Defensive Indifference takes John Lackey to task for whining about the Angels loss.

The Red Sox take out the Angels three games to one. It came down the Angels not executing with runners in scoring position, not executing on defense, and not executing on a bunt with the go-ahead run 90 feet from home plate. With a little luck, this series could easily be going back to Anaheim.

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox! They'll be heading to Tampa Bay to take on the Rays on Friday. That should be a great one.

Correction: Changed first base to home plate.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Reggie Willits dives for a Jason Bay fly ball down the rightfield line and misses. Luckily for Willits, it bounces in the stands for a double, otherwise, it's an inside the park home run.

Kotsay hits a hard liner, and Teixeira makes a great catch at first. Lowrie, however, grounds a ball through the infield and Bay scores. The Red Sox win 3-2!

Kendry Morales leads off the ninth against Masterson with a double off the Green Monster. Reggie Willits pinch runs, and Kendrick bunts him to third base with one out. The Red Sox are making a pitching change, bringing in Delcarmen. Erick Aybar is due up.

Update: The Angels try to squeeze, but Aybar misses the pitch. Varitek chases down Willits and tags him out. Scioscia argues the ball came loose, but the replay shows it happened well after the play.

Unbelievable. Almost any kind of ball in play scores the run. Aybar did execute nine sacrifices during the season, however, so I can see why Scioscia called the play. We'll see if it truly ends up being suicide for the Angels.

Torii Hunter comes up in the top of the eighth with two on and two out (that seems to be the Angels prefered situation). A passed ball puts both runners in scoring position.

Update: The Torii, Torii chant doesn't work as Hunter singles to right, driving in both runs. Okajima and Masterson combine to blow the save.

Update: Napoli flies out to right to end the inning. The Angels did a good job of working Lester's pitch count high (109) so that he couldn't complete the game. Lackey is still in with 93 pitches thrown.

Update: Sorry, Scot Shields is in to start the eighth. I'm a bit surprised by that.

Update: Shields retires the side in order. The game goes to the ninth tied at two.

Singles by Kotsay and Varitek put runners on first and third with one out. All the hits so far in the game are of the one base variety, the main reason all these runners are being left on base.

Update: Ellsbury grounds to Kendrick. There was a chance for a double play, but Kendrick bobbles the ball and just gets Ellsbury at first. Kotsay crosses the plate and the Red Sox lead 1-0. I'm guessing Howie Kendrick is going to get a lot of extra fielding drills next spring.

Pedroia finally gets a hit, a double off the Green Monster that scores Varitek from second. It's 2-0 Red Sox.

Update: Ortiz hits a shot back to Lackey to end the inning. The pressure now shifts to the Angels hitters.

One-out singles by Erick Aybar and Chone Figgins puts two more runners on for the Angels. The teams are getting men on, but neither are getting the third hit to drive in a run. Garret Anderson grounds into a force to put runners on the corners.

Why, exactly is Anderson batting second? He just doesn't strike me as a number two hitter. He's not patient at the plate, and he doesn't get on base well.

Update: Lester thought he struck out Teixeira on an outside pitch. It wasn't that close. Jon comes back with the same pitch, this time on the outside corner, and Teixeira takes it for strike three. The Angels leave two more on base.

David Ortiz singles, then Youkilis grounds to Figgins. Chone throws wide inside to second, and all hands are safe. Two on, one out for the Red Sox as the Angels fielding may hurt them again.

Update: A long fly ball by Drew moves Ortiz to third, two out.

Update: Bay flies out to end the threat. The Angels left four on, the Red Sox three through four innings.

Figgins singles with one out and Teixeira walks with two out to bring up Vlad Guererro in the top of the third.

Update: After fouling off a ton of balls, Guerrero takes two balls to even the count. He then squibs one that gets by Lester, but Pedroia makes a great play to nip Vlad. Guerrero twisted himself a bit on the swing, so it took him a second to get started running. A left-handed batter beats that out for a base hit.

Like the Angels, the Red Sox put two on with a single and a walk in the second. Kotsay, however, grounds into a double play to end the inning. Lester is at 28 pitches, Lackey 26. Given the length of Monday night's game, both managers would like their starters to go deep into the game.

Mike Napoli walks and Juan Rivera singles with two out to give Howie Kendrick a chance to drive in a run.

Update: Kendrick strikes out to end the inning. He's batting .133 with no walks, HBP or extra-base hits. He's struck out in seven of his 15 at bats.

