Bleacher Report - Articles by Nick Poust

Where Will They Land? Predicted Destinations for Baseball's Top Free Agents (P2)

Nick Poust — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:20:01 -0500

Adrian Beltre isn't going to hit 48 homers like he did in 2004. He isn't going to drive in 120 runs, either. But he would give the Twins 20-30 homers and stellar defense at third base.

There are four sure-fire stars on the free-agent market–Matt Holliday , Jason Bay , John Lackey , and Chone Figgins , but there are countless others that, though classified as B-list free-agents, are capable of putting up solid numbers.

Having predicted where the top-five free-agents will land , here now are my predicted destinations for free-agents six through ten.

6. Andy Pettitte

Pettitte has been a tremendously dependable pitcher over the course of his career, and especially in the playoffs. He can be counted on to accumulate 12-15 wins during the regular season, 3-4 more during the playoffs, and an ERA in the low 4’s.

There is no reason for him to leave the World Series champion New York Yankees, and they have no reason not to retain him. He, who won all three playoff-series clinchers, will stay with New York, barring an unexpected retirement.

7. Marco Scutaro

Alex Gonzalez , who was the shortstop for the Boston Red Sox last season, signed a one-year deal with Scutaro’s old team, the Toronto Blue Jays , so it’s only fitting that the 34-year-old signs with the Red Sox.

There aren’t a lot of pleasing shortstops on the market (it’s Scutaro, a 36-year old and intriguing Miguel Tejada , and offensively-challenged Adam Everett , and that’s about it), and not many that are available via trade (unless Boston trades Florida the farm for Hanley Ramirez ), but though it appears Scutaro is the only option for Boston, they want him and he wants the Red Sox .

He picked a good time to have a career year. This past season, he hit .282 with 12 home-runs and 60 rbi’s out of the leadoff spot, and posted a tremendous .379 on-base percentage.

He is aging, and would probably want a three-year deal from Boston, but he’s a very good defender (he only made 10 errors), doesn’t strikeout very often (he had only 75 strikeouts compared to 90 walks in 144 games), and would be a good fit with Boston.

If he is signed by the Red Sox, he will be their sixth shortstop in as many years.

8. Jose Valverde

The fiery closer has been one of the best in the business over the past three seasons.

He saved over 40 games in both 2007 and 2008, and though he appeared in just 52 games in 2009 for the Houston Astros, the 31-year old compiled 25 saves in 29 chances, allowed only 15 runs in 54 innings, and had his best ERA, 2.33, since his rookie year with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Not many teams are looking for a closer. The lack of demand for a saves machine is either because they can’t afford to spend money, or because they have their own options in-house or on the farm.

One team in particular needs to add bullpen stability, and that would be the National League’s representative in the World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Their closer, Brad Lidge , had a nightmarish regular season. In four more innings than Valverde, he had a 7.21 ERA, allowed 51 runs, 11 home-runs, walked 34, and blew 11 saves.

He pitched well in the postseason before being shelled in his lone World Series appearance, but the Phillies should certainly be on the lookout for a replacement.

They could move Lidge to the eighth inning, thereby taking the pressure off to increase his effectiveness, put Ryan Madson in as the setup man’s setup man, and Valverde in as closer.

The 6′4″, 250 pound Dominican has been very dependable and will come relatively cheap. Unless they want uncertainty throughout their ‘pen, the Phillies should pounce on Valverde.

9. Adrian Beltre

In 2004, the third-baseman’s final season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Beltre hit 48 homers–25 more than in 2003–drove in 121–41 more than in 2003–and batted .338–94 points higher than in 2003.

Since this unbelievable season, Beltre hasn’t clubbed more than 26 homers or driven in more than 99 RBI in a season, disappointing throughout his five seasons with the Seattle Mariners, but he’s only 30 years old and is still an accomplished hitter.

On top of his offensive production, he is a tremendously gifted defensive third-baseman, which makes him that much more appealing on the free-agent market.

The Red Sox have been linked to him, but he would fit more with the Minnesota Twins, a team in dire need of offense and particularly a third baseman. He would not only give the Twins one of the best defensive infields in the majors, but also 20-30 home-run power. Throughout his career in Seattle, his on-base percentage was awful, hovering around .300, yet in the 6th or 7th hole in Minnesota’s lineup, he would be a significant upgrade over the Brian Buscher /Brendan Harris /Joe Crede trio.

10. Rich Harden

If there is a high-risk, high-reward player on the market, it’s the 27-year old Harden. The gifted right-handed starting pitcher has spent the bulk of his seven-year career with the Oakland Athletics. Over the course of his tenure in the league, he has compiled 50 wins to just 29 losses, and a 3.39 ERA. Despite these outstanding numbers, he has made only 127 starts, or an average of 18 per season.

So, he’s been injury-plagued throughout, but he has a very good repertoire, with a wide array of strikeout pitches. Last season with the Chicago Cubs, he allowed just 122 hits in 141 innings while striking out 171 batters.

He should have plenty of suitors this offseason, given his age and ability. The Red Sox just signed knuckleballer Tim Wakefield to a two-year deal, making him their fifth starter once again.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is also returning to the rotation, and the team has also expressed interest in Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay , who is on the trade market.

But, despite having five starters and interest in a sixth, they should pull out of the Halladay Sweepstakes and focus on an inexpensive option.

Because of Harden’s injury history, teams will be hesitant to give him a multi-year deal. So, why don’t the Red Sox sign him to a one-year, $8 million contract? He could make 30 starts, something he has done only once, win 15-18 games, and make an already stacked rotation dominating.

Worst case, he makes 15 starts, wins seven-to-nine games, and spends the majority of the year on the shelf. Given Harden’s potential for greatness, if Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein wants to improve, he’ll take the gamble.

Where Will They Land?: Predicted Destinations for Top Free Agents, Part 1

Nick Poust — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:19:10 -0500

This offseason, there are very few star free agents on the market. Still, there is a lot of intrigue, and a lot of players looking to make an impact on a contending team.

Here now are my predictions for where the top five free agents will land in what should be another busy offseason in baseball.

1. Matt Holliday

The New York Mets aren’t getting any younger and need to make a statement this offseason to get back into the winning circle.

Holliday, a 29-year-old outfielder, who hits .330 with 30-plus homers, 100-plus RBI annually, would give them a force in the middle of their lineup.

The Mets didn’t have a player with more than 12 homers last season, so they certainly need a long-term pick-me-up of Holliday’s caliber.

2. Jason Bay

The 31-year-old outfielder, who hit 36 homers and drove in 119 runs for the Boston Red Sox last year, rejected their initial 4-year ,$60 million offer.

The Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Angels, will be after him, but I expect the Canadian to re-sign with the Boston Red Sox.

The two sides are apart as far as years and money are concerned, yet there is no reason to believe that general manager Theo Epstein won’t open his pocketbook and work out a deal favorable for both the Red Sox and Bay.

3. John Lackey

The Los Angeles Angels can’t afford to let him go, but they can’t afford him. He’s the best pitcher on the open market and was their ace.

He’s 31 years old, has had elbow troubles in the past, and will likely want a 5-6 year deal worth more than the $82.5 million—money he will probably get—despite his age and injury history.

He’s out of their price range, as they have only $12 million they can donate annually this offseason. I expect the Angels to try and woo him to come back for less, but I don’t believe he will settle.

The Washington Nationals are interested. So are the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, and possibly, the Seattle Mariners.

Where will he end up? I think the Mariners might swoop in and snag him in their effort to challenge his former team in the American League West.

4. Chone Figgins

The Angels will have to choose either Lackey or Figgins this offseason. As previously said, Lackey may be too pricey.

But Figgins, their third baseman, who had a career-high, .395 On-base Percentage last season, and fits Mike Scioscia’s system perfectly, is too important to their success to leave.

Other teams have expressed interest, but Figgins will come relatively inexpensive and should fit in the Angels' budget. Look for GM Arte Moreno to lock up the 31-year-old for 4-5 years at $10 million annually.

5. Randy Wolf

It’s a down year free agency-wise if Wolf is fifth. He had a career year this past season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning 11 games with a 3.23 ERA, while allowing only 178 hits in 214 1/3 innings.

But, he’s 33 years old, allowed 24 home runs, and struck out 160, meaning he’s a contact pitcher.

The fact that he doesn’t strikeout many and allows a high amount of home runs should hurt his chances of getting a 4-5 year deal, but if he stays in the National League, he should continue to be a very dependable pitcher.

The New York Mets, who regrettably chose Oliver Perez over Wolf during last year’s offseason, need to add some stability behind Johan Santana in the rotation, and Wolf, at three years, $30 million, could give them that.

A Team's Record Doesn't Matter: Tim Lincecum, Zack Greinke Win Cy Youngs

Nick Poust — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:38:57 -0500

San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum became only the 15th pitcher in history to win the Cy Young award twice.

The St. Louis Cardinals made the playoffs in large part because of the two-headed monster atop their rotation: Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. Wainwright won 19 games with a 2.63 ERA in 233 innings, and Carpenter won 17 games with a 2.24 ERA. Their statistics were unbelievable, and they would have been one-two in the race if not for San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum.

Lincecum, who won the Cy Young award in 2008 by winning 18 games, touting a 2.62 ERA, and, in 227 innings, allowing only 182 hits and 10 home runs while striking out 265 batters, was in the mix to repeat as winner. The Giants missed out on the playoffs, but finished strong and won 88 games, 16 more than in 2008.

Lincecum was a big reason for the improvement, anchoring their very successful rotation by going 17-5 with a 2.48 ERA in 225-1/3 innings. Even more remarkable than his record and ERA, was that he allowed an amazingly low amount of hits, 168, home runs, 11, and walks, 68, while striking out the opposition 261 times.

So, it was a three-horse race between Wainwright, Carpenter, and Lincecum. Carpenter and Wainwright had more wins, forming a two-headed monster. Lincecum had a sidekick as well: Matt Cain won 14 games and had a 2.89 ERA. He wasn’t flying solo, therefore making the decision a toss-up.

The voters, made up of sportswriters around the country, voted in a tight-knit fashion, expectedly so considering the similarity in statistics and impact. Who did the majority pick? The Freak, also known as Tiny Tim.

Lincecum, who had a microscopic WHIP (Walks + Hits/Inning Pitched) of 1.05, had 10 first place votes, less than Wainwright’s 12. But, what won it for him was the substantial number of second place votes, which gave him 100 points overall, barely beating Carpenter’s 94, and Wainwright’s 90.

Though the voters’ indecision in choosing between Carpenter and Wainwright played a role in Lincecum taking home the award, there is no doubt the 25-year old, 5′9″ Washington-native deserved the hardware for the second straight year.

Zack Greinke convincingly won the American League Cy Young award, acquiring 25 of 28 first-place votes.

In the American League, another pitcher won deservedly on a non-playoff team: the Kansas City Royals Zack Greinke. His story is well-documented, but though I presume it had little to do with the 26-year old winning the award, it made his victory that much more remarkable.

His statistics spoke for themselves, as he won 16 games with a dominating 2.16 ERA. He had 6 complete games, 2 shutouts, struck out 242 in 229-1/3 innings, relinquished only 11 homers and 51 walks, and had a 1.07 WHIP. His numbers were very similar to Lincecum’s, and he also won without leading the league in wins.

In fact, he was seventh in that category. CC Sabathia of the World Series-winning New York Yankees led the league with 19 victories, tying the Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez and Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander; Toronto’s Roy Halladay, Boston’s Josh Beckett, and Texas’s Scott Feldman each tallied 17 wins.

Clearly, as in Lincecum’s case, a teams’ record doesn’t matter, as the Royals finished last in the American League Central with 65 wins and 97 losses, nor do the victories they themselves accumulate.

Lincecum’s win was surprising at first glance, given the year both Wainwright and Carpenter had. So was Greinke’s victory in some respects. But though they somewhat flew under my radar, the writers did their job and truly picked both leagues best pitchers over the course of the season; and what a season Tiny Tim and Greinke had.

Deemed Not Ready for NBA, Brandon Jennings Drops 55 on Golden State Warriors

Nick Poust — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:13:52 -0500

Brandon Jennings didn’t want to go to college. He believed that if he was going to play, it would be for a paycheck, so, unable to enter the draft due to the age restrictions, the highly touted point guard became the first player to forgo college and make the leap from high school to professional European basketball.

Choosing to sign a one-year contract with Italian club Lottomatica Roma, the Oak Hill Academy star who won every major player of the year award as a senior believed he would see a substantial amount of action, thereby increasing his notoriety for the following year’s NBA Draft.

But things didn’t go as planned. Jennings spent a majority of the season riding the bench. When he did play, he only averaged five points, two rebounds and one assist in 27 games while shooting just 35 percent from the field and 20 percent from three-point land.

His struggles on the European stage would presumably hurt his draft status, but his lowly statistics did no such thing. The Milwaukeee Bucks selected the skinny 6′1″ 20-year-old with the 10th overall selection. Milwaukee thought enough of his talent not only to make him a top-10 pick, but also to let 23-year-old starting point guard Ramon Sessions leave via free agency. The job was Jennings’ whether he was ready to take the reins or not.

It appeared he wasn’t. He averaged a satisfactory 10 points and 5 assists during the preseason, but was woefully inconsistent, scoring three points and dishing one assist one game and then scoring 10 and racking up 12 assists the next. He had plenty of skeptics, and many deemed after the former performance that he simply wasn’t able to play in the NBA just yet. But, boy, has he proved them wrong.

Jennings narrowly missed out on a triple-double in his regular season debut against the Philadelphia 76ers. He scored 17 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and handed out nine assists, one rebound and one assist short of becoming the first player since Oscar Robertston to post a triple-double in his first game.

To prove this performance wasn’t a fluke, he scored 24 points the following night against the Detroit Pistons and 25 points three days later against the Chicago Bulls.

He struggled in his fourth game, posting a line similar to that in the preseason, scoring nine points on 4-16 shooting while compiling just three assists in 27 minutes. He has since bounced back from this mediocre performance in a big way.

He scored 17 points against the New York Knicks, one of nine teams that passed up his services, and then exploded for 32 points against a horrible defensive Denver Nuggets team to go along with nine assists.

He played an even worse defensive team last night, the Golden State Warriors coached by Don Nelson that is currently in disarray. Nelson grooms his players to be offensively oriented; they don’t have a single player that takes pride in defensive intensity or playing defense at all. Playing Golden State, which came in allowing 110 points per game, Jennings went nuts on Milwaukee’s home-court.

He didn’t score in the first quarter, which makes his feat that much more remarkable. He was 0-3 shooting with a turnover. Then, with a layup to begin Milwaukee’s second quarter, he started to heat up. Fellow rookie Stephen Curry had the assignment of guarding him, and though he blocked his shot on the next possession and forced a missed jumper a minute later, his defense would soon wane.

Jennings hit a three-pointer three minutes after making a free-throw, giving him six points in 14 minutes. He reached double figures by halftime, skying for a tip-in and a dunk to give him 10 points at intermission. He had a quiet first half, and his Bucks were down by eight. There was no sign that he would be in for a big night, until shots starting falling in the third quarter.

He drained a 16-footer over Curry with two minutes elapsed, cutting a deficit that reached 10 down to eight. He hit another jumper, dwindling the margin to seven, and a three-pointer that whittled it to six. A possession later, he made it a four-point game by crossing over Monta Ellis and driving in for a layup.

He cut the Warriors lead to three with a three-pointer, to one with a layup, tied it with a free-throw, grabbed the lead with a mid-range jumper, and extended the Bucks advantage to five with his fourth three-pointer.

In the quarter’s first eight minutes, he amassed 20 points, picking Golden State apart for uncovered jumper after jumper and layup after layup. He was just getting warm, too.

He became a point guard for a few possessions, finding guard Charlie Bell and center Andrew Bogut for layups, before harkening back to the player who averaged 32 points per game in his high school career. With blazing quickness and the ability to stop on a dime, he continued his magnificent period, exploding in for a layup, pulling up for a floater in the lane, canning a long three-pointer from the top of the key, then a jumper from the angle.

In the third quarter, Jennings scored an incredible 29 points. He made 12-13 shots, including 4-5 three-pointers. With this, his first half was a distant memory. He now had 39 points for the game, with another breathtaking quarter ahead of him.

His first points of the final period were free-throws, coming with nine and a half minutes remaining, putting him over the 40-point plateau. In spite of his scoring outburst, a jumper by Ellis gave the Warriors a 110-109 lead with just under four minutes left. Jennings said enough is enough and started his late surge.

A nine-foot, high arcing jumper regained the lead for Milwaukee, and a three-pointer without a defender within five feet increased the margin to a slim two. He made Golden State’s deficit six with a mid-range jumper, and then six again, thrusting the dagger deep in the Warriors heart by hitting his seventh and final three-pointer with 34 seconds left to ice a magical win for the Bucks.

He hit two free-throws with 10 seconds left, creating the final margin of 129-125 in Milwaukee’s favor. Those two free-throws gave him 55 points , and an amazing 45 in the second half.

In all, he made 21-34 field goals, 7-8 three-pointers, 6-8 free-throws, and still found time to dish five assists. His performance, in front of a raucous crowd of 15,000, was beyond belief, and overwhelmingly silenced every critic who thought he was nowhere near ready for the NBA, a league that he has already dominated during his young career.

Red Sox make a few moves; Trade Rumors around the Majors

Nick Poust — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:48:13 -0500

Philadelphia Phillies need a third baseman. Look no further than speedy Chone Figgins, a hitting machine who dazzled with the Anaheim Angels and is now a free agent. " width="429">

The Philadelphia Phillies need a third baseman. Look no further than speedy Chone Figgins, a hitting machine who dazzled with the Anaheim Angels and is now a free-agent.

The Boston Red Sox were busy to begin the offseason, acquiring outfielder Jeremy Hermida from the Florida Marlins, and remained busy in their effort to build a championship-caliber team. General Manager Theo Epstein restructured Tim Wakefield ’s deal, replacing a $4 million team option for 2010 with a two-year contract for the 43-year-old knuckleballer worth a guaranteed $7 million. He also intelligently picked up the $7 million team option on catcher Victor Martinez . Then, he made another wise move, declining their $5 million team option on over-the-hill captain and catcher Jason Varitek .

The re-signing of Wakefield gives Boston two more years of dependability at the back-end of their rotation. Having a knuckleballer is a hit-or-miss proposition; he will get hit hard, then be unhittable. But for the most part, he pitches deep into games, allows a minimal amount of runs, and keeps the Red Sox in contention, which are the reasons why they have so much faith in the longest tenured member of the team.

His re-signing means either the fourth or fifth spot in the rotation is his. This leaves Boston with a formidable five-man rotation: Josh Beckett in a contract year, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is looking to rebound after an injury-plagued 2009, young Clay Buchholz, and Wakefield. If there is one drawback to the re-signing of Wakefield, however, it doesn’t give Boston the opportunity to sign a free agent pitcher. Unless they plan on using him just in long relief or for spot-starts, or unless they plan on using a six-man rotation, they can’t pursue the likes of Rich Harden .

Harden would come relatively cheap solely because of his injury history. He has a world of talent in his right arm, but because of recurring arm injuries or other such setbacks he has had, there is no way to guesstimate how man starts he could make. He could make ten and spend the majority of the season on the shelf, or he could make thirty and contend for the Cy Young. If I was at the controls, I’d take the risk, considering what the 27-year-old could do if injury-free.

Wakefield has had severe back problems throughout the latter stages of his career, so given that he isn’t a sure-thing either, the Harden possibility becomes much more plausible. I would rather see the Red Sox sign Harden for $7 million than have to commit an obscene amount of money to a star on the market, such as John Lackey, who would command at least a five-year deal worth upwards of $80 million.

Picking up Matinez’s option is an obvious decision, as the 30-year-old catcher hit .336 with a .405 on-base percentage to compliment his 8 homers and 41 rbi’s in 56 games with the Red Sox after being acquired at the July 31 trade deadline. He fit in immediately and gave Boston the power bat and dependability they were lacking from the catcher position.

