Outside The Confines: No LCS sweep

Today could have been a day without baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays were on the verge of a sweep of the Astros, and the Atlanta Braves are 3-1 against the Dodgers, who had a massive blowout win in Game 3 but might have considered saving some of those runs.

For those who don’t want to wait until next week for the World Series to start and want as much postseason baseball as possible, it’s a gift. Extra games mean more baseball before the end of the year. But for teams who are desperate for some rest after a series with no off days, they’d certainly rather have the time off before the next series.

Let’s take a look at what great baseball minds have to say today.

• Clayton Kershaw, who was scrapped for a start earlier in this week, is the spotlight of a Stephanie Apstein article in which the ace has learned who he really is.
• The postseason has been all about the long ball, according to Ben Lindbergh.
• The Dodgers had an incredible win in Game 3, but they might have wanted to spread those runs out a bit. Story by Pedro Moura. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• The start of game four of the NLCS might be the most important of Kershaw’s career, wrote Alden Gonzalez (before the Dodgers lost.)
• Meg Rowley looks at the Braves blowout loss in terms of how bad it feels to be embarrassed at work.
• Claire Smith writes about her friend Joe Morgan in a touching remembrance.
• Joe Posnanski looks at the postseason as a microcosm of how much the game has changed. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• 16 years ago, a team overcame starting a series down 3-0.

• How did Travis d’Arnaud rise to a position of postseason stardom. Alex Coffey spotlights the Braves catcher. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Pedro Gomez looks at the scouting success that brought the Rays their unexpected talent.
• In another addition to a too-long list of obituaries of Hall of Famers, Jay Jaffe lovingly remembers Joe Morgan.
• Michael Baumann wonders if the Dodgers goose is cooked or if they still have a surprise win in them.
• Carlos Correa managed to keep things alive for the Astros with a walk-off homer, writes Marc Carig. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Which makes this stat all the more interesting.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.