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!

The last chance for the Cubs rest in the hands of Theriot, Fukudome and Soriano. Two of the goats of this series have chances to be heroes.

Update: Theriot strikes out on three pitches against Broxton.

Update: Fukudome battles but grounds out to shortstop.

Update: Soriano strikes out on three pitches, appropriately swinging at a pitch in the dirt. The Dodgers win the game 3-1 and the series 3-0.

The Dodgers starters dominated, allowing three earned runs in 19 innings. They walked for and struck out 17. Against the best offense in the NL, the Dodgers staff completely shut down the Cubs.

Meanwhile, the Cubs aces didn't get the job done. They gave up 11 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings. The Dodgers, playing their youngsters with Manny Ramirez, could not be stopped. The Cubs will have to wait for the 101st anniversary of their last World Series win to try again.

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers on their first post season series win in twenty years. We're a little closer to an LA-Boston final.

It looked like a leadoff double by Derrek Lee in the top of the eighth would go for naught, but Daryle Ward singles him home with two out. Cedeno pinch runs for Ward.

Update: Broxton comes in to get the strikeout to end the inning. Cubs have one more inning to keep their post season alive.

Lou Piniella doesn't keep Fukudome on the bench long as he puts him in as part of a double shift. He follows a Theriot single with a solid base hit to center, Fukudome's first of the series. That chases Kuroda and brings in Wade to face Soriano. This would be a perfect time for Soriano to break out of his post-season slump.

Update: Soriano swings at the first pitch and flies out. He's hitting .077 in the series.

Update: Mike Fontenot hits it hard to center and it almost carries over Kemp's glove, but he reels it in for the third out. The Cubs leave two more on base and it's still 3-0 Dodgers.

Russell Martin drives in a run with a double. The ball rolled to the wall in left, and was deadened when it bounced under a sign on the panel. Soriano had to go after it rather than play a carom, so Furcal had plenty of time to score from first. It's Martin's second double of the game, and all four of his hits this series went for extra bases. The Dodgers lead 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth, and Rich Harden leaves the game. He gave up five hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. The three aces of the Cubs really disappointed so far in this series.

History repeats as the Cubs put two on with two out in the third, and fail to score. Just like the first inning, Chicago could not get the third hit to drive in a run. The Dodgers still lead 2-0.

Update: Soto leads off the fourth with the double. He advances to third after an IBB sets up Rich Harden for the strikeout. The Cubs have left six on base so far.

The Dodgers get two hits to put runners on first and third with one out. Ethier strikes out, but James Loney doubles in Martin and Ramirez to put the Cubs down 2-0. Harden's been extremely tough to hit and harder to score on since he joined the Cubs, but not tonight. That's the Dodgers's 10th extra base hit of the series. The Cubs have six, five of them doubles.

The Cubs put two batters on base with two out, but Soto grounds out to end the inning. Harden's coming out for the bottom of the first.

The story of the game three in the Brewers/Phillies series was the control of the Brewers pitchers. They did not issue a walk nor hit a batter. After issuing 13 walks in the first two games, nine by Gallardo and Sabathia in 7 2/3 innings, this was a welcome change. The four extra base hits by the Philies couldn't do much damage, due to no extra runners on base.

Salomon Torres comes in for the save, but gives up consecutive singles to Howard and Dobbs. The Phillies bring the tying run to the plate. Victorino get the first shot at trying to drive in these runners.

Update: Victorino dumps a single into left, and the bases are loaded. Feliz hits the first pitch to third and the Brewers turn a double play, but the Phillies score and it's 4-2. The tying run comes to the plate again, Carlos Ruiz due up.

Update: Victorino didn't slide at second base and interfered with Counsell trying to make the double play. It's a double play, and the runners don't advance! It's back to 4-1, and there are runners on 2nd and 3rd. Ruiz taps back to the box, and we'll have at least one game four.

Jayson Werth doubles in the eighth, but that's all Gagne allows as the Brewers still lead 4-1. They're three outs away from forcing a game four.

With runners on first and third, Jason Kendall delivers his second hit of the evening, driving in the Brewers fourth run. Milwaukee is out-hitting Philadelphia 11-5. All the Brewers' hits are singles, while the Phillies knocked out three extra-base hits. The Brewers collected just seven hits in the first two games.

Update: That's all the Brewers get. They lead 4-1 at the end of seven.

Chad Durbin retired the leadoff batter, but three straight singles load the bases, including one by relief pitcher Carlos Villanueva. Ryan Braun has a chance to bust the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth.

Update: Durbin strikes out Braun on a pitch that dove at the end. Durbin won't face Fielder as Charlie Manuel makes the double switch.

Update: Scott Eyre comes in to face Fielder.

Update: Fielder pops out to left on a 3-1 pitch. He was just not selective enough.

Jayson Werth hits a ball deep to right. Corey Hart goes back to the fence, makes the catch, then crashes into a post. Hart falls, and the ball comes lose. Werth, running all the way, makes it to third for a triple. It's not an error, but it's a play Hart could have made.

Update: Utley pops out to the shortstop in short leftfield. Werth holds. That's it for Bush. He throws 70 pitches, 51 for strikes, but Sveum wants a lefty to face Fielder. Given that Bush wasn't that good this season, getting this much quality out of him was a great gift. It's probably a good idea for Sveum not to push his luck.

Update: Howard hits a slow grounder to third. He's thrown out, but the run scores. That completes Bush's line and Stetter's relief appearance.

Jamie Moyer throws 90 pitches over four innings, and Matt Stairs pinch hits for him in the top of the fifth. The Brewers still lead 2-0.

Update: Clay Condrey relieves and Mike Cameron reaches for the third time without a hit, as he's hit by the pitch. He goes to third on a Hall single, and Ryan Braun hits the second Fly Ball A, advancing both runners. (In Strat-o-Matic Baseball, a Fly Ball A advanced all runners. They were rare, but we've seen two tonight.)

Update: Craig Counsell is up with the bases loaded. Over 1/4 of Counsell's career RBI have come with the bases loaded.

Update: Not this time. Counsell strikes out to end the inning.

Corey Hart singles with two out in the bottom of the third to move Hardy to third base. Unfortunately, Hart takes too big a turn at first, and Werth throws behind him to end the inning. The Brewers are making some unforced errors in this series. In game one, it was by the fielders. Today, Hart's base running.

Jamie Moyer walks Mike Cameron for the second time in two innings, Moyer's third walk of the game. In 16 of his 33 starts this year, Moyer walked one or less sixteen times.

Update: Moyer strikes out Hall on a 3-2 pitch. Hall took the pitch on the outside corner, and I thought Hall was right to take it. Moyer's pitch count is up to 62 after two innings, 28 of those called balls.

Jamie Moyer's start is less than perfect and quite a bit wild. He walks the first two batters, then throws a wild pitch to put two runners in scoring position for Ryan Braun.

Update: Braun pops up a 3-2 pitch, leaving the runners on 2nd and 3rd. I like the Brewers approach against Moyer, however. So far, they are doing a good job of recognizing pitches that are out of the strike zone and not swinging at them.

Update: Fly Ball A. Fielder drives one deep to right, advancing both runners and putting Milwaukee up 1-0.

Update: The Tragic Poet of MTV strikes out to end the first. The Brewers are off to a very good start, however.
Update: J.J. Hardy is dyn-o-mite as he lines a ball past Rollins for a single and an RBI. The Brewers take a 2-0 lead. Moyer threw over 30 pitches. Of course, with the Phillies good bullpen, chasing Moyer early may not be a positive.

David Bush gets off to a good start, striking out Jimmy Rollins.

Update: Werth is totally fooled striking out on a pitch outside and in the dirt. Bush isn't much of a strikeout pitcher, but he's two for two so far.

Update: Utley hits a come-backer to the mound, and Bush starts off flawlessly. He threw just 10 pitches, eight for strikes.

The Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs face elimination today as their series shift venues. The early game pits Jamie Moyer against David Bush in Milwaukee. From July first on, Moyer took control of his home runs allowed. He gave up 14 long balls in 100 1/3 innings through the end of June, helping him to a 4.13 ERA. Since, only six left the park in 96 innings, and Moyer's ERA dropped to 3.28. Two of those, however, came in a start against Milwaukee.

Bush posted an interesting year. He strikeout rate fell, his walk and home run rates rose, but his ERA came in a run lower than in 2007. Maybe it was just luck evening out. In 2007, his FIP was 0.54 below his ERA. This season, it was 0.77 higher.

Out in Mannywood, Rich Harden tries to stop the Cubs slide as he faces Hiroki Kuroda. Harden came over to the Cubs and pitched about the same as he had with the Athletics in terms of strikeouts, walks and home runs. However, NL hitters could not connect off him. The A's opposition hit .206 off Rich with a .300 slugging percentage. When he joined the Cubs that dropped to .157 and .273.

Kuroda's stats are similar to David Bush, but without the high home run rate. With decent run support, Hiroki would likely have a winning record. His home road stats were nearly identical, but they translated to a 6-2 record at Dodger Stadium, 3-8 on the road. He pitched very well against the Cubs this season, allowing two runs, one earned, in 15 1/3 innings. Yet his record was just 1-1. Most importantly, he walked just three Chicago batters in those innings, nullifying a Cubs strength. He also finished the season strong, walking 11 batters in his last 66 2/3 innings over August and September.

The walks matter. The Dodgers are holding the Cubs to a .288 OBA so far. That's 66 points below their season average. It's a great example of a low walk staff taking the starch out of a high walk offense.

Enjoy!

Correction: Kuroda was 3-8 on the road, not 3-18.

Torii Hunter bunts down the third base line. Youkilis makes the running bare-handed pickup to get him at first. That used to be an unusual play, but now a regular first baseman can make at the hot corner. It shows how much defense has improved over the years.

Update: Matthews pops it up in foul territory. Youkilis leans into the camera pit to make the catch. Two down for Kendrick.

Update: Kendrick falls behind 0-2. He fouls off a couple of pitches and takes a ball, but swings and misses at a high pitch for the K. Papelbon blows the save but gets a win.

The Red Sox set a record for most consecutive post season wins over another team. It's a good thing the Angels play well on the road, since now they need to take two at Fenway. The Angels need to find some power if they are going to beat the Red Sox.

I was hoping for more competitive series this year, but so far, all four are 2-0.

David Ortiz hits the ball to the wall in right. Willits leaps, but the ball hits his glove and bounces out. David ends up at second base.

Update: K-Rod gives up the double, after getting the last out of the eighth. He gets Youkilis to ground third, holding the runner at second. It's Crisp, who pinch ran for Ortiz. It appears Coco was picked off, but the ump called him safe.

Update: J.D. Drew hits a 2-2 pitch into the batter's eye in centerfield. Boston takes back the lead 7-5. It's not a blown save, but K-Rod could walk away with the loss here. K-Rod only gave up four homers this season, one of those against the Red Sox.

Looks like Drew's back is okay.

Update: Bay and Kotsay single. Scioscia sticks with Rodriguez against Varitek.

Update: It pays off as Jason hits into a double play. LAnaheim scored one run in five different innings tonight. They need to find a way to score two in the ninth.

The Angels finally get an extra base hit, and it's a rare one. Figgins drives the ball into the gap and ends up at third with a triple leading off the eighth. The Angels are in a great position to tie the game.

Chone has 46 career triples, but only one this season. He was really burning up the base paths to stretch that to three bases.

Update: Jonathan Papelbon comes on for a six out save.

Update: Garret Anderson pops out to third in foul territory.

Update: Teixeira, however, delivers a sacrifice fly. Papelbon blows the save and it's a 5-5 game.

Update: Guerrero pops out to end the inning. Papelbon gets three fly balls, but one was just too deep.

Teixeira and Guerrero lead of the bottom of the seventh with singles. They're both five for seven in the series, all singles. In fact, all 19 Angels hits in the series are singles. This wasn't a great power team, posting a .413 slugging percentage on the season, but this is ridiculous. Masterson replaces Okajima and Hunter flies out on the first pitch.

Update: Juan Rivera walks on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. This would be a good time for the Angels first extra-base hit.

Update: What a difference between Rivera and Howie Kendrick. Rivera waited for his pitch, and when he didn't get it he took a walk. Howie swung at each of the offerings, and at leas two were out of the strike zone. A very poor piece of hitting in an important situation.

Update: Napoli lays off the low pitches and draws a bases loaded walk to cut the Red Sox lead to one. It's now 5-4 Red Sox, bases still loaded, two outs.

Update: Erick Aybar swings at strikes, but misses. The Angels leave the bases loaded but chip away a little bit more. Boston leads 5-4 after seven innings.

Kotsay reaches on a Hunter error and Kotsay singles, chasing Santana from the game. He didn't walk anyone, but the five hits in a row in the first really hurt him. He only gave up eight total in 5 1/3 innings.

Update: Jose Arredondo loads the bases but gets Pedroia to ground out to second. Boston loses a chance to blow the game open.

Update: Matsuzaka is done, Okajima starts the bottom of the sixth.

Daisuke Matsuzaka gets a bit wild in the fifth, walking the first two batters. His pitch count is in the mid 80s.

Update: Hunter drives in Teixeira with a single to left. The throw was right on line, but Varitek couldn't get the glove around in time. It's now 5-3 Boston, still no outs in the fifth.

Update: That's all the Angels get, but now they are starting to chip away.

With two out and runners at 2nd and 3rd, Figgins dumps a hit into shallow leftfield to plate a run. Bay was playing so far in he almost caught it, and held the runner at second to just once base. The score is now 5-2 Boston in the bottom of the fourth.

Update: Garret Anderson strikes out to end the inning. The Angels and Red Sox trade runs in the fourth, but LAnaheim still trails by three.

With two on and two out in the bottom of the third, Torii Hunter hits a slow roller to short. Cora makes a strong throw and the play is close at first. Hunter is called out. He jumps in disgust, and appears to hurt his knee. TBS should have stayed with the game rather than going to commercial.

I rewound it on my DVR and watched it frame by frame. It looks like the ball goes into Kotsay's glove while Hunter's foot is above the bag. I think the ump made the right call. It's still 4-1 Boston after three.

Update: Hunter remains int he game. He looked safer to me on the TBS replay.

Update: Cora doubles with two outs, then Juan Rivera takes a poor route to a fly ball and Ellsbury doubles Cora to the plate. Boston lead 5-1 in the top of the fourth.

The Red Sox appear to be taking no prisoners tonight. With two out, Ortiz, Youkilis and Drew pick up consecutive hits to plate a run, then Jason Bay connects for his second home run of the series, deep into the water fall rocks in leftfield. The Red Sox lead 4-0. Mark Kotsay just blooped a single into left for the fifth straight two-out hit.

Update: Teixeira and Guerrero pick up two-out hits against Matsuzaka. Torii Hunter singles up the middle, and it's 4-1 Boston. Time for Rivera to homer.

Update: Juan grounds out to shortstop, but the Angels get a run back and show they can hit Dice-K.

Chad Bradford gave up a single on a bad call by the first base umpire, but comes back to induce a double play. He finishes off the White Sox, striking out Thome to end the game. The Rays maintain their home field advantage, and can earn some time off with at least a split in Chicago.

The Rays pitching staff bent but didn't break. The White Sox, not a batting average team, knocked out twelve hits, but all were singles. Their usual way of producing runs is to collect fewer hits but send them a long way. For the series, Chicago has 19 hits, only three for extra bases. They're hitting .279, but are slugging just .382.

The White Sox just picked up their eleventh hit of the game, all singles. They're doing a good job of getting on base, but that great White Sox power just isn't there tonight. They need some kind of long hits to move these runners more than a base at a time. The score is still 3-2 Rays in the top of the eighth.

Update: Swisher strikes out looking to the eighth. He didn't like the call. Why is it when C.B. Bucknor is behind the plate, there's always ball/strike arguments?

Update: Upton triples to start the bottom of the eighth and scores on a Crawford single. The Rays have 10 hits, but with three for extra bases they lead 4-2.

Update: Rocco Baldelli singles up the middle to score Crawford, and the Rays extend their lead to 5-2.

Update: Navarro pops one into short left-center, and it falls between three fielders. Baldelli scores all the way from first with two out, and the Rays lead 6-2. A little bit of skill and a little bit of luck in this inning for Tampa Bay.

Scott Kazmir gives up a hit to Uribe, then a sacrifice bunt to put the tying run in scoring position. That's it for Kazmir as he's thrown 98 pitches. His 37 pitch first inning allowed the White Sox to get into the Tampa Bay bullpen early. Grant Balfour makes his second appearance in as many games.

Update: The White Sox get Uribe to third, but Swisher flies out to end the inning.

I finally figured out why Swisher has such a low career batting average. He's using Horace Clarke's batting stance!

Akinori Iwamura hit just six home runs in the regular season, but he pops one in the bottom of the fifth. Jason Bartlett singled in front of him and the Rays take a 3-2 lead. The White Sox led the majors in home runs, but so far the Rays are on top of that category 3-2.

Buehrle is staying in the strike zone in this game. Through three innings he's thrown 46 pitches, 33 for strikes. He's walked none and struck out two.

The Rays take advantage of a throwing error to score a run. With Aybar on first, Baldelli lined out to second base. Ramriez tried to double up Willy, but threw the ball into the dugout. That put Aybar on third, and he scored on a Fernando Perez single. It's 2-1 Chicago after two innings.

The White Sox put five men on base with three hits, a walk and a hit batter off Scott Kazmir. The Sox collect any extra-base hits, however, so they leave the bases loaded, scoring two runs. It was an unimpressive inning for Kazmir, who threw 37 pitches. No matter how well he pitches the rest of the game, it will be difficult for him to go deep with that kind of start.

Update: Longoria makes his first out of the playoffs as the Rays don't score in the bottom of the first.

Ken Griffey Jr. won't play tonight as lefty Scott Kazmir takes on fellow lefty Mark Buehrle. Two things are going against Mark as he makes this start. First, his road record is poor, 4-9 with a 5.05 ERA. While he gives up fewer hits than innings pitched at home, he allowed 135 hits in 103 1/3 innings away from Chicago. He also pitched poorly against Tampa Bay. Again, it was hits allowed that caused his downfall. The Rays collected 25 hits in 19 2/3 innings to hang a 4.58 ERA on Mark. They only hit one home run, however.

Buehrle does have post-season success, however. In 23 1/3 playoff innings he's walked just one batter.

Kazmir presents the opposite picture. Scott pitches much better at home, posting a 2.90 ERA at the Trop. He allows many fewer hits, but many more walks at home. He also pitched well against Chicago this season with a 2.08 ERA over 13 innings. He held the White Sox to just seven hits.

On the west coast, Daisuke Matsuzaka takes on Ervin Santana in the game of the three-A last names. Dice-K won all his road decisions this season, as opponents hit just .178 against him outside of Fenway. If the Angels do get on, especially if Matsuzaka is wild, look for them to run. Six of seven base stealers found success against Matsuzaka on the road, and 15 of 20 overall.

Santana showed great stamina this season. His batting average allowed and OBA allowed do not deteriorate until he hits 105 pitches in a game. Batters do find more power once he gets above 75 pitches. If he's facing one of the Boston power hitters late in the contest, we'll see if Mike Scioscia pulls him at that point.

Enjoy!

Paul Hagen advises the Phillies not to let up:

And all I can think about are Alan Greenspan and Larry Bowa.

The former chairman of the Federal Reserve once warned about "irrational exuberance" in the stock market. (And, hoo, boy, doesn't he look smart now?) And when Bowa managed the Phillies, he once illustrated his point in a postgame press conference by stepping from behind the podium and pantomiming the proper way to step on the neck of an opponent once he's down.

The Phillies are in a great position to win the series, and the Saturday matchup favors them as well. We'll see if they have the boots to stomp the Brewers.

The Cubs are not going quietly. A double, single and a double to start the inning chases Saito from the game. The score is now 10-3. Can Chicago score seven more runs in the inning? Broxton comes in to try to wrap up the game.

Update: Pie walks. Soto gets to keep things going next.

Update: Soto hits it hard but lines out to the second baseman. One down.

Update: Fukudome just stuck out looking, and I think the crowd is mispronouncing his name.

Update: Ward strikes out to end the game. The Dodgers win 10-3.

I'm a bit shocked. The Cubs are one of the best home teams in the majors. They pitched two of their three aces. The Dodgers totally spanked them. Los Angeles scored at will, and totally shut down the multi-faceted Cubs offense. They couldn't hit, they couldn't field, and the pen didn't pitch that well. Just amazing.

Obviously, the Dodgers are in total control of the series now. I may need to start rooting for a Los Angeles/Boston World Series, just to get Manny, Nomar and Lowe playing against their old team.

Yankees fans might be wondering why Joe Torre couldn't get New York playing like this in the first round the last few seasons.

The Cubs finally break through in the bottom of the seventh. DeRosa and Edmonds hit back to back doubles, and the Dodgers lead is down to 7-1. Those are just the third and fourth hit for the Dodgers. Soto follows with a single to put runners at first and third.

Update: The Dodgers who bring in Wade who gets the final out. Billingsley pitches a great game, allowing just one run over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked just one, and the Cubs didn't really hit him until the seventh.

Update: The Dodgers score two more in the ninth. There is no stopping the Torre juggernaut!

Update: It takes until the top of the ninth, but Theriot comes up with an error as he throws a ball away on a grounder. All four infielders have errors now.

Update: Another hit, another unearned run.. The Dodgers led 10-1.

Matt Kemp hits a two-out double in the seventh to extend the Dodgers lead to 7-0. The Cubs collected just two hits so far, and only one walk. All the walks they drew during the regular season is what made me believe this became one of the best offenses in the majors.

Manny Ramirez leads off the top of the fifth inning with a blast way over the centerfield fence. Think Reggie Jackson's last home run in the 1978 World Series. The Dodgers lead 6-0.

Update: Top of the fifth, not the sixth. It just seems like the game should be in the sixth.

Aramis Ramirez makes an error on a ground ball he tries to backhand. We just need an error by Theriot, and the we'll complete the infield cycle. Furcal follows with a single, and Martin is up in another situation in which he can do some damage.

Update: Martin strikes out on high, inside heat and the Dodgers lead remains 5-0 in the middle of the fourth.

Zambrano retires the side in order in the third. Only one of the five runs against him is earned. He's struck out five of the 15 batters he faced, but the Dodgers are four for ten putting the ball in play, also reaching on two errors. Zambrano's defense is killing him.

Update: Billingsley walks a batter in the bottom of the third, but the Cubs still don't score.

The Cubs hit two ground balls in the bottom of the second, neither of which is bobbled by the Dodgers. Soto strikes out to end the inning. Still 5-0 Dodgers.

Andre Ethier singles to lead off the inning, then Loney, on a hit and run, hits a ball that deflects off the shortstop's glove. First and third with none out for Matt Kemp.

Update: Kemp gets caught looking on a pitch that starts inside and just breaks over the inside corner. Blake DeWitt comes to the plate.

Update: DeWitt hits a tailor made double play ball, but DeRosa bobbles the ball and everyone is safe. The Dodgers lead 1-0. Then Casey Black hits one right at the sure-handed Derrek Lee, and he bobbles the ball for an error. Bases loaded, one out for the pitcher Chad Billingsley.

Update: Chad strikes out. They should have squeezed. Furcal bunts hard, gets it past the pitcher, but slow enough to beat it out. The Dodgers lead 2-0, bases still loaded.

Update: Russell Martin hits a 3-1 pitch to the wall in left-center, clearing the bases. The Dodgers lead 5-0 and Manny comes up as the Dodgers bat around in the inning.

What happened to the team that could barely score 4.5 runs per game?

Update: Manny gets caught looking for the second time, but the Dodgers lead 5-0 going to the bottom of the second.

Alfonso Soriano leads off the bottom of the first with a single. We'll see if Billingsley concentrates on Soriano or the hitter, Theriot. Given that Torre is managing, he'll throw a lot.

On the first pitch, the ball goes through Martin's legs and Soriano moves to second.

Update: Theriot leaves Soriano at second as he strikes out on a pitch in the dirt.

Update: Lee strikes out as he chases two pitches low and outside. The first was close to the outside corner, but the second was way out of the strike zone. Are the Cubs losing their selectivity.

Update: Aramis Ramirez flies out to center to end the inning. He didn't chase the low, outside pitch. Still no score.

In honor of Daniel Drezner, who is live blogging the debate so I don't have to watch, I'll be live blogging the Cubs game so you can watch the debate.

Update: Carlos Zambrano makes a nice play off the mound on a soft comeback by Rafael Furcal.

Update: Russell Martin flies out to right for the second out.

Manny is behind 0-2 and didn't like the called second strike. Looked good to me. Manny swings through the third pitch and the Dodgers go down in order in the first.

J.J. Hardy doubles and comes around to score on two consecutive outs. Hardy and Braun own the only two Milwaukee hits in the game, both doubles. Nine of the ten hits in the game went for extra bases. That's a huge percentage.

Update: Since 1957, only on regular season game with at least 10 hits had 90% of them go for extra bases, Pittsburgh at Houston, 4/22/1979.

Update: Braun drops a single into left to put runners at first and second in the eighth with two out. That kills the percentage. :-)

Update: Fielder's bat shatters as he grounds out to second base to end the inning. Phillies still lead 5-2 in the middle of the eighth.

For the second night in a row, Mike Cameron starts in on a ball to centerfield, then goes back only to have the ball tick off his glove. Victorino gets his second double of the game to go with the grand slam. The Phillies still lead 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth.

The Phillies still lead 5-1 going to the bottom of the fifth. CC Sabathia leaves after 3 2/3 innings. He gave up six hits, five doubles and a home run. He allowed just 20 extra-base hits in 17 starts for the Brewers in the regular season. It looks like one too many games on three days rest, or the Phillies are just a tougher team than San Diego, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Washington. Nine of his starts came against that group.

Werth and Feliz hit back-to-back doubles in the second, tying the game at one. Sabathia gave up about one extra-base hit per game since joining the Brewers. So far he's allowed three hits, all doubles.

Update: Sabathia just walked Brett Myers and Jimmy Rollins to load the bases with two out. There's no excuse for walking Myers. He's not improving on his 7.17 post-season ERA so far.

Update: Victorino puts a ball in the seats down the rightfield line for a grand slam. Four hits off Sabathia, four extra base hits. Philadelphia leads 5-1.

Update: Utley strikes out for the second time, but CC puts the Brewers in a big hole. They go to the third trailing 5-1.

The Brewers get a run in the first as Brett Myers walks J.J. Hardy with the bases loaded. The Phillies get a runner to third in the first, but Sabathia strikes out Utley and Howard to end the inning. The Brewers lead 1-0 going to the bottom of the second.

The Rays leave the bases loaded in the eighth. The White Sox need three runs for a tie.

Update: Dan Wheeler comes on for the save.

Update: Opps. Konerko takes off his equipment and heads to first base after ball three. He was the only person in the park who thought he walked.

Update: Konerko fouls off a few pitches then hits a long home run just inside the leftfield foul pole. It's 6-4 Rays with none out.

Update: Griffey flies out to left for the first out.

Update: Alexei Ramirez strikes out. Two down.

Update: Pierzynski flies out to center, and the Rays win their first post-season game. Longoria earned his big contract today with two home runs, a single, a walk, a stolen base and three RBI. Nice job by the Rays of responding the to White Sox taking a 3-1 lead. The Rays bullpen struck out five of the nine batters they faced as Chicago goes down 6-4.

With two out and a lefty, Carl Crawford coming up, Ozzie Guillen has Richard issue an unintentional walk to Longoria. Evan tries to steal, Richard throws to first, and they Evan still steals the base. He continues to be practically perfect in every way.

Update: Crawford grounds out to end the inning. The White Sox have six outs to spend on three runs.

In the top of the seventh, a single, strikeout, walk and HBP loads the bases with one out. Maddon comes out to remove Shields. He pitched a good game, but a big hit might deprive him of a win.

Update: Grant Balfour enters the game. The Rays hope he doesn't live up to his name in this situation.

Update: Balfour strikes out Uribe. Two out.

Update: Orlando Cabrera does a lot of jawing during his at bat, but strikes out anyway. I'm guessing he was trying to cause trouble to distract Grant, but it didn't work. Batters were 0 for 5 with the bases loaded against Balfour with a sacrifice fly and a walk during the regular season.

After the Crawford single, Clayton Richard strikes out five batters in a row. He only struck out 29 in 47 2/3 innings during the regular season. The Rays still lead 6-3 at the end of six innings.

Things settled down in this game with no scoring in the last three half innings. Both pitchers are showing good control, with Vazquez recording the only walk. Still 4-3 Rays going to the bottom of the fifth.

Update: Longoria comes up in the fifth with two on and one out.

Update: Longoria singles in the shortstop hole, just out of the reach of Cabrera. Upton scores easily from second, and the Rays lead 5-3. Longoria's BA and OBA stay at 1.000 but his slugging percentage drops to 3.000.

Update: That's it for Vazquez as Clayton Richard enters the game to face Carl Crawford.

Update: Crawford grounds a shot up the middle for another run, and the situation remains men on 1st and 2nd with one out. They now lead 6-3.

Update: Richard gets out of the inning with no more damage. With four innings to go the Rays lead 6-3. They've out-hit Chicago 9-5 with four extra-base hits to Chicago's two. The White Sox are supposed to be the power team.

Evan Longoria gets a nice upper cut on a pitch low in the strike zone and drives it out of the park leading off the second. It's the first hit and run of the game. Not bad for his first plate appearance in the Rays first post-season game in Longoria's first season.

Update: Navarro doubles on a pop up down the leftfield line that the shortstop, third baseman and leftfielder lose in the roof. Vazquez strikes out the other three batters, however, and the Rays come away with the one run. 1-0 Tampa Bay after two innings.

James Shields gets Orlando Cabrera to fly out to right as the Rays start their post-season history.

Update: Shields gets a strikeout and a ground out to end the inning. He throws ten pitches, eight for strikes.

Update: Javier Vazquez matches Shields in the bottom of the first. He collects a ground out, fly out and strikeout, throwing just eight pitches.

The Rays host their first post-season baseball game ever as the White Sox come to town to start the ALDS. Javier Vazquez kicks off the series for Chicago. I wonder how many pitchers with sub .500 records started the first game of a playoff series? Vazquez is coming off a poor September in which he went 2-4 with a 6.25 ERA. His K/BB/HR numbers weren't that different, but he gave up most of his extra-base hits with men on base.

James Shields gets the ball for the Rays. For the second year in a row, Shields pitched exactly 215 innings. He allowed more hits and walks, but four fewer home runs helped lower his ERA three tenths of a run.

The Brewers hope CC Sabathia's success on three days rest continues into the post season as they send him against Brett Myers of the Phillies. In 17 games with the Brewers, Sabathia allowed just 20 extra-base hits, none to a left-handed batter. Only five came with men on base. Myers suddenly became hittable in his last two starts, giving up 19 hits in 8 1/3 innings. He had allowed 24 hits in his previous 31 1/3 innings.

The Dodgers go for a commanding 2-0 lead over the Cubs as they send Chad Billingsley against Carlos Zambrano. The Dodgers' strikeout artist fanned 15 Cubs in eleven innings of work this season, but also allowed three home runs for a 4.91 ERA. With the exception of the no-hitter against a shell shocked Astros team, Zambrano pitched poorly over his last five starts. In the other four, he allowed 22 runs, all earned in 15 2/3 innings. Walks were the big culprit as he issued 14 in those four games.

Enjoy!

The Rays left injured Troy Percival off the ALDS roster and replaced him with David Price. Will Price be the K-Rod of 2008?

The following table compares the 2008 seasons of the White Sox and Rays, opponents in the ALDS.

AL Ranks

2008	White Sox	Rays
Runs/Game	5.00 (5th)	4.78 (9th)
Batting Avg.	.263 (11th)	.260 (13th)
On-Base Average	.332 (9th)	.340 (6th)
Slugging Pct.	.448 (2nd)	.422 (8th)
ERA	4.06 (6th)	3.82 (2nd)
Strikeouts/9 IP	7.09 (4th)	7.06 (5th)
Walks/9 IP	2.8 (4th)	3.2 (8th)
HR/200 IP	21.5 (5th)	22.8 (9th)

Why do the Rays own a better ERA than the White Sox? Look at the three true outcomes. The White Sox pitchers perform better at striking out batters, denying them walks and keeping the ball in the park. Yet, Tampa Bay's ERA is almost a quarter of a run better. On the whole, the White Sox trot out better pitchers, but the Rays get better results.

The answer lies in the players on the field behind the pitchers. The defensive efficiency record (DER) measures the ability of fielders to turn a batted ball into an out. The Rays DER in 2008 came in at .710, the best in the majors. Chicago posted a .686 mark, 9th in the AL. Think of it as the difference between a team that bats .290 and one that bats .314. For every 200 balls in play, the Rays are going collect about five more outs. In fact, the rise of the Rays DER from 13th in the AL in 2007 to first in 2008 accounts for a large part in the drop in team ERA. The Rays can afford to allow more balls in play than the White because they are better at turning them into outs.

On the offensive side, neither team puts a lot of stock into hitting for average. They go about generating their offense differently, the Rays dependent on walks to get on base while the White Sox add to that tremendous power. It strikes me that the White Sox staff should match up well against the Rays batters. A staff that walks few batters going against a team with a walk dependent offense can cut the batters OBA closer to their batting average. If the team can't hit, why walk them? Especially if they're not a huge power threat, keep the ball in the strike zone and see what happens.

All this moves me toward picking the White Sox except for two players, Carlos Quentin and John Danks. Quentin's the one player on the White Sox who did everything well offensively. Without Quentin, the White Sox scored 4.4 runs per game in September and posted a 12-15 record. His absence takes a huge bite out of their offense.

Danks helped the White Sox win the battle, but possibly use the war. Danks only gets one start in the ALDS due to his pitching in the tie-breaker game on Tuesday. He's the one starter on Chicago good at K, BB and HR, making him the most likely to defeat the Rays. I like the odds of Shields, Kazmir and Garza against Buehrle, Floyd and Vazquez.

I also like the Rays resilience. They lost seven in a row at one point during the season and didn't panic. They lost Longoria and Crawford to injuries at the same time and showed depth as they kept on winning. In fact, the injuries to those players may actually help. Longoria never played a full major league season before. The full schedule might have taken a toll on him, but now he's well rested going into October. I'm looking for him to have a big series.

Despite the difference in their records, these teams are closely matched. Tampa Bay won the season series, but not by much:

Head to Head

2008	White Sox	Rays
Wins	4	6
Runs/Game	3.7	3.5
Walks	34	26
Home Runs	12	7

The White Sox out walked, out homered and out scored the Rays, yet Chicago lost the series. I would not be surprised if the same thing happens this time. The Rays, 57-24 at home, the best record in the majors, have that working in their favor as well. I give Tampa Bay a 60% chance of taking the series.

The Red Sox score twice in the ninth, extending their lead to 4-1. Time for Papelbon.

Update: Jonathan gives up a single but strikes out three batters and the Red Sox win 4-1. That's ten straight against the Angels in the post season. Boston takes command with Dice-K pitching twice on the road and Lester gettiing his next start at home.

Vlad Guerrero runs into an out, trying to go first to third on a ball popped up for a hit behind first. Youkilis made a great play fielding the ball quickly and throwing to third. That's one advantage of having a third baseman play first, he can throw.

The Angels are very good usually on the bases, knowing when to run and when not to run. Vlad just got that one wrong. Boston still leads 2-1 with two out in the bottom of the eighth.

With two out in the seventh, John Lackey leaves the game with men on first and third and David Ortiz coming to the plate. Gary Mathews misplayed a ball by Ellsbury into three bases. With Pedroia at first after a walk, Darren Oliver comes in to face Big Papi.

Update: Oliver gets Ortiz swinging and the score remains 2-1 Boston.

John Lackey walks Kevin Youkilis, and Jason Bay makes the pitcher pay with a long home run. The blast lands beyond both bullpens in left and puts the Red Sox up 2-1 as the teams go to the bottom of the sixth. Jason and Manny are even with one home run each in the LDS so far, but Jason picked up one more RBI.

Update: Lester backs up the home run with three straight strikeouts in the bottom of the sixth. That gives him six for the game.

A single and an error set up a Torii Hunter single to plate the only run of the game. Lowrie's error should have ended the inning.

Kendrick and Aybar just completed a nice force out at second, but with a twist. Ellsbury grounded one up the middle. Kendrick ranged behind the bag to glove the ball, then used the glove to flip it to second. Aybar grabbed the ball with his bare hand to try for the double play. I've seen the glove flip before, and I've seen the bare hand grab before, but not on the same play.

Jacoby Ellsbury leads off for the Red Sox and doubles off the rightfield wall.

Update: The Red Sox don't score as Anaheim comes up in the bottom of the inning.

Update: Lester loads the bases but gets out of trouble in the bottom of the first. I'm flashing back to his first year with the Red Sox when he seemed to do that every game.

In Ryan Dempster did have a weakness this season, it was in his walk totals. They weren't bad, they just weren't great. His season high was six against Florida, but he also walked five twice in a game.

Tonight he walked seven. Three came in the fifth inning, loading the bases. James Loney made him pay for his lack of control as he took Dempster deep, changing a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 Dodgers lead. Manny Ramirez added a solo shot in the seventh, and the Dodgers tallied a single run in the eighth to make the score 6-2 Los Angeles as the teams start the ninth. Russell Martin leads off the innings with a homer into the basket in left-center, and the Dodgers lead 7-2.

Dempster did a great job of keeping the ball in the park this season allowing just 14 home runs over 206 2/3 innings. Loney also did a good job of keeping balls in the park as his slugging percentage dropped 100 points from his 2007 number. That makes the slam a bit of an improbable event.

Update: Greg Maddux pitches a scoreless ninth, and the Dodgers win 7-2. That's quite an upset given Dempster's success at Wrigley Field this season.

Lowe continues his excellent pitching, walking one and striking out six over six innings. He only threw 94 pitches, so it's possible he could come back on three days rest in game 4.

Mark DeRosa drops a ball in the stands, just inside the rightfield foul pole for the first two runs of the game. Edmonds singled just over the leaping shortstop, Furcal for the first hit, and Mark followed with the homer. Lowe only allowed 14 homers on the season.

Dempster walks a batter but gets Manny Ramirez to ground into a double play to end the inning. The Cubs are off to a good start.

Update: Lowe also issues a walk but nothing else. We've seen a lot of pitching duels lately.

Brad Lidge comes in to get the save in the ninth. He gives up a run but the Phillies take the game 3-1 on three unearned runs. Hamels pitched great, but if it wasn't for the errors by the Brewers, it's a scoreless game going into the ninth.

The injury to Sheets, and Sabathia starting the last game of the season doesn't hurt the Brewers that much. It's tough to believe they could pitch that much better than Gallardo and the bullpen, at least in terms of preventing runs. A tough loss for Milwaukee and an important win for the Phillies. They can lose to Sabathia and still have Moyers and Hamels with the advantage in games three and four.

Corey Hart hits a line drive the other way for a single, the first base runner of the game for Milwaukee. Hamels retired the first 17 batters.

Corey Hart hits a line drive the other way for a single, the first base runner of the game for Milwaukee. Hamels retired the first 17 batters.

Update: Hamels strikes out Weeks to end the inning. He's thrown just 64 pitches through five innings, striking out six.

Update: Mitch Stetter relieves Gallardo to start the bottom of the fifth. Stetter's control is not great, but he strikes out a ton of batters.

Cole Hamels falls behind Mike Cameron 3-1 but comes back to strike him out.

Update: A pop up and another strikeout finish the Brewers in the first. Hamels throws just 14 pitches, nine for strikes.

Update: The Phillies hit two ball hard, but one was at Weeks and the other at Fielder. Gallardo, on a pitch count in this game, needs only twelve pitches to retire Philadelphia in order, recording a strikeout.

The Red Sox go with three catchers on their NLDS roster, most likely so they can pinch hit for Varitek. They're carrying 15 position players. That's important because Drew and Lowell are such question marks right now.

The NLDS kicks off a little after 3 PM EDT this afternoon as the Phillies host the Brewers. Yovani Gallardo takes on Phillies ace Cole Hamels in game 1. Gallardo threw just 24 innings at the major league level due to injuries this season. He did strike out 20 in that time, in line with his 121 K in 134 1/3 major league innings in his career. Unless he's extremely efficient against a good Phillies lineup, I doubt he'll be allowed to go more than five innings.

Hamels showed improvement in his third season in the majors, dropping his ERA for the second year in a row. He dropped his home run rate without losing his ability to strike out batters. He did allow a 4.73 ERA to Milwaukee this season, however. Hamels is extremely effective against right-handed batters, as they hit just .215 against him with low OBA and slugging percentages to boot. The Brewers send out a fairly right-handed lineup.

Derek Lowe and Ryan Dempster matchup in Chicago as the Cubs start their drive to end their 100-year championship drought. Lowe comes into the series extremely hot. Opponents failed to score against Derek in his last eleven innings pitches. In his last nine starts, Lowe posted an 0.94 ERA. Somehow, he's only 5-1 in the stretch.

Ryan Dempster pitched superbly all season, setting a career high in wins and a career low in ERA. Lou Piniella started Dempster home a great majority of the time, where he won 14 of his 17 games. He allowed just six home runs in 129 innings at Wrigley, versus eight in 77 2/3 innings on the road. The Dodgers were the only club this season that walked more than they struck out against Dempster (5 BB, 4K).

On the west coast, Jon Lester faces John Lackey in the battle of the AL team with the best record against the AL team with the best run difference. Lester showed great improvement in his control this season. The previous two years he walked 74 in 144 1/3 innings. In 2008, Jon walked 66 in 201 1/3 innings. Lester has not been that good away from Fenway, however, posting a 4.09 ERA on the road.

Lackey looked like he might cost the Angels a playoff berth when he and Escobar went down with injuries early in the season. The Angels, however, received fine starts from Saunders and Santana to withstand the loss, and Lackey came back strong as ever. He's extremely effective against left-handed batters this season. They're hitting .221 against John, 80 points lower than righties.

While Lester tossed a no-hitter against Kansas City, Lackey took one into the ninth against Boston. It's an important game in this rivalry, as Manny Ramirez failing to hustle on a ground ball kept the no-hitter alive and was likely the final straw for the fans and Red Sox management. Manny did hit the Angels well this season, so we'll see how much he's missed in this series.

Enjoy!

The following table compares the 2008 seasons of the Red Sox and Angels, opponents in the ALDS.

AL Ranks

2008	Red Sox	Angels
Runs/Game	5.22 (3rd)	4.72 (10th)
Batting Avg.	.280 (2nd)	.268 (7th)
On-Base Average	.358 (1st)	.330 (11th)
/Slugging Pct.	.447 (3rd)	.413 (9th)
ERA	4.01 (4th)	3.99 (3rd)
Strikeouts/9 IP	7.4 (1st)	6.9 (6th)
Walks/9 IP	3.4 (9th)	2.8 (3rd)
HR/200 IP	20.3 (4th)	22.0 (7th)

Looking at the above numbers, one might believe that the Red Sox, not the Angels, posted the best record in the American League. Boston outscored their opponents by 151 runs, the best in the AL, while the Angels came in at +68, sixth in the league. That 68 run difference is the smallest ever for a team that won 100 games (New York Yankees, 2004, +89). Not surprisingly, the Angels held the lowest margin of victory (average run difference in wins) in the majors, +2.83 runs per win. That was tied with San Francisco, with Houston, Seattle and Washington rounding out the bottom five. In other words, teams that post a low margin of victory tend to be among the worst teams in the majors.

Near the top of the chart? The Boston Red Sox at +3.96 runs per win. The Red Sox hammer their opponents when they win. Only the Twins, at +4.00 did better. Fans of Detroit and Atlanta should note both teams made the top five. Their horrible records in one-run games pulled them down. Note Boston won 22 of 45 one-run games while the Angels took home victories in 31 of 52 contests.

The small margin of victory caused the Angels to acquire Mark Teixeira. With Mark improving the offense a bit, the average margin of victory increased to 3.11.

The Red Sox are great on both sides of the ball. The Angels offense and defense matched more often, however as LAnaheim scored just enough to win. This should mean Boston is the better team, but the Angels dominated the season series:

Head to Head

2008	Red Sox	Angels
Wins	1	8
Runs/Game	3.67	6.78
Walks	30	29
Home Runs	11	15

They only faced Matsuzaka and Lester once each during the regular season, but hit both very well. This is the secret of the Scioscia teams; put the ball in play and see what happens. The Red Sox staff, the best staff at striking out batters in the AL, managed to strike out just 5.9 Angels per nine innings. That put more balls in play that usual against Boston, and those balls found holes in the defense. The Angels offensive philosophy counteracts a Boston defensive strength.

I have no doubt Boston is the better team. Player the 2008 season millions of times, and the Red Sox would win more games the the Angels in the great majority of those seasons. The Angels, however, fit their pieces of offense and defense together well. For example the Angels exceeded their Runs Created prediction by 0.1 runs, while the Red Sox fell 0.3 short of theirs. This is a difficult series to call, but I give the Angels the edge, with a 55% chance of LAnaheim going on to the ALCS.

Red Sox batters vs. Angels, 2008.

Angels batters vs. Red Sox, 2008.

Red Sox pitchers vs. Angels, 2008.

Angels pitchers vs. Red Sox, 2008.

The following table compares the 2008 seasons of the Dodgers and Cubs, opponents in the NLDS.

NL Ranks

2008	Dodgers	Cubs
Runs/Game	4.32 (13th)	5.31 (1st)
Batting Avg.	.264 (5th)	.278 (2nd)
On-Base Average	.333 (6th)	.354 (1st)
/Slugging Pct.	.399 (13th)	.443 (1st)
ERA	3.68 (1st)	3.87 (3rd)
Strikeouts/9 IP	7.4 (5th)	7.8 (1st)
Walks/9 IP	3.0 (2nd)	3.4 (7th)
HR/200 IP	17.0 (1st)	22.1 (6th)

The Cubs led the majors if run difference, outscoring their opponents by 184 runs. The Dodgers came in 13th in the majors with a +52. Four teams that failed to make the playoffs finished ahead of Los Angeles, including the Mets and Cardinals. This is one of those unfair years.

Of course, the offense above looks at the whole year, and the Dodgers improved once they acquired Manny Ramirez. Starting August 1, 2008, the Cubs still led the NL with 5.29 runs per game. The Dodgers scored 4.63, 0.3 runs over their 2008 average. That was good for 7th in the NL. So while Manny did improve the team's scoring, he only moved them to the middle of the pack. (Note that the highest scoring team in the majors since the Manny trade is the Boston Red Sox, 5.79 runs per game.)

That leaves the Cubs as the superior offensive team. The Cubs get on base and hit for power extremely well; those are the two things an offense should do well. On top of that, they hit for average. A pitching staff that doesn't walk batters, such as the Dodgers, must still contend with a team that can bang out base hits on balls in the strike zone. The Cubs multidimensional offense is simply difficult to pitch around. If a staff shows a weakness, Chicago can exploit that opening.

The Cubs also trot out a Lake Woebegone offense, where all the batters are above average. In the 1-8 slots, the lowest composite OBA is .342, from the leadoff spot. The Dodgers first five slots are good, but there's a huge falloff from 6-8. Basically, the Cubs sport only one easy out in the lineup, the pitcher, while the Dodgers send out four.

Chicago's staff nearly matches the Dodgers in terms of ERA. The Cubs pitchers, with their high strikeout totals, keep balls in play low. That prevents hits. In terms of BA allowed, Cubs opponents hit just .242 to .251 for the teams facing the Dodgers. Those are the two best marks in the National League.

Not surprisingly, the Cubs won the season series, but it was closer than the record indicates:

Head to Head

2008	Dodgers	Cubs
Wins	2	5
Runs/Game	2.57	2.71
Walks	23	21
Home Runs	4	6

In May, the Dodgers lost three games at Wrigley, scoring one run in each game. They then split a four game series with the Cubs in June on the west coast. Five of the games were decided by two runs or less, and the Cubs took all five. The loss of Hong-Chih Kuo for the series won't do anything to improve those outcomes.

The Dodgers pitch very well against righties, and that may be an advantage over the Cubs. Most of the big boppers on the team, Soraino, Lee, Ramirez and Soto are all righties. Indeed, those four did not hit well against the Dodgers this season.

With comparable pitching staff and a much better Chicago offense, my nod goes to the Cubs in the Series. I rate them at about a 65% chance of defeating the Dodgers.

Cubs batters vs. Dodgers, 2008.

Dodgers batters vs. Cubs, 2008.

Cubs pitchers vs. Dodgers, 2008.

Dodgers pitchers vs. Cubs, 2008.

NL Ranks

2008	Brewers	Phillies
Runs/Game	4.63 (7th)	4.93 (2nd-T)
Batting Avg.	.253 (12th)	.255 (10th)
On-Base Average	.325 (10th)	.332 (7th)
/Slugging Pct.	.431 (5th)	.438 (2nd)
ERA	3.85 (2nd)	3.88 (4th)
Strikeouts/9 IP	6.9 (9th)	6.7 (12th)
Walks/9 IP	3.3 (5th-T)	3.3 (5th-T)
HR/200 IP	24.0 (12th)	22.1 (7th)

This series pits a great offensive team versus a great pitching team. The Brewers rank as high in preventing runs as the Phillies do in scoring runs. They are not much better than the Phillies, however, in keeping the opposition off the scoreboard. The two teams walk the same number of batters and the Phillies are better at preventing home runs. The Brewers advantage comes from more strikeouts and a better DER, but not that much better. Milwaukee's comes in at .708, Philadelphia's .703.

The teams diverge on offense. While a seven point difference in OBA and a seven point difference in slugging percentage doesn't seem like much, combined they point to a big difference in offense. With nearly identical batting averages, the larger OBA difference points to a more selective team in Philadelphia, and the larger slugging percentage difference indicates more the Phillies hits go for extra bases. More men on plus more long hits advancing them means more runs. This shows up in their head-to-head numbers:

Head to Head

2008	Brewers	Phillies
Wins	1	5
Runs/Game	2.67	5.50
Walks	17	25
Home Runs	8	9

On top of the Phillies bringing a better offense to the series, the Brewers starting pitching stand in tatters. Yovani Gallardo starts game one after a four inning outing five days ago, his first off the disabled list. Even if he pitches well, Gallardo will likely turn the game over to the bullpen early. Sabathia follows for game two, but Suppan and Bush are crap shoots. It's too bad Ben Sheets broke down now after helping the team get this far. He and Sabathia would prove formidable against any opponent.

Meanwhile, Hamels and Moyer are solid for Philadelphia. Even if Myers lost what was working for him most of the second half of the season, Charlie Manuel can call on the bullpen early. I especially like that Jamie Moyer pitches game three on the road, as he's strongest away from Philadelphia.

My matchup to watch is Prince Fielder versus Ryan Howard. Both power hitting first basemen are capable of lifting their teams with their offense, but also pulling them down with strikeouts if they slump.

Based on a better offense and, at the moment, a stronger pitching staff, I give the Phillies a 75% chance of winning this series.

Brewers batters vs. Phillies, 2008.

Phillies batters vs. Brewers, 2008.

Brewers pitchers vs. Phillies, 2008.

Phillies pitchers vs. Brewers, 2008.

Yovani Gallardo gets the call for game one of the NLDS as the Brewers face the Phillies. He'll be followed by CC Sabathia and then either Jeff Suppan or Dave Bush. It looks like Yovani got healthy at just the right time. Manny Parra appears to be out of the team's plans.

The Brewers get to face Cole Hamels, Brett Myers and Jamie Moyer in that order. Moyer is 10-3 with a 2.92 ERA on the road.

The Biz of Baseball prints the broadcast schedule for the first few days of the division series. Note that according to STATS, Inc., ESPN2 carries today's makeup game between the White Sox and the Tigers.

It looks like all the west coast game start late on the east coast. I suspect a lot of coffee will be sold in New England over the next few days. :-)

Mike Scioscia announced that Lackey, Santana and Saunders will start the first three games of the Boston-Anaheim series. No surprise there. The Angels go with 10 pitchers and 15 position players. The ALDS roster is at the link.

The Good Phight looks forward to the Phillies playing the Brewers:

Since the wild card team cannot play the champion of their division in the Division Series (the Cubs, who finished with the best record in the league), the Brewers return to Citizens Bank Park Wednesday to face the Phillies. Milwaukee's rotation is a work in progress, with one ace, Ben Sheets, evidently injured and the other, CC Sabathia, coming off a heroic complete-game win today on three days' rest. What we do know is that Cole Hamels will take the hill for the Phillies on Wednesday.

Might Yovani Gallardo get the start for the Brewers in game one, or will it go to Manny Parra?

Cole Hamels gets the call for game one of the NLDS, but Charlie Manuel has yet to name his number two starter. It may depend on the Phillies opponent, the Brewers or the Dodgers.

In a battle of the second strings, the Yankees bottom of the order spanked the Red Sox minor leauge pitchers 19-8. The loss settles the AL East, as Tampa Bay wins the division, the first time since 1997 that a team other than New York or Boston won the AL East. It also confirms the first post season series as the Angels host the Red Sox. LAnaheim went 8-1 against Boston this season.

Congratulations to the Rays on their climb from worst to first. With the Angels holding the best record in the AL, and the ALDS holding the extra day off, LAnaheim gets to choose which schedule they'd like to play. It appears they chose the extra day off, although it still says tentative. That allows the Red Sox to be able to bring Beckett back on full rest in game 4. The extra day of rest also means they would face Dice-K twice in Anaheim if the series goes five. He's 9-0 on the road with a 2.37 ERA. That would be the best in the AL if Matsuzaka had pitched five more innings away from Fenway.

I'll see if I can confirm this is true.

Update: Yes, the Angels chose the longer series:

"It was probably more related in-house, what we're looking to do," Scioscia said in announcing the decision to take the longer of the two series, with off-days before Games 2, 3 and 5. "We'll be able to trim our pitching staff."

The Angels figure to go with 10 pitchers and 15 position players. By taking the shorter series, they probably would have needed 11 pitchers.

It's like the good old days when there were plenty of bench players for late inning moves. This should be an interesting strategic series since both managers know how to put the players on their rosters in a position to succeed.

The Cubs announced their rotation for the LDS. Ryan Dempster leads off, followed by Zambrano, Harden and Lilly. I like this lineup. Dempster's more consistent than Zambrano and more durable than Harden. He's the pitcher I'd want to go twice in the series.