Varitek was the catcher, but there was a reason why the Red Sox declined their team option. The captain hit just .209 last season, an offensive liability the team couldn’t afford to use on a daily basis; hence the acquisition of Martinez. The title of “Captain” carried a lot of weight the year prior and that stature along with the way he handled the pitching staff was the reason Boston stuck with him regularly until the Martinez trade. But they felt it was time to move on, and rightfully so, despite the overwhelming impact he had made to earn the “Captain” title.

He can still return, however, but it is his choice. The Red Sox declined a $5 million team option, clearly gesturing it was time to part ways, but he can excercise a $3 million player option in order to remain. Reports were as of Sunday night that he would do so and return, but Epstein informed the media on Monday that Varitek had not yet indeed picked up the option. According to Sports Illustrated Jon Heyman , Varitek will discuss the option with the devil of the Agent world, Scott Boras, his representative.

In other offseason news, The Philadelphia Phillies, instead of resuming talks of a possible trade for Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, will focus on bulking their bullpen and finding a more suitable option at third base than Pedro Feliz . Feliz, who was serviceable, could return, but the team is seriously pursuing Chone Figgins to man the hot corner, according to Heyman .

Figgins, formerly of the Anaheim Angels (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, if you prefer), is an interesting target by Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr.. Despite struggling in the playoffs, the 31-year-old is a very good hitter, and is extremely fast. He would give the Phillies three leadoff types, as Heyman mentioned: Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino , a duo that sits atop their lineup, are built around speed, and are relatively light-hitting. This is not to say that Figgins would be a bad signing. I think it would be excellent, given their crop of power hitters–Chase Utley , Ryan Howard , and Jayson Werth . Adding Figgins would bolster their offense considerably, and improve upon an already stellar power-speed combination.

Moving onto the team the Phillies lost to in the World Series, the New York Yankees have had internal discussions about bringing all three of their big free-agents back : Outfielder Johnny Damon , who was a hitting machine all season long and throughout the playoffs, designated hitter Hideki Matsui , who won the World Series MVP, and pitcher Andy Pettitte , who won four of his five starts during the postseason. Re-signing all three would be wise for the World Series champions, not only because all three are very valuable to their success, but also because this might mean they–for once–aren’t looking to make a big offseason splash.

They still could. It’s the Yankees. Time will tell, as the offseason has just begun. Who knows what it is on the horizon, especially for the teams in Boston, Philly, and the Bronx.

Let the Offseason Begin: Boston Red Sox Steal Hermida from Florida Marlins

Nick Poust — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:20:16 -0500

The Major League Baseball season began on April 5. The season ended on November 4 with the New York Yankees popping champagne in celebration. That’s a span of seven months, from late spring to mid-fall. It was long, too long. But now it’s over. The offseason has begun.

The Trade Season started with a bang. The Boston Red Sox front office, having watched arch-rival New York finish off Philadelphia, decided to make a move, a sensible one at that. Before they traded Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Red Sox inquired about a three-way deal that would land them Florida Marlins outfielder Jeremy Hermida .

That proposal didn’t gain any traction, and Hermida stayed with the Marlins, but despite missing out on his services, Boston remained infatuated with him and his potential, hoping he would someday be part of their quest for a World Series championship.

That someday was today. In need of outfield depth, General Manager Theo Epstein traded the organization’s 44th and 45th prospects, lefthanded pitchers Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez , to Florida for Hermida, who is only 25 years old.

Hermida, a 6′3″, 200-pounder, is a former top prospect in the Marlins system, and in nearly 2,000 career appearances, has put up underwhelming numbers considering his hype: .265 batting average, 57 homers, and 210 RBI in 516 games.

Though he has had a disappointing first few years in the majors, disappointing enough for the Marlins to give up on him, the Red Sox believe a bright future is ahead. Epstein, upon making the trade, said “He hasn’t fulfilled his potential yet. We acquired him today to see if he can fulfill that potential.”

Jones and Alvarez were a small price to pay for a low-risk player who could pay immense dividends in Boston. He has a fluid swing, plate discipline, and though he doesn’t hit for a substantial amount of power, the short porch in right field at Fenway Park, as well as the Green Monster in left, could go along ways to increase his production.

Designated hitter David Ortiz doesn’t have much left in the tank. Third baseman Mike Lowell can still hit, but a hip injury has slowed him considerably. Their lineup is getting old, and has players on the decline, so a young fresh face could do wonders for their wherewithal, especially if he succeeds as the Marlins once believed he could.

Boston seems keen on re-signing left-fielder Jason Bay, who, despite striking out nearly a third of the time last season, put up huge numbers with the team. This would be a smart move, and would allow the Red Sox to work Hermida into the system, give him some spot starts, see what he’s made of, and then give him the starting job in right-field once J.D. Drew’s contract runs out after the 2011 season.

Hermida welcomed the change in scenery:

“The change of scenery will be good for me,” he said. “Boston has a lot of older guys who can teach me about the game and we can talk hitting. I know Mike Lowell pretty well and I played with Josh (Beckett) a little. This is a great thing for me.”

“I feel rejuvenated. I had a feeling I’d be traded and going to Boston is better than I could have expected.”

The Red Sox acquired him on a whim, taking a risk that this “can’t miss” prospect that the Marlins were tired of waiting on turns into something. Having this optimism is a good start for the kid. Boston may have just found a diamond in the rough.

The Drought Is Over: Hideki Matsui Fuels Yankees' 27th Championship

Nick Poust — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:20:51 -0500

With the Philadelphia Phillies batting in the bottom of the fourth inning of Game Six of the World Series against the New York Yankees, Pedro Martinez sat alone in the Phillies dugout.

Then manager Charlie Manuel came over. The 65-year-old manager with a Southern drawl talked to the 38-year-old Dominican and future Hall of Famer. He said something amusing, and Martinez cracked a smile.

He tapped him on the chest, and another amusing remark made him laugh. He took a step away, motioned back, tapped him on the chest again, and kept his pitcher laughing. This happened two more times, a moment between a World Series-winning manager and former ace.

What made this moment so memorable was that Martinez struggled against the New York Yankees, mightily in fact. In Game Two, a tough loss, the velocity on his fastball ranged from 91-94 miles per hour. In Game Six, he was facing the team he loved to face once more, but his demeanor and velocity were drastically different.

Instead of looking confident, appearing full of adrenaline, he looked queasy and uncharacteristically nervous. Instead of touching 94 on the gun, his fastball topped out at 89 miles per hour and spent a majority of the night in the 83-86 mile per hour range.

The Yankees, smelling their 27th championship and first in nine years, teed off.

He didn’t dare throw Alex Rodriguez a fastball, given its lack of velocity, but four changeups resulted in a four-pitch leadoff walk in the second inning. This conservative approach brought up Hideki Matsui, with whom he wasn’t as timid regarding pitch selection.

Matsui had five hits in his previous nine at-bats this World Series and continued his torrid hitting in what might be his final game in pinstripes.

Matsui, a veteran and accomplished hitter, faced Martinez, a veteran and accomplished pitcher, and dueled in exhilarating fashion. Matsui took a changeup with surprisingly little bite for a called strike, fouled off a fastball, took two 85 mile per hour lifeless fastballs, one high and the other outside, fouled back a fourth fastball that reached its pinnacle, 89 on the radar gun, and then a slider inside.

The count, once 0-2 in Martinez’s favor, was full. Martinez had thrown every pitch in his repertoire he was willing to throw to the Japanese legend, so he tried to put him away with the pitch that’s made his career illustrious, the changeup. But Matsui waited for it, calculated its movement, and fouled it off.

Martinez tried his fastball, attempting to hit an outside target set by catcher Carlos Ruiz so to lessen the chance of Matsui, a pull hitter, turning on the offering. He missed the mark, instead firing 89 right down the pipe.

Matsui, holding an eerily clean white bat similar to that of Roy Hobbs in The Natural, swung powerfully. The ball rocketed off the sweet spot, right on the barrel, and shot off towards right field like a cannon.

The 56,000-plus donning Yankee black jumped for joy as the ball fell deep into the seats. It was a two-run homer by Matsui. He was just getting started. The fans, anticipating the end of a World Series drought, would be in for a busy night as well.

Martinez struck out Brett Gardner to begin the next inning and then got himself into more trouble. Derek Jeter benefited from a misread by Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino and reached with a single. Johnny Damon battled Martinez and coaxed a walk.

This brought up a struggling Mark Teixeira, who didn’t get a chance to break out of his slump, as Martinez’s tailing fastball tailed in too much, hitting the Yankees' $180 million investment first baseman squarely in the thigh. Rodriguez followed by striking out, but this was one of Martinez's few bright spots of the night.

Matsui was next, and things went from good to bad very quickly.

He fouled off the first two pitches and then, once again, connected soundly with a fastball, ripping it into center field to score two runs. Manuel had left Martinez in too long.

Reliever J.A. Happ was warming long before Matsui strode in for the second time, but Manuel turned into a subtler version of Grady Little, who infamously stuck with a fatiguing and ineffective Martinez in Game Seven of the 2003 American League Championship Series against these Yankees.

This may have been Martinez’s last World Series appearance. Manuel wanted to give him one last shot to pitch on the highest of stages and give him the chance to beat the Yankees. Martinez pitched well enough in Game Two to earn this start but clearly wasn’t the same pitcher.

Manuel wanted to win, and taking a Pedro Martinez on his last legs out gave his team the opportunity to fight back. Martinez just didn’t have much to offer here at perhaps the end of his outstanding career.

After Phillies shortstop and leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins couldn’t take advantage of a one-out walk by Yankees starter Andy Pettitte to Ruiz, grounding into an inning-ending double play, Chad Durbin replaced Martinez on the mound and was similarly ineffective.

He allowed a leadoff double in the fifth to Jeter, a single to Teixeira with one out, and then walked Rodriguez to load the bases, forcing Manuel to make the slow walk to remove him and put Happ in his place.

Matsui was the hitter. He tagged Martinez for four RBI on two hits and drove in two more off Durbin, lining a double into the left-field gap. He had a two-run homer, a two-run double, and now a two-run single. All that was missing was the two-run triple.

He wouldn’t complete the two-run cycle, but he had six of their seven RBI, which speaks for itself.

Philadelphia, behind 7-1, received a two-run homer by Ryan Howard in the top of the sixth, but they couldn’t make the most of other opportunities, and the four-run deficit carried into the eighth.

After Howard compiled his 13th strikeout of the series to begin the inning against Damaso Marte, Mariano Rivera came in to attempt to get five outs to clinch the World Series. The Yankees were five outs away from winning their first World Series since the Subway Series of 2000, and they had the best closer of all time ready to cement his fifth championship.

With the Yankee crowd on their feet in anticipation, Rivera struck out Jayson Werth and, after Raul Ibanez socked a double to left, threw a cutter in to Pedro Feliz, forcing a defensive swing and pop-up. Now, three outs remained.

Rivera took the hill in the ninth. Pinch-hitter extraordinaire Matt Stairs worked the count full, and nailed a frozen rope, but right at Jeter. Down to their final two outs, the Phillies continued to battle, refusing to hand the Yankees and the Sandman the World Series.

Ruiz came after Stairs and had an at-bat that made me and Rivera crack a smile. The catcher, who had a brilliant series at the plate and behind it, took a cutter over but low, and then one right down the middle. He had no intention to swing, presumably scared to make an out. He just wanted to get on and hoped he could do so by coaxing a walk.

He took a cutter just off the outside corner for ball two and then one just inside. He stared at strike two, but his wish was granted as Rivera’s sixth pitch and sixth cutter missed inside.

Rollins wasn’t as patient, swinging at the second pitch. He hit it well, but right at right fielder Nick Swisher, who celebrated the second out with the fans beyond the fence. Rivera and the Yankees were one out away from accomplishing a feat their organization has demanded annually for many decades.

Victorino, badly bruised hand and all, stepped in and took a first-pitch strike. A ball followed, and then the Hawaiian native swung through a cutter from the Panamanian. Anyone who wasn’t standing in Yankee Stadium rose to their feet—one strike away.

A cutter barely missed inside, and the 50,000-plus let out a groan. Victorino fouled off the fifth pitch, then the sixth, seventh, and eighth. How painful, on this cold night in the Bronx, to foul off pitch after pitch with the hand, battered and bruised, taking the vibration over and over again.

Victorino didn’t care about the injury. He wanted to battle to the end, try to extend the Phillies season.

The ninth offering was well inside, but Rivera’s 41st pitch found the heart of the plate. With the cutter’s late movement, Victorino didn’t get good wood on it, pounding it into the infield, right at Robinson Cano at second.

Cano fielded the grounder cleanly and threw to Teixeira. The Yankees ran into the middle of the diamond from the outfield, the bullpen, the infield, and from the dugout, to meet Teixeira, Cano, and Rivera.

New York, the players, the fans, the city, jubilantly celebrated the 27th championship in franchise history.

Utley Provides Power as Phillies Hold Off Yankees to Force Game 6

Nick Poust — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:24:28 -0500

New York Yankees starting pitcher A.J. Burnett, their $82 million man, shut down the Philadelphia Phillies in Game Two of the World Series.

His fastball was lively, and his off-speed pitches had their bite, sharpness, and were perfectly located. He tossed seven stellar innings, allowing just one run on four hits, walking one while striking out nine.

Manager Joe Girardi hoped for a repeat performance in Game 6, choosing him in the potential World Series-winning game on only three-days rest.

The 32-year-old right-hander could not baffle the Phillies once more. Instead, he was erratic, clearly off his game on short rest. His fastball was grooved and though his curveball and changeup had some movement, they were poorly placed. From the onset, Philadelphia, needing a win to live another day, wasn’t fooled.

By the beginning of the bottom of the first, the Phillies were already behind by one, but the deficit didn’t last long. Leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins singled to end a six-pitch battle, and then Shane “The Flyin’ Hawaiian” Victorino painfully reached after getting hit squarely on the hand by a first-pitch fastball by Burnett. The trainer came out to check on their energetic center fielder, who shook off the sure-fire bone bruise, if not a break, and took his base.

Burnett missed his location by three feet against Victorino, and two feet with his first pitch to Chase Utley.

Utley hit two home-runs off CC Sabathia in Game One, and another off the hefty left-hander in Game Four. The second-baseman who hit 31 home runs during the regular season kept on hitting the long ball, crushing an inside fastball that was meant to be outside that didn’t get inside enough deep into the left-field seats.

The fan who caught the souvenir thrust his arms in the air, and the other 46,177 spectators waving their rally towels followed suit in celebration of Utley’s three-run blast.

Phillies ace Cliff Lee, who tossed a complete game in the series opener, had a two-run lead with which to work. He wasn’t at his best, as his first inning indicated, but was certainly much better than his counterpart. He settled down after allowing a single, double, and a walk in the opening frame, shutting down the Yankees in both the second and third, then in the latter innings after his offense knocked around Burnett some more.

Burnett walked Utley to start the third inning, missing with five fastballs, but given a generous call on an outside offering. He was all over the place, unable to hit his spots. This happened periodically during the year, and he picked a bad time for his wildness to resurface.

Utley stole second and Ryan Howard watched three curveballs miss badly, the pitch that worked wonders for Burnett in Game Two, to work the fourth walk issued by Yankee.

Burnett actually managed to get ahead in the count to the next hitter, Jayson Werth, but a hanging curveball added to his misery, as the Phillie with seven homers this postseason socked a RBI-single to center.

Raul Ibanez then tried the left side of the field, ringing a single to Johnny Damon, scoring a hustling Howard from second. That lifeless fastball was Burnett’s final pitch. Of the 15 batters he faced over the two-plus innings, nine reached.

While Burnett, whose two-plus innings worth featured six runs on four hits, and four walks, settled into his seat in the eerily silent Yankees dugout.

Lee mowed down the Yankees through the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh before running into Burnett-like trouble in the eighth. He allowed a lone run in the fifth, which was countered by Utley’s fifth homer of the series that ended a seven-pitch battle and Ibanez’s first, both coming off New York’s third reliever, Phil Coke, in the seventh. So, he took a 8-2 advantage heading to the eighth.

The way he was pitching, the game could presumably be considered well in hand, but the Yankees didn’t back down. The second, third, and fourth-hitters in New York’s lineup–Damon, Mark Teixeira, and Alex Rodriguez–reached with a single and two doubles.

The second double pushed across Damon and sent Lee to the dugout amidst cheers from the fans appreciating his outstanding effort. His relief, Chan Ho Park, had a pretty outstanding effort of his own as Lee waited nervously behind the dugout railing.

Park, who has been brilliant throughout this postseason, was once more, limiting the damage, allowing just a sacrifice fly in his inning of work. Philadelphia held a four-run lead entering the ninth.

Closer Brad Lidge, who allowed three runs in Game Five, would presumably be summoned to pitch the ninth in an attempt to close the door and send the series back to New York.

He wasn’t warming up, though. Ryan Madson, their stellar middle reliever, was instead. He took the hill, and instead of making manager Charlie Manuel’s decision pay immediate dividends, he harnessed his inner Lidge.

Jorge Posada nailed a 3-1 fastball to begin the frame off the top of the wall in right-center field for a double. This wasn’t the worst thing in the world, seeing as the Yankees needed three runs, but it was a bad start in his attempt to close out the game considering pinch-hitter Hideki Matsui was due next, followed top of their very dangerous order.

Matsui, making the most of his final at-bats as a Yankee, singled through the left-side to bring the tying run to the plate.

First and third, with nobody out, and Derek Jeter was the batter. Throughout his illustrious career, he has relished in these situations, giving him the appropriate nickname "Captain Clutch."

Madson fell behind his third straight hitter before Jeter did something that entirely caught me off guard. He hit a grounder to Rollins, who then flung it to Utley “covering” second base (he pulled off the neighborhood play), who then fired to Ryan Howard, who was actually on the base, to retire Jeter. It was a double play. Who would have thought Jeter would be the rally-killer?

Damon followed with a two-out hit in the now 8-6 game to keep the rally alive. But it was the Phillies who would stay alive in the series, as the Yankees' last hope, Teixeira, took a called strike and then swung through two changeups, allowing all of Philadelphia to celebrate.

The Phillies, with solid pitching by Lee, a good recovery by Madson, and the power display by Utley, are headed to the Bronx, living to see another day in a series the Yankees desperately wanted to end in Philly.

World Series: Pedro Martinez's Poor Pitch Location Helps Yankees Even Series

Nick Poust — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:22:45 -0400

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Pedro Martinez has lost the velocity of his fastball as his Hall of Fame career has progressed, but nothing else.

He still has arguably the best changeup in the game, and locates it, a 89 mile-per-hour fastball, and a snail-slow curve effectively. He has a whip-like delivery, which adds deception and puzzles the opposition as to what pitch is coming their way.

By mixing his pitches, with the ability to throw any pitch in any count, he keeps hitters guessing. Throughout his Hall of Fame career, opponents have often guessed wrong.

In Game Two of the World Series, the New York Yankees guessed wrong early. Many of their hitters have experience against Martinez, but not this Martinez.

When he pitched with the Boston Red Sox from 1998 through 2004, they faced him with regularity. But that was the Martinez who worked his off-speed pitches off his fastball.

This Martinez, who was seeking revenge against a once-bitter rival, has pitched in the National League ever since he left Boston, and as he reached his late 30’s, he became more of a control pitcher, working his fastball off his devastating off-speed pitches.

To begin his outing against Derek Jeter, the Yankee captain with whom he had many duels during the rivalry years, he threw a first-pitch changeup for a ball, and then three more. He worked in a curveball, and then another changeup to bring the count full.

It wasn’t until the seventh pitch of the at-bat that a fastball was thrown. And it was a dandy, as Jeter swung right through the deception and movement.

He didn’t even feature a fastball to the next hitter, Johnny Damon, managing to strike him out with four changeups and a slider. He worked both sides of the plate to both hitters, and when he did challenge them, as he did Jeter with the last offering, the fastball had so much movement and pep to it that it was nearly impossible to make good contact, or even to make contact at all.

Matt “The Professional Hitter” Stairs , 41 years old and in his 17th year, broke a scoreless tie in the second with a two-out, sharply-hit single that snuck under Alex Rodriguez’s glove at third base.

