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For much of the 2013 season, Clayton Kershaw was the foundation that held the Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching staff together. Unfortunately, Kershaw picked the worst possible time to start showing cracks.

The St. Louis Cardinals offense pounded Kershaw for seven runs and Michael Wacha turned in yet another stellar performance, as the Cardinals defeated the Dodgers, 9-0, to advance to their second World Series in three seasons.

St. Louis won the best-of-seven series 4-2, celebrating their triumph on the mound as rain fell onto the Busch Stadium field. 

With ghosts of their collapse in the 2012 NLCS staring them in the face, the Cardinals returned Friday night on a mission. Los Angeles had staved off elimination on Wednesday, bringing the series to 3-2 with the likely NL Cy Young award winner taking the mound for them in Game 6.

But it was clear from the outset that Kershaw would not be repeating his excellent Game 2 outing. He made it through the first two innings scoreless, but had thrown two wild pitches and allowed a runner into scoring position in both frames.

By the time the third inning came around, the Cardinals were locked in. They tagged Kershaw for four runs in the third, batting around the order and hitting a succession of lined shots up the middle. Carlos Beltran hit an RBI single, Yadier Molina knocked him in two batters later and Shane Robinson concluded the wreckage with a two-RBI single to right with the bases loaded.

As noted by the Baseball Tonight Twitter feed, it was the first time in four years a team batted around on the 25-year-old ace:

Kershaw would right the ship in the fourth, but it’d be a temporary reprieve. The Cardinals again sent nine men to the plate in the fifth, adding on five runs to take a 9-0 lead. They started off with three successive hits by Molina, David Freese and Matt Adams, whose RBI double ran Kershaw out of the game for good.

He gave way to Ronald Belisario, but things only got worse before they got better. Belisario allowed two more runs to be credited to Kershaw’s name and allowed two of his own in 0.1 innings of work before J.P. Howell came in to mop up the damage. By the end of the fifth, the Cardinals were ahead 9-0 and Kershaw had allowed more than two runs in a postseason outing for just the second time in his career.

That was more than enough room for Michael Wacha, who again had no problems with this vaunted Dodgers lineup. Carl Crawford began the game with an infield single for Los Angeles, but that would represent half of the club’s offensive production. Wacha forced Mark Ellis to ground into a double play immediately after Crawford’s at-bat, en route to retiring 14 of the next 15 Dodgers he faced.

Locating about two-thirds of his pitches for strikes, Wacha was in complete command of the mound. He went seven innings without giving up a run, striking out five and allowing only three baserunners—just one of which reached scoring position. 

Wacha has now given up one run in his last 29.2 innings dating back to the regular season. He’s given up two or fewer hits in three of his past four starts. 

The Cardinals bullpen took over with the hefty cushion and finished the job. Carlos Martinez threw a 1-2-3 eighth and Trevor Rosenthal closed it out. 

Kershaw wasn’t the only Dodgers star who had a rough night. Outfielder Yasiel Puig, whose arrival coincided with Los Angeles’ regular-season turnaround, struck out twice and committed two fielding errors. ESPN’s Buster Olney suggested a creative way for Puig to relearn the fundamentals on defense:

The Cardinals will now have a somewhat extended break before facing off against the American League champion on Oct. 23. The Boston Red Sox currently hold a 3-2 lead over the Detroit Tigers as they head back to Fenway Park for Games 6 and 7.

Boston and St. Louis have met three times in the World Series, most recently when the Red Sox broke their 86-year title drought in 2004. The Cardinals and Tigers have also met three times, with St. Louis’ 2006 triumph being the most recent.

Player Grades

Player of the Game: Michael Wacha (SP, St. Louis Cardinals)

The Cardinals topping of Kershaw was one of the most impressive displays by a team in the entire 2013 season. The Cards bats came alive at the perfect time and took advantage of an ace who just wasn’t all there on Friday night. But it’s impossible to pick just one St. Louis hitter as being the most outstanding player. Every player not named Matt Holliday contributed in some way, shape or form.

That leaves Wacha, whose ascent is quickly soothing the wounds of those in the Gateway to the West still bitter about Albert Pujols’ departure. (Wacha was the Cardinals’ compensatory pick they received for losing Pujols to the Los Angeles Angels.)

For the third time in as many postseason starts, Wacha was better than anyone could have hoped. He shut down the Dodgers’ high-priced lineup by locating his pitches well and getting an excellent game behind the plate from his battery mate Molina. In Wacha’s short time in the bigs, he and Molina have obviously developed a strong rapport that’s helped St. Louis through its postseason run.

