World News – United States – The Wright Stuff

The Yankees avoided elimination with a narrow victory over the Rays on Thursday night, forcing a showdown with the winner for Game 5 of the ALDS Friday night, featuring a pair of former tricky-throwing pirates – Gerrit Cole and Tyler Glasnow – resting extremely short One of those franchises will punch his ticket to face the Astros, who knocked out the Athletics in a playoff game on Thursday, qualifying for the ALCS for the fourth consecutive year

There is no more drama left on the senior tour, where the NLCS game is already scheduled It will be the Dodgers and Braves who face off in Game 1 on Monday at Globe Life Field in Arlington Rookie right-hander Kyle Wright threw six scoreless frames, helping the Braves dump the Marlins with a three-game streak sweep left-hander Julio Urias shot five solid frames in relief, and the Dodgers’ offense provided seven unanswered runs to send the upstart Padres in. a three-game series Here’s a full rundown of everything that happened in Thursday’s four-game playoffs

With the Marlins on the brink of elimination Thursday afternoon, rookie sensation Sixto Sanchez couldn’t keep their miraculous playoff series alive The electrifying 22-year-old right-hander escaped a base-laden jam in the second inning, but wasn’t so lucky in the frame that followed when the Braves’ offense erupted for four of three points hits, a walk and a sacrificial fly Old friend Marcell Ozuna broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single to right field, tackling Ronald Acuña, who had a single and swept the second to start the game. Soaring hitter Travis d’Arnaud followed with a two-run brace before Dansby Swanson ended the four-point blast with a sacrificial fly The Braves nailed three more insurance runs over the next two frames, thus eliminating any hope of the Marlins’ return, and returning their ticket to the NLCS for the first time since 2001

Sizzling Braves offense, Kyle Wright was brilliant in his playoff debut The 25-year-old right-hander recorded seven strikeouts and scattered three hits in six scoreless innings He threw 52 of 88 shots for strikes and also generated 11 swinging strikes He encountered a base loaded jam in the third inning, but managed to win over a late inning pitch from Jazz Chisholm and struck out nine straight batters to close out the stellar performance The former first-round pick has been a disappointment during the condensed regular season, recording a pedestrian 521 ERA, 155 WHIP and 30/24 K / BB in 38 innings (eight), but made substantial changes in his last five. starts In addition to moving to the first base side of the rubber, he began to lean much more heavily on his lead These subtle changes have improved his control and leadership, giving him a chance to be an effective starter in the big leagues in the future.

And then: The Braves advance to face the Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Monday at Globe Life Field in Arlington Braves manager Brian Snitker pulled all the right levers up Now in the playoffs They’ve won five straight games and their starting rotation – led by Max Fried, Ian Anderson and Wright – allowed just four runs with a 33/5 K / BB ratio in 28 2/3 innings ( five starts) The Braves’ survey enclosure was even more impressive, allowing just one run with 26 strikeouts out of 20 1/3 frames this month

Michael Brantley hit two homers, Carlos Correa pitched a three-run homerun, and Jose Altuve also went deep as the Astros emerged victorious from a high-scoring brawl on Thursday afternoon, knocking out the ‘Athletics, division rival, in fierce bout, best-of-five series Ramon Laureano was a one-man demolition crew, completing a pair of home runs, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Athletics avoids elimination The two teams combined for 24 round trips, the most playoffs in a five-game series and the fourth in all playoffs

Facing elimination, the Athletics quickly took the lead when Laureano threw a three-run homer against Zack Greinke in the second inning He also tacked on a solo shot in the fifth inning for good measure The right-hander 36-year-old veteran, whose health remains a question mark due to pain in his right arm, returned four runs in 4 2/3 innings It wasn’t a vintage performance by Greinke, but it was enough to give the Astros’ formidable offense a chance to eventually outdo Athletics in the high-octane, jet stream-fueled offensive environment at Dodger Stadium.

