2023 SEASON

2021 SEASON

NL Standings 2021 – Aug 14 2022

NL Schedule 2021 – Aug 2 2022

NL – Scores – 2021 Season

SF 2, LA 1, played Thu July 28
Mon 1, SD 0, played Tue July 19
SF 2, SD 2, played Thu June 30
SD 2, LA 1, played Wed Jun 22
LA 2, SF 1, played Sat April 1
Phi 2, Ari 1, played Sun Mar 27
Pit 2, LA 1, played Thu Mar 24
SF 2, Pit 21, played Wed Mar 23
Cin 2, SF 1, played Tue Mar 22
Cin 2, SD 1, played Thu Mar 17
Cin 2, Pit 1, played Thu Mar 10
Pit 3, SD 0, played Wed Mar 9
LA 2, Mon 1, played Fri Mar 4
Mon 3, SD 0, played Thu Feb 24
Mon 2, Cubs 1, played Tue Feb 22
Pit 3, Mon 0, played Mon Feb 21
Pit 3, Ari 0, played Mon Feb 21
Phi 2, LA 1, played Mon Feb 21
Ari 2, SF 1, played Mon Feb 21
SF 2, Phi 1, played Sun Feb 20
Phi 2, SD 1, played Sun Feb 20
Ari 2, LA 1, played Sat Feb 19
Mon 2, Phi 1, played Thu Feb 17
Phi 2, Cin 1, played Tue Feb 15
Cin 2, LA 1, played Sat Feb 12
LA 2, Phi 2, played Fri Feb 11
Cubs 2, Cin 1, played Thu Feb 10
Cubs 2, Phi 1, played Mon Feb 7
Mon 3, Cin 0, played Sun Feb 6
Mon 2, SF 1, played Wed Feb 2
Pit 2, Cubs 1, played Sun Jan 30
SD 2, Cubs 1, played Sat Jan 29
SF 2, Cubs 1, played Tue Jan 25
SD 2, Mon 2, played Thu Jan 20
Mon 3, Ari 0, played Tue Jan 18
Ari 3, Cin 0, played Wed Jan 12
Phi 3, SF 1, played Thu Jan 6
Mon 2, Pit 2, played Thu Jan 6
Ari 2, Cubs 1, played Wed Jan 5
Cubs 2, Phi 2, played Jan 2
SF 3, SD 1, played Thu Dec 30
SF 2, Cin 2, played Thu Dec 30
LA 2, SD 2, played Mon Dec 20
Mon 3, LA 1, played Mon Dec 20
Phi , Mon 2, played – unknown
Mon 3 Cubs 1, played Mon Dec 13
Cin 2 SD 2, played Fri Dec 10
Cin 2 Pit 2, played Thu Dec 9
Cin 4, Cubs 0, played Sun Dec 5
LA 2, Cubs 2, played Fri Dec 3
Ari 3, LA 1, played Thu Nov 18
SF 2, Ari 2, played Mon Nov 15
Pit 3, LA 1, played Thu Nov 11
Pit 2, Ari 2, played Tue Nov 2
Pit 2, SD 2, played Mon Oct 25
Pit 2, SF 2, played Wed Oct 13
Ari 3, SD 1
Ari 2, Mon 2
San Diego 2, Philadelphia 2, played Mon Aug 9
San Diego 4, Cubs 0 – played Thu Aug 5
Montreal 3, Cincinnati 1 – played Wed Aug 4
Arizona 3, Cubs 1
Cincinnati 4, Arizona 0
San Francisco 2, Chicago Cubs 2
Los Angeles 2, Cincinnati 2
San Francisco 2, Montreal 2

NL Standings 2020 – Fri May 14 2021

NL Schedule 2020 – Fri May 14 2021

NL Stat Leaders 2020 Month 1

UPDATE: Montreal 4, Arizona 2

Montreal 4 Arizona 2, wild card round NL Playoffs 2020

Folks, it looks like the Montreal Expos woke up just in time! Following their one-game playoff win allowing them to move to the wild card round, they continued their improved play and took the series 4 games to 2! Lots to unpack in this series, so let’s begin.

