MLB: A Retrospective Of October 2020, NLWC (MIA/CHC)
(originally written October 2020)
Wild Card Round Matchups: TOR/TB CHW/OAK HOU/MIN NYY/CLE MIL/LAD CIN/ATL MIA/CHC STL/SD
Division Series Matchups: NYY/TB HOU/OAK SD/LAD MIA/ATL
Championship Series Matchups: HOU/TB ATL/LAD
World Series Matchup: TB/LAD
* hover over image for description
Cubs OF Jason Heyward, whose single set Contreras up to be gunned down at home in the 4th, led off the 9th with another base hit...this time a double. But Marlins closer Brandon Kintzler (pictured), an ex-Cub, struck out three in a row to end the rally AND the series. Marlins 2, Cubs 0.
The #3 seed Cubs somehow reached the 2020 postseason despite their star-studded lineup collectively slumping almost from start to finish; credit the Yu Darvish/Kyle Hendricks pitching tandem for keeping games close. The #6 seed Marlins—who ran through 62 players in 2020 thanks to COVID—are the only MLB team to have never lost a playoff series, having run the table in 1997 and 2003 while otherwise being generally mediocre. Who's the real underdog here, and who will advance to the NLDS?
Game 1 of the Marlins/Cubs series was a scoreless duel between respective starters Sandy Alcantara and Kyle Hendricks...until the 5th, when Cubs OF Ian Happ, the team's 2020 home run leader, cleared the LF wall with an oppo drive off Alcantara. 1-0 Cubs.