Just a bit of editorializing here.  Just because the Yankees have won 27 world championships over the 88 seasons since they won their 1st crown in 1923, that doesn’t automatically make them baseball’s greatest team in 2011, as the Detroit Tigers aptly showed.   In my humble opinion, they are a long way from the eras of Ruth/ Gehrig, Joltin’ Joe, Whitey Ford, Mantle and Maris or Mr. October.  Alex Rodriguez (aka A-Rod, or A-Roid),  Derek Jeter, Sabathia and company are just a bunch of grossly overpaid, under-working spoiled brats on a wacko team in a wacko town — New York City.   The Yanks are going nowhere, but to the golf course, in 2011 and forseeable seasons to come!   And it’ll sure be nice to walk down the street without being accosted by young Yankee fans shouting insults at the Phillies.

Check out the video above: the Tigers committed NO errors during the 5 game series.

AP’s game recap for Yahoo sports provides game highlights here and here.

In Friday’s deciding game 5 between the Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals, ace Roy Halladay, who won game 1,  is scheduled to oppose Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter.

For all of Thursday’s and Friday’s scheduled playoff games throughout MLB, click here and here.

The only bright spots for Phillies, once their offense ran dry, were 2 excellent one inning relief efforts; an 8 pitch seventh for Joe Blanton and a 10 pitch eighth inning, including a strikeout for Brad Lidge as the last 6 Cards went down in order.

Beyond that, there was little to cheer about as the Phils’ flatter than Israeli lafa offense couldn’t bail Oswalt out after his 2 mistakes, although the game was still reachably close, even after Freese’s dinger.  AP’s game recap provides further notes on Wednesday’s game.

For all of Wednesday’s playoff results in both leagues, click here.

In Friday’s deciding game 5, ace Roy Halladay, who won game 1, is scheduled to oppose Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter.

For all of Thursday’s and Friday’s scheduled playoff games throughout MLB, click here and here.

     

In other playoff games, the Arizona Diamondbacks got into the win column as they battered Milwaukee starter  Shaun Marcom for 7 runs enroute to an 8-1 win.  Milwaukee leads the series by 2-1.   In the American League, the Texas Rangers edged the Tampa Bay Rays to win their playoff series by 3 games to 1.   Meanwhile, the  Yankees pounded Detroit for 6 runs in the eighth inning enroute to a 10-1 rout to deadlock their series at 2 games apiece.

The Cards had runners on in every inning of the game but could only plate 2 late-inning runs as Hamels shut out them out through six innings despite giving up 5 hits and issuing 3 walks.   Hamels struck out 8.

AP’s game recap for Yahoo sports provides highlights on Tuesday’s game:

So much for Francisco’s postseason futility and his lack of success against Jaime Garcia before his game-changer.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa’s decisions in the crucial seventh inning were ripe for second-guessing. He let Garcia bat in the sixth with two men on and then let Garcia keep pitching, and both moves backfired.

Garcia struck out on Hamels’ 117th pitch to end the sixth and keep it scoreless, and just a few minutes later served up a fat pitch that Francisco hammered over the left field wall and into the visitor’s bullpen.

“Well, it didn’t work, so that’s bad managing,” La Russa said. “I’m watching him pitch and was really pleased. I thought he was the guy to continue pitching and I knew the matchups were in our favor. It didn’t work.”

Even Garcia dissociated himself from the call to intentionally walk Carlos Ruiz before Francisco’s homer.

“That wasn’t my idea,” Garcia said. “That’s what (La Russa) wanted to do and that’s what we did.”

Second baseman Chase Utley was perfectly positioned to turn a double play to end the eighth on   Allen Craig’s sharply hit grounder with the bases loaded. Madson allowed Yadier Molina’s RBI single in the ninth before earning the save.

“That was a lot of fun, a lot of fun,” Madson said. “I wish I was a lot better but I guess I was good enough and that’s all that matters.”

After stranding 14 runners to frustrate a season-best crowd of 46,914, the Cardinals are in an yet another win-or-else predicament. They won the NL wild card on the final day of the season, erasing a 10 1/2 -game deficit on Aug. 25 to overtake the Braves.

“Somebody was going to be up 2-1 after this game anyway, so the series doesn’t end just because they’re up 2-1,”  Lance Berkman said.  “We’ll come back out tomorrow and see what happens.”

Several Cardinals said it was no coincidence that neither team scored the first six innings. Shadows during games with late-afternoon start times have bedeviled the hitters and Berkman joked that when he learned Game 3 would begin at 4:07 p.m. CDT, “I threw a tantrum, stomped my feet and stuff like that. Didn’t do any good.”

“I didn’t know it was a homer, I knew I hit it good,” Francisco said. “I saw it bounce over the fence and just pure excitement, pure joy.”

Hamels struck out eight in six scoreless innings and reversed a disturbing trend after allowing nine homers in September, with a pair of doubles by [Albert] Pujols the only extra-base hits. He’s a franchise-best 7-4 in the postseason with a 3.09 ERA.

Pujols and Ryan Theriot had four hits apiece for St. Louis with Pujols getting his 22nd career multihit game in the postseason. The Cardinals came up empty despite three hits in the eighth, including a pinch-hit single by Matt Holliday in only his second appearance of the series.

For all of Monday’s and Tuesday’s playoff results in both leagues, click here and here.

