Kuzul

Perhaps the most evenly matched series will start in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. Let’s take a look at the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers series at a glance…

Schedule

Game 1: Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 1:37 PM est. Cliff Lee vs. David Price

Game 2: Thursday, Oct. 7 at 2:37 PM est. C.J. Wilson vs. James Shields

Game 3: Saturday, Oct. 9 at 5:07 PM est. Matt Garza vs. Colby Lewis

*Game 4: Sunday, Oct. 10 at 1:07 PM est. Wade Davis vs. Tommy Hunter

*Game 5: Tuesday, Oct. 12 at TBD.

*Denotes If Necessary

Season Series

Rays 4-2

Prediction

This might be the most evenly matched series of the postseason and the series I am looking forward to the most. Sadly, because Major League Baseball feels the Rays and Rangers won’t draw ratings, this series is buried on TV.

Regardless, this should be a fantastic series.

Game One of this series might feature the best pitching matchup of the first round of any series. Cliff Lee (12-9, 3.18 ERA) versus David Price (19-6, 2.72 ERA) is a must watch for any fan of pitching and of baseball in general. While I thought Game One would decide the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins series, I don’t feel that way about this series.

I think this series goes five games. That means that this series will come down to each team’s third and fourth starters. If it stands and the matchups are Garza and Davis against Lewis and Hunter, I will give the edge to the Rays.

Davis was 6-1 in the second half with a 3.28 ERA and pitched very well down the stretch. Garza can be hit or miss, but he sold me when he dashed the Boston Red Sox hopes in Game Seven of the 2008 ALCS. Garza was also 2-0 with 2.84 ERA against the Rangers this season.

Offensively, the question I have for the Rays is will Evan Longoria be able to produce at a high level? He hasn’t played in over a week and if he doesn’t hit, where is the offense going to come from in this lineup?

As for the Rangers, I believe this is the best team they have ever had from top to bottom. But is it enough to get by the Rays? I am not so sure.

I just really have my doubts about Lewis and Hunter in those third and fourth games. If the Rangers are to win those games, they might just have to out-slug the Rays, which they can certainly do.

Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz are healthy and with Michael Young, Vladimir Guerrero, and Josh Hamilton leading the way, this lineup is ridiculously scary.

The key for the Rangers lineup for me is Elvis Andrus. Can he get on and set the table for the Ranger big hitters? He did bat .350 in 20 ABs against the Rays this season and if he can do that and wreak havoc on the base paths, the Rays will be in trouble.

As for the bullpens, this is a very even matchup. The Rays ranked first in bullpen ERA in the American League and the Rangers ranked second.

Key matchups to look for late in the games—Darren Oliver versus Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena. Randy Choate versus Hamilton.

I fully expect this series to go five games and in the end, I think with home-field advantage and Price going twice, the Rays will put it out.

Rays in five.

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Here we go again. If the Minnesota Twins are going to win their third World Series in franchise history, they are going to have to go through the New York Yankees. A task that has impossible for them to do in recent years.

Let’s take a look at the series at a glance…

Schedule

Game 1: Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 8:37 PM est. CC Sabathia vs. Francisco Liriano

Game 2: Thursday, Oct.7 at 6:07 PM est. TBD vs. Carl Pavano

Game 3: Saturday, Oct. 9 at 8:37 PM est. Brian Duensing vs. TBD

*Game 4: Sunday, Oct. 10 at TBD. Nick Blackburn vs. TBD

*Game 5: Tuesday, Oct. 12 at TBD.

*Denotes If Necessary

Season Series

Yankees 4-2

Prediction

It seemed like during the final two weeks of the season the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays were doing everything they possibly could to win the Wild Card so they could play the Twins in the first round. Well, be careful for what you wish for because you just might get it.

We all know the story between the Yankees and Twins. The Yankees have used the Twins as their personal whipping boy in the ALDS the last three times they have played them.

The Twins, normally known as a fundamentally strong team, turn into pumpkins when they see the Yankees. They make bone-headed base running plays, make uncharacteristic errors, and their pitchers choke at the worst possible moment.

However, there is one major difference between this series between the Yankees and Twins versus years past. It’s the Twins, not the Yankees, that have home-field advantage in this series.

I think that is really important, especially for Game 1. The Twins have to win Game 1. If the Twins don’t win Game 1, they have no chance in this series mainly because it will be one of those “Here we go again” scenarios.

While the Yankees played like poop in September, the Twins go into this round with more questions than the Yankees.

Is Joe Mauer 100 percent healthy? Can Brian Fuentes and Matt Capps do what Joe Nathan could never do—hold the lead late in a game, and can Brian Duensing walk into Yankee Stadium with the series tied at one and win Game 3?

