Category: MLB (Page 443 of 448)

Chicago 5. Boston 3 (Chicago wins series, 3-0)

O, M, G. So much for my ‘Red Sox in 5’ prediction. In the second to last week of the season, the White Sox looked dead in the water, a team that had forgotten how to pitch, how to play defense, and most importantly, how to play small ball, that secret weapon of Scarface’s that got them this far.

But now, they look untouchable. Their pitching has been unhittable. The vaunted Red Sox offense scored two, four, and three runs respectively in the series. If you want to know what the Red Sox did wrong, look at the box score to Game 3. Simply put, they played Cubs’ baseball: they lived and died by the long ball. Those three runs? Three solo home runs, from TWO GUYS; one from Big Papi and two from Manny, who apparently wants out of Boston, again.

I will confess to bleeding Cubbie Blue, and that undoubtedly clouded my judgment of the Pale Hose in the playoffs. But now, I’m pulling all the way for them, and it’s actually for a noble cause: I would love to see two snakebitten, cursed teams win the World Series in back to back years. Has that ever happened?

All of the pundits said before the playoffs began that there were no clear favorites this year. If that’s the case, then why aren’t these games more competitive?

St. Louis 6, San Diego 2
Okay, everyone knew that St. Louis was going to win this series handily, but did anyone think that the Padres would just roll over and play dead like this? You’d figure that guys like Giles, Loretta, and especially Joe “The Joker” Randa, who spent most of his career marooned in cellar-dwelling Kansas City, would make the most of the opportunity. But no, instead they’ve been playing like they’ve got a plane to catch, grounding into double play after double play after double play. I originally said Cardinals in four. They’ll only need three.

Atlanta 7, Houston 1
On the plus side, the series is tied at 1-1, but neither game was close. Houston blows out Hudson in Game 1, and Atlanta blows out Roger Clemens, who everyone thinks is in severe pain, in Game 2. And now they head to the Juice Box for Games 3 and 4, so expect some more offensive fireworks. Hats off to John Smoltz, though, for becoming baseball’s winningest postseason pitcher, a spiffy 15-4 record in his career.

St. Louis 8, San Diego 5

Reggie Sanders, SMASH! Me hit ball far. Izzy nearly blows a six run lead. And for the first time in baseball history, an ace pitcher (Jake Peavy) breaks at least one rib during the clubhouse celebration when they won the NL West, and is lost for the rest of the playoffs. We are waiting with bated breath to find out exactly how he pulled that stunt.

Chicago 14, Boston 2

What a joke this game was. Even Scott freaking Podsednik, who hadn’t hit a homer ALL YEAR, hit a three-run dinger, as did fellow non-slugger Juan Uribe. The funny thing is, Chicago only had two more hits than Boston, but the Pale Hose were the ones playing long ball. Boston hit five doubles, but only scored two runs. Does Francona play small ball tonight in order to put pressure on the South Siders? Don’t bet on it.

New York 4, The The Angels Angels 1

The Yanks spank Fatty yet again (they pulverized him earlier in the year in the Bronx), with the big blow coming from Robinson Cano, a three run double in his first playoff at-bat. Moose threw like a pro, not the bum he was to his fantasy owners. And Rivera sawed off yet another bat handle. For all the wood he’s ruined, we hope he plans on repaying the earth by planting a forest somewhere. And what on earth was Vladimir Guerrero thinking when he tried to steal second on a left handed pitcher with two outs and down by three runs? If I’m Scioscia, I learn a few curse words in Spanish and try them out.

Tonight:

Houston at Atlanta, 4 PM EST. Pettite vs. Hudson
Boston at Chicago Sox, 7 PM EST. Wells vs. Buehrle
New York at Anaheim Anaheim, 10 PM EST. Wang vs. Lackey

Seemingly, the only chance the Padres had to upset the heavily favored Cardinals in their opening-round playoff series was to ride a monster performance from staff ace Jake Peavy to a game-one victory.

Scratch that.

Peavy just got pulled with one out in the fifth inning after giving up a grand slam to Reggie Sanders. The Cards are currently up 8-0, and Sanders has driven in six runs. St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter, meanwhile, has allowed just three hits to this point.

The only potentially good news for the Pads is that Peavy, after throwing just 70 pitches today, should have no problem taking the mound again for game four. Of course, now that the Cardinals have bruised and battered San Diego’s best starter, there may very well not be a game four for Peavy to start.

For more on this series, check out our St. Louis-San Diego preview.

After a wild regular season that saw four AL teams battling for three playoff bids in the final week of the season and two NL teams vying for a Wild Card berth on the last day of the season, postseason baseball is back once again.

The Cardinals and Padres are up first, with game one of their series scheduled for 1:00 Tuesday afternoon on ESPN. Boston and Chicago are set for 4:00 Tuesday, also on ESPN, followed by the start of the Angels-Yankees series at 8:00 on Fox. The Braves and Astros, meanwhile, get underway Wednesday at 4:00 on ESPN, followed by the Sox and the Sox (7:00, ESPN), and the Angels and the Yanks (10:00, ESPN).

For previews and predictions on all four Division series, check out the links below:

Angels-Yankees
White Sox-Red Sox
Padres-Cardinals
Braves-Astros

Be sure to visit TSR daily throughout the playoffs for updates, commentary and analysis on all the games. Plus, visit Bullz-Eye.com for a final look back at baseball’s amazing regular season with David Medsker’s 2005 MLB Wrap Up.