The Good Phight points out how small market teams triumphed over larger market teams in each of the four series. My guess is the numbers somewhat underestimate the Red Sox market and somewhat over estimate the Angels market, but the point is well taken. What's more interesting to me is that three of the four teams in the LCS developed teams with a high percentage of home grown players (although the Phillies are a lot like that, too, and the Yankees are decently home grown). That's a good sign teams are learning you can develop young talent and still be successful, even if for only a short period of time.

The New York Times makes a point about randomness:

It is trendy now to call the postseason a crapshoot, in which the unforeseen -- like a swarm of midges from Lake Erie disrupting Game 2 -- can obscure which team is best. But Steinbrenner has never believed that, and when Torre won four titles so quickly, he set an almost impossibly high standard for himself.

Post season series tend to be against fairly evenly matched teams. Little things that might even out over a 162 game season are magnified. A ball taking a bad hop, a missed call by an umpire, or an act of nature can have huge effects. Even a bad outing by your top starter (which happens during the regular season) can mean the difference between playing game five and going home after game four.

As for Torre, I hate to see people fired after success, although success in the Yankees world is nothing short of a World Championship. But if the Yankees aren't going to renew Torre's contract, now is probably a good time. The Yankees are undergoing a change similar to the one that brought them back into prominence in the middle 1990s. Maybe they need a new perspective on the team, as they did in 1996.

That's really tough to believe however. Joe Torre is a good manager of people. For twelve years he kept the Bronx Zoo locked in a cabinet in his office. He was the man who absorbed all the bad energy and turned it into something positive. I suspect, as happened last year, Cashman and the Steinbrenner children will lobby dad on behalf of Torre. It probably won't work this time. Joe's not a perfect manager, but he was the perfect man for this job. The Yankees might hire a better strategist, but I doubt they'll find someone who can handle the egos of the ownership, players and NY media as well as Torre.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer notes Eric Wedge's strategy worked:

It was widely speculated that Wedge had made a tactical error by not bringing Sabathia back on short rest to pitch Game 4. The common sentiment was the Yankees would roll over Byrd.

Wedge refused to start Sabathia because Byrd had won 15 games during the season and Sabathia threw 114 pitches in five innings in Thursday's Game 1 victory. Now he'll have Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, who each won 19 games during the regular season, ready to start Games 1 and 2 in the ALCS on full rest.

A Byrd win would result in a high positive outcome, and that's what Wedge received.

Cleveland takes the ALDS three games to one. It was a series of timing. Cleveland always got the big hit, and the Yankees never seemed to put two together. Outside of Carmona, the Yankees had plenty of chances against Sabathia, Westbrook and Byrd, but only could deliver against Jake. Six of the seven home runs hit by the Yankees were solo shots. The three run shot by Damon came in the only game they won.

The Indians bullpen pitched extremely well. They picked up Sabathia in game one and Byrd tonight. The Cleveland hitters were impressively selective, working the Yankees pitchers deep into counts, and getting hits on tough pitches.

Congratulations to the Indians on a great win! We now have three teams in the semi-finals that developed players from within. That's great to see. There's more than one way to win in this game, and player development is carrying the day so far.

Joe Borowski is in to start the ninth against Jeter.

Update: Jeter pops up to second. One out.

Update: Abreu blasts one into the upper deck down the line for the Yankees third solo home run of the game. That makes it 6-4. They need to hit one of those with men on base.

Update: Rodriguez flies out to right, and despite what the announcer said, it wasn't shallow. Cleveland needs one more out to reach the LCS.

Update: Posada strikes out after a long foul ball. The Indians win and will face Boston in the ALCS.

Martinez and Peralta lead off the ninth with singles. Lofton ground into a force, but that leaves a runner at third with less than two out.

Update: Gutierrez strikes out, then Blake hits one far to left-center. Damon just runs it down by the 399 FT sign to keep the Yankees in the game as they come up in the ninth.

The Yankees go 1-2-3 in the eighth. Jeter, Abreu and Rodriguez will bat in the bottom of the ninth.

After getting an out, Veras allows a double and issues an intentional walk in the eighth. That brings in Mariano Rivera to try to shut the door.

Update: Rivera gets two ground balls to end the inning. Hafner is arguing catcher's interference. He loses the argument.

Alex Rodriguez gets all of a Perez pitch and ball lands in the net over the retired numbers. That makes the score 6-3 in favor of Cleveland.

What I like about that, from the Yankees point of view, is that it turns the game into a save situation. I like New York's chances against Borowski in a close game.

Update: Here's A-Rod approaching the plate after the blast.

Update: That's all the Yankees get. They're keeping hope alive, however.

Robinson Cano leads off the bottom of the sixth with a home run to right center. That makes the score 6-2 and chases Byrd from the game. The Yankees hit .348 against Byrd tonight, drawing two walks. Paul however, bent but didn't break as six of the eight hits were singles, and singles that moved the runners just one base. The Yankees got on base well enough to score, but couldn't supply the power with men on base.

Now they face Perez, who hasn't allowed a hit in this series.

Update: With one out, Duncan ends Perez's no-hit streak with a liner up the middle.

Update: Yes, that's his third. He hit into 21 during the regular season.

Update: Damon pulls a hit past the first baseman to put runners at first and third with one out.

Update: Jeter grounds into a double play to end the inning. That's at least the third of the series for Derek.

Mike Mussina leaves with two out and one on in the sixth. Mike should have been out of the inning, but the first base ump blew the call on Sizemore's grounder to first. Villone is in to face Hafner.

Mussina didn't pitch well, allowing four hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings. The Yankees needed him to close the door and he couldn't do it.

Shoppach doubles and Sizemore walks to start the fourth. Eleven of nineteen Cleveland batters reached base tonight by a hit, walk or hit by pitch.

Update: A bunt and a walk loads the bases for Victor Martinez.

Update: Martinez grounds one the opposite way through the short stop hole to drive in two runs. The Indians lead 6-1 and the probability of the Indians ending this series tonight climbs some more.

Update: A double play ends the inning, but the Yankees are now in a five run hole. The Yankees did average close to six runs a game this season, so maybe they still have a shot.

After A-Rod strikes out for the second time, Jorge Posada doubles off the wall in right-center. That's the Yankees first extra-base hit of the game. Matsui grounds out down the first base line on a nice play by Martinez to put Posada at third.

The Yankees are being more aggressive on the first pitch, but I'm not sure why. Yes, Byrd was getting that pitch over, but the Yankees were hitting him well being selective. Cano swings at the first pitch, fouls it, then flies out to center. The Yankees waste another runner in scoring position.

Mike Mussina walks the first batter in the inning but strikes out the last two as for the first time tonight the Indians are held scoreless in an inning. The Yankees are hitting .400 against Byrd so far tonight, but only have one run to show for it.

The home plate ump blows a catchers interference call, but Matsui walks anyway. Cano singles and for the second inning in a row the Yankees put men on first and second. Cabrera pops out, however, for the first out.

Update: The umps miss another call as Mientkiewicz swings and misses, but it's called a check swing. Doug ends up walking, loading the bases for Damon who pops out down the leftfield line. It's up to Jeter.

Update: Jeter grounds one hard down the third-base line. Blake gets a glove on it but can't field it, and New York gets one run. The bases are still loaded, this time for Bobby Abreu.

Update: Abreu gets in a good swing, but flies out to centerfield. It's taken over an hour to play two innings.

The Indians first two batters in the second both single. Gutierrez lined one to center, and Blake grounded one through the hole. Wang is getting his pitches up, so event the balls hit on the ground are hard hit.

Update: Shoppach gets hit by a pitch. He was bunting, and they say it hit him in the hand. I can't tell from the replay. It looks like it got the bat to me. But that's all for Wang as Mussina comes into the game with none out and the bases loaded.

Update: Here's the Yankees arguing the HBP call.

Update: Mussina induces a double play, which scores a third run. Cleveland leads 3-0.

Update: Cabrera dumps one into centerfield for an RBI single. The Indians now lead 4-0. The Yankees have their work cut out for them.

Jeter and Abreu single, but A-Rod strikes out swinging and Lofton makes a catch on a short fly ball by Posada. Jorge ALDS numbers this season are quite poor also, 1 for 11. Jorge not hitting is a huge chuck out of the Yankees offense.

Here's a shot of the field.

Hits by Hafner and Peralta plate another run in the first. Wang get three ground balls around his three hits allowed.

Baseball Musings roving reporter Jim Storer reports by camera phone from Yankee Stadium tonight. Thanks to Ed Vescovi, pictured below, for getting inviting Jim along.

Grady Sizemore makes the decision to start Wang look wrong as he leads off the game with a home run to right-center. While Wang did pitch better at Yankee Stadium this year, he did give up more home runs there.

By the way, while I understand not starting Sabathia, why isn't Victor Martinez starting?

Update: Sorry, Martinez is at first. I saw Shoppach and assumed Victor wasn't in the lineup.

Ron Villone replaced Roger Clemens on the Yankees ALDS roster today:

Roger Clemens was removed from the New York Yankees' division series roster Monday, replaced by left-handed reliever Ron Villone. Under a new rule, Clemens now is ineligible for the AL championship series if the Yankees advance.

He could return to the roster if New York reaches the World Series.

Clemens re-injured a hamstring Sunday and left in the third inning of New York's 8-4 win over the Cleveland Indians.

If the Yankees don't get to the World Series, we saw Roger's last game Sunday night.

6-4-2 Reviews the Angels LDS defeat.

The Angels don't seem to have learned anything from their 2005 ALCS shutdown against the White Sox, nor from the beatdown the Red Sox put on them in 2004. The singles-n-speed offense is just too easy to silence if the opposition doesn't give up baserunners, or if they don't give up baserunners in succession. Balance is the key (ask Oakland how they like their patient offense that gets guys on base but never home).

The Red Sox put a good defense on the field, which makes that singles offense even more difficult to execute. It's tough to sneak a ground ball through that infield.

The Cleveland Indians send Paul Byrd against Chien-Ming Wang tonight in New York. The decision to pitch Byrd is causing some controversy, as Byrd was lit up by the Yankees in the regular season. Paul is a control artist, who survives by not giving up free passes while allowing a lot of hits. Even though opponents hit .301 against him, they only managed a .329 OBA, and that's what really matters. He's the kind of pitcher who works well against a high OBA, low batting average team, as he takes away their main weapon. But against a high OBA, high BA team like New York, he'll be in a bit of trouble. The Yankees are perfectly happy to take a walk, but they are also perfectly happy to pound the ball if you put it in the strike zone.

The downside of starting Sabathia comes if C.C. loses. Then Carmona pitches on Wednesday, and Wedge will have burned both starters for the series opener in Boston. However, if Sabathia win, Carmona goes in game 1 and C.C. goes in game 2 on normal rest.

Wang starting on short rest is no sure thing. This game might end up 5-5 after three innings with the teams in the bullpen, and in that case, Cleveland has the advantage. Wang did pitch very well at Yankee Stadium this season, posting a 2.75 ERA and allowing fewer base runners per nine, his batting average and OBA allowed both 65 points lower.

I can't blame Wedge here. He has two shots at winning this series, and why not take the first with one that puts you in better shape for the LCS? Torre has no choice, and has to hope Wang won't wilt two games in a row. Sabathia is probably the better move, but these games can be so dependent on luck, Byrd could end up pitching a magnificent game. We'll see in a few hours.

Enjoy!

I'm on the road this morning, so blogging will be light. The Yankees decided to start Wang this evening. It's his first start on three days rest. Will this help or hurt? Some people think a tired sinker-baller gets nore drop, but Wang throws his hard. Given that Byrd is starting, the Yankees might get so many runs it doesn't matter.

The Yankees offense makes a comeback, but they only picked up two more hits than the Indians in the game and the same number of walks. Damon was the hero on offense with a three-run home and four RBI. Hughes was the hero on defense, coming in when Clemens' hamstring forced him out of the game and shutting down the innings, giving New York a chance to come back. I'm showing Byrd and Mussina tomorrow, but that's subject to change. Cleveland could bring back Sabathia on short rest, then have have Carmona on proper rest for Wednesday if C.C. can't get the job done. The Yankees can bring back Wang on short rest as well, especially since he's pitched much better at Yankee Stadium this year. Stay tuned.

With an 8-4 lead, Mariano Rivera comes on to close the game in the ninth. He'll face the top of the lineup.

Update: Rivera blows the Indians away easily, striking out two. There won't be four sweeps, and Monday night baseball. Joe Torre gets to manage another day.

Alex Rodriguez beats out an infield grounder to start the bottom of the sixth, chasing Westbrook from the game. Westbrook doesn't walk anyone, but he's allowed nine hits. For the third time this season, he performs poorly against the Yankees.

Update: Posada greets Fultz with a single to left.

Update: Doug Mientkiewicz bats for Giambi and sacrifices. After an intentional walk to Matsui, Cano hits one sharpley to right that goes through Nixon. All three runners score and the Yankees lead 8-3 in the bottom of the sixth.

Correction: A-Rod, not Jeter led off the inning.

After Giambi strikes out, a Matsui singles and Cano doubles to put the tying runs on base. According to the broadcast, it's the first time the Yankees put together back-to-back hits in the series.

Update: Three in a row as Cabrera singles to left to drive in Matsui. The Yankees trail 3-2 with runners at first and third with one out. Damon, 2 for 2 in the game is due up.

Update: Westbrook misses the strike zone twice on the first two pitches, the second one low. He brings the next pitch up, and Damon hammers it into the right field stands for a three-run homer. The Yankees take a 5-3 lead. That's Damon's seventh post-season home run.

Update: Jeter and Abreu fly out to end the inning. The Yankees finally get a big inning.

The Yankees don't get a batter on in the fourth, so they don't hit into a double play. The score remains 3-1 Cleveland.

With Matsui at second base in the bottom of the third and one out, Cabrera taps one in front of the plate. Victor Martinez tries to get Matsui going to third and Hideki is safe. That gives the Yankees an excellent chance of bringing in a run.

Update: Damon delivers a base hit and the Yankees now trail 3-1. The Yankees manage to take advantage of Martinez's miscue.

Update: Jeter hits into another double play, so the miscue isn't that devastating. Maybe Derek wants Torre's job. We haven't had a player-manager in a long time. Was the last Pete Rose?

Update: Yes. And Torre was the penultimate player-manager.

Update: Someone in the comments points out that Don Kessinger was the penultimate player-manager.

Rogers Clemens walks Hafner to start the third. He stays in the pitch to Martinez, but he doesn't look right. He runs the count to 3-2 before Martinez strikes out swinging on a hittable pitch. Torre takes him out in favor of Phillip Hughes. That could be the last strikeout of Roger's career. He threw 59 pitches, only 33 for strikes.

Update: Cleveland takes advantage of every Yankees mistake. Hughes throws a wild pitch to put Hafner at second. Garko grounds to short, an easy double play ball. But the Yankees only get one out. Then Peralta doubles to right for the Indians third run of the night. They're grinding the Yankees down a run at a time.

Update: The broadcast said Clemens left due to a strained hamstring.

A-Rod singled leading off the second.

Update: For the second inning in a row, a double play erases the runner. This time, Posada hits the rally killer. Giambi grounds out into the shift, and the Yankees still trail 2-0.

They're also not working Westbrook very much. He's only thrown 21 pitches through two innings.

Clemens is getting his pitches up, and Trot Nixon hits one over the fence in right to make the score 2-0 Cleveland. Trot came into the game with a home run every twelve at bats against Roger.

With Joe Torre's job supposedly on the line, Jeter makes a bad throw in the first to allow the first base runner of the game. Cabrera comes around to score and the Indians lead 1-0. Jeter, for some reason, wasn't charged with the error but it was a play a major league shortstop should make.

Update: Jeter continues to have a bad first. After Damon singles to start the bottom of the first, Jeter tries to bunt for a hit, but the ball just goes foul down the third base line. Then he grounds one up the middle that Peralta picks up on the bag for the force and has an easy throw to first for the double play.

The Red Sox confirm they are the team to beat in the post season with a three game sweep of the Angels. LAnahiem scored in just two of twenty seven innings as the Red Sox pitchers just dominated the Angels hitters, holding them to four runs over three games. Coming into the series, I thought the Red Sox defense was a good match for the Angels ball-in-play offense, but I didn't think it would be that lopsided.

In the three sweeps so far, a good (or in the case of the Cubs, better) was totally shut down. The same thing is happening in the Yankees-Indians series. I'm not surprised the Red Sox and the Rockies won, but I really thought their opponents would play them tougher.

Congratulations to the Red Sox on their return to the ALCS. Manny and Papi showed they're an offensive force that can carry the team, and the Red Sox pitching staff showed why they led the AL in ERA. Whoever they draw in the rest of the playoffs is in for a rough ride.

Chone Figgins doubles down the rightfield line to start the bottom of the eighth. That's a good way to start a miracle comeback.

Update: The Angels don't score in the eighth, but Gagne gives up a run in the ninth. That's not nearly enough as the Red Sox win 9-1 for the third sweep of the LDS.

Just like earlier in the game, the Angels fail to score after getting a runner into scoring position, and the Red Sox come back to use their power to score two. Lugo walks and Pedroia doubles him home. He goes to third on the throw and scores on a Youkilis sacrifice fly, deep to center. The Angels have six outs to get four runs. The Red Sox have now pitched 25 innings, and held the Angels scoreless in 24 of them.

Update: Lowell doubles down the leftfield line to drive in another run and put runners at second and third with one out. The game is getting out of hand, and the Red Sox are making the most of their run potential.

Update: A failed fielder's choice, a double by Varitek and a single by Crisp makes the score 9-0. The Angels now need a miracle comeback to win this game.

Weaver walks Ortiz to start the sixth, and he's out of the game. Shields comes in to face Manny. Weaver pitched okay, but his two mistakes to the power pair of the Red Sox have the Angels in a hole 2-0.

The Angels load the bases in the bottom of the third with two out, giving them the potential to score a few runs. A pop out to Varitek, however, ended that threat. David Ortiz leads off the fourth with a home run, putting Boston on top 1-0.

Update: Manny Ramirez follows with a massive shot to straight away center for a 2-0 Red Sox lead. Manny demonstrates again at the plate. If the Angels get to the point where they have nothing to lose, I think they'll hit Ramirez.

As stated earlier, Weaver runs into trouble in the fourth.

Jered Weaver gets into the first jam of the game when he allows a walk and a double to Ramirez and Lowell starting the second. But he leaves the runners on base with a grounder and two strikeouts. Still no score going to the bottom of the second.

Jered Weaver pitches a perfect first, striking out both Youkilis and Ortiz. He's been good in the first inning this season, allowing just a .194 batting average.

It's "No Tomorrow Day" for the LDS. If the Red Sox and Indians win there's no baseball until Thursday.

The Angels send Jered Weaver to the mound against Curt Schilling in an effort to salvage their season. One thing working in their favor is the best home field advantage in baseball. With a 54-27 record, they were two games better than the Yankees. (Interestingly the four AL playoff teams held the top four home records in the majors, and so far are undefeated at home.) The Angels great record comes from being good on both sides of the ball. They scored 98 more runs at home than on the road, and allowed 42 fewer. Weaver gave up a few more hits and runs at home, but still managed a 7-3 record in Anaheim. Weaver tends to get hit in the middle innings. Oppents hit a combined .327 in the fourth and fifth inning.

Schilling has pitched very well in Anaheim throughout his career, going 3-1 with a 2.81 ERA. In fact, his start there this season was his first loss and the only game in which he allowed more than two runs. Schilling control was great over his last six regular season starts. He walked just four in 38 2/3 innings while striking out twenty two. Since the Angels neither walk nor strike out a lot, the current version of Schilling should be a good match against them.

Jake Westbrook and Roger Clemens battle in the Bronx this evening. Westbrook was one of many Cleveland pitchers knocked around by the Yankees this season. He gave up five home runs to the Yankees in just 8 2/3 innings. He only allowed thirteen all season! (The White Sox also hit five off Westbrook, but in 30 innings of work.)

Clemens performed much better at Yankee Stadium than on the road this season. In New York, Roger posted a 3.29 ERA vs. a 5.17 mark on the road. For some reason, he walked fewer at home.

Enjoy!

Rich Hofmann offers a final look at the Phillies year and their short post season.

The lights were knocked out by what the Rockies described as a "computer malfunction," and fixed when they rebooted the computer (and maybe hit it on the side). But for 14 minutes, darkness was both the reality and the metaphor in Game 3 of the NLDS.

For 6 months, the Phillies had mocked both the omens and the predictions. We alternated between skepticism and wonder as the season played out. Our heads told us it was impossible but our eyes told us something else again, especially at the end, especially during a September run when the Phillies and the Mets passed each other on bullet trains headed in opposite directions. ("My name is Mr. Met and I am a gagaholic...")

And now it is over. A grand and fun run to the playoffs, the Phillies' first trip since 1993, is done. The lights came on and the Phils didn't hit for a third consecutive game, and that was that. The Rockies swept them out of the series and the post-season by a 2-1 score.

Both teams executed improbable comebacks to reach the playoffs. One was going to end, and for the Phillies it ended quickly.

Melissa Isaacson notes there are no excuses for the Cubs this time:

No curses this time. No villain. No goat.

No ball between the legs of a fielder at a crucial time like 1984. No one offensive slugger silenced like '89. No poor fan upon which to lay the blame like '03.

The Cubs were never in it. Not in Game 3 on Saturday night. Not in the National League Division Series, period.

And the players are upset abot their performance:

DeRosa was particularly distraught about the missed opportunity when he came up with one out and the bases loaded in the fifth inning and bounced into a 6-4-3 double play. It was one of four double plays on the night for the Cubs.

"I thought I had a great at-bat to that point, and I got the same pitch I hit for a base hit the last at-bat," DeRosa said. "In my mind, even if I walk, that changes the whole complexion of the game. The double play is the most deflating thing in baseball."

On the whole, however, it was a good season for the Cubs. They improved by nineteen games, about what you'd expect from the moves they made. That was enough to go from worst to first in a poor division. A quick exit from the playoffs is never fun, but it should make the team hungrier to do better next season. The core will be back, and a few more improvements might keep them from going triple digits without winning a World Series.

The Diamondbacks love that they continue to beat the odds.

The win also allowed the Diamondbacks to again partake in their new favorite pastime: basking in their ability to disprove others. They dispatched a Cubs team that, despite having five fewer regular-season wins and playing in a far weaker division, was viewed widely as the favorites.

"Everyone questioned us going into this postseason, and I don't really blame them," outfielder Eric Byrnes said. "But there are 25 guys in here who never questioned themselves. This is how we've been winning baseball games all year - different guys on different nights."

They do not have big-name stars, but they produce new stars for every game, and on this night there were many, from Chris Young to Byrnes to Stephen Drew, all of whom homered. But none bigger than starter Livan Hernandez, whose round, shaved head was doused in alcohol by his teammates time and again in the lively postgame clubhouse.

I'm certainly one of the doubters, having picked the Cubs in four. I wasn't surprised Doug Davis pitched poorly, but I was surprised Ted Lilly pitched worse. I liked that the Cubs took the right approach with Livan Hernandez (waiting for him to throw strikes), but couldn't understand why they abandoned it just as he got wild. If indeed, "Luck is the residue of design," then Josh Byrnes and Bob Melvin get lots of credit for being great designers.

Ryan Howard leads off for the Phillies, down one run.

Update: Howard strikes out looking on a Corpas slider. That's the 26th K for the Rockies pitchers in the series.

Update: Rowand grounds out to first, unassisted. It's up to Victorino.

Update: Victorino grounds out to second, and the Rockies win! They were the last NL team without a post season series win, and for the first time in the three tier format, two teams from the west meet in the NLCS. Congratulations to the Rockies on a great win and a great series. I expected more of a slugfest in this game, but it turned into a great pitching duel. The NL plays on Thursday. More Sunday morning.

With two outs, Atkins and Hawpe single to put runners at first and third for pinch hitter Baker.

Update: Jeff Baker goes the other way, rolling a ball past Howard who was holding the runner at first. The Rockies take a 2-1 lead! The Phillies go to the pen again, but Colorado is just three outs away from meeting Arizona in the NLCS.

Update: Myers gets Torrealba to end the inning. Corpas needs three outs to win the game and the series.

With two out and a man on second, the Phillies walk Matsui to pitch to Tulowitzki. The strategy works, as Tom Gordon strikes out Troy to end the inning, still tied at one.

Shane Victorino provides some offense for the Phillies with a home run to right center with one out in the seventh. It's just the second hit of the night for the Phillies, but it ties the game at one. Ruiz follows with a single, and that's it for Jimenez. He pitched a fantastic game but can't get the win.

Update: With two out and a man on second, the Phillies pinch hit for Moyer with Iguchi. Moyer also pitches a great game, and if Iguchi can deliver here, Jamie might get the win.

Update: Iguchi pops out to end the inning and we go to the bottom of the seventh tied at one.

With one out in the top of the sixth, Rollins walks and steals, and Utley walks to put runners at first and second. Burrell hits the first pitch high into the air for a fly out. I'm surprised a selective hitter like Burrell swung early, rather than making Jimenez find the plate.

Update: Howard grounds out to second to end the inning with the shutout intact.

Nunez started the bottom of the fifth with a great throw to nip Spilborghs at first. After a single and a bunt, Burrell fails to end the inning by taking a poor route to a Kaz Matsui fliner that gets by Pat for a triple and an RBI. Matsui picks up his second triple of the post season and puts Colorado up 1-0.

Update: Tulowitzki grounds out to end the inning, but the Rockies draw first blood.

Jimenez strikes out two more in the fourth. He's k'd five tonight and retired the last ten batters. Still no score

With two outs, Moyer gives up two singles and a walk to load the bases. But the pitcher is up, and Ubaldo hits a slow roller to third. Nunez makes a nice play to gun him out. When the pitcher is coming up, trouble isn't that much trouble.

Update: Dave Frost would have driven in the run.

The lights just went out at Coors. The scoreboards came right back on but it's taking the lights a little longer.

Update: They're reporting strong winds in Denver, which might have caused the outage. No telling how long it will be until they're back up.

Update: They're back underway after a fourteen minute delay.

Update: You can see the wind blowing around the hair of the fans. I won't be surprised if fly balls cause outfielders trouble tonight.

Update: Despite the delay, Ubaldo retires the side in order in the second, collecting his fourth strikeout.

Jamie Moyer throws just seven pitches to retire the Rockies in order in the first. Five of them were strikes.

Ubaldo Jimenez gives up a walk and a single in the first, but three strikeouts keeps the runners from moving too far. The Phillies fail to score in the top of the first.

Coming into the LDS, the one positive thing you could say about the Diamondbacks was that their power was middle of the road. That power, however, made the difference in this series as the Arizona out-homered Chicago 6-1, and collect eleven extra-base hits to the Cubs four.

Cubs fans will rightly question Lou Piniella's decision to pull Zambrano early in game one. Lou underestimated the DBacks (as I did in my preview). That won't happen again. I also wonder how much they'll blame the two big free agent signings, Soriano and Lilly. Without both, the Cubs don't make the playoffs. Neither, however, played well in this series. Lilly and Hill were both superior to the pitchers they faced, but neither could deliver.

Congratulations to the Diamondbacks. The team that was outscored during the regular season was not on display in this series. They pounded the ball, pitched well and fielded very well. They make the most out of every opportunity.

Valverde is on to try to finish the game for the DBacks.

Update: Kendall strikes out looking. One down.

Update: Ward pinch hits and strikes out. It's up to Soriano.

Update: Soriano swings at all four pitches he sees and flies out to right. The Diamondbacks sweep the Cubs and will host the NLCS in a week. Cubs fans were booing, although I'm not sure if it was the Cubs or the Diamondbacks.

Stephen Drew goes deep in the top of the ninth to make the score 5-1. Drew is three for five and misses the cycle by a triple.

Update: That's it for the DBacks, as they go to the bottom of the ninth. The Cubs need four runs to prevent an early exit from the playoffs.

The Cubs get one hit in the eighth but don't score. Arizona needs to get three more out to advance to the NLCS.

The Diamondbacks end the seventh with their fourth double play of the night. They still lead the Cubs 4-1.

After the Cubs failure to score in the fifth, Byrnes hits a two-out home run off Marmol to extend the Arizona lead to 4-1. Marmol only gave up three home runs during the regular season, and he's allowed two in this series. The teams go to the bottom of the sixth as Marmol does get three strikeouts in the inning.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth, the Cubs have already put ten men on base by a hit, walk or HBP. Hernandez, like Pettitte last night is putting the lead off hitter on often, but the Cubs are just not able to bring many of them around. Chicago has men on 1st and 2nd with one out.

Update: Ramirez walks, the third in the inning and fifth of the game for Hernandez. He's losing control here in the fifth. The bases are loaded.

Update: DeRosa gets ahead in the count 3-1, but then grounds into a double play to end the inning. The Cubs let a golden opportunity go by the boards again. It's the third double play turned by the Diamondbacks tonight. One reason Arizona's team ERA was better than their stats was the number of base runners removed by DPs, caught stealings and outfielder assists. We're seeing that in the DPs tonight.

DeRosa singles and Jones doubles to set up a potential big inning for the Cubs. Kendall grounds out to short, driving in the first Cubs run of the game. Fontenot pinch hits for the pitcher's slot.

Update Fontenot grounds out but advances the runner to third for Soriano.

Update: Soriano flys out. He's now hitting .167 in the series.

Rich Hill walks the leadoff batter in the fourth. Livan Hernandez comes up, squares to bunt. He takes the first pitch, but when Hill comes in with a high pitch, Livan pulls the bat back and swats the ball into rightfield for a hit That's it for HIll. Wuertz comes on in relief.

Update: Wuertz gets ahead of Young 0-2, then walks him. Young is known more for his power than his ability to get on base.

Update: Drew strikes out swinging for the first out. Stephen went fishing on a ball low.

Update: Byrnes grounds to third, but the Cubs fail to turn the double play as Byrnes gets his toe in just ahead of the throw. DeRosa double clutched, and that split second make the difference. The DBacks lead 3-0.

Connor Jackson leads off the third with a double and the Cubs bullpen swings into action. Piniella can't wait to see if Hill rights himself.

Update: Hill gets a line out and two fly outs to leave Jackson at second base. Hill's not likely to go deep in this game, however, as he's already at 65 pitches.

Rich Hill comes up in the second inning with men on first and second and one out. He bunts, but it goes as a force out 1-5. Hill's a poor hitter, but if you're not going to hit well you should make sure you bunt really well. The Cubs leave two men on base in the inning and trail the Diamondbacks 2-0.

Soriano gets ahead of Hernandez 3-1 and works the walk. The Cubs need to be selective with Hernandez to have a chance for success today.

Update: Theriot gets ahead in the count, too, but grounds into a 5-4-3 double play. Lee takes the first pitch he sees up the middle for a single.

Update: Floyd gets hit in the leg. The Cubs have the tying runs on with two out for Ramirez.

Update: Hernandez falls behind Ramirez 3-0, but comes back to strike him out on a nasty pitch that started outside and then broke over the outside corner. The Cubs don't score, but they do get Livan to throw twenty two pitches, and only eleven of them were strikes.

Chris Young takes Rich Hill's first pitch into the leftfield stands for a 1-0 Diamondbacks lead. Hill had cut way down on his home runs allowed since the All-Star break, cutting his rate nearly in half. That's two homers for Young in the series.

Update: Justin Upton singles with two on and two out to drive in the second run of the game, and the Diamondbacks put the Cubs in a 2-0 hole. They've taken the crowd out of the game early.

Update: The Diamondbacks leave the bases loaded. Five batters reach base, so the Cubs are lucky to be down just 2-0 after one.

Two National League teams go for sweeps today in the National League Division Series. The Diamondbacks and Cubs start the evening at Wrigley with Livan Hernandez facing Rich Hill. As the Arizona Republic points out:

Hernandez has not pitched well lately, posting a 6.67 ERA in his final five starts, but the Game 3 matchup against the Cubs could work in his favor. He has struggled this season against patient hitters who don't expand their strike zones.

The Cubs, though, are known for aggressiveness - their 500 walks during the regular season was the second-lowest total in the National League.

Livan is showing his real age as his K per 9 dropped below 4.5 per 9 for the first time in his career. We'll see if the Cubs make an adjustment and try to be a bit more selective against Hernandez.

Rich Hill mows down batters, with a career 8.3 K per 9 innings. Like Hernandez, he finished the season poorly, posting a 5.08 ERA in September but still earned a 3-1 record. It's not clear why he was so bad. He gave up six extra-base hits with men on first base, but the opposition hit 1.67 with runners in scoring position. It seemed to be bad luck rather than bad pitching. It looks to me like the Cubs have the edge on the mound today.

The Colorado Rockies picked up eighteen hits in the first two games for a .257 batting average, but eleven of them went for extra bases, so the Rockies are slugging .557. As the series moves to Colorado, Jamie Moyer takes the mound against Ubaldo Jimenez. A power team should do well against Jamie who allowed 57 doubles this season, the third most in the National League. Opponents also popped 30 home run against the lefty. Left-handers did give Colorado trouble this year as they were only 20-24 when the opposition started a south paw.

Jimenez gets a chance to pitch the Rockies to their first post-season series win. One thing Ubaldo does poorly is hold runners on base. Thieves were sixteen for sixteen when attempting to steal against Jimenez. He made one start against the Phillies this season, and it wasn't outstanding as he walked three and allowed a homer in six innings. But he also didn't allow much else as the Phillies only scored twice.

Enjoy!

Be sure to check out my posts at AT&T Blue Room. Click on sports, then buzz. My latest looks at the Rockies juggernaut.

Joba Chamberlain didn't use the bugs as an excuse last night:

With bugs visibly stuck to his neck, Chamberlain seemed to lose his focus and control, unleashing a wild slider that allowed Sizemore to go to second base. A sacrifice bunt advanced him to third, and he scored the tying run with two outs when Chamberlain threw another wild pitch.

"I wasn't the only person that had to deal with it and they did fine," said Chamberlain, not wanting to use the bugs as an excuse. "It was disappointing to let the guys down after what they went through and the great baseball they played."

Boston win in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off home run by Manny Ramirez. The Angels walked nine batters in the game. They averaged 2.94 per nine during the regular season.

The teams now head to Anaheim where they'll play on Sunday. Boston sends Schilling and Beckett to the mound, giving them a good shot at coming home with a berth in the ALCS secure.

Two very exciting games tonight, with the big slugger on both teams coming through with two outs for a walk off victory. So far, it's been a fun post season.

Papelbon walks a batter, but doesn't allow a run in the top of the ninth. The Red Sox bullpen has not allowed a hit in 4 1/3 innings of work. Now, Boston gets a chance to end the game in the bottom of the ninth. If the Red Sox can get a runner on, they'll bring up Ortiz.

Update: Lugo singles, the goes to second on a hit and run ground out.

Update: Youkilis strikes out and the Angels walk Ortiz to face Ramirez.

Update: Manny deposits a 1-0 pitch over the Monster Seats for a 6-3 Red Sox win and a 2-0 lead in the series.

Correction: Lugo singled. Manny's homer went over the Monster.

Mike Scioscia makes a bit of a double switch, taking out Guerrero, moving Figgins to right, Willits to center and Napoli takes over behind the plate. Vlad was hit in the left should with a pitch in his last plate appearance.

With two out in the top of the eighth, Papelbon comes in to get the last out. Kendrick hits the first pitch to third, but Lowell bounces one in the dirt and Youkilis can't dig it out for an E5. When Kendrick steals second, the Scioscia lifts Mathis for Juan Rivera with a 1-1 count. Rivera battles and draws a walk (after Kendrick steals third). Willits pinch-runs and steals second with Figgins at the plate. What should have been a one-pitch inning is turning into a good workout for Papelbon.

Update: Figgins strikes out looking to end the inning on a nasty bender by the Red Sox closer. Still tied at three as they go to the bottom of the eighth.

Scot Shields gets wild with two out in the seventh, walking Ortiz and Ramirez to set up an RBI opportunity for Lowell. That's three walks for Shields and eight for the Angels in the game.

Update: Shields gets Lowell to fly out to center to end the inning. Scot doesn't give up a hit and doesn't allow a run in his two innings of work.

With Coco Crisp on first and Lugo at the plate, the Red Sox try a hit and run. Lugo flies out to center, but Crisp doesn't see where the ball went. He scampers back to first in time, but he had gone past second and never retouched the base. The Angels throw the ball to second for the third out of the inning. The teams go to the seventh tied at three.

Manny Ramirez hits a foul pop into the first row of the stands. Mathis goes over to catch it, but has to lean over the photo extension and a fan gets a hand on the ball and grabs it. If the photo box isn't there (as in the regular season), it's fan interference and Manny is out. But Ramirez stays alive, draws a walk to load the bases, and then Lowell hits a sacrifice fly to tie the game. The fan earns the Red Sox a run, and people are asking for his autograph.

Update: That's all the Red Sox get, and the game is tied at three after five.

Matsuzaka lasts just 4 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and three walks. He was up to 96 pitches, and after a wild one put a runner at third, Francona went to Lopez to get the final out of the inning. Daisuke's post-season debut goes down as a bust as the Red Sox trail the Angels 3-2 in the middle of the fifth.

The Angels lead the Red Sox 3-2 in the top of the third. The Angles picked up three hits and a walk in the second, including a Cabrera double to take the lead. Dice-K is already up to 65 pitches in the third.

Hafner knew he was getting a strike on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded, and he just makes solid contact and singles in the winning run. All night long the Yankees were on the brink of allowing a big inning, and the Indians finally break through. There's only so many men you can put in scoring position before someone gets a hit.

The Yankees are shut down once more. They manage just three hits and two walks, and two of those base runners were wiped out by double plays. The team is just 8 for 66 in the series, .121.

This was the key game of the series in my mind. If the Indians lose, the Yankees go home facing two pitchers they've creamed. If the Indians win, the worse thing that can happen is they come home with Sabathia on the mound. Cleveland put themselves in a great position to advance to the LCS tonight.

And what a great game. Plenty of edge of your seat drama, great pitching, and a bug invasion! The Indians appeared to benefit from the swarm, as the Canadian Soliders were all over Joba Chamberlain's neck and face as he got wild in the eighth. Carmona, however, pitched right through them. It doesn't count, but if anyone turns in their Cy Young ballot late, this game might influence their vote.

The Red Sox load the bases and J.D. Drew delivers a two-run single and the Red Sox break on top 2-0.

Rafael Perez repeats his performance of last night, retiring all six batters he faced. The teams go to the bottom of the eleventh tied at one. For the second straight year, the Yankes offense has disappeared in the LDS.

Update: Vizcaino comes in and walks Lofton on four pitches. Another leadoff man on, eight of eleven.

Update: Gutierrez couldn't get the bunt down, so with two strikes he singles to left. Lofton is the winning run at second with none out.

Update: Blake bunts, and the Yankees are walking Sizemore. They also send in Sardinha to play left. I assume he has a better arm than Damon.

Update: Cabrera pops out to first in front of the mound. Two down. Can the Yankees escape again?

Update: It's 3-2.

Update: Vizcaino throws a strike and Hafner lines it into right-center for the ball game. Cleveland wins 2-1!

Sizemore strikes out, but the ball gets away from Posada. Jorge's throw to first is high and Sizemore is safe. Another leadoff man reaches. Another bunt by Cabrera, and another runner in scoring position for Cleveland.

Update: I'm surprised they are not walking Hafner to set up Martinez for the double play.

Update: Hafner grounds out to second, putting Sizemore at third. The Indians are a wild pitch away from winning this game.

Update: The Yankees walk Martinez to pitch to Garko.

Update: Garko sticks his elbow armor into a pitch and is given first base. Bases loaded for Peralta.

Update: Peralta strikes out swinging to end the inning. The Indians still have just one hit with runners in scoring position in sixteen at bats.

Mariano retires the side in order in the ninth. That's the first inning in a while where there was no drama involving Indians in scoring position. Free baseball and bugs tonight!

Update: Carmona is done for the night. He certainly deserved a win in his one. Rafael Perez is on to start the tenth.

Update: Perez retires the side in order as well. The Indians get their second chance at a walk off win.

Carmona comes out for the ninth. We'll see how he does with the bugs. Lofton just needed one removed from his eye. They're call Canadian Soldiers. That's right, blame Canada!

Update: Abreu legs out a single on a ball to the hole at short. A-Rod gets a chance to be the hero here.

Update: Carmona gets ahead of A-Rod 1-2. Abreu steals on ball two.

Update: The count runs to 3-2. Alex fouls off two pitches then strikes out swinging on a low inside pitch. An amazing pitching performance by Carmona, who appeared to be oblivious to the bugs.

The Nats didn't make the NLDS, but the gnats are out in force in the bottom of the eighth in Cleveland. They're all over the players and Chamberlain walks Sizemore on four pitches. That's six out of eight innings in which the leadoff hitter reached for Cleveland.

Update: They just showed a close-up of Chamberlain's neck, and bugs are all over him despite a generous application of bug repellent. He throws a wild pitch, the fifth straight ball.

Update: Cabrera bunts to move the tying run to third with one out. The bugs are still out in force.

Update: Travis Hafner hits the ball as hard as he can hit it, but the line drive is right at Mientkiewicz. Two down.

Update: Chamberlain throws another wild pitch, but it bounces back to Posada. The play at the plate is close, but Sizemore scores to tie the game. He then hits Martinez on the leg. I think the bugs are bugging him. This isn't Joba. The insects are all over him.

Update: This looks like an insect fear film.

Update: Chamberlain walks Garko. I can't believe no one was warming up!

Update: Peralta strikes out to end the inning. My skin is crawling.

Carmona pitches the eighth and retires the side on three ground balls. Carmona's out-pitching the combination of Pettitte and Chamberlain, but his one mistake was bigger than any Pettitte made, and he's still losing 1-0. He's thrown 96 pitches, 64 for strikes.

Peralta gets all of a Pettitte pitch, but bounces it high off the wall in straight away center for a double. Given that he wasn't the lead off hitter, he might score! Lofton is up in the bottom of the seventh with one out.

Update: Lofton walks. That's it for Pettitte. He leaves after 92 pitches and 6 1/3 innings of clutch pitching. Joba's in the game.

Update: Franklin Gutierrez pinch hits for Michaels and strikes out swinging.

Update: Blake flies out to right. Chamberlain threw five pitches, all strikes. Once again, the Indians fail to deliver and the teams go to the eighth inning separated by one run.

Bobby Abreu comes to the plate to lead off the seventh, taps his bat on the plate, and it falls apart. It was very comical. He gets new wood, grounds to second, but Cabrera bobbles the ball and Bobby reaches on the error.

Update: Carmona gave A-Rod no chance. He throws two pitches at the knees on the inside corner to get ahead 0-2. He then throws one low on the outside corner, and A-Rod swings and misses for strike three.

Update: After a force out, Posada lines to center and Sizemore makes a diving catch to end the inning. It's one of those risky catches where if you don't make it, Posada winds up at third with an RBI. Great clutch pitching and defense in this game so far.

Sizemore triples to start the sixth. Cabrera grounds back to the box, keeping Grady at third. Pettitte is doing a great Houdini impersonation tonight.

Update: Hafner strikes out swinging on a 1-2 pitch. It's up to Martinez.

Update: Martinez takes two strikes then swings and misses to end the inning. Andy's living on the edge today and not falling off.

Both Carmona and Pettitte are pitching great games. Fausto's allowed two hits and two walks, plus he's induced two double plays. The Indians are 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position against Pettitte, and the one hit resulted in the runner out at the plate. Both pitchers are being efficient, and the Yankees still lead 1-0 after six innings.

Kenny Lofton becomes the fourth leadoff batter for the Indians to reach base. However, Wedge has Michaels lay down a bunt. Lofton is at second, but the Indians have just two outs to move him home. Wedge is also assuming here the Indians can continue to hold the Yankees offense at bay, which is not a good bet.

Update: A fly ball and a pitcher caught stealing gets Pettitte out of the inning. 1-0 Yankees at the end of five.

The Yankees do a good job on defense in the bottom of the third. Michaels leads off with a double, and a ground ball to second moves him to third. But Sizemore grounds to Mientkiewicz, who holds the runner at third and gets the out at first. Then Pettitte strikes out Cabrera to hold onto the 1-0 lead.

Update: The Indians return the favor. Garko makes a great play on an Abreu hit and run to keep Jeter at second. Cabrera strikes out A-Rod, then gets the ground ball to end the inning. It's pitching and defense tonight after wildness and home runs yesterday.

Update: A grounder to short and a strikeout leaves Hafner at second. The Indians put five men on in four innings, but haven't advanced them beyond third.

Update: Hafner singles to start the fourth, the third time in the game the Indians get the leadoff man on. Martinez hits a groundball that Pettitte deflects, preventing a double play. Because of the deflection, Cano doesn't have time to get a DP, but gets the runner at first. TBS is praising the play, but it seems to me Cano had plenty of time to either run Hafner down or turn and throw to second for the force. We'll see if that mistake comes back to haunt them.

Jhonny Peralta walks and steals second. Kenny Lofton delivers again with a hard hit single to center. But Melky Cabrera is up to the task and guns Peralta out at the plate by a mile. That's the second time in two games that Peralta made the third out on a Lofton single. At least yesterday, two runs scored first. No score at the end of two.

Update: How often do you see the fielder who made the great play to end the inning come up second and blast a home run? That's what Melky does as the Yankees break on top 1-0 in the top of the third.

Grady Sizemore singles to start the game, but Pettitte induces a double play to erase the runner. One of the reason Andy's stats over his career looks worse than his ERA comes from his ability to remove base runners with double plays and pickoffs, effectively reducing his OBA allowed.

Fausto Carmona dispatches the Yankees easily in the first, throwing just eleven pitches to retire the three batters he faced. Only two of those pitches were called balls.

TBS breaks the mold by not putting the Yankees in prime time. The late afternoon game (5:07 EDT start) pits Andy Pettitte against Fausto Carmona. It's a good matchup for both offenses, as the Indians OBA and slugging percentage goes up twenty points versus lefties, and the Yankees get a five point boost in OBA but a fifty point boost in slugging percentage against righties.

Pettitte, however, is not a typical lefty. He handled the Indians well in his only start, likely due to his ability to get right-handed batters. His reverse platoon difference has righties slugging almost ninety points lower than lefties. Stacking a lineup with right-handed power against Pettitte is just doing him a favor. And while people might point to his 14-9 record as an example of post-season dominance, his 4.02 ERA over those games indicates he's had some help from the offense.

Carmona finished the season very strong, going 5-0 with a 1.78 ERA in September. And even though Fausto did not defeat the Yankees in his two starts against them, he pitched very well. A 4.15 ERA against a squad that averages close to six runs per game means he kept the Indians in the game. As the Indians showed last night, that's all they really need.

In Boston, Kelvim Escobar tries to earn a split for the Angels as he faces Daisuke Matsuzaka. Only Wang in the AL this season allowed fewer home runs per nine innings than Escobar. Although he didn't face the Red Sox this season, Escobar did well against the other playoff teams, collecting four wins in four starts with a combined 2.93 ERA against the Yankees and Indians. He does lose some effectiveness after sixty pitches, however, so watch for him to get in trouble from the fifth inning on.

Matuszaka seemed to lose control as the season progressed. Before the All-Star break he walked 2.9 batters per nine innings. After, that number jumped to 4.4. I wonder how much of this was Dice-K tiring, and how much was the league learning how his pitches moved? Luckily for him, the Angles are not the most selective team in the league, ranking ninth in walks drawn. And despite the rise in walks, Matsuzaka maintained a high strikeout rate. Like Escobar, Daisuke hasn't faced the Angels this season, but he did not fare as well against the Yankees and Indians, posting a 3-2 record and a 5.50 ERA.

Enjoy!

Correction: Pettitte's post-season record is 14-9. I got the data on his record from Baseball Reference.com, which is usually right on.

Tribe Report reviews the Indians coming out party last night, and gives a shoutout to the Indians middle relief:

Rafael Perez and Jensen Lewis - These two youngsters were nails, getting precious experience so when it's really needed they'll be ready. Lewis looks confident and effective. Hats off to Wedge using Perez for two critical innings to ensure the Yankees stayed humble. It may cost him making an appearance tomorrow, but this was a game the Tribe could not afford to let get away, and in a short five-game series, it just got one game shorter.

The relievers were in control, unlike Sabathia. Four innings, six strikeouts, no walks and just one hit. What's odd about the Indians bullpen is that Borowski is the last man I'd want pitching, but he usually is. Borowski owns the highest ERA ever for a pitcher with 40 saves, beating out the record set by Antonio Alfonseca in 2000, when he saved 45 games with a 4.24 ERA. It will be very interesting to see if Wedge goes to Borowski with the game or the series on the line in the ninth. It just seems he has better options.

Mike Littwin reports on a lack of cuss words:

The following account, I swear, is true. Two nuns -- wearing Phillies' jerseys over their regulation gear -- were stalking out of Citizens Bank Park as the eighth inning ended Thursday. "Can you believe this?" one of them said.

And what's strange about this scene -- given the unhappy state of Phillie fandom, given the unhappy state of the Phillies themselves, given the, uh, unmistakably, unhappily odd decisions of the Phillies manager -- was that the nuns may have been the only people here who weren't saying as they walked out, "Can you bleepin' believe this?"

Which brings us, rather circuitously, to Todd Helton, who was standing in the Rockies' clubhouse after Game 2 and being asked to explain how the Rockies could win 16 times in 17 absurdly pressured games.

In other words, he was being asked to do what religions do -- explain the inexplicable.

"I wouldn't say it's a miracle or anything," Helton decided, "but it's pretty dadgum close."

And the strange thing is that he really did say "dadgum."

He also reports on an indecisive Phillies crowd:

A veteran Phillies observer told me to watch the fans for a clue. If they're booing at the end, he said, it means they have hope. If they clap politely, it means they don't.

They didn't do either. Those still at the park mostly stood there stunned.

Which is the reasonable reaction to what the Rockin' Rockies are doing.

You don't see stunned silence at the end of a game too often. The first time I noticed it was after the Yankees came back to defeat the Royals in 1977. Freddy Patek, the hero of the series, grounded into a double play to send the Yankees to face the Dodgers. As the Yankees celebrated, the Royals fans just stood there, not clapping, not booing, just not believing it was over. That's where the Phillies fans stand right now.

Bill Maddon points to a green light as the turning point in the Yankees-Indians game last night:

The difference between the 6-7, 290-pound Tribe bellwether emerging the improbable winner in this game or suffering the ignominy of a kayo in his first postseason start since 2002 was one pitch - the one Posada chose to offer on with the count 3-0. By all accounts it was a hittable pitch and Posada took a mighty cut at it, only to foul it off. There would be three more pitches in the momentous at-bat before Posada struck out and the potential game and Sabathia-breaking rally had the air sucked out of it.

"I was a little surprised he swung," Sabathia said of the 3-0 pitch. "I thought it was a good pitch and I'm not gonna say it was ball four. He was just trying to make something happen for his team. He swung and that helped me huge."

"He's awfully tough," Posada said. "That was the best pitch of the at-bat I got from him."

It was one deviation from the game plan, and it cost the Yankees. They waited out Sabathia all night until that point. C.C. wasn't going to throw a pitch down the middle of the plate like Jorge Julio did Monday night. After that foul, Posada appeared to want to get the big hit, rather than make Sabathia come over the plate. Sabathia gave credit where it was due:

What kind of night was it for the Indians offense? Their 12 runs came on 14 hits. During the season, the Yankees outscored the Indians, 49-17, in winning all six games between the two teams.

"We got our rear ends kicked," said Torre.

Said Sabathia, "This win goes to the offense. They picked me up."

Maddon does find a silver lining, however:

About the only consolation he was left with after such an embarrassing first game is the fact that in every division series the Yankees have been involved in since 2000, the team losing the first game has gone on to win the series.

Arizona takes game two of their LDS series with the Cubs by a score of 8-4. The Cubs are doing a poor job of keeping their composure:

As the ball headed for the stands, Lilly slammed down his glove, and it looked like the perfect picture of almost a century of Cubs futility. Expect to see it over and over again.

If the Cubs go on to lose this best-of-five National League Division Series, Lilly's meltdown will be remembered for a long, long time.

...

Derrek Lee threw his bat after popping up in the fifth inning. And Davis got Aramis Ramirez on a big, looping curveball. It was like that.

There's also plenty of praise for Stephen Drew:

Drew socked a home run in Game 1 and had two more hits Thursday, including a two-run triple into the right-field corner that gave Arizona a 6-2 lead in the fourth inning.

His brilliance didn't stop at the plate. For a second consecutive day, he looked terrific defensively. In the fourth, he made a diving stop of a Mark DeRosa bouncer up the middle, and made another nifty play on a Matt Murton shot in the hole in the eighth.

Drew's doubled his regular season batting average against the Cubs. He was 4 for 18 against them then, 4 for 9 in the LDS. The Diamondbacks are slugging .500 as a team. Power was the one strength (if you can call it that) of the DBacks during the regular season. They were ranked sixteenth in the NL in both batting average and OBA, but ninth in slugging percentage. That power is working for them so far in the post season.

Doug Davis comes out after 5 2/3 innings with an 8-2 lead. He pitched well, but used a lot of pitches to get in line for the win. Cruz is in with two men on to face Ward.

Update: Ward delivers a double to cut the lead in half. Another great pinch hit performance by Ward.

Update: Soriano strikes out to end the inning. He's 1 for 9 with four K in the series.

Ojeda and Young reach on a bunt single and a walk in the fifth, then Drew hits the Diamondbacks' second triple of the game to plate both runners and extend their lead to 6-2. Someone needs to tell Arizona they're not supposed win games by big scores!

Doug Davis is fooling the Cubs hitters tonight, striking out seven through four innings. He averaged 6.7 per nine innings during the season, so he's at more than twice that rate tonight.

Chris Young comes up with two on and two out in the bottom of the second and smacks a homer into the leftfield stands. Ted Lilly got the pitch up, then slammed his glove to the mound when the ball went out. Most of Lilly's home runs allowed this year were solo shots, but the three-run homer gives the Diamondbacks a one-run lead.

Update: Drew beats out an infield single, then Byrnes triples as Soriano and Jones misplay the ball. The DBacks are up 4-2.

The Cubs decision to promote Geovany Soto pays off in the second inning as he hits a two-run homer to score the first runs of the game. Soto hit three home runs in 54 at bats this season and with six doubled slugged .667. He's also handled the pitching staff well so far.

The Yankees fall 12-3 to the Indians tonight. Neither starter pitched very well, but Wang bunched his mistakes together to allow eight runs to Sabathia's three. The Indians hit a total of four home runs, accounting for five of the twelve runs. With four doubles, more than half of their hits went for extra bases.

