NL Teams Battle Tying Both Series

YESTERDAY IN POSTSEASON PLAY:

The NL double header proved to be quite the intense day of division play with both series knotting up at a game apiece. While youth prevailed for the Cubs in St. Louis thanks to a monster shot by Jorge Soler, the veterans made headlines for the Dodgers in Los Angeles with former Phillie Chase Utley displaying his hardnosed style of play to back Cy Young candidate Zack Greinke. It will be interesting to see what happens in the follow up to these games on Monday.

Cubs Pluck Cardinals 6-3

A few tweaks in the lineup, two badly timed St. Louis errors, some well-executed bunts and a monster home run by Jorge Soler in Game 2 on Saturday at Busch Stadium helped propel the Cubs to a 6-3 victory over the Cardinals and even the National League Division Series at 1-1. In the Wild Card era, when the Division Series is tied at 1-1, the winner of Game 3 has won 25 of 32 series. In the current 2-2-1 Division Series format, the road team that splits the first two games away from home has won the series 17 of 29 times.

Dodgers Chase Mets 5-2

The Dodgers tied their best-of-five National League Division Series against the Mets Saturday night with a 5-2 comeback win after a four-run rally in the seventh inning, keyed by a hard slide from Chase Utley that sent Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada to the hospital with a fractured right fibula. Adrian Gonzalez's two-run double on an 0-2 pitch with two outs highlighted the comeback and came two batters after Howie Kendrick's fielder's-choice grounder that resulted in the tying run scoring on an overturned call after Utley's slide upended Tejada.

POSTSEASON PREDICTIONS: Read my post from October 6^th to see how many I have gotten wrong!

CURRENT POSTSEASON PICTURE:

American League Division Series

Kansas City and Houston tied 1-1

Game 3: Sunday, October 11, at 4:00 PM

Texas leads series 2-0

Game 3: Sunday, October 11, at 8:00 PM

National League Division Series

Chicago and St. Louis tied 1-1

Game 3: Monday, October 12, at 6:00 PM

New York and Los Angeles tied 1-1

Game 3: Monday, October 12, at 8:30 PM

PHILS PHACTS:

Intensity Shining Through – Moments after Collins turned to Colon with one out and runners on the corners. Kendrick grounded a potential double-play ball back up the middle, where Mets second baseman Murphy fielded it and flipped to Tejada. But as Tejada attempted to corral the toss and pivot, Utley half-slid, half-tumbled into him, injuring Tejada while breaking up the double play. The tying run scored, though that was hardly the end of it. As Tejada was being carted off the field, umpires reviewed the play and awarded Utley second base. A replay review showed that Tejada did not make contact with the second base bag as he attempted to turn the double play.The Dodgers parlayed that call into a four-run inning, taking a 5-2 lead.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies finally put an end to the season finishing in last place in the NL East with a record of 63-99. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and bipolar performances this season, this has ended up being one of the worst seasons in franchise history! All time, the Phillies are 1-2-0 on this day.