I am still watching the playoffs and with the Twins out of it I picked two more teams to root for - Miami and Oakland and - well - they are not doing to well so far. But still this is some exciting baseball.

The Yankees bats remind us why we did not want to play them, but their 18 strikeouts remind me of why the HR or nothing is either lethal or a bomb (a negative bomba). So Tampa Bay is 1 - 1 and of course I am cheering for Tampa Bay. And Nick Anderson (we traded him for Brian Schales in one of the teams great moves in 2018) looks amazing, he was part of the group that struck out 18 Yankees. Jason Stark wrote, "There’s Giancarlo’s 118-mph rocket Tuesday and, well, that’s it. In fact, there have only been four postseason shots at even 116 mph or harder:" Rays 7 - 5. Series tied at 1 - 1 Which points out my reaction to all this statcast nonsense - who cares - it is still one run and the Yankees lost. A little perspective from Jason Stark, "“I know they just swept Cleveland, but half of those games were started by Gerrit Cole,” the exec said, on the eve of this Division Series. “But now, with no more off days, in a five-game series, the most he can start is 40 percent of the games if it even goes five. And in a seven-game series, he can only start 28 percent. So you don’t judge that team by how they look when he starts. It’s the risk of being forced to expose the depth of their rotation in those other games that’s a better way to measure them.”"

From Jason Stark:

COLE’S LAST 3 STARTS*

Yankees record: 3-0, outscoring opponents, 33-7

Cole’s record: 3-0, 2.70 ERA and a bunch of other awesome numbers

LAST 10 EVERYONE ELSE STARTS GAMES*

Yankees record: 2-8, outscored by opponents, 76-42

Yankees pitching in those games: 86 IP, 106 H, 76 R, 71 ER, 7.43 ERA, 1.65 WHIP

Miami had HRs but no one on and that cost them as they lost to the Braves. I must admit my prejudice - I hate the Braves ever since they left Milwaukee for Atlanta- some things never go away. But the Braves came back and Ozzie Albies made two spectacular defensive plays at 2B reminding me of how important defense is. Braves 9 - 5.

The Oakland A's are down 2 - 0. One more game and they are eliminated. Who are they playing - the ASTROS! If the ASTROS win they will be one series from the WS. All season the league had their collective foot on their throat until the playoffs. George Springer is looking amazing and so is their SP. Imagine if we had gone into the post season without Maeda and Berrios? That would have been equivalent to the ASTROS lost pitching, but they haven't cared. They have a mission. Can they be stopped? ASTROS 5 - 2.

Dodgers whipped the Padres. I would like to root for the Padres, but LA just looks too strong. The lesson in this one is how much small ball is needed. Without HRs LA came up with a big 4 run inning on the strength of good hitting and baserunners. I loved it. Clutch hitting, not swinging for the fences, not Ks, just station to station, good baserunning, good bats. By the way, like Houston, the Padres lost their top two pitchers - Clevinger and Dinelson for the previous series and now this one. To win without your best pitchers seems almost impossible. The Dodgers used their third game projected starter in relief of Buehler like Houston did against the Twins and got an amazing performance. I know that people say the Twins could not win no matter who pitched when the batters only scored one run, but we did not use Odorizzi and who knows we might still be playing those 1 - 1 games. The winning teams show no hesitation to do anything they deem essential to winning. Dodgers won 5 - 1 and lead the series 1 - 0.

So my lessons (yes good pitching is essential, but not on my list):

1. Big Ks kill the innings
   
2. Small ball still wins games
   
3. Fielding is essential and can make the difference.
   
4. Use everyone - including your extra starters to keep your team in the game.
   
5. It does not matter how hard a ball is hit, a HR is still one run, and if it is caught it only stings a little while.
   

Nothing Earth shaking here, just a reminder of fundamental baseball.

The games continued - The Braves (I Still hate them) won game two and lead 2 - 0. Two things came out of this game - great pitchers do count. Miami 3 hits and Atlanta 4. And this is where HRs do count. If two of your four hits are HRs you win even though they are solo HRs. ESPN says, "The Braves have won this postseason when they've hit, just as they did during the regular season. They've also won when they haven't, and that's a scary proposition for any team that looms in the Braves' path." Braves 2 - 0

Oakland came alive thanks to our old MN Twin - Liam Hendriks who pitched 3 innings to close out a 9 - 7 win. The series is still going - tied 1 - 1. Can we count this as a Twins victory? ESPN said, "An A's team that entered Wednesday 1-29 when trailing by at least three runs after the sixth inning in postseason games came back to beat the Astros and save their season under that very scenario -- and now is when things get interesting. The A's used their closer, Liam Hendriks, to record the final nine outs of Game 3 and lost second baseman Tommy La Stella after he took a fastball near his right elbow." Ramon "Laureano assembled the entire squad after returning to the dugout at the conclusion of the sixth inning and delivered a fiery speech. The message clearly lit something inside of the players." Liam Hendriks said afterward that he felt the energy so emotions do count something the Twins seemed to lack this year. Still ASTROS 2 - 1 lead. Jason Stark adds, "Astros’ fearsome fivesome of Carlos Correa, George Springer, José Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel." "These five men have now played 50 postseason games together — yes, 50!"

