NLDS: Yaider Molina Keeps Cardinals Alive; ALDS: Charlie Morton Rescues Rays; Yankees sweep Twins, Move On

Players of the Day for Monday, October 7, 2019

American League

Morton dominates Astros

Tampa Bay Rays 10 Houston Astros 3

Charlie Morton struck out nine and gave up one run over five innings as the Rays took game three of their series against the Astros and avoided elimination in the division series.

Morton allowed just three hits. Jose Altuve's first inning solo homer was the only run scored off Morton, who needed just 93 pitches to notch the victory.

Lifted after the fifth inning, Morton left confidently with an 8-1 lead. The Rays belted four home runs, three of them off Houston starter, Zack Greinke, who was battered for six earned runs over 3 2/3 innings.

Houston leads the series, two games to one. Game four is Tuesday, in Tampa, at 7:07 pm ET.

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New York Yankees 5 Minnesota Twins 1

The New York Yankees are moving on, heading to the AL Championship Series after sweeping the Minnesota Twins three straight in the divisional round. New York's 5-1 win. New York awaits the winner of the Houston-Tampa Bay series.

National League

St. Louis Cardinals 5 Atlanta Braves 4, 10 innings

Molina delivers for Cards

Marcell Ozuna slugged a pair of solo homers, and Yadier Molina drove in the tying and winning runs as the Cardinals evened their series with the Braves at two games apiece.

With one out in the eighth and the Braves ahead, 4-3, Paul Goldschmidt doubled to left. After Ozuna struck out, Molina lifted a soft liner that glanced off first baseman Freddie Freeman's glove, scoring Goldschmidt with the tying run.

After the Braves failed to score in the top of the ninth and 10th innings, Kolton Wong led off the bottom of the 10th with a ground rule double off Atlanta hurler, Julio Teheran. After Goldschmidt was intentionally walked, Ozuna grounded into a fielder's choice, with Goldschmidt out at second. Wong moved to third.

On the first pitch he saw, Molina lifted a fly ball to deep left, which easily plated Wong with the winning run, setting off an on-field celebration by the Cardinals.

The St. Louis win means a deciding game five will be played in Atlanta on Wednesday. First pitch is slated for 5:02 pm ET.

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Washington Nationals 6 Los Angeles Dodgers 1

Max Scherzer delivered seven strong innings as the Nationals tied their best-of-five divisional series with the Dodgers at two games apiece, winning game four, in Washington. Scherzer allowed one earned run on four hits, fanning seven.

Ryan Zimmerman's three-run homer capped a four run fifth inning that propelled the Nats to the win, forcing game five Wednesday (8:37 pm ET) in Los Angeles.

AL and NL Wild Card Previews: Brewers at Nationals; Rays at A's

MLB Wild Card Previews

National League

NL Wild Card: Milwaukee Brewers at Washington Nationals, Tuesday, October 1, 8:00 pm ET.

Scherzer: Nationals' starter

The Milwaukee Brewers face the Washington Nationals in the NL Wild Card elimination game. The winner heads to Los Angeles to meet the Dodgers in a five-game divisional playoff series. The loser goes home.

Brandon Woodruff gets the start for Milwaukee. He's 11-3 with a 3.62 ERA this season, and started just 22 games for the Brewers. The good news is that he's the best pitcher the Brewers have. On the downside, they're very weak in the bullpen, though Woodruff - unless the Nats tee off on him - should be able to go six or seven innings.

Max Scherzer should bring his "A" game, at least that's what the Nationals hope he will do. With a mark of 11-7 on the regular season, this was not a typical year for Scherzer. His ERA is still strong, at 2.92, and his 243 strikeouts were third in the NL, despite starting only four games in July and August combined.

What's concerning about Scherzer is that he was 6-0 with a 1.00 ERA in June, but just 2-2 in September. His longest September outing was 6 2/3 innings in a loss to St. Louis in which he allowed seven hits and five earned runs. Scherzer's September ERA is a whopping 5.16.

