New York (AFP) – Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers seek a third consecutive World Series title, but Boston and the New York Yankees own the spotlight when Major League Baseball’s playoffs begin Tuesday. The Dodgers seek a three-peat not achieved since the Yankees in 1998-2000 after winning 100 games over the six-month season.
“It doesn’t change anything as far as our standing going forward in the post-season, but it’s still a nice feather in our cap to win 100 games,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Six teams each qualified for the National League and American League playoffs, which start with best-of-three wildcard series play. The Yankees will host arch-rival Boston, with the winner advancing to face AL top seed Tampa Bay in the best-of-five division series.
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Slugger Aaron Judge, recovering from a calf strain after missing 84 games earlier with a rib injury, aims to return against the Red Sox. The Yankees were 7-6 against Boston this season. “My goal is to come back as soon as I can,” outfielder Judge said. “Ask me if I’m going to be back I’ll tell you yeah.” Yankees manager Aaron Boone was more cautious, saying, “We’ll listen to the trainers and medical and see where we’re at.”
Last-day qualifier Houston — the AL West winners with the worst record in playoff history, at 81-81 — will host the Chicago White Sox in the other AL series. The Astros won the regular season series 5-2. The winner meets Cleveland, which also earned a first-round bye.
In the NL, San Diego will play host to the Chicago Cubs, who went 5-1 against the Padres, with the winner advancing to face NL top seed Milwaukee, which won an MLB-best 103 games this season. The other NL wildcard series sends Philadelphia, which survived four straight losses to qualify on the last day, against Atlanta, which went 9-4 against the Phillies. The winner will visit Dodger Stadium for a division series opener on Saturday.
The Dodgers went 18-7 in September to enter the post-season on a hot streak. “As a group we played better baseball again and that’s what you want going into the post-season,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Our pitching staff is amazing. Guys started to swing the bat better. Some of us still need to use these five days to figure it out. But a lot of good things happened over the course of the end of the season.”
One concern for the Dodgers is the play of Japanese superstar Ohtani, who struggled in five games since returning from left knee and right biceps injuries. Ohtani, a four-time league Most Valuable Player, batted 5-for-21 with eight strikeouts and one walk over his closing stretch, ending the season hitting .275 with 30 home runs.
“He came out of it healthy, so you just expect the ensuing days he feels even better,” Roberts said. “When you look out to Saturday, I think he’ll be in a good spot.”
© 2024 AFP
