September Madness: MLB stages 8 playoff games in 1 day

Shortly after noon in Atlanta, Nick Senzel of the Cincinnati Reds slapped the first pitch from Max Fried to right field for a single, starting a day of baseball unlike any that had come before.

Eight postseason games, all set to start in a span of around 10 hours.

“This is like September Madness,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “It’s going to be mad.”

Wednesday indeed had a bit of an NCAA Tournament feel, with a smorgasbord of playoff games starting early in the afternoon and scheduled to last long into the night. For much of the 20th Century, baseball had a maximum of seven games in any single postseason. Wednesday’s schedule alone included more than that, the result of an expanded postseason for 2020 that includes 16 teams after a regular season shortened to 60 games by the coronavirus pandemic.

There’s no telling when or if the sport will have a day like this again. It won’t happen this year — when the Astros beat Minnesota 3-1, they eliminated the Twins and ensured that Thursday’s postseason slate won’t be completely full.

The Reds were ready when they came to the plate against Atlanta. They swung at the game’s first three pitches, hitting two singles to put men on first and third with nobody out.

Then the Braves escaped the jam with no scoring, setting the tone for the day.

It took a while for anyone anywhere to score. When the first run came, it was in Houston’s game at Minnesota, which started about an hour after the Braves and Reds. Kyle Tucker drove in a run for the Astros with a fourth-inning single.

That was around the time the Miami Marlins and Chicago Cubs were getting started. In a season when ballparks have been off limits to fans, this at least was a feast of baseball on television.

“It’s cool. I’ve been in my office...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/September-Madness-MLB-stages-8-playoff-games-in-15610449.php