2009 World Series: New York Yankees Win 27th Championship (Video/Highlights)

2009 World Series: New York Yankees Win 27th Championship

Congratulations to the New York Yankees, who beat the Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series to become world champs for the 27th time. Hideki Matsui came through big time for the Yankees driving in a whopping 6 runs on his way to being the World Series MVP. Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte, and Posada now have 5 World Series rings and Sabathia, Teixeira, and yes even A-Rod now have a ring too. This team had the look of a champion for most of the season and it proved to be true. The Phillies were certainly a worthy opponent and it's really a shame one of these teams had to lose because I think they are both championship caliber teams and you don't always see that in World Series matchup.

Phillies Go Hard - Jakk Frost feat Freeway (Video)

The official Phillies go hard anthem...

2009 World Series: Game 1 - Phillies vs Yankees - Cliff Lee Shuts Down The Yankees (Video/Highlights)

Cliff Lee was absolutely filthy in Game 1 of the 2009 World Series. There's no if's, and's, or but's about it. The movement on his pitches was outstanding and it's amazing that Lee who had to be sent to the minors just a few years ago is now clearly an ace and one of the best pitchers in baseball.

I have no problem with how C.C. Sabathia pitched in this game. I would take 7 innings and 2 runs from him every time out and I would say the Yankees would win those games most of the time. Chase Utley touched him up for 2 home runs, but this loss has to be chalked up to Cliff Lee just being unhittable last night.

I didn't do a World Series preview, but my prediction would have been Yankees in 7. I'm going to stick with that as I am not phased by the first game of this series. This is going to be a series that will not be easy for either them and the fans and players for both teams will be sweating it out. There's no home field advantage in this series because both of these teams can win anytime, anyplace.

A.J. Burnett and Pedro Martinez square off in Game 2 and I think the Yankees better make sure they score some runs off of Pedro because Burnett is hot and cold on the mound. The core of the Phillies lineup actually doesn't hit too well against Burnett over his career, with just Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley having moderate success. The rest of the Phillies struggle big time, so this could be a good matchup for the Yankees.

However, the Yanks have also not faced Pedro Martinez in years, so I'm not sure how they adapt to the "new" Pedro and it may take a time through the lineup before they figure him out. I really think the Yankees need to jump on Pedro early and get into the Phillies bullpen.

One thing to look at is that Jerry Hairston is a lifetime .370 hitter off of Pedro in his career and with Nick Swisher looking awful at the plate lately, I have to wonder if Hairston will somehow work his way into the lineup. I doubt it, but it is at least something that is worth bringing up as something that Girardi might do that would surprise some people. Actually, Hairston may even DH for Matsui, since Matsui is just a .143 hitter lifetime against Pedro. That is probably the more likely scenario. However, I think Girardi will stick with the guys who got him here for better or worse.

With Jay-Z set to perform before Game 2 maybe it will get the Yankees energized and bring some life back to a team who was stifled by a dominant Cliff Lee in Game 1.

2009 MLB Postseason: NLCS - Phillies vs Dodgers - Game 5: Jayson Werth, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Matt Kemp, Joe Torre (Postgame Comments)

Some postgame comments from the Phillies & Dodgers after the Phillies won Game 5 to advance to the 2009 World Series.

2009 MLB Playoffs: NLCS - Philadelphia Phillies vs Los Angeles Dodgers - Game 4: Jimmy Rollins Walk Off Hit In The 9th (Highlights)

2009 MLB Playoffs: NLCS - Philadelphia Phillies vs Los Angeles Dodgers - Game 4

Wow, the defending champs showed once again what makes them such a great team and they now have their foot on the neck of the Dodgers once again. Looks like the Phils will be able to defend their World Series title against either the Yankees or Angels. Either way it looks like it will be a good series. You have to be happy for Jimmy Rollins, who just had an awful season, but I'm sure now Phillies fans have forgotten all of that after his game winning hit last night.

