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The Washington Nationals may be allergic to their own home stadium in the postseason.

It seems that way after they dropped the opening game of their National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Nats were on the wrong end of a 4-3 decision, as they were unable to push across the tying run after closing a four-run deficit to one run in the fourth inning.

In the other National League series, the Chicago Cubs are attempting to build off their series-opening 1-0 win over the San Francisco Giants as they send ace Kyle Hendricks to the mound against former Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija in Game 2.

The Nationals have a 1-4 record at home in three different postseason series since the franchise relocated from Montreal following the 2004 season. They have to find a way to reverse that in order to avoid going down 0-2 prior to playing Game 3 in Los Angeles.

How? They need to jump out to a lead in the first few innings so they don’t have to rally back against the powerful Los Angeles bullpen.

Kenley Jansen is one of the best closers in the game, and he is that unit’s headliner, but the Dodgers have the weapons in the pen to hold onto a lead at any point once they get past the five-inning mark.

That will require some productive at-bats from Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth and Daniel Murphy. The Nats did not get an RBI from any of those three players in Game 1, and that has to change in Game 2 and beyond.

The Dodgers received early home runs from rookie phenom Corey Seager and Justin Turner, and that gave Clayton Kershaw an early lead. Since the Dodgers were able to solve flamethrower Max Scherzer, they should be confident against Saturday’s starting pitcher, Tanner Roark.

Scherzer blamed himself for allowing those home runs. 

“It’s pitch execution,” he told Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. “I’m accountable for that, and I’ll shoulder that, and I’ll take the blame for that. I know I’m capable of executing pitches at a higher level, and I’ve got to do it.”

The Dodgers will have tricky left-hander Rich Hill on the mound, and while his pitches often look hittable, he can be difficult to decipher. 

Roark went 16-10 this season with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.171 WHIP. The 36-year-old Hill pitched 34.1 innings this season for the Dodgers after coming over from the Oakland A’s, and he had a 1.83 ERA and a 0.786 WHIP in that span.

Prediction: The Nationals need this game and have the steady Roark on the mound. However, they are pressing and won’t be able to do much against Hill. Look for the Dodgers to squeak out a 2-1 victory and take a 2-0 lead to Los Angeles.

San Francisco at Chicago

Javier Baez’s eighth-inning home run was enough to give Jon Lester and the Cubs a 1-0 victory over Johnny Cueto and the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS opener at Wrigley Field.

“That’s classic playoff baseball in the National League right there,” catcher David Ross told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. “There was going to be good pitching; we knew that coming in. That’s a really good team.”

Look for more hitting from the Cubs in Game 2 against Samardzija, who does not have the same kind of command that Cueto or Madison Bumgarner has for the Giants.

Samardzija went 12-11 with a 3.81 ERA, but the Cubs should be able to solve him. Expect NL MVP candidate Kris Bryant and slugging first baseman Anthony Rizzo to join Baez by contributing on offense.

On the other hand, the Giants will not have an easy time against the overachieving Hendricks. He led baseball with a 2.13 ERA this season and features three different changeups that can be rough on hitters.

The Giants don’t have a home run-hitting lineup, as Brandon Belt led the team with 17 dingers. If they are going to rally, they will need to string hits together, but that doesn’t often happen against Hendricks.

Prediction: After facing Cueto in Game 1, the Cubs are going to find their hitting stroke against Samardzija. The former Cubs pitcher is unlikely to be as sharp as his counterpart, and the Cubs will take advantage of his mistakes.

Even if the wind is blowing the other way, the Cubs will find the seats and come away with a 5-3 victory and a 2-0 lead in the series.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers came away with a 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals in Game 1 of their National League Division Series matchup, and the two teams are back at it on Saturday.

Corey Seager and Justin Turner both homered for the Dodgers in Game 1, while closer Kenley Jansen struck out three in 1.2 scoreless innings to slam the door for the save.

Rich Hill (12-5, 2.12 ERA, 129 K) gets the start for the Dodgers, and he’ll be opposed by Tanner Roark (16-10, 2.83 ERA, 172 K), who quietly put together a terrific season of his own.

