Snake Bytes 10/8: Win Or Go Home

ALDS

[CBS Sports] Astros vs. Rays score: Seven things to know as Tampa Bay hammers Zack Greinke to force ALDS Game 4 - The Tampa Bay Rays are not going away quietly. Monday afternoon at Tropicana Field, the Rays beat up on Zack Greinke to win Game 3 of their ALDS matchup with the Houston Astros (TB 10, HOU 3). The Astros still hold a 2-1 series lead... Kevin Kiermaier, the longest-tenured Ray, gave his club its first lead of the ALDS in the bottom of the second inning. An Avisail Garcia single and a Travis d’Arnaud hit-by-pitch put two on with two outs, then Greinke left a changeup up and out over the plate. Kiermaier hit it out to right-center field for a three-run homer and a 3-1 lead.

[New York Times] How the Yankees Won Game 3 to Sweep the Twins - The Yankees established themselves as one of the best teams in baseball during the regular season using a specific formula: a potent offense, a starting rotation that could deliver solid but not particularly long outings, and stout relief. To cruise past the Minnesota Twins in their American League division series, the Yankees stuck with that pattern. Luis Severino, making just his fourth major league start of 2019, tossed four scoreless innings in Game 3 on Monday, then Yankees Manager Aaron Boone relied on the bullpen against the Twins’ power-hitting lineup. And the Yankees’ lineup provided just enough offense in a 5-1 victory that secured the team’s second trip to the American League Championship Series in three years.

NLDS

[ESPN] Dallas Keuchel ineffective on short rest in Braves’ Game 4 loss - St. Louis got off to a fast start, delighting the crowd of 42,203 on a picturesque October afternoon. Paul Goldschmidt drove a 3-1 changeup from Keuchel deep to left with two out in the first, and Marcell Ozuna followed with a laser into the second deck in left for a 2-0 lead. The Braves took a 2-1 series lead Sunday with a 3-1 victory in Game 3, highlighted by a dramatic three-run ninth-inning rally, but the series became all tied up at 2-2 when Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina hit a winning sacrifice fly in the 10th inning Monday.

[USA Today] Max Scherzer, Ryan Zimmerman give Nationals another Game 5 shot: ‘This is what we live for’ - Facing elimination and a 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers team that had every advantage coming into this National League Division Series, Zimmerman provided desperately needed cover for Scherzer with a three-run home run that gave the three-time Cy Young Award winner a five-run lead. From there, Scherzer tapped into every ounce of his reserves to bull through seven innings and give the bullpen-deficient Nationals a season-saving, 6-1 victory. For the fourth time in franchise history, the Nationals will attempt to win a decisive Game 5 and their first playoff series ever. They can sleep in Tuesday before an afternoon flight to Los Angeles ahead of Wednesday’s Game 5. Some will need the rest more than others. “We’re a bunch of viejos,” Scherzer said of he, Zimmerman and the 16 Nationals on the wrong side of 30. “We’re old guys. Old guys can still do it.” “Yeah,” Zimmerman mused, “nice way to say, ‘Veterans.’”

Around the League

[MLB Trade Rumors] Japanese Slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo To Be Posted - Japan’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars announced today that they intend to make star corner outfielder Yoshitomo Tsutsugo available through the NPB-MLB posting system... Once he’s formally posted, which will occur between November 1st and December 5th, Tsutsugo will have thirty days to negotiate a contract with any of the thirty MLB teams. The 27-year-old left-handed-hitting slugger is a ten-year veteran of Nippon Professional Baseball. Accordingly, he won’t be subject to the restrictions on international signings that limited the earning potential for countrymate Shohei Ohtani and certain other younger and/or less experienced players.

[Las Vegas Review Journal] Las Vegas could be home to A’s, MLB commissioner says in report - Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred last week told Oakland officials that the Athletics could be moving to Las Vegas if the city doesn’t drop its lawsuit over the sale of land at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, according to a story in Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle. “He kind of laid down the law,” City Councilman Larry Reid, who also sits on the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, told The Chronicle. Reid attended separate meetings Manfred held last week with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and council President Rebecca Kaplan. According to Reid, Manfred told Oakland officials that the A’s have options elsewhere if the city doesn’t change its stance. “The commissioner pointed out that Bay Area fans will soon be going to Las Vegas to see the Raiders and that unless things changed, Bay Area fans may be going to Las Vegas or elsewhere to see the A’s as well,” Reid said.