CLE 9, CWS 5

What a way to make etc. etc. ...It's been sort of amusing, albeit only sort of, to hear the booth trying to edit The Narrative on the fly as the Guardian bats get in gear. "This is what they've done all year when their backs are at the wall" this, "everyone knew Chicago didn't have the pitching for" that.

Not that any of that's incorrect, but what's also not incorrect is that that entire division was a mediocrity "all year"; "everyone" also "knew" the AL overall was an unpredictable mess from jump -- one or two very good teams, a couple streaky teams, whatever odds-proof foolishness was happening in the AL West on a given night, and...this.

Specific to this series, hey: it's more baseball, which is always good. I don't envy Ronnie and the gang having to "Ramirez, amirite" it for three hours a night because exactly no people thought the Sox wouldn't sweep; ya gotta say something. It's just...you know, sort of amusing.

"You know what else is amusing?" On it! Sorry!

Meidroth 2
Montgomery, C 2
Murakami 1
Vargas 4

Mr. DeLauter 1
Kwan 1

Not a ton of points, but a little something for every pick.

New look for the money:

49 Yuhan 2
44 O'Reilly
42 Bauer 2

37 Wonsetler Head and Crase
34 Reid Dumb and Stempelson
33 Izzo 1
32 LoPorto 1
30 Samantha Green

High to mid-20s: LoPorto 1, MArbour 2, and Brady

Low 20s: Reid Smart, Bauer 1, Quinn 2, AK 2, Cameron 1, Wonsetler Heart

Teens: almost everyone else
Tweens: Bingham 2, Drake's Dis Track, and Yuhan 1
Singles: Shotwell 1 and Bingham 1

Guards/Vargas pickers on the move, to an extent, though many of those slates' early-out picks or underperformers may have put them in too deep a hole to climb out of.

Something to contemplate with a night off; Game 5 of this ALDS is at 8 PM ET tomorrow on TBS, and then it's straight into the NLCS on Sunday at 8 PM on FOX. Questions/corrections, LMK, and good luck!

MIL 3, SD 1; Brewers move on

I want good things for the Brewers -- do it for Ueck! -- but this kind of makes me sad; this has been a fun Padres team to watch. The Crew heads to the NLCS, which I think they'll win in 6.

Last night's points:

Bauers 1
Chourio 1
Contreras 2
Mitchell 4
Turang 1
Yelich 1

Bogaerts Cronenworth France LLC 0
Merrill 1
Tatis 4

Not exactly an impressive showing from any of the picks in this series, was it? Tatis Jr. notching another four on his way out brought him even with Bogaerts for 10, but Contreras The Younger was the pool's most valuable with 12. Turang and Bauers, meanwhile...

But they're still in it and have a chance to help their pickers. A bunch of top-half slates hit hard but only two more down, Winklepleck and Fell 2. Let's look at the full standings, which in fact haven't changed much at the top...yet:

49 Yuhan 2
42 Bauer 2
40 O'Reilly

39 Fell 2
37 Wonsetler Head

34 Winklepleck, Reid Dumb, Stempelson
33 Izzo 1
32 LoPorto 1
30 Green

29 LoPorto 2
28 Crase
26 MArbour 2
24 Reid Smart, Brady

22 Bauer 2, Quinn 2
21 Cameron 1, Wonsetler Heart, AK 2

18 Cameron 2
17 JArbour
16 the SDBs, Tormey, AK 1, MArbour 1, DGB

15 Izzo 2, Fell 1
13 Quinn 1, Shotwell 2
12 Bingham 2, Drake's Cakes
11 Drake's Dis Track, Yuhan 1

9 Shotwell 1
5 Bingham 1

Slates in italics will not appear in future updates; thanks so much for playing, and we'll see you in the comments, I hope!

And it could get verrrrry interesting from here, depending on whether the White Sox prevail -- and even if they don't, there's still a handful of complete slates towards the back of the pack that could close the gap in the next week or ten days.

First, we need to lock the ALCS match-up; Guardians and White Sox go again at 8 PM on TBS. (All-NL slates can put your feet up until Sunday night.) Until then, good luck, eyeball the arithmetic, and I'll see you late-night.

TB 4, NYY 3; Rays move on

A more painful than necessary exit for the Bronx Bombers; as noted yesterday, I thought they'd postpone the inevitable at least one more day, but it was not to be. Maybe if the asshats in the bleachers could keep their hands to themselves?

The points:

Caminero 1
Diaz 1

Bellinger 0
Chisholm 0
Garcia 1
Rice 1

Chisholm did nothing in actual October and has to be our LVP here, although nobody except Rice was much use in the LDS; Rice of course was great, most valuable pick by far. TB's Aranda bucking for a Victorino.

