The Major League Baseball playoffs are in full swing, and they are living up to expectations.
The American League Championship series features two powerhouses. In one corner the Boston Red Sox, who defeated the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card Game. They then went on to conquer the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series in four games.
In the other corner is the Houston Astros, who took care of the Chicago White Sox swiftly in four games.
In the four games that have been played so far, offense has been the story. Houston took care of the Sox in game one with the final score 5-4. Game two, the Red Sox offense exploded for two grand slams in two innings with the final score of 9-5. Once again in game three Boston’s offense came alive and featured another grand slam with a final score 12-3.
In the best of seven series, the series is even at 2-2, with a decisive game five on Wednesday.
In the National League there have been some surprises. The National League Championship Series features the underdog Atlanta Braves, who surprisingly took care of the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series in four games.
Facing the Braves are the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers were favorites to win the World Series for the second year in a row and to no one’s surprise they won 107 games. If you are a Dodgers fan, you did have to hold your breath though as the surprise of the season, the San Francisco Giants edged out L.A. in the division race, as they won 108 games.
The Dodgers settled for the Wild Card Game against the red-hot St. Louis Cardinals. L.A. took care of the Redbirds and matched up in the divisional round against their rival: the San Francisco Giants.
This series came down to the last pitch where the giants were victorious on a heartbreaking, controversial check-swing call against the Giants.
The NLCS is being sparked by heroics from the Braves’s young squad. Austin Riley provided the walk off in game one with the final score of 3-2. Eddie Rosario walked off game two with a RBI knock in the bottom of the 9th ending the game with a final score of 5-4.
The Braves looked primed to take an insurmountable 3-0 series lead in game three before a game-tying three-run homer by Cody Bellinger tied the game in the bottom of the eighth. A go-ahead double by Mookie Betts put the Dodgers on top for good, as L.A. sits just one game back.
Will the Red Sox offense be able to carry them to their second World Series in four years or will the Astros’s starting pitching be able to revive itself? Will the young Braves core be able to keep their unexpected postseason run alive or will the shaky Dodgers get back on track in the quest to defend their crown? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure, the MLB’s playoffs are not disappointing people this year.