Breaking News about the US Men’s National Soccer Team being eliminated from the 2018 World Cup drops right before the show. Soccer is discussed for 5 minutes. Next soccer talk… 4 years from now.
After a quick college football roundup where PJ bitches about his own alma mater (Michigan) and their inability to win against their rivals… the guys get into the MLB Post Season and the Divisional Series. How is the city of New York feeling about their chances? Will Girardi not challenging the hit batter in game 2 come and bite him in the ass? Justin Verlander as a reliever? It’s all covered!
NFL Week 5 came and went with a wimper. Countless injuries, teams not covering spreads, other teams not covering receivers. Where is the Jay Cutler meter with TM? Does anyone in the AFC East want to win the division? It’s all discussed in this weeks Around the League.
New Segment… 60 seconds of News with Booze… it’s a working title. shut up
Keep an eye out for the Binge Sportscast on a weekly basis through the NFL season!
That’s what it’s all about right there. Welcome back to Binge Sports and our continuing coverage of the 2015 Major League Baseball Playoffs. After what can only be described as a wild divisional series round, we’re now down to the final four teams that still have a chance to be called World Series Champions. Let’s take a quick look at my predictions and the fan poll results from the ALDS and NLDS, and preview the upcoming ALCS and NLCS matchups.
ALDS Results
Texas Rangers vs Toronto Blue Jays: Blue Jays win in 5
My prediction: Blue Jays in 4
Fan poll: 100% picked Toronto
How crazy was that series? Texas takes the first two, but the Blue Jays fought back and fought back hard, especially in that wild Game 5. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a game like that.
Houston Astros vs Kansas City Royals: Royals win in 5
My prediction: Royals in 5
Fan poll: 50% picked Kansas City
Who’d have thought that the only team to be back in the LCS in either league from last year would be the Kansas City Royals, but they earned that spot this year. I must give credit to the Houston Astros for a great season, and that young team will be a force to be reckoned with for a while.
NLDS Results
Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals: Cubs win in 4
My prediction: Cubs in 5
Fan poll: 50% picked Chicago
The dream continues for the 2015 Chicago Cubs. After losing Game 1, the Cubs put on a power display over the next three games that the baseball world has never seen, including a record six home runs in Game 3 alone. This team is fun to watch and clinched a postseason series for the first time in history at home, and they did it by beating their long-time rival.
New York Mets vs Los Angeles Dodgers: Mets win in 5
My prediction: Dodgers in 4
Fan poll: 33% picked New York
Well, nobody’s perfect, but I was really close on those first three series, but it looks like most of us were wrong on the Dodgers/Mets series. I think I may have underestimated the real power of the Mets offense, and the grit of that young pitching staff. I honestly thought that with putting Kershaw and Greinke out there twice that the Dodgers had the clear advantage, but the Mets fought through and finished off LA late last night to earn a trip to the NLCS.
Toronto Blue Jays vs Kansas City Royals
Game 1: @Kansas City-Friday, October 16
Game 2: @Kansas City-Saturday, October 17
Game 3: @Toronto-Monday, October 19
Game 4: @Toronto-Tuesday, October 20
*Game 5: @Toronto-Wednesday, October 21
*Game 6: @Kansas City-Friday, October 23
*Game 7: @Kansas City-Saturday, October 24
*-if necessary
These were the two best teams in the American League this year. The Royals pretty much had their division wrapped up in May, while the Blue Jays stayed in a battle with the New York Yankees up until the last few weeks of the regular season, doing most of their damage after going all in for the 2015 season with some key acquisitions at the trade deadline.
In seven games this season, the Blue Jays won four of them. The Royals took two out of three in Kansas City, but Toronto won three out of four at the Rogers Centre. A difference of one game in the regular season gives the Royals home-field advantage in this ALCS, which could be a big factor. Seriously, how loud was that Toronto crowd on Wednesday? The Blue Jays have a lot of pop on offense with Jose Bautista and MVP candidate Josh Donaldson, while the Royals will counter with Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer. However, there’s some good pitching on both staffs as well.
My prediction: Blue Jays in 6
[yop_poll id=”321″ tr_id=””” show_results=”-1″]
Chicago Cubs vs New York Mets
Game 1: @New York-Saturday, October 17
Game 2: @New York-Sunday, October 18
Game 3: @Chicago-Tuesday, October 20
Game 4: @Chicago-Wednesday, October 21
*Game 5: @Chicago-Thursday, October 22
*Game 6: @New York-Saturday, October 24
*Game 7: @New York-Sunday, October 25
*-if necessary
Somebody explain this to me. The Cubs had a better record than the Mets, by seven games to be exact. The Cubs won all seven games they played against the Mets this season. Yet, the Mets have the home-field advantage in this NLCS. Okay, I don’t make the rules (yet), but a change needs to be made in the playoff system in general. It was a shame that two of the three best teams in baseball had to play in the wild card game. Tough break Pittsburgh. Then the winner of that game had to play the team with the best record in baseball, they being the St. Louis Cardinals. The Chicago Cubs were able to get through both of those teams, and now have a date in New York on Saturday night. I suppose there’s something to be said for winning your division, but I don’t think I’m the only one that feels this way. Nonetheless, here we are.
As I mentioned, the Cubs won all seven games against New York this year, but Yoenis Cespedes hadn’t arrived yet, and he’s been a big difference maker for these Mets. This is going to be one fun series. The Cubs have a lot of youth, and are playing at an extremely high level on offense, but the Mets counter with one of the best young pitching staffs in all of baseball. This is going to be one fun series. Did I already say that? Well, then it must be true.
My prediction: Cubs in 6
[yop_poll id=”322″ tr_id=””” show_results=”-1″]
There you have it. Tune in next week for an all-new Binge SportsCast, where I’m sure I’ll be breaking down the first few games of these series. Hopefully, you’re having some fun following the inaugural season of the BFFL, and there’s still time to get in on the Binge Sports Pick ‘Em Contest, which you can take part in every Tuesday right here at Binge Media. For all the latest updates, make sure to follow me on Twitter @BingeSports and @THElukenorris. Until next time.