Day 1 MLB Playoffs

I guess to say the first day of the playoffs was dominated by pitching would be an understatement. Here is a brief review of each game played today.

Starting with the morning game which was played in Philly. The Rockies kept their train a rollin' with a 4-2 victory. Lefty Jeff Francis took the hill and kept his strong season intact with a 6 inning - 2 hit effort. The only blip on the radar were back to back dingers from Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell. The Phils offense did little else the rest of the day with the 1 thru 4 batters combining to go 0 for 15. Most notably Chase Utley receiving the Golden Sombrero with 4 strikeouts. The Rockies got it started on the offense with Todd Helton making the most of his first postseason at-bat by hitting a triple and scoring when 3B Garrett Atkins knocked an RBI double en route to a 3-run second inning. Matt Holiday spit out the mouthful of dirt from his Monday evening flop at the plate to add some insurance with a solo shot in the 8th inning. The Rockies bullpen didn't need it. Latroy Hawkins, Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas each tossed a scoreless inning in route to the first postseason victory in Colorado since 1995.

In the afternoon Fenway was rocking and Josh Beckett was rolling. The Sox also beat the Angels 4-0, but that was secondary to the performance given by the Boston ace. In what surely would be described as a career game, for anyone who didn't already have a World Series win in Yankee Stadium on his resume, Beckett went the distance striking out 8 and scattering 4 hits. At one point after giving up a lead off single to Chone Figgins to start the game Beckett set down 20 batters in a row. Fittingly Bad Vlad Guerrero fouled off some tough pitches to get a single and break up the strong momentum Beckett had flowing. Angels starter John Lackey gave up long balls to Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz. After tearing off 8 hits in the first 3 innings the Sox offense only added 2 more the rest of the day. With Beckett on the mound it didn't matter. With the day off tomorrow these teams will be back at it Friday night with Kelvim Escobar battling Daisuke Matsuzaka.


The nightcap featured reigning Cy Young winner Brandon Webb taking on fiery North-Sider Carlos Zambrano. Tonight both pitchers brought their A-game. Webb dealing 7 innings of 1 run ball with 9 k's. Equally effective was Zambrano who only allowed 1 run over 6 innings while fanning 8. The Cubs skipper Lou Piniella turned to the bullpen in the 7th inning to hold the game at 1-1, but the "kids" from AZ used their usual weapons to score a pair of runs off reliever Carlos Marmol. One coming via a solo homer by 3B Mark Reynolds and the other was catcher Chris Snyder scoring on a sacrifice fly when Manager Bob Melvin used pinch hitter Conor Jackson for Webb. It turned out to be the right call as the D'back bullpen turned in their performance du jour. A scoreless eight inning from Brandon Lyon and an equally impressive 9th from closer Jose Valverde. For what this Arizona club lacks in experience they more than make up for it with heart. 2nd year SS Stephen Drew got the scoring started when he took Zambrano deep in the 4th inning. This series is by no means won, but we may just be witnessing these youngsters turning into seasoned veterans before our very eyes.