Divisional Series: Call it!

[Shoalzie]

Angels in 5 games -- This is a much improved Angels team than the ones that have fallen to the Red Sox in recent playoffs. It's not about just neutralizing Guerrero anymore.

Rays in 4 games -- The Rays are healthy again and are a more complete team than the White Sox. The big key for Tampa Bay's pitching to keep the Sox sluggers in the yard.

Cubs in 4 games -- I'm predicting a low-scoring series but the Cubs have the deeper rotation. I don't necessarily buy into them as 'the team of destiny' but they are at least the better team in this series.

Phillies in 4 games -- Too many questions with the Brewers' pitching outside of Sabathia. Game 2 will be the only game they win in the series.

[War Wagon]

Angels in 5 - Fuck Boston
Rays in 3 - Sox worn out
Cubs in 3 - Dodgers suck
Brewers in 4 - For some reason, I just like them and want to see them win.

[jiminphilly]

Brewers in 4 - For some reason, I just like them and want to see them win.

Christ, Whitey it was 28 years ago. Let it go.

[Yer a Fuckin Jerkoff]

Angels in 5 games -- This is a much improved Angels team than the ones that have fallen to the Red Sox in recent playoffs. It's not about just neutralizing Guerrero anymore.

It's pretty much the same, except Lackey isn't 100%. The Red Sox are completely in their domes. Their record is the only thing that seems different, and it's bloated because they have been beating all of these suckass AL West teams all year.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox are playoff tested playing the AL East and have experience in not just beating, but kicking the ever-living dogshit out of the Angels in the playoffs.
And I've been saying this all year- Gay-Rod is overrated and is prone to blowing a HUGE game. Same with Scot Shields. Red Sox in 3.

Rays in 4 games -- The Rays are healthy again and are a more complete team than the White Sox. The big key for Tampa Bay's pitching to keep the Sox sluggers in the yard.

Chicago will lose game 1 without a doubt, but they battle back to win in five. This is a gutsy, veteran team that can handle the deer-in-headlights Rays. Chicago in 5.

Cubs in 4 games -- I'm predicting a low-scoring series but the Cubs have the deeper rotation. I don't necessarily buy into them as 'the team of destiny' but they are at least the better team in this series.

Joe Torre has a recent history of bowing out in the first round. This will be the fourth straight year for that shit. Cubs in 4.

Phillies in 4 games -- Too many questions with the Brewers' pitching outside of Sabathia. Game 2 will be the only game they win in the series.

Good call. The Brewers suck. Phillies in 4. So we agree on the NL, but definately not the AL, dude.

[War Wagon]

YAFJ, the Halos went 8-1 against the Red Sox this year.

[Goober McTuber]

Based on the above post from I’m a Fuckin Dumbass, I’ll go with:

Angels
Devil Rays
Dodgers
Brewers

[Yer a Fuckin Jerkoff]

YAFJ, the Halos went 8-1 against the Red Sox this year.

That's a great stat. The Rays also swept Boston at Fenway. Does that mean they can do it in October?

Maybe the Halos were 8-1 this year, but they are 0-9 vs. Boston in the last 9 games they've played them in the playoffs. Expect it to go to 12-0. Beckett always pulls shit out of his ass this time of year while newbs like Ervin Santana fold.

[Shoalzie]

Early thoughts on the action today...

Very impressive start from a youngster like Hamels. It got hairy in the 9th with Lidge nearly gagging that 3-0 lead away. He got that huge strikeout against Fielder with two one and then got out another tough hitter in Hart to hang on. That's definitely the way to start a series for the Phillies after being swept last year and not winning a playoff game since '93. It's an absolute must win tomorrow with Sabathia on the mound for the Brewers. He's 2-0 lifetime in divisional series play...albeit with the Indians.

If you were to tell me the Dodgers would split the games at Wrigley, I would've guessed that they'd win Game 2 given Dempster's great numbers at home. The walks added up and really hurt him with grand slam by Loney. He did have a problem with walks during the season. He walked 76 hitters in 206 innings and 52 of those came at Wrigley. Zambrano in Game 2 is another guy that will walk batters and we saw that the Dodgers won't get themselves out when the pitcher can't find the strike zone. We also saw tonight how great Ramirez truly is between working the count in that at bat in the 5th inning to draw the walk and eventually scored on the Loney home run and then that crazy swing on that home run in the 7th.

A couple interesting things to watch tonight...how does Drew and Lowell do after returning to the lineup after injury and the Angels really haven't have had to win a meaningful game in close to a month...can they ratchet up the intensity and rise to the occasion against the defending champs?

[Yer a Fuckin Jerkoff]

I am starting to think- maybe the Red Sox THREW the division at the end of the year so that they could get the first round bye ERRRRRRR matchup with the Angels. It's now 10-0 in playoff games.

Like we Alllllll didn't see this coming- the confused Lackey look, that panicky Mike Scoscia look of horror when he is again being Boston's bitch. The pitching matchup for Game 2 has The Los Angeles Mickey Mouse of Anaheim Halo pussies losing easy to Dice-K. ANOTHER sweep on the way....

What a fraud team

[Shoalzie]

That definitely was vintage playoff Red Sox. Even without Manny and Schilling...those guys know what October is about. Lester looked really solid pitching in Beckett's place. He should've had a shutout if it wasn't for that Lowrie error. This was a game the Angels shouldn't lose given that Beckett is looming for Game 3 back in Boston and they had their postseason horse starting in Lackey. It's going to be tough for them go over there and at least get a split...assuming they don't drop Game 2 and put themselves in an even bigger hole.

