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MLB

Tuesday, October 4

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American League Wild Card playoff preview and odds: Orioles at Blue Jays
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The Blue Jays took two of three from the Boston Red Sox to finish the regular season, holding off hard charges from the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners in the wild-card race.

Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays (A: +135, H: -155, Total: 8.5)

The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles did what they needed to do on the last weekend of the regular season and earned the two American League wild card spots with identical 89-73 records. The Blue Jays edged the Orioles 10-9 in the season series, earning the right to host the one-game playoff Tuesday to determine which team advances to the AL Division Series to face the top-seeded Texas Rangers.

Baltimore should have plenty of confidence after finishing the season winning seven of its last nine games with a series win in Toronto last week that included a 3-2 triumph Wednesday in which Hyun Soo Kim belted a pinch-hit, two-run blast off Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna in the ninth inning. The Orioles paced the majors with 253 home runs and Mark Trumbo led all players with 47 blasts, though only one of those came in 75 at-bats against Toronto. The Blue Jays took two of three from the Boston Red Sox to finish the regular season, holding off hard charges from the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners in the wild card race, but have some concerns at the back of the bullpen with Jason Grilli and Osuna. Grilli, who works the eighth inning, allowed a total of six runs on seven hits - three home runs - in 1 2/3 innings over his last three appearances while Osuna had a string of three straight blown saves come to an end Sunday.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, TBS, Sportsnet (Toronto)

INJURY REPORT:

Orioles - RP J. Aquino (Out Indefinitely, illness), CF J. Rickard (60-Day DL, thumb), 2B S. Pearce (Out For Season, elbow), RP C. Lee (60-Day DL, shoulder).

Blue Jays - RP J. Benoit (Out Indefinitely, calf), RP G. Floyd (Out For Season, shoulder).

WEATHER REPORT: The forecast is calling for clear skies and temperatures in the low 70's at game-time in Toronto. Last year in the post season the league forced the Jays to keep the roof closed and you can assume the situation will be the same on Tuesday night.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Chris Tillman (16-6, 3.77 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Marcus Stroman (9-10, 4.37)

Tillman is the nominal ace of the Baltimore staff but is winless in his last three starts while failing to complete six innings in each of those outings. The California native could not get out of the second frame against Boston on Sept. 22 but was better at Toronto on Wednesday, when he allowed two runs (one earned) and six hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings. Tillman is 5-10 with a 5.44 ERA in 24 career starts against the Blue Jays.

Toronto burned its top two starters in ace Aaron Sanchez and right-hander Marco Estrada over the weekend at Boston in order to clinch and instead turns to Marcus Stroman. The Duke product went 1-0 with a 4.19 ERA in the playoffs last season and finished the 2016 campaign by allowing three or fewer earned runs in five of his last six starts. The outlier in that bunch came Thursday against Baltimore, when he was reached for four runs on nine hits and two walks in seven innings.

TRENDS:

* Orioles are 4-1 in their last 5 road games.
* Orioles are 8-0 in Tillman's last 8 road starts vs. a team with a winning record.
* Blue Jays are 1-4 in their last 5 games vs. a right-handed starter.
* Blue Jays are 1-7 in Stroman's last 8 starts vs. American League East.
* Under is 7-0 in Orioles last 7 playoff road games.
* Under is 7-1 in Tillman's last 8 road starts.
* Under is 6-0 in Blue Jays last 6 vs. American League East.
* Under is 5-0 in Stroman's last 5 starts overall.
* Under is 7-0 in the last 7 meetings.

CONSENSUS: The public is heavily on Marcus Stroman and the Jays with 63 percent of the wagers on the home team. Under 8.5 is picking up 55 percent of the total plays.

[StarDust Bum]

MLB
Dunkel

Tuesday, October 4


San Francisco @ NY Mets

Game 933-934
October 5, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
San Francisco
(Bmgrner) 13.892
NY Mets
(Syndrgrd) 16.745
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
NY Mets
by 3
9
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
NY Mets
-110
6
Dunkel Pick:
NY Mets
(-110); Over

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MLB (PROFESSIONAL)

DUNKEL'S HIGHLIGHTED GAME

Baltimore at Toronto - Tuesday October 4, 2016

The Orioles head to Toronto tonight to face the Blue Jays in the AL wild card game and come into the contest with an 0-4 record in their last 4 playoff contests. Toronto is the pick (-155) according to Dunkel, which has the Blue Jays favored by 1 1/2.

Dunkel Pick: Toronto (-155).

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AL Wild Card - O's at Jays
October 3, 2016


AL Wildcard Game Betting Preview (TBS, 8:05 p.m. ET)
Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays
Tuesday, Oct. 4 from Rogers Centre

Sportsbook.ag Odds: Baltimore (+130), Toronto (-150); Total 8.5

After about 24 hours of deliberations from both teams, we've finally got our AL Wildcard matchup set as the Baltimore Orioles will send out starter Chris Tillman to face the Blue Jays and their Opening Day starter Marcus Stroman.

These two teams have seen a lot of one another this year being division rivals, but even more so during the month of September when both sides were battling for the right to play October baseball. They actually just finished a three-game set in Toronto last week and it was the Orioles who won two of three.