Now, it’s on to the next challenge. Many young pitchers have looked great under the LDS and LCS spotlight, only to wilt once a World Series ring is on the line. But based on what we’ve seen thus far, the AL victor is going to have an awfully tough time rattling Wacha.

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For his first 99 pitches, Justin Verlander was unhittable. The next offering is single-handedly responsible for giving the Boston Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the American League Championship Series.

Mike Napoli hit that 100th pitch over the right-center-field fence at Comerica Park and John Lackey threw 6.2 shutout innings as the Red Sox bested the Detroit Tigers ace en route to a 1-0 victory on Tuesday evening.

The game was also highlighted by a delay in the bottom of the second inning, when a substation near the stadium surged and caused nearly all of the park’s lights to go out. Play was officially stopped at 4:42 p.m. ET and resumed 17 minutes later, with neither side seeming adversely affected.

Especially not the pitchers. The majority of Game 3 saw Verlander and Lackey add another duel to a postseason that’s been defined by excellent starting pitching.

Verlander didn’t allow a hit through his first 4.2 innings of work, commanding the strike zone and overpowering the struggling Boston lineup. In the second and third innings, Verlander fanned six straight Red Sox batters en route to finishing with 10 strikeouts—his fifth straight outing hitting double digits going back to the regular season. 

It was also Verlander’s sixth career playoff game with at least 10 strikeouts, the most in MLB history, according to ESPN Stats & Info. As he cruised through the first six inning scoreless, Verlander looked to be in complete control. 

But Lackey matched Verlander pitch for pitch. Hammering Tigers batters on the edges of the plate with his standard diet of fastballs and sliders, Lackey located his pitches brilliantly before dropping the bottom out with perhaps his best curveball of the season. Jose3030 captured a FOX graphic that showed just how far the curve was sweeping through the zone:

Lackey utilized his season-best stuff well, working his way through a two-on jam in the first inning before recording 10 straight outs, eventually retiring 16 of the next 17 batters he faced. With both teams scoreless through six innings, something had to give.

But few expected it’d be the 2011 AL Cy Young and MVP award winner. And even fewer expected it to be Napoli that would provide the killshot. 

Napoli had only two hits in his first 19 postseason at-bats before stepping to the plate with one out in the seventh. He’d knocked in only one run and was slugging .176 prior to Tuesday evening. The 31-year-old first baseman was criticized in Boston for his poor play and was even benched in favor of Mike Carp with Max Scherzer on the mound in Game 2. 

But with one mistake on a full count, Verlander allowed Napoli to break out of his slump with a towering shot that silenced the Comerica Park crowd. An exasperated Verlander watched on as the ball sailed over the fence, with his streak of 34 scoreless innings being washed away in an instant. 

Napoli talked about the at-bat (via MLB.com): “He’s tough. He was on his game tonight and he was keeping us all off-balance. I got a 3-2 [fastball] and put a good swing on the pitch.”

Verlander wasn’t phased despite the heart-breaking finish (via MLB.com): “I feel like I was right where I need to be. Hopefully I just maintain that. Hopefully I have a few more starts in the postseason and I just stay right where I’m at.”

A half-inning later, Lackey would be the one upset—not at himself, but at his manager. When manager John Ferrell emerged from the dugout to take his bearded righty out of the game with Victor Martinez at first and two down to create a lefty-lefty matchup between Craig Breslow and Alex Avila, Lackey could be seen muttering words not fit for a family publication. 

He walked off the mound having allowed just four hits and recording eight strikeouts, the highest total of his postseason career. Ferrell’s move would wind up paying dividends when Breslow got out of the inning after an Avila walk, but the Red Sox’s truly heroic bullpen performance would come an inning later.

With runners on first and third and one out, Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara struck out Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder in succession to kill the rally. The Tigers sluggers went a combined 1-for-8 in Game 3. Fielder has still yet to homer in 33 postseason at-bats.

Uehara would close the game out in the ninth without a problem to give the Red Sox the one-game advantage in the series.

The two teams will be back in action Wednesday night, when Detroit sends Doug Fister to the mound against Red Sox righty Jake Peavy. Fister went 1-1 with a 5.23 ERA and a .357 batting average against in two starts against Boston this season. Peavy, who was traded to Boston from the Chicago White Sox at the deadline, gave up four runs in seven innings in his only start against Detroit.