It was a play Rodriguez probably should have made, and maybe he took that error officially scored a hit with him to the batters box. Or maybe it was just Martinez that stumped him.

The slugger who struck out three times in Game One against an unbelievable Cliff Lee fouled off two changeups to begin the bottom of the second, aggressively attempting to make up for Stairs' grounder with one swing.

Martinez missed with a fastball, evidently just low, and then Rodriguez continued to take his hacks, fouling off four straight fastballs.

Martinez knew who to challenge, and when to stop challenging them over the course of an at-bat. The fastball wasn’t fooling Rodriguez, and if he threw it many more times consecutively, odds were Rodriguez would have connected and launched a shot deep.

So, he mixed up his repertoire, throwing a slider that Rodriguez tapped foul, and then a fastball purposefully located high.

He offset the heater with something Rodriguez didn’t expect, the first curveball of the battle. It began in Rodriguez’s kitchen, which made up his mind: swing. Then, the ball dropped off, landing in Rodriguez’s basement. Rodriguez missed it by a mile; strike three, one out.

Aside from benefiting from a great diving catch by left-fielder Raul Ibanez to thwart what could have led to a big second inning for New York, Martinez was in control for the next three innings.

His only mistake over those three, and the first five altogether for that matter, was costly. He missed with a changeup barely off the plate inside against Teixeira to begin the fourth inning, and then tried the same pitch. The second changeup, unlike the first, rolled into the strike zone.

It was located well, tailing to the outer portion of the plate, but the offering hung ever so slightly. That was enough for Teixeira, who turned on it, whacking it into the left-field bullpen for the tying run and just his fourth RBI of this postseason.

Martinez stared blankly at the black-clad fans, pondering the small yet damaging mistake in location, but recollected himself and became the Martinez who tossed three scoreless frames.

Rodriguez got under an inside fastball, flying out to left field, and after a walk to Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano flied out to center field. And Jerry Hairston, who was thrown sliders and changeups in the second inning, saw all fastballs and struck out as Martinez’s fifth victim.

Martinez threw Melky Cabrera all changeups to begin the sixth, and sent him down swinging. His 12-to-6 curveball resulted in a weakly hit groundout by A.J. Burnett’s personal catcher Jose Molina.

Then, after a double by Jeter, with the crowd on its feet, Damon skied a curveball to Howard at first, ending the frame and the threat.

To start the sixth, Martinez struck out Teixeira, throwing four changeups and a curveball, then struck out Rodriguez with an entirely different approach—three fastballs in succession and a changeup.

He allowed nine home runs during the regular season and all were solo shots. He allowed one to Teixeira in the fourth, and another to Matsui in this sixth. He threw a good pitch, a curveball, but Matsui somehow managed to connect solidly with the pitch at his ankles and muscle it into the left field seats.

At the 99-pitch mark after six innings, he talked to manager Charlie Manuel in the dugout and told him he felt fine and could pitch the seventh. He thought he had something left, just like in Game Seven of the 2003 American League Championship Series against the Yankees, but really didn’t.

His over-confidence certainly didn’t work in the ALCS then, and not in Game Two of the 2009 World Series, as he uncharacteristically left his pitches up, even his offspeed junk, which resulted in two singles by the Yankees to begin the seventh. These two hitters, Hairston and Cabrera were his final two.

He walked off the mound, pointed to the Gods, then as boos reigned throughout his favorite place to pitch, he looked into the hecklers' eyes and cracked a wry smile upon entering the dugout.

He pitched brilliantly . Teixeira and Matsui just put together a pair of good swings, and fatigue set in in the seventh.

Pedro didn’t collect the win, nor did his Phillies, but though he would have loved to shut up the 60,000-plus and duplicate Lee’s complete game, he managed to make a majority of the Yankees lineup look ridiculous, and quiet the jeers from his favorite fans.

Cliff Lee Twirls Masterpiece, Dominates Yankees as Phillies Easily Take Game One

Nick Poust — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:02:47 -0400

Philadelphia Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee took the mound to begin Game 1 as Yankees stadium bustled, anticipating the start of the World Series. The relaxed 31-year old looked in at catcher Carlos Ruiz, nodded his head yes, and pumped in a fastball that New York Yankees captain and leadoff hitter Derek Jeter fouled off. His outing was underway, and what an outing it would be for Lee.

Jeter fouled off a tumbling curveball and then swung through a filthy slider for strike-three; three pitches, one out. Johnny Damon watched Jeter go down easily and, judging by Lee’s command of the first three offerings, knew he would be tough to beat. So, the Yankees left-fielder bunted. Lee gobbled it up and fired to first.

It was an odd decision by Damon. Usually, a bunt would come out of desperation, in the latter innings when behind and in need of a spark. But Damon knew something his fellow teammates would soon find out, and tried to jump-start his team the only way believed possible. Why else would he bunt as the game’s second hitter?

The power was due up for New York, but where New York saw power, Lee saw opportunities to create swings and misses. He had the repertoire, location, and ability to change speeds with regularity to baffle the American League champions. Without a nervous bone in his body, he stuck to his game-plan, intimidated, and mowed the clean-cut and exorbitantly rich Yanks down.

Mark Teixeira was up after Damon. He managed to work the count, force a couple of balls out of Lee, but in the end was sent back to the dugout shaking his head just like Jeter before him. The first baseman swung mightily at two-straight fastballs, biting Lee’s bait to end the frame.

Alex Rodriguez began the bottom of the second inning the way Teixeira ended the first. Lee started him off with two fastballs perfectly placed. Rodriguez stared at both, walked out of the box, and pondered what pitch would come his way. It was another fastball, and all the third-baseman could do was foul it back. Lee missed barely low with a fourth fastball, then disposed of his guessing opponent with a slider that dipped in and out of the strikezone and evaded his bat.

Lee had another five pitch at-bat, this time against Hideki Matsui after Jorge Posada had singled. In that five-pitch at-bat, he used his five different pitches. He missed with the first two, a two-seam fastball and a slider, but then battled back with a four-seam fastball for a called strike, a loopy curveball that was nicked foul, and a changeup woefully flailed at by the designated hitter.

His control was impeccable and his mixture of pitches and change of speeds kept the Yankees off balance. He was having fun, and just getting started. Given a run of support on a solo-shot in the third inning by Chase Utley off New York’s ace CC Sabathia, somehow he managed to improve. Two pathetic fly-balls started the third and a weak grounder ended the frame. He fell behind Teixeira, Rodriguez, and Posada in the fourth and retired all three swinging at strike-three. It was unbelievable–simply magical.

The Yankees had the best record during the regular season and the best offense. They also hit the most homers. All of their accolades were thrown out the window. This was the World Series, a stage their franchise hadn’t reached since 2003. They were lost then, losing to the Florida Marlins in Game 6 thanks to Josh Beckett’s dominant shutout, and were lost in Game 1 against Cliff Lee.

After Utley hit his second homer of the game off Sabathia in the sixth, Lee showed just how laid back he was. With Jeter on first, Damon got well under a fastball and skied it in the middle of the infield. It was headed towards Lee. Usually infielders call off the pitcher in this situation, but he was in total control. He watched the ball reach its peak in the dark New York sky, stuck out his glove and, motionless, made the simplest and most nonchalant catch I have ever witnessed. He showed no emotion as he knead the ball in his hand, but then smiled at Ryan Howard at first base before going back to work.

Teixeira went down quietly, grounding into a force-out, as did the three hitters Lee faced in the seventh. Rodriguez grounded out meekly. Posada tried to turn on a changeup, but dinked it up the first-base line. Lee came over, corralled the forty footer, and tagged the Yankees catcher a third of the way up the line. Posada walked back to the dugout shaking his head. The crowd was silent, and remained that way as Lee exchange balls with the home-plate umpire, chewed his gum, and walked back to the mound. The inning ended after another groundout, this one by Matsui. Lee was a major-leaguer pitching to little-leaguers. It was that easy.

As if he needed it, Lee was given two more runs of support in the seventh as the Yankees bullpen struggled. If New York had a fools hope down 2-0, they were certainly out of the running behind by four. Even still, they tried to get something going in the bottom of the eighth, though it didn’t look like it.

To start the frame, Robinson Cano hit a slider that appeared headed up the middle. Lee’s windup took him to the third-base side of the rubber, but that didn’t stop him from making a magnificent play. He reached behind his back with his glove and stabbed the sure-single out of thin air. Cano stopped dejectedly as Lee, still chewing his gum without a care in the world, tossed to Howard for the out.

His offense tallied two more runs in the ninth, making a Yankee comeback impossible. Lee, just over a 100 pitches, went out to finish what he started. He wasn’t sweating, and wasn’t even glistening. Once he gave up two singles to begin the frame, he motioned to his infielders as if nothing was brewing for New York. He watched shortstop Jimmy Rollins airmail Howard, allowing Jeter to score to end the shutout, but calm, cool, and collected Cliff Lee took little notice. He shook his head ever-so slightly in disappointment, as he wanted the shutout, yet stayed focused and ended the game in fitting fashion.

Rodriguez, with two strikeouts under his belt, notched a third, falling behind 0-2 and then flailed at a changeup. Lee started off Rodriguez with two fastballs, but started off the next hitter, Jorge Posada, with two changeups. Posada, like Rodriguez before him, was in a 0-2 hole. After fouling off a fastball, Lee threw his ’spike curveball.’ The pitch started off in the middle of the plate, then fell of the map. Posada swung, guessing where it might land. He missed, as the ball fell into Ruiz’s glove, which lay on the dirt.

Ruiz popped up, turned his catchers’ helmet around, met Lee, shook his hand, and said “Good job.” Even the celebration was bland between Lee and Ruiz. The Phillies ace, who was their Plan B at the Trade Deadline, had just thrown a complete game in Game 1 of the World Series. Nothing much was made of it by Philadelphia because, well, this was nothing new. What he had done in 12 starts with the Phillies during the regular season, and in three previously this postseason carried over to the biggest of stages–that’s all.

Backed by Rivera and Pettitte, Yankees Win Pennant

Nick Poust — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:01:52 -0400

Behind by two in the eighth inning with the speedy Chone Figgins on second base, Anaheim Angels’ slugger and future Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero took what may have been his final swing as a member of the franchise, slicing a cut fastball from New York Yankees famed closer Mariano Rivera into right field.

Figgins sped around third and scored. It was the first run Rivera had allowed at home in the postseason since 2000, a span of 36 innings, and the last the resilient Angels would score in their ever-so-successful season.

To give Rivera a cushion, as if, despite his hiccup, the best closer in history needed it, New York’s dangerous offense benefited from two errors in the bottom the eighth to score two times.

Their lead was now 5-2, and they were three outs away from making their first trip to the World Series since 2003, when then Florida Marlins ace Josh Beckett and then shortstop Edgar Renteria sent them home bitterly unhappy.

Andy Pettitte, one of the best postseason starting pitchers of his age, pitched up to his reputation, allowing the first run of the game by either team, but nothing else.

An inning after Bobby Abreu drove in Jeff Mathis, who led off the third with his sixth double of the series, the Yankees proved they were just too much for the Angels.

Anaheim’s starter Joe Saunders allowed six base runners over the first three frames, and managed to work out of trouble in each. The Yankees, a team that was baffled by the left-hander in Game Three, had been once through the lineup and hadn’t been fooled.

Now, they were ready to make up for their missed opportunities and take control of a series that was inevitably theirs.

Robinson Cano walked to begin the frame. Nick Swisher followed with just his third hit of the series, and then Melky Cabrera executed the fundamentals, moving the runners over and into scoring position.

The next four hitters reached: Derek Jeter walked, Johnny Damon hit a two-run single, Mark Teixeira singled to load the bases, and then Alex Rodriguez walked to force in a run.

The Yankees were able to do something the Angels have struggled to for a majority of the American League Championship Series—put runners on consecutively, get the big hit, and then get in position for a big inning.

Surprisingly, New York’s chances to break Game Six open ended when Jorge Posada grounded into a double play against the Angels brilliant veteran reliever Darren Oliver.

Anaheim had chances to battle back from the 3-1 deficit in the fifth, sixth, and seventh, but couldn’t come through.

Juan Rivera led off the fifth with a single and was erased on an inning-ending double play by Erick Aybar. Then in the sixth Kendry Morales stranded Torii Hunter on third and Guerrero on second after both had reached with two outs.

And then in the seventh, they couldn’t crack Yankees middle-reliever Joba Chamberlain after a one-out single by Rivera ended Pettitte’s night.

The Angels did some damage against Rivera, but could only muster the one run in the eighth. Their offense had shown life, but in the bottom of the frame, which the Angels needed to be scoreless, their defense let them down, giving the Yankees an opportunity to pad their lead and taste victory.

Cano led off the inning against Ervin Santana, who was a starting pitcher during the regular season, and coaxed four straight balls out of the 26-year-old lanky right-hander.

Scott Kazmir, another starter turned reliever, replaced him and was done in by two miscues behind him.

Swisher tapped a sacrifice to Morales near the pitcher's mound, and the first baseman fired to second baseman Howie Kendrick covering first. Kendrick reached out his glove on the routine play, heard the ball smack against its leather, but then inexplicably dropped it.

Kazmir was next to commit a costly gaffe. He fielded a bunt by Cabrera, and was indecisive about whether to throw hard or soft to first. Trying to be careful and not throw it away, he threw it away, lobbing it high over the outstretched glove of a leaping Kendrick. His soft-toss bounded down the right-field line, allowing Cano to score.

Teixeira tacked on another run, lifting a deep fly ball to center to plate Swisher.

What a horrible way to lose. The Angels had the fourth-best defensive unit in the majors this season, but in this series, they committed countless costly mental and fielding errors to make life easier for the Yankees.

These two capped off an un-Angels like series in the field, and put them in a deep hole with Rivera ready for the ninth.

Rivera, with the uncharacteristic eighth behind him (he would have allowed four hits in the frame if not for a diving stop by Teixeira and perfect positioning by Cano), started a new postseason scoreless streak at home.

The Yankee crowd cheered jubilantly as Kendrick grounded out to third, and then louder once Rivera flied out to Cabrera.

The 60,000 fans wearing Darth Vader black were on their feet, relishing in the moment, knowing the inevitable was near.

Gary Matthews Jr., who has yet to pay dividends after signing a five-year, $50 million deal in 2006, was called on to pinch-hit for catcher Mike Napoli. After falling behind 1-2, he took two adrenaline-filled cutters to work a full count.

Rivera fired a sixth cutter high, and the strikeout-prone Matthews swung right through it, sending the Yankees into celebration.

The Angels walked around the dugout in dejected fashion while the Yankees huddled in the middle of the diamond, congratulating each other on their ALCS win. The victors took the celebration into the clubhouse and uncorked countless bottles of champagne.

For the first time since 2003, the Yankees are going to the World Series. The defending champion Philadelphia Phillies await.

Lackey returns to watch Angels rally, beat Yankees

Nick Poust — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:57:13 -0400

Alex Rodriguez helped the Yankees score six runs in the seventh, only to see the Angels retake the lead. Here they stand in disbelief as their Yankees batted in the ninth. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi) " width="410">

Derek Jeter (left) and Alex Rodriguez stand in disbelief as their Yankees batted in the ninth. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

The Anaheim Angels held a 4-0 lead when manager Mike Scioscia walked out to the mound in the seventh inning. Starting pitcher John Lackey had just retired New York Yankees left-fielder and second-place hitter Johnny Damon on a weak flyout after loading the bases. The ace talked to catcher Jeff Mathis on the mound, discussing their strategy against the next hitter, Mark Teixeira, when he saw Scioscia making the slow walk his way. Immediately he was taken aback, and yelled “This is mine!” at his manager, pleading for a chance to retire the Yankees’ power hitter and put up his seventh scoreless frame. Scioscia wouldn’t let him , taking the ball out of his hand then motioning towards the dugout.

Lackey made the frustrating walk towards the dugout, then down the steps amidst congratulations from his teammates. He was none too happy, and wanted to clean up his own mess. He knew he could, but Scioscia didn’t.

The veteran and usually dependable Darren Oliver took Lackey’s place. Lackey watched from the dugout in anticipation, still fuming from a decision by his manager he hoped wouldn’t backfire. Oliver threw Teixeira a first-pitch curveball, which hung. Teixeira waited on the offering, then laced it into the left-center gap. Lackey watched Teixeira make contact, then as he saw it sail into no-mans land, he stormed down the steps and into the clubhouse. He knew the outcome: three-run double , with the lead down to one.

Oliver remained in the game as Lackey remained in the clubhouse. The 39-year-old was allowed to do what Lackey wasn’t, given the opportunity to clean up his mess, but he couldn’t, relinquishing a RBI-single on a third-straight fastball to Hideki Matsui after walking the suddenly postseason-dangerous Alex Rodriguez. The game was tied, and Lackey couldn’t bear to watch. The sell-out crowd was stunned, anticipating the worst with their head in their hands.

The Yankees took the lead when Matsui slid safely, but it was short-lived. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Robinson Cano stepped into the box against hard-throwing 25-year old righthander Kevin Jepsen and took a low 97 mile-per-hour fastball. A usually aggressive hitter who likes to go after the first pitch went after the second, fouling back a low and inside changeup. Jepsen mixed in another pitch, a curveball, that was placed perfectly dipping low and into Cano, but the Yankees second baseman adjusted to the movement, and hit it crisply into the right-center gap . The ripped liner traveled all the way to the wall; Rodriguez and Matsui both scored as he slid safely into third.

Jespen recovered, as Oliver could not, and retired the 10th Yankee to reach in the frame, putting an end to the nightmarish frame as Lackey remained secluded in the lonely clubhouse, pondering what could have been.

His Angels offense wasn’t down. The blown lead was tough to take, but they were still in it, with the 8-9-1 hitters due up, hoping to start a rally of their own and get Lackey out of hiding and back in the dugout. Scioscia may have made the mistake in how he managed his starter, but he wasn’t alone. Yankees manager Joe Girardi sent his starting pitcher A.J. Burnett out for the bottom of the seventh. His pitching count was rather low, as he’d quietly mowed down the Angels after a rocky first, but the long top half of the inning and his still confident opponent ganged up to force him into a Lackey-esque walk into the dugout. He allowed a single to a red-hot Mathis, the career .200 hitter’s third hit of the game, then walked Erick Aybar after jumping out to an 0-2 count.

Guerrero singled in the tying run, deflating the Yankees and sending his Angels fans into a raucous cheer. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

He was replaced by Damaso Marte, who did his job, retiring the two hitters he was summoned in to face, even though a run scored in the process. Phil Hughes, who was lights-out during the regular season as their setup-man, replaced him and threw three straight out of the zone to Torri Hunter, then after a called strike, missed, walking the center-fielder to send Vladimir Guerrero to the plate. Guerrero, a free-swinger, took a cut-fastball for ball-one, another cutter for a strike, then swung through a filthy curve to fall behind 1-2. He was fooled on that curve, and considering its deception and his miserable hack, all indications were that catcher Jorge Posada would call the same pitch. He didn’t, though, and Hughes said yes to a fastball. The heater was meant to be throw in on the hands of Guerrero, but it tailed back over the plate. Guerrero has hit pitches that have bounced, so certainly he could hit a straight fastball served on a platter right down the pipe, and he did, lining the offering up the middle , past a diving Derek Jeter to score the tying run.

Hughes fooled the next hitter, Kendry Morales, with a first-pitch curveball, but as with Guerrero, refused to go back to it, missing with three straight fastballs before the first baseman who drove in 109 runs this year plated his fourth of this series, lacing a fourth straight fastball into right, scoring Hunter for their seventh and go-ahead run .

Nine runs were scored in the inning, an inning both starters started but failed to finish. Burnett say glumly on the dugout’s bench. Lackey, donning an Angels American League Championship sweatshirt, reappeared in the midst of the rally and straddled his arms comfortably over the dugout railing.

