What a whirlwind these last eight days have been. Yes, it dates back to Monday, Sept. 30, because that doubleheader between the Mets and Braves felt like a playoff game — at least Game 1 did. We’ve seen so much incredible postseason action so far and there are still eight teams standing. None of them will face elimination until Game 4 in the best-of-five LDS round of the playoff bracket.
This is because, for the first time ever, all four divisional series — Mets-Phillies, Padres-Dodgers, Tigers-Guardians and Royals-Yankees — are tied at one game apiece heading to Game 3.
To repeat, this is unprecedented. The divisional round has happened every single year since 1995 in addition to a one-off in 1981 due a midseason strike (first-half and second-half division winners were named with them playing each other for the right to get to the LCS round). We have never had four series all knotted 1-1. A lot of times there are multiple teams holding 2-0 leads.
It isn’t just the way the results have fallen to make these playoffs amazing so far. We’ve seen a litany of close games and comebacks, a good number of games featuring both. So many games are going down to the final two innings and we’re seeing huge hits — including home runs — sometimes with relative unknowns in matchups that aren’t in their favor.
Monday provided another, with a Kerry Carpenter three-run home off the best closer in baseball, Emmanuel Clase, to even the series up for the Tigers against the Guardians.
The Mets, Padres, Tigers and Royals were all able to win one game on the road and steal home-field advantage. The Mets, who host the Phillies on Tuesday in NLDS Game 3, will be playing their first home game since Sept. 22, when they still had not clinched a playoff berth.
The Tigers and Royals, meanwhile, return for home playoff games that have been a long time coming. The Royals haven’t hosted a postseason game at Kauffman Stadium since Game 2 of the 2015 World Series. The last Tigers’ home playoff game was just slightly more than a decade ago, on Oct. 5, 2014.
“You know, when you get that emotional win and go back home 1-1 and you feel like you got one on their home turf,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch told reporters after Monday’s Game 2 win. “We now have two games at our place. We know it’s going to be electric. We know Detroit has waited a really long time for a playoff game. We’re going to have a couple of them and a chance to take control of this series.”
Hopefully this is all a sign of things to come with the LCS and World Series rounds still in our future. For now, though, the divisional round has been incredibly enjoyable.
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