Player Grades

Player of the Game: John Lackey (SP, Boston Red Sox)

Will Lackey’s Game 3 performance become the 2013 version of the so-called $14 million grand slam by J.D. Drew in 2007? The stakes might not have been as high as they were when Drew hit his slam against Fausto Carmona in Game 6 of the ALCS, but it’s very possible we remember this as a turning point for the series.

Justin Verlander pitched well enough to win. He pitched well enough to dominate, taking perhaps the least deserving loss of the entire 2013 postseason. The Tigers’ starting staff continues to vex Boston hitters to the point where seven of the nine men in the lineup are hitting .125 or worse for the series.

But Verlander made a mistake—the only mistake of Game 3 on the mound. Where Verlander had a flaw, Lackey turned in arguably the best postseason start of his entire career. He allowed four hits, only one of which went for extra bases, and came up clutch in the exact way the Red Sox had hoped when they signed him before the 2010 season.

Whether this sparks a run that carries the Red Sox to their third World Series title in the past decade is ultimately irrelevant. For this one night, John Lackey out-dueled Justin Verlander. First, there was the $14 million grand slam. Now, there’s the $16 million shutout.

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The Cardinals take a 3-1 series lead over the LA Dodgers with a 4-2 win. Matt Holliday lead the way with a 2-run HR and the Cardinals bullpen 3.2 innings of shutout ball. Thanks for hanging out with us!

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The Red Sox win a classic pitchers’ duel between John Lackey and Justin Verlander. Mike Napoli provided the offense with his 7th-inning HR. Boston took care of business on the road and took a 2-1 series lead in the ALCS. Be sure to check back tomorrow as we bring you Game 4! 

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After Game 1 of the NLCS lasted 13 innings and nearly five hours, both Clayton Kershaw and Michael Wacha seemed intent on ending Game 2 in hasty fashion.

It was the 22-year-old rookie Wacha who outdueled the soon-to-be two-time Cy Young winner, though, as the St. Louis Cardinals knocked off the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0 at Busch Stadium to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.

Wacha, who gave up just one hit in each of his last two starts, was rather pedestrian by his standards on Saturday, lasting 6.2 shutout innings while giving up five hits and one walk and striking out eight. 

Another strong performance put him into decent company, as ESPN Stats & Info pointed out:

Kershaw, as he has been all season, was nearly unhittable. He gave up just two hits and one walk through six efficient innings, but the Cardinals got to him for the all-important run in the fifth inning.

After David Freese doubled and advanced to third on a passed ball to start the inning, Jon Jay went down to get a low pitch and hit it just far enough for the sacrifice fly:

In what was a tremendous pitcher’s duel between arguably the two hottest pitchers in baseball, it was an appropriate way for the only run to cross the plate.

Wacha, after allowing just two baserunners to reach second base through the first five innings, finally ran into trouble in the sixth.

The Dodgers were able to load the bases after a pair of singles and an intentional walk issued to Adrian Gonzalez, but Wacha hunkered down and struck out both Yasiel Puig and the red-hot Juan Uribe to get out of the jam. Needless to say, he was a little fired up:

Wacha got two quick outs to start the seventh but was replaced by Kevin Siegrist after allowing a single. Siegrist made things interesting with two wild pitches to move Nick Punto to third, but he eventually got Michael Young to fly out to end the inning.

Randy Choate, Carlos Martinez and Trevor Rosenthal combined to retire the Dodgers in order in the eight and ninth innings, completing the impressive shutout victory.

Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis had this to say after the game:

Player Grades

Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers: A

Kershaw may have the “L” placed next to his name in the box score, but there’s no logical way you can place the blame on him for the defeat.

He simply did what he has done all season: overwhelm hitters. He allowed just three baserunners through six innings, and if not for the passed ball by Ellis, this game is very likely still locked at zero.

Moreover, while Kershaw was “only” able to strike out five, he used just 72 pitches before being pulled for a pinch-hitter, meaning he could be available for a couple innings of work if things get dicey for the Dodgers in the coming days.

Michael Wacha, Cardinals: A

Well, I suppose he was bound to regress toward the mean at some point. Of course, at this point, the mean for Wacha is five hits, eight strikeouts and beating the best pitcher in the world.

I mean, he was so good (again) that even MLB‘s official Twitter feed got a little intense:

Yep. It was a soul-destroying performance.

A.J. Ellis, Dodgers: C

Ellis was one of the few players capable of doing much of anything at the plate, as he hit a ground-rule double and hit the ball hard the other two times at the plate. As such, it’s hard to lower his grade much more than this.