Jered Weaver, a 16-game winner, came on in relief and sent the Yankees down in order , striking out Melky Cabrera to begin the eighth, then Jeter to end the frame. New York couldn’t bounce back from Anaheim’s resiliency. Anaheim, determined, was in the driver’s seat and looked to extend their one-run lead.

They had a good chance to, as Juan Rivera doubled and Erick Aybar singled in between a strikeout by Mathis against Joba Chamberlain, who started during the regular season, but was moved into the bullpen for the postseason. Girardi, knowing the top of his order would be due in the top of the ninth, wisely took out the ineffective Chamberlain in favor of Mariano Rivera, their dreaded closer.

Rivera did what he does best, thwarting the Angels rally by retiring both Chone Figgins and Bobby Abreu on flyouts. Anaheim closer Brian Fuentes took the hill in the ninth, looking to have a Rivera-esque outing to send this series back to New York.

He retired Damon on a lineout to Morales at first, then Jeter on a flyout to Abreu. In a one-run game with two out, Rodriguez strode to the plate, determined to be the hero he has been all postseason long. Scioscia wouldn’t let him, holding up four fingers from the dugout to signal for an intentional pass . This was a risky move for two reasons. First, it brought the go-ahead run to the plate in Matsui, who hit 28 homers this season. Second, it put more pressure on Fuentes.

He had the "deer in the headlights" look as he faced Matsui, and was clearly flustered. He walked him, brining up Cano and sending his manager and teammates into anxious panic, and driving his fans to cover their faces with their hands, thundersticks, or rally monkeys. He gave the stadium a minor heart attack as he struck Cano with a wayward curveball, loading the bases.

Now Fuentes looked miserable, like he was going to be sick. Because of his walk to Rodriguez and his implosion thereafter, Nick Swisher could not only tie the game with a single, but give his Yankees their second lead. Swisher, a usually patient hitter, went up their swinging, fouling off the first offering, a fastball. He fouled off the next pitch too, a changeup. The Angels were one strike away, and nervous claps scattered throughout the stands. Swisher took an outside changeup for ball-one, then ball two after fouling off another change. Fuentes had already loaded the bases with two out, so to create the most suspense possible, he threw ball-three for a full-count.

Another ball could tie the game, but a strike could end it. The 45,113 that packed Angels stadium were hyperventilating as one as Fuentes began his windup, then buzzed in anticipation as his fastball reached the plate. Swisher swung hard at the offering grooved down the middle, but got under the pitch, popping it up into shallow right-center field. Aybar, who let a costly pop-up drop in the second game, corralled this one . Sighs of relief and cheers of jubilation filled the red-clad stadium. With that, Anaheim stayed alive by surviving in nerve-racking fashion to send the series that can be won to New York.

Mathis' Second Double's the Charm: Backup Catcher Keeps Angels Alive

Nick Poust — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:05:51 -0400

Angels life in their series against the Yankees. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)" width="371">

Jeff Mathis reacts after his double scored Howie Kendrick all the way from first for the winning run, giving the Angels life in their series against the Yankees. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In the bottom of the 10th inning of Game Two of the American League Championship Series, Anaheim Angels backup catcher Jeff Mathis clocked a ringing leadoff double into the left-field gap against New York Yankees reliever Phil Hughes. After the double, Fox announcers Joe Buck and Tim McCarver implored the Angels to pinch-run the faster Reggie Wilits for Mathis. It seemed like a good decision, as the Angels carry a third catcher, Bobby Wilson, on their roster. But manager Mike Scioscia stuck with Mathis.

Erick Aybar, trying to bunt him over to third, did so, and reached himself after Yankees closer Mariano Rivera threw away an attempt to get Mathis. An out later, the Angels loaded the bases, but they couldn’t push Mathis across home-plate, as first baseman Mark Teixeira gobbled up two groundballs to thwart the rally. Mathis walked back to the dugout as the Angels missed a great opportunity to win their first game of the series and avoid being sent to the brink.

They couldn’t drive him in, so the next inning, he sought out to be the hero. David Robertson, armed with a lively and deceptive fastball, relieved Rivera to begin the 11th, and disposed of power hitters Kendry Morales and Juan Rivera rather easily. The Yankees had two pitchers left in their bullpen, and Robertson had thrown one-and-one-third innings in Game Two, so it was presumed that Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi would leave him in for as long as he could go. Questionably, he checked his data charts, saw that Kendrick was 1-2 in his career against the currently dominant Robertston, walked up the dugout steps and out to the mound to take him out. It was a curious move, but Girardi believed Alfredo Aceves was better served to face Kendrick.

Kendrick, who already had a busy day at the plate, socked a 3-1 pitch up the middle. It glanced off Aceves’ outstretched glove, then trickled under second baseman Robinson Cano’s. He rounded first as the Angels crowd clapped and pounded their "thundersticks" together. Mathis strode to the plate, and Aceves stayed in the game to face him.

The game didn’t start the way the Angels wanted. Jered Weaver, their 16-game winner during the regular season who dominated the Boston Red Sox over seven-and-one-third innings the series prior, took the hill. He started Yankees leadoff hitter, shortstop, and captain Derek Jeter off with a fastball that missed outside, another that missed similarly, then another, grooved down the heart of the plate, that he didn’t get back. Instead, he watched Jeter connect solidly and deposit the pitch into the left-field seats.

New York, a team that clubbed a record 244 homers this season, benefited from two more, solo-shots by Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon in the fourth and fifth. The Yankees were in business and, considering postseason-proven Andy Pettitte had cruised through the first four frames, primed to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.

The Angels, which scored three runs in the first two games, awoke in the bottom of the fifth, sporting some lumber of their own. After Kendry Morales, who hit 34 homers this season, helplessly struck out to begin the frame, Kendrick, their stocky 26-year-old second-baseman who hit 10, crushed a fastball into Anaheim’s bullpen to put the previously befuddled Angels on the board.

Their 39-year-old reliever, and 16-year veteran, Darren Oliver replaced Weaver and breezed through the top of the sixth, keeping the deficit at two with the top of the order due in the bottom.

The inning didn’t start promising, as Chone Figgins continued his offensive woes by grounding out against Pettitte. Bobby Abreu, who was previously hitless in the series, stepped in, and given his ineptness, it appeared safe to assume that he would go down quietly and put all the pressure on Torri Hunter. To my surprise, the usually dependable Abreu, figured out how to hit again, lining a single into right-field.

Hunter bailed the wilting Pettitte out by swinging at the first, and lazily flying it to right-fielder Nick Swisher. The Angels now desperately needed something out of Vladimir Guerrero, who like Figgins, Abreu, and Hunter, had struggled in the first two games of the series. The long-legged, dreadlocked, and free swinging Dominican, one of the few that doesn’t wear batting gloves, had to deliver.

Guerrero, who in 92 previous postseason had only one home-run and a .248 batting average, was due for a big hit. An extremely aggressive hitter, he fouled off the first pitch, but then showed some patience, working the count even at 2-2 before Girardi jogged to the mound to have a conference with Pettitte and catcher Jorge Posada. He didn’t talk directly to Pettitte and instead conversed exclusively to Posada. He presumably told him what he wanted the pitch to be and where to throw it. Posada shook his head in agreement, as did Pettitte. Whatever they decided upon, however, wasn’t thrown where they expected.

Instead of going in way inside, way outside, or deceiving Guerrero with an offspeed pitch, Pettitte threw a straight fastball right down the pipe. Guerrero made him pay, launching the mistake over the left-field wall , tying the game.

The Angels had all the momentum and fed off of it by untying the game in the ensuing inning. Hefty right-hander Joba Chamberlain relieved Pettitte with one out in the seventh, and was greeted unkindly by Kendrick. He continued his hot-hitting, lining the first pitch into left-center field, and hustled to third base for a triple . Pinch-hitter Maicer Izturis followed by executing the fundamentals, plating Kendrick with a sacrifice-fly .

That 4-3 lead was short-lived, however. Hideki Matsui walked to begin the eighth and was replaced by speedy Brett Gardner. Expecting him to try and steal second, Scioscia ordered a pitch-out after a called strike. His decision was a brilliant one, as Mathis gunned a strike to Aybar, who swipe-tagged Gardner for a big first out. It was not only an important out because it erased Gardner from the basepaths, but because Posada tagged a homer to dead center two pitches later.

Hunter watched the ball sail over the fence, then paused at the wall in disbelief. He was deflated, as were the rest of the Angels, but Mathis would soon turn his and his teammates frowns upside down.

The 26-year-old watched a lifeless fastball from Aceves miss for ball-one, then expected the same pitch and guessed right. This one had a little more velocity and a little more of the plate. Mathis’ eyes lit up as it neared. He extended his arms and swung with all his might. The ball soared out to left-field and kept carrying and carrying. Jerry Hairston, who had replaced Damon in left, sped back to the wall, leaped, and crashed into the padding. The ball avoided him and bounced off the wall. Kendrick ran as fast as he could, and touched third as Melky Cabrera corralled the ricochet.

He closed in on home as Cabrera heaved the ball in to the infield. As the ball reached Posada a third of the way up the first-base line, he slid safely, and was immediately mobbed by his teammates. The Angels had won the game they couldn’t afford to lose.

Mathis pumped his fist and screamed in jubilation as he reached second base. His heroics weren’t expected, given his porous offensive play throughout his four-year career, but the postseason is a whole new ballgame. Mathis, whom many wanted to be lifted for a pinch-runner earlier in the game, was the unlikeliest of heroes, giving his team life in the American League Championship Series against the mighty Yankees.

The Balaclava Curse: Izturis' Error Ends Incredible Marathon

Nick Poust — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:23:57 -0400

Who would have thought it would come down to a balaclava?

Expecting a cold and rainy night in New York, Los Angeles Angels second baseman Maicer Izturis dressed warmly for Game Two of the American League Championship Series. He wore long-sleeves underneath his jersey and a balaclava, a form of headgear that covers the whole head and exposes only the face. Bundled up, he was ready for a long night on the diamond, and a long night it was.

As evident in the first game, as well as in this second, a curse hangs over the head of whoever wears the balaclava. With a runner on second and two out in the first inning of Game One, Yankees designated hitter Hideki Matsui lifted a pop-fly to the left side of the infield.

Shortstop Eric Aybar hovered under it, as did third baseman Chone Figgins. There was no rain, so a ball could easily be spotted in the night’s sky, but neither knew where it was. Aybar thought Figgins would catch it, and Figgins thought Aybar would.

Amidst confusion, it dropped in front of Aybar , who was wearing the balaclava, allowing Johnny Damon to score the Yankees second run in an eventual 4-1 victory.

It was bitterly cold during Game One, and similarly so in Game Two, but perhaps superstitiously, Aybar discarded the head mask, and decided to freeze if it meant better fortunes.

What he didn’t know about the curse, however, was that once the balaclava has been worn, the curse can’t be undone. His night began harmlessly, as he turned three double-plays , one in the fifth, another in the sixth, and the final in the seventh.

The last of the three was questionable, and foreshadowed a blunder to come. Robinson Cano, who was wearing a balaclava himself and committed two errors at second base , hit a hard grounder to Izturis, who then flipped to Aybar. Aybar snagged the flip, made the turn and threw to first for the out–double play.

But Aybar didn’t touch the base, instead quickly toe-tapping in front of the base, something that usually goes unnoticed or just uncalled by umpires and has been done with regularity by shortstops for years.

It’s called the neighborhood play, and shortstops take advantage of the umpires positioning (they don’t stand even with the bag; instead on the infield grass between first and second) and are given the benefit of the doubt. Aybar did on this play. Selling the call is part of the game.

This didn’t work in the tenth, however, as Aybar’s neighborhood play was a bit too blatant. Jorge Posada shattered his bat with one out, sawing off a grounder to Izturis. He made the flip, as always, to Aybar.

But instead of touching the bag or standing very close, Aybar had it surrounded , with six inches of infield dirt between each cleat and the edge of the base. Cabrera slid under him as he leapt and made the throw to Morales.

Fox’s scoreboard in the top-left corner of the television screen immediately erased Cano from the basepaths and acknowledged that two were out. Second base umpire Jerry Lane said not so fast, calling Cano safe. Aybar went ballistic, as did Izturis. Manager Mike Scioscia stormed out of the dugout not to protest the call, but to ask why, after letting the neighborhood play go in the seventh, call it now?

Nothing came of the threat, but one thing was clear: The curse still had ahold of Aybar. After the teams traded runs in the eleventh, and after an exciting but scoreless twelfth, Izturis became the Balaclava’s next victim in the thirteenth.

The game was five hours old when Izturis gobbled up Melky Cabrera’s grounder. Runners were on first and second. The second baseman had only one play, to go to first for the inning’s second out, but he decided not to make it.

Instead, after snagging the hot shot, he turned to second and without hesitation, fired. He tried to do the impossible, to get the speedy Brett Gardner out at second and give Aybar a chance to turn his fourth double-play.

Aybar wasn’t expecting the throw, a throw that was wide of the bag. He stretched out, trying all he could to catch errant lapse in judgement, but he couldn’t, as Gardner slid into him, blocking his path and thwarting an attempted dive. The ball skipped beyond him.

Jerry Hairston Jr., who led off the inning with a single, sped around third. Third baseman Chone Figgins, who collected his first hit of this postseason to give the Angels a short-lived lead in the eleventh, couldn’t collect Itzuris’ errant throw cleanly, allowing Hairston to score the winning run.

Izturis walked off the field with the red balaclava still covering a majority of his face. His error put the Angels in a 2-0 hole, but now they head to sunny and warm Los Angeles for three games. Only there, in a new climate where balaclava’s aren’t necessary, can the curse be lifted.

Utley's error helps Dodgers even series with Phillies

Nick Poust — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:51:38 -0400

J.A. Happ walks off the mound after being taken out by manager Charlie Manuel. AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

In the fifth inning of Game one of the National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers, Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins gobbled up Andre Ethier ’s groundball. Rollins, an above-average shortstop, hesitated before shoveling the ball to second baseman Chase Utley , who was standing on the bag waiting for the throw.

Because of his hesitation, Utley’s timing was thrown off. He received Rollins’ throw, touched the bag, but didn’t set his feet for the throw to first base. His attempt to complete the potential inning-ending double play missed Ryan Howard, a big target at first base, by a good ten feet and sailed into the dugout.

Starting pitcher Cole Hamels looked back at Utley in dismay. This error not only allowed a run to score and extend the inning, but it was followed by a two-run shot by Manny Ramirez that cut the deficit to one.

The second error committed by Utley in the series was identical, but far more costly. Runners were on first and second in the bottom of the ninth inning with nobody out when Russel Martin hit a groundball to third baseman Pedro Feliz.

Prior to the eventful bottom of the eighth, the game was brilliant pitchers duel between two veterans. One is a future Hall of Famer, the Phillies’ Pedro Martinez , and the other, Dodgers’ Vicente Padilla , is trying to resurrect his career. The 37-year old and 32-year old matched each other inning by inning, mowing down the opposition almost effortlessly.

Martinez, one of the top-ten pitchers of all-time in my book, has lost some velocity as his career has progressed, but though his ability to overpower an opponent with strikeouts galore has left him, his effectiveness remains.

He isn’t intimidating heighth-wise, but his postseason pedigree, reputation, and whipping delivery does strike fear into the opposition, and did on a glorious day in Los Angeles.

The Dominican and former Boston Red Sox ace, with curly black hair protruding from his cap, was vintage Pedro. His fastball touches 90 on the gun nowadays instead of 98, but his three-quarter arm angle and powerful arm action through the delivery makes it look 95 to the hitter.

He offsets this fastball with one of the nastiest changeups the game has ever seen, an 86-mile per hour pitch that, for the first 55 feet, looks like a fastball, then breaks down sharply. This combination baffled the Dodgers as it has so many others.

Padilla, sturdy at 6′2″, hasn’t had nearly the career of Martinez. He had his best years as a member of the Phillies, winning fourteen games in 2002 and 2003, but as had an average career overall, and is as known more for his tendency to hit batters than his accomplishments.

His ERA was in the high four’s over the course of his tenure with the Texas Rangers, and he became so ineffective that the club designated him for assignment. He was open to sign with any team, and the Dodgers pounced. Their pitching was in disarray and they needed a back-end of rotation starter–perfect fit.

Padilla relished in the new start and pitched extremely well in his month-plus with Los Angeles, allowing 14 runs in six starts. His performance earned him a start in the division series against the St. Louis Cardinals and all he did was throw seven shutout innings in victory. This outing against the Phillies was equally as dominant .

The only blemish was a solo-homer allowed to slugger Ryan Howard in the fourth. That was the only run either team pushed across until the eighth. Padilla pitched into that eighth, and left with this line: seven 1/3 innings, four hits, one run, one walk, six strikeouts. Martinez was done after seven and relinquished only two hits while walking none . They were brilliant.

The first two hitters in the Dodgers half of the eighth reached against Chan Ho Park , who made his first appearance since September 16th in the first game of the series and is still hampered by the hamstring injury that sidelined him. The second hitter, Ronnie Belliard, laid down a bunt, attempting to move the speedy Juan Pierre over to second.

He bunted it hard in between the mound and first base. Park jumped off the mound and made a sliding attempt, but his hamstring wouldn’t let him do so effectively, and the ball evaded him and trickled past Howard as well.

Then came the play that changed the game. Martin lined a grounder to Feliz. The slick-fielding third-baseman picked the hot-shot and rifled it over to Utley, who was covering second. The ball arrived far before Belliard, so his slide wasn’t an issue. Utley got on the wrong foot again, and fired woefully off target .

His terrible throw was similar to his one in Game one. The only difference was that it bounced off the mesh protecting the dugout instead of ricocheting amongst his teammates in the dugout.

Pierre alertly kept on running, and put on the afterburners when he realized the ball stayed in play. He scampered home for the tying run. Martinez would not get the win he deserved. When all said and done, the Phillies wouldn’t either.

Philadelphia’s manager Charlie Manuel took out Park and used four other pitchers in the inning. The third of the ensuing four, J.A. Happ , came into a bases-loaded, two-out situation. He made life difficult for himself against Ethier after jumping ahead 1-2 in the count, missing outside for ball-two and low for ball-three.

In danger of walking in a run, he went to his fastball. It went over the plate, but it missed low. Carlos Ruiz tried to frame it and move his glove up a notch, but the umpire wasn’t buying his sell. Martin walked home for the go-ahead run as Happ just stared at the plate.

The Phillies lost by that score, 2-1. Martinez did nothing to lose. Happ was called upon in the toughest of situations. It was Utley, once again, who cost Philadelphia. In Game 1, he allowed the Dodgers to climb closer. In Game 2, he gift-wrapped the Dodgers a win they desperately wanted.

Clayton Kershaw Crumbles as Phillies Take Game One of NLCS

Nick Poust — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:11:50 -0400

It appeared Joe Torre’s gamble would pay off.

The Los Angeles Dodgers manager picked 21-year-old Clayton Kershaw to start the first game of the National League Championship Series against the Phillies. He had the utmost confidence in the youngster, and the kid delivered—for the first four innings, that is, as everything unraveled afterward in an 8-6 loss for Los Angeles.

He breezed through the dangerous Phillies order and was backed by a solo homer by first baseman James Loney. Things were looking up, but things changed with one nightmarish frame.

The strikezone by Randy Marsh was tight. The 28-year veteran didn’t give Kershaw the lower portion, forcing him to live higher than he would have liked. That led to a very troublesome fifth inning.

Kershaw faced Raul Ibanez to open the inning. He threw a fastball right down the middle for strike one, then fired another fastball over the plate at the knees. Catcher Russell Martin framed the pitch, but Marsh only flinched, calling the obvious strike a ball.

Kershaw knew then that he’d have to move up in the zone, which was dangerous against the potent Phillies. He tried to elevate just a bit, but he missed his target up with the third pitch. It was at shoulder-level, and Ibanez roped the offering into left for a leadoff single.

An at-bat the inning before was the beginning of Kershaw’s struggles. Against the immensely talented Ryan Howard with nobody out and nobody on in the fourth, he tried to paint the inside corner with the first pitch, but it was called a ball.

