Phillies 5 Rays 4

When good teams play lousy baseball sometimes it is fun to watch. Where to start? Well, how about former Jay Jayson Werth on second base, none out in a tie game in the 8th inning and he gets picked off?? How stupid can you be?

Well how about in the bottom of the 9th, still tied, J.P. Howell hits the leadoff batter, Eric Bruntlett. Then with Victorino trying to bunt Grant Balfour throws a wild pitch. Man, if a batter wants to make an out, THROW HIM A STRIKE! I think Dioner Navarro should have blocked the pitch, but then when it bounced off the backstop right back to Navarro, Navarro rushed the throw to second and threw it into the outfield instead. So none out and winning run at third. So a couple of intentional walks later and a swinging bunt, Phillies win. Oh I missed the 5 minute meeting on the mound. I'm not sure the umpires should allow that long a meeting, but it was an important moment so, ok.

The Ray's tying run in the 7th was scored on a infield single, 2 stolen bases and a catcher throwing error on the second steal.

Not there wasn't some good ball. Former ancient Mariner Jamie Moyer pitched 6.1 of 6 hit ball giving up 3 earned runs.....not bad for a guy that's roughly 76 years old. He also got got robbed on a call at 1st base, after making a great play. Jay killer, Matt Garza, pitched 6 innings giving up 6 hits and striking out 7 but 3 of those hits were home runs, producing 4 runs.

Former Jays in the game? Gabe Gross went 0 for 3 but drove in 2 for the Rays. Werth had the previously mentioned idiot moment and went 1 for 2 with 2 walks, no runs or RBI. Matt Stairs was on the on deck circle when the winning run scores.

Phillies of the Day: Bruntlett (.193 WPA), Carlo Ruiz (.184), J.C. Romero (.169) and Moyer (.145). A special Suckage Philly award to Werth. Rays of the Day: BJ Upton (.302), Howell (.168) and Carl Crawford (.093). Suckage Rays: Balfour (-.284, sort of unfair...), Carlos Pena (-.145), Evan Longoria (.132), Iwamura (-.125), Graza (-.118) and Gabe Gross (-.113).

So Phillies are up 2 games to 1. Tomorrow night Andy Sonnanstine starts for the Rays against Joe Blanton. Should be a good, I'm around to watch it tomorrow so we'll have a game thread in case anyone wants to chat while watching.

Someone named Taylor Swift sang (read mangled) the American National Anthem, playing perhaps the ugliest guitar I've ever seen in a very amateur manner. I know I focus too much on this, it isn't even my national anthem, but after 3 games, 2 of the times the national anthem has been just terribly done. How hard would it be to get someone that could do a decent job each night? Do we really need to have the local flavor of the month or, in the case of game 1, the flavor of the month from several years back, sing it? Or could they just find someone that can do the job?

Rays 3 Red Sox 1

Oh heck, you guys all know what happened, that was a great game and a fun series. Matt Garza pitched the way he pitched against the Blue Jays 4 times this season, 7 innings 2 hits, 1 earned off a solo homer in the first and 9 strikeouts. Jon Lester was almost as good, he seemed to tired in the middle there in the middle of the game for a bit, but he gutted out 7 strong innings, his team just didn't get the big hit at the right moment. The comeback came just that short this year for the Sox.

Canadians and former Jays in the game: Jason Bay was 1 for 3 with a walk, considering the Sox only had 3 hits that's pretty good. Gabe Gross got in the game as a defensive replacement, the way he's been swinging the bat, that's likely his role for the World Series. Eric Hinske still hasn't appeared in the playoffs.

Rays of the Day: Garza (.263 WPA), David Price (.204, 1.1 innings of no hit ball for the save), Willy Aybar (.169, 2 for 3, a homer, 2 runs and an RBI), and Evan Longoria (.111, 1 for 3 and an RBI). Suckage Ray B.J. Upton (-.122 and no home runs for a change).

Red Sox of the Day: Jason Bay (.113). Suckage Sox: Mark Kotsay (-.182, 0 for 4), Jason Varitek (-.177, 0 for 4, looking terrible at the plate), Ortiz (-.131, 0 for 3) and JD Drew (-.119, 0 for 3). Special Suckage Sox award to Coco Crisp who had he slid straight to the bag in the 8th would have been safe and who knows what would have happened after that. Crisp totally misread the play, thinking he had to take out Bartlett to break up a double play, when there was no chance at a double play. He should have gone straight for the bag. They could have been down by 1 with runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out.

Jason Varitek sure didn't raise his value going into free agency, striking out 3 times and hitting .050 with the 1 homer for the series. I wonder if he'll be retiring rather than becoming a backup somewhere.

