SPORT NEWS: Yankees’ Best Yet to Come, Francisco Lindor Solidifies His Status as a Mets Legend, and More Key Takeaways from the ALDS and NLDS .giang

With the 2024 MLB postseason pushing ever closer to the ALCS and NLCS rounds, Wednesday marks the final day of the year with four baseball games on the calendar, as Game 3 of both ALDS matchups and Game 4 of the NLDS matchups make for a full day of baseball.

Each ALDS series was tied 1-1 heading into Game 3, while the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers entered the day facing elimination in the respective matchups against the New York Mets and San Diego Padres.

Once again, we’ll have a full rundown of all the day’s action as the games unfold.

The format here is simple: Four games, eight teams, and a couple of quick-hit reactions for each club focusing on individual performances and the bigger-picture ramifications going forward.

Sit back and enjoy the final full day of baseball in 2024!

ALDS Game 3: Cleveland Guardians at Detroit Tigers

• Result: Tigers 3, Guardians 0
• Status: Tigers lead series 2-1

NLDS Game 4: Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets

• Result: Mets 4, Phillies 1
• Status: Mets win series 3-1

ALDS Game 3: New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals

• Result: Yankees 3, Royals 2
• Status: Yankees lead series 2-1

NLDS Game 4: Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres

• Results: Dodgers 8, Padres 0
• Status: Series tied 2-2

Bullpen is Unsung Hero Once Again

It was another all-hands-on-deck game for the Tigers from a pitching standpoint, and manager A.J. Hinch once again pushed all the right buttons to make that unconventional approach work.

Rookie Keider Montero got the start and tossed a perfect six-pitch first inning before a parade of relievers cut through a hapless Cleveland offense to close out the game.

• Brant Hurter: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Beau Brieske: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• Sean Guenther: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• Will Vest: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• Tyler Holton: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

The entire bullpen has been lights out for the Tigers, but Brieske deserves a special mention as he has logged 5.1 scoreless innings this postseason, striking out six of the 17 batters faced without allowing a hit.

ALCS Feels Inevitable

With a 2-1 lead in the series, all the momentum in the world coming off back-to-back shutouts, and AL Cy Young front-runner Tarik Skubal waiting in the wings for a potential Game 5, the Tigers advancing to the ALCS feels like an inevitability.

Right-hander Reese Olson will take the ball in Game 4 at home, and while the series would shift back to Cleveland for a potential Game 5, it would still be advantageous for the Tigers with Skubal on the mound against Matthew Boyd.

Last postseason, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers were both great examples of teams getting hot at the perfect time, advancing from the Wild Card Round all the way to the World Series.

This year, the Tigers are showing that it’s not necessarily about what you did for six months over the course of a long regular season but simply how you were playing heading into the whirlwind that is playoff baseball. No team came into October as hot as this Tigers team.

Ice Cold Offense is Silenced Once Again

The Guardians scored five runs in the first inning on Saturday in Game 1 of the ALDS.

Since that explosive start to the series, they have scored just two more runs over the last 26 innings, and those were insurance runs in the sixth inning of their 7-0 Game 1 victory.

They had three hits and no runs in Game 2.

They had six hits and no runs in Game 3.

Outfielder Steven Kwan had four hits during those two games, while first baseman Josh Naylor had two hits. That means the rest of the Cleveland lineup has managed just three hits in 18 innings of baseball.

Superstar José Ramírez? He is 1-for-9 in the series and 0-for-6 with two strikeouts in the Game 2 and Game 3 losses.

This lineup was far from a juggernaut during the regular season, but it has gone ice cold against the Tigers’ mix-and-match pitching staff, and it’s hard to see how they suddenly flip the switch in Game 4.

Paying the Price for Lack of Trade Deadline Aggressiveness

Lane Thomas and Alex Cobb.

That was the extent of the reinforcements the Guardians brought aboard at the trade deadline, despite glaring issues in both the starting rotation and in the middle of the lineup where another run producer was a clear need.

