Baseball News from L.A. Times
Down, 7-0, they rally against Tampa Bay bullpen and win on Drew’s two-out single in the ninth. Series returns to Tampa Bay with the Rays leading, 3-2. Down seven runs and running out of time, the Boston Red Sox weren’t quite ready to go away.
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Baseball News from L.A. Times
Philadelphia batters Chad Billingsley for eight runs in 2 1/3 innings and survives Manny Ramirez’s three-run homer to win, 8-5. Continue reading on L.A. Times
The Philadelphia Phillies’ Ryan Howard is preparing to play a pivotal role in the NLCS, starting tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Accustomed to being the focus of attention, Howard brushes off the fact that the Dodgers may avoid pitching to him in order to avoid giving up a homerun.
Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard is learning to accept the fact that as a perennial 40-homer threat, opposing teams will usually do anything they can to avoid pitching to him. Aristotle believed patience to be a virtue.Continue reading on L.A. Times
As one of the league’s best power hitters, Howard should always be pitched to carefully, but opposing teams need to remember that he’s also one of the worst strikeout hitters as well, so there is a high chance he’s going to strikeout. His batting average is pretty low for what most people would consider as a “good hitter”.
My suggestion for the Dodgers is to go at him early & hard. Put the pressure on him to deliver, especially on the road. Get him out on a couple strikeouts early in the game and allow that to get into his head later in the game, as well as future games.
Baseball News from L.A. Times
Boston wins, 3-2, scoring winning run with two outs in ninth inning. Angels eliminated in division series by Red Sox for the third time in five seasons.
BOSTON — Jed Lowrie’s two-out single to right field scored Jason Bay from second with the winning run Monday, sending the Boston Red Sox to a 3-2 victory and the American League Championship Series while sending the Angels home for the winter.
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Baseball News from L.A. Times
Second baseman has failed in clutch chances that could have turned the tables against Boston. The Angels appear to be one bat shy of World Series caliber . . . again.
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Baseball News from L.A. Times
It could be the Mets, Phillies or Cubs, but East Coast weather could delay the end of regular season. Now that the Dodgers are champions of the National League West, they will open the playoffs Wednesday in …
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The Los Angeles Dodgers completed their rise to the NL West crown earlier this week when the Arizona Diamondbacks were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals. The division championship comes on the heels of the Manny Ramirez trade in August and the fall of the D-Backs, who appeared to have the division in-hand throughout the season. In the end, however, the pressure of the Dodgers resurgence appears to have been too much for the young Arizona team to compete against.
The Dodgers should get a lot of credit for saving their season, which undoubtedly was a failure for new manager, Joe Torre, at least until the Ramirez trade. The Dodgers plain sucked - they couldn’t score and their pitching was questionable. Adding Manny to the lineup changed everything. Suddenly, the team could put up runs and give the pitchers some breathing room. Batting averages are up across the board and Ramirez is a legitimate candidate for National League MVP, but will likely lose it to Albert Pujols, who continues to showcase his incredible skills in all aspects of the game.
A Dodgers/Mets match-up would surely be interesting, but it will only happen if New York can avoid a dramatic failure for the 2nd year in a row. The Phillies would be interesting as well, since both teams are similar. The Cubs are stronger on pitching and offense, so I think this series would be short-lived.