Tomorrow's game is key for New York. The Yankees should be able to pound Westbrook and Byrd back in the Bronx, so if they can defeat Carmona on Friday they have a chance to win the series in four. However, they found out tonight that the Cleveland offense improved since the Yankees swept them in August. Even if New York can hit the third and fourth starters hard, Cleveland is more than capable of matching them.

Ryan Garko gets all of a Wang sinker and deposits it in the rightfield stands. Perfect uppercut swing to drive the ball out of the park. It the first time since April 29th that Wang allowed two home runs in a game. Cleveland leads 6-3.

Update: Lofton gets another hit up the middle and picks up his third RBI of the night after a broken bat double by Peralta. With two out in the fifth, Wang is out of the game trailing 7-3.

Update: Ohlendorf comes in and does no better, walking the first batter he faces then giving up a double to Black to make the score 9-3. Of course, that may not be a safe lead. :-)

Update: Sizemore flies out to end the inning. The Yankees have their work cut out for them.

Sabathia runs into trouble in the fifth. He allows a single to Duncan and a walk to Damon before getting Jeter on a hard fly ball to right. But Abreu doubles to put runners on second and third and the Indians lead is down to 4-3. The Yankees worked Sabathia well all game without much to show for it, but they're going to see the bullpen probably for four innings.

Sabathia walks A-Rod intentionally, his sixth walk of the game.

Update: Sabathia falls behind Posada, but comes back to strike him out swinging. Jorge couldn't catch up to the heater. It's up to Matsui.

Update: Matsui pops up to short to end the inning. The Yankees are leaving a lot of runners on base tonight. But if they keep putting them on, eventually they come around to score. C.C. has thrown 114 pitches. We'll see if he comes out for the sixth.

Robinson Cano collects the second Yankees hit of the evening and the second home run. The Yankees second solo shot cuts Cleveland's lead in half to 4-2. Cano's power was down over all this year, but he found his stroke in the second half, hitting thirteen of his nineteen homers after the All-Star break.

Sabathia is walking batters and now Wang just allowed a home run. Asdrubal Cabrera hits one about every 53 at bats, but he just took the Yankees starter deep to extend the Indians lead 4-1 in the bottom of the third. The starters are not pitching to script, although so far Sabathia is getting away with it.

Best strikeout of the post season so far came in the top of the third when Sabathia gets Jeter to swing and miss so hard he almost screws himself into the ground. The Indians still lead 3-1 at the end of three, despite Sabathia issuing four walks.

Neither Sabathia nor Wang walk a lot of batters, but C.C. walked two in the first while Chien hit a batter and walked one so far. None of those free passes have come back to hurt the pitchers so far, however.

Update: That changes as Martinez and Garko single to bring Hafner around to score. The base on balls leads to a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the first.

Update: Wang walks Peralta to face Lofton with two outs.

Update: Lofton drives a single to center to plate two, but Peralta gets caught in a run down. But the Indians get to Wang in the first and lead 3-1. Both pitchers end the inning around 30 pitches, so we may see the bullpens early in this game.

Dick Clark must be in the park, because they were really rocking on Bandstand today. Colorado collects twelve hits, eight of them for extra bases as they defeat the Phillies 10-5 to take a 2-0 lead in the series. They get two chances to end the series in their home park on Saturday and Sunday.

The bullpens were the story as the starters didn't last long. The Rockies pen pitched six innings, allowing two runs, one earned on six hits and two walks. The Phillies pen threw 5 1/3 innings, allowed seven hits and two walks, but also allowed three of the runners inherited from the starter score on a grand slam home run. The Phillies need to channel the 2001 Yankees, who lost the first two games at home but came back to take the series against the Oakland Athletics.

Johnny Damon hits one high down the right field line. It looks like a home run, but the ump calls it foul. Torre asks for a conference, and it looked like four of the six umps thought it was a home run and change the call. They haven't shown a good replay yet, but the Yankees lead 1-0.

Kaz Matsui triples in another run in a four run Rockies sixth as they take a 10-3 lead on the Phillies, now 10-4 in the top of the seventh. Matsui just needs a single for the cycle.

Update: Kaz bats in the eighth, but does not get a hit.

Seth Smith pinch hits for Morales and picks up an infield hit down the third base line. That loads the bases and chases Kendrick as Lohse comes in with two out in the top of the fourth to face Matsui.

Update: The early exit of the starters favors the Rockies with their better and deeper bullpen.

Update: Matsui homers into the rightfield stands, many rows back in the power alley. That puts the Rockies up 6-3 and draws boos from the Phillies faithful. Tulowitzki grounds out to end the inning, but it doesn't take long for the Phillies bullpen to blow the lead.

Morales wipes sweat off his face while he's on the mound, and the third base umpire calls a ball. That seemed to spook him a bit as he goes to a full count on Ruiz before giving up a long double to centerfield. The Phillies have men on second and third with one out.

Update: Helms doesn't try to score on a slow roller by Kendrick with the infield in. It was one of those swings that looked like it would hit the ball harder than it actually did. Two down.

Update: Rollins drives a 2-2 pitch into the left-center gap for a triple, and the first Phillies lead of the series. He's driven in all three runs today, and has the tough half of the cycle. That brings out the MVP chant.

Update: Utley finally makes contact but flies out to centerfield. The call for going to the mouth got Morales out of his rhythm, as he would step off the mound after each pitch to wipe his face.

I go to the bank and miss three home runs. Tulowitzki and Holliday homer on consecutive first pitches in the top of the first for a 2-0 Colorado lead, then Rollins hits the first pitch he sees out to cut the lead to 2-1. This could be the high scoring game expected in this series.

Update: One on the nice things about a DVR is you can go back and see what you missed during the commercials. Troy's homer was a long popup. Think Bucky Dent but farther. Holliday and Rollins left no doubt with their shots. Utley and Howard each struck out again.

Just how much don't the Yankees trust their bullpen? Three rookies made the LDS roster, including Ohlendorf and Veras. Ohlendorf at least pitched well in his brief stint with New York. It's certainly a much younger team than the one that started the season.

Game two of the Rockies-Phillies series pits two rookie pitchers against each other as Franklin Morales opposes Kyle Kendrick. Both pitchers were essential to the late season success of their clubs. Kendrick gave the Phillies a solid six innings on average, holding the opposition under 4 runs per nine innings. That's more than good enough for the Phillies offense. Morales allowed just three runs and eleven hits over his last twenty two innings.

Kendrick showed great control during the season, walking just twenty five batters in 121 innings. But he doesn't strike out many opponents either. All the balls in play led to a high number of home runs, especially in Philadelphia. Morales trades a high walk total for a low hit total, especially on the road. Away from Coors, the opposition hits just .209 with a .291 OBA. That's a great opposition OBA, no matter how you achieve it.

The Yankees and Indians get underway this evening with Chien-Ming Wang facing C.C. Sabathia. C.C. gets my vote to be Cy Cy. He was the iron man this season, leading the majors in innings pitched. His strikeout to walk ratio of over five should great power and great control. He took his 2006 season, improved upon it, and added fifty innings. Wang hasn't lost much down the stretch. Since June first, he's 16-3. The night gives him an advantage as well, as he went 13-2 under the lights. His sinker may be harder to pick up under the lights, as his K per 9 is 4.3 during the day but 5.0 when the sun goes down.

Lefties battle out west in the late game as Doug Davis hosts Ted Lilly. Davis posted nearly identical ERAs before and after the All-Star break, but his record went from 5-10 before to 8-2 after. The Diamondbacks went 12-3 in those starts, winning eight by two runs or less. Ted Lilly lowered his ERA by half a run from 2006, partly by moving to the National League but mostly by walking 26 fewer batters in 26 more innings. Ted's excellent control meant that 19 of the 28 home runs allowed came with the bases empty.

I wonder, too, how often does a team's number one home run hitter also bat leadoff? Both Soriano and Young fit the bill for the Cubs and DBacks. Neither is particularly suited to leadoff, both with low OBAs and good power. Yet, both seem to produce their best offense there.

Enjoy!

The Cubs are coming up in the top of the ninth trailing 3-1. The seven, eight and nine hitters are due up.

Update: Valverde gets a fly out and strikeout to start the inning. It's up to pinch-hitter Ward.

Update: Ward walks, and Soriano comes to the plate as the tying run.

Update: Soriano grounds out to short and the Diamondbacks win game one 3-1. Another close game breaks the right way for Arizona. The Cubs drew four walks, but really couldn't take much advantage of them. Arizona used two solo home runs to get the lead, and a sacrifice fly for a bit of insurance. They needed to win behind their ace, and they accomplished that task. Now we'll see how the Cubs do against the rest of the Arizona rotation.

Carlos Marmol allowed just three home runs in 69 innings this season, but he comes into this game and gives a long one up to Mark Reynolds. The DBacks take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh.

Update: Marmol just allowed his third base runner of the inning as Ojeda doubles. The Cubs pulled Zambrano after 85 pitches so he could come back on short rest. But shouldn't the Cubs have locked in this game first? A sacrifice fly makes the score 3-1.

Webb gets a bit wild in the top of the sixth inning. After giving up a hit to Lee, he gets two outs but throws a wild pitch. He then walks two to load the bases, and Theriot hits a chopper for an infield hit to tie the game at one. Webb gets Zambrano to end the inning.

Stephen Drew hits a long home run to centerfield to break the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth. Carlos Zambrano allowed a career high 23 home runs this season.

Frank Thomas said before the game that Carlos Zambrano might hurt the DBacks with his bat. Sure enough, he doubled leading off the third, but Webb came back and struck out Soriano, Jones and Lee. Both pitchers are on tonight, combining for nine strikeouts, two walks and three hits in the top of the fourth.

Josh Beckett pitches a complete game shutout. It's the third time he's pitched a complete game shutout in the post season. He only has two in the regular season. It seems the Mr. October moniker might be transferred to Josh if he keeps going like this. He allows just four hits, all singles. Eighty three of 108 pitches went for strikes. It just shows how important it is to stay around the plate. The Red Sox take a 1-0 lead in the series. They play again on Friday.

Josh Beckett pitches a game worthy of a Cy Young winner tonight. Josh just finished the eighth, having allowed just three hits and no walks while striking out eight. He was efficient, throwing 101 pitches, an amazing seventy seven of them for strikes. I assume the Red Sox will bring in a reliever in the ninth. That start made the trade with the Marlins worth every prospect.

Update: Beckett comes out for the ninth. I'm surprised, I thought with a four-run lead the Red Sox would be more conservative.

Kevin Youkilis doubles with one out in the third. That's six total bases for the Red Sox first baseman. That sets up Ortiz for the RBI, and he delivers with a home run past the Pesky Pole. Both now have half a cycle, and the Red Sox lead 3-0.

Update: Manny walks, steals, and scores on a Lowell single up the middle. The heart of the Red Sox order gets the job done and Boston leads 4-0.

Update: Drew grounds into a double play to end the inning. The Angels find themselves in a huge hole facing Josh Beckett.

Kevin Youkilis homers in the first inning to put the Sox in the early lead 1-0. Singles by Ortiz and Ramirez put two on with one out. Lackey had problems with the Red Sox this year, and their starting in this game early.

Update: That's all the Red Sox get as Lowell pops out and Drew grounds out.

Pat Burrell flies out to center to end the game. A fine pitching job by the Rockies staff. The bullpen walks two but doesn't allow a hit. Francis out-pitches Hamels. Each suffered one bad inning, but Hamels' was worse.

I expected the Phillies to win this game, but the Rockies to take the next three. Defeating Hamels was a huge boost for Colorado. They just need to win two out of three against three starting pitchers who are less than stellar.

The Phillies come to bat in the bottom of the ninth trailing 4-2. Ryan Howard leads off, a good place as far as the Rockies are concerned, since a home run can only be a solo shot.

Update: Ryan strikes out on three pitches. Great movement on Corpas' pitches causes Howard's third strikeout.

Update: Rowand grounds out to second. It's up to Pat the Bat.

Chase Utley strikes out for the fourth time to end the eighth inning. The 1-4 hitters for Philadelphia today are 0 for 14 with a walk and eight strikeouts.

Matt Holliday hits the first home run of the playoffs for the Rockies, a shot to left-center off Tom Gordon. Holliday provides the Rockies with an insurance run as they now lead 4-2 in the top of the eighth.

Cole Hamels lasts 115 pitches, getting two outs in the sixth before Tom Gordon comes on to get the last out. Hamels pitched 5 2/3 outstanding innings, but the poor second puts him in line for the loss.

Francis gives way to Hawkins in the bottom of the seventh. His only mistakes were the two home runs, but for the most part he kept the Phillies from putting the ball in play as he struck out eight.

Aaron Rowand take a Francis pitch the opposite way for a home run leading off the fifth inning. Burrell pulls one to left for back-to-back home runs and the Rockies lead is down to 3-2.

Update: The Phillies put two more men on base, but don't bring them around. It's 3-2 Rockies after five.

With one out in the bottom of the third, the Phillies pick up their first hit of the game. It's a single by Cole Hamels. He's batting 1.000 in the post season.

Update: Rollins grounds into a double play to end the inning. Rockies lead by three after three.

Update: Hamels settled down and retired the side in order in the third and fourth. He's up to 83 pitches thrown. Francis has thrown just 47 through three.

Update: Francis strikes out Utley and Howard in the fourth. Jeff averages seven K per nine innings, and he already has seven in this game.

Todd Helton takes Hamels first pitch in the second to deep centerfield for a ricochet triple, the first hit of the game.

Update: Atkins takes a hanging curve down the line in left for a double and an RBI. The Rockies strike first, leading 1-0.

Update: Torrealba singles up the middle to drive in Atkins with one out. Torrealba hit just .201 with runners in scoring position this season.

Update: Cole walks his second batter of the inning and loads the bases. For the season he walks just two per nine innings. The Rockies are doing a very good job of being selective here.

Update: Hamels walks another and forces in a run. He's not fooling anyone in this inning.

Update: Holliday strikes out to end the inning. The Rockies take a 3-0 lead, but they also push Hamels pitch count up to 56. The Phillies may need to go to their bullpen early. A long bullpen battle favors the Rockies, as they have the deeper relief staff.

Cole Hamels retires the Rockies in order in the top of the first. The Rockies did work him a bit, however, as he averaged over five pitches per batter.

Update: Francis uses just twelve pitches to strike out the side in the first. No hits, no runs, no errors so far.

Sean Perkins writes with a question about the Red Sox roster:

I'm writing today in regards to the analysis of the Red Sox 25-man roster. I was listening to the Steven A Smith show yesterday and Peter Gammons broke the story that Tim(may) Wakefield was left off the roster. Gammons mentioned that Theo and Tito discussed how Tim (using that alliteration) isn't exceptionally great against the Angels (1-1; 5.73 ERA 1.55 WHIP; .267 BAA), and how they like to sit on the ball and drive the knuckleball. I don't know how much of that is true, but Gammons also mentioned that Tim isn't completely healthy, and received a cortisone shot in his back on Sunday.

I get all that. What I don't get is what the Sox actually did submit as their 25-man roster.

Why keep Mirabelli on the roster then? If you need a backup catcher for Varitek, they already have Cash on the playoff roster too. 3 catchers?? I'd provide the numbers, but I think it's pretty clear how Mirabelli can't hit for ____, and Cash is still learning the ropes. Keep one of them, not both.

I can't see either Cash or Mirabelli playing much, espeically with Wakefield off the roster. However, if a player gets hurt, you can't bring in another. So if something happens to Varitek, the Red Sox don't want to be stuck with Mirabelli as their only option. Given the offensive ability of the starters, there's not a big reason to pinch hit for anybody. This is purely a defensive move, insurance against a big injury to Varitek.

The Hardball Times presents both sides for the three series starting today. My favorite reason comes from "Why the Rockies will beat the Phillies."

The simple explanation, of course, is that the Rockies cannot lose. They are invincible. Look it up, there is not one single person on their roster named Vince.

After an exciting finish to the regular season, three of the four League Division Series start today. I really like the schedule for the games. TBS provides a 3 1/2 hour window for each, which should be fine for all except the Yankees-Cleveland series. The games start late enough that youngsters can get home from school on the east coast, and no one needs to stay up late on the west coast. Even folks in Colorado can take a late lunch and catch the start of the early afternoon game.

The day starts with a 3 PM matchup of Jeff Francis versus Cole Hamels as the Rockies face the Phillies. Francis posted a similar ERA to last season, even though he allowed many more hits. But by increasing his strikeouts and decreasing his walks, Jeff was able to limit the damage to those extra base hits. A lot of those safties seem to come against the Phillies, as they managed twenty in just 8 1/3 innings against Jeff this season.

Cole Hamels pitched fifty more innings than in 2006 but walked five fewer batters. That took his walks per nine innings from a good 3.3 to a great 2.1. He also brought the long ball under control as the year progressed, allowing just two home runs over his last 36 2/3 innings.

This series also showcases three MVP candidates, Holliday, Howard, Rollins and Utley. All but Rollins posted great offensive average this season, but the pundits are pushing Rollins on intangibles. The extra game allowed Matt to beat out Ryan for the RBI title. The votes are supposed to be cast, but it's going to be fun to see how all of them perform.

In Boston, another pair of aces take the hill as John Lackey faces Josh Beckett. The Red Sox starter posted the only twenty win season in the majors this year, but Lackey came close, one of five pitchers to win nineteen games. The two are very close statistically, but Beckett strikes out a few more batters per nine innings and walks a bit less. Lackey is wilder as well, hitting twice the number of batters and throwing three times the wild pitches. Beckett was at his toughest this season with runners in scoring position, allowed a mere .207 batting average.

The Red Sox pounded Lackey in his two starts against him. Despite striking out nine batters in 9 2/3 innings, Boston banged out twenty hits against the Angels righty. That's a .500 average when putting the ball in play. Beckett posted a 1.38 ERA against the Angels in two starts.

Offensively, the matchup to watch is from the land of the one-name people, Vlad vs. Manny. Both suffered from injuries during September. Both are key to the success of their offenses. With Vlad starting at DH tonight, the Angels defense suffers even more as Willits and Figgins replace Matthews and Guerrero.

The late game pits Carlos Zambrano against Brandon Webb as both the Cubs and Diamondbacks return to the playoffs. (Seven of the eight teams in this year's LDS did not reach the post season in 2006.) Which Zambrano will show up? The April, May, August Carlos who pitched to the tune of a 5.79 ERA, or the June, July September Zambrano who earned his contract extension with a 2.43 ERA? It may not matter, as the Cubs rotation is so deep they can probably afford to lose Zambrano's matchups with Webb and take the other three.

Brandon is a workhorse with the fourth most innings pitched since the start of the 2004 season. He improved in many aspects of his 2006 Cy Young season, striking out more and allowing fewer home runs, but boosting his walks. The chance for the Diamondbacks to advance is for Webb to win his two starts and hope the team can eke out a win in one of the three other games.

Enjoy!

My Cubs-Diamondbacks and Rockies-Phillies previews are up at SportingNews.com.

My blog page is up at SportingNews.com. I'm posting my LDS previews there. LAnaheim-Boston and New York-Cleveland are up. Look for the NLDS previews sometime tomorrow.

Update: I changed the links. The new ones allow you to comment at the SportingNews.com site.

The Red Sox are going with Daisuke Matsuzaka in game 2 and Curt Schilling in game 3. This is a bit surprising to me, since posts a lower ERA on the road. This means Dice-K would get two starts at Fenway if the series goes five games. It appears it was more important to rest Schilling.

Cubs fans are buying up Diamondbacks LDS tickets:

Any other time he would be a D-Backs fan, Hayashi said, but he's a Cubs fan first, and he's hoping to see his team play the D-Backs in the National League Divisional Series.

...

Like Hayashi, a fair number of the bleary-eyed early arrivals in line were Cubs fans. Mary Crone, a Scottsdale resident who was fifth in line, drove to the ballpark shortly after the Cubs and D-Backs had won their games Friday evening and spent the night in her car.

After dropping $750 on 14 tickets, she was thrilled. "There's no fan base like there is for the Cubs," said Crone, who grew up in the Windy City.

Eric Kozimor, 23, of Scottsdale, another Cubs fan, bought enough tickets to take his grandfather, his father and his 2-year-old son.

"Just put the sign up now: 'Wrigley Field West,' " Kozimor crowed. "Cub Nation is coming."

If the NL Wild Card comes from the west, the Diamondbacks host the Cubs in the first round. If not, these fans might get to see a Cubs-Diamondbacks LCS.

Baseballgirl notes that MLB is thinking of adding a travel day before the fifth game of the LDS. That would make it easier if teams need to travel cross country for the fifth game.

I never quite understood what was wrong with the 2-3 format used before. Yes, teams with the better record complained that starting with two games on the road hurt their home field advantage. So why not do this. Go back to a 2-3, but the team with the better record gets the first two games at home. If they really think that's the advantage, it shouldn't matter. And teams will save some travel expenses and fuel.

Derrick Goold gives credit to Dave Duncan's first inning visit for the win last night:

Said Carpenter, goggles propped above his eyes in the postgame celebration, ready for the next spray of champagne: "I just wasn't locating too well. I probably was trying to stay on the corners too much. I was not being as aggressive as I needed to be. I settled back down, and I was able to attack the strike zone and start getting outs."

Duncan believed Carpenter was affected by Sunday's pressure.

That's why he took a rare first-inning stroll to the mound. He didn't want to talk so much as to give Carpenter a moment to relax, to reload.

"Early there, knowing the significance of the game, I think Carp tried probably to do a little bit more than he needed to do," Duncan said.

Carpenter needed 35 pitches, 17 of which were balls, to squeeze three outs from the first inning. It took him 67 pitches to get the next 18 outs.

The Padres season turned right there. Even a single with the bases loaded would give them control of the game. As in most of the series, the Padres could not find that third hit.

The Cardinals go down in order in the eighth. The Padres have three outs to stretch into four runs to stay alive.

Update: Wainwright is on to pitch to the bottom of the Padres order. He catches Cameron looking for the first out of the inning.

Update: Klesko pinch hits.

Update: Is it true you must have at least 10 letters in your last name to be the Cardinals closer?

Update: Klesko drives the ball over the head of Jim Edmonds for a one-out double.

Update: Barfield lines one hard into center to put runners at first and third. A hit with runners in scoring position, but they don't drive home a run. Greene pinch hits for the pitcher.

Update: A big curve ball catches Greene looking for out number two. The Padres season is up to Dave Roberts.

Update: Roberts grounds out to Pujols, and the Cardinals win the game 6-2 and the LDS 3-1. Congratulations to the Cardinals on the win. They shutdown the Padres hitters, allowing just two hits with runners in scoring position in 32 at bats during the series. If the Padres get just 8 hits in those situations they probably play game five tomorrow.

Once again, Pujols and Carpenter are the stars. Albert slugs .600 and Carpenter posts a 2.02 ERA, winning games 1 and 4. On to New York.

Giles and Gonzalez single leading off the 8th to put runners on first and third. Can they get the third hit?

Update: That's it for Carpenter. La Russa goes to the bullpen. Tyler Johnson is on to get out of the jam.

Update: Bard strikes out swinging for the first out. Piazza pinch hits, and he'll bring on a right-handed reliever.

Update: Kinney gets Piazza to ground into a double play to end the threat. Three outs to go for the Cardinals.

Carpenter returns to the mound in the seventh and retires the Padres in order. Six outs to go.

Albert Pujols walks to start the bottom of the sixth. It's the first time the Cardinals put the leadoff batter on.

Update: Edmonds flies out, but Encarnacion goes the other way into the right field corner. The balls tails away from Giles, and by the time he runs it down, Pujols is far enough around to score. The Cardinals take a 3-2 lead and Williams is done.

Update: Meredith enters the game and hits Belliard. Runners at 1st and 3rd with one out for the Cardinals.

Update: Spiezio singles up the middle, and the Cardinals take a 4-2 lead.

Update: Molina singles to load the bases. Meredith picked a bad day to give up getting batters out. Carpenter grounds one softly on the infield. Branyan charges, but his throw pulls Bard off the plate. Then Eckstein squeezes, and suddenly it's 6-2 Cardinals.

Update: Wilson strikes out to end the inning, but the Cardinals bat around, scoring four runs. The Cardinals are nine outs a way from a trip to New York.

For the second inning in a row, the Padres get the leadoff batter on. Bard singles, and I don't think he'll be stealing.

Update: Once, more, that's all the Padres get. Pujols leads off the bottom of the inning.

Dave Roberts singles to start the fifth inning. It's the first time in the game the lead off batter reached.

Dave immediately gets thrown out stealing.

Update: The announcers just quoted Bochy as saying that it's almost impossible to steal against Carpenter and Molina. So why was Roberts trying?

Update: The Padres get nothing else in the inning. Halfway through, the game is tied at two.

Update: The teams stopped trying to wear out the starters. Carpenter is at 79 pitches through five, while a couple of first pitch outs leaves Williams at 73. It's 2-2 going to the top of the sixth.

Chris Carpenter gives up just one hit over the 2nd and 3rd innings to hold the Padres at two runs. He's throwing fewer pitches, and is now at 59 for the game.

Update: Williams also settled down. He's allowed two hits in innings 2 and 3, but no runs. His pitch count is at 62. My guess is we'll see the bullpens sooner than later.

The Cardinals start the bottom of the first the same way the Padres started the top, with an out followed by a single. Wilson is on first for Albert Pujols.

Update: Pujols grounds out to put Wilson at second. Edmonds is hit on a 3-2 count. Two out and two on for Encarnacion. If I'm the Padres, I have to be happy with Encarnacion in the fifth slot.

Update: Encarnacion walks on what looks like a very good pitch. The Cardinals load the bases.

Update: Belliard hits a short fly to center for a single. That drives in two to tie the game. Belliard, however, gets caught in a run down when the throw home is cut off. He's tagged out to end the inning. It's 2-2 at the end of one. Both pitcher throw over 30 pitches in the first inning.

Carpenter starts off the night on the right foot, striking out Dave Roberts looking.

Update: Giles gets San Diego their first hit early, singling up the middle with one out.

Update: Gonzalez hits a fly ball to shallow center that falls in front of Edmonds. The Padres put runners on first and second. Can they get that third hit in a row?

Update: Bard walks to load the bases.

Update: Branyan works the count to 3-2, then takes an inside pitch to drive in a run with a walk. The Padres lead 1-0. Branyan drew 34 walks in 241 at bats this season, a very good ratio.

Update: Cameron grounds the ball slowly to short. The Cardinals go for the double play but only get the runner from first. Mike picks up an RBI on an out and the Padres are up 2-0.

Update: Cameron swipes second uncontested, and Carpenter issues his third walk of the inning, giving Blum a free pass. Chris is now at 30 pitches, 16 for balls.

Update: Barfield grounds to shortstop for the third out. Once again, the Padres don't get a hit with runners in scoring position, but they manage to push two across anyway.

Tony La Russa benches Scott Rolen for tonight's game:

Scott Rolen, hitting just .091 in the NL divisional series, was out of the starting lineup for Game 4 against San Diego on Sunday after complaining of shoulder fatigue.

Manager Tony La Russa went with Scott Spiezio at third base against Padres starter Woody Williams. Spiezio had batted just once in the postseason.

Rolen hit .296 with 22 homers and 95 RBIS in a strong comeback after missing most of 2005 because of a shoulder injury. But he seemed to be laboring down the stretch, hitting just .225 in the season's final month with three homers and 14 RBIs. Two of the homers and nine of the RBIs came in a two-game span against San Francisco Sept. 15-16.

After game 1, it looked like the big three were back to full strength. Rolen, however, could not keep up and now he's out of the lineup.

The Padres and Cardinals are the only teams in doubt for the NLCS at this point. They'll play under the lights on Fox tonight. Woody Williams takes on former teammate Chris Carpenter. The defending Cy Young Award winner handled the Padres easily in game one, as he struck out seven and walked just one in 6 1/3 innings. But the Padres did get him out of the game in the seventh. If they can work him that hard again, they have a chance against the St. Louis bullpen.

Williams last two post-season starts leave a lot to be desired. He was roughed up by the Red Sox in 2004, allowing seven runs in 2 1/3 innings, and then by the Cardinals last year, giving up five runs in just 1 2/3 innings. Woody is coming off a fine September in which he won all four decisions and posted a 2.51 ERA. But a lot of that was based on a .192 BA allowed with runners in scoring position. The opposition had their opportunities to score.

So far in this series, the Padres had the opportunities, but the Cardinals delivered. San Deigo is 1 for 25 with runners in scoring position, but he Cardinals 6 for 17. The Padres batters have no one to blame but themselves.

Enjoy!

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Going into the Dodgers/Mets NLDS, the Mets and Dodgers looked evenly matched. The Mets were just a little better. That proved to be true in the series except in one aspect. The Mets out-hit the Dodgers .294 to .291. The out-slugged the Dodgers .412 to .400. But the place where the Mets killed Los Angeles was in getting on base. The Mets posted a .381 OBA to the Dodgers .339. That meant the hits and extra-base hits did more damage. The seven extra base runners the Mets accrued through walks and hit by pitches led to 8 more runs in the series. Over three games, that was huge.

Billy Wagner starts the bottom of the ninth, the Mets an inning away from hosting the NLCS.

Update: Martin strikes out to start the ninth.

Update: Betemit strikes out. One out to go.

Update: Loney singles to left, keeping hope alive. Ramon Martinez pinch hits.

Update: Martinez works the count to 3-2, then flies out to Green in foul territory. The Mets win the series in a sweep. They got one good start from Tom Glavine, and the offense and bullpen carried the team the rest of the way. The Mets return home and host either the Cardinals or the Padres on Wednesday.

The Dodgers put two on in the eighth inning but fail to score. They're down to three outs to score four runs.

The Yankees were swinging at bad pitches today and popping them up or grounding out. The Mets swing at those same pitches and seem to bloop a hit to the outfield. Lo Duca connects on a ball near the ground in the top of the 8th to drive in Woodward with the 8th run of the game. New York leads Los Angeles 8-5, and the Dodgers are running out of outs.

Update: The Mets have men on 1st and 2nd with one out, and Saito enters the game.

Update: Saito gets Delgado to ground to Betemit at third, but Wilson throws the ball over the head of the second baseman. Another run scores and the Mets lead 9-5.

Update: Saito gets the last two outs of the inning. The Dodgers need to score four runs in two innings or they clean out their lockers for the season.

Jeff Kent becomes the third player with three hits in this game as he bounces a ball into the stands for a double. That puts runners at 2nd and 3rd, but Drew flies out to end the inning. The Mets lead 7-5 after six innings.

Shawn Green picked up his third hit and second double of the night leading off the top of the sixth inning.

Update: Valentin pops out. Michael Tucker pinch hits for the pitcher.

Update: Tucker draws a walk to bring up Reyes. Tucker posted a .378 OBA this season, well above his .339 career mark. He did it with walks, as he hit just .196.

Update: Broxton falls behind Reyes 2-0. Little comes out to speak with the pitcher, and Broxton evens the count at 2-2 before Jose lines a single to center to score Green and tie the game at five.

Update: Lo Duca reaches down and pokes one over the out-stretched glove of Furcal as he races into left to try to snare the hit. Tucker scores and the Mets are back on top 6-5.

Update: Beltran does the same thing, just dumping a hit into left. The Mets are now up 7-5. The Dodgers pitching staff is just failing in this game.

Update: Delgado strikes out for the second out of the inning.

Update: Wright strikes out to end the inning.

Marlon Anderson keeps getting hits. His two out single in the bottom of the fifth raises his series average to .364 and sets up a two-run homer by Jeff Kent into the leftfield seats. The Dodgers tie the game at four. Drew follows that with a single of his own. That's enough for Willie Randolph as he goes to the bullpen.

Update: Chad Bradford comes in to face Martin.

Update: Martin leans down, reaches out and gets the bat on the ball to dump a single into left to put men on 1st and 2nd. A lucky shot.

Update: Betemit walks to once again bring up Loney with the bases loaded. Randolph counters with Feliciano.

Update: Loney hit lefties pretty well in his 20 at bats against them, picking up seven hits.

Update: Loney walks to drive in the go-ahead run. It's his first walk against a lefty at the major league level.

Nomar pinch hits for the pitcher, getting his Kirk Gibson moment.

Update: Nomar grounds back to the box for the third out. But his injury allows Loney to be the hero so far.

With men on first and second, Betemit hits a sky high fly that Carlos Beltran doesn't see. It drops between Beltran, Green and Valentin to load the bases for James Loney in the bottom of the fourth. There's just one out.

Update: Loney lines a double into the left-center gap, scoring two and cutting the Mets four run lead in half. Fifteen of his 29 regular season hits went for extra-bases.

Update: Darren Oliver comes in to relieve Trachsel.

Update: Ethier hits the ball right into Oliver's glove. Betemit is frozen off third and Oliver tosses to Wright for the double play. But the Dodgers get two and trail the Mets 4-2.

Cliff Floyd scores the fourth run of the game, but comes up lame as he approaches the plate. Floyd is out of the game and Chavez is playing left. Maddux has allowed seven hits and two walks through three innings.

Reyes reaches on an error by Loney, but the Dodgers execute a perfect pitch out and Reyes is caught stealing at second. Reyes was a 79% base stealer during the regular season. The Mets don't score in the second, keeping the score 3-0.

Maddux walks the second batter he faces after Reyes flies out on the first pitch of the game. Beltran singles by a diving Drew, but Lofton hits the cutoff man and Lo Duca is thrown out at third.

Update: Wright and Floyd single to drive in a run each. The Mets take an early 2-0 lead.

Update: Green follows up with the fifth single of the inning. The Mets are just putting the bat on the ball and the balls are falling in. It's 3-0 Mets.

Update: Valentin lines one hard down the line, but Loney spears it for the third out. The Mets dig the Dodgers an early hole.

The Tigers take the Yankees 3 games to 1. What amazes me isn't that they won; anything can happen in a five game series. What's remarkable is how they thoroughly shut down the Yankees hitters. The hitters on New York are so balanced that they can take the pitches if you miss, and hit the pitches if you throw strikes. But Rogers and Bonderman put the ball in the strike zone with a lot of movement early in the plate appearances, and that forced the Yankees to chase pitches out of the strike zone. They figured out the weakness of the New York offense and exploited it perfectly.

The Yankees pitching didn't perform well. Mussina could not hold a lead. Johnson couldn't go deep in the game. Wright was just wrong today.

The Detroit offense, led by their best hitter, Carlos Guillen, never stopped. They hit for average, they hit for power, and they bunched them together. They ran aggressively on any hit to the outfield. I could see the Tigers winning three games 6-5, 8-6 due to the Yankees pitching, but I didn't expect two games to be so lopsided.

Congratulations to the Tigers on an impressive win. They'll travel to Oakland to face the Athletics on Tuesday.

The Tigers don't score in the eighth. They lead 8-1 as the Yankees come up in the ninth with Abreu, Sheffield and Matsui due up.

Update: Abreu singles to left. The Yankees need a lot more of those.

Update: Monroe makes a great diving catch on a high line drive by Sheffield that was tailing toward the leftfield line. That's it for Bonderman, leaving the game with two outs to go.

Update: Bonderman throws 99 pitches, 70 for strikes. Walker is on against Matsui.

Update: Matsui flies out to centerfield. It's up to Posada.

Update: Jorge hits it over the left-center wall for a two-run homer. It's 8-3, but the Yankees still have no room for error.

Update: Cano grounds out to second to end the game. The Tigers are off to Oakland for the ALCS! Congratulations to Detroit! They took on the best offense in the game and shut them down. What an amazing win.

Alex Rodriguez hits a ball deep to centerfield, but Granderson runs it down for the first out.

Update: Cabrera grounds out to first unassisted. Four outs to go.

Update: Damon draws a walks. That's the first free pass allowed by Bonderman in the game. He's only thrown 83 pitches.

Update: Jeter has the best at bat of the day against Bonderman, working the count to 3-2 and fouling off pitches. But Derek ends up flying out to right, and the Tigers are just three outs away from facing the Athletics.

Carlos Guillen picks up his third hit of the day. He's batting .571 with a 1.000 slugging percentage in the four game series.

Update: The Tigers don't score in the seventh. It's still 8-1 with Alex Rodriguez leading off in the 8th.

Jeter leads off the seventh with a single.

Update: Abreu singles to right to put runners at first and third.

Update: Sheffield pops out to second. He's looked very bad today, lunging at pitches rather than swinging through them.

Matsui forces Abreu at second, but Jeter scores to cut the lead to 8-1.

Update: Posada picks up the third hit of the inning. Cano comes up with men on first and second and two out.

Update: Cano flies out to center to end the inning. Six more outs to send Detroit to the ALCS.

Casey drives in Polanco from first with a double down the rightfield line. The Yankees are down 8-0 with three at bats between them and the end of the season. The Detroit offense keeps pouring it on.

Robinson Cano grounds a ball up the middle for a single, the first hit of the game for New York. The Yankees have a man on first with none out for A-Rod.

Update: Alex Rodriguez grounds to third, forcing Cano at second.

Update: Cabrera grounds to second, forcing A-Rod.

Update: Damon grounds to second base for the third out. The Tigers need nine outs for a flight to Oakland.

Polanco and Casey single to start the bottom of the fifth. They put men on first and third for Ordonez.

Update: Ordonez hits a sinking breaking ball hard into left to put the Tigers up 5-0.

Update: Guillen doubles to drive in Casey from second. It's 6-0. That's it for Lidle. My friend Jim Storer says they should bring in Rivera.

Update: Bruney gives up a sacrifice fly to I-Rod, and it's 7-0 Detroit. As far as I know, Bonderman hasn't blown a 7-0 lead this season. :-)

Update: Proctor comes on and gets a ground for the second out.

Update: Proctor strikes out Thames to end the inning. The Yankees have four innings to score at least seven runs.

Bonderman retires the side in order again, striking out two. Both Sheffield and Posada chased pitches that dropped out of the strike zone for strike three. He's thrown 40 pitches, 32 for strikes.

The Yankees go quietly in the fourth. Bonderman struck out Jeter for only his second strikeout of the game. Like Rogers last night, Bonderman has the Yankees totally off their game. They have no idea what's coming, and his stuff is so good they can't get wood on the ball. Jeremy used just 31 pitches through four innings, 25 for strikes. The Yankees often see six balls in the first two or three batters of a game.

Alex Rodriguez tries to backhand a shot by Ordonez. He knocks it down throws wide of first and Sheffield tries to hold the bag rather than going for the catch and the tag. Alex gets the error, but an experienced first baseman makes the play.

Guillen lines one over the leap of Cano to put runners on 1st and 3rd for I-Rod.

Update: Pudge singles up the middle, and it's four nothing Tigers.

Update: That's it for Wright. He gives up five hits and a walk, and at least one unearned run in 2 2/3 innings.

Update: It's Lidle on to try to shut down the Tigers.

Update: Lidle strikes out Monroe to end the inning. The Yankees have to hope Bonderman pitches with a lead like he did last Sunday.

For the third inning in a row, Bonderman retires the side in order. The Yankees offense is totally out of character, only seeing 23 pitches through three innings. Thats just over 2 per batter. The Yankees averaged 3.81 per batter this season. Bonderman's thrown 18 of the 23 for strikes.

Magglio Ordonez leads off the second with a home run for the Tigers. Keeping the ball in the park was something Wright did well this year, allowing just 10 in 140 1/3 innings.

Update: Wright walks Rodriguez, then gives up another long ball to Monroe. The Tigers take an early 3-0 lead.

I keep humming to myself, "If loving you is Wang, to don't want to pitch Wright."

Edmonds flies out to center to start the ninth. Rolen follows with a groundout to shortstop. Encarnacion is up.

Update: Encarnacion strikes out to end the game. The Padres live to play another day. That's eleven strikeouts for the Padres staff today.

San Diego put lots of runners on base today, picking up 10 hits and 8 walks. That's a big improvement. If they can get more more hits in a row, they might even increase their run production! They only hit into one double play on the day. They were 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position and left 15 men on base.

With Young and the bullpen today, that was enough.

The Tigers follow the Yankees example, going 1-2-3 in the first on a grounder, a liner and a fly.

The Padres load the bases in the top of the ninth with one out for Khalil Greene.

Update: Greene strikes out. That brings Blum to the plate. The Padres can really use another run here.

Update: Blum flies out to center. The Padres blow a big opportunity. Hoffman will be coming on to try to hold the two run lead.

Bonderman retires the side in order in the first on a grounder and two fly outs. The Tigers face Wright in the bottom of the first.

Taguchi is announced as a pinch hitter, and Bochy brings in Linebrink to gain the platoon advantage. So sends the ball for a long ride, depositing it in a see of red Cardinals jerseys in the left field seats to cut the Padres lead to 3-1. So hit just two home runs all year and slugged .351 for the season.

Update: Linebrink walks Duncan with one out. That bring Pujols to the plate as the tying run. Where's Hoffman?

Update: LInebrink gets Pujols to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. I just think that was the perfect time to bring in your closer, since the game is on the line at that point.

Chris Young gives the Padres 6 2/3 outstanding innings, allowing four hits, two walks and striking out nine. Embree is on with Belliard at second. His double chases Young from the game.

Update: Embree gets pinch hitter Spiezeo to end the inning. The Padres are six out away from a game four.

Update: The shadows are creeping out over the plate. It's just going to get tougher to hit.

Torre drops Alex Rodriguez to eighth in the lineup for today's game. I don't agree with it, but maybe Joe's trying to kickstart his third baseman. Then again, Joe could pull names out of a hat and come up with a decent lineup.

The Padres score three times their runs in the previous two games in the fourth inning. Russell Branyan, who last tripled in 2004, drives in two with a three-bagger, and then scores on a Blum sacrifice fly.

Young is handling the Cardinals so far, allowing just one hit while striking out six through 3 2/3 innings. The Padres lead 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth.

Update: Young strikes out Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen in the bottom of the fourth. Not a bad inning for any pitcher.

It's elimination Saturday as three teams can clinch berths in the LCS. The Cardinals get the first shot at advancing as Padres fans get baseball with their breakfast this morning. Chris Young faces Jeff Suppan. Young is unusual in two ways. First, he's a righty that performs better against lefties. That won't do him much good today as the Cardinals are not a very left-handed team. But he's also a better road pitcher, going 6-0 away from San Diego with a 2.41 ERA. That was the best road mark this season by half a run. He handled the Cardinals in his one start against them this season, allowing three hits and one run in seven innings. But he didn't get the decision. If the Padres can't score, it doesn't matter how well Young pitches.

San Diego scored one run in the first two games, and Jeff Suppan would like to keep that total right there. Suppan puts his strength against Young's strength, as Jeff is much better at home, allowing walks and homer at a lower rate than on the road. He's also pitched well in the post season, collecting a 3.45 ERA in five starts.

Jeremy Bonderman tries to close the deal for the Tigers this afternoon. Bonderman show be the ace of the Detroit staff. His strikeouts, walks and home runs all point to someone with an ERA lower than 4.00. However, Bonderman is coming off a game in which a Royals defeat would make the Tigers division champions, and he couldn't last through five innings with a 6-0 lead. (Kenny Rogers lost that game in relief, for what that's worth.) Bonderman's consistently underperformed his fielding independent pitching numbers. It makes you wonder if there's something other than bad luck happening here.

He'll face one of the luckier pitchers of 2006, Jaret Wright. He no long strikes batters out, lefties cream him, but with runners in scoring position this season opponents hit just .236. He's a five or six inning pitcher at best. So the Yankees not only need five good innings from Wright, they'll need four from the pen as well. Torre did not even consider Wang for the start:

Chien-Ming Wang, slotted to start a possible Game 5, stayed behind in New York, and the young righthander, according to Torre, "wasn't too happy about it." On whether he would have considered deploying the 19-game winner for Game 4, on three days rest, if the Yankees faced elimination, Torre said, "This youngster has pitched more innings this year than he's ever pitched. I'm certainly not going to take a chance with his future on short rest."

The Mets send their own version of a lucky pitcher to the mound, as Steve Trachsel tries to finish the sweep of the Dodgers against Greg Maddux. Trachsel struck out one more than he walked this season, posted a 4.97 ERA and still managed to win 15 games. Like Wright, he allowed a much lower batting average with runners in scoring position. Maddux is making his 30th post-season start. He's essentially pitched a whole extra year outside of the regular season. Although he's been good for a 3.22 ERA, his record is just 11-14 as he's been hurt by poor fielding and poor run support. He's allowed 23 unearned runs in the post season out of 91, and his teams scored just 90 runs with him on the mound.

Enjoy!

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Ken Rosenthal sees the Yankees hitting the panic button if they lose today, but gives no indication why he thinks this:

Not that anything is at stake Saturday, but if the Yankees lose, they could fire manager Joe Torre, trade third baseman Alex Rodriguez and kidnap Japanese right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, just for starters.

All those teams wishing to hire Lou Piniella as their next manager? Better wait. All those claims by Rodriguez that he will never waive his no-trade clause? Better not print them in indelible ink.

The Yankees will blow it up and try again, and to what end? They will simply assemble another band of soulless mercenaries, and maybe hire a mercenary manager as well. A lot of good it is doing them: Last anyone checked, they haven't won the World Series since 2000.

A pity that $198 million doesn't go as far as it used to. The "Greatest Lineup in Baseball History" has managed three runs the past two games, and one more loss will produce this startling new baseball reality: A postseason final four featuring only one of the game's 12 highest Opening Day payrolls.

Come on, Ken, not even an anonymous source? This sounds more like a company employee worried about the post-season ratings going down the tubes. At least the Mets or the Dodgers will be in the next round. That should bring in some viewers.

Detroit puts two men on in the bottom of the eighth but don't score. The Yankees have three outs to score six runs.

Update: Todd Jones comes in to start the ninth. He'll face Giambi, Posada and Matsui.

Update: Giambi falls behind 0-2, then flies out to right.

Update: Posada pops out to short. It's up to Matsui.

Update: Matsui falls behind 0-2. He strikes out on a high, outside pitch to end the game and put the Tigers on the brink of reaching the ALCS.

Rogers hit his spots all night. He moved the ball around, he changed speeds, he put tremendous movement on his pitches. It took him a long time to find this success, but it's a sweet night for Kenny and the Tigers. Now Bonderman gets the chance to put the Yankees away.

I must admit I'm flabbergasted by Rogers' performance tonight. Given his past post-season performances, given his long string of failures against New York, I didn't expect a picture perfect game from the lefty. He made a great hitting team look like minor leaguers tonight. I'm impressed.

Rogers comes out to start the eighth and strikes out Damon.

Update: Rogers now has seven strikeouts in the game. He only reached that level twice this season. He struck out 9 on 6/13, his season high, and hasn't had more than four in a game since then.

Update: Rogers walks Jeter. Leyland comes out but doesn't pull Kenny.

Update: Abreu tries to bunt for a hit on the first pitch and grounds it foul. Rogers then completely fools him on a curve ball, then strikes him out looking. That's it, Rogers finishes the game with 7 2/3 innings pitched, two walks and eight strikeouts. He saved his biggest, best game for the end of this 18th season.

Update: Zumaya enters in relief.

Update: A-Rod flies out to end the inning. The Yankees continue to get one base runner per inning. Detroit is three outs away from taking a 2-1 lead in the best of five series.

Granderson leads off the seventh with a home run and Detroit is up 6-0. Since the middle of the game yesterday, the Tigers have returned to their pre August 8th form.

Posada drives a double to centerfield. The Yankees keep getting just one runner on an inning.

Update: Matsui is the first Yankee to advance a runner as he grounds out to the right side. Outs are very precious to the Yankees, now, however.

Update: Williams strikes out. Bernie is 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts. It looks like the substitution for Sheffield didn't work.

Update: Cano grounds out to end the inning. The Yankees have not scored in 12 innings. Kenny Rogers is pitching the game of his life.

Carlos Guillen hits a line drive over Jeter's head. Derek jumps and knocks the ball down, but Guillen is safe with as single. I-Rod then smashes the ball down the leftfield line on a hit and run to score Carlos and wind up at second on with double. Johnson's running out of gas as Casey then pulls a double into the gap in right-center. The Tigers lead 5-0 as Randy leaves the game.

Update: Johnson pitched well for someone with a bad back, but he wasn't dominating. The Yankees haven't been their usual selves against Kenny Rogers, and they find themselves in a huge hole.

Update: Bruney strikes out Inge to end the inning. The Yankees have three innings to score five runs.

Derek Jeter lines one hard at Kenny Rogers head, but Kenny gets his hand up and knocks the ball down. He throws out Derek for the first out of the sixth. The ball hit his pitching hand, not the glove, so we'll see if it has any effect.

Update: Rogers strikes out Abreu. I guess he's okay!

Update: A-Rod gets nicked by a ball, but Giambi grounds to first to end the inning. Rogers leads 3-0 through six innings. He's at 86 pitches, so he should be good for another inning at least.

Bad umpiring in the bottom of the fifth. Polanco lines one down the leftfield line, and it clearly hits the chalk. The umpires miss it somehow, and it goes as a foul ball. Polanco draws a walk anyway.

Update: Looking at the replay, I don't see how both umpires missed that call. It looked to me that both umpires are looking at the ball. How did they miss the chalk flying in the air?

Update: Giambi makes a good (but not great) throw on a pickoff this time and gets Polanco at second. It's still Detroit 3, Yankees 0 after five.

With the score still 3-0, Matsui doubles to lead off the 5th.

Update: Bernie Williams just misses the foul pole, then strikes out on a pitch in the dirt.

Update: Rogers strikes out Cano on a sweeping, sinking pitch away. Cano did not look good on that at bat at all.

Update: Damon grounds out to end the inning. Matsui gets to second and just stays there. Rogers had a low strikeout rate this season (99 in 204 IP) but he's struck out four through five innings.

Robinson Cano leads off the third with a single.

Update: After Damon flies out, Jeter hits into a double play to end the inning. Rogers is in control tonight, throwing a very high percentage of strikes, 29 of 42 pitches.

The Yankees picked up a one-out hit in the second, just like in the first. The Tigers get a leadoff hit in the second, just like in the first.

Update: I-Rod follows with the second opposite field hit of the inning. The Tigers have runners at 1st and 3rd with no one out.

Update: Casey sneaks a ball under Cano's glove to drive in the first run of the game. I-Rod goes to third on a very close play. On the replay, it looks like A-Rod tagged him, but I can't tell if I-Rod's hand got in there first.

Update: I'm very surprised Cano didn't dive for that ball. He does dive on one up the middle, but the Yankees can't turn the double play and another run scores. It's 2-0 Tigers.

Update: Granderson steals a base on a pickoff. Giambi throws high after he can't get the ball out of his glove. Polanco singles up the middle to drive him in and make the score 3-0.

Update: That's all the Tigers get. The Yankees made two poor defensive plays in that inning, the grounder going under Cano's glove and the poor throw by Giambi. The also made two good plays, Cano stopping the grounder up the middle and Abreu's throw, although the second didn't result in an out. The Tigers take advantage of the mistakes and put up a decent lead.

Polanco chops one in front of the plate that bounces over Johnson and into centerfield for the first Detroit hit of the game.

Update: And that's all the Tigers get in the first. Johnson looked fluid delivering his pitches, striking out one.

With one out in the top of the first, Jeter fights off an inside pitch and drives it into the rightfield power alley for his fourth double of the series.

Update: That's all the Yankees get in the first. No score as Johnson comes out for the bottom of the first.

The A's go quietly in the 8th, and now Street is on to get the last three outs in the top of the ninth. The bottom of the order is due up, White, Tyner and Bartlett.

Update: White lines a 1-2 pitch into center for a single to start the inning. White is 3 for 4 today, and is hitting .417 for the series.

Update: Tyner grounds into a double play. The Athletics are one out away from the win.

Update: Bartlett dumps one into right for the single. They need to keep those coming.

Update: Castillo flies out to Payton in left and the Oakland Athletics advance to the next round. Congratulations to the Athletics on a very impressive sweep.

Many people said the Twins were the scariest team in the playoffs, mostly due to their great pitching. That was there in the first two games, but Oakland managed to pitch just a little bit better, and hit a bit better.

Oakland also took advantage of the Twins mistake. The Hunter missed dive and the Morneau error stand out. The opportunities for Minnesota to score were there, but they just couldn't connect for the big hit.

Eric Chavez had a big day, and getting his bat back in order will be big in the next round. Oakland will either head to New York or host the Tigers on Tuesday. It's nice to see a Billy Beane team finally win a playoff series.

Congratulations to Brad Radke as well, who pitched a gutsy if unsuccessful game to end his career.

Justin Morneau hits a two-out solo home run to get one run back. You could see the digust with himself as he rounded the bases. His error prevented that homer from bringing the Twins within one. The A's lead 8-3, and with the end of the inning, they are three outs away from a trip to the AL championship series.

Jesse Crain enters the game with Thomas and Chavez on base with walks. He get Payton to ground to first, but Morneau boots the ball to load the bases.

Update: Crain walks Swisher on a 3-2 pitch to force in Thomas. Thomas was intentionally walked when Reyes fell behind the Big Hurt. It's 5-2 Oakland in the bottom of the seventh.

Update: Scutaro clears the bases with a double that lands just inside the rightfield line. That makes it 8-2 and the Oakland fans smell a victory. It's Scutaro's fourth double of the the series, and he's slugging .667 in the three games.

Update: The inning ends on a strikeout. It's a very strange inning for the Twins, however, as they issue three walks. Up until this point they controlled the A's offense by taking away the free pass. But they played into Oakland's strength in that inning and now they need to scored six runs with only six outs.

Justin Duchscherer relieves Haren to start the seventh and retires the Twins in order. Oakland is just six outs away from returning to the ALCS.

The Twins don't get the leadoff man on, but Morneau singles and Hunter doubles to put men on 2nd and 3rd with one out. The Twins have yet to get a hit with runners in scoring position. Rondell White changes that with a single to right, but the trailing runner Hunter is thrown out at the plate. There's an arugment about the call.

Update: The replays are pretty inconclusives. Kendall might have tagged Hunter in the back. I'm not even sure that Hunter got the plate with his hand. White failed to advance to second on the throw. It's 4-2 Oakland.

Update: Tyner strikes out to end the inning. The Twins do creep back in with one run, however.

Update: They showed another angle of the tag at the plate. I'd have to say the tag was missed, but it's not perfectly clear.

Eric Chavez follows a Frank Thomas single with a double off the leftfield wall to put runners on 2nd and 3rd and chase Perkins from the game. Chavez's return to form will be a huge boost to the Athletics if they continue in the post season.