All four italicized picks will leave us; confidence in the Yanks was not high this year, so, while this is not great, it's not going to leave the pool in tatters. I'll wait 'til the next update for a complete survey of last night's pool carnage.

For now, here's the top half of the standings.

45 Yuhan 2
42 Bauer 2
38 O'Reilly

35 Wonsetler Head
34 Fell 2
33 Reid Dumb, Izzo 1

32 LoPorto 1
30 Winklepleck

29 Stempelson, Green
28 Crase
27 LoPorto 2

22 Brady
21 Cameron 1
20 Wonsetler Heart, Red Smart
19 Bauer 1

A few spots back is the first slate to go out, DGB. Stand by for the late-game update and full standings, including zombies, in a little while...

LAD 4, ATL 1; Dodgers move on

Do I think the Trolley-Dodgers have it in them to get to the Classic? Not really, but I feel like I said that last year, and they repeated with whatever magicks that required.

Do I care given they've dismissed the Barves? Not one bit! Hope all those former-Met coaches enjoy the golf course and whatever magicks those require! 

Last points for this LDS, with eliminated picks in italics:

Baldwin 0
Harris 3
Olson 0

Betts, Freeman, and Kiké 0
Teo 1
Muncy 4
Ohtani 0
Pages 2
Smith 0
Tucker 1

LVP for this series is a tough call -- Smith, given expected playing time, is IMO excused, but Ohtani and Baldwin were both solid picks; the former looks like he's hurting, the latter did squat in this series, so let's go Baldwin.

MVP, with respect to Harris, is ol' Bax Buncy, though 2026's bar is...lower? different? Unlikely to see a Victorino off a Dodger team with nine total BPP picks.

No slates knocked out with this result, but the night, she is young (and mean), so here's where the money is halfway through tonight:

44 Yuhan 2
41 Bauer 2
37 O'Reilly

34 Fell 2
33 Wonsetler Head
32 Reid Dumb

It's the ninth in the Bronx rn, so eyeball my math and I'll see you when I see you!

CLE 9, CHW 3

Shows you what I know! Sox took their foot off the gas a little bit, I think, and Cleveland bats -- things that exist! -- surged to a win. Let's see what they did points-wise:

Meidroth 2
Montgomery 0
Murakami 0
Vargas 1

Mr. DeLauter 1
Kwan 1

Enough old BPP hands have gotten burned on Ramirez in the past that nobody went for him this year, and he's baaa-aaaaack.

It's tied in Atlanta still, and Rays/Yankees starts in about 15 minutes; until then, here's the money and environs:

44 Yuhan 2
39 Bauer 2
34 O'Reilly

33 Wonsetler Head
32 Reid Dumb
31 Fell 2

Good luck, see you back here in a bit!

SD 4, MIL 3

I fell asleep before this seesaw ended, but was gratified to wake up to more baseball in the MIL/SD series. I still think this is the Brewers' in the end -- imagine if all those picks were hitting -- but that's why they play the games.

And they're playing all four later, probably for the last time in 2026, so let's housekeep this one real quick. Points!

Bauers 0
Chourio 0
Contreras, Wm 6
Mitchell 0
Turang! Finally! 1

Bogaerts 1
Cronenworth 5
France 0
Merrill 1
Tatis 0

Top of the money remained fairly stable; top half of the pool overall looks a bit different this morning:

44 Yuhan 2
39 Bauer 2
33 Wonsetler Head and O'Reilly

32 Reid Dumb
31 Fell 2
30 Izzo 1, LoPorto 1, and Winklepleck

Everyone/-thing else after the jump break.

LAD 3, ATL 1

Does this series seem joyless to anyone else? Not just because it's the Barves trying to take down a three-peat money juggernaut, either. It's just over-it vibes on the field from almost everyone. Even Ohtani looks kinda cranky.

But of course Freddie's powering through it, and Kiké, everyone's favorite longshot Victorino-block pick.

Tonight's points so far:

Baldwin 0
Harris II 1
Olson 1

Betts 2
Freeman 4
Hernandez, K 4
Teo Max Shohei LLC 0
Pages 2
Smith 1
Tucker 1

Pages and Smith notching their first postseason TB this evening, so that's something, and Freeman makes it interesting at the top:

44 Yuhan 2
39 Bauer 2
31 Reid Dumb

30 Izzo 1, Fell 2, LoPorto 1

And the rest of the usual suspects in the mid-20s. 

Turang could really help a lot of people out -- starting with himself! -- by doing literally anything tonight, but we'll see how things look after the late game; look for that update tomorrow morning. 

(Math not mathing? LMK!)