From the Montreal standpoint, they (barely) got what they knew they needed – splitting their Greinke and Scherzer starts, as a minimum. The team did go 2-2 in their 4 starts. But, that should have put Montreal at a disadvantage…but a funny thing happened on the way to burrying the Expos – Zach Davies out-duelled Jack Flaherty, handing Montreal the advantage right back. But the Montreal offense didn’t really wake up…they scored 23 runs in the 6 games, less than 4 per game, but they were certainly more clutch in when they scored their runs, more on that later. And, the Montreal pitching staff did a good job holding down a very good offense, limiting Arizona to just 21 runs in the 6 games.

As for Arizona, there were some rookie Manager errors that we’ve all been guilty of over the years, mistakes we made early in our careers but learned from them, that Allan must now go through the same process. Luis Castillo was only used once. It’s a major no-no to not use your top starting pitchers for both their starts…and as tantalizing as it may seem, the thought of saving your ace for a potential Game 7, the lesson we have all learned over the years is that if you play for a Game 7, you will lose in 6. The irony is that Castillo’s replacement in the rotation, Clayton Kershaw, actually was dynamite in his first start of the series, but the bullpen let him down. In fact, this was a theme for the series, as Arizona lost 3 of the 4 games when leading after 6 innings, including one game when leading after 8, and another loss when leading after 7.

Overall, as mentioned, Montreal out-scored Arizona 23-21, but Arizona out-homered Montreal 10-7. During the first 6 innings, the teams combined for 30 runs, which is an average of 5 per game, or a 3-2 score, so clearly the games were all close. Also, we had discussed how it was imperative that Arizona’s proven sluggers during the regular season continue their production…here is how they did:

Charlie Blackmon – 9/22, 2 HRS 7 RBI
Josh Donaldson – 5/23, 1 BB, 2 HRS 2 RBI
Cory Seager – 6/21, 1 HR 2 RBI
Starling Marte – 4/24, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 Runs out of leadoff spot

It seems Charlie Blackmon was the only one who continued to perform in the post-seaosn.

GAME 1: Max Scherzer vs Clayton Kershaw

Clearly an attempt by Arizona to not “waste” a Flaherty start matched up against Montreal’s best starter, so they figured they would throw Kershaw as the sacrificial lamb. Funny thing though, the veteran lefty spun a gem! He threw 8 innings of 3 hit ball. In fact, the only time he was in any danger was at the start of the game, when Ben Gamel led off with a double in the top of the 1st, and Tommy Pham drew a walk. But he got Alex Bregman to fly out, and induced a double play grounder from Hunter Dozier. It was smooth sailing from there. Meanwhile, Scherzer was also on his game, but not nearly as good as Kershaw. Arizona got on the board in the 3rd, when with 2 out, Trey Mancini doubled, and Blackmon followed up with a double of his own, driving him in. Josh Donaldson hit a solo shot in the 4th to pad the lead to 2-0. It stayed that way til the top of the 9th, when Arizona brought in closer Hansel Robles, and that is when this one turned. Bregman led off with a double. Dozier struck-out. Molina singled Bregman to 3rd. Pinch-hitter Eloy Jiminez singled in Bregman, Molina to 2nd. Pinch-hitter Yuli Gurriel walked to load the bases, Montreal trailing 2-1 with just 1 out. Pinch-hitter NIck Markakis singled in two runs, giving Montreal the 3-2 lead. Francisco Lindor singled in an insurance run, giving Montreal a 4-2 lead before Colin Poche replaced Robles and struck-out the final 2 batters. On came Alex Colome, Montreal’s closer, and he promptly gave up a lead-off single to pinch-hitter Vladimir Guerrero, but Starling Marte hit into a DP, and Adam Eaton flied out. Montreal takes Game 1 by a 4-2 score.

