And that's a wrap

Another fun year, folks -- hope we'll see you all back next year for the 2016 postseason. Payouts have gone out; any problems or questions, let me know!

#LGM

KC 7, NYM 2 (12); Royals are World Champions

Congratulations, Royals and Royals fans! For a fan of the game, this is the right outcome.

For a Mets fan, watching said outcome unfold in the most brutal and amateurish imaginable fashion is not an experience I hope to repeat...since, as a Mets fan, we have repeated some variation on this about 75 times a season for several years, and we kind of want to get beat instead of beating ourselves. And I think we would have gotten beat anyway. KC's a solid club. It's just a rough way to go out.

But a pennant doesn't suck. I'm proud of the Metsies...and mostly bummed that that's it for baseball until 2016.

And for the BPP. To the last points!

Cain 6
Gordon -3
Hosmer 2
Morales 0
Moustakas -2

Volquez 6

Cespedes -4
Conforto 1
Duda 1
Granderson 7
Murphy -2
Wright 1

Colon 0.67
Harvey 13 (8 IP - 2 BB + 9 K - 2 LOB)

Final standings/admin notes after the jump!

KC 5, NYM 3

...Not much to say. The Mets get knocked back by mistakes like Murphy's; KC had a similar one with Rios but kept rolling. I think the Mets still have one foot in the vibe of giving up 2-3 runs and feeling like they couldn't come back, where they spent half the season. I don't know.

Tomorrow could still go a bunch of different ways, I suppose, but it's starting to feel like postponing the inevitable.

Points!

Cain 3
Gordon -1
Hosmer -1
Morales 1
Moose 1

Cespedes 1
Conforto 12 (!!)
Duda -2
Grando 2
Murphy 0
Wright 0

Colon 1.33

Standings after the jump!

NYM 9, KC 3

In the early going, when a sharply struck ball sailed over Cespedes a...gain, I wailed, "STOP METSING!"

They did! Mostly. But it was really looking like the beltway into Sweepville for that first hour, and while I'm not necessarily about "momentum" or "been there before" as determining factors -- if the Royals win, as they probably will, it won't be because they're juniors and the Mets are frosh; it'll be because they have a hitting attack that scoffs at 98+ -- those things do exist.

Which brings us to that sailer up and in to Escobar to start the game, welllllll I surely don't condone a guy with Thunderpants's velocity throwing at a guy's head or anywhere else on his person on purpose because it's dangerous BUT: Mets fans have been listening to everyone from the Baseball Tonight podcast crew to Kevin Burkhardt to Ned Yost be head-pat condescending about how little realistic chance the Mets had against the Gold-Glove defense and the Good-Oliver Cueto and the Classic experience of the Royals, but hey, you'll be back next year, pat-pat-pat, the grown-ups are talking, [shooing motion]. What's worse, the Mets were looking like they'd started to believe it. We're not ready. We don't belong here.

When that ball whistled past Escobar's ear all "hey: don't talk about us like we're not here" it told me that at least two people, Thor and Trav, wouldn't settle for that. And it worked, and here's how I know: Moustakas wanted to fight some dudes.

And he's not wrong, and again, I don't want anyone to get hurt. But it kinda felt, prior to that, like an Escobar plunking would have gotten...an eye-roll. Or, like, Chris Young calmly keep-awaying the eye-black out of reach while Wilmer Flores jumped around him trying to get it. You know: little-brother mad.

Moustakas was grown-man, took-my-money mad. Good. Means he's taking us seriously, or should. Juan Uribe got a hit with a broken chest. We might not be as good as y'all, but we're not fucking around.

ANYWAY, POINTS after the jump.

KC 7, NYM 1

This is what I was afraid of: that the break would not rejuvenate the Mets, that to the contrary they would take that Wile E. Coyote look down at the canyon instead of continuing to run. A lot could change back at Citi...but then again, not much might. And I think we've seen the last of deGrom's usefulness in the 2015 season, alas.