Chone Figgins grounds out to second to start game 4 of the Red Sox/Angels series.

Update: Garret Anderson strikes out.

Update: Mark Teixeira grounds out to second and Lester retires the side in order. He throws just nine pitches, six for strikes. The Red Sox will take that all night.

Update: With Lowell out, Youkilis moves to third and Kotsay starts at first. That puts six left-handers in the Red Sox lineup against Lackey, but John's been much better against left-handed batters this season.

Update: Jacoby Ellsbury bounced back to the box and Pedroia popped out to second to start the bottom of the first.

Update: Ortiz grounds out to the shortstop, shifted to the right side. Lackey also ends the first with a low pitch count, nine pitches, five for strikes.

The Tampa Bay Rays finish off the White Sox, taking the series three games to one. Coming into this series, the Rays offense was better at getting on base, but the White Sox held the superior sluggers. Tampa Bay, however, beat the White Sox at their own game. The Rays not only got on base better, but they out slugged Chicago .507 to .362. Danks not starting until game three hurt the Sox as did losing Carlos Quentin to injury.

Congratulations to the Rays on their first playoff series win! Given the way they played against both the Red Sox and Angels, I'm really looking forward to the ALCS.

The White Sox are down to their final three outs. Trailing 6-2, they need to get runners on in this inning and hope for a big hit at some point. They haven't been able to do the first of those this afternoon as they've collected four hits and two walks.

Update: Thome leads off against Balfour.

Update: Thome grounds out to the shortstop, shifted over to the second base position. Konerko up.

Update: Konerko flies out to the warning track in right. It's up to Griffey.

Update: Balfour strikes out Griffey, and Tampa Bay wins 6-2!

The Rays string together a double, IBB and a single to plate a run in the top of the seventh. The lead is back to four runs, and the Rays scored in five of the seven innings. Tampa Bay matched the two solo home runs hit by Chicago, but added seven other hits and four walks. It's 6-2 Tampa Bay with two on and one out.

Update: Longoria pops out and Crawford grounds out, so the Rays only get the one run. The White Sox have three innings to score four runs.

Mike Scioscia is still confident:

Question: "You guys won in extra innings last night. A lot of players talked about that being a momentum builder. How do you see that taking you into this game and how confident are you taking it into a game Game 5?''

Scioscia: "As we talked about a short series, any team that wins, I think put it's back on the other team. Even though we were down, 2-0, I think last night's game was indicative of that. We're going to play a good game. I know that. We're going to go on the field and play well. We didn't play a perfect game last night, but we played well enough and did the things we need to do to win, and that's what we intend to do tonight.''

When he was informed it didn't exactly sound like he was guaranteeing a victory, Scioscia shot back, defiantly, "Well, ask me to do a forensic analysis, and I'll guarantee it. I'll guarantee a victory. I'm not going to sit here and compare.

I think it will be a very close game.

Jermaine Dye homers to right with two out in the bottom of the sixth. The solo shot cuts the Rays lead to 5-2. Since Sonnanstine held the White Sox to three hits and one walk, both shots against him were solos. Until the White Sox are able to string together a few hits, they're not going to do much damage with the home runs.

J.P. Howell relieves Andy after the home run.

Update: Thome grounds out to end the inning.

Carlos Pena drives in Iwamura and the Rays lead 5-1 in the top of the fifth. They're out-hitting Chicago 7-2, and are 7 for 15 putting the ball in play, including two home runs. The Rays are finding the holes in the Chicago defense.

Update: Pena gets picked off first to end the inning.

The Rays score two more runs in the fourth and Konerko homers in the bottom of the inning and Tampa Bay leads 4-1 in the top of the fifth. Gavin Floyd faced three batters in the fourth before Clayton Richard came in to relieve.

B.J. Upton hits another home run in his second at bat of the game. He matches Longoria's two home runs in two at bats in game 1. Those are the only runs of the game as the Rays move out to a 2-0 lead.

Gabe Gross just appeared to rob a home run from A.J. Pierzynski. I'm never quite sure on these TV replays if the ball would have left the park unless the glove goes over the wall. It sure looked like the ball was going to hit the top of the fence and bounce out, but Gabe's hand stayed in the park. Nice catch.

Update: Jermaine Dye draws a walk, but that's all the White Sox get in the bottom of the first.

