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The San Francisco Giants have jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series, riding two key Cody Ross home runs as well as strong pitching from Tin Lincecum and two relievers to a 4-3 victory in Philadelphia.

The Phillies’ ace Roy Halladay took a step back from his no hit performance in the NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds, surrendering 4 runs in 7 innings of work.

Pat Burrell drove in a run with a two-run double, as did Juan Uribe, who chipped in an RBI single for the visiting Giants.

San Francisco will send left handed starter Jonathan Sanchez to the mound in Game 2, and he’ll go up against mid-season import Roy Oswalt for the Phillies, who will be looking to even the series at 1 before heading to San Francisco.

Normally, a visiting team would feel pretty confident bringing a best-of-seven series back home tied 1-1.  They would have beaten one of the opponent’s best pitchers, and they would have the chance to wrap up the series at home with all of their fans behind them.

However, this is not a normal situation by any means. The Yankees will head back to the Bronx for Game 3 and face a probable Cy Young winner in Cliff Lee, who almost single-handedly pitched this Rangers team through the ALDS with two stellar starts in which he sported a 1.13 ERA and a nasty 0.69 WHIP.  Lee also rung up 21 batters, tying an MLB record for most strikeouts by a pitcher in a series.

Lee is 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA in the postseason for his career, including two wins over the Yankees in last year’s World Series.

Starting for the Yankees will be Andy Pettitte, who is known for coming up big in postseason starts.  Yet big might not be good enough against Lee, who may only need one or two runs to seal the deal.

A loss in Game 3 could be devastating for the Yankees, as they will send A.J. Burnett to the hill for Game 4.  Burnett has been anything but what the Yankees were hoping for since he arrived in New York, sporting a 23-24 overall record in pinstripes. 

Burnett has been up-and-down all season, but mostly down, as he finished the season with six losses in his final 10 starts, ending the season with a 10-15 record and a miserable ERA of 5.26.

The Yankees chose not to use Burnett in the ALDS and instead went with a three-man rotation.  The decision to employ the four-man rotation was made in order to prevent using ace C.C. Sabathia twice in a row on three days rest, but C.C may get the entire offseason to rest if Burnett cannot control his command in Game 4.

Sabathia, who has not been at his best this postseason (7.20 ERA over two starts), will start Game 5, hopefully not with the series on the line. 

Supposing the Yankees enter Game 6 down 3-2, they will have to rely on Phil Hughes, who got roughed up in Game 2, surrendering seven earned runs in only four innings pitched.  Game 7, if the series were to come down to it, would be a rematch of Cliff Lee and Andy Pettitte.

Needless to say, it is going to be a tough road to the World Series if the Yankees cannot take both games from Texas this weekend. The Yankee bats are going to have to do a lot of talking if they want to chase Lee out of the game early and then support the struggling Burnett in the next game.

However, it would be naive to count the Yankees out after only two games, especially in a sport where anything can happen.  After all, the Yankees did get to Cliff Lee in Game 5 of the World Series last fall, scoring five runs in seven innings.

Perhaps Girardi will reconsider his decision to use Burnett in anything other than long relief in this series, especially after A.J. hit two batters in a wild simulation game yesterday.  If not, this club could see its season end slightly sooner than expected.

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Both halves of the Major League Baseball championship series will be taking place today, with the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers squaring off in Game 2 of their series in Arlington, while the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies open the NLCS at Citizens Bank Park in Philly.

The Yankees staged a stunning comeback against the Rangers in Game 1 and will be looking to head back to the Bronx with a 2-0 series lead. Meanwhile in the junior circuit, fans are hotly anticipating two of the league’s best pitching staffs going head-to-head in what should be a tense NLCS.

Keep it here for all your critical MLB playoff updates. We’ll bring you the starting lineups for all four teams, a look at the pitching matchups and live in-game updates as the drive towards the Fall Classic continues for the four remaining teams.

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We now know the New York Yankees roster and their pitching rotation for the ALCS.

A.J. Burnett will start Game Four at Yankee Stadium. And while many people feel it is the wrong move, it is definitely the correct move for the Yankees to make if they want to advance to the World Series.