I have the same take on Duensing that I had when the Angels started Joe Saunders in Game 6 of the ALDS last year. Both are nice little pitchers to have on a staff, but come on. Brian Duensing as a Game 3 starter? I don’t care if he went 10-3 during the regular season. No thanks.

While the Yankees have question marks about their pitching staff, I will still bet on Andy Pettitte or Phil Hughes coming through more than I will on Pavano or Blackburn. The odds are the Yankees won’t use A.J Burnett during this series and will go with Sabathia on three days rest for Game 4.

The one big question I do have with the Yankees is the underbelly of their bullpen. Can Boone Logan get Mauer or Jim Thome out in a big spot late in the game? Will Joe Girardi be able to rely on Kerry Wood or Joba Chamberlain to get through the eighth or will he have to use Mariano Rivera for two innings at a time?

Unlike last year, the Twins come into this series fresh, but I still don’t think it will be enough. The loss of Justin Morneau seems to be forgotten, but I think without him the Twins can’t beat the Yankees.

The Yankees will find a way to win.

Yankees in four.

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This is a matchup of David versus Goliath. The Cincinnati Reds have a good team, but the Phillies have a great team.

Let’s take a look at the series at a glance…

Schedule

Game 1: Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 5:07 PM est. Edinson Volquez vs. Roy Halladay

Game 2: Friday, Oct. 8 at 6:07 PM est. Bronson Arroyo vs. Roy Oswalt

Game 3: Sunday, Oct. 10 at TBD. Cole Hamels vs. Johnny Cueto

*Game 4: Monday, Oct. 11 at TBD.

*Game 5: Wednesday, Oct 13 at TBD.

* Denotes If Necessary

Season Series

Phillies, 5-2.

Prediction

This is a terrible matchup for the Reds. The team that has the pitching disadvantage in a series that will be played in two hitter’s ballparks, usually ends up on the short end of the stick.

Not only are the Reds the underdogs, but they already fired the first surprise of the series when Dusty Baker announced that Edinson Volquez would start Game 1 of the series. I guess the Reds saw enough out of Volquez in his last four starts to give him the nod.

In his last four starts, Volquez had a 1.95 ERA and struck out 31 in 27.2 IP. I personally, would have gone with Bronson Arroyo. While Volquez has been hot lately, he is too much of a wild card in my opinion to put him up against Halladay in Game 1.

If the Reds are going to win this series, it’s going to because of their stars. Jay Bruce (1.611 OPS in last seven days) and Drew Stubbs (1.326 OPS and four steals in last seven days) need to stay hot and Joey Votto needs to be Joey Votto.

Perhaps the biggest X-factor of this series is closer Francisco Cordero. Which Cordero is going to show up for the Reds? The Cordero that had a 2.19 ERA in August or the one that had a 5.11 ERA in September?

If Cordero blows a save in this series, the Reds are toast.

As for the Phillies, they are peaking at the right time and with Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels on top of their game, they are the heavy favorites in this series.

The only way I can see the Phillies losing this series is if their bullpen implodes—and I am talking to you Brad Lidge. Lidge had a 0.73 ERA in August and September, but he also walked nine guys in his last 12.1 innings.

Walk a guy in front of Scott Rolen and he will make you pay.

Unless that happens, I don’t foresee the Reds winning a game in this series. I love the Reds and think they will win the World Series in 2012, but they are a year away from contending for a World Series.

Phillies in three.

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The Atlanta Braves did their best to give Bobby Cox a heart attack on the final Sunday of the regular season, but they held on to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-7.

The Braves pounded eight Philly pitchers for 14 hits in the winning effort. Matt Diaz contributed with three hits and Derrek Lee hit a frozen rope for his 19th HR of the season in the winning effort.

Tim Hudson was very solid over seven innings and Billy Wagner closed things out in the ninth to secure the win. Wagner was pretty shaky in the eighth, but had electric stuff in the last inning. He whiffed the side in the ninth on three unhittable sliders.

Now the Braves sit back and wait. Whatever happens in the San Diego Padres – San Francisco Giants game, the Braves didn’t play their last game on Sunday.

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What an unbelievable Saturday it was in the National League. The Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants are proving that the last win is the hardest to get.

The Braves, who seem to be looking for the Shell Answer Man lately, lost again to the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, 7-0. The Braves were shut down by Vance Worley for five innings and now are tied with the San Diego Padres for the Wild Card lead.

Speaking of the Padres…

Stauffer continued his solid run as of late by pitching 6.1 of one-run ball. Over his last three starts, Stauffer has given up just three earned runs in 19.1 IP. I will put Stauffer’s run in the “I didn’t see that one coming” category.

Now that the Padres won and the Braves and Giants lost, let’s break things down for Sunday.

Phillies vs. Braves: Tim Hudson vs Cole Hamels. Hamels is 2-1 with 4.35 ERA in four starts versus the Braves this year and is rolling in September with a 4-1 record with a 1.93 ERA. The Braves are going to have their hands full on Sunday.

