games in leftfield games in centerfield and The World Series kicked off last night with the Los Angeles Dodgers taking Game 1 over the Houston Astros 3-1.
After the Astros went down 1,2,3 in the Top of the 1st inning Chris Taylor stepped up to lead off for the Dodgers. Taylor has been one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season and his highlights continued. Taylor hit the first pitch he saw 447 feet to leftfield to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Taylor was a 5th round pick in the 2012 amateur draft by the Seattle Mariners out of the University of Virginia. Taylor had a pretty quick rise through the Mariners minor league system as he made his major league debut on July 24th 2014. Taylor appeared in 47 games for the Mariners in 2014. He hit .347, but didn’t homer. Taylor started the 2015 season in the minors for Seattle, but again got a call up. Taylor played in 37 games for the Mariners, but hit just .170. Again at the start of the 2016 season Taylor found himself back in Triple-A. Taylor did play 2 games with the Mariners before he was traded to the Dodgers on June 19th for right handed pitcher Zach Lee. Taylor did play in 34 games for the Dodgers in 2016, but again struggled at the plate hitting .207. Taylor did start the 2017 season in the minors again, but he only played in 10 games before being called up. Taylor played in 140 games for the Dodgers this season. He hit .288 with 21 home runs and 72 RBI’s, Taylor had 1 career home run coming into this season. Taylor had spent time at the various infield positions, but played mostly as a short stop. This season Taylor found himself in the outfield for the first time in his major league career. Taylor played 49 games in centerfield and 47 games in leftfield this season. He acquitted himself well on defense as he had 7 outfield assists and a fielding percentage of .989.
Taylor’s success has continued into the post season. Taylor did scuffle in the Dodgers sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS as he hit .231. Taylor bounced back nicely though as the Dodgers beat the Cubs 4 games to 1 in the NLCS. Taylor hit .316 with a double, triple, 2 home runs while scoring 5 runs in the series. Taylor was named M.V.P. of the NLCS. Will Taylor’s success continue against the Astros in the World Series? He was 1 for 3 last night with that lead off home run he also drew a walk and scored a second run in the game. Will have a few more games to find out.
The other World Series question that looks like it was answered last night was; did Clayton Kershaw get that playoff monkey off his back?
Every baseball fan knows that Kershaw is the best pitcher in the game right now, but he’s had his issues in the playoffs. I think everyone remember the home run Matt Adams hit off him back in 2014. I’m sure there where people who where a little concerned last night when Alex Bregman hit a solo home run off of Kershaw to tie the game at 1-1 in the Top of the 4th inning, but it didn’t go that way last night.
Kershaw only made 1 start in the opening NLDS series against the Diamondbacks and he struggled. Kershaw gave up 4 runs over 6 1/3rd innings, but the Dodgers gave him the run support he needed and he got the win. Kershaw was much better against the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS. Kershaw made 2 starts against the Cubs giving up 3 runs over 11 innings while picking up 1 win in that series. Then last night Kershaw pitched 7 innings giving up 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 11. Don’t forget that while Kershaw had 17 post season starts before last night in his career this was his first World Series start. So numbers wise it looks like Kershaw had his best post season start on the biggest possible stage. Kershaw is due to get at least one more start in this series; so will see if he stays hot.
Of course one game doesn’t make a series and Dallas Keuchel kept the Astros in the game, he just beat by the home run ball. We mentioned the lead off home run Taylor hit, but Justin Turner also hit a 2-run home run off Keuchel with 2 outs in the Bottom of the 6th inning to make it a 3-1 game. Keuchel went 6 2/3rd innings for the Astros last night, but what might turn out to be bigger pitching news for Houston is the bullpen didn’t have any issues. Brad Peacock did walk a batter, but got out of the 1/3rd of an inning he pitched cleanly. Chris Devenski also worked a clean inning striking out 2 batters.
The Astros will try to even up the series tonight as they have Justin Verlander starting for them. Verlander has 4 post season wins for the Astros this season, 3 as a starter and 1 as a reliever. He was also the M.V.P. of the ALCS as he posted a 0.56 E.R.A. in his 2 starts. The Dodgers will counter with Rich Hill as their Game 2 starter. Hull has made just 1 post season start for the Dodgers, he pitched 5 innings against the Cubs giving up 1 run on 3 hits while walking 1 and striking out 8. Will see if Verlander can stay on his post season roll and if Hill can keep the Dodgers in the game against the best post season pitcher.
Believe it or not our picks greatly improved for Week 7. Dan the Man and Mr. Fantasy tied for the weeks best record as they where both 13-2. I actually got into the double digit win column as well going 11-4. For the first time in a long time Schaumburg Stu finished last for the week with a record of 9-6. With his big week Dan the Man has taken over the season lead at 65-41. Schaumburg Stu is in 2nd place at 62-44 while Mr. Fantasy moved into 3rd place at 61-45; so that means I’m the guy in the cellar, but only by a game at 60-46. Will have to see if we can stay hot going into Week 8.
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