After a high strike, Kershaw threw a slider low. He wanted the call, but didn’t get it thanks to Marsh’s zone and Howard’s size; the Phillies first baseman looms large in the batters’ box at 6′4″, 255 pounds (hence the high strike call and why the low pitch went uncalled). But, to be a respected umpire, you have to be consistent, no matter the height of the batter. All pitchers ask for consistency, and Marsh wasn’t consistent.

Howard barely caught a piece of a Kershaw fastball to even the count. Kershaw then tried to groove a fastball on the outside corner, and hit his spot. Marsh stood motionless.

Pitchers try not to show up the umpire by venting frustration on the mound, and even though Kershaw showed little emotion, it was clear he was agitated, if not incensed. Howard fouled off the next pitch, a low fastball. The count was full, and Kershaw went to his slider, hoping Marsh would show some leniency.

He threw the offspeed pitch right over the plate low. With the movement, it crossed the plate as a sure strike, then fell into Martin’s glove just at knee-level. There was no way it was a ball, but Marsh deemed it as such.

Nothing came of the walk, as Jayson Werth lined out to end the frame, but the tight strike zone rattled the physically imposing Kershaw. The 6′3″, 225-pound Texan couldn’t nibble or throw low, ruining his game-plan. The wheels fell off after Ibanez’s single, as the pitcher who dazzled over the first four innings turned into a wild and shaken 21-year-old making his first National League Championship Series start.

The pinpoint control that helped him toss four scoreless had left him. The combination of the Howard at-bat in the fourth and the Ibanez at-bat in the fifth overwhelmed his psyche. He fired in a strike the only place it would be called to start his tussle with Pedro Feliz, right down the pipe.

He followed by missing low, according to Marsh, then uncorked a slider that bounced in the dirt and evaded Martin, allowing Ibanez to move up. Behind in the count, he desperately tried to win over Marsh by clearly hitting the inside corner with two fastballs, but couldn’t, and Feliz took his base.

Kershaw was unraveling, but Torre stuck with him. That decision proved costly, as catcher Carlos Ruiz turned on a high fastball from the lefthander and deposited it into the left-field seats. What was once a one-run lead was now a three-run deficit, and it would only get worse. He walked his opposing pitcher, Cole Hamels, on four pitches, a tell-tale sign that he had completely lost his composure.

He managed to settle down a bit, getting Jimmy Rollins to ground into a force-out and Shane Victorino on a strikeout, but couldn’t get the third out. He walked his fifth batter of the game, Chase Utley, to extend the inning, then Howard strode to the plate. The Phillies best hitter started his implosion and ended it, stroking a double to right-field to score Utley and Rollins.

Torre trudged out of the dugout a few hitters too late and took the ball from Kershaw. The lefty who had been their best pitcher all season made the slow walk off the field. He sat down in the Dodgers dugout and stared at the ground, trying to figure out how it all went bad so quickly.

His teammates tried to keep him upbeat, patting him on the back, but he wouldn’t acknowledge them. He had not only lost the 1-0 lead, but given the Phillies some breathing room thanks to this fifth inning line: 2/3 IP, 3 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, and 3 wild pitches.

The Dodgers tried to come back, scoring three in the bottom if the inning off Hamels, but they couldn’t escape defeat. Ronnie Belliard popped out against Phillies closer Brad Lidge to end the game.

The fans filed out of Chavez Ravine, and the Dodgers gathered their stuff and walked somberly out of the dugout and into the clubhouse. The entire team felt Kershaw’s pain. Now, every Dodger and every fan was stunned and dejected, staring blankly in wonderment at how it went wrong so quickly.

St. Louis Cardinals Have Plenty of Questions to Answer this Offseason

Nick Poust — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:04:24 -0400

Thanks to one error by left-fielder Matt Holliday, one implosion by closer Ryan Franklin, one ineffective start by ace Chris Carpenter, and clutch hitting by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the St. Louis Cardinals went from title contender to a team in dire straights.

They have nine impending free-agents, three of whom they should focus on re-signing–Holliday, starting pitcher Joel Pineiro, and infielder Mark Derosa.

Of the three, Holliday is the most important. The 29-year-old is a star with 35 homer, 130 RBI ability and, in the prime of his career, can command well over $100 million this offseason, and possibly a yearly salary nearing $20 million.

The Cardinals have a decision to make: whether they want to use half of their offseason’s money on one player, or try to find a less expensive option to support the best player in baseball, Albert Pujols.

As far as the 2010 season is concerned, they can afford to pay Holliday close to $20 million if they chose to. But beyond 2010, a salary of that size could be difficult to dole out since Pujols will be due for an extension, and will presumably command over $200 million dollars over the length of his next contract.

Can they afford to donate $40-plus million, or nearly half of their payroll, to two immensely talented players over a long period of time? I believe, if they want to succeed offensively, they have no choice but to.

In order to woo Holliday back and retain Pujols longterm, they have some other business to take care of first. On top of the nine free agents, manager Tony La Russa, one of the best managers in the game, doesn’t have a contract for next season.

Neither does his pitching coach, Dave Duncan, who was disgruntled this season by the ownership’s handling of his son, outfielder Chris Duncan, who was traded from the Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox for shortstop Julio Lugo in late July.

General Manager John Mozeliak expects both to return with contracts in hand, but if La Russa decides to jump ship after a disappointing finish to the season, it can be expected that Duncan will follow, considering he has been by La Russa’s for the past 25 years.

The loss of La Russa and Duncan would be demoralizing for the Cardinals. Not only would the team lose a manager that has ingeniously led their franchise to a World Series title and eight National League Central titles in 13 years, but also a pitching coach that has developed four pitchers into Cy Young winners and resurrected many others.

If Duncan leaves, will pitchers feel tentative about signing with the Cardinals? Will Pujols and/or Holliday be hesitant to re-sign because of the loss of La Russa?

Mozeliak better make sure La Russa and Duncan stay with St. Louis, because if they do re-up, the Cardinals would retain their credibility and have far less to worry about heading into next year.

Holliday, Pineiro, and DeRosa will be their main priorities on the diamond and, like La Russa and Duncan, to avoid taking a step backwards, the Cardinals ownership has to dole out the cash necessary if they want to seriously contend in 2010 and beyond.

Not re-signing Holliday would make little sense, not only because of his undeniable talent, but because it is slim pickings on the free-agent market as far as corner outfielders are concerned.

The Los Angeles Angels’ Bobby Abreu is a solid hitter and would be a smart Plan-B, but he will be 36 next March and is leaning towards re-signing with the Angels.

Carl Crawford will also be available, but he’s built on more speed than power, and power is what the Cardinals need out of their left-fielder. He is expected to re-sign with the Tampa Bay Rays, so he’s out of the question anyway.

Then there is Jason Bay, who hit 36 homers and drove in 119 rbi’s this season with the Boston Red Sox. Many experts, including general managers, expect the 31-year-old and Holliday to receive similar deals, so why go after Bay when Holliday, who already fits into their system and provides adequate protection for Pujols, can be retained for quite possibly the same amount?

To me, this is a no-brainer, as are the re-signings of Pineiro, who had 15 wins and a 3.49 ERA, and DeRosa, who, though he had a rough half-season with the Cardinals, should return to his former self, hitting for power and average, while providing versatility.

St. Louis could go after impending free-agent starting pitcher Rich Harden to replace Pineiro if they chose, but he would cost a similar amount and is an injury liability. Other impending free-agent pitchers, such as current Angels ace John Lackey, are too expensive for the Cardinals blood if they throw a bunch of money at Holliday.

They could replace DeRosa with the Angels’ Chone Figgins, but he would ask for a larger contract over more years and, though arguably more talented than DeRosa, isn’t nearly as versatile.

St. Louis can upgrade other parts of their offenses, though. Utility-man Joe Thurston, third baseman Troy Glaus, and shortstop Khalil Greene can be replaced from within or by going bargain-hunting on the free-agent market.

David Freese, their ninth-ranked prospect, is a powerful bat and could provide more offense than the three combined if given regular playing time. He struggled during his cup of coffee with the Cardinals this year, but proved himself in Triple-A and is seemingly ready for an impact role.

Allen Craig, another young, powerful bat, hit .322 with 26 homers at Triple-A this season, and though his defense isn’t up to par, he should find a place on St. Louis’s roster next season as a bench player.

Lugo is under control through next year, and could be backed up by Tyler Greene, a 25-year-old shortstop with both power and speed. Greene could man the position when Lugo’s gone.

So, without spending any money, the Cardinals can replace three bench players with considerably younger and talented options from the farm.

If St. Louis chooses this path, they can safely lock up Holliday, Derosa, and Pineiro, while using the remainder of their money on middle relief, the back-end of their rotation.

But the Cardinals offseason has to start with La Russa and Duncan. The rest of their offseason feeds off how these situations are dealt with, so it is vital that they persuade the tandem to return and try to build off a successful season and contend for a championship in the coming years.

Anemic St. Louis Cardinals Swept Easily By L.A. Dodgers

Nick Poust — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:10:48 -0400

The St. Louis Cardinals made the playoffs in large part because of their pitching, but also boasted a tremendous offense. The lineup was highlighted by Albert Pujols, the presumptive winner of the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award.

Pujols hit .327 with 47 homers and 135 RBI, but the Cardinals' lineup also boasted Matt Holliday, their midseason acquisition who hit .313 with 24 homers and 109 RBI, as well as Ryan Ludwick and his .265/22/97 line. Tony LaRussa’s club also had some talented light hitters, such as Skip Shumacker, who led off and hit .303 with four homers and 35 RBI, and catcher Yadier Molina, who hit .293 on the season.

The Cardinals, backed by this offense and their stellar pitching, finished strong. The Dodgers, their opponent in the National League Division Series, struggled down the stretch, losing seven of their final 10 regular season games. St. Louis boasted a solid one-two punch atop their rotation, as Adam Wainwright won 19 games and Chris Carpenter compiled 17 victories. The Dodgers had one pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, and that’s it. Even he would be making his first postseason start.

A lot was against the Dodgers, but thanks in large part to their extremely hot start to the season, they managed to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, meaning the first two games of this opening series would be played at Chaves Ravine.

They had to face Carpenter and Wainwright, so even with the home crowd behind them, they would need a minor miracle to chink the Cardinals' armor, let alone defeat them.

St. Louis scored the first run of the first game, but they could have had more, as a double play ended the inning and squandered a bases-loaded, one-out situation. Still, if Carpenter was on his game, that may have been enough. He wasn’t, however, as he quickly gave up the early lead by allowing a two-run homer to Matt Kemp, the Dodgers' second hitter.

Los Angeles added one more in the third, and another in fifth, Carpenter’s final inning. Overall, they tagged the Cy Young contender for four runs on nine hits, in addition to five walks. It was a surprisingly ineffective outing that no one, not even the Dodgers, expected.

The Cardinals succumbed 5-3, and now had to win Wainwright’s start. If they couldn’t, they would be sent to the brink. Wainwright knew the weight of St. Louis was on his shoulders, and promptly gave his team what they desperately need—a dominating start.

He was given a run of support in the second inning on a homer by Holliday, and another in the seventh. Again, they should have had more, as their inability to do the fundamentals and make smart decisions continued to prove costly. Rookie outfielder Colby Rasmus doubled in Mark Derosa from first for that second run, but got too greedy trying stretch that double into a triple.

He was gunned out after making the unacceptable decision. It was a play that drives coaches mad. He was already in scoring position, and the Cardinals could have simply manufactured a run without a hit. There was no reason to go for third. As it was, another opportunity missed.

But his gaffe wouldn’t be remembered. It would be a play in the bottom of the ninth inning that would give the Cardinals and their fans nightmares.

Trying to hold a one-run lead, Trevor Miller, who had a tremendous season setting up closer Ryan Franklin, came in to face Andre Ethier and retired him. He handed the ball to LaRussa, walked off the mound, then watched Franklin, who had 38 saves and a 1.92 ERA during the season, trot in from the bullpen. Miller got the first out. It was Franklin’s job to get the final two and send the series back to St. Louis tied.

He retired the ever-dangerous Manny Ramirez for the inning’s second out. Nobody was on, and Los Angeles was down to their final out. Surely Franklin would take care of business, as he’s done all season long, right?

It was dusk in Los Angeles, bringing the stadium’s lights into play. It’s possible that they affected Holliday in the ninth, though he wouldn’t make excuses. James Loney worked the count even at 2-2 before lining a Franklin fastball the opposite field, Holliday’s way.

At 6′4″, 235 pounds, the man has huge strides. Trying to judge the ball off the bat, he ran in quickly. Because of his long strides, he couldn’t adjust easily. He was committed. Problem was, as admitted after the game, he couldn’t see the ball. Was it sinking or would it hang up?

For this reason, he was in between. He tried to make a basket catch at his midsection. The ball snuck up on him and eluded his glove, instead hitting his unmentionables. He staggered to the ball that lay harmlessly in the outfield grass before him, picked it up, and lobbed it to shortstop Brendan Ryan.

A runner was now is scoring position, but Holliday didn’t look particularly dejected. Franklin would make his misplay harmless, right? All the closer needed was one out.

Holliday’s error certainly affected Franklin on the mound. Casey Blake won a long battle, prolonging the game with an eleven-pitch walk. Ronnie Belliard lined a hanging curve into center field, tying the contest, making Holliday feel like the goat, and ruining a perfectly good Wainwright outing. Franklin continued to unravel, as he missed with four straight to Russell Martin. Mark Lorretta was announced as the pinch-hitter for reliever George Sherrill, grabbed a bat, and heard the crowd roar as he wlked to the plate.

Loretta, a steady .295 hitter in his 13-year professional career, hit .232 in a part-time role in this his first season with the Dodgers. The batting average is misleading, as he has excelled in the most pivotal situation, with men on base. When a runner is on first, he’s batting only .239, But when runners are in scoring position, that average increases nearly 60 points.

The 38-year old, who has reached the postseason only one other time—in 2006, his final of three years with the San Diego Padres—was making his first appearance of the series, and made the most of it. Like Belliard, he didn’t waste much time etching his name in Dodgers lore, scorching the second pitch into center field.

He pumped his fist down the first base line as Blake sprinted home. Holliday, Franklin, and the rest of the Cardinals somberly walked off the field as the Dodgers dugout emptied and surrounded home plate.

Los Angeles might not have beaten both Carpenter and Wainwright, but they won both games. Now, they headed to St. Louis with all the momentum, ready to tee off on Game Three starter Joel Piniero.

They jumped on the 14-game winner quickly on a two-out RBI double by Manny Ramirez in the first, then gave way to their starting pitcher, Vicente Padilla.

On Aug. 7th, Padilla was designated for assignment by the Texas Rangers after going 8-6 with a 4.92 ERA. He, who has won 14-plus games four times in his career and didn’t want this to be the end. He knew, despite his high ERA over the years and declining effectiveness, that he had something left and could contribute, especially to a contender.

The Dodgers gave him that chance, signing him to a minor league contract for the minimum salary. He took it without consideration, knowing if he pitched the way he was capable, he could help Los Angeles down the stretch and possibly make their postseason roster.

He made seven starts and won four of them without losing, while putting up his best ERA, 3.20, since his 2002 campaign with the Philadelphia Phillies. With uncertainty in the Dodgers rotation, as the injury bug hit both Hiroki Kuroda and Chad Billingsley, Padilla was named their third starter for the playoffs. Now, he was taking the mound for the first postseason start of his 10-year career with an opportunity to end the Cardinals' season.

With runners on first and second in the bottom of the first, Holliday strode to the plate and received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd. They had forgiven him, understanding the pain he must have felt committing such a costly error. Now, they badly wanted him to redeem himself—but he couldn’t, tapping a soft grounder back to Padilla.

Padilla induced a lot of those awkward swings throughout his outing. He allowed two hits over the next six innings, while his offense plated four more runs. All in all, seven shutout innings, one of his best starts of the season.

The combination of Sherrill and Jonathan Broxton closed the door on the Cardinals, giving Padilla a most memorable victory.

The L.A. Times didn’t pick the Dodgers to win this series. ESPN’s Tim Kurkijian picked the Cardinals to make the World Series. Joe Torre’s Dodgers proved them and may others wrong, sweeping a team they were given little chance to defeat even once.

Alexi Casilla's Hit Ends Amazing Marathon, Gives Twins AL Central Crown

Nick Poust — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:27:55 -0400

With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Minnesota Twins shortstop and second-place hitter Orlando Cabrera stepped to the plate. His team was behind by one run to the Detroit Tigers in the season’s 163rd game, and running out of outs with which to work.

Cabrera, 34, has always been a dependable player, but also a winner. That’s why the Twins traded for him midseason. They needed someone with veteran leadership, a steady defensive shortstop, a clutch hitter, and a great clubhouse guy. All that they received in Cabrera.

Ron Darling, calling the playoff tiebreaker on TBS, said before Cabrera stepped into the box that “he’s a winner…he always seems to get that big hit.” Cabrera then made Darling look like a genius by delivering that big hit. Tigers reliever Zach Miner, who had already allowed two singles and hit a batter in his outing, uncorked a first-pitch slider, which hung in the inner portion of the strikezone. Cabrera, righthanded, turned on the offering and laced it into left field. Ryan Raburn raced back to the warning track, looked for the wall, then, after a feeble leap, watched the ball fly over it and amongst the jubilant Twins fans.

Cabrera sprinted around the bases as the sellout crowd waived their white rally flags, and, with his teammates in the home dugout jumping for joy, slapped hands with his third-base coach, relishing in one of the biggest moments of his baseball life. He received congratulations from Nick Punto, who had led off the inning with a single, then celebrated with his elated teammates as the crowd continued its wild applause. Minnesota led, with a fantastic chance to win the American League Central and make the playoffs, something that seemed impossible not a month ago.

But the lead could not be held, as the resurgent Magglio Ordonez led off the eighth with a solo shot off Twins reliever Matt Guerrier, tying the game at four. The contest remained deadlocked entering the ninth, as Minnesota closer Joe Nathan, who obtained the final two outs of the eighth after being ushered in to clean up Guerrier’s two-on, with two out mess, returned to the mound and found himself in another predicament. Ramon Santiago slapped a bunt down the first base line for an infield single to begin the frame, then hustled to third as leadoff hitter Curtis Granderson made Nathan’s fastball-happy strategy backfire.

The Tigers had the go-ahead run 90 feet away with nobody out, but couldn’t push it across as Nathan buckled down. The 34-year old who entered the season-ending or season extending battle second in the American League with 47 saves managed to regain the movement on his fastball against Placido Polanco, a contact hitter who rarely strikes out. The Tigers gold-glove second baseman worked the count even at 2-2 and saw nothing but fastballs. Surely he would get another, as Nathan thought highly of his 94-mile per hour heater, but he guessed wrong, as Nathan fooled him with a filthy slider down low. Polanco went chasing, and down for the first out. A double-play would get Nathan out of the jam, and did, but not the tradition sort. Ordonez, looking for his third rbi of the game, lined a fastball sharply to Cabrera at short. Cabrera made the snag, then, alertly caught Granderson napping at first and fired a bullet to Michael Cuddyer for an incredible inning-ending double-play.

Nathan vehemently pumped his fist and screamed violently. Mauer pointed at him with determination. Cabrera ran off the field thrusting his fists in the air. The Twins, already winners of 16 of their past 20, weren’t about to let game 163 slip through their fingertips. They were determined to send the Tigers home, a foe they have looked up to in the standings since the early dog-days of summer.

It didn’t appear they would, however. Cabrera, with the winning run on second base and one out in the ninth, sharply hit a grounder that seemed destined for left-field. Third baseman Brandon Inge had other ideas, making a brilliant full-extension dive to his right, then throwing a strike to first to retire Cabrera and keep Punto motionless at second. The inning ended harmlessly after speedy center-fielder Carlos Gomez grounded into a force out, sending the game to the 10th inning still tied at four.

It wasn’t enough an extra game had to be played. These two eerily similar teams had to send it to extra-innings, too. That was fine by me, considering what transpired.

