Utes look ahead to Pokes after blowing away Cyclones

The 10th-ranked Utah Utes (5-0, 2-0 MWC) demolished the Iowa State Cyclones (3-3, 1-1 Big 12) last Saturday night in Ames, Iowa, winning by a score of 68-27. The Utes looked like the superior team in all phases of the game and after trailing following the first quarter really put their foot to the gas pedal and never looked back. Jordan Wynn looked solid in his first road start of the year and well the offense as a whole looked good. Shaky Smithson had a nifty long punt return as well as a touchdown pass on a trick play. He was doing everything for the Utes and looks like a really good player. In fact he had more yards than the entire Iowa State team in the first half.

The Utes, who somehow dropped a spot in the AP Poll and are now ranked 11th, next visit the Wyoming Cowboys (2-4, 0-2 MWC) tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. The game will be televised on the Mtn. As long as the Utes don't look past this game it really shouldn't be much of a challenge. The Pokes have not looked very good this year and really looked bad in getting blown out 51-6 on their home field by third-ranked Boise State (5-0, 1-0 WAC) on their home field earlier this year. The Utes shouldn't be in much trouble on this one.

I'll be following the game and have some tweets during it (follow me at twitter.com/dpaysports) but my main focus tomorrow will be on Game 1 of the NLCS between the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies (see immediately below for previews of both LCS) that starts at 5:57 p.m. MT on FOX. My hope is that the Utes will have a big enough lead to where I won't feel too guilty about changing the channel and checking out the Giants. I'll be featuring tweets of the baseball game too. I will also be blogging about both games after the fact.

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.

Giants finish off Braves

Pictured: The San Francisco Giants celebrate their NLDS victory over the Atlanta Braves.

My San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 tonight to win their best-of-five National League Division Series 3 games to 1. Cody Ross had a game tying home run in the sixth and then a game winning RBI single one inning later. The Giants once again proved they were resilient and even after falling behind on a couple of different occasions tonight, they fought back and got the win. I thought Ross was huge and I also thought rookie Madison Bumgarner pitched well for us. Brian Wilson walked a couple of guys in the 9th but still nailed down the save and the series.

This is some really cool stuff; this resilient bunch of guys are going to the NLCS, somewhere they haven't been since 2002. For now never mind that it's against the Philadelphia Phillies who have won the last two National League pennants. It's just time to savor the goodness of victory. It's been a great year and hopefully there is some more greatness left in it. The NLCS gets under way on Saturday from Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

It was managerial legend Bobby Cox's last game ever and it was sad in a way for a legend and a classy guy to go out. I'm not sad enough to where I won't take the win, but it was just sad to see Cox go. He will be missed.

The big, winner take all Game 5 of the Rays-Rangers series tomorrow pitting starters David Price of Tampa Bay and Cliff Lee of Texas gets under way at 6 p.m. MT on TBS. I highly recommend checking it out.

And now to commemorate this occasion of the Giants moving on, I'm going to listen to the song "Winner" by Jamie Foxx featuring Justin Timberlake and T.I. Because, after all, you know you're looking at a winner.

Giants win dramatic Game 3

Pictured: Freddy Sanchez shows his excitement after scoring what proved to be the winning run Sunday.

The San Francisco Giants were one strike away from losing Game 3 of the National League Division Series to the Atlanta Braves and Freddy Sanchez was up against it with an 0-2 count. However, Sanchez battled and got a single (Travis Ishikawa had walked and moved to 2nd base on the play). Aubrey Huff then followed with an RBI single to make it 2-2 in the 9th. Talk about a clutch hit. Buster Posey then hit a ground ball that got through 2nd baseman Brooks Conrad, who made his 3rd error of the game, and allowed Sanchez to score the go-ahead run. I feel for Conrad, that must be a horrible thing to go through, but I'm still really glad that the Giants won. This all came after Eric Hinske hit a pinch-hit, two run home run to give the Braves a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th.

Anytime a game is 1-0 into the 8th inning and that run was scored all the way back in the 2nd, it makes for a dramatic game. This game was even more dramatic than you would think -- especially considering it was a playoff game. When Hinske hit the home run, all my mojo and excitement were crushed. It looked like the Braves were in great position to win the game and they had over 50,000 euphoric fans behind them to help them. And then you get to two outs, a guy on first and an 0-2 count with the entire stadium rocking and on their feet it just doesn't look good. Sanchez looked bad swinging at the first two pitches to fall behind but he hung in there and got a clutch single. Huff's hit was the biggest of his career and could really be the turning point in the series. I couldn't be happier for Huff, who has toiled for almost a decade on some really bad teams, and was able to come up with a huge hit in his first trip to the playoffs. Fortunately, Brian Wilson was able to shut the door with a relatively quiet bottom of the 9th to earn his first career postseason save and preserve the 3-2 win. The Giants lead the series two games to one now. Game 4 is tomorrow night in Atlanta.

I can't say enough about how resilient the Giants have been. That's been the story all year and I know these guys don't have any quit in them. What an exciting game and it's even better because my team came away with the win.

In the other National League game tonight, the Phillies defeated the Reds 2-0 in Cincinnati behind a complete game shutout from Cole Hamels. This win meant a series sweep for the Phillies and a berth in the National League Championship Series. When you consider that Hamels is considered Philadelphia's number 3 starter and he just threw a shutout at one of the most hitter friendly ballparks in all of baseball against one of baseball's best offenses it really shows how deep the Phils rotation is. They are going to be a tough out for sure. I like the Phillies a lot but I do feel bad for the Reds who were in the playoffs for the first time in 15 years and didn't even get one win. They did have a pretty magical year, though, and managed to exceed just about everyone's (including mine) expectations. Hats off to the Reds.

In the American League, the Yankees wrapped up a 3 game sweep of the Twins with a 5-1 win in New York last night. The Twins appeared overmatched in Game 3 and to be honest didn't really look the same after they coughed up the 3-0 lead they had in Game 1. The Yankees look like they are going to be tough, but hopefully somebody can beat them.

It's interesting how momentum can change quickly in the playoffs -- especially in a short series. As recently as the end of the 7th inning Saturday in Arlington, the Rangers had all the momentum. They were at home in front of a raucous crowd for Game 3 and had just taken a 2-1 lead in the game. They led the series 2-0 and were six outs away from a sweep and from winning their first ever playoff series. The Rays looked dead in the water and looked like they couldn't score. But then the Rays' bats came alive for 2 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th en route to a 6-3 victory. And then the Rays go back out and win today 5-2 to even the series at 2 and force a deciding Game 5 back in Tampa Bay on Tuesday night. Who knows what will happen, the road team has won every game in that series.

Here's the schedule for the lone game tomorrow:

Game 4 -- San Francisco Giants (Bumgarner) at Atlanta Braves (Lowe), 5:30 p.m. MT (TBS, Giants lead series 2-1)

Utes visit Iowa State tonight

The 10th ranked University of Utah Utes (4-0, 2-0 MWC) visit Iowa State (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) at 5 p.m. MT. The game will be televised on Fox College Sports, available tonight on channel 623 on DirecTV and on expanded Comcast in the Salt Lake area although I am not sure what channel. The Utes face their first real road test because as one of my friends said a good high school team could probably give New Mexico a good game this year.

Under Kyle Whittingham the Utes have traditionally done well with more than one week to prepare and that's what they have now following their 56-3 trouncing of San Jose State two weeks ago. I expect the Utes to be hungry and ready to go tonight, but I don't think it will be all that easy of a game. It's a long trip to Ames, Iowa and the Cyclones will have their sights set on a knocking off a top 10 team.

Iowa State is led by senior quarterback Austin Arnaud who from what I have read can run and throw the ball so the Utes will have to watch out for that. The Cyclones' running game was solid last week also as they had a pair of running backs go over the century mark in Alexander Robinson and Shontrelle Johnson. Of course I do think Utah's defense is more formidable than that of Texas Tech but the Utes still have to be wary of the Cylcones.

I'll take the Utes in a close one on the road. You can follow me on Twitter during the game for updates at twitter.com/dpaysports. I'll be back to blog after the game as well. Go Utes!

Ankiel homer sinks Giants in Game 2

The Atlanta Braves defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-4 in 11 innings last night at AT&T Park. Rick Ankiel hit a mammoth home run off reliever Ramon Ramirez into McCovey Cove in the top of the 11th that was the difference in the game. The Giants struck first on a three run home run by Pat Burrell in the 1st and a Matt Cain RBI single in the 2nd to make it 4-0. Cain was superb in 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one unearned run.

