Blog Archives
Freese Sends Cardinals to Game 7 of the World Series
Friday October 28, 2011
MLB reports – Jonathan Hacohen: Much attention was thrown to Tony La Russa and “Bullpen Phone Gate” following Game 5 of the World Series. Despite the trend to make the Cardinals manager into the goat, the team lost on Monday night 4-2 by failing to execute the clutch and hit with runners in scoring position (1 for 12 in the game). With the Rangers leading the series 3-2, a Texas win on Thursday would have clinched the first ever World Series title. But the Cardinals and their improbable hero, David Freese had other ideas on this night. As a result, we are now headed to a Game 7 tonight (Friday). The World Series is down to a 1-game playoff, sudden death matchup, for all the marbles.
Both starters in Game 6 enjoyed decent outings. Colby Lewis pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up 4 runs (2 earned), with 3 hits, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. Lewis did give up a 2-run home run to Lance Berkman in the first inning, his only serious blemish on the night. His counterpart, Jaime Garcia, lasted only 3 innings, giving up 2 earned runs, 5 hits, 2 walks while striking out 5. Clearly La Russa did not see enough in his starter to leave the fate of his team’s season on his shoulders. As a result, St. Louis began to trot out their bullpen while Texas followed suit shortly after.
The Rangers used 7 relievers on the night, while the Cardinals used 6. Both bullpens were shaky on the night, as the teams exchanged runs throughout the game. The Rangers actually held a 7-4 lead going into the 8th, but Derek Holland in his 2nd inning of work on the night gave up a solo home run to Allen Craig to cut the deficit to 7-5. From there, Mike Adams gave up a couple of hits in 1/3 inning pitched and gave way to closer Neftali Feliz. With the Rangers a sniff away from the World Series crown, Feliz gave up 2 more Cardinals runs to send the game into extra innings.
The teams exchanged 2 runs each in the 10th inning. The Rangers runs came off Cardinals closer Jason Motte, who was
uncharacteristically pitching a 2nd inning in the game. Josh Hamilton, well rested after a couple of days off, launched a 2-run shot to give the Rangers the lead. But Texas quickly gave back the runs in the bottom of the inning courtesy of a Darren Oliver blown save. The game proceeded to the 11th inning. With Mark Lowe on in the bottom of the inning to face David Freese, the probable World Series MVP (if the Cards win it all tonight) launched a solo home run to win the game for St. Louis. One batter faced for Mark Lowe and the game was done. St. Louis comes back to take the heat off their manager and breathe new life into the squad as the series is now tied at 3-3.
Looking ahead to tonight’s starting pitchers, anything can happen at this point. St. Louis will likely go with Chris Carpenter on short rest. The Rangers can use a combination of different arms, with Matt Harrison possibly getting the nod. Game 7 will be an exciting game, if for no other reason then it being a one-game sudden death playoff. But if you didn’t get a chance to watch Game 6, try to locate a copy on tape. One of the most exciting World Series games of all time, this one will be talked about for years to come. No matter where you are tonight, do not miss out on tonight’s action. It will be the final game of the 2011 season and your last chance for live baseball until March. Game sevens also don’t come along very often. With two high-octane offenses ready to duke it out in St. Louis, I am counting down the minutes until game time. Let’s play ball!
Jonathan Hacohen is the Lead Baseball Columnist & Editor for MLB reports
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.
Cardinals Win Game One of the 2011 World Series
Thursday October 20, 2011
MLB reports – Jonathan Hacohen: On a cold October night in St. Louis, Chris Carpenter and C.J. Wilson took the mound for their respective squads to battle in the long anticipated game one of the 2011 World Series. As the title of this article indicates, the Cardinals took game one. As the mastery and genius of Tony La Russa continued, here is a recap of last night’s action:
Texas Rangers at St. Louis Cardinals: World Series Game One
Despite the expectation for a high scoring affair, this game turned out to be very close. The two high-octane offenses of the Rangers and Cardinals were kept at bay by great pitching and mother nature. Bats seem to get cold in dreary weather for the most part. Chris Carpenter went 6.0 innings for the win. With his 8th postseason win, Carpenter passed the immortal Bob Gibson on the Cardinals all-time playoff win list. Impressive company indeed. Despite Carpenter getting frustrated with himself at times (and using choice language that came through on the broadcast), he enjoyed a great outing. Only 5 hits allowed, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. His only blemish on the night was a 2-run shot given up to Mike Napoli. The home run at the time erased the 2-0 Cardinals lead at the time. But St. Louis was able to come back in the bottom of the 6th, with pinch hitter Allen Craig driving in the game winning run. From there, the Cardinals pen took over with 3 shutout innings. Relievers Fernando Salas, Marc Rzepczynski, Octavio Dotel, Arthur Rhodes and Jason Motte combined to give up 1 hit and 1 walk (both by Salas in 1/3 of an inning) and 3 strikeouts to preserve the win for Carpenter. Motte continued his incredible postseason run with his 5th playoff save, a 1-2-3 9th inning.
