Notes on MLB Wild Card Round of the Playoffs 2025

Red Sox 1-1 vs Yankees 1-1, Game 3, 10/2: Rookie pitcher Cam Schlittler shuts down the Red Sox in the elimination Game 3, delivering a starting pitching gem that surpassed Crochet's ace performance in Game 1 and possibly any other pitching outing in the WC round: 8 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, and 12 strikeouts. When all is said and done the heavy use of pitching by committee in the WC round, pulling starters so early, might reflect more than anything else a lack of quality starting pitching. Starting pitching the Yankees did not lack. Yankees win 4-0. 

Padres 1-1 vs Cubs 1-1, Game 3, 10/2: A Cub announcer said shortstop Dansby Swanson had taken away at least four or five Padre hits in the series. I definitely saw center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong snatch away a diving line drive hit by Machado in this one. And second baseman Niko Hoerner did more or less same in the crucial 9th inning, denying the Padres a another scoring opportunity. Apparently, the Cubs are a particularly good fielding team: Swanson, Hoerner, and left fielder Ian Happ are all past gold glove winners. Crow-Armstrong could join those ranks this year. Both teams pitch by committee, again, but outcomes diverged: seven Padre pitchers combined to give up 13 hits and 3 earned runs, while six Cubs held the Padres to 7 hits and 1 run. Crow-Armstrong and first baseman Michael Busch got three hits each; Tucker and the catcher Carson Kelly added two each. The Padres had highlights, catcher Freddy Fermin had a standout performance, but the big stars were muted again and as a team the Padres couldn't get over the hump. Cubs win 3-1. 

Tigers 1-1 vs Guardians 1-1, Game 3, 10/2: Has to be some deeply satisfying redemption for the Tigers. After squandering the Central Division pennant race in September they finally vanquish their division rival foes the Guardians, erupting for four runs in the 7th inning and holding off a late Guardians rally. The Tigers get more starting pitching, Jack Flaherty making it into the 5th inning, and the Guardians overused bullpen cracks in the late innings. It wasn't pretty. The Guardian's Ramirez is thrown out twice on the base paths trying to make something happen for his team and the Tiger's commit a costly late-inning error, almost letting the Guardians back in it. But in the end, 165 games later, the Tigers are too much for the Guardians this year. Every Tiger but one gets a hit. Tigers win 6-3. 

Reds 0-1 vs Dodgers 1-0, Game 2, 10/1: The only series to end in two games. And goes a lot like Game 1. The Dodgers have some leaks in their bullpen. They uncharacteristically commit 3 errors. And they have so much hitting these issues make little difference. Mookie Betts bangs 4 hits and knocks in 3 runs. Kiki gets another couple hits. Yamamoto's line goes 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, and 9 strikeouts. Dodgers win 8-4; sweep series. 

Red Sox 1-0 vs Yankees 0-1, Game 2, 10/1: Yankee Ben Rice blasts a two-run homer in the 1st inning. Red Sox Trevor Story ties the score with a two-run single in the 3rd. Sox Jarren Duran boots a dying line drive off Judge in the 5th, somehow without being issued an error, and the Yankees score the go-ahead run. The next inning Story ties the game again with a homer to left. Yankee pitcher Carlos Rodon falls apart in the 7th, after a decent start. But Rodon gets saved by a diving stop up the middle by Jazz Chisolm, possibly saving two runs. And some much needed bravado from reliever Fernando Cruz. Then Chisolm walks with two outs in the 8th inning, seemingly every where in this one. Catcher Austin Wells drives the ball down the line to right and Jazz races around the bases to score the final go-ahead run, sliding across home just ahead of the throw. Again, the Yankees/Red Sox are an unparalleled rivalry. Back and forth all the way. No stress-free innings. Yankees win 4-3. 

Padres 0-1 vs Cubs 1-0, Game 2, 10/1: Merrill sacrifices home Tatis in the 1st, Machado smashes a two-run homer in the 5th, and four Padre pitchers combine to shutout the Cubs, allowing only 4 hits and striking out 11 Cubs. Pitching by committee appears to work in this one but it makes me wonder. Dylan Cease leaves in the 3rd inning without giving up a run? Padres win 3-0.  

Tigers 1-0 vs Guardians 0-1, Game 2, 10/1: Looks like more teams are doing the pitching by committee strategy the Dodgers used last year. The Tigers go through five pitchers and the Guardians six in Game 2. Both starters leave in the 3rd and 4th innings after giving up only a run. It works until it doesn't, until one team finds the weak link in the chain. In the 8th inning the Tigers send out Troy Melton. A big right hander. Decent middle relief numbers for 45 innings pitched. But Brayan Rocchio, who hit a homer in Game 1, and Bo Naylor, who had a lousy year but seems like one of those kind of guys who always rises to the occasion, pound homers and knock in three runs, the Guardians score four runs off Melton and five runs in the 8th inning, going up 6-1. Party Over. Let's go back to Detroit. Neither team mustered much offense, outside the Guardian 8th inning, but was that because the pitching was so good or the hitting so bad? There were definitely times this year where it looked like the Guardians didn't have enough hitting around Jose Ramirez. Teams pitch around him, and Ramirez walked three times in this one. Carpenter and Green and, especially, Baez get hits for the Tigers but not at the right times. The Tigers left 15 runners on base. Guardians win 6-1.    

Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Dodgers, Game 1, 9/30: Sports analyst Tim Kurkjian says Shohei Ohtani hitting 50 plus homers his first two seasons with the Dodgers is the first time this has been done since Babe Ruth did it with the Yankees in 1920-'21. Another Ruth and Ohtani connection. Good seeing 23 year-old Red's shortstop Ely De La Cruz on this stage but this looks like the biggest mismatch of the WC round. De La Cruz is electric but recorded the most fielding errors of any shortstop in baseball this past season. Meanwhile, the Dodgers offense is a juggernaut: Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez each hit two homers in game 1; Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman and, yes (he's back), Kiki Hernandez (my favorite "utility player" since the M's Mark McLemore), each added two hits a piece. The bullpen appears to remain a vulnerable spot for the Dodgers, as they gave up three runs in the 8th inning. Yes, I'm a Dodgers fan. They are a veritable multicultural shrine in mlb. But they are also ridiculously rich, spending over 300 million on this year's team; for perspective, that's over twice what half the teams in the league spent. So I'm pulling most for my hometeam M's and some other budgetary underdogs but should wealth win out, as it has over 90% of the time in the past, the Dodgers are my Thoroughbred favorites. And until proven otherwise they are the defending champs! Dodgers win 10-5. 

Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees, Game 1, 9/30: If you don't like the Red Sox/Yankee rivalry you don't like baseball or sports rivalries, or unless you are part of them, I guess. The 2004 ALCS: when the Red Sox lost the first three games before coming back to defeat the Yankees in seven; Big Papi, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, Jason Varitek (traded to the Sox by the M's in 1997 for Heathcliff Slocumb, often cited as one of the worst trades in M's history). What a series! Anyway, I'm still usually pulling for the Red Sox as the underdog. The Yankees are by far the most winning franchise in baseball history. The Evil Empire; like the Cowboys in football. And then just when you thought you might be escaping the neo-fascist nightmare going on outside our baseball parks it turns out Grump is a big Yankee fan and staged a big photo opportunity handshake with Yankee slugger Aaron Judge this past spring. By contrast it'd been almost a hundred years since the Red Sox had won a world series in '04, sweeping the Cardinals. But I like uber Black athlete Judge. He's a mythic John Henry/Paul Bunyanesque character. A gentle giant, and the best all around hitter in baseball by far. But the sports commentariat have shackled him with this story that he hasn't come up big enough in the playoffs. So I'd like to see him go off in  playoff series but the Yankees lose. He had two hits, one in the bottom of the 9th in this one. But the big marquee pitching matchup steals the show. Yankee starter, lefty Max Friend, looks like a teenager, shuts the Red Sox down for six innings. But the first reliever to follow him, Luke Weaver, gave up two runs and was removed before he could achieve a single out. The damage had been done. On the other side the Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet was an absolute beast; 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, and 11 strikeouts. Again, he's another mythic looking bull/matador hybrid and lefty in the manner of Tiger pitcher Tarik Skubal but even bigger. Crochet proved decisive but still the bottom of the 9th inning is worth the price of watching this rivalry gem alone. Down 3-1 the Yankees loaded the bases with nobody out. Loaded bases, nobody out, down 3-1! On the mound for the Sox was closer, the statuesque, Aroldis Chapman. He was looking shaky and maybe nearing the end of career a few years back but has made a big comeback this year for the Red Sox. But then right off in the bottom of the 9th he gives up three singles to load the bases. The home crowd is wild with excitement. The dramatic tension is gripping. Then Chapman strikes out Stanton, gets Chisolm to pop out weakly, and strikes out Grisholm to end the game. The reversal of fortune, the mental toughness to see it through was classic October baseball and a hat's off peak moment for elite closer Chapman. Red Sox win 3-1.  

San Diego Padres vs Chicago Cubs, Game 1, 9/30: I know one knock on the Padres is they're one of those underperforming big budget teams but I've rooted for the Padres for the last few years. Machado, Tatis, Merrill, Bogaerts. What's not to like? I liked Bogearts when he was a Red Sox. But they fizzled in the playoffs last year. I've been to Wrigley. Great park; great baseball history. But ever since I heard the Cubs owners hosted Grump's inauguration I've been turned off. I like their play-by-play guy, Jon Sciambi and Doug Glanville, especially when they work together. Pete Crow-Armstrong is an all-star center fielder. I liked Tucker when he was an Astro. Word is he had an up and down year, though. Anyway, neither team could get much going offensively until two Cubs, Suzuki and Kelly, pop solo homers in the 5th and a quartet of Cub relievers shutout the Padres for the last five innings of the game. Cubs win 3-1. 

Detroit Tigers vs Cleveland Guardians, Game 1, 9/30/2025: The Guardians came back from 15 1/2 games to clinch the AL Central division over division rivals the Tigers, overcoming the the largest deficit in MLB history by an eventual division or league champion. The Tigers, a young team, who after making the playoffs last year for the first time since 2014, led the Central division by a wide margin for much of the year or until the last day of the season. Now the Guardians and Tigers get to decide this rivalry once and for all in a best 2 out of 3 Wild Card series. So going into game one momentum was going in diametrically opposite directions. Even big leftie ace Tarik Skubal taking the mound in game one for the Tigers had showed a few cracks in his armor during the Tiger slide in September. But he was pretty much lights out in game one and the ultimate difference in a classic 2-1 pitching duel. Skubal's line was 7.2 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 1 ER, and 14 stikeouts. He's like an overpowering mythic combination of an angry bull and artful matador; 6'3", 240. He throws a wicked high-velocity, 95-99 mph, cutter that looks outside to right handed hitters and then cuts back over the plate at a sharp downward angle and then a changeup or knuckle curve that come out of the same pitching slot but make batters lunge at the ball feebly. Skubal won the Cy Young in 2024 and played for the Seattle U. Redhawks in 2017 and 2018. And now in one playoff game Skubal and the Tigers erase the momentum swing in the Central division of the last month. Tigers win 2-1.