2009 MLB Playoffs: ALCS - New York Yankees vs LA Angels - Game 2: A-Rod Hits Game Tying Home Run & Maicer Izturis Makes Horrible Throw (Highlights)

2009 MLB Playoffs: ALCS - New York Yankees vs LA Angels - Game 2

This was a great postseason game that had a lot of mistakes in it but none was bigger than the boneheaded play by Maicer Izturis in the 13th inning. With the ball hit well to his left, he should have just thrown to first and got the easy out. Even if he makes a great throw to second, he would have had no chance to turn two with Melky running. Get the out at first and it would have been 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs.

That being said...I can't believe A-Rod came through AGAIN and it's pretty much official that you won't hear Yankee fans complaining about A-Rod anymore. The Yankees are still catching a lot of breaks and it looks like they are destined to at least reach the series.

In the NL, I'm not sure yet who I think will win between the Phillies & Dodgers, but I'm somewhat leaning towards the Phillies.

2009 MLB Playoffs: ALDS - New York Yankees vs Minnesota Twins - Game 2 - Mark Teixeira Game Winning Home Run & Highlights

A-Rod is getting clutch hits, Teixeira hit a game winning bomb, and the Yankees are getting all the calls and good breaks to get out of tough situations. Maybe it's just cause they are playing the crappy (for a playoff team) Twins, but I'm starting to think this Yankees team is going to go all the way...

2009 MLB Playoffs: Preview & Predictions (Red Sox vs Angels, Yankees vs Twins, Phillies vs Rockies, Cardinals vs Dodgers)

I have to write this in under 30 minutes so it's going to be somewhat half assed, but I wanted to make my predictions and have them on the record, so I will probably update this analysis throughout the day, but I'm going to put my picks up first.

American League

Boston Red Sox vs Los Angeles Angels

Offense: Red Sox (104 OPS+), Angels (104 OPS+)
Pitching: Red Sox (109 ERA+), Angels (102 ERA+)
Defense: Red Sox(-18.1 UZR), Angels (10.0 UZR)

Comments: The offenses are pretty much equal until you look at the Red Sox home/road splits: .862 OPS+ at home vs just .753 OPS+ on the road. Basically, I think this means that the Angels have to win both of their first two home games if they want to win this series. Can they do that? I'm not so sure they can because Boston always seems to have their number and find a way to beat them.

On the pitching side of things the Red Sox have a stronger bullpen for sure just for the fact that Papelbon is better than Brian Fuentes, who has been shakey for a closer this season. The Red Sox rotation has been shakey in it's own right coming down the stretch. Josh Beckett doesn't seem 100% healthy and Clay Bucholz is unproven in the playoffs. Jon Lester has pitched like an ace this season and looks to be their strongest starter at the moment. For the Angels, Scott Kazmir could prove to be a key addition as he has notoriously been a Red Sox killer throughout his career. He will have to repeat that in order for the Angels to be victorious in the series.

Defensively, Mike Lowell (-10.5 UZR), Jason Bay (-12.3 UZR), and surprisingly Jacoby Ellsbury (-15.6 UZR) have been the reason for the Red Sox having a subpar defense. Also, Boston has major problems throwing out runners trying to steal and the Angels love to run, so I expect this to be a major issue throughout this series. The Angels on the otherhand have an above average defense with Chone Figgins excellent defense at third leading the way.

Prediction: Angels in 5

New York Yankees vs Minnesota Twins

Offense: Yankees (119 OPS+), Twins (109 OPS+)
Pitching: Yankees (104 ERA+), Twins (92 ERA+)
Defense: Yankees (-16.2 UZR), Twins(-36.3 UZR)

Comments: The Yankees have the best offense in baseball, but the Twins offense isn't too shabby either. The problem for the Twins is that their pitching is subpar and the Yankees lineup usually crushes subpar pitching. In order to beat the Yankees, you need to have strong pitching to neutralize their lineup, which only has one regular with an OPS+ under 123. I don't think the Twins have strong enough pitching to do that. They are also missing the bat of Justin Morneau and are one of the worst defensive teams in baseball. Almost every one of the Twins starters are subpar on defense. Meanwhile, the Yankees are also subpar defensively with Johnny Damon (-10.8 UZR), A-Rod (-7.7 UZR), and surprisingly Robinson Cano (-6.0 UZR) being the biggest offenders.

