Two Game 5s coming in the National League on Wednesday

Jack Flaherty

Both National League Division Series will conclude Wednesday, with the Atlanta Braves hosting the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the Washington Nationals in a pair of winner-take-all Game 5s.

Who do you have winning?

Before the playoffs started, I picked the Cardinals and the Dodgers to win these series, so I guess there's no reason to backtrack now.

The series between Atlanta and St. Louis has been incredible. I really had no idea which team was going to win coming into the series, and I still don't have much of a clue.

Both clubs have one significant weakness. For the Cardinals, they have the weakest lineup of any team in the playoffs. Strong pitching staff, yes, but the offense is suspect. And that lack of offensive punch has hurt them in a 3-0 loss in Game 2 and a 3-1 loss in Game 3.

For the Braves, the significant weakness is in the bullpen, and that weakness has hurt them twice in this series. In Game 1, Atlanta led 3-1 after seven innings. The Braves lost, 7-6. In Game 4, Atlanta led 4-3 after seven innings. The Braves lost, 5-4, in 10 innings.

Game 5 will feature a matchup of perhaps the two best pitchers in the National League since the All-Star break. For St. Louis, Jack Flaherty went 7-2 with a 0.91 ERA in 14 second-half starts. His mound opponent, Atlanta's Mike Foltynewicz, went 6-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 10 second-half starts.

This is also a rematch of Game 2, which was won by Atlanta and Foltynewicz, as cited above. Should be a great one.

Meanwhile, the Nationals will try to do the unthinkable and slay the heavily favored Dodgers, who have won the NL pennant in each of the past two seasons.

Los Angeles won 106 games this season and was an absurd +273 in run differential. The second-best team in the NL in that area was, well, the Nationals at +149.

When you think about it, Washington probably is the second-best team in the NL right at this moment. Sure, the Braves won the NL East fair and square, but when you look at the Nationals, they lost the division because of their pathetic 19-31 start. However, Washington went 74-38 over the last 112 games of the regular season -- that's not a small sample size, and perhaps we should have known they were the biggest threat to the Dodgers.

And, the Nationals will send Stephen Strasburg to the mound. So far in these playoffs, Strasburg has worked nine innings, allowing only one run on five hits. He has struck out 14 and walked nobody. He was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of this series against the Dodgers. Could he win this game Wednesday and help Washington shock the baseball world? You bet.

But he'll have to beat Walker Buehler, who is the Dodgers' ace, with all due respect to Clayton Kershaw. Buehler was the Game 1 winner in this series, when he tossed six innings of no-run, one-hit ball with eight strikeouts and three walks. It should be a great pitching matchup.

These days, they say fans love the long ball, and there are plenty of those in the modern game. Me personally, I like to see the top pitchers go head to head. I'm hoping to see that kind of baseball Wednesday.

Audit on bad White Sox starting pitching in 2019

Without looking it up, I was guessing the White Sox started a pitcher who didn't belong out there in about a quarter of their games. Turns out, my instinct was close to right.

Looking over the numbers, I identified 43 of 161 Sox games that were started by pitchers who probably will not be in the major leagues next season:

1. Ross Detwiler. 3-5 with a 5.84 ERA in 12 starts. The Sox went 6-6 in those games.
2. Dylan Covey. 1-7 with an 8.45 ERA in 12 starts. The Sox went 3-9 in those games.
3. Manny Banuelos. 2-4 with an 8.05 ERA in 8 starts. The Sox went 4-4 in those games.
4. Carson Fulmer. 0-1 with a 12.00 ERA in 2 starts. The Sox went 0-2 in those games.
5. Hector Santiago. 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 2 starts. The Sox went 0-2 in those games.
6. Ervin Santana. 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA in 3 starts. The Sox went 1-2 in those games.
7. Odrisamer Despaigne. 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA in 3 starts. The Sox went 0-3 in those games.

