TEX 3, ARI 1

Probably some jokes to be made, here on Halloween morning, about how scaaaary the outlook is for the Rangers after Scherzer and Garcia both went down last night -- Garcia looked in especially bad shape -- but I'll spare you. The Ranger bullpen held the line and let Texas go up 2-1.

Seager homered again, while Semien keeps chipping away, one point at a time:

Seager 4
Semien 1

Carroll 0

No substantive changes for us as a result (the WS may have to go all seven for Crase to get knocked out of the money).

112 Wonsetler
109 YOLO Joe
100 Crase

89 Fell
80 SDB

56 Bingham
52 MArbour

47 Cayenne
37 Tormey

Game 4 is, of course, on FOX at 8:03 PM ET. As my esteemed colleague Craig Calcaterra noted, with projected starters Heaney and Mantiply, don't expect a pitchers' duel -- and honestly, around here we don't want those anyway, but we'll see how it turns out. Good luck, all!

ARI 9, TEX 1

Only had half an eye on this one -- the other half of that eye was watching news of Matthew Perry's untimely passing cross Bluesky; a full eye was absorbed with a Wharton novel (I contain multitudes) -- but authoritative pitching and offense from the Snakes evened up the Series at one apiece.

Not a ton of points to go around, because the only thing anyone picked Pham to do was shoot his mouth off, which he's also still doing for some reason? No money in that for us, alas, but a few points on the board, as follows:

Carroll 2

Seager 0
Semien 1

Seager's whole feast-or-famine thing is at least going to keep things interesting here in homestretch...

108 Wonsetler
104 YOLO Joe
100 Crase

84 Fell
76 SDB

55 Bingham
48 MArbour
43 Cayenne

37 Tormey

Today's a travel/get-out-of-the-NFL's-way day, with play resuming at 8 ET on Monday in the desert. Anything looks funky with my math, let me know, and I'll see you Mischief Night!

TEX 6, ARI 5 (11)

...okay so maybe this World Series IS going to be kind of plot-heavy!

I was listening to the (not quite!) end of the game while getting ready for bed; I'm not a big "they're due" guy, but it did seem like the Texas radio booth's murmuring about Paul Sewald's to-date postseason invincibility was going to bring, or break, some kind of malocch'. Whatever the case, a Seager homer tied it; I fell asleep (soothed, I won't lie, by the reminder that the dumb Manfred-Man baserunner doesn't apply in the post) and was awakened by the ballpark hollering that greeted another Garcia homer in the 11th.

Points!

Carroll 3

Seager 4
Semien 1

(Side note: Garcia now has as many TB since the LCS began as Seager has total: 31.)

With that, Zombie Crase slides into third, but still has a healthy lead over the next closest aspirant to the money:

108 Wonsetler
103 YOLO Joe
100 Crase

83 Fell
76 SDB

54 Bingham
48 MArbour

43 Cayenne
35 Tormey

We go again at 8:03 ET; the baseball commentariat I follow has this outcome at Rangers in 6, but it may not get that far. We'll find out...good luck, everyone.

ARI 4, PHI 2; Diamondbacks advance

...My god, that was grim. Maybe more so because the pool is now a blast radius, but that was really unfun to watch, and I have so little interest in watching a D-backs/Rangers Series, too. I know it's uncool to bag on other people's teams -- I, a voting adult who still follows the goddamned Mets, understand this well, and 95% of the time I'm happy to watch any baseball, even garbage-time teams I don't follow. But for some reason this World Series is not compelling to me at all.

I might feel different by Friday. As for what the F happened to Philadelphia, well, what I don't know is a lot, but if I had to guess, that Kimbrel/bullpen trash fire the other night put a lot of mental pressure on the hitters, some of whom had started to cool down a bit anyway, to really mash and give the pen huge leads to work with; it didn't really work, and Arizona was able to play better enough. That's how it goes sometimes.

And this is how it goes sometimes with the BPP. Sometimes it's just a handful of people zombie-ing to the finish line. One year, back in the aughts, it was one person.

Let's wrap up the points and see who's left.

Carroll 3

Castellanos 0
Harper 0
Schwarber 2
Stott 2
Turner 0

The italics mean those picks are out. LVP here is pretty clearly Castellanos, who had not notched a base in over a week. MVP is Schwarber, with Ketel Marte making his case for the Victorino in 2023.

...If you've read this far, thank you/sorry and here's the money after the LCSes.

104 Wonsetler
100 Crase
98 YOLO Joe

78 SDB 2 and Fell
72 SDB 1

69 (not so nice) Yuhan

52 Bingham

44 MArbour 1

39 Cayenne 2 and LyonCorn
32 MArbour 2 and Tormey

25 O'Reilly

As noted, not a great outcome for the pool in terms of keeping things interesting, but hey, all Carroll needs to do is hit [checks calculator] 13 home runs and Tormey's RIGHT back in this thing! 

...Okay, seriously: if your name is in italics and you aren't in the money as of this writing, your slate is toast, and you won't appear in future updates. I'm sorry about that; thanks for playing, step into the comments anytime, and better luck in 2024! 

The standings as currently constituted probably won't change a TON, whatever happens, but we'll let it play out.