While the Brewers were red hot in September, they cooled off just in time to let the Cardinals win the Central division by two games. They were 20-4 for the month before being swept in Colorado the final three games of the season.

The Nationals went through a rough, 4-8, patch at the start of September, but finished strong, going 8-0 in the final stretch, including a five-game sweep of the Phillies and finishing up with a three-game sweep of Cleveland, all of those wins coming at home.

There are mixed signals for both clubs. Washington has momentum Scherzer, and home field, while the Brewers have a losing record on the road, their top hurler and a potent offense. The Nationals are heavily favored, but this match-up appears to be a lot closer than the consensus considers.


American League

AL Wild Card: Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics, Wednesday, October 2, 8:00 pm ET.

Pham: Rays' sparkplug

While the A's have yet to name a starter as of this writing, the Rays are going with their ace, Charlie Morton, who had a sensational season, racking up a 16-6 record with a 3.03 ERA. In 33 starts, Morton has struck out 240 in 194 2/3 innings, fifth-best in the AL.

Morton has the ability to go fairly deep into games on a team that has a versatile pitching staff with multiple role players. The Rays' ability to mix and match may serve them well in a one-game scenario. Despite not being adorned with big bats or superstar players, Tampa does everything with team in mind, seldom makes mistakes and can capitalize on opponents' miscues.

The A's definitely have the upper hand when it comes to hitting and power. Though their team average was .249 compared to Tampa Bay's .254, they had more home runs (257-217), RBI (800-730) and runs (845-769). Seven different players for the A's had 20 or more home runs, led by Matt Chapman and Matt Olsen, each with 36.

Tampa Bay will look for offensive spark from Tommy Pham and Willy Adames. Austin Meadows is their power guy, with 33 homers and 89 RBI.

This looks to be a tight one. Whoever starts for the A's will be expected to go at least four innings. Both teams were subjected to a tight wild card race which used up most of their resources until the final two games of the season. Having an extra day of recovery will aid both pitching staffs. The loser goes home, while the winner of this game heads to Houston to play a best-of-five divisional series.

Charlie Morton Fans 13 In Houston Win; Matt Carpenter 5-for-5 As Cards Top Tribe

Players of the Day for Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Morton 7 IP, O ER, 13 K

American League

While Luis Severino was blanking the Phillies en route to becoming the AL's first 12-game winner, Houston's Charlie Morton wasn't exactly fooling around with Toronto's hitters, fanning 13 over seven strong innings in the Astros' 7-0 triumph.

Morton threw 67 of 98 pitches for strikes, walked two and allowed four hits, improving to 10-1 on the year. He's struck out 122 in 95 2/3 innings, ranking him seventh among AL hurlers. Boston's Chris Sale leads the league with 153 Ks.

The Astros evened the series after dropping a 6-3 decision on Monday and remain in first place in the AL West, 3 1/2 better than the scrappy Seattle Mariners.

The series wraps up in Houston at 2:10 pm EDT Wednesday.

National League

St. Louis has won four straight, the last two against the AL Central-leading Cleveland, including Tuesday's 11-2 rip of the Indians and their ace starter, Cory Kluber.

Carpenter: 5-5, 2HR, 5R

Kluber was clubbed repeatedly by the Cards, allowing six earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings of work, but St. Louis batters were not nearly through, banging out 13 hits, five of them by leadoff hitter, Matt Carpenter, who started the St. Louis scoring with a home run in the first and finished it with another dinger off Reliever Gorge Kontos, both solo shots.

In between, Carpenter singled twice and doubled, finishing with three RBI and five runs while boosting his batting average to .259.

The Cardinals are four games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central and 1 1/2 behind the second place Cubs. While the Indians may have dropped two straight, they are still 7 1/2 up on Minnesota and 8 ahead of Detroit.

A sweep is what the Cardinals will be seeking when the teams take the field Wednesday at 8:15 pm EDT in St. Louis.

Charlie Morton, Lance McCullers Jr. Blank Yanks; Houston Heads To World Series

Players of the Day for Saturday, October 21, 2017

American League

Morton: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER

The Houston Astros captured their first American League pennant with a seventh-game, 4-0 shutout over the New York Yankees Saturday at Houston's Minute Maid Park.

