MLB Season 2022. Playball!

[10spro]

Well, it came to the last day of the season, but the Jays pulled it off and will be hosting a one day playoffs game with the O's on Tuesday. With big Papi retiring and D. Price on the mound, they had to win this game in BOS to have home advantage. The loss by the Tigers early guaranteed both the O's and Jays to move on for the wildcard. Winner of that game faces the Rangers.

The other match up is CLE vs BOS, another beauty.

[dbdynsty25]

The loss by the Tigers early guaranteed both the O's and Jays to move on for the wildcard. Winner of that game faces the Rangers.

Hey at least the Braves played the spoiler pretty well this season...beating a lot of good teams in the 2nd half. Things are looking up going into next year!

[10spro]

The loss by the Tigers early guaranteed both the O's and Jays to move on for the wildcard. Winner of that game faces the Rangers.

Hey at least the Braves played the spoiler pretty well this season...beating a lot of good teams in the 2nd half. Things are looking up going into next year!

Very impressed with Freddie Freeman this season. I got him for my fantasy team in MLB 16.

[dbdynsty25]

Very impressed with Freddie Freeman this season. I got him for my fantasy team in MLB 16.

He had an outstanding year. If he was on a better team, he'd get MVP consideration. Ridiculously good year, even with a subpar team around him offensively. Should be fun with another veteran addition or two this offseason to go along with Kemp, who quietly also had a fantastic year.

[10spro]

On pins and needles here. Tied 2-2 into the 7th inning, I just don't like the 'one game decide it all' in the wildcard but I understand the playoffs need to move on. It re-emphasizes that you must win the division if you don't want to be in this spot.

For the idiotic fan that threw that bottle of water trying to interfere with Kim's catch, shame on you. You should go home, not a Jays fan. Embarrassing.

Both teams are so evenly matched.

[10spro]

Jays advance baby! What a game. Fantasy blast from E. Encarnacion bringing in three runs to break the tie in the 11th. And now, on to Texas for a rematch with the Rangers. Everyone knows what happened last year, the bat flip by Bautista, the punch out this season courtesy of R. Odor.

There's going to be no bad blood lost between these two teams. The win comes at a cost though. Looks like they lost their closer in R. Osuna.

Now I wish they stop celebrating as if they won the WS. Fantastic win, but do we need the sparkly stuff, really?

The AL is set with two fantastic matches.

Orioles, it sucks to end your season this way, both teams had identical records after 162 games, nothing to be ashamed of.

Go Jays!

[dbdynsty25]

Hell of a game to start the playoffs...but as Ron Darling mentioned during the telecast...shades of Braves/Dodgers when Kimbrel was sitting in the bullpen waiting to be used, and ultimately never got into the game. Buck made the same mistake Fredi Gonzalez did...leaving Britton in the bullpen. Eeesh. When will managers learn...USE YOUR BEST RELIEVERS!

[RobVarak]

When will managers learn...USE YOUR BEST RELIEVERS!

I love the counter-argument people are making about how the "statheads" are criticizing Showalter. It's not about metrics, it's about preventing the other team from scoring! lol

On a related note, how is TBS still crap so terrible at broadcasting these games? They are technically terrible, the booth is dull and the production is amateurish.

[10spro]

Geez, 6 SO's in 13 postseason appearances? That's dominant.

[10spro]

It feels good, it feels really good. Jays MVP starts the 10th with a double and eventually slides safely to sweep the Rangers at home. Expected a tough series but quite surprised at the sweep. Donaldson has been a great since coming to TO. Feeling thankful!

[Brando70]

The one thing that's been clear this playoffs is this is not your father's Cubs team. Two games in a row where it looked like they let the win slip away, and yet they kept it together and pulled out wins. Maddon has done a great job keeping the team both confident and relaxed.

However, they're going to keep struggling offensively if Russell and especially Rizzo can't get a little bit going on.

[RobVarak]

However, they're going to keep struggling offensively if Russell and especially Rizzo can't get a little bit going on.

Agreed. I'm going tonight, so I'll do what I can to straighten them out.

[Rodster]

Hoping this is the year for the Cubbies.

[10spro]

Man, Indians are red hot and they'll advance to the WS. Jays' bats have just gone stone cold since the Texas sweep. With Shaw, Miller and Allen in the bullpen, they look unhitable. Not looking good for TO.

[AcemanPR]

Stellar team effort by the tribe last night. I'm hoping the Cubbies can steal a couple in LA, would love to see an I-90 World Series showdown!

[TCrouch]

Kershaw's not pitching, so the Cubs can certainly win a few more.

I didn't realize what a luxury it was to have Kershaw and Greinke both starting in LA for a while. They're just a different team when Maeda, Hill, or anybody else is on the mound.

[RobVarak]

Kershaw's not pitching, so the Cubs can certainly win a few more.

I didn't realize what a luxury it was to have Kershaw and Greinke both starting in LA for a while.

It didn't help to have dimwits who don't understand sample size claiming that Kershaw can't pitch in the postseason before this year.

[TCrouch]

Doesn't help that you have MadBum in the same state, seemingly making the postseason into his own personal highlight reel every couple of seasons.

When you have that 400 miles away, and then you have such wildly different regular-season-versus-postseason stats, it's easy for the pundits to create a case...even if the sample size is tiny.

It was only a matter of time before he dominated in the postseason, though. There's no way you have that stuff and continue to post a 5.X ERA for long.

[RobVarak]

OK, I was certainly channeling my anger, but how freaking stupid were Buck and Smoltz tonight? They were acting like Rich Hill pulled that performance out of his hat like a rabbit. He was as good or better than Arrieta all year long.

Arrieta was 5.1 WAR, with a 1.087 WHIP, 8.7 k/9 and an ERA+ of 129

Hill was also 5.1 WAR, with a 1.092 WHIP, 10.2 k/9 and an gaudy ERA+ of 177 (a crazy 214 with the Dodgers)

I expect Buck to go for the cheap narrative crap, but Smoltz should be smarter than that.

[TCrouch]

Yeah, he's been good, but that was probably his best outing I've seen. His first couple of starts he was great, but since then he's been a moderately-quick-pull. 5th inning or so. It's not like he came out of nowhere like they made it sound like, but he was razor-focused last night. Once he got out of the 2nd unscathed, it did nothing but strengthen him, it seemed.

[wco81]

Well the $34 million dollar pitcher can't carry the $279 million payroll team by himself.

There's a lot of sentiment for the Cubs but the Indians winning with an 83 million payroll would be a terrific story.

[RobVarak]

Cleveland is next. Can't wait.

[MizzouRah]

GO INDIANS!!!

[10spro]

Well the $34 million dollar pitcher can't carry the $279 million payroll team by himself.

There's a lot of sentiment for the Cubs but the Indians winning with an 83 million payroll would be a terrific story.

Don't underestimate them, like Jose Bautista. With timely hitting, no superstars, a rotation that had injury issues yet they keep bringing up arms that can pitch 5-6 strong innings. Their bullpen is awesome, they completely shut down the Jays and while most of the sport fans will probably cheer for the Cubbies, I just hope for an entertaining WS that can go the distance. Underdogs for sure but, they just keep coming at you with timely hitting and pitching at the right time.

[pk500]

Posts from Cubs' fans on my social feeds humored me last night and this morning. All of the fans are celebrating the win, while half are telling the world they're not bandwagon fans and have been Cubs' fans since they started watching games with (insert older relative name here).

You know your fanbase has a large bandwagon when people need to publicly justify their longtime adoration.