MLB Playoff Picture 2022: Hot Takes and Top Storylines for October 22 Schedule

The New York Yankees need to ride Gerrit Cole to a Game 3 victory on Saturday to stay alive in the ALCS.

The Yankees come back home facing a 2-0 deficit against the Houston Astros, who benefited from their strong starters to hold serve at home.

Houston's offense has not been overpowering against the New York pitching staff. The Astros produced seven runs in Games 1 and 2 and had a combined winning margin of three.

Houston's average playoff offense could be limited by Cole, which is why the Yankees should go into Game 3 with so much hope of getting back into the series.

The San Diego Padres come into Saturday with a deficit of their own to make up against the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS.

Philadelphia got the best of Joe Musgrove in Game 3 on Friday night and now it is in a spot to potentially finish the series off at home.

For that to happen, the Phillies need a strong bullpen performance. Bailey Falter will face Mike Clevinger in the starting pitching matchup, but there is a chance both hurlers are out before the fourth inning.

Clevinger was awful in his NLDS start and Falter has not pitched yet this postseason, so that could mean an abundance of runs is on the way before the top bullpen arms enter the fray.

Yankees Need Gerrit Cole to Shine Again

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CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 16: Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees reacts after a strikeout against the Cleveland Guardians during the seventh inning in game four of the American League Division Series at Progressive Field on October 16, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Gerrit Cole has lived up to his massive contract in his first two starts of the 2022 postseason.

Cole struck out eight batters in both of his ALDS starts against the Cleveland Guardians. The Yankees won both of those games.

The right-handed hurler is starting Game 3 on full rest and the Yankees need another strong six-or-seven-inning outing from him to turn the momentum in the series.

New York may need Cole to be even better than he was against the Guardians because of how poor the Yankees offense has been in the ALCS.

The Yankees have 30 strikeouts, nine hits and four runs in 18 innings against the Houston pitching staff.

Aaron Boone needs more output from his offense to take Game 3 out of Houston's hands as early as possible.

Cole scattered 10 hits over 13.1 innings in the ALDS and he has been able to get out of plenty of jams. He is not the worrying part of the matchup for the Yankees and they need him to be himself on the mound in case the offense sputters against Cristian Javier and the Houston arms that follow.

The Yankees can't afford a repeat of Cole's regular-season start against Houston. He struck out eight batters over seven innings, but lost the game by a 3-0 score.

That is the worst-case scenario for the Yankees because then they would have to win four games in a row to get to the World Series.

Cole can at least stabilize the series for the Yankees and allow them to find their footing ahead of two more games inside Yankee Stadium.

Padres-Phillies Game 4 Can Be Highest-Scoring Game in NLCS

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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 21: Kyle Schwarber #12 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts after hitting a solo home run during the first inning against the San Diego Padres in game three of the National League Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park on October 21, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

The NLCS Game 4 pitching matchup is the complete opposite of what we will see in ALDS Game 3.

Mike Clevinger, Bailey Falter and the bullpen arms that follow them will attempt to bridge the gap to the top-tier starting pitchers expected to throw in the final three games of the series.

There is a very low expectation for a pitcher's duel since Clevinger was rocked by the Los Angeles Dodgers in NLCS Game 1 and Falter has not seen game action since the end of the regular season.

Falter can get into the middle innings, but the plan for him should be to get through the order one time and then hand the ball off to Noah Syndergaard.

Falter gave up 10 hits and six earned runs in his last home start on September 24. He pitched seven innings since then, six of which came in a September 30 start. He has one inning to his name in the last 22 days.

The Philadelphia left-hander could be sharp and well-rested, but he could also be taken advantage of by San Diego's better hitters against southpaws, like Brandon Drury and Wil Myers.

Philadelphia's bats could continue to roll against Clevinger, who allowed four earned runs on six hits in 2.2 innings to open the NLDS against the Dodgers.

Clevinger gave up five earned runs or more in his three September road starts, so there should not be a ton of confidence in him staying on the mound for long.

The two offenses could feast on the weak starting pitching and that could carry into the middle and later innings against the top bullpen arms.

Philadelphia's bullpen could be more vulnerable than San Diego's unit for Game 4 since Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez combined to throw 61 pitches to close out Game 3. San Diego only used two relievers in Game 3 and will have its full complement of arms available.

The start of Game 4 could force both managers into maxing out their bullpens and make it a game of survival. That could put even more pressure on Zack Wheeler and Yu Darvish to twirl gems in Game 5.