CLEVELAND – Saturday was a wild night in the Major League Baseball playoffs, including a mixed bag of results for former Red Sox heroes Terry Francona and Dave Roberts.
FRANCONA’S GUARDIANS STUN YANKEES
Oscar Gonzalez hit a two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning, rallying the Cleveland Guardians to a 6-5 win over New York on Saturday night for a 2-1 lead in their AL Division Series.
Gonzalez, a postseason hero just a week ago, lined a 1-2 pitch from Clarke Schmidt through the middle to score rookie Steven Kwan and Amed Rosario as the young Guardians, who have shown no fear during this storybook season, rallied once again and pushed the Yankees to the brink of elimination.
“We’ve seen it in two series so far from this guy,” Guardians starter Triston McKenzie said. “He comes up in the 15th inning and hits a home run, has a game-winning hit in another game, has the hit tonight.
“There’s a maturity level at the plate you don’t see all the time.”
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer for New York, which carried a 5-3 lead into the ninth before its bullpen flopped and the Guardians staged yet another comeback win.
As Rosario crossed the plate, Gonzalez flung his helmet in the air as his teammates rushed onto the field to mob him. The 24-year-old outfielder hit a walk-off homer in the 15th inning last week to sweep the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild-card round.
Game 4 is Sunday night, when the Yankees turn to ace Gerrit Cole to prevent an early postseason exit.
END OF THE ROAD
Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and the Dodgers dropped three straight to the Padres in a painful NLDS defeat after the best regular-season record in club history (111-51) and manager Roberts’ prediction during spring training that they’d win the World Series.
“Shock factor, very high. Disappointment, very high. It’s crushing,” Roberts said. “Each guy gave everything they had all year long, and a tremendous season. The great thing about baseball is the unpredictability, and the tough thing about it is the same thing.
“Nothing I can say is going to make it feel any better. Obviously we didn’t expect to be in this position,” he added.
The Dodgers are left with an empty feeling. They won the NL West for the ninth time in 10 seasons and finished 22 games ahead of San Diego. The Dodgers went 14-5 against the Padres in the regular season and had won nine straight regular-season series against them.
“These guys dominated us all year long, but we got hot at the right time,” Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove said. “It’s a good feeling.”
EIGHTEEN-INNING MARATHON
The Houston Astros are going back to the AL Championship Series for the sixth straight year.
One big swing by Jeremy Peña was enough.
Peña homered in the 18th inning, and Houston beat the Seattle Mariners 1-0 on Saturday for a three-game sweep of their AL Division Series. Luis Garcia worked five innings for the win, finishing a stellar effort by the Astros bullpen.
Houston started its ALCS streak with its 2017 World Series championship. It was eliminated in the ALCS in 2018 and 2020, and it lost in the World Series in 2019 against Washington and last year against Atlanta.
“Once you’ve been through it and then you go through it again and again and again, and then you sort of expect excellence, and that’s what this team expects out of itself,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said.
Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies advanced to the NLCS with an 8-3 victory over the Braves on Saturday in Game 4 of their best-of-five Division Series. It’s the first NLCS appearance for Philly since 2010.
They’ll open Tuesday at San Diego in an all-wild card NLCS after the Padres stunned the 111-win Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 to win their Division Series in four games. San Diego is in the NLCS for the first time in 24 years.
Next up for this year’s Astros is Game 1 against the New York Yankees or Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday in Houston. Cleveland can advance with one more win against New York in Game 4 of their ALDS on Sunday night.
SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE
ALDS Game 4: New York Yankees at Cleveland, 7:07 p.m., TBS
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