Charlie Morton, who was pounded by the Yankees in game three's 8-1 New York victory, came back with a sparkling five innings of work, blanking the Yankees on two hits over the first five innings.

Lance McCullers Jr. finished off what Morton started, shutting out the Yankees on one hit over the final four innings. McCullers started game four and pitched well, giving up a run on two hits over six innings in an eventual 6-4 Yankee win.

Morton struck out five and issued one walk. McCullers fanned four and walked one.

McCullers: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER

Houston's offense was constructed largely off of three key extra base hits. Evan Gattis stroked a fourth-inning solo homer off Yankee starter, C.C. Sabathia. In the fifth, Jose Altuve touched up reliever Tommy Kahnle with another solo shot. Later in the inning, former Yankee Brian McCann delivered a two-run double off Kahnle to complete the game's scoring.

The Astros were in the National League for 51 years, from 1962–2012, playing under the moniker of the Colt .45s their first three seasons. In 2013, they entered the American League, joining the West division. This is the second World Series appearance for Houston, having taken the National League pennant in 2005, losing the World Series to the Chicago White Sox, four games to none.

Houston won its first division title this season, taking the West by 21 games over the LA Angels. In 2015, the Astros made the playoffs as a Wild Card, just two years after they joined the American League and posted a 51-111 record in 2013.

The Astros are seeking their first World Series championship in franchise history.

National League

There were no National League games on Saturday. The LA Dodgers will host the first two games of the World Series against the Houston Astros beginning Tuesday, October 24. First pitch is scheduled for 8:09 pm ET.

FOX will televise the 2017 World Series live via national over-the-air broadcast.

Jake Peavy Blanks Cleveland, 1-0; Charlie Morton Silences Reds in 5-0 Win

Players of the Day for Wednesday, April 18, 2011

American League

Jake Peavy

After leaving the mound in agony with a detached muscle in his right shoulder nearly a year ago, Jake Peavy made his first home start in nearly a year for the Chicago White Sox Wednesday night and amazingly looked as good as new.

The NL 2007 Cy Young award winner, traded from San Diego to the Sox late in 2009, blanked AL Central-leading Cleveland on three hits, going the distance in the 1-0 win. Peavy allowed a first inning single, but, after Adam Dunn got the White Sox the lead on a sac fly - scoring Juan Pierre - the righty hurler put down 18 of the next 19 batters, maintaining the slim edge his teammates had established.

Peavy looked strong even in the final innings, striking out eight without issuing a walk. He threw 111 pitches, 78 of them for strikes.

He previously went six inning in LA, surrendering four runs on seven hits in a loss to the Angels, though Peavy did not get a decision in that May 11 contest. He is 1-0 and will remain a part of the White Sox rotation.

Even with the win, the White Sox have a long way to go before getting themselves back into contention. The Indians still hold a five game lead over the Tigers, with Kansas City seven back and the Sox nine games out. Minnesota has virtually self-destructed, 12 1/2 out.

National League

Charlie Morton

Even though they're 19-23, the Pittsburgh Pirates are still only 5 1/2 games off the pace in the NL Central, and proved notice that they are not about to go away, whipping the Cincinnati Reds, 5-0, as Charlie Morton improved to 5-1, his second complete game and first shutout of the season.

Morton has been nothing but special for the Pirates this season and in this outing he was completely in control throughout, limiting a solid Reds' lineup to just five hits, walking two and fanning five.

Needing only 106 pitches, Morton dropped his ERA to 2.62 and is one of the players that have revived hopes of a return to winning baseball in the Steel City.

One of the best turn-around stories of the season thus far, Morton has been a pleasant surprise. In 2007, he was 2-12 with a 7.57 ERA.

The Reds dropped a game off their lead, as St. Louis won their third straight, beating Houston, 5-1. Cincinnati leads the Cardinals by 1/2 game. Milwaukee is four games out with the Pirates another 1 1/2 behind them.