C.J. Wilson was good, but not great on the night. The Rangers ace has not come up big when his team needed him most, as he was
fairly erratic on the night. His final line read 5 2/3 innings pitched, 4 hits allowed, 6 walks, 3 earned runs and 4 strikeouts. Alexi Ogando came into the 6th with 2 runners on and could not get the job done. Mike Gonzalez and Scott Feldman came in from the pen as well, but the damage was done as the Rangers could not come back against the mighty Cardinals bullpen. Questions arose after the game concerning Ron Washington’s use of his bench during the game. Specifically, his choices of having Craig Gentry and Esteban German pinch hit instead of Yorvit Torrealba and Mitch Moreland, who did not end up coming into the game. The bottom line for me is that Washington went with his feel and instincts. If the moves pay-off, he looks like a genius. In this case, they did not. But let’s give credit where its due. The Rangers are back on the big stage for a second straight year. The Rangers must be doing something very right to make it this far. Regardless of who would have batted in key situations, the Cardinals pen did its job tonight (as it has been doing all postseason long). Tonight’s game was more about what Tony La Russa did right, rather than what Ron Washington did wrong. But Washington will need to keep his chess playing skills sharp in this series if he hopes to have his team win the big prize.
The big heroes on this night for St. Louis were Lance Berkman (2 hits and 2 RBIs), Craig, Carpenter and Motte. Game 2 goes in St. Louis Thursday night, 8:05 PM ET. Colby Lewis and Jaime Garcia are set to faceoff. It will be interesting to see how Garcia responds after receiving an early hook from his manager in his last outing in the NLCS. This will be a pivotal game for the Rangers, as they do not want to go home to Texas down 2-0. The Cardinals started off the World Series on the right foot. Now it is just a question of whether the Cardinals bats and bullpen can keep the magic going for 3 more wins.
Jonathan Hacohen is the Lead Baseball Columnist & Editor for MLB reports
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.
The Cardinals Are Going to the World Series
Monday October 17, 2011
MLB reports – April Whitzman: The Cardinals heading into last night in Milwaukee were one win away from advancing to the World Series. Here is a recap of last night’s NLCS action:
St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers: NLCS Game Six
One ex-Blue Jays pitcher got the win in game number six of the NLCS last night. But it was not the one you would have expected.
Shaun Marcum was on the mound for the Brewers, hoping to bounce back from his previous start. Things unfortunately did not go as planned, as Marcum lasted only one inning. During his short stint, he allowed four earned runs on three hits, a walk, while striking out one. The biggest hit came in the form of a three-run home run, courtesy of David Freese.
Cardinals starter Edwin Jackson, however, did not fare much better. He lasted only two innings himself, also allowing four runs. Jackson actually allowed three home runs, including solo shots to Corey Hart, Rickie Weeks, and Jonathan Lucroy.
Heading into the third, the score was already 5-4 in favor of St. Louis. But the Cardinals weren’t even close to slowing down. They scored another four runs, thanks to an Albert Pujols home run, a Nick Punto sac fly which scored Matt Holliday, and an Allen Craig two-RBI single that scored David Freese and Yadier Molina.
The Brewers tried to overcome the deficit in the following inning, when Yuniesky Betancourt doubled in Jerry Hairston to make the score 9-5 in favour of the Cardinals.
The Cardinals would continue to add to their lead in the following inning. After two consecutive singles to start the inning, costly errors allowed Matt Holliday to score on Yadier Molina’s fielder’s choice. The errors also enabled Adron Chambers‘ sacrifice fly to score David Freese, his third run scored of the game.
Knowing how important the win was for the Brewers, they were not prepared to give up in this one. They scored another run in the bottom of the inning when Ryan Braun grounded out to score Carlos Gomez. The score was then 11-6 for the Cardinals.
But alas, the Brewers offense was a little too late- as the Cardinals went on to add another run. Albert Pujols hit another RBI single to score Daniel Descalso making it a 12-6 game.
Jason Motte came in for the ninth and got a 1-2-3 inning, as the Cardinals defeated the Brewers 12-6. St. Louis won the series 4-2, moving on to the World Series to face the Texas Rangers.
Ex- Blue Jay Marc Rzepczynski ended up earning the win, pitching 2 1/3 innings, more than any other pitcher in this game. He allowed one run on two hits, while walking one and striking out two.
Another Ex- Blue Jay, Octavio Dotel, also pitched in the game. He went 2/3 of an inning without allowing a base runner and struck out one.
After the game, David Freese was named MVP of the NLCS tournament, after going 3-4 with three runs and three RBIs in the game and batting .545 (12 for 22) in the NLCS overall, with three homers, three doubles, nine RBIs and seven runs scored.
Game number one of the World Series between the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals commences on Wednesday night in St. Louis, with the National League enjoying home field advantage in this one (thanks to their All-Star game victory this year). If it is anything like the series we have been watching thus far, it is going to be an exciting conclusion to an unpredictable and entertaining 2011 MLB postseason.
Today’s feature was prepared by our Blue Jays & Prospects Writer, April Whitzman. We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers. You can also follow April on Twitter.
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.
MLB Playoffs: Improving and Revamping the System
Saturday October 15, 2011
MLB reports – Jonathan Hacohen: I recently received a great e-mail from one of our readers. The e-mail was a well written commentary piece on improving the MLB Playoffs structure. So enthusiastic was I with the contents of the message, that I immediately suggested sharing the reader’s thoughts on our site. I got an enthusiastic thumbs back in response! Thus today on MLB reports, we are proud to present Guest Writer- Brian Corrigan, with his proposal to improve and revamp the MLB Playoffs:
Brian Corrigan (Guest Writer – MLB reports): The classic pennant chase prior to 1969 made sense. It rewarded the team that performed consistently over a schedule of between 154 and 162 games. In a given year, it is possible that one or two teams with the best records in Major League Baseball will win 60% of their games. However, a team that wins 60% of their games, will routinely lose 3 out of 5 games several times in a season. And the difference between a team that wins 55% of its games and 60% is almost unnoticeable in any given stretch of games, until you play out the full season.
