Roy Halladay throws no-hitter!

At left: Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay embraces catcher Carlos Ruiz following his historic no-hitter against the Reds.

What a first day of the postseason! Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay stole the show on opening night of the playoffs by tossing just the second no-hitter in postseason history! Halladay was dominant all day long and showed why he is the consensus pick to win the National League Cy Young Award. Fortunately I was able to get home from work in time to see the last two innings of the game and to soak in the incredible atmosphere.

I remember growing up just hearing about Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series was the only no-hitter ever thrown in playoff history. That really puts this one in perspective. It is incredibly hard to throw a no-hitter in the regular season and in the playoffs it is just that much more difficult as there are only quality teams remaining.

Halladay has had a long career and until this year played for the Blue Jays and had never pitched in a playoff game. What a way to make an impression in his first ever playoff game. I can still hardly believe it happened. His stuff was, obviously, dominant. I can't think of a pitcher I would rather start a team with than Halladay. I thought it was really cool that it was a home game for the Phillies -- that really added to the atmosphere that much more, the fans were really pulling for it. Halladay said something in a post-game interview to the effect that to describe the atmosphere as electric wouldn't even do it justice.

Oh and the Phillies won the game 4-0. I think they are the team to beat this year with their pitching and their deep lineup. Here are the scores from Wednesday's Division Series Game 1s:

Texas Rangers 5, Tampa Bay Rays 1 (Rangers lead series 1-0)
Philadelphia Phillies 4, Cincinnati Reds 0 (Phillies lead series 1-0)
New York Yankees 6, Minnesota Twins 4 (Yankees lead series 1-0)

The Rays and Twins are both in a bit of a hole after losing Game 1 on their home field and will have to look at their Game 2s tomorrow as must-wins. I still like the Rays in that series against the Rangers as I think they have the deeper team. Cliff Lee was pretty darn good for the Rangers today, though. As for the Yankees, yuck, I just hope the Twins beat them. I think they can at the very least give them a competitive series, but winning tomorrow is paramount. Here's the schedule for Thursday:

Game 2 -- Texas Rangers (Wilson) at Tampa Bay Rays (Shields), 12:30 p.m. MT (TBS, Rangers lead series 1-0)
Game 2 -- New York Yankees (Pettite) at Minnesota Twins (Pavano), 4 p.m. MT (TBS, Yankees lead series 1-0)
Game 1 -- Atlanta Braves (Lowe) at San Francisco Giants (Lincecum), 7:30 p.m. MT (TBS)

That last one there is the one I will be the most dialed into for sure. The Giants play their first postseason game in seven years at home with their ace on the mound. I'm predicting a very competitive series and the Giants winning in five games. Derek Lowe goes for the Braves and he has been pitching very well down the stretch. We'll see how it all plays out. I can't wait!