Still, it’s hard to get over the fact that his passed ball was the difference in the game. You can’t make mistakes like that in October.

David Freese, Cardinals: B+

Freese entered Saturday’s contest hitting just 3-for-21 with one extra-base hit this postseason, so it’s hard to imagine his confidence was too high.

While he didn’t break out of his slump in a gargantuan way (1-for-3), he proved to be key in the Cards’ win, getting a double off Kershaw and hustling home to score the game’s only run.

What’s Next

We will shift back to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Monday at 8:07 p.m. ET. The Dodgers will try to narrow the series gap with Hyun-Jin Ryu, but it won’t be easy with Adam Wainwright taking the hill for the Cards. 

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The start of the championship series round brought with it the first extra-innings game of the postseason, as the St. Louis Cardinals outlasted the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 in 13 innings on Friday night to take a 1-0 NLCS lead at Busch Stadium. 

Carlos Beltran, as he tends to do in postseason games, was the hero. He drove in all three runs, including the game-winning RBI single in the 13th, and threw out Mark Ellis at home in the top of the 10th to keep the Cards alive.

Lance Lynn, who pitched two scoreless innings in relief, recorded the win. 

Cardinals starter Joe Kelly displayed plenty of early-game jitters. He was forced to work out of a dangerous jam in the first, gave up another hit in the second and finally allowed two runs to cross the plate in the third. 

After giving up a double to Carl Crawford and walking Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez to load the bases, Kelly got Yasiel Puig to harmlessly ground out but subsequently gave up a two-out, two-run single to the red-hot Juan Uribe:

Kelly settled into a groove after that, though, retiring nine of the next 11 batters to finish with a final line of six innings, six hits, two walks, two earned runs and five strikeouts. 

Perhaps even more importantly, he sparked an offensive rally in the bottom of the third to help the Cards get to Greinke. 

The former Cy Young winner sat down the first eight batters of the game in easy fashion, but Kelly delivered a two-out single in the third, then Matt Carpenter walked and Beltran—as has become a custom of the postseason—delivered the big hit.

“Senor Octubre” crushed a 3-1 pitch from Greinke to deep center, and Andre Ethier was unable to lasso it in at the wall:

Greinke immediately settled back down and continued to roll, giving up just four hits, one walk and two earned runs over eight dynamite innings while striking out 10. 

After the four-run third inning was split down the middle, the teams continued to match each other with six scoreless—and harmless—innings before the Dodgers appeared to finally break through in the 10th. 

But after Ellis hit a single-turned-triple by some shoddy defending from Jon Jay in center field, Michael Young flew out to Beltran, who nailed Ellis at the plate with a cannon of a throw to help closer Trevor Rosenthal escape the inning unscathed:

The game carried on until Beltran—honestly, who else?—stepped to the plate against Kenley Jansen with two on in the 13th and ripped a single down the right-field line to win the game. 

Nearly five hours and 400 total pitches later, the Cardinals have an early series lead.

See you again in about 14 hours. 

Player Grades

Zack Greinke, Dodgers: A

Greinke hasn’t given up more than two runs since July 25 (!), so this performance wasn’t all that surprising. But that doesn’t take away from its brilliance. 

The veteran starter had his longest outing since August, and for the majority of the game he was pretty much unhittable—he changed speeds beautifully (including a nasty Eephus pitch), worked efficiently, fielded his position well and entered the Dodgers record books with a season-high 10 strikeouts:

Unfortunately, his worst mistake—you can’t give up a hit to the opposing pitcher, especially with two outs—came back to bite him for two runs.

Joe Kelly, Cardinals: A-

Kelly wasn’t as razor-sharp as Greinke by any means. It took him 95 pitches to get through six innings, and he had just one 1-2-3 frame. 

Still, you have to give the 25-year-old massive credit for settling down after a very uneven start—many would have collapsed after the first three innings he had—and keeping the Cardinals close. 

And starting the team’s only real offensive rally through the first 12 innings? Well, that’s just gravy on top of a very solid pitching performance.

Juan Uribe, Dodgers: B+

Apparently the three days off did very little to cool down Uribe, who homered in Games 3 and 4 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves. 

Uribe delivered a clutch, two-out, two-RBI single in the third inning, which, you know, is just customary at this point:

An untimely, rally-killing double play in the eighth inning was rough, but it didn’t take away from a night in which Uribe once again came through huge at the plate. 

Carlos Beltran, Cardinals: A

Much like with Uribe, a new opponent wasn’t enough to halt Beltran’s momentum.