As the two top seeds in each league have now just been eliminated from the championship games, does baseball really want to go the path of hockey, basketball and football- allowing wild card teams an ever-increasing role in the postseason? Remember that those are sports where the best teams commonly win 67%+ of their games. In football, the top teams win 75%+ of their games. Baseball is a totally different creature. It requires longer sifting for the really great baseball teams to emerge, although those teams are almost inevitably bewitched by periods of seasonal funks.
Does baseball really want to go in this direction? Will games in April, May and June really count? Will fans wait until postseason to tune in? Will General Managers develop strategies to play on the cheap in the first half of the season, and then make the key acquisitions that will give them the best short-term shot at the postseason? Do we really want baseball to degenerate in this direction?
I’m a pragmatic person. I understand that baseball is business. Given the fact that postseason play is more lucrative, I can understand wanting to expand the number of postseason games. Ultimately, I’m not going to succeed in rolling back the clock, but I would like to propose a system that is much better than a 10 or 12 team playoff system.
If I could deliver a postseason schedule that:
1) Produced more games, and therefore higher revenues than the current system;
2) Would produce a higher number of expected games, while taking less elapsed time, solving the World Series in November problem;
3) Would do this even with the existing 8 team playoff structure;
4) Would encourage the use of the top 3 starting pitching rotations, that fans prefer; and
5) Decreases the probability that the series will come down to luck or streakiness…
Would I at least have your attention?
What I am proposing does all of this, as well as produce higher revenues for MLB teams and more excitement for the fans.
What I am proposing is essentially a best of 9 games “round robin” pennant series, where each of the 4 playoff teams in each league would potentially play each other 3 times – possibly more or less, with up to two tie-breaker games. The pennant would not be won until one team had secured the best record in the pennant series, getting at least 6 wins. Until a team took its fifth loss, it would still be playing meaningful games, until one team secured its sixth win.
Each 3-game set would consist of a first game, with the team that does not have home field advantage taking a day off, and then playing on the 3rd and 4th day against the team with the home field advantage. The fifth day would be off; thus, the use of a 3 pitcher starting rotation would be encouraged. One league would start one day later than the other, so that baseball games would played on each day.
Home field advantage would go to the team with the best seed (best regular season record).
But isn’t there a possibility that some of the games wouldn’t count? Yes, however by giving the postseason teams a share of postseason revenues, there is always a motivation to win. At the point where two teams have been mathematically eliminated from the pennant series (this should not happen until every team has had a chance to play at least five games, and most likely more), then the two surviving teams would play the balance of the remaining 9- game tournament against each other, even if that means they play more than three times against one another. For example, if two teams have won their first 5 games, and the remaining teams have lost 5 games each, then the teams that have won five in a row should play their last games against each other. Effectively, this would create a best of five series for the surviving two teams, until one team gets its eighth win (allowing for a tenth game tie breaker if needbe).
To increase the probability that the two best teams would play in the final 3 games, I would propose the following schedule:
First 3 games: #1 seed plays #4 seed; #2 seed plays #3 seed
Second 3 games: winner of #1 vs. #4 plays loser of #2 vs #3 series; winner of #2 vs. #3 plays loser of #1 vs. #4.
Of the two teams that won the first series, they will go into the last series with no more than 4 losses (no more than 1 from the first series and 3 from the last series), meaning that at least the first game between those two teams will count for both clubs, since elimination could not yet have occurred for either one.
Taking this year’s National League Division series as an example: the Phillies won the first two of three against the Cards, and so would have played their next three games against the D-Backs who lost 2 of 3 to the Brewers. The Brewers would have played their next three vs. the Cards. The final 3 games would have been Phils vs. Brewers, Cards vs. D-Backs, at least until two of the teams had been eliminated.
In the event that only one team is eliminated, until a second team is eliminated, it is possible that 1 or 2 games will be played for the honor of baseball, or for a share of the postseason revenue. But once two teams are eliminated, they would step aside and allow the two surviving teams to play up to the balance of the remaining 9 games head-to-head.
The following represents a hypothetical pennant season:
First 3 games:
Phils win 2 out of 3 against the Cards
Brewers win 2 out of 3 against the D-Backs
Second 3 games:
D-Backs win 2 out of 3 against Phils
Cards win 2 out of 3 against Brewers
Game 7 with Resulting records in parenthesis
Brewers (4-3) beat Phils (3-4)
Cards (4-3) best D-backs (3-4)
Game 8
Brewers (5-3) beat Phils (3-5)
Cards (5-3) beat D-backs (3-5)
Phils and D-backs are eliminated; Brewers and Cards play the final 9th game against each other to resolve the pennant. Since the home field goes to the best regular season record in the 2nd and 3rd games of a 3 game set, the Cards would visit the Brewers for the 9th game.
Let’s say that Game 8 had gone differently, let’s say D-backs (4-4) beat Cards (4-4)
The Phils would play game 9 against the Brewers for honor and bragging rights.