B.J. Upton gets the Rays off to a good start with a solo home run in the first inning. I guess my idea of trying to put the ball in play wasn't such a good idea. :-) However, the first three batters did get the bat on the ball, two of them picked up hits, and Iwamura hit a hard line drive right at the third baseman.

Longoria, however, strikes out for the second out of the inning.

Update: It seems to me waving white towels defeats the whole purpose of the black out.

Update: Crawford grounds out to end the inning. The White Sox come up in the bottom of the first trailing 1-0.

The story is the same as Sunday in the ALDS, the White Sox and Angels need to win to stay alive. Gavin Floyd hosts Andy Sonnanstine at 5 PM EDT. Andy improved his ERA about 1.5 runs versus 2007. His low walks and home run rates combined with a better defense did the trick. Unlike many pitchers on the Rays, Sonnanstine is very even home and road. He's also coming off a very strong September in which he posted a 3.16 ERA as his strikeouts picked up a bit. The Rays didn't help him much, however, as he end September 0-3.

Floyd owns an interesting home/road split. His ERA is lower at the Cell, but he allows more home runs there. His strikeouts go way up in his home park, leading me to wonder if he takes advantage of batters swinging for the fences there? With the higher K rate, his hits allowed are down. Maybe the right way to approach Floyd in Chicago is not to swing for the fences, but concentrate on putting the ball in play. The White Sox defense isn't that good, so ball will find their way to holes.

The second battle of the Jo(h)ns takes place in Boston tonight as Game 1 starters John Lackey and Jon Lester face off. Lester won that battle, but didn't pitch that much better than Lackey. The difference was one home run ball. Unfortunately, the Angels lost the battle in which they held the upper hand. Lester is 11-1 at Fenway this season with a 2.49 ERA. That's impressive for any pitchers, but more so for a lefty. His success comes from closing the gap between left and right-handed batters at home, pitching much better against right-handed batters at Fenway.

The Red Sox can send six lefties/switch hitters against Lackey tonight, which would play into his strength. He's shown a reverse platoon split this season, where lefties struggle against him much more than righties. That's exactly the kind of pitcher needed to neutralize switch hitters.

On top of that, it's going to be cold tonight. (I'm very aware of this since our furnace blew and I'm waiting for a new one.) I suspect we'll see a very low scoring game, which means fans of both teams will be on the edge of their seats the entire game.

Enjoy!

Halos Heaven points out the Red Sox bullpen is in better shape than the Angels' for tonight game. Of course, given their due or die situation, I believe all hands are on deck. If the Angels need a long reliever, Ervin Santana should be able to give them an inning or two.

Update: I'm an idiot some days. Santana is starting Wedensday if there is a game. However, today would normally be a side session, so he could pitch an inning if needed.

This is why I love Red Sox fans so much. They always manage to find the cloud in the silver lining. After two World Series wins in four years, you'd think the "can't do" attitude would be gone.

A Washington Nationals fan claims responsibility for the Cubs failure:

I explained my reason for seeking him out. I needed a good strong curse on Number 12, as a lesson to these big-market teams not to mess with us small-market teams. And if you could take one of the small-market perennial last-place teams--somebody ridiculous like the Tampa Bay Devil Rays--and have them take first place, that would be great, too, I told him.

His eyes gleamed. We shook hands. I still haven't quite scrubbed my fingers clean.

I recited my curse: Let Alfonso Soriano succeed during the season so that he has his manager's full confidence and stays as leadoff man. Then let him fail dismally and miserably in the post-season.

Just then we heard a screech of brakes as a semi locked up, but not fast enough to keep from thumping a wolf trotting across the road. "Good timing," said The Wemm, and he stole out, grabbed the road kill by its hind legs, and dragged it back behind the building.

Humming under his breath, he slit open the belly and pulled out the still-warm organs, and, I must confess, despite my vow to witness and document the whole ceremony, I must have gotten a little too close to him,or must have gotten into a little pocket of stagnant air there, for I keeled over.

Mike Napoli singles against Javier Lopez. Kendrick bunts him over and the Angels have a runner in scoring position in the top of the 12th inning.

Update: Erick Aybar pops one into short centerfield for a hit and an RBI. The Angels lead 5-4 and Figgins is up to try to add to that total.

Update: Figgins strikes out.

Update: Anderson pulls a single by the first baseman and the Angels have first and third with two out for the red hot Mark Teixeira.

Update: Teixeira grounds to the shortstop to end the inning. Will Weaver get to preserve the lead or will Scioscia call the bullpen for a save?

