Giants drop Game 5, series goes back to Philly

The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the San Francisco Giants 4-2 tonight in Game 5 of the NLCS. The Giants still lead the series 3 games to 2. Game 6 is Saturday in Philadelphia with the start time yet to be determined (it depends on the outcome of Game 6 of the ALCS tomorrow night). Roy Halladay had a strained groin and seemed to be in trouble every inning for the Phillies but he gutted out six innings and had just enough to earn the win. The Phillies did most of their offensive damage in the 3rd inning, scoring three runs off Giants ace Tim Lincecum who suffered his first postseason defeat.

The Giants' defense let them down in the 3rd inning as Pablo Sandoval missed third base on a bunt attempt by Halladay that would have resulted in a double play and Aubrey Huff misplayed a groundball that ricocheted into center field and allowed two runs to score. The offense had some chances in the first inning as well but Phillies first baseman was able to snare a ball that Huff hit right on the screws for an out. If not for that play, the inning could have been a lot bigger than it was with the one early run the Giants did get. It's bad luck on that play, but part of baseball at the same time.

I thought Halladay showed a lot of heart tonight. It was clear he didn't have his best stuff, but he still only gave up two runs in six innings which to me shows a lot of character. And to find out after the game that he strained his groin in the second inning only makes his performance more impressive.

Cody Ross continues to be the frontrunner for NLCS MVP as he doubled in another run to push his RBI total to 5 for the series. He just seems to keep coming up with big hits in big situations. Let's hope he continues to swing a hot bat in Philadelphia.

I'm still optimistic about the Giants. They have already won in Philadelphia in the series and have Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain to pitch Games 6 and 7 against Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. Hopefully Game 7 isn't necessary, but it's nice to know that Saturday isn't an elimination game. I can hardly wait to see what happens. Game time should be just before 6 p.m. MT if the Rangers close out the Yankees tomorrow and just before 2 p.m. MT if the hated Yanks force a Game 7 in Texas for Saturday night. Speaking of the ALCS, it resumes tomorrow night. Here's the details:

Game 6 -- New York Yankees (Hughes) at Texas Rangers (Lewis), 6:07 p.m. MT (TBS, Rangers lead series 3-2)

And in another sports note, did anyone else notice what kind of beat down #1 Oregon (7-0, 4-0 Pac-10) put on UCLA (3-4, 1-3 Pac-10) tonight? The final score in Autzen was 60-13. The Ducks look really good and really fast. They are going to be tough to beat. I'm not a big Oregon fan per se, but their team sure is fun to watch play.

Giants take Game 1 of NLCS

At left: Cody Ross celebrates after one of his two home runs Saturday night in Philadelphia.

The San Francisco Giants defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 Saturday night in Game 1 of the NLCS from Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Cody Ross was the big star, clubbing two home runs off Phillies ace Roy Halladay, who had thrown a no-hitter in his previous start. Tim Lincecum went 7 solid innings, yielding 3 earned runs. Javier Lopez retired two hitters in the 8th and Brian Wilson earned a four out save. Halladay allowed 4 earned runs in his outing. Pat Burrell had an RBI double and Juan Uribe an RBI single in the top of the 6th to push the Giants' lead to 4-1. The Phillies countered with a two run homer from Jayson Werth to trim the lead to 4-3 but would get no closer.

The big thing about the first Ross home run was that Halladay had not allowed a hit to that point and the game was in the third inning. I think that hit and that run that gave the Giants the 1-0 lead really helped loosen everyone up. Ross has been huge lately and it's pretty to cool to see from a guy whose acquisition seemed to be almost an afterthought in the minds of Giants fans. Even when Carlos Ruiz tied the game up on a homer, the Giants did not lose their cool and recaptured the lead behind Ross' second long ball. It was interesting to see on the replays on Baseball Tonight that Ross' stroke looked pretty much exactly the same on both of his homers on pitches that were in almost the exact location. That's some good consistency.

The Giants showed resiliency tonight and did not fold in front of a rabid, sell-out crowd and the two-time defending National League Champions. I thought the bullpen did a tremendous job. Brian Wilson has been great, but so has Javier Lopez ever since the Giants acquired him from the Pirates. Lopez has been extremely tough on left-handed hitters and that trend continued tonight when he retired Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in succession in the top of the 8th.

It's nice to take the opener in Philadelphia and have the lead now not to mention having the assurance of going back to the bay area with no worse than a split. A win tomorrow night, however, would be pretty sweet.

In the ALCS today, the Texas Rangers bounced back in a big way from last night in defeating the New York Yankees 7-2 to even that series at 1-1. The Rangers' bats were once again hot and they were able to jump out to a big lead. The difference today was that the bullpen was able to hold the lead, throwing 3 1/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit baseball. The win was the first home win in Texas Rangers playoff history so it's good to get that out of the way. One cool play in the game came in the first inning when Elvis Andrus stole home on a double steal play to put the Rangers up 1-0 and help give them some momentum. Cliff Lee pitches for the Rangers in Game 3 on Monday night in the Bronx in a very pivotal game in the series.

Here's the stuff for the game tomorrow night:

Game 2 -- San Francisco Giants (Sanchez) at Philadelphia Phillies (Oswalt), 6:19 p.m. MT (FOX, Giants lead series 1-0)

League Championsip Series preview

The American League Championship Series gets under way tonight at 6:07 p.m. MT with the New York Yankees at the Texas Rangers. The Yankees start CC Sabathia and the Rangers counter with C.J. Wilson who was very solid in his Game 2 start against the Rays in the Division Series. The Yankees looked like a buzzsaw in sweeping the Twins in the first round and appear to have a lot of momentum plus a bona fide ace starting in Game 1. I hate the Yankees more than any other team in sports but I think they just have too much for the Rangers to handle and will win the series in five games.