If the Brewers win their 6th game, they clinch; otherwise, there will be a two-way tie for the pennant to be resolved by a tie breaker game. This system produces lots of wonderful and exciting and meaningful games for fans.
But isn’t there a chance of a tie in this system? Yes, and you could still get a 10th and 11th game tie-breaker in; and in less time than the current system. A three-way tie would pit the two worst regular season record teams against each other, and the winner would play the team with the best regular season record. This could happen if three teams went 5-4, and one team went 3-6 or if three teams went 6-3 and one team went 0-9. It should not happen that often, and if it does, it generates more games and more excitement for baseball.
Are you sure this will take less elapsed time? Yes, the current system must allow for a 5-game division series and a 7-game championship. That is 12 games in total. But you get fewer games because only two teams are playing in the last best of 7, and some teams may be eliminated after just 3 games. In this revised system, no one can get eliminated until after playing a minimum of 5 games. Even with a 3-way tie-breaker, you play less than 11 games in total vs. a schedule that must accommodate 12 games, as is the case in the current system (and 15 or more in the proposed new system). It works out that the 9th game would be scheduled for the day that the 5th league championship game is currently scheduled. Since it takes 3 more days to play out the 7 game LCS, there’s enough time to squeeze in up to two tie-breaker games, and still finish up at least 1 day before the current system. Given the rarity of the two game tie-breaker, the last tie-breaker game could be scheduled for a day before the World Series.
Can you really say that this series cuts down on the luck? It could come down to the tie breaker game? If you want to reduce the luck, use the regular season to determine the pennant winner. The more games played, the less luck involved. It will take some consistency to fight your way to that 10th game tie-breaker. The bottom line is really that baseball gets the increased revenue, without opening the door to more and more teams in the playoffs, the way the other sports have gone, thus diminishing the value of the regular season. In fact, with the suggested homefield advantage rules, the top seed gets 6 out of 9 games at home, and that makes the regular season count for more than the current system.
***Thank you to our Guest Writer, Brian Corrigan, for sharing his thoughts on the MLB playoffs today with us. Please feel free to leave any comments and/or questions that you have at the bottom of this article.***
Jonathan Hacohen is the Lead Baseball Columnist & Editor for MLB reports
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.
Tony La Russa Manages the Cards to One Win Away From the World Series
Saturday October 15, 2011
MLB reports – Jonathan Hacohen: Only one game on the schedule last night- but it was a big one. The Brewers and Cardinals headed into game five in St. Louis, deadlocked at 2-2. With the series set to shift to Milwaukee, this was a big game to take the lead in the NLCS. With two strong pitchers on the mound, this game could have been a pitching duel. It was far from it and the resulting game surprised many. Here is a recap of last night’s NLCS action:
Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals: NLCS Game Five
From the title of this article, many readers will take it that the Cardinals won last night. Indeed they did, a strong 7-1 victory over the Brewers to take a 3-2 NLCS series lead. This game came down to key factors in my estimation: the in-game managing by Tony La Russa and the sloppy play of the Brewers. When referring to La Russa, the talk of last night was the call to the bullpen in the 5th inning. With the Cardinals up 4-1, the Brewers were threatening with 2 on and 2 out. Ryan Braun headed to the plate and La Russa ran to the mound. Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia was stellar up to that point, with 4 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 7 hits, 0 BB and 5 strikeouts. But as noted by last night’s television commentators, Garcia was starting to get into trouble. With one Brewers run already in and the hits starting to pile up, La Russa appeared to be nervous that his starter was losing it. Few managers would take out his starter at that point, but then few managers are Tony La Russa. With his bullpen on fire in this postseason, La Russa was not going to take any chances. Octavio Dotel got the call and proceeded to strike out Ryan Braun to end the threat. From there, Lance Lynn, Marc Rzepczynski and Jason Motte came on to shut out the Brewers on 2 hits and 1 walk. Motte finished up the game for the save with Dotel taking the win.
But that is not the end of the story. Far from it. As much as this game is about the wizardry of La Russa managing his pitching staff (along with trusty pitching coach Dave Duncan at his side), game five was also about the Brewers throwing it away. Literally. To me, Milwaukee was a team intent on giving the game away. Four errors on the night is completely unacceptable, especially for a game of this magnitude. It is not like the team was not hitting, as the Brewers had 9 hits compared to the Cardinals 10. Interestingly enough the Cardinals had 20 LOB, compared to the Brewers 14. But the Cardinals drove runners in when in it counted. Here is my logic in a game that came down to inches. Zack Greinke gave up 5 runs, although only 2 of them were earned. Marco Estrada in the 8th was a complete train-wreck, giving up 2 runs on 1 hit an 2 walks. Estrada completely was not finding the zone and was lucky to escape with only the 2 runs allowed. Take out the Estrada inning and Greinke’s 3 unearned runs, and you are now left with a 2-1 Cardinals lead. Thus the Cardinals victory relied on La Russa’s management, strong bullpen and Brewers lack of execution and poor play. A game of inches.Jonathan Hacohen is the Lead Baseball Columnist & Editor for MLB reports
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.