First pitch from Nationals Park is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET, and the game can be seen on Fox Sports 1.

Who will come out on top in Game 2 of this exciting NLDS matchup?

Keep it right here for live updates on all of today’s action.

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Fact: David Price gave up 5 ER in 3.1 IP in the Red Sox‘s 6-0 loss to the Indians on Friday. He is now 0-8 in his career in postseason starts. 

Bleacher Report will be bringing sports fans the most interesting and engaging Cold Hard Fact of the day, presented by Coors Light.

Source: B/R Insights

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After all eight remaining teams were in action during Friday’s MLB postseason action, just the National League will take center stage Saturday in a pair of Game 2s from the division series.

A pair of division winners lead off the day’s play, as the NL East champion Washington Nationals host the NL West-winning Los Angeles Dodgers, who lead the series 1-0.

In the nightcap, the San Francisco Giants, who went into Queens and took the Wild Card Game, head back to Wrigley Field down 1-0 to meet the best team in baseball, the Chicago Cubs:

Predictions

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Washington Nationals

Probables: Rich Hill (12-5, 2.12 ERA) vs. Tanner Roark (16-10, 2.83 ERA)

The headline of this game will be the two men on the mound to start Saturday afternoon.

Los Angeles’ Rich Hill and Washington’s Tanner Roark are both making their postseason debuts after solid seasons.

Roark put up a career-best 16-10 record and 172 strikeouts in his fourth professional season to go with a 2.83 ERA that ranked sixth in the majors.

Hill, on the other hand, just finished his 12th regular season, which began in Oakland with the Athletics. After going 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA as the Athletics ace, Hill, who is a free agent at the end of the year, was dealt at the deadline to a Dodgers team in need of pitching depth after the injury over the summer to ace Clayton Kershaw.

In six starts with the Dodgers, his first stint as a NL pitcher since 2008, Hill posted a minuscule 1.83 ERA.

Having spent most of the past eight seasons in the American League, he’s an unfamiliar arm for a lot of NL teams, including the Nationals.

Only Stephen Drew, Bryce Harper, Jose Lobaton, Daniel Murphy and Ryan Zimmerman have faced Hill in their careers, going a combined 5-for-8.

On the other side of the diamond, 10 different Dodgers have faced Roark for a combined 54 at-bats.

Familiarity in big situations can always give one particular team a leg up. In this case, it’s advantage Dodgers, especially with a hot pitcher on the mound like Hill.

Prediction: Dodgers 5, Nationals 3

San Francisco Giants vs. Chicago Cubs

Probables: Jeff Samardzija (12-11, 3.81 ERA) vs. Kyle Hendricks (16.8, 2.13 ERA)

It’s not going to matter who the Giants are rolling out on the mound for Game 2 of the NLDS at Wrigley Field as long as his name isn’t Madison Bumgarner, which it isn’t after his complete-game gem in the Wild Card Game against the Mets.

Instead, it’s Jeff Samardzija, who has allowed nine runs in two career starts against his former team.

The Cubs are rolling out Kyle Hendricks, who had the lowest ERA in the majors at 2.13, which was 0.31 points lower than the second-place Jon Lester, who is also Hendricks’ teammate.

Against a Giants offense that was hitless against Noah Syndergaard through the first 5.2 innings in the Wild Card Game, a pitcher who has been as good as Hendricks could be too much for San Francisco to handle. Especially after it was held scoreless Friday night in Game 1.

Having already faced the Giants once during the regular season, Hendricks allowed just one run on three hits in 5.1 innings. However, he did lose the game 1-0, but it was opposite of Bumgarner, who went 7.2 innings, gave up three hits and struck out six.

As long as Bumgarner doesn’t take the mound and Hendricks is on point, the Cubs should win this game.

Chicago has an offense that scored 808 runs in the regular season, third-most in the majors, and it got its power surge from the bottom of the lineup Friday night in the form of Javier Baez, via MLB:

That should be more than enough to head to San Francisco with a 2-0 lead after Saturday night due to an anemic Giants offense.

If not, Bumgarner is looming in Game 3, and a loss at Wrigley on Saturday means all the momentum swings to the Giants as the series progresses.

