Sabermetrics news: THE NATIONALS WIN THE PENNANT

Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Cole blanks the Yankees; Zimmerman’s fitting trophy en route to a pennant; RIP to the Cardinals

FanGraphs | Jay Jaffe: Unsurprisingly the Yankees had difficulty hitting Gerrit Cole, who was slightly less sharp than usual but worked out of a few jams to get seven scoreless innings, setting up a 4-1 victory for the Astros and a 2-1 series lead. In particular, the Yankees had one chance in his vulnerable first inning, putting runners on with no one out but failing to cash in. If the Yankees lose the series, they will look back right there.

Baseball Prospectus | Jarrett Seidler ($): The Nationals are winners of their first pennant in history, and it all goes back to their very first draft pick... Ryan Zimmerman, who won NLCS MVP. He’s very certainly past his prime but has meant a ton to the Nationals as an organization, so it’s fitting that the very root of the franchise holds the trophy as they head to their first World Series, and the first in the capital since the 1930s.

The Ringer | Michael Baumann: RIP to the 2019 Cardinals, we hardly knew ye. After a very quietly excellent season they were outmatched in the LCS by a superior club, and there is still work to be done on their team in the future. Yet the NL Central is as winnable as ever, and if this year is any evidence, all it takes are a few good breaks to make it to the Fall Classic.