ALCS: Yankees Grab Game One Behind Gleybar Torres; NLCS: Nationals Take 2-0 Lead Over Cardinals

Apologies in advance for the brevity of this reporting. Half of the internet seems to be down (possibly due to rolling blackouts in California?) and access is limited and slow.

Players of the Day for Saturday, October 12, 2019

American League

Torres: 3-for-5, HR 5 RBI

New York Yankees 7 Houston Astros 1

Opening the AL Championship Series in Houston, the New York Yankees took the initiative with a 7-0 whitewash of the Astros, on a big night for second baseman Gleyber Torres.

Torres got the Yankees on the board first with a double in the fourth inning, plating DJ LeMaheiu. In the sixth, Torres homered to put New York ahead 2-0. Giancarlo Stanton added a solo shot in the same inning.

In the seventh, Torres' bases-loaded single brought in two more runs as the Yankees pulled away. Torres completed the scoring with a ground out to short that brought home LeMaheiu from third base.

Yankee starter, Masahiro Tanaka held the Astros scoreless though the first six innings, allowing one hit and a walk, striking out four. Three New York relievers finished up, each throwing a scoreless inning.

Game two is Sunday at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Game time is

National League

Washington Nationals 3 St. Louis Cardinals 1

Washington took a two games to one edge in the NLCS, taking down St. Louis 2-0 on Friday night and taking the second of the Cardinals' home games by a 3-1 score on Saturday.

The series heads to Washington for the next three games, beginning with game three on Monday. Game four is Tuesday and game five, if needed, is Wednesday.

Nationals Top Reds, Trea Turner Drives In 4; Yankees' Gleyber Torres Bombs Orioles

Players of the Day for Monday, August 12, 2019

American League

Torres: 13 HR vs. Orioles

The Yankees routinely spank the Orioles, especially at Camden Yards in Baltimore, where they've won all ten games this season.

Opening a four-game series with a day-night double-header Monday, the Yankees took two more from the moribund O's, 8-5 in the opener and 11-6 in the night game.

The player who's been particularly damaging to the Orioles all season is Yankee shortstop, Gleyber Torres, who homered once in the opener and twice in the nightcap, reaching 13 home runs against the Orioles this season.

Torres' 13 homers against Baltimore tied Roger Maris' number in 1961 against Cleveland for the second-most against one team in a season for the Yankees, behind Lou Gehrig's record total of 14 in 1936, also against the Indians.

With a solo homer in the opener, Torres followed up with an evening encore, mashing a pair of three-run shots, one each in the fifth and sixth innings. He also singled in the first, scoring on Brett Gardner's bases-loaded triple.

Torres is batting .283, with 26 homers and 69 RBI.

The Yankees are 15-2 against Baltimore this season. They haven't lost against them since March 31. The season series concludes with games Tuesday and Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. For the Orioles, those games cannot come soon enough.

National League

Turner leads Nationals

Surging through the second half of the season, the Washington Nationals have themselves in position to challenge for the NL East title or the wild card. Presumably, the Nat would rather overtake the Braves in the division than face a one-game elimination in the wold card.

Opening a three-game series with the visiting Reds with a 7-6 win, the Nationals find themselves six games off the pace in the division race and with a one game edge on St. Louis in the wild card.

Trea Turner provided important offense for Washington, socking a three-run homer in the fourth inning and adding a run with an RBI single in the seventh.

Up 7-2 entering the eighth, Washington's bullpen barely held the lead, giving up two runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth. Part of the Reds' late rally was a two-run blast by rookie Arisides Aquino, setting an MLB record with his eighth home run in his first 12 games.

Game two of the series between the wild card contenders - the Reds are 6 1/2 games back - is slated to start at 7:05 pm ET.