Congratulations to the Rays. The World Series starts Wednesday in (I wonder what the Vegas odds were before the start of the season) Tampa Bay. I think our Jays should take some credit for this, if we hadn't played so crappy against the Ray none of this would have happened.

Boston 4 Tampa Bay 2

Do you get the feeling the Sox don't start getting interested in a playoff series until they are a loss away from from being eliminated? They were terrible this series until the 7th inning of game 5 when they seems to decide "ok we are down by 7 with 3 innings to go, it is time to start playing".

Today, Beckett still didn't look right but worked his way thru 5 innings and only gave up the 2 runs on solo homers. Okajima, Masterson and Papelbon pitched the last 4 innings and didn't give up a hit.

Offensively Youk drove in 2 with a solo homer and a ground out with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Varitek came out of a deep slump (season long) long enough to hit a solo homer and Ortiz drove home 1 with a 2 out single. Crisp went 3 for 4 with a walk and was picked off once. Ortiz and Drew each went 2 for 4 with a walk.

For the Rays James Shields fought thru 5.2 innings with poor control, gave up 9 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned and 3 walks. The Ray's pen shut down the Sox for 3.1 inning, but by then it was too late. Offensively, other than Upton (man is he amazing or what) and Bartlett's (??) solo homers they did nothing.

Canadians and former Jays: Bay went 0 for 3 with a walk and looked bad at the plate. Gross was 0 for 1 with a strike out, looked awful in the field and was removed for a pinch hitter his second time up. He has been terrible this series, I very much doubt we'll see him tomorrow. Trever Miller, who pitched for the Jays a few years, back got the final out for the Rays. Hinske still hasn't appeared in a game.

Sox of the Day: Ortiz (.178 WPA), Okajima (.097) and Masterson (.093). Suckage Sox (Sock?) Lowrie (-.090). Ray of the Day: Bartlett (.265). Suckage Rays: Iwamura (-.143), JP Howell (-.098) and Longoria (-.096).

Tomorrow night, Game 7, has Jon Lester, who was thumped in game 3, against Matt Garza, who was great in the same game and who we saw way too much of against the Jays this season. It should be a great game.

Rays 9 Red Sox 1

Well that didn't go the way the Red Sox planned. Their 'best starter' Jon Lester gave up 8 hits, 4 earned runs, walked 2 and struck out 7 in 5.2 innings. Paul Byrd in relief didn't do any better 3.1 innings and 4 earned. They each gave up 2 homers.

Matt Garza went 6 innings, gave up 6 hits, walked 3, struck out 5 and only gave up 1 run. I thought he could have gone longer, I was surprised when Maddon gave him the quick hook, but J.P. Howell and Edwin Jackson finished up with 3 shut out innings.

For the Rays Upton, Longoria, Baldelli and Pena went deep. Canadians and Jays in the Game: Gabe Gross went in as a defensive replacement in RF late in the game. Eric Hinske still didn't play, I wonder if he is hurt. Jason Bay went 1 for 3 with a walk for the Sox.

Rays of the Day: Garza (.159 WPA), Longoria (.120) and Upton (.098). No suckage Rays. No Red Sox of the Day. Suckage Sox Jon Lester (-.236).

The Rays are up 2 games to 1, which if you look at recent Red Sox post-season history might mean that the Sox have them just where they want them. But this year seems different, Boston's starters have been.....inconsistant I guess is the nice way to say it. Terrible might be more accurate. Tonight, Tim Wakefield goes up against Andy Sonnanstine for the Rays. Wakefield's knuckball better be dancing tonight.

Phillies 7 Dodgers 5

Former Jay and Canadian Matt Stairs plays the hero role, hitting a 2 run, pinch hit homer to put the Phillies ahead in the 8th. You have to feel good for the guy.

Other offensive stars: Chase Utley went 3 for 4, Victorino hit a 2 run homer to tie the game in the 8th and catcher Carlos Ruiz went 2 for 3 with a walk, talk about your surprise offensive stars, Ruiz hit .218 on the season but is .417 so far this series. The Phillies other former Jay, Jayson Werth played Rf and went 1 for 5.

Dodger offensive stars: Rafael Furcal went 1 for 2 with 2 walks and 2 runs in the lead off spot. Manny went 2 for 2 with 3 walks. Loney went 2 for 4, Casey Blake went 2 for 5 with a homer and Juan Pierre, making his first start in CF for the playoffs went 2 for 3. Canadian Russell Martin had a tough day batting behind Manny, 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts, driving home 1 but leaving 7 on base.