Points:

Cain -4
Gordon 5
Hosmer 4
Morales -2
Moose 4

Cueto 13 (9 IP - 3 BB + 4 K + 3 for the CG)

Cespedes -3
Conforto 0
Duda 3
Grando 0
Murph 1
Wright -1

deGrom 4

New standings after the jump!

KC 5, NYM 4 (14)

I blame myself. After close to half an hour of physically holding open my exhausted eyelids, the one-in-the-morningness broke me and I fell asleep, and when I woke up, Brady was turning the TV off. "Did we win?" "Let's go upstairs."

They don't stay down, this club.

Points, keeping in mind that this situation is kind of the definition of leaving people on base...

Cain -1
Gordon 4
Hosmer 1
Morales -2
Moustakas 1

Volquez 8

Cespedes -1
Conforto -1
Duda 2
Granderson 6
Murphy 3
Wright -2

Colon, obliged to issue IBBs that your correspondent deeply resents -0.67
Harvey 6

Standings after the jump!

KC 4, TOR 3 (Jays eliminated)

Did that series seem to take a long time to anyone else -- like a protracted, doomed struggle? It's hard to explain; I just kind of feel like we were waiting for the inevitable for like a week, like the dominant Jays we were expecting to roll through October had been replaced by an emotionally unprepared and overwhelmed squad that didn't have a real chance. Even Game 6 was like that, with the rain delay, like, what are we doing here.

Not to take away from the Royals' win here; I'm not exactly psyched to face them next week.

Buncha housekeeping to do in here today so let's get to it. Points!

Cain 2
Gordon -1
Hoz 0
Morales 1
Moose 6

Ventura 8.33

Bautista 12 (!)
Donaldson -6 (!!)
Encarnacion 1
Tulowitzki -3 (!&$(*#)

Price 13.67

Leaving us:

Bats
Cecil
Dickey
Donaldson
Encarnacion
Price
Tulo

We'll get to which poolies are leaving us a bit later. First, your current standings as we head into the Classic, after the jump.

NYM 8, CHC 3; Cubs elimurphated

First let me say that this is surreal. I'm as baffled as Cub fans/pickers probably are, just in a happier way. Until last night that series was much closer than a sweep would tell you it was. But then Schwarber made the exact same dive he'd made at least twice before and the ball went up through his armpit the exact same way it did both other times and I thought, you know, I like Joe Maddon and his specs a lot, but all the good-time John-Keating one-game-at-a-time stuff is no replacement for learning to read the ball in your own park. Kyle Schwarber is going to be a big star, no question. The 2015 Cubs are a good team.

Postseason's different, though, and a fearsome regular-season offense is not necessarily going to get it done against this rotation. And didn't.

Also, Durph. And as someone who picked the guy: the hell? I mean, I expected a handful of doubles. This is Hamilton-at-Yankee-Stadium shit over here.

...Aight, let's do this. Points!

Bryant 5
Rizzo 1

Cespedes -1
Conforto 0
Duda 14 (!!)
Granderson 1
NLCS MVP and inventor of fire Maniel Durphy 11
Wright 0

Colon 1.33

Leaving us:
Arrieta
Bryant
Lester
Rizzo

Notes and comment after the jump.

TOR 7, KC 1

Toronto sends it back to KC with a burst of runs; I didn't get to watch the game because I doing a cubic foot of trade-in paperwork, but it looks like a fun one from the highlights.

And Encarnacion got a ton of points!

JUST KIDDING!

Cain 0
Gordon 1
Hosmer -1
Morales Moustakas LLC 0

Volquez 3

Bats 5
Donaldson 4
Encarnacion zee-row
Tulowitzki 7

The money changes hands once again:

MacEachern 131.01
Brady 130.34
Cameron 2 129.01

120s Yuhan Yuhan Currie Cheatham & Howe
110s Williams, Bunting 2
100s Powell, Green, Drake, Stempel

90s Bingham 1, Elodie, Bunting 1, Tormey 1, Simone, Shee/Bell
80s Winklepleck, the Reids, Cameron 1

70s Tormey 2, Rogers

50s Bingham 2

Mets/Cubs in progress; see you back here with full scores after that game's over.