Prediction: Yankees in 3

National League

Colorado Rockies vs Philadelphia Phillies

Offense: Rockies (100 OPS+), Phillies (102 OPS+)
Pitching: Rockies (106 ERA+), Phillies (103 ERA+)
Defense: Rockies (-12.5 UZR), Phillies (28.2 UZR)

Comments: The Rockies have the potential to be a dangerous team offensively with the emergence of Carlos Gonzalez (123 OPS+) and Seth Smith (126 OPS+) boosting their offense late in the season. However, after Ubaldo Jimenez, I don't think their pitching staff is strong enough to hold the Phillies offense in check, especially since they will be without Jorge de la Rosa (16-9, 193K, 103 ERA+). They also have potentially 5 lefties in their starting lineup, which means they might have a hard time scoring runs off of Cliff Lee and even Cole Hamels if he can straighten things out. The Phillies have some problems of their own with the rotation and Brad Lidge in the bullpen, but I think those problems will emerge more once they get into the NLCS. I think the Phillies will hit enough in this series to get past the Rockies. They also have a stronger defense than the Rockies with 6 of their position players having a positive UZR, led by Chase Utley (11.2 UZR).

Prediction: Phillies in 4

St. Louis Cardinals vs Los Angeles Dodgers

Offense: Cardinals (97 OPS+), Dodgers (100 OPS+)
Pitching: Cardinals (114 ERA+), Dodgers (122 ERA+)
Defense: Cardinals (-8.0 UZR), Dodgers (4.4 UZR)

Comments: I think this Cardinals/Dodgers series is going to be a great one. I can't really decide who I think will win the series, because I feel like the Dodgers aren't playing their best baseball, but they have a lot of talent and could possibly turn it on for the playoffs. However, I like Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright at the top of the Cardinals rotation and I think that will be the difference in the series. Those two guys have been pretty much lights out this season and the Dodgers offense isn't as powerful as some other offense. The Cardinals offense is probably a little too dependent on Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday, but I think they will find a way to score enough runs to win this series. This series and the Angels/Red Sox series are probably the hardest series to predict in each league.

Prediction: Cardinals in 5

World Series Recap - Game 4 - Philadelphia Phillies 10 Tampa Bay Rays 2

The Phillies clobbered the Rays in Game 4 and are now just 1 game away from winning the World Series.

Philadelphia Phillies 10 Tampa Bay Rays 2: Baseball is a funny game. Coming into the World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays were pitching and hitting better than any other team in the playoffs. They crushed a major league record 16 home runs in their playoff series against the Red Sox. Their pitching both starting and relieving was solid and their defensive play was stellar. Now they look like they don't even belong in the World Series. I think this years playoffs prove that it is now true that the baseball playoffs are a crapshoot. Each series is different and what happens in the regular season means nothing. The Rays bats got hot at a good time against the Red Sox, but baseball is a game of streaks, and now they've hit a cold streak at the absolute wrong time. Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena are both hitless in the World Series and the lineup in general is just not hitting. Maybe they aren't being patient enough at the plate or are pressing too much, because it's the World Series, but this hasn't been the same offense we saw against the Red Sox, that is for sure. Last night they just got flat out beat, but had they scored a few more run in Game 1 or Game 3, they might not be in the situation they are in right now. Maybe they just had a let down after beating the Red Sox in the ALCS, or maybe they just aren't ready for such a big moment like the World Series, or maybe the Phillies are just better, but it's strange to see the Rays in this position right now after having played so great against the Red Sox. It also hasn't helped that seemingly every border line call has gone against the Rays, but hey, at least Eric Hinske got to hit a bomb in the World Series.

The Phillies are running on all cylinders right now with the bats and with their pitching. I mean seriously when your pitcher Joe Blanton hits a home run, you know your team has something up their behinds so deep that it doesn't matter what the other team does. I mean how many teams are looking at the Phillies rotation and thinking how the hell are the Phillies about to win the World Series with Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, and Joe Blanton in their rotation? Teams spend all season making moves, developing pitchers, and building their rotation for postseason success and let me tell you most of them probably would pass on all three of those guys. If a team had a chance to choose between those three pitchers as their 2-3-4 or what the Cubs had with Rich Harden, Ryan Dempster, and Ted Lilly; I'm pretty sure they would pick the Cubs starters every time. That's why baseball is a funny game, because anybody can get hot at any given time and that seems to be the case now more than ever.

