One division series down, three more to go. (And two fewer games to watch on TBS!) The Dodgers took care of the Cubs last night, finishing them off in a 3-1 victory in which the Cubs hardly seemed to threaten. They scattered 8 hits and went 1-for-11 with RISP (the one scoring Derrick Lee in the 8th). For the second year in a row, the Cubs have been swept out of the post-season by the NL West champ. Alfonso Soriano summed it up brilliantly by saying: “We did not play good, like a team. That’s the reason we didn’t win.” The Dodgers now await the winner of the Phillies/Brewers.
10:07am AZT, TBS
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The Brewers managed to stave off elimination by beating the Phillies 4-2. They scored two runs in the first and never looked back, getting strong pitching performances and decent hitting. Today they pin their post-season hopes on Jeff Suppan. Suppan has a strong post-season record but had a poor regular season; Joe Blanton, too, has been merely mediocre this year. I would be surprised if this is a low scoring affair, but both pitchers do have the potential to bear down and pitch well. Milwaukee should be able to build on the momentum they built yesterday, but Philly's offense might be too much for the Brewers.
1:07pm AZT, TBS
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Tampa Bay heads into Chicago up 2 games to none. Though both pitchers' numbers look similar, Garza had a rough September, not lasting 5 innings in any of his last 3 starts. Danks, meanwhile, held the Twins hitless through 5 innings his last time out. The White Sox have a good shot at taking this one, but only if their bats are awakened by their hometown crowd.
4:07pm AZT, TBS
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I don't think anybody predicted the injury-plagued Red Sox to be up 2 games against the AL-best Angels. Once again Anaheim's pitcher has the edge in numbers, but everyone knows Beckett is a big game pitcher, pitching the Marlins and Red Sox to World Series titles before. The Angels too need to find their bats (did someone double check the suitcases?) and hope they brought along a lot of Rally Monkeys to help keep their post-season hopes alive.
Sorry these previews aren't very good today! I am a little tired from pain pills. Many thanks to Jim for starting this up the past two days and letting me continue it. :)