NYM 5, CHC 2

This series, meanwhile, is a strange beast (and so is Daniel Murphy; rimshot!): Mets are up 3-0, but I don't feel like the Cubs have checked out or are overmatched. They're just getting beat.

Bryant -2
Rizzo 0

Cespedes 6
Conforto -1
Duda 0
Grando 0
Murphtober 4
Cap'n 6

deGrom 9

Money/standings after the jump!

KC 14, TOR 2

I didn't get to see any of this game thanks to deadlines/car dramz, but...man. A position player? I mean, fair enough, but the Jays really seem to be flailing and I don't think I understand why. Aside from the Royals being really good, but it's beyond that. They look discombobulated, kind of, and maybe letting the umpiring get in their heads or something?

...This is my fault. I was, at the exact time this meltdown was really heating up, bragging to Dave Sr. about picking Dickey. I am the worst.

...You're right. I'm not the worst. Encarnacion? Is the worst. YA KILLIN' ME EDWIN.

In points form, the weirdness is as follows:

Cain 6
Gordon 4
Hoz 1
Morales 0
Moose 0

Bats -1
Donaldson 1
Encarneveragain -4
Tulo 1

Dickey 0.67, and that was a gift, I'm disgusted to report.

Yuhan 1 127.67
Cameron 2 119.01
Currie 118

Brady, MacEachern, and Yuhan 2 trailing by a few points. Full standings with the NLCS update!

TOR 11, KC 8

Someone in the booth last night: "It's getting ugly here at the Rogers Centre." Me: "View's pretty good from BPP Towers, though." Well, as long as you didn't train your binocs on Mt. Cueto, which blew itself up with a wow that metaphor is garbage. ...Cueto sucked and cancelled out his own points with a short outing and four walks, is the point.

Speaking of points! Monster night for Tulo, who celebrated by getting ejected.

Cain 0
Gordon 1
Hosmer 3
Morales 8
Moustakas -2

Cueto 0

Bats 0
Donaldson 9
Encarnacion -1
Tulo 10

Money after the break...

NYM 4, CHC 1

Anyone else who's watching American Horror Story: Hotel think Wes Bentley's kid looks like Noah Syndergaard? Like, to the point that they call her "Noelle Syndergaard"? Just me? All righty then. She's a pretty good little actor but she probably can't hit 100 on the radar gun yet, although even Thor wasn't doing that last night thanks to wintry temperatures. Didn't bother Durph, though.

Mets head to Wrigley up 2-0. I don't expect to clinch but the TBS booth's prayerful invocations of the Cubs' magical offense are starting to seem like naked-emperor shit.

Points, of which there were more than you'd think given the literal scoring freeze:

Bryant 4
Rizzo -1

Arrieta 11

Cespedes 1
Comfy 0
Doodles -2
Grando 3
Murphtober 8
Wright 3

Wafflehaus 13.67

Standings after the jump.

NYM 4, CHC 2

Justin Turner has been replaced in the Shane Victorino Memorial Why Didn't We Pick That Guy running by Mr. Schwarber. It wasn't quite enough, however, as Durph continued to roll and the Mets/"windy Citi" took the opener. I didn't see/hear much of the game live thanks to another commitment, but I'm hoping this means Trav is off the schneid semi-permanently. Maniel can't do everything, y'all.

Points!

Bryant 0
"Actually, It Looks Like Somebody Beats The" Riz 0

Lester 8.67 (6 2/3 IP - 1 BB + 5K - 2 LOB)

Cespedes -1
Duda taken out of his own goddamn way and still 0
Grando 3
Durph 5
"That Shit Ain't" Wright -2

Harvey 12.67 (7 2/3 IP - 2 BB + 9 K - 2 LOB)

Standings after the jump!

KC 6, TOR 3

I'm not a big one for talking about momentum, which is to say that, while I'm sympathetic to the need to fill airtime, I get sick of the multifarious commentary on it by minute 7, but either it really is a thing KC gathered and rolled on in that game against Houston, or I may have dramatically underestimated Los Reales. Houston looked like they had the mo, to me; I didn't think Kansas City would get out of the LDS.

