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Three teams clinched berths in the League Championship Series (Serieses?) yesterday, with the NLCS now set, and the ALCS awaiting the result of tonight’s game to be locked in.
The Atlanta Braves were the first team to advance, jumping on the Miami Marlins early and cruising to a 7-0 victory to sweep the series. The Braves are now 5-0 so far in the postseason, winning four of the five games by shutout.
The Braves will face the Los Angeles Dodgers, who, like the Braves, took an early lead yesterday and won by a 12-3 score late in the night. The Dodgers are also 5-0 so far in the postseason.
Los Angeles and Atlanta will face off in the NLCS at Globe Life Field beginning Monday, October 12. There will be no off days, which means the two teams will potentially be playing every day for a week, with a potential Game 7 being played on Sunday, October 18.
When the playoffs started, my main desire was that neither the Marlins nor the Astros made the World Series. The Marlins are now out, but the Astros are just one step away from the World Series after beating the A’s by a score of 11-6 last night. Houston took an 11-4 lead into the 9th, but when the A’s rallied, I held out a faint hope that Oakland might have the type of epic comeback that would allow us to have a good larf at the Astros’ expense. Alas, Houston finished off the A’s, won the series 3-1, and have made their fourth straight ALCS.
The Tampa Bay Rays were trying to seize a berth in the ALCS against the Astros yesterday, up 2-1 in their series with the New York Yankees, but the Yankees shut down the Rays bats and won 5-1. The winner-take-all Game 5 between the Rays and Yankees will take place tonight, with the winner advancing to face Houston.
The ALCS starts Sunday, October 11, and like the NLCS, will have no offdays, so we would have a potential Game 7 on Saturday, October 17.