Frankie Montas held the Astros in check early on before losing in the fourth inning He allowed five straight hitters to reach safely to open the frame, and all of them eventually crossed the plate, thanks to a Brantley’s two-run homer and a three-run blast by Correa – who finished 3-for -5 with one homerun and five RBIs – later in the frame Things didn’t go much easier for the pen track and field relievers as Brantley completed a solo homerun off JB Wendelken in the fifth inning and the Astros nailed five more insurance points to build an insurmountable lead He won’t make headlines, but the right-hander Rookie Cristian Javier deserves some recognition after throwing 2 1/3 scoreless frames in relief, closing the gap to bring Ryan Pressly closer in this one

What’s Next: The Astros return to the American League Championship Series for the fourth consecutive year, despite ending the truncated 2020 regular season with a record under-500 (29-31), and absorbing the loss of the Future Hall of Fame starting pitcher Justin Verlander as well They will face the Yankees or Rays – who will play Game 5 of their ALDS game on Friday – in the ALCS game opener at Petco Park in San Diego on Sunday

Crushing loss represents gargantuan missed opportunity for Athletics Despite the absence of superstar third baseman Matt Chapman due to injury, this has perhaps been one of their best opportunities to make a playoff race with their current base group Their young core of talented starting pitchers extend their playoff window a few more years, but they could potentially lose a pair of key impending free agents, shortstop Marcus Semien and closer Liam Hendriks, this offseason. They have become key contributors over the past few seasons and will be extremely difficult to replace with in-house talent or autonomous agent imports. Athletics won’t be going anytime soon, but this one really hurts, especially since ‘They were seven games better than the Astros in the shortened regular season

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Luke Voit crushed a solo homerun and Gleyber Torres pulled off a two-run blast, propelling the Yankees to a series-tied win over the Rays on Thursday night at Petco Park in San Diego As the best-of-five streak heads to a deciding Game 5 on Friday night, New York will hand the ball over to resting ace Gerrit Cole The 30-year-old right-hander gave up three earned runs in six innings, while racking up eight strikeouts, picking up a win in the series opener on Monday Tampa Bay to block with right-hander Tyler Glasnow Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters he plans to use an ‘off-road’ approach as Glasnow will only work on two days off after striking out 10 batters in six innings to clinch a win in Game 2 on Tuesday It seems highly unlikely that Glasnow would be allowed to go through the Yankees lineup more than once before the Rays look to southpaw Blake Snell for three days off It’s also worth noting that Rays stopper Nick Anderson hasn’t pitched since Game 2 of the series and will likely be available for multiple innings in the series finale.

Voit, who led the major leagues with 22 round-trippers in the shortened regular season, kicked off the scoring with no doubt tossing left field to Rays opener Ryan Thompson in the second inning Torres nailed a pair of key insurance runs with a two-run moonshine to left-hander Ryan Yarbrough in the sixth inning with the Yankees’ offense fully operational, clubbing Thompson and Yarbrough at the start of the contest, left-hander Jordan Montgomery made the most decisive start to his young career Making his first appearance since September 24, the 27-year-old left-hander gave up a four-run race before giving a tight lead to a well-rested enclosure Chad Green and Zack Britton threw 3 2/3 shutout images before Yankees manager Aaron Boone no longer called Aroldis Chapman to record the last four withdrawals from the contest The Rays had several opportunities to level the deal for the low scores, but only managed three combined hits and went 0 for 4 with the runners in goal position The Yankees also appeared to finally solve Randy Arozarena’s conundrum, keeping him out of the basepaths – and without a round – tripper – for the first time in the series The 25-year-old playoff sensation went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts in the losing effort