GAME 2: Zack Davies vs Jack Flaherty

Now it was Montreal’s turn to “hide” their co-ace Greinke from being matched up against Arizona’s ace, but in the end, yet another example that teams need not be so scared of the opposition’s ace…as Montreal scored enough runs against Flaherty to win the game. In fact, the Expos got to him immediately, when Lorenzo Cain led off with a single to start the game, and Bregam hit a 2-run homer. But that would be it for Montreal scoring for a few innings, as Flaherty went on to throw 6 1/3 innings on 1 hit, 0 runs, and 7 K’s. That allowed Arizona’s offense to kick it in high gear. Marte led off the bottom of the 1st with a solo homer. Gary Sanchez connected for a 2-run HR in the 2nd inning, giving Arizona a 3-2 lead after 2 innings. Donaldson hit his second and final HR of the series in the bottom of the 6th, extending the Diamondback lead to 4-2. But Montreal battled back in the top of the 7th as became the norm in this series for late-game come from behind rallies for the Expos.

Gurriel grounded out to start the 7th, but LIndor, Molina, Wong, and pinch hitter Willy Adames all hit singles , scoring 2 runs to tie the game….and then Cain hit an RBI groundout, giving Montreal a slim 5-4 lead and knocking Flaherty out of the game. The Montreal pen then took over for Davies, and, unlike how they performed during the season, they retired all 9 batters they faced in order, first Seth Lugo with 2 scoreless, and then Colome with a 1-2-3 9th. Montreal wins the game 5-4 and takes a commanding 2 games to 0 lead in the series.

GAME 3: Zack Greinke vs Luis Castillo

The teams got their dreaded match-up of aces, and it was everything you would expect! Although Grienke was off his game early, allowing a triple to Blackmon to start the 2nd inning, and 2 outs later, a 2-run HR to Gary Sanchez. And in the 3rd, he walked back-to-back batters with 2 out, setting up Blackmon with an RBI single. 3-0 Arizona. Menawhile Castillo was rocking through the first 5, on just 1 hit (a Lindor single to start the game), and 5 K’s. But Montreal got on the board in the bottom of the 6th, when Bregamn drew a walk, and Jiminez crushed a 2-run HR. And just like that, the Arizona lead was cut to just 3-2. Castillo would not give up another hit the from that point on, taking it to the end of the 8th. Final pitching line was 8 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 10 K, 4 BB.

On came embattled closer Robles to close it out, and his nightmares continued! Gurriel singled to start the bottom of the 9th, and pinch hitter Dozier singled him to 3rd. And just like that, 1st and 3rd, nobody out, tying run at 3rd, winning run at 1st! But Robles struck out Wong, and then with the infield in, induced Molina to hit a one-hopper to Brock Holt at 2nd base, who looked the runner back to 3rd and retired Molina. And then PH Daniel Murphy also grounded out to Holt, and as difficult as it was, Arizona won their first game of the series 3-2, and is back in the series, trailing 2 games to 1.

GAME 4: Anibal Sanchez vs Jordan Yamamoto

THis seemed to be a match-up favoring Arizona, but you wouldn’t know it in the early going, as MOntreal put up single runs in the 2nd and the 3rd innings (Molina sac fly, Gurriel RBI single), while Anibal tossed 5 IP of 2 hit, scoreless ball. But Arizona struck in the 6th…Marte got hit by a pitch, and Montreal immediately yanked Sanchez, content with 5+ scoreless innings. Lugo came on, and he struggled. a single to Mancini put 2 runners on, and then a Blackmon 3-run HR gave Arizona 3-2 lead. Arizona pulled Yamamoto to go to Colin Poche, who struggled all year long, and his battles continued. First batter he faced, Jimiez, hits a towering home run, tying the game at 3-3, and it stayed that way after 7 innings. IN the top of the 8th, facing Soria, PH Guerrero drew a walk, and Marte drew one also…setting the stage for a Mancini RBI single, giving Arizona a 4-3 lead.