Thomas had a two-run home run in Game 1 to wrap up the scoring in a five-run first inning, but he is just 1-for-10 with three strikeouts in the rest of his plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Cobb lasted just three innings in his Game 3 start, allowing three hits and two runs to take the loss. The Guardians had to use six relievers to get through the rest of the game ahead of an elimination game tomorrow.

Neither player has proven to be the impact addition the Guardians needed, and now they are paying the price for their unwillingness to aim higher with their deadline acquisitions in a year when they were clearly going to be a playoff team at the trade deadline.

Francisco Lindor is Becoming a Mets Legend

The Mets signed Francisco Lindor to a massive 10-year, $341 million extension shortly after acquiring him from Cleveland before the 2021 season.

He promptly turned in the worst season of his career, hitting .230/.322/.412 for a league-average 100 OPS+ on a Mets team that finished 77-85. Things improved in 2022 and 2023 when he racked up a combined 11.6 WAR and finished in the Top 10 in NL MVP voting both years, but it still felt like he was coming up short in earning his $34.1 million salary.

The 2024 season has been a different story.

After a slow start, Lindor caught fire after moving into the leadoff spot in the lineup, and he finished the regular season hitting .273/.344/.500 for a 138 OPS+ with 39 doubles, 33 home runs, 91 RBI, 29 steals and 7.0 WAR.

He hit the game-winning, two-run home run in the ninth inning of Game 1 of the doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves that clinched a hard-fought playoff berth for the Mets the day before the playoffs started.

And he delivered the big blow again in Game 4 of the NLDS on Wednesday, crushing a grand slam off reliever Carlos Estévez to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead.

At this point, any talk of Lindor not living up to his contract is a thing of the past.

Mets Offense is Peaking

Over 26 games in September, the Mets scored six or more runs a whopping 10 times, and that late-season offensive surge has carried over into the postseason.

They hung 15 runs on the Milwaukee Brewers over three games in the Wild Card Series, then scored six, six, seven and four runs to send the Philadelphia Phillies packing in the NLDS.

Those series also both included game-winning blows against standout closers Devin Williams and Carlos Estévez, proving that no lead is safe against the Mets offense right now.

Lindor is far from the only one making his mark. Mark Vientos has been a breakout star out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup, Pete Alonso has slugged three home runs, and Brandon Nimmo and Jesse Winker have both homered already this postseason.

Even looking back at Lindor’s decisive grand slam on Wednesday night, it was the 7-8-9 hitters Starling Marte, Tyrone Taylor and Francisco Alvarez who loaded the bases ahead of him.

Things are clicking right now for a Mets team riding a wave of momentum.

Did the Phillies Window Just Slam Shut?

The 2024 season might have been the Philadelphia Phillies’ last and best chance to win a World Series with their current core of players.

Key offensive pieces JT Realmuto (33), Bryce Harper (32), Nick Castellanos (32), Trea Turner (31) and Kyle Schwarber (31) are all on the wrong side of 30 and inching toward the back end of their respective primes.

On the mound, the one-two punch of Zack Wheeler (34) and Aaron Nola (31) is in a similar position, while the bullpen will have a new look next season with Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez both headed for free agency.

According to FanGraphs, with roughly $258.7 million already on the books for the 2025 season, the team doesn’t have the financial flexibility to infuse the roster with outside additions and youth.

Instead, this same core group of veterans will have to shoulder the load once again next season.

After a 95-win season where they looked like the best team in baseball for much of the year, it’s hard not to think 2024 was their best opportunity to get over the hump after winning the AL pennant in 2022 and returning to the NLCS in 2023.

Alas, their offseason began on Wednesday night.

The NL East Champion Falls to a Division Rival Again

For the third consecutive year, the NL East champion was sent packing in the NLDS by a division rival that emerged from the Wild Card Series.

