By Evan Whatley The Playoffs consisted of ten teams: the New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Each team faced off in order to be Baseball world champions. The Dodgers and the Red Sox clashed in a historic matchup for the World Series title. The Red Sox showed up to the World Series ready to take on the favored Los Angeles Dodgers. The Red Sox continued their powerful run through the playoffs with 5 games of hot offense defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
The 2018 Major League Baseball Playoffs ended in a faceoff of two qualified teams that have a long history with the World Series. The Red Sox have eight World Series rings, while the Dodgers have five. Glenelg Gladiators outfielder and lifelong baseball fan, Ryan McKee stated, “I am really excited for the World Series and think the Red Sox are going to -win. They’re pitching has been awesome and Mookie Betts (star outfielder) is insane.” The Red Sox last world series appearance was in 2013, where they beat the Saint Louis Cardinals in six games. In game one, the Red Sox set the tone of the series with a crushing 8-2 win. But in games two and three, the Saint Louis Cardinals bounced back with two one-run victories. After two wins by the Cardinals, the Red Sox then re-established dominance and won the next two games by two. The series was then tied 3-2. At this point, one win from Saint Louis would tie things up; however, Boston winning game six would make them world champions. Game six started at 8:07pm in Fenway Park, Boston. An attendance of about 38,000 people—mostly Red Sox fans—cheered on their teams, hoping for a positive result by the end of the night. The game started slow with two scoreless first innings. In the third inning, the Red Sox managed to get the bases loaded with big hitter Shane Victorino at the plate. It was a two-one count, then Victorino crushed a fast ball off Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha that bounced off The Green Monster, resulting in three runs for the Sox. After the third inning, Stephen Drew knocked in a solo home run and Jacoby Ellsbury helped knock in two more runs. The Cardinals only run came from Carlos Beltran’s solo shot in the seventh. The Cardinals could not put any more runs together in the eighth and ninth, resulting in a six to one win for the Red Sox. The Los Angeles Dodgers made it to their second world series in a row. Last year,the Dodgers lost in a heartbreaking seven-game series with the Houston Astros. In the first game of the series the Dodgers won handily, but in game two the Astros won 7-6 in a shootout. Throughout the series, he Astros and Dodgers matched each other’s every win until game seven. The tiebreaker game took place at Dodgers Stadium in a sold out crowd. Dodgers fans packed Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers’ pitcher was Clayton Kershaw, future hall of famer. Although Kershaw is one of the greatest pitchers to ever play for the Dodgers, he gave up a quick five runs in the first two innings. By the third inning, Houston’s lead of five was too much for the Dodgers. Houston ended up winning five to one and secured a world series title. However, Los Angeles will return to the World Series this year, looking for redemption and to bring a championship back to LA. This year, the Playoffs began with two wildcard games to see which team would face the number one seed. First, he Oakland Athletics ventured to New York to play in Yankee Stadium. The Yankees and Athletics played in a one game, winner-takes-all match. The Yankees won 7-2. In the other wildcard game, the Chicago Cubs played against the Colorado Rockies.The Cubs have been heavy favorites for a championship all year, but the. Rockies brought their. A-game. In a thirteen inning pitch out, they were able to defeat he Cubs at Wrigley Field. After these games took place, the Yankees traveled to Boston to face the “Red Hot” Red Sox and the Rockies traveled to Milwaukee to play the Brewers. On October fifth, game one of the American League Divisional Series took place. Two teams that knew each other very well battled for a spot in the American League Conference Series, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The Red Sox defeated the Yankees in a three to one series. The Yankees heavy hitters were not enough for the balanced Red Sox. In the other American League Divisional Series, the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros faced off. The Astros won that series handily with a clean sweep. In the American League Conference Series, The Red Sox showed up to play and beat the Astros in four to one series. The Astros were unable to stop the Red Sox powerful offense and spectacular pitching performance. On October fourth, the National League Divisional Series began. The Rockies faced the Brewers and the Braves faced the Dodgers. The Brewers had a clean sweep against the Rockies, winning each game with ease. The Dodgers only gave up one game to the Braves, winning the series 3-1. The Dodgers and braves both advanced to the National League Conference Series,where the Los Angeles Dodgers handed the Brewers their first loss of the postseason and eventually a loss in the series, when they beat the Brewers in a winner-take-all game seven. The Brewers and Dodgers Series was, in many sportscaster's minds, the highlight of the playoffs this year. The 2018 MLB Playoffs was the first time since 2013 that both local Washington Nationals and hometown Baltimore Orioles did not make the playoffs. Lifetime baseball fan and starting pitcher for the Glenelg Gladiators baseball team Matt Porter stated, “Both of the teams I like didn’t make the playoffs, it’s crazy. I’m going to have to be a Yankees fan now.” The people of the DMV are not used to a playoff-less city and this year will be the first in a while. The MLB Playoffs was like no other when two local teams failed to qualify for the playoffs. New teams like Milwaukee and Oakland prove to be one of the league’s premier teams, the Red Sox asserted there league dominance, and the Dodgers went for round two in the World Series. Comments are closed.
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