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MLB Playoffs: Tuesday in review

October 5, 2005 / David Medsker

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

MLB

San Diego, meet Reggie Sanders

October 4, 2005 / Jamey Codding

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.

MLB

Win or go home

October 4, 2005 / Jamey Codding

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.

MLB

Fantasy Football Q&A: Week 5

October 4, 2005 / John Paulsen

Peyton Manning finally put up numbers worthy of a first round pick while Kevin Jones was benched in the second half of his game for unknown reasons. What does this mean for your team? Who knows. Post your roster questions here and we’ll give you our opinion.

Fantasy Football, NFL

Waiver Wire Watch: Week 5

October 4, 2005 / John Paulsen

QUARTERBACKS

Mark Brunell, WAS – Brunell has settled into the starting role nicely, throwing for 517 yards and four touchdowns in the last two games. He appears to be a solid fantasy backup going forward.

Josh McCown, ARI – McCown lit up a suspect San Francisco defense for 385 yards and two touchdowns. He won’t have those numbers every week, but he should top 200 yards and throw for a TD or two when the matchup is favorable.

Kelly Holcomb, BUF – If you are in dire need of QB help and have room on your roster, it might be a good time to pick up Holcomb. Starter J.P. Losman has thrown for just 433 yards in four games, tallying one touchdown against three interceptions, resulting in a quarterback rating of 55.9. Holcomb proved a capable thrower during his stint in Cleveland, and with a pretty good group of skill position players around him, he should be able to post good numbers if given the opportunity.

RUNNING BACKS

Michael Pittman, TB – Carnell Williams owners will be scrambling this week to pick up his backup as Williams nurses a sore hammy. His status for next week’s game is uncertain, but if the injury was enough to knock him out of the game, there’s a good chance he’ll miss at least one week. Hamstring injuries are notoriously difficult to predict, so he may miss some time.

Artose Pinner, DET – Kevin Jones was inexplicably benched in the second half of the game against the Bucs and received only 4 carries in the second half. The team claims he’s healthy, so the reason for the light duty is unclear. Pinner received six touches in the second half so Kevin Jones owners may want to pick up Pinner as insurance in case this situation continues. If the backs start to split time, neither will hold much fantasy value, so hopefully Mariucci will decide on a guy (preferably Jones for all those who drafted him in the first two rounds) and give the guy a lot of work. It’s hard to imagine Jones not being the guy in Detroit, but stranger things have happened.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Shaun McDonald, STL – In last week’s waiver watch, I mentioned Kevin Curtis as the main beneficiary of Isaac Bruce’s absence, and he didn’t disappoint Sunday catching six passes for 78 yards, but it was McDonald who shined hauling in nine for 121 yards. If Bruce continues to miss time, McDonald and Curtis will have a chance to shine in the Rams’ pass happy offense.

TIGHT ENDS

David Martin, GB – With Bubba Franks ailing and Javon Walker out for the year, there are quite a few extra targets going around Green Bay. Throw in the fact that the Packers seem to constantly be coming from behind, and you have the makings for a productive receiving corps. Martin is the main TE target in the passing game, with or without Franks’ presence, and is becoming one of Favre’s favorite targets. If you need TE help, especially in the short term, Martin is worth a look.