Division Series Roundup

OCTOBER 8th
Phillies 7 Reds 4: Well, the Reds had there chance to make this a series last night, and they blew it with some sloppy baseball, 4 costly errors.  It's pretty striking too because the Reds are one of the top defensive teams in baseball according to Ultimate Zone Rating (4th) and they lead the league with the fewest amount of errors.  The Phillies with their Big 3 are the team to beat in the NL, and the Reds needed to catch a break to get a game or two in this series and it ended up being the Phillies catching a break.  I expect Cole Hamels to pitch a gem clinching a spot in the NLCS for the Phillies tomorrow.

Braves 4 Giants 3:  The Braves looked like they were done down 3 runs with Beach Boy Brian Wilson in to pitch in the 8th,  but of course one of the best closers in the game blows it.  This game was tied until the 11th when Rick Ankiel hit the game winning homer.  This Braves team could have the worst lineup in the history of the playoffs.  It wasn't that good to begin with to start the year and since then McClouth has become a  sub .200 hitter and Martin Prado and Chipper Jones are now hurt.  Melky Cabrera was batting 5th in this game for goodness sake. ANYWAYS, while the Braves got one here I have to believe it's more luck, and I don't expect it to continue.

OCTOBER 9th
Rays 6 Rangers 3: The Rays live to fight another day.  Big Game Garza (now that Shields stinks, someone needs to be clutch or at least have a good nickname) pitched well (6ip 1 er) and the Rays bats scored enough runs for the win.  One of the reasons I chose the Rays in this series was because of their bullpen and in this game the Rangers' pen gave up all 6 runs while the Rays' just gave up 1.  With the series now 2-1, the Rangers still have the edge, but the Rays can at least make it a series.

Yankees 6 Twins 1: Unlike the Rays who were able to extend the series, the Twins are now dead, fallen victim to the Yankees.  Brian Duensing, a young ground ball pitcher for Minnesota, was leaving balls up and accordingly got hit hard (3.1ip 5er).   Phil Hughes meanwhile looked fantastic throwing 7 shutout innings with only 4 hits and one walk.  Hughes was seemingly just throwing strikes, hittable strikes, but the Twins couldn't touch him.  I'm not sure if his stuff was that electric, or if Hughes just got a little lucky.  However, any way you want to slice it the Yankees enter the ALCS with less question marks in their rotation now that Hughes pitched well and Pettitte looked healthy.

(The above entries were written before the 10th)

OCTOBER 10th
Rays 5 Rangers 2: The series lives on!  Wade Davis pitches an effective 5 innings and the Rays pen holds on for the win.  In addition to having the bullpen advantage, I also figured the Rangers pitching advantage would be mitigated by their 4th starter Tommy Hunter, if he were to pitch.  Well, he pitched and he didn't pitch all that well giving 3 runs, 2 earned, in 4 innings.  Ode to Small Sample Size: Carlos Pena .196 avg in 484 ABs during the season, .400 avg in this series.  The Rays problem in this series was facing the lefties and the Rangers throw the best one in the bigs tomorrow in Cliff Lee.  The Yankees have to be glad this series will go 5 games because now they won't have to face either ace to start the series.

Giants 4 Braves 3: This was a crazy one, first the Giants blew the lead when Erik Hinske hits a go ahead homer in the bottom of the 8th.  Then the Braves couldn't hold on in the 9th when their committee of closers (Kimbrel, Dunn, Moylan, and Farnsworth) to replace the injured Billy Wagner blew it, although the real culprit would be Brooks Conrad who's error in the 9th -- which was his 3rd of the game --allowed the run to score.  I said the Braves would need more luck to win this series and they almost had it.  Unfortunately they'll now have to beat Tim Lincecum in either the 4th or 5th game to advance, and that's not something that this lineup can do.

Phillies 2 Reds 0: We knew the Phillies' Big 3 would do well, but did we think they'd throw 2 shutouts?  I'm not sure anyone expected that against the best lineup in the league.  Cole Hamels absolutely dominated, throwing a 5 hit shutout to clinch the series for the Phillies.  The Phillies now will wait to see if they'll play the Giants or Braves, but I'm not sure it even matters as they will be clear favorites against either team with their Big 3 still perfectly aligned.