Kuzul

Greetings everyone, baseball addict Evan Adrian here, live blogging game one of the NLCS between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies. We’re in for quite a showdown tonight, as both teams trot out their aces for Game 1 in Philly.

Tim Lincecum is on the mound for the Giants, fresh off his brilliant, 14 strikeout, complete game two-hitter over Atlanta. Meanwhile, Roy Halladay toes the rubber for Philadelphia. All he did in his first career playoff start last Wednesday was throw the second ever no-hitter in MLB playoff history.

Both clubs are hoping for repeat performance for their aces. Lets find out which Cy Young winner brought their A-game tonight.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Let’s be honest upfront about this: You don’t need any reason to be distracted from the baseball that’s currently being played in the postseason.

October has been wonderful for baseball fans, especially if you love great pitching.

With the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers set to meet in the ALCS, and the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants set to meet in the NLCS, we don’t need to give you any reasons to take your eyes off the field.

So, in that sense, this is not meant to take away from the games that still remain in the 2010 season.

This is for days like today: a weekday with no games.

And this is also for the fans whose favorite teams happen to be vacationing. For instance, if you’re a fan of the Washington Nationals, it’s never too early to think about next season. (Kidding, D.C.)

The World Series will come and go, and then the hot stove will once again be smoldering as seam-heads wait out the winter months in solitude.

To kick off the hot stove talk a little early, we are taking a look at 10 power hitters available this winter.

Now, this list doesn’t consist solely of potential trades. Frankly, legit power hitters aren’t packing rental trucks and caravanning across America to new homes on a daily basis.

Power is hard to find, so when a club lands a guy that has it, it’s not going to dish him away easily.

To make this list a little livelier we have assembled a mixture of free agents and guys currently under contract.

The marriage works quite well, actually, because the free-agent class this winter is, shall we say, less than marvelous.

As with any list or ranking, this isn’t a prediction of what will happen nor is it suggesting these are the only names that could be on the move. This list is simply for your enjoyment and discussion.

If you think another name needs to be mentioned beyond these 10, feel free to drop it in the comments section and everyone can discuss.

OK, now to the list.

Begin Slideshow

Another day has come and gone, and still no baseball. We hear that there will be a National League Championship Series played soon, but we are beginning to have our doubts. The NLCS allegedly starts on Saturday. We’ll see.

In the meantime, as we continue to prepare to watch baseball, here are some more things to think about ahead of Game 1.

Begin Slideshow

The 2010 NLCS begins this Saturday in Philadelphia between the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants. Both teams bring impressive pitching rotations into the series, highlighted by the Game 1 match-up between Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum.

Impressive hardly describes each of their first postseason starts during the NLDS.

Halladay, in the first postseason start of his career no less, no-hit the best hitting team in the National League, the Cincinnati Reds, and Lincecum threw a 2 hit, 14k, complete game against the Atlanta Braves. With Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt looking to take the ball for the Phillies and Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain behind Lincecum for the Giants, the match-up between these two teams is all about pitching.

That being said, neither team is without issue. Here are 5 questions heading into the National League Championship Series:

Begin Slideshow

Although they are two very different pitchers, the Giants’ Tim Lincecum and the Phillies’ Roy Halladay are two of baseball’s top three or four.

Saturday night in Philadelphia, Lincecum—the NL Cy Young winner each of the previous two seasons—will face Halladay, the front runner for this year’s NL Cy Young, who tossed a no-hitter in his last start.

Although postseason baseball was limited to the World Series only until 1969, and the World Series and LCS until 1995, there have been dozens of classic pitching matchups in baseball history.

Here are the top 10 of all time.

Begin Slideshow

Whoo! I’m not a fan of either of these teams, but just as a baseball fan I am pumped for this series. To look at the pitching that is going to be on display between these teams gives me the shivers.  What excitement. For instance, this season, the Giants were 1^st in ERA, 1^st in strikeouts, 1^st in saves, and 4^th in WHIP  . . . in the major leagues! How does that even happen?

The Phillies were no slouch either: Roy Halladay has the CY Young all wrapped up; meanwhile, the Phillies were sixth in ERA and 1^st in WHIP.

Forget hitting and intangibles for right now, in terms of pitching, this is going to be one memorable series.

Let’s break it down, starter to starter.

Begin Slideshow

Alright, the NLCS field is all set. It is going to be the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants. The uniforms have been washed, the shoes have been shined, let’s throw on our Roy Halladay replica jerseys and get to the ballpark.

We’re going to be playing some championship baseball in just . . . five days?!?!?!

Uh, okay.

(Psst: who’s in charge of scheduling around here? Oh right; the networks.)

Anyways, in order to attempt to hold your attention for the next week while we wait for baseball to come around again (seriously, the All Star Break isn’t this long), I’d like to present 10 Fun Facts regarding the Philadelphia Phillies, the San Francisco Giants, and the National League Championship Series.

Begin Slideshow

As you’ve seen, we’ve analyzed the pitching matchups and how the Phillies and Giants compare in the infield.

This slideshow will examine the only part of the teams we haven’t focused on yet: the outfield.  Outfield defense is extremely important in the playoffs. 

Need an example? Last night in Atlanta, Cody Ross gets a base hit with the bases loaded, and Braves left fielder Matt Diaz threw out Pat Burrell, who was trying to score from second at home plate to keep the damage to just one run instead of two. 

The Braves would go on to lose, but with runners on first and second with one out in the ninth inning, they could’ve won the game with an extra-base hit, rather than just tie the game with one.  It was almost a huge play.

This slideshow will examine both San Francisco’s and Philadelphia’s outfield offensive production and defense.  So far, the teams seem evenly matched in pitching, while the Phillies infield smoked the Giants infield in our last slideshow. 

Will the Giants outfield even it up, making this series a complete toss-up?

Begin Slideshow

We just did a piece on the pitching matchups for the NLCS, that you should really read if you haven’t already. 

This time, we’re breaking down the infields of the finalists for the National League pennant.

Obviously, the Phillies boast Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in their infield.  Can the Giants infield offense (and defense) compete?

Each slide will breakdown the position battle, and see which team has the advantage at each position.

Begin Slideshow

The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves Monday night to advance to its first National League Championship Series since 2002. Outfielder Cody Ross had two RBI, including the game-winning single in the seventh inning.

The Giants have to be thrilled to have ousted Atlanta, having proved along the way that their excellent pitching staff is in top form this October. Now, however, Bruce Bochy’s crew must turn to take on a much fiercer offense and more worthy opponent than the depleted Braves: Charlie Manuel’s Philadelphia Phillies.

Philadelphia has won its division four straight times and are two-time defending National League champions. They have finished first or second in the NL in runs scored in all four of those seasons. To that potent resume, they added two right-handed aces for their starting pitching rotation this season-Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt.

For the Giants to beat Philadelphia and have a chance to end their 52-year championship drought, much will need to go right. Specifically, here are five things the Giants need to do to win the NLCS.

Begin Slideshow