The 8th inning, though, is where things fell apart for the Giants. With a 4-1 lead going into the inning, the Giants called on Sergio Romo who promptly gave up back-to-back hits to start the inning. After this development, manager Bruce Bochy called on Brian Wilson for a six out save. Melky Cabrera reached on an error and a run scored putting the score at 4-2 with runners on 1st and 2nd. Following a sacrifice bunt, Alex Gonzalez doubled in the runners from 2nd and 3rd to tie the game at 4.

The Giants had a chance to win it in the bottom of the 10th as they had the bases loaded with one out. However, Buster Posey grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat. I honestly thought Braves 3rd baseman Troy Glaus was going to throw it home to be sure the winning run scored, but he sent it around the horn instead. The throw to second required a bit of a stretch, but Omar Infante did a great job in making the turn. It was a really solid play and the risk proved to be worth it for the Braves.

The bottom line is that the bullpen did not come through for the Giants and that is what matters. I thought Wilson pitched well and he only gave up the one hit to Gonzalez and the runs that scored in the inning were Romo's plus Cabrera who reached on the Pablo Sandoval error. Wilson looked dominant in a shut down 9th so I don't buy the argument that some people are making that Bochy brought him in too soon. The offense had a good start but didn't do much of anything after that and once again was not able to score on the Braves bullpen.

One development to watch is that Braves closer Billy Wagner had to come out of the game in the bottom of the 10th with an oblique injury and manager Bobby Cox has ruled him out for the remainder of the series. So as unfortunate as the injury is, it could prove beneficial as the Giants face the Braves bullpen at the end of games.

The series is tied 1-1 with Game 3 set for tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. MT on TBS. In the other game yesterday, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Cincinnati Reds 7-4 to take a 2 games to none lead in their best-of-five series. I didn't watch a whole lot of this game, but from what I gather the Reds defense really let them down and helped provide the Phils with a lot of their runs following the Reds taking an early 4-0 lead. Another thing to remember is that the Phillies don't quit so it's not extremely surprising that they were able to come back to win the game.

Here's the schedule for today's playoff games:

Game 3 -- Tampa Bay Rays (Garza) at Texas Rangers (Lewis), 3 p.m. MT (TBS, Rangers lead series 2-0)
Game 3 -- Minnesota Twins (Duensing) at New York Yankees (Hughes), 6:30 p.m. MT (TBS, Yankees lead series 2-0)

Lincecum dominates Braves in Game 1

At left: Giants ace Tim Lincecum delivers a pitch during his complete game shutout against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

Tim Lincecum threw a complete game shutout in leading the San Francisco Giants to a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves tonight in San Francisco. Lincecum was dealing all night, allowing only two hits and one walk in going the distance. Lincecum also set a franchise playoff record with 14 strikeouts in his first ever postseason start. "The Franchise" was outstanding and seemed in control all night. I was happy to see that manager Bruce Bochy let him go all nine innings. The Giants lead the best-of-five series 1 game to none.

Man it was fun to watch tonight. It had been a long time since my favorite team was in the playoffs and to see the festive atmosphere at AT&T Park was just awesome. The fans love it and as a fan, so do I. The Giants got their only run in the 4th inning and benefited from a couple of breaks that went their way. Buster Posey appeared to be out in stealing second base in the inning but was ruled safe on a close play (Posey commented after the game that it's a good thing they don't use instant replay yet). After an intentional walk to Pablo Sandoval, Cody Ross hit a two out single to drive in Posey from second. The ball got under the glove of Braves third baseman Omar Infante and went into left field which allowed for the run to score. The Giants took advantage of the breaks and were able to win the game.

In games earlier in the day, the Texas Rangers hammered the Tampa Bay Rays 6-0 at Tropicana Field and the New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-2. I only caught part of each of those games, but I caught the turning point of the Rangers-Rays game. In the fifth inning and the Rangers holding a 2-0 lead, Texas 3B Michael Young was at the plate against Rays pitcher Chad Qualls with two runners on and one out. On a 2-2 pitch, Young attempted to check his swing, but even in live action appeared to clearly go around on the swing. However, on the appeal to the first base umpire it was ruled that Young did not swing which made the count 3-2. The Rays bench was incensed immediately and became even more so when on the next pitch, Young crushed a 3 run home run to make the score 5-0. Rays manager Joe Maddon went out to argue and was ejected in short order. I don't blame Maddon as that missed call changed the entire complexion of the game. Yes I know the Rangers were already ahead, but there is a huge difference between a 2-0 and a 5-0 game. Who knows, there is a good chance the Rangers would have won anyway as the Rays have had a lot of trouble scoring, but there definitely was a lot more pressure on Tampa Bay after that.

There was a similar situation in the Twins-Yankees game as Lance Berkman was not rung up on a pitch that could have been called strike three and subsequently hit an RBI double. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was ejected for arguing that one. The Yankees just disgust me on so many levels, but they do play some good baseball. I don't want to dwell too much more on them right now.

So looking back, all 3 games had tough calls. I would say the team with the biggest gripe was the Rays, with the Twins and Braves having lesser gripes. The calls against the Twins and Braves were at least reasonably close and could be construed as questionable (the umpire appeared to have a tough angle on Posey's steal of second, although replays clearly showed he was out) even if it appears that the calls were missed. The call against the Rays, though, in my book was blatantly missed and when you add to the fact that a 3 run home run was hit on the next pitch, well that's a tough one to swallow. But I'm sure the Rangers, Yankees and Giants are all taking them. I know I'm not putting an asterisk by the Giants win tonight. The fact is umpires are human and miss calls for better or worse and teams sometimes have to overcome them. However, some calls are so bad that there isn't an excuse for missing them and I feel the non-call on Young's checked swing was one of them. But the Rays can't dwell too much on that as they have to focus on their next game on Saturday. It's in the past now and the Rays certainly didn't take advantage of opportunities they had to win. Part of the game is playing the cards you are dealt even if it doesn't seem fair.

Here's the schedule for the playoffs tomorrow:

Game 2 -- Cincinnati Reds (Arroyo) at Philadelphia Phillies (Oswalt), 4 p.m. MT (TBS, Phillies lead series 1-0)
Game 2 -- Atlanta Braves (Hanson) at San Francisco Giants (Cain), 7:30 p.m. MT (TBS, Giants lead series 1-0)

One more thought on the action today: Don't get me wrong as I still believe the Rangers, Yankees and Giants all played well enough to win and their victories should not be viewed as tainted. I'm excited for Game 2 from AT&T Park tomorrow night. It should be another electric atmosphere and be a lot of fun to watch. Go Giants!

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!

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)

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.

Giants win the West!

At left: 3B Pablo Sandoval hugs CF Andres Torres (56) after the Giants defeated the Padres 3-0 to clinch the NL West.

The San Francisco Giants (92-70) topped the San Diego Padres (90-72) to win the National League West on Sunday afternoon. The offense was supplied by RBI hits by Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff, both of which came on the heels of a triple from pitcher Jonathan Sanchez, as well as a home run by Buster Posey in the 8th inning. Jonathan Sanchez threw five strong, scoreless innings and the bullpen was able to close the door. Brian Wilson worked a 1-2-3 9th inning to record his franchise record tying 48th save of the year.

It was really awesome to watch the Giants clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2003. It's just an incredible feeling to watch your favorite team accomplish something that they have worked so hard for. It's a long season and to win the division on the final day is quite an accomplishment. That's another thing about baseball that I love: the regular season means so much. In no other sport do you see guys celebrating a playoff berth this way. Every year there are good teams (like the Padres this year) who don't make the playoffs which makes getting there all the more special. I like that the season has been watered down and that you have to be one of the top teams just to get to the playoffs, unlike in other sports where about half the teams make it, often with records hovering around the .500 mark.

With the win, the Padres were eliminated and the Atlanta Braves (91-71) won the Wild Card following their 8-7 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies (97-65) earlier in the day. The Giants and Braves meet for Game 1 of their best-of-five series on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. MT on TBS. I'm really excited to have my guys in the playoffs. It should be a fun ride. Go Giants!

Game 162

The San Francisco Giants (91-70) host the San Diego Padres (90-71) in the last scheduled game of the regular season today at 2:05 p.m. MT. For some reason, the game doesn't appear to be scheduled for national TV so you'll have to catch it on MLB Extra Innings or mlb.tv. Jonathan Sanchez starts for the Giants and Mat Latos goes for the Padres. The first place Giants have lost the first two games of the weekend series to the second place Padres, but can still clinch the National League West with a win today.

