The first three games of the NL Championship Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Nationals have been an embarrassing display on the Cardinals’ part.

Since exploding for ten runs in the first inning of Game five of the NL Division Series against the Braves, the Cardinals have scored two runs in three games against the Nationals.  It’s difficult to believe that the same team who scored ten runs in the deciding Game five is now the same team batting so poorly in the NLCS.

They still have at least one more game to play, but have been completely shut down by the Nationals’ rotation, which hasn’t allowed a run in 21.2 innings of work. Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer, and Stephen Strasburg have led the Nationals to a prime position as they try to clinch their first World Series appearance in franchise history.

The Nationals’ two runs this series have come off of Nationals misplays, as two outfield errors have caused Cardinals runners to cross home plate. The last time a team had such a futile offense in a playoff series was the 1966 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles scored two runs as they got swept four games to none behind the arms of Dave McNally and Jim Palmer.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW 

Meanwhile, the top of the Cardinals order has been in disarray, as the 1-2-3 hitters Dexter Fowler, Kolten Wong, and Paul Goldschmidt have hit 1-33 cumulatively.

“It starts with me,” says Goldschmidt, who slugged 34 home runs this season. “I haven’t really done anything this series and the results speak for themselves, especially tonight.”

The Nationals will send lefty Patrick Corbin on the mound for Game 4 on Tuesday night. Corbin struck out 11 and allowed no runs when he faced the Cardinals last month. St. Louis looks to survive one more night and find rhythm for its offense while starting Dakota Hudson. The game will be at Nationals Park at 8:05 p.m. EST on TBS.

The Yankees are back in the American League Championship Series for the second time in three years.

New York completed their three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, winning 5-1. The game saw the Twins blow one opportunity after another and ended on an Aroldis Chapman strikeout with Minnesota’s tying run on deck. The Twins were 1-12 with runners in scoring position, and the team’s lone hit did not even knock in a run.

The Yankees and Twins were very similar teams coming into this series. The Twins broke an MLB record with 307 home runs this season, while Yankees finished with 306. Both have pitching cores that, while decent, can be quite suspect and mostly rely on the offense to save games.

After the game, the Yankees felt pretty confident about how they’ve played thus far under the national spotlight.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW 

“The way we played tonight was championship-caliber baseball,” manager Aaron Boone said in between team celebrations.

Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorious — who got an RBI and made an incredible diving catch to keep the game out of reach near the end — was also excited about what’s next to come.

“All we did was go out there and play our best baseball. They have a really good team. I know they’ve been working. All we did was, be in control and played the game,” Gregorious said. “We’re ready to play. It doesn’t matter who we face. But as you can see, we always come out here and play the game. That’s what we’re ready for.”

The loss puts the Twins at 16 straight consecutive playoff losses from 2004-2019, tied for the most in American sports history alongside the Chicago Blackhawks from 1975-1979. Thirteen of those 16 losses came at the hands of the Yankees.

There’s also this fun fact:

The Yankees may be ready, but all they can do now is wait. They will face either the Houston Astros or the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS starting on Saturday. The Astros hold a 2-1 series lead over the Rays, and Game 4 of this matchup is set for Tuesday night.