The Cubs even the other Division Series with a 6 – 3 win at St. Louis. The Cubs score five times against Jaime Garcia in the 2nd, including back-to-back successful squeeze bunts. The Cardinals hit three homers, but they are all solo shots.
The Mets are cruising along with a 2 – 1 lead behind rookie Noah Syndergaard in the 7th inning of Game 2 of the NLDS when Chase Utley barrels into SS Ruben Tejada to break up a potential inning-ending double play. He not only succeeds, but also breaks Tejada’s leg in the process while the Mets vainly argue for an interference call. Major League Baseball will hand Utley a two-game suspension for his unnecessarily violent slide, but in the meantime, Los Angeles takes advantage of the controversial play to score four runs in the inning and ends up a 5 – 2 winner, evening the series.
The Rangers take a two games to none lead in the ALDS when they string together four consecutive two-out singles in the 14th inning to defeat Toronto, 6 – 4. Both teams score three times in the first couple of innings before things settle down.
The Royals fall into an early 4 – 1 hole in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Astros, but Johnny Cueto settles down, and they tie the game after Scott Kazmir leaves the game in the 6th. A triple by Alcides Escobar and a single by Ben Zobrist account for the go-ahead run in the 7th, and Ryan Madson and Wade Davis nail down the 5 – 4 win that evens the series.
In the NLDS, the Mets hand Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw his fifth straight postseason loss as Jacob deGrom outpitches him in a 3 – 1 win. Daniel Murphy homers for New York while Justin Turner hits a pair of doubles for Los Angeles.
In the other NLDS, John Lackey is the star, pitching 7 1/3 innings during which he gives up no runs on two hits, making a 1-0 Cardinals lead dating back to the 1st inning hold. The Cards score three more runs in the bottom of the 8th, on a pinch-hit homer by Tommy Pham and a two-run shot by Stephen Piscotty, and end up 4 – 0 winners over the Cubs and Jon Lester.
2015 – In Game 1 of the A.L.D.S. in Kansas City, Collin McHugh gives the Astros a leg up in the series with a 5-2 victory. The Astros jump on Yordano Ventura for three runs in the first two innings before a 49-minute rain delay. George Springer and Colby Rasmus later go deep. McHugh works around the raindrops for six innings of four-hit pitching before a quartet or relievers close it out.
The Astros win Game 1 of the other ALDS, as they score 3 runs off Yordano Ventura in the first two innings, before he is pulled from the game following a 49-minute rain delay. Kendrys Morales hits a pair of solo homers to bring the Royals within one run, but solo shots by George Springer and Colby Rasmus makes the final score 5 – 2 in favor of Houston.
The Rangers stun the Blue Jays with a 5 – 3 win at the Rogers Centre in Game 1 of the ALDS in the Jays’ first postseason appearance since winning the 1993 World Series. The bottom of the batting order does the damage, as number 8 hitter Rougned Odor homers and scores three runs, while number 9 Robinson Chirinos hits a two-run homer. All five Texas runs come against American League ERA leader David Price. Jose Bautista homers for the Jays in his first career postseason game.
2015 – The Cubs defeat the Pirates, 4 – 0, in the Wild Card Game thanks to a four-hit shutout by Jake Arrieta and homers by Kyle Schwarber and Dexter Fowler off Gerrit Cole. The Bucs are out of the postseason after a 98-win season.