2024 MLB Division Series: Mets rally past Phillies, Yankees survive, Ohtani homers
In his postseason debut, Shohei Ohtani helped the Los Angeles Dodgers to a comeback victory over the San Diego Padres. The New York Mets continued their late-inning comeback magic. The New York Yankees topped the Kansas City Royals in a back-and-forth, unconventional October classic, while an offensive outburst from the Cleveland Guardians helped them gain the early advantage in the battle for the Central.
Around the horn
Guards 7, Tigers 0
Pitching chaos became a pitching catastrophe as the Guardians used a five-run outburst in the first inning to disrupt the Tigers’ unconventional strategy. Detroit’s opener Tyler Holton and bulk man Reese Olson combined for five points before recording an out. The lead allowed Guardians starter Tanner Bibee and the bullpen to cruise with the lights out.
Mets6, Phillies2
Zack Wheeler was at his best, but the Phillies’ bullpen was at its worst. The Mets didn’t have an extra-base hit, but they timed eight hits extremely well, scored five runs in the eighth inning and scored an insurance run in the ninth. Kodai Senga’s return was encouraging, and the Mets’ bullpen kept the Phillies in check.
The Mets celebrate a win in Game 1. (Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Yankees 6, Royals 5
In a postseason first, there were five lead changes between the Royals and Yankees. [Insert Jayson Stark voice: Because baseball!] But New York ultimately came out on the right side of a controversial replay review ruling, moments before unlikely hero Alex Verdugo released the game-winning single.
Dodgers 7, Padres 5
The Padres jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, with Manny Machado hitting a booming home run, but with two on and two out, Shohei Ohtani took the lead. Everyone in the ballpark was thinking about a home run, and he undoubtedly hit one so hard that he threw his bat with a higher exit velocity than the ball. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was shaky, allowing five runs in three innings, but the Dodgers bullpen was scoreless after that despite Padres threats in the eighth and ninth.
GO DEEPER
Does Yoshinobu Yamamoto tip his pitch?
Three up
Alex Verdugo
Verdugo started his night by being booed by Yankees fans. He finished as the hero of Game 1. The left fielder hit the RBI single in the seventh inning that drove in the winning run, capping his 2-for-3 night that included a walk, two runs and two clean defensive plays included. Verdugo, who was coming off an offensive season, was not expected to start Game 1 over rookie Jasson Domínguez, but manager Aaron Boone said it was a “fairly” easy decision to go with Verdugo’s experience. His intuition was rewarded.
Mets lineup
The standard baseball game lasts nine innings and teams are allowed to score runs in each of them. The Mets don’t care. They prefer to score their runs late, and they prefer to score them in groups. Only two teams in baseball scored more runs in the eighth and ninth inning during the regular seasonand after scoring four runs in the ninth inning to steal the series against the Brewers, they scored five runs in the eighth inning to steal Game 1 against the Phillies. It’s hard to win a championship without a lot of late-inning offense from your lineup, and the Mets seem particularly confident in that regard right now.
Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani played his first postseason game on Saturday, as you may have heard. He could have gone 1-for-4 with a single, or 0-4 with a pair of strikeouts, talking after the game about how he’s taking things one day at a time. Instead, he hit a ball so hard and with such perfect timing that he went crazy, and so did the entire Dodger Stadium. The Padres took a three-run lead in the first inning, continuing the momentum from their series against the Braves, while the Dodgers had not played in a week. The longer the deficit lingered, the more it would weigh on a Dodgers lineup looking to build its own momentum. Instead, Ohtani tied the score with one strike, and the Dodgers remembered that she would be the bullies. Momentum is only as good as the next day’s starting throwr, but it’s still pretty good if you can find some.
Shohei Ohtani celebrates his homer with teammates Will Smith and Gavin Lux. (Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Three down
Tiger relievers
The Tigers’ pitching chaos has been a successful strategy, helping them make an improbable run to the ALDS. But after Tyler Holton, their opener, and Reese Olson, their bulk man, gave up five runs to the Guardians before recording an out, you wonder how much better off the Tigers would be if they still had a traditional starter at their disposal. to mate with top bird Tarik Skubal. Maybe — oh I don’t know — someone like Jack Flaherty, who will start Game 2 for the Dodgers in the NLDS on Sunday. (Reminder: the Tigers did indeed trade Flaherty to the Dodgers at the deadline before reviving their season, and we’ll see if it comes back to haunt them).
Phillies bullpen
The Phillies’ bullpen was supposed to be a force, and it still could be for the rest of the postseason. For Game 1, however, it was a disaster. Jeff Hoffman didn’t retire any of the three batters he faced. Matt Strahm faced a total of 79 batters in August and September, allowing two earned runs. He faced three batters in Game 1 and allowed two earned runs. The result was a five-run eighth inning by the Mets, and the Phillies were unable to recover. So that applies to teams that think they have a shutdown bullpen. They do that until they don’t anymore. October is so cruel and unusual.
Royals replay review
Note the MLB-New York bias controversy. The Royals had their chances to pull off the upset in Game 1, but a controversial call may have ultimately cost them. After leading off the seventh with a single, Jazz Chisholm Jr. left. for second place. Salvador Perez’s throw was high and Chisholm was ruled safe. But the Royals requested a review. A camera angle from the TBS broadcast showed Michael Massey applying the tag in time. But the safe call stood and Chisholm would score the winning run on Verdugo’s single. After the loss, Royals manager Matt Quatraro said he took a good look at the play, saying, “I think we had a very good argument that that should have been overturned.” Conversely, Chisholm said, “I knew I was in there.”
Jazz Chisholm Jr. was determined to be safe, although the Royals thought otherwise. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Sunday on deck
Mets at Phillies, 4:08 PM (ET), FuboFS1
Mets led series 1-0
NYM Luis Severino (11-7, 3.19 ERA) vs. PHI Christopher Sánchez (11-9, 3.32 ERA)
Padres at Dodgers, 8:03 PM (ET), FuboFS1
Dodgers lead series 1-0
SDP Yu Darvish (7-3, 3.31 ERA) vs. LAD Jack Flaherty (13-7, 3.17 ERA)
Stream all the MLB playoffs Fubo (free trial)
Choices to click on
Yu Darvish vs. Dodgers
Yu Darvish has made 15 starts against the Dodgers in his career, all after leaving the team after the 2017 season. His numbers there are starting: 5-5, with a 2.27 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 91 1/3 innings. In his last start against them, on May 12, he threw seven scoreless innings, facing 24 batters and allowing only three of them to reach base. The only current Dodgers with even moderate success against Darvish are Freddie Freeman (.848 OPS in 39 PA) and Tommy Edman (six singles in 16 PA). Everyone else? Not so much.
Yu Darvish pitched earlier this season. (Denis Poroy/USA Today)
Phillies lineup vs. Luis Severino
One of the biggest reasons for Luis Severino’s rebound season was the success of his sinker he reliably throws inside to right-handed hitters and outside to left-handed hitters. That is, the same spot in the strike zone, affecting each batter differently depending on his dexterity.
The Phillies, though have thrived on those sinkers in 2024 for some reason. Seven of them hit better than .300 (with wOBAs above .400) against them. So either Severino will have to adapt and attack the Phillies differently, or he can rely on his sinker being better than everyone else’s, which it might be. The entire Phillies offense is a piece of cake, with Kyle Schwarber (.458/.641/.625 against outside sinkers) getting special attention.
(Top photo of Shohei Ohtani throwing his bat aside after hitting a home run in his first postseason game: Daniel Shirey / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
