MLB to allow some fans at NLCS, Series
Fans can take themselves out to the ball game for the first time this season during the NL Championship Series and World Series at new Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
MLB said Wednesday that about 11,500 tickets will be available for each game. That is about 28% of the 40,518-capacity, retractable-roof stadium of the Rangers, which opened this year adjacent to old Globe Life Park, the team’s open-air home from 1994 through 2019.
The World Series is being played at a neutral site for the first time in response to the coronavirus pandemic. It will be played at one stadium for the first time since the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Browns at Sportsman’s Park in 1944.
Some of the seats will be included in presales for Rangers season ticket holders on Friday and subscribers on Monday, and others are set aside for MLB and players.
Tickets are priced at $40-250 for the NLCS and $75-450 for the World Series, and 10,550 seats in the regular sections of the ballpark and 950 in suites will be sold in “pods” of four contiguous seats.
Each pod will be distanced by at least 6 feet, with alternating rows of seats in the middle or rows and at the ends.
No seats will be sold in the first six rows within 20 feet of the field, dugouts or bullpen. Fans will not be allowed to the lowest level, which is reserved for MLB’s tier one personnel, such as players and managers.
Masks are mandatory for fans except while they’re eating or drinking at their ticketed seats.
While Texas is allowing up to 50% capacity at venues, MLB didn’t anticipate having government permission for fans to attend postseason games at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles or Petco Park in San Diego, where AL playoff games are scheduled.
Slam sends Rays to next round:
Hunter Renfroe hit a grand slam and the top-seeded Rays won a postseason series for the first time in 12 years, overpowering the young Blue Jays 8-2 on to finish a two-game sweep of their AL wild-card matchup.
Renfroe launched the first playoff grand slam in franchise history during a six-run second. Tyler Glasnow kept the hosts ahead from there, allowing two runs — on a pair of homers by Danny Jansen — in six innings.
Mike Zunino hit a two-run homer off Jays ace Hyun Jin Ryu during the Rays’ big inning. Manuel Margot and Randy Arozarena also drove in runs as the Rays advanced to the ALDS.
A’s even series: Marcus Semien and Khris Davis homered early and the host Athletics held off Jose Abreu and the White Sox in the late innings for a 5-3 win that sent their AL wild-card series to a deciding Game 3.
A’s reliever Jake Diekman walked home a run in the ninth, then retired the big-hitting Abreu on a sharp grounder to end it and even the best-of-three wild-card series at 1-1.
Chris Bassitt allowed one run on six hits in seven-plus innings during an impressive postseason debut as the AL West champion A’s snapped a six-game postseason skid.
Marlins open strong: Corey Dickerson hit a three-run homer off a fading Kyle Hendricks in the seventh, and the visiting Marlins beat the Cubs 5-1 in Game1 of their NLwild-card series.
Jesus Aguilar also homered and Sandy Alcantara pitched three-hit ball into the seventh as the Marlins conjured up memories of past playoff magic in the franchise’s first postseason game since it won the World Series in 2003.
Marlins center fielder Starling Marte suffered a non-displaced fracture of his left pinkie after being hit by a pitch in the ninth, but the team was hopeful he wouldn’t miss any games.
Fast start for Cards: Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer during a four-run first, the bullpen held strong after starter Kwang Hyun Kim stumbled in his playoff debut and the Cardinals ruined the Padres’ longawaited return to the playoffs with a 7-4 victory in the opener of their NL wild-card series in San Diego.
The Cards need one more win to eliminate the Padres from the postseason for the fourth time since 1996.