Tag: 2022 mlb playoffs

A frustrated Aaron Boone blamed the open roof for crucial Aaron Judge fly-out in Houston

An interesting rationalization from Boone to say the least.

It was a tough night for the New York Yankees and their World Series hopes. After a 3-2 road loss at the hands of the Houston Astros, the Yankees are now in a deep 2-0 hole in the American League Championship Series.

And it all almost changed on one key Aaron Judge at-bat in the eighth inning. With one man on base and New York trying to rally from that very same one-run deficit, Judge launched a nice shot to right field. It certainly looked like it had the distance … until it fell safely into the glove of Kyle Tucker. Threat over, and the Astros would leave the inning unscathed.

In the post-game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone asserted that Judge’s fly-out might have been a two-run homer if not for the open roof at the Astros’ home stadium.

Huh. Okay. Let’s hear him out!

Hmm, plausible at first glance, but probably not actually true. Also, the Astros were playing under the same conditions. (Note: The Yankees have struck out 30 times as a team in just two games.)

Per Statcast, that Judge fly-out would’ve been a homer in just one ballpark. Oh, yeah, you guessed it: Yankee Stadium.

Maybe Boone has a point about the open air and weather affecting the final trajectory of the ball. But in a pure distance sense? The Yankees were only getting that two-run Judge shot if they were playing at home.

Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins had an epic bat spike after absolutely crushing a 3-run homer

Hoskins added insult to injury in Game 3 of the NLDS.

Rhys Hoskins absolutely opened the floodgates for the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday afternoon.

Nursing a 1-0 lead in Game 3 of the NLDS over the NL East pennant-winning Atlanta Braves, Hoskins stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the third with one out and runners on first and second. Rookie pitcher Spencer Strider made the mistake of delivering a fastball down the middle of the plate.

Hoskins made him pay.

He absolutely crushed it to left-center field for a three-run homer  — the first postseason dinger of his career — which opened up Philadephia’s lead in Game 3. The series was tied at one game apiece entering Friday’s game.

To add insult to injury, Hoskins delivered an absolutely filthy bat spike to cap things off.

Here’s a different angle of the emphatic slam.

Philadelphia finished the regular season with an 87-75 record, good for just a third-place finish in the NL East. The Phillies snagged the final Wild Card spot over the Milwaukee Brewers by just one game, and the advanced to the NLDS by virtue of a two-game sweep on the road against the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals.

Hoskins’ shot put his team in good position to take a one-game lead in this best of five series.

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Yankees’ Josh Donaldson was embarrassingly thrown out after misjudging a HR and MLB fans dragged him

This was not a good look for Josh Donaldson.

This could have gone a lot better for Josh Donaldson.

On Tuesday, the New York Yankees were hosting the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of the ALDS with the score tied 1-1 in the fifth inning. With no one out and the bases clear, Donaldson skied a ball out to deep right field that seemed to have home run distance. Unfortunately, the ball hopped off the wall and back into the field for the Guardians to make a play on.

Donaldson, however, believed the ball to be a home run, as he trotted around first, giving a high five to first base coach Travis Chapman as he went. The Yankees third baseman then was thrown out for his mistake in quite the embarrassing moment.

That’s a rough one for Donaldson right there. Sure, the ball looked like it was gone but with a tie 1-1 game in the playoffs, you have to run it out regardless. While the Yankees did take the lead in the fifth inning, baseball fans did not hesitate to roast Donaldson for the error.

Yordan Álvarez had a cold-blooded reaction to his walk-off 3-run shot that sent Astros fans into a frenzy

Imagine being THIS calm in such a historic moment.

One of the biggest reasons the Astros seemingly make deep runs every October is that they have players who don’t shy away from the moment. When it’s time for a big hit or catch, someone usually comes through and plays hero for Houston. This was precisely the scenario for Yordan Álvarez against the Mariners (-1.5) on Tuesday.

With the Astros down 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning, they needed someone to finish the job on their last out against Robbie Ray. Given the ensuing result for Álvarez, it’s almost as if they couldn’t have picked a better person to get that coveted (eventual) 8-7 final score.