(FWIW, I did start a "ghost" spreadsheet and randomly assigned everyone another pick before this series; I'll try to do it again before the Classic and see how that affects things, maybe write up a little report on the off day.)

Again, my condolences to the Phillies-heavy slates. Check my math, thanks for playing, and I'll see you back here at week's end!

TEX 11, HOU 4; Rangers advance

...Wow. Where to begin? Maybe with the 10 (!) TB from Garcia that nobody gets? Alvarez, departing the pool with 42 points? Aroldis Chapman somehow making it feel like the Rangers could still lose with him in the game?

They didn't. This was out of reach almost immediately, and I don't know if it was the one-man artillery barrage of Garcia, Senator Ted Cruz cursing the proceedings by showing up to pretend to give a crap, or what, but the Rangers have returned to the Classic.

Who will they meet there? We'll find out tomorrow night. Until then, the points:

Altuve 6
Alvarez 5
Diaz 0
Tucker 1

Seager 7
Semien 1

And you know what the italics mean. 

A couple of these picks didn't do what you'd assume they would; Altuve is the MVP, by a nose. LVP is Diaz, I guess, although of guys getting regular at-bats I think you have to gig Tucker for that. Garcia in prime position to take home the Victorino, of course.

And for the first time in many days, a new leader!

102 Wonsetler
98 Crase
96 YOLO Joe

But we've lost quite a few slates, too; everyone else, and some housekeeping, after the jump.

ARI 5, PHI 1

Not the outcome I predicted, in the manner I predicted. (I did predict that Rob Thomson would not listen to my grumbled advice about not letting his guys pitch to Marte, but this isn't exactly genius prognostication.)

What's more, guys were hitting on both sides, but for the most part, our picks were quiet.

Carroll 1

Castellanos 0
Harper 0
Schwarber 0
Stott 1
Turner 0

Exactly three slates gained any ground; little change to the standings...

98 Crase
90 Wonsetler
88 YOLO Joe

73 SDB 1

Yuhan, Fell, SDB 2, and Dunn in the 60s.

Beyond that there's no real point in updating, as Hammerin' Corey already has 6 points in the AL game and it's only the 3rd as I write this...oop, another Garcia homer just left the yard. So that's going to be a dramatical update, but we'll get there; see you in a couple hours, and good luck to all!

TEX 9, HOU 2

I guess nobody's winning home games in the ALCS, eh? Eovaldi looked pretty great; Valdez looked less great, but wasn't the problem; and Garcia made a resounding, RBI-rich case for this year's Victorino Award.

And yet, not that many points...

Altuve 2

Alvarez 2

Diaz 0

Tucker 0

Seager 0

Semien 2

Before the last multi-game day of the postseason [snif], let's look at the standings:

97 Crase

90 Wonsetler

88 YOLO Joe

73 SDB 2

67 Yuhan

64 Fell
63 SDB 1

61 Dunn

52 Bauer Spoon and Bingham 1

45 Stempel

40 Quinn

37 LyonCorn

36 MArbour 1 and Bingham 2

32 MArbour 2 and Cayenne 2

30 Richardson

28 Tormey
22 O'Reilly

21 Cayenne 1

14 Cameron

NLCS Game 6 starts at 5:07 ET on TBS. If I'm the Philadelphia line-up, I'm trying to mash early in counts and put it out of reach emotionally early...but my last name is "Bunting" so what do I know, right? (Except that Thomson should strongly consider not pitching to Ketel Marte.) I think this series ends tonight; we'll see.

Curtain goes up on the ALCS Game 7 drama at 8:03 on FOX. No idea what happens, except that any result is going to knock out a few slates for us, so why not make an authoritative prediction so we can all laugh at me later? ...Scherzer is rested and dealing; the cool patches in the Houston line-up can't put anything together; Rangers win.

We'll find out. Good luck!

PHI 6, ARI 1

I don't always want to see ex-Mets do well -- their tendency to leave town and thrive is depressing -- but I do like seeing Wheeler succeed. The Phillie bullpen needs to buy him a 2BR muffin basket, too.

We picked up some points, in an interesting distribution:

Carroll 1

Castellanos 0
Harper 5
Schwarber 5
Stott 2
Turner 0

A couple of Phils picks that were super-reliable early have fallen way off, but a couple of others have stepped forward. You just never know around here.

NL is now off for a travel day; before we return to The Texas Theatre, your updated standings, with the money pulling away from the rest of the pack...

97 Crase
88 Wonsetler
86 YOLO Joe

71 SDB 2

67 Yuhan
63 SDB 1
60 Fell

57 Dunn
50 Bauer Spoon and BIngham 1

43 Stempel

38 Quinn
37 LyonCorn
36 MArbour 1
34 Bingham 2
32 Cayenne 2 and MArbour 2

28 Richardson and Tormey
22 O'Reilly
21 Cayenne 1

14 Cameron

Tomorrow night's game looms large for a number of slates at 8:07 ET on FS1; the Rangers could get sent home, at home, but Valdez's fluffy postseason ERA could keep the Rangers in it...or Alvarez's over-2 OPS against Eovaldi this October could knock them out of it. We'll find out in a day; until then, let me know of any arithmetic errors, and good luck!

