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.

The Quest Begins

In the American League, the Detroit Tigers made a trip to New York to play the Yankees. The highly anticipated pitchers' duel between Justin Verlander and C.C. Sabathia was put on hold due to the rain. Doug Fister and Ivan Nova were sent to the hill once play resumed. It was 2 - 1 Yankees heading into the 6th inning of play and that was the end for the Tiger's. Brett Gardner drove in two to make it 4 -1 Yanks. In that same inning Robinson Cano came up and delivered a grand slam. That ended any hopes for a Tiger's victory and the Yankees went on to take game 1, 9 - 3.

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.