Prediction: Cubs 6, Giants 1

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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In a best-of-five series, teams that lose the first game find themselves on high alert.

There is little margin for error, and especially in the case of the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants, there is plenty of work to do.

Los Angeles at Washington, Game 2 (Los Angeles leads series 1-0)

Homestanding Washington dropped Game 1 of its National League Division Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. While the contest was expected to be a razor-sharp pitcher’s duel between Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Max Scherzer of the Nationals, neither starter was on top of his game.

The Dodgers took a 4-0 lead in the third inning, but the Nats had closed to within 4-3 by the bottom of the fourth. That’s how the game ended, as the bullpens did not yield any runs.

The Los Angeles bullpen was one of the team’s greatest strengths all year. Dodgers relievers led the majors with a 3.35 ERA (Washington was second with a 3.37 ERA), and manager Dave Roberts used his relief pitchers in an MLB-high 590.2 innings.

Kenley Jansen is one of the best closers in the game, and he was called on with five outs to go in Game 1. While that was a departure from his usual three-out save, Jansen got the job done, allowing just one hit and striking out three.

During the regular season, Jansen recorded 47 saves in 53 chances, a 1.83 ERA and a remarkable 0.67 WHIP.

Los Angeles also has Joe Blanton, Grant Dayton and Pedro Baez, all of whom were superb in Game 1.

“Whatever we’ve got to do to win, right? Those guys are up to the challenge,” Dodgers rookie shortstop Corey Seager said, per the Associated Press’ Howard Fendrich. “And they’ve been up to it all year.”

Therein lies the key for the Dodgers: Get the lead by the fifth or sixth inning and turn the game over to the bullpen.

On the other hand, if the Nationals can take an early lead, that will remove quite a bit of the pressure that Dusty Baker’s team will have on its shoulders throughout Game 2.

Washington needs to have its big hitters come through. Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth and Daniel Murphy filled the second, third and fourth spots in the Nationals’ batting order Friday, but none of them drove in a run in Game 1.

That has to change if the Nationals are going to tie the series before the two teams head to Los Angeles.

Key for Los Angeles: Get a lead, and get the ball to the bullpen.

Key for Washington: Get run production from Harper, Werth and Murphy.

San Francisco at Chicago, Game 2 (Chicago leads series 1-0)

While the Nationals fell short on their home field in Game 1, the Chicago Cubs did not.

They won a tight, emotional pitcher’s duel 1-0 thanks to Javier Baez’s home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, which ruined a sensational effort by San Francisco starter Johnny Cueto.

“He’s been pitching me inside. I was just waiting for him to make a mistake, and he left it over the plate,” Baez said, per the Associated Press (via the Los Angeles Times).

Chicago starter Jon Lester earned the win, and fireballing closer Aroldis Chapman picked up the save.

Game 2 figures to feature more hitting—for one team, at least. Former Cub Jeff Samardzija will start for the Giants, while Cy Young Award candidate Kyle Hendricks will take the mound for the North Siders.

Samardzija was 12-11 this season with an unremarkable 3.81 ERA and 1.20 WHIP, and he gave up 8.4 hits and 1.1 home runs per nine innings. It would not be a surprise if Chicago—after facing the dominating stuff of Cueto in Game 1—got its offense going against “Shark.”

Look for Baez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo to take good swings against Samardzija and put at least five runs on the board.

San Francisco, which ranked 28th in the majors with only 130 home runs during the regular season, may have a hard time against the sensational Hendricks. The right-hander had a 16-8 record with an MLB-best 2.13 ERA and 0.98 WHIP and features two different changeups. While his pitches—including an 87.8 mph fastball—often look hittable, opposing batters just can’t figure him out.

Hendricks may not be a hard thrower, but he still struck out 170 hitters in 190 innings this season.

The Giants need to play their best game to get a split at Wrigley Field. The lineup has to figure out Hendricks, and Samardzija and the bullpen must be on point.

Key for San Francisco: Play near-perfect baseball.

Key for Chicago: Hit Samardzija hard.

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The Chicago Cubs have no shortage of burgeoning stars.

Toss a fungo bat during Chicago’s pregame warm-ups, and you’re likely to hit a young stud: Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell—the list goes on.

In Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants on Friday, second baseman Javier Baez nudged his name closer to the top of the Cubs’ up-and-comer leaderboard. 

With the score knotted 0-0 in the bottom of the eighth, Baez crushed a solo homer off Giants starter Johnny Cueto, much to the delight of the long-suffering Wrigley Field masses.

MLB.com’s Cut4 offered a look at the timely shot:

Prior to Baez’s blast, Cueto had been cruising, yielding no runs, two hits and no walks with nine strikeouts. Cueto went on to finish the eighth inning and added another strikeout, making his final line unequivocally impressive. 

On the other side, Cubs starter Jon Lester put up zeroes for eight innings, surrendering five hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

And trade-deadline acquisition Aroldis Chapman came on to slam the door in the ninth, toting his triple-digit heater.

It was a classic pitchers’ duel and a see-who-blinks-first affair.

There’s no shame on the menu for Cueto, who pitched brilliantly in his first postseason start with San Francisco.

Instead, heap credit on Baez, who could emerge as the breakout star of the 2016 playoffs.

“At times this year he’s carried us, both offensively and defensively,” Lester said of Baez, per MLB.com’s Chris Haft and Carrie Muskat. “It’s just been fun to watch. Any given night it seems like he makes a play to save the game for us.”

The 23-year-old had a solid season overall, posting a .273 average and .737 OPS in 142 games and putting up 11 defensive runs saved at second base.

The latter stat melds with the slick-fielding Russell to form arguably the flashiest keystone combo in baseball.

After hitting just .220 in August, Baez raised his average to .284 with 12 RBI in September and October. Now, after cutting his teeth with a 5-for-15 performance in the 2015 playoffs, he’s poised to do much, much more.

The ninth overall pick in the 2011 draft, Baez has worn the Cubs’ top-prospect label his entire pro career.

Still, it’s easy to get overshadowed in this gilded Chicago organization. You’ve got to shine to be noticed.

Right now, Baez is sparkling.

If you’re a Giants fans looking to lose more sleep tonight, there’s this, courtesy of USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale:

Whatever the outcome of this best-of-five Cubs/Giants tussle, Baez’s homer will stand as a moment in Cubs lore. So he’s got that going for him, which is nice, to quote noted North Side booster Bill Murray.

For his part, Baez struck an appropriately humble note.

“I had a big hit, but we have to turn the page,” he said after taking Cueto deep, per Paul Skrbina of the Chicago Tribune. “We have 10 wins to go.”

We know Cubs skipper Joe Maddon loves to mix and match his chess pieces, so don’t be surprised if switch-hitting veteran Ben Zobrist gets some reps at second.

Baez, however, will be given ample opportunities.

The Cubs are likely to face two more left-handers in this NLDS—Madison Bumgarner and Matt Moore—and Baez owns an .801 career OPS against southpaws compared to a .636 mark against righties.

The postseason is a time when anything can happen. Superstars crash to earth, and scrubs rise to prominence. If you’re looking for a guy with a shot to rise, however, keep your eyes trained on Baez.

The Cubs have no shortage of stars. On Friday, Baez showed why he deserves a place in the firmament.

All statistics current as of Friday and courtesy of MLB.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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Johnny Cueto and Jon Lester engaged in an epic pitchers’ duel Friday night at Wrigley Field, but Javier Baez snapped the scoreless deadlock in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the National League Division Series with a solo home run to hand the Chicago Cubs a 1-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.  

The Cubs’ official Twitter account offered a glimpse at the game’s defining moment: 

As ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark pointed out, Baez’s game-winning dinger off Cueto was improbable based on his past failures at the plate against the San Francisco starter: 

However, Inside Edge took note of Baez’s historic success against two strikes to show the second baseman’s game-winner was the continuation of a recent trend: 

Offense wasn’t abundant on either side, but the Giants were more consistent at the plate through the first three innings. 

While the Cubs failed to notch a hit off Cueto in each of the first three frames, the Giants produced a baserunner in each of the first four half-innings they stepped to the plate.

However, the Giants were unable to push a runner across the plate during that span and take the lead despite the fact that they had runners on second and third with two outs in the fourth. 