ARI 6, PHI 5

Watching Philliesky crumble to emotional dust when Kimbrel came in was...really something. An entertaining nail-biter of a game, but tough to watch too, thanks to a couple of dudes who were in the (low-ish!) minors not that long ago walking the ballpark, and the Phils' bullpen just running out of gas.

This morning, I thought the Diamondbacks had no shot to get to the Classic. Now I'm not so sure.

And I'm not as sure as I was how the pool is going to shake out even if they do...because a couple of picks who set the world on fire in the DS have fallen off a damn cliff since. Carroll has done close to squat the last 10 days; Stott is little better; Castellanos seems to have gone cold. 

It's a long postseason, sometimes.

Points:

Carroll 0

Castellanos 0
Harper 0
Schwarber 6
Stott 0
Turner 1

This weird heat map puts a couple of slates back in the conversation as far as catching Crase; drops one slate out of the money pretty decisively; and shuffles everyone else around in an interesting fashion.

The standings at the end of today:

90 Crase
83 Wonsetler
81 YOLO Joe

71 SDB 2

Everyone else after the jump!

HOU 5, TEX 4

Somehow this didn't end up being the most dramatic game of the evening, quite? Despite the benches clearing, Altuve...Altuve-ing, and the big headline to my mind, Diaz finally getting on the board for Quinn? (hee.)

The dust settles on the Arlington set of games with the Rangers now down 2-3 in the series. I wouldn't call the situation hopeless, but that's a steep hill given the Astros' history in the post.

Points!

Altuve 4
Alvarez 2
Diaz 1! hey buddy!
Tucker 3

Seager 2
Semien 0

Altuve pickers got closer to the action after the 5 PM game. Not close, exactly ;) but closer.

89 Crase
77 Wonsetler
75 YOLO Joe

71 SDB 2

60 Fell
57 Dunn

Still another update yet, which may re-establish the gap; see you shortly with those numbers!

HOU 10, TEX 3

A markedly better performance at the plate, at least for our Texas picks, but the line-up overall is looking a little flat...and the Astros, in addition to their other Rasputin-esque qualities, have been a good road team this year. The series is even at two each and I must say I don't love the Rangers' chances.

Let's see who's loving last night's points haul!

Altuve 5
Alvarez 2
Diaz 0
Tucker 0

Seager 5
Semien 1

Couple picks here that made a ton of sense and just haven't panned out; couple others waking up after a quiet week last week.

Three of the top four did our now-customary do-si-do while closing the gap slightly on Crase...but if Altuve stays hot and Houston stays alive, this could look different in a few days!

How it looks now:

89 Crase
73 YOLO Joe and Wonsetler
69 SDB 2

54 Fell
51 1-800-Yuhan-Dunn
50 SDB 1

49 Bingham 1
45 Bauer Spoon
41 Stempel

35 Quinn
31 MArbour 1
30 Cayenne 2 and Bingham 2

27 Tormey and MArbour 2
26 LyonCorn
24 Richardson
20 O'Reilly

18 Cayenne 1
11 Cameron

Check my math, question our choices ;), and get ready to do it again at 5:07 ET, with Texas trying to stop the skid. That game's on FS1; the night game starts at 8:07 ET on TBS. That pitching match-up...does not scream "no-hitter" to me, bless their hearts, so I think we'll have plenty of points to play with all around. See you at cocktail hour, and good luck!

ARI 2, PHI 1

Ketel Marte strengthened his case for this season's Victorino award as a nailbiter goes to Arizona.

Only a single point, and only the leader benefits; interesting to see Turner's steady accumulation of TB to threaten for the '23 MVP of the pool, though.

Carroll 0

Castellanos 0
Harper 0
Schwarber 0
Stott 0
Turner 1

Castellanos looks like he's gone cold, but I've thought that before about him...and until the point-fest of the nightcap settles itself out, we won't know how much it matters. Until then:

89 Crase
67 YOLO Joe and SDB 2
66 Wonsetler

51 Yuhan
48 Bingham 1

Waiting for Texas to finish; might not update 'til morning, but whatever the meantime, good luck!

HOU 8, TEX 5

I turned the game on in the second inning and already had an answer to the question in the previous entry; a rusty Scherzer spotted the 'Stros three runs early, and the Rangers kept pulling closer, but then Houston kept pulling away. 

A couple somewhat quiet Houston picks perked up a bit points-wise; meanwhile, Seager seems to have gone cold since the DS. 

Points!

Altuve 
Alvarez 2
Diaz 0
Tucker 2

Seager 0
Semien 0

Small rearrangement of the money as a result, with the Altuve pickers getting a bit closer to the action. Crase still has a hammerlock on the lead, but if the Astros can stay in this, things get a lot more interesting for the pool...

88 Crase
67 YOLO Joe and SDB 2
66 Wonsetler

51 Yuhan

47 Bingham 1
45 SDB 1
44 Dunn
43 Bauer Spoon and Fell

39 Stempel
33 Quinn

27 Tormey and MArbour 2
26 LyonCorn and MArbour 1
25 Cayenne 2 and Bingham 2
20 O'Reilly

19 Richardson
18 Cayenne 1
11 Cameron

Doubleheaders the next couple days, with PHI/AZ leading off at 5:07 PM ET tomorrow on TBS, HOU/TEX the nightcap on FS1 at 8:07. 