The Atlanta Braves (90-71) are currently tied with the Padres for the National League Wild Card. The Braves host the Philadelphia Phillies (97-64) today and currently lead 6-2 in the bottom of the 5th inning. The Phillies have already assured themselves of home field advantage throughout the playoffs, but have still beaten the Braves in the first two games of that series.

No matter what happens, the Giants cannot be eliminated from the playoffs today. If the Braves hold on to win and the Giants lose, then it would set up a couple of play in games for the Giants in which they would only have to win one. If all that comes into play, I will set the scene for you later. But I say, just win today and clinch the West and not have to worry about any of that.

I'm pretty nervous about the game today, it's the biggest one all year. I will say that the Giants have been resilient and I don't expect them to go down without a fight today. Sanchez and Latos are not particularly beloved in the respective opposing teams' clubhouses so the pitching match-up today should be a fun one. Go Giants!

Mullets (ew), Giants (mullet-free) in first

I just saw a picture of Rays (94-64) third baseman Evan Longoria sporting what looks like a mullet. Say it ain't so Evan. It's bad enough that Rockies (83-75) short stop Troy Tulowitzki has one, we just don't need this trend to spread. It's just bad news. Let's hope noone else in baseball stoops to this level.

Also, the Giants (90-68) beat the Diamondbacks (64-94) 3-1 tonight to stay two up on the San Diego Padres (88-70) in the NL West. Tim Lincecum was masterful in allowing just one run through 7 innings and Pat "The Bat" Burrell hit a big 3 run homer in the 4th. The Giants are playing well right now and have to be considered the favorite to win the division at this point. Their pitching has been good on a historical level this month and lately they have been getting the timely hits they need. There are just four games to play and the last three are against the Padres. The Giants could have the chance to close things out as early as Friday night.

13th-ranked Utes host San Jose State tonight

The 13th-ranked Utah Utes (3-0, 2-0 MWC) host the San Jose State Spartans (1-2, 0-0 WAC) tonight at 6 p.m. MT at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Unfortunately the game will not be televised. However, it is available on AM ESPN 700 in Salt Lake City and online on the radio via kall700sports.com. I am fortunate enough to have a ticket to the game so I will be there and providing updates via my Twitter account at twitter.com/dpaysports.

The Spartans are coming off a 16-11 win over I-AA Southern Utah last Saturday in San Jose. They don't look like a very good team and shouldn't be much of a threat to the Utes tonight. I'm looking for another comfortable win and I'll be disappointed if the game is even close. Jordan Wynn may get back in the line-up tonight after missing the last two games with an injured thumb, but I don't think the Utes should put him out there until he is ready. Terrance Cain will go if Wynn is still banged up.

If you can't get to the game and need something to watch tonight, check out the Giants (87-67) at the Rockies (82-71) at 6:10 p.m. MT here locally on FSN Rocky Mountain and nationally on MLB Network, MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. The Giants got a big win in the series opener last night, winning 2-1 behind 8 dominant innings from Tim Lincecum. The Giants lead the Padres (86-67) by a half-game in the NL West. The Padres host the Reds (86-68) at 2:10 p.m. on FOX this afternoon.

Giants face Cubs tonight, then big series against Rocks

My San Francisco Giants (85-67) lost to the Chicago Cubs (69-82) 2-0 last night and once again failed to score. It's been very frustrating to watch and I think that the offense is pressing. Once they get a few runs, then they have tended to pile on as evident on Sunday when Jose Guillen hit a first inning grand slam against the Brewers (70-81) and the Giants cruised to a 9-2 victory. But in Chicago it's been more of the tenseness, but fortunately the pitching has been good enough that we have split the first two games against the Cubs despite scoring only 1 run on a Buster Posey home run Tuesday. Tonight is the series finale and the Giants have to look at it as one they have to win as the Padres (85-66) have moved back in first place by a half-game. Rookie Madison Bumgarner pitches tonight for the Giants. First pitch is slated for just after 5 p.m. MT.

The big series this weekend is in Denver against the Rockies (82-69) who have fortunately lost the last two nights to the Diamondbacks (61-91). But if the Rockies sweep it could still have an adverse affect on the Giants. We should shoot for at least trying to win the series. Oh, and a Giants win tonight would guarantee them at the very least pulling into a tie in the Wild Card with the Atlanta Braves (86-67) who currently lead it by a half-game but are off tonight. So that would be some good news.

Utes drop New Mexico 56-14

At left: QB Terrance Cain had a big night in Albuquerque.

The 14th ranked Utah Utes beat the New Mexico Lobos by a score of 56-14 in Albuquerque on Saturday night. Backup quarterback Terrance Cain once again got the start with Jordan Wynn still out with an injured thumb. Cain was outstanding, throwing for 248 yards and 3 touchdowns while connecting on 20 of 23 passes. Cain also rushed for a score just before halftime at the end of a drive where he executed the Utes' two minute offense to perfection.

The offense and defense both looked really good and the game was just a laugher. The only concerning thing was that there were three fumbles by the Utah offense, so hopefully they get that cleaned up. There really wasn't a whole lot to be concerned about but we have to remember that New Mexico is simply a really bad team. The Utes face another really bad team on Saturday when San Jose State visits Rice-Eccles Stadium. Utah is looking really good and I'm feeling good about this team. I expect that they will continue to have a really good year.

Utes visit Lobos in first road game

In college football tonight, the 14th ranked Utah Utes (2-0, 1-0 Mountain West Conference) visit the New Mexico Lobos (0-2, 0-0 MWC) at 6 p.m. at University Stadium in Albuquerque. The game will be televised on the mtn. which is channels 616 and 616-1 (HD) on DirecTV and channel 37 on Comcast in the Salt Lake City area.

Terrance Cain is once again expected to get the start for the Utes in place of Jordan Wynn who is nursing an injured thumb. Cain looked solid against UNLV last week and I expect more of the same tonight. The Utes' defense has looked really strong in the first two games of the year and I expect them to have little trouble with New Mexico, which is coming off a 1-win season last year and has looked horrible in their first two games. The Lobos lost 72-0 at Oregon in their first game and dropped their home opener last week to Texas Tech 52-17.

I expect the Utes to win big tonight. New Mexico has really struggled under new coach Mike Locksley who is in his second year. I expect those struggles will continue tonight. Utah should by three touchdowns at a bare minimum and probably will win by more than that.

Giants move into first place

For the first time since May 6, and the first time in September since 2003, the San Francisco Giants (83-64) have moved into sole possession of first place in the National League West. It became official after the San Diego Padres (82-64) lost to the St. Louis Cardinals (75-70) and the Giants followed that up with a 10-2 beat down of the hated Dodgers (72-75).

It was a great feeling when the Giants recorded that third out in the 9th inning to know that they are now in first place and that they are now the ones being chased rather than doing the chasing. I know it's just a half-game lead and that every game matters, but it's still a different feeling to be in first. Here's to hoping that the Giants keep it up with 15 games to play on the year.

Last night Jonathan Sanchez was really good and simply dealing through 7 innings last night. He had a career high 12 strikeouts and looked like he was in complete control throughout. Aubrey Huff had a big three run home run that was immediately followed by a solo shot from Buster Posey and Jose Guillen had a monster two run home run of his own. The offense looked really good throughout. Huff has been such a bargain this year and been the Giants' best offensive player throughout, leading the team in avg. (.294), home runs (25), and RBIs (84). And of course Posey is an NL Rookie of the Year candidate. The offense was really hitting well last night and hopefully they keep it up.

The Giants start a 3 game series at home against the Milwaukee Brewers (67-78) tonight with the three games starting at 8:15, 7:05 and 2:05 p.m. MT Friday through Sunday. All three games are available via MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. Madison Bumgarner goes against Randy Wolf tonight, Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito start the final two games of the series against the Giants. The Padres continue their series in St. Louis and the Rockies (80-66) who are 2.5 games out play the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

NL West and Wild Card tight heading down stretch

My San Francisco Giants (82-64) are a half-game back of the San Diego Padres (82-63) for the lead in the National League West and a half-game back of the Atlanta Braves (83-64) in the Wild Card chase. A win tonight in the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers (72-74) at AT&T Park at 8:15 p.m. MT on mlb.tv would put the Giants in a dead heat with the Braves. The Padres are losing on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals (74-70) by a score of 2-0 in the 6th inning and if they lose the Giants could move into sole possession of first place with a victory tonight.

The Colorado Rockies (80-66) are 2.5 games back in the West and Wild Card races as of this moment and have just been cooled off by losing 2 of 3 at home to the Padres following a ten game win streak. Thankfully the Rockies are headed on the road (starting with a three game series at Chavez Ravine against the Dodgers this weekend) where they are just 29-42.

