ALDS: Tommy Pham Leads Tampa Bay to Game 4 Win Over Astros

Players of the Day for Tuesday, October 8, 2019

American League

Pham's HR got Rays going

Tampa Bay Rays 4 Houston Astros 1

The Houston Astros didn't look like World Series material and Justin Verlander didn't look much like a future Hall of Fame member as the upstart Tampa Bay Rays took game four and evened the series with a 4-1 victory.

Tampa struck quickly off Verlander, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning, started by Tommy Pham's solo home run. two more runs were plated in the frame, on a single by Travis d'Arnaud and Joey Wendel's double to right.

Pham's homer was his second of the post-season and first in this series. He's been red hot in October, batting .429 with three RBI.

The Rays employed their trademark opener and followers pitching formula to near-perfection, using six hurlers to stymie the Astros on six hits. The only Houston run came in the eighth inning, on a solo homer by Robinson Chirinos.

Tampa's win forces a game seven in Houston on Thursday. The New York Yankees await the winner in the league Championship Series.

National League

There were no National League games on Tuesday.

There are two game fives on Wednesday, the winners moving on to the best-of-seven NL Championship Series. Atlanta hosts St. Louis at 5:02 pm ET, and the LA Dodgers host Washington at 8:37 pm ET.

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.

Raimel Tapia Slams Brewers, Rockies Win; Tommy Pham, Tyler Glasnow Lead Rays Into Playoffs; A's Also Qualify

Players of the Day for Friday, September 27, 2019

American League

Glasnow: 4 1/3 hitless

Cleveland is out. The Rays and A's are in the playoffs.

Tommy Pham's third inning, two-run homer broke a scoreless tie and Tyler Glasnow tossed 4 1/2 innings of no-hit ball, as the Rays went on to defeat the Blue Jays, 6-2, Friday in Toronto.

Pham's homer was his 21st of the year; Glasnow fanned four and issued two walks, setting down the last eight batters he faced before being lifted with one out in the fifth inning.

Pham: 2-run homer

The win, combined with Cleveland's 8-2 loss at Washington, put the Rays into the playoffs for the first time since 2013, taking a wild card spot.

Oakland, falling 4-3 at Seattle, also qualified as a wild card, but fell into a flat-footed tie with the Rays. Both teams are 96-64, with two games left.

Should the two finish tied for the wild card spots, Oakland would be the home team, as they won the season series over the Rays, four games to three. Wherever it is played, the AL wild card game will be played Wednesday, October 2nd.

Cleveland, which had been in contention not only for a wild card, but also for the Central division, played itself right out down the stretch, losing four of its last six.

National League

Tapia's slam buries Brewers

On their path the the playoffs, the Milwaukee Brewers finally ran into a game the could not win, a team they could not beat, as the Colorado Rockies out-slugged them, 11-7, Friday night.

After Lorenzo Cain put the Brewers up 2-1 in the fourth inning, the floodgates opened for the Rockies, scoring seven times in the sixth inning, capped by Raimel Tapia's grand slam. Colorado tacked on three more in the seventh and though the Brewers posted a pair in the eighth and three in the ninth, it was not nearly enough.

Tapia's home run was his ninth of the season and upped his RBI total to 44.

Milwaukee's loss was only their second in their last 11 games. The Brewers are having a September to remember, going 20-5 to overtake the Cubs in the Central division and gain, at least, a wild card spot. Despite losing, the Brewers remain one game behind St. Louis in the division, as the Cardinals were bombed by the Cubs, 8-2. Both teams have two games remaining.

Should the Brewers and Cardinals tie for the division title, they would play a one-game playoff, the loser to face Washington in another one-game elimination, while the division winner would open a five-game divisional playoff series in Atlanta. The wild card team would head to Los Angeles to meet the Dodgers.

Tommy Pham 5-for-6 in Rays Win at LA; Adam Wainwright Wins 4th Straight for Cardinals

Players of the Day for Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Pham: 5-6, 3R, 2RBI, SB

American League

Austin Meadows socked a solo home run in extra innings, but Tommy Pham did everything for the Rays as Tampa Bay topped the LA Dodgers, 8-7, in 11 innings.

Meadows' homer put the Rays ahead in the top of the 11th inning, 7-6. Pham followed with a double, moved to third on a ground out and scored on Ji-Man Choi's sac fly. The run was crucial because the Dodgers scored in the bottom of the inning, but could not produce the second run, which would have tied the score again.

Pham went 5-for-6 in the game with a pair of doubles, three singles, a stolen base, three runs and two RBI. In the first inning, Pham got the Rays started, reaching on an error, moving to third on Brandon Lowe's base hit. He scored on Travis d'artaud's single.

