Note: This post was mostly written before Game 5 between the Diamondbacks and Phillies on October 21, 2023. However due to technical issues it was published with some edits following the Phillies winning to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
This seasons playoffs have been wild from the onset. The road team swept the home team in all four Wild Card Series.
Then in the American League Division Series we saw the Texas Rangers go 2-0 on the road, sweeping the Baltimore Orioles in Arlington. We also saw in the other ALDS series Houston do the same thing winning two games on the road to eliminate Minnesota in four games.
Now let’s look at the National League Division Series. Arizona eliminated the Dodgers in three games the same way Texas eliminated Baltimore. While the Phillies needed four games to eliminate the Braves. Both Arizona and the Phillies went 2-0 on the road to advance.
On to the League Championship Series. With both series standing at 3-2 after five games. Let’s start with the National League Championship Series since the streak with the road team coming out the winner in every game ended in Game 1. My favorite team in this series is leading the charge going into game six on Monday night in Philly. Shifting to the ALCS which is headed back to Houston Sunday night for game six with the road team having won every game so far.
Here’s the thing folks: The league wants both these series to go seven games because they want the advertising money. However, I’d love to see the ALCS go seven with the NLCS ending in six Monday night. You might be asking yourself why. It’s simple. I still want to see Texas advance over Baker’s boys from Houston and Houston only needs one more win to advance. On that same front, the Phillies are leading their series. So, as I said in my last baseball article, with Kyle Schwarber who has been tearing the cover off the ball this post season as well as other former Cubs Nick Castellanos and Craig Kimbrel on the Phillies I would love to see them clinch it Monday night and get an extra day of rest.
With that… it’ll be time to play ball in Houston in about 18 hours.
If you cannot play with them, root for them.