Update: Rincon hits to the drawn in infield, and Frank Thomas is thrown out at the plate by a mile. It's up to Swisher.

Update: Swisher flies out to end the inning. The Twins can use a couple of runs here in the sixth. The A's didn't blow the score open, so it would be a good time for the Twins to close the gap.

Brad Radke calls for a pop up near the first base line, then drops it. The announcers thought Brad heard foot steps from Morneau, but I wonder if it wasn't his shoulder. Remember, Radke couldn't play catch with his injury, and he tried to basket catch this ball with one hand. Kendall follows with a single to put men on 1st and 2nd with two outs.

Update: Radke gets a fly out to end the inning. He's thrown 83 pitches and could be through.

Update: The Twins don't score in the fifth, and Radke is not coming out for the bottom of the inning. Perkins is on in relief.

Torri Hunter hits one into the seats down the leftfield line to cut the lead to 4-1. Haren, as usual gives up the solo shot, something that doesn't hurt much with a 4-0 lead.

Bartlett makes an error at shortstop, and Milton Bradley follows with a home run to straight away center. Radke and the Twins are down 4-0.

Eric Chavez gets all of a pitch and deposits it in the right field seats. Chavez's power started coming back in September. He hit six homers that month after only hitting four in the three previous months. The Athletics lead 1-0 in the bottom of the second.

Update: Scutaro doubles in Payton to extend the lead to 2-0. Radke's given up three hits so far, two of them for extra-bases.

Once again, the Twins get a runner in scoring position. Mauer reaches third base with one after a double and a sacrifice, but can't score on a shallow fly out. Bartlett is up after a walk with runners on 1st and 3rd.

Update: Bartlett strikes out to end the inning. The Twins are getting men on, which is good, they're just not moving them very far.

Singles by Castillo and Mauer put men on 1st and 2nd with one out. Punto replaced Luis on the bases with a force out.

Update: The untimely hitting continues. Cuddyer grounds into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

I agree with WasWatching that this is a mistake. From the NY Post:

Chien-Ming Wang didn't accompany the Yankees to Detroit because he wouldn't be available until Game 5 at Yankee Stadium.

Torre pulled Wang early from game 1. At the time I assumed Joe was thinking ahead, saving Chien-Ming in case he needed to bring him back for game 4.

Of course, it won't take that long for Wang to get to Detroit if the Yankees decide they do need to pitch him in game 4.

The Minnesota Twins hopes to stay alive in the playoffs are placed on the tender shoulder of Brad Radke. Brad is at the end of a twelve year career, all with the Twins, and is going out to pitch having recovered from a stress fracture to his shoulder.

"We call him William Wallace from 'Braveheart,"' center fielder Torii Hunter said. "That's what he reminds me of. The guy has all kinds of bumps and bruises and scars and breakage everywhere and he's still on the mound dogging it out. This is his last stand."

But can he provide more than inspiration? Radke shut down the Athletics in the 2002 LDS, but since he hasn't won a game. The problem wasn't Brad, it's that the Twins don't score for him. In the post season, he's allowed 15 runs in five starts, but the Twins only scored 12. No matter how well he pitches, the Twins need to find a way to score against the Oakland pitching staff.

The Athletics send Dan Haren to the mound. Haren posted good strikeout and walk numbers, but his weakness is the longball. Because his opposition OBA is low, 2/3 of his 31 homers came with the bases empty. The Twins need to find a way to pop one with men on base.

It's the battle of the old lefties as Randy Johnson faces Kenny Rogers in Detroit. Johnson is pitching with a herniated disk. This could be replay of game five on the 2003 World Series, where Wells had to leave after one inning due to his bad back. Or the epidural could be all Johnson needed and he turns in a 2001 like performance. More likely, he goes five okay innings, stiffens up, and leaves it up to the Yankees offense and bullpen.

Rogers is simply a poor post-season pitcher. In 20 1/3 innings covering five starts and four relief appearances he's allowed an 8.85 ERA. He's walked 16 and allowed 32 hits. His only good series was in 2003 when he pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings against these same New York Yankees. Remember, this was the man that lost the NLCS for the Mets in 1999 because he couldn't throw a strike with the bases loaded, walking in the winning run. If you're looking for offense in the post season, this is likely the game in which you'll find it.

Enjoy!

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6-4-2 Rounds up yesterday's LDS action and notes he feels a kinship with the Tigers:

The Tigers have much the same problem with their offense as the Angels do, i.e., not a lot of OBP, and so I feel a strange sort of kinship or at least familiarity when watching them scrap it out against the Yanks. Today's game was, save for Carlos Guillen's homer, a thing of treads and scratches, chip-chip-chipping away against Mister Moose, with their outstanding bullpen able to keep the Yanks down, one 100 MPH fastball after another.

Unlike the Angels, Detroit has no real positive record against the Yankees and so I'm less than enthusiastic when predicting their future success against the Bombers; it might just go to five, though, after listening to this gallant effort. Go, Tigers, because they're a great story, and because, dammit, they deserve it.

Of course, fans of the other seven teams feel their teams deserve it as much.

Just as an aside, have you noticed how this playoff is sort of an 80's reunion? Six of the teams won World Championships during the 1980s, the first shutout decade for the Yankees since the 1910's.

• 1981 Dodgers
• 1982 Cardinals
• 1984 Tigers
• 1986 Mets
• 1987 Twins
• 1988 Dodgers
• 1989 Athletics

Only the Twins, with a win in 1991 won a World Series since. If, however, you're looking for the streak of "teams who haven't won in a real long time winning" to continue, you should root for the Padres.

Josh Suchon reminds us that not only have the Athletics lost nine straight division clinching games, but they've done so in bizarre fashion:

Terrence Long lost a ball in the sun. Jeremy Giambi didn't slide. F.P. Santangelo muffed a routine grounder. Practically the entire team contributed to the worst defensive inning of all-time.

Billy Koch served up a back-breaking, ninth-inning home run. Eric Byrnes missed home plate and didn't go back to touch it. Miguel Tejada stopped running between third base and home.

The A's haven't just lost nine straight potential clinching games in the division series, they've lost them with some of the most bizarre, horrifying, and mind-boggling mistakes -- mental and physical -- in playoff history.

Those images, fair or not, are part of the A's playoff history. Right there with Joe Rudi leaping against the wall in Cincinnati, Jose Canseco hitting one into orbit in Toronto, and Dennis Eckersley's dramatic long uppercut fist pump after wrapping up the 1989 World Series against the Giants.

Nothing against the Twins, but this is one streak I'd like to see broken. Beane was the first GM to prove Selig wrong about the relationship of money to winning, and I'd like to see him rewarded with a playoff win for all his work.

Nick and Nick's Twins Blog finds the silver lining in the Twins series:

Similarly things look pretty down going into this afternoon's game. But here's something to remember: This series is already going down the trail of the regular season; starting off with everything going wrong before an incredible and unbelievable comeback.

Now, I make no predictions here, but who can't say that a great Brad Radke start and a Twins win wouldn't flow perfectly with what has already happened this year. I know that its tough to have faith in a guy who's shoulder is ready to fall off, but Radke has not given us any reasons to doubt him.

Nick notes honoring Kirby Puckett helped drive the Twins this season. He wants them to honor Brad Radke with the same drive today.

The Dodgers are coming up in the top of the ninth to face Billy Wagner. Martin, Anderson and Lugo are due up.

Update: Martin grounds out to shortstop. The throw was off a bit but Delgado made the tag.

Update: Anderson taps back to Wagner. Two out. It's up to Lugo.

Update: Lugo grounds out to short and once again Delgado makes the tag. Three of the four series start 2-0, but the Mets are the only team that maintain their home field advantage.

The Dodgers did the Padres one hit better, 5-4, and that one extra base knock was the home run that put them on the board. It wasn't a great day for California baseball, as the Padres and Dodgers combined for one run.

The Mets did everything well today. They spread out the Dodgers hits and they put ten of their own players on base. The even put the bat on the ball with men on base to advance the runners. as three of their runs came on outs. At worst, the Mets will need to come back for one more game at Shea. At best, they'll open the NLCS next Wednesday night.

Wilson Betemit homers off Aaron Heilman with one out in the 8th. The solo shot cuts the Mets lead to 4-1. Over the last two season, Heilman only allowed 11 home runs in 195 innings.

Two singles start the bottom of the sixth for the Mets. Valentin bunts and beats the dropped throw from the pitcher. Once again, the Mets load the bases. They hit 10 grand slams during the regular season, and hit .321 as a team with the bases full.

Update: Hendrickson comes in to face Chavez.

Update: Chavez grounds back to the mound, and Wright is thrown out at the plate. Franco pinch hits for Glavine.

Update: Franco hits a slow roller to short that catches Furcal in between hops. The Dodgers fail to turn the double play, just getting the force at second. That gives Franco an RBI and the Mets a 3-0 lead.

Jose Reyes follows with a single up the middle to make it Mets 4, Dodgers 0. That's Jose's first hit of the series.

Update: That's all the Mets get. The bullpen gets the chance to hold a four-run lead.

The bottom of the order gets on for the Mets as Valentin walks and Chavez singles to bring Glavine to the plate in a bunt situation. Tom wasn't able to lay one down his first time up, but he executes here in the fifth, bunting to the third baseman to advance the runners.

Update: The Dodgers intentionally walk Reyes, and Kuo is done. Tomko enters in relief. Tomko gave up 11 hits and 2 home runs in 6 2/3 innings against the Mets this year.

Update: Lo Duca hits a sacrifice fly to extend the Mets lead to 2-0.

Update: Beltran walks and the bases are loaded again.

Update: That's all the Mets get as Delgado grounds out to first. It hasn't been a good day for sourthern California offenses today.

Nomar picks up the first hit for the Dodgers with one out in the fourth. His infield hit ticks off the glove of Wright. Nomar was busting down the first base line, and about 3/4 of the way down, he looked like he was in pain. He's still in the game.

Update: Kent follows with a single to left. He's batting .500 so far in this series.

Update: Drew is down on strikes for out number two.

Update: A fly out ends the inning.

I just finished helping my daughter with her physics homework, but it looks like the only thing I missed was a single by Carlos Delgado. The Dodgers are yet to collect a hit, but they have draw a walk against Glavine. The Mets get the leadoff runner on to start the bottom of the third on an infield hit by Chavez.

Update: A wild pitch and two ground outs plate Chavez with the first run of the game. The Mets lead 1-0.

Wainwright retires the Padres 1-2-3 in the ninth, striking out the last two batters. The Padres managed just four hits, three singles. The Padres haven't scored in 12 innings and have just one run to show for their two game effort. The teams head to St. Louis with the Cardinals on the verge of clinching.

Tyler Johnson strikes out both Roberts and Giles to start the eighth. His pitches sweep across the plate, away from the lefties. With the shadows in the perfect spot, the best the two batters could do was foul off some pitches. Both are caught looking for the Ks. He gets his lefty batters, and La Russa goes to the pen for Wainwright for a four-out save.

Update: Barfield greets Wainwright with a double down the leftfield line.

Update: Gonzalez grounds out to second. The Padres are 0 for 10 in the series with runners in scoring position.

Once again, Blum walks with two out. This time, Bochy sends Mike Piazza to the plate to pinch hit.

Update: Piazza swings at the first pitch and flies out to right. The Cardinals need to get just six more outs to go up 2-0.

The Cardinals don't give Jeff Weaver a chance to blow up. They bring in Randy Flores to start the sixth inning. Good managing by La Russa.

Update: Flores allows a single to Gonzalez and La Russa goes to the bullpen for a right-hander. He brings in Josh Kinney. The rookie pitched 25 innings, striking out 22 and walking 8.

Update: Kinney ties Bard up inside. He swings, misses and falls down. It's still 2-0 Cardinals at the end of six.

Orel Hershiser points out the shadows are going to come into play soon, making it tougher to hit.

Blum walks with two out in the bottom of the fifth. Bochy lifts Wells for Klesko.

Update: Klesko goes the other way for a single. That brings up Roberts.

Update: Roberts strikes out on a 2-2 pitch to end the inning.

Weaver pitched five fine innings so far, allowing just two hits, although he's walked three. The Padres haven't generated any power against Jeff. He's at 78 pitches. It's still 2-0 Cardinals.

Preston Wilson starts the fourth with a line drive double over the head of Dave Roberts, putting a Pujols at the plate with a runner in scoring position.

Update: Pujols gets the single. Branyan tries to cut the ball off, but bobbles it. Pujols gets caught in a run down when the ball doesn't go very far from Branyan, but no one covers second and Albert ends up there anyway.

It looked to me like Branyan couldn't make up his mind if he should cut the ball off or let it go through. I thought it would be a close play at the plate if the ball does through. It's 1-0 Cardinals.

Update: With two out and Pujols at third, Edmonds grounds one up the middle. Walker dives and stops the ball but can't make a throw and the Cardinals lead 2-0.

Update: Roberts makes a nice diving catch on a pop down the leftfield line to end the inning.

Jim Edmonds runs down a deep fly hit by Giles to end the third. Both Weaver and Wells allowed three base runners through three innings, Weaver on a hit and two walks, Wells on two hits and a hit batter.

Juan Encarnacion is sent home on a two out single by Belliard to left. Dave Roberts makes a perfect throw to the plate, Bard makes a perfect tag, and Juan is perfectly out. Roberts only killed one base runner all season. The game remains scoreless in the middle of the second.

The Cardinals and Padres are underway. Josh Bard did indeed start, loading the lineup with lefties. He's up with two outs after Weaver walks two of the first four batters. Bard grounds out to end the inning.

Bruney strikes out two as he retires the Tigers in order in the ninth. The bottom of the order is up for the Yankees, but Matsui, Posada and Cano could bat anywhere. Jones is coming on for the save. The Yankees scored five runs in 2 2/3 innings vs. Jones this season.

Update: Matsui lines a single into center to start the ninth. Melky Cabera pinch runs.

Update: Jones throws four strikes to Posada, the last catching him looking for the first out.

Update: Jones keeps throwing strikes. Cano's seen seven pitches, most fouled off. He flies out to left on the eighth. It's up to Damon.

Update: Jones gets ahead of Damon 0-2. He hasn't thrown a called ball since Matsui's at bat.

Update: Damon works the count to 2-2, fouls one off his back knee, then flies out to center to end the game. We have the first split of the LDS, and they'll play two in Detroit.

It was a bend but don't break day for Verlander, and a tremendous performance by the bullpen. In 3 2/3 innings, the Tigers' relievers allowed just one hit while striking out four. The offense hit for power, producing just enough runs to win. Now they get to face an injured Randy Johnson tomorrow.

Zumaya gets Sheffield, Giambi and Rodriguez in order. He pitches A-Rod perfectly, moving the ball in and out and catching him looking for the third out. Tigers need just three outs to force a game four.

Scott Proctor starts the eighth inning for the Yankees. Mussina went deep in the game, but he gave up eight hits in his seven innings. He walked none, but five of the hits were for extra bases which cost the Yankees.

Update: Proctor walks Ordonez leading off the inning.

Update: Proctor get three fly outs to end the inning and keep the Yankees deficit at one.

Walker and Zumaya retire the Yankees in order in the seventh. Zumaya looked particularly impressive striking out Jeter. The Tigers just need to get six more outs to even the series.

I'm impressed Verlander came out for the bottom of the sixth. He's not quite at 100 pitches yet.

Update: Justin is replaced after 105 pitches in the middle of an at bat. Walker comes in can gets the last two outs of the inning.

Update: A hit, a passed ball and a bunt puts a runner at third with one out for Detroit in the top of the 7th.

Update: Granderson triples into the left-center gap to give Detroit the lead and keep a man on third with less than two outs.

The big difference between the Tigers and Yankees today is the power. That's the fifth extra-base hit for the Tigers to just two for New York. Detroit's slugging percentage was much higher this year away from Comerica, and that's coming through today.

Update: Alex Rodriguez spears a liner down the line and almost gets the double play at third, but Granderson just gets back. Mussina gets a fly out to end the inning, but the Tigers lead 4-3 at the stretch.

Correction: It's Justin, not Jason.

Carlos Guillen the batting MVP for the Tigers in 2006, homers in the top to the sixth to tie the game at three.

A double and a sac fly make the score 3-2 Yankees in the top of the fifth.

With one out, Matsui singles again and Posada walks again. Cano is up again.

Update: Cano swings at the first pitch and flies out to left. It's up to Damon.

Update: Damon smashes a ball down the line into the upper deck for a three-run home run. Verlander played with fire once too often.

Update: Jeter gets the first hit for a right-hander, a double into the left-center alley.

Update: Abreu grounds out to end the inning. It's a 24 pitch inning for Verlander. He probably can go one more.

Inge had trouble seeing a ground ball earlier, and now one goes by Sheffield for a double. The shadows and bright sunshine appear to be causing trouble. Carlos Guillen takes advantage as his hit goes for a double, and he's now at third with two out after a ground out.

Update: Monroe tries a surprise bunt with two out, but hits it right back to Mussina for the third out. It's 1-0 Tigers in the middle of the fourth.

Mussina retires the side in order in the third, the Abreu leads off the bottom of the inning with a single off the rightfield wall. He hit it so hard, he couldn't get to second.

Update: Sheffield grounds into a double play.

Update: Verlander strikes out Giambi. Verlander throws just 11 pitches that inning, bringing his total to 55.

Hideki Matsui reaches on a single leading off the second inning. All four Yankees lefies reached so far. Now Posada is up batting left-handed, to be followed by Cano. That gives the Yankees four lefties in a row 7-8-9-1. We'll see if that combination can break through on Verlander.

Update: Posada walks on a 3-2 count. That's five lefties all reaching base. Cano is up.

Update: Cano hits a slow roller down the third base line. Inge reacts slowly, but picks the ball up and tags third to get the lead runner.

Update: Jeter grounds to short to end the inning. Verlander's done a good job of getting out of trouble, but he's thrown 44 pitches so far.

Update: Damon flies out to the centerfielder in left-center. It's up to Jeter.

The Tigers draw first blood as Monroe doubles and Thames follows with a single over Cano to drive in Craig.

Update: Inge strikes out on a high pitch, but the Tigers lead 1-0 in the middle of the second. Mussina struck out four in two innings, continuing his history of high strikeout totals in the post season.

Johnny Damon goes down to get a low outside pitch. He pops it down the leftfield line, right between Monroe and Guillen for a single.

Jeter makes his second mistake of the game, popping up a bunt to I-Rod.

Update: Abreu walks on four pitches.

Update: Verlander just hit 99 MPH on an inside pitch to Sheffield.

Update: Sheffield strikes out on a two-strike curve ball. He showed nothing but fastballs to Gary until that last pitch.

Update: Verlander walks Giambi on a 3-2 count to load the bases for A-Rod. The 3-1 pitch hit 100 MPH on the radar gun.

Update: Rodriguez falls behind Verland 0-2, swinging at two 101 MPH fastballs. He doesn't waste a pitch. Instead, he freezes Alex with a curve ball over the plate for strike three.

Update: The Yankees alternate left/right lineup hurt them that inning. Verlander is better vs. righties. He pitched around the lefties and retired the righties. Maybe putting Abreu and Giambi back-to-back would be better for today.

The Yankees did get him to throw 20 pitches, however. If they can do that every inning, they'll get Justin out of the game early.

The Tigers and Yankees are underway. Detroit gets their first base runner with two outs when Jeter rushes a throw and pulls Sheffield off the bag. He had plenty to time to get Casey, but couldn't bother to set himself and throw. Gary almost made a nice scoop and tag, but the ball snow-coned in his glove and the collision with Casey knocked the ball away.

Update: The error doesn't hurt as Mussina strikes out Ordonez. However, it increases Mussina's pitch count. He threw 19 pitches in the inning, 13 for strikes.

The Tigers and Yankees play the make up game of their rain out at 1 PM on ESPN. Verlander and Mussina get the nod once again.

The Cardinals attempt to take a 2-0 lead from the Padres by sending Jeff Weaver against David Wells. I wonder if Bochy will start Bard at catcher today. Weaver has a huge lefty-righty split this season and with Bard Bruce can get six lefties in the lineup. Wells makes his 17th post-season start and his 27th appearance. He's 10-4 with a 3.15 ERA. Left-handers give St. Louis trouble, as their slugging percentage drops about 40 points vs. southpaws.

There was some hope that game 2 of the Dodgers/Mets series would feature Maddux against Glavine. But Greg will start in Los Angeles instead and Hong-Chih Kuo faces Tom in a battle of lefties. Left-handed pitchers are effective at reducing the Mets power at Shea, which is one reason Kuo is getting the start. Kuo, however, issues a lot of walks, which plays into another Mets strength. The Dodgers, on the other hand, hit better vs. lefties than righties.

Enjoy!

The Tigers-Yankees game will be made up at 1:00 PM Thursday. It seems there was poor communications about the cancellations.

"We wanted to get the game in. We thought we could," Solomon said. "The forecast indicated we could get in two, three innings tops and would have to stop against for an hour and a half to two hours. We didn't want to burn up two pitchers if we had that coming through. We reconvened, talked and we made a decision jointly with the commissioner."

Solomon said both teams were informed of the rainout at approximately the same time but not simultaneously because cell phones didn't work underneath the ballpark. He said Verlander hadn't warmed up fully.

"He did some soft tossing and some stretching, but he didn't do any real pitching," Solomon said.

The Tigers-Yankees game will be made up at 1:00 PM Thursday. It seems there was poor communications about the cancellations.

"We wanted to get the game in. We thought we could," Solomon said. "The forecast indicated we could get in two, three innings tops and would have to stop against for an hour and a half to two hours. We didn't want to burn up two pitchers if we had that coming through. We reconvened, talked and we made a decision jointly with the commissioner."

Solomon said both teams were informed of the rainout at approximately the same time but not simultaneously because cell phones didn't work underneath the ballpark. He said Verlander hadn't warmed up fully.

"He did some soft tossing and some stretching, but he didn't do any real pitching," Solomon said.

The Tigers-Yankees game was postponed. They'll play tomorrow, but I don't know what time yet.

The Tigers and Yankees are waiting for the rain to stop. I'll have the podcast of my radio show up in a little while if you'd like to listen to that while the rain keepps falling down.

Betemit starts the inning against Billy Wagner.

Update: Betemit drives a 1-2 pitch to the wall in the right field corner for a leadoff double.

Update: Saenz pinch hits and flies out to centerfield. Betemit tags up, and is almost thrown out at third by Beltran. The ball hit Wilson in the back as he was sliding.

Update: Furcal strikes out swinging on a 2-2 pitch. One out to go. Ramon Martinez pinch hits.

Update: Martinez doubles to the right-center gap. That makes it a one-run game, 6-5, and brings the go-ahead run to the plate in the person of Nomar Garciaparra.

Update: Nomar strikes out swinging at a pitch in the dirt, and the Mets win 6-5. The base running gaffe in the second inning costs the Dodgers. The Mets survive the El Duque injury, and now send Tom Glavine to the mound tomorrow. In the end, the Mets offense was just a little better than the Dodgers, which was true all season.

You can't even hope to contain him. with men on first and second and one out, Carlos picks up his fourth hit of the game, a single that scores Reyes. David Wright follows with a bloop double to score Beltran and the Mets are back up on top 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh.

Update: In the bottom of the 8th, the Dodgers just walked Beltran to load the bases for Carlos Beltran. He'll try to reproduce Jeter's feat of last night and go five for five.

Update: Delgado is finally contained as he strikes out to end the inning. The Dodgers are down to their last three outs.

The Dodgers scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game at four. Marlon Anderson was in the middle of things again as he starts the inning with a bunt single. Nomar topped it off with a double to drive in two and tie the game at four.

With Lo Duca at first, Carlos Delgado picks up his third hit of the day, a single that puts runners at first and third with one out for the Mets in the bottom of the sixth.

Update: Wright picks up his first post-season hit, a double down the rightfield line that scores both runners. The Mets take a 4-1 lead on the Dodgers. Lowe is at 90 pitches.

Update: Lowe issues an intentional walk, and Mark Hendrickson comes to face Green. Mark strikes out the former Dodger.

Update: Hendrickson hits Valentin to load the bases.

Update: Mota flies out to end the inning. He'll take the mound in the seventh with a three run cushion.

Maine allows a single and a walk in the fifth, and leaves the game with one out in the inning. He threw 80 pitches, 49 for strikes, walked two and struck out five. He got lucky in the second as bad baserunning cost Los Angeles runs. But it wasn't bad for an emergency start. We'll see if the bullpen can keep John's runners from scoring.

Carlos Delgado is making the most of his first post-season appearance. He collected both Mets hits so far, his second way up in the scaffolding behind the centerfield fence. That ties the game at one.

ESPN just showed a great slow-motion replay of Delgado's swing. He went down for the ball, swinging the bat more like a gold club. But his eye, arm and bat make a perfect straight line when he meets the pitch, perfect concentration.

Update: Cliff Floyd collects the third hit of the game, another solo shot , this time to right. That puts the Mets on top 2-1. Lowe's strength this season was keeping the ball in the park, as he allowed just 14 home runs all season.

There seems to be large flakes of dust or pollen blowing around Shea Stadium. You can see it on the centerfield camera. ESPN just showed a shot toward the outfield, and it looks like there's a fire coming from the new construction. I bet what I'm seeing is ash.

Kent singles to start the fourth, just as he did in the second.

Update: Maine strikes out two of the next three batters to retire the Dodgers in the fourth. He's how struck out five through four innings.

Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew single to start the second. Drew is a slow roller on the infield that moves Kent to second base.

Update: I can't believe what I just saw. Martin singles off the wall in the rightfield corner. The ball bounds straight to Green, who makes a perfect throw to the plate to nail Kent. But J.D. Drew was running behind Kent, and he gets tagged out as well! Lo Duca didn't see Drew at first, and tagged him at the last second. Drew wasn't trying to sneak in, he was waved in.

Martin ends up at second, and Anderson drives him in to make the score 1-0 Dodgers. After an intentional walk, all five batters in the inning have reached base.

Update: Anderson's hit was a double.

Update: Maine strikes out Lowe to end the inning.

I noted that the Dodgers didn't seem to score enough runs given their stats. Dodgers fans, did the team lose a lot of runners to base running mistakes this season?

With two out, Carlos Beltran walks and Carlos Delgado singles to put men on first and third for David Wright.

By the way, today is the 51st anniversary of the Dodgers winning the 1955 World Series, the first championship for Brooklyn.

Update: Wright grounds into a force to end the inning. No score at the end of one.

The Twins are coming up in the bottom of the ninth trailing 5-2. The bottom of the order, White, Tyner and Bartlett are due up against Street.

Update: White flies out to right. Two more outs to go.

Update: Tyner strikes out swinging. It's up to Bartlett.

Update: Bartlett singles to right to keep the Twins hopes alive. It's the first hit off the Oakland bullpen today in 3 2/3 innings of work.

Update: Bartlett moves up to second base, and Castillo walks to bring the tying run to the plate in the person of Nick Punto.

Update: Punto pops up a 3-2 pitch. Scutaro makes the catch behind third base for the Oakland win.

The Twins now have the Athletics just where they want them. The last two times Oakland went up 2-0 in the division series they lost both series.

The Twins pitchers are doing their job. They've kept the walks low and the Athletics scoring low. Two of today's runs were due more to sloppy fielding. The Athletics pitchers are just a little better. They've given up three homers, but all solo shots. They've only walked five themselves, and spread out the other hits.

The most amazing stat I saw during the broadcast is that the Twins lost seven straight playoff games at the Metrodome. The team with the best record at home this season hasn't taken advantage of their home field advantage. On to Oakland for Friday.

Game one of the Dodgers/Mets series will start on ESPN2, then go back to ESPN when the Athletics/Twins game is over.

Nathan enters the game with Swisher at third and throws a wild pitch to make the score 5-2 A's in the top of the ninth. Nick doubled twice and scored twice today.

With a man on first and two out, Mark Kotsay hits a fly ball to shallow center. Hunter runs in to catch it. It looked to me that the ball was going to fall in for a hit, and Hunter appeared to be heading to play it on a hop. But at the last second he dove and completely missed the ball. It rolls all the way to the centerfield fence, and Kotsay ends up with a two-run, inside-the-park home run. The Athletics lead 4-2 at the stretch.

Michael Cuddyer leads off the bottom of the sixth with a home run into the left field seats. That cuts the lead to 2-1. Two of the three runs scored by the Twins in this series came on solo shots.

Update: Morneau follows with a massive shot to the upper deck in right to tie the game at two. Loaiza goes two batters too long. Calero comes in and gets out of the inning.

Scutaro picks up the first hit of the series for either team with runners in scoring position as he follows Nick Swisher's leadoff double with one of his own. Scuarto later scores from third on Jason Kendall's first post-seaon hit. It's 2-0 Oakland in the top of the fifth.

Correction: First hit with runners in scoring position, not the first hit.

Boof Bonser's strike percentage is a little low as he puts men on 1st and 2nd in the second inning. He's struck out two so, but he's also walked one. The Twins pitchers need their superb control to continue to hold the Athletics run totals low.

Update: Bonser strikes out Swisher and gets Scutaro to foul out to end the inning. His ball strike ratio looks better now at 62.5%.

I must admit I don't know why you would start the Twins-Oakland game at 1 PM EDT when you have the Mets playing on the east coast. I know the overall ratings will be better this way, but a four PM EDT start allows more Twins fans to see a game and Oakland fans to take a late lunch at a sports bar. The two teams take the field for game 2 this afternoon (or morning) as Esteban Loaiza faces Boof Bonser. Loaiza's post-season experience is brief, but he's only allowed 2.35 ERA in 15 1/3 innings, mostly in relief. One thing working in the Twins favor today is that Loaiza did not pitch well away from Oakland this season, posting a 4-6 record and a 6.08 ERA. He was roughed for six runs in four innings at the Metrodome in April. He's 3-7 at the park in his career with a 5.66 ERA. Boof is making his post-season debut. One of Boof's strengths this season was his ability to get out lefties. With four lefties in the Oakland lineup, that could work in Boof's favor.

The Dodgers and Mets get underway at four PM EDT, but we don't know the identity of the Mets starter yet. Derek Lowe takes on either Orlando Hernandez or John Maine. Lowe pitched the Dodgers to the playoffs down the stretch, going 8-1 with a 2.39 ERA after August 1st. Lowe epitomizes the Dodgers staff; they allow hits but minimize the damage with few walks.

Hernandez and Maine are comparable pitchers. If you look at their time with the Mets, Hernandez posted better strikeout and home run numbers, but Main walked fewer. Fewer ball in play resulted in his for Maine, however. Orlando allowed a .236 batting average, Maine .211.

The Tigers and Yankees have something old and something new going in tonight's game. Rookie of the Year candidate Justin Verlander opposes grizzled veteran Mike Mussina. This will be the eighth post season for Mike. He's only 7-7, but he's suffered from poor run support. He's allowed 50 runs in the playoffs, 47 earned, good for a 3.30 ERA. His teams, however, only scored 51 times with him on the mound. In 128 innings, he's struck out 137 and walked just 29, impressive number for any stretch of that length.

Verlander got off to a terrific start, going 10-4 before the All-Star break. But he became hittable after. His batting average allowed in the first half was .241. After the break it was .300 as the league learned more about him. One of his poor starts in the first half came against New York as they scored six runs in five innings on seven hits and four walks.

Enjoy!

Due to Jeter's homer, it's not a save situation, but Mariano is on to pitch the ninth.

Update: Inge pops out to first for out number one.

Update: Granderson dumps a single into left. That brings up Polanco.

Update: Polanco grounds to second and Cano, Jeter and Phillips turn the double play to end the game.

The Yankees do what they do best, score lots of runs. Wang pitched well except for one bad inning. With only 93 pitches thrown, I'll bet Torre is thinking of bringing Chien back for game 4.

Derek Jeter collects his fifth hit of the night, a home run over the fence in dead center to put the Yankees up 8-4. He misses the cycle by a triple. The Yankees fans are just going wild, chanting his name well into Abreu's at bat. What hasn't he done in the post season?

Kyle Farnsworth starts the top of the eighth for the Yankees and Guillen draws a walk.

Update: I-Rod takes the first three pitches, the first two for balls. He launches one to left where Matusi catches it for the first out.

Update: Farnsworth strikes out Monroe looking. Two down.

Update: Kyle falls behind Thames 3-0, but works the count full and get Marcus to pop out to end the inning. The Yankees take a 7-4 lead to the bottom of the eighth.

Torre pulls Wang with two out in the seventh. Chien threw just 93 pitches and wasn't in any trouble. He bringing in Myers to face Granderson.

Update: Myers allows a home run to Granderson. It's 7-4 Yankees. I just don't understand why Torre didn't stick with Wang at that point.

Update: Proctor comes in and allows a hit to Polanco.

One reason Torre might have replaced Wang early is to bring him back in game 4.

Update: Casey lifts one down the right field line for a single to put runners on first and third with two out.

Update: Ordonez flies out to end the inning, but the bullpen came close to making Torre look like he made a very bad decision.

Damon and Jeter pick up back to back hits with two out in the sixth to put men on second and third. Jeter didn't win the batting title in the regular season, but it looks like he wants to win it in the post season. Abreu grounds one past a diving Polanco to plate both runners and extend the Yankees lead to 7-3. That's it for Robertson, and Polanco looked like the dive hurt his injured shoulder as well.

Craig Monroe hits a ball over the centerfield fence to score the first run of the game for the Tigers. It's a rare long ball against Wang who allowed 12 during the regular season, only five at Yankee Stadium.

Update: Placido Polanco doubles down the right field line to drive in Inge from first, and the Tigers are mounting a comeback. It's 5-2 Yankees with two out in the fifth.

Update: Casey doubles into the left-center gap and the lead is down to 5-3.

Update: Ordonez strikes out swinging to end the inning. The Tigers move into striking distance with four turns at bat left.

For the fourth half inning in a row, the lead off man is on. Damon squirts one past the left of Robertson for an infield hit.

Update: Jeter legs out a double on a hit and run, moving Damon to third. The shortstop Guillen covered instead of Polanco, and Jeter pulled the ball by the shortstop.

Update: Abreu smacks one into the right-center gap and drives in Damon and Jeter to put the Yankees up 2-0 in the bottom of the third.

Update: Sheffield goes the other way, the third straight hit into a power alley. The single plates Abreu and the Yankees lead 3-0.

Update: Another power alley shot, this one over the fence as Giambi hits the first home run of this series. It's 5-0 Yankees, and A-Rod becomes a leadoff man, coming up with none on and none out.

Update: A-Rod gets the sixth straight hit of the inning, a line single to left. He misses the power alley, however. Matusi flies out to deep center, and Posada down the rightfield line, Ordonez making a nice catch.

Update: Cano flies out to left to end the inning, but the Yankees bat around and score five runs. Wang returns to the mound with a nice cushion.

Marcus Thames doubles leading off the third, the second leadoff double of the Tigers in as many innings. Inge grounds out to third, holding the runner at second.

Update: Granderson hits the ball on the ground but it finds the hole between first and second to put runners on first and third for Polanco.

Update: Polanco grounds into a double play to end the inning. Jeter had to range to his right to get the ball. He and Cano did a good job turning the DP.

Robertson hits Giambi to start the second, bringing up A-Rod.

Update: A-Rod works the count to 3-2. He fouls off a couple of more pitches then lines hard to second. Polanco had to leap to catch the ball. That brings up Matsui.

Update: Matsui flies out on the first pitch.

I'm not sure this alternating left/right lineup is such a good idea versus Robertson. Righties are much more likely to get hits against Nate, so why not put two or three together in the lineup?

Posada, batting right, singles to put men on first and second.

Update: Cano grounds out to third to end the inning.

Magglio Ordonez gets a hold of Wang pitch that didn't sink and drives it to the wall in left center for a leadoff double in the second inning.

Update: Guillen walks. That sets up a double play.

Update: I-Rod squares to bunt on the first pitch but takes it for a ball. The runners go on the second pitch. Ivan swings and misses, and Posada throws out Ordonez at third. Magglio was 1 for 5 stealing this season, so if Ivan misses the pitch he was likely to be a dead duck.

Update: Rodriguez strikes out on a pitch in the dirt. Monroe hits the first pitch to short to end the inning.

Wang was having control problems in that inning. Rather than let them play out, Leyland tried to force the offense. In this case, it didn't work.

After a Damon ground out, Jeter gets the first hit of the game, a line single to left.

Update: That's all the Yankees get as Robertson pitches an effective first inning.

Chien-Ming Wang retires the Tigers in order in the first, two on ground balls. Polanco made the quintessential Wang out, a grounder back to the box.

The Cardinals don't score in the top of the ninth. Branyan is scheduled to lead off for the Padres trailing 5-1.

Update: Wainwright strikes out Branyan.

Update: Adam does the same to Mike Cameron. One out to go.

Update: Klesko pinch hits and flies out to left. The Cardinals take the opener behind their two big guns, Carpenter and Pujols.

Giles doubles with one out, breaking the streak of two straight innings with a one out triple.

Update: Two updates end the threat. The Padres are left with three outs to score at least four runs.

Dave Roberts triples to deep left center with one out to try to start a Padres rally in the bottom of the sixth. He picked up 13 three-baggers in the regular season, tied for second with Juan Pierre in the NL.

Update: Giles hits a sacrifice fly, not too deep, to center. Roberts barely beats the throw, but San Diego is on the board. It's 5-1 at the end of six innings.

Update: It's deja vu all over again as Branyan triples with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

Update: Carpenter walks Cameron, and that's it for him. Tyler Johnson comes in and hits pinch hitter Bard to load the bases.

Update: Bellhorn pinch hits, and not surprisingly, strikes out.

Update: As the parade of former Red Sox middle infielder continues, Belliard makes the play of the game on Todd Walker. Walker grounds the ball to Belliard's left. He dives for it on the outfield grass, spins and throws from his knees to throw out Todd at first. The threat goes by the boards and the Cardinals still lead 5-1 at the end of seven.

Pujols and Edmonds each pick up their second hit of the game in the fifth inning. A leadoff single by Carpenter leads to another run and a 4-0 lead for the Cardinals halfway through the game. Peavy still doesn't have a strikeout since the first.

Update: Carpenter helps himself with a 10 pitch inning in the bottom of the fifth. It's still 4-0 Red Birds.

Update: Encarnacion leads off the sixth with a single, but Piazza throws him out stealing. The post season just brings out the best in players. Belliard singles off Peavy's leg, and he's successful stealing. It's the fourth straight inning the Cards put on the leadoff hitter with a single.

Update: Molina drives in Belliard with the Cardinals 11th hit. That's it for Peavy who leaves with his team in a 5-0 hole. No rib problems this year, the Cardinals just got the best of him.

The San Diego Padres put the first two on in the bottom of the fourth as Roberts and Giles single. They're trying to cut down the 3-0 Cardinals lead from the top of the inning.

Update: Adrian Gonzalez Ks for the first out.

Update: Piazza grounds into a fielder's choice. He pulled it enough and it was hit slowly enough that the Cardinals didn't have time to turn the 6-4-3 DP, even with Mike running. Men on 1st and 3rd for Branyan.

Update: Carpenter strikes out Branyan to end the inning. The Padres did work the ace, however, getting his pitch count to 70 after four innings. Given the problems with the St. Louis pen lately, this inning may set up the Padres for better luck later in the game.

Albert Pujols fouled off three pitches in his second at bat against Jake Peavy, but the fourth one he met sailed over the centerfield fence for a two-run homer. Albert did a great job of waiting for his pitch, taking the ones outside the zone and fouling off the close ones. The Cardinals lead 2-0 in the top of the fourth.

Update: The Cardinals keep getting wood on the ball in the fourth and the balls keep falling for hits. Edmonds singles, then Rolen dumps a soft liner into right that he stretches into a double. Peavy's allowed four straight hits to start the fourth and hasn't struck out a batter since the first.

Update: A double play ends the inning. Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen all playing well would be a huge boost for the Cardinals this post season.

Update: Encarnacion swing at a pitch low and outside, but still manages to drive it to the warning track in the left where Roberts runs it down. Edmonds scores from third and the Cardinals lead 3-0.

Ben Kabak examines the lineup the Yankees are using tonight to see if it's the best one for the Bronx Bombers.

The Dodgers and Mets are more evenly matched than one might think from their paths to the playoffs:

2006 (NL Ranks)	Dodgers	Mets
Runs per Game	5.06 (4th)	5.15 (3rd)
ERA	4.23 (4th)	4.14 (3rd)

The Mets are a bit better scoring runs, and a bit better preventing runs. Let's take a closer look at the offenses:

2006 (NL Ranks)	Dodgers	Mets
Batting Average	.276 (1st)	.264 (8th)
OBA	.348 (1st)	.334 (8th)
Slugging Percentage	.432 (6th)	.445 (3rd)

It's surprising the Dodgers didn't lead the league in scoring with their ability to get on base and decent power. One problem for Los Angeles was double plays. They grounded into 140, the second most in the NL. The Mets were at the other end of the scale. Their 114 GDPs was 15th in the league.

The Mets power is the big reason they scored so well. With men on base especially, the Mets pounded the ball. The Mets ran the bases extremely well, succeeding in 146 of 181 attempts, better than 80%. So the Mets are very good at getting men on and into scoring position with their power and speed, then driving them around to the plate.

Now for the pitching:

2006 (NL Ranks)	Dodgers	Mets
Batting Average Allowed	.269 (10th)	.253 (2nd)
OBA Allowed	.330 (4th)	.323 (3rd)
Slugging Percentage Allowed	.418 (4th)	.407 (2nd)

The Dodgers give up hits but they don't walk many, keeping their OBA allowed low. The Mets give up neither. The strengths of the pitching staff match up well vs. the strengths of the offenses. During the regular season, the Dodgers outscore the Mets 32-29, but the Mets won the series 4-3. That's the kind of LDS I suspect we'll see.

The Mets announced today that Orlando Hernandez is hurt and is doubtful for Game 1. John Maine seems to be the obvious choice. He'll be on four days rest. He's certainly comparable to El Duque. I wonder if Aaron Heilman, who's wanted to start all year, will get the chance?

It's not like the Dodgers own a solid starting staff either. Penny pitched very badly in the second half, Hendrickson was a poor acquisition, and Billingsley just walks too many batters.

I'll call this one for the Mets in five, but with very little confidence. New York's offense is very good, and their ability to not make outs on the bases could be the difference in the series.

Roberts starts off the Padres offense with a line drive over a leaping David Eckstein. Since David and I are the same height, he's one of my favorites. But a taller fielder would snag that ball for the first out.

Update: Molina starts a nice 2-6-3 double play on a Giles bouncer in front of the plate and Carpenter escapes the first inning unscathed. It's 0-0 after one.

Jake Peavy looks strong in the first inning, retiring the side in order and striking out two, including Albert Pujols. Thirteen of his seventeen pitches went for strikes.

The Minnesota Twins saw just 99 pitches on the afternoon, only 2.9 per plate appearance. Given that only 57 of the 99 pitches were strikes, there was no reason for them to be swinging early. They allowed Zito to go eight innings, taking the uncertainty of the bullpen out of the game. It seemed to me Minnesota batters swung at many high pitches, and hence a number of fly ball outs. There were 9 ground balls vs. 15 fly balls in the game for the Twins, a very low ratio. For the season, the Twins' GB/FG ratio was 1.5:1.

It's a big win for Oakland. The rest of the Minnesota starters are not as intimidating.

Correction: I meant to write 15 fly balls. It's fixed now.

The Twins go to the bottom of the ninth with Cuddyer, Morneau and Hunter due up. They trail 3-1.

Update: Milton Bradley loses Cuddyer's fly ball in the roof. It lands behind him on the warning track and Michael ends up on third.

Morneau tries Bradley again, lining the first pitch right at him. Bradley catches the ball and holds Cuddyer at third.

Update: Hunter grounds out to second, scoring Cuddyer. It's up to White, who is two for three. White flys out to center to end the game. The A's win 3-2.

Crain starts the ninth for the Twins, and Frank Thomas greets him with his second home run of the game. That gives the Athletics a 3-1 lead and a bit of insurance.

With the score still 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Bartlett doubles to start the inning. Kendall tries to pick him off, but the throw is to the leftfield side of second base and Bartlett just sneaks back to the bag.

Update: Castillo grounds softly to third, holding Bartlett at second. One out.

Update: Punto grounds to second, advancing Bartlett to third. Mauer swings at the first pitch and flies out to left.

On the Punto grounder, someone faked out Bartlett, as he stopped halfway between second and third. If Ellis had thrown to third at that point, the A's might have tagged him out. Bartlett's head was not in his base running that inning.

Rondell White handles Barry Zito's changeup just fine, knocking out his second extra-base hit of the game. This time, he pulls it, sending it into the leftfield seats for a solo home run. That's it in a quick inning as the game goes to the eighth with the Athletics leading 2-1.

The Oakland Athletics lead the Minnesota Twins 2-0 through five innings. In most respects, Santana is outpitching Zito. Johan has struck out seven and walked none; Barry's managed just one K and two walks. Santana's thrown 46 of 63 pitches for strikes; Zito is about even. But Oakland managed to put their three hits together in one inning, and two of them were for extra-bases, including a solo shot by Frank Thomas. Santana is blowing the ball by them except for one inning, while the Twins aren't being selective enough against Zito, and the bad pitches they put in play are going for outs.

With two out in the bottom of the fifth, Rondell White brings the Twins fans to life with the first Minnesota hit of the game, a double into the right-center gap. Zito's had walked two up to that point.

Frank Thomas scores the first run of the LDS as he homers off Johan Santana in the top of the second. Zito threw 8 of 14 pitches for balls in the first inning, walking Castillo, but a caught stealing helped get Oakland out of trouble.

The Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins get the 2006 post season started today with a battle between lefty aces as Barry Zito faces Johan Santana. Zito's pitched well in the playoffs, striking out 32 batters in 32 2/3 innings, walking 11 and allowing just three home runs. That's good for a 2.76 ERA. He's not too tough on left-handed batters, however, something that could work in Minnesota's favor. Santana's been roughed up at times in the playoffs, but pitched 12 strong innings against the Yankees in 2004. His usual great control is missing, having walked 9 in 26 post-season innings.

Another fine pitching duel takes place in San Diego as Chris Carpenter takes on Jake Peavy. Carpenter and Peavy saw their first post-season action in 2005. Carpenter shut down the Padres, going six scoreless innings. Peavy didn't fare as well, allowing 8 runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Jake, however, is on a roll. He only made one bad start in the last two months. Carpenter's made four bad ones in the same period, including his last two.

The evening performance takes place off Broadway as the Tigers visit Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Nate Robertson challenges Chien-Ming Wang. Nate dropped his ERA for the fourth year in a row, finishing with a 3.84 mark. His strikeout, walk and home run numbers aren't much different from last year, but his hits per nine are down. Looks like the Tigers improved the defense behind him. As a left-hander, Robertson should cut down on the Yankees power somewhat. Home field advantage agrees with Chien. He's 11-3 at Yankees stadium this season, and his ERA is 3.03, over a run lower than it is on the road.

Enjoy!

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This ALDS matchup pits the team with the best ERA in the AL vs. the team with the best offense in the AL:

2006 (AL Ranks)	Tigers	Yankees
Runs per Game	5.07 (5th)	5.74 (1st)
ERA	3.84 (1st)	4.41 (7th)

The Yankees offense is a real outlier this season. New York scored .37 more runs per game than any other team. There's a bigger difference between the Yankees and the number two team in the majors, the White Sox than between the White Sox and the number eleven team. The worst hitter who is likely to start for the Yankees in the post-season is Melky Cabrera, and he holds a .360 OBA. One through nine, every hitter gets on base at a good clip. There is just no let up for a starting pitcher, no easy out. And on the bench is going to be Sheffield or Giambi or Cabrera, so when the situation is right, Torre's going to have the depth he needs.

The other point about the Yankess offense is it underperformed it's runs created estimate. So they are even better than they look. They can beat you in many ways. They can hit, they can draw walks and they can hit for power. They even are effective stealing bases, stealing at an 80% clip.

The Tigers offense isn't bad. Part of their lower number comes from their park. The Tigers hit the most home runs on the road this season, 122. Combine the extra scoring power with an even better ERA away, and the Tigers picked up the best road record in the AL. In a way, it helps them to play three games at Yankee Stadium. Here's a more indepth look at the offenses.

2006 (AL Ranks)	Tigers	Yankees
Batting Average	.274 (9th)	.285 (2nd)
OBA	.329 (12th)	.363 (1st)
Slugging Percentage	.449 (5th)	.461 (3rd)

It seems to me the Tigers had some luck to parlay those numbers into the 5th best runs per game in the AL. They did exceed their runs created estimate by .1 run. It turns out they did really well with a man on third and less than two out. Although they were last in sacrifice flies with 36, they hit .386 in that situation and slugged .584, well above their norms. They produced 222 RBI in 341 chances in that situation.

Here's a more in depth look at the pitching:

2006 (AL Ranks)	Tigers	Yankees
Batting Average Allowed	.257 (2nd)	.262 (4th)
OBA Allowed	.321 (3rd)	.326 (5th)
Slugging Percentage Allowed	.405 (2nd)	.413 (3rd)

It seems there should be a smaller gap between the Yankees and Tigers ERAs. The Yankees pitchers were quite unlucky this season with men on base. They allowed a .305 OBA and a .388 slugging percentage with the bases empty. With men on, however, the OBA went up to .355 and the slugging to .447.

In every case this season, the Tigers number reflect good luck and the Yankees numbers reflect some bad luck. This tells me that the difference between the two teams is bigger than the number indicate. A fully healthy Yankees offense can wear away at the best pitchers. Even if they don't score many runs off a good starter, they'll force him out of a game by the seventh on pitch count. The Yankees can score enough runs for Wang, Mussina and the front of the bullpen to survive. I give the Yankees the edge in this series.

The Cardinals and Padres offer a fascinating contrast, an extreme team vs. a balance team:

2006 (NL Ranks)	Cardinals	Padres
Runs per Game	4.85 (6th)	4.51 (13th)
ERA	4.54 (9th)	3.87 (1st)

The Padres own the best pitching staff in the National League, and one of the worst offenses. This kept them at .500 for most of the season. The Cardinals score a few more runs than they allow. This put them a few games over .500 for the season. Neither team outscores their opponents by much, but they simply approach it in a different direction. This leads me to a first conclusion that the teams are evenly matched. Let's look at the offenses in more detail.

2006 (NL Ranks)	Cardinals	Padres
Batting Average	.269 (4th)	.263 (11th)
OBA	.337 (5th)	.332 (9th)
Slugging Percentage	.431 (8th)	.416 (14th)

In terms of batting average and OBA, the teams are closer than their ranking indicate. Where they really differ offensively is in their power stats. That may be a bit of an illusion, however, since the Padres are third in the NL in slugging on the road at .443. Their offense really isn't built for PETCO.

Here's a more detailed look at the pitching numbers:

2006 (NL Ranks)	Cardinals	Padres
Batting Average Allowed	.268 (9th)	.249 (1st)
OBA Allowed	.337 (7th)	.312 (1st)
Slugging Percentage Allowed	.443 (13th)	.404 (1st)

Notice that the biggest weakness of the Cardinals staff, the tendency to give up extra-base hits, is also the weakest park of the Padres game, especially in San Diego. But the Padres pitching shuts down every part of the offensive game. So how will the Padres pitching do in the series? I expect close to their season numbers. The Cardinals own an average offense, so since Padres' pitchers season numbers are by definition against an average offense, they should hold up. Likewise for the Padres offensive numbers. The Cardinals are an average pitching staff, and the average pitching staff is successful against San Diego hitters. So if you compare the Padres batting averages vs. the Padres averages allowed, you see a clear advantage for San Diego.

It also strikes me that San Diego just has more pitching depth. After Carpenter, which Cardinals pitcher do you really trust at this point? It's good the schedule will allow Carpenter to pitch games 1 and 4. You can then possibly bring back Suppan on three days rest. But right now, I'll put my money on Peavy and Young. I'll give this series to the Padres in four.

The Oakland Athletics and the Minnesota Twins open the playoffs tomorrow afternoon. This is one of two series in the opening round that pit two evenly matched teams against each other. Both sport good pitching staffs and middle of the road offenses:

2006 (AL Ranks)	Athletics	Twins
Runs per Game	4.76 (9th)	4.94 (8th)
ERA	4.21 (4th)	3.95 (2nd)

Part of that great Twins ERA was Francisco Liriano, who is not pitching in the post season. Another big part of that ERA is the relief staff, who posted a 2.91 ERA. The Twins are very good at winning six inning games. If you don't score early and often, Minnesota can shut you down once the starter wears out.

Let look more closely at the offense defense. First the batters:

2006 (AL Ranks)	Athletics	Twins
Batting Average	.260 (13th)	.287 (1st)
OBA	.340 (7th)	.347 (5th)
Slugging Percentage	.410 (14th)	.425 (8th)

The Twins and the Athletics get to the same place in different ways. The Twins are a singles hitting team. Minnesota hit 1156 singles in 2006, the most in the majors by 72! The Oakland Athletics walk. Only the Red Sox drew more free passes in 2006. Despite the difference in slugging percentage, the teams hit for about the same amount of power, since the difference between slugging and batting average is about the same for the opponents. The Twins hit more doubles and triples, the Athletics more home runs. The Twins move runners with hits. The A's wait for the three run homer.

How do the pitching staffs stack up to these offenses?

2006 (AL Ranks)	Athletics	Twins
Batting Average Allowed	.271 (8th)	.267 (5th)
OBA Allowed	.338 (9th)	.312 (1st)
Slugging Percentage Allowed	.422 (4th)	.423 (6th)

And this is where the Twins win the Series. The strength of the Twins staff plays exactly against the strength of the Athletics offense. The Twins pitchers take away the walk from the Oakland Athletics. Twins pitchers issued 18 walks in 87 innings against Oakland this season. That's 1.86 BB per 9. Oakland averages over 4 walks per game. That held the Oakland offense to a .288 OBA; when you don't walk, your OBA approaches your batting average. Too few baserunners meant Oakland scored just 3.5 runs per game. Now, the season series was still close, but the Twins won it 6-4. That's exactly the ratio Minnesota needs for this series.

The difference in the teams is that the Twins are much more capable of putting a pitch in play for a hit. Since the Athletics won't be seeing many pitches to take, that gives a decided advantage to the Twins. Minnesota is my pick to win this series in four or five games.

Alex Rodriguez's mother blames A-Rod's post-season slump on the death of her brother:

Lourdes Navarro said her son kept the Sept. 30 death of his uncle to himself because he was committed to helping his team win.