Tigers Stay Alive and NLCS Tied Up: Recap of MLB Playoffs and Notes
Friday October 14, 2011
MLB reports – Jonathan Hacohen: The Rangers had a chance on Thursday to advance to the World Series. The Cardinals were up 2-1 in the NLCS and looking to take a commanding lead. How did they do? Let’s recap Thursday’s MLB playoffs:
Texas Rangers at Detroit Tigers: ALCS Game Five
The battle of the aces. C.J. Wilson and Justin Verlander. This game turned into a high scoring affair rather than a pitching classic. The Tigers pulled out a 7-5 victory to stay alive in the series. Verlander took the win, with 7 1/3 IP, 4 runs allowed, 8 hits, 3 walks and 8 strikeouts. The lone home run given up Verlander was in the 5th inning to none other than… Nelson Cruz. The Rangers slugger hit his 5th home run of the series, a 2-run effort. Phil Coke came in for the rare save, pitching 1 2/3 innings, allowing 1 run. C.J. Wilson took the loss for the Rangers. In 6.0 IP, Wilson allowed a staggering 6 runs, 8 hits, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. The long ball did Wilson in, as he allowed 3 of them to the Tigers in their home park. Alex Avila hit a solo blast in the 3rd, while Delmon Young had a pair on the day (a solo home run in the 4th and 2-run blast in the 6th). For good measure, Koji Uehara came on in the 7th to give up a solo home run to Ryan Raburn.
The crooked number came for the Tigers in the 6th. Miguel Cabrera hit a ground ball off the third base bag that could have led to a double play, but rather went for a double. Detroit kept the momentum from there and scored four runs in the inning. Detroit actually had a 7-2 lead going into the 8th, but the Rangers were able to chip away and stay within striking distance. Texas now leads the series 3-2 going into game 6 on Saturday. The game will be played at 8:05 PM ET, with Max Scherzer and Derek Holland set to faceoff. The Rangers continue to be one game away from that magical trip back to the World Series.
Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals: NLCS Game Four
The Cardinals held a 2-1 lead in the series with game four to be played at home. Kyle Lohse was on the hill for the home team, Randy Wolf for the Brewers. Turns out that Wolf was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Brewers. The starter pitched a solid 7.0 IP to take the win, giving up only 2 runs on 6 hits, 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. The only runs allowed by Wolf were on solo home runs, to Matt Holliday in the 2nd and Allen Craig in the 3rd. Francisco Rodriguez got the hold in the 8th and closer John Axford with the save in the 9th. Kyle Lohse could not make it out of the 5th, pitching 4 1/3 IP for the loss. Lohse gave up 3 runs on 6 hits, no walks and struck out 3. Mitchell Boggs, Arthur Rhodes, Octavio Dotel and Fernando Salas also pitched in this one. The Brewers recipe for success in this one was simple. Great pitching and grinding out runs at the plate. One could say that the Brewers beat Tony La Russa at his own game. The Brewers did not hit a long ball in this one, but will certainly take out the well-earned victory. With the series tied up 2-2, game five goes tonight at 8:05 PM ET in St. Louis. A great matchup on the mound, as Jamie Garcia and Zack Greinke faceoff.
MLB Notes:
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With the Theo Epstein soap opera about to conclude, the focus shifts to Baltimore and Boston for their vacant General Manager positions. Boston is looking internally to fill the role, while Baltimore is considering everyone and anyone to lead their team. This is a crucial stage for both teams’ development. Boston needs to maintain its status as a top flight MLB organization, while Baltimore is on the verge of breaking through (with a great deal of talent in their farm system).
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The sale of the Houston Astros to Crane will apparently be going through. The sale will lead to the Astros moving to the American League, playing in the West division. I will be writing about this subject very soon on the Reports. But at this point I will say that the move is a win-win for the Astros and its fans. The team needs stability and renewed excitement. A move to the AL West should provide just that and more.
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Another day, another rumor. With the Red Sox in apparent turmoil, Big Papi has come out and indicated that he may not return to Boston. That is his decision and I respect that. But will Boston be asking him back…and at what price? If Papi does leave, look for the Jays, Rays and Yankees to all hold discussions with the big man. The Angels may also be a consideration. But my money is on a return to Beantown.
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The expansion of the MLB playoffs will happen. It is just a question of when. The latest reports have Major League Baseball adding one more wild card team to each league and a sudden death, one game playoff, to be played by the wild card teams. I do not know yet how I feel about having just a one gamer to decide the wild card winner. But I am definitely in favour of expanding the amount of teams. Personally, I like the idea of each top team getting a full bye into the championship series. But this may be too revolutionary for baseball. The expanded MLB playoffs is likely coming as early as the 2013 season.
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The World Baseball Classic is coming in the spring of 2013. The qualifying tournament will be played sometime in the fall of 2012. I am a big fan of this tournament and see it as a big step for baseball expansion throughout the world. More details will likely not be available until next year, but I will continue to update everyone as information becomes available.
Jonathan Hacohen is the Lead Baseball Columnist & Editor for MLB reports
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.
