2013 Playoffs begin tonight with the Cincinnati Reds visiting the Pittsburg Pirates in the NL wild card game
2013 Playoffs begin tonight with the Cincinnati Reds visiting the Pittsburg Pirates in the NL wild card game
Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati 6-2 last night behind Francisco Liriano's 7 strong inning. They now advance to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the best of 5 NLDS starting Thursday. The Los Angeles Dodgers face off against the Atlanta Braves in the other NLDS, also starting Thursday.
Tonight the Tampa Bay Rays will try to keep their momentum as they travel to also red-hot Cleveland for the AL Wild Card game. Winner will take on the Boston Red Sox Friday night to being the ALDS. The other ALDS matches up the Detroit Tigers against the Oakland Athletics beginning Friday night as well.
There was a nice debate on Mike and Mike this morning on whether or not it was good or fair deal to have only a one game winner moves on game for the wild card spot. Technically, both teams are wild cards and it's a one and done to decide which wild card team moves on to the division series. Should the wild card game be a 3 game series?
I can see both sides of that argument. The one game playoff is better for the division winners so they don't have a week long lay off before their first game while waiting for a wild card winner. On the other hand, a 3 game series in more than likely gonna be won by the better team (theoretically). Personally I think MLB got this right for a change...it puts more emphasis on winning your division to ensure you at least get a 5 game series.
Tampa Bay beats Cleveland 4-0 to advance to face Boston in the ALDS. Alex Cobb scattered 8 hits in 6.2 innings to get the win. Cleveland's young Danny Salazar started for Cleveland in what was just his 11th Major League outing. He looked very good to start the game throwing upper 90s into the triple digits with a very fluid motion...he even struck out Wil Myers, James Loney, and Evan Longoria consecutively to end the 1st/start the 2nd inning. Delmon Young smacked the 1st pitch of the 3rd inning 400 ft to provide all the run support Cobb and the Tampa Bay bullpen would need.
Tonight Pittsburg will take on St. Louis at 4:00 to start the NLDS. The Dodgers vs. Braves NLDS will follow at 7:30.
An intersting topic I heard on Mike & Mike this morning was the payroll of teams in the playoffs...only 3 top the top ten payrolls made it to the playoffs this year (LAD - 1; DET - 4; BOS - 5). The other 7 playoff teams were (CIN - 12; STL - 14; ATL - 16; PIT - 19; CLE -23 ; OAK - 27; TB - 28). So as many teams in the bottom 10 in payroll made the playoffs as teams in the top 10. Shows a steady flow of young talent can lead to success...then you could have some extra money to land a missing piece in FA...something Tampa can't do cause their attendance sucks even when they are good, but Houston knows they can pack the stadium as long as their winning...may have to get the Rangers to fall off a bit to get some of our "fans" back for that though......
Don't sell Houston fans short and don't think that fans won't flock back to the the Juice Box when the Astros start playing well. Evidence of this was the 37+K fans that turned out for Andy Pettitte's last start. There just hasn't been much to get excited about for a couple of years. I get that but better days are coming and tickets won't be so easy to come by.
The payroll thing is interesting because for years the running joke was the Yankees bought their championships. They did have some pricey free agent signings but the nucleus of the club, guys like Jeter, Jorge Pasada, Pettitte and Rivera anchored the team but now they are all gone except Jeter and his best days are in the rearview mirror.
Speaking of payroll Boomer and I were talking about the Astros payroll and Boomer was saying he was disappointed in the Astros overly low payroll. It is my opinion that the Astros saw no reason to pay big money for free agents on a team not realistically able to compete for a playoff spot. Heck, few expected them to even approach .500 which they didn't. Why spend a lot of money for a team likely to lose a lot more than they won. Houston isn't in the game for a quick fix. That's why they got in the predicament their in because they sold the farm (system) chasing a World Series. Jeff Luhnow and Jim Crane seem to have a plan, that is working based on the success the minor leagues enjoyed the last couple of years, to build from the ground up and it doesn't include wasting money on free agents that won't make a difference. Now it seems the Astros will spend some of the money saved this year in 2014. Like I said, better days are ahead.
St. Louis used a 7-run 3rd inning sparked by a 3-run Carlos Beltran HR to beat Pittsburgh 9-1 to take a 1-0 lead in the best of 5 NLDS. Adam Wainright went 7 innings only giving up 3 hits and one 1 with 9Ks and 0 walks. All 7 runs in the STL 3rd came off PIT starter A.J. Burnett, he was pulled after allowing those 7 runs without recording an out...his final line reads 2 innings, 6 hits, 7 runs (all ER), 4 walks, 0ks
Los Angeles took a 1-0 lead after a 6-1 win over Atlanta. Clayton Kershaw did his best...well Clayton Kershaw impersonation. Kershaw went 7 strong giving up 1 run on 3 hits with 12Ks and 3 walks. Atlanta started Kris Medlen gave up 5 runs on 9 hits in 4 innings of work.