In these 5-game series, Game 1 is so huge...probably bigger for the team with home field. If you host Game 1 and 2, the obvious goal is to win both games at home and hope for a split in the other yard and win the series without having to come back home for a Game 5. When you're the road team, a split is the ideal situation and when you steal Game 1, you're in a definite position of power. Boston and the Dodgers are in great shape in their series because the pressure on the home teams in Game 2 to win or put themselves in a position where they have to win both games in the other yard just to stay alive.

[Shoalzie]

The Cubs and Brewers are both doomed but I at least see the Cubs prolonging their series...Harden is a good bet to get them a win in Game 3. Kuroda does have good numbers against the Cubs so perhaps this will the pitchers duel I've been expecting out of this series. The Brewers are toast after losing the one game most people expected them to win. CC looked like he was out of gas from the start and that one inning was enough for the Phillies to bury them. The Dodgers and Phillies appear to be on a collision course in the NLCS.

What a debut for the Longoria...2 homers on two pitches. Pena is expected to be back in the lineup today after leaving early in Game 1. At least that's what he said in his blog on MLB.com. Good matchup of lefties in Game 2...Kazmir vs. Buehrle. Part of me thinks that Buehrle will grind out a win for the Sox and even this up. I also expect the Angels to even up the series tonight with Boston. Dice-K was 9-0 on the road this year but he was rocked in his only head-to-head matchup with the Halos. I have a hard time believing we'll see sweeps in the AL series like we're seeing the NL. The pressure is more on the Angels than the White Sox tonight given they would have a much tougher task having to win twice at Fenway just to stay alive and likely have to go through Beckett in Game 3. A loss tonight and I'd expect Beckett to finish them off.

[Yer a Fuckin Jerkoff]

I called the overrated 100 win Angels getting not just beat but fucking HAMMERED in this series and here we go again

4-0 in the top of the first. Look for Mike Timlin to be in this game in the 5th inning as a long reliever with a cushy 10-2 lead. By the 6th, all the pussy Angel fans will be leaving that stadium. 12-0 in the last twleve games against the choking bitch Angels when all is said and done. What a fucking joke.


As I said earlier in this thread:

"Gay-Rod is overrated and is prone to blowing a HUGE game"

PERFECT. Dude gets up there in the ninth inning of a CRUCIAL game two and fucks up the entire series for the Angels. I guess getting a save 62 times during the regular season and immediately jacking off in your own mouth while standing on the mound will come back to bite you.

The Angels SUCK.

[Shoalzie]

I'm less surprised to see the White Sox survive yesterday and than I am the Angels living to see another day. Danks has won now two huge starts in a row...he won the division tiebreaker 1-0 over the Twins and now he puts up a quality start in an elimination game. I'm was very surprised the Angels survived but not as surprised considering Beckett was his usual self. They looked destined to get swept after that miscommunication on the fly ball with 2 outs in the 2nd that lead to 3 runs. That looked like the type of play that a team that was ready to be swept would make. However, Napoli saved their bacon with the big 2-run homer to tie it up in the top of the 3rd. The Halos bullpen pitched well but it looked like K-Rod really wanted to be the goat of the series with damn near walking in the series-winning run in the 10th. It was a gutty effort by them to squeak out that win and we get to see a Game 1 rematch tonight...Lackey vs. Lester. I'm predicting both series finish up tonight...Sonnanstine and Lester get the kill shot and set up an intriguing ALCS matchup. I also predict the Red Sox-Angels game will end no earlier than midnight Eastern.

[Shoalzie]

Half right on my LDS picks...the Dodgers were as much of a buzzsaw as the Cubs were a flop and the Angels had arguably their best team going into a playoff and fell short again. Definitely have to credit Lester with his work in that series...two stellar starts and beat the Angels' horse (literally and figurately, am I right?). The two biggest disappointments in that series was Guerrero again failing to come up big and the Angels' defense throughout the series was hideous.

I really think Scioscia took an unnecessary risk on that squeeze play. I don't know what the conversion rate is on that play but they call it "suicide squeeze" for a reason. If it was the Sox doing that playing from a position of power and it failed, I'd give Tito props to taking a risk. Scioscia has been owned by the Sox for several years and to put his team's fate on a risk play either showed that he outsmarted himself or he's extremely desperate. All he needed was a fly ball to take the lead and I believe he had a guy like Matthews on his bench that could've done that if he didn't have faith in Aybar. He has Brendan Wood on his bench to be the shortstop in the bottom of 9th inning to replace Aybar defensively and he could've went with either Willits or Matthews in right field. What's done is done...props to the Red Sox. That is going to be a great ALCS between the greenhorns and a playoff-savvy squad.

[rozy]

Shoalz, it was a great call by Scioscia. The monkey shoulda got the bunt down. Period. The problem was execution, not the play call.

[Shoalzie]

Shoalz, it was a great call by Scioscia. The monkey shoulda got the bunt down. Period. The problem was execution, not the play call.

No, you're right...it's not all his fault but that's the risk in calling that play. The pitch was "buntable"...if that's even a word. Aybar had the big hit in Game 3...I don't see why Scioscia had to be a riverboat gambler to get that run in from third. With how he eventually was retired...on a fairly soft ground ball to first, he could've got Willits in from third without having to get the ball out of the infield. Granted, I don't know if Kotsay was playing back on the play because of the runner no longer being on third. All they really needed was a simple ground ball or fairly deep fly ball to get Willits in given he's got good speed. The play didn't lose them the game because the Sox still had to do their work in the bottom of the 9th but it was a golden opportunity to steal that game considering they were held off the board for 7 innings.