Shane Victorino stars as Red Sox complete World Series victory

It was pretty clear the St. Louis Cardinals were not going to let Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz beat them in Game 6 of the World Series on Wednesday night.

Ortiz, who entered Wednesday's play batting .733 for the series, went 0-for-1 with four walks -- three of them intentional -- in Game 6. However, the St. Louis strategy failed, thanks to Boston outfielder Shane Victorino.

Victorino went 2 for 3 with four RBIs as the Red Sox beat the Cardinals 6-1 and claimed their third World Series title since 2004.

The decisive moment came in the bottom of the third inning. With Jacoby Ellsbury on second base and one out, Ortiz was intentionally walked for the first time. After Mike Napoli struck out and Jonny Gomes was hit by a pitch, the table was set for Victorino. With the bases loaded and two away, the right fielder ripped a 2-1 fastball from St. Louis starter Michael Wacha off the Green Monster in left field for a bases-clearing double. The Red Sox took a 3-0 lead with one swing of the bat, and well, that was pretty much your ballgame.

Boston tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning, another frame that featured an intentional walk to Ortiz. Napoli and Victorino both foiled the strategy with RBI singles, and Boston had a 6-0 advantage.

I can't fault the Cardinals for going around Ortiz. They were bound and determined to make someone else swing the bat. Other Boston hitters stepped up and got the job done in RBI situations, so give them credit.

St. Louis, meanwhile, failed miserably in the clutch. The Cardinals were just 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position in Game 6 and could not capitalize against Boston starter and winning pitcher John Lackey. The best opportunity for St. Louis came in the seventh inning. Trailing 6-1, the Cardinals had the bases loaded with two outs for their leading RBI man, Allen Craig. But Boston reliever Junichi Tazawa retired Craig on a routine grounder to first. The Red Sox lead was never threatened again.

The Cardinals hit a major league record .330 with runners in scoring position this season, but their greatest strength failed them at an inopportune time on Wednesday night. They could get runners on. They just couldn't get them in.

When the Red Sox had scoring opportunities, they delivered. And that's why they are partying in Boston right now.

If the Red Sox win the World Series, do you think David Ortiz will win MVP?

Boston slugger David Ortiz is hitting .733 through the first five games of the World Series. In contrast, his Red Sox teammates have combined for a .156 batting average.

Yeah, I think we know who has been the best player on the field so far in this series.

The Red Sox have 33 hits as a team over the five games. Ortiz has 11 of them, in just 15 at-bats. He also has two home runs, six RBIs and four walks. His on-base percentage is .789. That's obscene.

Ortiz finished 3 for 4 in Boston's 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday in Game 5. His RBI double in the first inning opened the scoring. The Red Sox also got an go-ahead RBI double from journeyman catcher David Ross in the top of the seventh, and Jacoby Ellsbury chipped in with an RBI single.

The Red Sox now own a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series, which shifts back to Fenway Park for Game 6 on Wednesday night.

If it weren't for Ortiz's otherworldly performance, we would be talking about left-hander Jon Lester as a possible MVP winner. The Boston ace was masterful for the second time in this series in Game 5. He went 7.2 innings and allowed just four hits. He struck out seven, walked none and surrendered just one run on a solo home run by Matt Holliday. Lester is now 2-0 with a 0.59 ERA in two World Series starts. He also was the winning pitcher in Game 1.

The odds are stacked in Boston's favor now as it has two chances to win one game at home. Can St. Louis go into Fenway and win two straight? I doubt it, but you never say never.

The Cardinals have to feel good about their Game 6 starter, Michael Wacha, who has been every bit as brilliant as Lester in the postseason. The St. Louis rookie is 4-0 with 1.00 ERA in four playoff starts. He'll need to make it 5-0 for the Cardinals to stay alive. His mound opponent will once again be Boston veteran John Lackey.

Here's why the Cardinals still have a chance: If it goes to Game 7, who is Boston going to pitch? Lester and Lackey are their only two reliable starters. Jake Peavy has been inconsistent to say the least. Clay Buchholz is gutting it out, pitching through injuries. Neither of the two is a real attractive option to start a Game 7, but one of them will get the ball -- if the Cardinals can find a way to pull out Game 6.

Don't wanna get picked off here in this situation, Part II (Kolten Wong Edition)

During the NLCS, I was making fun of Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Nick Punto for getting picked off at an inopportune time.

With that in mind, I would be remiss if I didn't call attention to the terrible baserunning by St. Louis infielder Kolten Wong on Sunday in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the World Series.

The Cardinals were trailing the Boston Red Sox 4-2 when pinch hitter Allen Craig hit a ball off the right field wall with one out in the ninth. Craig, hobbled by foot and ankle injuries, cannot run at all right now and only reached first base on the deep drive that would have been a double under normal circumstances. Understandably, Wong was summoned to pinch run for the injured Craig.

After Matt Carpenter popped up, Carlos Beltran was the last hope for the Cardinals. If you're St. Louis, Beltran is probably the guy you most want representing your last hope. He was up there representing the tying run, and he has 16 career postseason home runs to his credit. One swing of the bat and the game could be tied.

Well, Beltran never got that swing because Boston closer Koji Uehara (pictured) picked Wong off to end the game. To be fair, Wong slipped on his way back to first base, but nevertheless, such a baserunning miscue is intolerable.

It would be one thing if Wong was representing the tying run. If that were the case, the stolen base would be in play. Down one run, you might be thinking about getting a big lead and a good jump. But down two runs? With a power hitter at the plate? You're not running in that spot. Wong's job in that situation was to take a one-way lead, not get picked off and run when Beltran hit the ball. It was a simple task, but he blew it.

The Red Sox finished off the 4-2 win and the best-of-seven series is now tied, 2-2.

Obstruction call was correct

A quick word about the ending to Game 3: The obstruction call on the last play of the game that awarded St. Louis a 5-4 victory was the correct one. It doesn't matter that people "don't want to see a World Series game end that way." Rules are rules, and the umpires enforced the rules. If the pitcher had committed an obvious balk, should the umpire not call it because it's the ninth inning of a World Series game? I believe he should, and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous.

I felt no sympathy for the Red Sox whatsoever. The umpires weren't the ones who got into a second-and-third, one-out jam. The umpires weren't the ones who threw the ball away. The Red Sox did that, and they deserved to lose.

I think Boston has a well-run organization, a good front office, a good manager, and I respect the Red Sox for the success they've had on the field over the last 10 years. But I grow tired of their whiny fan base very, very quickly.  I have a feeling if Boston doesn't win this series, the fans are going to be bitching and moaning about this obstruction thing for the rest of their days.

Spare me. I don't want to hear about it. Don't make any movies about this call. Don't write any books about it. I don't want to see or hear any crap interviews from celebrity fans about the injustice of it all. I don't want to see any stupid documentary about this incident 10 years from now. Take the pain. It's over. The Red Sox players moved on quickly and took care of business in Game 4. The fans better move on as well. It's anybody's series now, and both teams have every opportunity to win. There will be no excuses for either side when it's over. 