While many fans want CC Sabathia to throw games one, four and seven on three days rest, it would be foolish to heap that much on the big guy. With better performances by Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes in the ALDS, it would benefit the Yankees if all three of their ALDS starters were scheduled for two games each on regular rest in this series.

I would much rather have all three of the Yankees top starters pitching two games each than CC running out there three times. Overall, the Yankees starters are much better than the Rangers starters, even including Cliff Lee.

And even including A.J. Burnett.

Other than Lee and Wilson, the other two Rangers starters are not that good.

Colby Lewis was an All-Star for the first month of the season, but has thrown for almost a full run higher in the second half. Tommy Hunter is two runs higher in the second half and much better at home than on the road.

He pitches at Yankee Stadium in Game Four, going up against Burnett.

I wrote it was a mistake for the Yankees to keep A.J. on the ALDS roster because he was never going to be used. First, he is not a relief-type pitcher, as he does not throw consistent strikes, the key ingredient to being a successful relief pitcher.

Second, keeping A.J. off the ALDS roster would allow him to stay fresh by going down to Tampa and pitching in real games, keeping himself in pitching shape. It would be in instructional league games, but it was still against real hitters.

The biggest issue for starting pitchers is when they pitch with too many days rest because their command suffers. A.J. will have had 17 days off from live pitching when he toes the rubber in Game Four Tuesday night.

And Burnett is already having issues with his command now that he is back throwing to live hitters.

Sabathia had eight days from his last start of the regular season to his ALDS start. CC lacked command in that start, allowed five hits, walked three and missed his locations all game long.

David Price missed the same amount of days before his first ALDS start and had a similar outing. His second outing in the ALDS (although he received another loss) was much better command wise.

A.J. has too many days off. So why should he still get a start in the ALCS?

It will make the other starters better. The time period between their first and second starts will be on normal rest. While I believe Sabathia on nine days rest will struggle again tomorrow night, he will grind through that game, and the Yankees will come out on top.

He could go on three days rest.

And both Hughes, the up and coming young stud, and Pettitte, the aging but still very effective (and oftentimes dominating) lefty, will not be thrown on three days rest. The Yankees will not do that to their No. 2 and No. 3 starters, at least not in the ALCS.

If Hughes and Pettitte were going on three days rest, they would likely be limited in the innings they throw in their first games, probably six. Limited innings would severely put an added emphasis on the back end of the bullpen.

The bullpen has been good over the second half of the season. Brian Cashman’s trade for Kerry Wood has solidified an already strong pen and has appeared to lift the performances of most others back there.

But if Hughes and Pettitte become six inning pitchers, I do not know if the bullpen will be able to get nine outs per game. CC’s three day rest start in last season’s ALCS was an eight inning gem, but the other pitchers all had that extra day of rest and went on regular rest.  

No extra day this season. Hughes and Pettitte are not three day rest guys this season.

Not when they have a starting pitcher in Burnett who can possibly go out in Game Four and pitch a good ball game like he did last year in Game 2 of the World Series.

But if bad A.J. shows up, hitting the barrels of bats, going deep into counts and walking hitters, Joe Girardi will pull him early in Game 4.

That is why Sergio Mitre is again on the roster, and was pretty good during the season in relief appearances. In 13 relief appearances of more than one inning, Mitre only allowed a run in four of them.

Mitre will likely keep the Yankees in the game if Burnett falters early, but if Burnett is on, the Yankees will have easier access to a second straight World Series.

However, no matter how Burnett goes, if the Yankees don’t win the Sabathia starts, don’t buy your tickets for November baseball.

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After a brilliant performance in Game 3 from Phil Hughes, Joe Girardi has decided to switch him and Pettitte in the playoff rotation. And not only that, A.J. Burnett is getting the nod in Game 4. 

This may come as a surprise to a lot of people after Pettitte’s good outing against the Twins in Game 2, and A.J. Burnett’s horrendous regular season. But you have to trust the decisions your manager makes and I’m sure Joe Girardi knows what he’s doing. 

Phil Hughes pitched seven shutout innings against the Twins in the first round the MLB Playoffs, striking out six batters in the process. He looked to be in command the entire game with very few places for concern.

Pettitte pitched very well also, letting up two earned runs in seven innings, while striking out four batters. He got out of a couple of jams and showed why he has more postseason victories for starters than anybody in the history of baseball. 