Add it all up, and the Sox went 15-28 in games started by these seven men. Considering the team was 17 games below .500 overall (72-89), we can see how the back end of the starting rotation was a major problem. This list above represents 13 games below .500 right there.

This needs to be fixed this offseason.

Yankees, Astros dominating American League playoffs

Justin Verlander

Who is Randy Dobnak anyway?

The Minnesota Twins play the White Sox 19 times a season, so I'd like to think I'm familiar with the Minnesota roster. But I was left scratching my head when I saw that Dobnak was starting Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Saturday against the New York Yankees.

I didn't recall Dobnak pitching for Minnesota at all this season against the Sox -- or against anyone. Turns out, he did appear in relief in a game against Chicago on Aug. 29. I must have missed that one.

Dobnak entered Saturday's game with nine career MLB appearances, and predictable results ensued against the Yankees. He allowed four earned runs on six hits with two walks and no strikeouts over two-plus innings, and New York rolled to an 8-2 victory.

The Yankees now possess a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, and they are continuing their decades-long mastery of the Twins. Minnesota's postseason losing streak now stands at 15 games -- a MLB record -- and 12 of those losses have come against the Yankees.

Obviously, the Twins don't have the pitching to get the job done in this series, despite their 101 wins in the regular season. Minnesota's starting rotation is in tatters. Jose Berrios lost Game 1. Manager Rocco Baldelli for some reason opted to save 15-game winner Jake Odorizzi for Game 3. Other than that, there are no good options for the Twins.

Michael Pineda is suspended because of performance-enhancing drug use. Kyle Gibson has been dealing with illness, and apparently doesn't have the stamina to pitch more than a couple of innings at a time. And Martin Perez has regressed into the below-average starter he's been for most of his career.

It's hard to see the Twins winning their next two games at home and forcing a Game 5 against the mighty Yankees. Heck, it's hard to see Minnesota winning Game 3 at this point.

Meanwhile, the Houston Astros are the other side of the coin with starting pitching. They have a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series with the Tampa Bay Rays. Honestly, it's easy to have sympathy for the Tampa Bay hitters, who have had to face the best two pitchers in baseball the first two games of that series.

Here's how Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole have fared:

Verlander in Game 1: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 8 Ks, 3 BBs
Cole in Game 2: 7.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 15 Ks, 1 BB

Game 1 was a 6-2 win for Houston; Game 2 was a 3-1 win for the Astros.

Zack Greinke gets the ball in Game 3 for Houston, and while he's a slight downgrade from Verlander and Cole, he's still going to be tough on Tampa Bay hitters. Greinke is 18-5 with a 2.93 ERA this season. How's that for a No. 3 starter? Good luck, Rays.

For months, it's looked as though the 107-win Astros and 103-win Yankees were on a collision course to meet in the American League Championship Series. At this point, it would be a shock if that matchup does not take place.

And, a word to the wise for the White Sox and their brass: Neither the Astros nor the Yankees are going away in the American League. They are setting the bar, and the bar is much higher than mediocre 87-75 seasons.

Even if the Sox improve by 15 games next season to get to 87 wins, it's hard to see them matching up with the league powers. They need about a 30-game improvement. It's going to take more than just one good offseason, I dare say.

White Sox 'part ways' with hitting coaches Todd Steverson and Greg Sparks

Todd Steverson

The White Sox often are criticized for not firing underperforming front office executives, managers and coaches. And even when they do fire someone, they don't really fire them. They instead choose to "part ways."

Hitting coach Todd Steverson and assistant hitting coach Greg Sparks will not be back with the team in 2020, and the words used to make the announcement amused me.

The club said it will not extend the contract of Sparks, which means, of course, that his contract was up. No such thing was said about Steverson. No, the Sox are "parting ways" with him. In other words, he had a contract for next season, but the team decided to move on.

Where I come from, that's called a firing. But I guess we don't say that in a Jerry Reinsdorf-run organization.

