It’s been a pretty good postseason so far. Mostly because the Wankers lost, but also because three of the four division series went to five games, which is a welcome change from the past few years. Not only were there three deciding games, all three were decided by just one run. After Fuck-Rod struck out to send the Wankers home (the memory of which still gives me a warm feeling) the Brewers walked off in the tenth inning against Arizona and the Chris Carpenter out-duelled Roy Halliday. (The last one was the best; all deciding games should be 1-0 pitcher’s duels.) Neither of the championship series will be sweeps either, which makes for a good start.
The Rangers are leading the Tigers two games to one, with the home team winning every game so far. This is not surprising; the Rangers have the most hitter friendly park in the AL, and the Tigers have one of the least. The Tigers have actually looked the better side so far; the Rangers only narrowly won their home games whilst the Tigers looked quite assured at home last night. Indeed, with a few breaks in the first two games the Tigers could be 3-0 up right now. Today (imminently, actually) Rick Porcello starts against Matt Harrison. Neither have been dominant this year, which will probably give the Rangers a slight edge, even though the game is in Detroit. I’m tipping the Rangers to win, but only just. (Just barely tipping them, that is. I don’t think the game will necessarily be close and I do think it will be high scoring.)
The National League, after having a much better pair of division series, has not had an enthralling championship series so far. The Brewers and Cardinals traded blowouts in the first two games and now the series is level going to St Louis. I expect the trend may change tonight though as both aces are starting. Gallardo has actually pitched better during the postseason so far, giving up just one run in each of his two starts. Carpenter, however, gave up four runs in three innings in game two of the NLDS before his famous performance in game five. Carpenter also had a complete game shutout in the last regular season game, but that was against Houston and I’m pretty sure I could shut out Houston. So it should be a good game. Carpenter is pitching at home for the first time this postseason and Gallardo is pitching on the road for the first time, so it will be interesting to see if that affects either of them. I think the Cardinals will win a close game.
As I type this the Tigers-Rangers game ought to have started, but it has been raining in Detroit and the new start time is set for 16.45 CDT.
Defensive Indifference 