It hurts the Rangers' cause that Cliff Lee likely won't be able to start until Game 3 of the series because he pitched on Tuesday night in the deciding Game 5 of the Division Series against Tampa Bay. Lee's performance in the Rangers' win has further solidified him as a big game pitcher who knows how to win in October. Curt Schilling, now an analyst for Baseball Tonight, said he feels a big key in this series for the Rangers will be to get Lee two starts. I agree as I feel the Rangers will have the edge when Lee takes the ball. They need to find a way to win a couple of other games, though. Tonight is a big game because whoever wins will be in the driver's seat for the series. If the Yankees win they will have stolen away home field advantage after the first game and if the Rangers win they will go back to New York with no worse than a split and their ace Lee lined up to pitch in Game 3. The stakes are high tonight and I'm excited to watch.

The National League Championship Series gets under way tomorrow night at 5:57 p.m. MT on FOX with the San Francisco Giants at the Philadelphia Phillies. Game 1's pitching matchup could be one for the ages as the Giants go with Tim Lincecum and the Phillies with Roy Halladay. I'm really excited to watch that one. Halladay of course threw a no-hitter in his most recent (and first career) postseason start while Lincecum threw a complete game shutout in his NLDS start against the Braves and yielded only two hits while striking out 14 batters. Both teams have solid pitching, especially when you look at their first three starters. The Phillies go with Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. The Giants go with Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain. The Phillies' offense is more potent than San Francisco's and while the front line starting pitchers are similar (I may give the Phillies a very slight edge in this department) but I believe the Giants' bullpen is more formidable. This should make for a very exciting series and I for one can't wait for it to get under way. As much as I would love for the Giants to win and am craving a world title for them, I think the Phillies take this series in six games.

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!

My MLB awards

And now it's the moment you've all been waiting for, it's time for my Major League Baseball season awards. Let's start with the National League:

MVP: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds first baseman. Votto was in the top 3 in the National League in the 3 major offensive categories, hitting .324 with 37 home runs and 113 RBIs. The real clincher for me is that although Albert Pujols of the Cardinals had more home runs and RBIs (42 and 118), they weren't substantially more and Votto was able to lead his team to the playoffs.

Cy Young: Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies. Halladay was 21-10 for the Phils with a 2.44 ERA and was everything they would have expected him to be as their staff ace when they brought him in before the season. He really did anchor the Phillies staff and though his ERA wasn't the top in the league (2.30 from Florida's Josh Johnson) it was close enough where it can still be argued that he was the most formidable pitcher.

Rookie of the Year: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants catcher. Posey hit .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs for the Giants this year. The argument against him and for the Braves' Jason Heyward is that Heyward played the whole season for the Braves whereas Posey played about 4 months for the Giants. My counterargument is that Posey managed to hit as many home runs as Heyward and had only 5 fewer RBIs while having a significantly higher batting average. Plus Posey played catcher for one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and by all accounts has done a great job. People don't always give catchers the credit they deserve for helping teams win. I watched the Giants all year and there is no way they would be in the playoffs without him. I get that Heyward had a big year and contributed to the Braves (I do really enjoy watching him play as well) but Posey had more of an impact on the Giants and a better year overall.

Manager of the Year: Dusty Baker, Cincinnati Reds. The Reds hadn't been to the playoffs since the late 90s and Baker led them there behind a surprising pitching staff as well as a potent offense. Nobody, myself included, expected much from the Reds this year, but Baker kept them going even after everybody had written them off after a three game sweep at home in August against the Cardinals. He did a good job and has proven time and again that he knows how to manage and get the most out of his ballclub.

And now for my American League awards:

MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers first baseman. Cabrera hit .328 with 38 home runs and led the league with 126 RBIs this year. He finished in the top 3 in the other two offensive categories. The two runner ups in my book are Josh Hamilton of the Rangers who hit .359 and had a great year and Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays who hit an incredible 54 home runs and had 124 RBIs himself. But Cabrera was near the top in all categories and his steady contributions are what gives him my vote.

Cy Young: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners. I know, I know he was only 13-12. But he was on a horrible team and still put up outstanding numbers in other categories. He led the American League in ERA by a long shot with a mark of 2.27 and had 232 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.06. He clearly was the best pitcher not just in the American League but in all of baseball this year and that's why he deserves this award. I know there is a lot of momentum going for CC Sabathia of the Yankees who had 21 wins but he is nowhere close to Hernandez's ERA and isn't in the top 5 in the AL in that category. My runner up in fact would be David Price of the Rays who was 19-6 and third in the league in ERA at 2.72 while leading the Rays to the AL East title.

Rookie of the Year: Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers closer. Feliz had 40 saves in 43 chances while recording 71 strikeouts in 69.1 innings pitched and a WHIP of 0.88. He put up great numbers in a role that isn't always easy to fill and had some nasty stuff. He was a big reason the Rangers were able to win the American League West.

Manager of the Year: Ron Washington, Texas Rangers. He guided a team with little expectations to the playoffs and really got something out of a pitching staff that wasn't expected to do much.

Well, there you have it. Those are my picks. We'll see how the writers feel when the results come out next month following the playoffs.