Rookies pitch Cardinals to Game 2 victory

One thing we learned from Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday night: If you're really good, a lack of experience doesn't matter.

The St. Louis Cardinals used three rookie pitchers, starter Michael Wacha and relievers Carlos Martinez and Trevor Rosenthal, to beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 and even the series at a game each.

None of those three pitchers is older than age 23, but you never would have known it by the poise they showed in the hostile environment at Fenway Park.

We've come to expect excellence from Wacha, who is 4-0 in four postseason starts now. But, in a way, this effort was more impressive than his previous ones because he did not have his good stuff Thursday night. His command was off. He walked four people and needed 114 pitches to get through six innings. Still, he surrendered just two runs, both on a home run by David Ortiz in the sixth inning. I didn't think Wacha had his real good fastball in this game. There was a lot of 91 and 92 on the radar gun, whereas he had been hitting 94 and 95 in previous starts. Still, he persevered against a strong lineup and gave his team a chance to win.

Martinez, who features a 98 mph fastball, worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning, moments after the Cardinals had score three runs in the top of the inning to take the lead for good. The 23-year-old also worked the eighth inning and pitched his way out of two-on, two-out jam.

Rosenthal had the ninth, and well, he was pretty damn good. He struck out the side while consistently hitting 98 and 99 on the gun.

It helps to have power arms in the bullpen, and that's one of the reasons I picked the Cardinals to win the World Series before the playoffs started. Sure, they are inexperienced, but those high-90s fastballs allow them to get away with some mistakes location-wise.

A lot of people have talked about how good Boston's bullpen has been this year, and rightfully so. We saw last night the guys at the back end of the St. Louis bullpen are no slouches either. Coming right at guys with heat; that's how you close out a game.

Does homefield advantage matter more in Game 1 than in Game 7?

I was thinking earlier today about how the World Series is a matchup of Goliath vs. Goliath this year. Both the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals were the best and most consistent teams in their respective leagues throughout the season. Both teams won 97 games. They appear to be evenly matched.

You don't always get a matchup like this in this era of wild-card teams and expanded playoffs. A lot of years, you see that 88-win team sneak into the postseason, get hot at the right time and end up playing in the World Series. Not this year. This really is a case of the two top clubs going head to head.

Unfortunately, you never would have known that by watching Game 1 on Wednesday night. The Red Sox kicked the snot out of the Cardinals, scoring five runs in the first two innings and coasting to an 8-1 victory behind ace left-hander Jon Lester (pictured).

St. Louis is not known as a great defensive team, but to call its effort sloppy in this game would have been an understatement.  The Cardinals packed three errors and three other misplays into those game-deciding first two innings alone. We don't need to detail them all here; you can read about them in Jeff Passan's column on Yahoo. Suffice to say St. Louis looked like a bunch of scaredy-cats. The Cardinals made a bunch of defensive mistakes that big-league players should not make on the big stage.

Of course, it's only natural to be nervous before taking the field for Game 1 of the World Series, even for seasoned veterans. That leads me to the point of this blog: I think that homefield advantage matters more in Game 1 than it does in Game 7. Why? Well, I think it's easier to overcome those nerves and settle into your game when you're playing in your home park, in a comfortable environment, in front of 40,000 people who are cheering for you. Boston settled in quickly Wednesday night and played a solid, clean game. The Cardinals, in contrast, were blown off the field before they could get their feet under them.

In case you were wondering, the home team has now won Game 1 in each of the past four World Series. It is indeed an advantage. And in each of the previous three series, that Game 1 winner has gone on to claim the championship.

Just how important is it to win Game 1? Well, since 2003, the Game 1 winner has gone on to win the World Series in nine out of 10 years. The only exception was 2009, when the New York Yankees dropped Game 1 at home before recovering to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.

For me, the biggest edge that comes along with homefield advantage is getting those first two games at home. It increases your odds of winning that first game, and if you win that first game, it puts you in the driver's seat toward winning the World Series. That's where the Red Sox are at right now after Game 1. 

2013 World Series: Boston Red Sox vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Since we left off, the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals have each clinched the pennant in their respective leagues. They will open the World Series on Wednesday night in Boston.

To get ready, let's take a look at three players from each team whose performance could swing the outcome of the series one way or the other.

St. Louis Cardinals

1. Michael Wacha - The rookie right-hander is 3-0 in three starts this postseason, and he's allowed just one run in 21 innings pitched, with 22 strikeouts and just 12 baserunners (8 hits, 4 walks) allowed. He has the element of surprise in his favor. Nobody in Boston's lineup has ever faced him. Can he continue to pitch like a budding ace? If so, the Cardinals have the advantage in starting pitching in this series. Ace Adam Wainwright will start Games 1 and 5, while Wacha will get Games 2 and 6.

2. Allen Craig - The first baseman hasn't played since Sept. 4. He's been out with a foot injury, but he is slated to DH in Games 1 and 2 in Boston. If Craig can chip off the rust quickly, his bat is a huge asset in the middle of the St. Louis lineup. In 134 games this year, he posted a .315/.373/.457 slash line and had 13 home runs and 97 RBIs. We'll see if Craig is healthy enough to play first base when the series shifts to St. Louis, but even if he can only DH and pinch hit, his return to the active roster could be pivotal.

3. Yadier Molina - One of the things I like about the Red Sox offense is their speed at the top of the order. Boston was third in the American League in stolen bases with 123, with Jacoby Ellsbury (52 steals), Shane Victorino (21 steals) and Dustin Pedroia (17 stolen bases) accounting for most of them. However, few catchers in baseball can neutralize an opponent's running game as well as Molina. He threw out 43 percent of runners who tried to steal against him this year, and has caught 45 percent for his career. Will Boston be able to run against Molina? We shall see.

Boston Red Sox

1. John Lackey - This guy is back from the dead this year. Lackey posted a 6.41 ERA in 2011 and missed all of 2012 after elbow surgery. But this year, he's rebounded to post a 3.52 ERA and has pitched much better than his 10-13 regular season record indicates. He beat Detroit ace Justin Verlander 1-0 in Game 3 of the ALCS, which in hindsight might have been the most pivotal game of that series. Lackey will be matched up with Wacha in Game 2. Does he have another big effort in him? We know the veteran isn't afraid of the big stage. He won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series as a rookie with the Anaheim Angels.

2. David Ortiz - It's been a slow postseason for the Boston designated hitter. He's batting just .200 with three home runs and seven RBIs in the playoffs. All of his damage was done in two games. He had a two-homer game in Game 2 of the ALDS against Tampa Bay, and a game-changing grand slam in Game 2 of the ALCS against Detroit. The Red Sox need Ortiz to get some things done on occasions other than Game 2 of this series. When the series shifts to St. Louis, Boston skipper John Farrell will have to choose between Ortiz and Mike Napoli at first base. You figure Ortiz gets the nod, since St. Louis has all right-handed starting pitchers. But, Napoli is 6-for-16 with two home runs in his last four games. The decision becomes harder if Napoli stays hot and Ortiz stays cold.

