Tonight, the American League Championship Series begins, and still, all I can think of is another stunning comeback by the Cardinals last night. What is it with that team? The water in St. Louis?
This was mentioned in the comments in yesterday's thread, but I think it bears repeating: with two out and first base open, with the score tied, why on Earth would you pitch to Pete Kozma with the pitcher's spot due next? That's got to be a no-brainer. Put Kozma on and force Mike Matheny to either let Jason Motte bat, or pinch-hit with his only remaining bench player, Tony Cruz. That would have left Shelby Miller or Marc Rzepczynski to come in to pitch the bottom of the ninth.
If the Nats had gotten out of the top of the inning with the game tied... well, obviously that's a whole different scenario. I think Davey Johnson blew it.
It's been said that the Tigers are at a disadvantage in the ALCS because they won't be able to use Justin Verlander until Game 3. Well -- the Yankees have a similar issue, because they now can't use CC Sabathia until Game 4. These two teams are fairly evenly matched on paper, but the Yankees had tremendous trouble scoring runs against a pitching staff that isn't as good as Detroit's.
Tigers in six.
MLB.com Gameday for Yankees/Tigers. Game time: 7 p.m. CDT. TV: TBS. Announcers: Ernie Johnson, John Smoltz, Cal Ripken Jr. and Craig Sager.
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
This will be the only thread for today's games; if it gets too slow, post another one in the fanshot area. Discuss amongst yourselves.