PHI 10, ARI 0

Or, "The Valiant Struggle For Second Place." The Phillies poured on the points last night, most notably Trea Turner, whose steady accumulation of TB over the past few weeks has him tied for the pool's top number at the moment. Pretty fun to watch from a baseball-fan standpoint -- chicks don't solely dig the long ball, but this one loves 'em -- and kiiiind of fun from a pool standpoint, but at the same time it's like the '73 Belmont over here. 

Se-Crase-tariat boosted that lead up over 20 points; from here, it's really up to Schwarber and some Texans to get anyone else paid. The Schwarb did his part...

Last night's bounty:

Carroll 0

Castellanos 0
Harper 1
Schwarber 8
Stott 2
Turner 4

The NL piles onto a plane to the desert; yet another shuffle behind Crase, as the split slates try to gain ground. 

88 Crase
67 YOLO Joe
65 SDB 2

64 Wonsetler

51 Yuhan

47 Bingham 1
45 SDB 1

39 Bauer Spoon
38 Fell
37 in a pool accident? call Stempel & Dunn
31 Quinn

27 Tormey and MArbour 2
26 LyonCorn
25 Cayenne 2
24 MArbour 1
20 Bingham 2 and O'Reilly

16 Cayenne 1
14 Richardson
9 Cameron

I don't care to speculate on tonight's match-up, because I don't know Javier...and I have learned from painful experience not to try to guess which Husky Eye is going to show up. I can say that if the Astros can't chase Scherzer early and get the streaky Rangers' luck going in the other direction, this series is functionally over.

We'll find out either way at 8:03 ET on...FS1? It's somewhere in the FOX cinematic universe. Good luck, all! 

PHI 5, ARI 3

Points for almost everyone in the nightcap! A fun game to watch (and to listen to; this is the TBS booth's best version of itself), although the gap between Crase and the rest of us keeeeeps widening.

Here's the money with both games in the books...provided MLB updated its totals correctly this time, sigh.

81 Crase
65 SDB 2
59 YOLO Joe

56 Wonsetler

43 Bingham 1
42 Yuhan

39 Bauer Spoon
38 Fell
37 Stempel Dunn SDB 1 Dewey Cheatham and Howe

31 Quinn

27 Tormey
26 MArbour 2
25 Cayenne 2
24 MArbour 1

20 Bingham 2

18 O'Reilly and SylonCorn
16 Cayenne 1
14 Richardson

9 Cameron

NL does it again at 8:07 ET tonight on TBS; AL is off until Wednesday. 

TEX 5, HOU 4

This is really not the start I thought this series would get off to! I thought the Ranger bullpen would come back to earth (or the Ranger line-up would); I thought that season-long streakiness would reverse on Texas again. I didn't think Houston would just trample them or anything, but I didn't think they'd go down 0-2 at home, either. 

Marginally pointier than yesterday:

Altuve 0
Alvarez 8
Diaz 0
Tucker 0

Seager 1
Semien 2

Not a whole lot of point in getting into it with the standings just now -- as I type this, Schwarber and Harper just went yard back-to-back -- but for the next couple hours, the weirdly interlaced fates of the money have us at:

69 (nice) Crase
61 SDB 2
52 Wonsetler

51 YOLO Joe

Stay tuned for another update later on...

edited 9:13 PM to correct Alvarez points, and from there the money...f'in MLB.com, I swear

TEX 2, HOU 0

Seems like a lot of people -- here, but out in the world too -- expected the Ranger "bullpen" they'd seen/heard about all year to be a bigger factor in this postseason than it's been. That or the off days helped Montgomery cool off Houston's bats. A briskly paced, non-point-y evening at the park, whatever the reason...

Altuve 0
Alvarez 0
Diaz 0
Tucker 0

Seager 1
Semien 0

This didn't move the money at all, or much of anything else:

69 (nice) Crase
53 SDB 2
48 YOLO Joe

43 Wonsetler

38 Bingham 1
35 Fell

33 Yuhan
32 SDB 1
31 Bauer Spoon

29 Stempel Dunn LLC
26 Tormey

24 Cayenne 2
23 Quinn and MArbour 1
21 MArbour 2
20 Bingham 2

18 O'Reilly
16 Cayenne 1
14 Richardson and LyonCorn

9 Cameron

I expect tomorrow's games' update to be a bit more newsworthy with both leagues in action: the Texas teams rematch at 4:37 ET on FOX/FS1, and the NLCS gets underway at 8:07 on TBS. Good luck!

PHI 3, ATL 1; Phillies advance

"Atta boy Harper" indeed. I'm watching him on TBS rn, shirtless, surrounded by be-goggled teammates flipping off the world, and I can't help smiling; this team is fun!

Less fun for people who didn't pick them, I'll grant you, but there's maybe something to be said for having fun/a more fuggit attitude towards the postseason, because you know who was not in the same time zone as having a good time? (Besides the Dodgers, and that cause/effect relationship is a bit different.) Atlanta. Maybe a whole season of hearing how legendarily great your line-up is, how impossible to beat, how inevitable your march to October glory...maybe it's hard to enjoy yourself if the only thing you can definitely do is disappoint.