3. Koji Uehara - Most championship teams have a few guys who come out of nowhere to have career seasons. No question Uehara is one of those guys for the Red Sox. The 38-year-old reliever went 4-1 with 21 saves, a 1.09 ERA and a 0.565 WHIP in the regular season. Those are all career bests. Uehara has continued his excellence in postseason play. He's allowed just one run in nine innings, and he has posted five saves. In three of his five saves, he has pitched more than one inning. That's huge, because Boston's starting staff doesn't get deep into games. Knowing Uehara can come on in the eighth inning and get the job done allows Farrell to shorten the game a little bit.

I'm not real good at making predictions, but before the playoffs I said St. Louis had the most balanced team in the field of eight. So, I should probably forecast them as the winner. I think the Red Sox have a real shot at this thing, but I'll stick with my original thought and say Cardinals in six. You can all laugh at me if I get proven wrong.

Sources: White Sox agree to deal with Cuban slugger Jose Abreu

The White Sox have agreed to a six-year, $68 million contract with Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu, according to multiple reports.

Abreu, 26, is a right-handed power hitter, but other than that, I don't know much about him. We do know he went 9-for-25 with three home runs and nine RBIs in last spring's World Baseball Classic.

I haven't seen Abreu play a single game in my life, and unlike other self-appointed "experts," I don't pretend to know whether this is a good move for the Sox.

But I'll tell you this much: The Sox need a first baseman, and they need some guys who can hit in the middle of the order. When you look at the current roster, it's hard to figure out who is going to fill the Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 spots in the batting order next year. You assume right fielder Avisail Garcia is one of those guys, but after that, who do you have?

Paul Konerko will be 38 next Opening Day, and he doesn't have a contract for next year. Adam Dunn has hit a combined .197 in his three seasons on the South Side. I'm sure the Sox would love to trade Dunn and get out from underneath the last year of his contract. Alex Rios was traded in August, and Dayan Viciedo failed to take a step forward in 2013 as the Sox had hoped. Where are the impact bats?

Obviously, the Sox are really lacking in run producers, and if their scouts believe Abreu can fill that void, then good for the front office for going out and acquiring him. Yeah, the price is high, but if you believe in a player's talent, then you shouldn't be shy about pulling the trigger on a deal. The Sox can't afford to be passive coming off a 99-loss season.

If this Abreu signing fails, well, then somebody will probably pay with their job. That somebody won't be me, so I don't care. I'm just glad to see the Sox moving aggressively to try to upgrade their roster. I'll gladly take that over bringing back the same cast of characters from this past summer.

Boston takes 3-2 lead in ALCS

All of a sudden, Mike Napoli is the best hitter in the Boston lineup. The catcher-turned-first baseman hit a solo home run to win Game 3 of the ALCS for the Red Sox earlier this week, and he was at it again Thursday night. Napoli hit a monstrous 460-foot home run off Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez to open the scoring and finished with three hits and two runs scored as the Red Sox beat the Tigers, 4-3, in Game 5.

With the win, Boston will take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series back to Fenway Park for Game 6.

It's tempting to count the Tigers out. Detroit hasn't been hitting. In particular, cleanup hitter Prince Fielder has been terrible in the postseason. He's swinging at everything, and he has no RBIs in the playoffs thus far. He heard boos from the restless Comerica Park faithful on Thursday night.

But, Detroit has 21-game winner Max Scherzer lined up to pitch Game 6 on Saturday. If the Tigers win that, they'll have Justin Verlander ready to go on regular rest for Game 7. If the Red Sox are to finish the job and reach the World Series, they will have to beat a quality pitcher to do so. Home-field advantage will be working in their favor.

Boston will send Clay Buchholz to the mound on Saturday.

Detroit roughs up Jake Peavy, evens up ALCS

With his team trailing 2-1 in the ALCS coming into Wednesday night's Game 4, Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland shuffled his lineup.

He moved Torii Hunter into the leadoff spot, moved Miguel Cabrera into the No. 2 hole and dropped the slumping Austin Jackson from first to eighth in the batting order.

Was it the right move? Well, you can't argue with Wednesday's results. The aforementioned three Tiger hitters combined to go 5 for 11 with six RBIs as Detroit defeated the Boston Red Sox 7-3 to tie the best-of-seven series at 2-all.

Detroit roughed up Boston starter Jake Peavy, scoring five runs in the second inning and two more in the fourth to take a commanding 7-0 lead it would never relinquish.

I think, though, that the success of Leyland's lineup shuffle was more of a coincidence than anything else. Quite simply, Peavy had a horrible game. I've watched most of the right-hander's starts over the last four years, and normally his strikeout-to-walk ratio is around 4 to 1. On this night, Peavy uncharacteristically walked three batters in the fateful five-run second inning alone, including a bases-loaded free pass to the struggling Jackson. Peavy had no command of the strike zone whatsoever.

I'm not really sold on the idea that the Tigers are out of their slump now. I think they were the fortunate beneficiaries of a terrible performance by a starting pitcher who is normally pretty good.

We'll see what happens in Thursday's Game 5. If Detroit cuffs around Boston ace Jon Lester, then I'll be convinced that Leyland's lineup juggling has actually made an impact.

Dodgers stay alive in NLCS

Speaking of offensive breakouts, Los Angeles finally got its bats going with four home runs Wednesday in Game 5 of the NLCS. Adrian Gonzalez homered twice, while Carl Crawford and A.J. Ellis also went deep as the Dodgers stayed alive with a 6-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals still lead the series, 3-2, and the scene shifts back to St. Louis for Game 6 on Friday night.

Despite all the home runs, the most critical moment of this game came in the top of the first inning. The Cardinals loaded the bases with nobody out, but failed to score after Los Angeles pitcher Zack Greinke struck out Matt Adams and induced Yadier Molina to ground into an inning-ending double play. The Dodgers were one mistake away from finding themselves in a big early hole in an elimination game. Instead, they got out unscathed, and you had it feeling it was going to be their day from that point forward.

Los Angeles will send its ace to the mound in Game 6. Clayton Kershaw will try to lead the Dodgers to a series-tying victory. His mound opponent will be Michael Wacha in a rematch from Game 2, which Wacha won 1-0. Should be another great pitching matchup in a postseason full of them.

White Sox receive a couple of nobodies to complete Jesse Crain trade

The White Sox have acquired minor leaguers Sean Bierman and Ben Kline plus cash from the Tampa Bay Rays to complete the July trade of relief pitcher Jesse Crain.

