Playoff Update

Last night, October 4, all eight teams were in action. The first game that took place was the Rangers at Tampa Bay. This was a decisive game for Tampa Bay, because if they were to lose, they would be eliminated and their season would be over. The Rays sent their young right hander Jeremy Hellickson to start the game. He opposed Matt Harrison of the Rangers. Hellickson was shaky at the beginning and never was in control. He allowed three solo home runs in only four innings of work. Two of those were hit by Adrian Beltre who tied a major league record by hitting three home runs in a series-clinching game. The Rays kept battling back and were never really down by more than one run. They just didn't have enough hitting to win the game. If you were to read just the box score of the game, you would find that Casey Kotchman singled to center field, and Sean Rodriguez scored. What actually happened was that Kotchman hit a line drive towards the gap in right - center field, Rodriguez was standing on first and was going home on the play, no matter what. Nelson Cruz had a perfect throw to Ian Kinsler who had a perfect one-hop throw to Mike Napoli. The play couldn't have been any closer than what it was. As soon as the ball hit Napoli's glove, Rodriguez was there to meet him, and the two collided. The ball popped out of Napoli's glove because he didn't have enough time to really squeeze the mitt and get a grip on the ball. The two were fine and not injured. The trainers for the Rangers came out to see whether Napoli was okay, and when they did, you could see he was smiling and laughing because of the play.

The second game of the night was the Phils and Cards. This game was played in St. Louis at Busch Stadium. No scoring took place until the 7th inning because Cole Hamels and Jaime Garcia were locked in. Ben Francisco came up as a pinch hitter with two men on, and that's when trouble came for Garcia. He was getting tired and left a pitch at waist level; Francisco made him pay with a three-run shot to left field. Then in the 7th and 9th, the Cardinals scored one run in each inning to make it 3 - 2. The Cardinals had a great chance to win the game, though, because they stranded an amazing 14 runners on base. In the playoffs, you have to score those runs, not leave them stranded. I believe that is why the Cardinals lost this game.

The Yankees and Tigers played the third game. The Tigers had a chance to move on with a win over the Yanks because it is only a best of five series. The Yankees season rested on the arm of A.J. Burnett, and that was a very shaky arm all season long. Burnett received a lot of heat from Yankee fans and New York media all year for his inconsistency. This was a chance for him to win over his critics with a good start. I went into that game thinking that he would start out okay, but they would not let him lose them the game-- exactly what they did. Burnett went 5.2 quality innings. The Yanks had faith in their bullpen to keep the lead that they had, and they didn't disappoint. The offense jumped on 22-year-old Rick Porcello for four runs, then Phil Coke for three runs, and Al Alburquerque for two more runs. The final score was 10 - 1 Yankees.

The final game of the night was the D-Backs at home against the Brewers. Paul Goldschmidt carried the offensive load for the D-Backs by hitting a grand slam and driving in another with a single. Shaun Marcum got shelled and let up seven earned runs and going only 4.2 innings. The Diamondbacks went 5 - 10 with runners in scoring position, a key to their victory. Josh Collmenter certainly helped by pitching seven innings and only allowing two hits.

Summary:
Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays. Series over, 3 -1, Rangers.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals. Series is 2 -1, Phillies. In St. Louis.
New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers. Series tied 2 -2, heading back to New York.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks. Series is 2 -1, Brewers. In Arizona.