League Championship Series Doubleheader Open Thread: Part Deux

Last night was so much fun, I’ve* decided we should do it again.

The MLB Postseason will move forward in both the American League and the National League Championship Series again tonight. In Toronto, much remains the same as yesterday: the Blue Jays must win or go home. 33-year-old Marco Estrada will face off against Ryan Merritt, who I just learned was a real life baseball player about an hour ago.

Estrada tossed his first complete game in the ALCS Game 1 loss. Merritt has only one other major league start on his resume, a September win against the Royals.

Down at Chavez Ravine, the Cubs will just be looking to score a damn run after being shutout in their last 18 consecutive innings. The loss last night dropped the Cubs chances of winning the World Series to 25 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight’s Elo predictions, and marks only the second time all season that they weren’t the odds on favorite in the model. They’re going to need their offense to get back on track in a major way tonight, or this series could go off the rails for them in a hurry (if it hasn’t already).

The Dodgers will turn the ball over to their own rookie, 20-year-old Julio Urias. The highly touted prospect made his MLB debut earlier this season and received 77 innings of work to the tune of a 3.39 ERA while striking out nearly 10 batters per nine innings pitched. He came into the season as MLB.com’s number four rated prospect.

John Lackey will be pitching for the Cubs. Lackey, of course, is basically just the personification of a huge boner.

*Major League Baseball