LCS match-ups official

Cleveland just knocked the Yankees out of the pennant hunt so they’ll face Boston starting this Friday in Boston. Byrd over Sabathia makes Wedge look like a genius, now. Of course, Joe Borowski made it a bit interesting.

Is Joe Torre done in the Bronx? If so, does anyone think Joe would consider managing a club like KC, STL, or Pittsburgh (if KC, STL, or Pittsburgh would like to hire him) if he wants to continue managing?

Will A-Rod opt out of his contract? Is Roger Clemens finally done?

Time will tell.

I am pleased with the playoffs so far. I think the four best clubs in the league have made it through the first round:

2007 ALCS

Cleveland Indians @ Boston Red Sox
Game 1: Friday, October 12, 2007, 7 ET (FOX)
C.C. Sabathia vs. Josh Beckett

2007 NLCS

Colorado Rockies @ Arizona Diamondbacks

Game 1: Thursday, October 11, 2007, 8:30 ET (TBS)
Jeff Francis vs. Brandon Webb

 

Go Indians! Go Rockies!

2007 NLCS

Colorado Rockies @ Arizona Diamondbacks

Game 1: Thursday, October 11, 2007
Jeff Francis vs. Brandon Webb

I, for one, am quite looking forward to this one. I don’t think anyone else could have created a better match-up. The Rockies are on a 17-1 run in the last 18 games overall that they have played and handled the Diamondbacks in the last series of the regular season, but I don’t think that will have much bearing on this NLCS. I’m a bit partial to the Rockies, but this could really swing either way.

One truth has really permeated the playoffs so far: pitching wins, pitching wins, pitching wins. In the twelve games so far in the playoffs, the winning teams have allowed a total of 26 runs. The teams on the losing end of those twelve have allowed 73 runs.

Timely hitting also works, too.

After two games….

After two games, all sets of DS series are 2-0 in one team’s favor:

Indians over the Yankees, 2-0
Red Sox over the Angels, 2-0
Diamondbacks over the Cubs, 2-0
Rockies over the Phillies, 2-0

Suprising, yes. I wonder how many times has this happened in playoff history?

I expected the Phillies and Rockies to split and go and eventually go down to a game 5. Not so. The same Phillies bullpen that aided in their season ending streak that put them on top of the NL East flat out flopped in the first two games. The Phillies offense isn’t doing too much either. I expected much more out of their offense. The Rockies have a great makeup as a team and I think they’re going to nail down a sweep today in Denver.

I also expected the Yankees to be up 2-0 instead of down 0-2. With Wang and Pettite, I seriously thought they would have the series under control. Pettite got the job done, but it’s hard to win on a single run in a playoff game no matter how good you pitch. Wang was just rocketed by the Indians, though. The Indians are proving themselves to be serious and the whole “lack of experience” argument is hardly standing now after the Yankees were all but declared the winner before the series started. Regardless, the Yankees could have at least gotten a split in Cleveland.

I’m not really surprised about the Cubs and Diamondbacks. There are four other teams in baseball (Padres, Tigers, Mets, Mariners) with more wins than the Cubs who are at home this October. That’s not to negate anything the Cubs have done this year, but the Central was a very weak division and they are just not rising to the occasion against an outstanding Arizona ball club. People can blame Lou for taking out Big Z too early, but the fact of the matter is, the Cubs just aren’t as good as the Diamondbacks.

Not surprised by the Red Sox, either. Josh Beckett is becoming a post-season master and Dice-K pitched well. The Angels have a great pitching staff, but not as good as the Red Sox and that’s basically been the series. The Angels just can’t do much against that pitching staff in Boston and you can’t win against that Boston lineup if you can’t put up the runs.

Of course, these predictions don’t mean much with 2 games in each series already played, but this is how things will probably pan out:

ALCS: Red Sox vs. Indians
NLCS: Rockies vs. Diamondbacks

If the Rockies complete a sweep, it will be tough for Arizona to quell their momentum after all they’ve done in the final two weeks of the season and in this first week of the post-season. The Red Sox will match up well against the Indians, so it could really come down to a final game, but I’d like to see the Indians on top.

WS: Rockies vs. Indians

That would be a great World Series…

The playoffs are set

Totally wrong about the Rockies-Padres game. I was right in a couple areas: I said Peavy wouldn’t take the loss and the Rockies would win. It was a pitchers duel for a little while with the bullpens, but overall, it was a slugfest. Depending on how far the Rockies go, I think Matt Holiday has some legitimate beef for MVP now. Also, I’m a Troy Tulowitzki for Rookie of the Year supporter. Ryan Braun, Ryan Schmaun.

I thought the Padres had the game in the bag when Scott Hairston hit the go ahead 2-run homer, but I was wrong. Who would have expected Trevor Hoffman to blow the save and take the loss? I don’t think anyone would have.

Anyways, the match-ups are now set:

National League:
Cubs vs. Arizona
Rockies vs. Phillies

American League:
Angels vs. Red Sox
Yankees vs. Indians

It’s nice to see some new blood in the playoffs this year. Should be a great October!