2016 Head-to-Head Matchups (Toronto 10-9, Under 11-8)

Toronto vs. Baltimore (Rogers Centre)

Sept. 29 - Orioles 4 Blue Jays 0 Under 8.5
Sept. 28 - Orioles 3 Blue Jays 2 Under 9
Sept. 27 - Orioles 1 Blue Jays 5 Under 8.5

July 31 - Orioles 6 Blue Jays 2 Under 9
July 30 - Orioles 1 Blue Jays 9 Over 9
July 29 - Orioles 5 Blue Jays 6 Over 9

June 12 - Orioles 9 Blue Jays 10 Over 9
June 11 - Orioles 6 Blue Jays 11 Over 9
June 10 - Orioles 3 Blue Jays 4 Under 8.5
June 9 - Orioles 6 Blue Jays 5 Over9

Baltimore vs. Toronto (Camden Yards)

Aug. 31 - Blue Jays 5 Orioles 3 Under 9.5
Aug. 30 - Blue Jays 3 Orioles 5 Under 10
Aug. 29 - Blue Jays 5 Orioles 1 Under 10.5

June 19 - Blue Jays 6 Orioles 11 Over 9
June 18 - Blue Jays 2 Orioles 4 Under 10
June 17 - Blue Jays 13 Orioles 3 Over 9

Apr. 21 - Blue Jays 2 Orioles 3 Under 8.5
Apr. 20 - Blue Jays 3 Orioles 4 Under 8.5
Apr. 19 - Blue Jays 4 Orioles 3 Under 9

Baltimore's two wins in that series came by scores of 3-2 and 4-0 and they are somewhat siginficant here because of who took the hill in those games. The 3-2 win was a Chris Tillman's last start of the year and although he would have liked to do a little better (6 hits, 3 walks, 2 runs and 2 strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched), he did more than enough to keep his team in the game as the bats eventually broke out late for Baltimore.

The 4-0 win by the O's came when they were up against Marcus Stroman in his last start of the year and they tagged him for 9 hits and all 4 runs during his seven innings pitched. Stroman has lost his last three starts against Baltimore (all this year) and many of them haven't been pretty.

In those three outings, Stroman has allowed 27 hits and 15 runs in just 16 innings pitched, which makes the call to put him on the mound for this Wildcard game one that Toronto fans and media have already begun debating about.

Manager John Gibbons is a very loyal guy though and he wants to go with the guy he's rode with the past year and a half (Stroman), over someone like Francisco Liriano who's only been in Toronto a few months.

Liriano had better numbers down the stretch, and Baltimore does struggle vs lefties, so those that prefer a more numbers based approach to these things would have preferred to see Liriano get the nod.

However, he will be available from the bullpen should Stroman get into some early trouble and that in itself could help the Jays stay in this one late and ultimately pull through.

With all the intrigue surrounding the starting pitching selections, what may be lost on bettors is the fact that despite these two teams being known for mashing home runs and putting up crooked numbers, the last seven meetings between these two division rivals have all cashed 'under' tickets.

Baltimore led the league in HR's with 253 and Toronto was 4th with 221, so to see so many games in a row stay under the number is a bit surprising. But all of those low-scoring games during a stressful final month of the season for both sides as they were battling just to get into the playoffs and I'm not so sure we see that streak stay in tact here.

With the Wildcard game being a one-game winner take all situation, these two teams are going to have the mindset that they've got to stay true to their identity if they want to advance. Although the Jays have been a much better pitching team this year then they were in 2015, they are still a team constructed to win with offense and hitting HR's just like Baltimore is.

One swing of the bat by either side could turn this Wildcard game in that team's favor – which makes picking a winner tough – but thanks to a run of 'unders' by these squads and some questionable pitching decisions about who will start does give us some value on the high side of this total.

Neither starter has been historically great against their opponent since entering the majors, and with the pressure ramped up extremely high here, I doubt either one of them will drastically turn that around. Six of Tillman's past 10 starts vs. Toronto have cashed 'over' tickets, while half of Stroman's career starts (3 of 6) have gone over the number as well.

Combining those two results for games played in Toronto and you've got a 4-3 O/U result.

That's not the biggest edge by any means, but as the old saying goes, “If you're going to go down, go down swinging” and I expect the eventual loser of this game to do exactly that.

Best Bet: Take Over 8.5 runs

MLB Wild Card History

Betting Trends:

Road Teams have gone 6-2
Favorites have gone 5-3
The 'over/under' has gone 4-4

2015 WILD CARD RESULTS
Game Matchup Score Favorite-Underdog Over-Under
AL Houston (-110) at N.Y. Yankees 3-0 Favorite Under (7)
NL Chicago (-125) at Pittsburgh 4-0 Favorite Under (5.5)

2014 WILD CARD RESULTS
Game Matchup Score Favorite-Underdog Over-Under
AL Oakland at Kansas City (+100) 9-8 (12) Underdog Over (6.5)
NL San Francisco (-110) at Pittsburgh 8-0 Favorite Over (6.5)

2013 WILD CARD RESULTS
Game Matchup Score Favorite-Underdog Over-Under
AL Tampa Bay (-110) at Cleveland 6-2 Favorite Over (6.5)
NL Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (-145) 4-0 Favorite Under (7)

2012 WILD CARD RESULTS
Game Matchup Score Favorite-Underdog Over-Under
AL Baltimore (+210) at Texas 5-2 Underdog Under 9
NL St. Louis (+155) at Atlanta 6-3 Underdog Over 6.5

[StarDust Bum]

Tillman, Stroman set for AL wild-card
October 3, 2016

TORONTO (AP) Chris Tillman is scheduled to start for the Baltimore Orioles against Marcus Stroman and the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League wild-card game Tuesday night.

