The possibility of cursed franchises meeting for baseball’s ultimate prize got only slightly closer. Cleveland is halfway to the World Series\u00a0after taking the first two games of the ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays at Progressive Field.<\/p>\n
Chicago, however, wasn’t able to pull off the same result. The Cubs stirred the Wrigley Field faithful with a dramatic Game 1 win, but were thwarted by the dominant Clayton Kershaw one night later.\u00a0Aside from the results that took place, let’s take a look at a few other things we learned from the weekend’s games.<\/p>\n
6. Francisco Lindor has arrived <\/strong><\/p>\n If you didn’t know his name before, you do now. Lindor was one of baseball’s rising stars, but the postseason has a way of\u00a0expediting that climb up the MLB hierarchy — and this latest stretch of games is showing that the 22-year-old shortstop is wise beyond his age.<\/p>\n As good as he is on the field, he’s been even better at the plate. Lindor\u00a0went 2-for-4 with a double in the ALDS clincher at Fenway Park, which really got him going. Two more hits came in the ALCS opener,\u00a0including a two-run homer\u00a0in the sixth\u2014which proved to be the difference in a 2-0 Indians victory. His third inning Game 2 single to center broke a 1-1 tie and, once more, provided the game-winning run.<\/p>\n 5. …So has Javier Baez <\/strong><\/p>\n Lindor isn’t the only young middle infielder who’s jumped onto the national scene. Over the past few weeks, the remarkable baseball intelligence from Baez has been readily displayed\u2014never more so than the double play he initiated<\/a> in Game 2 versus the Dodgers.<\/p>\n Joe Maddon, on Javier Baez a few hours ago: “It’s so hard to teach how quickly his mind works.” Accurate. @MLB<\/a> @Cubs<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) October 17, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n