It was the Phillies who were in the role of underdog in 2022 and 2023 when they knocked off a heavily-favored Atlanta Braves team to advance to the NLCS.

This time around, they were on the other end of the upset.

Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton Continue October Role Reversal

The playoffs have not been kind to Aaron Judge over the years.

The AL MVP front-runner entered Wednesday’s game as a .208 career hitter with a 33.8 percent strikeout rate over 207 plate appearances in the playoffs, and things are even worse when the focus is narrowed to the last five years.

• 2020: 4-for-30, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 10 K
• 2021: 1-for-4
• 2022: 5-for-36, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 15 K
• 2024: 1-for-11, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K

On the flip side, while Giancarlo Stanton is no longer the MVP candidate he was in the prime of his career and is often mentioned among the game’s most overpaid players, but he continues to come up big under the bright lights of October.

He went 3-for-5 and hit the game-winning home runs in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s 3-2 victory.

• 2020: 8-for-26, 6 HR, 13 RBI, 4 BB, 10 K
• 2021: 3-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K
• 2022: 6-for-32, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB, 9 K
• 2024: 4-for-12, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K

If they could ever both swing a hot bat at the same time in the playoffs, the Yankees might be unstoppable.

Best Baseball Yet to Come for Yankees?

Hitting just .215 as a team and following rocky starts from Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón in the first two games of the ALDS, it’s fair to say the Yankees have not played their best baseball so far this postseason.

However, they are still in a great spot up 2-1 in a best-of-five series with their ace on the mound again in Game 4 and a home game to follow in Game 5 if they are unable to wrap things up on Thursday night.

If they can use the ALDS to shake off the rust of having a Wild Card Series bye and survive without being at the top of their game, it could put them in position to hit their stride at the perfect time in the ALCS.

First things first, they need to close things out against the Royals, but the Yankees are in a great spot right now.

Bobby Witt Jr. Still Searching for Signature Moment

Bobby Witt Jr. was unquestionably one of the best players in baseball during the 2024 season, and at 24 years old there is a bright future ahead for one of the brightest young stars in the sport.

However, he is still searching for a signature moment in his first trip to the postseason.

To his credit, he did go 3-for-9 with a pair of RBI in the Wild Card Series against the Baltimore Orioles, but all three of those hits were singles, and far from a defining moment for his career highlight reel.

Now he has disappeared entirely in the ALDS.

After going 0-for-10 with four strikeouts in the first two games, he finally picked up his first hit of the series on Wednesday when he finished 1-for-3 with a walk, but the tremendous impact he has had on the Royals success all year has been sorely missing in the ALDS.

Royals Path to ALCS Suddenly Looks Bleak

After losing Game 1, the Royals turned to co-aces Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo in Game 2 and Game 3, throwing their best punch at the Yankees while trying to seize control of the series and turn the tables heading into Game 4.

Instead, they were forced to settle for a split in those games when five innings of two-hit, two-run ball from Lugo resulted in a no-decision on Wednesday when Giancarlo Stanton hit the game-winning home run off reliever Kris Bubic in the eighth inning.

Now they turn to veteran Michael Wacha with the season hanging in the balance in Game 4.

The 33-year-old has a wealth of postseason experience, but he was shaky in Game 1 when he allowed four hits, three walks and three earned runs in four innings of work.

He will go up against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, and if the Royals can find a way to pull out a win, their reward is a trip back to Yankees Stadium for Game 5 and an all-hands-on-deck pitching situation.

The road to the ALCS has become a steep uphill climb.

Dave Roberts Borrows Page from A.J. Hinch’s Book

The Dodgers starting pitching situation has been a revolving door all season, and injuries to Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone down the stretch put them in a precarious situation heading into the postseason with only Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler locked into rotation spots.

Rather than going with rookie Landon Knack as the Game 4 starter, manager Dave Roberts took a page out of Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch’s book and went with a game-by-committee approach.