Bierman, a 24-year-old left-hander, went 6-5 with a 2.55 ERA in 18 appearances (14 starts) for two teams in Tampa Bay's organization this year. The University of Tampa product had Tommy John surgery in 2010 and was a 10th-round choice of the Rays in the 2012 draft.

Bierman's fastball tops out in the high 80s, but he doesn't walk many people. In 150 minor league innings, he has registered 123 Ks and walked just 23. His career ERA is 3.00. However, he'll be turning 25 on Sunday, and he's never pitched above A-ball. Sounds like an organizational arm to me.

Kline, a 24-year-old infielder, was the Rays' 32nd-round pick in the 2012 draft. He played first base, second base and third base this past season for three different A-ball teams. He hit .246 with 15 RBIs in 40 games. My guess is you will never see him in a White Sox uniform.

Truthfully, as Sox fans we should be happy the team got anything for Crain, who was on the disabled list at the time he was traded and never threw a single pitch for the Rays. More than likely, this trade will go down as one that helped neither team, and it will be nothing more than a footnote for the 2013 season.

Hey, Nick Punto! Don't wanna get picked off here in this situation...

Some years ago, I was watching a White Sox game on a Saturday afternoon, and former Sox first base coach Ron Jackson was miked up for one of those "Fox Sounds of the Game" segments.

One of the clips they played featured Jackson telling former Sox shortstop Ozzie Guillen, who was on first base at the time, "Don't wanna get picked off here in this situation."

Thank you, Captain Obvious. As if there is any situation where it would be considered OK to get picked off.

Speaking of getting picked off, Los Angeles infielder Nick Punto got picked off at pretty bad time Tuesday in Game 4 of the NLCS. The Dodgers were trailing the St. Louis Cardinals by two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning when Punto reached second base on a one-out double.

Los Angeles had the top of its batting order coming up, and it appeared the Dodgers would have a chance to get back in the game in this inning. Alas, Punto was picked off second base by St. Louis reliever Carlos Martinez. Los Angeles didn't score, and the Cardinals took a 3-1 lead in the series with a 4-2 victory.

Maybe Punto would have benefited from having Jackson standing next to him there on second base.

"Don't wanna get picked off here in this situation." That's sage advice right there.

Would you believe it if I told you the Cardinals are hitting just .148 as a team in this series, despite their 3-1 advantage? It's true, but on this night two home runs made the difference for St. Louis. Matt Holliday, who had no hits the first three games of the series, hit a mammoth two-run blast off Los Angeles starter Ricky Nolasco in the third inning. Little-used reserve Shane Robinson added a solo shot in the seventh, his first hit in the playoffs, to account for the final run of the evening.

The Dodgers are on the ropes, but I wouldn't count them out. Remember, St. Louis had a 3-1 lead in the NLCS last year as well, and it failed to close out eventual World Series champion San Francisco. The Dodgers will need a big start from Zack Greinke in Game 5 Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinals will counter with right-hander Joe Kelly.

Boston takes 2-1 lead in ALCS

I mentioned the Cardinals' lousy team batting average in the league championship series. Well, the Red Sox are doing even worse. Boston is hitting just .133 as a team through the first three games of the ALCS, yet it finds itself ahead 2-1 after a 1-0 win in Detroit on Tuesday.

John Lackey fired 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball, and Mike Napoli hit a solo home run off Detroit's Justin Verlander for the only run of the game in the top of the seventh inning. Verlander was dominant otherwise; at one point he struck out six batters in a row. He finished with 10 strikeouts and allowed just four hits over eight innings, but Napoli's blast was enough to beat him.

The game's pivotal moment, though, came in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Tigers looked poised to tie or possibly take the lead with runners at first and third and only one out, with Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder due to hit. The table was set for Detroit's best RBI men. But Junichi Tazawa fanned Cabrera, getting him to chase a pitch that was well outside for strike three. Boston closer Koji Uehara was summoned to face Fielder, and he fanned the Tigers first baseman on just three pitches.

If the Red Sox go on to win this series, those two strikeouts of Cabrera and Fielder might be considered the turning point.

Dodgers take advantage of Cardinals sloppiness in NLCS Game 3

We'll start off with a quick stat about Los Angeles shortstop Hanley Ramirez: The Dodgers are 55-28 when he is in the starting lineup this season. They are 41-45 when he is not.

Ramirez did not play in Game 2 of the NLCS because of a hairline fracture in his ribs, but he managed the pain well enough to get back in the lineup for Game 3. Ramirez collected two bloop singles and an RBI in four at-bats as the Dodgers defeated St. Louis 3-0 Monday night to cut the Cardinals' lead in the series to 2-1. 

Ramirez's presence helped the Dodgers, sure, but the main storylines from this game were poor St. Louis defense and outstanding pitching from Los Angeles starter Hyun-Jin Ryu.

The Dodgers had failed to score a run in their previous 22 offensive innings before breaking through with two tallies in the bottom of the fourth inning off St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright. Both runs were gifts. Cardinals center fielder John Jay and right fielder Carlos Beltran had a miscommunication on a fly ball to right-center off the bat of Los Angeles second baseman Mark Ellis. Jay should have made the play; Beltran could have made the play. Neither man did, and Ellis was credited with a gift double. He would later score on a softly hit double by Adrian Gonzalez.

Yasiel Puig finished the rally with a two-out RBI triple. The hit broke and 0-for-11 slump (with seven strikeouts) for Puig. None of that would have happened if Jay had made the catch on Ellis' ball. It was a poor defensive night for Jay overall. He had four misplays out there, and was fortunate Wainwright was able to pitch over a couple of  his other gaffes. Ramirez added his bloop RBI hit in the eighth inning to cap the scoring, after Jay let a Carl Crawford blooper fall in front of him.

Ryu, a rookie left-hander, couldn't have pitched any better against the most prolific offense in the National League. He fired seven shutout innings, striking out four and allowing just three hits. That performance was exactly what the Dodgers needed. They couldn't afford to go down 3-0 in the series. They had to find a way to beat Wainwright, who had never lost in the postseason previously. Thanks to that performance by Ryu, they are back in the series.

Game 4 is Tuesday night, and both teams will be using their weakest starting pitcher. Lance Lynn, who picked up a win in relief in Game 1, is going for the Cardinals. Ricky Nolasco gets the ball for the Dodgers. St. Louis needs to get its bats going against Nolasco. The Dodgers will be able to throw their pair of aces, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw, in Games 5 and 6. St. Louis won Games 1 and 2, which were started by Greinke and Kershaw, respectively. I don't know if the Cardinals will be able to pull that off again, so I feel like it would behoove them to win Game 4. That way, they'll have a little cushion before facing the Dodgers' top two guys again. 

Detroit's dumbest move: Throwing David Ortiz a first pitch changeup

The Detroit Tigers pitching staff continues to do things that have never been done before.