But we mentiuoned before that Arizona lost 3 games in which it led late, and this was one of those games. Having used Poche and Gallegos already in the game, the D-Backs went with Andrew Miller to start the bottom of the 8th to face LIndor, who drew a 9-pitch walk. Lindor then stole 2nd, and Wong sacrificed him to 3rd. On came Josh Tomlin, someone who had to pitch in a high leverage situation due to Arizona’s lack of bullpen depth. Sure enough, it bit them in the behind. Tomlin did retire Molina for the 2nd out of the inning while keeping Lindor stuck at 3rd base, but PH Ben Gamel unloaded a huge 2-run HR, giving Montreal a 5-4 lead. On came Colome, who did walk Sanchez with 1 out, but retired everyone else for the save. Montreal wins 5-4 and takes a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the series.

GAME 5: Scherzer vs Kershaw

Arizona could have turned to Jack Flaherty on short rest for this important game, and then have Castillo lined up to pitch Game 6 in hopes of sending this to a Game 7, but Arizona stuck to the plan. Clayton Kershaw came back out for his second start of the series, hoping to replicate the success he had in Game 1. But Montreal is very strong at hitting southpaws, and they showed it in this one, as they scored single runs in the 1st and 2nd, and put up a 2-spot in the 5th, giving them a 4-1 lead after 5 innings. The Montreal damage was done by a Dozier homer, a Bregman 2-run shot, and a bases loaded walk by Dozier. Arizona’s lone run came in the 3rd when with 1 out and nobody on, Adam Eaton got on thanks to a rare Alex Bregman error, and scored on a Blackmon triple.

Max Scherzer was crusing through 5 IP, on 2 H, 8 K’s, and 1 unearned run. But this time it was Arizona’s turn to make a comeback. In the bottom of the 6th, Blackmon led off with a solo HR; Mancini then doubled, and Seager doubled him in; and 1 out later, Ozzie ALbies blasted a 2-run HR, completing the comeback and giving Arizona a 5-4 lead! And Seager added a solo HR in the 8th as insurance, but it wasn’t necessary, as the D-Backs bullpen was solid on this night, as Gallegos, Poche, and Robles combined to pitch the final 4 IP on 1 H, 0 R, and 4 K’s. Arizona wins the game 6-4, and the series is now led by Montreal by 3 games to 2.

GAME 6: Greinke vs Flaherty

A second match-up of aces. Arizona won the earlier match-up of ace starters by a 3-2 score, and ironically this game also was won 3-2, but this time by Montreal. And it was Montreal who got on the board first, when Lindor hit a 2-run HR in the 2nd inning, after Gurriel had singled. Meanwhile Greinke was crusing through 6 IP, on 4 H, 0 R, and 4 K’s. But Arizona got to him in the top of the 7th, when Mancini crushed a Greinke change-up for a long solo HR. But Montreal matched that in the bottom of the 7th, when Lindor singled to lead-off, stole 2nd, and 1-out later, scored on a Molina double. 3-1 Montreal after 7.

Arizona put together a rally in the 8th, and the entire series came down to this. Greinke struck-out Albies to lead off the top of the 8th. PH Guerrero doubled, and that was it for Greinke. On came Lugo. Marte greeted him with a single, moving Vladdy to 3rd. Tying run on 1st. Eaton singled in Vlad, and moving Marte to 3rd with just 1 out…but Donaldson struck-out for the 2nd out, and Montreal intentionally walked the MVP of the National League in 2020, Charlie Blackmon, loading the bases with 2 out. Trey Mancini flew out to CF, ending the threat. Alex Colome came on for the 9th and retired Arizona 1-2-3 for his 4th save of the series to win the game 3-2, and the series, 4 games to 2.

