The MLB Division Series gets underway today with eight teams and four series. Three of them will be intra-division series. While sadly the Mets are not playing, we’ll still be following along with the action here at MMO.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves, 1:07 P.M.
The two remaining NL East teams–just as we thought–are facing off in the first game of the day. Max Fried will pitch for the Braves. He hasn’t pitched since the first game of the Mets series 11 days ago. He reportedly has fully healed from the stomach bug that forced him from that game after five innings.
Ranger Suarez, on the other hand, will pitch for the Phillies. He’s pitched 28 innings against the Braves this year and allowed 10 earned runs (3.21 ERA).
Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros, 3:37 P.M.
The Seattle Mariners look to continue their magical run in October against the top-seeded Houston Astros.
After sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card round, including a miraculous 8-1 comeback in Game 2, the Mariners will send second-year man Logan Gilbert to the mound to face off against Justin Verlander, the likely AL Cy Young.
Houston went 12-7 against Seattle this season, and the have far-and-away the better roster. But can Seattle continue its Cinderella run?
Cleveland Guardians vs. New York Yankees, 7:37 P.M.
Gerrit Cole and Cal Quantrill face off in Game 1 of this series.
Cole will look to redeem himself in pinstripes after faltering (two innings, three runs) in the 2021 Wild Card game against the Red Sox, while Quantrill tries to quite Aaron Judge and the powerful Yankees lineup. These two teams are about as different as you can get offensively. The Yankees hit the most home runs this year. The Guardians hit the second-least. The Guardians make an insane amount of contact, and the Yankees are built around trying to hit the shit out of the ball. Aaron Judge himself hit about half as many homers as the entire Guardians team did. Homers usually win out in the postseason. We’ll see what happens in a five-game series.
San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, 9:37 P.M.
And finally, in the series the Mets could’ve been in, the league-best Dodgers face off against the San Diego Padres.
The Padres had to use their top three starters in the Wild Card round, but they still have Mike Clevinger in their back pocket. Yu Darvish should be free to start Game 2. The Dodgers, on the other hand, have Julio Urias, Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Anderson to throw at the Padres along with one of the league’s best offenses.
The real question here: will Trent Grisham continue to be a duplicate of Juan Soto? It might be tough against the lefty-heavy Dodgers.