"I think he should speak with the team and tell them that his uncle, who was like his father because he raised him since he was 8, died in a hospital in Miami," Navarro told Listin daily newspaper.

I didn't think A-Rod hit that badly. He did get on base. He was disciplined at the plate. The balls he put into play just didn't fall in. Compared to Guerrero's playoffs, Alex was Babe Ruth.

Erstad make a nice play on a hard grounder to Matsui. He flips to K-Rod for the final out.

Congratulations to the Angels! They executed their game plan. They put the bat on the ball and good things happened. The pitching was very good. Santana beats the Yankees for the third time this year.

A big cheer for Bengie Molina. He had a fantastic series. Garret Anderson didn't get on base much, but he had two big home runs.

The big bats for the Yankees, A-Rod, Sheffield and Matsui disappointed. There will be a lot of negative talk about Alex tomorrow on talk radio. But really, it was the team's defense that led to the runs that lost them the series. The Yankees need to address that problem if they are going to beat a team like the Angels in the future.

On to Chicago!

It's K-Rod versus Jeter to start the ninth inning.

Update: Jeter gets good wood on the ball and he lines a single into left.

Update: A-Rod grounds into a double play. He'll never hear the end of that.

Update: Giambi hits a single between the shifted second baseman and rightfielder. Bellhorn pinch runs. It's up to Sheffield now.

Update: Bellhorn takes second removing the force play.

Update: Sheffield chops one into short left field. It's fielded by the third baseman, but he has no play. It's now up to Matsui.

Update: Matsui falls behind 0-2.

Update: Womack runs for Sheffield.

Gordon comes in to pitch the eighth. We'll see how long he lasts. Matsui is moved to center.

Update: Gordon gets the first two outs, including a strikeout of Finley.

Update: A good inning by Gordon, getting the side 1-2-3. It's up to the Yankees offense now, and they have their best five hitters due up. The Angels need just three outs for a ticket to Chicago.

Jorge Posada draws a two out walk in the top of the eighth. Sierra will pinch hit for Crosby, and K-Rod will step in for the Angels.

Update: K-Rod has three saves this year greater than 1 inning.

Update: K-Rod throws a wicked curve ball for strike two.

Update: Sierra grounds out weakly to shortstop. The main positive for the inning is that the top of the Yankees order is coming up in the 9th.

Look at this boxscore. A-Rod and Giambi have done a good job getting on base this series, but Sheffield and Matsui haven't delivered.

Guerrero leads off the seventh with a hard single to center.

Be afraid, Tom Gordon is warming up.

Update: Anderson flies out to right.

Update: Molina flies out to center.

Update: Erstad flies out to right.

With all the deep fly outs, Johnson may be tiring. The Yankees may want to get him out of there before those turn into home runs.

Derek Jeter leads off the seventh with a home run in front of the water fall. It's 5-3 with no one out in the 7th.

Update: A-Rod hits the ball hard, but Cabrera is right there to throw Alex out at first.

Update: That's it for Ervin Santana. A fantastic relief performance. It was essetinally a start. He goes 5 1/3 innings, allowing five hits, two walks and a hit batter. He's bridged the distance from Colon to the setup men.

Update: Escobar is in to pitch.

Update: Giambi puts himself in scoring position with a blast off the right center wall for a double.

Update: Sheffield flies to right on a 3-1 pitch.

Update: Matsui pops up to Molina to end the inning. With two men on, however, the top of the order will come up one more time.

Erstad gets the first hit off Johnson, a double to lead off the bottom of the sixth.

Update: Rodriguez saves a run, but doesn't get the batter. He dives for a hard shot, looks the runner back, but the umpire says the throw was late. It was a very close play. The close plays appear to be going the Angels way tonight.

Update: Finley sacrifices the runners over.

Update: Johnson strikes out Kennedy. Figgins is up and he's struck out three times.

Update: Johnson falls behind 3-0.

Update: Johnson throws three straight strikes, but walks Figgins to load the bases.

Update: Johnson gets Cabrera to hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning. The top of the order is coming up for the Yankees in the top of the seventh, Santana still in. If they're going to make some noise, now is the time.

A 1-2-3 inning for Santana in the 6th. The Yankees are starting to run out of outs.

Randy Johnson gets three quick outs in the fifth. Maybe he should have started the game.

Update: Johnson's pitch count is just 22 after 2 1/3 innings.

Santana hits A-Rod to start the fifth.

Update: Giambi follows with a single past Erstad to put runners at 1st and 2nd.

Update: Santana gets ahead of Sheffield 0-2 and gets him to fly out to shallow left.

Update: The same thing with Matsui. Santana gets ahead 0-2, and Matsui pops to first.

Update: Santana gets ahead 0-2 on Cano. He strikes him out, but the ball gets away from Molina. The throw gets away from Erstad, but Cano is called out for not being in the running box.

I thought that was only called if the ball hit the runner. Maybe I missed something.

Also, why don't batters to remember to run in the box on plays like that? It doesn't seem like a tough rule to remember.

Randy Johnson has a very easy inning, getting the side in order with one strikeout. He looks a lot better than he did on Friday.

Santana pitches an easy fourth. He induces three ground outs. The only damage is a bunt single by Crosby.

Randy Johnson enters the game in relief of Mussina. He's facing Finley with men on 1st and 2nd and two out.

Update: Johnson gets Finley to ground out to Cano. The Yankees offense needs to make up for it's poor defense.

I didn't think Mussina pitched that badly. His defense let him down on the collision in right center. If that ball is caught it's a different ball game. He threw strikes (38 of 57 pitches, 67%) and struck out three. The Angels just had the ball fall in.

Cabrera singles to start the bottom half of the third. Vlad has a runner on base.

Update: Vlad drops a single into shallow right on a hit and run to put men at first and third with no one out.

Update: Cabrera started running three times in that last at bat. I'm not a big one for throwing to first, but a throw might have picked him off.

Update: Anderson hits a sac fly to centerfield to make the score 4-2. You could see Crosby yelling, "I got it!" on that one.

Update: Molina dumps one into shallow right field. If Sheffield was a little faster, he would have caught it. The Yankees defense costs them again. First and third with one out.

Update: Erstad grounds softly to Giambi, and Giambi throws home! He had no chance at Guerrero, why didn't he take the sure out?

The Angels put the ball in play. Against this defense, good things happen. It's 5-2 Angels.

Matsui actually makes a good play, reaching into the stands in foul territory to catch a fly. There are two outs, and Mussina is out of the game with Finley coming up.

Correction: Fixed spelling error.

Looking at the replay of the collision, I don't see Crosby calling for the ball. I haven't see a replay that shows Sheffield's mouth. I know it's loud there, but you still have to shout, "I got it!" at the top of your lungs.

Sheffield makes up for it a bit with a one-out single in the third.

Update: Santana gets through the inning without further damage.

I'm becoming more impressed with Robinson Cano in this series. This last at bat was good. He was very selective. He ended up smacking a ball a long way toward the centerfield wall.

Garret Anderson leads off the second with a home run to right to cut the lead in half. Molina follows with a single up the middle. It's been a tough second inning for the starters.

Update: Mussina comes back to strike out Erstad.

Update: Mussina walks Finley with two outs. A commenter mentioned that Santana was being squeezed. They squeezed Mussina on that pitch.

Meanwhile, Kennedy hits the ball to right center, and Crosby and Sheffield collide to allow both runners to score.

Tim McCarver doesn't know what he's talking about here. He says it was Sheffield's ball. If the center fielder can catch it, it's the CF's ball. The Yankees defense hurts them again as the Angels take a 3-2 lead.

Update: Figgins strikes out to end the inning.

Cano hits a ball down the first base line foul. Colon started off the mound after it, and now the trainer is out at the mound.

Update: Colon stays in the game.

Update: Colon goes to 3-2 on Cano, winces in pain, and he's done. Ervin "Magic" Santana is entering in relief. Santana was 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA against the Yankees this season. He walked 5 and gave up three home runs in 11 1/3 IP in two starts vs. the bombers. I assume he did very well with men on base.

Update: If Cano walks, it will be charged to Colon.

Update: Cano fouls off 3 pitches, then takes a ball for the leadoff walk. Good plate appearance by Cano.

Update: Cano gets thrown out trying to steal. The ball was high and outside, a good pitch for Molina to throw. The announcers think Bernie missed the hit and run sign. Williams follows up with a walk.

Update: It also possible that the pitch was such a poor one to hit that Williams decided it wasn't worth swinging, since he couldn't make contact.

Posada walks. The caught stealing looms large right now.

Update: Crosby singles to right! Bernie Williams tries to score on Vlad, and he makes it. Vlad's throw was a little off line, enough to allow Bernie to reach the plate before the tag. Bubba's earned his 2005 salary tonight.

Update: Jeter hits the ball a long way to right field, but Vlad catches it. Posada tags and scores to extend the lead to 2-0.

Update: The Angels smell the stolen base and pitch out, but it's a poor pitchout by Santana and Crosby steals the base.

Update: A-Rod strikes out to end the inning.

Mussina strikes out Figgins on four pitches, all strikes.

Update: A pretty play on a short hop by Jeter, throwing out Cabrera at first.

Update: Guerrero lines out to Matsui in left, who makes the basket catch. It almost looked like last night's play, where Matsui had the ball hit his torso.

Mussina throws just seven pitches in the inning. That's a very good sign for the Yankees starter.

Jeter starts the game with a single through the hole.

Update: Kennedy has to go deep into the outfield to catch a pop by Rodriguez. The Yankees batters are not working Colon so far.

Update: Giambi works the count to 3-2 then flies out to deep left.

Update: Sheffield checks his swing and grounds a ball to right field for a single. Jeter beats Vlad's throw to third.

Update: Colon strikes out Matsui to end the inning.

The announcers seem to think that Colon doesn't have his good stuff tonight. It was good enough that no one hit him that well. Jeter's single was the only ball pulled in the inning. It looked like he had the Yankees off balance to me.

The Yankees are going with their better defensive lineup tonight. Bubba Crosby will play center and Bernie Williams will DH.

There's just one game five this season, and it's tonight in Anaheim as the New York Yankees face the LAnaheim Angels for the right to fly to Chicago tomorrow and face the White Sox. Tonight features a rematch of game 1 as Mike Mussina faces Bartolo Colon. Both get a needed extra day of rest, Mussina for his elbow, Colon for his back.

The key to success with Mussina is the number of walks he issues. In game one, no Angels received a free pass. Mussina did not put batters away quickly, however, averaging 4 1/2 pitches per batter. The Yankees in general would much prefer a great, short outing to a Mussina getting hammered in the third, but that leaves them with the problem of getting the game from the sixth to the ninth. I see them with two alternatives:

1. Score lots of runs.
2. Use Randy Johnson.

Johnson last pitched Friday and will probably start game 2 if the Yankees get to the LCS. This would be his day to throw on the side anyway. One or two innings isn't going to kill the guy. I'm sure the Yankees know what Johnson did to them out of the pen in 1995. I'm sure the Yankees know what Randy did to the Angels in the 1995 playoff game. If he doesn't get the first couple of batters out, go back to Sturtze/Gordon/Rivera. But Randy's the best option Torre has for long middle relief.

Since joining the Angels, Bartolo Colon pitched poorly vs. the Yankees. Add last Tuesday's performance to his three regular season starts, and Colon has a 7.94 ERA vs. the Yankees over the last two seasons.

The Angels struck out seven times last night after just 13 in the first three games. The two by Rivera were particularly impressive, as both were extremely hittable balls. They were just in unexpected locations. The Angels batters need to get the bat on the ball again tonight to win.

Look for this game to go the Yankees way early and the Angels way late. If the Yankees can get a big lead off Colon they'll likely hold on for the win. If it's close going into the seventh, the outcome is more likely to be in the Angels favor.

Enjoy!

Mariano Rivera gets Guerrero to ground to second to end the game and send the series back to Anaheim. Six up, six down for Rivera, although he threw 35 pitches. He probably can't go two innings tomorrow, but at least there is a tomorrow for the Yankees.

Chacon proves to be one of the best pick ups of the year. He struck out five and walked just one, and deserved the win. However, Al Leiter, with his induced double play gets the W.

It was a pretty good day for going on short rest, as Hudson and Lackey both pitched well enough to win, but their bullpens let them down. Maybe we'll see more pitchers going on three days rest in the future.

Figgins leads off against Rivera.

Update: Figgins strikes out looking on a high pitch on the outside corner. One out.

Update: Cabrera bounces back to the box. Two out for Guerrero.

Cano and Posada draw walks. They're on for Tino with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. A wild pitch puts the runners at 2nd and 3rd.

Update: Tino pops out to center to end the 8th. Can Mariano get the last three outs without allowing a run?

Torre used Womack as a pinch runner in the bottom of the seventh, and I assumed he was going to play center. But instead, Torre moves Williams to center, puts Tino at first, and loses his designated hitter. Rivera, on to get a six-out save is batting in the #3 hole.

Update: Rivera gets the second out, catching Finley looking on a very hittable pitch.

Update: Kennedy grounds out to A-Rod, who makes a nice backhand play to end the inning. The Yankees need to get three more outs to earn a trip to Anaheim.

Robinson Cano leads off the seventh with a slow roller for a single.

Update: Bernie Williams flies out to shallow center. One out.

Update: Cano goes, and Posada takes ball four from Shields. The Yankees have drawn five walks through 6 1/3. Normally, I'd say that the Yankees would be dominating with that many walks. With all those walks, however, the Angels pitchers are not compensating by coming into the middle of the strike zone.

Update: Sierra pinch hitting for Crosby knocks a single into right, scoring Cano and tying the game at 2.

Update: Posada goes to third on the throw home. Jeter's up.

Update: Jeter grounds to third, Posada runs home, Molina makes the tag and the ump calls Jorge safe. The replay shows Posada getting his foot in a split-second before the tag. The Yankees lead 3-2 and have two on and one out for A-Rod. The Angels are going to the bullpen again.

Update: Escobar is in to pitch to Rodriguez.

Update: Escobar walks Rodriguez. Alex has a .182 batting average, but a .500 OBA in the series. Giambi is up with the bases loaded.

Update: Giambi strikes out. Sheffield's up to try to get the Yankees some insurance.

Update: Sheffield flies out to center, but the Yankees take the lead. We'll see if Rivera starts the 8th.

Bengie Molina singles, and Torre pulls Chacon so Leiter can pitch to Erstad. I wouldn't trust anyone in the bullpen right now except Rivera. There's one out and a man on first.

Update: Leiter does the job and gets Erstad to ground into a double play. The Yankees have nine outs to tie the game.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Alex Rodriguez draws a walk to bring Giambi to the plate as the tying run.

Update: Giambi's bat shatters, and he grounds out to second. That puts A-Rod on second for Sheffield.

Update: Sheffield singles to left, and Anderson makes a poor throw home. A good throw gets Rodriguez easily, but Anderson sends it up the first base line. That's it for Lackey. Shields is coming in to pitch.

Update: Just as Yankees fans might be feeling better about this game, Fox shows Leiter and Gordon warming up in the bullpen.

Update: Matsui grounds to first to end the threat.

Shawn Chacon issues his first walk of the night, giving Juan Rivera a free pass to start the sixth.

Update: Finley bunts Rivera into scoring position. That's how far Finley's offense has fallen, he's sacrificing.

Kennedy grounds to second, sending Rivera to third.

Update: Figgins lines a shot down the right field line, doubling in Rivera and giving the Angels a 1-0 lead.

Update: Cabrera follows up with a double to right center, and the Angels extend their lead to two. The way the Yankees are hitting tonight, that may be enough.

Update: Chacon comes back to strike out Guerrero to end the inning. The Yankees need to generate runs now. They'll have the top of the order in the bottom of the sixth.

Jorge Posada hits a two out double to left center, the first hit for the Yankees. A few years ago Finley might have caught that.

Update: Crosby grounds out weakly to the pitcher. Posada's double goes for naught. Lackey struck out Cano and Williams to give him six Ks through five innings.

Chacon is giving the Yankees just what they need. He's gone five allowing just one hit and facing the minimum. He's thrown 68; at 13 pitches an inning he should be able to go deep in the game.

Giambi walks again, but again the Yankees can't get any hits behind him. Matsui ends the inning with a 3-6 reverse force GDP. Lackey has not allowed a hit through four innings.

Hideki Matsui attempts to make a basket catch on a Figgins fly ball to left. The ball hit him in the chest and bounced away for an error. It's not clear what happened there, since it was an easy play. He might have lost it in the lights.

The Yankees continue to hurt themselves with their poor defensive play.

Chacon almost picks off Figgins, then Posada thrown Chone out stealing. The error is moot.

Update: Vlad gets the first hit of the game, an infield single. He then tries to advance when a pitch gets away from Posada, but Jorge throws him out to end the inning. Chacon has still faced the minimum despite two batters reaching.

Posada walks and Crosby bunts him to second. This is one game where buntin early may be a good idea. Especially with Crosby up.

Update: Lackey strikes out Jeter.

Update: Lackey strikes out A-Rod. Lackey and Chacon each have four strikeouts through three innings.

Chacon gets another 1-2-3 inning and another strikeout.

John Lackey pulls out his strikeout pitch, getting Matsui and Cano to K as retires the side in order. Two innings, and no hits on either side.

Chacon retires the side in the 2nd, striking out Erstad to end the inning. That's three strikeouts in two innings for Shawn. The most he's struck out in as a Yankee is six.

Lackey walks Giambi, but otherwise gets the side easily in the first. He's now walked twice as many as he's struck out in the series.

Chacon gets the Angels in order in the first, striking out Cabrera and Vlad to end the inning. A big strikeout night from Chacon would help the Yankees cause (and defense).

It's another impressive win for the Houston Astros. A season comeback is capped with a five-run comeback in this game. Congratulations to the Astros on winning this great series.

When the game went to extra innings, it looked like Garner ran for Berkman too early. It took a while, but the move paid off in a walk off home run.

Clemens adds to his legend, pitching three gutty innings, striking out four and giving up just one hit. He gets the win, and all the money spent to keep him in Houston this year looks well worth it now.

The Braves go home again. Farnsworth was brought in early because the rest of the bullpen was so poor yesterday. Yet things were turned around today, as Farnsworth gets hammered and the rest of the pen pitches well.

It's the Astros and Cardinals starting Wednesday in St. Louis.

Roger Clemens strikes out to start the 18th. He was swinging for the fences on the first two pitches.

Update: Clemens couldn't do it but Burke does. Chris deposits the first pitch into the left field seats for the win.

What an incredible game!

Clemens is facing the Jones boys to start the inning. Chipper grounds out to second for the first out.

Update: Andruw grounds to short, but the catcher playing first base can't scoop the low throw. Vizcaino gets charged with the throwing error.

Update: Julio Franco breaks his bat and pops up to short stop.

Update: Francoeur strikes out on a 3-2 count. How many innings can Roger last? He'll bat leading off the bottom of the 18th. He's probably thinking he needs to hit a home run.

Fans at the Juice Box are getting two games for the price of one today. We'll see if the second half of the double header ends in a shutout, at which point they'll start game three.

Devine relieves Brower to pitch to Ausmus. Brad is one of the four remaining starters still in the Houston lineup.

Update: Ausmus strikes out swinging.

Update: Brunlett strikes out swinging. Joey's been Devine so far.

Update: Biggio is up with Clemens on deck. Craig pops to second to end the 17th. Clemens will lead off the 18th.

Five players on Houston have fielded at multiple positions in this game. At one point, Ausmus was moved to first. He was moved back to catcher when Clemens came into the game because Roger is more comfortable with Brad behind the plate.

Brian Jordan pinch hits and doubles with one out in the 17th.

Update: Furcal grounds out to second, advancing Jordan to third with two outs.

Update: Giles waves at ball four and Clemens has his third strikeout of the game. With Pettitte needed for tomorrow and Oswalt tired from yesterday, Clemens is it for the rest of the game, likely.

Brower has an easy 1-2-3 inning to send this game to the 17th. It's now the longest post-season game in terms of innings.

Roger comes on to try to win the game for Houston. It's now tied for the longest post-season game. The Mets and Astros went 16 in game 6 of the NLCS in 1986 at the Astrodome. The Mets won that one.

Update: Franco strikes out looking on a high pitch. Franco almost gets himself thrown out arguing the call.

Update: Francoeur strikes out swinging. Looks like Clemens has his good stuff today.

Update: Langerhans flies out to end the inning. A great relief effort by Roger. The way this game is going, however, he may be in there for a while.

Wheeler gives Houston three scoreless innings. He walked three but only allowed one hit and struck out four. Houston gets another chance to win the game in the bottom of the 15th.

Update: Roger Clemens is on deck to pinch hit for Wheeler.

Update: Brower walks Biggio. Clemens will bunt.

Update: Clemens moves Biggio to second with a sacrifice.

Update: Brower walks Burke and now he's facing Ensberg.

Update: Brower falls behind Ensberg 2-0. He's not showing any control.

Update: Ensberg grounds into a double play to end the inning. On to the 16th! This will be the longest division series game in terms of innings.

We're eating dinner, but I heard the bases were loaded. McCann just struck out with the bases loaded for the 2nd out of the inning.

Wheeler pitches in the 13th for the Astros. He retires the top of the Atlanta order 1-2-3.

Thomson enters the game in relief and strikes out 2 in a 1-2-3 inning. Will inning 13 be lucky for one of these teams?

One of the commenters alerted me to this story. Lackey will start against the Yankees tonight on short rest. Washburn is sick. I acutally think this will give the Angels a better chance of winning the series.

Lidge is still on, he'll face three rookies.

Update: Langerhans is on first after a one-out single.

Update: McCann strikes out on a pitch outside in the dirt.

Update: Betemit is pinch hitting.

Update: Betemit strikes out to end the inning.

Reitsma is still in. Roger Clemens has moved to the bullpen. Lane files out to left to start the inning.

Update: Vizcaino flies out to right.

Update: Ausmus grounds out to the pitcher. To the 12th!

Lidge comes on to pitch the 11th.

Update: Houston may be in a bit of an offensive hole, as Berkman, Lamb and Bagwell are out of the game. Furcal does his job and draws a walk to start the inning.

Update: Giles tries to bunt and pops out to the pitcher.

Update: Furcal steals second, although the Astros argue he left the bag was tagged. They don't argue very much, however.

Update: Lidge pitches carefully to Chipper and walks him.

Update: Andruw Jones strikes out on a pitch in the dirt. The old man, Julio Franco, gets a chance to extend the inning.

Update: Furcal steals third on a 1-1 pitch.

Update: Chipper takes 2nd on a 2-2 pitch. It's 3-2 to Franco, and he grounds out to second base.

The Braves get a hit but no runs in the top of the 10th. Reitsma is in to pitch in the bottom of the 10th.

Update: Biggio pops out to short to start the 10th.

Update: Luke Scott hits a ball down the left field line that the crowd thought was a home run, but the umps called it foul. It looks to me like it was foul on the replay.

Update: Scott grounds out to second on the next pitch.

Update: Berkman doubles to left center. Burke runs for Berkman. Ensberg is issued the intentional walk, and Bagwell will pinch hit.

Update: Reitsma gets ahead of Bagwell 0-2.

Update: Bagwell flies out to left. This one is going to 11.

The Braves failed to score in the top of the ninth. The Astros have three outs to score a run.

Update: ESPN confirms this is the first post-season game with two grand slams.

Update: Lane grounds out to start the ninth.

Update: Farnsworth gets Vizcaino to strike out looking. Ausmus bats.

Update: Ausmus sends a ball to deep center, and it just hits over the yellow line for a home run! Go Dartmouth! The game is tied at 6.

Update: Brunlett strikes out to end the inning. We'll go the tenth.

What a waste of a great start by Hudson. With the Braves bullpen, Atlanta is in trouble now.

The Braves extended their lead to 6-1 on a McCann home run, his second of the series.

The Astros start the bottom of the 8th with singles by Ausmus and Brunlett to start the 8th. That chases Hudson from the game.

Update: Farnsworth is in, I assume for all six outs.

Update: Biggio forces Ausus at third. For the second play in a row, the Braves fail to hold a bag however, and Franco fails to complete the double play.

Update: With Luke Scott at the plate, the ball gets by McCann and the runners move up.

Update: Scott checks his swing and draws a walk. The bases are loaded for Berkman.

Update: Grand slam for Berkman! I don't know off the top of my head, but two grand slams in one post-season game can't have happened very often.

Update: Farnsworth comes back and strikes out Ensberg.

Update: Lamb flies out to deep right to end the inning. The Braves still have a 6-5 lead and need three outs to send the series back to Atlanta.

Update: I just looked at my 2000 Record Book, and through 1999 there were no games with 2 grand slams in the post-season.

The Astros are trying to launch a comeback in the fifth. They've had two singles sandwiching an out to put runners on 1st and 2nd.

Update: Ausmus singles up the middle on a 3-1 pitch to load the bases. The pitcher's spot is up next.

Update: Palmeiro is pinch hitting for Gallo.

Update: The Astros score on a sac fly to center by Palmeiro. The Braves will be happy to trade the run for the out there.

Update: Biggo flies out to left to end the inning. It's 5-1 after five.

Giles singles to start the fifth, then Chipper Jones hits a fly down the left field line that hits just in front of the 315 sign, right on the line. Berkman was playing Chipper to pull and could get to the ball. The Braves have men on 2nd and 3rd for Andruw Jones. AJ fouls out to deep left to drive in Giles, and it's 5-0 Braves.

Update: Gallo relieves Backe.

It's 4-0 after four innings. Hudson is throwing a one-hitter and has only thrown 45 pitches. Backe's allowed more runs than hits, and has thrown 67 pitches. If Backe doesn't go deep into the game, that might weaken the bullpen for tomorrow.

Hudson gets the Braves in order in the third, striking out Biggio for the second time to end the inning. Going on short rest, Tim is being efficient, throwing just 12 pitches an inning, two thirds for strikes.

A much better plate apperance for Furcal in the thrid inning. He worked the count full, fouled off a couple of pitches, then checked his swing on a high pitch for the walk.

Update: Giles forces Furcal, but Chipper Jones walks to put two men on for Andruw Jones.

Update: Backe's control problem continues. He tries to pitch A. Jones tight again and this time Brandon hits Andruw. The bases are loaded for LaRoche.

Update: LaRoche slams the ball over the right center fence for a grand slam. The Braves lead 4-0 in the third.

Update: Francoeur flies out to end the inning. Backe's pitch total is now 55 after getting the side on six pitches in the first.

Mike Lamb gets the first hit off Hudson, a one-out single grounded hard up the middle.

Update: Lane is the second strike out of the inning. Hudson is getting the Houston batters to swing and miss a lot, and it appears they're swinging at balls out of the strike zone. The Astros may want to try to take a few pitches.

Everett flies out to right to end the inning.

Backe starts Andruw Jones off with some chin music, backing him off the plate. It can be a mistake to come in too high and tight to a slugger like that. Graig Nettles used the knock down pitch as motivation to hit a homer. Jones takes a curve ball for a strike, then knocks a double just fair down the left field line.

LaRoche follows with a strike out.

Update: Francoeur swings at the first pitch and pops it out. I don't quite understand why Francoeur bats in front of Langerhans. Ryan is better at getting on base, so you'd think Francoeur's power would be more useful behing the good on-base player.

Update: Langerhans draws a walk. The Braves have men on 1st and 2nd with two out for McCann.

Update: McCann grounds out slowly to shortstop to end the inning.

Hudson starts the game by striking out Biggio on three pitches.

Update: Hudson has an equally easy first inning, getting Berkman to ground out on the first pitch to end the first. He throws six pitches, all of them strikes.

Furcal swings at the first pitch and flies out to right field.

Update: Giles swings at the second pitch and is out when the ball hits him in fair territory.

Update: Jones flies out to right to end the inning. Backe throws just six pitches. That's a great start for Houston, as Backe tends not to last deep into games.

The Braves send Tim Hudson to the mound on short rest to try to stave off elimination. Hudson pitched well in his one start on short rest this season, shutting out the Mets for eight innings. Hudson's problem in game 1 was his lack of strikes thrown. Only 56 of 99 pitches went for strikes, resulting in five walks and a hit by pitch. For his career, Hudson walks less than three batters per 9 innings. I would suspect we won't see that kind of performance again.

Brandon Backe takes the hill for the Astros. Backe pitched well for the Astros in last year's post-season, much better than he pitched during the regular season. The Astros are hoping he'll do the game this year. He already has one scoreless inning of relief, pitching in game two, throwing just seven pitches to get through the inning. However, Backe, faced with starting all year, saw a huge fall off in his strikeout rate. Like Sosa last night, Backe doesn't go deep into games, so look for the bullpen to be called in early to finish off this one.

In New York, rain soaked Yankee Stadium will be the venue for the second do or die game of the day as the Angels send Jarrod Washburn against Shawn Chacon. Chacon won his last three regular season starts, allowing 1 run in 22 2/3 innings vs. the Blue Jays and Orioles. The Yankees want to pitch Chacon at home, where his only poor start was against Boston, than on the road, where his only poor start was against Seattle. For some reason, he strikes out more batters at the Stadium, so it's likely the right move.

I find it interesting that the Angels are going with Washburn tonight and Colon tomorrow instead of Colon and Lackey. Washburn's home and road records are mirrors of each other; 2-6 at home, 6-2 on the road. His road ERA is 1.35 runs lower than at home. That road ERA includes a 7 2/3 innings, 1 run performance at Yankee Stadium. However, Washburn is still the fourth starter on this team. If he loses, the Angels send Colon out tomorrow, and the Yankees hit him well this year. Not only that but Mussina will have an extra day of rest, and that has helped him lately. If the Yankees win tonight, they're set up well to win the series tomorrow.

Of course, Scioscia could always decide to throw Lackey tomorrow, too.

Enjoy!

Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals! They completed a sweep of the San Diego Padres last night with a decisive 7-4 victory. And the biggest heroes weren't the biggest stars:

With shortstop David Eckstein providing an early two-run homer among his three hits and starting pitcher Matt Morris providing six encouraging innings, the Cardinals sucked any remaining suspense from their clincher early. Left fielder Reggie Sanders capped a record NL Division Series with two late RBIs that left him with 10 for the sweep.

The Cardinals killed the mediocre starting pitching of the Padres. San Diego's bullpen did a good job last night, allowing just two runs in 7 1/3 innings of work, but it was too little too late.

The 1-2-3 hitters for both teams told the story of the series. The Cardinals kept the top of the Padres order off base. Roberts, Lorretta and Giles all posted OBAs below .300 during the series, while Eckstein, Edmonds and Pujols were all well over .400. No one set the table for San Diego, while Reggie Sanders always had a big meal to devour. The Cardinals earn three days off before the start of the NLCS in St. Louis.

Matt Morris gets the Padres 1-2-3 in the first. So far, the pitching is favoring the Cardinals.

David Eckstein leads the game off with a single. I don't know how long I'm going to stay up. I'm sort of hoping that one team blows the other out early so I can get to bed.

Update: Williams gets Edmonds looking for the first out.

Update: For the second batter in a row, Williams falls behind 3-0. This time, Albert smacks the 3-0 pitch to the wall in right to drive in Eckstein. It's 1-0 Cardinals in the first.

Update: Walker chops out to Williams, sending Pujols to third.

Update: Sanders falls behind 1-2 but lays off three curve balls to draw a walk.

Update: Grudzielanek flies out to end the inning. Williams did not throw strikes and was lucky to get out of the inning with just one run.

The pitcher's spot and top of the order is due up for Atlanta in the 9th. They need four runs to tie.

Correction: Sorry, it's McCann, Pitcher, Furcal.

McCann strikes out, and Franco is pinch hitting for the pitcher.

Update: Lidge starts the inning, of course.

Update: Franco drops a single into right.

Update: Giles strikes out to end the game. Sosa's inability to go deep costs the Braves this game. Houston can clinch at home tomorrow afternoon.

Update: Pete Orr pinch runs, and Furcal flies out to right. Furcal is 0-5 tonight.

Giles singles to start the 8th, the first time an Atlanta table setter reaches in the game.

Update: Chipper Jones flies out, and that's it for Oswalt. He throws 106 pitches, 70 for strikes. He ends the night with seven strike outs. Now we'll see if the Houston pen can do a better job than the Atlanta relievers.

Update: Like the Atlanta relievers, Wheeler is greated with a double to drive in Giles. It's 7-3 Atlanta. LaRoche flies out for the second out.

Update: An Adam Everett throwing error (Lamb couldn't scoop the ball) puts runners at first and third as Francoeur reaches.

Update: Gallo is in to pitch, and Jordan is pinch hitting. Where's Julio?

Update: Jordan grounds off Gallo's body to Biggio who forces the runner at second. The Braves get just one run.

Craig Biggio doubles leading off the bottom of the 7th, his third of the game and fourth of the series. The Houston 1-2 hitters are four for seven so far tonight; Furcal and Giles are 0 for 7.

Update: Taveras fails to bunt Biggio over, but with two strikes he beats out an infield hit to put runners on first and third with no one out.

Update: LOOGY Foster comes in and switch hitter Lance Berkman hits the first pitch into left to drive in Biggio and make the score 4-2 Astros. Not a good night for the Atlanta bullpen so far.

Update: Joey's in to make Devine intervention.

Update: Ensberg doubles in Taveras and it's 5-2. That's seven doubles for the Astros in the game and the first four hitters against the Atlanta bullpen get hits. The streak stops with Lamb, who is intentionally walked.

Update: The merry-go-round continues as Lane singles to left to make it 6-2 Houston. Six up, six on for the Astros so far in the 7th.

Update: Brower in, and he finally gets an out. Unfortunately, it's a deep fly to center and the Astros score again on the sac fly, extending the lead to 7-2.

Update: Brower gets Ausmus to hit into a double play to mercifully end the inning. With two innings to go against Oswalt and the pen, it's going to be tough for the Braves to come back.

Houston still lead 3-2 after six innings. Oswalt and Sosa are nearly even in number of pitches thrown, Roy with 91 and Sosa with 90. That's usually the limit for Sosa, so we'll see if he comes out for the 7th.

They pinch hit for Sosa, so he is indeed done. Not a bad start at all.

Update: The Braves don't score in the top of the 7th. Reitsma relieves Sosa in the bottom of the inning.

Roy Oswalt settled down after the 2nd inning. He threw 30 pitches in that inning, 33 in the other four. Forty three of them went for strikes. The Astros lead 3-2 in the middle of the fourth.

Lamb does an excellent job on a low pitch, depositing it into the right field stands to give the Astros a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third.

With two outs, Craig Biggio hits his second double of the game, this time pulled down the left field line. Taveras flies out to center to end the inning.

Francoeur grounds into a double play. The throw pulled Lamb off the bag, and Francoeur put his shoulder down and tried to push Lamb over. Mike used Francoeur's momentum against him and Jeff ended up on his keister.

Update: McCann bloops a single into left to score LaRoche. It's 2-1 in the top of the second.

Update: Jorge Sosa helps his cause, singling in Langerhans to tie the game. Sosa hit .097 during the regular season.

Update: Furcal grounds out to third on a nice play by Ensberg. It's 2-2.

The Braves really worked Oswalt in that inning. He's up to 42 pitcheds after two innings, 30 coming in the second.

Biggio leads off the bottom of the first with a double to deep left. Langerhans leaped at the wall and got his body on the ball but didn't catch it.

Update: Taveras strikes out looking on a pretty pitch on the outside corner.

Update: Sosa hits Berkman with the next pitch. It's faster than pitching Lance carefully then walking him. :-)

Update: Ensberg comes through with another big hit, doubling down the left field line to drive in Biggio. The Braves are walking Lamb to load the bases.

Update: Everett hits a sacrifice fly to right center, making the score 2-0. The Astros could have won a lot more games this year if they had scored two runs more often. Ausmus flies out to end the inning, and Oswalt has a little cushion.

Furcal grounds out to second to start tonight's game.

Update: Giles grounds out to first base.

Update: Oswalt gets the side in order as Chipper Jones flies out to left. It was a bit of an adventure for Berkman as he almost overan the ball.

Oswalt throws just 12 pitches in the inning.

Today's game between the Angels and Yankees is rained out. They'll play tomorrow night at 8 PM. Game five, if needed will be played in Anaheim on Monday.

The Yankees left Mike Mussina in Anaheim so he didn't have to travel. I wonder if they'll bring him back, or go with Chacon and give Mike the extra day of rest? I would be inclined to do the latter. More rest is better for Mussina right now.

I also wonder if Colon will pitch game 4 tomorrow. He's been lit up by the Yankees all year.

Update: Fox reports the pitching matchup will be the same.

Harold Reynolds suggested on Baseball Tonight that Randy Johnson was tipping his pitches. Now, Orlando Cabrera says that Johnson used to do that:

Orlando Cabrera, who is 9 for 24 (.375) off Johnson in his career, admitted he had a little help putting up some of those numbers. When Cabrera was with the Montreal Expos, he said he and his teammates could tell by Johnson's glove position whether he was about to throw a slider or a fastball.

Maybe that was back last night. Of course, the Angels hit everyone who took the mound last night, so maybe they have a book on the team. :-)

The White Sox are finally getting some respect in Chicago:

The afternoon was full of pivotal moments atypical in Chicago baseball. The White Sox took a 4-2 lead on Paul Konerko's home run, sending the crowd at McGee's Tavern into chants of: "Paul-ee, Paul-ee!'' This is the same bar, at Sheffield and Webster, that this summer relegated the Sox to one TV while the Cubs filled the rest. Friday, the South Siders were on all 65 sets.

The Sox are so white hot they're even pushing the Bears and Cubs aside:

Stores that wouldn't dream of carrying Sox merchandise during the regular season are starting to put Sox hats, jerseys and other souvenirs on their racks.

"We usually just have a couple of hats and jerseys, but now we have jerseys with names and numbers, division champ hats, everything,'' said John Moorehouse, manager of Wrigleyville Sports, 959 W. Addison.

And the Sox are getting prominent placement, on a rack at the front of the store.

"It was Bears stuff until this week,'' Moorehouse said.

Good for them.

Amalie Benjamin notes that Ortiz and Ramirez played well yesterday, but had no one on base:

Three solo homers, all the runs the Red Sox scored yesterday in their 5-3 loss to the ALCS-bound White Sox, came off the bats of Ramirez and Ortiz, including back-to-back screamers in the fourth inning. But, it seemed, they had been quiet, too quiet.

Their problem? Yesterday, at least, it was simply that their at-bats kept coming with no one on base.

''They've got to do the damage when they can do the damage, guys on or guys not on," Mike Timlin said. ''It's good to see them both swinging the bat. Those two guys can go and hit a home run and lift everybody else and everybody else starts hitting. We just didn't hit enough as a team. They outpitched us, I guess."Ramirez hit two home runs yesterday, yet never batted with a player on base. Ortiz, though, had his chance. And, it seemed for a brief moment, he had taken advantage. He came up, with two down in the fifth inning, with Johnny Damon and Edgar Renteria aboard. The pitch shot off his bat, bound for the deepest part of the ballpark, sinking far too quickly for any Red Sox fan's taste. And Rowand, back on the warning track, gathered it in.

David Ortiz gets a lot of credit for his late inning heroics, but often he got the chance because the hitters in front of him extended the inning to get Papi to the plate. Graffanino, Damon, Renteria somehow managed to prevent that third out until they could hit the middle of the order. Ortiz got the glory for driving them in, but without their contributions during the season, Papi would not be in the race for the MVP. Table setters are clutch, too. With the White Sox shutting them down, the sluggers didn't have the chance to get the clutch hit. Ortiz was left on deck.

Filip Bondy of the Daily News sums up Randy Johnson's performance last night:

If this is where the season ends, then Johnson becomes the biggest baseball disappointment of the year in New York. Bigger even than Carl Pavano or Jaret Wright in the Bronx, or Carlos Beltran in Queens. Johnson's acquisition was supposed to mean a long October for the Yanks, more than anything else.

All over the major leagues these days, ex-Yankee pitchers collectively are an extraordinary staff-in-exile. Orlando Hernandez shut down the Red Sox yesterday, sent them packing. Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens and Jose Contreras still are pitching in the playoffs.

They are all missed at the Stadium, where Johnson struggled so badly.

The Yankees never really recovered from the Clemens/Pettitte departures. Given Andy's arm trouble in 2004, you can't totally blame the Yankees for letting the lefty go. But the replacements, old and young, never quite worked out.

And there appears to be no easy fix. More old free agent pitchers? Trading an offensive star? Those may be quick, but they haven't worked. Building from within takes time, especially when other teams are getting first round picks from your signings. Wang and Chacon appear to be the future of the Yankees rotation at this point, and I wouldn't want to base this pitching staff on two guys who get lots of balls in play.

Amazingly, the Angels don't score in the ninth. The Yankees now need to get four runs off K-Rod.

Update: Matsui reaches on a infield single. Hideki's done a great job of leading off innings tonight.

Update: Cano forces Matsui for the first out.

Update: Williams flies out to Finley. Sierra is pinch hitting for Martinez.

Update: Sierra strikes out to end the game. The Angels win back home field advantage. It came down simply to the Angels finding a few relievers who could pitch, while the Yankees had none. The Angels just need a split to earn a trip to Chicago.

Jeter homers leading off the bottom of the 8th. He goes to the opposite field, as so many of his Yankee Stadium homers. It's 11-7 LAnaheim.

Update: That all the Yankees get in the 8th. On to the ninth.

Chone Figgins hits a ball over Matsui's head for a triple. Matsui got back to the wall, but was too far to the left. He had to run the ball down, then his throw was off line. If he had been able to take an angle to the ball rather than running straight back, I think he would have caught it.

Update: Jose Molina picks up where his brother left off and drives in the Angels' tenth run of the game. Can no one on the Yankees pitch?

Update: Garrett Anderson gets his fourth hit and fifth RBI to make it 11-6.

Kelvim Escobar does his job, getting the side in order in the seventh. While I enjoy the excitement of the scoring threats, it's nice to see a well pitched inning once in a while.

Tom Gordon is on in relief of Sturtze. He gives up a single to Vlad, although Guerrero hits it off the left field wall. He just hit it so hard, Vlad couldn't get past first.

Update: Gordon hits Molina on his left elbow, and Bengie is in pain. That puts runners on 1st and 2nd with none out.

Gordon isn't pitching well. The Yankees should not be patient with any of their pitchers at this point.

Update: Jose Molina comes in to pinch run. Bengie could not continue in the game.

Update: Anderson gets a seeing eye base hit between first and second. Sheffield tries to throw Vlad out at the plate, but the ball is kicked by Vlad and Molina goes to third. Gordon's not gettng the job done.

Update: Strange defensive play, and I'm not sure who to blame. With the infield in, a ball is hit to A-Rod. Alex looked like was going to throw to first, then realized there was a runner headed for second. He threw to second, but Cano's foot came off the bag on the stretch. The throw was there in plenty of time. I guess Cano thought he'd get the neighborhood play. I've seen a lot worse called out. The Angels have the bases loaded.

Update: Al Leiter is in. I think the Yankees really want a Bud Light.

Update: Leiter strikes out Erstad.

Update: Finley squeezes in Molina to make the score 9-6. That's the second squeeze of the day.

Update: Leiter gets out of the inning. Do the Yankees have another comeback in them?

A one out single by A-Rod and a two-out walk by Sheffield put men on 1st and 2nd for Hideki Matsui. Godzilla has a homer and a walk, and score two runs. He started the two comeback innings for New York.

Update: Shields walks Matsui to load the bases for Cano. Robinson's gotten the big hits for the Yankees so far in this series. However, he's a good strike out candidate for Shields.

Update: Cano swings at the first pitch and flies out to left. The Angels hold the lead 7-6.

Small runs into trouble. With one out, Rivera doubles to left and Erstad singles him in. It's 6-6 in the 6th. :-)

Update: With two out, Kennedy hits a pop into the Bermuda triangle in center field, and it falls to give the Angels men on 1st and 3rd with Figgins up.

Update: Figgins gets his first hit of the series, driving the ball into right center for a 7-6 Angels lead. We're going to be here a while, folks.

Update: Sturtze relieves Small.

Update: Cabrera flies out to right to end the inning.

Robinson Cano doubles into left center. Figgins slips on the wet grass, and Sojo sends Matsui to the plate. Cabrera takes the cut off throw and hurls it to the backstop, allowing Cano to take third. The game is tied at five, and the go ahead run is on third with no one out. Donnelly is leaving the game.

That's five RBI for Cano in the series.

Update: Shield relieves Donnelly.

Update: Bernie Williams flys to left to score Cano and give New York the lead. An impressive two inning comeback, and Randy Johnson is off the hook. The game started as a Big Unit, but may end as a Small win.

Update: Shields gets out of the inning with no more damage, striking out two. It's an official game with the Yankees in the lead.

Matsui starts the fifth with a walk. Two innings in a row, Hideki did his job leading off.

Aaron Small gets three quick outs in the top of the fifth. The game is 1/2 inning away from being official as rain continues to fall.

Matsui goes the opposite way, homering down the left field line to put a run on the board for the Yankees. If you believe in momentum, it's changing right now.

Update: Cano reaches on a bad throw by Kennedy, but Robinson is limping.

Update: Bernie Williams singles, the third batter to reach base in the inning. The Yankees have men on 1st and 2nd with none out, but the bottom of the order is coming up.

Update: Why is Flaherty on deck? Johnson is out of the game, and the Yankees need offense. They need to bring Posada into the game.

Update: Tino gets a "productive" out, grounding to first and moving both runners into scoring position. And Posada is pinch hitting.

Update: Posada grounds out to first, once again advancing the runners. It's 5-2 LAnaheim.

Update: Jeter drives in Williams with a classic Derek flair single to right. It's a close game again at 5-3.

Update: Byrd gets ahead of A-Rod 0-2, but ends up walking Alex to chants of MVP. That's it for Byrd as Brendan Donnelly tries to put out the fire.

Update: It looks like they gave Cano a hit on the bad throw by Kennedy.

Update: Oops. The shortstop is playing at 2nd base, the third baseman is playing at third. Giambi hits it off the end of the bat, and easy grounder to short. No one is there, however, and Jeter scores from second to make it 5-4.

Sheffield hits a sinking line drive into center on the first pitch. Figgins rushes in and makes a great diving catch to end the inning. The Angels keep the lead by a matter of inches.

Erstad leads off the fourth with a double. That's five extra-base hits off Johnson in the game; two doubles, a triple and two homers. The home runs accounted for all the runs so far.

Update: Quinlan follows up with a single to put runners at first and third. It also sends Torre to the mound to remove Randy Johnson from the game.

Randy did not earn his big salary tonight. He was hired to win games like this. The inconsistency of the Yankees big gun pitchers continue. And the fans are not happy. Aaron Small is in the game.

Update: Small strikes out Kennedy for the first out.

Update: Small gets Figgins to ground into a pretty double play. Aaron get the El Duque award in New York tonight.

Paul Byrd starts off the third inning by walking the weakest hitter in the Yankees lineup, John Flaherty. I might have pinch hit for John with Posada. Jorge can't do any worse with Johnson tonight, but the backup catcher got the job done leading off the inning.

Update: Giambi hits a ball between the shifted SS and second baseman for a single. Two on with two out for Sheffield.

Update: Sheffield flys out deep to straight away center. Still 5-0 Angels after three innings.

Orlando Cabrera hits a high fastball (above the strike zone) for a double into right field. With the Angels getting hits on pitches in their eyes, maybe the strike zone should be expanded up again. Obviously, players can get hits on high pitches.

Update: Bengie Molina was hitting cleanup for a reason. He takes a pitch at the top of the strikezone into the left field stands to make the score 5-0 Angels. Randy Johnson is not fooling anyone tonight.

Update: Anderson triples as Sheffield falls down on the wet outfield grass. That's the tough half of the cycle for Garret.

Update: Well, he's fooling Juan Rivera, who strikes out for the second time. They are the only two Ks Johnson has in the game. The fans are booing the Big Unit as he leaves the field. The Yankees are in trouble.

The Angels are doing what the Yankees did on Tuesday. They just got their fourth hit with two outs.

Update: The Angels waste their base runner as Kennedy is thrown out stealing after the single.

Paul Byrd starts the New York half of the first by striking out Jeter.

Update: The ball is really carrying tonight. A-Rod hits the ball to the wall in right. Vlad leaps but it's off his glove for a double.

Update: Giambi swings at the first pitch and flies out to left.

Update: Kennedy was playing close to second and is in perfect position to get Sheffield's grounder up the middle. The Yankees fail to score in the first.

It's raining in New York as the game gets underway with Figgins flying out to the warning track in right.

Update: They're swinging early and hard as Cabrera flys out to deep center. Guerrero smacks a single to right.

Update: Molina drives a high pitch into center for a single to put runners at 1st and 3rd with two out.

Update: Garret Anderson takes Johnson deep into the right field seats. The Angels are having no problem connecting the the Big Unit's pitches.

Update: Johnson finally gets a strikeout, getting Juan Rivera. Johnson leaves the mound to with a 3-0 deficit and the boos of the fans.

Renteria does it again, grounding out to second to send the White Sox to the ALCS.

El Duque put on an amazing performance. The Red Sox were in the perfect position to tie the game and take the lead, and Orlando slammed the door.

The pitching did the job, holding the Red Sox to three runs a game, a little more than half of what they usually score. They played big ball and little ball well. They found the Red Sox weakness and exploited it by throwing strikes.

Congratulations to the White Sox on a tremendous win!

Bobby Jenks is in to close out the game.

Update: Graffanino grounds out to Crede.

Update: Damon strikes out swinging. Renteria has the chance to end another post-season series.

Timlin comes in to pitch the ninth and Pierzynski doubles off the wall.

Update: Crede bunts A.J. to third, and Uribe squeeze him home. The White Sox get the all important insurance run.

Timlin throws the ball away on a pick off and Uribe is at second with one out.

Update: Iguchi strikes out to end the inning. The Red Sox have three outs to get two runs.

Nice play by Paul Konerko, diving to his right to rob Nixon of a hit. Mueller hits a broken bat liner to second. The Red Sox have four outs left.

Update: Olerud singles to center, the first hit off El Duque. Varitek will try to keep the inning alive. Pinch runner in for Olerud.

Update: Machado is pinch running.

Update: Varitek strikes out on a pitch at eye level. The White Sox need three more outs to win their first post-season series since 1917.

Papelbon is doing his job. He gets the side 1-2-3 again, and retired all eight batters he faced.

Hernandez strikes out Renteria, then Ortiz. Papi goes down on three pitches. He starts Manny off with a strike.

Update: Manny grounds out to first. Berman points out that Ortiz and Ramirez may not get another plate appearance.

Papelbon pitches a 1-2-3 seventh, getting three grounders to the middle infielders.

Ramirez leads off the bottom of the sixth with a homer to left. That cuts the score to 4-3.

I'm surprised Garcia came out for the sixth. He threw 96 pitches and was not throwing a high percentage of strikes. He walked four and struck out just one. Maybe Ozzie wants this to be a one-run victory. :-) Garcia's out now.

Update: Marte relieves.

Update: Nixon singles off Marte. After the home run, he's a leadoff man getting on.

Update: Mueller walks. Men on first and second. Marte's not getting the job done so far.

Update: Olerud walks to load the bases. The Red Sox selectivity is paying off this inning Varitek is coming up to pinch hit and the crowd is going wild. Marte is out of the game.

Update: Orlando Hernandez relieves.

Update: Varitek pops out to Konerko in foul territory.

One commenter asked about the home plate umpire calling pitches. K-Zone is showing the calls are good.

Update: The count on Graffanino is 3-2.

Update: Tony fouls off two 3-2 pitches.

Update: Hernandez induces another pop up with the bases loaded, this time to short.

What will Johnny Damon do?

Update: 3-2 to Damon.

Update: Damon strikes out on what looked like a check swing, but the home plate ump called it. The replay shows he swung.

What a great performance by El Duque! Two pop outs and a strike out with the bases loaded. It's the kind of short but dominant performance that could make him the MVP of the series.

Dye walks to open the sixth, then Konkero hits the ball way over the Green Monster. The Red Sox are down 4-2 with 12 outs to go.

Update: Francona's moves are not working in the 6th. He brought in Bradford to get Rowand and Aaron singled. He then brought in Myers to pitch to Pierzynski and A.J. walked. He's going to the bullpen again, this time for Papelbon. Men on 1st and 2nd with one out.

Update: Nice job by Nixon and Rowand. Nixon goes a long way to catch a Crede pop-up in foul territory. Rowand is second is alert enough to tag up and take third.

Update: Papelbon strikes out Uribe swinging. The damage is limited to two runs. The Red Sox bullpen is a bit depleted, as the first two relievers are out of the game. The White Sox also worked Papelbon pretty good, forcing him to throw 16 pitches to two batters.

No one brought a Johnny .316 sign, but Damon just doubled down the right field line with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.

Update: Renteria walks to put two men on for Ortiz. Garcia is working hard today. He's already thrown over 90 pitches and he's been sweating all day.

Update: Ortiz give the first pitch a ride, but it's just a fly out to deep center. The game remains tied at 2.

David Ortiz hits a solo home run to straight away center field. The Red Sox pull within a run of the White Sox. It's 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

Update: Manny follows with a shot to the opposite field that just gets past the Pesky Pole. The game is tied at 2.

Uribe knocks out the first hit of the game, a two out double. Podsednik follows with a double of his own, driving in Juan. You can't spell Uribe without RBI. :-)

Iguchi follows with a single up the middle to score Podseknik. The White Sox take a quick 2-0 lead.

Update: Dye singles to right, the fourth two-out hit in a row. The White Sox have men on 1st and 3rd.

Update: Konerko flies out to right to end the threat. But the Red Sox now trail in a game they can't lose.

Once again, Garcia walks the leadoff man, this time Manny Ramirez. I guess he didn't get the throw strikes memo. :-)

Update: With two out, Olerud walks. They've now drawn more walks in this game that they did in the first two.

Update: The rain starts to come down, and Mirabelli grounds to third base to force Olerud at second.

I'm about 1 1/2 hours west of Boston and it's not raining here. I don't think the rain at Fenway right now will last long.

After striking out three in a row, Wakefield hits Everett, barely. The White Sox have yet to put the ball in play against Wakefield. He's hit two, struck out three and got the fourth out on a caught stealing.

Update: Rowand hits into an around the horn double play. Both pitchers allowed base runners, but taking out base runners means they've both faced the minimum so far.

Damon starts the bottom of the first with a walk.

Update: Renteria pops out on the infield.

