The MLB wild-card games have concluded, and they set up very interesting match-ups going forward. How did those wild-card games go? Each series ended after two games, as one team swept the other team. Any of the wild-card rounds could have gone up to three games, but no teams needed a deciding game three.
NL Wild-Cards
The Phillies (4th seed) and the Marlins (5th seed) division rivals, faced off in the wild-card game. The Phillies took game 1 against the Marlins, beating them 4-1, led by an amazing outing by ace Zack Wheeler. The Phillies continued their phenomenal pitching by only giving up 1 run in game two, and they scored seven times against the Marlins to win 7-1, and win the series.
The Diamondbacks (6th seed) faced off against the Brewers (3rd seed). The first game started off with the Brewers taking the lead, but some big offense gave the D-backs the lead in the fourth inning. They never looked back, winning 6-3. Game 2 continued this way, as the Brewers hopped out in front early, but the D-backs scored the runs they needed to win in their 4-run 6th inning. The D-backs would win 5-2 and sweep the Brewers to advance.
AL Wild-cards
The Rangers (5th seed) took on the the Rays (4th seed). The Rangers, without their pair of aces in Max Scherzer and Jacob DeGrom, put on an outstanding pitching performance across the two games. In game 1, Jordan Montgomery hurled seven shutout innings, and Texas scored four to win 4-0. In game 2, the Rangers put up even more, scoring 7 runs while Nathan Eovaldi only let up 1. With the 7-1 win, they beat the Rays and moved on to the Division Series.
The Twins (3rd seed) and Blue Jays (6th seed), faced off in the other AL wildcard game. In game 1, the Twins won the game 3-1, and this snapped their 18-game postseason losing streak. In game 2, the Blue Jays offense just could not get going, as they were shutout by the Twins, who scored two and won the game 2-0. The game 2 win completed the sweep of the Blue Jays as the Twins continued to the next round of the Playoffs.
The MLB playoffs are now slated to look like this.
American League Divisional Series:
1st seed Orioles versus 5th seed Rangers
2nd seed Astros versus 3rd seed Twins
National League Divisional Series
1st seed Braves versus 4th seed Phillies
2nd seed Dodgers versus 6th seed Diamondbacks