Or maybe the universe thinks your racist team name and chop bullshit need to eat some shit until ownership figures it out. Who knows.

I know about some points, though!

Acuña 0
Albies 0
Olson 1
Riley 5

Castellanos 9
Harper 1
Schwarber 0
Stott 0
Turner 8

Aaaaand the dreaded italics return, not for the last time in this entry. 

Tempting to stick Ronald Acuña Jr. with the LVP for this series, but in fact Schwarber and Stott fared worse this round, with 1 point each to Acuña's 3. Olson, a seeming slam-dunk pick before play began, didn't do much better with 4. 

MVP is Castellanos, but Turner made it close.

Okay, let's have a look at the money...and the morgue.

69 (...nice) Crase
52 SDB 2
47 YOLO Joe

42 Wonsetler 1

Everyone else after the jump!

ARI 4, LAD 2; Diamondbacks advance

I'm almost speechless at how bad these Dodgers looked. Listless, leaden, desperate -- and they looked that way the entire time. Outman didn't get to that first fly ball, Kershaw melted down, and then the heart of the order just...sighed, for three days. I don't mean to take away from Arizona here, I really don't; that's a fun team, good for their fans, all of that. 

But it's not impossible that the first nine people I see, say, coming off the B63 bus down the block could put up a better fight, and be more engaged with the project, than that L.A. lineup. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it, a whole team visibly cooked to a mush and longing to go home. It was painful to watch for me; I can't imagine how Dodger fans felt, and I'm glad it wasn't dragged out any further, despite how bad it is for the pool.

And on the one hand, it is bad -- four picks out, including two of the most popular -- but then again, these guys did literally fuck-all, so on the other hand, it...doesn't matter? Like, the Dodger picks taken all together got as many points as Bryce Harper did, by himself, today. And by "taken all together," I mean Freeman, Martinez, and Muncy. Betts had no points. Mookie Betts! Shocking.

Much as it pains me, because I like that dude, he's the pool LVP for this round. Young Carroll is the MVP. Not sure we have a Victorino coming out of the west, but we'll see in a few days!

...Okay: on to today's points. Excuse me: point, singular. (...This series, oy.)

Carroll 0

Betts 0
Freeman 0
Martinez 0
Muncy 1

You know what the italics mean. Sorry, y'all.

What does all of this mean for the money? Full standings after the jump.

HOU 3, MIN 2; Astros advance

Bluesky filled up pretty quickly with groans of "boooo-ring" at this outcome, and I don't disagree as a baseball fan, but for the pool, this is the better outcome. 

Quiet night for all of those picks, though:

Kepler 0

Altuve 0
Alvarez 1
Diaz 0
Tucker 0

Only one pick is out. No substantive change to the money...and the other game's just gone final, and that crime scene's going to take a while to sort out, so I'm going to go deal with that. Very quickly I will note that Alvarez is obviously the series MVP for us, Diaz is the LVP (I guess? he scarcely played), and the Victorino this season may go to Abreu. 

Okay, over to this other box score. My condolences in advance, see you shortly-ish.

PHI 10, ATL 2

AAHHHH HA HA HA HAAAAAAA that's "really" "too bad" hi, I hate Atlanta!

...Ahem. Sorry. (Not really!) The good news is, Atlanta picks finally pulled together some points and switched things up. The bad news for Barve pickers is that, if you didn't balance your slate with a Phillie, it's not going to help much.

This evening's buffet o' TB:

Acuña 3
Albies 2
Olson 1
Riley 2

Castellanos 8
Harper 8
Schwarber 0
Stott 0
Turner 5

Which means Crase resumes the lead thanks to clearing 21 points on the game; I don't track that stuff but it's got to be a BPP single-game record, or close.

51 Crase
43 SDB 2
41 Wonsetler 1

38 YOLO Joe

Lotta baseball still to get through tonight; can the 'Stros help one of us cut that lead? See you back here later with the answer!

TEX 7, BAL 1; Rangers advance

I don't know what we can truly conclude from this outcome -- aside, of course, from the fact that it knocked out a lot of picks. The time off, who had how much postseason experience...Smoltz grumbled in the booth that "nothing means anything," but it's more that nobody knows anything, or that there's the regular season and there's The Tournament, and the only thing the first thing does is get you to the second thing. It doesn't tell you how the second thing is going to go. 

Whatever the case, it's too bad. I was happy for this Os team and their fans; now maybe it'll all feel like a "waste," but it wasn't. They had a great regular season. It just doesn't cut as much ice in October as it might seem like it should.

And the BAL picks didn't throw off many points, but here's tonight's haul:

Hays 0
Henderson 3
Mullins 0
Rutschman 0
Santander 1

Seager 4
Semien 2

And you know what the italics mean; those picks now leave us. LVP for the series: Mullins, who didn't net a single point. MVP is Henderson. ...ikr? But he had more TB in this DS than Seager.

Full standings and some other housekeeping, after the jump...

HOU 9, MIN 1

So much for that rockin' Target Field crowd cowing the visitors! The Twins get another shot at it tomorrow, but this was a pretty thorough trouncing, by an Astros team that seems to have gotten the bit in its teeth. 