Kris Bryant finally got the Cubs into the hit column with a double to left field in the fourth inning, and the brief awakening looked for a moment like it would spark Chicago’s offense. 

But with Cueto dealing, the Cubs couldn’t make good on Bryant’s two-bagger, as Anthony Rizzo and Ben Zobrist both were unable to come up with timely hits that would have given the Cubs a 1-0 edge. 

Fox Sports 1 on Twitter provided a snapshot of just how strong both starting pitchers were as the game progressed: 

And when the bottom of the fifth came to a close, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan noted the Giants’ pitching staff as a whole has been aces in the postseason: 

Bay Area News Group’s Andrew Baggarly explained that Cueto’s off-speed stuff was giving the Cubs fits: 

Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Daren Willman provided a visual overview of Cueto’s dominance against a team that ranked third in MLB in runs scored:

The pitchers’ duel continued through the top half of the eighth inning, but things turned in Chicago’s favor when Baez launched a shot to left field that just sneaked over the wall to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead with Aroldis Chapman warming in the bullpen. 

With Wrigley buzzing following Baez’s improbable blast, all of the momentum had shifted in the Cubs’ favor.  

Chapman entered to try to close the Giants out in the ninth inning, and he did just that even though Giants catcher Buster Posey reached base after ripping a two-out double to left-center field. 

But with his trademark fireballs flowing, Chapman settled down after Posey moved into scoring position and induced a Hunter Pence groundout to end things. 

The Cubs will now try to mount a 2-0 edge against the NL Wild Card champions on Saturday when the series resumes at 8:08 p.m. ET at Wrigley Field.

Chicago will send Kyle Hendricks—who is 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA in his last three starts—to the mound, while the Giants will counter with Jeff Samardzija, who has been red hot to the tune of a 1.37 ERA and 24 strikeouts in his last three outings. 

Postgame Reaction

Following the win, the Cubs’ Twitter account captured the scene on the field at Wrigley: 

“It was a classic kind of an old-school baseball game,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said, according to 670 The Score on Twitter. 

“I expect these games to be like this,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy added, per 670 The Score.  

According to USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale, Baez wasn’t initially planning to swing away against Cueto in the eighth: 

“We have 10 wins to go,” Baez said, according to 670 The Score. 

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The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t receive a sterling performance from starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Friday, but a couple of home runs and a strong bullpen effort allowed the NL West champions to sneak out a 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.  

Washington now trails 1-0 with Game 2 slated for Saturday afternoon at Nationals Park. It got off on the wrong foot in search of the franchise’s first division series victory since 1981. 

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer allowed 17 first-inning runs this season—his most in any stanza, according to MASN’s Mark Zuckerman—and his trend of starting slowly continued Friday. 

Corey Seager stepped into the box as the second batter of the day, and he promptly crushed a solo home run over the center field fence in his first career postseason at-bat to give the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead, as MLB showed on Twitter: 

The Nationals didn’t experience similar success on the scoreboard during the game’s opening stages, but they did make Kershaw work. Specifically, Washington loaded the bases in the second, and Scherzer worked an eight-pitch at-bat against the southpaw before he popped out to shallow left. 

As the Washington Post‘s Jorge Castillo noted, the Nationals had to take solace in silver linings as the Dodgers maintained a slight edge: 

Once that crisis was averted, the Dodgers collectively exhaled and continued to find success in spots against Scherzer.

After Andrew Toles singled to start the inning, Chase Utley scored him from second on a single of his own to push the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0. A couple of batters later, Justin Turner followed in Seager’s footsteps and crushed a two-run home run to give L.A. a cushy 4-0 advantage. 

CSN Mid Atlantic’s Chase Hughes put Scherzer’s struggles in context: 

But just when it looked like the wheels were starting to fall off, the Nationals responded. 

With men on second and third, Anthony Rendon delivered a two-run single to left field to slash the Dodgers’ lead in half. 

By the time the third inning came to a close, Kershaw had thrown 66 pitches and allowed five hits in what proved to be another less than stellar postseason display. 