The Giants have been playing some good baseball as of late, particularly taking 3 of 4 in San Diego last weekend. Tuesday night was a tough 1-0 loss to the Dodgers on an unearned run; Barry Zito pitched well enough to win. Matt Cain was outstanding through 7 last night and the offense finally came to life with a pinch-hit double by Travis Ishikawa in the bottom of the 7th. Pinch-runner Emmanuel Burriss came around to score from third on a clutch two-out single by Mike Fotenot to give the Giants the lead. They added a run in the 8th and went on to win 2-1. A win would be big tonight for the Giants -- they have been chasing for a while and after tonight they could be in the position of being the ones being chased in the West. Jonathan Sanchez starts for the Giants and Ted Lilly goes for the Dodgers.

One of my favorite players in all of baseball, Giants center fielder Andres Torres, had an emergency appendectomy early Sunday morning and will be out for at least a week or two from when it happened. Torres really has been the spark-plug at the top of the lineup this season for the Giants so hopefully he isn't out too long and can fully recover in a relatively short amount of time. It's just a tough break, there isn't really anything you can do about that, but at least the appendix didn't burst before they removed it. I'm hoping to see Torres back realistically in about a week and a half.

Utes handle Rebels to open MWC play

The 20th ranked Utah Utes (2-0, 1-0 MWC) defeated the UNLV Rebels (0-2, 0-1 MWC) 38-10 on Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City. Terrance Cain started at quarterback in place of sophomore Jordan Wynn, who was nursing an injured thumb. Cain looked pretty good and seemed better than last year. He didn't make any major mistakes or turn the ball over plus he looked pretty accurate on most of his passes. I remember in the game at Oregon last year Cain went basically two quarters without completing a pass and had a substantial streak of incompletions. Such was not the case on Saturday as Cain looked better. He even threw the deep ball accurately, notably on a 55 yard touchdown pass to Shaky Smithson in the third quarter.

Speaking of Smithson, he had a huge game. Not only did he have that long TD reception but he also had a 70ish yard dazzling punt return for a score that was just awesome. He put on some great moves and looked really solid. It really was a redemption type game since he had fumbled twice the previous week against Pittsburgh.

I thought one of the key plays in the game was right before halftime with the Utes leading 10-3 and punting inside of one minute to go. UNLV fumbled on the punt return and Utah recovered around the 20 yard line. On the first play following the recovery by Eddie Wide, Cain threw a perfect touchdown pass and the Utes led 17-3 at the break. I think Utah already had some momentum heading into the locker room but that really ratcheted it up a notch.

Although the game was tied at 3 at the end of the first quarter it never really seemed like Utah was in significant danger of losing the game. Once the Utes were ahead by 14 at halftime it felt like the Rebels didn't have much of a chance. The only concerning matter was that Utah had a punt blocked for the second straight week, this one returned for UNLV's only touchdown of the day. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said it was his top priority to straighten that out and I hope it gets taken care of. If punts keep getting blocked eventually it will catch up to the Utes.

All in all I thought the Utes looked quite impressive on Saturday afternoon; it was a great way to open up their final season in the Mountain West Conference -- hopefully a conference championship year. It was a lot of fun to be there and I felt that Utah took care of business the way they should have. The Utes have moved up to 14th in both major polls this week. Hopefully Wynn isn't on the shelf for too long, but I'm confident in Cain to fill in in the interim. The Utes face their first road test this Saturday night at 6 p.m. MT against the New Mexico Lobos. I'll have a preview of that one before then; my apologies for the tardiness of this blog.

Utes begin farewell tour with UNLV

The 20th ranked Utah Utes begin their farewell tour of the Mountain West Conference with a 2 p.m. MT home game against UNLV on Saturday afternoon. The game will be televised on The Mtn. which is channels 616 and 616-1 (HD) on DirecTv and channel 37 on Comcast Cable in the Salt Lake City area. This of course will be the final season that the Utes are in the MWC before joining the Pac-10 next year and it's difficult to foresee them playing some of these teams in the near future. I don't see them playing UNLV for quite some time, so it should be good to leave them something to remember us by.

The Utes looked very talented to me in the win over then 15th ranked Pittsburgh last week and looked like the better team for the better part of the game. There were, however, way too many mistakes in the opener, which I guess is to be expected when the season starts. Let's hope the Utes have cleaned those up and are focused for the conference opener.

The defense in particular looked strong against Pittsburgh with the exception of the blown coverage on Pitt's long 4th quarter touchdown pass that put them right back in striking distance. I think the defense will help to anchor the team all season long. I thought Jordan Wynn looked pretty sharp overall, not great but good. I'm fully confident in him being the quarterback for the Utes not just this year but as we move into the Pac-10 as well. I think the offense should have a pretty big day and that the defense will be staunch against inferior competition. The Utes should win by at least a couple of touchdowns.

I will again be at this game (even though it is at the same time as the big Giants-Padres showdown -- DVR is set by the way) and providing updates via twitter. You can follow me there at twitter.com/dpaysports. And of course I'll be back here on the blog after the game for my thoughts. Go Utes!

Giants now in virtual tie

The San Francisco Giants (80-62) defeated the San Diego Padres (79-61) 1-0 tonight to move into a virtual tie atop the National League West and take the first two games of the four game series at Petco Park. The only run scored on a fielder's choice in the seventh inning as Aubrey Huff took home on a ground ball to third. The Padres tried to turn an inning-ending double play, but pinch runner Nate Schierholtz had an impressive take out slide at second and Juan Uribe was just able to beat the relay to first allowing Huff to score. The Giants' pitching was great all night (although Jonathan Sanchez had a lot of walks he was able to pitch around them) and Brian Wilson was able to lock things down with a five out save. Wilson was again very impressive and I feel lucky to have such a great closer on my favorite team.

The Colorado Rockies (77-64) defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks (57-84) 13-4 in Denver to win their 8th straight game. They now trail the Padres and Giants by 2.5 games in the West. I'm getting really sick of the Rockies winning. Somebody start beating them. Please.

The Giants and Padres resume the series at 2:10 p.m. MT on FOX Saturday afternoon. Madison Bumgarner goes for the Giants and Tim Stauffer gets the start for the Padres. Hopefully the Giants can take sole possession of first place.

In other baseball news, Blue Jays (72-69) out fielder Jose Bautista hit two more home runs tonight and now has a Major League leading 46 on the year. He's having a monster year at the plate and it's really impressive to see. The Blue Jays are a fun team to watch and I feel like with a little more pitching and experience they could make some noise next year. The Rays (85-55) won the game 9-8 in Toronto tonight despite Bautista's homers and that combined with the Yankees (87-54) losing 6-5 in 13 innings to the Rangers (78-63) pulled Tampa Bay within 1.5 games in the AL East.

Giants take opener from Padres

My San Francisco Giants (79-62) won the opener of a four game series at Petco Park in San Diego tonight against the Padres (79-60) by a score of 7-3. The game featured Giants home runs by Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe, Buster Posey and Pat Burrell. The offense really got the job done tonight. Matt Cain pitched 8+ strong innings, giving up 3 earned runs. The Giants now sit just one game back in the National League West and thanks to Atlanta's (80-61) loss to St. Louis (73-65) now are just one back in the Wild Card as well.

Now the focus turns to tomorrow night's game which gets underway at 8:05 p.m. MT and will be televised on MLB Network as well as MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. Jonathan Sanchez pitches for the Giants and Clayton Richard goes for the Padres. I feel confident that Sanchez will be able to pitch well tomorrow, he seems to be in a good groove of late and it seems like he pitches well against the Padres.

Oh and the NFL got underway tonight with the home-standing New Orleans Saints (1-0) knocking off the Minnesota Vikings (0-1) by a score of 14-9 in a rematch of last season's NFC Championship Game. It was a lower scoring match-up than I expected, but it sounds like the Saints are still happy with the win. I didn't watch much of the game as my focus was more on the Giants-Padres game tonight. I look forward to seeing how my Philadelphia Eagles do this year. They open the season at home Sunday at 2:15 p.m. MT against the Green Bay Packers.

NL West is tight going down the stretch

The San Francisco Giants (78-61) won their fourth straight game last night, dropping the Arizona Diamondbacks (56-83) 6-3 in Phoenix. Tim Lincecum was dominant for six innings before giving up a few runs in the 7th. I think he's going to be dynamite down the stretch. I was also glad to see Aubrey Huff hit his 23rd home run in the first inning last night as he's been scuffling of late. The offense is looking pretty good. Now we just have to hope Barry Zito can regain the form he had earlier in the season. He starts tonight at Arizona at 7:40 p.m. MT on Fox Sports Arizona.

