By Ron Kaplan, contributor
Congrats to Alex Bregman and the defending World Champion Houston Astros, who move on to the A.L. Championship Series following their three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians. Bregman continued his excellent season by going 5-for-9 with home runs in the first two games. He also had a double, four walks and four RBI, and he leads all postseason players in average (.556), on-base percentage (.714), slugging percentage (1.333) and on-base plus slugging (2.048).
Game One highlights:
Game Two highlights:
Also, congrats to Ryan Braun and the Milwaukee Brewers, who move on to the N.L. Championship Series following their three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies. Braun had five singles in 13 at-bats plus a stolen base.
UPDATE: The LA Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 to move on as well. Joc Pederson was 1-for-5 last night, 4-for-14 overall, including a double. His one home run led off the first game and gave the Dodgers the only run they would need in a 6-0 victory.
Max Fried appeared in all four games, including retiring the only batter he faced last night: Joc Pederson, who was robbed of a hit by third baseman Johan Camargo. Fried was perfect in the first two games but gave up a homer in the third meeting. Totals: 2.1 innings, one run, one hit, one walk, one strikeout.
This means there’s only one series left. Last night the Boston Red Sox embarrassed the host NY Yankees, 16-1. Ian Kinsler did not start, but he came in as a defensive replacement in the seventh, going 1-for-1 with a walk and scoring twice. Overall, he is 3-for-9 with a double and an RBI.
Ron Kaplan (@RonKaplanNJ) hosts Kaplan’s Korner, a blog about Jews and sports. He is the author of three books, including The Jewish Olympics: The History of the Maccabiah Games and Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War.
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