Baseball craziness

The weekend is almost over, and so far my baseball picks have been less accurate than Anthony Morelli.

So far, only the Red Sox are fulfilling my predictions. They're up 2-0 in the series and 2-0 in game 3 in the 5th inning. In the NL, Colorado vs. Arizona seems like a ridiculous NLCS, but it is a reality, and an exciting one at that (even if it doesn't get the ratings that a Cubs v. Phillies match-up would get). Both teams swept the same way every team sweeps: by playing very good baseball for 27 innings. The Rockies only scored an above-average amount of runs in game 2 (a 10-5 victory), while they out-pitched the Phillies in games 1 and 3. Jeff Francis and Ubaldo Jimenez were surprisingly effective against the potent Philly bats, and the Colorado bullpen was dominant. Only Jeremy Affeldt gave up a run, while Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas locked down the Phils in the later innings. If they keep playing like this, I don't see how even Arizona can slow them down.

Speaking of Arizona, they continue to be an anomaly. They played like a team that actually outscored its opponents in the regular season. Brandon Webb won game 1 nearly by himself, then the Arizona bats got to Ted Lily in game 2. Game 3 was strange, because Livan Hernandez gave up 5 hits and 5 walks in just 6 innings, but allowed only 1 earned run thanks to Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa grounding into double plays with runners on 1st and 2nd in two different innings. The result was a 5-1 D-backs victory and series sweep.

So what we have in the NL is a very good team against a team that is probably better than what they showed in the regular season but still not that great. Colorado SHOULD win and advance to the World Series.

In the AL the Yankees got pounded on Thursday thanks to Chien-Ming Wang's wonderful high sinker. On Friday night, things got out of control. The Yanks got a homer from Melky Cabrera to take a 1-0 lead. It appeared as though Andy Pettite would hold said lead until gnats invaded the field in the top of the 8th. That's when Doug Mientciewicz grounded out to hand the bats to Cleveland. By that time Yanks' uber-reliever Joba Chamberlain had already struck out a batter to end the Cleveland 7th and seemed poised to get 3 more outs in the 8th. But Joba, who seemed bothered by the gnats that were stuck to the back of his neck (and on his face as well), walked Grady Sizemore to start the inning. Grady then advanced to second on a wild pitch and was bunted over to third. Chamberlain's 2nd wild pitch of the inning later scored Sizemore. After that the game settled down and the gnats eventually fled. The Indians went on to win the game on a Travis Hafner bases-loaded line drive in the 11th.

Although the Yanks are down 2-0, they have the best chance to come back just because the pitching mismatch tonight (Clemens v. Jake Westbrook) at Yankee Stadium could give the Yanks the momentum they need. Even though the Yankees would have to face C.C. Sabathia again, I believe their hitters will be up for the challenge. Even if they struggle, I doubt Wang will struggle with his sinker again. The bottom line is: don't be surprised if this series gets exciting (at least one has to, right?).