ALCS Game 4 and NLCS Game 3: MLB Playoffs Recap for Wednesday October 12th
Thursday October 13, 2011
Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist – MLB reports): Going into today, the Rangers held a 2-1 series lead while the Cards and Brewers were tied up at 1-1. Could the Tigers square up their series? Who would pull away between Milwaukee and St. Louis? Let’s get to it by recapping Wednesday’s action:
Texas Rangers at Detroit Tigers: ALCS Game Four
Rick Porcello and Matt Harrison faced off in the battle of number four starters. Both pitchers did a fairly good job on the night. Porcello pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned), 8 hits, 0 walks and struck out six. Harrison on the other side lasted five innings, giving up 2 runs, three hits, three walks and striking out three. Both starters left with a no decision. The scoring in this one started in the first, courtesy of a Miguel Cabrera 2-run double. Other than a Brandon Inge solo home run in the 7th inning (off reliever Alexi Ogando), the Rangers pitching staff did not concede another Tigers’ run. Texas actually trailed in this one 2-0 until the 6th, when they were able to put up 3 runs on the board. From there it was the battle of the pens, as both teams sent out plenty of relievers in this one. The Rangers used Alexi Ogando, Mike Adams, Darren Oliver, Scott Feldman and Neftali Feliz. The Rangers countered with Al Alburquerque, Joaquin Benoit, Jose Valverde and Phil Coke.
Tied up 3-3 going into the 11th, the Tigers trotting out their closer Jose Valverde who had already worked the 10th. The decision proved to be fatal. With one out and two on, Valverde faced Nelson Cruz– Texas Rangers postseason hero. Cruz proceeded to knock in a three run home run, his fourth home run of the playoffs. The Rangers went on to score four runs in the inning and take the game, final score 7-3. Feldman with the win, Valverde takes the loss. The Rangers hold a commanding 3-1 series going into tomorrow afternoon in Texas. The game is scheduled for 4:19 PM EST, with aces C.J. Wilson and Justin Verlander set to face-off. With one more win, the Rangers are off to the World Series, their second consecutive appearance in the finals.
Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals: NLCS Game Three
St. Louis was the site for the battle of the aces. Chris Carpenter for the Cardinals, Yovani Gallardo for the Brewers. Neither pitcher was particularly on this night, but did what they had to do to keep their teams in this one. Gallardo gave up all four runs in the 1st inning, but combined with the Brewers pen for seven shutout innings the rest of the way. Gallardo pitched 5 innings, giving up 8 hits, 5 walks and striking out 2. Carpenter only lasted 5 innings as well, giving up 3 runs, 6 hits, 3 walks and striking out 3. The pens for both teams went into lockdown mode. The Brewers relievers, LaTroy Hawkins, Takashi Saito and Chris Narveson combined to give up 1 hit and 1 walk over 3 innings, while striking out 3. The Cardinals pen was even better though on this night. Fernando Salas, Lance Lynn, Marc Rzepczynski and Jason Motte gave up no hits or walks over 4 innings pitched. Motte struck out 3 batter in 1 1/3 innings pitched for the save. Carpenter ended up with the win, while Gallardo took the loss. Albert Pujols was once again the star for the Cardinals, going 2 for 2 with 2 walks, 1 run and 1 RBI. The Cardinals take a 2-1, going into game 4 tomorrow night in St. Louis. Game time is 8:05 PM ET, Randy Wolf vs. Kyle Lohse. The battle of the number 4’s will determine if St. Louis can take a stranglehold on the series, or the Brewers can even things up going back to Milwaukee.
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2011 MLB Playoffs: Recap for Monday October 10th
Tuesday October 11, 2011
Sam Evans (Intern – MLB reports): Monday was a fun day of baseball. These two games had strong performances from superstar players who led their team to victory. One team took a defining step forward by winning their 2nd game of the series, while one team fought to even their series up. Let’s start with the first game of the day which was a thrilling ballgame in Texas.
Detroit Tigers at Texas Rangers: ALCS Game Two
The Rangers jumped out to an early lead thanks to Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre who both hit RBI doubles in the bottom of the first. They both jumped on Max Scherzer‘s fastball, which he was consistently throwing early in the count. Derek Holland showed the poise of a veteran, getting Ramon Santiago to ground out with the bases loaded in the second. Things weren’t exactly easy for Holland on Monday, as evidenced as Ryan Raburn‘s three run homer in the third. This was a crucial hit because it gave the Tigers an early 3-2 lead. Ron Washington had a very short rope with Holland, he pulled him after Holland had only thrown 2.2 innings. Holland really struggled to throw even two innings, he just didn’t have his command. He did nothing to dismiss chatter of his inconsistency by throwing 76 pitches in his limited appearance. Still, Scott Feldman played the role of dominant long reliever needing only 49 pitches to throw 4.1shutout innings in relief. Scherzer surrendered a 1-2 fastball to Nelson Cruz who hit out to left field to tie things up. Scherzer had just thrown three straight sliders and Cruz must have just been waiting back on the fastball. Going into the season, Nelson Cruz was my dark horse MVP pick. He is just a monster, i seriously believe he could have a .300 AVG, 45 HR, 100 Runs, and 100 RBI type season. The main thing holding Cruz back for superstardom these past couple years has been injuries. In particular, his hamstring injury stints have been lengthy and costly to his ballclub.