Update: Damon runs on a 3-2 count to Ortiz. Papi hits a medium liner up the middle, but the fielder (third baseman, on the shift, I believe) was right there to catch the ball. Damon is tagged for the double play. Ninety percent of the time, the hits is a single.

Wakefield hits Podsednik on an 0-2 count to put the leadoff man on base.

Update: Podseknik runs into an out. Wakefield gave him a high, outside pitch and Mirabelli made a great throw. Wakefield comes back and strikes out Iguchi.

update: Dye strikes out as well. Looks like the knuckle ball is breaking well today..

It's interesting to note that the Red Sox and Yankees down to the wire division race put them in a position to get their best starter into just one game in the LDS. Tim Wakefield and Randy Johnson each take the mound today in their teams respective game threes.

Wakefield's job is to keep the Red Sox alive for one more day. Tim's strength is his ability to throw strikes with his knuckleball. He only walked 68 batters this season. He'll mix in a fast ball and a curve that slower than his knuckler. When he's right, hitters are off balance all game. Tim gave up five home runs to the White Sox this year in 12 1/3 innings. When he's off, the slow straight stuff doesn't fool anybody.

He'll face Freddy Garcia. Freddy posted about the same ERA as last year despite a fall off in his strikeout rate and a rise in hits allowed per 9. The reason for the steady ERA was poor performances by his opponents with runners in scoring position. They hit just .197, 38 for 193.

In New York, the Prime Time game pits Johnson against Paul Byrd. Byrd relies on superb control, walking just 28 batters this season. Lefties hit Byrd well, posting a .306 batting average and a .473 slugging percentage against the righty. With Posada out of the lineup, I suspect we'll see Tino and Giambi playing, maybe even Cano batting second.

Johnson finished the season with a personal six game winning streak over his last eight starts. He posted a 1.93 ERA in that time. The one thing that worries me about Randy vs. the Angels is that his strikeouts were down, 7.7 per 9 in that time period. He's not as dominant as he once was, and anything that makes it easier for the Angels to get the bat on the ball hurts the Yankees.

Enjoy!

A big win for the Braves tonight as they trounce the Astros 7-1. It always seems that Clemens and Pettitte have bad games in the playoffs, and this was Roger's poor one.

On the other hand, Smoltz found himself in the second inning. After throwing 25 pitches in the first, he threw just 68 over the next six. He was in control, getting strikes on 67 of his 93 pitches.

The Astros offense was weak tonight. If you told me at the start of the game that Taveras would get three hits and Berkman two, I'd think the Astros would be in great shape. But the rest of the order managed just two hits all night. It was another poor outing in a game Clemens started. We'll have baseball Sunday.

It's not very often you see Clemens with more walks in a game than strikeouts. He walked three so far tonight while striking out just two. It's taken him 92 pitches to get through five innings.

Adam LaRoche, batting with two out, is allowed to swing away and drives a double into left center. Palmeiro dives for it and misses, allowing Andruw Jones to score from first on the heels of Chipper. All five Atlanta runs come with two outs tonight.

Brian McCann blasts a three-run homer off Roger Clemens in the second inning and Atlanta takes a 3-1 lead. Roger had a great year preventing the long ball, allowing just 11 dingers all year.

You have to wonder about a team that sacrifices with it's number five hitter. LaRoche is a weak hitting first baseman, but if he can't provide power behind Andruw Jones, he should be batting 8th, not 5th.

Francoeur actually draws a walk from Clemens. Will wonders never cease. The Braves have men on 1st and 2nd with one out.

Clemens retires the side in order in the first. He did not record a strikeout, but only threw 14 pitches.

Smoltz starts the game by striking out Biggio.

Update: Taveras and Berkman get bat on the ball and wind up with two singles. Astros are threatening with men on 1st and 2nd.

Update: Ensberg doesn't come through with runners in scoring position this time, grounding to Chipper Jones who forces the runner going to third.

Update: This is the loudest I've heard the Braves fans in a long time. They've been up on their feet all inning.

Update: Lane drives in Berkman with a single to left. The Astros break on top 1-0.

Update: The Astros score just one runs as Smoltz leaves the bases loaded. He did throw 25 pitches in the inning. With a sore shoulder, I doubt he can go many innings at that rate.

St. Louis takes game two of the NLDS 6-2. Isringhausen retires the side easily in the ninth. The win means that there will be at least one more game at Busch Stadium this year.

The Padres put more men on base than the Cardinals, having fifteen reach base by a hit, walk or hit by pitch. The Cardinals managed eleven base runners. The advantage, however, was neutralized by the Padres hitting into four double plays. DPs were not a problem for San Diego this year. They hit into 122, 12th in the NL. But they had a number of righties in the lineup today, which may have cost them a step.

On to San Diego Saturday, where the Padres have to hope the stadium slows down the Cardinals. St. Louis scored six today without much power, so that hope may be in vain.

The Padres score one run in the 8th, but leave the bases loaded. Bochy pinch-hit for his pitcher with Sweeney, a lefty, and La Russa brought in Flores, a lefty. Because Bochy started a nearly all-righty lineup, he didn't have a righty to put in for Sweeney. Flores struck Mark out to end the threat.

For the second time in consecutive innings, the Cardinals score a run on a grounder to Nady. This time, the throw was in plenty of time, but Hernandez takes the throw standing up and can't get down to make the tag. St. Louis now leads 3-0.

Update: The Cardinals squeeze home a run. They're just chipping away at the Padres.

With the infield in, men on 2nd and 3rd, Eckstein hits a hard shot to the drawn in Nady. Nady smothered the ball, got up and threw home (he had no chance to get Eck at first), and Nunez beat the throw home. St. Louis leads 1-0 in the bottom of the third.

Update: Astacio walks Edmonds to load the bases for Albert Pujols. This looks bad for the Padres.

Update: Pujols draws a walk on a 3-1 pitch. The Cardinals lead 2-0 and now faces Larry Walker. It doesn't get easier for a pitcher vs. the middle of this lineup.

Update: Astacio strikes out Walker. Reggie Sanders gets to bat with the bases loaded again.

Update: Sanders strikes out as well. The strategic walk to Pujols pays off in the Cardinals only getting two runs in the inning.

Khalil Greene draws a rare walk. Greene only walked 25 times during the regular season, posting a poor .296 OBA, down over 50 points compared to his rookie season. At age 25, Greene should really be improving offensively. That drop is not a good sign for Greene's future.

David Eckstein gets the first hit of the game, a ground single up the middle against Astacio.

Update: After a pop out, Pujols grounds into a double play to end the inning. Pujols was tied for 6th in the NL with 19 GDPs.

Eric Young grounds out to short to start game 2. Eric did work Mulder, fouling off a number of pitches.

Update: Mulder faces three batters and gets three groundouts.

Tony Massoratti in the Boston Herald sums up the White Sox winning strategy:

Of course, the White Sox have a pitching staff that ranked among the best in baseball this season, so let's be clear on what has been the key to the first two games. The White Sox have controlled the point of attack. Chicago pitchers are pounding the strike zone ? an astonishing 68 percent of the White Sox' pitches have been strikes ? and the mighty Red Sox are on their heels as a result. Following Graffanino's error, lost in the rubble was this: In the final six innings, Red Sox hitters saw just 70 pitches. Over the last three years, while leading the major leagues in runs scored, the Red Sox have made a habit of running up opposing pitch totals and getting into enemy bullpens. Now their opponent is doing precisely the opposite to them ? keeping pitch counts down and minimizing at-bats ? which gives the Red Sox virtually no chance given the obvious shortcomings of their club.

We've seen this before, the two best examples in my mind were the 1969 and 1990 World Series. Baltimore and Oakland were selective, power hitting teams. The Mets and Reds took away that selectivity by throwing strikes. The Orioles and Athletics could no longer wait for a hitter's count and hit the mistake. They were taken out of their game and easily beaten.

The Red Sox, however, hit for a high batting average. Will they make the adjustment to be more aggressive at the plate with this pitching staff, just trying to put the ball in play? With Chicago's defense, will that even work?

The White Sox are in a very good spot. The worst that can happen to them is going back to Chicago with one of their top two pitchers on the mound.

The Angels won last night's game against the Yankees 5-3, with the catchers trading home runs in the last two half innings. Wang pitched well, but Mark Whicker sums up the problem with a pitcher who strikes out just one batter in a game:

But the problem with all sinkerball pitchers is they eventually have to rely on things, and people, outside their control.

Two other ground balls became errors - a dropped force play by second baseman Robinson Cano in the second, which caused no damage, and a dropped chopper by third baseman Alex Rodriguez, which did. With two outs, Bengie Molina lashed one of Wang's few airborne pitches into center, scoring Orlando Cabrera and tying the Yankees, 2-2 in the sixth.

Lackey didn't blow people away last night, but the Angels defense held. We're now guaranteed three games on Saturday!

I'm going to get some sleep. Feel free to use the comments here to update anything interesting that happens in the game.

Rivera chops one very high in the air. By the time it comes down, Jeter didn't have a chance to throw the DH out. Finley sacrifices, but Wang's throw was late. A great bunt, and luck is starting to favor the Angels.

Update: Kennedy bunts, and it goes high in the air. Wang gets Kennedy, but there are runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out. The top of the order is up.

Update: Figgins flys out to shallow center. It was so shallow that DaVanon couldn't even score.

Update: Cabrera follows up with a line single to left center. That plates two and give LAnaheim their first lead of the series, 4-2. Three of the runs are unearned.

Update: Al Leiter is in to face Anderson.

Update: Anderson flies out. The Yankees have six outs to get two runs or more.

Mike Scioscia calls for a pitch out and Alex Rodriguez is running. The throw beats him by a mile and the Yankees lose their base runner with Giambi at the plate. Escobar strikes out Jason for the second out of the inning.

A-Rod loses a grounder on a high chop by Cabrera. Anderson pops out, and now Wang has to face Guerrero.

Update: Vlad grounds out weakly to third. A-Rod has no problem with that one.

Update: The error costs the Yankees as Molina singles up the middle to drive in Cabrera. The score is tied at 2 in the bottom of the sixth.

Update: Erstad grounds out. One third of the game is left to play.

John Lackey throws a less than outstanding outing. He only allowed 2 runs through 5 2/3, buthe only struck out three while walking five. Yankees batters were 2 for 6 with two walks once John passed 75 pitches. Now the bullpen needs to shut down New York for another three innnings.

Juan Rivera leads off the bottom of the fifth with a long home run well over the fence in center field. Juan cuts the lead to 2-1.

Update: Wang gets out of the inning with three more ground outs. I count 11 of the 15 Angels outs on grounders. The Angels are putting the ball in play, but not very hard, and the Yankees defense is handling the balls.

Lackey walks his fourth batter of the game, giving A-Rod a free pass with one out in the 5th. He's close to 75 pitches, where he starts to have trouble.

Update: Lackey passes 75 pitches and Giambi smacks a double to right center. A-Rod goes to third on the play.

Update: Sheffield chops one off the plate, grounding out to third and scoring Rodriguez. Yankees lead 2-0.

Update: A wild pitch send Giambi to third.

Update: Figgins makes a great play at third to steal a hit from Matsui, and Erstad makes a great scoop at first to finish the play. The Yankees get one run in the inning.

Vlad Guerrero gets hit by a pitch and tries to steal again. As he goes, Bengie Molina grounds one up the middle. It looks like it's going through for a hit, but Cano ran over to cover second and is in a perfect position to field the ball and make the throw to get Molina. An unlucky break for the Angels. The Yankees lead 1-0 after four.

Matsui and Cano hit back-to-back doubles in the second inning to give the Yankees the early 1-0 lead. Cano drove in the first New York runs last night as well.

Wang gets three ground outs in the first inning, retiring the side in order. Wang used just ten pitches to get through the inning.

Jeter grounds out to third on a very close play to start the game.

Update: Lackey gets the Yankees 1-2-3. Giambi breaks two bats, the last as he softly lines out to the pitcher.

The Red Sox hold the White Sox scoreless in the 8th. The White Sox need three more outs to put Boston's backs to the wall.

Update: Jenks remains in to go for the two inning save. Shades of the Goose!

Update: Olerud taps back to the mound for the first out.

Update: Graffanino doubles into the gap in left center. Podsednik cuts it off, but can't throw Tony out at second. Scott had to slide to stop the ball.

Update: Damon pops out to the catcher in foul territory. It's up to Renteria.

Update: Renteria grounds out, leaving Ortiz on deck. The White Sox take the first two games at home, and the Red Sox need another amazing comeback to advance to the next round.

Guillen is using Bobby Jenks in the 8th inning against Manny Ramirez. It looks to me as if Guillen thinks this is the save inning, and he's bringing in his best now to get that save. It's one of the advantages of having more than one pitcher who can close.

Update: Manny flies out to center. The announcers just said that Rowand has a dozen putouts tonight. From what I've see of Aaron this year, he certainly covers a lot of ground. I can't wait to see how the Probabilistic Model of Range rates Rowand.

Update: Nixon walks with two outs, putting the tying run on base.

Update: Jenks does his job, getting Mueller to ground out to second. The Red Sox will have 8, 9 and 1 batting in the ninth. They'll need to get two on to reach Ortiz.

While I was broadcasting the radio show, an error by Graffanino on a inning ending double play ball gives Chicago the opening they needed. Iguchi comes up with two out and two on and delivers a home run off David Wells to give the White Sox a 5-4 lead.

Buehrle settled down after allowing four runs over the first three innings. He's pitched four scoreless since then. Buehrle's only issued one walk tonight, and that's the only walk the Red Sox drew in the series. That's pretty amazing vs. a team that is among the most selective in the majors. When you don't issue walks, you reduce a team OBA to it's batting average. The Red Sox had the best BA in the majors, but they can't score runs at the same high rate without the base runners.

With Damon on first, Ortiz doubles to left. He hustled to stretch it into a double, ending in a belly flop side that registered on the seismometers in California. The White Sox walk Ramirez to load the bases and pitch to Varitek.

Update: Varitek foils the IBB with a single to drive in Damon. It's 3-0 Boston in the third. The Red Sox are getting the bat on the ball vs. Buehrle and good things are happening.

Update: Nixon grounds to Konerko, who doesn't throw home to get Ortiz. Instead, he tries for the 3-6-3 DP and doesn't get Nixon. The Red Sox score and lead 4-0.

Houston turns a double play to end the game. Despite the Astros playing the game as if it were going to be close, the Astros managed to score a ton of runs, winning the game 10-5. Ensberg was the big hitter, driving in five runs with three hits and a walk. Pettitte wasn't exactly dominant. He only gave up four hits in seven innings, but two were of the home run variety. But he pitches well enough to get the win, something that was rare for that kind of performance early in the Astros season.

We'll see an all-time great matchup tomorrow with Clemens facing Smoltz in the geezer game.

Coming into the inning down 10-4, the Braves scored a run and now have two on with one out. Houston is forced to warm up Brad Lidge.

Johnny Damon starts the game off with a hit as he grounds one by Crede. Joe looked fooled by the grounder as he stabbed at it late.

Update: Renteria finishes setting the table with a line double over Crede's head. Runners at 2nd and 3rd for Ortiz.

Update: Buehrle strikes out Mr. Clutch. Same thing happened yesterday in the first. Now it's Manny's turn.

Update: Manny does his job, taking the first pitch over Podsednik's head to drive in two. Red Sox take advantage of their first inning runners today to get off to the early lead.

The Astros get the first two on in the 8th. Pettitte bunts them over and Biggio gets walked to load the bases and set up the double play. It's worked so far for the Braves, but this time Houston is sending up Jeff Bagwell.

Update: Bagwell drives a liner past Chipper Jones to drive in a run and give the Astros a 6-3 lead. Now the Braves have to face Berkman with the bases juiced.

Update: Forster comes in and strikes out Berkman. Now he'll face RBI maven Morgan Ensberg.

Update: Ensberg draws a walk on a 3-2 count, driving in his 5th run of the game. Biggio scores on a wild pitch and the score is now 8-3.

Andy Pettitte drives a double to left, the ball bouncing into the seats. And how often do you see the leadoff hitter bunt the pitcher over? Garner keeps giving away outs. The games close in the 7th, and the Jones boys have the power to bring the Braves back quickly.

Update: Taveras makes an out but doesn't score Pettitte. They intentionally walk Berkman, and Morgan Ensberg drives in his fourth run of the game with a single. Garner got the run he wanted, and that's it for Tim Hudson.

Update: Devine comes into the game and hits Lane to load the bases.

Update: Palmeiro drives the ball to the warning track in right for the final out of the inning. The Astros play for one run and that's all they get.

Brad Ausmus launched a fly ball to the wall in deep center. It was funny, because I expected Andruw Jones to make the catch, and suddenly the ball in falling far behind him. I think it was the combination of playing shallow and an unusual poor jump for the center fielder.

Update: After Ausmus scores in the top of the inning, Giles doubles and Andruw sends one over everybody's head as his two-run homer makes the score 4-3 Houston in the bottom of the fourth.

Andy Pettitte picks up two strikeouts in the third to give him three for the game. He's in control and efficient today, throwing just 32 pitches, 22 for strikes.

After a Biggio doubles leading off the third, Hudson issues his third walk, this time to Taveras. Willy only drew 25 walks in almost 600 AB this season. He follows that with another base on balls, the second in the game to Berkman. The bases are loaded with nobody out. We'll see if Hudson stays successful with runners in scoring position.

Update: Ensberg gets his second RBI single of the game, driving in two. Morgan led the Astros with 101 RBI during the regular season.

Update: Hudson hits Orlando Palmeiro with two outs. Once again, the bases are loaded.

Update: Everett grounds out to end the inning. Houston scores the minimum when sending eight to the plate. Hudson has now thrown 21 of 47 pitches for balls.

With two innings in the books, Pettitte and Hudson aren't throwing many pitches. Pettitte threw just 19 (13 for strikes) while Hudson is at 20, despite walking two. The batters are seeing pitches they like early in the count.

With two outs, Chipper Jones hits an opposite field home run off Pettitte to tie the score at 1. That was Chipper's ninth in LDS play. Pettitte gets out of the inning with no more damage.

Craig Biggio starts the game with a single off Tim Hudson.

Update: Morgan Ensberg drives the ball to centerfield for an RBI single in the first. The Astros have two on and one out.

Update: Hudson gets Lane to ground into a double play to end the inning. Lane only hit 10 GDP's all season.

Larry Dieker says he was wrong to think the Astros week offense would keep them out of the playoffs.

To be fair, the hitters helped a lot after the slow start. It took Lance Berkman about two weeks to get going after returning from knee surgery. That's about the same time Morgan Ensberg went on a rampage that landed him on the All-Star team.

Neither Willy Taveras nor Craig Biggio was as good at getting on base as you would like your first two hitters to be, but Taveras' speed and Biggio's power made up for their low on-base averages.

The offense still wasn't great, but the hitters gave the pitchers enough breathing room to stay alive. I can think of two weak-hitting teams that beat the Braves in the playoffs — the 1969 Mets and the 1998 Padres.

I have to keep reminding myself it's about pitching, pitching, pitching and adequate fielding.

Forget the hitting.

Look at it this way. Last year, the team had good hitting. This year it did not. This year, three big bats were absent — Jeff Kent, Carlos Beltran and Jeff Bagwell. But one more arm is present — Andy Pettitte.

That could be all it takes.

The last of the League Division Series gets underway this afternoon as the Atlanta Braves host the Houston Astros. Andy Pettitte faces off against Tim Hudson in a rematch of their meeting in Game 2 of the 2001 ALDS. Hudson was the winner that night, as he and Jason Isringhausen combined on a seven hit shutout beating the Yankees 2-0. Looking at the Oakland lineup, Damon, Giambi, Dye, Hernandez, Hudson and Isringhausen are all in the playoffs for other teams this year.

Pettitte was the best pitcher in the National League after the All-Star break. (Not a bad performance by lefties in general.) He gave up very few hits, which is unusual for Andy. Pettitte tends to put a lot of runners on base, then makes up for it by picking off runners and inducing double plays. Teams only posted a .248 OBA against the lefty in the second half.

Hudson took a step backward this season, but it didn't cost him in wins or ERA. His ERA only differed from his 2004 mark by .01, despite giving up 12 more home runs and allowing 21 more walks in about the same number of innings. The homers were mostly solo shots, and Hudson allowed a meager .215 batting average with runners in scoring position.

It's a battle of lefties in Chicago this evening as David Wells faces Mark Buehrle in game 2 of their ALDS matchup. I hear the Red Sox are starting Olerud today vs. the lefty while they started Millar vs. Contreras in game 1. Francona seems to be basing this on batter vs. pitcher stats. Millar is 1 for 18 against Buehrle, Olerud 1 for 11. It seems to me those sample sizes are small enough that the platoon difference might be more meaningful. Lefties have a higher batting average against Buehrel this season than righties, but righties have the better OBA.

Buehrle suffered a rough early September but finished with strong starts against the Twins and Indians. He did not pitch well against Boston this season, allowing 22 hits in 13 innings pitched while walking five and striking out just 3.

I thought David Wells would do poorly in the cozy confines of Fenway Park, but he pitched very well at home, posting an 8-1 record and a 3.07 ERA. Away from Fenway was a different story; a 7-6 record and a 5.56 ERA. The biggest reason was the extra 11 home runs he allowed in road games.

The Yankees send rookie Chien-Ming Wang against John Lackey as they go for a sweep on the road vs. LAnaheim. I don't quite understand the switch from Chacon to Wang for game 2. My only explanation is that Chacon pitches very well at Yankee Stadium so Torre wants him in game 4 there. Neither is much of a strikeout pitcher, and with the Angels loving to put the ball in play, they'll get plenty of opportunities. One other thought; there's a fifteen hour time difference between California and Taiwan. By starting him in the late game, the people back home will be able to watch him in the middle of the day.

John Lackey fell one strikeout short of the 200 mark this season. He picked up a few vs. New York this season, fanning 12 in 10 2/3 innings while winning both starts. Scioscia tends to got too far with the pitcher, however. After the 75th pitch, the batting average against John goes to .335. That's 74 hits in 221 at bats. I suspect after losing game one, Scioscia won't want to stick with Lackey too long if he gets in trouble.

Enjoy!

With a three run lead, the Yankees are bringing in Mariano Rivera to finish the game in the ninth.

Update: Rivera issues the 15th walk of his post-season career to Guerrero. Vlad immediately steals second. There's one out.

Update: A perfect example of good things happening when you put the ball in play against the Yankees. Erstad bounces one up the middle. Cano doesn't get in front of the ball and it bounces over his glove. Vlad scores and the Yankees lead is now 4-2.

Update: Molina forces Erstad. The Yankees would have had a DP but the supposedly great fielding Tino Martinez could not hang on to the throw. On the replay, it looked like Tino took his eye off the ball. Kotchman pinch hitting.

Update: Rivera breaks Kotchman's bat, and the Yankees win 4-2. Home field advantage switches to the Yankees. It looks like Mussina is going to need a good rest between starts to be effective.

Bengie Molina puts the Angels on the board with a smash to straight away center field. Molina set a career high in home runs with 15 and slugging percentage with a .446 mark in 2005. The Yankees lead 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh.

Mike Mussina gets the first two outs of the sixth inning, then gives up a single to Vlad. At 98 pitches, Mike comes out of the game. He gave up just four hits and no walks while striking out four. It was a good, but not dominating performance. If Leiter can get out of the inning, Mussina's ERA will be 0.00.

Update: Guerrero tries to steal and ends the inning getting caught. Not the best strategy.

What Mussina did well tonight was use the Angels desire to make contact against them. He did a good job of getting them to swing at pitches out of the strike zone.

A typical Yankees game, this one is going to take a long time. The starters have combined to throw 148 pitches so far (both are over 70). Yankees are still up 4-0, and with a walk to Jeter in the fourth, all their runners have reached with two out.

Update: Sheffield gets the first hit for the Yankees with less than two out, a one out single to left in the top of the fifth.

Colon gets the side in order in the 3rd. Yankees still lead 4-0.

Mike gives up one hit on a hanging pitch to Cabrera, but that's it. Mussina handled Guerrero well, throwing two strikes by him before he grounds a low ball back to Mike to end the inning.

Bartolo is working well in the first. He's started each hitter with a strike, and didn't throw a called ball until his seventh pitch.

Update: The Yankees are very good at hitting balls in the strike zone, and three straight singles by Giambi, Sheffield and Matsui load the bases.

Update: Cano is the first batter he starts with a ball. Probably a good thing, as Cano might swing at that pitch.

Update: Anderson was playing Robinson Cano shallow in left, and Cano lined the ball over his head to clear ths bases. The Yankees domination of Colon continues. Posada grounds out, but the Yankees lead 3-0.

John Olerud just hit one to the wall in left center. Aaron Rowand went full speed toward it, just missed catching the fly and hit the wall. I don't know about the intelligence of going into the wall in a 14-2 game, but the fans love the hustle.

Graffanino flies out to the wall in left to end the game. Final score, two touchdowns and two extra points to a safety.

A.J. Pierzynski hits his second home run of the game to stretch the score to 13-2. Arroyo entered the game in the 8th and gave up the homer and then walks Crede.

The White Sox hit four home runs so far today. Chicago is making a lot of contact, as they've only struck out once and walked once. They have just nine hits, but three hit batters and nine runs on the homers have helped them to a 12-2 lead after seven.

Contreras issued no free passes through seven. He's thrown 64 of 92 pitches for strikes to keep the Red Sox from being patient at the plate.

A single, bunt single and an error on the play put Red Sox at 2nd and 3rd with none out in the fourth.

Update: Contreras throws a wild pitch to let in the first Red Sox run of the game. Jose tied teammate Freddy Garica for the AL lead in wild pitches with 20. Millar follows with a double to cut the lead to 6-2.

Update: Do you think A.J. has anything to do with all the wild pitches?

Update: Varitek bunts, and Millar gets thrown out at third. That's two bunts in this inning for the Red Sox. Is that really the way to come back from a huge lead? Since I can't see them, were these sacrifices or were the batters bunting for hits?

Update: I'm heading home. More later.

Paul Konerko ends his post-season drought with a solo home run in the third inning. It's 6-0.

On the next pitch, Everett lines up the middle and hits Matt Clement in the leg. The radio announcers say he's limping.

Update: Clement did throw out Everett on the play, preventing a hit. He's staying in the game after making some practice pitches.

Jose Contreras is doing a good job of keeping the Red Sox bats off the ball. He's struck out four through three innings and thrown twice as many strikes as balls.

My daughter is at her violin lesson, but due to the wonders of modern technology and wi-fi, I can listen to the game and blog on my computer. On the way over, I heard A.J. Pierzynski hit a three run home run. So the White Sox channeled both Mauch and Weaver in the first inning! That's a pretty good combination.

Ozzie Guillen channels Gene Mauch and orders Iguchi to bunt. The sacrifice is successful, and I'm sure Theo is smiling at getting the free out.

Update: Clement hits Dye, his second hit batter of the inning. Twice during the at bat, Varitek set up outside and Matt threw inside. He doesn't have control of his pitches in the first inning.

Update: Podsednik steals third and scores on a Konerko groundout. Little ball gets them the early lead, 1-0.

Correction: Iguchi, not Taguchi.

David Ortiz strikes out in the first with a man on second. He swung at ball four. Of course, striking out in first doesn't really matter, since we all know that late innings home runs are the only way to win games. :-)

Jake Peavy certainly deserved the loss today. He's the one dependable pitcher the Padres start. A decent outing from Jake and the Padres win this game. Now they need to figure out how to win three games with Jake just starting one more time, and how to shut down the middle of the Cardinals order. St. Louis put themselves in a great position to win this series by neutralizing their opponents strength.

The Padres scored two runs in the 9th so far. They still have 2 on with two out. It's 8-4. The Padres hitters didn't give up, and La Russa's revolving bullpen looks vulnerable.

Update: Giles singles to center, driving in Klesko and bringing Fick to the plate against Isringhausen. It's a good thing Izzy didn't come in with a save opportunity.

Update: Fick singles to load the bases.

Update: Ramon Hernandez strikes out, swinging at three pitches that he had no chance of hitting. The final is 8-5.

Eric Young homers leading off the 8th inning. He pinch hit for Roberts. Young had two homers all year, both in August.

Chris Carpenter just removed from the game before the start of the seventh inning. It appears he had some physical problem. Maybe the series isn't over for the Padres just yet.

Update: Carpenter was complaining about cramps in his hand. Doesn't sound serious. Joe Morgan makes the point that Chris was probably dehydrated.

Update: The first two batters reach against Thompson. They have men on first and third for Greene.

Update: San Diego is on the board after a Sac Fly by Greene. They really need base runners, however, not fly ball outs.

Update: Carpenter was indeed dehydrated. Good call by Joe!

Update: La Russa brings in Flores with two out and a man on first. Why is he playing musical bullpen with a seven run lead?

Update: Flores strikes out Nady to end the inning. Doesn't this game really call for a mop up guy? Flores is the set-up man with Reyes out. Why risk an injury in a blow out?

Reggie Sanders ends Jake Peavy's day with a grand slam into the left field seats. That makes the score 8-0 in the bottom of the fifth. Peavy was behind 3-0, and Reggie got the green light and smoked the pitch.

Peavy and Carpenter each struck out and walked three. The big difference is that when the ball was put in play against Jake, it found a place to fall, while St. Louis was able to turn them into double plays.

Update: There's a big difference between the teams in DER. St. Louis finished the season at .704, third in the NL. The Padres' DER was .690, 12th. We're seeing that difference today.

Bochy moved Klesko up to the two slot today, and it's paid off with Ryan walking and singling in the third. I don't understand, however, why Bochy put Loretta between Klesko and Giles. Did he not want two lefties in a row? The Padres have 2 on and 1 out in the third.

Update: Loretta hits into a 5-3 double play to end the inning.

Jake Peavy gave up a home run to Edmonds in the first inning, but he's efficient and throwing strikes. Through the first two innings, He's thrown 19 pitches, 17 for strikes. He's struck out two. The Cardinals lead 1-0 in the third on the strength of that home run.

The 2005 MLB playoffs kick off this afternoon with the best pitching matchup of the day as Jake Peavy and the San Diego Padres visit Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals. Peavy showed his 2004 NL ERA title was no fluke, posting a 2.88 ERA and walking fewer batters in more innings. Jake's great strength, however, is his ability to strike out batters. Over the last two seasons, Peavy trails only Johan Santana and Randy Johnson in strikeouts per 9 innings.

Chris Carpenter had a great year but a poor September. He won his 21st game on Sept. 8th and did not win again. He finished the season allowing 22 earned runs over his last 21 2/3 innings, probably killing his chance at winning the Cy Young award. It's possible Carpenter was taking it easy since the Cardinals clinched early. It's also possible that past arm trouble is back to haunt him.

One monkey wrench in the St. Louis machine is the injury to Al Reyes. Carpenter is capable of going deep into the game, making Reyes' role moot. And I don't really see the problem. Randy Flores had nearly identical strikeout and walk numbers. With luck, this injury will prevent La Russa from using his one pitcher per batter strategy as much.

The four St. Louis power hitters had a field day against Padres pitching this season. Brian Giles did most of the damage against St. Louis, but that's pretty much the story of San Diego.

The all Sox series gets underway at 4 PM Eastern. (I wonder if Carlton Fisk will throw out the first pitch?) Matt Clement faces surprise starter Jose Contreras. Guillen is going with the hot hand in game 1. Over the last two months, Jose pitched the best of the veteran starters on the team. The left-right balance in the Boston lineup shouldn't bother Contreras as he threw equally well vs. both sides of the plate.

Matt Clement gets the nod for game 1 from Terry Francona. He was the leader of the rotation in the first half, but posted a 3-4 record with a 5.72 ERA after the All-Star break. The Red Sox best pitcher down the stretch, Tim Wakefield, only gets one start in this series due to his use on Saturday with the Red Sox season going down to the wire.

The Red Sox lineup is full of tough outs, and you can see that in their season statistics vs. the White Sox. Nine players with at least five plate appearances had OBA's of .360 or better vs. Chicago this year. Quite a few Pale Hose did well in getting on base vs. Boston, but they seemed to be divided into two even groups; those that did a fantastic job and those that did very poorly.

In Anaheim, Bartolo Colon will be the second 21-game winner of the day taking the hill. He'll be opposed by Mike Mussina. The Yankees pounded Bartolo this season. He gave 15 runs, 10 earned in 10 2/3 innings. He gave up 26 home runs all year, 7 in two starts vs. New York. Alex Rodriguez hits Colon very well, going 19 for 43 in their careers with 13 extra-base hits, seven for homers.

Mike Mussina is difficult to figure. He took a three week rest and shut out Baltimore for six innings. Mike faced them again on normal rest and didn't make it out of the second inning. Mussina's rested the last six days, which the Yankees hope will be a positive.

Mussina's seems to be all or nothing to batters. He strikeout number are good, but he still gives up lots of hits. It seems that if you can put the ball in play against Mike, good things happen. And the Angels are very good at putting the ball in play.

Vlad vs. the Yankees shows just how difficult it is to contain the former MVP. The Yankees kept him off base, holding him to a .326 OBA. But Guerrero still managed 13 RBI on just 11 hits. He hit .332 this season with men on base, and 32 of his 63 extra-base hits came in that situation.

Enjoy!

Here's the first part of a Cardinals roundtable discussion at Viva el Birdos. For fans of the best team in baseball, they seem a bit worried:

So, awesome. No pitching, no relief, no health, and our manager's a nutjob.

Cool Standings predicts the LDS.

	Atlanta		Houston
2005	Value	NL Rank	Value	NL Rank
Runs per Game	4.75	4th	4.25	11th
Batting Average	.265	6th	.256	13th-T
On-Base Average	.333	5th-T	.322	12th
Slugging Percentage	.435	3rd	.408	11th
ERA	3.98	6th	3.51	2nd

Looking at the stats in the table above, I'm surprised either of these teams made the playoffs. In the case of the Astros, great pitching and lousy hitting usually lands you in the middle of the pack. In the case of the Braves, while their hitting and pitching are both above average, neither is stand out great. I would have guessed the Braves would be fighting for a Wild Card instead of winning the division.

The difference in the offenses is the spread of talent. The Astros have two terrific hitters in Berkman and Ensberg. Both get on base and hit for power. But the talent falls off steeply after that. Not a lot of people getting on base, but there are a good number of extra-base hits. The Braves just have Chipper Jones doing both extemely well. But the falloff from Chipper is gradual. The Braves had eight players with at least 100 plate apperances with OBA's over .340. Among those, of course, is Andruw Jones who supplied plenty of power.

On the pitching side, this is one of the rare times that Atlanta goes into a series without the dominant staff. If all you need are three starters in the playoffs, it's difficult to find a better trio than Clemens, Pettitte and Oswalt. They finished 1,2 and 7 in the majors in ERA. The three combined to allow just 46 home runs (Eric Milton gave up 40 all by himself). And while Atlanta's starters had an excellent 3.65 ERA, the bullpen was at 4.74, walking batters at a much higher rate than the starters.

So the question on my mind is, can Ensberg and Berkman supply enough runs to support great performances by the big three? My guess is a series of very low scoring close games. And if it comes down to the bullpens, my money is on Houston.

	LAnaheim		New York
2005	Value	AL Rank	Value	AL Rank
Runs per Game	4.70	7th	5.47	2nd
Batting Average	.270	6th	.276	2nd
On-Base Average	.325	9th	.355	2nd
Slugging Percentage	.409	9th	.450	4th
ERA	3.68	3rd	4.52	9th

The Yankees and Angels meet in a rematch of the 2002 ALDS in which the Anaheim Angels knocked the Yankees out of the World Series for the first time in four years. One of the big reasons the Angels won that series was their ability to put the ball in play. The Yankees pitchers were a great strikeout staff; the problem was the Angels didn't strike out. The porous Yankees defense let ball after ball through the infield or fall in for hits and the Angels scored 31 runs to take the series in four games.

Under Mike Scioscia, the Angels stuck to that philosophy. They're near the bottom of the AL in walks and strikeouts. They are second in the major in balls put in play (trailing the Oakland Athletics by 11). The Yankees pitchers are no longer a great strike out staff. Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina are not what they used to be, and Chacon and Small just don't rack up the Ks. Keep your eyes out for balls that look like outs off the bat and end up going through the infield or falling in the gaps in the outfield.

Even with all the balls in play, the Angels don't have a very good offense. Chone Figgins is good, Adam Kennedy had a great year for him and Vlad is super. Otherwise, I don't think there's anyone else on that team I'd really want offensively. Vlad is just so good, however, whenever anyone is on base you're in danger of giving up a few runs. He's one of the most successful hackers I've ever seen. He expands the strike zone, swinging at balls at his eyes and way inside and outside, but he can actually hit those pitches. There were probably a number of times this season when a pitcher threw a purpose pitch out of the strike zone only to see it land beyond the outfield fence.

In Sheffield, A-Rod and Giambi, the Yankees have three dangerous sluggers. Surrounding them are Jeter and Matsui, giving New York five offensive players with 25 win shares or more. That's a lot of offense packed into a small space. These players don't hack much. They wait for their pitch, and if they don't get it are willing to take the free base.

And the Yankees should see some pitches to hit. Byrd, Colon and Washburn challenge batters to put the ball in play. With a good defense, they can get away with that. They don't strike out many, and they don't walk many. You'd think that would work to the Yankees benefit, but while Colon was hammered by New York, Byrd and Washburn combined for 22 very good innings against the club. And the one starter with a high K rate, John Lackey, beat the Yankees twice while posting a 2.53 ERA.

My gut is that this series will turn on how many Johnson and Mussina can strike out. If they're both around nine per nine innings, New York should be fine. If there are lots of balls in play against these two, the Angels will have their runners for the inevitable Vlad blast.

	Chicago		Boston
2005	Value	AL Rank	Value	AL Rank
Runs per Game	4.57	9th	5.62	1st
Batting Average	.262	11th-T	.281	1st
On-Base Average	.322	11th-T	.357	1st
Slugging Percentage	.425	7th-T	.454	2nd
ERA	3.61	1st-T	4.74	11th

A few years ago Bill James developed a formula (not published) that allowed you to predict an expected value for a winning percentage of one team vs. the other, batting average of a batter vs. a pitcher, or runs scored by one team against another. All you need to know is the value for each of the opponents and the league average.

Given that the Red Sox offense and White Sox pitching are at extremes in the American League, I thought it would be interesting to run the numbers and see who's better off in this matchup; the team with the good pitching or the team with the good offense. Using this formula, the Red Sox are expected to score 4.58 runs per game against the White Sox. The White Sox are expected to score 4.81 runs against the Red Sox.

I find this result quite interesting. It appears to support the theory that good pitching beats good hitting. The White Sox pitching staff is predicted to pull the Red Sox down to a below average offensive team, while the Red Sox poor pitching staff elevates the White Sox to an above average offense. The two adversaries played seven games in the regular season, and each team scored 36 runs, or 5.1 per game. The White Sox offense did get better and the Red Sox offense did get worse. Boston won the season series, however, 4-3.

So the two teams look very evenly matched. They're the top two teams in winning one-run games. The White Sox ended up 35-19, a .648 winning percentage while the Red Sox finished the season 27-15, a .643 winning percentage.

Interestingly enough, the running game favors the Red Sox in this series. The White Sox stole many more bases (137-45), but the Red succeeded more often (79% to 67%). Neither team was good at stopping the running game, but Chicago was horrible. The White Sox allowed 103 of 128 thiefs to steal (80%) while the Red Sox allowed 88 of 117 to be successful (75%). The Red Sox are good at picking their spots to steal, and they'll get ample opportunities in this series.

I'm favoring the White Sox in this series due to their home field advantage. The Red Sox are a .500 team on the road, while the White Sox pitching gets much better away from whatever they're calling Comiskey these days. Whatever the outcome, we do know the Sox will win. :-)

It looks like the Red Sox are going to carry 10 pitchers in the first round instead of 11. I think that's an excellent idea. With one of your starters moving to the pen there's no need for an extra arm when you can give the offense more flexibility.

	St. Louis		San Diego
2005	Value	NL Rank	Value	NL Rank
Runs per Game	4.97	3rd	4.22	13th
Batting Average	.270	2nd-T	.257	12th
On-Base Average	.338	3rd-T	.333	5th-T
Slugging Percentage	.422	6th-T	.391	15th
ERA	3.48	1st	4.15	7th-T

This series appears to be a mismatch. St. Louis has an excellent offense and the best pitching staff in the league. The Padres don't score much, and despite playing in a low scoring park, their pitching is just middle of the road. When you look at the teams away from their home parks, the pitching difference becomes clear. St. Louis posts a 3.54 ERA, still the best in the National League, while the Padres fall to 13th with a 4.79 ERA. Playing up to three games in St. Louis does not favor San Diego.

By the same token, the offenses aren't as far apart as they look, either. You can see that in their overall on-base averages. On the road, the Cardinals score 4.9 runs per game, best in the NL. San Diego, at 4.64, is 3rd. So the real story here is that we have the best hitting and pitching team facing a good offense and a poor pitching staff.

How then, do the Padres make up the deficit in pitching? They need to use the bullpen. A lot. The Padres have five pitchers that can blow batters away; Peavy in the rotation and Seanez, Otsuka, Linebrink and Hoffman in the bullpen. With a day off between each of the first three games, Bochy can afford to go to his pen early and often. If Peavy can go deep in games 1 and 4, then three good innings from Astacio in one other game is all the Padres may need.

Of course, few lineups the Padres faced in 2005 have Albert Pujols, Larry Walker and Jim Edmonds. All three get on base and all three hit for power. They have a good table setter in Eckstein and some backup power in Sanders. The Cardinals need very few swings of the bat to score runs.

So the hope for Bochy is that the front line pitching can shut down the Cardinals and his team can score a few runs against the deep St. Louis pitching staff. The Cardinals are clear favorites, but this series has the potential to surprise fans.

It looks like things are set. Barring an unbelievable comeback by the Yankees second string, the playoff pairings and locations are set. The Padres will open the playoffs Tuesday afternoon in St. Louis, a 1 PM EDT start on ESPN. Boston travels to Chicago and plays the White Sox at 4 PM EDT. One thing we know about that series; the Sox will win! The Yankees play in Anaheim against the Angels in the twilight at 5 PM PDT. Three day games! Very cool.

The Braves host the Astros on Wednesday, it what I assume will be an early start. The AL will finish up the first home stand of the series that day. Thursday the NL finishes their first home stand, and it's all AL on Friday.

Games times were announced over night for possible Wild Card playoff games on Monday and the start of the Division Series:

If the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies require a one-game tiebreaker to determine the winner of the National League Wild Card, the game will be held at 4:00 p.m. Eastern on Monday afternoon at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.

If a one-game tiebreaker between the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox is necessary to decide the American League Wild Card winner, the game will be played at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Monday evening at Boston's Fenway Park.

Both games would be on ESPN and ESPN Radio.

I'm very surprised the Boston game would be at 7 PM. I figured an afternoon game so the Red Sox would have time to travel to Chicago for an afternoon game the next day. I guess making prime-time money is more important than the teams being in good shape for the next day's series. If that game does happen, it will be interesting to see the ratings for the time Monday Night Football and baseball go head-to-head.

With the Angels winning tonight (despite K-Rod giving up two triples in the ninth) the playoff pairings and locations remain murky. What we know right now is that there will be a playoff game in Chicago on Tuesday. We know there will be a playoff game in Atlanta on Tuesday or Wednesday, and a playoff game in St. Louis on Tuesday or Wednesday. There will also be a playoff game in New York or Anaheim on Tuesday.

The NL is pretty simple. The Padres are on the road Tuesday and Thursday, in Atlanta if Philadelphia is the Wild Card, in St. Louis if Houston wins the best of the rest. The Wild Card team plays on Wednesday and Thursday.

In the AL, the White Sox host Boston if they win the Wild Card, LAnaheim if Cleveland can pull the comeback. The location of the New York/LAnaheim Series is up in the air (if Boston is the Wild Card). If New York wins tomorrow, it's in The Bronx. If the Yankees lose and LAnaheim wins, it's at the Big A. If Cleveland is the Wild Card, they open in New York on Tuesday.

I'm just glad I'm not a television executive trying to figure out where to send my crews.

I just spent over an hour with technical support for the hotel's network trying to get my web browser to work, and the finally did it by hardwiring in an IP address. Meanwhile, I've been watching the Astros bomb the Braves with seven extra-base hits, including two HR by Mr. Beltran (what a great mid-season pickup). Six outs to go with a nine run lead.

Update: LaRoche flies out to start the inning.

Update: Giles grounds out to short. One to go.

Update: Thomas strikes out to end the inning. The Astros are looking good.

Update: The Astros go quietly in the 9th. Three outs to go.

Update: Chipper Jones flies out to end the game. The Astros win!

I'm realy happy for this team. Biggio and Bagwell have had great careers, and it's nice to see them as winners in the post season. They have a huge task in front of them facing the Cardinals. They'll only be able to get four starts from Clemens and Oswalt, but they'll be in good shape if they can stay alive through five so they can finish with those two. On to the NLCS!

It's winner take all in Atlanta tonight as Roy Oswalt faces Jared Wright. Wright was hit hard in game 1, despite having his strikeout pitch working. When the Astros connected, the ball went a long way, as Houston hit three HR. Oswalt gave up 8 hits in his outing in game 2, but spread them out and kept the ball in the park. I suspect he won't come out of the game as early today if he's pitching well. He's going on short rest, but he only threw 88 pitches in game 2, so he could be okay. If Oswalt can get the game to Lidge, the Astros will be fine.

The big hero for the Braves has been Andruw Jones. Jones had an okay season with the bat, but has 9 hits in four games with four for extra-bases. He's 5 for 10 career vs. Oswalt (I don't know if that includes post-season).

The Braves keep surprising me this year. We'll see if they can do it again tonight.

I've been on the road for a week now, and I'm tired of not being able to comment on games due to technical difficulties. I'm hoping that later this week things will get better.

Congratulations to the Cardinals on their NLDS victory over the Dodgers. Albert Pujols had the big blow; it's so difficult to shut down the middle of that lineup. But the Cardinals starters were also very effective. Only Marquis had a bad outing; Suppan, Morris and Williams all pitched well, and certainly well enough to win given the offensive production of the Cardinals. Bringing back Carpenter will only make them stronger. They're now set for a Wednesday night game in St. Louis.

Bagwell and Berkman got to Smoltz with two hits. Everett was running for Bagwell and got to third on Berkman's single. That left the game to Jeff Kent. He was no superman today as he grounded into a double play that sends the series back to Atlanta for game five tomorrow.

The decision to start Clemens on short rest will be debated. Roger was not that sharp. Although he only allowed 2 runs, he had to use a lot of pitches to get through five innings. That threw the game open to the bullpen, and the Braves were able to take advantage of that. I'm not sure the Astros had a better option, and good relief pitching gives them the win. A good AB by Kent keeps them alive. The question now is, how will Oswalt do on 3-days rest?

The battle of the bullpens is being won by Atlanta. Clemens left the game after five with a 5-2 lead. The Braves pen was called on early but has put up five scoreless innings. Qualls entered the game in the 6th for the Astros and gave up a three hits, topped off with a three-run homer to tie the game. Now Springer gives up the go-ahead run with two runs in the 9th.

The Astros will have to get to Smoltz if they are going to win this game.

I'm listening to the Houston radio broadcast of the Braves-Astros, and it sounds like Roger is getting squeezed by the umpire in the 2nd, and he's not happy about it. This, of course, happened with Clemens on the mound in the 1990 ALCS against the Athletics, and Clemens was ejected. We'll see if he learned his lesson from that game. Three straight singles and a double play have brought home two runs for the Braves. What should be a concern for Garner is that Clemens has yet to strike out a batter.

Update: Clemens faces six in the 2nd, and finally gets a K, although it's the pitcher Ortiz.

Update: Clemens takes out his frustration on the ball (:-)), hitting a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to cut the score in half, 2-1.

Update: Biggio hits his first post-season HR, a three run shot to give Houston a 4-2 lead. Beltran follows with a double and Bagwell drives him in. The Astros continue to hit the Braves with power. It's now 5-2.

The Astros can win their first playoff series ever this afternoon as they send Roger Clemens against Russ Ortiz. (Lisa Gray's summary of game 3 is here.) On the surface, this should be a slam dunk for the Astros. Clemens is over a run better per 9 innings than Ortiz. But two things temper this opinion:

1. Clemens is pitching on short rest, and he doesn't like pitching on short rest.


2. Despite the difference in ERAs, the Braves are 21-12 in games that Ortiz starts, the Astros are 23-11 in games that Clemens starts.

Either Ortiz is very lucky, or he pitches to the score. I tend to lean toward the side of luck.

The Braves have been hitting just fine in this series, but the staff that led the league in ERA has broken down. Or maybe it's just that they're no longer playing the Mets, Marlins and Expos. The Astros have the highest team slugging percentage in the LDS so far. I think the Mimosa's will be flowing at Minute Maid after the game.

It's double match point for the Cardinals tonight as they send Jeff Suppan to face Odalis Perez. Perez started game 1 for the Cardinals and was roughed up for six earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. His opposition batting stats are much better at home, especially power wise, but it's not reflected in his ERA. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Suppan is a totally different pitcher on the road. He gave up 40 fewer hits in 5 1/3 fewer innings away from Busch this season. I expect a low scoring game tonight.

Enjoy!

Has there ever been a Dodgers pitcher who had as much fun on the mound as Lima did last night? Man, what a performance. Efficient, effective and effervescent. The Dodgers finally won a post season games after a number of tries since 1989. Lima shut down an offense that contains four of the best hitters in the game, allowing just two hits among them (both by Edmonds). It's too bad he can't pitch everyday.

He threw only 109 pitches to complete the shutout. (Morris threw 106 in seven innings.) He threw 75 of those for strikes, a hefty 69%. And he was his ever animated self. A fun evening to be a Dodger fan.

It's also nice to see Shawn Green has regained his old power for this series. He has three HR in the series, including two yesterday. They've all been solo shots, but Green has had only four AB with men on base, and only 1 with runners in scoring position. Maybe if LA can put a few more men on base he can do some real damage.

Alex Rodriguez earned his salary tonight as he single handedly wins the game for NY. He doubles, steals, then scores on a passed ball. It seems like the Yankees are unstoppable.

It also seems like the Red Sox are unstoppable! But one of them has to be stopped. It's hard to believe this ALCS can live up to last year's, but the way things are going, it might even be better. 'Til Tuesday, then.

Juan Rincon throws an outside slider to Sierra, who puts it in the seats to tie the game. Now the Yankees have to send out someone who can actually pitch. :-) Loaiza has given up 4 hits in two innings, but no runs.

Looks like Gardenhire can't manage the bullpen in the post season as well as he did in the regular season. He's one batter late again.

Henry Blanco leads off the 5th with a solo shot, then Vazquez really runs into trouble. He loads the bases, then gives up a double to former New Britian Rock Cat Lew Ford (Lewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!). It's 5-1 and Santana appears to be getting stronger, as he's now struck out 7 through five innings.

Update: Looks like the Yankees are giving up on this game. They've brought in Loiaza in the 6th.

The Yankees have finally scored off Santana, getting a single run in the third to tie the game at 1. It looked like Santana was going to pitch as he did in game one; not great but spreading the hits out. With Jeter on 2nd, however, Matsui struck his third hit off Santana in the series. Matsui hits lefties okay, but in general he has a big fall off vs. southpaws.

Santana is not sharp. He's throwin about 60% of his pitches for strikes and has walked two. With 57 pitches thrown through 3, the Yankees could get him out of the game after six.

Looks like the Yankees caught a break as Jacque Jones was thrown out stealing, even though the replay clearly shows that Jeter came nowhere near tagging Jones. It looks like the umpire was blocked by Jeter on the play. I would think, in those cases, the 2nd base ump should ask for help, or another ump should speak up. It's probably not as clear in real time, but Jeter looks like he missed the tag by a foot. A little teamwork by the crew in these situations would be appropriate.

Today's Atlanta-Houston game had to be one of the ugliest pitching days for the Braves in the playoffs. Thomson left afer four pitches, not being able to overcome his injury. Paul Byrd stepped into the breach; he threw strikes (67%) but they were hittable strikes and the Astros scored four in 4 1/3 innings off him. Five more relievers gave up five more walks and four more runs as the Astros won 8-5.

Clemens takes the mound tomorrow. The Astros are in great shape to win their first playoff series.

I've been having computer problems and lots of work on top of that, so blogging will continue to be light. But make sure you check the other great blogs on the right. There's lots of intelligent analysis out there!

I think the Twins win today behind Santana.

Rivera gets the Twins 1-2-3 to protect the lead and put the Yankees up 2-1 in their best of five series. Santana will try to extend the season tomorrow afternoon against Vazquez. The Yankees regain home field advantage, and Gardenhire's gaff in game two is looking worse all the time. The Yankees are now in the position where they can afford a bad game by Vazquez to get a well rested Moose vs. short rest Radke back in Yankee Stadium.

Felix Heredia and Tanyon Sturtze do their best impersonation of arsonists in the 9th. Heredia hits two batters and Sturtze comes in and gives up two hits. The bases are loaded with the score 8-2 Yankees and no one is out.

Update: Former Bridgeport Bluefish Jose Offerman grounds out to Olerud. A run scores, and men are at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.

Update: Stewart hits a sac fly. The Twins have scored a couple of runs on outs, but they can't afford to give outs away. They're running out of money.

Godzilla just stomped on the Twins, hitting a solo HR just out of Torii Hunter's reach, making the score 8-1 in favor of the Yankees. Kevin Brown is getting hit, but he's spread the 8 hits out and only added 1 base runner with a walk. Brown, with his final start of the regular season and this game has shown he's back in form. That now gives the Yankees three solid pitchers (Mussina, Lieber and Brown) if they make it to the next round. However, Brown is not striking people out (1 K in 6 innings so far tonight). If Brown and Lieber let the Red Sox put the ball in play, they are going to give up some runs.

Update: Just saw the replay. I didn't realize Hunter had caught the ball before he dropped it over the fence on the collision. That has to hurt, and more than just his body.

Congratulations to the Red Sox on their victory in the ALDS. David Ortiz joins a handful of playes who have won a series on a walk-off HR (I'm trying to figure out if Robin Ventura counts here). The Red Sox didn't make it easy on their fans, but that just makes the win so much sweeter.

What a game for Ortiz. I remember when the Twins let him go thinking, "Why are they letting such a good hitter get away?" I can't complain about the Twins success since then, but watching the Yankees up 7-1 right now, I have to imagine Minnesota could use him in this series. And if the Twins can defeat the Yankees, they'll have to worry about that release coming back to haunt them.