Points!

Altuve 1
Alvarez 8
Diaz 0
Tucker 1

Kepler 2

There's a "the Alvs and the Alv-nots" joke here, maybe, but I can't get at it, so here's a quick look at the money:

34 Wonsetler 1
33 SDB 2
30 Crase

Dunn and Stempel a few points back.

The other ALDS game is in progress right now, and it doesn't look great for the Orioles or their pickers halfway through -- but we can clean up that bloodbath when we get to it! heh/sigh

ARI 4, LAD 2

Not as grim a march as the other night, but last night's Snakes/Dodgers game wasn't a TON of fun to watch either. Most of the L.A. picks finally did get on the board, but not the guy everyone's talking about for MVP (the other guy everyone's talking about, Acuña? also posting zero as of this writing). The Dodgers are running out of time, and playing like they're maybe a little relieved about that.

We'll see on Wednesday if they can muster up a win in the desert and not decimate the picks. In the meantime, last night's points:

Carroll 1

Betts 0
Freeman 1
Martinez 5
Muncy 1

Not many JD Martinez pickers, but that five-spot did tweak the top of our standings.

30 Crase
26 Wonsetler 1
25 SDB 2

24 Fell 2 and YOLO Joe
23 Tormey
22 SDB 1
21 Yuhan

Everyone else after the jump. 

ATL 5, PHI 4

UGH, D'ARNAUD. Every time with that guy! Haaaaate!

His fellow former Met Wheeler was dealing for a while, too -- or "shoving," as I guess everyone's saying now? no thanks -- but his manager got greedy and Trav capitalized. And then...Riley, finally.

Not my favorite outcome, and Acuña's silent bat is not great for the pool generally. Everyone else with ATL or PHI picks gained ground, though:

Acuña 0
Albies 1
Olson 1
Riley 4

Castellanos 2
Harper 1
Schwarber 1
Stott 1
Turner 2

The money gets shuffled again, with Crase's all-Philly slate at the top:

30 Crase
26 Wonsetler 1
24 Fell 2 and YOLO Joe

Trailed by the SDB slates, Tormey (whose ARI pick is getting Seagered at the moment), and Yuhan, not necessarily in that order.

If I don't defensively fall asleep so I don't have to listen to Costas having a "In Xanadu did Kershaw Khan" poetry stroke on the mic, I'll be back with the late-game update and full standings. Good luck, everyone.

MIN 6, HOU 2

A marginally less irritating booth than the earlier game, but that's not saying much -- though I do appreciate Adam Amin's enthusiasm, he doesn't know quite enough to press his boothmates when their slangy clichés don't actually make any sense.

Nor did the commentary really get into the sense that this feels like the only competitive series of the four at the moment (the TEX/BAL booth talked a little about the bye teams' rest period and whether that was acting against the overall watchability of the postseason, but...you know. Smoltz. Not necessarily a worthwhile listen).

All this by way of saying that, while the points may not reflect it, this does feel like the most watchable baseball of the DSes...

Altuve 2
Alvarez 4
Diaz 0
Tucker 0

Kepler 1

Alvarez's customary "average" day at the office for this time of year gives the standings a different look.

25 Wonsetler 1
24 Crase and Fell 2
22 Tormey

Just off the pace:

21 YOLO Joe
20 SDB 1

Everyone else after the jump...

TEX 11, BAL 8

Woof, well, good for Aaron Hicks, I guess? You'd think with 19 total runs that we'd have even more points in play than we do -- but thanks to Corey Seager walking a record-setting 5 (!) times, not so much.

This could get interesting for the ALCS if Baltimore doesn't get it rolling on Tuesday, and it could get real ugly for us, but before the lamentations, the points:

Hays 4
Henderson 5
Mullins 0
Rutschman 2
Santander 0

Seager 0
Semien 2

The money, before the night game:

24 Crase
22 Tormey and Fell 2
21 Wonsetler 1 and YOLO Joe

Just off the pace:

20 SDB 1
19 Yuhan

Non-Alvarez HOU pickers looking to make moves tonight; stay tuned...

ARI 11, LAD 2

My god, what a grim spectacle. I'd looked forward to the game, not just for the point spree it surely contained (it didn't), but for the superior (to FS1's, at least) commentary I would hear. 

Ixnay on that too; I had forgotten Ron Darling, a legit insightful vet I get to hear all season, would be pairing with Bob Costas, and I'd also forgotten the kind of eminence-grizzzz, straining-for-dad-joke-poetry patter Costas does now, clumsily dropping factoids from a bullet-pointed sheet of paper. It isn't a good match even in a close or well-fought game, IMO -- it's too much "cerebrally corny" at once; Top Chef's Gail Simmons would say that the dish needs some acid -- but last night, as one of the generation's greats imploded on the hill, then departed the first inning dragging a 162.00 ERA behind him, it really didn't work. Darling did his best to reflect the pitying horror I think many of us felt watching Kershaw flail, while keeping the line moving with the play-by-play. Costas sounded almost gleeful...about that, and about making jokes about how boring the game was. 

