MLB playoffs Day 2

Another day in the cityof Brotherly Love. Same result on the diamond. This time it was a different character doing it with the bat for the Rockies. Kaz Matsui was the spark plug at the top of Colorado's line-up, but It was the 2nd batter in the order that got things started. Troy Tulowitzki and Matt Holliday went back to back in the 1st inning to get the Rox on the board, but Philly had a MVP candidate of their own with something to prove. SS Jimmy Rollins homered and tripled to give the Phils a 3-2 lead, but then Matsui struck with a grand slam in the 4th and an RBI triple in the 6th of his own. The Colorado bullpen stepped up to throw 6 innings of 2-run relief. Capping it with a 2 inning appearance for his 2nd save of the series was Manny Corpas. Philly 1st baseman Ryan Howard added a solo homer, but also got picked off 1st base. Going back to the Mountains with a 2 games to none lead is pretty muchh all that needs to be said about this series. Honorable Mention: Yorvit Torrealba


The Yankees bench had all the postseason experience, but Cleveland looked like the regulars. After falling behind early with CC Sabathia on the mound the Indians leaned on Kenny Lofton to do what he has done for years: light a spark. Lofton answered the call with a 3 hit-4 RBI night in route to a 12-4 victory. Yankees started Chien Ming Wang was ineffective giving up 8-runs in 4 2/3 innings. The tribe had 4 different players hit homers while Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko added 2 RBIs apiece. 8 of the 9 Indians in the line-up had at least 1 hit. The Yankees had sub-par production from their 2 thru 6 hitters( 1 for 16 ). Including an 0-4 night from the Captain Derek Jeter. The Yankees will now have to rely on the "Old Guys" Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens to shoulder the load if they plan to make any noise in the series. Dishonorable Mention: Clevelands own Lebron James strolled into Jacobs Field wearing a NY hat. Lost a little respect there LJ.


The Valley of the Sun has proven no place for Cubs. The Diamondbacks used their potent young line-up and usual bullpen script to all, but seal the NLDS up. Starter Doug Davis got the victory despite giving up 4 runs due to a steady stream of zero's from the relief core. Tony Pena, Brandon Lyon and Jose Valverde each tossed a shutout inning with Valverde striking out the side in the 9th. Arizona got its offense from everyone chipping in. Anyone, Anytime as veteran Tony Clark says. Chris Young got it started with a 2 out three run homer and Eric Byrnes followed up a Stephen Drew single with a booming triple off the LF wall. Drew would also add a 2-run triple of his own in the 4th inning. Chicago added 8 hits of it's own, but nothing to speak of after Bob Melvin made his call to the bullpen.

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.

And finally after 162 games...

...we have reached the postseason(almost). Just one more game to play when Colorado hosts the San Diego Padres tomorrow for the final playoff spot. Some decisions for seasonal awards are clear. Alex Rodriguez is the A.L. MVP, but the N.L. still has to decide whether Jimmy Rollins or Matt Holliday played more of a role for their respective teams playoff sprints. The A.L. Cy Young will fall to the Red Sox ace Josh Beckett, but in this biased chronicler's eye the N.L. crown still resides in the Valley of the Sun. The leading candidates for Rookie of the Year in the Americal League this year were Dustin Pedroia from the Sox or Delmon Young of the Tampa bay Devil Rays. Why not throw a bone to the sunshine state. The ROY race in the N.L. is more intriguing than any other award choice this year. The early pick was Ryan Braun(and early I mean after the All-Star break)who blasted on the scene on May 25th and ended the season with 34 longballs. His .324 average and 98 RBIs also blinded most folks from even looking elsewhere when asked about rising rookies. While just a little further out West the Rockies youth movement began to return dividends in a big way. Troy Tulowitzki began the season as the captain of the infield for the Blake Street Bombers(Yes we can dust off that moniker again) and after answering the bell for 154 of a possible 162 games it's clear the Rockies have that position filled for the better part of the next decade. Tulo's final numbers came in at .287, 24 HR, 98 RBIs and 101 Runs scored. It's true that Braun played in 41 less games and had almost 150 less at-bats, but there are other numbers that can jump out at you. Tulo played in 1,362 innings at SS with only 11 errors for a .987 fielding %. Braun got his 945 innings at 3rd base with 26 errors for a .894 fielding %. Either choice is going to be the right one. Since I ended up scoring a foul ball off Tulowitzki's bat in an early season game at PacBell Park this year I am pulling for the kid from the Rocky Mountains.