I thought a bunch of things, JOEY.

Price takes another hockey stick despite a pointy performance, and that one's probably on Gibby.

Points:

Cain 1
Gordon 4
Hosmer 3
Morales 0
Moustakas 5

Ventura 9.33

Bats -2
Donaldson -1
Encarnacion 3, finally
Tulo 1

Price 14.67

That shuffles things around a bit:

Yuhan 1 109.67
Currie 105
Cameron 2 98.01

Brady less than a point behind, Bingham and Bunting Primes and Shee/Bell in the 90s. Stand by for the NYM/CHC points and full standings.

KC 5, TOR 0

A decisive victory in the opener for KC; the Bluebirds threatened once or twice, but seemed unfocused and still with their heads in the DS -- and had a correspondingly fugly night in the points department, capped by Edwin Encarnacion spraining his finger on a swing or something? I don't know about the rest of y'all EE pickers but I'm feeling like he's prolly going to do me more good in the trainer's room than he is at the dish.

Nice little night for (most) KC pickers, though, and the few, the proud, the Warren pick up 7 behind Volquez.

Cain -1
Gordon 3
Hosmer 1
Morales 2
Moustakas thinking he's a Blue Jay -3

Bats 0
Donaldson 0
Encarnacion -3
Tulo -3

Volquez 7

Standings and encouragement after the jump.

NYM 3, LAD 2 (LAD, Sarah's stomach lining both eliminated)

Dang. That is some professional battling right there. deGrom = deBest. I didn't know what would happen, but I didn't really think "the Mets winning" was among the possible outcomes. Or that Durph would get to be a hero.

(Classic Met-fan moment: I had just lifted my head from my victory faceplant on the bar at Korzo when Brady and I got a HEY YOUR SMOKE ALARM'S DOING THAT LOW-BATTERY THING AND MAKING ME WANT TO CLAW MY SCALP OFF AND ALSO THE CAT TURNED YOUR T.V. VOLUME UP TO OLD-AGE-HOME WHEN ARE YOU GUYS COMING BACK text from my brother back at the ranch. Couldn't let me have five minutes, universe? Jesus.)

While this is marginally preferable for the pool, I guess, 1) a LOT of people had the Kershaw/Greinke 1-2, and 2) a LOT of people are getting left on base by the Met "offense." Like, everyone posted negative numbers except Grando Calrissian, who zeroed out, and Durph, who dunked on the line with an 11 because what choice did he have.

Pointage:

Gonzo 0
Seager -1

Greinke 14.67

Cespedes -2
Comfy -1
Duda -1
Grando 0
Durph 11
Wright -1

deGrom 10
Syndergaard 2

Headed to the golf course:
Gonzo
Greinke
Kershaw
Seager
Puig

Standings/LCSes after the jump!

KC 7, HOU 2 (HOU eliminated)

I didn't know what to want out of last night's Game 5. I love the Astros' story this year, but the only major-leaguer* out of my little hometown became a Royal, so I always have a soft spot for them (though I think the 2015 squad has some issues). I definitely felt bad for Keuchel last night, but...that's baseball, as they sometimes say.

The 'Stros didn't help their pickers much on the way out; goose eggs all around, even for Keuchel, who posted an inning point but gave it back with a BB.

Altuve, Castro, Springer 0

Keuchel 0

Cain 2

Gordon 2

Hosmer 0

Morales 7

Moustakas -1

Cueto 16

Leaving us:

Altuve

Castro

Keuchel

Springer

Leading us: after the jump.

TOR 6, TEX 3: Speechless (TEX eliminated)

I honestly don't know where to start, so I'll just let Aaron Gleeman fill you in. I will say that I was present at 2004 ALCS Game 6, and the comparisons being made to that nuttiness are not inapt. Especially the beer-throwing. The hell do people do that for, seriously -- it cost $8, just for starters!

