B/R
And then there were seven.
Only seven teams remain in the Major League Baseball playoffs after the New York Mets eliminated the Philadelphia Phillies with a 4-1 victory in Game 4 of their National League Division Series matchup on Wednesday.
Francisco Lindor played the role of hero with a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead.
Just like that, the No. 2 seed in the National League was eliminated and the sixth-seeded Mets continued their impressive run. New York also eliminated the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild-Card Round and is now just four wins away from its first World Series since 2015.
The Mets will await the winner of the series between NL West rivals in the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, which will go the full five games. That is because Los Angeles preserved its season with a key Game 4 win on Wednesday.
Mookie Betts started the scoring with a solo homer in the first inning, while Will Smith launched a two-run homer in the third to provide some insurance and open up a 5-0 advantage. That was enough for the Los Angeles pitching staff to finish the job in a bullpen game.
There has been even less decided in the American League, although Wednesday was still an important day on that side of the bracket.
After all, the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers each moved within a single victory of reaching the American League Championship Series.
New York defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-2 thanks to the heroics of Giancarlo Stanton and a strong showing from its bullpen. Stanton launched what proved to be the game-winning solo homer in the eighth and went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a stolen base.
Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver combined to throw 4.1 shutout innings out of the bullpen with the latter notching a five-out save to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the series.
Then there are the red-hot Tigers on the other side of the AL bracket.
After sweeping the Houston Astros in the Wild Card Round, they won their second straight over the Cleveland Guardians and lead the series 2-1. Detroit hasn’t given up a run since the sixth inning of Game 1 and used six different pitchers Wednesday to put the touches on a second straight shutout victory.
The offense didn’t have to do much with that type of pitching performance, and RBI from Riley Greene, Matt Vierling and Spencer Torkelson proved to be the difference.
Now the Tigers and Yankees will look to join the Mets in the next round with their own closeout opportunities on Thursday.
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