Pitching: Joe Blanton went 5 innings, gave up 7 hits, 4 walks but got out of trouble a bunch, only allowing 3 runs. Chad Durbin gave up 2 hits, a walk and a homer without getting an out to give the Dodgers the lead. But former Jay Scott Eyre, Ryan Madson, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge pitched the last 3.2 scoreless endings to give Stairs the chance to be the hero.

Derek Lowe went 5 innings on short rest, giving up 6 hits and 2 runs. After that, well Joe Torre got everyone into the game. Clayton Kershaw gave up a hit, a walk and a run in his third of an inning. Chan Ho Park got 1 out and walked 1. Joe Beimel got an out. Hong-Chih Kuo pitched an inning and gave up a run. Cory Wade got 2 outs but gave up Victorino's home run to tie the game and Jonathan Broxton pitched the final 1.1 innings giving up Stairs game winner.  

Phillies of the Day: Stairs (.418 WPA), Ryan Howard (.249), Victorino (.224) and Utley (.114). Suckage Phillies: Durbin (-.261), Blanton (-.179) and Pedro Feliz  (-.163). Dodgers of the Day: Manny (.278), Furcal (.250), Blake (.122) and Loney (.112). Suckage Dodgers Broxton (-.400), Wade (-.268), Kershaw (-.157), Blake Dewitt (-.189) Martin (-.131) and Andre Ethier (-.118).

The teams get a day off then tomorrow Cole Hamels starts for the Phillies against Chad Billingsley.

Reminder....it is election day in Canada....Vote Early, Vote Often.

Title comes from a Jeremy Fisher song, Cigarette, that I've come across lately and those words seem to talk about me and baseball.

Philadelphia 6 Milwaukee 2

Well, the Brewers pushed it one game past a sweep but that was it. Blanton was great, 6 innings 5 hits, 7 strikeouts and 1 earned. Jeff Suppan was decidedly not great, he lasted only 3 innings and gave up 5 earned runs. The Phillies' 3rd inning was really all that mattered today. Victorino (he's been in the middle of everything this series) doubled, then with 2 out Howard was intentioinally walked then Pat Burrell and, former Jay, Jayson Werth went back-to-back and the game was pretty much over.

Prince (or is that the batter formerly known as Prince) Fielder hit a massive home run in the 7th and they got one more run in the 8th. Jimmy Rollins lead off the game with a home run and Burrell got his second home run of the game in the Phillies half of the 8th. Another former Jay, Matt Stairs, hit into a double play in the 9th in his second at bat of the series.

So Phillies and Dodgers in the NLCS, so I was 1 for 2 in the NL half of the pool......so really I'm going much better than I have on any of the football pools.

White Sox 5 Tampa Bay 3

So in the 4th inning of today's game the White Sox were able to score more runs (3) off Matt Garza than the Jays were able to score in 4 games (1) against him this season. And, of course, today they equaled the number of wins we managed off him this season. Graza went 6 and gave up 5 earned. Chad Bradford pitched the last two innings keeping the Rays in the game.

Lefty John Danks pitched 6.2 for the White Sox giving up 3 runs and then the Sox bullpen closed the door on the Rays only allowing 1 hit in their 2.1 innings. Former Jay Dewayne Wise went 1 for 2 with a double and walk, drove in 2 and scored for the Sox. Our hero Eric Hinske still hasn't gotten into a game. Gabe Gross went is as a defensive replacement in RF in the bottom of the 8th.

B.J. Upton had 2 hits and drove in 2 runs with a home run and Iwamura, Pena and Navarro each had 2 hits but that was all the hits the Rays got, the rest of the lineup had 0 fors. Game four is in Chicago Monday, with the Rays up 2 games to 1.

Angels 5 Boston 4

Josh Beckett's run of great post season starts ended tonight, he didn't look comfortable at all. I hope it was only because of the long time between starts and not that it's because of some injury. 9 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings isn't what we are used to from Beckett.  But by the end of the 5th the Red Sox had 5 runs too and that was all the scoring that happened till the top of the 12th inning.

Both team's bullpens were amazing, at least until Francona brought Javier Lopez into the game, Lopez gave up 3 hits and the game winning run in his inning of work. KRod did not look good again, but made it thru one inning without giving up a run, dispite a hit and 2 walks. Jered Weaver earned the win with two scoreless innings. With all the relievers used by both teams I'm not sure who either team will be able to use tomorrow when it is time to go to the pen.

Mike Napoli was the hero for the Angels hitting 2 homers and scoring and driving in 3 runs. He scored the winning run on Erick Aybar's 12 inning single. Canadian Jason Bay went 0 for 5 his first playoff game without a home run. Former Jay Kevin Cash got into the game but didn't get to bat. Tomorrow game one starters John Lackey and Jon Lester go at it again. Both managers will be hoping they go deep into the game because they both emptied their pens today.

