Is this the best possible day of playoff baseball?
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Get some rest while you can, because today's action won’t be for the faint of heart.
With the Rangers’ 9-2 rout of the Astros extending their season by at least one more day, Game 7 of the ALCS will be played on the heels of NLCS Game 6, where the D-backs will be facing elimination at the hands of the Phillies.
The last time Games 6 and 7 of the LCS fell on the same day was in 2020, when 16 teams made the postseason, tightening up the schedule considerably. A Game 6 and 7 haven’t fallen on the same date in a regularly scheduled postseason since 2004, when Game 7 of the ALCS between the Red Sox and Yankees coincided with Game 6 of the NLCS between the Astros and Cardinals on Oct. 20.
Only the Red Sox clinched that day -- completing their stunning comeback from dropping the first three games against their bitter rivals, the Yankees. But it was still arguably the most dramatic day in MLB history as the Cardinals defeated the Astros, 6-4, on Jim Edmonds' walk-off homer in the 12th inning before Jeff Suppan outdueled Roger Clemens the next day to clinch a St. Louis pennant.
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To cover every hypothetical scenario, we’d need to go back even further. The last time both the ALCS and NLCS were settled in six or seven games on the same day was on Oct. 14, 1992, when the Braves took their LCS matchup against the Pirates in seven games (who can ever forget Sid Bream's slide home to send the Braves to the Fall Classic?) on the same day the Blue Jays won their first AL pennant with a Game 6 victory over the A’s.
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We could very well see a repeat of that incredible day of baseball in '92. The Phillies, now 6-0 at home in the 2023 Postseason, will send Aaron Nola (3-0, 0.96 ERA) to the mound against D-backs right-hander Merrill Kelly (1-1, 3.00 ERA) in Game 6 of the NLCS, beginning at 5 p.m. ET on TBS. Read more >
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In the winner-take-all nightcap, airing at 8 p.m. ET on FOX/FS1, the Rangers will hand the ball to Max Scherzer, who was touched for five runs across four frames in Game 3. Cristian Javier (2-0, 1.69 ERA) will get the start for the Astros having earned a win in each of his last four postseason starts dating to the 2022 ALCS. Read more >