Both teams announced their pitching plans Monday as they prepped for the playoff opener at Rogers Centre.

Tillman (16-6, 3.77 ERA) took a no-decision against the Blue Jays in his final start of the regular season, allowing two runs, one earned, and six hits in 5 2/3 innings last Wednesday. In 13 career starts at Rogers Centre, the right-hander is 2-6 with a 7.01 ERA.

Stroman lost to Baltimore in his final regular-season start, allowing four runs and nine hits in seven innings last Thursday. He is 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA in four starts against the Orioles this season.

The winning team heads to Texas to play the AL West champion Rangers in a best-of-five Division Series beginning Thursday.

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Entering 5th year, wild-card games have favored visitors
October 4, 2016

Fervent fans and last at-bats haven't done the home teams much good in the first eight wild-card games.

As baseball enters its fifth season with its one-game, winner-take-all format prior to the Division Series, victorious visitors have become an unlikely trend. The road team is 6-2 in wild-card games - a good omen for the Orioles and Giants this year.

Baltimore, Toronto, the New York Mets and San Francisco are also trying to become the second team to go from wild-card winner to World Series champion - the Giants were the first, beating the wild-card winning Royals from the AL in the 2014 Fall Classic.

A look back at the first four years of wild-card games in preparation for Baltimore-Toronto on Tuesday and San Francisco-New York Mets on Wednesday:

SHUTOUTS APLENTY

Four of the eight wild-card games have been shutouts. The Pittsburgh Pirates have been the victims twice.

In 2013, Tampa Bay's Alex Cobb, who had missed part of the regular season after taking a line drive off his head, pitched out of jams three times in seven innings before the Rays' bullpen finished a 4-0 win at Cleveland.

In 2014, the Giants' Madison Bumgarner (who'll start against the Mets on Wednesday) struck out 10 and needed only 109 pitches in a four-hit, 8-0 shutout at Pittsburgh.

In 2015, Chicago's Jake Arrieta gave up four hits in a 4-0 road win over the Pirates, the Cubs' first postseason victory in 12 years.

Also in 2015, Dallas Keuchel faced the Yankees on three days' rest and allowed three hits over six innings, and three relievers finished up in a 3-0 victory.

FITTING BEGINNING

The wild-card games got off to an appropriately wild start. The first NL game in 2012 was Chipper Jones' last contest before retirement, and it included a 19-minute delay while beer cups, popcorn holders and other debris were cleaned off Turner Field following a disputed infield fly call.

Umpire Sam Holbrook made the ruling in the eighth inning when St. Louis shortstop Pete Kozma called for a popup in left field, but then Kozma veered away at the last moment and the ball dropped. The Braves thought they had the bases loaded with one out before realizing Holbrook's decision, and fans responded by littering the field with whatever they could find.

Atlanta lost the game 6-3 and the Cardinals advanced to the NL Championship Series before losing to the Giants in Game 7.

MOST FANTASTIC FINISH

The 2014 AL wild-card game is an easy winner. Kansas City trailed Oakland 7-3 in the eighth inning and 8-7 in the 12th before Salvador Perez's single down the left-field line produced a 9-8 walk-off victory in the Royals' first postseason game since 1985.

BIGGEST BAT

San Francisco's Brandon Crawford became the first shortstop to hit a postseason grand slam , going deep against the Pirates' Edinson Volquez in the fourth inning of what was a scoreless game in 2014.

WHO'D A THUNK?

Anything can happen in a one-game playoff, of course, but the Orioles' 5-1 win at Texas in 2012 might have been the biggest surprise in the short history of the wild-card games.

Joe Saunders, acquired in a late-season trade, was matched against Yu Darvish and allowed one hit over 5 2/3 innings as the Orioles won their first playoff game in 15 years and knocked out the two-time defending AL champion Rangers.

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LEADING OFF: O's, Jays swing away in Toronto
October 4, 2016

A look at what's happening all around the majors today:

SLUGGING IT OUT

Offense is expected when the Orioles and Blue Jays play the AL wild-card game in Toronto. Baltimore led the majors with 253 home runs this season, and Toronto was fourth with 221 - as Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Monday, when these AL East rivals meet, ''they're normally slugfests.''

The pitching matchup favors the O's. Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman was 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA in four starts against Baltimore this season, while Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman was 1-0 with a 3.63 ERA in four starts against Toronto.

WILD ON WEDNESDAY

The Giants have arrived in New York ahead of Wednesday's NL wild-card showdown with the Mets. Ace left-hander Madison Bumgarner will take the ball just as the 2014 World Series MVP did two years ago at Pittsburgh with the season on the line. Noah Syndergaard will oppose Bumgarner, whose `14 postseason was among the best ever by a pitcher.

San Francisco inched into the playoffs on the season's final day this year following an uninspiring second half, but they're still exuding confidence that their even-year World Series success can continue. ''That energy's back,'' pitcher Jake Peavy said after a win over the Dodgers on Sunday. ''This isn't the last game we're playing at AT&T ballpark, there's no chance.''