Update: It's Weaver against Ortiz, Youkilis and Bay.

Update: Ortiz walks.

Update: Youkilis flies out to center with Ortiz running. David does get back to first. Bay up.

Update: Bay strikes out again. It's up to Alex Cora.

Update: Cora hits a fast grounder down the third base line, but Figgins makes a nice backhand play and throws out Cora. The Angels win 5-4 in 12 innings, preventing a 12 straight playoff loss to the Red Sox.

Scioscia said they would not be eliminated tonight and he was right. We'll see two games tomorrow, the Rays and White Sox in the late afternoon and the Angels and Red Sox at night.

With one out in the 11th, Mark Teixeira draws a walk from Papelbon. Vlad follows with a single up the middle. Men on first and second, one out.

Update: Hunter flies out to right, bringing up Gary Matthews.

Update: Matthews strikes out to end the top of the 11th.

Update: Jered Weaver comes in to pitch for the duration, I'm guessing.

Update: Weaver strikes out Kotsay as the Red Sox burn their second catcher. Crisp singles to center, however, and represents the winning run.

Update: Ellsbury strikes out. Two down for the hitless Pedroia.

Update: Crisp steals second. A single may win the game.

Update: Dustin hits a rocket right at Figgins. He throws Pedroia out at first, and the game goes to the twelfth inning.

Jonathan Papelbon comes in to start the tenth against the bottom of the order, 8-9-1.

Update: The Angels go down 1-2-3, Figgins striking out looking on a perfect pitch on the low, outside corner. The 2-3-4 hitters are due for the Red Sox in the bottom of the inning.

Update: Pedroia strikes out but K-Rod walks Ortiz. Dustin is 0 for 4 tonight and hitless for the series.

Update: Youkilis singles to center to put Ortiz in scoring position. I'd pinch run for David at this point.

Update: Bay Ks.

Update: Lowell thought he checked his swing on a 3-1 count, but the first base umpire says Mike swung. Full count for the runners to get a jump.

Update: K-Rod fools Lowell, but the pitch is called just off the plate for ball four. Bases loaded, two out.

Update: Lowrie flies out to Matthews in right, and the Red Sox leave the bases loaded. This one goes to eleven with the score tied at four.

J.D. Drew pinch hits against Shields to start the inning. Shields already retired four batters and strikes out Drew. That's three K in five batters for Shields.

Update: Crisp flies out to center, two down.

Update: Matthews shows them how to catch an Ellsbury fly ball. Gary came in as a defensive replacement and his grab sends the game into extra innings.

A lot of people in Boston are going to be late for work tomorrow.

Torii Hunter hits a ball past Lowell leading off the ninth, but Jason Bay makes a perfect throw to second to nail Hunter going for a double. Another mistake by the Angels tonight.

Update: Napoli's bat shatters and nearly takes out Masterson. Pedroia follows the ball and throws out Mike to end the inning. The Red Sox need a run in the ninth to end the series in three games.

After Teixeira singles with two out, Justin Masterson comes in to face Vlad in the top of the eighth. Vlad works the count to 3-2, fouls off ball four, then swings and misses to end the inning. The Red Sox come up to try to break the tie in the bottom of the eighth.

Update: The Red Sox go down in order in the eighth. One inning left in regulation.

Jacoby Ellsbury saves the Angels fielders any more embarrassment by drawing a walk leading off the bottom of the seventh.

Update: With one out and Ortiz up, Ellsbury can't hold second on the steal and gets tagged out to clear the bases.

Update: Ortiz walks but Shields comes in to strike out Youkilis. Still 4-4 after seven innings.

Manny Delcarmen retires the first four Angels he faces, then hits Napoli. Despite home runs in his previous two at bats, it looked like the hit was an accident. Kendrick singles to right to put runners at 1st and 2nd with two outs. That's it for Delcarmen. Okajima enters the game to try to strand even more Angels runners.

Update: Hideki gets a groudner to third to end the inning. The Angels have now left 11 on base. Boston has left five.

Jacoby Ellsbury's three-run single was the first three-run single in postseason history.

Update: As I wrote that, Ellsbury hits one deep to left that ticks of Garret Anderson's glove for a double. Anderson looked a bit tentative going for the ball as he was approaching the wall. Ellsbury has two hits on balls that were very catchable.

Update: Once again, the Red Sox take advantage of the error as Youkilis knocks one off the wall in centerfield for a double and the Red Sox tie the game at four. All four are the result of dropped balls off Jacoby Ellsbury's bat.

