Astros and Cubs are Viable Title Threats

Last year, both of major league baseball’s “play in game” winners, the S.F. Giants and K.C. Royals advanced to the World Series with the Giants led by Madison Bumgarner’s amazing post-season performance winning it all by posting a one run 7th game of the World Series win at Kansas City.

This year’s “play in game” winners, the Houston Astros, still weird to say of the American League, and the Chicago Cubs of the National League, each received a great pitching effort from their staff ace, the Astros from Dallas Keuchel and the Cubs from Jake Arrieta, the latter finishing the regular season with the best post August earned run average in baseball history.

As stated here before the “play in” games, I felt either play in game winner, in each league would win the division series.

I will stay with that prediction. Today the series between the Astros and last year’s A.L. play in and eventual pennant winner, the Kansas City Royals, begins. It is a best of five series and I predict the Astros will win it in 4 games.

Starting tomorrow the great rivals, the N.L. top seed, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs meet in the post-season for the first time. The first ever such clash is in a best of 5 N.L. Division Series.

The Cubs, not likely to be that big an underdog, (neither are the Astros at just 6 to 5), will win the three odd numbered games and prevail in 5 games.

Jake Arrieta