The veteran outfielder was the only player to really get a good swing on the near-untouchable Greinke with his clutch two-RBI double, and his pinpoint dart from right field to get Ellis at the plate in the 10th saved the game for the Cards.

The big hit was pretty much typical of postseason Beltran, but he brought out the vintage arm to save the Cards in extra innings, further highlighting his “clutch” factor.

Oh, yeah, and he had the walk-off hit, too. Ho-hum.

What’s Next

Game 2 will be on Saturday at 4:07 p.m. ET. A couple of white-hot pitchers will meet in Clayton Kershaw and youngster Michael Wacha.

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Austin Jackson had been mired in the worst slump of his career. He had struck out in nine of his last 10 at-bats, the Detroit Tigers leadoff hitter becoming a microcosm of his team’s offensive struggles.

With one broken-bat swing, Jackson busted out of his slump and kept the Tigers’ ALDS chances alive. He hit a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning, Max Scherzer worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, and Detroit pulled away a half-inning later to defeat the Oakland Athletics, 8-6, at Comerica Park Tuesday night to take the series to a deciding Game 5.

Jackson’s go-ahead base knock came as part of a series-saving two-run frame off Athletics reliever Sean Doolittle in the bottom of the seventh. Catcher Victor Martinez hit a home run to start the frame, which became shrouded in controversy when Oakland outfielder Josh Reddick claimed a fan reached over and interfered with the play. The umpires upheld the home run after replays, tying the score at 4-4.   

Jackson, the inning’s second hero, came up five batters later. With pinch-runner Andy Dirks on second and Jose Iglesias on first, Jackson wristed a broken-bat bloop single to right field on an 0-2 count, bringing in the go-ahead run, 5-4.   

Having struck out in his previous three at-bats, Jackson went from goat to hero in an instant—something that the game’s winning pitcher would also do a half-inning later. 

Brought in to relieve starter Doug Fister, Scherzer struggled mightily with control. He gave up a run in the seventh inning, and then opened the eighth by walking Brandon Moss and allowing Yoenis Cespedes to smack a double to right. Jim Leyland then called for an intentional walk to Seth Smith, giving Oakland a bases-loaded situation with zero outs.

The sequence that came next reminded folks why Scherzer won 21 regular-season games. He battled through a seven-pitch at-bat to strike out Josh Reddick, whiffed Game 2 hero Stephen Vogt and then forced the pinch-hitting Alberto Callaspo to line to center, getting out of the inning unscathed.

A fired-up Scherzer slapped hands with teammates and then watched on as the floodgates burst with two outs in the bottom half. Brett Anderson, relieving a struggling Ryan Cook with two runners on, allowed a run on a wild pitch. Omar Infante then doubled to clear the bases, giving the Tigers an 8-4 lead.

Closer Joaquin Benoit battled through a rocky ninth inning, giving up two runs to finalize the score at 8-6. 

The collapse of Oakland’s bullpen obscured a solid outing from starter Dan Straily. Making his first career postseason start, Straily carried a no-hitter through the first four innings before things unraveled a bit in the fifth. Prince Fielder and Martinez halted the hitless streak to start it off, setting up Jhonny Peralta’s three-run blast that knotted the game at 3-3.

Straily got back into a groove, though, and finished the sixth inning having thrown only 76 pitches. Although Straily likely had at least another inning or two in his holster, Bob Melvin chose to trust a bullpen that had not given up a run through the first three games. The 24-year-old righty left the game with eight strikeouts, giving up just that one Peralta blast for his only damage. 

Limited to just one at-bat in the series’ first two games, Peralta’s bat has been valuable since the series moved to Detroit. He went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in before leaving for a pinch runner, and has now plated five runs over the past two games. Peralta has helped make up for the continued struggles of Miguel Cabrera, who went 1-for-4 with a single. 

Tigers starting pitcher Doug Fister went six innings, giving up three runs scattered over seven hits while struggling with location. He gave up an RBI single in the first and a two-run homer to Jed Lowrie in the fifth, which gave Oakland its early 3-0 lead. Both of Lowrie’s hits scored Coco Crisp, as the A’s center fielder went 4-for-5 on the day and now has seven hits in his last nine at-bats. 

In the end, though, the Athletics’ offensive efforts were undone by their bullpen. 

The teams will take a travel day before returning to O.co Coliseum on Thursday for Game 5. Justin Verlander is scheduled to start for the Tigers, with Bartolo Colon taking the mound for the home team. 

