the best. Stay current with the 2010 Postseason by following the playoff-news below.
7:30am
The Texas Rangers, who have advanced to the League Championship Series for the first time in franchise history, came out swinging against the Yankees Friday night to take a 5-0 lead into the eighth inning. However, New York's experiences in the Postseason allowed them to take advantage of Texas' mistakes and stage a comeback to take game 1 with a 6-5 win. The Rangers, however, demonstrated the resiliency they showed all season to take Saturday's game 2 with a 7-2 win.
Philadelphia, fresh off a Division Series sweep of Cincinnati, fell to San francisco in the opening game of their 7-game NLCS with a 4-3 loss. In game-2, behind Roy Oswalt, the "fighting Phillies" triumphed over the Giants with a 6-1 win.
Both series are a best of 7 format with the winners advancing to the 2010 World Series starting Wednesday, October 27.
10:19pm
10:58pm
The Braves wanted to send their long-time manager Bobby Cox (left) off with, at the very least, a postseason series victory. The Giants, however, proved to be too much and Bobby Cox bid farewell to the game of baseball after 50 years as a player, coach, manager, and general manager.Giants win game-three 3 - 2 and will open up the National League Championship Series Saturday night against the Philadelphia Phillies.
10:10pm
Unfortunately for Cincy, the Philadelphia pitching was too much for the "postseason rookies" to handle and hibernation comes earlier than any of the Redlegs had hoped. The trifecta of Halladay, Hamels, and Oswalt ("H2O") proved regardless the temperature of Philly's offense, the opposing team's bats will likely be colder.Cincinnati entered the NLDS leading the National League in nearly every offensive category. In the three games against Philadelphia, the Reds could only manage 11 hits (MLB record - Fewest hits in postseason series) and four runs scored. Surprisingly, the four runs were scored off Roy Oswalt in Game-2, who is 23 - 3 with a 2.81 ERA in his career against Cincinnati.
However, the most briliant and memorable pitching performance of the series, and arguably the past 50-years, was
Roy Halladay's no-hitter. Halladay, who threw a
Perfect Game against the Florida Marlins earlier this season, became only the second pitcher in Major League Baseball to throw a no-hitter in the postseason (NYY Don Larsen, 1956 World Series).Halladay became the first pitcher in MLB history to toss both a Perfect Game and no-hitter in the same season. He and the Phillies advance to the 2010 National League Championship Series, which starts Saturday, October 16.
9:58pm
In last Friday's Game-2 of the NLDS, the Reds entered the bottom of the 5th inning with a comfortable 4 - 0 lead, a starting pitcher still in control, and it seemed the NLDS would be going back to Cincy tied up 1 - 1.Unfortunately for the Reds, who finished the regular season tied for the highest fielding-percentage in Major League Baseball (Giants, Padres, Yankees - 98.8%), the Phillies were able to capitalize on four errors made by the boys from the Queen City to win the game 7 - 4 and send the Reds back to Cincinnati down 0 - 2 with the weight of the world on their shoulders in a best of five series.
In the first inning of tonight's game, the Phillies had runners on first and third with two out when Jayson Werth hit a ground ball to the Reds shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Cabrera, who was expected to miss game three after aggravating his oblique turning a double-play in game two, fielded the ball cleanly but failed to make an accurate throw to first base allowing the runner on third to score and Werth to reach first base successfully.
As of this post, the Phillies have a 2 - 0 lead in the top of the eighth inning. If the Reds only score one run, the error made by Cabrera in the first will be the deciding factor in tonight's game.
6:58pm
As the Giants and Braves entered the eighth inning Sunday night at Turner Field, San Francisco was clinging to a 1 - 0 lead. The lead would only last 20 more minutes as a 2-run homer by Eric Hinske to right field put Atlanta ahead. So, three easy outs in the top of the ninth and the Braves go into Game 4 with the ability to clinch the series at their home ballpark, correct? Incorrect!A one out walk to Travis Ishikawa and clutch hits from Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff was all the offense the Giants needed to take the lead. That was all the offense needed because Atlanta's second baseman Brooks Conrad watched a ground ball from Buster Posey slip under his glove allowing Sanchez to score.
Giants win 3 - 2 and look to close the deal Monday night in Atlanta.
11:58pm
The Yankees will face the winner of the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers Series in the American League Championship Series.