A great game by Bronson Arroyo, too. He's becoming more Schilling like as the season progresses.

The Red Sox now have three days off to heal and prepare for the next round. Red Sox nation is happy. The game looked for a moment as if it would go down in curse lore. Maybe that it didn't is a hopeful sign for the Boston faithful.

It's a good thing the Red Sox got Arroyo out of there for Mike Timlin with all that playoff experience. He'd never walk Erstad to drive in a run and then give up a grand slam to Vlad.

What's that? That's exactly what happened? I guess this is revenge for Dave Henderson.

Like I said before, don't get cocky!

Escobar is doing a decent job of avoiding the Red Sox bats so far. Of the 17 batters he's faced, he's walked 4 and struck out 4. David Ortiz did get the bat on the ball, and his double set up a two-run third. Still, with eight men reaching base for the Red Sox, Escobar is lucky to have only given up 2 runs. It's 2-0 Boston after 3.

Update: Looks like Esobar's luck has run out. He loaded the bases for Manny and left after Ramirez hit a sac fly. Ortiz hit his 2nd double of the day off Shields, and it's 4-1 Red Sox still batting in the fourth.

I guess Escobar can always make Crabby Patties. :-)

The Red Sox go for the sweep today in the Back Bay. The Red Sox only post-season sweep was in 1975, when they easily defeated the Oakland Athletics, winning 7-1, 6-3 and 5-3. The Angels send Kelvim Escobar to the mound against Bronson Arroyo. Escobar was third in the AL this year in K per 9, and his best chance of winning is to keep the Red Sox bats off the ball. Arroyo pitched better in the 2nd half of the season (more K, fewer BB and HR) but it wasn't reflected in his ERA.

By the way, as you watch Kelvim tonight, see if he reminds you of Sponge Bob Square Pants. His torso looks like a rectangular box to me.

The Twins should be looking at a sweep tonight, but they have to be content with retaking home field advantage. The HHH Metrodome didn't work last year, and I'm not sure Carlos Silva matches up well against NY. Silva had the lowest K per 9 of any pitcher in the AL in 2004. That means his opponents put the ball in play, and that's dangerous against a team that can hit the ball as hard as the Yankees. In five innings against NY this year he gave up 9 hits and 7 earned runs. It's possible that the score will be so high that the Twins won't need to use good old reliable Nathan.

Kevin Brown takes the hill for the Yankees. Brown in 5-1 in the post season and 2-0 with a 0.83 ERA in the LDS. However, he's 1-1 with a 6.04 ERA vs. AL teams in the post season.

Enjoy!

Jeff Weaver appeared to do everything he could to hurt his own chances of winning tonight:

• He committed an error. (Although all his runs were earned.)


• He threw a wild pitch.


• He hit two batters.


• He was 0-2 at the plate.

The two hit batters were especially costly as one came around to score and the other put runners on 2nd and 3rd. They were driven in with a single.

The Astros look to go up 2-0 on the Braves this afternoon in Atlanta. On paper, it looks good for the Astros as Roy Oswalt faces Mike Hampton. Oswalt has been the better pitcher this year, but Hampton came back strong from his last injury and only gave up seven hits and 1 run in his last two starts. Houston does not hit for as much power against lefties, which also might help out Hampton.

The Dodgers and Cardinals get the prime time slot as Jeff Weaver takes on Jason Marquis. Weaver had a good year for Los Angeles after bombing with the Yankees. In many ways, Weaver has been the better pitcher this year; he's walked fewer and given up fewer HR, while striking out more per 9. Again, this might prove to be a better pitching matchup than it looks like on paper.

Enjoy!

When I went to bed last night it was 4-3 Red Sox. They put an exclamation point on the game in the 9th. With Boston's great home field advantage this year (55-26 at home with a .504 slugging percentage) it's hard to believe the series will return to Anaheim. Nice job by the Red Sox bullpen to strike out 4 in two innings.

Jason Varitek hits a two run shot with two outs in the 6th. The game is tied at 3. Colon's groove didn't last that long.

Guerrero gets the third hit of the inning off Pedro to drive in two and give the Angels a 3-1 lead. Pedro's not fooling anyone right now. Anderson hit a rocket liner down the first base line that Millar was able to turn into a DP. Nine of 22 batters have reached against Pedro. That's not the kind of opponent OBA we're used to seeing from Martinez. Both pitchers are lucky they've allowed so few runs, but Colon has found his rhythm and Pedro hasn't.

Update: David Ortiz just got an infield hit. You don't see that everyday. Nice hustle by the burly DH.

Pedro and Colon have settled down. The last three half-innings have been 1-2-3.

Torii Hunter has made the crowd in the Bronx very quiet. He hit a massive home run to give the Twins a 6-5 lead in the 12th. In a game that's being decided by the bullpens, the Twins have had the advantage so far. However, the Twins don't have any relievers warming. Will Nathan be able to pitch a third inning? Gardenhire shouldn't pull a Dusty Baker here. He needs to have some one ready in case Nathan is out of gas.

Update: Nathan starts the 12th, and puts two pitches on the outside corner that Olerud takes for strikes. Great control.

Update: Olerud is rung up on appeal. Great pitch low and and out of the strikezone.

Update: As much as I'd like to see Cairo be the hero, why isn't Torre pinch hitting for him?

Update: Cairo walks! That Joe Torre knows what he's doing. No one is warming in the bullpen for the Twins yet. That's just wrong.

Update: Romero is finally warming up with the count 2-0 to Jeter.

Update: Jeter walks on four pitches! Where's the relief? It's Mark Prior all over again.

Update: Gardenhire blows this game big time. A-Rod hits a ground rule double to the power alley in left center, driving in Cairo. The game is over if the ball doesn't bounce over the fence. Sheffield is being intentionally walked.

Update: Ron is finally going to the bullpen. He should have gone to the pen after Nathan walked Cairo; he definitely should have been there after the four-pitch walk to Jeter. There's no excuse for a major league manager not to be prepared for a pitcher to get tired when he's being extended.

Update: Romero is on to face Godzilla. The crowd is back into it.

Update: Matsui hits a line drive to the drawn in right fielder Jones. Jeter is able to beat the throw.

The Yankees win! Thhhhhhhhhhhhhhe Yankees win!

The Twins had the Yankees finished. If Minnesota loses this series, Gardenhire should be fired.

Correction: Matsui's ball was hit to right, not left. But Jones was there!

Bartolo Colon is pitching on the edge tonight. He's allowed 7 of 12 batters to reach, although only one has scored. If he isn't careful he may lapse into a comma. :-)

(Yes I've used the joke before, but I get lots of new readers during the playoffs.)

Update: Pedro isn't all that sharp either tonight. He's already walked two, and with two hits he's given up the tying run, still pitching in the 2nd. He needs to put a period on this inning. :-)

Update: Pedro gets a K to end the inning.

We're in the 11th inning tonight, and the Yankees still don't have a hit against the Twins bullpen, while they're batting over .300 against each of the starters. The relievers have walked two, but they're doing a much better job of keeping the Yankees off balance. They aren't throwing a high percentage of strikes, but they've been effectively wild. The strikeout of Posada in the 11th is a great example of that. Posada struck out on a pitch that dove out of the strike zone.

It's the kind of game that the Yankees win with a journey man 2nd baseman, so I'm waiting for Miguel Cairo to join the likes of Luis Sojo and Jose Vizcaino as unlikely Yankees post-season game winners. Maybe in the 12th. :-)

Update: Jim Storer reminds me I should add Brian Doyle to the list.

The Yankees score on the first batter as Jeter hits a HR to the centerfield seats. Way to swing for the fences, Derek!

Update: A-Rod joins Sheffield and Jeter in the HR parade. It's 4-3 Yankees in the 5th. All their runs tonight are via the long ball.

Larry Walker was a hero for the Cardinals yesterday, and Carlos Beltran is playing that role today. He had a perfect day, 3 for 3 with a home run, 3 runs scored and was hit by a pitch (which took him out of the game). Good moves are paying off, as the Astros lead 8-3 in the 8th.

Update: The Astros win with a sick Clemens and gain home field advantage in the series. Oswalt looked good in his last start on Saturday, and he'll try to put them up 2-0 tomorrow.

Wright gave up 3 HR, which was unusual for him this season. The Braves put a lot of men on base (7 walks), but like the Yankees last night, could not bring them around to score. I wouldn't blame the offense for this loss.

Who would have thought at the end of last year that Clemens and Jaret Wright would be facing each other in game 1 of the NLDS. Clemens had retired and Wright was just working his way back into form. Clemens short retirement proved a boon to Houston. Clemens improved his K per 9 and HR allowed over last year, although his walks went up. He was also fairly unhittable, allowing a .218 BA to lefties and a .217 to righties. Wright is righter than ever. Even before his career blew up in 1999, he never pitched this well. He's been very effective against the top of the order this year, holding opponent's 1-2 hitters to a .313 OBA; he'll want to keep the bases clear for the Astros sluggers. I'm looking forward to a great game here.

Radke will try to continue to keep the Yankees off balance and off base tonight as he faces Jon Lieber in game two of the Twins ALDS series. Radke posted the best ERA of his career in 2004 and deserved better than his 11-8 record. He is vulnerable to the long ball, however, and the Yankees are a power team. A-Rod has 8 hits off Radke, and four of them are HR. Lieber is another great comeback story. He's even more stingy with walks than Radke. Opponents do hit him, however, as he gave up a .301 BA. That's almost all they get, however, as his OBA against is .316. He's a good pitcher for the Twins to face, as they like to put the ball in play.

The first game my daughter and I attended together was at Fenway. We sat in Peter Gammons' seats behind home plate and watched Pedro and Colon throw gas. Both had great stuff, but you could see the difference between the two was that Pedro didn't make mistakes. Everyonce in a while Colon would throw a phat pitch, and someone would slam it. That day, Pedro put every pitch exactly where he wanted it.

Martinez is coming off a bad September in which he struck people out but was hammered by six HR. Colon pitched much better in down the stretch, a bad outing against the Mariners making his September look worse than it was. His seven innings against Oakland last Friday was about as good as he can pitch.

Should be three classic duels today and tonight. Enjoy!

An impressive win by the Twins. Both teams played for 1 run, and it was the right strategy as the Twins win the game 2-0 on a manufactured run and a homer.

Santana was not overly impressive; he allowed 9 hits while only striking out five (the Yankees hit .346 against him). But he did keep the free passes to a minimum, and his defense got it together and helped him out with some great catches and five double plays. You'll seldom see a better pitching duel than this.

Looks like Ruben Sierra is the only Yankee who reads my blog, as he was swinging for the fences. He just missed the foul pole, too.

The odds switch to the Twins now. I doubt Santana will be this vulnerable again. They just need one win from some other pitcher.

Both teams are playing like 1 run will win this game. The Twins use a single, sac and single to get on the board in the 3rd, but the Yankees kill a bigger inning with a double play. Play for one, get one. We'll see if it's enough.

Posada makes a nice running play, tagging up and going to third on a deep fly out to left by Sierra. But on a decent fly to center, Jorge is nailed at the plate. I guess the first run took a lot out of him. :-)

The Yankees are putting the bat on the ball. That's bad news if it continues for Santana. His fielders have already bobbled a couple of balls. The baserunning of the Yankees has saved him so far.

The Twins Yankees are underway. Mussina gives up just an infield hit in the first (Nettles would have made the play). Mike is throwing strikes; 13 of his 17 pitches went for strikes. Santana taking the mound now.

Update: Aggressive base running helps Santana in the bottom of the first. The runners were moving on a 3-2 count with 1 out, and A-Rod was easy pickings at 3rd after Williams K'd. Santana did walk a batter, however, so I guess he's met his quota for the night.

Being away from Fenwaydidn't bother the Red Sox today as Boston blows out Anaheim 9-3. It wasn't Schilling's best outing in terms of hits and strikeouts, but it was more than enough for the win. The Angels defense let them down; they're below average in DER and it showed today. The Red Sox are off to a much better start than they were last year in the LDS!

Chone Figgins makes a bad throw to the plate with the bases loaded. What should have been an easy out turns into two runs for the Red Sox who take a commanding 5-0 lead in the 4th. It looks like Figgins tried to throw the ball around the runner, but he got his vector wrong. You can't defy the laws of phyics!

Update: Manny gets his tragectory right and sends the ball over the fence for a three-run homer and an 8-0 lead. Not too many thunder stixs clapping now.

Schilling looks to me like he's having a little difficulty breathing. It's very subtle, but he appears to be taking very deep, measured breaths. Is this normal for him?

The Cardinals win 8-3, and you couldn't have scripted the game any better. St. Louis dominated both sides of the ball, hitting for power, getting good starting pitching and great bullpen work. The defense did look a little shaky at times, but they had a huge lead by then. Sometimes teams really are as good as they look on paper.

The Red Sox and the Angels are underway. Damon leads off with a pop to short.

Update: Manny Ortez :-) comes through with a double and a single to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the first.

Albert Pujols just hit a good pitch for a HR to center field. He's just so strong, even though it wasn't a perfect pitch to hit, he muscled it out of the park. What an impressive hitter. The Cardinals lead 1-0 at the end of 1.

Update: It's now 7-0 in the bottom of the 4th. Walker, Edmonds and Matheny have added shots on top of Pujols. The heart of this order continues to show how dangerous it is.

Update: Larry Walker homers for the 2nd time in the game. That mid-season pickup looks very good for the Cardinals.

The Dodgers-Cardinals game is underway. LA gets two singles off Williams in the first but doesn't score. They do force him to throw a lot of pitches (25), but it's no advantage to get into the Cardinals bullpen early.

Jon at Dodger Thoughts has solicited outside views of the team. You can read them here.

The post season gets underway this afternoon in St. Louis as Dodger fans get to watch a game with their morning coffee. Odalis Perez takes the mound for the Dodgers. He's been the Dodgers best starter, although he does allow the long ball, which is dangerous against the heart of the St. Louis order. Rolen has 2 HR against Perez in 11 AB, Pujols has 2 in 10. Woody Williams will oppose Perez for St. Louis. Williams has had his control down the stretch, walking only 15 in his last 67 1/3 innings.

Anaheim is the home for game 2 as the Red Sox send Curt Schilling to the mound against Jarrod Washburn. Washburn's great strength is that he doesn't walk anyone. He strikes out only a few, so he's real dependent on his defense for outs. Schilling has the same strength, with the added bonus of 8 K per 9. Vlad has the right approach against Curt. He's 13 for 51 vs. Schilling with 4 HR and a .569 slugging percentage. Swing for the fences.

All eyes will be on NY tonight to see if Johan Santana can shut down the Yankees. It will be cold, which should give pitchers the advantage. With Mussina on the mound for the Yankees, expect a low scoring affair.

Enjoy!

To put my previous posts on how these teams match up into a more mathematical framework, here's how I see the odds of each team winning in the first round:

Anaheim over the Red Sox: 51% chance. (That's what I mean by saying that these teams are more evenly matched than they appear.)

Houston over Atlanta: 55%

Yankees over the Twins: 57%

Cardinals over the Dodgers: 75%

What this means is, if the Cards played the Dodgers 100 times, I would expect the Cardinals to win 75 times.

I'm tempted to base my judgement of the Astros-Braves series totally on their 2nd half stats. The Braves were 51-24 after the all-star break, the Astros 48-26. So I guess there's not much difference there.

The Astros are unusual in that both their offense and defense perform better at home. One would expect ballpark effects to work both ways; a hitters park helps your hitters and hurts your pitchers. Not so in Minute Maid. Surprisingly, though, the Astros home field advantage was only 4 games (48 wins at home, 48 on the road).

Leo Mazzone needs to be inducted into the hall of fame. The Braves led the league in ERA again. This with a starting staff that includes the left for dead Jaret Wright and the former Texas Ranger John Thomson.

Clemens and Oswalt, however, would both be aces on Atlanta. I believe that gives Houston an edge. I don't have real rooting interests in a lot of these series, but I'm rooting for the Astros in this one. I like the killer B's. I like Oswalt. I loved the franchise when they were the Jazz of baseball. I want to see them win.

It's difficult for me to see any way for the Dodgers to beat the Cardinals in the upcoming NLDS. The Dodgers have an MVP candidate in Adrian Beltre; the Cardinals have three. Los Angeles has a great bullpen; the Cardinals is better. The Dodgers have a great defense. The Cardinals have an equally great defense (the teams tied in DER), leading the NL. The Cardinals have better starting pitching. The Cardinals have better pinch hitters. All is not lost, however. The Dodgers do have better hitting pitchers.

In short, the Cardinals are the team the Dodgers want to be. There's too much fire power in the St. Louis lineup for the Dodgers pitchers to muzzle. Just as an example, the Cardinals hit .250 against Los Angeles this season, but the Dodgers pitchers had a 5.09 ERA against St. Louis. Nearly half the hits the Cards produced went for extra bases.

I'll be conservative and say the Cardinals in four. But truthfully, I'm thinking sweep.

On first glance, the Red Sox would appear to have a superior offense to the Angels. While they have identical batting averages, the Red Sox draw more walks and hit for more power. But part of the Red Sox offensive advantage comes from being built for their home park. They scored 1.1 more runs per game at home than on the road. A simple way to do a more accurate comparison of the offenses is to look at the stats of the two teams on the road.

Taken out of their home contexts, the Red Sox and Angels have nearly identical offenses. The Red Sox have an OBA of .342 and a slugging percentage of .441. The Angels have an OBA of .341 and a slugging percentage of .440. The difference is how they get to those numbers. The Red Sox hit for a lower batting average on the road, but draw a lot more walks to make up for the loss in on-base from hits. With a lower BA, they also hit for more power; they have fewer hits, but a higher percentage of those hits go for extra-bases.

Unfortunately for the Sox, their superior selectivity at the plate works against them in this series. Wearing out starters early just gets you into the Anaheim bullpen, a bullpen with an aggregate K per 9 of over 9! Boston strikes out more than any team in the AL. Like their 2002 championship team, the Angels are near the bottom of the AL in K. With Boston pitcher putting the ball over the plate, the Angels will be putting the ball in play. Theo's defense better be ready.

So I like the Angels in this series by a hair. The teams are evenly matched. The Angels will get more balls in play, and the Angels bullpen strengths match well against the Red Sox weaknesses. It should be a fun five games.

Correction: Angels won in 2002, not 2001.

With the Twins losing game 2 today, the pairings are set for the LDS. The Yankees will host the Twins in a rematch of last year's ALDS. The Angels host the Red Sox in a rematch of the memorable 1986 ALCS. St. Louis has home field advantage against the Dodgers, and Houston travels to Atlanta to begin it's wild run toward the championship.

Good turnover this year, with 1/2 the teams different from last year. Three games Tuesday, and it should be a lot of fun. My questions is, do you put the Twins-Yankees, Dodgers-Cardinals or Red Sox-Angels in prime time? Good arguments can be made for all three.

While I'm apologizing, I've had some fun with the whole Billy Beane-Theo Epstein master/student metaphor. I guess I should complete it:

Darth Vader: I've been waiting for you Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete; when I left you, I was but the learner, now I am the master.
Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi: Only a master of evil, Darth.

And we all know what happened to Obi-Wan. Derek Lowe provided the light saber last night.

If you want a more literary view of the series, check out Bambino's Curse, who also notices Nomar's head in the game.

My playoffs today post from yesterday didn't make it into the blog. I had it under draft instead of publish. :( I wondered why it didn't generate any e-mails. Please read it now.

Strike three called on Long. Same pinch as to Melhuse, but a little higher. It starts inside, and the moves back over the plate.

What a great game. It kept everyone on the edge of their seats 'til the last pitch. It's the 2nd time the Red Sox have come from 2 games down to take an LDS. It's the 2nd time the A's have lost an LDS after winning the first two.

It will be the Yankees and the Red Sox in the ALCS. Two great teams going head-to-head, one trying to break the curse, one trying to enforce it.

I feel bad for the A's. This team deserves to win something. I'm really afraid this might be it for Oakland. Teams like Boston will be executing the Beane strategy with money. The A's will do well, but in the end it will be harder and harder to compete in the post-season. I have a feeling this was the A's last chance to win a championship.

Will they win? Or will it be another Red Sox swoon? Scott Williamson is in to close it out. He's thrown 80 pitches in five innings in this series.

Update: Hatteberg walks on five pitches. Williamson was high on the first three, and Byrnes comes in to run. I wonder if Byrnes got a lecture on baserunning before he went out.

Update: Williamson starts Guillen with a ball inside. The Red Sox pitching coach is out to talk to him.

Update: Second batter in a row, Williamson falls behind 3-0.

Update: Jose Guillen walks on a 3-2 pitch. Derek Lowe is coming in to replace Williamson. His last relief outing in Oakland did not go well.

Update: Yes, you bunt here. We'll see what the A's do.

Update: Hernandez sacrifices the runners up a base. Men on 2nd and 3rd, one out. It's up to Dye to get the runner in from third.

Update: Melhuse batting for Dye.

Update: They are not walking him. Strange strategy. You'd think the Red Sox would want the force at any base.

Update: Lowe strikes out Melhuse looking!

Update: It's now up to Singleton.

Update: 2-2 Count, 1 strike away!

Update: 3-2 Count.

Update: Ball four, bases loaded!

Update: Long pinch hitting.

Update: Long should bunt here. :-)

Update: Count 1-2, again, one strike away.

After striking out Manny Ramirez, Bradford gives up singles to Ortiz and Millar. Rincon is coming in to get Mueller.

Update: Rincon does his job and gets out of the inning. The Red Sox need three outs to go to the LCS. Should be fun.

Chris Singleton gets the A's 6th hit and fourth double leading off the 8th. Pedro is up to 98 pitches.

Update: McMillon singles in Singleton. It's 4-3 and the Pedro is coming out of the game.

Update: Embree comes in and gets Durazo to pop out to third.

Update: Chavez flies to short left. Embree does his job, getting the two lefties.

Update: Timlin in to pitch to Tejada. Tejada has one hit in seven AB against Timlin, bu the one hit is a HR.

Update: Tejada grounds out to end the inning. Chavez is batting .045 for the series, Tejada .087.

A nasty collision. Damian Jackson and Johnny Damon go for a short fly to center and end up knocking heads as both try to catch it. Nomar had the good sense to pick it up and get Dye trying to advance to 2nd. Another poor running play by the A's. Meanwhile, Jackson and Damon were down for a while. Jackson's back up, but Damon was still on the ground as they went to commercial.

Update: Damon is being taken off on a stretcher, and they are keeping his head immobilized. Let's hope he's okay. It's a scary injury.

Update: Adrian Brown bats for Damon leading off the 8th and grounds out.

Update: Damian Jackson appears to be okay. He's batting for himself in the 8th.

Barry Zito has been relieved by Ted Lilly, coming back on really short rest. Looks like they want a lefty in the game to get to Bradford.

Update: Lilly pitches a great inning, retiring all three batters on 12 pitches, 10 for strikes.

Durazo hits a double with one out in the sixth. He looked like he was in pain running, but he's staying in the game.

Update: Tejada doubles to drive in Durazo with two out. That's three doubles to the opposite field for the A's.

Update: Hatteberg grounds out to end the inning. It's 4-2 Red Sox after six.

Zito makes a mistake to Varitek, and Jason takes it out of the park leading off the 6th. Best #9 hitter in baseball. His 16 HR from the nine slot during the regular season were 10 more than any other player.

Update: Zito seems to be tiring, despite the low pitch count. He was 3-2 on Varitek and gave up the HR, and he just went 3-2 on Damon and walked him.

Update: With one out, Zito hits Walker to put men on first and 2nd for Manny Ramirez.

Update: Manny Ramirez takes a 2-2 pitch into the stands for a 4-1 Red Sox lead. It looks like the A's let Zito go one batter two long.

Manny did grandstand a bit on the HR. We'll see if that makes a difference

Update: Watching the replay, Manny did more than grandstand. He stood there watching it, walked slowly to first, then pointed to his own dugout. No call for that. You hit the ball, you start running. You don't know what's going to happen.

A's lead 1-0 through five. Pedro has allowed 2 hits and a walk. Zito has allowed 2 hits and a walk. The difference is one of Pedro's hits allowed was a double with a man on after a walk. Zito's pitch count is 62; Pedro 71.

Kevin Millar singles to center, and Chris Singleton has trouble fielding the ball. It hits Singelton and bounds away, but when Millar tries to stretch it to a double, he's thrown out. The replay showed Millar was taking his time going to first until he saw the bobble, then turned on the speed. If he had been running hard the entire time, he might have made it.

Jose Guillen gets another hit off Pedro, this time a double after a Hatteberg walk. The ball got between Damon and Nixon, and for a second, neither knew who was going to pick it up. That gave Hatteberg plenty of time to score. Guillen tried to go to third, but they nailed him there, ending a potential big inning for the A's. Still the way Zito is pitching, one run may be all he needs.

Both cleanup hitters, Ramirez and Tejada have each struck out twice.

Johnny Damon hits a slow one up the middle for an infield hit and the Sox first baserunner leading off the 4th.

Update: With one out, Damon steals. He had a bad jump, but Hernandez (for some reason) didn't throw to second. Another mental error by the A's?

Update: Zito strikes out Manny on a pitch outside the strikezone to end the 4th. Ramirez is now 1 for 7 with men in scoring position in the series.

What a great game. Pedro and Zito are throwing strikes, absolutely baffling the batters.

Zito had his roughest inning so far, having to throw 10 pitches. :-) He did fall behind 2-0 to Nixon, but got him anyway. Twenty of this twenty six pitches have been for strikes.

Jose Guillen gets the first hit of the night, driving a ground ball up the middle for a single. He's now 9 for 26 vs. Pedro, post and regular season combined.

Update: Pedro hits Ramon Hernandez on the hand. Men on first and 2nd with two out.

Update: Dye grounds out to end the inning. The A's are working Pedro a bit. They've got him to throw 31 pitches through two innings. It's not a lot, but it's better than the Red Sox are doing against Zito.

Zito has retired six in a row. This has to be one of the fastest games I've ever seen. Zito has another eight pitch inning. Sixteen pitches, thirteen strikes.

Pedro also has an easy first. He retires the side in order, striking out Durazo and Chavez. Thirteen pitches, 10 for strikes.

Damon flies out to left to start the game.

Update: Easy inning for Zito. It went so fast, Hernandez didn't realize they had gotten the third out. Zito threw only eight pitches, six for strikes. That's not the way to wear out a guy going on three days rest.

There's a story going around that Tim Hudson was in a fight on Friday night that led to his injury. I want you to notice two things about this story:

1. The sources for the fight story are anonymous.


2. The person denying the story is not.

Gordon Edes says nothing about a fight in this article about Hudson's injury. There's nothing on ESPN.com about it, and if you search google news for "'Tim Hudson' bar" or "'Tim Hudson' Fight", the Susan Slusser article above is the only one you find.

At this point, I'm very skeptical of the bar room fight story. I think Ms. Slusser was fed a bogus story.

Update: Boston Dirt Dogs has an anonymous e-mail from someone who claims to be there Friday night. Dirt Dogs does not have perma-links, so you'll have to scroll to find it.

If anyone who actually saw the fight is willing to e-mail me and send me a phone number so I can talk to you, I'd appreciate it. It would be good to get to the bottom of this story, but I want a source that's not afraid to be identified.

Update: A couple of people wrote to tell me Steve Burton reported this story Sunday night on Sports Final. I can't find a transcript for the show. (Or even a web page for the show!)

This game seems like a toss-up to me. On the Athletics side, the Red Sox are not a good road team, and they are not a good team vs. lefties. On the Red Sox side, they have Pedro Martinez. Both teams are going to be tired by the flight and by the drain of the last two games. At least, with the Yankees winning, they get a few more hours rest before they go at it again. Zito is going on short rest, but Pedro is coming off his highest pitch count of the year. I suspect both will pitch well.

I was really pulling for the Oakland A's to win this series. I want to see Beane-Ball work; I want to see it produce a championship. But I'm starting to believe there is something wrong with the A's system. It's a minor thing, something that doesn't hurt over 162 games. The closest I can get to it is a lack of mental toughness.

Remember this from 2001?

Giambi drove in two runs. He also confronted Miguel Tejada, who failed to advance from first to third on Giambi's RBI single in the fifth inning.

"I was just trying to be aggressive," Giambi said of the exchange with Tejada. "I was all fired up. I told him 'It's my fault. I was just trying to make things happen.'"

In the Athletics' typically loose style, Giambi and Tejada made up in the dugout after the inning, patting each other's faces.

"Everything's cool, Tejada said. "That's the guy that's been carrying the team all year. I give him a lot of credit. He works so hard; he comes to play every day."

Is there anyone doing that today for the A's? It should be the manager's job, but if the manager is a figurehead, can he really enforce that kind of discipline? I've always wondered why Beane hasn't hired a sabermetric manager. But it also seems he needs a better motivator of people. If you could somehow cross Davey Johnson with Larry Bowa, you might get the person capable of leading this team. Ken Macha doesn't seem to be that man.

Of course, the Red Sox are a Beane-Ball team too. And for that matter, so are the Yankees. They just don't need to be cheap about it. Still, there will always be doubters unless the A's actually deliver a championship. But the sloppy play and the bone-headed base running has taken some of the luster off this group of rejects and smart acquistions. This is not a team of lovable underachivers. This is a team that doesn't have its head in the game, and there is no excuse for that.

Yes, the post-season is a crap shoot, and luck can do a lot to determine the winner. But luck didn't lose game three. And the A's can't depend on it to win game five tonight. It's been about process with the A's, but the one process it doesn't appear they have mastered is preparing the team mentally for the playoffs. We will see if it costs them another series.

One reason the Yankees were able to beat the Twins so easily is that they were able to hide one of their weaknesses; middle relief. The Twins did not put enough pressure, or take enough pitches, to tire the starters early. In every game, the starter went at least seven innings. Of the 36 innings pitched by the NY staff, only 3 1/3 were pitched by someone other than a starter or the closer. Oakland and Boston are much more selective clubs than the Twins. It will be more difficult for the Yankees to hide this weakness in the ALCS.

What happened to the Braves? More to the point, what happened to the Braves offense? This was a team that scored over 900 runs in the regular season, and could manage only 15 in five game against the Cubs. I wrote about my surprise at the strength of the Atlanta offense back in May:

This is an incredible offense turnaround, given that the team didn't make many moves. Maybe the offense finally realized they didn't have a great pitching staff to carry them? We'll see if it lasts. I have my doubts about Castilla and Furcal, but if Giles is for real that gives them four great offensive players (Jones, Jones, Sheffield and Giles), and that's usually enough to score a bunch of runs.

The problem over the last week was that their three big outfield guns didn't connect. Over the regular season, the Braves outfielders had a combined on-base + slugging (OPS) of .899, best in the majors and an outstanding number for any team. But in the division series, those outfielders had a combined OPS of .472. They hit .111 in the series, with a .250 OBA and a .222 slugging percentage. If there was going to be an offensive breakdown, I thought it would come from Furcal or Lopez or Castilla. But it was Sheffield and the Jones Boys who didn't get the job done, and Atlanta suffers another disappointing post-season.

On a side note, I realized just how boring the Braves are to watch. Of the four LDS series, Braves-Cubs was the one I most easily could do without. There didn't seem to be any intensity from the Braves, with the possible exception of Smoltz on Saturday night. And that was from pain. There didn't even seem to be any desperation in the loss last night. Terence Moore agrees:

You need those cliches, especially for one of these final and decisive games of a baseball series. You gotta have heart. You also gotta have energy, urgency, enthusiasm -- you know, cliches that have been foreign to the Braves for most Octobers since their run began in 1991.

There was Sid Bream's slide to send the Braves to a pennant after a mad rally. There was David Justice using the emotion of ripping Braves fans to slug the Braves to a world championship. Mostly, there were the Braves looking listless in the clutch.

This time, with Wood throwing and starring, and with the Cub Nation losing its mind over their heroes winning a playoff series for the first time since Roosevelt (Teddy, not Franklin) was president, the Braves went meekly.

Again.

Borowski strikes out Andruw Jones to end the game and give the Cubs their first post-season series win since 1908.

I'm amazed that both the Giants and Braves were eliminated. There were two very good clubs. But the two hot teams, the Cubs and Marlins will meet in the NLCS starting on Tuesday in Chicago. All my friends on the north side must be going crazy right now.

Another disappointing finish for the Braves. And the culprit was the offense again. They could not translate the regular season runs into post-season wins. It's been 12 years, and they only figured it out once.

Congratulations to the Cubs, Marlins and Yankees for advancing to the LCS. One game tomorrow, Red Sox at Athletics. Stay tuned.

Correction: Corrected 1998 to 1908.

The Braves come to the plate in the bottom of the ninth trailing by four. Chipper Jones will lead off.

Update: The Cubs go with Joe Borowski on the mound.

Update: Chipper Jones hits the first pitch deep, but Sammy Sosa catches it at the wall. One down.

Update: Javy Lopez strikes out swinging. Two down.

Tom Goodwin is batting for Kerry Wood in the 9th. It looks like Farnsworth will come in to try to finish off the Braves.

Update: Goodwin does his job and drives in the Cubs fifth run with a double. He just made the job of preseving this game much easier.

Kerry Wood just completed his 8th inning of work. He's allowed five hits, two walks and only one run. He's at 117 pitches, and we'll see if he comes out for the ninth. Kyle Farnsworth has been warming up in the bullpen, so the jammed knee last night was not serious. Cubs lead 4-1 in the top of the 9th.

Very strange play. Sheffield lines to centerfield, and Lofton appears to trap the ball. The runner from 2nd scores, but Giles, who had held up is thrown out at 2nd. But Giles was retreating to first, and Sheffield passed him, so McCarver thinks it should be a double play. Meanwhile, the replay shows that Lofton caught the ball, so I should have been a triple play! Those wild and crazy umpires. :-) Cubs get a conventional double play to end the inning. It's 4-1 Cubs going to the 7th.

Furcal leads off with a walk to start the sixth, and Giles follows with a single. The heart of the order is up, but they have not produced much in this series. It would be a good time to start.

Aramis Ramirez follows an Alou infield single with a HR to centerfield. He extends the Cubs lead to 4-0 in the sixth. Things are looking grim for the Braves right now.

Wood and Hampton keep retiring the side. Kerry now has seven strikeouts through five innings. The way things are going, Hampton's early troubles look like they'll be the difference in this game.

Looks like Mike Hampton has regained his control. He now has six strikeouts through four innings. The question, of course, is can the Braves break through against Kerry Wood?

Kerry Wood continues to be strong through three innings. In 10 1/3 innings in the LDS, Kerry has only allowed three hits. He's thrown 43 pitches tonight, 27 for strikes.

Alex S. Gonzalez does his best to make it an All-Alex Gonzalez NLCS by leading off the 2nd with a HR off Hampton. Alex had 20 HR this year, and 57 extra-base hits. That's pretty good for a .228 hitter.

Kerry Wood uses only 15 pitches (10 strikes) to get the Braves in the first. He gives up a single to Sheffield, but strikes out Giles and Chipper Jones. Cubs still lead 1-0.

Mike Hampton gets through the first inning with only one run allowed, but he did not pitch well. He threw 30 pitches, and only 15 were for strikes. He won't survive many more innings like that. We'll see how sharp Kerry Wood is on full rest.

Moises Alou singles to the left field line to drive in the first run of the game. Cubs have men on 1st and 2nd with 1 out.

They're underway with a leadoff double by Kenny Lofton.

Guzman flies out to Bernie Williams to give the Yankees the ALDS win. They did everything right today, hitting running and pitching. This team looks much different from the group that sleep walked through the Angels series last year. They'll head back to NY and await the winner of the Boston-Oakland game tomorrow.

Twins going to the bottom of the ninth trailing 8-1.

Update: Cuddyer is struck out by White for the first out.

Update: Jones grounds out.

Update: Koskie keeps things alive with a single to left.

Derek Jeter leads off the 9th with a home run. Stewart robbed him of one earlier, but he got all of this one. It's his 5th LDS HR and 12th post-season HR. That ties him with a couple of Larry's, Yogi Berra and Chipper Jones for 8th on the all-time post-season HR list.

David Wells leaves the game with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth and a 7-1 lead. He throws 96 pitches, 68 for strikes. Gabe White is in to finish the inning.

Update: White gets out of the inning. The Yankees starters in this series have allowed six earned runs in 28 2/3 innings for a 1.88 ERA, while striking out 27. The Twins failed to put the ball in play enough against this defense.

David Wells is pitching an excellent game against the Twins. Through six innings, he's thrown 74 pitches, 53 for strikes. He has not issued a walk and only allowed six hits and 1 run. Three innings to go, and the Yankees are holding on to their 6-1 lead. Eric Milton is pitching very well in relief, one hit through 2 1/3 innings.

Twins have two on with 1 out in the bottom of the 4th, and the crowd is roaring again. Cuddyer bloops one in front of Bernie Williams to make the game 6-1.

Update: That's the only run the Twins get in the inning.

Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams deliver back-to-back 1-out doubles to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Bernie is hitting .500 for the series.

Update: After Posada singles, Matsui gets the third double of the inning to make the score 2-0. Yankees have four straight hits off Santana, two on and 1 out. Boone can bury the Minnesotans here.

Update: Nick Johnson gets the fourth double of the inning. Another timely first hit of the series. Nick drives in two, and the Yankees lead 4-0. That's it for Santana, and that may be it for the Twins.

Update: Soriano pops a single down the left field line, scoring two more. It's 6-0 Yankees, and the HHH Metrodome is quiet as a church.

Update: Juan Rincon does not get an out. After Soriano's single, he walks Jeter and Giambi to load the bases for Bernie Williams. Rincon is out of the game. Ex-Yankee Eric Milton gets Williams to end the inning.

Once again, Stewart gets on and the batters behind him do nothing. With two out, Stewart doubles to left. Rivas comes up and gets ahead of Wells 3-0. But David throws a strike, Rivas fouls one off, then strikes out on ball four in the dirt. No score through three innings.

Johan Santana ends the top of the third with his 2nd K of the game, both by Alfonso Soriano. He's only thrown 29 pitches pitches, 21 strikes.

Johan Santana starts strong. He's pitched two innings, throwing only 21 pitches, 15 for strikes.

This game is underway. The only thing that has happened so far is a single by Jeter. It's 0-0 going to the top of the 2nd.

Durazo pops up to Mueller to end the game.

I wonder how many chairs Billy Beane broke in the last two days? Pedro Martinez vs. Barry Zito tomorrow afternoon. Play hooky and watch.

Williamson strikes out Byrnes to start the ninth.

Update: Ellis strikesout!

David Ortiz picks the perfect time to get his first hit of the series. A double off the wall in right gives the Red Sox a 5-4 lead. They are going to the ninth.

Keith Foulke enters the game in the eighth to go for the two inning save.

Update: Garciappara doubles off the wall with one out in the 8th.

Update: Walker flies out. Ramirez is up with two out with a man on 2nd.

Update: Manny singles, but he hit it too hard, and Nomar was not able to score. First and third with two out for the hitless Ortiz.

The Twins are putting out a very different lineup than they did against Pettitte on Thursday. 1-2-3 are the same, but Hunter moves up to 4th and Pierzynski to 5th. Cuddyer will be the DH and bat 6th.

Eric Chavez gets his first hit, a ground rule double to the triangle in center. If it hadn't bounced into the stands, he would have had a triple.

Rincon relieves Steve Sparks, who gave the A's four good innings. Todd Walker leads off with his third HR of the series and his 2nd off Rincon. A's lead 4-3 in the bottom of the 6th.

Adam Melhuse, a last minute addition to the Oakland lineup (Hernandez has a strained back), gets his third hit of the game and the first extra-base hit for Oakland. His double to right off Nixon's glove scores Hatteberg from first. Then, with Burkett over 100 pitches, Jermaine Dye smokes one over the wall to give Oakland a 4-2 lead.

Update: Wakefield comes in an gives up a single, but Ellis hits a hard line drive to first to doulbe up the runner. Oakland is now in control, however.

Scott Hatteberg reaches on a single off Burkett's leg. It's the fourth inning they've gotten the leadoff man on.

Update: Guillen hits a hard line drive to third. It seems every hard line drive turns into an out.

Chavez was up with a runner on 2nd and one out. He popped up foul to the catcher. It's at least the fourth pop up by Oakland with men in scoring position, and Chavez is now 0 for 17 in the series.

With two out, Sparks walks two in a row, and he's behind 3-1 to Mueller.

Update: Mueller grounds out to end the inning. Mueller is batting .133 in the series.

Guillen, on first after a single, tries to go to third on a single to left center. Damon makes a perfect throw to nail him. Once again, the A's fail to execute. They have Melhuse on 2nd with one out.

Update: A's fail to score. Burkett is getting hit, but they've all been singles, and the two with men in scoring position were to short to advance runners more than one base. Burkett has thrown 79 pitches through four.

It was the best of plays, it was the worst of plays.

Tejada makes a great stop on a ground ball up the middle, gets the lead runner at 2nd, then the throw by Ellis gets away from Hatteberg. Scott has no idea where the ball is, and the catcher has to run down the right field line to retrieve it. By the time he gets it back into the infield, Varitek is on third, and the ball is almost thrown away again. Luckily, Sparks was backing up third base.

Then, Damon comes up and knocks a pitch out of the park for a 2-1 Boston lead.

Update: It's Damon's first post-season HR.

Steve Sparks walks Mueller. He's allowed the leadoff man to reach in consecutive innings.

I didn't see what happened, but Hudson is out and Sparks is in. Tim must have injured something warming up. Steve Sparks did not have a good year, giving up 13 HR in 107 innings.

Update: Hudson's hip has given out. He can't land on his leg. This may be similar to what ended Mulder's season.

Update: Sparks gets through the inning allowing only a single to Manny Ramirez. Trot Nixon hit a bullet, but Hatteberg snared it in the air to prevent the Red Sox from tieing the game.

Update: ESPN is reporting that Hudson is suffering from a left oblique strain.

A walk and three consecutive singles leads to a 1-0 lead for the Athletics in the 2nd. They have the bases loaded with none out.

Update: Byrnes just missed the rightfield foul pole by a seat. The person sitting next to the pole in foul territory caught the ball.

Update: Byrnes pops up to 2nd, bases still loaded. But Byrnes saw a lot of pitches, and Burkett is up to 46 thrown.

Update: Ellis pops up in foul territory to the first baseman. It's up to Durzao with the bases loaded and two out.

Update: Durazo pops up. Burkett gets through the inning with minimum damage. However, with the A's taking so long to bat, the shadows are just reaching home plate. The Red Sox are now going to have to face Hudson in a more difficult time to see. Burkett has thrown 52 pitches through two innings.

Tim Hudson had a very easy inning. The Sox go 1-2-3, and Hudson throws 9 pitches, 7 for strikes. You'd think, with Tim pitching on short rest, the Sox would try to wear him out early.

Tejada just loves the outside pitch. He's just fouled off two in a row that would have been balls. Unlike Soriano, he seems to like the high, outside pitch.

Update: Tejada just took an inside pitch and started to first base. Unfortunately, it was ball three. Doesn't say much for his concentration. He then flys out to Nixon in right. The A's did work Burkett, getting him to throw 23 pitches in the inning.

The game is underway with John Burkett on the mound. Ellis flys out to Damon to start the game.

Last night, after the baseball game, Bobby Valentine on Baseball Tonight indicated that the umpires blew the call on Tejada. However, close reading of the rule says this (rule 7.06b):

If no play is being made on the obstructed runner, the play shall proceed until no further action is possible. The umpire shall then call "Time" and impose such penalties, if any, as in his judgment will nullify the act of obstruction. Under 7.06 (b) when the ball is not dead on obstruction and an obstructed runner advances beyond the base which, in the umpire's judgment, he would have been awarded because of being obstructed, he does so at his own peril and may be tagged out. This is a judgment call.

That's exactly what happened last night. The Oakland Tribune pulls no punches:

Shades of Walt Coleman and the Foxboro Farce. Now we have Bill Welke and the Night of Obstruction Destruction at Fenway Park.
What is it about Oakland teams playing in New England in the postseason and finding novel ways to flush out obscure rulebook passages that go against them?

Pretty maddening, eh? It should be. But before launching into your Welke kill-the-umpire tirade, you might want to do two things.

First, read the baseball rulebook and understand that by the letter of the law, the ump got it right, and the A's were the ones who blew it when Miguel Tejada inexplicably stopped running for a run Welke almost certainly would have been given to him had he not.

Second, vent a bunch more spleen about the incredibly stupid baseball the Oakland A's played Saturday night, wasting some absolutely brilliant pitching by Ted Lilly, not to mention a parade of relievers, and kissing away a sweep of the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series they absolutely should have bagged.

The lesson for the A's and all of baseball is, "Don't assume a play is over until you know it's over!"

Jason Diller writes in response to my previous post:

Enjoying the site as usual, but I've got to disagree with your reasoning on starting Martinez today and Wakefield tomorrow. The way I see it they have to win one game with Pedro and one without. It doesn't matter if he pitches Game 4 or 5, they still have to win both games. Burkett today or Wakefield tomorrow- either way I'm not too confident( a toss up as I see it), but at least we might as well see a rested Pedro in Game 5 rather than in Game 4 on 3 days rest after 130 pitches.

Of course, the downside to this is that they can't use him in both games (if he started in 4) too, ala Randy Johnson in Games 6 and 7 of the 2001 WS.

Regarding your comment on him pitching Sat. and Mon. Can you imagine? That could have been legendary! My respect level goes up infinitely for Pedro after hearing that.

Where I disagree in this analysis is that I think the Red Sox have a much better shot with Wakefield tomorrow than Burkett today, and that's an important part of my calculation which I didn't make clear. The two things that lead me to that conclusion are:

1. Wakefield, for the season, had an ERA that was a point better than Burkett.


2. In the stretch run, Wakefield posted a 2.01 ERA over his last five starts.

Wakefield pitched fine in game two, but both his offense and defense let him down. If he pitches that well again, the Red Sox can win if they hit. With Burkett, you run the risk of getting blown out in the first inning.

Yes, I wouldn't be thrilled with bringing Pedro back on short rest after throwning 130 pitches. But I'd rather do that than lose.

One other thing; if Pedro goes today, and the Red Sox win the series, he can start game two of the ALCS on Thursday. If he goes tomorrow, he can't start until game three on Saturday. Doesn't seem like much of a difference, but if he starts game 2, the Sox could bring him back in game five. If he starts game 3, you won't be able to use him before game six, and by then the Sox could be out of it.

I remain convinced that starting John "Denny Galehouse" Burkett is the wrong move today.

Update: Ben Jacobs of Universal Baseball Blog agress with Jason.

I read your comments on the Red Sox saving Pedro Martinez for game five and I have to say that I disagree with you. I can understand the A's going with their two starters on short rest, because their starters are Tim Hudson and Barry Zito, both excellent pitchers. No matter how the Red Sox do it, they will have Pedro and a pitcher with an ERA above 4.00.

So, no matter what the Red Sox do, they will have a good chance to not give up many runs in one game and a good chance to give up a bunch of runs in the other game. Which place would you rather take the chance of giving up a bunch of runs? For me, it's the park where the Red Sox have scored about 6.5 runs per game. Plus, there's no guarantee that Pedro can be effective on three days of rest. Sure, he says he can do it, but he never has before. Pedro's never made a start on short rest, so there's no knowing how it would affect him.

The point is that the Red Sox have to win two games. They give themselves the best shot at doing that with John Burkett and Pedro both going on full rest, rather than with Pedro and Wakefield both going on short rest.

Looks like the consensus is against me.

The Red Sox are coming off a big win. They have their backs to the wall. They are facing Tim Hudson, one of the leading candidates for the Cy Young award. Hudson is coming back on short rest, but threw only 106 pitches in game 1. Boston has to win this game to stay alive. Who do you send out to pitch? Bob Hohler says Burkett earned the start:

"Burkie is one of the [gutsiest] pitchers I've been around," Gabe Kapler said. "He wants the ball all the time, any situation, against any pitcher, against any lineup. That's what you want in these types of situations. You don't want someone tentative out there."

If experience counts, Burkett would enter Game 4 against Oakland ace Tim Hudson with an abundance of it. He has started more regular-season games (423) than all but five other active pitchers: Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, and Kevin Brown. And he has gone to the postseason six times with the Rangers, Braves, and Sox, logging a 2-0 record with a 2.70 ERA in three appearances in the Division Series, most recently with the Braves in 2001.

The Sox also like the way he battled back from adversity early in the season.

"He felt, and probably a lot more people felt, he had his back to the wall there," manager Grady Little said. "He had a lot on him every single start going through the rest of the season and this guy stood up to it. He handled it well, a true professional, as a veteran player would, and he's meant a lot to this team."

Notice that no one says he's good. Hohler points out that he finished the season 9-6 with a 4.58 ERA in his last 22 appearances, but in my book, 4.58 is not good.

And that's a pretty long finish. If you look at his last five apperances, there's a different story. He went 2-2 despite a 7.48 ERA. He had one good start against Cleveland on Sept. 19. He went seven shutout innings, which makes his other four appearances look all that much worse. He in no way, shape of form has a hot hand coming into the playoffs.

And as for Kapler's quote about not wanting someone tentative, who does he think the alternative is? It's Pedro Martinez! ESPN reported during the game that Pedro walked into Grady Little's office before Saturday's game and told him he felt great; he told him he could pitch Saturday's game and Monday's game! Folks, one of the most dominating pitchers in the game wants the ball. It should be noted that yesterday was the 55th anniversary of the Red Sox starting Denny Galehouse in the 1-game playoff vs. the Indians.

When two teams tie for the league lead there is a one-game playoff, with the winner moving on and the loser going home for the winter. Cleveland started rookie knuckleballer Gene Bearden, who had gone 19-7 and led the league in ERA. Most fans expected Boston manager Joe McCarthy to start young lefthander Mel Parnell, who had been the team's best pitcher down the stretch. But with four dependable starting pitchers to choose from, McCarthy selected none; he chose journeyman Denny Galehouse, pitching on fumes at the end of his career. Galehouse was shelled and the Indians went on to an 8-3 victory—and to the World Series.

If the Sox want to win this series, start Pedro today and come back with Wakefield tomorrow. The odds are still against the Sox, but at least they are more likely to play tomorrow if Pedro starts.

The Yankees go for the division win today, sending lefty David Wells against Twins #1 starter Johan Santana. Santana pitched four good innings against the Yankees in game 1 before leaving with a cramp. He only threw 59 pitches, so he should be sharp.

The Twins however, have two things going against them. The Yankees are pitching a lefty, and the Twins have a poorly constructed lineup. That was clearly demonstrated yesterday when the Twins had to pinch hit for Rivas in the fifth inning. Your number two hitter should be good enough to go the whole game. Santana has to shut down the Yankees offense to have a chance to win today.

Finally, the elimination game of the day takes place in Atlanta. Kerry Wood faces Mike Hampton. Both pitched well in their earlier starts; both had control problems, each walking five but neither team could really capitalize on them. The Braves offense has come alive, so Wood may not be able to get away with that many walks. It will be interesting to see what happens if Robert Fick comes to the plate. He might want to wear one of those full head catcher's helmets. An interesting note, despite the two HR by Chipper yesterday the Braves slugging percentage in the series (.318) is lower than their OBA (.327). At a higher level, the Cubs are in the same boat, with a .349 OBA and a .348 slugging percentage. Expect a lot of strikeouts and a low scoring game.

Enjoy!

How big was the Marlins winning to Miami? You have to scroll way down to find anything about the Dolphins. :-) Dan Le Batard is comparing this team to the 1969 Mets.

All the Marlins need to do now is go 4-3 in their next seven games to become as stunning a World Series team as this sport has seen in more than three decades, since the 1969 Mets named after a miracle.

Ivan Rodriguez is confident:

''This is the start,'' Rodriguez said on the field as teammates bobbed around him in celebration. ``I think we can go all the way.''

This isnt any time to argue, not with him anyway. The Giants can tell you. When Saturday was being decided, as a desperate J.T. Snow thundered toward home with San Franciscos last gasp, trying to save the Giants season, Rodriguez did not merely plant himself or brace for a collision as Jeff Conines throw came on one hop from left field. No, Rodriguez moved forward, into Snow, inviting him to try to take what he would not be giving. The symbolic result: Snow, not unlike his team, was left down and out.

The Marlins are winning over a lot of people in the Miami area right now. If Loria builds on this, rather than tearing it apart a la 1997, maybe baseball can be successful in Florida.

The Baseball Crank has a nice wrap-up of the Red Sox win. He also mentions Robert Fick; I discovered last night that I had written about Fick and his temper in the pre-season. It seems at that time he was trying to improve things.

Elephants in Oakland finally gives Ted Lilly some credit.

The Cub Reporter has a rant about Chipper and Fick.

Bronx Banter opines on what a great day it was to watch baseball. I agree!

The Southpaw has a link-filled wrapup of the Giants defeat, which will give you the chance to discover some new Giants weblogs. My favorite line from his post:

Peter Magowan has already spoken to the team, and says that this loss wasn't as bad as the '02 Series or 2000's loss to the Mets.

How much does it suck that we have to compare stomach-punching losses?

A lot, I'd say. :-)

Trot Nixon, pinch hitting for Gabe Kapler hits a two-run homer to centerfield to win the game and keep the Red Sox in the playoff hunt. A bad loss for Oakland; they gave away a run with errors, and baserunning cost them at least one more. The fans are still in the stands clapping. Great crowd; I don't think anyone left.

Three big games tomorrow, four teams facing elimination.

Mike Timlin continued to dominate in the tenth. Three up and three down again, including two strikeouts. Red Sox go to the bottom of the tenth needing one run to win.

Jason Varitek leads off the 9th with a single to center. Adrian Brown comes in to pinch run. Looks like Kapler will bunt. Varitek now hitting .375 in the series.

Update: Kapler misses two bunt tries and now is down 0-2.

Update: Kapler swings away and hits into a double play.

Update: Rincon gets Todd Walker to pop out. On to the tenth.

Mike Timlin pitches two perfect innings in relief, throwing 18 pitches, 13 for strikes. Now we'll see if the Red Sox can get him the win in the bottom of the ninth.

The Clark and Addison Chronicle comments on the dirty Fick play and Chipper Jones fielding, including links to other blogger opinions.

Chad Bradford comes in. Ted Lilly will get a no decision. Nomar hits a grounder to third, Chavez tries to bear hand it and boots it. I assume it will go as a hit, but Graig Nettles would have thrown him out. :-)

Update: Nomar does get a hit, and advances to 2nd on a groundout. But Bradford strikes out Manny Ramirez, making the Red Sox 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Manny is now hitting .083 in the series.