And not for nothing, but TBS's bug and onscreen animations need to be turned over to a grown-up. More than once in the PHI/ATL game, the number of outs was incorrect; the bug  in the second game sometimes didn't update the batter for an entire at-bat; the layout is crowded and last-minute. I get that baseball's not America's game anymore, but don't be so obvious about not giving a shit. It's rude. 

"Speaking of that, could you...get to the point/s?" Heard, chef!

Carroll 5

Betts Freeman Martinez Muncy LLC 0

...Yep: 0. No Dodger points; no Dodger game until Monday, because see above re: not America's game anymore. Until AL play resumes this afternoon, your complete standings, after the jump...

PHI 3, ATL 0

I assumed this would be the big drama of the day -- that Philadelphia shut Atlanta out. It...wasn't, of course, and I'm dead on my feet so that update will have to wait 'til tomorrow morning (...such as it is; as of this second, only one pick is doing anything, and it's...not one of the Dodgers).

The NL East drama, while satisfying on a personal level to this Barves-despiser, was not ideal for the pool given the number of Atlanta picks.

Not disastrous, however:

Acuña 0
Albies 1
Olson 1
Riley 1

Castellanos 0
Harper 5
Schwarber 2
Stott 2
Turner 1

The money reshuffles again:

24 Crase
21 Wonsetler 1
17 YOLO Joe

Fell 2 and SDB 1 not far behind with 15.

...The Dodgers just put up 2 in the 8th; based on the box, this won't move the needle for us much, but I'll check back in tomorrow morning with that last update and full standings.

HOU 6, MIN 4

The Twins kept their heads in it -- not easy to do after Altuve hits a first-pitch homer -- but couldn't come back all the way. 

Points!

Altuve 4
Alvarez 8
Diaz 0
Tucker 2

Kepler 2

The money is now

19 Wonsetler 1
17 YOLO Joe
15 Crase

with Fell 2 just off the pace, then Cayenne 2, and then a veritable mob of slates with 12.

Almost everyone now on the board; the four slates still goose-egging it as of this writing will get at least one point off the PHI/ATL game in progress, so the Gol-Dunn Sombrero gathers dust for another year.

Check my math/inputting if you need to; see you after the NL games!

TEX 3, BAL 2

TIL Joan Jett is a massive Orioles fan who has brought it in the radio booth in the past; she sang the anthem today. Apparently she was pretty nervous? The Birds might have been too; they couldn't quite get to the Texas pitching.

A few points to share around, though:

Hays 0
Henderson 1
Mullins 0
Ruschman 0
Santander 5

Seager 1
Semien 0

As I was typing this, Alvarez just went yard in the second game (after Altuve did the same in the first inning), so needless to say it's alllll going to look different in a few hours -- ahhh, the chaotic divisional round! love it -- but right this second, the money is

17 YOLO Joe
16 Crase
13 Cayenne 2

SDB 1 and Tormey just off the pace.

And we're back!

A bit late for our purposes, of course, but MLB's experts have their pick slates on deck if you'd like to have a look. The esteemed panel includes Will Leitch; Sarah Langs; and a guy named David Venn, who, give him a column called "Venn Diagram" or what is any of it for.

Speaking of that, sort of, and things it's too late to do: every year, I remember like three games in that I want to do a daily over/under on booths grumbling about a certain infield hit...namely, how many times will you hear some variation on "bunting is a wasted out" and "what kind of lunatic is bunting in this situation??" When MLB moved to a universal DH, my pops and I thought those days had ended, but you still hear it all the time, somehow ("this front office hates bunting"). Not to mention how a nasally announcer will render the name "Max Muncy," hee hee.

If you think of any other commentary tics you want to add to a "parlay," LMK. (Renaming the slider the sweeper would go on my list.) Or we can just watch some games! They start at 

1 PM, TEX at BAL (FS1)

followed by

4:45, MIN at HOU (FS1)
6:07, PHI at ATL (TBS)

and
9:20, ARI at LAD (TBS)

All times ET. The bye teams join the fray today, of course, so we should see some Brownian-motion-esque craziness in our standings thanks to a bunch of picks getting on the board. I'm out of pocket until mid-afternoon but I'll see you by cocktail hour with updates.

good luck!

PHI 7, MIA 1; Philadelphia moves on

And that's a wrap on the Wild Cards! ...Two whole days sans baseball: annoying. 

Some of you will have some sweet pointage to comfort you, however:

Arraez 0

Castellanos 0
Harper 0
Schwarber 2
Stott 4
Turner 3

Okay, let's get into those standings before we break 'til the weekend!

16 Crase and YOLO Joe
11 Tormey
10 Wonsetler 1, Bingham 1, and SDB 1

9 Fell 2 and O'Reilly
7 Cayenne 2 and MArbour 1

5 MArbour 2
4 Stempel, SDB 2, and Yuhan

3 Bingham 2 and LyonCorn
1 Chalky Joe, Shotwell 1, and Cayenne 1

Everyone else waiting for Saturday.

Carroll is probably our MVP this round; no real LVP (I guess Arraez, but that feels uncharitable under the circs); Royce Lewis is shaping up as a nice Victorino candidate. That's all I'll know for a couple of days, so check my math, good luck, and I'll see you in a few nights!