The Giants trail the San Diego Padres (78-59) by one game in the NL West and the Atlanta Braves (79-60) by one game in the Wild Card. The Braves fell out of first place for the first time since the end of May last night after losing to the Pirates (47-91) and the Phillies (80-60) taking advantage with a win over the Marlins (70-68). The Padres have won the past two nights against the Dodgers (69-70) following a ten game losing streak. Last night, though, San Diego had to call on closer Heath Bell for a five out save, so hopefully at least that tires him out a little bit in advance of the big four game series at Petco Park with the Giants this weekend. It looks like the Padres are starting to feel the pressure of the pennant race. Just one more game and then it's time for the big series which I'm pretty excited for.

Boise State gets huge win

Tonight I watched a good portion of (3) Boise State defeating (10) Virginia Tech by a score of 33-30 in a de facto road game for the Broncos being played in Washington, D.C. The most impressive part of the game for me was when Boise State took the ball with two minutes remaining, no timeouts left and trailing 30-26. The Broncos, behind star quarterback Kellen Moore, drove down the field (after benefiting from a punt return that allowed them to start at their own 45) and took the lead. This game definitely lived up to the hype and was exciting right down to the end. It looks like Boise State may be deserving of the accolades they have received after winning in a hostile environment against a top-10 team. I just hope their ranking doesn't end up getting in Utah's way in terms of BCS qualification.

By far the most exciting finish of the weekend came when Jacksonville State defeated Ole Miss by a score of 49-48 in double overtime after trailing 31-10 at halftime (on the road). The Rebels led 48-41 in the second overtime and Jacksonville State (a I-AA school, now referred to as FCS) converted a 4th and 15 for a long touchdown pass and then proceeded to go for two. The Gamecocks pulled off the victory on a nifty dump-off pass to the running back. I love seeing huge upsets like that and when it's coupled with coming in such dramatic fashion it just makes it very, very exciting. Stuff like that is what helps make college football so great. I'm glad I was able to see the end of that game.

Utes top Pitt

What a game that was last night! Utah beat #15 Pittsburgh 27-24 in overtime. The Utes made a number of mistakes and I really felt that they should have won the game in regulation and by a wider margin. I thought they outplayed Pitt, especially after the first quarter. But a win is a win and it's really cool that we were able to knock off a ranked team to start the season. This should get the Utes into the AP Poll this week as well as move them up in the Coaches Poll. I'm short on time right now, but I just wanted to get in how exciting of a win that was. Go Utes!

Utah football begins tomorrow night!

The Utah Utes open up their 2010 season at home tomorrow night against the #15 Pittsburgh Panthers. The game is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. MT and will be televised on Versus which is channel 603 on DirecTV and channel 34 on Comcast in Salt Lake City.

Pittsburgh is picked by man to win the Big East this year and should provide a stiff challenge for the Utes right out of the gate. Pitt's top player is sophomore running back and Heisman Trophy candidate Dion Lewis who rushed for 1,799 yards as a freshman last season. Lewis is definitely a game-breaker type who should make things very interesting, not to mention difficult for the Utes. However, Pittsburgh is breaking in a new quarterback this year in sophomore Tino Sunseri and though I am sure he is a talented player, I think it will take some time for him to break in with the offense, particularly on the road. Utah's defense is typically strong and I expect the same this year. Lewis will get some yards but the scoring won't be too outlandish.

On offense I think the Utes are set up quite well with returning starters at all the key positions. Sophomore quarterback Jordan Wynn showed flashes of greatness last year and has a great arm not to mention good decision making abilities. I think Wynn will lead a potent offense this year starting tomorrow night. Notably returning at wide receiver in Jereme Brooks of whom I expect there will be some big plays this year -- he is a solid target for Wynn to throw to. And of course in the backfield there is a two-headed monster of Eddie Wide (who rushed for over 1,000 yards last season) and Matt Asiata (coming back from an injury shortened year). Asiata is more of a power back and Wide provides more speed. I am very confident in both of them. They have both shown they can be effective and have experience on their side.

I expect Pittsburgh's defense to be tough, but I think Utah will get enough points to win in a close one. Lewis will do his fair share of damage on the offensive end for the Panthers, but Utah has a stout defense themselves and a number of weapons offensively. The two teams are pretty evenly matched and in a game like that I'm going to have to go with the home team.

I will be at the game in person and providing updates on my Twitter feed for which the address is twitter.com/dpaysports. And of course I will be back on here after the game to blog with my thoughts. Go Utes!

My 2010 MWC Football picks

Football season is less than 24 hours away here in Salt Lake City, so it's time for my 2010 Mountain West Conference Football prognostications. Here's how I see the conference shaking out this year:

1. Utah
2. TCU
3. BYU
4. Air Force
5. Wyoming
6. San Diego State
7. UNLV
8. Colorado State
9. New Mexico

I think Utah will win the Conference in large part because they have both TCU and BYU at home. I think the TCU game will be the toughest home game of the year but I think the Utes will feed off the crowd and pull it out in a close one. I'm not seeing an undefeated season for the Utes, but I do see a conference title. TCU is the favorite in most people's books and their talent should be enough to win most games, plus they get BYU at home. BYU always seems to have its way with Air Force as well as the lower tier of the league, so they are an easy pick for 3rd. Air Force could make some noise and I particularly think Utah's late October visit to Colorado Springs is a dangerous game. Wyoming and San Diego State appear to be on a bit of an upswing and I don't really expect much from UNLV, Colorado State and New Mexico (more than 1 win this year and no choking incidents on the coaching staff would be a nice improvement for the Lobos). I'm pretty stoked for tomorrow night's game and I'll have more posted on that here shortly.

BYU officially independent in football

Well it is finally official: BYU is going independent in football beginning next season. They will join the West Coast Conference in all other sports. I have already chronicled my thoughts on the blog before, but to recap I think the move will likely create more revenue and exposure (at least in the regular season) but will probably make it harder for them to access the BCS. BYU will likely not be able to have the scheduling power and BCS automatic access guarantees that fellow independent Notre Dame has. It is really tough not to be tied into a conference, but BYU definitely has resources that could help it to at least remain competitive. I think it will make it harder competitively in the long haul, however, unless they do join another conference at some point. If it was me in charge of the decision I probably would have stayed in the Mountain West Conference and worked out some sort of new television package if at all possible.

As for the men's basketball program, I think the Mountain West Conference is definitely a better conference top to bottom than the West Coast Conference but the WCC is more top heavy with Gonzaga and to a lesser extent Saint Mary's which made a run to the Sweet 16 last season. I don't know that it will be a huge drop-off, but I think it will be a drop-off nonetheless. There are some bad teams and bad programs in the WCC that have been down for a while that will really hurt BYU's strength of schedule. BYU does significantly help the conference, though, and should help it to be a bit more of a player nationally. I would put it just a step down from the Mountain West at this point in basketball.

Perhaps the biggest loser in all of this is Utah State. To seem my full thoughts on the subject, simply scroll down the blog. It now appears more than ever though, that USU made a big mistake in turning down the Mountain West. They are now left in what is barely still a conference in the WAC.

Giants get big bounce back win

The San Francisco Giants (73-60) got a nice 5-2 bounce back win over the Colorado Rockies (69-62) at AT&T Park. A loss would have allowed the Rockies to tie the Giants in the loss column so this win allowed them to create a little distance in the standings. There's another big game tomorrow night at 7:15 p.m. MT on FSN Rocky Mountain with Tim Lincecum and Ubaldo Jimenez squaring off. A win would allow for a winning homestand leading into a big 10-game road trip. The Phillies (74-58) won tonight so they remain 1.5 games up on the Giants, but San Francisco did pick up a game on the Padres (76-55) who lost to the Diamondbacks (54-79) tonight. San Diego now leads the Giants by 4 games and has lost a season high six straight games.

Madison Bumgarner threw six strong innings tonight and even hit an RBI double in the 5th inning to give the Giants a 2-1 lead. In such a crucial game, it was very impressive for a kid just barely 21 to have such a good performance.

After Melvin Mora hit a tying home run in the top of the 8th off of Jeremy Affedlt it appeared the Rockies had the momentum. However, the Giants showed that resiliency that they have been showing all year. Andres Torres hit a home run in the bottom half of the 8th that just can't be talked about enough. It was a huge homer in so many ways because it gave the Giants the lead right back as well as stopping the Colorado momentum. Buster Posey's two-run double was big-time as well as it provided breathing room for closer Brian Wilson who had a shut down 9th inning to complete the win.