In the top of the ninth, Neftali Feliz escaped a bases-loaded jam by getting Victor Martinez to hit an infield fly. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, the Rangers had the bases loaded with no outs! The sometimes annoying, but overall effective, Jose Valverde got David Murphy to fly out to shallow left field, which was not enough for Beltre to tag up. Next, he made a huge 2-2 pitch to get Mitch Moreland to ground into a double play to retire the side. In the top of the 10th, the Tigers had a runner on second with only one out, but they just couldn’t drive the run in. This game was really an offensive struggle for both teams, especially trying to drive runners in scoring position in. In the bottom of the 11th, Ryan Perry came into the game to pitch for the Tigers. He gave up three consecutive singles to load the bases. Then he threw a 1-2 slider to Nelson Cruz who crushed it to left field to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead in the series. This was the first ever walk-off grand slam in postseason history. This was an amazing game, and i feel sorry for you if you missed the chance to witness history in the making at the Ballpark in Arlington. The series will shift to Detroit where the two teams will face off Tuesday at 8:05 ET. Colby Lewis will start for the Rangers while Doug Fister will start for the Tigers. It should be a pretty fun game, and a vital game for the Tigers to get their first win of the series.
St.Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers: NLCS Game Two
Fresh off a tough 9-6 loss on Sunday, the Cardinals came out and dominated the Brewers on Monday. Albert Pujols got things started with a two-run home run in the top of the first. Then, when Pujols faced Shaun Marcum again in the third, he ripped a two-run double off the center field wall. In the top of the fourth, Nick Punto singled to center field scoring Yadier Molina from third. The Brewers weren’t completely mute, Rickie Weeks belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. Shaun Marcum had another rough outing, he has given up 13 runs in 8.2 innings this postseason. He has been hit hard in both of his outings, but after the game Manager Ron Roenicke suggested that Marcum would pitch again this series if the Brewers needed him. In the top of the fifth, Albert Pujols collected his third extra base hit of the day, an RBI double to score Jon Jay. Pujols came around to score on a Marco Estrada wild pitch. The Cardinals also strung together six straight hits in the 7th to really blow open the lead. Prince Fielder hit a moonshot in the bottom of the eighth, and David Freese also homered in the ninth. Edwin Jackson turned in another decent start. Despite getting hit around a little bit, he only gave up two runs in 4.1 innings. The real stud of this game was debatably the best hitter in baseball, Albert Pujols. Pujols finished 4 for 5 with 5 RBI. The series will move to St.Louis all tied up. Yovani Gallardo will start for the Brewers against Chris Carpenter for the Cardinals. The game is Wednesday at 8:05 PM ET.
***Today’s feature was prepared by our Intern, Sam Evans. We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers. You can also follow Sam on Twitter.***
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2011 MLB Playoffs: Recap for Sunday October 9th and MLB Notes
Monday October 10, 2011
Sam Evans (Intern – MLB reports): There turned out to only be one game on Sunday, nonetheless it was still an exciting, and important game. Let’s get to the Recaps!
Detroit Tigers at Texas Rangers: ALCS Game Two
Major League Baseball actually called this game at 2:00 PM CT, more than four hours before the game even started. MLB was obviously trying to the pitchers from a situation similar to Saturday night. While MLB probably had good intentions, this was a very bad decision. According to multiple weather reports, it never rained on Sunday at the Ballpark in Arlington. If the decision makers had just waited a couple more hours we probably would have a game between these two teams on Sunday. Now, because of MLB jumping the gun, these teams have to play four straight days of baseball. As a result, Max Scherzer will take the mound for the Tigers this afternoon against Derek Holland for the Rangers. Game time is 4:19 PM ET, assuming the skies stay clear in Arlington.
St.Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers: NLCS Game One
With all the trash talking leading up to this game, this proved to be a pivotal game for both teams. Neither pitcher was very sharp, but both offenses showed up ready to battle. In the top of the first, Matt Holliday had an RBI single off Brewers starter Zack Greinke to give up the Cardinals an early lead. In the bottom of the first, the Brewers erased the Cardinals’ lead by scoring two runs, courtesy of Ryan Braun‘s 444 foot home run. Both pitchers battled throughout the second and third innings, until in the fourth when David Freese hit a 3-run home run to give the Cards’ a 4-2 lead. Freese is having a tremendous postseason, coming tough in the clutch for St.Louis. In the top of the fifth, Lance Berkman drove in Rafael Furcal to make it 5-2. In the bottom of the fifth, everything went wrong for Jaime Garcia. The inning started off with a Corey Hart single, then a Jerry Hairston double. Next, Ryan Braun jumped on the first pitch and hit a ground rule double to right field. From there, Prince Fielder crushed Garcia’s first pitch, an 87 MPH fastball, to right center field. ESPN’s Home Run Tracker had that bomb traveling at 119.2 MPH. This would make it the hardest hit homer of the season. A lot is going to be made about the Brewers celebrations after every home run they hit, but I really don’t have a problem with it. If the Cardinals don’t like it, then maybe they just shouldn’t give up home runs!
Garcia’s main problem with this huge inning was that he stopped throwing his breaking ball. Out of the 12 pitches he threw, not one was offspeed. Things got worse for the Redbirds when Octavio Dotel came into the game, and gave up a 2-run home run to Yuniesky Betancourt, of all people. The Cardinals scored once more in the 7th when Albert Pujols grounded into a double play, but the big 6th inning was enough for the Brewers. Final score: Brewers 9 Cardinals 6, with Greinke getting the win, Garcia the loss, and John Axford nailing down the save. These two teams will face off for game two tonight, Monday, at 8:05 PM ET. Edwin Jackson will get the start for St.Louis, against Shaun Marcum for Milwaukee.
