The MLB playoffs are full of sweeps. 3 strong teams - Yankees, Angels and Dodgers swept three mediocre teams - Twins, RedSox and the Cards. The Eagles finished the quartet with a 3-1 win over the Rockies today. There have been some interesting finishes in these playoffs so far. The best and the most satisfying end was to see the RedSox and Papelbon blow the save in game 3 at home. The Angels scored 5 runs in the last 2 innings as Papelbon converted a 2 run lead into a one run loss. The inconsistent RedSox just picked a bad time of the year to have another one of their bad stretches. Now they are done and the TV dudes don't get their Yankees-Sox ALCS. Even I would have loved to see it. It's been a while.
As for the aforementioned Yankees, A-Rod is living large right now. Between dating Kate Hudson and batting .455 in the playoffs and the 6 RBIs in one series, it's hard to question this guy. All the doubters and haters have to be quiet right now. He is known for disappearing in October, but now he is the best player in the playoffs. Of course, he needs to be at least half as good as what he has been so far in the next 2 rounds to really cement his place in October, but he has started strong and without him, there would not have been a sweep. In game 3, he tied the game up with a homer in the 7-Th. Carl Pavano of all people was pitching a shutout in to the 7-Th, but A-Rod turned the tide for the Yankees.
Another 9-Th inning miscue happened today as Houston Street blew a save against Ryan Howard and the Phillies. Street had saved 35 out of 37 games, but now he has to deal with this loss the entire off-season. He lost the game on Saturday too and the Eagles stole 2 playoffs games on the road with 9-Th inning wins. Street has blown 3 saves this year and all of them are against the Phillies. Hope these 2 games don't affect his head permanently. It's tough being a closer in this sport. He probably feels like if not for his mistake, the Rockies could have forced a game 5 and even advanced. Matt Holliday probably does and should feel the same way too. His error in game 2 was a killer. The Cards never recovered and were eliminated at home. I was expecting a lot from that series, but the Dodgers cruised rather easily. Now on to the Eagles for the Dodgers. The Yankees have to face the dreaded Angels and they are hoping the result will be different this time around.
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