Major League Baseball ALCS and NLCS Preview

steemsports (80)in #steemsports • 7 years ago

SteemSports Presenter:@hogan22

SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets

The Major League Baseball playoffs are now down to their final 4 teams. It has been a grueling season as they played 162 regular season games with few days off and now those that remain have battled through the American League Division Series and the National League Division Series.

The Houston Astros and New York Yankees got their first game of the best of 7 series started last night. Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel was dominant as he shut down the powerful Yankees offense in the 2-1 Astros win. He struck out 10 batters and the Yankees didn't even score until late in the game. Masahiro Tanaka can't be to blame for the loss as he only gave up 2 runs.

Game 2 is this afternoon and the visiting Yankees are sending Luis Severino to the mound. He will have his work cut out for him as the Astros are sending veteran stud pitcher Justin Verlander to get the start. Verlander was acquired late in the season from the Detroit Tigers. The Astros are slight favorites at -130 and the over/under is at 7, so there is not expected to be a ton of scoring.

The National League Championship Series gets started tonight in Los Angeles as the Dodgers host the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers have been off for several days and are completely rested for the game. The Cubs however played a stressful and difficult 5 game series against the Washington Nationals. The Cubs pitching staff was extremely taxed in the series. And to make matters worse, the Cubs chartered plane had to make an emergency landing in New Mexico yesterday due to a sickness of a family member that was with. They were stranded for 6 hours before finally getting to Los Angeles.

The Dodgers give the ball to their ACE pitcher Clayton Kershaw tonight. Kershaw has been unhittable in the regular season but it hasn't always translated into successful postseason starts. The Cubs will counter with their own lefty, Jose Quintana. Both teams will load their lineups with right handed bats. Although the Cubs are the World Champions and eliminated the Dodgers last year, they find themselves the underdogs tonight and in the series.

It should be a dynamite day of MLB Playoff Action. Who are you rooting for? Thank you for following @steemsports and you can follow me @Hogan22