In Game 5, the Phillies will have a chance to win the World Series at home with Cole Hamels on the mound. It's going to be a tough task for Tampa Bay to get this series back home and an even tougher one to try to win three games in a row. The Rays look like a team that has had all the life sucked out of them at this point, while the Phillies look like a team that has nothing to lose and has been confident throughout this whole postseason. My money would be on the Phillies to take Game 5, but like I said before baseball is a funny game, so maybe Game 5 is the night where the Rays bats come back to life. I certainly would like to see some drama in this World Series, so I will be rooting for this thing to get to Game 7.

Put On Notice: The whole Tampa Bay Rays team

Game 1: Philadelphia Phillies 3 Tampa Bay Rays 2
Game 2: Tampa Bay Rays 4 Philadelphia Phillies 2
Game 3: Philadelphia Phillies 5 Tampa Bay Rays 4

World Series Recap - Game 2 - Tampa Bay Rays 4 Philadelphia Phillies 2

The Tampa Bay Rays were able to even up the series at a game a piece.

Tampa Bay Rays 4 Philadelphia Phillies 2: There really wasn't much going on in this game to talk about. The Rays were able to manufacture some runs, got a solid but not great start from Jamie Shields, and then had their bullpen hold on for the victory. The one thing I took from this game is that the Rays looked a lot more comfortable out there on the field, which doesn't always lead to success, but it provides you with the best opportunity to win. I thought the Rays would settle down in Game 2 and they were able to put a few runs on the board early and didn't look back from there.

The Rays bullpen should be very well rested for Game 3, considering that only Dan Wheeler and David Price were used and there is also an off day. I would imagine everyone would be available for that game except for Price. However, with Matt Garza on the mound they may not even need the bullpen for too long. You have to like the Rays chances in Game 3, since Garza has been lights out in the postseason. Considering that Jamie Moyer is going up against him, I expect the Rays to be able to put some runs on the board. Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford absolutely murder the ball against Moyer throughout their careers despite both being lefties. Pena is hitting .500 off of Moyer with 2 HR and 6 RBI in 20 at-bats, while Crawford sports a .474 average in 19 at-bats. Nobody on the Phillies has even faced Matt Garza, except for Matt Stairs who most likely will not be playing. I think that is a decided edge to Garza and the Rays.

Something that needs to improve for the Phillies is the production of Jimmy Rollins and Pat Burrell. Neither one has a hit in the first two games and in Rollins case he needs to get on base for the big bats behind him to be able to drive in some runs. Maybe they will play better now that the series is headed back to Philly. With Moyer on the mound, I expect that the Phillies are going to need to score a decent amount of runs and that will be no easy task against Matt Garza. One good thing to note is that Ryan Howard had a couple of hits in Game 2, so maybe he is starting to turn things around at the plate after struggling most of the postseason.

Put On Notice: Jamie Moyer, Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell

Game 1: Philadelphia Phillies 3 Tampa Bay Rays 2

World Series Recap - Game 1 - Philadelphia Phillies 3 Tampa Bay Rays 2

The Philadelphia Phillies take Game 1 of the World Series behind the pitching of Cole Hamels.

Philadelphia Phillies 3 Tampa Bay Rays 2: For the most part, this was a well played game on both sides, the Phillies were just a little better than the Rays. Cole Hamels is the story here once again because he pitched brilliantly. How much money is this guy going to get when he becomes a free agent in a few years, huh? He was able to shut down the middle of the Rays lineup, which has been red hot in the playoffs, although I will say that I didn't think the umpire had the best strike zone in the world either. To me the key to this whole game was in the third inning when the Rays had the bases loaded and no outs and Hamels was able to get B.J. Upton to ground into a double play. You knew the Rays wouldn't get many chances to score on Hamels, but they probably should have come up with at least 2 runs in that situation, so I thought that was big for the Phillies. For the record, Hamels clearly balked on the pickoff play on Carlos Pena. His body was leaning forward to the plate before he decided to throw to first. I'm not sure how much of a difference it would have made, but in a one run game you never know.