ESPN Los Angeles’ Steve Mason believed Kershaw didn’t look like himself on the mound in hostile territory: 

Kershaw gutted it out through the end of the fourth inning after he allowed Washington to cut L.A.’s lead to one, but his command remained shaky.

Los Angeles’ ace ultimately logged 101 pitches through five innings—which represented the most he tossed since returning from the disabled list on Sept. 9, according to J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. 

Sporting News’ Jesse Spector broke down Kershaw’s evening once the three-time Cy Young Award winner was replaced by reliever Joe Blanton: 

Conversely, Scherzer struck out five and gave up five hits over six innings. However, two costly mistakes served as blemishes on an otherwise impressive outing, per Zuckerman: 

Once the starters sat, the Dodgers bullpen took over. 

Blanton, Grant Dayton and Pedro Baez combined to pitch 2.1 no-hit innings, and they served as a stellar bridge to closer Kenley Jansen—who was brought aboard for his first successful five-out save since April 13 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, per ESPN Stats & Info. 

Jansen’s clutch effort was amplified by the fact he retired Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth in the ninth to give his side a 1-0 series lead. 

The Nationals will now turn to Tanner Roark (16-10, 2.83 ERA) to try to stem the tide in Game 2, while the Dodgers will trust Rich Hill (12-5, 2.12 ERA) on the mound as they seek to take a 2-0 lead back to Hollywood and advance to the NLCS for the first time since 2013. 

Postgame Reaction

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Dodgers are in an advantageous spot entering Game 2: 

Hoornstra later relayed word from manager Dave Roberts regarding Jansen’s potential usage later in the series: 

The Los Angeles Times‘ Bill Shaikin noted Jansen was in favor of that plan: 

As for the Nationals, Daniel Murphy owned up to his decision to try to swipe second when he was caught stealing. 

“There are two choices there, be safe or don’t run,” he said, according to MLB.com’s Alex Putterman. “It was a bad play.”

As for Danny Espinosa (0-for-3 with three strikeouts), manager Dusty Baker just noted it wasn’t the shortstop’s night. 

“Espinosa can turn around and hit the next pitch out of the park,” he said, according to the Washington Post‘s Chelsea Janes. “That’s what’s kind of frustrating…his swing was long tonight.”

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When pitcher David Price was introduced as the Boston Red Sox‘s new $217 million toy last December, he said something the future would either vindicate or bring back to haunt him.       

“I think I was just saving all my postseason wins for the Red Sox,” he told reporters during his introductory press conference.

Now, the quote is sneaking up behind Price to say “Boo!” in his ear.

The left-hander did not last long in his first postseason game with the franchise: a 6-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians in Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Friday. Boston manager John Farrell pulled him after he allowed six hits, two walks and four earned runs while recording only 10 outs. Price had a fifth run tacked on to his line after one of his inherited runners scored, which did this to his career postseason ERA:

• Before: 5.12
• After: 5.54

The Red Sox could have lived with this if Rick Porcello had led the club to a win with a strong performance in Game 1 Thursday. But that didn’t pan out. In order to bounce back and avoid an 0-2 hole, the Red Sox at least needed good innings out of Price. They needed to be great innings if Indians right-hander Corey Kluber turned his Klubot mode to 11 in the first postseason start of his career.  

Naturally, that’s what happened. Seemingly anticipating that Red Sox hitters would be sitting curveball after Cleveland’s hook-heavy attack in Game 1, Kluber went right at them with two-seamers and overpowered them. He struck out seven and scattered the only three hits the Red Sox got in Game 2.

Congrats to Kluber on his brand-new 0.00 postseason ERA. Wouldn’t you know, Price had one of those once. Eight years ago, he made his first foray into October baseball with three scoreless appearances in the American League Championship Series against—who else?—the Red Sox.

But that was ages ago. Price has dominated in the regular season, punctuated by a 3.21 career ERA and an American League Cy Young Award in 2012. But whether he’s been wearing a Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays or Red Sox uniform, he just can’t carry that success into October. And Katie Sharp of River Ave. Blues highlights how, lately, he hasn’t escaped the opposite of success:

When Eno Sarris of FanGraphs dug into what’s gone wrong for Price in the postseason, he found in part that the quality of his competition has gotten tougher. But this is, of course, a fact of life for all pitchers who find themselves playing in October. It’s on them to overcome it.

