Plauderecke » A look at what’s happening around the majors today

A look at what’s happening around the majors today:LAST SHOTThe Brewers try to close ground on the NL Central-leading Cubs in their final showdown of the regular season. Chicago beat Milwaukee 3-0 on Tuesday night to stretch its division lead to two games. The Cubs will start right-hander Kyle Hendricks (11-10 Jake Smolinski Jersey , 3.71) in the finale at Wrigley Field. He is 5-1 with a 2.90 ERA in his past eight starts. Chase Anderson counters for the Brewers. The right-hander has seldom thrown more than 90 pitches in a start down the stretch, but also hasn’t lost since July 14. He pitched seven innings of one-hit ball in a 4-0 win over Chicago on June 12.SEEING REDCincinnati will try to complete its first season sweep of the Dodgers when Anthony DeSclafani starts at Great American Ball Park. The Reds 6-0 vs the defending NL champions this year and have slowed their chased for a playoff spot this season. Ross Stripling starts for Los Angeles. The franchises have been playing each other since the 1880s, dating to the Dodgers’ days in Brooklyn. This is the first year they haven’t won at least twice against Cincinnati.SNEAK PEAKPeter Alonso will join the Mets at Citi Field, but not in uniform. New York’s hulking prospect will be recognized as one of the team’s minor league players of the year and is slated to speak to reporters between games of a doubleheader against Miami. The first baseman hit 36 homers and led the minors with 119 RBIs between Double-A and Triple-A, but New York declined the call him up when rosters expanded in September. The Mets cited a lack of available playing time for Alonso, who is not yet on the 40-man roster. Fans were furious, though, after getting their hopes up that an otherwise sulky September might feature a boost from one of the team’s top prospects.UP TOPRays left-hander Blake Snell goes for his major league-leading 19th win when he starts at home against Cleveland. Snell is 18-5, a year after he went 5-7. Carlos Carrasco (16-8) pitches for the Indians Bruce Maxwell Jersey , who have a magic number of three for clinching their third straight AL Central title. Postseason baseball has reached a critical stage for the Colorado Rockies and the Atlanta Braves. Both of those teams are down 0-2 in their best-of-5 National League Division Series, and each of those teams will try to remain alive as they return home for Sunday's games.The Rockies had a difficult time getting their offense going in the first two games of their NLDS in Milwaukee against the Brewers. Milwaukee's pitching staff was on point, limiting the hard-hitting Rockies to two runs in the ninth inning of Game 1 and shutting them out in Game 2.The Braves had an even more difficult time in the first two games of their series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, getting blanked in both games at Dodger Stadium.The Brewers and Rockies will get things started at Coors Field, and first pitch is scheduled for 4:37 p.m. ET. The game will be televised by the MLB network. The Dodgers and Braves will follow at 8:07 p.m. from SunTrust Park, and that game will be broadcast on FS1.Both games can be live-streamed on MLB.TV.MLB postseasonNational LeagueMilwaukee leads Colorado, 2-0Los Angeles leads Atlanta, 2-0American LeagueHouston leads Cleveland, 2-0Boston and New York tied 1-1The Brewers will try to advance to the National League Championship Series as they send left-hander Wade Miley to the mound. Miley had decent numbers in 16 starts with the Brewers http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-chad-pinder-jersey , recording a 5-2 mark with a 2.57 ERA and a 1.215 WHIP. Perhaps Miley's best asset is that he does not surrender many home runs, allowing just .3 long ball per nine innings.Miley's opponent will be hard throwing German Marquez, who was a 14-11 with the Rockies along with a 3.77 ERA. Marquez struck out 230 batters in 196.0 innings.Marquez faces quite a bit of pressure as he hopes to keep his team alive, but more pressure will be on Colorado hitters who have yet to show what they can do in the postseason.Nolan Arenado is regularly looked at as the best-fielding third baseman in Major League Baseball and he is also one of its best hitters. Arenado had a wonderful regular season as he had a .297/.374/.561 slash line along with 38 home runs and 110 runs batted in.Trevor Story was in lock step with Arenado as he blasted 37 homers and knocked in 108 while putting together a .291/.348/.567 slash line. Charlie Blackmon added 29 home runs and scored a team-high 119 runs.The Brewers will try to counter with the big bats of Christian Yelich, Jesus Aguilar and Travis Shaw. Yelich, the likely National League MVP because of his explosive finish to the regular season, belted 36 home runs this year. He also hit .326 with a .598 slugging percentage while driving in 110 runs.Aguilar pounded 35 home runs and drove in 108, while Shaw hit 32 home runs and drove in 86.The Dodgers will attempt to close out their series on the road with hard-throwing Walker Buehler taking the mound. Buehler was 8-5 during the regular season with a 2.62 ERA and a 0.961 WHIP. He struck out 9.9 batters per nine innings.The Braves will go with Sean Newcomb as their starting pitcher, and he was 12-9 with a 3.90 ERA and a 1.329 WHIP.Atlanta needs to have a productive game from veteran Freddie Freeman Brett Anderson Jersey , who had a .309/.388/.505 slash line with 23 home runs and 98 RBI. Freeman also lashed a team-high 44 doubles.The Braves are also hoping that Nick Markakis and Ronald Acuna Jr. can also get going on offense.Manny Machado blasted 13 home runs and drove in 42 runs after being acquired from the Baltimore Orioles shortly after the All-Star Game. Los Angeles first baseman Cody Bellinger is a potential game-changing hitter who hammered 25 home runs with a .269/.343/.470 slash line.The Rockies are minus-165 favorites to remain alive and win Game 3, while the Brewers are plus-140 underdogs, according to OddsShark. Those wagering on the Rockies would have to risk $165 to earn a $100 profit, while Brewers backers put up $100 to win $140.The Dodgers are minus-185 favorites on the road, while the Braves are plus-155 home underdogs. Visting teams are not often such heavy favorites, but Buehler appears to have a sizable advantage over Newcomb.PredictionsLook for the Rockies' bats to come alive as they get back to Coors Field. The key for Colorado is to get an early lead so they don't have to try to come back against Milwaukee's sensational bullpen that includes Corey Knebel, Josh Hader and Jeremy Jeffress.Look for Arenado and Story to lead the way as the Rockies jump out front and hold on to cut their series deficit to 2-1.The Braves could be in trouble because Buehler has the stuff to shut down the Atlanta offense. He will keep Atlanta from registering any big innings and the Dodgers will do enough on offense to win the game.Atlanta had a memorable regular season, but their year comes to an end Sunday night against Los Angeles as the Dodgers record a 3-0 series sweep.All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.