This is where you ask, did Hughes really do well enough where you needed to switch him and Pettitte in the rotation? Perhaps Girardi sees Game 3 as a must win and he trusts the veteran to be on the mound in that situation. Who knows what Girardi was thinking for sure?

The real question here is, did A.J. Burnett deserve to even crack the Yankees postseason rotation at all? Burnett rarely showed command during the regular season. Inconsistency plagued both him and the Yankees the whole year. Burnett went 10-15 this season with a 5.26 ERA. Are these numbers you can rely on when you’re just four wins away from making it back to the World Series.

Hopefully these changes payoff for the Yankees, otherwise Girardi may go running to that Cubs job. 

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For the second year in a row, the New York Yankees swept aside the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the playoffs and are once again headed back to the ALCS.

Many questions surrounded the Yankees as they entered the postseason for only the 14th time in 15 years, but it is safe to say now that the Bombers are a legitimate threat.

Being the Wild Card team, everybody wondered if they could win without home field advantage? Well, they can, and did, overcoming two leads by the Twins and rallied behind starters CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte to win the first two games of the series at Target Field. Or much simply put: they came, they saw, they conquered.

Phil Hughes making his first postseason start in game 3 was the next big question, would he be able to bounce back from a rather ugly 2009 postseason campaign where he gave up six runs in just six innings pitched? He too, answered the call and fired seven strong innings, allowing only four hits and no runs, and thus completing the sweep and moving the Yankees one step closer to their goal at the beginning of every season.

The Yankees made it clear to everybody that they are for real once again this October and any questions of their starting pitching have been answered after several strong pitching performances.

Realistically they could have the best starting rotation in the playoffs right now, that is if they continue with their three man rotation, which they most certainly should.

CC Sabathia, surprisingly, had the worst start between the three starters, allowing four runs on five hits through six innings.

Not enough can be said about how Andy Pettitte, at age 38, came out and shut down the Twins offense in game two, giving up just two runs on five hits over seven solid innings, earning his unprecedented 19th postseason victory in his career.

You already know about Phil Hughes and how he dominated in the clinching game three, so the Yankees top three starters are looking pretty scary and are certainly the best in the American League right now.

If you combine the rotation with the always dangerous offense, along with the best relief pitcher in the history of the game who only gets better in October, Mariano Rivera, and added rest before the ALCS, the Bronx Bombers are looking sharp as they continue their quest for title number 28.

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As we approach the second week of the fantasy baseball playoffs and the second round of the playoff games, it’s critical to take note of those players who are white-hot and how they can help your fantasy baseball lineup from here on out.

Phil Hughes, SP NYY: Hughes was simply masterful on Saturday night while putting the Twins out of their misery. Pitching in a pivotal Game Three, Hughes went seven strong innings without allowing a run and struck out six batters. Hughes will certainly get consideration to be the Game Two starter of the ALCS and should continue to produce for his owners.

Ian Kinsler, 2B Tex: Through the first three games of the series with the Rays, Kinsler has batted .364 socked two taters. He remains an elite option at the position so long as his team stays alive.

Curtis Granderson, OF NYY: Through the first three games of the playoff campaign, Granderson leads all of baseball with a gaudy .455 average.  He has chipped in all over the stat sheet with a triple, double, and stolen base to boot.  His three RBI have him tied for the team lead with Mark Teixeira, and it’s clear he’s locked in right now.

Brian McCann, C ATL: Though they are only two games into the playoff schedule, the Braves are in a dogfight with the Giants and if they are to have any chance at moving on McCann will be relied on heavily.  He has racked up three hits in his first seven at-bats of the young postseason and has knocked in a run as well.  He’s one of the best hitters in this year’s postseason and should be considered an elite fantasy baseball option.

Roy Halladay, SP PHI: Pitching only the second no-hitter in playoff history, Halladay baffled a potent Reds lineup and in the process took his place in baseball lore. Simply put, he’s the best pitcher on the planet right now.

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The New York Yankees are on their way to another ALCS after sweeping the Minnesota Twins for the second postseason in a row.

Phil Hughes, in his first postseason start, pitched a gem on Saturday night, going seven solid innings and allowing no runs to score. It was a real boost for the team going forward.

