On the 4th, 4 games of the Major League Wild Card Series were held.
The top teams with the highest winning percentage are the Philadelphia Phillies (No. 1 in Wild Card) and the Minnesota Twins (Winner of the AL Central Division). The protagonists of the upset are the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Arizona showed a large difference in starting weight. In order to win the last wild card ticket, the team’s one-two punch, Jack Gallen and Meryl Kelly, cannot appear in the first game. Brandon Pout, with 3 wins, 9 losses, and an ERA of 5.72, was selected. His opponent is Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burns (10 wins, 8 losses, 3.59).
The results turned out to be the opposite. What coaches and players say during the postseason. “Anything can happen in a short-term game” is a game that has become a reality. Arizona gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the first inning and then scored 6 more. They did not give up a single point after the second inning, leading to a 6-3 victory.
In the best-of-three Wild Card Series, which was first introduced last year, all teams that won the first game advanced to the division series. Arizona has the lowest winning percentage among the 12 teams that advanced to the postseason, with 84 wins and 78 losses.
A feature of Game 4 of the Wild Card Series was the mound. In the postseason, in a battle between the spear and the shield, the shield always wins. In particular, the team that won Game 1 had an iron wall in the bullpen. The bullpen didn’t give up a single run for the four teams that won – 4-0 Texas, 4-1 Phillies, 3-1 Twins, and 6-3 Arizona. It was a game where the importance of the bullpen was once again highlighted.
Of course, Texas’ bullpen was bolstered by starter Jordan Montgomery’s 7 scoreless innings. Setup man Aroldis Chapman in the 8th inning and Jose Rucklock in the 9th inning ended the game with no runs.
Twins starter Pablo Lopez allowed one run in 5.2 innings and handed the mound to the bullpen. The bullpen ended the game with 4 players pitching 3.1 innings, allowing 1 hit, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, and no runs. Johan Duran, who throws fastballs of over 161 km (100 miles), took charge of the first inning and earned a save. Toronto’s starting pitcher Kevin Gausman allowed 4 runs in 4 innings and the bullpen held him to 4 scoreless innings.
For the Phillies, starting pitcher Jack Wheeler pitched well, allowing 5 hits, 8 strikeouts, and 1 run in 6.2 innings. With a runner on base, left-hander Jose Alvarado took over and ended the inning with a strikeout. Three people pitched 2.1 innings, allowing 2 hits, 2 strikeouts, and no runs, defeating the Marlins 4-1 with ace Jesus Luzado on the mound. Veteran Craig Kimbrel earned the save by allowing one hit and no runs in one inning.
The highlight of the bullpen was Arizona. A starting pitch was successful if it lasted more than three innings. Manager Tori Lovello replaced Fout, who gave up three runs with a timely hit in the first inning and a two-run home run in the second, in the third inning. He gave up 7 hits and 3 runs in 2.2 innings.안전놀이터
Arizona gave up the first three points, but rookie Corbin Carroll hit a two-run third inning and Keitel Mattei tied the score at 3-3 with back-to-back solo shots, hitting Corbin Burns, who won the 2021 Cy Young Award. In the fourth inning, catcher Gabriel Moreno hit a solo home run to turn the game around 4-3. Burns allowed 5 hits and 4 runs in 4 innings. This is the smallest number of innings pitched this season.
Arizona had a lot of pressure because they had to play a bullpen game starting from the 3rd inning. However, as many as six pitchers pitched in succession, tying up the Milwaukee batting lineup with 5 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts, and no runs. He was a dog in the Arizona bullpen who defied expectations.
Milwaukee ranks first in the major leagues with an ERA of 3.71. They were expected to easily win the series against Arizona. However, before the series began, the team’s mood sank as it was announced that No. 2 pitcher Brandon Woodruff would not be able to pitch in the postseason due to a shoulder injury. It will be interesting to see whether they can recover in the 2nd and 3rd games.
Milwaukee is the district champion and Arizona grabbed the ticket as the last wild card.