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The Milwaukee Brewers continued their winning ways at Miller Park with a thrilling Game 5 victory, eliminating the Arizona Diamondbacks from the playoffs.

But the fashion in which the Brewers moved on to the NLCS was anything but the norm.

Francisco Rodriguez nearly blew the lead in the eighth inning, barely escaping a bases-loaded jam. John Axford suffered his first blown save since April 18 but pitched the 10th inning to earn the victory. Manager Ron Roenicke could face some tough decisions against the Cardinals based on the performance of certain players against Arizona.

With that in mind, what implications will the events of Game 5 have going forward to the NLCS for the Brewers?

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It’s baseball time in Texas as the Rangers get home-field advantage and host the Detroit Tigers for the first two games in a series that determines who gets to play St Louis or Milwaukee in the World Series. Texas is coming off of a 3-1 series win over Tampa Bay while Detroit shocked New York by taking the series in five games.

Will home field-advantage be a factor for the Rangers? The Rangers are 3-5 at home since 2010 and the Tigers only won one home game in this year’s American League Division Series. This is the first ALCS appearance for the Tigers since 2006 where they swept the Oakland Athletics in four games. This will be the second straight ALCS appearance for Texas as they seek out another trip to the World Series.

Texas Rangers Starter—CJ Wilson

CJ starts Game 1 after a terrible ALDS performance where he gave up six runs on seven hits in five innings. But this southpaw has put up great numbers during the regular season, including 206 strikeouts in 223.1 innings pitched. He will need to locate his pitches early in order to shut down this offense that has already given him fits this season.

Detroit Tigers Starter—Justin Verlander

Verlander, the heavy favorite for the AL Cy Young award, has had an incredible season and plans to continue that season tonight in Arlington. His 24-5 record, along with his 250 strikeouts in 251 innings, is going to present a challenge to the potent Ranger offense. His only appearance against the Rangers was a complete game two-run showing that wasn’t enough to lead his team to a win.

Location: Arlington, TX

Weather: 84 degrees, mostly cloudy, 17 MPH wind coming east southeast, 40 percent chance of precipitation (90 percent chance around 8:00 p.m. CST)

Network: FOX

Tonight’s game begins at 7 p.m. CST. Check this live blog during the game for continuous updates and analysis.

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With Game 1 of the 2011 ALCS starting tonight in Arlington, Texas, the Rangers will begin their quest for a second straight AL Pennant. The Rangers have a clear edge in the series against the Detroit Tigers, and they will show that tonight.

The Tigers did not pitch ace Justin Verlander in the deciding Game 5 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees, so he is ready to go tonight against the Rangers’ ace C.J. Wilson.

This pitching match is slightly in Verlander’s favor, but the Yankees proved to us that a good, deep lineup like that of the Rangers can do enough damage to get some runs off Verlander. 

If Verlander doesn’t go eight innings tonight (long enough to get to closer Jose Valverde), then the Tigers will be forced to rely upon less-than-stellar relievers like Phil Coke and Daniel Schlereth.

The Rangers just need to get to the Tigers’ bullpen if they want to win, as the only pitcher they should fear is Valverde.

I don’t see Verlander going too deep into the game tonight, and if the Rangers get two or three runs off of him, and one or two off of the bullpen, they will be sure to win.

Once the Rangers win tonight, they will not only take an early 1-0 advantage, they will essentially eliminate the fact that the Tigers have one of the best pitchers in the game because Verlander will only be pitching in one more game.

The Rangers have a lineup filled with both power and contact, led by Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Adrian Beltre, Ian Kinsler and Mike Napoli. This lineup is going to be scoring runs in every game they play in, and not even Verlander will be able to shut them down completely.

While the Tigers’ lineup is not a bad one, their core of Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Alex Avila is not nearly as good as that of the Rangers.

The Rangers have an advantage at the plate, but their pitching is also doing very well.

C.J. Wilson proved he’s legit, while Derek Holland and Matt Harrison have both proved their worth. Colby Lewis had a poor regular season, but he rebounded nicely in the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays, going six innings and allowing only one hit.

While that hit was a home run, he still proved that this is his time of year.

The Rangers also have a deep bullpen they can count on. Closer Neftali Feliz is still one of the best in the game today, but he is now joined by stud Mike Adams, Mike Gonzalez, and returning pitchers Alexi Ogando and Darren Oliver.

The Rangers are the definition of a complete team, and they hold a big advantage over the Tigers in the ALCS. Look for them to win their second ALCS in two years.

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Q.: How do you catch a flying squirrel?

A.: Climb a tree and act like a wing nut. (courtesy of an online source named Cap’n Tim, all rights reserved)

Actually, if you’re the Miller Park grounds crew, you import the the now-infamous Cardinals Rally Squirrel(s) and keep them well fed and spunky; the Cards’ NLDS foes, the Phreaked-out Phillies, were a bit undone by the furry fellas. 

Geez, guys. Really? The best starting rotation in baseball, a Murderers’ Row lineup and home field advantage, and you were (partially) undone by a squirrel? That’s just nuts. 

The Phillies’ nuts—er, sensitivities—aside, this year’s division series featured some serious choke jobs.

