The MLB wild card round wrapped up on Wednesday night, as the San Francisco Giants beat the New York Mets, 3-0. The divisional round kicks off today with the Texas Rangers hosting the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians hosting the Boston Red Sox. Here's a recap of last night's stunner and a preview of both of today's games:
NLWC recap
For eight innings, this game was the epitome of a pitchers dual. Noah Syndergaard only allowed two hits and struck out 10 in seven impressive innings of work, and reliever Addison Reed got out of a bases-loaded jam get them to the ninth inning without giving up a run. However, New York's offense was being stymied by Madison Bumgarner, who hadn't allowed a run going into the final inning, either.
We finally saw some scoring in the top of the ninth, when Giants third baseman Conor Gillaspie blasted this three-run homer:
The Mets got out of the inning without giving up any more runs, but Bumgarner preserved the win for the Giants in the bottom of the ninth. He finished with six strikeouts while allowing just for hits in a complete game. San Francisco now faces the Cubs in the NLDS.
Blue Jays vs. Rangers Game 1 preview
These two sides are meeting in the ALDS for the second straight season thanks to Toronto's wild card win, and there is no love lost between the teams. The bad blood stems back to Jose Bautista's bat flip after a pivotal home run in the seventh inning, then they got into a memorable bench-clearing brawl in May. Toronto won the season series, 4-3.
Game 1 Starters
Blue Jays - RH Marco Estrada (9-9, 3.48 ERA)
Rangers - LH Cole Hamels (15-5, 3.32 ERA)
Solid lineup for the first game of the ALDS. #NeverEverQuit pic.twitter.com/sUMiv5YbV8
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) October 6, 2016
The Blue Jays ALDS roster includes Loup, Feldman & Tepera, but not Dalton Pompey or Ryan Goins. pic.twitter.com/BQhw4LgDsa
— Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) October 6, 2016
Indians vs. Red Sox Game 1 preview
The Indians and Red Sox square off in a 2016 American League Divisional Series clash of World Series favorites. Cleveland won their division for the first time in a decade, and the Red Sox coming off of two-straight last place finishes in the AL East before winning the division this season. The Indians are dealing with several injuries to key players, while the Red Sox are peaking at the right time - they've won 20 of their last 30 games, including an 11-game win streak.
Game 1 Starters
Indians - RH Trevor Bauer (12-8, 4.26 ERA)
Red Sox - RH Rick Porcello (22-4, (3.15 ERA)
Projected Indians starting lineup
DH Carlos Santana
2B Jason Kipnis
SS Francisco Lindor
DH Mike Napoli
3B Jose Ramirez
RF Lonnie Chisenhall
LF Rajai Davis
CF Tyler Naquin
C Roberto Perez
Projected Red Sox starting lineup
2B Dustin Pedroia
SS Xander Bogaerts
DH David Ortiz
RF Mookie Betts
1B Hanley Ramirez
CF Jackie Bradley Jr.
3B Brock Holt
C Sandy Leon
LF Andrew Benintendi