Reliever Ryan Brasier pitched the first inning in an opener role. Roberts mixed and matched perfectly the rest of the way, using eight different pitchers to toss a seven-hit shutout.

• Ryan Brasier: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• Anthony Banda: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Michael Kopech: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• Alex Vesia: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Evan Phillips: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• Daniel Hudson: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• Blake Treinen: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• Landon Knack: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

It was a bold approach to an elimination game, but the Dodgers ultimately decided it was the best option for extending the series to a decisive final game.

Now, rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be on the mound to start Game 5, with Jack Flaherty waiting in the wings if needed. The entire bullpen should also be available with a day of rest on Thursday.

Emotions Will Be Off the Charts at Dodger Stadium for Game 5

After listening to a raucous crowd at Petco Park in San Diego for Games 3 and 4, the NLDS shifts back to Dodger Stadium for a winner-take-all final game in this best-of-five series.

At this point, there is a solid case to be made: the Dodgers and Padres are the best active rivals in baseball.

The Yankees and Red Sox have not been top-tier contenders for a few years now. The Cardinals and Cubs both missed the playoffs this season, and the Astros vs. the World narrative did not survive beyond the AL Wild Card Series.

The Dodgers-Padres rivalry, in its current form, really took off after an 89-win Padres team upset a 111-win Dodgers team in the 2022 NLDS. It has continued to be fueled by both teams’ recent success and their willingness to compete for top-tier talent on the free-agent and trade markets.

Manny Machado has been at the center of some controversy during this year’s NLDS, first from his reaction to Jack Flaherty hitting teammate Fernando Tatis Jr. with a pitch and then with a highly analyzed throw of a baseball into the Dodgers dugout in Game 2.

The Dodgers crowd was also a story in Game 2 when they threw baseballs at Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar while he was warming up. Then, during a subsequent delay, they threw trash onto the field, causing play to stop for 10 minutes. Can they match the intensity we’ve seen from Petco Park the last two games without doing anything dumb in the process?

With no love lost between these two division rivals and both teams facing elimination, emotions will run extremely high on Friday night as the series moves up the I-5.

If only this were a seven-game series…

Short-Rest Plan Fails Once Again in Postseason

An ominous graphic flashed on the screen early in the Fox Sports broadcast of NLDS Game 4 between the Padres and Dodgers.

Since the wild-card ERA began in 1995, teams have gone just 64-90 when using a starting pitcher on three days rest.

The Padres starter, Dylan Cease, started on three days’ rest.

The 28-year-old was the best pitcher on the Padres’ staff during the regular season, going 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 224 strikeouts in 189.1 innings after being acquired in an offseason trade with the Chicago White Sox.

However, he was hit hard as the starter in Game 1, allowing six hits and five earned runs in 3.1 innings. With the Padres leading 2-1 in the series, the decision to start him on short rest will be second-guessed for some time.

He recorded just four outs in his Game 4 start, allowing four hits and three earned runs before getting the hook.

An injury to Joe Musgrove threw a wrench in their pitching plans, but why not give veteran Martín Pérez the Game 4 start? He posted a 3.46 ERA in 52 innings over 10 starts with the Padres after he was acquired at the trade deadline.

Padres Still Have Game 5 Upper Hand with Playoff Ace Yu Darvish

Despite the Game 4 pitching plan failing, the Padres are still in a good position. Yu Darvish is lined up to start Game 5 on regular rest.

Since joining the San Diego Padres, Darvish has been as reliable as anyone in October, and his performance in Game 2 of this year’s NLDS was no exception.

• 2022 NLWC Game 1: W, 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• 2022 NLDS Game 2: W, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
• 2022 NLCS Game 1: L, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
• 2022 NLCS Game 5: ND, 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
• 2024 NLDS Game 2: W, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

In three starts against the Dodgers during the regular season, he allowed eight hits and three earned runs in 15.2 innings, so he has had success against the loaded Dodgers offense all year.

The Dodgers evened the series, but the Padres still have the advantage in Game 5.