One reason Price hasn’t done that is because he gets hurt at the worst times. He’s normally good at cracking down with runners in scoring position, allowing just a .240 batting average in the regular season. According to Baseball Savant, that figure jumps to .349 in his postseason outings since 2010.

Cleveland boosted that figure by going 2-for-3 against Price with runners in scoring position in Game 2. The big blow was the seed Lonnie Chisenhall sent just over the right field fence for a three-run homer that made it 4-0 in the second inning.

The one silver lining to take away from Price’s latest October flop is he was at least making decent pitches in that momentum-swinging, gut-punching second inning. All four of the hits he gave up came on pitches that were right on the edges of the strike zone.

While we’re on the topic of silver linings, the Red Sox have others to point to. The big one is that they’re not dead yet. Math confirms this, as the Indians have only two of the three wins they need to advance.

There’s also the fact this series is now shifting to Boston, where the Red Sox were 47-34 this season, for Game 3 Sunday. The return to Fenway Park should be especially beneficial to the Red Sox’s cold offense. Red Sox hitters had an .858 OPS at home compared to .762 on the road.

Facing Josh Tomlin in Game 3 could also awaken the offense. After seeing all sorts of power from Trevor Bauer and Kluber in Games 1 and 2, Tomlin’s 80-something heat will be a welcome change. The Red Sox could add to the whopping 36 homers he’s already allowed this year.

It’s unlikely the Red Sox can come back from their 0-2 hole, but it’s not impossible. Teams have done it before, even in instances where they’ve been outplayed worse than the Red Sox. Game 2 was a blowout, but Game 1 was an intense one-run contest either team could have won. If the San Francisco Giants could come back over the Cincinnati Reds in 2012 and the Blue Jays could do it over the Texas Rangers last year, the Red Sox can do it to the Indians in 2016.

If it does happen, Price is one guy who may have no part in it. Assuming Farrell doesn’t change his plans, Clay Buchholz will pitch Game 3. If necessary, Eduardo Rodriguez will take Game 4 and Porcello Game 5. If Price appears again in this series, it will likely be in relief.

To his credit, he doesn’t seem to care how he gets the ball again this season as long as he gets it, period.

“I know my number’s going to get called again to pitch again in 2016, and I’ll be ready,” Price said after Game 2, per Newsday‘s Erik Boland. “I want it for sure.”

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with enthusiasm. And in this case, you can’t blame Price for wanting to get back out there and deliver on what he said last December.

But what’s certain is this: If Price does get back on the mound, there are going to be a lot of raised pulses in and around the city of Boston.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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Lonnie Chisenhall’s three-run home run and Corey Kluber’s fantastic start carried the Cleveland Indians to a 6-0 victory and 2-0 lead over the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series. 

The big question on Cleveland’s side coming into Friday’s game was how Kluber would fare in his first start since leaving a September 26 game against the Detroit Tigers after four innings with a strained quad. 

Red Sox leadoff hitter Dustin Pedroia put Kluber to work right away, hitting a tapper back to the mound that the 2014 American League Cy Young winner had to move to field. He fired a strike to first for the out, showing no ill effects.  

Kluber looked like one of the favorites for the 2016 AL Cy Young Award—which is a nicer way of saying he looked like himself. The right-hander went seven scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts and throwing 104 pitches. 

Sports Illustrated provided a GIF of what Boston hitters were experiencing as they tried to attack Kluber:

This start from Kluber was what the Indians needed after manager Terry Francona used Andrew Miller and Cody Allen for 40 pitches each in Game 1 to secure the victory on Thursday. 

Dan Otero and Bryan Shaw covered the final two innings to preserve the Game 2 shutout. 

Cleveland has Josh Tomlin on the hill in Game 3. He gave up 36 homers in 174 innings during the regular season, so going to Fenway Park could require Francona to turn to his relief corps early if the Indians are to put the series away.

While Kluber was busy putting up zeroes, Cleveland’s offense continued to use the long ball against Boston pitching. After the Indians hit three solo homers Thursday, Chisenhall capped off a four-run second inning against Red Sox starter David Price with a three-run laser that just cleared the wall in right field. 