It provided a sigh of relief for skipper Joe Girardi, as his team looks to be a force to be reckoned with once again. It’s about time for Yankee fans to cut Girardi some slack, as he has earned our trust once again.

Next up for the Yankees is the ALCS, but the opponent is to be decided between the Tampa Bay Rays or Texas Rangers. The Rangers went into Game 3 leading 2-0 in the ALDS against a seemingly dead Rays ball club.

The Rangers had five outs remaining to move onward, but the Rays got their much-needed swagger back and beat the Rangers 6-3.

The Rays did it again Sunday afternoon, tying the series at 2-2 and forcing the Rangers to play Game 5 back at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night.

The winner of this ALDS will host the Yankees on Friday evening in Game 1 of the ALCS.

Who would the Yankees rather face?

Neither the Rays nor the Rangers are going to make like easier for New York.

The Rays matchup with the Yankees head-to-head is better than the Rangers.

The Rangers have ace Cliff Lee, who has slaughtered the Yankees in four different uniforms and twice in the 2009 World Series. Even with losing Game 1 and 5 in 2009, the Yankees still won the World Series against the Phillies. Lee finished the regular season with a 3.18 ERA and 195 strikeouts.

The Rangers’ second starter is C.J. Wilson, who is becoming a mini-Cliff Lee. If Wilson shuts down the Yankee, that is two games lost before the Yankees even get back to the Bronx. Wilson has held the Yankees hitters to a .248 average over his career.

This season Wilson finished with a 3.35 ERA, with 166 strikeouts, giving up 10 home runs. Unlike Lee, who walked only 18 batters all season, Wilson walked 91 and that is why he is not at Lee’s level yet.

This hot tandem could possibly pitch Games 5 and 6 too, but Wilson will be the decider because Lee we figure to have less of a chance of getting too.

The other option would be the Rays, who play the Yankees 18 times a season as both play in the AL East.

The Rays finished regular season 96-66, taking the AL East from the Yankees, who finished 95-67. The Rays also beat out the Yankees winning 10 of the 18 games they played.

The last time the Rays-Yankees faced off, it ended in a 2-2 spilt in games. It was baseball at its best, as no team convinced fans that it was better than the other.

So, who would the Yankees rather battle with: a hot Rays team or a two-ace Rangers team?

Neither team guarantees the Yankees a trip back to the World Series. It is easy to say that the opponent’s uniform doesn’t matter, and in essence it doesn’t because both are solid ball clubs respectively. It is the ALCS, and the victory leads to the World Series so all aspects have to be considered.

From a baseball fan’s view, the Rays would be a definite classic, but many Yankees fans agree it would be a tougher possible win than the Rangers. 

You have to agree because the Rays are not scared of the big, bad Yankees. The Rangers, like the Twins, still seemed intimated by the Bombers, and that didn’t work out so well for Minnesota.

Personally, I say bring on the Tampa Bay Rays because the Yankees are hot enough to beat either. The six days off until Game 1 of the ALCS, which is Friday night, is what concerns me, as the Yankees haven’t had that much time since the offseason.

Yankees Universe will be watching Tuesday night, and that is one promise you can bet on.

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Going into Saturday night’s Game Three, the Yankees had to be feeling very confident of their chances to sweep the Twins.

They were up 2-0 on the Twins and they had history on their side since Minnesota had not won a playoff game against the Yankees since 2004.

Now back in the Bronx at the new Yankee Stadium, the Yankees were sending up Phil Hughes to pitch Game Three. This would be the first time Hughes was making a start in the postseason for the Yankees, although he has pitched in relief for them in the past. Going up for Minnesota was left-hander Brian Duensing, looking to keep the Twins’ playoff hopes and season alive.

All it took was the second inning to realize Minnesota’s season and their chances of staying alive were all but done, because the Yankees had total control of this game from start to finish.

In the bottom of the second, Robinson Cano led off the inning by hitting the ball over Denard Span’s head in center and got a lead-off triple.

One batter later, Jorge Posada drove in Cano for an RBI single and the Yankees were quickly on the board 1-0.

In the bottom of the third, Nick Swisher crushed a two-out double to right center and Mark Teixeira drove him in with an RBI single to make it 2-0.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, after Cano got an infield single, Marcus Thames crushed a Duensing fastball to right field for a two-run home run and the Yankees were now ahead 4-0.