In the top of the tenth, Jesse Crain replaced Nathan and easily retired the first batter. The rest of his appearance didn’t go as smoothly. He hit pinch-hitter Aubrey Huff with a slider on an 0-2 pitch, and, after striking out Ryan Raburn, faced Brandon Inge, who made him pay for mislocating a fastball. The pitch, on a 1-1 count, was supposed to be thrown well inside, possibly even brush Inge back, but it caught too much of the plate and hung up for Inge’s liking. The third-baseman crushed the mistake down the left-field line. On the Metrodome turf, the ball bounded and quickly reached the wall. Delmon Young, with a cannon of an arm, came up with it, threw a frozen rope to Cabrera, the caught off man, who in turn did the same to Mauer, waiting at the plate. But Don Kelly, who pinch-ran for Huff, beat the throw, sliding safely into Mauer, who had the plate blocked but without the ball. The Tigers dugout exploded, and young Kelly was mobbed upon entering.

They celebrated just as Cabrera and the Twins had in the seventh, except this time the 55,000 that packed the Metrodome were silent. The celebrations were similar in another way: both were premature, and disappointment soon followed.

Minnesota, down to quite possibly the final three outs of their season, put their faith in Cuddyer, Young, and Brendan Harris, the three who began the bottom half of the tenth. Two of the three reached: Cuddyer led of the frame with a triple, then after Young grounded out, Harris walked. Harris was replaced on the basepaths by Alexi Casilla and, after a meeting on the mound between reliever Fernando Rodney, his infield, and manager Jim Leyland, Matt Tolbert stepped to the plate.

After swinging through a changeup and watching a fastball fall in for strike-two, Tolbert fought off the third offering. It bounded past the mound, then barely evaded Polanco’s stab to crawl into center-field. Cuddyer scored easily to tie the game. The Metrodome went crazy once more. It wouldn’t be the last time, too.

The Twins couldn’t push across the winning run in the tenth: Raburn snared Punto’s liner then, with help from catcher Gerald Laird, gunned out Casilla on a close play at the plate. Both teams put zeroes on the board in the eleventh as well, though not in such dramatic fashion. That drama returned in the twelfth. Minnesota reliever Bobby Keppel ran into trouble in the top half, allowing a one-out walk, then a single, which forced him to intentionally award Raburn first base, giving the Twins a chance to get a force out at any base. They took advantage of that, as Punto collected Inge’s scolded grounder and fired home to retire the slow-footed Miguel Cabrera. Keppel’s job now was to get Laird out, and he did, striking him out to end a six-pitch battle and the inning.

Then came the ten minutes of baseball the Twins were waiting for. Gomez led off the frame with a single, then moved to second on Cuddyer’s well-placed groundout. Because he was in scoring position, Rodney elected to walk the ever-dangerous Young to set up a double-play possibility. Casilla, who’s batting just .202 in limited playing time, was taken lightly by the Tigers and Rodney.

He made them wish they’d pitched to Young, as he conjured up one of the biggest hits in Twins history, rivally the home-run hit by the late great Kirby Puckett to win Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, the last time the franchise won a championship. After taking a changeup for strike-one and one outside, he watched as a 95-mile per hour fastball came his way. The fans stared in anticipation, some waving their towels, some silent. Casilla decided to swing, and see where it led. He turned on the high pitch and saw it bound through the right-side of the infield. The crowd let out a single yelp of joy as Gomez flew around third. Right-fielder Clete Thomas didn’t come up throwing, managing just a dejected jog to the white sphere that rolled to him on the turf. The yell from the crowd grew louder, and reached its pinnacle once Gomez spread his arms as he reached home-plate. His teammates were right behind him, and mobbed him after he slid face-first into home. Casilla was surrounded as well, while the Tigers, losers of five of their last seven games, walked somberly off the field and into a depressingly quiet clubhouse.

The Twins had won the American League Central. A month ago, when they were behind the Tigers by seven games, their season seemed lost. With four games to go, they were three back in the standings, and their season appeared lost. Many times in this amazing marathon, it appeared their season would end. But they persevered throughout the first 162 games, and did the same in the 163rd to accomplish a feat they and their fans always believed possible.

A Playoff It Will Be: Jason Kubel Has Big Day to Help Twins Force 163rd Game

Nick Poust — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:46:35 -0400

On the scoreboard in the Metrodome, it read, “Tigers 4, White Sox 0, Fifth inning” when Minnesota Twins right fielder Jason Kubel strode to the plate with one out in the first inning.

Two men were on, as Denard Span and Joe Mauer both walked in between Orlando Cabrera’s groundout. The sold-out crowd was buzzing, hoping Kubel could continue his magnificent season and put their Twins in front.

He took a sinker from Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Luke Hochevar outside for ball one, and then he got his pitch.

Hochevar grooved in a high fastball, served on a platter for Kubel, who entered the at-bat with 25 homers and 96 RBI.

Kubel’s eyes glazed over as the offering came his way. As it neared the plate, he began his swing, and then connected, launching a deep drive to right. It was gone off the crack of the bat.

The crowd rose to its feet, and then jubilation spread from the stands to the announcing booth, as Twins play-by-play man Dick Bremer yelled the home run call with pure joy.

It was a three-run bomb, and with that, the Twins were well on their way to another win in another must-win game.

When Delmon Young settled into the batter's box with two out, the Tigers' lead was still 4-0 in the top sixth. When he left the batter's box, the Twins led by the exact same score. His solo shot that cleared the short porch in left field and capped off a dream of an opening inning.

Now, all their starting pitcher had to do was hold it.

That pitcher was Carl Pavano, so the four-run lead was far from safe. He hasn’t exactly been the most dependable pitcher this season. He allowed seven earned runs in his previous start, a loss to Detroit, and has a 5.10 ERA on the year. The Twins fans were just hoping he wouldn’t implode, and would manage to keep the team ahead.

Pavano, to my surprise, was impressive. He got out of multiple jams, including a two-on, one-out situation in the second inning, and though he still managed to allow four runs, his offense scored 13. So, he was in good shape.

Despite being hit a bit, he walked only one and struck out seven over his 5.2 innings. Not a bad performance in the most important game of the Twins’ season.

Kubel and Young supported him throughout. The former hit his second three-run homer, a drive in the third, and Young hit his second solo shot in the fifth.

Then the Twins supported his relief. After Pavano relinquished three runs in the top of the sixth, Minnesota scored at least one run in each of the final three innings, including three in the eighth—an RBI double by Cabrera and a two-run shot by Michael Cuddyer—padding an already comfortable lead.

The Detroit Tigers won in the middle of the Twins' run-scoring barrage, doing so thanks to an incredible season-saving play by centerfielder Curtis Granderson.

Starting pitcher Justin Verlander dominated the Chicago White Sox for the first seven innings, but found trouble in the eighth. The Tigers held a 5-0 lead entering the frame, but the Cy Young candidate, fatigued having already thrown over 100 pitches, had difficulty holding the advantage.

Alex Rios and Alexei Ramirez hit consecutive singles with one out, and then Ramon Castro doubled home Rios and moved Ramirez to third. Brent Lillibridge followed with a two-run single, bringing the tying run to the plate.

That potential tying run, Scott Podsednik, popped out, but the White Sox had life once Jayson Nix walked, sending Carlos Quentin to the plate. Their second-best power hitter had a chance to make the Metrodome erupt by hitting a go-ahead three-run shot.

All he could muster, though, was a sawed off pop-up to shallow center field. Yet it appeared it would get the job done and tie the game, as it was dropping fast.

But then Granderson, who had already made great catches in the first and second, swooped in. He dove face-first and snagged the dying quail, as it is dubbed.

It was a risky play, considering two or possibly three runs would have scored if the ball eluded him, but it was a chance a player for a team playing for its postseason life had to take. Luckily for Granderson and the Tigers, it worked out.

That diving catch by Granderson helped keep Detroit’s season alive, but it only delayed the inevitable.

This Tuesday, the Twins will be playing a one-game playoff in the Metrodome, and backed by 51,000-plus fans that have witnessed magical performance after magical performance over the past month.

The Twins will give their raucous fanbase one more magical victory, a win for the ages.

Down to the Wire: Twins, Tigers Deadlocked Entering Season Finale

Nick Poust — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:17:35 -0400

On September 6, the Detroit Tigers held a seven game lead over the Minnesota Twins. Then, all hell broke loose. They started playing mediocre, while the Twins, at the time an even .500 (68-68), caught fire.

Since that day, Detroit is just 15-14, while Minnesota has managed to go 16-8. Translation: The Twins stood just a game back of the Tigers in the American League Central entering the second to last game of the season.

To keep their momentum going, they had to find a way to defeat Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke, which was a near impossible task. Greinke happens to be the favorite American League Cy Young, with 16 wins, a 2.06 ERA, and an ability to command his full repertoire of pitches.

If that’s not enough, he defeated the Twins in his last start, dominating over seven innings. So, a lot was against Minnesota heading into this must-win game.

But not everything, as they boasted their own ace, Nick Blackburn. He didn’t let the pressure, nor his counterpart get to him, and pitched to the best of his ability. He matched Greinke inning for inning, as neither team scored through five. It appeared just one run would win. But, as the final four frames showed, it took a lot more than that.

Greinke, for only the fifth time all season, struggled. He was done in by one horrible frame, the sixth inning. Nick Punto, a .230 hitter, worked a eight-pitch walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, then took third on a groundout.

Joe Mauer, the best hitter in the American League, faced the best pitcher in the American League with a chance to plate the game’s first run. He fouled off the first two pitches, both fastballs, then stayed alive by fouling off the third pitch, a slider with sharp, late break. He layed off the same pitch to extend the at-bat.

Greinke then tried to go in with a fastball, attempting to tie Mauer up, but made a rare mistake. The pitch stayed over the plate and Mauer ripped it into left-field for an rbi-single. Ron Gardenhire later referred to that at-bat as one of the greatest moments he’s experienced as the Twins manager.

Jason Kubel had a similar at-bat: he fell behind 1-2, layed off a slider, then feasted on a fastball, launching it deep down the left-field line. Willie Bloomquist scampered over, leaped, and watched the ball nick his glove, drop, and bounce into the stands. He made a good effort, but had he let it drop, the ball may have fallen foul.

Michael Cuddyer looked to take advantage, but was hit by a fastball before he could. This loaded the bases for Delmon Young, who proceeded to empty them with by socking the first offering into the right-center gap. Jose Morales capped off the two-out rally by singling in Young. Four runs had scored, an amount that appeared to be more than enough given the Royals porous offense.

This season, Greinke has been given the least amount of run support in the American League. His offense has scored a total of thirteen runs in his eight losses. Their job, somehow, was to make sure one bad inning didn’t lead to a ninth loss. This was their version of the playoffs, a chance to have an effect on the outcome of the division.

Determined to keep Greinke’s record intact, the Royals offense showed signs of life. They scored a run in the seventh on a home-run by Mike Jacobs, then, with Greinke out of the game, helped his ninth no-decision of the season by tying the game on a two-run home-run in the eighth by Alex Gordon and a run-scoring double-play by Mitch Maier.

The Royals could have grabbed the lead if not for Maier’s rally-killer, and their inability to do so proved costly, as Cuddyer untied the contest in the bottom of the frame with one swing, clubbing a solo shot off reliever Dusty Hughes. With that, the Royals lost another one of Greinke’s starts, and, again, the Twins managed another victory.

The Tigers watched the game intensely from the clubhouse, and cringed once Cuddyer’s game-winner reached the seats. Their contest against the Chicago White Sox was but an hour away. They knew now they had one choice: win. If they couldn’t, they had to settle for the alternative: the division would be tied with momentum squarely in the Twins favor.

On the mound for Chicago was Freddy Garcia, a former member of Detroit. He had added motivation, and it showed. The Tigers went down quietly inning after inning, while their starter, 25-year-old Alfredo Figaro, logged only 1 1/3 innings before being replaced.

Figaro, making his third career start and first since June 27, was on a short leash. He allowed a home-run to Carlos Quentin to begin the second inning, then a walk and a single before striking out Alexei Ramirez for the lone out he recorded in the frame.

He proceeded to walk .151 hitter Brent Lillibridge to load the bases. As Lillibridge trotted to first, Tigers manager Jim Leyland walked out of the dugout, signaled to the bullpen, took the ball from Figaro, and watched the young righthander walk dejectedly off the mound.

Scott Podsednik drove in the White Sox second run with a RBI-groundout off Figaro’s replacement, Fu-Te Ni. Two runs, and all Garcia would need.

Chicago supplied him with a third run in the third and a fourth run in the fifth, while Detroit still remained scoreless. Garcia mowed a desperate and struggling Tigers offense down with ease, and allowed the lone run they would collect in the eighth inning.

Boos reigned through Tigers Stadium as their team went down without a fight, while cheers thundered through the Twins clubhouse. Once Matt Thornton induced a groundout off the bat of Gerald Laird, reality sunk in: Minnesota was now tied for the division lead, with a great chance to steal the crown from Detroit, a team that thought their September 6 lead was comfortable.

Matsuzaka Stifles Indians, But Puts Red Sox In Tough Predicament

Nick Poust — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:40:46 -0400

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka had a nightmarish first five months of the season. He was roughed up in his first three starts, allowing twelve runs in eleven innings, and it only got worse. The former 18-game winner had two effective starts, but then fell completely apart, relinquishing five, four, and six runs over his final three June outings. At this juncture of the season, the Japanese righthander had failed to log six innings in any start, and had, overall, compiled a 1-5 record with a 8.23 Earned Run Average.

The Red Sox shelved Mastuzaka, placing him on the 15-day disabled list with what they diagnosed as “shoulder fatigue.” He spent ten days on that version of the disabled list, then was moved to the 60-day variety. The team moved on without him, and were helped considerably by Clay Buchholz, who emerged in his stead as a quality middle-of-the-rotation starter.

They hardly missed Matsuzaka, and didn’t miss a beat during the entirety of his near three month absence. But, thanks to their strengthening program and Matzusaka’s improvement in rehab, they were anxious to welcome back a revitalized Matsuzaka, hoping he would return to his 2008 form and effectively contribute.

When asked how he thought Matsuzaka would perform coming off the shoulder injury, Peter Gammons couldn’t venture a guess, saying, in effect, that neither he nor many within the Red Sox organization knew what to expect from him. Matsuzaka didn’t pitch particularly well in various rehab starts, and though his career numbers have been beyond satisfactory, he has never been a very dependable starter. There has been as good a chance of brilliance as failure. For his and the Red Sox sake, the brilliant Matsuzaka has graced the mound since his reinstatement. He pitched six innings, six shutout innings no less, to defeat the Anaheim Angels, allowed three runs in his next start against the Baltimore Orioles, another win, then tossed seven innings of one-run ball in a tough-luck loss to the New York Yankees.

His tremendous trend continued against the Cleveland Indians. Since Boston has already clinched a playoff berth, the game was meaningless for the team, but certainly not for Matsuzaka. It was his final tuneup before the playoffs, and a chance to prove that he was worthy of being named the Red Sox number-three starter and thereby have a crucial role in the upcoming American League Division series.

He did his best to convince manager Terry Francona they he was ready to assume such a position by tossing six innings, and allowing two runs on five hits, while walking two and striking out seven over that span. It was his fourth straight solid start, and boosted Boston’s already sky-high spirits.

His offense wasted no time in giving him support. Jacoby Ellsbury doubled to leadoff the bottom the first, stole third for his 69 theft on the season, then scored as the throw from Indians catcher Kelly Shoppach evaded third baseman Matt LaPorta and scampered wildly past.

Matsuzaka sent down nine of the first ten batters he faced, then, for his efforts, was given a large enough cushion. Three runs scored after the Red Sox loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third inning: Dustin Pedroia plated Jason Varitek with a sacrifice fly, Victor Martinez, facing his former team, singled home Alex Gonzalez, and Jason Bay doubled to score Martinez.

Four runs was more than enough for Matsuzaka, as his only hiccup was a two-run fifth inning. His third win in his past four starts had to be encouraging to Boston, but it also puts them in a tough predicament.

Buchholz, aside his last outing in which he allowed seven runs and five homers to the Toronto Blue Jays, has been excellent over the course of the season, unlike Matsuzaka. Yet, he could be ousted from his post as their number-three starter entering the playoffs, with Matsuzaka inserted in his place. The Red Sox have a tough decision on their hands: do they go with Matsuzaka, who has pitched well of late but is far from dependable, or Buchholz, who has made a name for himself with his consistency and glimpses of utter dominance?

Zack Greinke's Defeat of Twins Illustrates Why He Should Win AL Cy Young

Nick Poust — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:51:23 -0400

CC Sabathia has 19 wins for the New York Yankees, a team that will win 100 games this season. Likewise, Justin Verlander has 17 wins for the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers.

But Greinke, after looking at all the statistics of the Cy Young contenders, looks down to no one. He is the best pitcher in the league and is, above all others, deserving of the prestigious Cy Young award.

It’s not because of his story—how he’s battled back from depression and a variety of anxiety disorders—but how he’s pitched, and how just his presence on the mound fills the seats at Kauffman Stadium. He is the Royals' only attraction, and every five days he treats his fans, those that file into the stands at home and those that follow him on the road, to masterful performance after masterful performance.

Two of his pitches are nearly unhittable—the slider and changeup. Each possesses so much movement, tailing every which way, that if a hitter makes contact, it’s often not struck squarely. He goes to these pitches in the tightest of situations; when runners are in scoring position, he needs pop-ups, groundballs, and strikeouts to limit the damage, and this combination does the job.

He rarely gets in these situations, though, because he rarely allows runners on base. Entering today’s start against the Minnesota Twins, he had allowed only 189 hits and 49 walks in 223.1 innings.

By comparison, Sabathia has allowed a similar numbers of hits in a similar number of innings, but his control isn’t as impeccable as Greinke’s, as he has issued 13 more walks; Verlander has allowed 205 hits and 61 walks.

Greinke dwarfs other contenders in these categories, but this isn’t solely the case why he’s more deserving. He defeated the Minnesota Twins to collect his 16th victory today, Sunday, the 27th of September. In doing so, he tossed seven innings, allowing seven hits, one run, and two walks while striking out eight.

Factoring in his statistics in this victory, he has given up only 60 runs in 230.1 innings. To put this in perspective, Sabathia has allowed 87 runs in three fewer innings, while Verlander has allowed 92 runs in seven fewer innings. Nearly 30 fewer runs than his fellow contenders? Wow.

On top of this, Greinke’s earned run average was lowered to 2.05 with his domination of the Twins. Sabathia’s stands at 3.21, and Verlander’s at 3.41. Hitters are hitting only .195 against Greinke with runners in scoring position. Against Sabathia, the opposition is batting .238 in such a situation, and batters hit .253 against Verlander with RISP.

The Royals offense isn’t very good, ranking 23rd in the major leagues. The Yankees, however, have baseball’s best offense, while Detroit sits in the middle of the pack at 15th. Thus, Greinke has less to work with than Sabathia and Verlander. But he has made the most of it.

Of his 32 starts, he has relinquished four or more runs in just five of them. In these five starts, he has allowed 27 runs, but seven have been unearned. Of the 27 other starts, he has allowed one run or shut out the opposition 17 times.

Realistically, Greinke should have 22-23 wins. This is why the win total should be immaterial.

Sabathia, on the other hand, is backed by the major leagues' most prolific offense. To quote my father: “Given his offense has scored 880 runs on the season, Sabathia, to be in the Cy Young conversation, should easily have 20 or more wins.” He doesn’t, though, which is due to an inability to take full advantage of incredible run support.

Case in point: While Greinke has allowed four runs or more only five times, Sabathia has done so 11 times. (Verlander has suffered the fate 12 times.)

Sabathia and Verlander are in the Cy Young conversation, but they clearly shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as Greinke, let along potentially stand in his way of the award.

Yankee Stadium and Comerica Park are always packed, no matter who is pitching. Kauffman Stadium is near empty a majority of the time, but not when Greinke pitches. Royals fans come in droves, thousands upon thousands, to watch their star pitcher work his magic. He’s their lone bright spot and the only plausible winner of the 2009 Cy Young award.