The Phillies left even more runners on base than the Rays, so they certainly could have won the game by a larger margin. Chase Utley's home run was obviously the other key for the Phillies. Scott Kazmir made a mistake and left one over the plate and he paid for it, but he also struggled with his command for most of the night in general and walked 4 batters. The Phillies never really made him pay for it though other than Utley's home run in the first. They left 11 men on base in total in the game.

I thought the Rays came out in this game much like they did in Game 1 of the ALCS. I won't say they were nervous or tentative, but it was more like they were feeling things out to see what the tone of this series is going to be. I think they will come out much stronger in Game 2 and really settle in at the plate. Aki Iwamura and Carl Crawford were the only two who really got anything going in Game 1.
If you are wondering who will start at DH for the Rays in Game 2. I'm thinking it has got to be Cliff Floyd. He is one of only two players on the Rays to ever face Myers and has hit .364 off of him with 3 HR's and 8 RBI's in 33 career at-bats. If he does play then look for him to come up big tonight. He seems to be good for a big homer or two in every playoff series I've ever seen him play in. I was thinking that Matt Stairs was going to DH against the righty Jamie Shields for the Phillies, but I'm not so sure he will after looking at his numbers against Shields. Stairs is hitting just .150 against Shields in 20 career at bats. Nobody else on the Phillies has faced him more than 3 times, so I'm not sure what direction Charlie Manual will go in there. I was pretty shocked that he had Chris Coste, who is the backup catcher, at DH in Game 1.

If you think about it, Game 1 is the only game that the Phillies will have a pitching advantage in. Cole Hamels is a better pitcher than Scott Kazmir, but the the matchups for the next 3 games certainly favor the Rays. They just need to get the bats going to give their pitching some support. I think they will bounce back nicely tonight, but we will see.

Put On Notice: Cliff Floyd, B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena

MLB Postseason - World Series Preview

Philadelphia Phillies vs Tampa Bay Rays:

Offensive Ratings:

PHI: 4.93 runs per game/214 HR/.255 AVG/.332 OBP/.438 SLG/.770 OPS/103 OPS+/136 SB

TBR: 4.78 runs per game/180 HR/.260 AVG/.340 OBP/.422 SLG/.762 OPS/103 OPS+/142 SB

Pitching Ratings:

PHI: 4.20 runs per game/3.89 ERA/115 ERA+

TBR: 4.14 runs per game/3.82 ERA/114 ERA+

Defensive Ratings:

PHI: 90 Errors/.985 Fielding %/.695 Defensive Efficiency

TBR: 90 Errors/.985 Fielding %/.708 Defensive Efficiency

World Series Comments:

It's downright scary how similar these two teams are statistically. Both have a 103 OPS+ on offense, with about the same amount of runs scored a game, similar batting averages, and about the same amount of speed on the basepaths. The Phillies had slightly more power than the Rays, but you wouldn't be able to tell that from the postseason, because B.J. Upton and crew have been knocking home runs like it's routine. The Rays have out homered the Phillies 22 to 10 in the playoffs so far. In fact, the Rays had 16 home runs against the Red Sox in their series, which is pretty incredible and also a record. The previous record was held by the Red Sox who hit 12 home runs in 2003 against the Yankees. I seriously would not want to be facing the Rays lineup right now and I'm sure they will continue to hit the ball against the Phillies. I also like the Rays bench more than the Phillies. With a combination of Rocco Baldelli, Gabe Gross, Cliff Floyd, and Willy Aybar on the bench depending on who starts, the Rays have several players they can turn to in different situations. Ben Zobrist and Fernando Perez also add to the Rays deep bench. I do expect Matt Stairs to possibly DH in Game 2 against the right handed Jamie Shields. Greg Dobbs is a solid bat of the bench and will probably get the start in Game 1 versus the left handed Scott Kazmir. For the Rays, expect to see righties Rocco Baldelli and Willy Aybar against Cole Hamels in Game 1 as well.

