Redbirds Eliminate Marlins in Five Games

Anthony Rendon batted .348 with three homers and eight ribbies to lead the St. Louis Cardinals in a quarter final series victory over the Miami Marlins.  (These same two teams met in the 2018 playoffs as Miami defeated St. Louis in six games.)

A recap of the games:

GAME 1

Marlins 3, Cardinals 0

Gerrit Cole pitched eight dominating innings while fanning 10 Cardinal batters to outduel Jacob Degrom who surrendered 3 runs over 7 innings.  All three Marlin runs were scored in the second inning as Paul Goldschmidt drove in 2 runs and Marwin Gonzalez knoced in one run.  Kirby Yates pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning for the easy win.

 

GAME 2

Cardinals 8, Marlins 6

In a real shocker, St. Louis scored 5 runs in the top of the 9th to overcome a 6-3 Miami lead for a come from behind victory.  The key hit was a bases loaded two out double by Keston Hiura off closer Aroldis Chapman who gave up four runs in the 9th inning.  Earlier in the game, Miami's Bryce Harper scored two and knocked in two to give Miami a 6-0 lead after five innings before St. Louis mounted their comeback.

 

GAME 3

Cardinals 5, Marlins 4 (10)

The Cardinals' Anthony Rendon hit a homer in the bottom of the 10th off Andrew Chafin for the walk off victory.  Earlier in the game, Kyle Schwarber hit two homers and drove in three runs for St.  Louis.  Nolan Arenado had three hits and knocked in three runs for Miami. Trailing by a run, Miami tied the game with a run in the top of the 9th off closer Archie Bradley.

 

GAME 4

Cardinals 10, Marlins 2

In a rematch of their game 1 duel, Jacob Degrom (6 innings, 5 K's, 1 run allowed) defeated Gerrit Cole (3 innings, 5 K's, 6 earned runs allowed) as St. Louis wins 10-2.  St. Louis batters hit six doubles and two home runs in their offensive attack.  Degrom himself went 2 for 2 with a double, run scored and a RBI.

 

GAME 5

Cardinals 7, Marlins 1

Aaron Nola only allowed 2 hits and 1 run while fanning 8 over seven strong innings as St. Louis eliminated Miami.  Anthony Rendon broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the 6th with a 2-run homer. St. Louis scored four times in the bottom of the 7th to break the game wide open.

 

Tribe Advances Behind Verlander

 

The Cleveland Indians, behind Justin Verlander, eliminated the second seeded New York Yankees in a quarterfinal playoff series:

 9/20 CLA  1  2  1  NYA  7 12  0      J.Samardzija (1-0)    W.Buehler (0-1)

Jeff McNeil had three hits, 2 ribbies and a homer for the Bronx Bombers

 9/21 CLA  4  9  0  NYA  3  5  0      J.Verlander (1-0)     S.Bieber (0-1)

Donovan Solano had a bases loaded 3-run double in the 7th as the Tribe held a 4-0 lead going to the bottom of the 9th.  But, the Yanks scored three runs in the bottom of the 9th before Sergio Romo got the final out for the save. Cleveland's Verlander struck out 12 in 6 scoreless innings.  Loser Bieber struck out 11 and gave up 3 runs in his 6+ innings of work.

 9/23 NYA  2  6  0  CLA  1  8  0      K.Hendricks (1-0)     C.Paddack (0-1)

Another nail biter.  Solo homers by McNeil and Voit gave New York a 2-0 lead going to the bottom of the 9th.  Anthony Bass gave up a rbi double to Sogard before closing out the Tribe for the win.

 9/24 NYA  2  7  0  CLA  8 15  0      F.Montas (1-0)        C.Bassitt (0-1)

Matt Carpenter hit a homer and drove in three runs as the Tribe evened the series at 2-2.

 9/25 NYA  3  5  2  CLA  4  5  0      W.Buehler (1-1)       J.Samardzija (1-1)

Cleveland's Walker Buelher struck out 11 over 7+ innings and Cleveland held on for 4-3 win.  Sergio Romo pitched a 1-2-3 9th to record his second save.

 9/27 CLA  1  3  1  NYA  0  6  0      J.Verlander (2-0)     S.Bieber (0-2)

Justin Verlander fanned 13 in 6+ innings of scoreless baseball and six Indian relievers kept New York off the scoreboard for the series win.  Max Kepler hit a solo shot in the 6th for the game's only win.

Blue Jays Eliminate Halos

 

The Toronto Blue Jays eliminated the Anaheim Angels in a hard-fought 6-game series victory in the first round of the MSL playoffs.

 

The Jays slugged 15 home runs in the series, including 3 each by Michael Conforto and Edwin Encarnacion.

 

GAME 1

Blue Jays 5, Angels 2

Charlie Morton struck out 10 and was backed up by 3 homers by Michael Conforto (a 3-run shot), Ketel Marte, and Josh Donaldson. Anaheim was blanked until J.T. Realmuto's 2-run HR in the 9th.

 

GAME 2

Blue Jays 5, Angels 3

Luis Castillo and 4 relievers combined on a 1-hitter and Edwin Encarnacion belted 2 homers. Anaheim again fell behind early, but bounced back to within 4-3 on Matt Olson's 3-run HR in the 3rd. But Encarnacion followed with his second blast in the home half of the inning.

 

GAME 3

Blue Jays 3, Angels 2

Ramon Laureano hit a tie-breaking HR in the 7th and Lance Lynn struck out 8 in 6-1/3 innings. Anaheim loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 7th, but sluggers Matt Olson and Pete Alonso were retired. A lack of clutch hitting followed in the 8th when the Angels had runners on 1st and 3rd with one out but could not score.

 

GAME 4

Angels 5, Blue Jays 4

Anaheim appeared dead when Michael Conforto hit a 2-run homer in the 11th inning. But Yoan Moncada matched Conforto with a 2-run blast in the home half with his team's back to the wall. Jorge Soler then won it with a solo shot in the 12th.

 

GAME 5

Angels 10, Blue Jays 3

Yoan Moncada drove in 3 runs and Marco Gonzales and Jared Hughes combined on a 5-hitter in the series' only laugher.

 

GAME 6

Blue Jays 4, Angels 3

Bryan Reynolds delivered a pinch-hit tie-breaking single in the 7th and Luis Castillo combined on a 4-hitter. Anaheim jumped out early as Mark Canha led off the game with a homer and Matt Olson added an RBI double in the 3rd. But Marcus Semien hit a solo HR and Edwin Encarnacion added a 2-run dinger for a 3-2 Toronto lead in the 5th. Anaheim bounced back to load the bases in the top of the 7th, but could only score once on Phillip Ervin's sac fly.