Looking back on the series, the reality is that Montreal’s offense did not wake up. All of their guys continued to sputter, but the difference in the series was that Montreal’s pitching and defense tightened things up, keeping the games close, which allowed Montreal’s hitters to be in a position where all they needed to do was get a key hit in a key moment, in order to turn defeat into victory. Arizona has to be disappointed with its offense, other than Blackmon, who played at a different level all year long. But slumps to your offense or a bad pitching performance by your ace will happen in the playoffs from time to time. And when you play a series like this, it often comes down to the little things. For example, if Donaldson comes up with a big hit in the 8th inning of Game 6, with men on 2nd and 3rd and Arizona trailing by 1 run, giving the D-Backs the lead, and assuming they would hold on and go to a Game 7, then the strategy to have saved Castillo would look brilliant, especially in light of the fact that Kershaw pitched so well in both of his starts. Or, if Arizona had just 1 more strong reliever in its pen who they could have brought in the 8th inning in Game 4, where they were up 4-3 with 1 out and a man at 3rd base, instead of Josh Tomlin, would that have turned the series around? The D-Backs tried to acquire a reliever at the trade deadline but weren’t offering much in the way of value, so no deal got done. Or if Robles doesn’t blow the Game 1, 2-0 lead in the 9th, does the series look different?

This is why the playoffs are a completely different animal than the regular season. Because over a 7 game series, often times a team’s strengths and weaknesses get put to the test. And, your opposing Manager scouts your team like never before…in many cases he may know your team better than you know your own team. He knows how many LH and RH relievers you have, he knows who your bench is, and can use that information to manipulate your line-up. The best a team can do come playoff time is (a) have built as strong a roster as possible, (b) understand your own Managerial tendencies and how the other Manager may be able to exploit them against you, (c) have a game plan/strategy, and (d) hope for good luck.

But when you lose a close series the way Arizona did, there will always be several key plays where you can get second-guessed, and Arizona is no exception. In Game 6 for example, Down 2-0 going to the top of the 6th, where the pitcher Yamamoto was set to lead off, Arizona decided to pinch-hit, even though their bullpen is under-manned. The PH Rhys Hoskins struck-out, but Arizona did go on to score 3 runs in the inning when Blackmon blasted a 3-run HR. On the one side, you can argue that Yamamoto could have struck-out and stayed in the game and it wouldn’t have changed anything. On the other hand, you can argue that if Hoskins gets on, Arizona maybe has an even bigger rally, and would have won the game right there and then. As it turned out, they brought in Poche, who couldn’t get out of the 6th, and needed Gallegos to close out the 6th and pitch the 7th, and when Miller got into trouble in the 8th, Tomlin had to come in, and blew the save, when Gamel hit a 2-run HR. The question we have to ask ourselves is, what would Pete, the most successful Manager in usbl history, have done in that situation, knowing that with his short bullpen, he needed Yamamoto to go at least 1 more inning. And imagine if this game had gone to extras!

Another situation was pulling Kershaw in Game 1, where he was spinning a 2-0, 8 inning shut-out on just 3 hits, after 8 innings. Sometimes the right thing from an analytics standpoint may not be the right thing from a “feel” standpoint. Sometimes its best not to argue with the universe as to why a lefty is shutting down the Expos lineup…just go with it.

But as we said, this loss falls squarely on the shoulders of the Arizona offense, that just disappeared, other than Charlie Blackmon.

Montreal will now go up against behemeth Philadelphia and their star-studded offense and pitching staff….

NL Playoff Preview – Arizona vs Montreal

On the surface, this looks like a mismatch. Arizona was a solid playoff team from start to finish, whereas Montreal was declared dead several times throughout the year, barely qualifying for the post season. Yet, from the Expos point of view, everything that could go wrong for Montreal, did. This is still the same roster that was picked to finish 2nd in preseason previews.

These two teams are very similar – both boast two excellent starting pitchers; both boast some strong late-inning relievers; both have several strong hitters in their lineup; and, both have weaknesses. During the regular season, these two pitching staffs matched each other almost to the run, but, it was an offense where Arizona dominated. The Snakes put up a bunch more runs on the board than Montreal, the biggest difference being a 30+ home run team differential.

Arizona had very little trouble with right-handed starting pitchers, putting up the league’s 3rd best record. That does not bode well for righties Max Scherzer and Zack Greinke. Meanwhile, Montreal was the second-best team in defeating left-handed starting pitchers, something they will see in this series in the form of Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw.