The press release the Sox sent about these moves touted the improvements made by AL batting champion Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada, who is now the best player on the team. Steverson was given some props for that, but two talented hitters playing up to their potential under his watch wasn't enough to save his job.

And it's hard to argue with the move, considering the general underwhelming performance of the offense at large. The Sox were third from the bottom in the AL in runs scored. They ranked last in the league in walk rate and second-to-last in strikeout rates and isolated power. The team on-base percentage of .315 isn't nearly good enough.

So, yeah, see you later, Steverson and Sparks.

However, here's my question: If the hitting coaches are being relieved of their duties, why isn't Don Cooper's head on the chopping block? His pitching staff arguably sucked more than the offense. The Sox had only two starting pitchers with an ERA below 5, and one of them was Ivan Nova (4.72).

Over the past three seasons, the Sox have issued more walks than any team in the AL. You can say Cooper hasn't had much talent to work with, and you'd be correct. But Steverson and Sparks haven't had much talent to work with either -- once you get past the success stories of Anderson and Moncada.

Why are some Sox coaches being held accountable while others seem to have jobs in perpetuity? Asking for a friend.

Tampa Bay Rays beat Oakland A's in AL wild card game

Yandy Diaz

The Oakland A's have lost nine consecutive winner-take-all games, dating back to the 2000 season. In fact, the A's have lost the past 10 times they've played in an elimination playoff game.

Longtime Oakland executive Billy Beane famously said after a 2002 playoff loss to the Minnesota Twins that his "shit doesn't work in the playoffs," but you would think after all this time, his "shit" would work on accident for once.

Alas, the A's added to their tortured postseason history Wednesday with a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL wild card game.

With the victory, the Rays advance to the American League Division Series, where they will face the best team in baseball and the World Series favorite -- the 107-win Houston Astros.

Tampa Bay had the fewest home runs (217) of all the playoff qualifiers this season, but you never would have known that by watching this game. Leadoff hitter Yandy Diaz clubbed the first of his two solo home runs to start the game, and former White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia added a two-run blast in the top of the second inning.

Diaz's second home run off Oakland starter Sean Manaea staked the Rays to a 4-0 lead in the third inning, and they maintained control for the rest of the night.

Manaea was removed after giving up his third home run of the start. The two home runs by Diaz were almost carbon copies. The right-handed hitter got two fastballs up and out over the plate, and both times he drove them over the fence to the opposite field. Garcia's homer was to center field, but it also was a fastball up and over the outer half.

I think we know what pitch and what location the Rays were looking for against Manaea, don't we?

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay starter Charlie Morton worked five innings of one-run ball. I get the sense the Rays signed Morton as a free agent last offseason specifically to pitch this game. They knew they probably weren't going to win the AL East this season, and that their path to the division series would need to include a wild card win.

A veteran pitcher such as Morton, who has World Series experience from his time in Houston, is just the sort of guy you need to prevail in a winner-take-all game on the road. Morton didn't even have his best stuff -- his curveball wasn't working -- but he protected the lead he was handed and put the game in the hands of the deep Tampa Bay bullpen.

Tommy Pham hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to give the Rays a little more breathing room, and relievers Diego Castillo, Nick Anderson and Emilio Pagan combined for eight strikeouts over four scoreless innings.

Tampa Bay has a tall order in the next round against the Astros, but in the playoffs, everyone has a puncher's chance. You never know.

Washington Nationals rally to beat Milwaukee Brewers in NL wild card game

Juan Soto

During the 2018 playoffs, teams that took a lead of two or more runs into the eighth inning went 24-0.

One night into the 2019 playoffs, teams that look a lead of two or more runs into the eighth inning already are 0-1.

That's because the Washington Nationals scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against Milwaukee Brewers relief ace Josh Hader to rally for a 4-3 victory in the NL wild card game Tuesday night.

Juan Soto delivered the big hit, and now the Nationals advance to the NL Division Series, where they will meet the 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers.

