Talk about a change of pace – Sunday night’s game between the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees has been the only thing remotely close so far this postseason.
With an unprecedented three sweeps in the opening round, the playoffs have not resembled the back-and-forth battles that were expected based on how close the teams finished in the standings.
During the three series that were quickly decided, the losing teams held a lead through only five of a possible 81 innings, with the Chicago Cubs never holding a lead against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Packing away the Philadelphia Phillies faster than their summer wardrobes, the Colorado Rockies made quick work of the Phillies, winning two on the road and one at home.
The Fightin’ Phils must have lost their boxing gloves in September, as they didn’t seem to have much of a punch to throw. Running into the hottest team in baseball right now couldn’t have helped them either.
In the American League, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were no match for the Boston Red Sox whose stellar pitching and bombastic offense seem to have come together at the right time. Nobody this postseason has looked as great as Josh Beckett did last Wednesday when he pitched a complete game four-hitter in game one of the series.
Seriously?
Anybody who says they picked the Diamondbacks and the Rockies to play for the National League championship is a liar.
If they even said they picked one of these teams to emerge from the NL West, I’d hook them up to a polygraph machine.
The Rockies were going to score runs, that much was a given.
But nobody thought that they would get a career year out of Jeff Francis, who finished the regular season with a 17-9 record and an ERA of 4.22, and that their second and third starting pitchers, Aaron Cook and Josh Fogg, would combine for an 18-16 record and a 4.53 ERA and that they would make the playoffs.
It was all but unimaginable.
Had the Rockies not won 14 of their final 15 regular-season games, including a win over the San Diego Padres in a one-game playoff, Colorado would be settled in to watch football for the next few months.
Instead, they have the hottest team in the game right now, and they don’t seem to be cooling off any time soon.
MVP candidate Matt Holliday and team veteran Todd Helton led the Rockies to be the NL leaders in hitting. Add NL rookie of the year favorite Troy Tulowitzki to the mix, and you have an offense that is built to compete with any team.
Should their pitching be able to keep them in games, the Rockies could make their first World Series appearance in team history.
The Diamondbacks, on the other hand, ranked last in NL in hitting with a team batting average of .250.
Their pitching, however, led by reigning NL Cy Young award winner Brandon Webb, won them the NL West title along with home field advantage through the NL championship series.
Webb, who went 18-10 with a 3.01 ERA, and Jose Valverde, who led the NL in saves with 47, led the staff into World Series contention.
It will be up to Eric Byrnes, Chris Young and Stephen Drew to step up and deliver enough runs to keep pace with the Rockies. The trio hit for a combined .351 in the NLDS, a good sign for the D-Backs.
This should be a good match-up that will probably last longer than four games. Pitching and defense has been the recipe for success in years past, but with Arizona’s pitching and Colorado’s top defense, you could say they cancel each other out.
A lot will probably rest on where the games are played. If the Rockies can score runs in Arizona and the Diamondbacks can pitch in Colorado, this could be a very close series.
Tribe or Tradition?
While Boston has yet to find out which team they will face in the American League Championship Series, whichever team does emerge to play them will surely have their hands full.
The Red Sox beat up on the Angels from every angle in their series. Excellent pitching performances from Beckett and Curt Schilling held the Halos to four runs in the entire series while the Sox offense, led by David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, pounded away on the Angels’ hurlers.
After sub par regular seasons by Ortiz and Ramirez, the dynamic duo seem to be hitting on all cylinders. They combined for a .533 average, four home runs and seven RBI’s in the three-game series.
The Yankees won game three of their series against the Indians to keep them in contention.
Both teams have two high quality starters, the Yankees with Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte, and the Indians with C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona. These four have gone 6-4 combined against the Red Sox this season, so either team should match up well pitching-wise.
New York obviously has the most potent offense of the three teams, but Cleveland and Boston both have big-time bats that are not to be disregarded.
The ALCS could play out a number of ways.
Boston will have its pitching set up since it clinched its championship berth Sunday. If the Yankees and Indians series lasts a couple more games, the Red Sox will have a huge advantage.
Either way, the east coast bias will be sure to put a big spotlight on this series.
