MLB Playoffs Top Plays: Red Sox advance, Giants and Braves win on jam-packed Monday
A full day of postseason baseball on a Monday — what more could an MLB fan hope for?
Monday's slate of three games began with the Atlanta Braves taking on the Milwaukee Brewers. With a 3-0 home win, the Braves took a 2-1 series lead and pushed the Brewers to the brink of elimination.
Then the Boston Red Sox walked it off against the Tampa Bay Rays — thanks to a sacrifice fly from Kiké Hernández — to secure a 6-5 win and advance to the ALCS.
In the nightcap, the San Francisco Giants edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0 to take a 2-1 series lead and move within a win of the NLCS.
The Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox were also scheduled to take the field Monday, but their game was postponed to Tuesday due to weather.
Here are the top plays from Monday:
San Francisco Giants 1, Los Angeles Dodgers 0 (San Francisco leads series 2-1)
The starting pitchers were dealing early, with neither Alex Wood nor Max Scherzer allowing any runs through the first four innings.
The most interesting play in the early going? Probably Mookie Betts and his chosen method for handing the ball to Buster Posey.
It was scoreless until the top of the fifth inning, when Evan Longoria took Scherzer deep to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.
The Dodgers threatened in the bottom of the sixth, when Chris Taylor smashed a ball toward the wall in deep center field. But Steven Duggar ran it down to preserve the shutout.
The Giants flashed some leather once again in the seventh, this time with Brandon Crawford leaping to snag a Betts liner with runners on first and second.
One last gasp, one last threat for the Dodgers, as Gavin Lux crushed a 106.9-mph laser toward the left-field bleachers. But the wind knocked it down, Duggar settled under it, and the Giants held on for the victory.
Boston Red Sox 6, Tampa Bay Rays 5 (Boston wins series)
Living up to his reputation
Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier is a three-time Gold Glove winner, and he showed why in the bottom of the second inning, with an impressive catch to prevent a hit.
A never-ending at-bat
Austin Meadows and Eduardo Rodriguez had a duel of epic proportions in the top of the third. In the end, Rodriguez won the battle with a strikeout after 17 pitches. He retired nine consecutive batters to begin the game.
Third-inning explosion
The Red Sox's offense came to life in a major way in the bottom of the third. The inning started with a Christian Vázquez base hit, which was soon followed by a Kyle Schwarber walk. With two runners on base, Rafael Devers hit his second home run of the series to put three runs on the board.
By the end of the inning, the Sox had put up five runs, thanks to RBIs from Alex Verdugo and J.D. Martinez.
Boy Wander
The Rays were able to put a run on the board in the fifth inning, marking the first signs of life from their offense. In the next inning, Wander Franco hit a two-run home run to draw the Rays closer to the Red Sox, cutting the deficit to two.
The rally continues
In the top of the eighth, Mike Zunino led off with a double, which was followed by a Kiermaier double to chip a little more into the Red Sox's lead.
Then Randy Arozarena added to his playoff legend with an RBI double to tie the game.
Red October
Sure, the Red Sox blew a five-run lead, but it allowed them to win in dramatic fashion.
Kiké Hernández was a catalyst for the Red Sox in this series, and with a runner on third in the bottom of the ninth, he hit a sacrifice fly to walk it off and advance the Red Sox to the ALCS with a 6-5 victory.
Atlanta Braves 3, Milwaukee Brewers 0 (Atlanta leads series 2-1)
Missed opportunity
The Braves started the bottom of the second inning by getting their first two batters on base with no outs, but they ultimately left both runners stranded, with the final out of the inning coming on a baserunning mistake. Adam Duvall was thrown out at second before Austin Riley could make it home to score.
Mr. Anderson
In five innings of work, Braves starter Ian Anderson looked the part of an ace pitcher. He struck out six batters, allowing three hits and zero runs.
The catch that wasn't
Brewers outfielder Lorenzo Cain nearly came up with the highlight of Game 3 with a catch in center field. However, he was unable to maintain control of the ball after crashing into the wall.
Joctober continues
Joc Pederson has been the Braves' X-factor thus far in the NLDS, and his success continued in the bottom of the fifth Monday.
Pederson hit a pinch-hit, three-run home run to put the Braves up 3-0. It was his second pinch-hit homer of the series.
That blast was all the Braves' pitching staff needed to close the door on the Brewers. Five Atlanta pitchers combined for nine strikeouts and a shutout as the Braves moved to one win away from their second straight NLCS.
