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Phillies vs. Brewers
Behind the arm of Ace Cole Hammels andd the bat of 2B Chase Utley, with a little help from a Brewers error, the Phillies took game one. In game two, will CC Sabathia be too tired to pitch deep into this game after pitching on short rest 4 starts in a row? If history is to repeat itself, then the Brewers should have looked at last year’s ALCS where CC looked wornout against the Red Sox in his two games. Only time will tell.
Dodgers vs. Cubs
Dempster looked good until the 5th inning when he topped 100 pitches, the same inning where 1B James Loney launched a game winning grand slam to secure game one for the Dodgers as Derek Lowe gets the win. Big Z is up against Billingsley in game two and my gut tells me that even though the Cubs have lost 10 playoff series after losing game one, this isn’t your average Cubs team. I think that Big Z comes up real big in game 2 to tie the series.
Red Sox vs. Angels
The Sox continue to dominate the halos in the post season. Surviving cancer patient Jon Lester is looking like potential ace status as he closed the door after a mildly rough 1st inning where he allowed a run to score. He pitched 7 innings and recorded 7 K’s, then rookie Justin Masterson pitched the 8th and closer Jonathan Papelbon struck out 3 of the 4 he faced to get the save. Big night at the bat came from rookie Jacoby Ellsbury (3 hits, 2 SB and a great diving catch in the 8th), and Jason Bay (aquired in the Manny Ramirez trade at the deadline) who hit the game winner, a HR to LF. One other key note was Vlad Guerrero’s base running blunder in the 8th. Vlad was on 1B when a bloop single was hit just past the diving reach of 1B Kevin Youkilis who threw out the hoppling Vlad (DH) as he, in true Angel aggressive base running style, tried to make it to 3B and was thrown out! Just about killing any chance of an Angel rally. It’s hard to say if it was just a bad base running decision or a great play by Youkilis, but in reality, it was probably a little of both. Matsuzaka goes against E. Santana tomorrow night. Edge, Red Sox as Matsuzaka has been lights out on the road this year and has walked fewer batters of late.
Rays vs. White Sox Game 1 Tonight
Shields pitches against Vasquez tonight in game one. Edge goes to the Rays due to the pitching match up and the exhaustion factor the Sox have to be facing with those two extra and stress filled games played against the Tigers and Twins just to make it to the ALDS. Focus on the Rays pitching to outduel the White Sox and Griffey Jr. to shine in the first playoff series he’s been in for quite some time. Other players to watch in this series are the rookies Evan Longoria, the Rays 3B and Alexei Ramirez, middle infielder for the Soxwhose grand slam against the Tigers got them to the duel against the Twins. My pick in this series is the Rays. The fairytale will continue…
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