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September 30, 2008
October baseball is here .....
Here’s a sneak at the postseason match ups that get underway today, starting with the Brewers-Phillies series:
Brewers vs. Phillies
Throw out the pitching in this series – besides when CC Sabathia, again working on short rest, takes the hill in Game 2 Thursday. This series is going to come down to which came do the most mashing en route to winning three games.
The Phillies, who remind me of the Cleveland Indians of the 1990s, have the king of the long ball in Ryan Howard, who led baseball with 48 homers and 146 RBIs. Plus Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Geoff Jenkins and Pat Burrell are big boppers, which helped Philly lead the National League with 214 homers.
The Brewers have Ryan Braun (37 homers), Prince Fielder (34 homers), Mike Cameron (25 homers), J.J. Hardy (24 homers) and Corey Hart (20 homers) powering their lineup. Milwaukee was third in home runs in the National League with 198.
Hitters to watch: Brewers – Braun, Fielder, Bill Hall; Phillies - Howard, Rollins, Jason Werth.
Pitcher to watch: Brewers – Sabathia. Phillies – Brad Lidge.
Key to the series: First team to 10 runs each game wins. Actually, whichever team can get decent starting pitching should be in good shape.
Prediction: Phillies in 4.
Dodgers vs. Cubs
Chicago was clearly the best team in the NL all season, but frankly I think they got a bad break with Los Angeles in the first round. Of the four teams, the Dodgers are the most dangerous in the NL with Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe and skipper Joe Torre all having proven track records in October.
The Cubs have been a true team all season with a balanced offense and a strong starting staff with Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly and second-half addition Rich Harden always helps. If the Cubbies have a weakness, it’s in the bullpen.
With the acquisition of Ramirez at the trade deadline, everything seems to have fallen into place for the Dodgers. Manny being Manny has helped easy things for young players Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Russell Martin and James Loney. Ramirez has 53 RBIs in 53 games since going Hollywood.
Lowe has been the best pitcher in baseball for September – 3-0, 0.59 ERA in five starts – and was a postseason star in Boston. Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda are solid, but untested in the postseason. Ditto for closer Jonathan Broxton.
Hitters to watch: Dodgers – Ramirez, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Martin; Cubs - Alfonso Soriano, Ryan Theriot, Jim Edmonds
Pitchers to watch: Dodgers – Lowe; Cubs – Kerry Wood, Harden, Lilly.
Key to the series: Dodgers need to strike early and put Cubs on the defensive.
Prediction: Cubs in 4.
AL series previews coming later today
Posted by Bill on September 30, 2008 10:12 PM
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