It’s a four-game Monday as all four league division series feature elimination games. The action gets started at 1 PM EDT as the Astros visit the Rays, Houston leading the series 2-0. Zack Greinke faces former Astros pitcher Charlie Morton. Greinke came over in a mid-season trade to give the Astros three number one starters. He pitched well, very similar to his stats with the Diamondbacks, although he did allow more hits. That may have just been the difference between facing a pitcher and a designated hitter. For the third season in a row, Morton posted the best season ERA of his career, this time bringing it down to 3.05. He allowed the lowest home run rate of any ERA qualifier in the majors this season.

At 3 PM EDT, the Braves try to end the Cardinals season. The Braves will either send game one starter Dallas Keuchel or injury replacement Julio Teheran. The Cardinals start Dakota Hudson. Hudson appears to be one of those pitchers whose three-true outcome statistics fail to explain his ERA. FanGraphs has his FIP at 4.93 and his xFIP at 4.55. Hudson walks a lot of batter and owns a low K rate for this era. He does not allow many hits, however, mostly due to a high ground ball rate. His BABIP allowed is low, and was also low in the minors. For him, allowing batters to hit the ball works well.

The 6:30 PM EDT time slot belongs to the Dodgers and Nationals, the Nationals season on the line. Rich Hill faces Max Scherzer. Hill’s pitching in the post-season is a mixed bag. In eleven starts and one relief appearance, he owns a 3.03 ERA, but does not go deep in games. That led to a 1-2 record. Scherzer pitched some brilliant games, but some clunkers, too. In 88 post-season innings, he walked 34 an allowed ten home runs, so batters can get to him.

Finally, the Yankees visit the Twins with Luis Severino taking on Jake Odorizzi. The Twins try to stay alive and end a record post-season losing streak. Severino spent nearly the entire season on the disabled list, but may be worth the wait as he posted a 1.50 ERA in his three September starts. Odorizzi upped his strikeout rate this season and lower his home run rate to bring his ERA down about a run to 3.51. He makes his first post-season appearance.

Enjoy!