HELP WANTED

The Braves are on the hunt for a full-time manager ahead of their move to SunTrust Park in 2017. Despite offering praise for interim skipper Brian Snitker on Monday, team president John Hart said Atlanta will bring in former big league managers Bud Black and Ron Washington to interview for the job. Snitker has already been interviewed and is still in the running after helping the youthful Braves win 50 of their final 97 games.

Elsewhere, the Diamondbacks are seeking help after firing general manager Dave Stewart and manager Chip Hale, and the Rockies need a new manager after Walt Weiss resigned Monday.

NEW DIRECTION

The Twins are moving forward after their worst season since moving to Minnesota, and doing it with a new baseball operations boss. They formally announced 33-year-old Cleveland Indians assistant general manager Derek Falvey as their new chief baseball officer Monday, putting him in charge of turning around a team that lost by far the most games (103) in the majors. Falvey has a promising young core of position players to lean on, plus veterans Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer, and said in a statement he hopes to ''nurture a progressive culture'' around Target Field.

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A capsule look at the Orioles-Blue Jays playoff game
October 3, 2016

A look at the American League wild-card game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays:


Schedule: Tuesday, at Toronto, 8:08 p.m. EDT (TBS).

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Season Series: Blue Jays won 10-9.

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Projected Lineups:

Orioles: RF Michael Bourn (.264, 5 HRs, 52 RBIs with Diamondbacks and Orioles), CF Adam Jones (.265, 29, 83), 3B Manny Machado (.294, 37, 96), DH Mark Trumbo (.256, 47, 108, 170 Ks), C Matt Wieters (.244, 17, 66), 1B Chris Davis (.221, 38, 84, 88 BBs, 219 Ks), 2B Jonathan Schoop (.267, 25, 82), LF Hyun Soo Kim (.302, 6, 22), SS J.J. Hardy (.269, 9, 48).

Blue Jays: 2B Devon Travis (.300, 11, 50), 3B Josh Donaldson (.284, 37, 99), 1B Edwin Encarnacion (.263, 42, 127), DH Jose Bautista (.234, 22, 69), C Russell Martin (.231, 20, 74), SS Troy Tulowitzki (.254, 24, 79), RF Michael Saunders (.253, 24, 57), CF Kevin Pillar (.266, 7, 53), LF Ezequiel Carrera (.248, 6, 23) or Melvin Upton Jr. (.238, 20, 61 with San Diego and Toronto).

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Starting Pitchers:

Orioles: RH Chris Tillman (16-6, 3.77 ERA, 140Ks).

Blue Jays: RH Marcus Stroman (9-10, 4.37, career-high 204 IP).

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Relievers:

Orioles: LH Zach Britton (2-1, 0.54, 47/47 saves, 18 BBs, 74 Ks), RH Brad Brach (10-4, 2.05, 2 saves, 92 Ks), RH Darren O'Day (3-1, 3.77, .214 BA against), RH Mychal Givens (8-2, 3.13, .220 BA against), RH Vance Worley (2-2, 3.53) RH Oliver Drake (1-0, 4.00, 21 Ks in 18 innings), LH Brian Duensing (1-0, 4.05), RH Tommy Hunter (2-2, 3.18 with Indians and Orioles).

Blue Jays: RH Roberto Osuna (1-6, 2.68, 36/39 saves), RH Jason Grilli (7-6, 1.29, 81Ks in 59 innings with Atlanta and Toronto), LH Brett Cecil (1-7, 3.96), RH Joe Biagini (4-3, 3.06 in 60 games as a rookie).

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Matchups:

A single-elimination showdown between AL East foes that battled to the final day of the regular season to determine which one would host this game. ... Toronto and Baltimore tied for second place at 89-73, four games behind division champion Boston. ... This is the first postseason meeting between the teams, who have been in the same division since the Blue Jays were born in 1977. ... Orioles went 4-6 in Toronto this season but took two of three there last week, winning the final two games of a pivotal series after losing six of their previous seven road games against the Blue Jays. Baltimore got a two-run homer from Kim in the ninth inning to win one game and a stout performance by Jimenez in a 4-0 victory. ... Toronto outscored the Orioles 97-81 overall in 19
meetings. ... Machado and Donaldson have clashed in the past, most recently last year.

... Tillman went 1-0 with a 3.63 ERA in four starts against the Blue Jays this season. ... Trumbo hit only one home run in 80 plate appearances against Toronto. ... Blue Jays have won nine of the past 15 meetings, outscoring the Orioles 83-65. ... Since moving into Rogers Centre in 1989, Toronto has gone 136-86 there against Baltimore. ... The Blue Jays hit 29 home runs in the season series, while Baltimore had 28. ... This is Martin's ninth trip to the playoffs in 11 major league seasons. He has made it with four teams (also the Dodgers, Yankees and Pirates). ... The winner heads to Texas to play the AL West champion Rangers in a best-of-five Division Series beginning Thursday.

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Big Picture:

Orioles: Baltimore has excelled under manager Buck Showalter, who took over in July 2010. After 14 straight losing seasons, the Orioles are in the playoffs for the third time in five years. They lost to the Yankees in 2012 ALDS and advanced to ALCS in 2014 before being swept in four games by Kansas City. ... This team is built for power. Trumbo led the majors in homers and five of his teammates hit at least 22. Baltimore topped the big leagues with 253 home runs, 28 more than runner-up St. Louis. ... Bourn is a threat on the bases, but the Orioles had only 19 steals - the fewest since the 1972 Detroit Tigers swiped 17. ... Orioles went 52-38 at home and 39-42 on the road but finished with a 4-2 mark on their season-ending trip to Toronto and Yankee Stadium. ... Baltimore won its final five series away from home. ... Orioles went 21-16 in one-run games and 6-2 in extra innings.