Giants defense falters in 9th

I remember a line that longtime White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson said when I was watching a game as a little kid: "And the walk. The dreaded lead-off walk." The White Sox were up 4 runs that day in the 9th inning and gave up a "dreaded" lead-off walk that came around to score for the Blue Jays. The White Sox were able to win that game and were fortunate that they had a multi-run lead to work with that day.

Tonight as I watched the Giants take on the Rockies, the term of dreaded lead-off walk was very applicable. The Giants took a 1-0 lead in the 5th off of an RBI single by Buster Posey that followed two walks to start the inning from Rockies pitcher Jorge De La Rosa. In the 9th, Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez walked Dexter Fowler to begin the inning. Fowler came around to score on a triple by Carlos Gonzalez off of Giants closer Brian Wilson. Gonzalez scored on a throwing error that went into the dugout on the play. Huston Street retired the Giants in order in the bottom half for a 2-1 Rockies win.

Fact is lead-off walks often come around to score. You put a guy on base for free to start an inning and the other team still has all three outs to work with to get the guy around. They can even score him without a base hit in some instances with enough well-placed outs. It's just a tough way to start an inning and I feel has a much more negative impact on a team's psyche than does a lead-off single. A lead-off walk feels like you just gave something away and that in itself gives the other team momentum. A single to start an inning isn't optimal, but at least the hitter has earned his way on.

In my book, the key at-bat of the night was Sanchez walking Fowler, who had fallen behind 0-2 and still worked a walk. Granted, this whole thing might have been different if right fielder Cody Ross hadn't misjudged the ball that turned into a triple for Gonzalez. That ball simply should have been caught and instead of being down 2-1 with nobody out it should have remained a 1-0 Giants lead with one out and a man on first. That's a big difference. It could be argued that Fowler would have scored easily on Ryan Spilborghs' triple later in the inning to tie the game and he would have. But the momentum may or may not have been different. And in any case that would have only resulted in a tie game instead of the Giants being behind. It was just a crushing loss. Ross should have made the play and the throwing error by Freddy Sanchez that allowed Gonzalez to score from third didn't help. The defense let the team down and has to be better if they are going to make a playoff push.

The Rockies improved to 69-61 while the Giants dropped to 72-60. The Rockies are now two back of the Giants for second in the West and the Giants still trail the Padres (76-54) by five games. San Diego lost at Arizona (53-79) tonight to extend their season worst losing streak to five games. It's too bad the Giants haven't been able to take more advantage of that. The Phillies (73-58) still lead the Giants in the Wild Card chase by 1.5 games and now trail the Braves (76-55) by 3 games in the NL East. The Reds (76-55) have a pretty good lead in the Central over the Cardinals (69-60) at six games.

All this being said, the Giants are still very much in the Wild Card race and need to turn it around starting tomorrow night against the Rockies. Madison Bumgarner goes for the Giants and is countered by right hander Esmil Rogers of the Rockies.

Starting pitching struggling for Giants

The Giants (71-59) have lost the last two nights at home to the Diamondbacks (52-78) behind poor starting pitching from Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito. Zito in particular had a rough week. I feel for him, he really seems to put it all out there when he pitches. But the fact is that the starting pitching just has to be better or this team just isn't going anywhere. Bruce Bochy said as much after the game and even had a closed-door meeting with his starting pitchers, in which I can only imagine that he gave a sever chastisement that Zito said was deserved. Matt Cain goes tomorrow and he actually did have a solid start on Monday against the Reds (74-55) so hopefully he can build on that starting tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. MT.

The Giants trail the Phillies (72-57) by 1.5 games in the Wild Card chase and the Padres (76-52), who have dropped to in a row to the Phils, by 6 games in the National League West. The Wild Card in particular is very much in reach and even the divisional race isn't totally out of hand. There's a lot of baseball to be played and I think the Giants will at least make things interesting down the stretch.

In Washington D.C. tonight, Nationals (55-75) out fielder Nyjer Morgan went out of his way to bump into Cardinals (69-58) catcher Bryan Anderson as Morgan was crossing home plate to score. Anderson wasn't even blocking the plate and Morgan went out of his way to bump into him. Just a very unsportsmanlike play. That sort of thing is totally uncalled for. Morgan just seems like a total head case to me. The Nats defeated the Cards 14-5 in the game.

Giants almost complete comeback, big day for Rockies

The San Francisco Giants (71-57) overcame a 10-1 deficit in the 5th inning of Wednesday afternoon's game against the Cincinnati Reds (73-54) to take an 11-10 lead in the 8th inning only to lose in 12 innings by a 12-11 score. I DVR'd the game and wasn't really paying much attention to it after the Reds took a big lead but started really watching in the 8th inning after Juan Uribe hit a 3-run home run to cut the lead to 10-8. Then a few batters later, Andres Torres doubled home the tying runs, then scored himself to give the Giants an 11-10 lead. I've been really impressed with the offense this home series and hope the team continues to swing the bats well at home.

The Reds rallied for the tie in the top of the 9th, then scored the winning run in the 12th on an RBI single by MVP and Triple Crown candidate Joey Votto. Votto also hit two home runs in the game and it's safe to say the Reds wouldn't have won without him. As Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said after the game, that's what an MVP candidate does, comes through for you when you need him. He's really a big time player and will keep the Reds right in the thick of things deep into the season.

The Giants remain one game back of the Phillies (70-56) in the Wild Card race and now trail the Padres (76-49) by 6.5 games. The Phils have lost three straight at home to the Astros (57-69). The Padres just never seem to lose and are starting to run away with the West. The Phillies still trail the Braves (73-54) in the East by 2.5 games.

Speaking of the Braves, they coughed up a 10-1 3rd inning lead to the Rockies (66-60) in Denver and ended up losing 12-10. You never can count the Rockies out at home and they showed why again in this games. Truly a remarkable comeback and when you think that the Giants almost completed a comeback from the same deficit on the same afternoon you have to think it was a day of historic proportions. Hats off to the Rockies, that is quite the achievement. The Rockies are now 41-20 at home; that mark is second only to (ironically) the Braves who are 44-17 at Turner Field in Atlanta.

Pitch counts playing too large a role

Texas Rangers (70-54) starter Rich Harden was pulled from his start against the Minnesota Twins (72-53) with two outs in the top of the seventh inning last night despite not having given up a hit to that point. This comes within a couple of weeks of the Twins pulling starter Kevin Slowey after he had a no-hitter through seven innings. In both cases the bullpen was not able to hold down the combined no-hitter. Both managers said that their decisions were based on pitch counts and wanting to save their respective pitchers' arms for later in the season.

I get that you want to preserve pitchers' arms and all that, but I think too much is made of pitch counts. I think if a pitcher hasn't given up a hit, then he is probably okay to keep pitching until he does. I think a pitcher deserves that. Edwin Jackson, then of the Arizona Diamondbacks (49-76) was allowed to throw 149 pitches by then-manager A.J. Hinch in his no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays (77-48) earlier this season. I think that was the right cause and Jackson does not appear to have suffered any ill effects from the additional pitches.

I think too much is being made out of pitch counts and I especially feel this about the way the Nationals (53-72) have handled rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg this year and how the Yankees (77-48) babied along Joba Chamberlain a couple of years ago. I think if Strasburg is pitching well, then he should be allowed to go back out there provided he is putting in the requisite conditioning work. I think the said work would be evident in how well he pitches late into a game -- if he has been pitching well then he deserves to stay out there.

I have seen multiple times where a starter was dealing through 7 or 8 innings but then was removed because "the pitch count got him." One that comes to mind are a game I watched last year when Cliff Lee was pitching for the Indians (50-74) against the Cubs (52-74) at Wrigley Field and was just dealing. However, once he was removed from the game for pitch count restrictions, the Cubs won the game in the late innings. Another is from two years ago when Johan Santana absolutely shut down the Phillies (70-54) for the Mets (62-62) at Shea Stadium through 8 innings. But as you can probably guess the pitch count got him and the Phils rallied for a huge, come-from-behind 9th inning against an anemic Mets bullpen to get the win. I feel that if these pitchers had been left in these games that there teams would have had a much higher percentage chance of winning those ballgames.

I'm glad that my team, the Giants (70-56) seem to subscribe to more of (though probably not wholly) the old-school philosophy of letting their starting pitchers throw a lot of pitchers and remain out there deep into games. A lot of rookie pitchers are being capped at 150 innings and being forced to postpone or miss starts or go to the bullpen in order to not go over their limit. Matt Cain pitched 190 innings in his rookie season and is one of the better pitchers in the National League today. He seems to be doing fine. The Giants commonly let their starters throw 120 pitches, which is more than a lot of teams, and they are rewarded by doing so. Their staff is still one of the most solid in the game.