Update: After walking Ortiz, Bradford gets Millar to strike out. Going to the 9th tied at 1.

Ted Lilly is the one who is likely to suffer the most from the Oakland baserunning blunders. He's pitched seven great innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five. He's at 106 pitches thrown, however, so I don't know how long he can stay in the game.

The A's have loaded the bases with 1 out in the top of the 7th. Will they execute this time?

Update: McMillon hits a line drive right to the 2nd baseman. Durazo up with two out and the bases juiced.

Update: Durazo flies out, preventing the A's from making another bone-headed running play. Going to the bottom of the 7th tied at 1.

Hernandez hits a chopper, and it looked to me like Tejada got in some one's way. The third base umpire signals something, and Tejada stops running. He's then tagged out. It appears that Tejada thought he was called out on obstruction, but it could be that he wasn't. Can't wait to hear the explanation for this. The A's appear to have tied the game on the play, however.

Update: Okay, Tejada felt that Bill Mueller obstructed him, and stopped running because he thought the ump at third had called obstruction, and that would give Tejada home. That didn't happen, and Tejada was tagged out. Two bad baserunning plays where the A's assumed something was true when it wasn't. They should be up 3-1 and still batting, but they are tied at 1 in the middle of the 6th.

Correction: It was Hernandez who hit the chopper. I had Chavez hitting it originally.

Runners on first and third in the top of the 6th, Tejada hits a slow roller down teh thrid base line. Lowe fields the ball, makes an off balance throw home, Varitek blocks the plate and Byrnes misses the plate. Byrnes is in pain after the collision and doesn't realize he missed the plate, giving Varitek time to recover the ball and tag Eric out. A bonehead play by Byrnes, the ump never made a call and he should have realized he wasn't out.

The A's have made their fourth error of the night. Ramon Hernandez did not get any help on an infield pop up and dropped it, allowing Millar to reach first.

Upate: Lilly gets out of it. Sox still lead 1-0 after four.

Three errors by the A's, two by Chavez and one by Tejada lead to an unearned run in the 2nd for the Red Sox. It could have been a lot worse for the A's, but Boston has gone 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

Sosa falls about 10 feet short of tying the game, flying out to deep centerfield. The Braves survive and take the series back to Atlanta tomorrow night against Kerry Wood.

John Smoltz looked like he was pitching in pain against Sosa. I'll keep my eye out for news on that.

Derek Lowe has the sinker working tonight. He's retired the first six batters, five of them on ground balls. No score in Boston in the bottom of the 2nd.

After the double by Damon and a walk to Garciaparra, Ted Lilly gets Mueller, Ramirez and Ortiz to all strike out. He threw 24 pitches, but looked strong.

Eric Karros shows no ill effects from the Robert Fick attack by hitting his 2nd HR of the game. Unlike Chipper Jones, however, Karros has not had anyone on base for his shots.

Johnny Damon gets the Red Sox crowd into it with a leadoff double in the first.

Chipper Jones hits his 2nd two-run HR of the game to give the Braves a 6-2 lead in the eighth. This is his 2nd multi-HR game in the post-season. He hit two in his first post-season game back on 10/3/1995 in Colorado.

Billy McMillon grounds out to first to start the game.

With Vinny Castilla driving in the fourth run of the day, Matt Clement is done after 4 2/3 innings. He gave up eight hits and walked four while throwing 87 pitches.

Russ Ortiz has not been sharp today, either. Only 38 of his 69 pitches have been for strikes, and he's walked 3 through four innings. The Braves offense found a pitcher they could hit, but I wouldn't trust Ortiz to hold this lead for very long.

Update: Russ Oritz comes out for the sixth, but gives up a HR to Karros and a walk to Alex Gonzalez. Ray King comes in to relieve and gets a double play. Braves are leading 4-2 in the bottom of the 6th.

The Braves outfielders are 0 for 5 today (3 for 30 coming into the game) but Darren Bragg drives in a run with a groundout. The score is tied at 1 in the bottom of the fourth.

Update: Chipper Jones gets the first outfield hit of the day, a two-run HR to give the Braves a 3-1 lead. It's his 11th post-season HR.

Oh those base on balls. Sammy Sosa draws a walk with two outs, they Moises Alou launches a double to the ivy in left-center. Sammy comes all the way around to score to make the game 1-0. Alou, with a 2 for 2 today is batting .500 in the series.

Russ Ortiz singled in the third inning, and got to 2nd on a walk to Furcal. Unfortunately for him, Paul Bako caught him napping and Oritz was picked off. With Chipper Jones walking, the Braves would have the bases loaded with 1 out for Lopez without the baserunning blunder.

Update: Lopez pops out. Atlanta now 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position.

Hammonds singles, Snow tries to score but Jeff Conine the Barbarian makes a terrific throw, and Ivan Rodriguez holds onto the ball in the collision. Snow is out, and the Marlins are going to the NLCS! What a great season for the Fish, what a great series for Rodriguez, and how nice is it for one of the original Marlins, Jeff Conine to make the big defensive play.

Neifi Perez doubles leading off the ninth for the Giants. J.T. Snow follows with a single to make the score 7-6. It's been a sloppy series by the Giants, but games 1, 3 and 4 have sure been exciting.

Update: Santiago batting for Cruz with one out.

Update: Santiago flies out to right. It's up to Ray Durham to keep the Giants season alive.

Update: Durham gets hit by the pitch. The torch is passed to Hammonds. Here's the problem with batting Barry Bonds fourth. If he were batting third (where he should be), a bases loaded situation brings him up in a situation where you have to pitch to him.

Rivera pitches two perfect innings to pick up his 2nd save of the series. The Twins are down 2-1, and the Yankees can afford to send Wells to the mound tomorrow, knowing they can come back with Mussina in NY on Monday if they have to. The 2-3-4 hitters of the Twins were 1 for 12 today, and are 2 for 33 for the series.

Felix Rodriguez, after getting the first two outs in the inning, gives up a single to Ivan Rodriguez and hits Lee to put runners on first and 2nd.

Then Cabrera delivers his 4th hit of the game. There's a play at the plate on Pudge, but Torrealba, the Giants catcher couldn't hold on to the ball. The ball rolls away, no one bothers to pick it up, and Derrek Lee comes all the way around from third to score. It's 7-5 Marlins in the bottom of the 8th with Cabrera on third.

For the second game in a row, Joe Torre bypasses his setup men and brings in Mariano Rivera to get a 2-inning save. I like the move, but it's obvious Torre doesn't have a lot of confidence in the rest of his bullpen.

In the top of the 8th, the Marlins are walking Barry Bonds with 2-out and the bases empty. I don't like putting the winning run on. Pitch to him!

Update: Alfonzo grounds out. A huge risk pays off.

Gary Sheffield will not play today. He was hit by a pitch last night and will miss today's game. The way he's been hitting, the Braves might not miss him.

The Marlins load the bases in the bottom of the six. Herges on the mound.

Update: Encarnacion grounds into a double play to end the inning. To the top of the 7th with the score tied at five.

Willis coming out of the game in the 6th after giving up 3 runs in the inning. Giants not finished, and it's a 5-4 game. Alfonzo gets another hit to drive in the 4th run.

Update: Snow singles under the sliding Alex Gonzalez's glove to drive in Alfonzo. It's a new ballgame with the score tied 5-5.

Michael Ryan is batting for Luis Rivas with men on first and third and 2 out in the fifth.

Update: Clemens strikes out Ryan. Yankees still lead 3-1.

Dontrelle Willis is now three for three. He triples in the bottom of the fifth. Giants still have only one hit.

Miguel Cabrera drives in two with his third hit of the day. Bonds made a throw reminiscient of the one he made at the end of the 1992 NLCS where he failed to get the lead-footed Sid Bream. The single wasn't that deep, and a strong throw would have nailed Pierre. Instead, it's 5-1 Marlins, and the Giants are looking at flying back to San Francisco to catch their flights for winter vacations.

Dontrelle Willis leads off the fourth with a single, his 2nd hit of the game. That's one more hit than he's allowed to the Giants today.

A.J. Pierzynski takes Clemens deep for the first Twins hit and the first Twins run of the day. He had been 1 for 8 against Clemens in his career with 3 Ks.

Ivan Rodriguez comes through again with an RBI double in the third to drive in Luis Castillo after a leadoff walk. Three hits in two days, and all have given the Marlins the lead. Derrek Lee follows with a single to drive in Pudge, helped by a bobbled relay throw by Aurilia. Not a good day in the field for Rich.

Update: Jerome Williams is out after the first three batters in the third reach, Jim Brower is in.

Bernie Williams continues to do well against Kyle Lohse. With 2 out in the third inning, Williams singles in Rivera from 2nd. Bernie is now 6 for 11 career against Lohse with four extra-base hits.

Lohse just struck out Soriano on that pitch. Alfonso is in love with that location. If the Yankees work on anything with Soriano in spring training next year, it has to be teaching him to take that pitch.

With the Giants up 1-0, Conine hits one to short with Cabrera on first base. Aurilia was playing half way in, but bobbles the ball. With a clean pick, he could have thrown the runner out at the plate. But with no hope of that, he rushes the throw and pulls Snow off the bag. The Marlins now have men on 1st and 2nd with 2 out when they should have been out of the inning.

Update: A nice leaping catch of a line drive off Pierre's bat by Alfonzo saves two runs. It's 1-1 going to the top of the third in Miami.

Williams and Matsui put some long hits on the board. Bernie doubles, and an out later, Hideki takes Lohse deep to right for his first American post-season HR. It's 2-0 Yankees in the 2nd.

Shannon Stewart walks to open the first, but is stranded at third base. He has a .600 OBA in the LDS, but Lus Rivas and Doug Mientkiewicz have not had a hit in the series.

Dontrelle Willis pitches to Barry Bonds with a man on first and two out, and gets Barry on a foul pop to the third baseman. Bonds is not perfect; pitch to him and you'll get him out more often than he'll get a hit.

Kyle Lohse strikes out both Jeter and Giambi to finish a perfect 1st.

Ray Durhan flies out to center to start the game for the Giants. Soriano grounds out for the Yankees.

Jerome Williams, not Jason Schmidt will start for the Giants today. An even better story line, with the two youngsters going at each other.

A full slate of games today. The NL favorites, Atlanta and San Francisco face elimination. The New England favorite, the Boston Red Sox face elimination. And the Yankees face the noise of the Metrodome.

Jason Schmidt will try to replicate his start of last Tuesday and send the series back to San Francisco. He'll face rookie sensation Dontrelle Willis. Willis pitched 1/3 of an inning on Wednesday, and did not look good, allowing two hits. It's a big game for the youngster, but I believe the crowd will give him a big boost. And who would have thought the Giants would be losing with Alfonzo batting .615 behind Barry Bonds?

It's Roger Clemens vs. Kyle Lohse in Minnesota. Clemens pitched well for the Yankees down the stretch, but there are clear signs he's making the right decision to retire. His K per 9 was only 5.4 over his last five starts; Roger's strength was always his ability to strikeout batters. He's had a good rest, so I suspect he'll be strong today. None of the Twins have ever hit a HR off Clemens.

The Yankees haven't faced Lohse much, and he's 0-2 against NY. Bernie Williams, however, has hit for the cycle against Lohse, going 4 for 9 with a double, triple and HR.

The Braves face extinction in the late afternoon game at Wrigley. Russ Ortiz is coming back on three days rest to try to defeat Matt Clement. The Braves averaged 5.6 runs per game during the regular season but have scored only eight runs in the three games so far. I think it's ironic, that all those years the Braves had good pitching, the offense would let them down in the post-season. Now, with only the Red Sox being a higher scoring team, the Braves offense is still letting them down! The Braves ERA is 3.46, and all the runs are earned, so the responsibility for trailing in this series rests squarely on the shoulders of the hitters. The outfielders are a combined 3 for 30. Andrew Jones has three HR against Clement (in 21 AB) so maybe he can spark the Braves today.

And last, but certainly not least, the Red Sox host the Oakland A's. It's going to be cold and damp at Fenway as Ted Lilly faces Derek Lowe. I really like Ted Lilly, although he still hasn't met my expectations of him. The gopher ball was his problem again this year, although he seemed to solve this problem late in the year. Of the 24 HR hit off Ted, only three game after August 1. He finished the last two months of the season 6-1 with a 3.00 ERA, striking out 52 men in 54 innings and walking just 16. That's the Ted Lilly the Yankees should not have traded.

Lowe has had a very successful career against Oakland, going 8-2 with a 3.38 ERA, including 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA in two starts this season. The two A's who hit him well, however, are Tejada and Chavez. It will be up to Lowe to keep the bases clear when the left side of the infield comes to bat.

The home-road records favor Boston in this one. The Red Sox are not a great road team, but the A's are even worse. It's not going to be a good night weather wise for the hitters. The difference in this game could very well be a Manny Ramirez HR (Manny's 5 for 9 vs. Lilly with 2 HR career).

Enjoy!

Mark Prior pitches a complete game, 3-1 victory for the Cubs. In some ways he wasn't as sharp as he usually is; he "only" struck out 7 and walked four. But he was nearly unhittable, allowing only two safties in the outing. Cubs one game away from the NLCS.

Javy Lopez reaches on a strikeout + wild pitch. Man on 1st with 1 out instead of 2 outs. That's the sort of thing that will be remembered if this game turns around.

Kenny Lofton has 2 hits and a run scored, Randall Simon had a 2-run single in the first, and now Aramis Ramirez drives in an insurance run in the 8th to make the score 3-1. Even Moises Alou was in the Pirates system a long time ago, and he's 2 for 4 with a run scored. The Pirate deals are looking very good to the Cubs fans right tonight.

Sometimes you sign an expensive free agent and you get Dave Collins or Storm Davis. Sometimes, however, you get someone who is worth every penny. That's the way the Marlins fans must feel tonight, as Ivan Rodriguez makes his case for being "The Rod" by driving in all four Florida runs to beat the Giants 4-3 in 11 innings. He had as many RBI in this game as in all his previous LDS games combined.

Both bullpens pitched good ball; neither gave up an earned run. The Giants had plenty of opportunities to win this game; they were 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position. On a positive note, Alfonzo was four for five today, and he's batting .615 for the series. That may make the Marlins think twice about walking Bonds in the future.

Giants have the bases loaded with one out in the top of the 6th after a Santiago walk. Redman has not been fooling the San Franciscans, walking three and giving up six hits already, with only three strikeouts.

Update: Cruz grounds out to score a run. Giants are 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

Update: Pedro Feliz, pinch-hitting for Rueter, singles in the tieing run. He was only 4 for 24 as a pinch hitter during the regular season. He's 2 for 2 as a PH in this division series now.

It's 2-0 Marlins in the 5th. The big blow was a 2-run HR by Ivan Rodriguez. It's Ivan's first post season HR in 13 games. He's never gotten out of the Division Series, as Texas always lost to the Yankees when the Rangers were the team to beat in the AL West. He now has three RBI in this LDS, equalling his total for his first three series with Texas.

Looks like the games will be politcially split today, with lefties pitching in Florida, and the righties taking the mound in Chicago. Kirk Rueter of the Giants faces Mark Redman of the Marlins. These two teams have the best winning percentages in the majors when lefties start against them:

Team Records when Opposition Lefty Starts.
Team                          W     L      Pct.
Florida Marlins              27    11     0.711
San Francisco Giants         26    11     0.703
New York Yankees             26    11     0.703
Seattle Mariners             33    16     0.673
Atlanta Braves               24    13     0.649

No advantage there for either team.

Rueter is a good example of why pitchers need to strike out batters to be successful. His 2.51 K per 9 was the lowest in the NL and 2nd lowest in the majors (140 IP minimum). With all those balls in play, Kirk allowed 170 hits in 147 innings. To balance that, he doesn't walk many (although he walked six more than he struck out), and he doesn't give up many HR. He also induced 24 double plays, 1.47 per 9, 2nd among all pitchers with 140 IP. However, the Marlins only grounded into 114 DP, 26th in the majors.

Looking at the Marlins against Rueter, it's hard to find someone who doesn't hit him well. Mike Lowell is ready to return, but he has only 2 hits in 12 AB against Rueter. Luis Castillo has three triples against Kirk, the most hit by any player against Rueter.

Mark Redman, on the other hand, does strike out batters, and he's allowed 172 hits in 190 2/3 innings. Mark, like Rueter, walks few and allows few HR. Redman has never faced the Giants, but he's seen a few of their hitters on other teams. Grissom is 2 for 3 against him, but otherwise, no one has hit him well. I'd have to say that this afternoon's matchup favors the Marlins.

The big pitching matchup of the night, however, is in Chicago where former Cub and pitcher of the 1990's Greg Maddux faces current Cub and possible pitcher of the aughties Mark Prior. I don't have enough superlatives for this matchup. Prior with his power vs. Maddux with his guile. The old man vs. the youngster, looking for one last moment of glory.

What it really comes down to, however, is will Maddux gut it out in a close game. If he's finished seven innings with only 80 pitches, will be turn it over to the bullpen or try to finish it himself? I'm hoping for the latter, but I suspect the former will happen.

One matchup I'll be watching for is Sosa vs. Maddux. Greg has pretty much had his way with Sammy over the years. Sosa is 13 for 56 against him with three HR and 12 K. Prior hasn't seen the Braves much, so there's not much you can say about matchups. It should be one for the ages.

Enjoy!

I'm watching CNBC, and a trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has the Cubs logo shaved into his head. :-)

The two pitchers from the Yankees system combined for the win tonight. Pettitte pitched seven brilliant innings, striking out 10, and Rivera pitched two perfect innings for the save. It's his 26th post-season save, and the 20th in which he went more than one inning.

It's Pettitte's 11th post-season win, tying him with Maddux for third all-time. It's possible that Pettitte could pass Maddux, Glavine (12) and Smoltz (13) by the time the playoffs are over.

And with Nick Johnson on 2nd after a hit by a pitch and a sacrifice bunt, it gives the Yankees a 2-1 lead. Hawkins does his job as a reliever and lets the starter's runner score.

Update: A rare poor fielding play by a Twin, as Hawkins throws the ball over the first baseman's head on a chopper from Jeter. Men on second and third for Giambi with one out.

Update: Twins pitching to Giambi with first open!

Update: Giambi breaks the slump with a solid single up the middle. Yankees lead 4-1.

Pettitte finally gets Stewart, striking him out in the 7th for his 10th K of the game.

Torii Hunter leads off the fifth with a HR to tie the game at one.

Bats are breaking all over the place in Yankee Stadium tonight. Posada got a broken bat double, then Matsui made an out on a broken bat grounder. Both Jeter and Giambi had broken bat hits in the first. They're going to have to start cutting more trees down soon!

Radke and Pettitte have each thrown 30 strikes through three innings (41 pitches for Brad, 40 for Andy). We could be looking at two complete games here at this rate.

Update: There has only been one double complete game in the history of the division series, and that was in 1981 in the extra round added because of the strike. Since they instituted the LDS as a permanent fixture, there have only been 13 complete games in 262 starts, including this afternoon's Sox-A's game.

Updtae: Another thirteen pitch inning for Pettitte. He has 7 K through four innings.

After the leadoff walk, Pettitte has been strong. Through two innings, he has thrown 26 pitches, 19 for strikes. No hits, three strikeouts.

Some people are speculating that this might be Pettitte's last game in a Yankees uniform. I think those thoughts are premature.

Yankees have the bases loaded with no one out in the first. A solid single by Soriano was followed by soft but well placed hit by Jeter and Giambi. Sometimes the hits fall, and sometimes they don't. Williams flys to center to drive in Soriano. Yankees up 1-0.

Update: Radke made Posada and Matsui look bad as he strikes the two of them out to end the inning.

The game is underway. Shannon Stewart walks to start the game.

Update: Pettitte strikes out two and gets LeCroy on a grounder. Yankees coming to bat in the bottom of the first.

One big inning did it all for the A's. Five runs in the 2nd, and a terrific outing by Barry Zito puts the Red Sox down 2-0 in the series.

I don't quite understand why Keith Foulke had to pitch the ninth. The A's were up four runs. They could have brought in someone else and used Foulke if there was trouble. He threw 51 pitches yesterday and 20 today. We'll see if he's worn out if he has to pitch in Boston.

Ramon Hernandez has the GWRBI two days in a row.

If you want to get an idea of how Red Sox fans are feeling right now, you can start with Boston Dirt Dogs. (It's not a permalink, so scroll to the headline that reads, A's up 2-0 in 20 Hours, 162 Games Down the Drain).

Todd Walker boots the ball and makes a bad throw. I thought he was planning on kicking something else in this series. :-) A's now up 5-0 after the error.

Eric Byrns doubles in two more. According to the Oakland announcers, Manny thought the ball was gone and didn't get back soon enough to catch it. A's are up 3-0.

With Guillen at 2nd, Ramon Hernandez comes through again with an RBI single. A's lead 1-0 in the bottom of the 2nd, and Hernandez is the early favorite to be MVP of the series.

I assume the pitchers were sent home last night. Wakefield allows a hit to Durazo, but strikes out two and gets Tejada on a groundout. He threw 14 pitches, 10 for strikes.

They've started the second game of the day. :-) Zito has gotten the first two batters out.

Update: Zito gets the side 1-2-3 in the first. He threw 17 pitches, 12 for strikes.

The pitching matchups favor the home teams in both games today, and for the same reasons.

In the early game (or game two of the split admission double header), Tim Wakefield takes on Barry Zito. While the Red Sox have the best record in the majors when a righty starts against them, they are only 26-27 when a lefty starts against them. Meanwhile, the A's are 70-47 against righties. Zito won his only start against the Red Sox this year, although he didn't pitch well. Wakefield had two starts against the A's, but had no decision. He gave up six earned runs in 12 innings which striking out 12.

One matchup to watch is Tejada vs. Wakefield. Tejada is only eight for 34 vs. Tim, but four of those hits are HR. If Wakefield hangs one, it's outta here. Nomar's been the best hitter on the Sox against Zito, going 6 for 16 with a double and a HR.

One negative for the A's is the Foulke won't be able to pitch tonight. He threw 51 pitches over three innings last night.

In the night cap, the Twins send Brad Radke to the mound against Andy Pettitte. The Twins were 25-29 when a efty started against them this year, while the Yankees were 75-50 when opposed by a righty starter. Radke has been hot; in his last five starts he's 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He's never had success against the Yankees, however, going 3-9 over his career against them.
While a number Yankees hitters have had success against Radke, two who haven't are Jeter and Giambi. If they are together in the middle of the order today, that could help the Twins. Look for the Stewart vs. Pettitte matchup as well. Stewart is 24 for 54 vs. Pettitte in his career with seven walks (all but three of the hits were singles). Stewart did a good job in game 1 of getting on base, and if this is any indication, he may do the same tonight.

Enjoy!

Elephants in Oakland has a post that says it all.

I should have stayed up to watch. Here's the recap from ESPN.com:

It was the last thing anyone at the Coliseum expected: a bases-loaded, two-out bunt by slow-footed catcher Ramon Hernandez.

And it was just crazy enough to give the Oakland Athletics a marathon victory.

I saw that same play many years ago in Fenway Park. I'm going to have to look it up, but I remember a backup Boston catcher dropping a squeeze bunt to win a game, either in the 9th or extra innings. It's a perfect strategy; the third baseman is back because you're slow footed. I'm surprised you don't see it more often.

Macha immediately took himself off the hook for the small ball plays, including an Eric Chavez stolen base in the same inning:

Hernandez and Chavez both acted on their own, according to manager Ken Macha.

"What an ending. Who would have thought that? A's win with a bunt," Macha said. "Shame on anybody who missed it."

Some of us are required to be awake at work today, Ken. :-) Ken has to distance himself from little ball, otherwise Beane throws a fit.

Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe takes the opportunity to try to sell more copies of his book about some curse:

Excruciating. Any Sox fans who were still awake could only curse the October sky. Take away baseball and October certainly presents New England at its best. October brings dry air, crisp apples, and dazzling foliage. Before turning the clocks back, before Halloween, we enjoy a string of sunny, cool days while crimson and orange leaves fall and the Harvest Moon rises.

Unfortunately October has not been a friend of the local baseball team. Since the end of World War I, October has brought nothing but agita to Red Sox fans. There have been four World Series defeats, all in seventh games, plus assorted playoff flops. Today is the silver anniversary of Bucky Dent's playoff homer, for gosh sakes. Unless you are at least 90, you have no memory of the Sox winning their final postseason game in October.

The defeatist attitude of the Red Sox nation is in full force. (25 years since Dent? I'm getting old.) And the calculations of all those ESPN experts who picked the Sox have to change a bit. You know what they thought; Pedro is unbeatable, so he wins two, and then they just have to get one more from Lowe or Wakefield or whoever.

Well, Pedro's not going to win two. Pedro needed to blow the A's away last night, but instead he struggled against a poor offense. The A's worked counts, they let Pedro be a little wild, and the A's scored enough runs to keep it close and get Pedro out of the game after seven. And Pedro threw 130 pitches, his highest total of the season. One has to wonder if this is going to be detrimental to his next start or future starts in the playoffs.

I'm looking at the Oakland Tribune for a story from the winner's perspective, but it's not up yet. However, they do have this preview piece on how to beat Pedro:

The Oakland A's have tinkered with how they try to beat Pedro Martinez over the years. Hasn't everybody? But the reason they beat him a couple of months ago is that they managed to follow their standard game plan to perfection: They wore him down.
A's hitters made the 31-year old with a history of arm soreness sweat and labor his way through five innings. They fouled off good pitches and took bad ones. He broke the 100-pitch barrier by the end of the fifth inning, meaning his night was over.

The A's figure the key to beating Martinez is to make sure he isn't around long. And the key to the A's divisional series with the Red Sox could, in turn, hinge on how they work Martinez and the rest of Boston's pitchers. If the A's can get to Boston's relief corps early, the three-year drought of early playoff exits could end.

The plan is working.

YODA : Always two there are....no more...no less. A master and an apprentice.

MACE WINDU : But which one was destroyed, the master or the apprentice?

Mace, it was the apprentice. :-)

There in the 11th, and Foulke is out for his third inning. The A's will have to find another closer for tomorrow. Of course, the way things are going, this may turn into a double header. :-) I'm off to bed; this will give me a surprise to look forward to when I wake up tomorrow.

Terrence Long strikes out, then steps in front of the plate as Varitek tries to throw out Hatteberg stealing. Hatteberg is called out on interference.

Long made two mistakes in that AB. He was not lying in wait for the 2-0 pitch, and he let a fat one go by. He then caused a DP by stepping in front of the catcher. Not a good night for Terrence.

Williamson just walked Hatteberg with one out. It looked like he walked Tejada, but the umpire called the 3-1 pitch a strike, and then the same with the 3-2 pitch. Both looked questionable to me.

Kim is on in the bottom of the ninth to try for the save. He got the first out, but he walked pinch-hitter Billy McMillon, then hit Singleton. Boston fans are getting a bit nervous. :-)

Update: Kim strikes out Ellis. Little goes to Embree to get Durazo. Interestingly, lefties hit Embree better than righties, do, at least for average and power. Four of his five HR allowed have been hit by lefties.

Update: Durazo hits one to left to tie the game and put runners at first and third. Little should know that lefties hit Embree.

Update: Chavez grounds out. We're going to the 10th.

Pedro walks Durazo to load the bases in the 7th. He now has 4 BB and 3 K. He's up to 128 pitches and Little is leaving him in to face Chavez! But Pedro gets Eric to pop to Varitek to end the inning.

Macha takes Hudson out since he's given up three hits to Todd Walker. Ricardo Ricon comes in and gives up a two-run HR to Todd, his 2nd of the game. Walker has three of the four Red Sox RBI.

Both Hudson and Martinez have high pitch counts. Martinez has thrown 84 through five innings, Hudson 97 through six. This game is going to come down to which bullpen pitches better.

Update: Pedro also has thrown 97 pitches through six innings. Hudson has the edge in strikes thrown, 66 to 60.

Jason Varitek goes deep off Hudson out of the 9 slot. Two solo HRs are the only runs the Sox have gotten so far.

Jason Varitek goes deep off Hudson out of the 9 slot. Two solo HRs are the only runs the Sox have gotten so far.

A single by the aptly named Chris Singleton and a walk to Mark Ellis set up a two-run double by Eurbiel Durazo. A's are up 2-1 and still batting in the third. Hudson had pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the third.

Update: Tejada drove in a third run in the inning but was thrown out trying to go to 2nd. What's worrying about Pedro's outing so far is that he has only one strikeout through three innings. The A's are putting the ball in play against Martinez, while the Red Sox have struck out five times in four innings against Hudson.

Jose Guillen, the best hitter on the A's vs. Pedro, delivers in the 2nd. He singles off Martinez, but is left there. Pedro is being very efficient, only throwing 26 pitches through two innings.

Smoltz blows the save but gets the win by a final score of 5-3. With 13 post-season wins, John Smoltz holds the all-time record. The Braves had 13 hits, all but the last one a single. Prior vs. Maddux on Friday, should be a great one. Series is tied 1-1.

Miller and Morgan pointed out that the Cubs made a number of baserunning mistakes in the game. I agree, but to me they were not obvious mistakes. I think in each case you could make an argument for what the runners did being correct.

Todd Walker shows why he should be batting third as he hits a HR down the rightfield line to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. That should be all Pedro needs. :-)

Marcus Giles' injury worked out well for the Braves tonight. Giles pinch hit and drove in a run, and now Mark DeRosa gets his 2nd hit of the night, a two-run double to give the Braves a 5-3 lead in the 8th. Smoltz may get his 13th win after all.

Just looking at the starting lineup for the Red Sox, and I see Nomar is batting 2nd and Walker is batting 3rd. Grady Little is keeping his late season lineup, although I think Nomar is much more a #3 hitter than a #2 hitter, and the couple of days off is probably what he needed. Then again, this lineup is so strong, almost anyone could bat in any slot.

Marcus Giles is going to pinch hit for Hampton with two on and two out. Hampton goes six, walking five and striking out nine. Giles drives in the go ahead run, putting Hampton in line for the victory.

Update: Furcal hits the ball off Zambrano's leg. It deflects into foul territory and Furcal gets an infield hit. That's in for Zambrano, leaving with the bases loaded and two out.

The Braves middle of the order appears to have figured out Carlos Zambrano. Consecutive hits by Chipper, Javy and Andruw tie the game at 2. Fick batting with two on and 1 out in the fourth.

Hampton strikes out the side in the 2nd on fourteen pitches. Whatever problems he started the game with he seems to have solved. And if you are going to have a strikeout pitch working, the Cubs are the team to help you along.

Furcal and DeRosa start off the Braves half of the first with consecutive singles. First and third for Sheffield.

Update: Sosa pops up, Chipper grounds out to drive in a run, and Lopez strikes out. The three are now 0 for 5 with a walk with runners in scoring position. Cubs lead 2-1 after 1.

Mike Hampton, after two runs and loading the bases with no outs, strikes out Karros, Martinez and Miller an 11 pitches. The bottom of the Cubs order not showing much patience in there.

Sammy just misses a HR off the top of the centerfield wall to drive in a run with a double. And now a grounder to third, and Castilla fails to get Grudzielanek at the plate. Nothing going right for the Braves in the first.

Update: Replay seems to show Grudielanek out, but it was very close, much closer than it should have been. Ramirez singles to load the bases for Karros.

Urbina retires the side in order in the 9th. The Marlins tie the series 1-1. This series has had the duel and the slugfest. Something for everyone.

Hampton walks Lofton to start the game.

Update: Not good. Eight of Hampton's first 9 pitches have been balls, and Sosa is up with men on 1st and 2nd.

Dontrelle Willis was brought into the game in the bottom of the eightn to pitch to Bonds. I don't quite understand this. The Marlins are up four runs, so even if Bonds hits a HR, it doesn't really change things. Willis got Bonds to pop up, but then he gave up singles to Alfonzo and Soriano. Willis has not pitched in relief this year, and you have Looper and Urbina and a day off tomorrow. What if Willis got injured? Looper is in now, why couldn't he have started the inning?

Chad Fox is showing that someone can pitch in this game. He's put up two perfect innings so far, striking out two and holding the Marlins 8-5 lead. He cut his ERA from 4.50 with Boston to 2.13 with the Marlins by cutting down on his hits allowed and walks allowed. He's being pinch hit for now.

Juan Encarnacion takes a Joe Nathan hanging pitch into the left field stands. Penny, Helling and Ponson have all pitched poorly, and now Nathan is joining the club.

Update: Three singles follow Encarnacion's HR to load the bases with one out. That's it for Nathan, who wasn't very hale today.

Upate: Christiansen comes in and gives up a deep fly ball down the RF line to Pierre. Jose Cruz slipped and the ball fell in for a two run double. Pierre is now three for four today with three RBI.

Just got home from work, and turned on the TV to see the Giants with a 5-4 lead and the bases loaded with one out. Carl Pavano came in to get Alfonzo and Santiago to pop out. Great work in relief.

Penny pitches to Bonds, and Bonds drives the ball down the line for an RBI double, scoring Durham from first. Concentration of talent. Bonds has been directly or indirectly involved with the three runs the Giants have scored. It's 1-1 going to the 2nd.

Durham answers Pierre's leadoff single with one of his own. Marlins lead 1-0 in the bottom of the first.

The Marlins break their scoreless streak with a run in the first. Ponson's wild pitch set up a Derrek Lee groundout to drive in Pierre.

Juan Pierre singles to lead off the game.

I don't think we are going to see a low scoring game in San Francisco this afternoon. Brad Penny twirls against Sidney Ponson in game two of this NLDS series. Sidney was less than impressive after his move to the Giants. His K per 9 dropped from 6.1 to 4.5. He went 3-6 with the Giants after going 14-6 with the Orioles although it must be pointed out that his run support dropped from 6.26 to 3.84. He didn't pitch badly, but one might expect a pitcher moving to the NL to have a bigger drop in his ERA.

Ponson did not pitch well at Pac Bell, either. His 5.04 ERA was one of the highest on the team, and the highest for pitchers with at least 30 innings at the park.

Penny is a solid pitcher who had a very good second half. Like the Marlins staff as a whole, his ERA goes up on the road. Penny has a 3.48 ERA at home, 4.62 on the road. Walking Bonds may not be as bad an idea for Penny, since h induced 26 double plays this year, third in the NL.

In Atlanta tonight, Carlos Zambrano tries to help the Cubs to a 2-0 lead over the Braves as he challenges Mike Hampton. Hampton's comeback has to be a big feather in the cap of Leo Mazzone and the Braves pitching program. Hampton was shaky at first, but finished strong, going 7-3 with a 2.73 ERA in August and September. His walks and high and his strikeouts are low for my taste, but he's been successful. Watch for the Sosa-Hampton matchup; Sosa is only 13 for 52 against Hampton, but six of those hits have been for HR. (The most he's hit off an individual pitcher is 7, off Jose Lima and Curt Schilling.)

Zambrano also had a great strech run from early August to mid September, but he struggled in his last two starts against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Not a good sign. Zambrano blamed it on a bad back:

Zambrano was 13-11 with a 3.11 ERA during the regular season. He faltered down the stretch with a pair of bad starts, but his back was acting up. Zambrano maintained Tuesday he's ready to go.

"It feels much better," he said. "I have been working with all the exercises I have to do. In Cincinnati (a 9-7 loss last week), I was feeling the same way that I felt when I won six games in a row. I don't feel tired. I don't feel anything in my arm, and yesterday, I felt good. I threw on the side, and I think I did a really good job."

We will see. He hasn't face the batters on the Braves much, so take this with a grain of salt, but no one on the current Braves roster has homered against him.

The pitching matchup of the night, however, is the late game in Oakland. Pedro Martinez and Tim Hudson finished 1-2 in ERA in the AL this year, and face off in game 1. Pedro has had great success at Network Associates Coliseum, going 4-1 with a 1.45 ERA in six starts, and striking out 53 in 37 1/3 innings. The trade for Jose Guillen might have been worth it just for this matchup; Guillen is 7 for 22 against Pedro with a HR, a walk and nine K. That's like hitting .500 against most pitchers. :-)

After being unhittable for most of the year (.210 BA allowed through August), Tim Hudson had a rough September (.303 BA allowed). Like Zambrano, injuries were blamed for the fall:

Hudson said he has fully recovered from a line drive he took off his pitching hand in August and from a ball that struck him in the leg last month. The injuries may have contributed to his subpar September, in which he went 2-3 with a 4.85 ERA. But Hudson finished the regular season strong, limiting the Rangers to two runs (one earned) on five hits over seven innings in a 5-3 victory Sept. 24.

"I don't think he had his best stuff in September until the last outing," Macha said. "The last outing was his best of the month. The ball was sinking good, he had good location, he pitched very well that day. We were very encouraged after that. I feel good he's going to go in with his good stuff."

Martinez and Hudson have faced each other three times in the regular season. Hudson is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA, Pedro 1-2 with a 3.32 ERA. Pedro has struck out 27 and walked 3 in 19 innings head-to-head; Hudson has struck out 15 and walked 7 in 18 2/3 innings head-to-head. We've had a number of great pitching performances in the playoffs so far. Expect two more here.

Enjoy!

Wood is gone after 124 pitches and walking Gary Sheffield to load the bases with one out in the eighth. A great plate apperance by Sheffield, fouling off pitches in the zone, and taking everything outside. Remlinger is in to turn Chipper Jones around to the right side.

Update: Jones grounds into a force out (looked like a DP on the replay). Braves score, it's 4-2 Cubs with two out and two on in the 8th.

Update: Farnsworth comes in and walks Andruw Jones to load the bases again. Javy Lopez can be the hero.

Update: Lopez grounds out to short. On to the 9th!

Kerry Wood just blew away Vinny Castilla for his 9th strikeout. He's overcome his early wildness and just keeps mowing the Braves down. He's getting them swinging at pitches in the dirt; he's catching them looking at belt high breaking balls. A masterful performance.

Once again, Alou, Ramirez and Karros load the bases with none out. Last time, Ortiz got out of it with 2 K and a pop out. Hacker Randall Simon is pinch-hitting for Gonzalez.

Update: Simon strikes out. Wow.

Update: Bako hits what looks like a DP ball to Fick, who boots it to Giles who gets the out at first. Score tied 1-1. Then Kerry Wood comes up and smashes a double to deep left center to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead. Wood now has 2 hits to the Braves' 1.

Update: Ray King comes in to get Lofton, but Kenny bloops one to center to score Wood. It's 4-1 Cubs in the top of the 6th, and Cox is making another pitching change.

Russ Ortiz just induced his 2nd ground double play of the game. He could have had three if not for the error Giles made. It should be noted that he only induced nine during the regular season.

With the bases loaded and no out, Ortiz strikes out Gonzalez and Bako, then gets Wood to pop out. Ortiz now has six K through four innings; he's not a strikeout pitcher, but he's taking advantage of the Cubs propensity for the K.

Eric Karros just blooped one into centerfield to load the bases with no one out. I think it's the first time I've seen Andruw Jones not make a play! :-) Just kidding, no one else would have gotten close to it.

Russ Ortiz pitches a great inning. He gives up a one-out hit to Kerry Wood, and then Giles misplays a good double play ball. With men on first and second and one out, Ortiz strikes out Grudzielanek and Sosa to end the inning. He has four K through three innings.

Neither Ortiz nor Wood were really throwing strikes in the first inning. Ortiz threw 15 pitches, 7 for strikes, and Kerry Wood threw 17 pitches, only 8 for strikes. That doesn't strike me as a ball/strike ratio that can hold up for a whole game.

Kenny Lofton just singled leading off for the Cubs, and cheers went up at Turner Field. Seems a lot of Cubs fans made the trip to Atlanta to root, root, root for the road team. When I was at the 1999 World Series in Atlanta, I remember the Yankees fans being much louder than the Braves fans. It's not that there were a lot of NY fans there; the Braves fans were just quiet.

Giants win 2-0. Yesterday, I tried to write a post about how the Giants have their talent concentrated in two players. The point I made poorly is that concentration of talent is enough to carry the team. That concentration shone through today.

Schmidt pitched brilliantly. He gave up only three hits, no walks and struck out five as he pitched a complete game shutout. It's only the sixth CG shutout in LDS history, and three of those were in 1981!

Barry Bonds did not get a hit, but they walked him three times. In the 4th, his walk moved Aurilia into scoring position, where he scored on an error. In the 8th, with two out and no one on, he was intentionally walked, and scored on a Alfonzo double. So the strategy of walking Bonds resulted in both of the SF runs scoring.

Bonds and Schmidt lifted the Giants on their shoulders today and carried them to victory.

Schmidt and Beckett are ringing up the strikeouts at Pac Bell today. Beckett has five through three innings, Schmidt has four. Each has allowed 1 hit.

Nick Johnson ground out to third base to end the game. A huge win for the Twins, given the home field advantage they enjoy in the Metrodome. The game came down to defense, with the Twins making a big play in the 9th, and the Yankees not making plays in the 3rd and 6th. Game 2 on Thursday. That will give the NY media lots of time to complain. :-)

It's not over. Soriano's infield hit breaks up the shutout. Tying runs on base for Nick Johnson, vs. the lefty Guardado.

Durham on 2nd, 2 out, the Marlins walk Bonds. Can Alfonzo make them pay?

Update: Edgardo flied out to center.

Shannon Stewart made a great catch in the 9th. With Williams on first, Matsui hit one deep that Stewart ran down. Boone then doubled. If Stewart doesn't get to that ball, the Yankees would be in a better position to tie the game. Sierra pops out, and the game depends on Soriano.

Jason Schmidt starts off the game with a strikeout of Juan Pierre.

Update: Schmidt retires the side on 7 pitches. The Marlins were not very selective in the first.

LaTroy Hawkins retires the Yankees 1-2-3 in the 8th. He's faced seven batters and struck out four. He's also got through the heart of the Yankees order and Williams, Matsui and Boone will be batting in the 9th. Twins still lead 3-0.

The Yankees get the first two men on in the 7th. Sierra pinch-hitting for Rivera against Hawkins.

Update: Hawkins fails to get a double play on a comebacker to the mound. 1st and 3rd, 1 out.

Update: Soriano strikes out.

Update: Johnson battles, fouling off a number of pitches, but he also strikes out. The Yankees have had their chances today. They are 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

Santana came out after four innings with a leg cramp. The Twins scored two in the sixth. The big hit was a Hunter triple. The Twins led the AL in triples.

Mussina works himself into a bases loaded situation with two out in the 4th, but got Guzman on a foul pop up to third to end the inning. Mussina has thrown 63 pitches through four innings.

Santana got the first two batters in the 3rd, but Johnson walked on four pitches, and Jeter worked a walk on seven. Now Giambi is up with two on and two out.

Update: Giambi strikes out on three pitches. He could not catch up to Santana's fastball, despite choking up with two strikes on him. Twins hold on to their 1-0 lead.

Update: One thing the Yankees did so in that inning was work Santana a bit. He's up to 52 pitches after three innings. Mussina has only thrown 36 through three.

Christian Guzman scores the first run of the game. He tried to go first-to-third on a Stewart single, and Matsui missed him on a close play (the Twins radio announcers seemed to think he was out). Then on a line drive to centerfield, he was able to beat Bernie William's throw to the plate. Guzman is an aggressive runners, as evidenced by his 14 triples this year.

Update: The Twins announcers have now seen more replays, and they contend that Guzman was safe, but the umpire was out of position.

Update: Luis Rivas, who drove in Guzman, becomes the second player in LDS history to have a SF and SH in the same game. Charlies Hayes with the 1996 Yankees was the other.

Twins-Yankees are underway. Stewart doubles to lead off the game, but Gardenhire wastes an out bunting him to third. And the Yankees, like idiots have brought the infield in.

Update: Mientkiewicz taps back to the box. Yankees got lucky there. A groundout to short finishes the inning.

In the past, starting a lefty against the Yankees was considered a good idea. This year, however, the Yankees have a 26-11 record when the opposition starts a lefty against them, best in the AL and tied with the Giants for 2nd best in the majors. Nevertheless, the Twins send lefty Johan Santana to the mound to face Mike Mussina. The Twins are 65-43 against righties, the third best record in the majors. So the handedness of the starters play to the opponent's strength.

Both Santana and Mussina had good years vs. the Yankees and Twins. Sanatana had two relief appearances and struck out 10 Yankees in 5 2/3 innings without allowing a run. Mike Mussina was 2-0 in two starts, posting a 1.20 ERA against the Twins. A.J. Pierzynski is the only Twin batter to give Mussina any trouble; he's 8 for 15 with three doubles against the Moose in his career. No Yankee has seen Santana much; Giambi has the most AB against him and he's 3 for 9 with a double, a walk and 2 K. One key for the Yankees will be to work the starters in this series to high pitch counts. The Twins bullpen issues a lot more walks than the starters do, and the Yankee offense should be more in gear against the pen.

In San Francisco, Josh Beckett opposes Jason Schmidt. Two high strikeout pitchers against two teams that don't strike out very much. Schmidt has never lost to the Marlins, despite having a 5.20 ERA against them for his career. Bonds is 1 for 2 with a HR and 2 walks against Beckett. The key for the Giants is to get Bonds into situations where the cost of walking him is high; man on first base, low outs. Force the Marlins to pitch to him, or else risk putting men in scoring position. For the Marlins, they have to put the ball in play against Schmidt. They'll run on him, but they have to get men on base first.

In the night cap, fireballer Kerry Wood tries to take the first step in bringing the Cubs their first World Championship in 95 years. He'll face 21 game winner Russ Ortiz. I suspect Chipper Jones and Gary Sheffield will be very patient with Wood until he shows he has his control. Kerry has walked a lot of batters this year, and the Braves hitters are very willing to take a walk. Russ Ortiz is not an impressive 21-game winner. He's been the beneficiary of the best run support an Atlanta starter received this year, 6.5 runs (Maddux is the only starter not in the top 10 of the NL in this category). So you can score against Ortiz; the question is, can your opponent keep the Braves from scoring? Kerry Wood will try.

This is bad news.

I've been looking at these two teams, trying to find an advantage for one over the other. They are very close in runs scored, but the Giants are a little better. They both have good ERAs, but the Giants are a bit better. If you look at defensive efficiency, the Giants are much better, but if you do my probabilistic adjustments, they both do as expected. Both team are good at putting the ball in play (not striking out); the Giants had 980 K, the Marlins 978.

Even though these teams are close overall, the way they achieved these stats is different. When you look at the Marlins by batting order, you see a classic lineup, on-base with little power at the top, good and declining power through the middle of the lineup, the poor hitters at the bottom. When you look at the Marlins starting rotation, you see consistency among the five main starters. Only 1.30 runs separates Beckett from Pavano.

The Giants, on the other hand, have two players that stand out from all others; Barry Bonds and Jason Schmidt. Schmidt's ERA is almost a run better than their next best starter, Jerome Williams. No one come close to Bonds offensively. The third and fifth slots in the Giants order have been poor. The third slot underperformed the NL average by over 50 points in OBA and nearly 70 points in slugging percentage. The Giants #5 hitters are also underperforming, but Alfonzo has done much better since moving there. But Bonds is the offense if the middle of the lineup.

What this series comes down to is consistency vs. concentration of talent. Will the two superstars carry the team? Will the Marlins have a different hero every day? Last year the consistent Angels beat the Giants despite a great performance by Barry. These teams are very close. The Giants are a bit better, but if their stars falter, so will San Francisco.

Aaron has a long and thorough preview of the Twns-Yankees series, and makes a point I was going to hit upon as well. He starts out talking about last year's Angels beating the Yankees by putting the ball in play. He points out that while the Twins have very similar stats to last year's Angels, they strikeout a lot more. That plays into the strength of the Yankees pitchers.

My advice to the Twins is to try to become the Angels. Shorten your swings and put the ball in play up the middle. That's where the Yankees are weakest.

I was just reading Buster Olney's Crucial Confrontations column on ESPN.com, and this struck me:

Florida speed vs. San Francisco pitchers

Giants catcher Benito Santiago has a good arm, but that's mostly irrelevant. The Marlins' success in stealing bases will depend entirely on how the Giants' hurlers keep them close, or keep them off bases. Jason Schmidt might have the most dominant stuff of any pitcher in this postseason, but you can run on him -- there were 17 stolen base attempts against him this year, and nobody was thrown out.

Yes, you can run on him, but you can't get on enough against him to make the running meaningful. Those 17 stolen bases didn't make a lot of difference:

Schmidt, 2003	Opposition Steals	No Steals
Record	9-3	8-2
ERA	2.89	1.87
Baserunners Per 9	10.0	7.8

So in games where Schmidt allowed more baserunners, there were more steals. It wasn't the steals that raises his ERA, it was his higher runners allowed numbers.

Some of the great pitchers of my lifetime (Palmer, Gooden, Maddux) never cared about baserunners, because they feel that if they get the batter out, the runner won't score. Schmidt may have that philosophy, and if he does, it's a strength, not a weakness.

Update: The Marlins this year stole four bases in seven attempts vs. the Giants. They did not make an attempt against Schmidt this year, possibly because they only had three his and one walk against him.

The Yankees and Twins pitching staffs finished 1-2 respectively in fewest walks allowed in the American league in 2003. The Yankees issued 375 walks; the Twins 402. No other AL team was really close to them; Seattle was third at 466 BB issued. One thing that not walking batters does is to reduce an offense's on-base average to it's batting average. In this case, a 15-point advantage for the Yankees in OBA is changed to a six point deficit in terms of batting average. So in terms of getting on base, these two teams may be more evenly matched than they first appear.

The Yankees advantage in power will not go down, however. In fact, it might even be enhanced. The Twins allow a lot more HR than the Yankees, and the Yankees hit a lot more HR than the Twins. If they do indeed reach base about the same amount of time, I would expect the Yankees to do a better job of moving those runners around the bases.

BB stands for Barry Bonds and Base on Balls. The two seem to be equal to Jack McKeon:

``We'll pitch to him if we're way ahead,'' Marlins Manager Jack McKeon told reporters in Florida on Sunday. ``We might even pitch to him the first time up in a 0-0 game -- might.

``It might be a situation where you get a guy on first and you still walk him and take your chances on the next guy.''

The Giants have no problem with this strategy:

If McKeon keeps his word, it might be a while before Bonds gets another hit. Then again, the Giants have watched the pitch-around-Bonds strategy all season and yet won the National League West by 15 1/2 games.

``If Barry was hitting behind himself, he wouldn't get pitched to,'' teammate Rich Aurilia said. ``Why would somebody pitch to him in the postseason if they don't even pitch to him in the regular season?''

Added Giants Manager Felipe Alou: ``I believe people should change the strategy -- next year. Not now. I'll take it anytime to win by'' 15 1/2 games ``when they don't pitch to one guy on our club.''

It works fine if you can get everyone else out. Otherwise, you're just increasing your opponents run potential.

There's a stat I like to look at just before playoff time. I compute what the ERA leaders from each league did against each team in the majors. I use 30 pitchers, the top 15 from each league. I calculate their won-lost record vs. each team as well as their ERA. Here's the results from this year:

ERA Leaders vs.       W  L    Pct. GS    IP    ER    ERA
Indians              15  4   0.789 25  160.1   66   3.70
Rangers              30  9   0.769 45  296.1  112   3.40
Tigers               26  8   0.765 42  296.1   77   2.34
White Sox            18  6   0.750 28  193.2   76   3.53
Devil Rays           19  8   0.704 37  262.1   80   2.74
Pirates              14  6   0.700 25  164.1   60   3.29
Mets                 20  9   0.690 37  252.2   70   2.49
Brewers              17  8   0.680 32  215.2   64   2.67
Marlins              16  8   0.667 29  191.1   62   2.92
Royals               14  8   0.636 31  209.0   79   3.40
Athletics            14  8   0.636 31  202.2   76   3.38
Expos                 8  5   0.615 22  143.1   53   3.33
Rockies              11  7   0.611 25  157.2   77   4.40
Phillies             14  9   0.609 29  202.2   66   2.93
Orioles              14  9   0.609 33  217.2   75   3.10
Twins                18 12   0.600 37  257.1   83   2.90
Mariners             14 10   0.583 30  197.2   77   3.51
Padres               17 13   0.567 36  238.0   80   3.03
Reds                 13 10   0.565 32  211.0   67   2.86
Cubs                  9  7   0.563 25  162.2   51   2.82
Diamondbacks         10  8   0.556 24  167.0   52   2.80
Blue Jays            12 10   0.545 26  164.1   79   4.33
Angels               18 16   0.529 44  308.0  106   3.10
Astros               10 10   0.500 25  165.2   64   3.48
Dodgers              10 10   0.500 29  208.0   63   2.73
Yankees              14 14   0.500 34  223.1   93   3.75
Cardinals            10 12   0.455 33  208.1   67   2.89
Giants               11 15   0.423 34  224.0   99   3.98
Red Sox               8 12   0.400 30  196.1  104   4.77
Braves                8 14   0.364 32  204.0   86   3.79

For a team heading into the playoffs, it's good to be at the bottom of the list. The proper way to read the Braves line is, "The best pitchers in the league could only go 8-14 in 32 starts against the Braves, and managed a 3.79 ERA." These numbers are a very positive sign for the Braves and Red Sox. The Cubs have three pitchers in the top 15 in ERA. The A's also have three, but Mulder is injured and will not pitch. And as the Red Sox line indicates, good pitching doesn't always stop good hitting.

This analysis also favors the Giants over the Marlins and the Yankees over the Twins.

Here's an article on why the Cubs-Braves matchup leads off in prime-time for Fox.
I discussed this here the other day.

Once thing that might have really hurt the Cubs was the rainout on Friday. This pushed Mark Prior back a day, so he's going to start Friday in game three instead of Wednesday in game 2. Given that it looks like the Cubs are going with a four-man rotation, I guess it's not a big deal. But if they had decided to go with a three-man staff, Prior could have started games two and five.

I was a bit surprised to see that the prime time games on Tuesday and Wednesday do not involve the Yankees. Usually, Fox likes to get NY at night, so they can have the biggest audience. But this year, the Cubs at Atlanta will be the evening games for the first two days. This makes sense, since Chicago is as big a market as NY, and since the Cubs haven't been in the playoffs in a few years, there may be more interest. Also, since WGN and TBS are national networks, these two teams have more of a national following than the Yankees.

Red Sox fans will be disappointed to see that the game will be late on Wednesday, but I also know that West Coast fans prefer that so they don't miss an afternoon game while they are at work. Twins-Yankees will be in prime time on Thursday.