SnakeBytes, 10/13: The Field is set

National League Championship Series

(Sports Illustrated) Diamondbacks to Face the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS

After defeating the Atlanta Braves 3-1 in the National League Division Series for the second straight season, the Philadelphia Phillies will face the Diamondbacks in the 2023 National League Championship Series. Arizona had already punched their ticket last night with a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The two teams played each other for seven games in the regular season. The D-backs were one out from a three-game sweep of Philadelphia in May, but the Phillies stormed back to win the last three of a four-game series at Chase Field in June to take the season series 4-3.

(12 News) D-backs’ NLCS schedule released

Now, they will face the Philadelphia Phillies, who beat the Atlanta Braves in four games in their NLDS series. ON Thursday, Major League Baseball released the schedule for when the games in the best-of-seven series will be played, which is listed below.

(The Athletic) Phillies advance to NLCS for second consecutive season: How Philadelphia closed out the Braves in 4 games

In four games, Braves pitchers faced a total of six batters while holding a lead. Six. They boasted the best record in baseball this season and they wielded control almost every night for six months because that is what they did — they played with leads. They scored 146 runs in 162 first innings during the season. But, in all first four innings in this series, the Phillies held them scoreless.

(The Philadelphia Inquirer) Nick Castellanos leads star turns in powering the Phillies past the Braves and back to the NLCS

In a quiet moment before the roaring thunder of Phillies home playoff games, Rob Thomson will sometimes grab the lineup card off his desk, wander into the coaches’ room adjacent to his office, and take a poll.

“We’ll joke around,” the manager said. “Who’s the pick to click?”

American League Championship Series

(ESPN) MLB playoffs 2023: Even in a week of chaos, the Astros find a way

In this October of chaos, of 100-win teams swept and a winless American League East and lower-seed dominance, there is but one constant. The Houston Astros are doing what the Houston Astros do, which is to say they are owning the most important month on the baseball calendar.

In this time when there is bellyaching about the game’s playoff format, in which the best teams sit for a week while the laggards fight for their season in the wild-card round, there is the outlier. The Astros illustrated that a bye does not necessarily equal bye-bye.

(Sports Illustrated) Will Texas Rangers Have Max Scherzer, Jon Gray For ALCS Against Astros?

“We have to be really encouraged with how he threw the ball and how he feels,” Bochy said on Thursday before a team workout at Globe Life Field. “So we’ll check on him as he gets his treatment and see where he’s at.”