Yesterday was a good day for teams that won their first ALDS game, as the Rays and Red Sox went 2-0 up on their ALDS foes.  Chicago at least is going home, but the Angels seem pretty much done. 

Tampa Bay 6, Chicago 2:  Tampa beat Chicago behind a good start from Scott Kazmir and solid work from it's bullpen.  Former Bluebird Banter target Akinori Iwamura hit a 2-run home run, Dioner Navarro and Carl Crawford had good days at the plate, B.J. Upton tripled and scored, and Rocco Baldelli chipped in with an RBI single. Toronto media favourite Orlando Cabrera did do a nice job leading off for the Chi Sox, with 2 hits in 4 appearances.  Matt Garza will face John Danks in game 3 on Sunday with the Sox facing elimination. 

Boston 7, Los Angeles of Anaheim 5:  It has been years and I still cannot get over how stupid that name is.  Ervin Santana gave up 4 runs in the first inning to put Boston out on top, but the Angels fought back to tie this game at 5 going into the 9th inning.  Enter K-Rod, perhaps having one of the most overrated seasons for a closer of all time.  J.D. Drew hit a 2-run bomb, Papelbon shut down the Angels, and the Sox won again. Boston and the Angels will also play their game 3 on Sunday with the Halos facing elimination and turning to Joe Saunders.  Josh Beckett pitches for the Sox.

An eight game win streak! I know, it would be better if we were in a race but winning is much more fun than losing. And we beat Matt Garza! And we equaled our season high for runs against him! We are in third for a bit anyway, till the end of the Yankees-Mariners game. Go Mariners...Yankees are up 2-0 at the moment, man the M's suck.

Purcey was terrific. 8 innings, 6 hits, 3 walks and 7 strikeouts. I think we have a rotation member for next season. He did load the bases with 2 out in the 8th and I thought he should have been pulled at that point, especially since he walked Pena a lefty batter and was facing Rocco a righty.  But he got Baldelli to fly out to Lind. Cy looked strong getting the save. And they are our Jays of the Day, Purcey with a .596 WPA and Cy with a .168. No Suckage Jay today.

We got all the offense we needed off a sac fly by Rod scoring Lind.  We only managed 6 hits and a walk off Garza. Tomorrow we get to play spoiler against another contender, heading to Chicago to play the White Sox. AJ (16-10, 4.47) vs. Javier Vazquez 11-12, 4.34), an old favorite of mine from when he was an Expo.

I'm attaching a poll for people to vote for the title of the 'Suckage Jay' Award, reliever division. For the batters we are honoring Eric Hinske, by naming the award after him.

Folks....if you are going to vote someone else, let us know who the someone else is in the comments section. If make a good argument we'll add your choice into the poll.

I was sure, when the ball left the bat, that Rod had tied up the game. And had he hit it two feet higher they would still be playing, but that was one heck of a catch in left by Ruggiano. Purcey deserved better.

The only good part of the game, David Purcey, he was amazing. Complete game ( 8 innings) 5 hitter, 11 strike outs, no walks. Only 92 pitches, which an amazing 70 were strikes. But as it turned out only one of those pitches mattered, a fourth inning pitch to Carlos Pena that he knocked out of the park. But I can't say it enough Purcey was terrific.

Unfortunately Garza was about as good. Garza went 7.2, only gave up 6 hits, 3 walks and 5 k's. Then, when Garza tired, Grant Balfour got Lind to strike out with Rios and Wells on first and second to finish the 8th and Wheeler came got the save with a 1, 2, 3 ninth. Though that last out.......Frig, Rod came close.

We did get our chances but, like so many times this season we couldn't get the hit we needed leaving 8 guys on base. Only Inglett got more than one hit and he was the only one to get an extra base hit, a double. Scoot, Rios, Wells, and Mac all had 0 fers and Bautista struck out in his pinch hit at bat. He is 0 for his last 20. I still think we got robbed on that deal but I'm willing to wait and see. I will mention that Lind got sent to AAA for going 1 for 19......

Jay of the Day? Take a guess....Purcey was the only one in the positives for WPA, .261. Suckage Jays: Lyle (-.170), Lind (-.134), Mac (-.125) and Scoot (-.100).

Tomorrow we have Jesse Litsch (9-7, 4.01) vs. Edwin Jackson (10-8, 3.93). Red Sox are thumping the Yankees 11-3 at the moment, which to me is good because I think it's time to set our sights on just passing the Yankees. We start a series against the Yankees on Friday and get to face Carl Pavano (no really, Carl Pavano), Darrell Rasner and Pettitte. If the last few games of good offense weren't a mirage we should see a heck of a lot of runs scored.