The Power Of Two

Heading into the postseason this fall, we could have speculated and said that there would be some great series' in both the American League and the National League. The National League was not predictable because the teams were deemed inferior to those in the American League. The weaker competition made it very possible for just about any team to take control and represent the NL in the World Series.

On the complete other side of the baseball spectrum is the American League where all four teams looked so good that nobody knew who had the advantage, but we all knew that it would, or should, be one hell of a battle. The one thing that we should have taken from the regular season is the fact that we really know nothing at all. The ending of the regular season was so unpredictable, even more so this season for some reason, that we could of given each of our own guesses and they all would of had equal validity.

After three days of postseason play, I for one, never saw this scenario coming into play. All four Division Series' stand 2-0 heading into the weekend. So much for the dramatic Game 5's and the seesaw battles. It looks unlikely that any of these series' will go even to the fourth game at this rate, but then again, they could all go the full five. There is no counting out anybody when it comes to postseason play.

Lets start with the National League.

The Colorado Rockies came out of nowhere to win the NL Wild Card, and then promptly won two games in a hostile Philadelphia ballpark against the NL East champs. This series was suppossed to put an end to the notion of momentum being a big advantage going into the playoffs, simply because both teams had claimed it going into postseason play. The youthful, energized Rockies have looked just as good as they have for the last month. That is, they hardly ever lose.

There is no other team in baseball that looks like they are on more of a mission than the Rockies. The Phillies were suppossed to be the loose team who just made an improbably comeback and gotten the city's support behind them, using that to roar into the Divison Series. That hasn't quite been te case. The Phillies have looked flat, and their susceptible pitching is being exposed.

It is going to be very difficult to get this series to Game 4, let alone back to Philadelphia. In order to do that, the Rockies have to lose two straight games at home. The Rockies don't lose at home, period. But that really is irrelevant because it doesn't matter if they are playing in a beatup sandlot at this time of year. They are having plenty of fun and playing the game with passion. That equates to success in the postseason. Sorry Jimmy Rollins, but MVP rival Matt Holliday is going to lead Colorado to a sweep.

In arguably the most surpising series of them all, the Arizona Diamondbacks have jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the Cubs. Chicago was suppossed to have a huge advatage in starting pitching depth, but Ted Lilly got lit and Carlos Zambrano was saved for Game 4, and here you are, Chicago, staring elimination in the face heading back home.

The only benefit the Cubs have is the fact that they are going back to Wrigley Field, where the crowd will be going crazy to root on southpaw Rich Hill who takes the mound. Assuming, which is quite dangerous these days, the Cubs win Game 3, Zambrano should come up big Sunday night in his home city to force this series back to Arizona. If the young kids for Arizona continue to play like they did in the first 2 games, these D'Backs wrap up the series at home in five games.

Heading to the American League, the Cleveland Indians took care of business at The Jake and put the New York Yankees in a 2-0 hole heading back to New York for the next two games. Cleveland got a lackluster performance from staff ace C.C. Sabathia in Game 1, but luckily Chien-Ming Wang pitched a little bit worse for the Yankees. Even though Game 1 was a blowout on the scoreboard, the game was much closer than the 11-3 final.

Fausto Carmona took a huge step towards becoming one of the elite pitchers when he shoved it down the Yankees' throats for nine innings Friday night. Travis Hafner came up in the 11th inning to pick up the game-winning single and send the Cleveland faithful, LeBron James excluded, into a frenzy. The problem with the Yankees is that they knew they would have to heavily depend on that lineup in order to win since their starting pitching is not as deep as it needs to be to win in the postseason.

That being said, winning becomes exceptionally tought when your offense is hitting .121 in the first two games. The Yankees are in a hole, absolutely, but I have a weird feeling about this ballclub heading back to New York. Every true baseball fan knows about the mystique of Yankee Stadium, and with Roger Clemens taking the ball in Game 3, the Indians better get ready to play a little extra baseball. I don't see the Yankees losing at home, therefore this game will be decided in a hostile environment in Cleveland for Game 5.

The last series has Boston taking a 2-0 advantage over the Angels back to California for Sunday's Game 3. Game 1 does not need any explanation at all besides these two words: JOSH BECKETT. The righthander was downright filthy in his complete game shutout.

Friday night was a great game as Kelvim Escobar hung in there to give the Angels 5 innings, even though he probably could of given a little bit mroe than that. With Daisuke Matsuzaka not making it through 5 and only giving up 3 runs, it is apparent that most managers all of a sudden get obtain quick hooks when the postseason starts. With Vlad Guerrero getting drilled in the back with a fastball and leaving the game a couple of innings later, the Angels look like they are in pretty deep.

Without Vlad at his best, they have no shot because this club is already offensively-challenged. The Angels will send Jered Weaver to the mound in Game 3 which is a roll of the dice. We have seen Weaver on his game before, and those outings are pretty darn good. But we have also seen Weaver implode, and that is enough to scare me for this one. Add to the fact that Curt Schilling is going for Boston who is a proven big-game pitcher even with the fact that he is 3 years older than his bloody-sock days, and I don't know if the Angels can make it out alive. As much as I want to see a Beckett-Lackey rematch in Game 4, I am not convinced at all that the Angels have what it takes to avoid the sweep.

Sit back and enjoy the great weekend of basebal as four teams look to move on. There is a good chance though that we will have more baseball on our hands than it looks. The postseason ratchets up the insanity level a few, and the teams who are trailing today are plenty good to make a run. Let the elimination games begin.