In the third, Pham singled but was left stranded, but, in the fifth, he got the Rays even at 3-3 with a double that plated two runs. In the seventh, he reached on an infield single, only to be left on base again. With the Rays down, 6-4, in the top of the ninth, Pham singled again, stole second and scored on Choi's RBI single. The Rays tied the game on another sac fly by Choi.

On fire his last 15 games, Pham has gone 22-for-61 (.361) over that span with 10 RBI, 12 runs and seven stolen bases.

The result kept the Rays firmly in the playoff hunt. Tampa Bay holds a 1/2-game edge on Cleveland for the second wild card. Oakland is currently in the top spot, with a two-game lead over the Rays.

Managing to split two games with the Dodgers in LA, the Rays head home, opening a four-game series with the Red Sox on Friday. Oakland also has Thursday off, hosting three with the Rangers, starting Friday. The Indians, still hopeful, just four games behind the Twins in the AL Central, finishes up with Detroit on Thursday looking for the three-game sweep, then hosts three with the Phillies over the weekend.

National League

Wainwright wins 4th straight

Adam Wainwright out-dueled Washington's Max Scherzer and the St. Louis Cardinals improved their chances of reaching the post-season with a 5-1 win over the Nationals.

While Scherzer was shelled for five runs over 6 2/3 innings, Wainwright improved to 13-9, scattering eight hits over seven innings. The Nationals did manage to cross the plate in the seventh, but the run was unearned and the Cardinals responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame.

The usually shaky St. Louis bullpen was remarkably solid. Andrew Miller and Carlos Martinez combined to work the final six outs, with Miller allowing the only base hit.

Wainwright has been a bulwark for the Cardinals in September, winning all four of his starts while allowing just one earned run over 27 innings of work. The 38-year-old is a prime candidate for comeback player of the year. In 2018 he was 2-4 in just eight starts, limited due to injury.

The victory improved St. Louis' lead in the NL Central to three games over Milwaukee and Chicago, both losing on Wednesday. The Cubs were taken out in the 10th inning by the Reds, 3-2, while Milwaukee was stopped cold by San Diego's Dinelson Lamet, who fanned 14 in six innings, giving up three hits and one earned run in a 2-1 Padres victory.

Wednesday's results left the Nationals in the #1 wild card spot, 1 1/2 games up on the Cubs and Brewers. The Phillies and Mets were both winners, creeping closer, to within two games of the #2 spot.

Washington continues on the road, opening a three-game series in Miami Friday, while the Cardinals head to Chicago for a four-game series with the Cubs opening Thursday night. Milwaukee figures to benefit, hosting one more game with the Padres Thursday before welcoming in the Pirates for three games over the weekend.

Mets' Noah Syndergaard Blanks Nationals Over 7; Tommy Pham Leads Rays to 5th Straight

Players of the Day for Monday, September 2, 2019

Pham: 3-for-3, 3 RBI

American League

Three teams are vying for two wild card spot in the American League. Cleveland, Oakland, and Tampa Bay have been engaged since the all-star break as two will make the playoffs and one will go home.

On Monday, Tampa Bay took their fifth straight game, doing so in dramatic fashion, as Tommy Pham singled home Joey Wendle with the game-winner with two outs in the bottom of the 10th for a 5-4 Rays' win over visiting Baltimore.

Pham's walk-off single was the end of a solid day for Pham, who went 3-for-4 and doubled in two runs for the Rays in the fifth inning, putting Tampa up, 4-0. The Orioles battled back to tie the game, sending it into extras, setting up Pham's dramatic poke.

On a youthful team with no superstars, Pham has been stalwart, batting .278, with 20 home runs and 61 RBI. The 31-year-old has also swiped 18 of 21 bases this season.

The Rays lead the wild card chase by 1/2-game over Cleveland, with Oakland 1 1/2 back. The Rays host a double-header with the Orioles on Tuesday, but the wild card battle looks like it will go down to the final weekend of the season.

National League

Syndergaard: 7IP, 3H, 10K

Threatening to run away with the top wild card spot - ensuring home field for the one-game playoff - the Washington Nationals hosted the Mets in the first of a three-game series on Monday.

Winners of four straight and nine of their last ten entering the game, the Nationals were met by Noah Syndergaard, who blanked them for seven innings while his teammates mounted a sizable lead that led eventually to a 7-3 victory.

Syndergaard stopped the Nationals on three hits, striking out 10. Improving to 10-7, the hurler known as "Thor" was aided by Jeff McNeil's two-run homer and a three-hit, two RBI effort from J.D. Davis.

The game result left the Nationals with a 3 1/2-game lead over the Cubs in the wild card and the Mets clinging to playoff hopes, four games behind Chicago. After six straight losses, the Mets have rebounded to win three of their last four.

Game two of the series is Tuesday, 7:05 pm ET.