Blue Jays: After snapping a 22-year postseason drought in 2015, Toronto reached the playoffs for the second straight season under manager John Gibbons. The last time the Blue Jays did that was a three-year run from 1991-93 that ended with back-to-back World Series titles. ... The Blue Jays went 13-16 in September and October, their first losing month since April (11-14). ... Toronto averaged an AL-worst 3.69 runs per game in September and October, a full run off their season average of 4.70. ... Blue Jays starters were strong down the stretch, allowing no more than one earned run in 12 of the final 17 games. The bullpen struggled, however, blowing leads five times in a seven-game stretch that ended Oct. 1. ... The Blue Jays went 46-35 at home, the fourth-best mark in the division. ... Toronto has never played in the wild-card round before. ... Toronto has several pending free agents, including Bautista, Encarnacion, Saunders, Cecil and RHP R.A. Dickey.

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Watch For:

- Mister Perfect. Britton converted every one of his 47 save opportunities this season and allowed only four earned runs, none after Aug. 24. If the Orioles have a lead in the eighth or ninth inning, they'll feel pretty good about Britton locking it down.

- Missing Benoit. Blue Jays reliever Joaquin Benoit went 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings after being acquired from Seattle on July 26, but tore his left calf running in from the bullpen during a bench-clearing scrap with the Yankees on Sept. 26. He was ruled out for two to three weeks.

- RISP-Y Business. Toronto hit .249 with runners in scoring position, the worst mark among AL playoff teams. Over the final eight games, the Blue Jays were 13 for 66 (.197) with one double in those situations.

[StarDust Bum]

Giants find way back into playoffs
October 3, 2016

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Pitcher Jake Peavy grabbed the microphone and promised a sellout crowd more special October baseball, and who could doubt him given the Giants' recent history of even-year World Series success?

Ace right-hander Johnny Cueto tossed a baseball into the seats in celebration Sunday, then expressed his thanks to a higher power for putting him in another winning situation this season after last fall's World Series victory in Kansas City.

''That energy's back,'' Peavy said. ''This isn't the last game we're playing at AT&T ballpark, there's no chance.''

Yet the way the Giants played in the second half, when nearly everything seemed to go wrong at some point and the old reliable bullpen blew it over and over again, manager Bruce Bochy couldn't help but wonder if his team could pull it off in the end. With all that talent and depth, San Francisco nearly squandered a big chance.

Bochy never counted on the Giants getting any help to reach the playoffs, either.

On Sunday, he knew his club would have to get there on its own - and that's exactly what San Francisco did on the season's last day.

''It's a tough group. I kept saying, `They've been through it, they're battle-tested,''' he said. ''We stayed in it a lot longer than I thought. When they needed to answer the bell, they did it.''

The Giants owned the best record at the All-Star break at 57-33, sputtered for months then all but needed to sweep the division champion Dodgers to return to the postseason. They did just that to wrap up the second wild card and headed East on Monday ahead of Wednesday night's game against the New York Mets for a spot in the Division Series against the Chicago Cubs.

Now, ace left-hander Madison Bumgarner will take the ball just as the 2014 World Series MVP did two years ago at Pittsburgh with the season on the line. Noah Syndergaard will oppose Bumgarner, whose `14 postseason was among the best ever by a pitcher.

''It comes down to that one game, all the work we've put in comes down to that,'' Bumgarner said. ''... Early in the season things were looking real promising for us, then we went through a pretty good stretch when it wasn't looking too promising at all.''

The Giants have momentum again. Things are clicking at the plate, with the pitching and on defense.

Nobody wanted to travel first to St. Louis for a potential one-game playoff to determine the last wild card.

''This game is hard to explain sometimes,'' Bochy said. ''We just got in a funk between we were missing a couple guys and then we were sputtering offensively, we were trying to get this bullpen in order. For us to get there, and how we got there, I said earlier I felt we had to win out in this series. We couldn't count on somebody helping us. It was up to us to take care of business and these guys took care of business in a great way. Five runs the first two innings, they were on a mission.''

The Giants (87-75) finished the regular season with their first four-game winning streak of the second half.

They have a chance to follow up those every-other-year championships the franchise has captured this decade: in 2010, `12 and `14. Many of the same faces have been around for them all.

''It's always fun to go to the postseason, especially with the core group of guys we have, some experience with the wild card and with the postseason,'' shortstop Brandon Crawford said. ''It's going to be fun. We've done a good job of maintaining that belief that we would get here. Hopefully we can just keep it rolling. We've been playing good baseball the last few days.''

Santiago Casilla lost his closer's job. Sergio Romo got healthy and stabilized the ninth inning, and everybody in the tight-knit bullpen stuck together.

''It's unbelievable,'' Casilla said. ''This year, I believed 100 percent we'd win the World Series, no matter what anybody was saying or how we made it. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard. We played hard, we believed. Now, we can win the World Series and make the city happy.''

Right fielder Hunter Pence has been telling Bochy for weeks how much he cherishes playing for something this time of year.