And then: It’s entirely possible that the Rays missed their best opportunity to fire the Most Favored Yankees in this best-of-five series They’ll have to overcome an extremely difficult challenge against Cole in Game 5 decisive Friday to advance to the American League championship series for the first time since 2008 Cole will be resting on a short rest, but acquiring the brand free agent is exactly what the Yankees want on the mound with a rematch against the Astros pending. « You still want to be out there in the big time, » Cole told reporters Thursday night. After losing to the Astros in 2017 and 2019, it’s safe to say the Pinstripes will be highly motivated to take revenge on the ALCS

Despite implementing a questionable half-opening strategy involving Dustin May and Adam Kolarek, before handing the ball over to left-hander Julio Urias to escape a base-laden jam in the second inning, the Dodgers attack eventually came to the rescue, exploding for an unanswered seven points in a series victory over the parched Padres Injuries to frontline rookies Mike Clevinger and Dinelson Lamet forced the Padres to rely heavily on their well-stocked enclosure in this series, and they just couldn’t resist a formidable Dodgers roster over the course of three seemingly sold-out games They used a postseason record of 11 pitchers to complete nine frames in the Yikes playoff loss

Urias is the author of one of the most dominant performances of his young career in a critical place for the Dodgers, extinguishing the Padres’ hopes of making a comeback in the best-of-five series The Southpaw of 24 ans was charged with a run – zero won – on a hit, and also recorded six strikeouts in five innings out of the relieving box More importantly, he stabilized their pitching staff, giving the offense time to respond with a bit of running support, when it looked like it could potentially get out of hand at the start. Will Smith went 5-for-6 with three RBIs as the Dodgers racked up 12 runs on 14 hits without a ball leaving the court

And then: Dodgers face the Braves in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Monday at Globe Life Field in Arlington Clearly the Padres are going to be really good for a long time.Booming superstar Fernando Tatis Jr is has become a cornerstone of the franchise and the potential face of the game in the future There is no more compelling team to follow The Dodgers Dynasty is still strong, but the Padres are only just beginning It won’t be the last once these two teams meet in October

Major League Baseball Quick Hits: According to a report by Evan Drellich of The Athletic on Thursday, the qualifying offer for the looming offseason free agent class will be $ 18.9 million, an increase compared to $ 17 8 million last year Qualifying offer is based on the average salaries of the 125 highest paid players in the game Catch Phillies JT Realmuto, Reds right-hander Trevor Bauer, Astros outfielder George Springer and Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu are virtual locks to receive qualifying offers this offseason Track and field shortstop Marcus Semien , Astros outfielder Michael Brantley, Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius and track rapper Liam Hendriks are also qualified candidates. Any team that signs a player who has rejected a qualifying offer is subject to the loss of one or more selections in the next 2021 MLB Draft, which allows teams losing a high profile free agent to receive some form of compensation.

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Justin Turner and the Los Angeles Dodgers took the first leg of what they hope will be a long stay in the Lone Star State Turner put the Dodgers in the lead with record success in a big heat fueled by a pretty Fernando Tatis Jr’s stop-go-bad, and they finished a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres’ NL Division Series with a 12-3 win on Thursday night ‘Records are cool, Championships are better’ ‘said Turner, who was part of the 2017 and 2018 National League championship teams that failed in the World Series.

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Manager Kevin Cash and the Tampa Bay Rays introduced the opening concept of modern baseball two years ago With a chance to close their AL Division series against the Yankees on Thursday night, they were bitten by their own creation The Rays fell behind in the second inning of Game 4 and never caught up after rookie rookie Ryan Thompson gave up two hits, three steps and two runs in 1 2/3 innings in his second career start

Three years after a sign-stealing ploy propelled the Astros to their first championship, the Houston all-star roster did little during the regular season to calm criticism that it couldn’t. hit only when she was cheating Carlos Correa hit a three-run homerun after Michael Brantley’s two-runner shot in the fourth inning, helping the Astros beat the Oakland Athletics 11-6 on Thursday to end their four-game home streak «  We haven’t shown it too much this season, but this roster can do it every night,  » left fielder Kyle Tucker said.

New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Aaron Boone