As the Yankees were scoring runs, the Twins were being left off the scoreboard by Hughes as he was just mauling the hitters at the plate.

After Matt Guerrier relieved Duensing, the Yankees continued to add onto their lead.

Curtis Granderson walked, then stole second with Brett Gardner batting and then was able to get to third on Joe Mauer’s error and Gardner drove him in with a sac fly to left and it was now 5-0.

Hughes finished his final inning of work in the seventh as he polished off Delmon Young, Jim Thome and Michael Cuddyer.

Hughes pitched seven great innings, allowed four hits, no runs, walked one and struck out six. In his first playoff performance, he pitched a gem, which is exactly what the Yankees needed.

In the bottom of the seventh, Nick Swisher hit a solo home run to right field to add onto the Yankee lead as it was 6-0 now.

After Hughes, Kerry Wood came in and did struggle in the eighth inning. Danny Valencia led off with a double and Denard Span hit a single, setting up first and third with only one out.

Orlando Hudson singled up the middle to make the game 6-1. After Joe Mauer walked to load the bases, Yankees manager Joe Girardi pulled Wood and put in Boone Logan.

Logan was able to get Kubel to pop out in the infield for the second out and Young flied out to center for the third out and the Yankees were able to shut down any attempt for a Twins rally.

In the top of the ninth, despite it not being a save situation, Mariano Rivera came into the ninth looking to close out the ALDS and end the Twins’ season.

Rivera got Thome to strike out for the first out, Cuddyer to fly out to right for the second out and Valencia to fly out for the final third out and just like that, the Twins season was over.

The Yankees win Game 3 6-1 and sweep the Twins 3-0 right out of the ALDS.

Hughes picked up the win for the Yankees, while Duensing took the loss.

In the series, the Yankees hit better than the Twins, pitched better than the Twins and overall, were just a better team than Minnesota. The Twins looked lost, couldn’t get big hits when needed and were over-matched.

Most of the Yankees lineup had a pretty good series. Granderson may have stood out the most as he hit .455 against the Twins.

The Yankees now advance to the American League Championship Series and will await the winner of the Rays-Rangers series, where currently, the Rangers have a 2-1 lead going into Sunday.

So far, so good for the Yankees.

Three down, eight to go until No. 28 for Yankees Universe.

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Entering the MLB postseason, analysts and other fans of the sports seemed to be skeptical of the New York Yankees chances to repeat their World Championship run from last year. Much of this skepticism centered around the lack of quality pitching following CC Sabathia in the rotation.

However, in the Yankees sweep of the Minnesota Twins Sabathia’s win ended up being the weakest performance, as Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes pulled strung together very strong performance in their respective wins.

From the bullpen, Kerry Wood okay in Game 1, dominated in Game 2, and then struggled in Game 3; he gave up the bullpen’s only earned run in the series in Game 3. Mariano Rivera didn’t give up a run in his three relief performances in which he captured 2 saves, continuing his postseason dominance.

Overall, in the Minnesota series the Yankees pitching staff seemingly silenced any doubt that was circulating.The Yankee’s offense was never really a cause for concern, but it is good to note that they didn’t disappoint, adding run support from a slew of different players in their lineup.

However, just playing well isn’t the only reason that the Yankees might now be the favorite, other teams have been struggling.

Tampa Bay couldn’t hit Wilson and Lee in the first two games in which both Shields and Price struggled, and then in Game 3 they rebounded in a win in the late innings. Texas looked strong until Game 3, where the bullpen was unable to hold the lead and the offense didn’t have the same success at the plate.

The Phillies got one of the best pitching performances in postseason history in Game 1, and with 4 runs in support won easily. In Game 2, Philadelphia won in a sloppy comeback after Oswalt had trouble early. The Reds probably should have won Game 2, but beat themselves with errors, they didn’t look very good in either game.

Tim Lincecum showed why they call him The Freak in Game 1, as they battled their way to a 1-0 win. In Game 2, they were able to open a lead early, but then blew it later in the game and finally lost in extra innings after Ankiel’s home run.

Overall, no team besides the Yankees have shown the consistent, high quality of play on both sides of the ball that the New York Yankees have this postseason, which is why they are once again the team to beat.

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