Three Years After Considering Quitting, Greinke's a Cy Young Favorite

Nick Poust — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:47:27 -0400

Originally written on September 22

Zack Greinke was ready to quit baseball. He was a 22-year-old phenom and hated the attention that came along with the pressure to succeed amidst high expectations. He’d had enough.

The lanky righthander was drafted out of high school by the Kansas City Royals in 2002. He wasn’t supposed to be, though. Before the 2002 MLB Draft, Allan Baird, the Royals General Manager at the time, informed his scouting staff that he was leaning towards drafting a college pitcher in the opening round.

Considering he had drafted two high school pitchers the previous two years—Mike Stodolka in 2000’s first round, who was out of baseball by the end of 2003, and Colt Griffin in 2001’s first round, whose career ended after a stint in Double-A in 2005—he had reason to stop the trend from continuing.

But Baird hadn’t heard about Zack Greinke yet, a then-18-year-old righthander out of Florida. At first, he balked at the scout’s suggestion by stating the obvious: “He’s not a college pitcher.”

The scout who had informed him about the teenage prodigy responded: “He might as well be. He’s closer to the majors than any of the college pitchers available.” Sold on the scout’s argument, Baird took a chance on another high-schooler. The third time was the charm.

In his first professional season, Greinke climb the Royals minor league ladder, starting the year with their rookie-league affiliate and finishing it in high-A ball. He didn’t factor in a decision in any of the six starts he made for the three teams that year and accumulated just 11 1/3 innings.

The next year he had a far bigger impact. He spent the entire year in high-A and was magnificent: 11-1 in 14 starts, throwing three complete games, allowing just 16 runs in 87 innings, and posting an otherworldly 1.14 ERA. He, the words of sportswriter John Sickels, was considered “the best righthanded pitching prospect in the game.”

Sickels, in this 2003 article, continued his praise of Greinke:

“Greinke is an excellent overall athlete, who was mostly a position player before his senior year in high school. He moved to the mound full-time a few months before the ‘02 draft, and showed stunningly quick development. Greinke’s fastball has been clocked as high as 96 mph, though it’s more usually in the 90-93 mph range. He hits spots with it, and isn’t afraid to throw inside. His curveball and changeup are already above-average pitches.

He has the mound presence of a veteran, with excellent command and control, both of his pitches and of his emotions. He is quite intelligent, but so far has avoided over-thinking on the mound, a bad habit that hurts some intellectual pitchers.”

Instead of over-thinking on the mound, he began to over-think off of it. After his superb 2003 season that made him the Royals top prospect, he skipped double-A, which is rare, and made the huge leap to Triple-A. A year and a half removed from high-school, and he was already one step away from accomplishing his boyhood goal.

His dream came true not long after receiving the promotion: six starts was all he needed with Omaha of the Pacific Coast League. The Royals had seen enough–in their eyes, he was ready for the bigs. Greinke thought so as well at the time, but his confidence soon waned.

He made 24 starts for Kansas City during that 2004 season and though he had 11 losses to 8 wins while allowing 26 homers, his ERA was a very respectable 3.97. He was just 20 years old and, portrayed as the Golden Boy, had far too much pressure riding on his right arm.

The high expectations led to a miserable 2005 season. He entered the year considered the future ace of the Royals, the highest of all pedestals, and couldn’t handle all the hype surrounding him. Worse, he didn’t want to; he just wanted to pitch–do what he loved without all the press and lofty expectations hanging over his head.

He wanted to be good, but fly under the radar. This was impossible. Coming to grips with this reality crumbled his confidence and ate at his psyche.

He went 5-17 with a wretched 5.80 ERA in 2005, allowing 50 more hits than innings pitched (233:183). He transformed from a promising talent into one of the major league’s worst; his 17 losses were second-most in baseball and his 5.80 ERA was third-worst.

But he was too talented to be this terrible. Something clearly wasn’t right, and the Royals had no idea what it was.

That was until this became public knowledge: Greinke had been battling severe depression and a variety of anxiety disorder for the better part of his life. Sports Illustrated’s John Donovan described what Greinke was going through in this 2007 piece. Here is an excerpt that best describes his struggles:

“Even during his short stint in the minors, he struggled with his depression, entertaining thoughts of quitting a game he had grown to despise. He pitched on, though…deepening his depression and hatred of the game.

Last February, during a wild throwing session with catcher John Buck at the team’s spring training complex here on the outskirts of Phoenix, he broke down completely. Afterward, he unburdened himself to [manager Buddy] Bell and Baird, then missed almost the entire season as he sought psychological help.“

Remarkably, he exorcised his demons and returned to the Royals in high spirits. His performance reflected his rejuvenation. He spent the majority of the 2007 season in the bullpen, but of his 52 appearances, made fourteen starts; overall, he posted a 7-7 record with a 3.69 ERA.

The following season was even better, partly because he returned to his previous role as a full-time starter. With his depression cured, he returned atop the Royals rotation, still young at 24. He flourished, going 13-10 with a 3.47 ERA, and a respectable 1.28 WHIP (Walks + Hits Per Inning Pitched). Kansas City had their ace back, who was glad to be back.

Greinke had similar expectations going into this 2009 season than he had going into his 2006 season, but this time, he handled the spotlight and excelled under it. He loved baseball again, loved playing for the Royals, and, out of the gate, enjoyed mowing down the opposition.

He didn’t allow a run in his first three starts, a span of 20 innings, and won all three games. He won his next three starts as well, and over the six-start span had surrendered only three runs.

He was a tough-luck loser in his seventh start; his Royals were shut out and he allowed just one run over eight innings. The lack of run support continued after he finished the month of May with an 8-1 record and a 1.10 ERA, and after a rocky June in which his ERA was 4.05.

During the month of July, the Royals lost all six of his starts and managed to score only six total runs. His ERA had ballooned to 2.08 and his win-loss difference tightened, as his record stood at 10-7.

Kansas City scored twenty runs for Greinke in August, but he was still able to collect three victories, bringing his total to thirteen. A total that increased to fourteen after five scoreless innings against Detroit. The Boston Red Sox were next up and, given the run he was on, didn’t stand a chance.

After receiving minimalistic support for more than three months, his anemic offense went crazy early against the very hittable Paul Byrd to the tune of five first inning runs. That was more than enough.

In fact, for once, two would have been an adequate amount. He threw a lot of pitches (who doesn’t against Boston?), but the Red Sox patience didn’t amount to any runs. Greinke tossed six shutout innings, allowing the only two hits the Royals would allow, while striking out five. The five-run first easily held, and a 15th win was collected.

Many in the media believed entering the month of September that the Cy Young was Greinke’s to lose. Now, he is firmly in the driver’s seat to win the prestigious award.

He’s become one of the best pitchers in baseball, if not the best, but the anxiety still lingers. In an article by WEEI’s Alex Speier, Greinke talks about the possibility of leaving Kansas City as a free-agent in 2010 and said “Now, maybe New York would bother me, but I don’t think anywhere else would bother me anymore. New York, I still might have trouble in New York. I probably would. But I think almost everyone does.”

Three years ago, he would have never thought he’d still be pitching now, let alone be the top candidate for the American League Cy Young Award. But, I’m sure, if he wins, he doesn’t want too much made of it, nor does he want it to lead to a prolonged stay in New York. Now, that’s the only thing he couldn’t handle, his only fear.

Zack Greinke Bolsters His Cy Young Credentials with Win over Minnesota Twins

Nick Poust — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:07:34 -0400

Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke isn’t leading the American League in wins. He isn’t second, third, fourth, fifth, or even sixth; he’s seventh. He is 15-8 for a Royals team that is last in the American League Central with a record of 63-92.

CC Sabathia has 19 wins for the New York Yankees, a team that will win 100 games this season. Likewise, Justin Verlander has 17 wins for the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers. But Greinke, after looking at all the statistics of the Cy Young contenders, looks down to no one. He is the best pitcher in the league, and is, above all others, deserving of the prestigious Cy Young award.

It’s not because of his story, how he’s battled back from depression and a variety of anxiety disorders, but how he’s pitched, and how just his presence on the mound fills the seats at Kauffman Stadium. He is the Royals only attraction, and every five days he treats his fans, those that file into the stands at home and those that follow him on the road, to masterful performance after masterful performance.

The 25-year old has a 97 mile per hour fastball, a devastating, hard slider that hits 90 on the gun, a biting changeup that touches 85, and a curveball that he throws as slow as 68 miles per hour. He uses these four pitches in any situation, keeping the hitters guessing and flailing when they often guess wrong. Two of his pitches are nearly unhittable—the slider and changeup.

Each possess so much movement, tailing every which way, that if a hitter makes contact, it’s often not struck squarely. He goes to these pitches in the tightest of situations; when runners are in scoring position he needs pop-ups, groundballs, and strikeouts to limit the damage, and this combination does the job.

He rarely gets in these situations, though, because he rarely allows runners on base. Entering today’s start against the Minnesota Twins, he had allowed only 189 hits and 49 walks in 223 1/3 innings.

By comparison, Sabathia has allowed a similar numbers of hits in a similar number of innings, but his control isn’t as impeccable as Greinke’s, as he has issued 13 more walks; Verlander has allowed 205 hits and 61 walks.

Greinke dwarfs other contenders in these categories, but this isn’t solely the case why he’s more deserving. He defeated the Minnesota Twins to collect his 16th victory, today, Sunday the 27th of September. In doing so, he tossed seven innings, allowed seven hits, one run, two walks, while striking out eight.

Factoring in his statistics in this victory, he has given up only 60 runs in 230 1/3 innings. To put this in perspective, Sabathia has allowed 87 runs in three less innings, while Verlander has allowed 92 runs in seven less innings. Nearly 30 fewer runs than his fellow contenders? Wow.

On top of this, Greinke’s Earned Run Average was lowered to 2.05 with his domination of the Twins. Sabathia’s stands at 3.21, and Verlander’s at 3.41. Hitters are hitting only .195 against Greinke with runners in scoring position. Against Sabathia, the opposition is batting .238 in such a situation, and .253 against Verlander.

The Royals offense isn’t very good, ranking 23rd in the major leagues. The Yankees, however, have baseball’s best offense, while Detroit sits in the middle of the pack at 15th. So, Greinke has less to work with than Sabathia and Verlander. But he has made the most of it. Of his 32 starts, he has relinquished four or more runs in just five of them.

In these five starts, he has allowed 27 runs, but seven have been unearned. Of the 27 other starts, he has allowed one run or shutout the opposition 17 times. So, realistically, he should have 22-23 wins. This is why the win-total should be immaterial.

Sabathia, on the other hand, is backed by the major league’s most prolific offense. To quote my father: “Given his offense has scored 880 runs on the season, Sabathia, to be in the Cy Young conversation, should easily have twenty or more wins.”

He doesn’t, though, which is due to an inability to take full advantage of incredible run support. Case and point: While Greinke has allowed four runs or more only five times, Sabathia has done so eleven times (Verlander has accomplished the feat 12 times).

Sabathia and Verlander are in the Cy Young conversation, but they clearly shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as Greinke, let along potentially stand in his way of the award.

Yankees Stadium and Tigers Stadium are always packed, no matter who is pitching. Kauffman Stadium in near empty a majority of the time, but not when Greinke pitches. Royals fans come in droves, thousands upon thousands, to watch their star pitcher work his magic. He’s their lone bright spot and the only plausible winner of the 2009 Cy Young award.

Ducks Surprisingly Shellac Sixth-Ranked Golden Bears

Nick Poust — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:48:24 -0400

The Oregon Ducks entered their showdown against the California Golden Bears with a 2-1 record. In those three games, however, they struggled in the passing game, usually their area of expertise. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was behind their woes, throwing for just 379 yards, managing a measly 43 percent completion ratio, while failing to throw a touchdown pass.

Despite his ineffectiveness, the Ducks, thanks largely to their running attack, somehow scored 38 points in a shootout victory over Purdue and 31 in a win over Utah. They wouldn’t have to rely too heavily on their run game in their Pacific-Ten opener against the sixth-ranked Bears, though. Why? Because Masoli awoke from the dead.

He was under heavy scrutiny entering the contest. Fans, used to the excitement of past quarterbacks Joey Harrington, Kellen Clemens, and Dennis Dixon, had grown weary of his run-first, pass-second mindset. (Harrington was a pocket quarterback who ran only when necessary. So was Clemens. Dixon ran fast and often, but as his career progressed, he became a Heisman Trophy candidate in large part because of his arm.)

He was not only scrutinized by the fan base, but was in danger of losing his job if he didn’t succeed; Nate Costa, finally healthy, was waiting in the wings, ready to take over in a flash.

On cue, he answered his doubters and kept his job with one of the most efficient performances of his career.

The game didn’t start the way Oregon wanted though, as Walter Thurmond’s fumble on the opening kickoff was recovered by California at the 22 yard line.

But the Bears quarterback Kevin Riley switched places with Masoli. He entered the game with nearly opposite statistics—692 passing yards, 64 percent completion ratio, with five touchdowns and no interceptions—but, against a motivated defense, turned into Masoli’s Hyde.

On first down, he was sacked for a loss of eight yards and fumbled, only for it to be successfully recovered by his team-mates, then misfired on second and third down to force his Bears to settle for a field goal. Freshman kicker Vince D’Amato drilled the impending 47-yarder. California was disappointed, but points were points.

After all, considering they averaged 48 points per game over the first three games and possess a Heisman Trophy candidate, running back Jahvid Best, it appeared safe to believe they would score plenty more.

They didn’t. To my utter bewilderment, it would be the Ducks who would light up the scoreboard. Oregon began by tying the game with a field-goal of their own. They were just getting started.

The combination of Masoli and running back LaMichael James drove the Ducks deep into the Bears’ territory, gaining 54 yards on seven plays before Masoli found tight-end Ed Dickson for a 26-yard touchdown. Now they had the lead, and it would only grow.

To make the job even easier for their offense, their defense made California look like the Oregon that scored only eight points in a humiliating season-opening defeat against Boise State. They forced Best to fumble and D’Amato to shank a field goal on their next two possessions.

Best’s fumble came a play after Masoli fumbled, and given a second chance, Masoli redeemed himself. He found Dickson on the possession’s second play for 25 yards to move the ball deep into California’s territory, where they would spend much of the day.

Oregon complimented the pass with their tremendous LeGarrette Blount run game, as James’ backup Remene Alston scampered for 22 yards, putting his team only nine yards away from a fourteen-point lead. Masoli hooked up with Dickson again, setting up a one-yard touchdown run by Alston.

All was quiet until California’s drive late in this second quarter. The possession lasted only three plays and gained seven yards. Now, with under two minutes remaining in the first half, the job for punter Rob Beard was clear: nail a punt, pin the Ducks back deep into their own zone, and therefore force them to orchestrate a long drive.

He couldn’t do this, nor even boot a satisfactory punt. He received the snap then kicked it off the side of his foot and out-of-bounds.The distance of this punt? Five whole yards.

Given a great opportunity to increase the already large sixteen-point margin, Oregon took advantage. Forty-eight yards to tack on seven more points? Piece of cake for this offense. They went to their two-minute offense. It was almost too easy, too.

After an incomplete pass, Masoli ran for 16 yards, then James sprinted for 24 more. Two plays later–four-yard runs by both Masoli and James–the Ducks scored their third touchdown. They accomplished their feat in less than a minute.

The Bears gained 84 yards in the third quarter. Fifty came on the quarter’s first play, a pass from Riley to the immensely talented Verran Tucker. This was the biggest play of the game for Bears, and the only excitement they conjured up.

Meanwhile, the Ducks scored two touchdowns in the quarter on two passes from Masoli to Dickson. They used three running backs—Alston, James, and Kenjon Barner—to make the latter score possible, as the threesome accounted for 40 of the drive’s 96 yards.The score swelled to 39-3.

Oregon scored a field goal in the fourth for the final tally. Given Masoli’s mediocrity in the season’s first three games and the fact that California boasted perhaps the best running back in the nation, Best, and a high-octane offense, surely California would be the team victorious by 39 points. But, amazingly enough, no. It was the Ducks, wearing throwbacks and playing like the high-flying Ducks of old.

Promising Nationals and Marlins Win in Dramatic Fashion

Nick Poust — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:15:37 -0400

The Los Angeles Dodgers, with 91 wins, had a tremendous chance to put away the Washington Nationals and hand the NL East bottom-dweller its 100th defeat.

With the Dodgers behind by one, Orlando Hudson reached on an errant throw by Nationals shortstop Cristian Guzman to begin the top of the ninth inning.

Future Hall of Famer Jim Thome, who is now designated to pinch hitting, hit for relief pitcher George Sherrill and grounded a single up the middle, putting runners and first and second and giving Los Angeles the opportunity for a big inning.

Their chances of not only scoring the tying run, but multiple runs, increased as Washington reliever Mike MacDougal, who was once a very dependable closer for the Kansas City Royals, lost the control of his fastball. Rafael Furcal watched four of the seven fastballs he saw miss to walk, loading the bases with nobody out.

The pre-All-Star break Dodgers that had the majors' best record at 56-32 would have scored not only the tying run, but multiple go-ahead runs in this situation.

The post-All-Star break Dodgers, whose record was an underwhelming 35-29 entering tonight’s play? Maybe one run would come of it.

That’s all they would get, too—the minimum—and they were lucky to get that. With the infield in, Ronnie Belliard hit a groundball right at Guzman.

The shortstop had plenty of time to make a solid throw home and get the necessary out, but his throw was off the plate and forced catcher Josh Bard to dive to his left and take his foot off the plate. As a result, a run scored without an out being recorded.

Now, they still had the bases loaded and nobody out, but couldn’t put across the go-ahead run: The usually clutch Andre Ethier struck out, Guzman redeemed himself on Manny Ramirez’s groundball, gunning the runner out at home, then Matt Kemp sharply lined out to (who else?) Guzman.

The Nationals, a team overflowing with young offensive talent, took advantage of the Dodgers' ineptness.

Justin Maxwell, a beastly 6'5", 235-pound 26-year-old center fielder with five-tool talent, led off the bottom of the ninth. He was named Washington’s ninth-ranked prospect after the 2008 season despite hitting just .233 in the year-long Double-A stint.

The Nationals didn’t look at stats, they looked at his physique, focused on his bright spots, and saw tons of potential. So, he made a jump that was once rare, skipping Triple-A to join the Nationals.

His offensive struggles continued, as his batting average was a paltry .203 entering the second game of this three-game set against the Dodgers, but his ninth inning at-bat showed Washington what he could be.

He worked the count full against Dodgers reliever James McDonald, laying off three close pitches in doing so, then found his pitch and laced it into left field for a single. Alberto Gonzalez, their utility man, bunted him over to second.

Maxwell has a huge build, but surprisingly, he’s a gazelle on the basepaths, with the speed of a normal sized center-fielder. He showed off that speed, taking third for his fifth stolen base during Jorge Padilla’s at-bat that resulted in a walk.

Washington, like the Dodgers, now had the go-ahead run 90 feet away, and unlike the Dodgers, they executed.

All pinch-hitter Pete Orr needed to do was hit a fly ball to score Maxwell, so that’s what he did. After bunting an attempted suicide squeeze foul and taking a curveball high and outside, he lifted a fastball into right field.

Ethier, who possesses a strong throwing arm, hovered under it, but was thinking too much about an accurate throw home that he forgot to do the most important thing: catch the ball. It glanced off the top of his glove and trickled behind him, allowing Maxwell to scamper in for the winning run.

Maxwell crossed home plate and slapped hands with Gonzalez, the on-deck hitter, then sprinted out to join his teammates in celebration.

Orr was halfway between first and second and, once he saw his jubilant compadres leap over the railing, he playfully tried to run away. They quickly caught up and mobbed him, celebrating as if they won the pennant instead of a victory that delayed their 100th loss.

The Nationals will reach this unfortunate number soon, but there is a considerable amount of light at the end of this dark and dreary tunnel. They have young talent other teams would die for.

