In case you didn't stay up late last night -- and the game went a ridiculous three hours and fifty-four minutes with the teams combining for thirty men left on base -- the Dodgers beat the Cardinals 5-3, taking a 1-0 lead in their division series matchup. The home teams won all three games yesterday; Cliff Lee's complete game, the first in the postseason since Josh Beckett threw one against the Angels on October 3, 2007, led the Phillies to a 5-1 win over the Rockies, and a tired Twins team couldn't keep up with the Yankees, who rode a big day from Derek Jeter to a 7-2 victory. The Yankees and Twins get the day off -- as the Yankees chose the division series that will have a ridiculous three off days -- and the Angels and Red Sox begin their series tonight.
Bruce Miles, following up on his post about Cubs hitters on Monday, today has a cogent analysis of all the 2009 Cubs pitchers. He's got Esmailin Caridad listed as a contender for next year's bullpen; I also like Justin Berg, who has a good arm and who issued only one walk in his 12 major league innings -- and it was in his ML debut appearance August 13 vs. the Phillies. Oddly enough, the walk went to a player who doesn't walk all that much -- Jimmy Rollins.
Some People Have Too Much Time On Their Hands Dept.: a 12-year-old girl who caught Ryan Howard's 200th career home run in July and gave it to him for some autographed memorabilia sued the team and got it back. The mind boggles.
The Cleveland Indians are narrowing down their list of potential managers. Bob Brenly is mentioned, but only in this sentence: "Former managers such as Bobby Valentine, Buck Showalter or Bob Brenly would likely demand more lucrative contracts than inexperienced candidates."
Speaking of Brenly, here's an existential question: did Brenly's presence on the telecast with Dick Stockton make Stockton better? Or did Stockton make Brenly worse? (I think I know the answer.)
Complete game listings for today's games after the jump.
Rockies at Phillies, 1:30 pm CDT. TV: TBS. Announcers: Brian Anderson and Joe Simpson
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Rockies site Purple Row and Phillies site The Good Phight.
Cardinals at Dodgers, 5 pm CDT. TV: TBS. Announcers: Dick Stockton and Bob Brenly
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Cardinals site Viva el Birdos and Dodgers site True Blue LA.
Red Sox at Angels, 8:30 pm CDT. TV: TBS. Announcers: Don Orsillo and Buck Martinez
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Red Sox site Over The Monster and Angels site Halos Heaven.
Yesterday's thread didn't get too long, so once again I'm not going to post overflow threads today; if this one gets too long or slow by the third game, someone please post an overflow in the FanShot section.
Discuss amongst yourselves.