The ALCS begins and the NLCS continues on Wednesday, as Game 2 of Phillies/Padres takes place this afternoon and Game 1 of Yankees/Astros rounds out the evening. The Padres suddenly find themselves in a precarious spot after losing Game 1 and everybody knows how the Yankees are up against it given their travel schedule and the condensed schedule. I wrote my series preview for Astros/Yankees yesterday, but now Game 1 takes center stage.
Hopefully it will be a better day after my Guardians were bounced from the playoffs and the Phillies won 2-0 over the Padres to put a real dent in my series wager. While the playoffs are still ongoing, I’ve begun my preseason prep work for next year, looking at possible free agent destinations, thinking about tough roster decisions and ascertaining which teams could surprise and which teams could fall flat.
There are still games to be played, but I’ve got one eye towards 2023 already.
Kyle Schwarber hit a ball that hasn’t landed yet to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead and it stood up in Game 1. Bryce Harper hit a solo shot to start the scoring, as Yu Darvish only gave up three hits, but two left the yard. He could’ve thrown shutout baseball and it wouldn’t have mattered because Zack Wheeler was excellent over his seven innings with just one hit allowed.