Starter Max Scherzer went 5 2/3 innings without giving up a hit in Game 2 of the ALCS on Sunday night. The Tigers became the first team in postseason history to have a starting pitcher carry a no-hitter into the sixth inning in three consecutive games.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, on Sunday they also became the first team in postseason history to have four different pitchers give up a single run in the same inning. When David Ortiz hit a first-pitch changeup from closer Joaquin Benoit out of the park for a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning, Jose Veras, Drew Smyly, Al Alburquerque and Benoit were all charged with one run.

Ortiz's blast erased a 5-1 Boston deficit, and the Red Sox went on to win 6-5 and even the best-of-seven series at 1-1. Predictably, motownsports.com exploded with criticism of Detroit manager Jim Leyland. Scherzer had thrown 108 pitches threw seven, but he wasn't allowed to start the eighth inning. Did he have another inning in him? Maybe, but Scherzer said he was done at that point after the game. Did Leyland overmanage by using those four relief pitchers to try to get through the eighth inning? Perhaps. I'm not a big proponent of the lefty-righty, batter-by-batter stuff. I always figure if you use enough relief pitchers, eventually you'll land on a guy who doesn't have his best stuff that day.

All that said, Leyland had his best reliever on the mound to face Ortiz. The odds were still in the Tigers' favor. They were up four, there were two outs, and the pressure was on Ortiz to do something to get his team back in the game.

Ortiz did just that, but I think he was helped by the worst decision any Tigers player or manager made all evening: They threw something offspeed on the first pitch of the sequence. I'm pretty sure the veteran Ortiz has seen that trick before. The pitcher assumes the hitter is looking first-pitch fastball with the bases loaded, so he tries to flip a sloppy offspeed offering up there in hopes of grabbing a first-pitch strike and getting ahead in the count. That kind of crap works against younger hitters. It didn't work against Ortiz, who ripped the ball into the right-field bullpen, a hit that definitely turned the game around and possibly the entire series.

Bad thought process, bad pitch. Throwing a changeup in that situation was worse than any of the questionable decisions Leyland made throughout the game. Next time, throw Ortiz a well-located fastball on the first pitch.

Anibal Sanchez's outing in ALCS Game 1 was a rarity

The Detroit Tigers came within two outs of no-hitting the Boston Red Sox in Saturday's Game 1 of the ALCS in Boston. Daniel Nava singled off Detroit closer Joaquin Benoit with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Benoit recovered to close out a 1-0 Tigers victory.

Why was a closer on the mound trying to preserve a no-hitter? Well, for as well as Anibal Sanchez pitched, he wasn't efficient enough to hang around for the whole game. In fact, he lasted just six innings. He struck out 12, walked six and threw 116 pitches.

Credit Detroit manager Jim Leyland for realizing the no-hitter wasn't important. Sanchez survived a highly stressful sixth inning; he struck out Stephen Drew to escape a jam after walking the bases loaded. With the lead at just one run, Leyland would have been pushing his luck to send Sanchez back out for the seventh. He didn't, instead using four relievers to close out the win.

The Tigers failed in their quest to throw the third no-hitter in MLB postseason history (Don Larsen, Roy Halladay), but Sanchez's outing was notable in a couple other ways. First, he became the first pitcher ever to be removed from a playoff game after going six innings without giving up a hit. Secondly, he became only the second pitcher ever to record both 12 strikeouts and six walks in a postseason game.

The other one? Walter Johnson in Game 1 of the 1924 World Seriess. In that game, Johnson pitched 12 innings and gave up 14 hits. Yeah, that was a different time and place. That goes to show you don't see an outing like the one Sanchez had Saturday night come along too often. 

Dumb decision to bunt hurts Dodgers in NLCS Game 1

I just don't understand why some managers are so insistent on bunting and giving away precious outs, especially in the playoffs.

One of those head-scratching moments arose in the top of the 12th inning Friday night in St. Louis.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were tied 2-2 with the host Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLCS. Los Angeles outfielder Carl Crawford singled off St. Louis pitcher Lance Lynn to lead off the top of the 12th.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly then asked Mark Ellis to bunt Crawford into scoring position, which he did. But guess what? That strategy played right into the Cardinals' hands. That opened up first base and allowed St. Louis manager Mike Matheny to walk the Dodgers' No. 3 hitter, Hanley Ramirez, intentionally. Ramirez is probably the most dangerous hitter Los Angeles has. If you're the Dodgers, don't you want him to take his hacks there? The intentional walk also set up a possible double play. That's exactly what happened. Michael Young bounced into a rally-killing double play. Inning over, game still tied.

I could maybe justify the bunt if Adrian Gonzalez was still hitting in the cleanup spot, just behind Ramirez, for the Dodgers. That would have been a pick-your-poison situation for Matheny. Pitch to Ramirez? Or walk Ramirez and take your chances with Gonzalez? That would have been a tough call, but Gonzalez had been lifted for a pinch runner earlier in the game. Deciding whether to pitch to Ramirez or Young is a significantly easier call to make, and Matheny made the obvious choice. Lynn made the pitch he needed to make and got out of trouble.

St. Louis eventually won 3-2 in 13 innings on a walk-off hit by right fielder Carlos Beltran. Right now, Beltran is probably the Cardinals' best hitter. He had all three RBIs in Friday's game. He made his presence felt. Meanwhile, Ramirez didn't get his chance in the 12th inning, and it was by his manager's own folly that the bat was taken out of his hands.

Mattingly had to know Matheny was going to walk Ramirez with a base open, right? It's a manager's job to think two or three moves ahead. So, knowing that, why would Mattingly open up first base by having Ellis bunt? I don't get it.

Can Miguel Cabrera get his power stroke back?

The Oakland A's actually took my advice for Thursday night's Game 5 of the ALDS. They started Sonny Gray instead of Bartolo Colon.

It didn't work out so well as Gray allowed three runs on six hits and walked four over five innings pitched. He took the loss as the Detroit Tigers beat Oakland 3-0 to secure a 3-2 series victory and advance to the ALCS.

It wouldn't have mattered if Colon had gotten the start because nobody was going to outpitch Justin Verlander on this night anyway. Verlander continued his postseason mastery of the A's, allowing just two hits over eight shutout innings. He struck out 10 and took a no-hitter into the seventh. The hard-throwing right-hander has now fired 24 consecutive scoreless innings against Oakland in the playoffs.

The "Moneyball" approach doesn't seem to work against Verlander. The Oakland hitters tried to work the count, but most of the time, they found themselves behind 0-2 and 1-2. That's a recipe for making outs against Verlander.

Perhaps the best sign for Detroit was seeing reigning MVP Miguel Cabrera hit a his first home run of the postseason, a two-run blast off Gray in the fourth inning. It was just the third extra-base hit Cabrera has had since Sept. 1. The slugger has a groin, hip and abdominal strains that are limiting his mobility and overall effectiveness. He hasn't been able to run, nor has he been able to get his legs into his swing. Hence, the loss of power.