I think the long-term effects of throwing a lot of pitches in games have been exaggerated. Early in the 20th century it was not unheard of for guys like Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson to win 30 games in a year -- and I think their careers certainly weren't any worse off for it. Nowadays for whatever reason (paranoia?) that just doesn't happen anymore.

Aubrey Huff, funny MLB things

Here's a really great article that I just read on espn.com about Giants slugger Aubrey Huff:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=5479224

I really enjoyed reading this. Huff has been our best offensive player all year and seems to be a great clubhouse presence as well. He really has a desire to win and enjoys the winning atmosphere. I remember him saying after a Dodgers game in which fans got there early chanting "Beat LA" and that carried with it a playoff type atmosphere that he had been waiting for that type of thing his whole life. Huff hit his 21st home run of the season tonight in helping the Giants (69-54) beat the Cardinals (65-54) to move within five games of the Padres (73-48) in the NL West and stay one back of the Phillies (69-52) in the Wild Card chase.

A couple of things that I found humorous were the Athletics' (61-60) ball boy admitting that he has used his job in order to get at least one female's number. The ball boy if I remember correctly took a slight fall the other night and now seems to be all the rage. The A's have taken the first two of a four-game home series against the Rays (74-48) and are 7 games back of the Rangers (68-53) in the AL West. It seems like they are just doing enough to remain on the fringe of the division race, but time is running out to make a push. Maybe they're off to a start of something like that as they have won four in a row.

The other thing is the "McCutchen Man Crush Crew" in Pittsburgh in honor of Pirates (40-82) out fielder Andrew McCutchen. It consisted tonight of about four guys in front of a huge sign. After McCutchen got an RBI single tonight against the Mets (61-61) the guys were dancing and styling. Pretty funny stuff. And honestly the Pirates need something to smile about -- they have the worst record in baseball and tonight's 7-2 loss to the Mets ensured that they will have a losing season for the 18th consecutive year. Ouch.

Utah State turned down MWC?

According to an open letter from Utah State published in the Deseret News, the Aggies were contacted before Nevada and Fresno State about joining the Mountain West Conference. The letter said that USU turned down the interest from the MWC out of a commitment to solidarity to the Western Athletic Conference. This commitment included a contract with a $5 million buyout should USU have left the WAC within the next five years. Such a deal was signed by Fresno State and verbally agreed to (though not signed) by Nevada. Both schools defected to the MWC last night.

As honorable as solidarity is, I think Utah State should have been looking out more for itself than for the WAC if the MWC did indeed contact the Aggies about potential membership. Even if Fresno State and Nevada had stayed in the WAC and BYU had joined for basketball, the MWC still would have been a stronger basketball league overall with perennial powers New Mexico, UNLV and San Diego State. Of course there is no question that the Mountain West is the superior league in football as well with TCU and Boise State headlining the conference.

Utah State should have done what was best for Utah State, not what they thought would be best for the WAC. The letter said USU expected all WAC institutions to honor the agreement of solidarity among the schools remaining following Boise State's announced departure to the MWC earlier this summer. I would not have expected other schools to remain loyal to the WAC and not look out for their own interests and I think Utah State is naive for thinking that. Because they chose to remain behind the Aggies are now in a six-team league that is in serious trouble and now may not get BYU to join for basketball either. Sounds a lot worse than the Mountain West, doesn't it?

All this being said, there could still be several things that could still happen in the coming days and weeks that could alter the NCAA landscape. BYU could very will still go independent and be looking to move its basketball and other programs elsewhere. Right now, though, the West Coast Conference looks like a better fit for BYU than the WAC as presently configured. After all, the WCC has national power Gonzaga as well as Sweet 16 entrant from last season Saint Mary's in the league and consists mainly of religious schools. We'll see what happens: the WAC may very well look to the WCC or other places to expand and create a more viable and attractive league for BYU.

Interesting piece in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (that I saw posted on a friend's Facebook page) about TCU as well as BYU and the MWC that I think is an interesting read:

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/08/18/2412369/hold-your-panic-tcu-fans-dominoes.html

I think the article is accurate on a lot of counts, particularly in BYU's self-aggrandizement of itself. It definitely is not on the same level as Notre Dame and has not qualified for the BCS out of the MWC the way Utah and TCU have. I think independence is a tough call and may not be as cut and dried a negative issue as Engel makes it seem, but I do think it would be a risky move. There is little doubt that the proposed move to independence would bring more national exposure on networks such as ESPN as well as more money flowing into the school. However, the competitive aspect may not be as promising. As I've already said, they haven't qualified for the BCS out of the Mountain West and it only stands to reason that qualifying for the BCS as an independent would only be more difficult.

There are benefits to more freedom in scheduling including playing a more national schedule, not having to play teams they don't want to play and being able to play more teams from BCS conferences. However, I think these pros are offset by how difficult the schedule would be and as I noted, they haven't been able to qualify for the BCS out of the MWC. I think there is also something to be said for playing for a conference championship. Winning your conference makes any year sound good, even with a couple of losses. Now with a couple of losses you don't have anything to show for it and are not headed to a BCS game. Of course, BYU may get cold feet and opt to stay in the MWC. My hunch, though is that they will go independent and join the WAC (if they can revamp with other schools -- and that's a big if) or the West Coast Conference for all other sports.

In other sports news, my San Francisco Giants (68-54) got a crucial win over the Philadelphia Phillies (68-52) to pull within one game in the Wild Card race and remain six back of the red hot San Diego Padres (73-47) in the West. It looks like the Wild Card should be the primary focus, at least for now. The Phils are still only 2.5 games back of the Braves (68-52) in the East and could very well make a run at the divisional crown. The Giants now face the Cardinals (65-53) in St. Louis for a weekend series. It's important to take at least two of three as the Cards are also a Wild Card contender (not to mention keeping pace with Philadelphia). I was encouraged by the Giants' performance tonight and I think they will continue to at least stay in the race. I think the rest of the season should be fun.

Elsewhere in baseball, the White Sox (66-55) salvaged the final game against the Twins (70-51) in Minnesota, winning 11-0 after losing a pair of heart breakers. They are now four back in the AL Central after capturing that must-win game tonight. I'm not going to say they are dead yet and I think they still have a hot streak left in them to make the division race a tight one right down to the wire.

BYU looking to go independent

Espn.com reported that BYU is likely to become and independent in football in time for the 2011 football season. The reported move would come on the heels of their rival (and my school) Utah accepting an invitation to join the Pac-10 beginning next season. All of BYU's other sports would reportedly play in the WAC beginning next season.

I tweeted this morning that I thought the move would be more positive than negative for BYU. I've given it some more thought throughout the day and I have had a tough time grasping that as the correct position. I think it could produce a greater strength of schedule and subsequently a higher BCS ranking with a higher chance of playing for the national title. That way they aren't stuck playing lackluster teams like Colorado State, Wyoming and New Mexico every year.

The down side is that they won't be in a conference and won't be able to aim for a conference championship. They also would not have powers TCU and Boise State on the schedule every year in competition for a crown. The BCS might not guarantee BYU an automatic slot the way it does for Notre Dame if it finishes in the top 8. They also might not have the ranking guarantees they would have in the Mountain West Conference in terms of BCS inclusion. You may take this with a grain of salt since it is coming from a Utah fan but if BYU was unable to qualify for the BCS via the Mountain West Conference it would seem to me to be only tougher to gain access with both a tougher schedule and a tougher ranking required for getting into one of the high profile bowl games.

I think going from the Mountain West to the WAC would definitely be a downgrade for BYU's men's basketball program. I don't think there is any question that the MWC is superior to the WAC in both football and basketball. The MWC had four teams (including BYU) make the NCAA Tournament last season with seeds of 3, 7, 8 and 11 while the WAC had two teams make it -- both as 12 seeds. The basketball strength of schedule would take a definite hit, particularly with the defections of Fresno State and Nevada to the Mountain West today and a conference title would not be making as big of a statement. I'm sure it would be fun around these parts to have Utah State and BYU playing in the same league in basketball and I think that would produce some memorable battles. New Mexico State is usually tough as well but with all due respect I don't think those programs are at the same level as UNLV and New Mexico of the MWC.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few days. I fully expect the move to independent status to be announced soon. It's a definite gamble but there could be some benefits to it as well.

McGrady signs with Pistons, MLB notes

The Detroit Pistons signed Tracy McGrady to a one-year deal and it just seems to me that neither side is going to benefit from this relationship. The Pistons are not a contender and McGrady has a huge ego and appears to have left his best playing days behind him. So I'm skeptical but I suppose I'll still have to stick with rooting for the Pistons (my second favorite NBA team) even though I really don't like McGrady.

