Royals And Mets Take The Early Leads

YESTERDAY IN POSTSEASON PLAY:

The Royals continued to prove that a team is more important in the post season than any one player as they came back to defeat David Price and the Blue Jays to take a two game lead in the ALCS. In the NL, Matt Harvey and the Mets put a slight crack in the Cubs glass slipper, pulling off the win in the opening game of the Championship Series. So far my predictions for these series are not looking very good but there is still a lot of baseball left to play.

Royals Top Blue Jays 6-3

These Royals just never believe they're out of it. For the second time this postseason, the defending American League champions staged a highly improbable comeback, erupting for five runs in the bottom of the seventh off Blue Jays left-hander David Price, wiping out a three-run deficit and paving the way for a 6-3 victory Saturday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium in Game 2 of the AL Championship Series. Kansas City has won nine straight ALCS games overall, going back to the 1985 series against Toronto. The longest ALCS winning streak belongs to the Orioles, who won 10 in a row from 1969-73. The Royals are also the 26th team to take a 2-0 lead in an LCS since it moved to a best-of-seven format in 1985. Of the previous 25 teams, 22 advanced to the World Series. The only exceptions are the 2004 Yankees (vs. Red Sox), 1985 Blue Jays (vs. Royals) and '85 Dodgers (vs. Cardinals).

Mets Tame Cubs 4-2

October grew serious Saturday on a blustery night at Citi Field, for a Mets team and a fan base suddenly boasting heady goals. Fans filtered into the ballpark wearing heavy coats and ski hats, bracing against winds that made the mid-40s temperatures feel even colder. It was amid those conditions that Matt Harvey reclaimed a sold-out crowd's adoration, pitching into the eighth inning of the Mets' 4-2 National League Championship Series Game 1 win over the Cubs. Daniel Murphy and Travis d'Arnaud homered off Jon Lester to back Harvey, who struck out nine in snapping Chicago's nine-game winning streak over the Mets.

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

CURRENT POSTSEASON PICTURE:

National League Championship Series

New York leads series 1-0

Game 2: Sunday, October 18, at 8:00 PM

American League Championship Series

Kansas City leads series 2-0

Game 3: Monday, October 19, at 8:00 PM

PHILS PHACTS:

Enter The Next Candidate – The Phillies are inching closer to deciding on Ruben Amaro Jr.'s successor as general manager, and a new name has surfaced in the mix of candidates. Matt Slater, the Cardinals' director of player personnel, interviewed for the position last week, according to a Major League source. Slater joins former Marlins general manager Larry Beinfest as the known candidates to have interviewed for the job, according to sources. Those sources also indicated Angels assistant general manager Matt Klentak has interviewed. CBSSports.com reported Indians vice president of player personnel Ross Atkins interviewed last week. Royals assistant general manager J.J. Picollo has been reported as a strong candidate for the job. He grew up in Cherry Hill, N.J. MLB vice president of baseball operations Kim Ng has been reported as a possibility, but others are believed to be higher on Phillies president Andy MacPhail's list. The Phillies have not confirmed the report. After stints in the front offices of the Brewers, Orioles, Angels and Dodgers, Slater joined the Cards in 2007 and was named to his current position in January 2012. He is one of general manager John Mozeliak's prime point men on player acquisitions at the Major League, Minor League and amateur levels, and he has assisted in negotiations and roster composition. The Phillies officially announced Wednesday that Andy MacPhail has replaced Pat Gillick as team president, and MacPhail has been conducting the interviews for the GM vacancy over the last two weeks. He has said he hopes to announce Amaro's replacement before the end of the month.

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! However, there are some former Phillies still making headlines in the playoffs this year.