Player Grades

Co-Players of the Game: Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta (DH, LF, Detroit Tigers)

Martinez and Peralta were both too integral to the Tigers’ comeback efforts to ignore either one.

Peralta, whose spot on this roster sparked debate due to his 50-game PED suspension, has reminded fans in Detroit why his bat was such a big midseason loss. Leyland kept him out of the lineup for the first two games—likely a result of his slow adjustment to playing left field—but the club’s inability to score runs early in the series forced his hand.

Peralta rewarded Leyland’s faith by driving in two of the Tigers’ three runs in Game 3, and then spearheaded their first comeback on Tuesday night with his big blast in the fifth inning. He might be a defensive liability, but it’s a near guarantee he’ll be back in the lineup for a third straight time in Game 5.

Meanwhile, Martinez found himself involved in every Detroit rally. He scored one of the three runs on Peralta’s blast, tied the game up in the seventh, and then began the Tigers’ three-run eighth with a single. The 34-year-old Venezuelan was hitting just .250 for the series coming into Game 4. He left hitting .375.

Neither Fielder nor Cabrera, the team’s two best offensive players, has had the best of series. But if Peralta and Martinez continue to hit the way they did on Tuesday, the Tigers may be able to pull off this comeback without them.

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The Detroit Tigers wrested away home-field advantage from the Oakland Athletics, winning Game 1 of the ALDS, 3-2, on Friday night in the O.co Coliseum.

The Tigers hit the ground running in the top of the first inning.

Austin Jackson led off with a double to right field. The next batter, Torii Hunter, was hit by a pitch from A’s starter Bartolo Colon and got a free pass to first base.

The Associated Press’ Janie McCauley noted Colon had not hit a batter the entire regular season.

Even when you’re the home team, you don’t want to let the first two batters get on base, and Detroit demonstrated exactly why.

There was no rest for the weary, as Colon was staring at runners on first and second with Miguel Cabrera stepping to the plate. Cabrera singled, which scored Jackson and moved Hunter to third.

Colon was able to get Prince Fielder to ground into a double play, but that allowed Hunter to score. Continuing to labor in the first inning, Colon surrendered a double to Victor Martinez, who scored on an Alex Avila single.

While Colon was responsible for allowing Martinez to get into scoring position, his defense let him down on the hit that got Martinez home.

Ben Jedlovec of Baseball Info Solutions laid a lot of the blame on Daric Barton’s doorstep, after the first baseman failed to field the ground ball before it eventually went into right field.

Just like that, it was a 3-0 lead for the Tigers, and the A’s hadn’t even stepped to the plate yet. In addition, they had gotten to a pitcher who had been extremely reliable all season, via the Detroit Free Press.

To his credit, Colon settled down after that first inning, but the damage had already been done.

Detroit starter Max Scherzer brought his best stuff. His fastball was moving, and his changeup was devastating. The Arizona Diamondbacks’ Brandon McCarthy thought Scherzer was emulating his teammate Justin Verlander, with the way he was working his pitches.

The Oakland offense couldn’t do anything to get back into the game. When the A’s actually did something right, they couldn’t take advantage.

Yoenis Cespedes had a triple with one out in the bottom of the second inning. In their best Cleveland Indians impression, the A’s left him stranded after Josh Reddick struck out and Stephen Vogt lined out to end the inning.

At least Cespedes was able to make history with the hit, via ESPN Stats and Info.

The Tigers almost added another run in the sixth inning. With runners on first and second, Omar Infante singled to right. Victor Martinez—the runner on second—tried to score, only to be met at the plate by a fantastic throw from Reddick. Vogt had plenty of time to apply the tag and keep the A’s within three runs.

It would prove pivotal an inning-and-a-half later.

Scherzer continued rolling into the seventh inning. However, that’s when the cracks started appearing in the foundation. His pitch count was getting up there. The first batter of the inning, Brandon Moss, reached first on an infield single.

Cespedes was the next batter up, and he crushed a Scherzer fastball deep into the left-field seats. The swing and resulting home run were things of beauty.

The distance for the homer was logged at 425 feet, via ESPN Stats and Info.

Suddenly, the A’s were back in the game. The crowd came alive again, and even with Scherzer setting down the next three in order, you felt the door wasn’t completely closed on an Oakland comeback.

Alas, it wasn’t to be. Drew Smyly came on in the eighth inning for Scherzer. He pitched 0.2 scoreless innings before Jim Leyland opted for closer Joaquin Benoit.

Benoit was able to put Moss, Cespedes and Reddick down in order in the ninth to end the game.

