Follow @mlbreports

Sunday October 2, 2011

Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist – MLB reports):  Major League Baseball had a full slate of games on Saturday, with all four series going.  The NLDS teams got their first taste of playoff action, while the Rays/Rangers played game two of their series and the Yankees/Tigers resumed game one which had been forced to be paused after heavy rain in the Bronx the night before.  Here is a summary of the action from Saturday, together with my final thoughts on Terry Francona and Tony Reagins, two big names in baseball that became suddenly unemployed as of Friday.  Let’s jump right in first to game summaries from Saturday:

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Milwaukee Brewers:  NLDS Game One

This game was all about pitching, as Yovani Gallardo and Ian Kennedy faced off.  Although Kennedy had the better regular season numbers, it was Gallardo who came out on top on this one.  Gallardo took the win, with 8 IP, 4 hits allowed, 1 ER, 1 BB and 9 SO.  A strong effort by the Brewers ace.   John Axford picked up where he left from the regular season, coming in for a clean 9th inning for the save.  Kennedy took the loss, giving up all four runs on 6 2/3 IP, giving up 8 hits, 1 BB and 3 SO.  Both starters gave up a home run, Prince Fielder with a 2-run home run in the 7th for the Brewers, while Ryan Roberts responded with a solo blast in the 8th.  Fielder finished with a 2 for 4 afternoon, while Ryan Braun went 3 for 4 and 2 runs scored.  Willie Bloomquist went 2 for 4 with 2 singles in the leadoff spot for the Diamondbacks, who managed a measly 4 hits all day against the Brewers’ pitchers.  The opening game on Saturday belonged to the favored Brewers.

Result:  Brewers defeat the Diamondbacks 4-1 to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies:  NLDS Game One

This game looked like a mismatch on paper, with Phillies ace Roy Halladay opposing Kyle Lohse of the Cardinals.  It was the Cards though that jumped out to the early lead, as the Cardinals led by a Lance Berkman 3-run blast in the 1st led 3-0 for the first 3 innings.  After a rough 1st, Halladay settled down and was untouchable the rest of the game.  Halladay finished with 8 IP, 3 ERs allowed, 3 hits, 1 BB and 8 SO.  A typical day in the office for Doc.  The Cardinal’s Lohse, who looked so dominant after 3 IP, had the wheels fall off shortly after, as he gave up 1 run in the 4th and a whopping 5th in the 6th.  Lohse finished the afternoon with 5 1/3 IP, 6 runs (5 earned), 7 hits allowed, 1 BB and 4 SO.  The big blows in the 6th being a 3-run bomb to Ryan Howard and a 2-run blast shortly after to Raul Ibanez.  Many offensive stars in this one.  For the Phillies:  Jimmy Rollins 2 for 4, 3 runs scored and a walk;  Chase Utley 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored; Howard with 4 RBIs;  Shane Victorino 3 for 4,  2 RBIs and 1 run scored;  Raul Ibanez 2 for 4, 3 RBIs and 1 run scored.  For the Cardinals, Lance Berkman was the big offensive star with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored;  Skip Schumaker chipped in with 2 hits and 2 runs scored.  Halladay with the win, while Lohse was charged with the loss.

Recap:  The Phillies beat the Cardinals in a wild one, 11-6 to take a 1-o series lead. 

Tampa Bay Rays vs.  Texas Rangers:  ALDS Game Two

After a wild opener, the Rays looked to win game 2 and take a stranglehold on the series.  The Rays had James Shields (AKA Big Game James) on the mound, with the Rangers going with Derek Holland.  After 3 1/2 it looked like the Rays were unstoppable, as Big Game James had a 3-0 lead staked to him.  The big blowing coming in the 4th inning, as Matt Joyce hitting a 2-run blast off Holland.  The Rangers though came alive in the 4th, with 5 big runs off Shields.   The Rays hurler loaded the bases with no outs that inning, then proceeding to hit Adrian Beltre to force in Elvis Andrus with the Rangers first run.   There was no looking back for the Rangers, who scored 8 runs in total to back Holland with the win.  Holland pitched the minimum 5.0 innings, with 3 runs (1 earned), 6 hits, 2 BB and 2 SO.  Koji Uehara could not get a batter out in the 7th, the blow being a 3-run home run to Evan Longoria to close the gap.  The Rangers pen was on fire from there, with Mike Adams and Darren Oliver with a clean inning a piece and closer Neftali Feliz with the save.  James Shields gave up 7 runs in his 5.0 innings of work to take the loss, 8 hits, 0 BB and 6 SO.  Mitch Moreland had the only Rangers long ball, a 2-run blast in the 8th, hitting in the 9th hole.  Leadoff man Ian Kinsler, along with Michael Young and Mike Napoli had 2 hits apiece.  For the Rays, aside from the Joyce and Longoria home runs, got 3 hits from B.J. Upton, who also scored 2 runs in the loss.  The Rangers are back people and are not ready to lay down to the Rays.   

Result:  Rangers beat the Rays 9-6 to take game 2 and even the series at 1-1.

