All four favorites had the chance to advance yesterday, but only one did: the New York Yankees are the first to move onto the league championship round after sweeping the Minnesota Twins. The Bombers will either host the Tampa Bay Rays or head to Houston to face the Astros, depending on the results of the other ALDS contest.
Hanging on were the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals; both faced elimination and trailed in what would have been their final games of 2019. Neither the Atlanta Braves nor the Los Angeles Dodgers could seal the deal, however, and both will try to finish off their foes at home on Wednesday.
Projections as of 08 October 2019The Astros are still in the driver's seat, needing only one win to Tampa Bay's two to advance while enjoying RPScore's favor as the best team in baseball this year. The Rays have about a five-to-one chance of coming all the way back and advancing to the ALCS. My numbers favor Houston to put an end to the Rays' run this evening.
In a wild, back-and-forth, extra-innings contest, the Cards told elimination "not today" and forced a game five back in Atlanta. I have the Braves as modest favorites to take the series.
The Nationals refuse to bow down to the powerhouse that is the 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers, but I still expect the Dodgers to take the series on Wednesday in LA.
The Yankees became the first team to sweep a triple-digit winner in the first round since the Yankees themselves were swept in 1980. They will be underdogs to the Astros should everything fall the way the numbers expect them to, but would be favorites should the Rays flip the script.
Will the Nats or Rays complete the feat and upset their rivals? Very few heavily disfavored underdogs can claim to have survived so long in the LDS, and none against teams so dominant as the 2019 versions of the Dodgers and the Astros.
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