Baseball Reflections

MLB Divisional Series Update

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…and the Year of the Pitcher Continues…

Day One!

Photo of Phillies Ace Roy Halladay by Icon SMI

After six games played (4 in the AL and 2 in the NL) we have seen the second No-hitter in playoff history (the last one was 54 years ago by Don Larson) by the Phillies Ace Roy “Doc” Halladay over the Reds in game one. The second game of this series is playing tonight at 6pm (EST) on TBS.

Before that game, Rangers Ace Cliff Lee pitched seven strong innings only allowing one run off a Ben Zobrist HR with one out in the seventh inning. He also struck out 10 Rays batters! The Rangers went on to win the game 5-1.

In the nightcap that day (Wednesday, October 6th) neither Yankees Ace CC Sabathia (an AL Cy Young Award candidate with his 21-7 record) nor Francisco Liriano (AL comeback player of the year) pitched too well, each giving up four earned runs. The Yankkes won that game 6-4.

Day Two!

The first game of the day saw Ranger 2009 closer CJ Wilson pitch 6.1 scoreless innings against the AL East Champion Rays in a 6-0 victory to take a 2 games to none lead in the series. Wilson struck out 7 Rays in his outing!

In the Middle game of the day (last night: Thursday, October 7th) 38 year old Yankees pitcher won his 19th playoff game of his career with seven strong innings only allowing two runs. The Yankees now lead that series 2 games to none*. They move this series onto New York for games three and four (if needed).

*only the New York Yankees of earlier this decade (either 2000 or 2001) have lost the first two games at home in the division series AND came back to win the next three games and move onto the League Championship Series.

Photo of Giants Ace Tim Lincecum by Icon SMI

In last night’s game we saw the Braves veteran (and 2004 Red Sox playoff hero**) Derek Lowe take on the Giants Ace Tim “the Freak” Lincencum. Lowe pitched well going 5.1 innings and allowing just one run while striking out 6 it just wasn’t enough to beat “The Freak”. Lincecum threw a complete game 2 hitter AND, if that wasn’t enough, set a Giants playoff record by stricking out 14 Braves! The second game of this series is playing tonight at 9:30pm (EST) on TBS.

To recap, that’s 3 shutouts, 1 one run game and 1 two run game thrown by the 6 starters so far. Most of the bullpens, except for maybe the Twins, have been almost as good as the starters.

This is what October baseball is all about if you ask me!

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