Baseball Today - October 4
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SCOREBOARD Thursday, Oct. 4
N.Y. Yankees at Cleveland (6:37 p.m. EDT). A matchup of 19-game winners Chien-Ming Wang of New York and lefty C.C. Sabathia of the Indians.
STARS
-Josh Beckett, Red Sox, pitched his second consecutive postseason shutout, leading Boston to a 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in Game 1 of the ALDS.
-Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks, allowed four hits and struck out nine in seven innings in a 3-1 victory over the Cubs in Game 1 of the NLDS.
ALL ZEROS
Josh Beckett pitched his second consecutive postseason shutout and, backed by a home run from David Ortiz, led the Boston Red Sox over the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 Wednesday night in their AL playoff opener. Beckett retired 19 consecutive batters after a leadoff single, allowed just four hits and ran his postseason scoreless streak to 18 innings. The last time he pitched on such a stage, he blanked the New York Yankees to clinch the '03 Series for Florida.
DESERT DUEL
Brandon Webb shut down the Chicago Cubs with his superb sinker, and the Arizona Diamondbacks got home runs from two of their kids in a 3-1 victory Wednesday night in their NL playoff opener. Stephen Drew homered in the fourth off Chicago ace Carlos Zambrano, who was pulled after six innings and only 85 pitches. Right after he left, Mark Reynolds homered on the fourth pitch from reliever Carlos Marmol to break a 1-all tie in the seventh.
SMASHING
Matt Holliday hit a solo home run in Colorado's 4-2 victory over Philadelphia on Monday and the Rockies won for the 15th time in 16 games and got the second playoff victory in the franchise's 15-year history, after one in 1995.
ROCKED
The first four hitters in Philadelphia's batting order combined to go 0-for-15 with 12 Ks in a 4-2 loss to Colorado on Monday. Chase Utley, a .332 hitter, struck out four times for the second time this year and Ryan Howard was 0-for-4, fanning three times as the Rockies took a 1-0 series lead.
MOVING ON
Walt Jocketty is out after 13 seasons as general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, one year after the team won the World Series for the first time since 1982. Team president Mark Lamping said Jocketty's departure with a year remaining on his contract was a mutual decision, and that he'd be paid. Jocketty oversaw the team as it made seven postseason appearances, one of the best stretches in franchise history, and hired current manager Tony La Russa in 1996.
SPEAKING
''He's a guy that wants to be great. He doesn't want to be pretty good. He wants to be the best guy that takes the mound. That's what you want from your ace.'' - Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell on Josh Beckett, who pitched his second consecutive postseason shutout, leading Boston over the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 Wednesday night in their AL playoff opener.
Hi
Rockies (Colorado) +143 1.5(-155) o10(-105)
Yankees (New York) -117 -1.5(+135) o8.5(-125)
P.s. Good luck , if you betting do it...
Day 1 playoff betting notes
Covers.com
To bring you the best up-to-date insight during the MLB playoffs, Covers.com locked analyst Jason Logan in a small room with nothing but a TV, a computer and an empty jar.
OK, OK, it’s not that dramatic.
But Logan is tethered to his couch this October to bring you his thoughts, observations and betting tidbits throughout the postseason. Wednesday’s opening day had more than enough action to keep our guy busy.
Colorado Rockies at Philadelphia Phillies: Game 1
All praise to Jeff Francis for his efforts in Game 1 of the NLDS, but the top of the Phillies order let him off the hook. Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard all went hitless while combining for nine strikeouts.
You can blame the tricky afternoon shadows of Citizens Bank Park all you want. Just remember: this is a quadruplet that hit a combined .295 this season. And despite the best efforts of the Philly Phanatic, the best mascot of all-time, Colorado managed to make the best out of a solid effort from Cole Hamels, who settled in after some early command issues.
Will Philadelphia’s Kyle Kendrick and Colorado’s Franklin Morales match Game 1’s impressive pitching display? Maybe. Kendrick and Morales are impressive young talents, but while the Rockies rookie pitched well against his NLDS opponent this season, the Phillies rookie did not.
Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox: Game 1
Josh Beckett was scary good on Wednesday. Commentators immediately made the connection between his Game 1 effort and his 2003 form that carried the Florida Marlins to the World Series.
But without Beckett’s lights-out performance the Red Sox may have had a game on their hands. Boston exploded early for two home runs but then went quiet at the plate. When the Red Sox did get bodies on base, they grounded into multiple double plays.
The Angels had trouble getting to Beckett, especially with a banged up Vladimir Guerrero taking up the DH and Gary Matthews Jr. sitting out the series with a bum knee. Moving Guerrero back to right would get more power in the middle of the order. If the Halos can take advantage of Dice-K’s first postseason start, we could have a closer ALDS than the first three innings in Game 1 would indicate.
Chicago Cubs at Arizona Diamondbacks: Game 1
Wednesday night’s broadcast began with a flashy intro boasting how different the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks are. Chicago: cold. Arizona: warm. Chicago: experienced. Arizona: young.
Enough already.
Regardless of geographical differences, when you break down these team’s styles they’re cut from the same cloth. The Cubs and D-Backs get by on pitching, like the efforts from Carlos Zambrano and Brandon Webb in Game 1. If it wasn’t for Carlos Marmol’s meltdown in the seventh, these two clubs could still be playing Game 1 right now.
The comparisons don’t end there. Game 2 starters Ted Lilly and Doug Davis are also in similar situations. Both are in their first years with their respective clubs and both are unsung heroes in the rotation. Both also duked it out on the mound in late August during a 3-1 Arizona win in which the D-Backs pulled ahead in similar fashion to Wednesday’s Game 1.