The Tuesday playoff baseball game thread: ALCS Game 4, NLCS Game 3

There are at the very most 16 MLB games remaining before the long, cold winter is upon us. It is quite possible that there will be as few as eight games remaining, if each of the Royals and Mets win their next two games and the World Series results in a sweep by either team. Two of the remaining games will be played today. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Did you know that the man in white is back? That's what Johnny Cueto thought last night, according to Edinson Volquez, which is itself according to some Yahoo Canada guy. This is probably my favorite conspiracy in baseball right now. In the case of Cueto, whether or not there was some in-stadium sign-stealing going on yesterday, how does that explain his struggles since joining the American League? Surely they haven't been stealing signs in every game he's pitched, including games at home in Kansas City.

So that will be a fun storyline heading into today's game. I'm sure the TV broadcast won't be annoying at all in constantly talking about it. That was sarcasm just there.

Here's what's lined up for today:

4:07pm Eastern: Royals @ Blue Jays (Kansas City leads, 2-1)
Starters: Chris Young (KC), R.A. Dickey (TOR)
TV: Fox Sports 1

8:07pm Eastern: Mets @ Cubs (New York leads, 2-0)
Starters: Jacob deGrom (NY), Kyle Hendricks (CHI)
TV: TBS

If I was Kansas City, I wouldn't feel super great about Chris Young's chances - then again, they get crazy luck-driven performances from their crappiest players in the playoffs. That's just how it goes.

I also wouldn't feel very good if I was the Cubs, having failed to win the Arrieta game, and now you've got Hendricks as your starter against deGrom? On paper, that doesn't look so good. But the Cubs have some very good young hitters and they're due to break out eventually. Whether that happens before the NLCS concludes is another question.

Still pulling for the Cubs win to respect the North Side Church of McFly here. Their chances have grown rather dim, though.