Editor’s Notes:
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All the talk surrounding Zack Greinke’s comments turned out to be just that, talk. Once the teams took the field yesterday afternoon, the focus centered on the game itself. After getting hit fairly hard yesterday, I do not expect we will hear many more harsh words from Greinke during this series.
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The Tigers are looking very susceptible offensively, especially after the loss of Magglio Ordonez to a broken ankle and Delmon Young to an oblique strain. The Rangers have caught fire at the right time and should be making a second straight trip to the World Series.
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The free agency talk won’t talk, even though we are still in playoff mode. Possible destinations for C.J. Wilson and Prince Fielder have been speculated on for the past few days, as strong or stronger than they have all season. The reality is the focus should be on the games ahead. There will be plenty of time to have these discussions between the end of the playoffs and New Years.
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A story has come out indicating that the Reds are going to star taking offers for their star first baseman, Joey Votto. Expect 29 other teams to submit their bids if this is true.
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Epstein-gate continues to swirl, as the Cubs and supposedly Angels are interested in his services. My advice if Theo was sitting in front of me? Stay put. You are considered a genius in Boston. Move elsewhere and you run the risk of failing to replicate your magic. If that occurs, your lustre will get tarnished. Same advice to Billy Beane. Stay home and keep your legacy. The grass is always greener on the other side.
***Today’s feature was prepared by our Intern, Sam Evans. We highly encourage you to leave your comments and feedback at the bottom of the page and share in the discussion with our readers. You can also follow Sam on Twitter.***
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Preview of MLB Playoffs for Sunday October 9th and Rangers Take Game 1 ALCS
Sunday October 9, 2011
Jonathan Hacohen (Lead Baseball Columnist – MLB reports): And then they were down to four. On the road to the World Series, Milwaukee and St. Louis are set to do battle for the National League- while over in the AL, Detroit and Texas have already started their series. Is there anything better than the MLB Playoffs? Didn’t think so. Let’s get to it by recapping last night’s action:
Detroit Tigers at Texas Rangers: ALCS Game One
The Detroit Tigers are becoming linked with “rain” in the 2011 MLB playoffs. Game one of their ALDS matchup in New York was suspended and played a day later. So of course, Murphy’s law dictated that the opening game of their ALCS would see rain as well. But despite nearly a two-hour rain delay (2 total rain delays in the 5th), the Rangers and Tigers were able to get this one in. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they again ended up losing their opener to fall behind 1-0 in the series to the Rangers. Neither starter was particularly effective in this one. Justin Verlander gave up 3 runs over 4 IP to take the loss, giving up 5 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 5. Verlander gave up 2 runs in the 2nd and the eventual game winning run in the 4th, courtesy of a Nelson Cruz solo home run. His opponent on the night, C.J. Wilson was also very un-ace like for the Rangers. In his 4 2/3 IP, Wilson gave up 2 runs on 6 hits and a whopping 5 walks, while striking out 6. Once the rain delay was over in the 5th and the game resumed, this game was the story of the bullpens. Both pens pitched shutout ball the rest of the way. Rick Porcello, Phil Coke and Ryan Perry kept the Tigers in this one, but the Rangers were able to make their early 3-2 lead stick. The stars of the night were the Texas Rangers’ relievers, as one by one, they can in to stifle the Tigers bats.
Mike Gonzalez earned his paycheque for the year by coming in on the 5th to the greatest pressure situation in baseball as a reliever. Bases loaded, Gonzalez faced Alex Avila with 2-outs. Needing only 2 pitches, Gonzalez retired Avila to end the inning and the Tigers best chance at breaking this game open. From there, Alexi Ogando, Darren Oliver, Mike Adams and Neftali Feliz over 4 innings gave up 1 hit, 1 walk, and struck out 8. As lock-down as you get in baseball. Blame it on the rain, blame it on the Rangers having home field advantage and coming in rested. No matter how you slice or dice it, the Tigers were good on this night. But the Rangers were better. With the Rangers high-octane offense and stacked bullpen, the Tigers bats will need to muster more than two runs in a game if they hope to compete with the reigning AL champions. Another great game in the archives, in what is becoming one of the better MLB playoffs in recent history.
Preview of Sunday October 9th:
Game two of the ALCS was scheduled to go tonight, with Derek Holland on the hill for the Rangers and Max Scherzer for the Tigers. With rain in the forecast at a 90% probability, Major League Baseball wisely postponed this one until tomorrow afternoon. With Doug Fister not scheduled to pitch until game 3, the Tigers need this game or face a 2-0 deficit. The Rangers will be hungry to take the Tigers down early and get back to the World Series in a hurry. This series is far from over and should prove to be an excellent battle. Over in the National League, the Cardinals and Brewers are set to begin their battle. Jaime Garcia and Zack Greinke face-off in what should prove to be a classic. With many “experts” picking the Brewers to advance to the World Series, Tony LaRussa and his Cardinals have their work cut out for them. But as the Cardinals proved against the Philadelphia Phillies, a team with Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter cannot be counted out. Both teams have strong bullpens, as is the case in the American League. With tight games, this game could come down to Francisco Rodriguez and John Axford of the Brewers, or Fernando Salas and Jason Motte for the Cardinals. With Zack Greinke starting the war of words, the battle lines have been drawn. Another great series, leading up to the 2011 World Series.
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