Update: Saunders walks Bay, and then comes out of the game. Jose Arredondo takes over with two out and two on.

Update: Arrendondo strikes out Lowell looking to end the fifth. Saunders defense lets him down, otherwise he'd likely still be in the game with a lead and a chance for a win.

Mike Napoli takes Josh Beckett deep again, this time into the Monster Seats for eight total bases on the game. The solo shot gives the Angels a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth. Mike increased his power this season, doubling his 2007 homer total in about the same number of at bats. His home run rate would give him 53 over 600 at bats.

Update: Howie Kendrick has no idea how to judge a fly ball at Fenway. He's off on the pitch when Aybar hits one to shallow center. Kendrick sees the ball is in the air, but keeps moving toward second! Crisp catches the ball, and with his momentum carrying him toward first, makes a quick throw to try to double up Kendrick. It almost worked, but the ball hit Howie on the arm.

The Angels lead 4-3 in the middle of the fifth.

Josh Beckett is a bit late covering first on a grounder with two out. That puts Angels at first and second for Vlad in the top of the fourth. We'll see if Beckett's mistake is as serious as the dropped ball by the Angels in centerfield.

Update: Guerrero walks on four pitches. I'm guessing Josh didn't want to give Vlad anything to hit. The bases are loaded for Torii Hunter.

Update: Hunter leads the bases loaded as he grounds into a force at second. The Angels have left eight on base so far, an average of two per inning.

Mike Napoli gets two of the runs back as he homers over the AAA sign above the Green Monster with Vlad Guerrero on base. In the middle of the third, the Angels and Red Sox are tied at three. That was Napoli's second hit in two seasons of playoff baseball. He's now 2 for 12.

With two out in the second, the Red Sox load the bases on a walk, single and walk. That brings up Ellsbury, who works deep into the count, then pops the ball into shallow center field. The shortstop Aybar, the second baseman Kendrick and Hunter in center all converge on the ball. Hunter has the longest run but the best angle. Aybar gives up on it as it looks like Kendrick was going to catch it. Hunter then does the same thing, but Kendrick pulls back at the last second. The ball drops, and all three runners score as the Red Sox take a 3-1 lead.

I'm not sure whose was at fault. I tend to blame Hunter because the CF should catch anything he can. However, Kendrick faked me out, too. I thought he was going to catch it, and the other two peeled off to avoid a collision.

All those men left on base by the Angels really hurt now.

Through two innings, the Angels forced Josh Beckett to throw 52 pitches. And despite the fact that Beckett has thrown more balls than strikes, walked three and allowed three hits, the Angels only scored one run. They've left five runners on base. That's letting a struggling pitcher off the hook.

B.J. Upton singles with two out in the ninth, but Carlos Pena gets caught looking at a big Bobby Jenks curve ball as Carlos strikes out to end the game. The Chicago bullpen pitched well, going 2 1/3 innings, giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out three.

The White Sox hitters were a bit more selective in this game, walking five times after just three walks in the first two games. Couple that with three extra base hits (they had three in the first two games), and Chicago generated enough offense to win the game. They're scheduled for a 5 PM EDT start tomorrow, but if the Red Sox win I'm sure the game will move to prime time.

The Angels and Red Sox are on TNT while the game in Chicago finishes. Chone Figgins leads off with a double, doubling the Angels extra base hits in the series.

Update: Beckett strikes out Anderson and Teixeira. Now he'll face Vlad.

Update: Vlad walks.

Update: Hunter loads the bases on an infield single.

Update: Juan Rivera walks with the bases loaded, and the Angels lead 1-0.

Update: Napoli grounds to the shortstop, forcing the runner at second. The Angels had the potential for a big inning but at least take a 1-0 lead.

John Danks walks the leadoff batter in the sixth, but comes back to strike out the next two, then retires the side on a fly ball. He's walked two and struck out six through six innings and his 86 pitches means he should get through the seventh. We're seeing here why the playoff game with the Twins was so costly to the White Sox. They could have used Danks starting two games in this series.

Update: Danks gives up a two-run homer to Upton in the seventh. He lasts 6 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, a quality start. The Rays are now batting in the top of the eighth.

Update: The Rays get a man on but don't score in the eighth. The White Sox lead 5-3 and are three outs away from playing Monday.

Garza keeps slipping as he lands after pitches during warmups for the bottom of the fifth. The grounds crew is making their second attempt at fixing the problem.

