Postseason Gamethread: Wild Card Game 2s

The Guardians, Phillies, Mariners, and Padres will all be attempting two-game sweeps today to move on in the playoffs. So once again, it’s another day full of postseason baseball, starting with the Cleveland Guardians facing off against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Guardians beat the Rays yesterday, thanks to a José Ramírez two-run home run and 7 ²⁄₃ innings of one-run baseball from Shane Bieber. Cleveland will send Tristan McKenzie to the mound for Game 2. McKenzie started 30 games during the regular season. He went 11-11 with a 2.96 ERA. He has one postseason appearance with the ball club, going 1 ²⁄₃ innings and giving up two runs.

Tyler Glasnow will try to keep Tampa’s dreams alive. He is coming off of an injury and will likely be limited in innings today. The southpaw only started two games in the regular season, but in those two starts he posted a 1.35 ERA over 6 ²⁄₃ innings of work.

First pitch will be at 11:07 a.m. C.T. The game can be seen on ESPN 2.

Luis Castillo and the Mariners beat Alek Manoah and the Blue Jays, 4-0, in yesterday’s game. Castillo lead his team to a win, going 7 ¹⁄₃ innings and striking out five. Reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray — who pitched for Toronto last year — will take the mound for the Mariners today. Ray finished the 2022 season 12-12 with a 3.71 ERA. In three career postseason appearances, he is 0-2 with a 5.59 ERA.

Kevin Gausman will look to shut down the Mariners offense. Gausman finished his 2022 campaign with a 12-10 record, accompanied by a 3.35 ERA. In six career postseason appearances, he is 0-1 with a 3.94 ERA.

This game in Toronto starts at 3:07 p.m. C.T. and can be watched on ESPN.

After Max Scherzer got tagged for seven runs last night, the Padres will look to treat Jacob deGrom the same today. The Padres won the opener 7-1 last night, behind seven strong innings from Yu Darvish.

Blake Snell gets the ball for the San Diego ball club. He posted an 8-10 record with a 3.38 ERA in the regular season. This will be his eighth career postseason start. In nine postseason appearances, Snell is 2-3 with a 2.83 ERA.

deGrom will look to quiet the bats of a hot Padres team. While he had a shortened 2022 season due to injury, in 11 starts he went 5-4 with a 3.08 ERA. deGrom made four postseason starts for the Mets back in 2015. In those four, he went 3-1 with a 2.88 ERA.

First pitch is at 6:37 p.m. C.T. This game is being broadcast on ESPN.

The Phillies completed a six-run ninth to beat the Cardinals yesterday. They will send Aaron Nola to mound in the hopes they can ride yesterday’s momentum right to the NLDS. Nola finished the 2022 season 11-13 with a 3.25 ERA. This will be the pitcher’s first career postseason start.

Miles Mikolas will take the mound opposite of Nola. Mikolas had a 12-13 regular season where he posted a 3.29 ERA. The pitcher appeared in three games in the 2019 postseason with the Cardinals, going 1-1 and posting a 1.50 ERA.

This game will start at 7:37 p.m. C.T. and can be seen on ESPN 2.