Anyway. At the start of, say, the 6th, I thought the Rangers had this. Hamels looked great. But the defenders may have thought they had it, too, and let their focus slip. Who knows.

I do know this: that bat flip went to eleven.

Beltre -1
Choo 4
Fielder 1

Bats 11
Donaldson -1
Encarnacion 7
Tulo -4 (it was that kinda game)

Hamels 12.33

Who's in the money, after the jump.

CHC 6, STL 4: Nobody beats the Riz (STL eliminated)

The little bears of destiny roll on; St. Louis is eliminated. I'm thrilled for the Cubbeenies, though I wouldn't have predicted this outcome, and think it's a bit different if Molina is healthy. Or if...anyone else is either.

Not that the Mets are getting out of this round, but if they do, I would rather face the Cubs. Their victory would make me less angry...though I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to roll out a "Fear The Walking Redbirds" hed here.

Points!

Bryant 2
Rizzo 6

Carpenter 2
Heyward 1

Lackey helps himself out with a TB on the way out the door: 8

Standings after the break...

LAD 3, NYM 1: Damn you, Ginger Pubes!

Taking the second game first as it didn't end a series...unfortunately. Nice to see Kershaw shake off that "postseason choker" label, I guess, though I'd prefer he have done it against someone else...or let his bullpen choke like they almost always do.

OR THAT WE STOP PITCHING TO GODDAMN JUSTIN STUPID TURNER. Who I liked a lot as a Met, and I was glad to see him doing well elsewhere. But he hits us like Animal on a drum set. Enough. Walk his ass.

...Okay. Points.

Gonzalez 1
Puig -1
Seager -3

Kershaw 14 (7 IP - 1 BB + 8 K + 0 R + 0 RBI - 1 LOB + 1 TB)

Cespedes, Conforto, Grando, Wright LLC 0

Duda -1
Durph 3

El Fugu 4

So we have a new leader, who was grousing about setting 10 bucks on fire on Day 1. Don't seem to be hearing that shit now.

MacEach 77
Cameron 2, Yuhan 1 70.67
Elodie 70.34

Shee/Bell and Brady not far off the pace, but with the Redbirds out, the view changes somewhat. Stand by for full standings!

NYM 13, LAD 7

Quite a satisfying continuation of the story for this Met fan, though, in the long tradition of Met fans, I was muttering "save some offense for Kershaw tomorrow" at the TV starting in around the 5th inning.

Gonzalez 6
Puig 0
Seager 0

Cespedes 11
Conforto 1
Duda -1
Granderson 6
Murphy 1
Wright -1

Colon 5
Harvey 6 (2 BB + 4 LOB makes it look worse than it was)

Points/standings after the jump!

CHC 8, STL 6

Well, it wasn't pretty, but it worked...although based on half-listening to the game while trying to write up that crapola Alcatraz special on History Channel, I thought it would be a point-bath. Not as many as I thought, and poor Yadi is kind of dragging ass.

Bryant 7
Rizzo 4
Carpenter 0
J. Hey 5
Yadi -2

Arrieta 10.67
Wacha 6.33

That shook things up a bit! I won't do the full standings because the can the Mets just opened on the Dodgers is going to move everything around again in an hour or two, but at the moment:

Brady
Currie
Cameron 2

Yuhan 2 just off the pace

and, restoring the natural order of the pool, a Bunting slate in dead last

TOR 8, TEX 4

I found this one as hard to watch as the lunchtime game was fun. Beltre is in obvious pain, Hamilton looks lost...but on the other hand, my contrarian pick did okay for himself. Lots of points going up in the NL game that's on right now, I suspect, but in the meantime, the Bluebirds stay alive 'til Wednesday.

And is it me, or is Fielder a consistently dogshit pick no matter how I arrange the points? No shade, Simone, and he's not hurting her slate much, but I feel like I picked that guy for several years in a row and got burned. He used to be a lot more popular in the BPP, I know that.

Points!