Update: Pierzynski doubles over Upton's head into left-centerfield. Upton plays shallow, and that's twice this game the White Sox sent balls over his head. I don't think it's wrong to play shallow, he probably prevents a good number of singles from falling. It does look bad, however, when you let a double land that most other centerfielders would catch.

Update: Thome walks with one out. Again the White Sox are an extra-base hit away from a big inning.

Update: Konerko hits into a double play instead and the score is still 4-1 White Sox after five.

JIm Thome leads off the bottom of the fourth, 1 for 10 in the series with a single. Matt Garza stays with the heat, and Jim smacks one to the wall in centerfield for a double. The White Sox have a chance to take the lead here.

Update: Konerko walks and the White Sox are setting themselves up for a big inning.

Update: Ken Griffey, Jr. singles hard to right, loading the bases. Not much speed on the bases right now, however.

Update: Grand slam king Alexei Ramirez hits the ball deep to center, but it's caught for a sacrifice fly. All three runners move up, however as the throw goes in to shortstop.

That works, too as Dewayne Wise goes the other way down the leftfield line for a two-run double. The White do indeed get the big inning as they take a 4-1 lead.

Update: A strikeout and a ground out end the inning. The Rays bounced back when Chicago scored in the first two games. We'll see if they can do that against Danks.

Dewayne Wise walks to lead off the third, but after two outs he finds himself still standing at first. He steals second, then comes around to score on a Pierzynski single, tying the game at one.

The Angels are not going to be eliminated tonight.

Iwamura hits a slow roller with men on first and third and two out in the second. Danks was falling away from first base so he couldn't field it, and by the time the White Sox got control of the ball, Akinori was safe at first and a run scored. The White Sox come up in the bottom of the second trailing 1-0.

Neither the Phillies nor the Brewers hit for a high average in their NLDS. The Phillies hit .250, the Brewers .206. Where the Phillies made a difference was with their power. Of their 32 hits, 17 went for extra bases. Only four of the Brewers 26 hits managed to be long hits. They'll be facing a Dodgers team with a similar LDS offense. Los Angeles hit .250 against the Cubs, but 12 of their 26 hits resulted in extra bases.

Rain delayed the start of the Rays/White Sox. They're underway now, and Akinori Iwamura singles to start the first for Tampa Bay.

Update: Upton strikes out, but Carlos Pena, back in the lineup, lines a single to right to but runners on first and third with one out.

Update: Longoria flies out to shallow left, and Crawford bounces one back to the box, and Danks keeps the Rays from scoring.

The Phillies give Brad Lidge a 6-2 lead to defend. He gets the first out then Hart singles and advances to second on defensive indifference.

Update: Nelson strikes out and Kendall grounds out to shortstop, and the Phillies win 6-2. The Phillies will get home field advantage in the NLCS as they host the Dodgers starting on Thursday. That's a good amount of rest for both teams.

Pat Burrell hits two home runs in the game. He slugged .750 for the series.

Yovani Gallardo just finished his third inning, allowing just one hit and no runs. Again, I ask, if you can pitch Gallardo today, why not start him? I can understand not pitching someone who recently came off a major injury on three days rest. I can't, however, see not starting him if your other option is a bad pitcher. This was a huge mistake by Sveum. The score remains Phillies 5, Bewers 0 in the bottom of the sixth.

Update: Fielder homers in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead to 5-1. It's the first home run by a Brewers batter in the series.

CC Sabathia pinch hits for Jeff Suppan in the bottom of the third. He goes down swinging.

Update: The Brewers go down 1-2-3 in the third. Gallardo comes on in relief. If Gallardo is available to to pitch, why don't you start him? Even if the Brewers only get 60 pitches out of him, he's more likely to hold the Phillies at bay than Suppan.

Update: Gallardo retires the side on 12 pitches, eight for strikes.

Pat Burrell leads off the second with a ground ball down the rightfield line. I'm thinking double, but Burrell is barely at first when Hart picks up the ball. He didn't look like he was running hard, but he also might of thought it was foul and didn't start running hard.

Update: Burrell makes up for it, going first to third on a Dobbs single to right-center. I guessing his back is slowing him down a bit. The Phillies have runners at first and third with one out in the second.

Update: Suppan strikes out Ruiz and Blanton to end the inning, leaving two on base. He struck out three in the inning and for the game.