Some of the games were played to less than full houses—in multiple venues. That’s an embarrassment for the involved franchises, Commissioner Selig and the game itself. 

As for the goats, here’s my Bottom 10. 

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The St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers meet in the National League Championship Series after battling it out 18 times during the regular season. The NL Central rivals have some bad blood heading into a series that seemed highly unlikely a month ago.

St. Louis knocked out the Philadelphia Phillies and their highly-touted pitching staff in the first round, which is a bit of irony considering it was the Phillies who helped the Cardinals get into the playoffs in the first place.

Milwaukee almost blew its NLDS series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the ninth inning of Game 5 before righting the ship and finding a way to win. The combination of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder is virtually impossible to hold down for an entire series.

Game 1 Preview: Sunday, Oct. 9 at 4:05 p.m. EDT

Cardinals SP: Jaime Garcia (13-7, 3.56 ERA, 3.23 FIP)

Brewers SP: Zack Greinke (16-6, 3.83 ERA, 2.98 FIP)

Zack Greinke was one of the best pitchers in baseball in 2011 as evidenced by his league-leading 2.51 SIERA (an ERA estimator that factors in all elements of a pitcher’s performance). He was a bit unlucky in his first and only start against Arizona, allowing four runs in five innings.

The stats a pitcher controls most, strikeouts and walks, painted a good picture for Greinke. He struck out seven and walked none. But he left a couple pitches up in the zone and the Diamondbacks took full advantage by hitting three home runs.

St. Louis’ offense was better than Arizona’s during the regular season and will be a tougher task for Greinke, assuming Matt Holliday is ready for battle. Holliday has been dealing with a nagging hand injury for quite some time.

Jaime Garcia proved his rookie season was no fluke by backing it up with another strong campaign. He’s overshadowed by Chris Carpenter in the rotation, but could very well be the best pitcher on the Cardinals’ staff.

This will probably be a low-scoring game that will be decided in the late innings, considering both pitchers’ reputations. Since Milwaukee’s bullpen was slightly better than St. Louis’ in the regular season, they have the advantage in close games and will pick up a home win to start the series.

Game 1 Prediction: Brewers 4, Cardinals 3

Milwaukee has home-field advantage, a better defense, a deeper rotation and a stronger bullpen, which means it should be favored to advance to the World Series. If St. Louis is going to pull off another upset, its offense, including Holliday, must step up big.

With Fielder’s impending free agency, this season will probably be the best chance for Milwaukee to claim baseball’s biggest prize for a while. With the slugging first baseman and his right-hand man in Braun, they have a good chance to do just that.

Will St. Louis’ magical run continue or will the Brewers claw their way to the World Series? I expect the latter, in a close series.

Series Prediction: Brewers win series in six games.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers are set to square off in the ALCS after claiming Division Series wins. They finished the regular season with the second and third best record in the American League, with Texas edging Detroit by one game at 96-67 compared to the Tigers 95-68.

They took different routes to getting past their first round opponents, but rain and a long series has both teams in line to throw their aces in Game 1.

The Tigers captured the regular season series 6-3, but who will win the American League pennant and head to the World Series?

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Both the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers had to go the distance in the National League Division Series before emerging victorious. The Cardinals knocked off the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies, while the Brewers needed extra innings in Game 5 to dispatch the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Cardinals needed a terrific September and a collapse of monumental proportions from the Atlanta Braves just to get into the playoffs and are now taking full advantage of the opportunity. St. Louis’ offense made the vaunted Phillies pitching staff look human and its pitching did the rest.

John Axford, who was one of the game’s best closers during the regular season, was in a precarious position in the ninth inning of Game 5. Even though he did relinquish the lead, he was able to shut the door after that and allowed his offense to send Milwaukee into the NLCS.

Series Schedule

Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 9 at 4:05 p.m. EDT, Cardinals (Jaime Garcia) at Brewers (Zack Greinke)

Game 2: Monday, Oct. 10 at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Cardinals (Edwin Jackson) at Brewers (Shaun Marcum)

Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Brewers (Yovani Gallardo) at Cardinals (Chris Carpenter)

Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 13 at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Brewers (Randy Wolf) at Cardinals (Kyle Lohse)

Game 5: Friday, Oct. 14 at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Brewers (Zack Greinke) at Cardinals (Jaime Garcia)

Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 16 at 4:05 p.m. EDT, Cardinals (Edwin Jackson) at Brewers (Shaun Marcum)

Game 7: Monday, Oct. 17 at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Cardinals (Chris Carpenter) at Brewers (Yovani Gallardo)

Watch: All games broadcast on TBS.

Live Streaming: Postseason.tv on MLB.com ($2.99 charge may apply).

Listen: All games broadcast on ESPN Radio; KMOX 1120 AM (St. Louis) or WTMJ 620 AM (Milwaukee)

Key Storyline

Is Matt Holliday healthy enough to help the Cardinals offense?

St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday has been dealing with an inflamed tendon in his right middle finger. He’s tried to play through the pain as much as possible despite the ailment causing him to struggle at the plate. If the Cardinals are to advance, he’ll need to contribute offensively in some fashion.