The pitching on the Rays and Phillies is even as well. The Rays had a 114 ERA+ versus a 115 ERA+ for the Phillies. However, it should also be noted that the Rays not only play in the American League and face a DH on a daily basis, but they also played in the AL East, which has 3 of the top 7 offenses in the AL. Not to short change the Phillies, who play in the NL East where the Mets, Marlins, and Braves were in the Top 5 offensively in the NL. If you break things down, I think the Rays have more depth in their starting pitching and the Phillies might have a stronger bullpen. I'm not completely sold that the Phillies have a better bullpen though, because I think Joe Maddon has some good arms out there with David Price, Edwin Jackson, and J.P Howell. Certainly Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour, and Chad Bradford are capable as well. The biggest advantage the Phillies have in their bullpen is Brad Lidge as their closer. Obviously if the Rays pitchers go deep into games, they won't have to rely on their bullpen as much, which is why I think they have the advantage pitching wise.

Moving on to the defense, again the two teams are equal with a .985 fielding percentage. If we break it down, I think the Rays are better defensively in the outfield than the Phillies. With Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, and either Rocco Baldelli or Gabe Gross in their outfield they pretty much have a CF at almost every position. The Phillies have Pat Burrell in left who is clearly below average defensively because he does not cover a lot of ground out there. Victorino and Worth are solid, but because of Burrell you have to give the advantage to the Rays in the outfield.

In the infield, Longoria is a great fielder, but Pedro Feliz is underrated having made only 8 errors on the season. I think Longoria probably makes more spectacular plays than Feliz can, but Feliz is certainly solid defensively. Carlos Pena is clearly a superior defensive first baseman compared to Ryan Howard who is a below average defender, so that's an easy one to call. Believe it or not, the Phillies are actually stronger up the middle than the Rays, even though Bartlett and Iwamura are above average defenders. Chase Utley has incredible range at second base and is probably the best defensive 2B in baseball. Jimmy Rollins had an excellent season at SS making only 7 errors on the season and also showing good range. The Phillies defense is stronger up the middle, but they also have Ryan Howard, so I think the infield defense for both teams is about even. Behind the plate, the edge goes to Dioner Navarro over Carlos Ruiz because he threw out a higher percentage of base runners and 20 less stolen bases.

I think this has the makings to be a good series, but I still like the Rays starting pitching over the Phillies. If I'm the Rays, Brett Myers, Joe Blanton, and especially Jamie Moyer do not scare me on the mound. I think that will be the difference in this series, especially with the Rays swinging the hot bats. Also, the long layoff for the Phillies could hurt them in Game 1 as it has some teams in the past. In the end, I'm going to have to roll with the Rays once again.

More: MLB Postseason

MLB Postseason Recap

Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Rays who pulled off that improbable by defeating the Boston Red Sox and earning their first trip to the World Series.

Tampa Bay Rays 3 Boston Red Sox 1: The Rays were able to put away the Red Sox after it looked like the Red Sox were going to pull off another comeback. Matt Garza stepped up big time in this game and he looked like a beast on the mound out there. He really took the Rays on his back and he looks like he is going to be a problem on the mound for years to come. I was also really impressed with David Price, who came into the game with the season on the line and was able to hold himself together and finish off the Red Sox. He may never pitch in a bigger moment than that and he handled it without a problem. I think that shows a lot about his make up and character on the mound and the rest of the AL should see a heavy dosage of Price next season. The bullpen in general for the Rays was excellent in this game as well.

Offensively the Rays were able to put enough runs on the board to pull out the victory. Rocco Baldelli ended up getting the hit that put the Rays ahead for good, which was nice to see considering all that he has been through with the Rays. B.J. Upton was a beast throughout the series and probably should have been co-MVP with Matt Garza. He hit .321 with 4 home runs and 11 RBI in the series. Willy Aybar came through with some big hits last night too, including a monster home run. Aybar actually hit .421 in this series, which shows the depth of the Rays lineup. The Red Sox only hit .234 in the series, compared to the Rays .252.

I think the Rays are going to beat the Phillies, because they have better starting pitching and I think their lineup is more versatile than the Phillies lineup. I'll have a preview of the World Series with some analysis before Game 1 on Wednesday.

ALCS MVP: Matt Garza

More: MLB Postseason

MLB Postseason Recap

The Red Sox win again and are just 1 game away from coming back from down 3-1 in the ALCS for the second year in a row.