It's a tough spot for the Tigers. They can't lose Cabrera's presence in the lineup, but they need him to be more than just a singles hitter in the No. 3 hole, especially given cleanup hitter Prince Fielder's overall struggles in the postseason.

Detroit opens the ALCS on the road against Boston on Saturday night. I think the Tigers are underdogs in this series, primarily because Cabrera isn't healthy and hasn't swung the bat up to his capabilities lately. Can he overcome his injury (or injuries) enough to get his power stroke back? Is Thursday's home run a sign of better things to come? That may be the deciding factor in whether Detroit can advance to the World Series for the second consecutive year.

 The Tigers can match (and maybe even exceed) the Red Sox in the starting rotation, but Boston has a clear advantage offensively if Cabrera doesn't produce the way he has in the past.

Cardinals eliminate Pirates in NLDS Game 5

I think I mentioned earlier this week that St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright has been really good in the playoffs in his career.

The right-hander delivered in the clutch again Wednesday, firing a complete game eight-hitter as the Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 in Game 5 of the NLDS at Busch Stadium.

With the win, St. Louis takes the series 3-2 and advances to the NLCS for the eighth time since 2000. The Cardinals will open at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

St. Louis jumped in front in the second inning when David Freese got a hanging breaking ball from Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole and knocked it out of the yard for a two-run homer. Matt Adams added a two-run homer in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach.

Not that Pittsburgh had much chance against Wainwright, who is now 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA and four saves in 15 career postseason appearances. The only time I can remember Wainwright failing in the playoffs was last year when he got rocked by the Washington Nationals in Game 5 of the NLDS. On that night, of course, the Cardinals roared back from a 6-0 deficit and won the game anyway.

After Wednesday's victory, St. Louis is now 8-1 in playoff elimination games over the last three seasons. Give the Pirates credit for a great season -- they won 94 games and took the top-seeded Cardinals to the brink in this series. However, the talent and experience of St. Louis won out in the end.

Joe Girardi signs 4-year extension to remain Yankees manager

I never bought into the idea that Joe Girardi would be managing the Cubs in 2014.

Oh, I wouldn't be surprised if he did indeed express interest in the Cubs through "back channels." I don't doubt that Girardi's "camp" let it be known he would be willing to listen if the Cubs called.

I just think all this chatter was about nothing more than leverage. The Yankees were offering a 3-year extension. Girardi wanted 4 years. He let it be known that he had other options, namely the Cubs, so the Yankees caved and gave him the extra year.

Girardi and the Yankees agreed to terms Wednesday on a four-year, $16 million contract that will make Girardi the second-highest paid manager in the game.

"After talking with my family, we decided that (New York) was where we wanted to come back," Girardi said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday. "It's a special place to manage because of the opportunity that you have every year and the tools that they give you. The history of this organization is unbelievable. There are special things that happen here every year."

The Yankees kept their man. Meanwhile, the Cubs are back to square one in their managerial search. So far, we've heard three names connected to the opening. I assume others will emerge before a hire is made. But here are the names that have been bandied about so far:

Manny Acta: He managed the Washington Nationals from 2007 to 2009 and the Cleveland Indians from 2010 to 2012. His record is 372-518 in 890 career games, a .418 winning percentage.

A.J. Hinch: The current vice president of professional scouting for the San Diego Padres had a rough go as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009 and 2010, going 89-123 for a .420 winning percentage.

Rick Renteria: The San Diego Padres bench coach has never managed before, but is expected to meet with Cubs brass sometime next week.

Obviously, the names of Hinch and Renteria have popped up because of their ties with Cubs GM Jed Hoyer, who was previously the GM in San Diego.

I'm not one of these people who believes teams need to hire a manager with experience. I think a first-time manager is fine if you believe it's the right guy. I'm pretty sure Acta is the wrong guy. Only two managers in Major League Baseball history have managed more games than Acta and had a lower winning percentage than Acta's .418 mark. Given the choice between hiring a managing newbie or recycling Acta, I would opt for giving someone new an opportunity.

Justin Verlander vs. ???? in ALDS Game 5

A year ago, the Detroit Tigers and Oakland A's battled it out for five games in the American League Division Series. Once again this season, the two teams are going to play five games in the ALDS.

The Tigers made it so by rallying for an 8-6 win over the A's on Tuesday. The Detroit victory tied the series at 2-2 and set up a decisive Game 5 in Oakland on Thursday night.

Detroit will be forced to alter its rotation after using 21-game winner Max Scherzer for two innings of relief in Game 4. Scherzer picked up the win after pitching out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the top of the eighth inning. The Tigers were leading by just a run (5-4) at the time. They scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to break it open, then held off an Oakland rally in the ninth inning.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland could afford to use Scherzer in relief in Game 4 because he has Justin Verlander lined up to pitch on regular rest in Game 5. You may recall that Verlander fired a complete-game, four-hit shutout in Game 5 to clinch a series win in Oakland last October. He also pitched seven innings of shutout ball in Game 2 of this series, only to see his team lose 1-0 after he left the mound. Verlander has struck out 22 and allowed no runs in the last 16 postseason innings he has pitched against the A's. Yeah, he's a pretty good fallback option for the Tigers.

The pitching decision for Oakland isn't so cut-and-dried for Game 5. Do they go back to their Game 1 starter, Bartolo Colon, a 40-year-old veteran who went 18-6 this season? Or do they start Sonny Gray, the 23-year-old rookie who matched Verlander pitch for pitch in Game 2?

A's manager Bob Melvin hasn't announced a decision yet. On MLB Network, I heard analyst Dan Plesac say the "safe call" would be to go with Colon. I don't know if there is a "safe call" in this situation. If Melvin selects Colon and the A's lose the ballgame, people are still going to ask why he didn't go with Gray. What's so safe about that? Really, the only way Melvin isn't going to get second-guessed here is if the A's win.

With that in mind, I think he should go with Gray, who is 3-1 with a 1.56 ERA while pitching at home this year. When in doubt, pick the guy who is pitching the best, regardless of experience level. Right now, Gray is that guy for Oakland.

Red Sox oust Rays

The other division series in the American League wrapped up on Tuesday as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 to complete a 3-1 series victory.

Give credit to the top two hitters in the Boston batting order. Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane Victorino combined to go 15 for 32 with nine runs scored and five stolen bases in the series. Victorino beat out an infield grounder with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to score Ellsbury with the eventual game-winning run on Tuesday.

Rays manager Joe Maddon burned through nine of the 11 pitchers on his playoff roster in a fruitless effort to stay alive in this series. All the mixing and matching in the world couldn't change the fact that Tampa Bay managed just one run off Boston starter Jake Peavy and nothing off three Red Sox relief pitchers.

Boston advances to the ALCS and will open at home on Saturday. The Red Sox can set their pitching rotation however they want. None of their starters were used more than once in this series against Tampa Bay.

