Month of MLB Day 13

Over the weekend, the Dodgers and Cleveland both completed their comebacks from being down 2-1 to defeat their division rivals and advance to the League Championship Series.

Let's start with the Dodgers.  They gave up five runs in Game One, ten runs in Game Two, and six runs in the first two innings of Game Three.  At this point, I gave up on them, assuming that they didn't have enough starting pitching to beat San Diego.  But I was wrong.  First, they shut out the Padres for the last seven innings of Game Three, although they still lost that game 6-5.  But then, the Dodgers' bullpen shut out the Padres in Game Four, and the Dodgers rolled to an 8-0 win.  That set up Game Five on Friday Night in Dodger Stadium.  The Padres went with Yu Darvish, who had pitched them to victory in Game Two -- and Darvish was very good.  In 6 2/3 innings, he allowed only three hits, including two solo homers to Enrique Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez.  But the Dodgers responded with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who they had picked up from Japan in the off-season.  Like much of the rest of the Dodgers' staff, Yamamoto was injured during the regular season, and only threw 90 innings.  But on Friday night, he gave the Dodgers five shutout innings (he allowed only two hits).  And that was all the Dodgers' bullpen needed.  They shut out the Padres the rest of the way.  If you're keeping track, that means that San Diego scored zero runs in the last 25 innings of the Divisional Series.  So the Dodgers are back in the N.L.C.S. for the first time since 2021.

A few more thoughts here.  In recent years, the Padres have developed a bullying, swaggering style of play -- especially when they take on the Dodgers.  With the Dodgers down two games to one, and the next game in San Diego, it was easy to conclude -- as I did -- that the Padres had successfully bullied the strait-laced Dodgers.  But I was wrong again.  The Dodgers fought back, and the Dodger fans in Game Five -- stung into reaction by the rabid San Diegans -- were as loud and rowdy as I have ever seen them.  The Dodger players and fans get a lot of credit here for being tougher than I expected.  And Dave Roberts showed once again why he has won three pennants at Chavez Ravine, and why he must be regarded as one of the greatest Dodger managers of all time.

Now for the Junior Circuit.  On Saturday, Cleveland was at home -- but they had to face Detroit ace Tarik Skubal, who went 18-4 in the regular season.  Skubal has been great in the playoffs, and Detroit fans had to like their chances when the Tigers took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth.  But at this point, Cleveland bats finally came to life.  They scored five runs thanks to a Grand Slam from Lane Thomas, who started the season with the Washington Nationals.  Cleveland then cruised home for a 7-3 victory and their first trip to the A.L.C.S. since 2016.

The League Championship Series start tonight with the Dodgers hosting the Mets in Dodger Stadium.