MLB Postseason Recap

Here is a rundown of yesterday's playoff action:

Tampa Bay Rays 6 Chicago White Sox 2: The Tampa Bay Rays are now one win away from winning their first ever playoff series and advancing to the ALCS. The big blow in this game was Akinori Iwamura's home run that put the Rays up 3-2 in the 5th. At that point of the game, you just knew the Rays were going to win and the tacked on 3 more runs for insurance in the 8th. This seris now heads to Chicago where Jon Danks and Matt Garza will square off. The White Sox might actually have the advantage in this game because Garza is a much better pitch at home (7-3/2.89 ERA) than on the road (4-6/4.53 ERA). Danks was great in the play-in game against the Twins and I still believe he is the White Sox best pitcher this year. Game 4 has Gavin Floyd facing off against Andy Sonnanstine. Floyd was a solid 17-8 on the season and much better than Sonnanstine. I would not be surprised if Chicago was able to win both games at home and force a Game 5. The Rays have been playing great though and look like a team on a mission, so it might not matter who the White Sox throw out there.

Put On Notice: Jon Danks & Jim Thome

Boston Red Sox 7 Los Angeles Angels 5: Well with Boston beating the Angels again, it looks as though this will be the first time in the Wild Card era that a team from the AL will make the World Series with a losing road record. The Angels are the only team in the AL playoffs with a winning road record and they look like they are about to be eliminated. It is amazing that the Angels first 19 hits were all singles. They are also just 4-for-21 with runners in scoring position, which is not the way you win games in the playoffs. The bottom of the lineup has been killing the Angels, especially Howie Kendrick who is 0-9 with 5 K's in the two hames. Mark Teixeira(.714), Vladimir Guerrero(.625), and Torii Hunter(.500) have been doing more than their fair share but have only scored a combined 3 runs despite being on base 17 times. Clearly the bottom part of the Angels lineup needs to pick up the slack and if the Angels go on to lose this series that is where they can place the blame. On the Red Sox side of things they are certainly looking like a team that is going to be tough to beat. J.D. Drew came through with the big HR in the 9th off of K-Rod and it always seems like someone different gets the big hit for the Red Sox, unlike the Angels who are relying on three guys in the middle of their lineup.

Put On Notice: 6-7-8-9 hitters in the Angels lineup.

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