By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

Last night was a busy one for Bahamians in the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason.

Bahamian Antoan Richardson, first base coach for the New York Mets, and his team are moving on to the National League Championship Series after downing the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 in game four of the National League Division Series at the Citi Field in Queens, New York.

In the American League Division Series, flashy third baseman Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr and the New York Yankees narrowly defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-2 at the Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

Richardson and Mets

Richardson and the Mets closed out the best-of-five series against the Phillies with a 3-1 advantage to make it to their first NLCS since 2015.

Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor had a grand showing in the final game of the series to help the team earn their first postseason win at home in 24 years.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Phillies were in charge of the ball game 1-0. The Mets, who were ahead 2-1 in the series, had all bases loaded before Lindor stepped up to the plate and finished off a grand slam. After this point, the Mets took over 4-1 and never looked back. It was the first time in MLB postseason history a player accounted for all his team’s runs in an elimination win.

Bahamians have been performing well in the Big Apple as of late. 

With the Yankees and Mets postseason hopes still alive, I-Elite Sports Academy co-founder Geron Sands expressed how it feels to witness Richardson and Chisholm Jr centre stage in the MLB.

“My dream is for them to have a subway series in the World Series. That would be extremely huge for The Bahamas. Just having two Bahamians being represented in such a world stage and big stage is important for us. I think it should show us in The Bahamas what the possibilities for baseball are for these young kids here and we should try to continue to grow the sport in every way so we can have more Antoan Richardsons and more Jazz Chisholms,” he said.

After starting the season with a 0-5 record, Richardson and the Mets are now riding high. The team will await the winner of the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego Padres series.

Jazz and Yankees

It was close but “Jazz” and the Yankees managed to keep the Royals at bay to secure a 2-1 series lead in the American League Division Series last night.

The Bahamian third baseman finished the game 0-for-4 with one strikeout.

After three scoreless innings, the Yankees got on the board when Giancarlo Stanton doubled from the centre which resulted in Juan Soto coming around from first to give the team a 1-0 lead. The Royals eventually levelled the score at 2-2, but Stanton saved the day. He homered to the left centre at 417 feet to clinch game three of the series for the Yanks. The best-of-five series will continue for the NY Yankees tonight at 8pm.