Another American League battle put the Tampa Bay Rays in Texas to play the Rangers. The Rays started rookie Matt Moore and nobody could have expected him to do what he did. Moore ended up going 7 innings, while only allowing two hits and no runs. I was very impressed with the young right hander. He showed control of the game and no nerves at all. He was definitely the key to the Rays taking game 1 from the Rangers, 9 -0.
To the National League now. The first NL game was the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks. Pitching, as usual, was the story in this playoff matchup. Ian Kennedy of the D-Backs pitched well for them up until the 7th inning when he gave up a 2 run home-run to Prince Fielder. I was surprised that they decided to pitch to him because they had first base open. Prince then made them pay by hitting a laser to right field. That was the end of the night for Kennedy. Gallardo of the Brewer's went 8 innings and only allowed a home run by Ryan Roberts. John Axford came in to shut the door with no problems for the Brew Crew.
The next game to take place was between the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals in Philly. The game started out extremely shaky for Roy Halladay and the Phils. Rafael Furcal hit a single to right to lead things off. Then, two batters later, Albert Pujols took a four pitch walk with Lance Berkman coming up to bat. He wasted no time at all by hitting a three run homer on the first pitch he saw. This surprised me as well because Halladay is such a dominating pitcher, and to see the Cardinals jump right on him was surprising. Like I said before though, it all comes down to pitching. Kyle Lohse was cruising right along until the 6th when he let five Phillies cross the plate. Halladay settled in nicely going eight strong and allowing those three first inning runs. The final score was 11 - 6 in favor of the Phillies.
Game two of the Rays, Rangers series took place as well. James Shields went for the Rays and Derek Holland for the Rangers. Tampa Bay had a 3 - 0 lead in the 3rd inning, but the Rangers scored seven unanswered in the next three innings to take the lead. Evan Longoria continues to swing a hot bat by hitting a three run home run in the 7th. That wasn't quite enough for the Tampa Bay Rays to take game two. The Texas Rangers won, 8 -6.
I've mentioned it already, but you can't stress this enough. Pitching wins you games in the postseason. Another perfect example of this was Max Scherzer throwing six no hit innings for the Tigers. The Yankees got their first hit in the 7th on a blooper by Robinson Cano. Miguel Cabrera went 3 - 4 with a home run and three RBI's to carry the offensive load. Jose Valverde came in during the ninth and was very shaking allowing two runs to cross, but he did not implode, sealing a 5 - 3 victory for the Tigers.
The Brewers allowed the D-Backs to hit three home runs during game 2 of the NLDS, but still went out and won 9 - 4. Neither of the starters for either team were impressive, but the bullpen decided this one. The Brewers bullpen went four innings with no runs scoring. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks bullpen went two and two thirds of an inning, allowing the deciding four runs to score. Pitching counts people. Ryan Braun went 3 - 4 with a homer in this one, along with 3 RBI's.
That sums up all the weekend action that took place from September 30th to October 2nd. With the exception of game 2 of the Phillies vs. Cardinals series. That one is currently in the top of the 2nd, with the Philadelphia Phillies holding a 3 - 0 lead. If anyone is interested in watching that one, it is on TBS.
Summary of all the action:
New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers. Series tied 1 - 1, heading to Detroit.
Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays. Series tied 1 - 1, heading to Tampa Bay.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks. Series 2 - 0 in favor of the Brewers, heading to Arizona.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals. Series 1 - 0 in favor of the Phillies. Game 2 is taking place now.
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