The 2022 MLB season is entering a brave new world, a 12-team playoff stage that will decide a championship next month. The explosion of high-stakes baseball pits eight teams against each other — the Guarders-Rays, Cardinals-Phillies, Blue Jays-Mariners, Mets-Padres — for the cut. And it gets really fast.New best-of-three wild-card series begins Friday The priests humbled Max Scherzer and The Phillies are at St. louis.
The No. 1 seed they will face in the next round is familiar— Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees. But it is certain that some of these challengers want to overturn baseball’s existing world order.
First, they have to get through the weekend. Saturday will see three home teams, with the higher-seeded teams facing the knockout rounds.
Game 2: San Diego Padres at New York Mets – 7:37 p.m. ESPN (Padres lead, 1-0)
Game 2: Philadelphia Phillies at St. St. Louis Cardinals – 8:37 p.m., ESPN2 (Phillies lead, 1-0)
[Here’s the full TV schedule for the MLB postseason]
Follow all Saturday’s events here.
Mariners roar back from 7-point deficit to eliminate Blue Jays
In their first postseason since 2001, the Mariners are advancing to the ALDS in dramatic fashion. After winning Friday’s Game 1, Seattle fell 8-1 in the fifth inning of Saturday’s Game 2 against the Blue Jays. Then…… Fans of Seattle Watch Party Invent ‘Rally Shoes’ The sailors began to assemble.
They cut the deficit to three on a wild pitch and homered Carlos Santana in the sixth. The Blue Jays then went into the eighth inning with a 9-5 lead. Blue Jays reliever Anthony Buss started the inning but gave up a direct hit without recording an out. Toronto got closer to Jordan Romano’s entry and got two strikeouts before Mariners shortstop JP Crawford hit the midfield with a loaded base.
Blue Jays center fielder George Springer and shortstop Beau Bichette got together in a horrific collision that left Springer injured on the lawn. All three runners scored to tie the game. In the ninth inning, Adam Frazier and recurring Seattle hero Karl Raleigh strung a double to give the Mariners the lead.
After using a massive bullpen, the Mariners turned to rookie starter George Kirby to close out a 10-9 victory and the team’s first playoff series win since the 2001 ALDS. They go forward to face the Astros, their AL West rivals and torturers.
Guardians home run Reese to break scoreless tie in 15th inning
Anyone needed 15 innings to score, but Cleveland Guardians rookie Oscar Gonzalez scored well. A resounding homer in the bottom of the 15th gave the Guardians a 1-0 win as they advanced to the ALDS against the New York Yankees, and the Tampa Bay Rays were sent home on Saturday.
Gonzalez, a 24-year-old outfielder who used the theme song from “SpongeBob SquarePants” as his walk music, was the only player in the game to hit more than one at-bat. The pitchers dominated Game 2, starting with the Guardians’ Triston McKenzie and the Rays’ Tyler Glasnow. The eighth Cleveland pitcher of the day, reliever Sam Hentges, struck out three innings for the win.
The Rays became the first team to be eliminated in the new wild-card series, scoring a total of one point in 24 innings.
Need to catch up on the main storyline as the playoffs roll in? We’ve got you covered.