''This is October baseball,'' Pence said, ''it's the best versus the best.''

[StarDust Bum]

A capsule look at the Giants-Mets playoff game
October 3, 2016

A look at the National League wild-card playoff between the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets:

Schedule: Wednesday, at New York, 8:09 p.m. EDT (ESPN).

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Season Series: Mets beat Giants 4-3.

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Projected Lineups:

Giants: CF Denard Span (.266, 11 HRs, 52 RBIs, 12 SBs), 1B Brandon Belt (.275, 17, 82, 41 2Bs, 104 BBs), C Buster Posey (.288, 14, 80, 33 2Bs), RF Hunter Pence (.289, 13, 57), SS Brandon Crawford (.275, 12, 84), LF Angel Pagan (.277, 12, 55, 15 SBs), 2B Joe Panik (.239, 10, 62), 3B Conor Gillaspie (.262, 6, 25).

Mets: 3B Jose Reyes (.267, 8, 24, 9 SBs in 60 games), SS Asdrubal Cabrera (.280, 23, 62), LF Yoenis Cespedes (.280, 31, 86), CF Curtis Granderson (.237, 30, 59), RF Jay Bruce (.250, 33, 99 with Reds and Mets; .219, 8, 19 in 50 games with Mets), 2B T.J. Rivera (.333, 3, 16 in 105 at-bats), 1B James Loney (.265, 9, 34 in 100 games) or Lucas Duda (.229, 7, 23 in 47 games), C Rene Rivera (.222, 6, 26 in 65 games).

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Starting Pitchers:

Giants: LH Madison Bumgarner (15-9, 2.74 ERA, 251 Ks).

Mets: RH Noah Syndergaard (14-9, 2.60, 218 Ks in 183 2/3 IP).

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Relievers:

Giants: RH Sergio Romo (1-0, 2.64, 4/4 saves), RH Derek Law (4-2, 2.13, 1 save), LH Javier Lopez (1-3, 4.05, 1 save, .211 BA vs LH hitters), RH Hunter Strickland (3-3, 3.10, 3 saves), RH Santiago Casilla (2-5, 3.57, 31/40 saves), RH George Kontos (3-2, 2.53), LH Will Smith (2-4, 3.35 with Giants and Brewers).

Mets: RH Jeurys Familia (3-4, 2.55, MLB-high 51/56 saves in 78 games), RH Addison Reed (4-2, 1.97, 1 save in 80 games), RH Fernando Salas (3-7, 3.91, 6 saves in 75 games with Angels and Mets; 0-1, 2.08, 19 Ks, no walks in 17 games with Mets), LH Jerry Blevins (4-2, 2.79, 2 saves in 73 games, 42 IP), RH Hansel Robles (6-4, 3.48, 1 save), LH Josh Smoker (3-0, 4.70, 25 Ks in 15 1/3 innings), RH Bartolo Colon (15-8, 3.43 in 34 games, 33 starts, team-high 191 2/3 IP), RH Seth Lugo (5-2, 2.67 in 17 games, 8 starts), RH Robert Gsellman (4-2, 2.42 in 8 games, 7 starts), RH Jim Henderson (2-2, 4.37) or RH Erik Goeddel (2-2, 4.54).

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Matchups:

This is the second postseason meeting between the teams. New York beat the Giants in four games during their 2000 NL Division Series. ... Both clubs finished 87-75, and the Mets earned home-field advantage for this game by winning the season series. New York took two of three at home early in the season before the teams split a four-game series at San Francisco in August. Bumgarner had two of the Giants' three wins and is 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA in six career starts against the Mets. He allowed four runs over five innings in a 10-7 victory Aug. 18. He had allowed four runs in his first 35 innings against New York, including six scoreless innings to outpitch Syndergaard on May 1. ... Posey is a .336 career hitter against the Mets. ... New York set a franchise record with 218 home runs, which ranked second in the NL and fifth in the majors. The Mets went 77-40 when they homered. ... New York also clocked a club-record 13 pinch-hit homers this season. Only the Cardinals (17) had more. ... In addition to his quality stuff and sensational postseason resume, Bumgarner could present a matchup problem for the middle of New York's lineup simply because he's a lefty. Granderson, Bruce, Loney and Duda all bat left-handed. Reyes and Cabrera are switch-hitters, but injured infielder Wilmer Flores (wrist) will be missed. Flores hit .340 with 11 homers in 100 at-bats vs. left-handers this season, including .393 with 25 RBIs in his last 61 at-bats. He had a whopping .710 slugging percentage against southpaws. Flores had been subbing at second base for injured Neil Walker (23 HRs). That role now belongs to T.J. Rivera, an undrafted rookie from New York City who won the Pacific Coast League batting crown. He's done an excellent job filling in. ... The winner heads for Chicago to play the NL Central champion Cubs in a best-of-five Division Series beginning Friday. New York swept the Cubs in last year's NL Championship Series and went 5-2 against them this season, including a four-game sweep at Citi Field.