ARI 5, MIL 2; Arizona moves on

We only lose one pick after the D-backs' sweep, but then, only one pick is soldiering on into the NLDS against the Dodgers. Those points:

Carroll 3

Contreras 1

Tormey's slate jumps into second place; full standings with the final update. That game's about to go final, so it won't be long.

Department of corrections, Warden Bunting speaking

Well, it turns out that we DO have a MIN pick: Max Kepler! Who didn't pick up any points yesterday or in the earlier update, but only because I misfiled him under MIL. He's now got the correct total (2).

Apologies to his lone picker, but he's now in the right place in the spreadsheet and will get proper credit going forward.

Again, management regrets the error, and if you see anything else like this, think you should have points I haven't given you, etc., let me know! 

MIN 2, TOR 0; Minnesota moves on

Classic BPP: a team nobody picked moves smartly into the next round. I've got no kick with the Twins in theory, but in pool practice, this isn't ideal.

Not a ton of Jays picks, but they both go into italics this evening:

Bichette 2
Guerrero 0

Twins will now face Houston starting with a (probable? only one DS game's gotten scheduled as of this writing) night game on Saturday; here's the money for right now...

14 YOLO Joe
9 Fell 2 and Crase
8 Tormey, Wonsetler 1, and SDB 1

Cayenne 2 and MArbour 1 just off the pace.

The Crew just got snakebit officially, and I don't love Miami's odds seven runs down in the seventh, so we may have to do without baseball for a couple days. Back shortly with the NL updates!

TEX 7, TB 1; Rangers move on

I know intellectually that this is how a best-of-three can end, but I'm still not totally used to it; it feels abrupt. Probably feels pretty abrupt to Tampa Bay, too, and although those pickers did pick up some more points, we've already lost a couple picks. They're in italics below.

For today's game:

Seager 4
Semien 2

Diaz, Yan 1
Paredes 3

Pretty smart Paredes pick by O'Reilly, or would have been if the Rays had stuck around. As it is, the Rangers face Baltimore on Saturday midday.

YOLO Joe jumps out in front with 14, various others a few points behind, but I've got a bunch of these to do yet, so stand by for the other ALWC update in just a few minutes...

PHI 4, MIA 1

A fun one to watch, even in the stands -- so many happy kids in Phils gear! -- and a fun one for pickers, with plenty of points to go around. 

Arraez 1

Castellanos 4
Harper 1
Schwarber 1
Stott 1
Turner 3

[rubs hands] All right, let's see who's in the money after Day 1. Phillie-heavy slates look like real smart smarties so far...

9 Crase
8 Tormey and YOLO Joe
4 The SDBs and Wonsetler 1

3 Bingham 1, Cayenne 2, Fell 2, and the MArbours

2 Bingham 2, O'Reilly, Stempel, and Yuhan

1 LyonCorn

Everyone else is sitting on bye-team slates, and won't get on the board until the weekend.

We do it all again tomorrow, starting at the same time, in the same game order. If you think my math's messed up, LMK, and good luck!

ARI 6, MIL 3

Leaving 11 on base is probably not functional for the Crew if they want to get out of the wild-card round -- not with the ROY heir apparent putting up points like he did tonight.

Carroll 5

Contreras 2
Kepler 0

Back in mere moments with the last game and our first leaderboard...

MIN 3, TOR 1

Maybe it's not so good for the pool -- nobody has Twinkie picks, after all -- but for baseball fans, it's nice that we can move on from this "MIN can't win in October" narrative we've had to hear about all these years.

It's also nice that Jays pickers snagged a couple points:

Bichette 2
Guerrero 2

Flipping back and forth between the evening games now; see you on the other side of those with our first standings check.

TEX 4, TB 0

Not sure anyone expected the Rays to be the ones who gave away a bunch of runs; I missed most of the game, but apparently the TB defense had a meltdown and Texas capitalized. Four errors? Guys, that's not going to work.

But the first postseason game is in the books, and the first points are on the board:

Seager 3
Semien 0

Diaz 0
Paredes 1

Game 2, currently in progress, might be an anemic one points-wise, but the night games start in about an hour and we'll see what develops.

BPP 2023: Here we go!

Great day in the morning, we made it to the playoffs! Welcome back to Bunting's Postseason Pool. We've got a couple new faces in the crowd, a bunch of the usual suspects returning, and 33 total slates in play. That's a $330 pot to work with: that's $231 for the first-place slate, with 2nd and 3rd taking home $66 and $33 respectively. 

A nice little payday for a few folks, so that's why it's important to let me know if you see mistakes. It happens; it will happen again; we have two "Diaz, Ya"s in the box scores; if I bonked the data entry or the arithmetic, please let me hear from you! Email (bunting at tomatonation dot com) or in the comments -- which are also available for wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Speaking of the spreadsheet, let's have a look!

Heavy action on the Atlanta ballclub, unsurprisingly, with Acuña and Olson pulling 12 picks each -- but our most-picked hitter is former Barve and current Dodger Freddie Freeman, with 13. His teammate Mookie Betts, his former teammate Ozzie Albies, the Orioles' Henderson, and various and sundry 'Stros all had a respectable number of picks as well. 

And despite the same 7-8 players showing up in various combinations a lot of times? No duplicate slates this year, as far as I can tell.

More numbers/wool-gathering after the jump...