Quick Recap of October 1 LDS Games

4 games in 1 day, baseball heaven, though my wife likely doesn't agree.

Diamondbacks 1 Brewers 4

Not a terribly exciting game, Yovani Gallardo pitched great for the Brewers, 8 innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 earned and 9 strikeouts. Canadian John Axford got the save. Prince Fielder hit a 2 run homer, that should turn up the volume on the folks wanting Alex to sign him.

Aaron Hill and Lyle Overbay each went 0 for 3. Hill did take a walk. Sorta former Jay, Ryan Roberts, got Arizona their only run with a solo homer. 

Brewer stars of the day are Gallardo (.434 WPA) and Fielder (.143). No Diamondbacks made the mark. The only player to get to the Suckage number was Arizona's Justin Upton (-.132).

Cardinals 6 Phillies 11

Roy Halladay scared me, giving up 3 runs in the first off a Lance Berkman home run, in the 1st inning, I thought we were going to see one of those rare poor starts, but after a single to lead off the 2nd, Doc got 21 straight outs before being pulled after 8 innings, with an 11 to 3 lead. Roy pitched 8 innings, allowed 3 hits, 3 earned, 1 walk with 8 strikeouts. 

A couple of former Jays got into the game for the Cardinals. Marc Rzepczynski didn't do well in his first playoff appearance, he gave 3 hits without getting an out. He left with the bases loaded, Mitchell Boggs came in and allowed all 3 runners to score. Octavio Dotel had a better time of it, coming in with 1 out in the 6th, after 4 runs had already scored that inning. He struck out the 2 batters he faced.

Stars of the game are, for the Cardinals: Berkman (.225 WPA). For the Phillies: Ryan Howard (.448), Shane Victorino (.114) and Raul Ibanez (.107). Kyle Lohse, the Cardinal starter is the only one that hit the Suckage number at -.554. Halladay came close at -.090.

Rays 6 Rangers 8

The best game of the day. The Rays were up 3-0 after the top of the 4th, the Rangers scored 5 in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. The Rangers got 2 more runs in the 6th, to go up 7-3. Evan Longoria hit a 3 run home in the 7th to make it a 1 run game again. You'll likely remember that Longoria had a 3 run homer in the final game of the season, against the Yankees to make that a 1 run game too. But Mitch Moreland got the Rangers an insurance run in the 8th, with a home run and the Rays weren't able to finish the comeback.

Stars of the game: For the Rangers Adrian Beltre (.159 WPA), Mike Adams (.134), Mike Napoli (.114) and Darren Oliver (.105). For the Rays, B.J. Upton had a .125 but he was also caught steal 3rd at a very bad moment, so I'd discount that some. Suckage numbers go to Ranger reliever Koji Uehara (-.255). For the Rays James Shields (-.307, off a very rough 5th inning), Ben Zobrist (-.136) and Sean Rodriquez (-.109).

Tigers 3 Yankees 9

The finish of the game that was rained out Friday after 1.5 innings. Robinson Cano had a grand slam and and 2 doubles, for 6 RBI. Brett Gardner drove in 2 more runs. 

The Tigers Doug Fister looked good until the 6th inning when the Yankees got 6 runs (though Al Alburquerque gave up the grand slam, coming in with 2 outs and the bases loaded) and that was pretty much it for the game. 

Stars of the game are all Yankees: Ivan Nova (.283 WPA), Cano (.200), and Russell Martin (.107). The only Tiger to get to the Suckage number was Miguel Ordonez (-168) (Fister -.083 and Alburquerque -.079 came close). Nick Swisher (-.117) got the suckage for the Yankees.