MLB Playoff predictions

Okay here are my picks for the first round best-of-five playoff series, with the teams with home field advantage listed first. Starting with the National League:

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Cincinnati Reds: I'll take the Phillies in 3. Their pitching and offense put together will be too much for the Reds to overcome in this series.

San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves: Giants in 5. Both teams feature good pitching and offenses that can do things so I think it will be a competitive, long series. In the end I'll take the Giants with home field and the opportunity to have Tim Lincecum pitch twice in the series.

And now the American League:

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers: Rays in 4. The Rays are a more complete ballclub and will benefit from having home field advantage. They have offense and pitching and seem to have the drive necessary to advance. Cliff Lee of the Rangers could make things interesting.

Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees: Yankees in 5. It hurts to type that but I think with CC Sabathia pitching twice and with this team knowing how to win in October I have to go with the Yankees. The Twins will make it a good series and having home field advantage will definitely make things interesting.

For the record I'll take the Phillies over the Giants in the NLCS and the Rays over the Yankees in the ALCS. This would go in accordance of my preseason prediction of a Phillies-Rays World Series. And as I did in the preseason I'll go with the Phillies to win it all.

Reviewing my preseason playoff picks really quickly as well:

NL East pick/winner: Phillies/Phillies
NL Central pick/winner: Cardinals/Reds
NL West pick/winner: Rockies/Giants
NL Wild Card pick/winner: Braves/Braves

AL East pick/winner: Rays/Rays
AL Central pick/winner: White Sox/Twins
AL West pick/winner: Angels/Rangers
AL Wild Card pick/winner: Yankees/Yankees

Here's a look at the playoff schedule as the playoffs get under way today with Game 1s (starting pitchers in parentheses):

Texas Rangers (Price) at Tampa Bay Rays (Price), 11:30 a.m. MT (TBS)
Cincinnati Reds (Volquez) at Philadelphia Phillies (Halladay), 3 p.m. MT (TBS)
New York Yankees (Sabathia) at Minnesota Twins (Liriano), 6:30 p.m. MT (TBS)