Monday quadrupleheader: Best day of the playoffs so far

I have been waiting for a day like Monday. All four divisional playoff series were in action, and this was a quadrupleheader of games that had it all: three one-run decisions, a near no-hitter by Michael Wacha, clutch home runs by Jose Lobaton and Juan Uribe and a bench-clearing incident in Detroit.

There is so much to talk about I could never mention it all in one blog post, but I'll try to touch on a talking point or two from each game.

Oakland 6, Detroit 3

The A's are a team that believes in statistical analysis, so I'm sure manager Bob Melvin was aware of the lefty/righty splits on Detroit pitcher Anibal Sanchez.

For the season, lefties hit .247 against Sanchez, while righties hit at a miserable .207 clip. Accordingly, Melvin loaded his lineup with seven left-handed bats Monday against Sanchez. Three left-handed hitters -- Josh Reddick, Brandon Moss and Seth Smith -- took the Detroit right-hander deep over the first five innings of Oakland's victory, which gave the A's a 2-1 series lead.

The game will be best remembered for a bench-clearing incident in the bottom of the ninth inning. Oakland closer Grant Balfour and Victor Martinez exchanged insults after a foul ball. Amusingly, the crowd mic on MLB Network picked up all the expletives. After order was restored, Balfour nailed down the save. The A's will look to close out the series Tuesday.

St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh 1

Wacha nearly no-hit the Washington Nationals in his last regular season start. In that game, he lost his bid on an infield single by Ryan Zimmerman with two outs in the ninth inning. This time, with the Cardinals season hanging in the balance, Wacha took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before losing it in a slightly less cheap manner -- he gave up a 430-foot bomb to Pittsburgh third baseman Pedro Alvarez.

But the St. Louis bullpen came on to close this one out for Wacha, and the Cardinals tied the series at 2-2 and forced a decisive Game 5 on Wednesday.

You have to wonder why it took the Cardinals four games to send Wacha to the mound. Adam Wainwright is their ace, but after him, Wacha has been St. Louis' next best pitcher. If the Cardinals are fortunate enough to advance to the NLCS, they need to make sure Wacha is in line to make two starts in that series. He really impressed me with his fastball-changeup combination. I think he's a better pitcher than both Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly, at least at this moment.

There will be no debate over who gets the ball in Game 5 for St. Louis. It will be Wainwright. Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle has chosen to start rookie Gerrit Cole instead of veteran A.J. Burnett. I like the move by Hurdle. Burnett was shelled in Game 1 of this series, while Cole was masterful in a Game 2 victory. In a winner-take-all situation, I believe you go with the guy who is pitching best, regardless of experience level.

Tampa Bay 5, Boston 4

The Rays have always been a resilient bunch, and they got off the deck in this game a couple times. The Red Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead halfway through, but Tampa Bay tied it on a three-run homer by Evan Longoria in the bottom of the fifth inning. 

When Longoria stepped to the plate, the Rays had runners on second and third with two outs. I'm sure some Boston fans are wondering why the Red Sox didn't just put Longoria on with first base open. Conventional wisdom says you don't give teams baserunners with a three-run lead. In this case, I agree with conventional wisdom. But, Longoria is far and away the most dangerous hitter in the Tampa Bay lineup. There's a case to be made that you don't let him beat you and take your chances with the rookie on deck, Wil Myers. The Red Sox pitched to Longoria, and his blast changed the complexion of the game.

Tampa Bay scratched across a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to go ahead 4-3. Boston answered with a run of its own in the top of the ninth off Rays' closer Fernando Rodney. No matter. The Rays got it right back when Lobaton hit a walk-off shot off Boston closer Koji Uehara, who gave up only five home runs all season. Go figure.

The Rays still trail the series, 2-1, but they have life. Game 4 is Tuesday.

Los Angeles 4, Atlanta 3

The day started with a curious decision by Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. He scratched scheduled starter Ricky Nolasco and brought back ace Clayton Kershaw on three days' rest. Mind you, Kershaw threw 124 pitches in his Game 1 victory, and Los Angeles entered Monday's play with a 2-1 series lead. I can understand wanting to throw your ace one more time if you're facing elimination, but the Dodgers were not in that situation. I was really surprised they brought Kershaw back on short rest. It was a move that reeked of needless desperation.

But give Kershaw credit. He threw the ball well once again, allowing just two unearned runs over six innings. However, Braves veteran Freddy Garcia matched Kershaw pitch for pitch, and Atlanta took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning. Facing elimination, if there was ever a time for the Braves to ask closer Craig Kimbrel for a six-out save, this was it. Instead, David Carpenter pitched the eighth inning for Atlanta. It took him two batters to blow the lead. Yasiel Puig doubled and scored moments late on the game-winning home run by Uribe.

Mattingly wanted Uribe to bunt on the pitches prior to the home run. That didn't work out so well, but the home run erased the stink. Suffice to say, I think the Los Angeles manager made a couple of questionable choices on Monday. He got away with them, and now his team is in the NLCS, awaiting the St. Louis-Pittsburgh winner.

Clayton Kershaw's performance highlights first day of NLDS

Both National League Division Series got underway Thursday, and unfortunately, both games were duds. None of the late-inning drama we associate with playoff baseball was present in either of these two contests.

The St. Louis Cardinals scored seven runs in the third inning and went on to an easy 9-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Los Angeles Dodgers also got out to an early lead and coasted to a 6-1 win over the Atlanta Braves. In each of these two games, you knew who was going to win by the fourth inning.

The highlight of the day was definitely the performance of Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw. After Adrian Gonzalez hit a home run in the third inning to put the Dodgers up 4-0, you had a feeling Kershaw was going to shut the door. He's 36-0 lifetime when Los Angeles scores four or more runs for him. Shut the door he did, striking out 12 Atlanta hitters and allowing just three hits over seven innings. At one point, Kershaw fanned six consecutive batters.

If you're the Braves, this isn't what you wanted to see in Game 1. Atlanta has the reputation of an all-or-nothing offense. The Braves led the National League in home runs this year with 181. They also tied for the league lead in strikeouts with 1,384. All-or-nothing was nothing on this night, and the Braves won't have it easy in Game 2, either, as they must contend with Los Angeles right-hander Zack Greinke, who has a 1.85 ERA since the All-Star break.

Meanwhile in St. Louis, Carlos Beltran hit a three-run homer off Pittsburgh's A.J. Burnett during that seven-run outburst, and that was your ballgame. Adam Wainwright pitched seven innings of one-run ball and remained unbeaten in his postseason career (3-0, 2.27 ERA). This one was a real snoozer unless you are a Cardinals fan.

We'll see if the action heats up on Friday, with four Division Series games on tap around the country.

Nick Swisher fails Indians in the clutch

I'll admit it: I can't stand Nick Swisher, and I was cheering against the Cleveland Indians in Wednesday night's American League Wild Card game for just that reason.

Swisher is one of my all-time least favorite White Sox players. He was only on the South Side for a year (2008), and that was one year too many in my book. He batted .219 and got benched in favor of Dewayne Wise late in the season.

The national media likes to portray Swisher as "always laughing, always smiling" and "great in the clubhouse." Maybe he is, and I don't pretend to know what goes on in any major league clubhouse. What I do know about Swisher is he is overmatched against upper-echelon pitching. His weaknesses always come to the forefront in the playoffs. In 47 career postseason games, he is hitting .165 (26 for 158) with 48 strikeouts.

Swisher cemented his reputation with another lousy playoff showing Wednesday night as the Tampa Bay Rays advanced to the ALDS with a 4-0 win over the Indians. Swisher went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and looked pathetic during a critical at-bat in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Indians were trailing 3-0 at the time and had two men on with two men out. Tampa Bay summoned reliever Joel Peralta from the bullpen to replace eventual winning pitcher Alex Cobb. Peralta easily struck Swisher out on three pitches, and Cleveland's best and final chance to get back in the game went by the boards.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Indians had a golden opportunity -- runners on first and third with nobody out. They failed to score after Michael Bourn struck out, Swisher grounded out weakly to first and Jason Kipnis grounded right back to Cobb for the final out.

All told, Bourn, Swisher and Kipnis went 0 for 12 with 12 baserunners stranded. That's not what you want from your 1-2-3 in the lineup. For Swisher, failures in the playoffs have become all too common. He just can't do anything against quality pitchers from quality teams. I have to say I don't feel the least bit sorry for him.

Francisco Liriano pitches Pittsburgh Pirates into NLDS

Coming into this year, the Pittsburgh Pirates hadn't had a winning season since 1992. I don't think too many people picked the Pirates to go to the playoffs back in April, but here they are, still playing as the calendar turns to October. They went 94-68, and they are one of the feel-good stories of the year.

Pittsburgh will head to St. Louis to open the National League Division Series on Thursday night after its 6-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Tuesday's NL Wild Card Game.

How does a team like the Pirates go from the outhouse to the penthouse so quickly? Well, like everything else, it's a combination of skill and luck. You need some guys to come out of the woodwork and have surprise years for you. Take Francisco Liriano (pictured), for instance.

By any standard, Liriano had a lousy 2012. He went 3-10 with a 5.31 ERA in 22 starts with the Minnesota Twins. He was traded to the White Sox midseason, where he failed to make an impact. In 12 appearances (11 starts) on the South Side, he went 3-2 with a 5.40 ERA. Manager Robin Ventura could not trust Liriano in big games, and the left-hander was one of the reasons the Sox spit up their AL Central lead late in the season.

Liriano became a free agent and had few offers over the offseason. The Pirates took a chance, and it has paid huge dividends. Liriano made 26 regular season starts for Pittsburgh and won 16 of them, finishing 16-8 with a 3.02 ERA. It was easily his best season in three years.

He found himself on the mound Tuesday night against Cincinnati, and he delivered perhaps the most clutch performance of his career. He went seven innings, and he allowed just a run on four hits while striking out five. Much like the Pirates as a team, Liriano has gone from the scrap heap to relevance in just one year.

The win was Pittsburgh's first in the postseason since Oct. 13, 1992. That has to be a good feeling for Pirates fans. They'll be underdogs against the mighty Cardinals for sure, but they've waited a long time for playoff baseball in that city. They have the opportunity, in part, because they've gotten surprising contributions from guys like Liriano.

Dale Sveum fired as Cubs manager

In two seasons as manager of the Cubs, Dale Sveum was handed a Triple-A roster. To the surprise of no one -- not even his own bosses -- he produced Triple-A results.

Sveum was fired Monday after posting a miserable 127-197 record. But to hear Cubs' brass tell it, that lousy .392 winning percentage had nothing to do with Sveum's dismissal, nor did the fact that the Cubs (66-96) finished the 2013 campaign by losing 41 of their final 59 games.

Rather, Sveum was canned for not creating a friendly enough environment for the young players on his roster.

''It's absolutely imperative that we create the best environment possible for young players to come up here, continue to learn, continue to develop and thrive at the big league level and win, ultimately,'' Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein said during a Monday afternoon news conference. ''And that's not an easy thing to do. A big part of the reason why we're here today is because we took a good hard look at that and we decided that we needed to try to get it right before they come up.''

The "core pieces" of the Cubs -- Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, Jeff Samardzija and, to a lesser extent, Darwin Barney -- all took steps backward in 2012. Sveum is taking the fall for them.

With this decision, Epstein is making it clear he doesn't want Sveum to manage the "crown jewels" of the Cubs' farm system  -- Javier Baez, Jorge Soler, Albert Almora and Kris Bryant -- if they make it to the big leagues in the near future.

''There were some good results this year, some young players emerged, but there were other young players who didn't continue to develop this year,'' Epstein said. ''That's a collective issue, but it's my responsibility to get it right.''

What goes unsaid there is Epstein is admitting he made a mistake in hiring Sveum. This was his guy, and now he's shoving him out the door a mere two years into the rebuilding process. If indeed Sveum is to blame for the regression of guys like Castro and Rizzo, then the Cubs are better off cutting ties and putting a fresh face in charge of the team. Better to admit a mistake than to compound it.

But what if Sveum isn't to blame? What if the Epstein and the other members of the Cubs' front office blew it with their player evaluations and the aforementioned group of young guys simply isn't as good as they were made out to be? That's one possible scenario here.

No one can say definitively at this point, and we won't have an answer for that until the next manager comes to the North Side and tries to solve the enigma that is Starlin Castro. If the next guy fails as well, then Epstein's seat will be the one getting hot.

Tampa Bay advances to AL Wild Card game

Tampa Bay Rays left-hander David Price hadn't had much luck against the Texas Rangers coming into Monday night's Game 163. He had a 6.62 ERA in 11 career starts against the Rangers, and his numbers at Rangers Ballpark were even worse: a 10.26 ERA in four starts.

Some people might have wondered if Tampa Bay should start someone other than its ace it this winner-take-all contest to decide which club would make the AL Wild Card game. Rays manager Joe Maddon stuck with Price and was rewarded, as the left-hander fired a complete game in Tampa Bay's 5-2 victory.  Price struck out four, walked just one and threw 81 strikes out of his 118 pitches. He looked like he did last year when he went 20-5 and won the AL Cy Young.

The Rays next travel to Cleveland for a winner-take-all wild card game against the Indians on Wednesday.

The Rangers, meanwhile, will be left to wonder what could have been. Texas finishes 12-16 in September, and that's with a seven-game winning streak to close the regular season. No doubt the Rangers will lament the stretch from Sept. 1 to Sept 18 where they lost 14 out of 18 games. That, more than a single loss to Price on Monday night, is what cost Texas its season.

Given the high expectations in Arlington, you can't help but wonder if Rangers manager Ron Washington will soon join Sveum on the unemployment line.