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Big Picture:

Giants: After leading the majors with a 57-33 record at the All-Star break, San Francisco stumbled to the finish and nearly missed out entirely on the postseason. The Giants ended the regular season with their first four-game winning streak of the second half to beat out St. Louis by one game for the second NL wild card. Now that San Francisco is in, manager Bruce Bochy's team hopes to extend the even-year karma that led to World Series titles in 2010, `12 and `14. ... San Francisco set up its rotation with the right man on the mound for this one in Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP. He is 7-3 with a 2.14 ERA in 14 career postseason appearances, and 5-1 with a 0.99 ERA in his last seven postseason starts. ... The bullpen was the biggest issue in the second half, with the team setting a franchise record by losing nine games it led after eight innings, including five in September. ... Posey hit just three HRs in his last 63 games but picked up his performance late with 12 RBIs in the final nine games. ... Pence, who missed 48 games with a hamstring injury, had a strong finish, batting .340 over his final 24 games. ... San Francisco committed a major league-low 72 errors, with Crawford playing mistake-free defense in his final 43 games at shortstop. ... With 3B Eduardo Nunez not expected to play because of a hamstring injury, Gillaspie will get the nod. He is 7 for 14 with five RBIs in the past five games.

Mets: Following last year's World Series loss to Kansas City, the well-stocked Mets began the season with big expectations and legitimate aspirations of winning their first championship since 1986. Then the aches and pains started piling up. Every established regular besides Granderson spent time on the disabled list, in addition to handy part-time players Flores (16 HRs, 49 RBIs) and Juan Lagares. Duda (back) missed four months, and captain David Wright (neck surgery) has been out since late May. By early September, the imposing young rotation had been decimated by season-ending injuries to Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz. Zack Wheeler never made it back from March 2015 Tommy John surgery, further testing New York's pitching depth. The trade-deadline deal for Bruce looked like a bust before he finally went on a timely tear during the last week of the season. But when the resilient Mets reached down to the farm, several marginal prospects delivered under pressure. Lugo and Gsellman saved the rotation down the stretch, while the 43-year-old Colon was a rock throughout - even becoming the oldest major leaguer to hit his first career home run. Loney and Rene Rivera, steady veterans dumped by Tampa Bay just before the season started, arrived from the minors and provided important contributions. Reyes, released by Colorado after serving a domestic-violence suspension, rejoined his original team at a new position July 5 and combined with Cabrera to energize a sagging offense. Both dyed their hair bright, too, and manager Terry Collins' persistent team finally took off. New York was 60-62 after losing at San Francisco on Aug. 19, the day Cespedes and Cabrera came off the DL. Then the Mets went an MLB-best 27-13 the rest of the way and jumped over four teams in the pennant race. They secured the top wild card on the penultimate day of the regular season, reaching the playoffs in consecutive years for the second time in franchise history (1999-2000). That allowed them to hold back Syndergaard for this game. Now, the Mets will try to make another October run with Cespedes. The star slugger can opt out of his contract and become a free agent again this fall.

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Watch For:

- Closing Time. The bullpen that played such a key role in San Francisco's recent World Series championships melted down in the second half. Casilla tied for the most blown saves in the majors with nine and lost his job. After struggling to find a replacement, Bochy went to Romo, the closer during the 2012 title run. He successfully converted all four save opportunities in the final two weeks. Meanwhile, the Mets have a reliable formula at the back end in Salas, Reed and Familia.

- Running Wild. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Syndergaard has trouble holding runners and is often slow to the plate. He allowed 48 stolen bases this season, 18 more than any other major league pitcher. It's a big reason why strong-armed Rene Rivera has become his regular catcher. San Francisco probably will try to take advantage. The Giants ranked eighth in the NL with 79 steals but were caught 36 times for a success rate of 69 percent.

- Power Outage. While the bullpen woes got the most attention, the Giants' bats also struggled in the second half. The team went from scoring 4.7 runs per game before the All-Star break to 4.0 afterward, with Posey, Crawford and Belt all struggling to hit for power.

- Tried and Tested. The Mets haven't played a team that finished with a winning record since Sept. 14 at Washington. Meanwhile, the Giants are coming off a three-game sweep of the NL West champion Dodgers.

[StarDust Bum]

Cederstrom, Winters are crew chiefs for wild-card games

NEW YORK (AP) Gary Cederstrom and Mike Winters will be the umpiring crew chiefs for this week's wild-card games.

Major League Baseball announced Monday that Cederstrom will work the plate for Tuesday's AL wild-card game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Cederstrom will be joined by Ted Barrett, Eric Cooper, Will Little, David Rackley and Bill Welke.

Winters is the plate umpire for Wednesday's NL game between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets at Citi Field. His crew includes CB Bucknor, Mike Everitt, Jeff Nelson, Quinn Wolcott and Jim Wolf.

Scott Barry and Mark Carlson will serve as replay officials for the wild-card games.

For the Division Series, John Hirshbeck (Giants/Mets vs. Cubs), Jeff Kellogg (Dodgers vs. Nationals), Joe West (Orioles/Blue Jays vs. Rangers) and Bill Miller (Red Sox vs. Indians) will serve as crew chiefs.

[StarDust Bum]

MLB
Short Sheet

Tuesday, October 4


Baltimore at Toronto, 8:00 PM ET
Tillman: BALTIMORE is 11-4 SU in road games after 6 or more consecutive road games
Stroman: TORONTO is 22-31 SU after 3 consecutive game versus a division rival


Weds – Oct. 5

San Francisco at NY Mets, 8:00 PM ET
Bumgarner: SAN FRANCISCO is 13-3 SU when playing in the 1rst game of a playoff series
Syndergaard: NY METS are 13-21 SU against NL West opponents

[StarDust Bum]

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

BAL at TOR 08:00 PM

BAL +154

O 8.5

[StarDust Bum]

Wednesday’s six-pack

Six NFL trends to ponder, with Week 5 coming up……..