Arizona’s offensive attack will be difficult to stop. Their batting lineup just works. Several of their starters enjoyed strong seasons. Charlie Blackmon (.302, 18-61, 70 GP) and Josh Donaldson (.247, .370, 15-47, 70 GP) anchor the middle of the line-up, but guys like Trey Mancini (13 HR), Corey Seager (.302 avg), and Starling Marte (50 Runs scored) spread the offense around. Even embattled catcher Gary Sanchez put up some nice stats from the catching position (.203, 16-29, 55 GP). The only problem for Arizona, and what held them down from finishing much higher in the standings, was the lack of success that offensive production had on the top pitchers. Jack Flaherty (7-7, 3.56) and Luis Castillo (5-4, 4.14) provided their team with .500 production in their starts. In fact, there wereactually just 2 pitchers who singlehandedly were responsible for Arizona finishing 4 games over .500 – rookie Jordan Yamamoto (5-1, 1.65), and rookie lefty Ryan Yarbrough (7-2, 3.66). Otherwise, Arizona was a 26-30 team when anyone other than those 2 pitchers started a game!

For Montreal, its hard to find any positives from the wretched season they just had. Alex Bregman was really the only offensive player who enjoyed a strong season, batting .285 with a ,400 on-base, and leading the team in home runs and RBI. Rookie Hunter Dozier was a close second, but then a huge drop-off ensued. Even on the pitching side, through 40 games, the team had gone 6-10 when Grienke or Scherzer started. That is just bad…very bad.

The strategy for Arizona will be to steer clear of throwing left-handers at Montreal. But that is easier said then done. Between Flaherty, Castillo, and Yamamoto, that is 5 starts, but they will need to start a lefty in the other 2 games. But what about the bullpen? Arizona features 3 LH relievers – Yarbrough, Andrew Miller, and Colin Poche. If you can’t turn to these guys for much-needed innings, then that only leaves the over-worked Giovanny Gallegos, closer Hansel Robles, and journeyman Josh Tomlin. If Arizona has an achilles heel, it is their #3 starter and their pen.

The strategy for Montreal isn’t as complicated. In fact, its real simple. Their top players need to perform. That’s it, that’s the strategy. Scherzer and Greinke need to stifle this offense. Montreal has some nice weapons in their pen, but not if you need to go to them from the 5th or 6th inning on a regular basis. And the offensive stars must perform. So many Expos hitters had horrific statistical performances….these batting averages are after 40 games – Francico Lindor – .197, Kolten Wong – .207, Yuli Gurriel – .250, Nick Markakis – .233, Yadier Molina – .247, and Lorenzo Cain – .256.

Keys to Arizona winning the series:

Flaherty, Castillo, and Yamamoto need to win the series in their 5 starts…if they only combine for 3 wins in their 5 starts, they are asking for trouble looking to their left-handed pitchers to win them a game against a formidable left-handed hitting team
Gallego is a huge key in this series – he got hit around during the season…he must be that shut-down reliever in the 7th and 8th innings of a slim lead
Charlie Blackmon has been the MVP of this team, he must continue driving in runs at an insane pace of 1 per game!

Keys to Montreal winning the series:

It doesn’t happen if Scherzer and Grienke don’t win 3 of their 4 starts. If they split their 4 starts, then the series comes down to Zach Davies vs Clayton Kershaw for 2 games, and Anibal Sanchez vs Jordan Yamamoto. You figure Davies and Kershaw split their 2 meetings, but Yamamoto wins his start, giving Arizona the series win
Hitting!! Gurriel is huge, especially against Flaherty and Castillo. And Lindor – a 35 HR guy cannot be hitting .197 with 6 HR and 13 RBI after 40 GP. Peripheral guys like Wong, Markakis, and Cain also need to step it up.
Have to figure Montreal will want to at least try to exploit Arizona’s weakness versus left-handed pitching…so any attempts to get cute by turning to a guy like Steven Matz and/or Daniel Norris must be successful, otherwise the entire series gets flushed down the toilet if any such move blows up in their face

For Arizona to win, they just need to keep doing what they have been doing. For Montreal to win, they need a large portion of their team to suddenly play differently than how they’ve played all year. For that reason, we will go with Arizona to win the series in 6 games.

Good luck to both Managers.