New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers:  ALDS Game One

 The game started on Friday night, with aces C.C. Sabathia and Justin Verlander facing off.  Suspended at 1-1 in the bottom of the 2nd, the game resumed with new pitchers Doug Fister and Ivan Nova facing off.  The two pitchers exchanged zeros until the 5th, when the Yankees took a 2-1 lead.  The Yankees bats exploded in the 6th, with the big blow coming in the 6th inning.  With 2 outs and the bases loaded, Robinson Cano had a grand slam off reliever Al Alburquerque.  The Yankees added another run for good measure in the 8th.  The Tigers scored 2 in the 9th, long after this one was decided.  Doug Fister took the loss, charged with 6 ER, 7 hits, 2 BB and 6 SO.  Nova got the win in his first ever playoff start, pitching 6 1/3 innings, 2 ER, 4 hits, 4 BB and 5 SO.  With the Yankees pitching in question all season, the rookie Nova proved that he was for real to lead the Yankees in this one.  The biggest star for the Yankees was Cano, finished 3 for 5 with 6 RBIs and 1 run scored.  All the Yankees hitters interestingly enough had at least 1 hit, except for Alex Rodriguez– who continued his usual playoff disappearing act going 0 for 5 with 2 SOs.  Derek Jeter chipped in with 2 hits and 3 runs scored.  Delmon Young, Jhonny Peralta and Ryan Raburn each contributed 2 hits in the Tigers loss. 

Result:  Yankees wallop the Tigers 9-3 to take game one and 1-0 series lead.

Final Thoughts:  Terry Francona and Tony Reagins

On Friday, an MLB manager, as well as GM both left their teams after long tenures.  Boston Red Sox manager, Terry Francona, depending on which story you believed was fired/mutually split from the BoSox.  While in Anaheim, General Manager Tony Reagins resigned from the team.  Two baseball men with impressive records, abruptly leaving their teams on sour notes.

Firstly Francona.  Tito at age 52 had managed the Red Sox for 8 years.  He leaves with a 744-522 record, good for a .574 winning percentage, 2 pennants and most importantly, 2 world series titles.  The man who guided the Red Sox to beating the curse, he should have had a lifetime job in Boston for all his strong accomplishments.  However, Fracona ends his Red Sox tenure after a strange and difficult 2011 season.  After a slow start to the season, where many analysts wrote them off, the Red Sox were strong for most of the year and looked to be playoff locks.  However, after a September crash for the ages, the Red Sox were eliminated in humiliating fashion on the final day of the season.  With the team on the outside looking in on the playoffs, management was looking for a scapegoat and Francona became the victim.  While some say the split was mutual, with Francona looking for a change of scenery and the team deciding weeks ago to make the move, the decision to not pick up Francona’s option smells of fear and desperation.  A hero not so long ago, Francona is gone as the Red Sox decide to move on in 2012.  In my opinion, the fault lies at the veterans who did not come through for the team, including John Lackey and Carl Crawford.  But as the old saying goes, it is easier to change one manager than twenty-five players.  Thus Francona is out of the game, although not likely for long.

In Anaheim, Tony Reagins resigned as Angels GM.  With the Angels organization for 20 years, Reagins will apparently stay on in an advisor type role.  During his tenure as GM, the Angels won 2 division titles, but were not serious World Series contenders.  While the official departure is labelled a resignation, my feeling is that the Angels allowed Reagins to save face by labelling the choice as a resignation rather than firing or reassignment.  The final straw came this year, as the Angels despite coming close at some points had a difficult time keeping up with the Rangers and missing the playoffs.  The Angels had some of the pitching in baseball, but failed to score runs offensively to support their hurlers.  The finger was often pointed at Reagins, with poor trades including the Scott Kazmir fiasco.   The big blunder on his record being the acquisition of Vernon Wells this past offseason from the Toronto Blue Jays.  The Angels took on most of Wells’ salary, which is considered by many to be one of the worst in baseball history.  For $23 million in 2011 ($5 million paid by the Jays), the Angels got 25 home runs from Wells, along with 66 RBIs and 60 runs scored.  They also received a .218 AVG, .248 OBP and .412 SLG.  The question that may never get answered is: who is responsible for the acquisition of Wells.  The Angels, who are on the hook for 3 more years at $21 million a year, had to have the move approved by owner, Arte Moreno.  Most reports seem to indicate that it was Reagins who approached Moreno with the idea to acquire Wells.  If this is true, then truly Reagins did deserve to take the fall.  After all, besides acquiring the declining Wells, the Angels dumped Mike Napoli, who blossomed into an offensive beast in Texas (acquired by the Rangers in a later trade with Toronto).  The Reagins move smells like a Red Sox type decision, where the team embarrassed by its season failure felt the need to make a change.  However, unlike the BoSox, the Angels took the high road and allowed Reagins to save face.  It is possible that the team had planned to fire their GM but gave him the option to resign instead.  Or perhaps it was fully his decision to leave.  The feeling is that Reagins was forced out but given the option to resign.  Either way, the team handled the move with class and allowed him to stay in the organization. 

Abrupt moves in Boston and Anaheim.   Panic and rash moves that were done quickly in the heat of the moment.  Did Francona and Reagins deserve better fates?  That is debatable.  Anaheim at least chose to use dignity, although the team’s press statement did indicate that the team chose to move forward (hint that the team did force their GM out).  The Red Sox come out though looking like the bad guys, as their former manager deserved more respect for all he contributed to the team.  But baseball is a business and these two moves prove just that.

Please e-mail us at: MLBreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback.  You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook .  To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox , click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.