Thank you Tampa Bay - the Yankees lost again 8 - 4. Ancient old Charlie Morton took the mound, three Tampa Bay players hit HRs and the Yankees Stanton continues to impress with distance, power and HRs - five games in a row, but it takes more than one player to succeed. Now Tampa Bay 2 - Yankees 1. Kevin Kiermaier, “We sit here and talk about never depending on one person each and every night. We have our guys, don’t get me wrong, but you just never know who’s going to be the hero and who’s going to step up with the big strikeout, the big hit, the big defensive play, and we showed that tonight.” The Rays now have eight different players with a home run. Tampa Bay now 2 - 1

The Dodgers beat the Padres again. One of their stars came through with bat and glove. MLB network said, "Cody Bellinger, after slugging a home run in the fourth inning, robbed Fernando Tatis Jr. of a two-run go-ahead homer in the seventh inning." By the way the pitcher on the mound who had a hit batsman, and a balk was Brusdar Graterol who was saved by Bellinger's hit. He threw both his hat and glove in the air in celebration. And just when the Twins thought that a SB was old school and not worth doing "The Dodgers added a critical pair of runs in the seventh around a double steal by Betts and Corey Seager" Dodgers 2 - 0 One tidbit from the losing team in this game which was, perhaps, the best game in the Post Season, Rosenthal reports, "Tommy Pham told his new Padres teammates in spring training that his previous club, the Rays, knew exactly how to pitch them when the teams met last season – throw strike one, then expand the zone and watch the San Diego hitters chase." Plate discipline is always important.

Braves 2 Marlins 0. Pitching is still key - especially starters. The Marlins may see their Cinderella season ending but they can be proud. The Braves won on two solo HRs because their rookie Ian Anderson was sensational. How do the Braves and Indians keep producing these pitching phenoms? "The Braves have allowed a run in just three of the 40 innings they played this postseason." mlb.com The series is now 2 - 0 Atlanta.

6. Another lesson - a SB or two can make a difference.

7. Tampa Bay is teaching that it takes an entire team, not just an individual to win.

8. Emotions do count. They do not win the game, but they put energy back into it.

9. Plate discipline is essential when you are facing the best teams and pitchers it is even more important.

ASTROS win. Can this be true. Is this Karma. Were the Twins caught in a cosmic vortex that they had no chance to defeat? "The Astros bashed four more homers into the Dodger Stadium jet stream on Thursday afternoon, including two by Michael Brantley, and stunned the A’s in an 11-6 victory to advance to the AL Championship Series for the fourth year in a row." mlb.com I would say the take away from this for the Twins is that it is okay to score in October or the end of September. If you are going to be a bomba squad during the year, hit bombas in the playoffs. ASTROS 3 - A's 1. Does this make the Twins feel better? I hope not, at least the A's won one and scored runs.

The Braves beat the Miami Marlins in three straight and they did it by not allowing any runs, in any game, in the entire series! "Atlanta joined the 1905 New York Giants as just the second team to shut out the opposition in four of its first five games of a single postseason." mlb.com Now I am really in a bind. I hate Atlanta and I do not like the Dodgers so please Padres - help me out. By the way Jason Stark says, "19 is how many years it’s been since the Atlanta Braves last played in an NLCS"

Well the Dodgers did it. They beat the most exciting team in the playoffs 3 - 0 with a 12 - 3 thrashing in the final game of the sweep. This series had game two excitement and even saw the playoff flop - Kershaw win a game. “We did what we wanted to do, we did what we were supposed to do,” said outfielder AJ Pollock. “We’re going to celebrate that, but we expect." MLB.com wrote, "The Dodgers reminded the Padres in three victories that they can play long ball and small ball and pass the baton while exploiting matchups." And Twins take note - 8 Dodgers reached base. Seven of those runners scored and six players drove in runs. The Dodgers have pitching and power, everyone knows that. They can also field well and they run the bases with an abandon that shakes up the other team fielders and pitchers - another note for the Twins.

Then there is the one series that is still in play. The Tampa Bay Rays took their foot off the Yankee throat and now the Yankees have their swagger back with one last game for the series. Winning 5 - 1 the Yankees looked like their old selves - scary. Voit and Torres homered, DJ LeMahieu did what he always seems to do - get on base, and catcher Higashioka is hitting 364 for the series and I never heard of him before. Wow does he look good. And Gardner is the hard nosed competitor that always rises in the playoffs. He had two hits. Montgomery who has not looked good to end the season did four innings with only one run and then the BP reminded us of why they have been so fearsome in the past. Series tied 2 - 2. Come on Rays!

Way to go Rays. 2 - 1 win and a 3 - 2 series. The Yankees are gone - so long NY. At least the Twins can appreciate this.

I will add to this with todays games - so check in again if you are interested.