It’s been a long road to the ALDS and NLDS playoffs. We’ve seen underdogs fight for glory and baseball giants dominate at the top. This year’s battle for the throne is coming down to the line, leaving many great teams behind. At this point, we’ve made it to the World Series, in which the Houston Astros are facing off against the Philidelphia Phillies. While the ALDS and NLDS have passed us by, it’s important to look back on what played out in that chaotic race to the top.
The ALDS offered two interesting matchups. First, the evenly matched Cleveland Guardians faced off against the New York Yankees. Secondly, the Houston Astros went head-to-head with the underdog wildcard winners — the Seattle Mariners.
The regional battle of the LA Dodgers versus the San Diego Padres has made for a perfect baseball drama in the NLDS. Despite not being in the spotlight, the Philadelphia Phillies also took on last year’s World Series winners — the Atlanta Braves.
Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners
The Astros battled the Mariners for the first spot in the ALCS, with Houston as the clear Las Vegas favorite. This prediction rang true as Houston was able to take a 2-0 lead in the series, but there was a clear possibility Seattle had a chance to come back.
The reason for this was both of Houston’s initial wins were close games decided by one or two runs. Unfortunately for the Mariners, they were swept after an intense 18-inning showdown, ending their historic season.
Cleveland Guardians vs. New York Yankees
The Guardians and Yankees series lasted longer than the other half of the ALCS cohort. Ending in a 3-2 Yankees victory, New York was able to stay focused after going down 1-2 and finish out the series with two wins to close it out.
One of the major highlights of this series had to be Guardian’s first baseman Josh Naylor’s mocking of the Yankees after homering in the fourth inning of game four. All this would come back to bite him, though, as the Yankees won games four and five as well, leading Naylor to look like a fool.
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres
This had to be the most intense and exciting matchup of the playoffs this year. The Dodgers were confident in their squad, especially given they had a World Series win just two years ago and a deep playoff run in 2021.
The Padres, on the other hand, were total underdogs, and after having lost their young talent, shortstop, Fernando Tatis Jr, to an 80-game suspension, many assumed that the Dodgers would dominate. Despite everything being in the Dodgers’ favor, LA would lose 4-1 after a series of three games where the Dodgers were unable to catch the much more consistent Padres.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves
The final matchup of the NLDS is between the Phillies and the Braves. While these two teams may not be the flashiest, they get things done on the baseball field. Unfortunately for the Braves, however, that was not the case for this series.
Philadelphia dominated, with every one of their wins being a blowout and their only loss being a nail-biter. The Phillies hope to keep the magic going with their top talent, Bryce Harper, who has been leading the team in so many statistics, you would’ve thought he was the only one playing.
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Email Joseph Heinemann: Joe.heinemann@pepperdine.edu