Beltre 0
Choo 4
Fielder -1
Bats 0
Donaldson 6
Encarnacion 1
Tulo -1

Lewis 1
Dickey 7.67
Price 5

Points/standings after the jump!

KC 9, HOU 6

Well, this one's on me either way; no sooner had I observed that, if we cracked a window, we could probably here an anguished growl coming from Sir Drake in Los Angeles, Their Highnesses started pouring it on. Good stuff, and it means a Game 5.

Points!

Altuve 1
Castro -1
Springer 0

Cain 1
Gordon -2
Hosmer 9
Morales Moustakas LLP 0

Ventura 10

That leaves us with Currie, Rip Van Winklepleck, and Simone in the money with Yuhan and Bunting Primes just off the pace. About to update with Toronto's evening-up of the series in Tejas; stand by!

TOR 5, TEX 1

Waitin' on a download so here I am again. Tulo pickers had a good night last night, which is nice.

Ze points:

Choo -1
Fielder 1
Bautista -1
Donaldson 4
Encarnacion 1
Tulo 10

Money/standings after the jump!

HOU 4, KC 2

My apologies for the late files. I'm out of town and uninterrupted time to get anything done has been at a premium. I may not get to last night's night game until later this afternoon.

For now, these points:

Altuve -1
Castro 3
Springer 3

Cain 3
Gordon 2
Hosmer -3
Morales 1
Moustakas -1

Keuchel 11
Volquez 9.67

Currie in first, Winklepleck in second, Bunting 1 and Simone tied for third. Stand by for further updates!

LAD 5, NYM 2

I said about all I have to say about the Tejadebacle on Twitter last night. I don't in fact have much of an issue with hard slides; this crossed a line, whether Tejada gets up from it unharmed or not, and the situation generally is indicative of umpiring that has been frustrating for both sides throughout.

The Mets didn't rally in response. I worry that we'll look back on this as a turning point -- that the team has a day to think about this and get in its own head, that Harvey's going to do some head-hunting (note: I'm not in favor) and get himself and TC thrown out (not a small part of why I'm not in favor) and it's all going to come apart from there Andujar-stylee. I guess we'll see.

...I did have more to say! I could keep going just on the decision to pull Huggy Bart! I'm going to stop now! POINTS!

Gonzalez 3
Puig 0
Seager -4
Cespedes 5
Conforto 6
Duda -1
Grando 2
Murphy 0
Wright -3

Greinke 7 IP - 0 BB + 8 K - 3 LOB: 12
Thunderpants 6.33 IP - 4 BB + 9 K = 11.33

How effed is the situation? I appear to have the lead. Full standings after the jump.

CHC 6, STL 3

Cubbeenies even it up to send the series back to Chicago -- but their hitters aren't helping pickers a whole lot.

Bryant -4
Rizzo -2

Carpenter 6
Heyward 0
Molina 1

Simone, Currie, and Brady in the money and Winklepleck not far off the pace. Mets/Dodgers update momentarily.

The overall pick-ture + an evening update

If this is too teeny to see, let me know and I'll try something else, but voila, the compleat picks:

Also, some solid maths from Herr Yuhan led to Encarnacion picking up a point I lost between the couch cushions on Thursday. Thanks, friend! 

Just a reminder, too: batters get dinged for guys left on base. ALL batters, so that means NL pitchers. Wondering why Kershaw's BPP line looks kinda dogshitty compared with deGrom's? Well, he walked a handful, and he left a handful on the bases. Bouncin' N. Behavin' didn't do that. 

Cubs/Cards in progress; see you on the flip!

NYM 3, LAD 1

"We have to do this HOW many more times?" - me and two different Dans in the wee hours of the morning.

I love watching Kershaw. I love listening to Vin Scully talk about Kershaw. I love that he wears the double deuce. It's crap that he has a bad postseason rap, and I hope last night doesn't add to that "narrative," because it's not a thing.

But I can't lie and say I wasn't more afraid of the Greinke start, and as Bread noted, we had to get this one...and we did.