For Hader, who had 37 saves and a 0.806 WHIP this season, the meltdown was stunning. But, he had some bad luck in the inning, and he was his own worst enemy with shoddy command.

Summoned to protect a 3-1 lead, Hader could not throw his slider for a strike to save his life, which allowed Washington batters to completely disregard that pitch and key in on his fastball. And Hader did not command his fastball well either, routinely missing up and out of the zone.

Washington's Victor Robles actually did Hader a favor by striking out on a 3-2 fastball up and out of the zone to lead off the eighth inning. The Milwaukee left-hander was not so fortunate as the inning progressed.

The next batter, pinch-hitter Michael Taylor, also worked a full count. Hader's 3-2 fastball rode up and in and hit either Taylor's hand or the knob of Taylor's bat, depending on your perspective. It was a tough call -- it could have been ruled a foul ball -- but umpires determined it was a hit batsman, and the call held up under replay review.

Trea Turner also did Hader a favor by striking out swinging on a fastball up and out of the zone. That was the second out, and despite his shaky control, it appeared Hader might escape trouble.

However, Ryan Zimmerman muscled a broken-bat single to center field that advanced Taylor to third base. Hader made a good pitch there, but he was unlucky, as the weakly struck ball landed where nobody could catch it.

That brought up the leading RBI man in the NL, Anthony Rendon, who worked a walk on five pitches. Once again, Hader routinely missed high with his fastball, and he could not throw his slider for a strike.

That loaded the bases for Soto, who obviously noticed that Hader didn't throw a single low fastball the whole inning. Everything with velocity was top of the zone and up, and Soto lined a fastball at the top of the zone into right field for a single.

The ball appeared to take a funny kick on right fielder Trent Grisham. It got past him, and all three runners scored, turning a 3-1 Washington deficit into a 4-3 Nationals lead.

Milwaukee managed to tag Soto out in a rundown between second and third base on the play for the third out, but the damage had been done. The Brewers, who won 18 of their last 23 games in the regular season to earn the second wild card spot, went from being in command with their best reliever on the mound to being in big trouble.

Former White Sox prospect Daniel Hudson, now a veteran reliever, got three outs for the Nationals to earn a save, pitching around a Lorenzo Cain single in the top of the ninth.

For Washington and its fans, this had to be a bit of a catharsis. In each of the Nationals' last three playoff appearances, they had lost a winner-take-all game at home -- one loss each to the St. Louis Cardinals, Dodgers and Cubs.

The last time a Washington team won a winner-take-all game at home? Well, Walter Johnson was on the mound for the Senators in Game 7 of the 1924 World Series.

Quite a start to the playoffs, no?

2 White Sox players finish atop American League leaderboard

Tim Anderson

I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge Tim Anderson and Jose Abreu for making White Sox history this season.

Anderson, who hit .240 during the 2018 season, pretty much shocked the baseball world by winning the 2019 American League batting title. He finished the year at .335, comfortably ahead of the New York Yankees' DJ LeMahieu, who batted .327.

There are only two other players in Sox history who have won a batting title, Luke Appling (1936, 1943) and Frank Thomas (1997), so Anderson is joining select company.

Abreu, meanwhile, totaled a career-high 123 RBIs to lead the American League. Kansas City's Jorge Soler and Boston's Xander Bogaerts finished second with 117 RBIs each.

This marks the first time a Sox player has led the AL in RBIs since Dick Allen did it in 1972. In other words, it has happened in my lifetime (which spans 43 years).

I've heard some fans grump that they don't care about "these individual accomplishments," and while I agree that team success is more important, and while I agree that the losing on the South Side of Chicago has grown tiresome, I also have an appreciation for baseball history and White Sox history when I see it.

We don't see Sox hitters lead the league in significant categories too often, so I see no harm in extending congratulations to Anderson and Abreu for the seasons they had at the plate.