The combination of Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman in the lineup is good, but Holliday makes it great. The veteran left fielder had a .912 OPS during the regular season, which is actually below average for him but still ranks him highly among outfielders.

Cardinals Player To Watch: C Yadier Molina

Molina hit .305, including a .340 mark with runners on base, during the regular season. However, against the Phillies he went just 4-for-19. He’s the forgotten man in the St. Louis order and will need to come up with a few big hits against a tough Brewers staff.

Brewers Player To Watch: CF Nyjer Morgan

Even though the middle of the Milwaukee order, consisting of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, gets all the publicity, it’s Morgan and Corey Hart that are relied upon to get on base in front of those big hitters. Morgan struggled against the Diamondbacks and it will be important for “Tony Plush” to get back on track against St. Louis.

Series Breakdown

Prediction: Brewers win series in six games

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The short answer to the question posed in the headline is very simple: Because he plays in Milwaukee.

So why write an entire opinion piece on the subject? Because Ryan Braun should be a superstar.

Ryan Braun does everything you want a superstar to do. Does he hit for average? .312 career, .332 this season. Does he hit for power? More than 30 homers a season every year except 2010, when he hit 25. His career OPS is .933; did you just read that? .933!

Do you know who has a lower career OPS than Braun? Jason Giambi, Ryan Howard, Carlos Delgado, Mike Piazza, Ken Griffey Jr., Joe Mauer and even his more-famous teammate Prince Fielder.

But Fernando, you might say, I don’t like your old school “Joe Morgan” stats. What’s his WAR?

In 2011: a preposterous 7.8 WAR. He’s averaged five WAR in his career. The kid is freaking good.

So why isn’t he on the cover of any baseball video games? Why doesn’t he have a lucrative paper towel endorsement? Come on, the Braun-y paper towel guy? This stuff writes itself.

He’s even got a cool nickname (according to Wikipedia): The Hebrew Hammer. Fear his mighty hammer, and his, er, Judaism? Anyway, awesome nickname!

Braun also isn’t the Darryl Strawberry type. He doesn’t get into any trouble, no drug problems, or DUIs or arrests (that we know of). He’s got those wholesome good looks, and he appears to be a nice guy; in April, a female fan made a marriage proposal to Braun via a stadium sign, even including her phone number. Even though Braun has a girlfriend, he called the number and tried to leave a voicemail, but the mailbox was full.

What more do you want from him?!

The East Coast bias in sports coverage is obvious to everyone who lives west of the Mississippi. ESPN refuses to acknowledge any team outside the East Coast (except for the Dallas Cowboys), so our sports knowledge suffers. Can you even name three players on the Indiana Pacers? I know they have Danny Granger, and…um…I’ll get back to you on that.

If Braun played for the Red Sox or Yankees, you’d be sick and tired of him. You’d hear his name 10 times a day, every day, and Buster Olney or Ken Rosenthal would be writing sonnets professing their love for the mighty Braun.

Instead, Braun’s not even the most famous guy on his own team. Instead it’s Fielder and his enormous waistline that get all the publicity.

In fact, the only people who seem to give Braun any attention are the employees in Milwaukee’s front office—because he got paid.

Milwaukee was facing a tough decision a few years ago: You have two offensive monsters (Braun and Fielder), both in their 20s, but you can’t possibly afford them both. So who do you choose? You choose the Hebrew Hammer.

So first the Brewers signed Braun to a $45 million extension in 2008. Then they saw that Braun continued to hit a baseball really, really far, and now he’s signed through 2020 for about $145 million. That will buy you a lot of beer and brats.

Milwaukee clearly understands the kind of superstar it has on the roster—so why don’t you, America? 

Fernando Gallo promises he is not a publicist for Ryan Braun. Find more foolish analysis, along with the occasional witty comment, on his  feed.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The exciting first round of baseball came to an end last night when the St. Louis Cardinals came back from trailing two games to one to improbably upset the World Series favorite Philadelphia Phillies.

The Milwaukee Brewers nearly met a similar fate to the Phillies. However, they held on to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in ten innings, winning their series 3-2.

The ALDS was similar. The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium to win their roller coaster series in five games.

Meanwhile, the only ALDS series that didn’t go all five games was the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers’. The Rangers quickly advanced past Tampa Bay and  into the ALCS with a 3-1 series win that included two straight wins on the Rays’ home lawn.

So why am I telling you the results? Because some of the better starting rotations got wiped out in the first round.

The Phillies rotation consisting of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt will be hitting the golf courses much earlier than they expected. They were clearly the most dominant rotation in the playoffs, and even the league.

The Rays had a great rotation too, with James Shields, David Price, Matt Moore and Jeremy Hellickson.

There are still some good rotations out there, though, and unlike the first round, the better pitching rotation may be a key in the second round.

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On Friday night the St. Louis Cardinals upended the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies in a game for the ages. The Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter out-dueled the Phillies’ Roy Halladay in an instant classic as from the first hitter of the game to the final out every pitch was literally a suspense filled moment. 

In fact there was so much story line to this game that there are actually several ways in which the game made history. Here are the top five historical rarities that became current realities in that game. 

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