MLB
Wednesday, October 21
Not surprisingly Royals, Mets big faves to win World Series
Both the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets are just one win away from the World Series, and it's no surprise they are the co-favorites to win it all.
According to the Westgate LV Superbook, the Royals and the Mets are both 11/10 to win the Fall Classic.
The Royals lead the Blue Jays 3-1, with Game 5 tonight in Toronto. While the Mets lead the Cubs 3-0, with Game 4 also tonight.
Cubs' Hammel takes relaxed approach for Game 4
CHICAGO -- Another big series, another Game 4 for Jason Hammel.
The Cubs right-hander takes the mound Wednesday for his second postseason start after helping Chicago dispatch the St. Louis Cardinals in last week's National League Division Series.
It is an even bigger challenge this time, as Hammel gets the call with the Cubs trailing 3-0 to the New York Mets in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series. The Mets beat the Cubs 5-2 in Game 3 on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.
Hammel, who went 10-7 with a 3.74 ERA during 31 regular-season starts, shrugs off the pressure.
"Pressure is what you make of it," he said Tuesday. "I honestly believe if I'm pressuring myself, I'm worried about the wrong thing."
Hammel is appearing in the postseason with his fourth different team. He also reached the playoffs with the Colorado Rockies (2009), Baltimore Orioles (2012) and Oakland A's (2014).
In the Cubs' clincher in Game 4 against the Cardinals on Oct. 13, Hammel threw three innings of two-run ball. He was not involved in the decision in a game Chicago won 6-4.
Hammel is 0-1 with a 5.00 ERA in postseason appearances, including four starts. Last year with Oakland, he faced one batter in the 2014 American League wild-card game and allowed a hit.
Hammel pitched against the Mets once this year, getting a no-decision while pitching eight innings in a 2-1 Chicago walk-off victory on May 13.
"I'll be prepared with my game plan, go back and watch what I did when I faced the Mets earlier this year, and we'll kind of go from there," he said. "They are a little bit different of a team than they were earlier this year when we faced them, but nothing that I can't prepare for."
The 33-year-old veteran is 0-3 with a 4.91 ERA against the Mets in five career starts, working 29 1/3 innings while striking out 19 and walking five.
Mets trust Matz to deliver NLCS clincher
CHICAGO -- In the eighth start of his major league career, Steven Matz will attempt to pitch the New York Mets into the World Series on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old left-hander takes the mound with seven days of rest as the Mets aim to complete a four-game National League Championship Series sweep of the Chicago Cubs.
"We've got to come out tomorrow and Steve Matz has got to give us a game," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Our bullpen is pretty rested, and if Steven can get us five or six (innings), we've got a lot of answers in the bullpen for any matchups we need."
Matz took a 3-1 loss last week in Game 4 of the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing three runs in five innings.
A Long Island native who went 4-0 in six regular-season starts this year, Matz spent seven weeks on the disabled list due to a torn left lat muscle before being activated by the Mets on Sept. 2. However, he struggled with back soreness in late September and was scratched from his final two scheduled regular-season starts.
The occasionally erratic schedule since returning hasn't bothered him.
"No, I still feel set to go," Matz said Tuesday. "We've been doing this before. We've been on a six-man (rotation), been on a five-man, we've had days off. ... (I) feel ready to go."
Matz has never faced the Cubs, but he expects to be a quick learner.
"I don't really have a history with them," he said before Game 3. "They look like a tough lineup. They're a bunch of young, fiery guys. Matt (Harvey) and Noah (Syndergaard) have done a great job the first two games, so I'm just going to watch Jacob (deGrom on Tuesday), see how he attacks them and try to just build off those guys."
Matz at least got a chance for an up-close look at Wrigley Field.
Upon arrival in Chicago on Monday, he and his teammates walked around the park and even climbed atop the manually operated center field scoreboard.
"We got up to the scoreboard, checked out all the scenery and stuff," he said. "It was pretty cool."
Jays' Estrada seeks improved command in Game 5
TORONTO -- Marco Estrada said his Game 5 start on Wednesday comes down to location.
The Toronto Blue Jays hope he is the right guy in the right place as they try to avoid elimination in the American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals.
"I think the key for me (Wednesday) is being able to locate my fastball more so than my off-speed pitches," the right-hander said Tuesday.
The Blue Jays lost 14-2 Tuesday in Game 4 as the Royals took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The matchup Wednesday is a repeat of Game 1, when Estrada allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings when facing right-hander Edinson Volquez in a 5-0 Kansas City victory.
"The first time around, I didn't really have four-seam location," Estrada said. "I didn't have the down-and-away (pitch) as much as I wanted to. And those were the pitches that really got hit. So for me, the most important thing is to be able to establish the fastball location and then work off that."
If he puts the fastball in the right spots, it make his changeup a devastating pitch.
The Royals recorded 15 hits in each of the first two games played at Rogers Centre, with each team winning once.
"I faced them twice during the regular season," Estrada said. "They're just like any other team where some guys take and some guys don't.
"But pitching against them in the playoffs, it's been a lot different. At least my game was. They're really aggressive, and I've noticed that they've kept that up."
Estrada said he did not need a video session to determine the problem.
"I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing," he said. "Those things just happen, and it was one of those days for me. I did go to the bullpen and threw a lot of fastballs, just working on the down and away. ... I feel pretty good and confident about that pitch."
Looking at the big picture of the series, Toronto manager John Gibbons said, "The key is to get a good outing out of Marco and we'll see where it takes us. Not a more important game this season, really. I know these guys will be ready."
Volquez aims to carry Royals into World Series
TORONTO -- Ned Yost stands by the adage that momentum in baseball depends on the next starting pitcher.
Based on the identity of his starter for Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday, the Kansas City manager can feel good about the chances of the Royals clinching a second consecutive berth in the World Series.
Right-hander Edinson Volquez, who held the Toronto Blue Jays to two hits and four walks in a 5-0 win in Game 1, is set to start the potential clincher Wednesday.
Kansas City took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 14-2 pounding of Toronto on Tuesday in Game 4.
When he was asked Tuesday if he felt that Volquez has a chance to repeat that performance Wednesday, Yost said, "You hope that he can. That's why the game is so wonderful, it's not a cookie-cutter game. You don't know what you're going to get until you get out there, find out what's working and how your command is, and if you're duplicating your mechanics and being able to repeat. We'll find out tomorrow."
Volquez was 13-9 with a 3.55 ERA during the regular season, and he is 1-1 with a 2.31 ERA in the postseason.
He feels that facing the Blue Jays for a second consecutive start will present a challenge.
"It's not easy," he said Tuesday. "That's a good question. I think facing this guy last week, and I've got to face him again tomorrow, it is very important for me to execute my pitches and keep the ball down, stick with the plan and just pitch in and out. Be consistent and stay aggressive with my pitches. We'll see what happens."
Volquez said Game 1 was one of those days where everything was working.
"That's one of the best feelings in the world," he said. "That day was like -- I had a great feeling. I knew I'd pitch a really good game. I didn't know it would end the way it did, but I had a good feeling that day that I would pitch a really good game, and I did."
