The first games of the second round are in the books. The young and upstart White Sox came away with a win, as did the low-payroll Rays, the reigning champion Dodgers, and the #1 seed in the playoffs the Brewers. Another win from these two teams puts them one win away from the Championship series and makes it nearly certain they’ll win the series.
We got two games today, both in the NL.
Padres at Brewers (4:00 PM EDT)
Yesterday’s game was arguably the most entertaining. It had everything, from home runs to late blown leads to some
ninth-inning controversy. In the end, the league’s #1 seed Milwaukee Brewers came away with the win in front of their home crowd. What will round 2 look like this afternoon?
The Brewers will be sending right-hander Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47 ERA) to the mound for his first career playoff appearance. The rookie has done nothing but impress in his time with the big league team. After a successful cup of coffee at the end of last year, Henderson established himself not only as one of the Brewers’ best pitchers, but one of the best young arms in the entire sport. Much of today will depend on if Henderson is ready for the big stage that is the playoffs. He’s had plenty of time to prepare for this.
The Padres do not want to go down 0-2. It wouldn’t be the end of the world since they’re heading back to San Diego after today, but you still don’t want to be in that position. They’ll be asking their top starter in Michael King (12-10, 3.21 ERA) to play stopper for them and help even this series. The 31-year-old will be taking the ball for the second time this postseason after he fired off seven shutout innings of one-hit ball against the Cubs. They’ve got to feel good about who they have on the mound today.
Here’s how Milwaukee stacks up this afternoon:
And here’s the Padres’ starting nine:
Braves at Dodgers (8:30 PM EDT)
The Dodgers were clearly the better team yesterday as they dominated in every fashion of the game. Maybe some of that has to do with the near-record heat at first pitch, when it was over 100 degrees on the field. It’s not going to be much better today, but at least for them the start time is a little later so it should be much cooler. Does that benefit the Braves more than the Dodgers?
The reigning champions will be sending postseason ace Blake Snell (4-1, 1.92 ERA) to the mound for his first October start this season. The left-hander has missed most of the season thanks to injuries but one has to wonder if he was really all that banged up. While the Dodgers were able to cruise to another top seed in the playoffs, Snell was able to rest and prepare for this moment, this month. We could be about to see another vintage playoff Snell performance. The Braves will need their right-handed bats to show up tonight.
While the Dodgers know their starter tonight, the Braves are keeping things a bit closer to the chest. As of this posting they have still not revealed their plans for who takes the ball to start this critical game 2. All indications are pointing towards another bullpen game. That didn’t work out so well for them yesterday so if I’m a Braves fan I’m not too confident asking six to eight pitchers to be perfect today. Ideally for them it’d be left-hander Chris Sale getting the ball but the Braves seem to be cautious with him. October is no time for caution. It’s time to lay it all on the line.
Do the Brewers and Dodgers both win today and more or less wrap up their series’? Or do the Padres and Braves have some fight left in them and manage to even the series before heading back to their own homes? Much will depend on today’s outcomes. Don’t you just love postseason baseball?