Hudson went on short rest against the Washington Nationals and came through with a six-inning, one-run performance. Now he needs to come through again to get the Braves to the playoffs.

Hudson is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts versus the Phillies this year.

Padres vs. Giants: Mat Latos vs. Jonathan Sanchez. Can the real Mat Latos please stand up? Latos gave up 13 runs in five innings in his first two starts in September and in his last two starts, has given up five runs in 10.2 IP. Not great, but better.

Latos is 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA in five starts versus the Giants this season.

Very quietly, Sanchez is having one of the best Septembers in baseball. Sanchez is 3-1 with a 1.47 ERA in five September starts, but is 0-3 versus the Padres this season. That’s not his fault though. Sanchez has a 2.59 ERA in those five starts.

If the Giants beat the Padres and Atlanta beats Philadelphia, San Francisco is the NL West champion and the Braves win the wild card.

If the Giants win and the Braves lose, San Diego and Atlanta tie for the wild card. There would be a one-game tiebreaker Monday in Atlanta for the wild card.

If the Padres win and the Braves lose, San Diego wins the NL West and San Francisco gets the wild card. The Braves would be eliminated. The Padres get the division title because they won the season series against the Giants.

If the Padres win and the Braves win, San Diego, San Francisco and Atlanta all finish 91-71. The Giants and Padres would play a one-game tiebreaker for the NL West title Monday night in San Diego. The loser would then go to Atlanta for a one-game playoff for the wild card on Tuesday night (the Braves would host either the Padres or Giants because Atlanta won the season series against both teams).

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As I touched upon in a post earlier, Cincinnati Reds’ OF Jay Bruce had perhaps the biggest hit of his life with a walk-off home run on Tuesday night against the Houston Astros. Not only did Bruce enjoy a nice moment that night, but he also has enjoyed a nice bounce back season in 2010.

After bursting on to the scene in 2008 with 22 HR’s in just 108 games, many were expecting Bruce to have a breakthrough 2009 season. It just never happened.

A slow start, in which Bruce batted .207 in the first half and a fractured right wrist, which sidelined Bruce for 64 days, really derailed Bruce’s season. He also wasn’t helped by an Aaron Hill-like .227 BABIP.

Healthy for the most part, Bruce has come back strong in 2010.

Bruce has raised his slash line to .275/.346/.475 and has hit 22 HR’s in 143 games. While his HR/AB has declined from last year, his overall game has improved drastically. His 4.0 WAR is sixth among all major league right fielders.

I believe there are three reasons for Bruce’s success in 2010:

1. Improved BB Percentage. Bruce has improved his BB Percentage from 9.8 percent last year to 10.1 percent in 2010. While that might not be the biggest jump in the world, it marks the third year in a row that Bruce’s BB Percentage has increased. It was just 7.3 in 2008.

The continued increase tells me not only is Bruce getting more comfortable at the plate, but more comfortable facing major league pitching. Bruce is only 23 years old, the more comfortable he gets throughout his career, the more I would imagine his BB Percentage would continue to increase.

2. Improved Line Drive Percentage. Last year, Bruce was hitting more flyballs (48.5 percent), which led to more HR’s, but also led to more lazy flyballs. Bruce has stopped hitting so many flyballs and has started to hit line drives.

Bruce has improved his Line Drive Percentage by over seven percent in 2010.

3. Improvement versus left-handed pitching. Coming into 2010, Bruce had a career slash line of .200/.288/.315 in 263 AB’s versus left-handed pitching. Essentially, he was an automatic out against lefties.

However, Bruce has really improved versus lefties in 2010. Bruce came into Wednesday night’s game hitting .260/.335/.500 in 154 AB’s. He also has 10 of his 22 HR’s against lefties in 2010. That’s a tremendous improvement from years past.

While Bruce’s 2010 season might be better known for his playoff clinching walk-off, it should be known for the solid season he is having.

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I would imagine that when Cincinnati Reds OF Jay Bruce woke up on Tuesday morning, he had no idea how special of a day it would be.

With the game tied at two in the bottom of the ninth inning, Bruce took the first pitch he saw from Houston Astros reliever Tim Byrdak and launched it over the center field fence to give the Reds a 3-2 win, but more importantly send the Reds to the playoffs.

The Reds clinched the National League Central title with the win and their first playoff appearance in 15 years.

Bruce, with his walk-off HR, joins Steve Finley, Alfonso Soriano, Hank Aaron, and Bobby Thomson as the only players to clinch a playoff berth for their team in such fashion. I watched the Bruce HR as it happened, and it was a really cool moment. The best part about the HR was that he knew it as soon as he hit it.