Update: Burrell doesn't need to run in the top of the third. He comes up with two on and two outs. Kendall goes out to talk to Suppan after the count goes to 2-2. They decide what to throw and Pat knocks it out of the park. Jayson Werth then connects for a home run to centerfield, and the Phillies lead 5-0.

Suppan gave up a home run every three innings in September. He's tripled that rate today.

Ryan Braun singles in the bottom of the first, but that's all the Brewers get. They do force Blanton to throw 29 pitches, however, which may shorten his time in the game.

Credit the bench coach with saving a run Saturday in the game against the Phillies:

Yount knew the rule from his own experience playing in a game against the Minnesota Twins.

"(Kent) Hrbek took out Gumby (Jim Gantner) and started a fight," Sveum said. "Robin then got in the next inning and didn't slide and took their shortstop out. They called obstruction, and they made the guy (the Brewers runner at third) go back."

When you play as long as Yount did, you get to see all the rules come into play. :-)

Jimmy Rollins leads off against Jeff Suppan. Suppan falls behind 3-1. Rollins takes an inside pitch for strike two, then blasts the 3-2 down the rightfield line for a home run. The Phillies take an early 1-0 lead. Suppan's September home run problems continue in October.

Update: There's no more damage as Suppan walks Utley but gets Howard to hit into a double play. The Phillies lead 1-0 with the Brewers coming to bat.

Kudos to TBS for spreading today's games out so we can see all of them. I understand the strart time of the LAnaheim-Boston game changed to 7:27 from 7:05.

The Phillies play their second match point in Milwaukee at 1:00 PM EDT, send Joe Blanton against Jeff Suppan. Blanton is a good example of how a high scoring team makes a decent pitcher like Joe look really good. The Phillies scored 73 runs in Joe's 13 starts, 5.6 runs per game. With that support, I'm not surprised that Blanton went undefeated, I'm surprised his record was just 4-0. What's more unusual, he pitched well in August, posting a 3.03 ERA in six starts, but wound up just 1-0. The Phillies went 9-4 in his starts, however, making that trade a rather successful one.

Blanton's main strength is his reverse platoon differential. For his career, he's slightly better against left-hand batters, and this season the difference was very pronounced. The Brewers are fairly right-handed, however, so that may help Milwaukee today.

Jeff Suppan, however, does not inspire confidence. This is the game where losing Ben Sheets really hurts. The Brewers won't jeopardize Gallardo's health with a start on short rest. Suppan is coming off a September in which he posted an 8.44 ERA in five starts and allowed a home run every three innings. He's seen his ERA go up in each of the last three seasons, with the number approaching five this year. Unless he has one more great game left in his arm, he's going to need a lot of support from the Milwaukee offense to get a win today.

John Danks last start was against a product of the Minnesota farm system, and today he faces another as Matt Garza tries to send the Rays to the ALCS. Garza nearly matched his 2007 ERA, but added 100 more innings. His rate of allowing hits came down from 10.4 per 9 innings in 2007 to 8.3 this year. He was especially tough with runners in scoring position, allowing a .218 batting average.

Danks is Chicago's best bet at keeping this series alive. He pulled his ERA down two runs compared to 2007 by cutting his home run rate by more than half. He pitched particularly well against Tampa Bay this season. In three starts, he struck out 20 in 19 1/3 innings, good for a 1.86 ERA. Interestingly, he beat the Rays at Tropicana Field twice, but lost to them at the Cell despite a quality start.

The Red Sox try to make the Angels visit to Boston short as Josh Beckett hosts Joe Saunders. Beckett was pushed back to game 3 due to an oblique strain. Francona says Josh is okay:

After a 65-pitch bullpen session Thursday, Beckett was deemed healthy enough to make the start.

"I doubt he's 100 percent. I don't know that anybody is," manager Terry Francona said. "He threw the ball real, real well. We wouldn't pitch him if there was a big worry."

Beckett is 6-2 in the post season with a 1.73 in ten appearances. He's allowed just 14 walks and four home runs in 72 2/3 innings while striking out 82.

The Angels did pound Josh this year, however. The great walk and strikeout numbers were there for Beckett, but he allowed 20 hits in 13 1/3 innings, 12 runs, 11 earned.

Joe Saunders saved the Angels early in the season when both John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar went down with injuries. His 5-0 April helped LAnaheim weather the storm, and his 2.55 road ERA was one of the reason the Angels were the best road team in the majors this season.

Enjoy!