Your points:

Gonzo 0
Seager 0

Kershaw 9.67 (I know, but he walked 4 and left as many on base at the plate)

Cespedes -4
Doodles 2
Grando 2
Durph 5
Wright 1

Captain Conditioner 19

As the kids say, boom. And speaking of kids, a child shall lead us in the full standings after the jump.

STL 4, CHC 0

Woof. Okay, well, this should get everyone on the board. Whether or not that's a good thing, I don't know, since exactly one hitter notched positive points. Oh yeah and: bad news about your NL pitchers, namely that they're responsible for their LOB. Their hits too (...hee) (go Bartolo go!), but yeah, Lester and Lackey each got dinged for one of those.

Yer points for the NLDS opener:

Bryant -4
Rizzo -1
Carpenter 1
Heyward 0
Molina -1

Lester 14.33 (just so you can see the arithmetic: 7 and 1/3 innings - 1 BB + 9 K - 1 LOB [sorry bro-ham])

KC 5, HOU 4

The Royals even things up; we've got some points. And...some "points."

Cain 1
Gordon -2
Hosmer 1
Altuve -3
Springer 4

Cueto 8

Money remains much the same:

Currie 33
Yuhan 2 17
Brady, Cameron 2, Green, Yuhan 1 14

Everyone currently out of the red.

Seeing a math blip? Email or comment (but email is faster).

TEX 6, TOR 4 (14)

This is, I think, not the position anyone thought the Jays would be in going into the off day. A tough loss after a long game, some jawing, and some questionable umpiring behind the plate (I can't recall seeing Tulo ever get that mad).

Points!

Joey Bats -1
Donaldson 4
Encarnacion -2
Tulo -1
Choo 1

Cecil 2
Hamels 13

Money after the jump.

So it's going to be one of those, is it?: HOU 5, KC 2

Weird start to the LDSes tonight with a rainout, a spiffy fill-in from Chris Young ("thanks" for figuring your shit out AFTER leaving the Mets, guy), and Kendrys Morales points all over the joint.

The LOB thing is going to make things rull interesting, because a couple guys who had a point or two (Gordon, Moustakas) went back down to zippo thanks to leaving dudes on base. This tweak may not live to see BPP 2016, but until then, we're all in it together.

Well. Not ALL of us. Prelim points after the jump.

...Jesus H.: TEX 5, TOR 3

Yikes. THREE picks out with injuries? Bautista gets a cramp, Beltre has a back spasm, and Donaldson smells a strange Odor with his entire head.

Not to mention my whole "let's clock the batters for left-on-base" thing has a bunch of guys throwing negative numbers already. The restless ghost of AJ Burnett strikes again! Even though he's not dead.

Points after the jump.

And away we go

Allllll righty then! Welcome back, ever'body. It's our tenth (!!) BPP. We've got lots of new faces this year and I think the level of trash talk is really going to rise. Or at least the volume.

Most popular player picks: Carpenter and Donaldson. Most popular pitcher picks: Arrieta, Greinke, and Price. We don't appear to have any dupe slates this year.

Cubs nix Bucs 4-0

Say that five times fast. (...Don't, actually. Just typing it was an adventure. "Bugs"? Waiter! More coffee!)

...The point: it's on for real now. We have our teams; you should have your picks in to me by noon ET TODAY. Should be a fun year, with a handful of new players...but there's always the chance we're going to have a repeat of 2008 (a shit-ton of Cubbeenie picks = decimation by the LCS).

But that's why they play the games.

It's all starting at 3:30 ET, Rangers/Jays. See you then!

'Stros shut out Yanks 3-0

Match-ups alllllmost set; the Yankees had nothing against Keuchel et al., and McCann's dugout "FUCK!!!" on national TV proved the play of the game. Houston faces KC in the ALDS.

But you can send me your picks now if you'd like; you're under no obligation to wait (though you certainly may). 

See you tomorrow night when the NLDS is finalized!

Bunting's Postseason Pool 2015

Take a bunch of selfies with the BPP crown on, Warren, 'cause here we go again!

Changes to the scoring again this year, y'all. Full instrux after the jump.