Boston Red Sox 4 Tampa Bays 2: Going into this game I felt like the biggest factor would be which Josh Beckett would show up. The dominant playoff pitcher or the Beckett that got lit up in Game 2 against the Rays. Well, the Beckett that was on the mound in Game 6 for the Red Sox was somewhere in between those two going just 5 innings and gave up 2 runs. That proved to be a good enough outing for the Red Sox to win.

I still believe that Game 5 was the difference in this series. It's a lot easier to win 3 games in a row when one of those games is a game you should have lost. The Red Sox didn't out play the Rays in that game, only the last 7 outs. It's hard to outplay a team for 3 games straight, but in this case it's really on two games straight plus 7 outs. That's why I'm not going to be surprised if the Red Sox win Game 7 and comeback from down 3-1 in the ALCS for the second year in a row. They won a game they shouldn't have won and then were setup nicely with Josh Beckett and Jon Lester pitching the next two games.

The Rays certainly have a chance to win Game 7, but I believe Matt Garza is going to have to shut down the Red Sox offense for them to have a chance. I think the pressure will be on Garza and the Tampa Bay Rays offense to get him a lead earlier on or else it could snowball out of control pretty quickly for the Rays. I think the Rays were a little too anxious at the plate last night, maybe because they were pressing and still thinking about Game 5, but they are going to have to settle down in Game 7 and make sure they get good pitches to hit.

Put On Notice: Matt Garza, Rays offense

MLB Postseason Recap

The Boston Red Sox pulled off an improbable comeback and send the series back to Tampa down 3 games to 2.

Boston Red Sox 8 Tampa Bay Rays 7: Allow me to say that if the Boston Red Sox come back to win this series they are a team with the biggest horseshoe up their ass ever. Down 3-0 in the ALCS in 2004 they come back to beat the Yankees, down 3-1 to the Cleveland Indians in the 2007 ALCS and they come back to win, and now down 3-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays and down to their final 7 outs while losing 7-0 the Red Sox score 8 runs and pull off an improbable comeback victory. Stuff like this is not supposed to happen and while talent certainly helps, you need a great deal of luck as well. By luck I mean that you need the other team to do things that weren't necessarily doing the whole series until the point. Some may even refer to it as choking, which in some cases it is.

What allowed the Red Sox to comeback last night was a Tampa bullpen which up until yesterday's game had been excellent, but last night they had nothing serving up a few meatballs to the Red Sox that ended up costing them the game. B.J. Upton may have had a chance to catch Mark Kotsay's line drive to deep center and Evan Longoria rushed his throw ever so slightly in the 9th with Kevin Youkilis running to first. Longoria ended up one hopping a throw that Carlos Pena could not handle and that throw ended up bouncing all the way into the seats. Certainly neither of those plays helped the Rays bullpen either, but even without them they were off of their game. Dan Wheeler particularly looked like he had nothing and was leaving the ball up in the strike zone throughout the night. I thought Madden might have went to Balfour too early and could have used someone like Chad Bradford to either start the 7th or relieve for Wheeler in the 8th once he saw that he had nothing left. On the season, Bradford has a 1.93 ERA against the Sox and for his career he has a 3.27 ERA, so I think he would have been a solid option.

Make no mistake about it though, you definitely have to give credit to the Red Sox because they took advantage of all of Tampa's mistakes and that is what good teams do. It just is especially maddening to see a team get dominated for the better portion of the last 3 games and then see them pull out one of those games and now steal momentum for the series. Now heading back to Tampa, we really don't know what Josh Beckett we are going to get in Game 6 and I would be surprised if he gets shelled twice. If the Sox win that game then they would be set up nicely for a Game 7 with Jon Lester and although he got shelled in Game 3, I'm sure the Red Sox like their chance with him on the mound.

So I think the Rays must win Game 6 , which is no gaurantee because we don’t know which Beckett is going to show up or if there will be any carryover from Game 5. The problem really isn’t that the Rays lost Game 5, because I think most people expected the Red Sox to win at least one game at home, its HOW they lost it after being up 7-0 with 7 outs to go. Now the Sox have the momentum and the Rays have something to think about. If it snowballs into Game 6, then you might as well give the series to the Sox…and probably another World Series. The Rays need to keep it together for Game 6 and as hard as it is they need to put Game 5 behind them as quickly as possible.

Put On Notice: The whole Tampa Bay Rays team