Ryan Zimmerman, 24, is a perennial .300 hitter and Gold Glove third baseman; Elijah Dukes, 25, is a gifted power hitter who has yet to harness his talents; Ian Desmond, 24, hitting .333 in his short career, is their shortstop of the future; Adam Dunn, the veteran of the group at the young age of 29, has had four 40-plus home run seasons and, in this his first year with the Nationals, is hitting .280, 29 points higher that his career mark.

These four, not to mention Maxwell, are only the beginning. They have some noteworthy young pitchers, too: 24-year-old John Lannan is their ace, 22-year-old Shairon Martis and 23-year-olds Ross Detwiler and Jordan Zimmerman are blossoming, and top pick Stephen Strasburg is on the horizon.

The Florida Marlins, their division foe, have a similar crop of talent and a few of their youth were behind a dramatic victory of their own.

The Nationals were fueled by the Dodgers' missed opportunities in the ninth, while the Marlins, down one run entering the bottom the ninth against the NL East leading Philadelphia Phillies, were motivated when they saw Brad Lidge warming up in the bullpen.

Lidge, the Phillies closer, has had a terrible season. He entered this appearance having blown 10 saves and accounting for a 0-7 record. After the Marlins were done with him, he had 11 blown saves and a 0-8 record.

Ross Gload led off the frame with a ringing double scoured past Ryan Howard at first base and into the right field corner.

Chris Coghlan, the front-runner for NL Rookie of the Year, crushed a Lidge offering as well, but was a loud out that moved Gload to third.

John Baker, their 28-year-old backup catcher, pinch-hit for 22-year-old Cameron Maybin, their version of Maxwell, and had a frustrating at-bat to no fault of his own. He fell behind 1-2, then Lidge’s fourth straight slider missed to even the count. Baker got a piece of Lidge’s fifth slider and took a fastball inside for a full count before being squeezed by home plate umpire Sam Holbrook.

The seventh pitch of the battle was a slider and clearly low and outside, but, after being called a ball during the first eight innings, Holbrook rung him up. He argued, as did his manager, but the Marlins would soon get the last laugh.

Lidge unintentionally intentionally walked 25-year-old shortstop Hanley Ramirez, Florida’s best hitter, to put all the pressure on Jorge Cantu, their 27-year old-third baseman who already had three hits to his credit.

He handled it well, lacing the second offering from Lidge into center field to score the tying run. Lidge now had the blown save. All he needed was the loss to go with it.

That was left to Brett Carroll, who was pinch-hitting for reliever Dan Meyer. The 26-year old swung through two sliders before connecting with a hanger. He lined it into left-center field.

The fans—the few that were there—cheered as the ball dropped. Ramirez, as Maxwell did approximately an hour earlier in Washington, glided home, then beat most of his teammates to the middle of the diamond, where Carroll gleefully stood.

Carroll, who was an unexpected hero like Orr, was mobbed, laughing and smiling as his teammates swarmed around him.

The Nationals will lose 100 games. The Marlins, though still in the wild card, will most likely miss out on the postseason.

But neither team's year has been as disappointing as it seems. Both are successfully building for the future, and, if their budding talent and the passion they showed in celebrating their respective game-winners are any indication, the Nationals and Marlins will have more meaningful victories to celebrate in the coming years.

Red Sox-Royals: Tim Wakefield's Knuckler Fails Him as Sox Squander Huge Lead

Nick Poust — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:34:57 -0400

The Boston Red Sox had just scored six runs in the top of the third inning—three on Jason Bay’s 36th homer, two on Jacoby Ellsbury’s single, and the final on Dustin Pedroia’s second single of the frame—when starting pitcher Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball abandoned him.

Fastballs can be controlled; so can sliders, changeups, breaking balls, and splitters. But knuckleballs are always unpredictable.

They are thrown with no spin whatsoever and usually range from 60-65 miles per hour in velocity. Catchers are used to catching fastballs and offspeed pitches ranging from 70 to even 100 miles per hour, and because of this, they are uncomfortably forced to wait on such a slow pitch.

Wakefield has had a very successful career, made even more impressive given that he’s a one-pitch pitcher. However, though he’s been durable and moderately effective throughout his 17-plus seasons in the major leagues, he’s either unhittable or serves up batting practice.

He, unfortunately for Boston, which entered the night’s contest against the Kansas City Royals a stone’s throw away from the New York Yankees in the American League East division, was the latter Wakefield.

After retiring Yuniesky Betancourt to begin the bottom of the third, he walked Josh Anderson on four pitches.

Part of Wakefield’s unpredictability is that none of he, the hitter, or Victor Martinez, his personal catcher, know where the pitch is going once thrown. He had an uncontrollable lack of control; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. A Wakefield outing is usually a crapshoot, and this one was no different.

Since the knuckleball is thrown so slowly, and hitters and baserunners know it’s coming, it’s not too difficult to steal off of. The pitch takes so long to reach the plate that runners can get a considerable lead and head start.

Over the past nine seasons, Wakefield has allowed an average of 28 stolen bases per—considerably higher than the league average—and hasn’t allowed fewer than 18 thefts since 1995.

On cue, Anderson stole second, his 21st of the season, and then after Willie Bloomquist worked a seven-pitch walk, he was off again. He swiped third, and to make the most of Wakefield’s slow delivery, Bloomquist stole second. Mitch Maier, at bat at the time of this double steal, coaxed another walk out of Wakefield.

The knuckleballer’s knuckleball worked wonders against Kansas City’s best hitter, Billy Butler, as the third-place hitter topped the third knuckleball he saw to Kevin Youkilis at first base for the inning’s second out, but didn’t against Mike Jacobs.

Wakefield quickly went ahead in the count 0-2 on a swinging and called strike, yet after Jacobs fouled off the ensuing pitch, the lone ball of the tussle eluded Martinez and traveled all the way to the backstop, allowing Anderson to scamper home for the Royals' first run.

It was the lone run Wakefield allowed in the inning, but certainly wasn’t the last Kansas City would score in the wild affair. They added another run in the fourth on a single by Alex Gordon after Miguel Olivo stole second and advanced to third on a rare error by Martinez. This opened the floodgates.

Boston increased their lead to 8-2 with two runs in the top of the fifth, but the Royals answered right back with three of their own in the bottom. All three runs were driven in on Jacobs’ home run; it should be noted that Bloomquist walked, then stole second, and Butler walked to set the stage for Jacobs’ blast.

The Red Sox increased their slimmed lead to three when Bay scored from third on a wild pitch, but Kansas City not only answered again, but also managed to deal a debilitating blow by taking the lead.

Manny Delcarmen replaced Wakefield, who allowed five runs, five hits, and a startling seven walks in five innings, and wasn’t any better. The Royals had crushed Wakefield's knuckler, and despite the sudden increase in velocity and huge differential in repertoire, they tagged Delcarmen as well.

He gave up a double to Anderson to begin the bottom of the sixth, a two-out double to Butler that scored Anderson, and, after walking Jacobs, a two-run double to Alberto Callaspo, who is quietly having a superb year (similar to that of Pedroia during his MVP year of 2008).

Just like that, three doubles, three runs, and a tie game.

The Royals were just getting started, too.

Daniel Bard relieved an extremely ineffective Delcarmen and, usually reliable himself, was shelled as well. For once, his fastball that hits triple digits on the radar gun didn’t faze an opponent.

Olivo was his first batter, and Bard continued a trend that Wakefield started by walking the Royals catcher. This, like the many issued by Wakefield and the lone relinquished by Delcarmen, backfired as Gordon doubled in Callaspo for the go-ahead run, and Betancourt scored both Olivo and Gordon with a double of his own, extending Kansas City’s lead to three.

The Red Sox couldn’t hold a three-run lead, but the Royals could and, just to spite the Wild Card leaders, only added to it with a run off Billy Wagner in the seventh that was produced by another walk and another double by Butler, his 49th on the year.

After 18 runners reached base over the first six innings, one—a Pedroia walk in the seventh—was all the Red Sox could muster over the final three. Boston was hopeless when it mattered most, which isn't often the case for a team of their makeup and stature.

Kansas City, which improved to 62-88 on the season with the hard-fought comeback victory, was the resilient of the two. Unlike Boston, they have nothing to play for standings-wise. That doesn’t mean they can be taken lightly, though.

They watched the Red Sox score six unanswered runs, but thanks to their patience with Wakefield’s knuckler and aggressiveness and clutch play against him and the three hard-throwing relievers that followed, they answered with a bang—an unexpected one at that.

With Jacoby Ellsbury's Fast Bat and Speed, Boston Makes Quick Work of Baltimore

Nick Poust — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:22:52 -0400

Boston Red Sox center-fielder and leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury opened the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles by patiently working a six-pitch walk. Immediately, an offense that has been scorching hot this month was in business, determined to continue their domination over the Orioles by finishing off a sweep of their divisional foe.

Ellsbury has anchored their lineup all season long and has been extraordinarily consistent. He hit .287 during the season’s first month, .308 in May, .313 in June, an even .300 in July, .295 in August, and, entering Sunday’s play, .306 in the all-important month of September. In four of the first five months, he accumulated more stolen bases than strikeouts–47 to 40–and though his on-base percentage wasn’t necessarily up to par, when he reached base, good things happened for Boston.

He stole his 63rd base during Victor Martinez’s at-bat, increasing his major-league leading total and putting him four ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays’ Carl Crawford. Crawford has had a longer and more successful career than Ellsbury, but his statistics this year are not just comparable, but second-rate to Ellsbury’s. The statistic that really stands out is the strikeout differential between the two players. Ellsbury, including his first-inning stolen base, has only two more strikeouts than steals, while Crawford has 36 more. For a further comparison, Houston Astros’ speedster Michael Bourn, National League’s leader in stolen bases with 58, has whiffed 126 times.

Martinez walked, Kevin Youkilis singled Ellsbury to third, then Jason Bay drove him home for Boston’s first run; it was Ellsbury’s 83rd run scored, six less than Crawford and seven less than Bourn. As Ellsbury sported a prolonged smile in the Red Sox upbeat dugout, Lowell plated Martinez and Youkilis with a single of his own.

Daisuke Mastuzaka, making his second start since returning from a three month absence, worked around a two-out single by Baltimore’s immensely talented rookie catcher Matt Wieters to strike out the side.

Then Boston’s offense went back to work. Alex Gonzalez, the only batter not to hit in the three-run first inning, singled to begin the second. Ellsbury followed with his 175th hit– to put him two behind Crawford and thirteen ahead of Bourn–a single to move Gonzalez up a base. After Dustin Pedroia went down quietly for the second straight inning. Martinez extended his hit streak to 19 games by singling in Gonzalez. Ellsbury took second on the play, but stayed there as Youkilis and Bay were retired to end the threat.

In the third inning, he was in the middle of the action again. The Red Sox offense running on such a high that, with two out, Jason Varitek managed to extend the frame with a single, one of his few hits on the season. Gonzalez continued his successful second stint in Boston by doubling the captain and catcher over to third. Ellsbury, down to his last strike, followed with a ringing double into the left-center field gap that scored both Varitek and Gonzalez for his 53rd and 54th rbi’s; nineteen more than Bourn and eleven less than Crawford.

Matsuzaka allowed a single for the third straight inning, but managed to faced the minimum in the frame, as Brian Roberts, who is having an extraordinary season, grounded into a double-play, then Felix Pie struck out.

The Red Sox offense then scored for the fourth straight inning. Bay, like many in the Red Sox lineup, has put together a torrid month. He began the day with a .320 batting average in 50 at-bats, slugging four homers and driving in nine. Now, after a solo home-run in the fourth, his 35th of the season, he’s hitting .333 with five blasts and 12 rbi’s.

He drove in his thirteenth run of the month in the sixth inning, but not the way he expected to. Orioles reliever Brandon Bass plunked him with a first-pitch fastball right in the ribs. The bases were loaded at the time of his beaning–Pedroia and Martinez singled, and then Youkilis walked–so Bay painfully tallied his 110th rbi of the season.

Ramon Ramirez replaced Matsuzaka in the fifth inning, and entered an unenviable bases-loaded, one-out situation. The Orioles allowed Bay to drive in a run without a hit, or making contact for that matter, so the Red Sox returned the favor, as Ramirez walked first baseman Michael Aubrey to hand the home team their third run.

Ellsbury, already with a single and a double to his credit, got the run that Ramirez’s lack of control allowed back in the seventh. With his jersey blanketed in dirt from his steal, he stepped into the batters box against Bass with two out in the inning, looked out to the mound, thought first pitch fastball, then saw what he envisioned. Bass grooved a 91 mile-per-hour fastball into the heart of the strikezone and Ellsbury made him pay, demolishing the offering past the fans in right-field and onto the walkway beyond.

With that thundering shot, his splendid day at the plate came to an end. By reaching base four times, he increased his once underwhelming on-base percentage to .356, which is only slightly lower than Bourn’s .362 and Crawford’s .364.

Both Bourn and Crawford are Ellsbury’s superior in multiple categories, but Ellsbury is leading a contending team into the playoffs, something neither Bourn or Crawford can attest to.

Jake Locker Leads Washington Huskies To Upset Victory Over USC Trojans

Nick Poust — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:35:50 -0400

The Washington Huskies entered their matchup against the mighty USC Trojans coming off their first positive in a long time. Last week, they scored on their first five possessions en route to a 42-23 victory over Idaho. It was their first win in sixteen games; they lost all 12 games last season. Confident for the first time since 2007, the Huskies were ready to invite the 3rd-ranked Trojans into their house and make a statement, that Washington football is back on the map.

Steve Sarkisian was hired as head coach following their winless 2008 campaign. He, it just so happens, was the mastermind behind the Trojans dynasty as their offensive coordinator, calling the plays for a flurry of talented and NFL-bound quarterbacks. So, before the battle began on the field, the Huskies had an advantage.

Despite this inside track into the Trojans offense, it was a safe bet that USC would overwhelm the home team. Leading up to the game, the question "Can Washington pull off the upset?" was posed, but analyst after analyst gave them little chance, saying something to the effect of "Quarterback Jake Locker is very capable, but Washington is no match for USC, a team that has more than one talented player."

For the first time in a long time, the Trojans quarterback is not one of those talented players. Junior Aaron Corp, taking over for the injured true freshman Matt Barkley, played behind Mark Sanchez last year and threw for a grand total of fourteen yards. He appeared in this season's opener, completing all four passes he threw. But, unlike Barkley before him, he was rusty in his first career start.

Not only was Corp woeful throwing the ball early, but he was battered by the Huskies highly motivated defense, a defense that was dead last in the Pac-10 conference last season. He was hurried continuously and quickly turned a once powerful offense into an anemic one.

Because Corp had difficulty completing passes, the Trojans relied heavily on their running game. That's wasn't necessarily a bad thing. They have three tremendous runners, Joe McKnight, Stafon Johnson, and Stanley Havili, and each punished Washington's run defense, which, unlike their passing defense, is still porous. McKnight, an immensely talented junior, finished off a superb 6-play, 80-yard opening drive with a seven-yard touchdown run.

McKnight compiled 100 yards rushing, Johnson ran for 64 yards on ten carries, and Havili added 59 more yards on the ground, part of a running attack that averaged nearly eight yards per rush and accumulated 250 yards on the day. But, despite their terrific ability to run the ball, their offense went nowhere. That's because of Corp's lack of experience and his inability to live up to the reputation past USC quarterbacks rightfully gained.

He threw for only 110 yards--the fewest output for USC under head coach Pete Carroll--and completed a mediocre 13 of 22 attempts. That put too much pressure on the Trojans run game and made their offense too limited. This was why, despite their success on the ground, that USC could only manage a field goal after McKnight's touchdown run.

Washington, only down 10-0, took advantage. Starting on their own 32-yard line with four and a half minutes remaining in the first half, Locker, at 6'3", 226, orchestrated a game-changing drive. He completed a 12-yard pass to Paul Horner, then after two rushes by running back Chris Polk that amassed four yards, wide-receiver James Johnson caught Locker's 16-yard pass to move into USC territory. After another ineffective run by Polk, Locker found Devin Aguilar for 14 yards, then Johnri Fogerson for 18 yards to set up his powerful four-yard touchdown run that put Washington on the board and within three points.

Meanwhile, Corp still couldn't find a rhythm. He was trying to do too much, and it hurt USC considerably. He threw three incompletions on a three-and-out possession, misfired on third down the next possession, then after Locker's 31-yard pass on 3rd and 17 set up a 28-yard field goal by Folk, he came up empty on another third down.

Neither team scored for the remainder of the second quarter, and neither team could muster any points in the third. So, the two teams were deadlocked at 10 entering the fourth and all-important quarter.

The Huskie defense continued to torment Corp and, though this same defense that was so lethal against the pass allowed 250 rushing yards in the game, they knuckled down to stop the run in the biggest situations. Corp completed a pass in the opening moments of the fourth, but fittingly came up one yard short of the first down. The trio of Trojan running backs ran roughshod on first and second down all game long, but their attack was non-existent on third down. So, on third and one, Johnson was stuffed at the line for no gain. USC was forced to punt.

Washington was unable to take advantage of two fumble recoveries earlier, and, when USC didn't commit turnovers, they had been unable to make the most of the Trojans mediocrity. Their fortunes changed on their next possession. The Huskies, after the punt, started at their own 38-yard line, and, behind Locker, marched down the field, set up shop at the Trojans 28-yard line, and took the lead on a 46-yard field goal by Erik Folk.

Both teams traded three-and-outs before the Trojans, clearly frustrated with Corp's ineptness, went strictly to the run. They realized that, at least on this possession, the only way they would be successful was if they took the ball out of Corps hands and put it in McKnight's and Johnson's. After a long punt return, McKnight scampered for 34 yards, fumbled the ball into the hands of teammate David Ausberry at the Washington 22-yard line. Johnson followed with an 11-yard run. USC was threatening to grab a touchdown advantage, but once again their struggles on third down continued, as Johnson failed to gain a yard on 3rd and 6. They tied the game, but settling for field goals wouldn't get the job done.

For Washington, however, it would. With the Trojans struggling mightily, they'd take any points they could in their bid for an upset. USC teams, usually used to scoring 40-50 points in their sleep, aren't used to being this paltry, and because opponents aren't used to such poor performances by the Pac-10 powerhouse, taking advantage is a must.

They did, though the ensuing possession didn't start well. Locker was sacked for a loss of twelve yards, and then, 22 yards away from a first down, Locker's pass to Polk gained only seven to set up a 3rd and 15. But Locker could care less about the yardage necessary. It could have been 22, 30, or 40 yards and he would have found a way to ultimately convert. He threw a strike to Jermaine Kearse for a 21-yard gain.

Three rush plays--two by Polk and the third by Locker--helped the Huskies convert another first down, this one far easier than the first. Then they went back to the passing game, something Washington, unlike USC, had no problem doing. Locker connected with Johnson for 9 yards, and then moved his team into field goal range by finding Kearse along the sideline for another 19 yards after scrambling frantically for space.

Locker was clocked after releasing the strike, and a roughing the passer penalty was called to give the Huskies eight more yards with which to work. After a four-yard rush by Polk took the ball to the USC four-yard line and drained the clock below ten seconds, Washington called their final timeout to prepare for a potential game-winning field goal.

Once the whistle was blown to start play, USC crowded the line, reading to ambush Folk on the snap. The Trojans were going to do everything they could to try and keep the game tied and block the kick. If they couldn't succeed, a miracle would be necessary in order to stay alive.

The snap was clean and, with multiple Trojans closing in, Folk immediately pounded the ball straight through the uprights. Washington's bench went ballistic; Locker, standing on the sideline's edge, hoisted his arms in the air in triumph.

Before Stafon Johnson could pitch the ensuing kickoff backwards, he was swarmed by the Huskies. Once he helplessly fell to the ground, Washington's bench erupted and stormed onto the field. Sarkisian pumped his fists and joined the fray, adamantly acknowledging the improbable win over his former boss.

The stands emptied, but few fans stormed the field because, well, the stands were half empty to begin with. That's how unbelievable this upset victory was; their fans thought it so improbable that thousands upon thousands failed to show. Those that did were certainly in for a treat, a treat that gave Sarkisian god-like status in Washington and added to the legend of Locker.