Player Grades

Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers: A-

Aside from that seventh inning, Max Scherzer was dealing. The A’s couldn’t do anything to figure out Scherzer’s wicked combination on the mound. Everything was working for him, until that seventh inning.

It just took one swing of the bat for Yoenis Cespedes to almost ruin everything Scherzer had built in those first six innings.

He was taken out after that seventh inning, finishing with 11 strikeouts and walked just two batters.

All in all, it was an impressive performance, and Scherzer did his part to get the Tigers in a position to win in Game 1.

Bartolo Colon, Oakland Athletics: B

Leave it to Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer to so eloquently sum up Bartolo Colon’s performance.

The veteran starter could have easily fallen off the rails after he gave up three runs in the first inning. Instead, he regained his composure and control.

Colon was finished after the sixth inning. He gave up three runs on 10 hits and struck out four. Considering four of those hits came in the first inning, it was an otherwise solid performance.

In the postseason, though, you can’t afford to have even one bad inning, or you’ll pay for it a big way. Oakland started off in a big hole as a result of Colon’s struggles at the beginning of the game.

Yoenis Cespedes, Oakland Athletics: A-

Yoenis Cespedes did just about everything one man could have done to get the Athletics the win on Friday night.

He had the triple in the second inning and then the two-run homer that got Oakland to within a run.

The only reason he’s really getting knocked too much is for a boneheaded play he made in the eighth inning. On a Victor Martinez liner, Cespedes got himself in a position to make the catch, only to have the ball get by him and roll all the way to the wall. It could have hurt the A’s in a big way.

What’s Next?

The teams will stay in Oakland for Game 2 on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. Justin Verlander is getting the start for the Tigers, while Sonny Gray is taking the mound for the Athletics.

Watch postseason baseball live on TBS.com or your mobile device.

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Mike Minor out-dueled Zach Greinke on Friday night, helping the Atlanta Braves tie the NLDS with a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in front of a raucous crowd at Turner Field. 

After giving up a first-inning RBI double to Hanley Ramirez, it appeared as though Minor was intent on repeating Kris Medlen’s performance from Thursday night’s 6-1 drubbing. 

But following that rocky start, he began to deal, allowing eight hits, one walk and just that one run over 6.1 innings while striking out five to get the crucial win.

His opposition on the mound, Zach Greinke, gave up less hits (four) and zero walks through six innings, but the Braves were able to turn those four baserunners into two early runs to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. 

Andrelton Simmons smacked a two-out double to score Evan Gattis in the second. Chris Johnson added a two-out hit of his own—an RBI single to score Freddie Freeman in the fourth. 

Therein was the difference of the game: clutch hitting. 

While the Braves made efficient use of their few runners on base, the Dodgers wasted their opportunities. 

L.A. got leadoff hits to start the second, third, fourth and seventh innings but hit into double plays in three of those frames and weren’t able to manufacture any runs.

The biggest rally-killer came in the seventh inning, as Atlanta still held a narrow 2-1 lead. With Skip Schumaker on third and Michael Young on first (both via infield singles), Carl Crawford came to the plate to face Luis Avilan, who had just come into the game for Luis Ayala. 

Then this happened:

Atlanta added some more clutch hitting in the bottom half of the inning when Jason Heyward smoked a two-out, two-run single. That proved to be important insurance, as Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to cut the lead back to one at 4-3. 

Craig Kimbrel was there to save the day, however, as he came on and shut the door with a four-out save. 

In the end, the Dodgers hit just 2-of-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base, while the Braves drove in all of their runs with two outs in a clutch performance to even up the series. 

Player Grades

Zach Greinke, Dodgers: B+

Giving up four hits and zero walks in six innings is usually going to earn a pitcher a win, but the timeliness of those base knocks really hurt Greinke on Friday. 

Still, you can’t really fault him all that much, as his offense failed to provide much support when he was in the game. 

Dodgers fans will take nights like this from their starters every single time. 

Mike Minor, Braves: A-

Minor wasn’t perfect. He allowed nine baserunners in 6.1 innings, which would come out to a fairly ugly 1.48 WHIP. 

But in opposite fashion of Greinke, timeliness was on Minor’s side. He scattered those hits, and when he needed to get double plays or strikeouts, he got them. 

Minor’s outing epitomized the Braves’ team performance as a whole on Friday: clutch. 

Hanley Ramirez, Dodgers: A

Most of the other Dodgers hitters are somewhere in the “D” range, but Ramirez was en fuego at the plate. He hit two doubles in his first three at-bats and then smacked a one-handed two-run homer in the eighth inning to bring L.A. within one run. 

