Another insane round of the MLB postseason wraps up, and now just two series with four teams remain. 

This year, the Division Series was one of a kind, as not only did it feature the usual postseason heartbreaks, but it was a first of its kind. At a certain point, every series in the Divisional round was at a tie, which was the first time this has ever happened in the history of the MLB.

Now, let’s dive deeper into the Division Series to see which four teams have advanced to the League Championship Series. 

National League:

Mets Vs. Phillies (Mets 3-1 W)

It is yet another postseason where the Phillies’ bats go completely ice cold. Now, in the last three years, the Phillies have done nothing but take steps back in the playoffs. 

The only thing that went well for the Phillies is the starting pitching as well as Nick Castellanos, and you could even throw in Bryce Harper too. 

The back-to-back home runs from Harper and Castellanos were able to keep the team alive for a little longer, but the very next game in New York, the bats fizzled out again. 

Everyone else from the bullpen, to almost all of the offense, was awful and detrimental to the team. 

The Mets on the other hand, were the complete opposite of their rivals.

The offense came up clutch so many times for the Mets throughout the whole series. Every game from the eighth-inning rally that saw the Mets score five runs, to the Mark Vientos home run to tie in Game 2, to even the Lindor grand slam that was practically the finisher to the Phillies.

But it wasn’t just the offense, the pitching was great for the most part. 

With the exception of Kodai Senga, all of the Mets starters were able to go five-plus innings, with the best outing from Sean Manaea, who went seven strong, with six strikeouts and just giving up three hits along with one run. 

The bullpen came up clutch for the Mets, especially in Game 1 where Senga pitched with an inning limit, as he just pitched two innings, and the bullpen pitched the rest.

Dodgers Vs. Padres (Dodgers 3-2 W)

One of the best series in this year’s divisional round was the matchup between these two rivals. 

Fernando Tatis Jr. had one of the hottest bats not just in the series, but in the playoffs as a whole. Tatis was electric, as he led the team in batting average (.423), hits (11), home runs (4), RBI (7), and OBP (.500). 

For the most part, the pitching was solid for the Padres too, especially Yu Darvish, as in both starts (Game 2 and 5) he went six-plus innings collecting seven strikeouts, and only allowed six hits and three runs in total. 

But at one point, the Padres had all the momentum to shut the door. After shelling Jack Flaherty and crushing the Dodgers 10-2 on the road, the Padres were coming back home to Petco Park. In Game 3, San Diego was able to pull off the win after putting up six runs in the second inning. 

So, with the 2-1 series lead, and playing at home in front of the San Diego fans, the Padres had the chance to deliver one final blow to the Dodgers. 

But they failed twice to do so, as San Diego got crushed at home 8-0 in Game 4, and then Teoscar Hernandez and Kike Hernandez delivered the only two runs in Game 5, which was two solo shots in front of the home crowd for the win.

After a rough first outing in Game One, Yoshinobu Yamamoto bounced back, putting up solid numbers in Game 5 as he went five innings and only allowed two hits. 

Dodgers lights-out closer Blake Treinen was handed the ball in the top of the ninth to close out the Padres, which he did as Tatis grounded out to send the Dodgers to the NLCS.

American League:

Cleveland Guardians Vs. Detroit Tigers (Guardians 3-2 W)

After a decade of no postseason baseball for the Tigers, it came to an end in another intense five-game series. 

After taking a beating in Game 1, the Tigers were able to strike right back in Cleveland thanks to a Kerry Carpenter three-run go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth.

Carpenter wasn’t the only one to contribute though, despite the team not hitting the long ball often, as they only collected a total of three home runs in the playoffs. But, the offense still did their thing. Players such as Jake Rogers, who hit for .197 in the regular season and had an OBP of .360 with a batting average of .273 during the postseason, really stepped up for Detroit. Rogers got at least one hit in five out of the seven games the Tigers played in the postseason. 

Despite Jose Ramirez not playing like himself yet this postseason, Steven Kwan and Brayan Rocchio, who the Guardians called up last year, stepped up big for Cleveland.

On the pitching side of things, Emmanuel Clase struggled this postseason, as he gave up a three-run home run to Kerry Carpenter in Game 2, which helped put the Tigers ahead.

Despite, Clase’s struggles, other members of the Guardians bullpen were stellar. Matthew Boyd pitched six scoreless innings across two starts during the series, collecting five punch outs in each of them.

Cade Smith has been another fantastic name for the Guardians bullpen, as appeared in every single game. Smith has been dominant, racking up 12 strikeouts over all five games, and only giving up one run.

Kansas City Royals Vs. New York Yankees (Yankees 3-1 W)

Even though the Yankees won the series 3-1, a lot of these games were closer than the score may represent. 

For the Royals, players such as Maikel Garcia and Micheal Massey stepped up huge. 

Garcia had a big Game 2, as he collected four hits in his five plate appearances, and knocked in a run. Throughout the ALDS, Garcia collected seven hits and touched home once.

Massey played a consistent game all series long, as he hit .304 with a .360 OBP. In Game 4, Massey hit a triple past the outstretched Juan Soto to tie the game. 

For the Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton and Juan Soto had standout performances. Stanton had a spectacular performance in Games 4 and 5, collecting five hits, one being a home run. That one home run came in the top of the eighth when the game was tied 2-2, and Stanton drove the ball to left field to ultimately put the Yankees on top and win that game. 

On the pitching side, Clay Holmes has been nothing but filthy for the Yankees. Holmes appeared in a game for the Yankees in the ALDS and hasn’t allowed a single run to cross home plate. In six innings of work, Holmes tallied four strikeouts and just allowed one walk and three hits. 

Holmes got the opportunity to come into the game in the bottom of the eighth to then set up closer Luke Weaver (who also allowed zero runs in the ALDS). Weaver was able to close out the Royals, as now all the matchups for the Championship Series have been set in stone. 

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