Oct 07

ALDS & NLDS continue

I’m late due to a periodontal cleaning this morning, so I’ll just put up links to today’s earlier results and to the current game between the Rays and the Red Sox.

Oakland defeated the Tigers 6 – 3 behind the pitching of Jarrod Parker and three relievers and the home run hitting of Brandon Moss, Josh Reddick and Seth Smith. The As are up two games to one and can close out the series tomorrow in Detroit.

The Cardinals forced a game five by beating the Pirates 2 – 1. The game was a scoreless tie until the sixth inning when Matt Halliday hit a two-run home run. Pedro Alvarez hit a solo shot in the eighth inning; that was the only hit the Pirates got.

The Tampa Bay – Boston game is still going on, with the Sox leading the series two games to none and the game 3 – 0 in the fifth inning.

Update: As I was typing the Rays’ Evan Longoria hit a three-run home run to tie the game 3 – 3.

Jon already has the game thread posted for tonight’s Game Four between the Braves and the Dodgers. His previous post had a lengthy discussion of the Dodgers’ surprise decision to start Clayton Kershaw on short rest.

Oct 06

NLDS Day Three

Jon will have the Dodgers game thread, I’m pretty sure, so this is a post for those who want to discuss the Cardinals at Pirates game at 10:30 AM HST, 1:30 PM Pacific, 4:30 PM ET on TBS.

If pitchers were the only criteria, the Pirates would seem to have a slight edge. They’re starting Francisco Liriano:

The veteran lefty has gone 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA against the Cardinals in three starts this year, spinning eight scoreless innings against them his last time facing them on Aug. 30. Overall, Liriano has been masterful at home, going 8-1 with a 1.47 ERA in 11 starts at PNC Park.

But wait!

The Cardinals are countering with [Joe] Kelly, who went 10-2 with a 2.18 ERA in 15 outings since joining the rotation July 6. He made consecutive starts against the Pirates at the beginning of September, winning both by pitching six innings and allowing just one run.

Go Pirates!

Oct 04

ALDS kicks off, NLDS Day Two

Ack! I didn’t realize Game Two of the Pirates – Cards NLDS is on the MLB Network at 7:00AM HST, so I’m late. It’s been on for 45 minutes now, and the Pittsburghers lead the St. Louisans 1 – 0 3 – 0. The best thing about this game being on the MLB Network is that Bob Costas is doing the play-by-play and Jim Kaat is doing the color analysis.

Pittsburgh v. St. Louis 1:00PM ET, 10:00AM PT, 7:00AM HST

Game One of the Tampa Bay – Boston ALDS begins at 9:00AM HST, 12:00AM PT and 3:00PM ET on TBS.

Game Two of the Dodgers – Braves NLDS is at 12:00PM HST, 3:00PM PT and 6:00PM ET on TBS. See Dodger Thoughts for the game thread for that one.

Game One of the Detroit – Oakland ALDS is at 3:30 PM HST, 6:30PM PT, and 9:30PM ET from Oakland on TBS.

Oct 03

The undercards are done, now to the main events

The preliminary bouts are over, with Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh prevailing over Cleveland and Cincinnati respectively. Now the Division Series games begin.

First, on Thursday, Pittsburgh at St. Louis at 5:00PM ET, 2:00PM PT, 11:00AM HST. The Pirates start A.J. Burnett and the Cards pitch Adam Wainwright.

Okay, okay. The more important game of the two is Los Angeles at Atlanta at 8:30PM ET, 5:30PM PT, 2:30PM HST. The Dodgers start Clayton Kershaw and the Braves start Kris Mendel Medlen. One hopes that Kershaw throws his usual selection of fastballs, sliders and curves well enough to win, and that Mendel Medlen doesn’t throw peas like those his namesake Gregor once studied. The Dodgers need to score runs for Kershaw, something they’ve frequently had trouble doing. In fact, the Dodgers were shut out three times in games Kershaw started. All told, in 33 starts he gave up 55 runs, 48 earned, and he lost nine games. He could have sued for non-support.

Addendum: Both games are on TBS.