He now has four hits, three doubles and a home run in two playoff games. Not too shabby for a guy who has been recently battling a back injury. 

Andrelton Simmons, Braves: A

On the diamond, he was involved in all three of Atlanta’s double plays, including this one in the third inning where he intelligently charged the ball and was able to get Crawford at second base despite the speedster taking off on the play:

But with Simmons, defensive gems are commonplace. 

More impressively for the best defensive shortstop in baseball, he was able to come through with a clutch two-out RBI double to get the Braves on the board early. 

What’s Next

The series (tied at one game apiece) shifts to Los Angeles. Game 3 from Dodger Stadium is on Sunday at 8:07 p.m. ET. Julio Teheran will take the mound for the Braves, while Hyun-Jin Ryu gets the start for L.A.

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The Boston Red Sox took advantage of some defensive miscues by the Tampa Bay Rays to grab an early ALDS lead with a dominant 12-2 win at Fenway Park on Friday afternoon. 

Rays youngster Matt Moore was cruising to start Game 1, giving up zero hits the first time through Boston’s formidable lineup. After getting solo home runs from Sean Rodriguez and Ben Zobrist, Moore carried a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning. 

That’s when things fell apart. 

After Dustin Pedroia led off the inning with a single, David Ortiz appeared to hit a routine (but towering) fly ball. There was miscommunication in the Rays outfield, and rookie right fielder Wil Myers let the ball harmlessly drop for an odd ground-rule double in what turned to out to be the major turning point of the game:

Two batters later, Jonny Gomes crushed a double off the top of the Green Monster, driving home Pedroia and Ortiz to tie the score.

ESPN’s Buster Olney had this explanation from Myers regarding the play:

After Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out in what should have been the third out of the inning, Stephen Drew drove home Gomes (yes, from second base) on an infield single, and Will Middlebrooks hit an RBI double. Moore got another strikeout—this one of Jacoby Ellsbury—to seemingly end the inning, but a passed ball from Jose Lobaton extended the nightmare and Shane Victorino hit a single to drive in another run. 

When the damage was finally done, the Red Sox had put up a five spot in the truly bizarre inning. 

Moore couldn’t recover, as Boston tacked on three more in fifth, and he had to be taken out after giving up eight hits, two walks and eight runs (seven earned) over 4.1 innings. He struck out four. 

An eight-spot was more than enough insurance for Jon Lester, who settled into an impressive groove after giving up those two early solo homers. Lester retired 11 in a row at one point and finished with an efficient line: 7.2 innings, three hits, two walks, two earned runs and seven strikeouts. 

Red Sox reporter Brian MacPherson had this note on Lester’s stellar performance:

The Red Sox would add four more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to put an exclamation mark on the emphatic, message-sending victory over their AL East rivals. 

Player Grades

Matt Moore, Rays: C

Usually when you see a guy give up eight hits, two walks and seven earned runs through 4.1 innings, you’re going to see a big fat “F” next to his name. 

But Moore had some bad luck. 

If Myers would have caught Ortiz’s fly ball instead of letting it drop for a double, Moore (assuming everything else stayed the same) would have escaped the fourth inning with one earned run (zero if Pedroia doesn’t score from first on Gomes’ double). 

While Moore wasn’t razor-sharp by any means, the defense behind needs to be much crisper. 

Jon Lester, Red Sox: A-

A bit of a slow start (two home runs) and finish (two walks in the eighth), but Lester was on his game on Friday. 

The Rays mustered just one hit outside of those two long balls and were 0-6 with a runner in scoring position.

This was an “ace” start from Lester, and if he continues to anchor this pitching staff like that, the Red Sox are going to be incredibly difficult to beat in a five or seven-game series.

Jonny Gomes, Red Sox: A

The Red Sox compiled 12 runs and 14 hits, so you can give credit to a lot of players here. Victorino had three hits and two RBI, while Ellsbury, Pedroia and Saltalamacchia also added two hits. 

But let’s focus on Gomes. 

While his game-tying two-run double off the top of the Monster will probably be the hit everyone remembers, his hustle two batters later might have been more impressive. 

When Stephen Drew legged out an infield single, Gomes never stopped running, as he showed alert base-running skills and scored all the way from second base. 

He also added a walk and another run scored in the solid all-around performance. 

What’s Next

Game 2 will be on Saturday at 5:37 p.m. ET. John Lackey is scheduled to face David Price. 

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