MLB Playoffs: Day 5

So once the weekend was over, MLB decided to go back to having playoff games -- although it continued its usual practice of making it as difficult as possible for fans to see the games.

First up were the Nats and Dodgers, who started at 1 o'clock Pacific Time, which was probably about 12 hours after the teams got to L.A. from Washington.  If you wanted to watch this game, you had to find the MLB Network.  It was a beautiful, glorious day in Los Angeles, and reminded me of my childhood, when they used to play a lot of playoff games -- and even World Series games -- at 1 o'clock Pacific Time.  The Nats and the Dodgers both have an offense that looks like a man trying to kill a housefly with a shoe -- most of the time they just look silly, but every once in a while, they are devastating.  The Nats got a two-run homer to take an early 4-1 lead, but the Dodgers responded with a two-run pinch hit homer to make the score 4-3 after five.  And there they stayed for three more innings.  It was like one of those moments in an arm-wrestling match, where you think someone is going to break, but you don't know who it will be.  This time, it was the Dodgers.  Jayson Werth hit a homer in the top of the 9th, and the Nats -- who react to one of their own home runs in much the same way that a college basketball team reacts to a thunderous dunk -- blew the game open, winning by a final score of 8 to 3.  The Dodgers trail 2 games to 1, but they still have a home game today, and they can still use Clayton Kershaw one more time, so this series is up for grabs.

Then the scene switched to Boston, where the Red Sox were trying to overcome a two-run homer by Coco Crisp that had given Cleveland a 4-1 lead.  They couldn't do it.  They got to within 4-3, but that was the final score, and darkness has descended on the Fens for another winter.

Finally, we went to San Francisco, where the Giants and Cubs are playing an epic series that no one can see because they games all take place in the middle of the night.  The Cubs won 103 games this year, and are the best National League team since the Phillie powerhouses of the late 2000's.  The Giants have won three World Series since 2010, and are 10-0 in elimination games since Bruce Bochy became their manager.  They don't really pay that much attention in the regular season, they don't care if they have home field advantage, they will often go hours at a time without launching any offensive threat, but you do not want to face the Giants when the money is on the line.  Last night, the Cubs jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Madison Bumgarner with a three-run homer from pitcher Jake Arrieta, but the Giants pecked away, and trailed 3-2 going into the bottom of the 8th.  After the first two Giants reached base, the Cubs decided to go for the kill by bringing in Aroldis Chapman, their closer.  Chapman struck out Hunter Pence, but Conor Gillaspie whacked a 102-mph fastball to the deepest part of the ballpark for a two-run triple, and then scored on a single to make the score 5-3 Giants after 8.  But the Cubs are made of sterner stuff than most teams, and Kris Bryant responded with a two-run homer in the top of the 9th to send everyone to extra innings.

By this time, it was 1:40 A.M. on the East Coast, and I couldn't watch anymore.  But I remembered San Francisco beating the Nats in an 18-inning game during the 2014 playoffs, so I was not surprised to learn that at about 2:45 A.M. Washington time -- 1:45 A.M. in Chicago -- the Giants had won the game on back-to-back doubles in the 13th.  So the Giants and Cubs will be back tonight for another big game, even if you have to be at the stadium to watch it.

Los Angeles 3 - 8 Washington
San Francisco 6 -5 Chicago (13 innings)

Boston 3 - 4 Cleveland

NATIONAL LEAGUE:
Chicago leads San Francisco 2-1
Washington leads Los Angeles 2-1

AMERICAN LEAGUE:
Toronto beat Texas 3-0
Cleveland beat Boston 3-0