As for baseball, the Giants (67-53) lost two of three to the Padres (71-47) this weekend and now trail in the National League West by five games. The Padres just looked like the better team overall as sad as that is for me to say. After dropping the opener to the Phillies (67-51) tonight in Philadelphia tonight, the Giants now trail the Wild Card by one game as well. The Giants absolutely have to win one of the next two in Philadelphia to stay within striking distance in the Wild Card. Tomorrow looks like it could be a win -- I'd take Matt Cain starting over Joe Blanton on any day of the week. I gotta keep my head up about all this as there is a lot of baseball yet to be played and a lot is possible.

Other series to check out going on right now are the Rays (73-46) and the Rangers (67-51) in a match-up of division leaders as well as the Twins (69-50) hosting the White Sox (65-54) in a series that features the top two in the AL Central. The Twins won the opener, so the pressure is on the Sox to get at least one of the last two at Target Field.

Giants drop opener to Padres

Just got through watching the opener of the Giants-Padres series in which San Diego (68-46) beat the Giants (66-51) by a score of 3-2. San Francisco scored two in the first to take an early 2-0 lead but were unable to score afterward. Jonathan Sanchez took the loss after guaranteeing a three game sweep this weekend. I like his confidence and hope he is right about the Giants winning the division at least.

The Padres' bullpen was lights out again tonight. Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams and Heath Bell each pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Mike Richard. Gregerson had hitters looking overmatched in his inning of work and Bell was solid but I thought Adams wasn't that great. Aubrey Huff absolutely crushed a ball that nearly was a two-run home run and a 4-3 lead in the 8th, but it was not to be. There aren't many parks where that ball isn't a home run, but unfortunately tonight AT&T Park was one of them. Huff was really upset after and I don't blame him.

As tough as the loss was tonight, the Giants have to come back tomorrow and get that win behind Madison Bumgarner. We're still only 3.5 games back in the division and with wins the next two days could be just 1.5 back. I still have to think optimistically. Tomorrow's game is at 2 p.m. MT and is available on FOX.

Big weekday series approaching 8/9/2010

There are some big-time baseball series going on this week in baseball that could have an impact on how the races look. Here's the Baseball Weekdays Preview 8/9/2010:

Let's start with the battle for first place in the NL Central with the first place Cincinnati Reds (64-48) hosting the second place St. Louis Cardinals (61-49) for three games starting tonight with the Reds holding a two game lead in the division. Tonight and tomorrow night's games start at 5:10 p.m. MT and Wednesday's game begins at 10:35 a.m. MT. Tonight's game is available on ESPN and espn3.com and all the games are on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. The Reds start Mike Leake, Johnny Cueto and Bronson Arroyo and the Cards counter with Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia and Adam Wainwright. So both teams are definitely bringing it with their starting pitchers and that should help make it a great series with Cincinnati's MVP candidate Joey Votto going up against reigning MVP Albert Pujols. I'll take the Reds to win two of three at home and pick up an extra game on their division lead. I still can't get over how well they are pitching this year.

Another big series gets under way in the AL Central tomorrow night with the first place Chicago White Sox (63-48) hosting the second place Minnesota Twins (63-49) for three games with all three starting at 6:10 p.m. MT. The opener is on MLB Network and they are all on MLB EI and mlb.tv. If the Sox lose in Baltimore (37-74) tonight then the division would be all tied up for the series. I think Chicago will win two of three and maintain a narrow lead.

Yet another big series features two American League division leaders as the East leading Yankees (69-41) visit the West leading Texas Rangers (64-47) for two games on Tuesday and Wednesday that both start at 6:05 p.m. MT. Wednesday's game in available on ESPN and espn3.com and both are on MLB EI and mlb.tv. I'll pick the Rangers to win both, especially as they have Cliff Lee pitching on Wednesday and don't have to face CC Sabathia in either game.

Another series of note is a rematch of the last two National League Championship Series when the Los Angeles Dodgers (58-54) visit the Philadelphia Phillies (62-49) for three games all starting at 5:05 p.m. MT Tuesday through Thursday with the finale on MLB Network and all of them on MLB EI and mlb.tv. The Phils have been rolling and I think they'll take two of three.

Also check out my thoughts on Brandon Morrow's dominating pitching performance yesterday just below this space.

Brandon Morrow's dominating performance

Pitcher Brandon Morrow (9-6, 4.45 ERA, 151 SO in 127.1 IP, 1.37 WHIP) of the Toronto Blue Jays (59-52) lost a no-hitter yesterday with two outs in the ninth inning when Tampa Bay Rays (67-44) third baseman Evan Longoria poked a hit just beyond the reach of second baseman Aaron Hill. The defensive play would have been a spectacular one and simply had to be ruled a hit. Hill looked like he did everything he possibly could to come up with the ball and said as much after the game; I don't feel like he should be blamed at all. I feel for Morrow in a big way, I can't imagine how tough it would be to come within inches of a no-hitter and not get it.

Not to be lost in the shuffle, however, was how truly dominating Morrow was yesterday. He struck out 17 batters, walked only 2 and gave up just the 1 hit in a complete game shutout. Bill James has a metric called "Game Score" which measures how dominating a pitcher's performance was based on statistics and Morrow's start yesterday ranked as the 4th best single start by a pitcher since 1920. Really remarkable stuff. "He was putting guys away better than I've ever seen," said Longoria after the game. That's high praise from a player who is fast becoming a superstar in his own right.

Giants lose 3 of 4 to Braves

The Giants (63-49) lost three of four in Atlanta to the Braves (64-47) this weekend. It wasn't a particularly encouraging series to watch as they went 2 for 32 with runners in scoring position. That just isn't good enough and if you do that you're not going to win any games. Fortunately the Giants still hold a half-game Wild Card lead over the Phillies (62-49) who have been tearing it up as of late. I'm hoping the Phils just overtake the Braves in the East so I don't have to have a conflict of interest. The Giants face the Cubs (47-63) for four games this week and anything less than winning three of four will be a disappointment. I think it's realistic to aim for a sweep. The big series is this weekend at home against the first place Padres (63-46) where the Giants could very well have a chance to take over first.

Some thoughts on the series this weekend: The Braves' pitching staff looked pretty good. Their bullpen has a lot of hard throwers with movement on their pitches. That probably had something to do with the Giants not being successful with runners in scoring position. I tweeted that I think Travis Ishikawa should get more playing time and I stand by that. He is hitting for average and plays a solid first base. I'd like to see him get in there more. I do realize that sometimes you have to play the hot hand, so he may not necessarily be an every day player but I think he's earned more playing time.

Giants keep rolling (wahoo!)

My San Francisco Giants (62-45) are playing so well right now. They just swept the hated Los Angeles Dodgers (54-52) and just pounded the Colorado Rockies (55-51) in Denver 10-0 tonight. They've won four straight and 8 of 10. The offense is rocking it as evidenced by Pat Burrell's game winning two run home run in the 8th inning on Saturday and Edgar Renteria's two-run triple Sunday night. The pitching is doing great and the offense just continues to roll.

The Giants acquired right-handed reliever Ramon Ramirez from the Red Sox (61-46) and left-handed reliever Javier Lopez from the Pirates (37-69) in exchange for pitcher Joe Martinez and outfielder John Bowker. I'm really sad to see Bowker, who was the opening day right fielder for the Giants, leave. Bowker was tearing up pitching in Triple-A with a high average and lots of home runs. I think he'll play well for the Pirates and has a lot of potential. It's too bad he hasn't recognized it with the Giants yet. I have to admit that I was initially upset when Andres Torres was getting starts over Bowker this year, but I'm not anymore. Torres is having a great year as a lead-off hitter and is among the league leaders in extra base hits. It's really cool after he spent several years in the minor leagues that he's having such success now. It's a true feel good story and I think he was a big part of why the Giants felt they could include Bowker in the deal for Lopez.

Phillies (58-48) first baseman twisted his ankle on Sunday against the Nationals (47-60) and has been placed on the disabled list. Hopefully he only misses a couple of weeks and the Phils can weather the storm because they won't be making the playoffs without him. They are only two games back of the Braves (60-46) in the NL East right now.

I'm pretty dang excited that the Rays (67-39) have overtaken the Yankees (66-40) for the AL East lead although there is still a lot of baseball to be played. There are some good races out there in pretty much all of the divisions with the exception of the AL West where the Rangers (61-44) have a commanding eight game lead over the Athletics (53-52).