YESTERDAY IN POSTSEASON PLAY:
It
was the AL’s turn on Sunday with both Texas teams heading into Monday with a
one game advantage. Once again, Dallas Keuchel proved to be a prime performer
for Houston continuing to add exclamation points to an already fantastic 2015
campaign. As for the Blue Jays, mid-season acquisition Troy Tulowitzki proved
to be the key in preventing the sweep and breathing new life into Toronto’s postseason
hopes. On Monday we find out whether the ALCS is locked in or whether these
four teams will match up for a final contest.
Astros Thwart
Royals 4-2
Ace lefty Dallas Keuchel turned
in another fantastic effort before the home crowd, rejuvenated slugger Chris Carter bashed a home run and Minute Maid Park
was rocking. It's becoming a way of life for the Astros. Keuchel held the
Royals to one run in seven innings, and Carter had three hits, including his
first postseason home run, to lift the Astros to a 4-2 win before a raucous
crowd of 42,674 in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Sunday
afternoon.
Blue Jays Wrangle
Rangers 5-1
The Blue Jays stayed alive and have renewed hope in the
best-of-five American League Division Series after Troy Tulowitzki hit a three-run homer and Marco Estrada tossed 6 1/3 strong innings to prevent
the Rangers' potential celebration Sunday night. Tulowitzki's first hit of the
series was a huge one, and Estrada held Texas to five hits as the Blue Jays
took Game 3 of the ALDS with a 5-1 victory at Globe Life Park.
CURRENT
POSTSEASON PICTURE:
American League
Division Series
Houston leads series 2-1
Game
4: Monday, October 12, at 1:00 PM
Texas
leads series 2-1
Game
4: Monday, October 12, at 4:00 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:
Ultey Suspended For LEGAL Slide – Dodgers infielder Chase Utley was suspended for Games 3 and 4 of the
best-of-five National League Division Series by MLB chief baseball officer Joe
Torre for his takeout slide that broke the leg of Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada in Game 2 Saturday night. Utley will
appeal the discipline, according to his agent, Joel Wolfe. The decision will be
held in abeyance until the appeal process is completed, but according to a
source, it was unlikely that the hearing would happen before first pitch. The
Dodgers issued this statement: "The Dodgers stand behind Chase Utley and
his decision to appeal the suspension issued tonight by Major League Baseball.
The club will have no further comment at this time." The Dodgers won Game
2, 5-2,
evening their NLDS with the Mets at one game apiece. "I recognize that
there has been much commentary and many questions regarding the unfortunate
play in last night's game in which Ruben Tejada was injured," Torre said
in a release. "As I said after the game, the determination of whether a
baserunner has intentionally interfered with a player attempting to turn a
double play is left to the judgment of the Umpire on the field, and that
judgment call is not subject to review. I should add that determining where to
draw the line between an illegal slide and a legitimate hard play is an
extremely difficult call for our Umpires. "However, after thoroughly
reviewing the play from all conceivable angles, I have concluded that Mr.
Utley's action warrants discipline. While I sincerely believe that Mr. Utley
had no intention of injuring Ruben Tejada, and was attempting to help his Club
in a critical situation, I believe his slide was in violation of Official
Baseball Rule 5.09 (a)(13), which is designed to protect fielders from
precisely this type of rolling block that occurs away from the base. "We
have been in discussions with the Players Association throughout the year
regarding potential rule changes to better protect middle infielders, and we
intend to continue those discussions this offseason." The rule in question
states: "A batters is out when: "A preceding runner shall, in the
umpire's judgment, intentionally interfere with a fielder who is attempting to
catch a thrown ball or to throw a ball in an attempt to complete any play. "Comment:
The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate,
unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner in leaving the baseline for
the obvious purpose of crashing the pivot man on a double play, rather than
trying to reach the base. Obviously this is an umpire's judgment play." 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, nor did Utley. The Dodgers parlayed that call into a four-run
inning, taking a 5-2 lead. Had the play been interpreted differently in the
moment it occurred, the seventh inning could have ended with the Mets leading,
2-1, regardless of how far up the line the runner heading to first had
advanced. On FOX Sports 1 during Game 3 of the American League Division Series
between the Blue Jays and Rangers in Arlington, Torre elaborated on his written
decision. "I was sitting behind the first-base dugout last night," he
said. "I know Chase plays very hard. From my angle it looked like a hard
slide. It really wasn't until I looked at video later on that I saw how late
the slide was and how he sort of followed Tejada, sliding into him. It was
based on the fact that he slid very late and it appeared to me he hit Tejada
and the ground about the same time. He was more targeting the player as opposed
to the base. He certainly didn't want to hurt him. He was just breaking up the
double play, but I just thought it was a little bit much." Wolfe, Utley's
agent, was quick to announce an appeal and denounce the discipline. "A
two-game suspension for a legal baseball play is outrageous and completely
unacceptable," said Wolfe. "Chase did what all players are taught to
do in this situation - break up the double play. We routinely see plays at
second base similar to this one that have not resulted in suspensions. Chase
feels terrible about Ruben Tejada's injury and everyone who knows him knows
that he would never intentionally hurt anybody. We will be appealing this
suspension immediately." Torre responded to Wolfe's criticism on FS1. "I
can't worry about what's happened in the past," Torre said. "I'm just
worried about what I saw and the fact that we're trying to have rules that will
keep these players on the field. It's unfortunate. Chase Utley's a great
player. He's always played hard. I've always admired that about him.
Unfortunately this time his playing hard, it just happened to have a bad
result." When asked about a possible rule change for runners sliding into
second, Torre said: "I know you want to upend the second baseman or shortstop
because he has the ball and to break up the double play, but I think we're more
concerned about keeping guys on the field, so we're talking more. In fact, in
the Arizona Fall League we're doing some testing on having the players go into
second base as opposed to going for the infielder." The Mets issued this
statement: "The New York Mets completely support the decision made by
Major League Baseball to suspend Chase Utley for two games and feel this was
the appropriate course of action. With this decision behind us, the team and
our fans can now focus on playing winning baseball." The last time a
Dodgers player was suspended in the postseason was reliever Jay Howell, who was
suspended for three days after being found to have pine tar on his glove during
Game 3 of the 1988 National League Championship Series against the Mets. The
suspension was reduced to two days after his appeal.
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 1-0-0 on this day.
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