— Arizona is 8-4 in last 12 tries as a road favorite.

— Packers covered 9 of last 11 post-bye games.

— San Diego is 12-2-2 as a divisional road underdog.

— Detroit is 1-7-1 in last nine games as a home dog.

— Patriots are 31-11 vs spread coming off a loss, but 4-13 as a road fave.

— Indianapolis is 3-8 in last 11 games as a home favorite.


Wednesday’s List of 13: Mid-week musings

13) A woman in Ohio was late for her job recently. Why? She claimed she was attacked by a man in a clown suit on her way to work.

Not surprisingly, the clown attack story turned out to be a lie, but she gets credit for being original. Someone should ask her what kind of a bozo does she think would buy that story?

12) Have to wonder if Billy Donovan would’ve left Florida for the NBA if he knew that Kevin Durant would skip town; Donovan probably also knew that his AD at Florida, Jeremy Foley would be retiring soon, but Oklahoma City without Durant isn’t that great a job.

11) Arizona Cardinals are only NFL team that hasn’t scored in the first quarter yet this season.

10) Texas-Oklahoma football game, one of the biggest rivalry games in the country, starts at noon ET Saturday, thats 11am in Dallas, which means the teams eat pre-game meals at 7am. Why? This is ludicrous. FOX has baseball playoffs and FS1 has UFC on at night, so they want the football game in the morning, so the morning it is. Oy.

9) Colorado Buffaloes are in the football top 25 for the first time since 2005.

8) Julio Jones is the 6th WR in NFL history with 300+ receiving yards in a game; Flipper Anderson (336) still holds the all-time record.

7) Arizona Diamondbacks fired GM Dave Stewart/manager Chip Hale after their disaster of a season ended. Colorado/Walt Weiss also parted ways, though they said Weiss chose not to pursue another contract. Who quits a major league managing job?

6) Jimmer Fredette surfaced on my TV Sunday night as a member of the Shanghai Sharks, who finished 12th in the 20-team Chinese Basketball Association last year. Jimmer shoots a lot on this team.

Odd fact about the Chinese league; their All-Star weekend is between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs, which seems like a really bad idea.

5) LA Rams are off to a 3-1 start, having played all three NFC West rivals already; their next divisional game isn’t until December 15- their last three games are all within the division. Their next nine games are all non-divisional games.

4) Kansas Jayhawks got a verbal commit from a kid from Chicago who is in the Class of 2019, which means he just started 10th grade. Whats the point of this, other than it might keep some recruiters away from contacting the kid? (probably not many, if he is really good)

If the young man gets hurt, is Kansas still obligated? What if he regresses as a player and the Jayhawks don’t want him anymore? What if the kid realizes that the weather in Arizona and California is way nicer than Kansas and he wants to go to school in one of those places?

3) San Diego Chargers are 3-12 in their last 15 games that were decided by 8 or less points; they’ve led by double figures in every game this year, they’ve led in the 4th quarter in every game and yet they’re 1-3, with a QB who will be 35 in December. Not good.

2) One of Duke’s star basketball recruits this year is Harry Giles, who just had his third knee surgery in three years; he didn’t play in high school last year and now his role this year will be reduced to an unknown extent.

Tough spot for everyone involved; if the kid doesn’t play a full-time role this year and then jumps into the NBA Draft next spring, which franchise will take the leap of faith and draft him? (hopefully not Portland, which has Sam Bowie/Greg Oden on its resume)

The young man needs his knees to stay healthy to become a millionaire; how long does he stay in college, risking an injury that could dash those hopes? But he also could improve his standing by staying in for an extra year and strengthening himself.

It’ll be an interesting story to follow moving forward.

1— When the Padres traded Drew Pomeranz to the Red Sox without fully disclosing his medical history, and then Boston found out about it and complained, the commissioner’s office offered to rescind the trade, but the Red Sox turned them down. Interesting decision.

Curious about two things here: a) How will Boston use Pomeranz in the playoffs? He’s pitched in long relief for the A’s- they should’ve started him more.

b) Does Padres’ GM AJ Preller keep his job when his suspension is over, and if he does, will other teams trade with him? The guy has proven to be a shady character at a young age.

[StarDust Bum]

NL Wild Card game is Wednesday.

Giants @ Mets

Bumgarner is 1-1, 3.54 in his last three starts; seven of his last ten starts went over total. SF is 9-8 in his road starts, 3-1 in his last four. He is 2-0, 3.27 against the Mets this year. Syndergaard is 4-2, 2.06 in his last seven starts; three of his last four went over. Mets lost four of his last six home starts. He is 1-1, 2.63 against the Giants this year.

Giants are 3-4 vs New York this year, with 10.6 runs/game scored. SF won its last four games to make playoffs after a dismal second half of season- they had best record in MLB at All-Star break. Mets are only Wild Card that had couple days to enjoy it and set up starter for this round. NY is 7-3 in last 10 games, but played also-rans the last two weeks. Last time they played a good team was Washington on September 14.

Giants won World Series is 2010, ’12, ’14; Bochy is 42-30 in postseason games as a manager. Collins made playoffs LY for first time in 11 years as a skipper (8-6); now he is in postseason for second straight year.