaukee Brewers Vs. #3 Chicago Cubs (MIL wins series 3-2)
Milwaukee opened the NLDS with two dominant wins over Chicago. Freddy Peralta struck out nine over 5.2 innings of work in Game 1, as the Brewers totaled 13 hits without even hitting a home run.
Brewer’s young superstar Jackson Chourio and first baseman Andrew Vaughn carried the load in Game 2, each providing a three-run homer as rookie flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski threw three shutout innings, topping out at 104 miles per hour.
The Cubs kept their season alive with a 4-3 win in Game 3. Centerfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong’s tiebreaking two-run single added to a four-run first inning that included a leadoff homer from first baseman Michael Busch. Chicago carried that momentum into Game 4, where they would shut out Milwaukee 6-0, with five of those runs coming on home runs from Busch, Ian Happ, and Kyle Tucker.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell praised his pitching staff for their shutout performance to reporters postgame.
“We just made every pitch uncomfortable, and that’s what you’re supposed to do,” he said.
Back home in Milwaukee, the Brewers finished the job in a tense Game 5. William Contreras launched a solo homer to give the Brewers an early 1-0 lead, and Vaughn’s second homer of the series put the Brewers ahead for good. Misiorowski fired strong with 4 innings of work out of the bullpen to maintain the Brewers’ lead, and then in the seventh, second baseman Brice Turang launched a solo home run to center field to put the dagger in the game and series for Milwaukee, sending them to their first NLCS since 2018, where they will face the team that knocked them out seven years ago: the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the ALCS, the Blue Jays and Mariners will square off as two franchises yearning for a World Series appearance, with Toronto’s last World Series coming in 1993, and Seattle looking for their first World Series berth in franchise history. On the National League side, the defending champion Dodgers will match up with the Brewers in a rematch of the 2018 NLCS. Milwaukee has never won a World Series in the history of the franchise, and Los Angeles will look to capture their fifth World Series appearance since 2017.
A trip to the Fall Classic hangs in the balance between these four teams, and if the Division Series was any indication, October’s chaos is far from over.
