The Texas Rangers continued their dominant postseason run on Monday night by getting a 5-4 win against the Houston Astros in a closely contested Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.

The Rangers now hold a 2-0 lead in the ALCS and have improved to a 7-0 record in the postseason.

The Rangers rushed to the 5-1 lead by the top of the third but then had to withstand a furious comeback bid by the Astros down the stretch. Houston started chipping away at Texas’ lead, and it seemed like they could turn things around.

Fortunately for the Rangers, they did just enough to keep the Astros at bay, with ace Nathan Eovaldi playing a big part in preserving the lead. Eovaldi allowed five hits while striking out nine before making his way out after six innings.

“I feel like in those big moments, you’ve got to bear down and make big pitches,” Eovaldi said after the game. “The stadium is crazy. You have all the fans and everything going nuts. But at the same time you try to simplify everything down to your strengths and what you do best.”

The Rangers are now pursuing their first World Series appearance since 2011 while also having a chance to make some history. If they win Game 3, which is scheduled for Wednesday, they will tie the Kansas City Royals’ record of eight straight wins to start the postseason.

The post Texas Rangers Beat the Astros to Take 2-0 Lead in ALCS appeared first on SportzBonanza.

It will be the Los Angeles Dodgers who live to tell the story of the clash between the two winningest teams in the 2021 MLB season. The Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants in a thriller on Thursday night and punched the ticket for their fifth NL Championship Series appearance in six years.

After five scoreless innings, the Dodgers finally broke the tie at the top of the sixth when shortstop Corey Seager doubled to the left and All-Star Mookie Betts scored.  But the Giants didn’t take long to respond, with first baseman Darin Ruf hitting a 452 home run. This was the longest homer of the postseason so far.

The deadlock was broken again thanks to Cody Bellinger’s RBI single at the top of the ninth.

Then it was up to Max Scherzer, a starter in the Game 3 loss, to take it home. Scherzer delivered by pitching a hitless inning, earning a save, and propelling the Dodgers to NLCS.

“To be in that moment, with everything on the line, with the way we’ve been playing this whole series, to get the ball in that situation, man, that was a rush,” said Scherzer after the game.

“We poured everything we could into this series, and it took everything we had to beat these guys,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts added.

The Dodgers now only have the Atlanta Braves standing in the way of their return to the World Series. The Giants, on the other hand, have ended their 107-win season earlier than expected and will have to wait until 2022 to end their NLCS drought.

The post Dodgers Outlast Giants to Clinch NL Championship Series Appearance appeared first on SportzBonanza.

We could have expanded playoffs in the 2020 MLB season after all. According to ESPN, the league and the MLB Players’ Association are currently talking about increasing the number of postseason spots from 10 to 16 for this year.

The two sides had a similar discussion last month while trying to work out a plan for baseball return in 2020. However, as two sides couldn’t agree on several other terms and abandoned negotiations, this idea was shelved.

Now, MLB is trying to have another go at the expanded playoffs before the start of the regular season and is reportedly optimistic that the union would be open to the proposal.

Having six more teams in the playoffs would likely benefit both sides. MLB would get more games in a shorted season while getting more money from TV rights, which account for the majority of league’s revenues this year as the coronavirus pandemic removed the fans from stands.

Players, on the other hand, will get playoff bonuses and have their earnings increased in a year when they are set to earn just around 40 percent of their usual salaries.

In case that the league and MLBPA come to an agreement, the first round of the playoffs will most likely be best-of-three due to an already packed schedule. The rest of the postseason is expected to follow the standard format. 

The post MLB and Union Discuss Expanding Playoffs to 16 Teams appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Texas Rangers continued their dominant postseason run on Monday night by getting a 5-4 win against the Houston Astros in a closely contested Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.

The Rangers now hold a 2-0 lead in the ALCS and have improved to a 7-0 record in the postseason.

The Rangers rushed to the 5-1 lead by the top of the third but then had to withstand a furious comeback bid by the Astros down the stretch. Houston started chipping away at Texas’ lead, and it seemed like they could turn things around.

Fortunately for the Rangers, they did just enough to keep the Astros at bay, with ace Nathan Eovaldi playing a big part in preserving the lead. Eovaldi allowed five hits while striking out nine before making his way out after six innings.

“I feel like in those big moments, you’ve got to bear down and make big pitches,” Eovaldi said after the game. “The stadium is crazy. You have all the fans and everything going nuts. But at the same time you try to simplify everything down to your strengths and what you do best.”

The Rangers are now pursuing their first World Series appearance since 2011 while also having a chance to make some history. If they win Game 3, which is scheduled for Wednesday, they will tie the Kansas City Royals’ record of eight straight wins to start the postseason.

The post Texas Rangers Beat the Astros to Take 2-0 Lead in ALCS appeared first on SportzBonanza.

It will be the Los Angeles Dodgers who live to tell the story of the clash between the two winningest teams in the 2021 MLB season. The Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants in a thriller on Thursday night and punched the ticket for their fifth NL Championship Series appearance in six years.

After five scoreless innings, the Dodgers finally broke the tie at the top of the sixth when shortstop Corey Seager doubled to the left and All-Star Mookie Betts scored.  But the Giants didn’t take long to respond, with first baseman Darin Ruf hitting a 452 home run. This was the longest homer of the postseason so far.

The deadlock was broken again thanks to Cody Bellinger’s RBI single at the top of the ninth.

Then it was up to Max Scherzer, a starter in the Game 3 loss, to take it home. Scherzer delivered by pitching a hitless inning, earning a save, and propelling the Dodgers to NLCS.

“To be in that moment, with everything on the line, with the way we’ve been playing this whole series, to get the ball in that situation, man, that was a rush,” said Scherzer after the game.

“We poured everything we could into this series, and it took everything we had to beat these guys,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts added.

The Dodgers now only have the Atlanta Braves standing in the way of their return to the World Series. The Giants, on the other hand, have ended their 107-win season earlier than expected and will have to wait until 2022 to end their NLCS drought.

The post Dodgers Outlast Giants to Clinch NL Championship Series Appearance appeared first on SportzBonanza.

We could have expanded playoffs in the 2020 MLB season after all. According to ESPN, the league and the MLB Players’ Association are currently talking about increasing the number of postseason spots from 10 to 16 for this year.

The two sides had a similar discussion last month while trying to work out a plan for baseball return in 2020. However, as two sides couldn’t agree on several other terms and abandoned negotiations, this idea was shelved.

Now, MLB is trying to have another go at the expanded playoffs before the start of the regular season and is reportedly optimistic that the union would be open to the proposal.

Having six more teams in the playoffs would likely benefit both sides. MLB would get more games in a shorted season while getting more money from TV rights, which account for the majority of league’s revenues this year as the coronavirus pandemic removed the fans from stands.

Players, on the other hand, will get playoff bonuses and have their earnings increased in a year when they are set to earn just around 40 percent of their usual salaries.

In case that the league and MLBPA come to an agreement, the first round of the playoffs will most likely be best-of-three due to an already packed schedule. The rest of the postseason is expected to follow the standard format. 

The post MLB and Union Discuss Expanding Playoffs to 16 Teams appeared first on SportzBonanza.