Now that the Reds are headed to the postseason, it’s time to answer some questions. I am going to venture to say that the Reds have more questions to answer than any other team that will be or may be participating in baseball’s postseason tournament.

The biggest question for the Reds is who will start Game 3? Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto will start Games 1 and 2. After that, it’s anyone’s guess.

Do they go with Homer Bailey, who has a 3.71 ERA in the second half? Do they do with Travis Wood, or do they go with Edinson Volquez? Mike Leake is not an option anymore, as he was shut down for the remainder of the season.

I would say they would most likely go with Bailey in Game 3.

Other questions the Reds have are is Brandon Phillips‘ hand going to hold up throughout the postseason? How reliable can Francisco Cordero be in the ninth? Has Arthur Rhodes run out of gas?

I’ll attempt to answer all of these questions during my postseason preview on Monday.

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Living in New York City and listening to the countless New York Mets and Yankees talk on the radio and on TV, I probably don’t appreciate the Philadelphia Phillies as much as I should. This group or core of Philly players is a very, very special group.

The Phillies clinched the National League East division title with an 8-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Monday night. It’s their fourth division title in a row.

The Phillies have clearly established themselves as the class of the National League and have something really special going on. Yes, the Phillies have stars in Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jayson Werth, but these guys are also winners.

It’s very rare in sports to have players who are stars and also winners. The Yankees had them in the late ’90s, the Boston Red Sox had them in 2004 and in 2007, and the Phillies have them now. Even their role players are winners.

If the game is on the line and Carlos Ruiz is coming to the plate, I would bet a large sum of money that he comes through. Same can be said for Shane Victorino.

Now, the Phillies will go into the postseason with some questions. How is Jimmy Rollins‘ hamstring? Has Brad Lidge fully turned things around? Will J.C. Romero be able to get out a tough lefty late in the game like Joey Votto, Adrian Gonzalez, or Brian McCann?

All legitimate questions, but if you are a Phillies fan, you have to feel very good about your team heading into the playoffs. They have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and in the first round have opted for the eight-day schedule, which means that they will only have to use a three-man rotation in the first round.

Good luck to whoever is facing Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels in the NLDS.

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The Atlanta Braves are limping towards the finish line and on Tuesday they got some news that’s really not helping their cause.

According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, via Twitter, Braves 2B/3B Martin Prado will be done for the season with a hip pointer and torn oblique muscle.

Prado originally suffered the injuries on Monday night against the Florida Marlins, when he made a diving catch in the fourth inning.

This is a massive, massive blow for the Braves.

Prado had a slash line of .307/.350/.459 with 15 HRs, 40 doubles, and 184 hits. His 184 hits were second in the National League.

Not only is losing Prado a blow offensively at the top of the Braves lineup, but losing him defensively hurts as well; Prado was already filling in at third for the injured Chipper Jones.

At this rate, the Braves might have to bring back Ken Oberkfell or Terry Pendleton.

It looks like the Braves are going to have to roll with Brooks Conrad at third the rest of the way. Conrad, who is probably best known for hitting a walk-off grand slam off Francisco Cordero in the Braves’ wild 10-9 win over the Cincinnati Reds on May 20, is hitting just .239 with seven HRs in 138 at-bats this season.

Bobby Cox did mention that Troy Glaus could be a possibility at third but would only be used in an emergency situation. With his knees completely shot, I can’t imagine that happening.

The Braves entered Tuesday night’s action having a half-game lead over the San Diego Padres in the wild-card race, and with now Prado, Jones, and Jair Jurrjens spent and a starting rotation and bullpen on their last legs, it will be very interesting to see if the Braves can somehow hold on to a playoff spot.

Prado is expected to recover in about two months and should be ready for spring training in 2011.

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I came across an article on AOL Fanhouse today about Washington Nationals’ super-prospect Bryce Harper that I found interesting.

AOL Fanhouse scout Frankie Piliere believes Harper is not ready for the very competitive Arizona Fall League.

For those of you not familiar with the Arizona Fall League, it’s a league for the some of the top prospects in the game. Some of their games are on the MLB Network, and they are worth the watch.

While Piliere sees some holes in Harper’s offensive game, he had this to say about the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 Draft: “His raw power is as good as I have ever seen in a player his age, his physical strength and maturity at the plate are beyond his years and he has a chance to be a very strong defender in right field… From what I saw this week, he is an elite talent, but an elite talent that has much to learn.”

So before the “bust” word comes out, I think we need to put this in perspective. Harper is still just 17 years old and has a lot to learn as he goes through his development.

Remember, he played at the College of Southern Nevada. It’s not like he was playing in the Pac-10 or SEC and facing elite competition at the college level. Going from the College of Southern Nevada to the fall instructional league is a massive difference.

Harper will be a very good major league hitter. He won’t get there next year or probably the year after. He will eventually get there, and when he does, he will be a force to be reckoned with.

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