Baseball Playoffs and Other News
Oct 5, 2013 9:44 AM
The Cincinnati Reds have fired manager Dusty Baker after six seasons. Baker
guided the Reds to the playoffs three times in the last four years, including
a wild card appearance this season after a 90-72 campaign. The team, however,
dropped a 6-2 decision at Pittsburgh in the wild card game after losing three
straight to the Pirates at the end of the season with home-field advantage in
the one-game playoff at stake. In his six seasons at the helm, Baker, who had
one year remaining on his contract, posted a record of 509-463. The Reds won
division titles in 2010 and 2012, but lost in the Division Series each year
and had a postseason mark of 2-7 under Baker.
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Division Series play continues in the National League with a pair of Game 2s.
In addition to pitching six strong innings, rookie Gerrit Cole knocked in a
run during the Pittsburgh Pirates' 7-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals to
even the series. Cole (1-0) gave up one run on two hits while striking out
five for the Pirates, who bounced back from a 9-1 loss in Game 1 on Thursday.
Later, the Atlanta Braves needed a stopper to tie the National League Division
Series and left-hander Mike Minor gave them all he had, allowing one run in 6
1/3 innings Friday night to help lift the hosts to a 4-3 victory over the Los
Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 to knot the series at one game apiece. Jason
Heyward's two-run single in the seventh gave Atlanta the insurance runs it
needed for its first postseason win in three years. Hanley Ramirez's two-run
homer in the eighth got the Dodgers within a run, but Craig Kimbrel came on
and completed a four-out save.
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Things got underway in the American League with a pair of Division Series
openers. The Boston Red Sox used 7 2/3 terrific innings from Jon Lester and an
offensive barrage to gain the early upper hand, cruising to a 12-2 Game 1 win
over the Tampa Bay Rays at a jam-packed Fenway Park. Lester (1-0) gave up solo
homers to Sean Rodriguez and Ben Zobrist that staked Tampa Bay to an initial
2-0 edge, but yielded just one other hit and three walks before exiting to a
rousing ovation with two outs in the eighth. The left-hander received ample
support from his teammates, with the AL East champs shelling Rays starter Matt
Moore (0-1) for eight runs -- seven earned -- and eight hits in the 17-game
winner's 4 1/3 innings of work.
Max Scherzer went the first three months of the regular season without
recording a loss and now all he needs to do is go another month without one.
Baseball's only 20-game winner passed his first test. Scherzer had 11
strikeouts over seven innings of two-run ball Friday and the Detroit Tigers
beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2 in Game 1 of a rematch of last year's American
League Division Series. Miguel Cabrera's RBI single highlighted Detroit's
three-run first, which was more than enough cushion for the 21-game winner
Scherzer (1-0), who surrendered just three hits. Victor Martinez tallied two
hits and a run scored, while Alex Avila added a pair of hits and an RBI for
the defending AL-champion Tigers. Bartolo Colon (0-1), whose 18 regular season
wins were second-best in the AL, yielded three runs on 10 hits over six
innings.
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New York Mets' ace Matt Harvey has elected to undergo surgery to repair a
partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The Mets'
right-hander started the All-Star game in his first full season in the
majors. He started 26 games, posting a 9-5 record with a 2.27 ERA and 191
strikeouts. Harvey also finished second in the majors with a 0.93 WHIP.
Harvey opted to try rest and rehab prior to surgery, but eventually
settled on the latter, which will be performed by Dr. James Andrews later
this month. The young right-hander is expected to miss the duration of the
2014 season, but should be able to return to the team for the start of 2015.
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