And when you see Álvarez’s initial reaction to a three-run, walk-off shot to win Game 1 — compared to an absolutely raucous Astros crowd anyway — it’s certainly a man who has been there and done that:

Oh my. What a blast to right field, and what a shot of an entire stadium going crazy while Álvarez simply stares his home run down and calmly trots around the bases.

Let’s see another angle of that crowd for electric posterity:

Álvarez’s shot made some history, too. It’s not only just the second walk-off homer for a team down to its final out in playoff baseball history, it’s also the first for a squad down multiple runs:

Kirk Gibson is quite the company to share. Not to be overlooked: The homer capped a stellar three-hit, five-RBI performance for Álvarez.

If this is how the Astros will play all postseason — getting timely plays whenever they need them — then they might be an even tougher out than anyone thought.

Blue Jays’ epic collapse against Mariners was an all-time bad beat

This one will sting for a long time.

Facing elimination, the Toronto Blue Jays jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the fifth inning of Game 2 of their American League Wild Card series against the Seattle Mariners.

Before they could even let the sure victory sink in, the lead was cut to 8-5 the next inning. Four innings later, their season was over. The Blue Jays lost the game 10-9.

It was an epic postseason collapse, one not seen since 2008 — and only one other time before that had a team blown a seven-run lead in the playoffs. For those who bet on Toronto to win, which was pretty much everybody, it was an all-time bad beat.

Toronto had a win probability of 99%! And 80% of moneyline bettors at BetMGM picked the Jays to win, which looked promising when starting pitcher Kevin Gausman was pulled to a standing ovation.

Then the bullpen proceeded to meltdown, and a season that started with so much promise for Toronto ended in severe disappointment. This one is going to sting for a long time.

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The Dodgers falling short of a World Series title would be one of the biggest letdowns in sports

After a historical season, anything less than a title would be a major disappointment.

It seems so long ago. In reality it was just a few months, April to be exact. I placed a bet on the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the 2022 World Series.

The bet wasn’t anything big, just a little action to stay invested in the baseball season. Then I proceeded to pay attention to every sport but baseball.

It was an informed bet, though. The Dodgers were just two years removed from a title and had the second-largest payroll in baseball (when has that ever mattered). I knew a lot of the names at just about every position: Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger, Trea Turner, Clayton Kershaw. And they even added Freddie Freeman, who helped beat them in last year’s NLCS.

Then, I got lost in the NBA playoffs, and NHL playoffs, a whole WNBA season, the NFL came back, and next thing you know my little bet was forgotten about… That is until now, 162 games later. The exciting MLB playoffs are finally upon us. And whaddya know, the Dodgers finished the year with the best record in baseball. They remain the favorites to be the last team standing with +300 odds at BetMGM. Now it’s time to finish the job.

LA has consistently been one of the best teams in the majors since 2013, winning the NL West nine out of 10 years, reaching the pennant in six years and winning it three times. This year marks the fourth time in that span the Dodgers have won more than 100 games, and they also had the best record in baseball in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Yet, all they have to show for all of that regular-season success is a single World Series championship.

Falling short this year wouldn’t just be a major letdown to my little, petty bet, it’ll be a major letdown to everyone involved. The Dodgers dominated this season and have by far the largest scoring margin in the majors (+334) to show for it. Their 111 wins are a franchise record and second-most in National League history behind the 1906 Cubs. That’s not a typo, they have the most wins in the NL since 1906!

Their pitching staff leads the majors in ERA and ranks fifth in strikeouts. Their offense leads the majors in runs batted in and ranks top five in batting average and home runs. They’re even second in FanGraphs’ defensive runs saved metric and ninth in stolen bases. This team literally doesn’t have a weakness. Which brings us back to the postseason.

The Dodgers’ NLDS opponent will be determined after the Wild Card round, which begins Friday. It might be the Mets (+700), it might be the Padres (+2800). No matter who it is, the Dodgers will be favored. And it won’t be enough for them to simply advance one round. They need to win a World Series this year, or all of those stats we just went over mean literally nothing. They only make this season — and my pockets — all the more disappointing.

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