Full schedule of playoff games tonight. Tampa and Boston start their ALDS at noon, St. Louis and Pittsburgh play game 2 of their NLDS at 2, Atlanta and Los Angeles also play their game 2 at 5, and Detroit will take on Oakland at 8:30 to start the other ALDS
After Dusty Baker's Cincinnati Reds team lost in the NL Wild Card game he has been fired
Lets get it done Pirates!
I asked a ref if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. He said, of course not. I said, well, I think you stink. And he gave me a technical. You can't trust 'em.
Jim Valvano
How many of you remember Carlos Beltran was an Astro? He was a really good player at the time and he still flashes that talent from time to time.
I guess that's what happens when you almost win. Dusty Baker is a good manager and maybe he didn't deserve to be fired like he was. At least he didn't get the Lane Kiffin treatment.
[quote author=Big T link=topic=38601.msg53881#msg53881 date=1380897869]
Lets get it done Pirates!
[/quote]
+1
[quote author=eagle eye link=topic=38601.msg53883#msg53883 date=1380903134]
How many of you remember Carlos Beltran was an Astro? He was a really good player at the time and he still flashes that talent from time to time.
I guess that's what happens when you almost win. Dusty Baker is a good manager and maybe he didn't deserve to be fired like he was. At least he didn't get the Lane Kiffin treatment.
[/quote]
I certainly do...he was as exciting as a player can be and was the real spark plug to get Houston into the postseason that year...and when we got there his legend only grew more...I was disappointed to see him go but he didn't earn his money in New York...and I think Willy T did just fine the next couple years lol
I loved Willy T! I haven't though of him in ages. Never was all that good, but I will never forget that 30 game hitting streak he had. It was something like 10 of the hits came from bunt singles. The guy had electric speed and was a great fielder with a rocket arm.
I asked a ref if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. He said, of course not. I said, well, I think you stink. And he gave me a technical. You can't trust 'em.
Jim Valvano
There's another former Astro in the playoffs. Unfortunately, Bourn and his Cleveland Indians lost the play-in Wild Card game to the D-Rays. Remember Michael Bourn? Talk about an electric player in center field. He went to the All Star game in 2010 and won the Gold Glove Award in 2009 and 2010 while with Houston. Bourn, a Houston native, came back home in the trade that sent Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett to Atlanta in November of 2007. Bourn struggled in 2008 but he had outstanding years the next two. He led the National League in stolen bases in 2009 and was right near the top in 2010. When it was clear Houston was rebuilding Ed Wade traded Bourn to Atlanta in the summer of 2011. The trade is notable in that Houston got a lot of value for Bourn in some future players that the Astros are looking to step up to the bigs soon. They got Jordan Schafer, Brett Olberholtzer, Paul Clemens and Juan Abreu. Schafer had injury issues and Houston put him on waivers after the 2012 season and he was picked up by the Braves and he is enjoying being in the playoffs right now. Abreu, a pitching prospect pitched in 7 games for Houston before being released. He signed with the Blue Jays organization and played in their AAA club before he was released and he signed with the Dodgers organization but has yet to play due to an injury. Olberholtzer and Clemens were hits for Houston and both have shown promise as they pitched pretty well for Houston in September and look to be factors in Houston's future. Funny how things go round and round.
Pirates are one win away from advancing to the NLCS. Those fans deserve this.
I asked a ref if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. He said, of course not. I said, well, I think you stink. And he gave me a technical. You can't trust 'em.
Jim Valvano
Just a quick run through of the weekend
Friday - NLDS - Pittsburg beats St. Louis 7-1 to tie series at 1
Atlanta beats Los Angeles 4-3 to tie series at 1
ALDS - Boston thumps Tampa Bay 12-2 to take game 1
Detroit scores 3 in the first and makes it hold up winning game 1 against Oakland 3-2
Saturday - ALDS - Boston takes a 2-0 lead on Tampa with a 7-4 win
Rookie Sonny Gray goes pitch for pitch against Verlander and Oakland walks off in the 9th 1-0, series tied at 1
Sunday - NLDS - After St. Louis tied the game at 3 in the top of the 8th, Pittsburg scores 2 in the bottom half and win 5-3, Pittsburg leads 2-1
Los Angeles downs Atlanta 13-6 to take a 2-1 series lead
Another full slate of playoff action today...Oakland at Detroit at 12, St. Louis at Pittsburg at 2, Boston at Tampa at 5, and Atlanta at Los Angeles at 8:30
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote