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The Braves advance to the NLDS
Atlanta has been able to make their way into the postseason a lot over the last few decades, but success in October hasn’t been easy to come by. The last time they’ve won a postseason series, in fact, was back in 2001. Thursday’s starter for Atlanta, Ian Anderson, was three years old at that point. He was dynamite in this game, however, tossing six scoreless and leading Atlanta to a 5-0 victory. The Braves got homers from Marcell Ozuna and Adam Duvall as well. The game ends the season for Cincinnati with them being shutout in all 22 postseason innings in which they participated. Atlanta moves on to the Texas bubble to face off against the winner of Cubs-Marlins.
Cubs-Marlins postponed
The Marlins were trying to finish off their series against the Cubs on Thursday, but weather got in the way. With rain coming in and out of the area all afternoon, they postponed the game to Friday. Game Two will take place at 2:08 PM ET on ABC this afternoon.
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Athletics become final AL team in ALDS
The only American League series to go to a decisive Game Three was between the A’s and White Sox, and Oakland came out on top. It was Chicago jumping out to an early lead, though, taking a 1-0 lead on a Luis Robert homer in the second and then adding two more in the third to hold a 3-0 lead heading into the fourth. From there, though, it was all Oakland, with Chicago burning through their entire bullpen — they used nine pitchers on the day — and the A’s having a big four-run fourth to take the lead. They’d add two more in the fifth. The biggest moment came in the eighth when AL MVP favorite José Abreu came to the plate with two on and one out with his trailing by two, but he grounded into a double play to end the game. Oakland advances to take on the Astros in the ALDS.
Padres come back, force Game Three
The best game of the day was between the Cardinals and Padres, with the former having taken Game One and were looking to finish it off here on Thursday. They got off to the start they were looking for, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. It was 6-2 St. Louis heading into the sixth, and that’s when the Padres turned on the power. Fernando Tatís Jr. hit a three-run shot in the sixth, and Manny Machado followed it up with a solo shot to tie the game. Wil Myers hit a solo shot in the seventh, and later in the inning Tatís hit a two-run homer. Myers would also add a second homer in the eighth. By the time the dust settled, San Diego came out on top with an 11-9 victory. Game Three will be tonight at 7:08 PM ET on ESPN.
Dodgers sweep
The Dodgers offense didn’t really break out in a big way like some expected in this series against the Brewers, but their pitching was more than good enough to come away with the two-game sweep. Clayton Kershaw got the ball for L.A., and he had an all-time performance. The lefty and future Hall of Famer went eight scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out 13. The Dodgers offense, meanwhile, got three runs in the fifth, including two on a Mookie Betts double, and that was all they needed. The 3-0 victory pushed them along to the NLDS to take on the winner of the Padres-Cardinals series.