Daily Dose: Soler Power
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Jorge Soler didn’t start either of the Cubs’ first two postseason games, but it’s probably safe to say he’s locked into the lineup at this point.
Soler smacked a two-run homer, singled and walked twice in Monday’s NLDS Game 3 victory over the Cardinals. His longball against Adam Wainwright extended the Cubs’ one-run lead to a much more comfortable three-run margin in the sixth inning. Soler has now reached base in each of his first nine plate appearances of the playoffs, which is a postseason record.
Of course, Soler wasn’t the only Cub to get in on the longball action. The wind was blowing out at Wrigley Field and it helped lead to a postseason-record six home runs for Chicago. Dexter Fowler, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro and Kyle Schwarber also went deep, as each of the Cubs first six hitters in the lineup all homered.
The Cardinals hit a couple dingers of their own, with Jason Heyward and Stephen Piscotty tallying shots. They were able to muster four runs over 5 2/3 innings against the previously untouchable Jake Arrieta, but the Cards simply weren’t able to keep up in the slugfest.
The Cards will turn to John Lackey on short rest in Game 4 Tuesday as they try to stave off elimination. Pitching on short rest is never ideal, but Lackey holds a 1.69 ERA in two short-rest playoff starts in his career and manager Mike Matheny thinks the veteran gives the club their best chance to send the series back to St. Louis. He’ll be opposed by Jason Hammel, who had a strong season overall but who struggled with a 5.10 second-half ERA.
Both the Cardinals and Cubs could be without key pieces of their lineup Tuesday, as Yadier Molina aggravated his left thumb injury Monday and Addison Russell tweaked his left hamstring. Both players will be re-evaluated Tuesday before their status is determined.
Royals Complete Improbable Comeback
After a magical postseason run in 2014, it looked after seven innings of Game 4 of the ALDS against the Astros Monday that the Royals’ playoff stay in 2015 would be a short one. However, we should know better at this point than to count the pesky Kansas City bunch out of it.
The Astros took a 6-2 lead in the seventh Monday following back-to-back home runs from Carlos Correa and Colby Rasmus, but the Royals responded with five runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth to complete a jaw-dropping comeback. The rally in the eighth inning was put together with the lack of an extra-base hit, as the Royals had five singles, drew two walks and scored a couple runs on an error. Eric Hosmer’s two-run shot in the ninth inning provided an exclamation point.
Kansas City’s comeback overshadowed what was an absurd game from Correa. The 21-year-old wunderkind was struck on the left elbow by a pitch in the first inning and looked to be considerable pain but remained in. From there, he launched a solo homer, an RBI double, a two-run homer and a single. Correa has at least one hit in all four ALDS contests so far.
The matchup back in Kansas City for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Wednesday will be Collin McHugh versus Johnny Cueto. McHugh won Game 1 with six-innings of two-run ball while sitting through an hour-long rain delay. Cueto was knocked around for four runs across six frames in a Game 2 no-decision, continuing a downward trend that started in late August. The Royals traded for Cueto to have him pitch in games such as this, so we’ll see if he’s able to step up.
Jays Push Series Back to Toronto
It was pretty shocking to see the Blue Jays drop each of the first two games of the ALDS against the Rangers in Toronto. But panic, the Jays did not.
After winning Game 3 on Sunday 5-1, Toronto completed a convincing 8-4 victory over Texas on Monday in Game 4. This one was over early, as the Blue Jays were up 2-0 on Derek Holland five pitches into the game and knocked him out after the left-hander yielded six runs over two-plus frames. They built up an 8-1 lead before the Rangers tacked on a few late runs to make the game look a little closer than it was.
The Jays did their usual thing Monday and cranked out three homers, but the most interesting aspect was David Price going three innings (and allowing three runs) in relief of R.A. Dickey, who was pulled despite a 7-1 lead with two outs in the fifth. Price’s extended relief appearance Monday means that it will be Marcus Stroman taking the ball in Game 5 in Toronto on Wednesday.
Stroman will be opposed by Cole Hamels in what will be a rematch of Game 2. Stroman pitched well that day after a slow start and left with a lead only to have the Jays’ bullpen blow it. It’s pretty remarkable to think that Stroman made his first start of the season just one month ago after recovering from an ACL tear and is now being trusted in a winner-take-all game.
Mets Blow Out Dodgers
Many hot-headed Mets fans wanted the club to hit a Dodgers batter or two in Game 3 on Monday in retaliation for Chase Utley injuring Ruben Tejada on a takeout slide in Game 2. The team decided to hit them on the scoreboard instead.
The Mets had to overcome an early 3-0 deficit Monday but did so with a flurry of runs in the second through fourth innings. Curtis Granderson’s bases-clearing double in the second was the first big blow, and then it was Travis d’Arnaud’s two-run homer in the third and Yoenis Cespedes’ mammoth three-run shot in the fourth. New York had built a 10-3 lead by that point and cruised to a 13-7 victory.
Brett Anderson was chased early in this one, as the Dodgers’ southpaw quickly gave up his early lead and wound up yielding six runs across three frames. Matt Harvey was much better, but he wasn’t great. The Dodgers scored three runs on the right-hander in the second inning, although only two of them were earned. Harvey was able to escape trouble in the next few frames and left after five innings having already thrown 97 pitches.
The Dodgers, not surprisingly, have decided to turn to Clayton Kershaw on short rest in Game 4, a move manager Don Mattingly announced even before they lost Monday. Kershaw has pitched on short rest in each of the last two NLDS and has fared well, although he did eventually cough up the lead least year against St. Louis. It was a no-brainer to start him over Alex Wood with the ability to bring back Zack Greinke on normal rest in a potential Game 5. The Mets will send talented rookie Steven Matz to the bump against Kershaw.
Quick Hits: Ryan Braun recently underwent successful surgery on his lower back ... Utley’s suspension appeal for his takeout slide that injured Tejada will not be heard until at least Wednesday. Tejada will not need surgery to repair the injury ... Ron Gardenhire will interview for the Padres’ vacant managerial position ... Dylan Bundy (shoulder) threw another successful bullpen session on Monday ...