It was a critical moment not just because it put the Red Sox in an early 4-0 hole against one of the best pitchers in the AL. Cleveland has been close to unbeatable this year when Kluber gets at least four runs of support, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian:

ESPN Stats & Info has the in-depth numbers to prove how hard and fast Chisenhall’s blast got out of Progressive Field:

Chisenhall, who is usually deployed against right-handed pitching, got the start against the left-handed Price. It should have been a big advantage for the Red Sox. 

Instead, Chisenhall hit his first homer of 2016 against a southpaw and left Boston searching for answers heading back home for Game 3.

Price’s postseason struggles continued Friday. He lasted just 3.1 innings, giving up five runs on six hits, two walks and three strikeouts. His playoff ERA coming into Friday was 5.12 in 63.1 innings, and he remains winless in nine postseason starts. 

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Price’s outing today also represented his shortest in the playoffs:

Going back to Rick Porcello’s start from Thursday night, MLB.com’s Ian Browne noted the Red Sox haven’t seen their two aces very long in the series:

Price and Porcello combined to throw 453 innings during the regular season with 417 strikeouts. Their struggles will force the Red Sox to turn to Clay Buchholz in Game 3 with their season on the line. 

This season was often a struggle for Buchholz, though he did look much better in the second half with a 3.22 ERA in 19 appearances. 

Just as puzzling for the Red Sox so far has been the lack of production from their lineup, with ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber providing some alarming numbers:

During the regular season, Boston’s offense led the league in virtually every major category, including runs (878), doubles (343), total bases (2,615), average (.282), on-base percentage (.348) and slugging percentage (.461). 

This is not the scenario the Red Sox wanted to find themselves in, though history is on their side. The last two times they have played the Indians in the playoffs came in the 1999 division series when Pedro Martinez’s Game 5 heroics capped off a third straight win after falling behind 2-0 and the 2007 ALCS when they came back from a 3-1 series deficit en route to their second World Series title in four seasons. 

The Indians did have a little help and motivation at Progressive Field, just in case a playoff game wasn’t enough, as Ohio’s favorite son provided a message to the team and fans in attendance before first pitch, per the team’s official Twitter account:

Whatever is happening in Cleveland right now seems to be working. Four months ago, the Cavaliers ended the city’s 52-year championship drought by pulling off a historic comeback against the Golden State Warriors. 

The Indians still have a long way to go if they want to make it two titles in 2016 for Cleveland, but the first two games of this division series against the high-powered Red Sox offense couldn’t have gone better for the Tribe. 

Postgame Reaction

After hitting his first career playoff home run, Chisenhall explained in part his approach against Price. 

“He’s difficult, but he’s around the zone. So you try to be aggressive,” Chisenhall said on the TBS broadcast, via Bastian and Browne. “Saved that big hit off a lefty for the postseason. The guys in front of me did a great job and we got him out of the game early.”

Even though Friday was another postseason letdown for Price, he did not sound like a beaten man after the game.

“I haven’t had good results yet but it’s coming,” Price said, via Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald. “I promise you that.”

Pedroia was much more reflective about things after his team fell behind 2-0 in the series while still giving credit to Cleveland for its performance thus far. 

“They’ve played better than us,” Pedroia said, via Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. “…We’ve lost who we are. We’ve lost the Red Sox.”

While the Red Sox will try to find their identity in Boston before Game 3, Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis talked about how the Indians are feeding off some national media members not giving them much of a chance, via Hayden Grove of Cleveland.com:

Continuing with his us-against-the-world theme, per Zack Meisel of Cleveland.com, Kipnis said “people forget there’s a reason we opened [the series] in Cleveland and not Boston. We have a pretty good team here.”

Looking at what the Indians have a chance to do with one more win, Kipnis noted he doesn’t expect the Indians to take their foot off the throttle in Game 3. 

“When you have a chance to knock out a team early, you don’t waste any time,” Kipnis said, via Meisel. “You do it. You don’t want to let them get their footing or let them feel at home. If you get a chance to end it, you end it.”

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