Roy Oswalt hopes to lead the Phillies to a series win in Wednesday’s game 4, thus avoiding a return home to Philly for a decisive 5th game in Citizen’s Bank Park.  He opposes Edwin Jackson who lost and was pounded in his only career outing against the Phils.  Oswalt was 1-1 vs the Cards this season, most recently tossing seven innings of 5 hit shutout ball on September 17th as the Phils clinched the division title with a 9-2 win.

For all of Wednesday’s scheduled playoff games throughout MLB, click here.

In the other NL division series game, the Arizona Diamondbacks pounded 3 homers but were routed 9-4 by the  Milwaukee Brewers who took a 2-0 lead in their series.

The usually reliable Lee struck out 9 but had trouble with the leadoff hitters in the first and second innings, although he escaped unscathed until the 3 run Cardinal fourth.  Clinging to the 4-3 lead, Lee set the side down in order in the fifth and looked ready to cruise getting the 1st two outs in the sixth.  But 2nd baseman Ryan Theriot doubled and Jay drove him in with a single to tie the game.   Then, in the seventh, rightfielder Allen Craig led off with a triple to deep centerfield and scored as 1st baseman Albert Pujols followed with a single into shallow left center for what would be the winning run.

Once again, the Phils went into an offensive shell after putting up the 4 runs in the first two innings.   After the 1st 2 innings, the only runners reaching for the Phils were shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who went 3 for 4 with 2 towering doubles, nearly homers, and scoring 2 runs for the game and who singled with 2 outs in the seventh only to be caught trying to steal 2nd base, and 2nd baseman Chase Utley who led off the eighth by being hit by a pitch from reliever  Mitchell Boggs but was left stranded.  The Phils went down on 9 pitches with nary a wimper in the ninth as  Jason Motte was credited with the save.   Reliever Octavio Dotel, who pitched the sixth and 1/3 of the seventh inning was credited with the win.  The only bright spot for the Phils, after the second inning, was that 4 Phils relievers held the Cards to 1 hit and a total of 3 base runners after Lee’s seventh inning departure with none out and over the final three innings.

AP’s game recap for Yahoo sports provides more lowlights of Monday’s game.

For all of Sunday’s playoff results in both leagues, click here.

The two teams have Monday off before travelling to St. Louis for Tuesday’s game 3 another Phils All Star lefthander Cole Hamels against Jaime Garcia for the Cards in a battle of lefties.

For all of Monday’s and Tuesday’s scheduled playoff games throughout MLB, click here and here.

       

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the the Arizona Diamondbacks in the other NL divisional playoff on 1st baseman  Prince Fielder’s seventh inning 2 run shot off of 21 game winner Ian Kennedy.

AP’s game recap for Yahoo sports provides highlights on Saturday’s game:

Halladay allowed three runs and three hits, striking out eight in eight innings. He didn’t allow a runner after Skip Schumaker led off the second with a single.

Rafael Furcal led off the game with a single and stole second. One out later, Halladay walked Albert Pujols on four pitches. Berkman drove the next pitch off the mini-scoreboard hanging on the facing off the second deck in right field.

Halladay retired his last 21 batters, and the NL East champions began their all-or-nothing postseason run with a comeback win.

…The offense bailed out Doc.

Howard shook off his season-ending strikeout last October to hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in a five-run sixth inning, sending Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy.

Lohse retired the first 10 batters before Chase Utley hit a double off the right-field fence in the fourth. The righty, who was 14-8 this season, ran out of gas in the sixth.

Down 3-1, Jimmy Rollins singled to start the inning. After Utley struck out, Hunter Pence grounded a single up the middle. That brought up Howard, who heard a lot of criticism last year for taking a called third strike with the tying run on second base to end the Phillies’ season against San Francisco in the NL championship series.

Howard worked a full count before launching a towering drive into the second deck in right-center to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead.

Victorino followed with a single. Ibanez then lined a two-run homer to right to end Lohse’s night.

Lohse allowed six runs—five earned—and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Howard hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Victorino and Ibanez each had RBI singles in the inning to pad Philadelphia’s lead.

The Cardinals scored three times in the ninth off relievers Michael Stutes and Ryan Madson, highlighted by Schumaker’s two-run double.

For all of Saturday’s playoff results in both leagues, click here.

In game 2, lefthander Cliff Lee is opposed by Chris Carpenter.

For all of Sunday’s scheduled playoff games throughout MLB, For all of Monday’s scheduled games throughout MLB, click here.

The Phils finally got to Hudson in the seventh and ninth innings as leftfielder Raul Ibanez slammed a 1 out seventh inning double and came around to score on shortstop Jack Wilson’s fielding miscue on catcher Carlos Ruiz’s grounder.    That chased Hudson and began a parade of seven Braves’ relievers over the next seven innings.   The Phils tied the game in the ninth against Braves closer Craig Kimbrel after loading the bases with1 out on a single and 2 walks.  2nd baseman Chase Utley’s sacrifice fly drove in the tying run as Kimbrel, going for his 47th save, was charged with his 8th blown save and wore goat’s ears.  7 Phil relievers followed Hamels into the game and young September call-up Justin De Fratus was credited with his 1st MLB win while David Herndon notched his 1st save in the Braves thirteenth after rightfielder Hunter Pence came up clutch with runners on 1st and 3rd base with 2 out in the thirteenth lining an RBI single to rightfield for the winning run as the Phillies swept the Braves in thirteen Innings by 4-3 to end the Braves’ wild card hopes.