Hello blogsters and bloggetes! We’re back from our summer/August and September break and ready to analyze postseason baseball. If you haven’t checked out our postseason previews, please do so at www.matthewhatfield.com/MLB.html …
Before breaking down the action from the first day of playoff baseball, what in the world went wrong with the New York Mets? Manager Willie Randolph made the colossal mistake saying that they would be, "sipping on Champaign," and now they aren’t even in the playoffs, blowing a seven-game NL East division lead with 17 to go – the worst collapse in Major League Baseball regular season history. They inexplicably lost eight of their final nine home games of the season. What prevented arguably the National League’s most talented team from reaching the playoffs, let alone have a chance at making a World Series run? Pitching. It failed them in September, their bullpen couldn’t hold leads, and on the final day of the regular season, left-hander Tom Glavine – their supposed – gave up seven runs in the first inning to the Florida Marlins.
As we saw on Wednesday, the name of the game when you get to October is pitching. Arizona, Colorado and Boston all won with dominating pitching performances from Brandon Webb, Jeff Francis and Josh Beckett respectively. No team scored more than four runs on Wednesday! While that should change on Thursday, let’s take a look back at what transpired on the first day of playoff baseball……
Game 1 - Colorado 4, Philadelphia 2: Clint Hurdle’s Colorado Rockies carried over their momentum from a 13-inning win over San Diego on Monday night into Gm. 1 at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia. With a 4-2 win over the Phillies it marked only the second postseason victory in franchise history for the Rockies. Their last win in the playoffs came in 1995 vs. Atlanta. Starting pitcher Jeff Francis, a 17-game winner during the regular season, pitched a superb game, going 6 innings, striking out 8, walking 2 and only allowing 2 runs (both solo homers). Manny Corpas came on in the ninth inning for a 1-2-3 bring ‘em up, sit ‘em down save. On the afternoon, Charlie Manuel’s Phillies managed a mere 2 runs and 4 hits. In fact, the Phillies’ top four of the batting order went 0-for-15 combined, including Ryan Howard and Chase Utley going 0-for-8 with 7K’s.
Rookie Kyle Kendrick, whose best pitches are his sinker and slider, opposes Colorado’s Franklin Morales in Gm. 2. It’s a must-win game for Philly in my opinion because they can’t afford to go to Coors Field down 0-2 and pull out this series.
Game 1 - Boston 4, Anaheim 0: The story of this game was the fantastic performance of Red Sox right-hander Josh Beckett, who threw a complete game shutout – his third of his career during the playoffs. It puts Beckett one shy of Christy Matthewson’s record for complete game shutouts in the postseason. At one point, Beckett retired 19 straight hitters and got strike 1 on 19 of 20 batters. Anaheim’s best chance for a run came in the top part of the first inning, but Chone Figgins was left stranded at third base. Offensively, Boston got on the board in the bottom of the first when Kevin Youkilis drilled a solo home run off John Lackey. Two innings later, David ‘Big Papi’ Ortiz continued his clutch play in the playoffs with a key 2-run homer.
With Beckett going the distance, it enables Boston to have a fresh bullpen for the weekend, and it may line-up Curt Schilling for Gm. 1 of the ALCS, provided they get there. To get out of Beamtown with a split, the Halos are going to need Kelvim Escobar (18-7, 3.40ERA) to be every bit as good as Beckett was on Wednesday night. Expect Vlad Guerrero to be in right field rather than DH on Thursday.
Game 1 - Arizona 3, Chicago 1: Pesky and persistent. That might be the best way to describe Bob Melvin’s Arizona Diamondbacks, a team making their first appearance in the playoffs since 2002. Of course, they won a World Championship in 2001 with their thrilling seven-game defeat of the New York Yankees, but that D-Backs team was filled with veteran players – both in their lineup and on the pitching staff. This cast of D-Backs is significantly younger. Chicago had a chance to jump out in front in the Top of the 3rd when pitcher Carlos Zambrano led off the inning with a double. But Brandon Webb battled back, striking out 3 straight to get out of the jam. Arizona went in front in the Bottom of the 4th when Stephen Drew led off with a solo homer to right field off Zambrano as he absolutely hammered a fastball thrown right down the middle of the pipe.
Drew showed his good fielding when a runner was on second and he saved a possible run by pulling in a ball hit by Zambrano. An inning later, Ryan Theriot came through with a game-tying RBI single for the Cubs, making the score 1-1. The bases remained loaded, only for Webb to get out of it without allowing another run. Both pitchers were good as expected, however, Webb was a little better, going 7 innings, allowing only 4 hits, 1 run, walking 3 and striking out 9 on 89 pitches.
The move everybody is questioning a day after this pitcher’s dual was Cubs Manager Lou Piniella’s decision to yank Zambrano after the sixth inning for hard-throwing reliever Carlos Marmol, a youngster with a live arm that performed well during the regular season. Mark Reynolds, a rookie third baseman for ‘Zona, nailed a fastball for a solo shot to left. Augie Ojeda followed with a double and Connor Jackson’s RBI sac fly scored Chris Snyder, giving the D-Backs a 3-1 lead. Brandon Lyon pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Jose Valverde came on in the ninth to preserve an Arizona win.
